Politics

A Political Merchant Called Fani-Kayode By Hon. Okoro Uchenna Kalu

Published

1 year ago

July 12, 2023

Political merchandising is not new, but it has been elevated to an art by a few of which Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode is primus inter pares. As the merchant that he is, he sells his wares to where he thinks there is much profit to make dishonestly. The classic Merchant of Venice!

It must be conceded that he is a clever merchant of the Pharisee hue. It is not surprising that he wears the cassock of a moralist, only that he is pseudo in character and conviction. He quotes the Good Book, the Bible, like the scion of the devil that he is.

Having perfected the art of political sorcery, he enchants and conjures chimeras such that if one is not grounded in sound reasoning and in things holy and edifying, one can easily be enticed by his political portions and mirages.

The Femi Fani-Kayode personae is better understood in the postulation of Steve Maraboli that “people tend to be generous when sharing their nonsense, fear, and ignorance.” For a long time, Mr. Fani-Kayode has been allowed to run amock sharing his twisted logic and spewing his ignorance and secret fear of failure with false braggadocio all over the place.

It is surprising that the Nigerian political establishment has allowed a man that has failed in every material particular to clown about with them. Well, in every court, there are palace jesters and entertainers. If not, how can a man that is given to the serial abuse of women, facing multiple corruption charges from outright stealing of government funds to forging medical report (see: https://www.channelstv.com/2022/02/26/how-fani-kayode-paid-me-n820000-for-forged-medical-report-witness/) thrive if not for ghoulish entertainment?

Little wonder that former President Olusegun Obasanjo made the telling point that, “Femi Fani Kayode is my boy. Provide him food, he will eat and then sing for you.”

Recently, in anticipation of food, he sang plaintively against the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, a man his better by any stretch of the imagination.

In his shameless turncoat nature and wanting to be seen as a defender of President Bola Tinubu, when the president doesn’t need such a character, he alleged that the Abia governor has failed to recognize Asiwaju Tinubu as Commander-in-Chief.

This further lends credence to the generally accepted notion that he is indeed a scion of the greatest liar of the ages – the Devil!

If it were to the contrary, the foul-mouthed, mischievous, and beggarly corruption-tainted Mr. Fani-Kayode should have known that Dr. Otti has come a long way with President Tinubu.

That as a former chief executive of the defunct Diamond Bank, Dr. Otti had and has continued to enjoy good personal relations with the president. The mischief of making capital of administrative housekeeping of the new administration in Abia state speaks to the divisive and Luciferian mould of Mr. Fani-Kayode.

A poor soul without any political capital other than the noisy vuvuzela that he is, it will be an interesting prospect for Mr. Fani-Kayode to run for elections or show which polling booth he has won all his miserable and disjointed life. If he is so persuaded of his relevance other than hanging on to a fast fading pedigree, he should show which enterprise he has run and that is thriving to make him believe he should have a say amongst men of industry and positive ability.

A peep into his jaded history will show a conflicted, Janus-like individual with no moral fibre. Rather, a hollow, shallow, and whining baby in an adult body.

It is pertinent to show the duplicitous nature of Mr. Fani-Kayode.

On July 17, 2017, in his usual magisterial outburst, Mr. Fani-Kayode had this to say of the now ruling All Progressives Congress (see: https://dailypost.ng/2017/07/17/femi-fani-kayode-apc-cult-death/): “The truth is that it is the APC that are the stinking corpses and the rotting cadavers and not the PDP. They smell like rotting Chinese fish and a Calcutta brothel all rolled into one.

“They stink to high heavens and they have fouled up the Nigerian space with their compelling and overwhelming stench and their fecal aroma.”

Before then, on July 2, 2014, he said this of immediate past Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the APC, (see: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/164295-let-us-meet-in-court-fani-kayode-challenges-apc.html?tztc=1): “I repeat you are a pernicious liar and a shameless coward and your party is filled with such people. The truth is that you are not fit to hold power. Permit me to reiterate that I am not shying away from anything that I said in my interview with Channels TV on June 30th and if you think that I am doing so you are sadly mistaken.”

These are but few of the many hate-filled, dangerous rhetoric and mudslinging that Mr. Fani-Kayode has engaged in, all his life. But as an “Any Where Belly Face” character, it is not surprising that he makes volte face at any time his daily feeding bottle is threatened. At present, he is agitated that nothing has come his way by appointment and he needs to show he can yelp and prattle about issues he is ill-equipped to interrogate. What a pity!

Mercifully, the president has appointed majority of his personal appointees and because the jejune, pigsty and loquacious Fani-Kayode did not make the cut, and likely far from the ministerial list, he needs to bellow from the anguish of rejection to be noticed. Eyaaah!

In the event of any further foolhardiness against Governor Otti, Mr. Fani-Kayode should be reminded that when the president meets with governors, he (Fani-Kayode) will not be near the gate of Aso Rock, while the man that is leading the Abia renaissance, a man of global reckoning will not only be there, but standing with the imprimatur of hundreds of thousands of Abians and which is already a testament. But it is a feat that will forever be beyond Mr. Houseboy Fani-Kayode’s reach as a slave of mammon that he is. Such a groveling, shit filled-maggot!

*Hon. Kalu is the member representing Arochukwu State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly.*

Politics

15th Hijrah: Muslim Clerics Task Nigerians On Good Morals

Published

8 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Sahara Weekly

15th Hijrah: Muslim Clerics Task Nigerians On Good Morals

– as Speaker charges religious leaders on impactful messages

Nigerians, irrespective of religious affiliations, must begin to embrace good morals and practise honesty, two guest lecturers at the 15th Annual Hijrah Lecture of the Lagos State House of Assembly, have urged.

This is as the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, also charged Nigeria’s religious leaders to teach messages with greater positive impacts on citizens.

Sheikh Sulaiman Onikijipa Al-miskinubilahi, general overseer of Al-Amani Islamic Organisation, and Sheikh Ridwanullah Jamiu, Chief Imam of the Central Mosque, Lekki Phase 1, said moral conducts and honesty would help create a decent society.

Speaking at the event with the theme: ‘The Increasing Wave Of Moral Decadence In The Society’, which held at the Assembly complex on Friday, the guest lecturers condemned the spate of moral decadence in the society.

Dr. Jamiu told guests that there was need to enforce laws against anti-decent practices like homosexuality, gambling, adultery and corruption.

According to him, Allah blesses those who are kind, just and are morally upright.

“People should run away from three things: indecency, aggression and wickedness. For a society to progress and develop, it must move away from what Allah kicks against.

“Justice means giving people their rights. As a boss, you have duties to your employees. Treat others the way you expect to be treated. Allah commands kindness and generosity,” he said while urging parents to be role models to their children.

On his part, Sheikh Onikijipa lamented what he described as a growing level of corruption in the society.

“At this stage of our existence, we all know that almost everyone is corrupt,” he said while urging leaders to be more transparent.

The cleric further stressed that leaders must be determined to end moral decadence in the society, adding: “See the way the government stopped the abuse of naira with necessary legislation. The same should be done for other forms of moral decadence in the society.

“There is no religion if we don’t have morals. If you observe all the five pillars of the Islam and you are morally corrupt, then you are deceiving yourself.

“If you pray regularly and you don’t have morals, then it is a waste of time. Indecent dressing should be condemned in all places,” he said.

While noting that Nigeria is challenged at the moment, Onikijipa appealed to citizens to be patient with the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He urged religious leaders and citizens in the country to dedicate a day for fasting and prayer instead of embarking on a protest, which has a tendency to escalate into destruction of properties.

In his remarks, Speaker Obasa said everyone has roles to play in achieving an upright society.

Obasa, who said that Hijrah is meant to celebrate the clerics, added: “You would be proud of the group you belong to when people feel your impact. We should ensure that we change our immediate environment and make things better in our time.

“We must all join hands to make our society better so that we can all have a morally upright place. It is not enough to make laws, people must exhibit good qualities.”

Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Politics

Planned Protest: Tinubu, Sultan, Ooni, NSA, IGP In Emergency Meeting

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Planned Protest: Tinubu, Sultan, Ooni, NSA, IGP In Emergency Meeting

The protest against economic hardship, which is gaining traction on social media, has been scheduled to be held across all states in August.

As the planned ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest slated for August draws close, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday entered an emergency closed-door meeting with top traditional rulers, security top brass in his government and governors of his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The high-delegation meeting was held at the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The APC governors were led to the meeting by the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

Some first-class traditional rulers were spotted at the meeting with the President. They include the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III; and other traditional leaders across the country.

The meeting was also attended by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; as well as ministers and other members of the President’s cabinet.

A delegation of Islamic scholars (Ulamas) later joined the high-powered meeting with the President.

Last-Minute Efforts
Tinubu, former Lagos governor, who was sworn in as President in May 2023, has appealed to displeased youths to shelve the planned ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest slated for next month.

As part of moves to placate aggrieved citizens, the President sent a bill to raise the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 to the National Assembly this week. Both chambers of the legislature speedily passed the bill on Tuesday, awaiting the President’s assent.

On Thursday, the military authorities warned that unscrupulous elements plan to hijack the protest and use it to stage anarchy like what was recently witnessed in East African country Kenya.
The police had also warned against bloody demonstrations come next month just as Uzodimma surmised that the protest could be hijacked and turn violent like the EndSARS nationwide protest against police brutality back in October 2020.

The protest against economic hardship, which is gaining traction on social media, has been scheduled to be held across all states of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in August. The organisers of the protest have been faceless.

Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation rates and economic crises sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.

Politics

Tinubu mourns Iwuanyanwu

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Tinubu mourns Iwuanyanwu

President Bola Tinubu has extended his condolences to the family of the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who passed away on Thursday.

Tinubu’s condolence message is conveyed in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu mourns Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.’

The family confirmed his demise on Thursday evening in a statement that partly read, “The Iwuanyanwu family of Umuohii Atta, in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, announces the demise of our patriarch, Chief Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Iwuanyanwu-Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo.

“Chief Iwuanyanwu died on Thursday, July 25, 2024, after a brief illness. He was aged 82.”

He was an accomplished businessman and notable politician.

Ngelale said, “President Tinubu condoles with the Imo State Government, the friends and associates of the deceased, and Ndi Igbo over this irreparable loss.

“The President affirms that Chief Iwuanyanwu will always be remembered for his remarkable legacy.”

Tinubu, therefore, prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed elder statesman and comfort for his family