₦airaland Forum

Middle Belt will slug it out with far North in 2019 —Hon Kaze
tribuneonlineng.com


Middle Belt will slug it out with far North in 2019 —Hon Kaze
Honourable Bitrus Kaze is a former member of House of Representatives, in this interview with ISAAC SHOBAYO, he speaks on the zoning of Presidency to the North, exclusion of the North-Central, restructuring and other issues. Excerpt:
Sir, from all indications the two major political parties in the country have zoned presidency to the North and most of those aspiring to be president in 2019 are either from the North East or North West, does it means the North Central has no presidential materials?

It is too early to come to the conclusion that the Middle Belt has no presidential aspirant merely because those who are indicating interest at the moment are either from the North East or North West. I am not aware for example that President Buhari has declared interest to contest in 2019 but I am unable to say that he will not contest just because he has not so indicated at the moment. From the history of Nigeria, the Middle Beltans have more than capable hands who are qualified and ready as always to provide leadership for Nigeria especially now that agitations for balkanisation of the country are being renewed.


Don’t you think the North Central should be given the opportunity to present a presidential candidate in 2019?

The Presidency of Nigeria is not a matter of chance and I am not sure the Middle Belt will assume Nigeria’s Presidency by chance. We will slug it out with the far North and Nigerians know better who among the two is more tolerant, accommodating and unifying when it comes to relating with fellow compatroits.


Quite a lot of people are of the opinion that Nigeria runs the most expensive democracy in the world and for this reason either the Senate or House of Representatives should be scrapped to reduce cost, do subscribe to this?

I don’t believe that Nigeria runs the most expensive democracy in the world neither do I subscribe to tampering with our bicameral National Assembly. Just because a lot of people share particular opinion doesn’t always justify such views. The Jews overwhelmingly opined that Christ be crucified but His crucifixion remains unjustified. The House overwhelmingly supported our suspension in June 2010 but the court held that our suspension was a tyranny of the majority. Surely a majority can be wrong. Given our military hangover, a lot of Nigerians don’t even see the need for the legislature in the first place, therefore, whatever is spent on the legislative arm of government amounts to waste to some people. Democracy is comparable to education; if anyone thinks education is too expensive let them try illiteracy. If despite our bicameral parliament we are still struggling with the overbearing tendency of the executive arm of government, you can be sure that a few people will pocket Nigeria if either of the chambers of our parliament is scrapped. We need both. Democratic rule may be expensive by nature but undemocratic rule is even more costly. I believe that over time most Nigerians will accommodate the legislature in their psyche when democracy becomes more entrenched.


Those clamouring for the restructuring of Nigeria see it as a solution to the structural imbalance and other problems confronting the country, can this address the problems?

A lot of semantics have been deployed in trying to resolve the national question. It was true federalism, then resource control and now it is called restructuring. Anyone may disagree that the age-long clamour for restructuring will solve Nigeria’s structural problems; surely however that Nigeria truly needs to squarely face our national structural imbalance now cannot be contemplated. I won my elections in 2007 with about 110,000 votes my four opponents scored a combined vote of about 50,000. There are some Senatorial Districts where elections are won and lost with less than 70,000 votes and there some Senatorial Districts that are exactly the same electoral constituency as the House of Representatives. The electoral constituencies in Nigeria was fashioned out by the military which put some parts of this country in vintage positions over others. For example, the North West geo-political zone is constituted by seven states while the South East has only five states. Kano State alone has 24 members in the House of Reps while the whole of the South-South geo-political zone, which produces the economic livewire of the country has 41 members. I can go on and on, we may continue to pretend only at our national peril.


Recently, the Federal Government posited that Nigeria is out of economic recession, from the indices on ground, can we say the country has exited recession?

Like you rightly said, all the indices on ground show a worsening economic situation. I don’t understand why after pumping billions of USD into the economy, the exchange rate is still hovering between N360 to N370 to a USD. To me this is false economy, what would have become of our foreign exchange rate had government not injected these billion into the market? Government should concentrate on the productive sectors and spend massively on infrastructure to create jobs. What has become of the billions recovered from treasury looters, how have the huge recovery been reinvested?A political party may win elections by propaganda but they cannot provide and sustain good governance by propaganda. They may continue to claim that we are out of recession, but the masses know better that things have changed but only for the worse.


Do you think entity called Nigeria should be renegotiated by all ethnic partners to chart a better course for the country?

Much as Nigerians feel very strongly about their ethnic roots, I am not sure that renegotiating Nigeria only purely on the basis of ethnicity will sort us out. All the key issues need to be taken into account, in addition to ethnicity, fundamental freedoms including that of religion and fair economic competition matter a whole lot. If negotiating Nigeria’s future is exclusively on the basis of ethnicity then those of us who are from the minority ethnic nationalities may be losers from the outset. The resources that have sustained Nigeria’s economy for long have been derived from ancestral lands of ethnic minorities but the majority ethnic nations have always deployed their numbers to force their way.

Nigeria runs a federal system more by name than in practice, we run a powerful unitary system coated in the garb of a federal system. What is missing to my mind is the will to pursue a true federal system and the will is not there because what obtains favours some particular sections of the country and they would do anything to maintain the status quo.

Nigerian embassies facing threats from host countries —Senate
vanguardngr.com

…Says building permits to be revoked
…Rents for embassy staff not paid

ABUJA—THE Senate, yesterday, raised the alarm that the nation’s diplomatic missions were facing challenges of inability to pay home-based officers allowances, local staff salaries, rent for residences, chanceries and other staff official quarters.

According to the Senate, with these myriad of issues and financial woes, the collective and corporate image of Nigeria is suffering at the moment, thereby resulting in the loss of prestige and influence in the comity of nations.


It, however, vowed to come up with ways to fix what it described as total mess and embarrassment to the country.

The resolution of the Senate was sequel to a motion by Tijjani Yahaya Kaura (APC, Zamfara North), entitled: “The urgent need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fund our Foreign Missions.”

The senators, who painted a gloomy picture of Nigerian diplomatic missions, said there was also paucity of funds for other sundry expenses, adding that there were threats by host countries to revoke building permits of some property belonging to Nigerian missions.

The threat of revocation of the permits was said to have been informed by the buildings’ poor structural conditions, which constituted hazard to the communities they were located.

Presenting the motion, Kaura said: “The Senate notes that Nigerian diplomatic missions are facing several challenges, including their inability to pay home-based officers allowances, local staff salaries, rent for residences, chanceries and other staff official quarters, in addition to the dire lack of funds for other sundry expenses such as visits to Nigerians in jail and provision for other consular services.

“It regrets that there are threats by host countries to revoke building permits of some property abroad belonging to Nigerian missions, following their poor structural conditions, which constitute hazard to the communities where such buildings are situated, and lack of routine maintenance that will bring such structures in line with the building codes of host countries.”

“It further regrets that the Ministry’s budget envelope is grossly inadequate to meet its expenditure requirements, even at headquarters and with this situational analysis, the ministry’s approved 2017 budget would hardly provide the needed impetus required to achieve Nigeria’s foreign policy goal and objectives in pursuance of our national interest;

“Consequent upon these myriad of issues and financial woes, the collective and corporate image of Nigeria suffers, resulting in the loss of prestige and influence in the comity of nations.

“The Senate is worried that some of these problems arise as a result of over staffing in our foreign missions; following our flagrant refusal to comply with the provisions of the presidential ceiling of the staff strength of individual missions based on the Ministry’s grading.”

At the end of deliberations, the only recommendation that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyema, Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele be summoned to brief the Senate on the poor condition of foreign missions, was thrown out.

Instead, the senators resolved to set up an adhoc committee to engage the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors, high commissioners, Charge d’ Affairs, other stakeholders and come up with possible ways of addressing the problem raised in the motion.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has not announced the composition of the committee.

Buhari’s Minister flown abroad for treatment
nigeriapoliticsonline.com

The Minister of State for Education, Anthony Anwukah has been flown to the United States for medical treatment over an undisclosed ailment.

This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, during a press briefing on the 2017 World Teachers’ Day in Abuja.

Mr. Adamu however craved for prayers for the speedy recovery of the junior Minister.

“Please permit me to ask us to say a minute prayer for the Minister of State who is away in the U.S to receive medical treatment for an illness,” Mr Adamu said.

According to the him, Mr Anwukah needed prayers from Nigerians especially stakeholders in the education sector.

Why Nigerians should stop criticizing Buhari’s Independent Day speech – Lai Mohammed
nigeriannewsdirect.com


Nigeria’s Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, has given reasons Nigerians should stop criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day speech.

A lot of Nigerians have criticized Buhari’s speech, saying that it fell short of what they expected on such an occasions.

But reacting to the criticisms that have trailed the speech since October 1, on AIT’s Focus Nigeria, monitored by DAILY POST, the Minister said the President wouldn’t have said anything else apart from the things he told Nigerians.

According to him, President Buhari, in his speech, addressed the most important challenges facing the country.

Lai Mohammed said, “57 years after, I’m still optimistic that Nigeria will be great. Living together for 57 years with all the challenges; with all the ups and downs show that we are growing stronger. I think there’s hope for Nigeria.

“Oh yes, there’ll be agitations here and there; there’ll be ups and downs; But I think in this administration, we are getting our priorities right. We are focused on the economy; we are focused on governance; we are focused on things that will improve the quality of lives of Nigerians.

On president Buhari’s Independence speech, he said, “I think it depends on how the people look at the Independent Day speech of President Muhammadu Buhari. The President started with what I think is the most important thing: The unit of this country.

“Then he went to the issue of security; the issue of the economy and then the issue of fighting corruption. I think these are issues that are genuine; these are issues without which we cannot move forward. He is telling us that if we don’t have a secured country, there won’t be any development.

“If we do not have unity, there won’t be any development. Mr. President is taking advantage of history to say that ‘I have fought in a civil war before and I know the horrors of a civil war that its not a joke and nobody should even toil with it.’ I think Mr. President was very frank and he expressed his concern on what he thinks is important to this country.

“And of course, if the President does not talk about the achievements of the government on that day, what else is he supposed to talk about? Nigerians don’t want to hear what you want to do as much as what you have done.”

Nigeria: Buhari Has Endorsed Me for Second Term, Says El-Rufai
allafrica.com


Kaduna — Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has said President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed his re-election bid in 2019.

In a live radio interview with local radio stations in the state on Sunday, the governor declared that with the endorsement by Mr. President, he would definitely seek re-election.

In the interview which was conducted in Hausa language, el-Rufai said after his endorsement by party stakeholders on September 16 to run for a second term in 2019, he went to brief the president who also gave him the green light.

"It was after I have finished briefing him that he (the president) gave me the nod to seek re-election together with my deputy," he said during the radio programme.

The governor however said his endorsement does not mean that any person interested in the governorship cannot come out, stressing that the constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC) allows for primaries to elect a flag-bearer just as it equally allows for a consensus candidate if the majority of the party members agreed on a consensus candidate.

He said whatever might be the case, he is ready to face anybody in a free contest in order to clinch the party's ticket for a second term.

Also commenting on the seeming crack in the state chapter of the party which had led to the emergence of factions, the governor maintained that it was the handiwork of some disgruntled elements who think they can only thrive if there are crises.

"Very soon we are going to invite every stakeholder to a meeting and allow anybody who feels he or she is short changed to express his grievances. We are democrats and we are ready to adjust if we erred," he said.

A faction of the party which is loyal to the governor had at a recent stakeholders' meeting, endorsed him for a second term come 2019.

A retired senior military officer and one time governor of Kaduna State, Mouktar Muhammed, is dead.

Mr. Muhammed, a retired air vice marshal, died Sunday evening, according to a Facebook announcement by his younger brother, Faruk Dalhatu.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr. Muhammed died in a London hospital

Mr. Dalhatu, who described the deceased as “patriarch of the Dalhatu family” gave the cause of his death as cancer.

The retired military officer was the first governor of Kaduna State after its creation in 1977 by the military administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.

He had earlier served as the Minister of Housing, Urban Development and Environment from 1976 to 1977, following the coup that brought Murtala Mohammed to power, in which he played a role.

Mr. Muhammed was famously head of one of the military tribunals that tried second republic politicians suspected of corruption under the military administration of Muhammadu Buhari, from1983 to 1985. Many of those politicians were sentenced to decades in prison.

On toppling Mr. Buhari in 1985, Mr. Muhammed had a short-lived stay in the coming Ibrahim Babangida regime, due to his disagreement with the “palace coup” that ousted Mr. Buhari.

From 2002, he spearheaded activities of The Buhari Organisation, TBO, a political group that championed the aspiration of Mr. Buhari to become Nigeria’s civilian president.

He was, last year, named as chairman of the governing council of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Until his death, Mr. Muhammed, who held the title of Wazirin Dutse was deputy chairman of the Board of Trustees of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF.

He was also chairman of Kano-based Freedom Radio.

hopefulLandlord:
All Abrahamic gods do not exist

orisa37:
Read Hebrew often.

gemale:
Amen & to you also. I appreciate your prayers & i also pray the same for you. It is my most sincere prayer that if we don't meet in person on earth, we meet in the Lord's kingdom. All glory goes to Almighty God & no credit should go to me. I am only a tool All is His doing. I pray only that after everything, you, everyone who read those words & i would hear these words "well done, good & faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master". God bless you.

gemale:
So Jesus didn't obey the voice of God? What about Paul, peter & the apostles who except john all died violent, unnatural deaths? Even john that was exiled to patmos was because he was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil but miraculously survived. All these men faced sufferings & tribulation. Was it because they were at variance with God's will? So it wasn't Jesus that appeared to ananias & told him that paul would suffer for His name's sake? Was paul preaching heresy when he said "we glory in tribulation also" (romans 5:3)? The word "Christian" means "Christ-like". Christ suffered & as His follower, you expect immunity from suffering? Is a servant greater than his master? If you are not denying yourself, picking up your cross, then let me put it plainly to you; you are not following the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ.

gemale:
God delivers us in tribulation. He doesn't deliver us from tribulation. He doesn't grant us immunity from tribulations but give us the strength to face it & emerge victorious. The Bible says “When you walk through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you pass through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2-3). "when" indicates certainty not probability. The word "tribulation" comes from the Latin word "tribulum", a heavy threshing-sledge used to thresh freshly harvested wheat. As a tribulum separates wheat grains from husk so does tribulations separate us from carnal chaff if rightly received. However, i agree with you in not active searching for suffering. Whatever cross is laid on you, carry.