EARSHOT
That “Newspaper Of The Year 2006” Award
The Abuja
Newspaper Vendors’ Association (ANVA) gave Leadership the “Newspaper Of
The Year 2006” award in a solemn ceremony at the Federal Ministry of
Information, Abuja, last Thursday. This is not the first time Leadership
is winning an award but it is the first time those who sell the
newspapers in the nation’s capital will be giving the newspaper an
award. Even if I say it myself, this award and recognition is very
remarkable because it has come in less than one year into our going
daily. The crown is for, among other qualities, “Leadership’s
acceptability in the market and the amount of sales recorded daily”. I
have since dedicated the award to God. We thank Nigerians for this
incredible confidence reposed in us, as a result of which we have been
left with no choice but to continue to break new grounds.
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LAST WORD BY SAM
NDA-ISAIAH
Distinguished Senators And Honourable House Members, This Is The Time …
samndaisaiah@yahoo.com
Now that most PDP Senators and reps have been schemed out by the PDP
powers-that-be at the party’s primaries, this is the time for the final
move that might as well save Nigeria’s tottering democracy. In this
column, I have had cause to admonish Senators and House members several
times that if they do not act, at least in their own enlightened
self-interest and defend themselves by impeaching the president first,
they might as well start bidding themselves farewell from the National
Assembly.
The president is not one to forgive the affront that came in the form of
the fight against him and the third term. They not only humiliated him,
they proved that his power of Ghana-must-go was not omnipotent afterall.
Many even went ahead to “chop his money,” but refused to vote against
the will of the people and the spirit of the constitution. There were
directives in some states not to return some of the Senators to the
Senate chamber during the just concluded primaries. The story of Aminu
Bello Masari, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is already in
the public domain. Even though he should not be demoting himself seeking
the office of a governor, no one should deny him the constitutional
right of contesting. It was said that the president once looked at him
after he had been schemed out of the race and jocularly asked him “So
you too want a third term?” He also once threatened Senator Ben Obi, a
Senator with a good name and a well-known anti-third term crusader that
he should forget about returning to the Senate. Though the Senator
trivialised this by saying that the president was only joking, I know he
is nobody’s fool. A few of the anti-third Senators who escaped the
president’s hammer during the primaries will meet the president’s
roadblock again during the general elections next year if there will be
elections at all.
The president needs to deal with his third term opponents for two
reasons. First, as everyone already knows, Obasanjo will always seek
revenge over anything no matter how trivial. That is why General Ishaya
Bamaiyi and Major Hamza Al-Mustapha are still in prison today. That is
why Mohammed Abacha, who must pay for his father’s sins, spent sometime
also behind bars. Apart from revenge, there is another reason why the
president must ensure that all the anti-third term NASS members are
flushed out. As at the last two weeks, the president was still confiding
in a few of his shocked associates that he was still not sure of leaving
power next year. Don’t ask me how he wants to achieve that, but he is
currently playing with several scenarios. It is also clear that the
imbroglio that has been built into INEC’s voter’s process did not happen
because those in charge of INEC are such dumb asses (excuse my
Americanese). You think Prof. Maurice Iwu doesn’t know that it is such a
bad idea to continue with the current electronic voter registration
process?
So my candid advice once more is that the PDP Senators and House members
who have been schemed out should link up with their ANPP and AD
counterparts and start the process of removing the president from office
through constitutional means forthwith. And that should be considered as
a last ditch patriotic move to save the Fourth Republic. The PTDF
hearings, which we should all insist must take place in full public
view, provides the perfect alibi.
There will also be another benefit of initiating the impeachment process
against the president at this time. Even though Baba has warned against
the politics of Ghana-must-go lately, and the government has even
threatened to deal with all Ghana-must-go bearers, don’t believe him.
Ghana-must-go is still alive and well in Baba’s presidency. The threat
was meant only to scare off the enemy so that he can have the entire
field to himself. If the impeachment process starts today, the outgoing
Senators and Reps will be assured of the befitting retirement benefit
that flows through the generosity of Ghana-must-go. They should even
demand their own share of N50 million presidential bribes that they
missed during the third term bazaar.
But at the end of it all, the only counsel that should guide them is
Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim’s campaign slogan of universal application:
“Chop Their Money, But Don’t Vote For Them”.
Happy Birthday General T. Y.
General Danjuma marked his 69th birthday quietly in Lagos two
days ago. This is sincerely wishing him a very happy birthday. The
general is one Nigerian that many of us will continue to remain proud
of. He is a very clearheaded person with whom you could never sit down
to discuss short-changing Nigeria, much more talking about third term.
He is fair-minded and he loves Nigeria. He has remained consistent for
the 40 years he has been around the precincts of power. He has always
been more distinguished than all his peers, which must explain why he
finished first in the two careers (the military and business) that he
chose for himself.
May God continue to grant him good health and give him many more years
here on earth so that those who want to take Nigeria for granted will
think twice. Happy birthday, General!