₦airaland Forum

Nigeria and protocol,

Audu Ogbe mere Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development.

Just to visit farm.

Why all these delegation and entourage?

Please put me in your prayers…
I will soon be going for eye surgery…
The situation is getting out of hand…
For more than two months now…
Anytime I look inside my wallet…
I hardly see anything again.

—A distressed Nigerian




The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi, Email: olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com





It was a business lunch by a group of investors who had eagerly been waiting for information about the business climate in Nigeria. But their guest, top official of a multinational banking and financial services company, who had spent a week in Lagos and Abuja before returning to the United Kingdom, was evidently in no hurry as she sipped her drink. After a while, she looked in the direction of one of the four men at the table and said, “If I say 1 and 2 is equal to 12 what will 2 and 3 be?” The man did not need to think twice before he responded: “The answer of course is 23.”

Shaking her head, the lady replied: “You are wrong, the answer is 5”. Before the obviously confused men in the room could react to such algebraic manipulation, the lady posed another question. “What if I join 3 and 7, what would that give me?”

This time, the man decided to hedge his bet: “The answer will either be 10 or 37”.

Smiling, the lady responded: “You are wrong again. The answer is 21.” And then she added the clincher: “That is the best way to describe what is going on within the Nigerian economy today where all the variables are up in the air. The only thing that is predictable now is the unpredictability.”

The foregoing conversation, which I learnt on good authority, took place about two weeks ago in a high-class London restaurant, tells a compelling story. But we need no foreigner to tell us how tough the season is since we live it every day; even though Nigerians may have learnt to laugh at their problems, as can be glimpsed from the “poem” with which I opened the page.

To be sure, President Muhammadu Buhari is not the cause of our woes, as most of the problems predated his administration. However, some of the choices he has made (or refused to make) have compounded the situation while there are no visible signs in the horizon that things would get better any time soon. If anything, there are fears that things could actually get worse, unless he makes a course correction in his approach to serious issues of governance.

President Buhari was in Qatar in February this year, seeking investible funds. I understand the Qatari authorities requested that he quickly appoint the Nigerian ambassador to Qatar, someone with sufficient clout and authority to represent our country so that a productive conversation could begin. Five months after, such a simple task is yet to be accomplished. In fact, as at today, Nigeria has no ambassador to any country, not even to traditional allies like the United Kingdom or the United States.

More than a year after dissolving the statutory boards of regulatory institutions that are critical to the economy, they are yet to be reconstituted. From the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to the Bank of Industry (BOI) to the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Nigerian Export promotion Council (NEPC) to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC) to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) etc. there are no boards. Some of these institutions do not even have substantive Chief Executives. Against the background that barely 24 hours after she became the British Prime Minister last week, Mrs. Theresa May named her entire cabinet, you wonder why our leaders find it so difficult to do the little things that matter.

The office of the Chief Economic Adviser (which has a full complement of staff, including some with doctorate degrees) is still vacant apparently because Aso Rock does not need advice on economic matters. Meanwhile, the president makes pronouncements which suggest he dictates both monetary and fiscal policies from the Villa, leaving investors wondering about the independence of critical institutions like the CBN. If political considerations (including nostalgia about some imaginary past) rather than sound economic judgments determine policy direction, which rational investor would want to risk his/her money in such an economy?

Speaking at the Ramadan breaking of fast with members of the business community last month, the president condemned what he described as “the ruthless devaluation of naira,’’ saying that he was yet to be convinced about the justification for it. “I don’t like the returns I get from the CBN…In August 1985, the naira was N1.3k to a dollar, now you need N300 or N350 to a dollar. I’m neither an economist nor a businessman (but) I fail to appreciate the economic explanation” said the president who incidentally provided the answer to a question he claimed not to understand: “What has happened to us now is that we have maneuvered ourselves into a mono-economy which led to the collapse we are seeing now.”

That, Mr. President, is precisely the point. The wrong choices we have made over the years landed us in this position but what we need right now are solutions to problems that are already getting out of hand. On Monday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) categorised the North-eastern part of our country as severely food insecure. “This is about as bad as it gets. There’s only one step worse and I’ve not come across that situation in 20 years of doing this work and that’s a famine. We have to step in and quickly or we are going to have hundreds of thousands at risk of dying in the north-east of Nigeria” said Toby Lanzer, UN assistant secretary general and OCHA’s regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel.

Unfortunately, this challenge is not restricted to the North-east since hunger has become a national staple across the country as confirmed yesterday by the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Audu Ogbeh. With majority of the states owing their workers, some for as many as six months, the situation in Nigeria today is very dire. And while the Buhari administration should be commended for its social intervention initiative, it is also obvious that we need a more robust agenda to reposition the economy away from oil.

For instance, in the ranking of states by the 2015 Internally Generated Revenues compared to the total receivables from the Federation Account Allocation between June 2015 and May 2016 done by the Economic Confidential, only three states (Lagos, Rivers and Ogun) internally generated above 50 percent of what they received from Abuja. 17 states generated less than 10 percent of their receivables from Abuja; another eight generated between 10 and 14 percent while the remaining eight generated between 15 and 30 percent.

This is a clear state of emergency situation that will take more than some episodic financial bail-outs or ad hoc solutions to deal with. It is a situation that requires the president providing a national platform for discussing the way out in a more sustainable manner at a period inflation is soaring while businesses are either closing down or sacking workers. So bleak is the outlook that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which in April, just three months ago, predicted a 2.3 per cent expansion in the Nigerian economy, on Tuesday slashed its growth forecast, saying the combination of plunging oil revenue and weakened investor confidence would most likely push it into recession. The IMF now expects the economy to contract by 1.8 per cent this year. But what is the response from the administration?

At a most delicate period when there is an overflow of issues that require legislative input, the presidency and the National Assembly are merely tolerating one another. More depressing is the news that our lawmakers have just voted for themselves a two-month holiday at a time of national economic crisis. But what do you expect when the only notable contribution to national discourse by some of our “distinguished” Senators is that a female colleague has reached “menopause”?

Perhaps we should not be too hard on the lawmakers since the executive has not come up with any legislative initiative that requires their urgent attention. “I have, at least on three different occasions publicly requested the executive to, as a matter of urgency, send an executive bill on its intended reforms in the petroleum sector. We had hoped to avoid the situation in the past two assemblies (6th and 7th) where the PIB was sent to the National Assembly very late thereby guaranteeing failure to pass the bill” said the House of Representatives’ Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, on Monday as he lamented a lack of urgency by the presidency in reforming the oil and gas sector.

While no objective person will blame President Buhari alone for the economic challenge we face today as a nation, many Nigerians nonetheless believe things do not have to remain the way they are. According to Dr. Aminu Usman, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Kaduna State University, “the government can do better by coming up with clearly defined policies for each sector of the economy and move from wish list to the actual work of getting things done.” On a lighter mood, a friend suggested yesterday that, against the background of the current controversy in the Senate, the economy may also be going through the difficulty of being “impregnated” with fresh ideas!
With high incidence of unemployment, aging public infrastructure and a near-useless power sector that generates (for officials) only megawatts of excuses at a period the Niger Delta Avengers are daily wreaking havoc on oil and gas installations, there are three major issues begging for attention: Significant revenue shortfall from practically all sources; potential credit crisis because AMCON is already over leveraged and a seemingly intractable foreign exchange crisis that has shaken market confidence. To address these fundamental problems, it stands to reason that we need a serious economic management team but President Buhari still does not see any need for that.

Sadly, after a year spent blaming others, we are yet to see the economic direction of the Buhari administration or the policies and ideas that can possibly justify the endless aspersions on the past. Yet, whether his handlers realize it or not, this presidency will be judged not by how bad a leader Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was but by how much of a better leader he (Buhari) ends up to be.

In a four year presidential term, the first year is perhaps the maximum time allowed an incumbent to heap all blames on his predecessors. After that, he must take responsibility. Therefore, President Buhari can only imprint his legacy either in terms of his firm handling of the contemporary economic challenges or through the efficiency of the machinery of government he puts in place. As things stand today, a president who came to office with overwhelming public support may have worsened the problems he inherited, leaving the economy on the
brink of recession.



http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/07/21/buhari-and-the-troubled-economy/

John Danfulani,Ph.D

Johndanfulani@gmail.com



Am not on record to be the first person that wedded these two words together,therefore don’t contemplate initiating a plagiarism case against me.The former CNN anchor Mr. Piers Morgan owns invented the phrase through his book “SHOOTING STRAIGHT”.So, give it to him,not me. I only lifted the heading(without his official permission) to make a critical and serious case against PMB and his moral, social,strategic and economic lame ducks. PMB and his ramshackle team have placed everything they met on 29th May 2015 on reverse gear.



Because of PMB’s consistent inconsistencies in economic policies and complete cluelessness in economic matters, Africa’s largest and one of the world’s fastest growing economy turned to a basket case. Local and international investors are counting their losses,a lucky few that survived PMB’s economic assassination are picking their pieces and disappearing from our shore with speed of light. Stocks collapsed and still dovetailing like a descending arrow. Banks are folding their branches and sending their workers home in their thousands .According to the latest Bloomberg report, the Naira is the world’s worst performing currency. The Naira is struggling to match the record of Zimbabwean Dollar that tumbled over thousand percent some years back.



At the social front, bridges of unity between and amongst Nigerians that previous governments constructed through running an inclusive government have been bombed down by his exclusive, nepotic and irredentist policies. Policies that were fashioned in tandem with the spirit of federal character were sacrificed on the altar of selfishness and parochialism. There is no time that Nigeria is more divided like now, the division witnessed from January 1966 to 1970 appeared a child’s play to what we are witnessing today.



Before mounting the saddle on 29ty May 2016, Boko Haram was the main security source threat facing Nigeria .But today, through acts of commission or omission, action or inaction; new threats like Niger Delta Avengers(NDA), Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism(FHT) and kidnappings emerged.NDA is constituting economic insecurity while FHT and kidnappings are posing physical insecurity to Nigerians and foreign nationals living in Nigeria. The so-called progress on war against Boko Haramist PMB and APC apologists are citing as signs of a success story has been messed-up by other new threats that their carelessness and ineptitude masterminded!



Clearly, Nigerian’s electoral decision of 28th March 2015 was “bastardly” wrong. This decision handed the onerous task of running the ship of the nation to a reckless captain without any bearing.He is clueless, directionless, myopic, saddistic and despotic. A day under PMB’s leadership is like a year in hell fire.PMB’s tenure is a perfect replay of biblical apocalypse.



Despite pushing us into this unfortunate situation, he piqued, we should seal lips and sing his praises. Hell No. We will rather pull the trigger of criticism and open defiance to his ineffective and unscrupulous policies. Nobody will mute because of fear of arrest and crude persecution.His dogs of victimization and intimidation like EFCC,ICPC and DSS shall not come our way because we were not at DASUKI’S YAM FESTIVAL”.His gestapo can’t knock at our doors with invitation to their stations because we know our rights. PMB and his cohort must accept the fact that, we shall keep shooting straight.

http://www.johndanfulani.com/shooting-straightby-john-danfulaniph-d/

The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral, Ibok-Ete Ibas, said shortage of ships and inadequate funding has hampered its efforts to secure Nigeria’s maritime domain from activities of economic saboteurs.

Ibas made this known on Tuesday when he received members of the Senate Committee on Nigeria Navy at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja.

Ibas' revelation is coming months after a report claimed that the Federal government had deployed five warships, 100 gunboats and fighter jets to the creeks.

He explained that the present number and mix of platforms in the Nigeria Navy inventory is grossly inadequate to effectively cover the vast maritime environment and support sister Services during joint operations.

He added that many old navy capital ships are not operational and require a lot of resources to maintain and the deployment of the few operational ones is also becoming financially challenging.

He listed the challenges facing the navy to also include; limited maritime domain awareness capability, inadequate and dilapidated jetties, dilapidated logistics support facilities, weak hydrographic survey capability, shortage of barracks accommodation and inadequate funding.

Ibas explained that the challenges have persisted because of inadequate funding of the Nigeria Navy over the years, noting that the trend indicates that while the proposed over head is increasing annually, the amounts appropriated and released are decreasing.

He said: “This has impinged on Nigeria Navy’s ability to optimally maintain her fleet for sustained presence at sea among others,” adding that, the same situation applies for capital expenditure.

“Such that the Nigeria Navy ability to acquire adequate platforms and other hardware necessary to optimally police Nigeria’s maritime environment has been severely restricted,” he said.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Isah Misau said efforts are being made to ensure the Navy is assisted through enhanced budgetary provisions, pointing out that only the sum of N25, 646,409,841 was appropriated as capital expenditure in the 2016 budget for the Navy.

He also said the meager sum of N3, 479,967,632 were appropriated as overhead expenditure, noting that: “We are aware that the provisions are inadequate to enable you perform your duties satisfactorily.”

Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/-lack-of-equipment-funding-hampering-war-against-niger-delta-militancy/156130.html#h8wiG4dPCM3RPrE5.99

The Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung narrated how he met with some self claimed Niger Delta Avengers in Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom. We are here to let the general public know that Niger Delta fraudsters has defrauded the Minister. Niger Delta Avengers can’t stood so low to send representatives to meet with a common Minister of youths that doesn’t know his work.
Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung has been defrauded and played by Niger Delta Fraudsters he didn’t had any meeting with us (Niger Delta Avengers).
Lets make this clear, any meeting with Niger Delta Avengers that the International communities are not part to witness, we (Niger Delta Avengers) will not be part of any such dialogue as well.

Brig. Gen Mudoch Agbinibo
Spokesperson


http://www./

By DIONNE SEARCEY
July 17, 2016

UGBORODO, Nigeria — Militants are roaming oil-soaked creeks in the south, blowing up pipelines and decimating the nation’s oil production. Islamist extremists have killed thousands in the north. Deadly land battles are shaking the nation’s center. And a decades-old separatist movement at the heart of a devastating civil war is brewing again.

On their own, any one of these would be a national emergency. But here in Nigeria, they are all happening at the same time, tearing at the country from almost every angle.

“Nigeria is the only country we have,” President Muhammadu Buhari implored in a recent speech. “We have to stay here and salvage it together.”

Mr. Buhari took office a year ago, promising to stamp out terrorism in the north and to rebuild the nation’s economy. But he has been knocked off course by a series of crises across the country, forcing him to toggle between emergencies.

Beyond low prices for the nation’s oil, the source of more than 70 percent of the government’s revenue, Nigerian officials have been tormented by a new band of militants claiming to be on a quest to free the oil-producing south from oppression. They call themselves the Niger Delta Avengers.

Despite their name, which sounds as if it might be out of a comic book, the militants have roamed the waters of the south for six months, blowing up crude oil and gas pipelines and shattering years of relative peace in the region.

As a result, Nigeria’s oil production in the second quarter this year dropped 25 percent from the same period a year earlier — enough to contribute to a slight increase in global oil prices, according to an analysis by Facts Global Energy, a consulting firm in London

Partly because of the Avengers and their sabotage, Nigeria has fallen behind Angola as Africa’s top oil producer.

The attacks have been so costly that Mr. Buhari sent troops that had been fighting in the north against Boko Haram — the extremist group that has killed thousands and forced more than two million people to flee their homes — to battle the Avengers in the south instead.

Mr. Buhari then reconfigured those efforts after complaints that marauding soldiers had roughed up people and property while looking for militants in the south, creating even more resentment among the impoverished people who live there.

Militants have struck in the south in the past, kidnapping or killing oil workers and police officers to demand a greater share of the nation’s oil wealth. But the Avengers seem bent on crippling Nigeria’s economy while it is particularly fragile, striking at the core of Mr. Buhari’s plans for the nation.

The Avengers have sent oil, power and gas workers fleeing, torturing the multinational companies that burrow for oil underneath the waters. Fuel deliveries around the country have stalled because almost everything that has to do with oil in Nigeria right now has been tangled up by the militants.

On the main highway in the southern port city of Warri recently, a long row of fuel tankers sat on the side of the road, idle. A bent-back windshield wiper served as a makeshift clothesline. A mini tube of toothpaste rested on the dashboard of one truck. The truckers were stranded, waiting to fill up.

They had been there a month.

“We are not asking for much, but to free the people of the Niger Delta from environmental pollution, slavery and oppression,” the Avengers wrote on their website, explaining their attacks. “We want a country that will turn the creeks of the Niger Delta to a tourism heaven, a country that will achieve its full potentials, a country that will make health care system accessible by everyone. With Niger Delta still under the country Nigeria we can’t make it possible.”

Mr. Buhari’s government has said it is open to negotiating with the group. But it is already stretched thin.

On the opposite side of the country, Boko Haram is still raging. Mr. Buhari has started a major offensive against the group that has made progress, but it has yet to stamp out the violence.

Another longtime battle is flaring in the middle of the country, between farmers and nomadic Fulani herdsmen looking for grazing pastures. Hundreds have been killed in battles as herdsmen roam into new territory to look for vegetation for their cattle. Officials have blamed climate change and the nation’s rapidly growing population for the scarcity of pastureland.

And with their demands for economic equality for the south, the Avengers have been trying to stoke the aspirations of separatists elsewhere in the nation.

More than four decades ago, at least one million people were killed during the Nigerian civil war, when separatists led an uprising that created an independent republic of Biafra in the southeast. It lasted three years, until 1970.

Now, a Biafran separatist movement is simmering again, with the police and protesters clashing regularly since October, when a prominent activist was arrested and jailed. Some have accused the Nigerian security forces of seeking out and killing protesters.

The Avengers are fanning the separatist sentiments, invoking the Biafran movement and calling for a “Brexit”-style referendum to split the nation along several fault lines.


The south has long been a reservoir of anger and resistance, a place where countless billions in oil revenue are extracted for the benefit of distant politicians and companies abroad. Yet drinking water and electricity can be scarce, and the swamps people live around are regularly polluted with Exxon Valdez-size spills, casting an oily sheen on the creeks and coating the roots of dense mangroves in black goo.

Many people in the predominantly Christian south say they believe that Mr. Buhari, a Muslim from the north, is neglecting them for political or sectarian reasons, even though conditions were also grim under his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian southerner.

“You always say you fought for the unity of this country during the civil war,” the Avengers taunted Mr. Buhari on their website. “You haven’t been to the Niger Delta, how can you know what the people are facing.”

In his recent speech, Mr. Buhari recalled the horrors of the civil war, when he served in the military fighting Biafrans. “The president has a vision of one united Nigeria and is prepared to do everything to keep it as one,” he said.

This spring, Mr. Buhari announced that he would personally introduce a $1 billion cleanup program of the oil-polluted Niger Delta area. It was to be Mr. Buhari’s first visit to the region since taking office, but with the Avengers’ movement raging, the president abruptly canceled his trip. Residents of Delta State felt slighted.

“Years have passed with neglect, deprivation, environmental deprivation, poverty, no electricity, no roads, no hospital, no schools, but we are living in the country of Nigeria,” said Blessing Gbalibi, a fuel-truck driver raised in the creek communities. “Over there in Abuja,” he added, referring to the capital, “they are taking our resources.”

Yet many Niger Delta residents like Mr. Gbalibi oppose the Avengers because their acts of sabotage have degraded the already-poor quality of life in the region. Spills from explosions have further polluted farmland and fishing holes. Mr. Gbalibi and his fuel truck were among those stuck on the side of the highway for a month because the Avengers had disrupted fuel distribution.

About a decade ago, another band of militants, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, prowled the creeks, blowing up pipelines. The federal government reined it in by setting up an amnesty program that offers cash and job training, some of it overseas, for more than 30,000 militants and residents, according to Paul Boroh, a retired brigadier general and the special adviser to Mr. Buhari for the program.

But oil revenue finances the program, and the fall in oil prices prompted the president to consider ending the amnesty program at the end of last year. Mr. Boroh said he had lobbied to keep the plan for now, but to phase it out over the next two years.

The Avengers movement sprang up around the time the president was considering an end to the program, prompting many Niger Delta residents to wonder if the shadowy group is made of former militants hoping to keep up amnesty payments.

The amnesty program is far from universally loved in the creeks. Many residents say payments are routinely siphoned by corrupt community leaders. Others say the job training they received was virtually useless. Oil companies prefer to hire foreigners, they complain, or they hire locals only on a short-term basis — and then nothing.

The program sent Mike Gomero, a former militant, to learn the teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a two-week session in South Africa. He is no longer blowing up pipelines. But he still does not have a job.

“The amnesty program is not a solution,” said Williams Welemu, a former member of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. “It’s palliative.”

Communities like Ugborodo, so deep in the winding creeks that it is at least two hours from the mainland by speedboat, are dotted with homes that are little more than tiny zinc huts on islands that are sinking into the sea. They are filled with unemployed residents trained as geologists, pipe fitters and marine engineers.

One of them, Collins Bemigho, stood along a dirty swamp, orange flares from a giant Chevron terminal glowing in the distance behind him. He complained about a lack of indoor plumbing, of good health care or a secondary school, and then pointed to a thick pipe jutting from the water.

“If I wanted to bust a pipeline, I could do that right here,” Mr. Bemigho said. “We’re not rewarded for being well behaved.”



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/world/africa/nigeria-niger-delta-buhari-oil-militants.html

Yes am leaving[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]

Lies

Ok

By Michael Eboh

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Tuesday, called on Nigerians to desist from panic buying of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as fuel, stating that it has about 23 days of product supply in all its depots across the country.

Reacting to the resurgence of fuel queues in some cities across the country, the NNPC, in a statement by Mr. Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, stated that its depots have about 927.461 million litres of PMS which is enough to serve the country for the next 23 days if no drop of the product is imported within the period.

The NNPC blamed the resurgence of queues at petrol filling stations on rumour of an impending scarcity, assuring that it has enough products to meet the demand of the country.

It also warned oil marketers not to engage in sharp practices, stating that anyone found wanting would be dealt with decisively.....


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/fuel-not-scarce-stop-panic-buying-nnpc-tells-nigerians/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1z1rJ6gbxw

The embattled Rivers State governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike has raised an objection to the claim that over one hundred soldiers were missing after sporadic gun battle with Boko Haram Insurgents; saying, inside source had confirmed the combatants dead and not just missing.
Wike, who charged President Buhari and his administration to be ready to take the responsibility, said Nigerians are tired of half-truth and diplomatic statements of curbing insurgency.

He described as an act of wickedness and lack of human feeling, the political dressings given the insurgents since the assumption of office of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the national level.
Mr. Wike lamented that the APC led government appeared more interested in witch hunting oppositions and demoralising the country's unity and tranquility than fighting the insurgency, the promise on which the party rode to power.
"It is an aberration and a total deviation from the expected changes the APC led administration had promised Nigerians, reading 105 soldiers were missing while they were even dead under APC watch.
"No average Nigerian who listened and watched the APC rallies across the country during the electioneering campaign where promises of ending the insurgency within a short period of time if elected were made, that will believe Nigerian Army could be this molested and defeated with APC providing shield instead of telling Nigerians the basic truth," Wike lamented.
He admonished the presidency to tell Nigerians the present situation with the "105 missing soldiers" which insider had confirmed dead.
"It will be of great relief to the presidency if Nigerians can always be fed with facts and not doctored media reports aimed at pleasing the masses.
"As much as we anticipate peace and security of lives and properties, telling Nigerians you are winning battle against Boko Haram when the insurgency consumes our able security operatives on daily basis, is as dangerous as voting an unrealistic change," Gov. Wike said in Port Harcourt on Thursday.



http://www.urbanreporters.com/2015/11/wike-confronts-presidency-105-soldiers.htm

some off the assumed dead...l

Someone should save this picture before they remove it

Please

Another bailout

But United State denied the agreement.

This APC and propaganda, Lies

The Nigerian governors’ forum is worried that more states may be unable to pay workers’ salaries if the revenue of the country continues to be on the decline.

Abdul’aziz Yari, governor of Zamfara and chairman of the forum, said this while briefing reporters on the resolutions of the forum at its meeting in Abuja late Wednesday.

TheCable reports that he said the forum discussed the economy and resolved to look for means to enhance states’ internally generated revenues as well to cut overhead cost, especially the salaries of political office holders.

Yari added that the forum also resolved to diversify the country’s economy from petroleum to agriculture and mining.

“The situation is no longer the same when we were asked to pay N18,000 minimum wage, when oil price was $126 per barrel and continued paying N18,000 minimum wage when the oil is $41 per barrel and the source of government expenditure is from oil, and we have not seen prospects in the oil industry in the near future,” he said.

“We are coming together in a roundtable with President Buhammadu Buhari and his team of ministers, technocrats, economic experts to see how we can tackle our situation.”

Yari said the governors had also resolved to hold a roundtable with all stakeholders to articulate a robust strategy to tackle the deplorable economic situation in the country.

On his part Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state said there was no way the country could continue with a situation where expenditure is more than income.

He said very soon many states would be technically declared bankrupt, adding that there might be need for another bailout fund for states running on deficit every month.

“We are faced with a situation where we either have to reduce cost through salary reduction or downsize,” he said.

“All these we don’t want to do but prefer to have a roundtable with the president, ministers, economists to look for means of getting out of this problem.”

Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state said the economic situation was worrisome as more states would reach a stage where they would be unable to pay salaries.

“I believe that [this] is the same situation with the federal government,”he said.

He said there was a need to look into the salaries of political office holders and other salaries.

“It is not a situation of being able to run government now. Most states are not able to pay salaries not to talk of capital projects.

“If we cannot fund capital development, then the rest of Nigerians are just shut out of government.

“Those of us in government, both politicians and civil servants, are possibly not more than five per cent of the entire population of Nigeria.

What will happen to the other 95 per cent? What happens to infrastructure? Can we talk about industry without infrastructure?”


Read more http://newswirengr.com/2015/11/19/we-are-needing-another-bailout-nigerian-governors-declare-bankruptcy/

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
Plenary at the House of Representatives was disrupted with shouting sessions several times on Thursday during the second reading of the 2015 Supplementary Appropriation Bill, particularly the debate on the N413.36 billion emergency provision for subsidy claims.


The House stepped down its rules to first discuss the bill which was the fifth order of the day, in fulfillment of its pledge to expedite action on the bill, which passed first reading Wednesday.


President Muhammadu Buhari had written to the House, seeking authorisation for the issue of N465.6 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.


The Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, leading the debate, summarised the bill, and harped on the need for urgent action due to the ongoing fuel crises which could get worse if the subsidy claims are not cleared.
Other lawmakers including Hon. Zakari Mohammed (Kwara APC) and Hon. Bukar Goni (Yobe APC) spoke in favour of the bill.


But Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (Abia PDP) caused a stir when she queried the timing of the bill as the 2015 fiscal year is almost over.
Several members attempted to interrupt her, but the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara ruled that she be allowed to finish her presentation.
“If this budget is passed, will they implement it? We have had issues of budget implementation,” she said.


Disruptions continued when the Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, also raised several questions with the bill. He cited the N1.5 billion appropriation for the All African Games which has already been concluded.


“We have already gone for the All African Games, which means funds have already been expended. That is extra budgetary. How can we approve funds already spent?” Ogor asked.


He described the N413.36 billion appropriation for subsidy claims as huge and urged the relevant House committees to query why so much was being spent on subsidy.


“If this government has said subsidy is alien, how come we are spending this much on subsidy,” he said.
As he continued, he was shouted down by members of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Gbajabiamila however accused Ogor of misdirecting the House.


“Let the minority leader not misdirect this House with non-facts. At no point did this government say...”
He was also shouted down by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, who refused to let him continue until the Speaker again intervened and asked he, Gbajabiamila be allowed to continue.


“It is important that when we get up to speak on the floor, we speak the truth. The President...,” he continued.
But members of the PDP shouted “no” again, when Gbajabiamila asked the minority leader to withdraw his earlier statement.
The rowdiness continued for a few minutes before Dogara intervened again. He noted that the current administration was against the removal of oil subsidy.


“I know this as a leader in this government, the president has said clearly that he is against the removal of subsidy,” he said...


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/house-in-rowdy-session-over-n413bn-subsidy-debate/226159/

Rising from a crucial meeting on that ended at the early hours of Thursday at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja under the umbrella of Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, the governors said that the dwindling prices of oil had drastically affected their States’ income.

Specifically, they said that the burden of the wage was lighter when oil sold at $126 as against the current $41 per barrel.

They therefore sought to have audience with President Muhammadu Buhari on the economy, resolving that the only way out of the quagmire was to diversify the economy to agriculture and mining.

Reading the communique issued at the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Forum and governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari hinted that the Forum also backed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the N2.1trillion sanction on MTN.

According to him, the governors agreed that the fine must be paid in full.

He said that they received briefing from the Acting Executive Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Professor Umar Dambata who explained the matter to them.

He said: “We resolved that we must look at ways to enhance revenue generation and at the same time look at ways to cut our overhead costs more especially the political office holders’ salaries and other overhead expenses.

“The situation is no longer the same when we were asked to pay N18,000 minimum wage, when oil price was $126 (per barrel) and continued paying N18,000 minimum wage when the oil is $41 and the source of government expenditure is from oil, and we have not seen prospects in the oil industry in the near future.

“We will diversify our economy in the area of agriculture and mining. But at the same time, we should understand our situation where some of us (states) today are taking N100million take home (monthly allocation) and then have salaries in particular of over N2billion to pay.

“We therefore agreed here to take this suggestion to NEC in our meeting tomorrow (Thursday) so that we can be able to find ways to tackle this problem.

“And we are looking at coming together to discussing with Mr. President and his team, with governors, technocrats and experts in the economy to see how we can tackle our troubled situation. We are working harder to deal with it.

“Hence the MTN has accepted that they committed the offense and has apologised, and they are looking for leniency, we the governors forum decided to support the NCC to abide by the laws of the land and the laws of our land do not not give leniency to deliberate offense to our nation.”

Yari also revealed that the forum also received a presentation from the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) which will help in boosting mechanised agriculture and improve small and medium businesses especially in the rural communities.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/we-can-no-longer-pay-n18000-minimum-wage-govs-cry-out/

And the gullible are shouting

Sai baba

Boko are now making video on them

[color=][/color]

Boko are making video now

So watch out

No more Sai Baba

Is now KAI BABA

But i think they said they are winning the fight

This man Buhari is a very funny man

Lies and propaganda APC

I pity the gullibles that always shout

Sai babbaa

Nigeria’s Governors say they will seek more solutions to the inability of some states to pay its workers and meet other responsibilities.

The decision was reached at a meeting of the governors held in Abuja, which began at about 8:00pm local time on Wednesday.

At least 22 governors or their representatives were present at the Governors Forum seen as crucial, as some governors are still owing some worker salaries of several months.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, the governors said that they discussed sustainability of the wage bill of some states, which had been affected greatly by the dwindling revenue and allocation to states.

Channels Television’s Correspondent, Lanre Lasisi, said that the “dwindling funds of the states and the complaints that have been made by some states concerning their inability to meet their wage bill and keep the state running,” topped talks at the meeting.

The Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, said most states sincerely were bankrupt and needed quick solution to the paucity of funds they were facing.

“Solution has to be found to address the problems,” Lanre quoted the governors as saying.

The governors said they would need to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to look for a solution and tackle the problem once and for all.

The Federal Government had some months back approved a bailout fund for the states finding it difficult to pay their workers. It is not clear if all the states have accessed the funds.

Another key issue that the governors discussed was the fine imposed on the MTN telecommunication group by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

The Forum met with the Acting Executive Vice Chairman of the commission and they pledged to work with the commission to ensure that the telecommunication company paid the fine.

They expressed satisfaction with the commission over the fine and insisted that there would be no leeway.

The governors also said the law should be obeyed fully and that the fine should be paid.


http://www.channelstv.com/2015/11/18/governors-lament-mounting-wage-bill-plan-to-meet-buhari-again/

These funny lies just de take Una play

Abode visit Osibanjo , lie Muhammad visit kano govern,Obj visit buhari, Igp visit police

The gullible will shout sai baba

Same old lies, so this girl don join them

Too bad

Lies and propaganda on innocent Nigerians

Hope Sai Baba will soon end

Lies and propaganda government

Na Only Picture we go chop

We are tired of pictures every 5 days u bring out one useless picture

And the gullible will shout SSAAII BABBAA !

Funny set of people

.

Buhari will just kill this country Economical

U appoint finance minister last week.

This week you wan borrow when Finance Minister never even start work

This man funny, Think say to govern ease

Sai Baba people go hear am

But no be watin you tell us before you rig in