Eagles Wake Up, Manage A 3-1 Win Against Sudan In AFCON Qualifier

October 15, 2014

Nigeria Super Eagles seem to have woken up from slumber as they beat Sudan 3-1 at the National Stadium, Abuja to record their first win in four matches played so far in the Group A of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The performance of the African champions did not indicate an improvement on the team’s outings in the three matches played in the group, in which the team lost two matches and drew one.

Nigeria, which lost to Sudan 0-1 on Saturday in Khartoum, moved to the third place in the group standing. [myad]

Okupe Describes Buhari, Atiku As Serial Losers Who Jonathan Will Defeat In 2015

Greenbarge Reporters

October 15, 2014

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe has described General Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who have declared their intention to run for the Presidency in the 2015 election on the platform of opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) as a serial losers whom President Goodluck Jonathan will defeat again.
Giving an indication that President Goodluck Jonathan will seek re-election in the 2015 presidential election, Dr. Okupe said Jonathan will contest against “serial failures.”
The Presidential aide who fielded questions from newsmen today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, was reacting to an online report which alleged that Jonathan is not interested in seeking re-election in 2015 but is working towards a two-year tenure elongation for himself and other public office holders across the country.
According to Okupe, tenure elongation under any guise was not in the President’s plan, describing the report as a continuation of calculated attempts by the opposition to throw everything into the arena to embarrass the President.
The presidential aide said no one should lose sleep because the President has not formally declared his interest in the 2015 race, saying the biggest masquerade always comes out last.
Describing those who had declared interests on the platform of the All Progressives Congress as “serial failures,” Okupe said Vice President Atiku Abubakar had tried three times and failed while former Head of State, General Muhammed Buhari (rtd.) had attempted four times.
While further describing them as lacking leadership qualities, he wondered what additional knowledge they have gathered that would enable them compete favourably with the President.
“You know Yoruba people have one proverb which says it is the biggest masquerade that comes out last. The declaration by the opposition is not really something new.
“Most of the candidates of the opposition are serial failures. Atiku has tried twice and has failed, Buhari has done it four times and he has failed.
“If you present yourself for an election, first, second, third and fourth times, what new things are they bringing? Have they gone to school or are they bringing new things. We are absolutely unperturbed.
“The President is going to contest against serial losers. People who never win election. People who have no leadership quality and it is even now worse for them because this President has been given four years platform with which he has demonstrated his administrative capability, efficiency and delivery.”
Okupe also wondered what Buhari will be telling Nigerians during his campaign.
“What is Buhari going to tell Nigerians now? What is the new thing? He was a former military Head of State and that is what he has done; but since then and now, what is the new story? You cannot compare ‘I will do’ to ‘I have done.’ It is not possible.”
Okupe said Jonathan would only declare interest in the race after due consultations.
He expressed the confidence that the President’s decision would be in the larger interest of the party and the country. He said the decision would be taken very soon.
He added, “The President has been under intense pressure from ordinary citizens, foreign and local interest groups, and especially even his party.
“Virtually all levels of party structure have more or less endorsed the President to run and I believe the President is not going to let us down.
“He has done very well. We appreciate it and we are calling on him to come and run.
“As for the timing of his declaration, it is my belief that it will be after due consideration that he will take an appropriate decision that would be of the larger interest of the party and the country.”

[myad]

Presidency: General Buhari Runs Again, Promises To Wipe Out Corruption, Boko Haram

Greenbarge Reporters

October 15, 2014

For the fourth time running, the Nigeria’s former military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari has declared his interest in running for the office of President in the 2015 election on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) even as the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has threw its support behind him.
Before a large crowd of his supporters who thronged the Eagle Square in the nation’s federal capital territory today, General Buhari berated President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s kid glove handling of corruption all over the place. He promised that the first two things he would attack headlong if elected are corruption and insurgency from the body politics of Nigeria.
He criticized the administration of President Jonathan for its inability to adequately tackle the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.
“Nearly all Nigerians are in fear of their lives … due to insurgency by the godless movement called Boko Haram, by armed robbers on the highways, by kidnappers who have put whole communities to flight.”
This was even as the Benue state chairman of the CNPP, Mr. Baba Agan who told newsmen in Makurdi, the state capital that the decision to support General Buhari was informed by the former Head of State’s antecedents.
“The position of the CNPP on the matter was a collective decision and it was premised on the track record of Gen. Buhari whose exemplary leadership qualities stand him out as an incorruptible Nigerian.
“In fact, at this time of our development as a nation, we need a morally strong leader like Buhari to place this country on the pedestal of faster growth and development, hence our decision to queue behind his aspiration.”
Agan who said, the CNPP had already put modalities in place to ensure that the former Head of State, emerged victorious in the coming election, said the election of the retired general would be like a mass movement.
“The truth is that his election come 2015 would be some sort of a mass movement of all Nigerians who are craving for change in our country.
“Already, the subtle mobilization of market women, civil servants, artisans, religious groups and the political class has fully commenced and there is no doubt that Nigerians earnestly desire a change for the better.”
The CNPP who urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure a level playing field for all aspirants in the coming elections cautioned that the will of Nigerians should be allowed to prevail at next year’s elections.

[myad]

Labaran Maku To Jonathan: Forgive Us If We Offended You, As 7 Ministers Resign

Greenbarge Reporters

October 15, 2014

Nigeria’s Information minister, Labaran Maku has pleaded with President Goodluck Jonathan to forgive members of the federal cabinet wherever they might have offended him in the course of running the government.
Maku, who made a farewell remarks on behalf of six other ministers that were expected to resign their appointments to go and contest the governorship election in their states, said that as humans, the ministers must have made one or two mistakes which had never shown on the face of the President.
Other ministers whose names were given as being on their way out are Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu (Health), Chief Emeka Nwogu (Labour and Productivity), Musiliu Obanikoro (State for Defence), Chief Nyesom Wike (State for Education), Chief Samuel Ortom (State for Trade and Investment) and Chief Darius Ishaku (State for Niger Delta Affairs).
The information minister said that for over one year and half the minister have been interacting with President, none of the ministers had ever seen the President’s anger on any issue.
“This is not to say that as humans we never did things that annoy him. We were aware that people have been coming to say all sorts of things about the ministers to Mr. President, but he had allowed us to make our mistakes and correct them as we moved on.”
More facts coming later.

[myad]

Jonathan Angry With Ministers And Permanent Secretaries Over Sour Working Relationship

Greenbarge Reporters

October 15, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed open disappointment over what he called sour working relation that has been existing between some ministers and their permanent secretaries.
The President, who swore-in six new Permanent secretaries at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today said that report reaching him showed that some permanent secretaries and their ministers have not been in good terms.
According to him, no meaningful development could be achieved in such a situation, adding that lack of good working relationship in any organization would always lead to stagnation.
He made it clear that wherever there is a failure in the implementation of government policies as a result of such conflict of interests, both the minister and permanent secretary would be held responsible.
“The two of them would be regarded as failures,” President Jonathan stressed, even as he Pleaded with them to work together in the interest of Nigeria.
President Jonathan also expressed worry at the low level of discipline in the civil service, saying that the situation has become so rotten that superior officers no longer had the liver to issue query to the junior ones.
According to him, the civil service is now operating as a no-man’s land, even as he asked the leadership of the service to wake up to its responsibility.
The federal permanent secretaries who were sworn-in today are Mr.
Musa Istefanus from Taraba state, Malam Aminu Aliyu Bissala from Suleja in Niger state, Arc. Sunday Silver Echono from Otukpo in Benue, Dr. Amina Mohammed Bello Shamaki from Jega in Kebbi state,
Mrs. Nana Fatima Mende from Auchi Edo state and Ambassador Bulus Z. Lolo from Kwoi in Kaduna state.

Discipline is the problem in civil servixe, retarding progress…queries hardly fly around
Worried that lately permsecs don’t work with ministers…says this is a recipe for failure..
[myad]

Jonathan Is Too Busy To Receive Protesting BringBackOurGirls Group – Women Affairs Minister

Greenbarge Reporters

October 14, 2014

Nigeria minister of women affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina told the protesting members of the BringBackOurGirls group who marched to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to “engage” with President Goodluck Jonathan, on the efforts of the security agencies to rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls, who have been in Boko Haram captivity since April 14 that the President was too busy to see them.

“We are here to meet you because Mr. President is very busy today and he cannot come out.”

Haiya Zainab, flanked by the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Lawrencia Laraba-Mallam; Minister of Land and Housing, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, and Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, received the protesters at the Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja, though the intention of the protesters was to go into the Presidential Villa to see President Jonathan.

Heavily armed policemen were drafted to stop them from having access to the Villa gate. Motorists and pedestrians, who wanted to use the Gowon Crescent access road to the Villa, were turned back by stern-looking security personnel, who barricaded the road with their vehicles.

Hajiya Maina told the protesters that the Federal Government is doing everything possible to ensure the safe release of the schoolgirls, saying that the abducted girls by Boko Haram “are our daughters. We are all mothers; as much as it hurts you, it hurts us even the fathers. You know as well as we do some of you are very much aware of the efforts that the government has been making to make sure that these girls, our daughters, are brought back alive.”

The BBOG Coordinator and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwezili, accused the ministers of colluding with the Police to prevent the protesters from meeting with Jonathan.

“You have joined the Police who have prevented us from meeting our President and Commander- in- Chief; the Commissioner of Police did indicate we should wait and then we will be able to proceed to have the meeting.

“We had written the President as part of our global call to action concerning the rescue of the Chibok girls that we would be visiting him exactly on the day that marks six months of the Chibok girls abduction.”

The group handed over a petition titled:”Questions for Mr. President” to the ministers for delivery to the Federal Government. [myad]

Peace Is Most Expensive Commodity In Nigeria Today, Says Ex Head Of State, Abdulsalami

Greenbarge Reporters

October 14, 2014

Former Nigeria head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.), has described peace as the most expensive commodity in Nigeria now as the nation approaches the 2015 general elections.

Abubakar who spoke in Gombe on Tuesday declared: “The most expensive commodity in Nigeria now is peace. So I appeal to Nigerians as we go into 2015 elections, we should do our best to maintain the peace and tranquility in this country.

“I appeal to all because all of us have a role to play in maintaining the peace in this country. So we must approach the elections with all sense of responsibility.”

He reminded politicians that election is not a do or die affair, adding that in any competition, there must be a winner and when a winner emerges, the loser should accept and know that there cannot be two winners at the same time.

“After all, in Nigeria, governance is for four years. Before the twinkling of an eye, it will come and go.”

While assessing the nation’s 15 years of democratic rule, Abdulsalami said there is always room for improvement as nation building is a continuous process. [myad]

What Is In The 35 Percent For The Rural Women? By Garba Shehu

Garba Shehu

October 14, 2014

The world remembers rural women today. This column is devoted to their advocacy.
The United Nations has set aside this day as the International Day of Rural Women.
This is supposed to provide an opportunity for the nations of the world, including this country, to reflect on the conditions of unemployment and poverty of millions of rural women.
How much are our authorities doing to promote female empowerment? The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the center, has a policy that ensures that 35 per cent of their appointments go to women and in truth, this has increased the visibility of women in the corridors of power. What remains to be answered is, does visibility translate to empowerment? As with our budgets, it is fashionable in this country to promise a lot and then do nothing. If this idea of the 35 per cent of appointive positions is to raise the living standard of the rural poor and modernize the nation, I would not hesitate in saying that the noble idea has not been met with success. How does the rural woman gain from the increasing glitter and the razzmatazz around Abuja women ministers, CEOs and government advisers?
One female Presidential Adviser married off her daughter in Lagos a few weeks ago and the effect of the presence of the event gridlocked the entire sections of Victoria Island. The venue of the event, Eko Hotels, was choked without an inch of space. There was so much glitz, glitter and show of body that the rural woman would have thought that these ones came from a different planet.
From the kind of things going on, government may have achieved the direct opposite, through the creation of a neuver-riche cruising Lagos and Abuja streets with state of the art of jeeps and VIP women distinguishable by their sartorial flourish.
I don’t know how many of these newly-rich women own of the 300 private jets in the country. As an indication that the times have changed, these are the days you see a lot of more women occupying First Class seats on out-bound flights for vacation in Europe and America and those taking Nigerians to South Africa and Dubai to shop for gold and homes. One such upwardly-mobile banker who was shot down by Sanusi as Governor of the Central Bank not only had a jet but fed her pet dogs on the salary of university graduates.
The UN General Assembly, in a resolution passed on 18th December 2007 recognized “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”
It is widely recognized that women play a critical role in the rural economies of both developed and developing economies.
In most parts of the developing world including Nigeria, they participate in crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and fuel for their families and engage in off-farm activities to diversify their families’ livelihoods.
In addition, they carry out vital functions in caring for children, older persons and the sick.
Fifty decades of independence, it is sad to note that we are yet to enjoy the fruits of modernity at the village level. In fact, your blood will boil if you deeply reflect on the way our rural folk are treated. Poverty in the rural areas, where 80 per cent of the population lives, is below poverty line. Rural infrastructure has long been neglected. Investment in health education, roads and water supply is mostly concentrated in cities. In a system that allows office holders to loot as much as you can and let the nation go to hell, rural communities have been pushed into the ditch which government has dug for them. Without electricity and potable drinking water; their culture abused, education denied to their brightest children in a corrupt system of survival of the fittest, the rural population is condemned to a life of perpetual misery. Many of our women and their children in parts of this vast country are living away from home as internal refugees.
Despite the rebasing of the economy which put Nigeria as the leading economy on the continent, the annual growth rate averaging seven per cent has failed to achieve a good record in terms of human development index.
Last year, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ranked Nigeria 153 out of 186 countries that were ranked in this respect. With life expectancy at 52 years, 68 per cent of our population below the poverty line, a slew of other global tables, such as the Failed States Index and the Transparency International Corruption Index, the rural communities where the “inconsequential people,” the women and children live, are certainly getting a raw deal.
Unfortunately, if I have to make a confession, the blame for this state of things is on this country’s media. People can’t focus on news that the media fail to provide. That’s what they call agenda-setting. The Media today are busy with news from politics, sports, entertainment, food and drinks and their concerns for individual and collective survival that they have no time to look at the rural poor.
The very distressing situation of these people cannot continue the way it is and the way to force change to the unwanted situation is for the new media to take this as a challenge. We are now linked to the world through internet connections with immediacy and expansive reach as their advantage.
Since we are not living in a different planet, concerned Nigerians should cause comparison to be made between what we have here and other countries in the hope that a peer review of sorts might force our governments into doing something to ease the burdens of the rural poor. [myad]

Nollywood Actor Dies From Stray Bullet As Police Engage Armed Robbers In Shootout

Greenbarge Reporters

October 14, 2014

A prominent Nollywood actor, Clems Onyeka was killed in Asaba, the Delta State capital today when policemen engaged some robbers in a shootout as the robbers attempted to rob a bullion van.

The actor was said to have been hit by a stray bullet while the robbers and the police escort engaged in a gunfight.

Some policemen were reportedly seriously injured in the incident, which sent motorists and pedestrians along the DBS road and Summit road scampering for safety.

A military detachment arrived at the scene after the robbers had left.

The soldiers helped in evacuating the injured to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba.

The Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the report to our correspondent, said the driver of the bullion van managed to drive off leaving the police escorts behind to face the robbers.

“It is apparent that the robbers laid ambush for the bullion van and the police escorts that were coming in from Awka. But the bullion van driver was able to manoeuvre his way away while the policemen engaged the robbers,” Kalu said.

“One of the robbers dropped down as the shootout went on, but his colleagues were able to carry him and escaped with him as the police fire became too hot for them,” she said. [myad]

Drop In Oil Prices Divides OPEC

Greenbarge Reporters

October 14, 2014

The 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are now divided on whether to cut supply after a drop in oil prices, even as core Gulf members are hoping that winter demand will revive the market. This suggests that the group is not closer to any collective steps.

The differing views within the Organization highlight a split between Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies and other members, such as Iran, who face greater budget pressures from sub-$100 oil.

“It is really bad that prices are falling, which is a result of increased U.S. production, slower economic recovery of the EU and lower growth in China,” said a delegate from one of OPEC’s African members, adding: “I think that the next OPEC meeting will have to deal with the matter.”

OPEC meets to set its oil output policy on November 27.

Oil has fallen from $115 in June to a 27-month low below $92 a barrel on Thursday, after Saudi Arabia cut its official crude selling prices, raising concern in the market that OPEC’s top producer would not reduce its output.

A second source familiar with OPEC policy said, while the market was weak, with supply exceeding demand, it was too early for OPEC to think of joint action to bolster prices.

“A collective OPEC decision needs clear signals from each country, which is not there yet,” the source said.

So far, only Iran has called publicly for OPEC to act to support prices. OPEC’s Gulf Arab producers so far remain unworried, with Saudi Arabia’s oil minister appearing to downplay the price drop and delegates have stopped short of calling for action to bolster prices.

OPEC’s output is climbing and in September hit 30.96 million barrels per day (bpd) which is its highest since November 2012, due to further recovery in Libya and higher output from the Gulf producers.

That is almost 1 million bpd more than OPEC’s official production target of 30 million bpd and almost 2 million bpd more than OPEC’s forecast of the average global demand for its crude in 2015.

Cutting output would be a challenge for OPEC, analysts say. The group has not collectively lowered its supply since the 2008 financial crisis and lacks a system of individual output quotas to enforce any cutback agreement. [myad]

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