₦airaland Forum

WHEN in 2015, President Muhamadu Buhari,PMB, won the Presidential election after a keen contest with the then incumbent President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, most Nigerians were happy thinking that the “messiah” that will take Nigerians from the woods to the “Promised Land” had come. Many, also jubilated with the firm belief that the ‘’change’’ which he and his Party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, promised Nigerians was certainly going to transform Nigeria. But with just about 100 days to the end of his first year in office, PMB is still apportioning blames rather than proffering solutions. Rather than shop for those that will help him fix the nation’s bleeding economy, President Buhari is busy globetrotting; spending the little resources that Nigeria is left with abroad and returning back home with little or no results for his missions abroad. I am calling for the humble resignation of Mr. President because of the following obvious reasons:
Failed Promises
During the 2015 presidential electioneering campaigns, PMB, promised to make the Naira equivalent to the United States of America Dollar. With this pronouncement, most of us where happy since our economy is an import dependent one. As at May 29, 2015, when he assumed office, the value of the Naira to the Dollar, in the black market was N195.00 against its current rate of N385.00. As a result of this, cost of almost every commodity in the market has skyrocketed.
Just few months ago, his government announced that 500,000 unemployed graduates where to be employed as teachers. Again, this was greeted with much applause. But just recently, the PMB led government announced that these teachers would be trained under its social welfare scheme to serve as voluntary teachers; what a deceit.
Unpreparedness for leadership
To prove PMB’s unpreparedness for leadership, in April 2015, after the Presidential election, he mentioned to Nigerians that he was not sure that former President Goodluck Jonathan will concede defeat. To further buttress this position, it took President Buhari about seven months to appoint his ‘’saints’’ Ministers. Ministers without any allegation of fraud. To make matters worse, it took Buhari nine months to discover that the recently sacked 26 Agency heads were working for the PDP, as announced by the APC Chairman, Chief John Odijie-Oyegun.
Budget Padding
Again, to show how unserious he takes the business of Nigeria, it is taking the President too long to get the 2016 budget passed. His “Zero-based” budget of 6 trillion for the “change” agenda, presented with so much fanfare, expected to perform wonders for Nigerians, has been rejected by the National Assembly because of massive blunders discovered in the document after it was initially declared missing.
What does PMB and his APC Led
government take Nigerians for? According to the late reggae icon, Bob Marley, you can fool some people sometimes but you can’t fool all the people all the time. With reference to the controversial budget, full of concocted huge sums of Naira, with so many so-called errors attributed to the Presidency, how can a government that means well for its citizens plan a higher budget for its Ministry of Information against a lesser one for the Ministry of Agriculture in a country plagued by poverty, hunger and starvation? Or is this deliberate in other to equip the Minister for Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Muhammed, for what he knows how to do best; propaganda.
How did N5 million proposed for buying computers for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the Film and Video Censors Board mysteriously became N398 million? What error accounts for the N3.8 billion allocated for capital projects at the State House Clinic meant for the president,
vice-president and their families alone;
compared to the N2.6 billion allocated for all the 17 government teaching hospitals nationwide. Based on the foregoing, is the budget truly a reflection of how PMB loves Nigerians and the Nigeria he once cried for? Is it also a true reflection of the “change” he promised? What brands of tyres, batteries, fuses, c-caution signs, fire extinguishers and towing ropes will amount to more than quarter of a billion Naira of tax payers’ money, considering the fact that this budget is just for one year and that some of the listed items come with brand new cars. How can a President who claims to be fighting corruption present such a budget? Exposing Nigeria to external aggression President Buhari goofed seriously when he made the Dasukigate investigation public. Even in the advanced world, matters of national security are handled secretly on- the-need-to-know bases. But in PMB’s case, he preferred to make a big show with it thereby exposing the nation’s vulnerability and susceptibility to external military aggression and possible invasion by any country; no matter how small that may want to display its military might and superiority. PMB, in doing this, forgot he took an oath to protect Nigerians. Lack of tolerance for the opposition PMB’s intolerance for the opposition remains unparalleled. He has not congratulated any governor in the opposition political parties who emerged victorious in any election, since he assumed office as President. This may also be the reason his anti corruption fight is perceived to be a vendetta mission, an attempt to reduce the opposition to nothing. This writer is not against the anti corruption stance of Mr. President but his approach is seriously assuming a dangerous dimension; Nigerians are watching. PMB’s corruption war seems to be targeted and limited to the Jonathan’s administration. Is PMB telling Nigerians that previous administrations were corruption free? Or is it because Dr. Jonathan did not in the military? What are the reasons for limiting this fight to Jonathan’s administration and the PDP alone? What about the men in his cabinet, whose names are associated with so many alleged corruption issues? Is PMB surrounded by saints, is he saying that all present and former governors of the APC are corruption free or they never corruptly enriched themselves? In about three months , his administration will be one year. Nigeria needs a president that can move her forward not one that has taken her 30 years backwards.
What about his party leaders who have been alleged to have converted state government properties into their personal properties? Why has PMB refused to tell Nigerians the source of funding for his electioneering campaigns and how those who funded it with billions of Naira acquired such stupendous wealth? What about the numerous under aged Nigerians that voted for him in the northern part of the country which may have contributed to his emergence as president; has he made any categorical statement to condemn this act? How can a President, who was corruptly voted into power fight corruption? How can a President whose election campaigns were corruptly funded by corrupt persons who allegedly corruptly enriched themselves fight corruption?
President Muhamadu Buhari should resign as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria’s business is a serious one; not meant for people who lack vision to move the nation forward. Nigerians are tired of his anti corruption mission which is not even yielding fruits. His anti corruption fight is seriously hemorrhaging the nation’s economy. Nigerians are hungry. And rather than spend the past 9 months since he assumed office to fight hunger, starvation, poor health care delivery systems, and shelter for the homeless, PMB has been busy junketing the entire globe and painting Nigerians black as corrupt people.
Is it his war against corruption that has refused to yield results as buttressed by a recent statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss, Ibrahim Magu, that “senior lawyers are frustrating the war against corruption? Is it his victory over Boko Haram which he claimed can no longer carry out any conventional attack yet they bombed Maiduguri, Borno State capital, killing and injuring scores? The same Boko haram bombed an IDP camp too killing and injuring scores of harmless women and children he swore to protect. And just recently, the same group of terrorists razed Mala Keri in Konduga Local Gorvernment Area of Borno State. Is it the “padded zero-based” budget of “change” corruptly designed to enrich some pockets which they also claimed some rats smuggled some items into it, as reported by the BBC or the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which he recently pronounced was a creation of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration? Would it be only the Dasukigate? Of what immediate benefit is Dasukigate to Nigerians compared with the sorry state of the Naira or faulty policies like the one which has caused even students inability to pay their school fees abroad? President Mohamadu lacks clues on how to move Nigeria forward. He also lacks the capacity to be Nigeria’s president. This is because he equally lacks ideas on how to diversify the economy of this great nation blessed with abundant natural and human resources. His team also lacks cutting edge ideas that will take Nigeria out of the woods. They have nothing new to offer as his “miracle making” and “saints” ministers are of the old school or old brigade with little or no achievements to show in their past leadership roles except for Babatunde Raji Fashola.
Nigeria, a country with about 220 million people does not need a president that lacks a 22nd century vision. We need one with solutions to her challenges. The kind of president that can set the propellers and the turbines of Nigeria’s economy running rather than bringing it to a total halt; a president that can place the most populous black nation in the world, in its rightful place, in the committee of nations. Mr. Jim Lawson Moses, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/buharis-many-failed-promises/

slowpoke deserves what he gets......

with this kind of assertion one fool will come and tell me buhari is OK up stair..

It is actually to the credit of the National Assembly that the gross errors of Nigeria’s 2016 Federal budget were spotted and brought to quick light. I have been a critic of the inaction and complicity of the legislative arm in the defrauding of Nigeria since 1999 by the various elected governments of the federation.
This certainly is true. But on this occasion the legislators can stand up and take a well-deserved bow for spotting a fraud in progress by the executive arm, and questioning the ridiculous paddings in the budget request submitted to the National Assembly by the Buhari
administration. Kudos to the Finance and Budget Committees of the two houses. Such consistent scrutiny and oversight of the executive arm by the legislature may yet salvage Nigeria from the corruption that has long built its nest and headquarters in the executive arm of government.
There, they say, reside the “Budget Mafia.” There is no point rehashing the circumstance of this doomed budget to the readers of the “Orbit,” but it is important to simply note that it is disaster of epochal proportions. The administration’s response to these questions of how such an incompetent document passed the muster of presidential scrutiny and snaked its way to the National Assembly remains befuddling. The president’s spinmeisters have accused a “budget mafia” in the government of orchestrating the fraud. If this were so, it must then be quite clearly noted that it is a felony to forge the seal of the president, for which anyone found guilty faces time in jail. It amounts to a crime against the state particularly to falsify presidential document, as has been claimed by the office of the president, which has disavowed the padded items in the budget. The president has even launched a probe to fish out the perpetrators of the fraud. But I think that the president and his men are only scrounging for scapegoats and are not truthful enough to accept that the process that led to the current fiasco has much to do with the urgency required to produce a document in the time frame in which the president formed his cabinet more than eight months after he was sworn in to office.
The result is a collage of claims that found their way into the budget. The embarrassment continues to reverberate among the public, and this incident more than anything else that has happened in the short life of this presidency, demonstrates the incompetence of this administration, and the limits of an ersatz government. There is increasing loss of faith in the ability of the APC to govern. There is suggestion that the president does not read the documents, and merely appends his signature on important instruments of state based on faith alone.
This is dangerous for Nigeria in this moment of serious challenges. But beyond the question of the ridiculous paddings in the budget is the real significance of the spending schedules of the budget. Very clearly, Buhari’s budget plan is not designed to create jobs; it is designed to continue the same old, same old process of servicing overheads rather than capital programs. There is more about replacing office computers and electricity cables than in creating jobs or building infrastructure. Last week, Mr. Lai Mohammed, Minister for Culture flatly rejected any knowledge of N368 Million in the budget item of the Ministry of Information for the procurement of computers.
But beyond his denials, there is a rather crazy logic behind a national budget that allocates more money to the manufacture of propaganda than to the Ministry of Trade and Industries for the activation of a national small business credit and loans program for young entrepreneurs, or to the Ministry of Labour, for new job training programs. There is inexplicable logic in budgeting more money for servicing of the presidential office than for the programs of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), even when this administration has claimed that one of its cardinal goals is to push back on unemployment. What could have been a better place to start than a work program, using the NDE as the basis of a National policy on unemployment? Reposition the NDE and redirect its mission beyond its current straits – that would be innovative policy.
That should be the way to go. It would require the collaboration, I have made clear on another occasion, between the Ministry of Labour (using the NDE) with two other key ministries of government - the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Science and Technology to push back the terrible unemployment under an imaginative work program that could reactivate the economy through strategic skills re-training programs, guaranteed star-up credits, and tax-holidays for new ventures. But the Buhari budget has no such plan. How can this administration be expected to be taken very seriously, when its budget for the Ministry of Defence is greater by far than the budget of the Ministry of Science and Technology given Nigeria’s current circumstance? To be fair to President Buhari, he would not be the first to make that mistake. But given Nigeria’s current circumstance, it is a cardinal mistake.
Even overlooking the crazy padding in the budget of the ministry of Defence, one particular example being that the MOD’s budget for procuring sporting equipment for the Army, exceeds the budget for the same item for the entire federal ministry of Sports and Youth development, the Defence ministry depends on importation of Arms and military equipment.
There is very little local content in Nigeria’s National Defence equipment procurement. First thing Nigerians should then ask: where is the defence money going? Overseas of course. How much was budgeted for local Research and Production for Nigeria’s national defence needs, which should be a great reason for establishing a Ministry of Science and Technology? Nothing.
The logic is not clear to the likes of me. Well, there is clearly nothing much else to say than that this budget as presented by the Buhari government is what we would call an “egunje budget.” It is budget for the boys. It is procurement budget rather than production budget. It shows no promise; no change from the past. It in fact makes the immediate past of President Jonathan more and more photogenic. For a president who has made a fetish of anti-corruption, this budget scandal puts president Buhari in a pickle.
The president is fast losing the only thing he came into office with: moral authority. Some of his critics are already saying, it may not be too long now, and Nigerians may yet finally see that Buhari is all wind and straw, and does have feet of clay. If the president is to regain the fast-sliding confidence of Nigerians and his international friends and supporters, he needs to make quick and bolder moves to stir the economy, and demonstrate that he has a full-rein of his government. The president must produce results – quick, precise and clean.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/buharis-egunje-budget/

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) on Saturday- said that only the Nigerian
Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) was being
investigated in the aviation sector.
The EFCC spokesperson, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this in an
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that the other aviation agencies are the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and Nigerian
Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
Uwujaren confirmed that the Managing Director of NAMA, Mr Ibrahim
Abdulsalam, and some other top officials of the agency were in the
custody of the commission over alleged financial impropriety.
"It is not about the aviation industry; if any agency or person has
issues, that is when the commission comes in.
“It is a specific matter, but I can't go into details now because we
are still carrying out investigation," he said.
A reliable source had earlier told NAN that Abdulsalam and the two
other directors were arrested on Friday night after over eight hours
of interrogation by EFCC team of investigators.
The source said the heavily armed operatives had stormed NAMA
headquarters and its annex office at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in
Lagos around 11.55 am
"For several hours, the operatives detained staffers of the agency and
kept them incommunicado until the search was over," the source said.
According to the source, the anti-graft operatives zeroed in on the
Accounts and Procurement Departments of NAMA and carted away
some documents.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/we-are-investigating-only-nama-efcc-spokesman/

Karlovich:
why the hell will the air force disperse to the media this kind of sensitive information

They just sent out a coded message to the B/H boyz to change their location for a possible attack on them is imminent.

THE Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase yesterday
assured of an end to Fulani herdsmen clashes with farmers across the
federation.

Arase spoke in Akure during his zonal tour of some states in the South
West and Kwara State.

This is coming as the State Governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko charged
the police to address as a matter of urgency the rising cases of
frequent clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and their host
communities across the country.

Dr Mimiko said this when the IGP paid him a courtesy visit in his
office.

However, speaking at a stakeholders meeting, the IGP said that
efforts will be made to fully enforce the cattle ranch and grazing
routes policies.

Governor Mimiko described the upsurge as a new trend of security
challenges that should be tackled headlong before it degenerates into
big security threat.

He noted that many lives and property had been lost to the crises in
the last few years.

He called on the Federal Government to invest heavily in cattle
ranches to avert the incessant clashes between herdsmen and their
host communities.

Speaking earlier on the welfare of officers, the IG said that the
force headquarters was working so hard to proffer immediate solutions
soon.

He disclosed that about 36, 000 officers were promoted in January,
frowning at the insubordination that rocked the Police Public
Relations Committee (PCRC).

He noted that the force had initiated welfare packages especially for
the rank and file of the NPF, institutionalizing it that no officer
would retire without at least 2-bedroom flat in a housing scheme.

Arase pointed out that the first phase of the scheme would be
commissioned next month.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/igp-assures-nigerians-of-end-to-fulani-herdsmenfarmers-clashes/

Lagos — The United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs,
Ms Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, yesterday, that about 100,000
Nigerians were currently living outside as refugees in neighbouring
countries.

This came on a day the Head of European Union delegation to
Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Michel Arrion, also said there were more
Nigerian nurses in Europe than in Nigeria.

Thomas-Greenfield, who announced this to journalists from across
Africa in a tele-press conference, said that Boko Haram attacks had
forced more than one million Nigerians out of their homes.
According to her, these people have serious concerns that urgently
need to be addressed.


“More than a million Nigerians have been forced from their homes.



Close to 100,000 Nigerians are living outside of Nigeria as refugees.
Thousands of families, ordinary people, have been impacted by Boko
Haram. And these people have serious concerns that urgently need to
be addressed,” she said.

The US envoy said her government had been working closely with
Nigeria and her neighbouring countries in addressing problem of
terrorism in the region.

Thomas-Linda said there was multifaceted effort in place to deal
with security issues as well as the root causes.

The U.S. representative in Africa also said that her government had
been working with and providing support for governments in the region
through the Multinational Joint Task Force.

She said: “We’re also working with governments to look at broad
economic development in the regions affected by Boko Haram by
encouraging businesses to invest in those areas. We are also working
with the governments to ensure that those who have been victims of
Boko Haram receive the assistance that they require to rebuild their
lives.”

More Nigerian nurses in Europe than in Nigeria
Meanwhile, Mr Michel Arrion, the Head of European Union Delegation
to Nigeria and ECOWAS, has said there were more Nigerian nurses in
Europe than in Nigeria.

Arrion told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, yesterday,
that the health professionals would better serve to provide and deliver
social services to Nigeria.

He said that a situation where some Nigerians travel to European
countries and remained to work was not in the interest of the country.
He said: “You give visas to students and they study in Europe and stay
in Europe. No, please go back and develop your country. I think it is
very important. We must avoid what we call brain drain.

“I always take the example of the number of Nigerian nurses in
European hospitals. There are more Nigerian nurses in European
hospitals than in Nigeria. But of course, if they go back (to Europe),
if they send back money, that’s very good.

“They (Nigerians) should be better trained (in Europe) and come
back (to Nigeria) and better serve and provide and deliver social
services to their compatriots.”


9,000 Nigerian illegal migrants in Europe



Earlier, Arrion, in a statement said that Nigeria was an important
country of origin of regular and irregular migration to the EU and its
member-states.

According to him, many of them risk their lives and perish in the
Mediterranean. The EU official explained that there were almost
9,000 Nigerian illegal migrants in Europe in 2014.

He said: “In 2014, Nigerians accounted for an estimated 8,700 of the
283,532 irregular migrants entering EU borders, many of who risked
their lives crossing the Mediterranean.

“However, majority of Nigerians enter and reside in EU legally and
millions of Diaspora Nigerians are residing in the EU.

“As a regional economic power, Nigeria is also on the receiving end
of migration, attracting an estimated three million labour workers from
neighbouring countries. In the first half of 2015, Nigerian citizens
ranked ninth of all persons granted international protection in EU’s 28
member states.

“Nigerian nationals are the most numerous among non-European
victims of trafficking in human beings and they are also the most
numerous among traffickers.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/100000-nigerians-live-outside-nigeria-as-refugees-us/

Lagos — The United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs,
Ms Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, yesterday, that about 100,000
Nigerians were currently living outside as refugees in neighbouring
countries.

This came on a day the Head of European Union delegation to
Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Michel Arrion, also said there were more
Nigerian nurses in Europe than in Nigeria.

Thomas-Greenfield, who announced this to journalists from across
Africa in a tele-press conference, said that Boko Haram attacks had
forced more than one million Nigerians out of their homes.
According to her, these people have serious concerns that urgently
need to be addressed.

“More than a million Nigerians have been forced from their homes.
Close to 100,000 Nigerians are living outside of Nigeria as refugees.
Thousands of families, ordinary people, have been impacted by Boko
Haram. And these people have serious concerns that urgently need to
be addressed,” she said.

The US envoy said her government had been working closely with
Nigeria and her neighbouring countries in addressing problem of
terrorism in the region.

Thomas-Linda said there was multifaceted effort in place to deal
with security issues as well as the root causes.

The U.S. representative in Africa also said that her government had
been working with and providing support for governments in the region
through the Multinational Joint Task Force.

She said: “We’re also working with governments to look at broad
economic development in the regions affected by Boko Haram by
encouraging businesses to invest in those areas. We are also working
with the governments to ensure that those who have been victims of
Boko Haram receive the assistance that they require to rebuild their
lives.”

More Nigerian nurses in Europe than in Nigeria
Meanwhile, Mr Michel Arrion, the Head of European Union Delegation
to Nigeria and ECOWAS, has said there were more Nigerian nurses in
Europe than in Nigeria.

Arrion told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, yesterday,
that the health professionals would better serve to provide and deliver
social services to Nigeria.

He said that a situation where some Nigerians travel to European
countries and remained to work was not in the interest of the country.
He said: “You give visas to students and they study in Europe and stay
in Europe. No, please go back and develop your country. I think it is
very important. We must avoid what we call brain drain.

“I always take the example of the number of Nigerian nurses in
European hospitals. There are more Nigerian nurses in European
hospitals than in Nigeria. But of course, if they go back (to Europe),
if they send back money, that’s very good.

“They (Nigerians) should be better trained (in Europe) and come
back (to Nigeria) and better serve and provide and deliver social
services to their compatriots.”

9,000 Nigerian illegal migrants in Europe
Earlier, Arrion, in a statement said that Nigeria was an important
country of origin of regular and irregular migration to the EU and its
member-states.

According to him, many of them risk their lives and perish in the
Mediterranean. The EU official explained that there were almost
9,000 Nigerian illegal migrants in Europe in 2014.

He said: “In 2014, Nigerians accounted for an estimated 8,700 of the
283,532 irregular migrants entering EU borders, many of who risked
their lives crossing the Mediterranean.

“However, majority of Nigerians enter and reside in EU legally and
millions of Diaspora Nigerians are residing in the EU.

“As a regional economic power, Nigeria is also on the receiving end
of migration, attracting an estimated three million labour workers from
neighbouring countries. In the first half of 2015, Nigerian citizens
ranked ninth of all persons granted international protection in EU’s 28
member states.

“Nigerian nationals are the most numerous among non-European
victims of trafficking in human beings and they are also the most
numerous among traffickers.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/100000-nigerians-live-outside-nigeria-as-refugees-us/

A pro-Biafra leader whose arrest sparked a wave of protests across
Nigeria's southeast has told AFP from jail he is a "prisoner of
conscience" and vowed to realise his dream of an independent state.

The head of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group, Nnamdi
Kanu, is accused by the state of "propagating a secessionist agenda"
with the intention to "levy war against Nigeria".

Kanu, who also runs the London-based Radio Biafra, is facing charges
of treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society and illegally
shipping radio equipment into the country.

He has been in custody since his arrest in October, despite being
granted bail, and denied all charges.

His arrest and continued detention has made him a figurehead for his
supporters, whose repeated marches in the southeast have increasingly
led to clashes with the police.

"Biafra has come to stay," Kanu told AFP in a text message via his
brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, who met him on Thursday in Kuje
prison on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja.

"They will kill us but by the end Biafra will come," the 48-year-old
added. "I am a prisoner of conscience and killing unarmed Biafran
protesters is a crime against humanity."

- 'Third-class citizens' -

A previous unilateral declaration of an independent Republic of Biafra
in 1967 led to a brutal civil war that left more than one million dead
in nearly three years of fighting.

Forced to surrender and chastened by war, dreams of a separate state
for the ethnic Igbo group -- the third largest in the country -- waned.
But Kanu's arrest and detention has galvanised support for the Biafra
movement among young people who never knew the horrors of war
and have little to lose in fighting for a better life.

Today the former regional power is impoverished, with dilapidated
infrastructure and high unemployment fuelling resentment against the
federal government.

"We have been failed in so many ways," Kanu said, describing Igbos as
"third class citizens", echoing many in the region who say they are
still being punished for the civil war.

Kanu, who has described Nigeria as a "zoo" which "has to come to
an end", was a relative unknown before his arrest.

But President Muhammadu Buhari, facing security threats from Boko
Haram in the northeast and an uneasy peace in the oil-producing
south, has said Kanu poses a threat to Nigeria's fragile unity.

In December, a finger-wagging Buhari said Kanu committed
"atrocities" against Nigeria, adding "there's a treasonable felony
against him and I hope the court will listen to the case".

- Police crackdown -

Dressed in an outfit of pristine white and sporting a neat salt-and-
pepper beard, Kanu last appeared in public at an Abuja court Tuesday,
arriving in handcuffs and flanked by prison officers.

His lawyer spent the bulk of the afternoon fighting a state application
to have some proceedings held behind closed doors.

"When people are refused access to the court, I ask myself are the
defendants actually condemned before they are heard?" said Chuks
Muoma, warning against a "secret trial."

The prosecution alleges Kanu was running an armed group with ritual
baptisms and young men conscripted as "Biafran soldiers".

Kanu's half-sister, Tonia Kanu, said the current response to the
protests was only worsening the situation.

After the judge adjourned Kanu's case until February 19, Tonia
received reports that police had shot dead protesters in the southeast
city of Aba.

A day later, police confirmed two protesters were killed, with 21
IPOB members arrested.

"People are being killed every day just because of peaceful protest. It's
too bad," Tonia told AFP.

She flicked through her Facebook feed on her smart phone to show
gory photos of dead protesters and a coffin covered with the Biafran
flag -- red, black and green with a yellow rising sun.

"The violence is to scare people, for them not to be serious," she
said. "But the more you kill them the more they multiply."


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/will-kill-us-end-biafra-will-come-says-pro-biafra-leader-kanu/

A young man, Mfreke Archibong Effiong, was yesterday paraded by
the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for allegedly killing his father,
Mr. Archibong Effiong in Ibesikpo-Asutan LGA of the state.
While parading the 25 years old, the state Police Public Relations
Officer, Delia Nwawe, said the suspect hit his father with a big stick
on the head.
The suspect attributed the incident to provocation as he never set out
to kill his father.
Mfreke said he came back from farm on Monday to meet his father
beating the mother.
He said the mother was trying to explain what happened, but his
father attacked him with a broken bottle. He said he was trying to
defend himself when he hit his father with the stick on his right arm.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/25-yr-old-man-kills-father-over-fight-with-mum/

how do U expect a dullard of a president to be understood?

It's the home of the "419" scam - the infamous online swindle named after a Nigerian anti-fraud law - and it's no secret that this country's international reputation has been tainted by allegations of criminality.

But it's not something Nigerians expected to hear from the mouth of
their president himself, especially while he was on an official visit to the
UK.

In an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, President Muhammadu
Buhari said that Nigerians abroad have "made it difficult for Europeans
and Americans to accept them because of the number of Nigerians in
prisons all over the world accused of drug trafficking or human
trafficking."

"We have an image problem abroad," he said. "And we are on our way to
salvage that. We will encourage our countrymen to stay at home, work
hard and make a respectable living at home."
Nigerians reacted to his remarks by the thousand - with rage, humour and
some insightful self-reflection too.

Opposition senator Ben Bruce-Murray was one of the first to respond,
urging people to get the hashtag #IamANigerianNotACriminal trending.
That hashtag rapidly evolved into the snappier #NigeriansAreNotCriminals
which was used more than 35,000 times in a couple of days. There were
a slew of tweets criticising the president for slandering the reputation of
his own people.

And even more celebrating honest, hard-working Nigerians at home and
abroad.

Including some tweets from the president's political opponents.
It's a thorny issue for Nigerians living abroad who feel they sometimes
have to deal with stricter immigration checks and visa restrictions than
people from other parts of the world. And some who believe they face
heavier oversight and regulation when it comes to working in the banking
and finance sectors because of their nationality.

Nigeria is in the middle of an economic crisis. Dropping oil prices mean
there is less money around for investment and the value of the naira is
falling rapidly.

Some people believe President Buhari's comments may make things worse,
putting off investors from abroad at a time when the country really needs
them.

And Nigerians feel that in many respects the reputation just isn't justified.
According to UK police statistics, shared by Senator Murray-Bruce,
Nigerians in the UK have faced fewer arrests than immigrants from other,
smaller European countries.

Despite the backlash, there was some support for what President Buhari
said. The president has a reputation for plain speaking. He was
voted into power last year , in a mostly fair election, on a
platform of fighting corruption. As an army general in 1984 Buhari
overthrew a civilian government, replacing it with a military dictatorship
and made a promise to stamp out "indiscipline". He was overthrown not
long after. But his reputation survived.

This latest controversy has given Nigerian politicians a chance to do on
social media what they do best, slinging insults and abuse at each other -
as one tweeter shrewdly pointed out in this, a 'tale of two tweets'.
Some are calling this a gaffe but so far the president has made no
effort to backtrack on what he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35526652

tpiadotcom:
only in Africa, as usual.

and in nigeria

News reports have revealed that a university lecturer has claimed that Yoruba people are immune to the Lassa virus which causes Lassa fever.

Prof. Christian Happi , the researcher, who is also the Dean,
College of Postgraduate Studies, Department of Biological Sciences,
Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, revealed that the research was
still ongoing and the reason for the immunity is yet to be discovered.
Prof. Happi also added that the few cases of Lassa fever recorded
among Yoruba people are “imported.”

The National Mirror reports that Prof. Happi, who is also
Director, World Funded African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of
Infectious Diseases, ACEGID, had also revealed that the Lassa fever
virus had originated from Nigeria about 1,060 years ago.

Prof. Happi also stressed that the Yorubas have the capacity to resist
the virus more than any other ethnic group in Nigeria.

Speaking on new research findings, Prof Happi went on to say that it
had been discovered that Ribavirin which is currently being used in the
treatment of lassa fever had not been designed for the disease.

He added that the drug would only be effective if administered during
the early phase of the infection.

http://opera.pulse.ng/health/christian-happi-professor-says-yorubas-are-immune-to-lassa-fever-virus-id4662800.html

LAGOS — The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
said that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, will increase to $2
trillion by 2030 from its present N514 billion, if the country reduced
corruption to the level of Ghana and Malaysia.

The minister, who quoted PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, report,
while addressing members of the Advertising Association of Nigeria,
ADVAN, an Association of Marketing Directors of corporate
organisations and a sectoral body of the Advertising Practitioners
Council of Nigeria, APCON, said: “If Nigeria reduces corruption to
the level in Ghana and Malaysia, Nigeria’s GDP will increase to $2
trillion from N514 billion in 2030.

“Here, we are trying to rebuild Nigeria and lay a new foundation
where companies will be able to operate. If we can cut corruption,
even if oil price is $10 per barrel, we will still be able to achieve
targets.”

Mohammed, who briefed the association of government’s plan of what
he described as father of all campaigns, a national orientation
campaign tagged: ‘Change begins with me’ to be spearheaded by the
President himself, said: “It is true we campaigned on the change
mantra, but this change mantra is largely misunderstood by Nigerians
which they (Nigerians) misinterpreted to mean that as soon as Buhari
is sworn in, immediately things will change in Nigeria.

“It does not happen that way. Nigerians cannot continue to do things
the same way and expect different results. Indiscipline and corruption
are not restricted to people at the top. Each Nigerian has a role to
play and that is why we are launching the campaign.”

He said everyone was guilty of the malaise that was crippling the
society today, adding that "average Nigerian with opportunity will likely
cheat. The malaise cuts across gender, age and professions.

“This kind of campaign we want to run will touch every Nigerian. It
will start with the President who will say my name is Muhammadu
Buhari and I don’t expect kick back from any of my ministers, change
begins with me. It goes for professions, students etc. It will be
comprehensive and in phases and that is why we need ADVAN.

"The corporate Nigeria will be the first beneficiary of the campaign.
For instance, if there is security, the investors will find the
environment conducive enough to invest. Businesses have lost a lot to
insecurity in the north. If we minimize corruption, the money could be
used to develop the economy," he said.

Responding, President of ADVAN, David Okeme, promised to partner
with government to deliver on its programmes.

He said ADVAN took this step because businesses needed a country to
thrive, adding that it was in business interest that security was in
place, corruption was reduced and other economic indices were
looking up.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/nigerias-gdp-to-hit-2trn-by-2030-if-lai-mohammed/

‘’ The immortal William Shakespeare tells us that while
fate and fortune characterise half of our lives, the
other half will surely depend on it. Our ancestral
wisdom complements the above maxim, that the half
is the sure source of our greatness in Him (God), who
our source of life is depended on- taking cognizance of
our faith in Him, even in the advent of trials and
tribulations.
This, also explains, that the power of life and death belongs to the All-
Knowing-God, who sent us to this world; little wonder may you have
known that life, power and death would cease within a short time. One
by one we go, one by one we come, but in the expense of this, you have
to continue making yourself good, so that immortality can be attained
even after death. Yes’! Death and life is in the hands of God, he knows
the hour, time, day, how and when. It is an individual call and experience.
No wonder, our ancestral wisdom tells us again,
that death is an individual experience every living creature will experience,
no matter how highly place the individual may have mustered or attained
over the last couple of years. That is the courage that kept
Chief Chief Benjamin I. Olinmah, the first Clerk of the House of
Representatives in Nigeria, whose death occurred on 8th of December,
2015 at the age of 85 years. A man whose humanitarian service to his
dear nation earned him fortunes and international recognition.
Chief Benjamin Olinma incessantly promoted the good as best as he can,
and also practically demonstrated the three good of life; good of wealth,
good of offspring and good of immortality. Of course, no one is
endowed with immortality but one can gain immortality on the account of
the extra-ordinary contribution he or she makes to the promotion of
humanity- having in mind that our hope is based in Christ. These are the
attributes of Chief Benjamin Olinmah whose death has created a great
vacuum to his family and the nation at large.
He lived a life, worthy of emulation. In fact, he was referred to as
‘’ The Governor” of Ikoyi Club where he had become a life member.
He was one of the popular swimmers at Ikoyi club for over forty years.
This kept him going and moving like a train. Many may not have had of
this man, whose service to his nation remained unbeatable. He lived a
dedicated and well-focused lifestyle. His commitment of service to his
nation-Nigeria did not only earned him fortunes but honours and
commendations. For instance, Chief Benjamin Olinma was awarded a
certificate of recognition by the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
USA, for distinguished contributions to the promotion of international
understanding in June 1983.
In 1985, he received a letter of commendation from the head of the
federal military government of Nigeria and Commander –in- chief of
Armed Forces for contribution to the 38th World Health Assembly held
in Geneva, Switzerland from 6th to 23 may 1985. Chief Olinma
became a star in the family as the only son of his parents. It will interest
you to know that this noble man who has left us spent his early formative
years in Asaba, Delta State where he attended St. Patrick School, Coal
camp, Enugu, Saint Joseph Catholic School, Asaba and St. Patrick
College, Asaba, from 1946 t-1950. He obtained his Cambridge school
certificate in 1950 and then continued his pre-education in England. He
proceeded to the University of Exeter, Devon, England from 1961 to
1965 where he bagged D.P.A and B.A, in government. He also attended
the University of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA, in 1979 where he obtained a certificate in advance
management. Chief Benjamin Olinmah was born into the family of
Olinmah of Umuonyia and Nwaso at Isieke Village on March 8th, 1930. He
joined the federal civil service as a clerical officer on 10th June, 1951.
Subsequently, he was promoted to the position of administrative clerk,
after securing his honours degree from Exeter. His esteem career in the
civil service included; Federal civil service commission,1966- 1967, federal
Ministry of Labour, ‘1968-1969, federal Ministry of Establishment,
1969-1971, Council Secretariat, Cabinet office, 1972-1974, Secretary,
Federal Government staff housing board, 1974-1975,
Secretary, Staff quarters allocation committee, cabinet office, 1976-1978,
federal Ministry of industries,1978-1979, first clerk of the house of
representative, National Assembly, Lagos, 1979-1983, principal secretary,
state and external relations division, federal ministry of health 1984-1986,
secretary for international and constitutional affairs, cabinet office,
1986-1987.He was a member of number of boards both national and
international. Chief Olinmah lived a contented life with his family,
married to a teacher, Mrs. Catherine Okwekwu Olinmah and blessed with
five children.
His religious life was exceptional and encouraging to young men and
women, in fact, they will miss his immense contribution a lot. But one
thing is certain, that is, those who died in Christ, have greater joy, not
sorrow, Chief Benjamin Olinmah died a happy death at 85years. Let the
family therefore weep no more but rejoice for the reward of their father
is already in heaven as they prepare for the funeral. May his gentle soul
rest in peace.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/goodnight-to-house-of-reps-first-clerk-1930-2015-mark-columbus-orgu/

I comment my reserve....

Hundreds of copies of Nigeria's 2016 budget have gone missing at the country's parliament, an MP who requested anonymity has told the BBC.
The senate was unable to start considering the proposed budget because of the missing documentation, he said.
The delay could worsen the country's economic crisis as it deals with the impact of plunging oil prices.
President Muhammadu Buhari delivered the hard copies of his first budget to both houses at the end of last month.
It detailed his plans to raise spending by 20% by borrowing heavily amid falling global oil prices.
The president, who came to power last May, also pledged to improve tax collection and invest in other industries including mining and agriculture to create more jobs.
Senate President Bukola Saraki held a closed door meeting with Mr Buhari late on Tuesday, but it is not clear if the issue of the missing documents was discussed.
The BBC understands that the copies of the budget for the lower house are not missing and will be distributed on Wednesday.
BBC Nigeria analyst Naziru Mikailu says this is an embarrassing development for the country's parliament and the government in general.
The MPs are already facing criticism for refusing to cut their salaries and allowances at the time the Africa's largest economy is facing its worst economic crisis in recent years.
Some opposition senators have reacted angrily to the news of the missing documents, accusing the government of being behind their disappearance, Nigeria's Premium Times newspaper reports.
But Mr Buhari's spokesman Garba Shehu denied the allegation, saying: "Once the budget is submitted, it ceases to be our property."
Both houses are expected to take about two months to consider the $31bn (£20.8bn) budget.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35292464

Buhari: Abacha did not loot the country.... and I ask Buhari now, how market?

why not look for the nearest tarred road around U and scrub it whenever it goes rocky or hard, Uh?

One know i know sahara reporters is very much good at is telling lies...... Nnamdi Kanu lives in the UK, not nigeria.... I woder where this lie is coming from... Maybe they have run out of lies, i guess....
they even counter their earlier claim in the link below....

http://saharareporters.com/2016/01/09/nnamdi-kanu-radio-biafra-had-no-weapons-his-possession-time-arrest

(in Nnamdi Kanus voice) this woman must be from Daura....... i no call anybody name oh......

they should bring it on..... my earnest prayer at all times is for the zoo to collapse....

Mr. President, you will recall that I wrote you an open letter on
December 28th, 2015 which I sincerely hope that you found most
gratifying, illuminating and helpful. That was two days before your
Presidential media chat which took place on December 30th. I hereby
humbly crave your indulgence to add an addendum to that open letter.
That is what this contribution represents.
I hope and pray that this second letter, which will be the last, will
further enlighten you and impart a little more wise counsel to you that
will result in assisting you to properly appreciate the complexities of our
times.
Mr. President it is pertinent to note that approximately two hundred and
sixty five years ago one of the founding fathers of the United States of
America, Mr. Benjamin Franklin, said “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to
God”. I am sure that you will agree with me when I say that he was
absolutely right.
Just in case you do not know who Benjamin Franklin was permit me to
point out the fact that he is a man that is reverred by the American
people and much of the civilised world up until today and he is the
individual whose face appears on the one hundred U.S. dollar bills that are
used till today.
He was a great statesman, diplomat, politician and intellectual and most
important of all he was a deeply courageous man who was motivated by
his deepest convictions and his christian values and who was prepared to
risk life and liberty and stand up to tyranny.
I guess most Nigerian leaders have much to learn from him especially at
times like this. Yet thankfully all is not lost and at least a few of our
politicians are beginning to find their voice and speak out against the evil
in the land. Permit me to share one example with you.
A few days ago Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of
our great party the PDP, exposed the fact that there was an
orchestrated attempt by your government to intimidate, silence and
utterly decimate and crush the opposition.
In open defiance to what can best be described as this insidious and
sinister agenda he told the world that ”President Buhari is not God and
we will not worship him”. Whether he knows it or not Metuh has not
only spoken for the PDP but also for the overwhelming majority of the
Nigerian people.
Permit me to add the following words to his timely contribution. Woe
unto those that tremble before men of power and that worship false
gods. Destruction and perdition awaits those who bow before Baal, who
exalt the servants of Belial, who kiss the ring of the Baphomet, who
say ”Buhari is God” and who crawl at the feet of the Lord of the Flies.
Mr. President the point is simple and clear: you are not God and even
though we respect your office we will never bow before you, we will
never worship you, we will not relent in our efforts to oppose you and,
regardless of your constant threats and wicked intentions, we have
absolutely no fear of you.
This is because our fate and destiny and the future of our beloved
country lies in the hands of the Living God and not in the hands of any
misguided and tyrannical dictator. Injustice, persecution and tyranny last
only for a season.
At the appointed time the Lord will step in and He will deliver and
vindicate the falsely accused and the righteous captive. He will also
avenge the spilling of innocent blood and He will fight the cause of the
martyrs.
With this in mind and regardless of the dangerous counsel of the
hardliners and extremists that surround you, I urge you to please take
note of the following: Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky, Colonel Sambo Dasuki
and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who are all political prisoners, must NOT die under
mysterious circumstances whilst they are in your custody.
No matter what your advisers and those in your inner circle tell you if,
God forbid, this were to happen the fall-out and consequences for your
reputation and your administration would be too much to bear.
This brings me to another issue which is a cause for grave concern. Your
stated resolve not to obey court orders and to deny Nigerians their right
to bail after the courts have given it to them is not only an affront and
gratuitous insult to the Judiciary but it is also a violation of the
constitution.
I say this because, unlike military dictatorships, democracy enjoys and
derives its power and legitimacy from the inviolable and sacred principle
of ”separation of powers”.
What this means is that the Executive arm of Government, which by
the grace of God you head today, is distinct and separate from the
Legislature and the Judiciary.
As head of the Executive and President of the Federal Republic, you
have absolutely no power or right to interfere in the processes of the
Legislature (which is the National Assembly) or the Judiciary. Both have
their own rules, regulations and leadership and the constitution guides
them and guarantees them total and complete independence from you.
As a matter of fact they are charged by the laws of our land and the
constitution to act as a check and balance on you as President and to
ensure that you do not abuse your power or subject your people to
tyranny.
Mr. President I watched you on your media chat the other day and I
am constrained to tell you that you not only abused your power but that
you also crossed the line with some of the things that you said. For
example you have no right to tell the courts how to administer justice
and who and who not to grant bail. Again you have no business to tell
the legislature which laws to pass and how to run their affairs.
Again you have no right and neither do you have the power to
pronounce any Nigerian citizen guilty of any crime unless and until a duly
constituted court of law has done so. You cannot be the prosecutor,
judge and jury in any criminal proceeding and this is especially so when
you initiated those proceedings and you are the accuser.
To attempt to do so is not only unacceptable and irresponsible but it is
also heartless and unkind. The fact that most of our senior and respected
lawyers have refused to tell you this simply because they are scared of
you or because they are looking for patronage from your government
does not mean that what you are doing is lawful or acceptable. What you
are doing is morally and legally reprehensible and it is unacceptable in any
democratic and civilized society.
In the same vein you have no right to try to stop members of the
opposition or the general public from criticizing you or condemning your
obvious failings. Mr. President criticism, opposition and dissent are the
lifeblood of democracy and without accommodating and tolerating them
you cannot claim to be a democrat.
You have no right to attempt to cower or intimidate the fourth estate
of the realm, which is the media, or attempt to pervert and corrupt the
Nigerian public with daily doses of lies, falsehood, deceit and propaganda
which is being duly and dutifully administered by your Minister of
Information and your numerous media aides.
All these things give me and millions of your other subjects concern yet
it doesn’t stop there. Perhaps the most disturbing example of your sheer
insensitivity was your reaction to the question about Igbo marginalization
during the media chat. In response to that question you asked “who is
marginalizing who” and went further to ask “what do the Igbo want?”
Mr. President I wish to remind you that it is an incontrovertible fact
that in just seven months your government has succeeded in marginalizing
the Igbo more than any other Federal Government in living memory and
certainly since the civil war.
This is a record that you ought not to be proud of. What the Igbo want
is fairness, equal rights, equal representation, equity and respect. They
also believe that they have the right to determine their own future and
make their own choices.
Mr. President I do not believe that this is too much for them to ask
given the fact that they have contributed, perhaps more than most, to
national development and integration in the last forty five years?
It is not too much to ask given the fact that no less than three million
of their people, including one million innocent children, were slaughtered
during our civil war in the name of keeping Nigeria one?
I have no doubt that you will remember this very well Mr. President
given the fact that you were one of those that prosecuted that war
and fought in it.
You will also remember the brutal mass murder and the war crimes and
crimes against humanity that were perpetrated against the unarmed and
defenseless Igbo civilian population of Asaba in 1968 when over one
thousand of them were rounded up, taken to the town square and shot
to death for no just cause.
The soldiers that carried out that unspeakable act of cowardice, brutality
and barbarity were under the command of your professional colleague,
the late Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed. Mr. President that
was a dark, shameful and ignoble chapter in our history which still cries
out for justice and reparations.
Needless to say the pain of such horrendous events and numerous others
that the Igbo have been subjected to by the Nigerian state and those
that control it over the last fifty five years still haunts them.
The truth is that regardless of the obvious contempt that you have for
them the Igbo will continue to insist on justice, fairness and on having
their rights respected in our country.
If you refuse to address their numerous and legitimate grievances and
you refuse to treat them with the understanding, sensitivity and
compassion that they deserve, the agitation for self-determination,
secession and the yearning for the establishment of a new nation called
Biafra will wax stronger and stronger until it reaches dangerous and
irresistible proportions.
That is what you are toying with Mr. President and if that were to
happen be rest assured that the Yoruba would take a cue from it and
so would the people of the Niger Delta. It would effectively signify the
beginning of the balkanisation of Nigeria.
Whether you and those with your world view like to hear it or not, that
is the bitter truth. May the Ancient of Days grant you the wisdom,
knowledge and understanding to accept it and to do something about it.
May the Lord of the Universe give you the foresight and the insight to
appreciate the fact that Nigeria cannot survive a second civil war.
Mr. President I sincerely hope that you do not take offence at my
admonitions and counsel. I speak only out of concern for the fortunes of
your administration, your reputation and out of love for my country. God
bless Nigeria.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/president-buharis-media-chat-and-the-words-of-a-tyrant-fani-kayode/

TheMascot:
so.. a south south did not exist before buhari came in..bros e do..your stupidity is like the blessings of Abraham.. its passed from generation to generation

Fish head, u no know sey the creation of the six geo political zone na northern agenda?
ur mamma go dey happy sey she get pikin wia u dey, she no know sey na olodo of the highest order her bastard pikin be....
i pity who pity u........

"....we need remind ourselves of
the principles that led to the founding of the United Nations. Among
those are peaceful coexistence and self-determination of peoples...."
those were the words of the duara dullard at 70th Session of UN General
Assembly (paragraph 27)...
the question here is was Buhari just reading a speech without knowing what the words or texts in the speech meant.....?
Illiteracy is indeed a curse......

http://africanspotlight.com/2015/09/28/full-text-president-buharis-speech-at-70th-session-of-un-general-assembly-‪‎unga‬/