History Will Remember –By Gerald Umeh
After Monday’s sad event, many messages and reactions came from different quarters within Nigeria and beyond, but the most striking is that of Olisa Metuh of PDP when he said that the APC is to blame. I wondered if it is always about politics, whatever happened to statesmanship!
Again I thought of Nigeria in the next century and decided to write this
History will remember that…The story of Nigeria has been a very interesting one and very unique in it’s own way. Moving from the precolonial era…. To the colonial era… slave trade… and finally independence. Then the civil war, military coups etc but finally we entered a democracy which we are supposed to be enjoying.
History will remember that…Looking at our democracy closely one may be quick to ask “is this democracy?”
Is it democracy when the government arrest people for tweeting live pictures?
Is it democracy when the government arrest people for protesting the avoidable death of their compatriots?
Is it democracy when the masses have no input on how they are being governed?
History will remember that…Democracy was supposed to be a government of the people for the people and by the people but in Nigeria today Domocracy has other meanings.
History will remember that… In accordance with the Nigerian constitution following President Umaru Yar’Adua’s death on 5 May 2010, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 6 May 2010, making him Nigeria’s 14th Head of State. He cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reforms as focuses of his administration. He stated that he came to office under “very sad and unusual circumstances”
History will remember that…that president Jonathan officially took over from himself on 29th may 2011.
History will remember that…GEJ in January 1st 2012 removed fuel subsidy not minding the fact that 80% of Nigerians opposed the plan to remove the fuel subsidy. According to a poll carried out by the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE- Nigeria).
History will remember that…Many prominent Nigerians spoke out against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Jonathan administration including a Former Petroleum Minister Professor Tam David-West,
A former military Head of State and a former Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, General Buhari, General Yakubu Gowon, another former military Head of State, and that Former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida joined millions of Nigerians protesting against the removal of the fuel subsidy by the Jonathan administration.
History will remember that…The Nigeria Labour Congress’ warned that the country will face many strikes.
History will remember that… Nigeria’s unions followed up with strikes that were matched with civil protests from 9–13 January 201 with Protesters and groups calling for President Jonathan to resign over the removal of fuel subsidies.
History will remember that… After five days of national protests and strikes, on 16 January, Jonathan announced that the pump price of petroleum would be 97 Naira per litre as against the 147 Naira the planned government’s removal of subsidies would have taken the price to.
History will remember…Occupy Nigeria
History will remember that… Muyideen Mustapha, 23, was reportedly the first person to be killed during the nationwide protests over the lifting of petrol subsidies. He was reportedly shot by the Nigerian Police Force in Ilorin, Kwara State on 3 January 2012.
History will remember that…On 9 January, a Divisional Police Officer attached to the Lagos State Command, shot and killed a young man, Ademola Aderinde at Ogba during the protests in Lagos.
History will remember that…the State media; Nigerian Television Authority NTA refused to acknowledge the protest and falsely reported that the entire Nigerian populace have accepted the increase in fuel price and are going about their businesses.
History will remember that… Facebook group pages were created to spur Nigerians globally against the fuel-subsidy removal regime. One of them (called “Nationwide Anti-Fuel Subsidy Removal: Strategies & Protests”) which was created on 2 January 2012 has over 20,000 members by 9 January 2012 and still growing.
Student websites in universities and blogs reported the Occupy Nigeria Protests and student representatives sent live pictures of the protests and that Twitter was also extensively used as a connecting platform for the protesters across the nation, and the world.
History will remember that…The 2012 documentary Fuelling Poverty by Ishaya Bako was based on some of the events that occurred during the fuel subsidy crisis. It was banned by the Federal government of Nigeria for being “highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security.” but it went on to win category Best Documentary at the 2013 Africa Movie Academy Awards. and was praised by many Human Right activists and organisations.
History will remember that…It still is a mystery how the cost of subsidy shot up to 1.3 trillion Naira in just one year of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, especially since ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration spent 300 billion Naira per year.
History will remember that…On June 3, 2012 Dana Air owned plane crashed in Lagos and killed the over 150 people on board and that as stipulated by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act, following the crash, Dana Air was expected to pay the sum of $100,000 each to the victims who lost their lives starting with the initial payment of $30,000 of the total sum, while $70,000 was meant to paid after full verification. However, the airline after over 1yr was more interested in how to get its aircraft back into the air rather than pay compensation to the victims.
History will remember that…Daniel Omowunmi, the owner of the furniture factory and warehouse, in which the crashed Dana Airplane plunged into on the fateful day, shut down the offices of the airline on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, for failing to compensate him for the losses he suffered on May 8, 2013, and created a scene on the highbrow Allen Avenue, where Dana Airline has its office, when he locked the staff out.
History will remember that…At least 37 people died and 57 others were injured in an attack at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, a satellite town of Abuja located 40 km (25 mi) from the city center
History will remember that…An explosion hit the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in Jos and gunmen later fired on police who were guarding the area resulting in the death of one police officer
History will remember that…Two explosions were reported in the city of Damaturu and another at a church in the Northeastern town of Gadaka. At least one of the attacks in Damaturu was the work of a suicide car bomber, who rammed the building housing the headquarters of the State Security Service. At least three people were killed in that blast; a senior military commander allegedly targeted by it survived.
History will remember that…an attack occurred on 16 June 2011, when a suicide bomber drove a car bomb onto the premises of the Louis Edet House in Abuja, the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force.
History will remember that…The 2011 Abuja bombing was a car bomb explosion on Friday, 26 August 2011 in the Nigerian capital Abuja’s UN building that killed at least 21 and wounded 60.
History will remember that…The 2011 Damaturu attacks were a series of coordinated assaults in the Northern Nigerian city on 4 November 2011 that killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more. Among the targets hit were the headquarters of the Yobe State police, several government buildings and two banks, as well as at least six churches and masked men roamed the streets for at least 2 hours, setting buildings on fire and engaging in street battles with security forces. Government officials confirmed at least 53 people died in a double suicide car bombing at the anti-terrorist court building and numerous witness accounts spoke of a death toll significantly larger than what was reported.
History will remember that…United States embassy issued an emergency warning to its citizens that bomb attacks could be possible at several luxury hotels across Abuja and that Nigerian National Security advisor General Owoeye Andrew Azazi dismissed the warning as simply creating panic.
History will remember that…The December 2011 Nigerian clashes happened in several towns in Northern Nigeria in late December 2011 with A major confrontation between suspected Boko Haram members and security forces broke out in the city of Damaturu on 22 December and continued into the next day. Army sources confirmed they had killed at least 50 militants during the two-day battle, over-running an insurgent base and munitions depot. At least 7 soldiers were killed during the clashes, including four that were shot to death in a drive-by attack late on 23 December and Another shootout took place in the remote town of Maiduguri, where at least 11 people were confirmed dead by the local morgue. Residents reported both towns virtually deserted the day after the attacks, which come less than 2 months after a similar deadly assault.
History will remember that…On 5–6 January Militants armed with automatic weapons stormed a town hall in the city of Mubi in Adamawa State where people had gathered to mourn 3 Christians shot on the previous evening. At least 18 people were confirmed killed by a Nigerian Red Cross official, and a separate ambush of Christians leaving a church service in the state capital of Yola left at least eight people dead. Most of the victims were ethnic Igbo.
History will remember that…On 20 January after Friday prayers, a group of gunmen in police uniforms entered five police buildings and freed all of the inmates. They proceeded to bomb the buildings, as well as two immigration offices and the local office of the State Security Service in Kano. They later drove around the city in cars and motorcycles, shooting pedestrians and battling with police. Amongst the dead was television reporter Enenche Akogwu, shot while covering the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Boko Haram dropped letters written in Hausa at the site of the attacks, announcing that they were protesting the continued detention of Boko Haram members. They also directly contacted the press to claim responsibility for the attacks. Officials in the city responded by setting a curfew and by initiating armed patrols of major streets, though sporadic gunfire was still heard the next day.
History will remember that…A bombing occurred on Easter Day church services in the Nigerian city of Kaduna on 8 April 2012. At least 38 people are reported dead.
History will remember that…On 17 June 2012, three Christian churches in Northern Nigeria were attacked by bomb explosions. At least 12 were killed and 80 were wounded.
History will remember that…On 7 August 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Deeper Life, an evangelical Christian church near Okene in Nigeria’s central Kogi State. Three unidentified gunmen killed 19 people, including the church’s pastor. The following day, in an apparent reprisal killing, three gunmen on motorcycles killed two soldiers and a civilian outside a mosque in Okene.
History will remember that…Two shootings in Nigeria occurred on Christmas Day church services in Northern Nigeria on 25 December 2012, at churches in Maiduguri and Potiskum. At least twelve casualties were reported.
History will remember that…In the city of Potiskum, Yobe, in the North East of the country armed men shot at least 6 church-goers. Afterwards the church was set on fire. In Maiduguri as well 6 church-goers were killed, including the priest of the church.
History will remember that…Three days later, on 28 December, in the village of Musari another fifteen Christians were killed. Attackers invaded the village and cut their throats while asleep. It concerns a traffic police officer and fourteen civilians.
History will remember that…On 6 July 2013, gunmen attacked a secondary school in Mamudo, Yobe State, Nigeria, killing at least 42 people. Most of the dead were students, with a few staff members also killed.
History will remember that…On 29 September 2013, gunmen from Boko Haram entered the male dormitory in the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe State, Nigeria, killing forty-four students and teachers.
History will remember that…On February 25, 2014, fifty-nine students were killed at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi in Yobe State, Nigeria. All of the students killed were male. The twenty-four buildings of the school were also burned down as a result of the attack.
History will remember that…On 14 April 2014 at about 6:45am, two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) Southwest of central Abuja, Nigeria, killing at least 75 people and injuring at least 141
History will remember that…On 15 April 2014 president Jonathan went to kano state to officially welcome Ibrahim Shekarau, a former Kano governor, to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP
History will remember that…Today, 15 April, 2014. Heavily armed Boko Haram Islamists kidnapped more than 100 girls from a school in Northeast Nigeria.
History will remember that…on Saturday, 15 March, 2014.David Shikfu Parradang of the NIS, and the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro due to their gross incompetence and lack of common sense murdered several Nigerian job seekers after collecting close to 1billion Naira from them, and they were not sanctioned and that @omojuwa and co was arrested by the government for protesting this anomaly.
History will remember that…$470 million National Cyber Security Project that should help solve the problem of Boko Haram insurgence and other crimes was signed on August 27, 2010 with Chinese telecommunication firm, ZTE to install about 2000 solar powered CCTV within the federal capital, Abuja and Lagos.
History will remember that…The prolonged ASUU strike, The on-going ASUP strike, All other strike action, Odua and his bullet proof cars, The Sanusi saga and the missing $20billion, Dezieani’s #10billion saga and that protesters were rented to support her her.
History will remember that…Nigeria is still in darkness and as I write this piece, my laptop is plugged to my UPS.
Above all,
History will remember that…
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan was president during this period
PDP was the rulling party when all these happened
Faithfully yours
@gerald_umeh
The views expressed above are solely that of the author and not of kokogist or its associates
