₦airaland Forum

The Boko Haram insurgency appears again to be gathering some momentum. The insurgents have seized more towns in Borno State and have declared a Caliphate there. The conflict is widening with press reports about some limited military incursions by the insurgents in Adamawa State. Now, in the midst of all this, Mr. Stephen (or Steven) Davies, the unknown and mysterious Australian mediator in the conflict, has dropped a political clanger about the identity of the sponsors of the insurgency. In a widely reported interview in The Cable, an online newspaper, Mr. Davis claimed that, in his meetings with the leaders ofBoko Haram in....http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/boko-haram-and-the-stephen-davis-clanger/

INEC’s longest serving national commissioner; Ishmael Igbani voiced his fears at an interaction with civil society groups in Abuja.

The CSOs are already pointing accusing fingers at the country’s politicians for fueling violence ahead of polls.

Since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, almost every election has been characterised by violence of varying degrees. The worst was in 2011 during the post-presidential election violence, which left over 800 people dead in various parts of the country. As Nigeria prepares for another elections in 2015, different groups have begun interacting with the electoral umpire to work towards ensuring a violence free exercise.
One diplomat, said, “In rare cases violence........http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/2015-elections-we-cant-guarantee-it-will-be-violence-free-inec/

The Federal Government has warned Nigerians to desist from buying used phones and pre-registered SIM cards from uncertain sources, as such phones and SIM cards might have been used for terrorist and criminal activitIes.

Coordinator, National Information Centre and Director-General, National Orientation Agency, Mr Mike Omeri, made this known on Tuesday in Abuja, while briefing journalists on the efforts of the Federal Government in containing the activities of insurgents in the country,

He stated that “the caution has become necessary to....http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/boko-haram-fg-warns-nigerians-over-buying-used-phones-sim-cards/

Former Head of Military Ruler and Chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Major General Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Federal Government to stop the clampdown on Boko Haram insurgents, saying Niger Delta militants were never killed or properties belonging to them destroyed.

Buhari who spoke on Sunday on a Liberty Radio programme, Guest of the Week, accused the government of killing and destroying houses belonging to Boko Haram members while...http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/stop-killing-boko-haram-members-buhari-tells-fg/

Transitioning from a lifestyle without significant responsibilities into the "real world" makes your 20s a decade of tough lessons.

Wherever you're at in your 20s — whether you're on your own or still with your parents, figuring out your career or going through grad school — you can learn from those who have already been through it.

We took at look at the Quora thread....Read more at:http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/20-hard-lessons-everyone-should-learn-in-their-20s/

In part one – “Leadership Efficiency starts with Empathy” we started the conversation about what is Empathy and why it matters, we are continuing the discussion about the importance of Empathy in the workplace

In the workplace, managers are valued more for their people skills than their technical knowledge as per the Washington Business Journal, I have seen it many times, hardworking managers that have a lot of experience not moving up or barely advancing in their careers as they lack bedside manners or people skills....http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/empathy-in-the-workplace-where-to-start/

Don’t some something you’ll regret.

It’s your last day of work. Since giving your two weeks’ notice, you’ve sent HR your formal letter of resignation, cleaned out your desk, tied up loose ends, and said your goodbyes.

Your departure seems to be going smoothly, and you’re .....http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/12-things-you-should-never-say-on-your-last-day-of-work/

The former Governor of Abia state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu was a guest on AIT’s political and current affairs program “Frontline,” on Sunday June 1. While fielding questions, Kalu says that what Nigeria is experiencing with boko haram is a civil war. He also appealed to the government to plead with boko haram as they are humans…“If we are not careful, Jonathan will be the last president of Nigeria because nobody will take this bombing anywhere, because killing of people everyday means that there’s chaos and nobody wants to be associated with chaos, because it is from this bombing here and there that people will start demanding for independence. It happens but God forbid. We want our country to remain as one and a strong country.

Other countries even the European union are expanding their boundaries so why should we allow our country to disintegrate. It’s not about President Jonathan or who is minister or governor or what have you. It is about the nation. President Jonathan does not own this country; neither are the ministers the owners of the country. The country belongs to all of us collectively so we must come out openly as we are coming out now to solve the problem of the nation: to be able to reach out to Boko Haram formally and informally. This is what I have always said. It’s not about the government. Business men own this economy. In the US, do you hear people talk about Obama? All the billionaires they don’t know who Obama is. They don’t even reckon with him because the economy is stabilized. People are talking about only three things: the economy, the economy and the economy. So I want people to come together, we are almost getting there, where the basing of the economy is very good, where the private sector will drive the economy not the public sector. And this is what I see that Iweala is trying to working out. Most of the political, business and military class, farmers know the root of this insurgency. We must come together and say we must stamp out this insurgency and we will stamp it out.”

Specifically what should the business class and the political class do to stamp out this insurgency?

This is a bipartisan decision that will be made by all Nigerians. It is no longer politics. It is not about APC. It is not about PDP. It’s not even about individuals, it’s about the nation. Commerce are no longer thriving, people should come together, the national security adviser should call a conference of few eminent people with the president and they will set up a strong committee and strategize on how to end this insurgency. These insurgents are our brothers, they are not from heaven. They are from here. They are from villages and the villagers know them, the farmers know them, the business men know them. So it is good we give peace a chance and call a mini summit and invite them directly or indirectly, we can discuss with them in Chad, Cameroun or even London or anywhere. So we can come together and plead with them. This is our country, the country is at the verge of collapse, and we are passing through a lot of pains, we are in a civil war! This is a civil war. There’s no civil war that is bigger than what Nigeria is passing throw today. So we must come back as Nigerians to put our foot down collectively as a people and be able to work together.

Some people say that Boko Haram may not be in a frame of mind to negotiate with the government; do you think the time is ripe now to negotiate with them?

They are human beings; they have blood flowing in them. They will negotiate. They are talking to a lot of journalists, they are reachable. So the government should go out formally or informally to reach out and negotiate with them. They are human beings. We will sit down and negotiate this issue. This issue is about negotiation. The people who are saying that the government cannot negotiate with Boko Haram are not realistic about the nation. Even after a civil war people will still go to the table to negotiate. So I believe that the government should set up informal channels to negotiate with Boko Haram and stop this insurgency.

The Australian negotiator on Boko Haram, Stephen Davis has dared ex-governor, Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno state to sue him for calling him one of the sponsors of Boko Haram. It should be recalled that Sheriff had threatened to go to court over the matter at a press conference on Wednesday. Davis in an interview pointed out that if Ali Modu Sheriff goes to court, it will throw up evidences that will prove that he has connections with the sect.

Hear him: “He is worried, is he? He knows that if he goes to court, the evidence will be produced and he cannot escape justice. Let him go to court if that is what he wishes. It is his right to do so. He will not be able to avoid close examination and then the facts will be known. Good luck to him if he decides to sue me in Australia. He can’t buy the judges here. Truth is not for sale. Australia has zero toleration for those who might sponsor terrorism. No one should be above the law whether in Australia or Nigeria. Justice must be served for every Nigerian killed, every girl and boy kidnapped, every girl raped, every person who has lost their home in the course of this violence.”

“It seems to me the extent of involvement of every person named by Boko Haram as a sponsor should be closely and thoroughly examined by the correct authorities. I read his defence on the media this week. Rather than come out as a statement of facts, it read like a novel of unconvincing fiction.” The negotiator noted that he has been in touch with some Boko Haram commanders within the last 48 hours and they did not change their stance on Sheriff’s involvement. He continued that Sheriff’s ploy of casting himself as a victim was a poor attempt at disguising his sponsorship as was alleged by the Boko Haram commanders.

Despite the still trending Ebola Virus in Nigeria, some citizens of Nigeria has urged FG to lift the ban on schools resumption knowing fully well the implications on human-hood.

Who should be listened to in this case, the masses or the Government?

To every rumour there is always some elements of truth,trust no one. He could be a Boko Haram Sponsor. Meanwhile, I have come to realise that boko Haram cabinet have started to feed on each other like carnivore so dont be surprised by all these.

Ramnon2: Ihejirika became CAS in September 2010 and left that office in January 2014
Before then who was sponsoring Boko Haram?
After he left, who has been sponsoring Boko Haram?
How did he just jump into the sponsorship mid way?
You see, the idea of Ihejirika being involved, even remotely, in sponsoring BH is tenuous at best

Some days ago, Prof Stephen Davis,an Australian Negotiator hired by Federal government to negotiate between FG and Boko Haram Insurgents regarding the release of the abducted Chibok Girls. Who later came up with a revelation that former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the former chief of army staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika, El-Rufai, the present top CBN Officer in the Forex Department and also a left top CBN Officer too (Name not disclosed) are the Boko Haram Sponsors in Nigeria.

In your own plight, do you think his revelations were true and should be acted upon?

Let me say upfront that I had intended to make these exchanges with you, civil and educated. Apparently, you are not so minded. Your diatribe against me last Wednesday, in your Sex, Crime and Gossip tabloid, was a sickening reflection of the perverse quality of your mind and its chronic inability to rise to the rigorous demands of cerebral discourse.

I was not disappointed, knowing you, artful dodger! Your intention was to distract me from the core issue of your dismal performance as governor of our dear state and even more importantly, your prodigious squandering of the over N1 trillion Abia state earned in that period. Sorry sir, i will not fall for that cheap trick! It is the oldest trick in the business, hurling abuses in order to divert attention. Let us face the issues which i believe Abians and millions of other Nigerians are really interested in. What did you achieve as Governor in 8 years and what did you do with the N1 trillion Abia earned, internally (1GR), and externally, from the federation account? This is the question history will forever pose to you.
You were elected Governor in 1999 and entrusted with the responsibility of leading Abia State and adding value to her. It was an esteemed mandate. Abia had suffered immensely in the hands of various soldiers of fortune who governed her under the military. Umuahia, the state capital, was the epic centre of the Nigerian civil war, having served as the capital of the defunct Biafra. As a young man, many had expected you to see your election as a historic opportunity for a new generation of leaders to seize the moment and put Abia on the path of sustained socio-economic development. But eight years after the fact, what was your record? You claimed in your initial onslaught against Governor T.A Orji, that he is now converting the projects you established as his own. What projects? You assumed office in 1999 and inherited a dilapidated and ramshackle Governors lodge and residence. These facilities had been requisitioned by the first military Administration when the state was created in 1999. You spent eight years living and working in the same make shift buildings. You didn’t build a governor’s lodge.



You didn’t build a governor’s office. You didn’t build a state secretariat, (even Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State whom you often made fun of at your dinner table built a state secretariat.) You didn’t build an office for the judiciary. The house of assembly is still occupying a temporary office. The commissioners quarters your predecessor started was not completed. Unknown to millions of Nigerians, Abia state is therefore the only state of its age where the seat of Government is still located in temporary buildings, 23 years after. For eight years, the broadcasting corporation of Abia state functioned in temporary apartments. Indeed, everything under you was temporary. You didn’t build even a single dualized road in 8 years. You didn’t build one hospital or even a maternity, or a market, except the Igbere evening market. You ignored Aba, Abia’s commercial nerve centre and allowed that great town to lose traction and become wasted. You left Umuahia worse than you met it, allowing the golden Guinnea Brewery to collapse. Sir, what did you really achieve in Abia State? What did you give to Abiriba, your next door neighbour and Arochukwu, the community you claimed to have adopted? I once asked Chief Emma Nwokoro why you treated Arochukwu so cruelly.



You ignored the collpased intra city roads and didn’t pay attention to the perennial water shortage. Yet, at every opportunity, you would go to Arochukwu visiting with many of their illustrious sons. What of Ukwa-Ngwa, what is your record there? The strategic road which passes from Umuahia through the heart of Ngwa land, Ururuka road, and which you announced on television that you would reconstruct, was abandoned. You didn’t build a stadium. You didn’t build even one secondary school. You didn’t set up a University. It was Gen Ike Nwachukwu who set up the Abia State University. Governor Evan Enwerem set up the Imo State University. Governor Sam Egwu set up Ebonyi state University.
So your Excellency, what did you achieve in Abia that T.A Orji is now claiming? Please tell me? Practically, anything of note in Abia State today which Okpara and Mbakwe did not build, was built by Gov. T.A. Orji… New governor’s lodge, new secretariat, new governor’s office, new conference centre, new judiciary complex, new general market and new office complex, etc.
THE TRIAL OF ORJI UZOR KALU.
You were elected Governor and subsequently re-elected. The governorship is a full time job. But that was not the way you saw it. For you, it was a part time job, a platform to expand your fledging business empire, SLOK, using the time and resources of Abia State. So while the fortunes of Abia state were dwindling under you, the fortunes of your SLOK business empire was expanding exponentially. While in office, you set up an airline, SLOK AIRLINE. You set up a bank, First International Bank, Gambia. When you attended board meetings of the bank in the Gambia, Abia state government usually paid your bills and the ecstacode of........

Continue reading the article here: http://naijaplatform.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78

Introduction

Boko Haram, a diffuse Islamist sect, has attacked Nigeria’s police and military, rival clerics, politicians, schools, religious buildings, public institutions, and civilians with increasing regularity since 2009. Some experts view the group as an armed revolt against government corruption, abusive security forces, and widening regional economic disparity in an already impoverished country. They argue that Abuja should do more to address the strife between the disaffected Muslim north and the Christian south.

The U.S. Department of State designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organization in 2013. Boko Haram’s brutal campaign includes a suicide attack on a United Nations building in Abuja in 2011, repeated attacks that have killed dozens of students, burning of villages, ties to regional terror groups, and the abduction of more than two hundred girls in 2014. The Nigerian government hasn’t been able to quell the insurgency.



The Road to Radicalization

Boko Haram was created in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno, by Islamist cleric Mohammed Yusuf, who led a group of radical Islamist youth in the 1990s. The group aims to establish a fully Islamic state in Nigeria, including the implementation of criminal sharia courts across the country. Paul Lubeck, a University of California professor studying Muslim societies in Africa, says Yusuf was a trained Salafist (an adherent of a school of thought often associated with jihad), and was strongly influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah, a fourteenth-century legal scholar who Islamic fundamentalism and is an important figure for radical groups in the Middle East.

Boko Haram is so diffuse that fighters associated with it don’t necessarily follow Salafi doctrine.

The sect calls itself Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, or “people committed to the propagation of the Prophet’s teachings and jihad.” It is widely known as Boko Haram, which is colloquially translated as “Western education is sin” for the group’s rejection of Western concepts such as evolution and the big bang theory.

Before 2009, the group did not aim to violently overthrow the government. Yusuf criticized northern Muslims for participating in what he saw as an illegitimate, non-Islamic state and preached a doctrine of withdrawal. But violent clashes between Christians and Muslims and harsh government treatment, including pervasive police brutality, encouraged the group to radicalize. Boko Haram’s hundreds of followers, also called Yusuffiya, consist largely of impoverished northern Islamic students and clerics, as well as professionals, many of whom are unemployed.

In July 2009, Boko Haram members refused to follow a motorbike helmet law, leading to heavy-handed police tactics that set off an armed uprising in the northern state of Bauchi and spread into the states of Borno, Yobe, and Kano. The incident was suppressed by the army and left more than eight hundred dead. It also led to the televised execution of Yusuf, as well as the deaths of his father-in-law and other sect members, which human rights advocates consider to be extrajudicial killings. In the aftermath of the 2009 unrest, “an Islamist insurrection under a splintered leadership” emerged, says Lubeck. Boko Haram carried out a number of suicide bombings and assassinations from Maiduguri to Abuja and staged a prison break in Bauchi, freeing more than seven hundred inmates in 2010.

Attacks continued to escalate, and by 2013 some analysts began to see greater influence by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Boko Haram operations. Terrorist acts against civilians, like the murder of sixty-five students while they slept at the agricultural college in Yobe state in September 2013, chainsaw beheadings of truck drivers, and the killing of hundreds on the roads of northern Nigeria raised doubts about the central government’s ability to control territory and amplified fears of protracted violence in the country. Violence returned to Abuja in April 2014 with the bombing of a bus station that killed nearly one hundred people, followed by the abduction of more than two hundred schoolgirls in northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said he planned to “sell” the girls in the market.

Nigeria assembled a joint task force (JTF) of military and police units to battle Boko Haram and declared a “state of emergency” in three northeast states—Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa—in May 2013. The move pushed the militants out of cities, but attacks in rural areas continued [PDF]. The JTF, augmented by vigilantes who were folded into officially sanctioned civilian JTF units, have been implicated in extrajudicial killings of militants and civilians, which may have galvanized support for the insurgents.

Boko Haram is so diffuse that fighters associated with it don’t necessarily follow Salafi doctrine. Many foot soldiers are drawn from impoverished, religiously uneducated youth, according to Jacob Zenn, an African affairs analyst at the Jamestown Foundation. Some fighters claim to have been trained in Iran and are part of a Shiite Muslim group, Zenn writes, while others were involved in other conflicts in Nigeria and the Sahel region and are now caught up in the latest violent extremist group.


Rising Against the State

The Nigerian government’s assessment that Boko Haram was an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist movement left it with few options other than using force to deal with the group. Analysts say the focus on a link to international terrorist organizations ignores the context in which Boko Haram emerged and emphasizes security issues that may only radicalize the group further.

“The problem with understanding Boko Haram is definitional. What do we mean by Boko Haram?” says.........complete the story at: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/08/the-terror-group-called-boko-haram/

In history, even among many socially advanced nations of the world, the status of women was always seen as inferior to that of men. Not only were women's role secondary, women were, in several cases, totally excluded from participation in certain activities.

This has been the case with most administrations in Nigeria prior to the ascension of President Goodluck Jonathan. He has set significant milestones in empowering women in terms of political appointments and gender friendly policies, hence, portraying him a lover of Nigerian women.

His administration did not only opportuned Nigerian women but has empowered them to contribute their quotas and discretions to the development of the nation in various capacities and diverse sectors of the economy. A few of the Women in his Administration are listed below:

Mrs Akon Eyakenyi- Minister of Lands and Housing
Mrs Laurentia Laraba Mallam- Minister of Environment
Hajia Asaba Asmau Ahmed- Minister of State for Agriculture
Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide- Minister of State for the FCT
Mrs Ngozi Okon-Iweala- Minister of Finance
Professor (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri- Minister of State1- Foreign Affairs
Mrs Sarah Ochekpe-Minister Of water Resources
Mrs Deizani Alison -Madueke- Minister of Petroleum Resources
Mrs Omobola Johnson - Minister of communication Technology
Hajia Zainab Maina- Minister of women Affairs and Social Development
Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi- Minister of State, Niger Delta Affairs

Mrs Roli Bode-George-Director General of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)

It is however commendable for his true democratic governance giving Nigerian women the chance for their voice to be heard and listened to.

In history, even among many socially advanced nations of the world, the status of women was always seen as inferior to that of men. Not only were women's role secondary, women were, in several cases, totally excluded from participation in certain activities.

This has been the case with most administrations in Nigeria prior to the ascension of President Goodluck Jonathan. He has set significant milestones in empowering women in terms of political appointments and gender friendly policies, hence, portraying him a lover of Nigerian women.

His administration did not only opportuned Nigerian women but has empowered them to contribute their quotas and discretions to the development of the nation in various capacities and diverse sectors of the economy. A few of the Women in his Administration are listed below:

Mrs Akon Eyakenyi- Minister of Lands and Housing
Mrs Laurentia Laraba Mallam- Minister of Environment
Hajia Asaba Asmau Ahmed- Minister of State for Agriculture
Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide- Minister of State for the FCT
Mrs Ngozi Okon-Iweala- Minister of Finance
Professor (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri- Minister of State1- Foreign Affairs
Mrs Sarah Ochekpe-Minister Of water Resources
Mrs Deizani Alison -Madueke- Minister of Petroleum Resources
Mrs Omobola Johnson - Minister of communication Technology
Hajia Zainab Maina- Minister of women Affairs and Social Development
Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi- Minister of State, Niger Delta Affairs

Mrs Roli Bode-George-Director General of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)

Give the list of Ministers and Reasons to drop them for a better 2015 Administration

CURRENT NIGERIAN MINISTERS

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development-Dr. Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina

Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development-Hajia Asabe Ahmed

Minister of Environment-Mrs Lawrencia Laraba-Mallam

Minister of Aviation-Vacant

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)-Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed

Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)-Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide

Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment-Mr. Olusegun Aganga

Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment-Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom

Minister of Defense-Gen. Aliyu Gusau

Minister of State for Defense-Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro

Minister for Youth Development-Boni Haruna

Minister of Culture and Tourism and National Orientation-Chief Edem Duke

Minister of Education-Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau

Minister of State for Education-Mr. Nyesom Wike

Minister of Works-Arc. Mike Onolememen

Minister of State for Works-Mr. Adedayo Adeyeye

Minister of Finance-Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of State - Finance-Ambassador Bashir Yuguda

Minister of Foreign Affairs-Alhaji Aminu Wali

Minister of State 1 - Foreign Affairs-Professor (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri

Minister of State II - Foreign Affairs-Dr. Nuruddeen Mohammed

Minister for Power-Prof. Chinedu Osita Nebo

Minister of State for Power-Alhaji Mohammed Wakil

Minister of Water Resources-Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe

Minister for Health-Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu

Minister of State for Health-Dr Khaliru Alhassan

Minister of Special Duties-Alh. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN)

Minister of Information-Mr Labaran Maku

Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development-Mrs Akon Eyakeny

Federal Minister of Justice & Attorney General of the Federation-Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN

Minister of Police Affairs-Alhaji Abduljelili Adesiyan

Minister of Petroleum Resources-Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke

Minister of Mines and Steel Development-Arc. Mohammed Musa Sada

Minister of Communication Technology-Mrs. Omobola Johnson

Minister for Sports-Dr Tamuno Danagog

Minister of Transport-Senator Idris A.Umar

Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development-Hajia Zainab Maina

Ministry of National Planning-Ambassador Bashir Yuguda (Supervising)

Minister of State, Niger Delta Affairs-Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs-Dr. Stephen Oru

[quote author=Gorzy1]Give a list of Non-Active Ministers and reasons to drop them for the next administration come 2015

CURRENT NIGERIA MINISTERS

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development-Dr. Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina

Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development-Hajia Asabe Ahmed

Minister of Environment-Mrs Lawrencia Laraba-Mallam

Minister of Aviation-Vacant

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)-Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed

Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)-Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide

Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment-Mr. Olusegun Aganga

Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment-Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom

Minister of Defense-Gen. Aliyu Gusau

Minister of State for Defense-Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro

Minister for Youth Development-Boni Haruna

Minister of Culture and Tourism and National Orientation-Chief Edem Duke

Minister of Education-Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau

Minister of State for Education-Mr. Nyesom Wike

Minister of Works-Arc. Mike Onolememen

Minister of State for Works-Mr. Adedayo Adeyeye

Minister of Finance-Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of State - Finance-Ambassador Bashir Yuguda

Minister of Foreign Affairs-Alhaji Aminu Wali

Minister of State 1 - Foreign Affairs-Professor (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri

Minister of State II - Foreign Affairs-Dr. Nuruddeen Mohammed

Minister for Power-Prof. Chinedu Osita Nebo

Minister of State for Power-Alhaji Mohammed Wakil

Minister of Water Resources-Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe

Minister for Health-Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu

Minister of State for Health-Dr Khaliru Alhassan

Minister of Special Duties-Alh. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN)

Minister of Information-Mr Labaran Maku

Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development-Mrs Akon Eyakeny

Federal Minister of Justice & Attorney General of the Federation-Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN

Minister of Police Affairs-Alhaji Abduljelili Adesiyan

Minister of Petroleum Resources-Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke

Minister of Mines and Steel Development-Arc. Mohammed Musa Sada

Minister of Communication Technology-Mrs. Omobola Johnson

Minister for Sports-Dr Tamuno Danagog

Minister of Transport-Senator Idris A.Umar

Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development-Hajia Zainab Maina

Ministry of National Planning-Ambassador Bashir Yuguda (Supervising)

Minister of State, Niger Delta Affairs-Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs-Dr. Stephen Oru

What do you think could be the biggest problem facing Nigeria among the below in the near future?

1. Religious violence 6. Kidnapping
2. Sectarian war 7.Armed banditry and general insecurity
3. Urban violence 8.Severe unemployment
4. Political instability 9.Boko Haram conflict
5. Economic crisis10. Infrastructural decay
11. Tribalism

Barely three weeks after the governorship election in Osun State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the exercise, Senator Iyiola Omisore, set to file a petition before the state elections tribunal in Osogbo, the state capital. Is it advisable he goes to tribunal over an alleged irregularity in the Osun election's outcome?

What is your opinion on President Jonathan's performance in the fight against Ebola Virus Disease(EVD) Outbreak in Nigeria? Has he by anyway acted well enough or not?

Who among these should fly the APC flag: Buhari, Tinubu, Kwankwaso, Oshiomole, Fashola, Atiku and Saraki??

What is your opinion about Tom Ikimi? A prominent APC Chieftain who has made it an habit of defecting from one party to another. He decamped from PDP to APC 10 years ago and now he is back to PDP.

Should ethnicity and religion be the major determinant to 2015 election outcome?

One of the prime challenges facing Nigerian youths today is that of unemployment. What can the president do to solve this problem and others facing youths of the nation?

APC States External Debt($)
1)Borno $16,070,015
2)Edo $48,399,513
3)Imo $51,267,026
4)Kano $64,318,822
5)Kwara $45,687,046
6)Lagos $1,020,410,674
7)Nassarawa $47,526,268
Ogun $116,689,249
9)Osun $73,404,212
10)Oyo $80,112,084
11)Ekiti $48,075,639
12)Rivers $45,874,509
13)Sokoto $45,116,786
14)Yobe $32,902,152
15)Zamfara $31.251,921

Total = $1,767,028,916

Total ammount owed by 19 PDP +1 APGA + I LP States = $1,246,188,061
APC States are more indebted than states run by other political parties.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently compared President Goodluck Jonathan's administration to that of General Sani Abacha. Obasanjo's spat is like that of a pot calling the kettle black. Remember he sent the army to wipe out an entire village, which is comparable to Abacha's unquenchable thirst for blood. Between OBJ and Jonathan, who is more tyrannical and who had a more autocratic administration that abused the rule of law?

The past two governors of Lagos State since 1999 are Moslems? Do you think that religion should be a criteria for determining who is elected governor of the state? Would you vote for a Christian candidate if you are a moslem? And would you vote a Moslem candidate if you are a Christian?

Give a list of Non-Active Ministers and reasons to drop them for the next administration come 2015

CURRENT NIGERIA MINISTERS

Name Of Ministers, Portfolio. State. Zone

1. Mohammed B. Adoke(SAN) Justice Kogi NC

2. Bar. Emeka Wogu Labour and Productivity Abia SE

3. Hajia Zainab Maina Women Affairs Adamawa NE

4. Prof.Ita Okon Bassey Ewa Science And Technology Akwa-Ibom SE

5. Mrs Stella Oduah Ogeimwonyi Aviation Anambra SE

6. Mrs Diezeni Alison Madueke Petroleum Bayelsa SS

7. Comrade Abba Moro Interior Benue NC

8. Prof. Bart Nnaji Power Enugu SE

9. Navy Capt.Caleb Olubolade(rtw) Police Affairs Ekiti SW

10. Alh. Yusuf Suleiman Sports Sokoto NW

11. Mr. Edem Duke Culture and Tourism Cross River SS

12. Dr. Shamsudeen Usman National Planning Kano NW

13. Arc. Mohammed Musa Sada Mines and Steel Dev. Katsina NW

14. Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi Youth and Development Kwara NC

15. Mr. Labarab Maku Information and communication Nassarawa NC

16. Mrs. Omobola Johnson Olubusola Communication Tech. Ondo SW

17. Sen. Idris A. Umar Transport Gombe NE

18. Ms Amma Pepple Lands and Housing Rivers SS

19. Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Malaifa Environment Kaduna NW

20. Dr Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina Agric and Natural Resources Ogun SW

Alh Bukar Tijani Agric and Natural Resources(State) Borno NE

21. Sen. Bala Mohammed FCT Bauchi NE

Mrs.Olajumoke Akinjide FCT(State) Oyo SW

22. Elder Godsday Orubebe Niger Delta Affairs (state) Delta SS

Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi Niger Delta Affairs Niger NC

23. Prof. Oyebuchi Chukwu Health(State) Ebonyi SE

Dr. Mohammed Pate Health Bauchi NE

24. Arc. Mike Onelememen Work(State) Edo SS

Amb Bashir YugudU Work Zamfara NW

25. Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru Foreign Affairs (State) I Ogun SW

Prof.Mrs Viola Onwuliri Foreign Affairs(State) II Imo SE

Dr. Nuruddeen MohammeD Foreign Affairs Jigawa NW


26. Prof. Mrs Ruqayyatu Rufai Education(State) Jigawa NW

Mr. Nyesom Wike Education Rivers SS


27. Dr.Bello H Mohammed Defence Osun NW

Erelu Olusola Obad Defence(State) Kebbi SW

28. Mr Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga Trade/Commerce Invest. Lagos SW


Dr. Samuel Loraer Ortom Trade/Commerce Invest(State) Benue NC

29. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala Finance(State) Anambra SE

Dr. Yerima Lawal Ngama Finance Yobe NE

One time Lagos state governor and a prominent APC godfather, Bola Tinubu has been confirmed to be critically ill and flown out of the country for special treatment. Who knows if it is as a result of the joy of winning back Osun state or the trending fear of the collapse of APC as their key members are defecting to the ruling party PDP?

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Abuja received the report of the National Conference and commended its delegates for setting in motion the building blocks for a new Nigeria, saying a new nation is afoot.

The president also taunted critics of the conference and prophets of the disintegration of Nigeria as a sovereign nation, stating that instead of disintegrating, the country would grow from strength to strength.

Also, the president promised to implement the recommendations of the conference contained in 22 volumes of approximately 10,335 pages with 600 resolutions.

Speaking after receiving the report, Jonathan said: “All those who have predicted the disintegration of our country at the end of our first centenary would wish they chose another country when the possibilities of the new vision for Nigeria are actualised.

“In place of disintegration, we shall have integration. In place of bitterness and spilling of blood, we shall have sweetness and healing in our land.

“Henceforth, our country shall become like running water that approaches a rock, rather than stopping it takes a curve and flows on.

“It is now very clear that as Nigerians, we have devised a way of addressing and resolving our differences amicably: we dialogue and dialogue until we agree. This is most heart-warming indeed!”
The president, in commending the 492 delegates and the management team of the conference, which officially came to an end yesterday, added: “I am greatly delighted that you worked out in practical terms by your patriotic demonstration of the truism that ‘though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand’.

“The result of the conference has shown that we are not enemies, neither are we antagonists, no matter our religion, region, state, and tongue. This Conference has reinforced what I have always believed: that Nigeria is here for our collective good.”

He said there is wisdom in the saying that, “if two siblings went to the inner recess to dialogue and they are grinning from ear-to-ear when they are done, truth must have been in short supply in their discussions.
“However, no matter the bitter truth they shared behind closed doors, holding hands when they emerge and not disowning each other is the hallmark of blood being thicker than water”.

The president stressed that the dialogue reflected the current issues in the light of the socio-political evolution of the world, reminding his audience that the challenges Nigeria faced at independence or even at the beginning of the present democratic experience in 1999 are not the same challenges it faces today.

Giving assurances to the delegates that the report of the conference would be implemented and not reduced to the cabinet, the president acknowledged that the discourse reflected the country’s latest challenges.

“We shall send the relevant aspects of your recommendations to the Council of State and the National Assembly for incorporation into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On our part, we shall act on those aspects required of us in the executive,” he stated.

Jonathan furthered stressed that nobody has a monopoly of knowledge, adding: “We who are in government need to feed from the thoughts of those who elected us into power. You have done your patriotic duty, we the elected, must now do ours.

“As I receive the report of your painstaking deliberations, let me assure that your work is not going to be a waste of time and resources. We shall do all we can to ensure the implementation of your recommendations, which have come out of consensus and not by divisions.

“In this regard, I appeal to all arms of government and the people of Nigeria to be ready to play the different roles that the volumes of the report you have produced would assign to you.
“It is my hope that with what you have done, our country is on the right road to getting the job of nation building done.”

He said the report of the National Conference, coming 100 years after Nigeria’s amalgamation, promises to be a landmark in the country’s history.
“I have always believed that dialogue is a better way of driving change in the community and I am happy that this dialogue has gone very well. With the far-reaching recommendations touching on several areas of our national life, I am convinced that this will be a major turning point for Nigeria.
“We have gone through many challenges in our first centenary, now is the time to hit the track and take our proper lane for the race of progress.

“Our moment for national rebirth is here. We have to rekindle hope not only within our country but in the entire African continent where collectively our leadership is acknowledged,” he added.
Jonathan also used the occasion to showcase the achievements of his administration, stating: “We are making progress. In 2009, our life expectancy was 47 years, it has now risen to 52.

“We were spending over a trillion naira importing food four years ago, it is now down to a little over N600 billion and still falling. The size of our economy has grown.

“We are improving on our infrastructure and now well on our way to self-sufficiency in energy security. We are focusing on education with a view to banishing illiteracy from our country. We have revived our railways and our airports are undergoing massive repositioning.

“Our sports men and women are now hungrier for laurels and we are recalibrating our security forces to meet the challenges of newer security threat that was brought to us.

“This administration has made the sanctity of the ballot a cardinal focus. Our successes in polls in different states in the recent past have shown we are making substantial progress in the direction of making the polls attractive to all categories of citizens in our land so that our best and brightest would not continue to shun the electoral process.

“Our goal is that Nigeria must quickly arrive at the point where every vote is not only counted but counts. It is free, fair and credible elections that we crave.

“Now is the time that we put behind us all the drawbacks that have inhibited us from fulfilling our manifest destiny and realising our full potential. We must steadily arrive at the juncture where strife, conflicts and mistrusts would become distant echoes of our past. We must make every inch of our country a space for joyous habitation.”

Lampooning the critics and cynics of the conference, the president expressed satisfaction that the delegates were able to navigate, in a mature manner, the obstacles he warned them against when the National Conference was inaugurated in March.

“There were those who set out to input ulterior motives to our modest efforts at reshaping and strengthening the foundations of our nationhood to deliver better political cohesion and greater development agenda.

“The naysayers raised false alarms over some phantom hidden agenda and called to question our sincerity and did everything possible to derail this noble project.

“The success of this conference has proved the cynics wrong in many respects. Those who dismissed the entire conference ab initio as a ‘diversion’ have been proved wrong, as what you achieved has, contrary to their forecast, has diverted our country only from the wrong road to the right direction.

“They said the conference would end in a deadlock as Nigeria had reached a point where the constituent parts could no longer agree on any issue. We exploded that myth by suggesting that you should arrive at your decisions by consensus or 75% majority threshold.

“That was the first challenge you had at this conference when it appeared you were going to break up. There were suggestions that we should intervene as government to ‘save’ the conference at that dicey moment but I insisted that beyond the inauguration we were not going to intrude into the conference in any manner. We kept our promise.

“One of the many reasons for our non-interference is this: we had at the conference, 492 delegates and six conference officials who all in their individual rights were qualified to lead our great country and if they were unable to agree on how to take decisions, we would be in real trouble.
“Acknowledging the quality and patriotic content of the delegates, I was confident, the right thing will be done,” he said.

In an apparent reference to some of the issues yet to be resolved like the derivation and resource control, the president said: “I understand there were a few outstanding issues yet. That you did not agree on all issues shows the sincerity of the discourse.

“Nobody was at the conference to be politically correct. People spoke passionately and argued strongly in favour of what they genuinely believed in. As a result, there were bound to be strong disagreements.
“If everybody agreed on every issue, the debate would not only be lacking in quality and passion, it would also be said to have been stage-managed. What we should worry about now is not that there were disagreements in one or two items, but how to manage these disagreements such that nobody walks away feeling short-changed and bitter.

“It is a major challenge in nation-building as experienced by the biggest democracies in the world. You managed them well and came out tall, fellow citizens.”

He congratulated the delegates for not only working out a compromise but also refraining from dividing the conference to reach the 600 resolutions that were passed. “You have indeed built a new architecture of negotiation based on trustful give-and-take that is going to be a permanent reference point in our national life,” the president stated.

In his closing remarks, the Chairman of the National Conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, described the conference as a tough assignment, but was grateful that it turned out a huge success, despite initial challenges.
Kutigi, who was a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), said: “We knew that we were taking on a tough assignment. If truth be told, most Nigerians did not believe that this whole enterprise was going to last this long or come to a successful conclusion.

“Yet, Mr. President, here we are five months later at a ceremony to mark the successful execution of our mandate. It is not that we lasted this long that is newsworthy, but that we overcame all the obstacles on our way.”

He said when 494 Nigerians were assembled to address the fears, disappointments, aspirations and hopes, which had accumulated over 100 years, it was only to be expected that the debates would be robust and tempers would fly.

Kutigi said the delegates did not try to ignore or bury their differences, instead, “we addressed these differences while respecting the dignity of those holding these differences and sought to construct solutions which would become building blocks for a just and stable nation”.

Kutigi who gave insight into the reports of the conference, said: “We approved over 600 resolutions, some dealing with issues of law, issues of policy and issues of constitutional amendments.
“These resolutions did not deal with frivolous or inconsequential issues. We showed courage in tackling substantial and fundamental issues.

“Mr. President, time will not permit me to list all the critical and fundamental resolutions adopted. But let me emphasise this: all our resolutions were adopted by consensus. Not once did we have to vote or come to a division.

“This is a message that we wish the world to hear loud and clear. Nigerians are capable of not only discussing their differences but are also capable of coming up with solutions to these difficulties.”
Comparing the work of the conference with previous conferences in the country, the former CJN said: “In the post-independence history of Nigeria, there have been four conferences, including this 2014 National Conference.

“However, Mr. President, our own task has been the most arduous. The following statistics graphically illustrates this: The 1978 Constituent Assembly had a membership of 230 people and met for nine months.

“The 1995 National Constitutional Conference had a membership of 371 people and met for twelve (12) months. The 2005 National Political Reform Conference was made up of 400 delegates and met for five months. We are 494 in membership and you made us do all this work in four-and-a-half months.”

He commended Jonathan for convoking the conference, saying: “On behalf of the delegates to the 2014 National Conference, I thank you for your courage in summoning this conference.

“We have finally laid to rest the apprehension that a National Conference will lead to the disintegration of Nigeria. We have held a National Conference and we are more united today than ever.”
He equally commended the president for not meddling in the affairs of the conference and paid tributes to the four delegates who died during the conference.

The delegates that passed on included Mr. Hamma Misau who died on March 27; Dr. Mohammad Jumare who died on May 5; Professor Dora Akunyili, on June 7; and Professor Mohammad Nur Alkali, on August 1, 2014. A minute’s silence was observed for the four delegates.

The closing ceremony was attended by Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mariam Muktar, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.

A political group, Ijaw Republican Assembly, on Thursday, said no amount of pressure from northern leaders and groups across the country would stop President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting for a second term in office come 2015.

The group described as trivial the ultimatum issued by the Northern Elders Forum demanding that the President should bring back the schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram sect in Chibok, Borno State, by the end of October or forget about seeking re-election.

The spokesperson for the group, Mrs. Annkio Briggs, told our correspondent that it was unfortunate that northern elders had decided to politicise the abduction of the Chibok girls and the Boko Haram insurgency.

She said, “Such an ultimatum coming from an elders’ forum is unfortunate because that is a childish way of looking at issues going on in Nigeria, where there is an attack both from within and outside on Nigeria and people are being killed.

“It’s sad that they decided to politicise it by saying if the girls do not return at a certain time, Jonathan should not contest for a second term.

“They can say whatever they like, that is not going to stop Goodluck Jonathan from running for a second term; that will not stop him from being re-elected.”

Briggs added that northern elders had no right to issue such an ultimatum to the President, arguing that past northern leaders were not given ultimatums in that manner.

“The northern elders are in no position to make such a demand, anyway. If that is the way they see it, then it shows where their interest lies. Everything for them is political power. To say Jonathan should not contest because of Boko Haram is very childish.”