₦airaland Forum

Mine too..

"Rotimi Amaechi Begs Nigerians to be Patient" - Premium Times

Unlike some of the arrogant spokespersons of the administration who talk at the people instead of talking to them, Amaechi's recent plea is actually humble and persuasive.

He retails the usual yarns about the rot they "met on the ground" which was in fact "worse than we had anticipated".

I gave my prescient response to this line of argument on May 29, 2015, when I delivered the inauguration lecture of my friend, Nasir El Rufai, in Kaduna. I told Nasir (and sent him to his Oga in Abuja) that this is not an argument that we, the people, are going to accept from a change government. I will have the text of the lecture sent to Rotimi Amaechi so he can find another thing to say, as we say in Naija.

But I must insist: he was very humble in his plea to Nigerians. He sympathized. He empathized. He claims to fully understand the difficulties Nigerians are facing especially as everybody is broke and the definition of change starts with having change in your pocket. He then claims that change also involves a change in the structure and they need more time.

Great attitude, great message. This is the tone, tenor, and mien that this government's spokespersons should adopt in talking to the people. The Buhari can do no wrong fundamentalist supporters, whose strategy is intimidation, name-calling, bellyaching, forming inbox egbinrin ote groups to malign people, etc, should go and read Rotimi Amaechi's approach and learn how to better present the President's message.

If you adopt Rotimi Amaechi's strategy, I will respect your view. You have the right to hold the opinion that President Buhari is superior to Jesus Christ and Mohamed. Present it with humility and learn to accept other people's right to differ and to see him as a fallible one of us who can and who does make mistakes and who will continue to be heavily scrutinized and critiqued in accordance with democratic norms and practices. There is no way you can expect us to allow you to turn Nigeria into a theocracy in which President Buhari is Theos. To each his or her own way of helping the administration help Nigeria according to the dictates of their conscience.

Back to Rotimi Amaechi. One can only encourage him to continue to make his case in that light. That is how to engage the people when you are serving them. One also hopes that he will graciously respect the people's right to reject his pleas on one ground: right message, right attitude, terrible philosophy.

You see, as humble as Amaechi comes across, his pleas to the Nigerian people still come from that unchanging philosophy of national sacrifice as defined by Nigeria's political elite since independence. It is as if there is a school where every member of the political elite goes to learn by rote that once you are in government, you must master the art of expanding your tastes and privileges while insisting that the people must sacrifice and tighten their belts.

This is the informing philosophy of Rotimi Amaechi's latest plea to the people for patience. Honourable Minister, we hear you but we do not accept your message sir. A gbo sugbon a o gba.

People say we should always suggest solutions when we write since we, writers, and not the people running their lives in government, are supposed to come up with the solutions. Okay, here are solutions I will suggest to Mr. Rotimi Amaechi to help him better sell his pleas of patience to the people next year:

1) We want to know what your current retirement package is in Rivers state.

2)You spent time as Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly before spending time as Governor for eight years. Are we talking of one retirement package or were you sentenced to two retirement packages for life, one for your time as Speaker and the other for your time as Governor? This is Nigeria. It can happen.

3) Fundamentally speaking, what is the logic behind life pension for those who spend two terms of office in a mad country that does not respect pension for teachers, nurses, and civil servants who put in over three decades of service? Does this make sense to you, Mr. Amaechi? Does it make sense to you that these humongous life sentence of pension also involves choice houses - sometimes in the state capital and Abuja -and regular replacement of your jeeps?

4) Does it make sense to you that you are combining whatever this life pension is in Rivers state with the statutory emoluments of your current station as a Federal Minister? How do our "development partners" in the developed world hear this unbelievable things about us and still take us seriously as a country?

5) Mr. Amaechi, are you aware that in the Senate, there are more than twenty former Governors combining life pension with the immoral and amoral emoluments of the Nigerian National Assembly?

6) The other day, your fellow Federal Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, was grumbling and complaining about Daily Trust. Daily Trust had put the number of jeeps in his convoy at six and he said that he uses only five and not six jeeps in his convoy. He has sacrificed one jeep in line with change. Mr. Amaechi, what do you think of this? What is the size of your own convoy? When you travel all over Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, etc, for meetings with your counterpart Ministers in those places, have you ever seen a Federal Minister in a convoy? Many of those Ministers ride bicycles to meet with you because it is more convenient. If they drive their car to work, their parking spot in the Ministry is not free. Their parking fee is deducted annually from their salary.

7) The solution to having your message accepted is simple: let the structural change you are talking about start with the will to block this particular drain on the Nigerian people. Start by being the sacrifice that you preach. Renounce your pension in Rivers state. Cut out your convoy. We shall support you. We shall have your back.

cool Once you have renounced your own pension in Rivers state, become a crusading voice for an across the board revocation of political pension in our system.

9) Your peers are dangerous. They will ostracize you. They will try to silence you. If they see that your message is resonating with the people, there will be assassination attempts against you. Risks are part of the sacrifice you must be willing to take for the people. Anyway, you are part of the culture I am describing to you so you know what to expect from your fellow people in the circles of affluence and privilege if you go rogue and start a movement for the revocation of political pension and the abandonment of our obsessive convoy culture.

10) Do these things and come back in May 2017 to plea with the people for patience. You will find eager and listening ears. For now, I am afraid, you're wasting your time and our time

"Rotimi Amaechi Begs Nigerians to be Patient" - Premium Times

Unlike some of the arrogant spokespersons of the administration who talk at the people instead of talking to them, Amaechi's recent plea is actually humble and persuasive.

He retails the usual yarns about the rot they "met on the ground" which was in fact "worse than we had anticipated".

I gave my prescient response to this line of argument on May 29, 2015, when I delivered the inauguration lecture of my friend, Nasir El Rufai, in Kaduna. I told Nasir (and sent him to his Oga in Abuja) that this is not an argument that we, the people, are going to accept from a change government. I will have the text of the lecture sent to Rotimi Amaechi so he can find another thing to say, as we say in Naija.

But I must insist: he was very humble in his plea to Nigerians. He sympathized. He empathized. He claims to fully understand the difficulties Nigerians are facing especially as everybody is broke and the definition of change starts with having change in your pocket. He then claims that change also involves a change in the structure and they need more time.

Great attitude, great message. This is the tone, tenor, and mien that this government's spokespersons should adopt in talking to the people. The Buhari can do no wrong fundamentalist supporters, whose strategy is intimidation, name-calling, bellyaching, forming inbox egbinrin ote groups to malign people, etc, should go and read Rotimi Amaechi's approach and learn how to better present the President's message.

If you adopt Rotimi Amaechi's strategy, I will respect your view. You have the right to hold the opinion that President Buhari is superior to Jesus Christ and Mohamed. Present it with humility and learn to accept other people's right to differ and to see him as a fallible one of us who can and who does make mistakes and who will continue to be heavily scrutinized and critiqued in accordance with democratic norms and practices. There is no way you can expect us to allow you to turn Nigeria into a theocracy in which President Buhari is Theos. To each his or her own way of helping the administration help Nigeria according to the dictates of their conscience.

Back to Rotimi Amaechi. One can only encourage him to continue to make his case in that light. That is how to engage the people when you are serving them. One also hopes that he will graciously respect the people's right to reject his pleas on one ground: right message, right attitude, terrible philosophy.

You see, as humble as Amaechi comes across, his pleas to the Nigerian people still come from that unchanging philosophy of national sacrifice as defined by Nigeria's political elite since independence. It is as if there is a school where every member of the political elite goes to learn by rote that once you are in government, you must master the art of expanding your tastes and privileges while insisting that the people must sacrifice and tighten their belts.

This is the informing philosophy of Rotimi Amaechi's latest plea to the people for patience. Honourable Minister, we hear you but we do not accept your message sir. A gbo sugbon a o gba.

People say we should always suggest solutions when we write since we, writers, and not the people running their lives in government, are supposed to come up with the solutions. Okay, here are solutions I will suggest to Mr. Rotimi Amaechi to help him better sell his pleas of patience to the people next year:

1) We want to know what your current retirement package is in Rivers state.

2)You spent time as Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly before spending time as Governor for eight years. Are we talking of one retirement package or were you sentenced to two retirement packages for life, one for your time as Speaker and the other for your time as Governor? This is Nigeria. It can happen.

3) Fundamentally speaking, what is the logic behind life pension for those who spend two terms of office in a mad country that does not respect pension for teachers, nurses, and civil servants who put in over three decades of service? Does this make sense to you, Mr. Amaechi? Does it make sense to you that these humongous life sentence of pension also involves choice houses - sometimes in the state capital and Abuja -and regular replacement of your jeeps?

4) Does it make sense to you that you are combining whatever this life pension is in Rivers state with the statutory emoluments of your current station as a Federal Minister? How do our "development partners" in the developed world hear this unbelievable things about us and still take us seriously as a country?

5) Mr. Amaechi, are you aware that in the Senate, there are more than twenty former Governors combining life pension with the immoral and amoral emoluments of the Nigerian National Assembly?

6) The other day, your fellow Federal Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, was grumbling and complaining about Daily Trust. Daily Trust had put the number of jeeps in his convoy at six and he said that he uses only five and not six jeeps in his convoy. He has sacrificed one jeep in line with change. Mr. Amaechi, what do you think of this? What is the size of your own convoy? When you travel all over Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, etc, for meetings with your counterpart Ministers in those places, have you ever seen a Federal Minister in a convoy? Many of those Ministers ride bicycles to meet with you because it is more convenient. If they drive their car to work, their parking spot in the Ministry is not free. Their parking fee is deducted annually from their salary.

7) The solution to having your message accepted is simple: let the structural change you are talking about start with the will to block this particular drain on the Nigerian people. Start by being the sacrifice that you preach. Renounce your pension in Rivers state. Cut out your convoy. We shall support you. We shall have your back.

Once you have renounced your own pension in Rivers state, become a crusading voice for an across the board revocation of political pension in our system.

9) Your peers are dangerous. They will ostracize you. They will try to silence you. If they see that your message is resonating with the people, there will be assassination attempts against you. Risks are part of the sacrifice you must be willing to take for the people. Anyway, you are part of the culture I am describing to you so you know what to expect from your fellow people in the circles of affluence and privilege if you go rogue and start a movement for the revocation of political pension and the abandonment of our obsessive convoy culture.

10) Do these things and come back in May 2017 to plea with the people for patience. You will find eager and listening ears. For now, I am afraid, you're wasting your time and our time.

No be dat TIMAYA babe be that? Wey make TIMAYA dey mumu himsef anyhow that year..? Hehehehehehe She has upgraded oh.. But how come she come dey fat, she can be very ugly that year shaa

Cc:
Lalasticlala
Dominique
Seun
Ijebabe

God bless you too

princeofpeace22:
True words of wisdom pls OP God bless you.

(my reaction to Thisday report of GEJ being on self-imposed exile. Nothing in this post confirms or denies it. I am just giving my opinion should the report be true... which I doubt)

#Copied

Ultimate bros GEJ,

My elder coz Randolph ErumaGborie once told me as a kid "if a lion kills a boy's hunter father, the boy will be stupid to let a lion kill him too." Pls do not let pride or principle make you do an Abiola and come to Nigeria now. Sir, whatever has taken you away, sir, let it keep you away. I know people read my post to u every now and then or tell you pf them. So sir, as a man who have loved you beyond beyond and the loyal soldier I am, I am making this plea. STAY AWAY for now.

Ose, APC and Buhari are desperate for an "achievement". They have ruined the boisterous economy you left behind. While you were able to grow rice in DRY SEASON, bros, these people could not even grow ordinary tomatoes that Mungo Park and Lord Lugard met ancient Nigerians growing. They have destroyed the country like that. So to distract the people, they are trying to play up Chibok. This time however, not just your wife but the whole Nigeria that is asking APC now about the Chibok girls they claim they rescued "Na only you waka come?". Of course like Liverpool, Chibok girls never "walk alone". They RESCUED a terrorist HUSBAND along with her, thus setting a record as the first administration to rescue both a kidnapped person and the kidnapper and honour them both with visit to The president.

Sir, in the same way, their hype of defeating Boko Haram is failing daily like Fashola as NEPA minister. The army are unable to keep up with hiding the dead bodies of the soldiers killed by Boko Haram. Sir, they claim they have defeated Boko Haram and none of them has visited Baga or Chibok, places you and Okonjo Iwealla visited as proof you were on your way to true decimation of their ranks. They know that while they have retired and rewarded the faction that was political, the genuine aggrieved Yusuf faction is still continuing their insane killings. Let them continue deceiving Nigerians with media blackout of Boko Haram ravages as well as burying our heroes and soldiers secretly like dead bodies of witches thrown in The evil forest at night. That's how they are "defeating " emm sorry DEFEATED Boko Haram.

Bros, you know how you took a canoe alone and unarmed to meet the militants of Niger Delta and brought about peace? Buhari has destroyed it all. We have returned to the Abacha years of pipeline vandalization and arrests of the wrong youths. It is looking to get even worse. They say they will CRUSH boys who just want food and who have the ability to affect world oil prices with just a grenade thrown at the many pipes in their bushes. And THEY ARE TRYING TO PUT THE BLAME OF EXPENSIVE TOMATOES AND VANDALIZATION ON YOU OGA JONATHAN.

The most annoying thing is that the judiciary which you allowed to be free, that would have grown and strengthened our democracy, it is at the worst place since Idi Amin and Bokassa ruled their countries. How can the DSS say they are keeping Dasuki in JAIL " for his own safety?" Is he about to commit suicide? what courts gave them that power? So a man's freedom can be taken from him in a democracy without court order or against court order for that matter? Nnamdi Kanu is there in jail languishing and a judge recused himself from his case as he said whatever he rules does not matter. Lawyers like Itse Sagay and Femi Falana as well as Keyamo removed the condom from Buhari's penis with their teeth and he Buhari is indeed facking our JUSTICE system in the ass. Indeed now we can all see that literally THE LAW IS AN ASS cos it is being sodomized. So sir, there will be no justice for you.

Sir, I am telling you that your arrest would be APC's biggest distraction and achievement. That will change the discuss from the zero megawatts record Fashola set for future generations to try and beat. The only way to do worse than that is for the poor to take their generator to power NEPA office and Minister's house so Fashola's children will no longer have heat rash as he claims. Yes. Only negative megawatts like that can be worse than Fashola's achievement of zero

Sir, emmm No. They do not want to release NNPC audit. It is your cousin they are torturing in jail without bringing him to court with the hope that he will confess where you buried the 30 trillion and 50 billion dollars and 6 billion dollars monthly that your name is not making Panama Papers or any corrupt leader list in the globe. It is their APC and Obasanjo regime PDP names that is coming up. The subsidy they called fraud they have been paying and without providing the fuel u did most constantly.

Sir, their confusion and total lack of capacity is all being blamed on you. Tomatoes they cannot grow. Budget they cannot pass without drama and international disgrace. Padding" is now a part of our lexicon. Economy is dead. What type of leader stops his citizens from getting the tool (dollars) needed for business and production? Yes we need to produce locally. But with what power or fuel? How can a leader hate his people so much as to watch them starving? America that can produce everything is not stopping goods from China so the cost of iphone and clothes do not shoot up for their citizens. The government considers that HARDSHIP. yet Buhari is watching southern businesses die and GDP plummet while his Aboki brothers make money selling dollars and he is happy with himself.

Bros GEJ. Please STAY AWAY. Yes I Know the FANTASTICALLy CORRUPt Buhari administration is feeding prisoners with 14 thousand naira a day, (bros if na ur minister talk this nonsense jankoliko talk, we for no hear word again. Stella Odua no do 1/100000 of this clear embezzlement) still, I do not want you to go and ENJOY 14 thousand a day sir.

Sir, I can go on and on. I have told you that Buhari wants to use you as his only achievement. I have told you the courts are powerless and you will get NO JUSTICE. If El Rufai and Ribadu can go on exile in your administration that justice and personal freedom prevailed, why will you come to Nigeria when Buhari has taken us to the dark days of official kidnapping of enemies in the name of fighting corruption? If you are ashamed to have the word "exile" associated with you, Nelson Mandela once ran from South Africa. Today he is god.

Let TIME and HISTORY judge you and not Buhari.

Government is also not helping matters, rather than make admission into institutions uniform for all citizens, they vary it on regional basis. In Nigeria today, outstanding performance in the qualifying examination into academic institution does not guarantee admission, the state of origin of the candidates is a stronger determinant. It is possible to have worked so hard to achieve excellence in entrance examination into federal academic institutions but still not get admitted, while someone could perform extremely poor in the same exam and get admitted even on priority depending on the part of the country they have originated from. This gross injustice is perpetrated under the guise of encouraging educationally disadvantage region.

The Cut-off marks for entrance into Federal Unity Schools for all 36 states and the FCT clearly shows that a candidatet from Abia who scores 130 points in the Federal Commonwealth Entrance exam may have hardtime gaining admission into the school of his choice, while another candidate from Zamfara who scores less than 5 points will gain same admission seamlessly. The most disturbing of all is setting higher standard for female candidates when the whole world is promoting female education.

Many academically talented individuals in Nigeria were denied tertiary education because the entrance standard bar was raised against them simply because of the part of the country they originated from. There are many professors in Nigeria today that would never have been one if the standard were set equally for all. In our university days we refer to them as “professors by quota system”

This inequality is practice in the Federal civil service and government owned establishments under the guise of Federal character. The implication is that certain individuals who merit certain appointment will never get it simply because of their state of origin, while others that are less qualified for the position are appointed. The consequences are inefficiency and poor performance.

If talent and merit have no place in our system, how do we encourage Nigerian kids, especially those that are from the southern part of the country, that there is a reward for hardwork?

While it might be a good idea to encourage the educationally disadvantage regions, suppressing talented individuals and discouraging hardwork on that basis is nothing but pure injustice. If the need be, Nigeria should increase capacity to accommodate everybody and set the standard for accessing the rights, privileges and national resources the same for all the citizens. It is time to scrap different cut-off marks for different states, all forms of quota system and federal character in the admission process into Nigerian academic institutions and recruitment/employment into all federal civil service, agencies and parastatals and start to promote merit and hardwork.
CUT-OFF MARKS FOR ENTRANCE TO FEDERAL UNITY SCHOOLS FOR ALL 36 STATES AND THE FCT
Abia – Male (130) Female (130)
Adamawa – Male (62) Female (62)
Akwa-Ibom – Male (123) Female (123)
Anambra – Male (139) Female (139)
Bauchi – Male (35) Female (35)
Bayelsa – Male (72) Female (72)
Benue – Male (111) Female (111)
Borno – Male (45) Female (45)
Cross-Rivers – Male (97) Female (97)
Delta – Male (131) Female (131)
Ebonyi – Male (112) Female (112)
Edo – Male (127) Female (127)
Ekiti – Male (119) Female (119)
Enugu – Male (134) Female (134)
Gombe – Male (58) Female (58)
Imo – Male (138) Female (138)
Jigawa – Male (44) Female (44)
Kaduna – Male (91) Female (91)
Kano – Male (67) Female (67)
Kastina – Male (60) Female (60)
Kebbi – Male (9) Female (20)
Kogi – Male (119) Female (119)
Kwara – Male (123) Female (123)
Lagos – Male (133) Female(133)
Nassarawa – Male (58) Female (58)
Niger – Male (93) Female (93)
Ogun – Male (131) Female (131)
Ondo – Male (126) Female (126)
Osun – Male (127) Female (127)
Oyo – Male (127) Female (127)
Plateau – Male (97) Female (97)
Rivers – Male (118) Female (118)
Sokoto – Male (9) Female (13)
Taraba – Male (3) Female (11)
Yobe – Male (2) Female (27)
Zamfara – Male (4) Female (2)
FCT Abuja – Male (90) Female (90)

Breaking News:
No APC No Jonathan!
The ruling party APC draw their strength of leadership from Jonathan and without him, they will remain bunch of toothless bulldog. . .

Seun and Lalastica please do the needy.. FP things..

This thread should be moved to FP ...

BOMBSHELL!!! IS IT BECAUSE IT IS BUHARI? - By Mustafa Yahaya.

I marvel at the way and manner we think in this country, worst of it the way we think in the north. It is just a few months ago that we all continually lambasted president Jonathan's cluelessness, I referred to him as the "drunken master of Otuoke", and nobody harassed me, and now because they fear the power of the media that brought them to power they want to castrate the social media, with Buhari firing the first shot in an interview with Sahara reporters' Adeola in New York, why, is it because it is Buhari?
We demonstrated against pump price increment for petrol, government of president Buhari wants us to swallow the same pill we rejected a few months ago, yet some of my northern compatriots see nothing wrong with that, is it because it is Buhari? When three sons of Sheik Zakzaky were murdered during the Jonathan administration, El-Rufa'i called it genocide by the jonathanian army, now under Buhari more than 200 are killed, their mosque and houses destroyed under Elrufai's nose as Governor of the same state, he has not called it genocide by the Buharian army, is it because it is Buhari?

Under the Jonathan administration subsidy payments were termed as fraud, and there were hues and cries to crucify oil marketers, Buhari even called it a fraud himself, we also thought so, Six months later the same Buhari is paying for subsidy yet nobody is calling it a fraud, why, is it because it is Buhari? We criticized Jonathan for keeping a large fleet in the presidential fleet and wasting monies on maintenance, only recently President Buhari's spokesman admitted 2 billion Naira was spent on their maintenance, when other presidents are even doing away with their jets, yet we sit down and watch helplessly, is it because it Buhari? Fuel scarcity is biting harder, value of the Naira is going rock bottom, inflation is now on auto pilot, while profits are dropping, purchasing powers are becoming weaker, yet we are asked not to query them, is it because it is Buhari?

If we criticized Jonathan for cluelessness, we will also criticize Buhari for helplessness. While tribal and regional jingoist see nothing because it is Buhari, what I see first is Nigeria and not whether Jonathan is a southerner or Buhari is a Northerner, we cannot continue to be trapped in the closet of tribalism, regionalism and religious bigotry yet expect our country to remain one and grow. Yes! we might be of different orientation and background but what is good is good any where any time and what is bad is bad, I cannot be suffering and keep smiling because "my brother" is the president

WHO ARE YOU?

1. Buhari said he would pay unemployed citizens. You clapped

He said he cannot pay unemployed citizens. Also clapped

2. Buhari said he does not know anything called subsidy. You clapped

He paid subsidy. you also clapped.

3. When he removed all road blocks. You clapped.

When he reinstalled road blocks. You also clapped.

4. When he relocated military command to North East. You clapped.

He returned military command back. You clapped

5. He said he would never devalue the Naira. You clapped.

He devalued the Naira. You clapped.

6. He said he would not have the office of the first lady. You clapped.

He has the office of the first lady. You clapped

7. He said he will make N1 equals to $1. You clapped

$1 is officially equal N280. You are clapping

8. He said he will end Boko Haram insurgencies 3 months into his regime, he later said in December when the rains stop. You clapped.

Today, Boko Haram is still killing people. You are clapping.

9. He said he would turn all presidential jets to national carrier. You clapped.

Today, he and his family are cruising on all presidential jets. You are clapping

10. He said he would build one new refinery each year. You clapped.

Its getting to one year, no refinery has been built. You are still clapping.

11. Buhari first went to England and he took pictures with Cameron. You. Clapped.

Buhari went to England and he was disgraced by Cameron. You also clapped.
Continue clapping..

1) I remain unpersuaded by the arguments I have read in favour of oil subsidy removal. I am not talking about the mostly hot air, ill-informed, half-informed, and politically-jaundiced propositions being pushed on all sides on social media. I am talking about conversations I've been following or contributing to in other spaces. Until I read superior arguments and logic from those arguing in favour of this move by President Buhari, I remain persuaded that subsidy removal is wrong and I condemn it without equivocation. President Jonathan was wrong to have removed it; President Buhari is wrong to have removed it.

2) I am not unmindful of the basic problems with the subsidy regime. We don't need to go into details here. The problems have been retailed ad nauseam in our public sphere for years and are being retailed now by supporters of President Buhari to justify the removal. Let us just say that all those problems lead in one direction: corruption. If oil is Nigeria's most corrupt sector, the subsidy regime has been by far the most "fantastically corrupt" wing of that spectacularly corrupt sector of the Nigerian economy. The subsidy regime is the home turf of Nigeria's shadiest and most powerful characters - the breeding ground of petro billionaires and multi-billionaires. These are the criminal patrons of the Nigerian state who are paid billions to import air or water or sand or nothing and declare it as imported fuel. Some of them even import non-existent fuel in non-existent fuel tankers and are paid handsomely by the Federal government in the subsidy regime.

3) There is also the other argument about market forces and market dynamics. Supporters of the removal are saying that we cannot continue to pretend that we can somehow defy the market, etc. I know this argument too. In fact, it is sexy and seductive on the surface.

4) Everybody arguing in favour of oil subsidy removal is combining numbers 2 & 3 above and their variants in their submissions.

5) Here is my problem with number 2. No administration in Nigeria has ever really had the courage, the moral resolve, and the ethical willpower to go after the saboteurs and beneficiaries of the oil subsidy regime; those who decade after decade have prevented the dividends of oil subsidy from reflecting on the quality of life and purchasing power of the masses. None has ever been arrested or prosecuted. It means we have never operated the oil industry with minimal corruption and therefore have no national experience in what possible benefits are accruable from a corruption-free oil sector.

6) When you remove oil subsidy, my understanding of it is that the Nigerian state is capitulating to corruption. She is saying that because she lacks the courage to go after the usual suspects and charge them with treason and cleanse the Augean stable in a comprehensive manner, she will just kuku give up and pack up the subsidy regime entirely. Until we try a corruption-free petroleum sector with subsidy, it would be illogical to conclude that subsidy does not work. It does not work and has never worked because there are too many entanglements of corruption. The untouchable fat cats making subsidy impossible are PDP and APC, Christians and Moslems, they are from virtually every ethnicity. And President Buhari is basically saying that he lacks the resolve to fight them.

7) The same thing applies to Number 3. I remain unpersuaded by market fundamentalism. Let market forces determine things bla bla bla. The Western owners of this doctrine hardly ever subscribe to it. Whenever something is determined to be the life wire of the middle classes and the masses in their society, they subsidize it heavily while describing others trying to do the same thing for their own people as "rude" and "fantastically corrupt". No Western country is a genuine market fundamentalist. Market fundamentalism is what they prescribe for you if you are Chinese, Arab or African.

cool Read up on farm subsidies in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. There are critical sectors that these imperialists protect at all costs for their people with subsidies while advising you to remove subsidies and be at the mercy of market forces in the Third World. For much of the decade of the 2000s, African governments complained bitterly about how US and European farm subsidies were ruining the lives of African farmers. They protect their own farmers with subsidies and advise you to leave your own farm products to market forces! What farm subsidies are to the developed world, oil subsidy was to the Nigerian people: the only remaining safety net for the people in a state run exclusively by the corrupt rich for the corrupt rich. Subsidy was the only thing the people could still theoretically benefit from (if you take out the corruption). Instead of fighting members of his own corrupt ruling class who were making it impossible for oil subsidy to work for the people, President Buhari has elected the laziest escape route. From experience, the lazy escapes of the Nigerian state from her responsibility always ensure that the people bear the brunt. This is not acceptable to me.

9) President Buhari, go and fight the subsidy buccaneers properly. If your government fights them in a way that commands the respect of the people and market forces still overwhelm you, even with reduced corruption in the sector and the installation of better refineries, then you may come back and make a case for subsidy removal. The purported benefits of this removal are at best fanciful. The economy is still largely in the hands of saboteurs and traitors. Even your 2016 budget will be implemented and monitored by the same people who padded it. You said you would punish them only to end up shuffling them in the system.

10) Whatever your government is also preaching that the people will gain from subsidy removal in the long run is not supported by our history and experience. Just look at Fashola. What kind of noise did he not make about the "dividends and benefits" of higher electricity tariffs? What the people have gotten instead is higher tariffs multiplied by longer spells of darkness.

11) These are the issues. Luckily for you, President Buhari, you will get away with this subsidy removal because there is no opposition in Nigeria. When President Jonathan tried it, there was opposition against him. His opposition organized and mobilized and he was forced to reverse his decision.

12) Those who say they are your own opposition today are pea-brained caterwauling efulefus trolling the Walls of your supporters instead of mounting principled opposition to you the way those whose Walls they are now trolling mounted opposition to their hero. Fools that they are, they are heehawing over who is an APC or PDP supporter. They have been on the hunt for hypocrites in the past 48 hours, branding those who opposed fuel subsidy removal under Jonathan and are now supporting it under you. They can never organize like those who were in principled opposition to Jonathan their hero. In fact, the closest they have come to organizing in the Buhari era is to organize #IStandWithBuhari after fighting each other on Facebook over who got what from Jonathan's campaign funds.

13) But for the fact that I gave up on them a long time ago in terms of one's hope that they could evolve into a principled, issues-driven opposition that could grow our democracy by not letting you get away with decisions such as this subsidy removal, I would have advised them to look into the mirror in terms of their search for hypocrites. How can anybody have argued that subsidy removal was the only way to go under Jonathan but not under Buhari and then turn around to look for hypocrites?

14) Sadly, President Buhari, there is more to the tragedy that is your opposition: they hardly ever come after you. They are always after anybody they label your supporter. The absence of an opposition explains why you have gotten away with issue after issue, especially on the terrain of pre-election promises denied, modified, not kept, or ignored. They cannot take any of these issues and develop it into a coherent template for patriotic national dissent. Instead, they troll social media looking for hypocrites writ large in their own mirrors.

And you get away with things, President Buhari!

Bacanister over to you

Oil Subsidy and the Hunt for Hypocrisy

1) I remain unpersuaded by the arguments I have read in favour of oil subsidy removal. I am not talking about the mostly hot air, ill-informed, half-informed, and politically-jaundiced propositions being pushed on all sides on social media. I am talking about conversations I've been following or contributing to in other spaces. Until I read superior arguments and logic from those arguing in favour of this move by President Buhari, I remain persuaded that subsidy removal is wrong and I condemn it without equivocation. President Jonathan was wrong to have removed it; President Buhari is wrong to have removed it.

2) I am not unmindful of the basic problems with the subsidy regime. We don't need to go into details here. The problems have been retailed ad nauseam in our public sphere for years and are being retailed now by supporters of President Buhari to justify the removal. Let us just say that all those problems lead in one direction: corruption. If oil is Nigeria's most corrupt sector, the subsidy regime has been by far the most "fantastically corrupt" wing of that spectacularly corrupt sector of the Nigerian economy. The subsidy regime is the home turf of Nigeria's shadiest and most powerful characters - the breeding ground of petro billionaires and multi-billionaires. These are the criminal patrons of the Nigerian state who are paid billions to import air or water or sand or nothing and declare it as imported fuel. Some of them even import non-existent fuel in non-existent fuel tankers and are paid handsomely by the Federal government in the subsidy regime.

3) There is also the other argument about market forces and market dynamics. Supporters of the removal are saying that we cannot continue to pretend that we can somehow defy the market, etc. I know this argument too. In fact, it is sexy and seductive on the surface.

4) Everybody arguing in favour of oil subsidy removal is combining numbers 2 & 3 above and their variants in their submissions.

5) Here is my problem with number 2. No administration in Nigeria has ever really had the courage, the moral resolve, and the ethical willpower to go after the saboteurs and beneficiaries of the oil subsidy regime; those who decade after decade have prevented the dividends of oil subsidy from reflecting on the quality of life and purchasing power of the masses. None has ever been arrested or prosecuted. It means we have never operated the oil industry with minimal corruption and therefore have no national experience in what possible benefits are accruable from a corruption-free oil sector.

6) When you remove oil subsidy, my understanding of it is that the Nigerian state is capitulating to corruption. She is saying that because she lacks the courage to go after the usual suspects and charge them with treason and cleanse the Augean stable in a comprehensive manner, she will just kuku give up and pack up the subsidy regime entirely. Until we try a corruption-free petroleum sector with subsidy, it would be illogical to conclude that subsidy does not work. It does not work and has never worked because there are too many entanglements of corruption. The untouchable fat cats making subsidy impossible are PDP and APC, Christians and Moslems, they are from virtually every ethnicity. And President Buhari is basically saying that he lacks the resolve to fight them.

7) The same thing applies to Number 3. I remain unpersuaded by market fundamentalism. Let market forces determine things bla bla bla. The Western owners of this doctrine hardly ever subscribe to it. Whenever something is determined to be the life wire of the middle classes and the masses in their society, they subsidize it heavily while describing others trying to do the same thing for their own people as "rude" and "fantastically corrupt". No Western country is a genuine market fundamentalist. Market fundamentalism is what they prescribe for you if you are Chinese, Arab or African.

Read up on farm subsidies in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. There are critical sectors that these imperialists protect at all costs for their people with subsidies while advising you to remove subsidies and be at the mercy of market forces in the Third World. For much of the decade of the 2000s, African governments complained bitterly about how US and European farm subsidies were ruining the lives of African farmers. They protect their own farmers with subsidies and advise you to leave your own farm products to market forces! What farm subsidies are to the developed world, oil subsidy was to the Nigerian people: the only remaining safety net for the people in a state run exclusively by the corrupt rich for the corrupt rich. Subsidy was the only thing the people could still theoretically benefit from (if you take out the corruption). Instead of fighting members of his own corrupt ruling class who were making it impossible for oil subsidy to work for the people, President Buhari has elected the laziest escape route. From experience, the lazy escapes of the Nigerian state from her responsibility always ensure that the people bear the brunt. This is not acceptable to me.

9) President Buhari, go and fight the subsidy buccaneers properly. If your government fights them in a way that commands the respect of the people and market forces still overwhelm you, even with reduced corruption in the sector and the installation of better refineries, then you may come back and make a case for subsidy removal. The purported benefits of this removal are at best fanciful. The economy is still largely in the hands of saboteurs and traitors. Even your 2016 budget will be implemented and monitored by the same people who padded it. You said you would punish them only to end up shuffling them in the system.

10) Whatever your government is also preaching that the people will gain from subsidy removal in the long run is not supported by our history and experience. Just look at Fashola. What kind of noise did he not make about the "dividends and benefits" of higher electricity tariffs? What the people have gotten instead is higher tariffs multiplied by longer spells of darkness.

11) These are the issues. Luckily for you, President Buhari, you will get away with this subsidy removal because there is no opposition in Nigeria. When President Jonathan tried it, there was opposition against him. His opposition organized and mobilized and he was forced to reverse his decision.

12) Those who say they are your own opposition today are pea-brained caterwauling efulefus trolling the Walls of your supporters instead of mounting principled opposition to you the way those whose Walls they are now trolling mounted opposition to their hero. Fools that they are, they are heehawing over who is an APC or PDP supporter. They have been on the hunt for hypocrites in the past 48 hours, branding those who opposed fuel subsidy removal under Jonathan and are now supporting it under you. They can never organize like those who were in principled opposition to Jonathan their hero. In fact, the closest they have come to organizing in the Buhari era is to organize #IStandWithBuhari after fighting each other on Facebook over who got what from Jonathan's campaign funds.

13) But for the fact that I gave up on them a long time ago in terms of one's hope that they could evolve into a principled, issues-driven opposition that could grow our democracy by not letting you get away with decisions such as this subsidy removal, I would have advised them to look into the mirror in terms of their search for hypocrites. How can anybody have argued that subsidy removal was the only way to go under Jonathan but not under Buhari and then turn around to look for hypocrites?

14) Sadly, President Buhari, there is more to the tragedy that is your opposition: they hardly ever come after you. They are always after anybody they label your supporter. The absence of an opposition explains why you have gotten away with issue after issue, especially on the terrain of pre-election promises denied, modified, not kept, or ignored. They cannot take any of these issues and develop it into a coherent template for patriotic national dissent. Instead, they troll social media looking for hypocrites writ large in their own mirrors.

And you get away with things, President Buhari!

How many Nigerians do you think have problem with Cameron`s insults referring to Nigeria as 'FANTASTICALLY CORRUPT? A country gets the type of President she deserves. Call Iran or Pakistan corrupt on the eve of a visit to your country, the leaders of those countries would not only cancel the visits but their citizens back home would invade British embassy inside their countries in a matter of hours to let them know they wouldn't take insults from a deeply corrupt mediocre. Cameron labelled your country fantastically corrupt. Your President concurred and turned down any apologies.Some of you applauded. Fantastically brutal honesty you said. It's ok...no qualms...Today you cry "My pikin na thief! My pikin na thief". Tomorrow, "Why nobody want give my pikin work?" Do not be fantastically surprised when it becomes increasingly difficult to attract investment for your ideas and businesses. Fantastically understand when that visa application is denied for no apparent reason. For those of you overseas, fantastically endure this shit from Nigerian government. But the day of reckoning is coming when everyone else suddenly becomes alert to the location of their possessions at the mention of your nationality...then my people will sing a ALL HAIL BIAFRA...THE LAND OF FREEDOM!!! This is the sole reason Mumumadu Buhari is scared and is trying to play along with Cameron...doesn't want to appear or be seen to offend the British government at this critical time of Biafra emancipation. Buhari has to suck though with the huge insult from Cameron... solely because Buhari seriously believes that Britain shall lend him and his Arewa group the tactical, and possibly, military support, to crush any secessionist groups from the restive groups in the south of Nigeria. Buhari has no intention of reforming Nigeria's political structure and administrative system that now benefit only his Arewa groups...the only reason u will never find any Hausa Fulani person criticize him even if Nigerian state collapse into the abyss by Buhari leadership. Watch all the Hausa Fulani in the social media and everywhere...giving 100% support to the dullard. Buhari believes his Arewa conquered parts of south of Nigeria for keeps forever. Has anyone noticed this that Nigeria is not at war with any neighboring countries - but Buhari has signed military pacts with more than six neighboring and overseas countries since he came to office? The fear of Biafra...The fear of Niger Delta Republic! Only a mugu would believe that military force can keep a country like Nigeria one for long. Buhari and Arewa co travellers... And some of these Yoruba APC crumbs eaters....the world is watching you guys!

1. A president lies to the public about his assets and also breached his promise to make it public and his supportes hail and defend him

2. A President goes to National Assembly to present a #BudgetOfCorruption and his party hailed

3. President GMB budgets 3.5B for renovation of Aso Rock barely 5 months after earlier renovation

4. A president admits he submitted a #BudgetOfCorruption and no body is facing trial for it.

5. ICT Ministry budgeted 1Billion for office furniture under #Budget2016 presented by Buhari.

6. Our National Budget under GMB was padded, stolen, missing, and no details since after passage

7. An Ex Governor stole over N70B from a failed mono rail, GMB rewarded him with Ministerial post

8. A president's wife is reported to have engaged in forex round tripping but the case has been swept under the carpet

9. A minister budgeted 795 million to update a website and he is still walking free

10. A budget was found to be fradulently padded with almost 2 trillion, it was taking back for correction and brought back with only 15 billion removed. The fraud is untouched

11. The Central Bank and FRSC employs the children and relatives of the president and his party men through the back door and offer masquerade dressing jobs to the common man (including their supporters)

These and more are what makes a nation #FantasticallyCorrupt

DISDAINFUL HOST BRITAIN AND BUHARI'S ENDLESS WASTING OF SCARCE RESOURCES

It s not Cameron saying Nigeria and Afghanistan are the most corrupt countries. Buhari has said worse and CNN used it to defend Cameron. It is not that Cameron said corrupt countries were coming into UK. NO. That is true.

The annoying thing is the LAUGHTER. The minute they said that the countries were footing their own bill, they all started laughing. Why were they laughing?

They were laughing because they see the hypocrisy and waste of time it all is.

Buhari has "foreign" herdsman killer issues, "foreigners" bombing the Niger Delta oil installations and a dead/dying economy back hme but chooses to jet out for events even the hosts laugh about.

When will the senate summon Buhari to do a cost analysis of his foreign trips wherein he will tell us the benefit we have ever gotten?

Cameron insults Nigeria, they laugh at us paying for the event and "halele" Buhari fires his plane and to the event in Britain he goes.


mtchewwwwww

Panama list (where billionaires hide their money), no names of GEJ, Deziani or Ngozi Okonjo Iwealla. But names of many APC people.

Daily Mail of UK releases list of those with choice properties in UK, names of Audu Ogbe, Ibori and Alamieseigha. No names of Deziani, GEJ or Ngozi Okonjo Iwealla.

No wonder that are arresting all GEJ relatives and torturing them against court rulings looking for even the faintest evidence as all audits are proving GEJ Okonjo-Iwealla and Deziani served the country JUDICIOUSLY AND HONESTLY.

God will soon start punishing all those who bore false witness against their neighbour, from Sahara Reporters, Sanusi, Oshiomole, Soludo, to those who have been sharing fantastic tales of moneys recovered from Deziani. First punishment in the plagues to hit them will be lakpalakpa and okirikportor.

Please is the blackberry passport editions running on Android OS.?

Call the number not going through..

hamzzi:
pls I nid airtel own