REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA
At this very juncture of our beloved country strive for onward transition for true governance, democracy, peace, unity, and economic development, the executives on behalf of patriotic members of the National Association of Nigerian Community in Austria would want to stand behind the decision reached by the Senate, the House of Representatives, the peaceful demonstrations and negotiations embarked by civil and labour unions, economic experts, Nigerian students and the of majority of
Nigerians abroad calling on the Federal Government to reverse its decision on the removal of fuel subsidy and return fuel pump price to N65 per litre.
The removal of fuel subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol in this short time has not
only adversely affected the lives and activities of the “ordinary Nigerians” but also the nation’s economy and financial service sector. While millions of Nigerians commute everyday with public means of transport, the price hike has affected the cost of commuting, the price of food and other related services thus putting more economic pressure and hardship on Nigerians who struggledaily for their subsistence.
We also want to use this medium to call on the Nigerian Police and all security agencies in Nigeria to restrain from using force, tier gas, firearms any other means to inflict pains and intimidation on peaceful demonstrators calling on the Federal Government to
reverse its decision as we believe that Nigerians are exercising their fundamental human and citizen rights.
on same note, we call on all Nigerians home and abroad to stay away from all unpatriotic propagandas and shun activities from group of persons or religious sects like the Boko Haram who might want to exploit this just and peaceful course to destroy public
properties, kill and afflict others to satisfy their selfish and devilish ideologies and further destabilize the country.
We thank the Federal Government of Nigeria in anticipation for their thoughtful decision in heeding to the call of ordinary Nigerians in its decision of reverting to the old fuel pump price of N65 per litre for the betterment of all Nigerians.
Mag. Wolfgang Ainetter, 11. November 2011
Editor in Chief, Heute Zeitung, Wien
Heiligenstädter Lände 29 / Top 6,
1190 Wien,
Tel. 050 950-12200
E-Mail: redaktion@heute.at
Subject Re: Nigerian Minister Bought A 20 Million Euros Villa in Vienna, Austria.
The attention of the National Association of Nigerian Community Austria (NANCA) has been drawn to a publication titled “Ministerin aus Hungerland Kauft sich 20-Millionen-Villa in Wien” published by your newspaper in page 11 of the Monday, 7th of November 2011 edition.
Therein, the short-pieced article reported that, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources – Dr. Dieziani Allison-Madueke bought a Villa worth 20 million Euros in Vienna, Austria.
While the National Association of Nigerian Community Austria (NANCA) places much trust and confidence in good investigative journalism/reporting and also respect the virtues of the news and mass media community in Austria and other parts of the world, the Nigerian Community in Austria, Nigerians in the Diaspora and the entire Nigerian population back home have come to believe that this piece of article was written in a rush and dash without proper investigation and at same time using words which are termed derogatory to Nigeria as a country and illustrious Nigerians worldwide.
On the one hand, the article mentioned that Nigeria is a “Hungerland” (hungry land); a hasty generalization term which the entire Nigerian Community worldwide find derogatory, since Nigeria is not a hungry land and its land and people are blessed with food crops and abundant natural resources with which Nigerians have been voted twice the “happiest people on earth”.
On the other hand, the published article (in a bid to impress its readers) based its facts on unconfirmed Nigerian media reports. Consequently, and in relation to the alleged “villa”, the article did not mention the exact location/district where the villa is located (Der genaue Standort der Luxusbleibe ist zwar geheim) meaning that the entire report was hinged on mere speculations.
In this light, we challenge and urge your newspaper corporation to first, retract the statement that Nigeria is a Hungarland (hungry land) with an apology letter (which should be published in your newspaper) to the entire Nigerian Community in Austria and Nigerians all over world. Secondly, we employ your newspaper corporation to provide and furnish the entire Austrian public and the Nigerian Community in Austria (who trust the virtues of your investigative journalism) solid evidences which should give detailed facts like: in which Viennese District is the said 20 million euros villa located; in whose name was the villa bought; which bank financed the transaction(s) and which real-estate firm finalized the deal.
NANCA on behalf of the entire Nigerian Community in Austria, trust your valued judgment in addressing the issues mentioned herein and at same time thank you for your relentless efforts in news reporting and investigative journalism.
Yours truly,
Jesse Ojobor
Public Relations Officer- NANCA
pro@nanca.net
The attention of the National Association of Nigerian Community Austria (NANCA) has been drawn to a publication titled “Hunderte Nigerianer als Dealer: Botschaft sieht kein Problem” on page 12 of the “Krone Zeitung,” 17th February 2011 edition.
We wish to state categorically that Nigeria as a country does not condone drugs in any form, and drug trafficking is taken seriously at the highest level of the Nigerian Government. This led to the formation of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), an agency recognized globally as a trusted ally in the fight against drug trafficking. However, we are not unmindful of the fact that a few Africans living in Austria, confronted with the harsh economic realities occasioned by their inability to work legally, or perhaps deluded by the lure of quick financial rewards end up on the streets of Vienna peddling drugs. At all levels of official interactions, these illegal and shameful actions of a few has been denounced, rebuked and the perpetrators advised to engage in more dignifying enterprises in their respective regions of sojourn.
It is therefore unfortunate that an honest and candid interview, granted in good faith, by two respected diplomats at the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna, could be so twisted and sensationalized, to convey a message totally at variance with what was intended.
While it is obvious to every objective resident of the City of Vienna that the “Krone Zeitung”, more than any other Newspaper in Austria, is always too eager to brand Nigerians as drug dealers, we feel that this recent attempt to imply that officials at the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna see no problem in the illegal activities of a few unscrupulous Nigerians, is malicious and a calculated attempt to ridicule any opinion contrary to the Newspaper’s biased assumptions.
We believe that “Krone Zeitung” short charged its readership by intentionally using statistics of Nigerians involved in drug related cases, in an ambiguous context. A more comprehensive use of statistics about the total volume of drug trafficking in Austria and the percentage of it that Nigerians have been convicted for, will reveal that persons of Nigerian heritage make up an insignificant fraction of Austria’s endemic drug problem. Therefore, the indiscriminate use of selective statistics to portray Nigerians living in Austria as criminals and the callous suggestion that everyone in Austria, except officials at the Nigerian Embassy see Nigerians as drug dealers, betray unprofessionalism, if not an abject abuse of known ethics of journalism. We assume that the Austrian people know better than to be taken in by such bogus speculative characterization.
It is bad journalism to tell one side of a story. We therefore challenge “Krone Zeitung” and its team of sensation seeking journalists to do an honest appraisal on the majority of Nigerians living in Austria who are engaged in legal occupations, dutifully fulfilling their civic duties and contributing meaningfully to the Austrian economy. It will also be beneficial for readers to be informed about the constructive engagements that the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna has initiated with the Austrian authorities towards finding solutions to illegal migration and associated crimes.
Finally, while we do not want to comment on “Krone Zeitung’s” editorial objectives, we do recommend that a frank analysis of the dysfunction in this society that drives young Austrians into drug abuse and the inhumane treatment of immigrants, which compel young asylum seekers, who see no other practical alternative to survival in Austria, into drug peddling, will be more productive in our joint effort to fight drugs and related crimes in Austria.
The One Man One Vote Benin Rally
Oshiomhole’s Unfair Critics
By Comrade Victor Oshioke (Vienna 8/05/10)
In the past few days, the web has been inundated with articles, discussions and commentaries on the just concluded “One Man One Vote” rally organized by the Edo State government at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin-City. Incidentally, most of the discussion has been centered on the wisdom or otherwise, of the decision by the Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to invite erstwhile Dictator, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida to the occasion and the subsequent decision by Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and a host of other progressive minded dignitaries to boycott the event. Some commentators have seized this controversy to engage in wild speculations on the motives of Comrade Oshiomhole, with spurious claims like, the event being a launch for Gen. Babangida’s presidential ambition and Oshiomhole warming up to run with Babangida on the same ticket, gaining currency in the forum of public opinion. In an attempt to create premise for these jaundiced conclusions, others have tried to draw a correlation between every single action Comrade Oshiomhole has taken since assuming the governorship of the Edo State, including the appointment of Kassim Afegbua, as CPS earlier in the life of the administration.
It is appalling to observe, how an event which in concept was meant to be a rallying point for Nigerians, who desperately need a reorientation on the universal norms of democracy, has suddenly become an avenue to ridicule, embarrass and impugn on the integrity of one of the most consistent activists our nation has ever known. Though a few of the myriad articles bothering on this subject have attempted to maintain a level of objectivity; a majority of them, goaded by their abhorrence for any thing Babangida, have gone beyond acceptable limits of journalistic license with bogus headlines screaming “Insult Upon Injury: Oshiomhole Tries To Lure Wole Soyinka, AC Leaders To IBB Rally In Benin City! And Please, say it ain’t true, Oshiomole!
It is jejune assumption and a crude understanding of the mentality of Nigerian politicians, to conclude, as most commentators have done, that all who boycotted the Benin rally did so to protest Babangida’s presence. While I find it comfortable to give Prof. Wole Soyinka benefit of the doubt, considering his historical consistency as a principled activist and a contented professional, I am inclined to suspect that a majority of politicians who boycotted the event did so because they lacked the courage to stand up in public, face to face with Babangida and criticize him, or considered the consequences of doing same.
Two wrongs they say do not make a right. Prof. Wole Soyinka is not a man of prepared speeches; he is a genius who thrives even in the most bizarre circumstances. His boycott of the rally certainly did more harm than good, in the sense that a rare opportunity where he could have articulated the general feeling of Nigerians and eloquently offload it on Babangida was missed, perhaps forever.
It is pertinent to concede that I am a passionate supporter of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his broad developmental efforts in Edo State. I also want to state that in my candid opinion, General Ibrahim Babangida belongs to a repugnant past in our political adventure that should be packaged along with the Abacha era and thrown into the garbage dump of history, if we must move ahead as a nation. Naturally, there should be no space for Babangida in the political future of Nigeria, except in the mere constitutional provision which non-discriminatorily allows all Nigerians to vote and be voted for.
Irrespective of my support, I was one of those silent critics of Oshiomhole when he appointed Kassim Afegbua as his Chief Press Secretary, not because I had any cause to doubt Kassim’s ability as CPS, but because I saw him as someone who, in spite of his brilliance and professional resourcefulness, was ever ready to stand truth on its head, in a desperate attempt to launder General Babangida’s putrid image. It was my belief that Kassim was inclined to bring into Osadebey House, aspects of the stench that has become the inalienable DNA of all Babangida loyalists. Predictably, Kassim resigned his position under circumstances that have never been fully explained. In spite of my dislike by association for Kassim, one could not deny the fact that first and foremost, he is a resourceful free born Edo son, a scion of the Afegbua family, one of the most enduring political clans in Nigeria, and above all, one who was adequately equipped to fill the vacuum created with the unfortunate death of Chris Nwachukwu, the pioneer CPS of the Oshiomhole administration..
The important point to note here is that, entrenching a culture of tolerance is one of the most vital steps towards reaching a free and democratic society. How can we hope to reach a society where every individual vote counts, if we cannot accept that all Nigerians are qualified to preach the gospel of one man one vote?
If we as a nation truly desire durable democratic principles in Nigeria, then we must be prepared to observe and emulate the tolerant political atmosphere in more successful democracies of the world, rather than a subjective obsession with good or bad personalities.
Oshiomhole is a man driven by his humble pedigree; he is saddled with the onerous task of playing the double role of delivering the dividends of democracy to a long deprived Edo people, while at the same time championing the cause to engender a sustainable political culture for the entire Nigerian masses who still see him as one of the few leaders they can count on to protect their interest.
When he declared his intention to contest the Edo State governorship race in 2006, the late foremost human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehimi was unequivocally critical of the decision, specifically because according to him” the decision of Oshiomhole to become the governor of one, out of the 36 states of the federation, has limited his chances of impacting on the remaining 35 states”. It is unfortunate that Gani is not alive today to witness Oshiomhole effectively deliver as a state governor while at the same time leading national initiatives to free the Nigerian masses from institutionalized attitudes that perpetuate political and economic enslavement, one of the many causes that Gani lived and died for.
I observe an inherent contradiction in Oshiomhole being called upon to play a more proactive role at the national level while at the same time he is being rebuffed for reaching out to all sections of the Nigerian society.
As one generally accepted of being capable to offer national direction, Oshiomhole was right to rise above the fray of ideological snobbery by attempting to bring together on a single podium, politicians, activists and ex dictators to advocate a respect for the sanctity of one man one vote. No matter how one feels about Babangida’s antecedents, the fact remains that he is a Nigerian, eligible to vote and be voted for, and as someone who has once occupied the highest office in the land, his presence at any event will always be a big deal. Have we suddenly forgotten that the greatest message of all messages is the gospel of atonement, forgiveness and redemption? If the gospel is both for the righteous and for sinners why should the message of one man one vote be reserved for those who fit into a certain profile?
If the statement widely credited to Comrade Oshiomhole, that while he respected the decision of some of the dignitaries to boycott the rally, he at the same time did not agree with them and had no regrets inviting Babangida to the rally and that Nigerians should do away with politics of exclusion, is true, then that to me is where the misapprehension lies.
A more pacifying statement accepting responsibility for the communication failure between him and his invited guests, who boycotted the rally, would have been a more appropriate response to reassure his supporters both at home and in the Diaspora that he has realized that Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida is “bad market” and this would have gone a long way to normalize the relationship with his progressive constituency.
My word of advice for the indomitable Comrade Oshiomhole, is that there is broad agreement even amongst his political foes that he is a rare breed; vocal, intelligent,
articulate, progressively minded though sometimes obdurate. There is massive local and international interest in any statement that he makes, and with the present political environment in Edo State, the opposition is always ready to put a spin to his most genial actions and utterances, if only to inflict whatever dent they can on his towering public profile. In the final analysis, my take is that the hullabaloo generated by this relatively mild incident was fired up in part, by the media attention given to the boycott, in comparison to the importance of the rally itself.
The Executive Council of the National Association of Nigerian Community Austria (NANCA) in consultation with Nigerian Ethnic Nationalities in Austria and other stakeholders hereby condemn the alleged attempt by Mr. Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a Nigerian Citizen to detonate an explosive device on a transatlantic flight to Detroit, Michigan, United States of America on the 25th of December 2009.
We believe that there can be no rational justification for acts of terrorism directed at the United States of America, Nigeria or any other country in the world.
Nigerians are a happy people who thrive wherever the find themselves. The Nigerian spirit is one that celebrates life. A spirit that proudly believes that as long as there is life there is hope. While we cannot deny that there are internal problems plaguing us as a nation, it can be argued that indoctrination is not one of such problems.
As a multi- cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious entity, it is natural that misunderstandings amongst competing ethnic and religious groups occasionally escalate into skirmishes which are easily brought under control by the Nigerian security agencies.
It is on record that no Nigerian government has ever condoned religious extremism. Whether military or civilian regime, with Moslem or Christian leadership, Nigerian governments have successively dealt decisively with restive religiously fundamental groups to the satisfaction of all citizens. Examples of such fundamentalists are the Maitasine Sect of the 80’s and the recent Boko Haram Sect, which were successfully disbanded by government.
Nigerians are a people who love to travel, which makes air transportation safety as much a concern to us as any other nation in the world. Anyone who has traveled in an aircraft with Nigerians will attest to our unique reaction to every successful takeoff and landing. After each take off, most Nigerians offer thanks to God according to their individual religious beliefs, while a few will pray throughout the entire flight. On landing, apart from offering thanks to God, Nigerians celebrate with applause and congratulate one another for arriving safely. This is certainly not the mentality of a people that would want to make air traveling a dangerous undertaking for others.
The conventional moral in Nigeria is that when you protect a bad child, he will end up disgracing you big time. This explains why Alhaji Umaru AbdulMutallab, the father of the would be bomber made concerted effort to notify both American and Nigerian authorities that his son was off track in Yemen.
We are at a loss therefore, why foreign news networks, with ratings essentially an existential index, jostle, ostensibly to unearth aspects of the Nigerian mindset that justify their spurious assumptions that Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab is a typical Nigerian, when the big story, should be what signals would prod a father to go on his own accord to authorities and express fears that his son is being radicalized in Yemen.
The big news left unexplored here is the Nigerian mentality which seeks to avoid trouble, embarrassment and shame. A mentality which makes every Nigerian at this point in time accept a sense of shame, that one of their own could be brainwashed, cajoled and goaded into a suicide mission. This accommodating aspect of the Nigerian, which is the basis of our continuous coexistence in spite of our religious, cultural and ethnic differences demands more attention and nurturing than the effort now being wasted on the pursuit of nonexistent terrorist cells in Nigeria.
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It is ironic that at a time when President Barack Obama has shown exceptional leadership by personally taking responsibility for the security failures, that led to the near terrorist incident, and when Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the protagonist is adjudged innocent until proven guilty according to American laws, Nigerians are now expected to take collective responsibility for the actions of a renegade citizen. The truth is that this young man shares no experience with the struggling average Nigerian youth who aspires to carve out a place for himself in a continuously challenging world. He comes from one of Nigerian’s super rich, elite families, which constitutes less than 5 percent of the Nigerian population, he had is secondary education outside Nigeria which constitutes less than 5 percent of Nigerian youth, he had his University education in the United Kingdom, which constitutes less than 5 percent of Nigerian university graduates. He was lonely and felt isolated, in spite of affluence, which constitutes less than 1 percent of Nigerians and above all, he was prepared to die for nothing which constitutes about 0.01 percent of Nigerians.
Nigerians at home and abroad have expressed as much indignation as any patriotic American, towards the actions of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab. No Nigerian group has claimed responsibility for training, arming or providing logistics for Umar AbdulMutallab. In fact, the young man spent the better part of his life living outside Nigeria. Apart from being a Nigerian by birth, he had severed ties with his family and only transited Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos on his inglorious mission. What we as a Nation and a people merit at this point in time is encouragement in helping to fish out persons in our midst who might be inclined to be indoctrinated by Islamic extremists. We have done what no one in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen or Iraq, in spite of the billions of dollars America has put in to fight terrorism there has done, which is, walking up to the Americans and report our own blood relations. We cannot be blamed for the mishandling of such vital information. In fairness, the Nigerian experience should form the model for fighting terrorism in countries not yet overrun by the influence of Islamist extremists.
Placing Nigeria on a list associated with terrorism; no matter how benign the intention is and no matter the terminology of categorization, is premature, unjust and destined to be counterproductive. We wonder how Nigeria can be placed on a list for the activities of a man who was allegedly recruited in Britain, trained and baptized in Yemen, and possibly got his explosive laden underwear from anywhere between Yemen, Dubai, Addis Ababa and Accra. If Nigeria must be placed on a list, then Britain where he was recruited must be on a worse list. Any honest intelligence expert in the world would confess that Britain not Nigeria is the perfect fertile ground for sowing the seeds of hatred against Western societies.
If the recruitment of AbdulMutallab was a subterfuge used by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to widen the battlefield by igniting anti American sentiments in Africa, we expect the American authorities to know better than falling into such a trap. This is a time for cooperation and not confrontation between America and Nigeria. Cooperation will lead to isolating and wiping out existing pockets of fundamental groups in the country. Confrontation will lead to a situation whereby Nigeria will be used by the extremists as one of their many, albeit bogus, examples of American injustice around the world, thus radicalizing a whole generation of Africans, which has the propensity of engendering a new set of American haters in the continent.
We call on the Nigerian government to get into diplomatic negotiations with their American counterparts to trash out issues that will ultimately lead to a review of Nigeria’s inclusion in the “Countries of Interest” list.
We call on the Nigerian government to establish an anti-terrorism intelligence unit in the Nigerian Police Force. This unit should be well equipped with modern surveillance technology to monitor internet activities by political, ethnic and religiously fundamental groups in the country.
We call on the Nigerian government to establish a permanent Commission on Tolerance, with members drawn from all major ethnic groups in the country, representatives of religious bodies and other stakeholders. Apart from advising government on proper ways to manage emerging crisis of intolerance in the country and strategize on how best to enhance our secularity, this commission should also explore the possibility of introducing studies in tolerance into the Nigerian academic curriculum. The world has become too dangerous for us to assume that our ethnic and religious differences cannot be exploited by outsiders to destabilize our peaceful coexistence or leave an irreparable dent on our image as the most populous yet idyllic black entity in the Universe.
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Long Live Nigerians in the Diaspora!!
Comrade Victor Oshioke
Secretary General, National Association of Nigerian Community Austria. (NANCA)
RECALL TO NIGERIA: HIS EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR JERRY
SONNY UGOKWE ( P.HD), AMBASSADOR OF NIGERIA TO AUSTRIA AND SLOVAKIA, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO UNITED NATIONS AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS IN VIENNA.
October 23, 2009, will remain a negative indelible date and day in the memories of Nigerians in Austria. It was the day the pointblacknews.com published on its website that His Excellency, Dr. Jerry Ugokwe, the Ambassador of Nigeria to Austria and Slovakia has been recalled to Nigeria. This development the pointblacknews added, was not unconnected with the Envoy’s agitation for his party’s (PDP) ticket for Anambra State governorship election scheduled for early 2010, when he still a serving Ambassador.
After this publication, rumours started spreading like wind. In some quarters it was rumoured that he(Ambassador) was detained in Nigeria and awaiting a special security escort to take him to Vienna to sign out of his position as the Nigerian Ambassador to Austria.
Despite this ugly development, Nigerian Community in Austria was very steadfast at ascertaining the veracity of the publication and the attendant rumours till the arrival of Ambassador Dr. Jerry Ugokwe from Nigeria.
This untiring efforts of Nigerian community was rewarded when the ‘The hard truth’ was discovered. This was at variant with the publication in the website and the accompanied untold rumours. The singular truth is that the Nigeria’s Honourable Minister for external affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe has patented this unappetising scenario.
Also months ago, it was one of the headlines in the Nigeria print and electronic media, that the now former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America Brigadier General Christopher Oluwale Rotami (rtd) was recalled by same honourable minister.
It was however viewed in many quarters as a tribally motivated decision by the honourable minister. But with this recent development, one may be left without option, but to doubt the sincerity of purpose and guidelines in the upper echelon of the Nigeria’s external affairs ministry Abuja.
With all sincerity, Dr. Jerry Ugokwe has won the hearts of most Nigerians in Austria since assumption of office in Vienna over a year ago. His Diaspora experience has helped in no small measure to imbibe national consciousness in Nigerians in Austria. He has maintained that the Austrian government be fair enough to reconsider the fate Nigerians with immigration problems, stressing that those who have criminally violated the laws of the host country should be sent back to Nigeria.
Incidentally, the pedal on which His Excellency Dr. Jerry Sonny Ugokwe saddles to sign out emergency travel certificates to deport Nigerian from Austria is not fast enough for the honourable minister with the fear of denting diplomatic and bilateral agreements between the two countries. One should be objective and fair enough to ask if the reverse were the case for Austrians. Would the head of the Austrian Ambassador be offered on a tray for the Austrian President to cut?
The ominous June 2009 letter from the Austrian Government to Nigeria used by the honourable Nigeria’s Minister for external Affairs is an embodiment of suspicious political vendetta. This is primarily geared towards soiling the unprecedented progress and acceptability of Amb. (Dr). Jerry Sonny Ugokwe by the Nigerian Community in Austria.
The arrival of His Excellencvy Ambassador Olumoko and Assistant Comptroller General Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters, Abuja Mrs. O.Davies -Jones in Vienna has enhanced further the deportation of Nigerians from Vienna, thus executing the Presidential decision on the subject matter.
We view the present happening in the tenure of our Ambassador, Dr. Jerry Sonny Ugokwe not only unfair and inhuman also unusual and unethical. Nigerians in Austria are waiting attentively and patiently for the final decision of the President, Alhaji Umaru Ya’ardua, on this core issue of our humble interest.
Once more, we are all waiting for the actualisation of citizenship diplomacy in Austria.
Immidiate past National Präsident
National Association of Nigerian Community in Austria (NANCA)
Mr. Dominic Aghaizu (Msc. Pharm).
THEPresident of national association ofNigerian community in Austria(NANCA), Mr. Dominic Aghaizu has called on all Nigerians outside the country to emulate the political philosophy of the United states of AmericaPresident-elect, Senator Barack Obama.
Mr. Aghaizu made the call in Vienna, the administrative headquarters of Austria, while commenting on the landslide victory of Senator Obama under the platform of democratic party in the recently concluded American elections.
The ability of Nigerians to emulate the visions, dedication, and perseverance attributes of Sen. Obama, the President said, would go a long way in actualising the set aims and aspirations in all their endeavours.
While describing the success of Sen. Obama as unprecedentedin the political history of America and other developed parts of the world, the NANCA’s president said that the victory of the president-elect would enhance the hopes of the minority citizens of America. ‘This moment we are going to witness in history as long as history will be written’, he added.
Furthermore, Mr. Aghaizu said that the Afro-Americanpresident-elect has not only succeeded in making the yesteryear tall dreams of the late Martin Luther King Jnr a reality but also as a symbol ofhope and optionof peace and prosperity for the whole world.
In view of the outcome of the great efforts of Sen. Obama which rested on the slogan ‘Yes, we can’, The leader of Nigerian community in Austria enjoined Nigeriansto extend such efforts to the national association of Nigerian community in Austria in order to ensure a more formidable and well focused association. He also stressed the need for Nigerians to be more committed toassociation so that it willat no time relent in its efforts at making the general welfare of Nigerians in Austria a reality.
Since Sen. Obama’s electoral victoryhas rekindled hopesand confidence of the hitherto less privilegepeople all over world,Mr. Aghaizustated that it becomes a challenge on the part of national association of Nigerian community in Austria to fortify these given hopes and confidence among Nigerians for a better future for Nigeria.
The NANCA’spresidenton behalf of all Nigerians in Austria congratulated the president-elect, and wish him eternal adequate God’s guidance and protection.
