₦airaland Forum

Unconfirmed news had it that pdp has appointed former governor of borno state as the party's new chairman, details later

Today marked 40 years since one of the greatest leader Nigeria ever had was killed. I’ve read different tributes and different criticisms as regards Late General Murtala Muhammed.

Personally, i believe that the way he stood up to the western forces makes him a hero to remember. He may not have been a flawless man, but if there is anything Africa needs, it’s freedom from western colonisation. His speech at the OAU summit made him one of the most respected leaders. Below is the speech:

“Africa has come of age. It is no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or to mar. For too long have we been kicked around: for too long have we been treated like adolescents who cannot discern their interests and act accordingly. For too long has it been presumed that the African needs outside ‘experts’ to tell him who are his friends and who are his enemies. The time has come when we should make it clear that we can decide for ourselves; that we know our own interests and how to protect those interests; that we are capable of resolving African problems without presumptuous lessons in ideological dangers which, more often than not, have no relevance for us, nor for the problem at hand.”

We should never forget that this speech practically signed his death warrant. After the speech, many believed he was a walking corpse. We shouldn’t forget what he stood and died for.

Murtala was a man who didn’t believe in formalties. He adopted a low profile policy, so for the 200 days he was Head of State he lived in the same house he had occupied as Director of Army Signal Corps and drove to work at the Dodan Barracks every morning from his house. No convoy. No sirens. No outriders. Few days after his assumption of office, Murtala shunned the sirens and convoy and rode alone with his driver, from Lagos to Kano, a journey of more than one thousand kilometres, in his personal car.

He was a man who wasn’t just interested in the wealth of our nation, he stood for our liberation from western forces. In an interview with The Punch of May 4th 1982, the late Chief MKO Abiola, a very close friend of Murtala, said that Murtala had only Seven Naira Twenty Two Kobo (N7.22) in his bank account when he died.” He wasn’t like the parasitic leaders we have today, who live off our money like lichens.

Murtala never detained a single person in the 6 months that he led the Nigerian nation. When former Lagos University Law Lecturer Dr. Obarogie Ohonbamu wrote in his magazine, African Spark that Murtala had corruptly enriched himself before becoming Head of State, and accused him of owning fleets of trailers and rows of houses, Murtala did not descend on him with his heavy boot as most military dictators, he quietly went to Igbosere magistrate court and sued Ohonbamu for libel. At the last hearing, the case was adjourned till 17th March, 1976, but Murtala was assassinated on 13th February.

As we remember him, we should remember what he stood for. We shouldn’t just remember him, we should fight for what he fought for. He fought for our freedom from those who believed they could dictate to us, those who thought themselves superior to us and those who are taking advantage of us. The onus lies on us to either break free of western dictatorship or remain slaves forever.

Murtala set our feet on the path to continental freedom, are we going to follow through on that path? Or would we rather remain slaves forever? You see. . .the choice is ours.

Thomas Sankara was Burkina Faso’s
president from August 1983 until his
assassination on October 15, 1987.
Perhaps, more than any other African
president in living memory, Thomas
Sankara, in four years, transformed Burkina Faso from a poor country,
dependent on aid, to an economically
independent and socially progressive
nation. Thomas Sankara began by purging the
deeply entrenched bureaucratic and
institutional corruption in Burkina Faso. He slashed the salaries of ministers and
sold off the fleet of exotic cars in the
president’s convoy, opting instead for the
cheapest brand of car available in Burkina
Faso, Renault 5. His salary was $450 per
month and he refused to use the air conditioning units in his office, saying that
he felt guilty doing so, since very few of his
country people could afford it. Thomas Sankara would not let his portrait
be hung in offices and government
institutions in Burkina Faso, because every
Burkinabe is a Thomas Sankara, he
declared. Sankara changed the name of
the country from the colonially imposed Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means
land of upright men. Thomas Sankara’s achievements are
numerous and can only be summarized
briefly; within the first year of his
leadership, Sankara embarked on an
unprecedented mass vaccination program
that saw 2.5 million Burkinabe children vaccinated. From an alarming 280 deaths
for every 1,000 births, infant mortality was
immediately slashed to below 145 deaths
per 1,000 live births. Sankara preached
self-reliance, he banned the importation of
several items into Burkina Faso, and encouraged the growth of the local
industry. It was not long before Burkinabes
were wearing 100% cotton sourced, woven
and tailored in Burkina Faso. From being a
net importer of food, Thomas Sankara
began to aggressively promote agriculture in Burkina Faso, telling his country people
to quit eating imported rice and grain from
Europe, said, “let us consume what we
ourselves control,” he emphasized. In less than 4 years, Burkina Faso became self-
sufficient in foods production through the
redistribution of lands from the hands of corrupt
chiefs and land owners to local farmers, and
through massive irrigation and fertilizer
distribution programs. Thomas Sankara utilized various policies and government assistance to
encourage Burkinabes to get education. In less
than two years as a president, school attendance
jumped from about 10% to a little below 25%,
thus overturning the 90% illiteracy rate he met
upon assumption of office. Living way ahead of his time, within 12
months of his leadership, Sankara
vigorously pursued a reforestation program
that saw over 10 million trees planted
around the country in order to push back
the encroachment of the Sahara Desert. Uncommon at the time he lived, Sankara
stressed women empowerment and
campaigned for the dignity of women in a
traditional patriarchal society. He also
employed women in several government
positions and declared a day of solidarity with housewives by mandating their
husbands to take on their roles for 24
hours. A personal fitness enthusiast, Sankara
encouraged Burkinabes to be fitted and
was regularly seen jogging unaccompanied
on the streets of Ouagadougou; his
waistline remained the same throughout
his tenure as president. In 1987, during a meeting of African
leaders under the auspices of the
Organization of African Unity, Thomas
Sankara tried to convince his peers to turn
their backs on the debt owed western
nations. According to him, “debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa. It is
a reconquest that turns each one of us into
a financial slave.” He would not request for,
nor accept aid from the west, noting that
“…welfare and aid policies have only ended
up disorganizing us, subjugating us, and robbing us of a sense of responsibility for
our own economic, political, and cultural
affairs. We chose to risk new paths to
achieve greater well-being.” Thomas Sankara was a pan-Africanist who
spoke out against apartheid, telling French
President Jacques Chirac, during his visit to
Burkina Faso, that it was wrong for him to
support the apartheid government and
that he must be ready to bear the consequences of his actions. Sankara’s
policies and his unapologetic anti-
imperialist stand made him an enemy of
France, Burkina Faso’s former colonial
master. He spoke truth to power fearlessly
and paid with his life. Upon his assassination, his most valuable
possessions were a car, a refrigerator,
three guitars, motorcycles, a broken down
freezer and about $400 in cash. In death, Thomas Sankara’s burial place is
unkempt and filled with weeds (click to see
Thomas Sankara’s graveyard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY2UpSxXPlw ). Few young Africans have ever heard of
Thomas Sankara. In reality, it is not the
assassination of Thomas Sankara that has
dealt a lethal blowed to Africa and Africans;
it is the assassination of his memory, as
manifested in the indifference to his legacy, in the lack of constant reference to his
ideals and ideas by Africans, by those who
know and those who should know. Among
physical and mental dirt and debris lie
Africa’s heroes while the younger
generations search in vain for role models from among their kind. Africans have
therefore, internalized self-abhorrence and
the convictions of innate incapability to
bring about transformation. Transformation
must runs contrary to the African’s DNA,
many Africans subconsciously believe. Africans are not given to celebrating their
own heroes, but this must change. It is a
colonial legacy that was instituted to
establish the inferiority of the colonized and
justify colonialism. It was a strategic policy
that ensured that Africans celebrated the heroes of their colonial masters, but not
that of Africa. Fifty years and counting
after colonialism ended, Africa’s curriculum
must now be redrafted to reflect the
numerous achievements of Africans. The present generation of Africans is
thirsty, searching for where to draw the
moral, intellectual and spiritual courage to
effect change. The waters to quench the
thirst, as other continents have already
established, lies fundamentally in history - in Africa’s forbears, men, women and
children who experienced much of what
most Africans currently experience, but
who chose to toe a different path. The
media, entertainment industry, civil society
groups, writers, institutions and organizations must begin to search out and
include African role models, case studies
and examples in their contents. For Africans, the strength desperately
needed for the transformation of the
continent cannot be drawn from World
Bank and IMF policies, from aid and
assistance obtained from China, India, the
United States or Europe. The strength to transform Africa lies in the foundations laid
by uncommon heroes like Thomas
Sankara; a man who showed Africa and
the world that with a single minded pursuit
of purpose, the worst can be made the
best, and in record time too.

The Rivers State Government has approved January 27 every year as a public holiday to mark the validation of the election of Nyesom Wike as the governor of the State.

The Supreme Court delivered her judgment upholding Wike’s election on January 27, 2016.

“Every January 27 will be observed as a public holiday in this state because that is the day God came down to save Rivers State. What people must understand is that power comes from God. We know God speaks last and he has spoken,” Wike said on Tuesday while addressing thousands of civil servants at the State Civil Service Secretariat in Port Harcourt.

Wike warned against rigging the rerun elections in Rivers state, noting that electoral offenders will be treated as armed robbers by the people.

He said, “Anyone who plans to rig an election is an armed robber and should be treated as such. If you are coming to rig an election in the state, first prepare your will before embarking on the journey. Inform your wife or husband and go ahead to say your last prayer.

The governor also announced that Friday February 5, will be observed as a public holiday to enable all Rivers people prepare for the rerun elections.

He urged the civil servants and other people of the State to ensure they vote for PDP candidates in the re-run elections to promote harmony in governance and sustain the development agenda of the state government.

“When someone cannot come through the door, he may want to come through the window. Rivers people must not allow them. Our people must stop them from entering through the window to obstruct the good works of this administration,” Wike stated.

Speaking further on the rerun elections, Governor Wike said that the will of the Rivers people will prevail, adding that the use of security forces and other electoral officials to rig the process will fail woefully.

The governor assured civil servants and pensioners that his administration will continue to pay their salaries and pensions. He said all welfare issues will be given top priority.

He, however, stated that steps will be taken by the administration to verify the actual number of civil servants and pensioners to stop payment to non-existent beneficiaries.

The governor added that the administration will work out modalities to improve the state’s internally generated revenue.

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I came across this and decides to share it

Another catastrophe was averted in Kaduna
State and other contiguous areas when
troops of the Nigerian Army arrested 7 suspected Boko Haram terrorists bomb and
Improvised Explosive making Devices (IEDs)
specialists.
The terrorists were arrested in Kaduna after
painstaking surveillance and proactive intelligence operations over a period of time. From all indications, the suspects were in Kaduna to conduct suicide bombings, kill and maim innocent citizens in the state and other surrounding areas during the Christmas period. Recall that recently in Maiduguri some of them were arrested while trying to detonate IEDs carried in food containers in public places

. The arrest of these suspects would no doubt
assist in the fight against terrorism in the country, more so as the military have technically defeated the Boko Haram terrorists in the field, the terrorists have resorted to attacking soft targets through suicide bombings, IEDs and harassing attacks on isolated communities.

Therefore, the public is please requested to
continue to be more vigilant and security conscious by reporting suspicious persons and their movements to security agencies.

This request has become necessary because the
terrorists have resorted to mingling with the public across the country after sensing the futility of their encounter with troops in the northeast. Therefore, they adopt other methods of perpetuating violence in the society.

Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman
Acting Director Army Public Relations

Source:sahara reporters

Cross River State civil servants could not contain their excitement on Wednesday when they realised that their December salary had been paid. Since the inception of the Professor Ben Ayade -led administration, civil servants get their salaries on or before the 25th of every month. The governor has however, raised the bar this December when salaries were paid on the 15th. A civil servant with the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Steve Onoh, commended the governor for his humane disposition to civil servants through prompt and early payment of salaries. Another civil servant, Mrs. Glory Umotong, a teacher at Government Secondary School Uwanse said she first thought her bank was playing pranks with her when she got her salary alert. “This has never happened before in the state. Governor Ayade understands the challenges of workers in the state and has demonstrated that he is committed to workers welfare,” she said. She said it was therefore, not a surprise to her that “the National Association of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has decided to honour Governor Ayade with the award of best governor with pro- workers policies in the country”.Mrs. Umotong said workers in the state will continue to rally round the governor for his positive commitment to workers. In the state. Source:leadership newspaper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioAPOrIxpqQ&fulldescription=1&gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en

Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala yesterday said she had paid former National Security Adviser to the President, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) $322m (about N63billion) from recovered Abacha funds to finance military operations.

She was reacting to online media reports that accused her of illegally diverting the Abacha funds to the office of the former NSA. The money was returned to Nigeria in January 2015.
The statement signed by her Media Adviser, Paul C Nwabuikwu, said the attempt to link the former minister to any misuse of the funds for any purpose other than security was baseless.
She explained that based on a request by Dasuki, former president Goodluck Jonathan set up a committee comprising of the former Minister of Justice, the former NSA and herself to determine how best to use both the returned and expected funds for development.
Okonjo-Iweala said when the committee met, the NSA made a case for using the returned funds for urgent security operations arguing that there could not be any development without peace and security.
“Based on this, a decision was taken to deploy about $322m for the military operations, while the expected $700m would be applied for development programmes as originally conceived.
“Following the discussions and based on the urgency of the NSA’s memo, Dr Okonjo-Iweala requested the president to approve the transfer of the requested amount to the NSA’s office for the specified purposes,” the minister said.
However, Okonjo-Iweala said as captured in the memo, she insisted on three conditions: A. only a part, not the entire Abacha funds, would be spent on the arms; the rest would be invested in development projects as originally conceived B. the money was to be treated as borrowed funds which would be paid back as soon as possible C. the NSA’s office was to account for the spending to the president who was the Commander in Chief, given the fact that the Minister of Finance is not part of the security architecture and does not participate in the security council.
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s memo to the president, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, showed that 50 per cent of the recently recovered Abacha loot was allotted for “urgent security need” such as the procurement of arms and ammunition while the other half was set aside to be used for development purposes.
The letter, dated January 20, 2015, which was addressed to Mr Jonathan, revealed that the money was transferred following a January 12, 2015 request by the office of the NSA under Mr Dasuki for funds for the procurement of arms and ammunition as well as intelligence equipment.
“Please find a request by the National Security Adviser (NSA) for the transfer of $300 million and £5.5 million of the recovered Abacha funds to an ONSA [Office of the National Security Adviser] operations account,” the letter read.
“The NSA has explained that this is to enable the purchase of ammunition, security, and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them fully confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat.
“His request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on the use of recovered funds where the decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development need (including a portion for the Future Generations window of the Sovereign Wealth Fund),” Mrs Okojo- Iweala wrote.
The former NSA, Dasuki is currently on trial in connection with $2.1 billion arms scam. He is being accused of spending a total of N643 billion in extra- budgetary expenditure.
Also arrested for the alleged fraud are former Sokoto state governor Attahiru Bafarawa and Chairman Africa Independent Television (AIT) Raymond Dokpesi.
Both Bafarawa and Dokopesi are said have been paid
N4.6 billion and N2.1 billion respectively for unstated purposes.

Nigeria is 101 years old or is it 55? The
story of Nigeria as we were told in school
is that some white men called Britons
came and overpowered our great
grandparents to establish what they
called Northern and southern protectorates. After sometime, specifically in 1914, the two
protectorates were merged to form what
is now called Nigeria. The country was
given its name by the wife of one of her
colonial masters who ruled her up to 1960 when it was declared independent. Independence meant the colonial masters will leave but all the structures they established including their language, their laws, Nigeria itself, etc. will remain unchanged. That is exactly what happened. Immediately they left there
was a series of political crises that led to
a self-declared secession by one of its
constituent regions to form another
country called Biafra. This led to a
bloody thirty months civil war. The war began the year I was born and ended
when I was still a baby. Thus, what I
know about the Nigerian civil war and the
crises that led to it is what I was told
either by those who wrote on it or people
who were there when it happened.

But right from my childhood, not any of
the Nigerians who told me the story of
Biafra found it easy. The questions I
always asked were intimidating for any
Nigerian nationalist. For example, what
sin had Ojukwu and his people committed to warrant the reaction they got from Nigerians? If a wife who loved her husband at the time of marriage turns back one day and says she no longer loves the man and declares him an
enemy, is it not in his own interest to part with her? Only a foolish man will be sleeping on the same bed with his enemy and calling her his wife. Now, what of if the marriage was imposed on them in the first place? The people who came to this part of the world and colonized us did not have our interest at heart. Their mission
was to plunder our resources and reduce
us to their perpetual slaves that we have
become. That is why they did not
consider our diversity before the 1914
amalgamation.

Another question I always asked was whether Ojukwu was interested in taking
any part of the North or West along with
him to form his new country or he was
simply interested in going his way along
with his own people. The answers I got were not convincing enough for me to
hate Biafra. This is even more so after I
read some of his speeches which did not
indicate any desire on the part of the
Biafrans to take any part of the Nigerian
territory.

Now, did Ojukwu have the support of his
people? The frank discussions I had with
many Igbos later in my life showed that
majority of the Igbos were with Ojukwu in
the Biafran struggle. But if they were not
sure, why did our leaders not organize a referendum? This is another question I
have always asked. Or since Nigerians
love religion, is there any portion of the
Quran or Bible which says Nigeria as
created by the British must continue to
remain “a single indivisible entity” as the politicians always put it? Many questions
without answers, and when you get the
answers they are always funny.

Thus right from the beginning of my life I
have always seen south easterners as a
cheated people, a people forced to be the
citizens of a country against their wish
and all that I needed to openly declare
my support for the Biafran struggle, even as a core northerner, was a transparently
honest and sustained struggle by them
for their course. Unfortunately this has
not been the case. Recent happenings
have left no one in doubt about the evil
motives of those struggling for the establishment of the nation of Biafra. The
reasons are not farfetched.

The Biafran agitators have not been
consistent. The intensity of their struggle
depends on the Government in power. If
the person in charge is one of their own, there is no Biafra; when they lose out,
the struggle for independence begins.
This is not the trait of a sincere people
struggling for freedom. In fact, the direct
opposite is supposed to be the case. For
example, since the end of the Nigerian civil war the Igbos had never had it politically rosy like they did during the last PDP administration. The president was half-Igbo; at least his middle name is Igbo. The SGF was an Igbo man; the
powerful Finance minister was Igbo. The Army chief was also from that tribe. In short, Nigeria was ruled by the Igbos. If the Igbos were honestly interested in innocuously going their way, there was no better time to agitate and in fact maneuver a referendum. However, what we saw was the polarization of Nigerians
along ethnic and religious line by the
Government and an approving silence
from those currently calling for
secession.

My sympathy for the Biafrans was
completely obliterated in Onitsha last
week. There was what was supposed to
be a demonstration to further the struggle
for freedom. Even if the demonstration
was to be violent, the primary target would have been Nigerian symbols.

However, what we saw was destruction
of Islamic places of worship and property
belonging to private entrepreneurs. The
question here is, assuming Nigerians let
go of Biafrans and allowed them to have
a separate nation, what would be the fate of Muslims in the new country?

Even in Israel which is a country built on race,
there are provisions for minority.
However, the message we got from
Biafran agitators was that there will be no
provision for mosques in the new country. Biafrans who would be interested in worshipping the Islamic way must go on exile to do so. Another thing to ask is whether there will be provision for foreign investors in the new country. Absolutely NO. That is the message from Biafrans. Or perhaps if there is
going to be a foreign investment it must
not come from any of the neighboring
countries like Nigeria. The Dangote that
is invited by almost all African countries
will not be welcome in the new country. My final question here is what should I
do? Should anyone expect me to
continue to have the same feeling for the
Biafrans that I had before? Certainly no.
The Biafrans have lost my lifetime
sympathy and potential support. If there is any war, I will be on the Nigerian side.

By Dr. Abdussamad Umar Jibia
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Bayero University Kano

At the age of 13, a boy living in Sierra
Leone created batteries and generators
using materials he picked up around the
house or from trash bins. Now, he’s
wowing experts in the U.S.

Kelvin Doe, now 16, became the youngest person in history to be invited to the “Visiting Practitioner’s Program” at MIT, according to CNN.

Doe, a completely self-taught engineer,
manages his own fully-staffed community
radio station in Sierra Leone where he
broadcasts news and plays music under the
moniker ‘DJ Focus.’ The radion station is
powered by a generator created from a deteriorating voltage stabilizer, which he
found in the trash, while a simple antenna
lets his neighborhood listen in.

“They call me DJ Focus because I believe if
you focus, you can do an invention
perfectly,” Doe said in a video produced by
@radical.media for their THNKR YouTube
channel.
Among those inventions is a battery that
he created to light up homes in his neighborhood.

“The lights will come on once week, and the rest of the month, dark,” Doe told interviewers.

It took several attempts before Doe finally had a working prototype for the battery — a combination of soda, acid and metal, wrapped together by tape.

MIT discovered Doe during Innovate Salone, a national high school innovation challenge held in Sierra Leone by an international organization called Global Minimum. Doctoral student David Sengeh recognized his skills right away.

“It’s very inspirational,” Sengeh said in the
video. “He created a generator because he
needed it.”

Before attending Innovate Salone this year, Doe had never been more than 10 miles from home. With Sengeh’s help, in September he journeyed to New York for the 2012 World Maker Faire, where he sat on a “Meet the Young Makers” panel with four American inventors.

Doe’s fame only promises to grow from here. Soon he will be a resident practitioner with the International Development Initiative at MIT and a guest presenter at Harvard School of Engineering, where he’ll gain even more practical knowledge to help his community.

“Whatever things I’ve learned here, I will
share it with my friends, colleagues and
loved ones,” Doe said.

Watch the video above from THNKR, which,
as part of a biweekly series on young
prodigies, details Doe’s incredible story

In separate attacks last week, ISIS terrorists killed 39 tourists at a beach resort in Tunisia, and close to 30 worshipers at a Shia Mosque in Kuwait. The onslaught came shortly after the group called on its militant Jihadi sympathizers to expand operations in the month of Ramadan.

ISIS has demonstrated an unflinching determination to take out anyone who dares to disagree with it. Its members have slaughtered Yazidis and Christians, but the vast majority of its victims have been Muslims who resist it and refuse to acknowledge its authority. ISIS has even executed Sunni clerics who refused to swear allegiance to it, and Muslim women who did not submit to its worldview.

This feature is shared across all terrorist groups operating in the name of Islam. The vast majority of the victims of the Taliban, for instance, are also Muslims. Hundreds of Shia Muslims have been killed just in the last few years. And People have lost many close friends in similar attacks on the Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and even in America.

So when some anti-Islam critics keep doggedly
associating the faith of us Muslims with the acts of our tormentors, we call them out for their
insensitivity.

I do not disagree that part of the motivation for
religious extremism is rooted in perverted
interpretation of scripture by radical extremists.
However, it is dishonest to label the vast majority of Muslims who reject such interpretations as non- devout or "nominal."

An honest study of the Quran shows that groups like ISIS act in complete defiance of the injunctions of Islam. The Quran, for instance, equates one murder to the elimination of the whole human race (5:32), and considers persecution and disorder on earth as an
even worse offense (2:217). It lays emphasis on
peace, justice and human rights. It champions freedom of conscience and forbids worldly punishment for apostasy and blasphemy.

A study of the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad also demonstrates that he warned us of the rise of religious extremism in this age in astonishing detail.

1,400 years ago, he prophesized that a time would come when nothing would remain of Islam but its name, nothing of the Quran but its word, and that many "Mosques would be splendidly furnished but destitute of guidance" (Mishkatul Masabih). In these latter days, the true spiritual essence of Islam would be lost, and religion, for the most part, would be reduced to a ritualistic compulsion. He foretold that the clergy would be corrupt and be a source of strife during these times.

How true this is of the extremist clerics in parts of the Muslim world that abuse the pulpit to preach division and hate.

He also went on to describe terrorist groups such as ISIS that would try to hijack the Islamic faith. At this time of dissension, he said there would appear "a group of young people who would be immature in thought and foolish." They would speak beautiful words but commit the most heinous of deeds. They would engage in so much prayer and fasting that the worship of the Muslims would appear insignificant in comparison. They would call people to the Quran but would have nothing to do with it in reality. The Quran would not go beyond their throats, meaning they wouldn't understand its essence at all, merely regurgitating it selectively. The Prophet then went on to describe these people as "the worst of the creation."

As if this outline wasn't clear enough, another
tradition in the book Kitaab Al Fitan reported by
Caliph Ali, the fourth successor to Prophet
Muhammad, describes these people as having long hair and bearing black flags. Their "hearts will be hard as iron," and they would be the companions of a State (Ashab ul Dawla). Interestingly, ISIS refers to itself as the Islamic State or Dawla. The tradition further mentions that they will break their covenants, not speak the truth and have names that mention their cities. The ISIS caliph, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, comes to mind.

Prophet Muhammad furiously and painfully described these evildoers, and admonished Muslims to beware of their evil and fight it. "Whoever fights them is better to Allah than them," he proclaimed.

Reflect on this critical point. Whenever ISIS kills in the name of Islam, claims to follow the Quran, or uses the Holy month of Ramadan to spread anarchy across the
globe, know that Prophet Muhammad explicitly
warned us of these imposters, and entrusted us to root them out.

Dear Sir,

I write to register my complaint over your
company’s failure to identify with Nigerians in
times of tragedy, but rather chose to identify
with other nations. Sir, I don’t want to believe your bias was
informed by the assumed superiority of the
races you often identify with. In any of our recurring tragedies, either when we
were bombed in our sanctuaries or social
gatherings, Facebook has never identified with
Nigeria. While my heart goes to the French over last
night’s terrorist attacks that led to the death of
at least 120 people, I couldn’t but lash at the
folly of Facebook for failure to identify with
Nigeria when an estimated 15,000 Nigerians
were killed by terrorists in round-the-clock attacks in eight years. I notice a smashing theme you created for your 1
billion users to use in order to identify with a
particular people. You are even more effusive
when you pin the banner on our doorstep for
easy use. When Boko Haram terrorists attacked Baga
town in January this year, the death toll was
estimated at 2,000. This never melted your
company’s heart to create an instant theme for
your 1 billion consumers to identify with
Nigeria. Let me remind you that in a single attack on
Kano city in January 2012, at least 185 lives
perished, and in Bama town in February 2014, at
least 120 Nigerians were massacred. In one fell swoop in November 2014, Boko
Haram bombed 220 Nigerians at a mosque in
Kano city, 50 worshippers bombed at Madalla
church in 2011, and in February 2014, at least 60
students were slain at a Yobe school. Your
company didn’t identify with us despite our loyalty to your network. Let me also remind you that at a weekend in
January 2014, terrorists’ attacks on eight Borno
villages left 150 dead. Facebook blinked over it –
perhaps because we are not the same as the
French. On May 20, 2014, car bombs left a gory sight at
Jos bus terminal and a market. 118 people were
declared dead. We posted the pictures on
Facebook, but you turned your eyes away. Even #BringBackOurGirls movement, agitating
for the release of 224 school girls abducted by
terrorists, failed to prick the conscience of your
company to identify with Nigeria. We posted
every activity, every sit-out and every march on
your network, but you blinked over it. As a company, to gives equal opportunity and
discourages racism I urge you to identify with
not only Nigerians but Africans in their trying
times. Attached herewith are two copies of Nigerian
flags for your perusal and consideration.
Best regards,

Jaafar Jaafar

Source : premium times

You are free to judge Gaddafi and condemn him
as much as you like, but first, allow me to give
you facts on what Gaddafi did/intended to do in
Africa.

1. Africa spends billions every year paying
Europe for using satellite communication
systems, in entertainment, security,
business or just communications. Gaddafi
wanted to get rid of that by paying and
setting up satellite system for entire Africa for free, saving Africa billions annually
going to europe.

2. Africa is divided into over 55 countries,
with different currencies. This makes it
hard for trade between African countries. If
I wanna buy Cocoa from Ivory coast, I'll
have to change my money into US dollars
(giving US 5-10% of my money), they I will probably have to turn the dollars into
euro, losing another 5-10% of my capital
to europe, then change my euro into
ivorian franc, again losing another 5-10%
of my money to the french treasury. If I
started with about South African rand of 1000, by the time I am purchasing cocoa
in I vory coast, my money will be worth
only rands 650 to 700, the other rand 300
will be in the hands of US and Europe.
Gaddafi wanted to get rid of this and
replace it with DINAR (An African currency) for doing business in Africa without
changing the value…almost like bitcoin that
can't be manipulated easily.

3. Gaddafi's government made sure all
Libyan investment like oiLibya were all
within Africa.

4. Gaddafi Nationalized oil in Libya, mean,
the government had control over the
resources, sold it and used the money to
provide services to the country. With
nationalized resources, Libyans didn't have
to pay taxes, received free health care, free education from birth to PHD or as far as
you wish, free housing for the poor and
subsidies on things like food etc. The only
people who worked in Libya were Chines,
Tchadians, sudanese, and other African
Immigrants.

5. Libya was one of the free countries in the
world that did not have any form of debts
whatsoever. Libya had more money than it's
population could use and had billions stores a
way around the world. All the money Libya
stored in Europe has been squandered by European governments.

6. During Gaddafi's lifetime, AU functions
were fully funded by Libya, accommodation
for leaders, transportations, and day to day
activities at the AU headquarters, now that
is being done by European Union. As the
saying goes "He who pays the piper calls the tune"
These are hard facts of what Colonel
Gaddafi, self proclaimed African King of
Kings did to the Continent only for us to watch him humiliated and killed like an
animal without us raising a voice.

7. Gaddafi spent millions and millions
helping Mali and niger with high level
irrigation in the deserts so people can be
self sustained.Paid full and never expected
anything back.

8. Way before the BRICS came up with
idea of forming their own development
bank to rival world bank and IMF, Gaddafi
already initiated a high level talks into
starting an African Development Bank
where African governments would go and borrow money at low rates for
developments of things like infrastructure,
academic institutions, medical institutions,
research institutions among other things.
This would have saved Africa from IMF and
their predatory lending habits of structural adjustment programs which are notorious
in keeping countries in porvety while they
take ownership of your natural resources. Gaddafi was not perfect or an angel, but he
was better than 80% of the world leaders.

NOW LOOK AT YOUR LEADER AND THEN
COME HERE AND CONDEMN GADDAFI. The people Nato helped from Benghazi to
attack Gaddafi are all now confirmed
members of ISIS creating chaos in North
Africa and middle east.

Bob Marley once sang "How long shall they
kill our prophets, while we stand a side and
look"

The federal government has given
licence to Epic Refinery and
Petrochemical Industries Limited to build
a refinery in Okporoma, a riverine town
about 20 kilometres from Yenagoa, the
Bayelsa state capital. Chief executive officer of the Epic group,
Barango Matthew Wenke Jr told
journalists in Lagos that the refinery
which will cost about $30 billion will have
a capacity refine 107,000 barrels per day
on a modular arrangement of 30-30-30-17. With its corporate headquarters in
Yenegoa, Wenke said the company is
passionate about creating jobs for the
teeming youth population to help arrest
vices and youth restiveness. He said funding for the project is
guaranteed, just as the promoters have
blocked the first $30 billion for the project
meant for upstream, midstream and
downstream. “We have already proposed
a jet at Akasa from the Atlantic ocean where the government has approved as
oil and gas free trade zone. This is just
60 kilometres to our base within the
brass area free trade oil and gas zone. “The Department of Petroleum
Resources (DPR) has inspected and
approved the land, a massive land at
Okporoma. There had been delay on the
issuance of the licence because some
big people had sat on it which had delayed fund to be released. It is a direct
foreign investment. The resources may be slim, but we are
ready to emulate the big names. We
worked hard to get here. We got the
licence on June 15,” he said. The Epic boss noted that whereas only
25 companies have been licenced by
DPR, he has heard reports that there are
up to 60 refineries that have been
licenced by the DPR, noting that while
this is good for Nigeria, access to crude will help refineries to function better. He pleaded with government to be willing
sell oil blocks to business-minded
refineries who would be ready to pay for
them and deliver refined products without
stories. While appreciating the federal and the
Bayelsa state governments for their
support, Wenke said, “We have seen the
passion in Mr President to make
refineries work in Nigeria. A refinery
should be able to get at least up to 80 per cent locally. We have as sources of
our flow of crude Agip and SPDC in the
supply chain.” On how to curb the problems of fuel
subsidy, he said total deregulation of
downstream sector will encourage
refineries coming on board. “First refining capacity to service Nigeria,
before thinking of exporting. It should
support the local refineries. Refineries
must be seen to have done well on site
before lifting crude. There should be a
mechanism to pre-qualify refineries before government takes serious,” he
said. Wenke who briefed journalists alongside
the project director, Engineer Zakari
Umar said, Epic in its pursuit of legacy
and fame, is ready to work with
government in ensuring that fuel subsidy
is totally removed. He advised the president to have an interaction with
businesses claiming to set up refineries
and see how they are planning to
eliminate fuel subsidy. He however declined to mention Epic’s
foreign partners, but hinted that they are
from the middle east and the United
States of America. He said the company
is doing due diligence and about to
appoint chairman of Epic refinery, who is a retired general. According to him, Epic has offices in
Texas, UK and Dubai, and regional
offices in Ghana and Uganda. He said the first phase of the refinery
project would create 100,000 jobs, while
conceptual designs were in place with
every aspect of the project now being
reactivated. He thanked the state government for
being supportive. “Bayelsa State Government under the
present administration has set up
investment forum which we were part of.
The administration is working hard to
create conducive atmosphere for
investors. We have been working well with the state ministry of oil resources.
With the state’s anti-kidnap laws,
kidnapping is a non-issue in the state
now. “Bayelsans will have good
percentage of employment from the Epic
refinery. We have our corporate headquarters in Yenagoa and the state
has been very supportive, just as the
federal agencies have been helpful,” he
said.

After visiting kaduna on Friday,pmb proceeds to his home town of katsina state,see photos below

The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) yesterday
commended President Muhammadu
Buhari over the decision to heed the calls
from the Niger Delta leaders for the
prompt payment of tuition fees and
monthly stipend to ex-militants studying in foreign institutions. According to the IYC, president,
Comrade Udenz Eradiri, the quick
response of the present administration to
various issues of concern raised by the
people of the region on the status of
foreign students under the amnesty programme; the delay in the appointment
of a coordinator for the Amnesty Office;
and the ongoing restructuring in the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) are commendable. Comrade Eradiri noted that though the
people of the Niger Delta region are
beginning to build confidence in the
administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari, certain actions by those recently
appointed including the Acting Director General of the National Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency
(NIMASA), Haruna Juoro is threatening
to destroy an emerging relationship
between the region and the present
administration. Eradiri, while addressing newsmen on the
emerging relationship and confidence in
the Buhari administration, said the Acting
DG of NIMASA, on assumption of office,
embarked on alleged act of vendetta
against the achievement of the Former DG, Patrick Akpobolokemi and the staff
of the Agency of South-South origin.

.The senate of the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, has, in its 472nd
meeting approved the promotion of a 39-
year old academic, Ahmad Ibrahim Doko,
to the rank of Professor of Quantity
Surveying. Vice Chancellor of the university,
Professor Ibrahim Garba, who announced
the promotion recently has also renewed
the appointment of the newly- promoted
professor as the managing director of the
institution’s consultancy services (ABUCONS). Professor Doko, who hails from Niger
State was born in 1974 at Doko town,
where he attended North Primary School,
Doko between 1979 and 1985, and from
where he proceeded to Government
Secondary School, Doko and Ahmadu Bello University Demonstration
Secondary School between 1985 to
1991. He proceeded to Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria in 1991, where he
obtained his B.Sc degree in Quantity
Surveying in 1998, after which he joined
the quantity surveying department of the
university as assistant lecturer in 2000. Doko proceeded to King Fahd University
of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia,
in 2001, where he obtained his M.Sc
degree in construction engineering and
management in 2003, from where he
proceeded to Loughborough University, United Kingdom in 2004, where he
obtained his Ph.D degree in 2007. Professor Doko served as head of
quantity surveying department of the
university between 2008 to 2012. He was
first appointed as the managing director
of the main consultancy firm of the
university (ABUCONS) in 2010.

Lemon12:
A biafran

And when pmb appoints a northerner biafrans will be barking"northernization"but here is someone contesting for the highest office in another country (not even the same continent )

OnE of Nigeria’s most remembered leaders, 37-
year-old Murtala Muhammed, was killed on
February 13, 39 years ago, in an abortive coup
attempt led by Lt. Col Buka Suka Dimka. Many years have passed, but the nation still
remembers its great leader.
For many Nigerians, getting to know Murtala
Mohammed was from the green, crispy N20 naira
note, which had its face inscribed on it, and really
clear-headed stories told by parents. We gathered
for some must-know facts you need to know about
hero of Nigeria’s nation.
1. Born on a Tuesday, the 8th of November, 1938,
in the Kurawa Quarters of Kano State to Risqua
Muhammed and Uwani Ramatu, he had 7 siblings
(one girl and seven boys) and he was the second
child.
2. On the 26th January, 1952, he was admitted as
student number 941 as the school itself was
founded in 1909. He was one of the ten students
from Kano and finished in 1957. One of his
classmates was the late General Mohammed
Shuwa shot dead at his home by gunmen in Maiduguri in November 2012. Shuwa was one of
the prominent figures during the Nigerian Civil War
and later a leading figure in Murtala’s government.
Gowon also attended the same college.
3. He attended Regular Officers Special Training
School , ROSTS (Teshie, Ghana), now Ghana
Military Academy where he was taught as a 2nd
Lieutenant infantry tactics and military laws by the
late Odumegwu Ojukwu. Obasanjo and Gowon
also attended ROSTS.
4. Murtala might be a strong-headed soldier but he
was an amazing family man. In 2006, his Yoruba
wife (with partly Fulani roots), Mrs. Hafsat Ajoke
Muhammed recollects the fond memories: “At home and at work, my husband was one and the
same person. His behaviour at work and home
were the same. He was a firm person, upright and
had a great sense of humour.”
5. He was introduced to his wife by his cousin.
They fell in love, hit it off, and when they met in
Kaduna later, he proposed to her and they got
married in Kaduna in 1963 after her studies, the
same year he became a Captain. Their marriage
was a blissful and peaceful one. In 1965, the marriage was blessed with a cheeky baby girl who
later attended the Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos. 6. At the time when Murtala was killed, his
daughter, Zalihatu was just two years old, and
Jumai was just a baby.
7. When Murtala was killed and the news was
relayed to his wife, she broke down and wept for
her dear husband.
8. Today, Mrs. Ajoke Muhammed is ageing
gracefully, is widely respected for her charitable
activities and calm demeanor. Even as a First
Lady, she was not unnecessarily flamboyant. Her
marriage was blessed with six children: Aishat,
Fatimah, Zakari, Risqua Abba, Zalihatu, Jumai (she was just a baby, less than a year old when
her father was killed). The daughters are now
married.
9. By the end of 1964, Murtala was already a
temporary Major (known as a T/Major).
10. The Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) lasted for
thirty blood-soaked months and one of the principal
actors of that sad phase of Nigerian history was
Murtala.
11. On the evening of the 30th of July 1975,
Murtala made his maiden speech to the nation as
the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces
12. He set up a panel headed by Justice Ayo
Irikefe on the creation of seven more states (Niger,
Bauchi, Gongola, Benue, Ogun, Imo and Bendel)
to the 12 existing ones on 22nd December, 1975.
The panel came up with a report which was utilized
in the formation of new states in 1976.
13. Murtala was a blunt, outspoken and
consummate risk taker. A soldier who ironically
had no regard for the chain of command, he was in
a class of his own when it came to dangerous
exploits. A no-nonsense person, Murtala was
known for his legendary outbursts of terrifying anger.

A Togolese man has found a way of using e- waste from garbage dumps and landfills to create a 3-D printer. West African entrepreneur and inventor Kodjo Afate Gnikou didn’t have access to a lot of tools and resources for building new technology but he wouldn’t let that stop him from creating cutting edge devices. According to The Prepaid Economy, Gnikou
found a way to make a piece of valuable
technology that normally costs thousands
of dollars, from material that cost him only
$100.
He is now able to use the printer to make
everyday items such as containers. The
prototype took him several months to
make. He told Euronews he had to scour a
nearby scrap yard to pick up rails and belts
from old scanners, as well as bits form old hard drives and desktop computers. He
said: What Gnikou, 33, hopes to do is perhaps
one day create a printer that can be used
to build homes, even on Mars. While others
saw waste, Gnikou saw potential. Now
others also see potential in him and he and
was even recognized by the NASA International Space Apps challenge last
year. We salute all efforts by Africans who
are creative, innovative and imaginative.

Nigerian billionaire, Oluwo Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez (Garsan Fulanin Kano) is dead. He was aged 79 years. Announcing his demise in a tweet last night, Nigerian journalist/publisher, Dele Momodu, said: “Nigeria, and, indeed Africa, has just lost one of its greatest sons: Ambassador Chief Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez is gone!” Another source also confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the billionaire died in Brussels, Belgium and breathed his last in the presence of one of his wives, Halima Maude Fernandez, whom she married in 2003. Mr Fernandez had been sick for some months now before he finally gave up the ghost yesterday. Fernandez was born in Lagos in 1936 to the famous Fernandez family that originated from Brazil. In his life time, he was a business magnate, diplomat and permanent representative of Central Africa Republic to the United Nations In 1982, he served as advisor to the Angolan government on economic matters. He held this position for two years until his appointment as deputy permanent representative of Mozambique in the United Nations in 1984. He ran an oil company called Petro Inett which obtained a 50 percent share with South Africa-based Energy Africa Ltd in a deal with the state oil company for exploration rights in a 4,700 km2 area of Angola’s coast in 1996 In 1992, he was appointed as special adviser to the president of Mozambique on International Economic Matters, a position he held for three years. He was formerly married to Aduke Fernandez, whom he divorced in July 2003 following a £300m divorce suit in Scotland filled on July 1, 2003. His titles include: Garsan Fulanin Kano (Kano State, Nigeria); Baron of Dudley (England); Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Leopard (Grand Officer of the National Order of the Leopard, the Democratic Republic of Congo); Grand Officier de l’Ordre du Merite Centrafricain (Grand Officer of the Order of Merit, Central African Republic); Grand Officier de l’Ordre du Mono (Grand Officer of the Order of Mono, Togo); Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Merite du Gabon (Commander of the National Order of Merit, Gabon); and Officier du Ouissam Alaouite (Officer of the Ouissam Alaouite, Morocco where the descendants of the Alaouite dynasty rule as kings. The present is King Sidi Mohammed VI).

After days of persistent gun battle, the border town of Ngala which has been under the captivity of Boko Haram for sometimes now, has today finally been reclaimed by Nigerian military troops, security sources said. Gamboru has for some time now remain a major camp and hub of the Boko Haram terrorists. Two weeks ago, the Nigeria Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and his counterpart Air Force Chief, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar paid a daring trip to the deadly frontline in Ngala where they cheered soldiers in the field and tasked them to ensure Boko Haram are flushed out of Gamboru town Ngala is about 6km away from Gamboru border town, hence they share combined name of Gamboru-Ngala for the local government area. A statement issued by the Spokesman of the Nigeria Army, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said the combined force of the air and land troops finally brought Boko Haram to their knees in Gamboru border town today. “The Nigerian Army has retaken the economic and strategic town of Gomboru-Ngala in Borno State, from the Boko Haram terrorists group today”, Colonel Usman’s brief statement reads. “The triumphant troops are now busy with clearing and mopping up patrols. Details to come up later later”. Source:leadership newspaper After days of persistent gun battle, the border town of Ngala which has been under the captivity of Boko Haram for sometimes now, has today finally been reclaimed by Nigerian military troops, security sources said. Gamboru has for some time now remain a major camp and hub of the Boko Haram terrorists. Two weeks ago, the Nigeria Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and his counterpart Air Force Chief, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar paid a daring trip to the deadly frontline in Ngala where they cheered soldiers in the field and tasked them to ensure Boko Haram are flushed out of Gamboru town Ngala is about 6km away from Gamboru border town, hence they share combined name of Gamboru-Ngala for the local government area. A statement issued by the Spokesman of the Nigeria Army, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said the combined force of the air and land troops finally brought Boko Haram to their knees in Gamboru border town today. “The Nigerian Army has retaken the economic and strategic town of Gomboru-Ngala in Borno State, from the Boko Haram terrorists group today”, Colonel Usman’s brief statement reads. “The triumphant troops are now busy with clearing and mopping up patrols. Details to come up later later”. Source:leadership newspaper

The management of Transmission
Company of Nigeria (TCN), said in Abuja on
Wednesday that it had attained new peak
of 4,810.7 megawatts of generated
electricity. This is contained in a statement signed by
the Managing Director, System/Market
Operation of TCN, Mr Dipak Sarma and
given to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The statement said this was achieved at
20.45 hours of Aug. 25 following a record
set on Tuesday when 4748megawatt was
generated. It said these successes were due to the
joint contributions of the gas companies,
generation companies, distribution
companies and the TCN. According to the statement, the Managing
Director of TCN, Mr Paul Stefiszyn, said:
“The Federal Government has been
supportive in coordinating the activities of
the sector across the value chain.’’ It stated that the sector now aimed at
achieving 5,000 megawatts in a short
time, adding that this would be an
important milestone for the nation’s
economy. (NAN)

A member of President Muhammadu
Buhari’s Sub-committee on Transition
and former military administrator of Akwa
Ibom State, Colonel Yakubu Bako (rtd),
has condemned insinuations that the
president’s appointments favoured only the North, saying southerners are holding
about 30 key positions in the present
federal government. In an interview with selected newsmen in
Kano at his personal residence, Col.
Bako stated that the president has been
taking his time to appoint qualified and
able Nigerians based on confidence,
honesty, dedication to duty and acceptance of responsibility, irrespective
of their regional identities. He said, “I have read in some national
dailies that there are lopsidedness in
PMB’s appointments, that he is favouring
the Northern region, and the South is left
out. “Southerners holding key financial
appointments under the present federal
government are the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, group managing
director of NNPC, chairman, Federal
Inland Revenue, chairman, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, DG
of Bureau of Public Procurement and
CEO of Nigerian Stock Exchange. “Others holding key security
appointments are the chief of defence
staff, chief of naval staff, inspector
general of police and comptroller general
of prisons. “To maintain stability in the Niger Delta,
PMB has the southerners as the
Managing Director of Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC),
Special Assistant on Niger Delta,
Director General of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency. “Added to these are the Director General,
National Youth Service Corps, Director
General of Nigeria Tourism Development
Corporation, not forgetting the CEO of
Nigeria Metrological Agency, Chairman of
NPC, DG of NIMC, MD of Sovereign Investment Commission and DG of
Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

Indications have emerged that the recent
confirmation of Mr. Martins Kure Abeshi
as the substantive Controller General
(CG) of the Nigeria Immigration Service
(NIS) may turn out to be a temporary
respite as he is due for compulsory retirement in October. LEADERSHIP gathered exclusively that
the newly confirmed Immigration boss,
who is due for retirement next month
having attained the mandatory 60 years
of age and put in the official 35 years of
meritorious service to NIS, had prior to his appointment, been served a letter
instructing him to proceed on the
mandatory three months pre-retirement
leave, alongside some Deputy
Controllers General (DCGs) and
Assistant Controllers General (ACGs) who fall into the same category. Investigations have also revealed that
fears have heightened at the Immigration
Headquarters that Abeshi, who is set to
be decorated by the federal government
today as confirmed by the Ministry of
Interior, may be embroiled in a sit-tight drama as he may decide to stay put in
office at the expiration of his 35 years’
service in October. Feelers are that unless President
Muhammadu Buhari decides to extend
Abeshi’s tenure, the federal government
may need to promote relatively younger
officers or possibly recruit outsiders as
was the case with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), thereby raising the risk of
costly strategic mistakes at a time when
the service can least afford to. A dependable source at the Immigration
Headquarters, who did not want his name
in print, told LEADERSHIP that the NIS,
in conjunction with the supervising
Ministry of Interior and the Civil Defence,
Prisons, Immigration and Fire Service Board (CPIFB), served Abeshi a letter
directing him to proceed on the three
months compulsory pre-retirement leave. The source said, “From all indications,
Abeshi’s appointment could be termed as
another 419 game script drafted by the
present administration. This is because if
the new CG fails to leverage on his links
to some top government officials to stay put in office after October 2015, the
mantle of leadership might no doubt shift
to a retired general.” “Let me assure you that at the height of
this, the crisis that will ensue as a result
of who gets what, why, and when, would
be massive. It would force all those who
have been playing to the gallery and
pretending that they do not know the politics going on in the service and the
country in general to act.” “We know that books are usually opened
before any appointment is made. Are
they in any way feigning ignorance of the
fact that Abeshi is due for retirement by
October? If they needed his services that
much, why was he not allowed to man the saddle on acting capacity till then,
while another qualified officer is finally
picked?” When contacted, the spokesman of the
Immigration Service, Mr. Chukwuemeka
Obuah said, “I have not been mandated
by any authority to speak for NIS. So, I
don’t have any opinion on that.” Also responding to LEADERSHIP’s
inquiries, the director of press, Ministry
of Interior, Yusuf Ishiaka Alhaji said, “I
have no idea as to such development but
there is also nothing wrong with that. If
he is due for retirement by October, then he can vacate the seat when the time
comes. I don’t see anything wrong with
manning that position for two months.”

Pmb achievements in 100days
1 Implementation of UNEP report on Ogoniland
2.NNPC reforms
3. Revamp of the Niger Delta amnesty program
proper
verification of beneficiaries and payment of funds.
4. Enforcement of fuel price at Naira 87 in most places through DPR
5. Gradual stabilization of fuel supply
6. Ban on fraudulent foreign vessels lifting oil
7. Stream line of local oil importers to check
corruption.
8. National carrier relaunch project 9. Alignment of biometric databases
10. Reduction of police allocation to VIP’s
11. Restriction of family from use of presidential jets
12. Rejection of new official cars worth 400 million
naira
13. Abolishment of office of first lady 14. Presidential salary cut by 50%
15. Appointment of quality persons in key roles 16.
Appointments of persons from perceived opposition
States
17. Rehabilitation of IDP’s
18. Meeting with Bring Back Our Girls campaign group 19. Mobilization of Neighboring countries to fight Boko
Haram
20. Reverse of sack/ conviction of 2500 soldiers 21.
Relocation of military command to Borno state
22. Equipping and morale boosting of military to fight
Boko Haram 23. Revamp of Nigeria local arms manufacture 24.
Audit of military arms procurement since 2007
25. Dismantling of unnecessary police checkpoints
26. Police reform processes
27. Single treasury account
28. Increased monthly allocation to States despite oil price fall
29. Increase in excess crude account by 200 million
naira
30. Increase in foreign reserves by over 2 billion
dollars
31. Conversion of State debts to bonds 32. Plugging revenue leaks and loopholes
33. Increased transparency through regular
presentation of Federation
accounts
34. Audit of federal agencies and parastatals by KPMG
and co 35. Meetings with Nigerian diaspora groups in South
Africa, Niger, USA,
etc.
36. Reset of relationships with USA one of the
Nigeria’s main trading
partners 37. High level international shuttle diplomacy
38. Mediation in Guinea Bissau crises
39. Enhancement of power generation through
payments to gas
suppliers, etc.
40. Audit of electricity companies 41. Saving funds by ending pilgrimage sponsorships
42. Audience and interaction with media
43. Establishment of new level of process and
procedure in corridors of
power e.g. well planned schedules at Aso Rock (based
on Dele Momodu’s reports)
44. Bringing back a culture of proper planning and
thorough process.
45. Demonstration of commitment to anti-corruption
war- restoration of
focus on non-corrupt public officers. 46. Constitution of anti-corruption advisory
committee
47. Revamped and active EFCC and ICPC
48. Timely funding of Nigeria Sports commission in
preparation for All
Africa Games 49. Operation of open door policy where both allies
and perceived
opponents are given access
50. Encouragement of new culture of accountability
in Army (e.g. formal
apology from Army to Benue Governor for soldiers indiscipline and
GOC in Lagos order to soldiers against harassment of
danfo(bus)

In our series of letters from African journalists,
Mannir Dan Ali looks at how Nigeria is coping
without a cabinet. It is now three months since Muhammadu Buhari
was sworn in as president of Nigeria and five
months since he won historic elections, the first
time an opposition candidate had won. His victory generated huge celebrations and
expectations of a new beginning, with many
anticipating dramatic changes to follow, and
analysts urging him to "hit the ground running". Most Nigerians expected President Buhari to shake
up the security services and make other key
appointments in his first few days - as former
President Olusegun Obasanjo did within hours of his
inauguration in 1999. But it took nearly two months for him to replace his
security chiefs and so far he has only made
appointments in about a dozen government offices. When commentators began to get agitated about the
lack of a cabinet, a former newspaper editor and
unofficial aide to the president wrote an article
entitled What is all the fuss about? He urged the press, social media and others to
focus on the "real enemies of Nigeria: poverty,
ignorance, disease and squalor" and not stand in the
way of "the most popular president in our history". "The new government came into power through
people's power…. Therefore, its duty should be to
constructively plan and execute people's policies
and not worry too much about who gets what post,"
he said. He is right up to a point - though the new democratic
halo around President Buhari does make it difficult
for many to publicly criticise him. 'State of decay' A leak from the highest level then said there would
not be a cabinet before September. The justification, according to the source, was that
"almost everything is in a state of decay". "There is absolutely no way the new government
can hope to achieve anything long-lasting without
first building a new foundation." This was followed by an opinion article by President Buhari published in the Washington Post to coincide with his visit to the US last month,
making further justifications about why the task
"should not be rushed". "It is worth noting that [US President Barack]
Obama himself did not have his full cabinet in place
for several months after first taking office; the
United States did not cease to function in the
interim," he said. "In Nigeria's case, it would neither be prudent nor
serve the interests of sound government to have
made these appointments immediately on my
elevation to the presidency; instead, Nigeria must
first put new rules of conduct and good governance
in place." 'Keeps things close to his chest' The commentators are now learning to live with
President Buhari's pace of governance. He has been dealing directly with the top civil
servants, who run the ministries. Mannir Dan Ali: "With the briefings he is getting from civil servants,
the ministers, when they are eventually appointed,
will find that their boss knows more about their
departments than they do" Though it is not only the cabinet that is not yet in
place. Just after he took office in May, the senate said he
was allowed to appoint 15 special advisers. Yet only a few have been appointed and there is
currently no adviser on the national assembly to
serve as a link between the executive and
legislature. This could be seen as a mistake given the current
friction between the presidency and the senate over
the election of the chamber's president, who was not
the ruling party's chosen candidate. Meanwhile, it is the politicians who are suffering
most from the lack of a cabinet. On a visit to a newspaper a few days ago, a
spokesman for the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, admitted that no-one
in the party knew when the appointments would be. "The president I know has kept this thing very close
to his chest." Muhammadu Buhari profile: The 72-year-old is first Nigerian opposition
candidate to win a presidential election Military ruler of Nigeria from 1984 to 1985 until
deposed in a coup Poor human rights record during that time and a
disciplinarian - civil servants late for work had to
do frog jumps A Muslim from northern Nigeria, he is seen as
incorruptible Buhari's to-do list Is Buhari a changed man? However, it is not only the politicians who are in a
limbo. Many sectors of the economy await policy direction.
Following Mr Buhari's pledges to make tackling
corruption a priority, they want clarity on how to
proceed. This is also making foreign investors wary. So while it is clear that President Buhari has shown
that Nigeria can run without a cabinet, there may be
an unacknowledged cost. On the bright side, with the briefings he is getting
from civil servants, the ministers, when they are
eventually appointed, will find that their boss knows
more about their departments than they do - and
that should keep them on their toes.
Culled from BBC