citizenisb: Second, this nation is littered with 3rd worlders and those people are VERY comfortable, accustomed, ok with having oligarchs (who are white) rule over them and commit massive corruption every single day.  In fact, in black-run cities, they virtually INSIST on having a corrupt leader.  Bonus points if he's black too.

Ordinary whites seem to believe blacks have the same innate notions of right and wrong and even same basic concept of how government works.  They don't. Most asians get this, but they have corruption issues as well.  Blacks don't conceptualize governance as representation, they conceptualize it as ownership, chiefdom.  It is not corruption to them, it is what the chief do with he property, as he see fit because it beez his.

There's no innate African concept of construction, building for the future, things are here and now, very non future time oriented.  We got 13% of them

Mandelaguy: What has the date of registration have to do the with the fact that has been tabled before this forum, if you have no reasonable contributions to make on this topic please you are advised to keep shut,as not to distract others with your ignorance. Anyone can register at any time he or she deems fit, why bring up the issue of registration here?

Nonnyz:
I GUESS HE OR SHE LACKS IT KNOWLEDGE... and needs to be tutored!

LocalChamp: Labaran Maku’s Funeral By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
Posted: December 5, 2012 - 16:21

If you want to kill a politician, make him or her the minister of information.

At this year’s Nigerian Independence Parade in New York City, I listened to Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, as he addressed Nigerians. The drama of his experience at the podium reminded me of that line in William Butler Yeats’ famous poem, The Second Coming.

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity.”

Maku was full of passionate intensity that day. But it did not rub off on his audience. At times he was booed for making outrageous claims. It happened when he claimed that electricity supply in Nigeria had improved so much that some places enjoyed 24-hour power. It happened again when he claimed that great trains were running again in Nigeria.

He was talking to a special audience. Gathered there were patriotic and optimistic Nigerians. They were not whiners. They were not Nigerians who hated their country. Many of them were very young, boiling with enthusiasm. In their protected innocence about the Nigerian project, this group was itching to forge ahead and do great things in spite of the challenges. They could take bad news as long as they could sense a genuine focus on the dream.

But Maku was more interested in fooling them. He was ignorant of his audience’s sophistication. He was unaware of his audience’s deep network inside Nigeria and their clear understanding of the ‘situation on the ground.’ He deployed old-fashioned propaganda in an ipod age.

You don’t tell people who stepped out of the New York subway that the second hand trains Nigeria has been picking up from junkyards of the world would amount to the best train system in Africa. You do not tell people who had not experienced power outage once in ten years that some parts of Nigeria now enjoy 24-hour power supply and expect them to clap for you. Certainly not when many of them spent their summer holidays in Nigeria and did not experience such anywhere.

Maku had the best audience he could find anywhere in the world -boys and girls who wore green and white attires, painted their faces the color of the Nigerian flag. And he blew it. And right there, I lost hope in his ability to make it anywhere.

I was, therefore, not surprised that, while hanging out in London with the former British Minister for Africa, Lynda Chalker, Mr. Labaran Maku declared, "The Nigeria media is so negative about the country. They are not interested in believing the progress being made in the country. They are running the country down".

Mr. Maku is a child of the media. He surely knows something about how the press works. He knows that “the only countries where newspapers are full of good news are those countries where the prisons are full of good people.” Maku is just not letting it out. Or maybe not. Maybe he was living a lie all these years that he was a Student Union activist and reporter. Maku, a former editor, knows that editors worship the devil. And politicians do everything in their power to keep the devil around the political arena. It is a symbiotic relationship.

Mr. Maku, in case you have forgotten, this is how the press works -the press reports the news. In a developing country like ours, the bulk of the news comes from the government- in this case, your government. The rest comes from what members of the press see around them.

Here are your typical news story headlines of each week:

Boko Haram bombs this church killing this number of people.
This international organization ranks Nigeria last in this or that development index.
Kidnappers pick up this prominent Nigerian and are demanding tens of millions
An investigative committee unearths billions of naira stolen from this government agency
Nigeria borrows this millions of dollars from China for development
Police officer kills bus driver for refusing to give N20 naira bribe
A pregnant woman dies at the hospital because she couldn’t pay N20,000 deposit
“90% of rape cases is self-inflicted,” says this state Attorney-general
Former government official buys billions of naira home in Abuja
Youth unemployment rises to 75%
Government official flown to Europe for medical treatment

Maku, these are the typical news story of every week in your Nigeria. Which of them makes the media negative? Which of them do you want the media to underreport? Wait, wait, wait, don’t tell me. I know what your answer will be. None. All you want is for the media to balance it up. Publish the good news as well as the bad news.

Ok, lets go through your typical good news of each week.

The eight wonder of the world, the Eko Atlantic Project, is in progress.
JTF has killed another Boko Haram commander
Nigeria’s GDP grows by 7.8%
Bank ABC has declared a profit of hundreds of billions
Another pastor buys a private jet.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve grows

Maku’s job of selling good news is made difficult not by the cynicism of the Nigerian people but by the epic river of corruption swelling around the government he defends. In Nigeria, bad news does not interrupt good news, instead it is good news that interrupts a stream of bad news. People feel the pulse of the nation based on what they see in their family and their corner of the country. It is not based on GDP figure.

To compound Maku’s problems, the mainstream media has lost its control over what people read, view or hear. While Maku’s predecessors could buy up the media, it is hard to bribe millions of citizen reporters who are busy on their cell phones snapping pictures and twitting away. Poor rankings of Nigerian in healthcare, education, life expectancy and infant mortality are not just statistics. There are people behind the figures. And these people now have a means to have their say about what they feel. In a connected world the expectations of these people are increasing. Just the same way President Jonathan was entertained in Ethiopia with beautiful cutleries and he came back and added hundreds of millions to Aso Rock budget for kitchen wares, Nigerians are becoming aware of the standard of life in other parts of the world and they want a piece of it.

In a government full of tragic individuals, Maku is the most tragic of them all. He spent years fighting the establishment. But once he became part of the establishment he finds himself screaming at the top of his voice that there is no establishment anymore.

Maku has the right to use his life-long mastery of the language of compliant to feign ignorance and self-righteousness. He does so while he tortures the truth, sacrifices the wretched and flatters the corrupt. It is falsehood that demands spin. Truth ascends to the surface no matter how many heavyweights fighters are holding it down. Haunted by a dark desire to keep the irony of his existence private, Maku is left to marvel at his unflinching failure to convince.

Maku is already guilty of intellectual dishonesty. He is capable of much more. But not to worry, it is his own funeral.

taharqa: Am nt interestd in dis topic, but abeg stop spitting LIES as it relates to d FOI bill. 'GEJ had nothing to do wit it'; 'it was neva an executive bill'. What d helll are u talking about? Do u know d history of dat bill?.... The bill was d 1st bill or so introducd to d NA by civil society groups in 1999, and Obj allowd it to stall there as much as possible; and when he saw dat d bill may pass, he unitarally withdrew d bill from d NA in an extremely unconstitutional move and unda d guise of 'National Security' removd certain parts of d bill and sent whateva was left back to d NA. This eventuali destroyd any chance of d passage of d bill b4 d end of 2003. Afta 2003 in Obj 2nd term, d bill startd its checkerd journey again 4rm d start , and even in d face luckwarm rxtn or even subtle hostility from d Executive d bill eventuali passd b4 2007 largely in d initial form Obj wantd, yet he refusd to sign d bill saying dat he didnt like d Title of d bill! (of course it was actuali cos neither himself nor most of d ruling elites wantd to pass a bill dat wud throw open d activities and 'secrets' of govt to d open). Afta 2007, enter Yar'adua: d bill was 'reintroducd' and d process startd again. This time Yar'adua made it clear tru two of his top aids in his inner circle dat he was nt going to sign d bill cos it was 'dangerous' and injurious to 'National Security and stability' (i recall with horror hearing Yar'adua NA adviser, Sen Abba, saying these on TV during those days). Expentedly, d bill didnt even pass d NA till Yar'adua's death. Howeva, when Jonathan enterd he quickly promisd dat he will sign d bill when it passd, a promise he fulfilld. Thats why we hv presently d most important bill dat OPENED govt records and processes to d public for d 1st time in d nations history; a bill dat overrode d Official Secret act (and other such degrees/acts) which d colonial masters institutd when they were exploiting us, and which all subsequently Nigerian ruling elite hv jealously guarded and even expanded, UNTIL NOW....

Mandelaguy:
Resident I.mbecile. You said expensive. What makes the tour expensive? And you came up with the lame and laughable argument that it ought to be expensive because it's a govt project.
This is the most I.mbecilic attack I hve seen on NL. You see why I told you that your I.mbecility is grossly underestimated.

You have no record whatsoever on the cost of the tour.. You have no idea of how it is funded. You just jumped into the conclusion that it is expensive because you must do the job for which you are paid for- Blackmail.

Please learn to be more tactful in pursuing this dirty assingment by your paymasters so that it can have a semblance of truth.
If you had common sense, you would have intelligently conjured up a figure to make it more believable. OLODO!

We are not gullible in this forum. You can't just label a project expensive without any cost or figure attached to it?

Demdem:

crap. u kept on talking of "introduce the bill" and who did introduced the bill? how does it negate what i stated earlier? was it the retardeen that introduced the bill? i know the history of the bill in question and dont need ur distored facts. O yes, the retardeen signed it like he has promised but he never initiated it neither did he mandate maku to make sure the bill was passed in the NASS like some goats seems to be saying here.

if u arent interested in the topic then shut ur trap and move on instead of u coming here taking about non-existent lies.

Puntae: STILL VIEWING THOUGH WITH AN INTEREST!

Nonnyz:
Yours is a bias one we don't need u here.. So PASS like ur doing....!

Mandelaguy:

You have gradually reduced yourself to an object of ridicule. Gallivanting from one post to the other in defence of unbridled ignorance.
All these your s.tupidity is just in order to strip Maku of credit due to him for facilitating the passage of FOI which was frustrated for years. It won't fly. Try another trick.

Demdem:

crap. u kept on talking of "introduce the bill" and who did introduced the bill? how does it negate what i stated earlier? was it the retardeen that introduced the bill? i know the history of the bill in question and dont need ur distored facts. O yes, the retardeen signed it like he has promised but he never initiated it neither did he mandate maku to make sure the bill was passed in the NASS like some goats seems to be saying here.

if u arent interested in the topic then shut ur trap and move on instead of u coming here talking about non-existent lies.

Elueme: This is one problem with dummies like you who are so low in thinking and as such stereotyped to logic. It also goes to show the height of your joblessness if you can find the ample time to start digging the profiles of others and tagging them because they have a descending view. Grow up nd stop being a toddler.

taharqa: Just look at dis LIAR again. Who said he 'initiatd' it? Did you read d comment you just thought u responded to?... You said on dis very thread dat GEJ didnt do much in getting d bill passd and signd cos according to you: 'any dunce can sign d bill afta passage cos of National interest' (an extension of yr 'famous' negative OBSESSION with GEJ). My comment was to show dat nt only d last 2 democratic presidents (OBJ and Yar'adua) not only blatantly refusd/promisd not to sign d bill but actuali meticulously workd against it; furdamore, dat ALL oda past Nigerian leadas, both democratic and military (and dier lieutenants) since colonial era made it a point of duty to KEEP govt business and records SECRET, till GEJ agreed/promisd to d passage and signing of d bill. A promise he kept... There wud nt be an FOI bill today if GEJ had workd against d bill and/or he simply refusd to sign it like odas did, PERIOD. GEJ and those membas of d Civil society dat had bn pushing d bill since 1999 as well as sm membas of d NA, made it happen. SIMPLE.

Demdem:

O yes, the retardeen signed it like he has promised but he never initiated it neither did he mandate maku to make sure the bill was passed in the NASS like some goats seems to be saying here.

remzytimer: Dora is the best ever..................

Demdem:

infact i prefer prof Dora to this shameless liar (MAKU) of a being.

Demdem:

Foool, and how does this negate all what i have been saying since? where exactly are the lies u spotted? Didnt i acknowledge the fact that the retardeen signed it just like he promised? Infact all what he did as to sign the bill, case closed



U did say u werent interested in this topic earlier and it will do u much good to stay clear if u still arent. The issue at stake here is how Maku comes into the picture? thread about maku and not the retardeen. probably u know the steps taken by maku in making sure this bill in question was passed. that is the main crux of this thread FYI

taharqa: [s]MUMU-ish. Shameless Idioot. Hear yrself again: 'infact, all what he did was to sign it'. DUMMY, of course he signd it; even a certified LIAR and HATER like yrself wud nt be able to dispute dat, BUT dat was nt 'all what he did..' and d credit can mostly go to 'Abike Dabiri and oda membas of d NA'. That there is an FOI bill today, one of d tins that hv led to dis admin bn d MOST OPEN in d nations is MOSTLY cos GEJ decided (deliberately) to not just work against d bill and/or refusd to sign it if/when passd like Obj and Yar'adua and odas did, PERIOD. Any attempt to mk it seem as though he just 'merely' signd it afta it passd, according to you cos 'any dunce wud hv signd it cos of National security' (you dont know hw rili Silly dis quote of yrs mk u look) is a diabolical LIE- Lies only told cos of HATRED and Negative OBSESSION with d principle. Sm civil society groups, journalists and sm NA membas certainly contributd but dis is GEJ's almost singular contributn to deepening d nation's Democracy and OPENNESS....[/s]

Demdem:

Foool, the normal utter crap that oozes out from ur rotten brain. when asked to show us the lies spilled, he is no where to be found. The truth is the retardeen signed it like he promised, nothin more or less. I dont know why its difficult for ur miserable kind to accept this.
i wonder what ur kind will be saying had it been he initiated it? Shameless iidiots.

taharqa: Hahaha *kai! laugh wan killi me*...when he starts striking tru comments know dat d Idioot is at his wits end.....*smh* go check yr self guy; yr OBSESSION is nt normal, bliv me. All d best sha....

Fool, and that laugh will surely killi u but before then tell us what more the retardeen did than to sign the FOI. better still what maku did which is the main reason for this thread

Demdem:

Fool, u are basically saying that there is no cost attached to it right. What a "daftty" u are. Even if its 1kobo, its still a waste considering the fact that many are being paid to do exactly what the tour is all about
besides why should they go for a miserable tour when dedicated govt agencies, individual ministries, special advisers etc are being paid to make sure govt projects are done as at when due. if these ones arent doing their work, why are they still within govt employ.

Mandelaguy:

[s]Jobless mugu. Go to school and learn about portfolios of Ministers. What is the job of an information minister other than spreading information about the activities of government?

The primary duty of an information minister is to bridge the communication gap between the people and government. A good minister of information will have to evolve policies and programmes that will be suited for this purpose.
A minister of Information is not to create jobs as you have misled some of your ignoramuses to think on this thread. A minister of information is to propagate information through viable and verifiable means.

The National Good governance tour is surely a legitimate means for this end. The tour was budgeted for in 2012 budget and approved by both Houses of the National Assembly.
Go and meet your legislator to tutor you on why he or she passed the budget for the tour. He will talk sense into your dull wet brains.

In addition, the tour was approved by the Governors forum to run through thier respective states. It has both the backing of all governors as the tour will get to all states including Lagos.
Rather than make noise on Nairaland about what you don't know, I suggest you tell your paymasters to get ready to showcase what they have done.
The era of cheap talk is over. Maku is coming to expose all incompetent governors and paymasters. F.ool![/s]

Demdem:


besides why should they go for a miserable tour when dedicated govt agencies, individual ministries, special advisers etc are being paid to make sure govt projects are done as at when due. if these ones arent doing their work, why are they still within govt employ.

Demdem:

Crap. Its a waste. deal with it.

mu2sa2: Labaran Maku has been a good talker right from his days as students union leader at unijos in the 1980s. so no surprise about his performance as information minister. But the man has undergone personal transformation since his days as deputy governor in Nassarawa state. In his university days he wore only one or two shirts for year (ask anyone who was in unijos 1986-88), but he now wears expensive guinea brocade 3-piece agbada complete with 30k Borno cap. Surely, Labaran Maku is not a comrade anymore- How times change?

Mandelaguy:
what a clueless response to indisputable facts. Carry on. Keep showing the world the stuff you are made of-A paid cyber clown.

Fool, talking about his duties does not in anyway suggest that the tour is not a waste. Its duties can still be acheived without involving himself with this jamboree (a duty many are being paid to constantly do). Arseholess like u simply cant decode such.

Mandelaguy:
bros, you must be a comedian. So in your mind, you expect Maku to be wearing the same pair of shirts he wore in 1986 before you affirm him a comrade. Are you for real? Or you are just joking?

please tell me it's a joke