(Picture Above:Protesters in action ; credit :Melaye’s twitter handle)
By Danlami Nmodu
Former member House of Representatives,Mr Dino Melaye has once again led a group of protesters in Abuja to demand urgent actions against Boko Haram insurgency and corruption in Nigeria .Reports said Melaye led about 1000 protesters under the auspices of Citizens Arise Movement Of Nigeria (CAMON).
In statement on Tuesday he said “This protest will last for 3 days and we are giving an additional 21 days to the Government to respond to our demands, failure of which we shall compel it through massive nationwide protests in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory to do the needful.
In his address,the anti-corruption crusader demanded in part , “That the Federal Government should constitute an independent panel to determine the following:The involvement of the former Chief of Army Staff, Patrick Ihejirika, and former Borno State Governor, Modu Sheriff in the sponsorship of Boko Haram (and) Invite Dr. Stephen Davis and involve the Australian Government to unravel the truth”
He said further “That the Federal Government should ensure that the death sentence passed on the 12 soldiers accused of mutiny is immediately reverted since the case of official corruption, perceived insensitivity and neglect has been established against the former Brigade Commander.”
Melaye’s statement released to newsmen] reads thus“Recall that on the 30th of September 2014, on the date the Citizens Arise Movement of Nigeria was presented to the Nigerian public through a press conference, we gave a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to address and respond to some fundamental national questions and burning issues of grave concern to the Nigerian people. Unfortunately and sadly, well over a week after the 14 days ultimatum, the Federal Government has remained indifferent and has not made any attempt to respond to the least of our demands.
“It is in the light of the above and the necessity to ensure that we are not in any way taken for granted, that we have decided to re-serve our demands on the Federal Government as contained in our first list of demands and to inform the Government that we shall remain consistent, resolute and unwavering until there are satisfactory responses and actions towards addressing the stated demands.
Once again, these demands that (bordered) on issues of intolerable level of corruption, impunity, gross incompetence, official misconducts and threatening national security challenges are here restated as follows:
“That the Nigerian Government should show capacity to contain and defeat the Boko Haram insurgents.
“That the President as the Commander-in-Chief should address the nation on the actual threat posed by the insurgents and the conviction of the Government to urgently defeat them.
That the Federal Government should constitute an independent panel to determine the following:The involvement of the former Chief of Army Staff, Patrick Ihejirika, and former Borno State Governor, Modu Sheriff in the sponsorship of Boko Haram (and) Invite Dr. Stephen Davis and involve the Australian Government to unravel the truth
“That the federal government and military authorities ensure adequate care and compensation for the families of our soldiers and men of other security agencies who have lost their lives in the course of defending the security, unity and integrity of our nation.
“That the names of these our beloved fallen heroes be published and their identities revealed so that the entire nation can honour them and show respect to their gallantry. They must not perish in obscurity and be reduced to mere numbers.
“That the Federal Government should ensure that the death sentence passed on the 12 soldiers accused of mutiny is immediately reverted since the case of official corruption, perceived insensitivity and neglect has been established against the former Brigade Commander.
“That we condemn in absolute terms the provision of excessive military protection and security to Alimodu Sheriff who has been alleged to be a sponsor of Boko Haram.
“ That the Federal Government should come out clearly on the question of the 9.3 million Dollars impounded by the South African authorities since the laws of both South Africa and Nigeria have been expressly violated. So, the case of black market arms racketeering, money laundering and official corruption has been committed by the Federal Government of Nigeria having claimed ownership of the said 9.3 million dollars. That those involved in the criminal act be prosecuted and jailed for breaking our laws and the laws of a foreign country and bringing so much disrepute to our image as a nation.
“That the Federal Government immediately order the Attorney-general of the Federation and Ministry of Justice to resume immediate prosecution in the mega corruption cases (Halliburton, Malabu and Siemens) and make the culprits face the full wrath of the law.
“That Mr. President who is the custodian of our values and constitution should immediately reverse the clemency granted to Mr. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who has an international warrant of arrest on him.
“That the Federal Government of Nigeria must visibly and adequately equip, mobilize and encourage our Military to go full blast and defend our country against insurgency and recapture every inch of Nigerian territory occupied by insurgents.
“That the Federal Government should deploy our arsenal to bring back all missing persons subsuming the abducted Chibok school girls.
“That the Government must demonstrate total commitment to free, fair and credible electoral processes leading to the 2015 elections.
“That we condemn in its entirety the militarization of elections and gross disenfranchisement of voters in any part of Nigeria.
“That the Federal Government and Mr. President must prosecute Ministers, Directors- General, Managing Directors and other heads of MDAs indicted of corrupt practices i.e. Diezeani, Stella Oduah, Godsday Orubebe, Maina, Emeka Wogu of labour, Orosanye, etc.
“ That the Federal Government must declare the production and sales capacity of our crude oil per day.
“ That we demand transparency in the production and sale of crude oil in Nigeria per day and furthermore, request that the Federal Government wedge total war on illegal oil bunkering and illegal refineries.
“ That we decry both quality and infrastructural standard of education in Nigeria. Furthermore, we therefore demand that the 26% budgetary provision by all nations to education as contained in the UNESCO Charter must be implemented. Education at all levels must be a right of every Nigerian and not a privilege.
The protesters also demanded “that the Justice System in Nigeria be reformed from the present commercialization and monetization of the carriage of justice to a system of equity that conforms to the Nigerian constitution and the Rule of Law.
“that the Federal Government take seriously, the issue of job creation and combat unemployment that is responsible for the social malaise bedeviling our country i.e. insurgency, kidnapping, drug abuse, human trafficking, etc. An idle hand is the devils workshop.
