Coastal NEWS

Know Your Candidates

Other Nigerian Communities

ACN-USA CALLS FOR A FRESH VOTERS' REGISTER FOR 2011 ELECTIONS

Saturday, 28 August 2010 17:16 Coastal NEWS

The Action Congress of Nigeria, USA Chapter at its meeting held at Sheraton Hotel Beltsville, Maryland USA called on INEC to immediately embark on generating a fresh and credible Voters' Register to be used in the 2011 elections. The foundation to a successful election is a functional Voters' Register; therefore, we call on INEC to immediately embark on generating a fresh and credible Voters' Register for 2011 elections. INEC cannot rely on the already discredited voters' register that the electoral body has been using in the past elections. The current register has been exposed to contain so many irregularities in terms of fake and fictitious names that any election conducted thereon shall not be acceptable to ACN. We urge all other political parties in Nigeria to join ACN in insisting that fresh registration of voters be commenced immediately by INEC.

We have reviewed the resources so far earmarked for the 2011 elections and we are of the opinion that INEC has more than enough funds to redo the voters' register if the funds are prudently expended.

ACN-USA congratulates Professor Jega on his appointment as the Chairman of INEC and wishes him well. The whole world especially those of us in the United States are closely watching you and your electoral body in all steps you are taking towards the 2011 elections. We urge you to be open and be honest in all the steps taken in this direction. We have committed resources to make sure that we closely monitor the elections and expose to the whole world any irregularities that we may uncover during the elections. We are however ready to offer our assistance and expertise to the electoral body in making sure that the elections are free and fair.

ACN-USA commends ACN under the leadership of Chief Bisi Akande for strongly positioning the party for total victory in 2011. We pledge our support and solidarity to ACN and promise to deploy all resources at our disposal to ensure victory for ACN candidates in 2011. We welcome all the progressives who are coming together under ACN banner to take our country from PDP misrule come 2011. We urge other progressives in the country to join ACN to make the task of rescuing our nation from PDP an easier one. Together we should fight to give a better future to our country and our children and redeem the current bad image the country viewed by many parts of the world.

The ACN-USA meeting was addressed by Chief Bisi Akande (by telephone) and was attended and addressed by Dr. Chris Ngige, ACN Governorship candidate in Anambra State . ACN-USA members across the USA attended the meeting including Tony Ike Isama, Chairman ACN-USA, Kunle Oshunlalu, National Secretary ACN-USA, Chief Lekan Awojoodu, Chief Emeka Molokwu, Dr. Bolaji Aluko, Zainab Sheni, Women Leader ACN-USA, Mr. Dele Alade, Barrister Ben Nwoye (ACN Senatorial aspirant in Anambra State), Mr. Musiliu Jibowu, Mr. Sesan Omomo, Professor Adesegun Labinjo (ACN House of Assembly aspirant in Lagos State), Mr. Alani Teniola, Mr. Simeon Showunmi and many other members.

Tony Ike Isama Kelly Adams Salaam

Chairman, ACN-USA Publicity Secretary, ACN-USA

My Political Journey By Chief (Dr.) Andrew O.I. Anugwom Interim Chairman Action Congress (AC) Dallas Ft. Worth Texas, USA.

Friday, 14 May 2010 01:45 Coastal NEWS

I am humbled by the honor bestowed on me by my compatriots to lead our great party at this critical time and in this part of North America. It is not because I am the most qualified person amongst you, but for the trust you have in my leadership ability, and strength. I promise to remain committed to the ideals and principles of our party and our country Nigeria. In addition, I understand that my role as a leader of our party, is to foster understanding across ideological spectrum, maintain essential political engagement as to create broad based participation in our democratic culture.

I began my political journey as a young professional. I went to Nigeria and to my ward in Umuowa Orlu of Imo State to join Action Congress. I took it very serious not only deepening my relationship with the base, the grass root Nigerians and my God but also about the way all Nigerians can come together in our diverse and very pluralistic society.

As a New Generation Democrat, I believe that the only way we can enshrine the best standards in our democratic practice is to have a viable opposition to the ruling party. An alternative choice for people to choose from. The beauty of every democracy lies on the ability of the people to freely choose their leaders. The essence of a formidable political objective and integration platform that offers political objective solutions around the existing system could not be over emphasized. I decided to join the Action Congress (AC), an opposition party because of what it stands for and to contribute positively to these objective platform and solutions.

AC is a house of conservatives, moderates and libertarian faithful who are eager, honest and willing to mix up with their ideological opposites. It has a reputation of consensus building platform. Action Congress is the only organized political party in Nigeria that sees itself beyond opposition political party, but a viable and productive alternative to PDP in Nigeria. The ruling party (PDP) knows this and that is why we say that the delay in the ongoing electoral reform process is “a cynical political ploy” by PDP led National Assembly. They know that under normal circumstance and level playing field PDP cannot authoritatively, win five states in Nigeria. Thus, we the progressives see no substitute to credible elections and we remain unshakable and committed to our ideals as New Generation Democrats. AC remains resolute not to allow the genuine or valid agitation of the people of Nigeria for duely elected leadership to be eroded by violence and miscalculations. Agitation should be peaceful and not go to the level of carrying arms, kidnapping or violation of rule of law.

Our Party, the Action Congress is the only political party in Nigeria that has devised viable ways to push her agenda into the mainstream without much fringe sentiments. In Lagos and Edo states that AC is controlling, much of the grass roots movements and supports were the mainstream and still serve in the amplification of voices that remain acceptable and gaining momentum by the day. Democracy dividends are not only seen but felt by citizens in these states (Lagos & Edo States).

As a compassionate conservative and New Generation Democrat, I think there are some lessons that all Nigerians from all political, ethnic and religious persuasions might learn in this regard, lessons that I take to heart each day. We have to start remembering the role values play in addressing some of our most urgent social, political and economic problems. We must apply sense of decency and civility in our efforts to curb the problems in our polity, banking and related sectors, poverty, disease, inadequate infrastructure, violent crime and corruption at various levels in our society. We do not have to look beyond our communal range for the cause of our problems. We the people are the cause of our problems and our values and attitude must change positively for solutions to emerge and for our nation to adapt to the challenges of the 21^st century.

I am an advocate and still believe in tough law enforcement and commonsense rules and regulations in our country. I believe in the common fact that to achieve economic stability, we must first assure our citizens, businesses and investors security of their lives and property. We must assure ourselves freedom which is priceless. We need to be in a nation where everyone has right to life, liberty and pursuant of happiness. We must work hard to elect effective leaders through consistent quest for electoral reform and participation in electoral process as to eradicate our nation the placid idol of beurocracy of old which crippled our development since independence.

The challenges we face today given the current political climate in Abuja have made it extremely difficult for transformational legislations such as Electoral Reform bill, Emergency Medical and Trauma Bill, Banking and Financial institutional regulatory bills, Coherent Anti-Violent Crime bill, bill to stem global warming and job creation bill. These are formidable and predictable challenges ahead of us that must be confronted with strength and vigor. We need to be part of the participatory democratic process to create an enabling socio-economic and political environment for all citizens irrespective of their religious, ethnic or political background. We do not intend to transform Nigeria overnight nor to a socialist nation, rather a functional democratic nation of people guided by good sense of civility, rule of law, economic development and empowerment. We need you tackle the blurring government – citizen relationship that has portrayed us as an uncivilized nation even in the face of our immersed human and material resources.

None of us should underestimate the challenges ahead of us as responsible citizens and as a nation. The unprecedented and blurring government/private sector boundaries, extreme volatility in the commodity market, whether in oil, financial sector, food stuff, industrial, infrastructure and raw materials. As globalization continues to evolve, the question in our minds remains, “are we prepared to adapt with the rapid changes and challenges associated with globalization”? Are we up to speed with the challenges of the 21^st century? Are we ready to finally tell the world that Nigerians are ready to take back our role as the true leader of black race? And finally, what kind of society are we leaving for our children and their children? Our sacrifices today will give hope, brighter future as well as obligations to our children and generations to come.

It is expected of the three arms of government to be the watch dog of the other and not to covertly or overtly sell their constitutional rights away to each other. They are expected to work synergistically and see the challenges of nation building a sacrifice that ought to be made by all and not by selected few. As a responsible alternative political platform to Nigerians, our bravery and selflessness to our legitimate cause will project us as the true hope of Nigerians for change that we all deserve.

AC leadership philosophy revolves around the afore-mentioned cardinal principles. In AC, we believe that together we can build a strong coalition and strength-based leadership where respect and adherence to the rule of law, provision of jobs, infrastructure, Education, adequate healthcare (primary, secondary and tertiary) delivery systems, disciplined and respected civil services are top priorities and non-negotiables.

Nigerian acquires London Gatwick Airport

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 22:26 Coastal NEWS

Adebayo Ogunlesi, 56, is the chairman and managing partner, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), an independent investment fund based in New York City with worldwide stake in infrastructure assets, has been reported to be the new owner of the London Gatwick Airport.

The son of an 86-year old professor of medicine has presided over a great number of sweet deals that made him the envy of his peers abroad even if his forays into the brisk world multi-billion dollars deals are barely talked about in his home country.

Ogunlesi's latest deal is the much talked about acquisition of the London Gatwick Airport. The Gatwick deal is a £1.455 billion agreement with BAA Airports Limited. GIP will be investing through Ivy Bidco Limited, a limited liability company registered in England, established for the purpose of making the acquisition. Bidco will pay cash consideration of £1,455 million for the entire share capital of Gatwick Airport Limited on a cash-free, debt-free basis. Ogunlesi says the acquisition of Gatwick is a landmark deal for GIP and adds another quality asset to his firm's rapidly expanding portfolio.

According to him, "we see significant scope to apply both our strong operational focus and our knowledge of the airports sector to make Gatwick an airport of choice." He began stacking up his big deals profile when he joined the top-shelf New York law firm, Cravath, Swain & Moore. It was at the law firm that he jumped at the chance to advise First Boston (which later acquired Credit Suisse in 1997 to form Credit Suisse First Boston or CSFB) on a hugely lucrative Nigerian gas project. The success of that deal landed him his first big pay move to First Boston. For First Boston, he worked on project finance, brokering deals in which lenders finance assets like oil refineries and mines and are repaid with revenues generated by those enterprises. Based in New York City and traveling to emerging markets, he built CSFB's project-finance business into the world's best, in part by encouraging corporations and overnments to tap public debt markets in addition to commercial lenders.

His teacher while at King's College, Lagos, J Namme told Business Day that Bayo, as he is fondly called, loves getting things done. Perhaps, the London Gatwick Airport acquisition best underscores his desire to get things done and in the big way too. The Gatwick deal illustrates his global influence in infrastructure assets deals.

Ogunlesi has lived in New York for 20 years and is active in volunteer work. But he also cultivates his ties to Africa. He informally advises the Nigerian government on privatisation. And last summer Manute Bol, the 7-ft. 7-in. Former NBA center, visited Ogunlesi in his Park Avenue office, seeking donations for a charitable foundation in former basketball star Manute Bol's homeland, Sudan.

The 5-ft. 9-in. Ogunlesi walked Bol around the hallways, introducing him to junior staff. It was just another day in the Bayosphere. Prior to his current role, he was executive vice chairman and chief client officer of Credit Suisse, based in New York. He previously served as a member of Credit Suisse's Executive Board and Management Council and chaired the Chairman's Board. Previously, he was the Global Head of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse. Since joining Credit Suisse in 1983, Ogunlesi has advised clients on strategic transactions and financings in a broad range of industries and has worked on transactions in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Ogunlesi attended the prestigious King's College, Lagos. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association. He was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Yale School.

Ogunlesi, whose father was the first Nigerian-born medical professor, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford and then earned law and business degrees from Harvard. In the US, he is known as the Nigerian who clerked for late Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, who they say was unable to pronounce his name and quickly dubbed him Obeedoogee. Colleagues and friends call him Bayo.

‘Shocked’ Nigerians in U.S. Express Fears of Guilt by Association After Arrest

Saturday, 30 January 2010 10:17 Coastal NEWS

We just had some people here for Christmas dinner, then all of a sudden this comes on TV,” Mr. Ajiri said. “It was regretful that he was Nigerian, but that didn’t make us any more angry. We were all very happy that the explosion didn’t take place, that he wasn’t successful.”

About 10,000 Nigerians live in Michigan, half of them in Detroit, said Edwin Dyke, founder and board member of the Nigerian Foundation of Michigan. On Monday, the group held a meeting of about 30 local Nigerian leaders to draft a statement condemning the failed attack aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, which was bound from Amsterdam with several passengers who had begun their trip in Nigeria. Among them was the man now accused of being a terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

“We want to tell Homeland Security and the federal government that we are sorry about what happened,” Dr. Dyke said, “that this isn’t like our people, that we believe this is an isolated incident but that we will keep our ears open.”

He added that Mr. Abdulmutallab, 23, had “no roots in Detroit” and was not a member of the local Nigerian community.

Salewa Ola, a Nigerian who founded the Detroit-based United African Community Organization, emphasized that the plane attack was “not what our community stands for.”

“We are shocked and embarrassed,” Dr. Ola said. “This has given all of us a black eye.”

Relatives have said that Mr. Abdulmutallab, who is from a Muslim family, was particularly devout, even as a child.

Twenty percent of Nigerians living in Michigan are Muslim, Dr. Dyke said. But Kamol Bello, a Detroit resident who is a Nigerian Muslim and has lived in the United States for 20 years, was quick to disassociate the religion from what occurred on Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

“A truly religious person would not do that,” Mr. Bello said, adding that Muslims he knew did not think Mr. Abdulmutallab “is Muslim or Christian because no true religion teaches” someone to ignite an explosive aboard a plane.

“That’s just crazy ideology,” Mr. Bello said.

Even so, Mr. Ajiri and several other Nigerians living in and around Detroit said they expected prejudicial fallout from the attack and from an incident on the same flight two days later in which a Nigerian man spent a long time in the plane’s lavatory, arousing the suspicion of fellow passengers, flight attendants and an air marshal and setting off security alerts as the plane landed. It turned out that the man had simply been ill.

“Profiling? When you look at 9/11 and what happened with the Arabic community, we cannot expect anything different,” Mr. Ajiri said. “It is just unfortunate that one individual is going to ruin reputations for the rest of the Nigerians. When we travel now, the system will make us pay, and I don’t feel good about it.”

Mr. Ajiri said he last visited Nigeria in April, and planned to go again this winter.

Lekan Oguntoyinbo, a Nigerian who used to live in Detroit and now lives in Columbia, Mo., said Mr. Abdulmutallab’s nationality would heighten suspicions of all Nigerians.

“Nigerians have had a horrible reputation with the authorities of this country for importing drugs and for things like Internet fraud,” said Mr. Oguntoyinbo, an assistant professor of journalism at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. “I think this incident on Christmas not only makes us incredibly more suspect, but also positions Nigerians as enemies of the state. When you’re trying to blow up a plane, the dynamics of perception change a great deal.”

David Wiley, a sociology professor and director of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University, said it would be unfair for the attempted attack to tarnish the reputation of most Nigerians living here.

“Radicals are all over the world now,” Mr. Wiley said. “No one is immune from it. Islam has always had a strong presence in northern Nigeria, but Nigeria is a country of great religious diversity, and this person could have come from 100 other countries.”

“I don’t give much significance,” he said, “to the fact that the suspect is Nigerian.”

Announcing a Nigerian Diaspora Fundraising Effort for Haiti’s Earthquake victims

Friday, 15 January 2010 02:19 Coastal NEWS

The Nigeria Global Diaspora Committee (NGDC) hereby announces a concerted effort in our communities living abroad to raise funds for Haiti's Earthquake victims. The Committee is comprised of present and past leaders of the various Nigerian Organizations across the world (see examples below) who have resolved to work together to coordinate the efforts of all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria in order to deliver impactful contributions to the progress and advancement of the Nigerian community both at home and abroad. Latest information is that possibly more than 100,000 people may have died from the earthquake in Haiti and after-tremors; hundreds of thousands more displaced; and a large number of buldings demolished completely. Thousands more may die if relief is not rushed to various parts of the country quickly.

While we acknowledge the option for individual Nigerians to send money to various organizations such as the Red Cross, we also believe that the special historical relationship between Haiti and Nigeria makes it incumbent on both the Nigerian government and Nigerians in the Diaspora to "do something" in our own names. In this regard, the Organization for the Advancement of Nigerians (OAN) has been designated as the receiving organization for this particular effort on behalf of the NGDC. Please make all checks and money orders payable as quickly as possible, but certainly by Friday, January 22, 2010 to: Payee: O.A.N. INC.

Memo Reference: NGDC Haiti’s Earthquake Relief Fund All correspondence must be sent to: Organization for the Advancement of Nigerians

P. O. Box 23155

Brooklyn, NY 11202 Michael Adeniyi, President

Telephone: (646) 489-5341 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Olayinka Dansalami, Esq., Chairman

Telephone: (718) 207-7597, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it All monies will be receipted, and are tax deductible. Depending on the total amount collected, we will make the money available to some Haiti Diaspora organization; or to a relief organization inside Haiti; or to the Red Cross itself, but on behalf of the Nigerian Diaspora.

- Show quoted text -

Finally, Nigerians who are willing to undergo a short training (for example Red Cross or other relief preparation training) and are prepared to pay their way to go to Haiti for an on-the-ground relief work should send their information to joan.Osa Oviawe at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Telephone. 509-332-3875) or to Dr. J. Wakil at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Tel: 816-521-0272.) We will compile the list and convene accordingly as members of an intending Nigeria Diasprora Haiti In-Country Relief Group.

Thank you. Jumoke Akin-Taylor Michael Adeniyi Facilitator, NGDC Haiti Relief Fund Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 510-284-7119 (646) 489-5341 Haiti Ground Effort Contacts:joan.Osa Oviawe Dr. J. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it jwakili@yahoo.com509-332-3875 816-521-0272

__________________________________________________________________________ Example organizations whose leaders have met under the aegis of NGDC/expressed willingness to be a part of NGDC are as follows:

NIDO -Nigerians in the Diaspora Organization [Pacific-USA Region; Carribean; Europe, Asia]

NPF - Nigerian Peoples Forum

OAN -Organization for the Advancement of Nigeria

ENA - Edo National Association

WIC- World Igbo Congress

Zumunta Association USA Inc.

EOY - Egbe Omo Yoruba

CCNP - Concerned Citizens for Nigeria's Progress

ANWLID - Association of Nigerian Women Leaders in the Diaspora

Plateau State Association

Corporate Council on Niger Delta Affairs

Akwa Ibom Association