₦airaland Forum

So through out the first term there was no plan to tackle corruption?Its now less than 4months to handover they are coming out wt a plan...then in 2nd term if he win the plan will be executed or drop..haba for 6yrs nothing no plan Oga gan mtchew.

Now I can walk confidently,knowing well the lord is by my side..whether na permutation or prophecy I sha key into it...my project will be complete miraculously IJN cos my Lord will do it.

Nigerians look around! Can you see
common men and women amid the care
and struggle of daily life? Can you see
people in the jar of the noisy streets and amid
the squalor where want hides? Can you see the
wrong that produces inequality?
Can you see the wrong in the midst of
abundance that tortures men with want or
harries them with fear of want? Can you see the
wrong that stunts you physically, degrades you
intellectually, and distorts you morally?

How can you cope for so long with rulers who
have been rejected longest of time by God and
by the times? For long and especially the last
four years, you have succumbed to the variety of
forms of manipulative communication at the
disposal of your rulers. You have become more
indulgent of politicians who spin the truth and
tell you bare-faced lies.
Your government is working for the few rich.
Your country has been transformed into an
Orwellian dystopian society. Your rulers use fear
to nourish their insatiable appetite for power,
control, and money. Propaganda and corruption
are being used to dumb you down.
Your police have become militarized. Your
country has been turned into a police state in
which your government exercises rigid and
repressive control over your social, economic,
and political life. You no longer have true
representation in government. You lack safety
and security and your freedom is threatened not
by outside enemy but your own government.
You’re on your knees daily begging your elected
government for water to drink, electricity to use,
roads to travel on, jobs for the legion of your
unemployed sons and daughters, and hospitals
to treat the sick. Your pensioners are dying while
fighting for their pensions to be paid. You’re
satisfied with crumbs from the looters of your
treasury.
How in the world do you tolerate a government
well known for its crafted deception and free-
floating relationship with truth?
You seem to agree and enjoy distortion,
insinuation, misleads, and blatant lies of your
government even when your government lie
about the definition of lie. Do you know what
happened to the report of National Jamboree
nicknamed National Conference? You have been
indoctrinated to tailored disinformation of your
government. Why are you easily intimidated by
your government and at the same time defend
the very people who oppress you? You have
jettisoned your dignity and self-respect in
accommodating a culture of lie.
Why have you allowed those you employed –
your president, your governors, your legislators,
and your local government chairmen, turn you
into the most wretched beggars ever known in
the history of your nation? Why have you
granted – happily I might say – leisure and
affluence to your oppressors without a protest or
a fight? Though you are locked in a death
grapple, nothing your rulers offer or are willing to
offer mitigate your suffering.
Never challenged, the insidious linking together
of special privileges, the unjust outright private
ownership of your natural or public resources,
monopolies, that produce unfair domination and
autocracy. Can’t agree on the definition of
corruption and can’t discern lie at the heart of
your troubles. Rather, you’re content with the
clown civilization foisted on you.
A very powerful few are in possession of your
God given resources – the land, the oil, and
other riches in addition to other privileges. Yet,
without objection you accept the arrangement as
being sanctioned by God like Yorubas will say:
“Amuwa Olorun ni.”
You have willingly become the wretched of the
earth in the midst of plenty. You have relegated
yourselves into object of compulsory charity. You
are made to support the tyranny of your rulers
by just shutting up, accept, and acquiesce and
go with the status quo. You are made to pay for
their luxurious and reckless life and in exchange
you become paupers denied the opportunity and
dignity of earning your own decent living.
Despite your galling and destructive living
conditions, you continually yield your sovereignty
to the few elected tyrants you put in office. You
are scared to death to challenge the great and
unjust profiteering of your rulers. They owe you
three, six, nine months salaries while donating
billions to Jonathan’s campaign. Where is the
eruption of your raw rage?
You accept involuntary poverty, and other socio-
economic plagues that prevent you from
attaining your maximum potential. Degraded,
squeezed, and pummeled, you have become the
poster child for want and shame.
One wonders: why in a land so bountifully
blessed with enough and more than enough for
all, should there be such poverty and inequality?
Such heaped wealth interlocked with such deep
and debasing want? Why in the midst of such
superabundance should strong men vainly look
for work? Why should your women faint with
hunger? Why should your children spend the
morning of life wandering in the streets and
scavenging the refuse pit for food?
Your rulers counted on your mental indolence.
They exploited your apathy to the fullest. You
freely and obediently conform to their abuses and
political malpractices and other inhuman
treatment you’re subjected to. You’re tricked,
cajoled, ridiculed, battered, and smilingly
surrender to the injustices that toppled ancient
Rome.
By the way, where are your Chibok Girls?
For keeping up with the “darkness of error” and
for being enchanted with many fallacies and all
assorted abuses rained on you by your
government to widen your suffering and smiling,
and for accepting confusion and deception of a
tyrannical ruling class elected by you – 170
million dumb Nigerians – you’re my people of
the year 2014!
A lie can travel half way around the world while
the truth is putting on its shoes. – Mark Twain
The writer is Bayo Oluwasanmi. Email:
byolu@aol.com

This is the truth wh is always bitter...this is what is obtainable.

Actually time will tell...

PDP national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The national chairman of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Muazu,
has taken on the opposition All Peoples Congress
headlong on the issue they most use in running
down the current administration – terrorism.
He said if it was that easy, there would have
been no terrorism in Afghanistan where the best
militaries in the world had been battling it for 10
ten years, according to a statement signed by
the Chief Press secretary to the PDP national
chairman, Tony Amadi.
"What the Nigerian opposition All Peoples
Congress should think about is why Afghanistan
with the combined presence of America, Britain,
France and other North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation, NATO, armies have not succeeded
in halting Taliban insurgency in the past decade,”
Mu’azu said. “Why have al-Qaeda, El Shabab or
the various insurgency groups around the world
not disappeared from the face of the earth with
the military might ranged against them?”
He added: “What the opposition party have failed
to do is to cooperate with government in fighting
terrorism to reduce the incidence of insecurity in
the land as is international best practice. In
Britain, Prime Minister, Dave Cameron and
Opposition Leader Ed Miliband only agree when
their national security is threatened. In Nigeria,
APC would rather confirm their unholy alliance
with Boko Haram as they have done in one of
their public utterances.
"The administration of President Jonathan will
continue to ensure that terrorists of all shades
are rooted out of our dear country."
He reiterated that the forthcoming 2015 Election
campaign of the party would be based on issues
and President Jonathan’s record since he came
to power as Acting President and later President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
"Politics may be a game, but games have their
rules,” Mu’azu noted. “Politics is not always
about lies and spin doctoring. PDP will in this
election show the light so that the blind
opposition may find their way in the murky
waters they have spurn in their wake. The straw
that they hold dearly is the matter of insurgency,
making it look like President Jonathan personally
created insurgency and invited Boko Haram to
take over Nigeria.”
Tags: Politics , Nigeria , Feastured, Terrorism ,
Defeat, Afghanistan

A former junior defence minister,
Musiliu Obanikoro, will be heading back
to Abuja as a top cabinet member as part
of a deal personally brokered by
President Goodluck Jonathan, for Mr.
Obanikoro to discontinue his legal
challenge of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, governorship primary result
for Lagos State, PREMIUM TIMES can
confirm.
Mr. Obanikoro was one of the biggest
casualties of the PDP gubernatorial
primaries, after resigning his ministerial
position to vie for the party’s ticket in
Lagos for the 2015 election.
He lost to Jimi Agbaje, a relatively less
known candidate, who had the backing
of the party’s most powerful leaders in
Lagos.
Alongside Mr. Obanikoro, former
ministers Emeka Wogu, Labaran Maku,
Onyebuchi Chukwu, and Samuel Ortom,
also lost their bids after leaving their
posts to contest in their respective states.
Mr. Obanikoro rejected the Lagos results
and filed a legal challenge against the
declaration of Mr. Agbaje as winner,
kicking off a row that has the potential
to ruin any chances the party may have
in snatching Lagos from All Progressives
Congress, APC in 2015.
The logjam has finally been resolved
amicably with the former minister
accepting to withdraw his court case, at
the same time fully support Mr. Agbaje
as the PDP candidate, presidency sources
have confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES.
On Friday morning, a relaxed and
visibly pleased Mr. Obanikoro appeared
on Channels Television programme,
Sunrise, to explain why he agreed to
drop his court case challenging the
result.
Mr. Obanikoro said he acted in the
interest of the party, and reflected on
how the party needs a united front to
defeat the APC and win Lagos after 15
years.
“But as I’ve said to you, we want to win
Lagos. And the only way we can win
Lagos is if we are united and people see
us as being responsible and ready to
provide leadership. For 16 years we’ve
had a running battle between Lagos and
the federal government,” Mr. Obanikoro
said. “We want a government in Lagos
that will engage the federal government
constructively for the good of
Lagosians.”
He denied agreeing to give up his legal
challenge in return for a ministerial
appointment, although he quickly added
that he would be ready to serve if called
upon to do so.
“Any time that you are called to come
and serve the public, I think it makes
sense to accept and do just that. I’m in
politics, for goodness sake, for the good
of our people, and if an opportunity
presents itself for me to come and
manage the affairs of men and women,
why will I turn it down?” he asked.
PREMIUM TIMES can confirm that
despite his denial, Mr. Obanikoro was
given assurances from the highest office
in the country that his personal interests
would be well taken care of if he
dropped his challenge.
A source within the presidency, well
aware of the negotiations leading to Mr
Obanikoro’s decision to back off, said
the former subordinate minister was
assured by the president that he would
be appointed a senior minister in
January when the Senate reconvenes.
“He reached a deal to be made a full
minister in January and to continue
holding his position if President
Goodluck Jonathan gets re-elected in
February,” our source said.
Our source also said that Mr. Obanikoro
was promised a prominent role in the
president’s re-election campaign effort
in the South West, especially in Lagos.
“We don’t know what that role would be
at the moment, but it is definitely not
that of actively leading the campaign in
the South West since he would have been
appointed a minister then but he would
definitely play a key role in the
President Jonathan’s campaign,” the
source added.
Part of the terms reached with Mr.
Obanikoro was for him to have a say in
who becomes Mr. Agbaje’s running
mate, as well as the right to choose some
of the commissioners in Mr. Agbaje
cabinet should he emerge winner of the
Lagos gubernatorial election.
Our source explained that the deal
literally elevated Mr. Obanikoro from
being a mere candidate to a power
broker in Lagos and to some extent,
southwest PDP.
“As you can see, he has come out of the
deal looking stronger and Bode George
and (Adeseye) Ogunlewe are the losers
here after all,” the source said.
Bode George, a chieftain of the party,
and Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former
Minister of Works, are believed to be the
power brokers behind the emergence of
Mr. Agbaje as the PDP gubernatorial
candidate in Lagos. However, they were
not at the meetings where the deal was
concretised, the source said.
During the Sunrise interview, Mr.
Obanikoro allayed concerns that the
absence of both men may jeopardise the
deal in the future saying both men
eventually got what they wanted and
there was no reason why they should not
accept the decision of the party.
“I believe Chief Bode George is on
holiday somewhere outside Nigeria and I
believe that if you look at the
convergence there, you will see that all
stakeholders particularly the aspirants
who were aggrieved… Jimi Agbaje
represents Ogunlewe and Bode George’s
interest as far as I’m concerned and that
is what that is all about and we have all
now come together to embrace Jimi
Agbaje,” he said.
When asked if the absence of Messrs
George and Ogunlewe during the
negotiation isn’t a sign of trouble, our
source said the deal was initiated by the
president himself and that there is no
way both men, regardless of their
influence would dare to overrule the
president.
“The president is the national leader of
the party and no one would want to
scuttle a deal he personally brokered.”
Source: PREMIUMTIMES

The truth is that most ladies behaviour make a guy think the next thing is sex..cos how wl you meet a lady for the first time nd all she wish is foot her bill. To wen a lady defined herself nd the relationship she keep believe me she will find her dream relationship. You have a male friend who he is not your brother,cousin,uncle,nephew and any of family relation and you keep demanding for money;all of a sudden you turn him to ur provider and you don't expect him to demand for sex?Pls how do you intend to pay back?Just by gisting or hanging out wt him?

Question: "What was the meaning and purpose of
Jesus' temptations?"
Answer: The three temptations by Satan in the
wilderness were not the only temptations our
Lord ever suffered on Earth. We read in Luke 4:2
that He was tempted by the devil for forty days,
but He was undoubtedly tempted at other times
( Luke 4:13 ; Matthew 16:21–23 ; Luke 22:42 ), and
yet in all this He was without sin or compromise.
Although some have suggested that the Lord’s
period of fasting compares with that of both
Moses ( Exodus 34:28 ) and Elijah ( 1 Kings 19:8 ),
the main point is how the Lord deals with
temptation in the light of His humanity.
It is because He is human, and made like us in
every way, that He could do three vital things: 1)
destroy the devil’s power and free those who
were held in slavery by their fear of death
( Hebrews 2:15 ); 2) become a merciful and faithful
High Priest in service to God and atone for our
sins ( Hebrews 2:17 ); and 3) be the One who is
able to sympathize with us in all our weaknesses
and infirmities ( Hebrews 4:15 ). Our Lord’s human
nature enables Him to sympathize with our own
weaknesses, because He was subjected to
weakness, too. More importantly, we have a High
Priest who is able to intercede on our behalf and
provide the grace of forgiveness.
Temptation is never as great as when one has
made a public declaration of faith as did our Lord
when He was baptized in the Jordan ( Matthew
3:13–17 ). However, we also note that, during this
time of exhaustive testing, our Lord was also
ministered to by angels, a mystery indeed that
the omnipotent One should condescend to receive
such help from lesser beings! Here is a beautiful
description of the ministry that His people also
benefit from. During times of testing and trial, we
too are aided by angels who are ministering
spirits sent to those who will inherit salvation
( Hebrews 1:14 ).
Jesus’ temptations follow three patterns that are
common to all men. The first temptation concerns
the lust of the flesh ( Matthew 4:3–4 ). Our Lord is
hungry, and the devil tempts Him to convert
stones into bread, but He replies with Scripture,
quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 . The second temptation
concerns the pride of life ( Matthew 4:5–7 ), and
here the devil uses a verse of Scripture ( Psalm
91:11–12 ), but the Lord replies again with
Scripture to the contrary ( Deuteronomy 6:16 ),
stating that it is wrong for Him to abuse His own
powers. The third temptation concerns the lust of
the eyes ( Matthew 4:8–10 ), and if any quick route
to the Messiahship could be attained, bypassing
the passion and crucifixion for which He had
originally come, this was the way. The devil
already had control over the kingdoms of the
world ( Ephesians 2:2 ) but was now ready to give
everything to Christ in return for His allegiance.
But the mere thought almost causes the Lord’s
divine nature to shudder at such a concept and
He replies sharply, “You shall worship the Lord
your God and serve Him only” ( Deuteronomy
6:13 ).
There are many temptations that we sadly fall
into because our flesh is naturally weak, but we
have a God who will not let us be tempted
beyond what we can bear; He will provide a way
out ( 1 Corinthians 10:13 ). We can therefore be
victorious and then will thank the Lord for
deliverance from temptation. Jesus’ experience in
the desert helps us to see these common
temptations that keep us from serving God
effectively. Furthermore, we learn from Jesus’
response to the temptations exactly how we are
to respond—with Scripture. The forces of evil
come to us with a myriad of temptations, but all
have the same three things at their core: lust of
the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
We can only recognize and combat these
temptations by saturating our hearts and minds
with the Truth. The armor of a Christian solider in
the spiritual battle of life includes only one
offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit which is
the Word of God ( Ephesians 6:17 ). Knowing the
Bible intimately will put the Sword in our hands
and enable us to be victorious over temptations.


Please if you have a better answer you can help.

A warning to us all that nothing last forever... no matter how.

tit:
ob...
if you add "j", na you know ooo.

lol

There was once a Roman statesman,
lawyer, political theorist, philosopher,
widely considered one of Rome’s greatest
orators and prose stylists. His name was
Marcus Tullius Cicero who lived between
(January 3, 106 BC and December 7, 43
BC) Cicero is generally seen as one of the
most versatile minds of Roman culture
and his writings, the paragon of classical
Latin. He introduced the Romans to the
chief schools of Greek philosophy and
created a Latin vocabulary. We learnt
his childhood dream was “Always to be
the best and far to excel the others’’. No
wonder when he started his career as a
lawyer around 83-81 BC, he successfully
defended Sextus Roscius on a charge of
parricide, which of course, was an
indirect challenge to the dictator,
Emperor Sulla, at that time and he had
to travel to Athens with his brother and
cousin, perhaps due to the potential
wrath of Emperor Sulla.
Why are we celebrating Marcus Cicero
today? It is because he shared most of
the sterling qualities with our own Uncle
Bola Ige, popularly called “The Cicero” of
Esa-Oke, considering his education
background and profession as an astute
lawyer, elder statesman, administrator,
seasoned politician, educationist and
undisputable leader of thought.
However, sad enough, both men were
murdered. Perhaps, the only difference
is that the power that be, that killed
Marcus Cicero pride about it and even
displayed his decapitated body for the
people to see in that part of the world at
that time taking a final revenge against
Cicero’s power of speech while those
who planned and killed our own
“Cicero” are still hiding. The big
question still, is who were those
responsible for that cowardly act by
killing Bola Ige on December 23, 2001 in
his home at Ibadan? Life could indeed be
an irony. This is the same Ibadan where
he lived, served, developed when the
opportunity came having being
popularly elected as the first executive
civilian Governor of the old Oyo State.
This same Ibadan happened to be the
seat of power, being the capital of the
old Oyo State.
It was said that when the title “Cicero”
was given to honour Bola Ige by the
people of Esa-Oke, his home town,
because of the inherent traits he shared
with Marcus Tullius Cicero of Rome,
Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late sage,
was not too comfortable with the title
because of the way the power-that-be at
that time killed Marcus Tullius Cicero.
And most disheartening he was killed on
our own soil though far away from
Rome. Then, not only did political
parties monitor governors elected under
their platforms, even the governed were
given the opportunity to evaluate the
performances of their governors. Today,
state parties hardly tell you their mission
and only busy themselves in how to rig
elections, crush any opposition and kill
opponents depending on the level of
desperation.
Prior to the assassination, Ige was guest
of His Royal Highness, Oba Okunade
Sijuwade, the reigning Ooni of Ife and it
was widely reported that some
miscreants (apparently being sponsored
by those who hated him) reportedly
removed his cap and hung it on a tree in
the palace area. One begins to wonder
what has become of our society. What an
irony! Years back, and precisely in 1980
at the same venue, the man, Uncle Bola
Ige, was the centre of attraction as
governor holding out the staff of office to
the king-elect then during the
installation and coronation. I think it is
not too late for the police to start a
thorough investigation from that angle.
This to me should be acceptable as a
careful thought with a view to
unraveling the assassination and bring
to book the killers now that we seem to
embrace the rule of law in the country.
It is only when the killers are caught that
we can be talking of prosecution. And
with the zeal of the Inspector General of
Police, Suleiman Abba, he should be
challenged to come out with something
that will cleanse the shame of a nation,
that a sitting Attorney General of the
Federation was that murdered in his
home and more than seven years after,
the nation is still groping in the dark.
Most Nigerians share the belief that the
Nigerian Police is capable if it chooses to
come out with the expected result.
Of course, the Obasanjo administration
did not help the police in that at the tail
end of its tenure, it was widely reported
that the former president at a gathering
quickly admitted that one faceless drug
baron which the then Ministry of Justice
was planning to probe was responsible
for the cowardly act. And because you
cannot put something on nothing, on
October 24, 2007, the court ordered the
release from the Agodi Prison in Ibadan
of the accused as advised by the state
prosecution for want of evidence as
usual and one cannot blame the defence
lawyer boasting to even sue the Federal
Government for damages while the real
damage to the nation still looms and
crime committed still unravelled.
Some schools of thought believe that if
Ige had remained in his self-styled
“siddon look” posture at that time and
not joined the Obasanjo government, he
may still be alive or at worst, he may not
have been slaughtered the way they did.
In any case, death could also have come
due to old age. Some of us also believe
that his joining to serve at all under
Obasanjo’s regime was a silent
revolution or protest from the way and
manner his party presidential primary
at that time was conducted. No political
reasoning could really explain the
“wedlock” considering the events of the
past and even in the present
circumstances. Could it be considered
that he went too far to have opted to
serve under the Obasanjo’s regime?
However, as patriotic as he was to serve
his fatherland when he was invited,
should not in any way make him one of
the high profile political killings that will
be swept under the usual sealed marble
forever.
Sometime ago, one high ranking police
officer told the whole world that
investigation could begin on any case if
there are new findings, clues or trails but
that it was “capital intensive”. This
sounds comforting but not encouraging
because the Nigerian economy is still
strong enough to do more than
unravelling this particular murder case
with a view to bringing the killers to
book. The police should be told that
Nigerians deserve to know who killed
“Uncle Bola Ige” as we used to call him
then and of course, a host of others
killed in similar circumstances for the
sake of posterity and justice. More
importantly, to prove to the world that
we are able not only to detect crime but
to carry out justice in the most civilised
way as being done around the globe. I
hope the police understand very well
that a murder case in every clime is not
statute-barred, which means the case
cannot be closed at any given time.
Issues of note are many in this particular
case and that is why time cannot sweep
it away so quickly. The idea is that this
nation must not allow the unborn
generation to taunt us that a
democratically elected government was
unable to find the murderers of a former
Attorney-General of the Federation. It is
now 13 years after the murder and the
nation is still waiting and seems
hopelessly counting.
In fact, there is not even any hope for
the common man when notables and
nobles are being killed and nothing
happens. My worry is that our children
would found it really difficult to
comprehend. By all means, Nigerians
deserve to know who killed our own
“Cicero”
source
Short URL : http://
www.osundefender.org/?p=202030

Even samboyi can talk now..the same man hardly find is tongue here in zango Zaria where he emanate from..someone that the road to his area in za go is so we can't plight has the got to talk in lagos .hmmm diasris God.

President Goodluck Jonathan on
Thursday re-echoed his earlier advice to
politicians to avoid sowing the seed of
discord and hatred through their
utterances ahead of the 2015 general
elections.
He also reminded opposition politicians
that Nigeria does not belong to anyone
and cannot be considered anybody’s
personal estate.
Speaking at a special Christmas service
at St. Mathew’s Anglican Church in
Maitama, Abuja, the president reminded
politicians of the need to base their
campaigns strictly on developmental
issues and nothing more.
The president said he was always
embarrassed by divisive utterances
made by some politicians, noting that
those involved in such do not mean well
for the country.
“As a politician, you want people to elect
you to perform your responsibilities. If
you mean well for the country, you
wouldn’t be fanning the embers of
discord and hatred.
“Nigeria is nobody’s personal estate, but
you want to serve. If the people want
you to serve, you serve. But if they say
no, then leave.
“So, I get embarrassed when we the
politicians make provocative statements,
statements that create division among
Nigerians and that can set this country
ablaze,” he said.
He said further, “I don’t think that is
what a leader should do; it is not the
kind of seed a leader should sow
“Those who take government by violence
hardly end well; examples abound in
some African countries.
“So, if a politician is interested in power
at any level, you don’t sow seed of
discord and enmity because it will
consume you if you try to.”
Mr. Jonathan thanked religious leaders
and followers for their continued
prayers for peace and unity for the
country especially during this period.
He said the challenges facing the country
could have been worse without their
prayers.
While describing the security and
economic challenges facing the country
as temporary, the president assured that
“God will surely see the nation through
them.”
He urged Christians to continue to
imbibe the virtues of peace, love,
selflessness and tolerance which Christ
epitomise.
The president was accompanied by the
First Lady, Patience Jonathan; his
mother, Eunice, and members of the
Federal Executive Council.
The service, which was presided over by
the Primate of the Anglican Church,
Nicholas Okoh, was also attended by
some past government officials including
a former Minister of information, Jerry
Gana.
The first lady read the first lesson drawn
from Isaiah 9: 2, 6 and 7, while the
president took the second reading from
Hebrews 1:1 to12.
In a sermon titled “The Jewish Messianic
Expectations and 2015 Elections”, Mr.
Okoh cautioned that the 2015 election
would be a critical period in the
country.
He reminded political office seekers at
all levels that Nigerians have
expectations, which border on peace,
freedom, security and general
prosperity.
He, therefore, urged both serving and
incoming leaders at all levels and arms
of government, to be guided by the
peoples’ expectations in their decisions.
The clergy man also advised Nigerians to
base their voting decisions on common
good of all, noting that if they elect
people that don’t care, their conditions
would be worsened.
On the security challenges facing the
country, Mr. Okoh emphasised the need
for Nigerians to pray and work together
to put “an end to the reproach”.
“We need to stop viewing security issues
as politics. It is everyone’s duty to join
in the fight against terrorism and rescue
our nation,” he said.
The cleric also cautioned vandals of
power installations and other national
economic saboteurs to desist or face the
wrath of God and that of the people.
(NAN)

General: I closed my first letter last week
with the following words: “I know you
have what it takes to change and save
Nigeria. I wish you luck in your election – and I
wish Nigeria luck”.
I mean those words sincerely. Your record in our
country’s service shows that you honestly hate
public corruption, and that you can sincerely
wage war on, and suppress, public corruption. I
have also read your manifesto and I am
persuaded that you sincerely mean all you have
outlined in it. Though I have ceased belonging to
any political party for a long time, I believe it will
be good for our brutally vandalized and tottering
country if we voters choose you as president at
this critical time.
Muhammadu Buhari
Our mutual sincerity encourages me to utter the
following pleas and words of advice. Certainly
you are aware that many Nigerians are
concerned and even fearful about the persistent
claims by some of the Hausa-Fulani political
leadership that their Hausa-Fulani nation must
dominate Nigeria as a sort of colonial overlord.
You know as much as anybody that that thorny
fact has been one of the factors in the making of
our country’s disunity, conflicts, and instability.
Usually, people do not accuse you personally of
sharing in that mentality; but since you are
Hausa-Fulani, and since some of your people
perpetually noise that claim and make efforts to
achieve it, it is a large though mostly unspoken
factor in the coming presidential election. It
would be a pity if this should cause serious
problems for such a good candidate as you at
this time.
Therefore, I urge you: use your best capabilities
to put an end to this terrible tradition – in the
interest of our country. Realistically, no single
one of our nationalities can dominate all the rest
of us. It is impossible. How can one nationality,
even if it is larger than all the rest of us put
together, dominate all the rest of us in any full
or lasting sense? And we do not have any
numerically dominant nation like that. Our three
largest nationalities (Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and
Igbo) are very close in population size, and each
of them is a minority in Nigeria. How can the
Hausa-Fulani succeed in subduing and
dominating the large and capable Yoruba or Igbo
– not to talk of all the nationalities of Nigeria?
Talking about domination and trying to achieve it
has only bred hostility, crookedness, and
instability in our country. It is time we remove
that obstacle from the path to our country’s
stability, progress and prosperity – and you can
lead us to do it. Please sincerely strive to do so.
Let it be one of your immortal gifts to our
country. Nigeria is a country in which we all can
prosper – and together build a world power.
That leads me to another but related subject.
The reason most of the Hausa-Fulani elite are
forever angling for a bigger, more powerful, and
more resource-controlling Federal Government, is
that they believe that, by having that kind of FG
and ensuring their own control of it, they will be
able to subdue and dominate all of Nigeria. But
it is a nebulous and disruptive venture. Yes, they
have contributed much in pulling power and
resources into the hands of the FG, but has their
homeland or anybody else gained anything from
that? The most important result of massing
power in the FG is that the FG has become a
podgy, ponderous, incompetent and repulsively
corrupt monstrosity, a constant manipulator of
elections and other vital processes across our
land, a destroyer of development and progress in
our country, and a disgrace to our country in the
wide world. You acknowledge almost as much
as this in your manifesto. As matters have
developed under Jonathan (and even under
Obasanjo before him), whoever controls the FG
tends to use it as a personal estate, to be used
for his own aggrandizement and the
disproportionate benefit of his own nationality
(or his favoured nationality). Recently, the elder
statesman, Alhaji Maitama Sule, lamented that
the people of the Arewa North are suffering
serious discrimination today in Nigeria, and
leaders of the Arewa Youth went out protesting
about the same thing – and Yoruba people are
crying out about the same too. Is it not absurd
that we have created a system that makes it
possible for such major segments of Nigeria as
Arewa North and the Yoruba Southwest to be
marginalized and discriminated against by
anybody controlling the FG? How can our self-
respecting nationalities love to continue to
belong to a country that is disrespectful and
mismanaged like that?
The FG’s obstruction to development is hurting
all parts of our country. For instance, our
Northern Region saw a great deal of
development and progress under the Regional
leadership of the late Sir Ahmadu Belo. Since all
the power and resources for development have
been gradually pulled together at the federal
center, has the North not steadily declined in
economic progress? Is the same not true of the
East and the West? Obviously, the answer is to
take away much of the ponderous powers of the
FG, reenergize the different parts of our country,
and thus bring development close to our people
again. Empower the elite of our various parts to
handle the development of their people, and our
country will pick up again. Moreover, leave each
part to elect the local men and women who will
handle their affairs, and stop the destructive
assumption that those who control the FG have
the prerogative to choose rulers for all parts of
Nigeria. Flush corruption out of our elections.
These are things you are capable of leading us
to accomplish. If you sincerely promote them,
most of us will ardently support you.
Then, because I am sure and happy that you will
fight and kill corruption, I wish to offer some
counsel concerning your fighting corruption. Our
country’s experiences show that prosecuting
and punishing those who have been corrupt is a
problematic approach, potentially capable of
generating division and even conflict. This is
because, in a country in which ALL public
servants (politicians, civil servants, judges, and
all) have descended into the culture of
corruption, punishing some people tends to
degenerate into a process of selective justice.
Groups that feel that their own leaders are being
punished selectively cannot be blamed if they
feel bitter. For instance, even though I hate
public corruption as a destructive evil and fought
it passionately throughout my time of service to
Nigeria, it displeases me to remember that,
among today’s generally corrupt Nigerian
leadership, prominent kinsmen of mine (like Bode
George who was sent to prison, and Bola Tinubu
against whom the FG started a vindictive case
some time ago) were selected for punishment. If
punishment is one of the weapons you decide to
employ against corruption, please make sure that
the process is transparent and even-handed. In
trying to kill the worms in the baby’s tommy,
let’s take care not to harm or kill the baby
himself.
In addition to whatever weapons you are thinking
of using, let me suggest one that I have seen
some countries use to good effect. Let us make
a federal law demanding that all former and
current Nigerian public officials who have money
in any form or shape in foreign countries should
bring it back to Nigeria within a specified time
and invest it in Nigeria. They can do it without
any questions asked, and the consequent
investment will be theirs. The big gain for our
country will be that the money becomes active in
building our economy (generating businesses and
economic activities and providing employment)
instead of building the economies of the
countries where it was formerly hidden. Those
who do not comply within the specified time will
be subject to criminal prosecution and
punishment. (Tracing and following money stolen
and hidden abroad by public officials of any
country is now quite easy. Sophisticated
international agencies do it, actively supported
by the governments of many powerful countries).
Some young friends of mine tell me that one
practice among our corrupt leaders these days is
to bury large tomes of their stolen public money
in the ground! I don’t know how you will force
such people to exhume and declare such money,
but you must come up with a way.
Finally, my brother, remember what I said in my
first letter about restructuring our federation
properly. Fortunately, your manifesto says much
the same. Also, remember what I said about
investing heavily in our people – to create skilled
and reliable workers, entrepreneurs, small modern
businesses and inventors, attraction of foreign
investors and businesses, high quality exports,
and modern farmers. Your candidacy is
generating much hope among our people. Again,
I wish you luck; and I wish Nigeria luck.
PROF. BANJI AKINTOYE

so sad dey av home this time last year, today they are homeless..they wear a pair of nu shoe last year Christmas even though it was cheap:but today they have no shoe..O lord comfort the girls where ever they are and to their families Lord show them reason to smile.

About some weeks back the DSS carried out an official raid on Lagos office of the APC with the intention of arresting the official of carrying out illegal assignment.Though we are shock with the result of what our DSS came out with like computer,CPU just to mention but few and a promise that they will soon release a shocking item that they seized from the office..but since then we have not hear anything or is it one those cases that won't receive any attention till dust cover all d document. we Nigerian wish to know..or anyone out there with a better result.

I don’t know if I would be speaking the
minds of most Nigerians if I say this
Christmas is the most bleak Christmas
we’d be experiencing in recent times. That
is what transformation is all about. It does
not always have to be for the better.
However, giving our penchant to remain
happy even in the face of a most
disheartening predicament, I can be sure
that most of us would still try to be happy
and have a ‘happy’ Christmas. What I
cannot be too sure of, however, is whether
our Christmas would also be ‘merry’.
Because, for that to happen, we would need
a little money. And there just doesn’t seem
to be any money anywhere. Legit money,
that is!
As I write, it’s barely 48 hours to Christmas
and the bug has just refused to catch on.
Not even my little kids seem to be excited
about anything.
Long before now, we had concluded that
we’d be traveling to the village but two
days to December 25, not one of the kids
has taken me up on that promise.
Even when I tested the waters a few days
ago by asking them where they expected to
go for Christmas, none of them seemed to
care. When I suggested two of our favourite
family holiday spots, one of the girls
reminded me that the place does not have
DSTV premium bouquet. There is a movie
that will be showing during Christmas,
which she does not want to miss. And the
surest place to see it is at home. So, she’s
staying home. I could not thank my stars
enough. Of course, that does not mean that
they would not wake up on the 26th – after
the movie, to remind me of my promise.
But, at least, I have a respite for now.
Maybe, because of our recent experience
with armed robbers, my wife too is not
excited about doing any Christmas
shopping. None of those Christmas songs
that eternally remind you of what you have
not done. Can any man get any luckier?
Or did the festivities take Nigerians
unawares? No. Not really. Since January 1,
2014, we knew Christmas would come. I
think it’s just a sign of the times. When
there’s widespread cash crunch, such as
they say we have today, everyone either
keeps hustling until the last day or pretends
nothing is happening.
But that is only true of those of us who are
making an honest living. For those who live
on the public till, everyday is Christmas.
That is why I still believe this alleged
austerity measure is contrived. As my uncle
would say: ‘money still dey where e dey”.
If you doubt that assertion, compare what
the rest of us Nigerians are going through
to what happened at the PDP fundraising
last weekend! Was there anything there to
suggest the austerity measures Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala told us to tighten our belts
for? Or is the belt-tightening for only those
of us, the governed?
My conclusion: There is money in this
country – falling crude oil price or no falling
crude oil price. I think what we do not have
is the money to develop our country, feed
the masses and provide basic
infrastructures. But the money to play
politics, buy delegates, fund campaigns,
settle electoral umpires and godfathers and
junket in private jets is not in short supply.
It is only when you ask a governor why a
particular road project has been abandoned,
why workers salaries are unpaid, why a
meagre N18,000 (less than $100) is too
much for them to pay their workers every
month, or why contractors have left site of
another MDG project that Their Excellencies
will remind you that there has been a
serious shortfall from what they’re getting
from the Federation Account monthly. The
shortfall, of course, has not impinged yet on
their respective security votes, nor on the
money needed to oil the machinery for
politicking.
Of course, there is no better way of
confirming this than the fact that PDP
governors alone donated N1.05 billion to
the fund to prosecute next February’s
presidential election.
And to make matters worse, Governor Isa
Yuguda, who spoke on their behalf said the
‘little donation’ is just for the time being.
He did not need to tell us that. We already
knew. N50 million each was their idea of a
modest donation. Other funds would come
under the table later.
We’re in a country where a serving governor
allegedly ‘dashed’ his party chairman $2
million (about N370 million), with other
‘little little’ gifts to some members of the
exco, just for them to look the other way
while he (the governor) manipulated the
party primaries in his state. How would we
now expect such a ‘generous’ governor to
drop only a paltry N50 million for the re-
election of a president, who has equally
condoned all his undemocratic excesses?
So, as I watched the governors and all
manner of government contractors fork out
a whopping N25 billion to return President
Goodluck Jonathan to Aso Rock, I knew the
donations have only just started.
But the painful part of it all is: Virtually all
the donating governors are owing workers
in their respective states. But the workers’
interest or welfare do not figure in today’s
equations. What matters for now is political
correctness. Everybody wants to be
politically correct. I watched as governors
and government contractors fell over
themselves, as they tried to out-donate one
another.
And there were so many other anonymous
donors, including nameless friends on
whose behalf a former minister, who has
always lived off government by the way,
donated N5 billion. Meanwhile, just like
every discerning person out there, I know
there are heads of strategic MDAs, who
were specifically appointed to mop up funds
for this 2015 elections. Of course, their own
donations would never be announced. There
are also other conmen, who posture as
businessmen, to whom our collective
national patrimony have been sold for
peanuts. For them, now is payback time,
when they are expected to bring out some
of the excess – knowing that it was for
causes like these that they got the nod to
buy such patrimonies in the first place. If
you doubt me, check the businesses of
some of the biggest donors and see if it is
not just a case of them returning some of
what they’ve cunningly taken off us! I
expect to hear more donations of
undisclosed 10-digit figures. Feee Deee
Feee!
But as the billions roll in, I ask myself:
Whoever said there was cash crunch? Or
did the politicians mop it all up for a time
like this? Who is still in doubt as to what
happened to our foreign reserves? The
excess crude account? The crude that is
daily sucked out of our soil but never
accounted for in our books? And the
billions a certain Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
spoke of?
Of course, this is not an only PDP affair.
The APC would do likewise, only that they
are likely going to be a lot more discreet
about it. But for sure, funds would also flow
from the treasuries of APC-controlled
states. Even as we package Buhari as a
modest man, who is not rich, I’m not
expecting that he and his APC would be
outspent by the PDP. He would match
Jonathan naira for naira, dollar for dollar.
And the money would still come from this
economy, which we say is in distress.
So, if there is so much money flowing
around in these times of austerity measure,
what right do I have to tell my children that
there is no money if they ask me for
Christmas turkey? Or, maybe, I will tell
them that the price of crude oil has fallen.
So, what did we do with the money when
the price was high all this while? What
happened to the excess money? If we did
not enjoy when it was high, why must we
suffer now that it has fallen? Well, dear
readers, I cannot vouch that your
Christmas would be merry, but you sure
can make it a happy one.

Political analysis and expectations
of the outcome of 2015 Presidential
elections By Barrister David Umaru
Barrister David Umaru worte :
THE OUTCOMEOF 2015 Political analysis
and expectations ofthe outcome of 2015
Presidential elections:
1. Lagos: APC 98%
2. Kano: APC 100%
3. River: APC 98%
4. Osun: APC 99%
5. Ogun: APC 81%
6. Oyo: APC 84%
7. Borno: APC 100%
8. Yobe: APC 94%
9. Adamawa: APC 73%
10. Taraba: APC 87%
11. Nassarawa: APC 88%
12. Kaduna: APC 87%
13. Niger: APC 87%
14. Katsina: APC 99%
15. Zamfara: APC 100%
16. Sokoto: APC 100%
17. Benue: APC 76%
18. Plateau: APC 62%
19. Enugu: APC 54%
20. Gombe: APC 91%
21. Bauchi: APC 87%
22. Jigawa: APC 94%
23. Kebbi: APC 96%
24. Kogi: APC 86%
25. Ebonyi: APC 41%
26. Anambra: APC 47%
27. IMO: APC 91%
28. Cross River: APC 51%
29. Ondo: APC 76%
30. Ekiti: APC 82%
31. Bayelsa: APC 63%
32. Edo: APC 61%
33. Delta: APC 50%
34. A/Ibom: APC 46%
35: Kwara: APC 93%
36. Abia: APC 52%
PDP is gone 2015!
Barrister David Umaru wrote on
Facebook
Short URL : http://
www.osundefender.org/?p=201799

Last year they av a shelter now ds year they are homeless..they av shoe but now they are sholess,they celebrate without fear or tears this year fear is their only comfort.God help comfort them lord...

The Almighty GT...jus wonder y ppu are crazy abt d bank not even union can av ATM like ds.

A large noise from a large man inside Aso Rock
Propaganda Empire echoes across an imposing
cacophony rising above all critics of President
Goodluck Jonathan.
But hold your breath. Let the man introduce
himself in his own modest way:
Doyin Okupe
“I’m Doyin Okupe, the Big, Fat, Idiot. I’m the
President Senior Special Assistant on public lies
and propaganda with half my brain tied behind
my back. My subject is political propaganda. My
stance is distortion. My persona is Jonathan
comic blow-hard.”
From a moral perspective, frankly I think Okupe
is not even a political problem. He is a
psychiatric problem. Remember, it’s impossible
to cite all the maladies of the Jonathan
administration as interpreted by Okupe –
Jonathan’s brain. Here is a small sampling:
Okupe has become renowned for his penchant for
the outrageous. He demonstrates the absurdity
by being absurd: On the merger of opposition
parties which formed APC, Okupe boasts “Call
me bastard if they don’t crumble and disappear
by 2014.”
He’s very obese and vulnerable-looking than he
sounds when defending Jonathan. He once
described Jonathan as the “Mandela of Nigeria.”
“I have checked through the history of Nigeria,
among our past and present leaders, the only
one we can call our Mandela here in Nigeria is
President Jonathan.”
The president’s spokesman who lacks casual,
intimate style, sounds like he’s in a soapbox.
He’s intoxicated by lies, especially those flowing
from his own lips. He sounds like a real
braggart. On electricity, he forcefully defends
Jonathan: “Don’t blame Jonathan for power
failure.” He claimed that government efforts were
being sabotaged by politicians who sponsor
vandals to attack gas pipelines.
He has never shown any signs of being a serious
or thoughtful or earnest guy. He’s a degenerate
rodeo clown – a toxic provocateur. He should be
kept far away from civilization. Making case for
the ineptitude of Jonathan, Okupe compares
Jonathan with Jesus Christ. “There is no offense
to compare ourselves with our Lord. People do
not understand the burden this president is
bearing. He’s like Jesus Christ. He’s bearing the
burden of everybody.”
To describe Okupe’s lies and propagandas as
dishonest and demagogic would be equal to
promoting it to the level of respectability. To
regard Okupe’s pieces of craps would be to run
the risk of a discourse that would never again
rise above the excremental.
Fuming from both sides of his mouth, he
threatens social critics who dare criticize
Emperor Jonathan. “Insult President Jonathan to
your peril,” the oracle warns. “Social critics who
insults President Jonathan henceforth by calling
him drunkard, clueless, etc., would risk being
punished by the Federal Government,”
He crudely disguises his lies as an exercise in
seriousness. Fact is, it’s a sinister exercise in
moral frivolity. Okupe exhibits a spectacle of
abject political cowardice portraying himself with
dissenting bravery. Looking at his crystal ball for
the 2015 presidential elections, he predicts
landslide victory for Jonathan: “The choice in
this election is crystal clear, it is either good luck
or bad luck. This Goodluck Jonathan is the very
best that we have seen … it’s impossible for
Jonathan to lose election.”
Okupe as a liar and propagandist, he whips up
emotion and excitement directly by violent
exaggeration and by manufactured lies. He relies
on symbol and sentiment, he strives continually
to paralyze critical analysis and stimulate all
tendencies to thoughtless and slavish
acceptance. Evaluating Jonathan’s 4-year
presidency, he said: “The best since 1960. Those
who call GEJ clueless are biased or uninformed.
He has achieved more than any president in
Nigeria history.”
Like Hitler, Okupe believes the “intelligence of the
masses (Nigerian people) is small,” and their
forgetfulness is great.” His enemies are the
Nigerian people. His goal is to annihilate them.
The whole basis of his lies and propaganda is
based on the fallacy of ascent – essentially
fabrication inflation. On the economy: “… The
Jonathan administration has courageously and
innovatively been tackling with measurable,
obvious and clearly tangible positive results in
the last two years,” says Okupe.
Okupe represents a fool operating without
insight. He attempts to control reality like a
magician. His choreographic lies with elaborate
stumbles follows the idea of the apotheosis of
the absurd. Okupe is nothing. As soon as he
starts behaving that he is something, he
becomes precarious. No surprise, he cease to be
mindful and mistake fantasy for reality.
Okupe is a fool at the center of the great Aso
Rock conspiracy to sell poison as cool aid. His
thoughts and pronouncements are fallacious,
essentially a paranoid construct, one of
interpreting reality for what it is not. His blind
defense of Jonathan amounts to ultimate
paradoxical joke of presenting Jonathan and his
administration as the Fool of the future.
Okupe is a man who doesn’t shift his brain into
gear before putting his mouth into motion. With
his half-baked fantasies and loaded bias, no
reflective or informed person can possibly believe
his lies. He’s a silly and shady man who does
not recognize courage of any sort even when he
sees it because he cannot summon it in himself.
To him, easy applause in front of credulous
audience is everything.
I would like to remind Okupe that propaganda is
only meaningful and believable when it can show
positive results. Just show us the positive
impact of Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda on
Nigerians who are unemployed, hungry, sick,
homeless, hopeless, and helpless. Show us water
flowing from the taps, uninterrupted electricity for
just 30 minutes or one hour, etc., etc., etc.
Name names of big time looters in the Jonathan
administration including you who escaped justice
for stealing N800 million meant for road
construction projects which never took place.
Reel off list of your colleague thieves jailed for
looting our treasury.
Cook up a new story why government of the
largest economy in Africa couldn’t pay salaries of
federal civil servants for the past three months?
Mount the soapbox and face the nation why the
Chibok Girls are still in captivity for nearly 300
days? In short, why is everything falling apart in
every sector in Nigeria?
Mr. Okupe, a true leader comes from the people
and represents the people. He forges the opinion
of the broad masses. That is the reality of a true
leader. That is the source of his power. He is the
personification of public opinion. He doesn’t
need a liar or propagandist like you to win the
hearts of his people.
Fellow Nigerians, as the race for 2015 shapes up,
brace yourselves for more of Okupe’s Rapid
Response Rabble (RRR). We can all agree no
matter how the RRR is blended, crushed, pureed,
cooked, and packaged, it’s all flat-out phony
baloney!
byolu@aol.com

Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the Presidential candidate of the party, Gen. Muhammed Buhari will wipe out the dreaded boko haram insurgents and create jobs in the country if elected in 2015.

Prof. Osinbajo was responding to questions from some of his followers on the social media.

He claimed that the Jonathan- administration is unable to tame boko haram because of the corruption around the defence funds which has created a situation where soldiers are not well equipped and motivated.

“The current administration has politicised boko haram. The corruption around defence funds has created a situation where soldiers are not well equipped/motivated. GMB wiped out Maitatsine, another Islamic insurgency in his own administration by sincerely identifying the problem as a challenge to the authority of the state to maintain law and order. The administration took command and funded the military transparently and that’s what we need to do now to end this insurgency.

Commenting on the rate of unemployment in the country, he said the Buhari/Osinbajo administration if elected in 2015 will tackle the challenge by supporting every state to create 20, 000 jobs as well as pay a stipend to every youth corps members for a year while they are looking for employment.
He noted, “We expect every state will be supported to create 20, 000 jobs directly funded. The FG will also match the creation that for every additional job created over 20, 000 mark. FG will pay a stipend to every youth corper for a year while they are looking for employment and in that year will give vocational training. FG will undertake a massive public works programme; this is expected to have multiplier effect of producing hundreds of thousands of jobs. FG will give tax breaks and recognition to employers of labour who provide a certain minimum number of jobs”.

He also took a swipe on the current administration handling of corruption, promising that APC government will not tolerate it.

“One of the fundamental problems is that there is no consequence for corruption, I think that what everyone will agree to about a Buhari government is that it will not tolerate corruption. If the number one citizen has a clear and uncompromising anti-corruption stand then the anti-corruption policy will work. If the number one and two have a strong stance on anti-corrupion then our policy can succeed. In Lagos state, we were able to deal with judicial corruption by dealing with issues of remuneration and a strict policy on consequence in sanctions where judicial personnel are found to be corrupt. That model can be replicated,” he noted.

The former Attorney General of Lagos state stated that the APC is different from the PDP because it is focus on policies that will impact the lives of the common man.

“We have social programmes such as social welfare (first in Africa), free education, mass employment, universal healthcare insurance and the free meals programme in primary schools. The difference is in the ticket, integrity is key”.

On his vision for Nigeria, the professor of law said that, “a country where everyone has a good job, lives a decent life in peace and security.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/buhari-will-wipe-boko-haram-create-jobs-osinbajo/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

GMB please we also need you to tell us what you will do to better our lives..actually we are tired of this PDP but we don't want the change we clamour for to jus be an ordinarily song... like the i have no shoe lyrics in 2011..i believe you the artist who sing the song then,today they have billions of naira to buy their shoe so they dont feel what we the masses feel;but a change with issue discussed.

As is well known, available figures, statistics and
ratings show that the Nigerian economy has
consistently maintained an unprecedented growth
rate of 6-7 per cent under the Jonathan
administration. They also show that the Nigerian
economy is now the leading economy in Africa
and the 26th largest in the world, with a gross
domestic product of over $500 billion per
annum.
Pres. Jonathan at the World Economic
Forum held May 2014, Abuja
Statistical indicators are like a woman’s bikini,
they hide or mask the most important details,
while revealing what, to a casual observer, seem
like a whole lot. Take for example real economic
growth rate: a measure of how much the
economy grew, in real terms. Real growth rate is
essentially a quantitativemeasure. While it
measures the total goods and services produced
in a given year, it does not say anything about
how the quality of life has changed, and whether
or not available resources were used
transparently and beneficially.
As a result, economists have come to the
conclusion that the growth rate of an economy
at any point in time is meaningless unless there
is a context to the discussion. Some ways of
introducing context is to compare performance
to another recent period or to the performance of
peer countries with similar economic
fundamentals. These two exercises should show
whether or not in a particular epoch, a country’s
performance is “unprecedented” or spectacular.
Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
has, until recently, claimed the Nigerian
economy is in perfect shape
In addition, several countries have introduced
alternative measures of economic wellbeing that
captures more holistically, all aspects of
economic performance. Bhutan, for example
introduced the concept of Gross National
Happiness (GNH) in the 1970s. GNH measures
economic performance in relation to four pillars:
good governance, sustainable socio-economic
development, cultural preservation, and
environmental conservation. In the reckoning of
Bhutanese authorities, if all the four pillars were
performing, the sum total would be higher gross
national happiness.
Several factors affect real economic
performance. The quantity and quality of a
country’s labour force and its natural resource
endowment all affect investment, production and
consumption decisions of economic agents. In
order to steer the economy in a direction that is
over and above what is warranted by labour
force and endowment, governments would
normally introduce fiscal, financial and monetary
policies that support the achievement of both a
higher level of growth and qualitative
improvements in livelihood.
More importantly, because in today’s global
environment, countries do not operate as islands
unto themselves, developments in the global
economy, especially those of major trading
partners, international prices of imported and
exported commodities, and the general flow of
financial resources, all shape a country’s
economic outcomes. While the latter are not
within the control of a country, sound domestic
socio-economic policies on health, education,
environment security and infrastructure will
improve the overall quality of life and the
business environment so as to make the private
sector flourish.
Nigeria’s recent economic performance
Nigeria’s recent growth performance has mostly
been shaped by improvement in global trends
rather than sound economic policy management,
which has actually taken a turn for the worse
when compared to the first few years of civilian
rule. Recent global developments, such as
increase in oil prices (until the recent dip in
prices); the shift in foreign investor’s interest to
developing economies as growth in advanced
economies reached saturation points, have
helped Nigeria to attract foreign investments,
especially in the non-oil sector. As a result, and
notwithstanding poor policy choices,
unprecedented corruption and theft of public
resources, infrastructure deficiency and security
challenge, economic growth during the first six
years of this administration has been relatively
good. However, the performance, as impressive
as it may look, is poor when compared to growth
during the first six years of civilian rule. In
addition, real economic growth does not match
the achievement of other oil producing countries
with similar endowments as Nigeria.
The facts speak for themselves
During 2009-2013, the first five years of
President Jonathan’s administration, real GDP
growth averaged 6-7 per cent, a fact often
touted by the government. But this record is
much lower than that of the first five years of
civilian rule (1999 – 2005), when growth
averaged 11.1 percent. (Figure 1) This is despite
the fact that oil prices were much lower at that
time than now, and foreign investors’ appetite for
Nigeria was not as strong as now. The
difference, it seems, is in the leadership and
policy choices of the different periods. Therefore,
President Jonathan’s achievement can hardly be
said to be “unprecedented”. It’s actually poorer
than his predecessor’s achievements in less
benign circumstances.
FIGURE 1: Real GDP Growth Rate
2000-2013
Lying with data? Some glaring inconsistencies
Many Nigerians have wondered how the high
growth rates being reported are possible given
the “facts on the ground” – to use a well-worn
Nigerian phrase. As explained above, decent
rates of growth is possible in a chaotic domestic
environment so long as external conditions are
largely favourable. Notwithstanding, from a
strictly conceptual point of view, there are
serious reasons to question recent growth data
and the integrity of data more generally, as
would be clear in the following exposition.
Inconsistencies in regional contributions to
growth
To accept current measures of economic
performance and the high growth rates, one
would have to agree that the disturbances in the
North East region, which has brought the
regional economy to a halt in the past two years
with spillovers to neighboring regions, has not
made a dent on growth. Furthermore, one would
have to accept that the oil theft in the Niger
Delta, which the London think tank, Chatham
House, described as “industrial scale” and
estimated at $3bn-$8bn a year, did not impact
on GDP growth. By any calculation, oil theft at
the upper end of this range is enough to lower
the growth rate directly by 1-2 percentage
points, and much more indirectly through the
impact on other sectors of the economy.
Inconsistencies in key macroeconomic indicators
Nigeria’s main macroeconomic indicators have
weakened considerably recently, raising questions
about why the weakness has not impacted on
growth. A few examples will suffice:
Fiscal balances: Nigeria’s fiscal balances are
much weaker than at any time since the
beginning of civilian regime. In the first five years
of President Jonathan, the fiscal account was in
deficit, on average by 4 per cent of GDP. During
the first five years of civilian rule in contrast, the
fiscal balance was in surplus, on average, by
close to 2 percent of GDP. (Figure 2) Again, this
is despite much lower oil revenue earnings during
the earlier period. Even though the Jonathan
fiscal deficit remains small by international
standards, it is still higher than that of many oil
exporting countries which are all accumulating
surpluses rather than deficit and using the
opportunity of high oil prices to invest in long
term infrastructure. What is becoming clear to
critical observers is that the budget deficit is
more or less contrived through an unrealistic oil
benchmark price. With lower revenue and higher
expenditure projections, the result is a deficit
balance. DMO is then required to “borrow” at
excessive cost “to finance the deficit”. But with
the usual less than 70 percent implementation
rate of the budget, nobody has bothered to find
out why there is still a deficit if the budgeted
amount was not spent and why the need to
accumulate new debt!
Public debt: Public debt stock is much higher
than at any time since the Paris Club debt exit of
2006. In 2007, total public debt fell to N2.678
trillion ($3.56billion external debt from $36b, and
N2.2trillion domestic debt). But as of end 2013,
public debt has increased by more than 300
percent to N8.423trillion ($8.2b external, and
N7.1 trillion domestic). (Figure 3).
If AMCON debt and other agencies are included,
the total debt burden is now over N10 trillion. By
end of 2014, Nigeria’s total debt should easily
approach over $100b, most of which were
accumulated in the past 6 years. Given the well-
established negative correlation of debt and
economic growth, how has growth been so
strong?
Debt service: According to 2013 federal budget
data, close to 20 percent of recurrent expenditure
is devoted to servicing debt alone, a contrast to
2007, when only around 10 percent of recurrent
expenditure was spent on debt service. The
major conundrum is the lack of clarity on why
debt accumulation should be so high in the
presence of historically high oil prices, and what
exactly the debt is financing. Furthermore,
government’s policy of accumulating debt at
average interest rates of 13-15 percent when the
same government is receiving less than 3 per
cent on its savings (foreign reserves) beats
economic logic. Why not use some of the
savings to finance the needs and save 10
percent? It will also be interesting to find out
why debt accumulation is bad in 1999-2007, but
is now a good thing.
Foreign reserves: Nigeria’s foreign reserves have
followed a pattern similar to the other indicators
since the beginning of civilian rule. In the
Obasanjo and Yar’Adua periods, reserves high
enough to finance, on average over 7 and 10
months of imports respectively. However, in the
six years of President Jonathan, it has declined
to about 6.3 months of imports. (Figure 4).
When compared with other oil exporting African
countries, in the first two periods, Nigeria’s
foreign reserve accumulation was stronger than
those of other countries. However, in the recent
period, Nigeria is just about catching up with
others. Although stabilization funds exist, the
federal government has struggled to replenish
them, despite high oil prices.
FIGURE 2: Fiscal Balances 2000-2013
The quality of growth
Apart from the growth rates that do not match
economic realities, there are serious questions
about the quality of Nigeria’s growth. Sustained
growth over the years has not made a dent on
poverty, or led to broad-based improvements in
living standards. While some indicators improved
in the early post military era, many have now
nose-dived, as no conscious effort has been
made to skew policies in favour of socio
economic wellbeing. Some examples:
Life expectancy is just 54 years, eight years
lower than in Ghana and 20 years lower than in
Brazil.
The rate of childhood malnutrition is 24 percent,
more than eight times the rate in Mexico.
Basic literacy among 15- to 24-year-olds is just
66 per cent, compared with 99 per cent in South
Africa.
Official estimates of poverty rate vary from 41
per cent to 56 per cent, depending on whether
the poverty line is drawn at 2,500 calories per
day or at US$1.25 per day. However, according
to a recent study, 74 per cent of the population
lives below the economic empowerment line.
This is a more stringent definition than “poverty
line”. As a result, there are still 32 per cent of
the population that are above the official calorie-
based poverty line but are not “economically
empowered."
Infrastructure continues to be a major challenge:
electric power, transportation infrastructure,
telecommunications infrastructure and Internet
and broadband access is limited. Water and
wastewater systems are nonexistent outside a
few cities.
Reputation for widespread corruption remains
high, ranking at 139th out of the 176 countries
on Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption
Perception Index.
World Bank governance and business
environment indicators are much weaker than for
oil exporting or African peers. Nigeria ranks
158th out of 189 economies for trading across
borders. Global Competitiveness Report of the
World Economic Forum for 2013-2014, ranked
Nigeria 120th out of 148 countries in the Global
Competitiveness Index.
Nigeria’s budgetary process is now adjudged one
of the weakest in the world. In the annual “Open
Budget” Survey, Nigeria’s ranking has declined
progressively since 2006, and in the latest
ranking for 2012, Nigeria scored 16 per cent.
This does not compare favorably with the
performance of South Africa (90%), Uganda
(65%), Ghana (50%) and Angola (28%).
FIGURE 3: Government Debt 2000-2013
The size of the economy
Many Nigerians are somewhat puzzled about the
new size of the Nigerian economy relative to
their quality of life. Yes indeed, the Nigerian
economy is now the largest in Africa, but size
does not correlate with quality of life. Apart from
a higher per capita income due to the larger size
of the economy, many of the other indicators
merely confirm that the economy has been
underperforming all along, as several indexes
now put Nigeria at a much lower ranking than
other African countries. Sadly, the government is
focusing on trumpeting the good ratios, rather
than focusing policies on how to improve some
of the poor ratios below:
Though Nigeria’s per capita income rises in line
with nominal GDP but it remains well below peer
group medians as well as those of oil-producing
Angola and Gabon.
FDI now falls to less than 1% of GDP, which
shows that Nigeria has one of the lowest levels
of FDI inflow in the Africa region.
With non-oil fiscal revenue now falling to around
4% of GDP, the overdependence of the economy
on oil is even more stark than in the past, and
compared to other countries, Nigeria now has
one of the weakest revenue mobilization ratios of
Sub-Saharan Africa peers.
Financial market development which is usually
measured by money supply in percent of GDP is
now just around 19% of GDP. Compared to
Mauritius (99 %), South Africa (74 %), Kenya (42
%), and Angola (37 %). These show that Nigeria
has one of the least developed financial markets
in Africa.
FIGURE 4: Foreign Reserve Accumulation in
Months of Imports – Nigeria and Other
African Oil Exporters
All things considered, the 6-7% of GDP growth
rate is neither unprecedented, nor a superior
achievement, relative to past governments. The
performance is not the result of policy choices,
but favourable external environment. While the
revision to GDP is a credible exercise that
confirms the size of Nigeria’s economy, it also
shows how poor performance has been all along.
It’s time to focus on better economic outcomes.
Note: PREMIUM TIMES relied on Federal
Government of Nigeria publications, International
Monetary Funds and World Bank web sites for
this report.

I was shocked to read a press statement from
Wadata Plaza issued by a so called Professor
Wale Oladipo, secretary of the PDP, saying that
General Muhammadu Buhari is a semi illiterate
jackboot. It is no wonder that our education
system has fallen so low, else how can one
explain a professor making such a statement?
How did Wale Oladipo become a professor to
start with? It is quite astonishing that he can
say this. The professor doesn’t seem to
understand the basic rudiments of learning and
what it means for one to be literate or not.
Prof. Wale Oladipo, PDP National Secretary
Buhari attended the best military schools in the
world. In case the professor doesn’t know,
Buhari graduated as a military officer
(Lieutenant) in Royal Military Academy, Aldeshot
UK. He attended the Defense College India. Col
Buhari attended the US Army War College
Carlisle in Pennsylvania from 1979 -1980 and
earned his command as a Brigadier General. The
respected General Collin Powel attended the
same school in 1976 to become Brigadier
General. Some of Buhari’s classmates include
General Beltson, General Thomas P Carney,
General Bill Matz, General David E.K. Cooper etc.
all of them are alive and can be reached and
they will give glowing tributes of the man,
Buhari, they know as their classmate.
Anyone interested in verifying Buhari’s academic
credentials can write the school instead of
reading jargon from a deranged Wadata Plaza
Professor of Politics of Destruction Party (PDP). I
have checked Google Scholar hoping that Prof.
Wale Oladipo’s name and publications will show
up and nothing is showing up, that says a lot
about him as a Professor than Buhari as a
retired decorated General who served his country
so well and has not claimed any scholarship.
The curriculum at the U.S. Army War College
earns one a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies
and that is what Buhari has. For somebody to
claim that a graduate of such a prestigious
school is semi-illiterate, means something is
very wrong with that person’s brain. By all
academic and military standards, Buhari’s
education is superb and the best any general can
get in the world. Therefore, for Wale Oladipo to
claim Buhari is semi-illiterate speaks volumes
about his understanding of what education is
even all about. The unlearned professor thinks
education is about earning paper degrees only,
and even if it was the case, Buhari has them
from the most respected military institutions in
the world.
General Muhammadu Buhari has the kind of
military strategic education and experience to
deal a decisive blow on Boko Haram and end the
insecurity challenges facing Nigeria. Buhari is the
only army officer with the opportunity to
command 3 out of 4 Nigeria’s army divisions as
a GOC.
In 1983, when rebels from Chad took over our
land, seizing more than 19 villages (much like
what the Boko Haram is doing now), Major
General Buhari led a successful operation as the
GOC to push back the Chadian rebels and
reclaim our territory.
In 1984, when the Maitatsine sect decided to
declare war on Nigeria like what Boko Haram is
doing now, Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari
wasted no time in crushing them. Boko Haram is
a descendant of the Maitatsine sect with the
same extremist ideology and anti-western
education philosophy. It is surely President
Buhari that will be able to handle them:
eliminating these terrorists when he comes to
power like he did before. Muhammadu Buhari as
a captain fought in the Congo Civil War and won
the Congo Medal. He was there during our civil
war to bring peace and keep Nigeria one. That is
true patriot: a man that gave his life to another
country not only his fatherland.
Since the goons in Wadata Plaza have started
the literacy debate, it is very appropriate to ask
them that they produce Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s
Ph.D thesis and publications in renowned
journals. Goodluck’s speeches, attitude, and
interviews with international media don’t portray
him as a Ph.D holder. His past interview with
Christiane Amanpour was quite embarrassing; he
couldn’t even make eye contact with her.
Nigerians are eager to read his thesis and
publications.
In conclusion, it is obvious to all Nigerians that
the PDP government and its illiterate professor
are only interested in playing dirty politics with
the lives and properties of Nigerians. Nigerians
now need Buhari, a man with international
military education and experience, a seasoned
administrator with zero tolerance for corruption
to end this insecurity, bring prosperity, and place
Nigeria at the seat it deserves in the comity of
nations.
Dr. MK Hassan writes in from Washington D.C.

Tinubu commissions 60-bed
hospital in Edo, hails
Oshiomhole
Former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, has commissioned a 60-bed
specialist hospital, complete with state-of-
the-art equipment, three-bedroom doctors’
quarters and 2-bedroom nurses’ quarters,
built by the Governor Adams Oshiomhole
government in Ewohinmi, Esan South East
Local Government Area of Edo State.
Commissioning the hospital project which
was first conceptualized but abandoned
over 25 years ago, Tinubu, who is also a
national leader of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), said with the
commissioning of the hospital and other
projects in the state, Governor Oshiomhole
had introduced infrastructure development
revolution to the state.
Tinubu said it was regrettable that the 16
years of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) at the federal level had been a
colossal waste.
He said: “What you have in Edo State is
common sense development revolution.
Good security, employment, potable water
supply, agriculture, good road infrastructure,
vocational job to train and develop your
mind and become independent in life. That
is common sense development revolution.
“The only way you can get it at the federal
level is to have the voter’s card and vote
out the PDP. The 16 years of the PDP did
not produce anything. They were here and
they did not do roads to reach your
communities and they could not give you
boreholes.
“We have spent six years now and six years
of our arrival with our broom, we have been
sweeping the dirt away. We say change
from deceit; change from lies; change from
excuses. Today, the country is in darkness
because of the deception of the PDP. When
you pay a policeman, pittance how do you
expect him not to take bribe?
“We have built new hospitals and schools in
six years. If you want continuity of this
development, go and collect your voter’s
card and vote for APC. You want water to
flow; you want good roads; you want
potable water supply, then vote for APC.
“The reward for hard work is more work.
So, as the APC is doing well in Edo State,
you expect more work. You must vote for
more work and more facilities. Democracy
is not a spectator’s game. If you have no
card, go and collect one and vote against
the PDP. There can be no running water, if
you don’t vote for APC. The PDP has failed
and they will continue to fail.
“Glory be to God we now have a
government that build hospitals that would
save lives; emergency sections that would
ensure that accident victims are attended
to; that premature babies would be taken
care of. Thank you Adams, thank you for
leading a government that works,” he said.
In his remarks, Governor Oshiomhole said
the hospital project was one of the dreams
of his administration to extend development
to the rural communities.
He said: “For us in Edo State, the fact of
being rural does not mean the people are
inferior. Rural life is a function of location
and not of quality and consistent with the
commitment of our party to have an all-
inclusive development, the one that seeks
to make people feel the impact of gov­
ernance regardless of location, what you
have seen is a practical statement that this
is possible beyond rhetoric.
“When I visited here in 2009, the previous
government had awarded it. In fact, govern­
ments after governments had awarded it
and they were just using it to siphon money
in the name of the people of Ewohimi and
the blocks they were using were so bad. We
had to demolish that foundation and build a
completely new hospital.
“His royal highness informed me that this
project has been on for over 25 years and
somehow they have given up. I am happy
that God has used us to translate this to
reality.
“We have built road connecting Ewohimi to
other major towns in Esan and shortly we
shall be commissioning them.

sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=96580

TrishaP:
Is it supposed to be a statement or a question?@topic

Its a statement.. but ur idea won't b bad,can you help wt one.

TrishaP:
I think you should edit the name of ur topic @op

Thank you..but what do u think it will b best topic?

As you count down to Xmas celebration.. I can c the lovely street,the well decorated company with a touch of red and green even the bank is not left out..the chilling weather dt its always present at this time of the year..the bustling and hustling of the day,the busy street,the Christmas tree and lights...the big festivals,the comedy show nd music that high fee will be paid as gate fees.Please pause and av a second thot fo the needy,those by this time last year av a home but today they are homeless due to the current insurgent..those by this time last year have shoe but today they shoeless..please remember the chibok girls who this period last year were free with their families but today they are in bondage..remember those who died today in bomb blast all cos they want to travel fo this Xmas pray for their soul..remember to put food on the table of the needy. Visit the IDPs camp close to you;please show some love who kno it might go a long way to ease their pain..