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CACOL COMMENDS INEC ON ITS STANCE TO BAR SUSPECTED CORRUPT OFFICIALS FROM PARTICIPATING IN ELECTIONEERING PROCESS

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, has commended the decision made by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to bar some of its electoral officials under investigation by the anti-graft agencies over alleged corrupt practices from partaking in the oncoming gubernatorial elections in Ondo and Edo states.
This came in a response to media reports that INEC has hindered some of its electoral officials undergoing investigation over alleged corrupt practices from supervising the elections that would take place in Ondo and Edo State.
 
CACOL described the step taken by INEC as bold and quite necessary as the country battles corruption on all plains. Executive Chairman of the Coalition, Comrade Debo Adeniran, said “the step is certainly one of the required steps in the efforts to curb political corruption in the country. It is part of the cravings of majority of Nigerians and it represents one of the yields of the anti-corruption drive.”
 
“The tenacity and the unrelentiveness of the Federal government in its fight against corruption also deserve commendation for this development. The truth is that the anti-corruption drive embedded in President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration is gradually gaining victory over corruption; a menace that has ravished our country and encroached on every facet in our system for so long.”
Continuing, Adeniran said, “tackling political corruption is very fundamental in battling corruption, because it is political corruption that produces corrupt leaders that robs the country’s treasury willy-nilly. Political corruption is what deprives the people of their basic needs to exist. We believe that even candidates who are under investigations by the anti-corruption agencies should not be allowed to contest elections until such candidates prove their innocence.”
 
In concluding he said, “we therefore urge the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, INEC and other relevant agencies, to swing into action on the affected INEC officials. The suspected officials must be prosecuted while applying disciplinary actions against those found wanting must also be ensured. Also, the emergence of laws that would forestall electoral misconduct in the future which is driven to solve immediate and long-term measures towards curbing impunity in our electoral process is paramount.”
 
Wale Salami
Media Coordinator, CACOL
08141121208
 
7 September 2016
 
 
 
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THE INCREMENT OF THE POOR MAJORITY’S SUFFERINGS MUST STOP; GOVERNMENT MUST FULFILL ITS SOCIAL CONTRACT WITH PEOPLE.

‘Rationality ends where hunger begins’, so said Dr. M.E Kolagbodi, the present APC-led federal government needs to be told that without any equivocation.

 
The insensitiveness of the present government to the pains of the masses at this extremely harsh time is clearly unimportant to the government as the economic situation bites harder. This is what is manifesting in the; blame-shifting, denials of electoral pledges, flimsy excuses and attempts to rationalize irrationality. The ‘Nigerians voted for us to do the impossible’, ‘we are not magicians’ and the ‘I understand your pains’ utterances from the political class in the face of the reality of about over 100 million people wallowing in hunger, homelessness, unemployment and deprivation is defeatist and shameless.   
 
Inflation, recession, stagflation and all the jargons in the books cannot explain away the failure of government in playing the role it was instituted for. A government that tells the governed that it is helpless in handling what it was instituted to do is not only admitting failure, it is also demonstrating irresponsibility. Such a government is not worth its salt!
 
The task to rebuild our country is very daunting, no doubts about that, but the present regime knew this before it got to power. To continue to insult the collective intelligence of Nigerians with narratives that are apparently designed to disguise the lack of political will needed to abandon the ways of the old by the political class is totally provoking and unacceptable.
 
Yes, there is the dire need for Nigerians collectively to understand the background to the present so-called recession and the attendant sacrifices required of Nigeria and Nigerians to wade through the storm, but the present government’s excuses belie its so-called change agenda, to put it bluntly.
 
The poor majority continue to bear the brunt of government’s failure, and this in spite of their hitherto existing excruciating conditions of living. It is the poor majority that is being forced to sacrifice and to self-deny at these trying times even though the political class and public officials rollick in stupendous affluence and has not and apparently does not want to sacrifice anything in the bid to rebuild our country, Nigeria.
 
From taxing the over-taxed poor to the astronomical costs of existing, from lack of job opportunities to insecurity and absence of social welfare, it is the poor majority that is being forced to pay for the ineptitude in government and governance.  
 
The government appears to have adopted the attitude of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’, to put it aptly! The truth is that the ‘we are helpless’ excuse, is a cracked record, that has been overplayed by government from the topmost level to lowest.
 
A government that pleads for understanding must demonstrate practically that it is also ready to sacrifice. For crying out loud the Presidential Fleet which the present regime promised to reduce the number of aircrafts that was being maintained by the former regime is still intact in spite of the humongous costs it takes to maintain them, yet it is the poor that must pay to maintain the fleet that has been argued to be the most expensive to maintain in Africa!
 
The government at the Federal, state and local levels have not paid workers for their legitimate earnings for months, in fact some have gone ahead to slash salaries of workers while the allowances, salaries and other remunerations of government officials remain in their intact humongous forms. In Nassarawa State, workers were killed by the state’s agents for demanding for their legitimate earnings.
 
This is in a country where the political class keeps convoys of expensive vehicles just to move an individual around; own choice properties all over the country and outside, where the political class’ dogs enjoy better humanism than the poor majority who are the real humans. This is the contradiction that stares at us so boldly in the face and that is what the apparently deceitful regime is pleading for poor to continue to cope with! The plea is insensitive, diabolic, illogical and unacceptable, we dare to say.
 
The people in government see the poor majority’s pains from their comfort zones therefore they prescribe very warped solutions that increase the poor’s sufferings while avoiding any form of sacrifice or pains on their part.
 
Nigerians in their majority have been sacrificing for their country on all plains, but it is unfair and wicked to continue to call for their ‘understanding’, patience etc. while the ruling class is not ready to sacrifice an iota of their unjustifiable affluence and undeserved comfort.
 
Coming to equity, takes coming with open hands, if Nigeria and Nigerians have to sacrifice to rebuild our country, let the sacrifice be collective. As a matter of fact the ruling class should sacrifice more, it takes wearing the shoes to know where it pinches!
 
A sensitive and responsible government should at this period be thinking of succour for the poor majority. Whether, it is recession, melt-down, inflation, stagflation or whatever, the government must assume its full responsibility as a government. No excuse is good enough when what is at hand is about existentialism. Nigeria is not the only country on the planet is passing to the capitalist-imposed economic hardship, but the other countries are not compounding the problems of the poor like is been done in this country.
 
America, Europe, Asia etc. have had and are still having their fair share of economic pains. They waded through their storms including 1929 depression and economic melt-down of 2009. It is not rocket science to salvage our country if political will is applied. It is time cut down the cost of governance; kill the avarice associated with those in power and deploy resources to the very basic needs of the vast majority. The environment for empowerment and self-realization must be created by government for the citizenry to enjoy their true humanism.
 
The communication tax; the outrageous bank taxes, the hike in tariff for electricity, the Value Added Tax, the impending increment in the prices of petroleum products targets and impact more the poor majority than the over-fed few members of the political class and elites. This is the equation that must be changed for government to wear a human face, but the sad reality is that, apparently this is the equation the present regime intends to maintain like the previous ones.
 
The recent report released by the United Nations paints a scary present and future for Nigeria, the reports is so damning that any responsible government will think and act to avoid the tragedy being foretold. According to the report, the country’s economy, the development and social indices in the country were below acceptable standards.
The report read, “Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and the seventh most populous in the world. Her population will be approximately 200 million by 2019 and over 400 million by 2050, becoming one of the top five populous countries in the world. Nigeria is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world, with over 80 million or 64 per cent of her population living below poverty line.”
What else or what other index does the government need to see to realize the urgency of taking emergency steps now? Government must act with alacrity now; it must move away from giving unacceptable excuses by being creative, innovative and be objectively focused on putting the people’s interest before selfish and mundane interests. The jargons of economists and the deceit of the political class have clearly failed; finding succour to the pains of the poor majority must now be prioritized!
 
Debo Adeniran
Executive Chairman, CACOL
08037194969
September 6, 2016
 
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Opening Remarks by Comrade Debo Adeniran, Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL at the Exploratory Conference on the Lagos Open Parliament (Part three), LOP-3

Opening Remarks by Comrade Debo Adeniran, Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL at the Exploratory Conference on the Lagos Open Parliament (Part three), LOP-3, held on 30 August, 2016 at the RIGHTS HOUSE, 48, Adeniyi Jones Street, Off Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos

 

On behalf of the entire members of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, and the Board of Governors, I welcome you all. We deeply appreciate the honour bestowed on us, demonstrated by the presence of everyone here today for this Exploratory Conference; a component part of the process that culminate into our periodic Publication called the ‘Lagos Open Parliament, LOP’. We say, a big thank you, to all for coming.

 

Majority of us here today, are conversant with the LOP and can simply aver that, ‘there goes CACOL again doing what they know how to do best’, but some are probably just getting to know about the LOP as a Project of our coalition for the first time. It thus becomes imperative to give a background on what the LOP is all about, I therefore crave your indulgence to do so very briefly.

 

The Inaugural LOP which was tagged ‘Lagos Open Parliament: True State of Lagos by Lagosians held in 2013. It led to a number of claims made by the supporters of the Lagos state government then. Many of them claimed we were sponsored to rubbish the ‘achievements’ of the Babatunde Raji Fashola-led Lagos State Government which they claimed were ‘visible to the eyes’.

 

This prompted us to go to town to inspect the so-called improvements in infrastructural development in the State. Our study showed that some aspects of the rot in infrastructure in some places mentioned in our earlier study had been improved on, whereas most of the other issues were yet to be addressed.

 

Our findings revealed dismal governmental failure especially in the area of the execution of the capital side of the budget and we discovered that Lagos had largely been governed by false pretences.

 

We thus deployed more tools in our research and field work following the lessons drawn from the inaugural LOP and have continually empirically modified our methods in scope and size in terms of research and strategy which have made the LOP what it is today.

 

And indeed, our findings confirmed the reality that Lagos State was being governed under false pretences. We discovered and established the ‘cosmeticism’ in government and governance in Lagos state as at then. Our empirical deductions from our findings were what we published as Lagos Open Parliament 2, LOP- 2.

 

The LOP, as a Project of our Coalition was conceived to be done annually, it is basically a Project targeted at; monitoring government performance and policies, promoting transparency and accountability and enhancing healthy interface between the civil society and government in the overall interest of the development of Lagos State as an entity.

 

Our research strategy utilizes different tools to carry out our self-assigned patriotic task to monitor government activities; including questionnaires, interviews, news analysis, visual investigations involving usage of videos and photographs etc.

 

Our Coalition published our findings in 2013 in the first edition which we tagged ‘Lagos Open Parliament, LOP 1’ in 2014 and have ever since continued to monitor Lagos state government’s activities on annual basis.

 

Generally, the LOP is a process with several events embedded in it, these include administering of questionnaires; compilation and analysis of data and news items (TV, radio, newspapers, online news and social media). Three interactive conferences are also held within the process of the LOP i.e. Exploratory, Validation and Public Presentation Conferences. The Public Presentation marks the end of the annual process.

 

The analysis and reviews in each LOP cover only for one year as specifically chosen by us, but at most times our work begin May 29th of each year preliminary activities such as this Exploratory Conference. For example, the next Publication i.e. LOP3 will capture May 29, 2015 to May 29, 2016 as the period under review.

 

THE STATE OF LAGOS STATE

Without preempting what our end-point findings and deductions from the ongoing LOP process will be, it is important to comment on the state of Lagos state from the point of verifiable and objective analysis.

 

Arguably, the present regime appears to have begun on a good note given the avalanche of praises it has received so far from Lagosians based on what can apparently be seen by them physically.

 

That the government commenced the construction/reconstruction on 114 roads within its first 100 days in office is public knowledge; the Light-Up Lagos, the pedestrian and fly-over bridges under constructions; the improvement in government openness etc. are undeniable and commendable.

 

The recent launch of the first Helipad in the country is a hallmark achievement plus an improved environment in terms of security and some social services.

 

We, however strongly condemn some obviously anti-poor policies of the government as the negative effects of the policies definitely diminish the gains of the so far celebrated achievements of the government. So while commending the Ambode regime for some noticeable developmental projects being implemented across the state and encouraging the government not to relent, the regime must avoid snatching with the left hand what it has offered the poor Lagosians with the right hand.

 

These policies include the illogical move to enforce a ban on street trading and hawking; the over-taxing of the poor, the under-employed and unemployed considering that the conditions of existence of these categories of citizens have hitherto been painful. A life characterized with penury and deprivations; a situation which remain unchanged and as a matter of fact deteriorating rapidly.

 

The ban on street trading represents the increasing of the sufferings of the poor and toiling people who ordinarily are trying under the present extremely harsh economic conditions to fend for themselves. Majority of Lagosians and Nigerians have had to resort to self-help almost on every facet of life consequent upon the gross failure of government to fulfill its constitutional role of provisioning for the welfare and social security of the citizens. We question the logic behind the ban when those affected are largely already impoverished consequent upon the failure to facilitate gainful employment opportunities on one hand and failure in service delivery by the government on the other.

 

We affirm that the people are basis of governance, and government is a social contract. The reason government is instituted in the first place is to harness the resources of society for the social welfare of the people as enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Nigerian constitution. If government has failed in doing this, it is unfair and wicked for government to compound the pains of the impoverished who are engaged in self-help for their survival and existential issues by imposing unwarranted taxes policies that disrupt their source of existing.

 

Again, we question the rationale and the legality of the decision recently made by the Lagos state government to replace the hitherto existing unconstitutional Executive Secretaries with equally unconstitutional Sole Administrators considering that elections for Local government leadership had been long overdue.

It is disappointing and anti-democratic for Lagos State to illegally run Local Government Councils through the imposition of Sole Administrators as against the letters of the constitution.

 

We demand therefore that government must tow the path of true and constitutional democracy by organizing elections in the Local government councils to correct the aberration and illegality left behind by preceding one. Appointing Sole Administrators is akin to replacing illegality with illegality and it abuses the Constitutional status of Local Government Councils as an independent tier of government.

 

We call on Governor Ambode, not to pander to the dictates of political expediency or opportunistic political leaders to pollute his positive ratings occasioned by popular projects he is currently implementing across the state with anti-democratic dictatorial tendencies like the one under review.

 

Any government that lacks a vibrant and solid social base exists only in the air, because government and governance is all about social inclusion. Any government that develops policies without the consciousness for social inclusion will always fail. The only way the government can demonstrate the campaign mantra of ‘change’ upon which it rode to power to the people of Lagos state in particular and Nigeria is to generally and characteristically alter the hitherto existing situation and positively too.

 

I conclude by thanking you all again for honouring our invitation. Please we encourage us all to participate in the deliberations which promise to be very incisive. We shall also be administering questionnaires at this conference; we therefore seek your contribution to this process by filling a questionnaire on infrastructure and other government activities in your part of Lagos State.

 

Long Live, Lagos State

Long Live, Nigeria

 


 

Debo Adeniran

Executive Chairman, CACOL

dadnig@yahoo.com

www.deboadeniran.com

0803-7194-969

 

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CACOL HERALDS LAGOS OPEN PARLIAMENT, LOP- 3 WITH AN EXPLORATORY CONFERENCE

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, is set to herald its Lagos State periodic governance performance assessment Project tagged  LAGOS OPEN PARLIAMENT, LOP,  with an Exploratory Conference as part of the events embedded in the process of the LOP.
 
CACOL is an aggregate of human rights, community based, and civil society organisations with an anti-corruption agenda across Nigeria. It is a non-political, non-religious, non-sectarian, non-profit Coalition. CACOL sets for itself the task of using any available means to cause relevant authorities to probe and bring to book all corrupt leaders both in public and private institutions. We also strive to protect interest of persons or groups found to be victims of potential victims of corrupt practices or processes of manipulation. The decision to embark on the journey he was taken in the year 2007 in view of the need to confront, once and for all the monster that is ravaging all facets of our national life in Nigeria – Corruption.
 
The LOP is a programme of CACOL focused on the periodic analysis of government’s general performance in Lagos state. The programme utilizes Public and Media assessments’ of governance performance including field work (empirical and practical assessments). The research strategy deploy different tools to carry out our self-assigned patriotic task of monitoring government activities with the goal of ensuring transparency and accountability; including questionnaires, interviews, news analysis, visual investigations involving usage of videos and photographs etc.
 
As part of one of the main events in the process of the LOP, CACOL will be holding an Exploratory Conference to herald the commencement of the LOP3 to the General Public, the Lagos state government, the Civil Society organization and our partners in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
 
The Conference shall witness, apart from Keynotes Addresses, administration and distribution of questionnaires. There would also be sessions on updates from all the Local government Areas in Lagos state, testimonies, complaints, questions and answers etc. all of which will culminate in the publication of the third edition of Lagos Open Parliament: The change we can see.
 
Details of the Conference schedule are as follows:
 
Date: August 30, 2016
Venue: RIGHTS HOUSE, 43, Adeniyi Jones Street, Off Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos
 
Keynote Speakers:
1.      Mr. Steve Ayorinde, The Honourable Commissioner,
Ministry of Information and Strategy, Lagos State.
Topic: One-Year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on the Saddle in Lagos State: What Change; What Prospects?
2.      Dr. Niran Malaolu, Former Commissioner, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Ogun State.
Topic: One-Year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on the Saddle in Lagos State: What Change; What Deficits?
 
Time: 11 00AM
 
Signed:
Wale Salami
Media Coordinator, CACOL
08141121208
 27 August 2016
 
 
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THE SPONSORING AND GRANTING OF CONCESSIONS FOR RELIGIOUS PILGRIMAGES BY GOVERNMENT LACKS ECONOMIC SENSE; CONTRADICTORY, ILLOGICAL AND UNJUST- CECURR

The Centre for Cultural and Religious Rights, (CECURR) has added its voice to the scathing criticisms that have greeted the Federal government’s decision to ‘subsidize’ the dollar for the annual Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.

 
The National Coordinator of CECURR, Mr. Debo Adeniran, speaking against the background of the government’s decision to peg the rate of the naira to dollar at N197 per dollar said, “It is indeed certain that circumspection and crucial consideration for the current state of the economy were thrown out of the windows when the apparently illogical and contradictory position was taken.”
 
“If there had been circumspection, the government would have
prioritized the biting needs of the country beyond the narrow and personal interests, given the present economic recession in the country. The thought process that led the step is seriously illogical and smacks of insensitivity on the side of the government to the priorities and real needs of the vast majority, who mostly live in penury.”
 
Noting that the government previously had pledged to stop sponsoring Pilgrimages and religious activities, Adeniran said, “apart from lacking circumspection and rationale, the step contradicts the ‘change’ mantra upon which the present regime rode to power. Certainly, a total fulfillment of separating religion from State/Public Affairs would have conformed to the change Nigerians expected from the ‘change’ the regime promised during campaigns.”
 
“As a matter of fact, the ideal situation should be that persons or groups going on religious pilgrimages must sponsor themselves instead of waiting for the government for any concessions. CECURR’s position on what the nature of Government – Religion relationship should be, is that, government must not be involved in any religious affair beyond what is constitutionally required of it; just like all other Nigerian social formations and individuals, no particular group or persons should be given special preferences at the expense of others.”
Adeniran questioned the manner of secularism being practised in Nigeria, asking, “is Nigeria a secular state at all? If it is, we need to ask, which kind? The kind that favours sponsoring the activities of two dominant religions at the expense of several others? Implicit in Secularism is the exclusion of religion from public affairs; that religion and religious bodies should have no part in political or civic affairs or in running public institutions, but it has always been practiced in its reverse in Nigeria.”
 
“This is the fundamental question behind the present public outcry against the decision of the government to keep getting involved in the financing of religious activities. Politicians only use such unconstitutional interferences in religious activities to achieve their insatiable greed and lust for power on one hand to perpetrate and perpetuate their corrupt practices on the other.”
 
In concluding, the CECURR leader said, “we call on the government to at all times restrain itself from meddling in religious concerns. For our country to truly achieve the harmony it deserves we act decisively to avoid contradictions like the present one rearing their head, we cannot afford to continue to ignore or reject our reality.”
“Significantly, with the present economic recession; the free-fall in the prices of crude oil and the continual fall of the naira against the dollar, the dialectic step expected of government is to take drastic steps to revamp the economy. It would have made more economic sense if it were the Manufacturers and other actors on the economic scene that were granted concessions as this would facilitate their access to raw materials and will go a long way in mitigating the present crisis. It is only within a buoyant and healthy economic situation that almost all other activities of citizens can be best carried out with the lowest level of frictions.”
 
“The present regime has the golden opportunity to correct the aberration of the past; it can write its name in history in gold if it demonstrates political will by halting the interference of government in religious affairs beyond its constitutional responsibility.”
 
Wale Salami
Media Coordinator, CECURR
08141121208
August 10, 2016
 
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INDICTMENT OF INEC, MAURICE IWU, UDUAGHAN AND OTHERS: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST ACT ON THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION’S REPORT! – CACOL

The Coalition against Corrupt Leaders CACOL, has lauded the National Human Right Commission, NHRC, for revealing the perpetrators behind the electoral fraud committed in the 2007 and 2011 general elections, urging the commission not to relent until the culprits are judicially brought to book.

 

This came on the heels of a report by the NHRC that indicted the former governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan; amongst other ex-governors, the former Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu and other government agencies, political institutions and security agencies, as participants in the electoral manipulations that occasioned the 2007 and 2011 general elections. The NHRC released the report at its headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

 

Other indicted persons and institutions include former Governor of Edo State, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, a former Acting Governor of Kogi State, Clarence Obafemi, and the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in the 2015 election in Benue State, Mr. Terhemen Tarzoor.

 

Reacting to the development, the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran wondered with dismay how a case of political corruption of such magnitude as revealed by the NHRC report be treated as if the acts allegedly perpetrated by the indicted individuals and agencies are of no consequence.
Adeniran said, “Political corruption itself which the revelations from the NHRC report represent is the ‘father’ of economic corruption and other forms of corruption. The corruption in our society today stemmed from political corruption and manipulations. The mould of leadership that have ‘foisted’ itself on the people for so long have all benefitted for the subsisting political corrupt background upon which they rose to leadership. And this how they have ensured that corruption dominates almost all facets of our existence.”
“With corruption having its tentacles spread to every facet of our polity and encroaching the whole system; the impunity and effrontery of characters that ‘pulled off’ such appalling crimes under our noses represent assaults on our intelligence and national psyche.”

 

“And with the very controversial ex-INEC boss, Maurice Iwu and others in play here, the revelations by NHRC validates the assertions Nigerians have always made that our electoral system is constantly manipulated. The Judiciary, INEC, and some other agencies have failed in discharging their responsibilities fittingly; the breaching of our electoral laws, when it happens is done with impunity in our country, yet the government and its agencies hardly bat any eye-lid. Cases of electoral malfeasance are hardly investigated or prosecuted, therefore culprits are not punished to serve as deterrent to other perpetrators of electoral fraud and as a result, electoral manipulations still characterize the electoral processes in our country.”

 

The anti-corruption Crusader, Mr. Adeniran in concluding called on the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami,  the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris,  INEC and other relevant institutions, to swing into action on the NHRC report.

 

“Investigations must be further conducted on the findings of the Commission, prosecution of culprits must be done and severe disciplinary actions must be awarded against those found wanting after judicial process is completed. This is how we can forestall electoral misconduct in the future.”


Wale Salami

Media Coordinator, CACOL

08141121208

wale@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com,cacol@thehumanitycentre.org

August 16, 2016

 

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KATSINA STATE AND THE 720 GOATS: TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR’S PAINS TO PERPETRATE CORRUPTION – CACOL

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FORMER PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN SHOULD SPEAK UP OR FOREVER HOLD HIS PEACE – CACOL

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, has called on former President Goodluck Jonathan to speak out on the plethora of corruption allegations and charges against his former aides and some of his family members following the anti-corruption war embarked upon by his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

Speaking through its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran following the former President’s visit to incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday at the Presidential villa, the Coalition averred that if the interest of the country was much more important to the former President than whichever interests that he probably intends to protect by his silence, the logical thing is to speak out.

 

Adeniran asked, “we wonder how helpful the position of the former President is to the efforts to rid Nigeria of corruption? Or is his position perhaps based on possible culpability in some of the exposed corruption cases? As a Statesman, a former President and a Nigerian, it should be expected of him to stand clearly without equivocation on the side of the drive against corruption which has been one of the major banes that have stunted the country’s growth and development.”

 

The immediate past President, whose regime was and is still being perceived as profoundly corrupt, was reported to have told the media after his meeting with his successor that he was not ready to comment on the various cases of corruption so far instituted against his former ministers and aides by the present administration. He was reported to have evaded the question during an interview with State House correspondents. The former President said he would only speak on the corruption cases when all the matters had been resolved in courts.

 

The leader of CACOL said, “Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was reported to have said that there are too many cases such that it will not be fair to make comments adding he will do so at the appropriate time. This we see as unpatriotic of a Statesman who had been privileged to lead to the country. It would have been Statesmanlike and commendable if the former President expressed outrage over the tons of alleged corrupt acts that were perpetrated under his watch.”

 

“This his position as a matter of fact is giving more vent and strength to the insinuations that he was directly involved in the corrupt practices that happened during his tenure. Morally, as the Chief Accounting Officer of his regime i.e. person at the desk where the final buck stopped as President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces who superintended over a regime that has been described as the most corrupt in the history of country, the ex-president should have without hesitation clarified his role/s during his rule as they relate to the allegations.  This will clearly help the anti-corruption drive and the progress of the country. His refusal to comment is disappointing and sound more like holding the country to ransom or the “catch me, if you can” attitude and amounts to putting the personal interests of a very tiny few who are incurably corrupt over the vast majority and overall National interest.” Adeniran added.

 

In concluding, the CACOL leader said, “we are advising the former President to speak out to put the interest of country above any other interest. This will be more honourable and will demonstrate his ‘innocence’, sense of patriotism, genuineness and Statesmanship at this stage when the various plagues of corruption have battered our country almost into a pulp. The former President should remember that whether he talks now or not, the fight against corruption will continue and progress to fruition. What the people do not know today, they can definitely know tomorrow and by then it will be too late and useless for him to talk considering that he would indirectly have allowed the country to expend unnecessary energy, resources and time before the truth is brought to light. ‘Whatever is done in the dark, shall come light’ as a saying goes.”

 

 

Wale Salami

Media Coordinator, CACOL

08141121208

wale@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com,

cacol@ thehumanitycentre.org

August 4, 2016


 

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ADAMAWA KILLINGS: THE MURDEROUS RAMPAGE OF HERDSMEN MUST BE LEASHED NOW! – CECURR

Following yet another murderous rampage by herdsmen on the Kodomun community, Adamawa state, in the North East of the country which began on Monday; the Centre for Cultural and Religious Rights, CECURR has called on the Federal government to abandon its somewhat lackadaisical and insensitive disposition toward the incessant killings of innocent Nigerians.

CECURR speaking through its National Coordinator, Mr. Debo Adeniran, called on the government to embrace pro-activeness and decisiveness to immediately put a total halt to the killings that has persistently been perpetrated by Herdsmen along the length and breadth of the country for years.

Adeniran said “a government that is sensitive enough and knows its onions will value human lives and would have been outraged by the loss of lives and property whenever herdsmen carry out their barbaric bloodletting activities even before now.”

“One would have expected that by now government would have evolved an extra-ordinary security approach to the killings similar to the ones adopted against the Boko Haram insurgents, Arepo pipeline vandals/militants, the Niger/Delta militants etc considering that the activities of herdsmen across the country is gradually assuming terroristic dimensions.”

The media had reported resumed violence involving herdsmen and villagers at Kodomun village in Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State which claimed 15 lives and left many injured. Terror was said to have been unleashed on Kodomun village and some neighbouring villages on Monday at about 6p.m. when the villagers were resting after a burial of an old woman. The death toll stands at 30 at the moment according to media reports.

The National Coordinator of CECURR said “clearly, the modus operandi of these herdsmen reflects that the incessant attacks are consciously coordinated which make them go beyond the narrow confines of skirmishes. That the herdsmen carry sophisticated weapons and the incessantness of these gory occurrences also portrays an ‘army with a cause’. It appears the murderers are ahead of the government on this matter, as the herdsmen appear to operate freely without constraints and with bare-faced immunity.”

“We are therefore calling on government to dump the ‘kid gloves’ attitude towards the bloodletting activities of herdsmen. A look at the pattern of their operations reveals that the attacks cannot be treated in isolation as they cut across the country giving it a very bold outlook of a ‘nests of killers’ conjoined and working in a network. Theoretically, there is the dire need to interrogate and deconstruct the background to these tragic incidences which have remained incessant and apparently undying so as to be able to identify the immediate and remote causes. This is what will help in finding solutions to the trend of senseless killings by herdsmen.”

“The government must not wait for these incidences to occur before acting as it is already a ‘phenomenon’; anticipatory intelligence work must be on the top plate given that the groups involved in these killings and their locations are identifiable. This will make areas that are potentially prone to the violence to be isolated for preemptive security arrangements to forestall the further senseless killings.”

The leader of CECURR challenged the government be proactive in carrying out its responsibility as a government. “One of the most fundamental reasons governments are instituted in the first place is the protection of lives and property and to ensure the social well being of the citizenry as enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution. Where lives and property are being senselessly lost on such large scale as we have in this country can only mean one thing, and that is – the failure of government and governance! The time to act is overdue!”

 

Wale Salami

Media Coordinator, CECURR

08141121208

wale@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com,cacol@thehumanitycentre.org

August 3, 2016

 

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