PRONACO LEADERSHIP IS INTACT!

Due to an error of judgement on the part of a young "line-officer" seconded to assist in the PRONACO reconciliation moves currently on, a PRESS RELEASE (ostensibly from the Reconciliation & Convening Committee...RCC.., which I belong to) falsely annonuced that PRONACO's leadership has been suspended...!

THIS IS NOT TRUE, AND THE RECONCILIATION & CONVENING COMMITTEE HAS NOT BEEN MANDATED TO SO CARRY OUT SUCH A FAR-REACHING ACTION THAT IS IN NO WAY RECONCILIATORY...The RCC hereby distances itself from such a statement, whilst apologising to Pa Enahoro, Dr. Ransome-Kuti and other leaders for any embarrasment caused by this error!

In fact, Pa Enahoro will chair proceedings at Saturday's Emergency PRONACO General Assembly scheduled to hold from 11a.m at Jabita Intercontinental Hotel, Ikeja (opposite Airport Hotel), where vital issues concerning PRONACO and Nigeria will be exhaustively debated and resolved, deo volente.

Shalom!!!

AND NOW?..."a time to heal"!

The world joins the Nigerian nation and people in mourning the passage of her First Lady who died after surgery in Spain; plus her PostMaster-General, her pioneer Peoples' Bank M.D., ECOWAS' Deputy Secretary-General, and 115 others who died in the tragic Bellview plane crash of Saturday.

PP seizes this opportunity to call on all Nigerian leaders to adopt a sincere fear of God that will guide them into doing things with the peoples' interest at heart all the time...so we can avoid the problems that have culminated in "things" like the incarceration of Dokubo Asari, Frederick Fasheun, Gani Adams, etc.; the unseemly threatenings of Uche Okukwu, Ledum Mitee (and ludicrous charging to court of long-dead Ogoni activists for very recent alleged "crimes"!), etc.; the inefficiecies of our aviation, environmental, security, and emergency agencies; the escalating cases of corruption-in-high-places being daily exposed; the posturings of governmental and civil society leadership that appear to have innate feudalistic and ultra-capitalist agenda at all times; the total absence of leadership compassion for the peoples' daily-worsening plight and a total unconcern for the common good by leaders, irrespective of the latter's tribal, religious, partisan or other colouration; and a seeming determination, by these so-called leaders, to crash this nation on the rocks of personal aggrandisement, megalomania, evil machinations, and poitical myopia!

The recent double tragedies of last weekend should give us all food for thought, as we learn that our lives rest in God's hands...and that we all shall some day be answerable to our creator for ALL we do or say here in this existence...this should help us all be more watchful of our seemnig proclivity for criminal tendencies and self-centred peolpe-damning actions that threaten to shove Nigerians over the edge...which event would have very tragic reverberations affecting all citizens of the world, as PP has never stopped pointing out...albeit to a calculatedly deaf and uncaring Nigerian and international political and supranational leadership!

This is an opprtunity for Nigerians to truly commence a God-centred, sincere, and self-giving healing process based on truth, equity, justice, and the need for peace and prosperous future for our children.

We call on all political, corporate, civil society, and religious leaders to truly and holistically eschew megalomaniac and venal oppetunism, and to take the peoples' travails to heart with a true passion for active and effectual compassion that will bring about positive and lasting change to our peoples...

Mr. President, take heart, as we pray God's grace to enable you bear Stella's loss...and that He will lead you to make positively revolutionary changes that are entirely for the common good...just as we call on other leaders outside government (such as Balarabe Musa, Wole Soyinka, Anthony Enahoro, Ndubuisi Kanu, et al) to embrace postive policies and actions (in PRONACO for example!) to urgently, truly, fully, actively, and selflessly represent the interests of the millions of voiceless Nigerians who are looking to them for emancipatory leadership from today's nightmares of Nigerian "nationhood".

Shalom!!!

NIGERIA IS GREATER THAN PRONACO!

All leaders (both old and young!) of PRONACO must realise today that Nigeria is greater than this organisation, and that there are many ways to skin a cat...

NOBODY...NOBODY CAN HOLD NIGERIA"s 130-plus MILLION CITIZENS TO RANSOM...NEVER AGAIN!

Shalom!!!

Still "a time to mourn"!

PP deeply mourns with all the families of the 117 victims that died in the Bellview aircraft crash at Ifon, Ogun State last night en-route Abuja from Lagos!

May God rest all these souls in perfect peace...
...and grant each family the grace to go through with the sorrows of this reality!

Shalom!!!

"a time to mourn"!!

POSITIVE PARTNERS joins all Africans and Nigerians to mourn the passage of the Nigerian First Lady, Chief(Mrs.) Stella Obasanjo, who went to rest with the Lord today!

She was a great woman, and a good influence on Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, and will be missed by all true stakeholders in the Nigerian Project, especially in these vital days of national flux and tremors of disequilibrium.

May her soul rest in peace, and may God grant the first family the fortitude to bear this crushing loss.

Adieu Stella.

RIP.

Shalom!!!

PRONACO¡¦s RECONCILIATION & CONVENING COMMITTEE (RCC)

PRONACO¡¦s RECONCILIATION & CONVENING COMMITTEE (RCC)

This Committee was created on October 14, 2005,
following a PRONACO Stakeholders¡¦ Meeting held at the
Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos; at which meeting 38
facilitating fully-paid-up member organisations of
PRONACO unanimously decided to ensure that the ongoing
impasse hobbling the actualisation of the long-awaited
PEOPLES¡¦ SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE (PSNC) be
boldly addressed, with the immediate objective of
convening a one-voice PRONACO General Assembly on
October 29, 2005; after reaching out to Pa Anthony
Enahoro and every other leader of PRONACO, to
guarantee a successful General Assembly on the said
date.

To date, these actions and events have followed the
setting-up of RCC, viz.:

„h The RCC successfully communicated its intention to
meet with Pa Enahoro and other PRONACO Elders
(including Ambassador Segun Olusola, Admiral Ndubuisi
Kanu, Professor Wole Soyinka, & Dr. Frederick Fasheun)
at 7p.m of Tuesday October 18,2005, at Pa Enahoro¡¦s
Ikeja residence; and all these elder statesmen and
leaders agreed to be present at the meeting;
„h Pa Enahoro unilaterally, at the last minute,
changed the date for the meeting to Thursday October
20, 2005, at the same venue; and the other elders
graciously adjusted their busy schedules to fit into
his, hopefully, well-intentioned re-scheduling of this
vital meeting;
„h PRONACO Elders and members of the RCC arrived Pa
Enahoro¡¦s residence on the night of Thursday October
20, 2005, only to learn that Pa Enahoro was not
available to host the meeting, regardless of the fact
that this new rendezvous was fixed by him, ostensibly
at his convenience. This development did not go down
too well with both affronted leaders who had been now
twice stood-up, nor with members of the RCC who had
put in so much time and other personal resources to
ensure that the PRONACO impasse be resolved at this
crucial meeting;
„h The RCC resolved to still continue efforts to
facilitate the botched meeting with Pa Enahoro and the
other PRONACO Elders before or by 7p.m. Monday October
24, 2005, following which the RCC would continue its
mandate by effecting more reconciliatory meetings with
other interest groups, especially the many
youth-centred and other civil society bodies before
end-Wednesday October 26, 2006;
„h The RCC concluded that the General Assembly would
still hold on Saturday October 29, 2005, at the
PRONACO Secretariat, beginning from 10:00 a.m. prompt;
and that this position be communicated to all
stakeholders in PRONACO by Monday October 24, 2005,
latest;
„h The RCC has mandated the PRONACO Secretariat to
formally alert the management of Grandview Plaza (the
landlords of the PRONACO Secretariat) of the decision
to hold the next General Assembly at the Secretariat
on October 29, 2005;
„h An invitation to a General Assembly¡§ being
summoned by Pa Enahoro for the same October 29, 205
date was received by members of the RCC on Friday
October 21, 2005; and
„h The RCC is going ahead with current arrangements
for the Saturday October 29, 2005 General Assembly
holding from 10:00a.m. at the PRONACO Secretariat,
Lagos, God willing.

Members PRONACO's RCC.
October 21, 2005.

PRONACO STAKEHOLDERS¡¦ MEETING
Held on Friday October 14, 2005,
At Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

This meeting was called by Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti,
Deputy Leader of PRONACO, and attended by thirty-eight
member organisations of the body, ostensibly to review
ongoing flux within PRONACO, in light of the
still-putative Peoples¡¦ Sovereign National Conference
(PSNC) which is being stifled by personality-crises
and structural defects besetting PRONACO.

During the meeting, different speakers dissected the
obvious challenges facing PRONACO and the PSNC; with
the majority positing that a few leaders of PRONACO
appeared to have failed to carry the general populace
of both PRONACO and NIGERIA along, or were involved in
actions that could only be interpreted as inimical to
the attainment of the vision and mission of PRONACO
and the PSNC.

There was a consensus of opinions, by members present,
that there is urgent need to redefine, establish, and
democratise PRONACO¡¦s structures with a view to
improving the body¡¦s efficiency, whilst freeing it
from any personality cults that may have been
hampering the smooth running of PRONACO¡¦s affairs,
and ultimately slowing-down the drive towards a
successful and effectual convening of the PSNC.

To actualise the meeting¡¦s position and decision,
that there be urgent and radical systemic change in
PRONACO, motions were passed that:
„h Dr. Ransome-Kuti, and other members who had
convened that day¡¦s meeting be stepped-down from
chairing the meeting;
„h A protem chairperson should immediately continue
affairs of overseeing the meeting;
„h A PRONACO RECONCILIATION & GENERAL
ASSEMBLY-CONVENING COMMITTEE (RCC) be constituted and
empowered to ensure the convening of an EXTRAORDINARY
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PRONACO on October 29, 2005, at
the Lagos Airport Hotel; and
„h No efforts are spared to ensure that ALL member
organisations, and ALL leaders, of PRONACO attend the
29th October General Assembly as scheduled.

The members of the Reconciliation & Convening
Committee (RCC) unanimously appointed were:

1. Hon. Nnamdi Nwokocha, MON, of ONY (Committee
Chairman);
2. Ms. Abiola Akiyode, of WARDC;
3. Mr. Wale Balogun, of COSEG;
4. Ms. Ngozi Iwere, of JAC; and
5. Mr. Tony I. Uranta, of AREF.

The meeting adjourned on the understanding that the
RCC would assiduously execute its mandate and
actualise all decisions taken in the interest of
PRONACO, the proposed PSNC, and the common good of all
the Nigerian peoples.

At the end of the meeting, the RCC convened its
inaugural meeting at the same venue, with all members
present and actively contributive. The RCC next
prepared communication-formats and an action-programme
intended to ensure that its duties are fully
discharged as mandated by the 38 member organisations
present at the just-ended meeting, and swung
immediately into necessary action. All told, it was a
very fruitful meeting, and AREF¡¦s ongoing mediatory
inputs were well appreciated and commended by members
present.

Finally, we recommend that AREF does not relent,
within the ambit of its resources and its mandate, its
efforts to guarantee that this, and any other,
conflict-avoidance intervention or process, that is
for Nigeria¡¦s progress, must succeed.

The mills of God may grind slow...but they do grind!

The mills of God may grind slow...but they do grind!


Malawi's ex-leader in fraud probe
Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau has summoned ex-president Bakili Muluzi to a hearing about his financial dealings with foreign donors next week.
It intends to ask him what happened to millions of dollars of aid during his rule, which ended last year.

The announcement came as parliament renewed its drive to impeach current President Bingu wa Mutharika.

Mr Muluzi's supporters say Mr Mutharika is mounting a witch-hunt against his predecessor, after the two fell out.

Handpicked by Mr Muluzi, President Mutharika quit the United Democratic Front (UDF) earlier this year, saying the party disliked his tough anti-corruption drive that has seen many senior officials, including some former ministers, arrested.

Distraction

On Tuesday, parliament passed the first laws which will enable impeachment procedures to proceed.

The UDF say they want the president impeached for violating the constitution and misusing government funds.

International donors have urged the president's critics not to go ahead with impeachment, saying political in-fighting is distracting attention from the food crisis in Malawi.

Over the weekend the president declared a national disaster over the food shortages after the worst harvest in a decade.

The United Nations says some 5m people - nearly half the population - may need aid.

SHALOM!!!

The Set-Up Begins!

We had long foreseen, and warned, that there would be an attempt to tar the Niger Delta with the brush of terrorism...and that there'd probably be some set-up to this effect...so as to allow for ultra-capitalistic feudalists to attempt to commit genocide in this region, as a simple way of ensuring that they remain in control of the oil and gas resources of the region!

The recent announcement by the head of the Nigerian National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to the effect that there are at least 10,000 Al-Qaeda-trained/backed terrorists in the Niger Delta is not only laughable (if not for its dreadful implications!), but it totally avoids concentrating attention on the Nigerian states where there have been altready proven Al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorism kite-flying...WHO IS TRYING TO FOOL WHOM?!

Let it go on record here that the people of the Niger Delta will not roll over and die to suit anybody's murderous ambitions and evil machinations!

NEVER AGAIN!

FREE DOKUBO TODAY, OBJ!

Shalom??!

Now The Set-Up Begins!

Sanity Continues To Prevail in PRONACO!

As member organisations of PRONACO ended a stakeholders' meeting yesterday, there are indications that sanity continues to prevail in the deliberations, strucures, and common good aspirations of this vital alternative that seeks to bring Nigeria out of the sad and avoidable morass that we find ourselves in today, courtesy of our venal and selfserving leaders of both nation and states!

Every Nigerian is looking forward to the ability of the PRONACO leadership to bury their egos and do what they've made all Nigerians believe they set up the body to do...i.e. to holistically and conscientiously represent the interests of the people of this nation primarily and singularily...

Enahoro, Beko, Soyinka, Ojukwu, Buhari, Olusola, Oshiomhole, Faseun, Uwazurike, Balarabe, Okoko, Dokubo (the latter whom all Nigerians must come together to fight and ensure that he is released by government to fully participate in this epochal Sovereign National Conference!) and all other representatives of Nigerians cannot afford to let history epitaph them as having sold-out to their greed or petty pride (or even kow-towing to powers of feudalism and rent-collection that do not have the peoples' interests at heart!)...they chose to lead...THEY MUST LEAD ARIGHT AND BE SO SEEN TO DO BEGINNING NOW...Or risk incurring the wrath and curses of Nigerians.
PRONACO IS ALIVE AND GROWING STRONGER WITH EACH PASSING DAY!

Shalom!!!

AREF SUPPORTS PRONACO's PNC.

Nigeria's elder statesman and premier Peace Advocate, Ambassador Segun Olusola, mni, OFR, the Founder/Patron of the African Refugees Foundation (AREF), today declared the global humanitarian community's unalloyed support for the recently-inaugurated PRONACO-driven PEOPLES' NATIONAL CONFERENCE (PNC) in Nigeria, whilst reminding all stakeholders who are interested in a positively virile Nigeria that "AREF is pro-dialogue and mediation as a dynamic process of avoiding and resolving conflicts that could trigger off the creation of refugees or internally-displaced-persons anywhere in Africa".

Ambassador Olusola pointed out that even the recently-concluded government-initiated Political Reforms Conference was welcomed by AREF, and that "AREF made positive inputs to that process through its Public Affairs Adviser, Mr. Taiwo Allimi, who (doubling as AREF and Ogun State representative to the Confab) stated AREF's aversion to the Indigenes/Settlers dichotomy that bedevils our nation's communities today, and that is the remote and immediate cause of a majority of the recent bloody and destabilising conflicts and crises in Nigeria".

The respected diplomat and humanitarian reminded all Nigerian and world leaders that "Everybody must proactively ensure that Nigeria does not slide into a state of public acrimony, ethnic or religious conflict of uncontrollabe proportions, or any dislocations that could create millions of Nigerian refugees, because Africa alone could never absorb all the refugees that would most likely be created by a Nigeria at war today...Europe would be directly and direly affected by refugee-influx, and the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR)would probably collapse under the burden of this unprecedented outflow of human beings...greater than what even the world wars ever created from any one country!"

The AREF chieftain called for caution on the part of all players in the Nigerian Project, and reminded all that Nigeria is greater than everyone, whilst reiterating that "our very existence and sovereignty must be objectively re-analysed by all stakeholders, so as to determine a true future of the people as arrived at by the people, and the people primarily."

Finally, he advised that there be rapprochement of all opposing parties in the ongoing unique processes for positive change in Nigeria, and gave the reassurance that "AREF will continue to open up and maximise all possible avenues for mediation and reconciliation between groups with divergent positions within PRONACO and the greater Nigerian polity, with the ultimate goal being the common good of all Nigerians and stakeholders in a future great African nation."

Nigeria must not explode or implode!

May every world citizen join all Nigerians and Africans in actively ensuring that Nigeria succeeds in staying peacefully together or, at worst, in agreeing to split up peacefully...for the world cannot begin to imagine the horrors of a Nigeria at war today...!

In this light we hereby call on all lovers of freedom to join in seeking the immediate release of Asari Dokubo, and the end to government harrasment of other Niger Delta leaders who are merely seeking justice and equity for their long-cheated and repressed peoples, but are now being put through the murderous and hateful gulag-system operated by this nation's megalomaniac leadership, the same system that killed Ken Saro-Wiwa and Shehu Musa Yaradua, and nearly consumed current Nigerian President, former military General Olusegun Obasanjo.


May God save Nigeria again...as he has done before in the time of military dictatorship...He is no respecter of persons, whether military, ex-military, civilian, or pseudo-democrat...God is not man, nor is He the son of man...He shall judge and execute judgement for the helpless in Nigeria...even as He did during Abacha's rule of dictatorially-deaf death-nights!

Shalom!!!

THE NIGERIAN PROJECT

As the nation of Nigeria awaits the take-off of PRONACO's PNC Plenaries, at a date soon to be announced, all true stakeholders (without any hidden agenda) are happy that the conflict resolution mechanism (instituted by elders and youths of this dynamic alternative to the inconclusive government-sponsored NPRC) has been able to put to rest any disenchantment that seemed to threaten the PNC's success.

We all salute the efforts of Professor Soyinka, Ambassadors Otunla & Olusola, Admiral Kanu, Alhaji Shettima, Messrs Rosiji, Ekeocha, and all the many others who have kept late nights ensuring that all disputes are resolved positively, with the common good of Nigerians at heart...and we look forward to seeing and hearing leaders like Pa Enahoro and Dr. Ransome-Kuti coming together again tomorrow to take us to higher levels for the good of Nigeria's peoples who rest their hope today in PRONACO PNC! We cannot afford to allow outside forces truncate our determined move towards a new, and people-redesigned, Nigeria.

Shalom!!!

FREE DOKUBO TODAY, OBJ!

Holding Dokubo is NOT IN THE BEST OF NIGERIA'S INTEREST OBJ...!

All Niger Deltans must employ EVERY possible avenue to drive home the URGENT NEED for Asari's imediate and unconditional release by Nigeria's neo-colonialists TODAY, if we are to guarantee the peace and stability that Nigeria, and especially our oil/gas region, need for the world to benefit...!

The time for ACTION is NOW!!

ALUTA CONTINUA!!!

PRONACO REMAINS STRONG & POSITIVELY UNITED!

PRONACO REMAINS ONE!

The PRONACO came out of a press conference held today at its Lagos HQ, by its youthful leaders, stronger than it has ever been before.

AREF Founder/Patron, Ambassador Segun Olusola, hereby "congratultes all parties concerned for their maturity, selflessness, and greater patriotic fervour that has resulted in a greater PRONACO as a viable alternative dialogue and solutions platform towards the attaining of the much-sought-after UHURU for Nigeria" as the Bolaji Rosiji-led youthful PRONACO leaders reiterated that Pa Enahoro remains PRONACO's leader, demanded speedier democratisation of PRONACO's structures and interests, and demonstrated their passionate commitment to the success of the October 1, 2005, inaugurated PEOPLES' SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE (PSNC), by launching a grassroots mobilisation-train that will go round the country to boost the activities of zonal groups who are to be actively in place from now on!

This is a very welcome development that acknowledges the on-going need for the conflicts-avoidance and resolution processes that AREF has been promoting and effecting from since the genesis of PRONACO. AREF

Public Affairs Division
October 10, 2005.

PRONACO REMAINS STRONG & POSITIVELY UNITED!

As the world awaits the take-off of the PEOPLES' SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE (PSNC) PLENARIES later this year, Ambassador Segun Olusola joins all Nigerians in congratulating PRONACO for the successful inauguration, on October 1, 2005, of the PSNC, whilst reassuring the global humanitarian community that this alternative intervention process, designed to move the Nigerian Project forward to a peaceful resolution of all this nation's challenges, is on course...just as the youths of PRONACO have taken a more active and dynamic role in guaranteeing that their future is not hijacked for any petty ambitions that anybody may be breeding.

In light of all the latest developments, including the acceptance by all parties that there is need to let on-ground mediatory mechanisms (that include AREF's positive leadership) hold sway in the event of any conflicts of opinions and postions that will naturally arise in any such unique and novel process as the PSNC.

The message that is still ringing out clearly to date, is that PRONACO (and the PEOPLES' SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE) is destined to bring Nigeria to a great future, as it is growing more united, more focused, and better organised with each passing day.

AREF congratulates the Enahoros, Soyinkas, Jubrins, Dokubos, Kanus, Yerimas, Rosiji and all others for remaining true leaders of the new revolution to bring Nigeria to its destiny as Africa's leader.

AREF Public Affairs Division.
October 10, 2005.

PRONACO REMAINS ONE BODY!

The youths of PRONACO held a Press Briefing today at the PRONACO HQ in Lagos, where they restated their commitment to the unity of PRONACO under the leadership of Pa Enahoro, and the success of the PEOPLES' NATIONAL SOVEREIGN CONFERENCE (PSNC) which has been successfully inaugurated on Saturday October 1, 2005, in Lagos, under the able co-chairmanship of Pa Anthony Enahoro and Professor Wole Soyinka, with major pro-democracy fighters of the ilk of Vice-Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Chief Olu Falae, Dr.(Mrs.) Sarh Jubril, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, Hadjia Asari Dokubo, and many others present, whilst others like Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu and Ambassador Segun Olusola sent in Goodwill and Solidarity Messages, and were very visibly represented.

AREF once again congratulates all parties to this intervention process that is designed to help move the Nigerian Project forward dynamically and positively, whilst reassuring the world that any issues that may need further finetuning within the process or structures of PRONACO are being very actively submitted to positive processes to avoid and resolve any conflicts that have arisen to date, or that may crop up as this unique and novel alternative platform develops.

Finally, AREF and all members of the global humanitarian community reiterate the need for Nigeria to actively embrace all fora for dialogue that will deny the doomsday-prophets the joy of watching Africa's giant nation go down, taking the continent (and the world?!) with it!

Shalom!!!

GOD'S WILL BE DONE, REGARDLESS!

As each day reveals our creator, JEHOVAH-ELOHIM's loving will and ability to work ALL THINGS together for the purpose of good, I become more and more resolved to, like Jacob, hold unrelentingly to Him, and to He alone...for I'm determined to say, like Job, that He knows my ways (far better than even I do!), and I owe it to myself, and His FORGIVING SECOND-CHANCE LOVE, to be the best that I can be in all that I find myself opportuned to be led by Him, without even needing to fully know where, how, or why He so leads me (His ways are truly unsearchable anyway!), because His very presence reassures me that all is well, and that when I'm through with being tried by Him, I can only emerge as fine gold, purified and valuable to His purpose.

Jesus loves me, and my bettered position in life, today, proves this to be true (not to mention the fact that His infallible Word assures me so); whilst I am confident that the best is yet to come, even if I have to endure His appointed cross to refine my mandate and mission, as determined by His vision for me.

I am grateful for all God has done for me to date, but I do need His grace to achieve even more for myself, my family, my community, my nation, my generation, and His Church;Whilst I know that I know that He is about to bring me to a greater and higher level to His glory, and to the edification of mankind...

O Yes! I'm Coming Out for my God, in Jesus' name!
Hallelujah!!

Shalom!!!

Silence is not always rejection!

"But He answered her not a word."
-Matthew 15:23

Genuine seekers who as yet have not obtained the blessing, may take
comfort from the story before us. The Saviour did not at once bestow the
blessing, even though the woman had great faith in Him. He intended to
give it, but He waited awhile. "He answered her not a word." Were not
her prayers good? Never better in the world. Was not her case needy?
Sorrowfully needy. Did she not feel her need sufficiently? She felt it
overwhelmingly. Was she not earnest enough? She was intensely so. Had she
no faith? She had such a high degree of it that even Jesus wondered, and
said, "O woman, great is thy faith." See then, although it is true that
faith brings peace, yet it does not always bring it instantaneously.
There may be certain reasons calling for the trial of faith, rather than
the reward of faith. Genuine faith may be in the soul like a hidden
seed, but as yet it may not have budded and blossomed into joy and peace.
A painful silence from the Saviour is the grievous trial of many!
a seeking soul, but heavier still is the affliction of a harsh cutting
reply such as this, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and
to cast it to dogs." Many in waiting upon the Lord find immediate
delight, but this is not the case with all. Some, like the jailer, are in a
moment turned from darkness to light, but others are plants of slower
growth. A deeper sense of sin may be given to you instead of a sense of
pardon, and in such a case you will have need of patience to bear the
heavy blow. Ah! poor heart, though Christ beat and bruise thee, or even
slay thee, trust Him; though He should give thee an angry word, believe
in the love of His heart. Do not, I beseech thee, give up seeking or
trusting my Master, because thou hast not yet obtained the conscious joy
which thou longest for. Cast thyself on Him, and perseveringly depend
even where thou canst not rejoicingly hope.

Shalom!!!

The Journey To Freedom Begins!

Every lover of Nigeria, and stakeholder in the future existence and progress of the South-South peoples of Nigeria, is hereby advised to exercise the cautious restraint of wisdom now that Asari's "trial" is on. We must not exacerbate issues for Dokubo or for the Niger Delta region...

THE JOURNEY TO A TRUE FREEDOM FOR NIGERIA, AND THE NIGER DELTA, HAS BEGUN TODAY, WITH ASARI'S "TRIAL"...The truth of the matter being that it is the government itself, and not Asari, that is really on trial in the court of world opionion and justice, which court reigns supreme with its control of global resources and interests!

This is Asari's (and the Niger Delta's) biggest opportunity to PREACH the case for freedom from repressive and corrupt leadership in Nigeria, to all the world...the government has inadvertently given him a lionised podium to reach out more effectively to the global village!

The duty of all true sons and daughters of the South-South, and all global citizens, is to ensure that the alleged primordial and selfish agenda for power-monopoly beyond constitutional limits (even within the nation's acceptedly grossly inadequate and inefficient in situ constitution!), by certain Nigerians, is not boosted by any acts of lawlessness or destructiveness in the Niger Delta, whilst we hereby warn that it is not unlikely that there will be acts of provocation calculated to spark off such negative reactions from the longsuffering people of that long-oppressed region of Nigeria that lays the golden eggs but eats the excreta of the cabalistic feudalists of many ethnic and religious colourations, including even vultures that are children of the selfsame region!Let us use our heads to overcome these megalomaniac machinations of some leaders who wish to benefir from the peoples' sorrow, tears, and blood.

NEVER AGAIN SHALL INTERNAL IMPERIALISM WIN OVER THE PEOPLE'S WILL AND RIGHTS!

ALUTA CONTINUA!!

Shalom!!!

TIME FOR CONCERTED POSITIVE CHANGE!

This is a time for serious reflection on the part of President Obasanjo and every Nigerian that really wishes this country well...

There's urgent need for holistic change in our nation, such that will enable us attain the U.N.'s Millenium Development Goals, and to become a true nation of forward-looking Africans that is truly primed to lead this great continent in the U.N. Security Council as we are obviously destined to...let us begin by revisiting and admitting our errors (only the great admit to fallibility!), and by never stopping to correct our ways, regardless of how humbling and painful that process may be for us, both individually and as a nation.

OBJ can lead the way, today, by reappraising, and nullifying, the ill-advised move to muzzle Dokubo (or, at least, keep him away from the PRONACO P.N.C.!), which move could turn into a pyrrhic victory which neither he nor Nigeria can afford...now or ever!

God bless Nigeria!
PLEASE FREE DOKUBO TODAY, OBJ!

Shalom!!!

Asari Dokubo arraigned on spurious treason charge by OBJ

Asari Dokubo arraigned on spurious treason charge by OBJ.

Nigerian Niger Delta leader Mujahid Dokubo Asari was today charged with treason, by the Obasanjo government, for which he could face the death penalty. Mr Asari denied that charge, and several others including unlawful assembly and conspiracy, in an Abuja court. Hundreds of armed police blocked roads surrounding the Abuja court.

He shouted "Freedom to my people!" before being led from the courtroom.

He was extrajudicially detained two weeks ago, under circumstances that brought back fearful memories of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa's arrest, detention, and extrajudicial murder by the late Abacha-led Nigerian state, which same junta then also extrajudicially condemned now-President Obasanjo to death on trumped-up charges because Obasanjo did not support the Abacha dictatorship...analysts wonder at the close similarities of those mad deeds of Abacha to these recent ones by the putative democratic government headed by former military dictator (now-President) OLUSEGUN OBASANJO! Dokubo's arrest had sparked protests in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in southern Nigeria, before well-meaning stakeholders in a positive Nigerian future appealed to the militant and very restive youths of the Niger Delta to stand down all their planned actions of reprisal against both the government and all multinationals in the region, especially in the oil and gas industry.

Mr Asari says he is fighting for the self-determination of the Niger Delta and Ijaw peoples, and for greater local control of the profits from the oil and gas industries, which provide over 95% of this African country's income...which said income is known to fuel crisis since most of these monies go into the pockets of a select cabal of corrupt and feudalistic leaders, even in this Obasanjo-led government which is rated as the second most corrupt in the world today by Transparency International, notwithstanding the fact OBJ has refused to let go the strings of the treasury from oil receipts which he solely controls as the plenipotentiary oil and gas minister!

If convicted by the court for treason, which charges many observers see as unnecassarily extreme, if not spurious, Mr Asari could be sentenced to death or face life imprisonment. It is not clear how already-volatile youths of the Niger Delta, especially members of his highly-incensed Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) will react to these charges that carry such steep penalties.


After his detention two weeks ago, Mr Asari's supporters threatened oil production in the Niger Delta if he was not released and at one point US oil company Chevron was forced to shut down one of its facilities in the area. The NDPVF also told expatriate oil workers to leave the area, but later withdrew the threat.

It must be remembered that the Niger Delta, which includes the late Ken Saro-Wiwa's impoverished Ogoni-land, remains Nigeria's poorest and least developed region, although it accounts for most of the 2.4 million barrels of oil produced by Nigeria, Africa's largest oil-producer, each year. Last year, the NDPVF contributed to a sharp rise in world oil prices when it threatened war against oil companies.

Mr Asari will be held in custody until his next appearance in court on 10 November.
In the meantime, POSITIVE PARTNERS, through its Council Chairman, President, and Executive Secretary, Ambassador Segun Olusola, Commodore (Dr.) M. A. Buhari (rtd.), and Mr. Tony I. Uranta, respectively, has called on all Nigerians (especially the youths of the Niger Delta and other aggrieved/affected regions) to exercise the utmost caution and restraint, so as not play into the hands of anti-progressive forces (both within and outside government!) who appear to be trying to stir up unrest in Nigeria for far-reaching, albeit extremely megalomaniac and shortsighted, personal reasons and ambitions that may not be totally unconnected with the increasingly-shaky 2007 change-of-government date!

Nigeria is greater than ANY ONE MAN...and only the people hold the right to their future...which is the more reason why the PRONACO-driven PEOPLES' NATIONAL CONFERENCE, which Dokubo strongly fought for, must be made to achieve its logical objective of creating a constitution (or otherwise) that will reflect the sovereignty of all Nigerian peoples...and of the people alone! Anything less, threatens to spell doom for this nation, with all the concommitant consequences to Africa, Europe, and the United Nations structure s as we know them today!!

Shalom!!!

Should Christians Love, And Pray For, Terrorists?

Praying for Terrorists
by: Jan Markell

A prominent Christian recently asked, “What is the Christian response to terrorists?” He chastises Christians for seeing them as alien beings who have taken human form to torment mankind. Are we capable of loving them? Can you imagine doing good to them? Was Jesus referring to a jihadist when he said, “Love your enemies”? (Matthew 5:44).

I wrote an article months ago citing the victims of the Beslan, Russia disaster where small children were killed by Chechan terrorists. I admitted that it would be difficult for most parents to stop at the scene of the carnage and pray not only for their dying children, but for the terrorists that perpetrated the atrocity. Yet they did.

We are in the midst of WWIII. In part we “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 612). The leaders of the Islamic jihad movement have sworn to raise the flag of Islam over the entire world and take it back to the 7th century—and not through peaceful means.

Could we lose this war if we love these enemies and not treat them with maximum harshness? We could have Sharia Law across the free world if we don’t fight this war correctly and deal with the jihadists in a firm manner. The Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh had a note attached to his slain body that read, “Islam will be victorious through the blood of the martyrs who spread their light in every dark corner of the earth.” Will this change if we suddenly start loving them?

There are practical ways to pray, however. Here are a few suggestions. We can pray the following:

That their deadly attempts will fail.
That supernaturally God would soften some of the hardened hearts.
That they would start to disbelieve some of the propaganda they have been fed for decades.
That they would be divided and confused as they plan attacks again innocent people.
That missions to Muslims would be more effective in proclaiming the Gospel to Muslims and that Muslim hearts would be open to receiving the message.
That God would continue to have mercy on America and continue to be our “Homeland Security Director.” Hundreds of terror plots—large and small—are stopped before they occur.
That the terrorists would have some kind of understanding that they do not go to Heaven when killing innocents, but rather, to hell.
That they just become disillusioned with a lifestyle that has no other meaning or purpose than killing innocent people.
Now may not be the time to “beat our swords into plowshares” and turn the other cheek or the mosque near you may dominate your city sooner rather than later. We are clearly in the “perilous times” of II Timothy 3. To do battle with them is no different than stopping the Third Reich before they took over the world a generation ago.

Jan Markell is founder/director of Olive Tree Ministries.
Shalom!!!

Security forces deploy in Lagos!

Security forces deploy in Lagos!

Soldiers and policemen are undertaking joint patrols in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, after a running battle between them on Tuesday left three dead.

President Olusegun Obasanjo has called the army and police chiefs to the capital for a meeting to clear the air. He wants the two sides to resolve their differences over the clash.

The dead were civilians caught in the crossfire of a battle that began when a soldier and policeman argued over who had the right to a free ride on a bus. The police officer hit out at the soldier, who raised the alarm at a nearby barracks, sparking violence.

Soldiers and police then exchanged live fire across the main highway in Lagos, the country's largest city. Some 60 vehicles, including 20 police cars, were set ablaze during the clashes. Troops were reported to have stormed a police station, setting it on fire and freeing scores of prisoners.

One police officer described the scene as "like a war". The situation in Lagos was tense on Wednesday as policemen counted the cost of the mayhem. The violence was the worst of its kind in recent years. Law enforcement throughout Lagos broke down for about five hours, as uniformed policemen deserted streets across the city for fear of being attacked.

Senior officers eventually visited the scene of the clashes and re-asserted control, and the governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu, and Police Commissioner Ade Ajakaye appealed for calm from all sides.

Tensions between the police and army are not new. In July, last year there was a similar fracas between policemen and members of the Nigerian Air Force in Lagos. A report of the inquiry into that fracas was not published. Maybe this is a reflection of the state of anomie that is creeping on this giant of Africa under the current leadership.

Shalom!!

FREE DOKUBO TODAY OBJ!

OBJ Free Mujahid Dokubo-Asari

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the leader of an armed group demanding more control of oil resources for the ethnic Ijaws, who are the biggest group in Nigeria's oil-producing region, the Niger Delta.

He, last year, caused scares in global oil markets by threatening to attack foreign oil workers.

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, known simply as Asari, is a 40-year-old Ijaw youth leader.

He was born Dokubo Melford Goodhead Junior, to a high court judge and a housewife.

He is the first of six children and had a middle-class upbringing in a Christian home.

He had his primary and secondary education in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and was described as a respectful child.

Asari gained admission to study law in the University of Calabar, but dropped out in his third year in 1990 after repeated clashes with school authorities for his unrelenting miitant-style of student unionism. He abandoned a second attempt to earn a degree in law at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology due again to his activism.

It was about this period that he converted to Islam and adopted the name Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

In 1992, Asari attempted to get elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly but failed.

In 1998, he sought to be elected as the chairman of Asari-Toru local government area but lost again.

Asari was a founding member of the Ijaw Youths Council, IYC, becoming its first vice-president in 1998. In November 1998, the IYC issued the "Kiama Declaration", demanding control of the oil resources from the Niger Delta by the people of the Niger Delta.

There was an immediate crackdown on the body by the military junta that then ruled Nigeria.

Asari became President of the IYC in 2001 and immediately changed the slogan of the body to "Resource Control and Self Determination By Every Means Necessary", signalling his readiness to do battle with the Nigerian state.

He condemned the 2003 elections, won by President Olusegun Obasanjo, as a fraud, in full-page newspaper adverts, and promptly fell out with the governor of Rivers State.

Early this year, Asari took to the mangrove swamps of the Niger Delta and built up his now globally-impacting Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force. (NDVPF), and launched a damaging military and propaganda war against the state and federal governments and those he described as their agents, prompting the government to initiate full-scale military operations against him.


Even as he continued to fight against the government, Asari called for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference to discuss the place of the Ijaw people in the country.

His 2004 threat to blow up oil facilities in the Niger Delta forced the government to open up negotiations with him.

Asari is a burly man of 5 feet 10 inches (1.78m). He is soft-spoken and an easy-going person who is passionate about his convictions, especially, on matters he views as injustice. He has no criminal record and is known to have been called upon by the police to help them out in difficult situations.

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is married to two wives and has six children, is an avaricious reader who loves to visit friends to discuss issues, leads a strict Muslim life, and moved about without guards, before his recent extrajudicial abduction by the Federal Government, and the illegal detention he is now suffering, even as he is supposed to be put on trial (belatedly...after spending two weeks in government's gulag...talk of shades of Abacha, who put now-President Obasanjo through these same horrors of blind vendetta...power does corrupt, now doesn't it?!).

May God help Nigeria survive the ongoing season of madness and vendetta!

OBJ, FREE DOKUBO TODAY...

You know he is no more guilty of treason than YOU were when Abacha set you up for the kill; and when we all (with God) fought for your freedom...Well, be on notice that we have today joined forces with God, again, to demand Dokubo's freedom...may we all remember how the Abacha story of man's inhumanity to man ended!

Shalom!!!

VICIOUS ANTI-NIGER DELTA VENDETTA !

The Federal Government of Nigeria, as led by President Obasanjo,is showing its hand more and more, with each passing day, as it becomes obvious, to even the most casual of observers, that OBJ truly has a phobia about the Niger Delta people, which he is currently proving through the trial of Asari Dokubo (which commences today in Abuja); the general threatenings of all the already impoverished, repressed, oppressed, and despised people of this cash-cow of the nation; and, now, the treason-charges threats being dangled like Damocles' sword over Ledum Mitee, the Ogonis leaders who is the sole survivor of the extrajudicial kilings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogonis 8...to prove that this truly a blind vendetta, the government was so keen on decimating the ranks of their perceived opposers that they are even charging (along with Ledum) a man who has been dead since 2003!

Haba Obasanjo!

Enough is Enough...stop trying to give everybody, within and outside the Niger Delta, a bad name just to hang them...the hand of God will turn against you if you do not, today, start to fear God, and do that which (as a professed Christian) is right in his sight!

OBJ FREE DOKUBO TODAY AND STOP PERSECUTING THE NIGERIAN PEOPLE OF THE NIGER DELTA!

Shalom!!!

AREF SUPPORTS PRONACO's PNC.

AREF SUPPORTS PRONACO's PNC.


Nigeria's elder statesman and premier Peace Advocate, Ambassador Segun Olusola, mni, OFR, the Founder/Patron of the African Refugees Foundation (AREF), today declared the global humanitarian community's unalloyed support for the recently-inaugurated PRONACO-driven PEOPLES' NATIONAL CONFERENCE (PNC) in Nigeria, whilst reminding all stakeholders who are interested in a positively virile Nigeria that "AREF is pro-dialogue and mediation as a dynamic process of avoiding and resolving conflicts that could trigger off the creation of refugees or internally-displaced-persons anywhere in Africa".

Ambassador Olusola pointed out that even the recently-concluded government-initiated Political Reforms Conference was welcomed by AREF, and that "AREF made positive inputs to that process through its Public Affairs Adviser, Mr. Taiwo Allimi, who (doubling as AREF and Ogun State representative to the Confab) stated AREF's aversion to the Indigenes/Settlers dichotomy that bedevils our nation's communities today, and that is the remote and immediate cause of a majority of the recent bloody and destabilising conflicts and crises in Nigeria".

The respected diplomat and humanitarian reminded all Nigerian and world leaders that "Everybody must proactively ensure that Nigeria does not slide into a state of public acrimony, ethnic or religious conflict of uncontrollabe proportions, or any dislocations that could create millions of Nigerian refugees, because Africa alone could never absorb all the refugees that would most likely be created by a Nigeria at war today...Europe would be directly and direly affected by refugee-influx, and the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR)would probably collapse under the burden of this unprecedented outflow of human beings...greater than what even the world wars ever created from any one country!"

The AREF chieftain called for caution on the part of all players in the Nigerian Project, and reminded all that Nigeria is greater than everyone, whilst reiterating that "our very existence and sovereignty must be objectively re-analysed by all stakeholders, so as to determine a true future of the people as arrived at by the people, and the people primarily."

Finally, he advised that there be rapprochement of all opposing parties in the ongoing unique processes for positive change in Nigeria, and gave the reassurancve that "AREF will continue to open up and maximise all possible avenues for mediation and reconciliation between groups with divergent positions within PRONACO and the greater Nigerian polity, with the ultimate goal being the common good of all Nigerians and stakeholders in a future great African nation."



AREF Public Affairs Division.
October 5, 2005.

STOP THE CARNAGE!

As the people of Lagos try to return to normalcy after the mayhem of yesterday, occasioned by the soldiers-policemen face-off in Surulere (which led to loss of lives and scores of injuries, as gunshots were freely, indiscriminately, and stupidly fired by the "zombie-combatants"!), POSITIVE PARTNERS calls on all Nigerians to learn to be more tolerant and accomodating of one another, so as to prevent chaos and destruction becoming our "daily bread"...we also seize this opportunity to admonish the world to see yesterday's madness as a microcosmal portent of the evil that awaits Nigeria if we do not proactively ensure that we never let our Project Nigeria slip into the darkness of anomie that threatens to envelop us NOW!

FREE DOKUBO TODAY, OBASANJO!

Nigeria's President Obasanjo cannot have his cake and eat it!

OBJ must wake up to the reality that he epitomises Nigeria right now, and that he must be SEEN to be truly positive in both words and deeds...especially as he handles the potential crises he is himself creating and exacerbating in the oil-rich, but people-impoverished, Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

He made a very big and unnecessary error in detaining Dokubo, the young and dynamic Niger Delta leader, extrajudicially...worsening things by also detaining his lawyer within the court premises (when the counsel was merely trying, as constitutionally guaranteed, to gain access to his client!) extrajudicially too!!

By the way, OBJ has inadvertently, finally given Dokubo national relevance by this singular action of constitutional abuse, that shows that government is scared silly (all denials notwithstanding) of this young man and of the people of the long-oppressed Niger Delta who are now, more than ever, determinedly demanding their civil, human, environmental, and legal rights from the Nigerian nation.

Obasanjo has sowed the wind...can he deal with the whirlwind he seems bent on "reaping and wreaking"?!

All stakeholders in Project Nigeria, and in the positive equilibrium of today's world-system, owe themselves a duty to demand and ensure that OBJ releases Dokubo immediately and unconditionally, to help avoid any conflict that could destabilise an already volatile oil and gas region ...especially since the PRONACO (the supposed "unlawful assembly" which Dokubo is putatively accused of belonging to) have successfully flagged off THE PEOPLES' NATIONAL CONFERENCE without any caveat from government, thus proving that government is being very economical with the truth concerning why Dokubo is being held!

Let the truth be told...WHY IS OBASANJO AFRAID OF DOKUBO?!

Shalom!!!

Dangote & Ovia Help Niger Deltans Too!

It is heartening to learn of all the altruistic work that Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Jim Ovia are spearheading to help out our hurting brothers in the Republic of Niger...may God bless all those that rise to this call for brotherly compassion.

We are also, however seizing this opportunity to call on all Nigerians, led by these two gentlemen and their many God-fearing and God-blessed friends and associates, to positively impact the people of our own Niger Delta, who are as hungry, diseased, dislocated, and abandoned as many Nigeriens, Sudanese, Liberians, Rwandese, and other unfortunate fellow Africans currently suffering horrors and deprivations that are concommitant with oppression, conflict, repression, corruption, and mis-governance!

POSITIVE PARTNERS has a compassion-driven programme that wills to help bring about positive change to the Niger Delta and its peoples who are impoverished and dying in the midst of this nation's oil-riches that are mined in their homelands and waters...

WE NEED EVERY NIGERIAN'S HOLISTIC SUPPORT TODAY...

Please respond promptly as we reach out to you all, confident that, individually and corporately, YOU WILL NOT LET OUR PEOPLE DOWN...for CHARITY TRULY MUST BEGIN AT HOME...

Even God commands us to "love our neighbours AS WE LOVE OURSELVES"...if we do not love ourselves, how can we TRULY love others?!

Shalom!!!

Congratulations, Olowu of Owu, Oba Sanya Dosunmu!

The Council Chairman, Management, and members of POSITIVE PARTNERS join all well-meaning Nigerians, and other friends and stakeholders, in congratulting the new OLOWU of OWU, Oba Sanya Dosunmu, who was succesfully enthroned today in Owu after many months of acrimony, misunderstanding and strife.

Congratulations your royal highness!

Kabiyesi,
K'ade pe l'ori
K'i bata pe'lese!

Shalom!!!

Kukah, Stop justifying the unjustifiable!

Father M. Kukah of the Catholic Church is an erudite man, of many shades, who believes that he has a lot of relevance in the Nigerian experiment today, but needs to realise that there's a time to admit to the human failings that beleaugere all of us, including him...and including all man-made systems such as the recently-stalemated Abuja Confab that he co-scribed for OBJ.

One personally believes, as a nationalistic democrat with a passion for the elevation of life in the Niger Delta, that the Confab was succesful in that it threw up isues and challenges that had been,otherwise, long-subliminated by our hypocritical leadership over the last fifty or so years, but we all must admit that Kukah and Tobi could have orchestrated matters better, assuming that they were not acting out any subterranean script written by ultimate anti-progressive forces determined to watch Nigeria self-destruct!

His continuing incorrigible series of apologia as to the success or otherwise of that checkered assembly is understandable, but he must cease to use his bully-pulpit of priesthood (and other platforms) to keep trying to ascribe all blame for the Confab's inconclusiveness (in the most vital areas) to delegates and stakeholders who used every democratic tool available to them to drive home their points and assert their positions, especially in the face of arrogant and megalomaniac opposition from hegemonies of corrupt power! He must also cease trying to make the Nigerian media his "whipping-boy" (even if the same media seems bent on a masochistic drive that compels it to keep sucking-up to this cleric who is really a media-creation in the first place anyway!...Why, for example, was he the keynote speaker at the NTA-live-broadcast of Engr. Maduka's 70th Birthday).

This nation needs every voice of honour (not neccesarily a distinction peculiar to, or always concurrent with, men-of-the-cloth) to accept the facts that stare us in the face...and the fact that Sharia issues have, apparently, taken backstage is not reason enough for anybody to push the specious logic that the nation's challenges are comatose, let alone dead...or give the impression (patently false, anyway) that they have had a direct hand in this seemingly positive development!

The Catholic Church should elevate Kukah to a Vatican position where he can best employ his doctrinal skills without RUBBING NIGERIANS UP THE WRONG WAY ANYMORE!

Shalom!!!

Nigeria's People's National Conference Begins Well!

Yesterday, October 1, 2005, in Lagos, the long-awaited PRONACO People's National Conference of Nigeria (PNC) succesfully kicked-off with over a thousand nationalities' and interest groups' delegates, global observers, and international media representatives present, at a grand inaugural ceremony presided over by Nigeria's great elder statesman, Pa Anthony Enahoro, who was ably supported by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Arewa leader Yerima Shettima, one-time presidential candidates, Chief Olu Falae & Dr. (Mrs.) Sarah Jibrin, Citizens Forum's Sam Egu, the South-South's Hajia Asari Dokubo (whose husband, Ijaw leader Dokubo is still being extra-judicially detained by the Federal government of Nigeria, for his support for PRONACO and this populist conference which intends to act as the peoples' alternative to the recently stalemated government putative national dialogue on political reforms!) and Chief Ajitse, and a host of other respected youth, civil society, business, humanitarian,and diplomatic arena leaders (including Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu and Ambassador Segun Olusola who were ably represented).

Many goodwill and solidarity messages and memoranda were formally delivered to this august gathering that intends to finally (for the first time in this country's history) fashion a constitution for this nation that will derive its sovereignty from the peoples' will, which will is to be made manifest through the anticipated unfettered, candid, future-looking deliberations by delegates truly representing Nigeria's grassroots and diaspora citizens.

This succesfull inauguration is the first step in a dynamic process which will continue with plenary sessions beginning next month, after the PNC Memoranda-Harmonisation Committee concludes the first phaseof its onerous but worthwhile job of collating and streamlining all the positions of the different interest groups and ethnic nationalities.

This ceremony marks a truly new dawn in Nigeria's march towards her God-destined glory as Africa's giant and leader worldwide.

ALUTA CONTINUA!

Shalom!!!