₦airaland Forum

decatalyst:
Person wey buy 15million Benz becuz of totoh and person wey buy popcorn and drink cuz of totoh go still UnCloth before 'drilling' the oil rig



Be wise

greenprince:
Those guys haven't conceded at home this season in UCL.
Not lost..... conceded I said.

dotcomnamename:
Roma will win 3-0 at home

Mark it!

abiodunalasa:
Roma needed 3 goals against Barca they got it... Now they need same against Liverpool they will get it

And then Madrid will finish them in final

Sheuns:
Everyone thought Barca could score in Rome too. This tie is very open. Liverpool messed up

Lalas247:
kikikiki

Lalas247:
the game dey give me orgasm
Finnsa watch till the end

Andrez123:
How come Salah is now the god of football? A former Chelsea reject, just another good player at AS Roma but now an unbelievable player at Liverpool. What made him become so good this season?

oloriooko:
Yea the dude is on fire now we must all acknowledge that. As a ManC and Pep fan, when you see excellence you appreciate it.

KevinDein:
Messi is the Argentine Salah

oloriooko:
Salah is a goal machine

yeyerolling:
ipob are terrorists smh

Operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad Tuesday morning arrested embattled lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi West senatorial district.

The lawmaker, according to reliable sources, was arrested by the SARS and subsequently detained in a facility located opposite the old CBN junction along the Area 1 Expressway.

The SARS detention facility is known for imprisoning hardened criminals arrested for theft, murder, cultism and other criminal acts.

When the fiery lawmaker was contacted on phone by DAILY POST, he sounded rattled, as background conversation suggested a struggle between himself and some of the operatives, after which his mobile lines were switched off.

It would be recalled that initial attempts were made by the police to arrest Senator Melaye after immigration officials disembarked him from a flight to Morocco on Monday morning.

Following his release after three hours detention at the immigration office at the airport, the lawmaker’s house was besieged by over 80 armed policemen from yesterday until the early hours of Tuesday.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

guru03:
Nice one, those zombies have been cowed, and some believe he his still the Messiah when it is glaring that he his a total failure. We are waiting to escort him to Daura ....

“You need to appreciate the president because we are now in charge but you must ensure that Buhari wins for second term.”

UYO – President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to give Nigerian youths the opportunities they need to maximise their talents.

The President’s declaration is seen as a deft move to restore his relationship with the Nigerian youths soured by his recent statement abroad to the effect that the youths are lazy, uneducated and are looking for free money.

President Buhari, who spoke through Senator Ita Enang, his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), restated his respect for the youths, even as he welcomed them to participate in the administration.

Ita Enang, who spoke during the commissioning of the state office of the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups (NCBSG) in Uyo on Monday, quoted President Buhari of saying that the nation’s greatest wealth are the youths, who constitute human resources.

He said: “President Buhari honours and treasures the youths of this country. He welcomes the youths to participate in the administration of Nigeria. I reassure you that the President respects you, the youths and will offer you all the opportunities to maximise your potentials.

“You need to appreciate the president because we are now in charge but you must ensure that Buhari wins for second term.”

“As of today, we are doing everything to ensure that the All Progressives Congress (APC) wins all the seat in the state Houses of Assembly, all the seats in the House of Representatives and all the seats in the Senate.

“We will win Akwa Ibom governorship seat. We will make sure that Buhari returns as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2019.”

Senator Abu Ibrahim, the NCBSG Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman, said the inauguration of office in the state marked the beginning of activities aimed at ensuring national cohesion.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

guru03:
Guy this your slamming of Buhari no get part two chai,....

littlewonders:
Those who contributed to bringing this man to power will never be forgiven if they don't bring in a younger person come 2019.

SalamRushdie:
Misled? Misled? Misled indeed!!!! When are people going to start allowing this Buhari man take the blame for his actions ABI is Buhari an slowpoke who can't make a single sound decision for himself ?

President Muhammadu Buhari was misled to approve $469 million for the procurement of 12 Super Tucano aircraft from the US without the backing of the national assembly, a source told TheCable.

The money was said to have been withdrawn from the excess crude account (ECA).

In August, the US government sold the aircraft to Nigeria to enable it combat the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east.

An embargo had been placed on Nigeria owing to allegations of gross human right abuses against the military.

In a letter to the leadership of the national assembly dated April 13, 2018, the president explained that the United States had given Nigeria a deadline for payment, hence the reason he approved the money without consulting the legislators.

Buhari also sought the inclusion of the procurement of the aircraft into the 2018 budget which the national assembly is still working on.

The source said the lawmakers, particularly those in house of representatives, are not happy with the development, adding that the president cut short his UK trip in order to address the issue.

In the statement issued to announce Buhari’s trip, the date of his return was not disclosed.

“The approval for $469 million for Tucano aircraft is an impeachable offence. What us happening right now is that some people in the executive set Buhari up,” the source said.

“They made him send a letter to the national assembly and the letter is saying that money has already been disbursed without seeking approval which is an impeachable offence.

“This is part of the reason why the president came back into the country. He is thinking of calling the leadership of the national assembly for a meeting.

“These people gave the president wrong information. Right the house of representatives have a copy of the letter that the money had already been disbursed but then it has not been appropriated. A lot of members of the house are not happy.”

Efforts to get a reaction from Garba Shehu, spokesman of the president, were not successful as calls to his phone did not go through and a text message was not replied.

Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, had said Buhari gave the approval for the money to be released but Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters, later contradicted Dan Ali.

The presidential aide said Buhari had not approved the release of the money from the excess crude account as claimed by the minister, adding that the approval given to the federal government by the national economic council was undergoing the “normal legislative process” before the national assembly.

divinehand2003:
But they will still watch the video and see her unclothedness later after the interview. So why all this stress?

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Musa Ibrahim has said that no fewer than 47 million Nigerians are practising open defecation.

This, he said, exposed them to the risk of contacting various diseases, adding that the practice impacts negatively on the health and the economy of the populace.

Speaking on Monday in Calabar while declaring Bekwarra LGA, Open Defecation Free (ODF), he noted that over 47 million Nigerians were at risk of various health challenges.

The permanent Secretary represented by the Deputy Director, Engr. Emmanuel Eze said: “The nation’s access to improved sanitation is reported as 33% with over 47 million people in Nigeria still practising open defecation.

“This poses a great health challenges to women, girls and those in vulnerable conditions and impacts negatively on the health and economy of the populace.

“The Ministry acknowledges the challenges of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector in the country which includes low capacity, inadequate funding and, poor coordination among others. It is in this regard that sanitation and hygiene focused projects such Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) project is critical to close the gap.

“The Federal government through the Ministry, is committed to pursuing the collaborative efforts required in addressing these issues and has to this end, developed the strategy document “Making Nigeria Open Defecation free by 2025.

“In a bid to also revitalise the deplorable situation, a state of emergency has been declared in the sector which involves a phase out plan and an establishment of a National WASH fund which is a tool to renew and promote Federal -State partnership and increased financial investment.”

“All these efforts at promoting adequate sanitation are geared towards obtaining the optimal benefit accruable from provision of improved water supply facilities to the populace,’’ he stated.

On his part, Ita Ikpeme , Director General, Cross River State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) said the declaration of Bekwarra LGA as an ODF council making it the third local government to be so declared in the state was a huge feat as no state in Nigeria had achieved that.

He said: “With a population of 191,000 people living in an ODF environment in Bewkarra over 124,000 families and households now enjoy the benefits of improved sanitation .It is only in Cross River state that three LGAs have been declared ODF.

“This feat has not been achieved by any other state and we commend Governor Ayade for his efforts towards sustaining and improving health condition among rural communities by his advocacy for clean ablution habits.”

“Since 2014, we have been encouraging community on the need to attain ODF environment and this has eliminated a lot of diseases and reduced child mortality. More than 235 communities are happy to be part of this history,” he said.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that the $322,515,931.83 Abacha loot recovered from the Swiss government, and already domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be channeled towards the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCTP) of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

This is even as the Governor of CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed that the nation’s external reserves now stands at $47.93 billion.

The Minister and the CBN Governor spoke at a joint press briefing at the end of the 2018 International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meeting in Washington DC, United States.

The Conditional Cash Transfer is about paying N5,000 monthly to the poor and vulnerable persons in Nigeria. The money is paid bi-monthly at N10,000 for each beneficiary.

“The objective of the National Social Safety Nets Project for Nigeria is to provide access to targeted transfers to poor and vulnerable households under an expanded national social safety net system,” Adeosun said.

Adeosun, who led the Nigerian delegation to the 2018 IMF-World Bank Spring Meeting, also affirmed that the country’s positive growth outlook would be sustained.

She noted that the present growth outlook contrasted with the outlook in 2015, adding that inflation rate was slowing down while the foreign reserves were rising.

Expressing optimism on the Federal Government’s sustenance of the growth trajectory, the Minister, called for vigilance and focus for the country not to fall back into recession.

She said, “we are confident that if we diligently implement our economic plan, we will grow the economy. We have room to grow but other countries do not have rooms to grow.

“By 2019, the growth will be far more robust than the present level in 2018. We are therefore very optimistic in sustaining Nigeria’s economic growth. We are going to use this opportunity to grow our fiscal buffers, and particularly aggressively growing our revenue base.

“The administration has succeeded in building macroeconomic resilience for Nigeria, particularly revising the funding mix, rebuilding fiscal buffers, enhancing foreign exchange reserves and focusing on import substitution strategies.”

On the nation’s domestic debt, the Minister stated that the government would not aggressively grow the debt.

“It’s a very unintelligent proposal by mostly Igbo politicians in APC because it’s not an APC agenda. Buhari or his close aides have never alluded to anything like that; you always hear of it from Igbo people who do not know what they want from APC. They believe that the only way they can get Igbo votes is to make this kind of promise that is not based on logic or any political thinking. It is the worst form of deceit and it’s only the unwary, especially those on the lowest rung of intelligence quotient, that will buy into that kind of story.

“I say this very clearly because President Buhari has a vice president and they have been working very closely together from the observation of many Nigerians. This is a man that held forth when the president was away for over 100 days on sick leave. And if for any unfortunate reason Buhari comes back in 2019 (I put it that way because I’m one of those that don’t think he should come back) and decides to run with this same very loyal vice president, what makes anybody think that after eight years in office, he will reward him and his political zone, with abandoning them and going for the South-East? What is the attraction from the South-east that will make Buhari to go in that direction? And what has Buhari ever said or done that will give the people of the South-east the impression that he loves them that much? As a matter of fact, he has used every opportunity to tell them that he doesn’t like them. Even when Igbo leaders went to see him, he reminded them that he had only 198,000 votes from the South-east in 2015. He hasn’t forgotten the support that the South-east gave to former President Goodluck Jonathan. So, how he would turn around and reward them with support for presidential position against those who first of all made up the number for him to become president and gave him a loyal vice president beats my imagination.

“I see the people who are canvassing it as exceedingly mischievous, dishonest and untrustworthy, because they know what they are doing. I don’t think it’s stupidity; they know that they are trying to mislead the people. But the people are too sophisticated to be led by the nose, not in this time and period when some of us are still alive,” Okorie said.

Asked what the Igbo should play for as they go into the politics of 2019 elections, Okorie, who was the presidential candidate of UPP in 2015, said the minimum they should aim for is to produce the number two position in the country.

“That’s the minimum, otherwise nothing stops them from going for the number one position and later negotiate. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe went for the number one position and they went into a coalition with the NPC in the First Republic. In the Second Republic, he went for number one and later went into an accord with the NPN. So, it’s either you follow that route or you negotiate for the number two position ab initio and work for it, because the South-West negotiated for the number two position and they are working for it. And if they continue to work for it and it pays off in the end, that is the benefit of political consistency and loyalty. No political prostitute has ever benefited from politics. Just like in normal life, prostitutes are not known for their virtue, they are known for their vices,” he pointed out.

According to him, the Igbo can’t negotiate for the presidency in 2023 with Buhari because they have nothing on the table.

His words: “What will be the basis for the negotiation? What have you brought to the table to actually negotiate? Before you negotiate there must be something on the table. I talked about the First and Second republics and our people went into those arrangements with something to offer. In the First Republic, they were able to assist the NPC to form the government and they got what was given to them in return. In the Second Republic, the NPP assisted the NPN to form a stable government and they got the Speaker of the House of Representatives and so many other things in return.

“So, if you are going to negotiate, you must go with something and not with an empty hand. You don’t go and just tell the people that they should vote for him and he would give us 2023 presidency. Since they started saying that, has the president corroborated it? Has any of his close aides corroborated it? Have you heard it from anybody other than a handful of Igbo ambitious politicians?”

Reminded that the SGF has been echoing the proposal at every given opportunity, Okorie laughed and quipped: “When people are canvassing for votes, they can say anything. When the time for election comes and the president comes to the South-east to campaign, he might make an allusion to that just to win their votes. Have people forgotten so easily that the late Dr Alex Ekwueme was promised to be PDP’s presidential candidate in 1999? And the promise came from all the people that mattered at that time. They referred to his loyalty to former President Shehu Shagari as the reason he earned it. The presidential election came last and because of the promise, which was based on something people could say was bankable, the entire South-east voted for PDP. The governors of the South-east went to the PDP convention in Jos as governors-elect. But when they went there, Ekwueme was shortchanged at the last minute. What did we do about it? We just went sulking and licking our wounds.

“So, we need to be more proactive and a little more calculative; we need to project things based on hard facts and reality. We can’t be doing things on sentiments and mere promises. That is the reason 419 people succeed, because when they make a promise to you and you fall for it, they will go away with your money and call you a fool.”

Speaking in the same vein, President of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, said the proposal was insulting to the people of South-east.

He said: “All the people glibly mouthing Igbo presidency in 2023 are alienating themselves from Igbo votes. Ndigbo find it so insulting that some people think that we are so stupid to believe that a man who hates Ndigbo so much that he refused to appoint an Igbo man into the security council will suddenly hand over power to Ndigbo. It’s the most idiotic narrative ever sold to humanity. It would have been better not to say anything than to say that. So, anytime they say that they offend the sensibilities of Ndigbo. That’s one.

“Secondly, Igbo people are not interested in the presidency as much as they are interested in enthroning equity and justice through a structure anchored on true federalism. The most important thing to Ndigbo is to have a restructured Nigeria where every zone grows at its own pace. That is more important than a Kanuri president in 2042, a Nupe president in 2058, an Itshekiri president in 2071 and a Berom president in 2084. All those narratives are so idiotic and very unintelligent.

“Someone holds unto an unwieldy military structure and is nepotistic in his appointments and you are telling those that he sidelined to wait for their own turn for the presidency so that he will sideline others. That doesn’t give room for harmonious co-existence.

“So, what we are working on is how to restructure Nigeria by whittling the powers at the centre so as to return the country to the way it was in the First Republic under the 1963 constitution.”

He posited that the Igbo are highly intelligent people and independent minded, noting that “in 2019, they will look at the presidential candidates and choose the one that best protects their interest. It has always been that way.”

As Ezeife, Okorie, Ikedife, others reject 2023 presidency offer
Ohanaeze, Okechukwu, others insist on 2023 Igbo ticket
Onyedika Agbedo

During the 2015 presidential election, the people of the South-east region threw their weight behind former President Goodluck Jonathan.

They were to be paid back in their own coins when President Muhammadu Buhari made his key appointments without considering any Igbo fit for the positions.

An ostensibly angry Buhari had said he would not take what he would use to compensate those who supported him overwhelmingly to give to the people who gave him only five per cent votes at the polls.

For some of the Igbo, the support for Jonathan then was anchored on the belief that it would be easier for him to support a president of the Igbo extraction after serving out his eight years in office in 2019.

The Igbo who believe in the tripod nature of the country have been crying of marginalization in the country, particularly as their zone has not had a shot at the presidency, which probably was responsible for their always seeking for a way to actualize the dream.

And as if the other parts of the country know the desire of the Igbo, they always raise the hope of the people of the South-east by telling them to support them so as to get power thereafter.

Therefore, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and some of the people of the South-east are again thinking that it would be easier for them to accomplish the desire after the eight years of the Buhari presidency since the South-west had served for eight years under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Indeed, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, believes that the Igbo should better wait for 2023 when the coast would be clearer for the South-east zone to contest for the presidency.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who spoke through his Media Adviser, Chief Emeka Atamah, said the North should be allowed to serve its eight years after which it would be the turn of the South-east.

He pointed out that the eight-year tenure of the North was truncated when former President Umaru Yar’Adua died and power shifted to the South-south, saying that the North would have been adequately compensated if Buhari is allowed to complete eight years.

Then in 2023, he said, it would have become statutory for the Igbo to take a shot at the presidency, which has eluded the zone for many years.

But Sunday Sun findings revealed that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo position notwithstanding, the South-east zone might again deny President Buhari their votes in the 2019 elections.

This was also despite the concerted efforts being made by Buhari’s loyalists to convince the people of the South-east to support his re-election bid so as to have a better chance of producing his successor in 2023.

A cross section of Igbo leaders interviewed by Sunday Sun expressed divergent views concerning the proposal with many of them saying that 2023 promise was conceived to mislead the people again.

Recently, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustafa, had told a delegation of the Ebonyi State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who visited his office, to “preach to the other South-east states that the shortest way to Igbo presidency is to support Buhari in 2019.”

Since that pronouncement by the SGF, many APC chieftains in the South-east have been unrelenting in marketing the offer to the people of the zone.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mr Osita Okechukwu told Sunday Sun that supporting Buhari in 2019 would, among other benefits, bring Ndigbo back into the mainstream of the Nigerian politics.

Hear him: “President Buhari’s victory in the 2019 presidential election presents 2023 as a landmark year for Ndigbo who genuinely want to end sulking, lamentation and agonising over decades of marginalisation. This is the antidote and will showcase our hard work and enterprise. The alliance with Buhari is surreal and realpolitik. Realpolitik, for more than any other event, 2023 will consolidate not only our fledgling democracy, but will Bring Back Ndigbo into the Mainstream (BBNM) of Nigeria politics. This is why I’m one of those who would like to ask, what would the Great Zik have done in the circumstances we find ourselves?

“I sincerely believe that Zik, a foremost nationalist, if given our present scenario, would have mobilised Igbo votes for President Buhari so as not only to benefit handsomely from the massive Roads, Rails, Agric and Power (RRAP) projects; but also to position one of our own for president come 2023. This is better than alliance with Afenifere that today doesn’t control even one local council in the South-west.

“The golden opportunity for a president of Nigeria of Igbo extraction is predicted on the truism that since 1999, a zoning or rotation convention is subsisting, between the Southern and Northern regions. The South-west ruled from 1999-2007 and the South-South ruled 2010-2015. So, the South-east is the only geo-political zone in the southern zone, which is yet to benefit from this treasure.

“Ndigbo should shake off ancient prejudices and stereotypes for equity and natural justice is on our side. In the political domain, there is the law with its legal teeth and there is convention with its moral weight. The zoning convention is meant to cement unity and that’s why its utility for Nigeria is realpolitik.”

Also Imo State-born business mogul and philanthropist, Chief Chukwudi Ezeji, urged the people the South-east to put sentiments aside and join the mainstream politics as it would pave way for the actualization of Igbo presidency in 2023.

“Generally speaking, it is his (Buhari’s) constitutional right to seek re-election, but as an Igbo man, I see it as a welcome development because his re-election would guarantee the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in 2023,” he said.

But speaking with Sunday Sun, a former governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, differed with the duo of Okechukwu and Ezeji as he believes that the 2019 elections would present a better possibility for the Igbo to produce the president of the country than 2023.

“I don’t see the possibility. Indeed, we may be very negative and we may be timid also, otherwise the circumstances of now make 2019 a better possibility for Ndigbo. And I don’t believe that we should be begging people for Igbo presidency. It is my view that we should go and pray to God now because He knows that if we take over the presidency of Nigeria, the Fulanis will be happier, the Yorubas will be happier and every part of Nigeria will benefit when we handle the economic development of Nigeria. Therefore, my recommendation is that we should pray to God. Talking about 2023, it is mission very dicey and anybody selling that to people is trying to deceive them.”

Ezeife faulted the belief in some quarters that the power equation of the country at the moment does not favour the South-East to produce the president in 2019, maintaining that those who beat the drum for power equation only do so when it’s convenient for them.

“What is the power equation you have? How many times have they rotated power to the South-east? What is important for me is that Igbo people should go and pray to their God to forgive them everything they may have committed and give them a chance to save Nigeria. To give Ndigbo a chance to save Nigeria economically is what I’m talking about. When we take over power and I hope the right person takes over, the economy will experience explosive growth and instead of looking for petty things to fight over, people would prefer to be at the frontiers of the economy,” Ezeife added.

On his part, the Convener of South-East Elders Forum (SEEF) and former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Dozie Ikedife, said the Igbo had been victims of unfulfilled promises in the past and would be circumspect this time around.

“There are so many unfulfilled promises and our people often fall victims to lies. If someone has deceived you for about two or three times, if he comes the fourth time you will have a second thought. One is just tired of this country. What bothers me is how to realise Biafra through legal and diplomatic processes, and through dialogue without fighting or abusing anybody. That’s my position,” Ikedife said.

Like Ezeife, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, saw the 2023 presidency offer to Ndigbo as the “worst form of deceit”, stressing that only the unintelligent would fall for it.

Franchise21:
Only made us stronger

ozoebuka1:
Seun should give nairalanders the opportunity to ban mods base on census