The house where Precious Madu set himself on fire A 25-year-old man, Tochukwu Madu, has set himself ablaze after a failed attempt ...
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Showing posts with label A.P.C News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A.P.C News. Show all posts
Elect Senator Bukola Saraki Presidency: We can’t succumb to intimidation, harassment, Saraki’s loyalists insist
Senators-elect working for the election of Senator Bukola Saraki yesterday vowed to resist any form of imposition, intimidation and haras...
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Why my lover deceived me, sold our son for N.3m
When Kelechi Ugo met Kanayo several years back at Comprehensive Secondary School, Amakohia in Imo State, she saw a young man with a promi...
Read More
THE 'BUHARIAZATION' OF NIGERIA
By Abdulhameed I always feel enthused with the words of the executive governor of Imo state, Chief Owel...
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Showing posts with label A.P.C News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A.P.C News. Show all posts
Monday, 8 June 2015
Photo: Man Sets Self Ablaze after Failed Attempt to Kill Mother in Umuahia
| The house where Precious Madu set himself on fire |
The tragedy, which occurred on Wednesday, also led to the razing of their bungalow situated on No. 12 Bonny Street in Umuahia, Abia State.
Part of the building, located at the heart of the state capital, serves as stores for traders, who have converted the street to a mini-market after the relocation of the Umuahia Main Market from a nearby location to Ubani.
According to an eyewitness and a tenant in the building, Mrs. Precious Madu, the culprit, a notorious Indian hemp smoker, attacked the mother around 10:30 pm after locking her up in their two-room
apartment.
Another source said he inflicted several deep cuts in the mother’s head and upper arm until she slumped and pretended to be dead before he left her to kill their dog, which was barking inside the compound.
But before he could return to complete his mission on the mother, the woman had managed to escape through the window.
The culprit was said to have made a move to slaughter his elder brother whom he had also locked up in another room, but the brother was smart enough to escape through the ceiling.
The police were quickly alerted by neighbours who noticed the strange development.
When the police arrived the scene and started searching for the suspect, he was said to have disappeared into one of the rooms in their house where he securely locked up himself.
He was said to have poured fuel on himself and set himself on fire that also gulped the entire building.
“As the police were looking for him and could not see him, what we noticed suddenly was that smoke started coming out from one of the rooms. Before it was broken, the whole house was already up in flames. When finally, the door to the room was broken, he was found burning and efforts to save him proved abortive as he died immediately as a result of severe burns,” the source said.Mrs. Madu (tenant), who said she lost all her property to the inferno, appealed to the government and public-spirited individuals to come to her rescue and that of other tenants, adding that nobody could save a pin from the house.
When Southern City News visited the scene of the incident on Thursday, charred cloths and tailoring materials were observed in one of the rooms, which served as a workshop for a tailor. The rooms were also littered with burnt household items and personal belongings while the roof of the house was damaged by fire.
Meanwhile, the mother is currently hospitalised at the intensive care unit of the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where doctors are still battling to save her life, following deep machete cuts inflicted on her by the deranged son.
An officer of the state fire services, Mr. Chukwuemeka Okezie, who helped to put out the fire, told a correspondent that if not for the timely intervention of his men, the fire would have spread to other buildings in the neighborhood.
He called for quick and united action against drug abuse and Indian hemp consumption, especially among youths and observed that drug abuse had been on the increase nationwide.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ezekiel Onyeke, confirmed the incident, describing it as ‘very unfortunate’.
Onyeke said the wounded mother had been responding to treatment and appealed to parents to report any of their children or wards suspected to be consuming any form of hard drug to the law enforcement agents for necessary actions to avoid any form of colossal damage.
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Elect Senator Bukola Saraki Presidency: We can’t succumb to intimidation, harassment, Saraki’s loyalists insist
Senators-elect working for the election of Senator Bukola Saraki
yesterday vowed to resist any form of imposition, intimidation and
harassment from external bodies in a bid to elect the President of the
Senate for the 8th assembly.
The Like Minds group which is supporting Senator Saraki in a statement in Abuja warned the party’s leadership to beware of the ‘banana peels’ that was witnessed in the fifth senate.
The statement which was signed by Dino Melaye, spokesperson of the
group and the former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani
Yerima and made available to Saturday Vanguard also challenged the
Senate Unity Forum which is backing Senator Ahmed Lawan to produce the
list of Senators supporting their camp.
The Like Minds group also said that the argument that only the most ranking Senator should contest for the Senate presidency is laughable wandering when such an became fashionable.
The statement read in parts, “In view of the controversy on the numbers of the senators supporting Senator Bukola Saraki and Ahmed Lawan for the senate presidency of the 8th senate, we challenge them (Unity Forum) in the same manner to publicly exhibit the names and signatories they claim that consist of their supports in the senate.
“We equally urge them to consolidate it further by submitting the names of the senators that have passed a resolution endorsing Ahmed Lawan as the next senate president as we, the senators of The Like Minds did when we submitted the names and signatures of the 34 senators endorsing Senator Saraki on May 24 2015 as the next senate president.
“Recall that on Tuesday this week, they promised to release to the public and indeed the Press Corp of the National Assembly the names and signatures of 40 senators purportedly supporting Ahmed Lawan and George Akume, but as at today, the number has changed to 35 and yet they cannot explain to the public the reason for the delay and change of numbers from 40 to 35.
“We challenge them to publicly do same by publishing the list and forward same to the National chairman of our great party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun. As democracy continues to be game of numbers, Senator Bukola Saraki is the President of the 8th senate.
“On two occasions, APC as the ruling political party has called for due internal democracy through primary elections, on the same two occasions, they have evaded these primary elections to determine the Senate President of the 8th senate.
“Their latest presentation to our National Chairman, that ranking should be a criteria for the selection of the next Senate President is fool hardy to suggest because if Ahmed Lawan is the most ranking senator where then was he when George Akume was selected the minority leader of the senate.”
On the ranking issue, The Like Minds group said, “If ranking is the way to go, it should be across party line as Senator David Mark is the most ranking senator so far among the senators of the 8th senate. The inconsistence that they have displayed, only suggest to the fact that they do not have the numbers as they claim.
“Recall also that Senator Ken Nnamani became the senate president, despite the fact that he was not a ranking senator. Ditto, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and others. George Akume when he contested David Mark (Sixth Senate) in 2007 was not a ranking senator when he became the senate minority leader.
“Senators must be allowed to choose their own leaders as impositions will only bring the ‘Banana Peel’ back to the Senate. We should adhere to the rules of the senate in choosing the next senate president. In so doing, experience, acceptability and merit should be of prime importance.
“Imposition, harassment, intimidation and name dropping as well as threat will not produce the senate president of the 8th senate.
“We preach change, we must act change. Our resolve is total and our commitment is unshaken.”
The Like Minds group which is supporting Senator Saraki in a statement in Abuja warned the party’s leadership to beware of the ‘banana peels’ that was witnessed in the fifth senate.
Dino Melaye
The Like Minds group also said that the argument that only the most ranking Senator should contest for the Senate presidency is laughable wandering when such an became fashionable.
The statement read in parts, “In view of the controversy on the numbers of the senators supporting Senator Bukola Saraki and Ahmed Lawan for the senate presidency of the 8th senate, we challenge them (Unity Forum) in the same manner to publicly exhibit the names and signatories they claim that consist of their supports in the senate.
“We equally urge them to consolidate it further by submitting the names of the senators that have passed a resolution endorsing Ahmed Lawan as the next senate president as we, the senators of The Like Minds did when we submitted the names and signatures of the 34 senators endorsing Senator Saraki on May 24 2015 as the next senate president.
“Recall that on Tuesday this week, they promised to release to the public and indeed the Press Corp of the National Assembly the names and signatures of 40 senators purportedly supporting Ahmed Lawan and George Akume, but as at today, the number has changed to 35 and yet they cannot explain to the public the reason for the delay and change of numbers from 40 to 35.
“We challenge them to publicly do same by publishing the list and forward same to the National chairman of our great party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun. As democracy continues to be game of numbers, Senator Bukola Saraki is the President of the 8th senate.
“On two occasions, APC as the ruling political party has called for due internal democracy through primary elections, on the same two occasions, they have evaded these primary elections to determine the Senate President of the 8th senate.
“Their latest presentation to our National Chairman, that ranking should be a criteria for the selection of the next Senate President is fool hardy to suggest because if Ahmed Lawan is the most ranking senator where then was he when George Akume was selected the minority leader of the senate.”
On the ranking issue, The Like Minds group said, “If ranking is the way to go, it should be across party line as Senator David Mark is the most ranking senator so far among the senators of the 8th senate. The inconsistence that they have displayed, only suggest to the fact that they do not have the numbers as they claim.
“Recall also that Senator Ken Nnamani became the senate president, despite the fact that he was not a ranking senator. Ditto, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and others. George Akume when he contested David Mark (Sixth Senate) in 2007 was not a ranking senator when he became the senate minority leader.
“Senators must be allowed to choose their own leaders as impositions will only bring the ‘Banana Peel’ back to the Senate. We should adhere to the rules of the senate in choosing the next senate president. In so doing, experience, acceptability and merit should be of prime importance.
“Imposition, harassment, intimidation and name dropping as well as threat will not produce the senate president of the 8th senate.
“We preach change, we must act change. Our resolve is total and our commitment is unshaken.”
Why my lover deceived me, sold our son for N.3m
When Kelechi Ugo met Kanayo several years back at Comprehensive
Secondary School, Amakohia in Imo State, she saw a young man with a
promising future. She did not, in her wildest imagination, envisage that
situations would make him harm her in any way. Unfortunately, the
reverse turned out to be the case as her heartthrob ended up not only
abandoning her but sold their two-year-old son for a paltry N300,000.
My ordeal
Narrating her ordeal, the 28-year-old catering apprentice told Crime Guard: “I met Kanayo while we were in secondary school in Imo State and we started dating. After our secondary education, we went our separate ways. As fate would have it, we became reunited in 2006 during the Christmas season and we continued from where we stopped. Later, I got pregnant for him and informed him and he accepted.
“While I was pregnant, he came to see my parents and informed them that he was responsible for putting me in the family way. After that, he never came back and I didn’t hear from him till I put to bed. Immediately I delivered, he started calling me, but I refused to pick his calls because I felt abandoned. But later, I began to pick his calls and pardoned him on the condition that he should come to my family and perform all the necessary things. But he never did, and that was why my family disapproved of our relationship.
They warned me severally but I kept on believing that when things got better for him, he would do the necessary things. So, we kept seeing each other. Even when things were difficult for him, I stood by him. And when he had accident and was hospitalised, I kept visiting him.”
Formal hand over of our child
‘’After he recovered from the accident, he informed me that he wanted his elder sister to take our son, Samuel, while we relocate to Lagos. Initially, I refused because I didn’t like the idea of living separately with my two-year-old son. I later agreed after much persuasion that it was for our greater good and that in less than three months, when he could adequately provide for our needs, our son would come and live with us in Lagos. Also, I discovered that I was pregnant for our second child and there was no way I could refuse to go with him.
“However, I did not know that the woman he introduced to me as his elder sister, is a retired nurse who specializes in child racketeering. Kanayo never told me that he was going to sell my son. All he said was that he wanted Samuel to live with his elder sister in Owerri while we move to Lagos so that he could get a better job.”
Relocation to Lagos
“When we got to Lagos, we lodged in an hotel at Ikotun before a friend of his, Jerry, helped us to secure an apartment which Kanayo paid for. Barely a week in the new place, he said he got a painting contract in Owerri and he travelled. He left me with my second pregnancy and no feeding money but sent Jerry to give me N1,000.
All this while, I wasn’t myself knowing that my son was far away in Owerri. I kept demanding that he bring my son back to Lagos. When I kept pestering him, he assured me that his sister’s husband would bring my son back to me in Lagos.”
“That same day, I called him at about 6pm and he said that his sister’s husband and my son were involved in an accident and they died.
I called his sister who confirmed the incident. It was then I cried to Jerry and his wife who live in the neighbourhood and told them what had happened. They consoled me and assured me that all would be well. They however shocked me by revealing that Kanayo had told them that he was never going to marry me, that I was not presentable and not up to his standard. But deep inside me, I refused to believe that my son was dead.”
Abandoned in Lagos
“So, when the landlord came to complain that Kanayo called him to refund the house rent because of the condition of the bathroom, which Kanayo had complained about before, I got scared. It became obvious that he wanted to abandon me again here in Lagos like he did back home, during my first pregnancy. Feeling abandoned in a strange land, it was then I told the landlord of how he gave our son to his sister and later claimed they died in an accident. After narrating the incident to the landlord, he advised me to make an entry at the police station, which I did. We had to trick Kanayo to come to Lagos. The landlord called him to come and take back the money he paid for the apartment. And he fell for it.”
Landlord intervenes
“The landlord and I planned it. Immediately he arrived, police from Ikotun Division arrested him. After thorough interrogation, he revealed that he used our son to borrow money. When the case was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Ikeja, he admitted that he actually sold our son to a woman in Port Harcourt. Detectives then proceeded to Port Harcourt and arrested the nurse who provided the telephone number of the woman whom she claimed she sold my son to.
“The police then used the number to trace the woman to Nkanu in Enugu State and arrested her together with her sister-in-law that introduced her to the nurse. They were also able to recover my son.”
Nurse tells her story
In her defence, the 45-year-old retired nurse who masterminded the entire arrangement told Crime Guard: “I am a mother of three from Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State. I reside at Satellite village in Port Harcourt. I don’t operate a baby factory, but while I worked as a nurse in a hospital, the doctor who is now late was involved in this kind of business. Sometime ago, Cecilia called me on phone that she wanted to adopt a baby boy. I told her that none was available but I assured her that as soon as anyone was available, I would reach her. So, when my brother, Emmanuel, called that his friend, Kanayo, wanted to sell his son, I contacted Cecilia who was excited about the development.
“We agreed to do the transaction in Owerri. Kanayo came with his wife, Kelechi, and son. Initially, she was reluctant to let go of her son but eventually, she did as I claimed to be the elder brother of Kanayo. We paid Kanayo N450,000 out of the N650,000 we collected from Mrs Cecelia Nwatu. I knew that the baby was being sold and I knew that it is a crime to sell a child. The reason I agreed to be part of the transaction is because it was the father of the child that decided to sell his child.
“Before the transaction, he signed a written agreement that he was selling off his child. My brother, Emmanuel, collected N100,000 from the remaining N200,000 and gave me N100,000. I used part of the money to pay my children’s school fees and invested the remaining amount into my business. I was arrested in Port Harcourt. I didn’t know where Cecilia who bought the child lives. So, I gave the police her phone number.”
Buyer opens up
Cecilia Nwatu, 42, a mother of three who bought the child also spoke to Crime Guard: “I live in Nkanu, Enugu State. I am married with three children, two female and a male. I am a civil servant and I work at Nkanu Local Government Council. For long, my husband and I had been trying to adopt a male child since our 10-year-old only son is disabled. He is unable to talk. We wanted a son to bear the family name. I was deceived. I told Nkechi, the nurse, that I needed a child to adopt. When she brought the child, I asked if that was how adoption is done. She told me that they have several processes involved in adoption and this was one of them. I loved the child as my own and cared for him as my own child. That was why I named him Tochukwu (Praise God), and put him in a private nursery school.
“My husband is in the hospital. He is paralysed and has been in the hospital for three months. I am the one taking care of him all this while. If I had known, I would not have gotten involved in this.” Weeping profusely, she lamented that she was misled by Nkechi Obi, who told her that it was a legal process of adoption.
“My children”, she concluded, “are aged 13, 12 and 10 respectively.”
Sister-in-law of buyer speaks
The sister-in-law to the buyer, Gladys Nwobodo, 38, who accompanied her during the transaction, also spoke to Crime Guard: “I have three children. The woman who bought the child is my brother’s wife. She asked me to accompany her to Owerri to collect the child. On our way back to Enugu State, she told me she paid N650,000. The reason she decided to adopt the child is because her only son is living with disability. We thought it was a legal adoption process we didn’t know it wasn’t.”
My ordeal
Narrating her ordeal, the 28-year-old catering apprentice told Crime Guard: “I met Kanayo while we were in secondary school in Imo State and we started dating. After our secondary education, we went our separate ways. As fate would have it, we became reunited in 2006 during the Christmas season and we continued from where we stopped. Later, I got pregnant for him and informed him and he accepted.
“While I was pregnant, he came to see my parents and informed them that he was responsible for putting me in the family way. After that, he never came back and I didn’t hear from him till I put to bed. Immediately I delivered, he started calling me, but I refused to pick his calls because I felt abandoned. But later, I began to pick his calls and pardoned him on the condition that he should come to my family and perform all the necessary things. But he never did, and that was why my family disapproved of our relationship.
They warned me severally but I kept on believing that when things got better for him, he would do the necessary things. So, we kept seeing each other. Even when things were difficult for him, I stood by him. And when he had accident and was hospitalised, I kept visiting him.”
Formal hand over of our child
‘’After he recovered from the accident, he informed me that he wanted his elder sister to take our son, Samuel, while we relocate to Lagos. Initially, I refused because I didn’t like the idea of living separately with my two-year-old son. I later agreed after much persuasion that it was for our greater good and that in less than three months, when he could adequately provide for our needs, our son would come and live with us in Lagos. Also, I discovered that I was pregnant for our second child and there was no way I could refuse to go with him.
“However, I did not know that the woman he introduced to me as his elder sister, is a retired nurse who specializes in child racketeering. Kanayo never told me that he was going to sell my son. All he said was that he wanted Samuel to live with his elder sister in Owerri while we move to Lagos so that he could get a better job.”
Kanayo, Kelechi and their son
“When we got to Lagos, we lodged in an hotel at Ikotun before a friend of his, Jerry, helped us to secure an apartment which Kanayo paid for. Barely a week in the new place, he said he got a painting contract in Owerri and he travelled. He left me with my second pregnancy and no feeding money but sent Jerry to give me N1,000.
All this while, I wasn’t myself knowing that my son was far away in Owerri. I kept demanding that he bring my son back to Lagos. When I kept pestering him, he assured me that his sister’s husband would bring my son back to me in Lagos.”
“That same day, I called him at about 6pm and he said that his sister’s husband and my son were involved in an accident and they died.
I called his sister who confirmed the incident. It was then I cried to Jerry and his wife who live in the neighbourhood and told them what had happened. They consoled me and assured me that all would be well. They however shocked me by revealing that Kanayo had told them that he was never going to marry me, that I was not presentable and not up to his standard. But deep inside me, I refused to believe that my son was dead.”
Abandoned in Lagos
“So, when the landlord came to complain that Kanayo called him to refund the house rent because of the condition of the bathroom, which Kanayo had complained about before, I got scared. It became obvious that he wanted to abandon me again here in Lagos like he did back home, during my first pregnancy. Feeling abandoned in a strange land, it was then I told the landlord of how he gave our son to his sister and later claimed they died in an accident. After narrating the incident to the landlord, he advised me to make an entry at the police station, which I did. We had to trick Kanayo to come to Lagos. The landlord called him to come and take back the money he paid for the apartment. And he fell for it.”
Landlord intervenes
“The landlord and I planned it. Immediately he arrived, police from Ikotun Division arrested him. After thorough interrogation, he revealed that he used our son to borrow money. When the case was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Ikeja, he admitted that he actually sold our son to a woman in Port Harcourt. Detectives then proceeded to Port Harcourt and arrested the nurse who provided the telephone number of the woman whom she claimed she sold my son to.
“The police then used the number to trace the woman to Nkanu in Enugu State and arrested her together with her sister-in-law that introduced her to the nurse. They were also able to recover my son.”
Nurse tells her story
In her defence, the 45-year-old retired nurse who masterminded the entire arrangement told Crime Guard: “I am a mother of three from Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State. I reside at Satellite village in Port Harcourt. I don’t operate a baby factory, but while I worked as a nurse in a hospital, the doctor who is now late was involved in this kind of business. Sometime ago, Cecilia called me on phone that she wanted to adopt a baby boy. I told her that none was available but I assured her that as soon as anyone was available, I would reach her. So, when my brother, Emmanuel, called that his friend, Kanayo, wanted to sell his son, I contacted Cecilia who was excited about the development.
“We agreed to do the transaction in Owerri. Kanayo came with his wife, Kelechi, and son. Initially, she was reluctant to let go of her son but eventually, she did as I claimed to be the elder brother of Kanayo. We paid Kanayo N450,000 out of the N650,000 we collected from Mrs Cecelia Nwatu. I knew that the baby was being sold and I knew that it is a crime to sell a child. The reason I agreed to be part of the transaction is because it was the father of the child that decided to sell his child.
“Before the transaction, he signed a written agreement that he was selling off his child. My brother, Emmanuel, collected N100,000 from the remaining N200,000 and gave me N100,000. I used part of the money to pay my children’s school fees and invested the remaining amount into my business. I was arrested in Port Harcourt. I didn’t know where Cecilia who bought the child lives. So, I gave the police her phone number.”
Buyer opens up
Cecilia Nwatu, 42, a mother of three who bought the child also spoke to Crime Guard: “I live in Nkanu, Enugu State. I am married with three children, two female and a male. I am a civil servant and I work at Nkanu Local Government Council. For long, my husband and I had been trying to adopt a male child since our 10-year-old only son is disabled. He is unable to talk. We wanted a son to bear the family name. I was deceived. I told Nkechi, the nurse, that I needed a child to adopt. When she brought the child, I asked if that was how adoption is done. She told me that they have several processes involved in adoption and this was one of them. I loved the child as my own and cared for him as my own child. That was why I named him Tochukwu (Praise God), and put him in a private nursery school.
“My husband is in the hospital. He is paralysed and has been in the hospital for three months. I am the one taking care of him all this while. If I had known, I would not have gotten involved in this.” Weeping profusely, she lamented that she was misled by Nkechi Obi, who told her that it was a legal process of adoption.
“My children”, she concluded, “are aged 13, 12 and 10 respectively.”
Sister-in-law of buyer speaks
The sister-in-law to the buyer, Gladys Nwobodo, 38, who accompanied her during the transaction, also spoke to Crime Guard: “I have three children. The woman who bought the child is my brother’s wife. She asked me to accompany her to Owerri to collect the child. On our way back to Enugu State, she told me she paid N650,000. The reason she decided to adopt the child is because her only son is living with disability. We thought it was a legal adoption process we didn’t know it wasn’t.”
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
THE 'BUHARIAZATION' OF NIGERIA
If it were to be translated to Arabic language, Okechukwu would mean 'Hibatul-Lah' or 'Dhaadul-Lah', meaning, 'A provision from Allah'. Buhari'a' in some Igbo dialect simply means 'to turn around'. 'Turn around' is a phrasal verb which denotes changing a situation from the present condition – usually bad – to a better condition. Chief Okorocha observed at the Presidential campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Owerri, the Imo state capital that Nigeria was direly in need of 'Buhariazation'. He said, 'K'anyi Buharia or Bugaria Nigeria', meaning, 'Let us turn around Nigeria'. So, the 'Buhariazation' of Nigeria means the turning around of Nigeria from its present deplorable condition to the better.
The attachment of the Imo state government to a united Nigeria has misled some Igbo people to call him a “mallam” or whatever name. That is by the way. It is their feeling that Rochas supports Muslims and uplifts Islamic activities. No Muslim, to best of my knowledge, called former and incumbent Presidents, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan a Bishop, a Reverend Father or a Pastor for their unprecedented massive political and socio-economic empowerment of the Northern Christian minority during their regimes. No Muslim has ever referred to as Pastor those Northern Muslim Governors who have allowed the Northern Christian minority to be appointed in this country as Ministers, Director General of Federal Government agencies, Chairmen of Boards, ambassadors of Nigeria to many foreign missions, and even deputy governors and local government chairmen in their respective states. Rochas has NOT been of any additional advantage to the
Muslims of Imo state or South East more than the political freedom and recognition the Igbo/Northern minority Christians have enjoyed in their respective birth/business places in the north. Investigations have shown that most alleged religious wars in the north were often stage-managed, not by the government and not to marginalize the Northern Christian minority.
Let us be sincere and face the reality. In core Northern states of Nigeria, there have been Christian governors, deputy governors, commissioners, local government chairmen. Think of any appointive political position at the federal level. Think of any socio-economic empowerment programme. Think of relevance in the country. Northern Christians have had it better. So, on what grounds would any person call governor Rochas a 'mallam'. Is it because he does not sponsor pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, just as he doesn't for Christians? Or because he cannot find any Muslim of Igbo extraction in his state worthy/qualified for appointment into his government? Or because he has refused to demolish the Mosque where Muslims worship? Or because he strongly believes in the 'Buhariazation' of Nigeria? Let there be peace and understanding in this country!
Rochas, I am though confidently assured, is just interested in the entity called Nigeria. I do not believe that he has been a religious bigot. I am surprised that any Igbo man can talk of the governor in such bad manner despite what he has done for the Igbo nation. His philanthropic gesture permeates the length and breadth of Nigeria. He has done for Imo what no governor – democratic or civilian – has attempted to do. The fruitless attempt by Hon. Emeka Ihedioha to unseat Governor Okorocha was anything to reckon with. Imolites would not have had it better. In short, it is good men who have strong rivalry from the evil circle. Evil conquers only evil. And the truth must prevail, however long. Let the Igbo see the wisdom in Rochas' stride and preoccupation for Nigeria's unity, peace and progress.
Lest I forget my topic of discussion, the name Buhari is very splendid in the history of Islam which GMB belongs. I wonder what was really in the minds of GMB's father when he carefully chose this name for his son. According to Islamic culture, the choice of nice and befitting name is one of the fundamental rights of a child (male or female) upon the parents. Muhammad is simply the best name in the heavens and on the earth. Muhammad means 'Praiseworthy.' This is a very common name that Muslims bear. And according to a Hadith of Prophet Muhammad, the best names are those which denote submission to Allah or the praiseworthy. 'What is in a name', philosophers would ask.
I know of many, at least I have two friends – excluding the President-Elect – whose names are Buhari. In the history of Islam, Sheikh Imam Muhammad Bukhari was an epitome of forbearance and perseverance. He was a symbol of focus and unwavering star in the search for knowledge, not for himself but for posterity. He was a pictogram of dexterity, a colossus in creativity and determination in life. Sheikh Buhari would travel months on the back of a camel to a very far place in order to confirm the validity and correctness of a single (just one) tradition of Prophet Muhammad. He did what he did for the entire Muslim Ummah, as a guard against the period when confusion and attempts would arise to trivialize the Prophet's tradition by the posterity. He brought sanity, stability and balance in the history of the collection of Prophet Muhammad's authentic deeds and sayings.
Muhammad Buhari is the name of redemption, the long awaited savior for Nigerians. Howbeit, the turning around of Nigerian socio-economic status is not going to be easy due to the huge decay the immediate past governments have infested on the nation and its people. It is going to be with hard policies that must be endured awhile by the citizens. But the Buhariazation of Nigeria has come to stay and succeed. By the first day Nigeria will be in the total control of GMB, say from 30th May, 2015, the heavens will rejoice and the dwellers of this tiny piece of land on earth will begin to feel the joy a child derives from being between the warm arms of its mother.
By the end of the 2015 general elections, Nigerians have invented new loan words, phrases and customized sentences. It is left for the reviewers of the English dictionaries to find places for these inventions. Examples are: Buhariazation/Buharism, Jegalize/Jegalization, Nyakoic Fintirism, 'I wrote it (Rivers elections results) myself', 'We cannot continue', 'Orubebeic cynicism/hooliganism'. You can remember more; more can still be invested before the final handover on May 29, 2015.
***Muhammad Ajah is a Writer, Author, Advocate of Humanity and Good Governance based in Abuja
E-mail: Aliyuabdulhamid@yahoo.com
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