Eid-ul-Fitri: Governor Yahaya Bello charges Moslems to enthrone peace in the world



In commemoration of Eid-Fitri, Kogi State Governor, Alh. Yahaya Bello, has charged Moslems around the world to restore peace in a world that has been challenged by wars and economic instability.

In a message, through his Chief Press Secretary, Kingsley Fanwo, the Governor said Ramadan represents the sacrifice of the Moslem faithful to submit to Allah’s will and pray for peace around the world. He said the economic turmoil and wars ravaging parts of the world are challenges on the global Muslim community to prove to the world that Islam is a religion of peace by leading global efforts at enshrining peace and stability.

“We owe the world peace, progress and prosperity. As we made sacrifices during the Ramadan, Moslems should continue to pray for peace around the world because Islam is a religion of peace.

“I also urge Nigerians to support the anti-corruption crusade of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration as every religion abhors corruption and oppression of the poor and the vulnerable segment of the society. The world is looking up to Nigeria to see how we prosecute the anti-graft war.”

The Governor assured the people of Kogi State that he will govern with the fear of Allah, who has bestowed on him the leadership of the State at this crucial time.

He said: “My election to the position of governorship at a time like this is a call to service by Allah to serve the people of Kogi State with the fear of God and dedication to the ideals that will help build an egalitarian society. To this, I am resolutely committed.

“I thank the civil servants in the State for their steadfastness and sacrifice throughout the period of the staff verification exercise, which crept into the Ramadan fasting. I feel your pains. I urge you to consider it the sacrifice that will set our payrolls free from the stranglehold of ghost workers, who have made it impossible for our state to move forward.

“Having received the reports of the staff verification committee, we shall swing into action to ensure that your sacrifices are not wasted. My government will continue to accord labour its due recognition as partners in progress in our effort to broaden our socio-economic frontiers through the New Direction blueprint.”

He said his administration is on track to reposition the State through quality education, efficient healthcare delivery, agro-business, small and medium scale enterprises and youth empowerment, assuring the people of the State of better days ahead.

“When I was sworn in as the Governor of Kogi State, I pledged to make history through capital and human development. Conscious and solid efforts are ongoing to achieve my goal of building an economy that will defend our pride and our need as a people. We are on track to make the Kogi people proud of their state.

“Our intention to make Kogi an industrial destination has received a major boost with many enterprises signifying Interest to invest in our state. We have also invested in security to ensure that our nodal status is a blessing rather than a curse. We thank the security agencies for gradually returning the State to the path of sanity.

“I promised the people of Kogi State that we will defeat the few criminal elements that are bent on giving the State a status of crime notoriety. Today, we have ensured security for our people and investors.”

Governor Bello urged Moslems to continue to make Ramadan a lifestyle in order to have a better society.


Signed: Kingsley Fanwo

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor

Caveat emptor: I am writing this article as Petra, a daughter of Kogi State, because the indignation I feel due to the unprecedented and inconceivable rot that has been entrenched in the state of my birth. This decay I see and the agony it weighs on my soul cannot be adequately expressed if I do not remove the toga my office. Ordinarily, this paragraph should not be necessary but, as is expected, there are some people of great mischief and depravity, who would rather pull this piece into their gutter of division and political reproach. This paragraph takes care of such characters.

Recently, I shared the story on Facebook of how my boss, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the Kogi State Governor,  uncovered the fact that the Two Billion Naira loan secured by the past administration from the Central Bank of Nigeria was being abused and misused. The money was meant to be given to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to support the entrepreneurs in their businesses and drive employment and productivity. This fund was collected on behalf of the people to end the hunger and suffering of many, and would, after some time, be returned to the source from the people's collective purse. Yet, it was being shared amongst a crooked few with reckless abandon.  However, instead of my all fellow Kogites to join the Governor in his indignation against those pilfering away our future, I was flummoxed to find a very garoulous few questioning the possibility and veracity of such a discovery.

If anyone is saying were they in the shoes of the Govenor and saw circulars and memos written, in English no less, outlining  a liability they  inherited, yet claim they could not reach a conclusion that should lead to inviting the relevant authorities to investigate the fraud, it simply means they hardly possess the required intelligence needed to occupy a position where commonwealth is entrusted to them.

How can a loan taken for the development of a critical sector be disbursed by cash, without a trace of applications from the beneficiaries? Why convert the funds into illegal grants and claim all was done in good faith?

It is perplexing and unfortunate for anyone to defend such monstrous wickedness against the common good of all Kogites over political, tribal or religious affiliations. Seeing how vociferously this group of individuals, whose names are unworthy to feature in this missive, are concocting and sharing falsehood all over the place, I can only conclude that it is either they are beneficiaries of this great heist or that they suffer from the most acute form of Stockholm Syndrome.

Kogi is a beautiful mess. Alright, she is terrible mess. People who should protect her have, at best, closed their eyes to the rot or, at worse, participated actively in her merciless and bestial rape. She cries for succour; she wails for sanctuary. She will get both and nourishment to boot.

Yahaya Bello is saying, "Enough of the division that only benefits the privileged few! Away with the cancer of tribalism that only feeds the scavengers!!" Will we ignore his call for unity and progress simply because of his origins, which he had no choice in the matter? Will you place your angst for the manner in which he divinely emerged over your love for your state? If you have another place to call home, how about the millions under this yoke? Isn't it time for respite? Isn't it time to take back Kogi?

But I am not altogether surprised at this turn of events. I am sure my Governor does not expect to take on the hydra-headed monster called corruption, which has brought Kogi to her bleeding knees, and expect corruption not to fight back. Corruption must surely fight back. What I know is that with Yahaya Bello's determination and passion to recover every looted penny from the Kogi treasury, corruption WILL BE DEFEATED!

I expect everyone who desires the best for Kogi State to join hands with our Governor to recover our stolen patrimony and send destroyers of our heritage where they belong. Let the courts determine what they will. God, in His own way and time, will settle all man and matters.

Did I put a caveat above? Oh, well! In this fight, there is little room for gentility. We shall give it what it takes. Soon, very soon, what is hidden from you will be brought to light. Hopefully, the scales will fall off. That is, if those scales are actually there. For like Chris Ngwodo shared a few days ago, "The most difficult person to wake is the one pretending to sleep."

Whatever happens, Kogi shall be free from chains - one ministry at a time and sector by sector. The time to heal our land is NOW!


Petra Akinti Onyegbule is the Senior Special Assistant to the Kogi State Governor on Electronic Media

The financial autonomy granted to Local Government Area councils in Kogi State is one reason every Kogite should have great hope for the Alhaji Yahaya Bello administration. The clamour for fiscal autonomy by stakeholders at the local government level has grown louder since the return of democracy in 1999.
In most states, the amount allocated to each LGA from the federation account reduces before it gets to its destination. Part of LGA funds (Including teachers' salaries) are deducted at source before remitting the rest to the legitimate owners. LGA staff are employed by the state through the state Civil Service Commission. Hence, most LGAs have more staff than they need or can manage.
Exactly 15 days after he was sworn in as Governor of Kogi State, Alh. Yahaya Bello, granted the 21 LGAs fiscal emancipation. ‪#‎NewDirection‬
Consequently, the Kogi State Government will no longer touch a kobo allocated to any LGA from the federation account. Furthermore, no longer would the Kogi Governor dictate to any of the 21 LGA Executive Chairmen what to do or whom to employ. #NewDirection
Liberty has come at last! Now, the people must hold their LGA Chairmen and Councillors to account as every penny released to them is published.
Basically, Gov. Yahaya is sacrificing a vital tool of control by state governors. Only one, the Governor of Kaduna, Mallam Nasiru elRufai, did same. #NewDirection
I call on all Kogites, home & abroad - sensitise our people about their rights. Demand good governance of your LGA leadership. #NewDirection

Bello grants financial autonomy to local govts - Vanguard News http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/bello-grants-financial-autonomy-to-local-govts/

‪#‎IPOB‬ ‪#‎MASSOB‬ ‪#‎BZM‬
IN 2012 IT WAS "NIGERIA" AND NOT A "ZOO"
Nnamdi Kanu was ALL FOR NIGERIA in 2012 (off course with his Southern brother Jonathan in power) he was one of those who led protests AGAINST BOKO HARAM to the Nigerian Embasy in London in February 2012...In short let me just quote him. Watch here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_-e20VWNKU
___________________________
"My name is Nnamdi Kanu and the reason why we are here today, is to protest the killing of innocent women and children and men for that matter all over NIGERIA especially in the Northern Part of Nigeria"
"We are not happy, we are not pleased with what is happening and that is why we are here today, as you can see there are a lot of Nigerians who are protesting about the killing of families"
"People who are determined to tear the COUNTRY apart violently and it is not something that we support, it is not something that we will like to see continue"
"we are here today to send a clear message to the NIGERIAN Government through the high commissioner that what is happening in the COUNTRY is unacceptable"
"We cannot accept it, if that continues, it will lead to the violent disintegration of the country"
"We are asking for peace, we are asking for people to get together, we are asking for everybody who loves NIGERIA and asociated with that COUNTRY to please prevail upon terrorism in Nigeria" ~Nnamdi Kanu
___________________________
PERTINENT QUESTION: What went RIGHT then and what went WRONG now?...
PERTINENT ANSWER: It was JONATHAN then and BUHARI now ___________________________
‪#‎JOB‬ 08/12/15
Twitter @JackObinyan

Address by the Hon. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during his meeting with the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Agency’s 37 State/FCT Directors at the Radio House in Abuja on Friday, Nov. 20th 2015

PROTOCOL

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this meeting.

As I have said at several fora since my assumption of duties as the Hon. Minister for Information and Culture, the Buhari Administration rode to office on the wings of the Change Mantra. With the President leading the way through personal examples, Nigerians are beginning to come to terms with the fact that indeed, change is here. Now, it is time for us to take a significant next step, and that next step is encapsulated in my vision as the Hon.Minister of Information and Culture, which is to leverage the unique power of information and culture to drive the change agenda of the Buhari Administration, with a view to ensuring that Nigerians take ownership of the agenda to bring about a paradigm shift in the way they do things.

2. I have therefore called this special meeting with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) because of the importance of the organization to the actualization of the Change Mantra of the Buhari Administration. Simply put, the NOA will shoulder the bulk of the responsibility of propagating the change agenda. Fortunately, the agency seems to have prepared for this responsibility, going by its Mission Statement: To consistently raise awareness, provide timely and credible feedback; positively change attitudes, values and behaviours; accurately and adequately inform; and sufficiently mobilize citizens to act in ways that promote peace, harmony; and national development.

3. Very soon, this Ministry will launch a massive national reorientation campaign that will be centred around the fact that the change that we all seek will begin with each and everyone of us. Not only must Nigerians buy into the change agenda, they must own it and propagate it. The campaign we plan to run will aim to change the way we behave and our attitudes. We will let Nigerians know that they cannot be doing things the same way and expect a different result, and that the change they seek begins with them.That is the only way to achieve an enduring change, and the NOA will be required, in line with its mandate, to provide the content to be used by other platforms to drive the change agenda.

4. Let me elaborate more on the impending campaign. It will provide the missing link in the war against terrorism and the war on corruption. At the moment, only the military component of the war on terror is going on very well. The civilian component is missing. That component involves sensitizing Nigerians to realize that the Boko Haram war is their war, and that it is not just for the military. It involves making our people to realize that Boko Haram is not about religion. Therefore, it requires the NOA to show uncommon resourcefulness, to create catchy slogans, as well as write imaginative scripts and copies that will motivate and energize Nigerians. I am sure most of your here remember one of the slogans during the Nigerian Civil War: To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done! This is the kind of catchy slogans we are talking about.

5. The same applies to the war against corruption. To Nigerians, this war is being fought only by the President, the Vice President and perhaps the Ministers. It is time to let Nigerians know that it is their war, and that it must be won. Like President Muhammadu Buhari often says, if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. The reality is that grim. Nigerians must take possession of the war against corruption, just like they must take possession of the war against terrorism.

6. Ladies and gentlemen, the impending campaign will task your ingenuity, resourcefulness, competence and capacity. Failure is not an option. We will be calling you again shortly as we finalize the details of the campaign.

7. I thank you for listening

The veil has been rented and the fog has lifted. The true enemies of the President Muhammadu Buhari Presidency have shown their hand and it is a dirty one. Everyone knows that Senator Bukola Saraki is the new face of corruption; now we know he is the kingpin of the gang working against Nigeria's interests. While this is sad, it was inevitable and there is evidence to back this up.

Last week, when the self-appointed leader of the Saraki Group, Sen. Dino Malaiye, took the floor of the Senate and went on a tirade against perceived "enemies of the Treasury Single Account", one would have been tempted to think he was burning with justified anger. He ranted about an "e-collection agent" which he said had been illegally contracted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to receive  monies from commercial bank and deposit same in the TSA. He claimed the CBN had agreed to pay this agent 1% of all takings and this was illegal. He further added that this agent was operating like a bank and had made over N25b since the implementation of TSA began. Lastly, Sen. Dino claimed this agent was founded by an APC party leader in the South West and a governor from the North.

Seeing the passion with which he carried on, many senators jumped on the band wagon and denounced the exercise. They were furious that a company was taking undue advantage of the TSA policy and called for an investigation. Quickly, the Senate President called for one.

However, truths have begun to emerge about the state of things. There is no e-collection agent but an an online payment platform called REMITA. It is a software that aids the transfer of funds between banks and has been in use for many years. Most Nigerian commercial and microfinance institutions use this software for their transactions. REMITA is one of the software solutions created and marketed by the Nigerian firm called SystemsSpecs. A simple search online reveals that the Chairman of the company is the revered Christopher Kolade while the CEO is John Obaro. Also, information available suggests that the charge on every transaction is shared by three parties; CBN, the commercial bank involved and the owners of REMITA.

The question, of course,  remains that since this information is readily available, why didn't Sen. Dino verify his suspicions before throwing around innuendos and accusations on the floor of the Senate? Given how incredulous his claims sounded, why was the Senate President in such a rush to refer the case to the committee for investigation? Why spend valuable time and resources on a matter that was so easy to find out?  Why is Sen. Saraki desperate to pull down Mr. President into the mud of corruption he is swimming in?

Mr. President must look at this matter and reconsider those he calls friends. Saraki and his gang are not his friends. They have set traps for this government and one of them is the one. Thankfully it only caught air and cost the promoters eggs on their faces. But, they are many others. By handing over the chairmanship of very critical Senate Committees to the opposition, Sen. Saraki is only laying the grounds for President Buhari to fail. This is only payback for how the PDP supported his accursed ambition to lead the National Assembly, yet he was quick to deny he had any deal with the PDP to clinch the office.

Events of last week only reinforce what President Buhari's true friend have always said; Saraki is a snake. Snakes have no loyalty and will bite at any given provocation. Only solution is to crush its head.

A word is enough for the deep.


•••

The sad news of the untimely passing of my good friend, fellow progressive and fellow constituent, Alhaji Tajudeen ‘Bola Disu, reached me with rude shock. It shook me to the core of my being as his loss leaves a huge gap amongst the tribe of intellectual and successful Lagosians.



Alhaji Disu was a visionary; a man who saw possibilities when others saw obstacles. It was his can-do spirit that gave needed impetus to the Lekki Free Trade Zone and many other laudable initiatives in the area. He lived every moment to drive that initiative designed to financially emancipate the great people of Lagos, particularly the constituents of the Lagos East Senatorial Constituency, by creating jobs, opportunities and attracting billions of dollars in investment. His dream was to significantly ramp up the revenue generation contribution of our people to the national pot and it had just begun to bear fruit. He was a patriot…a true Lagosian and should be remembered as such.



The humility and dexterity he brought to his job was exemplary. His mind manners and ability to negotiate the best deals to benefit the state was always a reference point. He was kind to all, rich or poor. He was a great man. I will miss him.



Alhaji Disu’s passing proves that life is transient. It behoves us all – the leaders and the led – to do the best with every second granted us by the Almighty. The dearly departed has run his race and did his best. May Allah grant him Al-jannah Firdaus. May He give the family and friends left behind the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.



Goodnight, ‘Bola!



Signed:

Senator Gbenga Ashafa

Lagos East Senatorial Constituency

Former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has secured the endorsement of all the three senators from his state in his quest to be a minister in the President Muhammadu Buhari cabinet.

Senator Gbenga Ashafa, representing the Lagos East Senatorial Constituency, said this on Monday night in Abuja. He said he and the other two senators, Oluremi Tinubu and Solomon Adeola, unanimously agreed to back the immediate past governor and ensure that he scales through the screening process. 

"We considered the good work Tunde Fashola did in the 8 years he led our dear state and we believe he would be a worthy ambassador of Lagos state in the Federal Executive Council," Sen. Ashafa said. "We trust his judgement and his intelligence. He put Lagos on the world map and we are proud to call him our own. We believe he will do very well in whatever role he is assigned by our fearless and visionary leader, President Muhammadu Buhari."

With this endorsement by the trio of senators from Lagos state, Mr. Fashola is now expected to enjoy safe passage through the screening process. His nomination for minister was announced on the floor of the Red Chambers last Tuesday along with 20 other names. Another set of names have been submitted for screening to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki.

As Nigerians await the appearance of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal tomorrow, the battle to generate support for the embattled senator has moved online. In desperate moves to change the narrative and garner sympathy for their paymaster, aides of Sen. Saraki have over the weekend been making calls to select social media users, solicting for their support in exchange for huge amounts of money.

It has been gathered that because the senator perceives his situation is caused by President Buhari and the leadership of the APC, getting social media influencers on his side would buy him much needed sympathy. The approach adopted by his team is to call up politically-inclined online individuals and buy their loyalty with money. The callers would identify themselves as working for the senator and they go on to negotiate deals. Provided a deal is struck, the caller then emails the messages they want planted while bank account details are sent the other way.

At least two of the people contacted, who refused to be part of the campaign, say the primary targets are President Buhari, Bola Tinubu and the CCT. When asked how much was offered, one said negotiations began at N450,000. The other said he didn't allow discussions to get that far.

Sen. Saraki has been served a bench warrant to appear before the CCT tomorrow and is expected to answer to a 13 count charge of pejury. His refusal to personally appear on Friday has been criticized by legal luminaries. The refusal of the president to protect the senate president is being praised by all true supporters of his anti-corruption fight.

Sen. Ajimobi: Leadership, Ideas and Lasting Legacy by Gbenga Olorunpomi

The burden of leadership is one that must be borne with all sense of responsibility and commitment at all times. This is especially true in a country like ours that suffers from deep misgivings and truer at a time like this when the value of an idea may just surpass that of all the oil buried under our feet. Leaders of today have the onerous task of setting the agenda for success without any expectation for forgiveness if they fail because the consequence of failure is simply inconceivable.

The challenges for leadership in the 21st century is that more people are competing for continuously reducing resources. The margin for error is far slimmer today than ever and followers are less forgiving of fruitless and sterile leadership. They do not care for excuses. You either get the job done or leave the space for someone else. No stories. But, it is never that simple. Resources are not infinite, yet our needs and demands are. Prioritising, emotional balancing and spotting killer ideas are now critical skills every leader must possess. However, even these may still leave anyone short, as the Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, may have come to realise.

That Sen. Ajimobi is going to leave his state in a much better shape than he met it is not in doubt. His efforts at fostering enduring peace and progress in the state have been extremely fruitful. His massive investment in building infrastructure has made him the darling of his people. His charisma is infectious and his work ethic is superb. So, why is he facing the heat from a section of his states civil service? I respectfully postulate that a lack of understanding of the issues may be responsible here. I’ll explain.

Nigeria’s political and socio-economic system is so convoluted and intertwined. One policy affects the entire chain, sometimes with unwanted and avoidable consequences. The inability of many state governors to meet their obligations to the people is a direct result of the minimum wage signed into law by Former President Goodluck Jonathan. We will all recall how in 2010, following the agitation by the Nigeria Labour Congress, the new National Minimum Wage became N18, 000 per month. Mr. Jonathan signed the bill despite the resistance put up by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum led by Former Governor Rotimi Ameachi of Rivers State. In fact, only Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State supported the then President in the passage of the act. Today, states have become imprisoned by that act. As revenue from oil has dropped, some states have become hostages to the civil service as the money coming in barely covers their salaries and pensions.

The case of Oyo state is particularly pathetic. Although, the governor has built up the internally-generated revenue of the state to about N1.2billion monthly, the state’s wage bill of N5.2billion (a jump of 25% from the pre-minimum wage increase levels) dwarfs that considerably. Added to the fact that the state’s monthly allocation from the federal government has dropped by 30% for over 10 months, you start to see the picture. There is a minimum of N1billion shortfall every month just to cover wages and pension of civil servants without considering overheads and capital expenditures. When you consider that the entire workforce is less than 1% of the state’s population, you would understand the dilemma the leader of that state is in.

Gratefully, the state is one of those whose debts have been restructured following a deal involving the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the climax of which saw Oyo getting a loan of N26.6billion. The temptation would be to celebrate but the champagne would have to remain firmly placed on ice. If massive civil service reforms are not implemented and the state continues to get a miserly N3b a month - or less - the debt profile would build up again. A ramp up of the IGR is one way to solve this problem and it would require the total support of the people of Oyo state to achieve this feat.

This is the era of knowledge. Leaders will be judged on how much value they can draw from the infinite resource called the human mind. Locked in the hearts and brains of his people lie some of the wonderful ideas that will hand the state all the money it needs to thrive. Sen. Ajimobi’s lasting legacy may depend on how he finds these ideas and turns the proverbial water into wine. That’s what great leaders do, anyway.

On Thursday September 10, the City of Beirut, Lebanon, will host a reception in honour of the wedding of daughter of the Oyo state Governor, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi.
The event is to be hosted by the bride's grandparents, who are Lebanese from the famous Hajig merchant Family. Expected to attend are close friends of the family and some APC chieftains.

See what President Buhari has done in 100 days...

The Senate Unity Forum (SUF) yesterday denied withdrawing a forgery of the Senate Standing Orders case against Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu from an Abuja High Court.

On Tuesday, reports indicated that Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Federal High Court struck out the case and also, terminated further hearing on the matter after the SUF, loyal to Senator Ahmad Lawan withdrew the suit.

Yesterday, counsel to the SUF, Mamman Mike Osuman (SAN) described as "erroneous and mischievous" reports that his clients had withdrawn the suit.

In a signed statement given to newsmen in Abuja, Osuman reiterated that suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/647/2015 and dated July 24, wherein "the purported elections of Saraki and Ekweremadu was challenged," which was filed by Senator Anthony Adeniyi has been withdrawn.

Osuman contended that "oblivious of the existence of the above particularised suit, he, having been briefed, filed yet, another civil suit in court with an originating summons: FHC/ABJ/CS/651/2015. The above particularised suit differs in contents as can be distilled from their respective grounds, reliefs sought, affidavit evidence, parties and declarations sought.

He insisted that it was the first suit filed by Senator Adeniyi, who served in the Seventh Senate, that was withdrawn and not that filed by serving Senators including Suleiman Hunkuyi, Kabir Garba Marafa, Abu Ibrahim, Robert Ajayi Boroffice and Gbenga Ashafa.

"Despite the legal possibility that the suit discontinued could be re-filed, the media should have been more specific about the case withdrawn...Contrary to the misinformation put out there, we hereby confirm that the originating summons in suit no:FHC/ABJ/CS/651/2015 filed at the instance of the above-named Senators against Saraki, Ekweremadu and the National Assembly."

Osuman insisted that the prayers sought in the originating summons still persists; which is that the elections which brought Saraki and Ekweremadu are "illegal, irregular and non-sustainable because the Senate Standing Orders (2011) was not amended in the manner stipulated by Rules 110 of the 2011 Senate Standing Orders to produce the purported document titled: Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended).

I agree. Those attacking Asiwaju Tinubu are sponsored by the Dangotes and Otedolas who want to continue enjoying the riches of this country at the expense of the majority. They have paid and bought everyone from politicians to the media to continue maligning Tinubu and distract Buhari from uprooting their terrible deeds and making sure they pay. Saraki's emergence is part of that plan. But, they should know this: Tinubu is unshakable!! He will emerge victorious and history will be kind to him. Buhari is there for the Talakawas and we will defend his mandate with our blood!!! Touch him and be forgotten. A word is enough for the wise!!!!

Atiku Abubakar is set to use monetary inducement to polarise the party's NEC members today in order to execute his plan to seek revenge for the loss he suffered in the hands of Tinubu and others who ensured he did not clinch the party's presidential ticket. Atiku who In the last three to four weeks has worked against the party by supporting Saraki openly and funding other anti-APC activities is said to be desperate to clinch the position of the chairman of the Board of Trustees, BOT of the APC. He sees Tinubu as a major obstacle and he seems set to take him own.
Atiku in his inordinate ambition and one without any political home base is busy funding different political schemes that will make him releavant. May see Atiku as a serial failed politician, a politician with prostituting disposition and one who has a bloated sense of himself.

The Tinubu camp know Atiku too well and know him as a political opportunist who is always unreliable. The NEC meeting for today will end up resisting an Atiku who many see has a bad and selfish politician.

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is set to drastically change the face of Lagos traffic by introducing a world class traffic information and management system. The globally tested traffic system which has worked for many cities similar to Lagos is set to have caught the eye of Governor Ambode who wants to see Lagosians spend less hours in traffic and more in their offices and at work. Our investigations reveal that in the next few weeks, the governor will work with some experts to design a system that fits the Lagos traffic pattern.

Today, Lagos is home to some of the worst traffic congestion in the world. Traffic congestion is a daily challenge with highly undesirable socioeconomic and environmental effects, increasing stress and pollution levels and reducing overall productivity. A sustainable solution is required to urgently decongest black spots such as Third Mainland Bridge, Abule Egba and Dopemu.

The state will introduce a world class traffic information and management system. A smart network comprising of hundreds of cameras, road sensors and electronic displays have been specially designed to collect and deliver real time information to city commuters that will help regulate traffic. Highly visible displays and a mobile phone application will flag highly congested hotspots, suggest alternative routes and estimate arrival times - all in real time.

Information is power. By empowering Lagosians with more traffic information ahead of time, the state government are confident of reducing the time spent in traffic, drastically improving each commuter’s quality of life and improving the city’s productivity as a whole.In big cities of the world, traffic information systems have helped improve traffic flow to a large percentage.
Governor Ambode since he took over has spent more time trying to solve the Apapa traffic conundrum and other traffic related problems in Lagos.

May 29, 2015, shall be recorded in our history as the moment when democracy finally was allowed to participate in Democracy Day. The reason for this is the legion of average Nigerians who voted to make this happen. Should any of you wish to see a true hero of democracy, don’t fret. Just look in the nearest mirror.

The celebrations prior to this were false showings; they were the commemoration of wrong.

The path we have taken to come to this august moment has not been one of easy victory or swift progress.

Instead, it has been a path hewed by the triumph of resilience over broken promises and fraudulent avowals of representative governance. Reaching this fine moment has been a story told in the cadence of the victory of common good over arrogant power.

The voice of the solitary poor man, no one hears. But the votes of the poor became a potent army capable of toppling the very citadel of high privilege in order to bring forth national awakening no less historic and important than the very birth of this nation.

On this day, we shall witness the inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari, a great, honorable and dedicated public servant as our president. This is indeed an inspiring moment, a turning point in our national direction, and the reclamation of our best destiny.

We shall celebrate this achievement but not in mindless, care-free fashion. The road ahead is still choked with the debris of problems left too long unattended.

We are well aware of the challenges pitted against our wellbeing. Insecurity, economic decline and corruption, we must fight and fight as if we are going to war not a carnival.

Most of all, we must fight the temptation of hopelessness, the sense that little good will come out of even the greatest efforts.

This is where I want to thank and commend all those who voted in the past election.

It is you who turned this day into the true celebration of true democracy it was intended to be.

With no guarantee save your faith and armed solely with the hope and promise of a better tomorrow through better governance, you fought the mounting tide of power and money. That tide tried to induce you to sell your democratic rights and your chance for a greater future on the cheap.

In the eyes of those who were self-exalted, you had been debased and brought low by visible circumstance of poverty and lack. You seemed to them ripe for purchase. Yet, inside, you retained a greatness of character and a loyalty to the democratic ideal incomprehensible to those who believed that everything can be purchased.

You showed them that your self-definition as human beings and as Nigerians was not for sale or tender. As a result, he who had been given so much, so easily by so many was humbled. You who have been ridiculed, reduced and written off were lifted up. The will of the people hath reclaimed its sovereignty.

This has been a blossoming of justice and the illumination of the power of human decency. So often, Nigeria has been portrayed negatively before the world. Not this time.

The world is proud of what you have done and how you have advanced the cause of fairness and right.

What you have done has lent solace to those still struggling to establish democracy and responsive governance in their homelands.

They now see Nigeria as an inspiring example. They seek to be like you, to travel the road you just trod.

Today, the old Nigeria is no longer in chains as we move into a new era and take hold of our new selves. From President Buhari to the state governors inaugurated this day, I wish them well and pray they govern in an open, democratic way that assures your optimal wellbeing.

I ask that you, the people, maintain your diligence and help guide those you have just elected.

The issues that confront us are deep and complex. They are not susceptible to facile solution or inattention. Wise and sound policy is within our capacity. But, we must have the will to accomplish it. If both the governed and government work in league, there is nothing our beloved nation cannot overcome.

Let it be said that on this day, the nation consecrate itself to the ideal that governance is the sacred instrument of the people and never again shall it be the exclusive recreation of a select few. No longer shall Democracy day be a shallow ritual. Henceforth, it is a living truth.

The Former Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, has said that zoning of political offices has never been the position of the party and rejected the notion that the party was standing in the way of any qualified senator in its fold to contest for the position of Senate President.
The APC chieftain said it was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that brought zoning into Nigeria’s polity and that no way would his party adopt the debilitating tradition.
“Zoning is not part of APC,” he explained. “It is a PDP arrangement and we will not practice it. What you see with the Senate Presidency is us trying to ensure there is no rancour amongst the senators. Of course, we want the best man to emerge and that is what will happen.
“It is true that sometime after the election, the National Chairman (Chief John Oyegun) wanted to toy with the idea of zoning. But as a united party, we unanimously said, ‘No.’ we know that zoning could create a room for the opposition to take advantage and snatch these positions. We have been sacrificing and compromising in the interest of our nation and that is what we must continue to do.”
Chief Akande spoke when a group of reporters met him as he arrived Protea Hotel, Ikeja, for a meeting. He promised that the APC would deliver on its manifesto and assured Nigerians that the President-elect would turn around Nigeria’s fortunes.

The Senator representing Yobe North Constituency, Senator Ahmad Lawan of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has promised to provide 21st Century leadership for the Nigerian Senate if elected as the Senate President of the 8th National Assembly.
Sen. Lawan said his 16 years’ experience in both the Green and Red Chambers of the National Assembly would aid him to provide the needed leadership.
“I have what it takes to be the Senate President,” he said. “As someone who has spent the last 16 years in the National Assembly - working in the House of Representatives as a member, having being a senator for the last eight years and having chaired the Public Accounts Committee for the last eight years - I think I know a lot about our economic situation and what we need to do to turn around our economy.
“I want to provide 21st Century leadership for the Senate. A leadership that will work with all the segments of senators in the chamber. A leadership that will ensure that we have bipartisan approach to our issues and make sure we work with the executive arm of government in a manner that protects our independence and makes good governance possible.”
Sen. Lawan spoke at a media parley with political editors. He promised to ensure that, if elected, he believes he would bring his record of incorruptibility and credibility to the office of the Senate President.
“I believe Nigeria needs incorruptible administration,” Sen. Lawan said. “The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, was elected on the basis of three major issues. First is his clear stance against corruption. Secondly, to fight insurgency. And thirdly, to address the economy that has become comatose. I believe that I can complement the anti-corruption fight of the President-elect.”
Sen. Lawan added that his experience in public accounting and finance would be of immense advantage to the nation as it strives to diversify the economy, plug leakages and stop the embezzlement of public funds.
“In the last 16 years, I have worked with three Speakers in the House of Representatives and the current Senate President. I have closely watched these presiding officers conduct the affairs in the two chambers. That is invaluable experience. I have worked very well across party lines in both houses. I am a team player and can work with others across the aisle. We need to build and sustain consensus between the different political parties.”
He said the Nigerian budget must work for Nigerians, indicating that spendings must be pro-poor.
“The Senate that I will lead must take the lead to balance the budget. Even if it will be in phases, we must move away from the current situation where we have an overwhelming expenditure on recurrent to something more pro-poor, pro-people.”
The Senator from Yobe, who has secured the endorsement of two caucuses in the Senate, the North East and South West caucuses, promised to run a fair campaign. He said the issue of zoning was for the party to deal with, assuring Nigerians that whomever emerges as the Senate President from the APC would be worthy of the title.

True journalist strives toward the ideal of objectivity. A propagandist for hire writes whatever his paymasters deign is apt for him to write. When propagandist seeks to disguise himself as a purported journalist, the resulting work product is the tortured sculpture of rumor mongering posing as true fact and information. All in all, the ugly composition he creates cannot withstand scrutiny. The venal nature of the culprit writer is more on display than the unproven faults of the intended victim.

Wale Olaleye’s piece in Thisday of Friday April 24th, “Tinubu- an Asset and Liability” will one day be the first lesson chapter in a manual entitled, “How Not To Be A Journalist.” Wale should ponder whether his boss truly cares for him. No caring boss would allow someone to become an editor who himself needs close guidance. Without strict adult supervision, Olaleye is prone to destroy himself by his very own words.

At first the urge to dismiss Olaleye’s piece was dominant. Why respond to a piece sourced from the political black market by a willing journalist whose piece was so full of unchecked, false rumor that it could only have been the product of envy and malice. Why respond to an ill bred, uncouth and totally misguided writer who has turned journalism into a tool of both subtle and brazen blackmail? Before Olaleye ever became a journalist or eventually rose to the position of an “editor” there were real journalists- well bred, disciplined and who never crossed the line between objectivity and obsession with whom they write about because they abhor his personality or politics.

Thankfully, a few of our journalists and editors remain firmly planted on this ethical soil and are not self-serving and egoistic.

Let me dismiss Olaleye’s rantings. The crux of his complaint is that I refused to grant him an interview with my principal, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He claimed that my refusal to grant interview access somehow offended the morals of journalism. His attempt to lecture me on journalistic ethics falls flat when one puts side by side his professional track record against mine. I am willing to stake that reputation against Wale’s. If he checked more closely he would see that I am the Chief of staff and Media Adviser of Asiwaju Tinubu. I am not an employee of Olaleye or of Thisday. It is my duty and obligation to help my principal make the most productive use of his time. It would be utter dereliction of duty if I subject him to being interviewed by someone with an ulterior motive. I have approved dozens of interviews for Asiwaju with both the domestic and foreign press. Our criteria have never demanded that you be an ally or pliant, but we do demand human decency and objectivity. On both counts, Olaleye fails miserably. Let him take his awful trade somewhere else. We do serious business.

By writing his invective, Olaleye hoped to blackmail me to grant an interview. To disabuse him of this hope is the primary reason I write these piece. We stick to principle. Olaleye is a hireling of hidden paymasters with hidden agenda. He is not objective. His request remains denied, no matter how many unfounded rumors he publishes.

Demonstrating steep hypocrisy, he then seeks to use my alleged breach of journalistic etiquette to excuse the more serious one he commits. In his piece, he engages in an unfounded tirade against Bola Tinubu.

His work is the product of a lazy hand and a slovenly mind; it would not pass the most basic test for good reporting or investigative report and analysis. It is a long citation of alleged reports, unreliable and undisclosed sources, innuendo and illogical conjecture. He makes Bola Tinubu into some omnipresent agency who is the most dominant factor in every political happening in the nation, large or small. Olaleye’s work is not one of political analysis; it is one of mythology and fiction gone awry. Wale’s write up is a meandering road of salacious falsehood, drunken tales and dubious claims. The attempt to sound authoritative in the false claims made is a journey in futility. Using a typical trait of insincere writers, he first gave scant, grudging praise to Tinubu’s exploits only, to cram the rest of the article with nonsensical analysis and false reports.

Dear Wale probably did not dare re-read his work. If so, he would still be trapped in the labyrinth of lies he constructed to make this tale. Wale has descended into the abyss of unethical practice and needs urgent help.

Wale has sold his journalistic soul. We hope what he received in return is worth the cost of the precious thing he has lost.

We hope his masters are as pleased with his distorted efforts as he seems to be. Yet, he also should be courageous enough to drop the façade of feigned hurt and stop acting as if he is the guardian of journalistic etiquette. He was hired to do a dirty job and he did it. It is that simply. Ethics and defense of the profession and freedom of the press have nothing to do with it. In fact, the quality of the piece Olaleye submitted for public consumption is an embarrassment to the profession he says he loves so dearly. In reading the article one gets the sense of a man trying too hard to drape himself in sincerity so that the reader might be distracted from the craven substance of his efforts at character assassination.

Olaleye represents the decadence in present-day journalism. He personifies the dangers ahead for the profession and the society. With the likes of Wale as an editor, no one is safe from character attack unless you pay the appropriate toll. He goofed on many things he wrote. And like a false prophet he huffs and puffs and blows empty words n a two-page tirade against Tinubu. He tripped so many times that one starts to wonder if he was just coming off some prescribed medication. Olaleye is a journalists easily besotted with power. His time in journalism is up. He should try a career in the dramatic arts by writing funny little plays or movie scripts. Wale is not an asset to the journalistic profession. He constitutes a liability.

Tinubu’s contributions to building a modern Nigeria are well documented. Through the years, Tinubu paid the price and painstakingly worked with others to bring Nigeria to a new dawn. No amount of malicious writing can erase that.

• Dare, Chief of Staff /Special Adviser,Media to Mr. Bola Tinubu

The PDP Crisis: Why The Party Needs A Jagaban by Bayo Olupohunda

Bayo Olupohunda, Naij.com guest contributor, analyses the situation the PDP has found itself after the 2015 elections and makes a conclusion that the party needs an impetus to revival. What this impetus may be?

The PDP, Nigeria’ political giant, the self-styled largest party in Africa that has boasted of ruling the country for 60 years, has almost been wiped off the electoral map by the opposition APC. Let’s admit it: the PDP has been beaten hands down. Someone has even compared the PDP’s crushing at the elections to a heavyweight title fight in which the ruling party has received a technical knockout and fallen into coma. We are yet to find out if the party, which has been at the commanding height of federal power for 16 years, will recover to stage a refight. Now let’s take a look at the shocking statistics of their electoral woes. We should all bear in mind that this is the first time in Nigeria’s democratic experience that the party has lost its power at the centre.

Since the establishing of the Fourth Republic the PDP has dominated the government at all levels. It has been in power since the return from the military rule in 1999. It has also controlled the National Assembly having the majority of the seats both at the Senate and the House of Representatives. For example, in 2011, before some members walked at the 2014 August convention, the PDP controlled 23 states while the other parties shared the rest. Only the Action Congress of Nigeria, which later morphed into the APC, had 6 governorship positions.

However, the things began to fall apart for the party when some governors stormed out of the party’s convention. They later became part of the opposition grand alliance that snatched power on March 28, 2015. There is no doubt that the sudden loss of power has come as a shock. The PDP is not used to defeat. What we are still to see is how the members who have lost will react to the shock in the coming years. But the signs that they may not find it funny being in the opposition have started to emerge with the wave of decamping having swept across the party after the elections. Is that a sign of things to come?

Can the party emerge to be a strong opposition in the coming years? Are we going to see more decamping PDP members in the coming months when the APC officially forms the government? There was time when being a PDP flag-bearer at the elections was a guarantee to be elected. The PDP was that powerful. But not anymore as the 2015 elections have demonstrated. With the APC sweeping victory at the presidential, governorship and Assembly elections being a PDP candidate seems not so cool anymore. In fact, the party members may soon become the “endangered species”.

Can the PDP reform itself? Will the party bounce back to snatch victory from the APC in the coming years? Surely, if we want our democracy to survive, we will need a party like the PDP, which has been at the centre for 16 years, to provide a formidable opposition to the APC. It has the pedigree to do just that. I do not want to envisage a situation where the PDP will die off just because it has lost power. I expect the party to go back to the drawing board to reform and work out a new strategy. But it will have to really reform and do away with the undemocratic practices that have led to its implosion. During the last 16 years, the party has been behaving as if it is above the law. For example, it has replaced the chairman a lot of times. This makes the party a target for the disgruntled members working within and outside to take their slice of the cake. Now it seems it has had the last laugh. The politics of the Governors’ Forum tearing the party apart has also led to its demise.

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It is not a surprise that the party has collapsed under President Jonathan. It is not a coincidence. The seed of its disintegration had long been planted under former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was just strong enough to hold the errant members in his civilian-military presidential jackboot. The unraveling only happened under President Jonathan who became the undertaker. Now who will revive the PDP?

In my recent conversation with friends I have opined that the party needs a unifier who will bring everybody under the now shredded umbrella. A politician who is acceptable across the divide with a firm grip will be able to galvanize the party in its new role as the opposition. What we have right now are egoistic and divisive governors struting the political space like overlords and talking down on Nigerians. However, they now have to eat their we-will-rule-for-60-years boast. PDP should learn from the APC history.

Those decamping from the party should realize that formidable parties are not formed by jumping ship at the slightest loss of power. Membership of a political party is like the vow exchanged by couples at the altar: ‘’for better for worse, till death do us part’’, not till “defeat do us part”. For this reason, shell shocked PDP members need to learn from the APC leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu, popularly known as Jagaban Borgu,—a name which now seems to connote resilience. It is widely acknowledged that the doggedness of Tinubu has led to the sustenance of opposition politics in the Fourth Republic. While other politicians jumped ship to join the PDP, the former governor of Lagos endured persecution, especially during the former President Obasanjo’s administration, and stayed to organize the opposition that later merged into the APC.

At that time Tinubu was more of a political orphan when in 2003 the PDP won all the southwest states except Lagos. But he was undaunted. Now his resilience seems to have been paid off. For me it is a mark of a true politician. Despite critisizm, Tinubu is widely acknowledged by friends and foes as the political strategists responsible for the sustenance of opposition politics in the Fourth Republic. Now the question is: with the wave of decamping in the PDP, who among the remaining members will be long suffering enough like Tinubu to weather the storm of opposition politics when the heat is on. Who of the PDP will pull the party from the rubble of defeat? Surely, in its present ramshackle state, thePDP may need a Jagaban to weather the turbulence ahead.

READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/423454-the-pdp-crisis-why-the-party-needs-a-jagaban.html?pk_campaign=ush

Tinubu: The quintessential political strategist by Sunday Dare

The evolution of the All Progressive Congress (APC) into the governing party and the emergence of its candidate, Gen. Muhammad Buhari as the President-elect prove a fundamental truth. A single visionary blessed with courage equal to his vision is ultimately more powerful than a vast multitude that is devoid of sight, courage and sound counsel.
Gen. Buhari, a personification of integrity, stalwart patriotism and decency, was the inevitable candidate and is the right man to be President this time. Complementing him as the necessary strategic catalyst of this great democratic feat was Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Never in the history of our nation has an incumbent President lost to his challenger. For that to happen is a profound feat. For that feat to come about through a newly merged political party is something bordering on the edge of the impossible. Yet, in our Nigeria, that is exactly how our democracy has been secured and our chance for a better future revived.
As the primary architect of the APC, and a key strategist in its drive to become the government of this nation, Bola Tinubu has earned history’s verdict as a true and committed democratic.
At moments when others threatened to quit or did quit, Tinubu stuck doggedly to the course. When the Alliance for Democracy (AD) ran into stormy weather and was hijacked by the reactionary elements funded by the government in power, Tinubu established a another progressive party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN). From his solitary redoubt in Lagos, the ACN cast its progressive message and Tinubu attracted able and committed people to the democratic cause and to his course in it.
The epic turn from governing a single state to governing a nation had begun. Few believed, as Asiwaju did, that this achievement was within reach. The ACN went on to win six states and secure the Southwest for the progressive cause.
And when the time came to re-shape the opposition nationwide into one body, Tinubu took the lead in sowing together the different political parties into a workable whole. In the face of state-sponsored attacks and spirited attempts to scuttle the merger, Tinubu led the team of political fighters to make APC a reality. The period between the formation of the party, the inauguration of the party’s executive, to its convention in Lagos, the national presidential campaign and now the elections was one charactererised by dangerous moves, plots and turns against him. Tinubu survived them all and remained standing.
As the intellectual force behind the APC, Tinubu never waivered. Gen. Buhari and Chief Bisi Akande were the strongest and most faithful of allies in this great effort.
These are statesments of high-caliber personalities who never shook when the adverse wind blew.
If along the way Tinubu had wavered, many would have wavered with him. The story today would have been a different and inferior one. He remained standing even when many tried to make him fall.
Tinubu is brave at heart and large in vision. He has the fortitude to stand when times get tough and when doubt becomes as thick as fog. He forges ahead while others succumb to fear. He stands alone when others are tired and sit down. This rare man chooses to take risks and stake everything he has for a just cause. He stands alone when he makes unbelievable sacrifices in order to achieve a greater goal. He excels in the wee, lonely hours; when others are asleep, he pours over Nigeria’s problems in search for solutions. He stands alone when he makes the tough and necessary decisions, not minding how he will be perceived. He stands alone when he refuses to join the doubters and holds on to the belief that it is possible.
For standing against the tide of greater power and might all these years, Tinubu has achieved something for all us. He is truly an architect of modern Nigeria, a driving force behind a new Nigeria and one of the fathers of a truly democratic two-party system.
Tinubu has ushered Nigeria into the meeting hall of democratic nations. By staying the course, by investing his intellect, experience and resources in the struggle for a better country and by working with people of like minds, Tinubu has helped lift the nation from its despair.
APC’s electoral success is not a fluke. It was earned. It came as a result of great sacrifices and through the effort of the key drivers and other leaders who kept steadfast even when hope seemed lost. The long hours on the road and in the air, crisscrossing the nation, spreading the message of change and urging others to join the party bore fruit. The APC ship got many on board. Not even the attacks from the PDP could sink it.
On the campaign trail, Tinubu was a firebrand. He easily excited the crowd whenever he spoke.
People were sure to taste of his wit, his incisive political jabs and his commanding vision about what APC can do to change Nigeria. Perhaps the greatest lines of the 2014/2015 presidential campaign that will never be forgotten and will remain in the books for a very long time is that from Tinubu. Responding to attacks by the PDP that the APC presidential candidate Gen Buhari was a former general and should not be trusted, Tinubu had a reply for them in full measure that shut them up. Tinubu roared at the Abeokuta campaign: “When France needed to get out of political troubles, it tapped Charles De Gaulle; when America needed solid political leadership, it called on Eisenhower; Nigeria needs fixing and the man for the job is Gen Muhammadu Buhari”. This answer and analysis from Tinubu settled the argument. It won many over and shut the mouths of the politicians on the other side. On the campaign trail from the South to the North, Tinubu was a delight. Fired up and in his elements, he was unrelenting. He saw what many did not see that APC will not form the next government and restore hope to Nigerians.
Whenever the history of this political era in Nigeria is written, it will be said that there was one man, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who stood firm in commitment and courage to make the difference for Nigeria. Tinubu is a class act and is in a class by himself. From the corporate world, he took the political storm by storm in Lagos. This was after a commanding performance in the pro-democracy struggle to liberate Nigeria from the clutches of military dictatorship. He was at the vanguard of democracy in the days of the National Democartic Coalition (NADECO) struggle. Since then, he has never looked back. As governor of Lagos state, he excelled in governance. He brought out the excellence in Lagos through a combination of pragmatic decisions and financial and social engineering that turned into a model city.
Lagos, today, is a reference point. He took over the Southwest, reshaping the political landscape in a positive and dynamic way. He was instrumental in identifying six men, who today remain some of the best governors this country has ever known. On the national stage, he was a constant voice of opposition. Unwavering, unbowed, unbeatable, Tinubu was the fulcrum of opposition politics. His voice rang out loud and clear against injustice, impunity and miss-governance.
For his progressive views and opposition to government, Tinubu suffered. His businesses suffered. His political structures came under severe assaults. Enemies sought to ruin his reputation. They dragged him to court, hoping to jail him but failed. In all, he survived and remained standing. Through all of this, he has remained humble and self-effacing.
In the explosive celebration that followed the victory of the APC in the presidential elections someone in the tiny crowd that gathered in his office said: “Your Excellency Tinubu, this is your finest hour”. Tinubu shot back, “No. This is Nigeria’s finest hour and it is the best birthday gift I can ever wish for”. He went on in his major reaction to the victory to describe the victory of the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen Buhari as Nigeria’s finest moment in its political history. “It is a moment when hope is re-born, faith is rekindled and a fresh fire of patriotism is released for the task ahead”.
That is the measure of a man who sees ultimate victory in the emancipation of his people and the triumph of good over evil. Tinubu has seen it all. Today he stands tall in humility. He has survived where others were crushed. He has achieved what others failed to achieve for our country politically. He has been this generation’s’ most consummate and strategic political mind. History will record that.
If anyone ever doubted the veracity of a sobriquet – The Last Man Standing – given to Tinubu, they should doubt no longer. The title is more than valid. More importantly, this last and only man standing dedicated himself to a great and selfless task that we all may stand to feel the morning rays of genuine democracy shine upon us. This man is a hero. What no one dared to do, he did.
Now, friend and foe alike, we are all the better for it.
Sunday Dare is Chief of Staff/Special Adviser on Media to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

ADDRESS OF THE CHANCELLOR, LADOKE AKINTOLA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, OGBOMOSO, ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU, DELIVERED AT THE 12TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY, HELD ON THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015.
Protocol
I am delighted to address this assembly for the first time since my investiture as the 4th chancellor of our university. When we assembled here for that memorable event exactly one year ago, many national and international personalities were among our guests.
We had the privilege of the eminent presence of General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), now the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At the time, we could only hope and pray that all would be well with our dear country, Nigeria. Today, we are grateful to God because he has heard our cry and has answered our prayer for a better nation. It is, therefore, my privilege to welcome you all to this important occasion of the 12th Convocation Ceremony of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso.
Sweep of Change
As I congratulate the Governing Council, Management, Staff and Students of this university for carrying on the work of the university in the face of daunting challenges which the entire nation had to face in the recent past, I would also like to express my joy at seeing the broom of positive change sweeping across the entire nation. I particularly rejoice with the youth of our nation whose hope and prospects for a better future are now bright. Their welfare and development are sure to receive much needed attention through the enhanced and progressive policies of the new federal government.
I must, however, state that for us as a nation to experience the change we yearn for, we should all be prepared for a fundamental change in our individual disposition and attitude toward nation building. This change at a personal level will help fuel a national re-orientation that will affect all sectors including governance. We must share the responsibility for change.
Let us use this opportunity to dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the dividends of democracy reach all and sundry. This is the only way to build a secure future for the teeming population of our youth, a large percentage of who have had to go through harsh experiences of insecurity, unemployment and an uncertain future. A great opportunity is now being presented to us to re-define our identity as a nation and re-order our values and priorities. This responsibility is yours as well as mine.
The nation can no longer afford to pay lip service to the development of her youths. I strongly believe that this country is blessed with vibrant and talented citizens whose capabilities for nation building are yet to be tapped. We must all stand in concert and unity of purpose to build a secure future for our country by developing our youth.
Government and youth have mutual duties in this regard. You owe as much to the nation as the nation owes to you. In the past, government has not always honoured its role. You have now elected a government that will honour its duties.
On of Government’s primary duties is to provide you with an education in harmony with the demands of our political economy. We must educate you with skills required by the job market that you shall encounter and not for some abstract economy found only in textbooks.
Then government must spur the economic growth that promises jobs and opportunity to all of you.
A progressive government must turn its face from the austerity policies of the outgoing administrative that tried to manage poverty, but not end it. Such policies serve only to deepen and prolong the hardship of the average person. Such policies would lock us in a room without hope or safe exit. We dare not go in.
In response to the downturn in private sector activity, a progressive government must exercise the creative boldness to generate economic growth, productive and equal opportunity. Under the circumstances that now confront us, government must use fiscal and monetary policy to enlarge the economic space by embarking on ambitious infrastructural development, housing and agricultural programs.
These programs will provide jobs directly. Moreover, the enhancement of our infrastructural base and sharpening of our productive capacity that results from these programs will initiate multiple rounds of job creation. This is how economic growth and employment are sustained over the long term.
This is what the APC manifesto pledged to you. This is what an APC government will seek to deliver.
You, the youth, must be willing partners in this mission of radical, structural change.
Through perseverance, strong determination and consistent search for knowledge, you must seek to excel for the betterment of your society. As you have gone through this institution, you must carry with you the evidence that the institution has gone through you.
It is necessary for me to call on you the graduates to contribute your fair quota to the development of our country. Remember, the university that produced you has a vision "to be a centre of academic excellence for the advancement of technology in meeting socio-cultural needs of the society". The knowledge you have acquired in this university becomes meaningful only when applied in a way that impacts positively on the society.

Conclusion
As I conclude, I need to place on record my appreciation of the efforts of the progressive governments of the two Owner-States of Oyo and Osun for their commitment to the growth and development of LAUTECH. I also acknowledge the good leadership provided by the Governing Council, ably led by Professor Wale Omole, OFR. I sincerely salute the courage of the Vice- Chancellor, Professor Adeniyi S. Gbadegesin and the Management team for bracing up to the challenges the University has had to face in recent times. The Senate, all Staff and Students are well recognized and appreciated for their contributions to the peaceful atmosphere in which the University has been carrying out its work.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to assure you all that LAUTECH will continue to enjoy a top priority status.
I thank you for listening.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

A serious break in the ranks of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) may have been sparked by the recent violent protest held on the streets of Lagos last Tuesday by the Gani Adams faction of the group. Indications of deep divisions emerged when about 50 pioneer members of the OPC gathered at the Kolex Hotel in Shomolu to address a press conference and issue a statement titled, “Gani Adams Has Betrayed Us And The Yoruba People.”

Speaking on behalf of the group, Comrade Shina Akinpelu said, the National Coordinating Council of the OPC, the highest ruling body of the organization, is dissociating itself from what he called “the shameful, destructive, violent and reactionary activities of the Gani Adam-led team which occurred in Lagos.” He described the actions of the protesters and their leader as “the highest level of political violence sponsored and funded by certain elements in the Jonathan government.”

“Gani Adams is on his own and does not enjoy the support of a large size of our membership spread across the country,” Comrade Akinpelu said. “He is working for the sponsors of violence against our people who want the March 28 elections not to hold. Unleashing terror on innocent citizens and killing them is not the way of democracy. It is not our idea of a people-oriented advocacy.

“Gani Adams is on dubious project. He is using the Pipeline contract from the Jonathan government as a ploy or excuse to recruit people to work for Jonathan and PDP in the South West. Gani Adams is acting against Yoruba interest. The compromises he has made amounts to selling the Yoruba to the present government for a piece of Pipeline contract to line his pockets. OPC is not about Pipeline contracts or any other contracts for that matter. The Yoruba interest is beyond contracts. We seek justice and fairness from the current government.”

Unhappy Former Sec. Gen.
Also speaking in the same tune, the former Secretary General of the OPC, Kayode Ogundamisi, in a separate statement titled “That OPC Madness in Lagos,” described the attack on the citizenry as “uncalled for.” He berated the current leaders of the group for turning the ideals that gave birth to the organisation into something else.

The statement reads thus: “The Oodua People's Congress I, as National Sec-Gen and Late Dr Beko Ransome Kuti as National Treasurer and others, associated with was strictly a SELF DETERMINATION group until Dr Fredrick Fasehun swallowed General Obasanjo's 'apple' that led to the break up and factional crisis. History is repeating itself again in 2015. Goodluck Jonathan ​is 'donating' more apples into the OPC leadership and it is only a matter of time the followers would ask both leaders for s 'just share'.

“I would just advice both Dr Fasehun and Gani Adams that whatever assignment they are carrying out for President Jonathan they should do within the laws of the land. Today’s attack on innocent Citizens in Lagos and destruction of opposition party posters, beating up of members of the public with APC flags is uncalled for. We cannot return to the dark days of lawlessness and brigandage. Dollars don't last forever, but the Yoruba race will outlive all us.”

Hon. Adeola Speaks Up
The Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts and APC senatorial candidate for Lagos West, Hon. Adeola Solomon, said the protest led by Gani is akin to going on a slave errand as a slave.

Speaking to the Conference of Ward chairmen of APC in his office on the disruptive and destructive protest and support for President Goodluck Jonathan, Hon. Adeola said the protest by a faction of the ethnic militia was against the interest of Yoruba people in the South West, adding that no true Yoruba son or daughter would support any administration that completely excludes its people from all the commanding political positions in the running of the affairs of this nation.

Hon. Adeola recalled that during the travails of the factional OPC leader under military rule and PDP led Federal Government before his new found pipeline security contract awarding ‘Abuja friends’, leaders of the progressives in Yoruba land had come to his rescue in several life sustaining ways adding that it is now clear that Adams is pursuing his personal interest against Yoruba interest as attested to by many founding members of OPC who have dissociated themselves from his personal economic pursuit.

Final word
The pioneer OPC members who joined Comrade Akinpelu at the press conference include Monsuru Akande, Sunday Adebayo, Kilanko Oladipupo, Kehinde Ogunyale, and Gbenga Eegunlusi. They all agreed that the move by Gani Adams must be condemned and called on all Yorubas to remain united.

Their statement read in part; “We, members of the National Coordinating Council of the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, call all true Yoruba leaders, sons and daughters to stand with us in totally condemning Gani and his anti-democratic tendencies. We must renounce him and remind him he cannot sell the Yoruba race to Jonathan and PDP on the cheap. He also has no authority to speak on behalf of the Yoruba people. We pity those who rely on him to win votes. They will be sorely disappointed. Their investment is a bad one already. We reject today and always any attempt to use our organization and its members for narrow and selfish partisan purposes.

“We must remind them that the Yoruba people cannot be hoodwinked by sweeteners. No one should expect them to kowtow to an individual who is a Lilliputian in the political development and history of the Yoruba nation. The Yorubas are a politically sophisticated persons and will simply ignore political opportunists like Gani Adams. We renounce him and his activities which are against the larger Yoruba interest. We renounce all other Yoruba sons and daughters who are playing roles inimical to the welfare and interest the larger Yoruba nation.

“We call on our people to be vigilant politically at this time. Nigeria needs a new leadership, a new direction and a country that works.”

Dear Patience Faka Jonathan,
How is everything going for you and the rest of the people in Aso Rock? I write this letter in response to your statement, “We are not conductors so we don’t ask for change”.
I just want to tell you that in the real sense of it, bus conductors do not ask for CHANGE. It is usually the passengers who ask for CHANGE.
Your husband, Goodluck Jonathan was chosen as the driver to convey Nigerians to their destination; PDP was appointed the conductor; and the Nigerian masses were and are still the passengers. As passengers, we had paid our bus fares in 2011 using the vote currency and now, we are asking, demanding for CHANGE as we approach our destination, 2015.
Oftentimes, bus conductors do not agree to give the passengers their CHANGE easily (at least not without a fight or exchange of words ). Like the bus conductors we know, PDP does not intend to give us the CHANGE that is due us even when they know this is the right thing to do. But we the Nigerian Masses (who live without basic amenities; who are unemployed; who do not feel secure at home and in public places; who have been designated as targets for shooting practice etc.) have decided to get our CHANGE from the conductor (PDP and Cabals).
You see the wind of change has so caught with you. This is why even you ought to vote for CHANGE.
Thanks for gathering your things as you prepare to quit Aso Rock back to Otuoke or Okrika, the choice is yours.

Yours sincerely,
Lookman Alawaye Esq. (A LEGITIMATE PASSENGER)

This is a Facebook Post from Sunday Akoji, a top influencer. This is the link to the post https://www.facebook.com/koji4life?fref=ts
STEALING IS NOT CORRUPTION:
Welcome to Aridolf Resort Wellness And Spa Yenagoa. The ARWS offers internationally renowned comfort & luxury in heart of Bayelsa state.
Aridolf Resort Wellness And Spa Yenagoa (ARWS) proudly offers accommodation, Conference Facilities, Wedding Reception, Fine Dinning and Restaurant, All Day Restaurants.
It was initially a pet project called "A Aruera Reachout Foundation," an NGO of the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan.
The Spa sits on a large expanse of land acquired by a government C of O issued at the instance of her husband, Dr Goodluck Jonathan shortly after he became substantive Governor of Bayelsa state in 2006, sequel to the impeachment of Governor Dipreye Alamieyesiegha after he was caught pants down in faraway London by the MET Police with over £10 million stolen from the Bayelsa state government coffers.
The A Aruera Reachout Foundation which started as a pet project of the First Lady has since been abandoned and the edifice metamorphosed into a full fledged 5 star hotel in Bayelsa state.
All government visitors and Shell staffs are forced to lodge here and the Bayelsa state government has a retainership with the hotel.
There is another branch of the hotel that is under construction in Abuja along Airport Road. The Abuja branch sitting on a hill top is about 80 per cent completed.
The First Lady's foundation has also opened the most expensive private primary school, named Mertul International Academy, opposite Custom road along the Isacc Boro expressway, Biogbolo in Yenegoa. The school took off for business in September last year under the watch of her husband as President. She also has a branch of the school in Abuja where parents pay over N3 million per session for their wards in Nursery and primary sections.
The list of primitive wealth acquired with proceeds of corruption by Dame Patience Jonathan will make the devil to shed tears for the long suffering people of the comatose Lugardian contraption!
Her private mansion in Port Harcourt is out of the planet.
It is rumoured that someone is fronting Air Peace, a commercial domestic carrier on her behalf.
At this juncture the reason why President Goodluck Jonathan refused to battle corruption become obvious. How can Mr President tackle corruption when what he is looking for in Sokoto is right inside his Shokoto?
Country pipu na Permanent Secretary salary or excess from Housekeeping allowance naim she take acquire all these properties?
See what happens when you leave yams in the custody of a goat?
Dia ris godu ooooooooo

A former Minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, has demanded the immediate arrest of some former Niger Delta militants for threatening to plunge the country into war if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected in the February 14 election.
He stated this on Wednesday in Kano during the commissioning of the multibillion naira Kwakwasiya city, one of the three mega cities built by the administration of Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso.
The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari; Victor Ben Ebikabowei, aka, Boy Loaf; Government Ekpudomenowei, aka, Tompolo; and other militants had last Saturday vowed to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan, wins the February presidential election.
The former militant leaders and their followers, who spoke at a meeting in Government House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, threaten to unleash violence on the country and take back Niger Delta oil should the president lose the election.
They also said any attempt to dethrone Mr. Jonathan would be seen as a direct attack on the Ijaw nation.
Neither the Federal Government nor the president, who is also Ijaw as the militant leaders, has so far reacted to the threat.
Describing the statements as “reckless,” Mr. Danjuma, a retired army general and former Chief of Army Staff, who fought in the Nigerian civil war, said the threat by the militants were not only against national unity but also capable of plunging the country into war.
He asked the security agencies and the government to immediately arrest them.
“You should arrest Asari Dokubo, Tompolo, Boylop and other Niger Delta militants for making reckless statements, which in any way does not mean keeping Nigeria as one entity and creating war situation,” he said.

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress APC, led by its national chairman, John Oyegun, have been involved in very wide consultarions as to whom the vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari should be.
Rather than being guided by sentiments and contrary to unsubstantiated insinuations that Bola Tinubu is delaying the process, the party is relying on research and survey findings and looking at the best person who can make up for Buhari's perceived weaknesses.
A party leader scoffed at media reports about the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, being offered the VP slot.
"Too many stories are being circulated," the APC leader, who asked to remain anonymous, said. "While we understand the interest in that position, APC will not be stampeded by anyone."
Investigations show that the party may have conceded the VP slot to the South West region and it's not going to change that. The region has always being the strong hold for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC.
Over the weekend Tinubu rejected the offer to run even as his close political associates piled pressure on him. The major problem for the party now is finding a South Westerner with the kind of political clout, charisma and reach like Tinubu. That, analysts say, is what Buhari needs to ensure the block votes from the region and make forays into other areas. Yemi Osinbajo, Wale Edun, Ayo Opadokun and Senator Mamora are on the shortlist.
APC has until Monday afternoon to submit a name.

During the last few days, Nigeria has suffered intense attacks and grave loss of lives due to the evil work of terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Attacks against numerous locations in the northeast demonstrate how heinous and debased Boko Haram and those who sponsor it have become. So depraved, they have become heartless and filled with enmity against all that is good and proper. This was not the act of human beings. These attacks could only have come from the hands of those who do not know God or Serve God. This is the act of godless people.

The hand of evil, deploying those who have given themselves over to wickedness, committed this terrible thing. No reason can be found for what was done except that Boko Haram has once again shown its lust for innocent blood and its disdain for life peacefully lived. Boko Haram killed people praying to God because the god of Boko Haram is Satan himself.


Boko Haram seeks to scare and intimidate Christian and Muslim alike through wanton destruction. They may attack us but never shall this evil force subdue us. Christian and Muslim must stand arm-in-arm to face down this terrorist onslaught.

Those of us who love peace, who love unity and who love Nigerian can never allow this vile group to achieve its objective – to turn us into a bloodied and divided nation. Nigeria can and will defeat this terrorist machine and those behind it. We have no other home. We have no other choice.

I commiserate with the people of Kano and their Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi. Also with the leaders and people of other locations that have come under attack such as Bauchi, Borno and parts of Yobe.

Bola Tinubu

REACTION TO THE ATTACK ON THE SPEAKER AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN ABUJA BY APC NATIONAL LEADER, BOLA AHMED TINUBU

By deploying hundreds of police officers to prevent the Speaker of the House of Representatives from entering the National Assembly Complex, the President has revealed his hand to be a devious one. Having asked the Speaker to convene the House to consider extending the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, the Jonathan government then deployed the nation’s police to stop the fourth ranking citizen of the nation from entering his place of work.

Speaker Tambuwal was going to the House as a result of the letter from the Presidency on a matter of urgent national importance. Tambuwal did not have to accede to the presidential request to reconvene the House; but because he is a statesman and not a political hack, he assented so his chamber might consider this a matter of vital national importance. Despite the removal of the police officers and security team around him, he still proceeded – at great personal risk – to answer the call of duty. He took the risk, believing his personal situation was a secondary thing when the fate of the nation comes into question.

The President and his men have their handwriting all over the invasion of the National Assembly. No Commissioner of Police will ever embark on such an action without the clearance of the Inspector General of Police and no IGP will order his men out here without approval by the Presidency. Nigerians know where the buck stops. The Jonathan Presidency must take full responsibility for the attack on the leadership of the National Assembly.

This government cannot claim to be unaware of what the Police would do. This gangster’s antic occurred almost at their doorstep. The Jonathan presidency can no longer play ignorant regarding the noxious things done for partisan ends.

Instead of seriously treating Boko Haram’s incursion against our internal security, the President’s men decided to turn the event into a partisan and embarrassing circus. Perhaps they saw this as a birthday present to Mr. President. But it is nothing but brigandage masquerading as governance. What this Presidency does not realize is how terribly it has exposed its pettiness and dictatorial penchant for elevating narrow political interests above the fate of the nation.

There is little wonder the nation is losing ground to Boko Haram. This government has allowed, and even welcomed, the downward slide. If seriously committed to breaking the spine of this insurgency, the Jonathan government would have ensured that the House met without disturbance or partisan rancor. Instead, Jonathan and his men used the gravest armed threat the nation has suffered in forty years to lay a partisan political trap for one single man, instead allowing the House to deliberate for the good of 170 million people hoping for a way out of the growing carnage. The conduct of the Presidency shows that whenever dire national interests conflict with that of individual ambitions, the former will be rejected to violently promote the latter. The priorities of the Jonathan Presidency are as wrong as wrong can get. Their actions are devoid of national purpose. They reek of pungent ambition. A weakness of character now permeates national leadership.

This Presidency leaves the nation’s grave problems unattended yet have the rashness to create new ones by trashing the nation’s democratic institutions and mocking constitutional checks and balances. The most notable achievement of the Jonathan government has been to bring democracy to its knees. This is not the hallmark of a President but the work of a potentate.

While enjoying the taste of this cheap tactical victory, it is hoped Nigerians and the international community are sampling the bigger picture. In trying to quash the opposition by all means necessary, this government unleash forces they do not even recognize let alone control.

Thus, Nigerians are in a precarious situation. In the face of the menace of Boko Haram’s terror and rampage, members of the loyal opposition have extended the hand of cooperation to this government often and without condition. We have provided suggestions on fighting the group and winning the hearts and minds of the people. Had the Jonathan government taken these suggestions, things would not be as they are today. This government scoffed at our help. Even when the Speaker answered the call of duty, as a patriot should, Jonathan and his men were more concerned with setting an ambush for him than in resolving the serious matter at hand. For them, the only serious matter, was their political standing.

While the opposition has been loyal to the nation, Jonathan and the PDP led government have not. This is the point of our greatest departure from the course.

The Jonathan Presidency is a government that has lost its head. This government has run amok and has jettisoned all sense of proportion. The nation now faces two threats. One is Boko Haram’s attack on the people. The other is the Presidency’s attack on the people’s democracy. As such, a state of emergency now exists in Abuja, in Aso Villa itself, because of this breakdown of democratic governance. Jonathan and his men are the reason for the state of emergency. It seems that the only way this emergency shall be lifted is for this government to perpetuate itself in office. The removal of this government from office shall not be done with military power, armed might or police brutality. Their ouster will come from a nobler source; the power of the people and their want for democratic good governance.

BOLA AHMED TINUBU

Awash in the great tide of politics, we must not forget why politics can be a noble endeavor. It leads to governance. When done correctly, governance can reform a nation and improve the lot of the people. In the hands of the ignorant and the mean, governance cast abundant misfortune upon a nation and upon the welfare of its citizens.

This commentary concerns governance and policy more than it does politics. I offer it to generate debate on an important economic issue. No matter who is in power, we must do whatever is in our capacity to do to steer the nation away from economic woe. The people have suffered too much hardship already. Neither side of the political divide should seek to purchase transient advantage at the high price of dousing the people in greater economic calamity. Thus, I suggest this progressive’s position on how best to shape economic policy during this period of falling oil prices. I state this hoping those in charge will take pertinent advice from any quarter. My prayer is that they are not so stubborn as to adhere to a strategy that will deepen the economic misery of our people even when better policy measures are proffered.

I confess to writing this also for a reason essentially political but non-confrontational. It accentuates the distinction between the conservative PDP and the progressive APC. The nation faces momentous elections when next year turns to its second month. The choice is a stark one; but many people do not believe as such. The differences are vast especially regarding economic policy. On the one side, the PDP champions a conservative, elitist economic model based on the theory that wealth money must first go to the already rich and well-heeled who shall determine how small a fraction of it will trickle-down to the rest of society.

On the progressive side, we believe government can fillip economic growth and development in such a way that brings the fairness of prosperity to all of society. We don’t seek to penalize those who already have but we will do our utmost to remove from the clutch of poverty the bulk of our people. We seek to turn the hungry suffering of our poor and working classes into a dignified livelihood that provides a dignified existence for all.

Global oil prices have fallen from over 100 dollars a barrel to approximately 80 dollars per barrel. This slide has caused a corresponding drop in government’s dollar revenues. With this, the federal government claims it has less money at its disposal and the paucity of dollars necessitates austerity measures. Most people accept this position as gospel; debate about its correctness has been nil. Yet, the stakes are much too high to assume this subjective position as an economic certitude or uncritically accept its propriety. What they proclaim as policy is not based on any unassailable economic principle. It is statement of economic bias that beckons to the wealthy while auguring unnecessary hardship for most Nigerians.

Look at jobless and poverty levels as well as the diminished status of our middle class. After viewing these statistics, most objective economists would conclude Nigeria is mired in a long-term, secular depression. Forget the rosy GDP numbers. They signify a great economic and financial segregation between those who have and others who have not. If we continue with the policy preferences of the current administration, the haves shall become the "have–mores" and the "have-nots" shall become the "have even less."

The vast majority of the claimed GDP growth has fallen into the laps of those already enjoying obvious luxury. The rest of the people are left to gaze at the enormity of the income and wealth chasm separating them from the cabal orchestrating the discordant political economy. While a small group flourishes, the rest of the nation subsidizes their economic bounty. A tight confederacy rides an economic skyrocket while the bulk of the people languish in the swamp. For one group, the economy is effervescent. For the other, it is catatonic. Nigeria is one nation with two economies.

For this government to speak of austerity is to further enrich the affluent while casting the average Nigerian into greater hardship and deeper socio-economic depression. As with the Euro zone the past five years since the global financial crisis, austerity has not solved the dire economic weakness of the nations that employed this sickening remedy. All austerity has done is tighten the grip of the wealthy on the economy while weakening the position of the middle class and the poor.

Austerity weakens aggregate demand, deflating an economy already fatigued and against the ropes. Those with hefty portfolios, profit as the value of their holdings appreciates by the very dynamics of deflation. Those who don’t have, find money even dearer to come by. Jobs and commerce disappear. Debt climbs. Deflation turns a noble but poor household into a committee of beggars and street urchins. The austerity that the current Administration offers is an insensitive, myopic policy that lends primacy of favor to meaningless accounting figures instead of to the material wellbeing of the people. Austerity undermines our economic pillars and breaks the spirit of the people. Austerity is the merchant of pessimism and hopeless futility. If you desire a nation of thralls, by all means continue this bleak path. If we want a nation of prosperity and economic justice, a different course is our due.

Listen carefully to the position of the Jonathan Administration as articulated by the finance minister and you shall collide into the barricades of illogic and its weighty consequences. The claim is that government is low on funds because the lower price of oil means fewer dollars are being collected from oil sales. This sounds logical but for one fundamental point. The dollar intake is basically irrelevant to determining the amount of naira the government commands and places into the political economy. This fundamental point reveals the government’s position to be the antiquated relic of a past era. It is the way of the gold standard which ceased to exist over forty years ago. As such, government’s stance is based more on superstition than on the actual functioning of modern economy with a sovereign fiat currency of its own.

The last I looked, Nigeria operates a Naira-based economy not a dollar-based one. There is no legal or moral restriction strictly limiting the amount of Naira in the system to match the amount of dollars collected via oil sales. More importantly, there is no economic justification for the close linkage implied by the government. If we take its position at face value, the Jonathan Administration is advocating that we effectively place the Naira and thus our fiscal policy on a “dollar standard.” The world jettisoned the gold standard in 1971 because it proved unworkable, reducing the policy space in which governments could pursue fiscal programs promoting full employment and social welfare. We should likewise reject this government’s imposition of a dollar standard on our nation’s fiscal operations.

Under the gold standard, a national government took pains not to incur budgetary deficits that exceeded the dimensions of its gold reserves. This was because the currency had no value by itself. Its value was based on the convention that the currency was backed by the nation’s gold holdings. Those governments that ran deficits had to pay those debts in gold. Given that gold supplies were always and everywhere finite and exhaustible, a nation had to keep its deficits within the confines of its ability to pay debts in gold. Because of this straitjacketing effect, nations would abandon the gold standard during harsh economic times in order to give them the fiscal freedom to rejuvenate their economies. This was the case during the Great Depression with the major economic powers. This should be the case with Nigeria today since the bulk of our people live in conditions redolent of the Great Depression or any other depression for that matter.

Our government persists that it must limit fiscal outlays to the amount of dollars the nation holds. Similar to the operation of the discarded gold standard, following this path is to strap ourselves to austerity and the chronic deflation of austerity produces. Worse, it serves to enthrall the fiscal policy of our sovereign nation to the monetary policy of another country. That nation plies monetary policy to serve its interests and not the economic interests of Nigeria. I am baffled why this government would give such power over the fate of our economic wellbeing to another nation that does not incorporate our interests into its decisional processes. This government makes our nation the economic servant of another so that government may turn about to make the Nigerian people its economic servant. While there is a certain logic to this dynamic, it is a perverse and debilitating one.

Because we operate a sovereign fiat currency the federal government issues at its sole discretion, the federal government can never be rendered insolvent in Naira. This means it can run Naira fiscal deficits indefinitely. The only outer bound is to ensure the fiscal expansion does not incur damaging inflation rates. There is no logical reason to peg the flow of Naira into the economy to the flow of dollars received. The correct perspective is not to mechanistically restrict Naira expenditure to dollar intake. This would be tantamount to those crippled with economic blinders forcefully leading those who can see we are heading for disaster. It points to deflation, recession and worse. The better methodology is to ascertain, then achieve, the level of Naira expenditure needed to expand the economy and create jobs without causing inflation to rise to dangerous levels. This is how broadly-shared prosperity is generated in a sustainable manner.

In this way, the nation’s economic engineers should focus primarily on allocating value and opportunity to our underutilized labor force and our idle, yet potentially productive capital in a way that promotes wealth creation and expansion of aggregate demand. It is this sustainment of aggregate demand that empowers the nation to rescue itself from the whirlpool of economic contraction. This avenue is more benign than the one the federal administration now advocates. Their way calls for us to forget growth and for government to preoccupy itself with allocating economic misery among those segments of the population too poor and weak to contest the immiserating actions of government against them.

In the face of recessionary headwinds, government should run countercyclical fiscal policy by using its Naira sovereignty to fund fiscal deficits. The deficit is not simply for the sake of running a deficit; the funds cannot be spent on nonproductive matters. It must be used to fuel infrastructural and other projects that not only employ great numbers of people but enhance the overall productivity of the economy. The funds must be used to backstop state governments in a nonpartisan manner so that each state government may continue to pay salaries and pursue projects essential to that state’s economic critical path.

To accomplish this, the federal government needs to reverse the inimical “dollarization” of the national economy in two ways. First and most importantly, it must abandon the outdated peg of fiscal policy and expenditures to the dollar intake. The one actually has no correspondent nexus to the other. Any commanding connection we give it is an artifice not an economic necessity. Related to this, we must reverse a trend that has gained momentum under this government. Among government-aligned elites, the fad has been to conduct domestic business transactions in dollars. Policy must “nairasize” the economy by requiring all domestic transactions occur in our legal tender. As this is done, the government’s infinite ability to issue Naira will come to outweigh the limitations inherent in the overuse of the finite supply of another nation’s currency for transactions wholly internal to our domestic economy.

Inflation is the major risk of running budget deficits to spur growth. We can contain inflation to acceptable levels by ensuring additional government expenditures are for items that can be supplied domestically, particularly labor. Naira paid to poor and working class people mostly circulates in the domestic economy, spurring additional local commerce and production. This is because their consumption patterns do not approach the level of import expenditures associated with their wealthier compatriots. Related to this, we must decrease our level of superfluous imports.

These measures will place downward pressure on the Naira. Devaluation will not be destructive but it will be noticeable. For most nations, such devaluation would be welcomed as it would make export industries more competitive, thus creating jobs and export earnings in the process. However, this will not be the case initially for us because of the moribund state of our industrial sector. Here, government would need to initiate crash programs aimed at enhancing those domestic industries perched on the borderline of international competitiveness.

In the end, the policy I propose is not without risks, inflation being the chief concern. Yet, if wisely prosecuted, the rewards of job creation and economic growth allocated among the bulk of the populace outweigh the inflationary risk. More to the point, the policy now pursued bears no risks at all. It is certain to toss the average man’s economy into a stagnation that will resemble the onset of a major recession. Saving the people from this unnecessary plight is sufficient imperative to eschew the policies of old and embrace the progressive course.

I offer this advice, this warning, because the people have suffered enough hardship. I offer this advice in the slim hope those in power will ignore the messenger and objectively weight the quality and humane nature of the message. If so, they will spare the people the grief visited upon a vulnerable people when their government blindly imposes last century’s policies in a modern setting inappropriate to the old strictures. Regardless of our partisan affiliations, let us consecrate this land by dedicating ourselves to the betterment of the poor, weak, and needy members of our national family. Let this moment not pass like so many others where we have demanded that the most vulnerable among us bear the greatest weight of the national burden. Let us give them the hope, change and dignity they deserve and human decency demands. This is how we make the nation great. When I speak of a common sense revolution, this is what I mean.

Quite expectedly, a number of commentators from Lawyers to political analysts, politicians, civil societies etc have all lent their voices to the sudden but expected defection of the Honourable Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal CFR from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). There has been a deluge of opinion on the legality or otherwise of the defection of the Speaker and whether by virtue of his defection, he has ceased to be an Honourable member of the House of Representatives not to mention being the Speaker. Even Peoples’ Democratic Party who have benefited from several defections in the past including the recent defection of the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the Speaker and members of the Ondo State House of Assembly all to the PDP have asked the Speaker to resign his post. It is easy to understand the anger of the Peoples’ Democratic Party. The PDP never wanted Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker of the House. They had in fact fronted and asked their members to instead cast their votes for Hon. Mulikat Akande as Speaker in a bid to balance power and give the South west a sense of belonging. While it is admirable, the Honourables however were not in support of this. I could not have imagined a better reaction from the PDP when Tambuwal after putting them through several sleepless nights decided to pitch his tent with the APC.

However, the most astonishing of reactions and what will perhaps go down in history as one of the most brazenly partisan involvement of the nations’ security apparatus in politics was from the Nigerian Police Force. As a preface, it is important to restate that the police as a national institution should detach itself from any involvement in partisan politics. The constitutional role and functions of the Police are clearly delineated in the extant laws and one would expect the Police to follow them religiously. In this case, the Police did not only constitute themselves into a court of jurisdiction, they went ahead to declare that since Tambuwal has defected to the APC and by virtue of Section 68 (1)g of the 1999 constitution as amended, he has ceased to be an honourable member of the House of Representatives. I shudder to ask where the Nigerian Police was when the same thing happened in Ondo state? Was the Commissioner of Police in Ondo state taking a nap when the Speaker of the Ondo state House of Assembly and her honourables defected to the PDP? Was there even a crisis in the Labour Party at either the state or national level to have warranted the defection and brought it in line with the dictates of the proviso to Section 68 (1) of the constitution? Assuming but not conceding that the Commissioner of Police in Ondo state is not even aware of the consequence of defecting to another party on other grounds except as provided by the Law, where was the Inspector General of Police? Has the IGP not listened to the news since then or has he not read the newspapers ever since to know that PDP has taken over the affairs in Ondo State House of Assembly whereas Ondo people voted for Labour Party?

Selective policing by an institution that ought to be apolitical portends a very dangerous signal in the nation ahead of the 2015 general elections. The police must steer clear of getting involved in partisan politics and of importance, the Nigerian Police must put a stop to the new trend of interpreting the provisions of the constitution as this is clearly the exclusive duty of the Courts by virtue of Section 6 (6) of the constitution. Not even the Police Act in all of its 69 Sections empowers the Police to interpret the constitution. Specifically speaking, Section 4 of the Police Act which provides for the general duty of the Nigerian Police states as follows:

“The Police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order; the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations WITH WHICH THEY ARE DIRECTLY CHARGED, and shall perform such military duties within or without Nigeria as may be required by them by, or under the authority of any other Act.” (Emphasis mine)

The above quoted section is very clear and unambiguous as it does not in any way confer authority on the Nigerian Police to interpret the provisions of the constitution let alone declare that anyone has lost his/her seat in the House of Representatives by reason of their defection from party A to party B. In any case and to declare the seat of a defecting Honourable vacant, recourse must be made to Section 68 (2) of the constitution which empowers the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives to give effect to the provisions of Section 68(1). This section again clearly does not mention the Nigerian Police and it is not automatically activated.

The Police may also want to argue that allowing the Speaker to give effect to Section 68(1) will amount to allowing him be a judge in his own cause as that is against the principle of fair hearing thus necessitating their action. I say clearly and unambiguously that such excuse is not tenable. Though it is an undisputable principle of law that a party shall not be a judge in his own cause but, in this sense, the best place to seek the declaration of the Speaker’s seat vacant is the Court and not the police. I fully expect the Nigerian Police to retrace their steps and listen to the voice of reason. A partisan police ahead of general elections which is less than 4months is the least of what the nation requires. If the IGP in acting capacity can display this utter disregard for the role of courts and the constitution, I shudder to think of what his actions will be when he becomes the Inspector General of Police. The PDP has consistently shown that its centre cannot hold against the wind of centrifugal forces from its internal contradictions hence it needed the Ag. IGP to suo motu pose to himself the scenarios whether there is division in the PDP or a merger, answer his own questions and execute his belief thereby constituting himself into a court. A desperate acting IGP who wants to become the substantive IGP will do anything to please his master in a show of loyalty and that is as dangerous to the entire country as terrorism is.

Furthermore, it has also been argued by some analysts and Lawyers alike that there is/was no division in the PDP warranting Tambuwal’s defection to the APC. Facts are sacred and at this point, it is important not to sacrifice facts on the altar of politics and sentiments. From the 7 PDP Governors to the New PDP and to the seeming crises in the state chapters of the PDP, it is clear that the party is factionalised. In Sokoto State which is the home state of the Speaker, the Governor and his deputy were both elected on the platform of the PDP but the Governor has since moved to the APC while the deputy remains in the PDP. Is that not the consequence of crisis and resulting factionalisation? In addition, the question of whether or not there is a division or faction in the PDP has been resolved by not just one court but two separate divisions of the Federal High Court. In the Ilorin division of the Federal High Court in suit no FHC/IL/CS/6/2014 per Hon. Justice Faji, the court held that indeed there were factions in the PDP. Again in suit no FHC/S/CS/4/2014, the Sokoto Division of the Federal High Court per Justice Aikawa, held that there was not only a division, but faction in the PDP which later merged with the APC. Those Judgement as of date stands as no appeal as emanated therefrom. So does this still mean there is no division in the PDP?

If for the purposes of argument we accept that there was no faction in PDP in Sokoto State specifically, what was Chief Tony Anenih reconciliating when he went Sokoto State? Or was it not in the news that the chairman of the BOT of PDP was in Sokoto about two weeks back, with other party heavyweights to reconcile faction? Do you reconcile when there are no divisions? I leave these questions to the non-sentimental mind.

Another interesting point worthy of being addressed is the noise from some quarters that the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives belongs to the PDP by virtue of simple reason that the PDP holds the majority of seats in the House. While there has been in history both within and outside the shores of the country, facts which lays credence that minority members of legislative houses have held leadership of same in different political dispensation, I choose to clearly discuss this in line with the provisions of Section 50(1) (b) of the constitution which provides inter alia:

“There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who SHALL be elected by the MEMBERS OF THAT HOUSE FROM AMONG THEMSELVES” (Emphasis mine)

In very clear terms even to a non-legal mind, the above cited section of the grund norm is clear as to how the Speaker of the House of Representatives would emerge. The constitution recognises that Honourable members are equal in terms of being in the House and emphasises that the Speaker should emerge from among them. How this translates to automatic ownership of the Speakership position for the PDP baffles me. What is usually the practice is that the party in the majority is able to muster all of their own to out muscle others in election for the speakership position thereby having one of them as Speaker. This happens everywhere. But to ascribe this practice to be a right of the party with majority to produce the speaker is to miss the point. This should not be elevated to the pedestal of being an entitlement of the ruling party as the constitution clearly does not contemplate that. In other words, if the members of the House in their own right feel Honourable A of minority party XYZ will be a better Speaker than Honourable B of the majority party DEF, they can decide to elect Honourable A of party XYZ as their Speaker not minding the fact that he is from the minority party.

Will this be constitutional? Of course it will be as what qualifies any honourable for the post is by virtue of being a member of the House and not a membership of the party. So those who are eager to have the ruling party present the Speaker because PDP is in the majority should sheathe their swords and allow the members of the House of Representatives decide what is best for them.

Let Presidency and the PDP hierarchy get angry if they want. They are only a victim of their own impunity. The rich also cry!

• Abdul-Aziz is a prospective Lawyer and tweets at @Backarray.