Sometimes I think I'm mad. Perhaps I am if insanity is now seen as sanity and the order of the day. I have never, not for once, celebrated or praised Fashola's administration. No apologies, but most Nigerians are gullible. Can anyone ask the sincere question what Fashola's administration, or Tinubu's, has done in the last 15 years? Planting of flowers around town? Where? Ajegunle? For what purpose? How does that add to the quality of life? Isn't that a tiny fraction of the Ministry of Environment's responsibilities? How many roads have been fixed in Lagos? Where are the street lights? They brought in some poor quality China-made solar lights that ceased working just the next week after installation in a few parts around Ikeja axis. The drainage system is still poor! N18 billion per month is just the publicly declared figure! You'll be shocked to know how much is being siphoned away to foreign accounts before official declaration is done. You think the APC goons care about you? Who are you, poor Lagosian? You think because Fashola has the aura of a technocrat or just because he's a trained lawyer would make him a responsible leader? Do you know why the term 'Wolves in sheep's clothing' exist? You can't recognize them? Many of those praising Fashola or venerating APC in Lagos would probably be dead in their graves before realizing they've been robbed blind by those whom they ascribe excellency status to. What's excellent about people that are meant to 'serve' you? You, the tax-payer? You pay them to carry out functions for you just because it's impossible for every man to be in government. They turn around and act like gods, and you clap hands for them that they've done well. He's a working governor, you say. Lagos is working, Fashola is working, you say. Indeed. You are myopic. Sorry; you are totally blind. Blame it on ignorance and a mediocre brain. Fashola is working for himself, his wife, his children, his grandchildren, great grandchildren, and Emperor Bola Tinubu's clan. People have brains but have refused to use it! I am in no support of any party be it PDP or APC, but let's have a change even if for the sake of change. These rogues in power are confident that they can't be booted out of office because they know the power lies with them until the people prove them wrong. If the next person comes to power and acts like a fool, give him the boot after four years. The next slowpoke after that would probably sit up.

President Goodluck Jonathan has honoured Pa Taiwo Akinkumi, the designer of the Nigerian national flag.

Akinkunmi’s design in 1960 was adjudged the best among more than 2000 entries for the prestigious national flag design competition, which held at Norwich Technical College in 1958.

Although he received a reward of £100 for the feat, the 81-year-old has lived the last few decades in penury in Ibadan, capital of Oyo state for several years.

In a 2006 interview, Akinkumi said he was looking forward to being acknowledged by the government.

“I was in London when I received the prize of £100 and I’ve not received any award or national honour since the time I came back to the country,” he said.

“Although I received a lot of congratulatory messages from different set of people, I’m still expecting the government of Nigeria to honour me with any national honor.”

However, on Monday, Jonathan conferred on him the honour of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and directed his chief of staff to place him “forever” on a salary equivalent to that of a special assistant to the president.

The president showered encomiums on Akinkunmi and other awardees, emphasising the importance of rewarding acts that place the country in good light.

“Today, I am glad to perform the duty of honouring our deserved citizens for 2013 and 2014,” he said.

“The national honour ceremony is undertaken yearly in conformity with our laws. It’s an annual ritual of renewal in which our society constantly connects with its higher value. A nation is void if it does not have those sacred values it holds dear and individuals who project them.”

Jonathan challenged the committee that organised the programme to ensure that outstanding citizens deserving of the awards across different sectors are not left out.

He also encouraged members of the public to be involved in the process of nominating Nigerians deserving the award.

from: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/30/honour-at-long-last-for-designer-of-nigerian-flag/

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday warned that it would henceforth take the necessary action against associations, corporate bodies, individuals, political parties, media or communication agencies, social media, candidates/aspirants who contravene the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and/or Electoral Act 2010 on public campaigns/rallies and processions.

In a statement titled, “Caution On Illegal Public Political Broadcast And Campaign” and addressed to all the national chairmen of registered political parties, corporate entities, associations and the general public, the commission said its attention had been drawn to the insistent illegal campaigns carried out by associations, corporate entities, individuals, public and private media and other communication agencies in the country in contravention of the Constitution and the Electoral Act on the limitation of political broadcasts.

In the statement, which was signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu, the commission stressed that Section 99 of the Electoral Act 2010 prohibits broadcast and political campaigns earlier than 90 days before polling day.

Section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 states: “For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.”

It added that the relevant extracts of the Electoral Act have since been reproduced and circulated by the commission at public places, to media outfits, the Ministry of Information, National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Communications Commission (NCC), headquarters of the Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC), headquarters of state, FCT, local government area offices of INEC and the Federal Ministry of Environment for their information and proper guidance.
Source: thisday

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-east geopolitical zone yesterday dispelled insinuations in some quarters that former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has returned to the party.

The party in a statement by its National Vice-Chairman, South-east zone, Col Austin Akobundu (rtd), made available to journalists in Enugu, said the former governor had not returned to PDP, dismissing the rumour as the figment of the imagination of the peddlers.
Akobundu said reports reaching him from both Bende Local Government Area and Abia State chapters of the party (Kalu’s local government area and home state respectively) indicate that the former governor is not a member of the ruling party.

“He is neither registered in his Igbere ward nor recognised as having done so in Bende, let alone being accepted at the state level of the party as a returnee.

He stressed therefore that the zonal level of the party recognises and accepts entrants or returnees who have been duly registered and certified as having fulfilled all the requirements of entry or re-entry into the party as laid down in the party constitution and wondered how some group, particularly politicians from the opposing camp should insinuate that Kalu is now a member of PDP, when in actual fact he is not.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Kalu is not a member of PDP. For the fact that he visited some friends at the national secretariat of PDP in Abuja and later took photograph with some unsuspecting national officers and former political office holders as published in two national dailies does not make him a member of the PDP.

“The party has constitution, guidelines and laid down rules by which it conducts its affairs including how returnees should be reunited.
“Kalu, we should recall, was a governor at a time when our dear National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Ma’azu was holding sway in Bauchi State. That he had gone to our national headquarters to felicitate with his erstwhile colleague probably in company of others does not automatically qualify him as a member of the PDP.”

According to him, “We therefore urge the public, particularly the members of our party to remain calm, vigilant and beware of the activity of imposter(s) who might want to hoodwink them into having the wrong perception of their return of people whose sole ambition is to derail our hard won cohesion and confidence by the electorate in the South-east and Abia State in particular.”

THISDAY checks revealed that the former governor had left the PDP in the wake of his face-off with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and formed the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).
SOURCE: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/south-east-pdp-denies-kalus-return-to-party/

Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, has raised questions over the value of America’s involvement in Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram. He has also given a chilling insight into how the insurgents ambush Nigerian soldiers as a result of the hostile terrain in the north-east.

Davis, who was in the country for four months trying to negotiate the release of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, told TheCable by phone from Australia that it would appear America was not sharing intelligence with Nigeria. He said: “The militants usually move in a convoy of 20 to 60 vehicles. Although they often move at night, they are now emboldened and are launching large-scale attacks in the daylight. “Americans claim they are doing aerial reconnaissance. Why are they not passing the information to the Nigerian military? With this information the Nigerian military could intercept the Boko Haram convoy before it reaches its target.”

In the wake of the kidnap of hundreds of schoolgirls by Boko Haram in April, the US had offered to help Nigeria in the war against terror. It offered military assistance in form of training, aerial reconnaissance and equipment, although without any ground troops. The UK, Israel and China also offered support, but Boko Haram has become more since then, destroying villages and wreaking havoc on citizens.

Meanwhile, Davis also warned that military action alone is unlikely to end the insurgency. “What has happened in the last six months is very worrying,” he said, recounting days and weeks that he said he spent in discussions with the militants and his interactions with their commanders in his failed effort to get the girls released.

“Most roads in the rural north of Borno are very narrow and built up about two meters above the surrounding countryside. This is because the surrounding countryside quickly becomes boggy with the rains. These roads such as the road from Dikwa to Marte can only take one vehicle on the narrow bitumen strip. A vehicle must draw to a halt and risk going off the side when encountering a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. “The road surface has deteriorated through lack of maintenance and are now heavily pot-holed such that vehicles have to crawl along the road in many places. The militants normally strike at night, so they lay in wait where the military has to slow down to a crawl due to the poor road condition. Sometimes they dig the potholes deeper to entrap a convoy. “On getting wind of the ongoing attacks, the Nigerian military would dispatch soldiers in a convoy of vehicles. Unfortunately, and unknown to the soldiers, the insurgents may have enlarged a big hole on the road. So in a convoy of say 20 vehicles, the first vehicle draws to a halt as it encounters the ditch. “By the time the soldiers realise what is happening and try to make a U-turn, they are ambushed by the insurgents as the convoy struggles to turn around on the narrow pot-holed road.”

Nigeria has lost many towns and villages to the insurgents in recent times, while soldiers are increasingly reported to be deserting. “The soldiers I have met and camped with are loyal and committed to protecting Nigeria. Some have been on detachment for a very long time. I cannot comment further on military for operational reasons which I am sure you will understand,” he said.

Davis, who advised two former Nigerian presidents on Niger Delta militancy, told TheCable in the first part of this interview that the funding of Boko Haram was being partly done through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in what appears to be legal transactions.
Read more here: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/exclusive-davis-queries-us-role-in-bharam-war/

Can anybody verify the source of the hashtag campaign? I'm not absolving the president's campaigners from this hashtag but has anyone thought that the opposition could be the brains behind such a campaign? I do not think any thinking person on the presidency would put out such a campaign slogan. We might think they're not living up to our expectations regarding governance but I do not think they are stupid. This kind of campaign has APC written all over it.

I was just reading a post on Nairaland some minutes ago where the topic was on what constitutes a God-fearing individual. Someone commented adding that he/she is an atheist and that got me wondering. I have been seeing so many atheists on social media in Nigeria and it bothers me why there are so many of them nowadays. Are people now saying that there is no God? Do people mean that they don't believe in the creator of the universe? How did they come into existence if they don't believe in God. God created us all and this is what the Bible says. What is it with all these atheists? I want to understand why anyone would come to the conclusion that there is no God. It baffles me seriously. I need answers.

Apparently traumatised by the protracted wait for the rescue of the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents from their hostels in Chibok, Borno State, parents have given up hope and are demanding a military invasion of hostage camps not minding the cost. PREMIUM TIMES caught up with the chairman of Chibok Local government, Tsambido Hosea, in Abuja last Friday during a protest to mark the 130th day since the girls have been in captivity. Mr. Tsambido said the parents are unable to move on with their lives, with their kids still in the custody of terrorists in some forests. He said the parents of the victims were seeking a logical end to their trauma either by burial or reunion. “If the Federal government has that capacity, let them go into the Sambisa. If there are some that God said would be rescued, they can be rescued by the force and if some have gone, it’s better (to know) than this entire trauma the parents are going through,” he said. He said the parents want to bury their children if they are dead so they can forge ahead with their lives instead of living with uncertainty, not knowing if their children are dead or alive. This abduction of schoolgirls on April 15 disrupted the lives of many in Nigeria, with some sympathetic Nigerians along with the Chibok community organising marches and protests to create awareness and force the Federal Government to be proactive on the issue. A group termed the BringBackourGirls movement have been protesting on the streets of Abuja since a week after the hostages were taken demanding their rescue, to the chagrin of the government. They meet at the Unity Fountain Maitama every day at 3pm. They said they will not stop meeting until the girls are brought back alive and well.
The parents say they don’t care about their life but let them go in. If they can take care of this Boko Haram, so that they will not spread to other places. So that they cannot continue with their menace. Let the girls be sacrificial lambs. That’s what they told me yesterday. I phoned them, that I know that I am going to face some interviews today. What is your opinion? So this their opinion. Actually, if the federal government has that capacity, let them go into the Sambisa. If there are some that God said will be rescued, it can be rescued by the force. And if some has gone, its okay, than all this troubles, than all this trauma the parents are going through now. They cannot do anything. But had it been they buried them, they would have forged ahead with their lives. They are saying let the government go into the forest. Even the corpse, let them bring the corpse of the children so that they will bury them properly. What they are saying is that these girls in the bush, it is better for the government, to go in with the force, with the army might to bring them even the corpse for them, so that they can bury them properly.

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/headlines/167689-interview-make-abducted-girls-sacrificial-lambs-but-stop-boko-haram-chibok-chairman.html#sthash.1zLJ1WLq.dpbs

Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has disclosed the intention of his administration to build an exclusively female bilingual college in Niger Republic.

Last year, Governor Kwankwaso spent over N1 billion on the building of the Kano-Niger Republic Bilingual College in Niamey.

Kwankwaso said the gesture was part of efforts of his administration to consolidate bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Niger Republic.

Hosting officials of the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, he said the second school would be for female students.

Kwankwaso, in a statement by his media aide, Mallam Halilu Ibrahim Dantiye, explained that the move was also in furtherance of his administration’s girl-child education drive.

He recalled that his government had earlier constructed an all male bilingual boarding college in Niamey for Kano and Nigerien students, and that the need for another college became imperative because, “French is indispensable, considering the fact the Nigeria is surrounded by Francophone countries”.

He added: “Like the male bilingual college in Niamey, the proposed female college will provide opportunity for our young girls to learn French and interact with their Nigerien counterparts, thus promoting cultural relations between two brotherly nations”, he said.

While noting that the long existing relationship between both countries has continued to wax stronger, he said all the resolutions reached during his last visit to Niger Republic which include the setting up of an economic forum, establishment of a bilingual college and exchange of wild animals for zoological gardens have been actualized.

In his speech, Secretary General, Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, Ambassador AbdulJalil Suleiman said the commission has recorded some achievements in the control of cross border drug trafficking, human tracking and equitable sharing of water resources between the two countries.

On his part, the president, Nigeria-Niger Joint Chamber of Commerce, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar praised the governor for what he described as his untiring efforts aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries.
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/14690-kwankwaso-to-build-another-school-in-niger-republic

True talk. But will the president listen? Asari Dokubo needs to be caged. He's a dangerous man and the president cannot seem to caution him.