that's the essence of democracy, working in unity regardless of the political party, and Fashola has proven to be up to the task in goverance.

Amnesty really yielded good fruits, atleast Tompolo is refocusing his energy in projects beneficial to his pple, atleast beta than stayin in d creeks..

i think this is expedient at this point in time, pple need to know what n what has been done so far in this administration, and where citizens think the govt hasnt done well or are lacking, they can comfortably call or communicate tru appropraite medium which will be made public soon...atleast critics can speak their minds and profer supposedly beta solutions. A right step in the right direction.
objectives of the tour include informing Nigerians about government achievements in the past two years so as to increase civil participation in governance.
a “Special Mission” aimed at “explaining programmes, activities and budgets executed under the Transformation Agenda of the President”.

Abuja, Sept. 11, 2012 (NAN) The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, has called on resident information officers and heads of Information Centres across the country to project government’s programmes at the grassroots.

Maku spoke in Abuja on Tuesday during a meeting with the information officers ahead of the forthcoming National Good Governance Tour, organised by the Federal Ministry of Information.

All the information officers and heads of Federal Information Centres were present at the meeting.

The minister said that the era of redundancy in the federal information centres was over and promised that the centres would be supported for better service delivery.

He encouraged the officers to use all public information organs in their domains to ensure that Nigerians, irrespective of their locations, were informed about government activities.

The minister urged the officers to be creative in evolving strategies of communication, especially in the non-traditional media, to ensure that the programmes permeated the grassroots.

Maku said the ministry would develop a mechanism to measure the impact of their activities in the states, adding that there would be punishments and rewards for performance.

He said that the ministry would no longer tolerate laxity and laziness from information officers.

Commenting on the forthcoming tour, Maku said the information officers were expected to act as liaison between the visiting team and people in the states.

He said that the success or failure of the exercise was dependent on the ingenuity of information officers.

The minister stressed the need for the information officers to cooperate with the coordinating teams in the states, pointing out that the tour was aimed at increasing citizens’ participation in governance.

``There is need for us to carry the people along, to explain to them what the government is doing and what it intends to do to better their lives.

``A lot of work has been done by this administration in the past two years which has not been adequately reported in the media. So, this tour will expose a lot things for everyone to see,” Maku said.

He said that the Nigerian Governors Forum had endorsed the plan for the commencement of the tour.

Maku said that Nigerians from all walks of life would have the opportunity of asking questions about projects that would be visited by the team.

He said that platforms in the conventional and non-conventional media would be made available for Nigerians to express their views about the projects that would be visited.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tour will commence on Sept. 20, from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). (NAN)

http://www.nanngronline.com/section/general/national-good-governance-tour-starts-on-sept-20-says-maku
http://peoplesdaily-online.com/~peoplesd/index.php/news/news/national-news/5446-maku-to-begin-nationwide-good-governance-tour

in as much as it is a good step, he shud also set up a maintainance unit in the NSC, cos every thing will stll go bad without maintainance.. nice one

Security operatives carried out a successful raid against the sect’s leaders in Kano.

In what appeared to be a significant victory by Nigerian security operatives against the Boko Haram militant group, top commanders of the sect were arrested on Sunday.

Sources in the State Security Service, SSS, say Abu Qaqa, the sect’s spokesman and other top commanders were arrested when the Kano State Joint Task Force, JTF, carried out a sweeping raid on the sect’s hide-outs in Kano.

The Kano JTF has confirmed the raid and the arrests but could not confirm the identity of the arrested Boko-Haram leaders.

However, independent sources have told PREMIUM TIMES that the sect’s spokesman, Abu Qaqa was one of those arrested.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the non-disclosure of the details of the arrested officers was because the arrested members were refusing to co-operate with security operatives.

The Federal Government is also being careful about disclosing the names of the arrested officials apparently for fear of embarrassment, the type it suffered earlier in the year when the government disclosed that Abu Qaqa, the sect’s spokesman had been arrested, and it turned out to be false.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/top-boko-haram-commanders-and-spokesman-abu-qaqa-arrested-kano-premium-times

i tot d said Van Persie left with all d goalsss...yeye...up gunners

eya, i pray God uses some one to help...

and i bet u most of them havnt seen the movie...d dnt even no wot is happening

Nigerian forces in Jos dispersed protesters at the Central Mosque in Jos by firing live ammunition into the air. It will be the second protest in Jos since the US-made anti-Islam movie ignited Muslim fury in the Middle East and Africa.

Eyewitness said two people are killed in Jos, but a military spokesperson, Captain Salihu Mustapha said there were no casualties.

The protester had begun the protest march carrying placards denouncing the US and moving towards the main street on Ahmadu Bello way when soldiers began firing off.

Businesses in the area hurriedly closed, and several residents retreated to their homes.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigerian-troops-quell-anti-islam-movie-protest-jos

That's the haramic tendency speaking, i'm not surprise..

kokosheen: His statement was made in 2007 during the election build-up. Obviously, his views on Jonathan has changed now, wonder why

He said GEJ is still his friend, or will he make friends with a corrupt person? here is an excerpt frm d interview he (rufia) granted News diary .

[b]Q:And so, maybe it was this background of misperception about the way you were close to him,President Jonathan , I mean

A Cuts in)Jonathan is my friend,has been my friend from 2003.I am not denyingthat.Iam just saying that even though he was my friend,even though I was a regular visitor to Bayelsa state when he was governor and he visited me several times here in Abuja while I was minister.He came with his executive council to attend an FCT Exco meeting one day,I still remember all that

Q:You mean (as governor of) Bayelsa state?

A:Yeah.We are very good friends and we still are by the way

Q:Hmnnnn?

A:Even though we have parted ways politically.Yes, yes,whatever is happening between us is not personal,it’s institutional.But I had no role in him(Jonathan) being vice president.No, I have to say that.I played a role in fighting the YarAdua cabal when they were playing all kind of game to delay compliance with the constitution,because I was one of the signatories of the call for resignation,the G-53 and G-57 which became Save Nigeria Group.I was one of the founding members of that group.So ,yeah, we played a role.But I diddn’t do it because Jonathan was my friend[/b]

i dnt think his views hav changed, he is just playin d opposition pranks

Contrary to his scathing criticisms, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mallam Nasir El-Rufai gave President Goodluck Jonathan a clean bill of health on financial accountability and transparency on the international front,a fresh report by Wikileaks has revealed.

In a United States diplomatic cable just made public by the whistle blowing organization, El-Rufai described President Jonathan as “ clean and honest”.

Details of the confidential cable with reference 07ABUJA77, show that the controversial politician gave the endorsement during an interactive session with the erstwhile American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr John Campbell, in the build-up to the 2007 general elections.

Explaining the rationale behind the emergence of late President Umaru Yar Adua and Goodluck Jonathan as the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidates, El-Rufai informed the ambassador that “they were the only two Governors that could have cleared the EFCC hurdles”

The cable further reported El-Rufai as stating that in the contest for the Vice Presidency, “Governor Jonathan was the only candidate that met Obasanjo’s guidelines- honesty and Ijaw”
The Ambassador’s report disclosed that “the Minister said the PDP leadership pushed for Rivers Governor Peter Odili as the Vice Presidential candidate but that Odili along with Governors Markafi (Kaduna) and Mu’azu (Bauchi), face ‘integrity issues’ with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”.

These disclosures are in sharp contrast to the virulent and disparaging attacks by former minister on President Jonathan whom he is accusing of corruption, profligacy and mismanagement of the nation’s resources.

In one of his recent tirades against the President, El-Rufai alleged that he used “crony capitalist and state funds – variously estimated at between 1 and 2 billion dollars to facilitate his election”

He also accused Jonathan of “practically sharing out the nation’s savings account to state governors, Party apparatchiks and traditional rulers to buy their support for his presidential bid”

According to the diplomatic cable, El-Rufai denied nursing any presidential ambition but stated that his rumoured interest was only being advanced by his admirers including Obasanjo.

“When President Obasanjo called me to ask about my intention, I told him that I would do it, but that I had not campaigned for the position” the report quoted El-Rufai. It added that “According to El-Rufai, the president agreed with him and told him that there were ‘other bridges’ to cross before EL-Rufai was ready “

In the report, The former Minister claimed to have known late President Yar Adua for about 25 years and described him as an “odd fellow”.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/jonathan-is-honest-and-clean-he-is-not-corrupt-elrufai

maclatunji: I find the theme of the subject of this thread and the comments so far disappointing and distasteful.

then run out, it isnt by force to comment

but choice of religion is optional, no one shud be compel to worship in a particular place...everybody is free to worship where eva the so wish.

The recent spate of power outages in the country has created anger, frustration and much debate as to the nature of these power outages.

In the heat of this frustration and anger the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has come in for much criticism in its inability to deliver power to the country.

Whilst the ECG has that responsibility to generate electricity for commercial and residential use, in my view, they are not entirely to blame for the current crisis.

If anyone is to be blamed, I blame governments of Ghana after 1966 for failing in their collective responsibility to plan effectively and strategize for electricity provision and we the Ghanaian consumer.
The supply of electricity is a key component in the country's national development.

Without it Ghana is not going to achieve the industrialization it aspires to.

Electricity is also important to the citizenry as it enables them to carry out functions like cooking, cleaning, washing, doing homework etc. with peace of mind.

As a country it is totally unacceptable and unchristian for some to cheat the system by avoiding payment and/or resulting in unscrupulous means to get free electricity.

If we are serious in wanting to see Ghana develop into a first world economy, we must ALL play our part as patriotic and responsible citizens by doing the right thing.

Doing the right thing in this instance is paying your electricity bills on time and stopping the practice in illegal electricity connections. In the next edition we will look at solar energy as a means to permanently solving our energy crisis.

http://www.modernghana.com/news/388698//the-electricity-power-outages-uncovered-dont-blame.html

sometimes i just wonder, y is he always tryin to heat up the polity, i just wonder...i read tru the interview, and he said GEJ is his friend just dat they r not in the same party,so wot ever he does or say is cos he(rufia) is in an opposition party... well now dat he has suddenly claim friendship with GEJ, mayb he may get an appointment to further enhance his land embezzlement...*hisss

very easy, just reduce d quantity of food u eat, and d number of times u eat in a day, doesnt mata when, stay of meals with calories,do som sit ups frm time to time, start with 10 and then u kip increasing it 3 3 days..gud luck...

he is criticizing but doesnt want to b criticized..smh , hw touching ... ,he is just idle, i dnt why his pple didnt elect him to nass, by now he wud hav bin strategizing on hw to move one 'money pumping' bill...

make her spend some time with ur mom, maybe 2weeks or more...she will learn alot u neva can tell..

u can feel the zeal in his words to make naija a beta place, may God see u tru sir

imagine dino telling those dat are not supporting his selfish course, to go and drink acid..na wa o. is it by force? i'm gradually losing my regards for him

i ve said it tym without number, Dino needs an appointment, una no wan hear, ok na...Every politician likes being relevant even after office or failed election, and Dino isnt an exception...

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has said he will quit his job if he fails to qualify the country to next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

The Eagles sensationally failed to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup and coach Samson Siasia was sacked as a result when he failed to resign.

But just ahead of the Nigeria’s last qualifying match set against Liberia, Keshi has now vowed he will not be asked to go should his team again fail at the last hurdle to reach the Nations Cup tournament proper.

Eagles battle Lone Star in a two-legged qualifier beginning on Saturday in Monrovia for a place at the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa. The second legged is billed for Calabar.

“If I fail, I won’t wait to be asked to go. I will throw in the towel and move on,” Keshi was quoted as saying by Mtnfootball.com.

“But God forbid that we get to a stage where we do not qualify. My boys are focussed and I am sure they also want to be in South Africa after they failed to get to the last competition in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

“But football can be unpredictable and that is why we have to redouble our efforts to ensure we qualify.”

Keshi disclosed that Liberia have stepped up since his team beat them 2-0 in Monrovia in a friendly earlier this year.

“Their new coach has turned the team around since we beat them 2-0 and this only means we have to lift our game to win again,” said the coach, who watched the Lone Star beat Malawi in a warm-up match on Tuesday.

“They play a 4-4-2 formation, which means they will be very active in the middle. We shall see how we will counter them and get the goals.”

The Eagles were expected to fly out to Liberia from Abuja by 6am today on a chartered flight and return immediately after the game. By Tuesday all the players called up for the game had reported to the Abuja camp. On Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan paid the Eagles a visit at their training ground in Abuja.

http://www.punchng.com/news/ill-quit-if-eagles-fail-keshi/

@poster; u just surprised me, i never knew som low thinkers r stl here in NL, even u and ur friends, whether colleagues or woteva, dnt share same qualities, u hav d very tough ones, u hav d soft spoken ones, d intelligent ones, braves ones, and even d low thinkin ones like u, none of u r the same, let alone GEJ and Putin, d cant be d same, haba...both of them hav diff backgrounds, diff challenges etc...so i advise u compare urself when u were a child n now, probably u r stl a child in adult body

Going by what the AIG is saying, he is indirectly telling us that the Police has failed in thier duties, cos if they havnt failed, no org will take or carry out thier duties...and i think frm all we hear, the SSS r really trying, so d is no need for any accusation, both agencies shud just ensure max sucurity of innocent citizens

President Goodluck Jonathan is of the view that the time has come for a ‘Peoples Constitution’ and is asking for the help of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in aggregating broad based contributions to enhance the ongoing constitution review process.

President Jonathan spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during a presidential retreat for the CSOs and professional associations where he noted that the constitution is one ligament that holds the nation together, and as such its amendment would be incomplete without the voices of all Nigerians.

He explains that his invitation to the participants of the retreat was informed by their closeness to the people and their understanding of the people’s fears and desires, and not for any political settlement.

President Jonathan added that a constitution that can guarantee true democracy must flow from the ideas and experiences of the people, not just the people in the corridors of power.

The retreat is part of this year’s independence anniversary.

http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/07/jonathan-charges-csos-on-transformation-of-nigeria/

I wonder wot runs tru dis guys head, pple with same dialect shud tuk to them o if the will listen, cos i cnt just understand, cos of them, d innocent ones will suffer to communicate, na wa o

very inspiring and original

As if de hav a choice, d president is their own na, d shud just allow him concentrate abeg...d is stl more to b done

i learnt the chairmen were made to pay a total of N4.5million to a particular company in connection with d america trip, i wonder wot d really went to do... tinubu stil gained sha..crafty man T

if i'm asked to suggest, i will suggest the president appoints the minister of state for power as the new min of power, cos he knows wot and wot has bin done, and wot is left to b done, unless his competence is in doubt..A new min will hav to start all ova again, tryin to understand wot is on ground and probably change d whole process again thereby making d reform tk a longer time. the shud b continuity... just a personal opinion anyway.