Diaspora Africans, (DA), an African group in USA has endorsed the re-election of Phil Murphy as New Jersey's governor ahead of the November, 2nd Gubernatorial poll.

The group commended his rapt all-inclusive economy recovery measures and robust frontline efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic. They also insisted that his re-election will further aid to tackle issues of injustices and enable New Jerseyans enjoy the dividend of democracy.

Speaking during a press conference held in the state over the weekend, the group president, Chief Charles Ugo Eke, stated that “in the history of governance in United States, Phil Murphy has done tremendously well in the sub-region hence the need to re-elect the party in 2021 polls.”
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According to him, "our decision was garnered through consultation with all the stakeholders in every sector of the sub region; influenced by brain cracking, argument and counter argument as well as careful researched efforts which form the basis that the Murphy-led administration be re-elected.

"Let's not forget quickly, during the formative outrage of Covid-19, he launched the largest statewide vaccination program in the state’s history grounded in efforts to ensure equitable access to all who live, work, and are being educated in New Jersey", he added.

In an area of concern, the Treasurer and secretary of the group, Dr Amanda Ota lauded Murphy's embracive gesture, signing law that allows undocumented immigrants, including Africans, to obtain professional licenses in the country.

The signature aspect of Murphy’s time as governor has been how he has developed and passed a multi-billion-dollar economic recovery package that brings accountability and labor protections to New Jersey’s incentives programs and also arranging targeted suite of programs to lift its economy.

Adding his voice, Mr Akeju, widely celebrated Music executive who recently joined the group, highlighted some of Murphy's impact on security across the state.

"Security is a major concern and an area where Murphy has gained pass marks", says Akeju.

"He enacted a package of common-sense gun safety bills that make New Jersey among the states with the strongest gun laws in the nation, created the States for Gun Safety Coalition, and started the Center for Gun Violence Research.

"He also deployed hundreds of millions in federal stimulus funds to school districts and institutions of higher education across the state to ensure robust remote learning, including closing the digital divide for an estimated 231,000 Pre K-12 students; supporting safe reopening of schools and institutions of higher education; and helping our students recover academically, socially, and emotionally from the pandemic.

"I strongly feel he deserves another chance and as a group we will continue showing him our honest solidarity even after the electoral process".

The Beauty of Africa International pageant (Baip) Organization, have officially announced Queen Gabriel Ogechi Esther who emerged 1st runner up in the 14th edition of the Baip 2021 Finals held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, as Nigeria's representative at The Miss Globe 2021 World Finals, where delegates from all over the world will compete for the coveted crown.

The selection, according to the president of the pageant, Baip, Mr Daniel Opuene was reached after careful and due consideration by the board members of the organisation.


The Miss Globe World finals camping for the 48th edition of the competition kicks off on 20th October while the coronation holds two weeks after, 5th November, 2021 at the popular Opera Theater in Tirana City, Albania.

Queen Esther Ogechi is an undergraduate student of the University of Portharcourt, studying sociology and anthropology, also a serial entrepreneur. She's an astute and passionate girl child advocate who has been involved in several humanitarian services.

The beautiful Abia state born model confirmed her appointment in a post on her Instagram page, pledging her loyalty to the brand and calling on brands and businesses to support her dream of bringing the Miss Globe crown home to Nigeria.

ChiefSosa:
I'm happy for him, in as much as i don't know him. But, bro, THIS IS JUST A BILLBOARD. Anyone could literally rent a bill board, if the money is available.

Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, members and leaders of the National Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Riders Association (NACTMORA), popularly known as “Keke Napep” and “Okada” riders in 18 northern states, have called on Professor Kingsley Moghalu, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor and a presidential candidate in 2019, to contest for the presidency again in 2023.

The tricycle and motorcycle transporters made the call at a press conference with Nigerian and international media at Abuja on Friday, May 7, where they endorsed the ex-central banker and new-generation political leader in a statement signed by Alhaji Nasiru Amburtsa, the Chairman of the group’s 19 northern states coalition, and the heads of 9 states chapters representing the three northern geopolitical zones of the North-Central, North-East, and North-West.

In the statement NACTMORA, a grassroots trade association with over 10 million members in the 19 northern states, said Nigeria was facing “a very serious national crisis caused by incompetent leadership, bad governance and corruption”, and that today’s crop of politicians in the country “cannot solve our national crisis because they have played bad politics of corruption, tribalism and election rigging for a long time and do not know anything else”.

“After carefully looking at the situation in our country today, the members of our Association in 18 northern states have unanimously decided that Professor Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu OON...a presidential candidate in 2019 and the Ifekaego Nnewi, is the best potential candidate to be elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023. We are therefore unanimously calling on Prof. Moghalu to run for president in 2023, and we hereby pledge our support and endorsement for his candidacy”.

The keke napep and okada riders recalled Moghalu’s track record of national service at the CBN as deputy to the then CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as well as in the United Nations where Moghalu was a senior official for 17 years before he was invited to return home for national service.

“Prof Moghalu is not corrupt. He is not tribalistic. He is a man of truth and courage. He has a good heart for the common man. And he has the global pedigree needed for leadership in the 21st century. We strongly call on Prof. Moghalu to step forward to lead Nigeria. We plead with all Nigerians, for the sake of our children and our future, to support this patriotic Nigerian. He is the man we believe has the vision, capacity, and competence to lead Nigeria into a better future”, the statement said.

Moghalu, who turned 58 on May 7, is currently serving as the Special Envoy of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Post-Covid Development Finance for Africa, working on policy options and innovative financing sources that will enable sub-Saharan countries recover from the negative fiscal and development impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Political analysts view the endorsement of Moghalu by such a large grassroots group in northern Nigeria as a significant development.

“It’s an indication that widespread insecurity and poverty in the country is creating disenchantment not just with the government of the day, but with the political elite, represented by the APC and the PDP, more broadly” said Pascal Odibo, a public policy analyst and the Founder of Unleash Nigeria group.

“The outcome of the 2023 election is far from certain, and previous voting patterns could be broken” he said. Moghalu was the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in 2019, but resigned his membership of the party in October 2019, a few months after the election. He has so far not joined any other party.

unofficialmadman:
Incoming president of Nigeria

Nigerian creative industry and social media "influencers" have resolved to increase their engagement with governance, politics and public policy in order to create a better future for the country’s large youth population.

At the first Elevating Youth Voices Virtual Summit held last weekend on April 10 and hosted by the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET), a think tank headed by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor Professor Kingsley Moghalu, musical and movie stars Jude ("MI" Abaga, Kate Henshaw, Regina Askia Williams and Joseph Benjamin, as well as social media opinion leaders and #EndSARS activists Sandra Ezekwesili, Rinu Oduola, Catherine Obianuju ( "DJ Switch" Udeh, and technology lawyer Timi Olagunju set out an agenda for greater youth engagement to improve governance. The event was moderated by Andrew Mwavua, an American community organizer in the United States, and Matilda Duncan, a radio journalist.

"We can't afford not to use our platdorms for change", Jude Abaga stressed. "Just because someone knows how to manipulate the elections game doesn't mean they will be good for us.Today, I can see how the ignorance of our young people about how elections are won affects the quality of our lives".

In his opening remarks at the event, Prof. Moghalu urged young Nigerians to take control of the present in order to shape the future. "With unemployment at 33% and 40 million youth unemployed or underemployed, 100 million living in extreme poverty, and United Nations demographics projecting a population of 400 million by 2050, what does the future hold for our young people who make up nearly 70% of Nigeria's population? That future is now, and you must colonize it and shape it for the better", he said.

There were differences of emphasis and nuance between the youthful panelists. For Joseph Benjamin, an actor, "we have a duty to engage with public policy and we have a duty to sensitize the people, but we as influencers must be careful about what we lend our voices to, because it also affects our brand".

But DJ Switch, a disc jockey and music producer who played a prominent role in the #EndSARS protests and is now in hiding for her safety, criticized creative industry influencers who hobnob with corrupt politicians while criticizing bad governance. "If you are not good for me, then your money is not good either. Influencers need to take a stand! We cannot criticize a government that steals from us everyday and turn around and collect their money", she emphasized.

The #EndSARS youth uprising highlighted the impact and power of social media, noted Regina Askia, a former Nigeria beauty queen and Nollywood actress who is now a United States based nurse practitioner and public health advocate. "#EndSARS hashtags yielded over 28 million tweets over one weekend", she recalled. Askia noted that the challenge remained that of how the youth can be steered to more active participation in the political process, in particular voting in elections.

Sandra Ezekwesili, an influential radio talk show host, opined that "Nigerian youth are realistic about the reality of the electoral process and the political space", but when it came to the #EndSARS protest, she said, "we have not been disobedient enough, more #EndSARS need to happen" for real change to come to Nigeria.

"Many of us would rather participate in a protest than vote through institutions that have failed us in the past," said Rinu Oduola, an #EndSARS activist and student at Lagos State University who recently resigned as a member of the Lagos State judicial panel of inquiry into the shootings at Lekki Gate in Lagos by security agents during peaceful protests. "I left the judicial panel because I did not see any justice coming out of it". Miss Oduala believed that "voter apathy is fuelled by the failed politicians the political parties put up as candidates". "We need tried and tested individuals as candidates, not political party opportunists", she said.

Moghalu reminded the summit participants that while peaceful protest remained an essential right in a democracy, it cannot replace the importance of voting in elections as a way to create lasting change by electing more competent leaders. The former presidential candidate in Nigeria’s general elections in 2019 recalled the Arab Spring protests that were driven by social media. "A decade later, the social and economic conditions of the Arab youth are worse now than at the time the protests swept through the Arab world", Moghalu said. "That's because the Arab youth failed to take the energy of the Arab Spring into structural politics by joining political parties, voting in large numbers for candidates of their choice, and standing as candidates. This left the old guard in these countries still effectively in charge".

Kate Henshaw, a leading Nollywood actress who has been a candidate for elective political office, stressed: "It's time to move from complaining on social media to action at the grassroots. The people who vote, half of them are not on social media". She added that "social media has its good side, but we just have to give it more meat".

"Culture shapes the destiny of nations, but politics can change culture", Timi Olagunju, an intellectual property lawyer noted in his contribution at the summit. "Yes, social media matters, but advocacy is never enough, and we must move into action at decentralized community levels" he said. 

The Elevating Youth Voices Summit had 1,000 participants from Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, France, United Kingdom, United States and other countries. The IGET will host the summit on a quarterly basis, focusing on topics affecting Nigerian youth and the country’s development.