{"id":15349,"date":"2017-08-01T20:35:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=15349"},"modified":"2017-08-01T20:35:44","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:35:44","slug":"nnamdi-kanu-the-rise-of-biafra-and-the-coming-of-oduduwa-by-femi-fani-kayode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=15349","title":{"rendered":"NNAMDI KANU: THE RISE OF BIAFRA AND THE COMING OF ODUDUWA &#8211; by Femi Fani-Kayode"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\">Permit me to begin this weeks contribution with a brief<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">aside. My dear friend Major Hamza Al Mustapha was<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">reported to have said the following a few days ago:<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cThose who strive to keep Nigeria one find themselves<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">as enemies of a certain category of Nigerians. I don\u2019t<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">see those who hate to see Nigeria as one as a group<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">but a clique that exploits the country, a clique that mismanages the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">future, a clique that invests in disintegration, a clique<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that invests in misinformation and creating division<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">among Nigerians, a clique that promotes hatred, a<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">clique that distorts our history, so that when Nigerians are divided and can no<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">longer think together, they can make gains and continue<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">to steal from Nigeria\u2019s commonwealth. But the moment<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">you realize what they are doing and resolve to fight<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">them, they will stop at nothing to destroy<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">you. Any call to divide Nigeria is unacceptable&#8221;.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">One wonders whether these were the thoughts of Major<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Hamza Al-Mustapha when he was the Chief Security<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Officer to General Sani Abacha and when Mrs. Kudirat<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Abiola, the courageous and outspoken wife of Chief<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">MKO Abiola the winner of the June 12th 1993<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">presidential election, was brutally murdered in cold<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">blood by agents of the government that he served so<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">diligently and with such ruthless precision.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">One wonders whether she was murdered alongside<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">many other gallant sons and daughters of the south<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">west by the Abacha regime in the name of maintaining<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">the national cohesion and unity that he claims to love<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">so much. I will grant my brother Hamza the opportunity<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">to answer this question before going any further but for<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">now I will just say the following.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I rather think that it is the clique of those that kill with<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">impunity, that supress dissent, that demonise their<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">peresceived enemies, that believe that the rest of us are<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">slaves and that believe that they were born to rule that<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">present the greatest threat to peace and national unity<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">in this country.<\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13913&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">If they want peace and unity they must humble<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">themselves and beg God and the Nigerian people for<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">forgiveness for 103 years of cruelty, ruthless domination,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">arrogance, genocide and impunity.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">They must get off their high horse, purge themselves of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">their notorious insolence and insufferable contempt and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">they must stop the historical distortions, the insults, the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">killings and the threats.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Whether Mustapha likes it or not the days when anyone<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">will invoke the spirit of national unity and one NIgeria<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">just to perpetuate injustice, bondage, slavery,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">subjugation, mass muder, genocide, ethnic and religious<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">cleansing and core northern domination are long over.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">All the insults and threats in the world cannot change<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that. I await his response.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Permit me to continue this contribution by stating loudly<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and clearly that those that have told Nnamdi Kanu and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">his IPOB to steer clear of Lagos and Yorubaland and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that have said that he must not go there for any rallies<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">are talking bunkum.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Apart from the fact that milions of Igbos that reside in<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Lagos and many other parts of the south-west would<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">welcome him with open arms and thunderous jubilation,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">millions of Yoruba youth would also rejoice at his<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">coming simply because they have been inspired and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">stirred by his sheer courage and dedication.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">To the Yoruba nationalists and believers in the right of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">self-determination Kanu is a hero and they not only<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">admire him but they also revere him.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">This is especially so given the fact that he has long<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">since withdrawn and renounced many of the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">misconceptions and views that he once espoused and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">expressed about the Yoruba and their leaders before his<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">incarceration.<\/div>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Had this not been the case this writer would not and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">could not possibly have had as much respect and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">affection for him as I do.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">As a matter of fact since his release he has not only<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">stood by the Yoruba nation publicly but has also spoken<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">up for a number of Yoruba leaders who are suffering<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">persecution from the Federal Government and who have<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">been issued with life-threatening and physical threats<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">from the Arewa Youth.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Yours truly is one of those that both IPOB and Nnamdi<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Kanu has stood by and spoken up for consistently and I<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">consider it to not only be an honor but also a gesture<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that I shall never forget and that I shall always<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">endeavour to reciprocate.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Without any fear of contradiction, I can boldly say that<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">this courageous young man has nothing but respect and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">affection for the Yoruba nation today.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He has renounced all his past comments about our<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">people both privately and publicly and he will do so<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">again in a big way when he comes to Lagos.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">We spent a lot of time together in Kuje prison and we<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">learnt a lot from each other whilst there. We are fighting<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">the same cause against the same enemy.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Those that believe that he and IPOB have no friends<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">amongst the Yoruba are misguided and misinformed.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">They have lost touch with reality and they are living in<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">the past.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The truth is that IPOB has friends amongst both the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">elders and the youths in the south-west and, most<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">importantly, millions of Yoruba sons and daughters<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">share their vision of and belief in the right to exercise<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">their God-given right of self-determination.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">They crave for and believe in the establishment of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Oduduwa Republic in much the same way and for the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">same reasons that Nnamdi and members of his IPOB<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">crave for and believe in Biafra.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The bridge of commonality of purpose between the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">south west and the south east has been rebuilt and re-<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">established and none shall ever break or burn it again.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Whether anyone likes it or not, in this struggle, we are<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">one.<\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13913&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I would also add this. Those in igboland and indeed<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">throughout the south that have openly opposed, insulted<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and sought to chastise those gallant men and women<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that support the idea of restructuring our country or<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that consistently resist and denigrate the concept of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">establishing the sovereign state of Biafra are<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">mischevous and disingenious.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">They are nothing but gutless traitors, blacklegs and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">turncoats that have no sense or knowledge of history<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and that have been contracted by the powers that be to<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">shatter the dreams and aspirations of millions of young<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Igbos from within.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Worst still they are simply voicing the views and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">sentiments of the internal colonialists and our collective<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">slavemasters.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">These turncoats and traitors have fed fat on Nigeria and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">have consistently cornered the market of all that is due<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">to the Igbo from the Federal Government for themselves<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">over the last thirty years.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Such beneficiaries of a skewered, inequitable and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">unwholesome system who have no empathy for the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">suffering and humiliation of their own people and who<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">cannot feel their pain forget that, with God, all things<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">are possible.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">If one million Igbo youths were slaughtered in the north<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">or in the streets of the east by northern mobs or our<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">security forces respectively these people would not voice<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">a single word of protest but would instead try to defend<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and rationalise it.<\/div>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">This brings me to the meat of this essay. The Arewa<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Youths that demanded that the Igbo must leave the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">north by\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_988393521\"><span class=\"aQJ\">October 1st<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and that have now given the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Federal Government an ultimatum to arrest Nnamdi<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Kanu in the next 10 days are stoking a fire that may end<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">up consumming Nigeria.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">They must be gagged, put in chains and spanked hard!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Nnamdi Kanu is a hero and his call for independence for<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">the Igbo is legitimate and lawful. Any attempt to arrest<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">him will have consequences.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">For those that still do not believe that the Biafra<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">phenomenon and message is here to stay and that are<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">still guided by the erroneous notion that &#8220;all is well&#8221; in<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Nigeria I share the following.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Dr. John Dan Fulani, a cerebal and well-respected<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">activist, human rights crusader, intellectual and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">academic from Southern Kaduna with a large following,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">has said that if Biafra is established the people of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Southern Kaduna will leave Nigeria and go with them.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">This unprecedented assertion and declaration has<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">caused panic, consternation and alarm in many core<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">northern conservative circles.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Again Professor Jerry Gana, a respected former Minister<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">from Niger state and a reasonable, well-known and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">well-liked leader that has been deeply involved in<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">politics and entrenched in the corridors of power for the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">last 32 years has said that if Nigeria were ever to break<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">up the people of the Middle Belt would leave the north<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and go with the people of the south.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Again the Solomon Asemota SAN and T.Y. Danjuma-led<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Christian Elders Forum has warned the Federal<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Government and the Nigerian people about what they<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">have described as a subtle and dangerous application of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8220;stealth jihad&#8221; by the Federal Government in our country<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and what they see as an attempt to islamise Nigeria.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Again a well-organised and credible Yoruba group called<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">the Yoruba Liberation Command (YOLICOM) has said<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that it was &#8220;too late for restructuring&#8221; and that they<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">want Oduduwa Republic to be established. They also<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">threw their weight behind the establishment of Biafra.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">This is the sad and sorry impasse that the ailing<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">President Muhammadu Buhari and his cult of ecstatic<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">cheerleaders and super worshippers have taken Nigeria<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">in just two years.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Whilst the dangerous ethnic, religious and regional<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">divisions in our country are getting wider by the day His<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Royal Highness is busy holding court in London and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">desperately trying to prove to the world that he is not<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">dead, that he is much better and that he can rule our<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">nation from a distant foreign land indefinately. What a<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">country! What a people!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The truth is that the President and the Presidency is not<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">meant to be a tourist attraction, a museum of old<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">fossils or a mausoleum of decaying bodies to be viewed<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">by curious dignitaries in a distant foreign land.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Despite the pretty group pictures with a handful of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">selected governors I believe that it is an act of cruelty<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">to expect this poor and obviously very sick man to lead<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">a nation of 180 million.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">In spite of my views about his glaring incompetence and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">his many atrocities, weaknesses, eccentricities and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">shortcomings I believe that even he deserves far better<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">than that.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">My counsel, which is borne out of compassion and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">nothing else, still remains that he resigns and that he<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">goes home and rests before he suffers yet another<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">replapse and returns to nether nether land!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The truth is that the only thing that competes with our<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">never-ending film show of &#8220;do you have a President or<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">do you not have a President&#8221; in Nigeria today is the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">much-awaited and newly released &#8216;season 7&#8217; of HBO&#8217;s<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Game of Thrones&#8221; which I watch religiously and which I<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">enjoy enormously.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">That is what the serious business of governance has<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">been reduced to in Nigeria. Is it any wonder that CNN&#8217;s<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Fareed Zakaria mocked us about our absentee President<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">before hundreds of millions of viewers from all over the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">world just the other day?<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The truth is that we deserve even worse. May God judge<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">those that have brought us this unquantifiable and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">unbearable calamity and national shame.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Meanwhile I urge the wise and the discerning to pause<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and consider the following.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Those that dismiss the widening divisions and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">agitations in our country with disdain and contempt and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">that underestimate the resolve of those that are behind<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">them are not only naive but they also do so at their<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">own peril.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">It is only a matter of time before something gives. I say<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">this because national cohesion and unity can only be<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">established, entrenched and sustained by the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">accomodation and toleration of dissenting views, the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">constant expression of love and the regular and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">consistent application of leadership by consensus.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">It cannot be sustained by brutality, murder, injustice,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">lies, supression, persecution, tyranny, manipulation,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">deceit, propaganda and coercion.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/nigeria-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-14910\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/nigeria-2-300x250.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/nigeria-2-300x250.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/nigeria-2.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">You cannot hold a people down by the usage of threats,<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">the shedding of blood and the force of arms forever.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Even slaves rise up in bloody rebellion and resist tyranny<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">when the time is right, when the wind of liberation<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">blows and when the freedom bell tolls.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The south west, the south south and the south east<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">yearn for that liberty and freedom and the Middle Belt<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">craves for it.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The only thing that they are waiting for is the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">emergence of a set of bold, clear-thinking, inspirational<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">and focused leaders that have the courage, the tenacity<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">of purpose, the unrelenting fortitude and the purity of<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">spirit to lead the struggle and to take them out of the<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">bondage of Egypt and into the Promise land.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The bottom line is as follows: I would rather live and<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">die as a free man in an independent Oduduwa Republic<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">than continue to live and die as a slave in the Federal<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Republic of Nigeria.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Permit me to begin this weeks contribution with a brief aside. My dear friend Major Hamza Al Mustapha was reported to have said the following a few days ago: \u201cThose who strive to keep Nigeria one find themselves as enemies of a certain category of Nigerians. I don\u2019t see those who hate to see Nigeria [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[183,3654,4015,322],"class_list":["post-15349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-femi-fani-kayode","tag-hamza-al-mustapha","tag-mrs-kudirat-abiola","tag-sani-abacha"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/nigeria-2.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3Zz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15350,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15349\/revisions\/15350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}