₦airaland Forum

For years, he was rejected at the polls and given a tag that demarketed him among the electorate. His opponents said they knew how to get people to vote against him — just dress him up in the uncomplimentary toga and voters would avoid him like a raging plague. He tried as much as he could to explain that what people were saying about him was not true. That did not change the minds of his critics. Anytime he announced his intention to become president of Nigeria, many would scoff and ask: what exactly does this man want? Why is he so desperate to become president? Is it a must? Can’t he just accept that Nigerians would never vote for him?

But in 2015, everything changed. It was like a movie. The same Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, tagged as a religious bigot and dressed in the uncomplimentary toga of a jihadist for 12 years, suddenly became the darling of Nigerian voters outside his “core north” stronghold. The PDP stalwarts who said they knew how to win against him were shocked at the momentum he started gathering, even among those who disdained him for ages. Indeed, before the election was postponed, a survey suggested Buhari would beat President Jonathan by at least 11 million votes. The election was moved and Jonathan gained some ground but still lost — although by a more respectable margin.

And that is why I am bemused by the way APC stalwarts and top officials of the Buhari administration are toying with the threat posed by the obvious presidential ambition of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, who has left the ruling party for the PDP. Much has been said about the rolling stone that gathers no moss; just imagine how many times Atiku has changed parties in 10 years. Much has also been said about his seeming desperation to be president. But by far the biggest toga that has been designed for Atiku, like babanriga, is the stigma of corruption. Mention Atiku and the first thing that comes to the mind is “corruption”.
I guess this will be the marketing strategy of the APC campaign machinery in the countdown to the 2019 presidential election. Of course, we are making certain assumptions already — that Buhari would run, barring any change of course, and that Atiku would get the presidential ticket of the PDP, which, for all you care, is the most feasible platform to confront the APC. We could well be getting our assumptions wrong that there is an imminent Buhari vs Atiku match-up. It is actually more likely for Buhari to be a candidate than for Atiku to get the PDP ticket, judging by the internal struggles in his party. But we are just assuming that PDP would see Atiku as its best bet.

Why shouldn’t Buhari take Atiku for granted? One, because Jonathan also took Buhari for granted. Until it was too late. True, there was always a mortal fear of Buhari in Jonathan’s camp, but they always consoled themselves by concluding that only certain parts of the north would embrace him, and he would never become president of the whole of Nigeria without a significant slice of the votes from other parts of the country. There was a permanent assumption, based on facts and figures, that Buhari lacked national appeal, would not do well outside his northern cocoon and was definitely unelectable. I am also hearing today that Atiku is unelectable.

Two, the Jonathan strategists thought that by casting Buhari and APC as religious symbols, they would scare the hell out of non-Muslims and “moderate” Muslims. APC and Buhari were consistently linked to Boko Haram. The violence that followed Buhari’s loss in 2011 was given as a clear evidence of his taste for blood and his links to the Boko Haram fundamentalists. But when it was time for Buhari to become president, all these mattered not anymore. What this tells me is that the “corruption” tag on Atiku might not carry as much weight as it used to. The “jihadist” toga actually endeared Buhari to some voters. The corruption toga may endear Atiku to some voters.

I was shocked by what I heard at my barber’s shop recently. He said something to the effect that since Atiku is corrupt, he should know the “in and out” of corruption in Nigeria and is therefore the right person to fight it. On a previous visit, he had told me (I enjoy listening to his analyses, I must say) that Buhari is largely unaware of the stealing in his government because he is too detached, allowing things to be done behind his back. By saying Atiku will know the “in and out”, he was suggesting that Atiku is better placed to fight corruption. I could not believe my ears, but my ears hardly deceive me. By the way, my barber said he voted for Buhari in 2015.

What he said next set off an alarm. He quoted his friend as saying “Buhari is fighting corruption but we don’t have food and jobs”. I have been amazed at the way my barber has turned against Buhari in the last two years. He has moved from making excuses for Buhari to dismissing the same excuses. If this represents a trend among a class of voters, then it would be risky for Buhari to take anything for granted. Incidentally, I went to the barber’s shop with my doctor who said although he is disappointed with Buhari, he will never vote for Atiku — again because of the fear of corruption. This could be another trend in a different class of voters, who knows?

Three, who would the political class be more comfortable with between Buhari and Atiku? By political class, I mean the politicians. Many of those who toiled for Buhari in 2015 have been complaining to whoever cares to listen that they have not been rewarded. Globally, you play politics because you want political power. You don’t sit down at home and expect to be appointed. In a country like the UK, “technocrats” (as we call them in Nigeria) join parties to get elected into government or get appointments or both. In Nigeria, “technocrats” are sitting at home watching TV and saying “we are not politicians — go and win the election, then come and appoint us”.
Many of the politicians who worked for Buhari in 2015 are complaining bitterly and saying he is not worth fighting for again. There are hundreds of federal government vacancies that remain unfilled. We have been hearing of an “impending” cabinet reshuffle for over a year now. Except Buhari repairs his relationship with his political foot soldiers, he stands the risk of finding it difficult to convince them to put their necks on the line for him again. Atiku, on the other hand, is a professional politician. He knows how to play the game. The typical Nigerian politician would be more at home with Atiku than they would be with Buhari. This is a fact Buhari would ignore to his own hurt.

Four, and finally, the nightmare scenario would be a disposition of “Anyone But Buhari” among the voters. There are many people who still argue that Buhari did not win the 2015 election; rather, they think Jonathan lost it. They believe it was more of a vote against Jonathan than a vote for Buhari. So it was a case of “Anyone But Jonathan”. Buhari was positioned as a better alternative. If this analysis is correct, even partially, then Buhari would have to up his game if he wants to do a second term. Atiku is already positioning himself as the better alternative, and it appears his message is targeted mainly at the youth.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t love to be commenting on the 2019 elections in December 2017. I am so appalled that our understanding of democracy in Nigeria seems limited to elections. We seem to get excited only by elections. In fact, we are already discussing 2023 elections and what zone will produce the president and what zone will provide the vice-president. That is the way we are. We were created for elections. We exist for elections. Still, I chose to discuss 2019 today because it offers me an opportunity to, as it were, highlight Buhari’s vulnerabilities.

The threat of Atiku — and Atiku is a metaphor for opposition in this instance — should make this government know that it cannot take the love and trust of Nigerians for granted. Complacency set in long ago. Those who voted for Buhari in 2015 did so with certain expectations. I am not too sure they can sincerely say they are better off today or that they still harbour the same level of enthusiasm. The enormous goodwill has shrunk in quantity and in quality or, if you will, in volume and in value. Introspection, genuine self-assessment, is very critical for Buhari at this point. He must assess where things went wrong. Atiku is knocking on the door…

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

CHIBOK BOY

Anytime I see the picture of Ahmadu Ali, the little victim of Boko Haram, something melts in me. The boy from Chibok became paralysed after he was run over by a Boko Haram motorcycle. He would have gone the way of thousands of luckless victims but for fortune that smiled on him. With the help of the Dickens Sanomi Foundation, the boy has undergone surgery in Dubai and is back on his feet. Mr. Igho Sanomi, the CEO of Taleveras and chairman of the foundation, applied the icing on the cake by announcing a scholarship for Ali up till university level. Given the unending mindless exploitation of IDPs in this country, there is at least something to cheer me up. Touching.

‘KILLER WIFE’

Ms Maryam Sanda, the woman who allegedly stabbed her husband to death in Abuja after reportedly seeing some text messages on his phone, is currently being detained at the Suleja prison in preparation for her trial. There is nothing to argue about that. What I find disturbing and incomprehensive is that her six-month-old baby is being brought to court, perhaps to witness the trial. She cried all through court proceedings on Thursday. Some things are pretty simple, aren’t they? What was the baby doing in court? And why is a woman accused of such a grievous crime being allowed within a touching distance of the vulnerable, little girl? Befuddling.

POLISH POLICE

Anybody who has encountered the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) of the police will understand that the ongoing campaign to #EndSARS is not irrational. But ending SARS does not solve the problems. The entire police force is fundamentally flawed: from recruitment and training to equipment and operations. There is a patent disregard for human dignity. It would appear the police officers themselves are produced in a dehumanised environment and then unleashed on the society to vent their frustrations on hapless citizens. Scrap SARS and something worse will replace it. Reform the entire police force and see a difference. Symptoms.

REMEMBERING TAFIDA

I was at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Friday and watched prominent people pay tribute to Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. The former No. 2 man died in questionable circumstances 20 years ago while serving a jail term over an alleged coup plot against Gen. Sani Abacha. Ambassador Patrick Dele Cole’s testimony struck me the most: anytime people spoke Hausa around Yar’Adua in the presence of non-Hausa speakers, he would ask them to speak English since not everybody could understand what they were saying. Yar’Adua had a pan-Nigerian spirit, built bridges all over the country and promoted democracy till his death. Hero.


https://www.thecable.ng/thou-shall-not-underrate-atiku

I guess the money was for Transport. Some of the free inmates will use it for a good meal after the duration spent in the cell.

I believe it is time to conclusively tackle the question: who is a member of the Nigerian middle class? There are several definitions of “middle class”, many of them not valid for our peculiar context. Also, I don’t like all that jargon that economists use. I have therefore decided to explain what this thing called middle class is in Nigeria and which person would fall into this category. Forget what foreign economists say. This is the real deal.

1. THE GENERATOR
In Nigeria, a person who is able to purchase a generator for personal use and run said generator every time power goes off is a member of the middle class. Note that this is different from the group of lower class people who are able to save to buy generators for their small-scale business like hair or barbing salons. Middle class people own a generator at home .
In this category, lower middle class will be people whose generator cannot power all the appliances in the house and who have to make crucial decisions like whether they will put on the refrigerator or the air conditioner. Not both. The upper middle class are those whose generators can carry all the appliances they own and who don’t have to worry about the refrigerator being off when the generator is being turned on. So, in a lower middle class house, you will likely hear someone screaming as they try to turn on the noisy generator: “una don off evrytin?”

2. PHONE CREDIT
Mobile telephony is big in Nigeria. Often however, many in the lower classes have need to say that their “credit” ran out. Sometimes they send those “Please Call Me” messages. God forbid that a middle class Nigerian send you a Please Call Me message. Members of Nigeria’s middle class are those who never have to tell you “I could have called you but I don’t have credit.” They can afford to top up as soon as their credit runs out.
In this category, lower middle class are those who can afford to top up almost immediately but sometimes have to tell the people they are calling: “Please let me go across the road to buy recharge card, I will call you back.” (Or better still, “Hold on let me send my housegirl to buy me credit.”) I know many lower class people use this “I will call you back” line too. But the difference between a lower class person and a (lower) middle class person is that the middle class person often does go and buy the credit. The middle class person calls you back. The upper middle class person in this category is one who never runs out of credit, because they top up regularly without waiting for it to finish. That is the main difference: lower middle class waits until their credit finishes before running out to buy credit (or using a shortcode to top up) while the upper middle class doesn’t need a reason to top up — they are just cool like that.

3. THE CINEMA
I know that we don’t have a big cinema culture, but at least in our major cities, this is one way to know persons who are in the middle class. Middle class Nigerians can afford movie tickets, often for themselves and their families or lovers as frequently as (once or more) every week. What differentiates the middle class from others is that they can also afford the overpriced popcorn that is traditionally part of the cinema experience. While lower class people can save and go to the cinema on special occasions like Eid, Easter or Christmas, the middle class person doesn’t need a special occasion to go to the cinema. In this category, the upper middle class people actually avoid the cinema on public holidays so as to avoid mixing with the lower class people who have saved to enjoy this experience. You can’t be mixing with lower class people. God did not elevate you for nothing.

4. THE CAR
A middle class Nigerian often has a car. If they do not have a car it is usually because they are saving to buy a really cool car and would rather take taxis than go through the stress of driving a problematic second-hand Japanese car. However, some lower class people happen upon some cash and buy cars — like those who are able to save and buy taxis or cars which they use for transportation, like Uber. There are cars and there are cars.
While a lower class person will often abandon their car as soon as fuel scarcity bites hard, the middle class person is often able, albeit through much complaining, to buy very expensive fuel from the black market to keep their car running. During periods of fuel scarcity also, the difference between the upper and lower middle class becomes clear. The upper middle class person will experience no change in driving habits while the lower middle class person will do things like stop using the air conditioner or turn off the engine in traffic or when they stop at traffic lights. On social networking sites like Twitter for example, you will find lower middle class people tweeting about their fuel woes and how much they bought a 10 litre gallon for. Or they will shamelessly put out an SOS asking who knows where they can get fuel. Upper middle class people never do shameful things like tweet photos of their fuel tank during fuel scarcity or celebrate when they find fuel. This is because (a) the upper middle class god is faithful (b) they are usually connected to someone who can provide them fuel and often never have to queue themselves and (c) they are afraid that if they confess they do have fuel, their lower middle class friends will beg them for some. And there are many people in this lower middle class. You help one, they go and brag to all their friends and you find a dozen strangers begging you for fuel. Because yes, no one brags like lower middle class people. To avoid this kind of situation, it is not uncommon for upper middle class people to become hypocrites: join the rest of Nigeria in complaining about the fuel situation without providing any specifics. In war, you must practice diversion and deception. The class warfare in Nigeria is real.

5. DSTV
Cable television is an important aspect of middle class life in Nigeria. DSTV is one defining characteristic of Nigeria’s middle class. Again, sometimes, a person from the lower class may happen upon some money and buy a DSTV satellite dish and decoder. But often the lower class person will go some months without a valid subscription. A middle class person always has a valid subscription and even when DSTV increases their charges, they will complain and create hashtags to protest the increase, but go ahead and pay. Because they cannot live without DSTV. The difference here between the upper and lower middle class is that the upper middle class person will never complain about subscriptions and will always have the premium bouquet. The lower middle class person changes bouquets depending on their finances. And they always, always complain.

6. CONNECTIONS
Many Nigerians try to better their lives, but often, in the absence of real power, they leave matters to God. The middle class, while still cherishing the immense power of God, know the truth in the saying:
God helps those who help themselves.
A middle class Nigerian is one who knows a person in government or authority who can change the course of events in their favor. It can be admission into university for their children, contracts or the fast tracking of an application or other process or even buying bread which is in high demand from a crowded supermarket. A middle class person prays first and then looks for someone who can write them a note that can work wonders. Because God works through mysterious middlemen. What differentiates the upper middle class Nigerian from the lower middle class are the degrees of separation between them and the person(s) with real power. So, for example, while a lower middle class person may have to go to their uncle who knows an ex local government chairman who knows one of the members of the governing council of a university who can speak to the vice chancellor for their child’s admission, an upper middle class person may have been classmates with the Governor’s wife and can beg her directly to include their child’s name on the list the Governor sends to the vice chancellor for admission.

7. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
Nigerians of all social classes love to travel. Yes, they may all be travelling for different reasons, but they all at least try to travel. While many in the lower class may not be able to afford to travel or meet visa requirements, a few do, either smuggling their way to Europe and finding a way to stay illegally or taking the dangerous trip by sea or desert. Middle class Nigerians, however take pride in their travels. They invest in their travels. They talk about where they have been and show off items they bought from abroad.
In this category, one difference between the lower and upper middle class Nigerian is that the lower middle class Nigerian is more noisy about their travels, from the visa application process to talking about the bags and shoes they bought in Dubai. For every visa a lower middle class person has, they have applied for four. They are relentless and throw dignity to the wind until they get the visa they need to travel. If they couldn’t get the US or UK visa they will try Malaysia. If they don’t get that they will try Dubai or South Africa. And they will keep coming back until the US or UK sees the dozen Asian visas on their passport and gives them that visa. Often, a conversation between two lower middle class persons will consist of sharing tales about visa application or asking each other what visas they have and how long it took them to finally get it. A visa is life for the lower middle class Nigerian. An upper middle class Nigerian however, might have already schooled abroad. Yes, maybe in Cyprus or Ukraine, but to most Nigerians schooling abroad is schooling abroad. So they have gotten the visa panic out of their system. They travel noiselessly and probably post pictures of their vacations just so their friends can keep up with them. The lower middle class Nigerian will turn on their internet location as soon as they leave the plane so that no one on Twitter or Facebook will doubt their travels or their middle class status. No one fears losing their status like the lower middle class Nigerian. No one brags like the lower middle class Nigerian.
Lower middle class Nigerian conversations are peppered with phrases like:
When I was in London (or Hoostun Tehzahs [Houston, Texas] or Atlanta or Dubai or Tchikago [Chicago] or Europe…)
That’s not how they do it in London (or Hoostun Tehzahs [Houston, Texas] or Atlanta or Dubai or Tchikago [ Chicago] or Europe…)
I could go on and on. If you belong to one of these categories and have not previously considered yourself a middle class Nigerian because of some silly criteria from some foreign economist, I urge you to claim it. Claim it and celebrate it. And if you are in the lower middle class, I pray that God blesses you and lifts you into the upper middle class. Because, trust me, there is nothing that the Nigerian God cannot do. He can make one of your friends get into power and help you get contracts that will instantly take you from a used Honda to a brand new Kia or Hyundai. And from that point to real riches, it is only a matter of time, greed, connections and loyalty. God bless your hustle.

Ps. I know this is difficult, but if God does bless your hustle and you move from lower to upper middle class, try; try to respect yourself and leave lower middle class behaviour behind. Like bragging. Or talking about your visas. Or how many times you went for “summer”. Or how they do it in London (or Hoostun Tezas or Atlanta or Dubai or Tchicago or Europe…).

Pps. I know it seems like I have bad mouthed lower middle class people. But here is one great side of the lower middle class Nigerian: they are the most generous. Perhaps because of fear of becoming poor or desperation to reach upper middle class, the lower middle class person regularly gives money to beggars, especially those who beg in God’s name. They tithe regularly. They will not risk losing any chance to have their hustle blessed by God. Every donation is an investment in securing their position in the middle class and possibly bettering it. God bless lower middle class people.


https://medium.com/@elnathan_john/how-to-identify-a-middle-class-nigerian-71451271e84a

Dear I Go Dye,
I read your post on Instagram. It was hard to miss it because it was on every major news website. I would like to say that you were mostly right. The questions you raised in your post are similar to the ones I have been asked by other young people on social media, so I am replying this not just to you as a person, but to all young Nigerians who have asked similar questions.
Firstly, you are right. The Nigerian youth have often been taken for granted, and almost every leader in our history has taken young people for granted. But it’s important to point how this started – for people like me who saw Independence; our leadership was mostly driven by young people. Then came the coups, and the civil war, and then more coups. Nigeria ended up with a long period of military dictatorship for many decades, in which time; those young leaders aged, but still remained leaders. Fela, Gani, Enahoro, and Beko were young leaders, yet remained leaders until their demise. That was because of the instability brought on by decades of instability.
By the time we got to 1999, the young people of the day had not been prepared for leadership, because there was no leadership or apprenticeship process under dictatorships. This is one of the reasons the age of leaders has continued to rise. That was because of the leadership stagnation brought on by decades of political instability. Imagine a school that did not graduate any students for 5 years, by the time the top class finally graduates, you will have a backlog of undergraduates.
Our young people are not to blame; we need to remedy this national failure. Last week, there were local government elections in Akwa Ibom State, with over 60% of the seats won by young people, less than 35 years old. That’s how progress can be made. Young people need to participate from the grassroots, all the way across board. Appointments are good, but getting elected is even better. I also understand the issues around funding elections which keep women and young people out, and I will address this in an article I am publishing soon.
I do understand your frustration on the issue, however. I tell people my age that to understand young Nigerians, we need to understand the difference between Nigerian and Naija. Naija embodies the hopes and dreams of young Nigerians, the country they love and long to go home to when they are abroad. Naija is the country that brings them pride in music, film, comedy, fashion, and technology. It is the country of Wiz Kid, Asa, David O, Tuface, the Olympic bobsled team, Iwobi and Don Jazzy Again.
Nigeria on the other hand, is the country of their parents, the country where leaders are constantly failing them, of Boko Haram, of herdsmen violence, of recessions and joblessness. Our young people need us to make our country live up to the aspirations of Naija by fixing the problems associated with Nigeria.
I think it’s important to address the accusation about my tenure as Vice President, that I did nothing for young people. Firstly, as VP, I can only be judged on the responsibilities I was given. A VP obviously is not the driver of government. For example, you can’t blame Prof Osinbajo for all that is going on with the current government. He can only do what he’s allowed to do.
But let me speak about what you can judge me by, my assigned responsibilities. As VP, I assembled what is arguably the best Economic Team ever in Nigeria. It was made up of young, world class professionals, who came home to work. Some of those professionals are now political leaders, governors and world leaders in their own right.
If you ask what our first task was, coming into government in 1999, it was to bring stability to the economy after decades of military rule. For example, between 1999 and 2003, oil prices then were hovering between $16 and $28 yet we managed to pay up salary arrears from decades back, clear up our national debts and built up foreign reserves. Our GDP grew at the fastest rate we’ve seen since the return to democracy.
You mentioned that I never brought young people into leadership, but my record speaks differently. I have a proven record of bringing young, unknown professionals into service. Many of the professionals and ministers I brought in were in their 30s and early 40s. Some of those young leaders have become governors in their states. I went to the World Bank and met a bright lady, convinced her to come back home, and she became a star in our government. To show you we had effective leadership, the same lady could not replicate her exploits under a different government.
I was also in charge of privatization and I have witnesses that I never interfered with the process. I never bought anything belonging to the government. I was quite wealthy before coming into government, with declared assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars in 1999; so it was understandable that many of the wealthy Nigerian business people who participated in the privatization programme were my friends. Did I use my influence to get them better deals? No. As the then DG of BPE testified under oath, I never used my position to interfere with his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xe_WY1vn690
My legacy as Vice President, I would say is the banking consolidation process, for which I gave political backing for. Many big people were putting a lot of political pressure to not change the status quo, but we knew that if that consolidation was not done, Nigeria could not grow. Because of that banking consolidation, Nigerian banks don’t fail anymore the way they used to.
I oversaw the telecoms revolution, which is why young people like you, I Go Dye, now have a flourishing career. Under our tenure, we witnessed a large repatriation of Nigerians back to Nigeria, driven by the hope of the recovering economy. It is sad that many of those young people are heading back abroad now – this is to show you that leadership matters.
I know many of these have been forgotten because it was a long time ago, and successive administrations did not follow up on the progress we made. But that is also not to say we were blameless. I was largely frozen out in the second term of our tenure, and I regret that we had that disagreement with my boss. Some say I was disloyal, but I looked at the events in Zimbabwe recently, and it gives me confidence that I did the right thing fighting the attempts to elongate the presidential tenure beyond eight years. If I did not win that fight, do you think we would be having a discussion on young people getting into leadership today?
Intels. I want to address this because you mentioned it. It was the Shagari government that started the Onne Port and later abandoned it. In summary, my business partner and I saw an opportunity to build Nigeria’s oil industry using world class infrastructure, but driven by Nigerians. We went out and took loans to build the facilities, but as we went on, more opportunities opened up, which allowed us access to even more capital. We ended up borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly from Europe, to build the port, singlehandedly charting the course of Nigeria’s oil industry.
Honestly, I did not ever think we would be that successful, which was why I kept my day job, when we started it. It was just what you would call, a side hustle, but it grew so big, and I had to quit my government job to focus on it. Today, every oil major uses the facilities we built. The government only became clients after the oil companies. Our company has expanded to several countries in Africa. Even the FG has seen that that company is the most competent logistics company in Africa, which is why it gives Intels the most complex operations to manage.
But Intels as a corporate citizen is loved in the locations it operates. That’s because we invest in scholarships, hire young people from the community and train them to become world class technicians. As CSR, we have gone into partnership with the NFF to train young Nigerian footballers, and provide support for the local league. We are loved by the youth in our local communities.
In my home state of Adamawa for example, I’ve created over 50,000 direct jobs and 250,000 indirect ones. We are the largest private employers of labour in the state only second to the state government. It’s not a lot, but it does help reduce unemployment. Who do you think are holding those jobs? Yes, young people.
I Go Dye, I’m not a messiah. I do not promise Eldorado or $1 = N1. But I always ask to look at the economic progress we made under my leadership and what I am doing in private business and judge me by those. People say I became rich in government. It’s a lie. I had hundreds of millions of dollars in assets declared in 1999. My businesses (my shares of which were held in a Blind Trust while I was in government) continued to grow since then. I was able to personally bankroll the PDP back then, so surely I was not poor. But I understand it is politics. So it’s normal to be called names. But how come in all these years, none of my opponents has found any evidence to indict me?
The people who are afraid of me changing the status quo they enjoy will always try to frighten young people about me.
Some people believe youth empowerment is giving handouts to young people instead of building a strong economy. They are wrong. They want to give handouts so they can control young people. But how long can we continue like that? Our country is borrowing to pay salaries, yet we are still holding on to outdated models just so we can control young people for elections.
The success of young Nigerian entrepreneurs in IT & technology, retail, music, and arts shows that given the chance, they can run anything. My job is to be a bridge, which supports our young people achieve these ideals. I will never say only I can do this. I can’t do it alone. I need your support, I Go Dye, so help our economy grow, to ensure that within 10 years, our young people can take over completely.
In summary, I Go Dye, I am not a person who says what he cannot do or show proof. I am giving you an invitation to sit down and ask me any questions you may have. I would also like to take you around, show you some of the businesses I have built, and let you speak to the young people who run those places. It is good to try to convince you that I can do better by our young people, but it is even better to show you. Send me a direct message on Twitter, and we will take it from there.

http://atiku.org/aa/2017/12/07/dear-i-go-dye-you-are-right-but-we-can-fix-nigeria-together/

mapet:
The tax laws says those allowances should be taxed. Even those of us in the private sector pay taxes on allowances, even Christman bonus

Just made a quick read through of the tax law and I see you are right! But a full implementation this very time is not fair on the workers. A good number of civil servants have banks loans, cooperative savings/loans and so on and are calculative with what they have left. You don't make them get this type of news when they get alert or see their payslip.

mapet:
The tax laws says those allowances should be taxed. Even those of us in the private sector pay taxes on allowances, even Christman bonus

Just made a quick read through of the tax law and I see you are right! But a full implementation this very time is not fair on the workers. A good number of civil servants have banks loans, cooperative savings/loans and so on and are calculative with what they have left. You don't make them get this type of news when they get alert or see their payslip.

seunmsg:
Implementing the law properly should not be termed as salary reduction. My salary was not reduced in any way because I have been paying my full tax previously. People should pay their taxes accordingly and stop complaining and misinforming the public.

You claim to be FG staff and say this. Do you know the difference between consolidated and gross. Who taxes the small allowances workers still get? Chains..... This means I pay for my pension and NHF from my housing allowance ( the only allowance I see on my payslip since all other allowances have been consolidated. )

My opinion
APC is playing a calculated game here, Jegede had a good chance of winning before all the court drama. During the duration of the court cases he lost a lot of supporters to Oke who was the preferred candidates among the remaining aspirants.
APC seeing that in the absence of Jegede people have shifted their support to Oke introduced Jegede back to the game. Now we have people changing alliance overnight in ondo, while some still holding on to Oke. This strategy will reduced the votes of Oke and Jegede while that of Aketi remains the same. Mind you Ibrahim was never in the race cos as we all saw he was a spoiler ( Imagine he said he will increase the minimum wage to a figure more than what the labour union is asking for in this recession SMH ).
Mimiko wants the election postponed to get his lost sheep back.If this election holds this Saturday Aketi will be announced winner and we will all rant as the people in Edo ranted for weeks and nothing changed.

Soon, Presidential addresses will start with 'Fellow criminals' and some of us will say some Nigerians have said worse #NigeriansAreNotCriminals

.......

I am guessing its Feb 14th things! I get aboki wai de sell confirm ring

I will tell her and spoil the surprise
By the way; nice way to know cos am following back to back and also inviting her to nairaland.

Lasisi69 EndTime minister welcomes you to End Time Army Ministry.
Fund raising for church renovation and member (army) recruitment.
General Overseer: Lasisi69
Fund raising committee chairman: Sophious
Ministering: Lalasticlala and other end time campaigners
Guest artists: Ishilove, Introvert and other anointed end timers

Come and be blessed

"For instance,
I have a suit pending at the Federal High Court against the Ministry of Petroleum Resources over the renewal of the expired 40-year old licenses of three oil blocks (which produce 580,000 barrels of crude oil per day) for Mobil Producing last year for the sum of $600 million notwithstanding that a Chinese oil company had offered to pay $5.8 billion for the same oil blocks "
It doesn't matter to me if 100% of our blocks is owned by anybody be it Northerners, Niger Delta, Westerners, Easterners or foreigners. FG should be business minded when they are allocating oil blocks to any body. Compare $5.8 billion to $600 million for Christ Sake!

You all don't know who you will vote for come 2015, funny enough, you might all vote for GEJ when no worthy opponent contest against him.

you are so 2000 and late!!! Get a smart phone and get a life