₦airaland Forum

1025: @obasanjo,
you are just mad. you wanted third term and not only did God refuse to listen to you, Bush said no to u and nigerians said no, ait said no and they were beaten like common criminals. obasanjo some of the things you wanted, satan gave u not God example was when u wanted to sleep with ur daughter in law and satan gave her to u.
obasanjo, u wanted iyabo to win another term in the senate but God and ogun state ppl refused.
obasanjo was in imo state twice to convince imo ppl to vote eng. Charles Ugwo but God and imo ppl said no.
obasanjo wanted soludo as the gov of anambra state and God did not look his way.
obasanjo wanted orjo uzor kalu to be jailed but both satan and God said no.
u wanted to win west and tinubu said no to u.
obasanjo, according to ur old and backward reasoning, if God always give u what u want, why did God not give u steady electricity for which u stole over $16B abi u no want light as a man of darkness?
abeg, is it true that you(obasanjo) just resigned to context pdp youth leader?

Guy thank you very much.This our leaders wey dey like play holy!!! ABeg include corruption to the list and haliburton,where president tell us say no be am, na someboy for em office collect bribe and he plead make the person return some part and get pardon.Now the person no return anything and is free.

Obj na the same way you always deny things.The same you will send ministers to dialogue with labor unions and then come back to say i didn't send them.The same you had Fani Kayode make a public announcement and you said he didn't tell you even where he said it went through your desk and was approved.I think you are in the habit of denying issues where you have failed woefully. No be today!!! Abi you are having selective amnesia.Okay for the benefit of doubt,since it was against your wish what efforts did you make to dissociate from the persons doing the bidding

Katsumoto i like your grasp of history and the reasoning.For me the greatest problem we all have is never learning.The black people just can't learn and like to live as a family or village of the past.We fail to live as a nation or a continent.A slight difference is all it takes for people to become ethnocentric.Look at our skins.Whether we like it not,we have so many things together and in common.I once took a good look at President GEJ's picture wearing a Northern outfit,He looked so northern and can say he passed for one.Flipping that wear makes him an Ijaw man.So i have come to accept that in us alot is one.We create the path to our destruction and difference.We also make the reasons and take the action.
My final take,can an Igbo lead Nigeria-yes,do they have leaders worth leading Nigerians-yes and can they do it-i don't know.Some say it's the Igbo man being individualistic.I think that is not totally true.It is more of the bad marketing strategy for a Nigerian leader of Igbo extract!You know the leader maybe Igbo, but to other non-igbo Nigerian first.The mentality of having a leader because you deserve it is not an excuse.The mentality that Igbo is better than others or populate than others is not true either.The mentality that using the minority only is a sure buy and antagonizing the others is also not a good move.
You should start off where you left off.The meetings you had under the zoning.It's a good starting point.Some Igbos did stand with politicians from the pro-zoning days.This same Igbo politicians can go back to this same people and ask for a favor atleast they stood with them at there times of need.Its a good turn deserve another.Then let the Igbos suggest credible/acceptable candidates.I remember sometime back, the Igbos will say no don't give Alex Ekeweme is a nationalist and is not pro-Igbo.He is Igbo and if only you were behind him you would have your first civilian president since and Nigeria would have had her Nigerian Leader!!Some Igbos will prefer candidates that are so ethnocentric that its obvious others will resent them.Look for an Igbo nationalist and forget this Igbo president Ideology.We need a Nigerian president first and you can offer us that from your community if any.

@afam4eva and sam ikenna,please go through your post and even response on any issue about say the North which am familiar with,you read post from so many Igbos and you could see they are the most critical of others and the north especially.Inshort the phobia for the North is even groomed.The others from there tone change have a mixed view which is expected.Some suggest ways,some identify the problems,some see that victims are on both sides and are sympathetic.Unlike the Igbos who will say its nemesis of the war,More is expected to befall others,The Igbos should have done more than raise an alarm,Even the rancours between regions,faith and tribe and mostly echoed by the Igbos to either create a domain along especially religous lines.So will the Igbos reject muslim votes,Northern votes(Core or MB),chiroma support?It's npot good you make an enemy of people.Even your enemy can be used to your advantage.So work towards building trusrt and bonds.Even in the era of the BH,Northern groups and leadeship try to extend the sympathy.please accept it so people know you have nothing under as revenge.As much as the crisis linger,its a security issue and not the way the media and the igbos portray it.An all out regional war.Have the Igbos offered the north a support to quash the violence with the northern folks at the fore front?All they do is try to play the victim and suggest all northerns are evil and the enemy.So how do i trust you.Soeme may say it's northern problem.Yet we have personnels of the security from all zones dying to restore peace to the nation.If today SE was attacked an external force the nation will still render her service.So render yours to this internal security issue.

My position on this is simple.Right now the Igbos mostly sound as if they are on a vendetta,than coming out to stabilize and fix the mess in Nigeria.The view presented by most Igbo is almost like seeking an opportunity to get power and reck havoc to a faith and some regions.I for one feel that way.This is not by rumour, it is by the action of the Igbos everyday and everywhere.The Igbos most learn that at this critical moment of our nation,A Nationalist and qualitative leader is what the nation needs.Not some Ethnic representation.If that is what you want then better stick to the house of assembly.Do show me as a Northern person that you will represent me and identify with my problems.Also when this Issues need attention you will address in the same way as if were you kins men.Right now The Igbos have not shown a nationalistic position and always prefer to act an ethnic group at war with others or atleast seeking to avenge a lost war!
I understand the violence in the North towards certain people and it is not my place to support and enjoy same.I have not and remain innocent of any atrocities against anybody.Since in no way, have i harmed any Igbo.So how come do the Igbos prefer to see me as someone that is an Igbo murderer?Except they breed on old anger.Let me tell you that if the Igbos show concern and extend friendship they could win more hearts even in the northern enclaves.I can tell you this because i know the mood up North when some people heard Ropchas visited Kano and cleared the air about the rumours.I appreciated his bold stance and that simple room to hear from the other side than feed on the jingos in the SE.HE showed his balance view.He knew what is happening to the Igbos was not fear but also went to clear the view that they were the prime targets.
The Igbos can do it but they need to act right and leave this agenda of vendetta and identifying some section of the country as mortal enemies.If you most leade at the national level you most be the father of all and leader of NIgeria.Right now i await the contenders.Even thought Fashola,El-rufai,Dora Akunyili and Rochas are on my mind.

Conspiracy in consensus
On April 4, 2012 · In Hakeem Baba-Ahmad
12:24 am
Email0

“If God had wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates”

Jay Leno, Comedian

By Hakeem Baba-Ahmad
THE just concluded National Convention of People Democratic Party which produced a new set of its leaders is a study in the perversion of all the core values of the democratic process.

It is significant not just because it has extended a tradition in the party which has successively replaced popular will with elite conspiracy, but because it makes a very clear statement on how events are likely to unfold towards 2015.

Anyone who had hoped that the many lesson which are crying to be learnt from 2009 to date will be disappointed. Many other Nigerians have since resigned themselves to the fact that the ruling party lives by its own rules; and these are not the rules which give life and sustenances to the democratic process.

The PDP now has a national chairman who was rejected by a small caucus at his base and political home; but was dusted up, spun around and installed by a stronger, and quite possibly smaller clique which has higher ambitions and stronger stakes in his chairmanship.

He will work with other officials who are products of the muscle of big men and powerful vested interests. None has had their popularity or acceptability tested among card-carrying members of the party who will not get close to former President Obasanjo, President Jonathan, Governors or the legion of fixers.

These will be people who emerged on the skeletons of many ambitions sacrificed on the altar of very narrow ambitions, and who will be constantly reminded that they owe their positions to a few men who forced down many competitors so they can take theirs.

Consenus of the few against popular will

The current leadership of the PDP is the product of a consensus of the few against the popular will of the members. It will lead a party which is willing to submit to everything except elections to test the popularity of its leaders. It will know that the nation will not be fooled by the spin put behind this perversion that an agreement among a few strong men which is termed consensus is superior to an open and free election at every stage provided for by the spirit and letter of the constitution of the party.

These leaders will be the same people the nation will expect to uphold the rules that are central to the protection of intra-party democracy. They will lead their party to contest for offices in an electoral process which places a major burden on political parties to respect their own rules. They will take many decisions, and deal with many intra-party disputes on the basis of rules which require to be respected.

If they carry the consensus mentality which brought them into offices, the nation will be in even greater trouble than it is. And why shouldn’t they? Consensus solves the problems which are associated with free and open contest that may cost powerful people a position which they desperately need to garner more power. It provides a cover for many anti-democratic practices which are undertaken without which you cannot guarantee nomination or the elimination of opposition.

Consensus among largely northern elite brought President Olusegun Obasanjo to power. He systematically and assiduously dismantled the basic power structure of the north which installed him as President in 1999. Thereafter, he became the consensus.

There was only one source of power from 2002 until 2007. His power rolled back the AD in 2003, and until he met his nemesis in Tinubu, he may still be relevant in the Southwest today. It was consensus personalised around Obasanjo that produced President Yar’Adua and Jonathan, and it was the Northern PDP consensus candidate misadventure that created the underserved sympathy that was in part responsible for the Jonathan Presidency. Wherever you see the PDP, you see consensus, and it invariably means some monumental subversion of the will of the people at play.

Contempt for internal democracy

So what could be the motive behind this latest manifestation of the contempt for internal democracy in the PDP which is being touted as the victory for democracy?

Could it be the case that President Jonathan’s desire to run again in 2015, whether the constitution gives him the right to be sworn-in three times or not, is already being pursued? Even if, in the unlikely event that he doesn’t run, he retains the power to decide where the Presidency “goes”: southeast or north, a national party leadership wholly loyal to him will be vital.

Could it be the case that the President is already involved in weakening potential opposition, such as Atiku Abubakar, in the manner the leadership of the party is installed? Could these be opening skirmishes between the President and Governors which will test who has powers to decide who runs and who doesn’t, in a party where outright blackmail and unimaginable uses of money and official powers have secured many victories, without a single ballot cast?

Improved electoral process diminished

The hope that the electoral process will be improved by the manner political parties improve their own internal democracy will be further diminished by the last PDP convention. As it is, the political terrain is replete with evidence that the nation is not learning the appropriate lessons from the setbacks suffered from 2009 to date.

The only viable opposition is the ACN, but it is too busy building tribal fortresses against the PDP, and in reaction to signs that the nation is heading for massive structural instability under this administration and beyond. Its champion whose 60th birthday is being celebrated, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has chased Obasanjo out of the Southwest, but has no illusions of turning his party into a credible option to the PDP.

The CPC has suffered massive post-traumatic stress disorder, and although it is currently undergoing critical self-assessment and examining strategies for renewal, it is losing ground and space at a rate that should alarm it. Only last week, it lost an entire edifice in Kebbi State, complete with the candidate challenging the election of PDP’s candidate with just days to the re-run elections. If the PDP wrote its own script for dealing with the opposition, it couldn’t have done a better job.

But what is it doing with the unexpected spoils? It carries on as usual. It has little time for intra-party rules; candidates who should test popularity at their constituencies, or even the opinion of a nation which is routinely told that consensus is the best form of democracy. It “dashes” zoned positions to powerful people, and even a 60 year old man has been made youth leader by his godfather.

The future of Nigeria’s democratic system is bleak. The nation is agog with debates about conferences and restructuring, and is grappling with monumental security challenges. All these have their roots in bad governance. The party which has led this nation for the last 12 years has shrunk the democratic space dangerously.

When a friend credited the PDP with holding together Nigerian democracy in the last 12 years, I observed that it sounds like saying that the hyena ate up the goat to keep it safe. The only problem bigger than the PDP is the absence of real opposition to challenge it to raise the bar, or replace it altogether and breath a new lease of life in this system in which big men rule us by their consensus.

Jang signs N112bn 2012 budget into law .


Monday, 02 April 2012 13:58 NAN
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/111-politics/35353-jang-signs-n112bn-2012-budget-into-law

.




.
Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau on Monday signed law, the state’s 2012 Appropriation Bill of more than N112.7 billion.

Out of the N112, 763,528,563 billion provided in the budget, N44, 184,761,270 was set aside for recurrent expenditure while N68, 578,767,293 would be for capital spending. Speaking at the occasion in Jos, Jang said that the budget, had an increase of N720 million, representing 30.27 per cent over that of 2011. The governor declared that the budget would focus on education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and the completion of ongoing projects.

According to him, other sectors will also be given due attention, as his administration remains committed to sustainable development in all sectors and across the state. Jang emphasised that development must take a stronger drive for the benefit of the people. He expressed commitment to running a functional, people-oriented administration that would take governance to the people, especially at the grassroots.

The governor explained that government would expand its current initiative in agriculture through a N4 billion loan facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria, He said the establishment of Agricultural Services and Training Centres in the state was part of efforts to boost agriculture. The overall aim, he said, was to empower as many people as possible economically by making farming easy and profitable.

The governor said that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) office in the state was also intervening in the water, agriculture and health sectors particularly in the rural areas. Jang, however, lamented what he termed the continued thwarting of his administration’s efforts by workers through corrupt acts particularly the falsification of names in salary vouchers. ``Government has continued to lose millions of Naira monthly through this racket. We have already evolved a measure to fish out those behind this act and will deal with them appropriately. ``We have undertaken a bio-metric data capturing of all workers and yet, they still got into that bio-metric system and today, we still don’t know how many workers we have. ``We have just adopted a form for every civil servant to fill, to be signed by the immediate supervisor of each staff, countersigned by the staff officer of that MDA. "And then the permanent secretary of the ministry or the head of that organisation. ``But, if we still have ghost workers after this exercise, then the three signatories on that form will face the consequences which could mean dismissal because they would have been part of the connivance. ”

Jang explained that the state had compared its workforce with those of other states and found out that its wage bill was about double those of such states. ``We find out that Yobe has about 48,000 workers and pays about N800 million as salary. The bio-metric system puts Plateau workers at a little above 17,000 workers yet, our wage bill is N1.6 billion. ``So you can see that our situation requires urgent action and we hope by the time we resolve that of the state workers, we will go down to local governments where there are more rackets than the state. ”

He commended the legislators for the prompt passage of the appropriation bill and for seeking clarification whenever such was needed, pledging to work harmoniously with other arms of government.

Jang presented the appropriation bill to the Assembly on December 20, 2011, and was passed about a month ago by the legislature.

Angry mob burns police station in Jos


On April 2, 2012 · In News

1:00 pm
..
Email0




Jos – Rampaging youths in Miango, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau, on Sunday evening, burnt the Police Station and the Upper Area Court in the area after an annual festival.

The Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, ASP Samuel Dabai,said on Monday in Jos that the incident followed a disagreement between two youths after the festival.

“After the festival, an argument ensued between two youths and one of them brought out an axe and wanted to split his colleague’s head but policemen quickly intervened and arrested the two of them.

“But the youths in the area mobilised, attacked the Police Station and released their colleagues. They also burnt the station and a court in the area in the process.”

Dabai said that no arrest had been made in connection with the incident as the policemen on duty were few and had to “run for their lives’’.

“Who will make the arrest when they (the youths) were attacking the Police Station? The officers who were on ground were not enough to resist them or make any arrest.”

Dabai said that a police officer, who was injured in the process, was rushed to the hospital and has been responding to treatment.

According to him, investigation into the incident has commenced while all those involved in the dastardly act will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.

The police spokesman warned youths against being unruly, particularly against security personnel, who are safeguarding lives and property as well as maintaining law and order.

However, the military Special Task Force (STF) maintaining security in the State, said that the situation in the area had been brought under control.

STF spokesman, Capt. Mdahyelya Markus, said on Monday in Jos that some suspects had also been arrested in connection with the incident.

“Our men have been deployed to the area to restore law and order while some of the youths have been arrested and are being interrogated.” (NAN)
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/angry-mob-burns-police-station-in-jos/

Ime Anwana(Jekadiyan Kaffin Koro ) I shall erase a space in my memory of one Northern leader to keep yours there.thank you!!!

multiplication of nonsense!!!! As usual.Tomorrow we shall cry that we lack leadership.

good thing but almost impposible.Even in Nigeria it rarely happens.We are asking for seperation even after crisis and a civil war.Alot more African countries are warming up too for various reasons and Issue.Statring from Mali,Zambia,Somalia,Libya etc Look around you and see/hear what African make of there black brothers.The hate is so much a white seems even closer to you than your fellow black man.Wish us luck but, i doubt the blackmans ability to get pass this.

maybe before you suggest a thing like that you should consult bakassi boyz first!!!!!

[quote author=M-16]BIITYEND OH WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS . THE SAME ALH HARAM .NDU CHUCKS/ALJ HARAM internet dimwit . VERY SOON I'M GONNA PRINT OUT ALL YOUR INFORMATION FOR THE WORLD TO READ . ALL Y'ALL IGBO HATERS WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOUR INTERNET PROTOCOL .EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE AND ALL THE I.P LOCATIONS .WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE ALJ HARAM/ NDU CHUCKS/BITTYEND .
IF YOU HATE IGBO'S SO MUCH .IF YOU HATE FREEDOM FIGHTERS .IF YOU HATE IGBO'S WITH THEIR KITTS AND KIN AROUND SS/SE THEN CALL FOR REFERENDUM .ARE YOU AFRAID WHEN THEY CALL FOR REFERENDUM ? WHY ? NIGERIA IS NOT ONE COUNTRY . THE NORTHERNERS SHOULD JUST GO and FABRICATE THEIR OWN islamic COUNTRY THAT'S IT . SHUT DOWN THE WHOLE OIL WELL, IT INCITE BITTERNESS AND LUST FOR MATERIAL WEALTH BY THESE SO CALLED MUSLIM/ABOKI NORTH .THEY NEITHER REST OR SLEEP , AS FAR AS THIS OIL THING/STEALING IS ENCRYPTED DEEP IN THEIR MALLAM/COW MIND . STOP THE OIL FLOW ONCE AND FOR ALL . EJECT ALL THE OIL COMPANY OUT OF SS/SE AND CLEAN UP ALL THE SPILL'S AND TOXIC POLLUTION .
RISE UP SS/SE AND CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL REFERENDUM . WE WANT OUR LAND BACK OUR INTERNATIONAL AIR SPACE AND SEA SHORE ,GO YOUR WAY NIGERIA DECOY . WE WANT OUR SOVEREIGN BOUNDARY FROM REST OF NIGERIA . THOSE BIAFRAN'S DID NOT DIED IN VAIN . THEIR GHOST WANT FREEDOM WHICH THEY GAVE THEIR DEARLY LIFE FOR .
DOWN DOWN DOWN NIGERIA AMEN . UP UP SS/SE AMEN[/quote]^^^^^You see people like this are the real problem and hate peddlers.That said, from the qoute above you can clearly see instigation to so many issues and crazy foul talk.Typical of an empty brain and a jingo.Such people propell the violence and we go about it killing each other later.So if op you want proof of this Nigeeria problem?look no further being African in nature and NIgerian,than the poster above.His is a classic case of maddness!!!!

I don't see why the US will want to distabilize Nigeria!For one thing they have a complete puppet in Nigeria(from leadership/elite to people).They also use our influence indirectly to help settle there issues in Africa.The oil flows in the direction of ther liking and we all suck up to them.The problem we have is not along superpower lines.Is in Africa,mainly within Nigeria.Definately as black and Nigerian as can be.
The CIA influence works in keep releveance and tackling external treats to USA.So OP where have we gone wrong in that?We love US,We want to visit US,We love being US like and hell yes we even emulate there style of almost every social setting.That said there influence don pass welcome.The issue of treats we have are still not organized and lack any focus on them.So they are not in anyway worried about our little struggle for control over indigenious issues.Anytime we got leadership or who is who.They go west to sign register and collect guidelines to ensure the west is priority on the list of demands to be met.For now the west/USA is not having issues with us.They may only be worried where an all out war could happen.Cutting off oil supplies and bring humanitarian crisis/spread of violence in ECOWAS/Africa.
So what else?COAS,CDS and co report directly to the USA our security and internal issues.How then do we say we are not loyal to the bone?

what happened to i will run a single term and if Nigerian leaders could run a single term they will perform more than if they were worried about re-election!! I no want insult my president abeg but GEJ your are contradicting your reasoning and feeding on your vomit!!

Kosovo!!!! That new nation struggling to even start.Coming to invest outside where they are struggling to even establish a nation.WOnders shall never end.About the flag and presidential welcoming,nothing do you abeg.He is entitled to that.He is Nigerian,he is representing Nigeria once he goes outside the nation.

torkaka: ^^^^^ so which group will the igbos defeat in this new found war? my point through out was this; how come it is the perpetual war losers that are always calling for war?

me! me! me!
Answer:They never learn from the past!

Congrats,nice thing.Hope they get him employed before story follow afterwards for redundant waiting o!!!! Why have they excluded the top shots of the militant groups from the trainning. consdiering that its also going to add value to there lifes.Abi they prefer to get contracts and pay than add knowledge?They should ensure some one like Asari is thought anger management,conflict resolution and public manners.I think he needs it

^^^^ my brother you know is 10% and if FIRS is asking for your taxes am sure you know just how to go about it.Now since its about God,your heart should answer that.If truly it means alot to you then you will sit down and calculate it.Just like you business accounting.That said let your love for what is right and God guide you.

[ ___]
[1234]
[5678]
[*0 #]

^^^ can't say much about xtians.But my take on this issue, is that money meant for God as stipulated by most scriptures and should be used in actions relating to God and his love for man?If you take what is for God and give to his children in need, here on earth would that be wrong?Inshort i don't believe in giving someone to manage such funds.Considering this people are well to do and may have lost touch with the suffering folks around.So if God touch your mind say Orphanage deserve this love then do it.In your heart you do this with goodness and for God.Somehow giving someone else, may just deny this kids something good.I believe in direct assistance with your tithes to the needy.If truly people are men of God then they should even be happy you help them deliver it to the right quarters.While if they resist, you can see the selfishness.

Nigeria Is At War – Gen. Saleh
Leadership Editors's picture
Sun, 25/03/2012 - 7:10am | RUTH CHOJI

Interviews
Features

Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, retired General Muhammad Sani Saleh represents Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone of Kaduna State in the 7th Senate. In this interview with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY’s RUTH CHOJI, the Congress For Progressive Change (CPC) national lawmaker who speaks on several topical issues, holds that Nigeria is actually at war and urges government to use every power at its disposal to stop Boko Haram sect.

Kaduna is regarded as a PDP stronghold. How were you able to win the senatorial seat?
From my own perspective, Kaduna State has never been a PDP state. ANPP has always won Kaduna State. What always happens is thuggery. Take for example, a state where CPC won most of the seats of House of Assembly, two senatorial seats and many House of Representatives seats, is that a state that should lose the governorship?
All elections were held except in Kaduna state where they wanted to concentrate policemen. Violence was instigated earlier and then there was curfew; all these were done to rig the elections. Kaduna had never been a PDP stronghold.

The dreaded Boko Haram has vowed to continue its act of insurgency. What do you think could have led to this act of sustained terrorism in the nation?
You cannot place your finger on a single issue because Nigeria is a country that has a strong presence in the international community. So there is international politics and domestic politics. At the international level, you are competing for resources, for influence and so a lot of things happen in international relations.
That is why countries have international security services and other security apparatus to try to jettison or gain advantage over each other’s technological advances, economics and so on. In the course of that, there is espionage and counter-espionage. Countries go all out to destabilize each other.
This can be at the low level or at the point of warfare. So we must have this at the back of our mind in what is happening to our nation. Countries do this covertly; most times it is not openly. They pick out a country that is in their interest to either destabilize it or influence it to their advantage. They look for an indigenous dissent and find a clandestine way of fueling it.

Are you saying that is what is happening to Nigeria?
It is a possibility that must be investigated. Nigeria is aspiring for a seat in the Security Council and you should know that, we are not alone. Other countries too are interested in that same position. Nigeria says it wants to be one of the world’s most developed economies in 20-20-20. We do have the potential but is it in the interest of other people to let us get there?
For instance, if Nigeria succeeds in stabilizing the Iron and Steel Complex that we have been battling with all these years, what will be the effect on other nations? We are not only going to capture the West African market but it will badly affect the economy of the West and probably the United States.
So there are many reasons why so many countries have to make us continue to battle within ourselves. So I think that government must look beyond our local environment to find answer to the crises we are facing as a nation.

Apart from looking outside the nation for answer, what other advice would you give on ways out of the situation?
Looking beyond this shore is number one. Certainly we have our own internal crises but we have always had them. Every country has its own problems. India has so much commonality with Nigeria; it is large and populous like Nigeria and it is multi-religious and multi-ethnic just like Nigeria.
They are battling with corruption, poverty and all the ills that we have in Nigeria, yet they have been able to develop technologically and economically. India should be a case study for Nigeria. Yes poverty is a major problem everywhere, but how did other countries solve their problems? One of the ways is to make food available. Government must also make healthcare available for everyone and provide good, qualitative education.
You don’t have to take money and give people. It baffles me when people say that, government must provide housing for everyone. It is not government’s duty to build houses for everybody. Government is established to do things that people cannot do for themselves by way of infrastructure, health and education. No matter how rich you are, you cannot build a hospital for yourself alone; you cannot build a road that only you will pass.
No matter how rich you are, you cannot build a school that only you will attend. That is why government is set up to provide these services. Anybody can build a house for himself. People must stop diverting government. It is government responsibility to create an enabling environment for private sector to create housing. Government needs to examine our educational curriculum.
Today in Nigeria, we are producing educated people that do not fit our needs as a nation. Go to Kaduna Polytechnic for instance; half of the students are reading business administration while some are reading history and psychology. They are important courses, but in our economic development, where is the place for those things? We are a nation in search of technology and development; we need to be self-sufficient.
So we need more engineers, more scientists, but go to any of our universities, they are in the minority. Somebody will come to you, ‘I need a job ‘what did you read and the next thing you hear is ‘I have B.A in Islamic Studies, B.A in History, B.A in Psychology.
All these are important but in our current set up, where do we put them? We need more counseling in our schools to reorient our children on the need to pick good courses that will impact the nation at large. Every generation in Japan is targeted towards a particular purpose.
They had computer age where a particular generation was targeted for just that and they made a break through. There was a time India focused its attention on achieving green revolution and they achieved it. They made sure they achieved three cropping seasons in a year. So they embarked on building of dams, canals and massive irrigation system for irrigation farming.
They used the monsoon farming and other two. After that, they moved to the white revolution where they produce glass of milk for the children everyday to supplement the diet of children.

Here in Nigeria, we have the potentials of doing even better. We can produce from January to April, and from May to September and from October to December. If we can get our farming train for achieving even if it is just two training seasons at a time, we will multiply the food supply in this country and the income of farmers.
But when people come from the village for just four months, the tendencies are that, they will drift into the city for the remaining eight months because you can’t stay in your village for eight months.
Look at the legacy that Audu Bako left for Kano State. The irrigation system he introduced is still sustaining Kano State till date. It is only in Kano you find the place green anytime of the year. No government has emulated him since; all they are concerned with is dishing out contract upon contract. If you talk of school system, it starts and ends with award of contract for renovating schools.

The agitation for review of the sharing formula of the federal allocation is gaining momentum in the north. What is your take on this?
I think the revenue sharing formula is long overdue for a review. Personally, I will give my weight to that. The preponderance of our people live in the local governments. The infrastructure that affects their lives is in the local government. Primary health care, schools, feeder roads, water supply, waste system and so on.
There is no federal water, it is state water board. I will like to see how the state powers can be devolved to the local government while the federal government concerns itself with foreign policy and defense. That way, we will have more centers of economic activity. Now, the federal government has the monopoly of allocating these resources.

Are you advocating autonomy for local governments?
Yes. I am in support of that. We need dedicated people that will take care of the local government. It is happening in some places in the west, they have articulate people as local government chairmen and some of them run like states. Even in the south/south, some of them can survive without allocation from the local government. A local government like Aba can survive without subvention. Lagos recently said they can survive without federal government allocation.
The flip side of this agitation is that states must wake up to start creating wealth. The northern states have completely abdicated their economic planning. It doesn’t go beyond contract awards. It starts and ends with the commissioner of finance coming to Abuja for revenue allocation meeting and going back with a cheque which is then broken to contract A, contract C. States must overhaul their tax system and begin to create wealth.

Why is this violence peculiar to the north; do we blame it on government?
No, it is not peculiar to the north. At present, Boko Haram is the one reigning in the north. Before Boko Haram, we have had the OPC, the Egbesu and Niger/Delta militants. Long before the Boko Haram, we have had a large deployment of soldiers to the Niger/Delta. Up till today, no big man moves in the South-South without security. Is that the case in the north? What is happening in the north has not gotten to the level of what is happening in the east today.
Yes, we have a problem in the north but we have to look to be sure if it is an indigenous or external one. It started as a religious agitation for Sharia to be implemented in a particular side of the country. But see how quickly it spreads. It is like foreign policy, the interpretation of foreign policy is according to your means, which is your pocket or military size.
Take for instance our foreign policy, like the issues of terrorism we are talking about. We are just thinking of fighting Boko Haram only here. But America is fighting terrorism internationally. They see terrorism in everything, every country does. Because they are rich and have a country that is militarily rich, so they can interpret their policies in that large perspective.

But do you think that, our security is capable of handling this insurgency?
We have a big problem in Nigeria which is strategic thinking. Boko Haram insurgency is not a military problem. It is a national problem. Is it the armed forces that declared war on another nation or the nation? A nation declares war and when a nation declares war, it uses all national resources at its disposal to fight that war. They include diplomatic, military and economic.
This situation we are in now is called low conflict. It is a war; somebody has declared war on Nigeria, and so the country has to respond. Is the country responding with all its powers? Nigeria is overly dependent on military power to solve this problem and it is wrong. They have to use all the elements of its power.
It is the lack of not understanding these things that made people to be shouting when it was said that government earmark over nine hundred and something billion for security. People were shouting and somebody was asking - are we at war? Are we not at war? We are at war, who are the bombings against? Nigerians. Somebody is fighting Nigerians by bombing them; they have declared war. But because of lack of strategic thinking, the government could not reply these people who asked whether the country is at war. We are at war and all elements of national power must be used.
Every Nigerian must realize that we are at war and must contribute towards it by providing information and resources. I remember when we wanted to help South Africa during their apartheid, Nigerians sacrificed ten percent of their salaries and the money was gathered and sent to the war effort in South Africa. During the Second World War, women donated their trinkets, their bangles, ring and all like gold to be sold for the war.
Other irons were melted to produce weapons. But what is happening in Nigeria today? The only thing Nigerian citizens contribute to this war is criticism and disdain for government. Instead of looking and appreciating that, yes we are at war and government is trying its best. Let us cooperate with our government. No matter how bad we think our government is, this is not the time to fight them.
It is time for us to contribute to what government is doing by way of surveillance, passage of information, educating our people on security awareness, and by cooperating with the security agencies to overcome this challenge. After that we can go back to our criticizing the government.

Are you satisfied with the military action taken against the Boko Haram so far?
I am not satisfied because government has not used all the powers at its disposal. They are so over reliant on military powers. The Minister of Information does not see himself as part of this war; the Minister of Finance does not see herself as part of this war.
Even when monies were approved for defense services, it is delayed; they have to go and beg for it. Probably the National Assembly does not see itself as part of the war. The service chiefs have to come and start begging that they need this thing for security, which is not the way to fight the war.

Still on the military. Most people believe that the military has been politicized. How would you compare the military of today and what it was in your days?
The military has not been politicized; the average soldier is still doing his military duty. When I was in the military, I knew absolutely nothing about politics. In many cases, I didn’t even know who the governors of some states were. Of course I knew who the president is, but I had no impute into his election or selection. But the military as it is today can never be politicized.
The only way the military can be politicised is in the selection of the chief of army staff. It is only the president that has the prerogative to choose his chief of army staff. The brigade commander does not have time to interact with governors when he has over nine states under him. Thiers is to assist in times of internal or external security by the president, not the governors.

Coming back to your committee on foreign affairs, as the deputy chairman, how did the committee handle the face-off between Nigeria and South Africa?
In the face-off between South Africa and Nigeria, our foreign affairs was very proactive. They acted very promptly and we were very happy with what they did. We called the minister of foreign affairs committee who explained to us the genesis of the problem and gave us the analysis of what will happen and how we will respond as a nation.

So there was plan A, plan B and plan C. we have been very tolerant of our African brothers and the world at large. We have been victims of maltreatment, thinking that if we keep quiet, they will stop it. But they have taken our magnanimity for granted. So it is now time to show the world what we can do. For once, we want to turn and bite so they can know that we can bite too. If they bark at us, we will turn and bite them.
Still on foreign affairs, most foreign missions have been complaining of underfunding ,yet Nigeria just opened four new ones in Rwanda, Sri Lanka and two other countries. Do you think we need these now?
Nigeria is an international player and whether we like it or not, we must be represented everywhere we think we will have economic benefits. The aim is to know where you can have more benefit, how your country can assist these countries and if you remember, we have foreign aid corps who we sent to assist countries in need. Siri Lanka is a big route between the west, Asia and China. Every ship passes through Sri Lanka and India.
So that is an area where a lot of shipping takes place and we stand to get a lot of benefits because they produce commercial ships. They also have palm trees, rubber and also good technology. They also have good cottage industries and I think we can transfer these things here. It is not about how much you spent but how judiciously you use the little you have.
I think that is what the minister is concerned about. If the resources are not enough, then we have to down size the number of staff not the embassies themselves.

http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/20208/2012/03/25/nigeria_war_gen_saleh.html

With all this coming out,I think there is more to it.Why setup Ndume or why will the director SSS/VP keep mute all this while if truly they know that his interaction has being under the mandate of the committee set up to find a solution to the BH problem.After asking myself all that questions i have reached a conclusion is PDP that is simply evil to this nation.They an only them ruin what is NIgeria or Nigerian!!!

torkaka: heres what i know

since the civil war igbos have always complained,bragged,called yoruba cowards,threatened to actualise biafra,called hausa weaklings,called middle beltans fools,claimed they will destroy nigeria if war should break out etc. yet up till now no igbo person has thrown even a stone to to start the so called disintergration of nigeria. they are always online bringing out ak 47's and ar 15's but wouldn't dare to try it in the real world.
the igbos remain nigeria's only major tribe with no historical known war victories. interestingly they are nigeria's loudest noise makers when it comes to talking war.

^^^^^ Couldn't say it any better.You are spot on!!!!

have you tried asking the man?I mean if it's something good about him he would be glad to own up to his origin.

Is anything wrong with this action?You can't keep a hungry lion while you eat!!!lastly if he took the money so what?No be government money?

Walk the talk
By Editorial 9 hours 48 minutes ago
Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font
Jonathan Jonathan

President Jonathan asks Northern governors to look inward for more income. Let him show the way

It is sad to note that flat, hollow words seem to have become the trademark of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency. Yes, Presidents and leaders are given to rhetoric and even banal words that amount to nothing, especially when caught off guard by the press, but we worry deeply when it becomes a way of life of our Presidency.

Governors from the Northern states of Nigeria had recently embarked on a rather mischievous clamour for more slice of the national cake, as baked in the Federation Account. President Jonathan was presented a most auspicious opportunity to respond to this obvious gaffe of the Northern governors on March 9, in Makurdi, Benue State, at the commissioning of what has been described as the first fruit concentrate processing factory in Nigeria. The President had told his audience which included governors from the North that: "We have resources in all parts of the country to sell. All states of the federation have products they can export. The governors should work with private sector operators to produce and sell what they have, not only to Nigerians but also for export.

"Nigeria is(sic) an agro-based economy even before the civil war. We should be able to revive this process like it happened in that period when oil was not an issue." Sound piece of advice there especially if we overlook the pock marks of Jonathanian inelegance of language.

Since crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity in Nigeria about 50 years ago, the country has lapsed irretrievably into a mono-product economy. Government after government has talked about diversifying the economic base; government after government has been unable to break out of what has come to be known as the oil doom syndrome.

Nigerian governments at all levels seem content with merely gathering the enormous rent from crude oil exploration and sharing same; thereupon they go about to mismanage and squander the revenue. This has largely been the cycle in the past 50 years: A most vicious one indeed.

For more than 50 years, we have not been able to grow local capacity; the industry has remained foreign dominated. Neither can we refine the product here as other oil-producing countries are wont. Not even the quantity we consume locally can we manage to put through basic distillation process. Till today, we still ship our heavy crude to other countries to process and ship the refined products back for our use at premium cost. But worse, at a heavy economic, social and psychological cost to the nation. Imagine the enormous impact vast refineries and petrochemical complexes would have had on Nigeria’s economy today in the face of high youth unemployment?

Apart from this aberrant crude (oil) situation, there are over a dozen other ways Mr. Jonathan, from his Olympian presidential heights, could catalyse, influence, support or even cajole the lower levels of government into more economic activities should he truly mean what he says. He could push urgent constitutional reviews to loosen such strictures that bar state governments from embarking on certain economic activities locked in the exclusive schedule of the statute book. For instance, states can’t even mine the sand deposited in their backyards. What is the Federal Government doing collecting value-added tax (VAT), making vehicle number plates, among numerous such petty economic activities best consigned to the level of local government?

On the part of the state governments, they suffer from the same germs of inertia and lack of creativeness ravaging the Federal Government. Consider Benue State which prides itself as the ‘food basket of the nation’; it can actually be the food basket of Africa or the world with a bit of vision and dash from her leadership. But nearly half of the vast food produced from that vast fertile land is wasted for lack of storage and processing capacities. And this vast fertile land that stretches across the north central states of Nigeria is still largely tilled manually as was done in the days of Adam and Eve. The fruit processing factory in question has been in the making for more than a decade.
Across the Southeastern states of Nigeria, there is more revenue to be derived from the palm trees than from the federal allocation. While cocoa holds huge promise to turning around the economy of the southwest states. Apart from mining and agriculture, there are massive opportunities in tourism and human capacity export like in sports and e-knowledge. In the Northwest zone of the country for instance, the Yankari Games Reserve in Bauchi State can drive the economy of the entire zone as the so-called Dongoyaro trees can release a pharmaceutical revolution. If that exquisite natural bequeathal were in South Africa or even Ghana, Nigerians would holiday there in droves, paying premium rates.
The examples are far too many just as the economic diversification songs have been playing for so long. But they are mere pop songs and hollow talk as demonstrated by the President in Makurdi. Why can’t he walk the talk?


^^^^The bolded is a serious mistake.The Yankari game reserve is in Bauchi (North-east).Nigeria and poor journalism.That said President GEJ is on track over this comments he made.The writer is obviously saying alot of nonsense for all i care.Charity begins at home!!!Oya Northern gov. forward march!!!!!

Funny that NDA is considered for that even where the Igbos will not let Univ. of Nigeria Nsukka be named after him.Na wa o!I will prefer MKO Abiola to Ojukwu on the NDA establishment anyday anytime.Atleast he fought for unity and had a universal endorsement transversing tribes,regions and religions.He stood against the military to give us the democracy we have today.Which is a good thing for the nation as a whole and he believed in a united Nigeria.
MKO Abiola without doubt gave more to this nation than Ojukwu.For me Ojukwu is an igbo general/president that fought for his people and not Nigeria as a whole.he believed more in the igbo and the right for them to be different.That has nothing to do with Nigeria in its totality.So my take is simple.Name something in the East or build something in the east for the late Ojukwu.Stop asking for a national treasure like NDA.In the history of that college it is evident he is a traitor and fought against her.
Another suggestion is to name any of the defunct biafran military structures if any built by him or the so called technology they invented during the war after him.That is enough for him abegi!!!!Since it is a source pride for the Igbos and a technological wonder,then name the guided missiles and refinery equipments Ojukwu

^^^you don't need to post that.The haters shall never accept it and its up to them to go sit somewhere and hate.Meanwhile the people who want and cherish the IDB services will embrace it and patronize it.That said.Welcome IDB !!!!! can't wait to start.

President GEJ stop the ,trying to take the blame o!!Even the Italians have kept the heat on prime Minister Cameron for his decision to give you ago ahead.Where he could have shared the intel and decisions with his fellow EU brother.Also the Italians have said even before this,the UK is fond of ignoring them over critical matters that really should be there own to decide.So no carry this nation or yourself put in between this two developed nations.They understand we are under developed and that is why they have focused there criticism on each other.They know they could have done better than this and they know our capabilities towards this.Otherwise they would have being heating the nation up over this incidence!!!
My presido please observe sense in this and let them dialogue o!