₦airaland Forum

Only fish brains sit in their cubicle and say this is the worst place on earth... oP,lack of exposure should not be advertised!

lagerwhenindoubt: @OP... do not attempt to glorify a man who lifts a child on his shoulder when he should be lifting his family. compared to the size of the economy, human capital, $$$ revenue - Nigerians should be head and shoulders above her present problems. GEJ may just be the most visible representation of Nigeria's mediocre leadership, he is not alone, the ministers, senate, reps, governors and other agencies who represent 75% re-current expenditure on our humongous budget. Most importantly; it is you and I who must remind these incompetent oafs why f00ls must not lead the intelligent... unless f'course they are the intelligent ones and we the f00ls

Nah...u are the intelligent one,so why ain't you leading us?

Not bad.

Mpitikwelu_na_Ugwu_Awusa • 14 hours ago • parent −
It will not kill you to admit that power supply reached a record peak last month since the past 20 years. The railways system which IBB and Abacha vandalised is now back and ferrying passengers daily to a record more than 20,000 people in lagos alone, in just one year and half. These are all visible and verifiable.When you continue to deny the improvements in the lives of our people like these, why should anybody take you serious?"

This was a response to a statement made by an avid GEJ critic on this link: http://premiumtimesng.com/business/98802-nigeria-among-worlds-top-39-economies-fg.html#comment-638994131

But come to think of it...no be true?

http:///F1nK2zzn

Na true jare....we are getting somewhere.

"Oga we are sorry" we just wanted to see the people's reaction..hehehe

Thats what desperation makes you ...self imposed "SUG president"

Engine capacity?

What range of cars can I get between 350 and 450k?

Ok

Godmother,I think you know what to do but u just want endorsement form public opinion so u don't feel awkward. Follow your heart and get peace with yourself.

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, BASHIR ADEFAKA & AGADA ABUTU

…OBJ, IBB urged to speak up
… Isyaku Ibrahim, Ezeife, Musa, Falae, others  speak

FORMER Head of State and Presidential Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 general election, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), on Monday threw a direct challenge to three of his successors – Generals Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo as well as President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing them of being responsible for the rot in the oil industry and the spiraling wave of corruption in the country.

The comment drew responses from President Jonathan and Babangida and is panning out as a repeat of a similar face-off between Obasanjo and Babangida exactly a year ago.

Last August, Babangida, who ruled Nigeria between 1985 and 1993, kick-started the fight on the eve of his 70th birthday celebration in Minna, Niger State when he dismissed Obasanjo’s achievements after eight years as President, as low. He said Obasanjo failed to improve the power sector, despite the huge cash available to the government.

Vintage Obasanjo’s reply was swift.  He said Babangida should be “pitied” and not “condemned” or visited with “anger” because he was a fool. His words: “Some of the things he (Babangida) said, unfortunately, were not well thought-out. For instance, he talked about our energy. When I was the military Head of State, I built Jebba Dam; built Shiroro Dam. I prepared the foundation of Egbin plant, which President Shagari completed and commissioned.

That time, the money we were making was not up to the money Babangida was making annually for his eight years and yet we built two dams. But since the building of Egbin power plant, until I came back in 1999, there was no generating plant for almost 20 years and Babangida spent eight years out of that.

Dividends of democracy
“Now, he has the audacity to talk about anybody; I think that is unfortunate. I also read where he said in his time, he gave the dividends of democracy and at the same time he regretted.

“When I read that, well, I said Babangida should be pitied and shown sympathy, rather than anger or condemnation because the old saying says a fool at 40 is a fool forever and I would say a regret at 70 is regret too late. Well, a regret at 70 is regret to the grave.”

Babangida countered and accused Obasanjo of massive failure during his reign. “In my eight years in office, I was able to manage poverty and achieve success while somebody for eight years managed affluence and achieved failure.

“Chief Obasanjo should ponder these incontrovertible facts: The revenues that accrued to former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his eight years are more than those that accrued to the nation from independence till 1999 before he took over. Despite such stupendous wealth of the nation, what is his performance profile? …The history of Chief Obasanjo is an open sore that is irredeemably contrived in several incongruities and contradictions,” he said.

The bitter exchanges were to continue for a while before the Generals sheathed their swords and denied Nigerians of dearly needed details that would have helped to unearth the reasons behind Nigeria’s paradox of poverty amid plenty.

This time, eminent citizens want the battle to be fought to a logical conclusion and have challenged Babangida, Obasanjo and Jonathan, to defend themselves against the allegations.

Incidentally, the quartet, cumulatively, have ruled Nigeria for 23 out of the 52 years the country has existed as an independent nation. While Obasanjo ruled for 11 years, Buhari was in power for approximately two years, Babangida – eight years and Jonathan, two years.

Buhari’s allegation: Pointedly, Buhari said that the corrupt practices in the oil sector during the eras of Babangida, Obasanjo and Jonathan had led to the enslaving of the masses. The first to respond was President Goodluck Jonathan.


Buhari, IBB and OBJ
While declaring open the 52nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja, on Monday, President Jonathan said he could not be held responsible for the country’s failings and wondered why former leaders, who had the opportunity of fixing the nation and failed to do so, were now criticizing his young administration.

“Sometimes, even people who have held offices in government criticise me to the extent of personal abuses. Sometimes I ask, were there roads across the country and Jonathan brought flood to wipe out these roads? Or we had power and I brought hurricane to break down the entire infrastructure?

“If they say Boko Haram is because of poverty; were there massive irrigation projects in the North where agriculture can thrive and massive farms, and Jonathan brought drought to wipe out these farms? Under two years, is it possible?” he wondered.

Obasanjo is yet to defend himself on the issue. Rather, speaking at the Nigeria Leadership Initiative, NLI, Guest Speaker Forum in Lagos, on Tuesday, he regretted his inability to fix the power problem, which he attributed to lack of funds in the initial period of his administration, owing to the low price of crude oil in the international market, Nigeria’s depleted foreign reserves and huge debt burden.

He also refused to comment on Nigeria’s leadership at the moment when asked to rate the country’s current leadership.

On his part, IBB, who spoke through his spokesman, Mr. Kassim Afegbua, threatened to expose Buhari’s shady deals in the oil sector when he functioned as Petroleum Minister and later chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), if Buhari did not shut his mouth.

“We are conversant with General Buahri’s so-called holier-than-thou attitude. He is a one-time Minister of Petroleum and we have good records of his tenure as minister. Secondly, he presided over the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which records we also have. We challenge him to come out with clean hands in those two portfolios. Those, who live in glass houses, do not throw stones. General Buhari should be properly guided,” he said.

Exposing corruption
However, Buhari insisted on his comments and challenged Babangida to expose his shady deals if he had facts.

Reacting to the development, some eminent Nigerians have urged the former leaders to speak up in the interest of the country’s development.

Among those who spoke are Second Republic politicians and elder statesmen, Alhaji Isyaku Ibrahim; former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; one-time Minister for Finance and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae; and former President of Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria, ICAN, Otunba Lateef Owoyemi.

They should fight it out—Balarabe Musa
Musa said the issue should not be swept under the carpet. “It is a disagreement of former heads of state. Apart from President Jonathan, they are all former heads of state. Let them fight it out themselves. I don’t think anybody should interfere. Let Ibrahim Babangida expose Buhari like he threatened,” he said.

Obasanjo, Babangida, Jonathan must defend themselves — Isyaku Ibrahim
On his part, Isyaku Ibrahim said the manner Buhari made the allegation should compel the former leaders to speak and defend their integrity.

His words: “Babangida should expose Buhari instead of threatening to do so. If Babangida has anything on Buhari, let him say it. Buhari said that the governments of Babangida, Obasanjo and Jonathan are the most corrupt. He said it categorically; he did not issue a threat.

“If Babangida has something on Buhari, he should say it. If your integrity is involved, you come out to fight because Buhari threw the challenge directly,” he stated.

“For me as a politician, if somebody challenges my integrity and I know something about the person, I will say it. The matter is in the public. Let them say whether or not what Buhari said is true. Buhari has challenged them, let them defend themselves. Buhari is going to run for election, if Babangida has something against him, we will like to know.”


Presiednt Jonathan
We want to know how they ruined Nigeria — Ezeife
To Ezeife, General Buhari must come out with facts to substantiate his claims. In a telephone chat with vanguard, he said, “General Buhari must know what he is talking about. Is he saying that Jonathan inherited oil industry destroyed by leaders before him? He must know what he is saying: how they ruled and ruined our great country, Nigeria, ruining the North even more.

“Please, it is not every high level statement that I understand. I don’t know what they know but if Buhari is saying that IBB, Obasanjo and Jonathan destroyed the oil industry, he must surely know what he is talking about. However, let me say they, all together, should tell Nigerians how they ruled and ruined Nigeria and the North.”

Corruption blossomed under Obasanjo —Falae
Reacting to the exchanges, Falae told Vanguard on phone that corruption reached an alarming height during Obasanjo’s administration in 1999.

His words: “The people are former heads of state and to the extent that corruption had been going on for quite sometime in the country, maybe that is why he (Buhari) is holding them accountable. But I don’t know the statistics or information to either agree or disagree with him (Buhari). But there is corruption in the whole country; the country is washed with corruption and nobody can really know where it started from though some government functionaries can. Corruption is the biggest problem we have.

“I cannot attribute it to any particular person but this thing started in earnest since 1999 that was during the Obasanjo administration; that was when the thing really blossomed. In the past, one suspected that a few military leaders were the ones, who had access to the money, but since we returned to civilian rule, thousands of people now got into the act: from the local to state and federal government level. And it has been growing since then. Corruption has grown very fast since 1999.”

They are all culpable — Owoyemi
However, Owoyemi said the former leaders, including Buhari, contributed to the rot in the oil industry.

He said: “Whoever should have done the maintenance of the refineries and did not do it and instead started importing fuel should be blamed for each and every part of the problem.

“Whoever provided funds for people to do turn around maintenance of the petroleum refineries and did not carpet or disgrace the contractors for failing to carryout their jobs, should be blamed for the destruction of the oil industry.

“So, definitely the military as a whole did a lot of havoc with the issue of accountability and transparency in this country; all of them, all the military people, including Buhari.  Their take-over of the government was illegal and they ran the government illegally throughout when they suspended the Constitution of the country especially law and order.

“They, all of them, are guilty. If the politicians had been in charge since 1960 till now, things would have been better.  They should allow the politicians to run the government and things will be better off.

“They were just too ambitious that was why they dabbled into the whole thing and messed everything up and now we are in for it. This is our generation: nobody has money except the corrupt!  It is very unfortunate,” he said.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/08/leaders-at-war-over-graft-buharis-allegation-raises-dusts/

Makzylopez: No doubt the security agencies are trying their best even with substandard and poor facilities available to them. I also think the citizens also deserve commendation because these agencies have not been working in isolation.

Very true....cos without the help of the citizens,their efforts might be in vain.

They forgot to put a needle into their something...

So he is a sacrificial lamb....

And the finger pointing continues....

Biggyd2: People are really gullible, kai!

Abi na charm the man use?

usmanyaro17: Come 2013,it should sprout at least.

Or better still bud!

The Kano State Police Command, yesterday, announced the arrest of a ‘700-year-old spirit’ that engages in extorting money from the members of the public by imposing fear in them via telephone calls.
Briefing journalists at the Bompai headquarters of the command, the Kano State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris, explained thatthe ‘spirit’ turned out to be one Alhaji Nura Hamza, a resident of Kurna Asabe Quarters in the state.
Idris explained that the suspect had taken advantage of the fear imposed in his victims by his status as a ‘spirit’ to cause them to source money and deposit same in a nearby bush, on an anthill, for spiritual purposes.
He added that the complainant in this particular case, after depositing N800,000 as directed by the ‘spirit,’ decided to confide his fate in a relative, who quickly alerted him that he was being duped.
According to him, following the report of the serial extortion to the police, detectives swung into action, luring the ‘spirit’ to the same destination on the anthill, where he had always directed his victims to drop the cash.
The bait, Idris said, yielded the needed result as the ‘spirit’, upon his arrival, turned out to be a human being, adding that the suspect was arrested and taken into custody.
He added: “When the suspect was interrogated, he confessed that he committed the offence. The cell phone used in intimidating and cheating the victims was found in the suspect’s possession.”
The police boss said when the home of the suspect was searched, seven pieces of fake US$100, three bundles of paper cut to size of US$100, four MTN SIM cards, three motorcycles, a generating set and one mobile phone line (08037297557) were recovered as exhibits by the police.
He disclosed that investigation into the incident was still on while adding that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded.
Idris urged the public to report to the police any receipt of strange phone calls from unknown persons making strange requests, adding that thepolice had devised means of unraveling and arresting such criminal activities.
In a similar vein, the commissioner explained that the police had arrested 147 suspects in the last two weeks for alleged offences ranging frommotor vehicle theft to possession of dangerous weapons and possession of fake local and foreign currencies.
He added that during the same period, 60 rounds of live cartridges, 15 rounds of 9mm, one magazine with 30 rounds of live ammunition, a toy gun, one locally made revolver pistol and one locally made pistol were recovered.
According to him, the gallantry, professionalism and commitment of his men in synergy with the Joint Security Task Force led to the reduction of crime and criminal activities in the state, adding that economic and social activities were gradually returning to normal.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/national/police-arrest-spirit-in-kano/

This also gives reason why Barth recently resigned... we are watching.

werepeLeri: Sometimes I wonder where people keep their brains when they type/

[size=14pt]they sit on the brain![/size]

Jonathan has planted a good seed

Anthony A. Kila

Regardless of all the reservations or enthusiasm that a voter might have for his government, we are all bound as citizens to observe that the news that President Goodluck Jonathan has signed a performance contract with his ministers is good news. We are to see it as the planting of a good seed necessary for all the desperately needed development and efficiency in the country. As you can imagine, a seed if well planted and nourished, will grow otherwise it will wither and die. The trajectory and eventual outcome of these performance contracts is also therefore, a test for Mr. President’s ability to lead.alt

The signing of these contracts with cabinet ministers took place last week during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting; most members of the Nigerian press corps, probably following the script they were given by the presidency, termed and presented the event as a ceremony to their readers. That in itself is an original perception and expression, but let us leave such analysis for another day.

The President is reported to have remarked that “the performance contract system is aimed at upgrading contract performance by improving quality and accelerated delivery of services to the citizenry through enhanced productivity, accountability and effective service delivery”. Yes, that maybe so, in plain pure English however, the essence of performance contracts are in the transparency, certainty and accountability they bring to any given project. For projects, transactions and operations to work efficiently, a good performance contract will enable all parties and eventual beneficiaries involved to know exactly what needs to be done, why it is required, how it will be done, what instruments and resources are required, how long it will take, who is in charge of each phase of a project, who is in charge of monitoring and what will happen if projects succeed or fail.

Consequences or accountability and transparency are as important as ideas and intentions in management, the President and his aides are therefore, wrong when during and after the signing of these performance contracts they seem to be going out of their way to reassure the signees that the contract is not to be perceived as a means to sack anybody. The President is reported to have immediately declared that “the exercise is not meant to witchhunt anyone”. By Gosh! Wrong move Mr. President; there is no reason at all to make such a statement. With such a declaration you are being a fox (or a tortoise in Nigerian parlance) rather than a lion. This is the time to be bold and clear, you need to be so in these circumstances not just to prove the point that you are tough but primarily for the country’s sake and even for the sake of your ministers.

All ministers working with you need to know that their sanction or reward depends on their performance rating. As President, hence their leader, it is your duty to make these things very clear to all. You need to spell out what you consider a good performance, how you will judge it and what people should expect from you when they underperform or over perform. The advantage of this approach is that there will be no surprise or drama for anyone; you will not need to soothe any incompetent minister’s pain. By being certain and transparent in terms of expectations, all your ministers will know what will happen to them if they a take a step or another. The only but very important act you owe all members of your team is to be objective in your evaluation and impartial in your judgment. You need to be seen as focused mainly on results and not on people or gossips. One of the possible consequences of such approach is that you might soon discover that the friendliest and conforming ministers are not necessarily the best performing ones. Therein lies your test as a leader, Mr. President. You have to decide if you want performers or conformists in your cabinet. We the citizens and history (your ultimate masters at the end of it all) are waiting and watching to see if you will pass these tests.

Rather than say “the exercise is not meant to witch-hunt anyone”, the President needs to let his team know that the stakes are high and that any witch caught will be burnt at stake. The certain and well articulated fear of being punished for underperformance and the joy of being rewarded for achieving are major parts of what will remind your ministers to sit up, implement and seriously monitor these performance contracts in their own departments.

Outside the palaces of government, the rest of the citizenry and other stakeholders have a huge interest and duty to emulate, shape, demand and monitor these performance contracts. For all those who use government offices, it means that one can now demand for and expect clear definite timelines from government officials rather than put up with “we are working on it” annoying answer we hear in many offices today. The performance contract is a seed, a good seed that needs to be nurtured with constant care. This simple, relatively cost free exercise is probably the most inspiring act this administration has proposed so far and if well managed it could be the best thing that has ever happened to Nigeria.




http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/anthony-a-kila/jonathan-has-planted-a-good-seed.html

takeprofit: My pastor was preaching on sunday and said something like that former president, Babangida's father is from Ogbomosho, but married a woman from Niger state. can anybody confirm this?

is your pastor...Mr Tunde Bakare?

I stand with baba jona on this one...The state governors would abuse it...yes its the best option eventually but lets stabilize abit first...our plates are full.
Plateau...jos north.

kennz: Jonathan is a JUNK. evrybdy knw Boko Haram ain poor,bt i do hpe dey bomb eida jonathan hmself or hs famli first,den he'll knw wat action to tek.

Useless govt.

Only right thinking people see reasons... obscure mind throw insults in place of proper reasoning so as to disguise their ignorance and inability to reason.

IBB is a smart and intelligent man!

I also observed that some people are writing a book as comment...hmmn some even more than the original post! It is well.

No statue has ever been erected to a critic...i saw that somewhere in NL. Any body that doesnt face oppositions is probably doing nothing. It is well.

Boazizzy08: I personally think the timing is wrong,moreover N40billion can address many issues presently instead of printing new notes.

No be only the timing wrong...everything is wrong about it,even the image of the currency is like a joke.

Laudable efforts GEJ....carry on Sir.