₦airaland Forum

2:50pm: INEC extends voting in
Idemili North to 6pm.

2:00pm: THE All Progressive Grand
Alliance Gubernatorial candidate ,
Chief Willie Obiano voted at about
12:40pm at Eri Primary II, Aguleri,
Anambra East Council Area.
According to him, “I am happy, I have
just voted, I think INEC has done well,
I thank my people for coming out to
vote.”

1:35pm: Gov. Peter Obi restricted to
Gov’s Lodge by security agents

“I intend to discharge my duties today
no matter what, and will go out when
ready. I will dare the SSS to
shoot…..we wait and see…thanks,”
Nasir el-Rufai speaks on his
experiences with the SSS.

APGA billboard causes accreditation
delay at polling unit

Accreditation of voters was delayed in
Aguleri on Saturday as INEC officials
insited that a billboard of one of the
parties in the Anambra governorship
election be pulled down.
The billboard of the APGA
governorship candidate, Mr Willy
Obiano, and his running mate, Dr
Okeke Chukwukaodinaka, was
mounted metres away from the
polling unit near the Aguleri
roundabout, contrary to electoral
laws.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that INEC regulations do not
allow for campaigns or posters of
candidates near election grounds 24
hours to the election.
INEC adhoc officials who arrived at
the polling unit before 8 a.m. for
accreditation of voters, insisted that
the billboard be dismantled before
anything could be done.
Similarly, some members of the
electorate at the unit protested the
presence of the billboard and insisted
that it must be brought down.
The presiding officer for Unit 004 told
NAN that there was no way she could
allow the accreditation with the
billboard just a few metres from the
unit.
“This billboard is so conspicous that
it is against our mandate as electoral
officers. I can only continue with this
election when the billboard is
dismantled,” she said.
She confirmed that those on ground
for the accreditation had appealed to
her to move the polling unit to a
nearby space that would not show the
billboard but she had declined.
“My reasons are simply because this
polling unit is where we registered
the voters and I cannot move to
another point without superior
directive.
“I have spoken to my supervisory
presiding officer who said I should
remain at my assigned unit,” she
said.
The APGA agent for the unit, Mr Peter
Nneli, explianed that the billboard
was erected long before the election.
“This billboard is not for the purpose
of campaign and cannot be easily
dismantled,” Nneli said.
Accreditation eventually kicked off in
the unit at 10.25 a.m, more than two
hours behind shedule after the
billborad was dismantled by youths
from the town.

Armed Men Defy IG’s Order

Despite the stern warning issued by
the Inspector General of Police, Mr.
Mohammed Abubakar, security
orderlies still followed their principals
with arms to polling units.
At the Aguluzoigbo townhall wars 1
in Anaocha LGA, where the national
chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh,
cast his vote, plain cloths security
officers armed with riffles were
observede to have escorted their
principal to the unit for accreditation.
No fewer than eight security
personnel had followed Umeh fully
armed to the polling unit.
Meanwhile, there was no visible
number of security monitoring team
to arrest the erring personnel as
promised by the IG when the order
was given.

So any vehicular movement is now linked to Anambra elections? Get your facts right before spewing trash!

The Leadership of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Rivers State
Chapter today, Friday expresses
dismay over Governor Rotimi
Amaechi declaration of Public
Holiday from Friday 15 to Monday
18, November 2013 in Rivers State
PDP in a statement signed by Bro.
Felix Amechi Obuah, PDP Chairman,
Rivers State said it believes that this
action of the Governor is a
demonstration of his characteristic
abuse of authority and blatant
disregard of the economic well-being
of citizens of the State which does
not come as a surprise; as it is a
grand design to achieve forced
mobilization of State civil servants,
and indigenes of Anambra State to
cast votes for the APC candidate in
Anambra Governorship election on
Saturday, November 16, 2013.
Or else, what then is the rational for
the sudden pronouncement of Public
Holiday for Friday 15th at the close of
work on Thursday 14th November
2013 by Governor Amaechi, while he
is far away in Lagos with members of
his cabinet, attending All
Progressives Congress, APC,
meetings?, the Party queries.
Let it be known by all, that after
Monday, November 18, 2013 Rivers
State people and indeed the rest of
Nigeria will clearly understand the
true reason why this unwarranted
and embarrassing public holiday was
declared.
The Rivers State PDP therefore
cautions the Governor to ensure
judicious use of State’s funds and
other resources other than
squandering them on his selfish
interests and inordinate quest for
political relevance through
sponsorship of APC candidates and
activities outside Rives State
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/amaechis-declaration-of-public-holiday-to-help-apc-candidate-in-anambra-pdp/

Hoping for a free and fair poll. Every party should be given a level playing ground. I rest my case!

pleasantchi: Saraki sef get mouth dey talk of currption. Abeg make we hear word. When he was in office, was his hands clean? Femii kayode we don hear oooooo. Na look we dey look. May be he is campaigning early so that GEJ can give him a ministry to handle in other to buy his own amoured Airplane. Cos I learnt that stella odua campaigned for GEJ that is why he gave her avaition minister, which gave her d got to do what she is doing. Femi abeg campaign well GEJ will hear ur voice. Sure

ON POINT!

A former Aviation Minister, Femi
Fani-Kayode, has urged Nigerians to
team up and kick out the Goodluck
Jonathan administration in the 2015
general elections.
The former minster addressed
reporters yesterday at the Ilorin
International Airport, the Kwara State
capital, after attending the first
remembrance anniversary of the
strong man of Kwara politics, Dr Sola
Saraki.
He said: “My views are clearly well
known about President Jonathan’s
administration. There is no point in
inflaming passion. They are very
sensitive. If you say anything
negative about them, they get upset
and begin to haul abuses.
“But let me give you straight: this is
probably one of the worst
governments this country has ever
known in terms of corruption and
infrastructural provision. I think it is
incumbent on every right-thinking
Nigerian, whether in the G-7, the New
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the
All Progressives Congress (APC) or
any other party, to get them out of
office. That is our objective.”
On the designation of Boko Haram as
a terrorist group, the former minister
said: “The United States of America’s
designation of Boko Haram as a
terrorist group is long overdue. They
should have done that before 7,000
Nigerians were killed.
“One wonders why it took the Barack
Obama administration so long;
probably because our government is
not fighting Boko Haram strongly
enough. We have complained about
this in the last two years. Perhaps, if
our government had made the effort
to encourage the Americans to take
this step as far back as a year or two
ago, we would have saved many
lives.
“But we have lost 7,000 Nigerians in
the last two years because of the
weakness of our government and
because the Americans refused to do
the right thing and designate the
group as a terrorist organisation. “I
am glad they have done it now. Let’s
hope things will change.”
http://thenationonlineng.net/new/fani-kayode-urges-nigerians-kick-jonathan-2015/

THE Interior Minister, Comrade Abba
Moro, on Thursday, confirmed the
existence of job-for-money scam in
the Federal Ministries, Departments
and Agencies (MDAs), which
prompted his ministry to adopt the
electronic system of recruitment
model in any future recruitment in all
the agencies under the ministry,
especially the ongoing recruitment
into the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Comrade Moro, who stated this in
Abuja when he appeared before a
committee set by the House of
Representatives to probe employment
racketeering in MDAs, said the scam
was real and that his ministry had
resolved to tackle the menace once
and for all.
This is coming as the Acting
Chairman of the Federal Inland
Revenue Services (FIRS), Alhaji
Kabiru Mashi, who also appeared
before the committee, disclosed that
his agency was currently not
recruiting and warned the members
of the public against the antics of
those behind job scams, saying that
the agency had to send the strong
warning through the press recently
when the agency got the wind of the
activities of the swindlers.
Comrade Moro told the House
Committee on Public Affairs, chaired
by Honourable Andew Uchendu
investigating job-for-money scam
that there was complicity from civil
servants and that the activities of the
fraudulent individuals, both within
and outside the ministry, would be
curbed when recruitment processes
were made to be done online.
He confirmed that several arrests had
been made, including a middle-aged
man who claimed to be his Special
Assistant, who had swindled
members of the public to the tune of
N3.2 million without offering any
jobs.
The minister also told the committee
that some culprits had been arrested,
prosecuted and even convicted in the
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps (NSCDC).
He lamented a situation where some
job seekers would have to pay a huge
sums of money ranging between
N400,000 to N500,000 to people who
promised to provide them with
employment without getting the jobs
at the end of the day.
According to him, “e-recruitment
model adopted by the ministry to
conduct employment into all its
agencies was to ensure transparency
and equal opportunities to the
nation’s teeming unemployed
youths.”
He explained that the N1,000 charged
each of the applicants to the
Immigration Service was meant for
administrative purposes and payment
of certain bank charges.
http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/news/news-headlines/item/26340-jobs-racketeering-in-mdas-real-minister-•says-applicants-pay-n500,000-for-non-existing-jobs-••.html

Nice one

Ethiopia Must Surrender! God Willing!

Prince Justice: *yawns* NEXT>>|

LOL.....Dis G7 stories don tire me sef..

The backlash against the G7
governors appears to have spread
outside the political sphere with a
crackdown on some Nigerian banks
and their relationship with the
affected state governments.
Daily Trust sources say a number of
senior bank officials are being held by
the State Security Service for the last
one week in what one source said
was an investigation into the funds
being held by the banks on behalf of
the states of Rivers, Adamawa, Kano,
Jigawa, Sokoto, Niger and Kwara.
A source familiar with the crackdown
said “the Federal Government is
moving on G7 governors where they
have money and so far many
managers and account officers are
being questioned.”
Another source familiar with the story
told Daily Trust last night that at
least 3 banks are affected in the
current investigation.
Our investigation revealed that at
least 5 officials of Fidelity Bank from
its Abuja regional office as well as its
Kano office have been in SSS
detention since Thursday last week.
They include the bank’s Abuja Area
Manager Hassan Imam and a deputy
general manager in Kano whose
name is simply given as Idris.
Officials of the bank could neither
confirm nor deny that their officials
are being held, but one source said
that no Executive Director of the bank
is among those detained by the SSS.
SSS spokesperson Marilyn Ogar
could not be reached on phone for
comments yesterday. A text message
sent to her mobile phone was not
replied to.
Jigawa State Information
Commissioner Ibrahim Babandi
Gumel, in response to a text message
sent by our reporter, simply said:
“The government is not aware of such
incident.”
Officials of the Independent Corrupt
Practices Commission (ICPC) had
been in Jigawa recently investigating
the finances of local governments in
the state.
Earlier in the week, Rivers state
government officials told Daily Trust
that they were not aware of
investigation of the state’s finances.
The G7 governors are Rotimi Amaechi
(Rivers), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa),
Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Sule
Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko
(Sokoto), Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu
(Niger), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
They broke away and formed a
faction of the ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) in August,
following irreconcilable differences
with the party’s national chairman
Bamanga Tukur who enjoys the
backing of President Goodluck
Jonathan. Efforts to reach a truce
have so far failed.
http://dailytrust.info/index.php/top-stories/10045-in-target-of-g7-governors-sss-begins-crack-down-on-banks

She's a definition of true beauty!

ONITSHA – President Goodluck
Jonathan Wednesday presided over
what was termed as mother-of-all
rally organized by the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in Onitsha,
Anambra State with a promise that
nobody can rig the November 16
Anambra Governorship election.
He warned that any party or
candidate, no matter how popular or
highly placed found to have indulged
in any form of rigging or electoral
manipulation/malpractice would be
dealt with accordingly.
Jonathan who spoke Wednesday at
the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity,
Onitsha during the rally, declared:
“Nobody will allow election rigging in
Anambra State as the Federal
Government, Security agencies and
INEC have been positioned to carry
out their duties without fear of
favour”.
Jonathan who affirmed his support
for PDP candidate in the election,
Comrade Tony Nwoye, stated that the
election would now afford Anambra
State the opportunity to regain her
rightful position in the political main
stream after the November 16
governorship election.
He also affirmed that as a youngman,
the PDP candidate Comrade Tony
Nwoye had shown some leadership
attributes as a leader and called on
the electorate to shun party
affiliations and vote for a PDP
candidate.
The President eulogized the
enterprising attributes of Anambra
people, even as he disclosed that
although the state was one of the
smallest in the counrty’s land mass,
it was blessed with rich and
enterprising people.
He observed that this Saturday’s
governorship election in the state
would be historic as it shares the
same date when the late Dr. Nnamdi
Azikiwe was born and urged the
electorate to shun election
irregularity.
Earlier in his speech, the national
chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamangar
Tukur rhetorically asked why
Anambra People should take the back
seat in the country’s political scheme
and urged the electorate to vote in
Nwoye as he was poised to transform
the state.
Also speaking, the governor of Akwa-
Ibom state, Chief Godswill Akpabio
remarked that Anambra State should
rise and take her destiny in her hands
by voting in a youthful candidate in
the name of Tony Nwoye.
He said that he was able to transform
his state, Akwa-Ibom because of the
enormous support given to his
administration by the youths and
called on the state electorate to be
ready to vote PDP into power to
become the 24th member of PDP-
controlled state.
The state chairman of PDP, Chief Ken
Emeakayi thanked PDP supported for
all their support to the President and
assured that PDP would take over the
state come march 17, 2014.
Prince Arthur Eze, a PDP financier and
Hon. Anayo Nnebe, former Speaker of
Anambra State House of Assembly,
said Jonathan would not be foolish
enough to abandon his biological
child-PDP and go for his adopted
child, another party.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/rigging-anambra-electionll-possible-jonathan/

The House of Representatives on
Wednesday in Abuja, passed the 2013
budget of N315 billion for the Niger
Delta Development Commission
(NDDC).
The breakdown of the budget revealed
that N15 billion was approved for
personnel costs while capital
expenditure got N2 billion.
Overhead expenditure had N11
billion, while N286 billion was
allocated for development projects of
the commission.
Earlier, Rep. Nicholas Mutu (PDP-
Delta), the Chairman, House
Committee on NDDC, expressed
optimism that the budget would
enhance the operations of the
commission.
Also, the House passed a Bill seeking
to provide for the right of appeal from
the Industrial Court to the Court of
Appeal for second reading,
The bill also seeks an Act to alter the
1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
This is with a view to providing for
the right to appeal judgments from
the industrial court to court of appeal.
Leading debate on the general
principle of the bill, Rep. Friday Itulah
(PDP-Edo), said the bill, if passed,
would give litigants the opportunity
to appeal to court of superior
jurisdiction.
He said that the passage of the bill
would also mean that judgments
from the industrial court would no
longer be final, but open to appeal.
``Judgements that are arriving from
the industrial courts should be
appealable to the court of appeal, and
if litigants are not satisfied, should
appeal to a superior court.’’
Rep. Ossai Ossai (PDP-Delta), and
Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno),
also spoke in support of the proposed
legislation.
However, Rep. Kamil Akinlabi ( PDP-
Oyo), Uzoma Abonta (PDP-Abia) and
Dan Abia (PDP-Akwa Ibom), spoke
against the bill.
They argued that it was not
necessary to amend the constitution.
``The National Industrial Court, a
creation of the Act of National
assembly, is a special court to solely
take charge of labour matters.
``We don't need to subject the
industrial court to constitution
amendment, it is a court established
to expeditiously resolve labour and
trade disputes", Uzo Azubuike (PDP)
Abia said.
The opposition notwithstanding, the
bill scaled through its second reading
and the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal,
referred it to the Special Ad- hoc
Committee on the review of the
Constitution.
http://leadership.ng/news/131113/reps-pass-n315bn-budget-nddc

Good one.

Na so....as if you would have done better. It's still the same recycled politicians running their mouths...

Some residents of Borno State
Tuesday described as unfair the
continued suspension of
telecommunications services to the
state, insisting that the federal
government cannot continue to hide
under insecurity to deny them one of
their most basic needs of life - the
need to get connected to the rest of
the world.
Some of the residents, who spoke to
journalists in Maiduguri, said
particularly annoying was the number
of lives lost on the highways leading
to the state by people who travelled
to reach their relatives and
associates through telephone from
the neighbouring states.
GSM lines were locked down on May
16 this year, two days after
emergency rule were declared by
President Goodluck Jonathan on
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
Though telephoning has been
restored to Yobe and Adamawa
States for over two months now, the
people of Borno State are left
disconnected from the rest of the
globe.
A member representing Kwaya Kusar
state constituency in the Borno State
House of Assembly, Hon, Saleh
Banga, who argued that the federal
government no more has excuse for
locking down telecommunications in
the state since months after, said it
was high time GSM lines were
restored especially as many lives are
lost on the Borno highways, many of
which would not have suffered the
ugly fate had there been
telecommunications services in the
state.
He said: “Many people lost their lives
while travelling to Damaturu to make
calls. We witnessed over 200 people
massacred in Beneisheikh, we have
never witnessed such killings in
Maiduguri since the insecurity
started, after the one year anniversary
of the Boko Haram crisis.”
He further argued that it was unfair
on the people of the state for
telecommunications to be restored
especially in Yobe which had at
many occasionss suffered the
deadliest of Boko Haram attacks.
Banga said if telecommunications
services were locked down due to
Boko Haram attacks and not for
punitive reason, the federal
government has no reason to keep
the people of Borno incommunicado
and further risk their lives to the
dangers of the road.
Another resident of the state, Mallam
Sani, said the network has affected
the business of the people seriously,
leaving many broke.
He added that "the closure of the
network has affected the economy
and social lives of the people, as life
without communication is dull and
the people of the state are living like
prisoners in their country."
He lamented that perhaps why the
federal government refused to
restored the GSM was because the
rich and the elite who can afford to
buy Thuraya handsets are not
affected.
He said: "The elite and high profile
Nigerians including politicians,
business men and even top
government officials have Thuraya
phones and internet services in their
homes."
Sani said: "How would they care
about us when they made law that
Thuraya should not be used and they
go about using it. In fact it has
become a status thing to be able to
call in Maiduguri."
He called on the federal government
to assist them and open the network,
as the network is not affecting the
elite and high profile Nigerian, adding
that top politicians, business men
and even top government officials
have Thurraya services and internet
services in their houses.
He said it was only the masses that
have to travel about one hundred
kilometers to make calls, pointing out
that since Maiduguri and Jere are
safe, government should restore
network within Maiduguri metropolis.
Hajiya Fatima Ali also called on the
federal government to restore the
network, stressing that Maiduguri
metropolis is now safe and no Boko
Haram member dare enter Maiduguri
without being arrested.
A spare parts dealer, Mr. Peter
Nwosu, said government should
continue to hold GSM network, as full
peace was yet to return to the entire
state.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/borno-residents-demand-restoration-of-mobile-phone-services/164197/

The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC)
in Anambra on Tuesday said that the
movement of persons and vehicles
would be restricted between midnight
on Friday, November 15 and 10 p.m.
on Saturday, November 16.
This is contained in a statement
signed by Chukwuemeka Onukaogu,
INEC Resident Electoral
Commissioner in the state.
The statement stated that the
restriction would affect movement in
and out of the state during the period.
It declared that the restriction had
become necessary for a successful
and peaceful conduct of the
gubernatorial election in the state
scheduled for Saturday, November
16.
It, therefore, enjoined anyone or group
of persons passing through the state
to find an alternative route on the
said dates and time.
It also said that nobody would be
allowed to move around the state
with any security details no matter
how highly placed urging all
concerned to abide by the directives
“Anybody who flouts this order will
be arrested and prosecuted.
“These measures are geared towards
a hitch free conduct of gubernatorial
election in the state on the
aforementioned dates”, the
statement further stated.
http://premiumtimesng.com/news/149486-anambra-governorship-poll-inec-restricts-movement-bars-security-details-politicians.html

hotwax: English Language master. British slave.

Do they speak English in Russia, China, India, Japan, Germany, SPain, France, UAE?

No. These are world power. These are people that matters. They are world best in terms of Economy, Science and Technology, Military.

They do not speak English. They teach chemistry in Chinese. They teach Physics in arabic.

Your type just make me think, our race and generation has no future and hope.

People like just put this fear in my mind. Are we born slave?

God gave you your own language just the way he gave germans, yet you just choose to be loyal slave of your master.

They made you believe you are a slave, they programmed your mind as a slave, they shackled your mentality to be loyal to your colonial master.

When is Africa going to be free?

If English language depicts success, then their should be no poor man in America/US.

I hope you will sit down and stop fooling yourself and your children.

Latinos in America speak their Language freely and most of them refuse to learn English. Most white americans wish they have a mother tongue.

You are here demonizing your own mother tongue. SMH for your hopeless case. FYI. I can post this comment all over again in Hausa and Yoruba.

I am a proud African. I am nobody's slave.

Punk, diversionary antics and lies won't work with people who understand their environment. Therefore, save your energy for more
purposeful endeavours and not continuous defence of mediocrity.

Sir cj: What does dis one sayin. How does writin /speakin eng qualifd one to been intelligent. Ask chinesse, german etc.

R.I.P English Language

ceo4eva: Both Amaechi and Jonathan are the same. So Amaechi should just shut up and move on. He is making another futile attempt to deceive Nigerians. He is not a Saint!

Exactly my thought. Who then do we believe? I guess none!

The Governor of Rivers State,
southern Nigeria, Rotimi Amaechi,
has disclosed that he incurred the
wrath of President Goodluck
Jonathan because he was seen to be
exposing a lot of corrupt activities
going on in government.
Amaechi also gave the impression
that the President and his wife can
never keep to their promises, recalling
how they held several meetings with
him begging him to deliver the state
to Jonathan during the 2011
presidential election with the promise
that they would never trouble him
again, a promise they did not keep.
Governor Amaechi, who spoke
exclusively with The NEWS magazine,
our sister publication, listed many
instances where his actions
infuriated President Jonathan and his
wife, Patience, who he described as a
de facto President.
First among the reasons for the battle
to bring him down, according to
Amaechi, is the desperate ambition of
Dame Patience Jonathan to see
herself and be addressed as the
political ‘lord’ of Rivers State, her
home state despite the fact that she
is even not recognised by the
constitution and is not occupying any
elective office.
This seeming bottled-up anger
culminated in the incident that
occurred in Okrika, Patience’
hometown, in which she snatched the
microphone from the governor and
reprimanded him for saying he would
buy off some buildings around a
school and demolish it so as to create
enough space for extracurricular
activities for the school.
Governor Amaechi attributed the
crisis to three things: “the first was
the attempt by the wife of the
President to control the Rivers State
government. I remember when female
senators came to me after she met
with them.
“She said to them: ‘I am the highest
ranking officer from Rivers State and I
wonder why the Governor of Rivers
State does not accord me that
respect’.
“I said in law, I don’t see the office of
the wife of the President being
superior to that of the governor…The
resistance is what you are seeing.”
During Jonathan’s campaigns for
2011, he said the President and his
wife pleaded with him since he
(Amaechi) wanted to be assured that
if Jonathan emerged, there would not
be a multiplicity of presidents where
“you have the wife manipulating
power, everybody doing one thing or
the other.
“I wanted to make sure that I and the
Rivers people are fully protected. I
wasn’t convinced.
“Now, within the period, the President
had called me and the wife and we
sat together and made peace. There
again, they promised that nobody
would hurt me, nobody would do this
or that. That’s why this is a bit
difficult because there is nothing new
that they can tell me that they did not
tell me in 2011 and they did not keep
to their promise”.
He said the meeting was just
between him, the President and Mrs.
Jonathan and he secured their
promise to protect him, but “we had
hardly won the 2011 elections when
the wife descended on me and the
Rivers State Government.
“Basically, the only way you can
survive is if you then wake up in the
morning to say: ‘Good morning, ma.
My name is Rotimi Amaechi, governor
of Rivers State. Do I greet this person
or that person’?
“If she says no, then I don’t greet you.
But if you need to run the office of the
governor the way it is supposed to be
run, then you would certainly have a
disagreement with the wife of the
President
“It is about power and control. She
appears to be somebody who loves
power.”
The governor also said part of the
problem was that the President took
about 41 oil wells from Rivers and
handed them to Abia and Bayelsa, the
President’s state.
He also said the President was not
comfortable with the fact that he
(Amaechi) speaks his mind whenever
he had the opportunity.
For example, he said he had
complained many times about the
rising poverty and corruption among
public office holders in the country to
no avail even as the country’s
economy is in bad shape.
Another incident that pitched
Amaechi against the President was
that the former accused the World
Bank, during an event abroad, of
aiding Nigeria’s lamentable
corruption.
He also lamented the increasing
activities of oil thieves, adding that
attempts by his government to
subdue the thieves have also been
scuttled by the President because of
the problem between them, thus
making the country suffer the
consequence.
“My colleague, the governor of Benue
State, told me that teachers are on
strike in his state because of salary.
And you would see more in the next
few months. The country is broke.
“The amount of money being stolen is
enough to run this economy. They set
aside 455,000 barrels per day for
local refining. We don’t refine in
Nigeria. Crude is refined overseas,
brought back to Nigeria and then we
pay subsidy on it,” he said.
The governor made a lot of other
revelations as published in the current
edition of the magazine.
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/11/11/exclusive-why-jonathan-wife-are-fighting-me-amaechi/

In as much as I understand what the Lagos state govt. is trying to convey, I think Nairaland should replicate this. I'm of the opinion that poor command of English language as usually observed on Nairaland is symptomatic of our falling standards in education.

I'm still thinking

Strong indications have
emerged that food crisis looms in
Nigeria as fresh indices have shown
that more than 65 per cent of 160
million Nigerian population is food
insecure.The indices also revealed
that more than 1.4 million children in
northern Nigeria are at risk of severe
malnutrition in 2013, while the
country loses an estimated N1 billion
on contraband rice on daily basis.
The food insecurity was said to have
been fuelled by the activities of Boko
Haram insurgency and the military
crackdown within the past six
months that the Federal Government
declared a state of emergency in
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
This had forced nearly 20, 000
farmers in the northern part of the
country to abandon their farmland
while 24, 700 acres of rice paddies
had been abandoned at the peak of
harvesting season in June, this year.
In the past few months in Nigeria,
there have been growing fear of food
insecurity sequel to lack of stable
supply and skyrocketing prices of
food in the market. Essential
commodities and food products have
become unaffordable to the common
man due to the astronomical rise in
their prices, probably caused by
impractical policies of the Federal
Government in these segments.
The price of rice, for instance, had
been hitting historic highs of N12,500
per bag, triggering a panic among the
people across the country. Persistent
increase in prices of other staple
products such as fish, bread, meat,
cereals, chicken, yam, onions, beans,
vegetable oil, tomatoes, groundnut oil
and others have also aggravated the
continued woes of the common man.
The country’s efforts to end poverty
has also been dampened by hortage
of products and ever-increasing
prices have created unsettling
sentiments across communities.
The Food and Agricultural
Organisation of the United Nations
(FAO) had in a statement issued in
September, this year, warned that
Sahel States in northern Nigeria were
faced with severe food insecurity,
adding that poor families had used
up their food stocks and were facing
high food prices awaiting the next
harvest.”
The indices also noted that over 1.4
million children in the North are at
risk of severe malnutrition this year.
This revelation also came as scores
of people have alleged that the
country’s Agricultural Transformation
Agenda (ATA) have been hijacked by
unscrupulous operators across the
country’s borders.
In the case of rice, the
implementation of high tariffs for rice
importation has brought legal
imports into the country to a
standstill, creating a massive
demand from staple consumers. Due
to the absence of local paddy
production to meet this demand,
smugglers have been having a free
ride, pumping rice into the country
through the borders.
According to a report, more than 2.5
million tonnes of rice were imported
into some neighbouring countries
since Nigeria’s implementation of the
new tariffs at 110 per cent and most
of this volume found its way into
Nigeria through the porous borders.
Mr. Saka Yinusa, the Deputy
Comptroller General of Customs
(DCG) in charge of enforcement, said
recently that Nigeria loses an
estimated N1 billion on contraband
rice daily, which translates to N356
billion yearly.
Also, Chairman, Borno State Farmers
Association, Muhammed Namadi,
reportedly said: “Hundreds of farmers
have been killed or forced to abandon
rice and other crops ready for
harvesting or just planted. We have
suffered a great deal as farmers in the
last three years. Many young and old
farmers have been forced to leave
their farms.”
The Borno State Agriculture
Commission also said nearly 20,000
farmers have been driven from their
land by both the insurgency and the
military crackdown in May. In June,
the Chad Basin Development
Authority reported that 10,000
hectares (24,700 acres) of rice
paddies had been abandoned at the
peak of harvesting season.
Several rice mills in the country have
also been fully or partially shut down
due to lack of paddy supply, leading
to unemployment and mounting
losses for the entrepreneurs. These
include Olam Nigeria, Ebony Agro
Industries Limited, Ashi, Mewa and
Umza rice processing mills, and
Popular Foods.
President of Rice Distributors
Association of Nigeria (RIDAN),
Esther Olufunmilayo, urged
government to review the impact of
its present policy on the economy,
arguing that tariff hike imposition
without tangible transformation of the
local rice value chain defeats
government’s rice self-sufficiency
goal.
The reality is that the increase in
import tariffs for rice has not made
any significant impact on paddy
production. The rice millers are going
out of business, the consumers are
suffering from lack of affordable
supply.
The Managing Director of Attajiri Rice
Mill, Sokoto, Alhaji Nura Attajiri, in a
recent media report, lamented that
most of the people that collected
agricultural loans from government
for paddy rice production were not
genuine farmers.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/hunger-looms-nigeria/

PDP is largely a collection of accomplished serial election riggers, serial liars, serial looters and charlatans.