₦airaland Forum

What often worries me is why would major policies affecting Nigeria be always pronounced when the president is out of the country? The president addressed the nation on Independence Day, almost saying nothing, but chose to announce issues affecting us while out of the country. Why the loquacity abroad? Why the taciturnity and gynophobia at home? In cabinet politics, there are appointments considered insignificant. Posting to such positions is akin to sending appointees to political Siberia. At the state level, I know you are not a governor’s man when you are posted to Ministry of Commerce or are made Chairman of the Library Board or Public Suggestion Box office. In party politics, too, there are some appointments considered less-important for their impotence, useless for their uselessness, effete for their effeteness. Positions like Assistant Auditor, Assistant PRO, etc. are considered less important, “less lucrative”, while the ex-officio appointments are worse than all. While, in most cases, being an ex-officio was by virtue of one’s previous role in the party hierarchy, in some cases it is done to give politicians a sense of belonging. What President Buhari is introducing today is something similar to ex-officio appointments in party politics. You can’t have a minister without a duty and that duty is what is called a portfolio. A minister is a minister because he ministers. By the president’s pronouncement in far away India, Nigeria’s should expect a cabinet with three categories of ministers: kitchen ministers (those very close to Mr. President), portfolio ministers (those assigned ministries) and ex-officio ministers (those without any duty). What often worries me is why would major policies affecting Nigeria be always pronounced when the president is out of the country? The president addressed the nation on Independence Day, almost saying nothing, but chose to announce issues affecting us while out of the country. Why the loquacity abroad? Why the taciturnity and gynophobia at home? Why would Nigerians be made to snoop thousands of miles away to find issues affecting them told to a global audience? Why would our policies be made in foreign lands and imported to Nigeria? I was bitter hearing the president announce the date he would appoint ministers while abroad. It irked me when he disclosed the first portfolio he assigned himself while on a overseas trip. I was livid when the president revealed, yet again outside Nigeria, that some ministers may not be assigned duties. Why don’t we deserve respect from our leaders? Nigerians merely eavesdropped when President Buhari told the Washington Post audience while in Washington on June 20 that he would appoint ministers in September. On September 29, while attending a UN meeting in New York, Nigerians only overheard Buhari telling a foreign audience that he would be the minister of petroleum resources. While in India, Nigerians strained their ears – some 7,500kms away – to hear the president saying some ministers won’t be “substantive” – whatever that means! What is the problem with Africans? Now let us stand down two made-in- America pronouncements and take a made-in-India policy, which seems substandard. Since Buhari cautioned against the importation of substandard products from India, shouldn’t we caution him against importing substandard decisions to Nigeria? Dear sir, if Niger Republic could afford 32 ministers, Mali could afford 37, I wonder why Nigeria can’t afford 36. The cost of appointing ministers is not what Nigeria can’t bear. The budget of a single foreign trip by the president to Europe costs Nigeria more than what a minister will cost Nigeria, in terms of statutory earnings, in four years. I still want to believe President Buhari made, as usual, a Freudian slip when he said some ministers would not have a role to play. “There used to be forty two ministers,” the president said in India, “but I think we can barely keep half of that now because we cannot afford it.” He continued: “Others may not be substantive ministers but they will sit in the cabinet because that is what the constitution said and we can’t operate outside the constitution. “We are reducing the number of ministries we can’t afford to pay,” the president said. Dear Mr. President, paying ministers is not beyond our country’s reach. Dear sir, if Niger Republic could afford 32 ministers, Mali could afford 37, I wonder why Nigeria can’t afford 36. The cost of appointing ministers is not what Nigeria can’t bear. The budget of a single foreign trip by the president to Europe costs Nigeria more than what a minister will cost Nigeria, in terms of statutory earnings, in four years. If you consider the five-Star hotel bills of tens of people on the entourage, their feeding, estacode, the running of the presidential jet, the advance party, the foreign service office spending, logistics, etc, you will see sense in what I’m saying. There are 1001 ways of cutting costs, but certainly refusal to allocate duties to ministers is not one of them. Such decisions rather reduce efficiency that will cost Nigeria a lot. Buhari’s importation of a substandard “policy” will simply conduce inefficiency. Applying this Indian made contraband policy into the polity is, in polite tone, faulty. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/?p=169498

Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose has
vowed to continue speaking the truth in
interest Nigeria and its people, saying
that “I am not one of those that will go
underground for fear of political
persecution.”
Fayose stated this while reacting to the
exclusive story in LEADERSHIP on
Monday in which the senior special
assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, warned
him on the need to get his facts right on
federal allocation.
The governor, in a statement by his
special assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Mr Lere
Olayinka, in Ado -Ekiti yesterday, said it
was sad that the Presidency could be
warning a Nigerian, who is heading one
of the country’s federating units on what
to say or what not to say.
Olayinka also described the sthe
presidency’s reaction as a demonstration
of military dictatorship, claiming that the
country’s economy was in serious
recession.
He said,“The president himself attested
to this when he said that the country
was broke and this has also been
corroborated by the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) financial
report, which indicated that the
corporation incurred a total loss of
N120.07 billion in the months of August
and September.
“JP Morgan has also removed Nigeria
from its Emerging Market Bond Index, a
move analysts have said would have far-
reaching implications for the country’s
dwindling economy as investors could
move out their funds to competing
countries, resulting in higher lending
rates.
“It is, therefore, a sad reminder of the
military era that in a democracy, under a
federation in which all federating units
enjoy some degree of autonomy, the
Presidency is warning a state governor
on what to say or what not to say.
“Top functionaries of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), including state
governors criticised the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) government of
Dr Goodluck Jonathan, but the
presidency did not go about warning
them.
“Certainly, these people working with the
president need to be purged of Acquired
Immune Military Dictatorship Syndrome
(AIMDS), even as they must be told that
Fayose won’t stop speaking his mind and
exposing their hypocrisy in the overall
interest of Nigeria and its people.”
Speaking further, the governor’s aide
said “Nigerians are desirous of the
change promised by the APC-led federal
government, but as it stands, there is no
clear direction yet.”
http://leadership.ng/news/471656/no-one-can-stop-me-from-speaking-the-truth-gov-fayose

hahaha I like what is happening now.

another news from APC to divert attention .

Most wanted terrorist Abubakar Shekau, the
leader of Boko Haram terrorist group, was
sighted in the nation’s capital Abuja but was not
pursued because of “orders from above” in one
of the country’s security services, it has been
claimed.
A Department of State Security (DSS) source
told News Express that the incident took place
earlier this year – before the change of guards
that followed the assumption of office by the
new regime in the country.
The source, who cannot be named because of
the sensitive nature of the issue, said: “There
was a time we were tracking Shekau, the Boko
Haram leader, and we noticed he was with a
former VP of Nigeria. Immediately we contacted
our boss. The next thing we noticed was, the
operation was called off, and we went back to
our office.”
The source did not state the month the incident
took place but said it was “earlier this year”
during the tenure of Ita Ekpenyong as Director
General of DSS. News Express could not reach
Mr. Ekpenyong for comments.
The Nigerian military repeatedly claimed to have
killed Shekau in the past and the Camerounian
Army once made a similar claim.
However, the Nigerian Army included Shekau
among the over 100 top Boko Haram chiefs on
the poster of wanted terrorists which it released
last week. Yesterday, News Express reported
Francis Okoemu, a Nigerian counter-terrorism
expert, as saying emphatically that Shekau is
still very much alive and in charge of the
terrorist group which has made large parts of the
country’s north virtually ungovernable since it
launched its campaign of violence in 2009.
President Muhammadu Buhari has given the
country’s military next month as deadline to
defeat the evil sect.

http://www.thetrentonline.com/boko-haram-leader-abubakar-shekau-spotted-in-abuja-with-former-vp-details/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

gretblue:
Did any of your hero ministers come out to say they will work for free during their stealing is not corruption time. Keep whining children of hate.

I know you can sense how silly you sound and I know you regret posting that rubbish above.

this man is indeed clueless, in this history of Nigeria there has never been a regime with continues rise of unemployment nor a regime where people are polarised and divided like this regime instead of him finding solutions to this major problems he is busy talking about recovering stolen fund. the president simply lacks diplomacy

osaslord500:
If u are in the north and a Hausa man points you and say “wana yaro, acuya ne!!” my brother just run

wanan yaron Akuya ne" means "dis boy is a goat"

pls what does "we don enter one chance" mean?

shollyee:
Yes, a trial version that will last several months will be installed for all participants

do you have a branch in kaduna state?

same here. am missing PDP.

so this Dan Ali was askd to bow and go. so disappointing

do we have a president or a traveller?

Rachbee:
I graduated from University of Ibadan with a Second Class Upper Division. I also have PGD in Customer Relationship management. I am tired of being unemployed. Infact, I'm fed up. I have spent all the money I saved up after NYSC on Job search. Most times I regret being educated. I stay online 24/7 to apply for jobs, but to no avail. Life is hard and unfair! *sobs*. Nairalanders, please help!!!

madam, where you did you obtain that PGD in CRM. am interested.

invest in education. do professional courses.

VickyRotex:
Hi jobinto, timothyuche1 ticker, prinzayf, and teejaykary

I've sent each copy to your different e-mail address. Do confirm and Revert!

I have received it. I am grateful

VickyRotex:
Hi jobinto, timothyuche1 and ticker, I'm kinda busy right now.

Once I get back home I'll send it to each of your email address.

gracias dear

VickyRotex:
Amen... You welcome

pls vickyrotex, help me with a copy pls. my mail is istifanusrichard@gmail.com. I am gratefull

HungerBAD:
Who anoint the Clueless one?T.B Joshua?

will it kill you to be positive for just once in ur life? for how long will you continue to be bitter? click like if you bliv dat this guy is a killjoy

Enesi47:
ode, did you vote for buhari,

dickhead, are you saying only pple who voted for buhari are entitle to jobs in Nigeria

I have neva seen stiff-necked individuals like the APC zombies. they hardly hear and reason when someone is telling them the truth, am not surprise afterall the truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.

a trick.

oh boy this wait no be here o. Abeg any update from Xnet.