Tag Archives: Will

Herdsmen Will Not Be Allowed To Intimidate Our People- Dickson

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Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State in this interview speaks on how he has been managing affairs of the state, the challenges he has faced and his plans to take the state to greater heights.

Excerpts:

Much has been said about the N14.5b given back to the state by the Federal Government. What is the nature of this payment?

The N14.5b is a refund of excess deductions on account of World Bank, Paris Club and other loans that the federal government took and repaid.

Our federation is a very wonderful one where as state governors you just wait and at the end of the month they come up with whatever figures and throw them at you at the FAAC.

It was discovered that most of what they did at that time were not proper, they repaid with states and Local Government funds, and governors came together to fight for what rightly belonged to their states. This N14.5b was not given to Bayelsa only but to almost all the states of the federation. We have put out the figure as a result of our transparency policy. The money belongs to the state, and we are only privileged to manage the resources.

The civil servants have been very understanding in the last one year when we had to manage a very tough situation concerning our revenues. In January we almost didn’t receive anything because of a combination of so many factors at the national level. For February, March, we were having between N1.5b to N2b for a state that has a wage bill of almost N5b not to talk of the Local Government level. The Local Government situation is very bad, and Bayelsa is one state that since we took over, we have not made any deduction from Local Government funds. We only receive it on their behalf from the joint account and sit in the JAAC with them, and the following day it is released. Local Governments have financial autonomy; it is left for the leaders and the people to hold them accountable.

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http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/herdsmen-will-not-allowed-intimidate-people-dickson/

2019: God Will Give PDP 2nd Chance- Bode George

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Former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George has expressed hope that God and Nigerians will give the erstwhile ruling party another opportunity to rule the country, again, in 2019.
George said this, yesterday, at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, when he hosted the South-West zonal executive of the party, led by Eddy Olafeso, which paid him a working visit.
George premised his declaration on what he called the poor performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.
“Nigerians have seen the two sides of the coin and they have an opportunity to decide, based on your performance, based on the trust that they have in you. God is a God of second chance,” he said and  dismissed President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as “lacking the capacity to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians.
“I have been advising my oga (boss), Mr. President, what does he want to be remembered for? I am talking now as a general, not as a politician. If anybody is telling him, all is well; all is not well. Whatever he will do to alleviate the despondency in the land, he must do.”
He said for the main opposition party to launch itself back to reckoning, it must do away with imposition of candidates which he noted was its undoing.
“If we want to win, we must tell ourselves some home truths and go back to our drawing board. We must be just, we must be fair and we must be equitable.
“We should learn from the mistakes of the past. The penchant that ‘I am in charge, I can do and undo,’ it must end. So, let us learn that there must be justice, fairness and equity. It is a tripod: if we remove any of these three legs, we are going nowhere. If we don’t do that, we are wasting our time.
“So, all we need to do is gather ourselves together and let us give the best hands to manage us through this storm. We need experienced captains to take us to our destination. I wish them well.”
Speaking on the intractable leadership tussle rocking the party, the former deputy national chairman of the party accused the former Borno State governor and factional national chairman, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff of doing the bidding of certain forces outside the PDP, whom he claimed were determined to run the party aground.
“I will just appeal to Senator Ali Modu Sheriff: enough is enough. The political rascality, judicial rascality must stop for posterity. All these unnecessary litigations.
“There is an adage in Yoruba that when you see a bush rat dancing in the middle of the road, the drummers are in the bush. Let him take it easy, for the sake of the future generations of this country. Those who invited him, I hope they have learnt a lesson. It takes one terrible person to throw a stone into the well, one million professors won’t be able to find that stone.”
Earlier in his remarks, Olafeso disclosed that his leadership was on a working visit to George to brief him about the outcome of Ondo State governorship election and the future of the party in the zone.

Credit:

http://sunnewsonline.com/2019-godll-give-pdp-2nd-chance-bode-george/

PDP Will Win In 2019, But …– Makarfi

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The Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Makarfi, has expressed confidence that the party will win the 2019 presidential election.

Makarfi said the secret on how to achieve the victory would not be divulged.

In an interview, during which he addressed various issues ranging from last weekend’s Ondo State governorship election to the rebranding of the party, Makarfi said he was not worried by last week’s defection of Idris Umar, a former minister, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), or that of other members elsewhere.

“Since he left as minister, I have never known Umar, who defected to the APC, to have participated in anything concerning the PDP.

“There are those who we know (defectors from Ondo State) are one leg here and one leg there. We are not surprised. I am also not surprised at any movement now. It is the movement in 2018 that will bother me. Look, go back to the PDP when it was in power. During the first and second years, there were people coming. But when did the movement that brought the party down occur?

“We should not forget history. There are those who want to join or associate with the central government. They are like the chameleon; they keep on changing colours. The political movement from one party to another that should bother anyone is the movement in the last 12 months before an election. That should bother anybody, and it is yet to come,” he said.

Despite losing the Ondo State election to APC, Makarfi, said the future holds big things for his party.

“The future of the PDP is very bright.

“We know that it’s not going to be an easy task. We are passing through the worst period you can ever think of, but we will recover,” Makarfi promised.

He also revealed that the PDP was hopeful of winning the Ondo State governorship election in court, having seen the election awarded to APC.

“Well, Edo State, to me, was manipulated and taken away. That is why we are at the tribunal, and we believe that if good work is done by our counsel at the tribunal, we will remain above board. We believe we are going to win because we have a new judiciary. It is far more responsive, fair and just. I believe our mandate will return to us.

“When we went to Ondo State, there were factors and room for complaints. Some factors were within the control of stakeholders while some were beyond them. Some were external, which we are much aware of. The internal issue relates to state politics and other issues that are really state-based. I really won’t go into details. On external factors, our candidate was finally cleared two days before the election, and to move around the state in two days to cover grounds was a tall order.

“Again, Independent National Electorla Commission’s (INEC) position that the submitted list of agents was by the party was a problem. The law stated that they were party agents, not candidate’s, hence they were recognised. This prompted a big question: which party? We didn’t submit the list of agents. Those who took us to court, the Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff camp, just submitted the list of agents, which INEC accepted.

“Naturally, you wouldn’t expect them to be effective agents because the person they wanted was not the one standing for the election. I think INEC should have considered the recent court judgement and given the party the leeway to change its agents if it so desired, thereby escaping from sharing some blames for virtually lack of representation at the polling units.

“Again, if you look at the video clip being circulated by Jimoh Ibrahim, where he boasted and gave reasons why they went to court, among others, it is clear that it was intended to destabilise the PDP and prevent the candidate from campaigning. So the Modu Sheriff side has spoken, through their candidate, that the reason they were in the race was to prevent the PDP from winning. Even the blind and the dumb can draw a conclusion that very serious anti-party activities took place.

“I was disappointed by the result and what happened; but if you ask me whether I am really bothered as we walk towards 2019, I will tell you I am not. When we had a central government in the PDP, which stand-alone election did we lose? But when the general election came, what happened? So a stand-alone election needs a party with central power to mobilise everything there to come up with a particular result, but when general election comes, you are on your own; there is no gang-up per se. If you are on ground, you are on ground, if you are not, I am sorry.

So no matter the difficulty, we will continue participating in elections, believing that when it comes to general elections, the story will be different.”

Asked why he was that sure of a return to power in 2019, he said: “If I tell you that, it will be like disclosing the secret of the PDP and I won’t do that.”

Credit:

http://dailytimes.ng/pdp-will-win-2019-makarfi/

Suicide Bombings Will End Soon– Army

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The Nigerian Army on Wednesday assured that the recent spate of suicide bombings in Maiduguri would soon be a thing of the past.

Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theater Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole stated this while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri.

Irabor stated that the army had put in place mechanism to end the bombings.

“I am delighted to be with you again this afternoon to acquaint you with developments within the theater of operation. The troops of Operation Lafiya Dole have continued with the ongoing operations to clear the remnants of Boko Haram Terrorists.

“Since our last interaction, our troops have conducted many operations with immense successes,’’ he said.

Irabor said that the army had been able to minimise  impact of the bombings on the public.

“The impact of recent bombings in Maiduguri, though sad and unfortunate, was minimal due to the alertness of troops and other security agencies.

“Apart from the one wherein two Civilian JTF personnel were killed and some others wounded, only the terrorists died, while one was captured alive.

“The captured suicide bomber is assisting in the investigation into cases of suicide bombings.’’

He said that the continued bombings by the terrorists were a sign of weakness.

According to him, the incidents are only indicative of a weakened and defeated Boko Haram terrorists, their ignoble adventure is destined to fail totally,’’ Irabor said.

He advised members of the public to be more conscious and alert to their environment.

“I wish to remind the general public to be more alert and security conscious with their environment, especially when a strange face comes around.

“I also commiserate with all the victims of the recent suicide bombings by terrorists within the theatre. We shall continue to work to ensure the safety of lives of every citizen, ” Irabor said.

He urged Boko Haram remnants to take advantage of a window of opportunity by surrendering their arms.

“Let me once again use this medium to remind the remnants of Boko Haram that their miserable days are numbered because their future is going to be disastrous if they fail to surrender and lay down their arms.

“Let me therefore, encourage them to take advantage of this window of opportunity now to surrender as failure to do so would be hugely regretted,” Irabor said.

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Suicide bombings will end soon – Army

Gender Inclusion Will Reduce Income Inequality- IMF

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that gender inclusion will not only support economic growth, but can reduce income inequality as well.

The IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, said this in a speech titled: “The Business Case for Women’s Empowerment,” she delivered at a summit in Peru.

According to her, over the past few decades, women all over the world have pushed the boundaries on educational attainment, economic participation, and even political representation.

According to the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Report, Latin America is the region with the largest absolute improvement over the last ten years, followed by Asia and the Pacific region. So in some respect, APEC is leading the way. And yet, this great progress has not been enough to close the gender gap.

Globally, only 55 percent of women have the opportunity to participate in the labor force, compared with 80 percent for men, the IMF boss stated.

Furthermore, she disclosed that women still earn about 50 per cent less than men for the same type of work, and they represent only 20 percent of parliamentarians across the world.

“Clearly, in many places, gender equality remains an elusive goal. The moral case for gender equity is clear. So is the economic case. As countries around the world struggle to grow their economies more quickly and to reduce inequality, tapping into the huge potential of women can be a game changer. I would even go further to say it is a no brainer.

“The work that we have done at the IMF clearly demonstrates that there is a compelling business case for women’s empowerment. And everyone – government, the private sector, and international financial institutions – has an important role to play,” Lagarde added.

While arguing that women empowerment remains a game changer, she said she had said repeatedly that world growth has been too low, for too long, and benefiting too few.
Some countries are facing transitions, such as adjusting to low oil prices; others are contending with the immutable force of population aging and its impact on the labor force and productivity growth, Lagarde said.

In addition, she said women’s empowerment can boost growth and reduce inequality, saying “if we want everyone to have a bigger piece of the pie, the pie has to grow.”
“Our research has shown that increasing women’s labor force participation can deliver significant macroeconomic gains. For example, if Latin American countries raised their female labor participation to the average of the Nordic countries (about 60 percent), GDP per capita could be up to 10 percent higher.

Read More: thisdaylive

Oil Era Will Soon Be Over- Osinbajo

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Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo warns that the nation’s reliance on oil as a means of sustenance will soon be over with the development of technology. Osinbajo spoke today at the E-Nigeria summit, organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) with the theme “leveraging i.T. Innovation for economic diversification”.

His speech reads:

 It is my pleasure to be with you today at this 9th edition of the e-Nigeria summit. I don’t think there is any subject of greater importance in Nigeria today than the theme of this summit which is Leveraging IT Innovation for Economic Diversification. The Director General of NITDA, Mr Musa Ali Ibrahim and his team truly deserved to be commended for this excellent and innovative idea. Their choice of subject and task that they’ve set for themselves are entirely spot on.

Every once in several centuries comes an innovation that completely redefines every aspect of human life and experience. The printing press for example is described as the turning point at which knowledge began freely replicating, and quickly assumed a life of its own. The invention of the telegraph was so revolutionary that a notable commentator said that before it “information was moving only as quickly as a man on a horseback.”

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http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/11/oil-era-will-soon-says-osinbajo/

There Will Be No Famine, Hunger In Nigeria- Ogbeh

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The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, says the Federal Government has put necessary measures in place to forestall hunger and famine in the country.

“There will be no hunger. It is just that there is heavy export of our grains to North, West and Central Africa,” The minister said on Tuesday.

“However, we are taking steps to ensure enough food in the next harvest.”

The minister said the Federal Government was also working to develop and establish more dams and lakes to aid irrigation farming to have three harvests within one year.

On preservation of excess grains, he said the Federal Government had provided no fewer than 33 silos with capacity to store over four million tonnes of grains.

He said, “The long term answer to that is to develop more dams and lakes for irrigation so that we have three harvests a year and if West Africa wants food from us, we sell to them.

“We do not have to panic. We have the means to preserve these grains. We have 33 silos, the total capacity of nearly four million tonnes so, we have enough.

“However, we are taking steps; we are assuring Nigerians that there will be no hunger.

“That is why we are here, there will be no need to panic about hunger or famine.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, recently warned that Nigeria, the largest producer of cereals risked famine from early next year following huge demand in the global market.

He said in a radio interview in Kano that the demand of the nation’s grains in the global market was creating an “excellent environment for the mindless exports of Nigeria’s food across the borders’’.

He said unless this was curtailed, Nigerian markets would be bereft of grains by January.

Credit:

http://dailytimes.ng/will-no-famine-hunger-nigeria-ogbeh/

Why Buhari Will Visit Sokoto On Saturday

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President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to pay a one-day working visit Tito Sokoto State on Saturday.

The Spokesman of Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Imam Imam, said on Friday that the President would be in the state to inspect and inaugurate some developmental projects.

Imam said that among the projects earmarked for inauguration by the president is the 500-housing estate at Kalambaina-Sokoto.

The project was initiated by former Governor Aliyu Wamakko and completed by Tambuwal.

The houses will be sold to civil servants in the state, to further reduce housing deficit in the state.

Imam also said President Buhari would witness the 3000-horses Durban organised as part of the 10th Year Anniversay of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111

The events marking the historic anniversary have been going on smoothly since Nov. 2.

He said, ”The state government is appreciative of the laudable support and cooperation of the generality of the people of the state.

“We are however imploring them to sustain the tempo, as well as intensify their fervent prayers for peace, unity and socioeconomic prosperity of Nigeria.”

Speaking on the durbar, a Senior Counsellor in the Sultanate Council of Sokoto, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba, said, “The Emir of Kano and the Etsu Nupe had brought 500 horses each, while the Emir of Argungu brought 700.

“Some of the horses were brought from Katsina, parts of Sokoto and other Emirates in the country.”

Danbaba, who is also the Magajin Garin Sokoto, added that arrangements had been concluded to make the event hitch-free and memorable.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had on Thursday in Sokoto declared open an International Symposium on the Sokoto Caliphate.

The Speakers at the Symposium included a Professor Emeritus from the University College, London, Prof. Murray Last.

Credit: NAN

Nigeria Will Emerge Stronger From Recession- Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja said that Nigeria will emerge better and stronger from it’s current socio-economic situation.

Buhari stated this in a message to the 7th National Prayer Breakfast titled; “A tree and it’s fruits, is yours a blessing or a curse”.

The President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal, said leaders in the country must strive to be a light to the people they lead.

“As leaders we must strive to be the light of the world, we must resist to talk about our current socio-economic situation with despondency.

“As for me, I have complete faith that Nigeria will emerge from this crisis strong, united, prosperous and secured.

“I believe that all these will come to fruition in the life time of this government, the life time of this executives, legislature and the judiciary,” Buhari said.

In a sermon, Rev. Abu Banko defined a politician as a model for all citizens, adding that a politician must be ready to give not steal from the nation.

According to him, a politician should also be ready to promote the general welfare of the people, and help raise their standard of living.

Banko, therefore, urged all public office holders, including civil servants, lawmakers and those in the executive, to lead Nigeria to its destiny.

He prayed God to guide them steer the affairs of the nation with love, humility and sacrifice.

Banko urged all Nigerians to be humble, turn away from sins and seek the face of God, so as to end current problems in the country.

Credit: dailytrust