Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is becoming embarrassing that Nigeria has now become sitting duck to Boko Haram terrorist attacks, even as he asked the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to change gear by introducing more proactive and effective security strategies to contain the menace of terrorism in the country. Buhari, who was reacting to the latest terrorist attack on Baga in Borno State in which thousands of people were reported to have been slaughtered, said in a statement today in Enugu that it was high time the federal government reviewed its counter-terrorism strategies. He emphasised that he was embarrassed by the fact that Nigeria has now become sitting duck to terrorist attacks, which occur almost daily even as he regretted the fact that the poor victims of these frequent terrorist attacks have been abandoned to their fate. According to him, the security, welfare and the happiness of the citizens is the basic function of any government, adding that a situation where the citizens are helplessly living with the spectre of terrorist attacks contradicts these basic functions. “On our way back from campaigning in two states in South Eastern Nigeria, we were informed of the unspeakable massacre that took place in Baga earlier Thursday. I have since called Governor Shettima to express my sympathies over the dastardly incident. He has promised to appraise me of the evolving situation. “Our hearts go out to the families who have lost their loved ones in this horrific, cowardly manner. Just a few days ago, whilst campaigning in Bayelsa State, I made my views on the insecurity that has plagued our country clear. I repeat, Allahu Akbar, means ‘God is Great.’ “So people who go around slaughtering their fellow menfolk and womenfolk clearly don’t know what they are saying or don’t believe it. No true religion subscribes to the wanton killing of the innocent. Islam is not a violent religion and it is devastating that people whose hearts are full of hate continue to claim to be Muslims. “I make bold to say this: Nigeria has become a place where people no longer feel safe, where the armed forces have neither the weapons nor the government support required to do an effective job of protecting Nigerian citizens and their property. As a trained military man and administrator, come May 2015, the safety of each and every Nigerian life will be a priority. This scourge, this season of death must be brought to a complete stop. I sincerely believe that Nigerians deserve better than this. “Again, we pray for the souls of the dearly departed, and sympathize with those whose lives will now never be the same.” General Buhari noted that the strategy of waiting to be attacked by the terrorists before attempting to repel them is not working. “What is wrong in taking the war to the terrorist’s camp before they even organize and attack?” the retired General and presidential candidate asked. According to him, disorganizing, disrupting and destroying their infrastructures was an essential strategy to weaken the terrorists. While condoling the victims of the latest terrorist attacks on Baga, the APC presidential flag bearer said the Jonathan government must reassure Nigerians that they are safe. [myad]
The Diaspora Support Group for General Muhammadu Buhari/Yemi Osibajo’s ticket for the February Presidential election under All Progressives Congress (APC) has swung into action to mobilize support for the electoral victory of the duo. The group said today that its immediate drive is to arouse the interest of the larger Nigerian communities in the Diaspora to engage in the process of tackling the apparent apathy by voters in Nigeria from obtaining their Permanent Voters Card (PVC). “In the limited window before the election proper, Nigerians in the Diaspora of all persuasions are being urged to talk to their relatives, friends and associates in Nigeria to take every step to obtain their PVC, where they were previously registered and have the temporary voters’ card. Those that not presently registered, particularly the ones that have just come of voting age, must be encouraged to go and register. “That done, our appeal is that they express their desire for better Nigeria by voting the acclaimed change platform: APC, led by the GMB/Osibajo Presidential Ticket.” A statement signed by Professor Tony Ike Isama and Issa Odidi for the group in the USA, Toronto, Canada, Washington/DC, UK and other European countries said that General Buhari acolytes and supporters in the Diaspora are promoting the virtues and suitability of the GMB/Osibajo candidacy to their host countries in North America – USA/CANADA, Europe, the ECOWAS Region, South Africa, China and Southeast Asia. The Group said Buhari and Osinbajo have appealed for and continue to appeal for issues based campaign abhorred of violence, saying that peaceful non-violence elections will allow law abiding citizens to freely exercise their franchise in a peaceful atmosphere. It said that Coordinated effort of various supporters and friends of the GMB are in consonance with organized APC Chapters in the Diaspora. The Group is also seeking for financial support which should be directed to the official Account Name: Buhari Support Organization; Acct No.2026724405; Bank: FIRST BANK PLC; Sorte Code: 011150000. “We look to deploying the same synergized Diaspora support energies employed in the successful prosecution of this campaign in the consequent opportunity and process of organizing and forming a Government of renewal and regeneration, the change we collectively desire in our motherland, Nigeria.” [myad]
Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has been conferred with the title of Ogbuagu1 (The Lion Killer) of Aba by Enyi of Aba in Abia state. General Buhari was honoured with Ogbuagu 1 title today by a traditional ruler, the Enyi Of Aba. The APC Presidential flag bearer and his campaign team are currently in Abia state pushing forward his message of change in Nigeria. [myad]
One of Nigeria’s admired comedians, BasketMouth, has said that some Nigerian comedians, musicians and other entertainers are full of lies about their status.
According to the comedian, some celebrities display fake wealth on social media just to get instant attention from the various platforms.
BasketMouth illustrated an example of how these celebs go around car dealers’ shops and take photographs of themselves with the cars as if they are buying such cars.
The comedian mocked the various media platforms that fall prey of these celebs antiques explaining that since it is the trend, he is also going to give it a shot to see how the media operates. [myad]
“I was sitting on money (as a civil servant) but I never for once thought about stealing from the system. But in my old age when I am supposed to be enjoying the fruit of my labour, it is the system that is now robbing me of happiness. I deserve better than this.”
These where the words of almost 91 year old Oke-Igbo, Ondo State-born grandfather, Pa Jacob Kehinde Babajide who started his working life in the accounts department of the now defunct Post and Telegrams under the Ministry of Communications on July 10, 1950.
Babajide “said that while he was in service, he was not looking forward to this type of treatment because he didn’t do any funny act, saying: “I worked as honest as possible. This was not the type of reward I was looking ahead to while I was still working.
“I give glory to God that I had been a Christian before I joined the service and I was honest throughout my time there. I was not like other people who would go to meet the senior men and be doing eye service, no. I simply concentrated on my job.
“I am a Christian and in all things, God says I should give thanks. That I sleep and wake up, I thank God. I go to bed smoothly and He wakes me up full of energy. I am really grateful to God,” he said.
Nonagenarian said that nobody had given him any reason for stopping his pension, adding: “I just noticed that I didn’t get alert from the bank anymore. There is this lady I used to contact at the pension office; she was the one who helped me before they paid me some arrears till August 2010. Since then, I haven’t heard anything.
“When I contacted her again, she said I should bring the copy of my pay slip from the bank. I sent it to her, then she phoned back saying I should bring my first letter of appointment which I received on July 10, 1950. Don’t you see they don’t want to pay the money? Where on earth do they expect me to get the letter? If you calculate very well, I got that letter about 64 years ago.
“It’s been a fairly long time since I left service in 1985 and the people preparing the allowances would have thought that I am dead especially when they look at my age. It is something I know people who pay pension do very well. They would say this man must have died, so let us not pay the money into his account anymore, and they now divert it to their personal accounts.
“So, I am sure they must be paying my pension regularly into one of their accounts thinking that I am dead by now at almost 91. I am not surprised that this type of thing is happening. It is not as if government stopped my pension but somebody is paying it into another person’s account thinking that I am dead. [myad]
Sir, I know this missive from me to you is at a risk. I am aware of the fatwa issued by your very passionate aide that anyone who engages in any communication that is perceived as disrespectful to your person shall be arrested. This aide had once ennobled you to the status of Jesus Christ; there is undoubtedly so much veneration of your person! I am also aware of the immense pressure you are in to allow the Directorate of Security Services (DSS) deal, with utter ruthlessness, anyone that is not favourably disposed to your continued reign on the Throne. The Nigeria Police Force, according to the Police Act in section 9(4)&(5) and also the constitution in Section 215 (3), is under your operational control! All these powers can make any Human being assume oracular status.
I am therefore aware of your venerated position as the Principality in the Nigerian nation space. This fact is not lost on me that, in terms of what you are capable of doing (with impunity), you are more powerful than the president of the United States of America! Sir, you will now appreciate the ambivalence I struggled with to finally write this letter to you. I look back into our recent history and, with relish, remember the late Anglican Arch-bishop, Rt. Revd. Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye. He is fondly remembered for his many letters to the Late Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha. It was a period of extreme human rights’ abuses and inconceivable cloud of darkness over the land. But in extreme show of inimitable courage, this cleric pushed through his letters. In one of the letters, he admonished the military junta thus: “Don’t ‘sergeant Doe’ yourself!” Suffice to say that, at this time, men had their courage failing them and would prefer to keep sealed lips to the atrocities in the land. It was at that time that the Junta planned to transmute from a military President to a civilian president. All the five political parties in the land had surrendered to the Junta’s suzerainty over them. Needless to say that Sergeant Doe died after he failed to see the need to read the times correctly.
Let me hit at the point directly now. You came into the office of the President, first by default in May 2010 when your predecessor and Boss, President Umar Musa-Yar’adua, died in office. There was a tiny cabal –comprising of the close associates of the former – that attempted to block your being acknowledged as Acting President. There was unity among the divers peoples of Nigeria to fight that injustice. I remember that, on 14th January, 2010, General Muhammadu Buhari, together with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, submitted a letter to the Senate President for your being sworn in as acting President. After becoming substantive president by default, you started pummeling your enemies, the little but powerful cabal, that once delayed your appointment as acting President, with very insidious ethno-religious propaganda.
Being the first Southern Minority to seek the highest political office in the land, you preyed on these sentiments, coupled with some political gerrymandering as the incumbent president, you won convincingly at the 2011 presidential polls. That was the crescendo of your popularity among the Nigerian people. Suddenly, you started taking very unpopular actions that estranged you from the people. Ex-militants started having more unfettered access to you than official aides and ministers of state. Aside spending (without appropriation) $16 Billion on fuel subsidy, your New Year message to Nigerians (after your election) was a 150% hike in the cost of fuel. It took widespread protests by the people before the hike was reduced to 49%. Of course, this reduction did not prevent the spiraling inflation on goods and services in the land. You started showing hubristic dispositions to matters of corruption with your body language tacitly approving the deafening spate of shady deals by your cabinet members. You promised to employ a sizeable number of our youths in your electioneering campaign in 2011. Nigerian Immigration Service (under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior) brought out advertisement for Job vacancies. The first thing was that, away from the previous practice before your administration, the Immigration department was blanked out of the recruitment process by the ministry of Interior. Furthermore, each applicant was charged one thousand naira. Eventually, the Ministry bungled the process and caused the death of nineteen young Nigerians, whose only iniquity was that they were unemployed. Despite the hoopla that was made, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, is still sitting pretty in his position with no form of recrimination. We were told that Mr. Moro was introduced to your cabinet by a powerful ally, whose friendship you are willing to subsume your responsibility to the Nigerian people for. Our constitutional provisions provide for oversight function of the National Assembly with a view to gauging compliance with appropriation law. But with utter disdain for the rule of law, members of your cabinet have, lately, spurned invitations by the Federal Law makers. You have as your media aides a band of spin doctors with adversarial disposition. The critique of your administration by Citizens was often shot down with cruelty. No Nigerian, however respected, is spared the literary assault of your men in the defense of your administration. It is often said that it is iniquitous to beat a baby and forbid same from crying. Indeed, your policies and actions have drawn anguish in our souls; we are forbidden from crying out because your aides are also around to refuse our tears from being visible to you. For more than six months, over hundred and fifty school girls disappeared from the love of their parents because Terrorists abducted them. Initially, you tried to debunk the story and tried hard to suppress it. The reality of the situation is that the last Christmas was bleak for the families of these girls because, as the Yoruba say “it is better to report of a dead child than a missing child.” On the score of protecting our lives, we are not sure of your commitment to this as the President/Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces. The other day, there was a massive bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja. You visited the sight and showed a mournful, sardonic look when you saw the gory sight of splattered blood and dismembered bodies of the dead at the bombing site. Some of us started changing our minds that, ‘at last, there will be some commitment to the prosecution of the war on terror.’ But we were dead wrong; the day following, you were in Kano in an illegal campaign rally and dancing deliriously with no iota of sobriety for the pains of the people you are leading. What befuddled many watchers was that you did not order postponement of the event because of the unfortunate act of terror in the land then. The question is: would you show such insensitivity if any of your close relations was involved in that tragic incident in Nyanya? I recall that about a week ago, you lost your younger sister; the earlier schedule for the inauguration of your Presidential campaign committee was shifted by one day! Sir, let me freely share with you a piece of information: in December, 2012, the acolytes of General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) were putting together arrangements for his 70th Birthday party on the 17th December, 2012. Indeed, Bishop Matthew Hazzan Kukah was already contacted as the guest speaker; caterers had been contacted and mobilized. Suddenly, the former Kaduna Governor, Mr Patrick Yakowa and the former National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi, were involved in a fatal helicopter crash in Bayelsa state. General Buhari cancelled the Birthday lecture in a manner that portrayed the true statesmanlike spirit in him!
Sir, having been boxed into a cocoon by your making, you have now found it necessary to come out to seek out the same Nigerian people you do not ‘give a damn’ about their welfare. Why? It is time for another election! Unfortunately, the overwhelming opinion among the people is that you have failed in discharging your responsibilities as the President to them in the last four years. In this period, however, a former Nigerian leader (with antecedents of patriotic love for the fatherland) had sold himself to the people. In the various geo-political zones of the country, there is growing popularity of this Patriot. His name is General Muhammadu Buhari. The latest endorsement of his candidacy came from an unexpected source – the heart of the south East- and from a Christian cleric. This is symptomatic of the damaging bruises of disappointments that the Nigerian people (irrespective of tribe and religion) have suffered in the last four years under your administration.
Sir, please, let me draw a parallel of your stewardship with that of the former Ivorien President, Mr. Laurent Gbagbo. Like you, he is well educated as a Historian and with knowledge of physics and Chemistry. In 2000, he became President of Ivory coast through popular will of the people. But in 2010, he would not allow the will of the same people to be entrenched in an election in which his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, was adjured the winner. He was egged on by aides and his wife to refuse to accept the people’s verdict. As a historian, he failed to be guided by the lessons of history on leaders that chose such perilous paths. He plunged his country into needless civil strife through vain ambition. His wife, Simone Gbagbo, will now face charges of crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, Laurent Gbagbo and an associate, Charles Ble Goude, are already in the ICC’s detention center in the Netherlands. The three, for their selfish profiting, plunged the country into a civil war in which 3,000 people died. All these happened because Mr. Laurent Gbagbo became too enamoured with the alluring vanities of Power and did not know when to rein in his insatiable lust for power and the overbearing influence of his alter ego.
Sir, I have freely shared this story with you because, despite your mistakes in the governance of our country, you are still at the threshold of history. You have an obligation to yourself and the entire Nation to allow the democratic will of the people to be freely expressed and respected at the February 14, 2015 presidential election. Generations of Nigerians shall speak fairly about you as the President who truly allowed the entrenchment of deep democratic values in the country by simply travelling back to his home town after he losing an election. Indeed, there is a greater weight of glory that this statesmanlike disposition confers on you than being a second term chief of state! Undoubtedly, history beckons on you as you resist all temptations to tamper with the will of the people. You are aware that Nigeria has become the cynosure of all eyes for its strategic importance in the African region. The global community is desirous of a peaceful, free, fair and credible election in Nigeria.
Let me thank you for your attention Sir. May God bless you more and more Sir. [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan has debunked General Buhari’s belief that proliferation of ownership of private jets in Nigeria is a sign of corruption, saying that rather, it is a sign that poverty is not so bad. Jonathan, whose main theme of his campaign speech as his campaign train stormed Enugu today said that contrary to Buhari’s belief that Nigerians should be termed as corrupt just because they own private jets is in bad taste. To him, he said, the fact that many Nigerians own private jets is a positive sign that poverty is not so bad in the country. The President said that the best way to fight corruption in Nigeria is through technology. You must deny Nigerian officials access to funds and not throwing people into prisons. He challenged Buhari for saying he would send corrupt people to Kirikiri Prisons if he becomes President, adding that it was the same way he sent people to ludicrous prisons, went to sleep and the economy collapsed under him before his colleagues overthrew him as Head of State. He said that Buhari is not interested in becoming President for the purpose of moving the country forward but to be able to fight real and perceived enemies with state power. According to Jonathan, the best way to fight corruption was not to arrest people indiscriminately, show them on screen and clamp them to jail, adding that by strengthening institutions, his administration had eliminated corruption in agriculture and civil service. He advised Nigerians, especially those voting for the first time, to reject Buhari who he said wasn’t in touch with modern reality, rule of law, principle of separation of powers and other tenets of democracy. The President reminded the crowd that Buhari was not a friend of the Igbos, as Head of State, saying that he jailed Late Biafra leader, Chukwuemeka Okukwu, former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, former Anambra governor, Jim Nwobodo (both of whom were in the stadium), former Imo governor, Sam Mbakwe and other Igbo leaders over trumped up charges. President Jonathan also called on Nigerian women to reject Buhari, saying when he was Head of State, there was no woman in his cabinet. Jonathan asked Buhari to go back to the ‘foreign consultants’ who told him he could use the issues of corruption and economy to deceive Nigerians for them to coach him properly. He added that it was not enough for Buhari to say he would fix economy and change the face of agriculture without explaining how he intended to do that. The President wondered if Buhari was going to bring a better manager of the economy than Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, who he said almost became World Bank president. “Buhari says he wants to change agriculture, they are not telling us how? Are they changing it from hi-tech to the old system my grandmother used to operate? “How will they improve the economy? They are not telling us. They didn’t improve the economy in any way when they held power between 1983 and 1985. “Government is not about using state power to fight enemies. Somebody wants to take over government because he believes he has enemies at local and international levels that he wants to crush and jail. “Our own war against indiscipline will be instilled in the minds of Nigerians. We shall salvage Nigeria with deeper commitment and genuine sincerity. We will run Nigeria with global best practice, not like in the medieval era. “Is Jim Nwobodo or Alex Ekwueme corrupt? Were they not jailed? One of them was even jailed for 301 years. We won’t fight corruption that way. “We have ended corruption in fertilizer distribution. We will end corruption systematically, not by arresting people, showing them on screen and jailing them. You threw people into Kirikiri, went to sleep and the economy collapsed, you were thrown out and you are back to tell Nigerians the same thing. “Buhari is deceiving you. They deceived you before only to come and start jailing everybody. Is that the country we want to run? He jailed real and perceived enemies. The idea of throwing people into Kirikiri will not work. They should say something else or should tell us how they will fight corruption.” Jonathan said that if he is re-elected, his administration will put structures in place to ensure that Nigerian youths visit the moon and begin to build aircraft soon. Jonathan said that the new Terminal building of the Akanu Ibiam Internal Airport, which he had earlier inspected, would be completed in less than 18 months. He made reference to the government’s automobile policy, which has revived the sector, adding that he had fixed a lot of road projects and carried out several irrigation projects in the southeast. The President reiterated his commitment to free and fair election and ensuring all eligible Nigerians are allowed to vote. Chairman of the Jonathan/ Sambo campaign organisation, Colonel Ahmadu Ali had earlier urged Nigerians to reject a man who had truncated democracy in the past. [myad]
Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has made it clear to his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign organisation, Garba Shehu that he cannot teach him how to do his job for which he being paid. Garba Shehu had cautioned Fani-Kayode against attack on the person of the Presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari but that the two parties should focus on issues. Fani-Kayode, in reaction to Shehu’s position said that it was not in Shehu’s place to teach him how to do his job. “It is not for the spokesperson of the APC or the spokesman of the presidential campaign of General Buhari to tell me what to do or how to do my job. I would do my job the way I see fit. “I believe General Buhari himself is an issue. He is just one of the many issues because you have a man that has told the world his intentions for Nigeria, whether it will be that he wants to spread Sharia throughout the country, whether it would be he wants to tamper with the secularity of the state, whether it would be that he believes that Moslem should only vote for Moslems, whether it would be that he believes that an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the North.” Fani-Kayode went on to query the relationship between Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) as well as Boko Haram and the All Progressives Congess (APC) with its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. Fani-Kayode threw the poser in Abuja against the backdrop of the purported endorsement by MEND of General Buhari’s presidential candidacy on the APC platform. He said that Buhari’s comments about insurgency in Nigeria were worrisome and that his endorsement by MEND, a discredited militia group, should also give Nigerians and the international community great concerns. The PDP Presidential Campaign spokesperson said with the way events are curiously unfolding, it would not come as a surprise if Boko Haram group equally publicly endorses General Buhari and the APC. “it is important for Nigerians to take another look at General Buhari’s comments about Boko Haram and the way he has encouraged Boko Haram group. “It is on public record that Buhari had announced to the whole world that it was unfair and unjust for the Boko Haram to be tackled after having killed over 20,000 innocent Nigerians, mostly women and children; burn homes and destroyed communities. “It is also on record that Buhari has severally and consistently criticized government for protecting Nigerians against the attacks of Boko Haram and has gleefully announced that government forces should stop attacking th Boko Haram, and in fact, should treat them like the Niger Delta militants; in other words, rehabilitate them, grant them amnesty and pay them every month, concluding that any attack on the Boko Haram sect was a declaration of war on the people of Northern Nigeria.” This, according to Fani-Kayode, brings us to the question of the true nature of Buhari’s relationship with this terrorist group and its international affiliates. He further stated that the APC’s presidential spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, whom he described as a friend, had supported Buhari by stating that the proscription of Boko Haram by Federal Government after they had murdered 20,000 Nigerians in cold blood was unjust and unconstitutional. “I think it is relevant and something of interest for all Nigerians and the members of the international community to begin to ask questions about the nexus between Boko Haram, MEND and all these terrorist organizations that find it easy to kill people and the leading opposition presidential candidate and the APC. “This is the question Nigerians should seek answers to because insecurity is one of the fundamental issues of the campaign for the office of president and Nigerians must be wary of any person seeking to be president and has such public sympathy for terrorist organisations in spite of the obvious damages that they inflicted on the country.” Fani-Kayode also said that the disclosure on Thursday by President Goodluck Jonathan that some Nigerians hired MEND leader, Henry Okah, who masterminded the October 1, 2015, to kill him was not late in coming. According to him, “I think it is better late than never; perhaps if it has been exposed at that time, the implications would have been not so good because it would have created more tension in the land. “The most important thing is that this is a government and a president that is quite open that tells Nigerians what they ought to know at the right time. There is no question about the fact on October 1 on that particular year, there was a bomb; the president was meant to actually appear at that venue, but luckily for him and luckily for us, he did not turn up there and this bomb went off and people were killed. “It is self-evident even from those facts alone that it was an attempt on the president; people could have put two and two together at that time and got four. It wasn’t really for the president to say so but now, it is relevant simply because this same organization that wanted to kill your president, our president, the president of the leading nation of the African continent and the president of the nation that is seen by many as the hope of the black man on the planet, four years later that same organization is endorsing General Buhari, a man that wants to take his seat. You put two and two together, it becomes four; it doesn’t become five and I will let you work out what is going on.” [myad]
Campaign Organization of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari has accused President Goodluck Jonathan and Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of stealing major part of the maiden speech of General Ibrahim Babangida who overthrew Buhari in 1985 when he addressed party supporters in Lagos on Thursday. President Jonathan, Buhari campaign organization said: “spent valuable time reading copiously excerpts from the maiden speech of General Ibrahim Babangida who overthrew Buhari in 1985. “Nigerians do not expect a political commentary from President Jonathan of a nearly 30 year old speech delivered to the nation by IBB.” In a statement issued in Abuja today, the APC campaign organisation said that President has been double-speaking. It recalled that President Jonathan had earlier urged that parties and candidates dwell on issues agitating the minds of Nigerians and how these can be solved, and, in another breath, during his campaign outings in Enugu and Lagos, the President has been exactly the opposite. The statement which was signed by Mallam Garba Shehu, Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign noted that at the PDP Lagos campaign flag-off and at Enugu, rather than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria telling the people of Nigeria watching on television and those at the campaign venue what he has achieved and what he intends to do differently, the second-term seeking President Jonathan spent valuable time reading copiously excerpts from the maiden speech of General Ibrahim Babangida who overthrew Buhari in 1985. “What Nigerians expect to hear among others is what he has achieved in the last six years and why corruption still remains endemic and the economy in shambles.” The campaign organization asked if the passive speeches from President Jonathan were what the country needed to free the Chibok girls, strengthen the Naira, pay salaries of civil servants, stop the industrial stealing of crude oil or ensure the safety and security of Nigerians. The APC Campaign lamented that after six years of Jonathan administration, the nation is still gripped by pervasive insecurity, aggravated unemployment notably among the youths. “If the youths are so dear to him as the President has claimed, whatever happened to the tens of thousands who lined up for the Nigeria Immigration Services recruitment with several of them losing their lives over which no one has taken responsibility and the Minister is still at his job. Even the automatic employment promised to the injured and relations of the deceased still remain a mirage. “President Jonathan should be reminded that the February 14 presidential election is a referendum on his lacklustre leadership,” the statement said. According to the APC Campaign, General Buhari’s will re-enact zero tolerance for corruption, ensure leadership integrity and national discipline, values that are alien to the Jonathan’s administration. “Claims that General Buhari will jail the corrupt are utter falsehood. As President, Buhari will allow due process to prevail. “The decision of conviction and imprisonment will remain in exclusive preserve of the court. A president Buhari will not meddle in court decisions, he will abide by the constitution in all cases. He will not cut deals to see corrupt people walk out of prosecution. “In today’s visionless and rudderless and corruption-ridden Nigeria under Jonathan’s watch, the aforementioned issues and the transparent and honest way Muhammadu Buhari dealt with them in the past is what the Nigerian people yearn for and for which they want Buhari back in the saddle.” The APC Campaign reminded President Jonathan that no amount of anger and fear of losing office as exhibited by him in his campaign outings so far can reverse the tide of the impending change, whose time has come. [myad]
Over six weeks after the larger segment of the nation’s medical personnel that make Nigeria’s health sector bubble, embarked on nation-wide sit-at-home strike, and the federal government appears to be foot-dragging, the acting Chief Medical Director of the Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Professor Chris Bode has captured the situation in these few words: “one day of a strike is a loss of so many things, not only lives, but health to people.” In essence, this is what the nation has been thrown into and, Nigerians in their hundreds are dying silently in their various homes even as the health sector headed for the abyss. Health workers, under the canopy of Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) comprising nurses, physiotherapists, medical laboratory scientists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, optometrists, dieticians, medical social workers and clinical psychologists, embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike on November 12 over issues relating to appointments and relativity in federal health care institutions. Since November 12, it has been a tale of sufferings for the populace, especially those who cannot afford the bills charged in private hospitals. A relative of a patient on admission in one of the government hospitals said that his sister was operated on just before the strike but that since the health workers began to sit-at-home, nobody was available to do the dressing of the point of opening. “She had an appendicitis operation but had not fully healed when the health workers started their strike. Doctors have been checking her but she is not getting all the dressing she needs, so I will be taking her out of the hospital to a private clinic.” For those who cannot afford the services of a private hospital, the situation is much tougher. While some have resorted to patronizing quacks, road-side patent medicine stores and chemists, and indulging in self-medication, others visit spiritual houses and some others prefer to stay at home with hopes that the strike would be called off soon enough. Not many live to see the lingering muscle-flexing between the health workers and the almighty government. Across the country, there is a frightening development in which patients are not being admitted for medical attention, except in special circumstance, for emergency cases. Even at that, after being stabilized, patients that are attended to in emergency are discharged and shut out of further treatments. Only a very negligible few continue further treatment in private hospitals that charge cut-throat prices. As a matter of fact, the common thing that runs in many poverty-ridden homes across the country now is the resort to local management of the sick persons, hundreds of who die in the process. This is as the nation’s health workers idle away at home because the government, more appropriately, the President of the country, has chosen to ignore them, treating the health of Nigerians with neglect and high level of levity. Some of the demands of health workers which led to the declaration of an indefinite nationwide strike after the meeting of National Executive Council (NEC) of the union on August 30th, 2014 at Asokoro District Hospital are: i. Adjustment of CONHESS salary as done for the NMA in the same sector. ii. Payment of Arrears on skipping of CONHESS 10 since year 2010. iii. Promotion of our members from CONHESS 14 to 15 for over ten years. iv. Appointment of our members as Chief Medical Directors. v. Abolition of the post of Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee. vi. Immediate circularization of retirement age of Healthcare workers from 60 to 65 years. vii. Immediate payment of arrears of Specialist allowance to all Hospital based Healthcare Professionals who possess relevant post graduate qualification, that is, MSc, Phd or post graduate fellowship who have attained the Consultant grade level 14 in the public service or CONHESS 13 in the Teaching Hospital sector and above. viii. Immediate release of circular amending the extant circular for Medical Laboratory Scientists Interns to include post NYSC placement on grade level 09 step 2 and the upgrading of stale Officers across board. ix. Others. And since the strike began, the union’s leadership and federal government representatives were said to have held series of meetings, including the ones of 15th October, 2014, 9th November, 2014, 13th November, 2014, 19th November, 2014, 15th December, 2014 and 22nd December, 2014. In all these meetings, the only progress said to have been made is the decision of the Federal Government to re-calculate the financial implication of the proposed salary adjustment of workers salary on CONHESS structure as against the one they did in April, 2014. The Minister of Labour and Productivity who presided over the 22nd December 2014 meeting promised the aggrieved health workers that he would meet the President to receive approval leading to the issuance of circular on the said matter. And, more than two weeks after such promise by the minister, nothing has come out of the government to indicate that a way out of the logjam has been found. As a matter of fact, it looks as if the campaigns for elections in February this year have now overwhelmed the President and relevant government functionaries, so much that the health sector of the nation has been pushed to the background. How, for God sake, can the government be so callous that it feels virtually comfortable with a situation where the essential health workers stay out of work for more than six weeks and hundreds of its citizens are dying in silence? That the situation seems not to bother the leadership speaks volume about the character and personalities that are in the driving seat. We in Greenbarge Reporters, are very sad about the situation, especially as poor masses are dying in silence in their hundreds daily for the levity with which the leaders are treating their health matters. We don’t want to believe that President Goodluck Jonathan is inadvertently waiting for the politicians in opposition to come breathing down his neck again on how to handle the issue with the urgency it deserves: the move that the President would ascribe again to playing politics with the health of the citizenry. [myad]
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Letter To My President: By All Means, Please Avoid A ‘Gbagbo’ Treatment! By Rotimi Fashakin
Sir, I know this missive from me to you is at a risk. I am aware of the fatwa issued by your very passionate aide that anyone who engages in any communication that is perceived as disrespectful to your person shall be arrested. This aide had once ennobled you to the status of Jesus Christ; there is undoubtedly so much veneration of your person! I am also aware of the immense pressure you are in to allow the Directorate of Security Services (DSS) deal, with utter ruthlessness, anyone that is not favourably disposed to your continued reign on the Throne. The Nigeria Police Force, according to the Police Act in section 9(4)&(5) and also the constitution in Section 215 (3), is under your operational control! All these powers can make any Human being assume oracular status.
I am therefore aware of your venerated position as the Principality in the Nigerian nation space. This fact is not lost on me that, in terms of what you are capable of doing (with impunity), you are more powerful than the president of the United States of America! Sir, you will now appreciate the ambivalence I struggled with to finally write this letter to you. I look back into our recent history and, with relish, remember the late Anglican Arch-bishop, Rt. Revd. Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye. He is fondly remembered for his many letters to the Late Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha. It was a period of extreme human rights’ abuses and inconceivable cloud of darkness over the land. But in extreme show of inimitable courage, this cleric pushed through his letters. In one of the letters, he admonished the military junta thus: “Don’t ‘sergeant Doe’ yourself!” Suffice to say that, at this time, men had their courage failing them and would prefer to keep sealed lips to the atrocities in the land. It was at that time that the Junta planned to transmute from a military President to a civilian president. All the five political parties in the land had surrendered to the Junta’s suzerainty over them. Needless to say that Sergeant Doe died after he failed to see the need to read the times correctly.
Let me hit at the point directly now. You came into the office of the President, first by default in May 2010 when your predecessor and Boss, President Umar Musa-Yar’adua, died in office. There was a tiny cabal –comprising of the close associates of the former – that attempted to block your being acknowledged as Acting President. There was unity among the divers peoples of Nigeria to fight that injustice. I remember that, on 14th January, 2010, General Muhammadu Buhari, together with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, submitted a letter to the Senate President for your being sworn in as acting President. After becoming substantive president by default, you started pummeling your enemies, the little but powerful cabal, that once delayed your appointment as acting President, with very insidious ethno-religious propaganda.
Being the first Southern Minority to seek the highest political office in the land, you preyed on these sentiments, coupled with some political gerrymandering as the incumbent president, you won convincingly at the 2011 presidential polls. That was the crescendo of your popularity among the Nigerian people. Suddenly, you started taking very unpopular actions that estranged you from the people. Ex-militants started having more unfettered access to you than official aides and ministers of state. Aside spending (without appropriation) $16 Billion on fuel subsidy, your New Year message to Nigerians (after your election) was a 150% hike in the cost of fuel. It took widespread protests by the people before the hike was reduced to 49%. Of course, this reduction did not prevent the spiraling inflation on goods and services in the land. You started showing hubristic dispositions to matters of corruption with your body language tacitly approving the deafening spate of shady deals by your cabinet members. You promised to employ a sizeable number of our youths in your electioneering campaign in 2011. Nigerian Immigration Service (under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior) brought out advertisement for Job vacancies. The first thing was that, away from the previous practice before your administration, the Immigration department was blanked out of the recruitment process by the ministry of Interior. Furthermore, each applicant was charged one thousand naira. Eventually, the Ministry bungled the process and caused the death of nineteen young Nigerians, whose only iniquity was that they were unemployed. Despite the hoopla that was made, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, is still sitting pretty in his position with no form of recrimination. We were told that Mr. Moro was introduced to your cabinet by a powerful ally, whose friendship you are willing to subsume your responsibility to the Nigerian people for. Our constitutional provisions provide for oversight function of the National Assembly with a view to gauging compliance with appropriation law. But with utter disdain for the rule of law, members of your cabinet have, lately, spurned invitations by the Federal Law makers. You have as your media aides a band of spin doctors with adversarial disposition. The critique of your administration by Citizens was often shot down with cruelty. No Nigerian, however respected, is spared the literary assault of your men in the defense of your administration. It is often said that it is iniquitous to beat a baby and forbid same from crying. Indeed, your policies and actions have drawn anguish in our souls; we are forbidden from crying out because your aides are also around to refuse our tears from being visible to you. For more than six months, over hundred and fifty school girls disappeared from the love of their parents because Terrorists abducted them. Initially, you tried to debunk the story and tried hard to suppress it. The reality of the situation is that the last Christmas was bleak for the families of these girls because, as the Yoruba say “it is better to report of a dead child than a missing child.” On the score of protecting our lives, we are not sure of your commitment to this as the President/Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces. The other day, there was a massive bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja. You visited the sight and showed a mournful, sardonic look when you saw the gory sight of splattered blood and dismembered bodies of the dead at the bombing site. Some of us started changing our minds that, ‘at last, there will be some commitment to the prosecution of the war on terror.’ But we were dead wrong; the day following, you were in Kano in an illegal campaign rally and dancing deliriously with no iota of sobriety for the pains of the people you are leading. What befuddled many watchers was that you did not order postponement of the event because of the unfortunate act of terror in the land then. The question is: would you show such insensitivity if any of your close relations was involved in that tragic incident in Nyanya? I recall that about a week ago, you lost your younger sister; the earlier schedule for the inauguration of your Presidential campaign committee was shifted by one day! Sir, let me freely share with you a piece of information: in December, 2012, the acolytes of General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) were putting together arrangements for his 70th Birthday party on the 17th December, 2012. Indeed, Bishop Matthew Hazzan Kukah was already contacted as the guest speaker; caterers had been contacted and mobilized. Suddenly, the former Kaduna Governor, Mr Patrick Yakowa and the former National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi, were involved in a fatal helicopter crash in Bayelsa state. General Buhari cancelled the Birthday lecture in a manner that portrayed the true statesmanlike spirit in him!
Sir, having been boxed into a cocoon by your making, you have now found it necessary to come out to seek out the same Nigerian people you do not ‘give a damn’ about their welfare. Why? It is time for another election! Unfortunately, the overwhelming opinion among the people is that you have failed in discharging your responsibilities as the President to them in the last four years. In this period, however, a former Nigerian leader (with antecedents of patriotic love for the fatherland) had sold himself to the people. In the various geo-political zones of the country, there is growing popularity of this Patriot. His name is General Muhammadu Buhari. The latest endorsement of his candidacy came from an unexpected source – the heart of the south East- and from a Christian cleric. This is symptomatic of the damaging bruises of disappointments that the Nigerian people (irrespective of tribe and religion) have suffered in the last four years under your administration.
Sir, please, let me draw a parallel of your stewardship with that of the former Ivorien President, Mr. Laurent Gbagbo. Like you, he is well educated as a Historian and with knowledge of physics and Chemistry. In 2000, he became President of Ivory coast through popular will of the people. But in 2010, he would not allow the will of the same people to be entrenched in an election in which his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, was adjured the winner. He was egged on by aides and his wife to refuse to accept the people’s verdict. As a historian, he failed to be guided by the lessons of history on leaders that chose such perilous paths. He plunged his country into needless civil strife through vain ambition. His wife, Simone Gbagbo, will now face charges of crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, Laurent Gbagbo and an associate, Charles Ble Goude, are already in the ICC’s detention center in the Netherlands. The three, for their selfish profiting, plunged the country into a civil war in which 3,000 people died. All these happened because Mr. Laurent Gbagbo became too enamoured with the alluring vanities of Power and did not know when to rein in his insatiable lust for power and the overbearing influence of his alter ego.
Sir, I have freely shared this story with you because, despite your mistakes in the governance of our country, you are still at the threshold of history. You have an obligation to yourself and the entire Nation to allow the democratic will of the people to be freely expressed and respected at the February 14, 2015 presidential election. Generations of Nigerians shall speak fairly about you as the President who truly allowed the entrenchment of deep democratic values in the country by simply travelling back to his home town after he losing an election. Indeed, there is a greater weight of glory that this statesmanlike disposition confers on you than being a second term chief of state! Undoubtedly, history beckons on you as you resist all temptations to tamper with the will of the people. You are aware that Nigeria has become the cynosure of all eyes for its strategic importance in the African region. The global community is desirous of a peaceful, free, fair and credible election in Nigeria.
Let me thank you for your attention Sir. May God bless you more and more Sir. [myad]