₦airaland Forum

maclatunji:
Source: http://www.opinions.ng/10-things-note-protest-2face-2baba-idibia/

saintmark88:
How can u say u r protesting for good governance and one of the protesters is an example of bad governance, Pls how does this makes sense, it ridicules ur protest.... If u want ur protest to hold any water, there should be no political office holder involved either elected or appointed, once there is , then d protest lacks credibility

martineverest:
they are trying to make it look as if its not pdp thats sponsoring dem

sugarbelly4:
Blackface has insisted that people should not go out to protest in this sensitive time, for it is useless and baseless to do so.. See his tweet below

https://twitter.com/Blackfacenaija/status/826490053404786689

[img]http://1.bp..com/-UGPeDGOIzH4/WJGGyxrL5mI/AAAAAAALiyY/vkZi3a-KKd8D38Ay-o7o-cdQnGLiR9u0ACLcB/s400/2c.jpeg[/img]

Source: http://www.latestamebonaija.com/2017/02/blackface-has-insisted-that-people.html

months:
http://www.authorityngr.com/2017/01/EMPOWERMENT-SCHEME--South-East-missing-in-FG-s-loans-for-states



EMPOWERMENT SCHEME: South East missing in FG's loans for states

EMPOWERMENT SCHEME: South East missing in FG's loans for states
· 23,400 beneficiaries from 13 states receive N100,000 each

The Federal Govern­ment pressed on with its economic empow­erment and pover­ty alleviation programme on Monday, by disbursing loans to 23,400 beneficiaries in 13 states.
Shockingly, none of the beneficiaries came from any of the five states in the South East geopolitical zone. This is not the first time the region is missing in the development and economic packages unveiled by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
When the Federal Govern­ment unveiled a $29.96 billion foreign loan for the provision of infrastructure across the coun­try, none of the projects to be executed with the loan was lo­cated in Igboland.

Similarly, when the gov­ernment recently paid N5,000 monthly stipends to some poor Nigerians under its Social Inter­vention Scheme, all the states in the South East were excluded.
The current loans are be­ing disbursed through the Fed­eral Government’s Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
The Presidency, which an­nounced this on Monday, list­ed the benefitting states as Ad­amawa, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Lagos, Osun and Ogun. Others are Oyo, Ondo, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It did not give reasons for the obvious omission of states in the South East from the scheme.
The micro-credit scheme, which is a non-interest loan scheme, with only a one-time 5 per cent administrative fee for costs, is targeted at micro-en­terprises: traders, artisans, mar­ket men and women, entrepre­neurs, as well as farmers, with the involvement of cooperatives and executed through the Bank of In­dustry (BOI).
Although over 23,000 people have benefited from the loans al­together, over one million people have already enrolled for the pro­gramme across the country and are expected to benefit this year, said a statement issued by the Of­fice of the Vice-President.
To facilitate the loans’ dis­bursement, four payment provid­ers have been signed-on for the programme mostly in the urban areas. The next wave of payment providers, coming on stream by March 2017, would provide a much wider coverage in the ru­ral areas.
The loans range from N10,000 to N100,000 per appli­cant. While the loans would be paid directly to individuals, the beneficiaries are expected to be­long to registered associations and/or cooperatives as the case may be, to ensure that they are peer-endorsed as credible, and to facilitate timely repayments.
All beneficiaries must have BVNs and bank accounts, said the statement, which further an­nounced that in continuation of the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, actual feed­ing of pupils is expected to com­mence this week in Ogun and Oyo States, while Ebonyi State will soon follow suit.
“Contrary to insinuations in some quarters and inaccurate re­ports in some sections of the me­dia, there are no payment issues or any kind of food rationing taking place in states where the Homegrown School Feeding Pro­gramme has kicked off.
“While the Federal Govern­ment has paid all approved cooks based on the number of pupils al­located to each cook, it is the State that provides the number of pu­pils to be fed. And where those figures change, the next batch of FG payment would reflect it.
“Specifically, where the num­ber of pupils increase, the State will communicate the increase and approve the review. The numbers of the new pupils are then physically verified, before a commensurate number of cooks are engaged, trained and then paid”, it added.
Also, government has adopt­ed a system of paying the cooks 10 days in advance payment for feeding.
The programme is designed to ensure that no cook feeds more than 150 pupils a day, but in some cases, the numbers are as low as 35 children per cook.
The meal, which must be sufficient and nutritious, is cost­ed around locally sourced items and approved by the State under the N70 per child provision by the Federal Government.
Food quality is monitored at the school level through the head teachers, the Parent Teacher As­sociation (PTA), and the state monitoring teams.

NEHLIVE:
The presidency has reacted to the February 5th proposed Nationwide protest which singer, 2face Idibia and other celebrities have come out to support.

Speaking in an interview with Lagos Talk 91.3fm, Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said those who are calling for the protest are people who supported the last government and are still pained that they lost the last election.


"This is a country of about 180 million people. It is impossible for 180 million people to think the same way. Yoruba has a saying that if you all sleep and put your head in the same direction, then you are all foolish because you would be breathing in one another's mouth and lungs. Dont forget the last election and how it went. Somebody scored 12.5 million votes, another scored about 15 million votes. There are some people who are still in that election mode. They have not gotten out of it and till today, they are still living and "rheumatisizing" about the past. What they don't know is that that past is gone and gone forever. Majority of those calling for the protest are still in election mode. Majority of them are people that have resolved not to see anything good in this administration simply because the man they wanted lost at the polls"he said

http://www.newseveryhour.com/2017/01/presidency-reacts-to-planned-nationwide.html

iboboyswag:
No

CXLVII:
What did you expect Obiano to say? Or did Gbenga Daniels of Ogun state ever commend Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was doing wonders in Lagos.

It's politics, he couldn't have said better than what u quoted

CXLVII:
The light of the East has spoken.

The most relevant Eastern politician in today's Nigeria and by facts, The ONLY Eastern candidate that has the political weight to clinch the Presidency.


It's always good to go with the North-Western alliance

Ademat7:
location determines,govt secretariat, higher institutions, busy route

sirequity:
http://www.socialtimesng.com/2017/01/herdsmen-south-west-farmers-resort-self-defence-afenifere/

sarrki:
Fayose if apostle is jailed

I swear no meme will happen

Is he greater than Nigeria ?

Abeg swerve

justiz5:
If Buhari Dies, We Will Start a Civil War and Kill all Southerners and Christians - Fulani Man Threatens Nigerians Wishing Buhari Death

[img]https://4.bp..com/-jabPhfzELzI/WIwmFtNUX_I/AAAAAAAABlk/mOB2qq0PIGs5tGs2654sxnCOM0kgMcX_QCLcB/s640/Buhari%2Bis%2Bdead.jpg[/img]

This is what a Hausa/Fulani man posted on a facebook group "Nigeria Civil Right Movement "Nigerian security operatives shouldn't take this threat as a joke. In 2011, many Christian's lost their lives because of this.

DSS and Sultan of Sokoto will pretend as if they did not see this....


http://www.weeklypostng.org/2017/01/if-buhari-dies-we-will-start-civil-war.html

sarrki:
You once came out to accuse President Muhammadu Buhari of perpetuating the worst form of nepotism in Nigeria; do you still hold this view?

Absolutely! I have seen no evidence so far to make me change my mind. In the previous interview I granted you, I did ask Nigerians or anybody else to look at the evidence I produced and that evidence is very much alive and well and can be verified by anybody who cares to verify it. As far as I am concerned, I stand by everything about the allegations I levelled against President Buhari, Mamman Daura and other relations of his for being nepotistic and if you want, I can repeat what I said offhand because I am certain about my facts. To the best of my knowledge, there has been no response either from the people mentioned or from the so-called Presidency and their spokespersons. As far as I am concerned, everything I said still stands and if anybody is willing to challenge me, I am prepared. If anybody wants to challenge the identities of the people mentioned or their actual, exact connection with Buhari, I am prepared to go public. I am prepared to confront such people whoever they are or whatever they say.

 A few days ago, you told the President’s minders to come out with the truth about the health of their principal; do you know something that Nigerians don’t know about him?

Not much except that I rely on my training as a medical doctor. I also have a few insiders within the system and I am also aware of the level of some people who are supposed to be his personal physicians. The main reason why I thought it is important for Nigerians to know the state of the health of their President is that one, the health of the person occupying the office of the President or the head of government is not a personal affair. It is also not the affair of his family or for that matter, his friends or cronies. It is the responsibility of all Nigerians to know what happens to the leader they elected. That information was not forthcoming and the previous information dished out was not only misleading but highly speculative and I think the nation was shortchanged. Nobody has the right to shortchange 180 million people. Besides, the idea that information should be hidden from the Nigerian public about the health status of Mr. President is misguided and in very bad taste.. Attempts to also manipulate medical information by people who know next to nothing about medicine is, in my view, irresponsible. In mature democracies, when a nation is confronted with a similar situation, what they do is they bring in the doctors of whoever is the personality involved and ask him to explain in some reasonable detail the state of the President’s health when he is sick, when he became sick and when the illness is likely to remain, what is the prognosis, is he likely to come out of the illness, is he fit to carry out the onerous task of office as head of government? It’s his doctors that can answer such questions. It is his doctors who should ab initio issue a statement to tell the nation this is the state of the health of their President. But you know, small boys and hustlers hanging around the president just dabble into matters which are delicate. Any idiot can grab a sheet of paper, sit behind the typewriter or a little laptop and issue a statement on behalf of his boss. When talking about the state of health of the President, it has to be convincing, it has to be the truth, it cannot be manipulated if you are not a medical doctor. Any attempt to do that ends up in disaster and frustration especially on the part of family members, members of the National Assembly and the political party he belongs to.  There are other professionals who will be looking at us to say oh, what kind of system are they running? The issue is, he is the President for all Nigerians and as President, there is an amount of privacy he or his family can enjoy because, whatever he says or does will attract public attention.

 You claimed to have been a friend to President Buhari since he was a rising officer in the army, do you have to come to the open to criticise him instead of doing that privately?

 There is a little story about this. I had occasion to speak about this issue about two or three times. Yes, the man has been my friend and I remember in 1998, I saw Buhari, he was then Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund and he asked me to see him in Abuja from Kano which is about 450-500 kilometres. Upon my arrival, I was lodged at the then NICON NOGA Hotel, the next morning, I joined him in the office at Asokoro over tea. After we had discussed other matters, I gave him the information I had about some dirty business going on in the Finance Department of the PTF. I mentioned names, I gave him details. And I told him, ‘Don’t trust me because I understand there are some people you normally trust, out of these beneficiaries, get some of them to investigate.’ Then we parted company and I returned to Kano. Three and a half months later, Buhari himself called me over the telephone and said, ‘Mallam doctor, can we see?’ I said yes. The next day, I went to Abuja and found that a hotel accommodation had been booked for me by one Sali Hidjo who ran the African Projects Consortium, the main consultants to the PTF. The next day, I went to his (Buhari’s ) office, the first question he asked me was,  ‘Mallam doctor, what is your source of information?’ I told him I was not going to let him know my source of information because if I don’t keep my sources private, then I am finished as a public person. He kept quiet for a while; then he smiled and told me that everything I told him turned out to be correct. t was his brother who was the mastermind of this fraud perpetrated under Buhari. And I said, “General, what are you going to do with these people?’ He said he summoned the culprit and scolded him bla, bla, blah. He said he also summoned the entire staff of the finance department and addressed them. I asked him, “Is that all?’ I think he realised that I was not satisfied; he said there was nothing he could do. I said it is not your personal money; it is the money belonging to the Nigerian patrimony, money belonging to all of us. If they have been found to have abused public trust, they should be taken to court and dealt with appropriately. If for whatever reason technical or otherwise, they are found not guilty, they should be allowed to go free but in this situation, you cannot pretend as if nothing has happened. The way and manner you have handled this matter, I assure you no matter the explanation you will want to give about your personal relationships will not suffice.’ I was not satisfied; Buhari was not satisfied with my position. I stood up, we shook hands, he walked me to the lift, I entered the lift, then my car and left for Kano.  So, The people who asked me the question are very much around; one is Mr. Toyin Alabi, the General Manager of Liberty Radio and Television. The man who did the Hausa version was a man from a famous family in Zaria, Mamman Baba-Ahmed. You can verify from them. I believe that one, if you are in a position of public trust, it is a challenge; I don’t relate to people who don’t take the truth I tell them and I am not prepared to be associated with a leader who believes that his personal interest can override that of the public. I believe Nigeria is greater than all of us, including the President and if any of my friends believes their personal interests and that of their dubious cronies are greater than the collective interest of Nigeria, we will part ways.

 The Presidency accused you of forming the habit of criticising, even insulting every Nigerian leader and that you do that just to grab the headline, why?

First, I am not in the habit of insulting every Nigerian leader. Those who level such allegations should check their facts. The fact that I have been consistent, I even understand that they even dragged in the name of Abacha that I didn’t criticise him because of some plot to eliminate me. I am not surprised. I have had reason to criticise people in government. Anyone in government is fair game, they have to be criticised; we are in a democracy. Unfortunately for the hustlers around Buhari now, they find it difficult to differentiate between the fascist dictatorship which he ran from 1983- 1985 and now. There is a world of difference between that government he ran and the government he is running now.  When you ask the people many of whom are alive, with whom he ran the Supreme Military Council, there was this complaint that he was always trying to intimidate people. He was said not to sufficiently listen to the ideas of military officers some of whom were better soldiers and had come out of the civil war with better track records. To accuse me of criticising those in government is an honour because if I don’t know what I am talking about, I would have been silenced a long time ago. I have never heard of a democracy where people decide to put a limit to when and how leaders should be criticised. If people don’t want to be criticised, they should stay away from public office. As for me, I will continue to criticise for as long as I see things going wrong and as long as I am alive and in good health.

 When you said the president should be honest enough to admit he has not achieved much since he assumed office, do you think that is a fair assessment of the Buhari government?

 It is a fair assessment which I stand by even today. See, you have to look at the areas which he promised to look at. He promised that he was going to see the back of Boko Haram. I admit that he has done something in terms of what has been happening in the North East. I said and I repeat,  Boko Haram is still alive and well. Even if they are not holding territory for a prolonged period in Nigeria, there is no denying the fact that they are still holding areas in the northern part of Nigeria, Ditto in Niger Republic and part of Northern Cameroon. Whoever says they have been defeated is telling lies and taking diabolical liberties with a lack of the thorough knowledge that one is supposed to have before commenting on such matters.

Buhari inherited a very bad situation in terms of the level of corruption. It has to be admitted that in appointing (Ibrahim) Magu at the initial stages, he had given indication that he was going to do something about it. When you are dealing with a situation like the anti-corruption war, you measure success by the number of high profile convictions you have recorded. I want to be told how many of the big guns have been successfully prosecuted. The few people prosecuted were the small judges and some small fries here and there, a police man who ran foul of the law but the big guns are still sitting pretty. That is because Buhari still lacks an understanding of what it is to fight corruption. It is a systemic illness and you have to fight it in all its ramifications and you don’t fight corruption by just prosecuting the policeman who takes N20 on the road when you overlook his boss who stole billions. The idea that the people around him should dictate who should be vigorously prosecuted and those who should not be prosecuted is utterly disgraceful. The anti-corruption war ought to be re-lunched to have any serious meaning.

Some can say oh, Buhari met the situation that was so bad. I think former President (Olusegun) Obasanjo answered them adequately when he said he should stop talking about what he inherited whether it was a bad system or a good system because it was because the former guy was not doing well that was why people voted him out. So there is no need for him to continue to harp on the past. Obasanjo who was his boss in the Army, told him this, not only in private but publicly. He should sit down, get the correct people and the correct policies to get the country out of this mess.

Why did you say that of all the people that have ruled Nigeria, the late General Sani Abacha was the healthiest, how do you mean because Abacha was said to have suffered liver cirrhosis?

I don’t know where such people got their diagnosis.  If he had liver cirrhosis with the large resources at his command at the time, how come nobody ever heard that he had such an ailment? And when he died, was there any postmortem?  Who established liver cirrhosis as the cause of death? What they said about Abacha’s health was not true. I knew him; I knew his father and mother, brothers. I went to school in Fagge, as you know.

But former President Olusegun Obasanjo is someone that has not been associated with any illness, at least publicly. Are you saying Abacha was healthier?

Frankly speaking, I don’t think I remember comparing Generals Abacha and Obasanjo’s health at any time. I do not know Abacha as a sports man but I know Obasanjo as one man who takes his exercises seriously before he became head of state and during his time as President and even after leaving office. Even today, he still enjoys playing squash. I believe Obasanjo has been served and is still being served by his exercise which is almost like a religion to him. This tells on his state of health compared to others like him.

 Buhari has come out to say that both Ibrahim Magu and Babachir Lawal have been cleared of allegations against them; do you think Buhari is protecting his appointees?

 Precisely, that is what he is doing and he is doing it in a very shameless manner too. The two cases (Magu and Lawal) are not the same. Magu got his appointment after a proper background check had been done as far as I can recall. Magu is still a serving police officer. The police keep a very meticulous record of their officers and you don’t go up to the rank of an Assistant or Deputy Commissioner of Police with a bad record. As far as I am concerned, Magu was appointed because among those checked, he was considered as one who has what is required to carry out the anti-corruption war the way the President wants it fought.  Now, those who have something to hide and members of the cabal around the President have, in cahoots with senators who feel threatened, are trying to deny him an opportunity to do his job. I have said in the past and I repeat it today that the ambition of members of the cabal is to hijack the anti-corruption war so that they can use it to make money and exercise power. Magu has gone through a lot. If there is any evidence that he is teaming up with individuals to shortchange Nigerians at his duty post, he should not only be relieved of the job but also be prosecuted.  The DSS report cannot be a basis of an indictment against Magu because the DSS is acting in cahoots with the cabal; they take directives from the cabal and we have to be careful. In the case of Lawal, he should have been asked to step aside but that was not done. And then to cover the tracks, the cabal and some elements within the Presidency tried to bring in the case of Magu to distract the public.

 Nigerians have criticised Buhari for always going abroad for medical treatment despite billions budgeted for Aso Rock clinic, what is your opinion about this?

There is no basis to criticise the President on this one. He had been going to the UK for his medicals even as a private citizen. He cannot now be compelled to stop because he has become President. What Nigerians should find out is whether they have been getting value for the money spent on the Villa clinic which was set up to cater for the needs of members of staff of the Presidency, not just the First and Second families.

 Buhari government is still insisting on getting the $29bn foreign loan, do you think the money would be judiciously spent if the national assembly gives the go ahead?

 No. I do not support the National Assembly granting this request because I can say with a high degree of certainty that the money will be mismanaged. There is nothing wrong with loans if such loans are to be used to improve the lot of the people but from our experience as a nation, the reverse has been the case. If you will recall, several governors were jailed by this same Buhari when the military toppled the administration. They were jailed for mismanaging federal government guaranteed loans during their time. It took the tenacity and courage by the Obasanjo administration which took over in 1999, to fight until Nigeria was given a relief by its foreign creditors.

 Without media attention, the presidency said you would not have a life, is that the truth?

 You have known me for about two decades now. I am sure if your readers or readers of other news outlets who seek out my views on national issues consider such views useless, no one will call me up to hear me out. As we speak, I have seven interview requests waiting.

Since you left the parliament years ago,why have you kept away from elective politics instead of criticising those who have attempted to participate?

Unlike most of the people who think this way, I have a profession. I am a medical doctor by training and practice. The decision not to take part in active politics was a deliberate one, like they have rightly admitted. I took part in elections, won and represented my people in the National Assembly. If in the future, I see the need to do it again, I will. But let it be known that I cannot be cowed by blackmail or intimidation.

What is your response to allegations that you took to criticising Buhari because you were not given an appointment?

I have learnt to live with the malicious rumour anytime I say something substantive about somebody in government. When they have no response, they come up with such mundane arguments. I am not in politics and I know the limitations it places on you. I was never a member of the NPN, I did not expect Shagari to give me any appointment and none was offered. I was a member of the House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983 and in 1983, I won again to represent my people. Even if I was offered, it would have been very stupid of me to leave my representation of the people of Kano to take up such an appointment.

Besides, I am eminently qualified to aspire for any office in the land by educational achievement and experience in public life and certainly more qualified than Buhari who could not pass school certificate. And up till today, he has not been able to convince Nigerians that he was able to pass school certificate. He has chosen to take the country on a judicial merry go round putting the case on and off until his term expires but the schools he attended are there and if they could not attest that he passed his school certificate, I don’t know how he can confirm that in a court of law. Frankly speaking, any leader who could be so mediocre as to fail his school certificate ought not to have been trusted by the people of Nigeria with such an awesome responsibility as that of the office of the President. I will not accept any offer of appointment from this government and thankfully, none has been offered.

What is your view about calls for President Muhammadu Buhari to seek re-election come 2019?

If performance is to be the judge, not some tribal, ethnic or religious sentiment, if Buhari stands for elections, he will lose. And if he attempts to use the power of incumbency and rigs the elections to come back, there will be violence. My reasons are simple; he has not performed.


http://punchng.com/buhari-hasnt-convinced-nigerians-passed-school-certificate-examination-junaid-mohammed/

[img]http://www.sunnewsonline.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/juni-300x203.jpg[/im
g]

TonyeBarcanista:
By TonyeBarcanista

I have been watching with keen interest some comments credited to some people of bad conscience with respect to the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari. In fact, I am yet to come to terms with the fact that some living things that called themselves humans have been trying so hard to convince their evil minds that Mr. President is dead even when they are neither the Doctor that “certified” him dead nor an attendant in the mortuary that watches over his “corpse”.

The questions I beg to ask are: Who want Buhari dead? What purpose will it serve should Buhari die (God forbid)?

Who Benefits Should Anything Happen To Buhari?
I have taken my time to study the political environment and dynamics of Nigeria, and I came to conclusion that should anything happen to President Muhammadu Buhari (God forbid), there will be NO beneficiary in the real sense.

While some may argue that the Vice/Acting President Yemi Osinbajo will naturally stand to benefit due to elevation to the number 1 seat, the reality is that he will be frustrated by kinsmen and supporters of Mr. President, as lots of conspiracy theories will fly round. Under such condition, he will neither have the peace of mind to discharge his duties nor will it enjoy the support of Buhari kinsmen should he seek a term in 2019. In fact, the political environment will be polarized beyond imagination.

Of course, we all know that the demise of a President will NEVER be to the benefit of the opposition party. This is because the constitution doesn’t allow for fresh election upon the demise of a President/Governor but permits the Vice/Deputy, a member of the ruling party to succeed the boss without recourse to the opposition. This simply means neither PDP nor any opposition stand to gain should anything happen to Buhari. In addition to this, the ruling party will always placate supporters and tribesmen of the President and use sympathy vote to win 2019 (just like GEJ/PDP did in 2011).

Why then should people wish for the demise of Mr. President? How inhuman can some living things that pretend to be humans be? Should parochial/political inclination blind our sense of brotherly love and humanity?

Buhari’s State Of Health:
I will want to believe that the President is in safe condition irrespective of the wishful thinking of some group of people that doesn’t wish well to the country. If his spokespeople insist that the President is doing well, I think it is appropriate for Nigerians of good conscience to believe the report and wish safe health to Buhari.

Nobody is a custodian of life, only God determines who live and who should return to the dust. Our duty is to pray for safe health always but we must NEVER play God. In fact, there are lots of precedents to point that people who wish death to others without cause usually die before those they wish. I will refrain from citing instances because I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, nevertheless. We should be mindful of what we wish others.

Muhammadu Buhari is first a human, husband, and father before being a President. Nobody will be happy reading/seeing death rumours/wishes of his/her relative(s). I am sure that carriers of the Buhari death rumour will go amok if another person tries it on their fathers and other relatives. We shouldn’t play politics with human life.

I was glad when the Chairman of PDP, HE Senator Ahmed Markafi during the expanded Caucus meeting yesterday prayed for safe health of President Buhari, that shows maturity of the party under his leadership.

Make no mistake, I am not a fan of the administration, and I believe that we deserve a better deal, but I will never wish for such through death of the President irrespective of what some of the President’s supporters may/might have wished others in the past. Instead, the ballot box should be the vehicle for change in government. Only those with insanity will wish otherwise.

I wish Mr. President good health and long life beyond the expiration of his Presidency.



Mr. Tonye, here is the reason as stated by Abimbola Adelakun, I think he's very correct.

When former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, died in June 1998, I was one of those who took to the streets to celebrate the nation’s liberation from his murderous grip. These days, I look back at that infamous Monday and wonder the point of rejoicing at someone’s death when none of us is beyond mortality. Abacha’s death, we know, resolved a conundrum and cleanly freed us from the bonds with which he held us. Also, given the timing of his death, it did in fact seem God heard Nigerians’ cries for liberation. However, death by natural causes is no punishment; it is one of life’s many realities.

In the past few days, both the “fake news” and refutation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s “death” have seized the airwaves and “bus-stop parliaments.”



Since the President’s announcement of his annual vacation and “medical trip” to the United Kingdom, folks eager to script Buhari’s obituary have been beating an elegiac gong. In the post-truth world, rumours and fact-free truths travel the world without a visa and debunking them, unfortunately, sometimes assert their validity.

To make a revolting matter even more shameful, Buhari’s media aides, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, two spin doctors who never muster enough professional dignity to overlook the temptation of wading in murky pools with every species of human, seized their social media handles. They announced – with puerile peevishness- that the President was alive and well! From their interaction with cybercitizens, one deduces they imagine that those who wanted the President dead are malevolent souls who are still sore Buhari defeated their candidate in the 2015 election.

Adesina and Shehu might well be right. In the run-up to the 2015 election, the sitting governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, started the guessing game about Buhari’s health and death. Other “wailers” picked up the baton and have continued to run with it since then. What both aides have probably not considered is that such rumour mongering is also a response to the failures of the government to properly communicate with people. Over the years, the Nigerian government has proved to be thoroughgoing dishonest on even simple and insignificant issues. When people cannot get reliable official information, they make up their realities and hawk them around until they acquire some truth value.

Besides, our nation has a long history of leaders lying about their health. From Abacha to the late Umaru Yar’Adua, to the wife of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, we never get an accurate picture of anything. Till now, we cannot tell with confirmed certainty if it was liver cirrhosis that killed Abacha or the mysterious “Indian escorts.”

Did Yar’Adua speak regularly to his ‘Kitchen Cabal’ or his communication on his deathbed was a case of ‘Esau’s hand, Jacob’s voice’? How did Governor Danbaba Suntai govern Taraba State after his accident? What was the nature of Dame Patience Jonathan’s illness and how did she get mysteriously healed after leaving Aso Rock?

What is Buhari’s actual condition of health? In these times where the traffic one successfully drives to one’s website translates to financial gains, “fake news” mongering will not abate. Until our leaders learn to preempt rumours by making their health conditions public information, they will expend themselves putting out fires.

Rather than stamp their petulant feet on the ground and moan the immorality of wishing one’s leaders dead, they should ask why the people they govern want them dead.

Beyond the obvious reasons of poor communication between the leader and the led, is the reality of spite and sadism on the part of the citizens. People wish their leaders dead because they want to transpose some of the pains those leaders inflict on them back to the leaders; they want everything that brings them joy obliterated

While I am in no way justifying this sadism on the part of the people, I also think a mere resort to flagellating them will not help our leaders to introspect. The question they should in fact ask themselves is why things should be otherwise.

Why should people care if their leaders live or die when those leaders themselves do not care if their people die or live?

Why ask people to demonstrate empathy towards a leader who grabs the public wallet and goes abroad to see well-trained specialists in well-funded hospitals? Why ask impoverished people to show humane feelings towards such a person when the system that the leader runs at home cannibalises them and their children?

Why would people who live, move, and have their being amidst dehumanising conditions be concerned about the ethics of wishing death on someone else? The conditions of their own existence already bespeak death, yet they are supposed to writhe at the pain of a leader whose privileges are funded with their blood?

If they must know, wishing our leaders dead is moral revanchism. Those death wishes are like the stone from David’s slingshot. They might not have achieved the desired aim of hitting Goliath in the head and watching him drop dead, but is nevertheless a ready weapon of warfare available to the agonised poor, the helpless victims of the nation’s necropolitics, the forgotten and silenced majority, and the historically and structurally dispossessed.

Trying to ramp up religious or cultural sentiments about the immorality of wishing our leaders dead will not abdicate the reasons people wish death or evil on their leaders. Such shaming will only repress the instinct to publicly express it. Under that surface sneer of “I wish Mr. President soonest recover” will remain a seething rage that can only find some cathartic outlet through their deaths.

I dare say that this feeling of “go and die!” as it was once tactlessly voiced by a former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, is mutual between the leaders and the led. In Nigeria, we eat death for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Life is cheap here and there is little evidence that our leaders think that our lives matter. Ours is a country where a bomb will “mistakenly” drop on a refugee camp, death toll will rise to 236 and not a thing has changed one week later. No lawmaker is currently sitting to review the gross incompetence that led to such a massacre and propose changes to the conditions that made it happen.

Ours is a country where protesters are shot by security agencies whose heads have been addled and nobody, not even their state governors or legislators, will shut down the system and demand that their deaths be redressed. From Benue to Enugu states, people have been gruesomely killed by rampaging herdsmen, but what have our “dear leaders” done other than toss the responsibility of accountability elsewhere?

The blood of the Shi’ites who were dumped in graves dug at night still cries for justice, but it flies past our deafened ears. The many victims of violent deaths vociferously cry for redress; their vain pleas drain us of psychic energy. If our lives are treated so cheaply, why are they surprised wishes of their own death are cheaply trafficked?

We are gradually becoming a society where death is meaningless because life itself has been sapped of meaning. When people look at their leaders and wish them dead, they are trying to infuse some meaning into a meaningless order.

Just like we thought of Abacha, if this person — who represents ethical and spiritual corruption, decadence, executive aloofness, oppression of the poor by the rich — drops dead, then maybe it is proof that there is a God; He exists and in fact cares about alleviating our pain.

Buhari is not the first president who will be rumoured dead; and if the one that comes after him makes our lives miserable too, people could wish him/her dead as an expression of their inner rage and frustrated helplessness. It is nothing personal.




Shared on palmchat

Gentle99:
https://media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2013/06/Sani-Abacha-e1372621219503.jpghttps://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/punchng/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/12114546/Aduni-Adelakun.jpghttps://cdn1.dailypost.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/buhari-2-620x400.jpg



Source: http://punchng.com/wish-presidents-dead/

Lordsocrates:
it will be very very funny to see Biafrans protesting for Nigeria ...
Foreign Exchange scarcity---I thought we had Inosson to produce cars so we don't waste foreign exchange in importing foreign cars...So if Innospn is importing these same car to package then which way.

On PHCN, that one na true talk since dem sell off our PHCN na so so electric tariff dey high, but light no dey....

I will join the protest from my phone.

luvinhubby:
I did my own protest by refusing to vote for APC, those who voted for this govt should do their own protest this time around.

I NO DO !

EMIOMOADEOYE:
Excuse Me! Counseled and Cautioned on what exactly?

That a Husband went to assist his pregnant wife while in Church.....is that a sin?

Or that a Husband is doing &Co with his wife......is that a sin? We should not be dogmatic about everything.

Abeg.......there are some things that come Naturally. As long as it is not unreasonable. At least they were not kissing in public.

folks4luv:
I beg u in d name of God, mind the way u quote the scripture to support your points. do u even know the real meaning of the verse u just quoted? a man assisted his nauseous wife to go throw up and u quoted those beautiful lines to prove he is wrong? this is one of the reasons atheists laugh at the scripture.

Richy4:
The apostle Paul you quoted he wasn't married correct?....He asked that people do what he does right? maybe every man should stay away from the female folks and be single like him is that?....I did not see any thing wrong with what they did....U quoted that all unrighteousness is a sin, is it ok for a couple to hold hands in secret?... or kiss in Secret?......if you agreed that it was a sin when done in public, I believe that it was equally a sin and unrighteous when done in secret... irrespective of where it was done sin is sin...

What happened was that the pastors and the leaders of that church lacks the discerning spirits....and that made it difficult for them to differentiate between Culture and Sin....Africans do not display affection Publicly...And there are Countries that displays affections in public, at least most churches in Europe and America does that....it's the same judgment seat everyone will appear...there's no Judgment seat meant for Africa or for the Europeans

The thing is that Church leaders heaped doctrine upon themselves and that's what Jesus hated about the pharisees ....Do not get me wrong an organization cannot function without laws..but to say that those doctrine were sins are where the leaders are getting it wrong...We are Christians....Meaning "Christ-like"....God is love....And if you cannot show the evidence of love in public in a matured way, I Don't know the need for attending a church...when they say husband love your wife as christ loved the Church....maybe they do not know the meaning

Deraconteur:
(Written by: Oyekunle Lizzy Oyebola)



Source: https://www.facebook.com/oyekunle.oyebola.7/posts/621879567992694

henryanna36:
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has deployed to Senegal as part of Nigerian contingent of Economic Community of West African States Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG) – a standby force tasked by ECOWAS Heads of State to enforce the December 1, 2016 election mandate in the The Gambia. The NAF today moved a contingent of 200 men and air assets comprising fighter jets, transport aircraft, Light Utility Helicopter as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft to Dakar from where it is expected to operate into Gambia. The deployment is also to forestall hostilities or breakdown of law and order that may result from the current political impasse in The Gambia.

Addressing the contingent before departure, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar urged the troops to maintain discipline and be professional in their conduct. Reminding them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria, the CAS stated that no act of indiscipline by the contingent would be tolerated. The contingent, led by Air Cdre Tajudeen Yusuf, was airlifted this morning from 117 Air Combat Training Group Kainji. Other troop contributing countries include Senegal, Ghana and countries within the sub-region.

Source: http://www.trezzyhelm.com/2017/01/nigerian-air-force-deploys-to-senegal.html

UNIZIK1stSon:
3D Photos Here >>>


http://mynaijainfo.com/2017/01/osisioma-gov-ikpeazu-set-build-first-flyover-abia/

BeeBeeOoh:
http://leadership.ng/news/564435/92-csos-threaten-to-shut-down-nass-over-sgf

Lucasinho:
http://www.lailasblog.com/2016/12/mmm-has-ruined-me-i-will-commit-suicide.html