₦airaland Forum

Some people are just so comfortable being stupid and foolish. With all d gud works that this young Nigerian is doing some pple with their compromised tongue still call him names. I know some pple are paid to be utterly stupid but one can pardon dem under the canopy of doing their "ill" job. Am aware some pple are blinded by ethnicity and religion which make dem worship their obtuse postulates with faith. Also I knw dat some pple are living in the darkness of self ignorance which make them ooze stupidity like sweat - but no matter what category of intellectual in-capability you find yourself the truth is wat it is : THE TRUTH. You are free to caress falsehood all you like but u can never f8uck with the truth. Kip the flag flying Sahara reporters...Edumare bless you

I share the candid opinion of most Nigerians that the legislative arm of our govt is as greedy and corrupt as the executive but I will align with their postulate on this issue of State of the nation. Why won't a president give a brief of governance annually? Did we even have to pass it into law before the president deem it right to account for his stewardship? The problem is that GEJ doesn't give a damn about all that, he is preoccupied with rewarding his cronies with overbloated and obese contract.

ABUJA — THE Senate, yesterday, drew the battle line when it threatened to over rule the President should he not assent to a bill asking him to make the State of the Nation Address annually.

The bill requires the President to address the National Assembly on the affairs of the nation annually.

In an apparent reaction to President Goodluck Jonathan’s rebuff  of an earlier version of the bill forwarded to him two years ago, the Senate vowed yesterday to override him should he again veto the bill.

The bill on the State of the Nation Address which was forwarded from the House of Representatives was presented to the Senate by the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.


President Goodluck Jonathan
In his lead debate, Senator Ndoma-Egba, noted that the bill would neither foreclose presentation of annual budgets nor duplicate its functions, adding,  that ‘’the idea of the Bill is to take stock of the nation, its condition, the governments and its performance; the people and their well being”.

Contributing to the debate on the bill, Senators said the bill would give legal muscle to the crave by lawmakers for the president to brief the legislative arm on the affairs of government, even as they submitted that specific details on what steps the National Assembly would take should be included in the bill.

In his remarks, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, PDP, Abia North, however, cautioned that the address should have thematic guidelines which should cover the economy and social stability.

For Senator Magnus Abe, PDP, Rivers South East, ‘’we should not look at this bill for just for today. I don’t see any challenges in the implementation of this, it would give Nigerians an opportunity to hear directly from the president.” He however said that he has an issue with the article that says the National Assembly may summon the president using two thirds if he doesn’t address the nation.

Opposition derserves right to react

On his part, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, ACN, Osun Central, advocated that in the aftermath of the president’s speech, the opposition should be given an opportunity to react to some of the issues that would be raised by the president.”

The Bill, which scaled the second reading was referred to the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs to look at and report to the entire house in the next two weeks.

Speaking after discussions on the Bill by senators, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over yesterday’s plenary, said the National Assembly would heed the advice of the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak who had earlier dared the National Assembly to invoke its powers if the President refuses to assent to the Bill.

Ekweremadu said:  “We decided that there is need for us to make it compulsory for the President to appear before the National Assembly and present a state of the Nation Address. When that did not happen, we again introduced it in 2008.

“To make sure that the Bill sails through, I discussed with President Umaru Yar’Adua the difference between the Bill and what the Constitution says and Yar’Adua was excited and looked forward to being the first President to present the State ofNation Address.

“Unfortunately by the time the Bill was passed he had died. It was then President Goodluck Jonathan who had the opportunity to preside over the issue of signing the Bill. He did not sign the Bill. It happened during the closing days of the last Senate. We didn’t have the opportunity of bringing the Bill back to over ride the veto of Mr. President.

“We would have over-ridden the veto if we had enough time to do so. But technically, at the end of the session, the Bill lapsed and we needed to start afresh. It was not as if we did not know what to do with the Bill.

“We believe that this time the president will sign it but if it is not signed, you know the Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak, advised us that if the President refuses to sign our Bill, we know what to do. So that might be the first time we heed the advice of the Political Adviser to the President. This Bill will be considered by the appropriate committee and returned in good time so that the country will begin to benefit from the very important provisions of the Bill in line with the practice in most other countries including our own sub-region. Even inGhanathere is a provision for State of the Nation Address.”

GEJ has every right under the law to contest just like every Nigerian under the law of coordinated and rightful thinking has every right not to vote for him. 2015 means a lot to GEJ and Nigeria - it will show our sincerity to better governance, it will how we reward underperformance, it will show that GEJ is a "messi", it will show the strength of PDP and the opposition, it will show if Nigerians will endure another failed four years, it will show if as Nigerians we want corruption to boldly say "I don't give a damn", it will show if GEJ can win shoeless and shoeful - it will show how comatose is our resolve for change. 2015 means a lot to Nigerians who seek a positive change.

I wanted to cook an article on sth related to this post which is the thankless and churlish modus of an average Igbo man. Chief Obafemi Awolowo is respected and revered till today because Yorubas are grateful for his splendid lofty contribution towards the growth of SW and Nigeria. Lemme give u an example of how absolutely ungrateful an average Igbo man can be - November 16 happens to be the great Zik's birthday but its off-putting that only 3 pple wished that legend of a man - happy birthday and a dismaying 72 views. We don't treat our legends like dat in SW we venerate them because we believe their selfless contribution to our development can't be eroded by events.

Meni  Jonathan, the president’s half brother is dead.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, has confirmed the death of President Goodluck Jonathan’s half brother, Meni Jonathan, at the Aso Villa Clinic in Abuja.
In an e-mail response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry, Mr. Abati confirmed the death, saying, “May his soul rest in peace.”
The death of Meni Jonathan caused mixed feelings at the Presidential Villa, Abuja as the death occurred same day the President turned 55.
Meni Jonathan passed away at the Aso Villa clinic at about 11:45a.m. as arrangements were being made to move him to the National Hospital, Abuja.
A presidency source revealed that Meni Jonathan flew into Abuja with the president last week, after the president went to see his house in Otueke, Bayelsa State. The source said the deceased ‘seemed fit’ as at Sunday.
The deceased reportedly served as the head of Otueke Council of Chiefs before his death.


May his soul rest in peace

Mr. Onaiyekan says Jonathan should be fearless in tackling corruption knowing that Nigerians will support him in this fight against evildoers
Less than 48 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan praised himself for fighting corruption, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, has urged him to be less timid, but be fearless in his campaign against corruption in Nigeria.
Mr. Onaiyekan gave the advice when a delegation from the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria led by its Chief Imam, Fuad Adeyemi, called on him in Abuja.
The Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria was at the cardinal’s house to congratulate and felicitate with him on his elevation to a cardinal by the Vatican.
Mr. Onaiyekan said corruption in Nigeria was growing at a pace that required a fearless and honest leader to tackle it.
He said the revelations of massive corruption in 2012 alone showed that much needed to be done by the leadership of the country to tame the menace in Nigeria.
“What we have heard in the recent probes and are hearing from the various testimonies in 2012 alone shows that there is much to be done to fight corruption in Nigeria.
“I want to believe that the president is not intimidated by these so-called sacred cows. We are praying that God should give him the courage to fight this evil people.
“He should be fearless in handling this problem. He should know that Nigerians are behind him and will support him in this fight against evildoers in our country,” he said.
Mr. Onaiyekan described corruption as the bane of Nigeria’s development and the cause of many of the problems confronting the nation.
He warned the political leadership to be cautious of its policies, noting that many citizens were still unemployed and in need of genuine intervention from government.
The cardinal said religious leaders in the country would continue to play their parts by encouraging their followers to imbibe good virtues in all their endeavours.
He stressed the need for the political class to do more in addressing ills in the society and called for honesty on the part of public office holders in the country.
Mr. Onaiyekan also thanked the group for the visit and stressed the need for the faithful of both religions to be united for the sake of peace and prosperity in Nigeria.
In his speech, Mr. Adeyemi harped on the need for tolerance, peaceful co-existence among Christians and Muslims for Nigeria to evolve a virile and egalitarian society.
Mr. Adeyemi congratulated the new cardinal on his appointment, noting that it did not come as a surprise to the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria.
“We receive with joy the news of your elevation to the esteemed position of Cardinal by the Catholic pontiff.
“The news certainly did not come to us at Al-Habibiyyah society as a surprise considering your unprecedented record of peace making and leadership quality as CAN President,’’ he said.

The Task force has recommended a comprehensive framework for automation of the industry for transparency and accountability and also fighting corruption at all levels in the industry. With corruption, nothing can be achieved. From my own experience, I want to tell you that if you are embarking on reforms, it must be with integrity otherwise it will fail

*Jonah will have a very big problem with this recommendation - integrity is fairy to GEJ*

Increasing  crude oil theft is a national tragedy with grave consequences and there is need for urgent action. That and general insecurity in the Niger Delta is denying us Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the industry. We have given some recommendations including Finger printing of Nigeria’s crude oil for us to be able to track stolen products.


*someone should be asked for a refund and his name is Tompolo*

The FGN should  take action and enforce collections of outstanding royalties amounting to billions of dollars from some of the oil companies operating in Nigeria. Mr. President, we want these companies to do business in our country but we also want them to give us our entitlements. They make a lot of profit here and they go and invest in other countries. The least they can do is to pay us the royalties, petroleum tax and penalties they owe

*if we billions of dollars as outstanding royalties why then are we talking of subsidy - wait did I hear billions of dollars?

See pious recommendations that Okupe and GEJ want to bury.

1.Nigeria is the only country in the world that uses traders to sell its crude oil. The only other country that is doing so is Congo Brazzaville. We should not be comfortable in this neigbourhood. This practise is a rip off and therefore should be stopped.

[/b]Below is the full text of Chairman Nuhu  Ribadu’s speech during the presentation of the report of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force to President Goodluck Jonathan on November 2nd. It has never been published anywhere in full. We are doing so for the records.[b]
Your Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR
The Honourable Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Deziani Allison Madueke
Distinguished members of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF or the Task Force)
All protocols duly observed
We are pleased with the opportunity to formally present the report of the PRSTF  to you. The constitution of the PRSTF and the other 3 committees by Mr President is a very bold challenge thrown to us members, we salute you for your courage. We have therefore this report for your consideration with the hope that you will accept and implement the recommendations therein. This step towards true reform in the petroleum ministry and the recommendations of the Task Force will strengthen the institutions responsible for Petroleum Revenue Management and over time increase revenue accruing to the Federation Account from the Petroleum Industry.
Permit me to express our sincere appreciation to the Honourable Minister of Petroleum for this initiative and support. We pray for her success in all the reforms excises she is undertaking.
Mr.  President, our assignment is essentially about enhancing government revenue, improving transparency, accountability and to help you fight corruption. Therefore, in the course of our assignment, our review was extensive, our findings were detailed and our recommendations were far reaching to address various issues covered in our terms of reference. Some of the recommendations may be tough to implement but we are convinced it is in the best interest of our people – a lot of times Mr. President, truth can be bitter but as the saying goes, it will set us free.
Recommendations:
We would like to briefly highlight the key points of the report. The recommendations are more about management. They can be implemented with or without the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the National Assembly.
1) To increase government revenue from the industry, the Federal Government needs to put in place a coherent financing solution that allows government fund its obligations under the JV contracts. Funding government obligations will unlock additional capital from its JV partners, which will over time increase government’s revenue from the proportionate additional barrels of crude oil produced, royalties on the entire production and taxes on taxable income.
2) The FGN should  take action and enforce collections of outstanding royalties amounting to billions of dollars from some of the oil companies operating in Nigeria. Mr. President, we want these companies to do business in our country but we also want them to give us our entitlements. They make a lot of profit here and they go and invest in other countries. The least they can do is to pay us the royalties, petroleum tax and penalties they owe.
3) Nigeria is the only country in the world that uses traders to sell its crude oil. The only other country that is doing so is Congo Brazzaville. We should not be comfortable in this neigbourhood. This practise is a rip off and therefore should be stopped.
4) Increasing  crude oil theft is a national tragedy with grave consequences and there is need for urgent action. That and general insecurity in the Niger Delta is denying us Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the industry. We have given some recommendations including Finger printing of Nigeria’s crude oil for us to be able to track stolen products.
5) DPR needs to be appropriately positioned to regulate the petroleum industry and collect government revenue due from royalties for oil and gas production, gas flare penalties.  DPR should be empowered to ensure the commencement of the fiscalisation of govt revenue from production and not sales as is the current practice
6) The Task force has recommended a comprehensive framework for automation of the industry for transparency and accountability and also fighting corruption at all levels in the industry. With corruption, nothing can be achieved. From my own experience, I want to tell you that if you are embarking on reforms, it must be with integrity otherwise it will fail
7) We also recommend the  establishment of an independent office for the transformation of the industry for a fixed term with a specific mandate to implement the reforms accepted by the government based on the work of the various committees and task forces looking at the sector as well as other earlier reform initiatives in varying stages of implementation.
Once again, we would like to commend the government for this bold initiative and wish you all the success in the reform steps you are taking in the entire industry for the benefit of Nigerians.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Nuhu Ribadu
Abuja
November 2, 2012

duality: from your write up, its obvious you don't like the truth. what if he never owned a jet. oritsejafor was the only religious leader (christian or Muslim) who spoke loudest against Boko haram. If he had the Political and Military force, he would have taken more decisive steps than Mr President. Stope this private jet issue. its a poor mans mind set. you may need a private jet tomorrow.

I think your own problem is that u like lies a whole lot. We are saying speaking loudest is not same as finding solution to a situation. We are saying crying political foul is not a creed of CAN. We are saying endorsing a president frm a party and saliently castigating the presidential candidate of another political party can never make an objective "speaking loudest". The political pastor got a reward for speaking loudest - a jet from the govt he spoke loudest for and not to.

duality: I'm sorry to say this, its too early not to use your brain. when boko haram was destroying churches; you expected hi to keep silence. do you have as much infor as he has. do you know how much pressure he mounted on the presidency on the issue of Boko haram. have you read most of his press conferences. Stop this hating because of private jet. You may have to buy yours tomorrow.

between me and you did u knw that the last time America made a candid help on BH was when this political pastor went to the House Foreign Affairs Committee of America and tabled the skewed "much pressure" to the members of the committee who sees through the pastor's "much pressure" to behold a man driven by purchased motive n mind. I will buy private jet (amen) but I will be brave enough to say I bought it not that its a gift from church members.

duality: NONSENSE..

and CPC is the political arm of Bokoharam. what the heck? The CAN president was the loudest voice against Boko haram. Even louder than that of the president. CPC never condemned the Killing of NYSC members in the north. they kept quiet so as to score political point. Rather than condemn Boko haram and join hands to fight the evil, they simply told us the existence of Political, Religious and Social Boko haram with out telling us the one they support.

I think the media and Nigerians should be circumspect in issues like this.

Even the international community have so much confidence in the personality of oritsejafor.

let's be logical and reason without the help of sentiments - who benefited more from the death of those corpers? Its GEJ of course - it sways public support to his side while Buhari endure the public criticism. So logically someone orchestrated it for a reason and since Buhari will not do wat will smear his name then we need to ask who the violence favoured a question. Which confidence and which international community that oritejafor called hypocrite for telling him the truth? See oritsejafor has no reputation other than in Nigeria where pastors buy jets and members clap and dance with empty belly. No hold brief for CPC but politics of violence favours one man, one govt and that person must answer this question - why you?

bigx: As Boko Haram is the religious Arm of CPC?

as it is now o - more PDP members have been established, arrested and attested to be sympathetic to the inglorious cause of BH - so its best you say BH is the militant arm of PDP - northern branch

gboss4sure: CPC should shut the phuck up. What warranted this statement. I see that CPC is getting desperate everyday.

it was Olisa Metuh in an exclusive interview he granted Premium news that called CPC a party that believes in violence - so dis is CPC's response.

Orisejafor has only deepen the already sordid name of CAN in the dirty mud of politics - this man of "god" is a disgrace to the generation of Christianity. He politicized CAN and gave it a coloration comparable only to a political party when the best CAN can be is at least a pressure group. The man is deft in heating the polity while brandishing his gold chain and fart-ful utterances. And wats the reward for his sins - a jet on earth and hell in death

The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, has listed out what it calls seven facts that attests to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s “violent and ethnic” antecedents.

The opposition party was responding to an exclusive interview granted to PREMIUM TIMES by Olisa Metuh, the PDP spokesperson, in which he described the CPC as a party that believes in violence.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, Monday, the CPC said it has “come to understand the PDP, as a Party, being peopled by egregiously violent ones, which earned it the sobriquet: ‘nest of killers’.”
Violent and religious antecedents of the PDP

Mr. Fashakin said PDP’s image maker has a “penchant for conjectures, insinuations and unsupportable assertions.” He said  his party would prefer to confront “this latest impudence by the PDP image launderer with verifiable facts.”

According to Mr. Fashakin, On 29th November, 1999, a PDP-led Federal Government- less than one year in office- ordered the violent invasion of ODI, a predominantly Ijaw community in Bayelsa State, despite the fact that the community was not in any secessionist plot against Nigeria.

Mr. Fashakin said after the dust of the invasion cleared, the Human rights Watch concluded that “the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely plausible.”

He also said the same PDP-led administration, under the leadership of former president Obasanjo, between October 22 and 24, 2001, ensured that some communities in Benue state were violently and crudely invaded, which led to the deaths of no fewer than 300 people. “Though the Federal Government agreed to a N41 Billion compensation for this act of unmitigated violence, we believe that the indiscretion that led to this extra-judicial killings could have been avoided,” Mr. Fashakin said.

The CPC spokesperson said in the eight-year rule of the same regime (1999-2007), the Nigerian polity virtually became a Sanguinary with the unresolved wicked assassinations that characterized everyday living. More bewildering was the fact that a serving Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ajibola Ige, was murdered in his home – in the full glare of his security details- with the origin of the murderous violence yet to be unraveled.

Mr. Fashakin said in October 2009, a chieftain of PDP,  Bode George, was convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction for 63-count charge bordering on “financial violence on the Nigerian state” and sentenced to two-year jail term. The party said that after his prison sentence, “the PDP Apparatchiks, in a bizarre show of ethical violence on the Nigerian people, rolled out the drums and trumpets to welcome him back home. It is on record that, rather than putting this man through a structured party discipline for his misdemeanor, the PDP has continued to throw him up as its champion in obscenity and indecency.”

Also Mr. Fashakin alleged that “on 19th February, 2011, Olisa Metuh, as National Vice-Chairman (South-East) of the PDP, invaded British Nigerian Academy, Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja (the former school of his son, Derrick) and assaulted the Vice Principal, Mr Kola Pele, a 67-year old man, for seizing a phone that Derrick had, against school rules, given to other students to use. A Gestapo-style invasion of the school by Mr. Metuh, Mr. Fashakin said,  saw him holding Mr Pele by the throat for the effrontery in
seizing his son’s phone.”

“The PDP, being a shelter for violently unstable minds, went on to appoint Metuh as its National Publicity Secretary,” the opposition spokesman said.
Mr. Fashakin said aside the violent crater the PDP dug to the nation’s resources in prosecuting its 2011 presidential electioneering campaigns, there were also tales of tears and blood.

“From Kaduna to Port-Harcourt, where gates were shut against people’s will and 25 People were killed, the campaigns were trailed with violent tales all over,” the party said.

Mr. Fashakin added that in the history of the Nigerian nation, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, had always maintained its apolitical status, but in the run up to the 2011 Presidential election,  Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor, the President of CAN, presented to the Nigerian Christians the PDP candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, as the ‘anointed of the LORD’ in a manner that offended the non-partisanship of the religious body.

The subsequent call for the arrest of the CPC candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, by Mr. Oritsejafor for unsubstantiated allegations of sponsoring the post-election violence in the North, said Mr. Fashakin, further lends credence to the fact that through the instrumentality of PDP’s coercive politics, CAN under Mr. Oritsejafor is the religious arm of the PDP.

“Would that explain why Mr. President attended a ceremony on Saturday, 10thNovember, 2012 where Pastor Oritsejafor was present(ed) with a private jet?” Mr. Fashakin asked.
Buhari believes in Rule of Law

Mr. Fashakin said the CPC leader, Mr. Buhari, believes in the rule of law, adding that this was reflected in his decision to vent his aversion in the law courts when he “was rigged out of national elections three times and in these times, he ventilated his aversion to the anomalies in the Law Courts”.

“The PDP leadership, having mismanaged Nigerians’ expectations for good governance in the last 13 years, now feels comfortable throwing tantrums in very despicable manner.

“We are very certain that the Nigerian people, being the best judges, are capable of seeing through all the carefully woven obfuscation,” he said.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/107732-can-under-oritsejafor-is-religious-arm-of-pdp-cpc.html

Who think GEJ is clueless and dumb is only carried away with his outlook; GEJ is negatively intelligent - he would ve wiped out BH since the beginning of his term but he enjoys the politics of slander against Buhari and the North which flourish as long as BH continues. Its all politics from the violence after the 2011 elections where GEJ in his negative intelligence allowed the killing of corpers to smear the name of Buhari as if that is not enough on Oct 1 the first bomb blast was claimed by MEND but GEJ with d boldness of prostitute absolved MEND of the act while secretly politicizing the killing in a way to serially blame the opposition. When BH became a full blown cancer, GEJ needed that violence more than the devil - he need those blood more than a blood bank - he need to destroy the name of Buhari and the North;if it will claim 3000 souls or more to achieve it he won't mind - infact he doesn't give a damn. GEJ can stamp out BH in one day but dat is like a political ejaculation - GEJ will not want to cum yet he is enjoying d feeling.

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) noted the disparaging
commentary of Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wherein he characterized the CPC as a Party that “believes in violence and religious Politics.” As a Party, we have come to understand the PDP, as a Party, being peopled by egregiously violent ones, which earned it the sobriquet: ‘nest of killers.’ We know that the image makers of the PDP have penchant for conjectures, insinuations and unsupportable assertions.

We, in the CPC, would prefer to confront this latest impudence by the PDP image launderer with verifiable facts.

Fact one- On 29th November, 1999, a PDP-led Federal Government- less than one year in office- ordered the violent invasion of ODI, a predominantly Ijaw community in Bayelsa state. It is note-worthy to state that this community was not in any secessionist plot against the Nigerian state. After the dust of the invasion cleared, the Human Rights Watch concluded that "the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely plausible.”

Fact two- The same PDP-led administration, under the leadership of the Progenitor of the PDP, between October 22 and 24, 2001, ensured that some communities in Benue state were violently and crudely invaded, which led to the deaths of no fewer than 300 people. The affected communities were Zaki-Biam, Tse Adoor, Gbeji, Vaase, Anyiin, Iorjaa, Jootar, Sankera and Kyado. Though the Federal Government agreed to a N41 Billion compensation for this act of unmitigated violence, we believe that the indiscretion that led to this extra-judicial killings could have been avoided.

Fact Three- In the eight-year rule of the same regime (1999-2007), the Nigerian polity virtually became a Sanguinary with the unresolved wicked assassinations that characterized everyday living. More bewildering was the fact that a serving Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Late Chief Ajibola Ige, was murdered in his home – in the full glare of his security details- with the origin of the murderous violence yet to be unraveled!

Fact Four- In October 2009, a chieftain of PDP, Chief Bode George, was convicted by a Court of competent jurisdiction for 63-count charge bordering on financial violence on the Nigerian state and sentenced to two-year jail term. After his prison sentence, the PDP Apparatchiks, in a bizarre show of ethical violence on the Nigerian people, rolled out the drums and trumpets to welcome him back home. It is on record that, rather than putting this man through a structured party discipline for his misdemeanor, the PDP has continued to throw him up as its champion in obscenity and indecency!

Fact five- On 19th February, 2011, Chief Olisa Metuh, as National
Vice-Chairman (South-East) of the PDP, invaded British Nigerian
Academy, Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja (the former school of his son, Derrick) and assaulted the Vice Principal, Mr Kola Pele, a
67-year old man, for seizing a phone that Derrick had, against school rules, given to other students to use. A Gestapo-style invasion of the school by Chief Metuh saw him holding Mr Pele by the throat for the effrontery in seizing his son’s phone. The PDP, being a shelter for violently unstable minds, went on to appoint Chief Metuh as its National Publicity Secretary!

Fact Six – Aside from the violent crater the PDP dug to the nation’s
resources in prosecuting its 2011 presidential electioneering
campaigns, there were also tales of tears and blood. From Kaduna to Port-Harcourt (where gates were shut against people’s will and 25 people were killed), the campaigns were trailed with violent tales all over.

Fact Seven- In the history of the Nigerian nation, the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) had always maintained its apolitical
status. In the run to the 2011 Presidential election, Pastor Ayodele
Joseph Oritsejafor, the President of CAN, presented to the Nigerian
Christians the PDP candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, as the ‘anointed of the LORD’ in a manner that offended the non-partisanship of the religious body. The subsequent call for the arrest of the CPC candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), by Pastor Oritsejafor for unsubstantiated allegations of sponsoring the post-election violence in the North, further lends credence to the fact that, through the instrumentality of PDP’s coercive politics, CAN (under Pastor Oritsejafor) is the religious arm of the PDP! Would that explain why Mr.President attended a ceremony (on Saturday, 10th November, 2012) where Pastor Oritsejafor was presented with several-Billion-naira worth air plane?

The CPC takes judicial notice of the fact that all those arrested in connection with the Boko Haram insurgency are either PDP senators or those related to the party, while many of the victims are either ordinary citizens, opposition party members and leaders, confirming General Azazi's assertion that the party, its 'selection' processes and policies may be the root cause and fuel of the insurgency.

The CPC, as a Party, under the leadership of unquestionably
disciplined Nigerians, has never been involved in acts capable of
injuring the fragility of the social-political equilibrium in Nigeria.
Our National Leader, GMB, was rigged out of national elections three times and in these times, he ventilated his aversion to the anomalies in the Law Courts! The PDP leadership, having mismanaged Nigerians’ expectations for good governance in the last 13 years, now feels comfortable throwing tantrums in very despicable manner. We are very certain that the Nigerian people, being the best judges, are capable of seeing through all the carefully woven obfuscation. On our part, we remain unfazed and would continue to pursue the agenda of peace and ethno-religious harmony of the Nigerian people.

God bless Nigeria.

Rotimi Fashakin (Engr.)
National Publicity Secretary, CPC.
(Sunday, 18th November, 2012)

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday replied former President Olusegun Obasanjo who criticised his handling of the Boko Haram crisis as “slow”.
Obasanjo said Boko Haram would have been nipped in the bud, if the government had been fast as, according to him, he did about Odi in 1999 when he deployed troops in the Bayelsa community.
But, to Jonathan, the deployment of troops did not solve any problem.
Speaking last night during the Presidential Media Chat, the President said innocent people, including women and children, were killed.
Jonathan said: “It was old men and women and children that were killed. None of the militants was killed.
“Bombarding Odi was meant to solve a problem but it never solved any. The attack on Odi never solved the militancy problem.”
The President said there was no negotiation going on with the Boko Haram sect because it remains a faceless group.
“There is no dialogue that is going on anywhere,” he said.
“Presently, government is not dialoguing with Boko Haram.There is no dialoguing between Boko Haram and government. Though there was a news item talking about dialogue, but Boko Haram is still operating under cover; they wear masks; there is no face. So, we do not have anybody to discuss with.”
Jonathan said he was misunderstood in his statement on the total removal of petroleum subsidy.
According to him, he was trying to explain that Canada has up to 15 refineries because they are privately-owned and state-regulated.
“I did not say we’re going to remove subsidy. I said if we want to get to the level of Canada, then we have to deregulate. We have to revisit the issue of subsidy,” he said.
The President added that provision was made for fuel subsidy in the 2013 budget estimate sent to the National Assembly.
Jonathan said the problem of fuel scarcity would be solved with the sanitisation of the oil sector.
According to him, his administration began the cleansing of the oil industry even before the House of Representatives set up the Farouk Lawan-led Committee on Subsidy Regime.
“By the time we’re done with sanitising the oil sector, the issue of fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past,” he said.
On First Lady Patience Jonathan’s long absence in public, he said: “She is fine. In fact, she was at the church service with us today. What happened is that Nigerians are always looking for negative things. Noting bad that she was ill . She received treatment and immediately she came back, she is still recuperating; she couldn’t get very active role. She is okay.”
The President denied that the government had revoked the N3.6billion three-year contract with Manitoba Hydro International of Canada for the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
He, however, said that there were issues which needed to be clarified following the new procurement law.
“Manitoba contract has not been revoked. There were some issues raised. There were some confusion on the status of Manitoba because of the new procurement law. We saw some loopholes that were not properly done.
“I have given the relevant agencies until Tuesday to get things done.”
Dr. Jonathan assured Nigerians that the nation would never experience a food crisis as being speculated in some quarters.
He, however, maintained that the country would record a bumper harvest through massive dry season farming.
Asked to comment on low level of conviction for corruption, and why nobody has been jailed in some instances, such as in the Halliburton case, the President said the fight against corruption is still ongoing.
He said it was sometimes better to move slowly and do the right thing than move too fast and do the wrong thing.
“This government is tackling corruption frontally. The biggest form of corruption is political corruption. What we did, first and foremost, was to sanitise the electoral process. We had free and fair elections because we dealt with corruption in that area. We have done well in various forms in terms of tackling corruption,” he said.
The president said his administration has also solved the corruption problem that bedevilled fertiliser subsidy, and now focuses on the oil sector.
“The future of this country is quite bright. The outlook is positive and we’re committed. By the time we get to May 29, 2015, Nigerians will know that Jonathan and his team meant well for the country,” he said.
On the ongoing Constitution amendment and call for a referendum, Jonathan said the process had to align with the provisions of the Constitution.
“The issue of Sovereign National Conference – when you mention the word ‘sovereign’, people get frightened – but people need to know that the President swore to an oath to defend the Constitution. Whatever we do should be in line with the Constitution.
“If today you jettison the provision of the Constitution, you will run into anarchy, and the best option is to stick with the Constitution.”
On the call for a referendum, he said the National Assembly’s constituency hearings are also aimed at getting the people’s input.
“Whether it is done in form of referendum or not, it is the exclusive right of the National Assembly to amend the Constitution and I wouldn’t want to impose my own ideas on them. That is a different arm of government, and they are competent to handle the subject-matter.”
On the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Jonathan said the concessionaire, Bi-Courtney, lacks the capacity to carry out the job.
“The country is held to ransom. We cannot continue that way. We’ll intervene on that road,” the President said, adding that the government would also fix the Benin-Ore road.
On reducing the cost of governance, Jonathan noted that some parastatals were no longer relevant, which was why the Orasanya Panel was set up to review and recommend which should be scrapped or merged with others.
He said work would be concluded on the White Paper before the end of this year.
“At best wd can reduce the votes we give them. We can’t scrap any of them, until the National Assembly amends the relevant law,” he said.
The President said had directed the relevant agencies to resolve the oil well disputes between Rivers and Bayelsa on one hand, and Kogi, Anambra and Enugu states on the other.
Regarding the Rivers-Bayelsa dispute, Jonathan said: “The President will not influence anything.”
He said when the agencies finish the assignment, they would submit their report to the Vice-President. “We’ll demarcate it professionally,” he added.
He defended former heads-of-state whose firms bid for stakes in the privatisation of the power sector, saying it is their right to do so.
“It will not affect the process,” he said, adding that the important thing is for the companies to be qualified technically and financially.
The president said there have been “positive trends” in job creation, adding that the textile and footwear industries are “coming up” as power stabilises.
Asked whether he was worried that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is losing some states, the president said it is good for democracy.
“PDP is doing wonderfully well. It is even dangerous for this country for PDP to control all the states,” he said.
Jonathan said it was to early to be asked whether or not he would run for a second term, saying: “Give me sometime to make sure that I and my cabinet work.”
On the falling standard of education, Jonathan said every effort would be made to return it to what it used to be.
He described United States President Barrack Obama’s victory as “the best thing that has happened to a black man. “If he did not secure a second term the conclusion would have been that nothing good can come out of the black man.”
On Odi: Luckily, you talked about Odi. Because when the Odi matter came up, I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa State and I can give you the narratives of what led to the Odi crisis. The peak of the activities of the militancy in Niger Delta was when 12 police officers were killed in a cold blooded murder. That made the federal government to invade Odi. And after that invasion, the governor and I visited Odi. Ordinarily, the governor and the deputy governor were not supposed to move together under such a situation. And we saw some dead people mainly old men and women and also children. None of those militants was killed. None was killed. So, bombarding Odi was to solve the problem but it never solved it.
“Of course, if the attack of Odi had solved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, the Yar’Adua Government which I had the privilege of being the Vice President, wouldn’t have come up with the amnesty programme. So, that should tell you that the attack on Odi never solved the militancy problems. People will even tell you that rather it escalated it . It attracted international sympathy and we had lots of challenges after that attack on Odi. “
Benin-Ore road: Jonathan will be the best president. Because I will fix the Benin-Ore road, my government will fix that road and of course for power, it is one area that I know that Nigerians appreciate that we are moving. We are yet to get to power all our cities, but you will agree with me that the difference is clear. There has been improvement, significantly. And we will continue to improve. The only problem we have is that our transmission lines are weak. We have a lot of infrastructure project that are going on and we believe that before the end of the first quarter of next year, we would have completed a number of infrastructure. We moved from approximately below 2000 megawatts to above 5000 megawatts but because of weakness of infrastructure we cannot evacuate and we have seen a reasonable stability. So, before the middle of next year when most of the transmission infrastructure might have been completed, power will stabilize tremendously.
And this dry season we are going to intervene on that road from Lagos down.
Lagos-Ibadan and Bi-Courtney: That is the problem and that is the issue. That road has been with Bi-Courtney since we came on board in 2007 and I think we are going to take the final decision on the matter because it is like the company is not in position to do it and I don’t think as a responsible government, we can allow Nigerians to continue to suffer. It is the biggest road in this country and it is beyond the Southwest. Because that is the busiest road in this country and all of us in government, we feel pained that the country is held to ransom because of a transaction that probably was not consummated properly because of some kind of issues. But we cannot continue like this, we will intervene on that road.
Aviation : “The aviation industry is an industry that has been dominated by private sector all over the world. The most successful airline is the British Airways, globally. I believe so because everybody know about BA and almost every international airport you go you see BA.
“We had the Nigeria Airways that crashed like the shipping lines and others. But it is an industry that is dominated by the private sector. The government provides the facilities, the infrastructure, which you will agree with me that we are trying. Maybe before the end of next year, most of our airports will wear new look and the security infrastructure will be there.
“So, anybody can do business in Nigeria. So, the question you ask is why is it that we had so many private people coming up with airlines in Nigeria but after sometime, they collapse. We are giving incentives now. We don’t take value added tax from the aviation industry, whether you are a commercial aircraft or bringing spare parts for repairs. We have given all incentives but we still have issues. So, I think it is an area we will have to have a retreat next year. We want to bring the experts within and outside the country to sit down and analyse what are the fundamental problems in the aviation sector and what must we do to make sure that we don’t get to where we are again.
This is quite challenging in terms of movement but we will resolve it. If there is anything government will do, we will do it. The Central Bank of Nigeria made a lot of provision for soft loans for the sector but it never worked. So, using money has never worked. So, what is the factor; what is responsible? Is it management issue. We will have a retreat in January. We actually have some challenges.
“These are things that did not come up now and so if you look at what is being done even in the case, because they are not new thing it is easier for a sitting government to deal with.
“But when an issue has been dealt with by the previous administration and you want to deal with it, you must also follow a particular procedure. It may be slow, but it is better to be slow and do the right thing than to move too fast and do the wrong thing. And, of course, you know the laws we operate are based on the British pattern. It is better for 99 to escape than for one innocent person to be punished. It makes the process to be slow and that is why sometimes, we take different options.”

One of the responsibilities of a president is to inspire their citizens, to give them a reason to look forward to a better life. I watched the presidential media chat on Sunday, November 18, 2012, expecting to get answers from my president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on certain national problems. I came away without answers. I was saddened the more that my president provided nothing refreshing on the menu. It was a disappointing episode of self-confession of incompetence and helplessness. In fact, it would be true to characterize Jonathan’s answers to pointed questions, particularly from the Editors of the Guardian and Sunday Mirror newspapers, as evasive and rambling, a presidential lamentation.
The president’s answers are a good example of what a president should not say.  A president must at least give the citizens a reason to have confidence in his abilities through presentation of clear bullet point solutions that he has for specific problems. He is not only to acknowledge that there are problems, but he should provide his solutions to those problems. He should have confidence in those solutions, and be courageous to make them open to public scrutiny. He is NEVER (I emphasize this word) expected to tell his people why it is difficult to implement a law or an act of the national assembly; rather he should tell steps he has taken or is taking to implement those. If a president laments and stops at that, what should the people do?
EDUCATION:
The Editor of the Guardian newspapers, Mr Martins Oloja, asked what the president was doing to correct the disappointing rating of Nigerian universities. President Jonathan responded by painting a more disappointing scenario, and concluded that state governors should also be shown the report of a committee he had set up to compile a report on the state of both federal and state universities. That’s it! Did the president offer any solutions? He offered none! Any defence for Nigeria’s rating? President Jonathan said that he noticed that there were quite a number of countries in the world whose universities were not well ranked either!
Nigeria deserves better. In 2010, in my article titled, Goodluck Jonathan: Luck is not Enough, I wrote: “If I stood before the unapproachable throne of the Almighty and He asked me to choose one item from the list—Luck, Strength, Courage, Understanding, and Grace, I would definitely not choose Luck. Let me tell you why. There is an illusion that comes with luck right unto the doorsteps of a man’s soul. Luck creates an illusion of achievement where there is no labour. Luck disarms a man of the necessary barometer of self-assessment; it darkens the thin veil that shields human faults. You have not arrived on the wings of luck; rather the journey has just started when luck pushes you unto the dais which is only fit for those who have tasted both the bitter pill of defeat and the sweet wine of success. Luck carries with it the burden of responsibility, to prove yourself to those who hold the consensus that you are undeserving.
Luck does not qualify a man for leadership; it questions his ability to lead. Luck does not necessarily come with excellence; it makes you the cynosure of prying eyes, coloured with the question, ‘Can you excel; can you distinguish yourself now?’ The burden of leadership cannot be borne by those who never prepared for the opportunity. Truly, if you did not prepare for an opportunity before it came, you might waste it. Luck could be a wonderful thing, but that is if you prepared for it. The winds must have blown in your direction the suspicion that the opportunity was coming. That nudge that whispers the question: ‘What if...?’ must be unmistaken.” I am more convinced of the rectitude of those words now!
On Monetization Law:
The president was asked by the Guardian editor why his government was not implementing the monetization policy without formally taking steps to put it aside. Mr Oloja cited two examples how the official houses of the senate president and speaker of the house of representatives were bought by those public officers and yet Jonathan’s government permitted new budget votes to build new official quarters for the current holders of these offices, which votes the current officers claim are not sufficient. Jonathan replied by saying that the policy “is good in theory” but difficult to implement. He gives an example of a government project supervisor who needs an official vehicle to supervise public projects. To him, that justifies the abuse of public office that the monetization policy sought to correct, which resulted in improvement in capital expenditures above recurrent expenditures. This beats me! Do you remember when during the Yar’Adua-Jonathan government, they started chipping away at the cornerstone of the monetization policy, first with buying  a “pool of vehicles”, which was contrary to the Certain Political, Public And Judicial Office Holders (Salaries And Allowances, etc.), Act 2002? Because Nigerians kept quiet President Jonathan has come out boldly to declare that an act of the national assembly cannot be implemented. The growing cost of running government, with expanded number of ministries post 2007, increased number of cabinet-level ministers, surging numbers of assistants, special assistants, advisers, senior advisors, etc., and the concomitant over-bloated overhead costs all combine to shoot up recurrent expenditures of the Nigerian government under President Jonathan. And he spoke in a cavalier manner about this.
When you heard of N 480 billion statutory transfers in the 2013 budget proposal of the Jonathan government, know that this is because of the negligence of the act I have referred to above and the breach of the monetization policy, which makes beneficiaries of such transfers (the national assembly, judiciary, and commissions recognized by the constitution) to take scandalous sums of money, yet producing nothing or little in return. Who can check this abuse when the legislature and judiciary in Nigeria collaborate with the executive to waste our commonwealth? If Nigerians will not collaborate, in spite of their mutual suspicions, and work together to enlighten the uninformed about the extravagance and lack of good conscience of the ruling party, and stir them against supporting the party, only a violent overthrow shall redeem this nation if it will not violently come crashing down.
When reminded by the editor of the Sunday Mirror, Gbemi Olujobi how Nigerians were fascinated by the personal story of his humble background, and voted for him, only to be disappointed by the extravagant lifestyle of his government, epitomized by lavish expenditures on feeding by the presidency, Mr Jonathan responded by naively saying that, “I eat only twice a day.” How did Nigerians get for themselves such a president who fails to understand simple question? He surprised probably not a few when he claimed ignorance of how much the presidency spends on food and drinks! That nails it. Our president is not leading; he has surrendered governance to those Nigerians did not vote to be their president. President Jonathan, shamelessly went on to say that, “Nigeria is an important country,” implying the expenditures on food and drinks that some folks are complaining about are none issues.
 
Halliburton scam:
When asked why his government was prevaricating about trying culprits entangled in the Halliburton bribery scandal, Jonathan used an old and stale line, “It is better to let criminals go free than to punish one innocent fellow.” This is an incongruous dictum adoption. The fact is that Nigeria does not have a government that is ready to punish rogues; and when punishment against evil is delayed, men do not learn to do right. President Jonathan would need decades to sort out the “innocent” from criminals before taking the Halliburton scandal criminals to court. In my article, “A Lessons on power for Dr Goodluck Jonathan” (2010), I wrote about the president: “One obvious mistake Dr Jonathan has consistently made since the resolution by the National Assembly on February 9th, 2010, making him the Acting President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation is to still think like a Vice-President. Until a man changes both the content and construction of his mind upon the thrust into the limelight of power his efficacy in the new role will be mediocre. Until Dr Jonathan re-creates himself, he shall remain insipid, boring, and of no positive effect whatsoever to the exigencies of the time. My reading is that Dr Jonathan is scared of many Ministers of the Federation and certain individuals whom he considers ‘very powerful.’ You cannot be an effective leader when you are afraid of the people over whom you should preside.”
 
Security
President Jonathan was asked why he did not care to visit the troubled region of Nigeria (North Eastern states such as Borno and Yobe, which have been hard hit by Boko Haram). He rather spent time talking about some incidental reference to the Odi raid of 2000. He provided no answer for his failure to visit Nigerians in Borno and Yobe states who don’t feel they have a president who cares; neither did he provide hope about resolving the security challenges of Nigeria.
On electricity power supply in Nigeria, I guess you have read how the Jonathan government has promised to grant tax holiday to manufacturers that can generate their electricity! Do you know the implication? The leadership failure of Jonathan’s government will lead to loss of tax revenue because of this holiday. You may have noticed that in some parts of Nigeria (I say this advisedly because I don’t know where you are reading this article from) electricity supply has deteriorated in the past few weeks since the exit of Professor Barth Nnaji. The president promised during the media chat that he would fix the electricity problem and the Benin-Ore road (on which one of his ministers shed tears about two years ago). This statement was made in response to a comment by a Nigerian viewer who had tweeted that if President Jonathan could fix the road and electricity problem of Nigeria, he would become a great Nigerian president. I would wish for Jonathan to become a great Nigerian president. But he cannot become one without showing a good knowledge and understanding of what our problems are, without having the will to tackle them without fear, and without a sense of urgency that Nigerians expect of him. His answers were uninspiring. He did not speak to the fears and discouragement of Nigerians. He failed to show he was on the side of the people. Jonathan has lost (if at all he had it in the first place) any moral authority to engage the national assembly on their excesses, for they bear the same kind of spots. The Nigerian judiciary is openly corrupt (Jonathan was reminded during the chat about the latest rating of Nigeria as the second most corrupt country); anarchy has set in the land. The presidential media chat was a reminder to Nigerians that they should be ready to suffer all kinds of indignities and torments for the next two and half years. The three arms of government have collaborated to oppress Nigerians. Now they govern by “committees”. The president spoke quite a bit about committees he has set up, and how ignorant Nigerians are for not noticing when he is implementing the recommendations of those committees. Well, I know that committees have never been helpful, at least in my adult days in Nigeria. When a matter has been handed over to a “committee”, it is only a euphemistic expression of taking it off the public menu of engagement.
Every nation that practices governance through elected representatives must define so clearly what democracy should mean to its people. Such definition comes in form of rituals that distinguish it from other nations. The ability to invent forms of governance that are specific, meaningful, acceptable to the majority of the people, realistic, and time-bound sets a nation apart as intelligent in its conduct. A nation consists of people who have agreed to live and interact together on the basis of laws, not necessarily given by a divine being, but given by the people to themselves in the form of a constitution. And if the people have given to themselves a constitution, it is then a given that such a constitution should not be injurious to their interest, not be restrictive on their aspiration, and not vitiate provisions that are generous to them through some other clauses in the same constitution. Is this the best we can afford for ourselves? Is this the best president we can have for ourselves? Is this the best legislature or judiciary Nigerians are deserving of?  The president said that, “PDP is the party to beat.” If this is true then I don’t know Nigerians; they must be truly a queer group.
 
Leonard Karshima Shilgba is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with the American University of Nigeria (www.aun.edu.ng ) and chairman of the Middle Belt Alliance (www.middlebeltalliance.org )
TEL: +234 (0) 8055024356    EMAIL: shilgba@middlebeltalliance.org.

yampoo: the biggest problem nigeria is having is political corruption.GEJ

he is a president voted to fight corruption; he is not a lecturer to lecture us about what d problem is.

Elueme: " It is not yet time to decide whether the president will contest in 2015 or not. I don't want to distract my ministers"... GEJ ... Very true.. Let them die in suspense. Just focus

focus on ur retard policy-2015 akins nemesis

Patriotism is putting on generator to watch d president lie

Sincere 9gerian: What do you mean by Lord pls hear our cry? Why cant Nigerians face reality? When in 2011 GEJ was freely paying subsidy, fuel was available at N65 per litre everywhere(was even sold for N64 in some places), the total subsidy bill shot up to N2trillion. Some persons abused the process, while others smuggled fuel to other countries but fuel was undeniable available EVERYWHERE in the country. Instead of Nigerians to show understanding of govt's predicament, ALL HELL WAS LET LOOSE. Mischief makers went to town. Rejected politicians saw that as an opportunity to regain prominence. Some said GEJ used all the N2trillion to feed his wife, others said he bought new houses all over the world and married new wives, while most maintained he used the money to finance election. These IDIOTS forgot so soon how FREELY they bought fuel at govt subsidized price of N65 per l. Now that govt corrected that and tightened the noose on fuel subsidy regime, everyone is complaining. I HATE hypocrites! I HATE persons who refuse to face reality! I HATE persons who cannot think for themselves. Niger delta and Igbo FREE OIL MONEY cannot feed 165 million mouths. It was because of this Niger delta and Igbo FREE OIL MONEY that Gowon and Awo starved 2million women and children to death.

saliently coating a matter that concerns all Nigerians with tribalism just disrobed you as a senseless individual whose right to rightful thinking has been purchased. This is a typical laptop goons strategy - introduce tribalism, if that doesn't wrk creep in religion, if that fails blame it on Buhari and the opposition. Am sure you think Nigerians are like u who can't see beyond the screen of your laptop and who can't think beyond the amount you are paid to proudly display folly. No one is against fuel subsidy removal but what we are saying is that we can't pay more for corruption.

Sincere 9gerian: We've been fighting subsidy removal since the time of OBJ, when the protest and strike was led by Oshiomole. But how has all the 'fights' and 'occupy' of the past helped us? Has it led to building of refineries or has it led to improvement in the standard of living of the citizens? For me, none of these has happened. Only a FOOL will keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. What happens to changing a strategy that has not worked? What happened to COMMON SENSE?

did you say thr is no common sense in citizens protesting against a rude policy? So is thr common sense in the poor paying for the blind looting of the economy - oil sector? Is thr common sense in d abracadabra that charaterize the fraud in subsidy payment? And talking of waste of time and energy - who wasted time and energy if not a crippled who put up a charade as a probe. Is it not a waste of time and energy that Farouk and Odetola are freemen? Is it not a waste of time and energy - money that a member of a committee was appointed to wrk in a corporation he is to probe? Waste of time and energy is a feature of our leaders not d citizenry

tpia1: dont get what the thread is about.

you have the opportunity to re-read as many times as you wish till u understnd dat ego fuels d nid for a jet amongst our pastors not cos its nided for the spread of the gospel

[quote author=since_1914]I will not comment about religious leaders with private jets...I leave them to their immediate congregation, and if those ones do not see anything abnormal in funding their Pastor's Jet-life, then who am I to complain. But one thing am sure of is that I will never use my money to mislead any man of God.

As for Businessmen, I believe there should be a temporal 'Prize' or some sort of reward for success. And having a private Jet could be one of them. If a man works hard all his life to create Billions of Dollars, the least he can do for himself is to enjoy some of the best things his money can afford him. It should only be an issue when he starts avoiding his social responsibilities in lieu of a Jet-life. But so long as he meets the social responsibilities that society demands of his 'status', then I see nothing wrong with it.

If Buffet doesn't want a jet, it is not because he thinks it is bad to own one but rather because of his personality. He is a very prudent person by nature, and he is also very unassuming. But for me personally, I will find it very difficult not to own a private Jet if I were a multi-billionaire.[/quote]are you saying pastors are businessmen? There is nothing wrong with an individual acquiring a jet as long as he or she did not siphon money in the name of God and at the gullible expense of d congregation

sheyguy: Where were u guys when Some of these churches bought fleet of large buses for their congregation? Or if people didn't buy Warren Buffet's jet will he be the owner of the biggest jet manufacturing co.? Besides i don't think we need to wait until the government bans Cars b4 we start thinking in the right direction. . .

the last time I chked the large buses were not free fare-at least I knw of winners chapel its not free. Warren Buffet is a business man one way or the other he will sell his jets or he will drop the biz.