1MCN: The supposed "interview" with Eyes on Africa presenter conducted in Transcorp hotel London branch is over.
The meeting with Tony Blair former UK prime minister is over. The debate in Chatham House is over. The allegation about Buhari's debilitating health conditions is still very much rife in Nigeria. All of these activities are alleged to be to make up face by the opposition that Buhari is as sound as they have claimed. If Buhari is not in terrible health conditions then what is he still doing in London after the Chatham House debate?
[size=18pt]I have been asking the same question. Why can't Buhari come home and face his campaign now? What is he doing in London?
APC must release the true state of Buhari's health. We don't want another Yar' Adua saga.[/size]
[size=18pt]Anambra emerges tops in transparency rating[/size] BY OUR REPORTER ON MARCH 2, 2015 COVER Barely two weeks to its one-year anniversary, the pace-setting government of Chief Willie Obiano has scored another first in the annals of good governance.
In a report released by the Federation Accounts Sub- Committee on International Public Sector Accounting System (IPSAS) implementation, Anambra State was ranked highest in the South- East.
The South-East zone also came first in the overall ranking among the states of the Federation. With an impressive score of 80 percent, the fiscal merits of the Obiano administration’s commitment came to the fore.
Confirming the development, Senior Special Assistant on Budget in the Governor’s Office Mr. Melie Onyejepu, stated that the successful rating of Anambra State was borne out of the governor’s insistence on early adoption of transparency in all accounting process.
“Anambra became IPSAS compliant by ensuring the adoption of the set standards, setting up the infrastructure and the IT support as well as getting our people to do the right thing.
“Given the volume of activities and programmes being undertaken under the state’s four-pillars of economic development in agriculture, Trade and Commerce, Oil and Gas and Industrialization, and the Enablers we must ensure that things are done right in the area of budgeting in line with the governor’s directives,” Mr. Onyejepu reiterated.
The rating of IPSAS adoption by states is based on a road map designed by the FAAC Sub-Committee on IPSAS implementation, which required among other criteria, the conclusion of cash basis adoption by end of 2014, and that states financial reports should be IPSAS compliant. The survey reviewed the Initiation, Activation and IT Support of states, which involves proper procurement procedures and the adoption of the accounting software, as well as GO-Live which meant deployment readiness, budget conversion, data migration and IPSAS-compliant book-keeping.
In barely one year in office, Governor Willie Obiano has endeared himself to the people of Anambra State with widespread development programmes aimed at uplifting the standard of living of the people. This has manifested in massive infrastructural works in roads, bridges, education, health, housing, public utilities, and erosion control, among others. Social welfare scheme for workers, the elderly and pensioners have equally been receiving attention, not to mention massive investment inflow from both foreign and local firms.
The increase in public sector spending associated with capital projects often give room for leakages in public accounting system, but the Obiano administration’s commitment to transparency and steadfast implementation of the IPSAS regime in the state saw the provision of the requisite infrastructure and software leading outputs in line with international accounting standards.
Anambra State has undoubtedly benefitted from the asset of Obiano’s professional experience. The Governor’s wealth of financial management experience has gradually translated into enhanced financial regulations and practices in the day-to-day implementation of government’s development initiative. http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=107162
BuddahMonk: Things Anambra State government need to do for us this year.
1. Link Oraifite Street Awada and MCC Rd with a flyover across the express with double lane.
2. Link Uga Street Fegge and Atani Rd with a flyover across the expressway with double lane.
3 Dualize Nnewi-Ozubulu-Ihembosi-Okija Road with state of the art street furnitures.
4. Dualize Onicha Rd Nnewi with state of the art street furnitures.
5. Tar major streets in Awada, Nkpor, Fegge, Iyiowa and Woliwo.
6. Ban signposts and billboards that littered all the streets in Onicha and Nnewi.
7. Build two skyscrapers (16 storey each) in Onicha, one in New market Rd, one in Old Market Rd and develop a comprehensive CBD in Onicha
8. Clear Nwangene lake and convert it to an international car park where containers will be offloading instead of blocking our streets here.
9. Change all the names of the streets that bear Northern State in Onicha and change it to the name of great Omanbalas, change Bida Rd to Achebe Rd, change Sokoto Rd to Soludo Street, change Kano Street to Adichie Street, change Kaduna street to Akunyili street,
etc
Nwannem you are on point with all the request above. Don't think they can meet that within this year though. It shows you are aware and alive to our true needs to make our state a great place to live. I'll score you 100% for the post above. Thanks a lot
notobs: [size=14pt]APC propaganda busted, The lady in the picture holding a Buhari Osibanjo poster were the few Buhari supporters that came out to support buhari. But were crowded out by the Anti- buhari group, when they could not succeed to silence the crowd the resorted to making the propaganda video to disparage the Anti buhari group by interviewing themselves and pretending to be interviewing the Anti buhari group. Now look at the lady she is the same person being interviewed. but its obvious she is a buhari supporter. [/size]
APC is truly a party of demons. Imagine the Same woman supporting Buhari turns around making a video pretending to be in the opposing camp. Completely evil minded fellas.
topsyking: The President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, at the weekend hosted former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, in Khartoum to discuss insecurity and instability in Africa, especially the crisis in Libya which has adversely affected other parts of Africa.
Briefing local and international media after the private meeting which lasted over 30 minutes, Mr. Obasanjo said the meeting provided both leaders opportunity to examine peace and security issues in Africa, particularly the situation in North Africa.
“Peace, security and stability which are fundamental to the development of any nation must be our preoccupation,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
“We must do everything possible to ensure that all over Africa, and particularly in North Africa, efforts are made to guarantee peace, security and stability no matter where the need arises.
“My brother (President al-Bashir) and I have agreed to work together with other partners to ensure that stability is achieved in the region and across the continent.”
Mr. Obasanjo chairs the Africa Union’s commission of inquiry on South Sudan and has been a leading advocate of peace and security in Africa.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday said he would not grant amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents if elected President next month.
He also said he is fit and ready for the poll.
The former head of state assured the audience that Nigeria will not break.
Buhari, who made the submissions during a question and answer session at Chatham House in London, said he would also personally lead the battle against Boko Haram.
He said: “I think I will not go to that office with that promise. I have said in my address how, at least 13,000 Nigerians have been killed by Boko Haram, how millions of them have been displaced and are now kept in different camps called Internally Displaced Persons camps.
“Schools have been burnt, there is so much disruption to normal life, people could not farm and where they are able to farm, they cannot harvest. So, granting amnesty to Boko Haram will be unfair to the system.
“We will secure Nigeria. We must have the time to collect enough intelligence to make sure that those that we got are given the chance in civil courts to be properly prosecuted.”
On his alleged health challenge, Buhari said he is fit as fiddle and battle ready for the March poll.
He added: “I am very happy that I have been able to visit 35 states out of the 36. I haven’t broken down even though somebody announced my death yesterday (Wednesday).
“I had a call from Maiduguri that somebody rushed into a friend’s house crying and said they have just announced that Buhari has died in hospital in London and so, he called me and I laughed my head off.
“Certainly, I will be expecting too much if I don’t expect people to wish me dead. But I am very pleased that I am fit, the doctors have declared me fit and I am going back for the final onslaught.”
Responding to a question, Buhari said Nigeria cannot afford to break up again as a nation because its nationalities have bonded.
He said: “I appreciate the full import of this question. We have a problem as a people and if you are following my statements, I warned about six months ago that we have to be careful of Somalialization of Nigeria.
“We are a group of nationalities like some people wants to call it. We are very different people, religiously, culturally and from different background and we happen to have come together after the amalgamation by the British in 1914.
“We find it difficult to separate now because there have been so many inter-marriages and some, we have become interdependent. Our constitution has been very deliberate in respecting our sensitivities and the freedom given in that constitution is a guarantee that we will certainly manage our differences.
“We are making a lot of efforts to make sure that we continue to understand ourselves and accommodate ourselves in spite of whatever impression is created among ourselves especially when people are talking so much about religion.”
The APC presidential candidate also spoke on his top three priorities to attract foreign investment.
Buhari said: “Nobody will take his investment to an environment that is insecure. That is why security is going to be one of our major priorities. We will secure the country and efficiently manage it. That efficient management is stopping corruption and getting jobs among others.
“The way of attracting investors is to persuade investors the world over that Nigeria is poised to cooperate with them by securing the country and helping them recoup their investment. It is not a question of having a free ride. They don’t invest for humanitarian reasons, but so that they can recover their capital and make some profit because that is what sustains them.
“So, we have to think very quickly and put in place assurances and improve the system so that the environment can be suitable for investment.”
Says who? The idea is to use them to create horrible carnage and crimes against humanity to convince Nigeriams that Buhari is the right candidate to stop the carnage. Then Buhari will set up a fake 'reconciliation committee' that will recommend amnesty for all the killing Boko Haram committed and the murderers will go Scott free.
Morikaih: Two Generals Purportedly Express Shock Over Jonathan’s Boko Haram War Politics
Two Military Generals have expressed shocked why the Federal Government and the President have decided to play politics with the fight of insurgency in Nigeria. One of the Generals who spoke on anonymity said
“I am still unsettled why on earth the President decided to play politics with the fight against insurgency in Nigeria. Last year, before the appointment of the current Chief of Defence Staff, there was an intelligence report from the DMI on how we could end the insurgency in the North East. The CDS read the report, was highly impressed and ready to implement it. It was based on that report from the DMI that the CDS announced that he would end Boko Haram by the end of April last year. The CDS had that zeal and agility until he debriefed the presidency. As officers, we don’t know what the briefs were, but the officer and men noticed that the enthusiasm and spirit that burned in the CDS just dropped. The existing command structures were immediately adjust and special units created.”
He added further: “the command and control system became incoherent and uncoordinated. The men were deployed to bits and without clear reasons and intelligence, they were recalled or sometimes redeployed to other bits. The sad part of it is that these postings and repostings were done in an unprofessional manner that it rendered the officer and men vulnerability and prone to attacks by the insurgents. You were aware of how some of our men were ambushed and killed. To cover up, it was reported that it was an insider information that sold them out. There was no such insider but the unintelligible orders issued by the unit and leadership.
He continued: It was then officers and men began to complain at different levels over the lose of their colleagues. Today, I am glad that the Presidency and the CDS have fallen back to the same Report from the DMI which the Military had before the CDS was appointed and we can see the progress the Military is making against the insurgents. My only question to the CDS is why did we not use that Intelligence Report. Why did we wait till now before we used intelligence report”
Another Col Kuwe, who is currently on AWOL for not obeying some orders which according to him would have put the insurgents in possession of some military hardwares said: “President Goodluck Jonathan must tell Nigerians why he inflicted this level of wickedness and pain on the people of the North East and Nigerians in general. He can not deny his involvement, but he must tell us his motive. You can see that all of a sudden the military is beginning to win the war against the Boko Haram. Is there a new military? No. Did you hear of any special training of the men? No. Did the terrain change? No. So what is the sudden magic? The answer is the demonstration of political will: the military leadership has now allowed for the adoption of a proper military tactics and strategy”
He continued: “Take my case for instance; what was my offence? That I didn’t allow Boko Haram to capture our Military Hardwares. I was in-charge of a military formation at Baga. We had military hardwares, including APCs which had some mechanical and operational challenges at the time. As part of our rules of engagement, if you are under enemy aggression and you have military equipment which you cannot evacuate, instead of allowing them fall into the use of the enemy, you are obliged to destroy them. This is an international military rule and applicable to Nigeria. When we got intelligence reports that the insurgents would attack our base, we called for reinforcement, for more than 14 hours we never got the any help. When the Insurgents eventually came and we were been overrun by superior firing power with several of our men being killed, instead of allowing the insurgents to capture those equipment, I ordered that they should be destroyed before we took a retreat. Sadly, that is why I am been persecuted. My offence is: why did I not allow Boko Haram members to capture those equipment, which they would have used to unleash further acts of terrorism on the Nigerian people”
“Remember that America sent some personnel to aid our operations shortly after the kidnap of the Chibok girls. The question is: why did they withdraw? The Americans came here and in less than no time, they assisted us to locate the exact position of the kidnapped girls. We were still mapping out strategy for their rescue when a top military chief sabotaged the move. He came out public to say the military had found the position of the girls, he almost gave the exact location. What was he expecting, that the insurgents should keep the girls at the place, waiting for the military after such lead? The Americans considered that highly unprofessional and risky for the safety of its men. They felt that our military was sabotaging itself and they pulled out.”
The Col added: “Now, because President Jonathan wants to score a political point, the military is recapturing all the towns taken over by the insurgents; women who were hitherto kidnapped are now been released seamlessly and in very inexplicably circumstances. What is the magic? Who is fooling who? Don’t get me wrong, I am very pleased that we are beginning to win the war, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Some of us are compiling materials for his prosecution before the International Criminal Court of Justice. President Jonathan must be made to explain his role and motive in the genocide that he allowed to take place in the north East, if not now certainly later.
The same Boko Haram moles in our army posing as "General" while giving out classified operational information to Boko Haram to ambush our troops and evade their areas of search.
These Boko haram media crew are truly feeling the pinch of Chad's offensive.
You know you are hitting the right tones when they suddenly appear in NL with complaints about Chad offensive and how France had armed that country to give them the hell they deserve.
RecruitmentMgr: Nigerian forces backed by air strikes have killed more than 300 Boko Haram fighters during an operation to recapture 11 towns and villages since the start of the week, the military said on Wednesday. “Several weapons and equipment were also captured and some destroyed,” defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade said in a statement…
Shebi they warned you guys about quoting round figures without picture of the body count. Why didn't you just say 323 instead of 300, so that it is more believable?
Although this is just a picture, it in infact the reality of using Boko Haram brutal violence to scare and hoodwink Nigerians into surrendering this country to APC in exchange for peace. We shall not be bullied.
Tundenoni: hmmmmmmmmm! what shall it profit man to lose his life just because of some lie lie virgins... how painful will it be for them when they later discovered even olosho is not available.
Flytefalls: This reminds me of weather reporters who must stand in a hurricane to report how windy it is. If 3 bombs have already blown only a fool would stay around for the 4th
Sometimes it is hilarious what reporters want to do on TV. You got it right about staying in the hurricane or some would like to go where there is some shooting and lie on the grass to report the shooting and even continue to lie down flat even when the shooting is over.
Oya, APC should record another video this time with a Major General and mysteriously "leak" it to the press. Always using childish tactics of blackmail.
dulaman: rofessor Haruna Kaita, is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. In this interview, he spoke on the reasons why he intervened in the certificate saga of retired major general Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flag bearer…
Many observers were taken aback when your name appeared as one of those who were searching for Buhari’s school certificate? Well, I have to say that as a citizen concerned with issues of propriety, this is not a matter that people should remain silent about. Indeed, conscientious Nigerians, following the twists and turns of political campaigns between our two dominant political parties, would have anticipated this type of personality attacks on opponents. Attack, counter-attack and mudslinging are expected from people struggling to garner support for their own candidates and political parties. This is normal. However, what is not so normal is the way in which some politicians become desperate in their attempts to run down their opponents. I took special interest in order to ascertain the truth on the allegations leveled against General Muhammadu Buhari, in my considered opinion, a very credible person. Keep politics aside, Buhari is a man of integrity as most people are aware.
Are you saying that Buhari’s integrity is one of your motivating factors? Of course, we are discussing the murky waters of partisan politics where anything goes. The APC, as a political party, should have anticipated smear campaigns against its presidential flag-bearer and prepared itself for counter measures. The Buhari handlers apparently overlook the fact that the trenches have been dug since before now. The PDP is not only apprehensive of the APC’s recent successes, but also badly bruised due to sustained campaigns, portraying the PDP as a party that lacks integrity with such baggage such as Stella Oduah’s certificate story and other impertinent actions. As it is right now, the PDP may grab any chance the opposition will offer to even raise the scores out of desperation and fear of defeat at the polls. In specific terms, initially, I was reluctant to intervene on the certificate issue, but for the complacent manner the APC dismissed the scandalous allegation on Buhari’s academic qualifications. To my understanding, the target of the secondary school certificate campaign waged against Buhari is having a double-edge sword effect. For one effect, the certificate issue is set as a trumped-up story to challenge the constitutional eligibility of a credible presidential contestant, who is now contesting for the fourth time, especially now that he has remarkably gained nationwide acceptability due mainly to PDP’s impunity. For another effect, the certificate campaign is meant to cast doubts on the very foundation of General Buhari’s sterling military career. The attempts are strategically intended to demolish the very foundation for his recruitment into the army, and logically any subsequent positions he held as something that happened fraudulently. Again, Buhari assumed he could satisfy the opposition by simply explaining that he contested elections before with a sworn affidavit and no one contested his basic qualifications then.
But how would you explain the rationale behind the use of affidavit instead of original credentials? Ideally, this question should have been referred to General Buhari himself and not me. But there are lots of stories regarding Buhari’s decision to tender affidavit instead of his original certificates in the pursuit of his political career. We shall come to that. First, we must acknowledge that the issue of using affidavit by anyone in Nigeria is a legitimate one. This is duly recognized and accepted by the laws of the land. It is indeed a legal way of handling missing documents or certificates. This law cannot therefore change because of Buhari or any other person for that matter. However, anything could have happened to Buhari’s certificates to warrant his resort to affidavit. For example, there was this story surrounding Buhari’s documents which were lost during the 1985 coup, which toppled Buhari’s military government. It was alleged that Buhari’s documents were carted away from his residence and never returned to him since then. There was also another allegation that even the copies of his documents in his service records were removed with the intention of setting the stage for the unfolding drama. Whatever the case, the evidence produced by the school he graduated from in Katsina should have arrested the matter once and for all. I do not believe the burden of proof should squarely rest on Buhari’s shoulders. In any case, anyone who is not satisfied with the evidence provided by his school authorities can take the matter a notch higher by extending their investigation to the authorities of Cambridge University Examination Board.
Don’t you think that your decision to get involved in Buhari’s certificate saga has taken you to the reign of partisan politics instead of your lecturing job? Ordinarily, I would have ignored the lack of certificate allegation leveled against General Buhari, which I see coming like all the other politically motivated allegations made against him before now. But I noticed that the more the APC supporters wish the certificate saga to fade away, the more exciting and resilient the issue becomes. To worsen the situation, even the institution that should have vouched for the credibility of Buhari’s qualifications was ambivalent about it. Without mincing words, the statement of the military spokesman on the issue, which was officially made in a press conference, did not help at all. Whatever the reason that informed the decision of the military officials to approach the matter in the manner they did is best known to them. For me, I felt duty bound to wade into the issue. Consequently, I contacted General Muhammadu Buhari’s political handlers for their consent to apply for his secondary school result in order to clear the air, especially going by the garbage that is being circulated in the social media over Buhari’s qualifications. Having come from Katsina myself, the same state with Muhammadu Buhari, it was quite easy for me to apply for any information of public interest from the appropriate authorities in the state. I therefore applied for evidence of Buhari’s secondary school qualification from the Principal of his former school. Thereafter, his statement of result was duly issued to me on behalf of General Buhari. I, accordingly, sent the result to Buhari’s political handlers, upon which they promptly made it public. I noticed that it instantly went viral on social media. You may wish to know that what is even most amazing about the retrieval process is the fact that the school is meticulous with its record keeping. You will be surprised that in that school, student records dating as far back as 1932 are still intact. Out of the whole lot, Muhammadu Buhari’s 1961 final examination records were fished out. They were then entered into the standard result format issued to all secondary school students who graduated from schools in Katsina state. For each school, the Principal and the Examination Officer are the signatories to results issued from the master list sent to the school by the relevant examination bodies as you must have seen it on the copies of the statement of result circulating in public.http://dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/politics/19624-why-i-fished-out-buhari-s-certificate-professor-kaita
valicious1: [b]Woman Turns To Tortoise There is pandemonium in Owerri, Imo State capital as hundreds of residents gathered at the busy Tetlow/School Road, junction, Sunday to watch in awe a scene where a woman was alleged to have turned into a tortoise. Aside causing traffic gridlock on a quiet Sunday afternoon at the road, many watched the carcass of a tortoise which was killed and burnt by angry youths. Various accounts of what really happened could be not ascertained by our reporter who had to listen to conflicting stories from various witnesses. According to one of eye witness, a middle aged woman in a Keke Napep was said to have asked a little boy to pick a certain amount of money on the road for her. The boy refused until passerby who got wind of what was happening intervened and forced the woman to pick the naria notes. She was said to have turned to a tortoise immediately she picked the money. Another eye witness said the boy picked the money and gave it to the woman and suddenly she turned to a tortoise. . Efforts by our reporter to speak to the boy were futile as family members shielded him from speaking to the press. One of the relatives of the boy was seen praising God for not allowing the devil wreck havoc on her family. “God I thank, God I thank You o, God I thank you, Source. www.innonewsinternational.com/news/pandemonium-in-owerri-as-woman-turns-to-tortoise/[/b]
[size=15pt]Wow, this man is super talented. He itemized all the failed Fr. Mbaka prophesies and his penchant to combine politics with religion. Mbaka has really embarrassed some of us Catholics. If i wasn't a Roman Catholic myself, i would have tongue lashed Mbaka publicly for dragging my denomination to the mud, but i shall reserve my comments for the respect i have for my church.
Anyhow, it was a 100% perfect video!!! I hope Fr. Mbaka responds to the man's excellent questions. We as followers of the faith deserve to know what is really going on.
Joel3: searching nigeria through google image search. You will be surprise at the sight of what you will see.
poverty stinking people, burning humans alive. Backward and dirty people. Over crowded people in lagos busy market, Ebola dying people, boko haram menace. Okada drivers and decay of general infrastructure.
Unlike other country in the world.
This images are constantly been viewed all over the world.
And its discouraging and send bad light about nigeria intentionally.
What can we do to correct this.
Bro, Please lose hope. Nigeria is exactly all those things you see. Tribalism, religious and ethnic violence, filth, mass poverty etc. It is pretty unlike any decent country you know. We need this country to break up into compartible units
kolonigga: You can listen to the conversation here https://soundcloud.com/bbc-world-service/the-fight-against-boko-haram-a-nigerian-soldier-speaks-out?ocid=socialflow_twitter These are some of the conversations i wrote down. BBC journalist asked "when Boko Haram dislodged you, where did you go?" he said they went back, reinforced and went back again. They requested for reinforcement and they sent 20 men but they refused to come due to lack of weapons they don't have. The 20 men were dismissed from the army. He said they have requested for weapons but in many cases have been refused. He said many women in his barracks are windows, they are suffering. He said Boko Haram fighters are using AA(Anti-Aircraft), RPGs and many support weapons. He said the gun they are using is Kalashnikov(AK-47) while old tanks since 1976. The weapons are very, very old he told the BBC journalist. BBC journalist asked if the Boko Haram are plenty? He said yes they are, the army of 116 soldiers will attack Boko Haram of about 3,000 at that day, that there is a problem. He said that the enemy strength of last year was about 10,000 while his own strength is 400 - 500 and any attack they come they must defeat us due to lack of support weapons he said. BBC journalist asked him if he could defeat Boko Haram at any time? he said "Yes, he is a soldier he can do better but logistic fail, weapons fail, morale fail". BBC journalist asked him of his senior officers, if they are angry of the situation? he said: "I can't say so, they are not thinking of the soldiers but themselves, i like Nigeria, it is my country i never have any other country to go". BBC journalist asked him if he will go and fight if necessary? he said: "Yes, if they bring the necessary things he will, this is my country i can never run to any foolish , let them do the right thing at the right time, we soldiers believe we can do more than what they can do to us"; BBC journalist asked him about the security chief saying they can get rid of Boko Haram within 8 weeks if he agrees? he said: "kai! I never been agree, i can look but i never blame i never dream that in my mind. Things are wrong that is what i am telling you, that's the truth" https://twitter.com/BBCAfrica/status/566141845034774528
I guess if its not excuses about 'old' tanks, it will be 'old' generals. I am just wondering if Boko haram are using the best US made brand new tanks. I was also wondering if the Chadians that have bloodied Boko haram in the last few days since entering the conflict are using brand new American tanks.
Truth is that NA has no desire to fight Boko haram. Moles have continued to supply operational info to BH and many sympathetic army commanders have simply abandoned all our weapons and equipment intact so that Boko haram can 'capture' them and re-arm themselves.
I hope President GEJ realizes that he must accept AU military support in order to beat Boko Haram. He simply cannot beat them using NA alone, even if he gives NA all the weapons in American armory.
So when Obasanjo started the move that led to Amechi and Kwankwanso to defect to APC, told Jonathan that Ijaw will not rule Nigeria, wrote all the letters insulting the Peesident etc, you thought he was just kidding right?
No wonder he was never expelled for Anti party activities.
[quote author=lalasticlala post=30669941][/quote]Dude prepare to either get used to life without 'oyel' money or leave Nigeria altogether for your caliphate.
I have decided as a 39 year old Nigerian Citizen that has lived in Nigeria all my life to write you this letter – one that I am equally copying to President Barack Obama and Ambassador James Entwistle based on your press statement of February 7, 2015 that read thus:
-starts-
“The United States is deeply disappointed by the decision to postpone Nigeria’s presidential election, which had been scheduled for February 14.
Political interference with the Independent National Electoral Commission is unacceptable, and it is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process. The international community will be watching closely as the Nigerian government prepares for elections on the newly scheduled dates. The United States underscores the importance of ensuring that there are no further delays.
As I reaffirmed when I visited Lagos last month, we support a free, transparent, and credible electoral process in Nigeria and renew our calls on all candidates, their supporters, and Nigerian citizens to maintain calm and reject election-related violence.”
-ends-
First, considering your comments and expressed concern about the elections in Nigeria, which was also the prime focus of your last visit to Lagos last month, I would like to present you with the table below – the contents of which I believe your research desk on Nigeria should have been able to provide you with already:
As you would notice, Sir, April seems to have become the official election date in Nigeria over the last 4 election cycles [the 1999 elections was supervised by the Military] in the same way November has always been the case with the U.S. [for all the ones I have followed in my adult life], and this has been the case under Three Different Presidencies – those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umar Musa Yar-Adua, and the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan. These four elections – always supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] has done these under three different Chairmen – Abel Goubadia, Maurice Iwu and Attahiru Jega – there is therefore an established pattern here – proving this trend has nothing to do with a season or an individual but the process.
Second, I am equally concerned that your country being the lead-propagators of Democracy around the world that constantly insists on the rights of all citizens to count in a democracy do not seem to concern yourself [at least not within your press statement] with the possible impending disenfranchisement of 23.71 million Nigerian Voters by INEC – being the number of registered members of the electorate that the agency as at February 5, 2015 had not yet provided with their Permanent Voters Cards [PVCs] – as shown in the table below, this number represents a staggering 60% of the voters turn out in the 2011 Presidential elections:
Seriously, how come the same INEC that begged Nigerians in 2010 to allow it postpone the elections by almost 105 days for the same reasons of not being able to provide the citizenry with Voter’s Cards now seem ever so willing to run along with this election despite several opposing views in that regard as demonstrated by elder statesmen, political action groups and even political parties – seemingly looking like as though only the lead opposition party – All Progressives Congress [APC] seemed willing to work along with INEC to deny these 23.71 million voters of their rights to vote.
Third, it is also noteworthy that this same Obama administration as exemplified by the actions and body language of the State Department under yourself and Senator Hillary Clinton has consistently played the politics of non-committal towards Nigeria in the last 5-6 years considering the massive security challenges the nation has faced in the course of that period – rather issuing positions via those connected to your office ranging from “the Nigerian Government is corrupt and unwilling to fight Terrorism” to “We cannot sell ammunitions to Nigeria to fight Terrorism because we are concerned about the safety of such equipment” yet today, your department and nation now have a problem with a push of these elections’ dates even though the same security challenges which you have abandoned Nigeria to face is now the official reason adduced by INEC and the security forces for these postponements.
I am therefore tempted to ask you the following questions:
“If the U.S. was so interested in the peace of Nigeria and knew that elections was a very important part of that, why has the US consistently refused to offer to Nigeria the same commitment and support that it is currently offering to Iraq, Syria, Yemen versus ISIL even though today, Boko Haram could have arguably taken more lives than ISIL in the last couple of months?” “Is there any available statistics anywhere in the world suggesting that “the Nigerian Government is more corrupt than those of Iraq, Syria and Yemen that would warrant for those nations to receive the sort of support they are getting from the U.S. in fighting terrorism that your nation is currently denying Nigeria?” So how come all of a sudden, the U.S. seems more interested in the Nigerian Elections beyond helping Nigeria to fight Terrorism which if it had done well would have helped Nigeria to be better prepared to hold the elections as scheduled? Four, I would urge your department to desist from giving more impetus to already growing notion within the Nigerian Polity that “The U.S. government actively supports the Nigerian Opposition and would prefer to have a Nigerian of Northern-Nigerian origin with a Muslim Religious background to become the next President of Nigeria in order to help maintain a certain political balance within the Nigerian Polity” - and I am sure that one sure way to distance yourself from this misconception would be for you to respect the Nigerian Constitution by allowing the people of Nigeria to determine their own fate within the ambits of that same constitution by refusing to sign-up to the propaganda being spread by the opposition and their partners within civil society and intellectual class – at home and in the diaspora – that suggests the incumbent government has other ulterior motives aside those given by INEC and indeed other Nigerians, using myself as an example of such people, as I have already enumerated within this letter as the real reasons why a push in these elections’ dates has been necessitated at this time.
Five, those suggesting to your office and indeed the Obama administration that these postponements are similar to efforts to truncate our Democracy similar to the June 12 polls should be deemed a bunch of Alarmists and nothing more because while the that election indeed took place; and a winner was well-known to all before it was infamously annulled, this oncoming polls has not yet taken been conducted neither can the opposition provide you with any verifiable poll – local or international – even remotely suggesting that it will these elections – and as I see it, claiming victory in an election that has not yet been held would be tantamount to heating up the polity ahead of the polls that could result in a repeat of the post-2011 elections pogrom that led to the systematic killing of 800 Nigerians; burning down of 350 Churches; and displacement of 65,000 Nigerians – all within the space of about 3-4 days!
I close by reminding you of the comments you made while you were in Lagos last month thus: “So let me be clear: Anyone who participates in, plans, or calls for widespread or systematic violence against the civilian population must be held accountable, including by ineligibility for an American visa. Violence has no place in democratic elections, and I can guarantee you that the perpetrators of such violence would not be welcome in the United States of America.”
I dare say that this would be a good time for you, your department and the Obama administration to remind the various parties in these elections that you are very serious about that statement.
I thank you for your generosity in taking my comments to heart.
Yours faithfully
Favour B. Afolabi Founder and President, Online Republic Media Lagos, Nigeria. @favourafolabi
It is good you asked Kerry and Einswistle these questions. The same individuals will not tolerate another country meddling in the US electoral process, but it is convinient to meddle into Nigeria's. Simply out of a sense to bully Nigeria.
While US as a country has great principles to respect other countries, the attitude of Pres. Obama towards Nigeria has continued to baffle me. I regret to admit that I am still a staunch supporter of President Obama, but I can't understand him when it comes to dealing with Nigeria. What does USA really stand to gain by ruining the excellent relationship with Nigeria?
I wonder if this is somehow about Nigeria's resistance to Africom or the EPA. Nigeria is and has always been a close ally and pro USA country in Africa. All the overt and covert policies to guarantee Nigeria's collapse such as refusing to buy Nigerian oil, reluctance to declare Boko haram terrorists and blocking Nigeria from buying arms, collapse of oil price, to blunt refusal to help her fight Ebola. Why and how relations will break down under the watch of a 'black' President is beyond comprehension. Like the Statue of Liberty that has assured all people's and Americans of their liberties even under tyrannical leaders, even this phase shall pass away.
I just realized that the Enugu intl. airport terminal building is exactly the same design as the one in Kano and PH. Only the ones in Abuja and Lagos have a different design, with many aviobridges. It also looks like the pace at PH and Kano was accelerated to catch up with Enugu, which was initially ahead.
I must seriously commend Gov. Chime for the miracle he is performing around naira triangle. He has managed to incorporate it as a huge roundabout, which will definitely make traffic flow from PH expressway into Abakaliki road to be very smooth, thus eliminating any need for a flyover for now. I hope he is able to work out a similar roundabout system at Abakpa junction to eliminate the need for traffic police and traffic jams in that spot.
Politics › Re: What Is Buhari Still Doing In London? by cjrane: 1:18am On Mar 03, 2015
