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NigerianNews
Editorial
The Charlatans and
the Third term
Editorial Opinions
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Happy New Year and Welcome 2006, a year of new opportunity!
NigerianNews
Editorial
What a year! Year 2005 was marked with mixed occurrences in our dear
country. To some, it was a totally bad year, and to others it was a
mixed bag of both fortunes and misfortunes. What is in a year after
all if not for the apparent relativity of its contents. To us
at the NigerianNews,
we choose to look and enjoy the good part of year 2005 in the absolute
sense, hoping the misfortunes never again visit our shore.
This bring us to our resolution this year. Our
resolution at the NigerianNews
is simply the same as last year. As we have always said about
ourselves, it is lack of knowledge that makes life look relativistic
in nature. Given an absolute acquisition of knowledge we are asserting
that you will wind up with a world that is absolute in the fashion of
the absolute knowledge itself. Therefore, our wish for our readers
this year 2006 are as follows:
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Seek your own knowledge in its absoluteness. Do
not let these so-called leaders with their so-called academic
degrees or even ill acquired riches be your soul source of
information. Remember they are not any more knowledgeable than their
academic discipline or ill gotten riches. Assert your native
intelligence which is by far more superior to the narrow confines of
their academic qualifications. If you do not believe us, see where
their academic qualifications have led us to!
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Our point number one leads us to the actual
workings of democracy. A democrat works with the constitution on the
ground until they can get the majority to change it if changes are
desired. Sometimes this constitution can be very unfair. As a result
of the unfairness of a constitution, a provision for its amendment
is also made available. However, the amendments depend on who is in
control of government at that time and how popular he/she is among
those who can actually change the constitution.
In Nigerian context, the constitution can be changed through the
following instruments:
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Two Third of the membership of The National
Assembly
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Two third of the States making up this
Federation
You can see that neither the President nor the
Governors can change any letter of the constitution. It only takes
the will and the character of the membership of bodies in (a) and
(b). So, when scare mongers come to you this New Year about the mean
President who wants to change the constitution, tell them to shut up
and read the constitution. Tell them it cannot happen except those
people we mention above allow it to happen. And if they amend it, it
is binding on us all.
Can the President manipulate these two bodies, tell them of course
YES if his party controls those bodies. Will it be legal if he does?
Of course YES. That is DEMOCRACY. Democracy is the worst form of
government except for the alternative! What is a good democrat's
recourse if a constitution is changed or manipulated to his/her
distaste? A democrat goes back to the drawing board to see how he
can effect a change in the bodies (a) and (b) within the framework
of the new constitution.
It is very fashionable to quote advanced democracy on how they
will not manipulate the constitution. However, we direct your
attention to the hiking of the numbers of the US Supreme Court
Justices by President Roosevelt to get the majority he needed to
effect his revolution.
We can assure you, if not for the clumsiness of democracy, President
George Bush will be inching towards impeachment now for his
alleged unprecedented domestic espionage against American
citizens. However, as Mr. Buchanan said in one of those programs
some weeks back, "impeach him if you can" - taunting the democrats.
What Mr. Buchanan was saying was that impeachment is a game of
number and the democrats do not have the votes. President Richard
Nixon would have wished he faced a Republican Congress during his
impeachment proceedings.
So remember this year that democracy is the worst form of government
except the alternative. Also remember that in our political space,
most practitioners pursue those who they hate but lack the knowledge
of real democracy. All politicians worldwide, act on their own
special and personal interests to the chagrin headache of those who
elect them.
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Beware of the mischief of those against the
Third Term. As you can see, our previous points make the third term
vigilantes nothing but doomsdays apostles. Tell them to go and get a
gainful employment this year 2006 rather than continuing to benefit
financially from the confusion they create. If they really believe
there is a danger of Obasanjo manipulating himself to third term,
tell them to go to those who really matter in constitutional changes
and prevail on them not to change the constitution only for the sake
of a third term. Ask them also whether Obasanjo is going to be the
sole beneficiary of this third term arrangement. Also ask them if
the constitutional change will preclude the organization of an
election in 2007. If their answer is NO it will not, then tell them
that you have a voting and constitutional right to make sure that
the apostles of third term do not prevail in the 2007 election. Also
ask them how their party preparations for the 2007 elections are
going. You will be surprised they are not making any preparation, as
a matter of fact, they are planning to ride on the coattail and
bandwagon of what they are now blaming the presidency for. Note that
they also want third term. Realize those who are not in PDP are not
bound by anything the PDP does or agrees on, and this includes power
shift. We thought it was funny when Mr. Falae said the other time
that the South West cannot field a candidate for the presidency in
2007 unless of course the rest of the zones donate it to them as a
present. And Falae is an AD man where there is no such allegiance to
zoning. Here at the NigerianNews,
we believe zoning is a PDP arrangement which is not binding on any
other party that does not subscribe to it.
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The danger of third term: Frankly, with the
reform the President is currently implementing which some people are
also trying to stall through this third term shout and other
ridiculous arguments, we are tempted to say let there be third term.
However, here in lies the danger; if a "good man or a saint" is
permitted to have a third term today, what stops an "evil man or
satan" from asking for same tomorrow?
We at the NigerianNews
believes that a third term aimed at completing a revolution but
obtained at the alter of unambiguous compromises will soon send us
back to where we started - square one! So, we are afraid of the
third term not for the same reasons as those people who have now
made third term the sole reason of their existence. Let it be known
that those anti third termers are scared stiff. They are afraid of
what is coming to them. They are selling you a dummy.
It is our belief that the proponents of the third term must count
the cost of achieving this feat. Are the compromises and the
unintended consequences worth the benefit?
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Tell the rascals to let the sanitization of the
polity be completed in 2006. Tell these people to stop asking wrong
questions in 2006. It is a wrong question to ask when they say the
president only investigates or jail his political enemies. If the
president had started with his friends, the list of his enemies
would have swollen to the maximum knowing Nigerian politicians. The
current enemies have no intention of applauding good deeds, and if
the president had started with his friends, these same evil people
would tell you that being Obasanjo´s friend means instant death, and
they have said this of him before! To us at the NigerianNews,
all thieves, friends or foes, deserve persecution. If the only
people Obasanjo can get right now are his enemies who are corrupt,
this means an instant reduction in the numbers of these undesirable
elements. If good people had applauded when Obasanjo caught any of
those in legal tangle, this would have encouraged activities in
catching the rest of them by our young hero Ribadu. We trust that
this young man cannot be deterred even by the shouts of these "third
termers"
We believe all Nigerians of goodwill need to encourage Mr. Nuhu
Ribadu this year 2006 to perform more of his impressive works of
catching these thieves who rob us and take the money abroad, where
even they themselves are too scared to spend the loot because of the
risk of exposing themselves. While Europe and other places benefit
from their Ali Baba ways of life, the rest of us suffer.
If in 2006, any one tells you the President is only jailing his
enemies, tell them if the enemies had not been thieves he wouldn't
have had them to send to jail. Also tell them if they can devise a
way of getting Obasanjo's friend to jail (some of them are already
in or about to be), tell them let us go get them!!!
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Achieving a third term without a constitutional
amendment: We do not believe this will happen since President
Obasanjo, in our opinion is not that daft. What if he does any way?
This is where the trade union organization and the civil society
come in. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Rather than
strike because of gas increase in 2006, we think the NLC can look at
the Ukraine module on how to make sane an insane polity - civil
disobedience without any fear of the bullet. It is immoral to strike
where you benefit, but abstain from strike when your life is
considered in danger. You do not deserve good leadership if you are
not willing to die to get one.
Note our stance: It is not illegal to get a third term through
constitutional amendment, but it is illegal to stay put in power by
extra-constitutional means. It is not moral and in fact illegal to
go on strike because a third term is achieved by constitutional
means. It is better to light the candle than curse the darkness.
Therefore, the best democratic means is to lobby your State houses
and the National Assembly not to vote for the measure that extends
this term if you do not believe in third term. Your other human
right is to risk your life to stop usurpation of power by
unconstitutional means. Constitutional amendment is constitutional,
and the only way to stop that is not from the presidency but where
the action is. If the President has the vote and he wants the
extension, that is the way of democracy. Stop making a career out of
the third term when you know you have other reasons for this noise.
This noise does nothing but heat up the already volatile polity. For
many months, the whole nation has been paralyzed on what seems at
this point hypothetical at best or Herculean if real.
Those who are not corrupt should take a cue from Gen. Buhari. Buhari
knows where the constitution can be amended. The starting point is
the National Assembly. And that was where he went, and when he did,
he went where he can influence the law makers. He went to the ANPP
who are his constituents at the National Assembly. He knows once the
amendment is agreed to, a good democrat abides by it. So, again,
what Buhari did is what we call lighting the candle rather than
cursing the darkness.
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Beware of the so-called good journalists. In our
political space, journalists are like prostitutes. Some sacrificed
their conscience at the alter of financial remunerations. Some are
outright cowards who change their minds once their friends show
their disapproval. There is a particular journalist we lavished our
praise on one occasion. When we wrote that Ngige must go after the
judgment at the Tribunal, this particular good writer wrote very
beautifully on the need for Ngige to leave. However, this same
journalist has spent all his time since then to correct what we
thought was a good work by him. His friends don't like his article,
now the good one step forward has since been followed by more than
three haphazard "palongo" steps in retreat. We called for Ngige to
quit, that was the reasonable call to make, although we realized the
good work of this Governor. However, he was not been asked to quit
because of the good work he is doing but his illegal steps to the
good work. Ngige was not the only one who rigged was not a good
articulation. For all we know, Ngige was the only one found guilty
and the only one asked to abdicate his position..
Most of our journalists who cannot be bought are either spineless or
accomplices in dastardly acts. So in 2006, do not take the words of
any journalist, including NigerianNews
for it. Do your own homework.
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Finally, do not let your access to God be through
your pastors or mullahs in 2006, for the Almighty God loves you more
when you reach Him by yourself. Remember Pastors or Mullahs make use
of their five senses (which make them souls) just like you do.
However, all physical things like the five senses are subject to
deterioration. So, if you allow anybody to carry your message to God
for you, you stand a risk of this person's senses not comprehending
your need even as accurately as you deliver it to them. So, go for
it yourself. To God, there is NO special crown prince, we all are
special to Him, and He is eager to hear our voices in SPIRIT which
can only be attained through the TRUTH. Sinners, Saints, Christians
and Moslems who reach out to Him in Truth shall attain the
SPIRITUALITY which will get them into His presence. Remember LIARS
have NO chance of getting to HIM.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL AND WELCOME YEAR 2006.
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"Finally,
do not let your access to God be through your pastors or mullahs in
2006, for the Almighty God loves you more when you reach Him by
yourself. Remember Pastors or Mullahs make use of their five senses
(which make them souls) just like you do. However, all physical
things like the five senses are subject to deterioration. So, if you
allow anybody to carry your message to God for you, you stand a risk
of this person's senses not comprehending your need even as
accurately as you deliver it to them. So, go for it yourself. To
God, there is NO special crown prince, we all are special to Him,
and He is eager to hear our voices in SPIRIT which can only be
attained through the TRUTH. Sinners, Saints, Christians and Moslems
who reach out to Him in Truth shall attain the SPIRITUALITY which
will get them into His presence. Remember LIARS have NO chance of
getting to HIM."
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