₦airaland Forum

Oahray: Stop exaggerating jor. Besides his seeming lack of composture and the cold, he answered questions well and raised valid points. I watched the video, and came to realise that the majority commenting here didnt watch it.

NB: I like the part where he said America got it wrong about Boko Haram. I prefer that to an orator president who would lick USA's a.s.s just to be in their good books and impress Amanpour

if you must knw that interview was in a chroma studio where temprature can be controlled. Blaming cold for his apparent loss of composure is another in d series of ball passing. If that interview is insightful to you then u must be intellectually blind. And what did america get wrong on bh - dat poverty and corruption is responsible for boko haram? - can u distance dat assertion from the truth? If poverty is not the cause why then is most members of d sect poverty strucked? Or are you referring to the true assertion by US state dept that our security operatives as killed more innocent Nigerians than boko haram? Abeg watch interviews of other individual presidents on CNN and compare it to GEJ if jonah is still not a disgrace afta that then u are equally a disgrace

Roverguy: guys, pls when can i watch a repeat of the interview?

if I were you I won't bother - that was not an interview it was national disgrace!!!

ifihearam: But why are you this daft nowone thing I learnt is that the international community are those behind so many problems in our country,if they stop buying stolen crudes,the rate of bunkering will reduce to the barest minimum.

when jonah contracted the security of pipelines to militants its the international communities' fault abi? If GEJ can't secure his border it their fault again abi? Okay if the few elements arrested are not punished it the internationa communities' fault abi? Then what's jonah's fault nothing! Its d fault of Nigerians that vote in a "faultless" president. Responsibility is key in leadership. Take charge!!!

taharqa: Yo are a FOOOL. Maybe you watched another interview

He never asked for 'help' or anything from the International Community in terms of Poverty or Corruption. He only said that every country had not fight terrorism if the fight was to be successful, and 1st made the point that that was one of the reasons Nigeria was getting involved before he solicited for more cooperation from others in helping to fight Boko Haram- in other words, COLLABORATION. If you knew anything about terrorism yo would know that one country alone can never solve it alone cos its cross-border; even the S solicits cooperation from other countries in her own Fight against corruption.

His response on Crude Oil theft was to demand that Western countries play their own part in containing their Refineries from buying stolen crude. It was a BOLD stance.

Now go and sleep, k?

I never expected u to say the truth so it shldnt amaze you if I just watch u and ur oga ve a free day disgracing urselves. Soon the transcript will reveal how much of a clueless spree u and jonah is on.

Ngwakwe: The woman is even Anti-Nigeria in her assertions.

She cuts off discussion when the President grips her falsehood and misconceptions.

Can you imagine closing her show by saying that Lagos is recently voted the most unliveable city in the world.

That sums up her bias against Nigeria.

if there is any anti-nigeria it is pple like u who dress lie with damask - she never said anyfin abt lagos at the end she showed two pix of the delta and she even praised GEJ in d area of electoral reform. You are bias but its not ur fault - its ur work

They should have invited d'banj to interview jonah because Amanpour's confidence drown jonah own and it made her look like the president while our 1billion food consumer looks like the interviewer. This to me is not an interview its a national disgrace!!!

I swear the lifespan of the interview was cut short cos of jona's uneasy appearance. At the beginning of the inter view amanpour praised Nigeria as a nation whose citizens are active in d social circle and she encouraged Nigerians to tweet at her hashtag but no one was read because jona was just wasting valuable minutes lieing to the international community.

I knw GEJ will waste no time disappointing Nigerians on CNN dis night but I was not expecting it this bad.Can someone tell dis fishbrain that Nigeria is a sovereign state and all this his call at the end of every his answer on the international community shows he lacks d wisdom to tackle his domestic challenges. He called BH local terrorist buh still calls on international intervention. On oil theft dat happens in his delta he said its refined abroad - if the oil did not leave his shore will it get to d refinery abroad? Now he blames that on the international community. Poverty and corruption he nid the help of internation communities then when the internation community thru the US state dept said his handling of BH is inflaming the crisis he said they dnt ve the right info and that an interest is feeding them wrong - he never admitted anyfin its ball passing all his life. Nigeria is on auto-democracy we don't ve a president

seriously can we just put this "major" achievements of GEJ in variance with that of Buhari in less than two years - maybe major achievements will have a proper meaning because so far these listed "achievements" is nothing but crumbs.

PointB: If buhari has no home of his own, it is not because he is clean, it is rather because he is clueless, and lacks foresight.

A soldier is entitled to remuneration and allowance depending on how he is deployed. A commissioned officer even earn more. If Buhari was unable to accumulate his savings over such long period of service to the country to build a decent four bed-room apartment for himself in Lagos or Abuja (not necessarily in choice area), something is definitely wrong with him. His poverty is not cause by lack of money, but lack of ideas.

Such people are dangerous to burgeoning financial systems and are most likely to destroy them due to their lack of financial literacy, and inability to utilize financial resources to achieve set goals.

In summary, buhar'si situation after years of service to the country, is not because he is clean, it is rather because he is either clueless, visionless or cursed!

your folly is gross. Do you by chance engage the service of reasonable thoughts when it matter most? Its obvious you religiously hate Buhari that is subjective but being undeserving stupid calls for public censure. If a man who diligently serve his nation in fairness and truth is referred to my someone who obviously is paid to think wrongly as "lacks foresight" then foresight must be in tandem with looting. Buhari managed Nigeria better than all the presidents after him - for you to now say he lacks foresight and clueless shows clueless in your sad thesaurus means someone who can not plunder the economy of the nation he preside over and foresight will mean stealing outrageously for the future of your generation at the expense of our collective posterity.

LAGOS — The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has lambasted the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for allegedly calling its National Chairman,Chief Bisi Akande, an ex-convict, saying a political prisoner is different from a criminal convict.

National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who reacted to the allegation by the PDP, however, regretted that the PDP  was either engaging in blatant mischief or wallowing  in crass ignorance over the issue.

In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, Mohammed said: “Any attempt to label Chief Akande an ex-convict in a pejorative sense will be an exercise in futility, because he was neither convicted for abuse of office nor for any corruption-related offence by a duly constituted court.’’

According to Mohammed, the Special Military Tribunal that tried and sentenced hundreds of politicians, including Chief Akande, in the 1980s cannot be a reason to label all those it tried and convicted criminal ex-convicts.”

He reminded the PDP that the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, ordered its members to boycott the proceeding of the tribunal simply because it failed to meet the standard of a properly-constituted court.

The statement read: “If those who were tried and convicted by military tribunals are indeed deemed to have been properly tried and found guilty of the offences for which they were charged, many of them would not have gone ahead to hold important elective and appointive positions in the polity.

‘’Outside Nigeria, you have the global icon, Nelson Mandela, who was tried, found guilty and jailed for life in 1964. Of course, it will be laughable for anyone trying to denigrate Mandela to tag him an ex-convict, except of course that person is a member of the PDP.

‘’Chief Bisi Akande, whom the PDP has chosen to pick on in its misguided mudslinging, is an embodiment of honesty, integrity, transparency and decency, who is more of a role model to our youths than most members of the PDP. He served creditably in the private and the public sectors, where he held many top posts including that of a governor.

‘’Today, at 74, those rare attributes that have come to define Chief Akande—honesty, decency, integrity and public service— have become synonymous with him. That is why we are proud to hold him up as our Chairman.’’

He then advised the PDP to expend its energy on repairing its leaking tattered umbrella, instead of trying to denigrate a man whom the people respect and hold up as a sharp distinction of mankind, at a time people are increasingly being defined by their vanities rather than the content of their character.

‘’Part of the reason the PDP has failed Nigeria is that it does not know where to focus its energy. Today in the party, the National Working Committee is fighting the President, and the Governors are bent on dealing with the Chairman. The party  is crumbling right before the eyes of all Nigerians whom it has pauperized since 1999. And all it can do is to focus on denigrating a man like Chief Akande.

‘’Well, we have got news for the PDP: While the legacy of Chief Akande is assured, that of the PDP is not. Therefore, we advise the sinking behemoth to turn its attention elsewhere, as it awaits its Waterloo.’

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

…Says allegation a tissue of lies
ABEOKUTA—FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, refuted allegation by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, that he was planning to influence the outcome of an Appeal Court case involving the financier of PDP in Ogun State, Prince Buruji Kashamu and the party.

Chief Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee had in a petition to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab A. Bulkachuwa, accused Obasanjo of planning to influence the outcome of an appeal pending before the Lagos Division of the appellate court.

Reacting to the allegation, Obasanjo through a statement by his Media Assistant, Vitalis Ortese,  dismissed the allegation as nothing but a tissue of lies.

According to the  statement “the attention of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has been drawn to an allegation published on page 12 in the Punch Newspapers of Thursday, 17 January, 2013, and on page 62 of the Nation of the same date, that one “Adebayo Dayo” in a petition dated January 15, 2013 and addressed to the President of the Court of Appeal, alleged that the former president had through his lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola, secured an assurance from the presiding justice of the Lagos Division of the appeal Court, to influence the outcome of an appeal pending before it in Lagos.

“The allegation is nothing but a tissue of lies,” the statement said.

“The allegation is nothing but a tissue of lies. The former President has nothing to do with the case in question and has neither spoken with Chief Afe Babalola on any such case nor had given him any money to ever give to any judge in respect of the case.

“This type of lies is propagated by despicable characters like “Adebayo Dayo” and “Buruji Kasamu,” who peddle falsehood in the hope of sustaining baseless cases and allegations for the most regrettable and deplorable reasons.”

Contrary to announcement by a civil society organisation, Save Enugu Group, SEG, that it has traced missing Enugu Governor, Sullivan Chime, to a London hospital, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation has revealed that the governor is no longer at the hospital and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Maxi Okwu, the convener of the group, on Wednesday, said in a statement that special investigators commissioned by SEG found Mr Chime lying ill at the Wellington Humane Hospital Swiss Cottage, London.
Our investigation revealed that Mr. Chime was indeed admitted at the Wellington Hospital, Wellington Place, St Johns Wood. But when we contacted the hospital to confirm if Mr. Chime is still admitted at the facility, we were told that he has been discharged two months ago.
“He is no longer with us,” said a lady receptionist over the phone. “He was discharged in November; the last week of November.”
She, however, refused to disclose if Mr Chime was of sound health when he was discharged from the hospital.
According to information on its website, the Wellington Hospital claims to be the “largest independent hospital in the United Kingdom.  It also boasts of luxury en suite facilities with internet connection and fax machine. The hospital prides itself as an “international reputation for outstanding care in areas of medicine including cardiac services, neurosurgery, liver and HPB medicine, rehabilitation, gynaecology, orthopaedics, urology and many more.”
Mr Chime was last seen in public four months ago. Officials of Enugu State government said he is on vacation and will soon return home.
However, some newspapers (not PREMIUM TIMES) had reported last December that the governor had died in an Indian hospital, after prolonged illness.
But the state Commissioner for Information, Chucks Ugwuoke, said in a statement then that reports of the governor’s death was unfounded and malicious.

A civil society group, Save Enugu Group, SEG, on Wednesday announced that it had traced missing Enugu Governor, Sullivan Chime, to a London hospital where he is receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment.
Maxi Okwu, the convener of the group, said in a statement that special investigators commissioned by SEG found Mr. Chime lying ill at the Wellington Humane Hospital Swiss Cottage, London.
The statement said, “Today makes it FOUR MONTHS since the last public citing of our able Governor. We had always known that he would not stay away for so long on VACATION unless circumstances where above his control. Pro-actively we commissioned our own investigators who tracked him down to Wellington Humane Hospital Swiss cottage London.
“It is therefore clear that all along officials of your government were lying to the people of Enugu State. The health status of any public official, particularly Chief Executives like a State Governor is not a private matter.
“The people have a right to know as invariably their tax is being deployed to take care of that officer.
“In the light of the above we DEMAND
1. That your make a broadcast to the people of Enugu appraising then on the true situation of their Governor.
2. That you apologize on behalf of your government for all the falsehood dished out by your information managers.
3. That all persons involved in this grave misconduct be summarily sanctioned.
4. That you invite the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Enugu branch, ably led by His Grace Bishop Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma to organize an interdenominational prayer and fasting session for one week for divine intervention for our ailing Governor.”
PREMIUM TIMES is however unable to determine at this time that the governor is in the hospital named by the group or that even such an hospital exists. An effort to trace the hospital this afternoon was unsuccessful.
The Enugu State government could also not be reached for comments.
Some newspapers  (not PREMIUM TIMES) had reported last December that the governor had died in an Indian hospital, after prolonged illness.
Speculations became especially rife after Mr. Chime left the state for months without any explanation for the people he governs. His whereabouts was also unknown.
But the state Commissioner for Information, Chucks Ugwuoke, said in a statement then that reports of the governor’s death was unfounded and malicious.
He said the governor was doing well and would soon return to the state from his vacation.

January 16, 2013 (OXNARD, Calif.) -- A middle-school science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies had hoped not just to get her job back, but to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing personal history.

A three-judge commission put a decisive stop to both, saying firmly and unanimously that Stacie Halas should not be in the classroom.

"We were hoping we could show you could overcome your past," Halas lawyer Richard Schwab said Tuesday. "I think she's representative of a lot of people who may have a past that may not involve anything illegal or anything that hurts anybody."

Judge Julie Cabos-Owen said such a past matters in an age when technology makes porn easy to access and hard to bury.

"Although her pornography career has concluded, the ongoing availability of her pornographic materials on the Internet will continue to impede her from being an effective teacher and respected colleague," Cabos-Owen said in the 46-page decision issued Friday by the Commission on Professional Competence.

Halas, 32, was continually deceitful about her nine-month career in porn before she went to work at the school, the judges said.

Schwab said Halas "was being honest and forthright, but was embarrassed and humiliated by her past experience in the adult industry."

Halas was fired in April from her job as a science teacher at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard after online videos of her in porn were discovered by students and teachers.

Student claims that the teacher was moonlighting as a porn star were initially dismissed after school officials said they couldn't find any images of her on the Internet - but they were using the school's computers, which don't allow access to porn.

Teachers then showed administrators downloads of Halas' sex videos from their smartphones.

In hearings, former assistant principal Wayne Saddler testified that at the start of a sex video, Halas talked about being a teacher and he felt her effectiveness in the classroom had been compromised.

After rumors of her performance surfaced, profanity was etched on Halas' classroom window, a teacher testified.

Schwab has said Halas did not star in pornographic movies while teaching in any district. He said she took parts only during an eight-month period from 2005 to 2006 because of financial problems after her boyfriend abandoned her.

District superintendent Jeff Chancer applauded the commission's ruling.

Halas' decision to "engage in pornography was incompatible with her responsibilities as a role model for students," Chancer said in a statement.

(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ABUJA—Despite criticisms that have trailed the proposed purchase of cell phones for farmers in the country, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwunmi Adeshina, yesterday reiterated that there was no going back on the policy as government was committed to enhancing the performance of Nigerian farmers.

Addressing newsmen, the minister said government would not commit itself to direct purchase of the cell phones for farmers but would only subsidise the phones through a partnership that would involve telephone service operators, Ministry of Communications Technology and other stakeholders.

According to him, the decision by government to subsidise the purchase of cell phones for farmers is tied to the distribution of fertilizers directly to the farmers without the involvement of third parties who had allegedly been ripping them off.

He said: “Government policy must always be based on evidence and well analyzed data. We carried out an analysis of our GES work based on a large sample of 426,000 farmers from various local government areas in 13 states.



“We found that 71 percent of farmers sampled did not have cell phones. This shows that many of our farmers in rural areas are quite poor and are excluded from the benefits of the mobile phone revolution going on in Nigeria.

“These farmers cannot access the GES scheme without cellphones and we must find a way to include them. They must not be left behind.”

The minister said the ministry planned to make phones available to farmers on a gradual basis, pointing out that government would not be involved in direct purchase of phones.

“Of course, we cannot get 10 million phones to all farmers who do not have phones this year. Our plan is a gradual scale up. We intend to get about 2 million phones to farmers who do not have phones this year”.

“How will these phones be paid for and how will they be distributed? We ended four decades of corruption in the fertilizer and seed sector by ending direct procurement and distribution of these inputs by the government.

“We also ended the ineffective and corrupt direct procurement and distribution of tractors by government. It will therefore be inconsistent for government to now start direct procurement and distribution of phones.

“There will be no direct procurement of phones by the Federal Government. We are also not going to give anyone contracts to import phones from China or anywhere else. Let me also state loud and clear.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Communications Technology are partnering together to implement this policy,” he emphasised.

On who will be eligible to benefit from the scheme, the minister said “we intend to use the GES scheme to distribute these phones. To be entitled to a phone, farmers must be registered on the e-wallet platform. Paper vouchers will be issued to farmers who do not have phones.

“The government will provide a subsidy to the farmer through the voucher to buy the phone. The farmer takes the voucher to the local mobile phone operator and pays the balance which is the difference between the value of the voucher and the cost of the phone.

“Once a farmer buys a phone and a SIM card, his new phone number will be updated on the e-wallet database and he will be able to receive his e-wallet voucher which will entitle him to purchase fertilizer and seeds at subsidized rates.

“Phones will be sold directly to farmers by local mobile phone service providers. The government simply subsidizes the cost of the phone directly to the farmer.

“We intend to start by first targeting farmers who live in areas where there is network coverage already but who do not have phones. We will then encourage phone companies to increase their coverage and as they do we will target farmers in those areas.

“By so doing phone companies will have the incentive to expand to rural areas because our programme will assure them of customers in those new areas. Cell phones in the hands of our farmers will do more than deliver government subsidized inputs.

“It will provide them access to market price information. They will be able to bargain better and save themselves from the middlemen who currently exploit them by paying them very low prices for their produce.

“Cellphones in the hands of our farmers will allow us to reach farmers with extension information such as what crops to plant, when to plant and other agronomic practices that will help them improve their productivity.

“It will allow farmers to better deal with shocks such as drought and floods in real time. Simple alerts to farmers’ phones can help them avoid catastrophes while saving lives.

“Majority of our farmers are excluded from financial services. 78.8 percent of Nigeria’s rural population are unbanked according to the report by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, EFInA. The cost of reaching them in rural areas is high for financial institutions.

“No bank can afford to build branches in every little village. Cellphones provide financial institutions with a low cost and efficient way of providing financial services to our farmers. The use of cellphones to provide financial services in rural areas is not new. It is already being used in several African countries.”

Dr Akinwunmi reiterated that despite the criticism, he would not be deterred in his determination to change the agricultural sector, noting that “as Minister, I cannot use hype to guide policies. I must use evidence to guide policies. When the floods occurred, there was panic in the land.

Some derided our efforts and said Nigeria would have famine; that there would be massive food shortage; and there would be food riots. Those who wanted to import food and get waivers from government sponsored such media hypes. I was not moved.

“We used modern technology to guide our decision. Using remote sensing and satellite imagery, we mapped out the extent of the flood and determined that no more than 1.17 percent of our total cultivated area was affected by the floods. Our detractors wanted the world to believe the opposite, that food crisis was imminent. They were wrong. Today, five months after the floods, we do not have a food crisis.

“The same way these detractors have misled the public about the relevance of cellphones in Nigerian agriculture. They do not know that we are already using cellphones to distribute fertilizer and seeds to even mitigate the impact of the flood. We are already using cellphones to reach 232,000 farmers for rice production in the dry season, each getting three bags, across 10 states of the north east, north west and north central regions.

To reach farmers affected by the flood, we are also using cellphones through the growth enhancement support. We are reaching 98,000 farmers affected by floods across the country with two bags of fertilizers per farmer, plus one bag of agrolyser micronutrient to replace some of the soil micronutrients that have been washed away by the flood. Such is the power of cellphones revolutionizing agriculture today in Nigeria.

“I will not be distracted. We will rebuild the broken walls of Nigeria’s agriculture and unlock wealth and opportunities for our farmers. For those calling for my crucifixion, let me say that when Jesus was before Pilate, they had accused him falsely.

Pilate, after listening to his case, found no cause for condemning him. Nonetheless, should anyone still want me crucified, let me say this, along my faith: “I am crucified with Christ already. Nevertheless, I live and the life that I live, I live by the grace of the son of God, who died for me,” he said.

What the North like the rest of Nigeria want is truthful development not rewarding rigging elements that help him (GEJ) dislodged the choice of the majority masses through rigging with political positions. Appointing individuals from a particular region does not translate to development of the region; its only an opportunity for the appointed individuals to enrich at the expense of development. The North like the rest of us want him to honour the gentleman agreement he entered into in 2011 to only go for a single term - not the present "no vacancy in Aso Rock" which is a greedy disposition of a man called GEJ. Don't single out the North because majority of Nigerians share same factual sentiments of the North. GEJ is just his own problem - Nigerians just want to solve him

It a bottomless pit they should kip digging...

Do a census of the pulse of the people through this thread and tell your paymaster that he is alone in thought that OBJ is irrelevant. And tell GEJ that his relevance is speedily ebbing

peleson: prove me wrong unpaid agent. your hatred cannot deny the fact ok!!!

prove to me you have a brain in what make up your body.

[quote author=Rhino.5dm]Are you the one behind the moniker "watching Lagos"? or Are you part of the team behind the project? If your answers are both negative, then I'll appreciate it if you stop quoting me cos I don't seems to understand why you know so much about the project that you quickly assume a defensive role.[/quote]this is not my fight anyways - so do have a free day fooling yourself that you are the Voltron of Lagos. Yes I knw about the project but since you have aborted logical tots and adorn urself with the garb of a know all I will let you flourish in it. Let's do dis another day when its my fight - how I so wish I own the site sef...ur bloated ego wuld ve been deflated by words

[quote author=Rhino.5dm]Guy, I know everything a little bit in Nigeria. what's there to watch in Lagos that couldn't be clearly seen in Enugu or fraudulent Delta State? Lagos state is arguably one of the most prudent and people oriented state in Nigeria putting Fashola on abstract plane . Yes, the allocation going to Lagos is huge, but not when you place the 22 million lives living in that state in to thesame context.

I'm personally going to foot his bills should he decides to watch Enugu, a state where the governor is AWOL for months and some political touts have placed the whole state under siege. But then, it is Lagos that is doing fine by Nigerian standard that he wants to be watching over. It's either he a sycophant or paid agent, either way I despise both with extremism. You can't take sand to the beach and expect people not to question your mental fitness.

By the way, are you a learner? No offence intended.[/quote]I respect your opinion and equally applaud your right to choiced tots but demonstrating like you are more lagos than the rest of us calls for concern. What I asserted in my post is just to pacify the lingering discord which emanates from the website and to also bring to your notice the individual involve in the scheme or project but you choosing like you are the only pro-Fashola in this forum baffles me. Dig up all my posts and tell me if we are not on the same side - wat am saying is this and @Gbawe note - the individuals involve are people who selflessly protested and organised the occupy Nigeria in festac, they are actively involve in the 15million youths for 2015 and other change initiatives. Let's give them a chance and if they f up then they will face the full onslaught of our vocals and pens...and to you question - am not a learner *lol*

Sincere 9gerian: Whether he forgives or not is immaterial. The reality now is that he has lost his sting.

if sincerely he has lost his sting you and your paymasters won't lose sleep over him - I think that is a fair equation. Abati woke up dis morning to rant on twitter over a man that has lost his sting abi? You are here fooling ursef over a man that has lost his sting abi? GEJ is just building a solid foundation for his own downfall - watch out!!!

Sincere 9gerian: See contradictions oh! Someone is irrelevant in his political base (southwest) but relevant in my home state (Anambra), Imo or Borno.
I no fit laugh I beg!

you guys are simply testing the waters and equally uncertain of the potency of baba's politicking - tell your boss he is subtely overseering the conglomeration of his enemies. OBJ is a national figure, 2 time president, a military chief and relevant. Tell him we don't want them both to reconcile it will ease the demise of GEJ's regime by 2015. And lemme ask u - Ahmmadu Ali dat just won the BOT seat is whose ally?

NIGERIANS amaze President Goodluck Jonathan. They quickly accuse his administration of not delivering on his election promises. Where this does not stick, they alleged he is slow, so slow in addressing the country’s challenges.

The President admits he is slow. Unknown to Nigerians, he dictated his pace before he commenced his tenure in May 2011. Then he had said he needed more time – to know his Ministers (two years), to throw out those who were not performing, probably another two years to study the replacements, then programmes implementation.

He had suggested seven years as ideal for him to fulfill his election promises. The President never promised speed. He made promises during the campaigns. Who remembers them? Who does not know that campaign talks are just promises? The President does not expect anyone to hold him accountable for them.

If an explanation is needed, he had a good excuse. He does not want to make hasty decisions. He wants to be sure he makes no mistakes. His logic is simply – instead of making mistakes, do nothing. With this as the foundation of the President’s policies, it is easier to understand his pace, rather his lack of pace.

The President used a Christmas service to explain to a congregation that his decisions must stand the test of time. “By human thinking, our administration is slow, I won’t say we are slow but we need to think through things properly if we are to make lasting impact. If we rush we will make mistakes and sometimes it is more difficult to correct those mistakes,” he said.

We had thought security issues distracted the President. We speculated that resources were low to match the challenges. At other times, we guessed the President needed better hands on the job. The President waved these aside, in the presence of God, and affirmed that his speed was deliberate. Nigerians have to apologise to the President, we are mere mortals, hence our “human thinking”.

Many Nigerians thought that with months to the mid-term of his tenure, foundations for fulfilling his fanciful 91 election promises, among them an airport in States without one, should have been laid. It must be admitted the President tied his promises to a four-year frame. Are Nigerians the ones to dictate a pace for their President?

His fundamental point is the dilemma of reforming Nigerians – to stop them from vandalising infrastructure – before implementing the transformation agenda. The President reckons it is better to reform the people before transforming the country. He must think it through!
As he mulls the difference between “reforming” and “transforming” Nigerians, 2013 would be another mistake-free year, the better year the President promised.

@Rhino.5dm @Osunoriginal @peesayor
Well I think I will want to say this and see if it will help us understand the people behind this project and their intent. I was approached by a friend of mine who I met at the fuel subsidy protest in Festac on the need to watch Lagos and it amazes me that such should be coming from a fellow comrade whom I shared the same stage with at the Occupy Nigeria Festac protest. I probe the intent but I was not convince this won't be miscontrued so I offered the name watching Nigeria and he declined saying the FG is getting all the attention - at that point I sincerely don't understnd the motive of the website but going by the calibre of individuals behind this website - comrades who are die-hard lovers of true change, I will want to believe the website will not be of ill intent against the state. At the moment I support the website cos I know and have rallied - protest with individuals that make up the site but for the motive I believe time will disinter that.

SmartTalk: If Igbo people were not leaving in Lagos, then maybe your post would have made sense. Yoruba not complaining about their governors? Which rock did you crawl out from?

so Yorubas don't leave in the east? Why are they not fanatically opening stupid hating thread of their host governor? Why is it that you guys just hate Fashola's collosal achievement that eyes can see.

SmartTalk: Nigerians and their infantile mentality. The Igbo are a big part of Lagos and Fashola's govt. His Commissioner of Finance is Igbo and that is why you see that the infrastructural projects of Lagos state are well done. Compare this with when only Yoruba were in Tinubu's govt and you understand why that govt went nowhere.
[size=16pt]God Bless Biafrans.[/size]

What part of your body do you engage it service when you are compelled to think? Am sure its not your brain...because if you alluded the "well done" of infrastructural projects to an igbo commissioner of Finance and in comparing it to the Yoruba-ful cabinet of Tinubu insult the dexterity of the yorubas - you have only shown you are not privilege to have a brain. If the Igbos are as so good why is all the development indices favouring the west over the east? Or is that commissioner of Igbo extract the only Igboman that can produce result cos the rest is not producing "well done" results.

This a mixture of witch-hurting with an equal proportn of politiking - but what concerns me sef

anulaxad: THIS DESERVES A CLAP.

YOU ARE RIGHT ON.

NOT MANY NIGERIANS NO THERE RIGHTS OF BEING A CITIZEN OF A RICH COUNTRY,WHILE PLACES AS POOR AS ETHIOPIA PEOPLE ARE STILL ENTITLED TO ONE FREE MEAL EVERYDAY.


BUHARI IS LOOKING TO POWER AND STRENGTHEN THE NORTH.JUST LIKE THE LAST TIME WHEN HE WAS IN POWER,HE WAS KILLING CHRISTIANS IN THE NORTH SO THE NORTH CAN STAY MUSLIM DOMINATED,AND SINCE THEN THE KILLINGS OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE NORTH STILL CONTINUES AS OF TODAY.

YOU SERIOUSLY NEED A BRAIN - TB JOSHUA CAN BE OF HELP. HAVE FAITH WITH GOD A NEW BRAIN IS POSSIBLE

I don't know why you have to dress the tribe in anonymous garb - we all know some Igbos hate the progress of Fashola and SW as a progressive region. I think dis fanatical criticism of Fashola if channel to their kidnap raven region wuld ve helped them push their gov to action. Criticism to me is good in a democracy - as a tool if well utilised can make for better governance. Having said that I think criticizing Fashola when we can behold the wonders of his govt is a mere waste of time. I knw some igbos did not just lose d war they also lost their sense. Eko oni baje o!!!

Naija church is gangster. Sowore should thank God it is not winners he wuld have received "holy beating" from Oyedepo himself.