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!