Reps’ brawl: Bankole Apologises to Pupils

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, on Monday apologised to pupils of the City Royal Secondary School, Nyanya in the Federal Capital Territory, who witnessed the free for all in the House on June 22.

The pupils were on excursion to the House to witness legislative proceedings when fighting broke out between supporters of the speaker and a group of lawmakers known as the Progressive-Minded Legislators.

The PML, led by Mr. Dino Melaye, had accused Bankole of allegedly misusing N9bn out of the N11bn voted as the capital budget of the House between 2008 and 2009.

The group had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission and released documents it claimed contained details of alleged “contract inflation” to the public.

But the leadership of the House disapproved of the method adopted by the group. and said that the PML breached House rules by going to the public to scandalise the House instead of availing itself of internal mechanisms to resolve the matter.

The matter then turned ugly as members of the PML opposed a decision of the House to suspend them.

Pandemonium broke out in the chamber to the disbelief of the students, who watched from the gallery as the lawmakers punched, kicked, head-butted, slapped and threw instruments at one another.

Eleven members of the group — Melaye, Mr. Anas Adamu, Mr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa, Mr. Independence Ogunewe, Mr. Solomon Awhinawhin, Mr. Austin Nwachukwu, Mr. Gbenga Oduwaiye, Mr. Gbenga Onigbogi, Mr. Kayode Amusan, Mr. Bitrus Kaze and Ms. Doris Uboh— were suspended indefinitely.

At the school, Bankole admitted before the pupils that members of the House exhibited a disappointing conduct before them on the day they visited.

The speaker also hinted that the suspended lawmakers might be recalled as part of efforts to resolve the crisis amicably.

The pupils had appealed to Bankole to consider recalling his colleagues in the spirit of reconciliation.

They had gathered at the school’s assembly ground in company with their proprietress, Mrs. Justina Onwe, to receive the speaker.

The school’s Moral Prefect, Master David Sunday, spoke on behalf of his colleagues, telling the speaker that they were impressed by his humility in tracing them to their school to tender the apology.

Sunday said, “We are very happy to have you around; your humility in coming to see us has created a landmark in our school.

“I want to use this opportunity to beg you to please, forgive the people that you have suspended, because you are a kind man, and God will bless you abundantly.”

A few other pupils also spoke, appealing to Bankole to recall the 11 lawmakers.

Nigerian's Constitutional Amendments in Trouble

•27 state assemblies fail to pass harmonised version •State legislature can’t alter bill, says Ekweremadu
Thisday 's Imam Imam in Lagos, Kunle Akogun in Abuja and additional reports from Our Correspondents, 07.06.2010

1999 Constitution

The amendments to the 1999 Constitution proposed and passed by the two houses of the National Assembly may have run into a hitch.
By last night, Kogi is the only state that has adopted the entire harmonized version of the amendments as presented to them by the National Assembly.

The Constitution Amend-ments Bill 2010 detailing the harmonized version of the bill passed by the Senate and House of Representatives were handed over to the states on June 5, 2010 by Senate President David Mark.
Two-third of the state houses of assembly (24 assemblies) need to concur with the Senate and House on the amendments before they can become law.

But majority of the state legislature have concluded work on the document, rejecting some sections of the bill. A total of 27 states passed the document with reservations on some sections of the draft amendments. Nine states are yet to conclude work on the bill.
The states where the amendment bill is still being debated are Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Kano, Kwara, Bauchi, Anambra and Enugu.
Most of the state houses of assembly conducted their own public hearing on the bill before taking their decisions on the amendments.

THISDAY checks revealed that the sections mostly rejected by the states included Section 65, which seeks to raise the bar of educational qualification for political office holders from school certificate to diploma.
Another provision widely rejected is Section 177, which provides for Independent candidates in future elections and Sections 108 and 109, approving cross-carpeting by federal and state legislators to the parties of their choice without any sanction.
Even though the state assemblies will emerge beneficiaries of Section 121 of the draft amendments, many of them were unanimous in rejecting the proposal for first-line charge in the consolidated revenue fund for the state and federal legislature.
Curiously enough, many of them approved same proposal for the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Other areas largely rejected include allowing candidates indicted by administrative panel of inquiry to contest election and the age requirements into elective offices in the country.
However, many of the assemblies approved proposals, which empower the vice-president and deputy governors to automatically assume duty in acting capacity once the president and governors are out of the country beyond 21 days without transmitting letters to the legislature.

They also approved, among others, financial autonomy for the Independent National Elec-toral Commission (INEC) and first line funding for the judiciary.
The harmonized constitution in Section 145 contains provisions mandating the President to transmit to the National Assembly a letter empowering the vice-president to act as president, whenever he is proceeding on vacation or unable to discharge his duties.

Also, Section 190 provides for state governors to inform their state houses of assembly that the deputy governor shall perform the duties of a governor as in acting capacity whenever the governor is on leave or unable to discharge his official functions.
Fifty sections of the constitution amended by the Senate and House of Representatives were passed on to the state assemblies.
The harmonized bill provides for independent candidature, financial autonomy for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Assembly and the Judiciary.

Among other things, the bill provides a minimum of Diploma certificate as academic qualification by candidates for election, removes indictment by a judicial or administrative panel of inquiry as a basis for disqualification of candidates and also makes transmission of letter to the National Assembly by a President going on leave or medical vacation mandatory.
The bill has also endorsed cross carpeting by deleting the provisions of Section 68 (1) (g) that forbids the action in the principal Act.

By the provisions of Section 76 (2) on time of election to the National Assembly in the harmonized bill, elections are now to hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 120 days before the date on which the House (National Assembly and State Assembly as in Section 132-mutatis mutandis) stands dissolved, or where the election to fill a vacancy occurring more than 90 days before such date, not later than 30 days after the vacancy occurred. The principal Act provides for 90 and 30 days respectively.

Also, the bill provides in Section 84 (8) on Remuneration, etc of the President and certain other officers, thus: “The recurrent expenditure of the Independent National Electoral Commission in addition to Salaries and allowances of the Chairman and Members of the Commission shall be a charge upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.”
Section 135 on Tenure of Office of President as provided in the principal Act was retained in the harmonized bill as approved by the Senate.

A new Section 228 on internal democracy in parties provides in subsection (a): “For guidelines and rules to ensure internal democracy within political parties, including making laws for the conduct of party primaries, party congresses and party conventions.

Presenting the amendments to the Chairman of Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, Hon. Istifanus Gbana last Tuesday, the Senate President had called on the state legislatures to expeditiously pass the amendments, saying the lawmakers were building a foundation for democracy.

“What we are doing here today is what the American Congress and State Legislatures have ably done for the people of America for over 200 years now. As we progress as a nation, we will be called upon from time to time to embark on this kind of exercise in the overall interest of our people,” Mark had said.
Receiving the document, Gbana had commended the National Assembly for what he called “an unprecedented feat.”
He pledged the commitment of the state Houses of Assembly to be “through and democratic while performing our constitutional responsibilities on this crucial matter.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Senate President and Chairman Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has clarified insinuations now making the rounds that most of the state legislatures have rejected the constitution amendment bill handed over to them for their input last month by the National Assembly.
Speaking to THISDAY through his Special Adviser, Media, Mr. Paul Odenyi, Ekweremadu said: "The law does not allow the state legislatures to change anything from the document as handed over to them by the National Assembly either by way of subtraction or addition.

"What you read in the newspapers are general observations by those state Houses of Assemblies."
He added: "we are waiting for their formal resolutions, which will come in form of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if about 20 of them have already passed their resolutions.”

Ekweremadu said further: "In any case, some of the reported observations by some state assemblies are even beyond the scope of the electoral reform, which the amended portions of the constitution substantially deal with."
For instance, he said some of them are raising issues such as state creation, boundary adjustments, etc.

He therefore advised Nigerians to exercise patience and wait for the formal resolutions of the various state legislatures.
Until we get a formal resolution from the state legislatures, which hopefully should be presented jointly to the National Assembly next week, we cannot be talking of how many states have okayed the amendment bill and how many have rejected it," he said.

Echoing Ekweremmadu’s views, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, said Nigerians should await the submission of the final document to the National Assembly before reaching any conclusion.
“We are awaiting the final decision by the state legislatures before we can react. There is a procedure for handling such matters in the national Assembly,” he added.

On the National Honours list 2009: SaharaReporters Says:These Are No Honours!

By Saharareporters

As an active anti-corruption crusader, Saharareporters is pleased to see Mr. Balarabe Musa on this year’s National Honors List. He is a man of principle who deserves to be decorated and celebrated. But the list also contains a bewildering army of incompetent, corrupt, greedy and discredited Nigerians, and it is a shame to tell the world they number among our best. Okhai Mike Akhigbe, to whom Goodluck Jonathan is giving one of the nation’s highest honors, the GCON, has no honor. He was Number Two to General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who has been cited in several corruption scandals. Their government bought and sold Nigeria for self-enrichment, and it is known that in the last weeks of their administration, they were registering companies to which they funneled lavish contracts and funds. Even before all that, Akhigbe had enriched himself lavishly in the Babangida government.

Justice Katsina-Alu, whom he is also awarding the GCON, lacks integrity. His role in some of the political scandals that have beset Nigeria in the past couple of years is well known. He may be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but he lacks legal and popular respect.

Justice Niki Tobi was a judge of the Supreme Court who did not see anything wrong with unserialized ballot papers while delivering his infamous tie-breaker ruling regarding the bastardized 2007 presidential election. On top of that, Tobi got his son appointed to the Court of Appeal for his role in validating that despicable election.

Justice Dahiru Musdapher was another member of the Supreme Court panel on the presidential election petition in 2008, and knowing that the judiciary needed to maintain a professional distance, accepted appointment by President Yar’Adua as a member of Federal Government delegation to the Hajj. Predictably, he went on to support the judgment that kept a sickly Umaru Yar’Adua in power until he died last May. He is not a man of honor.

Joseph Wayas, the former President of the Senate in the Second Republic, is also to be awarded the GCON. Grand Commander? This is a man who, in addition to having been in the middle of the mess that was the National Party of Nigeria, has become such a nuisance that, only last year, Arik Airlines banned him from flying with them. Reason: he got on board a flight and insisted on sitting in Business Class, although he had an Economy Class ticket!

And then, Jonathan’s list gets unbelievably abominable.
He gives to Patricia Etteh, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, TWO awards. At Number 5 on the official list, he decorates her with the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR); and then at Number 25, she also gets the Commander of the Niger (CON). Etteh is the same woman who was forced to resign as Speaker of the House of Representatives two and a half years ago for spectacular fraud involving N628 million. In which case all we can say is that she must be a really, really special woman.

We could go on all day: Halilu Akilu has not discharged the burden of being involved in one of the most dastardly chapters of the Babangida administration: the bombing death of Dele Giwa. So why does Mr. Jonathan see fit to decorate him with an award that should be preserved for the nation’s best, in character and quality of service?

Mike Oghiadomhe, the Chief of Staff to Jonathan, is the former Deputy Governor of Edo State who, along with Lucky Igbinedion, ran the state into disgrace and dishonor, and presided over its unprecedented looting. The last we heard of him in his home state, he was seizing for himself, land belonging to the Azukhala Ekpen Community in Etsako Central Local Government. In the name of Nigeria, Jonathan is rewarding him with a CFR dipped in human excrement.

On the list: Ogbonnaya Onovo, the “Ribadu-never-visited-Nigeria” Inspector-General of Police. Nigeria is overrun by kidnapping, unsolved murder and electoral malfeasance. Reporters Sans Frontières this year conferred on Onovo the award of “Predator of Press Freedom”. So why is Jonathan in a haste to honor a man in whose watch this mess happens? What does Jonathan know that we miss?

Governor Bukola Saraki is known to be a money-launderer. We do not need the United States or the United Kingdom to arrest him in Dubai to know this. He is also a thief and a forger: on December 7, 1990, the police filed charges against him and his sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki. By virtue of that case, it has been established that both of them must have lied in their electoral nomination forms in 2003 and 2007 because, on the basis of their criminal history, there is no way they qualified to run for political office.

“Billionaire” Femi Otedola, who owes loads of cash to several banks but is reported to be bankrolling Jonathan’s 2007 presidential bid, shows up on the list. The former governor of Ebonyi, Sam Egwu, is on the list. Enough said.

But not enough about Farida Waziri, who appears…drum roll, please… at Number 84. The allegations against Mrs. Waziri, many of which have been made and substantiated on this website, would disqualify her from a seat next to any self-respecting drunk in any beer joint. Apparently, not Jonathan. Her “Honor” confirms the contradiction in Jonathan’s claims about his preparedness to fight corruption. Remember he looked into Barack Obama’s eyes in the White House and made that promise. He went to the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington and repeated that promise. He has made that promise (wink-wink, Nigeria) in several public addresses in Nigeria. Perhaps Waziri gets her gift for her Nollywood skills: skillfully keeping the EFCC charade going.

A dishonest Jonathan proudly decorates Abdullahi Dikko Inde, the certificate-forging Customs boss who cannot explain how he obtained any of his academic certificates, from high school up to the university. In Ghana, Mr. Dikko would have been fired from his job, and prosecuted. But this is Jonathan’s Nigeria where “honor” is reserved for the worst among us.

There are other names on the list we would have loved to highlight, but we will leave that to the Nigerians on the street, to an awake and patriotic civil society, and to the mainstream media.

We write this comment today, rather than a new story exposing corruption, because the so-called 2010 National Honors List is an embarrassment. It is an insult to every hard-working and patiently hopeful Nigerian everywhere. It is an assault on decency. It is an admission that nothing is changing. It is confirmation to the international community that they may be wasting their time trying to help us. Perhaps Aesop, the ancient Greek, was speaking about Nigeria long ago: “We hang the petty thieves,” he said, “and appoint the great ones to public office.”

Jonathan, it seems, is interpreting him literally. In his ill-disguised desire to run as a candidate in next year’s presidential election, he seems to have decided to ride on the back of every tainted, corrupt Nigerian he can find.

Jonathan’s Nigeria continues a trend that ignores her sons and daughters who work hard, sacrifice deeply, pray earnestly and hope profoundly. Such a list would probably be very short, but it would be honest. And it would be true honor. The current list, by contrast, is a pathetic scandal. Internally, it says we are an unserious nation. Internationally, it makes us a laughing stock.

What if one or 10 or 20 of these people are handcuffed in Dubai or Singapore next week? What if they are declared persona non grata in countries that used to respect us? Are we the same people who claimed to have been embarrassed when Obama refused to come to Nigeria?

That is why SaharaReporters has only two things left to say. The first: We urge those decent Nigerians on Jonathan’s list to opt out, the way Chinua Achebe opted out of Olusegun Obasanjo’s in 2004 (and we definitely don’t mean the manner Prof. Tam David-West opted out because he was not given a bigger award). Let no self-respecting Nigerian soil his or her legacy or confer credibility on this laughable list by accepting this year’s award.

The second is to note that, by Jonathan’s ghastly standards, the list, as it stands, is incomplete. It is not sufficiently insulting. It is not even up to 200 people. That means there is plenty of room to pile up more despicable, contemptible names. Why not James Ibori? Turai Yar’Adua? Michael Aondoakaa? Abba Ruma? Marcel Awokulehin? Dimeji Bankole? And, oh…Patience Jonathan.

On the National Honours list 2009: SaharaReporters Says:These Are No Honours!

By Saharareporters

As an active anti-corruption crusader, Saharareporters is pleased to see Mr. Balarabe Musa on this year’s National Honors List. He is a man of principle who deserves to be decorated and celebrated. But the list also contains a bewildering army of incompetent, corrupt, greedy and discredited Nigerians, and it is a shame to tell the world they number among our best. Okhai Mike Akhigbe, to whom Goodluck Jonathan is giving one of the nation’s highest honors, the GCON, has no honor. He was Number Two to General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who has been cited in several corruption scandals. Their government bought and sold Nigeria for self-enrichment, and it is known that in the last weeks of their administration, they were registering companies to which they funneled lavish contracts and funds. Even before all that, Akhigbe had enriched himself lavishly in the Babangida government.

Justice Katsina-Alu, whom he is also awarding the GCON, lacks integrity. His role in some of the political scandals that have beset Nigeria in the past couple of years is well known. He may be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but he lacks legal and popular respect.

Justice Niki Tobi was a judge of the Supreme Court who did not see anything wrong with unserialized ballot papers while delivering his infamous tie-breaker ruling regarding the bastardized 2007 presidential election. On top of that, Tobi got his son appointed to the Court of Appeal for his role in validating that despicable election.

Justice Dahiru Musdapher was another member of the Supreme Court panel on the presidential election petition in 2008, and knowing that the judiciary needed to maintain a professional distance, accepted appointment by President Yar’Adua as a member of Federal Government delegation to the Hajj. Predictably, he went on to support the judgment that kept a sickly Umaru Yar’Adua in power until he died last May. He is not a man of honor.

Joseph Wayas, the former President of the Senate in the Second Republic, is also to be awarded the GCON. Grand Commander? This is a man who, in addition to having been in the middle of the mess that was the National Party of Nigeria, has become such a nuisance that, only last year, Arik Airlines banned him from flying with them. Reason: he got on board a flight and insisted on sitting in Business Class, although he had an Economy Class ticket!

And then, Jonathan’s list gets unbelievably abominable.
He gives to Patricia Etteh, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, TWO awards. At Number 5 on the official list, he decorates her with the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR); and then at Number 25, she also gets the Commander of the Niger (CON). Etteh is the same woman who was forced to resign as Speaker of the House of Representatives two and a half years ago for spectacular fraud involving N628 million. In which case all we can say is that she must be a really, really special woman.

We could go on all day: Halilu Akilu has not discharged the burden of being involved in one of the most dastardly chapters of the Babangida administration: the bombing death of Dele Giwa. So why does Mr. Jonathan see fit to decorate him with an award that should be preserved for the nation’s best, in character and quality of service?

Mike Oghiadomhe, the Chief of Staff to Jonathan, is the former Deputy Governor of Edo State who, along with Lucky Igbinedion, ran the state into disgrace and dishonor, and presided over its unprecedented looting. The last we heard of him in his home state, he was seizing for himself, land belonging to the Azukhala Ekpen Community in Etsako Central Local Government. In the name of Nigeria, Jonathan is rewarding him with a CFR dipped in human excrement.

On the list: Ogbonnaya Onovo, the “Ribadu-never-visited-Nigeria” Inspector-General of Police. Nigeria is overrun by kidnapping, unsolved murder and electoral malfeasance. Reporters Sans Frontières this year conferred on Onovo the award of “Predator of Press Freedom”. So why is Jonathan in a haste to honor a man in whose watch this mess happens? What does Jonathan know that we miss?

Governor Bukola Saraki is known to be a money-launderer. We do not need the United States or the United Kingdom to arrest him in Dubai to know this. He is also a thief and a forger: on December 7, 1990, the police filed charges against him and his sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki. By virtue of that case, it has been established that both of them must have lied in their electoral nomination forms in 2003 and 2007 because, on the basis of their criminal history, there is no way they qualified to run for political office.

“Billionaire” Femi Otedola, who owes loads of cash to several banks but is reported to be bankrolling Jonathan’s 2007 presidential bid, shows up on the list. The former governor of Ebonyi, Sam Egwu, is on the list. Enough said.

But not enough about Farida Waziri, who appears…drum roll, please… at Number 84. The allegations against Mrs. Waziri, many of which have been made and substantiated on this website, would disqualify her from a seat next to any self-respecting drunk in any beer joint. Apparently, not Jonathan. Her “Honor” confirms the contradiction in Jonathan’s claims about his preparedness to fight corruption. Remember he looked into Barack Obama’s eyes in the White House and made that promise. He went to the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington and repeated that promise. He has made that promise (wink-wink, Nigeria) in several public addresses in Nigeria. Perhaps Waziri gets her gift for her Nollywood skills: skillfully keeping the EFCC charade going.

A dishonest Jonathan proudly decorates Abdullahi Dikko Inde, the certificate-forging Customs boss who cannot explain how he obtained any of his academic certificates, from high school up to the university. In Ghana, Mr. Dikko would have been fired from his job, and prosecuted. But this is Jonathan’s Nigeria where “honor” is reserved for the worst among us.

There are other names on the list we would have loved to highlight, but we will leave that to the Nigerians on the street, to an awake and patriotic civil society, and to the mainstream media.

We write this comment today, rather than a new story exposing corruption, because the so-called 2010 National Honors List is an embarrassment. It is an insult to every hard-working and patiently hopeful Nigerian everywhere. It is an assault on decency. It is an admission that nothing is changing. It is confirmation to the international community that they may be wasting their time trying to help us. Perhaps Aesop, the ancient Greek, was speaking about Nigeria long ago: “We hang the petty thieves,” he said, “and appoint the great ones to public office.”

Jonathan, it seems, is interpreting him literally. In his ill-disguised desire to run as a candidate in next year’s presidential election, he seems to have decided to ride on the back of every tainted, corrupt Nigerian he can find.

Jonathan’s Nigeria continues a trend that ignores her sons and daughters who work hard, sacrifice deeply, pray earnestly and hope profoundly. Such a list would probably be very short, but it would be honest. And it would be true honor. The current list, by contrast, is a pathetic scandal. Internally, it says we are an unserious nation. Internationally, it makes us a laughing stock.

What if one or 10 or 20 of these people are handcuffed in Dubai or Singapore next week? What if they are declared persona non grata in countries that used to respect us? Are we the same people who claimed to have been embarrassed when Obama refused to come to Nigeria?

That is why SaharaReporters has only two things left to say. The first: We urge those decent Nigerians on Jonathan’s list to opt out, the way Chinua Achebe opted out of Olusegun Obasanjo’s in 2004 (and we definitely don’t mean the manner Prof. Tam David-West opted out because he was not given a bigger award). Let no self-respecting Nigerian soil his or her legacy or confer credibility on this laughable list by accepting this year’s award.

The second is to note that, by Jonathan’s ghastly standards, the list, as it stands, is incomplete. It is not sufficiently insulting. It is not even up to 200 people. That means there is plenty of room to pile up more despicable, contemptible names. Why not James Ibori? Turai Yar’Adua? Michael Aondoakaa? Abba Ruma? Marcel Awokulehin? Dimeji Bankole? And, oh…Patience Jonathan.

On the Issue of 2009 National Honour List; SaharaReporters Says:These Are No Honours!

Written by SaharaReporters, New York Sunday, 04 July 2010 16:13


If Nikki Tobi, Why Not Ibori?
As an active anti-corruption crusader, Saharareporters is pleased to see Mr. Balarabe Musa on this year’s National Honors List. He is a man of principle who deserves to be decorated and celebrated. But the list also contains a bewildering army of incompetent, corrupt, greedy and discredited Nigerians, and it is a shame to tell the world they number among our best. Okhai Mike Akhigbe, to whom Goodluck Jonathan is giving one of the nation’s highest honors, the GCON, has no honor. He was Number Two to General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who has been cited in several corruption scandals. Their government bought and sold Nigeria for self-enrichment, and it is known that in the last weeks of their administration, they were registering companies to which they funneled lavish contracts and funds. Even before all that, Akhigbe had enriched himself lavishly in the Babangida government.

Justice Katsina-Alu, whom he is also awarding the GCON, lacks integrity. His role in some of the political scandals that have beset Nigeria in the past couple of years is well known. He may be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but he lacks legal and popular respect.

Justice Niki Tobi was a judge of the Supreme Court who did not see anything wrong with unserialized ballot papers while delivering his infamous tie-breaker ruling regarding the bastardized 2007 presidential election. On top of that, Tobi got his son appointed to the Court of Appeal for his role in validating that despicable election.

Justice Dahiru Musdapher was another member of the Supreme Court panel on the presidential election petition in 2008, and knowing that the judiciary needed to maintain a professional distance, accepted appointment by President Yar’Adua as a member of Federal Government delegation to the Hajj. Predictably, he went on to support the judgment that kept a sickly Umaru Yar’Adua in power until he died last May. He is not a man of honor.

Joseph Wayas, the former President of the Senate in the Second Republic, is also to be awarded the GCON. Grand Commander? This is a man who, in addition to having been in the middle of the mess that was the National Party of Nigeria, has become such a nuisance that, only last year, Arik Airlines banned him from flying with them. Reason: he got on board a flight and insisted on sitting in Business Class, although he had an Economy Class ticket!

And then, Jonathan’s list gets unbelievably abominable.
He gives to Patricia Etteh, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, TWO awards. At Number 5 on the official list, he decorates her with the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR); and then at Number 25, she also gets the Commander of the Niger (CON). Etteh is the same woman who was forced to resign as Speaker of the House of Representatives two and a half years ago for spectacular fraud involving N628 million. In which case all we can say is that she must be a really, really special woman.

We could go on all day: Halilu Akilu has not discharged the burden of being involved in one of the most dastardly chapters of the Babangida administration: the bombing death of Dele Giwa. So why does Mr. Jonathan see fit to decorate him with an award that should be preserved for the nation’s best, in character and quality of service?

Mike Oghiadomhe, the Chief of Staff to Jonathan, is the former Deputy Governor of Edo State who, along with Lucky Igbinedion, ran the state into disgrace and dishonor, and presided over its unprecedented looting. The last we heard of him in his home state, he was seizing for himself, land belonging to the Azukhala Ekpen Community in Etsako Central Local Government. In the name of Nigeria, Jonathan is rewarding him with a CFR dipped in human excrement.

On the list: Ogbonnaya Onovo, the “Ribadu-never-visited-Nigeria” Inspector-General of Police. Nigeria is overrun by kidnapping, unsolved murder and electoral malfeasance. Reporters Sans Frontières this year conferred on Onovo the award of “Predator of Press Freedom”. So why is Jonathan in a haste to honor a man in whose watch this mess happens? What does Jonathan know that we miss?

Governor Bukola Saraki is known to be a money-launderer. We do not need the United States or the United Kingdom to arrest him in Dubai to know this. He is also a thief and a forger: on December 7, 1990, the police filed charges against him and his sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki. By virtue of that case, it has been established that both of them must have lied in their electoral nomination forms in 2003 and 2007 because, on the basis of their criminal history, there is no way they qualified to run for political office.

“Billionaire” Femi Otedola, who owes loads of cash to several banks but is reported to be bankrolling Jonathan’s 2007 presidential bid, shows up on the list. The former governor of Ebonyi, Sam Egwu, is on the list. Enough said.

But not enough about Farida Waziri, who appears…drum roll, please… at Number 84. The allegations against Mrs. Waziri, many of which have been made and substantiated on this website, would disqualify her from a seat next to any self-respecting drunk in any beer joint. Apparently, not Jonathan. Her “Honor” confirms the contradiction in Jonathan’s claims about his preparedness to fight corruption. Remember he looked into Barack Obama’s eyes in the White House and made that promise. He went to the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington and repeated that promise. He has made that promise (wink-wink, Nigeria) in several public addresses in Nigeria. Perhaps Waziri gets her gift for her Nollywood skills: skillfully keeping the EFCC charade going.

A dishonest Jonathan proudly decorates Abdullahi Dikko Inde, the certificate-forging Customs boss who cannot explain how he obtained any of his academic certificates, from high school up to the university. In Ghana, Mr. Dikko would have been fired from his job, and prosecuted. But this is Jonathan’s Nigeria where “honor” is reserved for the worst among us.

There are other names on the list we would have loved to highlight, but we will leave that to the Nigerians on the street, to an awake and patriotic civil society, and to the mainstream media.

We write this comment today, rather than a new story exposing corruption, because the so-called 2010 National Honors List is an embarrassment. It is an insult to every hard-working and patiently hopeful Nigerian everywhere. It is an assault on decency. It is an admission that nothing is changing. It is confirmation to the international community that they may be wasting their time trying to help us. Perhaps Aesop, the ancient Greek, was speaking about Nigeria long ago: “We hang the petty thieves,” he said, “and appoint the great ones to public office.”

Jonathan, it seems, is interpreting him literally. In his ill-disguised desire to run as a candidate in next year’s presidential election, he seems to have decided to ride on the back of every tainted, corrupt Nigerian he can find.

Jonathan’s Nigeria continues a trend that ignores her sons and daughters who work hard, sacrifice deeply, pray earnestly and hope profoundly. Such a list would probably be very short, but it would be honest. And it would be true honor. The current list, by contrast, is a pathetic scandal. Internally, it says we are an unserious nation. Internationally, it makes us a laughing stock.

What if one or 10 or 20 of these people are handcuffed in Dubai or Singapore next week? What if they are declared persona non grata in countries that used to respect us? Are we the same people who claimed to have been embarrassed when Obama refused to come to Nigeria?

That is why SaharaReporters has only two things left to say. The first: We urge those decent Nigerians on Jonathan’s list to opt out, the way Chinua Achebe opted out of Olusegun Obasanjo’s in 2004 (and we definitely don’t mean the manner Prof. Tam David-West opted out because he was not given a bigger award). Let no self-respecting Nigerian soil his or her legacy or confer credibility on this laughable list by accepting this year’s award.

The second is to note that, by Jonathan’s ghastly standards, the list, as it stands, is incomplete. It is not sufficiently insulting. It is not even up to 200 people. That means there is plenty of room to pile up more despicable, contemptible names. Why not James Ibori? Turai Yar’Adua? Michael Aondoakaa? Abba Ruma? Marcel Awokulehin? Dimeji Bankole? And, oh…Patience Jonathan.