₦airaland Forum

MAKURDI – It was a bloody Sunday in Benue state, after suspected Fulani insurgents alleged slaughtered over 90 persons including women and children at Egba village, in Agatu local government area of the state.
Vanguard gathered from a local in the community that the number may well exceed the currently figure since many were still missing and unaccounted for.
“The search for victims and survivors is still ongoing, but there is no doubt that the figure may rise because the entire village is like a killing field with blood stench everywhere and many still missing.” He said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/over-90-killed-many-injured-as-suspected-fulani-insurgents-sack-benue-village/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Jona baby...

Our best days are before us, not behind us. We must continue to move forward.

Madam Peace

Lets learn to be civil to one another because remember that in a few weeks time the elections will be over and it's back to reality.

Greatest mistake a voter can make is to think an aspirant will put the electorate's wishes ahead of his backers. LOL.

blackjack21:
OP, didn't they teach you summary while you were in school?


#IHaveDecided.

10:42:33
Sun, Mar 15, 2015

I was on Sabbatical.. When the topic was treated in school.... Try and learn how to read long essay... It helps!!!

Kneeling, bowing or prostrating for the wife of Akwa Ibom State governor, Mrs. Unoma Akpabio, is a common feature in Akwa Ibom state.

Those who do not oblige to this concept are often considered to be anti-Akpabio’s administration.

A member in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly representing Mbo State Constituency, Mrs. Alice Ekpenyong, knelt before the governor’s wife at the Independent National Electoral Commission office, when they were being presented with the certificates of return in 2011.

Similarly, many of the commissioners in the state cannot stand before Mrs. Akpabio to talk; they must either face a different direction or stoop low before her.

Recently, the Commissioner of Works, Mr. Don Etim, was found kneeling to talk to her during one of the Peoples Democratic Party campaign rallies in the state.

Etim is the Dean, College of Commissioners in the state. He is one of the longest serving commissioners in Akpabio’s administration.

Also a commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr. (Mrs.) Glory Edet, was recently seen fanning her during the presentation of the 2015 Appropriation Bill to the House of Assembly.

A strong PDP member, Mr. Silvernus Okon, stated that the governor’s wife has no regards for anybody.

He added that even if Etim had wanted to kneel before her, she would have cautioned the man against doing so.

“It is unbelievable that Don Etim who is old enough to be her father could descend so low to kneel before her.

“This tells you the type of people that we have in the state. Even if Etim had wanted to kneel for her, we expected her to have stopped him and cautioned him against doing so in future,” he said.

All attempts to get Etim to react to why he knelt before the governor’s wife failed as calls to his phone indicated that it had been switched off.

A text message was also sent to him which he did not reply.

http://www.punchng.com/news/akwa-ibom-state-where-commissioners-others-kneel-for-akpabios-wife/

vanilson:
Talking about corruption not stealing,
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the purchase of N9.2billion worth of clean cook stoves and wonder bags for rural women under the National Clean Cooking Scheme.
Muhammed said the N9.2billion inclusive of Value Added Tax was approved for the procurement of 750,000 units of clean cook stove and 18,000 wonder bags.

http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-to-buy-cooking-stoves-with-n9-2bn/

Sad and sick government

Me I didn't see anyone with these stoves and wonder bags the government allocated such huge amount to procure.

Sai Baba

Sai Buhari

#ihavedecided

click like to vote GMB/PYO

Federal Government is different from PDP!!!

lorddannie:
Where the heck is Salami

Salami

Disciplinary court orders their compulsory retirement accusing them of supporting outlawed group, state media reports.

According to Aljazeera, Egypt’s state media reports that a disciplinary court has ordered 41 judges into compulsory retirement for supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the latest move in a sweeping crackdown on political dissent.

The Disciplinary Council headed by Nabil Zaki, a judge, did not immediately release the reason for its decision on Saturday.

The government has implemented a harsh crackdown on Islamists and secular political opponents since July 2013, when then-army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following mass protests against his rule.

Reuters reported that 31 of the judges were sent into compulsory retirement for signing a statement condemning Morsi’s removal.

Another 10 were removed from their posts for joining the ‘Judges for Egypt’ group, which supported the Brotherhood even before Morsi’s removal, citing judicial sources.

Egyptian law prohibits judges from engaging in politics, but critics and human rights groups say the judicial disciplinary court has turned a blind eye to judges who openly support the government of Sisi, who was elected president last year.

The government says the judiciary is independent and it never intervenes in its work.

“The decision is shocking and it is a massacre of the judges,” Ahmed El-Khatib, one of the punished judges, said, but declined comment about whether he supported the Brotherhood or not.

http://www.punchng.com/news/egypt-sacks-41-judges-for-supporting-brotherhood/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

•‘Jonathan’s re-election will  strengthen Nigeria’s unity’

Mr. Peter Obi, the Deputy Director of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation (South) is a former governor of Anambra State. He was in Lagos on Friday and fielded questions from journalists on issues relating to the forthcoming elections. Excerpts:
You have demonstrated strong commitment to President Goodluck Jonathan. What, really, is the basis of your support for him?
Before I go into reasons why I support him, it is pertinent to clarify the attributes of a good leader. Among others, a good leader is humble, straightforward, tolerant, firm, fair to all, accountable, and of strong character and integrity. He or she must be prepared to learn and to acknowledge and   respect other viewpoints.
Of course, nobody possesses all these qualities, but you have to admit that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan portrays quite a number of them.  We all have our shortcomings, but any person who really loves Nigeria should appreciate that Jonathan has been applying these traits in his role as President.
Over the years, we have seen the ways successive leaders have wielded the tremendous powers of their office. But, President Jonathan has exercised commendable humility in the use of those powers. By way of illustration, he has promoted free, fair & credible elections even at the cost of his party losing some important positions – such as governors of Anambra, Edo and Ondo. These elections were accorded high ratings by local and international observers alike. Nigerians are now seeing that their votes count and their real choices emerge.
On appointments, Jonathan has ensured the steady elevation of merit. A look at the membership of his cabinet and parastatal chief executives is revealing. In the same vein, he has gone beyond the expectations of affirmative action for gender equality in his appointment of women as ministers, Chief Justice of the Federation and a number of other strategic positions.
Jonathan has been committed to freedom of expression, rule of law and fundamental human rights. Soon after his election in 2011, he signed the Freedom of Information Bill into law [Act]. There is no restriction on media ownership and media practitioners operate in liberty – even to throw brick-bats at the President himself. You are aware that the Freedom of Information Bill was passed by the National Assembly 11 years before.

*Gov Peter Obi
In rejecting dictatorial politics, he strengthened the National Human Rights Commission with an independent board of directors led by an international human rights scholar & lawyer. To the best of my knowledge, there are no ‘political prisoners’ or ‘political detainees’ under this dispensation.
Jonathan is the first Nigerian leader to convoke a National Conference, comprising delegates of high integrity. Given their value-added resolutions, Nigerians are now looking forward to getting a People’s Constitution.
Indeed, what Nigeria needs today is not to change its President, but to support him to complete the good work he has started. What Nigeria needs is change of Constitution and the structure of the country for the mutual benefit of its constituents.
I support President Jonathan very much because he represents the unity of our country. This is the first time, by God’s design, that somebody, from the South-South [that for over 40 years had produced the wealth of the nation], has emerged the President of the country. We should, with all sense of justice and equity, allow him a second term — four more years that will strengthen the unity of the country; four more years that will consolidate the tremendous progress of the first term. We should not forget the wisdom in permitting the South-West to produce the President to placate them because of June 12. Let our leaders display that wisdom again for the continued peace and progress of our great country, Nigeria.
Your newspaper articles and commentaries reflect your emphasis on issue-based campaigns. Beside his personal traits, why should the electorate return President Jonathan for a second term?
I am happy this is an issue-based interview. President Jonathan has performed creditably in all the sectors of the economy, polity and society. If we have the time, I will clarify each of them.
The Opposition always says that President Jonathan has not done well on security. What is your take on the claim?
It is ironical that once security is mentioned, people’s minds go to kidnapping in the South-East and Boko Haram in the North-East. You recall what Abia State used to be and how Jonathan co-ordinated security agencies to take on the challenges head-on. Today, you could walk safely on Abia streets anytime. The situation is similar in other South-east states.
We should realize that security challenges which border on terrorism — such as the Boko Haram & ISIS threats – are global phenomena. With the collapse of some governments in the Arab world [such as Iraq, Syria & Libya], thousands of loose cannons literally spiralled into many other countries.
To appreciate the efforts of the Jonathan administration in tackling Boko Haram, we could take note of how long & complicated it has been for a powerful international coalition to deal with ISIS in the Middle East. These are not combatants engaged in conventional warfare, which is perhaps why it took some time to develop strategies to take them on successfully.
In concert with our neighbours [Chad, Cameroun & Niger], quite a lot of successes have been achieved in dealing with Boko Haram.     They have been literally caged, and we are now assured that normalcy would be restored to the affected areas in a few weeks.
It is shocking that the comments of the opposition on Boko Haram give the impressions that they are in partnership with the criminals. They variously criticized the President’s “excessive use of force on the cultists” and his “lack of will” to take them on. On the missing girls and others, the opposition talks as if they know where the victims are being held, even as they have fallen short of accusing the President of supervising the abductions. Every sane person within and outside our shores empathizes with the victims and their families. Many across the world have been praying daily for their safe return.
There is a lot to learn from threats to national security. Nations go through tough times and, with a united front, they emerge stronger and forge ahead. What could be more traumatic for the Americans than the 9/11 tragedy, when the Twin Towers and the Pentagon [Defence Headquarters] were attacked. Americans did not blame President Bush, but rather rallied round him. The MF 370 aircraft on an international flight has been missing for over a year, yet Malaysians are not blaming it on their Prime Minister. Recently, 137 students were murdered in Pakistan by terrorists, but Pakistanis did not blame their President.  The focus has been on containing the threats.   From the inclination of some Nigerians, I know, God forbid, that if earthquake takes place in Nigeria, some Nigerians will say that Jonathan is Poseidon himself.
Alas, in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan would have been blamed roundly and vilified. It is worrisome to hear APC say that if General Muhammadu Buhari comes to power, he will solve the problem of insurgency. As a former Head of State & a retired officer of the Nigerian Army, General Buhari has direct access to the President, the National Council of State and the leadership of the Armed Forces – to whom he could have availed his ideas on how to defeat Boko Haram and related threats.
That is a patriotic duty; not a political party initiative. All over the world, people & institutions — in and out government — have been proffering solutions to their countries’ problems, which have been applied in the national interest and for the common good. In the US, for instance, how many people know what roles former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush [Snr. & Jnr.] & Bill Clinton have been playing quietly for their beloved country? Or, what about former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the UK?
The opposition has identified corruption as Nigeria’ greatest problem; and that General Muhammadu Buhari has the will and capacity to deal with it.   How do you react to this?
I have always maintained that General Buhari is a respected elder statesman, we must acknowledge that the personal integrity of Buhari does not translate to party or corporate integrity.
Having observed that General Buhari is a man of integrity, we should be bothered by the antecedents of most of the people around him. The primary characteristic of a corrupt person is greed, always manifested in primitive acquisition of everything for himself, his family and cronies. This is exactly the history of the feudal lords. If we exclude Buhari and one or two others in the APC, you will notice that the party boasts the greediest set of Nigerians ready to acquire the country for their selfish ends – if they come into office.
History is not too remote for us to examine these people and their acquisitions in public office and juxtapose our findings with what they had before going into politics. Good leadership requires humility, honesty, tolerance, simplicity and the ability to work with dedication towards making the society a better place. As somebody who has held public office, I can tell you that the more a person is addicted to conspicuous consumption & primitive acquisition, the more corrupt the person will be.
How true is the claim that the Nigerian economy is now the biggest in Africa?

President Goodluck Jonathan
Clearly, President Jonathan has achieved more in economic development than any of his predecessors. All sectors have been positively affected since 2011, when he came into office. The rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product ranked the nation’s economy 1st in Africa and 26th globally; from 3rd and 46th respectively. It also showed that the economy has been more widely diversified than before.
It will bear repetition to be reminded that Nigeria successfully hosted a World economic Forum in 2014, Foreign Direct Investments    were boosted from US$24.9 million as at 2007 to over US$35 billion by 2014; and virtually all quoted companies doubled in size, assets & profit. The marvels in the road sector show that the Jonathan administration has rendered over 25,000 kilometres of federal road motorable, from barely 5,000 kilometres as at 2011; work is on-going for a second bridge over the River Niger and on the Loko-Oweto Bridge over River Benue; Onitsha now has a port and the dredging of the River Niger is opening up our inland waterways; Nigerian railways has been resuscitated from a 30-years-old coma, with over 3,500 kilometres of lines now operational. In the meantime, 22 airports have been remodelled to meet international standards.   He is simultaneously constructing five international terminals, as has never witnessed anywhere in the world, in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu.
President Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda [ATA] has been making waves across the country and internationally.   We now export cassava and increasingly attaining self-sufficiency in rice production. Other agricultural products are also witnessing tremendous outputs. With the rehabilitation of 19 dams and construction of 14 irrigation projects, millions of Nigerian farmers are engaging in all-season farming across the country.
Taking the courageous decision to privatize the power sector, President Jonathan has given it the necessary fillip. Power generation has gone up from some 2,000 megawatts in 2011 to some 5,000 megawatts as at 2014. Even as more independent power plants are being commissioned, the administration tackling the menace of sabotage of gas supplies.
Similarly, the oil & gas sector has witnessed tremendous growth developments since 2011. Nigeria now has a strong Energy Policy, and the Nigeria Content Act is being faithfully implemented. When passed into law, the widely-acclaimed Petroleum Industry Bill [PIB] will help instil transparency & accountability in the sector; and give the country and its people greater control of its oil & gas resources. To check the twin menace of oil theft & pipeline vandalism, the President instituted a novel mechanism of collective responsibility, involving the three tiers of government, oil companies, oil producing communities and security agencies.
Education and Health have also received concrete support. Aside from investing in primary and secondary education, President Jonathan strengthened the Tertiary Education Trust [TET] Fund. He has since established 14 universities [including a Maritime University at Oron]. In the same vein, primary, secondary & tertiary healthcare establishments across the country have been receiving regular support in funding, personnel and equipment.
In exercising the political will to remove a sizeable amount of oil subsidies, the President put a lot of fraudsters and leeches out of business. The monies so saved are being utilized to finance people-oriented projects under the Subsidy Re-Investment & Empowerment Programme [SURE-P]. SURE-P is actively involved in a wide spectrum of development projects & services across the country. These include dual carriageways, rail-lines, maternal & child health, and Graduate Internships.
What is the problem with the Naira?
The devaluation of the Naira is in response to developments in the global economy. The fall in oil prices has affected Nigeria and other countries which are heavily dependent on it. These include Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, Iran, Iraq, Lybia, among others, which have recorded high depreciation of their currencies. As a matter of fact, we are cushioning the effects better with the growth and expansion of the agricultural sector such that our food import bill has been by over 50%.
Could you give us concrete example of how Jonathan has diversified our economy?
The Agricultural Transformation Agenda [ATA] has really elevated the sector to a pride of place in the economy. As I indicated earlier, we have become self-sufficient in the production of a number of products as over 9 million metric tonnes of food were produced last year alone; we now have dry season farming is many areas with minimum rainfall; and we export some products that we imported a few years ago.

Buhari, Jega and Jonatrhan
It is under Jonathan that Nigeria started to revamp the auto industry. Today, PAN, VON, ANNAMCO are all revived.   New ones such as Innoson Motor Manufacturing at Nnewi and Nissan are doing very well. Other areas of manufacturing are receiving attention. The local content bill has not only empowered local operators, but has led to the local manufacturing and fabrication of components required in the sector, thus creating many jobs.
In the area of Housing, with over 17 million housing deficit and ownership of houses for most Nigerians impossible, the present government has established a Mortgage Re-financing Company to help provide the primary mortgage company the long-term funds. The President will soon launch the Development Bank of Nigeria that will provide finances to our entrepreneurs and the real sector.
The Government has provided various types of intervention platforms. They include the N400 billion & N200 billion MSME Fund as well as the N100 Billion Sugar Intervention Fund.
Nigeria is among the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) countries – fast-growing economies with immense potentials.
What would you say of the North’s insistence of producing the next president?
All I can say is that fairness demands we allow a southern another four years. Like I said earlier, it will do us more good than harm as a country. In all its political outings at the centre, the North received the full support of the South-South. North should support them and in the next four years they have an ample time to prepare younger and more energetic candidate for 2019, who should possess Buhari’s integrity. My belief is that for the stability and cohesion of our country and people, Jonathan should be voted in. Let us not pretend to be suffering from collective amnesia.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/the-problem-with-buhari-on-boko-haram-corruption-peter-obi/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka is leading some youths in Jogging for Jonathan campaign in Obosi, Anambra State, as part of the activities for the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan.

At the Saturday jogging campaign, the minister told his audience that there is no credible alternative to Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election.

Details later…

http://www.punchng.com/news/chidoka-leads-pro-jonathan-jogging-in-anambra/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Expectations were high when Rauf Aregbesola emerged governor in Osun State about five years ago. The hope was that the largely rural state would get a desired turn around. Aregbesola stated that the turn-around would be anchored mainly on agriculture. I remember clearly that he said he would turn the state into the food basket of not only the South-West region, but the nation as a whole. He said Osun intended to meet up with the estimated N3.5 billion worth of food in demand in the Lagos market alone. The plan was to edge out the northern states supplying the bulk of the food stuff in Lagos, by exploiting the proximity of Osun State to Lagos. Five years down the line, many are yet to see the impact of the huge money the Aregbesola government claimed to have invested in agriculture so as to actualize this dream. I can’t remember spotting a single trailer-load of farm produce entering the popular Mile-12 food market in Lagos from Osun State. So, Osun State should not even dream of exporting farm produce. Growers in the state remain largely subsistence farmers. Aregbesola’s talk about massive food production has remained chiefly a mirage.
Now, a state whose turn-around is supposed to be anchored on agriculture and agro-allied industries is in crisis. Osun State, like virtually all the states of the federation depends largely on the monthly handouts from Abuja. This has dwindled because of stumbling oil prices. Aregbesola, like many state governors have not shown ingenuity in terms of making their states viable. Osun State has great untapped agricultural potentials that could make the state viable, yet, it is struggling to survive. I am not sure if Aregbesola can point to just ten industries whose emergence he has motivated since he became governor. So, the industries are not there. Commercial agriculture is in comatose. How then does he intend to make the state viable? Aregbesola is attuned to just going to Abuja to collect the monthly handouts and sharing to ministries, department and agencies. Any bloody fool can do this. I doubt if the state’s IGR can cover 10% of its annual budget.


Now, because of dwindling revenue and subsequent fall in the monthly handouts from Abuja, Aregbesola, just like many governors, owes civil servants huge backlog of unpaid salaries. The case of Osun State is really very bad. Workers in some agencies in the state are being owed as much as five months. It was a big shame watching Osun civil servants on Tuesday on the streets of Osogbo protesting against the unpaid salary backlog and allowances. Many of them have died waiting for salaries. According to Osun TUC leaders, as at the last count, 98 of their colleagues had died due to irregular salaries.
Aregbesola spent most of last year pummeling the civil servants. The workers have never had it so bad. Those in the ministries went for 2014 Christmas with three-month unpaid salaries. Osun retired workers are waiting for four months unpaid pensions. Osun State civil servants are also worried about unremitted pension deductions. Aregbesola has not been remitting pensions deducted from salaries of civil servants to the appropriate pension fund administrators, so says the Council of Academic Staff Unions of Osun State-Owned Tertiary Institutions (CASUOSTI). The workers are threatening to take legal action against Ogbeni Rauf. In fact, the union recently organized at a mass rally in Ilesha to press home their demands. Smart Olugbeko, National Vice Chairman, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) said the need to go to court for redress of the non- remittance of pension deductions was reached after all avenues to make Aregbesola see reason failed. The law is very clear on the issue of remitting deductions into pension fund accounts. Upon deduction of the percentage to be contributed by the employee, such deduction should be remitted within seven days. Just like other civil servants, workers of the state-owned higher institutions are at a loss about where their pension deductions are. The non-remittance of deductions also includes union dues, cooperative dues and individual loan repayments. Olugbeko said: “Naturally, these deductions are not supposed to be tampered with; so we are at a point of dragging the government and the governor to court for appropriate interpretation.” This is clearly not good for the image of Oranmiyan. Aregbesola has equally not lived up to expectations regarding the state government’s contributions to the workers’ pension.  I hope governor Osun will respond swiftly to douse this apprehension.


Meanwhile, I saw the Osun State governor on television last week during the March for Change in Lagos by the APC, talking about the “maladministration” at the federal level and the “need for Change.” The truth be told; Aregbesola had no business joining that March for Change in Lagos. It was a typical case of a kettle calling pot black. I get more worried when I hear governor Osun blaming President Goodluck Jonathan for his inability to pay civil servants as at when due. Is Jonathan responsible for tumbling oil prices and dwindling monthly handouts? Let’s also look at it this way:  If this country were to be implementing resource control, will Osun State be sharing in the oil revenue? It means non-oil producing states like Osun would have to run their states and pay their workers without oil money. Late Obafemi Awolowo successfully managed the defunct Western Region with funds from agriculture and industries. These days, governors are only interested in the monthly handouts from Abuja. It is so sad; so depressing. In the case of Aregbesola, he has allegedly even borrowed beyond the state’s capacity and had agreed that deductions be made at source for the lenders. So, his monthly handouts are depleted further. The Osun governor should come out clean on the state’s debt. How much exactly has Rauf Aregbesola borrowed in the last five years? How much is deducted monthly at source to service the debt? These are questions begging for answers.

Post-election Violence: Lessons from Cote D’Ivoire
An Ivorian court early in the week in Abidjan sentenced the country’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo to 20 years in prison for her role in a 2011 post-election violence. Bruno Ble, who headed the elite Republican Guard, and former Navy Chief, Vagba Faussignaux, were both jailed for 20 years, while the former president’s son got a shorter sentence for the same offence. The Ivorian post-election violence claimed more than 3,000 lives.
This happened the same year that Nigeria also experienced post-election violence and all those that instigated it are walking free on our streets. Not a single key actor has been punished for this horrendous crime against humanity. We have to tame this monster by reprimanding all those behind the 2011 post-election heinous crime in Northern Nigeria. We all know them, and it is never too late to bring them to justice. This is the only way we can prevent recurrence this year. I hope Mohammadu Buhari and the APC leadership who have been asking their supporters to defend their votes have heard the verdict in Cote d’Ivoire? I hope Asari Dokubo and the other Niger Delta militant leaders threatening the nation over the Presidential election will learn from what had just happened in Cote d’Ivoire? The will of Allah will be done on March 28 and there shall be peace in our great country.

Plight of Disengaged CBN Staff
Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele needs to swiftly look into the plight of over 500 temporary CBN staff disengaged in 2008 without being paid benefits due to them. He has to put an end to this very sad story. These Nigerians are yet to be paid their proper terminal benefits almost seven years after being disengaged. It is even more annoying that despite a resolution of the House of Representatives asking that the payments be made, the CBN still refused to budge. Emefiele’s predecessors – Charles Soludu and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi - treated these Nigerians with disdain after putting in between five and 20 years of service. Emefiele should revisit the resolution of the House. Following consideration by its Committee on Public Petitions in October 2014, it directed the CBN to reconsider and review the exit benefits of the sacked workers and together with the petitioners work out the best formula with a view to bringing it to parity and conformity with CBN’s Condition of Service. The House further directed the CBN to “examine with fairness the qualifications and skills of the disengaged staff and re-engage as permanent staff those of them with requisite skills and who wish to be recalled.” I hope Emefiele, who is a staunch believer in justice and fairness, will act accordingly.


Femi Falana Vs Yinka Odumakin
The outburst last week by human rights activist and delegate to the 2014 National Conference, Yinka Odumakin against Femi Falana over his statement that no request of the Southwest caucus to the Congress sailed through was thought-provoking. Odumakin, while speaking at a post-confab summit in Akure said contrary to Falana’s position, all the proposals of the South-west to the confab sailed through. Odumakin stated: “Nothing was rejected from what we took to the confab because they were all in the interest of the generality of the people. Falana was a mere on-looker at the conference and never contributed to the proceedings on the floor except when he supported issues that were against the interest of the Southwest.
Falana who had earlier described the confab as a Greek gift wouldn’t have supported the implementation of its resolutions because his party, APC, and its leaders objected to the convocation of the confab. I was even surprised to see Falana at the conference because he had alongside the National leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu condemned the convocation of the conference and described it as a Greek gift. He was a mere onlooker at the conference but was always eager to lend his voice in support of any argument against the South-west.”
So, was Falana actually a spectator at the Confab and supported only anti-South-west issues? I hope to see my dear Falana responding with full force to these allegations. Of late, I have been worried about the actions and inactions of Falana.

Presidential Election Crystal Ball
South WEst
Political calculations are changing very fast in this geo-political zone ever since the shifts in election dates. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP won in five of the six states here in 2011. As at today, Jonathan and his PDP have two governors in this region – Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State. Will there be any significant change in the voting pattern in this geo-political zone this time around? Yes. My Crystal Ball tells me that Jonathan will grab bulk votes in Ekiti and Ondo states. These states may deliver as high as 80% of votes to the PDP Presidential candidate. The APC Presidential candidate looks good to take Osun and Ogun states. However, Jonathan is capable of grabbing the required 25% in Osun and Ogun. Lagos and Oyo states are too close to call. My Crystal Ball tells me that Jonathan and Buhari are running neck to neck in Lagos and Oyo. The last two weeks to the election will be critical. Jonathan may spring a big surprise in these two states, so says my Crystal Ball.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/aregbesola-and-the-failed-osun-state-dream/204010/?utm_medium=twitter

Segeggs:
what he's saying is that the quality of the schools are far below what can empower an individual towards achieving anything meaningful in life. As for your talk on 9 universities, pls post pictures of the universities or keep quiet cos they only exist on newspapers. Check their shoddy websites for confirmation.

Oh... I understand your type!!!

APC’s position is unfortunate and difficult to understand. Nothing ever done by PDP government is good to them. May God deliver us from this APC power mongers who are bent on retaking power by all means including lies, deceit and propaganda.

Abuja—Following a diplomatic row between Nigeria and Morocco over whether there was any telephone conversation by the leaders of the two countries, the Federal Government insisted yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan spoke on the telephone with his Moroccan counterpart, King Mohammed V1.
Nigerian government stated that the discussion however centred on the forthcoming election of the African Development Bank, AfDB, for which the country is lobbying for one of its ministers as president of the bank.

Moroccan royal palace which recalled its ambassador to Nigeria last Wednesday had said last week that the Moroccan king declined a request for a telephone conversation with the Nigeria president accusing the Federal Government of trying to use the king of Morocco to win over Muslim voters ahead of the general elections in Nigeria.
Moroccan foreign ministry, had in a statement said “Morocco confirms, in the clearest and strongest terms, that there has never been a phone conversation between King Mohammed VI and the president of Nigeria”.
However, senior officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry who spoke to Vanguard on the condition of anonymity said that Jonathan lobbied for the country’s candidate in the election and did not discuss anything about Nigeria’s forthcoming general elections as they had nothing to do with Morocco.
According to Nigerian foreign affairs officials, ‘’there was a discussion last Friday between the two Presidents on the next president of the AfDB. President Jonathan lobbied the Morocco president to support Nigeria candidate over the election coming up in May. Nigeria is suspecting mischief. We are thinking that there was misinformation somewhere.
‘’The policy is that when your Ambassador misinforms his president, that Ambassador will be recalled to his country. It is wrong for Morocco not to support our candidature.
That discussion has nothing to do with the general election in Nigeria but AfDB election. Our own election is a domestic issue,’’ the officials said, hinting that a formal statement would be issued on the matter today by the ministry.
Also, reacting to the issue, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil, Poland, Sudan, Cote D’ voire, Angola, the United States of America, USA, Austria and Pakistan, among others, Suleiman Dahiru said that ‘’there’s more than meets the eye’’ over the issue.
“There is something fishy, because if there is any one to talk to in the Arab world on election, it should be the president of Saudi Arabia and not the king of Morocco. In diplomatic relations, it is a very serious issue to recall an Ambassador.
Besides, Morocco is not a serious AU member. It sees itself as an Arab country but still in Africa. If Nigeria is seeking influence in the Arab world, Morocco is certainly, not the place to go but Saudi Arabia.
In any case, Nigeria will not lose anything by the country recalling its Ambassador. They will be the one to lose,’’ Dahiru said.
Come clean, APC tells Jonathan
Meanwhile, The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the Jonathan Administration to come clean with Nigerians on the cause of the ongoing diplomatic row between Nigeria and Morocco that has forced the Kingdom to recall its Ambassador to Nigeria, while portraying Nigeria as a liar.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said President Jonathan must in particular clarify the thorny issue of whether or not he spoke with King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
‘’According to published reports, the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry had said President Jonathan spoke on the telephone with the Moroccan King. But the Kingdom, in a very scathing statement, said no such conversation took place.
‘’The statement said ‘Morocco is surprised at the incredible twist given by Nigeria to an alleged phone conversation that never took place between HM King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President’.
‘’This is very serious because, in effect, Morocco has called Nigeria a liar. Therefore, it behoves President Jonathan to personally intervene to address such an international embarrassment.
‘’The questions seeking answers are: Did President Jonathan speak with the Moroccan King? If not, who is responsible for this egregious misrepresentation that has embarrassed a whole country and its leader?’’ it queried.
APC said Nigeria, because of its much-acclaimed leadership role in Africa, must not allow such a diplomatic faux pas to go without being addressed, saying other countries are keenly watching the row between Nigeria and Morocco.
‘’Before anyone accuses us of politicising this issue, we make bold to say that we, the APC, and indeed all Nigerians are stakeholders in the Nigeria project. When Morocco branded Nigeria a liar, over whether or not our President spoke with the North African nation’s King, it did not mention PDP or APC. It made a collective reference to Nigeria.
‘’This is why we feel strongly that this issue must be addressed urgently. Until then, all Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings, will remain liars in the eyes of the international community,’’ the party said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/jonathan-spoke-with-moroccan-king-on-phone-fg-insists/

Segeggs:
Fashola attacks with facts.

No knowledge gained is a waste but rather its an empowerment to developing a creative mind which will enhance productivity and self actualization. Is the Governor saying that it is better for those kids without future to roam the streets of the North carrying plates and begging for food rather than to have a sound mind that will ensure they are not easily recruited by the likes of BOKO HARAM. is this not fighting terrorism indirectly ? We must not forget that no NORTHERN leader has EVER bothered to liberate the downtrodden in the North by initiating this kind of laudable project . JONATHAN established 9 universities in the NORTH to ensure NORTHERNERS are educated enough to avoid being deceived by religious elements whose game is use religion to destabilize the polity.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, says the Almajiri schools being established by the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government in the northern part of the country have no feasible end gains.

Fashola said this at an event on Thursday ─ Support Our Schools Breakfast Meeting with the Governor─ held at the City Hall on the Lagos Island.

The governor explained that the purpose of training someone was for the person to be able to use the knowledge gained and the skills acquired to his benefit and the good of society.

He said that could not be said of the Almajiri schools as they had no competitive advantage for the graduates.

He said, “If you train people to acquire certain skills, you must develop avenue where the skills will be useful and that will be the end gain. For instance, graduates of our technical and vocational colleges will become our major contractors.

“And so, it worries me, what is the end gain of products of the Almajiri schools? Will you put your child there? Will a company looking through its job appraisal consider such graduates from Almajiri schools? What chance will the product of the Almajiri schools have working for multinational companies? Are we giving the children a chance when we segregate them into Almajiri schools? Think about it.”

Fashola said as part of measures to encourage vocational and technical education in the state, his administration had issued over 600 contracts as annual maintenance projects of Lagos schools, adding that graduates of the state’s technical schools were the main beneficiaries.

“We have issued maintenance contract to all our schools. We have issued about 600 contracts of annual maintenance of our schools and they ranged between N2m to N4m per annum. Our graduates in the technical and vocational colleges are the substantial beneficiaries of the contracts. We now want to ensure that every school in Lagos has regular and uninterrupted power supply,” he added.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Education, Olayinka Oladunjoye had expressed government’s gratitude to organisations that embraced the ‘Support our school’ initiative, saying the support had contributed to the success of the Fashola’s administration in the educational sector.

http://www.punchng.com/news/no-gains-for-almajiri-schools-graduates-fashola/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

WHY THIS CONSPIRACY THEORY??

Why should a sitting president offer u tinubu an interim VP.... But I trust Mr. Tinubu if he can get such offer he will surely jump at it, because
tinubu is a strategic opportunist!!


I am not supporting GEJ’s government but Mr Tinubu I don’t believe your story

Pls who is she?....

If you don't like Obanikoro nomination pls go to the court and make or file a case!!! Enough of these shameless act!!!...

Change indeed!!!!.... Agent of change you better wake up and ask yourself, what type of change do you want or need!!!!

Fellonigerians:
Because there is no evidence does not mean there is no link, just that Nigeria never find the link. Whether there is a link or not, BH needs to destroyed.

Seconded!!!

What's wrong with this OP?

Pls go and visit NYSC orientation-camp and see for yourself!!!
It Nothing, sometimes corpers do the cooking and washing (Toilet n Co )... So what is the fuse about carrying a bag of Rice?

Na wa Ooo