The Nigeria Police High Command has disowned the commissioner of police in the Nigeria’s FCT, Mbu Joseph Mbu who announced the banning of any form of protests by Nigerians over the abduction, by Boko Horom, of female students of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state since April 14. Mbu announced the ban yesterday in Abuja, threatening that there was no going back, describing the protests as lawlessness.
But, in statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, CSP Frank Mba, the High Command said: “the Police High Command wishes to inform the general public that the Force has not issued any order banning peaceful assemblies anywhere in Nigeria.”
The Force PRO said that the command only issued what he called ‘advisory notice, enjoining citizens to apply caution in their rallies, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory and its environs.
The advisory notice has become necessary, he said, against the backdrop of current security challenges in the country, coupled with a recent intelligent report of a likely infiltration and hijack of otherwise innocuous and peaceful protests by some criminals having links with insurgents.
The police spokesman said however that the police high authorities, recognizing the constitutional and democratic rights of Nigerians to peaceful rallies, have called on the organizers of rallies to ensure they seek proper advice and guidance from the police before engaging in such exercise to avoid any unpleasant circumstances.
“The IGP calls on the general public to see the present position of the Force as a necessary sacrifice for the peace our nation needs, as security is a collective responsibility. Consequently, citizens are strongly advised to reconsider their positions on the issues of rallies and protests in FCT until the existing threats are appropriately neutralized and removed from our midst by relevant security agencies. “Meanwhile, the IGP reassures citizens of the commitment of the Force to the protection of lives and property and advancing the course of democracy in Nigeria,” Mba said. [myad]
Coach Stephen Keshi has announced the list of the 23 players to represent the country in the World Cup tournament scheduled to be held in Brazil in this month.
Keshi’s list did not spring any major surprise, but names like AFCON’s hero, Sunday Mba, CHAN”s MVP, Ejike Uzoenyi and Obinna Nsofor, Daniel Akpeyi, Nnamdi Oduamadi,Joel Obi and Nosa Igiebor were missing.
From the team list, only Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile and Osaze Odemwingie have played at the World Cup before, while 18 players will be debutants at the tournament, including midfield’s maestro, John Mikel Obi and goal poacher, Emmanuel Emenike.
Chelsea FC’s youngster, 20-year-old Kenneth Josiah Omeruo will be the youngest representative of the country at the mundial.
There are three goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and ten strikers.
Here is the list of the full Squad:
Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Chigozie Agbim
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has made it clear that he harboured no ill-will, hatred or enmity towards the former President Olusegun Obasanjo under whom he served as number two man, stressing that whatever misunderstanding that existed between them is now all over.
Atiku said in an audience with the leaders of the Northern Youth Leaders Forum who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja today: “I don’t harbour any grudge against my former boss. Yes, we had disagreements (when we were in office). These were mere disagreements. I harbour no hatred or enmity against him or anybody. I never had anything against him and I will never have.”
The group, which had already met the former President in Ota, at which event Obasanjo was also reported to have announced that he had forgiven his former vice president, was led by Comrade Eliot Afiyo.
Atiku made it clear that he has opponents in politics and not enemies, adding: “Politics is not war.”
The former Vice President expressed gratitude to the group for successfully brokering peace between him and Obasanjo, adding that this single effort had marked the leaders of the youth organisation as serious-minded people, who are fully prepared to take over the leadership of the country from the elders.
Speaking on the current security situation in the country, Atiku appealed to the Federal Government to take the challenge more seriously.
“If we can go to other countries to rid them of these kinds of problems, it shows that we have the capacity to put this one down immediately so that the suffering of the people can be reduced.” [myad]
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties has accused Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku of opening his mouth too wide by trying to stoke division along ethnic, religious and political lines in the country.
In a statement today by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the coalition said the minister must be prepared to accept responsibility for any crisis “resulting from his sustained campaign of divisive comments with hate speech.”
Ezugwu demanded that Maku should tender an apology to the nation for his comments, which he said CNPP considered to be against national interest.
According to him, the tempo of national discuss will only increase with the quest to address security challenges and the run up to the general elections, warning that Maku must not drag political parties into the crises presently bedeviling the country since it is now apparent that the country is battling a full-fledged insurgency, with no ethnic, religious or political sympathies in the selection of its targets.
The CNPP Secretary General was reacting to a comment credited to the Minister on a national television, saying that the minister has forgotten the fact that the situation in Nigeria now has gone beyond apportioning of blame or finger pointing.
“What political parties are talking about is the credibility or otherwise of voter registration and it is thus befuddling that such a crucial issue was reduced to ‘ruling versus opposition political parties’. Nigerians, irrespective of their backgrounds are emphatically asking for the release of the school girls abducted by insurgents in addition to judiciously deploying budgeted resources to end the on-going reign of terror.
“It is therefore a disservice for a sitting Minister of Information to constantly try to dismiss these genuine demands as the preserve of some political parties instead of urging the government to which he belong to act on them. It is worrisome that the Minister seems oblivious of the fact that foreign intelligence agencies would attach credence to comments coming from him being the nation’s image maker.
“These unguarded utterances would thus go on to affect how foreign countries make policies about Nigeria including economic and investment decisions. He should have been mindful of this and not label justified demands as having ethnic, religious or political schemes behind them.” [myad]
Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mbu Joseph Mbu has announced a ban on protests within Nigeria’s capital city agitating for the release of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state kidnapped on April 14 by members of the Boko Haram sect even as women made it clear that they would not permit the police to take the shines off the agitations. A press statement issued from the police said that the ban was necessitated by the need to stem danger through series of protests, rallies and demonstrations and counter demonstrations organized by groups and individuals over the abduction. The ban on the rallies followed series of attempt by the Nigerian government to create a fake group of protesters that shifted the blame of the missing girls from the government to the kidnappers, Boko Haram. “Please note that the Police has not banned all protests and rallies in Abuja. No. What was banned is the #BringBackOurGirls protest; and it was banned in order to forestall breakdown of law and order in Abuja.” However, former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, who is one of the leading figures in the campaign said no body would stop them from the course they are fighting for. She accused Mbu of a lack of sympathy for the abducted girls because his daughter was not involved, adding: “if Mbu’s daughter was one of 200 daughters of Nigeria held captive by terrorists and we came out to stand for their cause, would he do this?” Ezekwesili said on her Twitter page: “What Commissioner Mbu should do is reprimand their sponsored thugs who attacked us, women, at our peaceful gathering. “He can. He hired them. When their thugs attacked us while Mbu’s policemen stood aloof, we refused to engage with their gutter conduct. We figured this was their plot. “Predictably, Mbu has proven by his latest ill-advised statement of repression of citizens rights that he and his bosses hired those thugs.” She said that there was no basis for and no power of the CP to ban peaceful assembly of any group of persons in the city, as the #BringBackOurGirls# protesters had always maintained civility in the face of harassment by both the Nigerian Police and hired thugs. “The federal government would do well to send its officials who wish to roll back our Democracy by infringing on Citizens Rights to my #Democracy101 Class. “Our Abuja family of #BringBackOurGirls# diverse women, men and young people standing with our #ChibokGirls shall never abandon them. Never! “No matter how direly they want to take our focus off our #ChibokGirls, we shall not permit them that luxury.”
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Abdulwahed Omar has asked the National Assembly to probe the financial allocations to the military and the utilization of such allocations in the fight against Boko Haram and other sources of insecurity in the country.
In a statement today, Omar also called on President Goodluck Jonathan, as the Commander In Chief of the armed forces, to institute a full scale, transparent, thorough and unbiased investigation into the activities and challenges of Nigeria’s security forces, especially in the North East of the country.
The NLC boss, who was reacting to the murder, at the weekend, of Alhaji Idrisa Timta, the Emir of Gwoza said: “We are disturbed that despite huge resource allocations to security, security remains a serious challenge in Nigeria with the recent ambush and assassination of the Emir of Gwoza, Idrisa Timta who was in company of two other Emirs on their way to Gombe for the funeral rites of their late colleague, the Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Usman Shehu Abubakar who died earlier at a London hospital.”
Omar said that the murder of the Emir has exposed the soft underbelly of the security operations, adding that the entire subject is worrisome in view of the fact that the attacks are increasing even as the Minister of Finance recently announced that N130 billion has been spent on security, especially on the military, which is saddled with the responsibility of confronting the armed insurgency in the North East led by the Boko Haram elements.
“The ease and precision with which these attacks are carried out, despite numerous security check points and the number of security personnel deployed in the zone is worrisome and unjustifiable. If high profile traditional rulers could be attacked so casually just as villages and towns are being razed even in broad daylight, what would be the fate of ordinary citizens?”
He said that it is already a national embarrassment that the school children who were abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State more than six weeks ago are yet to be located and rescued even as multinational interest in the rescue operations increases.
“That these children are yet to be rescued and delivered unharmed to their parents questions the commitment and credibility of those saddled with the search and rescue operation and negatively impacts on our national image,” he said.
Omar expressed confidence that the security agencies can effectively route out the insurgents if well-equipped and motivated, as the same personnel have not only rendered a good account of themselves in foreign operations, but have also played a decisive role in ending conflicts in some countries.
“Although this war is slightly different, we are concerned that these same forces are finding it difficult to confront insurgency back home.
“We believe government and indeed, all Nigerians must take interest in what could be the obstacles to our collective resolve and commitment to the war on terror that has all but brought socio-economic activities in parts of the country to a halt.”
The NLC boss expressed the Congress’s deep condolences to the family of the Emir of Gwoza and thousands of other families including the families of those security operatives who are bereaved as a result of the costly war. [myad]
After 15 years of uninterrupted democracy, it is important to write this special open letter on how to rescue our nation from the hands of clueless leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party which if it is not checked, may lead to the collapse of this country in line with the predictions by United States of America, and other prophets of doom. The fact remains that Nigeria is currently at the cross road, confused and not knowing what tomorrow portends. This has been occasioned by the visionless and misguided leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre. Today, we have a government that cannot protect or guarantee our security as contained in our constitution. According to Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka: “This is a government which is not only in denial mentality, but in denial about certain obvious steps to take… It’s one of those rather child-like situations that if you shut your eyes, if you don’t exhibit the tactile evidence of the missing humanity here, that somehow the problem will go away.”
It is a government that has succeeded in making a mockery of us before the international community and African leaders, which major achievements is the transformation of Nigeria into darkness and digitalizing corruption to such a level where a whopping sum of $10 million can be said to have been unaccounted for. It is a government in which a minister spends a whopping sum of $10 million on hiring of planes for movements, both private and official, while Nigerians are wallowing in poverty. It is based on this unacceptable state and the fear of the future of our country that makes this letter imperative.
Apart from the above, I was motivated to alert the leadership of APC through this medium as I may not be privileged to attend the caucus or NEC meeting, where crucial issues affecting the future of the party shall be tabled and discussed. Besides, as a stakeholder in the project Nigeria and having played a great role as National Publicity Secretary of the nPDP, a major component of the present APC, I am stimulated not only by my patriotic consideration but encouraged by John F. Kennedy, one of the greatest presidents of America, who said: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
No doubt, in this crucial time of our history, PDP has messed up our country. The party has deviated from the democratic path it was founded on and has become a mockery of democratic principles. If some patriotic Nigerians do not rally around to ease out this party come 2015, then it will be an understatement to say that Nigeria is doomed and has no future under PDP after 2015. But God forbid!
I am also aware that it was because of the visionless leadership of PDP that brought up the amalgamation of other opposition political parties to form what is today known as the All Progressives Congress. As I commend and congratulate all the people and forces behind the formation of this great party, let me state that if Nigeria is not rescued from the maladministration of PDP come 2015, to some of us, all the efforts in forming APC would have become an exercise in futility.
For leading Nigeria to its present comatose state, one cannot be far from the truth if one says that President Goodluck Jonathan is a colossal failure in terms of his leadership of our nation. This view is shared by many Nigerians and some key actors of world politics. For example, Dr Peregrino Brimah, after the Jos bombings of Tuesday, May 20, 2014 which claimed more than 200 lives, according to latest counts, have pushed Nigeria to formally occupy the first position in the ranking of nations with the worst governments in history.
He went further to present other criteria which recently moved Nigeria up the list as follows: A recent World Bank report listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world. A report from the World Bank in April listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world, with the largest number of people said to live on less than $1.25 a day. Others are India, China, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Jonathan instead of addressing the issue on poverty as raised, casually dismissed the report by saying: Nigeria is not a poor country. The rebasing of Nigeria’s economy, setting Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, while revealing the true economic position of Africa’s largest nation, simultaneously re-certified Nigeria as the nation in the top position for worst leadership in social welfare and opportunities for the people.
With 70 per cent of the nation living under a-dollar-a-day, economically factored, Nigeria has the poorest people of any nation in the world today. With the rebased economy rating, Nigeria has the most unparalleled HDI (Human Development Index) to revenue and economy ratio of all nations. Poorest people in the Nigeria case, is derived from or correlates with poorest leadership.
Is it not surprising that Nigeria, at the end of 2013, surpassed Mexico in kidnapping, recording the cruelest and second highest single abduction events in recent history? By the end of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, Nigeria surpassed Syria, Libya, Iraq and Central African Republic (CAR) in deadly acts of terrorism and sectarian violence. The Nyanya bombing was ranked the fifth worst bombing of its kind in world history, post 1970, by the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI). The Jos bombing, with over 200 reported dead in one attack, is second only to 9/11 and the disputed Syria chemical weapons attack.
In combined values, with about 80,000 people killed in four years of largely unchecked Boko Haram violence, and with over 4,000 killed in the first quarter of 2014 alone, Nigeria has fast outpaced other nations of the world in deadly terror. Nigeria’s leadership in December of 2013 secured the world’s top position in insecurity and failure to protect life and discourage terror. Current rankings put Nigeria’s leadership second only to Hitler, after surpassing Saddam Hussein, in the current century, in terms of deliberate internal wastage of life.
With Nigeria’s leadership admitting that they could not account for up to or more than $20 billion oil revenue earnings discovered missing in a single 18-month period examined; the nation’s finance minister admitting this to BBC and the official government engagement of Price Waterhouse, an international accounting firm, which further confirmed this financial mishap, Nigeria secured its position as the most haplessly and very unserious nation.
According to Mrs. Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, in separate events in New York City, she said the Nigerian government under President Goodluck Jonathan squandered its oil resources, and indirectly helps corruption to fester in the troubled country.
Her words: “They have squandered their oil wealth; they have allowed corruption to fester, and now they are losing control of parts of their (own) territory because they would not make hard choices.”
The former U.S. Secretary of State at the function organised by the International Crisis Group also emphasized that: “The Nigerian government has failed to confront the threat, or to address the underlying challenges. Most of all, the government of Nigeria needs to get serious about protecting all of its citizens, and ensuring that every child has the right and opportunity to go to school.”
And to Sarah Saawall, US Under Secretary of State, “Corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and transport vehicles from reaching the front lines of the struggle against Boko Haram.”
A new report on global life expectancy by the World Health Organisation has rated Nigeria low in its report titled: “World Health Statistics 2014” and published few days ago. Life expectancy for both men and women is less than 55 years in nine sub-Saharan African countries namely: Nigeria, Angola, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Sierra Leone.
The yearly report is the definitive source of information on the health of the world’s people. It contains data from 194 countries on a range of mortality, disease and health system indicators, including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from key diseases, health services and treatments, financial investment in health, as well as risk factors and behaviours that affect health.
General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria former President in his assessment of Jonathan’s performance in office posited: “I don’t believe he has performed to the expectations of many Nigerians, not just me.”
While US Senator John McCain in his view feels that we don’t even have a government in the right sense, adding; “We shouldn’t have waited for a practically non-existent government to give us the go ahead before mounting a humanitarian effort to rescue those girls.
“Mr. Jonathan, who leads a corrupt government that has little credibility, initially played down the group’s threat and claimed security forces were in control. It wasn’t until Sunday, more than two weeks after the kidnappings, that he called a meeting of government officials” – New York Times. The Economist, writing under the Editorial ‘A Clueless Government described the PDP Government in Nigeria, ‘perhaps the worst aspect of the Nigerian Government’s handling of the abduction is its seeming indifference to the plight of the girls’ families. It took more than two weeks before Mr. Jonathan addressed the matter in public. His government’s sluggish response and its failure even to clarify how many girls had been abducted provoked protests in several cities across Nigeria – itself an usual event We should be asking ourselves: Is this the type of PDP that Nigerians voted for during the general elections of 2011? Of course, not! Nigeria is certainly more divided under this administration than ever and only divine intervention can enable us survive the visionless and clueless leadership that now pervades our nation. These are some of the reasons why the leadership of APC should move fast to rescue our nation from the sordid state it is at the moment. I am so saddened over the mess President Jonathan has made of our country, because I could recall warning Nigerians that Jonathan was not prepared for the office he was being pushed to occupy, after messing up the zoning formula of PDP entrenched for the sanctity and peace of the nation. But nobody took me serious. I am warning again, that if PDP under President Jonathan is not stopped by 2015, Chief Uzor Kalu would have become a true prophet. After all, he once said: “Jonathan might be the last Nigerian President. Jonathan might be the Gorbachev of Nigeria. And that is the truth, so we better wake up. Political class, business class, military, civilians must now stand up to work for our internal security.
We are suffering from pains of our people; we are suffering from pains of the Nigerian system. This is not about which part of the country you come from, it is about Nigeria.”Chief Tom Ikimi, one of the major pillars of the party, in his open letter to the national chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande titled, “My fears for APC, by Ikimi” of May 9, 2014 expresses the fears of some key actors of the party.
He wrote: “I have taken a few days rest, but my intention of proceeding to an extended holiday seem to be disturbed by the overwhelming unfavourable reports I have received from across the country on the present status of our party. I have spoken to party members and leaders across the country and the feeling is unanimous regarding the downward trend of things. The latest problems arise from the congresses where in the South-South region; there are fundamental problems in Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Edo. I have been informed of similar problems in most other states across the country. Parallel excos have emerged in Ogun State! “I am compelled to express strong reservations on the present state of affairs in our party, and my heart bleeds when I look back at the efforts and personal sacrifice many of us made to bring this national platform to fruition.”I believe some of the issues raised by Chief Ikimi in his letter should be addressed as we should not be seen repeating some of the evils that scared us away from PDP.if we still have audacious strategists in the party, I will suggest that we in APC should heed to the wise counsel of elder statesman Alh. Balarabe Musa, who had earlier advised that “the North should forget the ambition of insisting on the presidency in 2015, rather a credible President for the country should be allowed to emerge from the South-South in 2015 to replace Jonathan.”
I fully persuade our leaders to carefully study this proposal from Musa and make the contest for the APC Presidential ticket an open one that anybody from any section of the country can bid to take. If we make the presidential primary free, fair and transparent, whoever emerges no matter where he or she is from should be allowed to go with the full support of the entire party. This is the only way I believe we can achieve the APC’s aim of rescuing Nigeria from the evil grip of the PDP before this great nation is ran aground. The most important thing that should be at the back of every progressive Nigerian’s mind is how to free Nigerians from the shame that PDP has brought to us all. And, if we miss this opportunity, only God will determine the fate of our nation. In this regard, let us be guided by the foremost African, Nelson Mandela’s words: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
And the counsel of management philosopher, Peter Drucker: “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”
This is if truly we want to bail this country from the mess of PDP. Knowing that some people will start to ask questions on my pedigree in penning down this letter, let me state that apart from the facts enumerated above of the need of this letter, my past acts in the struggle for a better and greater Nigeria position me for this letter. I was the national director of the dreaded Turaki Vanguard that fought to stand still the infamous third term agenda and some anti-democratic elements during the second term tenure of President Obasanjo.
I was in charge of the public relations unit of the outfit. Apart from being the immediate past national publicity secretary of “new Peoples Democratic Party” (nPDP), I initiated and headed the Igbo Crusaders Political Outfit and South-East-South-South Amalgamated Political Movement (SESSAM), which I used to promote and propagate the ideals and visions of the founding fathers of PDP in the North-East of Nigeria, though sadly the party has been hijacked by elements that never knew the ideals and principles why PDP was formed in the first place.
With this clarification, the point that I have been in the centre of the struggle for a better Nigeria is not in doubt, prompting this letter. So it will be sad should anybody dare suggest that I was either influenced or motivated in writing this letter for any other consideration, if not for patriotic reasons.
The fact remains that should APC loose out in the 2015 general election, but God forbid, the true colour of President Goodluck Jonathan will be revealed to Nigerians and none of us may survive the heat. The ball is now in your court to do that which is necessary to rescue Nigeria from the imminent doom that awaits her, should we fail in this mission. Let me, therefore, conclude this letter by asking you all to listen to what the most outstanding African, both dead and living, Nelson Mandela, said about our present predicament: “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Regards and remain blessed.
•Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze was the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New PDP. 0803819916. [myad]
A Nigerian billionaire businesswoman, Folorunsho Alakija has emerged in the Forbes estimation, as one of the World Powerful Black Women for the year 2014. Alakija is named along with veterans like American TV mogul, Oprah Winfrey, American singer, Beyonce and other women who have established themselves as leading lights in media, politics, philanthropy and business.
Alakija is the co-founder of Famfa Oil, a privately-held Nigerian exploration and production company that owns a lucrative stake in one of the country’s most prolific oil fields.
This was contained in the annual ranking of the World 100 Most Powerful Women published by FORBES. It is the definitive guide to the female icons and ground-breakers in business, entertainment, politics, diplomacy and philanthropy who wield the greatest impact on the world stage. Of the 100 women featured, 12 are black, up from 11 last year with the latest being Folorunsho Alakija
Here are the 12 most powerful black women in the world.
America’s first lady is putting her platform to good use: fighting childhood obesity, promoting healthier eating and launching an initiative that aims to increase the number of low-income American students who go to college. In 2012, she authored “American Grown,” a coffee table book about growing veggies and tomatoes on the South Lawn of the White House.
The 60 year-old media mogul is the only African-American billionaire in the world with a net worth estimated at $3 billion. Winfrey hit the big time through her flagship daytime TV show which aired for 25 years between 1986 and 2011, before she bowed out to channel her energies to her own cable network, OWN. The once-struggling network became cash-flow positive in 2013. Winfrey was part of a consortium of billionaires that included Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and billionaire media executive David Geffen who bid for LA Clippers basketball team but lost to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. One of the world’s most generous women, she has given millions to educational causes across the world, chief among them being the $100 million she has spent on the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
Burns was appointed CEO of Xerox in 2009, and over the last 5 years, she has worked tirelessly towards transforming the company’s image as a manufacturer of printers to a full-fledged services business. And it’s working well. Services now represent 57% of the company’s $21.4 billion full-year revenue and could possibly account for two-thirds by 2017. Burns joined Xerox as a summer intern in 1980 and joined the company permanently in 1981 after completing her masters at Columbia University.
2013 was an eventful year for Beyonce. She sang for President Obama, performed at the Super Bowl, and headlined the most profitable tour of the year by shocking the world with a surprise “visual album” in December. It became iTunes’ fastest-selling album ever, selling 828,773 units in the first three days. Along with husband Jay-Z, Beyonce will be co-headlining the On The Run Stadium Tour which kicks off on June 25, and will feature 18 shows across North America.
Rosalind Brewer, President and CEO, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Stores, U.S.A
Brewer became CEO of discount membership club and retailer Sam’s club in 2012, becoming the first woman and first African-American to head a Wal-Mart subsidiary. The $56 billion (revenues) division of Wal-Mart has operations in the U.S, Brazil and China, 110,000 employees and boasts over 47 million members. A former executive at Kimberly-Clark, she joined Wal-Mart in 2006 and previously served as president of the retail giant’s Eastern U.S. business division. She is chair of the board of trustees for Spelman College.
Joyce Banda failed in her attempt to win a second term in office after losing out in Malawi’s May presidential elections to Peter Mutharika, a brother to the country’s former president, Bingu wa Mutharika. It’s been a humiliating end to what could have easily been a glorious political career for Malawi’s first female president. Banda became Malawi’s ruler in 2012 after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika. She started off relatively well – selling off the presidential jet, announcing a cut to her salary, loosening foreign exchange controls and even devaluing the Kwacha at the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund. But she lost all goodwill in the wake of the infamous ‘Cashgate scandal’, in which millions of dollars were embezzled by top civil servants in one of the most brazen cases of corruption the country has witnessed in its recent history. Banda is the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation International which supports projects aimed at empowering market women and providing orphans with access to education.
Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme, United Nations, U.S.A
Cousin was appointed executive director of the World Food Programme in April 2012. Between then and now, she has fed 177 million people. In 2013, and under Cousin’s leadership, WFP raised $4.2 billion in contributions from governments, corporations, foundations and individual donors. The funding will help WFP’s 13,500 employees who work in 83 countries fight hunger brought on by drought and civil war in Syria, as well as by violent conflicts in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Gayle is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CARE USA, a leading humanitarian organization which actively fights poverty in 87 countries by responding to natural disasters, climate change and other causes of global poverty. She was appointed to the position in 2006. In November 2012 when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, Gayle led CARE on the ground, providing food, shelter and supplies. Within six months, CARE had provided relief to more than 300,000 people.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Nigeria
The Nigerian economist is the country’s Coordinating Minister of the Economy. She was appointed by Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 while she was a Managing Director at the World Bank. She was previously Minister of Finance during the tenure of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Lavizzo-Mourey heads the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest healthcare foundation in the U.S. She became the CEO in 2003, a position which has her overseeing an estimated 800 grants, a $10 billion endowment and annual disbursements of more than $450 million towards improving health care. Lavizzo-Mourey is the first woman and the first African-American to head the foundation.
Africa’s first female head of state won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in promoting Liberian reconciliation and in atoning for Liberia’s history of civil war. She was re-elected for a second term the same year, reneging on an earlier promise to run for only one term in office. Today she is ramping up efforts to bring foreign investment to her impoverished nation ($700 GDP per capita and an estimated 64% of its population live below poverty line).
Alaikja, Nigeria’s first female billionaire is a new entrant to the league of the world’s most powerful women. After working as a secretary in a Nigerian merchant bank in the 1970s, Folorunsho Alakija quit her job to study Fashion design in England. She subsequently founded Supreme Stitches, a premium Nigerian fashion label which catered exclusively to upscale clientele, including Maryam Babangida, wife to Nigeria’s former military president Ibrahim Babangida. The President awarded her company, Famfa Oil an Oil prospecting license which went on to become OML 127, one of Nigeria’s most prolific oil blocks. Famfa Oil owns a 60% stake in the block. In 2008, she founded The Rose of Sharon Foundation, which works to help widows and orphans. And in 2013, she was appointed the vice chair of Nigeria’s National Heritage Council and Endowment for the Arts. [myad]
FIFA investigator, Michael Garcia is expected to lead the Organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to begin investigation into an alleged bribe which led to the country winning the bid to host the 2022 World Cup tournament, even as the Football Federation Australia has re-submitted its bid to host the tournament in case Qatar is disqualified.
It was widely alleged in the media that a number of football officials took £3 Million in return for support of the Qatari bid.
And there are growing calls for the Gulf state to be stripped of the right to hold the tournament as allegations were rife that payments of millions of pounds were made to officials who supported its bid to host the tournament.
FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce says he would support a re-vote if corruption allegations can be proven even as Qatar’s 2022 bid committee denies “all allegations of wrongdoing.”
New York lawyer Garcia, who is due to meet Qatari officials in Oman, is already conducting a long-running inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, the results of which were announced at the same time.
Prior to Qatar winning the right to stage the 2022 tournament, Russia was voted as host for the 2018 event.
Boyce said: “I certainly, as a member of the executive committee, would have absolutely no problem whatsoever if the recommendation was for a re-vote.
“If Garcia comes up with concrete evidence – and concrete evidence is given to the executive committee and to FIFA – then it has to be looked at very seriously.”
Former attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, a member of FIFA’s independent committee on governance, backed Boyce’s stance, saying: “If it is proved that the decision to give Qatar the World Cup was procured by – frankly one can describe it no other way – bribery and improper influence, then that decision ought not to stand.”
Mark Pieth, a law professor appointed by FIFA president, Sepp Blatter to lead the independent committee on governance, agreed and called the latest revelations “exciting.”
Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke has said that a new vote should take place if it was shown a “corrupt system” led to Qatar’s win, while UK Sports Minister, Helen Grant said it was “essential that major sporting events are awarded in an open, fair and transparent manner.”
Allegations of corruption centre on former FIFA official, Mohamed bin Hammam.
The Sunday Times claims to have obtained secret documents that implicate the former Asian Football Confederation president in corrupting members of football’s governing body to win the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
The newspaper alleges the documents, seen by BBC sports editor, David Bond, show that Qatari Bin Hammam, 65, was lobbying on his country’s behalf at least a year before the decision to award the country hosting rights.
They also allegedly show he had made payments into accounts controlled by the presidents of 30 African football associations and accounts controlled by Trinidadian Jack Warner, a former vice-president of FIFA.
A statement from the Confederation of African Football said the specific allegations against its president, Issa Hayatou, were “fanciful”, “ridiculous” and formed part of a “smear campaign” against him.
It added that Cameroonian Hayatou, a FIFA vice-prsident, categorically denied the allegations of corruption.
“Mr. Hayatou will not allow journalists once again to attack his integrity and reputation,” it read.
“Such allegations are meant to discredit not only him as a person but the whole continent.”
Qatar’s bid committee and Bin Hammam have always strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
The committee also rejected claims Bin Hammam actively lobbied on their behalf in the run-up to the vote in December 2010.
It added it was co-operating with Garcia, insisting it will “take whatever steps are necessary to defend the integrity of Qatar’s bid”.
Qatar defeated bids from South Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States to win the right to stage the 2022 World Cup. [myad]
With 10 days to go to the World Cup, Brazil has today, started rushing to finish installing seats in stadiums and deal with threats ranging from violent protests to dengue fever. An estimated 600,000 foreign fans and 3.1 million Brazilians are expected to criss-cross the country with 157,000 police and soldiers providing security during the tournament.
The countdown to the June 12 kick-off has been marred by a series of protests, from striking bus drivers who paralyzed Sao Paulo by abandoning their vehicles mid-route to indigenous leaders in bright-feathered headdresses who shot arrows at police in Brasilia, impaling one officer’s leg.
Anger over the more than $11 billion being spent on the event has raised fears of a return to the violence, seen last year, during the Confederation Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal, when clashes with police broke out as a million people flooded the streets calling for more money for social programs and less for stadiums.
But recent protests have been smaller, with journalists and street vendors sometimes outnumbering those chanting, “There won’t be a World Cup!” In a country that takes great pride in its five World Cup titles, the tournament’s approach is unleashing growing excitement, with local media providing exhaustive coverage of the Brazilian team’s training camp.
That national ambivalence is the target of a meme that has gone viral on social networks. “I see you! You write on Facebook that ‘There won’t be a World Cup,’ but you’ve planned a barbecue with your friends on game day,” says the caption, attached to a photo of President Dilma Rousseff.
Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, which will host the opening ceremony and kick-off match between Brazil and Croatia, held a hastily scheduled second test event Sunday but is still under construction.
Temporary seating areas for 20,000 fans — delayed after a worker fell to his death from one of them, one of eight construction accident fatalities at Brazil’s host stadiums — have still not received safety clearance from firefighters.
The stadia in Curitiba, Cuiaba, Natal and Porto Alegre are also still incomplete to varying degrees. The original deadline for all 12 host stadiums was December 31.
With preparations plagued by chronic delays and cost overruns, organizers have shelved much of the other infrastructure they had promised, from roadworks to a high-speed train to subway and monorail lines.
Football legend Ronaldo, a member of Brazil’s World Cup organizing committee, admitted last week that only 30 percent of the planned projects would be completed. One of organizers’ biggest headaches has been upgrading the country’s aging airports.
In three host cities — Rio, Belo Horizonte and Recife — the originally planned upgrades will not be done in time, raising concerns over whether airports can cope with demand.
The recent police strikes — and threats of more during the tournament — have raised security fears in a country with one of the world’s worst crime rates. The stakes are high for Rousseff, who is up for reelection in October. The leftist leader is leading in the polls, but her top rivals have been consolidating their support. Analysts say the results on the pitch will probably not affect her chances.
But if the Brazilian team loses, it could fuel anger over the money spent hosting the tournament. The hosts are considered the favorites, but face enormous pressure.
The last time Brazil hosted the World Cup, in 1950, they lost the final to Uruguay, an upset that still haunts the country. This year’s final will be played in the same place, Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. “If we do not win this World Cup then the specter of 1950 will become that of 2014 and will haunt us until there is another World Cup here,” Cafu, the captain of Brazil’s last world-champion team, in 2002, told AFP in a recent interview.
There is meanwhile a more tangible threat facing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and John Mikel Obi’s Nigeria, whose base camps will be in Campinas.
The southeastern city is in the middle of the worst dengue fever outbreak in its history. Sanitation workers are spraying for mosquitos, which carry the tropical virus. But health officials recommend players cover up and wear insect repellant just in case. [myad]
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Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mbu Joseph Mbu has announced a ban on protests within Nigeria’s capital city agitating for the release of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state kidnapped on April 14 by members of the Boko Haram sect even as women made it clear that they would not permit the police to take the shines off the agitations.
Why APC Should Rescue Nigeria From PDP’s Misguided Vision In 2015, By Eze Chukwuemeka Eze
After 15 years of uninterrupted democracy, it is important to write this special open letter on how to rescue our nation from the hands of clueless leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party which if it is not checked, may lead to the collapse of this country in line with the predictions by United States of America, and other prophets of doom.
The fact remains that Nigeria is currently at the cross road, confused and not knowing what tomorrow portends. This has been occasioned by the visionless and misguided leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre.
Today, we have a government that cannot protect or guarantee our security as contained in our constitution. According to Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka: “This is a government which is not only in denial mentality, but in denial about certain obvious steps to take… It’s one of those rather child-like situations that if you shut your eyes, if you don’t exhibit the tactile evidence of the missing humanity here, that somehow the problem will go away.”
It is a government that has succeeded in making a mockery of us before the international community and African leaders, which major achievements is the transformation of Nigeria into darkness and digitalizing corruption to such a level where a whopping sum of $10 million can be said to have been unaccounted for.
It is a government in which a minister spends a whopping sum of $10 million on hiring of planes for movements, both private and official, while Nigerians are wallowing in poverty. It is based on this unacceptable state and the fear of the future of our country that makes this letter imperative.
Apart from the above, I was motivated to alert the leadership of APC through this medium as I may not be privileged to attend the caucus or NEC meeting, where crucial issues affecting the future of the party shall be tabled and discussed. Besides, as a stakeholder in the project Nigeria and having played a great role as National Publicity Secretary of the nPDP, a major component of the present APC, I am stimulated not only by my patriotic consideration but encouraged by John F. Kennedy, one of the greatest presidents of America, who said: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
No doubt, in this crucial time of our history, PDP has messed up our country. The party has deviated from the democratic path it was founded on and has become a mockery of democratic principles. If some patriotic Nigerians do not rally around to ease out this party come 2015, then it will be an understatement to say that Nigeria is doomed and has no future under PDP after 2015. But God forbid!
I am also aware that it was because of the visionless leadership of PDP that brought up the amalgamation of other opposition political parties to form what is today known as the All Progressives Congress. As I commend and congratulate all the people and forces behind the formation of this great party, let me state that if Nigeria is not rescued from the maladministration of PDP come 2015, to some of us, all the efforts in forming APC would have become an exercise in futility.
For leading Nigeria to its present comatose state, one cannot be far from the truth if one says that President Goodluck Jonathan is a colossal failure in terms of his leadership of our nation. This view is shared by many Nigerians and some key actors of world politics. For example, Dr Peregrino Brimah, after the Jos bombings of Tuesday, May 20, 2014 which claimed more than 200 lives, according to latest counts, have pushed Nigeria to formally occupy the first position in the ranking of nations with the worst governments in history.
He went further to present other criteria which recently moved Nigeria up the list as follows: A recent World Bank report listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world. A report from the World Bank in April listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world, with the largest number of people said to live on less than $1.25 a day. Others are India, China, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Jonathan instead of addressing the issue on poverty as raised, casually dismissed the report by saying: Nigeria is not a poor country. The rebasing of Nigeria’s economy, setting Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, while revealing the true economic position of Africa’s largest nation, simultaneously re-certified Nigeria as the nation in the top position for worst leadership in social welfare and opportunities for the people.
With 70 per cent of the nation living under a-dollar-a-day, economically factored, Nigeria has the poorest people of any nation in the world today. With the rebased economy rating, Nigeria has the most unparalleled HDI (Human Development Index) to revenue and economy ratio of all nations. Poorest people in the Nigeria case, is derived from or correlates with poorest leadership.
Is it not surprising that Nigeria, at the end of 2013, surpassed Mexico in kidnapping, recording the cruelest and second highest single abduction events in recent history? By the end of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, Nigeria surpassed Syria, Libya, Iraq and Central African Republic (CAR) in deadly acts of terrorism and sectarian violence. The Nyanya bombing was ranked the fifth worst bombing of its kind in world history, post 1970, by the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI). The Jos bombing, with over 200 reported dead in one attack, is second only to 9/11 and the disputed Syria chemical weapons attack.
In combined values, with about 80,000 people killed in four years of largely unchecked Boko Haram violence, and with over 4,000 killed in the first quarter of 2014 alone, Nigeria has fast outpaced other nations of the world in deadly terror. Nigeria’s leadership in December of 2013 secured the world’s top position in insecurity and failure to protect life and discourage terror. Current rankings put Nigeria’s leadership second only to Hitler, after surpassing Saddam Hussein, in the current century, in terms of deliberate internal wastage of life.
With Nigeria’s leadership admitting that they could not account for up to or more than $20 billion oil revenue earnings discovered missing in a single 18-month period examined; the nation’s finance minister admitting this to BBC and the official government engagement of Price Waterhouse, an international accounting firm, which further confirmed this financial mishap, Nigeria secured its position as the most haplessly and very unserious nation.
According to Mrs. Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, in separate events in New York City, she said the Nigerian government under President Goodluck Jonathan squandered its oil resources, and indirectly helps corruption to fester in the troubled country.
Her words: “They have squandered their oil wealth; they have allowed corruption to fester, and now they are losing control of parts of their (own) territory because they would not make hard choices.”
The former U.S. Secretary of State at the function organised by the International Crisis Group also emphasized that: “The Nigerian government has failed to confront the threat, or to address the underlying challenges. Most of all, the government of Nigeria needs to get serious about protecting all of its citizens, and ensuring that every child has the right and opportunity to go to school.”
And to Sarah Saawall, US Under Secretary of State, “Corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and transport vehicles from reaching the front lines of the struggle against Boko Haram.”
A new report on global life expectancy by the World Health Organisation has rated Nigeria low in its report titled: “World Health Statistics 2014” and published few days ago. Life expectancy for both men and women is less than 55 years in nine sub-Saharan African countries namely: Nigeria, Angola, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Sierra Leone.
The yearly report is the definitive source of information on the health of the world’s people. It contains data from 194 countries on a range of mortality, disease and health system indicators, including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from key diseases, health services and treatments, financial investment in health, as well as risk factors and behaviours that affect health.
General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria former President in his assessment of Jonathan’s performance in office posited: “I don’t believe he has performed to the expectations of many Nigerians, not just me.”
While US Senator John McCain in his view feels that we don’t even have a government in the right sense, adding; “We shouldn’t have waited for a practically non-existent government to give us the go ahead before mounting a humanitarian effort to rescue those girls.
“Mr. Jonathan, who leads a corrupt government that has little credibility, initially played down the group’s threat and claimed security forces were in control. It wasn’t until Sunday, more than two weeks after the kidnappings, that he called a meeting of government officials” – New York Times.
The Economist, writing under the Editorial ‘A Clueless Government described the PDP Government in Nigeria, ‘perhaps the worst aspect of the Nigerian Government’s handling of the abduction is its seeming indifference to the plight of the girls’ families. It took more than two weeks before Mr. Jonathan addressed the matter in public. His government’s sluggish response and its failure even to clarify how many girls had been abducted provoked protests in several cities across Nigeria – itself an usual event
We should be asking ourselves: Is this the type of PDP that Nigerians voted for during the general elections of 2011? Of course, not! Nigeria is certainly more divided under this administration than ever and only divine intervention can enable us survive the visionless and clueless leadership that now pervades our nation. These are some of the reasons why the leadership of APC should move fast to rescue our nation from the sordid state it is at the moment.
I am so saddened over the mess President Jonathan has made of our country, because I could recall warning Nigerians that Jonathan was not prepared for the office he was being pushed to occupy, after messing up the zoning formula of PDP entrenched for the sanctity and peace of the nation. But nobody took me serious. I am warning again, that if PDP under President Jonathan is not stopped by 2015, Chief Uzor Kalu would have become a true prophet. After all, he once said: “Jonathan might be the last Nigerian President. Jonathan might be the Gorbachev of Nigeria. And that is the truth, so we better wake up. Political class, business class, military, civilians must now stand up to work for our internal security.
We are suffering from pains of our people; we are suffering from pains of the Nigerian system. This is not about which part of the country you come from, it is about Nigeria.”Chief Tom Ikimi, one of the major pillars of the party, in his open letter to the national chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande titled, “My fears for APC, by Ikimi” of May 9, 2014 expresses the fears of some key actors of the party.
He wrote: “I have taken a few days rest, but my intention of proceeding to an extended holiday seem to be disturbed by the overwhelming unfavourable reports I have received from across the country on the present status of our party. I have spoken to party members and leaders across the country and the feeling is unanimous regarding the downward trend of things. The latest problems arise from the congresses where in the South-South region; there are fundamental problems in Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Edo. I have been informed of similar problems in most other states across the country. Parallel excos have emerged in Ogun State!
“I am compelled to express strong reservations on the present state of affairs in our party, and my heart bleeds when I look back at the efforts and personal sacrifice many of us made to bring this national platform to fruition.”I believe some of the issues raised by Chief Ikimi in his letter should be addressed as we should not be seen repeating some of the evils that scared us away from PDP.if we still have audacious strategists in the party, I will suggest that we in APC should heed to the wise counsel of elder statesman Alh. Balarabe Musa, who had earlier advised that “the North should forget the ambition of insisting on the presidency in 2015, rather a credible President for the country should be allowed to emerge from the South-South in 2015 to replace Jonathan.”
I fully persuade our leaders to carefully study this proposal from Musa and make the contest for the APC Presidential ticket an open one that anybody from any section of the country can bid to take. If we make the presidential primary free, fair and transparent, whoever emerges no matter where he or she is from should be allowed to go with the full support of the entire party. This is the only way I believe we can achieve the APC’s aim of rescuing Nigeria from the evil grip of the PDP before this great nation is ran aground.
The most important thing that should be at the back of every progressive Nigerian’s mind is how to free Nigerians from the shame that PDP has brought to us all. And, if we miss this opportunity, only God will determine the fate of our nation.
In this regard, let us be guided by the foremost African, Nelson Mandela’s words: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
And the counsel of management philosopher, Peter Drucker: “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”
This is if truly we want to bail this country from the mess of PDP. Knowing that some people will start to ask questions on my pedigree in penning down this letter, let me state that apart from the facts enumerated above of the need of this letter, my past acts in the struggle for a better and greater Nigeria position me for this letter. I was the national director of the dreaded Turaki Vanguard that fought to stand still the infamous third term agenda and some anti-democratic elements during the second term tenure of President Obasanjo.
I was in charge of the public relations unit of the outfit. Apart from being the immediate past national publicity secretary of “new Peoples Democratic Party” (nPDP), I initiated and headed the Igbo Crusaders Political Outfit and South-East-South-South Amalgamated Political Movement (SESSAM), which I used to promote and propagate the ideals and visions of the founding fathers of PDP in the North-East of Nigeria, though sadly the party has been hijacked by elements that never knew the ideals and principles why PDP was formed in the first place.
With this clarification, the point that I have been in the centre of the struggle for a better Nigeria is not in doubt, prompting this letter. So it will be sad should anybody dare suggest that I was either influenced or motivated in writing this letter for any other consideration, if not for patriotic reasons.
The fact remains that should APC loose out in the 2015 general election, but God forbid, the true colour of President Goodluck Jonathan will be revealed to Nigerians and none of us may survive the heat. The ball is now in your court to do that which is necessary to rescue Nigeria from the imminent doom that awaits her, should we fail in this mission.
Let me, therefore, conclude this letter by asking you all to listen to what the most outstanding African, both dead and living, Nelson Mandela, said about our present predicament: “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Regards and remain blessed.
•Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze was the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New PDP. 0803819916. [myad]