₦airaland Forum

olokfor:
Former presidential aide Reno Omokri writes open letter to the minister of Information. Read below

Dear Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, Greetings and congratulations on your recent and well deserved appointment as Nigeria's Minister of Information. You may recall that we met on the set of 'Politics Today' in May of 2011 soon after I was interviewed by Deji Bademosi and just before you were interviewed.

The purpose of my letter to you today is in response to your statement made on Monday the 21st of December, 2015 in which you accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom I served as one of three spokesmen, of being responsible for the current excruciating fuel scarcity now subsisting in Nigeria.

Your exact words were "What I will be telling Nigerians is that what we met on ground is such that we are paying for the sins of the last administration.....One of the reasons for the fuel scarcity was the inability of the last government to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy". My candid take on your message to Nigerians is that it is an abdication of responsibility on your part and does not project you and the government you represent as being responsible. Government, as you very well know, is a continuum. One government takes over from where the other stopped and to say that an action in December of 2015 (six months after ex President Jonathan handed over to the incumbent on May 29th, 2015, ) is the fault of the last President, is to confer super human powers on Jonathan.

To prove to you that it is wrong to blame the former President, I will quote the words of the incumbent President. A month ago, President Buhari, while speaking to the Nigerian community in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said “I believe if you are in touch back at home, you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power". Those were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari in Tehran on November 25th, 2015. You, Honourable Minister, also boasted about the improvement in power back in August 2015, when you attributed the improvement to the 'body language' of the 'new sheriff' in town. You may recall that you said "I say it anywhere I go that even though we have not added one single megawatt to power, there has been improvement.

My colleagues in the PDP will say no; that’s not true. But I maintain that this improvement is as a result of the kind of integrity that President Buhari has brought to leadership." Now, you and I know that despite what you said about the President's "body language", there is absolutely no way that any action or inaction of President Muhammadu Buhari could have led to an improvement in power.

All the new power stations that have come on stream this year were either built or completed by Jonathan. Absolutely all of them were conceived, funded, built and commissioned by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidents, the same party that you said had destroyed Nigeria. On October 19th, 2013, then President Jonathan completed and commissioned the 530 Megawatts Omotosho Power station Phase 2 begun by his predecessor.

On February 20th, 2015, he commissioned the 750 MW Olorunsogo II Power Station in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. On March 24th, 2015, Jonathan also commissioned the Phase I 504MW (Simple Cycle Gas) Alaoji Power Plant at Umuobasi-Ukwu, Abia State. Former President Jonathan was also the leader who successfully privatized major chunks of our power generation and distribution infrastructure. He also created the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC.

So concerned was President Jonathan to know the state of electricity provision that I had to do regular, sometimes weekly, polls and surveys on Twitter to get the public's feedback on the state of power in their locales. Yet, despite all these, President Buhari and you, Honourable Minister, were not shy at taking credit for the improvement in electricity in far away Tehran and Lagos at various times this year. One wonders why the same "integrity" you credited for automatically improving power cannot provide fuel?

Don't you think it is a bit rich to blame ex President Jonathan for the current fuel subsidy especially given the fact that leading lights of your party resisted and rejected the ex President's move to do away with fuel subsidy by deregulating the down stream sector of the petroleum sector? Indeed Honourable Minister, you may recall that as the National Publicity Secretary of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, you released a statement condemning the then government's plans to deregulate the petroleum industry and remove fuel subsidy and also said that the removal of fuel subsidy was "a threat to Nigeria's unity".

Sir, you would agree with me that it is only honourable to take the bitter with the sweet. I am reminded of my 10 year old daughter's comments to me every time I accuse her of watching too much television. She quotes a line from the Disney movie, 'A Bug's Life' in which Hopper says to Atta "First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault". If my daughter at 10 is aware of this rule, shouldn't a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who also happens to be over 60 years of age, and who also happens to be the official spokesperson of the current administration know this rule?

A bad workman may blame his tools, but it takes an irresponsible workman to blame his predecessor! When Jonathan became President on May 6th, 2010, he met a comatose railway network. He did not blame his predecessors. Rather, he went to work. Within two years, he successfully rehabilitated a significant portion of our national railway infrastructure and had restored intra and inter city routes for the first time decades.

He made it possible for Nigerians to travel from Lagos to Kano for less than $10 (₦1600). There were services from Port Harcourt to Enugu, Makurdi to Port Harcourt and Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna to mention but a few. For the first time in decades, there was a direct rail transport from Tin Can Island Port in Lagos all the way to Kano with stops along the way. Jonathan successfully built the brand new standard gauge 187 kilometer Abuja-Kaduna railway which will make it possible to live in Kaduna and work in Abuja.

Within Lagos, he introduced air conditioned fast Diesel Multiple Unit trains, the first of its type in Nigeria. I quite remember that when I wrote about these accomplishments, members and sympathizes of your party publicly labeled me a liar. I remained a liar in the eyes of the Nigerian public until my recent surprise vindication by the new Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, who said while on a familiarization tour of the Nigerian Railway Corporation as follows “in fact, I think we have a problem; most people don’t believe that the railway transport is functioning in Nigeria. I didn’t even know, until I started this tour, I never knew that the railway was functioning, it was even from his (MD’s) speech that I learnt that there are some coaches or services that go to Kano or Port Harcourt or elsewhere. So we need to make people become more aware that the narrow gauge is working, and that people can still use it to travel around that country."

Now, Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, who do we blame for this remarkable progress in our rail sector? Let me end this letter to you with a quote from best selling author, Dr. Steve Maraboli: "It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others."

Thank you and be assured of my continued loyalty and support to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

http://www.metronaija.com/2015/12/jonathan-is-not-to-blame-reno-omokri.html

cc: lalasticlala

[size=30]WORD!!![/size]

Jesusloveyou:
because everywhere in nigeria is "change" mostly end time change

very very end time

Sultan5:
So you didnt watch that episode right? This is part of what i am saying Aang was never beaten in the Avatar stste that is if you dont count the cheap shot from Azula because even the Avatar dont have eyes in the back of his head. And this is part of what i was saying about Azula and her willingness to take cheap shot and do whatever it took to get the upper hand made her incredibly lucubious lol.

answer my question, in what avatar state did kuvira whip korra's as$?

Sultan5:
I see your point but aang team at ther core are the strongest benders. Zuko is the strongest fire bender even although it could be argued his father was better.

Katara and toph are the strongest water n earth bender respectively.

Sokka dispite his stupid antics is a seasoned warrior.

N we all no aang is the better avatar. on offense to korra but Aang was much more difficult to beat than korra.

I no u want to raise the stats of team korra. But team Aang are in no way push overs they were the ones that invented and promoted many of the bending skills u saw in LOK. Team aang at one point in time met with masters in their field and learnt from dem.

Katara met d moon n water spirit.

Toph was train by those earth bending animals.

Zuko met with d fire breathing dragons.

Sokka met with the kiyoshi warriors who were the strongest at that time.

And Aang met and learnt from all. He also learnt from his friends/team who were masters @ what they do and thats saying something given their age. Remember he met d sand benders and that guru. So don't laugh off the pedigree of Team Aang because they are brutal and more knowledgeable that team Korra.

Lastly the reason team aang played around was because they were mainly kids. Bt team korra are semi adults if not adults. But when it came down to it they were as serious and even more tactical than team Korra.

team aang are good, very good, but they never faced the kind of formidable opponents team korra's did, opponents with allies that transcend the physical (unalak), belonged to an exclusive class of benders with innate knowledge of the avatar state, history and all its lore (red lotus), a well networked populist anti-bender movement led by a blood bender who wasn't hindered by the lunar cycle and who could take away your bending (equalist movement) and against an invulnerable platinum mega weapon powered by an inexhaustible and immensely powerful spirit energy via the spirit vines (kuvira's earth nation army)

pasqal09:
Aang in his avatar state was terrifying!
We all knw how he wiped an entire fire nation navy fleet in the end of book one when he entered the avatar state. While Korra had her ass whooped by kuvira even in her avatar state. So pathetic.....

in what avatar state did kuvira whip korra's as$?

Ultimatesammie:
by far more powerful hahahaha guy u funny yh I know toph is gud, no doubt katara can blood bend which can play a major role (which she's too scared too even use so lets drop it) buh how are they by far more powerful, like I said katara's team takes things more serious nd act quickly those ones wud 1st jump around nd play away their lives be4 fight start by d way how many times hv u seen katara's team run from a fight like Aangs team.
Then again dats my opinion u might hv urs buh like I said some peeps just like aangs team so dey naturally side with dem.

also, avatar korra's challengers have been far far more formidable than the ones aang had faced.

pasqal09:
All of them

Didn't you see her threaten Kuvira?

you're kidding right?

where then would you put king bunmi, avatar kyoshi and many others?

and yes I did see her threaten kuvira and she was awesome, but have you seen king bunmi earthbending without his hands?

pasqal09:
Face it man.
There isn't any earthbender that can match her frm the korra era.

true but even the greatest earthbender will struggle against a rookie lavabender

simpleseyi:
Say it, keep saying it. Say it till 2023 when another election will be held. As for 2019, it is already a done deal, Baba has already won the election selection of 2019. So, keep repeating the above shiit until APC wins again in 2023.

I know after peeing into your fuel tank to power your automobile come 2019, you'll still go and vote for Apcheats mtcheeeeeeeeew

free2ryhme:
He couldn't have just mentioned only southern Ijaw, when he knows so well that arms and ammunition, violence and thuggery was present in most of the other LGAs too, especially Sagbama and Ekeremor. One can never successfully hide their bias.
So the same man that believes if he had a person relationship with the vice president he wouldn't have retired when he did, is the one that is claiming Mr.Integrity? How come we never heard people representing a candidate/party tried to bribe him until he was accused by the APC to be biased and supporting PDP/GEJ? Now he saying it's same people that are threatening his life.

sharaaap!! I was in sagbama on election day and I didn't witness any violence, intimidation or rigging, your apcheats are being tacitly called out, stop trying to rope PDP in

Jesusloveyou:
[s]is anyone shouting "share d money" In any part of nigeria? [/s]

people are still screaming [size=20]P O W [color=gray]E R R[/color] R R!!![/size] in my part of Nigeria including bayelsa

pasqal09:
Toph is the greatest bender frm the earth kingdom

greatest, yes, but of which era?

brings to mind that nursery rhime good, better, best good, better, best I will never rest........................... and my better best
now extrapolate to our country's situation since June 2015 bad, worse, worst
bad, worse, worst bubu would never care, until our bad is worse, and our worse worst............................
bad, worse, wors........................
and I wish I could pretend am joking

brings to mind that nursery rhime good, better, best good, better, best I will never rest........................... and my better best
now extrapolate to our country's situation since June 2015 bad, worse, worst
bad, worse, worst bubu would never care, until our bad is worse, and our worse worst............................
bad, worse, wors........................
and I wish I could pretend am joking

saraphina:
6 all d way.

beardgang loves; you too

finalboss:
is he still alive

are you dead?

Occipital:
I was travelling to Benin the other day on an AC bus. All the windows were closed. I was at the rear.

I didn't evacuate some 2-3 days before the journey.

I gassed. A dangerous one.

I'm still wondering HOW the entire passengers...and the driver...unanimously agreed to slide their windows open within seconds....abandoning the AC they all paid for..

you didn't or don't by any chance use God is Good do you?

handle your WMD more carefully next time to avoid unecessary civilian casualties

pasqal09:
The Aang team is byfar more powerful

do you see bolins lavabending? how do you even judge power?

themilanway:
Show us one governor that had that little or no hep from the federal government

what little help? was lagos state government's monthly allocation withheld? or was it that of their illegally created L.C.D.A's?

Yungwizzzy:
he governed the most economic vibrant state for 8 years wailer

oh! you mean the most hyped and grossly indebted economy right? now I understand you

tobimillar:
Remove subsidy and sell fuel for less than 30 naira / litre . with Iran pumping crude next year, and the US removing the 40 year ban on crude export, I see crude oil crashing to about $20/barrel. So we ought to buying PMS at less than 30naira/ litre from next year

fuel from your private refinery abi?

Eruditor:
I can trust PMB. I actually trust him more than his party and thank God he controls his party.

I could never trust the previous govt. Even the little subsidy that was removed they grossly mismanaged. Christopher Kolade dumped the fraud of a SURE-P. The rest of the complaints about YOUWIN and co are well known. Something as serious as BH, they used as a ploy to launder money and pay themselves.

PMB is cut from a different stock.

all these according to whom?

madridguy:
Remove subsidy but don't increase fuel price. Shikena

how ma guy ?

Keneking:
I don't see any dilemma with the issue.

Pretty straight forward'

- sack subsidy
- delete subsidy from the budget
- sack employees working on the subsidy payment analysis in NNPC
- block any protest by any groups with armed forces
- any PDP member that has objection should be dealt with accordingly

were you not informed that speaking through your anus is gross and retrogressive?

and you expect me to clap for you abi? we don't need you at arsenal fickle hearted false fan

its official, bring your game on kardashians, the buharasians have stepped up their game

khalhokage:
Thanks, now I'm more interested interested in seeing season 2, I think that's where most of these exposition are, for example nothing about immunity to radiation is ever mentioned in season 1 and the mountain men only show up at the season finale to kidnap the 100, but i'm definitely go to watch season 2 now.

strap your seatbelt on, this is one hellofa bumpy joy ride and you're gonna love it!



hey! drop your testimony here when you're done

pasqal09:
I give it to team aang.

and your reason(s) would be...........................................?

Ultimatesammie:
which Aang team (I think its some peeps preference to Aang dats why) pls korra's team take battles more seriously and quick to attack not like those ones there dat wud be looking confused.

hard to say, team korra is overflowing with power and potential and team aang with mad skillz
can't choose

ControlX:
Before we crucify Dansuki, go through this...











On Saturday, December 12, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari shocked the Nigeria’s academic community when he went to Kaduna State University, KASU and received an honorary doctorate degree (Honoris Causa) barely seven months after his inauguration.
President Muhammadu Buhari getting a honorary degree from Kaduna State University
On the surface of it, one would be tempted to ask: is the president being honoured for his records of yesteryears or is he being honoured for his performance in the last seven month? If it is for his past records, the natural question is why now and why by KASU? That university existed for over a decade, why didn’t they honour Muhammadu Buhari last year or five years ago? If the honour is as a result of his present assignment, what has he done this far to earn him a honoris causa? Isn’t it a case of moral corruption for a serving president, who has a lot of favours to dish out, accept to receive an undeserved honorary doctorate degree from a state university whose vice chancellor was, in the last six months, queried by the Visitor to the University about three times?
Is it the case that, after the KASU formula, that the president will not attend the convocation ceremony of any university unless that university include the president as one its recipients of honorary doctorate degree. How not, since over a dozen universities have held their convocation ceremonies since the coming of PMB to office and he attended none, it is therefore safe to assume that his failure to attend was because they have not honoured him with a degree. These include the University of Ibadan, University of Benin, Obafemi Awolowo University, Federal University Owerri, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, etc. And none of them received the respect of the presence of the president. Now that KASU has shown the way, any university that wants the president to attend its convocation should simply include the president in the list of the recipients of its honoris causa. They are sure to have the president coming in person to be decorated.
The question is where is the shock? The president action is shocking for three reasons. First, his receiving an honorary doctorate degree, from any Nigerian University, while holding and elected public office is immoral, illegal and a crass violation of the existing regulation guiding the award of honoris causa in Nigeria’s University System. Section 2.0 subsection (a) of the famous Keffi Declaration which was enacted on the 24th September, 2012 by the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) stated that:
“AVCNU member-universities hereby make it a policy not to honour with honorary degree anybody holding political office (elected or appointed) while such officers are still in service.”
President Buhari violated this rule and the president is an honourable man, apology to Shakespeare in his histo-drama book, Julius Caeser.
In 2012, worried by the spate of irregularities and the erosion of academic culture and university tradition especially in the indiscriminate award of honorary degrees in the university system, the vice chancellors of Nigeria’s federal, state and private universities met at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi and resolved, collectively, that the age-long best practices of university culture be restored and maintained. It was the case that politicians, public office holders and all manner of money-bags and favour-flaunters will be conniving with governing councils, vice chancellors or visitors to state universities all in the bid to cajole or hoodwink the university into awarding an undeserving honorary degree. It was so rampant that the credibility of any honoris causa by any Nigerian university was suspect. The Nigeria’s academic community was relieved when the Keffi Declaration on “Sustaining Academic Tradition in Nigerian Universities, Including Guidelines for the Award of Honorary Degrees” was made. It was even more refreshing seeing that all the federal universities, all the state universities and all the private universities at that time have signed the declaration.
But the action of President Buhari of accepting honoris causa, in complete violation of the Keffi Declaration, has done one of the greatest damages to the university system since the enactment of the declaration in 2012. The president has just killed the Keffi Declaration and therefore open the floodgate of irregularities and moral corruption in the award of honorary degrees. Will the president refuse to accept another honoris causas from other universities? No. All the remaining 140 universities will now line up with their ceremonial academic robes ready to decorate the president with honorary degrees. It will be a moral dilemma for the president to refuse to accept after receiving one from a sister-university. And not only that, the president cannot stop his cabinet members, other public officer holders, and including civil servants from haggling-and-bargaining to ‘buy’ honorary degrees and even stand on the same podium with the president to be decorated. The era of immoral impunity in the award of honoris causa has effectively returned. And it was declared open by the action of Mr President.
Second, and even more disturbing is the fact that Kaduna State University is not competent to award honorary doctorate degree to anybody. Information available on the National Universities Commission website indicates that there are only 22 out of 40 state universities with approval to run masters and PhD programs. KASU is not one them. How can you have an honorary doctorate graduands when you don’t have the regular program with regular students pursuing doctorate studies? More so, the Keffi Declaration, section 2.0 subsection (e) stated explicitly that:
“A university shall not award honorary degrees if it has not graduated any PhD or has no postgraduate school or program”
Because the president is an honourable man, I dare say that his idea of change is about changing the rule, it will be safe to say that he received a 419 degree that is not recognised by the NUC, a government institution under his watch.
The question is how many people graduated with PhDs at the 12th December convocation when President Buhari was decorated by KASU? Have KASU ever graduate a PhD since its establishment? When did they get the approval from the NUC to commence the PhD program? How could KASU award what it does not have? Why should NUC keep mute at this illegality and gross abuse of regulation? If the information they published in their website is correct, why should they allow KASU to award illegal honorary degree even to the resident of the Federation? It is amazing how politicians are always at the forefront of rubbishing our academic traditions and values.
It is very clear that the Visitor to KASU who is the Governor of Kaduna State is at the forefront of this manipulative scheme to rubbish the university system and smear the good name of the president of the country. Or why did he dissolved the governing council of the university simply because they allegedly drew his attention to the illegality and immorality of awarding honoris causa to a serving elected public officer? And the VC who was appointed by Governor Yakowa was rattled to his nerves with an array of queries to get him to accept political interference in the running of the university. How else, given the fact that section 2.0 subsection (c) of the Keffi Declaration states, in parts, that:
“…the award of honorary degree shall not be tied to wealth consideration or political alignment…”
Who will doubt that after sacking the governing council and sufficiently intimidating the vice chancellor of the university, the APC governor as the visitor to the university, is not bullying his way into forcing the university to award illegal degrees to an APC President and a business mogul exclusively for political and material reasons?
My third reason is even more scary. Is the Minister of Education so incompetent as not to draw the attention of the President to all these violations? Why wouldn’t the minister of education draw the attention of the president to the Keffi Declaration? And to the NUC guidelines on approved universities with graduate courses? Or better still shouldn’t the honourable minister make the moral common sense argument of not accepting a gift from an institution under ones superintendence? Or is it the case that the president, who ruled the country for over three months without ministers, is still living with that hang-over and is taking decisions without consulting the relevant ministers? If the minister of education is kept in the dark on the KASU honoris causa brouhaha, then our country is in trouble. It means the president will be relying on informal and unofficial (most of the time, misleading) suggestions to run the country. If the minister is in the picture and his opinion sought by the president and he misled the president into going to accept and illegal honorary degree, then some punitive action must be meted on the minister. If on the other hand, the minister was consulted and he advised the president against accepting the illegal degree and his advice was jettisoned by the president, then something is fundamental wrong – it means there is a crisis of confidence between the president and his ministers. And the earlier that crisis is resolved the better for our country.
It is important to note that PDP, in spite of its numerous ills had adhered to the Keffi Declaration. Former president Goodluck Jonathan, to his credit – (oh God, remembering PDP and Jonathan again) withstood all the pressures and declined many of such offers.
For me, President Muhammadu Buhari can still save the Keffi Declaration, save himself from further embarrassment and save the university system in this regard by doing two things: one, cause his handlers to issue a public statement returning the illegal and undeserved honorary degree back to the awarding university and stating his commitment to respect and protect the Keffi declaration; two, investigate and punish any persons that have hands in misleading him into this embarrassing misstep. Fighting corruption is not just about stolen wealth. It is about respect for regulations. It is about staying on the moral high-grounds. Over to you “Sai Mai Gaskiya.”
Dr. Mohammed Jibo Imran
Santa Clara County
City of San Jose, CA

DANG IT!!!
i admit, i really did miss you

bulldoza:
O ni soriree

buhahahahahahaha
you just didn't know how to edit that one without insulting yourself and/or causing system failure to your primeval brain abi?
ekpele oh!
furo iyanla iya iya e koni sorire!

6fit:
Turn on: 6ft tall, long hard dic k, fairfuly hansome, intellegent.
Turn off: low sperm count, 10sec erupter, low self esteem, cluelessness

straight foward
I like you