Aragon:


I don't think it's about the North being Serious or not Rather the question should be, Are Nigerians ready to Vote in Credible people? In this day and age where Youths praise and Hail that Hush Pupy guy as a Role Model. Didn't the late Gani Fawehimi contest, did Nigerians Vote for him? In as much as Nigerians complain about government, same people will be everywhere praising and Hailing Corrupt politicians

No arguments here. We won't receive better until we demand it. And at present, constituency projects and stomach infrastructure seem to be all that we want so we are still being pimped. And I'm going to research Gani Fawehimi. I'm not familiar with his resume and accomplishments.

pfadom:
What about the south? Why the display tribalism in everything we do! How many women have become governorship or presidential aspirants from the entire south?

When you are right you are right. NOI not at least being governor of Delta State is exactly why with all its resources it wallowsin poverty.

He keeps running his mouth like a faggott in heat. Sucker type ain't done nothing but talk tough then puss out and moan about it. He wouldn't crack an egg or bust a grape but dares speak ill of ZIK?!?! He's runs a radio station and that now qualifies him to talk crazy?!?!

The ancestors are giving this buffoon all the rope he desires. Now he has begun to buy his own BS and will soon hang himself.

If the north was serious about development she would be someone being presented as potential gubernatorial or presidential candidate. Her top notch pedigree is obvious.

He's quite the disappointment.

tobimillar:
Exactly what we expected from Bubu. Still thinking of a Nigerian that can adopt this Tanzania model, and It's sad to note that not even one from the political class can be found. Maybe it's time to look beyond the political class In 2019

Everyone had such high hopes but when the Buhari Tsunami cleared all that was left was promises, body language and agitations. This has been a disappointment entirely for 2 years

Nigeria: Buhari and Magufuli - a Tale of Two Presidents
By Eugene Enahoro
Photo: allafrica.com
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari and Tanzania'sPresident John Magufuli.

As things get progressively worse in Nigeria, President Buhari's supporters claim that his incapacitation aside, two years isn't enough time to effect change, but this simply isn't true. When contesting their respective elections in 2015, both President John Magufuli of Tanzania and President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria said the right things and were more popular than their political party. Buhari said "one of the major killers of our economy apart from corruption is waste". He promised that "when we come into office all this waste will be blocked and properly channelled into our economy." He also promised that our Presidential Jets would be given to a new national carrier "within a year".

Two years into his tenure none of this has happened. While Nigeria under Buhari continues to deteriorate, Magufuli nick-named, "the bulldozer", has had immediate impact dealing positively with corruption, inefficiency, and wasteful spending in government. One of the first things he did was suspend Tanzania's Independence Day celebrations. He said spending money on celebrations after 74 citizens from a Cholera outbreak was totally inappropriate. In Nigeria where mass deaths occur regularly through terrorism, outbreaks of epidemics, and avoidable road accidents, not once has any official party, ceremony or celebration been cancelled.

Tanzanian officials had budgeted 4 Billion Tanzanian Shillings (N560 million) for independence celebrations. Magufuli diverted the money to effect repairs on a dilapidated 4.3-kilometre section of a major highway. To further curb wasteful expenditure, he stopped public officials from foreign travels at government expense except with presidential permission. He also stopped Diplomatic and Ministerial delegations from travelling abroad, in their place he ordered High Commissioners and Ambassadors to represent the nation at international conferences. When he had to attend a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Magufuli cut Tanzania's delegation from 50 to just 4, saving over N80 million in the process! Insisting that government officials have no right to live in luxury at public expense, he limited government officials to using of saloon cars or pick-up vehicles, banning the sort of expensive V8 Jeeps and SUV's widely used in Nigeria. Magufuli also restricted those who must fly at government expense to economy class. To further reduce waste, he banned government Workshops and Conferences from holding in private venues, ordering them to be held in Ministry Board Rooms or Conference Halls at no expense to government. In moderating the lifestyle of government officials, he reduced their perks by banning all sitting allowances, He condemned it as immoral to collect sitting allowances for a job which already pays salary! Contrast this with Nigeria where our self-aggrandising political leaders refuse to moderate their lifestyle or perks, in spite of a deficit budget which requires the nation to borrow.

Magufuli has a reputation for undertaking surprise visits to government institutions. While visiting a major hospital unannounced he was distraught at the non-functional equipment, and patients lying on mattresses on the floor. He sacked the Hospital Director and Board Members and ordered the newly appointed Director to repair all equipment within two weeks or also face the sack. The machines were repaired in three days! There was also the matter of a State Banquet budgeted to cost approximately N42 million. Magulfuli slashed the amount to N3.5 million and used the balance to supply beds to the hospital. 300 hospital beds together with mattresses and 600 bedsheets were purchased with the N38.5 million savings from what officials wanted to spend just to eat dinner! Deplorably, lavish Official Banquets continue unabated at Federal and State level in Nigeria. To further save money, Magufuli reduced both the Presidential convoy, and the size of delegations that travel with him. Rather than fly, he drove 600 kilometres for the opening of parliament, saying the nation couldn't afford to operate its Presidential jets "willy-nilly".

He also said he wasn't interested in waving to people on streets which are given emergency facelifts for official Presidential visits, but wanted to see the real state of things. Turning his attention to Tanzania's "organised private sector", which thrives off defrauding the nation and impoverishing people just like in Nigeria, Magufuli outlawed all forms of tax exemptions and duty waivers. Despite this having some negative effect in the economy, Magufuli's style has indisputably re-woken patriotism in his country. His critics accuse him of being a dictator and mere populist who violates human rights of the wealthy. This may indeed true but he claims that the wealthy violate the human rights of the poor daily. In these times of widespread suffering and hopelessness, only populist actions can relieve the suffering of the underprivileged and give hope that leaders actually care.

Democracy is about the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Magufuli's populist actions level the playing field and make the majority happy. It's not just enough for President Buhari to return home in good health. He must return with a new style. He won the election because people thought he would act with military dispatch and humanity like Magufuli. He has to show that in Nigeria it's possible to quickly make a positive impact upon people's lives. and make the majority happy.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201707180664.html

Maybe things can begin to move...

Tenplet:
so as to balance the scaling

I've never seen a place where quality and qualifications take a back seat to origin and ethnicity. It's embarrassing.

NothingDoMe:
So they've finally succeeded in changing this your moniker from dilldo to love machine .

Anyways your comment is spot on.

Nah man. Different guy. I get that a lot. But we are different people.

jomoh:



Since you're not familiar with his accomplishments, let me help you with one of his statements when he was a military man.


".....cellphones are not for the poor man...."


If this man had being the president as at the time OBJ did, Nigerians wouldn't be using GSM today.

That is just one of his opinions about what poor people are not entitled to. Who knows his present opinion could be that breathing of oxygen is not for poor people, they are not entitled to it.


This man can never win the governorship of his state let alone presidency.

Oh wow! How can these people be so wicked? Our army generals turned politicians are a special breed of evil. His leadership of the NASS explains how and why the are how they are.

I'm not familiar with his accomplishments but with ethnic sentiments and religious mudslinging being the order of the day he just might win...

Arrest these men for terrorist threats. What kind of a country is this?

Sammiejokes:

Oga be informed, building power plant does not have anything to do with profession. Fashola only realised that their is wide difference between Lagos and Nigeria.

In Lagos his budget can get passed without 7 months of wrangling and stalling. The NASS is an elite group of demons from a special kind of Hell.

kka2007:
The Black man will steal from his own people and take the money to his colonial masters. The Black man will only go for vacation abroad...in his colonial Masters' countries....little wonder that the Black man is still behind!

Those are not black people. They are dark skinned Caucasians. They have lost the privilege of being Black. No self respecting Black person does anything close to what you typed.

They embarrassed themselves on this one. People calling for a referendum after being shot during peaceful protests and prayers are terrorists? In what world? Get real!

Gurumaharaji:
Very obvious this government no get brain......Clueless government

At this point clueless is a compliment. The have toothpaste for brains. I've never experienced such a worthless government. I thought the good luck years were bad. I thought Bushanomics was hell. But this regime takes 1st place in the competition.

They called for southern unity but I doubt they thought it would be a mutual agreement of exit. Adios Nigeria as we know her.

Why am I not surprised?

Nigeria: Who Will Save Fashola?
By Josef Omorotionmwan
opinion
There was an African folklore involving an ant that wanted to get rich quick. The ant went to a native doctor to prepare a charm for big luck for it. Having paid the native doctor's charge, the ant was given the charm.

Just around the corner on its way home from the consulting clinic, the ant found a dead elephant. That's big luck quite alright, but from where was the ant going to start eating? That was a challenge borne out of big success.

At the inception of the current administration, big luck was the portion of Babatunde Raji Fashola, when at inauguration, he was assigned to three big Ministries as Minister of Power, Works and Housing. Many questioned the rationale for packing three gigantic Ministries that ordinarily required at least six Ministers into the hands of a single man. From Day One, it was clear that Fashola has to work six times as hard as other Ministers to be one-sixth as good as them.

Understandably, the world around Fashola soon started crumbing when total darkness replaced the faint candle light that the nation had when he assumed office; these days, no one talks of the government providing houses for the people - the deficit in our housing stock rises astronomically by the day; and our highways are death-traps, with potholes at first now graduating to pigholes across the country. Meanwhile the hawks are asking for Fashola's head.

He is currently at war with them. It is a war of attrition; and no matter how hard Fashola fights, he cannot win. In every direction, Fashola is oppressed, compressed and depressed. He is crying in the wilderness and nobody is listening.

Shall we proceed to examine a few instance of how this man has been entangled all over? Fashola may not be right in saying that the National Assembly cannot tamper with the Budget Estimates submitted by the Executive. The process of appropriation is a process of lawmaking; and nowhere is it required that Executive Bills must be passed as submitted.

Indeed, the National Assembly can tear the Budget Estimates apart and rearrange it. But in doing so, they must remember that this is a document that has been carefully put together over time after a deep consideration of available resources.

Therefore, there are two imperatives that must be observed: first, the legislators cannot escape the need to indicate the source of funding for whatever increases they bring about; and secondly, they cannot disorganise a project that has been duly authorised by truncating the funds allocated for its execution.

This is where the National Assembly attempted to be clever by half. In terms of source of revenue for the budget, the National Assembly upped the benchmark of our crude oil to $44 from $42 per barrel originally suggested by the Executive. Thereafter, they jettisoned all other rules of budgeting.

In fact, a close look at the budget shows that Fashola was asked to go and perform wonders with his two hands tied to his back. There was a deliberate attempt to cripple the Minister in all areas.

The Administration came with a burning desire to do the Second Niger Budget. Yet, of the N10 billion provided in the 2016 Fiscal Year, not even one Kobo was released.

Admittedly, this is the first bold attempt to start work on this all-important bridge. What a crying shame that our legislators from the South in general, and the South East in particular, could preside over the scuttling of the effort to build this bridge just for their personal interest, after successive administrations had used it as votes-catcher that was only talked about immediately before general elections.

There was a provision of N15 billion in the 2017 budget, which the National Assembly has arbitrarily reduced to N10 billion - even after the cost had been successfully defended and agreed upon.

Again, the Contractor, Julius Berger, had mobilised to site, awaiting the green light to commerce work. Hear Fashola: "... The National Assembly has reduced the budgets of critical projects of the Ministry and inserted projects that have nothing to do with the Ministry... They inserted projects outside the purview of the Ministry in the 2017. Appropriation, such as Primary Healthcare Centres and boreholes".

Fashola speaks further: "We were asked to complete those abandoned projects. The budget for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was reduced by the National Assembly from N31 billion to N10 billion. We are owing Contractors about N15 billion and they have written to us that they are going to shut down". The budget for the Okene Lokoja-Abuja Highway has virtually been reduced to zero.

All these cuts were just to mop up funds for their so-called Constituency Projects, which are domiciled mainly in Fashola's ministries.

Apart from the 200 uncompleted roads inherited from the previous administration, the Minister laments, "the lawmakers added 100 roads. These roads are not federal roads and some of them do not have designs... ." What a disaster?

Incidentally, the best time to talk of insufficient funding is during the budgetary process, not after the Appropriation Bill has been signed into law. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had enough reason not to assent to that bad appropriation. If possible, let the spoilt world spoil! After all, things would normally get worse before they get better.

Nigeria's problems cannot be solved by a fiat or a single stroke of the Statesman's pen; but by millions of separate steps by all of us, an inch at a time. In this process big luck has no place. Essentially, the time has come to unbundle the Fashola Sector so that each of those three Ministries can stand on its own. And indeed, the Federal Executive Council should immediately be rearranged for maximum efficiency and productivity.

We must save Fashola to save Nigeria. The National Assembly must stand to be counted. Everything is not really about Fashola. The question is whether we shall develop our country or let it die. All those who desire the former must eschew the path of immediate gratification; and choose the path of lasting progress.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201707130148.html

Real talk

This is what Utomi has been calling for. Nice to see the inaugural meeting. Now for action and development.

akoredeadejoke:
Do you even know the meaning of referendum?

My people keep shouting referendum because they believe there is no way that anyone will vote to stay. Unfortunately, they don't understand that a referendum can be manipulated.

It's about time!

Amarabae:
Okowa the dental model.

See finishing!

No money!

krendo:
Nigeria has a long way to go

I am still trying to process why Nigerians elected Buhari in 2015

It tells you a lot about our character as a Nation

2015 was a battle of who could outrig their opponents. No one played a clean game.

BRF serving up humblepie for the legislooters.

This is turning into scooby doo. Which way NASS?

Utomi at the helm would end all this drama.

See finishing!

Name checkers lament. Only idiots fall for bigotry within blackness.