“Your Patience Is All I Plead For” , Pres. Buhari Begs Nigerians

Against  the backdrop of criticisms that he has been too slow since he assumed office on May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, begged Nigerians for patience, saying he has been working meticulously to tackle the many national challenges which he identified.

In his message to commemorate this year’s Eid-el-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the Ramadan Fast, President Buhari stated that though there were heaps of misdeeds of the past administration, his government would ensure that every wrong of the past was corrected. He added that stamping out corruption still remained one of the cardinal objectives of his administration.

President Muhammadu Buhari

According to him, there is much work to be done and every step would be correctly taken to ensure that there would not be “business as usual.”
He, however, appealed to Nigerians to continue to pray for his government, saying that he would not fail them.

His words: “I remain wholly committed to giving the required leadership towards undoing the wrongs of the past, ensuring that Nigeria truly begins to unlock its great potential and that the benefits of our immense national resources are shared and enjoyed by all, not just by successive cabals of corrupt leaders and their cronies.

“I was aware of your high expectations when I assumed office and I reassure you, my fellow citizens, that since my inauguration on May 29, this year, I have been working with utmost dedication to meticulously plan and tackle the many national challenges which we identified and promised to resolve.

“To succeed, however, I need your continued support, understanding and patience.
“I fully understand and share the thirst of my long-suffering compatriots for corruption-free government institutions that work efficiently to deliver visible development for the benefit of all citizens.

“I also share the feelings of those who think that we should be moving faster. But I urge them and all Nigerians to trust that my commitment to real and positive change in our nation is as firm as ever.

“There is indeed much work to be done, but we must do it well and carefully to ensure that the great opportunity which we now have is not lost to the “business as usual” group who selfishly or shortsightedly prefer a status quo that panders to their personal or group interests.

“The adverse effects of years of rot, corruption, inept and bad governance on our nation are immense, but certainly not insurmountable if we all resolve now to place the well-being of our nation above all other considerations and work whole-heartedly with the present administration to achieve greater peace and security across the nation, and reposition our country for faster economic development and progress.”

Read more at : http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/be-patient-with-me-buhari-begs-nigerians/

“Ibrahim Lamorde Is Persecuting Me To Save Himself”– Nyako

The former governor of Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), who is facing a 37-count money laundering charge alongside his son, Abdulaziz, has threatened to drag the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to court over alleged mysterious death of two key witnesses billed to testify against him.

Nyako, in a statement he issued through his lawyer Mr. M.M Bakari?, yesterday,? said the entire process that led to his arrest and arraignment, was ?”a stunt stage-managed by the leadership of the EFCC to achieve some public relations goal and probably anchor them on a pedestal that will impress the new leadership of the countraåy”.

Nyako and others at the court

Denying his alleged connection with the death of the witnesses, Nyako accused the EFCC leadership under Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde of “trying to persecute, rather than prosecute a few high profile personalities in order to avert falling victims of the broom of change sweeping across all facets of the country”.

It will be recalled that the EFCC had in a counter-affidavit it filed against Nyako and his son who is a serving Senator, Abdulaziz, informed the trial court that the two witnesses, Ma’aji Mohammed Iro and Abdulmalik Dalhatu, were found dead shortly after they came to its office and ?testified against the accused former governor.

Late Iro was the then Regional Manager of Zenith Bank Plc, North East, Nigeria?, and was in charge of the accounts of Adamawa State with the bank.

The anti-graft agency alleged that ?Nyako siphoned over N40billion from the Adamawa State treasury and used late Iro and made several cash lodgements running into billions of Naira into the accounts of several companies?.

It said that the bank manager made confessional statements and adduced several incriminating evidence ?against the former governor before his death.

Read more at : http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/lamorde-persecuting-me-to-save-his-job-nyako/

Oil Subsidy: CNPP Backs President Buhari’s Plan

Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, yesterday applauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to thread with care the contentious issue of oil subsidy, noting that not yielding to the temptations saved Nigerians from unprecedented agonies and hardship.

National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said in a statement in Abuja that the umbrella body of registered political parties shares with Mr President’s resistance to all manner of temptations to remove the fuel subsidy.

The CNPP however advised that, “For quick-fix, we implore Mr President to enter into partnership with genuine private investors to build refineries in Nigeria. This is the only way to employ millions of our youths, save trillions of Naira and harvest scores of derivative products which manifest from the refineries.”

According to the statement; “We page with Mr President’s resistance to all manner of temptations to remove the Oil Subsidy: as reported, ‘“I have received many literature on the need to remove subsidies, but much of it has no depth,” President Buhari said.

“For the avoidance of doubt, ‘“When you touch the price of petroleum products, that has the effect of triggering price increase on transportation, food and rents. That is for those who earn salaries, but there are many who are jobless and will be affected by it,” the President noted.

“CNPP is of the candid view that President Buhari has the political will to plug most of the leakages, scams and unbridled corruption which enveloped the Oil Subsidy, a supposedly pro-people initiative.

“Removing the Oil Subsidy for us is like throwing away the baby and the bath water; as records clearly show that the fantastic figures gazetted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC ) and its agencies in the last five years cannot stand the test of genuine forensic audit.

“Otherwise, what are the justifications for the astronomical rise of Oil Subsidy from N630 billion in 2010 to N2.3 trillion in 2012? Or the deliberate none remittance of 42% of Oil proceeds from 2012 to 2015 to the Federation Account?

“It is on record that the NNPC earned N2.66 trillion in 2013 and paid to the Federation Account Allocation Committee N1.56 trillion, in 2014 earned N2.64 trillion and remitted N1.44 trillion and in 2015 earned N733.3 billion and paid in only N473.2 billion.

“And is not unbridled corruption which botched the $23 billion Greenfield Refineries awarded on 13th May, 2010? These are refineries meant to be located at Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos states, which could have stopped the huge loss arising from importation of refined petroleum products.”

I Know What I’m Doing, Pres. Buhari Tells Dele Momodu

Prominent magazine publisher and former presidential aspirant, Dele Momodu, was at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday for talks with President Muhammadu Buhari, and explained his recent outburst against the President’s style of governance.

A strong supporter of Buhari during the presidential campaigns, Momodu recently wrote a widely publicized, scathing criticism of the President’s actions and inaction since assuming office.

Emerging from the meeting with the President, Momodu told journalists that Buhari invited him for a chat and expressed appreciation of the roles of writers, columnists and journalists like him in society.

On his criticism of Buhari as being too slow since assuming office, the publisher of Ovation magazine said: “You know on social media, people can post anything.

“I actually wrote him a memo and one of the things I told him was that the job of a columnist is that of an adviser who is not paid.

“In fact, journalists do more work than those paid to advise the President, and that it is good to listen.

“And I know he reads voraciously and that was one of reasons he was able to invite me because I wrote what I called a desperate memo to President Buhari.

“Of course, people slanted it, some people said maybe we are no longer supporting him and all that, but if you like someone you must be able to tell him the truth at all times.

“What I have realised in so many years of interacting with people in government is that once you get to power, people stop telling you the truth, they tell you only what they think you want to hear.

“And I’m happy he said we should argue with him, tell him the truth, if things are going wrong and we should not be afraid of telling the truth.

“And for a man who has been maligned for so many years that he doesn’t like the press, it is a welcome development that he is able to reach out to members of Fourth Estate.”

The President responded that he was sure of what he was doing, said Momodu, who said Buhari encouraged him to continue to constructively argue with the powers that be and point out any wrongdoings to him.

According to Momodu: “We discussed different issues affecting our country and I gave him my own idea as a publisher, journalist, a columnist and the way forward for Nigeria.

“We spoke about security and the efforts he is making; we spoke about anti-corruption crusade and I must say, today, he reassured me that not only does he know what he is doing, he is determined to make Nigeria work.”

He said the President laughed and found his theory interesting when he called for having more women in government as part of efforts to fight corruption.

“I said women must be involved in the governance of Nigeria, and he looked at me. I said, ‘Sir, women cannot marry two husbands but a man can have four wives and 10 concubines.’ He laughed so much and almost choked.

“I said, ‘So, when you talk about corruption, the needs of women are not as big as that of men,’ and he said that was a very interesting theory.”

Source: Daily Independent

Petrol Dealers: We Can’t Sell At N87 Per Litre

The Petroleum Dealers and Owners Association in Ondo and Ekiti States monday declared that it cannot sell fuel at the government approved price of N87 per litre.

The position of the association, was expressed at a news conference addressed by members against the sealing of their stations by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), for selling fuel above the government recommended price.

Addressing journalists, the Chairman of the association, Mr. Jimi Oladapo, said due to non-availability of products at the depots of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),
members had been sourcing products through other means with attendant cost.
The dealers said rather than forcing them to sell at unrealistic price, the federal government should deregulate the downstream oil sector to enable them sell at appropriate prices.

According to the petroleum dealers true cost per litre of petrol varies from the source.

Specifically, Adedapo said total cost per litre of fuel from Lagos ranges between N104 and N108 while the landing cost per litre from Ogara/Warri in Delta State is between N105 and N108.00 per litre.

He said the landing cost is exclusive of operating expenses such as diesel to run the station, staff salaries and wages, strategies, office and pump maintenance.

“From the analysis, you will agree with us that it will be impossible for us to sell at the government approved price of N87 per litre,” he said.
Adedapo also disclosed that even when NNPC gives out fuel, the cost to them at their stations are above N89 per litre.
“One wonders how as businessmen with responsibilities can sell below cost price. The ordinary law of supply and demand will not allow it,” he said.

Adedapo lamented that despite their plights as highlighted, the regulatory authorities most especially, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), in Akure rather than facing the reality of the situation, have resulted to sealing of stations in Ondo and Ekiti States and vowed not to open until they complied with directives of selling at the government recommended price.

“Rather than running our stations at a loss, since most of us are on loan from financial institutions, we have resolved not to procure the products until it is readily available at NNPC depots,” he said.
The petroleum dealers said the so-called subsidy was nothing but fraud, saying it had become a conduit pipe through which nation’s resources are being siphoned.

“Let the marketers go and source for the products, if this is done fuel cannot be up to N87 and it will further go down to about N50 due to the falling crude oil price.

“Everybody knows that kerosene is being subsidised, but how many people get it to buy at N50 per litre recommended price.
“We want members of the public to help us tell the federal government to remove the fuel subsidy so that we can sell fuel at appropriate price and remain in business. subsidy is a fraud,” Adedapo stated.

He therefore told the people of Ondo and Ekiti States to prepare for the hard times on fuel supply because they cannot sell below the cost price, saying if the landing cost from NNPC depots is N89, how would they sell at N87?

Source: ThisDay

Kaduna LG Chairman Slashes Own Salary, Allowances By 50%

The newly appointed interim Local Government chairman for Kudan Local Government in Kaduna state, Dauda Iliya Abba, has slashed his salary and allowances by 50 per cent. Abba, who was sworn in last week by Kaduna state governor, Nasir El Rufai made the announcement in a statement signed by him yesterday.

He is perhaps the first and only local government chairman to cut his salary and allowances by half, taking a cue from the state governor who had in the first week of assuming office slashed his salary by 50 per cent. Read his press statement below…

“I, Dauda Iliya Abba, interim Chairman of Kudan Local Government in Kaduna State, hereby announce that henceforth my salary and allowances have been cut downward by 50%.”

“This cost-cutting measure has become imperative considering the economic realities of Kudan Local Government Area. I also appeal to members of my team, particularly the interim councillors to emulate this collective sacrifice as exemplified by our leaders, the President Muhammadu Buhari and our state Governor, Mal. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai.

“This will go a long way in resuscitating our dilapidated infrastructures, as this administration will no longer tolerate wastage and leakages of public funds at the detriment of the overriding interest of the majority that we are here to serve.

“In addition, Kudan will lead the way in enhancing transparency in the way the Local Government resources are being spent.

“As a first step, we shall be publishing all our proceeds in terms of allocation and other accrued revenues regularly.

“How these proceeds are being spent, shall always be subjected to public knowledge. As we are in the public service to serve the public. Therefore, public funds must be subjected to public scrutiny. In the end, Kaduna will be great again,” he said.

We’ll Strengthen Amnesty Programme – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said that his government will not totally discard the amnesty programme for Niger-Delta region but will build on the good aspects of the Programme.

This is even as he assured both foreign and local investors of his readiness to implement far-reaching reforms which he said will boost accountability and transparency in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Buhari spoke at a meeting with senior officials of Chevron led by the company’s President for Africa and Latin America, Mr. Ali Moshiri at the presidential villa, Abuja.
The president also promised to effectively address the myriad of challenges in the sector.

“We understand the situation in the industry and we will do our best to address the challenges
affecting exploration, production and distribution of oil products in the country,’’ the President told the delegation.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu stated that president Buhari acknowledged that the Amnesty Programme was initiated by President Umar Yar’Adua to reduce violence in the Niger Delta region.

The statement added that “his administration will also implement other measures to enhance security in the Niger Delta and optimize investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.”

Speaking earlier, chevron president, Moshori urged President Buhari to restore the confidence of international investors in the industry even as he “identified improved security in the Niger Delta as key to increased investment in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.”

According to him, “Chevron which has 36.7 percent interest in the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited, was keen to support Nigeria’s gas sector and bring more electricity to Nigerian consumers.

Naira Drops To A Record Low: N241 Against The Dollar

The naira hit another record low of 241 against the dollar at the parallel market on Monday as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s restrictions on foreign exchange sale fuelled unofficial trade in dollars, Reuters reported.

The ban on importers from accessing the Nigerian foreign exchange markets for the importation of 41 items had led to the volatility of the naira-dollar exchange rate at the black market.

Since June 23 when the new forex rule became operational, the naira has fallen by 10.5 per cent from 218 to 241 against the greenback.

Foreign exchange dealers said the artificial scarcity of the United States currency still pervaded the market.

The new forex rule had led to huge demand at the parallel market, causing dealers to hoard the dollar in anticipation of further fall in the naira

Economic analysts had said the CBN needed to devalue the naira to allow the local currency achieve an equilibrium price against the dollar.

The central bank had however said it would not be focusing on the thinly-traded parallel market when determining the exchange rate, adding that people preferred to use the unofficial market for undocumented transactions.

Foreign investors had been on the sideline, waiting for the CBN to devalue the naira before investing in naira-denominated assets.

Local and foreign analysts had predicted that the naira might hit 250 against the dollar at the parallel market any time soon if the artificial scarcity trend continued.

The central bank appears to be in a fix as the spread between the official and parallel market continues to widen by the day.

Meanwhile, stocks fell to a more than three-month low and the naira on Monday, Reuters reported.

The local bourse, which has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, dropped for the ninth consecutive day as investors shed banking, consumer and oil shares.

‘NNPC Must Die!’ – Governor El-Rufai

“NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation) must die!” were the stern words of the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday in Abuja.
A visibly angry El-Rufai, while speaking on Monday at the 7th Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series, lambasted the national oil firm, stressing that he was hopeful that the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would kill the corporation.
The Kaduna State governor called for the setting up of another national oil firm as he argued that the present NNPC would kill Nigeria if it is allowed to continue running as the country’s oil firm.
“If you don’t kill NNPC, it kill Nigeria,” El-Rufai said.

Details to come…

President Buhari Replies Nyiam: I Am Not Caged

Apparently reacting to a statement credited to Col. Tony Nyiam {retd} that he has been caged, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, declared that he was not caged by any group or individuals and that he was in firm control of the presidency and the country.

Nyiam, had in an interview with a national daily, said President Buhari was caged by some powerful forces around him who now dictate and determine most decisions of the President, especially in the areas of political appointments, adding that the appointments by the president were lopsided.

Reacting to the statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said though individuals are entitled to their opinions, the comments credited to Nyiam were not true.

According to him, if Col. Nyiam admitted to have a vast knowledge and workings of the President in the past and also spotted his impeccability, he was in a better position to tell other people that President Buhari cannot change.

Said he: “Well, Col. Nyiam is just an individual. He is entitled to his opinion. But his opinion is not necessarily right. The fact that he said it does not mean it is true.

“I am happy that he knows the person of President Buhari deeply. If that is the case, he cannot easily admit that the man he spoke glowingly about cannot change or be influenced by anybody.

“Everyone in Nigeria knows President Buhari. He had been a Head of State and we saw how he dealt with corruption and even now, he is not relenting. As a matter of fact, he made corruption the chief issue among his campaign promises and he is dealing with that.

Read more at : http://dailypost.ng/2015/07/13/buhari-replies-nyiam-i-am-not-caged/

EFCC Must Do More To Win Cases – Lawyers

Three prominent Lagos-based lawyers on Sunday said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) needed to do more in the area of prosecution and win cases, to justify its establishment.
The lawyers told NAN in Lagos that further EFCC loses in court would mar its popularity.
They said the commission needed to be more diligent in its prosecution of alleged corrupt public officials as a way to support the Federal Government’s anti-corruption crusade.
Mr Jiti Ogunye told NAN that the EFCC needed to be more committed and diligent in its investigation and subsequent prosecution of those accused of fraud.
Ogunye said the way the charge against Mr Femi Fani-Kayode was prosecuted by the EFCC had revealed the need for a review of its handling of the prosecution of suspects.
The EFCC s dilatory and cavalier prosecution ended up telling Nigerians that it was not sure of what it was doing.
The way the charge against Fani-Kayode was being changed showed that not much was properly done by the anti-graft agency.
It has an advantage as both the investigating and prosecuting body and so will not be excused for failure to bring those charged with corrupt enrichment to answer for their deeds.
The anti-corruption body ought to know the strength of the cases they are taking to court on the basis of their investigations, he said.
Ogunye said that the EFCC could justify its funding through tax payers’ money by ensuring that it gets guilty judgments, especially against those charged with public embezzlement.
Facts must be properly substantiated in the eyes of the law by the agency. The EFCC needs to carry out thorough investigation and painstaking, diligent and conscientious prosecution of its cases.
It must not allow extraneous factors, influence or pressure to affect the performance of its statutory duties, Ogunye saisaid.
Similarly, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, urged the EFCC to streamline the counts it brings against suspects.
The EFCC is fond of going to court with so many counts as charges. It is an indication that the prosecution is unsure of what it is doing when it brings about 40 to 50 count charges against a person.
One can almost assume that perhaps the prosecution is playing games or gambling with so many charges against one person.
The onus is on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and you don’t need too many charges to accuse someone of theft or fraud.
The judge in Fani-Kayode s case correctly stated that the principle of law is that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
You really do not need several counts to convict someone because it ends up being bulky and time- wasting.
In the UK, USA or Canada, you will only find public prosecutors going to court with a maximum of six counts, Osipitan said.
To the Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (Ikorodu Chapter), Mr Adedotun Adetunji, the EFCC needed to improve on its investigation of allegations against suspects.
The agency has to be more diligent in the investigation of financial crimes and the prosecution of offenders.
It needs to ensure more diligence so as to be able to prosecute more efficiently and effectively, Adetunji added.

News Alert : Buhari, Osinbajo Slash Salary By 50%

President Muhammadu Buhari says he will only receive 50 percent of the salary paid to his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan. The president’s decision to take a 50 percent pay cut was conveyed to the office of the secretary to the government of the federation on Friday by the permanent secretary of the state house, Nebolisa Emodi. “I write to forward the completed IPPIS registration form of Mr President and to draw your kind attention to Mr President’s directive that only 50 percent of his salary be paid to him,” Mr. Emodi wrote in the letter with reference number PRES/81/SGF/17. The current annual remuneration of the president of Nigeria, as published by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is N14 million Yemi Osinbajo, vice-president, has similarly given up half of his official remuneration.

Shehu said Osinbajo had similarly given up half of his official remuneration.
He however did not disclose the reason behind the decision in his statement.
But in a telephone interview with our correspondent, Shehu said Buhari, by his action, was sending a clear message to Nigerians on the need to make sacrifices for the nation.

He said having done that for himself, the President was expecting other political office holders and indeed all Nigerians to borrow a leaf from him. Shehu said, That voluntary action of the President is pregnant with meaning.
It is a message of sacrifice for national development. Since the President has done this for himself, he is expecting that others will join him in making sacrifices for their fatherland.

Buhari had on Wednesday turned down an offer by the Federal Government to procure five new armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his use. The cars, which total cost is put at about N400m, were planned to be purchased by the State House.
A Presidency source had told journalists on Thursday that Buhari got to know of the plan when the Permanent Secretary briefed him of his activities on Wednesday.

Source – thecableng.net

Buhari Has Done Very Well – Onyema

Chairman of Air Peace Airline, Chief Allen Onyema has rated President Muhammadu Buhari high after evaluating his one month in office.

“One month of President Buhari, I will say is highly successful,” Onyema told Vanguard in an interview.

“The president should not be stampeded into taking hasty actions that we may regret at the end. He needs time to plan. He met things that are not so pleasant on his table. He has to take time to undo some of those wrongs.

“In one month, you don’t expect anybody to perform miracles.”

Highlighting the criteria he used in scoring the president high, Onyema said Buhari’s non-interference in the National Assembly election was commendable, especially for someone  who everybody did not know to have democratic credentials.

“Again, one thing you must give to Buhari is his aura. The aura of an incorruptible mantra is already affecting the entire country and people are scared to do the wrong things. With that alone, I score him 100 percent,” the Air Peace boss said.

Although insurgent attacks have increased since President Buhari was sworn in, Onyema says the president has made remarkable changes.

“He just took over one month ago. He needs to study the security reports that the past government collected in the last four years. You cannot really judge him now, he has to plan. It is when he hits the road running that you can actually judge him. You cannot really expect him to throw the Nigeria military into the fray like that. He has done the first thing by visiting leaders of the neighbouring countries to solicit their support.

“Being a former military leader, I am sure he wants to move against Boko Haram in a very bad way. So he would not want a situation where when he moves against them they would find succour in the neighbouring countries.

“I believe he will deal with the issue but they should not forget those affected by the insurgency because if you are attacking insurgency and not doing anything about those who suffer collateral damage as a result of the insurgency you will be creating more Boko Haram at the end of the day,” Onyema said.

I’ll Work In Niger General Hospital – Gov’s Wife

Wife of the Niger State Governor, Dr. Amina Bello, on Thursday said she would work as a medical practitioner at the State General Hospital, Minna.

The governor’s wife, who visited the female and pediatric wards at the General Hospital, Minna, said as a consultant gynaecologist, she would want to contribute to the treatment of women in the hospital.

She said, “My visit is to see how I can contribute to the society. That is what I do. I see pregnant women, I see women with problems, I operate on women on caesarian section; that is what I intend to do as my own contribution. The hospital should expect better services.”

“I would like to contribute my own quota, visit some of these women, spend time with them, helping with their surgeries and deliveries.

“I also need to see how the premises, where I will render my services, looks like. And I am very happy because the environment is so clean despite the old structures.”

She however lamented inadequate space in the hospital.

“It is too small. In a place where you have 600 deliveries, you have only 20 beds? It is not encouraging,” she added.

The Permanent Secretary of the Hospital Management Board, Dr. Makusidi Muhammad, commended the governor’s wife for her input and readiness to contribute her own quota.

He told journalists that the rate of infant and maternal mortality in Niger State has reduced.

The Buhari Shocker By Tony Ademiluyi

It is now no news that twenty-two governors owe outstanding salary arrears. Ever since Buhari upset the apple cart by winning the Presidential elections on March 28, they have all hoped that he would bail them out of their respective mess when he got sworn in.
In his speech on the inauguration of the National Economic Council, he categorically told the beggar governors to source for funds to offset their gargantuan debts through the growth of their internally generated revenues. This was a big blow to their Big Brother bid as they have been told in loud and clear terms to act more responsibly by being more creative and resourceful and not putting the blame of their ineptitude on the door step of the Federal Government’s dwindling revenues.
There must always be a scape goat and in this case Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has become the poster boy of the country among the states owing salary arrears for reasons unknown to many political discerners. Ironically, he learnt at the feet of the great Jagaban as he served him as Commissioner for Works for eight years before ‘hearkening to the call of his people to serve them in the State of the Living Spring.’ Tinubu faced a similar problem at the height of his confrontation with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo over the decision of the former to create an additional thirty-seven local council development areas. For this reason huge amount of allocation due to the state was withheld. Did the Heavens fall? Certainly Not! The Asiwaju got extremely creative and with the aid of the Present Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who was the then state accountant-general devised self-sustaining means to keep the state afloat without making the civil servants bear the brunt through non-payment of salaries.
The excuse of dwindling federal allocation that the former Speaker of the Ibadan Polytechnic Student’s Union Parliament has been giving for his inability to pay salaries is lame and shows lack of foresight and the uncanny ability to think out of the box. The signs of a possible reduction in the revenue from the centre were there as far back as 2013 when there was a slump in the prices of crude oil in the international market which led the National Assembly to adjust the benchmark to meet the new realities on ground. Did that stop Ogbeni from embarking on projects that caught his fancy without taking into critical consideration the paucity of funds and the need for the state to diversify its economic base? How self-sustaining were his so called economic empowerment projects? Did they meet the needs of the state?
The Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) was more like an extension of the National Youth Service Corps as the participants – mostly graduates were engaged by the state to carry out blue collar tasks for a year with the stipend of ten thousand naira being paid to them at the end of the month. It gulped billions of naira. Do you solve poverty by merely throwing money or giving the sufferers fish? Wouldn’t have made more sense to not only teach them how to fish but to create the enabling environment to make them independent for life? The Opon Imo (Knowledge Tablet) which was filled with past questions and answers as launched in Lagos. One why as Osun is not a vassal state of the ‘Centre of Excellence’. The scheme gulped about 9 billion naira which was equivalent to three months allocation. It was originally slated for all students from SS1 to SS 3 but at the end of the day, only the SS2 students got it in a few selected schools. The state is a largely civil service state. How will these students make use of this device when the grueling pang of hunger is now their companion no thanks to the non-payment of the salaries of their parents? Where then is the sustainable development? The Social Democratic Party alleged that the cost of building the new schools was between 750 million and 1 billion naira when it should not have cost more than 250 million naira. These grave allegations are worth thoroughly investigating. The ‘Marxist governor’ promised the people of an agricultural revolution when he assumed office in November 2010. He decried the ugly trend of food commodities from Asia, Burkina Faso and Niger flooding the Nigerian market and promised to not make the state capable of feeding itself but having excess to sell to others. He acknowledged the fact that the food market in Lagos alone was put at 3.6 billion naira on a daily basis at the time. One wonders what happened to this great promise by the governor to make the state an agricultural exportation hub that would have broken the monopoly of oil dependence! If a visionary agricultural policy was vigorously pursued, the civil servants wouldn’t have been turned to mendicants who ironically till the land. One is miffed because the governor has lived in Lagos state long enough and even served in the state executive council and was expected to bring to bear his knowledge and experience to turning the state into another food basket. Alas it was all empty rhetoric and cheap prattle! He acquired a large expanse of land in Atakumosa West Local Government Area to build a 200,000 seater place of worship for Christians. Was it necessary? How will that have aided economic development? Aren’t there more than enough churches in the state?
Many of the governors in the crisis ridden states toed the same path of embarking on projects that didn’t make overall economic sense or just lacked the foresight to diversify their economic base as they thought the goodies will keep on coming from Abuja without the recourse to what the meaning of true federalism stands for.
If they expect bail outs, they should be ready to hand over the reins of governance as they should not be entrusted to manage the funds of the emergency as that will worse than eating their cake and having it.
TONY ADEMILUYI

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

President Buhari And The Cost of Running This Government By Kofoworola Ayodeji

The highly industrious Baba Yemi wakes up every morning thinking how he will struggle to feed his wife and children to fulfill their usual 0-1-0 pattern of feeding (no breakfast, there might be lunch, no dinner). Meanwhile, the story is not different for the brilliant Chioma who is begging to have a better higher education so that her dreams of a great future could come true, but there are no funds and ‘connection’.
What about the very resourceful Adamu who graduated from the university many years ago with excellent grades but yet to be gainfully employed? (Even though he has fantastic business ideas, there is no capital or leverage to take off and build his desired business outfit). You will agree with me that these depict some of the hardships being faced by tens of millions of Nigerians every day. Poverty at its peak!
It could have been understandable if the people we (including Baba Yemi, Chioma and Adamu) voted into power to manage our resources on our behalf do so judiciously and live a modest lifestyle. But that’s not the case! The total amount spent on the emolument of public officials in Nigeria is enough to bring millions of Nigerians out of abject poverty. According to media reports, Nigerian Air Force aircraft is the third largest in the country after Aero Contractors with 14 and Arik Air which is the largest commercial airline in Nigeria with a fleet of 23 aircraft. You know it is actually very shocking to grab the fact that the Presidential Air Fleet has over e-l-e-v-e-n aircraft. If I may ask just like every other Nigerian, “Can the president, his Vice, Senate President or Speaker of the House board more than one plane at a time. Obviously, that’s not possible! Then why spend over #12 billion every year to maintain such a huge ‘burden’?
It’s on record that the British prime minister of United Kingdom has no presidential aircraft. Instead, members of the British government charter the British Airways or Virgin Atlantic most times. It’s the same for the president, prime minister and government officials of Singapore and Chief Executive of Honk Kong who mostly travel on regular scheduled commercial airlines. The presidential fleets of countries like India, South Korea have four aircraft while that of Canada and South Africa operate five. The government of Tunisia has two aircraft in the presidential fleet and it’s interesting to note that they are reportedly trying to sell both. We are eagerly waiting to see Nigeria follow the path of Tunisia and have the Presidential Air Fleet reduced reasonably.
Having talked about that, let’s take a look at the cost of maintaining the overwhelming political and public officials in the country. Federal Lawmakers (Senators and House of Representatives Members), Ministers and Presidential Aides receive huge amount of emoluments. It’s also strange that they collect several allowances that are six times more than their basic salaries. We learnt from Elementary Mathematics that 100% is absolute i.e. no percentage is higher than 100. But to my utmost surprise, Nigerian public officials collect some allowances that are as high as 200% to 300% of their basic salaries. Isn’t that a clear abracadabra?!
According to www.punchng.com/news/ministers-aides-allowances-surpass-basic-pay-six-times “each minister and presidential aide is entitled to 15 types of allowances. The annual allowances of each minister that monetized are #12,678,764 as against an annual salary of #2,026,400 while monetized allowances of each presidential aide is #12,142,968.75 as against an annual salary of #1,942,875.”
To further add salt to this deep wound, Nigeria has an unnecessarily large number of ministers and ministries. Previous governments, starting from 1999, appointed 42 ministers- picking one from each of the six geo-political zones in addition to one from each of the 36 states of the federation. As it stands, 28 ministries and 542 agencies are being sustained by the Federal Government.
A staggering revelation was made by the report of Ahmed Joda-led transition committee of the All Progressives Party (APC). As made available by www.thecable.ng/exclusive-joda-committee-asks-buhari-appoint-19-senior-ministers, the report posited: “There is no direct relationship between the number of ministries and efficacy of service delivery. The US with a population of 316 million and with GDP of $17,328 trillion (30 times Nigeria’s GDP) has 15 ministries. India has 24 ministries, while the UK has 17.” Just imagine that!
It is very funny and pathetic that a country like Nigeria which is still struggling to stabilize her democracy is spending such a huge amount of money on public officials even more than the United States and United Kingdom. Na wa oooo!
Like many other well meaning Nigerians, I expect President Buhari to reduce the number of aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet; reduce the allowances of ministers and presidential aides; review and implement the committee reports of Ahmed Joda (which suggested that federal ministries should be reduced to 19) and Stephen Oronsaye (which gave recommendations on civil service reforms) as soon as possible.
To our amiable president, we are eagerly waiting for all these reforms so that Nigeria can once again begin to rise. Once this is done, we would believe that the #Change we voted for is indeed on the way. No more, no less. God bless Nigeria abundantly!

Kofoworola Ayodeji is a Writer and Transformational Speaker that’s passionately involved in nation building of the Nigerian state.
Kennydamola@yahoo.com
Get Enlightened and Inspired, visit my page everyday www.facebook.com/Kofoworolaak
@Generalkopho

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

President Muhammadu Buhari One Month Later: “Sai Change” Or “Sai Patience” By Omonile Olasunkanmi

President Muhammadu Buhari’s days in office so far has been everything short of the fanfare, glitz and glamour with which Nigerians welcomed his emergence as the new commander- in-chief. Buhari’s journey to Aso Rock broke many records which are not unknown to majority of the Nigerian populace. Worth mentioning amongst them are; first opposition candidate to gain more popularity and acceptance than the incumbent, he was the man that led an opposition party from a simple minority, confined to a geo-political zone to a nationally acclaimed majority, he was also the first to be on the receiving end of a conceding phone call in a presidential race in this country! The “change” mantra of his party resonated amongst Nigerians so much so that all you needed to win was to place a picture of Buhari alongside yours on your campaign poster. In Niger state for example, the now minority People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was so knocked out an incumbent senator was said to have fainted on learning not just that she won’t be returning to the red chamber of the national assembly but the ridiculous margin with which she was defeated. The governor who was vying for a senate seat and his anointed gubernatorial candidate were also dished the same meal, cold!
Nigerians hoped president Buhari would carry his record breaking charade to the seat of power and for the first time be a president that will do the job he was elected for – serve the people- but his attitude and “body language” in the last 30 days are pouring cold water on whatever hope there might be that our dear nation will thrive under his watch. The faith in Buhari before May 29 could move mountains but what’s left of it these days is struggling to move morsel s of amala even for the hardest of workers especially in states such as Osun, Imo, Kogi etc
One month is of course too early to completely write off a man who is expected to last 48 but the early signs are nothing close to encouraging. Baba’s biggest achievements so far have been moving the military command centre to Maiduguri which is looking like the biggest motivation Shekau and his blood suckers ever got considering the bombing spree the news was greeted with, getting loads of promises from “President Mitchell of West Germany (whoever that is), dissolving a nonexistent NNPC board and constituting a 4-man committee made of governors to investigate an allegation of financial misappropriation when we have relevant agencies like the EFCC, ICPC, police etc. sounds military style to me.
The constant whining about how much, when and where Goodluck Jonathan’s administration looted is becoming boring and an unnecessary distraction that Baba has no plan whatsoever on which direction the nation should go. Even Steve Wonder can see the country is in a bad shape and Jonathan contributed largely to that.
President Buhari should as a matter of urgency determine whether or not he wants to probe previous administrations and empower the relevant agencies to take care of that. He must tackle boko haram within the next month as promised, help fix the power sector while looking for other sustainable means of revenue generation to the government’s purse. Enough of petty excuses and cheap propaganda of whether or not he ordered the sale of jets or called for his in-laws arrest. Those won’t get us anywhere.
GOD bless Nigeria!

Omonile Olasunkanmi 
(@sunkytemmy)

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Lawmaker Urges Colleagues To Make Sacrifice For Change

A Lagos lawmaker, Bisi Yusuff, on Sunday urged lawmakers in the country to make sacrifice in the interest of the masses. Yusuff (APC-Alimosho 1), Lagos House of Assembly, spoke against the backdrop of the call for lawmakers to review their salaries and allowances.

The lawmaker, who spoke to the media in Lagos, advised his colleagues to ensure positive change in the living condition of Nigerians. “Anything that will bring change should be embraced by all of us; there is no change without sacrifice, this is my personal opinion. While the government is doing its best, individuals too must also think of making the economy more vibrant,” Yusuff said.

Commenting on calls for the introduction of ‘part-time’ legislature, the lawmaker said the country was not ripe enough for such exercise, adding “I adding don’t think we are ripe for part-time legislature because we are doing a lot of things.” He however, expressed confidence that the present administration would transform the country, urging Nigerians not to be in hurry.

On the activities of insurgents, Yusuff commended the President Buhari for the steps taken so far. “It seems we are too much in a hurry; the system had been bad for so many years and you want somebody to provide solutions immediately. If you plant a palm tree, it is not that very day that you will start reaping; very soon, you would see the outcome of what the president is doing.

“If the Federal Government can divert the money used for subsidy to provide security, roads, electricity and make refineries work well, the masses will be happy. Once we refine our crude oil, the pump price of petroleum will come down, jobs will be created and the welfare of people’s will be enhanced,” Yusuff said.

Credit: NAN

This Is How Nigerians Can Fix Nigeria By Kofoworola Ayodeji

SHOCKING: “IN 1976, 133 US DOLLAR EXCHANGED FOR 100 NAIRA. TODAY, $133 US IS EQUIVALENT TO #26,467”. CAN NIGERIA RISE AGAIN?
Na we dey do our sef! Could all of our problems simply go away if we decide to embrace love? Kofoworola Ayodeji goes to the past to find the map to the future.

About a year ago, I was talking with a few of my friends who, like me, were members of the Nigerian youth corps rounding off their one year service (NYSC). Our discussion centered exclusively on life after NYSC: labour market and the agony of unemployed youths; the ‘killing’ of potentials in young Nigerians as well as the total loss of National Pride among citizens. “My dad once told me that he enjoyed life to the fullest, with loads of scholarships, as an undergraduate and as a graduate. Getting a place to work was not an issue; the major concern was the best place to work because there were many employment opportunities at that time”, Danbaba, a plump dark-skinned Hausa man who sat across me, said. Because of his story, I decided to research what life might have been like for the Nigerian youth back in the 70s.
Here’s what I found: In the 1970s and early 80s, a student who scored excellent grades in examinations such as The West African Senior School Certificate Examination gained immediate admission into any of the best schools regardless of socioeconomic status; and students travelled overseas only for courses that were not readily available in Nigeria. Nigeria’s Educational institutions were ranked among the best in the world. During the same period, 0.6702 Nigerian Naira was equivalent to 1 US Dollar; the value of Nigeria’s currency was almost twice that of the United States. Nigeria was indeed the predominant African leader, the true Giant of Africa!
Today, things have gone terribly bad: Giving and taking of bribe, Examination malpractice, Corruption. Nigerians are no longer trusted overseas and little wonder we are made to undergo dehumanizing scrutiny before access to certain facilities/entry into many countries. An average Nigerian graduate is not deemed competent in many instances, both within and outside the country. As an advocate of change, I can only say so much about Nigeria’s failing systems but we must answer this: Between the years 1970 and 2000, what happened, what went wrong and how do we get back on track?
This is what I think went wrong. Our society deviated from LOVE allowing Selfishness and Indiscipline to take centre stage. In fact, any problem you see in Nigeria today is an offshoot of these two; Selfishness and Indiscipline. The “ME and MY FAMILY” Syndrome which affects every part of Nigeria today, developed because our parents and leaders were selfish; they had no plan for the future. Now we have a VALUE-less, VIRTUEless mainstream Society with the good people being minority.
The only way out is to reverse the status quo. How? We must replace all forms of Selfishness with Selflessness, Indiscipline with discipline and Hatred with Love and Passion. We must work to change Nigeria’s belief system, one person at a time, and one day at a time. According to the highly sought-after Nigerian Motivational Speaker,Fela Durotoye, “What you believe determines who you become and who you become determines how you behave”. Also,in the words of the legendary Nelson Mandela, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be thought to LOVE, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”
It’s our collective responsibility to rebuild Nigeria. You must first of all teach yourself how to love and how to be selfless, and then you teach your family and finally your community. Once this is done, we will begin to have leaders in every profession and sector. Then, we can elect Nigerians to various public offices based on good antecedents, competence and vision. Nothing moves until you move it so be the change you want to see in Nigeria!
In essence, all of our problems could simply go away if we decide to embrace love and take our destiny into our own hands. God bless our dear nation Nigeria!
Kofoworola Ayodeji is a Writer and Transformational Speaker who is passionately involved in nation building of the Nigerian state.

Get Enlightened and Inspired, visit www.facebook.com/Kofoworolaak everyday.
Follow me @Generalkopho
Kennydamola@yahoo.com

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

NASS Crisis: Bukola Saraki Blocks Moves To Read APC’s Letter

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a move by some APC Senators to read the letter from the APC leadership recommending some senators to occupy specific principal officers of the senate. Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos East), who relied on Order 15 of the Senate Standing Order, urged that the President of the Senate should read on the floor of the chamber the letter from the party.

“Yesterday, most of the media houses carried a letter that was written by the chairman of our great party, the APC. “We were expecting that that letter which has been received in your office will be read in order to see to the resolution of the party’s leadership tussle,” he said.

He backed the decision of the party leadership to recommend persons to occupy the other positions
exclusively preserved for the party. Quoting from Order 28 (1) he read: “There shall be a Majority Leader of the Senate.

The Majority Leader shall be a senator nominated from the party with the highest number of senators. “I believe that that letter should have been read to the hearing of all senators here present. Perhaps that will be the solution to the leadership tussle in the Senate,” he said. The APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, had in a letter dated June 23, recommended Senators to occupy the other principal positions.

The letter recommended Ahmed Lawan as Senate Leader; George Akume, Deputy Senate Leader; Olusola Adeyeye as Chief Whip; and Abu Ibrahim as Deputy Whip. However, Ibn Na’Allah (APC-Kebbi South) immediately countered the point of order and explained that the nomination should be made “from” the party not made “by” the party.

“By the ordinary principles of interpretation of documents that have been agreed by parties, the ordinary letters and words used must be given their effective meaning. “Order 28 used ‘from’, not ‘by’. What this seeks to do is to deter the minority party from nominating the Majority Leader,” he said.

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who presided over plenary, ruled Mr. Ashafa out of order and declined to read the said letter. He said: “I have listened to Senators Ashafa and Na’Allah. Going by the rules and what has been said earlier, I think I will just note what Senator Ashafa has said. “We will leave the matter as that and in that case, rule that out of order.” Another attempt was made by Kabir Marafa (APC-Zamfara Central) to question the June 9 election of Messrs. Saraki and Ekweremadu, but that too was ruled out of order by the President of the Senate.

Mr. Marafa, relying on Order 110 and 3 (e) (i), of the Senate Standing Order, sought to know which of the Order Books (2011 or 2015) was being used to coordinate the activities of the 8th Senate. He described the 2011 Senate Standing Order as ‘genuine and authentic’ thereby countering the authenticity of the Senate Standing Order 2015. “I am still referring to the events of the 9th of June, 2015, in this chamber. I have two Order Books and I am running into confusion, and I think there’s a need for the President to rule. “Which of the Order Books are we going to use to coordinate the activities of this Senate?’’ he asked.

Mr. Marafa insisted that there was a conflict in the two books as to the procedure that should be taken for election of presiding officers of the senate. Proffering explanation, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, said that from 1999 till date, the Senate had come with its own rules. “There was Senate Rule of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and now 2015.

The reason is quite simple. “If you look at Section 64 of the 1999 Constitution it says that the Senate and House of Representatives shall each stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date of the first sitting of the house. “So, the implication is that the rule he was referring to ended with the Senate on the 6th of June,” he said. The President of the Senate thereafter ruled Mr. Marafa out of order.

Source: NAN

Saraki Foils Move To Nullify Ekweremadu’s Election As Deputy Senate President

Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday stopped an attempt to nullify the election of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as deputy Senate president.

Ekweremadu who is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) became deputy Senate president in an All Progressives Congress (APC) dominated Senate on June 9, in what appeared like a coup to some senators of the party who were at the International Conference Centers to attend a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

At Wedensday’s plenary, Senator Kabiru Marafa raised a point of order where he observed that the
election of Ekweremadu was in breach of the Senate standing rules.

He said the rules that the senate was using were initiated in 2011, which provides that an election into any of the presiding offices in the red chamber shall be via division and not secret ballot where two contestants are vying for any of the positions.

He observed however that Ekweremadu’s election was done through secret ballot where he defeated Senator Ali Ndume of the APC. He wondered when the rules were amended and requested for an explanation from Saraki.

However, Saraki ruled him out of order, citing the Senate rules which provide that if a matter on presiding officer’s election has been taken
care of, such cannot be considered any longer.

Buhari, APC Governors Wade Into NASS Leadership Crisis

President Muhammadu Buhari and State governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have resolved to wade into the lingering leadership crisis rocking the National Assembly, particularly the Senate.

Accordingly, the APC governors at a meeting with the President in Aso Rock late Tuesday night agreed to call Senators to order and caution them to treating the decisions of the party with disdain.

At the meeting which started at about 11.00pm and ended in the early hours of Wednesday resolved that the federal lawmakers must be reoriented on the need to respect party supremacy on any matter.

Imo State Governor and chairman of the APC governors’ forum, Rochas Okorocha who spoke to journalists after the meeting noted that the governors raised concern about rancor in the National Assembly,me specially the red chamber.

Okorocha said their meeting with the President was more reassuring, as it became clear to them that there was light at the dark end of the tunnel.

He added that they commended the President on efforts he had taken so far in addressing the issue of the country’s economy which was already tottering towards an eclipse before Buhari hit the ground running.

The forum’s chairman said, “With all these achievements and progress we are making, we are worried by the pockets of disagreements going on at the National Assembly. We have resolved that we came from a party and our party’s views should be respected.

“So, we feel that there is the need for us to invite our senators and look more into the matter and see how we can all make peace. We believe that everyone should respect our party from which we all came from and for that reason, we have decided that we are going to invite our senators and rub minds with them.

“We are saying that there should not be a winner-takes-it-all; that we should carry everybody along and accommodate others as suggested by the party.”

Also shedding more light on the meeting, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said the president and the governors specifically decided that all APC senators must as a matter of necessity learn to adopt the position of the party.

His words: “We were all elected on the platform of the party. We are not just a collection of individuals, we are a political party and when the party has spoken we must listen, otherwise if it was a game of individuals like golf then individuals can go their way.

“I think it is very clear at this point that the party has the responsibility to keep the system going, so we as progressive governors, we have listened to the President and we have discussed extensively and we are clear that the party’s position should be supported by the senators.

“This is the way it should be and we should start on a note of working closely. We as governors, we listen to the party, we expect our senators to also listen to the party. We are going to call them and tell them this is it and explain our reasons, it is about party supremacy.

16 APC governors attended the meeting.

Buhari To Earn N14.4m Annual Salary + See What Others Will Earn

According to a report by Vanguard, this is what President Buhari, VP Osinbajo and other top govt officials will earn. Isn’t it too small though? Read full report from Vanguard below…

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has reviewed the salaries of the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives and Speakers in the 36 states of the federation, as well as well other legislators in both the National and State Assemblies among other public officers in the country. Based on the total package prepared by the RMAFC, President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s annual salary and allowances stand at N14, 4 million.

The break down shows that his Basic Salary is N 3,514,705 and Hardship allowance, N1,757,350:50. Constituency N 8,786,762:50 and Leave Allowance – N351, 470.
Buhari will receive a 400 per cent increase in his salary amounting N14. 058 million, as gratuity upon a successful completion of his tenure.

The Federal Government is to provide him with all his needs including vehicles, Special Assistants, Personal Assistants, entertainment, security, utility bills,newspapers, medical bills and clothings.
The president’s estacode and Duty Tour allowance were not specified.

However, the Vice President Osinbajo is to receive an annual Basic Salary of N2,064, 400; Hardship allowance- N1, 515, 786.25 and a Constituency Allowance of N7, 578, 931.25, bringing his total annual earning to N12.1million.

About 75 per cent of his annual basic salary would be paid for vehicles and their maintenance if he chooses to buy his vehicles and maintain them.

He is to receive another 25 per cent to hire his Personal Assistants; 75 per cent for domestic staff; 45 per cent for entertainment and 30 per cent for utility.

The VP is to receive a separate 20 per cent of his salary for monitoring; 200 per cent for accommodation and 300 per cent for furniture.

His duty Tour Allowance stands at N 35, 000 per night and an estacode of $900 per night.
He is to receive 10 per cent of his salary as Leave Allowance and 300 per cent as gratuity upon a successful completion of his tenure.

National Assembly
Also, following a downward review of salaries and allowances of both the National and State Assembly legislators, the Senate President will receive a basic annual salary of N2, 484, 242.50 and allowance of N6. 2 million, bringing the total to N8. 69Million. His monthly salary is about N724, 570. In addition, he collects 250 per cent of his Annual Salary as Constituency Allowance.

However, his vehicles and their maintenance are provided by the federal government. Similarly, his domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, security responsibility, Legislative Aids, House Maintenance an, as well as a Special Adviser and a Personal Assistant are provided by the federal government.
Similarly Robe (clothing) and newspapers are provided for the Senate President.

The Deputy Senate President enjoys the same benefits except that his Annual Basic Salary stands at N 2,309,166.75, total allowance N 5,772,916.8, bringing total annual salary to 8,082,083.63 and a monthly pay of N 673,506.97

The Senate Majority Leader receives a salary of N12, 968, 960.

The Minority leader receives a total annual salary of N12, 908, 168. The Whip receives N12, 867 . The same applies to Committee Chairmen. Incidentally in the last administration almost all senators were chairmen of various committees.

The allowances received by the members of the upper legislative chamber is far more than their salaries indicate.
For instance, each senator receives 75 per cent of the annual salary as allowance for a vehicle and its maintenance.
They collect another 75 per cent of their salaries for domestic staff; 30 per cent for entertainment; 30 per cent for utilities; 25 per cent for robe (clothing); and 250 per cent as constituency allowance.

Others include, another allowance unspecified which stands at 53 per cent; newspapers 15 per cent; Personal Assistance, 24 per cent; and House maintenance 5 per cent.

House of Reps
At the House of Representatives, the Speaker receives a total annual salary of N 4,334,942.50.
Just like the Senate President, the federal government provides his vehicles and their maintenance .
His domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, security responsibility, Legislative Aids, House Maintenance an, as well as a Special Adviser and a Personal Assistant are provided by the federal government.
Similarly Robe (clothing) and newspapers are provided for the Speaker by the Federal Government.
He receives 75 per cent of his salary as constituency allowance.

The Deputy speaker whose annual salary stands at 4,002,309.94 enjoys similar benefits as the speaker.
The Majority Leader of the House, the Minority Leader, the Chief Whip and Chairmen of Committees receive annual salaries of N 6, 352,680.00.
In addition, they receive 50 per cent of their salaries as Vehicle and Maintenance allowance; another 50 per cent for domestic staff; 10 per cent for utilities and another 10 per cent for House maintenance.

House of Assembly
Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly enjoy all the benefits as their federal counterpart where virtually all they need are provided with public funds. However, their annual salaries stand at N 2,049,843.75 and a Constituency Allowance of N25 per cent of their Annual Salaries.

Deputy Speaker receives N 1,807,478.13 and 25 per cent of same as constituency allowance.
Members at the House of Assemblies receive annual salaries of N 2,473,866.25.
In addition, they receive 20 per cent for vehicles; 25 per cent for domestic staff, 10 per cent for utilities; 25 per cent each for robe, constituency , Personal Assistant and 5 per cent for newspapers.

The decision to review the current salaries and allowances of the nations’ public office holders received approval of many members of the public who had complained that the Nigerian law makers were about the highest paid in the world. These are the official earnings of these political office holders. But their spoils of office amount to several millions and even billions of naira in recent past.

Source: Vanguard

#Pausibility: Voices From The Hallowed Chambers by Adebayo Coker

My dear President,

It will be too early in the day to start sending you notes but this is very important especially with the task you have before you. It is an enormous task and it is bothering me already how you will start. Just last week I asked that people should give you some space especially when we are awaiting some deliverables in about 80 days time. But as it is, my impatience to tone some words to you cannot endure a second longer.

Early March this year, I encountered one of the most gentlemen I ever come across in my short existence. He calls Jagaban Bola because they were contemporaries in Mobil. He acknowledged the sagacity of Bola on any given field of his interest. He was even jumping like a puppy while expressing his joy of being alive to witness your coming back to serve the nation. He congratulated my generation that we are so fortunate that we are going to have a feel of a man of integrity: a man like Buhari.

His words gave me a further push to love and respect you more.

But sir, how do we handle these many ‘political miners’ around you? No doubt they were instrumental to your emergence; as much as they are political assets to you so are they greater liability to the integrity path that we know you always tread. Sir, there is no way these guys will not stain your fine linen. Please sir, wisely keep them where they belong.

There is a former Vice President who hitherto has gone into political oblivion of some sort but now, he is back in town representing and nominating. I am sure you know his antecedents. Sir, if a man works for 50yrs in an oil company, earning the best salary and incentives that may be, what one of your party leaders display cannot come from such ‘hustle’. They abound around you sir. How will you and your party face it if your own searchlight will beam on others and not light your own house? Please and please tell them to give way so that we may see you. They are not transparent.

Let me quickly remind you and APC that PDP’s loss was due to their sheer political arrogance, not because Nigerians saw a better political party in the real sense of it. The same is already playing out in your party as someone is arrogating too much to himself. Self- seeking is not the best phrase to capture such incontinence. Though some of us see clearly that you are not a party to such party, but the doom will be too destructive such that your years of public service may be consumed by the implosion which we are already witnessing so early in the day of your party. I am not in support of any act of insubordination, especially against constituted authority and I am sure party discipline will be upheld against any infraction but for grown up men and women (though infantile sometimes) to be spoon-fed in the name of godfatherism being portrayed as party headship is not at all good for this democracy of ours, no matter how much nativity we may bring into it. I want to believe that was what the ‘party candidates’ suffered. Even though they appear robustly better and more experienced than the elected officers, the liability of being called ‘anointed candidates’ put them in contention with their colleagues who saw an opportunity to stem the extension of the greed of a particular party chieftain in their midst.

The politicians around here are not known for any ideological stand. Scheming is their major understanding of politics. That is why a sense of common sense can be suspended in the face of common sense to allow nonsense to freely reign. Be that as it may, that a man is ambitious and he goes all Machiavellian about it isn’t in anyway treacherous. Not at all. What is treacherous is the foul cry of the people who have before now seen nothing wrong in the grandmastery the medical doctor showed his own father and political benefactor. What is treacherous is the shout of arm- twisting by those who did not see a bank robber before now. What is treacherous is the sorrow expressed by the same set of people who had been joyful before now that they already have a hold on Ilorin Emirate courtesy of the defection of Bukola to APC. What is treacherous is the flight of Special Fraud Unit that left Lagos Airport with no passenger on board en route Ilorin Airport looking for looters. (There is a drought-infested borehole around Adebola Street in Surulere, Lagos : a constituency project of a member of the House of Rep) What is treacherous is the market cry of a loss when in truth nothing could be said to be missing when an armed robber visited a pick pocket: Ole gbe, ole gba!

The most treacherous in all of these events is the law or the system that is always blind to the emergence of robbers, pickpockets, rascals, paedophiles, jesters, prostitutes and suchlike in our hallowed Chambers in the first place. Of what dignity is such a conglomeration?Ordinary

“Saraki is a traitor!” was a common sentence on the lips of many analysts. The leftists or the rightists, (whichever way they were tuning from) would reply, “no, he is not”. Some said they are waiting to see the caliber of people the President would bring on board to work with him. Some said this list is too slow in coming but that they are hopeful they would not be disappointed eventually.

In all, I listened to people on the street, the ‘common man’ knows what he is talking about; in clusters they discussed the beauty of this new emergence in our politico-scope. The analyses and the conviction that comes with each analysis gladdens me that in no distant time people will realize that they won’t have to wait for a general election before they sack a government that they don’t like. That will be my ultimate joy in this whole democratic development and I am sure you will be gladdened by that too as that could be likened to the locomotive that brought you in.

I am glad I am witnessing the blossoming of democracy in my fatherland. We are really advancing.

I will continue my prayers for you.

Why Lookest Thou For Change, When Change Is Here? By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

Eight days after President Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated; a friend called me and asked: Where is the Change President Buhari promised us during his campaign? I responded: Why Looketh Thou For Change, When Change Is Here? I went further and said, Change has begun, haven`t you seen it yet? It started right from the moment President Buhari gave his inaugural speech, when he said: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”
The message in that statement is obvious. It means; we now have a President that belongs to everybody. Everybody that is ready to act according to the constitution of the country and put the nation first before personal interests. It does not matter their ethnicity, region, religion or political affiliations. A President that belongs to nobody, that cares only about how to plunder the nation at all cost. It also doesn`t matter of what their ethnicity, region, religion or political affiliations is.
I know my friend is one of those that thought President Muhammadu Buhari will hit the ground running with a magic wand or miracle oil right from the very first day he was inaugurated, and maintain the paste all through his tenure.
Some of the things they thought he would have done within the very first week of his inauguration are yet to be done. Key appointments like; the National Security Adviser, Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation that could have been done within the first official 48 hours were yet to be done after his first one week in office. They thought after him and his Vice, Professor Osibanjo were inaugurated, the next line of action was to sack all security chiefs, heads of government`s departments and agencies that worked with Former President, Goodluck Jonathan and replace them with new ones.
Unfortunately, change does not work that way. Hence, within the first one week of his inauguration, they started complaining bitterly that he didn`t hit the ground running as expected. But my question to them is simple: Do you want a President that will hit the ground running, get stuck at half way, then crash land while his tenure is still very fresh? Or a President that will study the demography, hit the ground running after all maintenance checks have been done, move at a sustainable speed and give us a safe landing? I know we all prefer the later.
There is something unique about change that often makes it take everyone by surprise. It doesn`t often follow the ancient route that majority usually think it will. However, one thing is sure, at the end, it achieves its said goals and visions.
President Muhammadu Buhari is unlike every other; he would rather take his time to do it and get a deserving result than hurriedly do it and then end up in a mess.
Yes we cannot shy away from the fact that people are expectant. But Nigerians must realize, that at this point in time, we do not need an “initial gra gra” President that will hurriedly impress the people at the detriment of other vital issues. President Buhari has a four year mandate, expecting wonders from him within his first one week in office is mischievous.
If you are so anxious and can`t wait to criticize his actions and inactions, be magnanimous enough to give him the first hundred days in office to prove himself fit or not fit for the job. We have four years to juxtapose his promises during the campaign with his achievements while in office. But doing that just after a week in office places one on the side of those with a preconceived mind to see him fail.
Truth is, change is already here with us, in no time, it will become visible.

God Bless Nigeria
Ogundana Michael Rotimi
I Tweet @MickeySunny

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Use Your Offices To Change Nigeria’s Bad Image, Adeboye Tells Osinbajo, Ambode

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has charged Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to use their new offices to change the bad story about Nigeria.

He spoke just as Osinbajo and Ambode assured Nigerians that God would make peace to reign in the country with the advent of the new administration.

The trio spoke at the Seventh Edition of the Excel Programme of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, organised by Apapa Family of the church at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos, with the theme; “Riding on the Wings of Change.”

In his sermon, Pastor Adeboye urged political office holders to use their position to change the story of Nigeria, just as he assured that Nigeria will continue to march forward with the present crop of leaders.

Creditvanguardngr

Buhari Charges Corps Members To Be Ambassadors Of Change

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged corps members across the country to see themselves as ambassadors of positive change in the course of their national assignment.

The president gave the charge yesterday at the swearing in ceremony of Batch A (stream-two) corps members at the Ogun State NYSC Orientation Camp, Sagamu.

Delivering the president’s address, the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun represented by the secretary to the state government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, maintained that corps members “must have attitudinal change towards social ills which have impeded the peace and progress of the nation for too long.”

“You must give your best. You must avoid indulging in crimes and other negative vices that impede our collective efforts to move the nation forward. The quest for peace and progress has been disrupted and frustrated by social ills, many of them perpetrated by young people,” he said.

Creditleadership

#Pausibility: The Frailty Of Our Ingenuity. – Adebayo Coker

Dear Compatriots,

We sure had a wonderful Inauguration last Friday. It was awesome even though there were obvious lapses in the protocols during the Swearing-in proper and other activities that followed. From the foregoing, you should be able to tell what I am set out to talk about. The side dis(at)traction!

These past few weeks I have deliberately fed my laziness to blog. Not necessarily because I couldn’t write anything but I knew the last few weeks of Jonathan’s administration were tales of woes and that was what many bloggers cum columnists would air . I was right as so many valedictory notes I read were just as I had thought. Jonathan, A Failure! Scorecard…!! Good Riddance…!!!

I was a bit rattled about the frailty of our ingenuity when I read some news items on social media. Please do not get me wrong: everyone and anyone has a right to air their opinion but let us try to help our newfound ‘political kinetics’.

There is no better decision than the Command Headquarters being moved to Maiduguri. Recently, we have witnessed how these same service chiefs would sit in Abuja and feed us with ‘second hand’ information which was usually proven to be untrue. Also, these same chiefs would constitute panels that court-martialed many officers of the Nigerian Army even when the commonest reasoning pointed to the fact that the guys were ill-equipped to face the insurgence before them. The Commanding Officers saw no wrong in their own act by embezzling the allocation meant for the training and equipment of the forces under them. They cited insubordination, treason and cowardice as their grounds for the court martial. Now is their turn to go feel the heat. Someone mentioned what if any of them opts to resign than go to Maiduguri? Then I answer, I will have him Court-martialed if I were the CnC. Neither does PMB necessarily have to retire these chiefs now until they are given the chance to redeem themselves by going to the warfront. I still want to believe the reason the military did not perform adequately was due to massive permissive corruption under GEJ’s watch. But now that a’ true Daniel has come to judge’, let us put these same guys to work and see their performance.

Secondly, the law requires public office holders to declare their assets through the Code of Conduct Bureau. During an APC rally, President Muhammad Buhari , out of his own volition, had said he would declare his assets ‘publicly’ within the first hundred days of office just as he would make sure all principal officers working with him would do the same. Now that PMB has satisfied the statutory end of this requirement, many Nigerians cannot wait for him to stand to the moral obligation of his own promise by doing it PUBLICLY. I strongly understand the hurried cry. No sane person would forget easily the experience of the past irresponsible administrations. But don’t let us be too much in a hurry that we forget some obvious lacuna. For crying out loud, the man said ‘within hundred days in office’. There are processes to be followed before public declaration of assets by public office holders. The CCB needs to conduct verification exercise amongst other things before the public announcement. Some are even telling the world that late Yar’adua declared his assets publicly but I have come to find out that he did declare his assets publicly after twenty seven days in office. Let us be patient with this new President. More so, we all know that PMB has a big farm in Kaduna with considerable number of cattle. A house each in Kaduna and Katsina, one wife and about six daughters, all of which were already in public domain. And majorly, we know he is not a corrupt or bibulous man. So what else are we looking for?

If anyone would remain blind and continue with this argument of public assets declaration when it is not 100days yet, then I will advise that such a person approach the Code of Conduct Bureau and invoke the Freedom of Information Act in exercising his right. I am not a journalist but I know so very well that part of that act says anyone can approach any government agency for any information so far it is not scheduled under national security.

aisha2Assets

What we should consider more germane now should not be the continued feeding of our fleeting vanities by looking for the cost of a wristwatch worn by the wife of the President on Inauguration day. We should start asking questions like:

What is the meaning of CHANGE that is being touted if their interpretation of a ‘lean government’ will be a carrying-on of Special Assistants/Advisers and Senior Special Assistants/Advisers even in the face of this austerity?

Why is it taking so long for PMB to appoint aides that will work with him directly like Chief of Staff and the rest? I want to believe that he does not want to expose his ministerial nominees at this time until the 8th Assembly is constituted, because they are the ones to screen the ministers. Not that he is confused as to the personalities he wants on his team. A man like Abraham Lincoln shouldn’t be bereft of a roadmap he wants to chart especially when he belongs to everyone and belongs to nobody.

The task ahead of all of us is how to make this change trickle down and from down to up or should I say we should make this matter of CHANGE a studious case of Osmosis and Diffusion. Not these obvious trivialities. We should constitute ourselves into a formidable opposition to APC. PDP has obviously gone under if you doubt me call Doyin Okupe a bastard if they survive to the end of 2016.

Graft, in whatever guise, has to be nailed and stopped if any system new or old is to work!  But since greed is as old as mankind, no feasible change will be recorded even with new faces involved at the top if you and I would not change in our small corners.

Let the real work begin.

 

 

Who Will Checkmate APC ? By Amir Abdulazeez

The All Progressives’ Congress (APC) is now Nigeria’s official ‘ruling’, sorry ‘governing’ party; recall, Buhari said they were going to govern not rule. Despite now being the party in power at the centre and in control of a little less than two-third of the states of the federation, APC is arguably still not the dominant party in the country, especially when we compare its current status with what PDP was in 2003 and 2007.

Some of the reasons why APC may not be considered as dominant as PDP was,  include ;

it is not in absolute control of the National Assembly where it slightly lacks the two-third majority in the House of Representatives and only has a slim majority in the Senate. APC will be facing the PDP as the most potentially strong and richest opposition party in Nigeria’s history. The party had ruled for 16 years and it will take a reasonably long time before its material wealth (something that is indispensable in Nigerian politics) and long-term influence gained in power to completely wither away. The PDP is also controlling some of the richest and most important states in Nigeria with Kano and Lagos being the most significant exception, apart from having some of Nigeria’s most valuable political maestros within its fold. Furthermore, PDP’s strong ward to national political structure across the country built over the years with power, wealth and patronage cannot be easily dismantled.

However, the question is whether the PDP can use all these potentials to constitute a formidable opposition to the governing APC, checkmate it, give it a good fight and possibly reposition strongly to stand a chance of taking over power from it in 2019? Since it is too early to understand and predict the new political direction in the country, answers to these questions can only be hypothetical.

As noted earlier, APC has no so much significant dominance over the PDP, but sooner or later it will get that dominance. The APC will get its dominance from future PDP’s misdoings and other events that will arise; PDP’s post-election crises is probably a sign of things to come. First of all, even in defeat, PDP seems unprepared to jettison its use and dump attitude complemented by brutal godfatherism, thereby creating more and more enemies for itself who continue operating and sabotaging it from within. It is expected that now without state power, this culture in PDP is likely to slow down and eventually stop, but the amount of damage it will do to the party before it stops may prove costly. The PDP subconsciously engineered its poor showing in the North and South-West thereby almost relegating itself to a regional party. It is very much unlikely that PDP can redeem its poor northern image in good time enough to checkmate APC’s forthcoming dominance. In the South-South and South-East where the PDP had a massive national following, it refused to allow the people to freely and fairly vote for their choices in local elections and the people are likely to punish it in potential bye-elections and in gubernatorial elections of Bayelsa, Edo and Anambra that will take place before 2019. One major setback for PDP is that the party is widely expected to lose big at all levels in the election tribunals. Before 2015, PDP had two strong annexed parties in APGA and Labour Party which have played very significant roles in PDP’s ‘winning’ of presidential elections. In what looked like suicidal, the PDP decided to kill and swallow the LP and has badly wounded the APGA and therefore now left with no other allies outside the main party. With its expected continuous decline, PDP will have it very difficult to win the gubernatorial elections in Ondo, Kogi and even Ekiti states. All these are factors that will weaken the PDP and strengthen the APC.

The PDP throughout its sixteen years had built itself around money, power and influence and 16 years is not 16 weeks. It will be very difficult if not almost impossible for the party to survive without these things unless they adjust extraordinarily. One to two years from now, the PDP will look more and more dilapidated, disorganized and most likely get disintegrated. This would be a very bad development for Nigerian politics. For many Nigerians who would like PDP to regroup and keep APC on its toes, they are more than likely to be disappointed. With a possible occurrence of this scenario, who then will checkmate APC?

The All Progressives’ Congress would from all indication dominate the Nigerian political landscape by mid-2016 up to probably early 2017, but anything after that cannot be easily predicted.

When APC becomes the dominant party in Nigeria, it is only normal that we get someone to checkmate its excesses. First, we need to determine how much checkmating does the APC require? It is very predictable that in matters within the sphere of Buhari’s direct influence, APC will require little or no checkmating at all. This is because it is simply unthinkable that Buhari will deliberately allow things he can directly control to go out of order and it is unimaginable that the new President will sacrifice his life-long integrity by allowing people directly under his control to mess up without dealing with them. However, any other APC issue outside Buhari’s direct influence cannot be trusted to be significantly different to that of PDP. For instance, one cannot bet against the new National Assembly under the APC to continue ‘business as usual’, we can’t bet against the APC Governors to continue along the tyrannical and autocratic line of most Nigerian Governors since 1999; as party leaders, the party had officially equipped its governors to run the state chapters of the party almost like their personal properties. One may not expect APC Local Government Chairmen and other officials not to abuse office and one also cannot trust the APC party officials to conduct free, fair and credible primaries at all levels as well as running the party transparently without favouritism, nepotism and corruption. Now that it has power, can we rule out the advancement of godfatherism, candidate imposition, money politics and other undemocratic practices into new levels within APC?

If APC needs checkmating and the PDP may not be able to do that, who else can? Buhari alone can be trusted to checkmate between 15 to 30% of the APC’s excesses. If he can firmly control his government and ensure strict adherence to discipline and due process, some few APC organs may fall in line. Secondly, it may be possible that APC may checkmate itself depending on how events turn out. This is because; the party is an amalgamation of different seemingly incompatible groups whose main objective was to win elections. Cracks are likely to occur and the party may break into factions, this may start from the unhealed wounds that could be created from the election of National Assembly Principal Officers. These cracks may widen beyond redemption especially in the states where the governors are likely to continue with their dictatorial tendencies. The fiercest opposition to the party and its leadership is likely to come from within and by the next convention meant to elect the leaders of the party in 2018, the final straw may have broken the camel’s back, with only the presidency as the source of unity and inspiration for all the warring factions of the party.

Presently, it is reported that some political stakeholders have started making underground efforts to come up with a third powerful alternative party to APC and PDP and they are determined to start work as early as late 2015 to early 2016. Part of their plan is to accommodate all the previously deregistered political parties and some interested existing ones into one large group. If this effort leads to fruition, coupled with determination and good leadership by the right people, then that new party may be backed by Nigerians to give the APC a good fight before and in 2019.

All these hypotheses aside, independent socio-online media activist are most certain to become the group that will give APC the biggest fight and the most significant checkmating of its life. If we recall, this group played one of the most significant role in kicking Jonathan and PDP out of Aso Rock. The majority of the Nigerian conventional mainstream media is likely to remain divided and in many cases profit-minded ahead of 2019, just as it was during the height of the Buhari-Jonathan campaign. Socio-online media activists, patriots, nationalists and bloggers have come to stay in Nigeria and they are likely to become stronger, more formal and more effective especially with the renewed confidence and sense of accomplishment that they now have from the 2015 elections. If APC is not careful, this group, that gave it one of its most significant supports into Aso Rock, would be the same to sack it out of it.

Amir Abdulazeez wrote from Kano and can be reached through abdulazeezamir@hotmail.com

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Change Is Still A Long Journey Ahead By Jude ‘Feranmi

Arise O Compatriots! Let’s celebrate the beautiful thing we have together achieved as a people. If this were to be other climes, books would have been written of how an incumbent president was unseated by a popular general who would now assume the most prestigious civilian title in the land. In scriptural imitations, what we have together done is wonderful and marvelous in our sight. Congratulations are in order as we transit from 16 years of selfish, pro-pocket, elitist rule to 4 years of what we all hope would be a direct opposite of our experiences for the past 6 years.
The hashtag #ChangeIsHere trends this week with Nigerians showcasing their sense of humor and sarcastic ability in the mood of celebrating the manifestation of the removal of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan from Aso Villa through the voting process on March 28. To be considered a Nigerian, you possess an aggressive survival instinct that exudes an ability to find humor in some of the hardest circumstances. This is understandable, but those of us who keep finding out the path to a prosperous nation day and night know that CHANGE is a long journey ahead!
The last two weeks of the Jonathan-led administration gives us an inkling of what problems Nigeria really faces, how deeply intertwined and connected they are, the difficulty of the measures to be adopted in solving them and the sacrifices that Nigerians would have to make in seeing the problems become a thing of the past. Many a Nigerian expects the Buhari Miracle. Unfortunately, that miracle might take years to manifest. Everybody including myself would love a possible world where GMB would just wave a wand and all our problems would disappear, but such a possible world is epistemologically and metaphysically impossible.
Fellow Countrymen, this is a few things we should not forget in the midst of our celebrations and felicitations, CHANGE does not come in a day, nor does it come in a decade. Most times, CHANGE comes gradually. It took Lee Kuan Yew 35 years to turn Singapore into a success story he could write about after he was booted out of Malaysia with people of different tongues and backgrounds.
Now that we have successfully booted out those who think the luxury of power is the end of it, and we now have a party whose slogan is CHANGE, the greatest mistake we would make is sitting down and watching whether what we hoped for would materialize. We did not kick out PDP by sitting down, watching and hoping. This CHANGE of the people occupying the positions of power, the only CHANGE we have so achieved was not gotten by wishes and painting fantasies. We took ACTION. If we would achieve the true CHANGE; in our standard of living, in our industrialization figures, in the unemployment rates, in the level of corruption, ACTION and not sitting and watching and hoping, is what need to take.
Itemizing what the incoming government has to do will be boring you with rhetoric. However, I need to itemize one thing that we, the people, need to do. Demanding for good governance is priority. Without an active citizenry, a lot can go unnoticed and the government would be seen to be trying their best while we remain the way we are. One thing we should not forget is the capacity of the ruling party to maximize the media. The kind of Nigeria we get is the kind of Nigeria we demand. Favorable policies will not make themselves. When we keep reminding the ruling party that it is the people’s mandate that brought them into office, Only then would we achieve the true CHANGE that reflects in the average Nigerian’s life.
Jude ‘Feranmi can be engaged on twitter @juded27

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Duty & Responsibility: As We Usher in Change By Mustapha M. O

“Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong.”- Abraham Lincoln
Fellow Nigerians, congratulations are in order as we are part of the history making accompaniments in the life of our dear Nation, as we wait anxiously to wrap up the events with the impending inauguration of the People’s General cum His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR on this 29th Day of May 2015, we should not be carried away with the Mesmerizing nature of the ceremony but rather focus on the humongous task ahead. I don’t know about you, but I and other millions of Nigerians have had enough of mediocrity celebration, enough of status quo maintenance (it is not sustainable), enough of impunity and nepotism etc. From all indications, Buhari and his administration are aware of the daunting challenges ahead of them, they are aware of their responsibilities except they want to deny it and moreover several articles have been published to reiterate the immediate and long terms responsibilities Buhari has over Nigerians. It is on this note that I call on myself, you and others to wake up to our own responsibility and do our bits in rebuilding Nigeria to a great Nation she ought to have been a long time ago.

“Duty is what one expects from others.”- Oscar Wilde
Duty is a fundamental requirement to our existence, it is what bond us together, it is what defines us as living things and as much as everything we interact with owe us some level of duty, we owe them the same. Look around you today, we can safely conclude that we are in this mess because we’ve all failed in discharging our duties to each other. It is rather unfair and unjustifiable to be expecting what you can’t give, how do you expect GOD to answer your prayer when you’ve failed in performing your own duty to HIM? Former Vice chancellor of University of Ilorin (Prof. Oloyede) once said “If I clean my corner and you clean yours, there will be no dirty place in the World”. We cannot claim to want a country that works while we wallow in denial and dereliction duty, as Nigerians some of our duties to this country include but not limited to:
Obeying the Laws of the Land all the Time
Performing your civic responsibilities as at when due (Paying Taxes, Voting etc.)
Knowing and participating in government’s programmes
Being your brother’s keeper at all time

“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.”- Winston S. Churchill
Given the present condition of our Nation, there is no gain saying in an assertion that our country is currently in a state of comatose and needs all hands on deck to revive her. All hardships we face today as a Nation are symptoms of bad decisions that have been taken in the past and we cannot for obvious reasons continue on this path; this is the fundamental reason we voted for change. It is understandable that Nigerians had made and still making a lot of sacrifices for their Nation, all these have been abused by the successive governments, but you will also agree with me that the 2015 general elections marks the first time when citizens can boldly claim that they participated in the process of choosing a President for the country. Therefore, the new administration deserves to a reasonable extent our sacrifices, supports and understanding. We must be aware of the fact that some decisions will be taken which might be serendipity in nature, though appeared not to be at first. After all, to truly grow, you have to be willing at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you can be.

“Let’s have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”- Abraham Lincoln
Our usual believe at an initiation of any government policy can be likened to that of someone knowingly accepting a Trojan horse gift, we believe everything government does is a means to an end of looting the nation and we have grown cynical to the government, ourselves, our institutions and everything around us. We didn’t turn to this overnight, we were made so; from fuel subsidy scam to the purported SURE-P that isn’t pure etc. but for us to complete our duty to the incoming administration, we must shun any form of cynicism towards the government policies without compromising proper scrutiny of same, we must believe and have faith in our institutions and we must embrace due processes.

“Openness, transparency – these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt… “-Michael Moore

Elections have come and gone, but Nigeria remains, we must not just leave everything in the hands of government, we must be available to appeal to their conscience every time they transgress. We must at all times be aware of government’s activities, we must ask questions and hold them accountable. In our recovery package, we must put new standards of accountability and transparency, which we hope will now apply.

“Freedom isn’t free. It shouldn’t be a bragging point that “Oh, I don’t get involved in politics,” as if that makes you somehow cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn’t insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.”- Bill Maher
As clearly stated in the statement above, we need to reiterate that it is high time you shunned this “Politics is dirty, I can’t be involved” antics. This is for your own good. What will become of us that we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which has shaped our feelings, to race, inheritance, and background. All this can be altered if we have the courage to examine how it formed us. We can alter the chemistry provided we have the courage to dissect the elements.

Mustapha M. O
A Technopolitical Enthusiast
ff @almustaphamo

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

The Contract With Nigerians : A Reminder For Pres. Buhari By Hygienus Nwagwu

In a matter of hours Muhammadu Buhari will take the oath of office and effectively become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It has been a bumpy ride to the seat of power for the Daura born former army general and ex-military head of state who started his quest way back in 2003. All that is history now as the Nigerian people have finally given him the nod to rescue them from acute poverty, insecurity and joblessness orchestrated by a thieving political and economic class.
To the feeble minded, this could be an opportunity to roll out the drums and celebrate what has been a dramatic and sensational victory going by the fractious nature of the contest and the passion and intrigues exhibited by actors and spectators on either side of the divide.
For the President-elect, though, there is neither the luxury of time nor abundance of resources for such frivolities. Nigeria is a nation in intensive care and the task of breathing life back into it starts May 29, 2015.
It has now become a truism to say Buhari must hit the ground running immediately after his inauguration. The incoming president must not lose sight of the political realities and economic imperatives for which many Nigerians decided to pitch their tents with him before and during the election. Whether or not they will continue that relationship with him will depend on how well he urgently addresses our hydra-headed political and economic problems.
The question of public accountability must be top on the agenda. Buhari won his election on the anti-corruption and change mantra. Nigerians are expecting a full scale war against corruption. This is one side of the bargain with the Nigerian people the president-elect cannot afford to ditch. While not encouraging him to engage in petty, diversionary and distractive battles, questions must be asked as to how our commonwealth got frittered away. In doing this, there should be no sacred cows, no partisanship and no unnecessary witch hunt.
In a paper titled “The 2015 Transition Realities, Expectations and the Challenges”, former secretary to the federal government, Yayale Ahmed , wrote: “I want to inform you that whether there is proper briefing or not, the reality will become reality on May 29. After they have taken over they will see where to ask questions and in what we call public accountability, nobody should be allowed to go without accounting for what is not there.”
This must, however, not be limited to the Jonathan administration as the gangs that looted Nigeria dry cut across various administrations and regimes and most of the principal actors are still very much around. These criminals against the Nigerian people must be made to return their loot.
Also important is the need to strengthen the anti-corruption agencies to stem the tide of sleaze in the system.
Reducing the cost of governance and the federal bureaucracy is another task the President-elect must pursue with vigour. That falls within his purview as president and early feelers indicate he is already doing something on that front but beyond the presidency, he needs to work closely with the National Assembly and state governors, exploring both intra and inter party mechanisms to ensure such efforts are replicated by other organs and tiers of government. The government is going to inherit a huge debt profile most of which was incurred on consumption (recurrent) and not investment (capital). We cannot go on like that as a people.
The recent slump in oil prices makes the diversification of the Nigerian economy a no brainer for the incoming administration. One area the out-going administration recorded some progress was the agricultural sector. The gains made must be sustained while other non-oil sectors must be reinvigorated.
So much has been said and written about the lack of transparency in the oil sector. Unbundling the NNPC and ending the corrupt petrol subsidy regime are areas Nigerians expect the President-elect to act swiftly once he assumes office.
It is my humble submission that once much of our looted funds are recovered, leakages plugged, cost of governance reduced and our economy effectively diversified, the government will be able to free funds for investment in critical areas like power, education, health care and employment generation as well as fighting insecurity and rebuilding the already destroyed north-eastern part of the country.
Nigeria can be great again and as we inaugurate our new president in a few hours, history beckons on Muhammadu Buhari to write his name in gold, having at the back of his mind that “agreement na agreement oo!” Nigerians refused to accept excuses from Goodluck Jonathan on March 28, 2015. They will also not accept excuses from Muhammadu Buhari after four years. Mr. President, the ball is in your court.
@hymanprof

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Now That #ChangeIsHere By Alhassan Ismail Mustapha

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, fellow Country men and women I congratulate you toward this step we have taken together. A step necessary towards redemption for our great nation. A step we are all hopeful leads towards restitution, what many refer to the common sense or ballot revolution.
Over these past few weeks I have read humungous commentaries and analysis on what our dear President Elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari should do, and shouldn’t , the saints he should carry along and the sinners he should annihilate from his government. What he must do in his first hundred days, what policies he should make, how to do this or that, the inference to draw is simple: expectations are high, in the face of enormous challenges this am well aware he knows.
Similarly our sociopolitical sphere has been proliferated with rather variant definitions of change; I am delighted however that the APC knows fully well that change is relative and not absolute. At least this was well detailed in one of their very popular campaign commercial where they showed us that what change means to “Ebuka” is very different from what it translates to “Tayo” .
In the midst of all of this very few writers, analysts and commentators have hammered on followership, as we all know there is no effective leadership without good followership.
Change has to begin with me and you, bourgeoisie or proletariat , and I can assure you that it is already a phenomenon we are witnessing; we have been the sleeping giant of Africa, and the Election in march might just prove to the world that we are waking up from slumber. Who would have thought just twenty four months ago before the emergence of the APC we would have been able to vote out an incumbent government?
#Changeishere because of the power of our collective will!
#Changeishere because political awareness and citizenry participation is at an all time high!
#Changeishere because our votes counted!
In the middle of this euphoria: for change to stay, we must first of all align our thinking with Ghandi when he said “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” And remember the words of Maya Angelo as she said “Nothing will work unless you do”.

As a people we must continue to demonstrate that away from the ethno religious and sentimental line drawn to divide us that we want to move our nation toward prosperity. Although, we have begun to demonstrate this attitude gradually, we must understand that this is not the only step toward the right direction; as citizens we must understand our obligations pertaining diligent followership at all times.
For the New Nigeria we all seek, we must be ready not to cut corners, to be straight forward, to avoid cheating, not to beat traffic lights or litter the streets, to see stealing as corruption.
We must respect the rule of law at all time and plunge our society free from impunity.
Change will not come unless we change our modus operandi, we must ask for accountability from official who serves us, we must demonstrate that it is the people first before self. We cannot be docile any more, we must show that the era of “sii don and look” is over, we must continue strive for a better Nigeria, understanding that governance begins with everyone of us.
No nation has gotten it right at first like some programmed auto machine, and we are no different. Our political history might be ridden with the chaos from the first republic, the civil war, electoral misappropriation, and many more that is why as a people together: We must urge the new administration to develop other sectors of our economy, to diversify: to really think outside the box thereon build new model of a changed nation other countries can emulate. It is true the APC manifesto coves this, it is however our responsibility to remind them.
For things to really change the incoming government must demonstrate the willingness to listen to her people at all times: Develop alternatives in all situations, try to develop, encourage and appreciate our own indigenous knowledge and problem solving abilities.
Change would be invention for us to solve our domestic problems first and then export for economic advancement; in the manner Italy’s pasta and china’s Wheel barrow are globally adopted today.
Our curriculum too must change our children need to educate properly, we have to rediscover ourselves, remember our history and its relevance. We Must Inspire and initiate patriotism, build sense of believe and trust again so we wouldn’t be casualties of hope like we have been these past 6 years; the narrative has to change from” sai baba” to something that revolves around a united Nigeria.
Let the things we read about Singapore, Malaysia. Indonesia and others become peculiar to our sphere; let the headlines change from insecurity and unemployment to stability and actual growth of our economy.
Change is similar to Darwin’s law of natural selection. Organisms that refuse to adapt would not survive; History is pregnant with tales of resistance to change; Japan was reluctant in the 1980s to change and their economy never surpassed that of the USA as predicted by economists.
President Buhari must continue to inspire change, for although he seems not to have anything to lose, this is however an incredible opportunity to cement his name on the scrolls of history as the Father of a New Nigeria.
Change is more than just a mantra; it is the universal empirical order Mother Nature survives upon.
We anticipate seeing a changed nation
God bless Nigeria
Alhassan Ismail Mustapha is a trained archaeologist and a freelance writer.
@The_mustyhassan on twitter

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Change Is Here : Here Are The Promises Nigerians Got From The Incoming President Gen. Buhari

On May 29, Muhammadu Buhari will take office as President of Nigeria. Expectations are high as most Nigerians expect the coming government to wave a magic wand and make all their problems disappear. The Buhari campaign which ran on a ‘CHANGE’ mantra made numerous promises to Nigerians during the campaign.

Below are Buhari’s many campaign promises to Nigerians:
On Politics and Governance:
I, Muhammadu Buhari, believe that our politics is broken. Our nation urgently needs fundamental political reform and improvement in governance more transparency and accountable. If you nominate me in December, 2014 and elect me in February 2015, my administration will:

1. Initiate action to amend the Nigerian Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties, and responsibilities to states in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit;
2. Strengthen INEC to reduce, if possible, eliminate electoral malpractices in Nigerian’s political life;
3. Attract the best and brightest of our sons and daughters into our politics and public service by aggressive recruitment of private sector people, academics, and professionals within

Nigeria and in the Diaspora through internships, fellowships, executive appointments, and special nomination to contest elective offices;
4. Prevent the abuse and misuse of Executive, Legislative and Public offices, through greater accountability, transparency, strict, and implementable anti-corruption laws, through strengthening and sanitising the EFCC and ICPC as independent entities;
5. Amend the Constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal cases;

6. Restructure governance for a leaner, more efficient, and adequately compensated public service sector, while promoting effective participation of the private sector for more robust job creation programmes to employ the teaming youth.;

7. Require full disclosure in media outlets, of all government contracts over N100m prior to award and during implementation at regular intervals;

8. Reform and Strengthen the Justice System for efficient administration and dispensation of justice with the creation of special courts for accelerated hearing of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism and similar cases of national importance;

9. Fully enforce the Freedom of Information Act l so that government held data sets can be requested and used by the public and then such data sets be publish on regular basis;
10. Amend the Constitution to require Local governments to publish their meeting minutes, service performance data, and items of spending over N10M.
Security and Conflict Resolution

On National Security and Defence:
I will urgently secure the territorial integrity of the nation. I will never leave the defence of the nation in the hands of Hunters, Children, and Civilian JTF through the following:
1. Urgently address capacity building mechanisms of law enforcement agents in terms of quantity and quality as this is critical in safeguarding the sanctity of lives and property;
2. Establish a well trained, adequately equipped and goals driven Serious Crime Squad to combat insurgencies, kidnapping, armed robbery, ethno-religious and communal clashes, nationwide;

3. Consult and amend the Constitution to enable States and Local Governments to create city, Local government and State Policing systems, base on the resources available at each levels, to address the peculiar needs of each community. I will therefore work with the National Assembly to set and revised, when needed, boundaries of operations, for Federal, State, and Local government policing units, through new Criminal Justice legislation to replace the Criminal Code, the Penal Code and the Police Act.

4. I will push for more robust support in the Security and Economic stability of the West-African sub-region and African Continent as a whole. I will seek and maintain close and frank relationship with ALL of West Africa; Special relationship with South Africa and its Sub-region; UK, USA, Canada, EU, Asia, and the Middle East .

On Conflict Resolution, National Unity, And Social Harmony:
I will;
1. Establish a Conflict Resolution Commission to help prevent, mitigate, and resolve civil conflicts within the polity;
2. Bring permanent peace and solution to the insurgency issues in the North-East; the Niger Delta; and other conflict prone states and areas such as Plateau, Benue, Bauchi, Borno, Abia, Taraba, Yobe, and Kaduna in order to engender national unity and social harmony;

3. Initiate policies to ensure that Nigerians are free to live and work in any part of the country by removing state of origin, tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations from documentation requirements in our identification of citizens and replace these with State of Residence and fashion out the appropriate minimal qualification for obtaining such a state of residency, nation-wide.

On Foreign Policy:
I will;
1. Make regional integration a priority within ECOWAS including free trade with a view to ensuring that common tariff currency are in use by the end of my term in office, under Nigeria’s guidance and leadership, base on the size of its market force;

2. Maintain a strong, close and frank relationship within the Gulf of Guinea, the Commonwealth, South Africa and the rest of the world.
3. Establish a special relationship with the leading emerging markets like Brazil; Russia, India and China (BRIC) and other strategic partners around the world.

The Economy & Infrastructure Base On the Economy:
I will;
1. Maintain sound Micro and macro-economic policy environment, and run an efficient government and preserve the independence of the Central Bank;
2. Restore financial confidence in the citizens and the world, by putting in place a more robust monitoring, supervising, and regulating of the financial institutions;

3. Make our economy one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging at least 10-12% annually
4. As at 1999, Nigerian rate of unemployment stood at about 8%, today it is estimated from official statistics to be close to 30%. I will embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition scheme for graduates along with the creation of Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create at least 5 million new jobs by 2019. A Small and Medium Enterprises Development Commission will be created for this purpose. I will also encourage State Governments to focus on employment creation, by matching everyone job created in the same state.

5. Integrate the informal economy into the mainstream and prioritize the full implementation of the National Identification Scheme to generate the relevant data;
6. Expand domestic demand and will undertake associated public works programmes to achieve this goal;
7. Embark on export and production diversification including investment in infrastructure; promote manufacturing, through Agro Based industries; and expand and promote sub-regional trade through ECOWAS and AU;

8. Make Information Technology, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Entertainment key drivers of our economy, by reviewing the present reward system, which is based on certification, to that based on skills, competencies, and performances;
9. Balance the Nigerian economy across regions by the creation of 6 Regional Economic Development Agencies (REDAs) to act as sub-regional hubs in order to promote healthy regional competitiveness;

Put in place a N300bn Regional Growth Fund with an average of N50bn in each geo-political region; to be managed by the REDAs, to encourage private sector enterprise and to support places currently reliant on only on the public sector, to migrate to a private sector reality;

Amend the Constitution and the:
10. Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land along with matching grants for states to create a nationwide electronic land title register on a state by state basis;
11. Create an additional middle-class of at least 4 million new home owners by 2019 by enacting a national mortgage single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses as well as review the collateral qualification to make funding for home ownership easier, with a 15 to 30 year mortgage terms. This will equally help our banking system migrate from short to long term perspective of their role in sustaining the economy.

12. Create a Social Welfare Program of at least Five Thousand Naira (N5000) that will cater for the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon the demonstration of children’s enrolment in school and evidence of immunisation to help promote family stability.
13. Provide allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for Twelve (12) months while in the skills and entrepreneurial development programmes.

14. Make the Naira appreciate more to the Dollar

On Agriculture:
I will;
1. Modernize the sector and change Nigeria from being a country of self-subsistence farmers to that of a medium/large scale farming nation/producer;
2. Create a nationwide food inspectorate division with a view to improving nutrition and eliminating food-borne hazards
3. Inject sufficient funds to the Agricultural sector to create more agro-allied jobs by way of loans at nominal interest rates for capital investment on medium and commercial scale cash crops;

4. Guarantee a minimum price for all cash crops and facilitate storage of agricultural products to overcome seasonal shortages of selected food crops.
5. Move the nation to an all year round small, medium, and commercial farming through a coordinated integrative irrigation of our existing dams as well as creation of more dam to collect the over flooding waters, nationwide.

6. Revive our Agricultural Research Institutes that are in a state of comatose;
7. Review and strengthened Veterinary practices nationwide.
On Infrastructure:

I will;
1. Review the Public Private Partnership (PPP) enabling environment with a view to addressing the legal, regulatory and operational bottlenecks, challenging the effective administration of the system, by introducing enabling legislation. In addition, I will create a National Infrastructural Development Bank to provide loans at nominal interest rates, exclusively for this sector;

2. Generate, transmit and distribute electricity on a 24/7 basis whilst simultaneously ensuring the development of sustainable/renewable energy, by 2019.
3. Embark on a National Infrastructural Development Programme as a Public Private Partnership that will
(a) ensure 5,000km of Superhighway including service trunks and
(b) building of up to 6,800km of modern railway completed by 2019;

4. Enact new legal and regulatory frameworks to establish independent regulation and incentives to accelerate public and private sector investment in seaports, railways, and inland waterways;
5. Embark on PPP schemes that will ensure every one of the 36 states has one functional airport, with all 21st Century safety tools for effective commercial air travel.
On the Oil and Gas Industry:

I will:
1. Revive and reactivate our minimally performing Refineries to optimum capacity;
2. Make the industry and Nigeria one of the world leading/cutting edge centres for clean oil and gas technology; also producing leading world Oil and Gas technologist, scientists, and owing mega structure installations, drilling, processing, and production facilities and engineers. These facilities and scientists will be supported with the best services and research facilities.

3. Fully develop the sector’s capacity to absorb more of the nation’s new graduate in the labour market. The sector will be funded to produce more home-grown, but world class engineers, scientists, technologist, etc.;
4. Modernise the NNPC and make it the national energy champion. I will consider breaking it up into more efficient, commercially driven units; and may strip it of its regulatory powers, so as to enable it tap into international capital market;

5. Enforce the government master plan for oil companies to end flaring that pollutes the air and damages the communities and people’s health and ensure that they sell at least half of their gas produced within Nigeria;
6. Speedily pass the much-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and ensure that local content issues are fully addressed

7. Make Nigeria the world’s leading exporter of LNG through the creation of strategic partnerships.
8. Stabilise oil price

The Society & Human Capital Development On Education:
I will;
1. Fully review provisions of the Universal Basic Education Act with emphasis on gender equity in primary, secondary school enrolment whilst improving the quality and substance of our schools, through outcome based education, that address the individual, family, and societal roles in education; and the associative skills and competencies that go with these responsibilities;

2. Targeting up to 20% of our annual budget for this critical sector whilst making substantial investments in training quality teachers at all levels of the educational system;

3. Implement a performance based education, predicated on outcomes, skills, and competences as against the current certificate based qualification. I will adjust the reward system accordingly too. This way, exams malpractice and certificate forgery will be resolved once and for all. Young men and women interested in real liberal arts education, based on a true understanding of scientific, the humanistic, and the social sciences will fill our classrooms to be prepared for future leadership of the nation;

4. Enhance teacher training and improve the competence of teachers in the light of the 21st Century and beyond understanding of the learner types, intelligence types, as the multiple assessment types, in order to open up learning for all our children types. The era of one student type will give way to an all learner type for our children and young people as well as adults who want to return to the classroom to sharpen their skills, competencies, and sensibilities. This re-engineering of our education will be followed with a clearly thought out and vigorous national inspection programmes;

5. Make learning experiences more meaningful for children as the nation’s education will no longer be a preparation for life, but life itself. Our children will be democratised for education, rather than be educated for democracy. This view of education will make educating our children more cost-effective in the long run;

6. Provide One Meal a day for all elementary/primary/Almajiri schools That will create jobs in Agriculture, Catering, and Delivery Services
7. Develop and promote effective use of innovative teaching methods/materials in our schools;

8. Ensure a greater proportion of expenditure on university education is devoted to helping our youth to understand the juxtaposition of Science, Technology, the Humanities and the Social Sciences.

9. Establish at least six new universities of Science and Technology with satellite campuses in various states. These six universities should be fully equipped with ICT technologies in order to attract and encourage small and medium scale ICT enterprises after their university education;

10. Establish technical colleges and vocational centres in each state of the federation;

11. Provide more conducive environment for private sector participation in all levels of education. Re-authorised the NUC, TETFUN, JAMB, etc, Acts to enable Private institutions of Higher learning to benefit from research funds and programmes that will serve the national good;

12. Establish six centres of excellence to address the needs of special education;

On Healthcare:
I will;
1. Prioritise the reduction of the infant mortality rate substantially; reduce maternal mortality rates to the levels acceptable by the World Health Organisation; reduce HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases drastically and improve life expectancy by an additional 10 years on average through our National Healthy Living program;

2. Increase the number of physicians from 19 per 1000 population to 50 per 1000 through deliberate medication education as epitomize by nations such as Ghana. I will increase national health expenditure per person per annum to about N50,000 (from the less than N10,000 currently);

3. Increase the quality of all federal government owned hospitals to world class standard by 2019;
4. Invest in cutting edge technology such as tele-medicine in all major health centers in the country through partnership programmes with communities and the private sector;

5. Provide free ante-natal care for pregnant women; free health care for babies and children up to school going age and for the aged; and free treatment for those afflicted with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS;

6. Boost the local manufacture of pharmaceuticals and make non adulterated drugs readily available.
Set an effective prosecution and punishment systems, for those importing or adulterating drugs in the country.

7. The enhancement of the Epidemiological Units / Centres for Diseas Control to meet up with Global standards in containment of disease outbreaks, proper vaccine storage and research;

8. Create an Insurance Policy for our Journalists as the nation faces hard times and our Journalists face more dangers in the discharge of their investigative work, to educate Nigerians in their rights and responsibilities.

9. Ban medical tourism by our politicians from May 29, 2015.

On Youth, Sports and Culture:
I will;
1. Provide the opportunities such as setting up functional recreational facilities, Library with e-services, Community Centers, in collaboration with States, Local Government Authorities, Local Development Areas, etc for youth to realize, harness, and develop their potentials to the fullest, in order to facilitate the emergence of the new generation of citizens, who will be committed to the sustenance of good governance and service to the people and the country;

2. Establish Zonal world-class sports academies and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria occupies a place of pride in global sports and athletics;

3. Revive and restructure the Nigerian Football League and put incentives in place to make it as competitive as other national leagues
4. Put in place measures to identify talents early and ensure their participation in local and international games to enable them to be true professionals;

5. Help as well as mandate schools and communities to create neighborhood playgrounds/sports centre. I will create matching support funds for communities to acquire the needed equipment to develop skills and competencies;

6. Assist Nollywood to fully develop into world class movie industry that can compete effectively with Hollywood and Bollywood in due course. I will support the creative and performing arts with the necessary environment where by our great entertainers do not end their lives in abject poverty as is currently the case.

As presented by Vanguard

‘You Have Earned Yourself A Place In Nigeria’s History’ – Buhari To Jonathan

While receiving the handover notes from President Jonathan this morning, President-elect, Buhari said for stabilizing Nigeria’s democracy, President Jonathan had earned a place in Nigeria’s history

“You have earned yourself a place in Nigeria’s history for stabilizing our democracy. If you wanted to make things difficult, you could have but you didn’t and for that, you have won the respect of world leaders” he said.

Gen. Buhari Is Not The Law Nor Change, The Law Is The Law. And The Change Is The Enforced Law By Mu’awiyyah Yusuf

As we approach the May 29th  handover date and as we get ready to practice the “CHANGE” we have clamored for, it is important we understand the significance of that word. To Nigerians, the word “change” should mean differently from the rest of the world due to many reasons.

      This is the first time Nigerians have actually succeeded in electing someone that they actually want and need at the same time in an election that is far from being free and fair
      This is the first time Nigerians have been able to vote out an incumbent president
      It is also a bloodless revolution of some sort to Nigerians (Look around other African countries and you would appreciate the significance of what we just pulled off in this election).
It is important Nigerians know General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) is not the Change we voted for; he is not the law. He is merely the person we need to enforce the laws and bring about the change we all labored and continue to pray for. We needed him to enforce our existing laws and bring about change to the lawlessness prevalent in our society today. If GMB fails to enforce our laws and uphold the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, then he would be no different from Goodluck Jonathan or the other horrible leaders that came before them.
GMB and his team alone cannot deliver this change. Every citizen has a duty to help their cause and make it easy for them to deliver on their promises. It is a common thing in Nigeria to blame all our woes on our pitiless leaders, which to a certain extent is justified, but one thing we have failed to realize is we are part and parcel of the problem that have bedeviled the country for so long.
This past election threw up interesting intrigues on our deep regional mistrust for one another. To some southerners, GMB was just another northern Hausa/Fulani Muslim who was out to advance northern interest. Equally, to many northerners, he was a Hausa/Fulani Muslim (one of them) who’s out to protect their interest. But to many of us (Northerners and Southerners alike), the reason we have continually supported GMB is our belief in his abilities, his competence, his steadfastness, his patriotism and our conviction that  he is the link we need to hold Nigeria together. Such rare qualities in one politician are unheard of in our present Nigeria. Nothing gave me more joy like seeing our Yoruba, Igbo and Christian counterparts supporting GMB during and after the election. If we can be honest, many Northerners/Muslims supported him because they felt he is one of them. But the genuine love came from people across the six regions that supported him regardless of his religious and cultural orientation. 
I have had arguments with people on social media in the course of my support for GMB, some called him all sorts of names before the election but months later, I saw them riding hard for this same man they called several unprintable names including religious bigot few months prior. For some of them, it was sincere love but for many, it was just bandwagon mentality, while for some more, it was just to save face because they were smart enough to realize the change this time round was unstoppable. Whatever their reasons, it was a step in the right direction. One thing I’m confident about is that GMB is not going to be the president of the North or treat a Southerner any less than he will treat a Northerner. That wasn’t what I fought for. GMB will be the president of Nigeria for all Nigerians.

This Change wasn’t needed only because of all the corrupt politicians, money launderers, armed robbers, terrorists, militants, drug dealers or 419ers who roam our land. This change was needed to curb our indiscipline, curtail the excesses of our lawless law enforcement personnel, traffic offenders, our lack of punctuality in the workplace, to meetings and school. Come May 29, GMB and Nigerians will begin the journey to actualize all those magic and wonders we all want him to perform. All the campaign promises must be kept because they are possible. They won’t come suddenly or easily but they will eventually come. I personally don’t think it requires magic to deliver dividends of democracy. I don’t think it is going to be hard to perform those wonders we all want. All that is required is sincerity on the part of our leaders; and cooperation and patience from the people.
Come May 29th GMB and his team will swing into action in an effort to rebuild this country.  The three key points of their campaign were insecurity, economy and the fight against corruption; and these will be their main focus. The first two may just be easier to deal with than the third considering the complexities of our nation. For the first time we will actually be witnesses to a real fight against corruption; that may raise emotions and there are people who will not hesitate to give it ethnic coloration. Same Nigerians, who may have no qualms about setting ablaze a common thief for stealing 200 Naira on the street of Lagos, will cry blue murder and witch hunt when some powerful politicians are prosecuted for embezzling public funds just because they are from the same region or religion. Same Nigerians that will lynch a Boko haram suspect to death in Borno and Gombe will sing different tunes when some powerful people they benefit from financially are arrested as sponsors of BH. They may even go the extent of providing human shields or protesting on their behalf (the dramas that ensued during Maina Waziri pension scandal and James Ibori’s attempted arrest are still fresh in our memories).
 
GMB is not the law. The law is the law and therefore we must allow it to take its course if we must move forward as a nation. The era of criminals siphoning public funds to build mansions they don’t need or live in; or buying luxury cars they only drive in very rarely and traveling abroad for medical purposes with little regard for the plight of poor Nigerians should be history. If criminals get away for their crimes against the state, then our country will only breed more criminals. When people are punished for erring, then the society will be a better place. I know Nigerians are compassionate; even though our leaders care little about us and they make us suffer, when the table is turned and it is their turn to face the music, they start asking for forgiveness. there is a need to separate our penchant for forgiveness and the provisions of the law. We must understand that as a people, we can forgive but the law doesn’t forgive or forgets. Our nation can only move forward if we allow the law to takes its course. We must allow the enforcer of the law do his job.
Some of us fought gallantly and voted for this change but we can’t go around thinking because we supported GMB, then he owe us and should alter the law to suit us. That would amount to double standard on our part and it won’t make us any different from those corrupt criminals we sought to change. There is so much lawlessness in Nigeria but we are all too willing to be law abiding when we visit other countries. This is only possible because these countries ensure enforcement of the law but here, we termed the leaders dictators for trying to enforce laws. I do not mind being punished if I disobey the law; like the law forcing me to wear my seatbelt when in fact it is intended to safeguard my safety on the road. But how many of us will wear the seatbelts willingly? The truth of the matter is Nigerians are no better than our leaders. Sometimes it’s just lack of opportunity else we would do exactly or worse than they are doing. The kind of mischief and evil we mete out to our fellow citizens sometimes rank higher than what our leaders dish out to us. So are we ready to change from our ways seeing that this change is not about our corrupt leaders or just criminal but about all of us? 
There is corruption at every level in Nigeria.  There are more Fayoses, Anenihs, FFKs, Iboris, Maina Waziris or Faruk Lawans in Nigeria than we have Buharis, El-rufais, Fasholas and Kwankwasos and until we are all willing to change our ways, Nigeria will never get to the promise land. I have no doubt in my mind about GMB. I have always felt as though I know him better than every Nigerian. As funny as that may sound, that is how much confident I am in his incorruptibility and ability. I have always believed that he is the most suitable person to lead this country to its promise land, but GMB is not a saint and won’t be an island of knowledge without our support. Nigeria has a second and probably its last chance to make it and deliver on its promise and potentials. As they say “the ball is in our court” whether to make it or mar our nation. 
 
Mu’awiyyah Yusuf Muye is an advocate of good governance 

He tweets @P_Muye

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Jonathan Handing Over A Distressed Country To Buhari – APC

Press statement from APC ..

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said President Goodluck Jonathan is handing over a nation in deep crisis, even as his Administration continues to contrive more crises without making any effort to solve any of them. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party however appealed to Nigerians not to lose hope, despite the daunting challenges they are currently facing in this atmosphere of contrived chaos, saying help is on the way.

“In a few days’ time, President Jonathan will hand over to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari. Never in the history of our country has any government handed over to another a more distressed country: No electricity, no fuel, workers are on strike, billions are owed to state and federal workers, 60 billion dollars are owed in national debt and the economy is virtually grounded

“Today, Nigerians are roaming the streets, jerry cans in hand, searching for everything from kerosene to fuel to diesel to power their homes, keep their vehicles on the road and keep their businesses going. They are paying as much as 300 Naira per litre for fuel, if at all they can get it. Yet their government is not saying a word about the situation,” it said.

APC said while the Jonathan Administration has arrogantly told Nigerians that it remains in office and in power till May 29th, all it has been doing is sacking people and making new appointments as if it had been deprived of the opportunity to do so in the past six years.

“They are not interested in how to end the fuel scarcity that has paralyzed the socio-economic lives of Nigerians, they are not interested in how to raise electricity production from its unprecedentedly-low level of 1,327 megawatts, they are not doing anything to end the strike by blue and while collar oil workers, or to stop the impending one.

”They say they are in office till May 29th, but they do not care how workers in 18 states, who are owed a total of 300 billion Naira in salaries under their watch, or federal workers who are owed 400 billion Naira, will be paid. Yet they are running a budget of 1 trillion Naira deficit.

”They have deliberately stopped meeting their obligations to oil marketers, which is now around 200 billion Naira, hence no one is lifting petroleum products anymore. If the current energy crisis is not solved soonest, the telecommunications sector could even be grounded in a matter of days as service providers will have neither electricity nor fuel to power their base stations. Of course the aviation sector has already been left comatose by the fuel crisis.

The whole scenario reeks of sabotage!,” the party said. APC said before PDP and Jonathan Administration’s spin doctors distort its message, it is important to let Nigerians know that the party (APC) is not engaging in lamentations but simply keeping the citizenry informed of the situation on the ground, with just five days to handover date. ”If we thought the nation was being well managed and there was no problem, we would not have embarked on a campaign of change.

While we are ready, willing and able to begin to address the mammoth challenges facing us as a nation as soon as we assume office at the centre in a few days’ time, we will not hesitate for a second to keep Nigerians informed of how we have been brought to this sorry pass, with a view to avoiding such a tragic turn in the future,” the party said.

It expressed sadness that the nation has been on auto pilot for the past several weeks, as the outgoing administration has shown neither the capacity nor the willingness to resolve any of the crises it has contrived and foisted on the nation.

”This is the most vivid manifestation of the old saying that literally translates to a departing office holder defecating on the chair he is vacating,” APC said.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary All Progressives Congress (APC)
Abuja, May 24th 2015.

PDP Rules Out Change Of Name Allegation

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the possibility of changing its name. There have been rumours a change was imminent after the party lost control of the Federal Government and some states in the last general elections.

PDP stated that the party was still the “truly national political party with strength and spread enough to regain pre-eminence.”

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said the unassailable vision of its founding fathers remained timeless in building a Nigeria of the collective wish and aspirations of all citizens.

He said although it was resolutely committed to its present structures, it would not close its doors to other political parties wishing to be assimilated into its fold as the best vehicle for the fulfillment of political aspirations of all Nigerians regardless of tribe and religion.

Metuh added that having been the guardian of Nigerian democracy for 16 years during which it nurtured and blossomed democratic governance as well as etched its name in the pantheon of good governance, the party would not in the circumstance of ephemeral loss of power change its identity or its time-honoured characteristic values. “We have a name, tradition and values. Sixteen fruitful years as the guardian of Nigerian democracy cannot be nullified by the reason of temporary setback, ” Metuh said.

“We shall rise beyond all and regain our rhythm. Our colour remains green, white and red and power still belongs to the people.”

Metuh said going into opposition would not mitigate its ability as the flagship of democracy, maintaining that the party would soar higher in proving credible alternative as a constructive opposition.

“We have no doubt lifted the banner of democracy very high and only wish that the APC will move beyond excuses when it takes over in weeks’ time to reconcile mouthful promises with the reality of fulfillment.”

He call on all members to ensure that they were not distracted but remained focused as the unity, cohesion and regenerative capacity of the PDP was intact, election loss notwithstanding.

Credit: CAJ News

#PAUSIBILITY: Thank You! For What?!!! by Adebayo Coker

Last week Thursday, I got a shark-bite feeling that fuel scarcity inflicts on one. I got the news that PMS was being sold at a filling station in Ajuwon and I harmed myself with a 25litre keg, hoping that at least I could get a scoop that would be enough for me to power my generator (contrary to the ads, there hasn’t been power in my locality for days running) so I may at least submit my column for the week; but I returned home frustrated.

True to the news, fuel was being sold and I quickly joined the long queue. For several hours that I was there, I couldn’t get to the nozzle even though I saw that the product was being dispensed. Some street urchins came with a truckload of kegs, hijacked the nozzle from the attendant and sold the product to themselves. Immediately a keg got filled, they would move it few metres away from the filling station and start hawking it at Two Hundred and Fifty Naira per litre (the pump price from the filling station was above the official rate).

When Innocent (fictitious), the attendant summed up courage and came back to his duty post, he wielded the power of a blind tin god. He chose who to sell to. Every second he would walk away from the nozzle feigning tiredness and people, both old and young would foolishly fall at his feet, addressing him with some outlandish and high-class appellations. Innocent became a superstar as he would raise his shoulders and walk back to sell for the next few minutes and return to catch some rest. I looked at Innocent as I recollected that I had given him a tip at one time or the other. I had thought of his survival on his meager salary at those tipping moments, but today, Innocent didn’t think of my welfare or that of any other person. He was just enjoying the temporary euphony of a momentary god.

I watched as this went on and on and left when it was obvious that my continued stay in that particular station will not yield any result.

I went to another filling station. There were two ‘soldiers’ helping to maintain decorum and I felt happy that in no time I would be attended to here, but the attendant charged about two hundred naira to sell into kegs even though the dispensing price was unofficial. It would be a bad economic decision for me to buy fuel in that circumstance as I only had a thousand naira.

I returned home thinking; is this the kind of CHANGE that we all are touting? Change in this vicious cycle? Maybe we all thought once GMB got sworn into office everything will become new and our old paths shall be trod no more? CAPITAL NO.FUEL

In any fuel crisis situation in the country, the fuel station attendants/owners, the black marketers and the buyers of such black market are the worst set of people that I wouldn’t like to touch with a long pole; just like Satan. They drive you nuts. I even saw a high-ranking law enforcement officer patronizing the boys peddling/hawking fuel in kegs. One wonders when this madness will be nipped in the bud.

How long are we to continue living in this jungle that we call a nation? What if we don’t have fuel, how would we have been living?

Wealth in the ground goes nowhere. What is brought up from the ground’s core, oil mainly, is either owned by international companies, siphoned off by native sons who fill their own pockets, or is shut down by rebels and terrorists attempting to divert some of the yellow gold emerging from the black kind into their own coffers.

This should not be the case in a land that is vastly blessed with many mineral resources but lacking righteous leadership to harness the wealth for the country’s advancement and general benefit of the population.

Yes, Okonjonomics has been proven to be laced with nothing but lies, just as the past few days of this present administration have proven, the more, that we have a wicked sitting President that we all can’t wait to give an Otuoke valediction to; but truth be told, the system produced the kind of leaders we have just as it is said that “the people deserve the kind of leaders they get.” The people make up the system!

Politicians will come with Mosaic-meekness to solicit votes; they will even sell manifestoes that may include a free passage into Paradise. People will defy all odds to vote for them having been fed with hopes of sweet nothings. Once the politicians get into office, they become untouchable, riding on the heads of the populace that voted them into power. PEOPLE will usually (in a foolish way) deify, worship and bow to them. If such politicians arrogantly or reluctantly perform their official responsibility, the people will stupidly roll out drums of celebration and make a big banner inscribing THANK YOU… on it. Each time I see that, I say to myself: but this thief is only rising up to what he swore to, he hasn’t funded the sorry borehole from his father’s pocket for crying out loud! A man admitted responsibility for his failure as a President and acknowledged his defeat at the polls, yet you want us to knight him for acting responsibly for the first time in his public life? OMG!

The allegory (the event was real though) of Innocent is just a monad of the humongous problem we all in one way or the other contributed and are still contributing to in this land. We heap this chaos on this nation every time at the slightest instance, and as the new dispensation starts in a few days, let us not allow the usual innate wickedness of politicians take advantage of our humble stupidity. Stop making a banneret out of any politician that performs his responsibility. Stop reclining on the old chair of tokenism and start holding the political elites accountable . Let us assume we would forgive our old buffoonery and understand that “he who must come to equity…” , we all must be ready to change in our small space; then and then can this change be total and visible.

 

Adebayo Coker is a wordsmith. Societal Fragments, A Man Like Me: Noteography Of A Father To His Son and Wobbled Words are his published works. debayocoker@gmail.com , @adebay_c

 

“Workers Are Key, To The Change Agenda” – El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor-elect, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai yesterday praised Nigerian workers for their contribution to the development of the country.
The governor-elect disclosed this in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan in commemoration of 2015 Workers’ Day celebration.
According to the statement El-Rufai reiterated his readiness to promote productive collaboration with workers in Kaduna State.
The governor-elect said:
“I salute all workers in Kaduna State and felicitate with them over this year’s commemoration of Workers’ Day. Workers in the public and private sectors contribute immensely to the development of our dear state.
“At this moment when Nigerians have just voted for change, workers will play a central role in making change real for our people. Our country more than ever needs their productivity on the shop floor, in business and in the public sector as well as their patriotic vigilance in upholding good governance.
“In addition, governments and business must reflect on how to build and strengthen human capital, create jobs and secure the welfare of workers even in an economy challenged by declining revenues and high debt levels.
“We will run open-door policy, we will be listening government and will be conscious of their welfare and social security. We will welcome collaboration and run a participatory government. We will encourage and reward hard work, we will create enabling working environment that will help in discovering talents and opportunities.”

Senate Passes 2015 Budget Without Provision For Subsidy

The Senate on Tuesday passed N4.493tn budget for the 2015 fiscal year, about five months after it was presented by the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The national budget, which was earlier passed by the House of Representatives last week, was N51bn higher than the N4.425tn submitted to both chambers of the National Assembly by the Federal Government.

The Senate approval of the budget on Tuesday, however, confirmed the non-inclusion of fuel subsidy provision in the document but N21bn was budgeted for the funding of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

The Senate, in passing the budget, slightly reduced the N2.607, 601, 000, 300 proposed by the executive to N2.607, 132,491,708 as recurrent expenditure and simultaneously scaled down the capital expenditure from N642, 848,999,699 estimated in the proposal to N556, 995,465,449.

The Chairman, Joint Senate Committee on Appropriation and Finance, Mohammed Maccido, explained that the details of the figure approved by the Senate in the document were not different from the version passed by the House of Representatives last week.

He confirmed that the executive did not make provision for fuel subsidy in the 2015 budget and that the National Assembly left it the way it was presented.

He said, “There was no provision in the budget for subsidy but I believe there should be provision for it especially since there was already a disagreement between the oil marketers and the Federal Government over subsidy payment.”

He added that the budget would be driven by $53 oil benchmark, an exchange rate of N190 to one US dollar; N2.2782m per barrel crude oil production per day; and deficit gross domestic product of -1.12 per cent.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said the incoming government was bound to review the 2015 fiscal budget because of various flaws.

He said, “The constitutional provision is that we should have even passed the budget before now but due to the exigencies of this period, we have just passed it and we have done our constitutional duty very well.

“I believe that the incoming administration will very swiftly bring a request for a supplementary budget which will try to balance between the capital allocation, that will be very much required in Nigeria, and the recurrent.

“The one we have passed is typical of the Peoples Democratic Party’s submission to the National Assembly. In fact, the budget we have just passed is five to one against the capital allocation when we just have about N500bn against the N2.6tn that is going to recurrent.

“So, we are going to do a review definitely because the incoming administration will have to bring something of that nature for a supplementary request.”

Lawan said the country would have funds to finance the budget because oil prices would continue to improve, corruption would be tackled, and leakages would be blocked.

Also, Senator Olubumni Adetunbi said the incoming government would probably make changes “in form of supplementary budget in line with the policy of cutting the cost of governance because the budget is 20 per cent for capital while the rest is recurrent.”

Senator Ganiyu Solomon said implementation of the budget would pose a problem to the incoming administration.

A critical study of the budget also put fiscal deficit at N1.07tn, N953.6bn for debt service, N375.6bn as statutory transfers and while education takes the lion share of the budget with N392.3bn followed by N338.7bn for the military while N303.8bn was budgeted for police commands and formations

In the same vein, N237bn was voted for the health sector, N153bn for the Ministry of Interior while the Ministry of Works had a meager sum of N25.1bn.

Pressing Issues That Gen. Muhammadu Buhari Needs To Tackle By Frank Ijege

Let me use the opportunity to congratulate the president elect on his recent victory at the poll. His tenacity and perseverance has indeed paid off; his victory it is hoped, will indeed offer Nigerians the opportunity to enjoy his robust programmes, which he has over the years sought to implement if given the opportunity to govern the country. Thank God that opportunity has finally presented itself.

 This piece is the first out of four series which will run within the next four weeks. It covers fundamental problems in our national life; which therefore, becomes necessary to draw the attention of the incoming government to, so that as soon as it takes over in May, it will hit the ground running. This particular piece is focused on the power sector. Other areas will be discussed in the ensuing weeks.

 Power, plays a fundamental role in the life of every nation. Due to its importance, countries of the world invest heavily in the sector. According to a 2012 report, countries like Uruguay, Mauritius, Costa Rica and South Africa, were the largest investors in renewable energy. South Africa generates close to 40,000 MW, 98% of which is from coal. In Mauritius, a workable plan between the government have seen the Island enjoying stable electricity. In 2013, 2575 MW was generated, representing an increase of 3.2% when compared with the year 2012. The country’s electricity consumption for that period was less than 1000 MW. 80% of the electricity in Mauritius is generated from thermal plants, while the remaining 20% is from hydro-power. The government has a fifteen year plan, which hopes to see power generation increase steadily. In Uruguay, power generation has increased from 2500 MW to 2900 MW, between 2009 and 2013. 63% of the generated electricity is
derived from hydro-power. These are countries that have invested greatly in the power sector, and they have been reaping the benefits that come with stable electricity.

 The benefits enjoyed by the citizens of the aforementioned countries are enormous. Industrial activities thrive, small businesses crop up, as stable and reliable electricity reduces operational cost. People and organizations are saved the burden of investing in costly backups. Through stable power generation, the citizens are gainfully employed and engaged, which translates into few people engaging in anti-social activities.

 In Nigeria however, the opposite is the case. Electricity generation is at a disappointing level. Despite the huge investment in the sector, darkness remains prevalent in the country. Corruption has destroyed the power sector; the high level of corruption in the power sector, makes a ridicule of the huge investments in the sector. For instance, according to a 2013 report, the government of Nigeria has invested $31.45 billion, from 1999 to 2013, and all that was generated within that fourteen year period is just 2500 MW; thus taking the total electricity generation in Nigeria to around 4500 MW. This is a far cry when compared with the output by other countries within the same fourteen year period. Brazil invested $58 billion in its power sector within a fourteen between 1994 and 2008, while its power generation is about 100,000 MW! With the amount invested in the sector thus far, Nigeria and Nigerians deserve more in terms of power generation.

 The effect of this poor power generation is already being felt by the people. A lot of industries have folded up, small business have equally been flushed away. Others have resorted to artificial backup systems, which translates into high operating costs, which are transferred onto the citizens. Businesses must make profit despite the huge cost of doing business. Due to the high cost of doing business in Nigeria, most business have moved to other African countries that have over the years ensure a steady electricity supply for their people. This diminishes our self-acclaimed status of being the giant of Africa. A giant that cannot cater for his subordinates is worse than a weakling. Our people are insulted and killed in small countries of the world due to the persistent failure of our leaders in providing the basic essentials of living.

 The incoming government therefore, has a job to do; and it must start with the power sector. That it must provide stable electricity for Nigerians is non-negotiable. It must show us that it is different and must get things right. One expects a complete overhaul of the entire sector, and putting mechanisms in place in order to get the desired results. A situation where billions of naira is invested with little result to show for it must stop. The privatization of the sector has yielded little or no result. Nigerians are paying more for electricity they hardly use or consume. This must change!

 There should also be a diversification of the means of power generation. The countries mentioned above do not have oil. Yet, they have been able to provide a steady power for their people. It is therefore shameful that despite the huge deposit of resources in Nigeria, the country is still lagging behind in terms of electricity generation.
The Buhari administration must put an end to this shame. It is hoped it would achieve this through hydro-power generation and a revisit to coal. All the private industries hoping to invest in the sector should be made to come up with a plan on how it intends to explore on other source of power generation, rather than the unwholesome dependence on fuel. Also, investments in that sector must also be monitored in order to ensure that every dime budgeted to be spent is not only spent but spent appropriately. His administration must restore the dignity of government and the status of Nigeria in not just Africa, but in the entire world. The expectations are high; he must therefore, strive to meet these expectations

 I pray that Nigeria witnesses a new birth in the power sector, as we embark on another four years democratic experience under Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
To be continued…
Frank Ijege
frankijege@yahoo.com
@foijege on twitter

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Why Nigeria Is Better Off Without Jonathan By Adejoh Idoko Momoh.

In the last 6 years it has become uninspiring to live in Nigeria and the reasons mostly surround its Commander In Chief, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. His leadership not only leaves Nigeria largely disunited and directionless but also battling one of Africa’s worst insurgencies.

It is a fact that Mr Jonathan will not be remembered for much besides leaving behind a largely unbalanced nation where its rich has never been richer and its poor has never been poorer. His stewardship has seen largely celebrated corruption, weaker public institutions and unbelievable carnage meted on the nation by Boko Haram. Boko Haram has taken about 20,000 square miles of Nigerian territory and displaced more than 850,000 people; the level of carnage the nation currently witnesses is only comparable to the Nigerian Civil War which lasted from 1967 to 1970.

Amidst all these, certain concerns have described Jonathan as deserving of a Nobel peace prize or being statemanly for the act of calling to concede defeat and congratulate General Buhari on his victory at the 2015 Presidential elections, all that talk is hogwash. These people need to realize that it doesn’t take one act alone to redeem six years of purposeless leadership.

For starters, let’s consider the controversial campaign that brought about his political demise. In the 2015 election year, Mr. Jonathan’s campaign largely centered on rhetorics like ‘I may not have delivered on promises, but I promise to do more’. ‘I may not have gotten everything right but Buhari will get it all wrong’. ‘I may not have fought corruption but Buhari will throw us all in jail’. For most people including me, Jonathan’s negative tone shocked us mainly because of its sudden departure from the campaign of hope that brought him to office in 2011. Considering this alone, it is hard to imagine such a person as statemanly or heroic.

When you consider the economy, it is easy to conclude that Jonathan through deliberate policies, pronouncements and actions practically capsized the already shaky financial system he inherited. It is common knowledge that corruption is a way of life in Nigeria but Jonathan stands out for the scale on which it operated under his rule. Probes like the oil subsidy fraud and pension scam exposed theft of sums in excess of the appropriation bills of 2013 and 2014 combined. Both cases would ordinarily be avenues for him to show the will to fight corruption, yet in both cases he shielded the culprits.

In 2011 when he took office, the Nigerian economy would have been on track for a reasonable expansion but instead, through his policies it became more hostile to small business growth, the Nigerian naira saw a free fall and despite the country being oil rich, petrol pump prices skyrocketed.

Amidst income inequality, soaring unemployment and deepening poverty, Nigerians still struggled with paying the N65 petrol pump price. Not long after Mr Jonathan assumed office, he decided to remove the subsidy on petroleum products which resulted in an increased price of N144. Amongst nationwide protests which broke as a result of the dramatic increase in fuel prices, a reduction to N97 was ordered. In January 2015, a further reduction of N10 was announced effectively bringing the price to N87. According to rumors the N10 reduction was effected to achieve cheap political gains. More so, since this politically motivated reduction, major cities across Nigeria have never seen more fuel queues than they currently witness.

Sadly, even the Naira has suffered the same fate. Mr. Jonathan met it hovering at some N150. At that rate Nigerians assumed the exchange rate could not get any worse but Jonathan made it worse, ensuring that the dollar exchanged for at least N230. It only reduced to N198 naira after General Muhammadu Buhari was declared President Elect.

A friend recently reached the conclusion that the only reason Mr. Jonathan accepted defeat even before it was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is because he is too weak to stand a country under chaos, and I agree with him. Critics and sympathizers in a bid to describe Jonathan have described him as slow, unkind, and a genius, but in all their criticism they have all fallen short of calling Jonathan what he really is, a weak, power hungry political light weight. 

Views expressed are solely that of author and soes not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

The Buhari Effect: Wind Or Sand Storm Of #Change? By Abdulrahman Balarabe Abba

On the evening of the 11th of April, 2015 the wind of change which had made landfall two weeks earlier was silently drifting towards the Atlantic ocean, carrying with it huge casualties and signaling the end to the PDP’s 16years unholy dominance of the Nigerian political arena. While the indigenes and residents of a few states like Kaduna, Bauchi, Benue, Plateau and Niger were basking in the euphoria of ushering in a new dawn in their various states, their fellow citizens in some other APC controlled and newly controlled states were also jubilant but cautious about what type of wind they had experienced. No-where was this cautious optimism more visible than in the states of Jigawa and Yobe.

Gov. Sule Lamido of Jigawa state, the Field Marshal of Jigawa politics, and a rare breed amongst the PDP governors especially in the Northern part of the country had over the past 8 years consolidated his party’s structure in his state and also entrenched the dividends of democracy to all far corners of ‘The New World’. His influence in his state and its politics was so strong that ever since 2011, no elective position had gone to any party other than the PDP. His dominance made the opposition virtually non-existent.
On the 13th of April, 2015, Gov. Lamido’s influence in Jigawa politics was brought to a screeching halt. Not only did his anointed candidate for the gubernatorial polls and former Chief of Staff lose, but for the first time in 8 years the Jigawa PDP will not be sending any legislator to both upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly. To crown their dismal performance, the PDP only managed to clinch five seats in the House of Assembly, winning one by a miraculous 198 votes to defeat the APC candidate of that LGA.
En-route his sudden downfall in politics, he took with him a loyal retinue of seasoned and aspiring legislators/politicians whose quality and experience will definitely be missed in the 8th National Assembly. Amongst them were Ex-minister of Education Prof. Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa’I who contested for Federal House of Representative, Hon. Mustapha Khabeeb one of the most vocal, intellectual and influential members of the current House of Representatives and Dr. Danladi Abdullahi Sankara a serving Senator.
A leading traditional ruler in Jigawa state was reported to have complained bitterly and openly that apart from the incoming Governor of Jigawa state, Alh. Mohammad Badaru Abubakar, all other newly elected representatives of his state do not have what it takes to represent and fight for Jigawa State at the National level and was hoping some could be substituted.
Gov. Kwankwaso recently said his counterparts in Jigawa and Niger committed political suicide by staying back on a sinking ship (PDP). While close associates of Gov. lamido whom he led like lambs to their slaughter count their losses, Jigawa indigenes will hope and pray they made the right choice at the polls by voting APC Sak.
As for Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Geidam, whom over the past four years has become flat mates with Gov. Kwankwaso at the Government house in Kano and holds cabinet meetings in Kano and Abuja under the guise of fleeing from his Boko-Haram ravaged State, his re-election is nothing but a sign of respect to President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari from the Yobe electorate. He should take a cue from his counterpart in Borno state, whose own governing conditions are far worse than that of yobe state, but still stays in Maiduguri with those whom he has a social contract with.
For President-Elect to have a successful tenure and his party to sustain its momentum, the APC as a party must call all Governors on its platform to order and educate them on their responsibilities to those who defied all odds to put them where they are today.
The Buhari political effect is a blessing and also a curse to the Northern region of Nigeria. While associating ones political structure with him has given room for a level playing field in Northern politics between the “money bags” and the “have not’s” since 2003, it has also opened up the door for a whole lot of charlatans and devious no-good politicians to ride on his back to positions which they see as a source of enriching themselves and promoting their sadistic desires.
More transparency and involvement should go into selection and election of party delegates and candidates.
The APC must from now on make it their duty to Nigerians to produce credible and competent candidates and ensure that elected officials deliver the rightful dividends of democracy to their citizens.
While some are happy with the wind of change, some certainly feel like the wind had some semblance to a sand storm.

God Bless Nigeria.

Abdulrahman Balarabe Abba
Twitter:@abbanani66
abbanani66@gmail.com

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent the views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Fear Of APC: Governor Mimiko Recalls Workers He Sacked

Ahead of the governorship election, Governor Segun Mimiko of Ondo state has re-instated about 1,000 LGA workers laid off last year following discovery that their employment was “illegal”.

The government also announced that it has waived the outcome of the last promotional examination in the state to ensure that workers in its employment eligible for promotion are promoted.

What this means is that, workers not qualified will now be promoted all because of election.

In a statement issued by the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Hon. Kayode Akinmade in Akure, about 50 workers each, from the 18 local governments in the state laid off following discovery that they were illegally employed, have been re-instated and the irregularities in their employment process corrected.

Government also said it has decided to promote every worker due for promotion irrespective of performance in the promotional examination conducted for them for the same purpose.

According to Hon. Akinmade, “The state Government has re-absorbed and properly employed about 1,000 local government workers identified to have been illegally employed during the last screening exercise in the state.

“The Governor has also ordered the promotion of workers due for promotion to the next level of their career without recourse to the result of the promotional examination earlier conducted for the same purpose.”

20 Killed In Fresh Attacks By Borno Haram In Borno

20 people have been reported killed after suspected Boko Haram members stormed Dile village near Askira Uba in Borno state at about 2am yesterday April 9th. Residents of the village said the sect members, dressed with turbans on their heads and in quasi-military uniform, arrived their village chanting Allahu Akbar, meaning Allah is Great followed by sporadic shooting and burning of houses.

Victory For Nigeria, Change Is Here! By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

Fellow Nigerians, permit me to use this medium to wish you a Happy Easter celebration in a season of change. Let the reason for the season bring salutary change to your lives.
When we started the struggle for change, some people thought we were just blabbing and being jobless. Some thought we were looking for cheap recognition while others said some politicians have paid us. Some even accused us of just being pointless and unnecessarily crying foul. But today, we are vindicated. History has absolved us!
Saturday 28th March 2015, marks a turning point in the history of our country and democracy. This day will be remembered by Nigerians as the day of Change.
Nigerians went to the polls, made their choice, and for the first time, they voted out an incumbent president in a broadly peaceful election.
The 2015 presidential election was not about any of the two major candidates- President Jonathan and General Buhari, which contested for the highest position in the country. It was about the country. It was about securing the future of the nation.
The achievement at the polls is a plus to our democracy and a sign of leadership to the continent. As it stands, this election has done more in cementing our democratic set up and has made it stronger.
This election has not divided us as postulated by some people and groups. Rather it has shown to the world that we are great people with great minds and can become a great nation.
The presidential election also confirms to the world that our diversity represents our strength. That we are much stronger, well blended and bonded than the world could imagine. I will not be wrong to say that against all odds Nigeria refuses to break and won’t break.
It`s so important to say that this victory is not just for General Buhari and Professor Osinbajo alone, nor is it for the All Progressives Congress (APC) party alone. It is a victory for Nigeria. It is a victory both for those that lost the election and for those that won the election. It is a victory for our democracy.
This victory will make leaders in government and people at the helm of affairs to sit up. The fact that those in government now know that they can be brought down when they fail perfom their responsibilities and deliver on their promises is a success for our democracy.
Nevertheless, I must appreciate and commend the relentless efforts and zeal of the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari for dedicating so much passion to bringing positive change to the affairs of this nation since he started contesting for the race in 2003.
Meanwhile, to Professor Osinbajo, you have a lot to do, the world is watching and expecting you to compliment your educational status with leadership.
However, to President Goodluck Jonathan, you have shown leadership and maturity for conceding defeat even in the face of negative pressures. I personally understand that conceding defeat could sometimes be very difficult, but you did! History will remember you. Notwithstanding, I must quickly add that, that does not make you a HERO! It only made you a normal human being, who did the right thing that was expected of him.
While to Namadi Sambo, you are a gentleman, history will remember your gentility.
In addition, to the APC, congratulations to you. I hope that you will deliver on your promises and bring salutary changes to the lives of the people. To the People`s Democratic Party (PDP), it is now time to rebuild yourself, correct your flaws, and come out stronger. I do not want a one party society but a society with stiff competitions among political parties. That’s the only way we can have a better government and leadership.
And passionately to the people, I must say that the victory is yours. This change would not have been possible without you. It just didn`t happen but it happened peacefully. It`s so rare to see change happen ‘’peacefully” in developing countries like ours. But you did it!
Thoughtfully, I would prefer that this victory is dedicated to those that lost their lives to the Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise, to the over 200 abducted #ChibokGirls and to all other victims of terror and that of incompetent, careless and clueless leadership. You deserve the victory!
Finally, Dear General Buhari, I hope you have learnt from President Jonathan, he seems to be a good man with good intentions but the men around him were not supportive.
Therefore, when you`re ready to choose those that will constitute your cabinet, two qualities must come first before all others, they are- “Competence and Integrity”. When you do this, your regime will be recorded for you as excellent.
The presidential election is over, we must now come together, work together and build an indivisible nation. It`s a victory for all.
God Bless Nigeria
Ogundana Michael Rotimi
I tweet @MickeySunny

Views shared are soleley that of author and has no association with www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

#PAUSIBILITY: The Silhouette Of This Presidential Election by Adebayo Coker

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The dark clouds that gathered on our nation has finally cleared. The jubilation on the streets could be likened to the celebration we had when that killer wolf, Abacha was announced dead (no apology to the Abachas as I am not responsible for their father’s irrationality). The good Lord loves this nation. The doomsayers and those prophets that had in their own flesh believed the elections will not hold and if at all it held, the incumbent will be returned, should be left alone in their pulpits as I would want to believe that people would stop ‘patronizing’ such men that lack both physical and spiritual vision.

Let me quickly congratulate all of us for the peaceful conduct of the last week’s Presidential Election. The unprecedented determination of the masses was displayed as people trooped out en mass, both old and young, defying whatever weather conditions, to salvage the country from the seemingly continued abyss and dysfunction it was being navigated into. People invested their night-club time, queued and voted into the dead of the night; some even continued the voting exercise the following day regardless of the frustration brought about by poor logistics of INEC. The common Nigerians resolved in their hearts that the road may be rough but the destination will be reached. The onus of responsibility shelved on our shoulders was borne with utmost maturity that has now birthed a new Nigeria for all of us. Once again, Congratulations!

The hiccups witnessed in some states were indications that we still have space to improve on our growing democratic and electioneering process. Though barbaric, we will get there gradually. I am sure the coming Gubernatorial elections will be better than the Presidential in those South-South and South-East states where acts of brigandage were recorded. The people of those zones will not allow their common will to be truncated.

I managed the tension that was built up during the collation and announcements of the election results in Abuja as it was televised so well that anytime I wanted to misbehave I would ask myself what would GMB or Jonathan be doing by now? That made put myself under check not to die for nothing; the protagonists may not have to check their blood pressure at all, after all it is a game of numbers.

Let me stop here again to congratulate one man that history will vilify for his ineptitude and will also recognise for his sportsmanship, President Goodluck Azikwe Ebele Jonathan.

I am not here to add salt to the injury of anyone but I must say my mind as much as I would not want to talk about politics again via this blog. Starting next week, I want to talk about Citizen’s Rights especially regarding the power that we wield through our votes.

Sir, I ‘defended’ you amongst some people that believed you are politically finished. I told them you enjoy a great deal of goodwill amongst your party men which will earn you the Presidential ticket of your party on a platter of gold just as the same had won it for you in this past election. I am sure you can still sustain that till 2019. I also told them that all your aides love you so much and are ever ready to live with you in Otuoke after 29th May, 2015. Also, we will see great a number of ‘Nuttywood’ stars that will die for you just as some of them had proclaimed.

Your aides were your greatest enemies but I hope this time, you will tell them to have their heads checked with their recent April Fool publication of your humble self deserving of a Nobel Prize. Tell them Alfred didn’t understand the word ‘indolence’, neither did he leave any of his legacies behind for any act of malfeasance. Tell them to stop scamming you by preaching that you could be endorsed by anyone in the Academy that organizes the Nobel Prize because such a prize can’t be bought with dollars. The Prize is not given to anyone who failed in office as a President but admitted the obvious when voted out. You did nothing extraordinary by conceding an obvious defeat. Anyway, you have my good wishes in your future endeavors. When fortune throws anything at one, the beneficiary should try to understand the responsibility that comes with such a gift. I am sure we all will get a better understanding of the transience of power through your acts in office.

I believe the education and social exposure of ‘Elder’ Orubebe should have been added to common sense expected of a man of his caliber to understand that in politics you lose some and you win some. If we conduct an investigation on his home, he must be a wife beater. No matter what apology the elder gentleman may tender after that display of what one good friend of mine tagged “the last rant of a mad man”; he has etched the name of his forebears and future generations in the black book of history. The web will forever hold on to that show of shame for easy referral. Thank God for a more matured Jega, the devil would have used the ‘Pastor’ to truncate our peaceful democratic transition. I am sure that but for the sportsmanship GEJ displayed, he wouldn’t have tendered any apology for that act that even an Asari Dokubo would condemn.

Another lesson to be learnt is that of synergy. I call it: The Synergy That Works. Neither Tinubu nor Buhari could do it alone. Both came together, placed their cards on the table, reached a compromise and formed an alliance to oust their common enemy. They doggedly followed through, sacrificed their personal egos and ambitions, came up with the best of their best (politically and otherwise), and managed their campaigns as well as their candidates including their supporters. Then the result came. Kudos! I hope no one will become too much of a political liability that it will discredit the slogan of CHANGE you so much touted as your singsong?

Let me call your attention to some happenings that may unfold in a few days.

Our national geography may be affected with this Presidential Election results because Fayose had threatened to secede from Nigeria if GMB wins, so, am waiting.

Let us also be wary of Bastard Doyin Okupe (don’t crucify me for adding that appellation. He christened himself that immediately APC clocked one year) because he had threatened that never will GMB be a President in this land. Could it be likened to the report of BY THIS TIME TOMORROW in the bible?

Mama Peace should be put under adequate surveillance: not that she would run away but I suspect someone may attempt suicide. The officers of the law that had turned themselves to attack dogs, political tools and thugs should be ready to take their conscience to the dry cleaners by now. I don’t want to talk about FFK for I know he will dust his APC membership card and start singing Sai Baba!

I am sure any politician will now understand better what we “the collective children of anger” can do and undo. I am glad with the youths of this nation that did not allow themselves to be used as tools of confusion.

Lastly to GMB and Osibajo, I wish I can readily congratulate you and remind you that a friend to a friend of mine used to be your neighbor in Kaduna and Anthony respectively but I am not tempted to give you a hug yet. Not just yet till we start seeing that CHANGE you sold to us in your manifesto. As for me I will begin the change in my small space as I would want to believe that my President will not condone any iota of corruption and would protect me with the rule of law in the face of whatever interest other than national interest, both locally and internationally.

I wish all of us well. It is a New Nigeria after all.

North Cannot Be Deceived By Slogan Of Change- Gov Aliyu

Niger State governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu has stated that those shouting for change are those seeking power for revenge; saying that the north cannot be deceived by such mission of revenge and slogan of change as well as religious sentiment.

Aliyu who spoke over the weekend in Minna at a lecture to mark the 40th birthday of Niger State governorship candidate of PDP, Alhaji Umar Mohammed Nasko noted that some people are seeking power to avenge what they felt was done against them in the past. Aliyu stated that, “you don’t look for change for revenge, Nigerians should look beyond sentiment and vote realistically”.

While saying that in both Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) there are Muslims and Christians as flag bearers he noted that using religion to win election will be effort in futility. Aliyu stated further, that “revenge is un-Islamic and un-Christian, anybody seeking power for revenge cannot claim to be a true believer”.

Read More: leadership

Details Of Why GEJ Sacked Gen. Agwai; Plus OBJ Connection

The word CHANGE is one that President Goodluck Jonathan doesn’t like hearing. And he just confirmed that with his hasty action against a respected retired General, Martin Luther Agwai.

Jonathan on Tuesday sacked General Agwai as chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). And from what PEOPLE gathered from credible sources, his sack is connected to the lecture he delivered last week in Abeokuta during the birthday ceremony of former President Olusegun Obasanjo where he declared that “change is inevitable”.

Speaking at OBJ’s birthday, Agwai noted that change in leadership was inevitable, even as he stressed the need for reforms in the security sector, without which, he said, the country might be doomed.

In his words: “In life, you find out that everything needs change; if that is what the community wants, what the people want, you must give it to them and, as such, it becomes inevitable.

“You can have everything nice, but if you don’t have the right leadership to propel it, it cannot go anywhere. Integrity matters – doing what is good for the larger society and not just what you want to do for a narrow society to please yourself.”

Jonathan has immediately appointed former chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission, Mr Ishaya Dare Akau, as the new chairman of SURE-P.

Presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, noted in a statement that the change in SURE-P leadership was in furtherance of President Jonathan’s “efforts to continuously re-energize and reposition agencies of the federal government for optimal service delivery.”

During Agwai’s speech at the birthday ceremony, he had also warned that should the military abandon its primary responsibility and get involved in politics, the country would be doomed for it.

“The military has to be transformed and this becomes necessary from the point of recruitment, training and assuming leadership role. Our forces that are trained, equipped to defend us are now in a strange field (politics).”

First Lady Calls APC Members Bus Conductors… Asking For “Change”

Dame Patience Jonathan, has likened members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to bus conductors who always ask for ‘change’. The opposition party is known for its ‘change’ as campaign slogan.

The President’s wife called on all women in the country to come out en mass and vote for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the coming March 28 and April 11 general elections and disregard the change anthem championed by the opposition party.

Read More: dailypost.ng

PDP Don’t Tell You About Change Because We Aren’t Bus Conductors That Ask For Change – Patience Jonathan

The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has charged women in the country to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stressing that any woman who votes for All Progressives Congress, APC, is an enemy of herself.

FIRST LADY, DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN AT THE PDP WOMEN RALLY IN IKOM ON WEDNESDAY.

Dame Jonathan, at Orerokpe, Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State, at the PDP Women for Change Initiative Presidential Rally in the state, while applauding the benevolence of the PDP administration to women in the country, cited the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria, YouWin and Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SUREP, as some of the empowerment programmes the President Jonathan administration was using to empower women and youths in the country.

She said: “The PDP is a party that talks less and does more, unlike the APC that tells new lies every week. When you catch them today, they will tell another lie tomorrow. We (PDP) do not tell you about change because we are not bus conductors that ask for change.

“We are now in a digital age and we should reject anyone who wants to take us back to analog days. They keep saying they will do this and that. They should tell us what they have done for Nigerians while in office. As for President Jonathan, he has vowed to do more when he is re-elected.

“President Jonathan has brought a lot of innovation and empowerment programmes for us women. This is because no one loves the Nigerian woman more than Mr. President and the best way to pay him back is by re-electing him.”

#PAUSIBILITY: Change Is The Only Constant Thing by Adebayo Coker

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These past few weeks have seen me skim the local television stations looking for one political campaign or the other, and I must confess it has been an interesting venture for me; I hope am speaking for a greater number of you too. But in all, I want us to hold on to one of the concepts of realism which is “ the determination to face facts and deal with issues practically without being influenced by any sentiments or false ideas; it is the showing of things as they are”.

BTW: I couldn’t submit anything last week as all that came to mind was about that Hotter Big Shop (I hope you can decode), but my preference to yield to the admonition to do no harm to men in cassock made me keep myself away from writing this column altogether.

Without hunger no man will strive for anything; the dearth of qualitative leadership and good governance, for a very long time now in our dear country, has made a good number of the populace clamour for TRUE change in our socio-political life.

There is a school of thought that I strongly believe: the greater the love the greater the hatred that follows any form of betrayal. I remember and I make bold to say anywhere and anytime that GEJ won the 2011 Presidential Election fair and square, as we all thronged our different Polling Stations and thumbed him in because we thought he represented a heave of fresh air, but these past few years have proven all of us wrong. It is never a good thing to make a decision based on sentiments. Never!

Jonathan has proven to us that not everyone who lives with the starving populace really feels their pain. One would have expected a man that fed us with I had no shoes bicky to readily identify the plight of the people and work at fixing the problems, but instead he daily gives credence to a school of thought that says a mind does not work well when the stomach is overfull as a full stomach is conducive only to sleep. This is why a huge number of us are asking this animal Professor to carry all the shoes he has so far bought with our monies and pave way for this change that we so much need in this land. He has proven on many fronts that his person and attitude are Un-Presidential.

I follow how the American billionaire, Donald Trump, daily loads President Obama with criticisms but never for once did POTUS degrade that office by trying to respond to any of those criticisms; rather Obama daily loads the populace with deliveries of his electoral promises and that endears the first black President of the United States the more to his people, regardless of their colour, race or religion. It’s very lazy to set attack dogs to action anytime you are called to give account of your stewardship. These attack dogs have pitched this President and this government against the people they are supposed to preside over with love. They are arrogantly clueless when it comes to managing the affairs of the nation.

On the other hand, GMB has shown to us that he has patterned his life after the giant bamboo whose exterior, though smooth and lovely to touch, is tough and resistant to the swords of the Jonathanians. Buhari has shown that he has space within him for continued growth. His anti-corruption stance is undeniably speaking for him as his report sheet shows neatness, orderliness and is not at all cluttered in anyway, but straight and upward to the sky. Even though he is not the Messiah that will turn our lives around but the people believe he will redeem the nation from the imminent collapse that is seriously hanging over our head if this reckless government is allowed to continue in office.

The people are tired of our seemingly ingrained teachings of corruption and they don’t want to deny themselves the opportunity of saving their dear country, availed by the knowledge of a single person that is appealingly the centerpiece of this social puzzle.

The only thing that is certain is change and to battle change is to waste one’s time, the battle can never be won. To become a willing ally of change is an assurance of life in itself. – Leo Buscaglia

My good people, it is important that we know why we are moving slowly. It’s like village women who are given lectures on birth control. They listen attentively, then go home and imagine that it did not pertain to them, but only concerns their neighbours, and go right on having more and more children. I know this change is not going to be overnight . We have to be patient. We must be willing to offer ourselves for service. We should stop asking why isn’t our society a better place as it will only amount to a total waste of time; rather we should start talking about how we can make our society a better place as I know that question has an answer.

In essence, we all have been accusing the system of being corrupt but habitually fail to realize that we make up the system. The change we need must start with us. Beam the light on yourself. Do not sell your vote!

 

Can the APC Deliver on its Promise of ‘Change’?- The Naija Verdict

Permit me to bore you with a little story. Once upon a time, a man wanted to buy a house and so, he contacted his estate agent who took him to a ramshackle old house. The man, offended, sacked his agent and recruited another. The new agent began to take the man around again and brought him to that same house, formerly ramshackle but now, more presentable with a new lick  of paint. The man was more interested and went in. End of story. Yes, craze dey worry me but, be  patient, you will understand my story soon.

Late last evening, I got an alert on my phone, from a friend who wanted to notify me of the latest ‘breaking news’ in our political circles. According to the reports, one of the PDP Stalwarts was alleged to have jumped ship and crossed over to the APC. For her, a strong APC goon, this was good news. For me, it meant something totally different.

  • Firstly, I had to confirm and re-confirm this story because I do not want to be accused of misinforming my readers. Abi? I nor fit let all of una come here, bite my head say I dey spread rumour, or that I misled you guys. Do you remember the Winners Voltrons from yesterday?I nor want their palaver. I realise now that people will very easily jump over that tiny, yet so important word – ‘alleged’ – and rush to their conclusions with blazing swords. Just like voltron, they will activate interlock and do dynotherms connected, on top small matter. Anyway, sixteen years of PDP education in this country can do that to anyone, so I totally understand.
  • Secondly, I also wondered why this stalwart would opt to choose APC again. After all, there are other political parties in the country? Why APC? What makes APC so attractive to these cross over people? Some of the other parties we have include the Kowa Party, Hope Party, National Conscience Party amongst others. I wonder if these PDP crossover guys are even aware of the variety they have to choose from or if they just want to hang out with their old cronies in this ‘new improved’ APC. In fact, it seems I’m going too far sef. How many of us know all the political parties and the presidential candidates wey dey sef? 

Why this attraction for the APC? Is it possible that the PDP crossovers only need new allies that would safeguard them from the  forthcoming yawa that could gas for corrupt people or perhaps there is an oath that is silently sworn in APC, upon your crossover? Something that could go like this: I, ….. (fill in your name) do solemnly swear that old things are passed away and I shall not be tiffing Nigeria’s money again. So help me God.

  • Thirdly, the struggle between ‘Looking for my Johnny’ and ‘Change your parade’ has gone a little stale. I really would not have minded something that could ginger the scene up a little bit. Therefore, this alleged ship jumper, who is well within his rights to jump if he so desired,  could do us a favour and head over to one of those other parties. Abi e get wetin APC dey give them chop ni?

At the end of the day, this our ‘two main party’ system might not be the best thing to have happened to this country. One has to consider the possibility that a more qualified candidate could exist somewhere in the mix of the 160 million Nigerians and could be in one of the other political parties. Although to be fair to us all, these other parties haven’t really pulled their weight, have they? I wonder why the other parties have done so little thus far. Abi na profit them wan make from this game ni? After all, the government gives some money when you run for Presidency.

  • Most importantly, I began to fear that this ‘Change Campaign’ had begun to get diluted. If this alleged person really came on board, then it would further confuse me of the actual possibility of change. At the end of the day, it looks like  the old and new wife could begin to have too many traits in common.

After tortuously making several calls, it did not seem as though the gist was true but a huge question mark had formed in my mind. The question formed because irrespective of whether this stalwart defects or not, the APC is really full of ex – PDP politicians. I therefore attempted to count the number of crossover cases and in truth, they are too many to mention. Some that readily come to mind are Rotimi Amaechi, Timipre Sylva, Bukola Saraki oh, how can I forget my main man Atiku?

One wonders therefore that if this Buhari led APC Government would therefore be able to embark on the crusade many have long hoped for? How would he be able to fight corruption when his new cronies are the ones who were part of a PDP that institutionalised it? How will APC now be able to bring about the change that so many long for?

Agreed, General Buhari has a track record for being a no nonsense man of high integrity but how will he fare in a democratic environment where he has to work within the ambit of laid down laws? When I raised this issue with my hard core Buharist friends,  they opined that he would still successfully fight corruption. He could do a round about turn after he has been installed in office and begin to tackle corruption in a very robust manner – it would not matter what political party you come from, nobody would be above the law.

My initial thought about this was yimu, it can never work in Nigeria, However, a Nigeria where all men are equal is indeed very alluring. Who knows it could work? There could be something that I might be missing. I would like to know the ‘hows’ and ‘whens’. APC needs to give us those answers because they have begun to look like that old house that has only gotten a new lick of paint. After all, no matter the amount of revamping done on an old house, the foundations would remain the same. Abi nor be so?

Therefore, one wonders if this wind of change would be permitted to blow when the whole area is seemingly contaminated with the same putrid smell we have long been used to. What are your thoughts? Do yo think the APC can bring about the change that we desire?

Over to you, the verdict is yours…

As Seen On: thenaijaverdict.com

Give Me Change Lest I Die! By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope and delusive phantom of hope, that all is well even when nothing is happening to make all well. Hence, we are apt to shut our eyes against the painful truth, that there might be nothing to hope for if there is no change.

There is only one way of judging the future and that is from the past. And by judging from the past five years there is nothing to justify those hopes with which we have been pleased to comfort and console ourselves.

But why should we continue to live in the false phantom of hope that prolongs our torments and increases our fears with no expectations for improvement?

Our nation at this point in time is faced with numerous challenges which could have been averted or completely solved if we have a president that knows his wrongs from the rights, and his left from his right.

One way or the other, either negligence or by inexperience, by misinformation or by carelessness, by greed or by wickedness, majority of the challenges facing us today are left un-resolved and un-attended to. Even sometimes the presidency pretends it’s not aware until the international community reacts to it.

These challenges range from terrorism to insecurity, to poverty and corruption, to a general breakdown of law and order and to all forms of indiscipline, just to mention a few. All these pervade our society today, such that they are fast in becoming a norm in our society and one might be tempted to say they` re already becoming our culture.

No doubt, I would like to have a young, vibrant and articulate president, full of agility and power. Also, I would have loved to have a president with so many academic records and qualifications couple with a humble background. But it is much more important to me to have a president that can perform and deliver good governance to the people, irrespective of his age and academic qualification. What so much matter to me now is his ability to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. That is what I care about now!

Of what use is the academic qualifications and age of a president when over 200 of his girls that he is meant to protect are left un-rescued from the hands of their abductors.

Of what use is the academic qualifications and age of a president if he cannot provide the basis for life- Food, Security and Shelter, for his citizenry.

Of what use is the academic achievements and age of a president if all he does is to blame the oppositions for his flaws and failures.

Of what use is the political affiliation, religion or origin of a president if he can not address even the least challenges facing his citizens.

Are we disposed to be of the people who, have eyes, but see not, and have ears, but hear not, those things that are so germane to our collective development as a nation? Or what would you say is the reason why some are shouting and yelling Transformation, Transformation and Transformation when there is no transformation anywhere? Why do some celebrate gross share of complacency and gross mediocracy in a country blessed with resources and manpower?

As it stands now, If we wish to see those expectations and aspirations, those dreams and desires come true, if we mean to utilise those inestimable privileges that we possess as a nation, if we mean to see our country rise up to the league of great nations, we must work and demand for change!

I know what I`m asking for and am not in any way blinded by any form of sentiments or the other. As much as I wish to see the so many promises of this current administration come to reality, I wish much more to stop hoping on the repeatedly failed promises and huge global shame that it has brought on the nation.

If we had made a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our hands, sixteen (16) years of uninterrupted democracy should have brought a salutary change to every sector of the country. But the reverse is the case.

However, what is it that men wish? What would they love to have? A continuous stagnancy built on a phantom of hope called Transformation? Or change that is reliable and dependable? But as for me, Forbid it Almighty God, that I continue to live and comfort myself in false of hope and airy promises. I know not what choice others may have made; but as for me, give me Change Lest I Die!

God Bless Nigeria

@MickeySunny

Views Expressed Are Solely Author’s…

#Pausibility: Functional Juxtaposition by Adebayo Coker

Credit: Premium Times

Credit: Premium Times

My good people, I hope the year is starting on a good note for you, especially with the ongoing political gimmickry that is clogging our clouds? The furor is a ploy to get you to submit to either a true leader or a loot leader, and the kind of leader that will emerge depends on the choice you make.

There is no fuss about it, the battle is between two major political parties and two major political candidates. Before we make our choice, let us draw some comparison between these elements; assets or liabilities, their functionality will guide us, since both have, at one time or the other, functioned in the highest capacity of service to motherland.

Before I go further, I must quickly make a resounding clarification about what I found intrinsic to both of these candidates. Neither of them has an educational attainment that is better than the other. I know authoritatively that one has a dysfunctional PhD, and the other has an insufficient certificate that should be considered of a political leader at this time and age; but I know that a dullard (apart from Abacha), cannot lead an army as respectable as ours. He was a General in the army. So no one should pride the certificate of his candidate as better than the other between the two major political parties. That said, let us address real issues affecting our land.

Corruption is the major bane of our national morass and we have heard and keep hearing different statements being made by these duo. One was known for his War Against Indiscipline which is one of the reasons he is being PDPiqued against. He was known for his strong stance against this menace to the extent that he jailed corrupt politicians during his military days as Head of State. He was said to be too high-handed for building prisons and sending political opportunists to the gulags where they rightfully belong. It is being senselessly mouthed that he obviously will jail more corrupt politicians if allowed to come back as an ELECTED President. On the other hand, we see how the other is tackling corruption, primus inter pares, making us to change our psyche about the putrefaction through a redefinition of the menace as mere pilfering; a common misdemeanor. This leader not only surrounds himself with people who can evoke a physical transmogrification with so much ease, in order to evade being nabbed by the hands of the law in a nation that frowns at ‘stealing’, but goes on to celebrate such rogues, to the point that they enjoy Presidential pardon and are conferred with national honours. To him, employing this method will make corruption very unattractive.

The growing rate of insecurity in the nation is giving all of us sleepless nights, with the exception of those who have one odechi or the other that can withstand bombs. One of the candidates recently demanded $1bn to procure modern ammunition to rout the insurgents. This came amidst many alibis for the continued failure of the military to perform to expectation as led by this C-in-C, that has arrogantly refused to visit his soldiers on the battle field, not until he needed to score a political point. I must quickly point out here also that the said procurement, though corruptly shrouded in some mystery, (as is expected considering his stance on corruption) and has also led to a national disgrace, is in the first place not necessary because my little understanding leads me to know that a sharp cutlass will remain useless if not held by a BRAVE farmer, just as the Yorubas will say: ada to mu san san ko le sa ‘ko fun ara re. What the military needs at this time of our national history is a good head that is truly a good head in terms of motivation and due appreciation. You can buy the best kalachin in the world if your James Bond is not well motivated and maintained to pull the trigger, then you have spent in futility. On the other hand, some of us saw how the other candidate overran Maitatsine (a terrorist group like Boko Haram) in the 80s. He routed them from our shores and sanity was restored to our land, without demanding a bullet more than what was in the artillery.( Please note that it has been proven that many military hardware were procured during Gen. Buhari’s regime.) I am sure you will say times have changed, but you must know that a functional dane gun is still a gun as exemplified by the great hunters that fought and killed some insurgents few months ago in Borno state.

The constitution of the country, though fractured, saddles the person of the President with a great deal of responsibility and that is why he or she is sworn-in under an oath to perform his/her duty without fear or favour. That is to say, he is the father of all. Recently, we see how low our political elites have stooped, so low that the office of the President and the Presidency at large, have resorted to the use of gutter language in addressing supposed political enemies. On many occasions, they appear to promote a form of hegemony whereby some people are made inviolable because of their link to the President, regardless of their insensitive utterances, even when such are obvious threats to our national unity. I urge you to read #Pausibility: Excuse Me, This Is A Secular State to get a better understanding.

Already, one of the candidates is being accused of being a bigot; but may I ask who a bigot is when those accusing him are intolerant of the truth? Ask them to provide evidence and they become flippant. Who is the bigot when someone mounts a podium and says because a candidate is not from the North is why the insurrection is beamy? What is bigotry when you try convincing me to cast my vote on the sentiment that I am a Christian or a Muslim? What is bigotry when you only embark on mudslinging instead of addressing fundamentals? You accused someone of being a fanatic; you even accused him of making some inciting statements and the man proved his non- culpability by taking you to court, only for you to beg him to settle out of court. Isn’t that a pointer that you are only interested in tactless mudslinging just as your desperation knows no bound to the point of tendering an Oluwole- generated document against the same man’s health, to the extent that you are already preparing his obituary while he is still hale and hearty?

For any nation to grow, education is very germane. Our school- leavers roam the streets because the education systems and qualities have become so watery that hardly do we get a reasonable percentage of credits in our entrance examinations. One of the candidates claimed to have built more Higher Institutions of Learning, but let us ask of what quality these institutions are and of what quality are the programs and lecturers of such institutions? Recently the universities were closed down for about a year yet the youths are being promised a better tomorrow; leaders of tomorrow with no sound educational foundation you ought to have added. I rode in one of the buses donated by the PTF and I can point to hostels built by the same parastatal in OAU and in other schools.

Having to survive by the day is akin to a miracle because the prices of essential commodities are chameleonic each passing moment. Peradventure you don’t know, the pump price of fuel in Lagos is not the same as it is in Ondo, not to mention Otuoke, despite the Wooden Horse we have been offered in the #10 reduction in pump price of fuel. We once enjoyed Commodity Price Control, inter alia, in this country.

As I submit this article, Judiciary Staff and Health Care workers are on strike, spanning over 3months. Salaries are being owed but these thieves have billions to throw around. Don’t be enslaved through the morsel being doled out to you under the guise of stomach infrastructures. Take their (your) money and vote your conscience.

“I lay before you life and death, but I urge you to choose life so that you may live…”

What I see in one man is a passion for his motherland, and in the other I see crass negligence to address commonsensical national issues. I see principled determination in one, while the other enjoys a fatal submission to circumstances, a parochial by-product of laziness.

I am not a member of APC but my slogan is CHANGE!

The Role of Nigeria Youths in Nation Building By Whyte Habeeb Ibidapo

It is said that blood is thicker than water. It is what defines us, bind us and curses us.  For some, blood means a life of wealth and privilege. And for others, it is a life of servitude. A man should take pride in what he builds, but it should be remembered that what he does to where he hails from is the only real wealth he can claim. I am not immune to distress and like most real Nigerians, I find it hard to shake the feeling these days that our celebrated democracy has gone seriously awry. No thanks to the big destructive daddies. They are the set of leaders who practice a brand of politics that goes beyond the greed for lucre. The evil they commit is never lost; each evil act has a root, and every bit of evil they sow, in time will always bear fruits. I can’t help feeling that the politics of today suffers from a case of arrested development.

It is not that a gap exists between our professed ideals as a nation and the realities we witness every day. In one form or another, that gap has existed since Nigeria’s birth. Civil war have been fought, laws passed, systems deregulated, unions organized and national protests staged to bring promise and practice into closer alignment. All good efforts have been interrupted by bad deeds of the ‘oga at the top’ or the other. The main trouble is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics, and the ease with which we are distracted by petty and trivial things and chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem. It should be noted that the country’s tectonic plates had shifted. Politics is no longer simply a pocketbook issue but a moral issue as well, subject to moral imperatives and moral absolutes. This is why it is the business of everyone. We do not have enough time to wait for a politics with maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised.  Whenever we dumb the political talks or interest, we lose. For it’s precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political talks, that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face as a country.

But even then in depth of my grief, not all was darkness. I found the socialize medicine that can be used to cure Nigeria’s present predicament if put into proper use. This medicine was gotten from the books of history that relates to Nigeria as a country. History has it that Nigeria is a great country and has produced great people. One of the striking accounts revealed is the age of her good leaders. The fact remains that the era Nigeria had the best governance was when many of her leaders were in their youthful ages. It shows that Nigeria was best ruled by the youths. The poser now is where are the real Nigerian Youths with guts? I mean guts for genuine leadership tussle and not gut for the love of the full pocket filled with the remains of a looted treasury. What are the youths doing to help restore the image of this country? I learnt from the books that an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

It can be well argued that the youths are trying their best through their various initiatives. Being busy is not the same as accomplishing something. These organizations are set up with good paper work but when they start operation, it is nothing to write home about. They are only dedicated to find their way to a politician that would use them as tool of destruction during electioneering processes. Afterwards, they give awards to them for looting their country’s treasury and making the entire citizens hopeless. Though, some are pretty doing well by pursuing the goals of their initiative and they never compromise standards. They all exist around us, whether for good or for bad.

It is time for the youths to wake up to the reality and forget the theories. It is time for us to act what we say. It is time for us to stand up for Nigeria. It is time for us to come together and support good initiative that would further the course of this noble country. It is time to create the real order which is ‘change’. We are the true leaders and it is through us that the true leaders can emerge. The real time for sacrifice is now. The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective, it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face was marred with dust, sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and come short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end what triumph of achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor loss.

The dream of our great nationalists who fought for Nigeria’s independence from the British imperialists must be restored. They envisioned a nation anchored on egalitarianism, justice, fairness and good governance. It is our duty to make change our new order of pursuit. We must arise and obey the call in full to serve with heart and might so that we can build a nation where peace and justice shall reign.

Whyte Habeeb Ibidapo

@whytehabeeb on Twitter