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 Christianity Etc › Re: Happy 73rd Birthday To Pastor Adeboye by Titilayodeji13(m): 7:27pm On Mar 01, 2015 |
happy birthday, Pastor Adeboye,may God bless u always sir. |
| Politics › CNN Gaffe Mistakes Vladimir Putin Forjihadi John by Titilayodeji13(op): 2:11pm On Mar 01, 2015 |
CNN apologises after technical error leads to photograph of Russian president being displayed during discussion of Isil recruit's identity CNN has apologised after a technical glitch led to the station using a photograph of Vladimir Putin to illustrate a story about Jihadi John's true identity. The mistake came as Max Foster, CNN London correspondent, discussed the fate of hostages held by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and the possibility that Jihadi John, identified this week as Mohammed Emwazi, would ever face justice. Half of the split screen switched from the chilling picture of the masked terrorist wielding a knife to an image of the Russian president before it was quickly removed. The episode was seized on by Russia Today, the state funded broadcaster which is frequently described as a mouthpiece for Moscow, as the latest blunder by the American news channel. It has gleefully pointed out inaccuracies in CNN's maps of Eastern Europe from time to time. A spokesman for CNN told the Tass news agency: "Due to a failure of a video server during today's breaking news broadcast, a photo of Vladimir Putin, prepared for our next report, was accidentally shown. "We apologise for that mistake." Emwazi, a computer studies graduate who grew up in west London, was named as Jihadi John by The Washington Post this week , ending months of speculation about his true identity. His London accent, violent rhetoric and masked face has become a standard feature of Isis murder videos. He was one of a number of British-accented recruits, known by the Beatles nicknames John, George and Ringo. The widow of David Haines, a British aid worker who was murdered last year , said that she wanted Emwazi to be taken alive to deny him the "honourable death" of being killed in action http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/11441991/CNN-gaffe-mistakes-Vladimir-Putin-for-Jihadi-John.html |
| Politics › Troops On Patrol Encounter Terrorists, Recover Arms by Titilayodeji13(op): 12:53pm On Mar 01, 2015 |
Troops on cordon and search along Djimitillo Damaturu road axis on Friday night had an encounter with a group of terrorists after their hideout was discovered by troops. The fierce fight to dislodge them from the location which is very close to a market, resulted in the capture of Machine Guns and rifles as well as the death of some number of them. 9 Likes
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| Politics › The End Of Apc’s Fabricated Momentum By FEMI ARIBISALA by Titilayodeji13(op): 8:48pm On Feb 28, 2015 |
www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/the-end-of-apcs-fabricated-momentum/ I HAVE news for APC stalwarts. You don’t win an election in Nigeria by being the champion of social media. You don’t win by renting crowds to fill up your rallies. You don’t win by putting up your billboards everywhere while tearing down those of your opponents. You don’t win by master- minding in the media a false sense of the inevitability of your victory. When you do all this successfully, you simply end up deceiving yourself. You win elections by mounting an effective ground-game at the grassroots level; designed to bring out the people on Election Day to vote for you. Instead, APC strategy was to stampede the electorate into victory. The design was to proclaim victory even before the election, laying grounds for protests and acrimony in event of defeat. Attempted coup d’état The APC blueprint is see-through. Present a new refurbished, suit-wearing and church- visiting Buhari to the electorate chanting a mantra of “change.” Give him a Teflon- coated Redeemed pastor as vice-presidential running-mate. Shield him from public scrutiny and debates to hide his weaknesses and absent-mindedness. Gloss over his objectionable past and pedigree. Mount an aggressive image-laundering social media campaign. So doing, before the PDP and the public would be up to your game, the election would be over. Nigerians would wake up on February 15th to discover to our cost that we had been hoodwinked into handing over power to Buhari and the Tinubu cabal. The APC mechanism for perfecting this plan entailed bullying the PDP into defeat. In the North, PDP supporters were threatened and harassed. Some quickly packed their bag and baggage and left town. Even Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy was stoned by APC “democrats.” In Gombe, a suicide bomber paid a courtesy call on the president’s campaign rally. But the killer-punch was to be the disenfranchisement of literally millions of PDP voters. With the complicity of Jega’s INEC, APC strongholds were supplied with PVCs: while PDP strongholds were denied them. Ghost-voters came out of the woodwork by their hundreds of thousands in unlikely places like the war-torn North-east to collect their PVCs. However, in peaceful higher-population places like Lagos and Kano, non-indigenes were denied their PVCs, suspected of being likely PDP supporters. It is telling that, in all the ensuing brouhaha over 23 million people not yet receiving their PVCs seven days to D-Day, APC remained resolute that the election should go ahead nevertheless. This indicates that it knew the missing PVCs belonged disproportionately to PDP supporters. The denouement However, the entire strategy of the APC met its Waterloo with the postponement of the election. With the postponement, the Buhari election-train came to a screeching halt. Some have argued that the postponement was a military coup by Jonathan and the PDP. However, a more truthful assessment is that the postponement scuttled the APC plan to win the election by subterfuge. APC blundered because it refused to entertain the possibility that the election could actually be postponed. As a result, it did not plan for that eventuality. In this gaffe, it was carried away by its own hyperbole. APC big-guns shouted themselves hoarse warning all and sundry that the election must not be postponed, or else. Worse still, they believed their own rhetoric. APC is used to making threatening noises. It is all stuff and bluster. If it loses, the dogs and the baboons would be soaked in blood. If it loses it would form a parallel government. If the election is postponed, Nigerians would not stand for it. Therefore, it expended all its political and financial capital on a 14th February election. When it finally dawned on it that the election might be postponed, Buhari made an unusual visit to the Council of State to mount a pathetic eleventh-hour resistance. But alas, the APC was completely outplayed. INEC succumbed to the inevitable and the election was postponed, and for six weeks no less. As a result, the APC stampede came to an end. The orchestrated Buhari momentum came to a screeching halt. Since then, APC pundits have been in shock; scratching their heads because, in all their impetuosity, they had no Plan B. The APC was banking on the element of surprise. That is now gone with the postponement. It was hoping to win the election by disenfranchising PDP voters. That is no longer possible. It is now confronted with fighting an election it always knew it cannot win because it does not have the appropriate structure on the ground at the grassroots level. PDP fight back Sixteen years in power had made the PDP over-confident. It seemed to have been caught unawares by the scripted APC nomination of Buhari and the gimmickry of choosing a Redeemed pastor as his running- mate. As a result, an election that should have been a cake-walk for it suddenly turned into a tight race. Part of this was self- inflicted. PDP had a bad set of primaries; creating considerable dissension within its ranks. Moreover, the PDP was bested in the public relations department; allowing the APC to define the narrative of the election on social media. Had the election gone on as scheduled on 14th February, it would have been close but Jonathan would still have won. But with six weeks delay, the election will not even be close. Even though it was ebbing discernibly, APC had momentum for the 14th February election. By 28th March, that momentum would have dissipated and disappeared. Even now, the momentum is no longer there. Buhari is in London on a dubious visit. APC has run out of breath. Make no mistake about it; the six week postponement of the election has effectively crippled the APC. It is no wonder then that the party has been grumbling non-stop. In the meantime, PDP has been able to get a full measure of the APC. Putting all its eggs in the 14th February date, which it insisted cannot and must not be changed; the APC played all its cards. It put all its eggs in one basket. However, PDP held some in reserve, banking on the postponement of the election. APC’s confusion What happens now? APC is confused. It is stretched for funds. It has lost its mojo, scrambling in panic mode to raise additional 50 billion naira from donors. Speaking to APC stakeholders at the party secretariat in Lagos, Bola Tinubu said: “We have to re- strategise; all of you should go back to your various constituencies starting from tomorrow.” This is a belated acknowledgment that the party now likely to win the election is the one best able to mount an aggressive and effective nationwide grassroots campaign. In that department, the APC is clearly second-best. The party best positioned to mount an effective ground-game and mobilize votes at the grassroots level is the PDP. It has been around for 16 years. PDP local government councilors account for nearly 70 per cent of all councilors in Nigeria, comprising 6,521 members, making it a truly grassroots-based political party. The APC, on the other hand, does not have the nationwide political structure to win the coming election. To date, it is a newspaper and television political party. It has yet to build a formidable grassroots support. It is a JJC party, a little over a year old. With all the noise about Buhari, it should not be forgotten that the man chronically lacks skills at building political party structures. In the APC presidential primaries, Northern delegates did not even vote for him; preferring instead Kwankwaso and Atiku. He was elected primarily on the strength of ACN votes. PDP strength on the ground everywhere in Nigeria explains why Jonathan was able to win 37% of the vote even in Buhari’s home-state of Katsina in the 2011 election. While APC was busy stoking up the press to create its air of inevitable victory, PDP was busy mobilizing its local government councilors. Its Presidential Campaign Organisation brought all its elected and appointed councilors from all over Nigeria to Abuja to mobilize them to secure victory for the party at the grassroots level. In what was captioned “Operation Deliver Your Ward,” Professor Jerry Gana re-fashioned them as political foot-soldiers and grassroots mobilisers for the PDP, split into six groups according to their geopolitical zones. Resurgent PDP Since the postponement, Jonathan is no longer the issue. It is once again Buhari; the coup-plotting former dictator and alleged ethnic and religious jingoist. Thanks to the postponement, Nigerians can no longer be panicked into voting for Buhari. We now have enough time to appreciate that he is old, and completely bereft of ideas as to what to do when in power. It is not enough to shout “change, change.” The question is: change to what? To this question, Buhari provides a deafening silence. In the meantime, the true message of Jonathan’s considerable achievements in office is now resonating. With the commissioning of new power-plants, we are now generating 5,500 megawatts of electricity: a new Nigerian record. We now know from PricewaterhouseCoopers that the allegation that $20 billion is missing from NNPC accounts is one big fat APC lie. The army is now fully-equipped for battle. For the first time in a long time, the Nigerian air force has come into the fray. The Boko Haram is being bombed to smithereens up North. There is even talk of capturing Abubakar Shekau alive. Within the next six weeks, all that is left is for the PDP to put its house in order and APC will be toast. Since Buhari has whipped up himself and his supporters into an unrealistic psychological frenzy in this election cycle, it is certain he will end up at the tribunal, when it finally dawns on him that, in spite of all the bluster, he has lost again. The fate awaiting Buhari brings to mind that of Mitt Romney who was so deceived into believing he would be elected America’s next president in 2012, he had only a victory speech on election night when he was roundly defeated. When the history of the 2015 presidential election is finally written, it will be recalled that the postponement of the election for six weeks was the final nail in the coffin of the APC. |
| Politics › North Korean Leader Tells Army: 'prepare Forwar' by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:54pm On Feb 28, 2015 |
http://news.yahoo.com/north-korean-leader-tells-army-prepare-war-065331561.html North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has urged his army to prepare for war with the United States and its allies, state media said Saturday, as Pyongyang ramps up the rhetoric ahead of US-South Korea military drills. Kim's comments came after South Korea and the United States Friday conducted a joint naval drill involving 10 South Korean warships and a US Aegis destroyer, ahead of the launch of large-scale military exercises that have enraged the North. "The prevailing situation where a great war for national reunification is at hand requires all the KPA (Korean People's Army) units to become (elite) Guard Units fully prepared for war politically and ideologically, in military technique and materially", he was quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. North Korea regularly ratchets up hostile rhetoric at times of joint US-South Korea military exercises that spark a sharp surge in tensions on the divided peninsula. Kim called on the military to train hard in order "to tear to pieces the Stars and Stripes", in comments made while opening a new hall at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang, KCNA said. The drill Friday was a prelude to an eight- week exercise, Foal Eagle, involving air, ground and naval field training, with around 200,000 Korean and 3,700 US troops that begins on Monday. A week-long, largely computer-simulated joint drill, Key Resolve, will also get under way. Seoul and Washington insist the exercises are defence-based in nature, but they are condemned by Pyongyang as provocative rehearsals for invasion. North Korea had offered a moratorium on carrying out nuclear tests if this year's joint drills were cancelled -- a proposal rejected by Washington as an "implicit threat" to carry out a fourth atomic drill. North Korea claims it won the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war. |
| Politics › 2015 Election:things To Know About Inecscard Readers by Titilayodeji13(op): 5:18am On Feb 28, 2015 |
huhuonline.com/index.php/more-news1/5182-2015-election-things-to-know-about-inecs-card-readers Question 1: Why use Card Readers? Answer: For the first time in Nigeria’s electoral history, electronic voter authentication system, with the aid of smart card readers, is being deployed for the 2015 general elections. Using Card Readers has enormous advantages, which include: 1. Once configured, the Card Reader can only read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Any person that shows up at the polling unit without a PVC or with a card not issued by INEC will not be able to vote. 2. The Card Reader reads the embedded chip on the PVC, not the barcode, and it shares a secret code with the PVC; thus it is impossible to falsify the cards. 3. The Card Reader authenticates the identity of the voter by cross-matching his/her fingerprints with that stored on the embedded chip. No person can vote using another person’s PVC. 4. The Card reader keeps a tally of all cards read, comprising the details of all voters verified as well as those not verified, and transmits the collected information to a central INEC server via GSM data service. 5. Information transmitted to the server will enable INEC to audit results from polling units, as well as do a range of statistical analysis of the demographics of voting. 6. Collation officers will also be able to use information transmitted by the Card Reader to audit polling unit result sheets and determine whether accreditation figures have been altered. Question 2: Is the usage of Card Readers for 2015 elections legal? Answer: The use of the Card Reader for the purpose of accreditation of voters is one of the innovations introduced by the Commission to improve the integrity of the electoral process. It does not violate the Electoral Act 2010, as Amended, or the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as Amended. It adds value to the process in line with the yearnings of Nigerians for credible elections, and accords with international best practices. Whereas the Electoral Act prohibits the use of electronic voting, the Card Reader is not a voting machine and is not used for voting. The Card Reader is used only for accreditation of voters, and only accreditation (and not voting) data is transmitted by it. Question 3: How does the Card Reader work? Answer: The Card Reader uses a highly secure cryptographic technology that is used commonly in devices that need to perform secure transactions, such as paying terminals. It has ultra-low power consumption, with a single core frequency of 1.2GHz and an Android 4.2.2. Operating System. The INEC staff operating the Card Reader will scan the PVC of each voter to verify its genuiness before allowing the voter to get accredited. It takes an average of 10 to 20 seconds to authenticate a voter. Question 4: How long is the battery life of the Card Reader? Answer: The Card reader has a 3200mAh battery, which can lasts for about 12 hours in continual usage when fully charged. The device hibernates when not in use to save and lengthen the battery life. Question 5: Who operates the Card Reader at the Polling Unit? Answer: An Assistant Presiding Officer (APO) at the polling unit has the responsibility to operate the Card Reader. Poll officials that will operate the Card Readers have received extensive hands-on training and are well equipped to handle the task. The Commission has also painstakingly outlined the operational procedures in its ‘Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of 2015 General Elections ’. Question 6: Have the Card Readers been tested ahead of the 2015 general elections? Answer: The Card Reader units have been broadly subjected to simulation Quality Assurance, Integrity and Functionality tests and INEC has full confidence in their performance for election purposes. The device has also been subjected to Performance and Conformance Test, both locally and in Texas, United States, laboratories by the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Research Centre and found to be of the highest quality grade. Besides all these, and with additional time resulting from the rescheduling of the 2015 general elections, the Commission has directed that Stress Test be conducted on the Card Reader device in mock election scenarios – two states in each of the six geo-political zones – ahead of the new election dates. (Details of this exercise will be unveiled by the Commission next week.) Question 7: Can the Card Reader fail to function? Answer: Going by the results of tests already conducted, it is highly unlikely that the Card Reader will fail on Election Day. Still, INEC has drawn up serial intervention plans in the unlikely event of the Card Readers failing. (i) Should there be a challenge with battery power for the device, the Commission has procured more than 35,000 back-up batteries that can be rapidly deployed. (ii) If the device itself fails in the course of accreditation, the Commission has procured more than 26,000 spares that can be rapidly deployed in replacement within the scheduled accreditation hours of 8a.m. – 1p.m. Whatever time is lost on these scheduled hours in the course of replacement will be added and accreditation extended beyond 1p.m. to compensate for the lost time. (iii) In the extremely unlikely and isolated event that a faulty Card Reader can’t be replaced within the scheduled accreditation hours, INEC has come to a firm agreement with political parties that the exercise be repeated the following day rather than revert to manual accreditation. These procedures, which registered political parties have agreed to, have been written into the ‘Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of 2015 General Elections ’. Question 8: What if the Card Reader verifies a voter’s PVC but his/her fingerprints cannot be authenticated? Answer: The Commission has come to an agreement with registered political parties on what to do: namely that if a voter’s PVC has been read and it is evident that he/she is the legitimate holder of the card, but the fingerprints cannot be authenticated (or he/ she doesn’t have fingers), the Presiding Officer of the voting point will complete an incident form and the voter will be accredited to vote. Party Agents and Observers would be there to witness to this. Question 9: Is it possible to accredit all voters who turn out within the stipulated hours for accreditation using the Card Reader? Answer: The accreditation of a voter, using the Card Reader, is estimated to last an average of 10 to 20 seconds per voter. Even if we double this time to 20 to 45 seconds for planning purposes, and working on the basis of a maximum of 750 voters per voting point, and using a generous projection of 70% voter turnout (the average being 54% from past elections), which equates to 525 voters, the card reader will need 6.5hours to process all the voters. This is well within the operating time for the elections as well as the battery life of the Card reader. Question 10: How is the Card Reader programmed? Answer: To prevent fraudulent use, the Card Rader is configured to work only on Election Days. In addition, the device is configured to specific polling units and cannot be used elsewhere without requiring reconfiguration by authorised INEC personnel. Question 11: How has the INEC’s Card Reader addressed the problems experienced in other countries in the sub-region? Answer: The challenge with a few of the Card Reader devices in Ghana, for instance, during the country’s 2012 general elections was the battery power, apparently because the affected devices were not fully charged. It was in learning from this experience that INEC designed the Card Readers to be used in the 2015 elections with 12-hour battery life in active usage, and also procured more than 35,000 units of back-up batteries. The imperative of adequate charging of the Card Readers is underscored during the trainings of election personnel. The supposed technology failures during Kenya’s general elections in 2013 had nothing to do with card readers, as the country used computer poll books for accreditation. The challenge was rather with the electronic system used in transmitting results, and not card readers. |
| Politics › Buhari’s Speech At Chatham House –nigeria’s Transition by Titilayodeji13(op): 3:02pm On Feb 26, 2015 |
saharareporters.com/2015/02/26/buhari’s-speech-chatham-house-–-nigeria’s-transition Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House for the invitation to talk about this important topic at this crucial time. When speaking about Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my country’s public relations and marketing officer, extolling her virtues and hoping to attract investments and tourists. But as we all know, Nigeria is now battling with many challenges, and if I refer to them, I do so only to impress on our friends in the United Kingdom that we are quite aware of our shortcomings and are doing our best to address them. The 2015 general election in Nigeria is generating a lot of interests within and outside the country. This is understandable. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, is at a defining moment, a moment that has great implications beyond the democratic project and beyond the borders of my dear country. So let me say upfront that the global interest in Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at all and indeed should be commended; for this is an election that has serious import for the world. I urge the international community to continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in our collective interests that the postponed elections should hold on the rescheduled dates; that they should be free and fair; that their outcomes should be respected by all parties; and that any form of extension, under whichever guise, is unconstitutional and will not be tolerated. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War, democracy became the dominant and most preferred system of government across the globe. That global transition has been aptly captured as the triumph of democracy and the ‘most pre-eminent political idea of our time.’ On a personal note, the phased end of the USSR was a turning point for me. It convinced me that change can be brought about without firing a single shot. As you all know, I had been a military head of state in Nigeria for twenty months. We intervened because we were unhappy with the state of affairs in our country. We wanted to arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we fought our way to power. But the global triumph of democracy has shown that another and a preferable path to change is possible. It is an important lesson I have carried with me since, and a lesson that is not lost on the African continent. In the last two decades, democracy has grown strong roots in Africa. Elections, once so rare, are now so commonplace. As at the time I was a military head of state between 1983 and 1985, only four African countries held regular multi-party elections. But the number of electoral democracies in Africa, according to Freedom House, jumped to 10 in 1992/1993 then to 18 in 1994/1995 and to 24 in 2005/2006. According to the New York Times, 42 of the 48 countries in Sub- Saharan Africa conducted multi-party elections between 1990 and 2002. The newspaper also reported that between 2000 and 2002, ruling parties in four African countries (Senegal, Mauritius, Ghana and Mali) peacefully handed over power to victorious opposition parties. In addition, the proportion of African countries categorized as not free by Freedom House declined from 59% in 1983 to 35% in 2003. Without doubt, Africa has been part of the current global wave of democratisation. But the growth of democracy on the continent has been uneven. According to Freedom House, the number of electoral democracies in Africa slipped from 24 in 2007/2008 to 19 in 2011/2012; while the percentage of countries categorised as ‘not free’ assuming for the sake of argument that we accept their definition of “free” increased from 35% in 2003 to 41% in 2013. Also, there have been some reversals at different times in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania and Togo. We can choose to look at the glass of democracy in Africa as either half full or half empty. While you can’t have representative democracy without elections, it is equally important to look at the quality of the elections and to remember that mere elections do not democracy make. It is globally agreed that democracy is not an event, but a journey. And that the destination of that journey is democratic consolidation – that state where democracy has become so rooted and so routine and widely accepted by all actors. With this important destination in mind, it is clear that though many African countries now hold regular elections, very few of them have consolidated the practice of democracy. It is important to also state at this point that just as with elections, a consolidated democracy cannot be an end by itself. I will argue that it is not enough to hold a series of elections or even to peacefully alternate power among parties. It is much more important that the promise of democracy goes beyond just allowing people to freely choose their leaders. It is much more important that democracy should deliver on the promise of choice, of freedoms, of security of lives and property, of transparency and accountability, of rule of law, of good governance and of shared prosperity. It is very important that the promise embedded in the concept of democracy, the promise of a better life for the generality of the people, is not delivered in the breach. Now, let me quickly turn to Nigeria. As you all know, Nigeria’s fourth republic is in its 16th year and this general election will be the fifth in a row. This is a major sign of progress for us, given that our first republic lasted five years and three months, the second republic ended after four years and two months and the third republic was a still-birth. However, longevity is not the only reason why everyone is so interested in this election. The major difference this time around is that for the very first time since transition to civil rule in 1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing its stiffest opposition so far from our party the All Progressives Congress (APC). We once had about 50 political parties, but with no real competition. Now Nigeria is transitioning from a dominant party system to a competitive electoral polity, which is a major marker on the road to democratic consolidation. As you know, peaceful alternation of power through competitive elections have happened in Ghana, Senegal, Malawi and Mauritius in recent times. The prospects of democratic consolidation in Africa will be further brightened when that eventually happens in Nigeria. But there are other reasons why Nigerians and the whole world are intensely focussed on this year’s elections, chief of which is that the elections are holding in the shadow of huge security, economic and social uncertainties in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy. On insecurity, there is a genuine cause for worry, both within and outside Nigeria. Apart from the civil war era, at no other time in our history has Nigeria been this insecure. Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our nationals, displacing millions internally and externally, and at a time holding on to portions of our territory the size of Belgium. What has been consistently lacking is the required leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as a retired general and a former head of state, have always known about our soldiers: they are capable, well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty in the service of our country. You all can bear witness to the gallant role of our military in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur and in many other peacekeeping operations in several parts of the world. But in the matter of this insurgency, our soldiers have neither received the necessary support nor the required incentives to tackle this problem. The government has also failed in any effort towards a multi-dimensional response to this problem leading to a situation in which we have now become dependent on our neighbours to come to our rescue. Let me assure you that if I am elected president, the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay special attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service, we will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we will improve intelligence gathering and border controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and equipment channels, we will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development plan promoting infrastructural development, job creation, agriculture and industry in the affected areas. We will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front and return Nigeria to its leadership role in regional and international efforts to combat terrorism. On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright side, inflation has been kept at single digit for a while and our economy has grown at an average of 7% for about a decade. But it is more of paper growth, a growth that, on account of mismanagement, profligacy and corruption, has not translated to human development or shared prosperity. A development economist once said three questions should be asked about a country’s development: one, what is happening to poverty? Two, what is happening to unemployment? And three, what is happening to inequality? The answers to these questions in Nigeria show that the current administration has created two economies in one country, a sorry tale of two nations: one economy for a few who have so much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the other economy for the many who have so little in their vast ocean of misery. Even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million, almost the population of the United Kingdom. There is also the unemployment crisis simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of our adult population and almost 60% of our youth unemployed. We also have one of the highest rates of inequalities in the world. With all these, it is not surprising that our performance on most governance and development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on African Governance and UNDP’s Human Development Index.) are unflattering. With fall in the prices of oil, which accounts for more than 70% of government revenues, and lack of savings from more than a decade of oil boom, the poor will be disproportionately impacted. In the face of dwindling revenues, a good place to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned under the present administration: waste and corruption. And in doing this, I will, if elected, lead the way, with the force of personal example. On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference. But I must emphasise that any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity. In reforming the economy, we will use savings that arise from blocking these leakages and the proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our party’s social investments programmes in education, health, and safety nets such as free school meals for children, emergency public works for unemployed youth and pensions for the elderly. As a progressive party, we must reform our political economy to unleash the pent-up ingenuity and productivity of the Nigerian people thus freeing them from the curse of poverty. We will run a private sector-led economy but maintain an active role for government through strong regulatory oversight and deliberate interventions and incentives to diversify the base of our economy, strengthen productive sectors, improve the productive capacities of our people and create jobs for our teeming youths. In short, we will run a functional economy driven by a worldview that sees growth not as an end by itself, but as a tool to create a society that works for all, rich and poor alike. On March 28, Nigeria has a decision to make. To vote for the continuity of failure or to elect progressive change. I believe the people will choose wisely. In sum, I think that given its strategic importance, Nigeria can trigger a wave of democratic consolidation in Africa. But as a starting point we need to get this critical election right by ensuring that they go ahead, and depriving those who want to scuttle it the benefit of derailing our fledgling democracy. That way, we will all see democracy and democratic consolidation as tools for solving pressing problems in a sustainable way, not as ends in themselves. Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition Permit me to close this discussion on a personal note. I have heard and read references to me as a former dictator in many respected British newspapers including the well regarded Economist. Let me say without sounding defensive that dictatorship goes with military rule, though some might be less dictatorial than others. I take responsibility for whatever happened under my watch. I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future. So before you is a former military ruler and a converted democrat who is ready to operate under democratic norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of democratic elections for the fourth time. You may ask: why is he doing this? This is a question I ask myself all the time too. And here is my humble answer: because the work of making Nigeria great is not yet done, because I still believe that change is possible, this time through the ballot, and most importantly, because I still have the capacity and the passion to dream and work for a Nigeria that will be respected again in the comity of nations and that all Nigerians will be proud of. I thank you for listening. 3 Likes |
| Politics › Military Replies Obasanjo, Says His Utterances “certainly Less Than Noble” by Titilayodeji13(op): 8:26am On Feb 17, 2015 |
After taking a swipe on him, the Defence Headquarters has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo to be genuinely interested in the growth and sustenance of Nigeria’s democratic credentials as well as improve in his understanding of intricate issues concerning the Military operations against the insurgents. The call which was made Monday, in a post on the defence Facebook page urged former Head of State to encourage the military rather than sticking to tendency that indulged in imputation of ulterior motives to every effort, “all for the purpose of discrediting well thought out policies or decisions related to the military’s roles in the polity”. “The leadership and cross section of the military believes that the former President and retired General has every right to be interested in the actions and fate of the military. Hence, his views like many others will continue to be accorded the well-deserved attention. It is however noteworthy that most of his utterances lately indicate an attitude of playing to the gallery or indulging in politicization of serious national security or military affairs” the post noted. . Defence headquarters cited comments credited to Chief Obasanjo, alleging that the postponement of the General Elections was to enable President Jonathan to use the Service Chiefs to plot a tenure extension, stating such was surprising, considering the fact that the retired General chose to ignore the clarification and emphatic assurances of non-partisanship of the military as declared in a DHQ statement on the position of the Armed Forces in the ongoing political activities. “His motive as usual remains unknown but it is certainly less than noble or well intentioned. We dare say again that Chief Obasanjo’s assertions are false. “Much as the military desires to respect the old General and his views, it has become necessary to point out that his conduct and unguarded utterances of late has fallen short of the standard of discipline expected of an individual who has had the privilege of service in the military and risen to the status of a General. “The behavior of retired General (Chief) Obasanjo has been so unbecoming and continued to constitute a serious embarrassment to the military before all who have reasonably and rightly adjudged the essence of military background in terms of the high value and standard it tends to contribute to statesmanship. “We feel constrained to remind the old General that the world has moved beyond that parochial and self-adulating reasoning and mindset which he seems stuck to. Indeed, he needs to be told that by virtue of their better training, exposure, education, assessment and environment, the military personnel of today are already far beyond his level in their appreciation of democracy and its indispensability for the stable and prosperous society which Nigerians cherish” the Military asserted. The defence headquarters informed General Obasanjo that the institution which he bequeathed to the nation has developed beyond how he left it, adding that the military was now better placed to strive for the maintenance of the legacies and ethos of service, valour, subordination to constituted authorities, and nonpartisan commitment to duty and fatherland. The Military stated that it strongly believed in democracy as well as its structures and institutions to the extent that it would do nothing to undermine or truncate its steady growth and development. While pledging to remain professional, the Military also promised onerous duty of working for the stability, defence, and peace of the country under duly constituted authorities in a democratic environment. http://www.africanexaminer.com/military-replies-obasanjo-says-his-utterances-certainly-less-than-noble/ |
| Christianity Etc › Oba Of Benin Is Dead"remember Apostle Suleman's Prophesy by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:02pm On Feb 13, 2015 |
In Apostle Suleman’s 61-point prophecy, he said In Apostle Suleman’s 61-point prophecy, Look at number 13. 1. There shall be harvest of testimonies for women looking for fruit of the womb. 2. President Obama needs serious prayers for his health. 3. I see a woman becoming the president of America, but her health needs attention. 4. Britain needs prayers because of her Queen. 5. I entered the house of former president Shehu Shagari in the spirit and I saw RIP he need prayers. 6. There shall be agricultural boom this year. 7. I saw Catholic Reverend Fathers getting married. I saw a group rise called “Old Catholic Church”, they were on fire for God and caused a revolution. 8. Boko Haram is sponsored by two people; one is a traditional ruler and the other is a retired General. 9. Nollywood should stop nudity and immoral content been shown because God is not happy. 10. Bola Tinubu, Bode George and king of Onitsha need prayers. 11. A great Pentecostal man of God been called to glory. I wept. 12. I see president Goodluck Jonathan coming back but troubles. 13. I saw people crying in the Oba of Benin’s house. 14. Libyan election to be cancelled. 15. El Rufai should go and sit down. For abusing Jesus, he will not win Kaduna election. 16. Brigade Commander Aso rock should be changed. 17. Buhari’s health needs attention. 18. Aminu Tambuwal, I saw him leading Sokoto State. 19. Dangote will not have it smooth this year; he will drop from Africa’s richest. 20. Patience Jonathan needs serious prayers. 21. Egypt will have elections. 22. 2015 presidential election will be rigged, marred in violence and end up in court case. 23. Thank you Jesus! Finally a Christian is now the governor of Lagos state. 24. A popular Abuja pastor needs serious prayers. I saw mourning. 25. I saw the Naira falling greatly. It became N200 (two hundred naira) to 1$ (a dollar). 26. I saw Cameroonian soldiers killing Boko Haram soldiers. 27. Prophets who deceive people, collects their properties, charge money, will face great judgment this year. 28. Rochas Okorocha; I saw him moving to PDP. 29. Contrary to most prophecies, Nigeria will not break up. 30. Nigerian Government will start fighting the Gospel and men of God. 31. Military leaders will be changed. 32. There will be plan to kill Goodluck Jonathan but it will be exposed. 33. I saw governor Amosun return. 34. APC Rivers State needs to do grass root campaign because I saw the election been rigged for PDP. Prayers are needed because of so much bloodshed. 35. Three popular musicians will die; one of them is a young boy. 36. Former President Obasanjo should go and make peace with God, Nigeria is not his problem. 37. The retired Army General one of the sponsors of Bokoharam, God warned him recently with his health. The next, God will take his life. 38. I saw a man win Governorship but not allowed to govern. 39. I saw attention in Delta state moved to Agbor. 40. President Gooluck Jonathan should arrest corrupt leaders. His calmness is what is empowering them to steal. 41. I saw people who resigned as ministers to contest election return back as Federal ministers. 42. I see so much food in Nigeria in 2015. 43. I saw major death in China (I saw group of kids killed) 44. A great man of God whose first name begins with 3rd letter and Surname with 15th letter needs serious prayers. I saw serious crisis and crying. Please let’s pray for him. 45. Let’s pray against military intervention and interim government. 46. President election inconclusive, yet Jonathan declared winner. APC Pray! 47. I don’t see Buhari with credentials to vie for president. 48. Ghana economy to have terrible and serious crisis. 49. With the level of bloodshed I saw, it was better Goodluck goes now to his village quietly. 50. 2015 election is another June 12. The man who truly won will not govern or rule. 51. Arik Airline to pray against disaster. 52. I saw people crying in Alex Ekwueme’s house. Why are they crying? 53. I saw upsurge around bar beach taking people’s lives, water overrunning and bringing down buildings. 54. Pray against three major Air disasters between February and October. 55. I saw a king in Zulu (South Africa) taking a bow. 56. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu needs serious prayer against mourning and death. 57. I saw Niger Delta militants become so powerful and influential in government. 58. God is not happy with Nigerian government for handling power problem. 59. Lawyers will make so much money in 2015. 60. Chief E.K, Clark should pray, not a good year for him. 61. Great men of god to rise in Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria and Europe.. Below are his 2015 prophecies. 1. There shall be harvest of testimonies for women looking for fruit of the womb. 2. President Obama needs serious prayers for his health. 3. I see a woman becoming the president of America, but her health needs attention. 4. Britain needs prayers because of her Queen. 5. I entered the house of former president Shehu Shagari in the spirit and I saw RIP he need prayers. 6. There shall be agricultural boom this year. 7. I saw Catholic Reverend Fathers getting married. I saw a group rise called “Old Catholic Church”, they were on fire for God and caused a revolution. 8. Boko Haram is sponsored by two people; one is a traditional ruler and the other is a retired General. 9. Nollywood should stop nudity and immoral content been shown because God is not happy. 10. Bola Tinubu, Bode George and king of Onitsha need prayers. 11. A great Pentecostal man of God been called to glory. I wept. 12. I see president Goodluck Jonathan coming back but troubles. 13. I saw people crying in the Oba of Benin’s house. 14. Libyan election to be cancelled. 15. El Rufai should go and sit down. For abusing Jesus, he will not win Kaduna election. 16. Brigade Commander Aso rock should be changed. 17. Buhari’s health needs attention. 18. Aminu Tambuwal, I saw him leading Sokoto State. 19. Dangote will not have it smooth this year; he will drop from Africa’s richest. 20. Patience Jonathan needs serious prayers. 21. Egypt will have elections. 22. 2015 presidential election will be rigged, marred in violence and end up in court case. 23. Thank you Jesus! Finally a Christian is now the governor of Lagos state. 24. A popular Abuja pastor needs serious prayers. I saw mourning. 25. I saw the Naira falling greatly. It became N200 (two hundred naira) to 1$ (a dollar). 26. I saw Cameroonian soldiers killing Boko Haram soldiers. 27. Prophets who deceive people, collects their properties, charge money, will face great judgment this year. 28. Rochas Okorocha; I saw him moving to PDP. 29. Contrary to most prophecies, Nigeria will not break up. 30. Nigerian Government will start fighting the Gospel and men of God. 31. Military leaders will be changed. 32. There will be plan to kill Goodluck Jonathan but it will be exposed. 33. I saw governor Amosun return. 34. APC Rivers State needs to do grass root campaign because I saw the election been rigged for PDP. Prayers are needed because of so much bloodshed. 35. Three popular musicians will die; one of them is a young boy. 36. Former President Obasanjo should go and make peace with God, Nigeria is not his problem. 37. The retired Army General one of the sponsors of Bokoharam, God warned him recently with his health. The next, God will take his life. 38. I saw a man win Governorship but not allowed to govern. 39. I saw attention in Delta state moved to Agbor. 40. President Gooluck Jonathan should arrest corrupt leaders. His calmness is what is empowering them to steal. 41. I saw people who resigned as ministers to contest election return back as Federal ministers. 42. I see so much food in Nigeria in 2015. 43. I saw major death in China (I saw group of kids killed) 44. A great man of God whose first name begins with 3rd letter and Surname with 15th letter needs serious prayers. I saw serious crisis and crying. Please let’s pray for him. 45. Let’s pray against military intervention and interim government. 46. President election inconclusive, yet Jonathan declared winner. APC Pray! 47. I don’t see Buhari with credentials to vie for president. 48. Ghana economy to have terrible and serious crisis. 49. With the level of bloodshed I saw, it was better Goodluck goes now to his village quietly. 50. 2015 election is another June 12. The man who truly won will not govern or rule. 51. Arik Airline to pray against disaster. 52. I saw people crying in Alex Ekwueme’s house. Why are they crying? 53. I saw upsurge around bar beach taking people’s lives, water overrunning and bringing down buildings. 54. Pray against three major Air disasters between February and October. 55. I saw a king in Zulu (South Africa) taking a bow. 56. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu needs serious prayer against mourning and death. 57. I saw Niger Delta militants become so powerful and influential in government. 58. God is not happy with Nigerian government for handling power problem. 59. Lawyers will make so much money in 2015. 60. Chief E.K, Clark should pray, not a good year for him. 61. Great men of god to rise in Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria and Europe. |
| Politics › Court Affirms Jonathan’s Eligibility For 2015 Election by Titilayodeji13(op): 3:03pm On Feb 11, 2015 |
A Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a suit seeking the disqualification of President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2015 presidential election. The suit was based on the argument that Mr. Jonathan had taken the oath of office twice, and was by law ineligible for a third, should he win. Mr. Jonathan took the oath as president when he took over from the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010, and again when he won his election in 2011. In a ruling Wednesday, the court quashed the case and awarded N50,000 cost to the president, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/176617-breaking-court-affirms-jonathans-eligibility-2015-election.html[quote][/quote] 36 Likes 10 Shares |
| Politics › The End Of Buhari’s Presidential Candidacy By Femi Aribisala by Titilayodeji13(op): 1:13pm On Feb 10, 2015 |
http://globalreportersnews.com/2015/02/the-end-of-buharis-presidential-candidacy/ IF Nigeria is a nation of laws and of the rule of law, the presidential candidacy of Muhammadu Buhari should end this week. The reason is well-known to all. Buhari swore an oath on his INEC application that his credentials are with the military. This turned out to be a lie. The military has come out to deny that it has Buhari’s credentials. That means Buhari committed perjury instead of fulfilling INEC requirements. For this reason, he must be disqualified from contesting the presidential election. The matter has been taken to court and the courts should decide the matter this week. I am not a lawyer, but from my layman’s perspective, this is an open and shut case. Buhari lied willfully. As a former military secretary of the Nigerian Army, he knew that the military does not keep any credentials of its service-men. Nevertheless, he lied on oath that his credentials are with the military. He must face the penalty for this perjury. There can be debate about whether, and for how long, he should go to jail. However, there can be no question about his resultant ineligibility to contest: he must be disqualified. To overlook this infraction is to succumb to Buhari’s appraisal that Nigeria is corrupt. If we are going to deal with corruption, we must not fail to deal with the likes of Buhari, who are contemptuous of the laws of the land. Buhari’s false affidavit is corruption. The disqualification of Buhari by the courts will be a testament to the determination of the judiciary to show zero tolerance for corruption in the coming new dispensation. Some of us have watched APC make a song and dance about the possibility of postponing the 2015 elections. The party brought out all its big guns to tell us that the election cannot be postponed. They insisted that if it is postponed all hell would break lose. Well, the election has been postponed and nothing has happened. It has been postponed and the APC can do nothing about it. It was postponed according to the law. Similarly, the heavens will not fall with the lawful disqualification of Buhari. Of all those APC could present as its presidential candidate, it chose a man without the appropriate credentials. APC has nobody to blame but itself for this fiasco. It has forfeited its chance of presenting a candidate for the 2015 presidential election. The contest should now be between the remaining 13 presidential candidates. Shikenan! JEGA MUST GO IMMEDIATELY The excuse used to force Attahiru Jega to postpone the elections is the inability to provide effective security given the insurgency in the North-East. However, there is little likelihood that the security situation will improve within the next six weeks of the postponement. So, strictly-speaking, security has nothing to do with the postponement. One major reason for the postponement was to prevent INEC from compromising the election. INEC has long ceased to be a disinterested umpire in this election. The evidence is now overwhelming that INEC is determined to bias the election in favour of Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. This is evident in INEC’s determination to go ahead with the election in spite of the fact that out of 68 million registered voters, over 20 million have yet to receive their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs). It is remarkable that, in announcing the postponement, Jega conveniently forgot to mention the nagging issue of the inadequacies of INEC in providing voters with their PVCs. It is also remarkable that Jega briefed the Council of State that INEC was ready to conduct the elections. This was one big lie. You cannot be ready to conduct elections when there is a cacophony of complaints, especially in the South, that people are unable to claim their PVCs. Given the time it took INEC to distribute 40 million PVCs, it could not have realistically expected to be able to distribute the outstanding 20 million in just one week? INEC rigmarole What is even more sinister is INEC’s willful determination to disenfranchise select geopolitical regions which represent areas of strength for Goodluck Jonathan. Credible Alternative Alliance, an independent political interest organization led by former Kaduna State governor, Balarabe Musa, observed in INEC activities: “a criminal gross disparity of voter spread designed to tilt the election to a pre-determined outcome.” It said: “Voters in the zones that tend to support President Goodluck Jonathan are massively disenfranchised by the application of the so-called PVCs debacle, 40% to 50% of voters in these regions who are lawfully and duly registered to vote will be denied their right to vote by INEC. That is nearly half of the support base of the President, simply nullified by administrative failure prior to the election. By comparison, the zones that tend to support Buhari are handed a massive voter advantage, nearly 80% of his support base will be allowed to cast their votes by INEC.” “In an election, which many say will be won or lost by a slim margin, to now disenfranchise 20 million voters through a questionable and unlawful rule by INEC is not acceptable by any measure. CAA condemns in its entirety this attempt by INEC to undermine our nascent democracy through this criminal enterprise to determine the outcome of this election before the ballot is cast.” This position is corroborated by different observers in the field. INEC needs to explain how more people in the war-torn North-East have collected their PVCs than in the South-West, South-South and South-East. In the APC strongholds of the North-West and the North-East, 80.18% and 81.09% collection rates were recorded respectively. In the North-Central, the figure was 69.89%. However, the figures in the South were significantly lower than these. In the South-East, it was 59.22%. South-South: 66.66%; and South-West 43.15%. Since INEC under Jega is no longer an independent umpire but is now clearly working for the opposition, Jega should be sent on compulsory leave and a temporary chairman should be nominated to handle the elections. Jega can no longer be trusted. THE MISCHIEF OF FORMER CBN GOVERNOR, LAMIDO SANUSI Former Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, caused uproar when he declared that $49.8 billion of Nigeria’s oil money was missing, allegedly diverted by the NNPC. For a Central Bank governor, the statement was not only irresponsible, it was downright mischievous. If it were not that Nigeria is an innumerate society where we have little or no understanding of figures, it would have been obvious that, for the size of the Nigerian economy, it was impossible for such a large sum to be missing. However, the allegation fell into the narrative of the opposition APC party which was determined to portray the Jonathan Administration as the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. There was a lot of hue and cry in the press about the missing money; after all, the claim was made by the Central Bank governor no less. However, the governor seemed to have plucked the missing figure out of thin air. Soon, it was not $49.8 billion at all, but $10.8 billion. Then again, it was no longer $10.8 billion but $20 billion. It should have been clear from all this that the CBN governor was just fibbing. But in Nigeria, we are socialissed to believe the worst. School-certificate economics General Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, has used this fictitious $20 billion dollars to preach his own school-certificate economics on the campaign stump. He said: “$20 Billion at N210 to $1.00 is equal to N4.2 trillion- nearly a year’s federal budget.” If so, how can Buhari believe an amount nearly equal to Nigeria’s annual federal budget could possibly be missing? No matter how corrupt a nation can be, it is ridiculous to presume that public officers would go ahead and steal the entire annual federal budget? Haba! Buhari then used this malarkey to formulate his own voodoo economics. He said: “If it is true that this sum cannot be accounted for, this is grossest form of corruption. Just think at N5 million per vehicle, this money would have bought 840,000 patrol vehicles; (this would have improved security in every town and village in the country). At N13.5 million for a high capacity bus this money would have bought 311,000 buses; (this would have revolutionised the transport and production side of the economy).” It is this kind of rudimentary economics that Buhari has been presenting as an excuse for an economic policy to Nigerians in this election season. Just listen to this vain platitude from our eminent retired general. He says: “The monies we realised from anti-corruption campaign will be adequately used to improve education in the country.” Now that is an economic policy that is practically meaningless. Forensic audit Because of the nuisance value of men like Buhari, the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was constrained to ask for a forensic audit of NNPC accounts in order to put the matter to rest. She chose PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC); one of the big four auditors in the world, along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG. PwC has now provided a conclusive report that shows Sanusi’s allegation of a missing $20 billion is one big fabrication. This matter needs to be emphasized now that the report is out. Lamido Sanusi lied. The Central Bank governor deliberately cried wolf when he jolly well knew there was no wolf. He was just determined to malign and discredit the government; and he was playing a script to the benefit of the opposition APC. This then lends credence to the PDP allegation that Sanusi was an APC mole in the government. Indeed, the PDP claims Sanusi gave the APC 1 billion naira of Central Bank money to open its offices nationwide. It also maintains that a fraudulent N48 billion contract was awarded by Sanusi’s CBN to a leader of the APC, while a further N5 billion was paid to another APC member as consultancy fee. So much for APC’s anti-corruption hogwash! Credit: Vanguard 2 Likes |
| Politics › Osun Election: Omisore Heads To Appeal Court To Retrieve ‘stolen Mandate’ by Titilayodeji13(op): 5:05pm On Feb 08, 2015 |
www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/176479-osun-election-omisore-heads-appeal-court-retrieve-stolen-mandate.html The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in last year’s governorship election in Osun State, Iyiola Omisore, has vowed to retrieve his ‘stolen mandate’ from the incumbent through legal means. Mr. Omisore lost the election to Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress, a victory that was confirmed by the Election Petition Tribunal on Friday. The former senator said he was dissatisfied with the ruling and would proceed to the Appeal Court. “As earlier mentioned by our lawyers, we are proceeding to the Court of Appeal and we have total faith in the higher court to dispense justice in the matter,” he said. Read his full statement on Sunday below: I am constrained to speak again on the judgement of the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal again due to the deliberate mischievous twist being given my initial reaction to the tribunal’s pronouncement and the political activities preceding and succeeding it, by the elements of the ruling party in the state. Let me expressly state my abiding faith in the Nigerian judiciary to do justice at all times without fear or favour and the pronouncement of the tribunal though against us, has not shaken that belief, and would not, even if there were no higher courts to review the tribunal’s judgement. The preceding political activities of the ruling party in the state hours before the judgement which went in tandem with the party elements’ prediction, necessitated the call on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to take another look into the bewildering scenario which was now being interpreted by our opponents as a call for the probe of the judges. Going by the laws guiding elections in the country, two layers of appeal are still available unto us, which we are currently exploring. As earlier mentioned by our lawyers, we are proceeding to the Court of Appeal and we have total faith in the higher court to dispense justice in the matter. Despite my disavowal of the said judgement, I have taken it in good faith since other avenues of seeking redress are open and being explored. Contrary to the lies being peddled by elements of the ruling party in Osun state, I hold the judiciary in high esteem and trust in its ability to dispense justice. Unlike them, our party is not known for extra-judicial ways of seeking political redress and it is not in our character to denigrate the system when things don’t go our way like they do. I call on our supporters to maintain peace and we sustain our pursuit for justice. We believe that it shall not be long before we retrieve our stolen mandate. Iyiola Omisore |
| Politics › Malala Yousafzai Criticises ‘weak’ Effort To Free Girls Kidnapped By Boko Haram by Titilayodeji13(op): 4:52pm On Feb 08, 2015 |
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, has criticised Nigerian and world leaders for not doing enough to free hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped 300 days ago by Boko Haram. The joint Nobel peace prize-winner said much more would have been done to win the girls’ release had they come from a more privileged background. “Nigerian leaders and the international community can and must do much more to resolve this crisis and change their weak response to date,” she wrote on her blog. “If these girls were the children of politically or financially powerful parents, much more would be done to free them. But they come from an impoverished area of north-east Nigeria and sadly little has changed since they were kidnapped.” Malala urged the incoming Nigerian government, which will be elected at the end of next month, to make the kidnapped girls from Chibok a priority in its first 100 days in office. “Politicians running for office in the upcoming March elections should not only demonstrate their empathy but finally take some responsibility for this tragedy,” she said. “The leaders of Nigeria should commit to work together and make the case of the Chibok girls a priority in their first 100 days in office, as well as the education of every Nigerian child.” Malala, who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, visited Nigeria in July, when she pledged to help free the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram, the Islamist militants who control large tracts of territory in the north-east. Boko Haram, inspired by the Taliban, says it is fighting to establish an Islamic state. The group, whose name means “western education is sinful”, has killed thousands and abducted hundreds since launching an uprising in 2009. The girls’ abduction drew international attention to the war in Nigeria’s north- east and the growing security risk that Boko Haram poses to the country, Africa’s most populous nation and leading energy producer. A #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign supported by Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie put pressure on authorities to act, and Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, pledged to save the girls, drawing promises of western help to do so. But 300 days on, most of the girls remain in captivity although some have managed to escape. The Nigerian government has been heavily criticised for failing to protect civilians in an increasingly violent conflict that left about 10,000 dead last year. On Saturday, Nigeria postponed elections scheduled for next weekend to allow international forces to regain control of areas in the north-east currently held by Boko Haram. The country’s electoral commission said the election, which had been scheduled for 14 February, will be held on 28 March. With a week to go, 19 million of the 70 million registered voters have yet to collect their voting cards. A debate has raged over whether the electoral commission is sufficiently well- prepared, with the incumbent party, which has greater access to Nigeria’s dwindling petrodollars, pushing for a postponement. In 2011, the election was delayed twice, including once less than a week before it was due to take place. In seeking to keep world attention on the kidnapped girls, Malala said: “These young women risked everything to get an education that most of us take for granted. I will not forget my sisters. We cannot forget them. We must demand their freedom until they are reunited with the families and back in school, getting the education they so desperately desire.” www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/08/malala-yousafzai-criticises-efforts-free-nigerian-girls-boko-haram |
| Politics › Nigerian Presidential Elections Postponed? by Titilayodeji13(op): 5:38pm On Feb 07, 2015 |
blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2015/02/06/nigerian-presidential-elections-postponed/ Nigeria’s presidential elections are scheduled for February 14, 2015, though there has long been speculation that they might be postponed. The Nigerian National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, called for the elections to be postponed on January 22 to allow time for the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), which are necessary for a ballot to be cast. Dasuki’s call was rejected by the opposition and civil society. On February 4, a commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body in charge of conducting elections, re- opened the possibility that the vote could be postponed. Amina Zachary, another electoral commissioner, confirmed that only 44 million out of 68.8 million PVCs had been distributed to voters. According to reports, 60 percent of voter cards have been distributed in eleven of Nigeria’s thirty-six states. In four states, less than 50 percent have been dispursed. In Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state, about 40 percent of cards have reached voters. INEC plans to review election preperations on February 8, the initial deadline for completing PVC distribution, in order to decide whether to continue delivering PVCs up to the election or honor the deadline. The slow distribution rate of PVCs could effectively disenfranchise a substantial percentage of the electorate. If INEC proceeds with elections and more PVCs are not delivered, a significant portion of the voting population would not have their say on election day, a reality that would call into question the credibility of the elections. In addition, INEC is having trouble delivering PVCs to Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa, the three northern states under a state of emergency. Swaths of this territory is controlled by the radical Islamist movement, Boko Haram. It is expected that the group will try to significantly disrupt voting. It is also likely that a high percentage of Nigeria’s one million-plus internally displaced persons and refugees will be unable to vote, despite reports that INEC is making some provisions for them. Attahiru Jega, then as now the INEC chairman, delayed the 2011 presidential elections by one week. As is currently the case, voting materials for the 2011 election had not been distributed throughout the country on time. In 2011, by and large, non- governmental organizations were supportive of Jega’s decision. Today, it is unclear whether postponement would be welcomed. The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is deeply suspicious that the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan would somehow use postponement to rig the elections. Most recently, the council of state, an organ of the Nigerian government that advises the executive branch, determined that the elections should not be postponed. Western media is claiming that the council convinced government proponents of the postponement to back down. It remains to be seen whether the council will maintain this stance as we get closer to elections. The logistics of conducting a national election in Nigeria are daunting in the best of times. Failure to distribute many PVCs along with a very close race between the two presidential candidates, much higher levels of pre- election violence than in 2011, and the Boko Haram insurrection compound the challenges of holding credible elections. To say the least, these are not the best of times. |
| Christianity Etc › Mike Bamiloye Marks Wife's Birthday In The Sweetest Way by Titilayodeji13(op): 8:33pm On Feb 06, 2015 |
So yesterday was the 51st birthday of Gloria Bamiloye, wife of the CEO of the Mount Zion Faith Ministries (Nigeria's biggest gospel movie makers)...and her hubby, Mike celebrated her in the most beautiful way. Yea, Pastors are romantic too. He told the story of how they met and also advised single sisters, read below: "MY DEAREST SINGLE SISTERS" (Tribute to My Wife - Sister Gloria Bamiloye) Proverbs 31:10-12, 23, 28, 30 NKJV [10] Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. [11] The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. [12] She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. [23] Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. [28] Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: [30] Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Yesterday, February 4th, 2015, was my wife's 51st Birthday. And this year would be the 27years since 1988 the year we got married, when she was only 24 years old and I was 28. Since then, we have travelled through the thicks and the thins together, we have climbed the mountains and descended into the valleys together. We have faced adverse physical and spiritual situations together. We have both confronted together, daunting challenges that have stood and those that are still standing against our lives and ministry. Yesterday, she was 51 and she got phone calls and congratulatory text messages on phone and on Facebook page through out yesterday till late in the night. Our two sons brought her gift - two digitally painted pictures of her early years on film set. And I also bought her a small teddy bear. The several phone calls and congratulatory messages of the birthday made us feel a large crowd of well- wishers had attended our birthday party. Thank you all. But what is special about this great woman is when I remember how we started and how we have been journeying this journey since then. And when I recall some of the things that happen today among our single and marriagable sisters, I can not but give praises to the Lord God who brought this simple and humble sister my way several years ago. I have written this story in some of my write-ups and in one of my books, however, there is need to recall some of it for the benefit of some of our single sisters who might need to learn from it. I graduated from higher institution in 1983 and served in 1983/84. Right from the Campus days, I had been involved in drama ministry, all through my Youth Service, I was sending drama scripts back into the fellowship for drama presentations and I would travel down from Plateau State to direct the rehearsals and participate in the major drama presentation on Drama Night. After my Youth Service in 1984, I was involved fully in campus drama evangelism with the fellowship drama group, travelling to other campuses and churches outside the campus for drama presentation. And Sister Gloria was among the new members that joined the drama group. In 1985, sometimes in early July, I proposed to her to marry me and she told me she would pray over it. On August 4th, 1985, she revisited my proposal and said "Yes" to it. So, our journey began. Now, the real issue was that, I had nothing. I had nothing physical or material that any lady could be proud of. I had only one single room, with one bed, one table and chair, a standing hanger where I hanged my few fading shirts and only one suit which I used to iron from time to time and red tie from special occassion. Inside the single room was my cooking stove and a dilapidated standing fan, which had lost its foot and the head was tied facing the bed. And of course, a precious item - my bookshelf serving as a small library. So, when Sister Gloria visited my abode for the first time, these were all I had and she saw. My physical and material possessions could never be compared to what I was on the campus. "Bro Mike" was famous among the fellowship as a "gym-gym" brother full of zeal for drama and drama only. And the drama group of the fellowship became the most influential of all the sub-groups of the fellowship, because almost all the executive officers became members of the sub-group, including the President and the Vice-President and the General Secretary of the Christian Fellowship. So I was so rich in spiritual substance and full of great visons, but had no enviable physical or material possessions any young lady could be proud of. But, when Sis Gloria entered my room, one afternoon, she never saw all those things I mentioned but only one thing arrested her attention: my bookshelf containing several spiritual books, including the books of Kenneth Hagins, Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborne, Osward J. Smith, etc. She hasten to the shelf and shouted "Whao!", and she sat by the bookshelf and began to look at those precious books she had longed to have and read. Ah!. I was happy I had what she wanted and desired. She wanted spiritual books that would make her grow. And I had just that! All other things never mattered to her. I had nothing physical, but I had a great vision of the future and she embraced that vision with all her heart and might. When her senior brothers and her parents were demanding from her to know the work that her fiancee was doing that could qualify him to marry her, she stood on my behalf to defend me before her people that I was into drama ministry and there was a great future ahead of us. The people could not see what she was talking about, because I was already on full-time drama ministry and I had no physical enviable thing they all could hold on to. They were furious with her and thought she must be out of her mind to have decided to marry "a man who has no job and no physical possession and no appreciable future". When we informed them we wanted to get married three years down our courtship, they revolted and my Mummy ( my elder sister), led the war to Sis Gloria's parents to warn them never to give their daughter to me in marriage because I had no job to take care of their daughter. She stood by what God had told her about me, that there was a great future ahead of us. The Lord convinced them all and they supported us and we married in 1988, three years after the Mount Zion ministry launched. And our journey to that future began. AND 27 YEARS AFTER, WE ARE STILL ON THE JOURNEY TO THE FUTURE. WE HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED THERE, BUT OUR STORY HAS BEEN GETTING BETTER THAN WHEN WE BEGAN THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER. Now, to my Dearest Single Sisters, a lot of us are missing it today. A lot of us have been seriously deceived and misled by erronenous marriage teachings and lectures of confused marriage counsellors and teachers. A woman was once invited to one of our sisters' conference, invited to come and minister to our single sisters. She mounted the pulpit and shocked us by saying, no sisters should marry any brother who is not materially capable of being a husband. She said she also counselled her daughters to be gather as many materials as possible before getting married; that her daughters must go into mariage with enough self-sufficiency. She ought to have got a lot of things like fridge, electronic gadgets, dinning sets and other things that could make her stand tall as a self- sufficient lady. I told my wife, that the woman would never be invited to any of our conferences again. The teaching was confusing. I heard some marriage teachers taught their single sisters to check the Bank Account statement of the man who come proposing to them before they consider their proposals. If the Bank Account is very lean, then, they need not bother themselves considering the proposals. Some sisters would go and pay visit to the houses and apartments of the men who proposed to them, before they could begin to consider their proposals. A young brother who had waited for almost a year before the sister finally said "Yes", later came back to me after almost one year of courtship, to tell me that the lady suddenly began to ask some strange questions about his projections for the future and what he hopes to achieve and possess in a year's time and what he hopes to acquire in two years' time; the amount he hope to have saved for the wedding in two years. And when he told the sister that he was not sure of the amount he could save for the wedding neither does he have any future projection, but he is a minister of God and she could see all the works he has been doing for the Lord and he knows the Lord has a great future for him as he keeps serving Him. This made the sister began to reconsider the relationship. Then, she said later, that she didn't think they were compatible, because she thought he had no future plans. Meanwhile, such sister would readily believe a lie. If the brother had began to blow an invisible trumpet of himself and began to paint an unrealistic picture of his future for this same sister, she would have believed everything. If the brother had said something like "making a saving that would enable him acquire a jeep in a month to their wedding; and how he would tender a business proposal before an oil company or come up with a business idea that could fetch him some millions, which would afford him an opportunity of purchasing a duplex apartment in Lekki part of Lagos, the sister would readily believe that he had a future plan. She would take him for a very serious- minded marriagable brother. We have come to a strange generation where lies sell heavily than the truth. We are now in a season when our young sisters believe a man by what they see of him physically or how sweetly he could run his mouth by saying big and boastful plans and not by what they spiritually perceive of him. This is a season when, it is the way you package yourself that many sisters take you, even if the fine shirts and suits with shoes were borrowed to be returned later. MANY, NOT ALL. MANY OF OUR SISTERS LOVE TO BELIEVE IN LIES TODAY. Some sisters' choice of who to marry would depend on where the man is working: Bank?, Oil and Gas? Real Estate? Insurance? Constructions? And some sisters' readiness to consider a proposal rests on the family status of the man who proposed: is the family rich and wealthy? Are they based in US or Canada or Germany or Asian nations? Famous and Influential? Today, a lot of brothers love to live on lies and falsehood, because this is what many sisters want. I once read on the What-sap page of a young brother in Christ whom I happened to know. He wrote under his name, CEO of a Motivational and Purpose Group company and under this are about two or three website of his Motivational Purpose company. In one of his write- ups, I read where he said: One day, as I was coming from my office, I saw....." When I read that, I wondered which office he was talking about, because, I knew him to be working as a shop attendant or sales man in a shop. I look at the picture he posted in his profile, he dressed up like a Director of a corporate organization, but he is a sales boy working in a shop. These are the type of lies many of our sisters love to hear before they could consider a proposal. What does the Bible say about responding to marriage proposals: Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV [5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; [6] In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. A christian lady who would have a great future and pleasant home would commit her ways, the proposals into the Lord's hand. I THINK THIS IS THE ACTUAL SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM: MANY SISTERS CAN'T WAIT BEFORE THE LORD TO KNOW THE MIND OF GOD CONCERNING WHO TO MARRY AGAIN. MANY SISTERS ARE GUIDED INTO MAKING THEIR MARITAL CHOICES BASED ON THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OR MATERIAL OR FINANCIAL POSSESSIONS OF THE MAN, AND NOT ON THE LEADING AND CONVICTIONS OF THE LORD THEIR GOD. If Sis Gloria were to consider my physical, material and financial possessions when I proposed to her, I would have been outrightly disqualified, because I had nothing but the burning visions to evangelize the world through Drama ministry. And if She were to consider my proposal based on my future plans or projections, she would never have considered me, because, I had no financial, material or physical future plan or projections at that time, but was only armed with evangelistic visions of the work of God. And what are the unpleasant results of all these fake future plans and projections: because no life is secure except the ones hidden in Christ and entrusted in His care. Many of these future plans and projections flopped and they are castles built with sea-sand on a sea-shore, they crumbled fast when the foundation is not laid on the leading of Christ and the home is set on fake foundations and false projections. The banking industry is not what it used to be. The oil and gas industry is no longer like before. Considerations of your response to a proposal should never be based on anything physical or materials, but Godly leading and convictions after a lot of heart-searching prayers and humble waiting upon the Lord to know His heart on the man who proposed. ONLY THE LORD GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE. THE BROTHER WORKING IN A BANK OR OCUPPYING A MANAGERIAL SEAT TODAY MAY BE DEMOTED BY CIRCUMSTANCES AND NEGATIVE SITUATIONS TOMORROW. AND THE MAN WHO HAS NOTHING NOW MAY BE ON HIS WAY TO THE TOP VERY SOON. So, physical or material status should never be paramount in considering marriage proposals, but the voice of the Lord who knows tomorrow. If you desire a peaceful home and fruitful marriage that will afford you the opportunity to be ministerially fulfilled, don't let any physical, material or financial things give you your husband, let the spirit of the Lord lead and convince you of who to marry. You are blessed, MIKE BAMILOYE www.kemifilani.com/2015/02/aww-mike-bamiloye-marks-wifes-birthday.html?m=1 |
| Politics › Robert Mugabe Falls Down Stairs, Tries To Get Photographer. by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:00am On Feb 06, 2015 |
www.independent.co.uk/news/people/robert-mugabe-falls-down-stairs-tries-to-get-photographers-to-delete-the-evidence-10025008.html?dkdkd Robert Mugabe has fallen down a flight of stairs on his return to Zimbabwe from Ethiopia, in an incident captured on camera despite the best efforts of his security team. The 90-year-old President of Zimbabwe was making his way down from a raised podium at the airport when he appeared to miss a step and fell to the ground. Mugabe fell on his return from an African Union meeting in Ethiopia (AP) Mugabe, 90, was elected chairman of the African Union and is set to celebrate his 91st birthday on 21 February (AP) Mugabe’s security team was quick to step in, surrounding the president and helping him the rest of the way to a park limousine. As the car sped away, officials turned their attention to the TV cameras and photographers present. A number of journalists told the Associated Press they were forced to delete their pictures of the incident by security personnel. The President was returning from a successful trip to the summit of the 54- nation African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 30 January. Despite the fact that he will celebrate his 91st birthday on 21 February, Mugabe has been elected chairman of the AU – a largely ceremonial role. Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous nation of 13 million people in southern Africa, has struggled since Mugabe's government began seizing white-owned farms in 2000. Mugabe is accused of using widespread violence to win several disputed elections, according to human rights groups. The country suffered hyperinflation until it abandoned its currency for the US dollar in 2009. Mugabe’s press spokesperson has yet to provide comment on the incident.
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| Politics › Buhari Shouldn’t Have Been In Nigeria Army — Omisore by Titilayodeji13(op): 11:11am On Feb 05, 2015 |
www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/buhari-shouldnt-nigeria-army-omisore/ Buhari shouldn’t have been in Nigeria Army — Omisore on february 05, 2015 at 12:34 am in elections 2015, politics Facebook Share Twitter Share *Omisore Says he’s unfit to rule Nigeria SENATOR Iyiola Omisore contested the governorship election in Osun State on August 9, 2014 and lost according to the results declared by INEC. He has since approached the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal with the aim of upturning the election result. In this interview, Omisore expresses optimism that the outcome of the tribunal will be in his favour just as he boasts President Goodluck Jonathan’will win the February 14 presidential elections among other issues. Excerpts: By Dapo Akinrefon WHAT are your expectations from the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, which judgement is being awaited? I believe that with the proceedings at the tribunal, with what we saw, the witnesses, the evidence laid before the tribunal, the conduct of counsels and witnesses, the elections were not free and fair. The All Progressives Congress, APC, also admitted that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, gave them more votes. Free and fair election There were some malpractices admitted by the APC, it shows that the election was not free and fair but was skewed in favour of APC. I am not a lawyer, but I believe that if two parties, particularly the respondents agreed to irregularities and infractions, supposedly blaming it on the electoral process, then that process was not free. That shows that the malpractices were huge and warrant that the tribunal declare the PDP and myself the winner of the elections. You raised the issue of irregularities, what were those irregularities? I do not want to pre-empt the tribunal. What is your message to your supporters in the state ahead of the ruling? My message is for them to be patient, hopeful and to keep perserving especially to Osun state indigenes because for the first time in 25 years, the people of the state have not been paid salaries since December. Workders salaries are being owed for six months to workers, teachers and judiciary workers; Pensioners are being owed. In the last four years, there has been no single development in the state. Aregbesola came with phantom contract awards particularly road constructions like the Sekona to Moro junction, Osogbo to Erin Ile (Kwara boundary) and the Osogbo inner roads which are worth about N49 billion, which the state cannot afford. All these projects have been abandoned, it is unfortunate that nothing is going on in the state. He came to Lagos State for an airport show but the airport project is yet to commence. The recent scandal now is about the Osun schools, funds meant for the schools are being diverted. The allocation of the state goes to private purses. I am sure everybody is aware that Aregbesola maintains a helicopter to run around. In the last budget, he spent N2 billion on hotels and entertainment while salaries are not being paid. No good road, no water, the health facilities are in comatose. The people of the state are frustrated, all are plans but nothing is happening and this is making the people to be restive. They are also restive based on the coming judgement by the tribunal. I urge them to be law abiding citizens of the state. Do you see the South West backing Jonathan in the coming election? Those who are clamouring for change are only doing that because of their pocket. Since Boko Haram has endorsed the APC, I believe it is sad for a party to be associated with terrorism and terrorist tendencies. We have seen that terrorism is being fought in every part of the world. I have also read that their activities are on the rise because of the electioneering campaigns. Using terrorism to campaign is not an issue because when you use it to campaign, it shows that you are not patriotic. Campaign baits You cannot use the lives of people as campaign baits. The APC is just desperate and you do not entrust a government to people who are desperadoes. I believe that Jonathan will come out tops at the polls. Is Chief Obasanjo’s opposition to a second term for the president, not trouble for your party? There is no how the APC can win elections for Buhari, it is not possible, if you look at the election results, you will see that we had more votes than the APC in all the local governments based on the genuine votes of the elections. After the elections, the APC has become worse in Osun State and with that, I do not see Buhari scoring 25 per cent of the votes in Osun State. In Oyo State, it is the same thing, people are tired of the APC. There are different parties contesting in the election and we are hopeful that these parties that do not have presidential candidates will adopt President Jonathan as their presidential candidate. Comment on Obasanjo It is the same thing in Ogun and Lagos State as well. The APC is just making noise. They are full of propaganda which does not turn to votes. But some members of your party are saying that without reconciling with Chief Obasanjo, it might affect the chances of your party in the zone. I do not want to comment on Baba Obasanjo because he has only one vote to cast on the day of the elections. He has his reasons, he is a statesman and he is a leader in his own right. But all the same, I believe that Obasanjo will vote for the PDP. Pastor Tunde Bakare recently raised fears that either way the presidential election goes, violence will erupt, and has therefore advised for a postponement of next month’s general elections… The timetable of the elections is with INEC. You know Tunde Bakare is a pastor. I do not pray for crisis in this country because you do not benefit anything from crisis. So I pray that nothing happens after. But do you think INEC is ready? My position is that people should be allowed to collect their Permanent Voter Cards. The Sultan and other Nigerians who are eligible to vote have said that they are yet to collect their PVCs, it shows that the commission is not ready and it is so unfortunate. What is your take on the alleged issues concerning Buhari’s certificate? Two things are clear now. First is that Buhari perjured and that should attract seven years imprisonment by law. He also said that he forgot but there is nothing like negligence in law. He meant to deceive the people. He got a score in Hausa in 1961 from Cambridge but Hausa language exams did not start until 1964. So, Buhari has been benefiting from this country without a certificate. He had no business in the Nigeria Army in the first instance. Buhari is unfit to rule Nigeria. In an ideal situation, Buhari ought to have withdrawn from the race. |
| Politics › Osun Politics:hoodlums Shoot Omisore's Residence by Titilayodeji13(op): 10:06am On Feb 05, 2015 |
www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/hoodlums-shoot-omisores-residence-aregbesolas-presents-apc-candidates-ooni Tension enveloped Ile-Ife, the hometown of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in last August 9 poll in Osun state, Senator Iyiola Omisore, following firing of gun shots near his residence by some hoodlums. It was gathered that no lives were lost while the shooting lasted around Diganga Area, Ile Ife where the incident happened. It was learnt that the development created panic in the neighborhood, where both Omisore and All Progressive candidate for House of Representatives, Rotimi Makinde are residing. When the incident happened around 08.00pm, APC leaders including Governor Rauf Aregbesola were said to be present in Rotimi's apartment. APC campaign team led by Aregbesola were in Ile-Ife on Tuesday to seek support for the party's candidates in the senatorial district. According to the spokesperson of Omisore Campaign Organisation, Prince Diran Odeyemi claimed that the suspected hoodlums repeatedly fired gun shots into the air near the gate of the former Osun state deputy governor. He said, "Attack on the residence of Omisore was actually well planned because he was supposed to be in Ife for the burial of his sister on Thursday. "The attackers only missed their target because Omisore was held up in Lagos and could not travel early to Ife. We can only hope that the police authorities will carry out proper investigations into the matter." One of the residents in the area, identified simply as Damilola said the gun shots left people in confusion. She said, "Though we did not see the hoodlums, we heard the sound of gun shot and it entered into Omisore's house. It nearly hits one of the cleaner who was washing plate." Attempts to reach the Osun Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Sade Odoro proved abortive as calls put to her weren't answered. During the campaign, Aregbesola visited the palace of the Ooni of Ife, His imperial majesty, Oba Okunade Sijuade the Olubuse II and presented all APC candidates across Ife senatorial district for royal blessings. The governor recalled his earlier visits in 2007, 2011 and that of last year, describing it as his administration's tradition during political campaigns to make the palace as his first point of call for blessing. He noted that lthe monarch’s blessing is the magic wand the APC has been enjoying and a contributory factor to the party's victory in Osun". |
| Politics › OSUN POLITICS: Anxiety As Aregbesola, Omisore Know Fate Tomorrow by Titilayodeji13(op): 9:55am On Feb 05, 2015 |
www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/28676-osun-gov-anxiety-as-aregbesola-omisore-know-fate-tomorrow Anxiety and apprehension are already mounting in Osun State, as the election tribunal, adjudicating over petition regarding the result of August 9, 2014 governorship election in the state prepares to deliver its judgment in the case tomorrow. At the last proceedings, counsel for the petitioner and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard- bearer during the election, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Mr Alex Izinyon (SAN) and the first respondent (Rauf Aregbesola), Mr Akin Olujimi had adopted their final written addresses before the tribunal headed by Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime. In his submission, Olujimi urged the court to dismiss Omisore’s petition on the ground that it was incompetent because it was filed out of time. He maintained that the petitioner did not call evidence in respect of 116 out of 142 wards, where they were challenging the results of the election. According to Olujimi, “in their petition, they challenged results in 939 polling units. They did not call evidence on 709 polling units. They have abandoned their case in respect of 709 polling units. Even if they had called evidence in all the units, the first respondent would still have won convincingly with majority lawful votes.” While contending that the petitioner could not prove their case randomly, but must call witnesses in all disputed units, he cited the case of OBJ Vs Buhari and concluded that “ based on these submissions, we urge your Lordship to dismiss the petition with substantial cost.” But, counsel for the petitioner, Alex Izinyon, argued that “my client (Omisore) should be declared the winner of the governorship election, having polled majority of lawful votes.” He stated, “first respondent had admitted that the total valid votes cast and that the figure allocated to him by INEC was wrong, going by the table, indicating the results provided by his counsel. It makes the work of the tribunal easier”. “The total votes, remaining for the APC after deduction is 234, 971. This is an admission from the first respondent, which is different from the INEC result, indicating that APC got 394,684 votes. I urge your Lordship to follow their result. There was substantial non compliance with electoral process and irregularities in the election”. In looking at preponderance of evidence, respondents have no case to weigh on the scale compared to the petitioner’s case. The petitioner with what we have submitted in his unwavering evidence should be so declared and returned as the governor of Osun State,” Izinyon argued. |
| Politics › OSUN POLITICS: Anxiety As Aregbesola, Omisore Know Fate Tomorrow by Titilayodeji13(op): 9:49am On Feb 05, 2015 |
www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/28676-osun-gov-anxiety-as-aregbesola-omisore-know-fate-tomorrow Anxiety and apprehension are already mounting in Osun State, as the election tribunal, adjudicating over petition regarding the result of August 9, 2014 governorship election in the state prepares to deliver its judgment in the case tomorrow. At the last proceedings, counsel for the petitioner and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard- bearer during the election, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Mr Alex Izinyon (SAN) and the first respondent (Rauf Aregbesola), Mr Akin Olujimi had adopted their final written addresses before the tribunal headed by Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime. In his submission, Olujimi urged the court to dismiss Omisore’s petition on the ground that it was incompetent because it was filed out of time. He maintained that the petitioner did not call evidence in respect of 116 out of 142 wards, where they were challenging the results of the election. According to Olujimi, “in their petition, they challenged results in 939 polling units. They did not call evidence on 709 polling units. They have abandoned their case in respect of 709 polling units. Even if they had called evidence in all the units, the first respondent would still have won convincingly with majority lawful votes.” While contending that the petitioner could not prove their case randomly, but must call witnesses in all disputed units, he cited the case of OBJ Vs Buhari and concluded that “ based on these submissions, we urge your Lordship to dismiss the petition with substantial cost.” But, counsel for the petitioner, Alex Izinyon, argued that “my client (Omisore) should be declared the winner of the governorship election, having polled majority of lawful votes.” He stated, “first respondent had admitted that the total valid votes cast and that the figure allocated to him by INEC was wrong, going by the table, indicating the results provided by his counsel. It makes the work of the tribunal easier”. “The total votes, remaining for the APC after deduction is 234, 971. This is an admission from the first respondent, which is different from the INEC result, indicating that APC got 394,684 votes. I urge your Lordship to follow their result. There was substantial non compliance with electoral process and irregularities in the election”. In looking at preponderance of evidence, respondents have no case to weigh on the scale compared to the petitioner’s case. The petitioner with what we have submitted in his unwavering evidence should be so declared and returned as the governor of Osun State,” Izinyon argued. |
| NYSC › How True Is It That NYSC Paid #39,000 by Titilayodeji13(op): 5:54pm On Feb 04, 2015 |
How true is the news that NYSC paid #39,000 as per January allowance? Anyone with Info? |
| Politics › Soludo Replies Okonjo-Iweala, Accuses Her Of Forging National Economics Stats by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:55pm On Feb 01, 2015 |
A former Central Bank Governor, Charles Soludo, has reacted to the criticism of his earlier article by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.Click For FULL TEXT: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala And The Missing Trillions Pt.1 - Chukwuma C. Soludo 76 Likes 6 Shares |
| Sports › When Does The January Transfer Window Close? by Titilayodeji13(op): 12:10pm On Feb 01, 2015 |
Once again, it's that time of the year when football works itself up into a transfer frenzy as clubs bid to bolster their ranks or offload dead wood. However, European sides have little time left to do business and we've got all the dates and times (in CET) you need to new in relation to the continent's numerous transfer windows. Real Madrid have been busy in the January, after the high-profile purchases of Norwegian teenage sensation Martin Odegaard and Brazil Under-21 star Lucas Silva, but have no more time to add to their squad as the Spanish window closed on midnight on January 30. In Italy, Inter have also enjoyed a productive window in acquiring Xherdan Shaqiri, Lukas Podolski and Marcelo Brozovic on loan, and Roberto Mancini still has time to bring in more new faces, with the Serie A window not shutting until 23:00 on February 2. Elsewhere, Premier League sides, who have long grown accustomed to a late flurry of transfer activity on deadline day, and Ligue 1's finest both have until midnight on the same day to conclude their business. Germany's deadline day is also February 2 but the Bundesliga's window shuts at 18:00. The likes of Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon will be casting a nervous eye at the clock as they bid to keep hold of their prized assets, with Portugal's window drawing its curtains for the winter on February 4 at 18:00. Switzerland's finest have even more time, with the window staying open until midnight on February 16. Teams in eastern European and Scandinavia have a little longer to conduct any remaining business, however, with Russia ( midnight on February 27), Norway, Sweden (both midnight on March 31) and Finland (18:00 on May 6), adhering to different restrictions. www.m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/8410472 |
| Christianity Etc › Daddy G.O, By Femi Aribisala by Titilayodeji13(op): 8:38am On Feb 01, 2015 |
www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/160518-article-faith-daddy-g-o-femi-aribisala.html Jesus insists his disciples must repudiate all earthly fathers of whatever description in preference for the one true heavenly Father. Pastor Adeboye of Redeemed Church testified that for some time all his children were girls. When he finally had a boy, he quickly became his favourite child. But one day, the boy fell sick. The more Adeboye prayed for his healing, the worse he became. Finally, he cried out to God: “Why won’t you heal my son?” The Lord replied: “Because he is your son, I won’t heal him.” Therefore, Adeboye quickly changed his line of prayer. He declared that the boy was God’s son and asked God to heal him. When he did this, the boy was healed. God’s message here is crystal clear: the children we presume to be ours are actually God’s children. We are just their guardians. This makes it all the more surprising that virtually everyone in Redeemed Church still refers to Adeboye affectionately as “Daddy G.O.” But if Adeboye is not allowed to be father to his biological son, how can he be “Daddy” to other peoples’ children? Surely, everybody in Redeemed knows that Adeboye himself has no other Father but God. Time and again, Adeboye has insisted he should not be called “Daddy,” but his church-members have simply refused to listen. New Birth Jesus defines parentage strictly from the eternal perspective. As usual, he presents a dichotomy between sons of God and men. Heavenly fatherhood links us to God and makes us sons of righteousness. Earthly fatherhood ties us to the devil and makes us slaves of sin. (John 8:32-34). Jesus warns that: “a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.” (John 8:35). This means those who persist in earthly father/ son relationships cannot expect to spend eternity with the heavenly Father. Jesus insists his disciples must have no other Father but God. We must repudiate all earthly fathers of whatever description in preference for the one true heavenly Father. The kingdom of God is open to sons of God but closed to sons of men. Jesus says: “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3). Sons of men have to be “born again” in order to become children of God. (John 3:3-5). The “new birth” has its own kingdom dynamics. Children of God cannot be children of men simultaneously. Neither can they be fathers of men. Jesus insists: “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6). “Men of God” do not inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus’ salvation involves men receiving the power to become children of God. (John 1:12). Thus, the bible begins in Genesis with a son of God in the garden, but ends in Revelation with a Son of God on the throne. Our Father Jesus said to God at the end of his ministry: “I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world.” (John 17:6). “I have declared to them your name.” (John 17:26). The name Jesus declares to his disciples is “our Father.” He reveals that God is no longer classically “God;” distant, foreign and fearsome. He is now “our Father;” close, intimate and loving. Therefore, Jesus gives us a new directive. He says: “When you pray, say: our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Luke 11:2). The name we are now required to hallow is “Father.” It must be of exclusive application to God and to God alone. Jesus says categorically: “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9). Since obedience is the key to divine sonship (Matthew 12:48-50); this directive must be strictly adhered to by all believers. We choose to be sons of the heavenly Father by consciously acting the way God does. Jesus says: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:44-45). Rejection of men It is like Father, like son. Jesus told the Jews: “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.” (John 8:39). If we do the works of God, then we are God’s children. If we don’t, we are not. Since the Father is merciful to all without discrimination, we must also be merciful if we are his children. Jesus says: “If you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:46-48). This means we must reject totally the ways of men and no longer be subject to their dictates. Jesus makes the resulting alienation from earthly fatherhood an absolute requirement for discipleship: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father… he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26). Jesus only promises eternal life to those prepared to forsake all natural relationships. He says: “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields- and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:29-30). Significantly, there is a singular exception in the case of relinquished fathers. The heirs of eternal life relinquish their earthly fathers but do not receive a hundredfold return as with other relatives. We relinquish our earthly fathers in order to have only one Father; our Father in heaven. A living parable Kenneth King, my wife’s “old man,” was in his late-seventies and in poor health. He lived in Guyana and had to undertake dialysis twice a week. This was very expensive and the costs were virtually bankrupting him in his retirement. My wife and I discussed the matter, wondering how we could raise money on a regular basis to send to him. In Lagos, dialysis costs 30,000 naira (250 dollars) a session, so the sums involved were too much for our lean resources. I ended the discussion by telling her: “Look Karen, there is little we can do in this matter. God will provide.” Suddenly the Holy Spirit interjected and said to me: “Femi, don’t say God will provide. Say Our Father will provide.” I immediately relayed this to my wife: “The Holy Spirit says Our Father will provide.” The next morning, she got an email from Georgetown. The government of Guyana had decided to take over the funding of Kenneth King’s dialysis treatment in appreciation for his past services to the country. Immediately, the Holy Spirit said to me: “Your Father has done it.” Beloved Christians: stop calling your pastor “Daddy.” You must have no other Father but God. |
| Politics › Why Buhari Will Never Be President Of Nigeria, By Femi Aribisala by Titilayodeji13(op): 8:26pm On Jan 31, 2015 |
The worst thing that can happen to Northern presidential aspirations in 2015 is for Buhari to be on the APC ballot. On Friday, 23rd August, 1985, the military government of Major-General Mohammadu Buhari decided to place me under arrest. My crime was that I wrote, among others, an article entitled: “Counter-trading Nigeria’s Future” in the National Concord, exposing the government’s scam of diverting public funds into private coffers through barter- trade with Brazil. A man by the name of Benson Norman was sent from the State Security Services (SSS) to my office to get me. Not finding me, he left a note that I must present myself unfailingly at the SSS office at 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi Lagos the next Monday morning. However, on Sunday, 25th August, 1985, Lateef Aminu came first thing in the morning to my house to inform me that the government of Buhari/Idiagbon had been overthrown. For this reason, I am fond of telling people that God brought about a change of government in Nigeria just because of me. Coup-plotter Under the Buhari/Idiagbon regime, once you ended up at 15 Awolowo Road, you may never be heard of again. Decree Number 2 of 1984 empowered Tunde Idiagbon to arrest and detain anybody indefinitely without trial and without legal reprieve. After Buhari was overthrown, Mohammadu Gambo opened the prison doors of 15 Awolowo Road on public television, revealing people in various stages of UnCloth and malnutrition that had been kept in the dungeons without trial by Buhari’s hound- dogs. As self-imposed Head of State, Buhari had no regard for human rights. Immediately he seized power, he announced that he would “tamper with” the press. Soon, the infamous Decree Number 4 was promulgated which made even the publication of the truth a punishable offence. Under this cover, Buhari jailed innocent journalists, including Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabo. He abolished civil liberties, promulgated retroactive decrees enabling him to kill Nigerians through jungle justice, proscribed civil society organizations and professional groups and exercised “absolute” power. This same Buhari would now have us believe that he has gone through some metamorphosis and has become a democrat. I am sure you will forgive me if people like me don’t believe him. Buhari is not, has never been, and will never be, a democrat. Only in Nigeria would a man with his track record, who came to power through a military coup that illegally overthrew a democratic government, now be acclaimed as a democrat. It is on record that Buhari’s military regime is the only one in Nigeria’s history that failed to promulgate a program for return to civilian rule. Facts and fiction So what exactly qualifies Bihari as a democrat today? Precious little! There is nothing democratic about forming and joining political parties just in order to be the presidential candidate. Little wonder then that Buhari’s parties have a short shelf-life. Buhari would like to be Nigeria’s head of state once again. He can no longer achieve this through the barrel of a gun. The only route now open to him is through the democratic process. That is the reason why he now conveniently fashions himself as a democrat. It is merely a means to an end; no more, no less. Buhari’s reputation as an anti-corruption crusader is also a myth. As head of state, he did not make any dent in Nigerian corruption. All we got was a cosmetic “war against indiscipline.” The counter- trade scam happened under his watch. Rather than deal with it, he sent his hound-dogs after nonentities like me who dared to expose it. That scam was no different, in scope and scale, from the petroleum subsidy and other corruption scandals that have since plagued Nigeria. The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that Buhari headed under Abacha was also a citadel of corruption. While Buhari himself might not have enriched himself, his cronies and those who worked under him did so handsomely. On three different occasions, Buhari has run for the presidency. On three different occasions he has failed. That should really be enough. If, as seems likely, he were to run for the presidency a fourth time in 2015, there is no question that he would fail yet again. Try as he might again and again, Mohammadu Buhari can never be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Buhari’s sectarianism There is a fundamental reason behind this. Buhari is a lousy politician. He is an unbending former military dictator and not a democratic consensus-builder. Like his new ally, Bola Tinubu, Buhari is a regional, sectional politician. Such politicians are practically impossible to package and market nationally in the ethnically-delicate Nigeria of today. Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir El’Rufai, one of those Northerners who deserve to be serious contenders for the presidency of Nigeria, observed that Buhari remains “perpetually unelectable” as a result of his “insensitivity to Nigeria’s diversity and his parochial focus.” This is an elegant way of saying that politically, Buhari has an uncanny tendency to put his foot in his mouth. He talks before thinking of the political implications of his words. He shoots from the hip. The strength of Obasanjo, which enabled him to capture the presidency on two different occasions, was that he was perceived as a broadminded politician, not overly partial to his people in the South- West. As a matter of fact, in his first election, his people did not want him. The strength of Goodluck Jonathan, which propelled him to win the presidency, was that he was able to string together a coalition that stretched both north and south of the Niger. The weakness of Buhari is that he is totally unacceptable to people outside his region. Buhari is a Northern regional champion. As head of state in the 1980’s, his government was unapologetically Northern. No attempt was made to balance the ticket at the top. It was the only regime in Nigeria’s history headed by two Northerners. When he seized power, Buhari put Shagari, the Northern head of state he overthrew, under house arrest. But then he jailed Alex Ekwueme, the Southern vice-president. You may well ask what makes Shagari less culpable for the misdeeds of the Second Republic than his number-two man. The simple fact was that Buhari was Fulani as was Shagari; but Ekwueme was Igbo. Impolitic words At the height of the Sharia debate during the Obasanjo administration, Buhari declared that Muslims should vote only for fellow Muslims. This was politically suicidal for a man seeking national office. He became an advocate for implementation of Sharia all over Nigeria. He protested to the Oyo State governor, in the context of a dispute between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farmers in the state, that “your people are killing my people.” This turned out to be unfounded and perhaps the reverse. His threats during the campaign for the 2011 elections incited widespread violence in the North after he lost. His supporters went on a rampage; looting and killing; in spite of the fact that, by all accounts, the elections were adjudged the most free and fair in the history of Nigeria’s current democratic experiment. By the time the mayhem had subsided, over 1000 people had been slaughtered in cold blood and some 65,000 displaced. Forgetting that a statement made in Hausa would readily be translated into English, Buhari later declared unapologetically in a BBC interview: “If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” These are the tokens of an irresponsible politician, whose ambitions for power supersede the national interest. Who then are the dogs and baboons that Buhari has in mind to soak in blood if and when he loses yet again come 2015? Are they his children or are they those of others? With the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, Buhari played to the Northern gallery yet again, calling the Jonathan government “the biggest Boko Haram.” Wole Olaniyi was a fly in the wall at a meeting in Kano Government House designed to persuade PDP rebel governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to decamp to the APC. Assuming that only Northerners were present, Buhari declared the Boko Haram was a “strategic plan” by the government of Goodluck Jonathan to “destroy the North.” When Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, Buhari still saw this with Northern goggles, insinuating that the President is waging war on the North. President of the North Without a doubt, Buhari has massive support in the North. Indeed, he is the most popular Northern politician in the North today. But that precisely remains his undoing at the centre. The more he has been identified as a Northern champion, the less attractive he has become as a national choice. Even in the North, his support base is limited to the Muslim population. He does not appeal to Northern Christians. Then there is the added factor of the opposition of his implacable opponents among the Northern elite. Men like Babangida and Atiku would rather die than allow Buhari get to Aso Rock. One thing is certain, the South-South and the South-East will not vote for Buhari in 2015. Not only that; there are no buyers for Buhari’s sectarian politics in the South-West. No matter what Tinubu might be telling him, the people of the South-West will not vote for Buhari in 2015. We already had the template in 2011, when Buhari tried to sell himself, first by balancing his ticket with a Yoruba man; and then by making sure the Yoruba man is a Christian; a pastor no less. But it just did not wash. It will not work in 2015. The worst thing that can happen to Northern presidential aspirations in 2015 is for Buhari to be on the APC ballot. That is a sure guarantee that the North will not be providing the next president. Buhari would be a shoo-in in an election for president of Northern Nigeria. But in an election encompassing the entire country, the best he can envisage is to be a kingmaker. He cannot be king. The nearest Buhari will get to Aso Rock in 2015 is by attending the Council of State meetings. www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/153674-buhari-will-never-president-nigeria-femi-aribisala.html 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Politics › How To Lose The Presidential Election Four Times Part 2--femi Aribisala. by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:49pm On Jan 31, 2015 |
Get gullible South-West journalists, like Dele Shobowale, to attack and malign anyone who dares to remind Nigerians about the missing $2.8 billion skeleton in your political wardrobe. APC presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari’s blueprint for being a serial loser of presidential elections in Nigeria continues as follows: Be an uneducated presidential candidate Get your APC supporters to deride Goodluck Jonathan as “clueless,” but to complain when PDP National Secretary, Wale Oladipo, calls you “a semi-literate jackboot.” Run against Goodluck Jonathan, the most highly-educated president in the history of Nigeria, who has a B.Sc. in Zoology; an M.Sc. in Hydro-biology and Fisheries Biology; and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt; while you, on the other hand, did not even go to university but only as far as Katsina Provisional Secondary School. Be one of the few senior military officers in the history of the Nigeria to fail the Command and Staff College exams as well as the senior military examinations. While your senior military colleagues, such as Ibrahim Babangida, Tunde Idiagbon, Theophilus Danjuma, Augustus Aikhomu and Abdulsalami Abubakar have military suffixes after their names, such as FSS; Psc; or MNI; have none after yours. Have no policy program Have no idea whatsoever of what you would do as president. Mouth anti- corruption platitudes without telling Nigerians how you propose to fight corruption. Fail to appreciate that the president of a democratic government does not have the dictatorial powers you exhibited unscrupulously as military head of state. Refuse to appear in a public debate with President Obasanjo during the 2003 presidential election for fear of being disgraced. Be ridiculed by another invitation to debate Goodluck Jonathan today because the PDP is confident you will not be up to the task. Claim: “no right-thinking Nigerian will vote for Jonathan” but show zero understanding of public policy. When asked in an interview on Channels Television how you would grow the Nigerian economy, give the ludicrous response that you would unilaterally stabilize dwindling oil prices; something even OPEC cannot do now. When Jide Ajani asks you: “Looking at the economy today, what are those things you would point at that are fundamental to making the economy prosperous?” Reply, showing your acute ignorance, by saying: “I am not an economist but with my experience, it is about the indiscipline and lack of probity of the PDP government.” When he tries to get you to be more forthcoming by asking: “You have spoken in general terms but were you to make a presentation to the business community, what are those things you would be telling them about your economic agenda – in specific terms?” Reply in the most vacuous nonsensical manner possible: “Firstly, let us secure our country. It means anything that comes to this country should be secure, but with people being kidnapped, armed robbery, bombings here and there, bad roads, fraudulent practices, nobody would come in and invest.” When he still tries to get some substance from you by insisting: “What solutions would you proffer?” Show you have no idea whatsoever by replying: “It is not about telling them what to do which I have as plans but we have to understand how the problem developed? The ruling party must first accept responsibility for the failure of the nation before we can begin to talk about solutions.” Be known for nonsensical policies As military head of state, treat Nigerians as school-children through an infantile “War Against Indiscipline.” Force them to queue at bus-stops under the watchful eyes of soldiers wielding whips with orders to flog publicly those deemed unruly. Make civil-servants who come late to work do humiliating frog-jumps. Confuse this charade as cogent public policy. Be the pioneer of kidnapping in Nigeria by seizing, drugging and crating Umaru Dikko in London, in the failed attempt to ship him forcibly back home. Make a monkey of the Nigerian judicial system by imposing ridiculous 200-year prison sentences on politicians. Put a corrupt president under house arrest, but jail students for 24 years for cheating at exams. Publicly chastise and humiliate the Ooni of Ife and the Emir of Kano, like a headmaster would his errant school- children, because they went on a private business trip to Israel. Even though Nigerians did not need government permission to visit Israel, seize their passports and place them under travel- bans. Revert to the ancient stone-age policy of trade by barter referred to as counter- trading. Use it to camouflage the siphoning of Nigeria’s resources abroad to Brazil. Violate ECOWAS protocols by instituting a “Ghana-Must-Go” policy that sought to expel Ghanaians from Nigeria. Impose austerity measures that create widespread job-losses and business closures and lowered the living-standards of Nigerians. Be involved in $2.8 billion scandal Claim you are anti-corruption, but under your watch as federal commissioner for petroleum resources, it was discovered that $2.8 billion of Nigeria’s oil money was withdrawn from the NNPC account in London’s Midland Bank and fraudulently deposited in a private BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) London account where it generated interest amounting to 419 million pounds for private pockets. BCCI, described by Time Magazine as “the dirtiest bank of all,” turned out to be a rogue bank of international drug-barons and money-launderers owned by a notorious Pakistani; Agha Hassan Abedi. The bank finally collapsed in 1991 after British and American regulators discovered it was involved in widespread money-laundering deals. The Shagari administration instituted a probe panel, headed by Justice Ayo Irikefe, to get to the bottom of the $2.8 billion scandal. The Senate also instituted its own investigations, headed by majority leader, Olusola Saraki. The Saraki committee’s report was presented to the Senate at the tail-end of the Shagari administration’s first term, with the resolve to address the matter after the 1983 election. Conduct a coup d’état overthrowing the civilian government before the report could be made public. Bury the Irikefe Report, ensuring that it has never been made public. Intimidate the press into silence by promulgating the infamous Decree 2 which stifled press freedom and threatened prosecution of even those who tell the truth, as long as it is not palatable to you. Send politicians indiscriminately to jail on corruption charges as a way of diverting attention from your own corruption scandal. Remove the Chief Justice of the Federation and replace him with Justice Ayo Irikefe, the man who headed the probe panel whose report you buried. Also appoint Chike Ofodile, the secretary of the probe panel whose report you buried, as your attorney-general. Fail to see the hypocrisy in your insistence that the probe report today on NNPC accounts must be published. You say: “In the spirit of the War Against Corruption, we demand the release of the Audit Report of the missing $20billion.” But you buried the Irikefe Report on the missing $2.8 billion. Lai Mohammed, APC publicity secretary, says: “Nigerians will continue to demand that the audit report be made public, in the interest of transparency. The issue will not be swept under the carpet.” However, you, the APC presidential candidate, rejected transparency by refusing to appear before the Justice Oputa “Truth and Reconciliation Panel” to defend your battered anti-corruption pretensions, suggesting thereby that you have something to hide. Instead, get gullible South-West journalists, like Dele Shobowale, to attack and malign anyone who dares to remind Nigerians about the missing $2.8 billion skeleton in your political wardrobe. Foolishly believe such scurrilous attacks on your critics would make the matter go away. When Vera Ifudu, an NTA reporter, revealed to Nigerians that Senate Leader, Saraki, told her in an interview that the missing $2.8 billion was moved from the NNPC’s Midland Bank account to a private account; get NTA to dismiss her. However, she sued NTA, won the case, and was awarded financial compensation for wrongful dismissal. Be an anti-corruption hypocrite Deceive Nigerians into believing you are a poor man, in spite of the fact that you earn the fat and generous pension of a former head of state from the federal government. Proclaim yourself an anti-corruption champion but fail to prosecute Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, a Fulani Prince of the Sokoto Caliphate and ex-Permanent Secretary, federal Ministry of Finance, who lost thousands of pounds of his personal money in a London taxi while on official trip in London; even though Nigerian civil-servants are prohibited from maintaining foreign accounts. Simply post him from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of National Planning. Then crown it by appointing him a board- member of the NNPC. Claim you are against corruption, but surround yourself with corrupt politicians and enter into coalition with corrupt politicians in the APC. Have as one of your key allies, a man who has dubiously appropriated choice land properties in Lagos State, including a local government secretariat. As military head of state, have a palatial guest-house built in your home-town of Daura. Jail Bisi Akande on corruption charges, and later have him as interim chairman of your so-called anti- corruption APC. Claim your party is anti- corruption; however, the APC minority leader in the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was convicted for professional misconduct by the Supreme Court of Georgia, U.S.A. in 2006 for defrauding a client of $25,000. Accuse the PDP of being corrupt, but welcome with open-arms as many PDP members as possible. Accept into your party, men like Murtala Nyako, who was then impeached as governor of Adamawa State on corruption and other charges. Lead a high-powered APC delegation to the Ota home of one of the biggest PDP bigwigs of all, former president Obasanjo, in order to persuade him to come and be “the navigator” of your “anti-corruption” party. Make a song and dance about being anti- corruption, but readily acquiesce to your party’s demand that a whopping 27.5 million naira fee to be paid by all presidential aspirants of your party; an amount more than that required by the PDP. Tell Nigerians you could not afford the 27.5 million naira. Nevertheless, declare your candidacy lavishly in Eagle Square, Abuja. Tell Nigerians you took a dubious bank loan of 27.5 million naira in order to pay for your party’s presidential nomination papers. But afterwards it was reported in the papers that it was a former governor that wrote the cheque to your party to pay for you. To Be Continued In Part 3 www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/lose-presidential-election-four-times-2-2/ |
| Politics › How To Lose The Presidential Election Four Times PART 1--femi Aribisala by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:26pm On Jan 31, 2015 |
IF one were to decode the guiding principle of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential ambitions, it would be this: “If at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up until you have failed three more times on the trot.” Nigerians don’t want Muhammadu Buhari to be our president. We have said this repeatedly since 1999. But Buhari simply refuses to take “No” for an answer. When is he finally going to get the message that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians don’t want him? Buhari is the last of yesterday’s men who insist that a country of 170 million people must continue to rely on the leadership of the same old and failed generation. Nigerians have already put paid to the presumptions of Olusegun Obasanjo; who wanted a fourth term; Ibrahim Babangida; who stepped aside and wanted to step back in; and Atiku Abubakar, who runs a marathon for the presidency. Buhari is the last of these recalcitrant dinosaurs. The one good thing about the coming presidential election is that it is likely to provide Nigerians with a final definitive opportunity to send him permanently into retirement. APC Presidential Candidate, Gen. Mohammed Buhari with his running mate Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN in Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan Buhari’s repeated failure to secure a national mandate provides a textbook case of how not to run for the presidency in a plural country like Nigeria. This is a compendium of some of the reasons why the Nigerian presidency will forever elude men like Buhari, inspite of all the song and dance that attends their candidacies. If anybody would like to be a serial loser of the presidential election in Nigeria, here is a list of what he needs to do; according to the blueprint of Muhammadu Buhari. Be an enemy of democracy Claim you are anti-corruption but steal the presidency of the entire country through an illegal and fraudulent military coup. Claim you are a democrat after you overthrew a democratically elected government in 1983 and made yourself Head of State without the consent of the people of Nigeria. As military Head of State, refuse to entertain any plan for a return to civilian rule. Tell Nigerians that anyone who discusses a return to civil rule would be arrested. Overthrow a government, but be more against the opposition than the government in power. Establish manhunts for key politicians in the length and breadth of the country. Nevertheless, allow key elements of the ruling NPN to escape out of the country, including party chairman, Richard Akinloye; legal counsel, Richard Akinjide; and Minister of Transport, Umaru Dikko. Allow the Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, to escape abroad, even after he had mistakenly returned to the country and was arrested and jailed. Violate human rights: Promulgate the infamous Decree 2 that makes even the reporting of the truth a punishable offence. Use it to imprison Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabo, two journalists from the South, for reporting stories that were factually true. Then tell Nigerian journalists: “It does not matter whether the story reported was true or not, if my regime does not like it, the writer would go to jail.” Try Nigerian civilians in military tribunals as opposed to regular courts of law in violation of internationally acceptable legal norms. Create a secret police, the National Security Organization (NSO) for the first time in Nigeria’s history under infamous Lawal Rafindadi to harass and imprison without trial Nigerian citizens in clear violation of their human rights. Publicly murder three Nigerians; Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26): two from the South-West and one from the South East, under the dubious Decree 20 for drug-related offences. Ignore the fact that, at the time they committed their crimes, their offences were not punishable by the death sentences. Nevertheless, maliciously backdate the death-sentence with illegal retroactive decrees that violate every international norm of due process and human rights just in order to kill these three hapless young men. In spite of widespread international condemnation for this, refuse to show any remorse or contrition or to apologise for this judicial murder till date. When asked to appear before the Justice Oputa “Truth and Reconciliation Panel” in order to answer for a litany of abuses of power and violation of human rights while in power as Nigeria’s military Head of State, refuse to appear showing your contempt for Nigerians. Discriminate against the South: Balance a Northern Fulani Head of State with another Northern Fulani deputy. Conduct a coup d’état, ostensibly to overthrow a corrupt Nigerian government. However, be so ethnically chauvinistic that you put Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the vice-president who took none of the decisions under lock- and-key in jail in Kirikiri because he is Igbo and Christian. At the same time, put Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the president who was the person in charge under house arrest in a palatial mansion in Ikoyi, Lagos because he happens to be the same as you: Fulani and Muslim. Make Northern politicians sacred cows and untouchable. Fail to arrest and prosecute none of the prominent Hausa/ Fulani politicians who were the principal actors in the government you overthrew; including Adamu Ciroma, Suleiman Takuma, Aliu Gusau, Lawal Kaita, Barkin Zuwo, Shehu Kangiwa and Awwal Ibrahim. Southern politicians At the same time, jail Southern politicians, including Bisi Onabanjo, Ambrose Alli, Lateef Jakande, Jim Nwobodo, and others on trumped up charges that could not be substantiated in any court of law. Try octogenarian Michael Ajasin of the South-West before a tribunal. When he is discharged and acquitted; try him again. When he is discharged and acquitted again, try him a third time. When he is discharged and acquitted yet again, keep him in indefinite detention without just cause. Maltreat Southern leaders: Send a team of soldiers to ransack the Park Lane, Apapa residence of elder Southern statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Give no reason whatsoever for this blatant violation of the old man’s privacy. Seize his international passport for no just cause. Later, try to pull the wool over the eyes of the Yorubas by choosing a man married to Awolowo’s grand-daughter as your vice- presidential running-mate. Lock Emeka Ojukwu, an Igbo man from the South, in prison in Kirikiri with the politicians of the Second Republic, in spite of the fact that he committed no crime and held no public office in the Second Republic. Moreover, after Ojukwu returned to Nigeria after 13 years of exile, he received a full pardon from the president of Nigeria for his activities as leader of the secessionist government of Biafra. Provide Nigerians with no explanation whatsoever for the exact offence that led to Ojukwu’s arrest and incarceration. Get booted out of office by your own clique in the army. Have your colleague, Ibrahim Babangida, give this testimony about you: “regrettably it turned out that (he) was too rigid and uncompromising in his attitudes to issues of national significance. Efforts to make him understand that a diverse polity like Nigeria required recognition and appreciation of differences in both cultural and individual perceptions only served to aggravate the attitudes.” Corrupt practices: Prohibit the importation of naira into the country during a much ballyhooed currency exchange programme. Then contravene your own policy by having your ADC, Colonel Mustapha Jokolo, allow his father, the Emir of Gwandu from the North, to smuggle into the country through Muritala Muhammed International Airport 53 suitcases which the then Area Administrator of the Lagos Airport Customs Command, Atiku Abubakar, was not allowed to search. At the same time, sentence Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a Yoruba man from the South-West, to 20 months in jail for being in possession of foreign- exchange he had legitimately procured for the upkeep of his band on a foreign trip. Because Fela mocked you in his songs for being unable to address the problems of Nigeria, declare to Nigerians that: “I decided to deal with this Fela problem once and for all.” Face public embarrassment because the judge who pronounced the sentence on Fela later confessed that he was ordered to jail him. Disregard for Nigeria’s secularity:As military Head of State, contravene the country’s secularity by having Nigeria apply to join the Organisation of Islamic States (OIC). The application finally came through in 1986 and divided the country acrimoniously along Muslim/Christian lines. Tell Muslims not to vote for Christians. Reveal to Nigerians that you are a religious bigot by declaring in Kaduna in 2001 that: “I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country.” Say this, in spite of the fact that declaring some states as sharia states is in clear violation of the secularity of Nigeria’s federalism, as contained in section 10 of the Constitution of Nigeria Anti-corruption contradictions Claim to be an anti-corruption crusader; nevertheless, agree to serve under Sani Abacha, one of the most corrupt Heads- of-State ever in the history of Nigeria. On the 10th anniversary of General Abacha’s demise, tell incredulous Nigerians that Abacha did not steal anything while he was Nigeria’s Head of State. Describe all the allegations of looting the treasury leveled against Abacha as “baseless.” Maintain that: “ten years after Abacha, those allegations remain unproven because of lack of facts.” Hold this position in spite of the millions of dollars of Abacha’s loot recovered from banks around the world, and in spite of the fact that the Abacha’s family signed a formal agreement to return over $1 billion to the Nigerian government. As chairman of the juiciest portfolio of all under Sani Abacha’s government; the Petroleum Trust Fund with a budget of 181 billion naira between 1994 and 1999, fail woefully to curb the rampant corruption in the organisation. When in 2000, President Obasanjo set up an Interim Management Committee to look into the affairs of the PTF under the chairmanship of Haroun Adamu, it was discovered that over 25 billion naira was stolen under your watch. Claim to be an anti-corruption crusader, but Group Captain Usman Jibrin, a board member of PTF, resigned from the organization in protest over the blatant irregularities in your appointment of consultants. (TO BE CONTINUED). www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/lose-presidential-election-four-times/ |
| Sports › Brazil Back Out Of Friendly With Super Eagles by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:02pm On Jan 30, 2015 |
The much-publicized international friendly between five-time world champions Brazil and the Super Eagles of Nigeria will no longer hold as scheduled. As publicized by the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, and indeed the Akwa Ibom State government, the Super Eagles were penciled to face the Samba Boys on March 29 at the newly built Akwa Ibom International Stadium named the ‘Nest of Champions’. Brazil Global Tour on Friday confirmed that Brazil will meet Chile in a friendly on March 29, 2015 at Emirates Stadium, London instead of the Super Eagles. The Brazil-Chile game will be a rematch of the World Cup second round clash between the two in June of last year in which the Brazilians emerged tops after prevailing in the penalty shootout in Belo Horizonte. Before the March 29 clash with Chile, Coach Dunga’s side will play against France in Paris on March 26 and the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, had before claimed the Brazilians will fly to Nigeria afterwards. “It is not true that the match has been cancelled. There is nothing like that. What people are probably not clear about is the fact that Brazil will play France around the same period,” NFF president Pinnick stated late last year when eyebrows were first raised about the friendly. He continued: “Brazil will play France on March 26, while they will fly to Nigeria to play the Super Eagles at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium on March 29. The two games and dates are quite different,” It is yet to be seen if the NFF will find an alternative having stated that they will want to make the most of every FIFA window to play friendly games that would help improve the Super Eagles as well as raise their rating. www.premiumtimesng.com/sports/175973-brazil-back-friendly-super-eagles.html 1 Like 1 Share |
| Politics › Job Description For Inec Ad- Hoc Staff by Titilayodeji13(op): 2:07pm On Jan 27, 2015 |
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to revalidate and upgrade its Ad-Hoc Staff Recruitment Databank in preparation for the forth-coming 2015 General Elections. Find below, positions identified and the respective job descriptions: State Constituency Returning Officers, Senatorial District Constituency Returning Officers, Federal Constituency Returning Officers, State Assembly Constituency Returning Officers, Collation Officers, Supervisory Presiding Officers, Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers A.JOB TITLE: STATE CONSTITUENCY RETURNING OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION Represent the Commission at State Constituency Collation Center. Receive and compile results from LGAs Announce the State result for Presidential Election and submit result to the Chairman INEC. And for Governorship Election, announce results make a return of the winner. Issue photocopies of result to party agents and security agencies present EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Must be a Serving Vice Chancellor of any University or Retired Justice/Judge of Federal High Court B. JOB TITLE: SENATORIAL/ NATIONAL AND STATE CONSTITUENCY RETURNING OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION Collate the results from Forms EC.8C received from the LGA in the senatorial district/federal constituency and RAs/ LGAs within a state constituency and transfer the final senatorial/house of representatives result as recorded in Form EC. 8D to Form EC.8E. Announce the results and declare the winner. Issue photocopies of result to party agents and security agencies present Submit original result sheet and report to the state REC. EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Must be a Serving Professor in any Federal Tertiary Institution or Retired Justice/Judge of Federal High Court C. JOB TITLE: LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA (LGA) COLLATION OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION Collates and announces result at various level of collation from polling units, RA/ Ward level and State level. EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Must be 1. A Lecturer of Federal Tertiary Institution Or 2. Member of the following Professional Associations: a)NMA b)ANAN c)PSN d)NSE e)NIA f)NIQS D. JOB TITLE: SUPERVISORY PRESIDING OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION Shall receive materials from the EO on the eve of elections He shall distribute materials to all the presiding officers in his RA He will ensure proper retrieval of materials from the presiding Officer He shall assist in the training of poll officials under him He should have sufficient knowledge of the RA of his assignment He shall address and solve any issues that may arise or refer to the EO immediately He shall monitor early movement of the presiding officers to the collation centre He shall collect the phone numbers and other details from the presiding officers to ensure close communicational all the time EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Must be an INEC Staff or Federal Public Servant (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) Grade Level 10-14 at State Level. E. JOB TITTLE: PRESIDING OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION Shall be at the LGA two days before the election to confirm posting Collect all materials from the SPO on eve of elections and properly document them Shall be in charge of the PU and paste all necessary materials such as postal, etc Supervise the Assistant Presiding Officers posted to the Polling Unit Shall educate the voters on the election process and arrangement of polling unit At the end of the voting process he shall add the results from the voting points where available and declare the winning party He shall paste a copy of the results at the Polling Unit He prepares reports and submits to Supervisory Presiding Officer EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Must be a serving NYSC Member. F. JOB TITLE: ASSISTANT PRESIDING OFFICER 1/11 JOB DESCRIPTION Assist the PO to collect and document materials received Works under the supervision of the Presiding Officer Ensures that there is flow and proper arrangements of the voters Ticks the name of the voter registry Assist with the sorting and counting of ballot papers and materials May manage a voting point if need be EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Must be a serving NYSC Member , Student of penultimate year in Federal Tertiary Institutions, Former NYSC Member that participated in 2011-date Electoral activities or Federal Government Employee Grade Level 07-09 possessing minimum of National Diploma/equivalent at State Level. www.inecnigeria.org/?page_id=3376 1 Like |
| Politics › Buhari, A 'Man Of Integrity', Lied Under Oath - Femi Aribisala by Titilayodeji13(op): 12:16pm On Jan 27, 2015 |
THESE are interesting times. Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate whose only policy plank is that he will fight against corruption without wavering, is not as straight-forward as he would have Nigerians believe. Buhari lied under oath. He perjured himself claiming his school-leaving certificate is with the military. This has now been revealed to be a tissue of lies.www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/muhammadu-buhari-lied-oath/ 146 Likes 26 Shares |
| Politics › 'person Of Interest' Interviewed In White House Drone Crash by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:47pm On Jan 26, 2015 |
Washington (CNN)—The U.S. Secret Service is interviewing a "person of interest" after a drone crashed on the White House grounds early Monday morning as part of its investigation into the incident, a law enforcement official said. The Secret Service locked down the White House shortly after 3 a.m. after an officer on the south grounds of the White House spotted the drone, described as a two-foot wide "quad copter," flying above the White House grounds before crashing on the southeast side of the complex. The officer saw the drone flying at a very low altitude. "An investigation is underway to determine the origin of this commercially available device, motive, and to identify suspects. As additional information becomes available we will update our statement," Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said. The law enforcement official said it appears the drone was "for recreational use." The official could not confirm whether the person came in voluntarily. A Secret Service official said the owner of the drone called in after seeing reports of the drone on the news, though it's not clear the two sources were referring to the same individual. The Secret Service was sweeping the White House grounds on Monday morning looking for anything else that might be on the ground. President Barack Obama and the first lady are both away, traveling in India. RELATED: No, you can't fly drones over the White House Flying drones is illegal in the District of Columbia, but that hasn't always kept them out of the capital's skies. The Secret Service previously detained an individual operating a quadcopter drone on July 3 in President's Park, just a block from the South Lawn of the White House, according to a report filed with the Federal Aviation Administration. Another person was detained by the U.S. Capitol Police for flying a drone on the Capitol Hill grounds. And in October, a drone was spotted above D.C.'s Bolling Air Force Base. A surge in interest in drones and how they should be regulated even brought one to Capitol Hill -- inside a committee room, no less. Congressmen watched in awe as robotics company executive flew a drone inside the committee room during a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on integrating commercial drones. Drone flies inside Congressional hearing 00:42 The drone even crashed in the committee room, though it did recover. The Secret Service patrolling the grounds of the White House has been in the national spotlight for the past year ever since a man managed to hop the fence and get inside the White House itself through an unlocked door. The incident led to the resignation of the Secret Service's director and reassignment of other top level officials. An independent report commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security said in its executive summary said the department was stretched "beyond its limits" late last year. www.edition.cnn.com/2015/01/26/politics/white-house-device-secret-service index.html?sr=fb012615whitehouse1230pVODtopLink |
| Christianity Etc › Pilgrimage To Jerusalem Is Waste Of Funds – Pastor by Titilayodeji13(op): 6:31pm On Jan 25, 2015 |
Joe Femi-Dagunro, a senior pastor with the Grace and Glory Chapel, Lagos, on Sunday said that Christians should not indulge in wasteful spending by taking religious trips to Jerusalem. The cleric made the remark during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos during the church’s inaugural Thanksgiving Service in Ikeja. Mr. Femi-Dagunro said that as much as people could travel to see other climes, they should not attach a trip to Jerusalem as a compulsory task in the practise of Christianity. He said that such money could be put to more productive use by building industrial and Information Technology parks for the development of the Nigerian youth. “There is no point for us not to say the truth, if we believe in it. There is nowhere that it is written in the Bible that Christians must visit Jerusalem. “Jesus did not say: ‘You must visit my tomb.” “We are wasting money on such trips and that money could be used to support the youth to build industrial parks, or to develop IT parks. “So, church leaders have a role to speak the truth and advise government on how it can do this,” the cleric said. He also advised that churches should begin to train their members on skill acquisition, to improve themselves so as to be able to serve the church better and also get opportunities to make better living. “It is high time that Churches began, as they schedule week days for prayer meetings, to dedicate one day for skill acquisition. “They can train the people they use in the church, or mentor them, in order to develop the people for their good as well.” Mr. Femi-Dagunro also urged churches to embark on more humanitarian projects such as building cottage hospitals, in addition to building universities. (NAN) www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/175588-pilgrimage-jerusalem-waste-funds-pastor.html |
