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• Set to demand for Diaspora voting
As President Goodluck Jonathan prepares for his August and September visits to the United States, Nigerian-Americans are making robust preparations to meet him with their plethora of demands, part of which is to give them a voice through voting to determine the leadership of the country come 2015.
Also, a groundswell of image laundering for the country has been carried out in the last five weeks evidently to sell the President as a global brand who is ready to steer the affairs of the country in the next four years after his first tenure in office.
Jonathan is billed to attend the African Leaders Summit August 4 to 6, convened by President Barack Obama. He will be back in the US in September for the United Nations General Assembly of heads of State as well as the conference on climate change convened by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon as part of a global effort to mobilise action and ambition on climate change,
A town Hall meeting in Atlanta has been scheduled to coincide with the President’s visit according to Funmi Omosule, National Coordinator of the Goodluck Jonathan Leadership Centre, which prides itself as desirous of promoting and furthering the projects, activities and programmes of the President, “as a progressive first class world leader.”
Omosule said: “The town hall meeting in USA for a Nigerian leader will be the first of its kind since 1960. It is going to be very different from meetings with Nigerian communities in Diaspora by past Presidents. This is going to be unique in a way.”
Omosule said preparations were at a very advanced stage adding, “The meeting will be the first of its kind that will at last let Mr. President meet with a crop of Nigerians in USA who can partner with him in a way to address the real Nigerian problems.”
However, the Chairman of the Council of Ogoni Professionals (COP International, USA), Mr. Anslem D. John-Miller insists the President should use the opportunity of his August visit to the United States to shed light on the progress being made by Nigerian security operatives to release the Chibok Girls, halt further attacks by Boko Haram as well as unmask the identities of politicians sponsoring the deadly activities of the Boko Haram terrorist groups.
Said Miller who recently addressed the US Congress on foreign Relations on environmental degradation in Ogoniland and the devastating activities of the terrorist group: “I also hope that Mr. President would seek technical and other forms of assistance from the U.S. authorities on how to immediately clean up Ogoniland and fully implement the UNEP Report on Ogoni.
“Despite our misgivings, the Ogonis remain hopeful that being one of our own, that Mr. President needs no lecture on the plight of the Ogonis but would do the right thing and implement this important report because the lives of the Ogonis are at stake and time is of the essence.”
But addressing an Igbo community in Dallas Texas last week, both Nigeria’s Consul-General in Atlanta, Ambassador Geoffrey Teneliabe and a director general of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign, Longers Anyanwu assured that government was aware of the need to give the Diaspora Nigerians an opportunity to vote sometime in the future, referring to an earlier call by INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, for an amendment of sections 77(2) and 117(2) of the 1999 Constitution to allow Nigerians in the Diaspora of voting age to participate in the 2015 elections
Anyanwu who said he had been touring the US and Europe to market the president’s image told the kinsmen and the mixed gathering of well-wishers from different nationalities, that President Jonathan is a good wine and needs minimum advertisement.
“I can tell you Nigerians where ever they are can hold on their own. In spite of the pervading insecurity and negative publicity by the opposition, investors from the international community are trooping in here to do business because our score sheet with the World Bank, the IMF and international rating agencies keeps soaring under Jonathan.
“Look at the event that happened in Dallas last night; you saw the American flag standing side by side the Nigerian flag with the Ambassador and Consular General flanked by dignitaries who mean well for our country. That is an endorsement of the Jonathan Administration.”
Also Diaspora Nigerians in America (DNA) whose mission is the upholding of Nigeria’s constitution and the practice of democracy in the country, held a conference in New York tagged: Goodluck Jonathan Appreciation Day highlighting the achievements of the Jonathan administration in the areas of infrastructure, direct foreign investment, Nigeria as the leading economy in Africa and the war against Boko Haram among others.
DNA Chairman, Chika Onyeani who is also the Publisher and Editor-in-chief of African Suntimes said the event brought together Nigerians from all walks of life and throughout America in a global teleconference forum that the participants deemed intellectually stimulating and educationally informative.
“More importantly, we believe that President Goodluck Jonathan has every right as a Nigerian to run for reelection in the 2015 Nigerian elections, if his party, the PDP,
decided that he should be their flag-bearer, and that Diaspora Nigerians in America would mobilize all its forces and resources in getting him re-elected,” Onyeani said.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation held another rally on Boko Haram and Bring Back Our Girls in New Jersey as a follow to an earlier one held in front of the Nigerian Mission in New York.
According to the convener Dr. Akin Awofolaju, “we want to collaborate with the Nigerian government to resolve the issues of the on-going terrorist activities of Boko Haram.
Awofolaju’s NIDO had proposed a four-point agenda as a way forward in combating the activities of the terrorist organization: “A law to be passed by the National Assembly to convict any one found guilty of aiding and abetting Boko Haram in any way; need to form a special task force excluding anyone with any form of religious bias leaning in support of the fundamentalist group; A special provision of $100,000.00 for the family of any member of the task force in the event of an unforeseen disaster such as death; and that anyone who offers useful information that leads to the arrest of a member of the group should be rewarded with $5000.”
Awofolaju added: “These people know where the Boko Haram members are and need to be motivated with some kind of reward to reveal where these insurgents are. Government should in addition to the US government’s offer of $7 million dollars add $5 million dollars to anyone that can capture alive the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.”
Nigeria’s Consular-General in New York Ambassador Habib Baba Habu added: “Nigerians must join the government to show concern, whatever we have to do, whatever must be done, has to be done to support the government which is standing between the devil and the deep blue sea.
“A lot is going on behind the veil, government is talking to them and using the information it is gathering from different countries as inputs in combating these terrorists.”
Source: Thisday
