tuale4u:
Thw truth is dat this Buhari govt actually had d most well defined economic policy in d last 8years.

The economy policy is so clear. Yet many people just shout for nothing because they dont understand the meaning of economic policy. Budget is d major part economic policy. And this 2016 is d most well defined economy policy.

Below are d economic policy of Buhari govt policy:

1. Job creation through massive infrastructural projects worth over 1.5trillion naira. This is d first time in Nigeria history infrastructure will be more than 1 trillion naira.
These include massive spending on rail, road, power and airport.

2. Poverty reduction through social intervention. This includde 23000 to 25000 naira per month for 500,000 graduate volunteer teachers.

3. Extreme poverty management and social integration and intervention through 5000 naira stipend to 1million Extreme poor widow and age.

4.Diversification through Agriculture and solid minerals. The govt has already sign alot of MOU with many countries on these regard. This is one of d reason d president have b travelling alot.

5. On d monetary policy, d govt is monetary police is saving Forex for essential commodities. Thus dual exchange rate. 199 for essential goods and 325 for nob essential goods. This policy is well defined and deliberate by d govt.


Below is definition of Economy policy



http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/economics/introduction/economic-policy

From the definition above it is clear d govt have economic policy clearly defined.

1. Spending and Taxation: The govt spending plan is clearly defined by d Budget. A deficit budget with about 1.5 trillion on Insfracstructure. In terms of Taxation, the govt have clearly make thier priority the increasing of tax base to more companies, persons and product. This has clearly be shown with d plan recruitment of 1250 professional staff by FIRS.

2. Distrubution of income from Rich to the poor: This part of economic policy, is clearly shown in d budget with the 500 billion social intervention fund. This will be used for 500,000 vokunteer graduate teachers, 1million exreme poor widow and aged, 1 million market women with 50k granr each and d 370,000 training of artisans.

3.Supply of Money. This means monetary policy including forex. This govt have deliberate choose to use dual exchange exchange as a way of preventing rapid decline of foreign reserves. Thus by so doing, d future is protected. It is an indirect saving technique.

Sweetlemon:


Ok. Ok. I give up trying to make a mentally deranged embittered old maid see a little bit of sense. At least you've confessed with your mouth that your hatred for this government is purely sentimental and will NEVER change even if they turn Nigeria to Dubai. Please go on in your fools paradise.

seunmsg:



You don't have to insult me before making your points. Keep the discussion civil and answer my question.

Under OBJ, who gave the needed political will to save when governors of that era also opposed saving vehemently?

Buharism:
Who stoped the FG from saving 51% they got from the money?.

seunmsg:


She said there was no political will to save under GEJ, so tell me, who holds the political will to save, governors or the president?

Under OBJ, who gave the needed political will to save when governors of that era also opposed saving vehemently?

Erstwhile Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Friday, debunked media reports which quoted her as blaming the country’s present economic situation on the zero political will of the immediate past government, to save for the rainy day.
Okonjo-Iweala Okonjo-Iweala, who served under the immediate-past administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, said some media organisations distorted her comments, regarding how lack of political will negatively impacted national savings over the past few years.
A statement by her Media Adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, said:
“Contrary to the slant given by these loud headlines, Dr Okonjo-Iweala did not indict the Jonathan administration in which she served. “Rather, she was referring to what many Nigerians already know: the strong opposition by some governors to the Jonathan government’s efforts to save in the Excess Crude Account and the Sovereign Wealth Fund sabotaged this important national priority.
“The governors’ criticism of Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s many calls for the country to save for the rainy day are still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. “It will be recalled that this opposition culminated in the Governors taking the Jonathan government to the Supreme Court in furtherance of their position that the Federal Government had no right to “compel” them to save. “Several knowledgeable persons including former Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi have confirmed these facts. “So, the issue of Okonjo-Iweala indicting the Jonathan administration over this very public issue simply does not arise. “‘We urge the media to always consult for clarification whenever the need arises.”

Sweetlemon:


Don't you just gerrit? This isn't about GEJ. GEJ is forever made. Apart from all he got to benefit from while in power he still got his whole life insured with entitlements as an ex-President. It's about YOU, YOUR generations and YOUR future. Dummy!

AntiWailer:


The question is :

How did Obasanjo save ?

I don't blame Jonathan he can use anything to negotiate

seunmsg:
Madam Ngozi, stop this double speak for once and stand by the truth. You can't say something yesterday and start denying today. Puts lots of dent on your character and credibility.

Political correctness is one of the reasons why you failed as finance minister, you should not continue in that line now that you are out of office. Speak the truth and stand by it.

By Abiodun Badejo on April 13, 2016
Farmers in Ondo State, Wednesday raised an alarmed that they may not farm this year owing to incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

Chairman of Agricultural Commodities Association (ACA) in Ondo State, Mr. Akin Olotu made this known at an interactive forum between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the state, which was organised by the State Police Command in Akure, the state Capital.

With this, famining may not occur in the state, according to the Chairman.

He said herdsmen had continuously destroyed farm products and also attacked their members, warning that night grazing by the herdsmen must be stopped in order to allow peace to reign.

At the time the event was ongoing, news filtered in that a herdsman had been allegedly murdered by unknown people at Ilara-Mokin in Ifedore local government area of the state.

The Head of Fulani Herdsmen, Alli Dango and Sarki of Hausas of Akure Kingdom, Alhaji Babangida Sodiq Kusada, who confirmed the killing said four other herdsmen, including members of the deceased’s family had been arrested.

As at the time of filing this report, it was not yet clear if it were members of Oodua People Congress (OPC) or farmers in the community that are behind the killing.

It will be recalled that the OPC Akure North local government coordinator, Mr. Ayodele Ige was murdered at the farm of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae in Ilado community.

Already, governor Olusegun, who had met with the OPC, called for calm and also charged the federal government to stop the incessant killings of the people by the herdsmen.

Kusada and Dongo said the deceased was declared missing after all efforts to trace him proved abortive.

They said their kinsman had been living in Ilara-Mokin for the past seven years and was preparing to relocate to his state when the incident happened.

According to them, “the deceased was sent by his kinsmen to buy food for them in Igbaro-Oke, the headquartres of Ifedore council area; so, he left with his motorcycle.

“It was after they waited for hours without seeing him that a search party was organized.

“His motorcycle was seen beside a bush along the road. His herds were also seen in the bush without him. They did not see him or his remains”, they said

They, however, said they suspected that the herdsman was killed because his cows destroyed someone’s farm in the town.

They appealed to people who have their farm products destroyed by herdsmen to report to the head of Hausa or Fulani community instead of taking laws into their hands.

A security source told our reporter that a detachment of policemen had been deployed to the community in order to prevent breakdown of law and order.

But the Police Public Relation Officer, (PPRO), Mr Femi Joseph said he had not been briefed about the incident.

At the forum, farmers lamented that destruction of farm products by the herdsmen had created fear in the minds of farmers.

The farmers lamented the use of young teenagers of twelve to thirteen years in leading the cows to graze, saying they were inexperienced.

One of the leaders of the Hausa community in the state, Alhaji Usman Aminu said the community was living peaceful with the people of Ondo town due to some measures put in place.

He assured that creating identity for both the herds and the herdsmen will go a long way in solving the problems between farmers and herdsmen.

Commissioner of Police in the state, Hilda Ibifuro-Harriso, warned that young teenagers should desist from leading cows to graze.

She said they were inexperienced and not mature enough to do such job.

Con Coughlin, defence editor
12 APRIL 2016 • 7:52PM
Hundreds of millions of pounds of British foreign aid given to Nigeria to help combat Boko Haram terrorists is instead being used to fund a witch-hunt against opposition politicians, it is being claimed.

Britain has committed to spending £860 million in foreign aid to Nigeria, which now boasts Africa’s largest economy, to help support the country’s efforts to crush Boko Haram terror group, which has been responsible for a spate of outrages, including the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.

But Western officials are now raising concerns that the government of the country’s recently elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, is misusing the funds to persecute political opponents.

Since Mr Buhari came to power last July, a number of prominent members of the former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have been arrested and imprisoned without charge. Among those detained was the party’s official spokesperson.

• Nigeria: a nation in fear of becoming the next Rwanda

Most of the arrests have been sanctioned by the government-controlled Economic and Financial Crime Commission, which was set up to tackle corruption and receives funding from the Department for International Development.

But while Mr Buhari’s government continues to use British aid money to target his political opponents, it is proving less effective at tackling the Islamist-run Boko Haram terrorist group.

Much of the aid Britain provides to Nigeria is aimed at helping the country’s security forces to become more effective at tackling Boko Haram, which boasts of its links with Islamic State (Isil) and achieved international notoriety two years ago after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria two years ago.

• Boko Haram demands '$50m ransom' for release of kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls

Scores of British military personnel – including members of the Special Forces – are based in Nigeria helping to train the military to tackle Boko Haram. But despite Mr Buhari’s pledge during last year’s general election campaign that he would make tackling Boko Haram one of his top priorities, there is growing concern among Western officials that the Nigerian military is failing to take effective action against the terrorists.

This has resulted in Boko Haram now being regarded as the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation, responsible for more deaths than Isil. There are now reports that the group is trying to train kidnapped children to act as suicide bombers.

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently on a visit to China
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently on a visit to China CREDIT: WANG ZHAO/AFP
“This is a scandal in the making," explained a senior U.S. official. "There is no doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is because President Buhari is far more interested in settling scores with his political opponents that concentrating his energy on defeating terrorists,” “The result is that Nigeria is starting to look more and more like a police state while Boko Haram just goes from strength to strength.”

• The Boko Haram suicide bomber who survived her deadly mission

Another Western diplomat added: “If Buhari was serious about fighting corruption he would be focusing all of his efforts on targeting corruption that is impeding Nigeria’s ability to focus its efforts on tackling Boko Haram.”

Accusations that Nigeria is abusing British aid will add to the growing controversy over Downing Street’s commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GDP on the foreign aid budget. Last week the Telegraph reported that DFID was under pressure to cancel £200 million of foreign aid to Tanzania following concerns over a widely condemned election.

This resulted in Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence Secretary, accusing the government of “spraying money around” simply to achieve the 0.7 per cent target.

Western officials have expressed concern about Mr Buhari’s increasingly autocratic style of government since he came to power last year. A retired major-general, Mr Buhari, 73, previously headed a brutal military dictatorship following a coup in December 1983, which lasted until he was overthrown by another coup in 1985.

Now political opponents claim he is returning to his old dictatorial ways, abusing British aid meant to improve Nigeria’s ability to tackle Boko Haram to consolidate his hold on power.

Apart from the concerns over British aid, American officials are also angry that $2.1 billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to tackle Boko Haram has not been properly accounted for.

Mr Buhari’s claim that he is winning the war against Boko Haram - recently claimed the group no longer poses a serious threat - has been undermined by recent revelations the Nigerian authorities have tried to cover up the fact that hundreds more schoolchildren have been abducted by Boko Haram.

Human rights activists have no confirmed that around 400 women and children were abducted last year by militants from the Nigerian town of Damasak.

It is now believed that some of these children may have been trained as suicide bombers. U.S. counter-terrorism experts say at least 105 women and girls trained by Boko Haram have taken part in suicide attacks since June 2014.

belente:
Apc and lies are like bread and butter

Justice Jude Okeke of the FCT High Court on Monday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay N5 million to Abba Mohammed for violation of his right.
Mr. Okeke held that the EFCC failed to prove why the applicant was detained for about 41 days without being charged to court.
“The applicant’s contention that his fundamental right was denied him by the respondent was not proved otherwise; there must be reasonable suspicion upon which the detention was made.
“The right of the applicant has been violated by the respondent by detaining him for about 41 days without making reference to any court.
“His fundamental right to liberty was denied him and he was detained for about 41 days; he applied to this court and an order to release him on bail was given.
“He was refused bail despite meeting the bail conditions given to him by this court; the respondent, acting under the cover of section 7 of the EFCC Act, failed to present enough evidence.
“I have given due consideration to the following contentions as earlier stated under sections 131 and 133 of the Evidence Act 2011.
“There is no concrete evidence before the court to prove the allegation of N17 billion arms scam and the alleged N300 million traced to the applicant’s account are true,’’ he said.

Mr. Okeke held that the allegation was based on rumour, adding that the respondent failed to lay credible evidence before the court to prove the arrest and detention of the applicant.
He therefore upheld the relief sought by the applicant that the court should order EFCC to pay him N200 million for general damages but reduced the amount to N5 million.
The court also awarded N50, 000 to the applicant for cost of instituting the case.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Mohammed, arrested and detained by the EFCC on Nov. 26, was admitted to administrative bail the following day.
On Dec. 17, the FCT High Court, Maitama, granted him exparte order which the EFCC disobeyed before the Federal High court granted him bail on Jan. 7.
(NAN)

I was invited to a Round-table on Corruption by the Law Faculty of the University of Lagos, only to discover that some “Buharideens” had hijacked the occasion and were inclined to use it as a platform to promote the onslaught of “democratic dictatorship” in Nigeria.

The topic was on corruption in Nigeria, but the mast-head in the hall was more specific. It read: “Winning the War against Corruption. This was easily seized on by government agents to imply that Buhari was well on the way to dealing a mortal blow to corruption in Nigeria.

War Against Liberty

The composition of the invited discussants was biased. Most of those on the panel with me were dyed-in-the-wool government apologists. The Chairman was Professor Itse Sagay, currently the Chairman of Buhari’s Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption. As it turned out, he was not prepared to entertain any meaningful discussion about corruption in Nigeria. His agenda was to showcase ostensible government achievements in the anti-corruption campaign and to proclaim new promissory notes grandiloquently for public consumption.


Also there was Oby Ezekwesili of #BringBackOurGirls fame. She used to pitch her tent with the PDP. But now that the APC is in power, she has been romancing the new government. It was even speculated at one time that Buhari would reward her with a ministerial portfolio. Not surprising, she is no longer as strident in demanding government rescue of the kidnapped Chibok girls as she had been under Jonathan.

The kingpin of the government apologists on the panel was Femi Falani, a lawyer and human rights activist. He was chosen to give the keynote address. Falana had been heavily touted as Buhari’s attorney general. In fact, on the eve of the ministerial appointments, a list was widely publicized in the press that had his name penciled in for the post. But someone apparently put an eraser to it. Nevertheless, in order to remain in the good books of the government, Falana seems to have jettisoned his earlier dedication to the defense of human rights.

Guilty Without Trial

Falana did not attend the roundtable. However, he wrote a speech which he sent someone to deliver on his behalf. This speech was nothing short of alarming. It told me definitively that I was in the wrong place and would have to take a stand before making a quick getaway. Falana, human rights lawyer extraordinaire, was sent to test the waters for extreme policy prescriptions apparently in government pipelines hankering back to the discredited days of Buhari’s infamous military dictatorship of 1984/85.

It seems the government and its allies are looking for ways and means to circumvent the criminal justice system so that the current media trial of opposition politicians can be easily translated into automatic jail-terms. The courts have rightly been a firewall against this. Therefore, Falana proposed the establishment of Special Courts, separate and distinct from the tried and tested ones; to dispense quick and summary justice against whoever the government decides to prosecute in its anti-corruption campaign.

According to Falana, those accused of corruption by the government should be presumed guilty without trial. The onus would then be on them to prove their innocence. This would overturn the principle, long-supported by legal luminaries like Falana himself, that an accused must be presumed guilty until proven innocent. Falana also insisted it should be made impossible for anyone accused of corruption to be bailed. In short, once you are accused, you would be presumed guilty and would rot in jail at the pleasure of the government.

Thus, Falana became an appointed mouthpiece of an authoritarian government tired of democratic niceties. He echoed President Buhari’s complaint that the judiciary is the principal impediment to the government’s anti-corruption campaign. Therefore, Falana tabled proposals for sidestepping the judiciary, so that the government would go after its enemies without hindrance or restraints.

I sat and watched with incredulity as Oby Ezekwezili who, like me, was only invited as a discussant, hugged the floor for over 40 minutes, extolling the virtues of the government’s anti-corruption agenda without any word of caution about the proposals emanating from Falana. On the contrary, Ezekwesili was concerned that those accused were not yet in jail. To this, the Chairman reassured her, in a side-discussion on the podium, that the jails would soon start filling up before the end of the year.

University of Lagos students listened to these speeches in silence. The speakers conveniently read this as approval; after all “we are all against corruption.” It is presumed that while the Buhari government has been a monumental failure in its ten months in office, its one claim to fame or plaudits is its anti-corruption campaign. Therefore, in the context of blackouts and fuel queues, the government would have us fill our tanks and light our homes with bombastic anti-corruption rhetoric.

Alarm Bells

It was in this context that I had to make my ten-minute contribution. I knew I would, once again, have to go out on a limb. I knew I could not subscribe to the agenda of my fellow-panelists. I had absolutely no idea how I would be received. Indeed, I wondered why, given the agenda, I had been invited at all. Nevertheless, I could not but be true to my conscience.

I had a certain advantage over my fellow panelists. I am not an employee of the Buhari government and I am definitely not looking for a job from this or any government. Indeed, I am the last Nigerian President Buhari would appoint to anything, either in advisory or substantive capacity. Therefore, I was free to exercise fully my freedom of speech under the Nigerian Constitution.

I was also acutely aware that my freedom was being threatened before my very eyes. If Falana’s proposal were to become law, I could easily be arrested on spurious allegations of corruption and would be presumed guilty until proven innocent. I could then be thrown into jail and locked up. These champions of speedy justice would become silent, as the government might ensure conveniently that it takes me no less than three years in jail to prove my innocence.

It was also not lost on me that if Falana’s proposal of “guilty until proven innocent” had been the norm, President Buhari himself would have been jailed when $2.8 billion of government money went missing under his watch as Commissioner for Petroleum in the 1980s. How soon they forget! At the time, Vera Ifudu, an NTA reporter, revealed to Nigerians that Senate Leader, Olusola Saraki, told her in an interview that the missing money was moved from the NNPC’s Midland Bank account to a private account.

It is amazing that, in spite of our nasty experience at the hands of General Buhari and his kangaroo courts in 1984, a civil rights lawyer would propose today that similar kangaroo courts should again be established under the same Buhari in the bogus name of democratic justice. But I guess we deserve that in Nigeria for being foolish as to elect as president under a democratic dispensation the very man who truncated our earlier experiment with democracy through a military coup.

Deja Vu

In Buhari’s first coming, the Femi Falanas were few and far between to whitewash his authoritarianism. The special courts of that era, now being proposed under a different disguise, were military tribunals established to try civilians instead of regular courts of law; in clear violation of internationally accepted legal norms. Buhari created a secret police (NSO) under the infamous Lawal Rafindadi to harass and imprison Nigerians without trial. It is this same injustice that Falana was hired to re-table.

It is unconscionable that a so-called human rights activist would be used to champion this revanchist authoritarianism. As a military dictator, Buhari ran so rough-shod over our judicial system that the Nigerian Bar Association proscribed Nigerian lawyers from appearing in any of his kangaroo courts.

Buhari sent both corrupt and non-corrupt politicians to jail, sometimes for up to 300 years. He tried octogenarian Michael Ajasin before his military tribunal. When he was discharged and acquitted; he tried him again. When he was discharged and acquitted again, he tried him a third time. When he was discharged and acquitted yet again, Buhari nevertheless continued to keep him in detention and refused to release him.

A judge claimed Buhari pressured him to jail Fela Anikulapo Kuti for failing to the declare foreign-exchange he had legitimately procured for the up-keep of his band on a foreign trip; while the same Buhari sent his aide-de-camp to Murtala Muhammed airport in Lagos to facilitate the smuggling into the country of 53 suitcases by the Emir of Gwandu during the currency-change exercise.

Therefore, the onus fell on me at the Roundtable to warn our student audience that it would be madness to entertain proposals that seek to bring back Buhari’s sharp practices of the past under another guise. It is necessary to point out that, as Nigerians were deceived through vain promises promptly jettisoned after the election, so are government agents trying to deceive us again today. There is actually no real war against corruption going on today. There is not even a fight against corruption, how much more a war. What we have is a government attempt to decimate the opposition and create a de facto one-party state under the guise of fighting against corruption.

Enraged “Buharideens”

Once I started making these points, the students started cheering. It became apparent that they were not fooled by the government’s praise-singers and were glad that I was there to expose their duplicity. Before I proceed to elaborate on why I insist there is no real fight against corruption in Nigeria today, let me point out at this juncture the reaction of my fellow-panelists.

I only spoke for ten minutes, but the chairman, Itse Sagay, became enraged. He not only abused me, he also abused UNILAG students. He called them all “ignorant” for applauding my positions. He shouted: “We are here on a very serious business. And students, don’t behave like American electorates who are ignorant. The appreciation of unserious people shows ignorance.”

“How can someone come here and say there’s no war against corruption and there is clapping? This is a very serious discussion and I want us to be serious about it. If you are anti-government, please go and campaign against government and let your party win in 2019. This is not a venue for PDP campaign. We are here on serious business. Let’s maintain that seriousness.”

#BringBackOurGirls icon, Oby Ezekwesili, also asked for the mike a second time to contribute to this berating of UNILAG students for applauding my presentation. She said, among other things: “I wasn’t surprised that some of you were clapping. The reason you were clapping is that you are a page in your own level of corruption. There are many whose exam malpractice is the basis upon which ‎they have come to school. So when you are talking about the need to wage a war against corruption, they are completely disconnected from it. There is a complete dissonance from it.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)

Femi Aribisala is a scholar and international affairs expert. He is currently an iconoclastic church pastor in Lagos. He is also a syndicated essayist for a handful publications in Nigeria. Connect with him on Twitter at @FemiAribisala and at his website, www.femiaribisala.com.

UjSizzle:

Don't sweat. I think APC is the desert. And for sure PDP was no better and we deserve better than we've gotten so far.

UjSizzle:
Don't worry people we will get there.
Look at this like Nigerians leaving Egypt (PDP). Right now we are still roaming about in the desert, but in time we will get to our promised land.

Patience. Let us learn our lessons while they last and get rid of our slave mentality. We don't need to settle for less when we can have more and better. But it will only take some time for the collective mindset of Nigerians to change and evolve until we become a people who demand quality services from the custodians of our sovereign wealth.

Realdeals:
If the governors prevented you from saving from the surplus, why do you had to dip hand into the existing reserves and depleted it.

arresa:



APC, a party that was less than 2 years old before the 2015 elections was responsible for PDP's 16 years of wastage, looting, stealing and sharing?


APC also prevented Metuh's from sharing his N400 million share of our money ala $DasukiGATE?


This is why Nigerians kick these crooks, thieves and looters out of office. They are not only thieves, they are unrepentant pathological and bold face liars..

obailala:
Oh, now it has become a case of running a deficit budget?... How come you didnt remember there was a deficit budget all these while?... Instead you chose to argue back and forth about APC being responsible for PDP being unable to save?... So much for your own 'objective reasoning ability.'

If you have forgotten, just take a second look at the title of this thread and your own reasoning ability (or should I say reasoning disability) would flash you in the face. CASE CLOSED!