Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has described politics as an investment which Ndigbo made bad outing in the 2015 presidential election.

He stressed that as far 2015 is concerned, Ndigbo made a very bad investment, saying: “we put all our eggs in one basket despite clear signs we shouldn’t.

“We should therefore not allow such ill-advised investment to repeat in subsequent elections.”

Senator Ngige, in a statement by his Special Assistant on media, Nwachukwu Obidiwe, asked his kins men and women to start to strategically positioning themselves for 2019 and avoid a repeat of what happened in 2015.

“Other zones are already strategizing and we must not be caught napping.

“Just as all reasonable politicians in the South East accept that we played bad politics in 2015, we should effectively put it behind us.

“The resilient nature of the Igbo allows no room for self-pity. We have met greater challenges and surmounted them.”

The Labour minister then listed the names of individual Igbo bigwig who has seen the need to join APC, saying: “it is for this reason that I and the APC in the South East have been welcoming our leaders like Chief Jim Nwobodo, Senator Ken Nnamani, Senator Emma Agboti, Senator Nkechi  Nwogu, Senator Andy Uba, Chief Chukwuemeka Nwogu- my predecessor in the Ministry of Labour, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, former Minister of Health, former Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime and host of others people who have seen the need for this.”

He assured South Easterners that he and his mates are working hard to ensure that Igbos do not lose out from the ruling APC administration.

“However, as I said in the interview, the bad investment of the 2105 is not enough to marginalize anybody.

“The present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari does not look in that direction.

“I and other APC leaders in the South East shall continue to make sure that the Igbo is fairly treated.

“Every piece of information is not for the pages of newspapers but I wish to re-assure that we are doing much more than eyes can see to ensure that the South East is not left behind in the distribution of infrastructures.”

He mentioned some projects in Igboland which have benefitted the igbos, citing as an example the going work on all the major federal roads in the South East; Enugu- Onitsha, Enugu- Umuahia-Abia-Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt -Owerri, Oba-Nnewi– Arondizuogu- Okigwe, to mention a few while Julius Berger has been mobilized for the  2nd River Niger Bridge.

He asked: “when last did that happen in the South East?

“There is also the Benin-Onitsha rail line which was not originally in the Jonathan-PDP rail masterplan. We have included that.

“By my pedigree, as the former President General of Aka-Ikenga for eight years, member of Ohaneze Strategic Committee and member, Imeobi Ohaneze, I will advise that our people should cry no more over spilt milk as there is  room enough to feed the cow well and get milk in better quantity and quality.

“That is politics for you. A word is enough for the wise,” he added. [myad]

Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has said that the “clog in the wheel of our progress as a people” has been the spate of blackmails and hate media campaigns by certain opposition elements against his government.

Governor Emmanuel, who spoke during the  events to celebrate his second year in office, wondered why people engage in the campaigns of falsehood, hatred and blackmail even two years after election had been won and lost.

Governor Emmanuel appealed to such people to separate politics from patriotism, adding: “instead of being professionals in the profitless business of pulling others down, let us all be experts in the lucrative business of forgiveness.

“This is no time for anger, resentment, bitterness and desire for recrimination against people. Those sentiments can only deaden our spirit and lead to self-inflicted wounds.”

He said that he had come to serve Akwa Ibom people and that he shall not be deterred until he accomplishes his mission.

Governor Emmanuel said that this year’s celebration was an opportunity to celebrate prosperity, report progress and renew the deep and unbridled commitment to the development of the State which he christined: “the land of Promise.”

He attributed the milestones of his administration’s success since 2015 to the spirit of God.

The governor dedicated the gains of the last two years to the people of the state.

“our victory remains your victory and our mandate shall continue to be your mandate, and we remain committed to impacting your lives and bringing meaningful developments that will help change your circumstance.”

Governor Emmanuel who congratulated the president and all Nigerians on the 18 years of democracy in Nigeria after several years of military rule and truncated starts, maintained that it is the collective responsibility of all to make the best out of the opportunity.

“Democratic values, traditions and culture have been embraced and internalized by Nigerians and that’s a great and wonderful thing worthy of celebrating, which is what we are doing today.”

The Governor said that his two years in the saddle have made Akwa Ibom to be a shining example of good governance, saying that without good governance,democracy may not be well appreciated.

“This anniversary is worth celebrating for we have worked to make our people realize that dividends of democracy also exists beyond the literary definition.”

He took time to highlight some of his achievements which have endeared him to the people.

Emmanuel described his as a government that is grounded on result and not merely on applause.

“In just two years, we have built on that foundation of greatness, and defied a tempestuous economic climate to put finishing touches on a marvelous edifice for posterity.”

He looked at what he called “moral rebirth programme” of his government, including the Dakkada philosophy and said: “we encouraged our people to come out of the cocoon of self-pity and burst forth to claim the faith of greatness which God almighty has endowed us all, with.” [myad]

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has said that his administration has successfully dealt a blow on the endemic land racketeers around the corridors of power.

He said that the land racketeering group that used to operate in Area 11, near the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) head office, had suddenly disappeared as a result of the new method his administration adopted.

The minister, who spoke to news men on his score card in the last one-and-half year of his tenure as FCT minister, said that in addressing the mistakes of the past, his administration has been very careful in allocating land, admitting that since coming on board, no land has been allocated.

The minister said that the institutional framework of the FCTA has been strengthened not only to ensure effective service delivery but also maintain institutional memory.

On why he has has not appointed secretaries for the secretariats, the minister said he deliberately allowed the bureaucracy to work so that the management staff would no longer rely on the mentality of having to wait for directives on everything from a minister.

“We decided to strengthen the bureaucracy by allowing the civil servants to work. When ministers come with their political appointees and are gone, there is no institutional memory. That is why we spent a lot of resources on training staff.”

Muhammad Musa Bello promised that his administration would not demolish buildings anyhow, but would rather prefer the global best practice of upgrading and integration where infrastructure would be put in place for the people.

It would be recalled that the Minister was sworn in as the 16th Minister November 11, 2015. [myad]

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has confessed that corruption has been fighting back with tremendous resources, vowing that the federal government will not relent in its efforts to apprehend and bring corruption suspects to justice.

“We are also re-equipping our prosecution teams, and part of the expected judicial reforms is to dedicate some specific courts to the trial of corruption cases.”

The Acting President, in a nationwide Radio and Television broadcast today, May 29, to mark the second anniversary of Muhammadu Buhari administration, admitted that the Nigeria’s system of administration of justice has been quite slow.

“But the good news for justice is that our law does not recognize a time bar for the prosecution of corruption and other crimes.

“In the fight against corruption, we have focused on bringing persons accused of corruption to justice. We believe that the looting of public resources that took place in the past few years has to be accounted for. Funds appropriated to build roads, railway lines, and power plants, and to equip the military, that had been stolen or diverted into private pockets, must be retrieved and the culprits brought to justice.”

The full text of the Professor Osinbajo broadcast is reproduced here:

Dear Nigerians, I bring you good wishes from President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, who as we all know is away from the country on medical vacation.

1. Today marks the second anniversary of our assumption of office. We must thank the Almighty God not only for preserving our lives to celebrate this second anniversary, but for giving us hope, strength and confidence as we faced the  challenges of the past two years.
2. Our administration outlined three specific areas for our immediate intervention on assumption of office: these were Security, Corruption and the Economy.
3. In the Northeast of our country,  the terrorist group Boko Haram openly challenged the sovereignty and continued existence of the state, killing, maiming,and  abducting, causing the displacement of the largest number of our citizens in recent history. Beyond the North East they extended their mindless killings, as far away as Abuja, Kano And Kaduna.
4. But with new leadership and renewed confidence our gallant military immediately began to put Boko Haram on the back foot. We have restored broken-down relations with our neighbours, Chad, Cameroon and Niger – allies without whom the war against terror would have been extremely difficult to win. We have re-organized and equipped our Armed Forces, and inspired them to heroic feats; we have also revitalized the regional Multinational Joint Task Force, by providing the required funding and leadership.
5. The positive results are clear for all to see. In the last two years close to one million displaced persons have returned home. 106 of our daughters from Chibok have regained their freedom, after more than two years in captivity, in addition to the thousands of other captives who have since tasted freedom.
6. Schools, hospitals and businesses are springing back to life across the Northeast, especially in Borno State, the epicentre of the crisis. Farmers are returning to the farms from which they fled in the wake of Boko Haram. Finally, our people are getting a chance to begin the urgent task of rebuilding their lives.
7. Across the country, in the Niger Delta, and in parts of the North Central region, we are engaging with local communities, to understand their grievances, and to create solutions that respond to these grievances adequately and enduringly.
8. President Buhari’s New Vision for the Niger Delta is a comprehensive peace, security and development plan that will ensure that the people benefit fully from the wealth of the region, and we have seen to it that it is the product of deep and extensive consultations, and that it has now moved from idea to execution. Included in that New Vision is the long-overdue environmental clean-up of the Niger Delta beginning with Ogoni-land, which we launched last year.
9. More recent threats to security such as the herdsmen clashes with farmers in many parts of the country sometimes leading to fatalities and  loss of livelihoods and property have also preoccupied our security structures. We are working with State governments, and tasking our security agencies with designing effective strategies and interventions that will bring this menace to an end. We are determined to ensure that anyone who uses violence, or carries arms without legal authority is apprehended and sanctioned.
10. In the fight against corruption,  we have focused on bringing persons accused of corruption to justice. We believe that the looting of public resources that took place in the past few years has to be accounted for. Funds appropriated to build roads, railway lines, and power plants, and to equip the military, that had been stolen or diverted into private pockets, must be retrieved and the culprits brought to justice. Many have said that the process is slow, and that is true, corruption has fought back with tremendous resources and our system of administration of justice has been quite  slow. But the good news for justice is that our law does not recognize a time bar for the prosecution of corruption and other crimes, and we will not relent in our efforts to apprehend and bring corruption suspects to justice. We are also re-equipping our prosecution teams, and  part of the expected judicial reforms is to dedicate some specific courts to the trial of corruption cases.
11. We are also institutionalizing safeguards and deterrents. We have expanded the coverage of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). We have introduced more efficient accounting and budgeting systems across the Federal Government. We have also launched an extremely successful Whistleblower Policy.
12. The Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance has succeeded in plugging leakages amounting to billions of naira, over the last two years. We have ended expensive and much-abused fertilizer and petrol subsidy regimes.
13. We have taken very seriously our promise to save and invest for the future, even against the backdrop of our revenue challenges, and we have in the last two years added US$500m to our Sovereign Wealth Fund and US$87m to the Excess Crude Account. This is the very opposite of the situation before now, when rising oil prices failed to translate to rising levels of savings and investment.
14. Admittedly, the economy has proven to be the biggest challenge of all. Let me first express just how concerned we have been, since this administration took office, about the impact of the economic difficulties on our citizens.
15. Through no fault of theirs, some companies shut down their operations, others downsized; people lost jobs, had to endure rising food prices. In some States civil servants worked months on end without the guarantee of a salary, even as rents and school fees and other expenses continued to show up like clockwork.
16. We have been extremely mindful of the many sacrifices that you have had to make over the last few years. And for this reason this administration’s work on the economic front has been targeted at a combination of short-term interventions to cushion the pain, as well as medium to long term efforts aimed at rebuilding an economy that is no longer helplessly dependent on the price of crude oil.
17. Those short-term interventions include putting together a series of bailout packages for our State Governments, to enable them bridge their salary shortfalls – an issue the President has consistently expressed his concerns about. We also began the hard work of laying out a framework for our Social Intervention Programme, the most ambitious in the history of the country.

1. One of the first tasks of the Cabinet and the Economic Management Team was to put together a Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget, targeting initiatives that would create speedy yet lasting impact on the lives of Nigerians.

1. Indeed, much of 2016 was spent clearing the mess we inherited and putting the building blocks together for the future of our dreams; laying a solid foundation for the kind of future that you deserve as citizens of Nigeria.

1. In his Budget Presentation Speech to the National Assembly last December, President Buhari outlined our Economic Agenda in detail, and assured that 2017 -would be the year in which you would begin to see tangible benefits of all the planning and preparation work. It is my pleasure to note that in the five months since he delivered that speech, we have seen tremendous progress, as promised.

1. Take the example of our Social Investment Programme, which kicked off at the end of 2016. Its Home Grown School Feeding component is now feeding more than 1 million primary school children across seven states and would be feeding three million by the end of the year. N-Power, another component has engaged 200,000 unemployed graduates – none of whom needed any ‘connections’ to be selected. Beneficiaries are already telling the stories of how these initiatives have given them a fresh start in their lives.
2. Micro credit to a million artisans, traders and market men and women has begun. While conditional cash transfers to eventually reach a million of the poorest and most vulnerable households has also begun.
3. Road and power projects are ongoing in every part of the country. In rail, we are making progress with our plans to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to upgrade the existing 3,500km narrow-gauge network. We have also in 2017 flagged-off construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan leg of our standard-gauge network, and are close to completing the first phase of Abuja’s Mass Transit Rail System.
4. In that Budget speech in December, the President announced the take-off of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative. Today, five months on, that Initiative – the product of an unprecedented bilateral cooperation with the Government of Morocco – has resulted in the revitalisation of 11 blending plants across the country, the creation of 50,000 direct and indirect jobs so far, and in the production of 300,000 metric tonnes of NPK fertilizer, which is being sold to farmers at prices significantly lower than what they paid last year. By the end of 2017, that Fertilizer Initiative would have led to foreign exchange savings of US$200 million; and subsidy savings of 60 billion naira.
5. The Initiative is building on the solid gains of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, launched in 2015 to support our rice and wheat farmers, as part of our move towards guaranteeing food security for Nigeria.
6. All of this is evidence that we are taking very seriously our ambition of agricultural self-sufficiency. I am delighted to note that since 2015 our imports of rice have dropped by 90 percent, while domestic production has almost tripled. Our goal is to produce enough rice to meet local demand by 2019.  In April, the President launched our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which built on the foundations laid by the Strategic implementation Plan of 2016.  The plan has set forth a clear vision for the economic development of Nigeria. I will come back to this point presently.
7. Another highlight of the President’s Budget Speech was our work around the Ease of Doing Business reforms. As promised we have since followed up with implementation and execution. I am pleased to note that we are now seeing verifiable progress across several areas, ranging from new Visa on Arrival scheme, to reforms at our ports and regulatory agencies.
8. The President also promised that 2017 would see the rollout of Executive Orders to facilitate government approvals, support procurement of locally made goods, and improve fiscal responsibility. We have kept that promise. This month we issued three Executive Orders to make it easier for citizens to get the permits and licenses they require for their businesses, to mandate Government agencies to spend more of their budgets on locally produced goods, and to promote budget transparency and efficiency. The overarching idea is to make Government Agencies and Government budgets work more efficiently for the people.
9. The impact of our Ease of Doing Business work is gradually being felt by businesses small and large; its successful take-off has allowed us to follow up with the MSME Clinics -our Small  Business support programme, which has taken us so far to Aba, Sokoto, Jos, Katsina, and we expect to be in  all other states in due course.
10. Let me note, at this point, that several of our Initiatives are targeted at our young people, who make up most of our population. From N-Power, to the Technology Hubs being developed nationwide, to innovation competitions such as the Aso Villa Demo Day, and our various MSME support schemes, we will do everything to nurture the immense innovative and entrepreneurial potential of our young people. We are a nation of young people, and we will ensure that our policies and programmes reflect this.
11. One of the highlights of our Power Sector Recovery Programme, which we launched in March, is a N701 billion Naira Payment Assurance Scheme that will resolve the financing bottlenecks that have until now constrained the operations of our gas suppliers and generation companies. Let me assure that you will soon begin to see the positive impact of these steps.
12. Our Solid Minerals Development Fund has also now taken off, in line with our commitment to developing the sector. Because of our unerring focus on Solid Minerals development over the last two years, the sector has, alongside Agriculture, seen impressive levels of growth – in spite of the recession.
13. On the whole, just as the President promised in the Budget Speech, these early months of 2017 have seen the flowering of the early fruit of all the hard work of our first eighteen months.
14. We opened the year with an overwhelmingly successful Eurobond Offer – evidence of continuing investor interest in Nigeria. We have also launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020, to build on the gains of last year’s Strategic Implementation Plan. And the implementation of our 2017 Budget, which will soon be signed into law, will bring added impetus to our ongoing economic recovery. In the 2016 Budget we spent 1.2 Trillion Naira on infrastructure projects, another milestone in the history of this country. Our 2017 Budget will double that investment.
15. That budget also provides for substantial investment to implement the rollout of Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), as well as our Social Housing Programme. The Industrial Parks and Economic Zones will fulfill our ambition of making Nigeria a manufacturing hub, while the Family Home Fund of our  Social Housing Programme will provide inexpensive mortgages for low-income individuals and families across the country.
16. These plans offer yet more evidence that we are ramping up the pace of work; the work of fulfilling all that we promised. In the next two years we will build on the successes of the last two. We have demonstrated a willingness to learn from our mistakes and to improve on our successes. The critical points that we must address fully in the next two years are : Agriculture and food security, Energy, (power and Petroleum,) Industrialization and Transport infrastructure. Every step of the way we will be working with the private sector,  giving them the necessary incentives and creating an environment to invest and do business.
17. Our vision is for a country that grows what it eats and produces what it consumes. It is for a country that no longer has to import petroleum products, and develops a lucrative petrochemical industry.  Very importantly it is for a country whose fortunes are no longer tied to the price of a barrel of crude, but instead to the boundless talent and energy of its people, young and old, male and female as they invest in diverse areas of the economy.
18. And that vision is also for a country where the wealth of the many will no longer be stolen by or reserved for a few; and where the impunity of corruption – whether in the public or private sectors – will no longer be standard operating practice; a land rid of bandits and terrorists.
19. As citizens you all deserve a country that works, not merely for the rich or connected, but for everyone. And our promise to you is that we will, with your support and cooperation, take every step needed to create that country of our dreams.
20. We also know that this journey will of necessity take time. But we will not succumb to the temptation to take short-cuts that ultimately complicate the journey. We did not find ourselves in crises overnight, and we simply do not expect overnight solutions to our challenges.
21. The most important thing is that we are on the right path, and we will not deviate from it, even in the face of strong temptation to choose temporary gain over long-term benefit. As the President has summed it up: “The old Nigeria is slowly but surely disappearing, and a new era is rising.”
22. And so we commemorate this second anniversary of our administration with confidence and optimism. I firmly believe that we have put the most difficult phase behind us; and we are witnesses to the ever-increasing intensity of the light at the end of the tunnel. We ask for your continued cooperation and support, to enable us realise all our best intentions and ambitions for Nigeria. On our part We will continue to carry you along on this journey, speak to you, explain the challenges, and share our Vision.
23. And while we all daily pre-occupy ourselves with pursuing the Nigerian Dream – which is the desire to better our lives and circumstances vigorously and honestly – it is inevitable that grievances and frustrations will arise from time to time.
24. This is normal. What is not normal, or acceptable, is employing these frustrations as justification for indulging in discrimination or hate speech or hateful conduct of any kind, or for seeking to undermine by violent or other illegal means the very existence of the sovereign entity that has brought us all together as brothers and sisters and citizens.
25. Nigeria belongs to all of us. No one person or group of persons is more important or more entitled than the other in this space that we all call home. And we have a responsibility to live in peace and harmony with one another, to seek peaceful and constitutional means of expressing our wishes and desires, and to resist all who might seek to sow confusion and hatred for their own selfish interests.
26. Before I end this speech, let me ask for your continued prayers for the restoration to full health and strength  and the safe return of our President.
27. I congratulate all of you on today’s commemoration of this important day in the democratic calendar our country. Nigeria is on a journey of greatness, and together we shall arrive at the destination of our dreams.
28. May God bless you all, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. [myad]

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has said that the National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the right kind of leadership qualities that can move Nigeria forward.

Osinbajo, who served as attorney-general and commissioner of justice of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 under the government of Tinubu, said that the then governor appointed him Commissioner without having ever met him in person.

Speaking during an event to mark the 50th Lagos anniversary, the Acting President commended Tinubu for taking cognisance of the diversity of the state while forming his cabinet in 1999, saying: “I did not and I had never met Bola Tinubu before I was appointed commissioner and that says a lot about the kind of individual that he is.

“This is the kind of thinking that makes nations great; that is the kind of thinking that would make Nigeria great. A type of thinking that considers all of our diverse talents; a kind of thinking that does not allow parochialism; a kind of thinking that does not allow us to say anywhere belongs to only a set of people. That is when our country would be truly great.” [myad]