Dr Jonathan, who was represented by a former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye apologised for Jonathan’s inability to be present for the award.
Adeyeye said “he is unable to come and personally receive this award because as many of you may know, today is the burial of Dr Alamiyeseigha, the former governor of Baylesa State, who was at one time, his boss. Therefore, he sent his unreserved apology particularly to Uncle Sam and to the management of Vanguard newspapers.” Speaking further, he said: “He has asked to me also congratulate his fellow recipients particularly President Muhammadu Buhari and other recipients. President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan is a man of history and I believe that whatever we are celebrating now, is not the final verdict, we will leave that to history because all these emotional things that we display, when a man is in office or after leaving office, are better judged by history. I believe Jonathan will be given a better verdict by history. “He says I should tell everybody that he is not yet finished with his good works in Nigeria, he has left office but he is not tired and therefore, he said I should announce to this audience that very soon, he will be launching his foundation. That foundation will enable him render services, not only to the people of Nigeria but to humanity. His view concerning this award, to those who are his friends on Facebook, he has a message.” Reading Jonathan’s Facebook message, he said “I thank the editorial board of Vanguard newspapers for honoring me as their Personality of the Year 2015. I believe that the people of Nigeria are more deserving of the honour than me. I am thus dedicating this award to my country men and women, may God bless Nigeria.” National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Aiswaju Bola Tinubu, represented by Mr Dele Alake expressed gratitude for the award bestowed on him but expressed optimism that there is light at the end of the tunnel. His words: “first of all, I must express my gratitude to Vanguard for choosing to recognise him for this award. He has asked me to express apologies and extend all courtesies to those who deserved them, for his inability to be physical present here for circumstances beyond his control because he is not in Nigeria at the moment. He actually sent a message to me saying that he knew that he should be here as a member of the Vanguard family and as an associate of Uncle Sam himself, who is one of our icons in the journalism profession.” Alake, a former Commissioner for Information in Lagos State, said Tinubu saw the award as a challenge for him. Jonathan, a national hero–Amuka Chairman of Vanguard Media Limited, Mr. Sam Amuka commended President Jonathan for conceding the 2015 presidential election describing him a national hero. Amuka said “This is an interesting occasion. This award is special in the sense that it represents one singular action which has changed a man’s state. Whatever one may say of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, that moment during the elections, when he decided to call President Buhari and congratulate him conceding defeat, made him a national hero.” Recalling the tension that preceded the 2015 general elections, Amuka commended Jonathan for helping to avert crisis. He said: “Many of us would have forgotten the tension that this country was in during the elections, we have also forgotten the bitterness of the election but before the election itself, this country was almost in turmoil. A slight fight could have ignited fire and blood-letting but for many of us, it was divine intervention that caused President Goodluck Jonathan to do what he did and that is what we are recognizing here tonight for a man who deserves to be acknowledged by Nigerians as a national hero. That has made him a statesman.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/im-not-finished-work-nigeria-jonathan/
SALUTARY IMPACT
SALUTARY IMPACT (HOSPITALITY AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT)CALL +33605867728
Saturday, 9 April 2016
Revealed : Shocking way Boko Haram trains kidnapped women and girls
In a New York Times article, a woman who escaped the clutches of Boko Haram gives a chilling account of how the terrorists train women and girls to become suicide bombers.
"Hold the bomb under your armpit to keep it steady", the women and girls were taught.Sever your enemy’s head from behind, to minimize struggling.“If you cut from the back of the neck, they die faster,” said Rahila Amos, a Nigerian grandmother describing the meticulous instruction she received from Boko Haram to become a suicide bomber. Of all the many horrors of Boko Haram’s rampage across West Africa — the attacks on mosques, churches and schools; the mass killings of civilians; the entire villages left in ashes after militants tear through — one of the most baffling has been its ability to turn captured women and girls into killers. Ms. Amos, 47, said the fighters had come to her village in the morning, firing weapons as they spilled out of cars and rounded up women and children.Not long afterward, Ms. Amos, a Christian, said she was forced to enroll in Boko Haram’s classes on its version of Islam, a first step on her way toward being taught the art of suicide bombing.After months of training, Ms. Amos said, she was finally able to escape her captors one day when they had assembled for evening preaching. She stayed behind, gathering two of her young children and a grandchild so they could make a run for the Cameroonian border.“I don’t want to take a bomb,” she said inside this refugee camp in Cameroon that stretches across a vast landscape dotted by tents and mud huts.
Ms. Amos, now among the 58,000 residents of the Minawao Refugee Camp, described a system of grooming potential bombers that involved food deprivation and promises of eternal life, tactics that cults have used for decades.She said that when Boko Haram stormed her hometown in 2014, her two brothers were shot dead. Her husband managed to flee with five of their children, but Ms. Amos did not make it out, and neither did two of their other young children and a grandchild. Boko Haram rounded them up with other women and children, putting them in a long ditch to contain them.They stayed there for days, eating one meal a day of a corn paste made from powder. Finally a fighter arrived and asked a fateful question: Do you want to follow Christ, or do you want to be a Muslim?The women all agreed to follow Islam, fearing they would be killed otherwise. Their training began.Ms. Amos described a six-tiered daily education track for the women that she called Primary One, Primary Two and so on. The first two levels were Quranic training. Primary Three was training in suicide bombing and beheading. “How to kill a person and how to bomb a house,” she said.“They told us if we came upon a group of 10 to 20 people to press this,” she said, speaking of a detonator.The instruction given in the upper levels of the training — Primary Four, Five and Six — was a closely guarded secret among the fighters. Ms. Amos said she never learned what took place there.Ms. Amos was lucky. Boko Haram fighters decided not to “marry” her, a euphemism for the rapes the group commits, because she already had a husband and children. She counted 14 women and four girls in her training classes who were not as fortunate.Throughout her months in captivity, Ms. Amos was fed one meal a day and lost weight, a fact confirmed by her nephew living in the Minawao camp, who stared at her scrawny frame and said, “She used to be a big woman.”Boko Haram incorporated the lack of food into the training, Ms. Amos said. Several months ago, she said, fighters rounded up the women and took them to an old factory to view a set of plump, well-fed girls who had plenty of food and water. Follow our ways, the fighters said, and you can have enough to eat, like these girls.The girls, some crying, told Ms. Amos they were from Chibok, the Nigerian village where Boko Haram had captured the schoolgirls. American State Department and military officials said they would investigate the statements from Ms. Amos about the girls.“They were very fat,” Ms. Amos said, compared with herself and the other women who were being held, “and they had lots of water.” The authorities in Cameroon and Nigeria said that many of the experiences detailed by Ms. Amos matched the accounts of other women and girls who have escaped Boko Haram, or who have been arrested before they could detonate bombs. Ms. Amos’s descriptions are also strikingly similar to details recounted by other freed women and girls, including depictions of the funeral rites performed before female bombers were sent on missions. In Cameroon, many of the recent bombings have been carried out by girls in their early teens, leaving officials and analysts to wonder whether the girls were aware they were carrying bombs. Yet some of the bombers in recent attacks in Nigeria have been found to wear their hair pulled back from the face — a hairstyle reserved for burial rites, a sign they were ready to die...
lailasblog...
"Hold the bomb under your armpit to keep it steady", the women and girls were taught.Sever your enemy’s head from behind, to minimize struggling.“If you cut from the back of the neck, they die faster,” said Rahila Amos, a Nigerian grandmother describing the meticulous instruction she received from Boko Haram to become a suicide bomber. Of all the many horrors of Boko Haram’s rampage across West Africa — the attacks on mosques, churches and schools; the mass killings of civilians; the entire villages left in ashes after militants tear through — one of the most baffling has been its ability to turn captured women and girls into killers. Ms. Amos, 47, said the fighters had come to her village in the morning, firing weapons as they spilled out of cars and rounded up women and children.Not long afterward, Ms. Amos, a Christian, said she was forced to enroll in Boko Haram’s classes on its version of Islam, a first step on her way toward being taught the art of suicide bombing.After months of training, Ms. Amos said, she was finally able to escape her captors one day when they had assembled for evening preaching. She stayed behind, gathering two of her young children and a grandchild so they could make a run for the Cameroonian border.“I don’t want to take a bomb,” she said inside this refugee camp in Cameroon that stretches across a vast landscape dotted by tents and mud huts.
Ms. Amos, now among the 58,000 residents of the Minawao Refugee Camp, described a system of grooming potential bombers that involved food deprivation and promises of eternal life, tactics that cults have used for decades.She said that when Boko Haram stormed her hometown in 2014, her two brothers were shot dead. Her husband managed to flee with five of their children, but Ms. Amos did not make it out, and neither did two of their other young children and a grandchild. Boko Haram rounded them up with other women and children, putting them in a long ditch to contain them.They stayed there for days, eating one meal a day of a corn paste made from powder. Finally a fighter arrived and asked a fateful question: Do you want to follow Christ, or do you want to be a Muslim?The women all agreed to follow Islam, fearing they would be killed otherwise. Their training began.Ms. Amos described a six-tiered daily education track for the women that she called Primary One, Primary Two and so on. The first two levels were Quranic training. Primary Three was training in suicide bombing and beheading. “How to kill a person and how to bomb a house,” she said.“They told us if we came upon a group of 10 to 20 people to press this,” she said, speaking of a detonator.The instruction given in the upper levels of the training — Primary Four, Five and Six — was a closely guarded secret among the fighters. Ms. Amos said she never learned what took place there.Ms. Amos was lucky. Boko Haram fighters decided not to “marry” her, a euphemism for the rapes the group commits, because she already had a husband and children. She counted 14 women and four girls in her training classes who were not as fortunate.Throughout her months in captivity, Ms. Amos was fed one meal a day and lost weight, a fact confirmed by her nephew living in the Minawao camp, who stared at her scrawny frame and said, “She used to be a big woman.”Boko Haram incorporated the lack of food into the training, Ms. Amos said. Several months ago, she said, fighters rounded up the women and took them to an old factory to view a set of plump, well-fed girls who had plenty of food and water. Follow our ways, the fighters said, and you can have enough to eat, like these girls.The girls, some crying, told Ms. Amos they were from Chibok, the Nigerian village where Boko Haram had captured the schoolgirls. American State Department and military officials said they would investigate the statements from Ms. Amos about the girls.“They were very fat,” Ms. Amos said, compared with herself and the other women who were being held, “and they had lots of water.” The authorities in Cameroon and Nigeria said that many of the experiences detailed by Ms. Amos matched the accounts of other women and girls who have escaped Boko Haram, or who have been arrested before they could detonate bombs. Ms. Amos’s descriptions are also strikingly similar to details recounted by other freed women and girls, including depictions of the funeral rites performed before female bombers were sent on missions. In Cameroon, many of the recent bombings have been carried out by girls in their early teens, leaving officials and analysts to wonder whether the girls were aware they were carrying bombs. Yet some of the bombers in recent attacks in Nigeria have been found to wear their hair pulled back from the face — a hairstyle reserved for burial rites, a sign they were ready to die...
lailasblog...
Friday, 8 April 2016
President Buhari heads to China to borrow $2bn
President Muhammadu Buhari will visit China on Sunday to sign a loan infrastructure projects deal worth about $2 billion and the low interest loan is to be deployed to finance the N3 trillion deficit in the budget. Though the exact figure for the loan is yet to be confirmed, the Presidency and Chinese foreign affairs ministry confirmed the visit. The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, who disclosed this in an interview with Reuters, said: “I can’t tell you how much until the day the loan will be signed. Both countries will also be signing some bilateral agreements to strengthen their relationship, that is all I can say for now.” In February, financial and government sources said the loan could be as high as $2 billion, but officials have not provided an update since then. The federal government had said it would raise about $5 billion abroad to cover part of its 2016 budget deficit which could be as high as N3 trillion.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/buhari-heads-to-china-to-borrow-2bn/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/buhari-heads-to-china-to-borrow-2bn/
Africa highlights: Nigeria fuel scarcity 'mayhem' warning, Rwanda genocide remembered
Rwandan genocide remembered 22 years on
Posted at 17:15 7 Apr
The hashtag #Kwibuka22 (meaning "Remembering" in the Kinyarwanda language) has been trending across East Africa today as Rwandans gathered to mark the 22nd anniversary of the genocide.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame was joined in the capital, Kigali, by the Tanzanian leader to light the flame of remembrance, which will burn for 100 days, the same length of time it took for 800,000 people to be killed in the violence.
Posted at 17:14 7 Apr
Nigeria's fuel scarcity has left many motorists frustrated with the hours they have to spend queuing up for a drop of the black gold.
BBC
But people are still not clear what's behind the problem this time.
The BBC's Nigeria reporter Martin Patience has been looking at the issue and says there are three main issues which have held up fuel imports:
1.Outstanding debts - The current government says it inherited massive fuel subsidy debts from the previous administration, and it took time to pay those off.
2.Currency crisis - There is a shortage of foreign exchange in the country making it harder to import fuel.
3.Fuel subsidy dispute - The government and the fuel sellers are arguing over whether the government should continue to subsidise fuel despite the fall in the oil price
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-35783460
Thursday, 7 April 2016
It is Now Illegal To Pay For Sex In France
Prostitutes in France marched to the front National Assembly building in Paris, France to protest after a new law was passed that penalizes the patronage of prostitutes.The French parliament on Wednesday passed a law that now makes it illegal to pay for sex in France making them the 5th European country ( after Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the U.K) in the world to criminalize prostitution.
Under the new law, pimping and brothels remain illegal, while it is legal to offer your body for sale but illegal for someone to buy it.
Offenders may be fined up to €3,750 (about $4,300) and required to attend classes about the conditions of sex workers.
The law also establishes measures to help prostitutes find new work, and makes it easier for foreign sex workers to acquire temporary residency permits.
France’s Socialist government welcomed the new legislation. The bill’s architect
Maud Olivier told AFP: “This law is essential to ending the idea that it is normal to buy someone’s body.”
"The goal is to diminish [prostitution], protect prostitutes who want to quit, and change mentalities. We will succeed in changing the mentality, but new efforts are needed to raise awareness, to train police officers and magistrates.”
But some of France’s nearly 30,000 prostitutes did not share Olivier’s conviction. About 60 demonstrators, including sex workers, protested the new law outside the Parliament, some carrying a sign that read, “Don’t Liberate Me, I’ll Take Care of Myself!”
Under the new law, pimping and brothels remain illegal, while it is legal to offer your body for sale but illegal for someone to buy it.
Offenders may be fined up to €3,750 (about $4,300) and required to attend classes about the conditions of sex workers.
The law also establishes measures to help prostitutes find new work, and makes it easier for foreign sex workers to acquire temporary residency permits.
France’s Socialist government welcomed the new legislation. The bill’s architect
Maud Olivier told AFP: “This law is essential to ending the idea that it is normal to buy someone’s body.”
"The goal is to diminish [prostitution], protect prostitutes who want to quit, and change mentalities. We will succeed in changing the mentality, but new efforts are needed to raise awareness, to train police officers and magistrates.”
But some of France’s nearly 30,000 prostitutes did not share Olivier’s conviction. About 60 demonstrators, including sex workers, protested the new law outside the Parliament, some carrying a sign that read, “Don’t Liberate Me, I’ll Take Care of Myself!”
uavailability of forex, pipeline vandalism, subsidy payments as reasons for fuel scarcity says Kachiwku
In a short video which he posted on his Facebook wall, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu, explained why the fuel scarcity has persisted this long. According to him, unavailability of Forex, activities of pipeline vandals and the reduction in subsidy payment had adversely affected the importation of refined oil into Nigeria by many of the oil marketers
"First on resumption in August, we had a very major problem in our hand because subsidies of N500-N600 billion hadn't been paid for over a one year period of time. and so those who were importing had began to very quietly reduce the level of importation that they had and although I struggled very hard and got the Assembly approval and the President's approval to pay a good portion of that subsidy sometime in November, by then it was too late because although they got the money, they didn't have access to foreign exchange and so the critical reason why we have this supply gap today is that although NNPC has its own 445,000 barrels allocation of crude which is meant to meet 50% of your the country's delivery, the Individuals who should provide the remaining 50% are not bringing any product"he said
He identified incessant pipeline vandalization as a major factor responsible for the short fall in fuel supply
"The second problem is pipeline vandlization. If you look at the statistics of this year versus last year, we have had almost two times the number of pipeline disruptions that we have had over the last 2-3 years."
According to Kachikwu, no matter the transformation agenda of the government, issues of fuel scarcity have the tendency to bring down the polity and cause mayhem
"I have had to box my way to the CBN to get a bit of Foreign exchange because we provide a bulk of this foreign exchange and we should have a bit of it to help stabilize the situation because fuel queue, do not make any mistake about it, it doesn't matter what we achieve in our transformation agenda, is the single most difficult item which if not solved can bring down the polity and can create a mayhem here"he said.
LIB
"First on resumption in August, we had a very major problem in our hand because subsidies of N500-N600 billion hadn't been paid for over a one year period of time. and so those who were importing had began to very quietly reduce the level of importation that they had and although I struggled very hard and got the Assembly approval and the President's approval to pay a good portion of that subsidy sometime in November, by then it was too late because although they got the money, they didn't have access to foreign exchange and so the critical reason why we have this supply gap today is that although NNPC has its own 445,000 barrels allocation of crude which is meant to meet 50% of your the country's delivery, the Individuals who should provide the remaining 50% are not bringing any product"he said
He identified incessant pipeline vandalization as a major factor responsible for the short fall in fuel supply
"The second problem is pipeline vandlization. If you look at the statistics of this year versus last year, we have had almost two times the number of pipeline disruptions that we have had over the last 2-3 years."
According to Kachikwu, no matter the transformation agenda of the government, issues of fuel scarcity have the tendency to bring down the polity and cause mayhem
"I have had to box my way to the CBN to get a bit of Foreign exchange because we provide a bulk of this foreign exchange and we should have a bit of it to help stabilize the situation because fuel queue, do not make any mistake about it, it doesn't matter what we achieve in our transformation agenda, is the single most difficult item which if not solved can bring down the polity and can create a mayhem here"he said.
LIB
Kudos To Nigeria Army As Troops rescue 11, 595 hostages from Boko Haram dens
THE Nigerian Army said yesterday that no fewer than 11, 595 civilians held at various enclaves by Boko Haram had been rescued. This came as troops intensified efforts to clear and mop up all insurgent activities in the North East. ArmyArmy The army said the rescue operations were carried out within the past six weeks, noting that women and young children who had been caught in the Boko Haram crossfire regained their freedom and settled temporarily in camps for internally displaced persons, IDPs. “In continuation of the clearance and mopping up operations of the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in various parts of the North East geo-political region, troops have rescued no fewer than 11,595 persons held hostage by the terrorists within the last one month,” the army said in a statement signed by the Acting a Director of Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, yesterday.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/troops-rescue-11-595-hostages-boko-haram-dens/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/troops-rescue-11-595-hostages-boko-haram-dens/
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
First Casualty As Iceland's Prime Minister resigns over Panama papers offshore funds scandal
According to AP, The Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, has resigned, becoming the first high profile casualty of the Panama Papers scandal.
After the news broke, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson who was granting an interview to a journalist stormed out of the interview over the weekend , amid claims he used secret offshore firm Mossack Fonseca to hide millions of dollars as Iceland's economy collapsed.
Monday night, about 24,000 people gathered outside the parliament building demanding his resignation.
Mr Gunnlaugsson has resigned as Prime Minister, but says he will stay on as leader of the Progressive Party.
LIB
After the news broke, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson who was granting an interview to a journalist stormed out of the interview over the weekend , amid claims he used secret offshore firm Mossack Fonseca to hide millions of dollars as Iceland's economy collapsed.
Monday night, about 24,000 people gathered outside the parliament building demanding his resignation.
Mr Gunnlaugsson has resigned as Prime Minister, but says he will stay on as leader of the Progressive Party.
LIB
Bye Bye to fuel scarcity as Ifeanyi Ubah’s Capital Oil commences 24-Hour Loading
According to a message sent out by Capital Oil and Gas to their customers and Nigerians, they aim at ending the fuel queues in a couple of days and have commenced 24-hour loading.
See the text below.
“
This is to inform our valued customers and the general public that NNPC has brought enough fuel cargoes into the country. Consequently, Capital Oil has commenced massive 24hours loading in a bid to meet NNPC’s target of eliminating fuel queues nationwide within the next few days. We also wish to discourage Nigerians from panic buying and hoarding while calling on everyone to stop patronizing the activities of black marketers. Support NNPC! Please share”
bellanaija
See the text below.
“
This is to inform our valued customers and the general public that NNPC has brought enough fuel cargoes into the country. Consequently, Capital Oil has commenced massive 24hours loading in a bid to meet NNPC’s target of eliminating fuel queues nationwide within the next few days. We also wish to discourage Nigerians from panic buying and hoarding while calling on everyone to stop patronizing the activities of black marketers. Support NNPC! Please share”
bellanaija
Drama as Aluko says reconciliation with Fayose was staged-managed
The drama characterising the politics of Ekiti State continued on Tuesday, as a former secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Dr. Temitope Aluko, denied reconciling with the state governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose.
According to Aluko, whi was shown in a video with Fayose on Monday allegedly to have settled their differences, said the alleged reconciliation was staged managed and an organised propaganda to stain his image and malign his integrity.
Aluko stated this in Lagos on Tuesday, whike addressing newsmen, adding that the purported reconciliation with Fayose was a script aimed at misinforming Nigerians.
According to the former PDP scribe, “One fact remains clear, there is nowhere that I, Temitope Aluko, refuted anything I have earlier said before Nigerians and the whole world about the manipulations that characterised the 2014 Governorship election in Ekiti State.
Read more through the link below
http://www.ripples.com.ng/drama-as-aluko-says-reconciliation-with-fayose-was-staged-managed/
According to Aluko, whi was shown in a video with Fayose on Monday allegedly to have settled their differences, said the alleged reconciliation was staged managed and an organised propaganda to stain his image and malign his integrity.
Aluko stated this in Lagos on Tuesday, whike addressing newsmen, adding that the purported reconciliation with Fayose was a script aimed at misinforming Nigerians.
According to the former PDP scribe, “One fact remains clear, there is nowhere that I, Temitope Aluko, refuted anything I have earlier said before Nigerians and the whole world about the manipulations that characterised the 2014 Governorship election in Ekiti State.
Read more through the link below
http://www.ripples.com.ng/drama-as-aluko-says-reconciliation-with-fayose-was-staged-managed/
Tuesday, 5 April 2016
Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca 'helped firms subject to sanctions'
The Panama legal firm at the heart of a massive data leak kept clients who were subject to international sanctions, documents show.
Mossack Fonseca worked with 33 individuals or companies who have been placed under sanctions by the US Treasury, including companies based in Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea.
One had links to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
The information comes from the leak of 11m of the company's internal files.
Mossack Fonseca registers companies as offshore entities operated under its own name. This meant the identities of the real owners were hard to trace because they were kept out of public documents.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35959604
Mossack Fonseca worked with 33 individuals or companies who have been placed under sanctions by the US Treasury, including companies based in Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea.
One had links to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
The information comes from the leak of 11m of the company's internal files.
Mossack Fonseca registers companies as offshore entities operated under its own name. This meant the identities of the real owners were hard to trace because they were kept out of public documents.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35959604
Between Ayo Fayose and Yours Truly (Part 1)- by Femi Fani-Kayode
People often say that my friend and brother Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state and I are giving the Buhari government a run for their money more than any other duo in the country.
Though he and I come from very different backgrounds and our approach and styles, when confronting issues, are very different they say that we are both deeply committed to our cause, we are both contentious and that we both have the courage of our convictions.
They also say we are both ready to pick up the gauntlet, champion the cause of our party and people and stand our ground when confronted by our adversaries or provoked into any fight.
There is no doubt about the fact that both Fayose and I are similar in some ways. We both draw immense strength from our respective christian testimonies and the power of our faith. We also both have a similar world-view and we both have a fair idea about who the real troublers of our nation, our faith and our people are.
We are both what we are because of what we have been subjected to by the system and the powers that be over the years and because of what we have both suffered and been through in the hands of those we once reverred, worked with and trusted. We are also both praying men who have loved ones and family that are strong in the faith and that pray hard and well.
I agree with the assesment of those that often compare us but there is a small caveat: I regard Fayose as being a populist- a rugged, grassroots leader of the suffering masses and a radical politician whilst I see myself more as a man of letters, a historian, a deep-thinker and a politically-active but cloistered intellectual.
Permit me to make a rather crude analogy and to indulge in a graphic and disturbing metaphor. In our long-drawn and protracted political battle and struggle for power he uses a thick and blunt cudgel to fight our enemies and batter them to death whilst I use a thin and sharp rapier with which I slowly carve them up, slice them to pieces and bleed them into eternity.
He crushes their bones with rage and brutal efficiency whilst I clinically cut them up with ruthless precision. Both methods are equally effective and both achieve their objectives.
Yet whatever our differences may be in terms of style, choice of weapon, method of battle, substance and approach they say that we have both courageously stood up to the Buhari government and that we have both defiantly spoken our minds about what is going on in our country today. Consequently they have described us both as ''lions and warriors''.
This is a very kind of them though, in all fairness, I believe that writers and columnists like Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Professor Femi Aribisala and Mr. Jude Ndukwe, politicians like Governor Seriake Dickson, Governor Olusegun Mimiko and Dr. Sulaiman Olanrewaju Abubakar (the former Minister of National Planning), bloggers like Mr. Deji Adeyanju and Mrs. Aziza Uko, journalists like Mr. Shaka Momodu and Mr. Yemi Adebowale and countless others fall into that "lion" category as well. They have also displayed immense courage. It is not just Ayo Fayose and yours truly.
Some of our friends have also pointed out that all that we said about President Buhari and the APC during the Presidential campaign last year has proved to be prophetic. All these kind words and this rather generous assessment and categorization of both Fayose and I is very encouraging and I appreciate them.
Unlike in other nations where vocal opposition is encouraged and regarded as an essential part of democracy and an effective way of keeping those in power on their toes, when one sticks ones neck out for their country and people and is loud in their opposition to government in this part of the world it is a thankless, unappreciated, lonely and dangerous road.
And sadly, more often than not, one is mocked, shunned, despised, hated, misunderstood, persecuted, maligned, insulted and misrepresented for taking it.
This is especially so when one is dealing with a callous and ruthless government, like we have in our country today. We are being led by a group of people who have a hidden agenda, who hate their perceived enemies and detractors, who are inherently incompetent and who are manifestly unjust.
We are burdened with a government who cannot abide criticism, who are scared of their own shadow, who have no decency or honor and who have failed in all their ways.
We are saddled with a leadership who have offended God and man, who have ruined our nation, who have impoverished our people, who are bereft of ideas and who are hell bent on intimidating the opposition and silencing the voice of truth.
I am touched by the words of those that are encouraging those of us that have chosen to take that road of vocal and virile opposition and this is especially so because I have tremendous respect and affection for Ayo Fayose and I consider him to be one of our brightest rising stars in the south west.
His name is Peter, like the Rock in the Holy Bible, and he cannot be shaken. He is a strong man of faith, a trusted and loyal friend and I am proud to be mentioned in the same breath as him.
Yet it is not me that says, writes and does these things that people find so amazing and courageous but rather He that is in me. It is a gift from God and that gift is known as the Holy Spirit.
He gives us foresight, insight, sensitivity, a word for the season and the ability to endure any form of persecution and hardship and still stand strong.
He gives us the ability to cultivate a firm resolve, to think things through clearly, to wait on Him and to have patience.
He also gives us immense courage, especially when under fire. As a matter of fact the more the fire burns, the more the courage rages. This is what is generally referred to as "Christian fury" and it is a deep and inexplicable mystery.
I am sure that I can speak for Fayose on that too because the same applies to him. It is not he that says and does the things that he says and does but the Holy Spirit of the Living God that is in him.
My brother Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state, the Iroko of the Western Region, has the same gift even though he is a little more restrained, tempered and gentle.
He is also a devout and practicing Christian and his sense of maturity, wisdom and civility does not make him any less effective. A consummate and experienced politician and leader: he is truly formidable in all his ways.
If any discerning politician sits with Mimiko for ten minutes or more he will know that the Holy Spirit flows through him like water flows through an estuary or a stream.
He is a profoundly good man: a man of power and strength but he couples it with deep compassion and a sense of equity, decency and fairness that is rarely seen in our shores.
Back to Ayo Fayose and yours truly. In all our adventures there is one difference between the Governor of Ekiti state and I which many fail to appreciate. Under our laws, because he is a serving Governor, he has immunity from arrest and prosecution but I do not.
He has the people of Ekiti state solidly behind him to applaud and support his every word and move but I do not. He has the machinery and power of a whole state government and a State House of Assembly to fight for him but I do not.
He has the friendship and support of all his fellow PDP Governors and the party leadership but I do not. Unlike him my defence is purely spiritual yet that is more than enough to guarantee my safety and well-being. That is more than enough to comfort me and give me strength and victory.
I do not have all the physical and constitutional protection that he has and I don't need it. I only have God yet He is more than enough for me. I only have my faith yet that faith continues to move mountains for me.
I only have the Lord's sure word and promise yet that sure word and promise is worth more than a thousand armies and all the gold, silver and power in the world because it never fails. I only have His love, His grace, His blessing and His mercy yet it never falters. I am bold, confident and strong because the Lord is with me.
One thing I should add is this- if Ayo Fayose were not Governor of Ekiti state nothing would change and he would still be the lion that he is. It is not the office that makes the man but the man that makes the office. If he were not Governor he would still be as virulent and courageous in his attacks against injustice and this unjust government as he is today. That is what makes the difference between him and others. He is Ayo Fayose and, like Peter the Rock, nothing moves him. (TO BE CONTINUED).
Though he and I come from very different backgrounds and our approach and styles, when confronting issues, are very different they say that we are both deeply committed to our cause, we are both contentious and that we both have the courage of our convictions.
They also say we are both ready to pick up the gauntlet, champion the cause of our party and people and stand our ground when confronted by our adversaries or provoked into any fight.
There is no doubt about the fact that both Fayose and I are similar in some ways. We both draw immense strength from our respective christian testimonies and the power of our faith. We also both have a similar world-view and we both have a fair idea about who the real troublers of our nation, our faith and our people are.
We are both what we are because of what we have been subjected to by the system and the powers that be over the years and because of what we have both suffered and been through in the hands of those we once reverred, worked with and trusted. We are also both praying men who have loved ones and family that are strong in the faith and that pray hard and well.
I agree with the assesment of those that often compare us but there is a small caveat: I regard Fayose as being a populist- a rugged, grassroots leader of the suffering masses and a radical politician whilst I see myself more as a man of letters, a historian, a deep-thinker and a politically-active but cloistered intellectual.
Permit me to make a rather crude analogy and to indulge in a graphic and disturbing metaphor. In our long-drawn and protracted political battle and struggle for power he uses a thick and blunt cudgel to fight our enemies and batter them to death whilst I use a thin and sharp rapier with which I slowly carve them up, slice them to pieces and bleed them into eternity.
He crushes their bones with rage and brutal efficiency whilst I clinically cut them up with ruthless precision. Both methods are equally effective and both achieve their objectives.
Yet whatever our differences may be in terms of style, choice of weapon, method of battle, substance and approach they say that we have both courageously stood up to the Buhari government and that we have both defiantly spoken our minds about what is going on in our country today. Consequently they have described us both as ''lions and warriors''.
This is a very kind of them though, in all fairness, I believe that writers and columnists like Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Professor Femi Aribisala and Mr. Jude Ndukwe, politicians like Governor Seriake Dickson, Governor Olusegun Mimiko and Dr. Sulaiman Olanrewaju Abubakar (the former Minister of National Planning), bloggers like Mr. Deji Adeyanju and Mrs. Aziza Uko, journalists like Mr. Shaka Momodu and Mr. Yemi Adebowale and countless others fall into that "lion" category as well. They have also displayed immense courage. It is not just Ayo Fayose and yours truly.
Some of our friends have also pointed out that all that we said about President Buhari and the APC during the Presidential campaign last year has proved to be prophetic. All these kind words and this rather generous assessment and categorization of both Fayose and I is very encouraging and I appreciate them.
Unlike in other nations where vocal opposition is encouraged and regarded as an essential part of democracy and an effective way of keeping those in power on their toes, when one sticks ones neck out for their country and people and is loud in their opposition to government in this part of the world it is a thankless, unappreciated, lonely and dangerous road.
And sadly, more often than not, one is mocked, shunned, despised, hated, misunderstood, persecuted, maligned, insulted and misrepresented for taking it.
This is especially so when one is dealing with a callous and ruthless government, like we have in our country today. We are being led by a group of people who have a hidden agenda, who hate their perceived enemies and detractors, who are inherently incompetent and who are manifestly unjust.
We are burdened with a government who cannot abide criticism, who are scared of their own shadow, who have no decency or honor and who have failed in all their ways.
We are saddled with a leadership who have offended God and man, who have ruined our nation, who have impoverished our people, who are bereft of ideas and who are hell bent on intimidating the opposition and silencing the voice of truth.
I am touched by the words of those that are encouraging those of us that have chosen to take that road of vocal and virile opposition and this is especially so because I have tremendous respect and affection for Ayo Fayose and I consider him to be one of our brightest rising stars in the south west.
His name is Peter, like the Rock in the Holy Bible, and he cannot be shaken. He is a strong man of faith, a trusted and loyal friend and I am proud to be mentioned in the same breath as him.
Yet it is not me that says, writes and does these things that people find so amazing and courageous but rather He that is in me. It is a gift from God and that gift is known as the Holy Spirit.
He gives us foresight, insight, sensitivity, a word for the season and the ability to endure any form of persecution and hardship and still stand strong.
He gives us the ability to cultivate a firm resolve, to think things through clearly, to wait on Him and to have patience.
He also gives us immense courage, especially when under fire. As a matter of fact the more the fire burns, the more the courage rages. This is what is generally referred to as "Christian fury" and it is a deep and inexplicable mystery.
I am sure that I can speak for Fayose on that too because the same applies to him. It is not he that says and does the things that he says and does but the Holy Spirit of the Living God that is in him.
My brother Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state, the Iroko of the Western Region, has the same gift even though he is a little more restrained, tempered and gentle.
He is also a devout and practicing Christian and his sense of maturity, wisdom and civility does not make him any less effective. A consummate and experienced politician and leader: he is truly formidable in all his ways.
If any discerning politician sits with Mimiko for ten minutes or more he will know that the Holy Spirit flows through him like water flows through an estuary or a stream.
He is a profoundly good man: a man of power and strength but he couples it with deep compassion and a sense of equity, decency and fairness that is rarely seen in our shores.
Back to Ayo Fayose and yours truly. In all our adventures there is one difference between the Governor of Ekiti state and I which many fail to appreciate. Under our laws, because he is a serving Governor, he has immunity from arrest and prosecution but I do not.
He has the people of Ekiti state solidly behind him to applaud and support his every word and move but I do not. He has the machinery and power of a whole state government and a State House of Assembly to fight for him but I do not.
He has the friendship and support of all his fellow PDP Governors and the party leadership but I do not. Unlike him my defence is purely spiritual yet that is more than enough to guarantee my safety and well-being. That is more than enough to comfort me and give me strength and victory.
I do not have all the physical and constitutional protection that he has and I don't need it. I only have God yet He is more than enough for me. I only have my faith yet that faith continues to move mountains for me.
I only have the Lord's sure word and promise yet that sure word and promise is worth more than a thousand armies and all the gold, silver and power in the world because it never fails. I only have His love, His grace, His blessing and His mercy yet it never falters. I am bold, confident and strong because the Lord is with me.
One thing I should add is this- if Ayo Fayose were not Governor of Ekiti state nothing would change and he would still be the lion that he is. It is not the office that makes the man but the man that makes the office. If he were not Governor he would still be as virulent and courageous in his attacks against injustice and this unjust government as he is today. That is what makes the difference between him and others. He is Ayo Fayose and, like Peter the Rock, nothing moves him. (TO BE CONTINUED).
Monday, 4 April 2016
PDP responsible for fuel scarcity, says Tinubu
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has asked Nigerians to hold the Peoples Democratic Party responsible for the ongoing fuel scarcity across the country.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos on Saturday, Tinubu said the PDP destroyed Nigeria during its 16-year rule.
The APC chieftain said the PDP refused to pursue what was necessary for the growth and development of the country.
He said, “We want to stay focused and redirect Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of 16 years. We are hearing comments from the PDP left and right. We are saying we want to clear the mess they created. For 16 good years, the PDP destroyed the country. We should not be lamenting over petrol queues today if they had seen what was necessary and done what was necessary for this country.
“We can’t be emotional and live in self-denial. They should have done the Awolowo Road and the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. If they put priority on our railroad, if they put priority on electricity generation and distribution, we will not be in this mess today.”
http://www.punchng.com/pdp-responsible-for-fuel-scarcity-says-tinubu/
Speaking to journalists in Lagos on Saturday, Tinubu said the PDP destroyed Nigeria during its 16-year rule.
The APC chieftain said the PDP refused to pursue what was necessary for the growth and development of the country.
He said, “We want to stay focused and redirect Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of 16 years. We are hearing comments from the PDP left and right. We are saying we want to clear the mess they created. For 16 good years, the PDP destroyed the country. We should not be lamenting over petrol queues today if they had seen what was necessary and done what was necessary for this country.
“We can’t be emotional and live in self-denial. They should have done the Awolowo Road and the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. If they put priority on our railroad, if they put priority on electricity generation and distribution, we will not be in this mess today.”
http://www.punchng.com/pdp-responsible-for-fuel-scarcity-says-tinubu/
Reuben Abati :A Country In Search Of A Miracle
Abati is out again with another interesting piece. Enjoy as you read along.
“You look tired”
“Ha, my brother. Thanks for being observant. I have been trekking.”
“Trekking?”
“I went to buy fuel at that fuel station by the Estate gate. I had to abandon the car there. On my way back home, I could not find okada or any other form of transportation.”
"No wonder you are sweating.”
“All the tricyclists and the okada people claim they have no fuel.”
“It is good for you big men to have a taste of what poor people go through. This fuel scarcity is an effective leveler. It is no respecter of persons.”
“I can’t wait for April 7 to come.”
“What’s special about April 7?”
“That’s the day we are told this scarcity will end, and there will be no more scarcity of petroleum products.”
“You mean a government official actually made such a promise?”
“Yes”
“Then, that official still has a lot to learn. In this kind of matter, you must never give a deadline because you never know. Nigerians will record the date, pretend to be optimistic and wait for you. If you don’t deliver on the said date, you will be branded an incompetent liar!”
“Really?”
“Trust me. Never set a deadline. Never say things such as we will put an end to the Boko Haram menace by June ending. We will deliver 10, 000 MW of electricity by December, and there will be fuel across the country by so-so-and-so date?”
“But I think April 7 is a sure date”
“I like your optimism. You mean by April 7, the pipeline vandals would have stopped stealing?”
“Some concerned Nigerians, particularly Pastors, I understand have been helping the Federal Government to appeal to vandals. They have been telling the vandals that it is not a good thing to steal petrol that belongs to all of us.”
“You want to stop oil theft and pipeline vandalism by preaching? Does anyone know who the vandals are?”
“You know we are a religious nation. When everything fails, we preach. I won’t be surprised to hear that any pipeline vandal who repents will be recommended for a National Honour!”
“In that case, what are you still doing here? You too should become a pipeline vandal, repent and get honoured. Or you don’t want a national honour?”
“Actually, I’d rather ask the vandals to give me fuel from their private depots, so I won’t have to face the stress of looking for fuel.”
“But I thought we were depending on the importation of refined petroleum products. Where are the major marketers?”
“They are there, but they say they can’t help because market forces are now obeying command-and-control, centralized orders which are not good for business.”
“I know. I know. The climate has changed. There is no more free money to share in the name of subsidy. Let the marketers continue to grumble. You know, sometimes I actually feel that if the NNPC can quickly get its acts together and Nigerians can endure a little, this may actually be our opportunity to free Nigerians from the threat of oil marketers.”
“What threat? The marketers are doing business. If the refineries work and fuel supply across the country is well managed, we should not be in this situation. If you frustrate the marketers, whose crime is that they feed off state inefficiency, and you have no alternative in place, this is what you get. The issue is also one of ideological confusion between capitalism and socialism.”
“It is a shame that at a time the international price of crude oil is dropping, Nigerians are having to pay an arm and a leg to get fuel. Right now, a litre of fuel is about N250”.
“It’s more. That is if you get it to buy.”
“Wait a moment. You are panting. What’s that wheezing sound? You may need to see a doctor.”
“I can’t remember when last I trekked.”
“Fuel scarcity is good for you then?”
“How can this suffering be good for anybody? Do you know how many families are now treating heat rash? Not to talk of hundreds of Nigerians who have died looking for fuel?”
“Just see a doctor. If you trek for about 1,000 metres and you are now looking like you want to pass out, then for you fuel scarcity is a major help. If you didn’t have to look for fuel, you’d be dying slowly and you may never know. I think every big man should in fact go look for fuel and trek a little, and listen to the people on the street. Good exercise.”
“You must be joking”
“Well, as it is, it is the poor who are benefitting from the crisis. Many lower class Nigerians now trek to work. They can’t afford the high cost of transportation, so they just hit the road with their feet.”
“You must be kidding me”.
“Two days ago, I saw a long stretch of trekkers, returning from work, moving from Victoria Island to the Mainland, looking like they have accepted their fate.”
“Too much trekking can kill.”
“Looks like that former Minister who once recommended that Nigerians should use the bicycle is about to be vindicated at last. The bicycle will be our best bet under the circumstances.”
“Stop being funny. Families will use the bicycle to take children to school? Or Madam will go to the market riding a bicycle?”
“Nigerians must learn to embrace change. Our problem is that we don’t always see the good sides of everything. Are you aware that this fuel scarcity crisis has created many jobs?”
“You mean it has resulted in many job losses. With the rise in the cost of goods and services, many companies have had to lay off staff. If you spend half of your profit on generating electricity and buying fuel at cut-throat rates, you’d have sooner or later to cut costs. The first casualties are the workers. Even big companies can no longer pay salaries. Small and medium scale enterprises are folding up.”
“In your estate?”
“What do you mean in my estate?”
“Because you see in this life, when some people are crying, some people are smiling. All those boys selling black market fuel in jerry cans by the roadside, I hear they are praying that there should always be fuel scarcity. Many of them are now multi-millionaires.”
“Profiting from other people’s agony. Is that your understanding of how a proper economy works?”
“I am an optimist. Those boys selling fuel are very happy. If there is regular supply of fuel tomorrow, they wont’ be happy.”
“Please stop this cynicism.”
“Cynicism? Look, if this thing continues beyond April 7, don’t be surprised if you see me by the roadside also hawking fuel in jerry cans. I will add some swag to my own; organize the jerry cans nicely and put up a visible sign-board with the inscription: NNPC Mega Station! I have been making enquiries.”
“Your mates are aspiring to own fuel stations, become major marketers, or even own oil fields, your ambition is to sell fuel in jerry cans.”
“Some of those boys selling fuel in jerry cans are university graduates. I did my research. You do yours.”
“You are exaggerating”
“No, I am not. You mean you have not seen Ph.D holders in this country who are working as drivers or running pepper soup joints or selling pure water? You better change your mentality. My friend, try and change.”
“It is not that bad, please.”
“Okay. Are you aware that many graduates are ready to join the Nigeria Police as constables? And they will be glad to be posted to checkpoints where they can check vehicle particulars, and the pockets of motorists.”
“Pockets?”
“Yes. Why do you think there has been such a massive rush for jobs in the Nigeria Police. The Police recently placed an advert asking for applications. The two websites for online application crashed within 4 hours.”
“Wonderful.”
“They are looking for just 10, 000 new recruits. They received more than 8, 000 applications within one hour. If the portals did not crash, there would have been over a million applications.”
“Na wa o”
“Na wa ya o. We really need a miracle to happen.”
“No fuel. No electricity. No rainfall, either, as if God is holding on to the rains. Everywhere is so hot. I hardly sleep at night.”
“I still think you should see the doctor. And luckily for you, you may not have to pay the hospital.”
“How do you mean?”
“The Minister of Health has just directed all teaching hospitals and government-owned hospitals to treat patients free of charge.”
“Indigent patients or every patient?”
“We are all indigent, my friend.”
“But I don’t know why you take the Minister serious. You and I know he is just talking. No hospital will listen to him. And by the way, is he in a position to give such directives to state-owned hospitals? Even the ones owned by the Federal Government, do they have enough funds to embark on free healthcare? Government officials just must talk.”
“You can’t say that until you find out.”
“No. I don’t need to find out. I know.”
“Just take care of your health. I don’t want it said that you slumped while looking for fuel.”
“I’ll be fine”.
“Nigeria too will be fine. You remember that baby girl who was shown looking malnourished, and emaciated four months ago. Adacheka. And the boy now called Hope who was found in Akwa Ibom, left for dead, emaciated and sickly, in January. When I see the pictures of both children and how they have been saved, I think of our country, Nigeria. Miracles still happen.”
“I don’t believe in miracles any more.”
“Why not? Nigeria will soon start operating on nuclear energy level.”
“Really? People look for miracles when they are desperate or losing hope. In football, for example, Nigerians are looking for miracles right now. The Super Eagles have disappointed the nation. Indigenous coaches have failed us. From Stephen Keshi, to Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia and Sunday Oliseh, no hits, back to back, all na failure.”
“You don’t become a successful coach and manager just because you once captained a team. You need technical skills. You need the right people.”
“That-is-the-point!”
“You look tired”
“Ha, my brother. Thanks for being observant. I have been trekking.”
“Trekking?”
“I went to buy fuel at that fuel station by the Estate gate. I had to abandon the car there. On my way back home, I could not find okada or any other form of transportation.”
"No wonder you are sweating.”
“All the tricyclists and the okada people claim they have no fuel.”
“It is good for you big men to have a taste of what poor people go through. This fuel scarcity is an effective leveler. It is no respecter of persons.”
“I can’t wait for April 7 to come.”
“What’s special about April 7?”
“That’s the day we are told this scarcity will end, and there will be no more scarcity of petroleum products.”
“You mean a government official actually made such a promise?”
“Yes”
“Then, that official still has a lot to learn. In this kind of matter, you must never give a deadline because you never know. Nigerians will record the date, pretend to be optimistic and wait for you. If you don’t deliver on the said date, you will be branded an incompetent liar!”
“Really?”
“Trust me. Never set a deadline. Never say things such as we will put an end to the Boko Haram menace by June ending. We will deliver 10, 000 MW of electricity by December, and there will be fuel across the country by so-so-and-so date?”
“But I think April 7 is a sure date”
“I like your optimism. You mean by April 7, the pipeline vandals would have stopped stealing?”
“Some concerned Nigerians, particularly Pastors, I understand have been helping the Federal Government to appeal to vandals. They have been telling the vandals that it is not a good thing to steal petrol that belongs to all of us.”
“You want to stop oil theft and pipeline vandalism by preaching? Does anyone know who the vandals are?”
“You know we are a religious nation. When everything fails, we preach. I won’t be surprised to hear that any pipeline vandal who repents will be recommended for a National Honour!”
“In that case, what are you still doing here? You too should become a pipeline vandal, repent and get honoured. Or you don’t want a national honour?”
“Actually, I’d rather ask the vandals to give me fuel from their private depots, so I won’t have to face the stress of looking for fuel.”
“But I thought we were depending on the importation of refined petroleum products. Where are the major marketers?”
“They are there, but they say they can’t help because market forces are now obeying command-and-control, centralized orders which are not good for business.”
“I know. I know. The climate has changed. There is no more free money to share in the name of subsidy. Let the marketers continue to grumble. You know, sometimes I actually feel that if the NNPC can quickly get its acts together and Nigerians can endure a little, this may actually be our opportunity to free Nigerians from the threat of oil marketers.”
“What threat? The marketers are doing business. If the refineries work and fuel supply across the country is well managed, we should not be in this situation. If you frustrate the marketers, whose crime is that they feed off state inefficiency, and you have no alternative in place, this is what you get. The issue is also one of ideological confusion between capitalism and socialism.”
“It is a shame that at a time the international price of crude oil is dropping, Nigerians are having to pay an arm and a leg to get fuel. Right now, a litre of fuel is about N250”.
“It’s more. That is if you get it to buy.”
“Wait a moment. You are panting. What’s that wheezing sound? You may need to see a doctor.”
“I can’t remember when last I trekked.”
“Fuel scarcity is good for you then?”
“How can this suffering be good for anybody? Do you know how many families are now treating heat rash? Not to talk of hundreds of Nigerians who have died looking for fuel?”
“Just see a doctor. If you trek for about 1,000 metres and you are now looking like you want to pass out, then for you fuel scarcity is a major help. If you didn’t have to look for fuel, you’d be dying slowly and you may never know. I think every big man should in fact go look for fuel and trek a little, and listen to the people on the street. Good exercise.”
“You must be joking”
“Well, as it is, it is the poor who are benefitting from the crisis. Many lower class Nigerians now trek to work. They can’t afford the high cost of transportation, so they just hit the road with their feet.”
“You must be kidding me”.
“Two days ago, I saw a long stretch of trekkers, returning from work, moving from Victoria Island to the Mainland, looking like they have accepted their fate.”
“Too much trekking can kill.”
“Looks like that former Minister who once recommended that Nigerians should use the bicycle is about to be vindicated at last. The bicycle will be our best bet under the circumstances.”
“Stop being funny. Families will use the bicycle to take children to school? Or Madam will go to the market riding a bicycle?”
“Nigerians must learn to embrace change. Our problem is that we don’t always see the good sides of everything. Are you aware that this fuel scarcity crisis has created many jobs?”
“You mean it has resulted in many job losses. With the rise in the cost of goods and services, many companies have had to lay off staff. If you spend half of your profit on generating electricity and buying fuel at cut-throat rates, you’d have sooner or later to cut costs. The first casualties are the workers. Even big companies can no longer pay salaries. Small and medium scale enterprises are folding up.”
“In your estate?”
“What do you mean in my estate?”
“Because you see in this life, when some people are crying, some people are smiling. All those boys selling black market fuel in jerry cans by the roadside, I hear they are praying that there should always be fuel scarcity. Many of them are now multi-millionaires.”
“Profiting from other people’s agony. Is that your understanding of how a proper economy works?”
“I am an optimist. Those boys selling fuel are very happy. If there is regular supply of fuel tomorrow, they wont’ be happy.”
“Please stop this cynicism.”
“Cynicism? Look, if this thing continues beyond April 7, don’t be surprised if you see me by the roadside also hawking fuel in jerry cans. I will add some swag to my own; organize the jerry cans nicely and put up a visible sign-board with the inscription: NNPC Mega Station! I have been making enquiries.”
“Your mates are aspiring to own fuel stations, become major marketers, or even own oil fields, your ambition is to sell fuel in jerry cans.”
“Some of those boys selling fuel in jerry cans are university graduates. I did my research. You do yours.”
“You are exaggerating”
“No, I am not. You mean you have not seen Ph.D holders in this country who are working as drivers or running pepper soup joints or selling pure water? You better change your mentality. My friend, try and change.”
“It is not that bad, please.”
“Okay. Are you aware that many graduates are ready to join the Nigeria Police as constables? And they will be glad to be posted to checkpoints where they can check vehicle particulars, and the pockets of motorists.”
“Pockets?”
“Yes. Why do you think there has been such a massive rush for jobs in the Nigeria Police. The Police recently placed an advert asking for applications. The two websites for online application crashed within 4 hours.”
“Wonderful.”
“They are looking for just 10, 000 new recruits. They received more than 8, 000 applications within one hour. If the portals did not crash, there would have been over a million applications.”
“Na wa o”
“Na wa ya o. We really need a miracle to happen.”
“No fuel. No electricity. No rainfall, either, as if God is holding on to the rains. Everywhere is so hot. I hardly sleep at night.”
“I still think you should see the doctor. And luckily for you, you may not have to pay the hospital.”
“How do you mean?”
“The Minister of Health has just directed all teaching hospitals and government-owned hospitals to treat patients free of charge.”
“Indigent patients or every patient?”
“We are all indigent, my friend.”
“But I don’t know why you take the Minister serious. You and I know he is just talking. No hospital will listen to him. And by the way, is he in a position to give such directives to state-owned hospitals? Even the ones owned by the Federal Government, do they have enough funds to embark on free healthcare? Government officials just must talk.”
“You can’t say that until you find out.”
“No. I don’t need to find out. I know.”
“Just take care of your health. I don’t want it said that you slumped while looking for fuel.”
“I’ll be fine”.
“Nigeria too will be fine. You remember that baby girl who was shown looking malnourished, and emaciated four months ago. Adacheka. And the boy now called Hope who was found in Akwa Ibom, left for dead, emaciated and sickly, in January. When I see the pictures of both children and how they have been saved, I think of our country, Nigeria. Miracles still happen.”
“I don’t believe in miracles any more.”
“Why not? Nigeria will soon start operating on nuclear energy level.”
“Really? People look for miracles when they are desperate or losing hope. In football, for example, Nigerians are looking for miracles right now. The Super Eagles have disappointed the nation. Indigenous coaches have failed us. From Stephen Keshi, to Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia and Sunday Oliseh, no hits, back to back, all na failure.”
“You don’t become a successful coach and manager just because you once captained a team. You need technical skills. You need the right people.”
“That-is-the-point!”
Sunday, 3 April 2016
Exclusive: I did not sleep with your manager! Linda Ikeji fires back at Wizkid
Ghen Ghen.. This is the beginning....... Wizkid VS LindaIkeji.. Let me do a bit brief summary.. Linda Ikeji once posted about Wizkid baby mama which did not go down well with him.. Later within that week Wizkid takes a swipe at Linda on his twitter page that with her money she's still single.... Just few days ago, Linda Ikeji run an exclusive info that Wizkid has been given quick notice on his suppose bought house in Lekki which Linda Ikeji said it's a lie that Wizkid actually rented the house and he has started moving out. What now break the camels back was that Wizkid wrote on Linda Ikeji's IG page that "she is a bitch and her pu**y stinks that his manager bangs her in hotel room and that she likes she can hide at the back of her laptop that he will ask his 16 years old brother to beat Linda Ikeji. Anyway, Linda Ikeji has addressed the issue today and said she did not sleep with WizKid's manager and very soon she will soon marry. Smiles.. Let's stay close as more revelations keeps unfolding.
By Adefemi
By Adefemi
Iwobi outshines Ighalo as Watford go down
Nigeria youngster Alex Iwobi outshone fellow Super Eagles star Odion Ighalo after he scored in Arsenal 4-0 win to further endanger Watford’s survival hopes in the Premier League. Arsenal put on a show. They toyed with Watford. They humiliated them. They passed and they passed and they passed. They let Watford chase shadows and drove them to distraction. They played as if they were in the fun bit at the end of a training session. Which, in some ways, they are. At the centre of it all was Nigerian international, Alex Iwobi, whose appearance for Nigeria was limited after he recovered from food poisoning on international duty last week, struck after 38 minutes courtesy of an assist by Alexis Sanchez, who laid the ball into the path of the youngster who only had to slide home from inside the box.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/iwobi-outshines-ighalo-watford-go/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/iwobi-outshines-ighalo-watford-go/
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