Gargoylesmiles:


Check out Ubuntu, Deepin and Elementary OS and decide which one to start your Linux journey with.
This is only the beginning so be ready to explore more in the future.

If I were to give advice to someone coming from a Windows environment these days, I'd say go with Mint until you get used to it. My complaint about Mint is that it appears to be a mainly hobbyist operation, so using it long term may not be sustainable. But it is excellent as a base to get introduced into the Linux ecosystem.

Another very good one is Linux Lite.

For me, I use Pop!OS these days, and I'm really loving it.

bigrovar:

Unity is still in the repository but it is nolonger shipped with any Ubuntu imagine. What I did was to install Ubuntu 18.04 via the text based installer then install Ubuntu unity desktop which worked fine. Gnome 3 is vomit atm.

These days I do KDE Neon on my personal laptop, and Lubuntu 18.10 on all the systems in my office. You should try it. The move to LXQt by Lubuntu was really good. We have no need to change the office systems.

Dan Azumi moved back home to Sanga in Kaduan in 1994 with his parents. Some of his siblings are married and reside in Fadan Karshi. His late sister, Ande, got married to a Gwandara man and they had five children.

According to Dan, his village was attacked by some Fulani who the villagers claimed had a week prior, sent a letter informing the community they would be carrying out a raid of the community. Men and young adults formed a vigilante group. At about 10pm on the appointed day, a market day, the vigilante were outside while Ande was sleeping with her 3-month old baby, while her other kids, aged 13, 10, 8, and 5 were sleeping elsewhere. When the gunmen stormed the community, the youth who were keeping guard scampered to safety. The gunmen shot Ande in the head. She died immediately. Her baby didn’t cry so he wasn’t seen.

When the other kids heard the gunshot, they ran from the other rooms into their mother's. They were all shot. Being a community compound where other members of the extended family lived, thirteen persons were killed that fateful night, all related to Azumi.

The attackers went into other houses in the community and killed scores in Kabamu settlement in Fadan Karshe village. They also attacked Karshin Daji, Ningishe, Unguwan Pa, Kobin. Since that incident, there have been killings and reprisals. Some silently, others open attacks like the prior, planned one.

According to Dan Azumi, in the 1980s, his grandfather would reserve remnants of his harvests for his Fulani friend. When they play under the full moon, Both communities shared visits during festivals. Along the line (like in Sanga) the three traditional rulers (four chiefdoms) the Nizom traditional ruler was Muslim; Numana was Muslim; Ayu Village chiefdom was also Muslim. All are second Class chiefs. The relationship between the Hausa, Fulani and the Christian indigenes was cordial until recently. The Sharia Crises and the Miss World crisis didn’t affect Sanga.

Things changed only after the post election violence in 2011 when they started hearing that Fulani herdsmen were being sighted around their communities bearing assault rifles while they reared their cattle. They eventually started using those guns on the locals. This story is almost similar across the region.

Kaduna State is currently enmeshed in a humanitarian crisis. The southern part of the state has become the epicentre of deadly violence, most of it inflicted by herdsmen on farming communities. This report, attempts to trace the origins of this crisis, and project what may come next if nothing is done urgently.

When viewing the current Southern Kaduna crisis, it is important to differentiate between the current violence and the previous historical incidents. The first critical difference is in the duration of the incidents. Most of the violent incidents prior to 2016 were either single incidents or closely related incidents, occurring within a short space of time. This is not so with the ongoing violence. The violence has occurred in several separate incidents over a period of time much longer than any other in the history of Southern Kaduna.

The second difference appears to be in the motivation. Prior to 2016, specific incidents, most of them localised or religious, were the motivating factors for the violence. Many of those involved in the violence were locals and could trace their grievances to those specific issues. The current violence however, is clearly retribution over lost cattle and for grazing land by the Fulani. The Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Elrufai, has also said that many of the perpetrators are not locals but Fulani herdsmen that had to be tracked down to other West African countries. The Northern Governors Forum also repeated this claim in January 2017. Clearly, this is different from the previous incidents.

The third difference is the wider context of attacks by Fulani herdsmen following similar patterns in Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau states. In all these locations, while there were historical local tensions amongst the ethnicities living in those locations (as with Eggon against Alago in Nasarawa, or Tiv against Idoma in Benue), the herdsmen related violence in these areas was clearly delineated from those historical conflicts, and decimated the populations in these areas. The historical conflicts introduced complexities to the situation but they were different. Hence, it is important for observers and policy makers delineate the ongoing killings in Southern Kaduna from the historical violence in planning aid to the victims, response to the violence, and the dispensation of justice.

It is vital to get a handle on the security situation in Southern Kaduna because of reasons of geography, economics and demography.

Kaduna is Nigeria's third largest state by population, and is geographically contiguous with Plateau, which became stable in recent times. Plateau is in its turn, geographically continguous with Taraba. The combined population of these three states is greater than that of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, which are the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency. That insurgency has displaced millions of people, and Nigeria is still reeling from the refugee crisis that has created.

There are lessons to be learned from the conflict in Plateau, and how it entered hibernation. As a result of the Nigerian state's inability to bring a satisfactory end to the crisis in that state, elements among the Tarok, who are found in Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba, and the Eggon, who are found in Benue, Nasarawa and Kaduna states, formed militias, that have been responsible for multiple attacks on Fulani communities at least since 2013. There is evidence that the Tarok militia have collaborated with another ethnic militia, the Junkun, in Taraba state, to carry out reprisal attacks on Fulani communities, many of whom knew nothing of previous attacks.

Furthermore, the Tarok appear to be intent on creating a buffer zone between themselves and the Fulani. This has led them to attack Fulani herdsmen, and communities, both in Taraba and Nasarawa states. The situation in Taraba and Plateau, just like in Southern Kaduna, was exacerbated by the government’s inability to mediate between warring parties and punish the culprits. Seeing that perpetrators were hardly ever brought to justice, communities took to arming themselves.

From an economic perspective, it is important to note that as the government attempts to resuscitate the Nigerian rail service, both of the major rail lines, the Western Line linking Nguru (Yobe) to Lagos, and the Eastern Line linking Maiduguri to Port Harcourt, intersect via a link line from Jos, in Plateau state, to Kaduna. This link line, passes through Kafanchan. It is vital to the economic interests of Northern Nigeria, that an acceptable solution is found to the Southern Kaduna crisis, before other people, go the way of the Tarok and Junkun.

Download complete report (12 pages)

The Boko Haram insurgency entered its seventh year at the beginning of 2016, and a number of important factors have had a substantial effect on developments on this front. In May 2015, Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of Nigeria on an electoral platform that included taking a tougher stance on security issues. Before the elections, a troop surge belatedly approved by the Goodluck Jonathan administration led to marked improvements on the ground in Nigeria’s North East. Buhari pledged to increase troop numbers, facilitate the availability of arms and ammunition, improve troop welfare and engage in dialogue where necessary, as part of a holistic security strategy. Through the year, substantial gains were recorded as the sect was forced to transition from arrogantly perpetrating acts of mass terror – bombing civilian and military infrastructure, wholesale sacking of towns, territorial acquisition and in its most infamous case, the kidnapping of 273 girls from their school dormitory in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014 – to a more minimalist strategy of targeted attacks at the formations and stations of the Nigerian military as well as the joint task force assembled by Nigeria’s neighbours – Cameroon, Chad and Niger as well as raids on the villages, towns and cities that dot the vastness of Nigeria’s North East.

Utilising a fairly extensive network of contacts, resources and third party news sources, SBM Intelligence has tracked the nature, locations and severity of Boko Haram’s activities over the course of 2016 and what they reveal is a group which while considerably depleted in numbers, material and access to some of its traditional strongholds, still displays an intimate and remarkable understanding of the geography of its area of operation and is still able to inflict significant hardship on the militaries of the region and more tragically, its residents. Also, it shows a Boko Haram which while it has changed its tactics is still committed to the ultimate goal of taking Maiduguri.



The numbers tallied by SBM Intelligence from the second half of the year show a clear rise in successful Boko Haram operations with an attendant spike in military and civilian casualties on the Nigerian side. While June was the worst month in 2016 for Boko Haram with 318 fighters lost, October proved to be the costliest month for the Nigerian military. In one incident, the army declared one officer and 45 soldiers missing in a major Boko Haram attack on October 17. The incident, initially denied by the military when reported first by the newspaper Premium Times, was only officially confirmed when the military formally notified the families of the 46 personnel, drawn from nine army battalions and divisions on November 20 and requested that their next of kin forward bank details for onward remittance of accrued payments. The soldiers in question had been on deployment in Gashigar, which sits on the northernmost edge of Borno, as part of the ‘Operation Gama Aiki’ aimed at displacing insurgents hibernating around the Nigerian border with Niger and Chad when a daring nighttime raid by the group led to the single largest loss of military personnel this year. In its wake, the military opened a secret inquiry into the attack after some brigade commanders raised questions about the conduct of the soldiers. Also, the security forces stepped up the breadth and intensity of their counterinsurgency operations. In November, Boko Haram recorded 60 verifiable losses and an unspecified number of prisoners of war while the military reported just five losses.

In the end, the real story of the Boko Haram insurgency has been the incalculable human cost it has left in its wake. The conflict has led to the creation of the worst humanitarian crisis to occur within Nigeria’s borders since the civil war. Our tally of civilian casualties during the course of 2016 stands at 240, with more than half (62 percent) of those losses occurring in the first three months of the year. Finally, Boko Haram attacks this year have been overwhelmingly concentrated in its home state of Borno – with 67 documented attacks. The other states which have witnessed documented and verifiable attacks with links to the Islamist sect are Adamawa (1) , Taraba (1) and Yobe (2). This is largely a reflection of the fact that the group has been pegged back to its homelands by the massive military effort deployed by the regional join task force to destroy it. It is also worth noting that while the group has lost most of its holdings in the regions bordering Nigeria’s Borno, especially Cameroon’s Northwest Province, the ideology that caused it to sprout still exists.

The danger of the kind of radicalisation that brought the group into existence, is that it is mostly based on ideology. This means even if the structures have been destroyed, the ideology will still find breeding grounds in the minds of those who believe in its motives and ways, implying that even without a vibrant mode of expressing the vices and activities, individual elements will carry on the gospel and spread the ideology, this singular reason is why insurgencies like this can last generations before being subdued. Nigeria must bear this in mind, and be prepared for the fact that this group will be around for a long time. There are no technical victories here.

Download the complete report

The Buhari administration swept into office on the mantra of change and promised to hit the ground running. Critical to delivering on the mandate that was given to the government by Nigerians was the team the President would build. Hence, Nigerians waited with anticipation for President Buhari to announce his ministers after taking office.

After a five month wait, the ministers were finally announced and screened by the Senate in a highly publicised, and well-followed exercise. The nomination and screening process was not without drama, and while supporters of the administration argued that the process took as long as it did because the President needed to balance factors such as constitutional requirements for ministers from each state with the party politics and getting credible, competent and people with clean records, many were of the view that all these could have been done with a greater sense of urgency for the tasks ahead.

Upon the allocation of portfolios to the ministers after their screening and confirmation, SBM Intelligence undertook a projection of expectations from the ministers and whether in our opinion, the ministers were a hit, a miss or intermediate.

After a year in office, we have reviewed actual performance of the ministers thus far, and based on this, have produced an updated performance rating of the ministers. We have also put the ratings after one year in office side by side with our predictions as the ministers took office, and indicated where those predictions were correct as well as where we were off the mark.



Takeaways

Key ministerial appointments should not be delayed after an administration is sworn in. Ideally, the President should know who's names he will be sending to the Senate before he is sworn in.
Ministerial portfolios should be assigned before screening. This will enable proper interrogation of their plans at the confirmation hearings of the Senate.
Across board, there is a need for the ministers to improve performance drastically if there is going to be any chance that the Buhari administration will deliver on its mandate.
A review of ministers’ performances is due by the Buhari administration with a cabinet shakeup based on performance over the last one year.

Download full report

Been a wee while since I swung around these parts. Glad to see that y'all are going strong. Stay safe people.

P.S - I've been a KDE buff for years now, so Kubuntu it is for me these days.

People talk about political earthquakes. The UK’s decision to end its relationship with the European Union is not so much an earthquake, just for Britain, but a tsunami for the whole world. Britain’s place in the world will shift, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland itself, may come to an end.

The vote within the UK highlighted deep divisions. With the exception of London, England voted massively to leave the EU. Scotland, which only a year ago, voted by a thin margin to remain in the UK, voted by almost 2 to 1 to remain in the EU. Wales voted to leave, while Northern Ireland voted to remain. These divisions have already had an immediate impact as politicians in both Scotland and Northern Ireland have begun to take positions regarding the continued stay of their countries in the UK. We may well see Scotland hold another referendum, and leave the UK in short order. Northern Ireland may decide to join the Republic of Ireland, itself, an EU country.

Economically, the pound sterling has already taken a battering, falling to its lowest level for 31 years. There is going to be volatility as the UK eventually comes to terms with being a smaller economy. With the decrease in the size of its economy, and possibly reach of its economy, Westminster will have to find other forms of revenue. It will either have to raise taxes, or cut its budget, neither decision will be taken lightly, and either one taken, will feed into the political mood in the UK home countries.

How does this affect Nigeria?

“Tough times will soon be over,” President Buhari declared during his 2016 Workers Day address to Nigerians. These are tough times indeed for Africa’s largest economy. A quick scan through key economic indicators as highlighted in the table below show steep declines in GDP growth, oil production and revenues over the past 12 months, whereas inflation rates have risen by a whopping 4.5% in the same time period.

May 2016 May 2015 Variance
Inflation 13.70% 9.20% 4.50%
GDP Growth Rate -0.36% 3.96% 3.59%
NGN/USD Exchange Rate (Official) 197.00 197.00 –
NGN/USD Exchange Rate (Parallel) 350.00 220.50 129.50
Foreign Reserves ($bn) 27.1 29.6 (2.5)
Oil Production (Mb/day) 1.4 1.65 (0.25)
FAAC (Nbn) 409.3 281.5 127.80

The country’s over-dependence on oil has been chastised for decades and now with oil prices declining the nation cannot generate enough income to invest in new oil fields and other critical areas of the economy.

Unfortunately, the bad news does not end with the state of the economy. Nigeria is currently suffering serious socio-political challenges with the government constantly firefighting crisis situations in various corners of the country’s map.

Whilst President Buhari has been quick to engage key issues like corruption and the Boko Haram insurgency, other areas have been left to spiral out of control – from farmer-herdsmen clashes in the Middle-belt states, and Niger Delta militants attacks in the oil producing states and tomato crops annihilation by disease in the core Northern states.

Clearly, Nigeria cannot afford the same dismal performance in the next 12 months.

Download complete report (51 pages)
SBM Intel believes this the points raised in this report can serve as a useful feedback to the government and can inspire policy makers to make relevant adjustment and allocate necessary resources towards tackling areas of serious concern.

If the government is content for Nigeria to continuously be mentioned in the same breath as Cristina Kirchner’s Argentina and Venezuela then they may not like the feedback that will be given by Nigerians at the polls in May 2019.

Guardian and Channels both say that this story is not true.

What is happening here?

Does anyone have the text of Decree 4?

Between 2009 when Mohammed Yusuf was killed and now, the death toll of the Boko Haram insurgency is estimated to be 17,000, putting the annual average at 2,500. This is the very significant. But in 2015 so far, the death toll in another crisis in the Middle Belt of Nigeria stands at nearly 2,000, rivalling the annual Boko Haram average. Unfortunately, this crisis has been neglected and ignored.

This report highlights this crisis in the hope that it will shine a spotlight on it, and spur Nigeria’s government to act before our already stretched military will be required to face a third insurgency within our borders.

The initial information we received of this came from personal encounters with survivors on and offline and then sparse reports of the violence in the press. We at SBM Intelligence then undertook a comprehensive study of the situation, employing methodology that included our correspondents visiting three states Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau, and interviewing survivors, visiting IDP camps for the survivors, a review of as many reports as we could find, curating casualty figures, visiting the markets in Lagos where produce from the affected regions are sold and a review of economic data to assess economic impact of the violence.



[url=https://copy.com/P1pKdlyCO7IaI2gh/Terror%20in%20Nigeria%27s%20Food%20Basket.pdf?download=1]Download the complete report[/url]
[url=https://copy.com/tJqiggE0rAa1m8L9/Terror%20in%20the%20Food%20Basket_summary.pdf?download=1]Download the summary (with infographics)[/url]

Why should we care?

The area known as the Middle Belt in Nigeria, is largely rural. A drive from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to Enugu in the South-East geopolitical zone, takes you through large swathes of this area, through villages, which were once farming communities, and which unknown to so many Nigerians, are responsible, to a very large extent, for feeding the country.

However, because the most visible elite and middle class Nigerians are based in the urban conglomerations of Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja, Enugu-Onitsha, Port Harcourt-Aba and Kano-Kaduna, we do not see these rural poor, and as a result, hardly care about their problems.

We have to.

These problems are causing a large rural-urban drift, which is unsustainable in the short to medium term as seen in large parts of Jos, Plateau State, which are turning into huge refugee camps. In the long term, these security issues are causing a North-South drift, with the attendant conflict as various cultures clash.

Finally, there is the potential for escalation as the problem accelerates and more people, in their bid to get away from the problem crowd together, and compete more fiercely for ever dwindling resources.

This report serves as a start to a conversation over an issue that has been ignored for too long. It is not a final document, there is a lot more that needs to be done. A lot more.

It is our hope that this report will be studied and broadcast in order to highlight the plight of the people of the Middle Belt of Nigeria as well as that of the genuine herdsmen in addition to assisting and spurring the government to action to find long lasting solutions to the issues and restore the economy of both parties before it further escalates into a full blown insurgency. Nigeria must act now.

Breaking news: Seven ministers have exited the federal cabinet to go make their fortunes above the law.

Trouble at Synagogue Church - The confusion moments before YNaija correspondent, Dayo Ademuwagun was attacked: http:///AHUI5QmO9l

On arrival at the base, our first port of call was the Underwater Warfare Training Facility. This is basically a four storey high tank that simulates the conditions underwater, in order to let naval divers learn, and perfect their craft. The tank is in use, and we were shown an example of how it is made use of. Following the tank, we were taken to see some of their workshops. The Nigerian military, since the days of Abacha, when sanctions decimated its ability to service its equipment, has been making efforts to look inwards in terms of fabrication and maintenance. Like in Victoria Island, I saw vessels under repair, and a device, outfitted for making repairs underwater. What I found most interesting was the fact that there were trainees being taught how to make those repairs. One of my hosts, who of course did not want to be identified, spoke with some pride about the NNS Andoni, a made-in-Nigeria warship of the P100 class. I did not get to see the ship though.

Following the tour of the maintenance facilities, we were ‘given’ front-row seats to a training session of the Nigerian Navy’s Special Boat Service. This training was being conducted by American Delta Force operators. For those of you who may not know, Nigeria’s Special Boat Service (SBS), is a special operations unit of our Navy. It is a male only outfit, modelled after the British Special Boat Service. It’s primary focus is riverine operations, but its scope has been expanded to include counter-terrorism. On a personal note, the constant fire from the training exercise put a lot of context as to how our fellow citizens in Borno state live their daily lives.

Read about the rest of my visit to Navy Town, Ojo, here.

She died this evening of the Ebola Virus Disease. She is survived by a husband and a son. May she rest in peace.

Reacting to shocked looks and queries by some of the passengers in the moving bus he had just jumped into, Chibuike Ibe, 9, simply said, "Even my junior brother dey sell for Cele," then proceeded to hawk his wares. The time was almost 10 pm, a time he should have been in school.

While young Chibuike would very likely not see the inside of a school willingly, some of his age-mates, who were in school had their lives snuffed out early on Saturday morning. At least 29 students died when Government Secondary School, Mamudo in Yobe state was attacked by people purporting to fight for Allah. I think I can (for once in my life), know that I am speaking the words of God when I say that all the attackers will burn in hell.

The Prez also shares my sentiments, but the difference between me and him is that he actually has the powers to weed out those attackers, and snuff them out. He could, in my not-so-humble-opinion, begin by firing the khaki in charge in Yobe, Col. Ibrahim Ali, who on the same day as the attacks said, "We have not had any major encounter except on June 16 when they attacked a school in Damaturu. We have pushed them out of town."

Meanwhile, all the kids in Yobe have been sent on compulsory holiday.

Quote of the Day

"As much as I love football, it is sickening to hear the amount of money spent there but nothing on wrestling." - Canadian Olympic Gold medalist, Dan Igali pontificates at the AFCON winners.

Bits and Bobs

Apparently, Jigawa head honcho, Sule Lamido, will be the next Prez, if his friends in Nasarawa have anything to say about it.

28 vessels involved in Nigeria's biggest industryhave just been recycled into the system.

National icon, Freddie Ajudua does not like the Wig sent to preside over his excursion to his new home. "Trial was meant to commence today but with the application brought by the first defendant, trial is consequently adjourned," said Justice Oyewole, most famous for making Uncle Bode a Baba Elewon four years ago now.

Finally, if you must move about in Naija by road, God is Good.

If the residents are to be believed, they'd been abandoned for a year only for a memorial to be built in a record 2 weeks #DanaAirCrash

If I were made to shit more or less in public like Baba Suwe was, I'd also go to the Supreme Court for my 25m. http:///10NNG4f I'd go further sef!

For those looking for a lightweight DE with an Ubuntu base, look no further than Crunchbang Linux. It does what Lubuntu wants to do slightly better.

Has any of you tried Ubuntu for tablets?

Yes, this is shameless self promotion, bite me. But the guys told me that I'm the first Nigerian that they've had jump successfully.

The only guy that came cried and did not jump...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH0LpMRQhzk

I jumped from Orlando Towers which apparently, has the highest SCAD free fall in the world.

4llerbuntu:

Funny i was just looking for this thread and i see new posts

Anyway we have a new release, nothing fancy just incremental improvements.
Will download over the weekend, still dont believe in just updating to it.


I hear that kubuntu has a new package manager called muon and it seems nice. May be willing to give that thing one more try especially with that low fat settings thingy that helps reduce the footprint on lower systems.

I wonder if bigbrovar could remaster his desktop and up it somewhere for download, it would save a lot of time and pain to get it configured. Plus his tweaks for  desktop looks could go a long way in convincing new chaps.   So i u see this bigbrovar, consider it.   I presume u are in tune with remastersys tho.


@weaver do u still use ubuntu? Thot u had gone on to anor distro o.

Aesthetically it is quite pleasing I admit, but it doesn't work as well as it should yet. I found myself using konsole to do most of my installation. . .

Hi guys, Chxta here. I work for the Daily Times nowadays, and I would try as much as possible to summarise our top stories for you each day. Consider it a sort of newspaper review. . .

A summary of the top stories for today, 6 October, 2011.

Soldiers cause low sales at Abuja fair

Apparently, the fear of Boko Haram and MEND is causing a lot of loss of business as tight security arrangements and the presence of loads of soldiers means that potential investors are staying away from the venue. What the knock-on effect on the economy will be in the long term remains to be seen. . .


Ex KAI boss' wife arraigned over killing of 2 children

Alhaja Rabiatu Oyenuga,Wife of ex Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Marshal, was arraigned before an Ebute-Metta Chief Magistrate court in Lagos, on a charge of killing two children and injuring their mother in a motor accident.

LASTMA catching KAI is something that has to happen a lot often in my opinion. . .


Imo battles Abia over sack of non-indigenes

The 'wise' decision a few weeks ago by the government of Abia state to send "non-indigenes" packing from the state's employ is causing consternation in neighbouring Imo. One wonders what the Federal government is doing at this pivotal moment. A wrong outcome would definitely cause serious ripple effect,


Uniting against rape

Abia in the news again for the wrong reasons.

While the Lagos State government provided Police officers and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials who accompanied the protesters on their walk, the Abia State Government did all it could to prevent the #ABSUrapewalk from holding in Umuahia.

Despite the repeated announcements on radio, which were sponsored by the Abia State government, warning the people of the state not to join in any protest against rape, the organisers of the Abia leg of the #ABSUrapewalk refused to be intimidated.

“It is disturbing that the Abia State government still does not understand that it is not about the State but about women. It shows us that there is still a lot of work to be done,” one of the organisers, Ms. Yemi Adamolekun of Enough is Enough Nigeria, said.

The protesters in Abia walked from Okpara to the State Security Service office and were addressed by the agency’s director.


Yobe moves to sack ghost workers

The government in Yobe state have a very interesting solution towards solving the problem of "ghost workers". Sack everybody,


Reps order Airtel sack reversal

And in a throw-back to the days of government owned enterprises where some egghead would give orders and expect them to be obeyed by fiat, our House of Representatives have ordered a profit-making enterprise to recall sacked workers. Hi guys, there's a word called bottomline,

There was an attack early on Sunday that left 19 people dead. Now the Zamfara police have rounded up suspects. Contrast with the situation in Plateau where killers now believe that they own the state.

I just hope that the issue of state police becomes a reality soon because it doesn't make sense for every little thing to be referred to Abuja before it works. No sense at all,

I frankly do not understand how access to the biometric data by the CPC would compromise national security. The biometrics weren't even used in the vote,

Please can someone explain this to me?

That's the first line of our Constitution, but the question needs to be asked if we really understand what this means.

You see, from the reaction (the Nigerian reaction), to yesterday's monumental story about the need to spend upwards of US$1billion, and at least 30 years to clean up Ogoni land, a reaction that was very muted, a lot comes into play.

We really don't care about each other, yet we expect the government to care about us? Forget it, it ain't gonna fucking happen.

Truth is this, with the exception perhaps of Diezani, all of our current government topshots were once "floor members" of Nigeria, a part of the masses. The examples abound: GEJ was a bloody lecturer 15 years ago. Adams was an aluta continua type fellow 8 years ago. Kalu was a student union leader 21 years ago. Lucky and Alao-Akala were "motor park" boys years back. Ikedi was in a cybercafe years back. Reuben was a government critic months back. So how did these people suddenly transform into people who are so out of touch with the average Naija?

They did not transform. They only moved to the next level. Like will happen to all of us given our proclivity of being unconcerned with our next door neighbour.

The words of Jesus, "Love thy neighbour" mean Bleep all to the average Naija. A more civilised take in today's Daily Times,

Apparently the FG has signed an agreement with the Russkies to build a nuclear power plant. I'm now going to be looking for my visa to Afghanistan,

Without any apology to anyone, I believe that the hierarchy of the labour unions in Nigeria is populated by morons.

On another note, I find it significant that this article which I submitted to the editors at The Daily Times a few days ago was published today, the very same day that The Guardian published a story telling us that labour wants to mobilise people for another (aborted?) strike.

After the pissed on opportunity of last week, who should take them serious? Such a person's head would need to be examined,

If as youth we simply criticise everything without offering solutions or attempting to engage our elected representatives, then simply put, we have no future.

Just for the records, I did not collect 50k from Jonathan's people during the Presidential lunch. But I wish I had. I need to buy a new generator.

You can read the rest of my reply here.