For the U.S. and China, a Test of Diplomacy on South Sudan

A United Nations camp for displaced people in Bentiu,
South Sudan, where civil war has forced two million people from their homes. Peace talks are underway, but are not seen as promising.

UNITED NATIONS — The United States may have
midwifed the birth of South Sudan , the world’s
youngest nation. But China has quickly become
among its most important patrons, building its
roads and pumping its oil.

Now, more than a year after South Sudan’s
leaders plunged their country into a nasty civil
war, the nation has become something of a test of
diplomacy between the United States and China,
raising the question: Can Washington and
Beijing turn their mutual interests in South
Sudan into a shared strategy to stop the bloodshed?

To pressure the warring sides toward peace, the
United States has circulated a draft Security
Council resolution, dangling the threat of
sanctions and setting up the possibility of an
arms embargo somewhere down the road. The
measure could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday.

China, which has long espoused a policy of not
interfering in its partners’ domestic affairs, has
not revealed its hand. The Chinese foreign
minister, Wang Yi, signaled to diplomats here last
week that his government could be persuaded to back appropriate punitive measures against South Sudan.   

The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi, then publicly questioned the “logic” of proposing sanctions while the two sides are talking. China could
abstain from voting on Tuesday and let the measure pass.

Peace talks — funded by both Beijing and Washington — are underway in Ethiopia this week between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and his rival former Vice President Riek Machar. Yet prospects for a breakthrough by a Thursday deadline set by the mediators appear slim. Mr. Kiir, for his part, has refused to show up.

So far, neither Washington nor Beijing has advanced a comprehensive strategy to stop the civil war. Both nations have been hesitant to substantially defang the kingpins of the war, including imposing an arms embargo or limiting how oil revenues might be used to fund the conflict. Both measures are among the
recommendations of a recent International Crisis Group report on South Sudan.

“The ability of the United States and China to work toward a common strategy for peace in South Sudan is a test case for their ability to work together on the continent and beyond,” said Casie Copeland, the Crisis Group’s South Sudan expert. She described both countries as “sort of walking in a circle.”

That is not for a lack of interest — or even because of opposing interests. Although China and the United States have stubbornly been on opposing sides of the issue of Darfur, the long-suffering Sudanese region, the
two superpowers share a lot of common ground on South Sudan.

China has strong economic stakes in the country; the United States is heavily invested politically.

They both have an interest in restoring stability to the country and avoiding disruptions to its oil flow. Both capitals have also opted to go slowly. Obama administration officials have deep emotional ties to South Sudan, and so far they have resisted taking any steps, like an arms embargo, that would weaken the government in Juba. As the administration’s former South Sudan envoy, Princeton Lyman, put it this week,
“The position is hardening in the administration, but it has taken a while.”

All the while, fighting between forces loyal to Mr. Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Mr. Machar, an ethnic Nuer, has killed tens of thousands, displaced two million people, brought the country to brink of famine and left a trail of rape and killing. The United Nations children’s agency last week said school children had been conscripted by a militia loyal to Mr. Kiir’s forces.

The United States and China have vastly different
histories there. The United States championed its
independence from Sudan, whose president, Omar al-Bashir, it loathed, and whom it referred to the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in Darfur.

China, by contrast, was one of Mr. Bashir’s most
important allies — and still is. But when South Sudan split off, it took vast amounts of oil with it, so China soon courted the new government in Juba and kept its stake in the oil fields.

That helps explains why China has taken an
unusually active role, considering its traditional policy of noninterference. It has dispatched its own soldiers to the United Nations peacekeeping mission there and
persuaded the Security Council to include a most unusual mandate for the mission: Peacekeepers there are tasked with protecting not just civilians, but also the country’s oil installations, which have been attacked. China has also stopped shipping arms to the government in Juba.

The American-drafted resolution would impose travel bans and asset freezes on individuals who threaten the peace and security of South Sudan, including those who are accused of committing serious rights abuses, using child soldiers, and attacking United Nations personnel. It would set up a committee to evaluate who should fall on the sanctions list. The measure would raise the possibility of an arms embargo further in the future.

Crucial to the effectiveness of these measures are South Sudan’s neighbors, including Uganda and Ethiopia, which have ties to the rival parties. Only if the countries in the region agree to punitive measures, like sanctions and an arms embargo, Mr. Lyman pointed out, will China give its consent on the Council.

Asked why it has taken so long to propose a draft
resolution on the Security Council, an American official said: “There are a lot of actors in this situation. We’ve been waiting for the right moment.”

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity
because of diplomatic protocol. “Everyone is sort of rowing in the same direction,” he added. A wild card is what to do about the potential war crimes committed by both sides in the conflict.

The African Union has completed its own investigation into human rights abuses, but refused to make it public while peace talks are continuing. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has urged the
organization to release it.

United Nations investigators have chronicled a litany of horrors since fighting broke out in December 2013. “In Juba, I met people whose whole families have been executed, primarily due to their ethnicity, and women and girls who were taken as sex slaves after their husbands were killed,” the United Nations assistant secretary general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, told the Council last week, urging the panel to ensure accountability for the victims.

The next question will be whether China or the
United States agrees to send its friends to the
dock.

Nemtsov funeral: Slain Russian opposition leader laid to rest, mourners queue to pay respects

Thousands of people, including prominent
Russian and foreign politicians and
activists, have pay their last respects to
Boris Nemtsov - an opposition leader, who
was assassinated in Moscow last week.

People stood in a kilometer-long queue to
get to the memorial service, which took
place in the Sakharov Center in Moscow.
Not all were able to get inside.

From there Nemtsov’s coffin was taken to
the Troekurovskoye cemetery, where about
600 people attended the funeral, Interfax
estimates.

Merkel says to push for freedom of expression in Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she would push Russia to guarantee the freedom of expression after what she described as the serious and sad murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she would push Russia to guarantee the freedom of expression after what she described as the serious and sad murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.

"We expect everything to be done to clear up this murder. I hope and we will make clear that we want those people who think differently in Russia to have a chance to articulate their thoughts - though I know it is anything but easy,"

Merkel told reporters at a news conference with the
president of Mongolia.

Cross River Presents Election Materials to the Blind.

Cross River Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Sylvester Okey-Ezeani has presented election material items to the visually impaired persons in the State.

The Items presented was in line with the Abuja demand by the people living with Disabilities to the Electoral umpire in November 2014 and Cross River State is the first to give such materials out to the Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs).

Items Given includes 100 copies of Accreditation/Voting Procedure manual, 13 Frequently asked questions brochures, 140 wrong and Right Voting Guides,100 copies of Voting Offences and Penalty and 142 Copies of General Election Dates among others.

Speaking during the presentations at INEC Office, Calabar, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner said it was part of the promise made by the Chairman in ensuring that People Living with disabilities were giving adequate informations and guide before and during the polls.

"It is the commission desire that you make adequate use of these materials as part of the effort of INEC to give the people with visually impaired persons to have sense of belonging on the electoral processes "he said.

Dr Joseph Agba, Cross River State President of visually Impaired ?Person who was full of appreciation to the commission said in the past, INEC have not consider their plight just as he said many other government Organisations and agencies does not put the interest of the visually impaired persons into congnisance in particular and People living with the Disability in General in all their activities.

"This is the first time any public office will be distributing materials like this and it's a good development, many people organized workshops and ?seminars without considering the plight of the visually impaired.
"I'm going to give this information directly including students in the university ?"he said.

The stakeholders meeting facilitated by Human and
Organisational Resources Development Centre (HORDC) in partnership with Disability Policy and Advocacy Initiative (DPAI)had in November 2014 requested ?for blind and partially sighted persons from INEC, election/voting materials (ballot papers) produced in Braille or tactile formats; blind and partially sighted persons are allowed to come with a person of their choice to assist them; electoral officials are properly trained to provide necessary assistance
to blind and partially sighted persons among others.

Special Reports - If i have a vote in the 2015 Nigerian elections..

In 28 days Nigerians will be selecting their leaders for the next four years. I and millions of Diaspora Nigerians will not be voting even though we contribute billions of dollars to the economy, in fact we contribute more to the economy than over three quarters of Nigerian states contribute. It is another case of taxation without representation. But this will
be a subject for another day and time.

Before I jump into what I would do with my vote let me say what I will not do. I will not vote for General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) and here are my reasons:

1. He overthrew a popularly elected civilian president. He
became a dictator. He did not respect the people’s choice and voice. He is now preaching that something had happened to him on his way to Damascus where he was going to persecute Christians (politicians). And that spirit of democracy caught up with him and told him to go there and preach democracy. This Thomas is in doubt. I still ask “is this not Saul of Tarsus?”

2. GMB does not have experience working in a civilian
setting. He should have started as a governor and learned how to work with legislators before trying for the presidency. Aso Rock should not be the place for in the job training (OJT). Especially when his vice is as, or more inexperienced, as he. His VP has not run any important thing such as a university, large business or a corporation. His political experience is merely a rookie politician. His management experience extends only to managing a parish church in a very small denomination.

3. GMB’s military career is not distinguished. We know who commanded which division, who was Chief of Staff, who was in charge of Logistics, intelligence, ordinance, training, etc. during the civil war. What was GMB’s role during the most difficult time in Nigeria? Did he not just wear well ironed khaki and drove fancy cars at HQ?

4. He has had a stint as a head of state. What is the legacy from that era other than that Nigerians stood in line to board buses? What infrastructure was started (don’t mind completed as he was not there long enough), which educational institutions was started, what policy initiatives came from then, which rehabilitation efforts of the Biafrans do we associate with him? His two-year tenure does not resonate.

5. I feel that this is GMB’s second coup. The difference
between the last time when they used enlisted Nigerian
troops to overthrow President Shagari and now is that he is using terrorists. GMB has not condemned the insurgency (he made awkward attempts at Chatham House) but it was too little and too late.

6. I am not convinced that GMB is healthy enough for the job. If he can take a two-week vacation in the last months of the election it suggests either ill health or laziness. Neither is good for a Head of State or Government. Or that he is entitled to rule and that Nigerians must honor his aspiration.

7. Has GMB written anything such as his political manifesto where he explained his philosophy of government, economic management, and social philosophy of even ordinary beliefs? Are they published in peer reviewed journals or even in daily
newspapers? Has he ever done any research? How
intellectually sturdy is Buhari?

8. GMB seems to me as a man who is another man’s man. His first presidential action was the appointment of his vice. GMB thinks that the best Nigerian after him is Mr. Osibanjo, a man he never met until just a couple of weeks before his appointment and a god son of Tinubu. This suggests that GMB would not be making his own decisions. Nigerians want their elected officers to be in charge.

9. GMB’s incompetence is best manifested by the way he handled his educational qualification when it became an issue. He went and swore an oath that turned out to be lying under oath, he scrambled to submit papers that even now has not fully answered or settled the debate. Where does this matter stand to date?

10. GMB is associated with the emergence of
Sharia Courts. Why has he not made his stand on religion clearer knowing the religion is an issue in Nigeria polity? Why is he not going to churches to allay the fears of Christians?

Ten points seem enough.

I will not vote for Buhari. Ok. Who will I vote for? I will vote for the reelection of President Goodluck Ebere Jonathan (GEJ). I will do so holding my nose. It will not be an enthusiastic vote but the better of two evils.

a. GEJ has held the country together despite many
difficulties.

b. The economy is growing at 7% one of the fastest growth rates in the world thanks, to Ms. Okonjo -Iweala and her team.

c. The press is freer than it used to be.

d. He built 12 more universities although I do not think it is the right thing to do.

e. He has managed to work with the legislature which is a difficult balancing act.

f. I HOPE he will develop a stronger backbone next time
around.

g. He is not a dictator and never was one.

h. I hope he will confront BH more strongly if he has no
elections to face.

i. I hope he will help Nigeria build strong institutions that would make corruption less rampant than it is now.

j. I hope that the Diaspora Nigerians will get the vote next time around.

I do not have a vote and this is a pity.

By.
Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba.

Special Reports - When Change Becomes Inevitable.

If you have been following recent happenings in our polity objectively as it concerns the general elections in the past three months, you will understand it is now clear to the discerning, obvious to the dissenting and acceptable to the pragmatic that change has become inevitable in our polity.

This article was inspired by one of my favorite songs of
Lucky Dube- of blessed memory, "It Wasn't Easy".
In the song, he called on his mother, "mama I'm getting
married". She replied, "Son did you take out time to know her"?

The artist: "Mama she's the best, but today it hurts me so to go back to mama and say mama am getting divorced, this choice I made, didn't work the way I thought it would, it hurts me so mama...".
The lyrics of the song are exactly what are playing out in ourpolity today.

Rewind back to 2011 presidential election, we were so carried away by the circumstances surrounding president Jonathan's emergence that we ignored many things and forgot to ask necessary questions. He gathered all the sympathy, popularity and attention through his "I had no shoes while growing up" quote. Thinking he's the Moses of our time, people defied ethnic and religious affiliations to vote and ensure he emerged president.

Fast forward to 2015 presidential election, everything has changed. The ones trusted and popular Jonathan had become the rejected stone. It is an irony that same process that ensured the emergence of a younger president in 2011 is same process that has kept him on the verge of losing the 2015 presidential election.

The ruling party in its quest for jaded attention allowed itself to be sub-tenanted in the last 4 years by every paid and unpaid apologist of the government. The president's incorrigible media team didn't help either, they were beyond reproach, with their misleading and contradicting information they made it difficult for citizens to get accurate information on the happenings of the government, they hurled bitter diatribes and tirades to every critic of the government, in doing so their language deteriorated and included every profanity and obscenity on their lips and ended up accumulating more enemies for the president within and outside the shores of the country thereby making change inevitable.

In the area of corruption, President Jonathan has shown little willingness to tackle corruption. He identifies with the corrupt and presides over a government that embezzles public funds with reckless abandon. After much criticism of his government, Mr. President in an attempt to demystify corruption made a political gaffe. "What is being referred to as corruption is common stealing".

Right now our nation is hemorrhaging from all sides, the bleeding is imminent and inevitable, with the daily decline in our economy, there hardly seem to be anyone who is not feeling the economic hardship this government has reduced us to.

Many unfulfilled campaign promises of the ruling government have contributed to this inevitable change. The fact that Nigeria is yet to generate more than 4000 megawatts of electricity after expending millions of dollars in four years in the power sector is beyond comprehension.

Until recently, security is near zero with insecurity and
insurgency taking a lead in wanton killings and destruction of lives and properties in the North East.
With its little and infinitesimal performance, the attack dogs of the ruling government have been obfuscating in defense that president Jonathan in the last six years has performed more than all our past rulers.

They pretend not to know records have shown under
President Jonathan Nigeria has generated more funds per annum from the sale of crude oil alone in the past 6 years than we have made in the past years.
It is saddening that nations of equal promise like Nigeria have left Nigeria in its elementary level while at different levels of advanced development, hence the need for a change of government.

The opposition APC may have its flaws but as the Economist Magazine aptly puts it, "Sometimes there are no good options... a former dictator is a better choice than a failed president".

Back to the song, "It Wasn't Easy", same way the above named reggae artist went back to his mother, "mama am getting divorced", Nigerians want a divorce from the ruling government, because the choice we made in 2011 didn't work out the way we thought it would and it hurts us so much.

I take consolation from the words of his mother in the song, "it's not easy to understand it son, but I know you'll make it, you'll be happy again".
Nigerians will make change possible come March 28 2015 and we will be happy again.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time; we are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. -Barack Obama
Joe

Special Report - How President Jonathan and PDP plan to rig election

It shouldn't be any surprise, but the presidential election is shaping up as a case study in how to manipulate the democratic process. That President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are hell bent to rig the March 28 presidential elections is a forgone conclusion. It's not even a fit subject for intelligent debate any more.

Election rigging is a little more sophisticated now than in the days of the Old Republic. Under the Jonathan administration, the practice of election rigging is alive and well and more pervasive than ever. The evidence is everywhere if we choose to look.

Why do you think there is so much push to send INEC
Chairman Attahiru Jega to Siberia? By the time you're
reading this piece, Jega would have been history! Why do you think Attorney General and Minister of Justice Adoke filed and later withdrew affidavit against the use of updated electronic voters register and permanent voters’ card? Why do you think the election was postponed? Why do you think Mr. Jonathan obstinately refused to investigate the Ekitigate
video on how PDP used the military and the police to rig the gubernatorial election in Ekiti State despite the fact that he was implicated by Musiliu Obanikoro?

Why do you think despite the damaging Ekitigate video that exposed Obanikoro as the principal agent of the President Jonathan saying the president sent him, Jonathan still nominate him as defense minister? Why do you think Jonathan has illegally federated all the 36 states with an army of occupation? Why do you think Jonathan wants to use the military during elections?

Of course there is a script being authored, auditioned, and choreographed by Vice-President Sambo, Femi Fani-Kayode, Ayodele Fayose, and other PDP criminals and experts in election rigging. But these are rather insignificant compared to the big picture that is being planned for the D-Day March 28.

When elements – Doyin Okupe, Ayodele Fayose, and Femi Fani-Kayode - in Jonathan's administration vowed General Muhammadu Buhari will never become president, do not think they were bluffing. They are working day and night to make this a reality. They have devised several plans which have been neutralized in the past. Thanks to the proactive
measures of SaharaReporters and some patriotic citizens.

It should be emphasized that Jonathan and other criminals in the PDP led government who are determined to bring Nigeria to its knees, have not relented. New plans are being devised, developed, and perfected on a daily basis. There are plans in the offing to impeach Governor Rotimi Amaechi by hook or
crook in few days. This is to implicate him in many
ramifications and as the campaign director of Buhari
Campaign Organization destabilize Buhari campaign in
general.

Suspects in prison for the murder of Funsho Williams are being primed to confess they were sent by Bola Tinubu. They have been promised heaven on earth even in prison if they can implicate him. The plan is to blackmail Tinubu into submission or at the very least distract him with a nauseous court case. It has been alleged Jonathan met with Tinubu in Badagry during one of Jonathan's numerous visits to Lagos
and tried to convince Tinubu to back out from supporting Buhari.

Jonathan told Tinubu he (Tinubu) is number one on the list compiled by Buhari of those to be probed once he becomes president. Let it be known to all that Jagaban is under intense pressure at the moment to betray Buhari. To be fair to him, Tinubu has not succumbed. It is no secret that Nigeria at the moment is prostrate in a cesspit of corruption dug by a few. It is so humongous Nigerians will shudder when they
know the full details. And Jonathan has been taken hostage by the monstrous clique of corrupt people responsible for his mess.

Ordinarily, Jonathan is willing to relinquish power if he loses. But these corrupt people have planted fear in him that Buhari will send him to jail once he becomes president and discovers the level of rot in the system. That's why he's fighting tooth and nail to remain president. This much has been alluded to
by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The Jonathan government is capable of anything to sustain the status quo.

They have the resources and evil minded people to
accomplish much. The fake Shekau option has not been discarded because it was leaked last week. The Ekitigate style is still very much on the table. You can see how it was tactically nipped in the bud at the House of Reps sitting last week. There is still
about four weeks to go before the elections. If one hour is a long time in politics, you can imagine what four weeks will be.

The “election will never hold” plan is still alive depending on the success of their plans to weaken Buhari's campaign and decimate his support base in the coming weeks. If the plans succeed, elections may hold. If it does not, the Interim National Government (ING) contraption may be employed.

There are many, many, other facets to this election rigging plan. I have only scratched the surface. As the election draws closer and closer, I will make other Jonathan and PDP rigging plans known to the whole world.

The March 28 presidential election is a struggle to install freedom, liberty, prosperity and the people's will. Nigerians have resolved not to be cast into the dim past of corruption, poverty, and oppression. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. All eyes must be on Jonathan's government andeven on some APC members.