₦airaland Forum

obiZEAL:
Who would'nt
Only people incapable of rational reasoning will still be in GEJ's camp.

Tell me what is rational in believing that only a bigot directionless northerner with history of cowardice and human right abuses is fit to rule over you.
Don't you think that is an insult to you and the word "RATIONAL" itself ?

BiHung:
Abi o..."trully" instead of "truely"

See our amiable grammarian. I am not surprised that is what you do when you take Buhari as a role model.

It is "TRULY" not "truely"

Come 2015 my vote is for progress not predators.

These excuses no longer hold, Nigerians are smarter.
Let any one with conscience tell me which of these equipment Nigerian Army lacks

1. AK-47 rifles
2. Rocket propelled grenade(RPG)
3. Machine gun
4. Hand Grenades
6. Hilux vehicles

Note the equipment listed above are the same ones boko haram are using against us.
In addition to the list above Nigerian army still has fighter jets

So can anyone explain how boko harams are more equipped than the Nigerian army ?

Amaechi needs to try another lie

cramjones:
Someone please tell the dumb president to confront chad. Also someone please tell Mr. President to switch on the computer first before browsing. How dumb can this president be? Just how dumb?

-CramJones

Even though you have gotten your crumb out of Amachi's 17 billion largesse, you should try and remove unnecessary hatred from your posts.

ibkgab001:
God knows more than we do... But I think Mnajority of Nigerians are tired of GEJ due to his slow acts.

You will agree with me that we can conclude from the little we know about this general that he isn't the right one for us.

oziegbe2015:
Do you know u can go to JAIL faster with this. If buhari is a terrorist was has it not been confirmed by fg. Why has fg not even taken him to court if they have proofs. Even if buhari makes certain statments it doesnt matter in law u have to back it up. Many like obj, dokubor, tompolo have even made worse statements. It could naturally be out of exictment or annoyance, buhari is not guilty of any crime. Or is gej scared of persecuting one man, with all the federal power it has, if he is scared then he deserves to be voted out for beign an ameatur in handling governance. Even in law if u see a man that killed someone in your very presence he would be called an ordinary suspect. Becareful u can go to jail for deformation of a gentleman character.

Wake up please this is not the 1980's and Buhari is not in charge. I don't blame you for typing this gibberish because in those days when the incorrigible killer general was in power he routinely jailed people for speaking the truth. But now times have changed. So I would advise you to embrace reality accept that your "gentleman-killer" general is a dinosaur and join the moving train.Peace.

on December 23, 2014 by Femi Aribisala


By Femi Aribisala
If anybody would like to be a serial loser of the presidential election in Nigeria, here is a list of what he needs to do; according to the blueprint of Muhammadu Buhari.

If one were to decode the guiding principle of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential ambitions, it would be this: “If at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up until you have failed three more times on the trot.” Nigerians don’t want Muhammadu Buhari to be our president. We have said this repeatedly since 1999. But Buhari simply refuses to take “No” for an answer. When is he finally going to get the message that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians don’t want him?

Buhari is the last of yesterday’s men who insist that a country of 170 million people must continue to rely on the leadership of the same old and failed generation. Nigerians have already put paid to the presumptions of Olusegun Obasanjo; who wanted a fourth term; Ibrahim Babangida; who stepped aside and wanted to step back in; and Atiku Abubakar, who runs a marathon for the presidency. Buhari is the last of these recalcitrant dinosaurs. The one good thing about the coming presidential election is that it is likely to provide Nigerians with a final definitive opportunity to send him permanently into retirement.

Buhari’s repeated failure to secure a national mandate provides a textbook case of how not to run for the presidency in a plural country like Nigeria. This is a compendium of some of the reasons why the Nigerian presidency will forever elude men like Buhari, inspire of all the song and dance that attends their candidacies. If anybody would like to be a serial loser of the presidential election in Nigeria, here is a list of what he needs to do; according to the blueprint of Muhammadu Buhari.

Be an enemy of democracy

Claim you are anti-corruption but steal the presidency of the entire country through an illegal and fraudulent military coup. Claim you are a democrat after you overthrew a democratically elected government in 1983 and made yourself Head of State without the consent of the people of Nigeria. As military Head of State, refuse to entertain any plan for a return to civilian rule. Tell Nigerians that anyone who discusses a return to civil rule would be arrested.

Overthrow a government, but be more against the opposition than the government in power. Establish manhunts for key politicians in the length and breadth of the country. Nevertheless, allow key elements of the ruling NPN to escape out of the country, including party chairman, Richard Akinloye; legal counsel, Richard Akinjide; and Minister of Transport, Umaru Dikko. Allow the Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, to escape abroad, even after he had mistakenly returned to the country and was arrested and jailed.

Violate human rights

Promulgate the infamous Decree 2 that makes even the reporting of the truth a punishable offence. Use it to imprison Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabo, two journalists from the South, for reporting stories that were factually true. Then tell Nigerian journalists: “It does not matter whether the story reported was true or not, if my regime does not like it, the writer would go to jail.”

Try Nigerian civilians in military tribunals as opposed to regular courts of law in violation of internationally acceptable legal norms. Create a secret police, the National Security Organization (NSO) for the first time in Nigeria’s history under infamous Lawal Rafindadi to harass and imprison without trial Nigerian citizens in clear violation of their human rights.

Publicly murder three Nigerians; Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26): two from the South-West and one from the South East, under the dubious Decree 20 for drug-related offences. Ignore the fact that, at the time they committed their crimes, their offences were not punishable by the death sentences.

Nevertheless, maliciously backdate the death-sentence with illegal retroactive decrees that violate every international norm of due process and human rights just in order to kill these three hapless young men. In spite of widespread international condemnation for this, refuse to show any remorse or contrition or to apologise for this judicial murder till date.

When asked to appear before the Justice Oputa “Truth and Reconciliation Panel” in order to answer for a litany of abuses of power and violation of human rights while in power as Nigeria’s military Head of State, refuse to appear showing your contempt for Nigerians.

Discriminate against the South

Balance a Northern Fulani Head of State with another Northern Fulani deputy. Conduct a coup d’état, ostensibly to overthrow a corrupt Nigerian government. However, be so ethnically chauvinistic that you put Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the vice-president who took none of the decisions under lock-and-key in jail in Kirikiri because he is Igbo and Christian. At the same time, put Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the president who was the person in charge under house arrest in a palatial mansion in Ikoyi, Lagos because he happens to be the same as you: Fulani and Muslim.

Make Northern politicians sacred cows and untouchable. Fail to arrest and prosecute none of the prominent Hausa/Fulani politicians who were the principal actors in the government you overthrew; including Adamu Ciroma, Suleiman Takuma, Aliu Gusau, Lawal Kaita, Barkin Zuwo, Shehu Kangiwa and Awwal Ibrahim.

At the same time, jail Southern politicians, including Bisi Onabanjo, Ambrose Alli, Lateef Jakande, Jim Nwobodo, and others on trumped up charges that could not be substantiated in any court of law. Try octogenarian Michael Ajasin of the South-West before a tribunal. When he is discharged and acquitted; try him again. When he is discharged and acquitted again, try him a third time. When he is discharged and acquitted yet again, keep him in indefinite detention without just cause.

Maltreat Southern leaders

Send a team of soldiers to ransack the Park Lane, Apapa residence of elder Southern statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Give no reason whatsoever for this blatant violation of the old man’s privacy. Seize his international passport for no just cause. Later, try to pull the wool over the eyes of the Yorubas by choosing a man married to Awolowo’s grand-daughter as your vice-presidential running-mate.

Lock Emeka Ojukwu, an Igbo man from the South, in prison in Kirikiri with the politicians of the Second Republic, in spite of the fact that he committed no crime and held no public office in the Second Republic. Moreover, after Ojukwu returned to Nigeria after 13 years of exile, he received a full pardon from the president of Nigeria for his activities as leader of the secessionist government of Biafra. Provide Nigerians with no explanation whatsoever for the exact offence that led to Ojukwu’s arrest and incarceration.

Get booted out of office by your own clique in the army. Have your colleague, Ibrahim Babangida, give this testimony about you: “regrettably it turned out that (he) was too rigid and uncompromising in his attitudes to issues of national significance. Efforts to make him understand that a diverse polity like Nigeria required recognition and appreciation of differences in both cultural and individual perceptions only served to aggravate the attitudes.”

Corrupt practices

Prohibit the importation of naira into the country during a much ballyhooed currency exchange program. Then contravene your own policy by having your ADC, Colonel Mustapha Jokolo, allow his father, the Emir of Gwandu from the North, to smuggle into the country through Muritala Muhammed International Airport 53 suitcases which the then Area Administrator of the Lagos Airport Customs Command, Atiku Abubakar, was not allowed to search.

At the same time, sentence Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a Yoruba man from the South-West, to 20 months in jail for being in possession of foreign-exchange he had legitimately procured for the upkeep of his band on a foreign trip. Because Fela mocked you in his songs for being unable to address the problems of Nigeria, declare to Nigerians that: “I decided to deal with this Fela problem once and for all.” Face public embarrassment because the judge who pronounced the sentence on Fela later confessed that he was ordered to jail him.

Disregard for Nigeria’s secularity

As military Head of State, contravene the country’s secularity by having Nigeria apply to join the Organisation of Islamic States (OIC). The application finally came through in 1986 and divided the country acrimoniously along Muslim/Christian lines.

Tell Muslims not to vote for Christians. Reveal to Nigerians that you are a religious bigot by declaring in Kaduna in 2001 that: “I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country.” Say this, in spite of the fact that declaring some states as sharia states is in clear violation of the secularity of Nigeria’s federalism, as contained in section 10 of the Constitution of Nigeria

Anti-corruption contradictions

Claim to be an anti-corruption crusader; nevertheless, agree to serve under Sani Abacha, one of the most corrupt Heads-of-State ever in the history of Nigeria. On the 10th anniversary of General Abacha’s demise, tell incredulous Nigerians that Abacha did not steal anything while he was Nigeria’s Head of State. Describe all the allegations of looting the treasury leveled against Abacha as “baseless.” Maintain that: “ten years after Abacha, those allegations remain unproven because of lack of facts.”

Hold this position in spite of the millions of dollars of Abacha’s loot recovered from banks around the world, and in spite of the fact that the Abacha’s family signed a formal agreement to return over $1 billion to the Nigerian government.

As chairman of the juiciest portfolio of all under Sanni Abacha’s government; the Petroleum Trust Fund with a budget of 181 billion naira between 1994 and 1999, fail woefully to curb the rampant corruption in the organisation. When in 2000, President Obasanjo set up an Interim Management Committee to look into the affairs of the PTF under the chairmanship of Haroun Adamu, it was discovered that over 25 billion naira was stolen under your watch.

Claim to be an anti-corruption crusader, but Group Captain Usman Jibrin, a board member of PTF, resigned from the organization in protest over the blatant irregularities in your appointment of consultants.

sourec: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/lose-presidential-election-four-times-1/

Youth Corpers Murdered in Cold Blood while on National Service


Ukeoma Ikechukwu, on his facebook page, made a recommendation to his friends. He urged them to watch the video: “A Soldier's Silent Night”. In his words, it is a “very heart-wrenching video everyone should see”. It is the touching story of an American soldier observing Christmas in a lonely world far away from friends and family—in the service of his fatherland. Well, Ikechukwu is dead. He was murdered in cold blood by rioters who said they were protesting against the results of last Saturday’s presidential election. Ikechukwu was wasted in far-away Bauchi: lonely, terrified, kilometres away from friends and family—in the service of his fatherland as a youth corps member. It is a heart-wrenching story everyone should hear.

His last phone calls were described as coming from “someone in distress”. His last post on his facebook wall was on Sunday, April 17, a day after the election, at 6:48am, via mobile web. He wrote (unedited): "Na wao! This CPC supporters would hv (have) killed me yesterday, no see threat oooo. Even after forcing underaged voters on me they wanted me to give them the remaining ballot paper to thumb print. Thank God for the police and am happy i could stand for God and my nation. To all corps members who stood despite these threats esp. In the north bravo! Nigeria! Our change has come."
He was reported missing that day by friends and finally confirmed dead Friday, with thousands of tributes flowing across the social network sites.

He was not alone. Six other youth corps members were confirmed killed in Bauchi, where the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, polled 1,315,209 votes (or 81.69 per cent), defeating President Goodluck Jonathan (of the Peoples Democratic Party) who scored 258,404 votes and did not even hit the 25 per cent mark. The corps members were reportedly chased to a police station where they sought refuge. But the rioters, who were said to be chanting “Sai Buhari”, overran the station and killed the young Nigerians.

The story of Obinna Okpokiri is as heart-wrenching as Ikechukwu’s. The 27-year-old was butchered and burnt to ashes—in the service of his fatherland. Okpokiri’s own circumstances were as gruesome as they could be. He had reportedly run to the Corpers’ Lodge as the rampaging rioters targeted the youth corps members who were the polling officers recruited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the general election. As death loomed, the young Nigerians contemplated fleeing to the barracks, the only sanctuary in times of mob insanity. But they were not lucky enough. The rioters caught up with them, beat them up, slaughtered the ones they could and set them on fire. Human beings. Future leaders on the last lap of fulfilling statutory requirement before starting their careers. Slaughtered. Sliced. Soaked in petrol. Scorched. Reduced to ashes in the most callous fashion.
Okpokiri could have been in the United Kingdom savouring life some other way and living in the safety of a society that would go to any length to protect its citizens. He chose to return to his fatherland after acquiring a post-graduate degree in the UK. He chose to do the mandatory national youth service. He chose to obey the posting to Bauchi State, as against the mass hysteria of changing posting.

And, as it were, he chose to die.
The story of Ikechukwu and Okpokiri, mowed down in their infancies, is re-igniting calls for the scrapping of the NYSC—a body created in 1976 ironically to foster national unity. The corps members always appear to be the primary targets in ethno-religious riots in some parts of the country. There is now an online petition being mobilised to ask for the withdrawal of youth corps members from violent states, while some are calling for the outright scrapping of the scheme in the interest of safety and protection of the lives of the young graduates.

According to his profile, Ikechukwu worked at His Grace Network Limited as a manager, and studied at the University of Nigeria Nsukka between 2006 and 2010. He did his secondary school at National High School, Aba, from 1997 to 2003. His favourite quote, according to him, was: “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost but when character is lost, all is lost.” His choice of music was “anything inspiring” and his favourite book was the Bible.
He seemed to have a strong religious bent, listing among his interests Dr. Tunde Bakare whom he called “Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God”. (Ironically, Bakare is Buhari’s running mate.) He also listed House on The Rock (his church, it has turned out), Pastor Sunday Adelaja, The Experience Lagos (a yearly Christian music festival), Myles Munroe, and Pastor Bimbo Odukoya among his “interests”.

An anonymous writer wrote on Okpokiri in a blog Friday: "Let's all give a moment of silence and think about the senseless loss of Obinna Okpokiri, 27 years of age, Estate Management graduate, Abia State University, butchered and burnt in Bauchi state. Can he be brought back? No, never, not ever! ...I did not know Obinna directly but we had mutual friends here in London. Until recently Obinna was here in the UK, at his family expense, to pick up a post graduate qualification. Obi, as I will call him for the rest of this write up, like every young man had dreams and hopes and one of such was to go back and complete the mandatory NYSC. As a result he packed his bags, paid his way back to Nigeria to serve his fatherland in Bauchi where he was posted to do his National Youth Service.”
For Ikechukwu and Okpokiri, it is silent night. It is a heart-wrenching story.

source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/two-youth-corpers-murdered-in-cold-blood-while-on-national-service/90142/

These are just few of those killed.

Yet some naive individuals are trying hard to launder the image of the General who ordered the killing of many of Nigerian's future. Never it won't work.

He should defend all he wants, but Nigerians are smarter, we will always know him for what he "actually" did directly or indirectly. We know him to be a coup plotter and democracy saboteur , an unapologetic sharia activist and a sore loser who tacitly support the killing of over 800 innocent Nigerians after the 2011 elections. Who wants this type of man as his president ?

Only myopic people will just conclude that human parts can generate great riches. It has been shown that these are all scams perpetrated by voodoo specialists in order to keep their business afloat. Nollyhood is not also helping matter because they keep reinforcing this erroneous belief in their movies. I believe this menace can only be curbed by increased security surveillance and reeducation of the masses. Peace to the hunch backs.

egift:
[s][/s]

You had a very difficult upbringing with perhaps no parental care. I really pity your plight. NEXT!

Jonathan = 8yrs in Primary School. Failed WAEC. Depended on GEC. Professional Zoologist. Did I hear "Academician"?

So by your logic , a person who studied zoology cannot be termed an academian.

Please kindly define who an "academician" is ?

By Emmanuel Ajibulu

Agriculture Minister, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has risen in defence of the achievements of his ministry, saying they are unassailable.

Adesina spoke against the backdrop of the criticism by a former minister in the ministry, Mallam Adamu Bello, who described the achievements as non-existent.

Renown economist and public affairs analyst, Prof. Pat Utomi, among others, echoed the minister’s sentiment.

Bello had challenged Akinwumi’s claim to achievements in the agriculture sector.

An aide to the minister, Olukayode Oyeleye, who responded on behalf of his principal, wanted the former minister to show what positive reforms his seven-year tenure brought to the agriculture sector.

“It will help greatly for Adamu Bello to point to the number of investments generated in seven years, whereas, within two years, under Adesina, Nigeria has attracted US$4 billion in private sector investments in the agricultural sector,” he said.

He continued: “Adamu Bello never told Nigerians the truth about his actual performance in office. Let him give details commodity-by-commodity, and let him state where and how this impact was felt. In 2004, under Adamu Bello, there was something interesting about growth rates in agricultural sector. His ‘perfect’ growth rate of 6.50% for crop production, 6.50% for fisheries, 6.50 % for livestock and 6.50% for forestry should raise eyebrows as this smacks of some form of cosmetic and fuddled growth statistics, an indication of some tinkering somewhere. Earlier in the year, Adamu compared his seven years in office with Adesina’s first agriculture year in 2012, relying on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) alone. In doing so, he was one-sided in his analysis, seeking to confuse Nigerians with manipulative figures”.

To Utomi, the claim by Bello is unfortunate and laughable. The foremost economist argued that under the current dispensation, the ministry of agriculture has reconstructed its relationship with farmers so well that today Nigeria is close to achieving sufficiency in food production.

“Today, they have blocked leakages in farmers’ access to fertilizers, provision of real-time information to farmers through making available handsets to farmers across the country. The current minister has also helped farmers in dry season farming”.

Taking a swipe at the posturing of the former minister, Damian Ilenre of the Farmers Initiative in Benin wondered whether Bello left any personal belonging in the office he left years ago “that he suddenly realised must be retrieved.” He added that in a civilized community, former public officers of former minister’s ilk should be hiding their heads in the face of the landmark achievements being recorded in that sector under the current dispensation.

“May be he needs to be reminded of the N14billion fertilizer contract scam that rocked his tenure for him to keep quiet,” Ilenre added.

Also, the Chairman, Umza Rice and chairman, Rice Processors Association, Mohammed Abubakar, said that Adesina created incentives for seed and fertilizer companies to develop supply chains to reach farmers directly in the country. He noted that Adesina has succeeded in attracting $5billion worth of investments by the private sector into local fertilizer manufacturing.

A media practitioner and Chairman of 3D Global Leadership, Dr Victor Oladokun, said Bello’s claim was a pack of lies, stating that Adesina has achieved more in two years than Bello achieved in his seven years as agriculture minister. In a statement, Oladokun said his research into Bello’s eight-year tenure, the longest ever for an agriculture minister, showed that he did not achieve anything worth talking about.

“I also spoke with farmers, private sector executives, and agribusiness leaders. My findings and the collective scorecards of those I spoke to was that, at best, he was lacklustre,” he said, reminding Bello that success is not judged by how long someone stays in office, but by what was achieved during that period.

He accused Bello of superintending over an agriculture ministry notorious for its brazen fertilizer fraud and other anomalies. According to Oladokun, within two years, Adesina ended the corrupt, crony-driven fertilizer racket that helped serve the interest of the rich and the politically powerful, and turned farmers into paupers.

Countering Bello’s claim that the federal government gives farmers two bags of fertilizer, Oladokun challenged the former minister to tell Nigerians how many bags farmers got under his tenure.

He said, “The farmers know better. Their fertilizer was hijacked and ‘shared’ by the elite. So shady was the direct fertilizer procurement system that Nigeria was known to have one of the worst cases of fertilizer corruption in the world.

Just ask the millions of farmers who today receive fertilizer directly, without needing middlemen or political cronies.”

source http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/agric-minister-challenges-predecessor-unlike-evidence-performance/

bashorunbazok:
Issues like this ain't meant for prostitutes to dabble into

Rather than attack the message you resort to name calling, typical blind follower, I hope the pit of failure he is leading you to won't be too deep for you.

Please tell us who a prostitute is ?

It is very difficult to swallow ones pride, it take many moments of reality checks to pull off such stunt. I see some people in their reality distortion field claiming that a functioning railway system is not a progress. All they want is everything in the country should be a projection of their mind but this isn't so, therefore they resort to denials and outright lies even undermining their own principles in order to change reality. But we are no fools.

Can anyone objectively compare Buhari and Mandella ?

Their personalities are miles apart

These are the facts:

1.Mandela is a freedom fighter while Buhari is a freedom destroyer
2.Mandela set a good legacy of forgiveness for his country while Buhari is a revenge hunter
3.Mandela doesn't believe in staying in power for a long time , Buhari thinks otherwise
4.People were happy while mandela was both in and out of office , while Nigerian people and especially freedom fighters like fela want Buhari out of office
5.Mandela never incites violence agianst those he wishes to rule
6. When mandela says 'my people' he meant all South Africans black and white while Buhari meant his core north supporters
7. Mandela stood by his action using his words while Buhari denied his actions e.g his initial denial of involvement in coup plotting

I believe mandela made that statement so that Buhari can pacify his followers not to take revenge on innocent non-northerners after his election loss.

RIP to Mandela, though I think it would be great if we still have him around by february next year so that he can help us pacify Buhari after his impending monumental loss.

It is bad to be a "bad loser", the election was a clear cut victory for Fayose, but APC went ahead to the tribunal. Maybe they are expecting a miracle from the incorrigible Salamis of this country

Court cancels disparity in federal colleges’ admission requirements



A Federal High Court in Lagos has entered judgement in favour of an application by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, seeking uniform admission requirements into Federal Government Colleges, otherwise called unity schools.

Agbakoba had sued the Minister of Education, Mr. Ibrahim Shekarau, over the disparity in the admission requirements for students seeking to study in the unity schools.

Delivering judgement in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1358/2013 on Wednesday, Justice James Tsoho held that such disparities in admission requirements into the Federal Government colleges were against the spirit of Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

The judge held that since the Constitution was supreme, it would automatically override any administrative law or policies adopted by the Ministry of Education.

The court therefore ordered Shekarau to apply uniform admission requirements, especially cut-off marks, to all candidates seeking admission into unity schools across the country.

In a 19-paragraph affidavit filed in support of his suit, Agbakoba had stated that since the inception of the unity schools, the Federal Government had maintained disparities in admission requirements.

He noted in particular that the Federal Government prescribed different cut-off marks based on the candidates’ gender and their states of origin.

He therefore sought a declaration of the court that the action of the education minister in prescribing and applying different requirements, including cut-off marks, to candidates seeking admission into unity schools was in violation of the Constitution.

He asked the court to grant an order of perpetual injunction restraining the education minister from all further acts of discrimination in admission to the unity schools.

source: http://www.punchng.com/news/court-cancels-disparity-in-federal-colleges-admission-requirements/

Great news isn't it ?
Now the best are free to excel.

The Muhammadu Buhari Interview ‘Those Who Want To Flee When I Take Over Are Free To Run’



By Jide Ajani

Even before Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), a former Head of State, emerged as the presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2015 general elections on Thursday, many book makers had predicted his victory. The prediction was predicated on what was described as the cult-like followership he enjoys, especially in the North. With a record of vying for the fourth time for the presidency, Buhari is challenging President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election. This interview gives a glimpse into the thinking of the APC presidential candidate on governance, corruption, insecurity, the economy, etc. Excerpts:

Some people look at you and the feeling they immediately get is one of amazement, others express amusement, while some are just bewildered; a few even pooh-pooh your ambition, describing you as a permanent presidential candidate. There must be a spirit that propels you because having contested twice before and seeing how it went, you are in the race again this time around, what is that driving force?

I am hoping that Nigerians would eventually be allowed to choose their presidential material.
I am going to refer you to the Electoral Act 2003 and 2006 as well as the Electoral Act of 2010 and 2011 as amended. I am also going to refer you to the judgment of the Supreme Court in December 2008 on the matter and you will find out that the way our presidential materials emerged was not the proper way. The judgment placed so much doubt on the outcome of that election that it split the Supreme Court into two. The records are there. Three Justices said the elections were not held properly and that they had their facts and the others said well we had to stabilize the polity and that conducting another election at that time would not be auspicious. The Chief Justice cast his last vote.
For me, it is about doing good and the people give me the drive.

The President took a swipe at some former Nigerian leaders, describing them as those who have destroyed our economy and coming out now to complain. You have ruled this country once before and one of your economic policies was Counter Trade. Looking at the economy today, what are those things you would point at that are fundamental to making the economy prosperous?

I am not an economist but with my experience, it is about the indiscipline and lack of probity of the PDP government because they have been the government in charge in the last 12 years and so let nobody come out and blame others for the woes of their party which they have foisted on the nation.

Which ever leadership the President was referring to could not have been any other leadership but the PDP leadership that is so corrupt and inept and undisciplined.
Just go and take a look at our earnings since 1999 and tell me that we have proper records or that we have spent the money judiciously.

Okay, again, take a look at the state of our infrastructure now and tell me that since the PDP took over in 1999, things have really been far better than they were before they took over.

You are a Nigerian and you know what I am talking about.

You have spoken in general terms but were you to make a presentation to the business community, what are those things you would be telling them about your economic agenda – in specific terms?
Firstly, let us secure our country.
It means anything that comes to this country should be secure, but with people being kidnapped, armed robbery, bombings here and there, bad roads, fraudulent practices, nobody would come in and invest in quantum, nobody would bring substantial investment into this country, we are all joking. Which investor would bring money into the country and then you kidnap his manager and the money you are asking for as ransom is far more than the money he even wants to come and invest in the country, nobody would agree to that.
What the PDP governments in the past ought to have done is to properly manage this country and one of the best ways of doing that is by putting the infrastructure right and which would support the resuscitation of industries – that is power. Then there is the issue of roads and making transportation less of a burden for the people. Between Lagos and, say, Kano, you’ll be surprised that the number of road blocks on the road is as much as 50, with officers and men of the Customs, the police, FRSC, and almost all demanding for money – this kills the spirit. The PDP cannot escape responsibility for the mismanagement of the country and its economy. Under the PDP, everything has been going from bad to worse.

Give two examples?
The Jos and the Niger Delta crises!

What solutions would you proffer?
It is not about telling them what to do which I have as plans but we have to understand how the problem developed?
The ruling party must first accept responsibility for the failure of the nation before we can begin to talk about solutions. Let our people be honest about where they have dragged this country to.
These are facts.

Buhari
Buhari
But apart from the ruling party, the psyche of Nigerians has been beaten so badly that no matter how bad we complain about a government in power, the minute that administration leaves and another one comes in, people begin to say the past administration, which they lampooned so much, was even better. The Sani Abacha government, too, at some point in the life of the Obasanjo administration was beginning to gain primacy. How did we get to this level as a people, using your experience as a former head of state?

It is a correct reflection.
You are absolutely correct; you are very correct and it is a correct reflection of how bad things have become.

Even you were a victim of this same mentality. During your regime, people started complaining that even the civilians were not as bad as you were, but after your government was toppled, and the new regime came and the value of the Naira at some stage began to nose-dive, people also said even the Buhari government would have done better?

You are correct.
Just go and check the level of decay in the infrastructure and you’ll have a sense of why that observation is correct. Look at power and the money allegedly spent, what can we show for it? Look at the roads; look at water, people buy water in every part of this country.

I do not think anybody can factually defend the incompetence, indiscipline and corruption of the PDP; I don’t think anybody can defend it with facts. Nobody can do it.
And it is up to Nigerians to vote the PDP out.

Everything you have said paints a picture of hopelessness and helplessness. Why is it that the Nigerian people abhor righteousness. You brought War Against Indiscipline, WAI, which people applauded but suddenly, you were thrown out and the same people said ‘ah, thank God he’s no more’. Is there any hope that Nigerians would ever get a leader that would mean well and be allowed to do well by the elites?

That is the point, to the extent that Nigerians have to make the sacrifice of making sure that elections are allowed to be free and fair.
Kano and Lagos proved that Nigerians can elect the leaders they want. It happened in these states. I thank God that so far so good, I am satisfied that Nigerians are beginning to demonstrate that they would not allow the PDP to steal their votes again.

That way, they can vote into power the people they want and, if they are not satisfied with their performance, they can again vote them out at the appropriate time and vote in those who would perform.

It is becoming very clear in today’s world that you can not have democracy on a platter of gold; you have to fight for it. You have to fight for it. And Kano and Lagos fought it without casualties and they proved the point and that is our only way out.

There are fears in some quarters and it is serious. Some people say a General Muhammadu Buhari becoming President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces would spell doom for a section of the elites. There are even talks that some people would just head for exile. I’m sure you’ve heard this talk before. What would be your response?

Well, it would appear that individuals are free to live wherever they choose to live and live comfortably.

Individuals are also very free to leave the country if they so choose especially since they would be able to afford it.

Those of us who are sentenced to live in Nigeria will continue to live in this country because, to us, we do not have any other country than this and we would not leave the country and go and seek comfort in another country.

Well, if people would feel unsafe, they can leave the country.
We will continue here.

What I’m trying to say relates to a possible witch hunt; some people may be afraid based on past deeds?
If people feel unsafe to live under some leadership in Nigeria because of what they have done or because of some atrocities they have committed in the past and, therefore, would not feel safe to live under some type of leadership in the country, then may be they are using their sixth sense.

I ask that as a preamble to the issue of corruption in Nigeria. At a point, the index gave hope, but, at some other time, the index showed the opposite went down again and some people say the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is not doing enough to fight corruption? How would you tackle the issue of corruption?
One of the things that the we will do is to strengthen the institutions.

We already have the police.
We have said that security, prosperity will bring stability. We have been harping on these three things before.

If we empower the police, it will do its work very well.
There are too many boards or commissions handling this or handling that.
We will look at the ones that would still be relevant to strengthen the police.

Will will make the military more efficient by training and re-training and also by providing equipment and machinery.
EFCC, there are volumes of representations which they can not cover because of inadequate manpower or lack of resources.
We will do our best to strengthen the institutions by managing resources judiciously.

We have financial regulations in every department and every ministry and in every state and they have to work.

There must be a proper accounting of public funds in all the three tiers of government and what is lacking is that judicious use of public funds. This is the aim of the CPC.

People say you are a good man and that you mean well?

(Cuts in) Thank you very much Jide.

The question is: You would not be in every ministry or every government department or agency to properly monitor these things. So, how much confidence would you have in your point man because you gave an instance of politicians attempting to highjack elective tickets?

The laws and regulations on accountability in all these places you have talked about are not lacking at all. People just choose to do what they like.
People just refuse to respect the laws of the country.

What we would do is to ensure that there is proper and judicious use of the country’s resources for the good of the people. The laws are there.
You remember when Obama went to Ghana, he said what Africa needs are strong institutions and not strong people. In the case of Nigeria, I dare to say that we are unique.
We need strong people to create those institutions and they strengthen those institutions for effectiveness.
The truth is that, without a strong and clean leadership, Nigeria cannot be stabilized.
The other side of the coin is that you may not even be able to strengthen the institutions if you are not strong and firm as a leader.

Followership and leadership: Which one should come first?
Look, Nigerians can not be taken for granted any more.
As a state governor, you can not be stealing state funds and then expect the people to fall in line and be disciplined.
It will never work.
Everybody responsible for some part of the treasury would also be pocketing the money because they know what the governor is doing.
If the President of the country is spending monies outside the approved budget or acts outside the approved regulations from the Office of the Accountant General, Nigerians would rise against such a person and would not even obey such a leader and they’ll do whatever they like.

That is why we have had this mess on ground since 1999.
The infrastructure we met, we refused to build new ones and even the ones on ground were not being properly maintained.
Don’t forget, we used to have four functional refineries in this country with more than 480, 000 bpd capacity.
We had more than 20 depots.
I don’t know how many pumping stations.
We had more than 3,500 kilometre length of pipelines.
The PDP government could not maintain them; instead, we are importing petroleum products at world market prices, something that we produce in this country.
This is the height of corruption, killing the petroleum industry which the country depends on. Why can’t we refine our own crude and sell in our own country?
Instead, we give people contracts to import products and sell to Nigerians at world prices.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/m-u-h-m-m-d-u-b-u-h-r-interview-want-flee-take-free-run/

Does this portray interview portrays a passionate man who knows how to fix this country or a naive opportunist who just want to grab and misuse power ?

You decide

This type of data shouldn't be about number but percentages. And to think that UK home office doesn't understand this is beyond me. On a second thought they might have gone for numbers just to ridicule Nigeria. Here is the proper statistics :

Nigeria; 832 criminals out of 106,000 = 0.7%

Somalia; 558 criminals out of 45,000 = 1.24%

Zimbabwe; 482 criminals out of 50,000 = 0.96%

Algeria; 305 criminals out of 9,000 = 3.4%

In other words, Nigeria has the least criminal activity(0.7%) based on population size in the UK while Algeria has the highest criminal activity(3.4%).

Therefore, the UK home office needs to higher a Nigerian statistician for better data interpretation next time.

musicwriter:
Is this the only way Brits pay for their crimes in Africa?. Oh!, I so much love the law of karma.

Please, how many brits have you made to pay for their crimes because we need more of your types who fight for african's right. To all criminals it doesn't matter who the victim is, it could even be their father, they just go for the easiest target.

The estranged wife of a London financier was awarded N92,723,499,992 -ninety-two billion seven hundred twenty-three million four hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-two (£337 million $530 million, 425 million euros) on Thursday in one of the biggest divorce settlements seen in a British court.

Details of the payment to US-born Jamie Cooper-Hohn, 49, emerged after a draft judgement was given to lawyers ahead of a final ruling.

Cooper-Hohn’s lawyers were reported to be considering an appeal to get an ever bigger payout.

Cooper-Hohn had separated from hedge fund manager Chris Hohn, 48, after being married for 15 years and the two had fought over assets worth over £700 million.

Hohn had offered his wife a quarter of the fortune, but she argued that their wealth was the result of a partnership.

The two, who met while studying at Harvard University and have four children, founded charity the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation to help the poor in developing countries.

The son of a legal secretary and a car mechanic, Hohn was reported to have given away almost £1 billion between 2006 and 2011.

He was knighted this year for services to philanthropy and international development.

“Over the long term I am an unbelievable money-maker,” Hohn told the court, but adding that he did not “really care about money” and that it did not bring happiness.

Legal experts said the settlement was one of the biggest made in Britain, but that it was difficult to know whether it was the largest ever because higher payouts may not have been made public.

It does however dwarf the divorce settlement previously reported to be the highest ever in Britain — a 2011 award of between £165 million and £220 million from late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky to his former wife Galina Besharova.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/wife-awarded-n93bn-record-divorce

pweetixandy:
I see nothing wrong..its a secondary schl right? If it had been pupils now,I would object. Schools are not just for acquiring western education,u also learn to be disciplined. From d pic,u can see the students are few,they are d agberos of d school. Are u sure its a private school? D uniform and d compound don't look like what u'ld see in a private school.

Because it's a secondary school does not make it right. Discipline shouldn't be enforced by humiliation in front of mates. In fact, research has shown that punishment don't work on children on the long run only listening and reward does. Some of these children you incorrectly labelled "Agberos" could be performing parental roles for their younger ones every morning. They cook, bath and make sure they get to school. I know this because I have observed it firsthand. But no one cares to know why they are late, they are the bad ones in the school and have to be punished. And by the time the punishments are over, these children are exhausted, yet we expect them to learn something in school for that day.
Our school discipline system need to be reformed , we need more listening and less cane.

Light is gradually improving. thumbs up to GEJ.

Every developed country rely on their native language as a means of communication, instead of feeling 'Nigerian' by using Nigerian accent for a foreign language it is better if we advocate for the development of our own languages. There is absolutely nothing wrong in using foreign accent for a foreign language. I believe we cannot copy a language and call it our own just because we can apply our local accent to it.

By Femi Aribisala

Paul’s statement that all scriptures are written by the inspiration of God is, itself, not inspired.

The bible is the most important book ever compiled. However, it is also one of the most dangerous. It is used to edify and it is also used to deceive. Christians like to pretend that the bible was written by one person. But in reality, it was written by 40 different authors from three continents in three different languages.
Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat.” (Matthew 13:24-25). This portrait of the kingdom is directly applicable to the bible. The bible is a book of wheat and weeds. In it, the truth of God is presented side-by-side with grievous misrepresentations of God.


Justification of Evil
The bible can be used (and has been used) to justify evil. It tolerates incest: “They got him drunk that night, and the older girl went in and had sexual intercourse with her father.” (Genesis 19:33). It supports the selling of daughters: “If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not be freed at the end of six years.” (Exodus 21:7). It supports witch-hunting: “A witch must not be allowed to live.” (Exodus 22:18).
The bible supports pogroms: “The God of Israel says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbour.’” (Exodus 32:27). It supports discrimination against the handicapped: “No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed.” (Leviticus 21:18).
The bible supports slavery: “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.” (Leviticus 25:44). It supports discrimination against women: “Set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; and if it is a female, set her value at thirty shekels.” (Leviticus 27:3).


Human sacrifice
The bible supports human sacrifice: “Not even a human being who has been unconditionally dedicated may be bought back; he must be put to death.” (Leviticus 27:29). It supports capital punishment: “The assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Numbers 15:36). It supports drinking of blood: “They shall not lie down until they have eaten what they capture and have drunk the blood of the slain!” (Numbers 23:24).
The bible supports the rape of virgins: “Save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.” (Numbers 31:18). It supports infanticide: “We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered- men, women, and children alike.” (Deuteronomy 3:6). It supports religious intolerance: if an idol-worshiper is found, Moses says: “take that person outside the town and stone him to death.” (Deuteronomy 17:2-5).
The bible supports genocide: “When the LORD your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it.” (Deuteronomy 20:16). It supports “suicide-bombing:” “Samson killed more people at his death than he had killed during his life.” (Judges 16:30). It supports the abduction of women: “While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife.” (Judges 21:23). It supports cannibalism: “We boiled my son, and ate him.” (2 Kings 6:29). It has anti-Semitic vitriol: “(Jews) are against both God and man.” (1 Thessalonians 2:15).


Bible Errors
The bible is full of mistakes. We are told Abraham had several sons (Genesis 25:1-6); then only two (Galatians 4:22); and then only one. (Hebrews 11:17). Jacob was buried in a cave at Machpelah bought from Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 50:13); but then again he was buried in a sepulchre at Shechem bought from the sons of Hamor. (Acts 7:15-16). Moses had only one wife. Nevertheless he had four different fathers-in-law; Reuel (Exodus 2:18/21); Jethro (Exodus 4:18); Raguel (Numbers 10:29); and Hobab. (Judges 4:11).
Jesse had eight sons with David as the eighth. (1 Samuel 17:12-14). Then again he had seven sons with David as the seventh. (1 Chronicles 2:13-15). Saul’s daughter married to David is mistakenly said to be Merab instead of Michal. (1 Samuel 18:19). Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (2 Chronicles 20:35), is mistakenly said to be king of Israel. (2 Chronicles 21:2). Zechariah’s prophecy about the thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13) is mistakenly attributed to Jeremiah. (Matthew 27:9).

Bible Contradictions
The bible is also full of contradictions. Moses says God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. (Exodus 20:11). But Isaiah says God is never tired and does not need to rest. (Isaiah 40:28). God created man last, after creating animals. (Genesis 1:25-26). But then again he created man before creating animals. (Genesis 2:18-19). The Nephilim giants were wiped out in the flood. (Genesis 6:4). Nevertheless, their descendants reappeared after the flood. (Numbers 13:33). The peoples of the earth had different languages. (Genesis 10:5; Genesis 10:20). But then again they had only one language. (Genesis 11:1).
Moses says God asked the Israelites to build him a sanctuary so he can dwell among them. (Exodus 25:. But Stephen insists God does not dwell in temples built by men. (Acts 7:48). Moses says God changes his mind. (Exodus 32:14). But Balaam says he does not. (Numbers 23:19). God is said to have blessed Jehu for destroying the house of Ahab. (2 Kings 10:30). But Hosea says God condemned him for doing so. (Hosea 1:4).


Pauline Confusion
This goes to show that Paul’s statement that all scriptures are written by the inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16) is, itself, not inspired. Indeed, more discrepancies come from Paul himself than from any other person in the bible.
Paul says God is not the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33). But Moses says God confused the tongues at Babel. (Genesis 11:9). Paul says God is “the God of peace.” (Romans 15:33). But Moses says he is “a man of war.” (Exodus 15:3). Paul says God dwells in unapproachable light. (1 Timothy 6:16). But David says he dwells in thick darkness. (Psalm 18:11). Paul says no one is righteous. (Romans 3:10). But Moses says God considered Noah to be righteous. (Genesis 7:1).
Paul says the law was given through angels. (Galatians 3:19). But Moses says God gave it to him directly. (Deuteronomy 10:1-5). Paul says all men are condemned to death because of Adam’s sin. (Romans 5:12/19). But Moses says children are not to suffer for their parent’s sins. (Deuteronomy 24:16). Paul says God justifies the ungodly. (Romans 4:5). But Moses and Solomon say he does not. (Exodus 23:7; Proverbs 17:15).

Thank God for Jesus
We Christians make fools of ourselves by insisting, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that everything in the bible is true. God raised one man to resolve this mess. He is the Amen; the one true and faithful witness. That man is Jesus.
Jesus is the final authority on things of God. Only Jesus’ words present the undiluted and unvarnished truth of God. (John 14:10; John 8:26). They should be put in our hearts, and not just left in a book. (Jeremiah 31:31-33).


source http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/bible-book-wheat-weeds/

What do you think ?