₦airaland Forum

Nairobi, 26 January 2012–Young people Tweeting from mobile devices are driving the growth of Twitter in Africa, according to How Africa Tweets , new research launched in Nairobi today.
In the first ever attempt to comprehensively map the use of Twitter in Africa, Portland Communications and Tweet minster analysed over 11.5 million geo-located Tweets originating on the continent during the last three months of 2011.This pan-African analysis of Twitter traffic was complemented by a survey of 500 of Africa’s most active Tweeters.
How Africa Tweets found that:
•South Africa is the continent’s most active country by volume of geo-located Tweets, with over twice as many Tweets (5,030,226 during Q4 2011) as the next most active Kenya (2,476,800).Nigeria (1,646,212), Egypt (1,214,062) and Morocco (745,620) make up the remainder of the top five most active countries.
•57% of Tweets from Africa are sent from mobile devices.
•60% of Africa’s most active Tweeters are aged 20-29.
•Twitter in Africa is widely used for social conversation, with 81% of those polled saying that they mainly used it for communicating with friends.
•Twitter is becoming an important source of information in Africa. 68% of those polled said that they use Twitter to monitor news. 22% use it to search for employment opportunities.
•African Twitter users are active across a range of social media, including Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn.
Mark Flanagan, Portland’s Partner for Digital Communications, says: “One of the more surprising findings of this research is that more public figures have not joined Africa’s burgeoning Twittersphere. With some notable exceptions, we found that business and political leaders were largely absent from the debates playing out on Twitter across the continent. As Twitter lifts off in Africa, governments, businesses and development agencies can really no longer afford to stay out of a new space where dialogue will increasingly be taking place.”
How Africa Tweets found that Twitter is helping to form new links within Africa. The majority of those surveyed said that at least half of the Twitter accounts they follow are based on the continent.
Beatrice Karanja, Associate Director and head of Portland Nairobi, says: “We saw the pivotal role of Twitter in the events in North Africa last year, but it is clear that Africa’s Twitter revolution is really just beginning. Twitter is helping Africa and Africans to connect in new ways and swap information and views. And for Africa – as for the rest of the world – that can only be good.”
The key findings of How Africa Tweetsand a high-resolution version of the infographic can be found at www.portland-communications.com
Portland Communications hopes that this survey will serve as a benchmark for measuring the evolution of Twitter use in Africa, shedding new light on how Africa communicates nationally, regionally and internationally. We welcome feedback and comments.
Suggested hashtag: #AfricaTweets
ENDS


Media contacts
Anglophone media:
Godwin Muhwezi, godwin.muhwezi@portland-communications.com, +254 700 395 376
Matt Gould, matt.gould@portland-communications.com, +44 20 7822 1721
Francophone media:
Alex Margot-Duclot, alex.margot-duclot@portland-communications.com, +44 20 7842 0152

Notes to editors
1.       Portland Communications is a strategic communications consultancy with a specialism in Africa. We have a track record of delivering strategic programmes across the continent for high-profile individuals, multi-national investors and campaigning organisations. Portland’s Nairobi office is integrated into a network of top agencies across Africa. www.portland-communications.com

2.       Tweetminster is a media platform that helps people and organisations discover the most relevant content about their personal and professional interests by dynamically analysing and organising in real time what networks of experts and influencers around any topic, industry or market are paying attention to.www.tweetminster.co.uk

3.       How Africa Tweets used geo-location to accurately identify the country of origin of Tweets.A geo-located Tweet refers to a Tweet sent by a user who has enabled location-based services.

The Nuhu Ribadu Campaign Organisation today condemned the lead story of ThisDay newspapers of Monday, March 21 concerning a presidential poll sample, describing it as “politically purchased” and an “Onitsha market sampling that was based on cash and carry syndrome.”

In a statement signed by Ibrahim Modibbo,its Director of Media and Publicity, the organisation said the supposed poll was “not only false and unscientific, but illogical and cooked up.” It said ThisDay Newspapers were merely playing to the gallery and carrying out the mandate of their paymasters.

“We would however expect them to respect the sanctity of the country and not betray the Nigerian people by spreading falsehood,” it added.

It posed the following queries:

• That any imaginary poll conducted by ThisDay would say the PDP or President Jonathan would win any state of the south west when it is clear to everyone that the people of that region have seen the failure of past PDP governments and the success of the ACN leadership.

• That the PDP would win in other southern states like Edo, Delta, Cross River and Imo when the residents of those states have continually yearned for change and demonstrated their support for the ACN and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

• That anyone can claim that the polls are giving a 60% win to President Jonathan when he has been roundly rejected in virtually all parts of the north whereas Mallam Ribadu has been accepted in Northern states as demonstrated by attendance at the ACN presidential rallies in such states as Jigawa, Bauchi and Benue.

Mr. Modibbo urged Nigerians to be wary of “purchased polls and reports” during the electioneering period, pointing out that Nigerians know those people who, despite spreading billions of our nation’s resources, are being continually rejected by the people.

“Realising that Nigerians have decided to reject their money and demand for true change, these persons have decided to use gullible and corrupt media to paint a picture of acceptance by Nigerians,” the Campaign said, calling on Nigerians to do the right thing by ignoring false polls and claims by propagandists.

“We call on Nigerians to be ready to jettison more of such purchased polls and be ready to defend their votes to chase out those who have held our Nation to ransom for the past 12 years.”

Contrary to the belief that former President Olusegun Obasanjo personally hand-picked late President Umaru Yar'Adua as his successor, a United States diplomatic cable obtained by Wikileaks and made available exclusively to NEXT, has detailed how a group of governors led by Bukola Saraki, the Kwara State governor, worked behind the scene to pressure Mr. Obasanjo into anointing the former Katsina State governor as his replacement.

No other person than Mr. Saraki himself gave the account of the political intrigues that threw up the late president to a former US Consul General, Brian Browne.

In a dispatch to Washington on November 28, 2005, Mr. Browne detailed a conversation he had with Mr. Saraki on October 29, 2005, during which the Kwara State governor disclosed the intrigues involved in searching for a successor for Mr. Obasanjo.

The cable revealed that Mr. Saraki and his colleagues had settled for Mr. Yar'Adua in 2005, long before Mr. Obasanjo's third term bid collapsed in the National Assembly and one clear year before Mr. Yar'Adua joined the race.

During his chat with the diplomat, Mr. Saraki identified the three options before Mr. Obasanjo as it concerned the 2007 elections. He said the options were for Mr. Obasanjo to continue in office through the duration of an extended second term, reconciling with and supporting the Vice President (Atiku Abubakar) as his successor and identifying an acceptable compromise successor candidate from among the governors of the time.

Yar'Adua as compromise

Mr. Saraki confided in the Consul General that prior to the 2007 presidential elections, majority of the PDP governors were "meeting constantly in large and small packs to reach consensus on a compromise candidate acceptable to the President."

In their consultations, Mr. Saraki disclosed that the governors agreed that in fulfilment of the deal reached by the leaders of the party in 2003, the presidency should move to the northern region. The governors, as a means to get the reluctant Mr. Obasanjo to accept their proposal, decided to lace the idea with the incentive that such an action would place him in a high pedestal as he would be "the first elected Nigerian civilian chief executive to hand over to another elected civilian".

Mr. Saraki said his camp then considered some northern governors (Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa, Adamu Muazu of Bauchi, Ahmed Makarfi of Kaduna, and Umaru Yar'Adua of Katsina) as possible replacements for Mr. Obasanjo. Of all those considered, the governor said, Mr. Yar'Adua was the most attractive.

Mr Saraki liked Mr. Muazu, but questioned whether he had sufficient scope to handle the presidency. He described Mr. Adamu as a poor administrator and someone too much in Mr. Obasanjo's pocket.

Mr. Saraki said Mr Makarfi was an able political strategist who was doing a good job of positioning himself as a dark horse. Mr Makarfi was an intelligent and a good governor, the Kwara governor said.

But overall, Mr. Saraki and his clique preferred Mr. Yar'Adua whom he described as the truly intriguing prospect. "Yar'Adua is quiet, has received good reviews for his performance in office, and he would likely continue Obasanjo's economic reform programs, but with a more humane approach," he said.

Apart from the quiet mien and perhaps his performance as governor of Katsina State, by choosing him ahead of other contending governors from the north, the PDP governors hoped to score some political points for Mr. Obasanjo against his estranged deputy, Abubakar Atiku.

The Kwara state governor explained to Mr. Browne that as the younger brother to Shehu Yar'Adua, the founder of the Peoples Front of Nigeria (PFN) which transformed into the Peoples' Democratic Movement (PDM) under the control of Mr. Atiku, if Mr. Yar'Adua was chosen to succeed Mr. Obasanjo, this might lead to a split in the ranks of the powerful and influential PDM.

"Atiku could lose a significant chunk of his rank-and-file support. The resultant diminution of Atiku's political base by the ascendancy of Yar'Adua would be a consideration Obasanjo would find highly attractive because it would also make it difficult for Atiku to leave the PDP to join forces with another group," Mr Saraki said.

He told the American that these arguments were placed before Mr. Obasanjo while his camp continued to press until the former president buckled.

However, Billy Adedamola, Special Assistant to Mr. Saraki, in a telephone conversation with NEXT described any insinuation that his boss suggested the late president to Mr. Obasanjo as ridiculous.

"Obasanjo is an independent minded person", he said. "Obasanjo has given a detailed account of how he settled for Yar'Adua even when he was aware of his illness. Obasanjo has never said that anybody imposed or introduced Yar'Adua to him. Obasanjo has had a long relationship with the Yar'Adua family even before Bukola knew anything about politics. So, Bukola is not the kind of person that will introduce any member of the Yar'Adua family to Obasanjo."

Tenure extension

Of the three paths available to Mr. Obasanjo to choose from, Mr. Saraki told Mr. Browne the one the former president was most willing to follow was that which would enable him to extend his tenure in office.

The governor's disclosure is contrary to Mr. Obasanjo's oft-repeated claim that he never sought tenure extension.

This plan hatched by the president, the governor explained, involved a constitutional amendment "establishing a single presidential term of six years, with the term extension effective immediately".

If this plan had sailed through, it would automatically have added two more years to Mr. Obasanjo's tenure.

Mr. Saraki explained that the process of constitutional amendment was too arduous, lined with many unyielding opponents and fraught with uncertainties and that he therefore doubted whether Mr. Obasanjo would be able to garner the required support across the country to effect such an amendment.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5684048-146/story.csp

Barring any last minute changes, Mr. Afolabi Tajudeen Adeola, former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc,  former chairman of the National Pension Commission (Pencom), and former member on the (Tony) Blair Commission on Africa, may have been named the running mate of the fledgling candidacy of the anti-corruption czar, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Ribadu is the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). If this happens, it would follow on the heels of the Chief MKO

Abiola-Alhaji Babagana Kingibe Muslim-Muslim ticket, which was widely accepted by Nigerians across regional and ethnic lines in the annulled 1993 presidential election.

Analysts believe it may work again because both Ribadu and Adeola are not known to be religious champions, practising their faith privately and quietly. They are equally known to work across religious and tribal lines.

Party sources confirmed that discussions and consultations are still on-going on the choice of Adeola, and it is expected that matters relating to the pairing of duo will be concluded later today in the evening to beat the INEC deadline tomorrow (February 21) for the substitution of presidential candidates and their running mates.

When contacted last night, Adeola confirmed that he had been approached by the leadership of the ACN but that they were yet to conclude discussions.

The former banker, who likened the decision to a marriage between two people, also admitted that issues relating to the development must be concluded today.

“By the grace of God, everything will be resolved by this time tomorrow (today, Sunday).”

Adeola added that all related issues have to be carefully looked into before a final decision is taken. He said the offer is not what he is taking lightly.

Also confirming the story, one of the ACN governors said the choice of Adeola as Ribadu’s running mate is one of the intelligent decisions the party has taken at this time of the year.

He described Adeola as a detailed person who would naturally pair with a Ribadu, an administrative hand.

The governor said there is the need for a running mate, who would take up all the detailed assignments that the presidential job demands, especially in the quest for a better Nigeria.

He said the Ribadu-Adeola ticket would go down in history as one of the best ever produced in the country by any political party, adding, “We are in this to win and not to consider what some class of people would think about a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“Even the political class is waiting to break away from the old order. They don’t just know how to go about it.”

The governor, who sounded excited about the development said Adeola is a respectable young man who has paid his dues in the development, of the country.

As co-founder and ex-managing director of GTBank, he said Adeola walked away when the ovation was loudest. He posited that Adeola had also handled many sensitive and vital assignments in the country and beyond.

“He has what it takes to rebuild this country. This country needs rebuilding and not rebranding like the PDP is doing. Nigeria needs root and branch reformation.

“So, we can’t have people who are part of the problem as part of the solution. It would not work. That is the difference between the PDP candidate who is though a nice guy, but is clueless,” he said.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fola-adeola-is-nuhu-ribadu-s-running-mate/86548/

You better have your facts right. Some of us will yab you off this website if you don't. You have been warned!!

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the self-styled "father of modern Nigeria," received a rude shock yesterday in Okuku, Osun State, when former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, confronted him and called him "father of bastards".
It is the second time since leaving office under controversial circumstances in 2007 that the former head of state would be publicly ridiculed. Last month, an irate Nigerian rained blows on him after he managed to sneak into his car in traffic shortly after Obasanjo arrived from a foreign trip. Fayose met Obasanjo in the inner recesses of the Okuku mansion of the deposed governor of the state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, after a "thanksgiving service" in his honor by friends and family. The former president was sitting with former military dictator, Ibrahim Babanginda, the Governor of Oyo state, Alao Akala, and Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, when Fayose breezed into the reception area.

Trouble began, according to eyewitness accounts, when Fayose proceeded to greet everyone but Obasanjo.  Sensing he had been deliberately ignored, Obasanjo called Fayose by name and asked if it had been an error on his part, but an enraged Fayose surprisingly turned to Obasanjo and said he could not greet someone who is very bad!

Obasanjo flew in rage and called Fayose a "bastard", this further infuriated Fayose, who moved menacingly towards Obasanjo, waved his finger in his face and called him the "father of bastards". http:///cCUQjJ

Fayose was apparently only just warming up. http:///cCUQjJ

"You created all these troubles in the Southwest,” he told Obasanjo, “and for your information, I did not come here as a member of your party, I am no longer a PDP member," Fayose shouted.

Inching towards Obasanjo, Fayose pointedly told the former president that he didn't deserve his greeting and warned Obasanjo never to talk to him again. Obasanjo reportedly flew into a rage and called Fayose a "bastard."  That remark further infuriated Fayose, who moved menacingly towards Obasanjo, waved his finger in his face and called him the "father of bastards". http:///cCUQjJ

When the situation became chaotic, Fayose stormed out of the reception area and was heard cursing Obasanjo as he walked away in anger. The celebrant, Oyinlola, ran after him and wept, complaining that Fayose had come to disrupt his joyous occasion.

Any moment from now, flamboyant miracle fixing pastor of Christ Embassy Church located in Oregun, Ikeja area of Lagos state, Chris Oyakhilome will be a guest of Nigeria’s anti-graft police, EFCC for using his church to launder funds which source could not be accounted for into foreign bank accounts. The illicit funds so far traced by security agents stand at over $35 million.

The latest scandal may once again bring the controversial miracle-worker pastor under public scrutiny after government suspended the broadcast of his suspicious healing programme tagged “atmosphere for miracles” on public television stations some years ago.

iReports-ng can authoritatively report that a document on the money laundering activities of the architect turned pastor was first passed to the Nigeria police force headquarters in Abuja, last year. After finding it difficult to unravel the fraud, the police forwarded the matter to the EFCC which has the expertise and powers to successfully prosecute the pastor.

According to a source at the force headquarters in Abuja, the case was sent to the EFCC and received there September 24th 2009. Another source in the EFCC also confirmed that attempts were made by some of the controversial pastor’s agents in the commission to “kill” the petition due to the electronic system of monitoring cases already put in place in the agency, called “gocase” by the United Nations Office On Drug and Crime, UNODC.

A reliable source in the agency told iReports-ng a few hours ago that ” after the initial hiccup, substantial progress has now been made on the case even though quietly and the coast now clear to invite the pastor to make some statements on his involvement in cash transfer of such huge amount of United States currency”

Apart from this discovery of money laundering activity by the pastor, a couple of his church officials and members have also of recent featured in some major fraud issues. Not quite long a time, one of his pastors in Ogba area of Lagos was said to have stolen some millions of naira from the sheraton hotels ikeja where he worked as a manager before he was sacked when the fraud was discovered. He claimed in his statement to the police then that he donated the stolen money to Oyakhilome’s Christ embassy church to buy power generating sets and other church needs.

Also of recent, a young member of the church in Benin city, Edo state was arrested and prosecuted by the EFCC for engaging in internet marriage scam through which he defrauded a white lady. In his statement before he was convicted, he was said to have also confessed that he donated the bulk of the scam money to Oyakhilome’s church where he belongs as a strong member.

Before the discovery of the pastor’s money laundering activity, Oyakhilome had been enmeshed in other major scandals such as immoral sexual engagements with church members, fighting other religious leaders, use of diabolic powers and faking miracles.

In 2008, south africa media were awash with stories of fake miracles stage managed by the pastor in a bid to woo worshipers to join his church.

THIS IS HELL Clásico!

Has GEJ got you tripping with performance? That should be the real question here

Three months ago I posted a piece titled “Who is a Volunteer?.” Someone else wrote it and people (meaning Chxta Bee) roundly criticised me for its content. The writer’s concept of volunteerism was a bit too “Obamaish”. I promised a redo and I’m just getting round to it. Give me that line about Procrastination being a thief of time and I’ll gladly ask you to exchange your 9-5 for my 20-hour-day job. No takers? Thought so.

Anyway, the concept of Team Ribadu is one that is noble and genius at the same time. That a group of young people, hell-bent on making their country great again, would set a target of getting 600, 000 other volunteers to convince 10 million people to register, vote and defend their vote in a country like Nigeria, is commendable. To appreciate the size of the job at hand, consider that the current administration garnered just 24.6 million votes, representing 70% of the votes cast. This means that less than 30 million people voted. When you add the fact that these figures were over-blown in the first place, you will see how hard Team Ribadu’s job is. However, it is a dream, one that can come true. But the process must evolve with time and plan upgraded and fine-tuned daily for the work to be have any chance of success.

http:///cCUQjJ

Now, who is a volunteer? To me, a volunteer is someone who has made up his/her mind to change the course of his generation and will give up some of his precious time and money to see it done. He is someone who has identified with the philosophy of change as preached by a particular party, candidate or political movement and wants to get involved. That individual must be ready to give up the time he spends watching Premiership matches on Saturdays. She must be prepared to schedule to have her nails done twice a month instead of weekly because she has meetings to attend. She will have to lose her shyness as she will have to approach total strangers, and, with the swagger of a bank marketer, gain their confidence to get them to believe in the cause and readily give up their addresses and phone details. Volunteer work is no joke, you know. http:///cCUQjJ

A true Team Ribadu member (who I will refer to as Player for the rest of this piece) will use his resources such as time, money and materials to support Nuhu Ribadu, and any other person with similar traits running for any other office, in the quest for change.

These are things I feel a Player member must do between today and election day.

1. Read, research and totally understand the man Nuhu Ribadu. He must become obsessed with the man by understanding his philosophy and his reasons for doing what he does. This way, there is a ready-answer for every likely question other Nigerians may have. This will mean reading old stories, watching past interviews, goggling the name over and over, looking out for new materials and attending every public event the man speaks at. You’ve got to have “Ribaducisis” if you want to be a great partaker in “Ribadumania.”

2. As the man has chosen the horse with which he feels safe to ride into Aso Villa, a Player will trust his judgement and join the Action congress of Nigeria. He would also assist in the ACN in membership drive.

3. The Player will locate or start, with the full knowledge and assistance of the state coordinator of course, a Team Ribadu meeting place close by. Then he will attend meetings regularly to be updated on issues. At the meetings, he will make valid contributions and share ideas and information.

4. He will “man up” to speak about the cause at public spaces and closed corners too. He should recognise that Nigerians feel there is no hope for this country. This is just what the political class want us to think; that they are all the same and change is impossible. A Player must be ready to go against the grind and tell them Nigeria is not that far gone. Hope must be inspired. Change has to be preached. Also, recognise that everyone is important, from a taxi driver to your university chancellor. So take your message to the viewing centres, the shopping malls, cinemas, the beer palours, the night clubs, the villages, the creeks, everywhere. Every vote must count.

5. To those who fail to see past their noses, Nigerians in the Diaspora have a lot to contribute to this particular election. The Player must recognise this and see to it that he gets all those he knows to get on “Ribaducisis” too. This is because these guys will one day come back home and will prefer if thieves don’t come calling each night to take their share in the dollars they got. It would be much nicer if the would-be assailants were well-employed and probably married with kids. Armed with this line of thought, the Player must convince people he knows outside the country to join Team Ribadu online and off it. In turn, they will persuade their people back home to go and vote for the man en mass. They may not be able to vote, but their influence and Dollars, Pounds or Marks may have a big influence in the outcome.

6. To be sure, the only chance Nuhu Ribadu has at winning is if the people donate money to the campaign and go to the polls to vote. Hence, the Player must, as a matter of urgency and expediency, memorise at least one of the campaign orgainsation’s bank account numbers and give it to willing donors at the drop of the hat. Chop, chop, make that paper, baby.

7. When all is said and done, the Election Day will eventually come. The Player must be prepared to do the following,

a) Call up all the voters he got to register and ensure they assemble at the polling vote.

b) Volunteer to use his car to pick up those living far from the place.

c) Vote and hang around after.

d) Notify the campaign organisation by any means necessary if he notices any infringement in the sequence of events at the polling centre maybe, voting starts before the materials arrive or most of the names in the register are strange or the register is different from the public version.

e) Use cameras to record the events as they happen. Be prepared to be called up as witness in court, in case of a tribunal.

f) He need not fight if no voting takes place where he is, but should make sure nobody is allotted fictitious votes when numbers are called.

Now, you see it is no child’s play to be a true Player. It is hard work, but the rewards could be immense. You could write a book about it or someday tell your grand kids how you saved your country by working for free. Also, since Team Ribadu will remain, whether the man wins or loses, any Player could one day ride on the group’s credibility and network to any political office in the land, without having to steal from the national till first.

So, please, fellow Nigerians, home and aboard, join Team Ribadu today. Join for the sake of making this nation work again. Pitch in to see our streets safe enough for kids to ride their bikes without the threat of being kidnapped. Donate to reduce the possibility of someone duping you of your hard earned dollars when you want to invest in a business. Vote to see Nigeria regain her pride of place in Africa. Do it for you, your friends and your family. Believe in the dream! A New Nigeria is possible!!!!

http:///cCUQjJ

With over 500,000 applications received across the nation, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and its partners may have raked in about N750m from the ongoing recruitment exercise, an investigation by SATURDAY PUNCH has shown.

The number of entries received multiplied by a mandatory N1,500 application fee (application code scratch card) paid by each applicant produced the conservative figure.

Although 60,000 applicants were said to have participated in the Lagos interview held at the National Stadium last Saturday and Sunday, eyewitnesses said that the population of applicants in Lagos was close to 80,000.

That is apart from cases of thousands of applicants, who bought the scratch card, but could not access the web site because of high traffic, and those who had to buy a second time to correct errors made in their initial attempts, as the application code could not be used twice.

The Public Relations Officer, NDLEA, Mr. Mitchel Ofoyeju, said on the telephone on Friday that the venues chosen for the tests were picked based on the number of entries received from each station, where the interview held simultaneously across the states of the federation.

In a random sampling conducted by SATURDAY PUNCH and guided by information available on the NDLEA website, it was found that at least 40,000 applicants sat for the test at the five designated centres in Abuja.

At least, 15,000 applicants must have written the test in the two centres each in Kaduna, Ogun, Osun, Delta, Oyo, Plateau and Bayelsa states.

A minimum of 10,000 applicants would have also written the test in the remaining 27 states; hence, the agency would have played host to over 500,000 applicants.

Some national dailies (not THE PUNCH) had reported that only 60,000 applicants wrote the test in Lagos, but an eyewitness account had it that not only was the 45,000 capacity main bowl of the National Stadium filled to capacity, about half that number also wrote the test on the football pitch, while some others who arrived late wrote theirs outside the gate in their thousands.

A graduate applicant, Mr. Kingsley Okonkwo, who entered for the Category ‘A’ Superintendent of Narcotics cadre, told SATURDAY PUNCH that the population of applicants who wrote the 50 objective questions examination on the pitch was about half the actual capacity of the main bowl of the stadium.

He said, “Those of us that wrote the two-hour test on Saturday were obviously over 70,000. Even the NDLEA officials were overwhelmed.

“The fact that they used 21 banks is enough to show that they meant to make good money from the exercise. We just hope this is not another way of defrauding unemployed Nigerians.”

A lawyer, Mr. Jide Zaid, whose younger brother partook in the test in Lagos, referred to the exercise as fraudulent.

He wondered why the test was not conducted in batches to make it well organised, saying there was not much that any organisation could achieve from such a poorly organised test.

He said, “When will our people learn to treat people with dignity? If you were at the venue, you would think that a popular football side was playing a match. It was awful.”

SATURDAY PUNCH learnt that the agency had very few positions to fill, which did not warrant the volume of scratch cards it sold.

Another source close to the committee in charge of the recruitment said that the agency had the mandate of the Senate to employ people from a prepared list into the few available positions.

A director of public prosecutions, who spoke in confidence to SATURDAY PUNCH, said NDLEA’s budget could not cater for a large number of staff.

Describing the agency, which is overseen by the Federal Ministry of Justice as impoverished, he said, “The chair I use in my office was bought with my money; the fridge in my office was bought by me. If you get to some NDLEA offices outside Lagos, you will be shocked at what you would see.

“The truth is that we don’t need so many people, which is why I was surprised to see the multitude of applications being called for.”

However, Ofoyeju said the NDLEA, as a reputable organisation, would not do anything fraudulent.

He said that the recruitment committee chairman would have loved to give out the number of applicants and the number of positions available in the agency, except for the fact that three groups had already taken the agency to court over last weekend’s exercise.

He said that the testimonies of successful candidates would vindicate the agency.

He said, “You do not need to know anybody to get employed. There is no list from anywhere that we are obliged to follow; this is being done on merit. I do not see why an organisation like us would advertise positions that do not exit.

“Even the United States appreciates what we are doing as an agency against illicit drugs and we would not want to rubbish our image.

“As for the choice of the stadium for the test, the committee must have chosen that venue because of the large number of applicants. It was a 50 objective questions test; so, the question of table for the applicants does not arise.”

Barely two months to the end of the outgoing year, indications are that the three tiers of government have, in the last ten months, spent about N4.8 trillion from three revenue sources. Investigations at the weekend revealed that the federal, state and local governments spent the revenues drawn from statutory revenue allocations during the monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meetings, collections from Value Added Tax (VAT), as well as the series of augmentations drawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) for the period. Details of the expenditure show that the three tiers of government shared about N4.4 trillion from revenues earned from statutory sources in the first nine months, excluding about N403.5 billion distributed last Friday for the month of October. A breakdown of the October allocation, including statutory allocations and VAT, gave the federal government about N178.47 billion, states N106.7 billion, while local governments took N80.95 billion and N37.37 billion allocated as 13 percent derivation for oil producing states.

http:///cCUQjJ

Minister of State for Finance, Yabawa Wabi, said at the end of the FAAC meeting that about $387.2 million was transferred into the Excess Crude Account to increase its balance to about $1.16 billion as at last month, while about N175 billion was transferred into the Excess Development Account (EDA), another $1 billion into the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and N31.2 billion into Domestic Crude Account (DCA).

http:///cCUQjJ

Federal Might



Out of the N411.572 billion shared last month, the federal government got the highest share of N173.124 billion, while states got N87.811 billion and local governments N67.699 billion. The oil producing states went home with N36.359 billion as 13 percent derivation. Between January and June, about N2.8 trillion was distributed among the three tiers of government, before the figure rose to N3.5 trillion in July, including with the $2 billion drawn from the excess crude account, and the allocation of N404.273 billion from the Federation Accounts.



Last August, FAAC at the weekend approved N433.698 billion to be shared by the federal, states and local governments, an increase of N29.425 billion, or 7.278 percent compared to the amount shared in July. The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ibrahim Dankwambo, said in the communiqué issued at the end of the FAAC meeting that the increase was attributed to the revision of the monthly approved budget revenue bench mark from N365.888 billion to N369.422 billion. In addition, the sum of N24.738 billion was distributed as arrears of augmentation from January to July.

http:///cCUQjJ

By Bassey Udo

Culled from 234next.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said he was not physically hurt in Monday’s attack near the Presidential Lounge of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.


A man, identified by a security source on Tuesday as Oweru, had sneaked up to the ex-president’s car when it stopped at the junction of the road leading out of the presidential lounge.


The ex-president’s car, which was travelling in a convoy, was waiting to join the major road connecting the old domestic terminal, MMA2 and international wing when the attacker opened one of the rear doors and allegedly charged at Obasanjo.


But speaking with THE PUNCH on the telephone, Obasanjo admitted that the strange man opened the side of the Sport Utility Vehicle where he sat but did not hit him.


The account of the former president was delivered by his Media Consultant, Mr. Adeoba Ojekunle, and a security officer, who was in Obasanjo’s convoy when the incident occurred. Ojekunle explained that security operatives had noticed the presence of the alleged attacker before Obasanjo’s arrival.


He stated that they made efforts to eject him from the presidential wing before the arrival of the former President from a foreign trip.


Ojekunle said, “Our people were already on the ground before Obasanjo’s arrival. At about 7am, security men noticed the presence of the man and tried to get him out of the place. Men of the Nigerian Air Force, who came to handle security in the place, drove the man out of the gate.


“Officers of the anti-terrorism squad were also around. The problem was that when they drove the man out of the gate, nobody knew that he went to stay by the side of the road, close to the gate.”


He added that the suspect “pursued the vehicle on the road; the convoy was already on the road, not in the premises. The man suddenly emerged from the roadside, grabbed the door of the vehicle and opened it.”


According to him, “Nobody was prepared for the sudden attack. He had not touched Baba (Obasanjo). It was not true that he hit Baba. Don’t forget that Obasanjo himself was a soldier.


“If he had hit him (Obasanjo), the man himself could have been hurt. You know there were vehicles in front of the one conveying Baba and another one at the back. So, when the man was trying to open the door, running after the vehicle, the security aides in the vehicle behind got down and overpowered him. He was subsequently handed over to the security details at the airport. Chief Obasanjo was not hurt in the attack.”


However, THE PUNCH discovered on Tuesday that the suspect had not been admitted at the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Lagos State, as promised by the Commissioner of Police in charge of airport command, Mr. Chris Ola. During a visit by our correspondent to the hospital, it was learnt that the suspect had not been admitted to the only public neuro psychiatric hospital in the state.


The security source who gave the suspect’s name did not want to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter. The source said the matter had been handed over to the State Security Service for further investigation.


Attempt to obtain a reaction from the SSS spokesperson, Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, failed as she neither responded to calls to her phone nor the SMS sent to her mobile.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201011102521521

(Reuters) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth has joined Facebook, adding a presence on the world's most popular social network to the royal family's accounts on Twitter, photo-sharing site Flickr and YouTube.

The British monarchy's Facebook page (here) does not allow users to "friend" the Queen or to send her messages, but offers updates on royal news and diary events.

By midday on Monday, a few hours after the page went live, 60,000 people had clicked to signal they liked it, meaning they will receive updates on the royal family's activities in their Facebook news feeds.

The page does not display personal details such as the Queen's relationship status, interests or political views.

Britain's royal family prides itself on keeping up to date with new technologies.

In 2008, the Queen uploaded a video to YouTube during a visit to Google's London offices, in 2009 a British monarchy Twitter account was launched, and a royal Flickr account was created this year.

Facebook was launched in 2004 and now has more than half a billion active users around the world.

Armed robbers operating on a motorbike on Monday attacked the Chief Accountant of Delta State Government House, Asaba, Mr Michael Oghene, taking away over N50 million from him, though no government official could confirm the exact amount.

The two-man bandit attacked the accountant at about 11am, at the popular Inter Bau roundabout, when he was returning from one of the new generation banks, where he went to cash the money.

He had two Ghana-must-go bags containing money inside the booth of his 207 Peugeot car with registration number DTGH 736, but the robbers succeeded in taking away one of the bags. The money, the Nigerian Tribune gathered, was meant for the monthly impress for the Government House.

Eyewitness account said the two young men carrying sophisticated weapons opened fire on Oghene as he approached Inter Bau Junction, ordering him to stop.

The robbers were said to have gone straight for the booth of the car, fired some shots again at it, apparently in a bid to force it open, after which they forcefully took away the Ghana-must-go bag, containing the money.

Mr Oghene, who is the director of finance of Government House, and the second occupant in the car were taken to Government House clinic for medical attention.

The Lagos sun is merciless. You don’t want a piece of it, talk less of a seat in it. No one wants to bake in it or even buy a stake in it. Even bankers would rather market their services in the comfort of an air-conditioned ride than go foraging on the streets. No one, not even the biblical Prodigal Son, should be punished with kneeling in the Lagos sun.
I saw a school kid of about 12 years old walking home in the sun this afternoon and my heart sank below my waist. He tied his shirt around his waist and had his sandals in his hands. His bag, which should hang over his shoulder, dangled over his back, hanging from his forehead. His blue under shirt was soaked through and his head hung low. He looked like he had walked quite a distance, and judging by his pace and since I met him walking over a bridge, he still had a long way to go. Sadly, he looked used to it.
My discomfiture came from the fact that I was that boy some 15 years ago. The difference is I walked home by choice. My dad would offer to come pick me up from school. I would decline, knowing the extra cash would buy me and my friends “Agbaluma,” “Gorigo,” and sugared ice along the way. There were trees along the way to lessen the heat of the northern sun on our skin and we could play on the sidewalk with little fear of auto crashes. Okadas didn’t exist in Kaduna then.
This boy dare not play or he might join the tall pile of unclaimed corpses at the mortuary. He must be weary of which pure water he buys or cholera might come calling. He better be streetwise or some nut may steal him away for money rituals. That is the world as he knows it.
As I sat in that bus, on my way to see my four-day old daughter and her beautiful mum, my over-imaginative mind transposed my child’s angelic face over that of the school boy. Tears welled up in my eyes. I thought to myself, “12 years from now and my baby may be walking home in this mad sun!”
I pushed that thought out of my mind quickly and said Psalm 100 three times. There is no way I going to let my child go through what I am going through. Never! So what am I doing about it? Well, I’m going to vote wisely in 2011 and get others around me to do same.
I can just hear you all now saying “See this fool oo! Instead make e find way to hammer come send the pikin go yankee, e dey say him go vote. What nonsense?!”
But think about it. I could sell my conscience for the Ford Jeep I hear Jonathan is giving all the artistes singing for him, or cut my share of the many billions IBB is offering people from other political camps. I could use that money to go anywhere in the world and settle down, but I’d carry one thing; my Nigerian passport. Nigerians are the most despised and suspected people on the planet. We are called scammers, looters, thieves and Mutallab and MEND just recently made us bombers and terrorists to boot. If we get the wrong president in 2011, those titles would only be reinforced.
Now, imagine what our reputation would be like in five years, if we have a Looter-In-Chief like IBB there? My child would have to be strip searched each time she goes in or out of a Walmart. She would be triple checked for bombs when she boards a plane and all her friend would prefer her on a different school bus on her way home. Being Nigerian would be like carrying a pungent odour.
So, to you who say I’m crazy or disrespectful to yab our current president for failing at securing our collective lives and IBB for threatening to rape us likes he did my parents, I say, “Save your breath.” I will scream on the hill tops and in the valley. If my generation has failed to see the opportunity we have right in front of our eyes, then I will be their sight.
They say Nigeria is too complex, so we need experienced people to lead us. But that is just a bucket of crap.  Solve the problem of electricity and fix the economy, all other things will fall in place. If those guys butchering and burning in the Plateau had jobs, they would have no time to fight. If the guys in the Niger Delta eat their fill after a hard day’s job, they would be too heavy to kidnap anybody. If the youth were productive, no one would be round to fight in Ife and Modakeke riots.
Goodluck has been there for six months and nothing good has come out of it. The time may be short, but he has shown me no sign that he is ready to do what it takes. If it is my shouting, and that of guys like Tolu Ogunlese and Cheta Nwenze, that will change things, then wait while I fill my lungs.
The revolution may not be twitted or facebooked, but it is a pretty good place to start.

If the unclothed dance of shame by the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, ends in the impeachment of his political protégé, Babatunde Fashola, then a division of forces in the ruling party, Action Congress (AC), is eminent.
The biggest winners in this drama may not be the greedy AC power brokers who have the ears of the godfather, or the traders who have lost their unwholesome kiosks on the Oshodi tracks, but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who have been biting their fingers, while they paced the floor, wondering how they could “capture” the centre of excellence. Believe me, if they robbed and plundered the puny state of Ekiti, they are prepared to do a hundred times worse to get Lagos, the land of milk, honey and gala.

Sitting in front of my computer, with my head wrapped in my hands, I see a million possibilities for Lagos under the PDP. Allow me to share just seven with you.

1. Name Change: Imagine Vincent Ogbolafor Stadium, Ojo Maduekwe Square, Dimeji Bankole Avenue. Get the picture?

Once upon a time, Aliko Dangote with the help of powerful friends in government, of course, was ready to acquire all that he could see. Who will bet that James Ibori won’t buy the Third Mainland Bridge? Lagosians, start keeping your loose change for tolls!

2. BRT Lanes: Some stubborn bus drivers and private car owners still insist on using the BRT lanes. Under the PDP, those big red and blue buses you all love to ride will be the first to go. They will find a flimsy excuse why, “The scheme is not sustainable,” (a buzzword for, “there is not much money there for us, jare.”) Then what happens to the lanes? They will become the property of the state, and that means the politicians. Their convoys will leave us all in dust, as we struggle to drive home on bad roads. You can be sure that those BRT lanes will be smoother than a baby’s bottom. God help the Rasaki that dares to use it, even at night. Mobile Police officers will turn him into suya.

3. Garbage: At the moment we are all enjoying the “Fasholaisation” of Lagos, with what used to be garbage dumps now turned into lovely gardens, right? Well, those too will disappear. Go to Abuja and see what the “Federal Capital Territory” has become since the PDP men he gave a hard time while he was the minister, chased Nasir El Rufai to America. Garbage heaps are competing with Zuma Rock in height. Don’t expect better treatment when Fashola leaves and PDP takes over. Whatever they touch dies.

4. Civil Authority: Agberos (touts) will rule and LASTMA (Lagos State Transport Management Agency) will carry guns. When these touts come to collect “shandi” (N20) from the bus drivers, we find it convenient to simply ignore them. If a LASTMA official stops you these days, you can argue your case. What happens if the Agberos become council chairs and LASTMA get outfitted with AK47s instead? They will most probably give a shoot on sight order for traffic offenders. At least, the market for bullet-proof windshields will get a boost.

5. Sirens: By the time all the people in the PDP Board of Trustees (), Elders Committee and everyone else in this considerable colony of thieves start their engines and, by default, sirens, half of us will lose the gift of hearing. We will all thank the gods for the noise in Oshodi. That one has a human touch at least.

6. Senators and skirts: Knowing the potential for enjoyment in Lagos, most senators will gladly spend more time here than in Abuja. What’s to stop them? Money? They get bag-fulls of the stuff monthly. The law? Even the Attorney General said the president could rule from the moon. The Lebanese? They will be too busy counting their loot from entertaining the big fish (frogs to me) from the Federal Capital Territory. Lagos girls? Come on! Nothing will stop them. The victims will be poor boys like me, who have to borrow a friend’s car just to have a night out. One senator may just be in the mood to oppress while at The Insomnia and declare: “Anybody whose car is not worth N10 million, should not enter this place. It is for the true big boys.” My face is my asset, thank you very much. I will quietly leave in my smoky Honda Corolla before a bouncer kicks my teeth down my throat, and collects N5, 000 for a job well done.

7. Bode George: It might be too late to overturn the judgement on the former PDP chair for the South West, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be comfortable. Kirikiri will be the new Kuramo Beach, with costly cars competing for parking space. The man’s release will be on constant replay on TV stations with a year to spare. They might even move their political headquarters there so he doesn’t miss a thing. Remember, as a strong PDP man, Iyiola Omisore won the senatorial seat for the Osun East constituency in the April 2003 elections while cooling his heels in Agodi Prison, Ibadan.

I hate crickets. They are the world’s most annoying insects  and self-serving creatures of all time. I don’t mind cockroaches; they come into your house on your invitation. They are attracted to your dirty surroundings and filthy manners. Cricket invite themselves in, like an unassuming relative, and they will stay for as long as you let them. Plus, they are not quiet.

The male cricket screams his head off just to get a mate. They won’t stop until they get some loving. Now, a cricket can make you go just crazy with their noise. Putting it lightly, it is annoying. It takes all of my will power not to tear my ears off when I have one in my bedroom.

One day, as  a student, this particular cricket kept me awake all night. By 3am,. I had had it. I began a frantic search for it. Thirty minutes later, I found the bug hidden in a hole in the wall beside my bed. I crushed it with my boots, leaving a hole in the wall big enough to give my landlord a heart attack. I didn’t care. The bug was dead. If it’s head was big enough, I would have made a pendant or trophy out of it.

But, sadly, crickets do not only come in insect form. There are crickets in every facet of our lives. We have Church Crickets, who choose to breathe on your share of air when you wish to listen to the pastor. We have school-crickets who will make all the noise in the world when you just need a little peace and quiet to read your books. And we have political crickets. And IBB is the biggest of these.

I was watching the TV last night when he’s ad came up, urging me to vote for him because he was experienced and had done “it” before and will do it again. Except “it” means something else other than theft, murder, lying and annulments, then I got no problem with “it.” But we all know what “it” from IBB means.

“It” means a return to the dark ages, the days of hunting down journalists and killing innocent people. “It” means death to all the minute progress democracy has brought our way. “It” means an end to peace and justice. It means a return to massive stealing of public funds and such not.

Has anyone bordered to ask this cricket how he legally has all he possesses? When will we ask Maradona what he knows about the death of Dele Giwa? Who will ask why he extended a six-month transition programme into an eight-year reign of terror? And this cricket has the effrontery to go on air and rant that he wants to do “it” to us again?

Where the hell are those old boots of mine?

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/video-controversial-ibb-campaign-manager-raymond-dokpesi-speaks

As a patriotic Nigerian, I feel honoured to announce today that I will be registering as a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). I feel and I know that the ACN has a lot to offer in order to bring about the realisation of the dreams of millions and millions of Nigerians.

The situation we find ourselves in today calls for drastic measures; measures that are long overdue, but sorely needed. My response to this challenge is to drill deep into the nuggets of opportunities that are clearly manifest in our people’s abundance of talent, creative will, and relentless strength to overcome even the most insurmountable obstacle. That is the direction the new politics of social rebirth in our land must take; a political culture that is able to transport us to lofty heights. To put it in a simple statement:  A New Nigeria is Possible!

Yet to state that nothing works in Nigeria today may appear to be hyperbolic, especially when it comes from someone in a party other than the ruling party and one that is desirous of running for an elective position.  Unfortunately, this is the lamentable truth. 

From the deplorable state of our roads, to the non-existence of basic infrastructure essential to development; the comatose education system to the blatant breakdown in security; the glaring lack of electricity to power our industries, and not to talk of the serial failure in sports, science, and society, all thanks to the loud silence of state policy, and the irritating vacancy of the significance of government. 

Those in denial only need to take an honest look at the rising tide of poverty and the endless rows of unemployed youth in the land to be jolted back to reality. But are people asking questions?  For enfranchised Nigerians, have we asked the hard questions?  Have we demanded to know what has happened to the mandate we give to successive crops of leaders?  This is the complex beauty in democracy: it achieves fullness and meaning only when we as citizens rise up  to the opportunities it provides by demanding for accountability and transparency. We have been on this merry-go-round for too long.  We are busy marking time, while others are racing towards the frontiers of the 21st century.  We have, in our wisdom, perfected the act of collective delusion; describing this flagrant stagnation as progress. In truth, our situation can only be called its rightful name, RETROGRESSION.   

We have been fooled.  We have been led astray.  We have been fed on empty pledges by the numerous political parties in Nigeria.  However, in this vast spatial vacuum, there are elements and forces of progress that cannot indulge in vain anger over past failures, that cannot remain endlessly shackled to the ruins of the past, and that cannot wallow for ever in self righteous but ineffective clusters. They know that the task to rebuild our great nation is urgent, burning, but inclusive. It is the task of erecting a huge tent that will shelter disparate talents, and multiple voices, all defined by competence, integrity, and vision.

The party of my choice, the ACTION CONGRESS OF NIGERIA, ACN, offers this exciting prospect; and the outlines of its promise are already served by the extraordinary evidence of governance in Lagos and Edo states, to which we can also look forward with interest to developments that will come to Ekiti following the victory of my friend and brother, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, at the courts last week.

Those who have followed my recent facebook comments will recall that I interpret the Ekiti victory as a presage to a glorious presidential victory in next year’s election. The terms of victory will be defined by the full retrieval of our country from failed policies and failed governments.    Yet the significance of the Ekiti victory goes beyond the important promise of a better tomorrow. It includes the restoration of those elemental values of democracy like making our votes count, and the assurance of justice through a fair judicial process. 

Change is truly in the air today.  This is the time we need to make our votes count.  This is the time to stand up and lend our voices to the chorus sweeping the land, that Nigeria needs change.  In seeing what we are, we have also seen what we can become.  The era of lofty but barren campaign pledges is over.  The next phase in our nationhood will be decided by our votes, but only if we make those votes count.

This critical message of electoral empowerment is central to the platform of the ACN which understands the ramifications of the failure in the land today, and the policy mix to re-launch our nation to global prominence by placing our youth on the path of global competence and competitiveness.

Youth is primary to the message we advance because their energy, their talents, their creative will, their courage and their venturing spirit will provide the significant cocktail that will fuel the transformation of this land.  At a time when the world is electing youth to leadership, and when we should place huge premium on building a nexus between our youth at home and their peers in the Diaspora as a basis of this scientific and cultural revolution, the value and place of youth in leadership has come under savage attack from some of our political quarters.     

True, youth in itself is not a qualification for leadership but we  speak here of young people with conviction, courage, integrity, competence and the vision of a new Nigeria defined by rebirth from the experience of corrupt and failed leaderships that brought us to our current sorry state.  Thus, the youth we speak of bear such names as Fashola, and Fayemi, and they are in multitudes both at home and abroad. Their only badge of honour is called track-record.

Not long from today I shall make a public declaration of my aspiration, and officially reveal my policy position. The architecture of how to rebuild the second half of the Nigerian century will be the core of that policy platform and I look forward to actively engaging with various segments and communities of our great nation in building this new society of our dream. A NEW NIGERIA IS POSSIBLE!

As a patriotic Nigerian, I feel honoured to announce today that I will be registering as a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). I feel and I know that the ACN has a lot to offer in order to bring about the realisation of the dreams of millions and millions of Nigerians.

The situation we find ourselves in today calls for drastic measures; measures that are long overdue, but sorely needed. My response to this challenge is to drill deep into the nuggets of opportunities that are clearly manifest in our people’s abundance of talent, creative will, and relentless strength to overcome even the most insurmountable obstacle. That is the direction the new politics of social rebirth in our land must take; a political culture that is able to transport us to lofty heights. To put it in a simple statement: A New Nigeria is Possible!

Yet to state that nothing works in Nigeria today may appear to be hyperbolic, especially when it comes from someone in a party other than the ruling party and one that is desirous of running for an elective position. Unfortunately, this is the lamentable truth.

From the deplorable state of our roads, to the non-existence of basic infrastructure essential to development; the comatose education system to the blatant breakdown in security; the glaring lack of electricity to power our industries, and not to talk of the serial failure in sports, science, and society, all thanks to the loud silence of state policy, and the irritating vacancy of the significance of government.

Those in denial only need to take an honest look at the rising tide of poverty and the endless rows of unemployed youth in the land to be jolted back to reality. But are people asking questions? For enfranchised Nigerians, have we asked the hard questions? Have we demanded to know what has happened to the mandate we give to successive crops of leaders? This is the complex beauty in democracy: it achieves fullness and meaning only when we as citizens rise up to the opportunities it provides by demanding for accountability and transparency. We have been on this merry-go-round for too long. We are busy marking time, while others are racing towards the frontiers of the 21st century. We have, in our wisdom, perfected the act of collective delusion; describing this flagrant stagnation as progress. In truth, our situation can only be called its rightful name, RETROGRESSION.

We have been fooled. We have been led astray. We have been fed on empty pledges by the numerous political parties in Nigeria. However, in this vast spatial vacuum, there are elements and forces of progress that cannot indulge in vain anger over past failures, that cannot remain endlessly shackled to the ruins of the past, and that cannot wallow for ever in self righteous but ineffective clusters. They know that the task to rebuild our great nation is urgent, burning, but inclusive. It is the task of erecting a huge tent that will shelter disparate talents, and multiple voices, all defined by competence, integrity, and vision.

The party of my choice, the ACTION CONGRESS OF NIGERIA, ACN, offers this exciting prospect; and the outlines of its promise are already served by the extraordinary evidence of governance in Lagos and Edo states, to which we can also look forward with interest to developments that will come to Ekiti following the victory of my friend and brother, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, at the courts last week.

Those who have followed my recent facebook comments will recall that I interpret the Ekiti victory as a presage to a glorious presidential victory in next year’s election. The terms of victory will be defined by the full retrieval of our country from failed policies and failed governments. Yet the significance of the Ekiti victory goes beyond the important promise of a better tomorrow. It includes the restoration of those elemental values of democracy like making our votes count, and the assurance of justice through a fair judicial process.

Change is truly in the air today. This is the time we need to make our votes count. This is the time to stand up and lend our voices to the chorus sweeping the land, that Nigeria needs change. In seeing what we are, we have also seen what we can become. The era of lofty but barren campaign pledges is over. The next phase in our nationhood will be decided by our votes, but only if we make those votes count.

This critical message of electoral empowerment is central to the platform of the ACN which understands the ramifications of the failure in the land today, and the policy mix to re-launch our nation to global prominence by placing our youth on the path of global competence and competitiveness.

Youth is primary to the message we advance because their energy, their talents, their creative will, their courage and their venturing spirit will provide the significant cocktail that will fuel the transformation of this land. At a time when the world is electing youth to leadership, and when we should place huge premium on building a nexus between our youth at home and their peers in the Diaspora as a basis of this scientific and cultural revolution, the value and place of youth in leadership has come under savage attack from some of our political quarters.

True, youth in itself is not a qualification for leadership but we speak here of young people with conviction, courage, integrity, competence and the vision of a new Nigeria defined by rebirth from the experience of corrupt and failed leaderships that brought us to our current sorry state. Thus, the youth we speak of bear such names as Fashola, and Fayemi, and they are in multitudes both at home and abroad. Their only badge of honour is called track-record.

Not long from today I shall make a public declaration of my aspiration, and officially reveal my policy position. The architecture of how to rebuild the second half of the Nigerian century will be the core of that policy platform and I look forward to actively engaging with various segments and communities of our great nation in building this new society of our dream. A NEW NIGERIA IS POSSIBLE!

A Volunteer is someone who has accepted the challenge of our generation to stop the cheating which our people have been subjected to in many years. A Volunteer accepts that Nuhu Ribadu should head the Mission as our change agent. A Volunteer accepts to use his resources such as time, money and materials to support Nuhu Ribadu in the Mission.



The functions of Volunteers are:

1. Assist the ACN in membership drive. We believe the ACN as a Party does not accept cheating and is the right Party to stop the cheating.





2. Volunteers attend meetings regularly to learn new things and new developments concerning the Mission. In the meetings they share ideas and information.





3. Volunteers host meetings, providing entertainment for other Volunteers during such a meeting. Volunteers see this as part of their contribution to the sustenance of the Mission.





4. Volunteers actively canvass for support for the Mission. They canvass support for Nuhu Ribadu and his bid to emancipate Nigeria. They speak at gatherings of any kind - urging the general public to support Nuhu Ribadu.



5. Volunteers are involved in actively raising funds to support Nuhu Ribadu in his campaign for the Presidency of Nigeria. Fund raising is one of the key functions of any Volunteer.





6. Volunteers must make sure they attend all Ward Meetings of the ACN to ensure that other members of the Party share their concern for the Mission. Volunteers must be very active members of the party attending all Ward Meetings.





7. Volunteers must spread the news of the Mission. Reach out to your friends and relations and ensure that they too share your concern. You can help them to open branches of the Mission in their areas.





8. A Volunteer who has no branch of the Mission in his or her village or town is not a good Volunteer. Charity begins at home. Start a branch of the Mission.





9. On election day, Volunteers are to carry out the following functions: a) Wake up voters early in the morning and ensure they go to the polling stations to vote.



b) Volunteers are self-appointed agents of Nuhu Ribadu. They must ensure that proper counting of votes is done and entered correctly on the score sheets.



c) Volunteers shall follow INEC officials to collation centres to ensure that election results are not tampered with.



d) Volunteers shall ensure that voters are not harassed by anybody. They will report such incidents promptly to the police and to the Party.



Volunteer today, and be a part of the change you desire!!! Believe, It is possible!!!!

For more info, add TeamRibadu Volunteer as a friend and join the Team Ribadu Group on Facebook

Stand tall and proud; Be a Change Agent and Join Team Ribadu

People name their kids after their heros without apologies to nobody. If we were having a boy, I might have considered naming him Fabregas too. Go for it, fellow Gooner.

The BRT Buses are bigger but the taxi cabs are more mobile and move around 24/7. I prefer to advertise my business and brand on the taxi-tops than the BRT. Don't you agree?
www.taxi-ad.net

He is just shitting his pants because he knows what awaits him in London. COMMON CRIMINAL!!

The BRT Buses are bigger, but the cabs are smarter. Do you agree?