Here are ten things I have identified as top abnormalities
Nigerians now just surrender to or even accept as normal. As a matter of
fact, they are essentially Nigerian in outlook and any attempt to
change them might even affect our corporate image. They are as Nigerian
as the green-white-green flag. Yet, there is nothing “normal” about them
and a good, conscientious leadership can change them.
1. Electricity: Gradually, Nigerians now have accepted that it is normal not to have or expect electricity. So when the Power Ministry under Professor Chinedu Nebo, recently announced a drop of 2000 megawatts from the existing 4000 megawatts, no Nigerian even commented. Also, when the power authorities speak of strikes, everyone looks away, uncaring.
That is the new way. In my nick of the wood in Abuja, we even have a time table for light. There are off days as every part has its own “light day”. You plan your schedules in strict adherence to this time table. The other day, we had two days of uninterrupted power supply. My law-abiding neighbours became worried and collectively went to report the “anomaly” to NEPA (Nigerians still calls it that in spite of all the name change).
2. Bad Roads: What you do about bad roads is not to complain. The skill you must get is how to navigate the craters and gutters in a way to save your tyres the ordeal. Since one big man spent a whopping 300 billion naira on roads without any visible change, Nigerians have resigned to fate, accepting their lot on the road of life (no pun intended).
3. Electoral rigging: That elections are going to be rigged is not the issue. You knew it was going to happen as sure as the sun sets in the East. What you don’t know is the latest methods. Rigging are now even transparent, free and fair. You knew the poll was rigged but exactly how, you haven’t the faintest idea. At the end, you accept the result as the people’s wish. May be the new system is to allow the people do the rigging themselves. Self-reliant rigging!
4. Corruption: Poor EFCC! They now pick every soft target they can find; quickly post their photos on the internet- just to keep the façade of waging a war against corruption. And they indeed are waging a war against petty thieves, leaving out the shot-callers and the well connected rogues who even run the anti-graft agencies.
Yes, folks. The monster is waxing strong and many now only appease it with platitudes. This is the one that may never go away because it has become a duly registered conglomerate in its own right. What you do is try to see how much of it doesn’t affect you but it is everywhere you turn. Deal with it.
5. Killer Convoys: You already know about that. What you don’t know is the madness of it all and why the big men choose to risk their lives and that of others in this manner. First, the convoys are a way of saying “look, we are different from you”. Then, it is the ultimate sign that you had arrived.
I know a certain speaker (House of Assembly) who upon getting sworn in, called his aides aside and said “Please, ensure the sirens are the loudest in this state”. He wasn’t satisfied even with his aides’ reassurances. One day, he actually “supervised” the compliance by lowering his window to listen to the sweet sound of power. Only in Nigeria!
6. Lack of cash: Welcome to the era of cashlessness. I laughed when I first heard of the CBN inspired cashless policy. If you asked me, Nigerians did not even notice the fact that the policy officially took off on July 1, 2014. Why? Nigerians have been living without cash since the start of the current dispensation. The skills we have learnt as a people is how to have enough cash to keep you alive till the next money enters your hand.
How more cashless can an already listless, struggling people get? By the way, a certain supermarket I went the other day pretending to be operating the cashless stuff had difficulty with the machine. The batteries ran down and there was no light to power the damn device. The hapless customer just gave cash – good old cash – and left.
7. Violence: The other day, Miss Malala came to town. A foreign news medium said she was risking her life by coming to Nigeria as if it was here she was first shot at. But that is new reality! Our country is now in the same category as Somalia, Syria and the other demonised nations of the world.
With thousands getting killed each week, Nigerians are now insensitive. An editor told me the other day that he was tired of all the stories of killings and abduction going on in Borno State. And he wasn’t being callous. He was merely accepting the new norm – the fact that a bomb blast now sounds like the knockouts we like throwing around at xmas when we were innocent.
8. Defection: Politicians now move around the political parties like some girls looking for where to shop for the latest Brazillian hair. There was a time when to defect from a party was the ultimate decision by a politician. It would make headlines. But now, you just yawn when you hear of it.
9. Strikes: Strikes have become a comedy out here. In some climes, strikes are the biggest of crisis. But now, unions just get together to have fun – threatening and then backtracking! Industrial actions don’t have any value anymore. They are actions without a corresponding action from the authority that has learnt that after a while, the strikers would get tired and seek any kind of settlement.
Let’s strike out the strikes, please!
10. Skewed court judgments: No one even expect justice from the courts anymore. You only went there because you were either dragged there against your wish or that you went because you didn’t know where else to turn to. At the end, you are disappointed by the quality of justice dispensed, even if it was in your favour.
10. Skewed court judgments: No one even expect justice from the courts anymore. You only went there because you were either dragged there against your wish or that you went because you didn’t know where else to turn to. At the end, you are disappointed by the quality of justice dispensed, even if it was in your favour.
Boko Haram and the Mind Game
That the leadership of the Boko Haram sect came out at the weekend to claim responsibility for the alleged bombing in Apapa area of Lagos State some two or three weeks after is the worry some people have had to deal with since the news broke out.
Whilst the state of security is no longer predictable in any part of the country especially that a majority of the people are still largely reckless even with their personal safety, the sect is smart enough to capitalise on its instruments of fear, publicity and panic by claiming responsibility several weeks after. It is the mind game, simply put!
Of course, this is Lagos which means so much, both to those who seek its progress as well as those keen about its fall and retrogression. Indeed, should anything happen to Lagos, the whole of the South, not just South-west is vulnerable because that is the most cosmopolitan of the 36 states of the federation and the commercial nerve centre of the country. The mega Lagos!
This, no doubt, explains why the Boko Haram could come out and perhaps, laid claims to what it probably had no clue about, much less orchestrated. It seemed to have been contending with a psychological defeat inherent in the fact that the Lagos government refused to admit it was truly a case of bombing, let alone one associated with insurgency.
Yet, there is a warning in that for the administration in the state. It is the need to review its security strategy and be a lot more circumspect.
There is no disputing the fact that the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, is consistently pro-active and was said to have since analysed and reviewed the prevailing security situation in the state since the incident.
Besides, government sources hinted that the governor, as part of measures, has further locked down sensitive and vulnerable points in the state, all in the bid to ensure the security of life and property of the people of the state, being its primary responsibility.
Regardless, the development is a wake-up call for the government, governor and people of the state. Imagine, perhaps, for a second that there was an iota of truth in the Boko Haram claim, it simply means stakeholders must begin to think a collective approach – one of roles and responsibilities between the government and the governed.
The need for people to take personal safety seriously is therefore sacrosanct and they must be responsible enough to give information about strange happenings whenever they spot any.
While the government is said to have resolved to do all within its reach to tame the menacing trend, the people must as a matter of responsibility corroborate this resolve by playing a complementary part, which is what makes the very approach collective.
And until the police conclude their investigation and come out with something concrete and definite on what actually went wrong in Apapa that day, Abubakar Shekau and his suicidal team can continue to relish in their folly.
Importantly, Shekau and co must also know that the people are more determined now to confront their monstrous venture than they ever could have imagined. That’s the people’s power!
#RoadTo2015: Osoba finally breaks silence on Ogun APC crisis
Read more at TODAY: http://www.today.ng/politics/roadto2015-osoba-finally-breaks-silence-on-ogun-apc-crisis
Read more at TODAY: http://www.today.ng/politics/roadto2015-osoba-finally-breaks-silence-on-ogun-apc-crisis
PDP Governors, House Members Endorse Jonathan for 2015 Presidential Election
Governor Godswill Akpoabio
To formally declare ambition after Ramadan
Chuks Okocha and Jaiyeola Andrews
To formally declare ambition after Ramadan
Chuks Okocha and Jaiyeola Andrews
After months of loud silence on his desire to seek re-election,the
stage now seems set for President Goodluck Jonathan to publicly declare
for the race after the Muslim Ramadan fasting period.
The decision to declare his ambition openly followed the endorsement by the governors and members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This was one of the main outcomes of the Monday meeting between the President and the PDP Governors led by the Akwa Ibom state governor, Godswill Akpabio with the PDP members of the House of Representatives.
It was gathered that President Jonathan would be officially declaring for his second term in office after the Muslim fasting period, specifically any time in August as the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party would summon a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to approve the guidelines for the presidential, governorship, National and State Assembly elections.
The meeting which ended in the early hours of yesterday was attended by Governors Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Theodore Orji (Abia), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi)and Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta). Others are Idris Wada (Kogi), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Seidu Dakingari (Kebbi), Ibrahim Dakwambo (Gombe), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Mukhtar Shagari.
According to the source that spoke to THISDAY, most of the governors and members of the House of Representatives who attended the meeting spoke glowingly of the need for the President to seek a second term in office as he has discharged his constitutional duties creditably.
The meeting with the PDP governors in the first place was aimed at informing the governors of the decision of the President to seek a second term in office instead of hearing it from outsiders. Though, the source explained that it is an open secret that the President would seek a re-election as all machinery towards it are already in motion.
The source said no single governor at the meeting spoke against it, stating that he has lived up to his campaign promises.
According to the source, “the meeting was merely to inform us as nobody at the meeting opposed the plan. In fact, if there were to be any opposition, it would be like standing in front of a moving train. The stage was set and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
“The meeting to some of us was merely for your information and not to seek approval”, the source said.
The meeting agreed that it would not be proper for the President to declare within the month of Ramadan, when the Muslims are fasting and apart from that, it was agreed that most of the Muslims would be travelling outside Nigeria for the lesser Hajj.
It was therefore agreed that the President would be declaring his intention to contest for the second term in office after the fasting and that the PDP NWC would be setting the machinery in motion by submitting the draft guidelines for the election to the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for approval.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had released the timetable for the 2015 elections. The commission, in a statement issued in Abuja last year, fixed the Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 14, 2015. The statement was signed by the Secretary of the Commission, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu.
The commission also fixed state assembly and governorship elections for February 28 same year. She said the release was done in pursuant of the powers conferred on the commission by the constitution and the Electoral Act (2010) as amended. The statement was however silent on when politicians could declare their interest in contesting for any of the offices. The Electoral Act 2010, Section 31 (1) states that, “Every political party shall not later than 60 days before the date appointed for the general election under the provisions of this Act, submit to the Commission in the prescribed forms list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections.”
Meanwhile, buoyed by its victory in Ekiti State governorship election, the PDP has said it is aiming at coasting home to victory at the 2015 governorship election by increasing the number of states under its control from the present 19 to 28.
In achieving this, it said it was already strategising on the deepening of its internal democracy.
Akpabio who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, said: “We moved into a further meeting with Mr. President and all the PDP governors and members of the NWC-led by the National Chairman of the party, based on the fact that in the next few months we shall be gong into major primaries.
“When I came in, there was a period that PDP had up to 29 governors. In 2011, we still had up to 25 governors and then of course some governors tried to decamp to other political parties which they are liberty to do, because this is democracy, but we are gaining more, now we have at least 19 governors with the coming of Ekiti State and we also have three deputy governors who are still with us.
“That of Sokoto, Adamawa and that also that of Nasarawa, that brings our number to about 22, so if we shoot to 28, it is not too bad in the 2015 elections, so it was an appraisal and for us to use that opportunity as PDP governors to congratulate the party leader on the very successful election that was held in Ekiti State which was very free and fair and applauded by the international community and all Nigerians to a point where even the candidate of the opposition announced that yes indeed this was a victory well deserved and there was no need to contest such a victory in court.
“That is the kind of thing we would like to see and Mr. President has entrenched true democracy in Nigeria and this has happened in Edo State, it has happened in Ondo State and it has happened now in Ekiti State, and it will happen in August in Osun State.
“And for me, as a chairman of PDP governors in Nigeria, my hope and prayer is that God should increase our numbers and make us to have majority of governors in the country, because PDP is the only true national party in Nigeria. The hope of every Nigerian lies in the party.”
He said the meeting held with the caucus of the House of Representatives was fantastic, saying such meeting should be held regularly with the party leader, president and members of the National Working Committee ( NWC) at the national level in attendance together with the governors.
“Of course you are aware that the National Assembly Caucus met earlier in the day and passed a vote of confidence on Mr. President, the vice-president and the national leadership of the party and in turn, they also urged Mr. President to step forward and contest for the 2015 presidential election” the governor said.
He added that PDP House of Representatives caucus urged Jonathan to re-contest for a second term in office.
“We were witnesses when that resolution was taken and of course, they also pledged their unflinching support to the leadership of Mr. President and then congratulated him for being able to pass through times despite the distractions as a result of the insecurity situation in some parts of the country,” he stressed.
Akpabio further told journalists that Jonathan was commended for the strides he had made in governance particularly the educational sector, where he has built over 150 Almajiri schools, as well as efforts being made to tackle insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria using education.
He noted that Jonathan was the first Nigerian president to establish up to 10 federal universities all at a go, which he said was highly commendable.
“We don’t need to talk of the strides in the power sector and other areas. We believe that our performance will still endear us to Nigerians and that is what we looking forward to.
“Politics is all about democracy dividends, not about propaganda, so those who want to do propaganda can do so, but our meeting was to strategise on how best we can serve the Nigerian people so that the populace will continue to love the PDP and vote for us come 2015,” Akpabio stressed.
On whether the PDP Governors’ Forum also endorsed Jonathan, he said: “The PDP governors were present when the National Assembly Caucus did what they did, I do not want to pre-empt the action of PDP governors, but I can attest to their loyalty and their commitment to the success of Mr. President come 2015.”
On Jonathan response, the governor told journalists that the president though elated, but did not say anything.
“But as you know, INEC has not given the timetable for election yet, we are still waiting for INEC to release the guidelines, so Mr. President didn’t give anybody any answer, he did not say he will contest or he will not contest, but rather, he thanked them for the interest and confidence reposed in him.
“But I think from his body language, he is very mindful of the law and the need to wait for the guidelines from INEC. That was what I noticed,” Akpabio concluded.
The decision to declare his ambition openly followed the endorsement by the governors and members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This was one of the main outcomes of the Monday meeting between the President and the PDP Governors led by the Akwa Ibom state governor, Godswill Akpabio with the PDP members of the House of Representatives.
It was gathered that President Jonathan would be officially declaring for his second term in office after the Muslim fasting period, specifically any time in August as the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party would summon a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to approve the guidelines for the presidential, governorship, National and State Assembly elections.
The meeting which ended in the early hours of yesterday was attended by Governors Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Theodore Orji (Abia), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi)and Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta). Others are Idris Wada (Kogi), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Seidu Dakingari (Kebbi), Ibrahim Dakwambo (Gombe), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Mukhtar Shagari.
According to the source that spoke to THISDAY, most of the governors and members of the House of Representatives who attended the meeting spoke glowingly of the need for the President to seek a second term in office as he has discharged his constitutional duties creditably.
The meeting with the PDP governors in the first place was aimed at informing the governors of the decision of the President to seek a second term in office instead of hearing it from outsiders. Though, the source explained that it is an open secret that the President would seek a re-election as all machinery towards it are already in motion.
The source said no single governor at the meeting spoke against it, stating that he has lived up to his campaign promises.
According to the source, “the meeting was merely to inform us as nobody at the meeting opposed the plan. In fact, if there were to be any opposition, it would be like standing in front of a moving train. The stage was set and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
“The meeting to some of us was merely for your information and not to seek approval”, the source said.
The meeting agreed that it would not be proper for the President to declare within the month of Ramadan, when the Muslims are fasting and apart from that, it was agreed that most of the Muslims would be travelling outside Nigeria for the lesser Hajj.
It was therefore agreed that the President would be declaring his intention to contest for the second term in office after the fasting and that the PDP NWC would be setting the machinery in motion by submitting the draft guidelines for the election to the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for approval.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had released the timetable for the 2015 elections. The commission, in a statement issued in Abuja last year, fixed the Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 14, 2015. The statement was signed by the Secretary of the Commission, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu.
The commission also fixed state assembly and governorship elections for February 28 same year. She said the release was done in pursuant of the powers conferred on the commission by the constitution and the Electoral Act (2010) as amended. The statement was however silent on when politicians could declare their interest in contesting for any of the offices. The Electoral Act 2010, Section 31 (1) states that, “Every political party shall not later than 60 days before the date appointed for the general election under the provisions of this Act, submit to the Commission in the prescribed forms list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections.”
Meanwhile, buoyed by its victory in Ekiti State governorship election, the PDP has said it is aiming at coasting home to victory at the 2015 governorship election by increasing the number of states under its control from the present 19 to 28.
In achieving this, it said it was already strategising on the deepening of its internal democracy.
Akpabio who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, said: “We moved into a further meeting with Mr. President and all the PDP governors and members of the NWC-led by the National Chairman of the party, based on the fact that in the next few months we shall be gong into major primaries.
“When I came in, there was a period that PDP had up to 29 governors. In 2011, we still had up to 25 governors and then of course some governors tried to decamp to other political parties which they are liberty to do, because this is democracy, but we are gaining more, now we have at least 19 governors with the coming of Ekiti State and we also have three deputy governors who are still with us.
“That of Sokoto, Adamawa and that also that of Nasarawa, that brings our number to about 22, so if we shoot to 28, it is not too bad in the 2015 elections, so it was an appraisal and for us to use that opportunity as PDP governors to congratulate the party leader on the very successful election that was held in Ekiti State which was very free and fair and applauded by the international community and all Nigerians to a point where even the candidate of the opposition announced that yes indeed this was a victory well deserved and there was no need to contest such a victory in court.
“That is the kind of thing we would like to see and Mr. President has entrenched true democracy in Nigeria and this has happened in Edo State, it has happened in Ondo State and it has happened now in Ekiti State, and it will happen in August in Osun State.
“And for me, as a chairman of PDP governors in Nigeria, my hope and prayer is that God should increase our numbers and make us to have majority of governors in the country, because PDP is the only true national party in Nigeria. The hope of every Nigerian lies in the party.”
He said the meeting held with the caucus of the House of Representatives was fantastic, saying such meeting should be held regularly with the party leader, president and members of the National Working Committee ( NWC) at the national level in attendance together with the governors.
“Of course you are aware that the National Assembly Caucus met earlier in the day and passed a vote of confidence on Mr. President, the vice-president and the national leadership of the party and in turn, they also urged Mr. President to step forward and contest for the 2015 presidential election” the governor said.
He added that PDP House of Representatives caucus urged Jonathan to re-contest for a second term in office.
“We were witnesses when that resolution was taken and of course, they also pledged their unflinching support to the leadership of Mr. President and then congratulated him for being able to pass through times despite the distractions as a result of the insecurity situation in some parts of the country,” he stressed.
Akpabio further told journalists that Jonathan was commended for the strides he had made in governance particularly the educational sector, where he has built over 150 Almajiri schools, as well as efforts being made to tackle insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria using education.
He noted that Jonathan was the first Nigerian president to establish up to 10 federal universities all at a go, which he said was highly commendable.
“We don’t need to talk of the strides in the power sector and other areas. We believe that our performance will still endear us to Nigerians and that is what we looking forward to.
“Politics is all about democracy dividends, not about propaganda, so those who want to do propaganda can do so, but our meeting was to strategise on how best we can serve the Nigerian people so that the populace will continue to love the PDP and vote for us come 2015,” Akpabio stressed.
On whether the PDP Governors’ Forum also endorsed Jonathan, he said: “The PDP governors were present when the National Assembly Caucus did what they did, I do not want to pre-empt the action of PDP governors, but I can attest to their loyalty and their commitment to the success of Mr. President come 2015.”
On Jonathan response, the governor told journalists that the president though elated, but did not say anything.
“But as you know, INEC has not given the timetable for election yet, we are still waiting for INEC to release the guidelines, so Mr. President didn’t give anybody any answer, he did not say he will contest or he will not contest, but rather, he thanked them for the interest and confidence reposed in him.
“But I think from his body language, he is very mindful of the law and the need to wait for the guidelines from INEC. That was what I noticed,” Akpabio concluded.
#RoadTo2015: Osoba finally breaks silence on Ogun APC crisis
Read more at TODAY: http://www.today.ng/politics/roadto2015-osoba-finally-breaks-silence-on-ogun-apc-crisis/
Read more at TODAY: http://www.today.ng/politics/roadto2015-osoba-finally-breaks-silence-on-ogun-apc-crisis/
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