₦airaland Forum

It’s finally here: The first Android phone with as much RAM as your laptop
MOBILE Asus ZenFone 2 Specs, Price and Release Date

It’s no secret that Android device makers have been continuously pushing the limits when it comes to smartphone specs, and it was only a matter of time until a phone got as much RAM as some of the laptops available on the market today. Asus at CES 2015 announced such a device, the ZenFone 2, which is not only supposed to pack high-end specs, but it’s also going to offer a more-than-affordable price.

The ZenFone 2 has a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display, 64-bit 2.3GHz Super quad-core Intel Atom Processor, 2GB/4GB, 13-megapixel camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, dual SIM support, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 4G LTE speeds of up to 150Mbit/s. 3,000mAh battery and fast-charging technology (60% charge in just 39 minutes) and Android 5.0 Lollipop with Asus ZenUI user interface on top of it..

The ZenFone 2 will be launched in March with prices starting at $199 for the 2GB for RAM version. The 4GB model will likely be more expensive, although a price for the model is not available yet.
ASUS today unveiled ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML), the flagship smartphone in the new-generation ZenFone family. With a gorgeous all-new ergonomic design, a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display, 13MP/5MP PixelMaster cameras, a 2.3GHz 64-bit Intel Atom processor with 4GB RAM and 4G/LTE connectivity, ZenFone 2 delivers powerful all-round performance.
Building on the resounding worldwide success of ASUS ZenFone, which sold 1,500,000 units per month in the fourth quarter of 2014 and garnered enthusiastic reviews from journalists and users alike, the much-anticipated ASUS ZenFone 2 premieres many evolved features including a new version of ASUS ZenUI — which has the world’s first fully-customizable interface — and Trend Micro™ security software for safe web browsing.

“The passion behind the design of ZenFone 2 is our never-ending desire to empower luxury for everyone,” said ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih, “We have drawn on our considerable engineering expertise and experience with our popular ZenFone to create a smartphone that embodies this ambition. That device is the incredible new ZenFone 2 — luxury that everyone can enjoy.”

Luxurious, ultra-thin Ergonomic Arc design
ASUS ZenFone 2 has a stunning, all-new design employing iconic ASUS design elements that echo the spirit of Zen, with a luxurious brushed-metal finish and distinctive concentric-circle detailing. ZenFone 2 introduces new and evolved aesthetic refinements, including a graceful curved case that tapers to an incredibly thin 3.9mm at the edges to lend ZenFone 2 a bold yet elegant look. This curvature provides exceptional comfort and a secure grip, and intuitive control and convenience is further enhanced by the rear-mounted volume control key — ideally-positioned for the user’s index finger.

ZenFone 2 has an incredibly sharp and vivid 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display with a 403ppi pixel density and a wide 178-degree viewing angle, ensuring lifelike photos and videos and great-looking apps. ASUS TruVivid technology enhances display performance even more with bright, brilliant colors. The display has an ultra-narrow 3.3mm bezel, giving ZenFone 2 a remarkable 72% screen-to-body ratio for a maximized viewing experience, and is covered with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 for superior resistance to damage and fingerprints. An anti-fingerprint coating reduces friction by 30%, giving a luxuriously-smooth feel to touch gestures.

ZenFone 2 is available in five unique colors that, together with the beauty and customizability of ASUS ZenUI, result in a smartphone that is truly personal, both inside and out. The ZenFone 2 color portfolio includes Osmium Black, Sheer Gold, Glacier Gray, Glamor Red and Ceramic White. Special Transfusion and Illusion covers are available that give users even more choices to match their own unique style.

PixelMaster camera: See what others can’t see
ASUS ZenFone 2 has a 13MP PixelMaster camera with an f/2.0 wide-aperture lens to capture stunning, high-resolution photos with zero shutter lag. This industry-leading Low Light mode employs pixel-merging technology to capture up to 400% brighter photos at night, or in low-light scenes, without the need for a flash. When a flash is preferred, ZenFone 2 is equipped with a Real Tone flash to ensure warm skin tones and accurate color.

The ZenFone 2 camera also has Backlight (HDR) mode to let users capture vivid, evenly-exposed photos in challenging backlit scenes such as sunset portraits. By using pixel-enhancing technology to increase contrast by up to 400%, Backlight (HDR) mode ensures that foreground subjects stand out clearly and are free of shadows.
For those seeking fine-grained control over camera settings like ISO, shutter speed and more, Manual mode offers users a DSLR-like experience right on their smartphone.

ZenFone 2 is also equipped with a 5MP front-facing camera with a wide, 85-degree field of view perfectly engineered for taking selfies with real-time beautification. For those wanting to capture a group of friends, or include scenery in their selfie, ZenUI Selfie Panorama mode captures panoramic selfies with up to a 140-degree field of view.

Powerful performance for today, and beyond
ASUS ZenFone 2 is powered by an up to 2.3GHz 64-bit Intel Atom processor Z3580 and has 4GB RAM to deliver up to seven times (7X)1 faster gaming performance than its predecessor. A 60ms touch response time ensures lag-free input, and OpenGL 3.0 provides incredible gaming performance.

ZenFone 2 has built-in 4G/LTE connectivity for blazingly-fast data speeds of up to 150Mbit/s plus 802.11ac Wi-Fi, ensuring stutter-free streaming of video and music as well as a smooth all-round mobile experience. Dual-SIM capacity with Dual Active technology makes ZenFone 2 the perfect travel or business companion, allowing users to have two active phone lines on their device so they can keep in touch from anywhere.

Users will spend less time waiting and more time enjoying ZenFone 2 with its high-capacity, 3000mAh battery that provides more than a full day of use on a single charge. Fast-charge technology enables recharges to 60% battery level in only 39 minutes.

A simpler, smarter, more personalized ZenUI experience
Freedom, connection, and expression form the foundation for ASUS’s ZenUI mobile user interface. These three pillars have also inspired the evolutionary changes to ZenUI for ZenFone 2. This latest version offers a simpler and smarter user experience, with a stylish new layout that utilizes white space for a cleaner design, and which places information front and center for a simpler, smarter user experience.

ZenFone 2 is the world’s first smartphone to give everyone the ability to completely customize it to match their personal style and usage preferences, including ZenUI’s launcher, themes, fonts, icons, and more.

ZenUI has many great new features — including ZenMotion, SnapView, Trend Micro™ security and ZenUI Instant Updates — that enhance usability; ensure security and privacy; and deliver a seamless user experience.
• ZenMotion is a collection of intuitive touch gestures, each providing a new way of interacting with ZenUI, and allowing quick and easy access to frequently-used features such as One Hand mode or Do It Later.
• SnapView is a security feature that ensures privacy for apps, photos, and files. SnapView lets users easily keep their personal and business information separate.
• Trend Micro security is integrated with the ZenUI browser for the total mobile web browsing security.
• ZenUI Instant Updates is a seamless new method of keeping ZenUI apps up to date. With ZenUI Instant Updates, ASUS app developers can make updates available immediately, avoiding delays between app releases and ensuring the best experience for ZenFone 2 users.

http://bgr.com/2015/01/06/asus-zenfone-2-specs-price-and-release-date/

"feminine baritoned voice"
That is Warri for you

tyconcepts:
[b]=======First of all....Introduction=======

TYCONCEPTS is based in Warri, Delta State (forget all what those comedians have made you believe about Warri, there's no place I'd rather be) BUT our services and products are used everywhere in Nigeria and Abroad. We use different trusted and tested courier agents to deliver irrespective of where you are based

Towns, Cities and Countries we have successfully delivered Tablets, Phones, Power banks & Wrist watches to from our Warri, Delta State base;

****Within Nigeria****

* Lagos (pay-on-delivery & pay-before-delivery services/Courier)
* Abuja
* Minna
* Benin (Personal delivery service/Courier)
* Maiduguri
* Calabar
* Jos
* Lafia, Nasarawa
* Zaria
* Makurdi
* Umuahia
* Benue
* Yenagoa
* Ogbomoso
* Awka
* Bayelsa
* Sango-Otta, Ogun State
* Onitsha
* Delta (Personal deliveries within Warri, Ughelli, Kwale, Sapele, Ozoro, Abraka e.t.c)
* Kaduna
* Zaria
* Enugu
* Owerri
* Ondo
* Akungba
* Owo
* Akure
* Oshogbo
* Abeokuta
* Ile-Ife
* Ilesha
* Ibadan
* Illorin
* Oyo
* Uyo
* Ado-Ekiti

****Outside Nigeria****

* Johannesburg, South Africa

* Accra, Ghana


If your location isn't listed here....Be the first to announce us there.


Please Be Very Informed ; Our ONLY phone number is : 08036965028 & Our ONLY e-mail address is ; tyconcepts13@gmail.com.

PS - The face and voice behind TYCONCEPTS is a female's own so don't keep been surprised when you call and hear a feminine baritoned voice What a man can do, a woman can do too....Gbam!!!



#Happy2015[/b]

I will be requesting for the types of watches you sell later. I want to include that with the phone when I am ready.

Obasanjo meets women leaders, blasts Jonathan



Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the country is currently facing economic problems due to the failure of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to plan for a rainy day.

He told Iyalodes and eminent women leaders from the South-West, who visited him at his Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State, that the nation’s reserves which as of 2007 stood at $67bn had been depleted by the Federal Government.

The former President was responding to a call by the delegation led by the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief Alaba Lawson, and the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Chief Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, to lend his voice to the socio-economic crisis rocking the country.

Stressing that the country did not deserve the situation it currently finds itself, Obasanjo vowed that he would not keep quiet until the right things were done.

He said, “When I was leaving office about eight years ago, I left a very huge reserve after we had paid all our debts.

“Almost $25bn we kept in what they called Excess Crude Account, it was the excess from the budget we were saving as reserve for a rainy day.

“When we left in May 2007, the reserve was said to have risen to $35bn. But today, that reserve has been depleted.

“After paying our debts which was about $40bn, including debt forgiveness, the remaining (debt) was not more than $3bn.

“Our reserves after we had paid off these debts amounted to about $45bn. As I said, they continued to rise till the end of 2007. I heard that the reserves increased to almost $67bn before the end of the year.

“Our reserves now, I learnt, stand at only $30bn.”

Although he noted that the slump in oil price would naturally have a negative impact on a monolithic economy like Nigeria, Obasanjo said that “ anyone who is wise enough should know that since we depend on just one mineral resource and since we have no control over its pricing, we should be planning for this type of situation we currently find ourselves and the way out of it.”

The former President lamented that “our inability to have healthy reserves had brought us to “this economic quagmire.”

He added, “A leader must be forward-looking and plan ahead. At the beginning of last year, the budget was based on $78 per barrel. That year, the Federal Government spent more on recurrent expenditure and a little on capital expenditure.”

Obasanjo also pointed out that the devaluation of the naira had unleashed other consequences on the economy.

He said, “That (devaluation) is why the naira has been falling against the dollar. What would now happen? I learnt if you want to buy a dollar now, it’s about N192 or N195. What it means is this, what you had been buying for N150 to a dollar, now you need N192 or N195 to buy it.

“That is the real situation. Is there any remedy? There is but it does not come overnight because it means we have to give up all the bad things we had been doing.”

The Ogun State-born former Head of State also berated the leadership for robbing Nigeria of its God-ordained greatness.

He said,”God made Nigeria a great nation. Is it that those living here have no brain? Is it that the leaders are not thinking? Or that we don’t have the resources?

“When I was in the army, our slogan was, ‘There are no bad soldiers but bad officers.’ Wherever soldiers are not doing well, blame the officers. The same thing obtains in the family, communities, towns and the nation.

The former President, who also denied quarrelling with Jonathan, told the Iyalodes and eminent women leaders that he was surprised to have read in a newspaper on Monday that some people in government were jittery on learning of their visit.

“Is (it) that Jonathan and I are not in good terms?, he asked and immediately provided an answer himself. He said, “There is nothing as such. I have no grudges against Jonathan and I think Jonathan equally has no grudges against me. I’m not quarrelling with Jonathan but all I know is that whatever is good for Nigeria, that I’m ready to die for.

“I emphasise that whatever is good for Nigeria, is what I’m ready to defend with my life. Whoever, I emphasise, whoever says he would not do anything good for Nigeria, even if he says he’s ready to go ‘koko bellow,’ I’m ready to square it up with such a person.

“I say again, whoever that person may be, I want you to get that correctly. If this country is going to change for the better, it must start from the top and if it’s going to be otherwise, it must start from the top too.

“I have had some little experience about this country. I was a Head of State and a President; so what is left? If I talk, I know what I’m talking about. Whoever wants, should listen to me and whoever feels otherwise, may turn a deaf ear. But when I’m talking, I’m talking with my understanding and intellect.

“I’m drawing from my experience and from what I’ve learnt with others and from other countries and fellow eminent citizens of the world that I relate with.”

Obasanjo frowned on the alleged impunity being perpetuated under the current administration, warning leaders of the consequences of such actions.

He said, “God put you in a position for a purpose and if you fail, you will give account to God. It was Prophet Samuel that God sent to anoint Saul to be a king. When he misbehaved, it was the same God that sent Prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint another king.

“But when Samuel got to Jesse’s house, he was attracted by the physical and outward appearance of Eliab. But God told him, he was looking at outward appearance whereas He was looking at the heart. We must not keep quiet concerning this nation.”

On the general elections, Obasanjo said he had no apprehension, stressing that the country would survive just as it did during crises such as Operation wetie, the 1966 coup and the civil war.

He said, “The 1964 election led to Operation Wetie. I saw people being slaughtered . There were also the 1966 coup, the 1966 progrom and the civil war. We survived them. Then, there was (Sani) Abacha period. We also we survived it.”

Operation wetie was the political crises that erupted in the defunct Western Region after the 1965 regional elections. It was characterised by the wetting of political opponents and their followers with petrol and setting them ablaze.

Obasanjo recalled that when he was about to contest the presidential election in 1999, he was told that it would end up like the botched polls by the Ibrahim Babangida and Abacha juntas.

“They said that Abubakar Abdulsalami was also out to deceive us. Some people said after me, there would be no Nigeria again; But, after me, there have been two presidents .The God we serve is God of Nigeria.”

On the solution to unemployment in the country, he advised the government to turn to agriculture instead of laying emphasis on oil and gas.

He advised, “If we are going to solve unemployment problem, it is through agric business and not through oil and gas. We have no alternative.

“Agriculture is renewable because the land can be used over and over again, but, once you lift a barrel of oil, it is gone forever.’’

Obasanjo also advised the women and other Nigerians to vote for candidates with good track records and not those making empty promises.

“Good governance starts with the selection and voting of good leaders. Don’t lose your votes. Ask questions. What are their track records? Pay less attention to what they are saying, look out for what they had done.”

On his membership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Obasanjo said, “I am still in the PDP , though not active. With the kind of people and behaviours I see in the party, I don’t think I can stand before God and defend them.”

Obasanjo had in an 18-page open letter to Jonathan in December 2013, accused Jonathan of promoting deceit, corruption and mutual distrust ahead of national interest.

He said in the letter titled “Before it is too late” that in spite of his previous letters which were neither acknowledged nor responded to, he was again constrained to warn the President that dangers were lurking in the corner should he fail to heed his advice.

At the public presentation of a book by a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other–Related Offences Commission, Justice Mustapha Akanbi(retd.) in Novemeber 2014, Obasanjo again accused Jonathan and the National Assembly of promoting corruption and poor governance in the country.

He also upbraided the President by describing him as an incompetent leader during the public presentation of his three-part autobiography My Watch on December 9, 2014.

He rated the Jonathan administration as colossal failure, grounded by ineptitude.


http://www.punchng.com/news/obasanjo-meets-women-leaders-blasts-jonathan/

naijababe:
Oga mi, the key to a lean stomach is diet. Very little is achieved in gym when it comes to stubborn belly fat. What you need to do is cut down on sugar and carbohydrates.

Rather than eat eba and vegetable soup, eat just vegetable soup with a tenth of the eba you would normally eat. Cut out bread, pasta, rice, potato, food rich in starch (you can eat yam and sweet potato though) and sugary snacks for like 2months if you can. Eat as much protein as you can and try to exercise at least 3x a week, does not matter what you do, just be consistent.

Eat less fruit too because they are loaded in sugar even if naturally occurring sugar, instead eat more vegetables and snack on nuts. Cut out processed foods completely. Losing belly fat requires a lifestyle change, if you do all these for six months and return to your bad habits, your belle will grow back.

I wish you a ripping tummy

For one, I don't take beer. All these instructions you have given seems more than the law of Moses. I am confused. . Don't eat too much eba? I eat once for all since I am busy. I should cut out bread, pasta, rice, potato. What else should I eat?

ernecy:
Well it's not really a fault!!! Most women immediately after marriage jus want to get their husband fat, Bcuz the woman feels dats d only way people will see that she is taking care of her man!!! So guys if u are eating 100, 101, 010, expect dis after marriage 112, 212, 221, worst case scenario is 111... within a month u will go from 6packs to 1pack

When I got married it was complaining here and there for a long time that she can't see the impact of the food she was giving me. I responded that I am like CBN, my job is to take everything and keep them hidden . Of recent, my tummy has a little bulge and the song has changed. Now the cry is for me to follow her to the gym.

tyconcepts:
Class 10 64gb = #8,000.

Thanks for your response.

How much is a 64GB SD card?

Interested in Jiayu S3 3GB Ram. How much can you get it for me?

The man was an orator.

There were many in the Balewa Federal Public Service and Cabinet who could not boast of a West African School Certificate talk less of a University degree. In spite of those limitations, they offered Nigeria a less corrupt Government than the Jonathan Government of today. I can tell you that because I was in the Federal Public Service as a graduate and as an administrator for 25 years of my life. Sir Ahmadu Bello the leader of the NPC who could easily have become anything he wanted to be in Nigeria did not have a Ph.D, but he was a good leader of his people any. As a matter of fact, there were many of us in the South who thought that Ahmadu Bello could not speak English at all. He was definitely versed in Islamic education which also had its own merits in world civilization.

I would be the first to admit as a historian and as somebody who has been exposed to Western education and Islamic education. I was the representative of Nigeria to the Board of Trustees of CAFRAD (African Training and Research center in Administration for Development) based in Tangiers, Morocco for 3 years from 1979 to 1981. Who says Islamic education is inferior to western education? If you have ever heard anything about the Persian Empire, the Ottoman Turk Empire and the great Egyptian Empire, you will appreciate that anyone with Islamic education can hold his own against anyone trained in western education. Buhari should not be counted out because of his Islamic education and exposure.

I was amazed the first time I listened to Ahmadu Bello speak at the Nigerian Constitutional Conference in London where he won the day when he told the British that the North was not ready for independence in 1957 as proposed by Azikiwe and Awolowo. The man actually granted an interview to a British journalist and he spoke flawless English explaining why he had to initiate his “Northernization” policy to stop the Igbos in particular from completely taking over and dominating his Government and public service. He argued with conviction that if you give the Igbos in particular and the southerners in general, a foot, they would take 3. He described the Igbos as the proverbial Oliver Twists of Nigeria who are always asking for more just like they are doing now in the Jonathan Government.

If you take out the ijaws, the Jonathan Government is, by and large, dominated by the Igbos and that is why the Igbos are now the most vocal supporters of Jonathan who are begging Professor Jega to bar Buhari from running because they now know he would be difficult to defeat in a fair and free election. I won’t be surprised if they turn round to encourage Jonathan to annul the election altogether, if he loses. They would claim Babangida did it before and it can be done again should the election go against Jonathan.

They are now drawing attention to General Buhari’s qualifications to be President because they have figured out that Jonathan is a hard sell. Because he has a Ph.D that Buhari does not have they want Jega to disqualify him. They totally forget the history of Nigeria that Jonathan is about the first Nigerian Ph.D holder to be elected a president in Nigeria. Many of us supported him because we were putting too much emphasis on paper qualifications. We now know that not all that glitters is gold. Father Ejike Mbaka has said it best. The Good luck we thought we knew has turned to bad luck. Obasanjo who gave us the bad luck is now begging Nigerians to forgive him because he made a horrendous mistake. That is why Jonathan is going to lose to Buhari.

You can be sure the Igbos and some northerners in the PDP are going to decamp into the APC if Buhari loses. Right now they are going to do whatever it takes to irredeemably damage Buhari. But because God is at work for Buhari and because his time has come, God has raised individuals like Governor Okorocha, individuals like Igbokwe and most especially Rev Father Ejike Mbaka whose Christmas or New Year homily has done an irreversible damage to Jonathan. The PDP are now begging their members who decamp to the APC to please return to PDP because they fear they are going to lose.

The APC and General Buhari only need to widely circulate the content of Rev. Mbaka powerful sermon by possibly circulating a video or showing a slide of that video or sermon in all of their political rallies because not even General Buhari or Professor Oshinbajo could have made a more persuasive case. It was a very powerful indictment of Jonathan next only to the Obasanjo indictment of the President in his new book and all the subsequent interviews Obasanjo has granted to the News media. They should make commercial on many of the gaffes and Freudian slip of Jonathan and his first lady. There is no way in the world both of them can survive the onslaught. That is why they are now begging many deserters of the PDP to return and hoping that a good Governor like Oshiomhole can disown the APC this late in the game because they think money can buy Nigerians.

If Obasanjo who handpicked him to be President could be so much opposed to him today, what more justification do Nigerians have to vote for Jonathan on February 14? Obasanjo, the former Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees and the most powerful PDP member in Nigeria is telling Nigerians that Jonathan is radio-active. What more evidence do Nigerians need to make up their minds on him? The guy has long lost my vote and those of people like me.


I cannot for the life of me encourage any rational Nigerian to vote for Jonathan. A few nuts and lunatics among us and those who benefit the most from his corrupt Government would still vote for him I get that, but the rest of us must not.
I, for one, will take Jonathan’s bribe, because I know it is part of our stolen money. Spending 27 billion Naira for election alone is colossal waste of money. By all means take whatever bribery Jonathan offers you, because the key to the Nigerian Treasury is in his hands. Take the money but go into that polling booth to vote for General Buhari. If in 4 years Buhari does not perform, we all reserve the right to vote him out in 2019. Performance from now on should be the yard stick or bottom line. Education is only a means to an end not the end in itself. I will be leading the opposition to him in 4 years if he does not perform.

Don’t be deceived about the import of a Ph.D. There are many of us with Ph.Ds who cannot untie the latchet of the shoes of some Nigerians without any Ph.D. I am a good example. Sometimes when I read some of the stuff written by a gentleman named Ozodiobi Osuji, a Professor in clinical Psychology and a columnist of the ChatAfrik web site on the Internet, I view myself as his student because that man is something else. I have had occasions to write to him and to openly admit that he is a genius. I am not ashamed to say that because the closest I can ever get to perfection is to know my limitations. Jonathan has to learn that General Buhari is not on the same pay grade with him with his Ph.D.

I took a second Master’s degree in Social Work and Psychology from the Yeshiva Jewish University of New York from 1991 to 1993. I do not know any Professor in Psychology in that great University who can beat Professor Osuji. I take off my heart for that man just like I do for some of the other columnists like Rudolf Okonkwo, Okey Ndibe and one Sonala Olumense to mention a few. They don’t flaunt a Ph.D but they are prolific writers better than most of us.

I knew some Nigerians in my civil service days that did not have University degrees, but who proved themselves better and more intellectual gifted than many of us who were graduates. I once had a colleague of mine named Reuben Omo Olorun Modupe from Idogun near idoani. He and I attended the University of Ife for an O and M Diploma course and we both went to the Royal Institute of Public Administration at Mabledon Place London.

Reuben was only a grade II teacher from Ondo /Oyo Joint Provincial Teacher Training College at Ile Ife before joining the Western Nigerian Public Service first in the Executive class grade before crossing over on promotion to the Administrative class. I was in the Federal Service but we both went to London to study at the Royal Institute of Public Administration. Reuben came top of our class beating most of us who were already graduates. I did perform very well in the program, and we both became good friends because the guy is as smart as hell, but the guy beat me in the final examination.

I was not surprised when the guy was promoted a Permanent Secretary and later on the Secretary to the Government of Ondo State under Governor Olabode George. After his retirement the guy went back to Ekpoma University to study Law. He is today a board-certified member of the Bar in New York State.

I recall the achievements of Pa Odumosu who later became Secretary to Government in the old Western Region. He was never a graduate, but he was among the best Permanent Secretaries in the old West. I recall Mr. M.A. Tokunbo, the former Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Establishments in Lagos way back in the 60s and early 70s. He was not a graduate but he was one of the best Permanent Secretaries. I recall Alhaji Sule Katagun, the former Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission while the late (Dr) Sir Manuwa one of the first qualified medical doctors in Nigeria was his Deputy. Both of them were good and very competent men, but Alhaji Katagun never saw the four walls of a University but he was one of the best Chairmen of the Federal Civil Service Commission. I recall serving at one point in my career under Alhaji Ahmed Joda; a journalist turned Permanent Secretary who only had a Diploma in Journalism before becoming a Federal Permanent Secretary in the federal Ministry of Education. The man taught me all I knew as a young graduate working for him. He rose by hard work to become one of the “Four Musketeers” or Super Permanent Secretaries which included Allison Ayida, Philip Asiodu and EME Ebong at one point in the history of the Nigerian Civil Service.

My point is that General Buhari did not have to produce any paper certificate to be qualified to run for President. As a General in the Nigerian Army, talk less of the other prestigious positions he has held in Government at a time Jonathan was still a shoeless young boy running around in the creeks of Otuoke in Bayelsa, the man has nothing more to prove he is the better candidate in this election

Buhari has the credentials and the name recognition to run for President. It is even as insult to him for anyone to be demanding his paper qualification from a man who has been President before. That is my point. The General does not have to show any certification to run for President. If Professor Jega does not believe him, the Professor is doing a disservice to Nigeria and insulting the intelligence of Nigerians. If Jonathan wants to prove he is intellectually superior to General Buhari, let him prove that to Nigerians at the Presidential Debates to be organized by the mainstream of the Nigerian News Media.

I cannot wait to see that happen.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/01/05/desperation-jonathan-camp-anticipation-defeat-can-worms-nigerians-should-be-ashamed-dr

Desperation In The Jonathan Camp In Anticipation Of Defeat-A Can Of Worms Nigerians Should Be Ashamed Of By Dr. Wumi Akintide


The debate currently going on whether or not a 4 star General has requisite qualifications to be certified as a candidate in the next election is a development that would come back to haunt Jonathan long after he loses the election on February 14. It is a development that can open a can of worms on the first Prime minister and most of the past Presidents of Nigeria from the North who were flag bearers of the same PDP and its predecessors like the NPC, the NPN and NRC. What qualification did Tafawa Balewa have to qualify him as the first Prime Minister of Nigeria? The same people raising the question should tell me what qualifications did Ahmadu Bello have to emerge as the pre and post- Independence leader of the Northern Peoples’ Congress and de facto leader of the whole country?

What paper qualifications did Aguiyi Ironsi have to lead Nigeria after the January 15 coup of the Majors in Nigeria led by Chukwuma Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna? What qualification did Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha or Abdulsalam Abubakar to qualify them as Heads of State in Nigeria? Umaru Yar Adua who succeeded Obasanjo in 2007 had a Master’s degree and could be said to be the most educated by way of paper qualification among the rest of his predecessors.

Goodluck Jonathan who succeeded terminally ill Yar Adua as the first minority from the South/South zone had a Ph.D not in Education or Administration or Law or Literature or History or Mathematics or Bio Chemistry or Physics but in Zoology, (the care and management of animals) to put it bluntly.

Ebele Jonathan had his degrees not from Harvard or some Ivy league University in Nigeria like Ibadan or Nsukka or Ahmadu Bello, Zaria or better still from, Oxford or Cambridge talk less of similar ivy league institutions in the US or anywhere around the world

When Obasanjo picked him, he picked him because he looked like the most docile of all the South/South candidates on Obasanjo’s merit list like Duke or Odili and one or two others. Obasanjo was looking for a yes man with no track record but whose wife was a Madam Defarge who behaved as if she was ready to take a bullet if needed to have her husband catapulted to the running mate to a terminally-sick Yar Adua and the possible implication of that for the shoeless Ijaw man from Otuoke who everybody knew was therefore a heartbeat from the presidency of Nigeria should anything happen to Yar Adua.

The couple was hoping for the worst but mentally- ready should things go the other way. Obasanjo’s rigmarole was no way to pick a President for the most populated country in Africa but he did it any way in what I call a one party dictatorship that has ruled Nigeria in military or civilian outfit for half a century without anybody raising a finger or a challenge. Madam Dame Patience paved the way for her husband by arranging a private visit to Ebora Otta in his Taj Mahal at Abeolumo promising to bring her husband back “Ajagunmole Oluwo Orun” and the “Agbebodorun” of Nigerian Politics in a fortnight.

When the president want to be came to see Obasanjo, he greeted Obasanjo like any Yoruba younger man would have done telling Obasanjo he had come as a follow-up to his wife’s visit and that he wanted to thank Obasanjo as father of the nation for even thinking of him. He promised he would not disappoint Obasanjo. That was how Ebele Jonathan became Vice President because Obasanjo assured him in Egba dialect interlaced with English, “Omode yi. Bi o tie d’ibo, o ti wo le” “Don’t worry, my boy, your selection as VP is a forgone conclusion as long as I am in charge. Go get yourself ready to be Vice President of Nigeria.”.

Two years into his first term Yar Ardua who spent as much time at a Saudi or German Hospital like he spent at Aso Rock died but he is death was kept a top secret from his Vice and the rest of the country as his wife consulted top lawyers in Britain and the United States. She played the Corazon Aquino card on Nigerians trying to ascertain if she cannot be sworn in as acting President to complete the remaining years of Yar Adua because the presidency had been zoned to the North for 8 years and not even Death can change that in the convoluted mind of Jonathan and his supporters in Nigeria.

It took the combined effort of Obasanjo, many progressives in Nigeria and respecter of the Nigerian Constitution plus the news media led by Sahara Reporters of New York to rise in support of a timid and weak Ebele Jonathan to put the vocal northerners in a retreat and to let Jonathan serve the last 2 years of Yar Adua and to have another 4 years of his own from 2011 to 2015. The only good thing Jonathan has done in 4 years was to appoint the first credible northerner to head the Nigerian INEC. After kicking and screaming to begin with, he finally agreed to hold a toothless bull dog of a national conference to discuss the problems of Nigeria at a cost of close to 10 billion Naira with little or nothing to show for it as the conference lacks legitimacy in Law. Nothing is going to stop all of those reports from gathering dust in the basement of the National Assembly building in Abuja as we speak.

Our President with his Ph.D. in Zoology wants Buhari disqualified from running so he can be returned unopposed. His justification for that is because Buhari cannot produce his School Certificate result because Jonathan and his Jega-led INEC do not recognize whatever training and education the General must have received from Sandhurst and Aldershot in Britain talk less of any training he had received at the Kaduna Defense Academy, The Man’Owar Bay in Lagos and the famous Institute of Strategic Studies at Kuru Jos talk less of any training he might have received anywhere around the world in his close to 24 years in the Military and regardless of any promotions he might have earned from Second Lieutenant to General in one of the best

Military in the Third World with the possible exception of India, Pakistan and South Africa and Egypt.

That should tell you the kind of Commander-in-Chief Ebele Jonathan has become in his desperation to stop General Buhari from humiliating him on February 14. If he can pronounce as an illiterate one of the best 4 Star Generals Nigeria has produced when the Nigerian Military was still the pride of Africa and the most dependable peace keeper Military in Africa. Michael Dukakis Jonathan’s alter ego in America who justified his military readiness for office as an American President by having somebody drive him around in a make-believe armored vehicle in uniform and head gear could never have done what Ebele Jonathan has done by calling a retired 4 star General in his own Military a stark illiterate.

The statement says a lot more about Jonathan than it says about Buhari. That suggestion by the Commander-in-Chief himself or any of his hatchet men like Okupe or Reuben Abati is nothing short of treason in my judgment. The statement if it is not withdrawn is bad enough to force the President to resign or be impeached in a serious country, but in an animal farm kind of situation Nigeria now finds herself Jonathan would probably get away with the statement but he would pay dearly for it at the polls on February 14 when he loses the election to a worthy General who has served his nation to the best of his ability.

I am surprised that Professor Jega the current INEC chairman the first PH.D holder from the North to hold the job in Nigeria, has so far failed to put an end to the certificate racket debate by quickly issuing a statement asking Nigerians not to go there because the debate has a potential to open a can of worms that could be a major distraction for the INEC in the coming election. How could INEC now disqualify General Buhari who was a former military Head of State in the rank of a General for roughly 2 years and has put in no less than 20 years as a commissioned officer in the Nigerian Military? He has been cleared to run for the same office three times and is now going for the fourth round because millions of his supporters across the country now believe he is a far superior candidate to sitting President.

It is true the man does not have a Ph.D like Jonathan. The man does not need a Ph.D before he can be a great President. Jerry Rawlings was only a flight Lieutenant in the Ghana Air Force when he led the Revolution that finally shook Ghana to her very foundation preparing the nation for the triumph of Democracy. The last time I checked a ruling party led by Jerry Rawlings was defeated by the opposition in Ghana.

Today Ghana is enjoying the full dividends of Democracy as a leading nation in Africa to the everlasting glory of Jerry Rawlings who could not boast of a master’s degree talk less of a Ph.D. What Nigerians need to worry about at this point is not whether or not Jonathan is qualified to be President. What they should worry more about is the state of his Head and his mental stability at this point. Nigerians ought to remind him that the hood does not make the Monk. That a man has a Ph.D does not make him an educated man. As I will prove with the remaining segments of this write-up

The PDP is now raising the point because they are now beginning to see the hand writing on the wall that a David with only a catapult in his hand could predictably defeat and humiliate their Goliath with a Ph.D and the keys to the Nigerian Treasury in his hand. If Professor Jega is truly as smart as some people think, he should have nipped the certificate debate in the bud by simply telling the PDP and their supporters not to go there as those who live in glass houses like the PDP must be careful never to throw stones. By keeping quiet Professor Jega is inadvertently encouraging those PDP supporters to think they finally find a point they can use to derail the Buhari candidacy.

They have been throwing everything at the General including the kitchen sink but they have so far woefully failed to dent the general’s image as a Napoleon against the Lilliputian Jonathan. The great majority of Nigerian voters have now decided they are going to judge our leaders based on their performance and the personal qualities and integrity they bring to the table. Jonathan is in deep trouble as we speak because he has more deficits than assets in this election.

The PDP and their supporters have tried to blackmail General Buhari as a religious bigot who is going to Islamize Nigeria if elected forgetting that the man had been a military Head of State who could easily have done what Ibrahim Babangida one of the PDP leaders had done in his more than 8 years as President of Nigeria. As a matter of fact no military Head of State before Babangida ever had the impunity or the effrontery to call himself President until Babanagida came on board. None of our former Heads of State starting from Nnamdi Azikiwe to General Aguiyi Ironsi, General Yakubu Gowon, General Murtala Mohammed and General Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari or General Buhari ever conferred on their first lady as much power as Babangida did to his own first lady, Mariam Babangida.

Babangida started in Nigeria a new phenomenon of First lady behaving as an elected official. History would record that it was Babangida, one of the PDP king makers who damned the consequence to enroll Nigeria as a permanent member of IOC. The PDP now seems to have forgotten that the bunch of military dictators in their party like Obasanjo, Babangida and even Odumegwu Ojukwu (who at one point in his life was an NPN member), were all more dictatorial than Buhari. Obasanjo ordered Nigerian soldiers to raise odi to the ground and he got away with it.

Babangida was known to have delivered a time bomb that silenced Dele Giwa forever from writing a book on Gloria Okon, the drug pusher. That allegation was never disowned by Babangida till tomorrow. The PDP seems to forget that Abacha, Abdulsalam Abubakar were no less a dictator than Buhari whom they now want to tarnish and rubbish, but they all forget that Buhari did all he did including the caging of Umaru Dikko in a crate because he was bent on pursuing corrupt Nigerians to the gates of Hell. It was exactly the right thing to do if Nigeria is to survive.

Having failed in all their efforts to stigmatize Buhari, they are now embracing a new low in their depravity and desperation by insisting that Professor Jega’s INEC must disqualify Buhari from running if the General cannot produce his West African School Certificate. It is simply unbelievable that Professor Jega would be encouraging such garbage and innuendoes by keeping quiet.

The PDP is a party which has supported the Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose who ran against and defeated two former Governors of Ekiti even though many in Nigeria are still questioning till tomorrow whether or not Fayose has the OND or the HND he claimed to have earned from Ibadan Polytechnic. Since when has educational qualification become such a valuable asset to the PDP, the successor of NPC, the NPN and the NRC in Nigeria if you are following their profile and history like I do? Fayose who had a criminal case pending against him should have disqualified from running in Ekiti. He got away because Ebele Jonathan was the chief promoter of hooliganism, election rigging and corruption in Nigeria. To him stealing was nothing but a little misdemeanor which can be overlooked.

Tafawa Balewa was a Grade II teacher with an Associate Diploma from the UK. That did not stop the NPC from sponsoring him to run against Ogbuefi, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe with a Ph.D from Lincoln University or Obafemi Awolowo with a degree in Economic and another degree in Law before going into Politics. Balewa’s paper qualification was never a disqualifier at the time and he went on to beat the two intellectual giants of Nigeria. Balewa was not called the golden voice of Africa for nothing.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/01/05/desperation-jonathan-camp-anticipation-defeat-can-worms-nigerians-should-be-ashamed-dr

Reduce fuel price, APC tells FG


THE All Progressives Congress in Oyo State has demanded from the Federal Government, an immediate reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products in view of the crash of the price of crude oil in the international market.

In a statement in Ibadan on Sunday by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, the APC recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan and his economic team had arrived at N97 per litre of Premium Motor Spirit in 2012 citing skyrocketing prices of crude oil in the global market which necessarily rubbed on high landing cost of imported petroleum products, particularly the PMS, otherwise known as petrol.

Sadare said, “The oil price has fallen by 49 per cent from 2013 prices and Jonathan administration still claimed it spent a whooping N971bn on its voodoo subsidy payment in 2014. Does it mean that Nigeria has been buying refined petroleum products at the same rate from nations with functional refineries despite the crash in crude oil prices? How come Ghana was able to implement a 13 per cent reduction in the prices of same products in its local market?

“As much as we know that the present administration would never be transparent in its economic dealings with the citizenry since it has prioritised promotion of corruption and pursuit of parochial interests, we challenge the President and his economic team to be sincere to Nigerians for once and implement a drastic reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products with a view to alleviating the suffering which the masses currently experience.”

The party, however, lauded the Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, for what it described as the governor’s rare display of competence, which it said made the economy of the state to remain strong despite the threat posed by persistent slash in the statutory allocations coming from the Federal Government.

“It can only take a tactful, visionary and pro-active mind to face the challenge of drastic dwindling allocations to a state like Oyo with weak Internally Generated Revenue base to keep the machinery of government afloat. With a paltry sum of N2.9b being received by a governor who is responsible for the monthly payment of N4.95b in overhead cost, the task could be more than daunting.

“This the governor does effortlessly in addition to regular maintenance of the environment, security and improvement on social infrastructure without borrowing a dime from anywhere,” the statement added.


http://www.punchng.com/news/reduce-fuel-price-apc-tells-fg-2/

APGA favours Buhari to emerge as president



The All Progressive Grand Alliance says it cannot throw its weight behind President Goodluck Jonathan as it is very likely that the candidate of the All progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will emerge the winner of the presidential election next month.

The Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of APGA, Mr. Campbell Umeh-Nzekwe, who is also a special adviser to the national chairman of the party, said this during an interview with our correspondent, on Sunday.

Umeh-Nzekwe said Jonathan’s problem was compounded by the fact that the motion to adopt him as the consensus candidate of the Igbo for the 2015 presidential election failed at the Ime-Obi (inner caucus) meeting of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Saturday, in Enugu.

He added that the sermon of renowned Enugu-based Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, that Jonathan had failed and should step down seemed to have sent shockwaves across the South-East.

He said the party was sure that Jonathan would not win votes in the North.

He said, “The game has changed. As it is, Jonathan has no chance of winning. Buhari seems to have taken over. The PDP has collapsed in the North if you care to know. All those who are running to Aso Rock and making promises to the President are just deceiving him.”

When asked if APGA would be supporting Buhari next month, Umeh-Nzekwe said he could not say for sure.

He said, “Jonathan is a sitting President with incumbency factor in his favour but Buhari has the masses and a cult following in the North. In 2011, Buhari won 12 million votes in the North with his rag-tag party, the Congress for Progressive Change, without a single governor or senator to campaign for him.

“Today, his party, the APC, has 14 governors, 43 senators and 176 Reps as well as 625 House of Assembly members. Also, the APC has dominant control of the North-West with a total number of 18.4 million voters and North-East with 10.2 million while South-West has 13.4 million voters

“ The PDP has dominant control of the North-Central and Abuja with 10.4 million voters while the South-South has 8.5 million and South-East has 7.2 million votes.

“However, no zone has achieved 50 per cent of votes cast but northern voters are more committed and trustworthy than those in the South.

“Also, look at Jonathan’s campaign team. He has Col. Ahmadu Ali (retd.) as his Director General and Peter Obi as the deputy while Buhari has Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora as director general and deputy respectively. It is time for Ndi Igbo to review their strategy.

http://www.punchng.com/politics/apga-favours-buhari-to-emerge-as-president/

Has anyone done a pre-order before? What is the guarantee on delivery?

I am nobody’s stooge, Osinbajo on Adeboye, Tinubu



The Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in this interview with KAYODE FALADE, talks about his nomination and national issues

You were not in the early picture of contenders for the vice-presidential slot. When and how did your name pop up?

I think my name was always being mentioned. My name came up early. Maybe a great deal of importance wasn’t attached to it but it came up early. At least, in the press, it was reported frequently early too. This has been on since almost four or five months ago. There have been speculations for that long. Thus, my name has always popped up.

As a pastor and legal practitioner who is not much of a politician; why did you accept the offer when you were nominated?

I accepted the offer because I believe one of the most important contributions that any person can make to a society is public service. For me, it didn’t require much reflection because I have always believed the most effective way of making maximum impact on the welfare and well-being of our society is through public service.

You’ve always emphasised prayers. Did you pray about this before you accepted?

I always pray. I prayed about this just as I pray about many things because communication with God at all times is important. I also think people, maybe, get more religious when it comes to political office. People tend to say God told them to do something or the other; but I think the most important thing to bear in mind is that as far as the Christian is concerned, there is something called the priesthood of the believer, which means that every believer is a priest unto God. It also means every believer has a duty to serve man as if we are serving God. In other words, service to man is service to God. For a Christian, especially a pastor, to suggest that if he has an opportunity to serve millions of people, an opportunity to effect policies which may alleviate the sufferings of millions of people, as it is the case in Nigeria, an opportunity to fashion policies that may transform the lives of people, I think it may be hypocritical not to participate in that.

I also believe that when you are committed to doing God’s will — and His will for us all as Christians is that we must participate in solving problems, especially the problems of the needy and those who cannot help themselves — we must do those things. That is part of our calling and in fact, our scripture says that we will be asked on the last day, ‘What did you do when you saw me naked? What did you do when you saw me sick and in prison?’ If we then say, ‘Lord (Jesus), when did we see you hungry? When did we see you sick?’ And then, Jesus will say, ‘Every time you saw those sick people, the poor and the hungry; every time you saw the naked, it was me (Jesus).’ For me, it is almost unthinkable for a Christian to second-guess public service. We must be prepared to serve the people. That is what I teach and preach in my church. There are probably hundreds of thousands of individuals as deserving who do not get that opportunity, but I do. And then I should turn it down for some reasons? It wouldn’t even occur to me, except if God were to say specifically to me, ‘Don’t do it.’

Did God reveal your victory?

That’s the point I’ve been trying to make to you. It is not about winning. That is not what I am interested in. What I am interested in is not what God says about winning or losing. I am not asking Him for, as it were, a lottery. If we were going to play a game, then I could say, ‘O Lord, will I win or lose?’ That’s not the point. The point is will I serve the people or will I not? That’s the only issue I need to consider and I don’t need any special directive on that because that is what God has already said we must do as believers.

And what did He tell you?

No, I won’t disclose that to you.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, where you are a pastor, has come out to say it never endorsed you…

I don’t think the church has ever said any such thing. Also, the church does not endorse candidates. The General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has not said any such thing. He has not issued any statement. In any event, the RCCG as a church cannot endorse a candidate. How can a church endorse a candidate?

But did you seek Pastor Adeboye’s consent before accepting the nomination?

I serve under the GO of the RCCG as a pastor. If I am going to take any kind of action, especially an action that involves public service, it is my duty to consult with him. It would be absolutely irresponsible of me not to consult with him. And I have consulted with him.

Did he give you his consent?

I have consulted with Adeboye fully. I am not prepared to share with you the details of our discussion. But be absolutely certain that I would not take these steps without properly consulting with him and that I did what was needful.

The opposition has labelled you a stooge of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. What is your reaction to that?

I think it is irrelevant. I cannot dignify that with a comment. What anyone should do is look at my track record. In any event, when you look at Tinubu, who is it that he has in any form supported that turned out to be his stooge? Is it (Lagos State Governor, Babatunde) Fashola or (former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode) Fayemi? Is it (Osun State Governor, Rauf) Aregbesola or (Edo State Governor, Adams) Oshiomhole? Is it (Oyo State Governor, Abiola) Ajimobi, (Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle) Amosun or Wale Edun? These are individuals who have contributed tremendously to the development of their states and the development of this nation. And all you need to ask those who tell you about stooges and all of that is, ‘Who are those men and women of character who they have produced to serve in the same states where we have served so creditably?’ I think the statement is not really worth the comment.

One of the reasons given for ‘zoning’ the APC vice-presidential slot to the South-West was that the region sacrificed so much for the emergence of the party and that it has been marginalised in the current dispensation. As a candidate of the South-West, what are your plans for the region?

I am a candidate of the APC, which is a national party. Don’t regionalise candidature. Gen. (Muhammadu) Buhari is a representative of the South-West, the North and everywhere else, and so am I. We were elected nationally; we were not elected to represent regions or places. It would be wrong for us to say that the reason why I am there is for the South-West. What then would the South-East and South-South say? I don’t think that regionalising it in that way is right. I think we are persons who have been appointed into national offices and we will serve in those capacities. I think that is the right way to look at this. I believe the South-West will be an engine of change and development in Nigeria. It is important that that is maintained, just as all the parts of Nigeria — the South-East, South-South and the North. Everyone has a role to play and a contribution to make.

Why then did your party say it gave the South-West the slot?

I’m sure that is not an official statement of the party. I am sure that is a speculation. I don’t think it is fair to say that is the official position of the party. The party may have its reasons; but officially, the fair thing to say is that Buhari and I were nominated by the party to be national, not regional, officers.

As a lawyer, you are trained to obey the rule of law while Buhari is a retired Army general, who gained power several years ago through a coup d’état. Are you sure there wouldn’t be a conflict if you are elected?

I’ve interacted extensively with Buhari and I think he is conscious of the fact that we are in a civilian dispensation and that we are bound by the rule of law and the Constitution. He has repeated this so often. He has demonstrated this by going to court every time he lost election, pursuing the rule of law and legal processes.

He could have completely ignored it. He could have said, ‘I don’t even believe in the rule of law. I don’t believe in the system.’ But he has consistently done the right thing and whenever he speaks, you’ll notice that he always goes back to the Constitution. I believe whatever we may say about the military dispensation, we should realise that the era was not famous for the observance of the rule of law. But I think that after all of these years, Buhari has had plenty of time to reflect and all his utterances in the many years after military rule show that he definitely subscribes fully to the tenets of the rule of law and fundamental human rights and also understands that democratic rule is different from military rule. Thus, I have no problems at all working with a man like him.

Some schools of thought have it that you are of less electoral value, compared with Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Governor Rotimi Amaechi and even Governor Raji Fashola. The argument is that the party is making a mistake by going for somebody who has never contested or won any election. Is the argument valid to you?

I think that, perhaps, there is an advantage to that, because it means that I have to work harder. And as you can see, I am working very hard. I think that hard work always pays off. We’re going round, speaking with the people to know their concerns. I take nothing for granted and that is one of the most important things I’d like to bring into the campaign. We must do what we need to do, we must work harder than ever, we must answer questions from the public. We are not saying to the people, ‘I am so well-known. I don’t need to come and speak to you.’ Thus, that might well be an advantage for the party; that I cannot take anything for granted. I need to work hard to get the party’s policies known and recognised. I think it is important that the party has chosen this and I am sure that it took everything into consideration before making the choice that it made. Of course, all the gentlemen you have referred to are thoroughly qualified individuals who would have brought something of worth and value to the ticket; but that’s the nature of the APC, we have many to choose from.

What are the things of value you are bringing to the table?

I’m bringing in hard work, focus, my reputation for detailed work and also I like to support a man who believes in probity and accountability. I think that is important. I also would like to work with implementation of policies. We have shown that for eight years in Lagos State. We worked very hard on our justice sector reforms and all the other reforms of the Tinubu-led administration. Even in the subsequent administration, we worked hard with all of those who are there. We have been there in the public service; we may not be famous, but we have worked very hard.

Considering the fact that the Office of the Vice President has no portfolio under the Constitution, how confident are you that you can realise all these?

Buhari and I have had several discussions. I know that he will not waste the peculiar attributes that I will bring to the table, because he is a person who obviously values contributions from other people. I have worked with him and I have seen him at work. I don’t think that he would waste my contributions. I think he will happily receive contributions and give me roles to play that will ensure that his administration benefits maximally. What’s the point of having me on the ticket, if he is not going to use what I will bring to the table? I don’t have any doubts at all that Buhari will find my contributions useful enough for him to say, ‘This and that are the things I’d like you to do.’

Which roles do you think he would ask you to perform?

I cannot speculate on that. You will have to ask him.

One of the most serious issues the country is facing is insecurity. How do you think this should be tackled?

I think the first problem is recognising that you cannot deal with such a major assault on the integrity of the nation when you are misrepresenting the facts. And one of the things that the government, unfortunately, has done is to accuse the opposition of being responsible for the Boko Haram (insurgency), which, of course, has created a division. Look at everywhere else in the world where a country has come under attack. What the government does is to ensure that there is a bipartisan or a multi-party agreement on how to tackle the problem. You don’t politicise the issue. In this case, the false allegations made against the APC of being responsible for Boko Haram (attacks), including allegations made against senior members of the party by the government, first of all, created a distraction. Rather than identify the real causes and issues surrounding the Boko Haram (insurgency), they were busy labelling the APC. This, for me, is one of the greatest disservices this administration has done to this nation. The fact that, rather than focus on who the true enemy was, they waited until Buhari was almost killed by the same Boko Haram before, they started to rethink that allegation, is unfortunate. Whenever they find it convenient, they just throw the allegation around.

I think that the first thing, when you want to deal with a danger of such enormity to a nation, is that you must be truthful, sincere and forthright. You must identify who the true enemy is. The second is that you have to motivate and equip the military and the Commander-in-Chief must lead from the front. You cannot lead from behind. The people must see that just as you are saying to them that they must be prepared to fight Boko Haram, you are also prepared. It is apparent that our military is very disciplined. I have said this many times, the Nigerian Army is one of the best in the world; definitely one of the best in Africa. I served under UNOSOM 2 in Mogadishu, Somalia; the head of the Police that took care of the entire operation, Col. Pat Akem, was a Nigerian. He is now a brigadier. All of the troops from other nations were under his care as the head of the military police in that operation. The Representative of the United Nations

Secretary-General in that mission always insisted that Nigerians should be the one to guard him when he would go out of the UN compound. Nigerian troops have distinguished themselves in peacekeeping all over the world. It is unfortunate to hear terrible stories that Boko Haram insurgents chased soldiers away and they are not well-equipped or motivated. It is sad. If you want to win against an insurgency, then you must arm the military well. That is what is required. Look at the Chibok girls and all that has happened. Isn’t it right for the Commander-in-Chief to visit the place? For me, I think that these are some of the issues that boost morale, motivate the troops and the nation. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The third issue is that we must also identify the fact that there seems to be a large pool from where these Boko Haram members are continuously being recruited. What is the reason for that? Many of our young people don’t have a stake in this society. They are jobless; there are no opportunities. And then somebody comes to them and says, ‘if you join us, whatever you steal or loot, including women, is yours.’ That is a problem. I think what we ought to bear in mind is that we must address some of the root causes, especially the pool from which these people are constantly recruiting from. We must address the problems of poverty and disillusionment among young people, especially in those regions where Boko Haram has largely been operating from. I believe that our government would be able to address those issues seriously and comprehensibly. If we say, so far, trillions have been spent on defence, and troops are complaining about bullets and rounds of ammunition, then there is something gravely wrong.

Some personalities from the Niger Delta region have threatened that if Jonathan does not win, there will be unrest. What is your take on this?

I don’t think there will be any unrest. I think our brothers in the Niger Delta are very reasonable people. I think what everyone will be looking for is a free and fair election. If elections are credible, no one will take up arms or resort to self-help. If we have a free and fair election, I don’t think that anyone will put their lives on the line to defend the government or any such thing. What is most important is a free and fair election. That is what the Independent National Electoral Commission and the government of today should aim for.

Do you see INEC accomplishing it?

The distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards has not shown INEC in a very good light. I would really urge INEC to rise up to its responsibilities. These coming elections are very important for the future of our nation. And I think it is important for INEC to live up to its responsibilities; understand the importance of the elections and understand why the elections should not be tainted in anyway by any kind of suggestion that they were not properly conducted. I think INEC really has a duty to this nation — to ensure that things are done properly this time.

Buhari chose another pastor, Tunde Bakare, as his running mate in his last bid for the presidency in 2011. Does he have a disposition to clerics?

You will have to ask Buhari why he likes pastors. But I think it’s a good thing and a good sign. I think it shows that he is well and able to work with anyone — clerics and people of other faiths.

It is believed that Buhari’s quest to sanitise the political system is an overambitious one due to the level of corruption which political leaders in Nigeria have grown accustomed to. What’s your take?

I think our nation is at a point where corruption is almost the norm, especially in the public service. You and I know that that is probably the rule; the exception is any kind of transparency or forthright behaviour. But it is important to draw the line somewhere, because this nation cannot continue with this level of corruption. It is just impossible. I don’t think that people are born good. As a matter of fact, my belief is that most people will do the wrong thing if there is no consequence for their action. And the reason why we are here today is that there is no consequence for the actions that people take — for corruption, stealing, or anything of the sort. That is the reason why I think that what is required, first of all, is an administration where people believe that the number one man will not tolerate corruption. If the number one man is perceived as a man that will not tolerate corruption, then you have moved light years from where we are today. I think that Buhari is somebody who is respected for his strong views on corruption. What we need to introduce today is consequence for corruption. If we don’t do that, frankly I am fearful that we may not have much left of a country.

http://www.punchng.com/news/i-am-nobodys-stooge-osinbajo-on-adeboye-tinubu/

Nigerian Army Has Buhari’s Academic Records, But He Needs To Apply


The director of public relations of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier Olaleye Lajide, has dismissed reports in the Nigerian media claiming that the army could not find academic records of General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.), the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Brigadier Lajide described the reports as false.


The military spokesman made the disclosure while responding to a text message from SaharaReporters seeking clarification about the status of Mr. Buhari’s records. Brigadier Lajide affirmed that the Nigerian Army is in possession of all records of serving, retired and deceased officers since its inception. He added, however, that all military officers are supposed to keep original copies of their certificates.

According to him, in the event where an officer loses his or her original copy of records, the concerned officer must officially apply for copies from the army. He stated that the army responds to such requests in an expeditious manner.

Brigadier Lajide told our correspondent that he was a former director of records at the Nigerian Army headquarters and had seen records of older and retired generals. He added that he was in no doubt that General Buhari’s records were intact.

Brigadier Olaleye insisted that the claim in a major Nigerian newspaper, that the army could not locate Mr. Buhari’s record was untrue.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/01/03/nigerian-army-has-buhari’s-academic-records-he-needs-apply

Six weeks to election: FG yet to approve N75bn INEC budget

JANUARY 3, 2015 BY DAYO OKETOLA, FISAYO FALODI, ADE ADESOMOJU AND JESUSEGUN ALAGBE


Six weeks to this year’s general elections, the Federal Government has yet to appropriate the remaining N75bn out of the N120bn budgeted for the conduct of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

This, according to social commentators, lawyers, and other concerned stakeholders is already hampering the INEC’s preparations for the much awaited elections.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that INEC had estimated that it would need N120bn to prepare for the elections, but only N45bn was appropriated by the Budget Office of the Federation in 2014 budget, leaving a shortfall of N75bn.

The House of Representatives had recently raised concerns over the general elections, saying that adequate funding and security would determine the credibility of the polls.

The House Committee on Electoral Matters said it had resolved to summon the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to brief the lawmakers on the preparedness of the commission to conduct the poll.

Chairman of the committee, Mr. Jerry Manwe, in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents, said while Nigerians expected INEC to conduct credible polls, they were not asking questions about the funding available to the commission and the “disturbing insecurity situation in some parts of the country.”

Manwe said, “We expect a credible, free and fair polls, but this will again depend on funding of INEC and security.

“My committee will summon Jega to brief us on the INEC’s preparation for the elections. Jega has to come and meet with the committee because there are sensitive issues we have to look at, one of them is insecurity.

“Funding and security play a role in the credibility of any election. So, we will have to look at all these with the INEC chairman.”

In June, the House had raised the alarm over alleged shortfall in funding of INEC, especially as regards the general elections.

After going through the proposals for the 2014 budget, the committee said it found out that of the N120bn the commission proposed for the general elections, the Budget Office of the Federation only made a provision for N45bn.

The committee noted at the time that the approved N45bn left a balance of about N75bn.

“Of the N120bn that INEC proposed, only N45bn was given to the commission by government. It means that the commission is short of a huge difference of N75bn. As the committee on electoral matters, our work is to alert the relevant authorities on our findings and the implications for the 2015 elections,” the committee had warned in June.

Manwe had expressed doubts that the situation would have improved remarkably.

The International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based advocacy organisation, in a report titled: “Nigeria’s dangerous 2015 elections: Limiting the Violence” released on November 21, 2014, also claimed that dwindling allocations to INEC was already hampering its preparations towards the 2015 elections.

According to ICG, one of INEC greatest challenges arises from funding gaps.

It said, “In 2011, the commission was given

N85bn (then approximately $515m) from a special fund that enabled it to conduct that year’s elections successfully.

“However, in 2012, its allocation dropped to N35bn (some $225m) and then dropped further to N32bn (about $200m) in 2013. This year (2014), the commission had estimated it would need N93bn ($560m) to prepare for the 2015 elections, but it was appropriated only N45bn ($272m). The reduced funding and the inconsistent manner in which it is disbursed have hampered some of the commission’s preparations.”

The ICG noted that inadequate funding had affected the storage of voters’ data.

Explaining difficulties with equipment for updating the voter register, INEC Chairman, Jega, had said, “The major challenge was storage. For the last three years, every time we prepared our budget, we requested funding to create a facility in order to appropriately store our equipment. Regrettably, we never had this funding requirement met, and the way the equipment was stored really left much to be desired.

The ICG, in the report, gave this as one of the reasons INEC had not been able to produce a “clean” voter register few months to the elections.

The spokesperson for the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, said, “On the issue of funding, the commission is engaging the authorities and the response is encouraging; we must state that clearly. We are expecting an invitation from the National Assembly to appear before it as regards this issue.

“The funding of an election is not usually in the election year. Like I said, we are meeting with the authorities and releases are being made. There is no shortfall of funding anywhere. We don’t know where the figures being peddled come from and how it is being calculated.”

On financial constraint being the reason for the poor distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards, Idowu said, “Clearly and categorically, it is not true. We didn’t distribute the cards at the same time.

“As regards the issue of timing, it is a function of the budget. We have certain number of days at the polling unit level. It does not make economic sense to spend endless days at the polling units.

“All over the country, we are using about 350,000 people, paying them about N2bn per day. How can that be budgeted for? We don’t have the luxury of shedding off that kind of money for many days because we also have to look at the big picture.

“Many people are looking at the microscopic picture. For how long can we pay N2bn per day? That is why we said we would spend three days for the exercise. It is good to have a model that will save costs. That is why we said we are distributing the cards at the local government offices.

“We cannot keep these workers at the polling units for days because we cannot keep spending billions of naira every day. It simply cannot be budgeted for, it doesn’t make sense.

“We do not see any possibility that the election would not hold because of lack of funding. We should be optimistic that the elections would come and go without any hitches. The economic condition will not affect the election process, since the will is there.”

A Lagos-based economist, Mr. Babatunde Abrahams, said that inadequate funding could affect the integrity of the elections.

He said that if there are no funds to carry out the electioneering process in details, there would be certain flops that would be created which electoral fraudsters could exploit to rig the elections.

He also said that if the Federal Government and INEC were to be honest, the global slump in oil price would affect the funding of the upcoming elections.

He said, “When INEC presented its budget for the elections, the oil price had not fallen. They had based their budget on the oil price benchmark for the year, the only commodity on which the country survives.

“Now by my calculation, if the oil price has slumped and some of the countries that used to buy from us are not buying again either because they are finding alternatives to oil or have discovered the commodity in their own lands, then how would it not affect the funding that accrues to INEC?

“Yes, the commission may claim that they are receiving support from government to avoid hitches, but the truth is there is going to be some form of problem or the other except we want to be economical with the truth.”

Abrahams added that if the commission were receiving any financial support from the Federal Government at the moment, it meant that the latter was dipping its hands into funds meant for other sectors of the economy.

“Ultimately, it would require sacrifices here and there to make the next elections feasible from the economic point of view,” he said.

A social commentator and lawyer, Mr. Rasheed Bamisile, said it was embarrassing that the budget was released by the Federal Government in piece meal.

He said releasing the money in tranches was an indication that the Federal Government was not prepared for the smooth conduct of the much expected elections, especially if approval of the INEC budget was total.

Bamisile said, “Before the sum of the N45bn initially given to the INEC was released, there must have been approval by the ministry of finance or any other relevant government agency. So, withholding part of the money budgeted for the execution of the elections may be interpreted to mean that government is already putting a spanner in the wheel of the electoral process.”

According to him, the development may mar the credibility of the elections as some of the electoral officials may be lured or compromised by corrupt politicians, if their emoluments are not promptly paid by the INEC.

Bamisile said, “The general elections are less than two months away and if the remaining N75bn is not released to the INEC in the first week of January for the commission to address some likely challenges in terms of logistics, it means the commission will have to use one vehicle to convey election materials to about four or five local government areas and if this is the case, there is possibility that the credibility of election may be marred.

“The election may not be rigged, but if the process is underfunded, its credibility can still be doubted. The development can also affect the credibility of the INEC Chairman.”

Former Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani, said the slashing of the N120bn proposed by the INEC to N45bn in addition to the non-release of the fund justified the fear that there might not be free and fair election in 2015.

He said, “If that is true then my fear has been justified that INEC will not conduct free and fair election in 2015. If a budget proposal of N120bn was made and only about N45bn was appropriated; even up till now the money has not been released.

“Then it means they are bent on ensuring that the election is not credible or that it does not hold. An alarm should be raised about the danger ahead.”

He added that slump in oil price should never be a basis for non-release of the fund.

He said, “Nigeria has been experiencing oil boom for many years, and we experience slump in oil price just for three months and you started imposing austerity measures on key sectors that do not affect the budget. That is baseless. Meanwhile, the austerity measures they are introducing have not reflected in the budget of the presidency.”

Another Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu, said the non-release of the required fund to INEC would only compound the threat already posed by insecurity in the North-East to the credible conduct of the general elections.

The activist said, “The security challenges in North-East especially in three states still pose threat to the constitutional requirement that should be attained by a person that can be validly declared as winner of the presidential election.

“That alone should be enough challenge. The budget is a law, it is meant to be implemented. INEC must not be allowed to reel under underfunding. If INEC is not properly funded, there will be excuse for them to conduct elections that are not free and fair.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/six-weeks-to-election-fg-yet-to-approve-n75bn-inec-budget/

PDP National Chairman Is An Islamist Who Ordered Slaughtering Of Christians As Bauchi State Governor In 2001

By Bunmi Awoyemi

Adamu Muazu the PDP National Chairman is an Islamist and unrepentant sharia advocate who ordered the slaughtering of Christians as Bauchi state Governor in 2001.

The current PDP Chairman, Adamu Muazu as Governor of Bauchi state adopted sharia law as part of the law of Bauchi state and signed it into law in 2001. Buhari as former military Head of State with immense power did not adopt Sharia law as national law, he also refused to register Nigeria as a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). It was IBB that later registered Nigeria as a member of the OIC after his successful palace coup against Buhari.

Adamu Muazu is an unrepentant Islamist. At least 30 Christians were killed during a June 2001 outbreak of violence between Muslims and Christians in the Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro areas of northern Nigeria's Bauchi state.

More than 158 Christian-owned houses were burned, along with two churches and a Bible school belonging to the Church of Christ in Nigeria, according to a statement signed by four leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).


Adamu Mu'azu
The religious clashes began on June 18, 2001, after Bauchi Governor Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Muazu declared on June 1 that Islamic (sharia) law applied to all persons in the state, not Muslims only. On June 4, Muazu assigned an Islamic court judge to Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas to enforce Islamic law in the predominantly Christian villages.

The four Christian leaders, Rev. Markus Musa, Rev. Canon H.A. Eluwa, Michael Lulu and Yunusa Manzo, accused the governor of masterminding the Christian killings.

"He knew well that Christians were slaughtered at a roadblock at Zwall and Burgel villages by Muslim jihadists. Yet, to date he did nothing about it," the Christian leaders claimed.

"The fact that Governor Ahmed Adamu Muazu, as the chief security officer in the state, did nothing to prevent the slaughtering of the Christians at those roadblocks means that he actually helped in the planning and execution of the jihad against the Christians in Bauchi state," the Christian leaders concluded.

Recently, President Jonathan despite the false accusation of his campaign team against Buhari, attended an OIC meeting and this is the first time this is happening in 15 years. This evinces the fact that President Jonathan and his handlers are award winning liars who are extremely desperate for power.

Based on the foregoing it is becoming increasingly clear that the long-standing allegations against Buhari that he is a Sharia advocate and Islamist is diversionary, wicked and hypocritical. It is the PDP as exemplified by its Chairman Adamu Muazu that not only advocated that Sharia be widely adopted in Nigeria but also adopted and enforced Sharia law.

Bunmi Awoyemi, Ph.D is the author of this opinion and is a public affairs analyst, lawyer and entrepreneur.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/01/02/pdp-national-chairman-islamist-who-ordered-slaughtering-christians-bauchi-state-governor

Happy new year Nairalanders. I need your advice on the feasibility and security of pre-ordering phones from outside Nigeria. I am thinking of ordering for a Chinese phone and I have not done that before. I would appreciate the input of those that have ordered for products outside Nigeria before. How secure is this process? I stay outside Lagos. Will the product get to me where I am or will I be asked to come to Lagos for it. Thanks.

Revealed: ‘Actionable Intelligence’ from US on Chibok Girls was Ignored by Military


• Mutual mistrust between US and Nigeria at heart of failed cooperation on Boko Haram
• Double suicide bombings claim eight lives in Gombe
Senator Iroegbu in Abuja and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi with agency report

A revealing report by the New York Times on the faltering relationship between Nigeria and the United States of America has shown that when the Pentagon came up with what it called “actionable intelligence” from drone flights on information that might have indicated the location of some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls and turned it over to the Nigerian military commanders to pursue, they did nothing with the information.


Quoting unnamed Africa Command officials in Stuttgart, Germany, the New York Times, however, reported that shortly after the US offered to help rescue the girls, it flew several hundred surveillance drone flights over the vast, densely forested regions in the North-east (Sambisa forest) where the girls were seized, but officials in Stuttgart said that with few tips to guide the missions, the flights yielded little information, while diverting drones from other missions in war zones like Iraq and Syria.


The lack of result was also blamed on mutual mistrust between US and Nigerian officials: “Although the United States reached an agreement with Nigeria last spring to share some intelligence, American officials did not include raw intelligence data because they believed that Boko Haram has infiltrated the Nigerian security services.”


According to the New York Times, “Soon after the Islamist group, Boko Haram, kidnapped nearly 300 teenage girls in Nigeria in April, the United States sent surveillance drones and about 30 intelligence and security experts to help the Nigerian military try to rescue them.
“Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the top general for American missions in Africa, rushed from his headquarters here to help the commanders in the crisis.


“Seven months later, the drone flights have dwindled, many of the advisers have gone home and not one of the kidnapped girls has been found. Many are believed to have been married off to Boko Haram fighters, who in the past six months have seized hundreds more civilians, including children, planted bombs in Nigerian cities and captured entire towns.”


In Washington, the newspaper added that the fleeting moment of cooperation between Nigeria and the United States in May has now devolved into finger pointing and stoked the mistrust between the two countries’ militaries.


“Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States has accused the Obama administration of failing to support the fight against Boko Haram, prompting the State Department to fire back with condemnations of the Nigerian military’s dismal human rights record.


“Tensions in the US-Nigeria relationship are probably at their highest level in the past decade,” Johnnie Carson, the State Department’s former top diplomat for Africa, said in an interview. “There is a high degree of frustration on both sides. But this frustration should not be allowed to spin out of control.”


In Stuttgart, the New York Times reported, officials at the headquarters of the United States Africa Command offered their own bleak assessment of a corruption-plagued, poorly equipped Nigerian military that is “in tatters” as it confronts an enemy that now controls about 20 per cent of the country.


“Ounce for ounce, Boko Haram is equal to if not better than the Nigerian military,” said one American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational reports.


The violence is in the meantime spilling into neighbouring countries like Cameroun, which carried out its first airstrikes against Boko Haram this week, after militants overran a military base and attacked five villages there.


Despite Boko Haram’s advances, United States Embassy officials in Abuja said Nigeria has cancelled the last stage of American training of a newly created Nigerian Army battalion.


The lack of cooperation was magnified when Maj. Gen. James B. Linder, the head of American Special Operations forces in Africa, visited Nigeria in late October, but was barred from visiting the base where American trainers were instructing the new Nigerian Army battalion created to help fight Boko Haram.


General Linder was left waiting at the gate in what some American officials viewed as another dig at the Pentagon. Africa Command officials insisted it was a “coordination issue that was remedied with a meeting later in the day”.


“We continue to engage with Nigeria on a broad range of training, equipping, and information-sharing projects across all of the military services,” Benjamin Benson, an Africa Command spokesman, said in an email to the New York Times.


Although Secretary of State John Kerry called Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday in part to discuss Boko Haram, the strains between the two militaries are not new, and with Nigeria preparing for national elections in February, US officials fear that earlier assessments may overtake their cautious optimism from the spring.


Meanwhile, less than 12 hours after a female suicide bomber was killed in an attempt to detonate an explosive at the army barracks in Gombe on Wednesday night, another suicide bomber died yesterday morning at ECWA Church behind Gombe State University.


THISDAY checks revealed that the Boys Brigade members, a local vigilante group, who arrived early to provide safety for the church saved what could have been a disastrous New Year celebration in Gombe.


According to one of the members of the Boys Brigade, who was on duty at the church, the suicide bomber arrived on a motorbike but could not get close to the church because the road had been barricaded.


He said the bomber was asked to alight for normal screening but he refused.
The Boko Haram suspect then tried to sneak through the barricade when the explosive blew up and killed the suicide bomber instantly.
Five of the vigilante members sustained minor injuries with the exception of one who was probably closest to the bomber and had one of his arms almost ripped off.


At the army barracks, an eyewitness said soldiers on guard at the entrance were searching a vehicle when a motorcycle arrived with a female passenger.


When the woman failed to obey the soldiers’ orders stopping her from advancing towards them, they shot at her and detonated the bombs concealed on her person.


The bomb explosion led to the death of seven persons.
According to AFP, soldiers opened fire on the woman when she refused to be searched as she approached the barracks in Bolari, in Gombe State, detonating the explosives belt she was wearing, according to eyewitness accounts.
The woman, who was wearing a hijab, was killed instantly, witnesses said.


"The woman refused to stop and continued to advance towards the military guards at the gates despite repeated orders for them to stop at a distance," said Shuaibu Nasir, who lives near the gates of the barracks.


"The soldiers opened fire on the woman who quickened her pace towards them and as they fired shots at her she exploded with a loud sound that shook our buildings," Nasir said.


The entire place was immediately cordoned off and those trapped within the Mami Market near the barracks were released about two hours later after a thorough search.


Speaking on both incidents, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Gombe Police Command, DSP Fwaje Atajiri said he could not comment on the barracks incident.


However, he said the incident at the church involved a young man who tried to drive through a security barricade on his motorbike when the bomb exploded on him.


The PPRO said the bomber died on the spot while a few people present at the scene sustained minor injuries and were taken to the hospital for treatment.


Atajiri further confirmed that the suicide bomber did not look like a Nigerian, judging by his facial marks.
He urged members of the public to always report suspicious individuals and movements to enable the security operatives nip possible security breaches in the bud.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/revealed-actionable-intelligence-from-us-on-chibok-girls-was-ignored-by-military/198212/

Nigerian Army dismisses 203 soldiers after secret night trial



The Nigerian Army has dismissed 203 soldiers after a secret court martial held in the dead of the night, for allegedly disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
One of the sacked soldiers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the soldiers were dismissed for asking for support equipment, following the army’s plan to convey them in a tipper for an operation in Bama and Gwoza, two strongholds of Boko Haram insurgents.
The soldier, who is originally of the 19th Battalion in Okitipupa in Ondo State, but attached to the 7th division in Maiduguri, said the army detained them for over 90 days before dismissing them after a midnight trial. He said they are owed up to five months in unpaid salaries.
Narrating the event that led to their dismissal, the soldier said his unit reconvened in Maiduguri last August, after they were dislodged by the insurgents in Damboa in an operation where their commanding officer and several other soldiers were killed.
He said they were given two weeks pass and that at the expiration of their pass, they were issued new uniforms, boots and 30 rounds of bullets each as opposed to the statutory 60 rounds. And were going to be conveyed in a tipper lorry to Gwoza and Bama for an operation.
He said having engaged the insurgents in several past battles, majority of the soldiers argued that the operation would be fierce, and therefore requested support equipment.
“So we asked for support weapons. No support weapon was provided. Our CO (Commanding Officer) said he would discuss with the GOC (General Officer Commanding) of the 7 Division at the headquarters. When he came back, he said we should stand down. We thought all was well,” our source said.
But the request made by the soldiers fetched them more than they bargained for.
The next day their new CO, Mohammed A, a lieutenant colonel from 195 battalion, Agenebode, ordered them to submit their weapons and uniforms or be charged with mutiny.
“On the morning of 16 of August, after the GOC briefing, our commander started calling our names and he said anyone whose name is called should submit their uniform and weapon. He added that anyone who failed to do that would be charged for mutiny. We were surprised at what was happening.
“He started from the most senior soldier among us, a warrant officer who had served for almost 30 years. They asked us to go back to the barrack. It is a war zone and our weapons had been taken from us. Staying around was of no use so we left Maiduguri back home.”
The next order from the army hierarchy was for the soldiers to report to the 4th Brigade headquarters in Benin where they were detained for three months.
“They kept us in the fenced field at the officers’ mess in 4th battalion headquarters. When we first arrived at Benin they took statements from us and took it to Maiduguri. The original charge against us was for deserting but after our statements were taken they changed the charge to disobedient to particular order. They said we disobeyed the CO’s order. They seized our phones, we couldn’t communicate with our families for the 90 days we were kept in detention,” our source said.
After they were released on December 24, they were conveyed to their various units. The soldier said on getting to their units, a court martial was set up at about 11.30 p.m. where they were tried and dismissed. He said the next morning, they were evicted from the barrack with their families.
“It was dismissal without benefits. After 17 years in service. Even people that served for 30 years were dismissed without benefits. We had no legal representation.”
Army spokesperson, Olajide Laleye, a Brigadier General, could not be reached for comments on Thursday. Calls and messages to his telephone were not answered or returned.
The dismissal of the 203 soldiers followed a wave of court-martialling of other soldiers for mutiny and other offences.
On December 24, a military court-martial that sat in Abuja sentenced four soldiers to death by firing squad for alleged mutiny.
That judgment came just about a week after another batch of 54 soldiers were condemned to death for refusing to fight the deadly Boko Haram sect.
The 54 soldiers belonged to the 111 Special Forces battalion attached to the 7 division of the army in Maiduguri. They are to die by firing squad, the military court ruled.
The soldiers were accused of disobeying a direct order from superior officers to take part in an operation aimed at dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State.
The soldiers said they refused to take part in the operation because the Army did not provide them with the required combat and support equipment needed for such operations.
Earlier, in September, 12 soldiers were sentenced to death for allegedly shooting at a car conveying their commanding officer, Ahmed Mohammed, a Major General.
The attack occurred May 14 at the army’s 7 Division, Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri, headed at the time by Mr. Mohammed.
Others were also sentenced to life in jail for criminal conspiracy and attempt to commit murder.
The soldiers revolted after some of their colleagues were ambushed and killed by Boko Haram extremists, an attack they blamed their commander for.
Yet, more soldiers remain on trial for their conducts in the fight against the extremist sect, and face being sentenced to death.
On December 23, another batch of 118 soldiers were transported from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to face charges in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
It is not clear when the troops would be arraigned before the military court, but our sources said unlike their colleagues who were convicted December 17, the 118 soldiers are accused of offences less than mutiny.
Also, 22 top officers, including a brigadier general, are being held at the Ikeja Military Cantonment in Lagos, preparatory to being arraigned for yet unclear offences.
They could not be arraigned on December 22 because the court was not properly constituted.
Their arraignment has now been scheduled for a date in January.
The convicted soldiers, apart from the four that were sentenced December 24, have been moved to Lagos to await appeal, pardon or execution.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/174094-nigerian-army-dismisses-203-soldiers-secret-night-trial.html

FG shifts Tokunbo car tariff increase to April


The Federal Government may have bowed to pressure on the implementation of the 70 per cent tariff on imported used vehicles by postponing its enforcement to April 30, 2015.

This is the third time in six months that the tariff implementation date will be shifted. It was first moved from July 1, 2014 when the government decided to implement the policy in two phases of 35 per cent apiece to January 1, 2015.

The government said then that the arrangement was to enable local vehicle assembly plants to ramp up production in order to meet the nation’s demand for brand new vehicles.

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on Wednesday that the cost of clearing imported second-hand vehicles would rise substantially from today (January 1, 2015) as the second phase of the 70 per cent tariff was meant to begin. By implication, Nigerians would have to pay more for such vehicles.

But the Federal Government, in a statement issued on Wednesday by the National Automotive Council, an agency of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said it had deferred the implementation of the new tariff to April 30, 2015.

The Director-General, NAC, Mr. Aminu Jalal, said in the statement that the postponement was due to the delay in the establishment of a vehicle finance scheme.

He said, “The arrangements for the establishment of the affordable vehicle finance scheme suffered a delay of about four months due to the Ebola Virus Disease.

“The staff of the collaborating bank, Wesbank of South Africa, delayed their planned trip to Nigeria to set up operations from September 2014 to January 2015. Hence, the new date for the start of operations of the financing scheme is April 2014. Accordingly, the Minister of Finance has been asked to extend the levy deferment on used cars to April 30, 2015.”

The Federal Government had imposed the 70 per cent of the cost of all fully built vehicles (both old and new) as tariff being part of an automotive policy introduced in September 2013 to discourage the importation of vehicles.

It also announced a zero per cent tariff on Completely Knocked Down units (vehicles) and five per cent to 10 per cent on Semi Knocked Down units to encourage the establishment of local vehicle assembly plants.

Jalal said, “The automotive policy has five elements, one of which is market development. Under market development, tariffs are increased on FBU vehicle imports. These tariffs are to be reduced gradually over the years, as the vehicle assembly and local content operations gain momentum.”

According to him, the nation’s vehicle market is about 400,000 units annually, with about 300,000 being imported as second-hand.

He explained that the government had introduced measures to balance the vehicle supply and make them affordable, with the production by the local assembly plants.

“The assembly plants will import two FBU at concessionary duty for every one CKD/SKD they assemble in 2014/15. It will be one to one in 2016/17,” Jalal said.

The NAC DG also said new investors would be able to import fully built vehicles at concessionary duty to fill the gap between the supply by the assembly plants and demand.

“As you know, Volkswagen of Nigeria is assembling Hyundai and Nissan cars; PAN is assembling Peugeot cars; IVM has started assembling cars and Dana Motors is assembling Kia cars. Volkswagen, Honda and Renault, among others, are expected to start assembly operations next year,” he added.

http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/fg-shifts-tokunbo-car-tariff-increase-to-april/

How do I pre-order for this device? I have been to their website but I don't know where to pre-order the S3.

Does it come with accessories like screen protector and screen cover? It seems I'm sold on this phone.

Why I attended Olamide’s concert – Osinbajo


The presence of the Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari’s running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, at a concert organised by award-winning hip hop artiste, Olamide, in Lagos on Sunday has become a subject of a raging online debate.

Online commentators questioned the attendance of Osinbajo, the presiding pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Olive Tree Parish, Banana Island, Lagos, at the event, which was described by many as “worldly.”

Such people argued that no “spirit-filled” pastor would find it comfortable listening to “worldly” music in passing, let alone attending a live concert where many of such songs would be rendered.

Responding to the photos splashed on social media, showing Osinbajo while the concert was underway, one Shydoo Shadrack wondered on Twitter if the cleric had not begun backsliding occasioned by his foray into politics.

“Are we sure Osinbajo is a born-again Christian needless to talk of being a pastor? What was he doing at a worldly musical concert? Or was it that this man has begun backsliding so soon?” he asked while expressing concerns over the development.

An entertainment blogger, Segun Oleniju, could not imagine how Osinbajo would have been dancing to the rhythm of Olamide’s songs such as ‘story for the gods’ and ‘Durosoke’.

“I thought they said this Yemi Osinbajo man was a pastor? What was he doing at Olamide’s concert? Too much fakeness in the name of God,” he added on Twitter.

Following the debate his appearance at the concert has stirred, Osinbajo has replied critics questioning his move. The professor of law wrote on his Facebook page that all Nigerians have something to offer to bring about the needed change the country needed.

He added that Olamide was one of the popular Nigerian recording artistes that should join other citizens in transforming the nation.

“I met the popular recording artiste – Olamide. He is an impressive young man. We are richly blessed with talented and energetic individuals who have a lot to offer the nation. Everyone should get involved in transforming our country.

“It is achievable. Change is possible; change starts with you,” Osinbajo, who is running with Buhari on the platform of the All Progressives Party said.

Fans of the APC VP candidate also rallied round him online, hailing his resolve to identify with the likes of Olamide and other entertainment artistes as an appealing and inclusive strategy.

A lawyer, Babalola Ogunmefun-Aare, argued that since Jesus whose teachings modern day Christians follow did not shun the ‘tax collectors’ and other sinners during his lifetime, Osinbajo had not erred by attending Olamide’s concert.

“So, the Professor (Osinbajo) should snub Olamide? Did Jesus Christ snub the tax collectors in the Bible? Did people not accuse Jesus Christ of dinning with sinners? Mr. Vice President in-waiting, we endorse your political moves,” Ogunmefun-Aare stated on Facebook.

Another Lagos-based respondent, Fredrigez Deval, arguing in support of Osinbajo on Facebook, said, “He (Osinbajo) only met with the young man (Olamide) and attended his show. Even Jesus Christ himself mingled with the harlots and tax collectors.

“We should not be in a rush to judge this man of God and the status of his Christian faith. Better still, maybe we should leave Osinbajo with God who searches the hearts of men to judge,”

Meanwhile, a former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has carpeted the ruling Peoples Democratic Party over the N21bn fundraiser it organised for President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid.

The lawmaker representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District accused the donors of contributing to the President’s election purse for the purpose of reciprocating the gesture of the Jonathan-led administration which gave them “free hand to milk and ruin this nation.”

“They are donating billions because he (Jonathan) gave them free hand to milk and ruin this nation. You don’t have to be a politician to know if you are donating billions of naira; you are either getting something or have got something.

“Even if you still have doubts, one thing you are certain of is that this current administration is clueless. Come February 2015, Nigerians should donate their votes to change the system,” Saraki added in a series of tweets.

http://www.punchng.com/i-punch/why-i-attended-olamides-concert-osinbajo/

‘Dickson, First Lady’s feud splits Bayelsa PDP’


The ambition of Dame Patience, wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, to kick Governor Seriake Dickson out of the Government House in Bayelsa State has clearly divided the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

It was observed on Tuesday that the party which hitherto paraded itself as a close-knit family had now split into two – Dickson’s and First Lady’s camps.

The two camps are said to be separate and distinct as they try not to be found together in social and political gatherings.

Persons found to be associating with Patience loyalists are viewed as haters of Dickson and vice versa.

The Nation gathered that while the camp of Patience is wooing more loyalists of the governor to identify with its plot, the think-tank in Dickson’s camp is wary of the first lady’s moles.
It was gathered that Dickson’s haters are President Jonathan’s loyalists from the Presidency and other Abuja-based politicians who are mainly members of the National Assembly from the state.

First Lady’s bloc was said to have more disciples following the outcome of the just-concluded PDP primaries in the state.

Party members who lost out of the contest have reportedly moved en masse to the anti-Dickson’s camp to ventilate their grievances.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/dickson-first-ladys-feud-splits-bayelsa-pdp/

hungryboy:
Oga u get mind talk say galaxy s5 and iphone 6 are over hyped, oga stop this lies now,
Even me were the manage gionee m2, dey jealous my padis were dey flex s5, note 2 and lg g3,
na condition dey make us buy this chinko scraps,no be love.

I use Gionee Dream D1, and what I can say is that quite a number of Chinko phones give us high end specs at low prices. I was disappointed with the resolution of the M2. Other than that Gionee is trying its best. Fact is they are not as optimal as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy series. Let us consider the economic side. Most of us cannot afford to pay N100,000 and above on phones. It doesn't make sense to commit economic suicide in the name of impressing people. Secondly, we rarely use most of the functions on this phones. My priority in selecting phones are
1. Battery size
2. Screen resolution
3. Screen protection.
4. Ram, Internal memory and SD card slot.
5. Dual Sim functionality

FG owes 70,000 workers three-month salaries



No fewer than 70,000 civil servants in 30 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government have yet to receive their three months’ salaries.

The Secretary-General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Mr. Alade Lawal, made this known just as investigations by The PUNCH revealed that states like Osun, Oyo, Benue and Plateau are owing their workers between three and four months’ salaries.

Prominent among the ministries listed by Lawal during an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Monday are Education, Works, Labour and Productivity, Mines and Power.

He said, “About eight MDAs have been owing workers their salaries from October. The number rose to 11 in November and in December, hit 30, including departments and agencies.”

Asked what was responsible for the increase in the number of MDAs indebted to their workers, Lawal said some government officials involved in salary payments were engaged in a game of deceit.

He said, “They are telling us that some of the MDAs are involved in expenditure items different from salaries. They said they were spending on items not related to salaries. But that is not supposed to be the fault of the workers.

“There should be synergy in government whereby they have to work in tandem with the Budget Office and Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. They know what they are doing, they are muddling up the whole exercise and suffering workers unnecessarily.”

He said the government had no tangible reason for not paying the workers, having promised to do so before December 24.

“As of December 22, they promised us that before Wednesday, December 24, these payments would be made. But as I am talking to you now, affected workers have not been paid.

“The Ministry of Works alone has about 26,000 workers. If you add them together, they can’t be less than 70,000 workers that are affected.

“We have been liaising with our people. But you know, this is a festive period and it has affected some of the trade union actions we intended taking. The promise that they made last week which they also told the press that they would pay before Christmas, we thought they were serious about it. But latest developments indicate that they are deceiving us.”

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had in a statement by her Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, on December 22 promised that the salary arrears of civil servants in MDAs would be paid before Christmas.

The PUNCH gathered on Monday that civil servants in states like Osun, Oyo, Benue, Plateau and Abia had a bleak Christmas as they are being owed between two and four-month salaries.

In Osun State for instance, the Chairman of state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Saka Adesiyan, told one of our correspondents in Osogbo that workers were being owed October, November and December salaries.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Boye Abolarin, also confirmed that secondary school teachers were being owed October, November and December salaries.

Abolarin said that workers were subjected to hardship while politicians were feeding fat especially during the Yuletide.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola, however, blamed the development on the dwindling monthly allocations to the state.

Aregbesola, in a statement made available to our correspondent by his media aide, Semiu Okanlawon, said, “Either at the federal or at the state level, where is it that workers are being paid as and when due?

“We thought this situation will not last long. That was why we used our strategic reserve to augment salaries for one year. All our savings were spent on augmentation of salaries.”

In Oyo, the state NLC Chairman, Basiru Alli, said that the November and December salaries of some workers were being awaited.

He said, “I will not say that government in the state is owing us, it is actually delaying payment of workers salaries. As of now, not all workers have been paid November salaries. Some are still waiting for theirs. We do not know when the December salary will come.”

Asked what efforts the NLC was making to ensure all the workers got paid, Alli said that they were told by the government that dwindling allocations from the Federal Government were responsible.

“We hold consultations with the government from time to time and what we were told the last time was that it was not a deliberate attempt to delay the salaries but due to dwindling allocations, the state had to manage its resources.”

But the Special Adviser to Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said that all workers had been paid November salaries.

He said, “The state government is passionate about staff welfare. We are handicapped by the dwindling allocations from the Federal Government. We have a wage bill of N4.9bn but the allocation we have this month was N2.9bn. Last month, the state got N3.1bn from the Federal Government. We are working hard to ensure workers are paid the December salaries.”

The situation in Benue State is not better as the government is also currently owing three months’ salaries.

Before the Yuletide, the government owed workers five months’ salaries but it paid two months’ salaries at different intervals.

A civil servant, who pleaded anonymity told The PUNCH that a day to Christmas, some of his colleagues received alert for one month salary while on Monday, others received alert for their second salary payment.

The civil servant explained that they could not enjoy the Yuletide due to the debts they had incurred.

He said, “What the state government paid to us was used to settle debts .

“Mind you, we from the mainstream civil service are not on any industrial action but the state is currently owing us three month-salaries. I can tell you that the situation is worse for lecturers as they have been on half salaries for five months.”

Investigations by The PUNCH in Abia State indicated that while civil servants in the ministries had received their November and December salaries, their counterparts in the parastatals were being owed some months .

The Chairman, NLC in the state, Sylvanus Eye, said workers in the parastatals had not been paid November and December salaries.

He added that teachers as well as council workers were also being owed arrears of two months.

The state leadership of NLC had about three weeks ago picketed the office of the Accountant General over the salary arrears of the parastatal workers and for allegedly witholding check- off dues of the union.

When contacted, the Accountant General, Gabriel Onyendilefu, said that “the function of payment is dependent on available cash”.

He explained that in the past five months, the state’s allocations from the federation accounts had been dwindling following the constant fall in the price of crude oil.

In Kogi State, local governments’ workers complained that they only received half of their salaries for October and November.

They alleged that they still had some backlogs of salaries that were not fully paid.

A source, who pleaded anonymity, said the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, had informed them that they would receive alert of their December payment on Tuesday(today).

The NLC Chairman, Plateau State chapter, Mr. Jibrin Bancir, told one of our correspondents that the government was owing many workers four months arrears of salaries and leave grants.

The worst hit are local government workers who have not been paid for about seven months.

Meanwhile, the NLC has directed its state chapters to furnish it with actual state of affairs in connection with the salary arrears.

Noting that it was criminal for any government to owe workers their salaries, the NLC said it would take a firm decision in a couple of days on the issue.

The General Secretary of the congress, Mr. Peter Ozo-Eson, stated this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Ilorin on Monday.

He said, “We have not taken a firm decision on what to do until we get actual information on which state, what is owed, how many months and the actual amount from all the state councils. We hope that within a couple of days, these reports would have got to us and we would take a firm position on them.

“We would rely on the reports that we get from our state chapters. We are asking our state to advise us on salary payments and if there are debts. Based on that we are going to collate take appropriate actions in relation to getting those salaries paid.

“We condemn any state government that is owing arrears of salaries because the workers must be the first to be paid before they start spending on any other issue.”

Ozo-Eson said it was worrisome that even the Federal Government was owing some categories of its workers for about three months.

He lamented that some state chapters of the NLC did not give the national body a report on time that their members were being owed.

He stated that payment of workers’ salaries should be made a priority.

The NLC secretary said, “For us, it is criminal for any government not to pay workers’ salaries, accumulate them over months while the governors and other political office holders take their own salaries. Such is criminal. We are also aware that even the Federal Government is owing some categories of civil servants their salaries for over three months.

“This is extremely unacceptable. Whatever is the reason for that! In the case of the Federal Government, they try to explain it in terms of problems with migration to IPPIS system.We think whatever is the logic, those salaries and arrears need to be paid immediately.

“On state governments that are owing, unfortunately some of the NLC chapters did not bring it to our notice early enough for us to know that salaries are owed. If you owe a worker salary for a month, you have no moral obligation to expect workers to come and render any service.

“So to hear that there are states and large number of them that are owing workers for two or three months is completely unacceptable.”


http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-owes-70000-workers-three-month-salaries/

6 issues that will shape Jonathan/Buhari campaigns


INVESTIGATIONS have revealed six basic issues that will shape the campaign of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan and his main opposition from the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, in the forthcoming 2015 election

The two main contenders in the 2015 presidential contest would slug it out for the third time in February 2015.

Buhari, who had lost the presidential bid three times against PDP candidates, including Jonathan, had, this time, emerged on a larger opposition platform, a merger of three key opposition parties, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigeria’s Peoples Party (ANPP).

It thus appears that the contest between the PDP and the opposition this time would be keener.

The calculations

A number of issues ranging from factual to emotional are ruling the 2015 contest, with either of the two main contenders claiming advantage.

The PDP controls 23 of the 36 states of the federation, with the 24th state, Anambra, which is under the control of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) also in alliance with the PDP.

On paper, the PDP looks pretty surefooted of victory, going by the number of states under its control.

But opposition figures would say that states under the control of a party can fall in the presidential election. The opposition would give example of states like Bauchi, Sokoto and Jigawa in the 2011 election, where the PDP won the governorship election but lost the presidential contest to the CPC.

The Figures

The calculations have also been done on the basis of the zones. One of the underlining factors that informed the merger of the legacy parties to form the APC was the claim that with a merger of the two most populous geopolitical zones in the country, election could be won and lost.

Founders of APC had calculated that a merger of a party popular in the North-West and the South-West would easily guarantee victory at national elections. The defunct CPC and the ANPP were popular in the North-West states, while the ACN was popular in the South-West. Indeed, the ACN was in control of five of the six South-West states at a time.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the figures for the 2011 election stand thus: South-West: 14,269,163 out of the 2006 official population figure of 27,722,432; South East: 7,577,212 out of 16,395,555; South-South: 9,474,427 out of 21,044,081; North-West: 19,803,689 out of 35,915,467; North-East: 10,949,689 out of 18,984,299 and North-Central: 10,684,017 out of 18,968,717.

The calculation that a combination of votes from the South-West and North-West could get a majority at the centre had worked in the installation of Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011. But in a presidential contest, there is no guarantee that the votes from any of the zones is locked down by a particular candidate.

For instance, President Goodluck Jonathan won massively in five of the six South-West states in 2011. He lost only in Osun State, where the candidate of the ACN, Nuhu Ribadu, won. That was the situation despite the control exercised by the ACN on the states at the time.

Geopolitical take home and structures

One of the calculations is also based on the structures of the geopolitical zones and their take homes in each of the political parties.

The two main parties believed that raising issues of concern in the geopolitical zones would enhance their voting haul.

For instance, the South-South believes that the time has come for a candidate from the zone to be given opportunity to rule a democratic Nigeria on a two-term basis. Before 2007, the South-South had mounted a campaign for the presidency on the basis of the fact the out of all the zones in the country, it was only the zone that had never tasted power at the centre, despite being the honey pot of the country.

The PDP is, therefore, calculating that its voting haul would be enhanced in the zone with a campaign based on the need to ensure that the zone benefit its constitutionally acceptable two terms in office.

The Yoruba of the South-West had, in 2003, backed Olusegun Obasanjo for a second term, though they refused to vote for him in his first term.

The North-West, which had ruled Nigeria for 38 years of its independence life, is also angling for a return to power since the late President Umaru Yar’Adua died on the seat to yield the position to Jonathan from the South-South. The zone would want to seize the opportunity to return to power by backing Buhari of the APC. But in the calculation of some, the North-West may not lose much if it supports Jonathan, as the zone also produced the incumbent vice president and Jonathan’s running mate, Namadi Sambo.

If the PDP ticket subsists at the polls, it could mean a sure return to power by the zone in 2019, while the South-South would have been granted its two term request.

The South-East, one of the major backers of the South-South presidency, is believed to be sowing the seed for its own future agitation for presidency. The calculation among the South-East leaders is that if they support the South-South in the current bid, the zone would also back it in the future. As for the North-East, the PDP ticket guarantees it the number three slot in the government.

The South-West and North-East could then be the hunting ground. The PDP had calculated that the South-West would produce the number four citizen, Speaker of the House of Representatives, while the North-East would produce the national chairman of the Party. The two zones huge hunting grounds in the sense that it is also a stronghold of the APC, to some extent. The party controls three of the six states in the North-East, while it controls four of the six states in the South-West.

The Issues

One of the issues in question is the religious colouration of the election. There was a huge outcry against fielding of a Muslim/Muslim ticket by the APC. The party had been branded a Muslim party and a supporter of APC arrangement at formation by the PDP. The PDP said the frontline members of the opposition party were all Muslims. The criticisms forced a change of the zoning arrangement at its convention in June, where the South-South produced the national chairman.

The issue of religion had been orchestrated largely because of the person of General Buhari, who had largely been seen as religious bigot. Incidentally, his austere lifestyle has made it difficult to see him linked with any social gathering of mixed religion.

Buhari had, also after leaving office, portrayed himself as an Islamic scholar and a defender of Islamic rights, thus opening himself up to criticisms on religious front. Unlike other Northern politicians like Atiku Abubakar and even General Ibrahim Babangida, many who see Buhari before now remember a man with rigid religious outlook.

Northern candidacy

Is Buhari a Northern candidate for the 2015 election? That is one issue the APC would have to address as the campaigns hot up. The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is doing everything to adopt Buhari as its candidate. While some of its leaders are insisting that no such decision has been taken, some vocal members of the forum have declared Buhari a northern candidate.

Incidentally, such a tag could be counter-productive as it could be interpreted to mean that the candidate would be seized by the North immediately he is voted for. Such a posture could chase away southern voters. In 1964 election, one of the issues that orchestrated the “wetie” was what was described as attempt by the late S. L. Akintola to “sell” the Yoruba to the North. To the voters then, an alliance with the North founded party, Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), amounted to a sellout of the Yoruba. Will branding Buhari a northern candidate not reawaken the ethnic sensitivities in the other zones?

Incidentally, the Nigerian constitution has so made it in a way that no single zone can produce Nigerian president by itself. The current constitution indicates that a presidential candidate must have a spread spanning 24 of the 36 states. The North has 19 states, while the South has 17. The FCT, Abuja is the nation’s federal capital.

Propensity for violence

A major issue is the propensity for violence in the elections. Some observers have said that either way the election goes, the nation could be bugged down by violence. Some said whether the PDP or APC wins, there is propensity to violence.

There is the fear that the militants in the Niger Delta would not take kindly to their kin losing a second term bid to rule Nigeria, when the zone has never had the opportunity to rule before now.

The other factor is that Buhari and his supporters in the APC have already sensitissed the nation with words like “blood of baboons and monkeys would flow” credited to Buhari and the claim credited to Malam Nasir el-Rufai indicating that the 2015 election would witness violence as well as claims by the Rivers State governor, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, that the opposition would form a parallel government if they lose the 2015 election.

All the claims appear to be pointing to a readiness of both arms of the campaign to unleash violence.

The fear have heightened following a peep at the fallout of the 2011 election.

Violence erupted in some northern states, following the outcome of the election which was adjudged as free and fair.

A number of corps members who worked with INEC were killed by northern street urchins, who were believed to be protesting Buhari’s loss.

There is thus the fear that even a free and fair election may not be enough safeguard against violence.

http://tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/25333-6-issues-that-will-shape-jonathan-buhari-campaigns

harmbhrosz:
My love still stands for jiayu s3

3GB ram?
NFC?
16 rom?
Memory slot xpandable up to 64GB?
4G LTE FDD on both sims?
3000mah battery?
5.5" screen 1920*1800 Gorilla glass(my perfect desire)?


Above all....its under 40K?

And you say make I go buy iphone 6 Thunder fire senselessness

Please where can I get it and at what price?

Politics according to Maku: No permanent friends, no permanent enemies. Only permanent interest.

Jonathan’s government not responsible —Osinbajo




The Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said poor management of resources rather than the lack of resources has been the bane of nation’s economy.

Proper management, according to Osinbajo, has been dodging the country for a while.

“The problem is management of resources. If we plug the loopholes, you’ll see the resources being pooled together.”

Osinbajo said this on Saturday at a parley with journalists at his campaign office in Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said insecurity would be the first thing his government would tackle as it affected every Nigerian irrespective of ethnic group, class or creed.

“Security is the first duty of any government; you cannot fight a war where leadership is uncertain; where leadership is not sure of itself and its responsibilities.

“The type of leadership we need to successfully fight a war is lacking. The commander-in-chief has responsibility for everything. You can’t continue to say your enemies did this or that. You’ve got to take responsibility and that is what is lacking in the current dispensation.

“The people I talked to in my bus trips, both men and women asked, ‘What are you doing about the Chibok girls?’ I was surprised that people here in Lagos could be that concerned. It shows everyone is concerned. My take is that as the president, you should visit these places, talk to them and let them see that you are doing something. And one of the things to be done is equipping the military.”

Osinbajo added that corruption had become the norm in Nigeria, especially in the civil service.

“We have reached a point where we need to draw a line because this country can’t continue like this. A few days ago, we heard that some billions were missing from the oil fund. You and I know that all this is so because there are no consequences. What is required is an administration where people believe that the number one man will not tolerate corruption. That is the first step.”

The stabilisation contract is another drain pipe. Billons of dollars are being lost every day. But if these loopholes are plugged, we can get something done. When oil was sold for 110 dollars everybody was saving; why didn’t we save?” He said.

http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathans-government-not-responsible-osinbajo/