₦airaland Forum

Have our leaders even begun to think of these kinds of schemes?

Do they have the capacity to think up solutions to enhance the lives of the populace without tying it to kickbacks from contracts?

What exactly do Nigerian leaders do?

Book Haram has been subdued, decimated, vanquished

*in Lai Mohammed and APC stalwarts collective voices*

For a party that rode on the back of the evil actions of a few and the justifiable sentiments of many to get into power only to send young men and women (old too) to die in the same battles you questioned, vilified and ridiculed is callous, in itself evil, and a crime against humanity.

As shared by twitter user @iphieajike

Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna


The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is not ill and flown abroad for medical attention as being peddled in some quarters.

Rather, it was learnt that el-Rufai had commenced receiving lectures as a part-time student of Philosophy of Doctorate degree, PhD, in Governance and Policy Analysis at United Nations University-Merit, Netherlands.



UNU-MERIT, a research and training institute of United Nations University and Maastricht University, based in the South of the Netherlands has been closely involved in research for a variety of UN agencies, including the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the World Bank.

The UNU-MERIT is ranked 6th among the world best universities.

There has been wide speculation especial in the social media platform that the governor was flown for medical attention.

As at the time of filing this report, effort to reach the Special Assistant to Governor El-Rufai on Media and Publicity, Mr Samuel Aruwan proved abortive as a call to his cell phone indicated that he could not be reached.

But an online post by the United Nations University-Merit dated March 7th, 2017 at 8:23 pm noted that the university had received new intakes among them, Governor El-Rufai.

It said, “United Nations University-Merit. Yesterday a new batch of students started our Dual Career Training Programme to obtain a PhD in governance and Policy Analysis(GPAC2). Good luck to all!

Also, a tweet by one of the lecturers of the university, read, “I’m looking forward to teaching H.E.@elrufai in November, student at UNU Merit/Maastricht University”

Also, a top government official, who would not want his names in print because he was not permitted to speak on the matter, said: “the governor is not sick but he is attending a program abroad.”

He added, “That is why the Deputy Governor, Mr Barnabas Yusuf-Bala, is presently Acting Governor pending the return of the governor after the program.”

El-Rufai, a first class Quantity Surveyor graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

The governor is also an alumni of Harvard University.


http://punchng.com/el-rufai-goes-to-school/

.

Posted to provide a view from 'the outside'

The following is shared via Financial Times


https://www.ft.com/content/4dc0d438-07cc-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43

Please subscribe to aid further sharing from this site on Nairaland

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

The Federal Government has changed its stance on the banning of helicopters shuttle services from Kaduna to Abuja by some helicopters companies following the temporary closure of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

The National Security Adviser, Babagana Munguno, had earlier in the week announced the ban on such services.



But the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, told State House correspondents on Wednesday that the government had rescinded its decision on the matter.

Sirika said with the latest development, helicopters can continue to be flying into and out of the Abuja airport.

He, however, said the city centre remained a no-fly zone.

The minister said, “On the helicopter issue, the National Security Adviser has the constitutional responsibility vested on him by the President to advise him on national security matters.

“In his wisdom, he had earlier sent out letters banning helicopters operation into the (Abuja) airport but the National Security Adviser has earlier this morning (Wednesday) said helicopters will continue to fly into Abuja airport from wherever.

“Then, the procedure that they will use to approach the airport under landing spot will be advised accordingly before the end of today (Wednesday).

“This means that helicopters can come into Abuja and out bearing in mind that within the metropolitan city of Abuja, there are no fly zones and this is very normal in every country.

“They have areas where there are no fly zones but the National Security Adviser this morning approved that helicopters should enter Abuja airport and out but the procedures in which helicopters should enter into Abuja and the spot which the helicopters will land will be advised in due course and it shall be before the end of today (Wednesday).”

Sirika added that the operation at the Kaduna International Airport had been going on smoothly since the closure of the Abuja airport.

He assured all stakeholders that the government would ensure that work is completed at the Abuja airport within the remaining five weeks available to it.

He said apart from the Ethiopian Airline which has started landing in Kaduna, the government was talking to other airlines to see reason and begin to come.

The minister said, “We are talking to other airlines within Nigeria to see the possibility of doing it.

“In an event where British Airways or Lufthansa may not come, we are into negotiations that will make them go into London and Kaduna daily just like the British Airways was doing in Abuja.

“I think within the next couple of days, we shall conclude and if it is possible we shall announce to Nigerians that there will be flight from Kaduna to London and back.

“We will be using the advantage of the gap created by British Airways out of Abuja, that is going on.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), I was with British High Commissioner. I discussed with them for onward delivery to their own country. We are ready here; we have the aircraft that we can deploy. The airline that we can use to go to London and back on daily basis, we shall keep you posted within the next couple of days.”


http://punchng.com/fg-makes-u-turn-allows-helicopters-into-abuja-airport/

Kakistocracy

We Have Had The Displeasure and Discomfort of having the WRONG people in power for most of our National Life!!

a lot of so called leaders don't use their 'brain app'!!

In fact the way Nigeria is designed to run there is ZERO incentive to use the "brain app"!
and we all know what happens when you don't use a muscle!

Most of the so-called leaders from way back plus some of the so-called leaders of tomorrow!

People don't understand that certain people will attempt to denigrate, frustrate and sabotage PYO the same way they did Jonathan.

PS.
Jonathan was inept. He should have stood up to these ethnic jingoistic, curbed corruption and run a first class government

Excerpts from Chapter 4 of The Dual Mandate in British Tropical West Africa by Sir Fredrick Lugard.

The National Security Adviser, Babagana Munguno, has banned the planned helicopter shuttle service from Kaduna to Abuja by some helicopter companies.

In a memo banning the move, Munguno said, “In view of the closure of the airport, air travelers will be required to travel by road/train to Abuja from Kaduna International Airport. This will undoubtedly cause constraints on the movement of some passengers who will aim to travel using other means, notably the use of commercial ferry helicopters.

“Please be reminded that the airspace over the Federal Capital Territory Abuja is controlled and only security flights or those with the requisite security clearance from the Presidency are granted overhead clearance for obvious security reasons. Consequently, you are to note and ensure that no charter or commercial helicopter ferry flights are allowed to fly within Abuja airspace.”

http://punchng.com/fg-bans-helicopter-shuttle-from-kaduna-to-abuja/

RE-INTRODUCING NORTHERN NIGERIA: NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
BY MARK // SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

I am writing this article mainly for the benefit of Southern Nigerians who have never been to the North, and mostly have a warped and inaccurate view of the North. I have been driven to write this out of my many personal experiences, and those of friends and family, as has been shared with me. This is mainly an educative piece about what Northern Nigeria is in reality; a complete, holistic picture of this region.

To make this piece a simple read and easy-to-follow, I am going to write it around 5 common perceptions about the North and
debunk them:

Religious Perception: The general belief held by most Southerners about the North is that the region is not just mainly Muslim, but wholly Muslim. Whenever I meet someone from the South and introduce myself, I am correctly placed as a Christian. But once I am asked my state and I say Borno State, the next question becomes, ‘Are you a Muslim?’ This is despite my name being a very common Biblical name, Mark, which is the second Gospel. Matter of fact, I have been asked that question while attending a church programme, with a Bible conspicuously held in my hands. You could imagine my surprise at that question. This has also been the experience of a lot of friends with common names such as ‘Emmanuel’, ‘Daniel’, etc.

To start with, out of the 19 Northern states, at least 5 have a majority Christian population: Plateau, Adamawa, Nassarawa, Taraba and Benue. At least 6 more have at least 40% Christian population. These states include Niger, Gombe, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara and either Borno or Bauchi. That then leaves only Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara as having Muslim populations above 60%. How then are we all seen as Muslims?

This misconception could be excused when the person has an Arabic name, as there are many Northern Christians who bear names such as Jamila, Habiba, Halima, Sadiq, and Yunusa and so on. But when the person has an obvious Christian name and is even attends church services, you really begin to wonder.

Ethnic Perception: Another common perception of the North is that we are all Hausa. My usual response to this is to borrow the logical argument of Simon Kolawole, the Editor-in-Chief of THISDay Newspapers. In an article in which he attempted to educate his largely Southern readership base about the North, he went thus:
“If out of the estimated 250 tribes in Nigeria, we can say that the South-West is mainly Yoruba with a few other tribes around Badagry area, the South-East wholly Igbo and the South-South being most diverse in the South with about 40 tribes, that still leaves the remaining 200 tribes in the North.”

How then are we reduced to one single ethnic group, Hausa? It is only the North-West that is close to being homogenous, mainly Hausa and Fulani, but with still some minority tribes in the Zuru area of Kebbi State and the multi-diverse Southern Kaduna. The North-East and North-Central is filled with tribes, many of whom I have never even heard of. For example, Adamawa State is so diverse that the largest ethnic group, the Fulani, is just 3% of the entire population. In my home state of Borno, there is a local government so diverse that from one village to another, you are likely to meet an entirely different ethnic group. The number of tribes there are so many that we just address the people as ‘Gwoza people’, after the name of the local government.

Even though we all speak Hausa as a lingua franca in order to communicate amongst ourselves as trading partners over the centuries, that doesn’t make us Hausa people as much as communicating English doesn’t make you and I English people. As a matter of fact, in the North-East, Hausa people are a minority and virtually non-existent in the North-Central region.

Intellectual Beliefs: Now, this is one belief that whenever I am confronted with, it takes me a great deal of self-control not to flip out and lose my temper. Times without number, when I tell people I am from Borno State, I am asked how come I speak such good English. What the hell? What am I supposed to speak? Arabic? The general expectation is that someone from the North is not supposed to be this learned, this well-spoken and articulate in English, this knowledgeable. I remember when a friend asked me if my mother went to school, and the surprised look on his face when I told him that my mum earned her masters’ degree over 20 years ago. There was also a time when my dad met someone at the Lagos International Airport and they got talking. When my dad told him his profession, the man, in a fit of surprise, exclaimed, ‘I didn’t know that there were professors in the North’.

I admit the fact that the North lags behind the South educationally, especially the North-West and the North-East. But this is not due to our inability to comprehend what we are being taught, but rather due to the incompetence of leadership in the region to give education its premium importance as a form of human development. We, like every other human being on the face of this earth, can excel when given the opportunity. Talent and intellect abounds everywhere. Opportunity, however, does not. I personally know of many Northerners who have excelled nationally and internationally. Daily, the story of young men like Ahmed Mukoshy, who is born, bred and schooled in Sokoto, and yet, rose above his environment to become one of the emerging forces in IT in this country in his early 20s inspires me. This is just one example among many that I could cite but for the lack of space.

I find it outright disgusting whenever people claim that if not for federal character and ‘zoning’, no Northerner would be able to compete in this country. Last week, I was shocked when a friend said only 10% of Northerners in the Federal Civil Service deserved their places on merit, and went on to add that if he had not known me personally and I were to get a job with the Federal Government, he would believe that I did not earn it on merit. The most ridiculous one I encountered was when earlier this year, former Minister of Finance, Dr Mansur Mukhtar was appointed a World Bank director. Most of the commentators on the 234Next article announcing this achievement for this Nigerian and Nigeria made the ludicrous assertion that the appointment was done to please the North, that Dr Mukhtar did not merit it. Little did they know that Dr Mukhtar had worked at the World Bank and the African Development Bank, prior to his heading Nigeria’s Budget Office on the invitation of the then and present Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former World Bank Managing Director, who also recommended him for the post of Finance Minister when she rejected former President Umaru Yar’adua’s invitation to join his government. What is even worse is that they did not care to know: their minds were already made up and could not be confused with the facts.

Geo-Political Beliefs: Another common belief among Southerners and most especially spread by Southern newspapers is that the entire 19 Northern states act and think as one when it comes to issues of Northern politics. This is one of the biggest untruths about the North. Whenever Northern Nigeria is mentioned, the people of Benue, Kogi and Kwara states do not feel it refers to them. Geographically, they are part of the North; politically, however, they and the entire Middle-Belt act independently. This can be clearly in the last elections where President Goodluck Jonathan won in 7 Northern states, even against his strongest opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari, who is a Northerner. This was something I am sure a lot of people in the South, save for the political savvy, did not see coming.

One common sight of this perception being entrenched by newspapers is when politicians of Northern extraction speak on national issues. I have innumerably seen a washed-out Northern politician, without any influence or popularity speak regarding an issue, and the next day, newspapers carry bold headlines saying, ‘North rejects this’ or ‘North plans to do that’, quoting the same washed-out politician as speaking for the entire North. I have rarely seen a Bola Tinubu speaking and being quoted as the mouthpiece of the entire Yoruba ethnic group, or a Chief Edwin Clark for the Ijaw people. Methinks this is a way of selling newspapers by capitalizing on the image of the North as one single, political force which moves in a particular direction all-together

Cultural/Social/Economic Belief: Admittedly, as people of the same region, we share a lot in common culturally and socially in the general terms: our mannerisms, modes of dressing, traditional titles (apart from paramount rulers with the exception of emirates), etc. Despite that, the Jukun in Taraba and the Kataf in Kaduna are very different in the specifics, as even the Bura and Marghi people of Borno/Adamawa States. To pick the attitude of one ethnic group in the North and attach it to all the others, is to put it mildly, a very short-sighted way of knowing and understanding the people of Northern Nigeria.

Another belief in the South is that the entire North is but an empty land mass with nothing but trees. I remember the controversy of the 2006 census when Kano State was said to have a slightly higher population than Lagos State. Many of my Southern friends called it ‘an impossibility’. In the words of one of them, ‘Lagos is so populated that when you throw grains of rice into the air, they wouldn’t land on the ground, but on people’. However, they all forgot to factor in land mass, because Lagos State is a much smaller state than Kano State, and hence has the highest population density in Nigeria, hence making it look as though it was way more populated.
There are cities in the North that have been thriving economically, such as Kano and Kaduna. As a matter of fact, Kaduna State was adjudged by the World Bank in the year 2009 as the best place to do business.

Lastly, the most retrogressive belief about the North in the South is that the entire North is a hotbed for violence. As much as we have had more than our fair share of ethno-religious violence, there are many states that have never experienced one, including states such as Zamfara, and others as Nassarawa and Benue.

I have not written this as a criticism of the people of Southern Nigeria, but rather, in the hope that this will be an enlightenment of the South about the North. It amazes me when I see that despite the fact that we have been a country for almost a century, yet, a lot of people down South know little or nothing about their fellow Nigerians in the North, but know about Europe and America.

I have also realized that we as Northerners have allowed others to say our story for ourselves, hence have given it distortions, deletion and generalizations. What has happened over time is what the writer Chimamanda Adichie, in her TED talk in March 2009, at Oxford, England, describes as ‘the danger of the single story’, where a single story of the North as a region of poor, illiterate, lazy, Hausa Muslims who do nothing but connive to lord over this country politically and kill Southerners’ has been repeated so much that it is seen as the truth. This is the kind of stuff that creates stereotyping, which in her words, ‘not that it is untrue, but that it is incomplete’.

This is one reason I still see the significance of our NYSC scheme, choked with problems as it may be. We need to know each other more. Let us override this stereotypical mind-set and seek to learn about each other with open minds and seek the complete story that gives a holistic picture of our country.


http://markamaza.com/2011/09/09/re-introducing-northern-nigeria-not-as-you-know-it/

This will be coloured by the 'your thief' vs 'our thief' mentality of so called learned folks

Ha!
Wish Presidency gan?!

The fact as elicited from accounts in the public domain that both the APC and the PDP played politics with the lives of 224 young girls is sickening!

This is a most irresponsible statement coming from the SGF..
Very divisive and only serves their divide and rule agenda!

Hmm

Guess there's more to this picture then...

[img]http://2.bp..com/-FTQ1GHWNvP8/VTI99be5XKI/AAAAAAAE_n0/QgndTbQrGUM/w1200-h630-p-k-nu/1.jpg[/img]

Tinubu also then inherits Abacha's Business partner

Promoter of EKO ATLANTIC

CHAGOURY

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/nigeria/stories/corrupt060998.htm

http://www.reportsafrique.com/2015/12/gilbert-chagoury-the-lebanese-who-has-done-more-evil-to-nigeria-than-good/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/us/shell-company-bel-air-mansion.html?_r=0

http://www.chagourygroup.com/real-estate/eko-atlantic/

Hmm

The 'ease of doing legitimate business' in Nigeria is near zero.

Beyond talking about it, taking pictures about it and 'visiting toilets' there needs to be a cogent urgent response to this.

Electricity is key, so also is the need to urgently deincentivise bureaucracy.

People challenge themselves NOT to live off their monthly salaries (which they have since committed to 'ajo', esusu etc.) and instead make money illegally by introducing 'steps' to an ordinarily straight forward process.

Immigration Officers charge you more for a passport than advertised by the Federal Government. Same with so many other agencies and parastatals.

In one of his usual tweets Reno Omokri Comes For Nasir ElRufai Again for Insisting on Prosecuting Audu Maikori

British armed forces offered to attempt to rescue nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, but were rebuffed by Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president at the time, the Observer has learned.

In a mission named Operation Turus, the RAF conducted air reconnaissance over northern Nigeria for several months, following the kidnapping of 276 girls from the town of Chibok in April 2014. “The girls were located in the first few weeks of the RAF mission,” a source involved in Operation Turus told the Observer. “We offered to rescue them, but the Nigerian government declined.”


The girls were then tracked by the aircraft as they were dispersed into progressively smaller groups over the following months, the source added.

Chibok is located in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state. Today 195 of the girls are still missing. Those who have managed to escape from their kidnappers have told of a life of torture, enslavement, rape, and forced marriages in captivity.

Notes from meetings between UK and Nigerian officials, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also suggest that Nigeria shunned international offers to rescue the girls. While Nigeria welcomed an aid package and assistance from the US, the UK and France in looking for the girls, it viewed any action to be taken against kidnapping as a “national issue”.

“Nigeria’s intelligence and military services must solve the ultimate problem,” said Jonathan in a meeting with the UK’s then Africa minister, Mark Simmonds, on 15 May 2014.


A document summarising a meeting in Abuja in September 2014 between Nigeria’s national security adviser and James Duddridge MP, former under-secretary of state at the Foreign Office, shows Operation Turus had advanced to the point where rescue options were being discussed. Minutes from a meeting the following month between Major-General James Chiswell and Jonathan hinted at the frustration felt by those trying to prompt some action from Nigeria.

“[President] Jonathan was still focused on ‘platforms’. General Chiswell said again we could offer advice on what equipment might make sense and how weapon systems might be best deployed,” the October 2014 document stated.

The Nigerian government did not respond to a request for comment. The Foreign Office said: “We wouldn’t comment on specific operational details, which are a matter for the Nigerian government and military.”

Jonathan has drawn criticism at home and abroad for a lack of action and perceived apathy over the kidnappings. The government was slow to mount any response in the weeks after the girls were taken. The governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, also publicly criticised Jonathan for failing to even call him or any other state official for 19 days after the kidnappings. Jonathan also hit out at the worldwide #BringBackOurGirls campaign, branding it a “manipulation” of the victims of the attack.

Boko Haram had raided the dormitories of the government secondary school at Chibok. The girls staying there had braved warnings of an attack to sit their final examinations. Boko Haram looted the school and then burned it to the ground. The kidnappings also blighted the lives of the girls from the town who were not taken away, as many have been too scared to continue their education.

In addition to Nigeria, Boko Haram is active in regions of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. According to Unicef, more than 1.3 million children have now been displaced. Some of those taken by Boko Haram have been forced to become child soldiers: one in five suicide bombers in Nigeria are believed to be children, and three-quarters of those are girls.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/04/nigeria-declined-uk-offer-to-rescue-chibok-girls

Sad


A government that spends more time, effort, personnel, resources and skill to embellish its meagre actions and deceive the citizenry clearly never sincerely intended to govern ab initio

Is this Change?

Nepotism unchained! The other day the former FCT minister was justifying allocating land to 8 family members while in office

Jude and his guys and gals at REDMEDIA take credit for putting this guy and PMB In power.

No scruples! Just keep on getting paid selling ice to Eskimo's

#PepperREDMEDIA

APC appear to have laid down guidelines for 'whistleblowing' that only serves their agenda.

Lalalsticlala please help share with Kogites for speedy confirmation

Media Blackout on this story