₦airaland Forum

tochstorm: if jesus was a nigerian. he will take sefie with his disciples when they were soaking ijebu garri and judas will be an ibo man. cos he'll be wearing arnami instead of armani.

Must you derail from the jokes

According to your own story the real owner of the South East are the Nris and anybody called IGBOS are dispised and SLAVES to this kingdom....


So how come the Igbos are dispised and slaves Where did they come from and end up being slaves do the Nris Please tell me more....

macjive01:

lol... did arabs not trade with Kano?

did igbos not trade with kano?

of course it took days but market must sell.

Of course this nimwits fail to study the history of their terrain... Bro school them more...

Prostitution, selling of fake video game discs, fake cds and dvds, fake drugs, peddling of hard drugs, piracy, selling of gala & plantain chips on the highway, selling of okrika clothing items, selling fake vehicle spare parts, importing substandard china goods, importing and exporting aba made clones etc.

This activities are very vital to the economical success of Lagos.
We cannot do without them

They are very vital to us . Pls oba Akiolu, don't kill them for us. We also love their girls with their flat bald heads, moustache, yam legs, and hairy limbs

So for your mind now you made a valid point You need serious deliverance...

Some pple can kill others ooh with comments...

monnakoda:

MOST or ALL African Americans feel bitter and inferior?

My ideology about this issue is that the White slave drivers are the ones feeling bitter about the prospect that a Once upon a time slave would enjoy the freedom he the master has struggled to create... they feel inferior when that said slave who not only goes and obtain the title of free man does employ them (the masters) to do work for them...

Let's say the man plays the script to the end and finally on the eve of the White wedding, the lady does make love for the first time with him and discovers that husband cannot perform becos of ED, wat will the lady do then

Manny is in form right now and though he's the best pound for pound fighter in the middleweight class will be the underdog in this clash... Mayweather probably will add a rematch clause in the contract signing for this fight cos in as much going in as the favorite, he's in awe of the speed of the philipino... I'm going for a Manny win over 12 rounds though the threat of a KO is a possibility from Manny... A classic indeed...

History will forever remember GEJ as the man who preserved the democracy we have in Nigeria... whether you like it or not the man is too smart... see now even after losing at the polls, he is still the man...

Why call this great man GEJ names like clueless If you don't know let me let you in into somethings you don't know... First off he was a senior lecturer, a deputy state governor and the govenor of bayelsa... a Phd holder ever before he became a running mate to musa ya'radua...then he became a vice president... and while you still call him clueless and disgrace then comes the twist of fate as he was installed the president of this country... still on the matter, he has become an international icon of progress by allowing for a free and fair election in which the voice of all electorates were heard... he made champions of us all who exercised our franchise... maybe you might call him names but when we are all gone from this world know that the name Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will forever be revered in Nigeria as the one man courageous enough to transform this country and help the progression of democracy therein not only in Nigeria but in Africa as a whole....

I sense fear after the initial show of bravado from the Apc gulls on this thread... ... I told ya to hold on a bit b4 that dance but I guess the shoes have been put on a long time ago that you forget that elections are not won on social media... I still maintain it keep calm...

Why panic when the man obviously is relaxed more so than the self proclaimed messiah of change... well he's been thwarting all the efforts of the opposition and will still do so by the time the official results are announce. My plea to grandpa buhari is not to incite his mumu and brainless followers to destroy things if the results don't go their way... Meanwhile GEJ rocks till 2019...

Please don't see yourselves as the badass yet...probably after the official announcement by Inec... don't indulge yet in the victory dance cos me thinks it's quite premature...

Terrifying, this inordinate ambition of some people, to hijack power in Nigeria, at the centre. Who would think that on election day, proper, Maiduguri and the rest of Borno State, hitherto brimming over with Boko Haram instigated problems, would be relatively peaceful, while cities in the South-East would experience bomb explosions? For those who still argue that Boko Haram and all their problems were not organised by the Islamic Northern politicians, to destabilise Jonathan's government, what further proof do they need?All this aggressive APC social media propaganda is heating up the polity in Nigeria, similar to how the hate radio propaganda of Rwanda lead to genocide! God forbid that Nigeria faces a similar situation!We pray for peace and unity in Nigeria! Stop the hate propaganda! Vote wisely! Resist hating others! No violence!

http://www.rwandanstories.org/genocide/hate_radio.html

RAYMOND DOKPESI OWNER OF AIT JUST SURVIVED AN ASSASINATION ATTEMPT!

INEC remains the only official body to announce election results...

Is this fair? Live snapshot from a centre in Adamawa state...

The bomb was planted under a blue handa baby boy... please people avoid crowded areas today... cast your vote and leave the arena... save your life...The news is all over the television.... Tune in to Channels Tv for live Updates across Nigeria....

The bomb was planted under a blue handa baby boy... please people avoid crowded areas today... cast your vote and leave the arena... save your life...

Fortunately no one was affected by the blast... God help us for this election... Updates later...

Apc... Losers alliance... Keep up the false accusation but know it won't get you anything...

Goodluck Nigerians till 2019....

Now they have suddenly realised that actually power belongs to the people and this has forced some sort of performance from the party especially under the present government. Whenever there is healthy competition, the customer becomes king.

Actually I like this particular paragraph in your write-up... It's not like you don't know the truth but then you're right in saying that the masses does possess the key to making our country what they want it to be... GEJ listens to the masses unlike the previous adminstration of obj... when you have a leader who actually is willing to serve and not dictate, you don't give it away just like that... we chant we want change but are we really changed as individual I still strongly believe that Goodluck is the man to make our country what it's supposed to be which is great...

Jonathan all the way... and Op that is no Igbo man's point of view... its Nebo's opinion...

Not bad as long as you don't feel bad if the guy sees you as cheap...

'BUHARI',the antidote to corruption-WHAT A HUGE LAUGH!!
ONE month ago, the APC had whipped its supporters into frenzy in believing it is bound to win an election it really has no chance of winning. In truth, if the election had been conducted then for chairman of the EFCC, Muhammadu Buhari would have been declared winner by a landslide. However, with postponement of the election, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Even Buhari’s self-styled credential as Mr. Integrity has unraveled.
Buhari’s entire campaign posture for the 2015 presidential election stands on two shaky grounds. He fashions himself as Mr. Integrity; the implacable enemy of corruption in Nigeria. He is the one who reportedly is going to ensure that corruption is a thing of the past in Nigeria. He is also the one who is going to destroy the Boko Haram in the twinkling of an eye; even though a number of months ago, he was negotiating for amnesty and golden handshakes for the insurgents, and they nominated him as their preferred middleman in any truce negotiation with Nigeria.

File photo; Tinubu and Buhari – leaders of ACN and CPC
Buhari’s disappearance
Things have not gone too well for the Buhari campaign since the postponement of the election. He did not help things by disappearing off the political radar for virtually two weeks. By the time he re-surfaced, Boko Haram was toast. We no longer needed Buhari’s vain promissory notes to deal with the insurgency. One after another, town after town were recovered from the Boko Haram. In many respects, they have been routed as the Nigerian army came into its own after having received its new consignment of weapons.
As a result, we are no longer hearing anything from Buhari about whipping Boko Haram. All he had left was his anti-corruption mantra. But that one also came to grief with the airing of AIT’s tripartite documentary entitled: “The Lion of Bourdillon.” This alleged that Bola Tinubu, the self-styled national leader of the APC, is steeped in corruption. It claims Tinubu is the biggest landlord in Lagos, and maintains he has acquired so much property through very sharp practices.
While the veracity of these allegations is yet to be ascertained beyond reasonable doubt, the documentary has brought to the fore the flies in the anti-corruption ointment of Buhari. The truth is that corruption in Nigeria is not the exclusive preserve of the PDP. It is also the chronic ailment of the APC. Neither is corruption only the malaise of the Federal Government; it is equally the malaise of state governments, including those ruled by the APC. Indeed, Murtala Nyako of the APC was impeached and removed as governor of Adamawa State partly because it was alleged that he had corruptly enriched himself with government funds.
The question then is this: Does Buhari’s so-called zero-tolerance for corruption extend to his APC colleagues? Will Buhari, in the unlikely event that he becomes president, go after APC thieves as well as PDP thieves? Or will he turn a blind eye to APC thieves and molly-cuddle them? Suddenly, the anti-corruption searchlight turned on to Buhari and his friends, and just as suddenly, we discovered what some of us have always known: that Buhari, the Emperor of Anti-Corruption, has no clothes.
Buhari’s response to the issue of corruption in APC ranks reeked with sheer hypocrisy and double-standards. Like charity, Buhari’s anti-corruption must begin at home in the APC if it is to be credible. However, Buhari is not inclined to prosecute his friends. Instead, he came up with a pronouncement that virtually rubbished his anti-corruption posture. He said: “Whoever that is indicted of corruption between 1999 to the time of swearing-in, would be pardoned. I am going to draw a line, anybody who involved himself in corruption after I assume office, will face the music.”
Insurance for corrupt supporters
This means as long as you steal money between 1999 and 2011, you have nothing to fear under a Buhari presidency. This is, of course, an insurance policy for his corrupt supporters, assuring them that they would have nothing to fear by giving him their vote. Buhari did not come out in strident support of Bola Tinubu. He did not come out to tell the world that, contrary to the AIT documentary, the Bola Tinubu he knows is a man of unimpeachable integrity. Instead, he told the world that if there are thieves among his friends, they can rest assured that he would pardon their thievery.
When President Jonathan pardoned the former governor of Bayelsa, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a man who had been convicted of corruption and was a refugee from justice from Britain, Nigerians were incensed. This was rightly seen as the president condoning corruption. One would have thought this kind of thing would not occur with a man who talks anti-corruption day and night. However, in the case of Buhari, he would not only pardon one corrupt associate, he would pardon them all.
When asked how he was going to get funds to revitalise the economy, Buhari stated that he was going to get all corrupt past leaders and officials cough out their stolen money. This was nothing but a nonsensical policy. It is bizarre and odd for Buhari to think he can run Nigeria, revamp the educational system for example, by recovering stolen money. Where will he get this money from? Who will give it to him? Would such recovered money not amount to a storm in the teacup?
But now that he has dumped this anti-corruption charade in favour of a blanket pardon for the corrupt, it is clear that political reality is beginning to erode Buhari’s highfalutin campaign grandstanding. It is equally significant that Buhari’s new stance on corruption comes coincidentally after AIT documentary on “The Lion of Bourdillon,” where one of his most important allies was accused of corruption. Clearly, it is high time Buhari stopped deluding Nigerians that he is genuinely anti-corruption and that he can eradicate corruption in Nigeria by sending corrupt politicians to jail.
Buhari was Nigeria’s head-of-state for a period of 18 months in the 1980s. At the time, he ran so rough-shod over the Nigerian judicial system that the Nigerian Bar Association proscribed Nigerian lawyers from appearing in any of Buhari’s kangaroo courts. Buhari sent both corrupt and non-corrupt politicians to jail, sometimes for up to 300 years. Nevertheless, corruption was not eradicated. It continued unabated because it was not addressed structurally. Even the practice under Obasanjo of shooting armed robbers by firing squad in Bar Beach failed to stop armed robbery. All it did was to brutalise the Nigerian public.
Jonathan’s effective approach
Surely, the more reasonable and effective method is to remove the avenues for corruption. This is what Goodluck Jonathan has been doing. He has sanitized the payroll system by removing some 50,000 ghost-workers, saving the country a whopping N200 billion in the first instance. He has removed the fertilizer middlemen; saving Nigeria hundreds of billions of naira. He has sanitized the electoral register. Over three million ghost voters have been removed; one million in Zamfara State alone. He is going after corruption in the oil sector with the Petroleum Industry Bill.
In the vainglorious case of Buhari, it did not help matters that he fought corruption with corruption. He interfered blatantly in the judicial process. The judge who sent Fela to jail later went to apologise to him in hospital afterwards that he did it under government duress. Nevertheless, some members of the Nigerian public, baying for the blood of corrupt politicians, hanker back to the high-handed days of the Buhari era, when the human rights of innocent Nigerians were violated on the altar of anti-corruption, and some Nigerians were even judicially murdered under heinous retroactive decrees.
What Buhari is not telling them is that he has no power to do this under today’s democratic dispensation. Buhari goes on the stomp and says: “When we come into power, anyone who steals Nigerian money will end up in Kirikiri Maximum Prisons. We are going to make sure that Nigeria’s wealth belongs only to Nigerians.” But the truth of the matter is that, in a democracy, the president does not have the judicial power to send anybody to Kirikiri. If the EFCC does not prosecute, the president cannot become the chairman of the EFCC. If the judges do not convict, Buhari cannot transform himself into a judge.
Deceived electorate
All those who have been deceived into believing that Buhari will just become president and begin to lock up corrupt politicians left, right and centre are dreaming. In the unlikely event that Buhari becomes president, he will neither have the power to do so, nor the inclination to do so. The reason is simple: many of the thieves are his friends and allies in the APC. Buhari talks change, but he is running around with the old breed of politicians. You can always tell a lot about a man by the composition and character of his friends.
Buhari fashions himself as Mr. Integrity, nevertheless, he was not averse to serve under Sani Abacha, one of the most corrupt heads-of-state in the history of Nigeria. Even more significant, Buhari insisted that Abacha was not corrupt at all. On the 10th anniversary of Abacha’s death, Buhari told incredulous Nigerians that all the allegations of looting the treasury leveled against Abacha were “baseless.” He said: “ten years after Abacha, those allegations remain unproven because of lack of facts.”
Buhari held this position in spite of the millions of dollars of Abacha’s loot recovered from banks around the world, and in spite of the fact that the Abacha’s family signed a formal agreement to return over $1 billion of such monies to the Nigerian government. We can see therefore that, from the point of view of Buhari, only the PDP has the copyright on corruption. Every allegation of corruption leveled against his friends and financiers must surely be “baseless.”
It is this kind of double standard that prompted Buhari to jail Vice-president Ekwueme while only putting President Shagari under house arrest. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti poked fun at this in one of his songs. He said: “Driver commit accident Buhari lock conductor.” Given the many corrupt drivers that abound in Buhari’s APC’s, we can anticipate that he will only be interested in locking up conductors in the unlikely event that he ever becomes president

IS BUHARI’S STAR DIMMING? | udumakalu

The 2015 presidential election in Nigeria is just a few days away. Since the postponement of the original election date in February, there has been a titanic shift from the way things were shaping up between the two major candidates. Just before the original election date was postponed, General Buhari was surging in popularity. At the time, the Jonathan campaign organization seemed to be in tatters; his messaging was poor, often conflicting and lacked the conviction of someone who really wanted the job.

On the security side, the unchecked and daring exploits of Boko Haram made the commander in chief look weak on security matters. Furthermore, a lot of things that one could argue were outside Jonathan’s control were happening in the country. For instance, oil price dipped and Jonathan was struggling to explain to the nation that the economy was not about to collapse in spite of the devaluation of the naira. The spate of defections from PDP to APC by opportunistic politicians did not help matters for Jonathan. It was during this period that I wrote a commentary titled, “Jonathan Handing the Presidency to Buhari on a platter of Gold”.

Then came the postponement of the election which was explained by Jonathan camp as a security measure. The lull created by the postponement helped the Jonathan campaign to regroup, re-craft their message and unleash attack dogs like Fani Kayode and Fayose on Buhari. At first, the verbal salvos that these guys were unleashing on Buhari seemed too frivolous but as time went on, slowly, they began to stick. Fayose unearthed the fact that the picture of a supposed Buhari interview in London was actually an interview conducted in Abuja Transcorp Hilton. It was Fayose and Kayode that alleged, when Buhari jetted out of the country to London to “speak at the Chatham house”, that he was actually there for medical attention. At first, Buhari’s handlers denied the allegation but in the end, Buhari conceded that he also got medical check-up while in Britain. All these inconsistencies began to add up and paint a picture of a campaign that was economical with the truth or plainly deceptive. This began to dim the rising prospects of Buhari and as I write, his support seems to be waning. I know people in the south east that started trending in his direction, just before the cancellation of the original election date in February, but have now made a U-turn and headed in Jonathan’s direction.

During the period after the election was cancelled, some good things began to happen in the country to Jonathan’s advantage. For starters, the war on Boko Haram, frankly spearheaded by Chadian, Nigerien and Cameroonian fighters, began to yield clear dividends. When the troops seized an important former Boko Haram stronghold, Jonathan was able to visit the area and address Nigerian troops. His handlers put on him a well-fitted combat camouflage that made him look like a real frontline battle commander. The uniform was a sharp contrast to the ill-fitting and amusing ceremonial white naval uniform that he used to don. The last time he wore the white naval outfit, someone joked that he was a “rear” admiral that stays in the rear while war rages in the frontline. But with the combat fatigues he wore to Baga, with swagger stick to match, he looked like a commanding officer in the war front. That graphic softened the hearts of many Nigerians who had been lambasting him for not visiting the battlefront where his troops were fighting and dying. The whole theatrics portrayed Jonathan as the man ready to rescue a nation under siege. Additionally, Buhari’s somnolent reaction to Boko Haram arrogance began to play into Jonathan’s hands. Some started insinuating that Buhari might be a closet sympathizer in spite of the fact that he had condemned the group a couple of times before. The postponement of the election date also allowed Nigerians to get over the shock of the devaluation of the naira and the dipping of oil price. Many now absolve Jonathan of any blame, saying that those issues are not peculiar to Nigeria.

It did not help APC that Buhari chose to jet out of the country for medical checkup and “rest” in the middle of the campaign. First, the action painted the picture of a man whose utterances did not square with his actions. For someone whose claim to fame is austerity, leaving the country to get medical attention abroad when there are hospitals in Nigeria did not square with Nigerians. His actions gave the impression that all the talk about selling off presidential jets and going austere if elected were more of election sloganeering than reality. Also, jetting out in the middle of a campaign to “rest”, played into the narrative of those who feel he is too old to handle the rigors of the presidency. All these continued to move him away from the realm of the “messiah” that some had started painting him as.

Since the postponement, Jonathan has been throwing some attractive bones to Nigerians. Knowing that Nigerians are clamoring for implementation of the recommendations from the national confab, he has been trumpeting the fact that he would implement them. This is winning him some supporters especially when some insinuate that Buhari and many northerners loath many of the recommendations. The reader should note that Buhari said he would implement them too.

The final straw that seems to be breaking the camel’s back is the issue of the damaging documentary that AIT has been broadcasting about Tinubu. Many see Tinubu as the true face of APC. In fact, Fani Kayode even alleged preposterously that there was a grand plan by APC for Buhari’s deputy to resign and make way for Tinubu to ascend. The allegation itself is preposterous but gained traction in some quarters with some damaging effect on APC. Once the documentary portraying Tinubu as “owning Lagos” through corruption aired, many started wondering how Buhari would fight corruption if an alleged epitome of corruption was his benefactor. Someone in Nigeria said to me that if Buhari ascends power, “Tinubu would do to Nigeria what he did to Lagos!”

Buhari even shot himself on the foot when he allegedly said in a campaign rally in Kano that if elected, he would have a blanket pardon for corrupt Nigerians from 1999 to 2015. Some now say he made that exemption for Tinubu. Effectively, his greatest claim to fame, which is fighting corruption and jailing corrupt Nigerians, has been neutralized by his own statement. Those who were originally attracted to him because of the tough talk about fighting corruption, now see him as the typical Nigerian politician.

Tinubu did not do himself or Buhari any favor in the way he has been handling the AIT documentary case. The documentary made specific allegations about specific land and real estate acquisitions, showing addresses and names of individuals. One would have expected that if Tinubu felt he was innocent, he would counter with a strong rebuttal, answering those charges one after the other. For example, if a piece of real estate or building attributed to him in the documentary is not true, he would simply say so. He is not doing that but merely asking the court to stop the documentary from airing because “it was damaging his reputation”. This is not exculpatory.

Also, between the time the original date of the presidential election was postponed and now, the health and fitness of Buhari has been damagingly called into question. To make matters worse, every time he was asked about his health, he would say he challenges the reporter to go to the field and see who tired first. But his answers continue to remind people of Umar Yaradua who knew he was very sick but whenever people asked about his health, he would challenge them to a game of polo. That turned out to be a subterfuge. Because Buhari did not answer the questions to the satisfaction of Nigerians, the specter of ill health now hangs over him and Jonathan is making hay with that. At every opportunity, Jonathan’s handlers now show pictures of him and wife running on the treadmill or exercising openly. One of those pictures posted on Facebook attracted comments like: “a fit president”, “young and fit commander in chief”. What has happened is that the narrative of Jonathan as young, fit, vibrant and able to handle the rigors of the presidency is gaining a lot of traction even if he is seen as clueless and too soft.

Another issue that plays into the hands of PDP occurred just a few days ago. During the presidential debate, which most of the candidates, including Jonathan attended, an empty podium with APC emblazoned on it, stood there. It continued to remind Nigerians that Buhari opted not to participate. It has attracted all kinds of comments, most unflattering for Buhari. Some see his absence as an attempt to dodge questions that he would not be able to answer like telling Nigerians how he planned to fix the economy or tame Boko Haram.

Many well-meaning Nigerians, including APC cried foul when the election was postponed by Attahiru Jega and by implication Jonathan. They called it a subterranean machination to get PDP back into the presidential game which they had started losing. Now, this writer believes that the postponement, even if done with intentions that are apolitical, has serendipitously turned the table in favor of Jonathan while Buhari’s star has started dimming! The lull created by the postponement gave Jonathan the time to regroup, change his message, visit the troops in Baga and look presidential. It also gave PDP the opportunity to openly distribute rice and money to Nigerians willing to mortgage their future on the altar of rice and naira. But that is politics for you: the art of seeking the upper hand or advantage by doing even the nastiest things in the nicest ways. Jonathan has gained the upper hand and momentum is on his side. This election is now his to lose although it is going to be a very close race.

HERE I STAND

Alfred Obiora Uzokwe, P.E

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IS BUHARI’S STAR DIMMING? | udumakalu
https://udumakalu./2015/03/25/is-buharis-star-dimming/

CLEAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PA AWOLOWO (UPN) AND TINUBU (APC)- Richard Omoko

As the elections draw near it is critical for us to clearly understand what we are getting into and as such who our so called leaders are. While the two leading parties (ie. PDP and APC) have their plus and minuses, you cannot afford to turn a blind eye to critical issues of importance at this stage. PDP may not be the messiah that we all yearn for but as an observer I would honestly tell you that this present administration has done remarkably well to deserve continuity which is a prominent component in our leadership vocabulary as a nation. There have been great leaders in Nigeria whom have left an indelible mark in our progress as a nation. For instance such leaders as Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro amongst others are people worthy of emulation. It is appalling that the virtues that these men once exuded are lacking in our democracy of today. They were indeed nationalist and statesmen who put self interest aside and pursued what was best for the country as a whole. Some were so involved in building the nation that at the end you would sympathise with their families that took the brunt of ridicules, in that after such a massive selfless sacrifice for their country they had little or nothing of personal worth to boast of. These men were so clear cut that parents named their children after them irrespective of area of origin or nationality in the hope that their wards would grow up to become like them, even Goodluck Jonathan was named after Azikiwe.

Differences between Awolowo and Tinubu

1. Pa Awolowo earned the title 'Leader of the Yoruba race' simply from his style of leadership, contributions to the society, and developmental strides he engineered for the Yoruba people irrespective of party inclination. He was loved by all Yoruba people and even by his enemies. Tinubu has divided the Yoruba people along party lines and has constantly shown disrespect to many Yoruba elders including the revered Afenifere group.

2. Pa Awolowo in many cases has shown selflessness and statesmanship in his approach and utterances. For instances after the results of the 1979 elections were declared by NEC, he did not go about on a campaign as to cause disaffection in the populace against the regime of Shehu Shagari. He took the defeat in good faith and concentrated more efforts in developing the states that his party had won in the elections. This attribute is lacking in Tinubu as you constantly hear his venomous and incisive statements that are a huge security risk even at a time like this with boko haram and the threats to security of the nation.

3. Economic/ Project agenda planning: This is another area you would duff your hat for Pa Awolowo. He took his time to articulate his policies and party agendas, and the beautiful thing there is the manner in which he dissected the economy and tell you how he is going to make provision for every project and policy he is promoting. He was never found wanting and because of his detailed approach the Yoruba people are still benefiting from his legacies. Tinubu has never provided any detailed economic planning to gauge his empty promises like the APC social welfare campaign promises of providing free food, free education, grants and monthly allowances for jobless citizens. If he were to do this effectively be sure that the fuel subsidy would be scrapped and taxes would be increased by over 30% to make available provision for payments in excess of N5 trillion. Of course you know who would benefit from the tax increases the citizens would have to pay. Tinubu's companies would receive 20% of taxes collected like what he has fully implemented in Lagos state over the years.

4. Systemic engagement: Pa Awolowo perfected his party programmes from the grass root up and not with empty promises that lacked intelligent applications. For instance the policy of free education was systematically injected from the local governments and state levels before he promised a national implementation during the election campaigns of 1979 and 1983. Tinubu on the other hand had always made promises without systemic approach and without adequate planning and preparation. Now the promise of monthly stipends/allowance for jobless youths, feeding of school children and so on are all policies he ought to have implemented in the states under his control and better prepare for its pros and cons before promising Nigerians. If truly APC were sincere about free education. Why then the 1,000% hike in school fees of LASU from N25,000 to N250,000? If the students had not reacted you sure would have seen this cruelty come to stay.

5. Stupendous wealth: Awolowo was a rich man no doubt but his wealth came mostly through hard work and wise investments and not land grabbing of Lakowe and Ibeju Lekki and other prime areas and properties belonging to innocent citizens and the people of Lagos state as Tinubu has been perpetrating over the recent past, through ARM and other bogus companies and cronies.

6. Irresponsible god fatherism: Tinubu is the alpha and omega of APC, whether Buhari or any other individual likes it or not. He is not called the jagaban for no reason. He is a master strategist who knows how to get his way however that may seem. He constantly calls the shot on who gets what and Atiku, Kwankwaso, Amechi, Oshiomole and Okorocha unknowingly have been burnt by this. Awolowo to my knowledge has not forced any candidate on his party UPN, everybody had equal opportunity as they must test their popularity through party primaries.

Interestingly in my discussions with many of the proponents chanting change, I inquired from them what they truly wanted to change in Nigeria as a nation. The responses you would get are corruption, insecurity, jobs, infra structural development, women empowerment, youth development, education being the critical areas needing attention. When I remind them and pointed out the transformational strides of this present administration, some understood and are already in conformity while some continue with their chants. For instance, in Nigeria now this is the first government that has achieved the full diversification of the economy. The minister of agriculture not only put to rest the monumental corruption in the fertiliser business of middlemen but also ensured that fertilisers as well as improved seedlings reached the farmers directly. This singular gesture has encouraged the farmers to produce more and store enough produce in renovated and newly constructed silos provided by the government. Insecurity has seen a remarkable boost with areas after areas being reclaimed by our military men upon receiving the right type of equipment. These equipments had to be produced, shipped and soldiers trained to adequately man them. An example of a case of corruption the proponents of change are quick to point out is the Police Pension bruhaha. I am also not happy with the outcome of this case,but the fact of the matter is this as I have come to realize this government has not acted like some others in quashing and arm twisting the other arms of government into doing its bidding. In contrary, it has allowed the Judiciary and the Legislature to act their roles, now an institution of government found an individual culpable of corruption, it arrested and charged the culprit to court but the judge in interpreting the law and meting out justice gave a judgement of a fine of N250,000 to someone who had stolen well over N2 billion. Is the Executive responsible for interpreting our laws and applying justice in this matter? The die hard is quick to forget that this same administration is responsible for fishing out over 50,000 ghost workers, perfected the parole system of civil servants in order to minimise corruption to its bearest and also put a decisive stop to ghost pensioners. Is this not fighting corruption. Women know already that this administration has been true to its promise in having adequate representation of women in its government. For the first time ever we are having over 35% women representation in our government. The full involvement of the private sector has been an instrument for job creation and ensuring capacity utilisation in companies previously run by government. This is why BPE started with communication and now moved to power sector. NITEL and PHCN have not been properly run by governments in the past. These institutions have been a source of maladministration and a conduit for corruption and as such over burdened the budget.The hassle of this proponents of change as I have realised, is not with this administration nor with the person of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan but with the party PDP. As such I want to ask that, Is it right to throw the baby out with the bath water? Of course no. PDP may have its faults but all indications remain that this current administration has performed creditably well Inspite of the menance of boko haram and so deserve another course for continuity to prevail in our development as a nation.

Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog: PDP accuses APC of planning to rig the election


Text of press conference by the Director of Media and Publicity, PDP presidential campaign organization, Femi Fani-Kayode.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, 
It is with a heavy heart that we are compelled to share with the Nigerian public the following sensitive information which we believe, if not handled properly and looked into, is serious enough to affect the outcome of Saturday’s presidential election in a negative way.
Before we go into detail permit me to make an important assertion which cannot be overstated or over-emphasised. That assertion is as follows: the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and our candidate President Goodluck Jonathan are not in the least bit worried about what the outcome of Saturday’s election will be. We believe that we have the backing and full support of the Nigerian people and we believe that we shall not only win but that we shall win convincingly.  


Whatever we share with you here today does not, in anyway, mean that we shall not participate in Saturday’s election or that we are worried about how we will fare. The fact of the matter is that we shall not only participate but we are also very confident of winning. We believe that the Nigerian people will give President Goodluck Jonathan a fresh mandate for the next four years regardless of the shenanigans of the opposition and those that are covertly working for and with them. 


The purpose of this briefing and of sharing the following information with the Nigerian people is simply to ensure that they are fully aware of what is going on and to enable our security and intelligence agencies to ensure that INEC does the right thing, answers some of these questions and put their house in order so that the outcome of the election is not in any way questionable.  


We cannot sit by idly and remain silent when a desperate group of ruthless and greedy little men, in collusion with their friends in the APC, rob the Nigerian people of their historic opportunity to elect a President of their choice. This they intend to do by sitting in a dark room somewhere and rigging the election in the most sophisticated manner even before it holds.  


This is unacceptable and it is incumbent upon us, as a responsible, accountable and sensible campaign organisation to expose the rot, point out the dangers of doing nothing about it, finger and identify those that are involved and call on the authorities to do something about it before it is too late. We shall share this information in good faith and we shall then leave the matter for necessary action by the relevant security agencies and authorities.
 


Our concerns stem from the fact that the moving spirit and a major shareholder and board member of the company that supplied the card reader system and machines to INEC is not only a friend of but also an ardent and keen supporter of General Mohammadu Buhari and the APC. That man's name is Sani Musa and he is indeed the main force behind the company. The company's name is Act Technologies Ltd. and the Chairman of the company is one Engineer SK Danladi.  


How and why INEC would give the contract to supply the card readers to a fanatical APC supporter and to a man whose other company was officially blacklisted by INEC a couple of years ago for sharp practices, needs to be explained. Sani Musa has expressed his undying support for the APC and General Buhari and his hatred and virulent opposition to the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan openly and publicly on his Facebook wall. Some of his comments on Facebook read as follows: ''I stand with him (Buhari) for whatever reason” and “Imagine the kind of people given spaces in our nation’s news tabloids.  Hoodlums are having field day in Nigeria since the inception of GEJ’s administration.  Mad men, hooligans and vultures have taken over decency of the society.  May Allah save us from the torments of this (sic) rascals and expose their intentions on our nation state be it the Boko Haram, killer militants or by extension those in authority with wicked intentions-Amen.”  Photocopies of his Facebook wall where these comments were made and his picture will be made available at the end of this briefing.     
        


Worst still, it is clear that certain aspects of and electronic components within the card reader system which will be used in Saturday's election have not only been compromised but that the encryption codes and so-called ''master key'' may have been made available to the opposition or their friends and agents. This will enable them to access the system, fabricate and generate fake votes and manipulate the voting patterns to their advantage.  


This constitute a very serious breach of security and it is a criminal offence. It is also very dangerous. Worst still it can easily be carried out successfully because, if done quietly and properly and without any deep scrutiny, it is virtually fool-proof. All you need to make it work is to have certain relevant and key INEC officials that are in the know to work closely with the supplier of the card readers and an opposition party that is so hungry and desperate for power that they are ready to pay large sums of money to their friends and associates to help them get it by hook or by crook. 


We believe that all those components are now in place and that the biggest and most brazen attempt to rig elections in the history of our country will take place on Saturday if the necessary measures are not taken to prevent it. If the conspiracy is not exposed, if the Nigerian people do not rise up and demand answers, if the plan is not intercepted and aborted, if the Chairman of INEC does not answer the relevant questions and take the necessary steps and if the relevant individuals, including Sani Musa and his collaborators and co-conspirators in INEC and the opposition, are not called to order, arrested, interrogated and prosecuted their plan may well succeed. 


In view of this dastardly plan that is in the offing and this unwholesome conspiracy, we call on the party leadership and faithful to direct our supporters and polling agents to be very vigilant at every polling booth and to guard and protect their votes. After voting they should stay at the polling booths to ensure that their votes are counted and that they are not manipulated or changed.                      


Ladies and gentlemen, the facts, the evidence and our recommendations are as follows:         


INEC has concluded plans to utilize its recently acquired Smart Card Readers for the forthcoming presidential elections scheduled for March 28th 2015. INEC has carried out a mock poll to test-run the functionality of the Smart Card Reader in 12 states of the Federation with mixed results.


There is an on-going public debate regarding the pros and cons of the planned Smart Card use by INEC with a number of questions being asked regarding the security vulnerabilities of the technology. 


The purpose of this document is:



To highlight the most serious of such security vulnerabilities that are critical enough to justify a halt in INEC's plans to use the Smart Card Readers for the forthcoming general elections (until such issues are satisfactorily resolved and fully certified as being secured by reputable independent third party security auditors).

To demonstrate that the opposition APC has already secured, through rogue means, an unassailable advantage over the ruling PDP which will most likely result in a resounding electoral victory for it irrespective of PDP’s actions or inactions, in the event that the Smart Card Readers are used for the elections.



To highlight the need for INEC to admit to the security-related failings of its Smart Card Readers implementation under circumstances that will be credible to local and international observers, such that it will become obvious that the use of Smart Card Readers for the forthcoming polls cannot guarantee free, fair and credible elections.

The major issues that are worthy of consideration are summarized below. Each issue can be readily substantiated by verifiable sources of evidence.

i. Compromised Master Encryption/Decryption Key: The Master Encryption/Decryption Key that can "unlock" and simulate the PVC data processed by the Smart Card Reader has been compromised.  There is only one copy of the Master Key in Nigeria and it is in the possession of an individual who is a known APC sympathizer/supporter (and also the contractor responsible for the production of PVCs and manufacture of Smart Card Readers for INEC who was already blacklisted by INEC following his inability to deliver ballot papers during the 2011 elections).  The Master Key should rightly be in the possession of INEC, as the neutral umpire, under the most stringent access control protocol imaginable and not freely in the possession of a partisan actor.

INEC has already expressed concern over intelligence reports that APC has been purchasing VINs (Voter Identification Numbers uniquely identifying each PVC), which can only mean that the Party is already in possession of the Master Key (as the purchase of VINs would otherwise have been a fruitless exercise).

This has grave implications for the PDP as the opposition APC, armed with the Master Key and sufficient VINs, can actually simulate the same data transmitted from any Smart Card Reader deployed for the elections at will. The situation is even now worsened by the fact that APC no longer has to purchase VINs or PVCs as they can now download the entire VINs directly from the INEC database which they have successfully “hacked” into.

RECOMMENDATION: INEC should be officially requested to IMMEDIATELY produce the Master Encryption/Decryption Key (before it has the opportunity to cover up this monumental act of negligence).

ii.    Failure to carry out Independent Security Audit of its IT Infrastructure: Contrary to what the average political commentator thinks, the critical IT infrastructure for the use of the Smart Card Readers by INEC is not necessarily the actual device itself, but the back-end IT infrastructure comprising INEC servers, database, network, personnel and processes. Given the critical nature and purpose of this infrastructure, the standard global best practice is for the organisation to enlist the services of an independent third-party IT Security Audit firm to carry out a comprehensive (and indeed, periodic) Security Audit of its entire end-to-end IT infrastructure and prepare a Security Audit Report which forms the ONLY basis upon which INEC can certify its proposed technology as secure and safe from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by rouge persons/systems.

There are various internationally-acceptable information security standard certifications that a reliable back-end IT infrastructure like INEC's should pass in order to command public confidence, such as ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 27018, etc. The lack of such security-related certifications simply means that INEC cannot confidently assert that its systems have not been "hacked", compromised or otherwise illegally accessed by unauthorised persons. 

RECOMMENDATION: INEC should be officially requested to IMMEDIATELY produce a copy of any Security Audit Report independently authored by a reputable and certified third party (before it has the opportunity to cover up this monumental act of negligence).

If INEC fails to produce a satisfactory Security Audit Report, then it should be compelled to conduct a fresh Security Audit of its entire IT infrastructure which can even be extended to its production/manufacturing facilities in China (indeed the only other copy of the Master Encryption/Decryption Key is in the possession of the Chinese Manufacturers) - this process of auditing cannot possibly be completed before the general elections.

iii.    Compromised back-end Personnel: Contrary to standard industry practice, INEC opted for the engagement of relatively inexperienced, “suitcase” IT Consulting Companies for the development of its back-end collation and transmission systems and other core server and database applications, using predominantly open source software characterised by publicly-available source code – another major security vulnerability. While significant budgets were made available for this purpose, INEC's choice of "greenhorn" consultants was due to the ridiculously low contract sums paid for these consultancy contracts. The unfortunate consequence of this indiscretion, however, is that the personnel associated with these firms are poorly motivated, ill equipped, poorly supervised and easily compromised. It is, therefore, easily understandable why the opposition APC has been able to compromise INEC's back-end personnel to its advantage.

RECOMMENDATION: INEC should be officially requested to make public the company profile of the IT Consulting Firms it contracted to develop its back-end IT systems, the Curriculum Vitae of their personnel, their known connections to opposition APC figures as well as the financial details of their associated contracts (vis-a-vis the approved budgets). This will clearly prove the lack of credibility of INEC's critical back-end systems.

iv.    Millions of Unprinted PVCs: Contrary to the public perception that INEC has virtually completed the production of PVCs, the true situation is that, as at last week, INEC was yet to take delivery of over 2 million PVCs that were yet to be produced by the contractor, Act Technologies. It is not certain that the production of these PVCs will be completed before the presidential elections scheduled for March 28th 2015. It is, therefore, obvious that a significant number of eligible voters will definitely be disenfranchised in the process.

RECOMMENDATION: INEC should be officially requested to invite stakeholders to an impromptu visit of the PVC production facility of ACTS Technologies in Ganges Street, Maitama, Abuja to observe, first hand, the on- going production process and take stock of the current and outstanding inventories in a transparent manner.

Absence of Quality Control (QC) Measures and Defective PVC Deliverables: INEC has failed to put in place reasonable Quality Control (QC) measures for the PVCs delivered to it by the contractor - ACTS Technologies. The implication of this procedural loophole is that INEC had and still has no way of determining the extent of "defects" in the supplied PVCs. 

This became most apparent during the recently-concluded mock polls in which a variety of very serious, but avoidable, problems were experienced during the exercise, including PVCs with absent fingerprint data; PVCs with poor picture quality; PVCs with mismatched data (i.e. encoded data different from printed data); Card Readers with low battery lifespan etc. INEC has deliberately hidden the extent of these problems from the general public as there would have been considerable outrage if the scope of the challenges is made known. 

Furthermore, nobody in INEC can reliably predict the likely percentage of defective PVCs that have already been distributed until during the actual election itself. If the percentage is significant and more concentrated to specific geographic locations, as is being suspected, then it is no doubt a recipe for disaster - as it can fuel electoral violence of immense proportions. 

If, however, INEC steps down the use of Smart Card Readers, then the aforementioned “defects” will become irrelevant as the PVCs will then be used as regular Voter Cards without the added complication of authenticating the encoded data. 

RECOMMENDATION: INEC should be officially requested to IMMEDIATELY produce its Quality Control Policy with respect to PVC and Smart Card Reader deliverables.

INEC should also be officially requested to make public the detailed report of its mock poll exercise and its forecast of the probable extent of defective PVCs during the general elections. 

I thank you all for your attention. 

Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog: PDP accuses APC of planning to rig the election - Read statement
http://lindaikeji..co.uk/2015/03/pdp-accuses-apc-of-planning-to-rig.html?m=1

Jonathan all the way...

And therein lies the joke... the clueless GEJ outsmarting Apc at whatever they throw at him...

If i hear say the girl no dey learn...

We have entered a critical week in Nigeria's political History.The world is watching with interest as we go to the polls on Saturday.This great Nation, sure deserves change. Change of attitude, lifestyle, thinking, etc. Not the change that will depend on one man but the change where everyone will take responsibility towards building a better country.Some people have tried to convince me to vote for their candidate because they believe he will bring "change"They say:

On certificate; ...just vote for him even if he presents "NEPA" bill

On public debate; ...just vote even if he shuns every opportunity to explain how he will bring change.

On Religion; ...just vote for him even if he doesn't condemn Islamic extremism

On Recycling old rulers... Just vote for him,he has changed

On Corruption...Just vote even if he's surrounded and funded by corrupt people, he would change them.

On ability to lead a modern Nigeria...they say just vote for him, we have a good team that will teach him.

I asked,why this blind faith? They said, "because the man who is in-charge now has failed, let's experiment with General....he's too old to be corrupt.

"I asked,what if the experiment fails? They said, then we will change him in 4yrs time...hmmmm.

I want a better life for my family and country but I'm grateful for the progress so far made. I'm not ready to throw away what I have and follow the promises of Nigerian politicians.
President Jonathan may not have accomplished all he set to do but no one can deny the fact that his gentle nature and leadership has given us the freedom we never had. Freedom is the core essence of democracy. For the first time in our history even idiots can insult the President and sleep without worry.On Saturday 28th March, exercise your freedom and vote who you like. I'll vote for GEJ. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,God bless and keep us all,Amen. #VoteNotFight#Peace.