₦airaland Forum

Ok

It's beginning to look like the inevitable crash of the MMM pyramidal scam has happened.
If you are a victim, ten pieces of advice from me.
1. Don't expect that the 'frozen' accounts will 'thaw'. If they do, it will be for a short while, to inspire fake confidence in the scam, thereby leading to a surge of more gullible people jumping on the burning train before the final big bang!
2. Do not be envious of those that made money from it at your expense; it's blood money!
3. Pyramidal scams or Ponzi scams will come around again in another format. Once beaten, twice shy!
4. Check your blood pressure! You could have developed elevated blood pressure without realising it.
5. You do not need to run away from your creditors. While it cannot be described as an act of God, at least, we all know what happened.
6. If you used other people's money, draw up a schedule of repayment of your debts. You might have to cancel Christmas and New Year celebrations. Your creditors might not like it!
7. Don't snap at your wife/husband, kids and everyone around you! You shouldn't be angry at people you didn't consult when you went for broke (pardon the pun). You didn't let them know because you wanted to have absolute control of the expected profit.
8. You should have learnt your lesson for all time. Hardwork is the way to go. The Yoruba say, "Ëní nwá ìfà nwá òfò". A fool and his money are soon parted!
9. Suicide is not an option, we don't want a spike in the suicide statistics. In Nigeria, there are "A Thousand Ways to Die" already, why would anyone want to kill himself/herself? Committing suicide is cowardly, and will leave your mess for others to wallow in or clear up!
10. Take this write-up in good faith! I am not mocking you, I'm above such pettiness; I'm only trying to help!

Two sides of the same coin

ODO ungbe odo po

Nawa o

Funds meant for anti "corruption day" in kenya go missing

BUHARI:
Email to the President.
Your Excellency,
I hope this email finds you still amazing. Mr. President, It’s been almost two years since we danced to your victory as "the chosen one" from Nigeria’s Presidential election held on March 28th 2015. You overwhelmingly won the election by more than 2.5million votes. Nigerians across planet earth celebrated your arrival and hoped for a new era as you promised us during the campaigns. We saw you as a disciplined, principled and humane leader: a born again democrat. You vowed to, among many of your vows and promises, deal swiftly and severely with corruption, the fabric of our failed economy, restore accountability in government and create encouraging lifestyle for disenfranchised Nigerians. We believed. We stood with you. Nigeria had been waiting for you through the years. Thence, the aged, weak, sick, young, vibrant stood in long lines and waited for hours to vote for you on Election Day.
Sir, during those campaign months, you and your party assured to stabilize the fall of Naira and brought its value to match One naira to the dollar. Today, the toilet paper is more valuable than the Naira, compared to the Dollar which seemed as valued as fresh air. Furthermore, you promised to provide free meals and fruits to public schools across our dear native land, create 720,000 jobs in 36 states of the nation at the rate of 20,00 per state, pay 5,000 Naira unemployment benefits to poor and unemployed Nigerians, especially our youths, build five million homes to benefit low income Nigerians before the end of four years. We are three months away from your second anniversary as President, still, we have not heard of any foundations to these promised buildings: school children continue to wait for free meals and fruits, unemployed Nigerians praying for bank alerts on their phones for the promised 5K monthly benefits from your administration.
Many Nigerians are unable to pay their rents because of recession and inflation driven economy. Baba, please let me continue with your promises which included; ban all public office holders from seeking medical treatment outside Nigeria. But few months after you were sworn in, you had what your Media Advisers said was “acute ear infection”. Baba, you were flown to London for treatment of “ordinary ear infection.” About the same time that you were being treated in London, my seven month old daughter, Darasimi had ear infection too. She was treated by a Nigerian doctor at a Nigerian Hospital. Baba, you see why you began to fall my hands?. But I was willing to give you further benefits of doubt!.
Please sir, remember your words at the platform of campaign trails?: You were determined to fight corruption. You made this your first priority, going further to state that your new administration would remove immunity clause for elected officials from the constitution, especially the criminal ones”. Sir, we have read several arrests by EFCC of some officials of Goodluck Jonatahan’s administration, including alleged findings of our dearest former First lady, Patience Jonathan’s $31million in her bank account which was recently discovered and seized by EFCC. These officials’ were allegedly arrested for babanla embezzlement and looting of our commonwealth. These arrests were front page conversations. Did you remember Dasuki, Diezani, the “Ogas” of our Armed forces and now our judges? I can’t name all of them because of time and space. We read about the huge amounts recovered and arrests made: Nigerians are yet to see any one of these officials convicted and or sentenced to jail.

Baba, please where are the monies recovered so far?.

Nigerians want to know what happened to the discoveries and recoveries by EFCC?. These monies are more than $30Billion loan you tried to seek from foreign Banks, but rejected by the Senate.
Your excellency, few days before you were sworn in as Nigeria's President, “Agolo Derica rice was 70 naira; (can of derica tomato sauce is used to measure grains of rice for retail sales by local market women) five liters of palm oil cost 900 Naira, pure water was five naira per sachet . Gala was hawked at 50Naira , along Third Mainland Bridge and on all “go-slow” jams in the cities, from Lagos to Abuja. These were our "inside go- slow snacks". A bag of rice cost 10,000 Naira. My daughter's SMA milk was 1000 naira per Can. Gasoline (Petrol) was 87 naira per liter.
Although there was suffering in the land, hope was still alive.
Few days before the 2015 elections, I visited mommy Muka Popoola’s Amala joint ni Ogbomosho, in anticipation of your celebration. Sir, that day, I useless 1000 Naira on greatest homemade food and orishirishi Nama meat, flavored and cooked by Muka’s decent dear mother.
Still, while you were President- Elect, I spent less than 5000 Naira to get my friends Uzor Maxim Uzoatu and Basil Chiji Okafor drunk on any given day, at our regular Larger Beer Assembly. But these days, 5000 Naira Larger Beer neither intoxicated Boroja nor provoked Alika. Shayo has become a bastard...This is our state of the nation today.
Mr. President, 10a.m on Monday, I sent my daughter to buy a sachet of pure water with 10 naira. By 3p.m, the heat was steaming planet earth with dehydration. I sent my daughter, again, for another sachet of pure water to cool my thirst: she returned few minutes later, pacing up and down our veranda, screaming:"daddy, its 20 Naira a sachet now O....”
This is holiday season: Christmas is moments away. Our markets are near empty with inflation destroying the land and hurting the people. There is anger, frustration and disappointment in every home across Nigeria.: a bag of rice is cruising toward 35,000 Naira while a five liter palm oil shut up 200%. Prices of essentials of life are devastating. Money is not circulating. The people are no longer frustrated. They are VERY angry. Mr. President, I am also angry. Nigerians are anxiously waiting for 2019 vote, again. Yes. They will Vote: Vote you out of office, it will not matter if miracle happens between now and 2019 and turned things favorably around. Nigerians will not Vote for you. I will not campaign for you, sir.. The scourge from sufferings is peeling our precious dark and lovely skins. Lacerations from hunger flogs have become infected deep wounds on our bodies. Do you feel like we do?.
Nigerians are tired of your silence and lack of economic policies to immediately revitalize the state of the nation’s recession. Nigeria keeps sinking at every sunrise, under your watch. We are no longer feeling you.
In 2007, America’s economy was deep in its freefall as a result of trillions of dollars then President George Bush sank into a sexed up war on Iraq. The fabrics of America’s economy: the auto and Housing industries were imploding, cost of living was unsteady, gas prices were climbing, unemployment was at near two digits deficit, interest rates were rising beyond expectations and the Presidential election campaigns were happening. America was busy, but in economic mess: George Bush invited the presidential candidates and other policy adviserAmerica's best economists and secretaries to a special economic session where they unanimously agreed to effective immediately rescue the economy by pumping $7billion bail out money to these stressed industries. The bailout loan impacted ordinary every day Americans within few months: It was the beginning of its economic recovery, the recovery eased the lives of everyday people: the government supported its citizens by expanding welfare and unemployment benefits to middle class in most states. George Bush continued with its tax breaks for middle class with children. These may be little efforts but they eased the pains of everyday Americans. I understand we do not have a buoyant and organized free market economy: but Mr. President you have wasted nearly two years without any attempts to fulfill your campaign promises: It took you nearly nine months to appoint Ministers that would help run your administration. The Ministers continue to recycle old clichés from Aso Rock. We are tired of corruption wars that have marginalized us. Your focus on war on corruption has neglected other segments of the economy, thus allowing recession to ferment. Nigerians are asking, rather "Na corruption we go chop?." Major companies are closing their doors, airlines are leaving or threatening to leave our country, Nigerian businesses are closing down shops, laid off workers everyday: the people are vexed and hungry. It is not enough to publish the names of 200,000 Nigerians recently employed by the government: Impact Nigerians with aggressive policies that would change the dynamics of our lives. Give us short term solutions that would positively affect our lives Now. We are tired of being told this and that every day: show us. President Buhari, do something, Now!
I remain your supporter. But I will not support an administration that continues to deceive the electorate and dear citizens of our great land. So far Sir, you and your Ministers are confused. Your confusion is hurting the lives of Nigerians. Thank you for the privilege to write you.

,

After university

...
Some of your classmates have gone out of the country, some are now graduates, some has gotten married, some has given birth, some are dead don't forget that too, some haven't even gained admission into the tertiary institution, but you know that feeling when you meet your classmate, and it seems like he/she has reached his dreams and you're not yet close to yours?
Yea, somehow feels like jealousy, its a normal feeling. But, You must not regret your life. We all are different and our path to greatness is not same in distance. Some might reach before you, some might reach after you but whatever level you are presently, please keep trying to break limitations and move further. Celebrate the success of others, it's an application for yours. Your friend buys a car now, be happy with him/her. Remember when you get yours, theirs wouldn't be the latest again. Life is not by competition, if not we all Will be born into one type of family, one religion and same everything. The passion in you, never quench. The desire in you, keep it burning. what you pass through, write it down because one day the world will be ready to read it.
There's no height you cannot attain, just believe, define goals and recognize distractions, spend time teaching yourself, because the things that mainly take people to the top, is the things they devoted time to develop. Don't be intimidated by your fellow's success, the sky is too wide that the birds can fly without touching themselves.
#WasInspired!!!

Hmm

More pictures

Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison is a prison in Apapa, Lagos State, Nigeria.A part of the Nigerian Prisons Service, its official capacity is 1,056

It was first established in 1955. Paul Chiama of Leadership wrote that "The mention of Kirikiri first reminds any Nigerian of" this prison.

As of February 1, 1990 its official capacity was 956 but it actually had 1,645 prisoners. A 1995 report by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada stated that it was "already infamous" for its overcrowding.

Some death row inmates are held at Kirikiri

Notable prisoners

Chief Bode George
Clifford Orji
Al-Mustapha
Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirikiri_Maximum_Security_Prison

Okay

Cuba's Fidel Castro, former president, dies aged 90

Fidel Castro, Cuba's former president and leader of the Communist revolution, has died aged 90, his brother Raul has announced.

"The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening," President Raul Castro said.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost 50 years before Raul took over in 2008.

His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. But he was also accused of suppressing opposition.

Obituary: Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro: A life in pictures

Ashen and grave, President Castro told the nation in a late night broadcast on state television that Fidel Castro had died and would be cremated on Saturday.

There would now be several days of national mourning on the island.

Barring the occasional newspaper column, Fidel Castro had essentially been retired from political life for some time, the BBC's Will Grant in Havana reports.

In April, Fidel Castro gave a rare speech on the final day of the country's Communist Party congress.

He acknowledged his advanced age but said Cuban communist concepts were still valid and the Cuban people "will be victorious".

Cuba's former president Fidel Castro attends the closing ceremony of the seventh Cuban Communist Party (PCC) congress in Havana, Cuba, 19 April 2016.
Image caption Fidel Castro made a rare appearance at Cuba's Communist Party congress
"I'll soon be 90," the former president said, adding that this was "something I'd never imagined".

"Soon I'll be like all the others, "to all our turn must come," Fidel Castro said.

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Fidel Castro's key dates

Fidel Castro (centre) and members of his leftist guerrilla movement in Havana. Photo: January 1959
1926: Born in the south-eastern Oriente Province of Cuba
1953: Imprisoned after leading an unsuccessful rising against Batista's regime
1955: Released from prison under an amnesty deal
1956: With Che Guevara, begins a guerrilla war against the government
1959: Defeats Batista, sworn in as prime minister of Cuba
1961: Fights off CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles
1962: Sparks Cuban missile crisis by agreeing that USSR can deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
1976: Elected president by Cuba's National Assembly
1992: Reaches an agreement with US over Cuban refugees
2008: Stands down as president of Cuba due to health issues
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Throughout the Cold War, Fidel Castro was Washington's bete noire.

An accomplished tactician on the battlefield, he and his small army of guerrillas overthrew the military leader Fulgencio Batista in 1959 to widespread popular support.

Within two years of taking power, he declared the revolution to be Marxist-Leninist in nature and allied the island nation firmly to the Soviet Union.

Yet, despite the constant threat of a US invasion as well as the long-standing economic embargo on the island, Castro managed to maintain a communist revolution in a nation just 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

Despised by his critics as much as he was revered by his followers, he outlasted ten US presidents and defied scores of attempts on his life by the CIA.



http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953

Okay

Oops

1. Donald Trump promised to send Hillary Clinton to jail.

“I'll tell you what. I didn't think I'd say this, and I'm going to say it, and hate to say it: If I win, I'm going to instruct the attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there's never been so many lies, so much deception,” Trump said at the second debate and later told Clinton she would be in jail if he was president.
2. Trump said Roe v. Wade would be overturned under his presidency.

At the third and final presidential debate, Trump said he would appoint Supreme Court justices that would overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed women the right to have an abortion.

“If we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that will happen,” Trump said. “That will happen automatically in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court.”

3. Trump promised to repeal Obamacare.

“On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare,” Trump’s website states.

4. Trump said women should be punished for abortions.

In May, NPR reported that Trump said “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have an abortion. He later retracted the statement.
5. Trump promised to ban Muslims from America.

"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," a campaign press release said.

6. He plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border, on day one. Mexico will pay for the wall,” his campaign website states

7. He would require Muslim-Americans to register

NBC reported in November 2015 that Trump said he "would certainly implement that — absolutely,” when referring to a requirement he would create for Muslims in the county to register in a database.
8. He plans to make NATO pay for U.S. assistance.

CNN reported in July 2016 that Trump said: "I think NATO's great. But it's got to be modernized. And countries that we're protecting have to pay what they're supposed to be paying."
9. He plans to implement “stop and frisk” searches by police.

“These are felons and these are people that are bad people that shouldn't be...when you have three thousand shootings in Chicago from January 1st, when you have four thousand people killed in Chicago by guns from the beginning of the presidency of Barack Obama, his hometown, you have to have stop and frisk,” Trump said in the first debate.
10. He may withdraw America from NAFTA.

“I'm going tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal by a lot, not just a little, by a lot for our workers. And if they do not agree to a renegotiation, which they might not because they're so used to having their own way. Not with Trump, they won't have their own way. Then I will submit notice under Article 2205 of the NAFTA agreement that America intends to withdraw from the deal,” Trump said in an economics speech in June, NPR reported.
11. Trump plans to "bomb the s--- out of" ISIS.

Business Insider reported in November 2015 that he would "bomb the s--- out of 'em," in referring to ISIS

http://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/11-things-Donald-Trump-promised-to-do-as-president-10603179.php#photo-9102112

Good day VO ,

Okay

Now someone is talking sense

KUKAH TO BUHARI: Stop agonizing, fix Nigeria

CATHOLIC Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, yesterday, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to face the challenges of governance and stop agonizing over misdeeds of past administrations.
Nigerians, according to the clergyman, “didn’t vote a government to complain about yesterday. If we wanted yesterday, the new government would not be there.”
Kukah spoke with newsmen at a dinner organized by Ondo State Government after the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian, CBCN, in Akure, the Ondo State Capital.

He spoke as leaders of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday continued their attacks on President Buhari over his comments that he inherited nothing from PDP administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.
Asked to comment on the blame game of the present administration, Kukkah said: “The previous government didn’t only do bad things, it did a lot of good things.

“I think the business of government is not our business; our business is: if the previous government did bad, that is why we voted a new government. It is really about taking responsibility. No matter how much you praise or abuse Jonathan, he is not the President of Nigeria. I think people must understand, you take power to solve problems, not to agonize.

“As the head of a family, no matter how bad things are in the house, you, as a father, can’t enter the house crying. It is the question of developing the mechanism. Even my best friends in APC now realise that nobody can sing the song about Jonathan being responsible for the problems we are in.

“We are not asking you to change the whole world. Jonathan created problems but we are now riding a train between Abuja and Kaduna; the train wasn’t there before.

Things that Jonathan did that can help Nigeria, let’s continue with them.

“On the bad things that Jonathan did, those who deserve to go to prison should go to prison, but sending people to prison will only be useful if it puts bread on the table of people.”

Why anti-graft war is not effective
On the war against corruption, the Catholic Bishop said: “I have always said, you can’t cure malaria by just providing tablets; you might provide tablets to cure malaria but you have to look at the cause of malaria. As long as dirty waters and mosquitoes are around, there will still be the disease.
“My argument has always been that we are really fighting corruption, we started off with the assumption that corruption is all about people stealing money. But stealing money is actually the other end of corruption.
“The reason we don’t seem to make much progress is based on the kind of diagnosis. I still believe that unless we get to the root cause of poverty, inequality, which are really the evidence and symptom of corruption, you can talk of fighting corruption as very little is going to happen.”

High cost of living
On high cost of living, Kukah said: “I think that the extremes are very difficult but Nigeria is a hell of a country and Nigerians are a hell of a people. These are trying times and they can actually help to bring out the best in us.
“I think the challenge government is facing is to be able to explain to people that this suffering has something redemptive about it because if you know that at the end of this suffering something good is going to happen, people will be ready to live with the consequences.
“But so far, I don’t think government is communicating effectively with ordinary Nigerians to know where we are and the state of things. So, this is why you increasingly have a situation where people are not willing to make sacrifices because they still believe that their obligation is to protect themselves.
“I think unless the government openly explains and engage people very constructively, what you are going to face is a situation, which ordinary citizens are finding the best ways to protect and defend themselves.

No sitting president makes such sweeping statement — Odey
Former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP and Minister of Information, Mr John Odey, said: “I want to believe that he was reported out of context because no sitting president can make such a sweeping statement.
“Government is a continuum and I strongly believe he never meant that he did not inherit anything from previous governments since 1999. Maybe, he meant that if previous administrations were prudent in investing and diversifying the economy, we would have been better.”

Buhari has lost it all —Owie
Former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, simply said: “The statement shows that President Buhari has lost it all because his failure in government will no longer deserve the sympathy of Nigerians. It is unfortunate. “

“Yes he is fighting corruption but even at that we have our reservations. His method of fighting corruption has raised a lot of questions. He may be passionate but many people think he is being selective. Examples abound. In Benue state for instance, anybody who decamped to APC is now a saint. He is not being sincere in several other ways and we don’t think he is being sincere in his assertion. He is dodging his responsibilities.”


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/kukah-buhari-stop-agonizing-fix-nigeria/

My oyinbo cleaner thinks my igbales - brooms are decorative plants. She put them in the flower vase!

Mo ti rerin yo!

Mmmm

Dear Lai, Change does NOT begin with me


Today, Thursday, September 8, in the Federal Capital Territory, the Federal Government will finally launch the “Change Begins With Me’’ campaign that will “entrench the values of accountability, integrity and positive attitudinal change” in Nigerians. This campaign will be one of the several inelegantly arrayed on the shelf of Nigeria’s history.

Olusegun Obasanjo, as President, launched “Heart of Africa” and also formed an elite team tasked with supervising the project implementation, promoting virtues and urging us to better behaviour. They took the project to the United Kingdom and the United States but neither launch went too well. Obasanjo massively pumped money into the international media to advertise HOA, positioning himself as the Face of Nigeria; just what the world needs to see to come and invest in Nigeria. The programme was eventually dumped after his tenure expired. Despite the glaring lessons, Nigeria soon embarked on a similar drive with “Rebranding Nigeria” launched by the late Minister of Information and Culture, Prof. Dora Akunyili.

Despite armed with a cheap logo and a feel-good slogan, “Good people, Great nation,” the project never really took off. Those who conceived it with Akunyili said it was because it never received adequate support by the government but in reality it could not have taken off if Nigerians did not invest in it emotionally. Really, why take another white sepulchre campaign by a country that consistently fails to uphold its share of the social contract seriously?

With all the benefits of history in hindsight, Nigeria wants to launch another programme with an agenda that basically mirrors the Heart of Africa. The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, a man who has degraded the Goebbellian art of political propaganda with his lack of innovative misrepresentations, thinks Nigeria will change for the better if her longsuffering citizens improve their morals.

Mohammed said, “About three to five years back now, the role models in the society were people of doubtful character. Money was worshipped; nobody cared where and how one got the money. These are the misplaced values that we are tackling now.” The man’s sneakiness seems boundless. By suggesting that Nigerian values collapsed between 2011 and 2013, he treads the well-worn path of blaming the government’s immediate predecessor for everything that is wrong with Nigeria. If he goes back a little further, he would touch the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. To go back even much farther would hit Obasanjo and risk his legendary vindictiveness. Mohammed therefore conveniently abjures history and blames President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s perennial whipping boy – Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

If Mohammed had consulted a sense of history, he would have realised that corruption is as old as Nigeria. Every coup speech ever read in Nigeria alluded to corruption by the ruling class. That was partly what brought down the First Republic. Mohammed should read, that is if he hasn’t done that by now, Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease and A Man of the People, the latter book a sociological treatise on the culture of corruption and how it implicates the wilfully and unwilfully corrupt. What else is left for him to say about corruption and its social impact that has not been said in the past? Does Mohammed imagine that what ails Nigeria can be cured by a campaign that beats people on the head with empty slogans, media noise, and mere spectacles? If all the churches and mosques in Nigeria who deafen our poor ears with noise every day of our Nigerian lives have not resolved the problem, what good will Mohammed’s campaign do?

Here is another instance of Mohammed’s disingenuity: He said the campaign would not be the same as Buhari’s famous WAI (another project with an incoherent manifesto launched some weeks ago) but they would achieve what Buhari did in 1985 through persuasion. He said, “In 1983, they used what they had to achieve what they wanted, which was to correct the decadence in society, tackle corruption and impunity. However, in the area of enforcement, people alleged infractions and intimidation.”

To Mohammed, the wanton abuses people experienced under the jackboot of Buhari was simply a matter of allegations and its truth basis does not really matter. His argument is like speaking with the split fang of a snake: it did not happen but if it did, it was out of necessity for a government eager to straighten the country. Of course, Mohammed works with Buhari and he cannot be expected to be critical of his boss but if he would take some time to read Prof Wole Soyinka’s essay, “The Crimes of Buhari,” he would know that those cases of “infractions and intimidations” were no mere allegations.

This is what Mohammed and his fellow campaigners must note: Change does not begin with the average Nigerian. No, it begins with those who promised us “change” a year ago. They got into office and Nigeria turned out to be animal farm where clueless pigs replaced clueless human. Readers of Animal Farm will recall the iconic scene at the end where the face of the pigs and that of human were no longer distinguishable. Those who were kicked out are no worse than those who replaced them. Rather than own up to their foibles, Mohammed wants to push the responsibility of changing Nigeria to poor hapless people. His campaign is an alibi being prepared for their government in case they end up with an F on their report card.

Change Begins With Me will be their excuse if they do not achieve what they promised Nigerians. With it, they can blame their victims – the poor Nigerians who have a poor attitude which has kept the country poor. Similar campaigns in the past have failed and this one is not going anywhere either because it is another shoddy attempt to deny the reality that plagues our Nigerian existence. The campaign is a diversionary tactic, a propaganda vehicle for paternalistic pontification by a hypocritical lot. They want to ask Nigerians to develop the culture of integrity and accountability when the government from whose body language we take our behavioural cues lacks similar values. Oh, and the cruel irony of the same Mohammed that raided a government ministry to fund his international travel now instructing us on values!

In the past one year, this government has displayed a lack of coordination, and inconsistency in issuing policies. That has impacted the economy rather poorly.

Today, in many places in Nigeria, people are starving and the tension that pervades the land reminds one of the Sani Abacha years. In the midst of such hopelessness, crimes will rise and duplicity will increase as people hustle to survive. In that same period, Mohammed will launch a campaign to teach people to be honest and accountable. He will distribute posters and other materials that will eventually become an environmental nuisance to ask people to develop moral values. He will stage spectacular concerts that are expected to pierce our consciousness and convert us to good behaviour. All of this, let us not forget, will gulp money like similar ones in the past.

It is amusing that all the examples of corruption by Nigerians which Mohammed and co stated that they want to erase through attitudinal change are symptoms of the culture of poverty and underdevelopment. Their failure to see it for what it is means that a solution will not be fashioned soon.

Mohammed is actually right that Nigeria’s problems do not begin and end with its elite but having travelled on this same campaign route at least twice, we can recognise fatuous nonsense from afar. If such an initiative will exist, it should be at the behest of a private organisation, not a floundering government.

No, change does not begin with Nigerians and we will not let them shift that responsibility to us. If they want change, let them start with themselves and their tribe of rulers!
http://punchng.com/dear-lai-change-not-begin/

Congratulations

Success ahead

Funny Man

Ajibola Olayinka is not a typical international student. Like many others, he arrived at South Plains College being unfamiliar with the landscape and the culture. His journey from his homeland to West Texas was just the beginning of a wonderful two-year experience in Levelland.
His journey began with an internet search to find a two-year institution that taught Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration. The search was narrowed because Olayinka sought one particular class, Programmable Logic Controllers. The course was offered at South Plains College.
Olayinka, 43, had spent nearly 20 years working as an air conditioning technician in his homeland. He worked at the Nigerian Brewery for 11 years prior to working at the United States Embassy in Abuja. He stayed there for four years.
“I kept seeing the same issue with technology not being as good as it could be,” he said. “I decided to come back to school where I could learn how to address that issue.”
Coming from a land where electricity is unstable, Olayinka said that people of means were the only ones with the resources to have air conditioning. In his village, most residents cooled their homes with blocks of ice.
Olayinka was familiar with the procedures to attend college in another country. He had other friends from his village come to the United States and attend South Plains College. He applied for admission, and, upon gaining acceptance, Olayinka secured a student visa to attend SPC. In January 2013, he said goodbye to his wife, Deborah, and their three children, Elizabeth (13), Dorcas (10) and Mary (cool. He boarded a plane and headed to Texas.
“I missed my flight after landing in Houston,” he said. “The people there were so wonderful. I told them that I needed to get to Levelland. They asked me, ‘what is the nearest city that has an airport?’ I told them I didn’t know!
“They were able to get me a flight to Lubbock,” he said. “I took a cab ride to campus.”
Olayinka arrived in West Texas totally unaware of the weather conditions. He had not packed a heavy jacket. When he came to campus, one of the first people he met was John Baker, his new residence hall director. Baker took Olayinka to the local Wal Mart where Olayinka purchased a heavy jacket. He said there are no Wal Marts in his village.
“It was so cold here,” he said. “We do not have snow or ice like this at home!
“In Nigeria, we have two seasons,” he said. “The dry season is from late August to April. The rainy season starts in April and goes through July. It’s not like that here!”
Olayinka said his transition to life on campus was initially challenging. After his first visit to the cafeteria, he suffered from stomach ailments.
“We do not eat these foods at home,” he said.
Olayinka said he started choosing items that featured foods he had at home – such as rice and potatoes. Soon he was able to navigate the cuisine and he adapted to the selections during his time on campus.
In the classroom, Olayinka said he focused on his coursework and he didn’t make many friends. He spent most of his time alone or with his roommate.
“He would laugh at me because I would iron all of my clothes at one time,” Olayinka said. “Then he asked me why do I do it like that? I told him that at home, I would iron all my clothes at one time because we may not have electricity for two weeks at a time. He said I didn’t have to worry about that here – we always have electricity!”
After his first semester, Olayinka began talking to students in his classrooms and residence hall. He began making friends and, he said, it made everything he was doing even better. At SPC, Olayinka was named to the President’s List for fall 2013, spring 2014, fall 2014 and spring 2015. He received the Kenneth Neagale Memorial Scholarship Award in 2013, the SPC Founders’ Scholarship Award in 2013 and the Residence Hall Hardworking and Dedication Award 2013. He is a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, the Residence Hall Association and a participant in on-campus intramurals.
Olayinka said he encountered the problem of how to communicate with his wife back home. His cell phone would not work in the USA. After trying to purchase a new cell phone and plan from a local vendor, he contacted a friend from Nigeria who was living in Midland on Facebook. His friend helped Olayinka resolve the phone issue with Simply Mobile, and he was able to contact his wife.
“She is the reason that I have been successful here,” Olayinka said. “She encouraged me and told me to do well.”
Olayinka’s success at South Plains College recently earned him the President’s Student of the Year Award. The award represents the highest recognition a student can receive at SPC. It honors an outstanding student who has been successful academically and socially while making significant contributions to the campus environment.
“To stand there next to Dr. Sharp was truly wonderful and unexpected,” Olayinka said. “I am so honored that he would recognize me.” Olayinka was presented the President’s Award at the Student Awards Assembly held May 7.
Sharing in the celebration of Olayinka’s academic success will be his wife and youngest daughter who arrived in Levelland on Monday (May 11) to attend graduation. Olayinka plans to transfer to West Texas A&M University to continue his studies in Engineering Technology.

Ajibola Olayinka in Levelland , Texas May 14, 2015





Odeyele Ayodeji is presently a freelance writer sent this from Midland, Texas. United States of America.

Ajibola Olayinka is not a typical international student. Like many others, he arrived at South Plains College being unfamiliar with the landscape and the culture. His journey from his homeland to West Texas was just the beginning of a wonderful two-year experience in Levelland.
His journey began with an internet search to find a two-year institution that taught Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration. The search was narrowed because Olayinka sought one particular class, Programmable Logic Controllers. The course was offered at South Plains College.
Olayinka, 43, had spent nearly 20 years working as an air conditioning technician in his homeland. He worked at the Nigerian Brewery for 11 years prior to working at the United States Embassy in Abuja. He stayed there for four years.
“I kept seeing the same issue with technology not being as good as it could be,” he said. “I decided to come back to school where I could learn how to address that issue.”
Coming from a land where electricity is unstable, Olayinka said that people of means were the only ones with the resources to have air conditioning. In his village, most residents cooled their homes with blocks of ice.
Olayinka was familiar with the procedures to attend college in another country. He had other friends from his village come to the United States and attend South Plains College. He applied for admission, and, upon gaining acceptance, Olayinka secured a student visa to attend SPC. In January 2013, he said goodbye to his wife, Deborah, and their three children, Elizabeth (13), Dorcas (10) and Mary (. He boarded a plane and headed to Texas.
“I missed my flight after landing in Houston,” he said. “The people there were so wonderful. I told them that I needed to get to Levelland. They asked me, ‘what is the nearest city that has an airport?’ I told them I didn’t know!
“They were able to get me a flight to Lubbock,” he said. “I took a cab ride to campus.”
Olayinka arrived in West Texas totally unaware of the weather conditions. He had not packed a heavy jacket. When he came to campus, one of the first people he met was John Baker, his new residence hall director. Baker took Olayinka to the local Wal Mart where Olayinka purchased a heavy jacket. He said there are no Wal Marts in his village.
“It was so cold here,” he said. “We do not have snow or ice like this at home!
“In Nigeria, we have two seasons,” he said. “The dry season is from late August to April. The rainy season starts in April and goes through July. It’s not like that here!”
Olayinka said his transition to life on campus was initially challenging. After his first visit to the cafeteria, he suffered from stomach ailments.
“We do not eat these foods at home,” he said.
Olayinka said he started choosing items that featured foods he had at home – such as rice and potatoes. Soon he was able to navigate the cuisine and he adapted to the selections during his time on campus.
In the classroom, Olayinka said he focused on his coursework and he didn’t make many friends. He spent most of his time alone or with his roommate.
“He would laugh at me because I would iron all of my clothes at one time,” Olayinka said. “Then he asked me why do I do it like that? I told him that at home, I would iron all my clothes at one time because we may not have electricity for two weeks at a time. He said I didn’t have to worry about that here – we always have electricity!”
After his first semester, Olayinka began talking to students in his classrooms and residence hall. He began making friends and, he said, it made everything he was doing even better. At SPC, Olayinka was named to the President’s List for fall 2013, spring 2014, fall 2014 and spring 2015. He received the Kenneth Neagale Memorial Scholarship Award in 2013, the SPC Founders’ Scholarship Award in 2013 and the Residence Hall Hardworking and Dedication Award 2013. He is a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, the Residence Hall Association and a participant in on-campus intramurals.
Olayinka said he encountered the problem of how to communicate with his wife back home. His cell phone would not work in the USA. After trying to purchase a new cell phone and plan from a local vendor, he contacted a friend from Nigeria who was living in Midland on Facebook. His friend helped Olayinka resolve the phone issue with Simply Mobile, and he was able to contact his wife.
“She is the reason that I have been successful here,” Olayinka said. “She encouraged me and told me to do well.”
Olayinka’s success at South Plains College recently earned him the President’s Student of the Year Award. The award represents the highest recognition a student can receive at SPC. It honors an outstanding student who has been successful academically and socially while making significant contributions to the campus environment.
“To stand there next to Dr. Sharp was truly wonderful and unexpected,” Olayinka said. “I am so honored that he would recognize me.” Olayinka was presented the President’s Award at the Student Awards Assembly held May 7.
Sharing in the celebration of Olayinka’s academic success will be his wife and youngest daughter who arrived in Levelland on Monday (May 11) to attend graduation. Olayinka plans to transfer to West Texas A&M University to continue his studies in Engineering Technology.

Ajibola Olayinka in Levelland , Texas May 14, 2015

Odeyele Ayodeji is presently a freelance writer sent this from Midland, Texas. United States of America

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Man sentenced to 693 years in jail for aggravated sexual assault of a child

MIDLAND -- A man faces life in jail after being found guilty of several counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child by a Midland jury.

According to a press release from the Midland County District Attorney's Office, a jury found Kelly Alexander Lewis guilty of seven counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child on Wednesday.

The assaults were alleged to have taken place between September 1, 2014 and December 23, 2014 with a female family member under the age of 14.

Lewis' punishment, which was decided on Thursday, will force him to serve 99 years of confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on each count concurrently, as well as adding a $10,000 fine to each count. The total combined years of each count come to 693.
The range of punishment for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child is 5-99 years of confinement , or life, in penitentiary.

http://www.mrt.com/news/crime/article_99721ba4-657d-11e6-a4e7-4be4e7ac01c2.html