₦airaland Forum

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Party (APC) spent N3.23 billion on political campaign advertisements for this year’s general elections, according to a report at the weekend.

According to the report by Compliance and Content Monitoring Ltd (CCM), the PDP accounted for about N2.5 billion (77 per cent of the total spending) and APC spent N728 million (23 per cent).



CCM said the media advertisements were placed on radio, television, press and billboards for the PDP and the APC presidential campaigns between December 2014 and March.

The report was unveiled after a thorough analysis of over 260 broadcast media (radio and television), 48 print (newspapers and magazines) media and over 1,000 outdoor billboards across the country.

The firm focused on the two main parties, taking into cognisance the nation’s geographical zones, the advertising campaigns of the different political parties, individuals and groups in support of the presidential candidates.

The Managing Director of CCM Limited, Mr. Tunde Onadele, who spoke at the unveiling of the report, said about 253 creative materials were deployed across radio and television channels in all the 260+ stations monitored by CCM, with PDP utilising 145 materials. APC deployed 107 materials.

The split across media platforms showed that the two parties utilised mostly television and press platforms for over 85 per cent of total campaign spending.

The report highlighted that gross media rates were used in CCM’s calculations and the data across the monitored stations account for about 85 per cent of the national coverage.

Source: The Nation

:- [[su [b][/b][/b]p][/sup][b]

Bright4:
If d present of GMB can make a sitting president dt is not serious for 6yrs, to b more active under 6weeks, bet me, affairs of Nigeria within a year under general, will be a blessing. Meanwhile, I have decided to march4change.

Adeboye has since asked his congregation to get their PVC even before Buhari was nominated. I just think FFK his spewing jargons as he normally does.

The truth is that each and everyone one of us, including my friend Yemi, will ultimately have to answer to God for the choices that we make and we must live with the consequences of those choices. It is no wonder that the Redeemed Christian Church of God has disassociated itself from a false claim that the Church and, by implication, Rev. Adeboye himself, was supporting the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket. Thankfully they have come out to say clearly and categorically that this is not so. One can always trust Adeboye to do and say the right thing because he is a man that is truly ”after God’s heart”.

Yet the denial of an endorsement and tacit support from his Church is just the first of many shockers and unwelcome surprises that Yemi will be served with in the next few weeks. He will get shock after shock and surprise after surprise until the battle is over and circumstances compel him to go back to his very lucrative legal practice.

Yet before he does that he should learn a thing or two from one of his esteemed colleagues and yet another Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the courageous Pastor Bosun Emmanuel. Bosun said the following words in his famous sermon titled ‘The Nigerian Church’ which went viral just a few months ago.

He said, ”woe be unto any believer who joins hands with the enemies of God in an attempt to bury the Church and destroy the gospel”. This was a timely admonition and these are strong and wise words from a true servant of God who is under no illusion about what is going on in the politics of Nigeria and who is brave enough to say it as it is.

Yet whether we choose to heed Bosun’s words or not I am absolutely certain of one thing: those that have aligned with the servants of Satan and the children of darkness and that seek to thwart God’s counsel for our nation shall not prevail.

Boko Haram abducted 185 women in Borno state on December 18th and they killed no less than 52 innocent people. Despite that some people are still supporting Buhari and his army of desperate Haramites? What a people, what a country.

Those that say that Buhari has changed simply because he chose a Pastor as his running mate are ignorant. Did he not have a Pastor as his running mate in his last outing in 2011? Did he not still say that it was his intention to ”spread sharia throughout the country” and that ”an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north”?

Did he not oppose a state of emergency in the north eastern states and say that it was unfair for the military to kill Boko Haram members? Did he not say that instead of killing them they should forgive them, pamper them and treat them in the same way that the Niger Delta militants were treated?

Did the spokesman of his party Alhaji Lai Mohammed not say that the proscription of Boko Haram by the Federal Government was ‘’unjust’’ and ‘’unconstitutional’’? How does the fact that Buhari has opted for a Christian running mate change any of these things?

In any case he only opted for a Christian running mate because he was compelled to do so as a consequence of the hue and cry that the prospect of a Muslim/Muslim ticket had already started to generate. Are those that cite the fact that he has a Christian running mate as evidence of his new-found love for Christians aware of the fact that during the American civil war a small, ignorant, misguided and deluded group of negro slaves actually fought on the side of the southern confederate forces in an attempt to keep slavery in place?

Did that suggest that the leaders of the southern confederate ‘’secession’’ states suddenly changed their minds and fell in love with the blacks that they had enslaved and treated like animals? Is Buhari’s claim of not being partial to his own Hausa-Fulani tribe not a little far-fetched? Did he not lead a northern delegation to Alhaji Lam Adesina, the late Governor of Oyo state, just a few years ago when some Fulani herdsmen were slaughtering Yoruba farmers on their own land and ask him ‘’why are YOUR people killing MY people?” Apparently Buhari believed that the aggressors that had invaded the land and farms of others and that killed all the occupants had a right to do so simply because they were Fulani. Yet some people still claim that the man is not a tribalist.

Ignorance and lack of knowledge is a terrible affliction but in this context it is not only terrible but also very dangerous. Buhari’s choice of a Christian Pastor as his running mate means nothing and changes nothing about him or his entrenched views and ancient mindset.

It rather provides clear evidence of his sheer desperation to win power at all costs and it is a reflection of his obvious and deep-seated deceit. Let the truth be told even though the heavens may fall: Christian Vice President or no Christian Vice President, Buhari’s heart remains as dark as ever.

I am glad that the APC eventually took my advice and saw the wisdom in not fielding a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the 2015 Presidential election even though I hear that, right up till the last minute, they almost did.

I congratulate my friend and brother Professor Yemi Osinbajo on his nomination as the Vice Presidential candidate of the APC and running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari.

I have known Yemi for a number of years and I must say that he is not only a very pleasant and civilised person with a warm and gentle disposition but he is also a cerebral lawyer with a brilliant mind. I have immense respect for him.

Yet sadly ever since I heard about his nomination and announcement as Buhari’s running mate I have felt nothing but sheer pity for him and a deep sense of pathos. My counsel and words for him are as follows:

Woe unto the children of light that secretly delight in darkness and that seek to thwart the counsel of God for their nation by joining hands with the sons of Boko and the daughters of Haram.

The bible says “what fellowship is there between light and darkness?” It says “what does God have to do with Belial?” It says “what profiteth a man to gain the world and lose his soul?”.

A respected Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a devout and committed Christian and an intellectually-sound, well-bred and well educated Professor of Law accepts to be running mate to a closet fundamentalist, a bloodthirsty, cruel and murderous military dictator and a die-hard believer in the philosophy of ”born to rule”? This is serious.

A gifted servant of God who is a favored spiritual son of Rev. Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God has jumped into bed with one of the most notorious troublers of the faith and one of the most consistent enemies of democracy and Nigeria? This is very sad.

Rev. Enoch Adeboye is undoubtedly one of God’s greatest and most respected generals on the planet and one of the Church’s most humble and best-loved precious gems, yet one of his spiritual sons has surely let him, and indeed the Kingdom of God, down by choosing to play ”man Friday” and second fiddle to an individual that represents everything that is troubling, unsettling and repugnant to the modern world and to the 21st century? What a tragedy.

A learned Professor of Law and a senior member of the Nigerian bar who is the leading authority on the law of evidence and who has written numerous books on that topic chooses to play number two to a man that failed all his exams at military college and that never went to a decent school or to any university? Jumping Jehoshaphat.

It is only in Nigeria that this sort of thing can happen. Poor Yemi. Look at what the Haramites have done to him and look at what they have reduced him to. Is there anything that these creatures from hell will not do? Is there anyone that they will not use and is there any norm that they will not defile, pervert, debase, violate and corrupt in their ignoble quest for power and as a consequence of their insatiable lusts and manifest greed?

Dear Christian folks, it not enough to call Mr. Aribisala, all sorts of names. We need to defeat his deception with the word of truth and reason.

I have read many articles written by Aribisala and I have discovered that he needs to tarnish Christ and Christianity to get fame.

Haven said that, it's is necessary I put up an explanation.

I promise to present a cogent explanation. My xplanation may not go well with everyone but it ll go a long way.

I WILL BE BACK

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, yesterday told the military to bury itself in shame because he is ‘alive’, even as he vowed to continue attacks and not to allow democracy thrive in the country.

In an online video by the Islamist militant group, Shekau, who said the world “should know that he could not die except by the will of Allah” claimed responsibility for the September 17 attacks in Benisheik, Borno State, in which over 160 lives were lost and hundreds of houses burnt.

The former spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno State, Lt Col Sagir Musa, had issued a statement on August 19, claiming that Shekau had been killed.

“Intelligence report available to the Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Restore Order revealed that Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted terrorists leader may have died.

“He died of gunshots wounds received in an encounter with the JTF in one of their camps in Sambisa Forest on 30th June, 2013.

“Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide- a border community in Cameroon for treatment from which he never recovered,” the JTF spokesman had said.

Though there was no independent confirmation of the army’s claim, Shekau who appeared in the new video in military camouflage, seated and surrounded by hooded insurgents in a jungle environment, said the military will never subdue his group.

His words: “The world should know that I cannot die except by the will of Allah. I have told you that all that I do is prescribed by the Quran.

“The essence of it is to carry out the injunctions. Don’t bother yourselves stopping me because I cannot be stopped. The war is more grievous than you think, and it will consume you.

“I swear by Allah that there will be no democracy in Nigeria. We are going to rise against it and we shall soon defeat it.

“The concept of government of the people by the people for the people cannot continue to exist. It shall soon, very soon, be replaced by government of Allah, by Allah for Allah.

“It was said that I was killed, but here I am; I deliberately refused to respond on time; but here I am talking and laughing at Nigerian authority which misled the world that I am dead.

“I believe by now, Lt. Col Sagir Musa, who issued the statement of my death, should bury his head in shame; President Jonathan should bury his head in shame; President Barrack Obama should bury his head in shame, President François Hollande should bury his head in shame.

“How shameful is it for Nigerian military for a man they called inconsequential to defeat them and seize their tankers and arms. We have celebrated our victory in Monguno, Benisheik and surrounding villages, and we shall not relent until total victory comes our way, by Allah’s will.”

Source; National Mirror

Amnesty may not end terrorism - ACF

Following the announcement by the federal government that it was considering making an offer of amnesty to the Boko Haram and other insurgent groups waging war on the northern states of Nigeria, the apex northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), yesterday said that the amnesty, if finally granted, may not end terrorism.

This is just as they told federal government to spell out clear terms and conditions for all those who decided to accept the amnesty offer and the benefit they stand to gain by doing so.

“The terms and conditions should specify the concessions government will make to the insurgents and other possible incentives it will provide -- all within a time-line, also to be specified. It should address the losses suffered by the victims of insurgency,” said the ACF in a statement by its spokesman Anthony Sani. “The forum is fully aware of the fact that amnesty may not automatically end terrorism, especially when we know that some hardliners may not accept the offer. But it will most likely mark the beginning of a process that holds the promise of bringing the tragic situation to an end.”

According to ACF, amnesty that could lead to dialogue recommends itself precisely because the use of force in other countries like Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and even in our country by President Yar’Adua in 2009 against the sect has not delivered on the desired peace, since in all these places the terrorists remain undaunted. In such circumstances, an alternative approach or strategy is imperative, even if not popular.

“The offer of amnesty may persuade members of the insurgencies to come out and show their faces on the negotiation table without any fear of security agents. Without any form of mechanism in place by government that guarantees the security of the insurgents, nobody can reasonably expect them to show their faces.

“One way of exterminating terrorism in the long run is counter-terrorism strategy through which radicalization, recruitment, inflow of arms and chemicals used for explosives can be checked. Also monitoring of sources of financing, transportation and borders is imperative.

“We believe efforts must not be spared in addressing the underlying causes of uprising through good governance that come with purposeful leadership with political will and determination,” the statement read.

The statement further said that “the overriding consideration and pre-occupation now should be on how best the nation can put an early end to further killings of innocent Nigerians, more so that the issue of victims and amnesty are not mutually exclusive since both can go on concurrently during negotiations. No one reasonably expects all members of the sect to accept the offer of amnesty immediately.

“Many may drag their feet. But that should not be a hindrance, considering the possibility of those who accept it becoming assets that can make their reluctant colleagues reconsider their position and accept the amnesty as the process progresses,” the statement added.



Amnesty: They may be faceless but let us deal with them - Hon. Wudil

The Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Hon. Muhammad Ali Wudil, who comes from Kano state; a state now confronted with the most threatening security challenge in its 40 decades of existence has thrown his wieght behind the amnesty programme for Boko Haram initiated by the federal government.

Wudil while talking to the press said they may be “faceless” but let us engage them in their faceless mode, likening the situation to a human suffering from an ailment that cannot be seen yet the discomfort and harm still persists.

Speaking to journalists on Friday he revealed that the Federal government has expended a whopping N312 billion on road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance across the country in 2012.

He said, “About N226 billion was spent on roads in 2012. That includes FERMA, and that is from the national budget. But there was also an additional N86 billion, which was spent on roads from SURE-P”.

Governor Isah Yuguda of Bauchi State has assured that “real Boko Haram members” will accept the amnesty offered by the federal government.

He declared, however, that it is the responsibility of the government to deal with criminal and political members of the Boko Haram sect when the real members accept the amnesty proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Yuguda, who spoke with editors in Lagos on Saturday night, said that the real members of the sect who have various problems agitating their minds “have accepted and will accept the amnesty, which the president is proposing”.

The governor, who said there was a serious need to look into the issues that prompted the sect’s activities such as joblessness and illiteracy, noted that those who are kicking against the amnesty package are the criminals and the politically motivated among the members.

He also spoke on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), boasting that the party would win 35 out of the 36 states of the federation in 2015.

Yuguda also denied any crisis existed among the governors in their forum but instead explained that the PDP Governors’ Forum was necessary to discuss matters arising from the PDP manifesto.

Still on Boko Haram, the governor said that there was no true Muslim that would pick up weapons and kill a fellow man.

Nonetheless, he made it clear that there exist criminal elements among the sect, adding that it was left for the government to deal with them after the package has been accepted by the real sect members.

Said the governor: “Amnesty has been given to the real Boko Haram and I believe they are willing to accept that. That is my belief, but you know there is the criminal Boko Haram and there is the real Boko Haram. But the criminal and the political Boko Haram are the armed robbers and that arm of politicians that call themselves Boko Haram and they go about attacking people.

“Maybe, it is the criminal Boko Haram members that are responding to say that they don’t want amnesty because they have a different intention. Some of them are gunrunners, some of them are armed robbers and some of them are doing that on behalf of politicians. So, they just hide under Boko Haram and perpetrate evil.

“For those that are actually Boko Haram, I would want to believe that there is something that is agitating their minds, not about killing human beings but probably there are certain things that have agitated their minds --probably joblessness. I understand some of them are university graduates -- 15 years, no job.

“Now that the president has extended that olive branch to them, I would like to believe that they are quite happy. There has to be an end to all these. Once they have accepted, we know that we have to face the criminals. Any other person that is calling himself Boko Haram, we know they are the armed robbers and the political Boko Haram. You have to understand this. Boko in Hausa is “learning in English”, including learning rocket science, medicine, biology, Chemistry, Hausa, Yoruba – anything learnt in English characters. But if you learn rocket science in Arabic, is it Boko too?”

The governor contended that it was wrong to refer to Boko Haram as a religious sect or Islamic sect. Rather, he said, there is a serious need to look at the sect and find out what the agitation was all about. He stressed that neither Islam nor Christianity permits its adherents to kill.

According to him, “I become really worried when I read about mayhem, insecurity and all that in Bauchi. What is all this? I am telling you that the crimes committed in one city in any of these developed countries are more than that committed in Nigeria. Way back in 1999, the budget for security alone was in the region of about $30b. I am telling you that in one city alone…

“If you read the Bible from the beginning to the end, there is nowhere it says go and kill for God. Even the Bible says if you are slapped on the left, you turn the other cheek. What is the justification for the killing of people? Certainly not from the Bible! As for you being a Muslim, you cannot be a Muslim without believing in the Bible. In the Quoran, Jesus is Isah, the son of Mary. You must believe in his mother and believe that he was given birth to by the power of the Holy Spirit. You must believe in the Bible, even though there are minor variations -- that which relates to the crucifixion and the Trinity...

“For any Muslim or Christian who picks up a weapon and says I want to kill, that man is a criminal. He is not a Muslim, he is not a Christian. And the earlier you start preaching this philosophy, the better for all of us. We must find a reason for the killing. It is either poverty, tribal or you look for the reason. It is not religious.”

On the crisis rocking the PDP, Yuguda said that the party would come out stronger and win more states in the 2015 election.

There is no crisis in the party that cannot be resolved, he said.

“PDP is going to win 35 out of the 36 states of the federation come 2015… We are winning in Lagos.”

On the PDP Governors’ Forum, he said: “It is not a crisis. Formation of association is provided for in the constitution. Today, the opposition parties formed an association and they call themselves APC. If PDP governors feel that there are certain things that are exclusive to them as PDP governors, in the PDP manifesto, that they need to discuss and try as much as possible to make sure that they implement the programmes and manifesto, we should do that. But the Governors’ Forum is Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum.

“I had the privilege of going to the annual general meeting of the American Governors’ Forum. PDP has its own interest to unite and discuss our own problems.”

http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/52084/2013/04/15/real_boko_haramll_accept_amnesty_gov_yuguda.html

long over due

Amaechi: Why Presidency Wants Me Out As NGF Chairman

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, at the weekend explained why the presidency is pushing for his ouster as chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

He said at a symposium in Ikogosi, Ekiti State, that the presidency was uncomfortable with his leadership of the forum because of his opposition to deductions from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and the litigation by the states of the federation against the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), from which the federal government has taken out $1 billion from ECA as its seed capital.

He added that he incurred the wrath of the presidency because he also advocated that states should be allowed access to those funds rather than for the federal government to manage them on their behalf.

Amaechi, who spoke at a programme tagged “The Nigeria Symposium for Youth and Emerging Leaders,” organised by The Future Project, said his radical stand on some issues should not have been misinterpreted as an attempt to flex muscles with the federal government.

The presidency, in cahoots with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had made attempts to remove Amaechi to no avail following the support he got from his colleagues in the NGF.

The NGF chairmanship election was postponed until May after a meeting of the governors on February 25 to elect a new chairman was stalled by differences between pro-Amaechi governors and those that backed the presidency against the Rivers State governor.

As part of the plot to unseat Amaechi, the party and the presidency last February, had engineered the formation of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF), with Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, picked as its chairman, at a meeting held at the State House, which was said to have been presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The emergence of the new forum was seen as an attempt to weaken the pan-governors’ forum.

With the failed attempt to oust Amaechi, the PDP had come up with a new plot to unseat him by sponsoring amendments to the NGF’s constitution so that the party with majority members would have the right to present a consensus candidate as the NGF chairman. The PDP has 23 governors in the 36-member forum.

It was also gathered that ahead of the May date for the planned election of the NGF chairman, PDP, besides pushing for the right to present a consensus candidate as the forum’s chairman, is also proposing an amendment to the constitution of the forum that would limit the tenure of an NGF chairman to a single term of two years, with no option of re-election.

The party, in addition, wants a stipulation in the NGF constitution that an incumbent chairman shall step down before a chairmanship election to pave the way for an election committee to conduct the election to the leadership positions of the forum.

If the proposal is accepted, Amaechi would not be eligible to seek re-election while the PDP-GF, which is searching for a consensus candidate, would present a candidate to replace him.

Amaechi said his goal in championing the cause of the NGF was aimed at ensuring that the right thing was done, so that the already decadent system being run in the country could be reformed.

The governor, also at the symposium, defended the governors’ support for Jonathan towards the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry in January 2012, saying that they had to do so owing to the way some unscrupulous businessmen were frittering away trillions of naira at the expense of Nigerians.

He expressed resentment at how some businessmen had allegedly swindled Nigeria of over N1.4 trillion in oil subsidy funds, describing this as a criminal act that must be checked at all cost.

He said: “When government is being criticised in some areas, it means people are calling for adjustment and reform in that sector, but stealing of government money to me is criminal. And I believe that such stealing cannot be reformed, it has to be stopped.”

Speaking further at the ceremony attended by youth groups, he said criminal acts such as kidnapping, militancy and terrorism would continue to fester in Nigeria, except “government provides legitimate means of livelihood for the youth, so that they will not use illegitimate means to earn a living.”

He warned students against using the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as a platform to fraternise with government, saying politicising the body, which he said should be a mass movement, could be counterproductive.

While preaching against a bloody revolution and the break-up of the country as being canvassed by some people, he urged youths to take their destiny in their hands by forming a mass movement that would fight for change.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who also spoke on the occasion, advised the youth to always fight for good governance and ensure that they are prepared to pay any price to achieve the socio-economic emancipation of the people.

Fayemi said the youth should not be disenchanted by the misdemeanour of the few charlatans who found their ways into positions of leadership, saying they should “always embrace leaders with clarity of vision and who display confidence and competence in governance.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/amaechi-why-presidency-wants-me-out-as-ngf-chairman/144318/

It was a heated verbal exchange yesterday between the leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and that of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) over a multi-billion contract naira allegedly awarded to the OPC leader Dr Frederick Fasehun which, the former claimed, was aimed at generating political crises in the southwest.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Lagos through its spokesman, Lai Mohammed, the ACN accused the federal government of plotting to instigate political crises in the region in order to scuttle the 2015 general election having foreseen its defeat.

The party cited the contract awarded the OPC founder for the protection of oil pipelines in the southwest and the emergence of the Boko Haram sect in Lagos recently as evidence.

The ACN statement read in part: “The PDP is keenly aware that it has totally lost the confidence of all Nigerians, and the long-suffering people of this great country are now ready and eager to vote out this clueless party. Keenly aware of this fact, the PDP has now realised that if, indeed, the 2015 elections are free and fair and conducted in a conducive environment, there will be no chance for the party.

“What is the way out for the PDP? The party has decided to go for broke: either there will be no elections in 2015 or the polls will be conducted in an atmosphere of chaos, thereby paving the way for the PDP to do what it does best - rig the elections!”

Speaking further, he said, “Since the Boko Haram crisis broke out in some parts of the north, it has been largely restricted to those parts. This has made it possible to say to prospective foreign investors and others that the whole country has not been engulfed in violence and insecurity. But now, the areas that have been largely peaceful are being targeted by those who will only be happy when the whole country is in turmoil.

He listed three recent events to buttress his allegations: that a multi-billion naira contract has suddenly been awarded for the protection of oil pipelines in the southwest; that Fasehun, the main beneficiary of the contract, has suddenly hit on a plan to revive the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), formed by the respected statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo; the arrest of suspected Boko Haram members in Lagos, specifically at a house belonging to the government of Bayelsa State, President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state.

The ACN went on: “The questions that arise are: what is the real intention of the federal government in awarding this oil pipelines protection contract? Is it a mere coincidence that the main beneficiary of the multi-billion naira oil pipelines protection contract is also the same fellow who is promoting the revival of the UPN? Could the huge contract have been meant to provide the seed money for the promoters of this party?

“Is it true, as it is being alleged in certain quarters, that the essence of the contract is to recruit 30,000 youths who will ostensibly protect the pipelines, but in the real sense are ready hands to foment violence on demand in the southwest? Is it true that the so-called revival of the UPN is to provide a platform for anarchists and end-gamers in the southwest to infiltrate the ranks of the progressives and throw the region into chaos?

“Why is it that, suddenly, Boko Haram suspects are popping up in Lagos, and some of those who have been arrested were residing in a building owned by the Bayelsa State government? Is the Bayelsa state government aware of this and, if so, what has it done to evict them from the building?”

But speaking with LEADERSHIP yesterday, Dr Fasehun described Mohammed’s claim as a pack of lies.

According to him, the OPC requested a contract from the NNPC some three years ago for the protection of the oil pipelines that cover 5250km but since then there had not been any response either from the NNPC or the federal government. He wondered where the ACN spokesman got the contract details.

Fasehun said: “I am not aware of the multi-billion naira contract Lai Mohammed was talking about. It is true the OPC, not Frederick Fasehun, requested the NNPC to award the contract to offer protection services for the oil pipeline in the southwest three years ago. But since then, we have not heard anything from the federal government. Even if we had been given the contract, are we not Nigerians and are we not qualified for the contract from the federal government of Nigeria?

“We have over six million people in the OPC; if the federal government gives a contract to the OPC, not to Fasehun, why are you challenging the government Nigeria for giving out the contract? If the contract is N2.4billion as Lai Mohammed claimed, I am not capable of protecting the entire pipelines; we have to involve our teeming jobless youths since the contract would cover 5,250 km. The contract is not meant for me, or for my children; it is for Nigerian people - and Lai Mohammed is saying it is wrong?”

“We have been crying of marginalisation in the South-West; we have saying that the federal government is not doing enough for the Yoruba; giving OPC such a contract would have shown that the government is not insensitive to the our yearnings as a race, but Lai Mohammed said that it is wrong. Claiming that the contract is aimed at scuttling the 2015 general election is a big lie. We applied for the contract three years ago; they have not replied us, and if they have and Lai Mohammed has hijacked our letter, he should return the letter to us because where he got the figure he was quoting, I do not know.”

LEADERSHIP reports that the OPC leader has never been a fan of the ACN national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

While granting an interview yesterday, Chris Brown revealed he had infused the Ghanaian dance move into his latest video and attributed its origination to Nigeria. He also recalled meeting Nigerian pop singer Wizkid who taught him the dance move.


Understandably, Ghanians are unhappy about CB’s wrong assumption on the origin of Azonto, with one blog ‘Ghana Celebrities’ posting in an article ‘WTF: Chris Brown Talks About AZONTO On BET, But He Says The Dance Is A Nigerian Thing…‘.

See how the site reported it “It seems Chris Brown coming to Ghana and introducing Nigerian artiste-Wizkid on stage to do Azonto was not a mere mistake. In fact, Chris Brown thinks Azonto is a Nigerian thing…

Probably he is taking the piss out of Ghanaians by failing to credit Ghana with the dance which has gained international recognition…

Talking about his new album ‘X’ and music video ‘Fine China’ on BET 106 & Park yesterday, Chris Brown mentioned that he has incorporated a dance from Africa called Azonto into his dance moves in the video. He even went ahead to request for a tune to be played, so he can demonstrateAzonto to the millions of viewers.

Unfortunately, he linked Nigerians Wizkid to the dance, saying he learnt it from him-that is not so bad. But he categorically added that, Azonto is a Nigerian thing…REALLY?

This is like me going on CNN to say EBA is a Ghanaian food…

Is Chris Brown taking the piss out of Ghana or is it that he does not know the truth about Azonto?

If you are reading this post and you are on twitter, tweet @ChrisBrown and say; For the last time, Azonto is a Ghana dance, get it straight man…”
Lol!

source: Daily Post

There are strong indications that the Presidency is dead set to frustrate the merger of opposition parties under the auspices of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A presidential directive (PD95), dated March 26, 2013, and obtained exclusively by LEADERSHIP, showed that the Presidency had given the marching orders for “everything to be done to frustrate the merged opposition parties.”

According to Presidential Villa insiders, a presidential directive is similar to an executive order. It is instigated, prepared and executed with the full knowledge and approval of the president.

“I can tell you that this order bears the full imprint of President Goodluck Jonathan. It’s now gloves off in the battle for 2015,” our source said.

The seven-point presidential directive specifically named the business interests of former Lagos State governor and national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as targets, adding that it might also be necessary to plant ‘moles’ among the opposition.

Remarkably, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not spared in the hit list, but there were no details about how the Presidency planned to carry out the attacks.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the APC had recently accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of stoking attempts by at least two other phony groups to use the acronym chosen by the opposition and, possibly, stall its registration.

Sources told LEADERSHIP last night that, for the first time, President Jonathan and his handlers were nervous that the seeming futile reconciliation efforts in the PDP could lead to the unraveling of the ruling party, blighting the president’s re-election bid.

The presidential directive also showed that in spite of repeated denials by top government officials, the Jonathan administration plans to increase petrol prices from the present N97 per litre to between N130 and N140. It did not say exactly when this would happen.

According to the directive, “Petrol prices to be up (sic) to N130 or N140 per litre; public opinion must be tested first.”

In response to the government’s hide-and-seek over petrol prices, labour unions have vowed to resist any increase, arguing that the main problems were official corruption and the president’s inability, or unwillingness, to tackle highly placed persons indicted for stealing trillions of naira in subsidy scams.

The presidential directive also confirmed earlier exclusive reports by LEADERSHIP that the Presidency had placed some ‘disagreeable’ or ‘ambitious’ governors under surveillance. The five governors - all members of the ruling party – are Sule Lamido, Jigawa; Rotimi Amaechi, Rivers; Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta; Rabiu Kwankwaso, Kano, and Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Niger.

The directive ordered a “24-hour surveillance on governors of Jigawa, Rivers, Delta, Kano and Niger,” adding that there was the need to “concentrate particularly on Niger, Rivers and Jigawa.”

In what appears to be bare-knuckle fallback position, the directive said that “if the current efforts by the BoT chairman (Tony Anenih) failed to convince them (the governors) to soft-pedal, everything must be done to embarrass them.”

On the security front, it appears the president will retain the defence portfolio until July or August, 2013. The directive also said there would be no changes in the military high command until 2014 when the current leadership will retire.

The directive also indicated that the president may have finally succumbed to the wishes of the National Assembly and could drop embattled director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Arunma Oteh.

Because of the face-off between the executive and legislative arms of government over Oteh, the lawmakers had refused to approve a budget for the securities commission and had, last week, warned against extra-budgetary funding for the commission.

Source: Leadership News paper

• ACN, CPC, APGA, ANPP vow to ‘fix’ Nigeria

IT was one objective that drew the governors from different parts of the country. It is a goal that has blurred their disparate political leanings: An urgent task to rout the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Nine governors and a representative of another one were in Lagos Tuesday to support the merger of political parties in respect of the general elections in 2015.

Indeed, after a special meeting hosted by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that lasted over six hours, the governors endorsed the proposed merger of parties against the ruling PDP.

The roll call included ACN governors like Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos State), Raufu Aregbesola (Osun State), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State), Kayode Fayemi ( Ekiti State) and Abiola Ajimobi ( Oyo State).

From the other parties were the Governor of Imo State Owelle Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Zamfara State Governor Abdul Aziz Yari of the ANPP, and Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

The Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of the ANPP was represented by Senator Jejere Alkali.

Fashola described the gathering as “a meeting about our concerns on Nigeria and the way forward.”

The governor of Zamfara, Yari echoed Fashola’s views but added that the meeting and decisions reached were actually “to fix Nigeria in the right perspective. The PDP is something else and if we as opposition say that we are right in looking for a merger to face PDP, then there must be a point there. I will like to know how many people who are happy since 1999 till date. It is therefore a duty for all of us as leaders to drive our people right and we believe that the PDP has done less. We have the idea , the knowledge and we have the progressive ideas to move the country forward. If people say that we intend to move the PDP out of power, yes we are ready to do that.”

The Borno State Governor, Shettima who briefed journalists on the decisions reached by the governors, said: “We endorse the merger to rescue Nigeria. We, the Governors of Borno, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, Nassarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Yobe and Zamfara States rose from a meeting at Lagos House, Marina today, Tuesday, February 5, 2013. Having reviewed the situation in our country, we resolved that to rescue Nigeria is a task that must be done.

“As progressive and patriotic leaders of our people across party, religious and geo-political zones, we are extremely concerned about the state of the nation and we put our heads together in the interest of our people to deliberate on what can be done to rescue our country.

“As governors, we fully endorse the merger initiatives already commenced by our various political parties and we will put our full weight behind these efforts. Nigeria is greater than all of us , we have a duty to make it work for our people and future of our children yet unborn.”

Okorocha, whose party APGA has not been very vocal on the merger talks, noted : “ The merger has become very necessary in order to save our democracy and the likelihood of turning Nigeria into a one party state, which will not augur well for democracy. I personally endorse this movement and this new merger at least to rescue the nation. We are on a rescue mission here to make sure Nigeria gets better. The essence of this whole merger is to make Nigeria a better nation.”

On the prospect of the success of the merger, Fashola said: “Well, the commitment that we bring to the table will certainly override any skepticism. I am convinced here that the full weight of 10 of us governors and many more who unfortunately could not make it today, is a much stronger force. The underlying reason is clearly how to make this country a better place, this is not the best that this country can have and we intend to deliver Nigeria’s best.”

In his response, Amosun said that he believed that “ a lot of other people will come on board once they see our sincerity and that is why we are not taking this lightly, we are very determined and I am sure that with the support of all Nigerians, this merger will work.”

An attempt by the opposition parties to merge started in 2010 in Benin City, Edo State where several notable politicians across the country met to form an alliance that they said would enable them to wrestle power from the PDP in the 2011 elections.

At the gathering were former presidential aspirant of ANPP, Harry Akande; notable leaders of Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo; and over 50 other political chieftains across the country from APGA, Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), CPC and the National Reformation Party (NRP).

The purpose was to form a strong opposition to fight the PDP in the 2011 presidential elections.

After the collapse of the first move ACN and CPC commenced another move to merge some months to the 2011 elections but the arrangement also collapsed due to some disagreements between both parties.

While ACN accused CPC of being too rigid in the discussion, CPC also faulted ACN of nursing inordinate ambition that eventually led to the collapse of the 2011 merger talks.

Recently, the ACN commenced another move towards merger talks when it appointed a 19-member committee led by Chief Tom Ikimi to negotiate its planned merger with CPC and ANPP.

On the committee are Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Fashola and Aregbesola, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyawu, Senator George Akume and Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa .

Others are Senator Lawal Shuaibu, Chief Audu Ogbe, Chief Achike Udenwa, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Senator Chris Ngige, Dr. Usman Bugaje, Hadjia Rabiat Eshak, Dr. Ibrahim Lame, Alhaji Yusuf Ali and Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

ACN said the appointment of the committee was an indication of its total commitment to making the merger a reality.

It said there was no going back on the party’s determination to work with the CPC and the ANPP to rescue and salvage Nigeria.

According to ACN, the merger is not about the ACN, CPC or ANPP, but about Nigeria, which is tottering on the edge of disaster due mainly to the lack of leadership and failure of governance by the ruling PDP since 1999. It descried the merger of the three parties as a ‘Noah’s Ark’ which all Nigerians who are tired of the endless drift of the country must enter into.

“This is not about winning power at the centre at all costs, as the naysayers will want Nigerians to believe. It is about putting the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians above everything else”, the party said.

Despite losing 2-1 to Nigeria on Sunday in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals, Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba hailed the Super Eagles for their inspiring outing at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and said the team could win the tournament if they perform against others like they did against them.

“I was very impressed with the Super Eagles’ performance against us (Ivory Coast). It’s proof of hard work, relentlessness and the sign of a world-class team in preparation,” he said, after the game that shattered the Afcon dream of the highly-rated Ivorian side.

“I don’t really see any team that can withstand Nigeria for the rest of the tournament. They keep improving by each game and level of the competition. That shows it’s a hardworking and resilient outfit. If they must take the trophy home they have to keep working, be creative and challenge any side like they engaged us.

“Wishing for and seeing victory is not enough. I feel this is Nigeria time but they must deserve it by proving it more on the pitch. The fact that the team arrived with a number of home-based players means we have to give them praise because that tells us there is football even within the continent,” he said.

The former Chelsea striker also sent comforting words to his home fans, a number of whom are holding him responsible for the team’s debacle at the tournament.

“Fans ought to know that football is sometimes funny and bizarre. Sometimes you play well and you lose and others time you don’t put up a good game but you win. We did our best, it didn’t work out. We’re taking responsibility and also thanking fans and asking them to bear with the team that better days are definitely ahead.”

A group in China called "The Almighty God Sect" are being arrested in China for
preaching this news.

21.12.2012. is the Last day according to Mayern Calender

sheyie2007: Ask yourself, will my world end tomorrow?

Pls ignore him

I have seen many documentaries on DSTV stating that it has been Predicted that the world is coming to an end on 21.12.2012.

I have also seen many twitting it. National Geographic Channel has been airing documentaries about the End of Days.

Somebody tell me should i go and sell all my properties and send farewell greetings to all and sundry.

What is your take on this?

Nigerians should believe this. We have lost our hard won independence. We are effectively no more an independent nation. We are no more a country of free men and free women. We are now a colonized nation. The future of the country has been mortgaged and Nigerians have been sold down the river like slaves. Nigerians are now staring down the abyss of perdition with no hope in sight.

52 years on from independence, Nigeria the most populous black nation on earth should ordinarily by now have become one of the world’s newly emerged economic and scientific powers on a par with countries like India, South Korea, Brazil and China. Yet the thieving tip of corruption in Nigeria working in cahoots with their conniving base has conspired to reduce the country into a caricature of nationhood.

Our new colonizers are black like us. They look like us. They speak like us. They attend the same schools like us. They work alongside us. They worship alongside us. Some of them even pastor to us. They speak our common languages. But they are different from us. There is another deeper esoteric language they speak, known only to them neo-colonialists as well as their cohorts and replete with hidden signs and symbols.

You have to be self – initiated into and steeped in corruption to speak this language. That esoteric language is the language of thievery. You either understand that language or you don’t. You either belong to them or you don’t. Some of them, born thieves, started speaking that language right from their mothers’ wombs. Some learnt the language out of greed. Others learnt the language out of sheer laziness – wanting to reap where they have not sown.

These internal colonialists have partitioned Nigeria into thieving spheres of influence just as the white colonialists partitioned Africa. If you speak their language, they parcel out an aspect of our national life to you to steal and plunder. The internal colonialists stem from and cut across all tribes, age groups, creeds and gender in Nigeria. When they speak the language of corruption to you, they expect you to understand. If you don’t, they frustrate, oppress and repress you.

But those who stand for what is right, those who stand for what is just, those who stand for a great Nigeria taking its rightful place with dignity among the comity of great nations should not be frustrated. Just as our forefathers won the original war of independence from external white colonial rule, so too we must fight until we win back our own country from internal black corrupt misrule. We must continue to fight using all legitimate means and methods to overthrow rogues and common thieves lurking in high and low places, mortgaging the future of coming generations in order to satisfy their selfish interests and warped egos.

To be continued

By Anthony Chuka Konwea

Of course what we have just described is the base of the elaborate yet decentralized infrastructure of corruption in Nigeria. The corruption industry is by far the largest employer of labor in Nigeria. It is almost a given that anybody who wants to be somebody in Nigeria must have a foothold in this industry.

There are some Nigerians who are gainfully employed in the corruption industry because as the saying goes and I claim no knowledge of its provenance, if you cannot beat them, you should join them. For such Nigerians they cannot afford to be the only sane persons in a sea of insanity. For them, it is prudent to align with the majority even in their insanity. For some other Nigerians, the corrupt route is the only way they can make ends meet. Such people would reel out to you the humongous responsibilities they bear. Their salaries are too small to meet the demands that fate has thrust upon their shoulders they lament.

Those who belong to either of these two categories work in the corruption industry so as to, as it were, make ends meet, keep up with the Joneses, impress their impressionable wives, children, kinsmen, friends and acquaintances that they are ‘making it’ and crucially, in order not to be left too far behind in the rat race for ‘progress’. If Pareto’s principle, the famed 80-20 rule applies universally, these two categories combined represent the base that accounts for 80% of the volume of corrupt practices in Nigeria but for only 20% of the corruption in Nigeria in value terms.

For this 80% base, the proceeds of corruption are applied at best into buying a couple of brand new cars, building a couple of new houses in select Nigerian cities, erecting a country home or villa in their native village, flying to London, Dubai, Paris, Rome or New York for shopping once or twice a year and sending their children to Ghana, Republic of Benin, Togo and maybe South Africa for their education.

At the top of the corruption food chain in Nigeria are the heavy hitters, the knights, dukes, barons and godfathers of corruption. The membership of this select category comprises ranking politicians and top drawer public servants, influential civil servants, flamboyant preacher-men, business moguls, the ex-this and ex- that of Nigeria’s ruling elite and the rotten elements of the Nigerian intelligentsia.

These knights of corruption are the people who determine who gets what in Nigeria. They may be directly responsible for only 20% of the corrupt acts in Nigeria in volume terms, but they account for 80% of the corruption in Nigeria in value terms. They are the sharp point or tip of corruption in Nigeria.

Few things excite corrupt Nigerians more than appointments to public positions. Their very first reaction upon securing a government appointment is a quick check to establish if there is much to skim there. If there is, the appointment is described as “lucrative”. If there is not much to skim, the position is termed as “dry”.

A person is known as “creative” or “resourceful” in corrupt circles in Nigeria if he can turn an otherwise dry posting into a lucrative one and more importantly if he does not forget to parcel out choice proceeds from his thievery, upwards to his superiors or benefactors. In Nigerian terminology this is known as ‘making returns’.

A resourceful underling who conscientiously renders returns to his corrupt bosses becomes “our man”, a favorite protégé of his bosses and benefactors who make sure that he is rewarded with more lucrative postings. In the eyes of his bosses, if he can be so “trustworthy” in minor postings, he would most certainly do wonders in major ones.

Now the most common way in which rotten public servants and civil servants turn dry postings into lucrative ones is by creating unnecessary obstacles or checkpoints in the way of bona fide users of the service which their office provides. These obstacles of course can only be cleared by making ad hoc illegal payments known as “settlement”. The logic is simple. If you want to cross the check-point you must make the payment. If you don’t, it is a no go situation and the status quo ante subsists. The choice is yours. Faced with a contrived obstacle or artificial check-point, most users of government services and service providers such as contractors make a quick cost–benefit analysis of the situation and act accordingly as profit dictates.

The evil and negativity in the air notwithstanding, world renowned gospel singer, Don Moen, has said that going by the wave of religious activities in the country, something good is in the offing for the country.

Don Moen made this prophetic utterance during a press briefing held at The Glorious Fountain Ministries (a.k.a City of Refuge), Airport Road, Warri, Delta State, at the weekend to mark a three-day praise programme that ended on Sunday. Moen, who hinted he gets his inspiration from prayer and real life experiences, was in Nigeria with his guitarist, Alabama-based Lenny Leblanc, for the three-day praise programme tagged, “The encounter,” that ended on Sunday.

The American singer, who said Nigerians had embraced his music beyond cultural and denominational linings, stated that he noticed Nigeria was bubbling up for something good and great that was ahead. “We are happy to be here. This is about my eight time of being invited to Nigeria for ministration. Nigeria is just bubbling up. Something is rising. Something good is rising up. Nigeria’s life is coming back. God is trying to redeem what the enemy has stolen. God has something for Nigeria,” he declared.

President of the ministry, Pastor Gweke Ikoge, while speaking, appreciated the move of God during the programme such that lives had been transformed and Warri nay Nigeria would never remain the same again.

I have seen the documentary titled "fueling poverty" i think it is a vivid description of the nation Nigeria.
Please share your thoughts.

http://saharareporters.com/video/fuelling-poverty-documentary-about-fuel-subsidy-fraud-and-occupy-nigeria-movement

I am somebody, i give people helmet before election and collect their bikes after election.
Who am i?

I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ANAMBRA STATE IF UBAH HAD BEEN THE GOVERNOR

This just half of the whole Story. so dont open your mouth yet