President Goodluck Jonathan has made it clear that the seat of the president of the country belongs to Nigerians and that only them can decide who occupies the seat at any point in time.
The President who spoke today when he received a delegation from Bayelsa State who paid him a visit as part of the Christmas celebration said he is occupying the Presidential seat by the grace of God and Nigerians, saying that if it is their wish that he should leave the seat, he would do so.
“I am here by the grace of God and the will of Nigerians,” the President stressed, adding that while on the seat, he would continue to do his best for the country.
“If I don’t do well the shame will be on you. I will do my best. I don’t expect praises now. It’s when you leave that people will begin to compare you with others. I will do my best to address all the challenges we are having. I will do my best so that when I leave the people will compare what I have done and what others before me have done. The seat belongs to the country and it is only the country that can decide who occupies it”
President Jonathan predicted: “the new year (2015) is full of challenges. Everywhere will be hot from the 2nd of January.”
The President asked the people of Bayelsa state to pray for the country.
The governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson who led the delegation said that they were in the state house to show solidarity for the president and to express appreciation to Nigerians for supporting President Jonathan thus far.
“We are here to show solidarity and to let everybody know that your people in Bayelsa are with you. It is in the spirit of Christmas that we are here on behalf of the people of Bayelsa to wish you, your government and family compliments of the season and a very happy, prosperous and victorious 2015.
“We bring you prayers and strong message of solidarity. We are here to thank Nigerians for their support for your government.”
At a time when Boko Haram insurgency continues to take a toll on the nation through kidnapping, senseless killings and the destruction of public infrastructure, causing severe damage to the economy and the nation’s well-being, the Federal High Court’s ruling striking down the admission policy of the Federal Ministry of Education has terribly struck a worrying note. By ruling that admissions into UNITY COLLEGES be based purely on high scores and no other considerations, the court has stepped into the complicated terrain of politics, nation-building and individual freedom. Citing some sections of the existing constitution , the high court, presided over by Justice John Tsoho agreed with submissions by a leading lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba that the said admissions policy which prescribes different cut-off points from state to state based on student performances in the National Common Entrance Exams is “null and void.” When the founding fathers of the Nigerian republic were thinking up various mechanism for building a united nation out of the disparate peoples making up the country, two bright ideas that came forth were the establishment of Federal Government Colleges, officially called UNITY COLLEGES and the other, the National Youth Service Corps,the NYSC, forming two formidable building blocks upon which the superstructure of the modern Nigerian state was built. The striking idea of “catching them young,” an expression used to mean the fusion of our young chaps, coming from the background of diversity, gave rise to the establishment of these federal government colleges, giving opportunities to upcoming citizens to get a first-hand experience of living together and sharing experiences. But for this objective, the federal government at the center had no business setting up secondary schools. Looking at country’s laws, they are very clear on this. State governments have, not only the responsibility for secondary schools, but they are by logic and commonsense, best suited to set up and manage such schools. This overriding need for forging our diverse peoples into a common nation being the sole reason for the establishment of the Unity Colleges also gave the basis for an admissions policy which requires that one, there should be one such boys school and a similar one for girls in each state of the federation. Some of such schools are co-educational, allowing a mixture of both sexes. Two, when it comes to their admissions, it is understood that each such school must enrol students representing at least two-thirds of the constituent states of the federation. The goal, as stated earlier, was and still is to unify the nation through the young minds. Unity Schools did not set out to be centers of excellence although this, by a happy coincidence, has turned out to be the case given the quality of the entrants combined with excellence in facilities and instruction. It is mainly on account of this that such schools, among all those set up by governments, have become the first, and possibly the best option for parents seeking character and learning for their children and wards. It is equally imperative to state at this point that despite the many attacks under which this policy had come over time, there is nothing to suggest that Northern children in such schools had either failed to measure up or ran from school. They have, in virtually all cases, risen up to the challenge and coped reasonably well. Many of them have done well in school, breaking records and going into society to accomplish themselves as leaders in industry and governance. Such successful products of Unity Colleges, to randomly cite a few include a guru of the insurance industry, Ahmed Kari, from Bauchi state; a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service, Dr. Amina Muhammed Bello Shamaki from Kebbi, who schooled at Odogbolu in Ogun State; Hassan Musa Usman of the Aso Savings and Loans bank; billionaire Abdul Samad Isiaka Rabiu and his younger brother, an aviator, Rabiu Isiaka Rabiu; Hajia Asabe Bashir; Alhaji Abdul Rahman Shuaib; Alhaji Bello Maccido; Ahmed Dasuki and Hajia Fatia Habibu Shuaibu. Some more that have gone on to distinguish themselves in various professions like the armed services include Admiral Abdullahi Inusa; Air Commodore Hambali Tukur; Professor Mohammed Akanbi; Dr. Garba Tetengi; Alhaji Abubakar Umar Ambursa and Dr. Shuaibu Musa. A second misunderstanding of the admissions policy that may have warranted this judicial assault on the country’s nation-building process is tied to the notion of the cut-off points. Contrary to popular misperceptions, the cut-off is not the highest score in the common entrance exam, but rather a de-notation of the lowest possible mark to be secured to qualify for admissions in order that each state of the federation is able to contribute the allocated number of slots assigned in the bid to federalize the schools. Without meaning to justify low marks against high marks which are preferred in all situations where exams are written, it is equally a fact of our national history that the chap in Yobe, where the western system of education is still being resisted by illiterate parents and the quality and quantity of teachers is in short supply will find it hard to be on an even keel with the candidate in Osun where this system had exited for at least 50 years before it began to make an impact in his/her region. Among the thorny questions before the Colonialists was the question of the protection of religion and culture in Northern Nigeria. The new school was itself brought to these shores by Christian missionaries who made conversion a requirement for admissions. In the North where there had been an established culture, religion and the Qur’anic school system dating back more than a thousand years, there was resistance to the new way of life and to assure that there was a separation between the religion and state, the colonial power back then instituted the system of indirect rule, by which matters of religion and culture were left in the control of traditional authorities. With an overwhelmingly poor and illiterate population, universal free primary education was at one time seen as a great leap to bridge the widening gap between the North and the South. As I mentioned in the column last week, the introduction of the Almajiri schools-appropriately called the Tsangaya Schools-under the Jonathan administration- and for which they won the admiration of many-is intended to integrate the two school systems running at a parallel in the North. This is something that should have happened one hundred years. It is expected that this alone will broaden the base of Nigerian education by allowing a vast variety of voices and perspectives to expand and temper the process of nation-building. In its decision to nullify the admissions policy of the government, the Federal High Court in Lagos simply didn’t have the information or nimbleness to set a new mechanism in place for the country’s unification. Nor should a court, for the same reasons, enter the business of determining who gets into Unity Colleges or who doesn’t which, as the earlier note indicates has been dictated by the imperatives of nation-building and nothing more. There is, however, a case for court intervention if there is evidence of collusion or cartelisation. But the scrapping of the admissions policy based on quota would mean sniffing out the chances of most far-northern candidates from the school admissions which would lead to the same results that the Boko Haram is seeking to achieve. It is important that the higher levels of the court system reverse this unwelcome decision. In dealing with all the challenges facing this country, we are lucky to have a judiciary that has acted as the guarantor of fundamental liberties including the right to equal access to state resources and privileges such as the right to the school system now at a stake. More often than not, the courts in Nigeria have lived up to that responsibility. It should not be different dealing with this new distraction.
A People Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives aspirant in the just concluded primaries for the AMAC/Bwari federal constituency in the Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ayisha Osori, has dumped the party for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) even as she described the PDP’s primaries as “fraudulent primaries” across the country. Ayisha got her membership card of APC yesterday at the party’s National Secretariat, Abuja from the National Secretary of APC, Mai Mala Buni. Ayisha told newsmen in an interview that PDP does not believe that the country need good people to rescue it from the current incompetence in governance. Ayisha said that she is convinced that the combination of General Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo who emerged in fair, free and acceptable primaries as APC candidates, that the party is the right one to move the country forward. “Osinbajo used to teach me at the University of Lagos, faculty of law. And I believe that the combination of Buhari and Osinbanjo therefore is a great one and I want to be part of that team.” Ayisha, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund, said that as a long time private lawyer and writer, she would be invaluable to APC. The APC National Secretary welcome Ayisha to APC, adding: “Our doors are open. Everybody who is ready to join the party is welcome anytime, any day.” He said that Nigerians are now more convinced that APC is a more democratic party than any other party in Nigeria today.
Nigeria Federal Government has declared Friday, January 2 public holiday to mark Eid El Maulud, the birthday of the Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad. This was made known today in a statement in Abuja by the minister of Interior, Abba Moro. The terse statement which was signed by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Engineer Magaji Abubakar, quoted Moro as advising Muslims in particular, and Nigerians in general to pray for the peace and unity of the country. The minister called on Nigerians to engage in violent-free activities as the nation goes into general elections in 2015. He asked for support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda to move Nigeria to the next level of development. Moro wished all Muslims and Nigerians a very peaceful celebration. [myad]
Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has reconciled the aggrieved parties to the controversies and disagreements that trailed the gubernatorial primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PD) in Yobe state recently. The reconciliation meeting was held today with the stakeholders at the Hassan Usman Katsina House, Kaduna, Kaduna State. It was called peace and unity meeting. The meeting, according to the Vice President, was called by President Goodluck Jonathan, but asked him to preside over it, even as he sent his appreciation to them for their support and continued loyalty to the party and the administration. Vice President Sambo said that all the stakeholders needed to form a united force for the party to emerge victorious in the State in the 2015 elections. “We want a situation where PDP in Yobe State will come out as one family and face 2015 election, which Insha Allah we believe, we will be victorious. “The outcome of primaries in every election normally comes with quite a number of challenges and Yobe State is not an exception. This is why I thank you all for coming and honouring our invitation. “I am pleased to inform you that I had a special meeting with Alhaji Adamu Waziri and Dr. Ngama, and I am extremely pleased to say that we have come to a good understanding and agreed that these two great stakeholders will work together in the interest of the PDP.” Namadi Sambo thanked them for their loyalty to the party, to the President and to the party Chairman, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu. He congratulated the party’s candidates for the senatorial seat, those for the House of Representatives and the State House of Assembly even as he called on all the stakeholders to go out as “one family to win election in Yobe State. He assured them that the federal government will give them all the necessary support that required to win next year’s elections. Responding, former minister of state for finance and a PDP governorship aspirant, Dr. Yerima Ngama, expressed gratitude to the President and his Vice for their concern for the progress of the State and the state chapter of the party. “We are very grateful to Mr. President for asking you to come and meet us. That shows the care and concern of Mr. President for the success of our party in Yobe State. We will all march together to ensure victory for the PDP.” Also the Yobe State PDP governorship flag bearer, Alhaji Adamu Wazir, a former minister of police affairs, pledged to work assiduously to ensure total reconciliation within the party so that all candidates will emerge victorious in the elections. “I assure you that we will carry this message further. We are going to deepen it and within the next few days, when we return and work on our home ground, the reports will be available, and such report will now attract renewed interest, renewed attention, renewed support from the Federal Government.” Other stakeholders who spoke pledged their total loyalty to the President his Vice and the National leadership of the PDP, while also appreciating the pledge of support of the Federal Government to Yobe State. Alhaji Adamu Waziri and Dr. Yerima Ngama contested for the governorship candidate of the PDP in Yobe State and Alhaji Waziri emerged victorious.
Former Nigeria Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that if democracy is made to work as it should, there would be no excuses for the current level of poverty in the country. In a New Year message to Nigerians released by his media office in Abuja today, the former Vice President reminded political leaders that the success of democracy is determined by how much the life of the people have improved, and not how much fortunes leaders have made for themselves. This is even as he deplored what he called “tough challenges facing the ordinary Nigerians today.” Atiku said that democracy is as good as those who practice it and that elective offices should be perceived as an opportunity to offer selfless service rather than personal enrichment. Atiku made it clear that it is not enough to tell ordinary Nigerians to make sacrifices in the face of economic austerity, while the leaders are reluctant to evenly share the burden of such sacrifices. He expressed happiness on the fact that democracy has offered the people the opportunity to use the power of their votes to bring about the desire change. The former Vice President advised political leaders to embrace the spirit of tolerance, adding that people should not become enemies because of political differences. He also advised Nigerians to see the New Year with renewed optimism, and be active participants in the struggle to bring about change by democratic means. Atiku urged them to register massively and collect their PVCs so that they could vote for parties and candidates of their choice. On the current slump in world oil prices, he urged leaders to cut down on extravagant lifestyles.
A group under the aegis of Niger Delta Support Group for Buhari-Osinbajo 2015 has vowed to resist any attempt at rigging the Niger Delta votes in favour of President Goodluck Jonathan in the next year’s general elections. According to the National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Dennis Mene, President Jonathan has not only disappointed the region but has failed the Niger Delta people with his one-sided government. The group said that for almost six years of Jonathan administration, its impact has not been felt in the region but that it has succeeded only in placing one ethnic group to lord it over others. The group warned that another four years of President Jonathan will be a disaster because he has so far shown that he is incapable of leading the country to the promised land. “This is a fact which former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Professor Wole Soyinka have already attested to. “Jonathan, rather than curtailing the menace of Boko Haram’s insurgency, corruption, impunity and others, has blamed virtually everybody for his failure. “The failure of Jonathan to end the insurgency in the northeast has cost Nigeria more than fifteen thousand lives and still counting. The group, in a statement released in Benin city over the weekend ask, regretted that the Jonathan government is yet to unmask the sponsors of Boko Haram, neither is it able to tackle the growing corruption, impunity, bad governance etc. “We should not be deceived that one person can Islamize Nigeria. The only dividend of democracy we can pinpoint from the government of President Jonathan is increase in pump price of petrol, increase of PHCN tariff and monthly charges without light, corruption, insecurity and poor infrastructure.” The group backed governors Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of River state, former governor of Bayelsa, Timipre Silva and Senator Ugbodehehe of Akwa Ibom on their stance for change and against bad governance. “We strongly believe in the integrity and capacity of General Muhammedu Buhari/ Professor Yemi Osinbajo to deliver on jobs and to end the Boko Haram menace.” The group also vowed to mobilise and educate all Niger Deltans on the imperative of voting APC. [myad]
Nigera’s Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has predicted that the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Goodluck Jonathan will get no fewer than two million votes in Kaduna state in the next year’s election. The Vice President made this prediction yesterday during a unity and family meeting of the Kaduna chapter of the PDP, which held at the Hassan Usman Katsina House, Kawo, Kaduna. Namadi Sambo also predicted 100 percent victory for the party’s candidates in other elective posts, including that of the governor. “Kaduna State PDP is the same and one strong family, and I am happy for the promise they have kept and for the promise they have made to us, that Insha Allah, PDP is Kaduna State and Kaduna State is PDP, and PDP will win the elections come 2015. “It is only PDP today in Nigeria that has its presence at the state, local government, ward and polling unit levels. This representation is full and strong all over the federation,” he stressed. Namadi Sambo who is the Jonathan running mate in the 2015 election, conveyed the gratitude of President Jonathan to Kaduna PDP supporters for their support during the recently conducted National convention. He said that the President was also delighted with the rancour free primary held in the State for all electives posts. The Vice President informed those that felt aggrieved from the party primary that “we believe that there are no losers, no winners and no vanquished and everybody will be carried along.” He said that PDP member who participated in the primary have agreed that it is only one person that can be a winner and that they have agreed to cooperate and work together. He enjoined all members of the Party in Kaduna State to join hands and work assiduously for the victory of the party in the 2015 polls. “This meeting has confirmed to me clearly and truly that we are the same strong indivisible family.” Meanwhile Namadi Sambo has collected his Permanent Voter Card (PVC) at the INEC Distribution Centre located at the Kaduna North Local Government Secretariat, Magajin Gari, Kaduna, Kaduna State. He used the opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to conduct themselves peacefully during and after the 2015 elections. He was accompanied by the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and received by the Kaduna State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Haliru Aliyu Tambuwal. The Vice President pledged that the administration is determined to deliver free and fair elections. [myad]
Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Emmanuel Bosun has warned Nigerian Christians not to vote for the candidates of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general elections. He said Christians who vote for APC will only be subscribing to the Islamic agenda for Nigeria, and will be digging the grave of Christianity in Nigeria. Pastor Bosun, who was a delegate representing Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) South West at the National Conference which held earlier this year, warned Christians of the spiritual consequences of voting against President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections. In a sermon in his Church, the Pastor warned Nigerians of a similar occurrence that plagued Turkey happening to Nigeria if care is not taken. He also warned of Sharia being enshrined in the Federal constitution of Nigeria, and the APC being on a mission to find expression for the Islamic laws already enshrined in the constitution. [myad]
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has released the names of the presidential candidates and their running mates for eleven out of 26 registered political parties in the country. Those are the ones that will contest the 2015 elections.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), submitted the names of President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice, Namadi Sambo, while the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), submitted the names of Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo as presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Others are Oluremi Sonaiya and Saidu Bobboi for Kowa Party (KP), Ambrose Albert and Haruna Shaba for Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Ganiyu Galadima and Balarabe Ahmed of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Rafiu Salau and Clinton Cliff Akuchie for Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Godson Okoye and Haruna Adamu, for United Democratic Party (UDP).
Others are Nani Ibrahim Ahmad and Obianuju Murphy-Uzohue of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Martin Onovo and Ibrahim Mohammed of National Conscience Party (NCP), Tunde Anifowoshe-Kelani and Paul Ishaka Ofomile of Action Alliance (AA) and Chekwas Okorie and Bello Umar of United Progressive Party (UPP).
The Labour Party (LP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have already adopted the PDP candidate, Goodluck Jonathan as their candidate.
Of all the 11 candidates, only Messrs. Jonathan and Buhari were candidates in the last election in 2011.
Here is the list of Nigeria 2015 Presidential Candidates
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