Nigeria is too small for Igbo — Adamu Ciroma

Mallam Adamu Ciroma, journalist, administrator, politician, former minister of different portfolios and erstwhile governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is one of Nigeria’s leading statesmen. Ciroma, who was third in the 1978 presidential primaries of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, NPN, subsequently turned out to become a

close confidant of President Shehu Shagari and served as minister in the Second Republic. He was also a close confidant of President Olusegun Obasanjo in the Fourth Republic and a rallying figure in the northern opposition to the 2011 presidential bid of President Goodluck Jonathan. Ciroma has largely kept out of the public eye despite the active participation of his wife, Hayiya Maryam Ciroma in the affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
In this interview with Vanguard, he speaks on issues in his party, the PDP, the polity and among others. Excerpts:

By Henry Umoru
You have been quiet for long on issues. Why?
There is no issue and I don’t have to talk to the media or anybody.

As a founding father of the PDP, a lot of things went wrong and the party lost after 16 years in government. What do you think really happened?
You are a reporter and you have been following events more than me. Some of the things which caused the downfall of the party, have already been reported by you, and some of them were the cause of controversy in the party, for example about the presidential candidate where he comes from.

Do you also agree that there were also issues of lack of respect, lack of internal democracy in the party?
Everything about Nigerian politics and the formation of PDP and the management of affairs during the PDP period are known by you and indeed by everybody and everyone is even tired of them.

Now even the new government that has not been formed yet properly has not settled yet, has not done anything yet, why do you want to confuse us again about the PDP period? You know everything about PDP period; you know everything they are doing even now. I don’t want to be in the press because you have come to ask me questions.

How can we get to the end of the Boko Haram insurgency?
The President has asked the military to bring the insurgency to an end by the end of December, this is official, everybody has heard of it and everybody is praying for the success of the president and everybody wants to help. So we pray that what the President said comes true and we hope that this nation will be able to have peace.

Was setting a time line for it really feasible?
I am not a military personnel, I am not a member of the police force.

Worries about foreign exchange
I am not a member of any of the security agencies; so I am not the one to answer that question.

How would you assess the government of President Muhammadu Buhari?
I have just told you that the government that was elected after the elections has not yet been properly established; ministers have just been named and approved by the Senate, the ministers are still familiarizing themselves with their ministries; so it is too early to ask what they have done or how they are doing it.

In fact, a lot of the worries people have now, is about the economy and the foreign exchange and things of that nature. It is now for the president to look at what the people are saying and deal with the problems of which they are throwing up and it is his duty to do that.

How will you assess  the present economic team of Mr President and his economic blueprint? And if you are to proffer an economic advice, what would you recommend?
You go and ask Udo Udoma and the Minister of Finance to explain to you their positions on things as they have outlined their programme to the President.I am not governor of the CBN now; I have not been the governor of the CBN for a long time.

Even, I was the minister of finance a long time ago. So all I know is that people are worried about foreign exchange, about financial transactions, about banking and I know that the government knows about these problems; though I expect the government to deal with them.

Nigerians will want to share in your experience on how you succeeded as finance minister and as CBN governor.
I did not have the same problem with the present government. I am old fashioned. Our view was that finance must deal with funding government activities, paying government workers, paying for economic development and once you put an item in the budget, you may consider it already done because government must find the resources to do them; in fact they will not put anything in the budget if they cannot find the resources to do them.

So our own way of doing things was old fashioned and when we say things you know, they will be done. But the present government is just settling in. I don’t know their plans.

Part of their plans is to deregulate the price of petroleum which could see the price go up in future. Is there hope?
Udo Udoma laid out his views of what is likely going to happen to the economy. The Minister of Finance has said she expected there should be a lot of hard times next year.

Alleged arms deals
But I am sure that from now on, they are trying to ensure that only good things happen, that the problems they are afraid of will be avoided and I am sure that they are going to do their best.

Are you worried by the revelations on the alleged misuse of the security funds raised against the former National Security Adviser, Col. Samo Dasuki?
The issue of the alleged arms deals involving the former National Security Adviser is just something which is unfolding and you know that the matter is in court, the EFCC is trying to prosecute some of those involved and you can see the complication in public affairs where something begins with security adviser and ends up with the distribution of money at party level for the campaign.

So we are still in the middle of these things, we don’t know how it is going to end. You just for the time being take note that people are being arrested, some are being tried and some denying receiving money from the security adviser. So the issues are going to clarify themselves in due course when EFCC has finished trying those who are accused.

Col. Sambo Dasuki mentioned that some party leaders were involved and they used it as campaign funds for the party, was it right and during your time did it happen that money maybe from the NSA or so, will be directed to the party?
Anything in politics, no matter how you deal with it secretly, eventually becomes public, eventually people will get to know about it. What didn’t get exposed didn’t happen.

So the issues they are having now are issues that have happened. It didn’t happen before and that was why it was not exposed. And I don’t know the details of what they did.

The PDP recently organized a national conference supposedly to heal wounds? Did they get it right?
You know it more than myself, you were there, you reported the thing. I was not there, they said I would be there, but I was not there. Did they not say I would be there?

Why didn’t you attend?
I was not there because I wasn’t clear in my own mind what they were trying to do.

Meaning they didn’t come to explain, they didn’t visit you.
They visited me, they explained, but I was not convinced.

Immediately after the election, two prominent PDP leaders resigned their positions in the party Adamu Muazu and the next day the chairman BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, what is your take on this?
I will not. Adamu Muazu is alive and well, the former chairman of BoT is alive and well.

Winning and losing
It is more interesting to get them to talk than to ask me a retired person to talk about things which happened when I was not there.

Some people are still saying that PDP will bounce back. Do you think so?
Politics is a continuous event, whether you like or you don’t like it, there will always be politics. Even if the Army is there, there will still be politics, so politics will continue.

And parties in government will eventually lose; every party in government will have to lose, so there is nothing new really about the party losing election, it is nothing new. So losing elections, people get worried about this, what is there in losing election; what is new about losing election. If you are talking about democracy you are talking of winning and losing and anybody can lose, anybody can win; events of today can change tomorrow.

One of the problems of the party now is after Adamu Mu’azu resigned, stakeholders from the Northeast claimed that he should have been succeeded by someone from the region. What is your take on this?
I don’t know what you are talking about, I don’t know about it. I cannot comment on what I don’t know. Is it a new thing for PDP to change their position? In 2011 when Yar‘adua died, wasn’t it still the time of the north to continue with the presidency? Was it not changed?

So there is nothing new about these things. But everything you do have consequences and you must remember that you are going to pay for the consequences of your action.

In other words PDP paid the price for not allowing the north to continue
This is your own saying; we have already done the political side in 2011.

So, do you think the NWC did a good thing now by zoning the presidency in 2019 to the north? Where exactly in the north do you think it should go now because at least the North West has had its own share?
If you do the right thing you will reap good result; if you don’t do the right thing you pay.

What is your take on the intrigues that threw up an opposition party senator as Deputy President of the Senate and an APC Senate President that was opposed by his party?
All these things are happening in front of your eyes and the people who are doing it are still there, what is the need for a retired person like me to answer.

Nigerians will be happy to hear your views on this
No, it doesn’t follow that way. Just because I say I am right or just because I say something they are doing is wrong, it doesn’t follow that way.

Deal with the current events and the current event is that the National Assembly; they are just settling in; they have just finished appointing the chairmen of their committees and they have disputes between themselves. There is nothing new about that, it is normal.

How do you react to raging issues in the polity such as the agitation for Biafra, the faceoff with followers of Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky to the call for separation by the Afenifere following the kidnap of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae?
The education process up to University enables you appreciate how life unfolds and especially with your literature. You will read about how people think, how they create plays and things like that; a lot of it is drawn from real life.

Prescribed way of living
So you are talking about Nigeria, you are talking about people, living people, you are talking about people who are Muslims; you are talking about people who are Christians, you are talking about people who are pagans; you are talking about people who speak different languages, about Kanuris, about Fulanis in the Northeast; so life is dealing with all these complicated things, of people who are actually living.

There is no single prescribed way of how they are going to live. We are just Nigerians, we are not even called Nigerians, we are just black people living in this part. The British came and put us together and said we are Nigerians and eventually we all agreed with the British that we are Nigerians. And when we are unhappy, we say we are Biafrans or when we are not happy we will say we are Yorubas, but we say we are Nigerians.

So we are learning to live with one another, we accorded each other, so the way things will unfold, you cannot predict and you have to learn how to live with other people. Sometimes I wonder you Nigerians, are you real people? Don’t you know that we are coming together only a hundred years ago and we are still learning how to live with one another.

Economic development
By the time the Europeans came, even the Yoruba people, did not even learn how to live with each other, they were fighting and all over the north, they were fighting everywhere, there were tribal wars.

Now we are at peace because of economic development, social contacts and things like that are happening, they are changing our ways of thinking, they are changing our ways of life, education is changing us. And sometimes when you ask questions you seem to be unaware that Nigeria is a complicated place, but not only Nigeria, Britain is a complicated place.

Look at how a lot of people from all over the world now are going to Europe, they want to go and live and enjoy, the Europeans are resisting. So you Nigerians,    you must learn how to live with one another in such a way that you will understand that you have life that is you relate with each other in a friendly way, in a stable way, in an understanding way.

Biafra, this Biafra, I tell my Igbo friends, Biafra, for what? This Nigeria is too small for you Igbos. All over Nigeria you will see Igbos everywhere. If you go to Ghana, Igbos everywhere. If you go to Niger, Igbos everywhere. If you go to South Africa, Igbo everywhere; this Nigeria is too small for you. But now you want something smaller, what does it mean?

It means that people sometimes do things without thinking very deeply. But education is to enable you to think and to solve problems.

What the Igbos are saying is that they want Biafra; I just remember only recently the Yoruba leaders said they want to break, break from where. The Yoruba are probably the people who economically enjoy Nigeria more than anybody, economically. So why are they going? So my own problem with Nigeria is that many people say things without thinking.

BREAKING!!! GOV. ELECT DR. ALEX OTTI TO BE SWORN IN ANYTIME FROM NOW

A new spin to the Court of Appeal declaration of Dr. Alex Otti as Abia State Governor and the demand for his immediate swearing in is emerging now.

AFN reporter in Owerri gathered that the lawyers of Dr. Alex Otti are right now in the Court of Appeal working towards obtaining a certified copy of the judgement that nailed Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu on31st December, 2015.

One of the lawyers of Dr. Alex Otti interviewed in Owerri this morning has this to say ” We are here to get a copy of the judgement as you can see, once We get it, We are heading immediately to Umuahia for Dr. Alex Otti ‘s swearing in as Abia State Governor”.

Our reporter further asked “Is the judgement not suppose to wait till after the supreme court decision?”

Response :-
“No, the Court of Appeal decision must be respected, the Court mandated he takes over immediately. Once We get this judgement now, We are heading to CJ Abia State for immediate swearing in, if he refuses, any senior judge can do that also. Moreover, Sen. T. A Orji was sworn in by a senior judge as governor and not the chief judge.

Niger Deltans embrace Biafra, open liaison offices

People of Niger Delta have embraced Biafran Republic saying they are working in tandem with Chief Ralph Uwazurike led Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB), on the sensitization mission.


Disclosing the stand of the Niger Delta people, the leader of the MASSOB, Chief Solomon Chukwu, during interview with Vanguard Newspaper, weekend, said that they had embarked on sensitization visit to all cities in the Biafra territories where they had also opened liaison offices.

Chukwu who commended the support of the people of Niger Delta to the struggle to actualize an Independent State of Biafra also dismissed the insinuations that the people of the Niger Delta betrayed Igbos during the Nigerian Civil war saying the major betrayers of Biafra were even people from the South East.
“People like Ojukwu’s second in command, Gen. Philip Effiong, fought for Biafra till the end. My father and many strong men of Niger Delta also fought for Biafra. I’m a Biafran from Ikwerre extraction in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

He however, declared himself a true son of Niger Delta, even as he urged people to forget about the role of people like Ken Saro Wiwa adding that in the mainstream of Biafra, many Niger Deltans such as Asari Dokubo, Kalada George, Uche Okwukwu among others stood to be counted.

“Before now, everybody was saying Biafra is for Ndigbo and South East, but today the story has changed, the entire people of Niger Delta have realised the need to actualize Biafra. Again, with what Uwazurike has done in shifting the leadership of MASSOB to the Niger Delta, everybody has also seen that Biafra is not the business of the South East alone. People have embraced Biafra and it keeps expanding more than what they knew,” he said.

The Niger Delta MASSOB leader also said that contrary to what was generally believed, today, people from all over the former Eastern region and Niger Delta now attend MASSOB meetings.

“Recently, we were in Warri, Delta State where the people received us with a rousing welcome. They were jubilating that this time; there will be no dichotomy again.

“There will be no divide and rule; that Ikwerre is not Biafra or Niger Delta is not Biafra. The former Eastern region and Niger Delta are working in unison to actualize an independent Biafra,” he added.

DEVELOPING STORY!!! Ikpeazu Condemns Move to Swear-in Otti as Abia Governor Today

Abia State government has alerted the public to an alleged plan to swear in Dr. Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as the new governor on today based on last Thursday’s Appeal Court verdict that declared him as the winner of the governorship held in the state.

In the verdict, the court order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Otti with his certificate of return.

The Information Commissioner, Comrade Bonnie Iwuoha, in a statement, warned those he said were “planning to have the APGA governorship candidate, Otti, sworn-in illegally today to desist from such dastardly act as the state government will not condone it”.

The commissioner, who said the government’s warning was sequel to rumours about plans to swear in Otti, stressed that Abia and her citizens believe strongly in democracy and the rule of law.

According to him, “anything outside the rule of law will be calling for anarchy and government would not want a breach of the peace in the state.

“No one will be allowed to take steps to disrupt the peace in the state. Those planning the illegal swearing in should desist as such an act will be stoutly resisted by the people.”

Meanwhile, the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Senator Emma Nwaka, has described the Appeal Court verdict as a perverse judgment “that will certainly be upturned by the Supreme Court”.

Biafra: Niger Delta didn’t betray Ndigbo —MASSOB

Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Solomon  Chukwu, has said that contrary to the widely held belief in the South East, the people of

the Niger Delta area did not betray Ndigbo during the Nigerian Civil war.

Chukwu in an interview with Vanguard, said; “During the war, people said the Niger Delta denied Biafra. It is not true; the major betrayers of Biafra were even from the South East than the South South bloc. People like Ojukwu’s second in command, Gen. Philip Effiong, fought for Biafra till the end. My father and many strong men of Niger Delta also fought for Biafra. I’m a Biafran from Ikwerre extraction in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

“I’m a true son of Niger Delta. Forget about the role of people like Ken Saro Wiwa, but in the mainstream of Biafra, many Niger Deltans stood to be counted. Today, they still support Biafra. Now, Asari Dokubo, Kalada George, Uche Okwukwu, among other great Niger Delta sons are in support of Biafra.

“Before now, everybody was saying Biafra is for Ndigbo and South East, but today the story has changed, the entire people of Niger Delta have realised the need to actualize Biafra. Again, with what Uwazurike has done in shifting the leadership of MASSOB to the Niger Delta, everybody has also seen that Biafra is not the business of the South East alone. People have embraced Biafra and it keeps expanding more than what they knew.”

He disclosed that MASSOB had embarked on sensitization visit to all cities in the Biafran territories where it had also opened liaison offices and commended the support of the people of Niger Delta to the struggle to actualize an independent state of Biafra.

“Today, people from all over the former Eastern region and Niger Delta now attend MASSOB meetings. Recently, we were in Warri, Delta State where the people received us with a rousing welcome. They were jubilating that this time, there will be no dichotomy again.  There will be no divide and rule; that Ikwerre is not Biafra or Niger Delta is not Biafra. The former Eastern region and Niger Delta are working in unison to actualize an independent Biafra.”

Kanu, Dasuki : NBA, SANs differ with Buhari, Sagay

ABUJA— Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and some leading lawyers in the country have disagreed with the Presidential Committee on anti-corruption led by Professor Itse Sagay over President Muhammadu Buhari’s insistence that the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu who are facing separate criminal charges, would not be released from custody, despite valid court orders that granted them bail.


In his submission on the president’s stance, Professor Sagay argued that the Federal Government was not in violation of the rule of law as any bail granted an accused is completely related to the offence which he is charged before the court.

The NBA and some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, however, contended that the position the president took was offensive to the tenets of constitutional democracy, rule of law and presumption of innocence of an accused person. They argued that re-arresting someone immediately after the court has granted such person bail makes mockery of our democracy which is presumably anchored on the rule of law and separation of powers.”

Buhari had in his first presidential media chat at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, adduced reasons why the Federal Government would not readily allow both Dasuki and Kanu to regain their freedom from detention.
Whereas Kanu, who is facing a six-count charge bordering on treason, has been in detention since October 14, 2015, when he was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, the former NSA, who is facing multiple charges before three different courts, was re-arrested last week at the gate of Kuje Prison, Abuja, shortly after he perfected all his bail conditions.

Responding to a question during the media chat, President Buhari, justified the continued incarceration of the two accused persons. He said considering the weight of the allegations against them, they could jump bail if granted any form of freedom.

He said: “Technically, if you see the kinds of atrocities these people are believed to have committed against the country, if they are given the opportunity, they will jump bail. And the one you are calling Kanu, do you know he had two passports – one Nigerian, one British – and he came into the country without any? Do you know he brought equipment into this country and was broadcasting Radio Biafra? Which kind of government do you think should harbour that kind of person? There is a treasonable felony suit against him and I hope the court will listen to the case.”

Rule of law must be respected — NBA
Speaking to Vanguard, yesterday, on the issue, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Augustine Alegeh, SAN, said “government has a need to respect the rule of law. As a matter of fact, there is need for government to be in the front burner in the respect for the rule of law. Whoever is unhappy, including government with a pronouncement of the court, has the opportunity of still going back to that court, for the court’s decision to be vacated or appeal to a higher court, but not to undertake to ignore it or carrying on as though nothing has happened or that the court’s order is not binding. That is an unacceptable principle in the rule of law”.

According to him, “an agenda for the respect of rule of law is a must for the government. For specific cases in court, it’s not the business of the Nigerian Bar Association to make comments on them, because we have our members on both side and they can decide to speak on the matter, but on the general principle of rule of law, as an association, it is one area we are passionate about, which we feel is very essential.

“So, both government and citizens must subscribe to the principles of rule of law and doing otherwise is not an option. You cannot pick and choose which court order to obey, if you try to do that, you are clearly undermining the principle of rule of law and the obvious consequence will not help the society in anyway.
We believe that from our interaction with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, they do not have an option but to obey court orders. You must bear in mind that the courts are there to settle disputes between individuals as well as between government and individuals, so it is important that all parties respect the rule of law and judgments and decision of courts as that is one area we will not compromise”.

‘Uncle Had S*x with us Inside his Car’

Residents of a building located at Onueke Town, Ebonyi State, have been living like brothers and sisters for years. Although most of them met in the compound, they had however, developed love and affection for one another. A visitor wouldn’t be able to differentiate the kids.

There was rapport and easy camaraderie among them. The kids are often seen dashing from one apartment to another. The children acted like kids of the same parents.

But in this Garden of Eden, resides a serpent, Mr. Nwoja. The unsuspecting neighbours didn’t know his true nature until one of their children started having pains inside her private part. The girl’s parents almost collapsed in shock when the child revealed that Nwoja had serially raped her. The man didn’t just insert his fingers into the girls’ private parts, he also inserted his manhood. His wife was said to have travelled to the village since the news of the incident broke out.



Other parents quickly rallied round, comforting the mother of the girl and dishing out advice. Their good advice however ceased in shock after more kids in the compound revealed that the man raped them too. When the victims were counted, they were about nine girls. While mothers took to crying, fathers sharpened their swords. Others tried to calm frayed nerves. Seething fathers were finally persuaded to take the matter to the police. What makes a man to resort to defiling nine female children?