₦airaland Forum

When beauty pageant waz meant for Everyone to see both old and young adult, children, all religion etc

Buhari to Nigerians: I'll get economy right



President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that his administration will get the economy right by the grace of God.

President Buhari on Sunday gave the assurance in his Eid-El-Kabir message to Nigerians.

The president said he saluted the citizens' steadfastness in spite of the difficult economic times the country was going through.

President Buhari acknowledged that the citizens had exhibited in equal measure, piety and sacrifice which, according to him, are lessons of the Eid.

He said the present recession was as a result of cumulative effects of worldwide economic downturn and failure in the past to plan and save for difficult times.

According to Buhari, "It is impossible to separate the present from the past, to appreciate the extent to which mistakes of the past are affecting everyday life today."

The president also assures that his administration was working round the clock to remove the hardships the country was going through.

"Rail and road constructions, projects in the housing sector, support for farmers and for small and medium scale industries, youth and women's empowerment programmes, support for revival of industries are all designed to reinvigorate the economy and enhance living standards of ordinary people.

"We are getting security right. We are stopping corruption in its tracks and we will get the economy right by the Grace of God," President Buhari stated.

He enjoined Muslims to live by the dictates of Islam as well as to keep good relationships with their Christian brothers and sisters and as patriots in order to maintain the spirit of the Nigerian nation.

Source:
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/news/buhari-to-nigerians-i-ll-get-economy-right/162208.html#8eVRYiRUvyhMeq83.99

In Igbo land

Deputy Parent,
Sole Provider,
Assistant Jesus aka Saviour


In Yoruba

Family head (Olori ebi)



You can add yours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muXcDInSGU4

Funny, he must have been a core cultural father

https://youtu.be/muXcDInSGU4
[Flash]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muXcDInSGU4[/flash]

Congratulations, she is so grown and beautiful.
Ladies don't abort ooo. See how a 5 month child look.

A good write up, I hope the president and his aide will read this in this their festive season.

You have spoken the mind of Nigerians to the Government

Fellow Nigerians, I doubt if there is anyone who does not see and feel President Muhammadu Buhari is a complex character. As a matter of fact, that is the veritable hallmark of his persona and super brand. Those of us that supported him voluntarily, and almost blindly, last year did so out of our acute frustration with Project Nigeria.

There were those who hated his guts but still went ahead to vote for him because they expected him to wave the fabled magic wand and bring sanity and succour to our insane clime. What no one bargained for was the repercussion, and reverberation, of such venture and adventure. As always, Nigerians felt their situation could never be worse under Buhari than that of the 16-year rule of profligacy of the PDP and the squander-manic regime of President Goodluck Jonathan.



The APC operatives ran a blistering campaign with active collaboration and connivance from some of us. On the matter of the continuation of the Jonathan Presidency, there was no negotiation. Even now as people pummel us over the seeming inertia or retrogression of the Buhari government, I still stand by my decision to support Major General Muhammadu Buhari, warts and all. Walahi, I would have loved any of the combinations of Donald Duke, Nasir El Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, Aminu Tambuwal, Mobola Johnson, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Nuhu Ribadu, Oby Ezekwesili, Charles Soludo, Akinwunmi Adesina, Pat Utomi, Kayode Fayemi, and some of our other tested and brightest young stars.



They may have their personal foibles like all mortals do but I’m persuaded that Nigeria would have joined the comity of other nations parading some youthful cerebral leaders by now. But the ways of Nigerian politicians are not the ways of mere mortals. We have our unique and peculiar methods of doing things. Our incorrigibility is almost second to none. Everything about us is about self and self alone. Everyone’s permutation is about who is his friend, school mate, church member, Muslim brother, godfather or godson, village folk, and so on. It is not about what you know but more about who you know. Nepotism is the order of the day!


That is why the best of the myriad of Nigerian brains would never be able to win elections at certain levels because of our irredeemable obsession with primordial and parochial sentiments. The import of my preamble is that Buhari was a product of our maddening and inordinate search for a near saint amongst us and he perfectly fitted the bill. Buhari himself must have assumed that the votes given to him were signed off carte-blanche and in blind trust. I’m sure he never expected that the honeymoon would not be an endless romance.


But things and times have changed. It is now sour grapes time. Except for profiteers and/or pretenders who would not tell our President the gospel truth, things are falling apart. The reasons are not because of what Buhari and company are doing wrong but because of what they are not doing right which I hope to enumerate and dissect.


I had chosen to write on this topic before I received the message quoted below from a young, concerned Nigerian reflecting on the “new” rebranding that we have been subjected to. His views mirror the present mood of the nation and the restiveness of our people especially the young ones who fought gallantly for Change and PMB!


“President Buhari, with all due respect to your high office, you are losing me. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with your advisers? Who got you to sign up to the cliché called “Change Begins With Me” and to throw the weight of your office behind it? Did they put together a crack team of psychologists, communicators, sociologists, political scientists, etc? I refuse to believe that this programme, and especially the name, is the product of deep thinking and reflection.


First, the idea that “Change Begins With Me”, renders all our efforts to get you elected in 2015 worthless. Heck, why did we bother? If it’s going to start with us Lilliputs, we might as well have left Goodluck Jonathan in office and allow him and his band of hopeless cohorts to get on with the good job they were doing of raping Nigeria. Don’t you get it? Change began with you! We, the people, already implemented the biggest change possible with turning around this country by electing you on the mantra of change. So why are you now passing the buck? The buck is on your desk. Make the change happen and we will follow from there. It’s over a year and many, sadly, are already suffering buyer’s remorse. Arrest the trend!

Secondly, what change can any single individual put into action that will impact the culture and behaviour of 180m people in double quick time? We are in a hurry, Mr. President. So much has been lost. So to rely on Adeola, Abubakar or Opara to start the change and hope that we will be counting gains in months is delusional. You don’t have all the time. We do not have the time. Start the Change!” – Chris Adetayo
Let me reiterate that I have had the privilege of meeting and interacting with some members of the Buhari administration.

I can confirm that I have held discussions and communicated the feelings of both the rich and poor on the streets directly to them. However, I am not sure that they are in tune with the reality of things on this side of the divide. I believe I have sufficient knowledge of the political history of Nigeria. I’m afraid to say, I see the same symptoms of afflictions that ravaged previous governments and rendered them incapacitated. I’m saddened that no lessons seemed to have been learnt from our beleaguered past. Government appears to believe only in its own mind-set and every complaint or suggestion is summed up in some dangerous conclusions: the wailing wailers; corruption is fighting back; the suffering of Nigerians is exaggerated, etc.

Equally worrisome is the apparent paranoia that has crept into our senior government officials. Every commentator or demonstrator is perceived an enemy of government. I was surprised to read how my childhood friend and brother, Femi Adesina, singled me out in his article yesterday and accused me of insinuating that he was too comfortable in Aso Rock. There are so many occupants in Aso Rock and I know the limits of Femi’s influence on the men of power. I can never blame him for what I clearly know is beyond him. He faces the same dilemma of his predecessors who found themselves defending the indefensible in order to exhibit their hard work, competence and loyalty. It is a delicate and thankless job that leads oftentimes to Golgotha. I love Femi so much that I would rather offer him my sincere prayers instead of hanging him.

Let me go to the next case at hand. I could not believe the shabby treatment meted to Mrs Oby Ezekwesili and other members of the Bring Back Our Girls agitators. Their harmless and defenceless group is being harassed for merely exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights of expression, association and movement. They constitute no danger whatsoever to society. Even if President Buhari won’t receive or entertain them, a senior member of the Federal Government should have been assigned to meet, pacify and reassure them.

Something is terminally wrong with our crisis management capabilities. Our proclivity for mismanaging and escalating troubles is legendary. This particular case is as disgraceful as it is unnecessary. Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, these were the friends of Buhari. They had pinned their hope on the muscular and military abilities of our President to liberate the Chibok girls in a jiffy. If things were proving difficult as it seems, constant dialogue is the only way out of the debacle.

But the handlers of Buhari prefer to fuel the long held belief or myth that Buhari is a mean and ruthless man. This is not good. It also comes at the wrong time. This administration has been accused of several human rights abuses and, according to the Minster of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the President is heading for the United Nations on Tuesday to make the case that his administration is not guilty of such allegations. Intolerance for the rights of expression, association and movement cannot be a good way of making out such a case.

Anyone who has met President Buhari would readily attest to his simplicity and humility. His witty jokes are remarkable and legendary, just like his hearty smiles and laughter are infectious. He certainly means well for Nigeria and wants to rid our nation of the debilitating cankerworm of corruption and indiscipline. Why, therefore, would anyone want to remind Nigerians that the Buhari in uniform is not different from Buhari, the born again democrat. Why are they compounding Buhari’s image of an irascible dictator? Buhari needs to make a conscious effort to tear the toga of vindictiveness and irritability that appears to surround him. The biggest image deficit he has today is due to the fact that his biggest pet project, the war against corruption, is believed to be largely uncoordinated and too staccato in outlook.

It is difficult to ignore the cries of so many Nigerians who feel let down by a government that promised so much change but seems to have short-changed the people who saw Buhari as a liberator. Even if some of the most vociferous complainants are being cheeky and outright mischievous, many are doing so out of genuine concern. They do not want Buhari to fail. It is someone who loves you unconditionally that can do this. They are worried that the President behaves like a man who feels he has all the time in the world when in reality he has none. Some believe that he started fading and failing when he took his time in selecting his ministers and advisers. The intractable squabbles in his Party has also contributed to the lacklustre nature of his government. APC does not look or act like a Party in power. There seems to be no serious input from the Party to the affairs of government and governance.

The government has been wobbling and fumbling by doing the same things PDP used to do that led to the disintegration of the biggest political party in Africa, according to their self-glorification. The war of attrition in PDP has been passed on to APC. A house divided against itself is inviting extermination. And whenever politicians fight dirty it affects governance adversely.

The economy is in shambles and the commonest justification is that Jonathan’s gang looted the treasury. All that is well and good. But Nigerians knew this and therefore voted for Change! We promised to make things much better. Fighting corruption alone would not save Nigeria. We must fight endemic poverty. If Alhaji Lai Muhammed likes, let him launch a million campaigns and waste more scarce resources on doing a rehash of what past governments did that led nowhere. The Yoruba have a way of describing this kind of unproductive sermonisation: “Eni ebi npa ko gbo iwaasu!” (A hungry man does not listen to sermons in the church).

What the people want to see are the following: a drastic reduction in the size and budget of our over-bloated governments; a sustained war against poverty; protection of lives and properties; creating a less rancorous atmosphere for businesses to thrive; special concessions and incentives to employers of labour; a stable currency; upgrading our educational system and making the schools’ curriculum more relevant to our communities and society in general; provision of social infrastructure, particularly power, good roads, hospitals and potable water; and so on.

The mind-set of gloating over the fall of some former members of the privileged class is counter-productive. We must be careful of the image portrayed to foreign investors. Let government concentrate urgently on alleviating the suffering of the people. It is obvious that government may never be able to collect enough money back from the brigands and looters to make appreciable impact on our national treasury. We should stop building our castle in the air and start thinking outside the box.

Source: https://dareheights./2016/09/10/unveiling-president-buharis-mindset-pendulum-by-delemomodu/

So funny

Although I support him on this but I also wish he has said this in the last administration also.

There have been interesting arguments over Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun’s observation that “recession is just a word,” and NAN MD, Bayo Onanuga claiming that reports of hardship in the land is exaggerated propaganda.


I think we need to break down the subject further from a layman’s perspective. Recession is a word, no doubt, but it is more than a word, it is an experience: the experience that the majority of Nigerians is going through. If you are at a significant remove from that experience, it may be difficult to know how it feels, and if you are an economist, you are likely to be conveniently obsessed with textbook ideas.

Recession is when Nigerians begin to shift the traditional dates for social parties. You know we love parties a lot. Virtually every weekend, there is one party or the other, very loud celebrations where people wear the famous aso ebi, and the Naira becomes a flying object, being thrown all over the place, at the musician, the celebrant, and her friends and family, with so much joy floating in the air, and plates of jolloff rice, eaten half way and left to waste, area boys having their own share of the fun, and Nigerians showing the world that life is indeed for the living.


Sometimes, these parties make no sense: imagine a man throwing a big party to “turn the back” of his great grandfather who died 50 years ago (!) – a great grandfather he never knew, or a lavish party to celebrate the purchase of a second-hand car. Those things are very rare these days. And when some parties are held, the date on the invitation card is during the week: can you imagine being invited to a wedding on a Monday? I have seen that happen. The event was over and done with before 5 p.m. Smart way to save money in a season of recession. There were guests of course, but not the kind of crowd you’d get at a typical Nigerian party on a Friday or Saturday. The celebrants actually confessed they didn’t have the means to feed too many people. That is what recession has done. Nobody boasts anymore about “declaring surplus” – a once-upon-a-time very famous phrase in this country!


When I was much younger, my friends and I used to gate-crash parties. Bored, with not much to do, we would dress up and go from one party to the other. It was called “mo gbo mo ya” – I heard and I came. In those days, all you needed was to go to a party to which you had not been invited, and without knowing anybody, you took a seat and before long, someone would come along and ask if you had eaten. In a matter of minutes, whatever you wanted would be placed before you. Drinks? Some friends used to boast about “finishing” a carton of beer, and they would have their fill and quietly sneak away. Try that these days and you would know that recession is more than a word. Virtually every party is now strictly by invitation. Even when it is not boldly stated on the invitation card, you’d get to know the truth when you attempt to gate-crash.Parties are now organised with such strict protocols, it is like trying to access Aso Villa. You would be screened, your bag will be checked, and don’t think it is Boko Haram attack they are afraid of, they just want to be sure you are not gate-crashing, and if you don’t have an invitation card, you would of course be turned back. There are some exceptions of course, where the protocol is a matter of security: particularly at those parties where there would be many VIPs. Nigerian VIPs don’t like to mix with just anybody.


Even if you manage to gatecrash, nobody will attend to you. What operates at parties these days, is a KYG (Know-Your-Guest) system. After sitting down, someone has to identify you as his or her guest. You don’t get served food, unless your host or hostess gives specific instructions. And you can’t drink a carton of beer anymore at your host’s expense! I certainly can’t remember when last I saw anyone getting drunk at other people’s expense at a party. Even close friends of celebrants, the ones who are a bit comfortable, go to parties these days with their own small cooler of drinks. The celebrant will offer you one or two bottles. If you want more than that, the ushers could become hostile or they could tell you pointedly: “drinks have finished.” I have had on one occasion to give the ushers, money to go and get me the drink of my choice. But once upon a time in this country, drinks don’t stop flowing at parties. The host will be so ashamed he or she would order more drinks and apologize to no end.


Where I come from, local women used to go to parties with cellophane bags, hidden away somewhere, and when they are served food, they would pull out the cellophane bag and pour food into it, all of that is done under the table. Next thing: they will start harassing the ushers: “we have not eaten here oh. Nobody has given us drinks: drinks they have moved to their collection cellophane bags! But party organisers have also learnt to be vigilant: they serve table to table; map out the space carefully and monitor the tables. Before 2019, perhaps a time will come when ushers will take your photograph, or there will be CCTV monitors at social events, just so you don’t come back and say you have not been served. That is change. That is recession. If you are a man-about-town, you can’t fail to notice this: that something has indeed changed in the social circuit. But there is that one per cent crowd, whose pockets are still so deep, if you get invited to their parties, it is like going to a surplus declaration event, what Nigerians call “too much money.” Even that is changing though, people are learning to be careful, so they don’t get invited to come and explain how they came about so much money.Recession is when you now read in the newspapers virtually every week about people committing suicide. Nigerians are so fun-loving we were once described as the happiest people on earth. Right now, we will fail the test. Suicide used to be so rare in this country. It was considered impossible. Why would anyone want to kill himself? I used to hear people say: “eba is sweet oh, I can’t come and die” or “life is for the living” or “e go better.” People are not so sure anymore. In the past month, there have been reports about two foreigners doing business in Nigeria who have also committed suicide. Every reported suicide in recent times, has been tied, one way or the other, to the recession in the country. One man had an argument with his wife over school fees and housekeeping money and he went and ended it all. Another man actually left a note saying he had to kill himself because there is too much hardship in the country. Marriages are collapsing. Domestic violence is on the rise.
Husbands that are out of work can no longer maintain their families, they can’t pay school fees, they have become useless in their own homes, they are helpless. Their wives want to leave, even when they are not too sure of the next destination. There are at least two celebrated cases of women who have either slain their husbands or wounded them badly. In both cases, there was that notorious thing about a second woman in the background. Sharing what is not enough for one person with another woman, in a season of recession, could be a crime, but the biggest dysfunction is that of the pocket. One woman, a lawyer oh (!) stabbed her husband in the neck. Another after having sex with her husband, and putting him to sleep, got a matche and butchered him.
The man is presently in what Yorubas call, “boya o ma ku, boya o maa ye” condition. Whether he would live or die is uncertain.Recession is when companies are retrenching everyday or closing shop and SMEs are dying. In the last one year, high unemployment figures have been announced.

Banks have had to shed weight; the foreign exchange crisis has forced many companies to downsize or abandon Nigeria, investors are taking their funds out of the country, many states of the Federation are so much in distress, they have stopped paying salaries.
Civil servants cannot even afford a bag of rice, because their minimum wage is N18, 000 and a bag of rice is N22, 000 or higher in some places.

Recession is when Nigerians now steal pots of soup and basic food items, and they can’t buy rams for Sallah, and they are told “don’t worry, change begins with you!” Every worker who has lost his or her job in the last one year is not the only one affected, the knock-on effect has brought anguish to other dependants, who now have a bread-winner behaving like a bread seeker. That is recession. That is hardship.Recession is when enjoyment spots that used to be filled up every Friday evening are now empty. Nigerians used to celebrate what they call “Thank God it is Friday.” In Lagos, Friday evenings used to be the boys’ night. Husbands didn’t go home early. These days, husbands go home early and Fridays have become slightly boring.


Recession is when prostitutes reduce their charges. I have it on good authority, from those who know, that even prostitutes have had to embrace change. And old girlfriends now demand pension benefits. Recession is when families which used to run the generator 24 hours and boast that their children can’t stand heat, have had to adjust, and run the generator only from 12 midnight, or before.


Recession is when men come out and complain that their wives no longer allow them to touch them: “Are you mad? With the way things are, all you think of is sex?” Kama Sutra rites are best enjoyed only in happy lands. Recession is when in spite of all this, the breweries in Nigeria are posting unbelievable record profits and smiling to the banks. The men go home and privately drown their sorrow in bottles. Mrs. Adeosun, this is the true meaning of recession.


Source: http://omojuwa.com/2016/09/reuben-abati-true-meaning-recession/

Cc: Mynd44, OAM4J

I felt led to drop this note against the fact that some Nigerians, especially on social media, just do not get it.

My criticisms of President Buhari and his administration are often met with statements like, “come and collect your Wailers form,” or “Wailers form has finished,” or “welcome our new wailer” or “Aso Rock has delayed your alert” amongst other predictable inanities. It has become necessary to define the context of some of the terms in the subject matter.

It is the right and responsibility of every citizen to hold the government accountable, this right does not suffer any limitation based on whether you voted for the government in power or not, it is your fundamental human right. Citizens who genuinely care about their country never fail to do same. Holding government accountable includes calling out public officers when they are wrong, continually demanding for transparency and accountability in the running of government and putting the government to task at all times. Take what the Bring Back Our Girls advocacy group are doing for instance, that is a classic way to hold your government accountable. You demand for your rights and that of others until at times you are seen as a pest.

Being a government critic is being a government critic irrespective of who the head of government is. When the government gets it wrong, it is your responsibility as a citizen to call them out. As usual, the so called Wailing Wailers decided to go petty yesterday after I called out the Buhari government saying, “Change begins with selling the presidential jets. ONLY a genuinely rich country should think of having up to 3. We have about 10 jets.” Now, irrespective of who is president, Nigeria has no business owning and maintaining 10 jets for the presidency. This particular statement came on the heels of the “Change-Begins-With-Me” campaign launched by the Buhari administration. An unnecessary campaign in my opinion and the reason for this position has since been treated on my @Omojuwa twitter timeline. No, criticizing the government does not make me a wailer, it makes me a normal citizen.

I do not know what was going through Mr. Femi Adesina’s head when he called out a group as “wailing wailers” but I do not know that its definition cannot wrap up everyone who rises in criticism against president Buhari. The reason is simple and intuitive enough. If you spent five years deifying and praising a largely corrupt and clueless Goodluck Jonathan administration, an administration whose high point was the fact that it left in peace when it got voted out by the Nigerian people, how do you justify your intentions on the altar of national interest when you suddenly realize just months into a new administration you were already calling for miracles, the miracles you did not expect with record breaking oil prices?

A wailing wailer is different from a regular critic in that the regular critic sees something wrong and points it out, he or she even gets to point out ideas to make change happen and the position of the regular critic does not change just because the head of government has changed. The wailing wailer is one who does not care about anything other than to show that Nigerians were wrong to have voted Goodluck Jonathan out. Period. For them, it is about proving a point; you all were wrong to have voted Jonathan out. If you regularly see those who voted Buhari often posting messages like, “even though Buhari is not impressing me, I do not regret voting Jonathan out,” that is because these wailing wailers wake up dialy reminding people they should never have sacked Goodluck Jonathan. For them, it is about nothing but Goodluck Jonathan.

This is why all of us cannot be wailers. Like I tweeted in July after another round of criticisms against the Buhari administration and the so called wailers came with their, “oya come and take form” pettiness again, “I am NOT a Wailer. I do not criticise govt because I hate those who run it or because I am not crying over spilled milk, I just want a better country, irrespective of who is president.


Source: http://omojuwa.com/2016/09/jj-omojuwa-expose-critics-versus-wailing-wailers/

Cc: Mynd44, OAM4J

In the UK government, they are discussing our problems, while some Nigerians still believe is a Scam.

Members of the United Kingdom's House of Commons, today held a debate centered on the missing Chibok school girls. According to some of the parliamentarians, they were moved to tears during the debate and vowed that the House would keep up its pressure to see that the girls that have been in Boko Haram captivity for over 2 years now are rescued.


Watch the debate video http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/3f80ee36-45ac-4ef5-89d9-b03b26b47183?in=13:30:40&out=13:45:53


See more tweets

Donald Trump, brash billionaire businessman and presidential candidate of the grand old party (GOP) or the U.S Republican Party is media favorite for visceral pillory. Ever since he made his brash entry to U.S primary nomination in the Republican Party, media heckles and tantrums have been his lot, but despite his travails in the mainstream media, he crushed his Republican Peers to scoop the presidential nomination. His political insurgency, peppered all the way, with outlandish innuendoes, including the most notorious jibes to ban Muslims from entering the U.S and building a great wall across the shared border with Mexico, which rankled the established pattern of U.S political correctness, jarring the jaws and profaning the serenity of America’s traditional political hypocrisy where grandstanding holds sway.


However amidst Mr. Donald Trump so called daily garbage of unprintable tantrums are some immutable and seriously intelligible diagnosis of what ails the United States of America. He consistently remarked that the worldwide misadventure of Washington is eating away at the vitality of the country to provide for its own people. He implied that there is no sense in American exceptionalism and the burden of a global policeman it has imposed on itself. Mr. Trump promise to make America a normal country that looks after itself and its people first, while contributing its own fair share to global governance. He called President Barack Obama and his former secretary of state currently, the Democratic Party nominee for the presidency Hillary Clinton, founders of the terror group the Islamic State of ISIS.


He clarified, when the main-stream media pretend not to understand what he meant to say that ,Washington military interventions to effect regime change in distant lands, for which Mrs. Clinton is notoriously associated is responsible for the vacuums which ISIS and other terror groups have sprang up to fill. At another time, he promised to whittle, the Washington-led western military alliance, NATO, appetite for wars, by scaling down America’s financial commitment, urging the European members to get ready to pick their own bills for far-flung military adventures if they so wish to undertake one. Mr. Donald says, he will plough back to the Americans for their welfare and upkeep, the fortunes expended abroad to finance wars, revisionist colour revolutions and other provocations that pit America against the world.
For saying that America would under his presidency mind its own business, the war industry and their political and media wing, across partisan divide went up in arms against candidate Donald Trump, but his unmistakable message that seemed to have resonated with the weary ordinary America that shot him to the GOP nominee is likely to see him through the presidency. If he fulfills his vision to restore America to a normal country, that minds its own business, the world would leap to a new framework of multilateralism, engaged in mutual consultations and dialogue of civilizations devoid of the arrogance of exceptionalism and indispensability of any one nation or group of nations.


Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate for November U.S presidential polls, purports herself as the epitome of civilized political behavior but who is actually the political package of the war industry. Her rhetoric of active Washington bohemia across the world is a recipe for global chaos to be orchestrated by a new Washington bully. She and her war industry patrons would escalate confrontations with Russia using the pretext of Ukraine and would most likely draw out China in a military conflict by exacerbating the tensions in the South China Sea.
To deepen the financialization of imperialist rent, the Mrs. Clinton’s Washington will hollow out third world and especially African economies by excessive neo-liberal tightening for greater surplus accumulation of the metropolitan capital.

The chaos of the Middle East will be further expanded as more military violence are likely to be piled up on the existing military stalemate in the region, under the usual arrogance and delusion of the war industry that only military escalation can guarantee its victory and ensure its hegemony.


There is no doubt that the system of U.S global domination has taken a huge toll on the quality of life of ordinary Americans, including the whites working class, who are the main support base of Mr. Donald Trump. The worsening state racial violence in which African Americans are the largest victims in the United States, represent the travels of the overstretched system.
The finesse in the language of American politics has always disguised the undercurrent of systematic exclusion of the working and toiling people to the country’s political and socio-economic mainstream. The highly regimentated discourse of the America electoral politics has been busted by the brash and freewheeling interjections of Mr. Trump. The Trump mystic and even his popularity among American nativist working class is the unusual candour and clinical expressions that mirrors their fears and even hopes. Straying from rudiments of American political hypocrisy and electoral correctness has earned Mr. Trump, the ire of the guardians of the system, including the mainstream media.


The decorum that Mrs. Hillary Clinton exudes and exemplifies is actually the traditional elite double speak that has America high on ideals and rhetoric but low in delivering services to Americans.


Mr. Trump, in casting his wide net of blushful political promises also sells dummies. Hammering immigrations as the reason why Americans have no jobs is a white wash, but if America becomes less meddlesome by minding her own business, most immigrants, would stay home in their own countries to pursue their own dreams.


It may not really matter to the rest of the world, how Mr. Trump resolves many America’s intractable domestic problems but if he could refocus Washington to the real challenge of improving the lives of America, with fewer penchants to global trouble making, the world would be a better place, with Mr. Donald Trump in the White House.


Mr. Onunaiju wrote this piece from Abuja.

Ambode get sense no be small, he donated the land for them to hasten the process while other Governors are lamenting about recession, some are still attracting investors.

This is good news for those seeking jobs, start making enquiries about the company.

Cc: Mynd44, OAM4J

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday demonstrated his commitment to attract foreign investors into the State by approving land for the establishment of a training centre in Lagos where architects, civil engineers and craftsmen will be trained on modern trends and technologies in the construction sector.



Governor Ambode, who gave the approval when he received a delegation from The Knauf Group, which is a German firm currently establishing a $75miilion building/construction tools manufacturing factory in Lagos, said the approval for the land became imperative in view of the need to encourage investors to continue to invest in Lagos.



The Knauf Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of modern insulation materials, dry lining systems, plasters and accessories, thermal insulation composite systems, paints, floor screed, floor systems, and construction equipment and tools.



The delegation was led by a member of the Management Committee of the firm, Isabel Knauf and Consular General of German Embassy in Lagos, Mr. Ingo Herbert.

Governor Ambode, who recalled the last time Herbert visited the Lagos House about eleven months ago, said his administration has remained focused to the promise of upholding judicial and security sector reforms, as well as creating a friendly environment for investment to thrive.

He said the massive investment by The Knauf Group in Lagos was a pointer to the fact that investors were still willing to invest in Nigeria despite the economic recession, and that the country will come out of the economic doldrums even stronger.



“I must commend the German government and The Knauf Group for showing something important to all Nigerians that beyond the economic recession, their total believe in our economy is unshaken because it is not enough for any investor to come into an area where they have never invested before and months after, the parameters for investment are not really looking good, but you stuck in there and beyond the fact that you have gone to procure land, you also have an established office within the last eleven months and you are already pumping in money into what you want to do.



“This is a great pointer to the fact that you believe in the Lagos economy and also believe in the future of Nigeria and I like to encourage other investors to emulate what your firm and government is doing in Lagos and as they show interest, we will not hesitate to give them the necessary support,” the Governor said.

Governor Ambode said The Knauf Group specifically deserved to be commended for not just investing in Nigeria, but also bringing the German vocational expertise on an area of construction that was hitherto not in existence in Nigeria into Lagos.

Besides, the Governor said he was excited about the fact that the firm was not just establishing a factory here in Lagos, but also a training centre where Nigerians will be trained, adding that he would stop at nothing to encourage investors such as The Knauf Group.

Earlier, Isabel Knauf said the team was at the Lagos House to brief Governor Ambode on the progress made so far since the project started in September 2015.



She said the firm has 23 training centres all over the world training about 14,000 people annually, and that they would like to build the same training centre in Lagos where architects, civil engineers and craftsmen would be trained on how to technically install their products.

She said upon completion of the factory, the firm would create 25,000 direct employment, adding that the training centre will cost about two million Euros to establish, while at least 800 Nigerians will be trained annually in the first phase.



Knauf, however, solicited the support of the State Government in land space for the training centre and permit issues, a request which was instantly granted by the Governor.

Source: http://akinwunmiambode.com/lagos-state-government-donates-land-to-german-firm-investing-75m-in-lagos/

– Godsday Orubebe noted that he had a very good relationship with Buhari when he was chairman of ANPP

– He said he wasn’t corrupt in spite of the corruption charges brought against him

– The former Niger Delta minister explained the role he played when militancy was rampant during Yar’Adua’s administration.

Godsday Orubebe has revealed that he had a very good relationship with Muhammadu Buhari before he emerged as president.

In an interview with Daily Trust, the former minister of Niger Delta also revealed the role he played during the wave of attacks by militants during the administration of Umaru Muasa Yar’Adua.

He revealed that it was because of Buhari he visited some states in the north when he was the then chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party.

“In fact, it was because of Buhari that I visited Dutse for the first time. It was in 2003 and we were campaigning. The day we received Buhari in Kano was a great day. We got to Dutse at about 2:00am and we received Buhari at 5:00pm. It was also because of Buhari that I went to Kebbi and Sokoto.

“We were told about his discipline and character, and I didn’t have any reason to doubt it throughout the period I worked with him. I left the ANPP because of prevailing circumstances. I wanted to be in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to change certain things that I never liked and, of course, at that time, the ANPP didn’t have the capacity to change the government.”



When asked about how he feels about the president now, Orubebe said: “Generally, the reason Nigerians voted for him is because they believed in those principles I once believed in. A few things he has done showed that he is still the same person I worked for.


“Many Nigerians would be surprised that you have once worked for the president, considering what happened during collation of the presidential election results…

“There is no Nigerian who, given the situation I was in, would not react the way I did and at the appropriate time, when my book is written, people will know exactly what happened. I was one of the closest people to Goodluck Jonathan.

I was working with security agents, so, I knew many things. Apart from that, the PDP wrote a petition and we took it to the INEC office but there was nobody to receive it. We then took the petition to the INEC chairman at that time, Attahiru Jega.

He gave the petition to his personal assistant in the morning only for one small girl, in the evening around 8:00pm, to throw the petition at us, saying Jega said he was not going to take our petition. I said Jega should please give me an explanation and he said he would not give me an explanation. So, I said ‘if you don’t give me an explanation, this thing will not move forward.

Orubebe also spoke about the hostilities in the Niger Delta region and his appointment as minister.

“I came into governance at a time when there was real crisis in the Niger Delta. I was appointed by President Yar’adua and when I came on board in 2007, a lot of things were happening, government had engaged many people, and things were not working. I told Yar’adua that the real militants will not ask for money. They were fighting for development in the region, so I told him that the best thing is for us to go to the creeks.”

“Yar’adua made me the chairman of a committee and I asked him, (the president) to give me a message for the people. He said I should tell them, ‘if you give me peace, I will develop the Niger Delta.’ I went to the creeks and met with the militants and they gave me conditions for moving forward. That time, Ereka was in prison, so they demanded for Ereka to be released, the vice president to visit the creeks to address them and development.

Goodluck Jonathan and other government functionaries went to the creeks and addressed 2,000 militants. Ereka was released and throughout the period of discussions, the Niger Delta militants didn’t take one naira from the federal government. They paid their own hotel bills and that was how discussions went on till we had amnesty.

“Today, we are back to square one again. I see a lot of mercenaries, I see a lot of commercial people who are not determined to resolve the problems of the Niger Delta, and they are only interested in bringing bogus proposals to the government. I have not seen the real plan of the federal government that is geared towards resolving the problems. Let me tell you, the so-called militants are human beings, they are not spirits, if you talk to the right people, the problems would be solved.”


Orubebe said he was unaware the government was negotiating with militants.

“I am not aware. That is what I am talking about when Yar’adua started. We had uncountable number of groups that said they had the key. Let me tell you one thing, a real stakeholder will not come and tell you that this is what we are doing for the militant.

You will see the sacrifice in his eyes, in his action and approach to things. A real stakeholder will not tell you that he is the only one that can solve the problem, when we get to the creeks, we will come back with an answer. If somebody says he is going to the creeks to talk to the militants, and goes there with soldiers, policemen, which people are they going to meet? If you are going to the creeks to discuss with the militants, you have to go like one of them. You go to the creeks like their brother, like somebody who is also concerned about the development of the Niger Delta and they will listen to you.”

On the issue of corruption, he said: “Some institutions of the government took me to court, and I cried from the beginning that I am not a corrupt man. I was never corrupt. I am one of those people that have been saying that we should fight corruption in this country because we need to fight corruption to move Nigeria to the next level. But in fighting corruption, the institutions of government should not be sycophantic about it, we should be real. Nigerians want the president to fight all corrupt people, even if they belong to the APC, PDP or any other party.”



Read more
https://www.naij.com/960592-relationship-buhari-real-truth-militants-orubebe.html

Even livestocks seems to be facing this change, imagine the kind of animal we are seeing this days and they are not in IDP camp oo.


Buhari pls oo, how can my neighbour share this ram whose meat is almost equal turkey.

God have mercy!

Even livestocks seems to be facing this change, imagine the kind of animal we are seeing this days and they are not in IDP camp oo.


Buhari pls oo, how can my neighbour share this ram whose meat is almost equal turkey.

God have mercy!

Even after a renowned man of God said you should seek for a wife who can pray for hours, this man is not proud of his own whose prayers can even bring a building down, according to him.

Sharing his uncomfortable ordeal with break or make up, he nagged that his spouse prays too loud at night and disrupts his sleep.

He also says he goes to work early and returns late, yet his wife’s prayers will keep him from sleeping on time because they are too long and loud, as if she is ‘fighting with God‘.

I just left wema bank now.

The ATM seized my card after a while I thought it would come out but it did not so I went to the banking hall to complain.

Thank God it is a Wema card I use on a wema ATM.

I was asked if was wema and I said yes, the Lady told me she has to get permission from her boss to either release it or not. I asked her what she mean by that she said CBN has directed that ATM cards seized by the machine should not be released anymore, except the ones by the card.

The card owner is expected to go to his bank and request for a new card.

I just want to inform NL people to avoid using different ATM for different bank.

Have a good evening!

Na wetin people dey face today be this?

The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has debunked the insinuation that most of the elections conducted under his watch had been inconclusive, disclosing that about 70 per cent of elections he supervised were conclusive.

He said in the last eight months, INEC had conducted over 83 re-run elections, seven by-elections and three ends of tenure elections, of which, 58 were successfully concluded.

Yakubu, who said this last week at the 12th All Nigerian Editors’ Conference, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, stated that the 22 inconclusive elections arose from the March 19 elections in Rivers, which all stakeholders agreed were marred by violence, demonstrated by the untimely death of a youth corps member.


“INEC is aware of the huge responsibilities on its shoulders. Let me assure this gathering that we take our responsibilities very seriously. We are constantly evolving innovative ways of improving our processes in order to strengthen the electoral system and make votes count. We will continue to introduce innovations into our electoral system, strengthen our training programme, as well as enhance our logistics and result management system based on international standards and best practices.”

He maintained that inconclusive elections were in areas, where violence took place, and that in instances where the Commission could not vouch for the credibility of the process or its outcome, elections were either cancelled in the entire constituency, relying on Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, or in selected Polling Units, relying on Section 53 of the Electoral Act, as amended.

Source
https://www.today.ng/news/national/163682/70-elections-watch-conclusive-inec-boss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86TwFqg-Aqc

However, the former President Jonathan has denied being a sponsor

Former President Jonathan, Tompolo, Akpabio, Wike, Dokpesi, Others Named As Sponsors Of Niger Delta Avengers
A group that recently split from Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), a militant organization that has claimed responsibility for bombing numerous oil facilities, has claimed that former President Goodluck Jonathan was the grand patron of the NDA. In a statement issued today by Cynthia Whyte, an alias for a male spokesman, the splinter group also named several former and serving governors as sponsors of the Niger Delta Avengers. Those named as “sponsors” included Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Seriaki Dickson of Bayelsa.

Mr. Whyte also identified Senator Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, ex-militant turned contractor, Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo), Raymond Dokpesi, the founder of African Independent Television (AIT), the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Kingsley Kuku, Kimi Angozi, and Patrick Akpobolokemi as other sponsors.

The splinter group, which renamed itself Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), had recently declared its opposition to NDA’s destruction of oil infrastructure in the region, warning that it would disclose the names of individuals and groups backing the militant group.

Mr. Whyte’s statement revealed that the NDA’s sympathizers included Edwin K. Clark, Tony Uranta, Daniel Alabrah, Ms. Annkio Briggs, and Olisa Metuh, a former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Reformed Niger Delta Avengers named Oyege Nimi Brown, VIP Timothy, Joshua Macaiver, Paul Bebenimibo and others as the main operatives of the NDA, adding that Udengs Eradiri, the president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), also known as Brigadier General Murdoch Agbinibo, serve as the NDA’s chief spokesman.

Following the release of the list, a source close to former President Jonathan told SaharaReporters that there was “no iota of truth to the claim that former President Goodluck Jonathan has a hand in the violence in the Niger Delta.”

The source, who asked not to be identified, said he was in touch with Mr. Jonathan, adding that the former president was considering issuing a formal statement to dismiss the claims made by Mr. Whyte.

“If former President Jonathan wanted chaos in Nigeria and the Niger Delta, he would have refused to concede the election to General Buhari and the APC,” the source said.


Source: http://saharareporters.com/2016/08/06/former-president-jonathan-tompolo-akpabio-wike-dokpesi-others-named-sponsors-niger-delta

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared Zannah Bunu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the by-election for Gulani state constituency of Yobe.
This is contained in a statement issued by Bagudu Nma, Information Officer of the commission in Damaturu.
It stated that Bunu polled 6,488 votes to beat Isa Babayaro of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 1,623 votes.
NAN reports that the by-election was conducted on Saturday following the election of Abdu Kukuwa to the House of Representatives to replace Khadija Abba Ibrahim who was appointed minister in the federal cabinet.
NAN also reports that APC still maintains a lead of 24 legislators against PDP’s one member in the state assembly.
(NAN)

Source: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nnorth-east/208224-inec-declares-apc-winner-yobe-election.html

By Gabriel Enogholase, Benin

In this interview with Don Pedro Obaseki, he speaks on why he pulled out of Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary, and his decision to support Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the PDP candidate in the September 10 election in the state and maternal cousin, against the wish of his family.

When you took the decision not to participate in the APC governorship primaries, what was actually on your mind?

Actually, it was a very painful decision and my decision to run for the governorship was also originally based on my belief that it was time for people to step forward and rescue the state. I believe that we should change the wrong notion that politics is for the never-do-wells and insincere people.

What actually led to my withdrawal from the APC primaries was that when I got to Abuja, I sensed that the primaries would be rigged. I pulled out of the primaries because it was not all about winning, but letting people know that they have choices and that is why I started shopping for other parties that might give me a chance to run. Principal among the parties was the YDP, Labour Party which actually gave me honorary membership card and Accord Party.

I looked at the YDP, it is a party for the future, I looked at Labour, there were too many hiccups; Accord Party, their structure was just coming up, so, I decided to settle for Accord Party. My belief was that I would run and going forward, I never knew that we will get to where we are today.

As fate would have it, the Accord people met me and we went to the National Headquarters of the party in Abuja, completed all the formalities and offered the nomination since I was the only one who has purchased the nomination form and we came back to Benin.

The date of the primaries was fixed for the 4th of July, 2016, and it was held with relevant observers from INEC and security agents. We heard on the date of the submission of the nomination form that there was a court injunction with a 48 page supporting affidavit by one Samson Isibor and Isaac Adeniyi alleging that the National Executive of the party was not the actual National Executive, although that National Executive was the one recognized by INEC on its website.

The only alternative for me when it was just seven weeks to the election to start fighting a court case when the court was on its vacation to resume on September 29, was to opt out of the race because it was a coup that was planned against me. When INEC did not publish my name as a result of the court injunction the only reasonable thing to do was to wait and see or move back to my business.

Why did you decide to support Pastor Ize-Iyamu?

Pastor Ize-Iyamu apart from sending emissaries to me drove to my house on one of the Sundays with the entire PDP state executive led by Chief Dan Orbih to solicit for my support. He gave me his manifesto, I asked questions and he gave me satisfactory answers and I also insisted that some of those pet projects that I had in mind must be added to his Simple Agenda for Edo people.

So, anybody that I am going to support must have that. It is not a matter of family issue because I love my family but I love Edo State more. So, if Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has solicited my support, it is beholden on me to listen to him and it is beholden on me to look out of the two that would best serve the interest of my children and the children of all those who work, live and are indigenes of Edo State.

I realised that the best thing for the future of our children, their children’s children that it is better for me to support Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. And the Accord Party also decided to cooperatively support him and on Sunday, the Accord Party executive hosted Pastor Ize-Iyamu and opted to support him.


But members of the larger Obaseki family seem not happy with you over your decision to support Pastor Ize-Iyamu who is your first cousin…?

I don’t want to reply them because my family is not a political party, my family is not a political pressure group, and my family is my family. The act of a few members of the family particularly those who have gone to the press, Mr, William Obaseki and Chief Oyuki Obaseki, to disparage me in the public will not make me to degenerate to replying them, but it is on record that they are neither the head nor spokespersons of my family. If the official head or spokesperson of the family does that, I will reply because I am not the only Obaseki who is on the Pastor Ize-Iyamu campaign train.

When you threw your cap into the ring to contest the governorship election, did it occur to you that one of you had been programmed to emerge as a preferred candidate?

The truth of the matter is no. Before the primaries, I went round the wards, preaching that Governor Adams Oshiomhole will be a man of history because he told me from the beginning that no man is God, he told me that it is one man, one vote and I have spoken with him severally before then and I believed that the man will duly and truly exhibit that which he had preached before.

So, I was very shocked that Oshiomhole who said, one man, one vote, who said no man is God, who said death to godfathers would now be the one who appears to be doing otherwise.

There is this argument in the state that the governor’s preference for Godwin Obaseki was to enable him get someone who will be on the same page with him and watch his back?

There is no act yet to tell the mind’s design of the face but when you are profiling, you profile from actions and Oshiomhole’s action seem to tilt towards that but the people are wiser.

From what we have seen playing out, it is Oshiomhole who is going to perpetrate the Biblical hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob.

Many people are of the view that the governorship candidates of the two major parties are engaged in campaign of hate and are not addressing issues. How do you react to this?

I don’t truly agree on this because I have not heard Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu come to the open and throw unbridled insults at the other party. It is Oshiomhole that we should blame. Before Ize-Iyamu started his campaign he has given out his agenda to everybody in a book form. When I was growing up especially in the Second Republic when we had the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and others, they all had their agenda. The UPN for instance had its free education, free health, integrated rural services and the NPN green revolution.

But this is the first time any of the aspirants will have a published agenda, the SIMPLE AGENDA. So, anybody who wants to know about Pastor Ize-Iyamu’s manifesto for Edo State needs to go through the document; but I do not know what the agenda of the APC is for Edo State.

What will be your advice for the average Edo voter?

If we don’t change this change, what we get will just be a mere exchange, a mere cosmetic make over. My advice to the average Edo voter is guard his vote, protect his vote, make his voice emerge because it is time to make our voices emerge from the dented politics of the past.

I will appeal to the voters- be they market women, traders, bus drivers and the youths to help re-write the future of Edo State in gold by voting for someone who has the state at heart. I am canvassing seriously for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.



Source: http://linkis.com/www.vanguardngr.com/KkdIk