₦airaland Forum

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, said that choosing a worthy successor was his greatest achievement. Fashola, now minister in charge of power, works and housing in the present dispensation, took over the governorship of Lagos State from Tinubu in 2007. Before then, Fashola was Tinubu’s chief of staff.

In “Asiwaju, Untold story of the Leader,” a special publication of TheNEWS, Tinubu reacted to a question of what he would consider his best legacy after spending eight years in office. His reply was that apart from the financial engineering of Lagos, especially to bring financial autonomy to the state and eliminate wastage and mismanagement, “my greatest legacy is Babatunde Fashola.”

He added: “I identified and endorsed him. That was when my corporate background as a recruiter for Deloitte came to play. Part of the training when you go on operational audit is that the first things you evaluate are the personnel and the questionnaire given to them and how they answer it. You look at the ability of individuals to really take and develop others. There is nothing unique about any leadership. Everybody can come up with different ideas. You can take different routes and arrive at the same answer.”

Tinubu went further that no matter how much steel and metal you put together, “the greatest achievement and legacy is the ability to develop other leaders who can succeed you, otherwise your legacy will be in shambles.” He added that though it was a very difficult and challenging period for him, “I thank God I stuck to my guns.”

He revealed another model his government set up in Lagos: to separate politics from governance, a situation that gave Fashola ample time and concentration to perform. As he put: “The model we set up is working well and I will recommend it for Nigeria. Let the governor take care of the administration and its nitty gritty, if he is scholarly enough and sharp, while other political leaders take the political pressures off him. I don’t have files to sign. Let them go and sign the files and deal with the routine of governance so that he can focus on the developmental goals of the state.”

http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2015/11/fashola-is-my-greatest-achievement-says-tinubu/

Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC Prince Abubakar Audu has promised the people of Yagba West Local Government Area that he would end the alleged diversion of revenue meant for grassroots development.

He has also pledged to put an end to the alleged payment of only 25 percent of salaries to local government workers if elected. He accused the state government of diverting the revenue of the Local Government Councils into private pockets, Audu at a rally in Yagba West assured that an APC government will ensure that workers are promptly paid.

Audu said: “The PDP government has failed Kogi people. No good roads, no water, no healthcare, no salaries, yet, they are clamouring for re-election. Will you re-elect a failure? Will you re-elect the government that is stealing your salaries? Will you re-elect the government that has failed in giving you social amenities? Join hands with the APC to bring back the glory of our dear state.

“During my time as governor of the state, all of you saw what we did. What I did in four years could not be matched by the twelve years of PDP. They have destroyed all the legacies I created. They are only interested in embezzling the resources of the state. Vote them out on November 21 so that we can reinvent our state and bring development to our people”.

Also speaking at the rally, Audu’s running mate, Mr. James Faleke said Audu is key to the development of Kogi.

The rally was graced by party chieftains, state and federal legislators as well as party supporters.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/12-years-of-pdp-cannot-match-what-i-did-in-4-years-audu/

When Odimegwu Ojukwu was buried, he was wrapped with the Nigerian flag. Nothing like Biafra flag and the families never mentioned Bia not to talk of fra on that day. So, one wonders what this few misinformed ones are saying. Or will they say they could be more Biafra than the close families of the instigator?

Think twice and move forward

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Femi Fani-Kayode, has urged Nigerians to pray for the newly sworn-in ministers, noting that, the task ahead of them is not an easy one.

Fani-Kayode who charged the new ministers to regard their appointments as opportunity to serve the country urged Nigerians to support them. “We must support and pray for them as best as we can, let us hope that they step up to the heat and do a good job,” he said.

Fani-Kayode, who was the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization in the last presidential election, however, called on the ministers to focus on the job ahead.

“Now that presidential campaigns are over, I congratulate them and wish them well, they are Federal Ministers meant to be working for Nigerians now not just for the ACP leaders,” he said.

This, he said, was critical to enable them succeed in office, adding that the task of being a minister, was not an easy one.

“I was a minister almost ten years ago and I know what it is like. It is not easy, so they need our prayers and we will continue praying for them.

Fani-Kayode said that it was, however, the job of Nigerians to keep the new ministers on their toes to ensure that they did not fail in their responsibilities.

He said Nigerians should not hesitate to call out, call to order and point out where they may have gone wrong at any point in time.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/11/12/ffk-goes-religious-says-ministers-need-prayers/

National Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, said the apology credited to the party’s National Conference Committee Chairman, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, remained his personal opinion.

Metuh made this remark when he spoke with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said Dokpesi’s statement did not in any way represent official position of the PDP, as he was not a member of the party’s National Executive Committee.

Metuh said Dokpesi could only speak in his personal capacity adding that his opinion remains personal and did not represent that of the party

On PDP’s choice to field former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential race, Metuh said the decision was approved by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

He added that the decision was also approved by the party’s National Executive Council (NEC), and the party’s National Caucus.

“In addition, the Constitution of the party allows a sitting president the chance to exercise his personal right to run for a second term if he so desires.”

On whether the party regreted its action, Metuh said: “how can you regret a decision taken when everyone was there, the NWC, NEC and the national caucus?

“What are we talking about? Everybody was conscious of the decision; nobody was coerced into supporting the position.”

He, however, said it was not the time for buck-passing or blame-game but time to collectively reposition the party.

“We are repositioning our party. What we should do is to join hands to reposition PDP based on Sen. Ike Ekweremadu’s report to reclaim the party’s lost glory. This is what is expected of us all at this time’’, Metuh said.

NAN recalls that Dokpesi had on Tuesday on behalf of the PDP apologised for mistakes it may have made during its 16 years rule in the country.

Dokpesi admitted that the party might not have met all the expectations of Nigerians while it was in power and said: “on behalf of PDP, I tender our apologies.’’

Dokpesi admitted that the party deviated from the dream of its founding fathers, adding that members operated without recourse to the rule of law.

He added that the party, in 2010 and 2011, made the first fundamental mistake for not allowing the North to complete its term.

He noted that special recommendations were made to allow former President Goodluck Jonathan to complete it.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/11/12/dokpesi-does-not-speak-for-pdp-says-metuh/

#A summary of Presido Buhari's Govt Policy direction

cضصصثثسءكياقغيتيخؤايعععااااي يايا ياؤلؤريغقليبكي ختىىخخيلسلس ابياعهبلباايااااغليسسليغؤءراثنحي ااقليليرؤلينممحخهعغغفزشئءؤرر.تب ايايىيايلقغكؤكؤلءكيابا

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I was confused, especially where he says; "睯攺!!!"

Good morning

Agencies and Parastatals Under Amaechi As A Minister Of Transport
Former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has just been handed arguably the highest responsibility in the new government, as he going to supervise, reorganize and control 10 Parastatals and agencies which employs over 30% of the entire Nigerian civil servants.
Here are some of the responsibilities that awaits Hon. Minister Of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi:

Water Ways

1. Nigerian Port Authority (NPA)

2. Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA

3 . National Clearing and Forwarding Agency (NCFA)

4. Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC)

5. Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)

6. Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)

7 Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT)


Aviation

1. Federal Airport Authority Of Nigerian (FAAN)

2. Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)

3. Nigeria Air Space Management Agency(NASMA)

4. Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB)

5. Nigerian College Of Aviation And Technology (NCAT)

6. Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NMA)


Land Transportation

1. Nigeria Railway Corporation

2. All Federal Roads In Nigeria ( Including but not limited to Construction, Maintenance And Supervision)

Delta state University......its a less privilege university design to encourage Deltan. If u want to make comparative , dont compare state university with Federal University

ALKARULEZZ:
One hour minimum? Lol.. That's ridiculous.. 4.92? I'm sure there are no sadists in his department..


Special Shout-Out to Dr. Obi Calista (The Almighty Sadist, Department of Economics.. Delta State University)


Wait o! Did I just hear 69 first class graduates? Hehehehehe.. Well, since there are no benefits attached, I'm not surprised.. Unlike my school, where every first class graduate receives #5 million, scholarship to Ph.D level with automatic employment and loads of other goodies .. Little wonder graduating with a first class in my citadel of learning is more difficult than making heaven.. (Too much benefits)

#team_9hours/day..
#team_ DELSU
#team_ECONOMICS


Y = FYB(t-1)

The widely-publicised open letter was necessitated by the quest by that government and its economic manager, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to ‘rebrand’ the good old austerity bogeyman and foist it on the people. They actually succeeded to a large extent. The argument was that since the crude oil prices had depressed, government had little money for anything at all. And so, the people had to suffer the consequences. In Nigeria, it is far too easy to make the people bear the brunt of corruption, visionlessness and mismanagement. As can be seen after the departure of that government, corruption like never before seen was happening while all this was going on – if we are to believe the kind of figures making it out of the grapevines these days.

The letter starts with an admonition

“No matter who is in power, we must do whatever is in our capacity to do to steer the nation away from economic woe. The people have suffered too much hardship already”.

The economic statistics which are regularly peddled by these kinds of economists I mentioned were equally questioned. Senator Tinubu believes, as some of us have averred time and again, that indeed, Nigeria has almost always shown signs of ‘depression’. Those who think like us are concerned that all the symptoms of depression are here – huge poverty, high unemploymen rate, social dysfunction, crime, filth, racketeering, mindless religiosity and the incursion of fraudulent ‘men of God’ who fleece people, dissonant governments and even corruption. Think about the United States of America (U.S.A.) in the 1930s, and you have Nigeria. Yet, our ‘highly educated’ economists prefer to speak about Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, (a figure obtained largely by conjecture), and of ‘market forces’, when they know that markets here are terribly rigged.

But Tinubu said: “…After viewing these statistics, most objective economists would conclude Nigeria is mired in a long-term, secular depression. Forget the rosy GDP numbers. They signify a great economic and financial segregation between those who have and others who have not. If we continue with the policy preferences of the current administration, the haves shall become the ‘have–mores’ and the ‘have-nots’ shall become the ‘have even less….’.

“ The vast majority of the claimed GDP growth has fallen into the laps of those already enjoying obvious luxury. The rest of the people are left to gaze at the enormity of the income and wealth chasm separating them from the cabal orchestrating the discordant political economy. While a small group flourishes, the rest of the nation subsidises their economic bounty. A tight confederacy rides an economic skyrocket while the bulk of the people languish in the swamp. For one group, the economy is effervescent. For the other, it is catatonic. Nigeria is one nation with two economies.”

I can almost see many readers sniggering at the fact that these words were written by Tinubu, a multi-billionaire if ever there was one. But sometimes, we must be ready to accept that something good comes forth from Nazareth. Jesus Christ teaches us not to summarily condemn the tax-collector (no pun intended), the Pharisee, the heathen, and not to assume a puritanical position. I don’t mean to pontificate; this is serious business. As things stand, except we see something new soon, it doesn’t seem that this government will run the economy any differently from what Jonathan did.

We will likely have a bunch of people who will take us aborrowing, who will subtly push for Naira devaluation in spite of Buhari’s extant stoic approach on that front.

But, we have to take BAT serious. This is the person who discovered guys like Tunde Fashola and many more. He certainly has a redeeming feature. The thoughts are also profound. And what do we expect? Are we better off with elite who continue to deceive us, and milk us dry to the bones, or with elite who sometimes – however rarely – speak some truth to our situation? I prefer the latter. Asides from these, reading the letter my thoughts were ‘what is sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the gander’. In other words, good advice to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should also be good advice to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Apparently, no one is emphasising these lessons to the new kids on the block.

The great big argument around our economics is whether to use a ‘commonsense’ approach, which requires that we think for ourselves because we know our society, our social psychology, our strengths and weaknesses better, or whether to continue along the ‘plastic path’; the path of the traducers of our people, who have seized control since at least Obasanjo’s first coming in 1977. Those who sell this approach had a field day in the Babangida days, and became more sophisticated when civilian rule returned in 1999.

They have only gotten stronger since then. The result! As quoted above, has been a one-way traffic to poverty and hopelessness for the majority, while a tiny minority (a ‘tight confederacy’)– mostly politically-connected – live in an ‘effervescent economic skyrocket’. Is it any wonder? No matter how much Nigerians are complaining and businesses are going belly-up, Nigeria became a country where billions are spent daily on champagnes in nightclubs. The ostentation here cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Huge buildings spring up under months, all paid in cash. In any western country most of them are financed.

The ‘confederacy’ only gets tighter. You have to be expressly invited to ‘come and eat’. It gets more difficult to make it into the clique. Even recent appointments by Buhari are of those who are tightly connected one way or another – silver spoons, sons and daughters of age-old politicians. The advent of private schools is ensuring that blue blood remains separated from others not so pure. And that the money is kept within the ‘family’. Rich folks pair their children in marriage; even if they sometimes fail. All good!

This call is imperative because Senator Tinubu, among Nigeria’s elite, is the only one who has made this kind of call. The meat of the story is not about the printing of naira, but the need to invert our economic development paradigm, to be honest and to start from scratch. It is about reinventing the Nigerian economy, and in my view, is the only available option we have. Nigeria has wasted much time and resources and we must stop listening to non-patriots who have put us in much trouble for selfish reasons, up till now.

Yet, the runners of the economy preached belt-tightening, austerity for the hoi polloi. This is why this amplification of Bola Tinubu’s letter is important.

All we have heard since the APC government rode in is…austerity. The people have been asked to be ‘patient’. We have been regaled with the fact that PDP damaged the economy over several years. ‘Baba’ has asked – albeit sternly on a few occasions – why Nigerians want him to perform magic. The underpinning ideology points to the need for the people to suffer some more in the hope that they, ‘in the long-run’, will enjoy. Maynard Keynes said we are all dead in the long-run. I think Tinubu also subscribes to Keynes.

He said: “…As with the Euro zone, the past five years since the global financial crisis, austerity has not solved the dire economic weakness of the nations that employed this sickening remedy. All austerity has done is to tighten the grip of the wealthy on the economy while weakening the position of the middle class and the poor…

“Austerity weakens aggregate demand, deflating an economy already fatigued and against the ropes. Those with hefty portfolios, profit as the value of their holdings appreciates by the very dynamics of deflation. Those who don’t have, find money even dearer to come by. Jobs and commerce disappear. Debt climbs. Deflation turns a noble but poor household into a committee of beggars and street urchins….

“The austerity that the current administration offers is an insensitive, myopic policy that lends primacy of favour to meaningless accounting figures instead of to the material wellbeing of the people. Austerity undermines our economic pillars and breaks the spirit of the people. Austerity is the merchant of pessimism and hopeless futility. If you desire a nation of thralls, by all means continue this bleak path. If we want a nation of prosperity and economic justice, a different course is our due”.

Very importantly, a major kernel of Tinubu-nomics is that there is an alternative. He weighed in against the idea of alluding to the crash in crude oil prices as a basis for the total slowdown of the economy (especially for the poor majority). He advocates that where necessary, the government may print and spend, and dislink this economy from the current “dollar standard”. This will be radical, and may incur the wrath of those crazy financial market guys who are known as ‘masters of the universe’, but if we play our cards smartly, we can get away with it.

However, this needs to be sold to the present government. The problem is that those of us who think like Tinubu don’t have the ears of the government. But he does. I am writing this so that he ditches political considerations and does the needful; for his own good and the entire Nigeria.

Tinubu said the following on the anomaly of linking our economy to a ‘dollar standard’, akin to the ‘Gold Standard’ which the world abandoned in 1971, courtesy of President Nixon: “…The dollar intake is basically irrelevant to determining the amount of Naira the government commands and places into the political economy. …The last I looked, Nigeria operates a Naira-based economy not a dollar-based one. There is no legal or moral restriction strictly limiting the amount of Naira in the system to match the amount of dollars collected via oil sales. More importantly, there is no economic justification for the close linkage implied by the government…. If we take its position at face value, the Jonathan administration is advocating that we effectively place the naira and thus our fiscal policy on a ‘dollar standard.’

“The world jettisoned the gold standard in 1971 because it proved unworkable, reducing the policy space in which governments could pursue fiscal programmes promoting full employment and social welfare. We should likewise reject this government’s imposition of a dollar standard on our nation’s fiscal operations…. Because we operate a sovereign fiat currency the federal government issues at its sole discretion, the federal government can never be rendered insolvent in naira. This means it can run naira fiscal deficits indefinitely. The only outer bound is to ensure the fiscal expansion does not incur damaging inflation rates…. There is no logical reason to peg the flow of naira into the economy to the flow of dollars received. The correct perspective is not to mechanistically restrict naira expenditure to dollar intake. This would be tantamount to those crippled with economic blinders forcefully leading those who can see we are heading for disaster. It points to deflation, recession and worse.

“The better methodology is to ascertain, then achieve, the level of naira expenditure needed to expand the economy and create jobs without causing inflation to rise to dangerous levels. This is how broadly-shared prosperity is generated in a sustainable manner.”

Perfect! Tinubu says the worst we will suffer is some inflation if we print to spend, but that we must target the spending. I disagree slightly from him in the areas he advocated, but I have developed an alternative which I have tested on a different forum (story for another day). The bottom line is that if we spend for the youth, and for low-paying labour, the money stays home. However, our successive governments seem more interested in large spending. We speak of power sector, manufacturing, infrastructure and so on being the next ways forward.

But, this economy must be focused on the little things. I pray and hope this government will not be captured by the ‘heavy-spenders’ and the ‘mega-thinkers’, who, together with their foreign friends, will siphon all the money that Buhari is trying to collect back and save. The emancipation of this country lies with the youth. And there is much work for them to do, only that the government has not been able to see this for whatever reason.

on for emphasis

“…In this way, the nation’s economic engineers should focus primarily on allocating value and opportunity to our under-utilised labour force and our idle, yet potentially productive capital in a way that promotes wealth creation and expansion of aggregate demand. It is this sustainment of aggregate demand that empowers the nation to rescue itself from the whirlpool of economic contraction. This avenue is more benign than the one the federal administration now advocates…. In the face of recessionary headwinds, government should run counter-cyclical fiscal policy by using its naira sovereignty to fund fiscal deficits. The deficit is not simply for the sake of running a deficit; the funds cannot be spent on non-productive matters. It must be used to fuel infrastructural and other projects that not only employ great numbers of people but enhance the overall productivity of the economy… Inflation is the major risk of running budget deficits to spur growth. We can contain inflation to acceptable levels by ensuring additional government expenditures are for items that can be supplied domestically, particularly labour. Naira paid to poor and working class people mostly circulates in the domestic economy, spurring additional local commerce and production…This is because their consumption patterns do not approach the level of import expenditures associated with their wealthier compatriots. Related to this, we must decrease our level of superfluous imports.

In other words, if we have to devalue, but have targeted spending towards the youth, the effects will be cushioned. Bola Tinubu concluded his treatise by stating:

“…Regardless of our partisan affiliations, let us consecrate this land by dedicating ourselves to the betterment of the poor, weak, and needy members of our national family. Let this moment not pass like so many others where we have demanded that the most vulnerable among us bear the greatest weight of the national burden. Let us give them the hope, change and dignity they deserve and human decency demands. This is how we make the nation great. When I speak of a common sense revolution, this is what I mean”.

In the final analysis, all the arguments about the economy should be about the PEOPLE. Nothing else matters. However, what we have seen so far, is that government is easily swept off its feet by money-mongers, who convince us easily that what is most important is to ‘raise money’. If we focus on money and ignore the people, we’d be repeating the same mistakes. We’d be inviting shylocks from all over the world. They will lend to us. We will sign up to conditions that will enslave generations unborn.

This is a great place for me to draw the curtains on this write-up. I have quoted copiously from Senator Bola Tinubu’s earlier missive, because of the sheer relevance of the writer to Nigeria’s politics. I don’t know a lot about the politics, and some may say he is being edged out. A lot happens underground in politics. I don’t think he can be sidelined very cheaply. But I also don’t want him to stand aside and feign unconcern lest we lose this golden opportunity. Also, this letter was written to Jonathan, at a point when neither Tinubu nor Buhari were sure of victory, so I believe it mirrors, the truth, the only truth, and nothing but the truth. Our nation is not reputed to be a truthful nation, so I hold on to this.

I have amplified Tinubu’s thoughts and ideas, because we have lost ample time already, having promised ‘Change’ for the people. Some of us who supported the candidacy of Buhari/Osinbajo were not happy at some of the dilly-dallying. We were not happy when an attempt was made to deny party promises, or when there was a long delay in open declaration of assets. We were also not happy, when from Day 1 of this government, we started to hear appeals for patience, for time, and the same buck-passing and shifting of responsibilities, for which Jonathan was hated and eventually booted out. Tinubu has been largely silent. But we will not let him go until he weighs in with these truthful ideas and ideologies. These ideologies espoused in his letter are based on commonsense, and only require, that those who offer to lead this country, open their eyes to the reality, rather than kowtow to textbook-thumping economists brought from foreign lands, and their hawkish backers who have always cynically put Africa – especially Nigeria – in economic trouble, only to laugh at us later.

The team put together by Buhari is a bit encouraging. Fashola, Kachikwu, Fayemi, Amina Mohammed. These guys sound and look like they are ready for business. Relating to the economy, Okey Enelamah may have worked with Goldman Sachs a long time ago, but I doubt if he is ingrained in their ways. He is more a venture capitalist who has seen many indigenous transactions while running African Capital Alliance – a company which a friend tells me may be the most successful indigenous company in Nigeria ever! His knowledge of our local business is an advantage. At least he is not coming with textbook ideas, or from the ‘prima donna’ mentality which working at the World Bank or IMF confers on people. Kemi Adeosun made a lot of sound-bites during her interview at the Senate. She may fall into the trap of ‘trickle-down’, ‘entrepreneurship is the only way forward’, ‘market forces will sort everything out’, except she gets help.

This call is imperative because Senator Tinubu, among Nigeria’s elites, is the only one who has made this kind of call. The meat of the story is not about the printing of Naira, but the need to invert our economic development paradigm, to be honest and to start from scratch. It is about reinventing the Nigerian economy, and in my view, is the only available option we have. Nigeria has wasted much time and resources and we must stop listening to non-patriots who have put us in much trouble for selfish reasons, up till now. I echo my brother Simbo Olorunfemi, whose article – “Lest We Forget We Won And Why We Won” – is still making the rounds. Our greatest war will be against soulless economists who regurgitate theories that won’t work. For many of them, their allegiance is not to Nigeria, but elsewhere. Indeed, economics is not rocket science. It is about sincerity, human nature, leadership. Complicated quadratic equations cannot solve our problem in a country where our data is dodgy and tainted with emotion and corruption.

In the final analysis, all the arguments about the economy should be about the PEOPLE. Nothing else matters. However, what we have seen so far, is that government is easily swept off its feet by money-mongers, who convince us easily that what is most important is to ‘raise money’. If we focus on money and ignore the people, we’d be repeating the same mistakes. We’d be inviting shylocks from all over the world. They will lend to us. We will sign up to conditions that will enslave generations unborn. They will focus us on GDP growth, and when we are left carrying a bigger can, they will snigger and mock us, and theorise about our failure. It’s always been this way.

So, Dear Senator Tinubu – whom I’ve never met before – over to you sir. This regime must not fail.
Fasua, an economist, wrote this piece for .Premium TIMES

http://thenationonlineng.net/revisiting-tinubu-nomics/

The Nigerian Army said on Sunday that recent publications on wanted Boko 100 Haram terrorists has started to yield the desired dividends as one of those ‘Wanted’ was arrested at Abuja International Airport as he attempted to flee.

Acting Army Spokesman, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman in a statement on Sunday evening said the Boko Haram suspect was arrested while trying to board an Aero Contractors flight.

“Today at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, a man suspected to be one of the declared wanted suspected Boko Haram terrorists, Chindo Bello was apprehended by Aviation Security as he was boarding Aero Contractors’ Airline flight to Lagos.

“The suspect has since been handed over to the military intelligence for interrogation and prosecution.

“We would like to thank those eagle eyed and patriotic security agents and good citizens for the tip off that led to the arrest of the suspect.

“The Nigerian Army would like to reiterate the need for all well meaning Nigerians and those residing in our great country to be more vigilant and assist security agencies with information about the declared wanted terrorists, their sponsors and other criminals in our midst,” Usman said in the statement.

THE African Union Commission (AUC) has unveiled plan to honour All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with the “Pillar of Art and Culture in Africa” award.

The award will be bestowed on Tinubu at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) 2015, scheduled to hold on November 15, in Lagos.

The International Committee of AFRIMA made this known in Lagos while unveiling the activities for the award.

On why Tinubu is being honoured, the committee said: “He’s known to have stimulated conversations among Africans and between Africa and the rest of the globe about the potentials and values of the African culture and artistic legacy for the purpose of creating jobs, reducing poverty, inspiring social change and development, calling attention of world leaders to Africa and promoting the positive image of Africa to the world for global competitiveness.

“A staunch supporter of arts, culture and creative initiatives for social change for decades, he supported “Fela on Broadway” to be staged for the first time in Africa in Lagos in 2011.”

The honour has been made known to Tinubu in separate letters from AFRIMA and the AU signed by Commissioner for Social Affairs, AU, Dr. Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko. The organisers said the former Lagos State governor was selected among “a pool of hundreds of illustrious sons and daughters of Africa considered for the award, who are lovers of arts and culture for social change”.

In his acceptance letter, Tinubu said: “I accept this honour and look forward to the award. I identify with the mandate of AFRIMA working through the instrumentality of the African Union to showcase, preserve and globalise Africa’s rich heritage in the aspects of music and culture.”

AFRIMA is a music and cultural initiative designed to celebrate, reward and showcase the rich musical heritage of African race.

The event, which is being organised in partnership with the AU Commission, is expected to be broadcast live to over 80 countries globally.

African superstars are billed to perform.
http://thenationonlineng.net/au-commission-to-honour-tinubu-at-afrima/

Do you have a serving youth corper brother, sister, friends or relative.?

The BOI and NYSC graduate entrepreneurship fund (GEF) application is now open.

The loan is between 500k to N2m to assist them start a business.

Visit www.boinigeria.com/gef Application closes by midnight of 3rd Nov 2015.

Pls send dis widely to assist your pple.

Though the October 11, 2015 presidential elections in Guinea Conakry have come and gone, not many would forget in a long time the key role played by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And just like he did in the Nigerian situation serving as the catalyst, the fulcrum alongside others and perhaps the “babalawo” that brought the opposition to power and chased away the PDP after 16 years, Asiwaju Tinubu has helped retain a trusted friend and pan-Africanist in power.

Prof. Alpha Conde, the first democratically elected president of Guinea, is back for a record second term of 5 years after a commanding first round victory of 58 per cent of total votes cast.

The victory that came when the final results were announced was reward for handwork and a campaign that was on message. The political campaign of the incumbent president got a bite when Tinubu moved in to help his friend, a brother and a true African leader. The journey for Alpha Conde’s re-election began sometime in May 2015 when he came to Nigeria for the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari. President Conde not only met with Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, he met with other African leaders. He described his meeting with Buhari as very useful and insightful. President Conde in several conversations maintained that Africa has found in Buhari the leader it needs to lead it and move it forward. He said Buhari is best suited to lead Africa where Goodluck Jonathan failed.

On that same May trip, he also met with Tinubu to learn more about Nigeria’s political and election experience. He also discussed the political situation in Guinea and the Presidential election ahead. I recall that the President also met with the governor of Lagos State Akinwumi Ambode.

After the initial May visit, Tinubu in June 2015 visited Conakry to further assess the country’s political terrain and the direction of the presidential campaigns. Soon after, Tinubu moved into Conakry personally with his team. The Tinubu election strategy and planning team comprising of six people quickly settled down to work with barely 60 days to the elections.

Embedded within the Alpha Conde campaign organization, the Tinubu team worked on political messaging, speeches, social media interventions, election monitoring and countering the opponents and a day-by-day review of the campaign. Perhaps, the most the defining aspect of the presidential campaign was the ROBO call element, which was used for the first time in any election in Guinea. The Robo call involved the sending out of an automated message recorded by President Conde to about 6 million voters asking for their support and telling them he was their best choice.

At least one in every 4 Guinean received such a direct phone call from the president. It soon became the talk of town as the president’s message in four languages went out to the electorate. It was out in French, Fular, Malinke and Sousou. The social media also went abuzz discussing the timely direct voice messages from the president to the people.

But back to the dynamics of the politics in Guinea. The last Presidential elections had some strong candidates in the opposition who were backed by big money and were armed to ensure they either win or create problems. The toughest challenger to Alpha Conde was the Fula leader and former Prime Minister, Ciello Djallo, who had a strong 40 per cent support from his economically powerful Fula tribe. Several weeks to the election, the calls for the postponement were rife coming mainly from the opposition. They hinged their calls for postponement on the non-preparedness of the electoral body in the issuance of voter cards and the fear that the elections will be marred by violence. However, they had a game plan. Their game plan was to force a second round ballot in which situation they would a very good chance of unseating the president. They failed in their attempt to postpone the election. They however did not fail to generate some violence. The final campaign by Djallo turned out very violent. Five deaths were recorded. Tension rose. It was a day before Alpha Conde’s final rally for the RPG party.

The campaign organization had to re-strategize quickly. If the president went ahead, there would be violence and that would play into the script of the opposition to have the election postponed. The president took the hard decision with his team to cancel his final rally. It turned out to be a very smart political decision. It brought down the tension and calmed nerves. The opposition bit their fingers.

The president went on Robo call to millions of Guineans asking them to remain calm. Not to burn Guinea but to build Guinea. He asked them to come out and vote peacefully on October 11. The decision not to postponement election was a tough one. Asiwaju Tinubu played a key role in advising the President to stick to the date, October 11. He provided context for the President by letting him into the experience Nigeria had during the last presidential elections.

This insight along with the understanding of the dynamics of the Guinean political situation helped the President Conde not to postpone the elections. The electoral body also stuck to its gun that it was ready to conduct the elections. Perhaps the most important voice was that of the diplomatic community that rang out in unison that Guinea was ready for the October 11 Presidential elections and that the talk of violence was perhaps exaggerated. Muhammad Ibn Chambers, the head of the UN delegation played a bit of shuttle diplomacy within Guinea nudging the diplomatic community to speak with one voice. He worked through the ranks of the Presidential candidates urging them to shun violence by speaking to their supporters to participate fully in the process.

Fortunately, Election Day came on October 11, 2015 and there was no single act of violence or voter intimidation. Polls were extended from 6pm to 8pm to accommodate all the voters. At the end, the people of Guinea demonstrated their love for democracy and peaceful elections. The United Nations in fact adjudged the presidential election in Guinea as one of the most credible and peaceful in Africa.

The people of Guinea were patient enough for the electoral body, SENI, to compile all results from across the country. It took about a week. But by the time 70 per cent of the results came in, the excitement began to build because Alpha Conde was in the clear lead and a first round victory was suddenly within reach. Sensing defeat the other candidates quickly held a press briefing to reject the results and ask for cancellation. It was a last ditch effort that failed. There was no way they could cancel the wish and the votes of nearly 6 million of their countrymen.

Alpha Conde went ahead to win and earn another 5 years in power. But after the celebration of victory, he must settle down to govern and place Guinea on the path of accelerated development. The Kaleta electricity project that was the corner stone of his performance and electoral success must be expanded quickly to generate more power beyond its present 240-mega watts. The roads need attention, more foreign direct investments are needed, urban renewal, job creation, education must be subsidized and programs to reduce poverty must be rolled out. Therein lies the only way he can reward the electorate for trusting him to be their leader for another 5 years.

The Nigerian experienced rubbed off. Thanks to Tinubu and many others who worked silently behind the scene to make sure democracy not only grows but also survives in a country like Guinea. Nigeria’s neighbor. Tinubu seems to be about the business of installing presidents across Africa. But beyond that he is more about ensuring democracy thrives and good governance is enthroned in Africa. Nigeria under the current leadership now has the moral and political leverage to support and lead other African nations on this path.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/10/26/in-faraway-guinea-conakry-tinubus-political-prowess-holds-sway/

Good for the weeked wike he ought to know that is days are numbered

CHIEF Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, the self-styled Ijaw leader is one of those I describe as “Nigeria’s surviving problematic elders”. Others in his group include Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Professor Ango Abdullahi and the rest. These elders won’t allow this nation and its people be in peace. They are always raking the muck instead of staying home to watch TV and play with their great-grand children.

EK has said a lot in the past fifteen years. When he clocked 86 in 2013, he loudly declared that at his age he was free to say whatever he liked. In an article here, I advised that it was now that he was 86 that he should stop saying anything he liked. I never knew the day would come when he would turn his buccal ammunition on his own self-adopted “son”, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Even I was shocked when the 88 year-old, who prides himself as a “speaker of the truth”, granted an interview recently and joined in the chorus of calling Jonathan’s government “corrupt”. He said even drivers became very wealthy and lived in palatial mansions.

Jonathan’s government was well branded as being a bit loose in its attitude to corruption. But for EK, a man who was in the centre of gravity of the Jonathan years in power to come from the backyard after GEJ lost power to join the lynch mob in casting a stone on him … I call it the “Judas cut”. It is the height of perfidious treachery by a man who should be hiding his head in shame as one of those who, through their uncontrollable mouth diarrhoea, contributed in bringing down GEJ. Julius Caesar would exclaim: “Even thou, O Brutus!”

EK, a former Senator and Federal Commissioner for Information, bounced back from obscurity through his role in the tribal wars between the Ijaw and Itsekiri, which raged between 1998 and 2005 or so.

He was a warlord for the Ijaw side. I first encountered him in December 2001, when a summit was organised to create an agenda for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt. Clark, ebullient and imposing as ever, loudly declared: “I am not a nationalist. I am Ijaw leader”.

Since that day, even other Ijaw leaders wilted under his stare and conceded that post to him. EK’s main weapon is that he is a powerful megaphone. He uses it effectively to shoot down his perceived enemies. He has used it against the Igbos, Yorubas, Northerners, other groups in the South-South, and now, against Jonathan. Maybe one day, he will turn his own gun on himself.
E. K. Clark

E. K. Clark

Clark was chiefly instrumental for denying former Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili the chance to emerge as successor to President Olusegun Obasanjo, or at least, vice president to his successor. It was Clark who told Obasanjo that Odili was an “Igbo man” masquerading as a South-South candidate. Obasanjo eventually dragged a surprised Jonathan who was running for a second term as governor of Bayelsa State into the race as Umaru Yar’ Adua’s deputy.

When, as Vice President, Jonathan’s father died in 2008, it was Clark that in Otuoke told the world as Ijaw leader and Jonathan’s “father”, that the “war” the Ijaw militants were waging against Nigeria in creeks was “over”. Since that day, even Jonathan started seeing him as his father whom he always consulted before taking crucial decisions.

In 2011 when Jonathan was preparing to run for president, the Igbos received another dose of Clark’s vitriol. He advised Jonathan to go into an alliance with the North, saying that Igbos had “no electoral value”. He even formed an alliance with the late Dr. Olusola Saraki’s Northern Union. But it was the Igbos that came to GEJ’s assistance because the North decided to gang up against him and produce their candidate in the person of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Igbos disqualified themselves from running for president or vice president in any political party and proceeded to give GEJ the largest block electoral mandate they ever gave anyone dead or alive. The Igbo votes proved decisive for GEJ in 2011 in that if they had given them to Atiku, GEJ would have lost.

Jonathan recognised their contributions and brought out the Nigerian army to give Chief Chukwuemeka Odimegu Ojukwu a 5-star presidential burial to the chagrin of those other Nigerians who feel the army belongs to them alone.

Next, EK turned his guns against his former allies, the North. Clark and his younger Ijaw sidekick, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, contributed in the total rejection of GEJ in the North in 2015 through their unrelenting barrage of insults and teasing of Northern leaders. It helped in boosting Buhari’s mass appeal in the North, and the subsequent loss of the election by GEJ.

Yorubas were periodically insulted by Clark especially over the anti-resource control stance of some of their politicians and alliance with Buhari. Clark was chiefly blamed for perceived appropriation of GEJ’s presidency by the Ijaw ethnic group to the exclusion of the rest of the Niger Delta or South-South that agitated for it over the years.

Instructively, it was Jonathan’s Ijaw Bayelsans that were the first (and the only group in the South East and South-South) to massively defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) a couple of months after GEJ lost power. It is being speculated that EK’s trumpeting of corruption in the GEJ government could be a prelude to a possible move to the new “greener pasture” watered by those he only recently took great pleasure in calling dirty names.

As Jonathan’s “father” while the Otuoke lecturer was in power, Clark’s house crawled with favour seekers. He became enormously powerful, influential and well-heeled. He had Jonathan’s ears twenty four hours a day. Perhaps, he was too busy wheeling and dealing politically and otherwise to call GEJ’s attention to the fact that drivers were building palatial mansions.

I wonder what EK expects us to do with this particular piece of “truth” which he has chosen to tell only when the party was over.

Na real gobe

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers has descended hard on protesters who disrupted social and economic activities in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Tuesday under the platform of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, warning against such insidious actions again by anybody or group in the state.

Wike who was peeved by the protest by members of the IPOB in Port Harcourt, warned that such demonstrations will no longer be tolerated by his administration.

Insisting on the indivisibility of Nigeria, which he swore to protect, the governor said the actions of the IPOB members are capable of causing chaos in the state.

The Governor who gave the warning in statement issued by Opunabo Inko-Tariah, the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said that “as the Chief Security Officer of the state who swore to protect life and property, he will not tolerate actions that will lead to a breakdown of law and order in the state.”

Dissociating himself and the state from the protest, Governor Wike warned that the coercive legal machinery will be set in motion against any group that will disrupt the peace in the state.

He enjoined residents and all those transacting businesses in the state to go about their lawful duties, assuring them of safety.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/10/21/well-crush-pro-biafra-protesters-in-rivers-governor-wike-warns/

A Lagos High Court, sitting at Ikeja, yesterday, ordered that the court process in a N500 million defamation suit filed by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, be served on the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh.

The court presided by Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye gave the order after listening to the claimant’s lawyer, Wahab Shittu. She ordered the service of all processes including the motion for interlocutory injunction on the defendant. Consequently, the matter has been adjourned to November 17 for report of service and/or the hearing of the pending applications for interlocutory injunction filed by the claimant.

It would be recalled that the APC spokesperson slammed a N500 million suit on Metuh over alleged defamation of his character and person. In the suit, Mohammed claimed to have been defamed by a press release allegedly authored and circulated on September 20 by Metuh.

He disclosed that the PDP spokesperson had in the statement accused him of embezzling funds meant for fencing an airport in one of the APC-controlled states in the South-West. He also claimed that Metuh accused him of diverting money he collected to supply ambulances to one APC-controlled state in the South-West.

Metuh had, in the statement, allegedly wondered where Mohammed got the courage to speak on corruption when indeed the APC spokesman had mastered the art of corruption having been “a personal aide to one of the most corrupt politicians to ever bestride the political space of the country.”
http://omojuwa.com/2015/10/defamation-court-orders-service-on-metuh/
Credit: NigerianPilot

Prof Wale Oke, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH has called on men to stop competing with their babies to suck the wives’ breast.

Oke urged his fellow men to allow their babies to enjoy their natural meal.

He spoke yesterday at the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW). The programme was organised by LASUTH Community Health Department in conjunction with the hospital’s Pediatrics.

According to him, the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding were many.

He said: “When a mother breastfeeds her baby, it creates bond between them. It is also a natural family mechanism. Breast-feeding mothers do not have bone diseases, breast and ovarian cancers”.

Oke said the state had created an enabling environment for mothers with its policies to work and still feed their babies.

“Working and breastfeeding can go together if mothers try because it is necessary to have healthy babies,” he said.
On her part, First Lady of Lagos State, Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode urged mothers to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months so that they can be healthy.

This, according to her, would prevent babies from coming down with childhood diseases, such as cough, diarrhea and catarrh, among others.

Mrs Ambde, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the state’s Civil Service Pension Office, Mrs Ademola Olabowale, said medical science had made it known that breast supplied basic nutrients to newborns, adding that the breast milk remained the most important protein for babies’ growth.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and mixed breastfeeding up to two years,” she said.

Breast milk, she said, usually helps to build the immunity for the newborns, saying it would protect them from childhood killer diseases.

By Femi Aribisala

MANY monuments have been built in honour of the man Bola Tinubu. He is acclaimed as the political genius of our times who not only engineered the taming of the PDP juggernaut, he caged it and confined it to the backwaters of Otuoke. Since the APC defeat of the PDP in the presidential election, Tinubu the tactician has been feted, celebrated and praised to high heavens. But all these encomiums have proved to be highly exaggerated.

The truth of the matter is that Tinubu, the veritable Jagaban of Borgu, is a master of political illusion. He is remarkable for the distinction of characteristically pulling defeat out of the jaws of putative victory. He mid-wifed the birth of the APC, only to be shut out of its vice-presidential sweepstakes. He engineered APC”s victory at the centre, only to see his arch-enemies take over the posts of Speaker and Senate President in the National Assembly. He piggy-backed Buhari to the presidency, only to be shut out of a say in the president’s cabinet nominees.

Tinubu is called the National Leader of the APC when there is no such post in the party’s Constitution. When a critical meeting of APC bigwigs was called to address the party’s imbroglio in the National Assembly, the “National Leader” could not attend because, in actual fact, he is not even a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
APC leader, Bola Tinubu

APC leader, Bola Tinubu

Sowing and reaping

In 2011, Tinubu was hailed for cutting his nose to spite his face. The PDP nominated his kinswoman, Mulikat Akande, as Speaker of the National Assembly. However, Tinubu conspired with recalcitrant PDP party-members to frustrate the plans of their party for his South-west homestead. Instead, he engineered the election of Sokoto’s Aminu Tambuwal, an APC wolf in PDP sheep’s clothing, as Speaker.

In 2015, Tinubu received payback for these shenanigans again to the detriment of his native South-West. The same Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto he schemed into the position of Speaker in 2011, repaid Tinubu by frustrating his efforts to install his Lagos acolyte, Femi Gbajabiamila, as Speaker in 2015. Taking a leaf straight out of Tinubu’s 2011 playbook, Tambuwal conspired with opposition PDP members to install another Northern PDP turncoat, Yakubu Dogara, as Speaker.

Tinubu’s comeuppance here is particularly savage because it was actually Gbajabiamila who reportedly convinced Tinubu that Tambuwal would readily act as traitor to his PDP party in 2011. It is therefore veritable poetic justice that the same Tambuwal became an equally ready tool of the PDP in the frustration of Gbajabiamila’s ambitions and the interests of Tinubu and the APC in 2015.

Moreover, Tinubu was repaid for his 2011 manipulations with interest. The same treachery employed to Tinubu’s political disadvantage in the House was also duplicated in the Senate. Bukola Saraki, another PDP turncoat, refused to abide by the dictates of APC Central, firmly controlled by Tinubu’s ACN. He snatched the position of Senate President without official APC approval, but with the support of the opposition PDP. So doing, he sidelined both Tinubu’s first-choice of George Akume, as well as his second-choice of Ahmed Lawan.

Crumbled cookie

Just as Tinubu was licking his wounds at the denial of his “rightful inheritance” in the National Assembly after the APC victory at the polls, the news came that his political cookie had equally crumbled at Aso Rock. It had been popularly alleged that Tinubu’s portion in Buhari’s presidency would not be limited to the appointment of his political godson as vice-president, but would also include the allocation of no less than nine choice ministerial nominees to the discretion of the Jagaban of Borgu.

But by the time Buhari unfurled his ministerial list two weeks ago, the alleged dedicated slots had shrunk to zero. Many of us had warned in the heady days of the formation of the APC that those insistent that power must return to the North would be determined to checkmate Tinubu if and when the election was won. We warned Tinubu that even as he cannot conceivably be accepted nationally to rule Nigeria as president, even so can he not rule Nigeria by proxy. We warned him that the North would never allow Buhari to be his Man Friday in Aso Rock.

However, Tinubu was too far gone to listen. It would now appear that he even failed to take out insurance policies against such probable eventualities.

But once elected, Buhari started a romance with Babatunde Fashola and Kayode Fayemi designed clearly to sideline the Jagaban. While these former governors were previously members of Tinubu’s inner-circle, they had since run out of patience with the heavy handedness of their boss. Therefore, during the election campaign, both of them campaigned for Buhari above and beyond the call of party duty.

Fashola, in particular, was clearly fed up with being under Tinubu’s political shadow. In the struggle for who would be the APC governorship candidate in Lagos State, Tinubu did not allow Fashola to choose his successor, in the ignoble tradition of Nigerian governors. While Fashola favoured Dapo Sasore, the former Attorney General of Lagos State, Tinubu railroaded in Akinwunmi Ambode as the APC candidate.

While again, in the ignoble tradition of Nigerian politics, governors promptly transform themselves into Senators when their term as governor ends, this option was closed off to Fashola because Tinubu had already installed his wife as the Senator from Fashola’s constitutency. The only option left for Fashola politically was presidential ministerial appointment and, even there, Tinubu had put up a road block against him.

Tinubu prefers to nominate political nonentities for higher office in the South-West, so that he would be the only Iroko tree in the forests of the region. Therefore his candidates for ministerial appointment from Lagos were his little nationally-known former commissioners, Wale Edun and Yemi Cadosso, who could pose no threats whatsoever to his ascribed South-West political supremacy.

Alarm bells:But when Fashola and Fayemi accompanied Buhari to the G7 meeting in Germany in June 2015, alarm bells started ringing in Tinubu’s Bourdillon Road mansion in Lagos. This was clearly a signial that these former governors were intent on by-passing the official godfather of the South-West by applying to be members of Buhari’s kitchen cabinet on their own recognisance.

The Tinubu brigade would have none of this. Therefore, a campaign of calumny was launched to cut Fashola in particular to dimunitive size. Suddenly, the “memo” was sent out implying the former governor had developed political leprosy. When two books were launched simultaneously celebrating his achievements as governor, none of his APC colleagues from Lagos dared to attend for fear of entering the bad books of the dreaded Jagaban.

In order to nail the coffin on Fashola’s ministerial aspirations, it was leaked to the press that a whopping 78 million naira of public money was spent on the construction of his personal website. 139 million naira was also alleged to have been spent on two boreholes constructed in Government House, Lagos during his tenure. The intention here was to ensure that Fashola becomes ineligible for ministerial consideration on grounds that he would not pass Buhari’s anti-corruption integrity test.

However, Buhari was apparently unimpressed by these political shenanigans. When his list of ministerial nominees were unfurled, Fashola and Fayemi featured prominently among Buhari’s “first eleven.” None of Tinubu’s nominees made the list. Other nominees from the South-West were precisely the kind of people Tinubu did not want in Buhari’s team; people who would not be indebted to Tinubu but to Buhari.

While Buhari completely ignored Tinubu’s candidates, he included that of another South-West bigwig. Obasanjo’s favourite-son, Prince Olagusoye Oyinlola, former governor of Osun State, was included in Buhari’s list. Thereby, the president asserted the saliency of Obasanjo’s South-West influence in Aso Rock over that of the Jagaban. He even pointedly appointed Obasanjo as his special envoy to Guinea-Bissau.

This is certainly not what Tinubu bargained for when he decided to pitch his tent with Buhari and the APC. If he were to be furthermore overlooked in the appointment of BOT chairman of the APC, the marginalisation of the Jagaban in the post-election APC would be complete.

Comeuppance: Some of us saw this coming. In the heady early days of the APC coalition, we warned that Tinubu would be used and dumped. But we were labelled as PDP lapdogs and charlatans. That is why I say today: let no one cry for Bola Tinubu.

Anyone who hears Tinubu’s recent vicious attack on Saraki would realise these are the tokens of a frustrated man. Tinubu could not attack the President, therefore he poured all his venom on the Senate President. He accused him of indiscipline and disloyalty; the very things he celebrated in the PDP rebels who joined forces with him against their party in 2011.

Face saving device

The recent declaration that Buhari appointed Babachir Lawal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation at the instance of Tinubu is a face-saving device. The Tinubu camp forgot to tell us this until now. At the time of new SGF’s appointment, all the uproar was about the Northern lopsidedness in Buhari’s choices.

Observing the sidelining of Tinubu by Buhari, Senator Femi Okunroumu said: “I am having a good laugh. This is what I expected. In any case, Tinubu is stretching his luck too far as he wants to dictate who will rule Nigeria. Tinubu’s wings need to be clipped. With the ministerial list, Tinubu has been dumped. He should not just be dumped, he should be disgraced.”

On his part, Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said: “APC is not a party; it is a gang of people whose sole aim was to remove Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as president. In a real party, you share the spoils of office before elections not after elections. This is what is happening in APC. We warned our people, but they failed to listen.”

In the new politics of today’s APC, it is better to be the enemy of Bola Tinubu than to be his friend. The enemies of Tinubu become Senate presidents; they become Speakers of the House of Representatives; they become ministers of the Federal government. But the friends of Tinubu are sent to Siberia.

The Jagaban of Borgu himself has been slain politically upon his high places. How are the mighty fallen!
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/dont-cry-for-bola-tinubu/

I saw a Notification from MTN that reads....."your
account is too low n you are having #87 remaining, if you need more airtime kindly
DIAL *322*214*AMOUNT# ", which I hastily
dialled without wasting time,1st I dialled
*322*214*1000# and I got credited of #1000
airtime and I was happy that MTN IS IN
a big TROUBLE.
I never knew that I was going for my doom, So
l continued dialling until I got credited of
#45,000, I was in jubilation and I wanted to do
more when I received MESSAGES that
SHOCKED
me from MTN.... It said... "You have
successfully Purchased your AIRTIME
through
your GTB (BANK) ACCOUNT", shortly after the
msgs came in, I
started seeing the most annoying and
terrifying
Part of it, which was text msgs from my GTB
(BANK) that the sum of #45,000 has been
debited from my ACCOUNT.
Ever Since yesternite My body system has
not
been the same.
Now I agree that true true AWOOF THEY
PURGE
BELLE, I Dey purge now
oooo.... Ema gbami ke
!!!!
pls wetin I wan use 45k airtime do...

Senate President, Olubukola Saraki on Monday received the 2nd batch list of ministers to work in the cabinet of President Muhammadu

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/breaking-saraki-recieves-2nd-batch-of-ministerial-list/

President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of some of his administration’s most key officials Thursday set off a firestorm of condemnation, with critics characterising the nominations as overwhelmingly lopsided, lacking in gender balance and regional equity.

Mr. Buhari named Babachir David Lawal, from Adamawa State, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Abba Kyari, from Borno, as his Chief of Staff.

He appointed Hameed Ali, a retired colonel, as the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, curiously finding no career customs official suitable for the post.

He also named Kure Martin Abeshi as the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Immigration Service.

Messrs. Ali and Abeshi are from Bauchi and Nasarawa states respectively.

A former Senator, Ita Enang, from Akwa Ibom, was appointed senior special assistant to the president on Senate affairs, while Suleiman Kawu of Kano, who is a former House of Representatives member, was named the president’s senior special assistant on House of Representatives.

The six officials brought to 29 the total number of frontline administration staffers who will handle the economy, energy, defence and other important sectors of governance for the nearly 100-day-old Buhari administration.

In all, the president has yet to appoint a single female, a marked difference from Mr. Buhari’s immediate predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, who had women in all major segments of government.

That has angered not a few pro-democracy and gender activists across the country. But what has alarmed critics more is the apparent lack of regional balance in the appointments, a failing Mr. Buhari has been vigorously criticised for in the past.

Details tabulated Thursday by PREMIUM TIMES show that Mr. Buhari has appointed by far more officials from Nigeria’s northern region where he comes from, in violation of federal character law.

Under the Third Schedule of the Constitution, the government must ensure “the principles of proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic, media and political posts at all levels of government”.

The posts referred to include those of the Permanent Secretaries, Directors-General in Extra-Ministerial Departments and parastatals, Directors in Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments, senior military officers, senior diplomatic posts and managerial cadres in the Federal and State parastatals, bodies, agencies and institutions.

PREMIUM TIMES chart shows that only 25 per cent of the president’s appointments are from the south while an overwhelming 75 per cent are the north.

Also, Mr. Buhari’s North West geopolitical zone, has the largest share of 41 per cent, while the South East for instance, has no appointee. (See chart below).

The appointments have sparked anger across the land, with some critics now referring to Mr. Buhari as Nigeria’s most provincial leader ever.

“Buhari is the most provincial leader Nigeria has ever had,” said Ikechukwu Amaechi, a former editor of Daily Independent and Editor-in-Chief of The Niche, in a post on his Facebook wall. “He is not fit to be President of Nigeria. How can he continue appointing top officials of government from the north? Customs, Immigration bosses, SGF, Chief of Staff all from the North?”

“If I am President Muhammadu Buhari, I would have appointed a South Easterner as SGF,” said Sunday Akoji, a public affairs commentator. “If I am Baba, I will not appoint five people from the north into sensitive positions in one day and throw one worthless carrot called SSA on National Assembly Matters to the entire South.”

The president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Gary Igariwey, told PREMIUM TIMES he would comment on the appointments Friday.

A former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, slammed the president for not considering an Igbo for any political appointment so far.

“I don’t understand what is going on,” he told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview Thursday. “It appears Buhari has some messages for various people.

“I don’t know what to say. If it (appointment) is only for the North, it is okay.”

Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural group, said Mr. Buhari’s action poses grave danger to Nigeria.

“It is not healthy for a plural society,” Mr. Odumakin, who was once Mr. Buhari’s spokesperson, told this newspaper. “There are competent people across the nation. When you do this there can’t be a balance. We need constructive surgery, not bulldozing.”

Even for many of the president’s ardent supporters, Thursday’s announcement was one too many in a string of appointments that have become increasingly skewed.

A PREMIUM TIMES columnist, Ademola Bamidele-Olateju, who had all along backed the president, wrote on Facebook, “These all northern appointments don begin worry me. I’m getting disillusioned. It can only get worse from here.”

“These last set of appointments by Buhari are too brazenly and unacceptably lopsided in favour of the North that I can no longer defend his actions. Not this one,” Okechukwu Nwanguma, the National Coordinator at Network on Police Reform in Nigeria, posted on Facebook.

Mr. Buhari has come under consistent criticisms for his actions as Nigeria’s leader so far. In his administration’s brief tenure, he has drawn fire for his delay in forming a cabinet, and for appearing not to be in haste to fix a nation faced with gargantuan, multifarious problems.

His previous appointments too were considered disproportionate for a nation that holds together six geopolitical zones, 36 states and a federal capital territory, 774 local governments and over 250 different ethnic nationalities.

Yet, the president’s response has been anything but heart-warming, critics say. In fact, during his visit to the United States in July, that indifference approached something of defiance when he openly told Americans and Nigerians he should not be expected to offer equitable treatment to Nigerians who barely gave him votes.

President Buhari received the least number of votes in the South East and South South, the political stronghold of his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.

It is not clear whether the appointments are in demonstration of that conviction.

But as controversy over past appointments grew last week, a former governor of Kaduna state, Balarabe Musa, urged the president to respect the federal character law.

“Those who are complaining that President Buhari is favouring the North in appointments have a strong case,” Mr. Musa told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr. Akogi said the president has no excuse for the latest appointments.

“Don’t you dare throw the ‪competence‬‬ of the appointees in my face. Baba got this one wrong! From Baba’s body language, it is becoming obvious that he no longer “belong to everyone and belong to no one,” he said.

See full list of the president’s appointments till date:

Appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari to date:
1. Aide de Camp to president: Lt. Col Abubakar Lawal, [Kano State, North-West and husband to President Buhari’s foster daughter].

2. Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the president: Femi Adesina, [Osun State, South-West].

3. Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity: Garba Shehu, [Kano State, North-West].

4. State Chief of Protocol/Special Assistant (Presidential Matters): Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure, [Jigawa State, North-West].

5. Accountant General of the Federation: Ahmed Idris [Kano State, North-West].

6. National Security Adviser: Babagana Monguno [Borno State, North-East].

7. Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonishakin, [Ekiti State, South-West].

8. Chief of Army Staff: Tukur Buratai, [Borno State, North-East].

9. Chief of Naval Staff: Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, [Cross Rivers, South-South].

10. Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, [Bauchi State, North-East].

11. Chief of Defence Intelligence: Monday Riku Morgan [Benue State, North-Central].

12. Director General, State Security Services, SSS: Lawal Daura, [Katsina State, North-West].

13. Acting Chairperson, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Amina Zakari, [Jigawa State, North-West].

14. Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA: Habibu Abdulahi [Kano State, North-West].

15. Special Adviser, Niger Delta Amnesty Office: Paul Boroh, [Bayelsa State, South-South]

16. Acting Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration, Safety and Security Agency, NIMASA: Baba Haruna Jauro [Yobe State, North-East].

17. Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission: Umaru Dambatta [Kano State, North-West].

18. Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS: Babatunde Fowler, [Lagos State, South-West].

19. Director General, Budget Office of the Federation: Aliyu Gusau, [Zamfara State, North-West].

20. Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Emmanuel Kachikwu, [Delta State, South-South].

21. Secretary to Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, [ Adamawa, North East]

22. Chief of Staff to the President: Abba Kyari, [Borno, North-East].

23. Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service: Hameed Ibrahim Ali, [Bauchi State, North East].

24. Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service: Kure Martin Abeshi, [Nasarawa State, North-Central].

25. Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate): Ita Enang, [Akwa Ibom State, South-South].

26. Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives): Suleiman Kawu, [Kano State, North-West].

27. Director, Department Of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Modecai Baba Ladan. [Kano, North West].

28. Managing Director, Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, Ahmed Lawan Kuru. [].

29. Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive of the National Insurance Commission, Mohammed Kari [North-West]

29. Executive Director AMCON: Kola Ayeye []

30. Executive Director, AMCON: Eberechukwu Uneze, []

31. Executive Director, AMCON: Aminu Ismail, []

32. Group Executive Director, NNPC, Maikanti Baru, []

33. Group Executive Director, NNPC, Isiaka Abdulrazaq, []

34. Group Executive Director, NNPC: Dennis Nnamdi Ajulu, [].

35. Group Executive Director, NNPC: Babatunde Victor Adeniran, [].

See The Garage Of Nigeria's 2nd Senate president, Akweke Nwafor Orizu

According to Wikipedia, Prince Akweke Nwafor Orizu was Nigeria's 'second' Senate President from Nov 16, 1960 to Jan. 15, 1966, during the Nigerian First Republic.

During a robbery in Guangzhou, China, the bank robber shouted to everyone in the bank: "Don't move. The money belongs to the State. Your life belongs to you."

Everyone in the bank laid down quietly. This is called "Mind Changing Concept” Changing the conventional way of thinking.

When a lady lay on the table provocatively, the robber shouted at her: "Please be civilized! This is a robbery and not a rape!"

This is called "Being Professional” Focus only on what you are trained to do!

When the bank robbers returned home, the younger robber (MBA-trained) told the older robber (who has only completed Year 6 in primary school): "Big brother, let's count how much we got."

The older robber rebutted and said: "You are very stupid. There is so much money it will take us a long time to count. Tonight, the TV news will tell us how much we robbed from the bank!"

This is called "Experience.” Nowadays, experience is more important than paper qualifications!

After the robbers had left, the bank manager told the bank supervisor to call the police quickly. But the supervisor said to him: "Wait! Let us take out $10 million from the bank for ourselves and add it to the $70 million that we have previously embezzled from the bank”.

This is called "Swim with the tide.” Converting an unfavorable situation to your advantage!

The supervisor says: "It will be good if there is a robbery every month."

This is called "Killing Boredom.” Personal Happiness is more important than your job.

The next day, the TV news reported that $100 million was taken from the bank. The robbers counted and counted and counted, but they could only count $20 million. The robbers were very angry and complained: "We risked our lives and only took $20 million. The bank manager took $80 million with a snap of his fingers. It looks like it is better to be educated than to be a thief!"

This is called "Knowledge is worth as much as gold!"

The bank manager was smiling and happy because his losses in the share market are now covered by this robbery.

This is called "Seizing the opportunity.” Daring to take risks!

So who are the real robbers here?

You are here : Home » More... » Religion & Beliefs » Facing The Ka'aba » Learning from Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)
Learning from Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)

on August 21, 2015 / in Facing The Ka'aba, News 12:54 am / Comments

By Haroon Balogun

As Allah’s Prophet and Messenger, he delivered the message, explained it and applied it on himself and on his household. As a human being of excellent morals and character, we pattern our behavior and character after his example. Allah praised His prophet’s high morals and exalted character and said: “ You are indeed on exalted standard of character and morals “Al-Qalam 68: 4.

To be truthful, honest and sincere. The act of honesty guides to righteousness and that leads to paradise. We also learn to be humble, never to glorify him in place of the Creator rather call him the servant of Allah and His messenger. We learn to be kind, gentle, patient and tolerant. Spreading useful knowledge is all a trait imparted by the Prophet on Muslims.

Do good always even to those who offend you, give alms to the poor, help the needy without expecting any material reward in return. Also, every Muslim must also work hard and do their job to the best of their ability, not to harm others or offend them in any way for selfish gain. Muslims are also taught to follow his example as a husband , a father , a friend , a teacher and a ruler.

He emphatically warned that a Muslim is the brother of another Muslim; he does not wrong him but helps him . Therefore we learn from Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) how to develop morals and good character . He was truthful and honest and people trusted him because he deserved their trust. He did not lie or cheat and always kept his promise . He was nicknamed : As-Sadiq , Al-Ameen ( The one who is truthful and the one to be trusted ).

A person does not get to that level by words , his actions and his character must be such that people would believe what he says and would trust his word . To illustrate the importance of being truthful and not lying , the Prophet (s.a.w) said : ( For truthfulness guides to righteousness , and righteousness guides to paradise . A person keeps on saying the truth till he is written with Allah a truthful person ; and lying guides to wickedness , and wickedness guides to Hell . A person keeps on lying till he is written with Allah as a liar ) .

The prophet of Allah was not arrogant. He was humble and never elevated himself and treated everyone with respect . He said to his companions : ( Do not glorify me like the Christians glorified the son of Mary, but say: the servant of Allah & His messenger ) .

Therefore we learn to be humble and not look down at others . This requires confidence and Taqwa ( God-Consciousness ) . We are all Allah’s creation : if I have more in money or knowledge or prestige , it is because Allah allowed my effort to succeed . Someone else may have not been so lucky . But each person has some merit and was given something good by Allah . It is much better to cultivate that good side , rather than ridicule or look down at other people’s deficiencies .

The prophet of Allah was kind , patient and tolerant . He was not harsh or severe . He did not use bad language or curse . He did not get angry or loose his temper . It is this gentle , kind nature that attracted others to him and made them love him and obey him . They loved the man as well as the messenger .

They learned from him and they learned from his example. They became better human beings by associating with him *This is the mark and influence of a true and genuine person . You can feel his presence by observing those around him . How much did he impact their lives and did he change it for the better or worse . Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) had and still has the ability of improving the lives of so many people , that is a testament to his genius and great character and influence .

The prophet of Allah cared about spreading useful knowledge and teaching morals and proper behavior by example . He was very keen on instructing the young minds because he knew that they represented the future.

Teachers andeducators

His companions were young men , who in turn became the teachers and educators of future generations . The Prophet (s.a.w) said: (The best amongst you is he who learns the Qur’an and teaches it to others) . He emphasized the importance of knowledge that helps as one of the few things that will continue to benefit us even after we die and all our deeds cease .

We learn from Allah’s prophet the true meaning of patience as an active process of perseverance and struggle , not passive acceptance , nor giving up . We accept the fate that Allah has willed for us , and work through our difficulties and trials , in order to change our fate to another fate that Allah may will for us . We do not blame “ our fate “ , nor “ accuse our misfortune “ or become lazy and say “ it is useless , we cannot do anything about it “ .

The Prophet of Allah struggled throughout his life and withstood the ridicule and abuse of the Kuffar ( unbelievers ) in Macca ; then the hypocrites and Jews in Madinah. He lost his sons in early infancy and lost three of his daughters.

He lost his faithful wife. He lived the life of a poor person. The house of Muhammad hardly had any food except water and dates . He did not complain , but was patient and had absolute trust in his Lord. He said : ( Patience is a light ) : meaning a light that increases one’s faith ( since patience is half the faith as related in one tradition ).

Or , it may mean that patience fills our heart and replaces our anxiety and uncertainty with calm and assurance that we are not alone , and that Allah is with us and knows what we are going through.

The Qur’an explains:

“No kind of calamity can occur except by the leave of Allah ; if anyone believes in Allah, Allah guides his heart , for Allah knows all things “ At-Taghabun 64 : 11 . We also learn from Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) to place our priorities correctly. The most important thing is to live our lives upright and straight , obeying Allah and seeking His pleasure , and to do the best job possible , each in his area or specialization .

It is not how much money or power or fame that we have , but it is how sincere and devoted we are to Allah and how much effort we spend in order to help others and improve their life and guide them to Allah . The Qur’an is clear that we should live our lives as true and upright individuals and not wrong ourselves , nor wrong others :

“ Therefore stand firm (in the straight path) as you are commanded , you and those with you who turn to Allah , and transgress not , for He sees all that you do . “ Hud 11 : 112 . It is very easy to get distracted by the pleasures of this life and to be fooled and set our priorities wrongly.

We may loose sight of what is really important : doing good , helping others and serving Allah , and replace that with the pursuit of selfish pleasures , power , money or fame . The Qur’an reminds us that all these material things are transient and their value is not as great as Allah’s pleasure or His reward :

“ The material things which you are given are but the conveniences of this life and the glitter thereof . But that which is with Allah is better and more enduring . Will you not then be wise ? “Al-Qasas 28 : 60 .

We learn from the prophet of Allah the importance of hard work and doing our work to the best of our ability . Amana (being trustworthy ) implies that we watch our behavior and that we do our work as best as we can . We do not need someone to watch over us , because we understand that Allah is watching and that whatever we do is recorded .

Also we feel responsible and we are honest and do not cheat anyone . We try to improve and do not lie or cheat or cut corners , for our goal is to please Allah and do an honest day work . This is what will count in our favor on the Day of Judgment , not how much money we got for our work . The Prophet (s.a.w) said : (Allah loves for each one of you , when he works to do the best possible job possible and to perfect his work ) .

We also learn from Allah’s prophet not to harm others in word or deed , but to help them . If we have nothing good to say , we should keep quiet and control our tongue . Words can cause a great deal of harm . The Prophet (s.a.w) said : (Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day , let him say something that is good or he should keep quiet) . He also said : (The Muslim is he who other Muslims feel no harm from his tongue or hand ).

It is easy to talk about other people especially behind their backs . Most of the time , what is said is not complimentary or is harmful . Many talk without thinking or realizing that their words can cause a great deal of harm to the feelings or reputation of other people . They take it lightly and as a joke .

Following the example of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) :

The Prophet of Allah was a father and a husband . He was a friend to his companions . He was a teacher and educator He was a leader of a nation and a statesman . He was a judge .How he faced and solved the problems that he encountered ? What can we learn from him in all these roles that he played .

This aspect of the Prophet’s life is less well understood or commented upon . It is important to study and learn from his example since he was guided by Allah and had the strength of character and morals to behave admirably under different circumstances. This is the meaning of the Qur’anic order : “ You have indeed in the messenger of Allah a beautiful example of conduct for he who rests his hope in meeting Allah , and in the Last Day , and engages often in the remembrance of Allah “ Al-Ahzab 33 : 21 .

We learn from the prophet as a husband the importance of treating our wives well and that we should be patient and tolerant . He emphasized that the best is he who is best in treating his wife . He advised the Muslims to take good care of their wives and to provide for them and support them . He himself was not above working at his home and helping in dusting the floor or mending the clothes or milking the goat .

As Aisha said : ( He used to help his wife and family at home ) . He was kind and tender and tolerated the arguments and jealousy exhibited by his wives . He never raised his voice nor hit any woman or a servant , nor said anything indecent . He accepted whatever food was offered to him and thanked Allah for His blessing . He was content in living as a poor Muslim and did not long for money or other material things in life .

As a father he was kind and loving . He wept when his son died but accepted Allah’s decree and sought patience . He was kind with the orphans , as he was an orphan himself . He taught us to be just and equitable and not differentiate in our treatment nor favor one child over another .

He emphasized the importance of raising our children well aware of their duty in serving Allah . He also told us that each person is a guardian and is responsible for and accountable for those under him . The husband is a guardian in his home , and the wife is a guardian also . They work together and cooperate so that their family may succeed and prosper .

As a friend to his companions he was close to them and never separated nor elevated himself . He was always available and visited them during happy and sad occasions . They celebrated together and fought together . He listened to their opinions and took their advice . He emphasized that Muslims must care for each other and help one another . He said : (Allah will continue to help the servant who is helping his brother ) .

He said : (A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim : he does not wrong him , nor leave him alone to his enemy . Whoever shields another Muslim , Allah will shield him on the Day of Judgment ; whoever helps another Muslim , Allah will help him ) . As a leader of a nation and a statesman , he taught us the importance of diagnosing the ills and problems that face and afflict our community , then coming up with the right solution .

He put into action a plan that solved many of the problems that faced the Muslims in Madinah and his plan was ingenious . Instead of adding more economic burden on Madina’s meager resources , he placed the burden on individual Muslims and asked each one to adopt a brother and help him and treat him as such . The resources were used efficiently and cooperation , friendship and love developed , rather than mistrust or enmity or division .

The Mosque became the focal point in the lives of Muslims ; the place where they would meet , pray together , know one another and help each other . Law and order and equality governed the lives of Muslims . They cooperated with their non-Muslim neighbors who were guaranteed the same rights as Muslims and their freedom and liberties safeguarded , as long they lived in peace and cooperated with their Muslim brothers As a teacher he placed emphasis on teaching by example and spreading useful knowledge .

He was particularly interested in nourishing up young minds and preparing them to take their place as future leaders . Most of his companions were young men and women eager to learn and apply what they learned . He encouraged questions and spoke in short clear sentences , easy to understand and remember . He encouraged us to seek knowledge and to teach others , starting with our families .

As a judge in disputes among contenders , he taught us to listen to both sides and not jump to conclusions and to always seek the truth and be just and wise . We should not favor those whom we love , or rule against those whom we may dislike , but judge according to the merit of the case and be objective . We should remember that one day we too have to answer to Allah and await His judgment . He gave us the example of the three judges : two in Hell and one heaven : those in Hell are those who ruled in ignorance or followed their desires and not the truth . The one in heaven is he who learned and followed the truth .

Muhammad ( PBUH ) was human:

There is a tendency to glorify leaders and make them more real than life . In the case of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) some ignorant Muslims have elevated his status to above that of a prophet and even almost worshipped him . The Qur’an is very clear that Muhammad is only a human being and as such is subject to all the laws that govern human beings . He was born and he died ; he reacted to events around him .

He made the best possible judgment when he received no divine inspiration . His judgment was correct most of the time , but on few occasions he erred . An error of a prophet is always corrected by Allah , otherwise his action becomes law . The Qur’an mentions few instances in which divine inspiration came down to correct the prophet’s action .

For example accepting ransom from the captives of Badr , or allowing the hypocrites to join in the battle field , or frowning upon the blind man , or staying away from his wives for a long time . Obviously these are minor mistakes . Under no circumstance does a prophet commit major mistakes or indulge in sinful acts .

The prophet was very keen on guiding his people and was deeply hurt that they did not believe in his message. This shows his humanity and how much he cared . Allah stresses in the Qur’an that He sends to each community one of their own . Someone they knew and trust. He applies the message in his behavior and becomes an example to follow . Allah does not send angels as messengers o human beings otherwise they are held to standards beyond their ability .

Some ignorant Muslims believe that going to the prophet’s grave in Madinah and asking him for help is useful, for it will gain them his intercession. The prophet (s.a.w) is dead and as such he cannot help anyone in our life time . If we do good, obey Allah and obey Allah’s messenger , then we may gain the prophet’s intercession on the Day of Judgment .

Our duty towards prophet Muhammad (s.a.w):

Is to obey His orders and follow his example . Obeying the prophet means that we obey Allah , Who sent His prophet and inspired to him divine revelation. The Qur’an is very clear that obeying the prophet of Allah is a sign of belief and a sign that we indeed love Allah: “ Say : “ if you do love Allah follow me : Allah will love you and forgive you your sins , for Allah is often forgiving , most-merciful . “ Al-Imran 3:31 .

We are also commanded in the Qur’an to follow the example of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) character and proper behavior ; and to send peace and greetings on Allah’s prophet as a sign of respect .

Another important duty is to study his life story and his sayings and use them as guidelines in our life . He was a mercy from Allah to the worlds . He is dead , but his example and teachings are alive Then it is our duty to spread the message of Islam that prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) started .

His message is alive and contains many answers to the ills that afflict mankind today . We will be asked on the Day of Judgment whether we delivered the message of Islam or not “ Say : “ This is my way , I do invite to Allah with knowledge and conviction , I and those who follow me . “ Yusuf 12 : 108 .

Prayer: ‘O Allah make our hearts believe; our tongues always remembers You; and make our deeds good and acceptable to You. Give us knowledge that is useful; and make our souls to be contented and blissful.’

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/learning-from-prophet-muhammad-s-a-w/#sthash.PYGu98FZ.dpuf

Benue South Tribunal: David Mark secretly begs Dan Onjeh to withdraw case from court - See more at: http://247nigerianewsupdate.co/benue-south-tribunal-david-mark-secretly-begs-dan-onjeh-to-withdraw-case-from-court/#sthash.dwsesWKX.dpuf


Mark of the Peoples Democratic Party and Dan Onjeh of the All Progressives Congress contested the Benue South Senatorial seat in the March 28 National Assembly election.

Mark was declared winner of the election, which his opponent claimed recorded several irregularities.
Mark’s opponent and flagbearer of the APC had approached the court, seeking dissolution of the poll.

Onjeh was subsequently granted permission by the court to inspect the electoral materials and amazingly, in the course of the inspection, it was detected that the number of votes announced in favour of Mark was more than accredited voters.

At the adjournment of the last sitting, the Tribunal granted Onjeh the leave to tender his last document.

However, Mark was expected to appear in person at the court on Monday to defend the election that brought him to power for fifth term.
DAILY POST recalls that while some of his witnesses failed to show up at the court, those who were present disappeared before the hearing.

However, information available showed that Mark had reportedly sent some of his associates to beg Dan to withdraw the petition in order for them to have brotherly chat.

Our reporter gathered that efforts to sit Onjeh down for a one-on-one chat with Mark by his associate had being futile, as the opponent seems to be adamant and was not ready to shift ground.

“Onjeh is not ready to meet with or entertain any offer from Mark and his loyalists. They have tried as much as possible to bring him for a one-on-one meeting with Mark but it did not yield any fruit,” a source said.

When this newspaper contacted Onjeh, he confirmed that some close associates of the former Senate President had being wooing him on his behalf to give up on the case but that he was not ready sell his mandate.

“Like I said earlier, I won the election convincingly and we are on our way to reclaim our stolen mandate. No retreat, no surrender,” Onjeh averred.

However, when DAILY POST contacted an aide to the former Senate President, he laughed off the claim.

“Anybody who thinks Mark will beg Onjeh is dreaming. Beg him for what, that he did not win the election or what? Let them go and check the margin and stop dreaming. Senator Mark is too busy to stoop so low,” the aide who would not want his name in print told our reporter on phone amid serious laughter.
- See more at: http://247nigerianewsupdate.co/benue-south-tribunal-david-mark-secretly-begs-dan-onjeh-to-withdraw-case-from-court/#sthash.dwsesWKX.dpuf

If our religions' leaders can intercede for the poor masses the way they are mediating for corrupt elites in the name of peace, poverty would have been defeated in our clime!!


From what we learnt in our Sunday school, a thief must
return whatever he/she stole with interest before he can be forgiven!


Why should a man of god be sympathetic to a thief?


What kind of good news are they sending to the poor by
protecting the corrupt elites?


How do they set the captives free by mediating for those who captivated them?


Are these peaceful men of god aware of the population of Nigerians impoverished by these corrupt elites?


Are these men of god aware that thousands of Nigerians
are held in various prisons without or awaiting trial?


What time will men of god stand to defend the poor before the elite?


Where were these men of god when the ousted PDP
regime was ruining this nation?


By interference in prosecution of corrupt individuals in the
name of peace, what kind of message are these men of
god sending to the youths?



Dear Abdulsalam Abubakar,
You are a statesman and former head of state by your own right.


We know you are like a father of this democratic journey.


But please, do not overstay your welcome. Your intervention is now like a set back to the collective
will of Nigerian people yearning for change!


Dear Pastorprenuers,
Return back to your pulpit and preach righteousness and live by example.
Stop obstructing justice in the name of peace!


Which version of the bible/Qur'an advocate for soft
landing for a thief?



Dear compatriots,
Do not be worried about the new nomadic god of men.
They are over rating their influence.



Dear PMB,
Keep doing it.
We are solidly behind you.
Do not be distracted.
Change is here...........
Embrace it!!!

Before I begin my thought today, let me sound a caveat that neither the title of today’s piece nor the views I am going to express subsequently should be construed as an indictment of the University of Lagos lecturer at the centre of an alleged rape case. I strongly believe that accused persons are innocent before the law until found guilty by a competent law court having gone through due legal process.
It is against this backdrop that I have always condemned the practice of parading alleged criminals and suspects accused of robbery and other crimes by the police.

I have always thought that it is an infringement of the
fundamental human rights of suspects to fair hearing when the police parade them and cement the perception of them as criminals or guilty in the eyes of the public before they are brought to trial. I hope the police authorities will put an end to this practice. I have digressed this long to provide a backdrop into why the alleged UNILAG rapist-lecturer, in spite of overwhelming evidence, must be considered innocent until the court decides otherwise.

Having said that, I believe the latest rape case is high profile enough to reignite the debate about a scourge that has become endemic in our society. The involvement of a lecturer from a prestigious higher institution has reinforced the belief that rape transcends social divides. It is being perpetrated by everybody from the lowly to the elite class in the society.

I am also optimistic that pursuing this case to a logical conclusion will serve as a reference for future rape cases and a deterrent to would-be closet rapists who prey on vulnerable girls and women in our society. For those who have not been following the story, a part-time lecturer in the department of accounting in UNILAG, Dr. Akin Baruwa, is currently in the midst of a rape case involving an 18-year-old admission seeker who is also the daughter of his friend and neighbour. If the story proves to be true, it will be a classic example of betrayal of trust, abuse of office and desecration of the position of an intellectual.
The story is as pathetic as it is shocking. The father of the victim wanted a better future for his daughter. But the quest for a university education had turned awry as the girl is now, according to reports, experiencing a medical condition symptomatic of forced entry. Her dream of a university education is fast becoming a nightmare. I have read the account of what transpired from the time the father handed her over to Baruwa. While there was no discrepancy in both accounts as narrated by the father and the lecturer, what happened thereafter has become a subject of controversy and denials.

But the timeline leading to the alleged crime seems irrefutable. According to a news report, the father had approached the lecturer to help get his daughter to sit for the post-UTME examination into UNILAG. The girl did not make the cut off mark, but the lecturer had promised to use his influence as a lecturer in UNILAG to get her to write the examination. On a certain day, the father handed over his daughter to the lecturer who conveyed her in his vehicle to the school to begin the “admission process.” On getting to the lecturer’s office on campus very early in the morning, events took a different turn. The girl ended up being allegedly raped by the lecturer. Baruwa, who has been detained in Kirikiri Prison on the order of a Lagos court, has denied the allegation of rape. He had claimed the encounter with the girl was consensual. He described the girl as “chatty”. He claimed it was the girl who wanted it. The lady on the other hand insisted it was rape. She said Baruwa forced himself on her in the lonely office.

I have examined the accounts of the lecturer and the girl. Some things do not just add up particularly in the account of Baruwa. First, let me establish two premises arising from the whole episode. The first is that the father of the victim is his friend. He handed over his daughter to the lecturer on trust. Baruwa claimed that the girl asked for it. In other words, that the girl seduced him. Baruwa’s defence fits into the stereotype about rape. Rapists often claim that their victim asked for it. But the admission of seduction was indicting on the part of Baruwa.

The girl at 18 years is old enough to be Baruwa’s daughter. My take is: Let’s for once believe the seduction angle; must he take advantage to violate her in his office? Why didn’t he reprimand her? Or ignore her antics knowing the father is a friend and neighbour? You see why I think Baruwa’s story did not just add up? On their way to UNILAG, Baruwa did not deny that he had tried to caress her of which the girl rebuffed. Then, he had tried to impress her. He drove her to Yaba College of Technology to show her the school. Why make a detour to YABATECH that early morning when the destination was UNILAG?

Why go through all that trouble to impress an 18- year-old? In his office, Baruwa claimed the intercourse was consensual. There are some questions begging for answers. What was the lecturer doing with a condom in his office? Was the encounter with the girl his first or did he buy the condom on his way? When you keep contraceptives in your office, does it not signify that you expect to use them when the situation arises-an opportunity that presented itself when the girl showed up? Having examined the situation critically, I cannot help but think that the lecturer had a habit of making out with girls in his office.

Let’s look at it this way. Assuming the sex was consensual, did having carnal knowledge of the girl in his office not show how perverted the lecturer was? What is clear is that Baruwa took advantage of a girl in need of his help to secure admission. I believe he took her round to impress and make her feel overwhelmed by the new environment. The girl probably felt intimidated by the “Almighty lecturer who could help her get admission”. What is clear is that the lecturer betrayed the trust of ensuring the girl was safe in his custody. Now, if he truly raped her, an allegation the courts will decide, then it will be very unfortunate.

It is gladdening to know that the case has been taken up by the Lagos State Office of Public Defender under the state Ministry of Justice. I also find it curious that the University of Lagos is denying that Baruwa is an employee of the school when the circumstantial evidence proves otherwise. Why the denial? How did the man gain access into an office on the university’s premises to allegedly commit the crime?

The rape case should be viewed in the context of the widespread rise in rape crime in the country today. Women and young girls have become endangered species. Yet, we must know that a society that cannot protect its women and children cannot be a civilised society.

What I Am Proud Of (From The Past To The Present)

1.LAST WEEK IN RUSSIA,THE WHOLE HUGE COUNTRY WAS SHOCKED WHEN A CERTAIN MEDICAL STUDENT GRADUATED FROM A UNIVERSITY IN RUSSIA IN Medicine & Surgery WITH AN IMPOSSIBLE CGPA OF 5.0.THIS GENIUS DID NOT JUST SCORE 70% TO CLINCH AN "A" BUT ALWAYS SCORED 100% IN ALL COURSES HE SAT FOR.

HIS NONPLUSSED PROFESSORS ORGANISED THE EXAMS FOR HIM AGAIN (BECAUSE NOBODY HAS EVER SCORED SUCH A MARK IN Medicine & Surgery IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA) TO CONFIRM IF HE TRULY WAS THAT BRILLIANT BUT THEY WERE ALL FLOORED BECAUSE HE SCORED 100% IN ALL THE EXAMS AGAIN.A DEEPER INQUIRY OF WHO HE WAS SHOWED THAT HE IS A NIGERIAN AND MORE INTERESTINGLY A YORUBA.

YORUBAS HAVE MADE NIGERIA PROUD IN SO MANY WAYS SOME OF WHICH INCLUDE

2. THE 1ST BLACKMAN TO FOUND A UNIVERSITY (i e FOURAH BAY COLLEGE,SIERRA LEONE IN THE 1830s) IN WORLD HISTORY WAS A YORUBA NAMED REVEREND SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER

3. THE 1ST NIGERIAN LAWYER TO DEFEND CASES IN BRITISH SUPREME COURT WAS A YORUBA NAMED Sapara Williams.HE DEFENDED HIS 1ST SUPREME COURT CASE IN 1881

4. THE 1ST AFRICAN TO OWN A MOTOR CAR WAS A YORUBA NAMED Herbert Olayinka Macaulay.HE WAS ALSO THE 1ST NIGERIAN TO FORM A POLITICAL PARTY,1ST NIGERIAN TO APPEAR ON NIGERIAN CURRENCY,1ST POLYMATH IN AFRICAN HISTORY (HE WAS A SPECIALIST IN POLITICAL SCIENCE,LAW,CIVIL CONSTRUCTION,
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY,etc) AND HIS GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER DR (MRS) STELLA ADADEVOH SUBMITTED HER OWN LIFE TO SAVE NIGERIA FROM EBOLA VIRUS IN 2014

5. NIGERIA IS PRESENTLY USING 1999 CONSTITUTION WHICH WAS A COPYCAT OF 1979 CONSTITUTION WHICH WAS ITSELF FILLED WITH IDEAS COPIED WORD-FOR-WORD FROM 2 OF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO'S BOOKS TITLED "Thoughts On Nigerian Constitution" AND "The Strategy And Tactics Of The People's Republic Of Nigeria".
IN OTHER WORDS,THE YORUBAMAN OBAFEMI AWOLOWO INDIRECTLY GAVE NIGERIA ITS CONSTITUTION

6. YORUBAMAN FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI WAS THE 1ST NIGERIAN MUSICIAN TO BE INTERNATIONALLY-RECOGNISED (BY BEING THE 1ST TO PERFORM IN ALMOST EVERY COUNTRY OF THE WORLD) AND HE WAS THE 1ST NIGERIAN MUSICIAN TO BE LISTED IN Guiness Book Of Records.YORUBAMAN KING SUNNY ADE WAS THE 2ND NIGERIAN MUSICIAN TO BE LISTED IN Guiness Book Of Records

7. YORUBAMAN Hubert Ogunde WAS THE 1ST ACTOR (FILM AND STAGE) IN NIGERIA TO BE RECOGNISED AND AWARDED ALL OVER THE WORLD.MANY OF HIS WORKS (e g Morenike Alaso Oke,Aye,Jayesinmi,
Yoruba Ronu,etc) ARE STILL TAUGHT IN UNIVERSITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD

8. YORUBAMAN PROFESSOR SOYINKA IS THE 1ST AFRICAN TO WIN NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

9. A YORUBAMAN JUSTICE AKINOLA AGUDA CREATED AND DREW THE MASTERPLAN OF ABUJA FCT WHEN GENERAL MURTALA MUHAMED COMMISIONED HIM TO LOOK FOR A NEW FEDERAL CAPITAL FOR NIGERIA

10. YORUBAMAN LATEEF JAKANDE WAS TAGGED The Best Governor In Nigeria FROM 1979 TO 1983 DUE TO HIS MANY ACHIEVEMENTS IN LAGOS STATE

11. YORUBAMAN BABATUNDE FASHOLA BECAME The Best Governor In Africa DUE TO HIS SO MANY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM 2007 TO 2015

12. YORUBAMAN BOLA TINUBU CREATED THE STRATEGY THAT BROKE RECORDS IN NIGERIAN HISTORY AND MADE HIS PARTY A.P.C DEFEAT AN INCUMBENT NIGERIAN PRESIDENT

13. YORUBAMAN OLABISI AJALA BROKE WORLD RECORD BY TRAVELLING TO 87 COUNTRIES ON HIS Vespa MOTORCYCLE WHILE HE WAS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT AND A FILM ACTOR IN U.S.A (THE FAMOUS AJALA THAT TRAVELLED ALL OVER THE WORLD)

14. YORUBA WOMAN MRS RANSOME-KUTI WAS THE 1ST NIGERIAN WOMAN TO DRIVE A CAR AND WAS THE 1ST NIGERIAN WOMAN TO FORM A POLITICAL PARTY

15. THE MOST-PERFORMED STAGE PLAY IN NIGERIAN HISTORY IS TITLED "The Gods Are Not To Blame" AND WAS WRITTEN BY THE GENIUS YORUBAMAN PROFESSOR OLA ROTIMI

16. THE 1ST SURGEON IN NIGERIA WAS YORUBA MAN DR ADENIYI JONES

17. THE 1ST FEMALE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN AFRICA WAS A YORUBA WOMAN PROFESSOR BOLANLE AWE AND THE ONLY PRIVAT LAWYER IN NIGERIAN HISTORY THAT NEVER LOST A CASE WAS YORUBAMAN CHIEF ROTIMI WILLIAMS

18. THE 1ST TELEVISION STATION IN AFRICA WAS FOUNDED BY A YORUBA MAN OBAFEMI AWOLOWO.HE ALSO CREATED THE 1ST MINIMUM WAGE IN AFRICA,1ST FREE EDUCATION IN AFRICA,1ST SKYSCRAPER IN AFRICA,1ST OLYMPIC STADIUM IN AFRICA,1ST FREE HEALTH CARE IN AFRICA,1ST CULTURAL CENTRE IN AFRICA,etc

19. THE GREATEST HERO IN THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR WAS BRIGADIER BENJAMIN ADEKUNLE (Black Scorpion) AND HIS 2 ABLE SUB-COMMANDERS BRIGADIERS GODWIN ALABI-ISAMA AND ALANI AKINRINADE,ALL YORUBAS

20. MORE THAN HALF OF ALL MOTOR CARS IN NIGERIA ARE IN YORUBALAND (i e 55% OF ALL MOTOR CARS IN NIGERIA ARE LOCATED IN YORUBALAND) AND YORUBAS HAVE THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF PROFESSORS IN NIGERIA


The list is undisputably endless that's why I'm proud to be a YORUBA.

Jews are proud of their Abraham,Moses,
Yitzhak Rabin and Yoni Netenyahu.

Yorubas should be proud of their own achievers.

Share to all Yorubas you know via twitter,facebook,
watsapp,SMS,etc


-Hon ak

Accountantak@yahoo.com

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa state appears to be in deep trouble following the planned defection of political heavy weights of party, including former deputy governors, senators and their supporters in the state to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the governorship election in December 2015.

Ahead of the governorship election billed for 5 December, Governor Seriake Dickson is trying to break a jinx in the state, given that, no governor has served two terms.

PM News gathered that the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo and the national chairman of APC, John Odigie-Oyegun and the National Executive Committee members are set to warmly receive the defectors led by Chief Timi Alaibe, a former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission and pioneer ex-Special Adviser to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua on the Amnesty Programme on Saturday August 15, in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Others are Chief Alex Ekiotenne, a former honorary adviser to Governor Seriake Dickson, are headed to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

We learnt that former deputy Governors; Nestor Binabo, Werinipre Seibarugu; former Deputy Governor, Peremobowei Ebebi; Senators John Brambaifa, Clever Ikisipo and Heineken Lokpobiri, Ambassador Emmanuel Otiotio, a former House of Representatives member, Dr. Stella Dorgu; a former NDDC chairman, Prof. Tarila Tebepah; Rear Admiral FBI Porbeni (retd.); former members of the House of Representatives – Christopher Enai, Warman Ogoriba, Bonus Indiamaowei, Nelson Belief, Nadu Karibo; former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Gideon Ekeowe; and former Deputy Speaker, Fini Angaye.

The defection of prominent politicians in the state with large following may serve as a death knell for the party that produced the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan looks cornered as his party is unarguably in tatters. There are allegations that Mrs. Patience Jonathan, the wife of the former president is at loggerhead with Governor Dickson.

Patience is alleged to have vowed to work against the re-election of Dickson for some irreconcilable differences even if it means using the ‘enemy’ territory as launched pad.

It is learnt that Timi Alaibe has not given up his ambition to be the governor of Bayelsa state; an ambition he may not realize remaining in PDP.

How APC would fare in the coming months to the governorship primaries is yet to be seen as former Governor Timipre Sylva, the party’s rallying point is also staging a comeback to the seat of government in Yenagoa.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/08/10/bayelsa-mass-defection-hits-pdp-as-alaibe-ex-deputy-governors-defect/

ON Monday this week, Bukola Saraki led a team of his closest senate collaborators on a visit to Maiduguri. Any rookie political analyst could have seen through the stage-managed trip, given the near-presidential halo around it, with hands pumping, photo ops with IDPs and a visit to the Shehu of Borno. On Tuesday morning, most newspapers carried a syndicated picture of the ‘august visitor’ waving to the IDPs. Never before in the history of Nigeria’s transition to civil rule since 1999, have we had a senate president determined to seize the public space like Bukola Saraki.

Soon after he controversially snubbed his party to emerge, he began to hold court, receiving visitors, issuing statements and for all intents and purposes, wrestling limelight with Muhammadu Buhari, elected as President, with the executive powers that go with it. But determined to defy the controversy around his emergence, Bukola Saraki is seizing political territory and desperately attempting to control the space of public perception as much as possible.

His ultimate goal remains presidency and he can’t even wait for 2019 before beginning to show his hands. The Maiduguri visit is the first attempt at testing the waters with a toe, and more such visits will come in the near future.


An opened Pandora’s box

But there are serious problems that Bukola Saraki continues confronting from the moment he opened the Pandora’s Box and in a manner of speaking, letting the genie out of the bottle, that morning of June 9th, 2015. He is fighting a battle against public perception because in many quarters in Nigeria, he has not been able to live down the feeling that he betrayed his party.

Bukola Saraki remains defiant and continues to ignore the APC and PMB’s openly expressed preference that APC senators bow to party supremacy; he fills positions with members of his own group, daring the party and PMB to do the worst!

Yet, he is deeply worried that so far, he has not been able to secure an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari. He took desperacy to a ridiculous height on Sallah day; refused to go for prayers in Ilorin, but rushed to Abuja Eid praying ground for a photo opportunity with PMB. He got a short shrift by being publicly ignored! The depth of his despair was made clear in an article published by many newspapers at the weekend, and written by Saraki’s Media Special Adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu.

Titled “Let the lawmakers move on and work for Nigeria”, Olaniyonu expressing his principal’s troubled mind, stated that: “The President should maintain his earlier position not to get involved in legislative politics…

A way to send the right signal that he is ready to help the National Assembly build on the new found unity is for the President to now OPENLY MEET AND RELATE WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF BOTH CHAMBERS (my emphasis)”. So as is his wont, Bukola Saraki defied the APC, blatantly ignored PMB’s perspective but expects that this issue be resolved in his favour as a fait accompli.

And the fact that he was not allowed on the presidential entourage to the US visit also hurt him deeply and this was expressly stated by Olaniyonu: “We need to put behind us the past experience in which the President travelled to the United States for crucial bi-lateral discussion on several issues without any member of the legislature. That was an opportunity missed to give legislative backing to executive engagements”. But we know better. Angst was being directed at the fact that Bukola Saraki missed the photo-op with President Barack Obama.

It was therefore no surprise, when reports emerged this week that a very worried Bukola Saraki, unable to secure an audience with PMB, was corralling the Emir of Ilorin to service to find every opportunity for him to get to see the president.

There are also relatedly desperate efforts to press other traditional rulers into the same engagement. What should not be lost to Nigerians in all the developments is that while desperate to get a presidential audience, he nevertheless continues to defy the same president and party in respect of the extant problems arising from his demarche on June 9th.

Presidential election

The positions playing out are very complex but there is a consistent pattern. Firstly, for all intents and purposes, Bukola Saraki has finished with the APC. But he will stay in the party for as long as possible to suck into his camp as many members as he can before finally returning to the PDP, where he hopes to become the candidate for the 2019 presidential election. Does this sound farfetched? It does not! Last week, in the wake of the invitation issued to Toyin, Bukola Saraki’s wife by the EFCC, it was revealed that petition acted upon, had been filed by the PDP branch in Kwara state.

What followed next was that the national PDP leadership through Olisah Metuh directed Kwara PDP to disown the petition, because, according to Metuh, they were working for Bukola Saraki’s return to the PDP! It could not be any clearer. And the logic of Bukola Saraki’s defiance of APC and President Muhammadu Buhari, makes it impossible for him to stay inside the APC in the long run. Consumed by his presidential ambition, that logic will lead to a denouement that will eventually arrive, as political events unfold in the next couple of months and years in the country.

Chapter of a personal agenda

When he entered into the agreement that returned Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President, he consciously chose to trade away the Nigerian people’s desire for change on the platform of the APC. He had finished using SAK and the slogan of CHANGE and was now embarking on the next chapter of his own personal agenda for presidency, as early as in 2019. Bukola Saraki and his followers deliberately reduced calls for party supremacy, to Bola Tinubu’s ambition to control everything in the APC. So many of those who used that platform to win positions that they would ordinarily NEVER have, became foot soldiers of Bukola Saraki’s ambition within the APC, especially in the North.

So instead of working to further enhance the North-Southwest alliance, these shortsighted and opportunistic Northern politicians who bought into Bukola Saraki’s anti-Tinubu propaganda endanger PMB’s CHANGE Agenda and willy-nilly, have become as disruptive as Bukola Saraki and are working for his personal agenda NOT the interest of Northern Nigeria or those of our country, in the long run. The vicious propaganda onslaught against Bola Tinubu was actually an onslaught at the individual who played the most vital role in building an alliance with PMB and who together became the champions of a North-Southwest accord that won power for the first time in our nation’s political history.

In the long run, their agenda is really not against Bola Tinubu, but it is just the opening salvo in a targeted onslaught by Bukola Saraki and his political tendency within the APC, against President Muhammadu Buhari. That will come to the fore as we approach 2019!

By getting Ike Ekweremadu into the loop as Deputy Senate President, and contrary to the norms of Senate in respect of ranking, also making Godswill Akpabio Minority leader, Bukola Saraki will claim his political IOU in 2019.

He will posture as having given the Southeast and the South-South recognition and platforms of relevance, when they ordinarily would have lost out in 2015, for voting against the APC and PMB. Secondly, he would calculate that his chances are very bright as PDP’s presidential candidate in 2019, because given the current political reality, the PDP will most likely be obliged to present a Northern candidate to run against PMB.

Appointment of legislative aides

That is why Bukola Saraki has been appointing legislative aides from different parts of the North and beyond who would easily and seamlessly make the transition into becoming his campaign coordinators in different parts of the North and beyond! This is the most logical background that puts his various steps into context: defiance of the party to run against the party’s candidate; entering into an alliance with the PDP, and thus bringing it back into the loop of legislative leadership even when Nigerians had rejected the party at the polls and had expressly accepted the slogan of CHANGE; continuing to make appointments that suit his own personal agenda not those of the party; ignoring President Muhammadu Buhari and doing everything to contest the space of public visibility with PMB and carrying on as if he is an alternative president of Nigeria, based in the senate!

These steps are carefully thought out and that is the way he will continue to act in the lead to 2019! So when the APC leadership insists that the senate leadership toes the party line and PMB appeals to the morality and conscience of the Bukola Saraki group in senate, we can only wonder where their naivety comes from.

There is no moral suasion that will take Bukola Saraki’s eye off the ball of his personal agenda. For him, senate presidency is merely a stepping-stone to Nigeria’s presidency. If they doubt this, they should visit my hometown Ilorin, where this has been regularly drummed into the heads of the local people:”Bukola is not interested in the ‘Number Three’ position; he wants Presidency”! That is the propaganda in Ilorin. So when Bukola Saraki entered Maiduguri this week, he was taking the first tentative step into the very muddy and murky waters on the route to the 2019 presidential elections.

Humanitarian trip for succour

Of course, that was not the way that the trip was presented; on the contrary, it was supposedly a humanitarian trip to give succour to people displaced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency.

He will lull his opponents to underestimating the essence of his scheming until it becomes too late for them to effectively respond. One of Bukola Saraki’s greatest strengths is a single-minded and ruthless devotion to anything that confers him advantage.

There are very few real politicians on the Nigerian political scene today, but in his total commitment to his personal agendas, no one can trump Bukola Saraki today in Nigerian politics. That is what makes him formidable and a danger at the same time! So when PMB and his advisers analyse the political space, they must reckon with Bukola Saraki’s unrelenting and formidable ambition to become president as soon as 2019.

If they treat that challenge with levity, they would certainly have another thing coming! They will become easy prey for a calculating and politically astute Bukola Saraki!
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/bukola-saraki-in-maiduguri-tentative-first-steps-for-2019-presidency/#sthash.mn3n9LYc.dpuf