Early this morning a man FELL OFF the Oasis of the Seas was at sea, 17 miles east of Turks and Caicos Islands. A little more than 2 hours after the man HIT THE WATER, the cruise ship halted the search effort for the man, declared him DEAD, and determined the cause of his death to be suicide. The ship then CONTINUED ON COURSE, so that he other passengers could enjoy their vacation.
The Oasis of the Seas says that the man, a 35 year old male guest from Brazil, jumped overboard. They say the man was spotted by crew members intentionally going over the side of the ship.
A Coast Guard helicopter was initially dispatched to assist with the search. Eventually they stopped searching, and declared the man DEAD.
http://mediatakeout.com/286961/man-falls-off-of-crusie-ship-into-the-ocean-and-passengers-are-heard-on-video-saying-that-he-was-pushed-overboard-is-this-a-murder.html?mobile=1
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Saturday 7 November 2015
Shocking: Rick Ross Fiancee Is Alleging That Rick Ross Beat Her
According to MediaTakeOut, Rapper Rick Ross and Lira's BREAK UP appears to be even NASTIER than we imagined. Last night Lira went on Snapchat . . . and she REFUSED to show her face. But she did show her NECK . . . which had a LARGE VISIBLE SCRATCH ON IT.
Many of Lira's FANS started asking whether she was ATTACKED or BEATEN by her former hip hop fiance RICK ROSS. Lira would neither CONFIRM OR DENTY whether any ABUSE took place.
As you recall, Rozay went online earlier this week, showing that he had that ENGAGEMENT ring back, and was laughing over their split.
Lira tried to respond first with kindness . . . claiming they would stay together . . . she then moved to sadness with Selena BREAK UP songs. Now she's moved to ANGER. It's those seven stages!
Many of Lira's FANS started asking whether she was ATTACKED or BEATEN by her former hip hop fiance RICK ROSS. Lira would neither CONFIRM OR DENTY whether any ABUSE took place.
As you recall, Rozay went online earlier this week, showing that he had that ENGAGEMENT ring back, and was laughing over their split.
Lira tried to respond first with kindness . . . claiming they would stay together . . . she then moved to sadness with Selena BREAK UP songs. Now she's moved to ANGER. It's those seven stages!
Rebranding: PDP inaugurates 53-member C’ttee
• Says gains of democracy under threat
•As Party holds conference on sustenance of democratic ideals in Nigeria Thursday
By Henry Umoru
AS part of moves to rebrand itself ahead of 2019 Presidential Election, national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday constituted a 53-member committee to organise a stakeholders conference.
Jonathan Goodluck and PDP governors in Bayelsa
File Photo: Former President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP governors in Bayelsa
The Organising Committee which has Chief Raymond Dokpesi as Chairman, is saddled with among others, the responsibility of organising a conference where party leaders, stakeholders, elders and members would brainstorm on to refocus the PDP into a more vibrant platform.
The Conference is slated to hold on Thursday next week in Abuja, just as the party explained that conference was earlier put on hold to enable it receive the report of post-election review panel headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu.
Speaking yesterday during the inauguration of the committee at the national Secretariat of PDP, the Acting National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus stressed that the move became imperative because of events of the last six months of the All Progressives Congress, APC led government indicate a palpable fear that the gains of democracy achieved by the PDP were seriously under threat.
Secondus said: “This national conference is meant to fashion out strategy that would help PDP sustain democratic ideals while in opposition, hence the choice of the conference theme, “PDP and the sustenance of democratic ideals in Nigeria”.
Vanguard
•As Party holds conference on sustenance of democratic ideals in Nigeria Thursday
By Henry Umoru
AS part of moves to rebrand itself ahead of 2019 Presidential Election, national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday constituted a 53-member committee to organise a stakeholders conference.
Jonathan Goodluck and PDP governors in Bayelsa
File Photo: Former President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP governors in Bayelsa
The Organising Committee which has Chief Raymond Dokpesi as Chairman, is saddled with among others, the responsibility of organising a conference where party leaders, stakeholders, elders and members would brainstorm on to refocus the PDP into a more vibrant platform.
The Conference is slated to hold on Thursday next week in Abuja, just as the party explained that conference was earlier put on hold to enable it receive the report of post-election review panel headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu.
Speaking yesterday during the inauguration of the committee at the national Secretariat of PDP, the Acting National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus stressed that the move became imperative because of events of the last six months of the All Progressives Congress, APC led government indicate a palpable fear that the gains of democracy achieved by the PDP were seriously under threat.
Secondus said: “This national conference is meant to fashion out strategy that would help PDP sustain democratic ideals while in opposition, hence the choice of the conference theme, “PDP and the sustenance of democratic ideals in Nigeria”.
Vanguard
Afenifere: Why Fasoranti bowed to pressure
By Ishola Balogun
The apprehension that greeted the resignation of the National Leader of the Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, and the relief that followed the backtracking three days after, would continue to generate reactions. To so many people the whole development leaves so much to be desired.
Fasoranti
Fasoranti
While some close watchers, said it was a good development, indicative of a smart and intelligent way of mending fences, others opined that it suggested a house falling by installments, a signal that something was clearly amiss and if not urgently addressed, might decimate what remains of the socio-political group.
Why did Pa Fasoranti resign in the first place and why did the disciplined and principled man change his mind three days after?
Some of the reasons Pa Fasoranti put forward were that it was difficult for members to work in unity He said in his resignation letter, “As events have been
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/afenifere-why-fasoranti-bowed-to-pressure/
The apprehension that greeted the resignation of the National Leader of the Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, and the relief that followed the backtracking three days after, would continue to generate reactions. To so many people the whole development leaves so much to be desired.
Fasoranti
Fasoranti
While some close watchers, said it was a good development, indicative of a smart and intelligent way of mending fences, others opined that it suggested a house falling by installments, a signal that something was clearly amiss and if not urgently addressed, might decimate what remains of the socio-political group.
Why did Pa Fasoranti resign in the first place and why did the disciplined and principled man change his mind three days after?
Some of the reasons Pa Fasoranti put forward were that it was difficult for members to work in unity He said in his resignation letter, “As events have been
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/afenifere-why-fasoranti-bowed-to-pressure/
The Igbo: Our Position on Biafra
•We can no longer continue to pretend that all is well when some groups capitalize on our sad experience of the past to try to railroad us into fighting another avoidable civil war
•The number of protesters should be a warning signal to the Federal Government not to dismiss the Biafra issue with a wave of the hand,
•The youths started agitations for Biafra because of the feeling by Ndigbo that they would never get justice in Nigeria and that their leaders had been compromised
•All these agitations are because of the refusal of the owners of Nigeria to restructure the country into true federalism.”
By Agaju Madugba, Oghene Omonisa, Emeka Mamah, Francis Igata (Enugu), Nwabueze Okonkwo (Onitsha), Anayo Okoli (Umuahia), Peter Okutu (Abakaliki), Jimitota Onoyume (Port Hacourt), Vincent Ujumadu (Awka) & Ugochuchukwu Alaribe (Aba)
Late Igbo Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Late Igbo Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Until recently when his agitation for the revival of the defunct Republic of Biafra somehow attracted a certain level of global attention, Nnamdi Kanu, was just another Nigerian, among several thousands of others, living in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, describes him as a political activist and promoter of a separatist organization, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Reports indicate that Kanu’s Radio Biafra which initially began transmission from London in 2014 launched him into limelight as it apparently enjoys popular listenership especially in the South-East and South-South where the campaign for Biafra is expected to have effect.
Apparently basking in the euphoria of the clamour, Kanu may have exploited the radio initiative to drum further support for the separation of the area from the rest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“At this point in the country’s history, we believe that it is appropriate to bring home Radio Biafra. The last time the radio broadcast in the east was about 43 years ago, during the war. We have been broadcasting from London, on short wave frequency. By coming home now, we want more people to tune to the station. Now, we are on the FM frequency and covering a segment of Eastern Nigeria,” Kanu says.
While on a visit to Nigeria, men from the Department of State Services arrested Kanu in Lagos and he was charged to court. Kanu is still being detained by the security agencies, a development which has tended to engender varied reactions culminating in further discussions on the vexed issue of Republic of Biafra.
Before now, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), founded about 16 years ago by Chief Ralf Uwazuruike, had dominated the scene in the campaign for the revival of Biafra, more than three decades after the name plunged the entire country into a civil war that lasted almost three years.
The promotion of IPOB may not be unconnected with alleged disagreements within the leadership of MASSOB apparently leading to its fractionalization. Accusing the Uwazurike-led MASSOB of undue allegiance to certain political elements who do not have the interest and aspirations of the group at heart, Kanu admitted in a recent interview that Radio Biafra was actually floated in collaboration with MASSOB.
However, according to Kanu, “actualization” as in MASSOB is a misnomer since Biafra once existed, a notion which the late Chinua Achebe alluded to in his book, “There was a Country.” So, for Kanu and his supporters in the struggle, what is left is “realization” and manifestation of the Biafra concept.
Biafra, there was a war
Advancing various reasons including what he described then as the marginalization, oppression and genocide against the Igbo within the Nigerian Federation, the Military Governor of the defunct Eastern Region, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, proclaimed an independent Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967, a development which led the then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, to launch a war on the area, beginning from July 6, 1967, as a move to reclaim the secessionist territory.
biafraAnd, Biafra went to war with reported 30,000 soldiers against Nigeria’s 120,000 troupes. After several months of military bombardment of the secessionist territory with attendant loss of lives, the Biafran Army gave up the struggle on January 13, 1970.
Unconfirmed casualty figures indicate that between 10,000 and 25,000 Biafran soldiers were killed in the course of prosecution of the war while the Nigerian side recorded a death toll of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers.
These figures were very conservative as the war was said to have claimed more lives. Two days later on January 15, Gowon officially announced an end to the hostilities with his famous proclamation of “no victor, no vanquished” even as he noted further that, “the tragic chapter of violence has just ended. We are at the dawn of national reconciliation. Once again we have an opportunity to build a new nation.
My dear compatriots, we must pay homage to the fallen, to the heroes who have made the supreme sacrifice that we may be able to build a nation, great in justice, fair trade, and industry.” But while the war lasted, reports said that more than two million people from the South-East died from the prevalent famine and disease alone as the International Committee of the Red Cross in September 1968 estimated that there were between 8,000–10,000 deaths from starvation daily.
Reacting recently to the activities of the current promoters of Biafra, Gowon re-affirmed his earlier pronouncement that Biafra died in 1970 and in a gesture that was equally believed to have sealed the fate of Biafra, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on May 29, 2000, commuted to retirement, the dismissal of all military persons who fought on the side of the breakaway state of Biafra during the civil war.
Igbo divided over fresh Biafra agitation
But, in spite of the colossal loss of human lives and property due to that war, the Biafra question appears to stick out again like a sore thumb, 45 years after a near annihilation of the people of the South-East, dominated by the Igbo ethnic group. Although a number of people from the area appear opposed to the idea of Biafra, against a backdrop that it may engender another round of civil war, a number of others condemn the treatment meted out to canvassers of the notion of a separation of the South-East from Nigeria.
Security agencies and members of the MASSOB have over these years been engaged in various confrontations as they are often arrested even though they insist that they have a policy of non-violence attached to their struggle. And, the recent arrest of Kanu equally led to protests in Port-Harcourt, in the South-South. In Umuahia, the Abia State capital, a cross section of MASSOB members trouped to the streets condemning Kalu’s arrest as they described themselves as “die hard” listeners of Radio Biafra even as the police deployed tear gas to disperse the protesters.
According to Comrade Uchenna Madu, factional spokesman of MASSOB in the area who described the arrest and detention of Kanu as cowardly, “we see the arrest as part of the price to pay for our non-violence struggle. No agitation is complete without arrest, detention and prosecution. they shape the minds of activists, drawing sympathy from internal and external observers.
It also shows that Nnamdi Kanu and Radio Biafra have become a factor to be reckoned with in Nigeria. The arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu by DSS will assist immensely in reviving the consciousness and sympathy for Biafra actualization in a higher dimension. This singular arrest will cause more diplomatic harm to Nigeria.”
But another pro-Igbo group, the Igbo Information Network says neither MASSOB nor IPOB has the mandate to speak for the Igbo, arguing that the agitations may not be unconnected with hidden selfish interests. As the group’s leader, Chuks Ibegbu, puts it, “we can no longer continue to pretend that all is well when some groups capitalize on our sad experience of the past to try to railroad us into fighting another avoidable civil war.
Uwazuruike is today enjoying his stupendous wealth in his palace in Owerri and he occasionally makes noise about his Utopian Biafra on the pages of newspapers. The promoter of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was a MASSOB member. He fell out with Uwazuruike some years ago and he ran away from Nigeria and formed the Indigenous People of Biafra whose communication arm is Radio Biafra.
Uwazurike
Uwazurike
It is because the power of communication and information is great that Nnamdi Kanu has been able to win the hearts of some Igbo to the envy of Uwazuruike. “The truth about all these pro-Biafra groups is that they have never made any efforts to feel the real pulse of their people. Before we went to a war in the past, the opinion of Igbo and Eastern Leaders of Thought were gauged by Gen. Ojukwu.
The Nigerian state is responsible for the structural imbalance in the country which makes Ndigbo to have only five states and 95 local governments whereas Kano state alone has 44 local governments. The Nigerian state excised some economically viable parts of Igbo land and gave them to the neighboring states of Akwa-Ibom, Cross-River, Bayesla, Edo, Benue and Kogi states. The Nigerian state has refused to conduct a credible census to ascertain the true population of all parts of the country.
These are areas the pro-Biafran groups should concentrate on and not by abusing everybody as Radio Biafra does. The truth is that Ndigbo need peace. They have suffered enough in the hands of the Nigerian state and their own leaders. There should be only one condition for any secession in the future and that is, if Ndigbo or the South-East for any reason is visited with any threat of annihilation or pogrom as was done in the past.”
However, for a number of the Igbo, the reality of Biafra cannot be wished away as it remains an idea that will come to fruition someday, according to some residents of Port-Harcourt where the pro-Biafra protest also took place under the aegis of the IPOB. A resident of Port Harcourt, Mr. Ameofiori Charles, said he had never seen such crowd of protesters on the street of the city, as according to him, “no politician has ever mobilized such a large number of protesters on the street, at any given time.”
But unlike similar protests in other parts of the South-East and South-South, the police provided cover for the protesters as they marched peacefully along major streets in the Garden City. “The number of protesters should be a warning signal to the Federal Government not to dismiss the Biafra issue with a wave of the hand,” Ameofiori said.
For some Igbo, the reality of Biafra can never be wished away. It is an idea that will certainly come to be. This conviction may have spurred several of them who participated in the Rivers state protest. However, while the core Igbo are cold about secession or the Kanu’s Biafra, those who actually fought against Biafra during the civil war were the ones who turned out on the streets of Port-Harcourt in what they call agitation for Biafra.
Rivers State indigenes who have Igbo links are said to be in majority in Rivers. Reports also indicate that the pro-Biafra and IPOB rally in Port-Harcourt had a certain level of political undertone as a number of those seeking political offices in the forthcoming elections in Rivers state have been accused of posturing for Biafra and may have influenced the protest.
A number of other protesters who spoke with Saturday Vanguard described the Igbo as a force in the area, noting that they drive the economy of the state. “Politicians struggle to win our support ahead of any general elections,” said Tochi who sells Toyota parts at Ikoku, adding that, “they (politicians) are always in constant touch with our union leaders here and they make all kinds of promises to us. We are not a voice to be toyed with.”
Biafra: A cart before the horse
Even though he recommends the promoters of Biafra be tried for treason, an Igbo leader, the Ogirishi of Igbo land, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, told reporters at his country home in Oba, Anambra State, that the campaigners should first of all work towards placing what he calls the economy of the South-East in the right direction, nurture it and then begin to canvass for a possible sovereign state of Biafra.
*Members of Biafra Zionist Movement during a procession shortly before the re-declaration of independence of Biafra Republic by the group in Enugu, yesterday.
*Members of Biafra Zionist Movement during a procession shortly before the re-declaration of independence of Biafra Republic by the group in Enugu, yesterday.
According to Ezeonwuka, rather than the struggle to get a Republic of Biafra, Ndigbo should first of of all repatriate their investments scattered all over Nigeria and beyond back home and nurture them to growth before looking for Biafra.
As he put it, “mind you, we are not opposed to Biafra at all because by birth, we are all Biafrans but what we are saying is that Igbo people who invested outside Igbo land should first of all bring back their investments home to transform Igbo land into Japan, Korea or Dubai before doing so in a comfortable terrain since to me, we are foolishly and stupidly developing other areas and denying ourselves the opportunities to industrialize our own land.
For now, we should concern ourselves with how to develop Igbo land and not how to become a Biafra Republic because that name Biafra is treasonable and you cannot have a sovereign state in an existing one. How can we destroy what we have as Nigerians in search of Biafra Republic?”
Another Igbo man, Dr. Ugoji Egbujo, holds the same opinion even as he describes the IPOB approach as mediocre, warning though that the Biafra agitation appears to spread like fire, fueled by what he calls “mischief, political disgruntlement, perceived marginalization, joblessness and hopelessness.”
Also for him, unlike the situation before the outbreak of the civil war in 1967, the Igbo do not currently face any serious threat of immediate selective violence supported by acts of commission or omission of the national government and that there is no lopsided distribution of social evils in Nigeria such that the southeast and Igbo are especially imperiled. However, according to Egbujo, the people who live in the territory said to constitute Biafra ought to first begin by creating a certain level of political autonomy and test their popularity within the South-East region.
As he puts it, “if those who seek Biafra can win democratic control of South-East states and demonstrate through innovative people-oriented governance, the distinction that Biafra represents, then their Biafra agitation will acquire purposive legitimacy and this must precede a formal referendum because consent secured by mere propaganda is not informed consent.
The Igbo are too deeply entrenched in the Nigerian matrix that they cannot forcefully separate from Nigeria. This new agitation cannot be in the interest of Igbo who own over 50 per cent of commerce in Lagos and 70 per cent of real estate in Abuja.”
The roundtable option
Although the current agitation for a separatist Republic of Biafra appears to command widespread opposition from a cross section of the Igbo, a number of others describe the campaign as legitimate when pursued within the limits of the Nigerian Constitution. According to the President of a pan-Igbo group, Enugu Unity Forum, Chief Tahil Ochil, any efforts at trying to secede from Nigeria without employing constitutional means, should be treated as treason.
As he puts it, “the Biafra struggle should not be confrontational. They should follow the dictates of the law. They should look at how Sudan broke up. As an Igbo man, I will be part of the struggle if it is done constitutionally but if it is done by force, I cannot be part of it.
The Nigerian government should look at why agitations are rife from the North, to the South-West and South-South and South-East. They should go back to the National Conference report which addressed these issues that trigger ethnic unrest. Apart from Biafra, the Yoruba, through the Oodua People’s Congress, are calling for their own state. There is the Boko-Haram issue in the North and there are calls for secession from there.
The Federal Government should implement the conference report which addressed the injustices plaguing the nation.” But, for a former Secretary General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nduka Eya, the younger generation of the Igbo may not understand the extent of devastation and destruction of lives of the people as a result of the earlier agitation for the same Biafra.
According to him, “the young people who were born after and during the civil war do not know the history of Nigeria. The civil war between Nigeria and Biafra ended in 1970 and we are now part of the sovereign state of Nigeria. But there is nothing wrong if a group agitates for a state but you cannot do so by confrontation in a sovereign state of Nigeria. It is treason. Biafra ended with the civil war in 1970.”
Factors fueling Biafra agitation
However, beyond discussions on the legitimacy of the Biafra agitation, a prominent Igbo leader from Ebonyi State, Chief Abia Onyike, blames the resurgence of Biafra agitation on socio-economic factors, manifesting in what he describes as the marginalization of the of the people of the South-East, by successive administrations in the country. For him, “I think that the resurgence of the Biafra self-determination struggle may have to do with the several unresolved issues regarding the national question in Nigeria.
The issues include, lack of equity and fairness in the polity, concentration of power at the centre in a diverse country which ought to have been run on the basis of genuine federalism and dwindling economic fortunes with a corresponding high level of unemployment among the youths. Government should re-visit the resolutions of the 2014 National Conference and take remedial measures to douse the tension in the land, before it gets out of hand.
Nigeria should undergo radical reforms in its governance structure if it is to survive the current socio-political crises occasioned by political agitations. So, the Nigerian union should be run in such a way that the rights of the federating ethnic nationalities must be respected.
Nigeria is a diverse country and the Igbo and others are too large and too sophisticated that you cannot just trample on their sense of equity, otherwise you may be pushing them to invoke their rights to self-determination. The right to self-determination is enshrined in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the United Nation’s Charter on Human and People’s Rights. So, the pro-Biafra are merely agitating for their rights as a people.
Aggrieved parties should adopt legal means to seek redress and avoid the resort to violence and the Federal Government should design and adopt political and diplomatic strategies in dealing with the Biafra and other agitations from various parts of the country.” Another factional MASSOB leader from Ebonyi State, Chidi Egwu, sees the renewed Biafra agitation as veritable opportunity to liberate the Igbo from what he considers as various forms of slavery.
“MASSOB, IPOB and other genuine pro-Biafra groups have vowed that our children will never suffer the subjugation to slavery meted to their parents by Nigeria state,” Egwu said, noting further that, “the clampdown, incessant arrests, detention and persecution of armless and non-violent Biafra agitators are all signs of jittery and fear exhibited by Nigeria security agents.
The future and survival of Ndigbo in Nigeria is very slim because of the Nigeria government’s harsh economic and political policies targeted against the Igbo. Nigeria is a state where some people are first class citizens while others are second class; a state where some are said to be born to rule while others are perpetual outcasts; a state where state policies deliberately deny the Igbo region critical developmental infrastructure.”
With the renewed vigour among agitators of the Biafra Republic, an Awka-based legal practitioner, Chief George Enekwechi, has identified an alleged marginalization of the Igbo as the reason for the seeming rise in the agitation for realization of the Biafra project. Speaking with Saturday Vanguard, Enekwechi, who was former local government Chairman for Awka said the Federal Government does not appear to help matters as it ought to strive to correct the alleged imbalances that had reduced “the one leg of the country’s tripod to a minority because of their involvement in the 1967 -1970 civil war.
These people agitating for Biafra are not armed and I believe that what the Federal Government should do is to try and convince them that it is prepared to correct the imbalances they are suffering in Nigeria. But if security operatives continue to harass and arrest the agitators, they might resort to acquiring arms to pursue the struggle which will not be good for anybody in view of the lessons Boko Haram has taught us.”
Also speaking on the issue, Mr. Amos Okeke, who said he fought on the side of Biafra during the war, dismissed the Biafra issue arguing that the agitators did not experience the war. “Nobody who experienced that war would want to do anything to remind people of secession. The best thing the Federal Government should do is to ignore them because they do not have the capacity to threaten the peaceful co-existence of Nigeria, Okeke said.”
Why agitation may persist
Another cross section of Igbo leaders believe that there may not be an end to the agitation for the Biafra struggle unless there is what they refer to as true federalism in Nigeria. According to some of them who spoke to SaturdayVanguard, those in support of MASSOB are youths who were either born during or after the civil war noting that their campaigns do not have the backing of either the Ohanaeze Nigbo or its affiliate unions.
President of Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, Evangelist Elliot Ukoh, who spoke on the issue said that his interactions with youths in the last 20 years show that Nigeria has been unfair to the Igbo, adding that the youths started agitations for Biafra because of the feeling by Ndigbo that they would never get justice in Nigeria and that their leaders had been compromised.
According to him, “the feeling among our youths is that Nigeria has been unfair to the Igbo. Ndigbo believe that they would never get justice in Nigeria. The youths also believe that their leaders have been compromised. This is what I have learnt after over 20 years of my interactions with them through lectures and seminars.
They believe that the way things are going, they have no future where everything is skewed against them. They believe for example that the JAMB cut-off marks are skewed against them because they get higher marks and get dropped for northerners who score lower grades in the name of national character.
The general feeling is that the highest political position an Igbo can get is the Vice President and that is when those who claim to be the owners of Nigeria allow an Igbo man or woman to be Vice President. “All these agitations are because of the refusal of the owners of Nigeria that the country should be restructured for true federalism.”
For the National President of the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, President Muhammadu Buhari has to dialogue with the people of the South-East to reassure the zone that he is committed to a nation in which all component units will be accommodated.
In an interview with Saturday Vanguard in Aba, Isiguzoro who also linked the renewed Biafra agitation to the perceived marginalization of the Igbo said that, “I urge President Buhari to dialogue with Ndigbo and allay the fears of the zone and reassure them that he means well for everybody. And, Ndigbo should seek ways to partner Buhari and his administration towards addressing the problems of the zone.
We need to fight for our rights. The agitation springing up daily across Igbo land is the result of years of accumulated neglect of the zone. The state of federal roads and other infrastructure remains the worst in the federation. For over 12 years now, Enugu-Port-Harcourt expressway, Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Aba- Ikot Ekpene highway, Aba-Owerri highway, Umuahia-Arochukwu highway, Okigwe-Arondiziogu-Uga highway, Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene highway, have become death traps with deep gullies requiring urgent attention.
Yet, nothing has been done to alleviate the sufferings of the people. When you look at the situation, there appears to be a grand conspiracy by some people not to develop critical infrastructure in Igbo land. Dialogue has proven to be a veritable tool for dousing tensions. Ndigbo must employ this strategy. The proponents of MASSOB and IPOB must desist from activities which cast the Igbo nation in bad light.
Any group, which truly seeks the good of Ndigbo should table their demands to the Federal Government where their grievances can be heard and the MASSOB and IPOB must sheathe their swords as Ndigbo can find greater accommodation within a united Nigeria. The businesses of Ndigbo are located across all geo-political zones of the country and we cannot afford to mortgage these investments valued at over N47 trillion, on the basis of sentiments.”
Kanu’s Biafra territory
According to Kanu, apart from the people from the South-East geo-political zone “the ideology of Biafra is the freedom, the emancipation of all the Biafran people, which means all the people bound genetically, culturally and by the same value system. In other words, I am talking about those who understand the history of the Biafra people. I am talking about the Idoma people, the Igbo people, the Efik, Ibibio, Anang, Ijaw, Itsekiri, the Urhobo and the Anioma people.
All these are Biafra families. If you go to a village or town, for instance, Oturpko, they have four market days – Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. And when people say that these people are not Igbo people or that they are not related to Igbo people, it becomes a thing of wonder. How is it possible that people that have Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo as their market days are not related to Igbo people?
When you go to Akwa Ibom or Cross River State, what they call God is Obasi. That is what we call God, where we come from. The highest fraternity in Igbo land, where I come from in Abia State is Okonko. Okonko was derived from Ibibio and the Efik cultures. The same thing with Ekpe. When we want to dance Ekpe in my place, we go to Ibibio land to buy the kits for the Ekpe which is a masquerade dance.
So, we are all related. We are the same people genetically, in terms of our complexion, in terms of our attitude. I want you to go to any market in Warri, for instance. Stand back and take a picture of that market, then, go to any Igbo town or village, take a picture of the market and tell me if you can tell the difference. There is no difference.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/the-igbo-our-position-on-biafra/
•The number of protesters should be a warning signal to the Federal Government not to dismiss the Biafra issue with a wave of the hand,
•The youths started agitations for Biafra because of the feeling by Ndigbo that they would never get justice in Nigeria and that their leaders had been compromised
•All these agitations are because of the refusal of the owners of Nigeria to restructure the country into true federalism.”
By Agaju Madugba, Oghene Omonisa, Emeka Mamah, Francis Igata (Enugu), Nwabueze Okonkwo (Onitsha), Anayo Okoli (Umuahia), Peter Okutu (Abakaliki), Jimitota Onoyume (Port Hacourt), Vincent Ujumadu (Awka) & Ugochuchukwu Alaribe (Aba)
Late Igbo Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Late Igbo Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Until recently when his agitation for the revival of the defunct Republic of Biafra somehow attracted a certain level of global attention, Nnamdi Kanu, was just another Nigerian, among several thousands of others, living in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, describes him as a political activist and promoter of a separatist organization, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Reports indicate that Kanu’s Radio Biafra which initially began transmission from London in 2014 launched him into limelight as it apparently enjoys popular listenership especially in the South-East and South-South where the campaign for Biafra is expected to have effect.
Apparently basking in the euphoria of the clamour, Kanu may have exploited the radio initiative to drum further support for the separation of the area from the rest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“At this point in the country’s history, we believe that it is appropriate to bring home Radio Biafra. The last time the radio broadcast in the east was about 43 years ago, during the war. We have been broadcasting from London, on short wave frequency. By coming home now, we want more people to tune to the station. Now, we are on the FM frequency and covering a segment of Eastern Nigeria,” Kanu says.
While on a visit to Nigeria, men from the Department of State Services arrested Kanu in Lagos and he was charged to court. Kanu is still being detained by the security agencies, a development which has tended to engender varied reactions culminating in further discussions on the vexed issue of Republic of Biafra.
Before now, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), founded about 16 years ago by Chief Ralf Uwazuruike, had dominated the scene in the campaign for the revival of Biafra, more than three decades after the name plunged the entire country into a civil war that lasted almost three years.
The promotion of IPOB may not be unconnected with alleged disagreements within the leadership of MASSOB apparently leading to its fractionalization. Accusing the Uwazurike-led MASSOB of undue allegiance to certain political elements who do not have the interest and aspirations of the group at heart, Kanu admitted in a recent interview that Radio Biafra was actually floated in collaboration with MASSOB.
However, according to Kanu, “actualization” as in MASSOB is a misnomer since Biafra once existed, a notion which the late Chinua Achebe alluded to in his book, “There was a Country.” So, for Kanu and his supporters in the struggle, what is left is “realization” and manifestation of the Biafra concept.
Biafra, there was a war
Advancing various reasons including what he described then as the marginalization, oppression and genocide against the Igbo within the Nigerian Federation, the Military Governor of the defunct Eastern Region, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, proclaimed an independent Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967, a development which led the then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, to launch a war on the area, beginning from July 6, 1967, as a move to reclaim the secessionist territory.
biafraAnd, Biafra went to war with reported 30,000 soldiers against Nigeria’s 120,000 troupes. After several months of military bombardment of the secessionist territory with attendant loss of lives, the Biafran Army gave up the struggle on January 13, 1970.
Unconfirmed casualty figures indicate that between 10,000 and 25,000 Biafran soldiers were killed in the course of prosecution of the war while the Nigerian side recorded a death toll of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers.
These figures were very conservative as the war was said to have claimed more lives. Two days later on January 15, Gowon officially announced an end to the hostilities with his famous proclamation of “no victor, no vanquished” even as he noted further that, “the tragic chapter of violence has just ended. We are at the dawn of national reconciliation. Once again we have an opportunity to build a new nation.
My dear compatriots, we must pay homage to the fallen, to the heroes who have made the supreme sacrifice that we may be able to build a nation, great in justice, fair trade, and industry.” But while the war lasted, reports said that more than two million people from the South-East died from the prevalent famine and disease alone as the International Committee of the Red Cross in September 1968 estimated that there were between 8,000–10,000 deaths from starvation daily.
Reacting recently to the activities of the current promoters of Biafra, Gowon re-affirmed his earlier pronouncement that Biafra died in 1970 and in a gesture that was equally believed to have sealed the fate of Biafra, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on May 29, 2000, commuted to retirement, the dismissal of all military persons who fought on the side of the breakaway state of Biafra during the civil war.
Igbo divided over fresh Biafra agitation
But, in spite of the colossal loss of human lives and property due to that war, the Biafra question appears to stick out again like a sore thumb, 45 years after a near annihilation of the people of the South-East, dominated by the Igbo ethnic group. Although a number of people from the area appear opposed to the idea of Biafra, against a backdrop that it may engender another round of civil war, a number of others condemn the treatment meted out to canvassers of the notion of a separation of the South-East from Nigeria.
Security agencies and members of the MASSOB have over these years been engaged in various confrontations as they are often arrested even though they insist that they have a policy of non-violence attached to their struggle. And, the recent arrest of Kanu equally led to protests in Port-Harcourt, in the South-South. In Umuahia, the Abia State capital, a cross section of MASSOB members trouped to the streets condemning Kalu’s arrest as they described themselves as “die hard” listeners of Radio Biafra even as the police deployed tear gas to disperse the protesters.
According to Comrade Uchenna Madu, factional spokesman of MASSOB in the area who described the arrest and detention of Kanu as cowardly, “we see the arrest as part of the price to pay for our non-violence struggle. No agitation is complete without arrest, detention and prosecution. they shape the minds of activists, drawing sympathy from internal and external observers.
It also shows that Nnamdi Kanu and Radio Biafra have become a factor to be reckoned with in Nigeria. The arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu by DSS will assist immensely in reviving the consciousness and sympathy for Biafra actualization in a higher dimension. This singular arrest will cause more diplomatic harm to Nigeria.”
But another pro-Igbo group, the Igbo Information Network says neither MASSOB nor IPOB has the mandate to speak for the Igbo, arguing that the agitations may not be unconnected with hidden selfish interests. As the group’s leader, Chuks Ibegbu, puts it, “we can no longer continue to pretend that all is well when some groups capitalize on our sad experience of the past to try to railroad us into fighting another avoidable civil war.
Uwazuruike is today enjoying his stupendous wealth in his palace in Owerri and he occasionally makes noise about his Utopian Biafra on the pages of newspapers. The promoter of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was a MASSOB member. He fell out with Uwazuruike some years ago and he ran away from Nigeria and formed the Indigenous People of Biafra whose communication arm is Radio Biafra.
Uwazurike
Uwazurike
It is because the power of communication and information is great that Nnamdi Kanu has been able to win the hearts of some Igbo to the envy of Uwazuruike. “The truth about all these pro-Biafra groups is that they have never made any efforts to feel the real pulse of their people. Before we went to a war in the past, the opinion of Igbo and Eastern Leaders of Thought were gauged by Gen. Ojukwu.
The Nigerian state is responsible for the structural imbalance in the country which makes Ndigbo to have only five states and 95 local governments whereas Kano state alone has 44 local governments. The Nigerian state excised some economically viable parts of Igbo land and gave them to the neighboring states of Akwa-Ibom, Cross-River, Bayesla, Edo, Benue and Kogi states. The Nigerian state has refused to conduct a credible census to ascertain the true population of all parts of the country.
These are areas the pro-Biafran groups should concentrate on and not by abusing everybody as Radio Biafra does. The truth is that Ndigbo need peace. They have suffered enough in the hands of the Nigerian state and their own leaders. There should be only one condition for any secession in the future and that is, if Ndigbo or the South-East for any reason is visited with any threat of annihilation or pogrom as was done in the past.”
However, for a number of the Igbo, the reality of Biafra cannot be wished away as it remains an idea that will come to fruition someday, according to some residents of Port-Harcourt where the pro-Biafra protest also took place under the aegis of the IPOB. A resident of Port Harcourt, Mr. Ameofiori Charles, said he had never seen such crowd of protesters on the street of the city, as according to him, “no politician has ever mobilized such a large number of protesters on the street, at any given time.”
But unlike similar protests in other parts of the South-East and South-South, the police provided cover for the protesters as they marched peacefully along major streets in the Garden City. “The number of protesters should be a warning signal to the Federal Government not to dismiss the Biafra issue with a wave of the hand,” Ameofiori said.
For some Igbo, the reality of Biafra can never be wished away. It is an idea that will certainly come to be. This conviction may have spurred several of them who participated in the Rivers state protest. However, while the core Igbo are cold about secession or the Kanu’s Biafra, those who actually fought against Biafra during the civil war were the ones who turned out on the streets of Port-Harcourt in what they call agitation for Biafra.
Rivers State indigenes who have Igbo links are said to be in majority in Rivers. Reports also indicate that the pro-Biafra and IPOB rally in Port-Harcourt had a certain level of political undertone as a number of those seeking political offices in the forthcoming elections in Rivers state have been accused of posturing for Biafra and may have influenced the protest.
A number of other protesters who spoke with Saturday Vanguard described the Igbo as a force in the area, noting that they drive the economy of the state. “Politicians struggle to win our support ahead of any general elections,” said Tochi who sells Toyota parts at Ikoku, adding that, “they (politicians) are always in constant touch with our union leaders here and they make all kinds of promises to us. We are not a voice to be toyed with.”
Biafra: A cart before the horse
Even though he recommends the promoters of Biafra be tried for treason, an Igbo leader, the Ogirishi of Igbo land, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, told reporters at his country home in Oba, Anambra State, that the campaigners should first of all work towards placing what he calls the economy of the South-East in the right direction, nurture it and then begin to canvass for a possible sovereign state of Biafra.
*Members of Biafra Zionist Movement during a procession shortly before the re-declaration of independence of Biafra Republic by the group in Enugu, yesterday.
*Members of Biafra Zionist Movement during a procession shortly before the re-declaration of independence of Biafra Republic by the group in Enugu, yesterday.
According to Ezeonwuka, rather than the struggle to get a Republic of Biafra, Ndigbo should first of of all repatriate their investments scattered all over Nigeria and beyond back home and nurture them to growth before looking for Biafra.
As he put it, “mind you, we are not opposed to Biafra at all because by birth, we are all Biafrans but what we are saying is that Igbo people who invested outside Igbo land should first of all bring back their investments home to transform Igbo land into Japan, Korea or Dubai before doing so in a comfortable terrain since to me, we are foolishly and stupidly developing other areas and denying ourselves the opportunities to industrialize our own land.
For now, we should concern ourselves with how to develop Igbo land and not how to become a Biafra Republic because that name Biafra is treasonable and you cannot have a sovereign state in an existing one. How can we destroy what we have as Nigerians in search of Biafra Republic?”
Another Igbo man, Dr. Ugoji Egbujo, holds the same opinion even as he describes the IPOB approach as mediocre, warning though that the Biafra agitation appears to spread like fire, fueled by what he calls “mischief, political disgruntlement, perceived marginalization, joblessness and hopelessness.”
Also for him, unlike the situation before the outbreak of the civil war in 1967, the Igbo do not currently face any serious threat of immediate selective violence supported by acts of commission or omission of the national government and that there is no lopsided distribution of social evils in Nigeria such that the southeast and Igbo are especially imperiled. However, according to Egbujo, the people who live in the territory said to constitute Biafra ought to first begin by creating a certain level of political autonomy and test their popularity within the South-East region.
As he puts it, “if those who seek Biafra can win democratic control of South-East states and demonstrate through innovative people-oriented governance, the distinction that Biafra represents, then their Biafra agitation will acquire purposive legitimacy and this must precede a formal referendum because consent secured by mere propaganda is not informed consent.
The Igbo are too deeply entrenched in the Nigerian matrix that they cannot forcefully separate from Nigeria. This new agitation cannot be in the interest of Igbo who own over 50 per cent of commerce in Lagos and 70 per cent of real estate in Abuja.”
The roundtable option
Although the current agitation for a separatist Republic of Biafra appears to command widespread opposition from a cross section of the Igbo, a number of others describe the campaign as legitimate when pursued within the limits of the Nigerian Constitution. According to the President of a pan-Igbo group, Enugu Unity Forum, Chief Tahil Ochil, any efforts at trying to secede from Nigeria without employing constitutional means, should be treated as treason.
As he puts it, “the Biafra struggle should not be confrontational. They should follow the dictates of the law. They should look at how Sudan broke up. As an Igbo man, I will be part of the struggle if it is done constitutionally but if it is done by force, I cannot be part of it.
The Nigerian government should look at why agitations are rife from the North, to the South-West and South-South and South-East. They should go back to the National Conference report which addressed these issues that trigger ethnic unrest. Apart from Biafra, the Yoruba, through the Oodua People’s Congress, are calling for their own state. There is the Boko-Haram issue in the North and there are calls for secession from there.
The Federal Government should implement the conference report which addressed the injustices plaguing the nation.” But, for a former Secretary General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nduka Eya, the younger generation of the Igbo may not understand the extent of devastation and destruction of lives of the people as a result of the earlier agitation for the same Biafra.
According to him, “the young people who were born after and during the civil war do not know the history of Nigeria. The civil war between Nigeria and Biafra ended in 1970 and we are now part of the sovereign state of Nigeria. But there is nothing wrong if a group agitates for a state but you cannot do so by confrontation in a sovereign state of Nigeria. It is treason. Biafra ended with the civil war in 1970.”
Factors fueling Biafra agitation
However, beyond discussions on the legitimacy of the Biafra agitation, a prominent Igbo leader from Ebonyi State, Chief Abia Onyike, blames the resurgence of Biafra agitation on socio-economic factors, manifesting in what he describes as the marginalization of the of the people of the South-East, by successive administrations in the country. For him, “I think that the resurgence of the Biafra self-determination struggle may have to do with the several unresolved issues regarding the national question in Nigeria.
The issues include, lack of equity and fairness in the polity, concentration of power at the centre in a diverse country which ought to have been run on the basis of genuine federalism and dwindling economic fortunes with a corresponding high level of unemployment among the youths. Government should re-visit the resolutions of the 2014 National Conference and take remedial measures to douse the tension in the land, before it gets out of hand.
Nigeria should undergo radical reforms in its governance structure if it is to survive the current socio-political crises occasioned by political agitations. So, the Nigerian union should be run in such a way that the rights of the federating ethnic nationalities must be respected.
Nigeria is a diverse country and the Igbo and others are too large and too sophisticated that you cannot just trample on their sense of equity, otherwise you may be pushing them to invoke their rights to self-determination. The right to self-determination is enshrined in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the United Nation’s Charter on Human and People’s Rights. So, the pro-Biafra are merely agitating for their rights as a people.
Aggrieved parties should adopt legal means to seek redress and avoid the resort to violence and the Federal Government should design and adopt political and diplomatic strategies in dealing with the Biafra and other agitations from various parts of the country.” Another factional MASSOB leader from Ebonyi State, Chidi Egwu, sees the renewed Biafra agitation as veritable opportunity to liberate the Igbo from what he considers as various forms of slavery.
“MASSOB, IPOB and other genuine pro-Biafra groups have vowed that our children will never suffer the subjugation to slavery meted to their parents by Nigeria state,” Egwu said, noting further that, “the clampdown, incessant arrests, detention and persecution of armless and non-violent Biafra agitators are all signs of jittery and fear exhibited by Nigeria security agents.
The future and survival of Ndigbo in Nigeria is very slim because of the Nigeria government’s harsh economic and political policies targeted against the Igbo. Nigeria is a state where some people are first class citizens while others are second class; a state where some are said to be born to rule while others are perpetual outcasts; a state where state policies deliberately deny the Igbo region critical developmental infrastructure.”
With the renewed vigour among agitators of the Biafra Republic, an Awka-based legal practitioner, Chief George Enekwechi, has identified an alleged marginalization of the Igbo as the reason for the seeming rise in the agitation for realization of the Biafra project. Speaking with Saturday Vanguard, Enekwechi, who was former local government Chairman for Awka said the Federal Government does not appear to help matters as it ought to strive to correct the alleged imbalances that had reduced “the one leg of the country’s tripod to a minority because of their involvement in the 1967 -1970 civil war.
These people agitating for Biafra are not armed and I believe that what the Federal Government should do is to try and convince them that it is prepared to correct the imbalances they are suffering in Nigeria. But if security operatives continue to harass and arrest the agitators, they might resort to acquiring arms to pursue the struggle which will not be good for anybody in view of the lessons Boko Haram has taught us.”
Also speaking on the issue, Mr. Amos Okeke, who said he fought on the side of Biafra during the war, dismissed the Biafra issue arguing that the agitators did not experience the war. “Nobody who experienced that war would want to do anything to remind people of secession. The best thing the Federal Government should do is to ignore them because they do not have the capacity to threaten the peaceful co-existence of Nigeria, Okeke said.”
Why agitation may persist
Another cross section of Igbo leaders believe that there may not be an end to the agitation for the Biafra struggle unless there is what they refer to as true federalism in Nigeria. According to some of them who spoke to SaturdayVanguard, those in support of MASSOB are youths who were either born during or after the civil war noting that their campaigns do not have the backing of either the Ohanaeze Nigbo or its affiliate unions.
President of Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, Evangelist Elliot Ukoh, who spoke on the issue said that his interactions with youths in the last 20 years show that Nigeria has been unfair to the Igbo, adding that the youths started agitations for Biafra because of the feeling by Ndigbo that they would never get justice in Nigeria and that their leaders had been compromised.
According to him, “the feeling among our youths is that Nigeria has been unfair to the Igbo. Ndigbo believe that they would never get justice in Nigeria. The youths also believe that their leaders have been compromised. This is what I have learnt after over 20 years of my interactions with them through lectures and seminars.
They believe that the way things are going, they have no future where everything is skewed against them. They believe for example that the JAMB cut-off marks are skewed against them because they get higher marks and get dropped for northerners who score lower grades in the name of national character.
The general feeling is that the highest political position an Igbo can get is the Vice President and that is when those who claim to be the owners of Nigeria allow an Igbo man or woman to be Vice President. “All these agitations are because of the refusal of the owners of Nigeria that the country should be restructured for true federalism.”
For the National President of the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, President Muhammadu Buhari has to dialogue with the people of the South-East to reassure the zone that he is committed to a nation in which all component units will be accommodated.
In an interview with Saturday Vanguard in Aba, Isiguzoro who also linked the renewed Biafra agitation to the perceived marginalization of the Igbo said that, “I urge President Buhari to dialogue with Ndigbo and allay the fears of the zone and reassure them that he means well for everybody. And, Ndigbo should seek ways to partner Buhari and his administration towards addressing the problems of the zone.
We need to fight for our rights. The agitation springing up daily across Igbo land is the result of years of accumulated neglect of the zone. The state of federal roads and other infrastructure remains the worst in the federation. For over 12 years now, Enugu-Port-Harcourt expressway, Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Aba- Ikot Ekpene highway, Aba-Owerri highway, Umuahia-Arochukwu highway, Okigwe-Arondiziogu-Uga highway, Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene highway, have become death traps with deep gullies requiring urgent attention.
Yet, nothing has been done to alleviate the sufferings of the people. When you look at the situation, there appears to be a grand conspiracy by some people not to develop critical infrastructure in Igbo land. Dialogue has proven to be a veritable tool for dousing tensions. Ndigbo must employ this strategy. The proponents of MASSOB and IPOB must desist from activities which cast the Igbo nation in bad light.
Any group, which truly seeks the good of Ndigbo should table their demands to the Federal Government where their grievances can be heard and the MASSOB and IPOB must sheathe their swords as Ndigbo can find greater accommodation within a united Nigeria. The businesses of Ndigbo are located across all geo-political zones of the country and we cannot afford to mortgage these investments valued at over N47 trillion, on the basis of sentiments.”
Kanu’s Biafra territory
According to Kanu, apart from the people from the South-East geo-political zone “the ideology of Biafra is the freedom, the emancipation of all the Biafran people, which means all the people bound genetically, culturally and by the same value system. In other words, I am talking about those who understand the history of the Biafra people. I am talking about the Idoma people, the Igbo people, the Efik, Ibibio, Anang, Ijaw, Itsekiri, the Urhobo and the Anioma people.
All these are Biafra families. If you go to a village or town, for instance, Oturpko, they have four market days – Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. And when people say that these people are not Igbo people or that they are not related to Igbo people, it becomes a thing of wonder. How is it possible that people that have Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo as their market days are not related to Igbo people?
When you go to Akwa Ibom or Cross River State, what they call God is Obasi. That is what we call God, where we come from. The highest fraternity in Igbo land, where I come from in Abia State is Okonko. Okonko was derived from Ibibio and the Efik cultures. The same thing with Ekpe. When we want to dance Ekpe in my place, we go to Ibibio land to buy the kits for the Ekpe which is a masquerade dance.
So, we are all related. We are the same people genetically, in terms of our complexion, in terms of our attitude. I want you to go to any market in Warri, for instance. Stand back and take a picture of that market, then, go to any Igbo town or village, take a picture of the market and tell me if you can tell the difference. There is no difference.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/the-igbo-our-position-on-biafra/
Friday 6 November 2015
Caitlyn Jenner Sends Heartfelt Message To Kris On Her 60th Birthday
Aw! Caitlyn Jenner proved that she still cares about her ex-wife, Kris Jenner, by sending her a sweet message on her 60th birthday. Check out the heartfelt birthday wish here!
This is so cute! Caitlyn Jenner, 66, sent ex-wife Kris Jenner her well wishes on her 60th birthday, which says a lot about how Cait is feeling about her nowadays. Check out the super sweet message here. Plus, we have all the details!
Kris Jenner turned 60 years old on Nov. 5, and of course, her giant family all wished her a happy birthday. But the most meaningful — in our opinion — was from Caitlyn, her ex-husband. Cait took to Twitter to share her birthday message, and just a few short words really said a lot about where the pair stands: “Happy birthday @krisjenner. Enjoy the day with our wonderful family.”
http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/11/05/caitlyn-jenner-birthday-message-kris-60th-twitter/
This is so cute! Caitlyn Jenner, 66, sent ex-wife Kris Jenner her well wishes on her 60th birthday, which says a lot about how Cait is feeling about her nowadays. Check out the super sweet message here. Plus, we have all the details!
Kris Jenner turned 60 years old on Nov. 5, and of course, her giant family all wished her a happy birthday. But the most meaningful — in our opinion — was from Caitlyn, her ex-husband. Cait took to Twitter to share her birthday message, and just a few short words really said a lot about where the pair stands: “Happy birthday @krisjenner. Enjoy the day with our wonderful family.”
http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/11/05/caitlyn-jenner-birthday-message-kris-60th-twitter/
Lamar Odom Kicked Khloe Kardeshian Out Of His Hospital Room
According to the latest issue of Us Weekly . . . Lamar Odom is out of his coma and thinking CLEARLY again. Here is what they're reporting:
A source told Us Weekly that the athlete’s inner circle had turned him against Khloe with claims she had tipped off paparazzi to document the Kardashian family’s comings and goings at the hospital.
In addition Lamar is said to have been led to believe that his estranged wife has taken credit for his miraculous recovery after a series of strokes -– related to his drug overdose -– and blocked members of his family and inner circle of friends from visiting him in the hospital.
Under the influence of these allegations, the publication claims Lamar was fed up and told Khloe on October 23 he ‘needed space’ and ‘wanted to be alone’ before telling her to ‘get out’.
When she CALLED OFF THE DIVORCE . . . and then ran back to JAMES HARDEN . . . you knew EXACTLY what this chick was about.
Khloe is trying to fix the situation . . . on social media, of course. She's telling her fans that, "I keep getting asked why I cancelled my NYC signings. I will reschedule them but 4 the time being I have to stay in LA for personal reasons."
This time Khloe, try that WITHOUT the cameras.
MediaTakeOut
A source told Us Weekly that the athlete’s inner circle had turned him against Khloe with claims she had tipped off paparazzi to document the Kardashian family’s comings and goings at the hospital.
In addition Lamar is said to have been led to believe that his estranged wife has taken credit for his miraculous recovery after a series of strokes -– related to his drug overdose -– and blocked members of his family and inner circle of friends from visiting him in the hospital.
Under the influence of these allegations, the publication claims Lamar was fed up and told Khloe on October 23 he ‘needed space’ and ‘wanted to be alone’ before telling her to ‘get out’.
When she CALLED OFF THE DIVORCE . . . and then ran back to JAMES HARDEN . . . you knew EXACTLY what this chick was about.
Khloe is trying to fix the situation . . . on social media, of course. She's telling her fans that, "I keep getting asked why I cancelled my NYC signings. I will reschedule them but 4 the time being I have to stay in LA for personal reasons."
This time Khloe, try that WITHOUT the cameras.
MediaTakeOut
Dark data clogginf up corporates
WHILE data has become a key resource for companies, a report by US group Veritas Technologies has found that SA companies have the third-highest rate of "dark" data stored in their corporate networks.
Dark data refers to data that has already been collected, but remains unused. The rise in digital platforms has resulted in companies collecting more data than ever before, some through social media and even from their own employees.
This means that large quantities of data are clogging up networks and storage facilities.
Veritas Technologies conducted interviews with 1475 companies in 14 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Of those, 100 were from SA. It says 58% of data held by local companies was unknown to their own IT departments.
http://www.financialmail.co.za/features/2015/11/05/dark-data-clogginf-up-corporates
Dark data refers to data that has already been collected, but remains unused. The rise in digital platforms has resulted in companies collecting more data than ever before, some through social media and even from their own employees.
This means that large quantities of data are clogging up networks and storage facilities.
Veritas Technologies conducted interviews with 1475 companies in 14 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Of those, 100 were from SA. It says 58% of data held by local companies was unknown to their own IT departments.
http://www.financialmail.co.za/features/2015/11/05/dark-data-clogginf-up-corporates
U-17 World Cup: Nigeria Beats Mexico to Reach Final
Golden Eaglets of Nigeria defeated Mexico 4-2 early hours of Friday to set up an all Africa FIFA Under-17 World Cup final on Sunday, November 8.
The Emmanuel Amuneke tutored lads effectively exorcised the ghost of Nigeria's failure at the same Estadio Municipal in Concepción, Chile in 1987.
thisdaylive
The Emmanuel Amuneke tutored lads effectively exorcised the ghost of Nigeria's failure at the same Estadio Municipal in Concepción, Chile in 1987.
thisdaylive
Thursday 5 November 2015
DSS raids Dasuki's home in Abuja, prevents him from traveling
According to report from reliable source, DSS officials are currently raiding the Abuja home of former National Security Officer, Sambo Dasuki, and preventing him from traveling.
A federal high court had on Tuesday October 3rd ordered the Federal government to release the International Passport of Dasuki so he could proceed for a medical treatment abroad. Dasuki is standing trial for illegal possession of arms as well as money laundering.
LIB
Boko Haram and truth about Chibok girls
BY December 31st 2015, Boko Haram and its deadly activities would have become history in Nigeria – courtesy of a decisive command from a “no-nonsense and action-packed” President Muhammadu Buhari.
He had given the Nigerian Military a deadline of that date to achieve this onerous task of putting an end to Boko Haram existence, and when the commander-in-chief gives a command, obedience to the last letter of the order becomes fait accompli for the officers and men of the armed forces.
It means that the military would do everything possible; including laying down of lives across the north-east geographical region generally and in particular the most dreaded Sambisa forest, to produce positive result acceptable to President, Nigerians and the whole world. There shall be such colossal casualties in all fronts.
Yet, l have a burden in my heart about one of the major “local contents” of the insurgency [while it lasted] not becoming a “major and colossal” casualty. May it never be said that at the point of celebrating the overcoming of Boko Haram, starting from January 2016, or thereabout, our girls; those impressive and qualitative daughters of ours, abducted from Chibok town on 14th of April, 2014, are not accounted for. God forbid!
May they; all of them, be returned to us as “precious spoils of war” in the name of the Almighty God! At least, this has been the hope built for us by our political leaders, over the period of one and half years that these girls have gone on “a befitting holiday”; a holiday conveniently arranged for them by those who ought to be their legitimate custodians – Borno State Governor and his officials inclusive.
There are many Nigerians who share my thought and burden in this matter and it is not without cogent and genuine reasons.
The genesis and the exodus of the girls’ voyage into “oblivion” [it is almost the reality in my mind for now] need critical analysis and proper evaluation.
Chibok town was invaded by Boko Haram soldiers [call them insurgents if you like] on the night of April 14th, 2014, and two hundred and seventy nine girls – all students in the rightful custody of the government of Borno State – were conveniently taken away without a single challenge in a manner that agreed with the rules of “pre-arranged” agreement.
It was an episode that pricked the conscience of the international community as the process and procedure of the abduction mocked common knowledge in explanation.
There was sharp disagreement on the exact numbers of the girls as no one could give accurate figure, neither the principal of the school nor the Borno State commissioner for education could. They allegedly arranged and kept the girls in the school; a school premises without fence, security and light, for the purpose of presenting them to write the secondary school leaving certificate examinations.
Others believed that those who master-minded the abduction intended to stir the world Islamic community against then Goodluck Jonathan’s government by presenting the attack as against Muslims of the north hence “the execution in the core north eastern state of Borno”.
This however back-fired when the Christian Association of Nigeria was able to identify ninety nine per cent of the girls abducted by names, and as Christians, thereby turning the event in favour of Jonathan and his government when the fact became well known to the world community, this other school of thought concluded.
My real worry is that since the actual number of girls abducted that night is not authenticated and can never be, due to absence of statistical evaluation machinery, whatever the balance of numbers we have at hand today remains conjectural.
Public opinion, coordinated by the Oby Ezekwesilli-led “Bring-back-our-girls movement”, put the number of Chibok girls presently in captivity at two hundred and nineteen.
Though the authenticity of that figure shall always be doubtful since there was no head-count of the girls before they were taken into captivity, this number remains, nevertheless, what we have of our girls still with Boko Haram.
Where are the rest of over two hundred girls? Can any intelligent brain hold to the belief that these girls are being held in one place till date? Are they forcefully married out to the insurgents with “reward” of children already?
Worse still, are they dead or alive? We need to know the truth about their true position now and the only person that can tell us is President Buhari for only one major reason. He is the one Nigerian. Unfortunately the much he has said, indirectly though, did not strengthen my hope about the whereabouts of the Chibok girls.
His answer to a question in a very recent Aljazeera television interview: “We have ideas about where the girls are. Our main problem is and what we promised to the constituency is that we want to rescue them alive.
There is the Boko Haram leadership that wants us to discuss but we have to prove they are bonafide. They have to prove to us that the girls are alive, they are well, and then we can promise, we can negotiate. We will negotiate if we certify that the girls are alive…”
What he indirectly admitted in this interview is that he is not sure of the state of the girls. Yet, total rescue of the Chibok girls was one of the selling cardinal points of his campaign, preluding the April 2015 general elections.
If a man who gains access to world-class intelligence machinery would be that doubtful, where can the faith of the ordinary mortal be anchored? Who shall tell us the truth about the Chibok girls?
Godwin Etakibuebu, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Lagos.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/boko-haram-and-truth-about-chibok-girls/
He had given the Nigerian Military a deadline of that date to achieve this onerous task of putting an end to Boko Haram existence, and when the commander-in-chief gives a command, obedience to the last letter of the order becomes fait accompli for the officers and men of the armed forces.
It means that the military would do everything possible; including laying down of lives across the north-east geographical region generally and in particular the most dreaded Sambisa forest, to produce positive result acceptable to President, Nigerians and the whole world. There shall be such colossal casualties in all fronts.
Yet, l have a burden in my heart about one of the major “local contents” of the insurgency [while it lasted] not becoming a “major and colossal” casualty. May it never be said that at the point of celebrating the overcoming of Boko Haram, starting from January 2016, or thereabout, our girls; those impressive and qualitative daughters of ours, abducted from Chibok town on 14th of April, 2014, are not accounted for. God forbid!
May they; all of them, be returned to us as “precious spoils of war” in the name of the Almighty God! At least, this has been the hope built for us by our political leaders, over the period of one and half years that these girls have gone on “a befitting holiday”; a holiday conveniently arranged for them by those who ought to be their legitimate custodians – Borno State Governor and his officials inclusive.
There are many Nigerians who share my thought and burden in this matter and it is not without cogent and genuine reasons.
The genesis and the exodus of the girls’ voyage into “oblivion” [it is almost the reality in my mind for now] need critical analysis and proper evaluation.
Chibok town was invaded by Boko Haram soldiers [call them insurgents if you like] on the night of April 14th, 2014, and two hundred and seventy nine girls – all students in the rightful custody of the government of Borno State – were conveniently taken away without a single challenge in a manner that agreed with the rules of “pre-arranged” agreement.
It was an episode that pricked the conscience of the international community as the process and procedure of the abduction mocked common knowledge in explanation.
There was sharp disagreement on the exact numbers of the girls as no one could give accurate figure, neither the principal of the school nor the Borno State commissioner for education could. They allegedly arranged and kept the girls in the school; a school premises without fence, security and light, for the purpose of presenting them to write the secondary school leaving certificate examinations.
Others believed that those who master-minded the abduction intended to stir the world Islamic community against then Goodluck Jonathan’s government by presenting the attack as against Muslims of the north hence “the execution in the core north eastern state of Borno”.
This however back-fired when the Christian Association of Nigeria was able to identify ninety nine per cent of the girls abducted by names, and as Christians, thereby turning the event in favour of Jonathan and his government when the fact became well known to the world community, this other school of thought concluded.
My real worry is that since the actual number of girls abducted that night is not authenticated and can never be, due to absence of statistical evaluation machinery, whatever the balance of numbers we have at hand today remains conjectural.
Public opinion, coordinated by the Oby Ezekwesilli-led “Bring-back-our-girls movement”, put the number of Chibok girls presently in captivity at two hundred and nineteen.
Though the authenticity of that figure shall always be doubtful since there was no head-count of the girls before they were taken into captivity, this number remains, nevertheless, what we have of our girls still with Boko Haram.
Where are the rest of over two hundred girls? Can any intelligent brain hold to the belief that these girls are being held in one place till date? Are they forcefully married out to the insurgents with “reward” of children already?
Worse still, are they dead or alive? We need to know the truth about their true position now and the only person that can tell us is President Buhari for only one major reason. He is the one Nigerian. Unfortunately the much he has said, indirectly though, did not strengthen my hope about the whereabouts of the Chibok girls.
His answer to a question in a very recent Aljazeera television interview: “We have ideas about where the girls are. Our main problem is and what we promised to the constituency is that we want to rescue them alive.
There is the Boko Haram leadership that wants us to discuss but we have to prove they are bonafide. They have to prove to us that the girls are alive, they are well, and then we can promise, we can negotiate. We will negotiate if we certify that the girls are alive…”
What he indirectly admitted in this interview is that he is not sure of the state of the girls. Yet, total rescue of the Chibok girls was one of the selling cardinal points of his campaign, preluding the April 2015 general elections.
If a man who gains access to world-class intelligence machinery would be that doubtful, where can the faith of the ordinary mortal be anchored? Who shall tell us the truth about the Chibok girls?
Godwin Etakibuebu, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Lagos.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/boko-haram-and-truth-about-chibok-girls/
Buhari, look your front
By Ochereome Nnanna
MY people have a saying which I will tell in my “inner” Igbo dialect and then translate. We say: “leruo enya akala nari zuru ife”. When you visit someone and you are about to depart, he will usually tell you: “fare well” or “take care” or “be careful as you go”. In some cases, a departing visitor also expects a parting gift, especially if the gift was the original reason for the visit.
When you tell such a visitor: “take care” without the parting gift, he feels disappointed and will usually consider visiting you a wasted effort. Leruo enya akala nari zuru ife is a reminder that a person who wishes you well gives you something that is more precious than silver and gold. A person who wishes you well will probably also give you a parting gift if he could afford to.
I wish to seize this opportunity to offer our President, Muhammadu Buhari, an unsolicited and unpaid-for piece of advice. I will say it in our Nigerian patois: “Presido, look your front”.
We have entered the sixth month of the four years he was given to try and fix Nigeria in line with his campaign promises. He was not elected to come and keep drumming how bad the Jonathan administration and the sixteen years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was.
If Nigerians thought Jonathan and his party were the best for them, they would have renewed their mandate in the 2015 general election. It was because they felt that the former “largest party in Africa”
had exhausted its goodwill with the people that Buhari and his party were elected in the first comprehensive democratic regime change in our history.
Since Buhari came back to power, he and his party have told us little else except the “depth of rot” left behind by the dethroned PDP, the magnitude of “looting” perpetrated under Jonathan and the PDP and Buhari’s determination to recover stolen public funds and jail looters.
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari arrives at Indira Gandhi International Airport for the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi on October 27, 2015. India is hosting an unprecedented gathering of Africa's leaders as it ramps up the race for resources on the continent, where its rival China already has a major head start. AFP PHOTO
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari arrives at Indira Gandhi International Airport for the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi on October 27, 2015. India is hosting an unprecedented gathering of Africa’s leaders as it ramps up the race for resources on the continent, where its rival China already has a major head start. AFP PHOTO
Meanwhile you look around, and, apart from one or two political opponents such as Bukola Saraki who rebelled against the wishes of Bola Tinubu, you do not see the “looters” who have been apprehended or put behind bars.
The former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Madueke, who is alleged as the “chief looter” of the Jonathan regime has not even been arraigned for trial in London, where the law actually rules. If anything, what you see is a large number of APC politicians with mindboggling cases of corruption to answer being made ministers in total disregard of the touted “zero tolerance for corruption”, on which he campaigned.
You look around and you ask yourself: where is the Itse Sagay anti-graft panel? Have they gone to sleep? Why has the federal government failed to disclose the identities (and amount) that Jonathan’s former officials and friends “returned” as claimed by Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State?
Why hasn’t the Jonathan minister who allegedly stole six billion dollars been identified, arrested and put on trial with efforts to recover the money made public? Six billion dollars or over N1.2 trillion can give our economy a massive shock therapy for recovery from depression.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is still high on its triumphal euphoria, and never misses any opportunity to remind us how they defeated PDP. Do you hear Barack Obama of the US or David Cameron of the UK make any reference to the elections that returned them to power in 2012 and 2015 respectively?
APC leaders should show some maturity. When a party wins an election it immediately faces the challenges of victory. Election victory is not an end but a means to an end: a platform for delivering on campaign promises.
It is in the interest of President Buhari and the APC to take my advice: Look your front. Start governing. Get to work. Start solving the problems of the country for which you were elected. There is nothing more you can tell us about the “rot” allegedly left by PDP that can justify six months of serious economic decline and roller-coaster ride towards depression.
Instead of the two million jobs per year we were promised (by now about million jobs should have been created going by the APC campaign promises) there have been massive job losses, especially in the banking, media and real sectors of the economy.
The Naira, which Buhari once boasted gained in value when he was elected is under pressure to be devalued to save our foreign reserves. Whatever rot the PDP might have left behind is being exacerbated by the cluelessness, directionlessness and actionlessness of the Buhari regime.
This tendency of Buhari and the ruling APC to keep talking about corruption, deep rot and what not, especially when the president visits foreign countries inflicts heavy injuries on Nigeria’s image. Buhari should change emphasis and tell the world his strategies to right the wrongs he met and put Nigeria back on the path of rectitude.
This is what we want to hear, and that is what our prospective foreign partners are waiting to hear. We want a genuine war on corruption, not a manhunt of political enemies and the use of coercion to capture some juicy oil-producing states for the ruling party.
Nigeria is not the only country that has corrupt people. But Nigeria is probably the only country in the world whose president spends primetime damaging its image.
Is Buhari really telling “the truth” or merely trying to ensure that the opposition never recovers to challenge him in 2019? If you have a household full of daughters and you keep telling everybody their mother is a thief and a prostitute, you must be ready to take the blame if suitors stay away.
But Nigerians are beginning to lose their patience after waiting for six months. Unless Buhari begins to address the “deep rot” left by past administrations (including his own) his 2019 dreams will be dead even before the date arrives.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/buhari-look-your-front/
MY people have a saying which I will tell in my “inner” Igbo dialect and then translate. We say: “leruo enya akala nari zuru ife”. When you visit someone and you are about to depart, he will usually tell you: “fare well” or “take care” or “be careful as you go”. In some cases, a departing visitor also expects a parting gift, especially if the gift was the original reason for the visit.
When you tell such a visitor: “take care” without the parting gift, he feels disappointed and will usually consider visiting you a wasted effort. Leruo enya akala nari zuru ife is a reminder that a person who wishes you well gives you something that is more precious than silver and gold. A person who wishes you well will probably also give you a parting gift if he could afford to.
I wish to seize this opportunity to offer our President, Muhammadu Buhari, an unsolicited and unpaid-for piece of advice. I will say it in our Nigerian patois: “Presido, look your front”.
We have entered the sixth month of the four years he was given to try and fix Nigeria in line with his campaign promises. He was not elected to come and keep drumming how bad the Jonathan administration and the sixteen years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was.
If Nigerians thought Jonathan and his party were the best for them, they would have renewed their mandate in the 2015 general election. It was because they felt that the former “largest party in Africa”
had exhausted its goodwill with the people that Buhari and his party were elected in the first comprehensive democratic regime change in our history.
Since Buhari came back to power, he and his party have told us little else except the “depth of rot” left behind by the dethroned PDP, the magnitude of “looting” perpetrated under Jonathan and the PDP and Buhari’s determination to recover stolen public funds and jail looters.
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari arrives at Indira Gandhi International Airport for the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi on October 27, 2015. India is hosting an unprecedented gathering of Africa's leaders as it ramps up the race for resources on the continent, where its rival China already has a major head start. AFP PHOTO
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari arrives at Indira Gandhi International Airport for the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi on October 27, 2015. India is hosting an unprecedented gathering of Africa’s leaders as it ramps up the race for resources on the continent, where its rival China already has a major head start. AFP PHOTO
Meanwhile you look around, and, apart from one or two political opponents such as Bukola Saraki who rebelled against the wishes of Bola Tinubu, you do not see the “looters” who have been apprehended or put behind bars.
The former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Madueke, who is alleged as the “chief looter” of the Jonathan regime has not even been arraigned for trial in London, where the law actually rules. If anything, what you see is a large number of APC politicians with mindboggling cases of corruption to answer being made ministers in total disregard of the touted “zero tolerance for corruption”, on which he campaigned.
You look around and you ask yourself: where is the Itse Sagay anti-graft panel? Have they gone to sleep? Why has the federal government failed to disclose the identities (and amount) that Jonathan’s former officials and friends “returned” as claimed by Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State?
Why hasn’t the Jonathan minister who allegedly stole six billion dollars been identified, arrested and put on trial with efforts to recover the money made public? Six billion dollars or over N1.2 trillion can give our economy a massive shock therapy for recovery from depression.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is still high on its triumphal euphoria, and never misses any opportunity to remind us how they defeated PDP. Do you hear Barack Obama of the US or David Cameron of the UK make any reference to the elections that returned them to power in 2012 and 2015 respectively?
APC leaders should show some maturity. When a party wins an election it immediately faces the challenges of victory. Election victory is not an end but a means to an end: a platform for delivering on campaign promises.
It is in the interest of President Buhari and the APC to take my advice: Look your front. Start governing. Get to work. Start solving the problems of the country for which you were elected. There is nothing more you can tell us about the “rot” allegedly left by PDP that can justify six months of serious economic decline and roller-coaster ride towards depression.
Instead of the two million jobs per year we were promised (by now about million jobs should have been created going by the APC campaign promises) there have been massive job losses, especially in the banking, media and real sectors of the economy.
The Naira, which Buhari once boasted gained in value when he was elected is under pressure to be devalued to save our foreign reserves. Whatever rot the PDP might have left behind is being exacerbated by the cluelessness, directionlessness and actionlessness of the Buhari regime.
This tendency of Buhari and the ruling APC to keep talking about corruption, deep rot and what not, especially when the president visits foreign countries inflicts heavy injuries on Nigeria’s image. Buhari should change emphasis and tell the world his strategies to right the wrongs he met and put Nigeria back on the path of rectitude.
This is what we want to hear, and that is what our prospective foreign partners are waiting to hear. We want a genuine war on corruption, not a manhunt of political enemies and the use of coercion to capture some juicy oil-producing states for the ruling party.
Nigeria is not the only country that has corrupt people. But Nigeria is probably the only country in the world whose president spends primetime damaging its image.
Is Buhari really telling “the truth” or merely trying to ensure that the opposition never recovers to challenge him in 2019? If you have a household full of daughters and you keep telling everybody their mother is a thief and a prostitute, you must be ready to take the blame if suitors stay away.
But Nigerians are beginning to lose their patience after waiting for six months. Unless Buhari begins to address the “deep rot” left by past administrations (including his own) his 2019 dreams will be dead even before the date arrives.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/buhari-look-your-front/
Wednesday 4 November 2015
Rob Kardashian Shows His ‘Love’ For ‘Beautiful’ Sister Khloe — See Sweet Message
Aw! Rob Kardashian is just so proud of his big sister Khloe Kardashian. He took to Instagram to share his thoughts on Khloe’s new book ‘Strong Looks Better Naked’ and his message is just so sweet! Check it out now.
Rob Kardashian, 28, may not go out much nowadays, but he still communicates via Instagram. This time it was to send a message to his big sister Khloe Kardashian, 31, the day that her new book Strong Looks Better Naked was released. See his adorable note!
Instagram has become Rob’s main form of communication since going under the radar, and his has been blowing up this week with super positive messages and birthday wishes to friends and family. Now, he’s sent a sweet message to Khloe about her brand new book Strong Looks Better Naked, and he just can’t say enough good things about his closest family member. Rob absolutely gushes about his big sis, saying “I’m in love with the Koko!!!” and calling her “beautiful” while promoting her book. How adorable is that?!
http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/11/03/rob-kardashian-khloe-book-instagram-strong-looks-better-naked/
Rob Kardashian, 28, may not go out much nowadays, but he still communicates via Instagram. This time it was to send a message to his big sister Khloe Kardashian, 31, the day that her new book Strong Looks Better Naked was released. See his adorable note!
Instagram has become Rob’s main form of communication since going under the radar, and his has been blowing up this week with super positive messages and birthday wishes to friends and family. Now, he’s sent a sweet message to Khloe about her brand new book Strong Looks Better Naked, and he just can’t say enough good things about his closest family member. Rob absolutely gushes about his big sis, saying “I’m in love with the Koko!!!” and calling her “beautiful” while promoting her book. How adorable is that?!
http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/11/03/rob-kardashian-khloe-book-instagram-strong-looks-better-naked/
Tanzania's John Magufuli: Five challenges for the new president
Tanzania's President-elect John Magufuli will be inaugurated on Thursday following his landslide victory in fiercely contested elections.
Known as "The Bulldozer", he won with 58% of the vote to the 40% of his main rival Edward Lowassa.
The victory margin was a surprise - many analysts had predicted a tighter race after four opposition parties united behind Mr Lowassa's candidature.
It boiled down to Mr Magufuli's popularity, which superseded that of the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) that has dominated politics since independence from British rule in 1961.
So what are the five big challenges he faces once in office?
1) Corruption
Change was the buzzword during the election campaign. Now people will expect him to engage in a major house-cleaning exercise by showing the door to corrupt government officials and old-school public servants.
This will pose a huge political risk, as they are well-entrenched in CCM. But Mr Magufuli, the former works minister, will have to tackle corruption head-on, as Tanzanians have had enough of it.
Election workers counting votes by torch lamp in Tanzania - October 2015Image copyright AFP
Image caption
One scandal involved a firm failing to provide emergency electricity during a power crisis
His first big test will come with the appointment of a cabinet.
Will it be made up of people untainted by corruption? If not, voters will be disappointed.
After all, he has built his political career on the promise that he is not scared of taking risks, and that he works hard and acts fast.
2) Jobs
Although the official unemployment rate is at around 10%, people sometimes get the impression that the crisis bigger - a recent advert for 70 jobs in the public service posts attracted more than 10,000 applications. Interviews had to be held in a football stadium.
Celebrating CCM supportersImage copyright AFP
Image caption
More than 55% of registered voters were between 18 and 35 years old
Almost half of Tanzania's 50 million-strong population is made up of young people, and they are worst-affected by unemployment.
They voted with great enthusiasm, believing their fortunes will change under Mr Magufuli.
He will be under most pressure from them to deliver on his promise to create jobs - and end poverty.
He has promised to revive industries which are in bad shape, like the cotton and fish processing sectors.
3) Education
Mr Magufuli has promised children free education from kindergarten to secondary school.
A child at school in Zanzibar, TanzaniaImage copyright AFP
Image caption
Classrooms are often overcrowded and resources stretched
While many Tanzanians welcome this, they feel it is not enough. They want a higher standard of education with improved curriculums so that Tanzania can have a better-skilled work force.
Mr Magufuli will be hard-pressed to meet their demands - almost all state schools are short of desks, books and teachers.
4) Zanzibar crisis
With last week's local elections in Zanzibar scrapped because of alleged rigging, Mr Magufuli will have to make sure that a re-run takes place, and that it is free and fair.
Zanzibaris at a polling station - 25 October 2015Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Zanzibaris elect their own president and parliament
When Mr Kikwete came to power, he promised to bring the semi-autonomous islands, popular with tourists, closer to his sight.
But as he leaves the office, more than 60% of Zanzibaris want more autonomy for the archipelago - an indication of their dissatisfaction with the union.
If Mr Magufuli can bring about a lasting solution, he will go down in history as one of Tanzania's most successful presidents - but it is a big if.
5) Constitutional reform
Outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete promised a new constitution, but failed to deliver on it during his 10 years in office.
The opposition gained many votes with its promise to make sweeping changes to the constitution - including reducing presidential powers and guaranteeing the impartiality of state institutions, like the electoral commission.
Tanzania's outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete (L) embraces President-elect John Magufuli during an official ceremony to announce Magufuli's victory after presidential elections in Dar es Salaam October 30, 2015Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Jakaya Kikwete (L) is stepping down after two terms in office
Mr Magufuli ignored the issue during the election campaign. Can he afford to do that throughout his presidency? Unlikely
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34713488
Known as "The Bulldozer", he won with 58% of the vote to the 40% of his main rival Edward Lowassa.
The victory margin was a surprise - many analysts had predicted a tighter race after four opposition parties united behind Mr Lowassa's candidature.
It boiled down to Mr Magufuli's popularity, which superseded that of the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) that has dominated politics since independence from British rule in 1961.
So what are the five big challenges he faces once in office?
1) Corruption
Change was the buzzword during the election campaign. Now people will expect him to engage in a major house-cleaning exercise by showing the door to corrupt government officials and old-school public servants.
This will pose a huge political risk, as they are well-entrenched in CCM. But Mr Magufuli, the former works minister, will have to tackle corruption head-on, as Tanzanians have had enough of it.
Election workers counting votes by torch lamp in Tanzania - October 2015Image copyright AFP
Image caption
One scandal involved a firm failing to provide emergency electricity during a power crisis
His first big test will come with the appointment of a cabinet.
Will it be made up of people untainted by corruption? If not, voters will be disappointed.
After all, he has built his political career on the promise that he is not scared of taking risks, and that he works hard and acts fast.
2) Jobs
Although the official unemployment rate is at around 10%, people sometimes get the impression that the crisis bigger - a recent advert for 70 jobs in the public service posts attracted more than 10,000 applications. Interviews had to be held in a football stadium.
Celebrating CCM supportersImage copyright AFP
Image caption
More than 55% of registered voters were between 18 and 35 years old
Almost half of Tanzania's 50 million-strong population is made up of young people, and they are worst-affected by unemployment.
They voted with great enthusiasm, believing their fortunes will change under Mr Magufuli.
He will be under most pressure from them to deliver on his promise to create jobs - and end poverty.
He has promised to revive industries which are in bad shape, like the cotton and fish processing sectors.
3) Education
Mr Magufuli has promised children free education from kindergarten to secondary school.
A child at school in Zanzibar, TanzaniaImage copyright AFP
Image caption
Classrooms are often overcrowded and resources stretched
While many Tanzanians welcome this, they feel it is not enough. They want a higher standard of education with improved curriculums so that Tanzania can have a better-skilled work force.
Mr Magufuli will be hard-pressed to meet their demands - almost all state schools are short of desks, books and teachers.
4) Zanzibar crisis
With last week's local elections in Zanzibar scrapped because of alleged rigging, Mr Magufuli will have to make sure that a re-run takes place, and that it is free and fair.
Zanzibaris at a polling station - 25 October 2015Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Zanzibaris elect their own president and parliament
When Mr Kikwete came to power, he promised to bring the semi-autonomous islands, popular with tourists, closer to his sight.
But as he leaves the office, more than 60% of Zanzibaris want more autonomy for the archipelago - an indication of their dissatisfaction with the union.
If Mr Magufuli can bring about a lasting solution, he will go down in history as one of Tanzania's most successful presidents - but it is a big if.
5) Constitutional reform
Outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete promised a new constitution, but failed to deliver on it during his 10 years in office.
The opposition gained many votes with its promise to make sweeping changes to the constitution - including reducing presidential powers and guaranteeing the impartiality of state institutions, like the electoral commission.
Tanzania's outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete (L) embraces President-elect John Magufuli during an official ceremony to announce Magufuli's victory after presidential elections in Dar es Salaam October 30, 2015Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Jakaya Kikwete (L) is stepping down after two terms in office
Mr Magufuli ignored the issue during the election campaign. Can he afford to do that throughout his presidency? Unlikely
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34713488
How Fayemi’s Appointment May Affect Ekiti Politics
Olakiitan Victor writes that the ministerial appointment of a former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has a role to play in the politics of the state
The appointment of former Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State by President Muhammadu Buhari as a minister weighs in many direction to the average Ekiti person, particularly the political class. Some see it as an opportunity for the former governor to re-launch himself back into reckoning in both the politics of the state and the nation, while some reckon it still would make no significant value.
Some are even of the opinion that it would further widen the polarisation in the All Progressives Congress (APC). Different reasons are being adduced, but whichever way anyone looks at it, the appointment has its own strategic
reason and there is the widespread belief that it would surely have a huge influence on the politics of the state.
Fayemi, certainly, cannot forget in a hurry how he lost the last election to the incumbent, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. This defeat has been described by political analysts as the worst ever suffered by any incumbent in the political history of the country. In a country like Nigeria where the end justifies the means, many reckon that a good politician would always find a means to redeem such a humiliation.
It is on this premise that Fayemi himself must have thought of how he could re-launch back to stardom after the failed election. Some have also argued that Fayemi could act like a former governor of Gombe State and now Senator, Alhaji Danjuma Goje, who became senator through the instrumentality of the ministerial position he held under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The most recent was the case of the River State governor, Nyesom Wike, who rode on the crest of Mrs. Patience Jonathan to ride to the Government House after holding sway in the Ministry of Education, albeit in the junior cadre.
Fayose too once bestrode the Ekiti political hemisphere like a colossus in 2003 but was ignominiously impeached by the then House of Assembly for sundry offences, particularly the misappropriation of the N1.3billion Integrated Poultry Project. He later went into self-imposed exile for two years before resurfacing. The governor was not oblivious of the fact that the impeachment would continue to be his greatest undoing and he had since been fighting like a wounded lion to ensure that he rewrites such a sordid history and he eventually got it.
This is why some analysts believed that Fayemi too must not give up. For them, he must continue to use his connection with the presidency, the most powerful place to bring APC back to limelight in Ekiti. Some opined that the position of a minister is no small means to political survival in this country and Fayemi must make strategic use of the opportunity to significantly disabuse the minds of those who might have had the erroneous thinking he was more of a technocrat than a good politician.
Putting it succinctly, the future of the APC in the state rests heavily on the quartet of former Governors Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni, Kayode Fayemi and Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele. Any federal position ceded to any of them would automatically be interpreted to mean a serious boost and impetus for the party. Fayemi’s qualification for the plum job is not in doubt. His administrative acumen and astuteness in delivery cannot be questioned and these made his defeat more confounding to some in view of his impressive performance while in the saddle in Ekiti.
Even among his political traducers, they hold the belief that he is able and capable. Governor Fayose had in the heat of his impending screening at the senate canvassed for speedy screening for Fayemi. He went ahead and instructed the three senators from Ekiti to back his nomination. This conveyed serious signal that Fayemi, even among his political enemies still enjoys acceptability in terms of competence and this, he should ensure reflects on his party in terms of performance during elections.
A member of the seventh House of Representatives, Hon Bamidelem Faparusi saw Fayemi’s appointment as strategic and one that would impact on the politics of the state, just as he branded it opportunity to reunite the party and re-launch himself back to reckoning after losing the governorship poll.
Faparusi said Fayemi as a minister in the cabinet of President Buhari, would automatically become the rallying point for the party, which would afford him the opportunity to unite the party and make it a formidable structure to be able to defeat the incumbent. Faparusi was emphatic that Fayemi’s new position would definitely have an impact on the direction of the state’s politics.
He therefore expressed confidence in Fayemi’s ability to replicate the achievements in Ekiti at the federal level, but added that there is need for him to address all the contending issues back home for him to earn respect of his colleagues at the Federal Executive Council.
“Though having interest groups in opposition party is not alien to politics and politicking, but there must be a will to be able to align all these forces at the right time for us to face the uphill task of winning the governorship poll in 2018. His ministerial position is strategic to us in APC being our leader and a rallying point.
“As much as I congratulate the former governor and our leader for this feat, I want to advise that he must rise above primordial sentiments and ensure a speedy process of reconciliation as soon as he is assigned a portfolio,” he said.
Former Information Commissioner in Lagos State, Hon Bamidele shared similar view. He said Fayemi as one of the reliable leaders the APC rests on cannot but have an influence on the politics of the state, particularly while holding such a sensitive position of a minister.
He advised Fayemi to serve as a rallying point for APC members and act as the real change agent to bring rapid economic recovery to the country and implant the party to be in control of the state. Bamidele specifically advised former governors of Lagos and Ekiti States, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Fayemi to bring their experiences to bear and save the country from its present parlous economic situation.
Expectedly, the PDP sees the ministerial appointment differently. The party’s Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo said Fayemi as a governor plunged Ekiti into a huge debt totaling N76billion and that this is still fresh in the minds of the Ekiti populace, which he said would make it difficult for the ex-governor to influence anything in the politics of the State.
He added that it was foolhardy for APC to be expecting something spectacular from Fayemi as a minister, having failed to influence the party in a positive manner as a governor.
“In the first instance, what are Fayemi’s antecedents in Ekiti to be able to influence anything? We are not afraid of his new position. His governorship position in Ekiti was fraught with vices and he ran the state in a manner that affected every facet of the society. Ekiti APC will be living in fool’s paradise if they rely on Fayemi to do wonders as a minister. He failed as a governor and he will fail again.
“What do you expect Ekiti people to do with someone, who plundered their commonwealth? The way he ran Ekiti is still ringing in the minds of the people and the people are ready to reject whatever he associates with politically. We defeated him in all the 16 councils during the last election and we shall repeat same if he brings his protégé in 2018.
“Ekiti people are not fools. They knew those who can serve them conscientiously and that is the person they will follow. Governor Ayodele Fayose is a man of the people. He takes the welfare of the people with priority. He was the initiator of the stomach infrastructure that has become a brand in many states in Nigeria. I want to tell you confidently, anytime anyday that Fayose and his party, the PDP will continue to win elections here in Ekiti with or without Fayemi as Minister,” he said.
Adebayo said the PDP was firmly on the ground in the state and that nothing could be done by Fayemi as a minister to debase it, urging those having the impression that the ex-governor would wrest power from the ruling PDP to bury such unattainable feat, particularly with Fayose, a more politically savvy and acceptable governor in the saddle.
Another chieftain of the party, Mrs. Sade Akinrinmola described the PDP as a brand in the state and that it would be difficult for APC to make inroad into the state. She described Fayemi’s new position as a fluke that cannot erode PDP’s solid base.
“Politics is not played on the pages of newspapers. Neither would the fate of Ekiti people be decided in Abuja. Our people would continue to take their destinies in their hands. And as long as Ekiti election will be decided by the people here, the PDP will continue to triumph whether Fayemi is appointed a minister or not. “The PDP is in a vantage position because while Fayemi is answerable to President Muhammadu Buhari, Fayose will be answerable to the people. On the day of election, the APC will know that there is a difference between someone, who relies on the people to win election and someone who relies on federal power.
“Fayose brought the PDP to limelight in Ekiti by riding on the popular will of the people. He didn’t win because he relies on federal might. I want to appeal to APC to put their house in order and stop fooling themselves that someone, who had failed them in the past even as a governor would now turn around to chase the PDP out of power while in faraway Abuja.”
In spite of the divergent opinions, what is certain is that Fayemi still enjoys some goodwill in Ekiti because of his performance in government. His government instituted the social security scheme, where 25,000 indigent elders benefited N5,000 monthly stipend, built the new Government House, tarred many city and intercity roads, built
the state pavilion and many other legacy projects.
All Fayemi needs at this point is a viable appointment to enable him galvanise his political structure and this ministerial offer affords him such opportunity. In this context, therefore, it will be suicidal for Fayose and the PDP to underrate him, given the nature of Nigeria’s politics and the power that the presidency wields. Fayemi’s position will definitely play a role in Ekiti politics and the PDP must up its game if truly, it is desirous of
retaining power in Ekiti.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/how-fayemi-s-appointment-may-affect-ekiti-politics/224607/
The appointment of former Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State by President Muhammadu Buhari as a minister weighs in many direction to the average Ekiti person, particularly the political class. Some see it as an opportunity for the former governor to re-launch himself back into reckoning in both the politics of the state and the nation, while some reckon it still would make no significant value.
Some are even of the opinion that it would further widen the polarisation in the All Progressives Congress (APC). Different reasons are being adduced, but whichever way anyone looks at it, the appointment has its own strategic
reason and there is the widespread belief that it would surely have a huge influence on the politics of the state.
Fayemi, certainly, cannot forget in a hurry how he lost the last election to the incumbent, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. This defeat has been described by political analysts as the worst ever suffered by any incumbent in the political history of the country. In a country like Nigeria where the end justifies the means, many reckon that a good politician would always find a means to redeem such a humiliation.
It is on this premise that Fayemi himself must have thought of how he could re-launch back to stardom after the failed election. Some have also argued that Fayemi could act like a former governor of Gombe State and now Senator, Alhaji Danjuma Goje, who became senator through the instrumentality of the ministerial position he held under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The most recent was the case of the River State governor, Nyesom Wike, who rode on the crest of Mrs. Patience Jonathan to ride to the Government House after holding sway in the Ministry of Education, albeit in the junior cadre.
Fayose too once bestrode the Ekiti political hemisphere like a colossus in 2003 but was ignominiously impeached by the then House of Assembly for sundry offences, particularly the misappropriation of the N1.3billion Integrated Poultry Project. He later went into self-imposed exile for two years before resurfacing. The governor was not oblivious of the fact that the impeachment would continue to be his greatest undoing and he had since been fighting like a wounded lion to ensure that he rewrites such a sordid history and he eventually got it.
This is why some analysts believed that Fayemi too must not give up. For them, he must continue to use his connection with the presidency, the most powerful place to bring APC back to limelight in Ekiti. Some opined that the position of a minister is no small means to political survival in this country and Fayemi must make strategic use of the opportunity to significantly disabuse the minds of those who might have had the erroneous thinking he was more of a technocrat than a good politician.
Putting it succinctly, the future of the APC in the state rests heavily on the quartet of former Governors Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni, Kayode Fayemi and Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele. Any federal position ceded to any of them would automatically be interpreted to mean a serious boost and impetus for the party. Fayemi’s qualification for the plum job is not in doubt. His administrative acumen and astuteness in delivery cannot be questioned and these made his defeat more confounding to some in view of his impressive performance while in the saddle in Ekiti.
Even among his political traducers, they hold the belief that he is able and capable. Governor Fayose had in the heat of his impending screening at the senate canvassed for speedy screening for Fayemi. He went ahead and instructed the three senators from Ekiti to back his nomination. This conveyed serious signal that Fayemi, even among his political enemies still enjoys acceptability in terms of competence and this, he should ensure reflects on his party in terms of performance during elections.
A member of the seventh House of Representatives, Hon Bamidelem Faparusi saw Fayemi’s appointment as strategic and one that would impact on the politics of the state, just as he branded it opportunity to reunite the party and re-launch himself back to reckoning after losing the governorship poll.
Faparusi said Fayemi as a minister in the cabinet of President Buhari, would automatically become the rallying point for the party, which would afford him the opportunity to unite the party and make it a formidable structure to be able to defeat the incumbent. Faparusi was emphatic that Fayemi’s new position would definitely have an impact on the direction of the state’s politics.
He therefore expressed confidence in Fayemi’s ability to replicate the achievements in Ekiti at the federal level, but added that there is need for him to address all the contending issues back home for him to earn respect of his colleagues at the Federal Executive Council.
“Though having interest groups in opposition party is not alien to politics and politicking, but there must be a will to be able to align all these forces at the right time for us to face the uphill task of winning the governorship poll in 2018. His ministerial position is strategic to us in APC being our leader and a rallying point.
“As much as I congratulate the former governor and our leader for this feat, I want to advise that he must rise above primordial sentiments and ensure a speedy process of reconciliation as soon as he is assigned a portfolio,” he said.
Former Information Commissioner in Lagos State, Hon Bamidele shared similar view. He said Fayemi as one of the reliable leaders the APC rests on cannot but have an influence on the politics of the state, particularly while holding such a sensitive position of a minister.
He advised Fayemi to serve as a rallying point for APC members and act as the real change agent to bring rapid economic recovery to the country and implant the party to be in control of the state. Bamidele specifically advised former governors of Lagos and Ekiti States, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Fayemi to bring their experiences to bear and save the country from its present parlous economic situation.
Expectedly, the PDP sees the ministerial appointment differently. The party’s Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo said Fayemi as a governor plunged Ekiti into a huge debt totaling N76billion and that this is still fresh in the minds of the Ekiti populace, which he said would make it difficult for the ex-governor to influence anything in the politics of the State.
He added that it was foolhardy for APC to be expecting something spectacular from Fayemi as a minister, having failed to influence the party in a positive manner as a governor.
“In the first instance, what are Fayemi’s antecedents in Ekiti to be able to influence anything? We are not afraid of his new position. His governorship position in Ekiti was fraught with vices and he ran the state in a manner that affected every facet of the society. Ekiti APC will be living in fool’s paradise if they rely on Fayemi to do wonders as a minister. He failed as a governor and he will fail again.
“What do you expect Ekiti people to do with someone, who plundered their commonwealth? The way he ran Ekiti is still ringing in the minds of the people and the people are ready to reject whatever he associates with politically. We defeated him in all the 16 councils during the last election and we shall repeat same if he brings his protégé in 2018.
“Ekiti people are not fools. They knew those who can serve them conscientiously and that is the person they will follow. Governor Ayodele Fayose is a man of the people. He takes the welfare of the people with priority. He was the initiator of the stomach infrastructure that has become a brand in many states in Nigeria. I want to tell you confidently, anytime anyday that Fayose and his party, the PDP will continue to win elections here in Ekiti with or without Fayemi as Minister,” he said.
Adebayo said the PDP was firmly on the ground in the state and that nothing could be done by Fayemi as a minister to debase it, urging those having the impression that the ex-governor would wrest power from the ruling PDP to bury such unattainable feat, particularly with Fayose, a more politically savvy and acceptable governor in the saddle.
Another chieftain of the party, Mrs. Sade Akinrinmola described the PDP as a brand in the state and that it would be difficult for APC to make inroad into the state. She described Fayemi’s new position as a fluke that cannot erode PDP’s solid base.
“Politics is not played on the pages of newspapers. Neither would the fate of Ekiti people be decided in Abuja. Our people would continue to take their destinies in their hands. And as long as Ekiti election will be decided by the people here, the PDP will continue to triumph whether Fayemi is appointed a minister or not. “The PDP is in a vantage position because while Fayemi is answerable to President Muhammadu Buhari, Fayose will be answerable to the people. On the day of election, the APC will know that there is a difference between someone, who relies on the people to win election and someone who relies on federal power.
“Fayose brought the PDP to limelight in Ekiti by riding on the popular will of the people. He didn’t win because he relies on federal might. I want to appeal to APC to put their house in order and stop fooling themselves that someone, who had failed them in the past even as a governor would now turn around to chase the PDP out of power while in faraway Abuja.”
In spite of the divergent opinions, what is certain is that Fayemi still enjoys some goodwill in Ekiti because of his performance in government. His government instituted the social security scheme, where 25,000 indigent elders benefited N5,000 monthly stipend, built the new Government House, tarred many city and intercity roads, built
the state pavilion and many other legacy projects.
All Fayemi needs at this point is a viable appointment to enable him galvanise his political structure and this ministerial offer affords him such opportunity. In this context, therefore, it will be suicidal for Fayose and the PDP to underrate him, given the nature of Nigeria’s politics and the power that the presidency wields. Fayemi’s position will definitely play a role in Ekiti politics and the PDP must up its game if truly, it is desirous of
retaining power in Ekiti.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/how-fayemi-s-appointment-may-affect-ekiti-politics/224607/
5 Things that the President of Nigeria Can Do to Get His Country Back on Track
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was inaugurated May 29, is the antithesis of the stereotypical Nigerian politician: incorruptible, soft-spoken, self-effacing and deliberate. He embraces the nickname “Baba Go-Slow and Steady.” Buhari’s unhurried style has its downsides, however: It took him an unprecedented four months to name a solid but unextraordinary cabinet. His reform agenda appears to be sauntering out of the gates, according to the civil society-run Buharimeter.
In the meantime, the challenges facing Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy continue to grow: Oil revenues are down, currency value has slipped and Boko Haram has killed more than 1,700 since June. Nigerians nevertheless expect their new president’s reform agenda to show tangible results, and soon. Given these imperatives, here are five things Buhari can do to get the ball rolling:
1. Carefully clean house
Buhari’s reform agenda probably faces its greatest threat from corrupt, old-school politicians within his own All Progressives Congress (APC) party. Buhari should neutralise some of the APC’s shadiest figures, who could emerge as “veto players,” as described in Carl LeVan’s recent book.
Examples of these kleptocrats are not hard to find. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused one sitting APC governor of helping former dictator Sani Abacha steal at least $458 million from state coffers. Likewise, both APC candidates in the upcoming Kogi and Bayelsa State governorship elections have been indicted by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency.
Admittedly, housecleaning carries political risks for Buhari. After all, his victorious electoral coalition included powerful defectors from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If he unduly antagonises these establishment figures, they could derail his party’s newfound dominance by joining their former comrades in the opposition PDP.
2. Pare down the parastatals
Buhari has an opportunity to realise immediate savings by eliminating or merging some of Nigeria’s more than 500 federal parastatals and boards. Parastatals are government-operated companies or commercial agencies. Pundits allege that past presidents used parastatal appointments to cultivate national political allies and provincial cronies. These institutions, which range from the lucrative to the modest to the moribund, have long been a cornerstone of corruption in Nigeria — a complicated topic expertly explained by Daniel Jordan Smith.
Buhari may also want to disband some nice-to-have but non-essential parastatals in light of competing priorities and current fiscal constraints. Does Nigeria need to spend more than $4 million annually on a Centre for Space Transport and Propulsion? Is there an effort underway to rescue the supposedly stranded Nigerian astronaut featured in this legendary scam letter?
3. Tame the white elephants
Buhari’s apparent determination to revive two “white elephant” economic sectors — domestic oil refineries and steel mills — worry industry experts. Nigeria is replete with these kinds of investment projects where state-owned enterprises are funded for long periods even if they incur huge losses. For decades, Nigerian leaders have thrown good money after bad at these projects because, as Robinson and Torvik argue, white elephant projects yield short-term political gains.
Buhari, like any of the rest of us, could stumble into a sunk cost dilemma where his efforts to maximise future returns of Nigeria’s white elephants only increase their cumulative losses. Instead, he should address the graft, inconsistent policies and opaque privatisation deals that experts say turned these industries into white elephants in the first place.
4. Rein in subnational debt
As Buhari tries to put Nigeria’s public finances back in order, the balance sheets of the country’s 36 states are sinking deeper into the red. In a decentralised federal system like Nigeria’s, state budgets typically affect the lives of ordinary citizens more than federal spending does. Since taking office, Buhari has already bailed out 27 cash-strapped states to the tune of $2.1 billion. States’ borrowing trends are risky and need to be addressed, according to a recent report by the African Development Bank.
All but a few states generate minimal revenue outside of their monthly allocation of Nigeria’s anemic oil income. While Nigeria’s national debt is still relatively low by global standards, fiscal federalism means that if states default on their debts, the federal government foots the bill. Buhari’s reasons for watching state borrowing should also be personal: One of the stated reasons for the 1983 military coup that first brought him to power was runaway borrowing by state governors.
5. Legislate for the long run
Nigeria will need to feel the “Buhari Effect” (the sense, evident in a recent New York Times article, that there is a new sheriff in town) long after the president’s tenure is over. The best way for him to protect his legacy is to partner with the National Assembly to enact legislation enshrining key reforms. With few other politicians like him on the horizon, Buhari should put his legacy in writing.
A good place to start would be an act prohibiting the use of “security votes.” Both a definitive article by Uche et al. and a 2007 Human Rights Watch report illustrate how these secretive budgetary line items are used by officials at all levels of government as slush funds. Even Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption agency had a $1,000,000 security vote included in its 2014 budget. Buhari has his work cut out for him.
• Culled from Washington Post
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/5-things-that-the-president-of-nigeria-can-do-to-get-his-country-back-on-track/224600/
In the meantime, the challenges facing Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy continue to grow: Oil revenues are down, currency value has slipped and Boko Haram has killed more than 1,700 since June. Nigerians nevertheless expect their new president’s reform agenda to show tangible results, and soon. Given these imperatives, here are five things Buhari can do to get the ball rolling:
1. Carefully clean house
Buhari’s reform agenda probably faces its greatest threat from corrupt, old-school politicians within his own All Progressives Congress (APC) party. Buhari should neutralise some of the APC’s shadiest figures, who could emerge as “veto players,” as described in Carl LeVan’s recent book.
Examples of these kleptocrats are not hard to find. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused one sitting APC governor of helping former dictator Sani Abacha steal at least $458 million from state coffers. Likewise, both APC candidates in the upcoming Kogi and Bayelsa State governorship elections have been indicted by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency.
Admittedly, housecleaning carries political risks for Buhari. After all, his victorious electoral coalition included powerful defectors from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If he unduly antagonises these establishment figures, they could derail his party’s newfound dominance by joining their former comrades in the opposition PDP.
2. Pare down the parastatals
Buhari has an opportunity to realise immediate savings by eliminating or merging some of Nigeria’s more than 500 federal parastatals and boards. Parastatals are government-operated companies or commercial agencies. Pundits allege that past presidents used parastatal appointments to cultivate national political allies and provincial cronies. These institutions, which range from the lucrative to the modest to the moribund, have long been a cornerstone of corruption in Nigeria — a complicated topic expertly explained by Daniel Jordan Smith.
Buhari may also want to disband some nice-to-have but non-essential parastatals in light of competing priorities and current fiscal constraints. Does Nigeria need to spend more than $4 million annually on a Centre for Space Transport and Propulsion? Is there an effort underway to rescue the supposedly stranded Nigerian astronaut featured in this legendary scam letter?
3. Tame the white elephants
Buhari’s apparent determination to revive two “white elephant” economic sectors — domestic oil refineries and steel mills — worry industry experts. Nigeria is replete with these kinds of investment projects where state-owned enterprises are funded for long periods even if they incur huge losses. For decades, Nigerian leaders have thrown good money after bad at these projects because, as Robinson and Torvik argue, white elephant projects yield short-term political gains.
Buhari, like any of the rest of us, could stumble into a sunk cost dilemma where his efforts to maximise future returns of Nigeria’s white elephants only increase their cumulative losses. Instead, he should address the graft, inconsistent policies and opaque privatisation deals that experts say turned these industries into white elephants in the first place.
4. Rein in subnational debt
As Buhari tries to put Nigeria’s public finances back in order, the balance sheets of the country’s 36 states are sinking deeper into the red. In a decentralised federal system like Nigeria’s, state budgets typically affect the lives of ordinary citizens more than federal spending does. Since taking office, Buhari has already bailed out 27 cash-strapped states to the tune of $2.1 billion. States’ borrowing trends are risky and need to be addressed, according to a recent report by the African Development Bank.
All but a few states generate minimal revenue outside of their monthly allocation of Nigeria’s anemic oil income. While Nigeria’s national debt is still relatively low by global standards, fiscal federalism means that if states default on their debts, the federal government foots the bill. Buhari’s reasons for watching state borrowing should also be personal: One of the stated reasons for the 1983 military coup that first brought him to power was runaway borrowing by state governors.
5. Legislate for the long run
Nigeria will need to feel the “Buhari Effect” (the sense, evident in a recent New York Times article, that there is a new sheriff in town) long after the president’s tenure is over. The best way for him to protect his legacy is to partner with the National Assembly to enact legislation enshrining key reforms. With few other politicians like him on the horizon, Buhari should put his legacy in writing.
A good place to start would be an act prohibiting the use of “security votes.” Both a definitive article by Uche et al. and a 2007 Human Rights Watch report illustrate how these secretive budgetary line items are used by officials at all levels of government as slush funds. Even Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption agency had a $1,000,000 security vote included in its 2014 budget. Buhari has his work cut out for him.
• Culled from Washington Post
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/5-things-that-the-president-of-nigeria-can-do-to-get-his-country-back-on-track/224600/
FG’s indebtedness to oil marketers now N470bn
By Clara Nwachukwu & Ediri Ejoh
THE Federal Government’s outstanding indebtedness to oil marketers has risen to N470 billion, arising from a backlog of unpaid subsidy claims since August 1, 2014 till date.
Subsidy-Incorporated
This is even as the marketers say they require in excess of $2 billion dollars to pay off their foreign suppliers, otherwise they will not be able to continue to import more petroleum products into the country.
Marketers, who spoke to Vanguard in confidence yesterday, lamented that government has not been able to fulfil its promise to offset all outstanding marketers’ claims between October and second week in November. This is just as the promise by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to assist marketers in accessing dollars to pay off their foreign suppliers has also not yielded fruit.
One of the marketers said: “We had another meeting with the Vice President (Yemi Osinbajo) two weeks ago and he promised that they would pay us. Right now I can tell you that no marketer has any money or line of credit to import even one litre of fuel.
“The last time any marketer was paid
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/fgs-indebtedness-to-oil-marketers-now-n470bn/
THE Federal Government’s outstanding indebtedness to oil marketers has risen to N470 billion, arising from a backlog of unpaid subsidy claims since August 1, 2014 till date.
Subsidy-Incorporated
This is even as the marketers say they require in excess of $2 billion dollars to pay off their foreign suppliers, otherwise they will not be able to continue to import more petroleum products into the country.
Marketers, who spoke to Vanguard in confidence yesterday, lamented that government has not been able to fulfil its promise to offset all outstanding marketers’ claims between October and second week in November. This is just as the promise by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to assist marketers in accessing dollars to pay off their foreign suppliers has also not yielded fruit.
One of the marketers said: “We had another meeting with the Vice President (Yemi Osinbajo) two weeks ago and he promised that they would pay us. Right now I can tell you that no marketer has any money or line of credit to import even one litre of fuel.
“The last time any marketer was paid
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/fgs-indebtedness-to-oil-marketers-now-n470bn/
Buhari: We'll Tell Investors the Truth About our Economy
President Mohammadu Buhari
• Says constitution provides for 36 cabinet members not ministries
Tobi Soniyi and Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
President Mohammadu Buhari on Tuesday dismissed the opinion of his critics who accused him of scaring investors with his pronouncements, insisting that he will always tell investors the truth about the nation's economy.
Buhari, who reasserted his stance when he received a report on the confirmation of the last batch of ministerial nominees from the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, gave account of the economy since his assumption of office in May and submitted that "we are so much battered."
According to him, "the economy as I have seen it now since my sitting here for the last four months, that we are so much battered. Although some people are saying I am giving bad publicity and scaring away investors.
"Any investor who is interested in investing in Nigeria will seem to know more about the economy more than ourselves. So when I come and tell the truth about the position of the economy of the country, I am going out looking for investors.
"But I am confirming to them that we are truthful, that we need them to come and help us help ourselves by getting in industries, manufacturing and services.
"They know our needs. The economy of human resources, I believe, will make them come eventually and help us," he assured.
Commending the President of the Senate and its leadership for supporting his determination to follow constitutional provision on the appointment of ministers, the President noted that though the constitution stipulated the appointment of 36 cabinet members, it did not provide for 36 ministries where the cabinet members would serve.
"If I can remember, there must be a member from each of the 36 states. That was why I limited the number of my nominees to that number, 36.
"The Senate worked extremely hard and they have passed all the nominees. I think there is some enthusiasm in some parts of the Presidency today that portfolios are to be given to the 36.
"The constitution certainly said there must be one member of the cabinet from all the states but the constitution did not say I must have 36 ministries.
"Mr. Senate President, I thank you very much for leading the Senate to do this hard work technically within record time.
"I assure you that we will follow the constitution and all the 36 will be sitting in the cabinet as the constitution stipulates," he further said.
Earlier, Saraki had told the president that the Senate concluded the screening of the last batch of the ministerial nominees last Thursday.
He said: "We waited for our vote of proceedings today (yesterday) which we passed this morning. I want to formally present the list of the 18 ministers who have now been cleared to you and that makes a total of all your 36 ministerial nominees that have been cleared by the Senate.
"I was just engaging the SSA to check in the record when last that has happened. So it must be credit to the nominees that were submitted and also credit to the Senate."
While fielding questions from journalists after the presentation, Saraki spoke on the challenges of screening the nominees in the Senate revealing that the task of screening and confirming the nominees was not difficult because of the quality of the nominees that were presented by the president.
"It is the fact that we put in the time to vigorously put the nominees to answer the questions and at the end of the day we found out that most of them met the requirement and the Senate was satisfied.
"You noticed that in some cases we delayed the number of one or two, it is all part of politics, of behind the scene, but at the end of the day we finished with them, that is all about give and take and eventually I'm happy with what the senators have done.The entire 108 senators, we have done a good job and I believe we have laid the platform for the government to fully take off, Senator Saraki further said.
When asked for his reaction to the assertion of Buhari that there would be ministers without portfolio, he said; "well I think we have had ministers of state in the past. I dont think there is anything new, there was minister for special duties which really does not have portfolio.
"I think the key issue is being in cabinet, is being part of government and those that would have the responsibilities of ministering are those that at the end of the day would do that.
"So minister of state is not new. We had it before if you remember that very well. Honestly I believe we need to move away from the small issues and begin to focus on the major issues. I think the country presently now is at a very trying time no doubt about it," the President of the Senate advised.
Expressing the determination of the Senate to provide necessary support for the executive in its desire to move the nation forward, Senator Saraki drew the attention of Nigerians to the challenges currently facing the nation.
"We have the challenges of revenue drop, the challenges of trying to boost our economy. We are faced with the challenges of creating jobs and you know we have some of these issues which we really need to address. These are some of the issues we looked at as a Senate and we resolved to give support to the executive to move the country forward.
"I think all of us apart from those in the legislature and the executive and even those of you in the media, we must begin to proffer solution and put our country in a positive view otherwise there is no way we are going to have those major issues addressed, he added.
Asked why he chose to bring the letter personally to the president, he said, "Because there were other things we discussed. As you can see after you left we discussed for about 20 minutes on some major issues as well. So it wasn't just about the letter."
He said: "I have a constituency which is the Senate which I must first engage and I am sure with time,the major issue has to do with moving Nigeria forward."
When asked if the issue of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal came up, he replied, "Did you think that will come up in this kind of situation ? No it didn't come up.
Informed Presidency sources told THISDAY last night that Buhari's discussion with Saraki centred on the composition of the cabinet and allocation of portfolios.
The President was said to have been concerned about the position of the Constitution and sought to know the opinion of the Senate on the number of ministries that he could have.
Meanwhile, there was a mild drama earlier in the Senate when Senators of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) refused to second the motion moved for the passage of the Votes and Proceedings of last Thursday to make the confirmation of the ministerial nominees formal.
The PDP senators who were yet to overcome the the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled-Senate to confirm the appointment of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, as a minister last Thursday, unanimously withdrew their support for the approval of votes and proceedings of last week Thursday.
The opposition senators had staged a walkout from the chamber after all efforts to convince their counterparts to adopt the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which had recommended Amaechi's rejection proved abortive.
The committee had recommended that Amaechi should not be confirmed because the matter contained in a petition against his nomination was already sub-judice and hence his confirmation should be stopped in accordance with Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Rules.
The petitioners had alleged that Amaechi diverted N70 billion proceeds of the sales of four independent power projects belonging to Rivers State into his private account.
Consequently, they demanded the rejection of Amaechi as a ministerial nominee on the grounds that he had breached public trust and hence, lacked the moral fortitude to hold another public office.
However, the re-play of Thursday's hostility began yesterday when Saraki who cleared the coast for Amaechi's confirmation, called Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West) to move a motion for the adoption of the votes and proceedings of Thursday October 29.
After the motion was promptly moved by Adeleke, Saraki in accordance with parliamentary procedure, called a PDP senator, Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North), to second the motion. But in probably an unprecedented manner in the Nigerian Senate, Nwaoboshi politely turned down Saraki's call and gave an excuse for his action.
"My president, I will not be able to second the motion because I was not at the plenary to know what was done," Nwaoboshi said.
Therefore, Saraki perceiving that the action was a spill over effect of Thursday's grievances, quickly turned to APC caucus and called Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto North) to second the motion. Expectedly, Gobir seconded the motion.
Then Saraki put the motion for approval of the proceedings of the last plenary to a voice vote.
Surprisingly, while APC senators chorused "ay," their PDP senators, in an unusual manner, rejected the approval vote with a loud shout of “nay."
But expectedly, Saraki overruled the PDP caucus' rejection as he hit the gavel, saying the "ayes" have it.
It is an unusual episode in a parliamentary practice for senators to oppose the approval of votes and proceedings after the votes have been examined and found that they corresponded with the previous sitting activities.
thisdaylive
• Says constitution provides for 36 cabinet members not ministries
Tobi Soniyi and Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
President Mohammadu Buhari on Tuesday dismissed the opinion of his critics who accused him of scaring investors with his pronouncements, insisting that he will always tell investors the truth about the nation's economy.
Buhari, who reasserted his stance when he received a report on the confirmation of the last batch of ministerial nominees from the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, gave account of the economy since his assumption of office in May and submitted that "we are so much battered."
According to him, "the economy as I have seen it now since my sitting here for the last four months, that we are so much battered. Although some people are saying I am giving bad publicity and scaring away investors.
"Any investor who is interested in investing in Nigeria will seem to know more about the economy more than ourselves. So when I come and tell the truth about the position of the economy of the country, I am going out looking for investors.
"But I am confirming to them that we are truthful, that we need them to come and help us help ourselves by getting in industries, manufacturing and services.
"They know our needs. The economy of human resources, I believe, will make them come eventually and help us," he assured.
Commending the President of the Senate and its leadership for supporting his determination to follow constitutional provision on the appointment of ministers, the President noted that though the constitution stipulated the appointment of 36 cabinet members, it did not provide for 36 ministries where the cabinet members would serve.
"If I can remember, there must be a member from each of the 36 states. That was why I limited the number of my nominees to that number, 36.
"The Senate worked extremely hard and they have passed all the nominees. I think there is some enthusiasm in some parts of the Presidency today that portfolios are to be given to the 36.
"The constitution certainly said there must be one member of the cabinet from all the states but the constitution did not say I must have 36 ministries.
"Mr. Senate President, I thank you very much for leading the Senate to do this hard work technically within record time.
"I assure you that we will follow the constitution and all the 36 will be sitting in the cabinet as the constitution stipulates," he further said.
Earlier, Saraki had told the president that the Senate concluded the screening of the last batch of the ministerial nominees last Thursday.
He said: "We waited for our vote of proceedings today (yesterday) which we passed this morning. I want to formally present the list of the 18 ministers who have now been cleared to you and that makes a total of all your 36 ministerial nominees that have been cleared by the Senate.
"I was just engaging the SSA to check in the record when last that has happened. So it must be credit to the nominees that were submitted and also credit to the Senate."
While fielding questions from journalists after the presentation, Saraki spoke on the challenges of screening the nominees in the Senate revealing that the task of screening and confirming the nominees was not difficult because of the quality of the nominees that were presented by the president.
"It is the fact that we put in the time to vigorously put the nominees to answer the questions and at the end of the day we found out that most of them met the requirement and the Senate was satisfied.
"You noticed that in some cases we delayed the number of one or two, it is all part of politics, of behind the scene, but at the end of the day we finished with them, that is all about give and take and eventually I'm happy with what the senators have done.The entire 108 senators, we have done a good job and I believe we have laid the platform for the government to fully take off, Senator Saraki further said.
When asked for his reaction to the assertion of Buhari that there would be ministers without portfolio, he said; "well I think we have had ministers of state in the past. I dont think there is anything new, there was minister for special duties which really does not have portfolio.
"I think the key issue is being in cabinet, is being part of government and those that would have the responsibilities of ministering are those that at the end of the day would do that.
"So minister of state is not new. We had it before if you remember that very well. Honestly I believe we need to move away from the small issues and begin to focus on the major issues. I think the country presently now is at a very trying time no doubt about it," the President of the Senate advised.
Expressing the determination of the Senate to provide necessary support for the executive in its desire to move the nation forward, Senator Saraki drew the attention of Nigerians to the challenges currently facing the nation.
"We have the challenges of revenue drop, the challenges of trying to boost our economy. We are faced with the challenges of creating jobs and you know we have some of these issues which we really need to address. These are some of the issues we looked at as a Senate and we resolved to give support to the executive to move the country forward.
"I think all of us apart from those in the legislature and the executive and even those of you in the media, we must begin to proffer solution and put our country in a positive view otherwise there is no way we are going to have those major issues addressed, he added.
Asked why he chose to bring the letter personally to the president, he said, "Because there were other things we discussed. As you can see after you left we discussed for about 20 minutes on some major issues as well. So it wasn't just about the letter."
He said: "I have a constituency which is the Senate which I must first engage and I am sure with time,the major issue has to do with moving Nigeria forward."
When asked if the issue of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal came up, he replied, "Did you think that will come up in this kind of situation ? No it didn't come up.
Informed Presidency sources told THISDAY last night that Buhari's discussion with Saraki centred on the composition of the cabinet and allocation of portfolios.
The President was said to have been concerned about the position of the Constitution and sought to know the opinion of the Senate on the number of ministries that he could have.
Meanwhile, there was a mild drama earlier in the Senate when Senators of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) refused to second the motion moved for the passage of the Votes and Proceedings of last Thursday to make the confirmation of the ministerial nominees formal.
The PDP senators who were yet to overcome the the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled-Senate to confirm the appointment of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, as a minister last Thursday, unanimously withdrew their support for the approval of votes and proceedings of last week Thursday.
The opposition senators had staged a walkout from the chamber after all efforts to convince their counterparts to adopt the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which had recommended Amaechi's rejection proved abortive.
The committee had recommended that Amaechi should not be confirmed because the matter contained in a petition against his nomination was already sub-judice and hence his confirmation should be stopped in accordance with Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Rules.
The petitioners had alleged that Amaechi diverted N70 billion proceeds of the sales of four independent power projects belonging to Rivers State into his private account.
Consequently, they demanded the rejection of Amaechi as a ministerial nominee on the grounds that he had breached public trust and hence, lacked the moral fortitude to hold another public office.
However, the re-play of Thursday's hostility began yesterday when Saraki who cleared the coast for Amaechi's confirmation, called Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West) to move a motion for the adoption of the votes and proceedings of Thursday October 29.
After the motion was promptly moved by Adeleke, Saraki in accordance with parliamentary procedure, called a PDP senator, Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North), to second the motion. But in probably an unprecedented manner in the Nigerian Senate, Nwaoboshi politely turned down Saraki's call and gave an excuse for his action.
"My president, I will not be able to second the motion because I was not at the plenary to know what was done," Nwaoboshi said.
Therefore, Saraki perceiving that the action was a spill over effect of Thursday's grievances, quickly turned to APC caucus and called Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto North) to second the motion. Expectedly, Gobir seconded the motion.
Then Saraki put the motion for approval of the proceedings of the last plenary to a voice vote.
Surprisingly, while APC senators chorused "ay," their PDP senators, in an unusual manner, rejected the approval vote with a loud shout of “nay."
But expectedly, Saraki overruled the PDP caucus' rejection as he hit the gavel, saying the "ayes" have it.
It is an unusual episode in a parliamentary practice for senators to oppose the approval of votes and proceedings after the votes have been examined and found that they corresponded with the previous sitting activities.
thisdaylive
Tuesday 3 November 2015
How Happy are People?
Contrary to many reports of abundant misery ("Our pains greatly exceed our pleasures," said Rousseau), most people report being "fairly" or "very" happy and relatively few (some 1 in 10 in many countries, including the USA) report being "not too happy." Pioneering happiness researcher Ed Diener aggregated SWB data from 916 surveys of 1.1 million people in 45 nations that represent most of the human population. When responses were converted to a 0 to 10 scale (with 5 being neutral), the average SWB score was near 7.
Likewise, when people’s moods have been sampled using pagers or in national surveys, most people report being in good rather than bad moods.
These generally positive self-reports come from people of all ages and both sexes worldwide, with a few exceptions: people hospitalized for alcoholism, newly incarcerated inmates, new therapy clients, South African blacks during the apartheid era, homeless people, sex workers, and students living under conditions of political suppression.
When surveyed, there is some tendency for people to overreport good things (such as voting) and underreport bad things (such as smoking). Yet people’s SWB reports have reasonable reliability across time and correlate with other positive indicators of well-being, including friends' and family members' assessments. Positive self-reports also predict sociability, energy, and helpfulness, and a lower risk for abuse, hostility, and illness.
Happiness does, however, vary somewhat by country. Recent (1999 to 2001) World Values Survey data collected by Ronald Inglehart from 82 countries indicate highest SWB (happiness and life satisfaction) in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, and Switzerland, and the lowest in Moldova, Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia.
Who is Happy?
Despite presumptions of happy and unhappy life stages or populations, there are mostly happy and a few unhappy people in every demographic group. Happiness is similarly common among people of differing
age: Emotionality subsides with maturity and happiness predictors change with age (as satisfaction with health, for example, becomes more important). Yet World Values Surveys indicate comparable SWB reports across the lifespan. For example, self-reported happiness does not nosedive during men's supposed early 40s "midlife crisis" years or parents' supposed "empty nest syndrome" years.
gender: There are gender gaps in misery: When troubled, men more often become alcoholic, women more often ruminate and get depressed or anxious. Yet in many surveys worldwide, women and men have been similarly likely to declare themselves "very happy" and "satisfied" with life.
race: African-Americans are only slightly less likely than European-Americans to report feeling very happy. Moreover, note social psychologists Jennifer Crocker and Brenda Major, "A host of studies conclude that blacks have levels of self-esteem equal to or higher than that of whites." People in disadvantaged groups maintain self-esteem by valuing the things at which they excel, by making comparisons within their own groups, and by attributing problems to external sources such as prejudice.
Other indicators do offer clues to happiness.
The traits of happy people: Extraversion, self-esteem, optimism, and a sense of personal control are among the marks of happy lives. Twin and adoption studies reveal that some of these traits, such as extraversion, are genetically influenced, as is happiness itself. Like cholesterol level, happiness is genetically influenced, yet also somewhat amenable to volitional control.
The work and leisure of happy people: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reports increased quality of life when work and leisure engage one's skills. Between the anxiety of being overwhelmed and the boredom of being underwhelmed lies the unself-conscious, absorbed state of flow.
The relationships of happy people: Humans are social animals, with an evident need to belong. For most people, solitary confinement is misery. Having close friends, and being with them, is pleasure. In National Opinion Research Center surveys of more than 42,000 Americans since 1972, 40 percent of married adults have declared themselves very happy, as have 23 percent of never married adults. The marital happiness gap also occurs in other countries and is similar for men and women. The causal arrows between marriage and happiness appear to point both ways: an intimate marriage, like other close friendships, offers social support; but happy people also appear more likely to attract and retain partners.
The faith of happy people: The same National Opinion Research Center surveys reveal that 23 percent of those never attending religious services report being very happy, as do 47 percent of those attending more than weekly. In explaining the oft-reported greater happiness and ability to cope with loss among people active in faith communities, psychologists have assumed that faith networks may offer social support, meaning, and assistance in managing the "terror" of one's inevitable death.
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Psychology_of_happiness
Likewise, when people’s moods have been sampled using pagers or in national surveys, most people report being in good rather than bad moods.
These generally positive self-reports come from people of all ages and both sexes worldwide, with a few exceptions: people hospitalized for alcoholism, newly incarcerated inmates, new therapy clients, South African blacks during the apartheid era, homeless people, sex workers, and students living under conditions of political suppression.
When surveyed, there is some tendency for people to overreport good things (such as voting) and underreport bad things (such as smoking). Yet people’s SWB reports have reasonable reliability across time and correlate with other positive indicators of well-being, including friends' and family members' assessments. Positive self-reports also predict sociability, energy, and helpfulness, and a lower risk for abuse, hostility, and illness.
Happiness does, however, vary somewhat by country. Recent (1999 to 2001) World Values Survey data collected by Ronald Inglehart from 82 countries indicate highest SWB (happiness and life satisfaction) in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, and Switzerland, and the lowest in Moldova, Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia.
Who is Happy?
Despite presumptions of happy and unhappy life stages or populations, there are mostly happy and a few unhappy people in every demographic group. Happiness is similarly common among people of differing
age: Emotionality subsides with maturity and happiness predictors change with age (as satisfaction with health, for example, becomes more important). Yet World Values Surveys indicate comparable SWB reports across the lifespan. For example, self-reported happiness does not nosedive during men's supposed early 40s "midlife crisis" years or parents' supposed "empty nest syndrome" years.
gender: There are gender gaps in misery: When troubled, men more often become alcoholic, women more often ruminate and get depressed or anxious. Yet in many surveys worldwide, women and men have been similarly likely to declare themselves "very happy" and "satisfied" with life.
race: African-Americans are only slightly less likely than European-Americans to report feeling very happy. Moreover, note social psychologists Jennifer Crocker and Brenda Major, "A host of studies conclude that blacks have levels of self-esteem equal to or higher than that of whites." People in disadvantaged groups maintain self-esteem by valuing the things at which they excel, by making comparisons within their own groups, and by attributing problems to external sources such as prejudice.
Other indicators do offer clues to happiness.
The traits of happy people: Extraversion, self-esteem, optimism, and a sense of personal control are among the marks of happy lives. Twin and adoption studies reveal that some of these traits, such as extraversion, are genetically influenced, as is happiness itself. Like cholesterol level, happiness is genetically influenced, yet also somewhat amenable to volitional control.
The work and leisure of happy people: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reports increased quality of life when work and leisure engage one's skills. Between the anxiety of being overwhelmed and the boredom of being underwhelmed lies the unself-conscious, absorbed state of flow.
The relationships of happy people: Humans are social animals, with an evident need to belong. For most people, solitary confinement is misery. Having close friends, and being with them, is pleasure. In National Opinion Research Center surveys of more than 42,000 Americans since 1972, 40 percent of married adults have declared themselves very happy, as have 23 percent of never married adults. The marital happiness gap also occurs in other countries and is similar for men and women. The causal arrows between marriage and happiness appear to point both ways: an intimate marriage, like other close friendships, offers social support; but happy people also appear more likely to attract and retain partners.
The faith of happy people: The same National Opinion Research Center surveys reveal that 23 percent of those never attending religious services report being very happy, as do 47 percent of those attending more than weekly. In explaining the oft-reported greater happiness and ability to cope with loss among people active in faith communities, psychologists have assumed that faith networks may offer social support, meaning, and assistance in managing the "terror" of one's inevitable death.
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Psychology_of_happiness
Must Read! Security Tips For Everybody
Security Tips For Everybody.
It's possible you've read it somewhere.Happy reading!
WRITTEN BY A COP: Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life. In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation... This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, & everyone you know. After reading these 9 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.
1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. Learned this from a tourist guide. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,
DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you... Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.
RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.
DON'T DO THIS!) The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head,
and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR ,
LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE..
If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat:
DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
A.) Be aware:look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor ,
and in the back seat.
B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door.
Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars. C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side.. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN!
The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then,
it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late
and she thought it was weird.. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT
open the door..' The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way,
whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer
has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby.. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full blast so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors! Please pass this on
This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because the Crying Baby Theory was mentioned on America 's Most Wanted when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana
I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know.
It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle..
I was going to send this to the ladies only,
but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc.,
you may want to pass it onto them, as well.
Send this to any woman you know that may need
to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of wicked souls in it and it's better to be safe than sorry..
Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life
source: Jagunmolu Oluwadare Lasisi
It's possible you've read it somewhere.Happy reading!
WRITTEN BY A COP: Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life. In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation... This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, & everyone you know. After reading these 9 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.
1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. Learned this from a tourist guide. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,
DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you... Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.
RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.
DON'T DO THIS!) The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head,
and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR ,
LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE..
If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat:
DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
A.) Be aware:look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor ,
and in the back seat.
B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door.
Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars. C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side.. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN!
The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then,
it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late
and she thought it was weird.. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT
open the door..' The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way,
whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer
has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby.. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full blast so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors! Please pass this on
This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because the Crying Baby Theory was mentioned on America 's Most Wanted when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana
I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know.
It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle..
I was going to send this to the ladies only,
but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc.,
you may want to pass it onto them, as well.
Send this to any woman you know that may need
to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of wicked souls in it and it's better to be safe than sorry..
Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life
source: Jagunmolu Oluwadare Lasisi
Objectivity In Fighting Corruption By Adefemi
In information circles, objectivity is very vital and I will start this piece by saying "If Goodluck, associates or his men are found to be corruptly enrich themselves they should be propelled to refund the money and if eventually they are innocent, people should stop media corruption propaganda". Meanwhile, as this whole blame game continues that GEJ's government is corrupt as it has been the subject of discussion accross the land. I am of the opinion that why can't statutory body that is vast in investigative approach to kindly carried out analysis of GEJ's government and compare side by with previous government most especially OBJ's government? The onus will be to ascertain the massive level of corruption in all these government so that citizens can be well informed. In fairness opinion, it seems to me that some selected Individuals are hell bent in using propaganda's to portray or branded GEJ if at all they are right as most corrupt person/government in the history of our great nation. This need to be to be clearly clarified for prosperity's sake. I need to state this for more clarity that! are these people claiming corruption everywhere telling me that nobody will strike any deal or make more money under PMB's government? Time will tell if only they will avails us the truth. I wish President Buhari Goodluck in his recoveries of our looted funds.
Adefemi Pcfr
Adefemi Pcfr
A record 218,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean in October
Record 218,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean in October – 2,000 more than the amount for the whole of 2014, UN reveal
Last month, 218,394 migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean
•In total, 216,054 arrived in the EU after making the crossing in 2014
•Four dead and six missing after sinking on Monday, say Greek coast guard
•For more on the EU refugee crisis visit www.dailymail.co.uk/refugeecrisis
Last month, 218,394 migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean
•In total, 216,054 arrived in the EU after making the crossing in 2014
•Four dead and six missing after sinking on Monday, say Greek coast guard
•For more on the EU refugee crisis visit www.dailymail.co.uk/refugeecrisis
Jonathan visits Buhari at Aso Rock
By Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA – For the second time since he exited office on May 29, former president Goodluck Jonathan Monday visited his successor, President Mohammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan (L) With President Muhammadu Buhari, After A Close Door Meeting At The Presidential Villa In Abuja On Monday (2/11/15).
Former President Goodluck Jonathan (L) With President Muhammadu Buhari, After A Close Door Meeting At The Presidential Villa In Abuja On Monday (2/11/15).
The meeting which held behind closed doors at the New Banquet Hall of the State House barely lasted for ten minutes.
Jonathan arrived at about 2.00 pm and left at 2.13pm after the meeting.
Though the reason for his visit was not disclosed, feelers said he may have visited to intimate president Buhari on the outcome of the election in Tanzania.
It would be recalled that the former President led the Commonwealth Election Observer Group to observe the conduct of the Tanzanian General election which held recently.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/jonathan-visits-buhari-at-aso-rock/
ABUJA – For the second time since he exited office on May 29, former president Goodluck Jonathan Monday visited his successor, President Mohammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan (L) With President Muhammadu Buhari, After A Close Door Meeting At The Presidential Villa In Abuja On Monday (2/11/15).
Former President Goodluck Jonathan (L) With President Muhammadu Buhari, After A Close Door Meeting At The Presidential Villa In Abuja On Monday (2/11/15).
The meeting which held behind closed doors at the New Banquet Hall of the State House barely lasted for ten minutes.
Jonathan arrived at about 2.00 pm and left at 2.13pm after the meeting.
Though the reason for his visit was not disclosed, feelers said he may have visited to intimate president Buhari on the outcome of the election in Tanzania.
It would be recalled that the former President led the Commonwealth Election Observer Group to observe the conduct of the Tanzanian General election which held recently.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/jonathan-visits-buhari-at-aso-rock/
Of Power probes and national interest
Going through the news streaming from various media on the activities of the Boko Haram sect, one is hit by a deja vu feeling, of history repeating itself and our hopelessness in the midst of glaring options. We are once again faced with the multiple ‘IF’ questions.
If we had handled the Boko Haram differently, if we had dealt more decisively with them at inception, if we had been more careful with the happenings in our surroundings, if we had connected more with the grassroots, if we had not seen it as a purely Christian problem initially, if we had not seen it as a Muslim problem, if we had not politicised it, if we had not seen it as a northern problem, if we had properly monitored the almajiris, if we had placed proper surveillance on our Mullahs and itinerant preachers, if we had truly allowed everyone to practice his/her own religion in all parts of the country without discrimination, if the government had maintained true secularity in matters of religion, if the people of the ravaged areas had collectively agreed to take the bull by the horn, if the communities had been more active and proactive to security issues – so many ifs.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/of-power-probes-and-national-interest-2/
If we had handled the Boko Haram differently, if we had dealt more decisively with them at inception, if we had been more careful with the happenings in our surroundings, if we had connected more with the grassroots, if we had not seen it as a purely Christian problem initially, if we had not seen it as a Muslim problem, if we had not politicised it, if we had not seen it as a northern problem, if we had properly monitored the almajiris, if we had placed proper surveillance on our Mullahs and itinerant preachers, if we had truly allowed everyone to practice his/her own religion in all parts of the country without discrimination, if the government had maintained true secularity in matters of religion, if the people of the ravaged areas had collectively agreed to take the bull by the horn, if the communities had been more active and proactive to security issues – so many ifs.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/of-power-probes-and-national-interest-2/
2015 Glo CAF Awards: No Nigerian player in Africa’s top ten
No Nigerian player made the top ten shortlisted for the 2015 African Player of the Year award. According to the list of the final ten released by the Confederation of African Football there is no Nigerian that made the cut.
CONGRATULATION: Enyeama (l) congratulates Yaya Toure at the Glo-CAF Award ceremony
CONGRATULATION: Enyeama (l) congratulates Yaya Toure at the Glo-CAF Award ceremony
The list, which initially comprised of 23 players have now been trimmed to 10 after the announcement on CAF’s website.
The duo of Ahmed Musa and Vincent Enyeama, who were finalists in the last edition have been ousted, while the current holder of the award, Yaya Toure made the top ten cut.
CAF also released the names of the best ten African players playing in Africa, and still, Nigeria is missing on that one too.
Winners for the two categories; African Player of the Year 2015 and African Player of the Year (Based in Africa) 2015 will be decided by votes of the Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF.
The awards gala will be held on Thursday, 7 January 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria.
Vanguard
CONGRATULATION: Enyeama (l) congratulates Yaya Toure at the Glo-CAF Award ceremony
CONGRATULATION: Enyeama (l) congratulates Yaya Toure at the Glo-CAF Award ceremony
The list, which initially comprised of 23 players have now been trimmed to 10 after the announcement on CAF’s website.
The duo of Ahmed Musa and Vincent Enyeama, who were finalists in the last edition have been ousted, while the current holder of the award, Yaya Toure made the top ten cut.
CAF also released the names of the best ten African players playing in Africa, and still, Nigeria is missing on that one too.
Winners for the two categories; African Player of the Year 2015 and African Player of the Year (Based in Africa) 2015 will be decided by votes of the Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF.
The awards gala will be held on Thursday, 7 January 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria.
Vanguard
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