tuoyoojo:
I came to check names of these money doubler and I was not disappointed

Who name don EPP? Nneka or Ovie or Oladipo or Aminat... they were all born in Lagos, raised in the same neighborhood. They don't know what you guys are inferring by checking name. A criminal is a criminal, name matters less.

Therefore, sow no seed for HATE. Be the CHANGE you want to see in the PMB administration. We the PEOPLE are the Government.

989900:
Keeping cutlass and hammer in the house is now a crime -- NPF.

Especially ones that are so rusty, you know they've not been used in the last two 'farming' seasons.

favourmic:
Hmmm

My own sigh would be in two dimensions: First, kudos to the police for unearthing these heinous criminals. Having said that, I sigh for the manner and approach of our police investigations. Must we always show violent intent to prove a case? This is a case of financial fraud. No reason to bring rusty cutlass and hammer to prove that they are criminals. Very unconnected in my view. Those tools can be found in just any home (perhaps with sizeable garden space) at least in Nigeria.

brownskindude:
Most of the projects are going to Edo and Cross River.

It's strategic but you need to know your map...those are the bordering states for the SS. They connect to other geopolitical zones...SW, SE and NC. For instance, the railway only starts from Cross River, it actually cuts across a reasonable number of states. Like sm1 has mentioned on this thread, the most important debate should be about seeing action on all these plans not just the paper talk.

gift01:
Can we have the budget of other regions esp the North East so as to balance things

Balance things! Like seriously? What does it matter to you if God is a man or woman? Why not just accept his grace in your life and be happy? Or you want to tell the world that God favors one gender better than the other because of ... Change your ways, PMB has enough worries of his own to start thinking about how to deal with another hate seed being sown.

segalex:
I support PMB most times but I honestly think he needs to gather Nigerians who are versed in economic matters and constitute a real economy team which will give this administration the necessary directives on how to run the economy.
The issue of making Osinbajo who is a lawyer the leader of your economy team doesn't make sense, if there's one area that this administration is seriously struggling, I think it's the area of economy and this needs to be corrected before it gets out of hand

Pls get your facts right. PMB did not make Osinbajo the leader of his economic team. Know Your Constitution! Third Schedule 18(a). This is a matter of Law. He is the Chairman of the NATIONAL Economic Council for the whole of Nigeria (i.e. Federation incl. states governed by the opposition). PMB has his Economic team who are members of the Federal cabinet and are all appointed.

TheGoodJoe:


It is a fact. The teachers help them when they write their exams. Explain to them and even write their answers. There is a reason why it is called "Educationally challenged."

Some people have a lot of learning to do about their country. Nigeria is not just your backyard.

NonFarmPayrol:
Buhari better do something

this one don pass soldier matter, before yaradua used amnesty he was no fool

these guys can send the current 20% economy to 0% with just a few more bombings


bad news is that the Zombies like Odenka and Co will keep cheering him to his doom

Unfortunately, now is a bad time for any non-strategic move. Buhari seriously needs those 12 versatile warplanes from the US, so he can't afford to try any drastic move otherwise the New York Times article on military injustice would become justified one way or the other.

crazymod:


Oga, over sabi............... she is not a celebrity, just abducted Chibok girl that live in a typical Nigeria Village with little social amenities.

Looks like it was to enable her breastfeed

plaetton:


Who disputes that money was stolen ?

The FACTS so far is that Dasuki is being held accountable for the diversion of money earmarked for the fight against Boko haram.
We know who signed that money to him, and we also know how much.
That is the simple fact.

In fact, babacele did us a favor earlier on this thread by publishing all the charges against Dasuki.
And the charge sheets show that sums he is alleged to have diverted DOESN'T add up to , and is mere fraction of the $2.2b bandied about by the government.

I can't figure out why most of you would not feel embarrassed by a government that can't get it's figures right.

How many brazen lies have been entertainmened with over the past 12 months?
Deziani stole $6b, UAE returned $200b, 5 people Stole $15b, etc etc.

I really can't understand why the government thinks that it needs propaganda and shock to validate itself.

It still acts like an opposition party, trying desperately to win the people's acceptance.

I understand your argument but unfortunately, this game of exaggeration is played by humans and mostly by the media. I've been part of a few briefings where some media agents just want to run off with the big figures for their headlines even when they don't have the full detail.

My point is that...many times it's a triviality (a salesman strategy) that would soon be dismissed (if false). So there's no need crying foul especially when the fundamental FACT has not been disputed by any of the parties to the case.

forray:
Na wa oh...... Have been following this thread and mehn,the level of comprehension of youth this days is appalling. Na so we dumb for this country? What is so hard to understand about what plaetton is saying.

I can bet you he isn't saying anything sensible outside playing the devil's advocate. Why would you engage in long talk just to prove that the number of bullets to be used at a firing squad are more than international standard? Everyone who he claims have failed to comprehend him are simply matching his words with context. Language is never in isolation. You can't tell a man to interpret words on paper solely as they come when he has a fair knowledge of the context in which you're writing (even Judges who have a duty to do so, try hard).

plaetton:


Comprehension ! Comprehension !

What is wrong with you people ?

Seriously, comprehension is a serious skill that is in short supply around here.

Comprehension my foot! Hiding behind trivialities to distort FACT is as bad as criticizing the President for allegedly exaggerating the figures.

Fact is money was STOLEN and the act is dehumanizing and criminal. To engage in the semantics of figures and quantum guilt or even your embarrassment from alleged exaggeration is trivial. Btw...How can your source to figures be Google or online media when there are accounting trails and other hard evidence available to the government.

It's you who should stop exposing deliberate ignorance.

thesicilian:
Great. Lagos is one of the few states that has consistently had good governance - from BAT to BRF and now AMBO. With this extra income from oil, not to talk of the new jobs and other benefits, it can only get better.

Now you see what a foresighted man BRF was...he already started the infrastructure (road and rail) to open up the Badagry axis for business.

modath:


I agree 100% with the highlighted, but not with the Texas L.A reference, we should stop comparing apples and oranges..... America is a melting pot, "State Of Origin" is mute there, Everyone belongs anywhere they find themselves,... Nobody will tell you , you can't get govt assisted Medicare in Georgia because you are from Michigan.

Republicans that don't like Obama do not for other reasons and not because he is from Southside Chicago.

Trump is ridiculed for his showmanship & crassness but you won't hear any generalisation of his actions as being typical of Uncouth New Yorkers....

Like it's our habit here....


In as much as i don't agree with the 5% outburst, &wish he didn't contemplate or even utter such, i do however understand the human angle & deep emotions that spurred such...

Unless we will all bury our heads in the sand, that he is President today is God's doing, there was nothing that wasn't thrown and still being thrown at him, his culture, ethnicity, upbringing, educational background, relationships.. name it, he was raked over hot coals..

However, he needs to be for EVERYBODY... what's done is done, no one can move far ahead, while still trying to look back....

Bitter and as wrong as he sounded when he made that statement, I believe he added a caveat which not many spinners are referring to. He was asked about forming an inclusive government and he responded that it's simply a political reality to respond to people who put you in power (with over 90% of votes) more than those who didn't (with less than 5% of votes) but that this wouldn't affect his constitutional responsibilities to all parts of Nigeria.

Ok. So the Dailymail amazes me as well. I thought it was the NNPC that carried the 'ATM' appellation for the FG

dapipson:
FG is not sincere about this subsidy. Lai Muhammed said that the SUBSIDY will create above 200,000 jobs and my Oga Osinbajo said that subsidy has not been removed. I am just confused. It's not easy to understand the ways of insincere people.

The debate is beyond SUBSIDY. Subsidy is when government pays petrol marketers (filling station retailers) to sell at a regulated price despite the prevailing market price. We were never supposed to be in that permanent state. The government was supposed to constantly recalculate pump price both upwards and downwards within the subsidy regime (using rules of the Petrol Equalization Fund) therefore resulting in savings for the government in times of low oil prices and losses in times of high oil prices.

Today, we're in the not-so-different era of PRICE MODULATION I.e. not complete regulation. Which is why it has been termed GUIDED DEREGULATION by some analysts. Government will use more realistic price calculators like exchange rate factors to determine the best pump price (or a price band) for retailers and this is expected to be done more frequently (I believe quarterly now). Government will NOT pay subsidy to anyone for any interim losses, so at such times (prior to price recalculations, in case of sharp market fluctuations) citizens will witness speculation, hoarding and the other market gimmicks which are realities in any real (imperfect) market.

Dottore:
This deregulation though wrong timed could bring positive results after all. My opinion though

I don't even agree it's wrongly timed. I believe it simply shocked a number of us. During the GEJ era, our organization campaigned for subsidy removal. However, we maintained that the government of the day had no moral ethos to make citizens bear the suffering when it was busy stealing and mismanaging the commonwealth. We wanted govt to put a few things in place prior to deregulation. Things like: retooling the refineries, serious investment in public infrastructure, reduction in waste of public funds in all MDAs by foreign travels cum excessive allowances etc. That the government should simply pull its own weight before demanding that citizens pull theirs. Today, I can't say that the Buhari government hasn't made the effort: refineries are back contributing albeit a small percentage of the daily consumption, there are plans for mass transport investments in roads and rail, the Efficiency Unit is doing a great job...etc.

I believe time will tell and that this President has proven capability for public trust.

ganisucks:

Do this guys think we are kids. J̶̲̥̅̊u̶̲̥̅̊ƨ̣̣̣̇̇̇̇τ̣̣̥ look at how silly this guys sound. Geez, even my baby brother can tell better lies, A̶̲̥̅̊Ω̴̩̩̩̥D̶̲̥̅̊ he's only 4.

Maybe...I mean, if your baby bro is 4, you can't be more than 17. That's if there are five of you in the family with 3 years gap between and if you're the first. That still makes you a kid. What do you think?

CookieBrown:
This makes no sense, what's the point of being a spy if you can be easily identified? I mean this is just so silly, the damn uniform got ''Spy'' stamped all over it. Nigeria is a fu#king joke.

The uniform says SPY and not S.P.Y. They can't even get that right.

Yes SPY not spy. Don't be a joke yourself. This is not a new concept in Nigeria. It's as old as oil installations in Nigeria.

BioXtraOrganics:


You understood, typical Africans who don't like to read anything are already commenting spy gibberish above.

Nope...He almost understood. SPY police can bear arms so they are not your 'University security guards'. The only difference from the Nigeria Police is that they are restricted to specified areas. I have commented in detail somewhere on this thread.

baby124:
So now that we know what the spy uniform looks like. How are they spies? Besides how and why does a spy need uniform

Please read and research properly. SPY not Spy. SPY = SUPERNUMERARY not English definition of 'Spy'. It's explained in the text but I guess it's not so obvious. As the name implies, supernumerary policemen are not on the regular Nigeria Police register (super - numeral). That is, they are not usually recruited by the Nigeria Police establishment. Instead, they are requested and recruited by companies and other establishments, with the permission of Nigeria Police authorities, and by Law, as psuedo-private security operatives. They enjoy almost all the rights (within restricted jurisdiction) and protections available to officers of the public entity called 'the Nigeria Police'. For example, they can bear arms like the Nigeria Police (albeit within specified zones), so they cannot be completely referred to as equal to your common private security guards who cannot legally bear arms in Nigeria (again, by Law).

To cut through the chase, I believe SPY police were originally designed to be special security forces that protected oil installations and other assets of oil companies in Nigeria particularly around the Niger Delta. However, today, almost every T, D and H with some change in the bank can employ SPY police as his/her 'hand-bag carrier', driver, Oga's PA etc.) by simply applying to the Nigeria Police, paying some required fee and then buying uniforms for them. Yet, recall that they have no number on the Nigeria Police comprehensive register. So, most of the 'kill-and-go' atrocities you've heard of have been committed by the bad elements in this group. If them no get number, how you go locate them?

Esseite:
At this junction... i must confess, this man was a mistake.

You have an over saturated ssce/bsc/hnd/ond/mcs/phd labour market and all he can come up with is masquerade dressings?..

God.. only you have a reason for making Nigeria my country of origin..

Well.. to God be the glory

Ignorant comment. There is a Minister for Labour and Employment to deal with all those high-end jobs you're referring to and I'm sure you know who he is.

This man's business is Information, Culture and Tourism...so it makes sense for him to rake up 'petty jobs' all the way up the ladder to the highly sophisticated jobs in his sector. That's where his business lies...with masquerades, festivals, culture and tourism by extension.

Pavarottii:
BUHARI and APC av failed us. Discussing budget mid April.
Some people supporting this confused government. If u av a company that u preside over. Will u be discussing the company's annual budget by Mid April? Wen u know contracts , operational cost, recurrent and caapital expenditure and all are in the budget. Won't u be killing the company gradually?

Answer the question rationally and wiv sincerity not with a zombie sense of thinking.

Your question is exactly why political scientists, sociologists and economists are very clear on the topic that government is not a business wholesale. Comparing a state to a company in all aspects as you've done is just wrong on many levels. Apples vs Oranges! 'Rational choice theory' and 'the irrationality of human decision-making' should teach you something about politics and governance. These regular political zones of the state are many times alien to companies, since companies are already non-partisan to begin with.

Emmagenius:
Oga,stop putting it on Nigerian youths!!!!!!!At least,i can spell ''COURAGEOUS''.......NOT COURAGOUS..........OVER TO THE YOUTHS/Students......CAN'T YOU SPELL THE WORD??

Also the line "#CCT know trial at CCT...why now?" I believe that was meant to read "#CCT NO trial at CCT up till now..."

TPAND:
NASS did not do anything wrong by expunging and cutting cost of some capital projects. That is their job.

Quote me if you think am wrong

You're very wrong. Did the Ministers not defend their numbers? Where's NASS getting it's own variance with so much difference? Why not indict the Executive if you think their numbers are too high? What's the meaning of slashing unnecessarily? Did NASS get independent quotes from the same contractors? In the final analysis, it's the Executive that's accountable to the people for the success or failure of the projects not the NASS. The Executive implements but must justify its numbers to the Legislators. The Legislators can't just hand the Executive any magic number to go and work with.

SweetieConstie:
Congratulations to the graduands!




















WOW!!! 172 first class graduands? That's amazing and way higher than the number of first class graduates other universities turn-out every year!

From 5 sets not from a single year

TheFreeOne:




Your concerns are justified and i hope there will be a balance in projects across the regions too.


Moreover, politicians/businessmen from the SE/SS need to draw the presidency's attention to this omission and pressure the FG on the need to complete pending projects within the region i.e 2nd Niger bridge, Lagos-Calabar rail line, Ibaka deep sea port e.t.c

However i am a firm believer in restructuring the country because that's the only solution that'll engender healthy competition and true development amongst the regions.

Those concerns are baseless, senseless and not justified one bit. Truth be told...if there'll be any 2 major infrastructure projects in the country today, they'll most likely be in the regions already announced by the Chinese Govt (and businessmen) not for ethnic reasons but simply for commonsense reasons...market, capital and return on investment. Why did GEJ think of reviving the Lagos-Kano rail first? Why didn't he think of starting from scratch with some greenfield Otueke-Calabar line, just to satisfy ethnic sentiments? Business sense tells you to follow the money and the traffic potentials when planning transportation.

Unfortunately, Nigeria is not evenly distributed in terms of capital and population so there will always be some skewness in the infrastructure distribution unless we're deceiving ourselves. This is why I believe the concerns you have replied to are unfounded.

haqueurate:

you people amaze me o! Are you not the same people justifying the removal of a major rail project in your region by your greedy senators
Dont you know the Chinese were suppose to contribute to that project you were all against (because of ameachi)
I just hope baba abandons that calabar rail seff, you ungrateful lots. Mtcheewww

It's even senseless to expect investors to consider ethnicity as a factor when they already know where the money flows. For all we know, the new 'greenfield' road may end up being tolled and investors know where they'll quickly recoup their investments based on level of traffic and other patronage. Are there no Easterners or South-South people in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja? Must a project be located in your backyard before you benefit from it? These endless, negative and divisive reasonings beat me!

Anyone ever noticed that in all of Buhari's foreign trips he's as close to his Foreign Minister, Onyeama as possible. I dare say this man endures due process as much as possible. If there are only two people in a picture, it'll be the two of them. In the US, Onyeama gave the opening speech alongside his counterpart, John Kerry.

Yet, some ethnocentric warlords prefer to hinge this man on some virtual Northern supremacist leaning.

Eve001:
He was even kind with his choice of words. Some people just need to be cut to size sometimes.

Sorry, cutting followers to size is just not the job of true leaders. Humility is a prized quality of leaders even of gentlemen. The more knowledge/power you have, the more careful you must be to use it because you're better aware of the consequences and the diverse interpretations of your actions. As simple as Ben's reply was, it was just unnecessary. Remember how PMB made a joke of his appellation "Baba go slow". That's how good leaders react (though I know it's difficult in Nigeria with our very ego-centric nature). Good leaders make you think they're fools for not reacting in like measure, for appearing unscathed by unkind talk, for liking those who hate them, for praising those who do not deserve it. Since this is not the way of men, it makes you begin to think of them as extraordinary. Ben just came across as ordinary with his response. Mandela would've shown an act of kindness. In the final analysis, my opinion is that people in Ben Bruce's fashion are part of the reasons many of our young people can no longer compose good language. They simply ate our lunch! They mostly (if not all) went to good schools in this country and destroyed it all in less than 50 years. Talk about kicking away the ladder. So, I'm not forgiving of all those 55 year olds and above when they're not sober for the problems they put this country in today.

coolitempa:


Seriously...this is getting too much...... ....it is like he does not care what people are saying about sitting down and working on our problems.....

Unfortunately, this Forum is on the loose. Hardly do comments on any thread make sense.

I believe the real problem is with the people and not the leaders. I read someone say, we don't know who we are or what we want. I agree! There's a lot of shallow analysis in the polity. People are impatient, quick to flow with emotional lines than understand the real stuff.

Since when did we not know that a process of rebuilding comes with pain and hardships worsened by falling commodity prices? Who doesn't know that the darkest period is before dawn? Who is ignorant that it's easier to destroy, to loot, to share bounties, to give fish than it is to build, to restore, to accumulate and to teach how to fish? We were warned that 2016 will be a harder year for all oil exporting countries (PMB or GEJ)...check out Venezuela and the inflation rate going on there now (it's over 100%). One of the reasons is because their fuel was the most-subsidized for citizens...perhaps to politically appease them (You can't eat your cake and have it!).

There are a lot of problems with Nigeria and with the way we chose our leaders and there are many more critics for those sets of problems. But, who will deal with the problem of the people? Who will criticise the way we train followers, the way we educate the people, the way we build citizens of a noble country?

The appointment of a new Chief Justice of Nigeria will be interesting. May we tow the path of the USA and stop all these civil service mentality.