4 Ways You May Be Hurting Your Man’s Feelings and Didn’t Even Know It!

PSA: MEN ARE SENSITIVE! “Everything a man does in this world is to please a woman!” From childhood, little boys gravitate towards their mothers and seek to please them. Disappointing mom would hurt a boy to his core.

Well, the same things holds true in adulthood. As men, we seek to please our wives. And as masculine as we might be and as tough as we come off, our weak spots lie within our women. And because of that, you may be hurting your man’s feelings and don’t even realize it.
Here are 4 scenarios to consider:
Scenario 1
Remember that time when he took some initiative and did some things he doesn’t normally do? Remember when he cleaned the house, washed all the clothes, did the dishes and fixed those things around the house? Well, do you also remember when instead of saying thank you…the first thing you did was criticize him for missing those few spots, for not folding the clothes the way you like them folded or some other knit-picky thing?. You see, he was proud of what he had done and he did it all to satisfy you. But then you crushed that enthusiasm with your negativity. You hurt his feelings and didn’t even know it because he probably expressed it in a more masculine and defensive way like “well forget it then, next time do it your d**n self!”
Scenario 2
Remember when he took the kids off your hands for the day just to give you a break and instead of you trusting that he knew what he was doing you called 100 times? Remember when you came back home and criticized how he had dressed the kids, what he made for them to eat, and fussed about the mess he let them make? You treated him like one of the kids instead and overlooked the whole fact that he did it all for you. You hurt his feelings and didn’t even know it because you were to self-absorbed to even realize it. He didn’t let you know you hurt his feelings, instead he just allows you to handle the kids for now on because obviously he isn’t capable.
Scenario 3
Remember when he planned that special outing for you? He took to you a place he thought was nice, bought you a gift he thought you would like and he took you to the restaurant he thought you would enjoy. Do you also remember that you complained the whole weekend about the weather, you gave his gift the “what is this?” scrunched up face look, and you hated the food at the restaurant. Suddenly all of the effort he put into everything seemed in vain. Again he had disappointed you and your disappointment hurt his feelings and you didn’t even realize it. He didn’t say much about it though. But for now on he just asks you what you want to do because when he plans it you don’t like it.
Scenario 4
Remember when he made a s*xual advance at you on a Monday and you acted uninterested? Then he tried again on Tuesday and you had a headache. He tried Wednesday and you were “tired.” Thursday nights Scandal is on and he “knows better” than to “try” you during that time. Well now it’s 2 weeks later and he hasn’t tried at all and now you are getting suspicious. Well the truth is that you consistently turning down his advances hurt his feelings and his confidence. The same way you want to feel desirable he does too, but you were so used to controlling when the s*x happens that you didn’t realize that. Now he just waits on you initiate because his ego can’t take being turned down anymore.
Should He Man Up?
I see you now thinking that he should just “Man Up” right? The truth is that it’s not a matter of masculinity, it’s more about the fact that your man wants to do nothing more than please you and he wants nothing more than for you to appreciate his efforts. He might not always get it right, but if he knows you appreciate it he will keep trying until he does.

InformationNigeria

7 Secrets Of Sexually Satisfied Couples

Here are the top secrets of sexually satisfied couples.

1. They Schedule s*x
Scheduling s*x tends to “take away all the very real excuses I could otherwise use, like that I’m exhausted after working and getting the kids to bed,” says Holly Jenkins*. For couples in long-term relationships, planning a romantic interlude leads to a higher-quality, more enjoyable s*xual experience.
2. They’re Quick
Couples who maintain a good s*x life during challenging times—particularly when they’re new parents—have learned to perfect the quickie. If you can figure out how to use 20 minutes to your advantage, then you can avoid dry spells in your s*x life. Think of a place or time when the s*x was amazing, and use it like a meditation.
3. They Communicate
There’s no other way to understand what your partner wants, needs or enjoys other than talking. “Save those conversations for when you’re not having s*x,” says Gilchrest O’Neill. “Though, in the actual moment, speak up about small adjustments your partner can make to increase enjoyment.”
4. They Have a Lock
Even if you don’t have a physical lock, creating a sense of boundaries is key, says Sacha Mohammed—married 14 years, with 7 children. “I always made sure the children were put to bed on time when they were little so my husband and I could have our time together; the kids were also taught to always knock to announce their presence.” According to Zdrok Wilson, “each couple needs to evaluate their environment and determine the optimal conditions for great s*x.”
5. They Experiment
“Be open to different ways of expressing yourself sexually,” says Jenkins. You have to find the right balance: Don’t be so conventional that it’s boring, but don’t be so adventurous that you lose your intimacy—or level of comfort. Maybe just get out of the house. “Many couples report that they have the best s*x when they’re not at home,” says Zdrok Wilson.
6. They Avoid Excuses
Don’t let excuses take on a life of their own. To use one example, the kids aren’t needy babies forever, and before you know it, s*x is so far on the back burner that it’s fallen completely off the stove. “Brainstorm solutions to the things that get in the way of having s*x,” suggests Gilchrest O’Neill. However, if the root of your excuses isn’t fixable—and there are underlying problems or resentments—then consider seeing a therapist.
7. They Look Good
It’s not just about pleasing your partner’s eye. Taking care of yourself makes you feel good about yourself. Not only that, but your libido is dependent on your overall health. “When you feel unhealthy, tired, ill or lacking in energy, you’re not likely to be motivated to engage in regular s*xual activity,” says Zdrok Wilson. So, do whatever makes you feel sexy, and he’s guaranteed to notice.

InformationNigeria

Eugene Robinson | The Benefits of Obama's Diplomatic Triumph on Iran

EUGENE ROBINSON ON BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
The U.S.-led deal to freeze Iran's nuclear program is a great accomplishment on many levels. Begin with the most basic: What if the talks in Geneva had failed?
If Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had gone home empty-handed, we would likely be drifting toward war. Iran's uranium-enrichment centrifuges would continue whirling until it became unambiguously clear that the nation, if it chose, could make a "breakout" dash to build a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks -- something President Obama has said he will not allow.
The president could decide to attack Iran's nuclear facilities or he could wait until Israeli military action forced his hand. Either way, we'd be engaged in another Middle East war -- one whose economic, political and human consequences could be dire.
So what did Kerry do in Geneva? He won an agreement that not only freezes Iran's nuclear-enrichment program for six months but actually rolls it back; that prevents new nuclear facilities from coming online; and that provides for unprecedented daily inspections to ensure that Iran is living up to it commitments.
Let me restate that to make it clearer: In May of next year, Iran will be further away from being able to build a bomb than it is today.
And this achievement is being attacked with the word "appeasement" and references to Munich? Give me a break.
In return, the United States and other leading nations have agreed to suspend some minor sanctions that mean a paltry $7 billion to the Iranian economy. Even if negotiations for a permanent agreement ultimately fail, this is a bargain price for six months of peace -- six months, mind you, during which the Iranian nuclear program goes backward, not forward.
Critics complain that the agreement recognizes Iran's right to enrich uranium, if only in low concentrations that are useless for bomb-making. In fact, the Geneva accord is deliberately ambiguous on this issue. But it should be clear by now that sanctions, however draconian, will never halt Iran's enrichment program. In 2006, when the first U.N. sanctions were applied, Iran had at most 3,000 functioning centrifuges that produced enriched uranium at a concentration of just 3.5 percent. Now Iran has at least 18,000 centrifuges and is able to enrich uranium to the level of 20 percent -- which is nine-tenths of the way toward making fuel for a bomb.
Under the Geneva pact, half of Iran's 20 percent uranium will be diluted and no more will be produced. A military strike that eliminated half of the potential fuel for a "breakout" bomb -- and wiped out the capability to make more -- would surely be reckoned a success. It is just plain dumb to attack Kerry and Obama for achieving the same thing without firing a shot.
Critics can't plausibly oppose the agreement on practical grounds. The real reason they are freaking out is that the agreement was made possible by the most extensive high-level bilateral contacts between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Iranian revolution. This has the potential to reshape the whole region -- to the detriment of those vested in the status quo.
With vast reserves of oil and a population of 80 million, Iran has the dimensions, and the ambitions, of a regional superpower. The election of President Hassan Rouhani -- a "moderate" in the context of the radical Islamic regime -- suggests Iran may be ready to change its relationship with the West from confrontation to coexistence. Obama has signaled a willingness to test this proposition.
Just as Richard Nixon's opening to China unsettled U.S. allies in Asia, so has Obama's phone call with Rouhani unnerved our allies in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who should be cautiously pleased that the threat from Iran is at least temporarily diminished, has reacted with irrational outrage. Saudi Arabia's autocratic leaders are sulking and grumbling.
It may be that Iran is incapable of becoming a responsible actor on the world stage as long as it is led by the mullahs. But there was a time when it was hard to imagine China being anything but a pariah as long as it was led by the Maoists -- yet now, Beijing is the capital of one of the world's economic superpowers, with Mao's picture still watching over Tiananmen Square.
Regimes do evolve, sometimes in ways that make the world a safer place. Obama is boldly asking this question: Can it happen in Iran?

BuzzFlash

5 ways identity thieves are targeting you

By Blake Ellis 

Fraudsters have many ways of stealing your identity.

There's plenty of advice out there about how to protect yourself from identity thieves. But you don't often hear from the bad guys themselves about the tricks of their trade.

Now Jumio, a company that allows customers to make mobile payments and verify their identities online or by phone, has come out with "The Fraudsters' Playbook."

The report outlines the most common ways people steal identities. Jumio collaborated with some reformed former identity thieves, as well as professional criminologists and law enforcement agents.
1. Setting up fake Wi-Fi networks: Fraudsters steal identities anywhere that offers free public Wi-Fi access, like cafes, airports, libraries and hotels.
An identity thief simply sets up a separate Wi-Fi network with the same name as the real one, and you may mistakenly log on. Then, using malware, the perp accesses your computer and hacks into your email and bank accounts. At that point, say goodbye to your identity.
Is this your password? Change it.
2. Posing as Census workers: Some fraudsters go door-to-door pretending to be Census workers collecting information. They ask for your name, address, date of birth or email address. And if you seem especially gullible, they may go even further and ask for more information.
One con cited in Jumio's report said he would target houses with nice cars parked outside. Others call or email victims asking for personal information to "verify a purchase" or "confirm account information."

 

The scary reality of hacking infrastructure

3. Mining social media profiles: People who still don't have privacy settings on their social media profiles are prime targets.
Identity thieves will locate profiles with the most public information and send them pointed offers based on it -- like to a favorite restaurant or retailer they have listed on their profiles or have visited recently. If they're lucky, this can rope in victims and convince them to supply financial information like their credit card number.
Related: Cyberattacks are the bank robberies of the future
4. Advertising bogus discounts: You'd think that by now people would know not to give their financial information to someone over the phone who they've never met. But the trick still works.
An identity thief pretends to be calling from a local business and offers you discounts on your next purchase. Then he says that to receive the discount, you need to make a small payment and provide your personal information. Bingo! He just got everything he needs to steal your identity -- and money.
5. Buying bank account information: There's an underground market for identity theft, called carding sites, where identity thieves sell credit or debit card information to other criminals for around $100 to $200 a pop, Jumio found.
Card numbers often flood into the marketplace after big data breaches at online retailers and banks. And buyers will even use tactics to find cards with the highest credit limits or the biggest balances -- often looking for certain account numbers that signal a card was opened a long time ago, since older cardholders are more likely to have bigger lines of credit.

CNNMoneyNews

APC, NEW PDP Merger A Done Deal, MOU Signed; Defecting Lawmakers’ Seats Safe

[Press Release]
It has been brought to my notice that a statement denying the merger between the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been credited to me and my office. I was quoted as saying that the MOU between the two parties is yet to be signed and because of this the merger is yet to be effected.

I wish to state that no such statement was at any time issued by me or my office. Instead, I wish to reiterate that the MOU between us and APC has been duly signed by both the nPDP National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and the National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande.

In this regard, the general public should disregard any statement from whatever source which tries to give the impression that the merger between us and APC is in danger. The truth in that the merger is waxing stronger by the day and that our resolve to save our fledgling democracy is unshakable.

As we stated in our press statement of yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP leadership should come to terms with the fact that PDP is now an opposition political party and Jonathan should start writing his handover notes as APC is fully set to take over the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in 2015 so as to give Nigerians the dividends of democracy they have been yearning for.

Meanwhile, we have read reports that members of the National Assembly that follow us to APC will lose their seats. This cannot happen as it will be at variance with the relevant sections of our Constitution and Electoral Laws that guarantee members of the National Assembly safety once their parent party is in crisis as PDP is at the moment.

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no danger of their losing their seats as made clear by sections 68(1)(g) and 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) in relation to the status of members of a legislative house (state and national) who defect from the political parties from which they were elected to join another political party.
The wordings of the aforesaid sections are in agreement with those of sections 64(1)(g) of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria given judicial interpretation by the Supreme Court in the case of FEDECO Vs Goni (1983) FNR 203. This case was argued by the best legal minds of that era (Chief FRA Williams SAN and GOK Ajayi SAN). The court held that such a member keeps his seat if his defection is as a result of a division or split in his party.

In this regard particularly now that we have the majority in the National Assembly our members in the National Assembly should express no fear as they are well protected and covered by the Constitution of the Federal Republic seeing that Alh Bamanga Tukur and his cohorts have succeeded to split the PDP into old and new PDP and are free to join any party of their choice

Long live NPDP!

Long live Nigeria!!!

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka

National Publicity Secretary, NPDP

Paradigm

My God! How Did We Elect A Drunkard As Our President? — Fejiro Oliver

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Nov. 29, 2013

I envy people who drink – at least they know what to blame everything on. – Oscar Levant

Fejiro Oliver
NewsRescue- If anyone in Nigeria still thinks we have a performing President, such a person had better visit a psychologist and if it persists, visit a psychiatrist. For the 3 years that President Goodluck Jonathan has piloted the affairs of this country, he has displayed governance orchestrated by drunkenness and if he deems it fit to go to court over this statement, he is very free. But let him be reminded that no right thinking person will appear before the courts in Nigeria; not me.

• Embarrassment As Jonathan Misses Speaking Slot At AU Gathering in Addis Ababa; Jonathan denies drinking spree on birthday in London made him miss Investors’ summit

His mantra of transformation agenda has turned to ‘traumatization’ agenda. This is a man who rode on the goodwill of Nigerians, not minding that we hated and still bitterly hate the PDP, we gave him our votes willingly like a virgin who has been brainwashed by the deceptive words of his lover and after the painful first time experience left to clean up the blood alone. President Jonathan has raped our collective intelligence and treasury, enjoying the ride and ecstasy alone while we never moaned or screamed as his lovers. Yes, he rode us like a beast while massaging us with sweeter words and promises. Finally he has dumped us!
We have turned to the masturbation of our brains to pleasure selves in order to forget the pains inflicted on us; consoling ourselves that if he doesn’t treat us well as we deserve, we will give ourselves treat, which we have continuously done. We agree that it is all deceit of our individual selves.
Walking like a frail man who knows no evil, with words so sweet to deceive even the strongest of minds, he bamboozled us with ‘I had no shoes” and we fell for it; unknown to us he had over 400 piece of shoes as a deputy governor. We forgot that he was held other positions that had empowered him, but yet we followed him blindly like a lamb led to the slaughter and he has truly slaughtered us.

• NewsRescue-$7bn NNPC-Swiss Oil Fraud: Swiss Ready To Investigate, But Nigeria Hasn’t Come Forward Yet

The realization is not too late that we voted for a drunk who presides after taking shots of whisky or any brand that gets to the table first. If he is not a drunk, how do we explain his actions so far by becoming a terrorist to Journalists, taking them to court for exposing his memo to clamp down on opposition parties? While the case is still in court, he issues more threat of suing another media for daring to publish that he took shots of ‘ogogoro’ during his birthday celebration.
No one gives credit to Obasanjo and former leaders for all the evils they committed against Nigerian, neither have we told them, ‘well done for looting our national treasury”, thus using them to judge President Jonathan’s performance is foolery on anyone’s part. This is what makes some ethnic bigots to threaten fire and hell should GEJ not win 2015 election, simply because he comes from a region that is regarded as the ‘golden geese that lays the golden egg’, as if any of them planted or stored the oil in the land. Our carelessness as a people has given guts to ethnic morons to always scream blue murder when Jonathan is accused of corruption, ranting that he be left alone, ‘after all OBJ did worse. So what! Has OBJ become a standard for retrogression or has IBB become a yardstick to measuring who takes the plaque for Nigeria most corrupt leader. Is Nigeria a country that every ethnic leader who gets to the throne must rape silly?
Only drunk presidents are intimidated by his ministers, fearful of getting them sacked despite mountains of corruption leveled against them by the press and civil society, simply because they funded the rigged election that brought him to power. Only leaders who are always drunk allow ministers like Onyebuchi Chukwu to still remain in the saddle as health minister when it is glaring that he’s not fit for such a job. One would have thought that after the sack of Ruqayat as minister of education as a result of our calls, and replacing her with his buddy who is a thug, Nyesom Wike, the lingering ASUU crisis would have been resolved, but hell no; it gets worse. Here is a leader who has never owned up to his failure; always putting the blame on people and past leaders, which is a hallmark of drunkards. If you cannot stand the heat of the kitchen, get out.
Our drunken President has now mandated his puppet Vice Chancellors to force our erudite professors and lecturers to resume academic lectures or lose their positions. What arrant decree from a civilian president who has successfully metamorphosed into an emperor with title as Emperor Goodluck Jonathan Bulldozer. Does he think we live in the time of the military that his drafting of soldiers to the campuses will cause the lecturers to be frightened and resume? The military regime did worse than this in the popular ‘Ali must go’ and Ali did go. Jonathan should stop beating the war drum that will consume him and set the nation ablaze, for when it begins; not even the safety of Aso Rock can secure him. Only drunken Presidents dare the academia in their country for that begins the downfall of their regime, hence most leaders avoid them like plagues, giving them their dues with less confrontation.

• NewsRescue- How Diezani Gave N60tr, Nigeria’s Income For 4 Years To Jide Omokore In 4 Oil Blocs

Do we attach President’s Jonathan’s behavior to his study of zoology, haven mingled with animals that are lesser beings with shallow brains? I really don’t know where to place him. For the first time in the history of any country, opposition parties are always coming third in elections, in a new rigging style that the Goodluck administration have invented. For the first time in a country, opposition party leaders take to the street to protest the charade called election in Anambra States, and the President deploys all security forces to stop them. This is a protest where a former head of state and retired army general partook in! Hasn’t the president taken enough shots of ‘ogogoro’ for him to have the boldness to stop such constitutional process, using the apparatus of the state, which are funded by the generality of Nigerians?
For the very first time in our country, a President loses grip of his political structure in broad day light, prompting them to move to the opposition party, thereby making the President a minority leader; such a record he must be happy to have broken, as the world’s first president to come from a minority party. For crying out loud, how did we degenerate to this level of shame that we have a Rehoboam as a President; a drunk who never thinks before he acts; a leader who takes all his most sensitive decisions from corrupt imperialist women? Only drunks makes certificate forgers board members of a university and foremost corrupt ex governor board chairman of Pension commission, giving him access to loot the money of pensioners, which will be used in funding the president’s 2015 election.
Sometimes one wonders the army of deceivers who surrounds this once innocent president, telling him tales of Nigerians supporting his regime. One truly cannot tell where he gets the statement that Nigerians are asking him to contest for second tenure. Mr. President, please wake up from your slumber; no Nigerian has asked you to contest and if any has asked you, they are your ethnic group from South South, few South West people and minimum of South East voters and you can hear this straight; your support base is not up to two million voters.

• Good luck, Mr. Jonathan. It’s time you were Impeached: Joel Brinkley, LA Times

Run for what? That we may continue in this hell that you and your PDP Governor’s forum Chairman, Godswill Akpabio has inflicted on us? Nigerians has not given up completely on you, for the race is still on. Most people are not good starters in a race and you are obviously one of such, hence the benefit of doubt that you may just end up well and become the most loved president in Nigeria’s history as you have always wished; that is if wishes were horses. Take less of alcohol and listen less to your corrupt henchmen, for in them lies your albatross.
We have given you a fresh start; solve all the lingering issues in the health and education sectors, do your best to alleviate the poverty level of Nigerians, read and listen to critical reports about you for that is where you will get the true pictures of happenings in Nigeria, not from your 419 aides. We hope to see you at the top.
These little things matter…
Fejiro Oliver, a Journalist can be reached on secretsreporters@gmail.com and +2348026797588 (sms only please). Follow on twitter  @fejirooliver86 and Facebook  fejirooliver86. Like our Facebook page – secretsreporters

Proverbs 25:26 A righteous man falling down before the wicked is like a muddied spring and a polluted fountain!
“The best Jihad is to speak a word of truth to a tyrant ruler.” –Prophet Mohammed (SAW)

NerwsRescue

A Pope's Pointed Message

 By Eugene Robinson,

Pope Francis during a news conference aboard his airplane en route to Italy after a visit to Brazil, July 29, 2013. (Photo: Luca Zennaro / Pool via The New York Times) Washington, DC -- "Some people
continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting."
That passage is not from some Occupy Wall Street manifesto. It was written by Pope Francis in a stunning new treatise on the Catholic Church and its role in society -- and it is a powerful reminder that however tiresome the political trench warfare in Washington may be, we have a duty to fight on.
The full implementation of Obamacare matters. Raising the minimum wage matters. Reforming a financial system "which rules rather than serves," Francis noted, matters. Hearing the anguished voices of those left hopeless by poverty matters; answering their pleas with education, health care and employment matters even more.
Francis, the first Jesuit and first non-European in the modern era to be named pope, clearly intends to make a real difference in the world -- too much of a difference, it appears, for some conservatives: Sarah Palin, a born-again Christian who attends a nondenominational church, said recently that Francis' open-arms attitude on social issues "has taken me aback." Would that a few more words might take her all the way aback to the obscurity from which she came.
Francis' remarks on economics and poverty came in a 50,000-word Apostolic Exhortation, released Tuesday, that gives the clearest vision to date of how he sees the church and how he intends to reshape it. In its boldness, the statement suggests that just as John Paul II played a political role in the fall of communism, so might Francis try to help shape events by obliging the faithful to recognize, and resist, a growing pattern of inequality throughout the world.
"To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed," Francis wrote. "Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people's pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else's responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us."
Francis explicitly calls for "financial reform," though he wisely does not lay out a policy agenda. But in a passage likely to make libertarians want to hide amid the dense thickets of Ayn Rand's prose, where no light can penetrate, Francis writes that "the private ownership of goods is justified by the need to protect and increase them, so that they can better serve the common good; for this reason, solidarity must be lived as the decision to restore to the poor what belongs to them."
The basic positions Francis takes on economic and social justice are not new; all recent popes have expressed a similar critique of modern capitalist society, including John Paul II, whose views on poverty and the need for community are often conveniently overlooked by those who would paint him as Ronald Reagan in robes.
But no recent pope has been so forceful in denouncing the "idolatry of money" and making the inexorable rise of inequality one of the church's central concerns. Francis intends his message to be heard. I hope leaders everywhere, and especially in Washington, are listening.
Jesus commanded his apostles to give to the poor. Yet many  elected officials who claim to follow Jesus' teachings are determined to keep the poor from receiving health care, food assistance, housing subsidies and a host of other benefits. Inequality is celebrated as a virtue. Life, we are told with a shrug, is sometimes unfair.
But for Christians, Francis reminds us, life is supposed to be as fair and compassionate as we can make it. Money is a false idol, a golden calf. Our sacred responsibility is to one another.
Amen, Your Holiness. Amen.

TruthOut

Bellview crash: After 8 years, we’re yet to be compensated –Family of late pilot tells court

SUN - The family members of the late Captain Lambert Imasuen, the pilot of Bellview aircraft Boeing 737-200 that crashed on October 22, 2005, has told National Industrial Court (NIC) sitting in Lagos that after eight years of the demise of their breadwinner, his employer is yet to fulfill its promise to the

family.
The eldest child of the late pilot, Imuwahen Lenita Imasuen revealed this to the court presided over Justice Lawal Mani, while being led in evidence by Yusuf Asamah Kadiri in the suit filed against Bellview Arilines Limited and its directors.
Apart from the company, other defendants in the suit are Kayode Odukoya, Tunde Yusuf, Gabriel Olowo, Emmanuel Ombu, Abisoye Mohammed, Kola Sobande, Chimara Imediegwu and Alex Iheuwa
In her evidence in chief, Imuwahen lamented that despite the express assurances given to her by Bellview Airlines through its company secretary, one Andrew Orji, the company refused to pay the compensation, thereby neglecting the family.
The eldest child of the late pilot narrated their ordeal in the hands of the employer of their breadwinner before they finally decided to file the suit against the company.
Imasuen also tried to tender newspaper publication and email correspondences, which the family exchanged with the airline on the payment of the compensation.
But the defendants’ counsel, Toyin Salice objected to the tendering of the documents as exhibits on the ground that the emails were computer-generated documents which was in variance to Section 84 (4) of the Evidence Act.
Responding, Kadiri urged the court to discountenance the objection and admit the documents as exhibits in the matter.
Kadiri also told the court that he had filed an application to compel the Ministry of Aviation, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Directorate of Air Worthiness to produce the documents at their disposal pertaining to the crash.
Meanwhile, Justice Mani has fixed February 12 and 13, 2014 for ruling and continuation of trial.
In a supporting affidavit of the suit, the claimant (Imuwahen) averred that immediately after the death of her father, she and other family members proceeded to Bellview’s office as was required of the victims of the crash, and they were informed of their entitlement to $100, 000 as compensation for the death of Captain Imasuen as a victim of the air crash.
She recalled that the defendant made an advance payment of $10,000, with the assurance that the balance of $90,000 compensation would be paid upon production of letter of administration of the Estate of the late Captain Imasuen.
However, upon presentation of the said letter of administration, Imuwahen stressed that the defendants refused to pay the outstanding balance of $90,000 despite repeated demands.
The family is, therefore, urging the court to compel the airline to pay the said $90,000 and N82 million damages, as well as the cost of the action and other benefits and entitlement accruing to the Estate of the late Captain Imasuen both as air crash victim and staff of Bellview Airlines.
But the defendants, in their statement of defence, denied admitting to pay the claimant $100,000 compensation, and that there was no time they gave any assurances whatsoever of paying $90,000 balance.
The defendants added that on December 22, 2005, Bellview Airlines benevolently offered to pay the family of the late Captain Imaseun $10,000 to alleviate any hardship occasioned to the family as a result of the crash.
They further contended that the suit was brought in obvious bad faith, and that it should be dismissed with substantial cost.
The aircraft was on its way to Abuja from Lagos when it crashed at Lisa Village area of Ogun State, killing all 117 persons on board.

TheSun

27 lawmakers back Amaechi’s defection to APC

From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The 27 pro-Chibuike Amaechi lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly have pledged their unwavering support to the governor on his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The declaration was made on Friday by Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Leyii Kwanee, while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt.
Kwanee  justified Governor  Amaechi’s defection, saying that his continued stay with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have been a disservice to Rivers people.
He said that the decision was in the best interest of the state, and the lawmakers would give him the desired support.
“We are with him for the decision he has taken so far. As it relates to the House, we are aware of the relevant sections of the law as relates to, and we will confine and ensure that we do not flout the law, when we also move with the governor. So, rest assured that we are with the governor.”
Kwanee, who represents Khana Constituency II in the Assembly, reminded Rivers people that the governor  was  pushed to the wall and he endured all the persecution because the president comes from his extraction.
Speaking on the dissolution of the Obio/Akpor Local Government, Kwanee stated that the lawmakers were in support of the governor.
The deputy speaker said  Governor Amaechi exercised his constitutional power, saying that aggrieved persons could seek redress in court.
He further said that Rivers people had suffered a lot under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership.
The lawmaker pointed out the case of Soku oil field, which was ceded to Bayelsa State, the security helicopter acquired by Rivers government with approval of Federal Government, which was denied entrance into Nigerian air space and the Rivers aircraft that was grounded by the Aviation Ministry were for political reasons.
Continuing, Kwanee said that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, which affected the state, particularly the Ogonis, was treated with disdain, and many other things acruing to the state from the federation were denied by the Federal Government.
TheSun

PDP/APC merger: Fears, uncertainty rule House of Reps

BY IHEANACHO NWOSU,ABUJA
The House of Representatives is facing a huge challenge. No time has this been profound than the last few days. The  reason is not farfetched. Tuesday’s formal declaration of some members of the G7 governors and PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has unleashed a new political air on the National Assembly. It is more pronounced in the House.
The reason for that is understandable. The lower chamber, apart from being more in number is peopled by younger politicians who are wholly dependent on their governors. For that, the lawmakers have frenetically been with their governors since the crisis in PDP erupted. To demonstrate how passionate they are in the squabble, loyalists of the Kawu Baraje-led faction and that of the National  Chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur have at a point engaged in a free – for -all. That was when Baraje and the re-bel governors visited the chamber in September.
Although the Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambulwal intervened and stopped the face-off from degenerating, it did not forestall future clashes between the two divides. They shifted their disagreement to the chamber. The PDP members persistently aligned with the APC lawmakers to defeat any motion or bill that were in the interest of the Presidency. It was clear that it was a matter of time before the marriage between the APC and PDP would be consummated. So, when last Tuesday,  some of the G7 governors announced their movement to APC, it was received with an unusual giggling by the PDP members.  A different air enveloped the House. Even those who were hitherto passive about the situation in the PDP in the chamber quickly put away such garb and stepped out to speak their mind on the development. Of course, those loyal to Tukur did not see any reason to celebrate the exit of the rebel governors. Instead, they upbraided them and shrugged off fears that their departure will mark down the influence of the ruling part.
Tambuwal was circumspect in his handling of the issue. He declared that it was at the discretion of the House members to know whether they will follow their governors or not. In a statement by his media aide, Mallam Imam Imam, the Speaker said they will follow due process if they want to cross-carpet to APC.
He said: “Members of Parliament (MPs)will decide collectively on when to defect. They have their internal process if they decide to cross-carpet, let’s wait and see whether they can activate the process or not.” If Tambuwal was imprecise in his comment, the Chief Whip of the House, Hon Mohammed Ishaka Bawa (PDP,Taraba) was unmistakable about where he stood on the matter. He said the G7 governors had the right to join  any party they like. He said that their departure from PDP will not affect the ruling party.
He said: “As the Nigerian constitution provides, they have the right to freedom of association; they have the right to launch any political party of their choice. Nobody is in PDP by force. You can decide to leave at any time you wish to.
“But what I want Nigerians to know is that PDP will continue to wax stronger despite all that is happening. This is not the firs time in PDP; this is not the firs time in the political development of Nigeria. I’ll like to take you back to 1983 when some progressive governors decided to leave their party; we have Nwobodo; we have Abubakar Barde, Abubakar Rimi and a host of them who left their party, but what was the result after they left? “If that is their wish, the constitution guarantees them that freedom. In PDP, we have 1001 ways of consolidating ourselves.
In 2011, there were some strong members of the PDP that left, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, but the PDP still won. “It depends on the calculation and the members that show inter-est. Is it all members that show interest? We’re not aware of any member that is to move with his governor. Until a letter is being sent to Mr Speaker and read on the floor of the House before w can decide to count to know the number of people who defected. PDP will never be minority in the House up to 2015; I can assure you that. The members will not automatically leave; they’ll remain in the party.”
Supporting Bawa’s views, Hon Nnanna Igbokwe (PDP, Imo) said the development will only make the ruling party to strategize and focus on things that will make it to meet the needs of the
populace who he said are the ultimate decider of who should be elected into office He said: “They are free to join any party they like, that is the beauty of democracy. But to say that it will affect the PDP, I don’t think so. This will make our democracy to become more robust, it will make us to go back and strategize. I would love that the issue causing the standoff was resolved amicably. PDP is a big party and I know that it will overcome the challenge posed by the exit of these people”.
But Aliyu  Madaki(Kano,PDP) differed with Bawa and Igbokwe.   He praised the move and announced that they will follow the governors to the new party. He said: “We’ll follow our governors; there’s no doubt about it. We can’t continue to stay and face injustice. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, and this will eventually change the leader-ship in the House.” Similarly, the Deputy Minority Leader, Hon Suleiman Abdurahman Kawu Sumaila, said it was a welcome development. He said: “We received with joy the long-awaited merger of our beloved political party, the All Progressives Congress with the group of G7 governors of the PDP.“It is a welcome development that will forever shape the political history of Nigeria.
With this merger, a new chapter has now been opened in our collective struggles for the emancipation of the Nigerian people from the 14 years of internal slavery, bondage and suppression under the PDP. “However, I will like to use this opportunity to reiterate the fact that this marriage can only be sustained in an atmosphere of justice, equity, fair play and respect for the tenets of democracy.“The APC is further emboldened towards our resolve to unseat the PDP from all positions of government through the ballot box revolution in all elections.”
He continued: “However, to sustain our new marriage and nurture it into maturity, we all most not only profess our democratic credentials, but we must be ready to be fair, just and inculcate democratic norms and values and bee guided by internal democracy and obedience to rule of law. “The G7 governors were forced to leave the PDP because of injustice, they too must now be ready to do justice to all and give room to all party members and chieftains to aspire for any position without being molested.”In his own reaction, the
Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said: “We receive them and all others who are committed to change and who are progressive in inclination with open arms. The change that all Nigerians desire has only just started” Similarly, Hon. Dakuku Peterside (PDP, Rivers) described the development as a “watershed in our democratic journey and hope rekindled. The beneficiary is the Nigerian people, democracy and democratic culture can never be the same again and our democratic institutions will be strengthened by implication.
Never again will the people be taken for granted.” Hon Abiodun Faleke (APC, Lagos) also said the development was “the best for Nigeria at this point of our democratic journey. The House of Representatives will witness better performance with this development, I believe.” The same stand was taken by Hon. Aliyu Madaki (PDP, Kano). He said: “This landmark event has shown us that our democracy is growing and strong too. If people can have the freedom to choose where they want to belong, I think, as a people, we should be commended. “For me, I see this as a way forward for our democracy and with this, the future is not only brought for our democracy but the entirety of Nigerian people. “I believe Nigerians will see begin to see a more vibrant federal legislature because there is a new order in place”.
The focus has now shifted on the implication of the marriage with the APC.  At present, PDP has 208 members, while the op-position APC has 138 members.  With the exception of Jigawa and Niger States whose governors said they are still part of the PDP, Kano, Kwara, Rivers, Adamawa and Sokoto states have a total of 48 lawmakers out of which about 40 are said to be with the PDP.
Should the 40 PDP members in the five G7 governors state join the APC, the party’s lawmakers will now be 178, while the PDP will be left with 168. This will ultimately make the APC to be in majority forcing  the PDP  to take the minority seat. This situation holds an uncertain future for the leadership and principal officers of the House. It mean that APC can upstage Tambuwal and his men. The principal officers who ar of the PDP stock are, naturally gripped by fears over this development. They only rely on the support of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Labour Party lawmakers to stave off any onslaught from the APC.
APGA has five members, same for Labour . Tambuwal may survive any move by the APC as the party has always considered the speaker as a good leader and an ally.  However, it is doubtful if it will spare the House leader, Mulikat Adeola-Akande  and other principal officers one of the APC lawmakers, who does not want his name mentioned told Saturday Sun that “ no member of this House -whether PDP, APC, APGA or Labour would want Tambuwal replaced. He has shown good leadership, he has been fair to every member and every party, he has been transparent and focused.  We cannot say the same of other principal officers. APC will do the right things when it comes to these principal officers”
The situation is made worse for the PDP caucus in the House by the fact that though some members may not be disposed to moving to APC, they are unwilling to move with the PDP in anything concerning the House. Some of the lawmakers who take this type of stand are from Niger, Jigawa, Bauchi and Gombe. PDP cannot rely on them to fence off whatever tackles that would come from APC lawmakers. The next few weeks will prove how the final destination will loo like. For now, plots, alignments  and behind the door meetings remain the regular features in the chamber.

TheSun

Now, it’s balance of power

Though it had been wafting in the air for some time, the eventual decamping of some governors and prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the All Progressives Congress (APC) still came with an element of surprise. 
It was a coup de grace, and I shouted in wonderment as the breaking news came.
In Nigerian politics today, the PDP is like a gravy train, and it is not easy to leave it for a party just aspiring for power at the centre.  Being a member of PDP, particularly at very prominent level, means unfettered access to free money, to power and all its appurtenances, to influence, to all that you need to be a swashbuckling Nigerian.
It is only someone truly interested in higher ideals, or sorely vexed with the perilous ways of the party, that will dump the PDP.  But at least four governors did so on Tuesday, and still counting.  A number of former governors also left the ruling party for the APC.
What we now have in Nigeria is a balance of power, instead of the skew and tilt that existed before Tuesday.  The PDP had always threatened to hold us captive for minimum of 60 years, simply because there was no balance of power in the country.  It had developed itself into a power grabbing machine, and not necessarily a political party run on democratic norms and principles.  But with the new development, the country now has balance of power, which Condoleezza Rice, former American Secretary of State says, “favours freedom.”  Yes, balance of power leads to stability, while imbalance is threat to everything, including democracy.
Tom Lehrer, an American singer and songwriter, wrote thus of balance of power:
“First we got the bomb, and that was good
Cause we love peace and motherhood
Then Russia got the bomb, but that’s okay
Cause the balance of power is maintained that way.”
In a manner of speaking, PDP has the bomb, and that is good. The APC also now got the bomb, and that’s okay.  Balance of power is maintained that way.  When the dust of who is where really settles, APC may have 18 governors (or thereabout), PDP will shrink from 23 to 16 (or thereabout), while Labour Party has one, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has one.  We are now closer to a two-party arrangement, which some people believe is better for democracy, because there will be a balance of power.
Equally, when the dust eventually settles, the configuration of dominance in the National Assembly may change.  APC may become the party with the majority, as most lawmakers will likely go with their governors into the new party.  How things suddenly change!  Between the rising of the sun, and the going down thereof, the face of things may change.  Well, it changed last Tuesday.
What are the implications of the new scenario in Nigerian politics?  Plenty.
James T. Kirk, the American fictional character in Star Trek, says balance of power is the trickiest, most difficult, dirtiest game, “but the only one that preserves both sides.”  True.  The emerging position in our politics will not only preserve both sides (PDP and APC), it will also preserve our democracy.  Imagine if PDP continues to rule for 60 years as it had threatened.  What would have happened?  Ennui would set in, the political game would become jaded and uninspiring, tedium and lassitude would ensue, and Nigerians would be taken for granted at will.  We would have no voice, no choice, but just take the PDP warts and all.  If we tell them there is no bread, they would tell us to eat cake.  If we say naira is scarce, they would tell us to spend dollars.  We would simply be in a cul-de-sac.  No option, no alternative to PDP.  We would have been finished as a people.  But with current development, Nigerians now have a choice.  We can change those who rule us through our votes.
Votes.  Do they count here?  With balance of power, votes will have to count.  No single party can now manipulate the system unabashedly again, as we have seen since 1999.  Can any individual, party or electoral umpire give us the Maurice Iwu stuff, or what Attahiru Jega’s INEC did in Anambra on November 16, and get away with it?  Not on their lives!  Not with the balance of power we now have.  Any party that will win anything now will have to work for it.  No artifices again, no more sleight of hand.  You only get what you deserve henceforth.  No one can just beat anybody down again by sheer force of numbers and power of incumbency.
Talking of incumbency, a number of people have criticized the fact that the APC had made so much effort to woo serving PDP governors into its camp.  They say why invite the same people you had criticized so stridently into your camp, if you had ideological distinction?  Good argument.  But only puritanical.  Good argument that will not lead to change of power structure in any form.  For there to be a change in Nigeria, you need the levers of powers, the mechanics of control.  If you don’t have those, your ideas, as good as they may be, will simply remain such – ideas.  No change, no impact.
In Nigeria, as I have always maintained, incumbency means opportunism, it means ability to influence the system, even to manipulate.  Without being an incumbent, for instance, would a Goodluck Jonathan ever have been substantive president?  Not likely.  Will an Ibrahim Geidam have been governor in Yobe?  Not likely.  Will a Patrick Yakowa (God rest his soul) have been governor in Kaduna?  Not likely.  All these got into their respective offices when their predecessors died, and they stepped in, according to the dictates of our constitution.  Without such developments, they may never have got to where they are now.  So, does APC need serving governors to wrest power at the centre?  They do.  Without having power base in the states, power at the centre would just remain a pie in the sky, a Sugarcandy Mountain as exists in the dreamy world of Moses in Animal Farm by George Orwell.
Remember Moses?  He was the old raven who always dreamed of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died.  Situated somewhere in the sky, it was Sunday seven days a week in the country, clover was available all season, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges.  Dreamer, wake up!  Without going for serving governors, no matter the ideological holes you can pick in the decision, power would simply be a Sugarcandy Mountain to the APC.  And ‘change,’ which is the slogan of the party, would just be mere mantra.  Nigeria would simply remain in the servitude of PDP, not even for 60 years, but forever.
Another implication is the onerous challenge now imposed on the APC.  The governors and former PDP chieftains left because they were victims of undemocratic practices and injustice.  Can they afford to experience the same in the new party?  No.  The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a major player in the parties that fused into APC, was known for certain practices that were deemed undemocratic. Rather than let its candidates emerge through primaries, it handpicks them.  Old things should pass away now, and all things should become new.  If such tendencies show up in APC, it will create a problem for the party.  Candidates at all levels must emerge freely and fairly.
APC has the challenge of building a near-seamless party, since it is a conglomeration of ACN, the old Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and part of APGA.  Olagunsoye Oyinlola, though not fully in APC yet, is collaborating with Chief Bisi Akande, the man he dislodged to become Osun State governor in 2003.  I saw both men embracing on television.  Miraculous!  Abdulhahi Adamu, former governor of Nasarawa State is in the same party with Tanko Al-Makura, the man who took the state from Aliyu Akwe Doma, who had been installed by Adamu.  Wonderful!  And Bukola Saraki, former Kwara State governor, will now be in the same party as Belgore, the man he fought grit for grit, tackle for tackle, before he installed his own successor in Abdulfatah Ahmed.  Amazing!  Strange bedfellows all, surely, but they must make the sleep sweet.  There will be uneasy times between the founders and the joiners, but there should be sacrifice on both sides.  No first class or second class citizens.
Some former G7 governors are still staying back in the PDP. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, and Babangida Aliyu of Niger, are yet to take the plunge.  It is their rights to move or not to.  But one thing is clear.  It will never be the same for them in PDP again.  Having been part of what was called New PDP or ‘rebel governors,’ the mainstream PDP will never trust them again.  In fact, they would be suspected as moles who stayed back to further weaken the party, and pass vital information to the APC.  Time will tell.
Again, with the configuration of the power game in Nigeria now, will the average Jigawa person, or the Sokoto and Niger person ever vote for the candidate of the PDP in 2015?  Not likely.  So, the governors who stayed back will simply find out that they are no longer in charge of their states. In 2011, those states were won by the CPC in the presidential election. In Jigawa, CPC won 663,994, while the PDP won 419,252. In Niger, CPC won 652,574, while PDP won 321,429. In Sokoto, CPC won 540,769, while PDP won 309,057. Nothing shows that the PDP will not fare worse in those states in 2015, and it will simply be beyond the governors. The people will just revolt with their votes.
The days and years ahead surely promise to be quite dramatic and interesting.  PDP will never dash out power, APC will have to take it, if it wants it seriously enough.  But no doubt, Nigeria and her democracy will be better for it.  No possibility of domination of the political space by one party again.  No more swagger, no tyranny, no bluster.  The true breath of fresh air is here.

TheSun

Scruples in politics? Forget it

It was not completely an anti-climax but the long-expected earthquake the exit of the powerful governors from the PDP should have caused did not materialize after all. First, five of the expected seven governors attended the meeting at which the final decision to cross the carpet from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) was taken.
That might not necessarily cause much concern because as a former military governor of Oyo State, the late General Abdulkareem Adisa, would have put it, any venture, especially an examination performance in which a student attained seventy percent should be regarded as near excellent performance. The only problem with the G7 governors’ seeming seventy percent performance on their declaration for APC is that even the seventy percent performance shrank to less than forty-five percent as two of the five governors at the declaration meeting impliedly distanced themselves.
From seven of the original governors initially threatening hell and brimstone on PDP’s future to only three who eventually stood their ground. That was not good enough. Neither should that offer any comfort to the PDP and its leaders on their political fortunes in 2015. In fact, privately, the PDP should be worried about its latest political discomfort towards 2015, an inevitable fall-out of the showdown with the protesting governors.
There are wide-ranging implications for the latest development among feuding members of the PDP. This political show is hardly a surprise. All along, any talk of reconciliation was more of playing for time to land the killer punch by any of the two sides. Towards that end, the PDP leadership (especially President Jonathan and national chairman Bamanga Tukur) kept on humiliating and persecuting the arrowhead of the revolt, Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi through an unofficial (?) alternate governor Police Commissioner Mbu James Mbu. Naturally, it occurred to other governors in the showdown that should such go unquestioned, another governor among them would be next.
The more the other governors appeared to show solidarity with their colleague Rotimi Amaechi, the other members of the protesting governors were scandalized for the financial crimes of their offspring. To be fair, that was in return for the known plans of the protesting governors to take their destiny into their hands by clandestinely perfecting future political prospects on the platform of another party.
Whether to enhance reconciliation prospects or to make clear to him (that) they had had enough of what PDP could offer, one man the protesting governors seemed to rely on through consultations was the party’s former chairman of Board of Trustees, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. At a stage, unconfirmed media reports were that Obasanjo advised the protesting governors not to quit the PDP. That might be true or could be merely for public consumption.
If Obasanjo sincerely prevailed on the governors not to quit the PDP and yet, they proceeded to join the APC in total defiance, the only implication is that Obasanjo’s influence (if any) in PDP today is that a loyal military officer like (retired Brigadier-General) Olagunsoye Oyinlola would defy his Commander-in-Chief? Impossible.
On the other hand, Obasanjo is one of those who may be disenchanted with how PDP is run today. The former president has been humiliated at the party’s national level, South-West zonal level and indeed Ogun State level. Forced to resign as the party’s Chairman of Board of Trustees, but in truth only to pre-empt an impending voting out of office, the same Obasanjo was later to see himself rendered almost irrelevant with the scheming out of his nominees as national, zonal and Ogun State party officers and only recently, his appointees as Federal Ministers.
Goodluck Jonathan would be miscalculating to assume Obasanjo would take such lying low. There should therefore be no surprise if Obasanjo endorsed the APC for the protesting governors. Even then, the picture that emerges is the degree of scruples in Nigerian politics. Not the least because Obasanjo’s potential friends in APC are the same Nigerians he maligned and disgraced out of office in his days of almighty rule in Aso Rock.
The then AD (mainly Yoruba) South-West governors who supported him (Obasanjo) for a second term in 2003 only to be disappointed out at office much to their regret? Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar  he (Obasanjo) tried to discredit out of office after the man endorsed him for a second term?
There was also the mutual embrace of former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu and former Osun State governor Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. For political harmony, that might be alright but others might not be amused especially victims of collateral damage of the struggle for power by both men. There was a top lawyer whose career remains uncertain for allegedly making phone calls to judges during election petition trials and another trial judge similarly faulted for receiving phone calls from litigants.
The allegations were made in both cases by supporters of these politicians, who must have hacked into the private phone conversations of the victims of the collateral damage while bitter political rivalry was considered legitimate. Today, that rivalry has dissolved into joint effort against a common political enemy.
So far, there are speculations that the carpet crossing may soon alter the strength of political parties in the National Assembly in particular. Further speculations are that state governors and such members of the National Assembly involved in such change of party platforms may lose their seats.
What are the prospects? One of the early warning shots at the outbreak of hostilities within the PDP was fired by national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, who, obviously aiming at containing the spread of the revolt, threatened to write the National Assembly leadership to declare vacant, seats of his party assemblymen who might cross to another party.
Nigerian constitution does not support Bamanga Tukur’s threat and in fact is rendered impossible by section 68(1) (2) of Nigerian constitution which asserts that seats will only be lost “…provided that membership of the latter (new) party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored…”
Consequently, the PDP had been the major beneficiary of carpet crossers from other factionalized political parties. Since 1999, the first senators Seye Ogunlewe and the late Wahab Dosunmu took advantage of the division within Alliance for Democracy and joined the PDP and never lost their seats.
Equally, following division within Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), former governor Ikedim Ohakim of Imo State crossed to the PDP without losing office. He was later followed by PPA governor Theodore Orji of Abia State who similarly joined the PDP without necessarily resigning.
The new PDP warriors (now in APC) were careful enough to first ensure a division within the PDP, which they sustained before joining the APC. With these precedents set by PDP and the well-worded stipulation of factions within a party provided in the constitution, PDP members in national and state assemblies willing to join any other party will be safe to do so without losing their seats.
What is more, when the new PDP leaders (now APC members) visited National Assembly, Senate President, David Mark, obviously guided by section 68(1) (g) of Nigerian constitution quoted above, publicly assured that he (Senate President) would not declare any member’s seat vacant.
The magnitude of its political problems should now be dawning on the PDP leadership as indicated by latest developments. For example, the initial cynicism raised by the seeming opting out by some governors from joining the APC turned out to be premature. While Kwara governor Abdulfatah Ahmed did not join in announcing the APC as their new party, a day later, the new PDP in Kwara formally declared for the APC. In effect, short of formal announcement, Kwara emerged as the first PDP government-controlled state to be taken over by the APC.
PDP’s imminent loss of majority in the National Assembly should not necessarily pose a threat to the tenure of President Jonathan provided (repeat provided) the party does not volunteer for suicide. Currently, America’s President Barrack Obama’s Democratic Party does not control the House of Representatives. The Republicans in charge are not necessarily flexing their muscle.
In the latest political development in Nigeria, even if the APC, as expected, commands two-thirds majority, such should compel mutual respect towards the 2015 elections. If, however, as being widely speculated, the PDP or indeed President Jonathan instigates impeachment proceedings in state assemblies to remove governors considered to be offending, the logical consequence will be counter-impeachment proceedings in the National Assembly against President Jonathan.
No side can or should dare the other without repercussions. Whatever Jonathan’s fate in 2015, he henceforth faces the urgent and uneasy task of containing the hawks around him.

TheSun

Nigeria: Lebanese Terrorist In Case Linked To NSA Aliyu Gusau, Sentenced To Life

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Nov. 30, 2013
NewsRescue- A Lebanese suspected Hezbollah spy, Talal Ahmad Roda has been sentenced to ‘life’ in Nigeria in connection to war ammunition found in a bunker in Kano. Two other suspects, one, the owner of Amigo supermarket in Abuja were ordered immediate release and return of all their property.
This case of terrorism is however not without connections to Nigeria’s 3 time NSA, Aliyu Gusau, who was in reportedly in charge of security of the nation at the time when such a massive cache of arms were imported and shipped to Kano, and has been directly fingered of being linked to this case as well as Boko Haram terror. See: NewsRescue- General Aliyu Mohammed “Die-to-rule” Gusau Exposed As Top Boko Haram Sponsor
Weapons recovered were 17 AK 47 rifles, 44 magazines, four land mines and 12 RPG bombs, 14 RPG chargers, 11 66 mm anti-tanks weapons, one SMG magazine, 11, 433 rounds of 7.26 mm special, 76 hand grenades, rocket-propelled guns, and 122 calibre artillery and anti-mine weapons, one pistol and several magazines.
Nothing has yet been said about the outcome of any investigation of Gen. Aliyu Gusau who is married to the sister of the current NSA, Sambo Dasuki, and widow and ‘estate-key holder’ of Babangida’s bank man, Late Aliyu Dasuki.
Related: NewsRescue-Nigeria Terror Mastermind is US Informant with Links to Hezbollah — Media, Wikileaks Investigation
Does the Nigerian government only have teeth to bite when it is in regard to foreigners?
Boko Haram is now an FTO, which means, hopefully for Nigerians the United States will start to go after monies of individuals like Gusau and others related who are aided and protected by Nigeria’s corrupt government.

NewsRescue

ASUU President Seeks Proper Remuneration Of Workers

The President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr Nasir Fagge, on Monday in Abuja called for appropriate remuneration of Nigeria’s workforce to bolster the morale of workers.

Fagge made the call at a two-day stakeholders forum organise by National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC).
The forum was on the review of the existing job evaluation and grading system in the Nigerian public service.
Fagge said that productivity in Nigeria was low because “people who do not contribute to nation building earned the highest pay”.
He said that a lot of well-meaning Nigerians had failed to contribute immensely to building the nation due to the anomalies related to remuneration.
He advised the authorities to ensure that the recommendations arising from the forum were properly implemented.
“Productivity is not commensurate to remuneration in the country. There are a lot of people in Nigeria who do not contribute much to nation building but they earn the highest pay.
“The major issue behind Nigeria’s under-development is that we have not been doing what is right in the remuneration system.
In other nations remuneration is directly proportionate to productivity. “The earlier we make sure that productivity is remunerated accordingly the better for us,’’ Fagge said.

InformationNigeria

‘Bamanga wants to expel Baraje, Oyinlola from PDP’

by Andrew Agbese

The Abubakar Kawu Baraje led new Peoples Democratic Paty (nPDP) yesterday raised an alarm saying four of its leaders including its chairman and the reinstated national secretary of the PDP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola would be expelled from the party tomorrow.

The nPDP leaders namely; Baraje, Oyinlola, Sam Jaja and Ibrahim Kazaure are currently under suspension from the party and have been asked to appear before the disciplinary committee of the party to defend themselves against charges of engaging in anti party activities.
The new PDP in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said the aim of asking Oyinlola and the three other leaders of the faction to appear before the disciplinary committee of the party is to expel them from the party.
He said, “Tukur’ desperation to illegally expel the G4 is yet another manifestation of the impunity which started with the unjust, unfair and unconstitutional dissolution the Adamawa State Executive Committee of the party, followed by series of other unjust acts of impunity including the dissolution of the Rivers State PDP Executive and the suspension of the Governor of Sokoto State for allegedly not receiving Alhaji Tukur’s phone call.”
The faction however maintained its position that its members will not appear before the committee saying the committee is illegal.
The nPDP said Tukur has vowed that nobody can force him to reinstate Prince Oyinlola as the national secretary of the PDP as well as stop him from ensuring that the four leaders of the faction currently on suspension are thrown out of the party.
It called on the founding fathers of the party to intervene to save the party from collapse.
“We are forced to cry out because of the unbelievable silence of our revered party elders in the face of the chain of developments instigated by factional national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, which has put the party at the edge of the precipice.
 “We therefore call on our revered party elders and other well-meaning Nigerians to rise up with one voice and one purpose to put a stop to all forms of impunity and injustice by the group that parades itself as the national leadership of the PDP located at Wadata Plaza in Abuja. The battle should not be left to the New PDP alone because, as the ruling party since Nigeria’s return to democracy in May 1999, the country’s fate is also tied to the fate of PDP,” the nPDP stated.

DailyTrust

EXPOSED: Real reason Christopher Kolade resigned as SURE-P Chairman

By Wale Odunsi 


DAILY POST – Chairman of the Subsidy Re- investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, has resigned.
The former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, in a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, said he was leaving at the end of this month before his 81st birthday, which comes up in December.
Recall that Kolade’s Deputy, Major- General Mammam Kontagora (rtd), who would have replaced him, died in May this year.
The development means that the presidency must come up with replacement to fill the two positions in a matter of days.
The letter which conveyed the outgoing chairman’s message dated September 25 and entitled ‘Withdrawal from Chairmanship of the SURE-P Committee’ reads: “I wish to inform you, respectfully, of my decision to resign from the position of Chairman of the SURE-P Committee.
“My desire is that the resignation should take effect as soon as Mr. President names a new chairman, but not later than the end of November, 2013.
“Mr. President, it has been a worthwhile experience for me to serve as chairman since the inauguration of the committee in February 2012. However, as I approach my 81st birthday, I wish to retire from the more time and energy consuming parts of my responsibilities and activities, one of which is the SURE-P Committee chairmanship.
“Mr. President, please accept my sincere thanks and appreciation for the opportunity to serve in the position of chairman, as well as my prayers for good progress and success for Nigeria in the years ahead.”
Kolade had stated that although he is still mentally and physically fit, time has come for him to attend to his private life and his family.
Shedding more light on why he chose to bow out at this time, the former Chairman of Cadbury Plc told THISDAY: “As at the time I was asked to come and take charge of the SURE-P, on the day that the President spoke to me, I was a few days away from my 79th birthday. So at the end of last year, I was 80 years old. I thank God that I’m strong, and in good health and my simple mind is still ticking, but there comes a time when you are at my age that you ask yourself, is this what you should be doing now? Should you be spending your time at this moment fighting rumours and trying to explain the same information many times?
“So, middle of this year, I went to the President and said to him, I want to leave but if you remember my deputy chairman then, Mamman Kontagora had just died. So the President now agreed that he would appoint another Deputy chairman and that I would work with this Deputy chairman for a while so that the place is not suddenly empty. The Deputy chairman dies, the chairman goes but that is what we have been working on and I have actually written a letter to the President to let him know that latest, at the end of this month, I’m out of SURE-P. So, he has that letter.”
The respected administrator added that he decided to make his planned exit public in order to prevent another round of rumour.
“We feed on rumours and both in my family and in my religion, they don’t like rumours. The letter was dated September 25, 2013. So if you hear or if rumour begins to indicate that I’m leaving, I want you to know that members of my Committee already know that I’m going. So, it’s not a secret.”

LibertyReport

Meet the Woman Who Accidentally Explained Poverty to the Nation

Why Poor People's Decisions Make Sense

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At this point, enough people are asking that I will tell you about myself, because I am getting a lot of the same questions. I was raised middle class, by a factory worker and a teacher. They are my grandparents, and they are Mom and Dad. But I was given to them after I had lived with an overwhelmed mother and a father away in the Navy, and Mom has always been convinced that I suffered terrible emotional issues because of my very early years. And so we embarked on a lifetime of therapy, which is where I picked up my knack for introspection. I was literally raised to it. I have memories of playing games on the office floor of a beautiful woman named Kerrie while we talked about my day and how I felt. There were others, but she is my favorite.
During the course of therapy, they tested my IQ. You have to understand that it isn't actually terribly impressive. It is higher than average, to be sure. But my mother grew up quite poor in Detroit and she is very impressed by these things and so she decided that I was a genius. And she nurtured it. She is a teacher. I was given music lessons and she learned languages with me. I have no aptitude for dance or art, but we tried those too. I was in competitions when I was five, and they lasted until college. And so that is how I know how to talk to people who are in the upper middle class. Because I got a partial scholarship to Cranbrook but we couldn't afford the other half. But my parents knew damn well what Cranbrook was and they were determined that I would have a chance at it. They gave up much to send me to private schools. Not expensive ones, I went to a small religious elementary. They taught me much about Satan and also had strict academic standards for the ten kids or so in every grade.
If you are old enough, you will recall that there was a time in the late '80s and early '90s in which Donahue was talking about the secret satanic sex cults that were a plague in private daycare centers, because of course. My mom had just bought a daycare. It was her dream. But as it turned out, there was a child being sexually abused that was under her care. It was just happening at home instead of at the school. The kid's mom couldn't believe that her new husband would do such a thing, and so she called everyone. Everyone. This is not the first time in my life reporters have been on the line when I picked up the phone. It's just that the last time this happened I was eight. It was a nightmare, and it was one of those things that went fucking viral. Not in reach, but in ridiculousness. Children actually told grownups that my mother had tried to shoot them with a gun she kept in her desk and so they got the other gun and shot her in the arm. And the adults believed this. My mother, quite reasonably, promptly went completely nuts. We suddenly left Michigan and moved to Utah. And so that is why stability and trust are not things that I have easily. I was taught to be ready, to be wary, to be mistrustful, because the world is a hard place.
And that is how the real troubles started. My parents found solace in the local religion. I was wearing flannel and listening to grunge. My mother was not a rational person most of the time. It is why I am willing to reason with unreasonable people. And what you have to realize is that I was very young and my world was spinning too. I could not understand that she was overwhelmed. I only saw her battening the hatches and driving me into perfection and going ballistic if I fucked the slightest thing up with the best of intentions. I was a teenager, but one dealing with parents who were barely holding themselves together. It was hell for everybody involved. And so I worked very hard at excelling and I graduated high school when I was sixteen and I went away, as far away as I could get, to college. That is how I know how to make it on my own.
And I promptly made the sorts of decisions you would expect out of a kid that age with low self-esteem and no social skills and access to what I saw as the cool kids who saw me as an intelligent kid sister and were willing to include me in things. I didn't make it long.
I spent some time bouncing in and out of school and joined my first political campaign. It was amazing. And so I went for it. I moved all over the country and chased jobs and found that I was never quite a good fit, because I never have fit in anywhere entirely. And when it wasn't campaign season I worked pretty much whatever I could find. It's not high pay compared to relative expense until you're pretty well-established, particularly if you are not good with money. I was poor in the way that most people who do not have resources are when they are young and idealistic. I didn't mind it much. I thought it would end when I was ready. And so that is how I know things about media and framing and what sort of good I can do and how to pick stories out of shared experience.
And then I was hit by a drunk driver, fucked up my teeth, and took the insurance check before I realized that it meant they would not be covering dental, thankyouverymuch. I was 19, I think. I simply trusted what I was told by the people in authority. I don't think I can be blamed, although I have never been so foolish since. But my teeth kept getting worse. There are a lot of reasons, I have not been gentle on them, but I have at least cleaned them. I know what Crest is. It's just that when teeth crack and are not attended to, they develop problems, which spread no matter what you do unless what you are doing is going to a dentist. Which I could not afford. And as the problem got worse I saw my prospects fade. I understand it. I would make the same call. Many people think I am simply too dumb to know how to brush my teeth. Whether or not that is true, it is not a first impression on behalf of a candidate or company that you can give. And so that is where the slide started.
During this time I was simply spinning around the world and hoping to make sense of my life. I struggle with things sometimes. I do not know why, whether it's inherent or whether my mother is right or whether what happened to my mother is what did it. But sometimes the world seems suddenly bizarre and I have to practice a strict control in order to behave as though the world were real. I have seen many therapists. I know what it is. I can't afford the medicine, and so I have learned simply to control it because it is not the worst case in the world. But it took me a lot of years to figure out how to function properly. And I am often depressed because I am intelligent enough to see that I have much to give if I could figure out a way to do it. Those things are what I struggle against and why I have made many demonstrably bad decisions in my life, because I had lost the fight with myself. And so that is how I kept sliding even when I had all the potential in the world. I simply had too much life to process. Mental illness is a common thing in the world I live in.
And that is the answer to the question many of you have asked. How is it that someone with such clarity and evocation has any right to assert that they are poor? It is likely untrue. Well, it is and it isn't. You have to understand that the piece you read was taken out of context, that I never meant to say that all of these things were happening to me right now, or that I was still quite so abject. I am not. I am reasonably lower working class. I am exhausted and poor and can't make all my bills all the time but I reconciled with my parents when I got pregnant for the sake of the kids and I have family resources. I can always make the amount of money I need in a month, it's just that it doesn't always match the billing cycles.
When I got pregnant, we were in a typical lower-working-class bit of fuckuppery. We had moved to a city so my husband could go to school on his GI bill. But due to some sort of oversight, we never did start getting the living stipend that we had budgeted for. We had decided that my career was over and it was his turn, so instead of looking for work in the field I loved, I took a job in fast food. So did he. We saved two pay periods and got the cheapest apartment we could find, figuring that we would be getting the stipend soon and could move someplace better when we did. And the checks didn't come for five months. I eventually reached out to legislator's offices and they got the wheels turning. We would get a lump sum for what was due us. I was well along and while I had medicaid, I couldn't find anyone accepting new patients except a charity clinic that told me that Jesus wanted me to keep my baby but had very little information for me about the state of my uterus. So instead of missing a day of work to hear about Jesus, I got books and read websites and did what I could on my own. Women have been pregnant for thousands of years and humanity seems to be doing okay. And I am smart. And then our apartment flooded and we still didn't have the check and then suddenly everything that we had carefully saved for this baby was gone. We had two feet of water in the place. We went back to the motel, which at least did not have bedbugs. In Cincinnati, that's a big deal. But the cost was double our rent, and we had barely been floating when we had clothes and things, much less nothing and extra rent to pay. And the frustrating thing about it all was that we had done the fucking thing correctly. We would have had more than enough money for a decent apartment and baby things if we had been getting our stipend, the one we were contractually due. And so that is how I know what it is to rage at the universe because you are doing everything you can and it is still not enough.
When my parents came to be there for the birth and they saw what we were dealing with they moved us to Utah and gave us a trailer to live in. And then when we had our second and final daughter they helped us find a house to live in and now we have some space for once. That is the sort of person I am. I chased dreams that I couldn't afford for longer than was strictly necessary, and only gave that up when children made life suddenly more stable. But fate is a chancy thing, and I am after all perfectly suited to write about poverty. I have been privileged while poor, because I am fucked up and spent decades in therapy, because I have been given access to these words, I am well-suited to this. I do not speak for everyone that makes the same amount I do. I speak for many of us. Those are different, and I do not confuse them. I did not think that I would ever do better than scrape by, but I am managing that without relying on charity.
I have had much luck and many breaks. Things could always have been much worse for me. But I have lived in the places where the worst situations are dealt with. I have seen what it is to be worse off than I am, because I am white and all of my class markers are fixable because I did not develop them as part of my being and my mental problems are not so severe and I do not live with a disability and my parents were kind and loving and just didn't know what to do. Because I happen to have been given this outlet I am telling these stories. Some are mine, some are things I have seen. All are a mix of luck and strength and intentions and failure and success. Very few people in this world are saintlike. Most people who are poor have not gotten there faultless. I didn't. And so I am talking about the people who are of average moral character, not the ones who have a clearly obvious leaning toward evil or good. The people I speak for are not the ones shooting each other, but everyone damn well knows what it sounds like when those people visit. And they are likely to hustle and make the most of every chance, because that is what success is.
Coming up with enough money that you are comfortable is the real American dream, and it is one that the people I am used to don't believe in as much as hope hard for. I have spent my life on the margins due to my own actions and an equal amount of things that I cannot control. One does not negate the other, but if you are looking for a paragon of virtue you will not find many among the people who have had to decide whether to work in a morally dubious establishment or not work at all.
When people say that I am perhaps not legitimate, it is maybe sort of true if you mean that when I was at the low points I did not have time for blogs and since I do now I am not at the bottom. That is a true thing. But it is untrue if you mean that you think that because I have some knowledge of and access to an intellectual culture higher than my station I must be the average Gawker or Times reader. I am not. There are a lot of us, particularly since the economy collapsed and, well, you read the same news I do. You remember. We remember what it is to be professional a little bit and we have a few close friends who have done well for themselves and a few that haven't. My closest friends are both living with family. One has chased work all over the country and just can't seem to find the right door for her foot. One is a single mom of a severely autistic teenaged daughter who has hocked her future to put herself through grad school. And all of it while supporting her family and spotting friends if they were desperate. They are the ones who have done everything correctly. I just happen to have this skill to tell the stories. I didn't even know it until last week.
The point is, I did not ask for any of this. I just wrote a thing on a Gawker forum. Everything that has come after is because something about the way I said it has resonated with hundreds of thousands of people. Everything that has come after is magic. I do not know if it is earned, precisely, but I am familiar with the concept of grants, and if people are determined I would be remarkably stupid to turn it down. I have learned not to make promises that I am not certain I can keep, and so here is what I have:
This is a shot at a second start, now that I have gotten over myself and understand what it is to be an adult. I have always had great potential and some talent for things. I am lucky that way. I have the tools that I need to take this gift and do good things with it. I think that even if everything ends tonight, if the Internet finds another talent in some corner and moves on, I have done something good here. That makes me happy. That people are willing to reward me for that is humbling, and I consider it a grant to give me the time to keep speaking about these things I have seen, because I am the sort of person who reads Woodward and Stiglitz and also the sort of person who has lived with three prostitutes who were great because they always paid the rent on time. I can explain one to another, a little. At least I can shed a tiny bit of light on it, and maybe that is how we manage to get the votes we need to extend SNAP benefits if we can afford to extend agricultural subsidies. Because I know those policies, I watch politics and policy instead of pop culture because I am a nerd, but my best friends are directly impacted by that change. And so I can speak about the human impact. I do not think, overall, that people are giving me this money because they feel poorly for me. There are a lot of fundraisers that are unfunded of people in much more dire circumstances.
I set up a fundraiser after the first 50 people asked how they could help me write. I think that people are giving me this money because they think I can do a good thing and they do not care so much about how I got here because they understand that it is easy to do. Not that it is good, but that it is average. I think that they are giving me this because they see that I have the skill and will be able to do something to help. I am not stupid enough to not take this shot. But I would like to tell you how I am going to handle it.
First, I have been contacted by an agent and am writing a book proposal. If I manage to sell the book, it will reach people I could not on my own. If it doesn't sell, I will have a rough outline of something that I can publish for free on the Internet. I will write about these things on my blog. Because people have given me this money to write.
Be very clear about this, please: I am quitting one of my day jobs. The one that is an hour's drive through snow in the mountains. And I have actually nailed a bigger contract with my second job, which pays better hourly anyway. This has given me the tiny break I needed to be able to make it without utter exhaustion. I will use the extra time to sleep more than I am used to. I will see my kids more because now I can work from home, and so our budget is expanded because childcare is not an issue. Tom is keeping his job. This is all magic and wonderful, but it is fleeting. We have learned and are careful now. And we have more than us two relying on us taking this oddity and using it wisely.
And so I will accept with gratitude, and I will give this money to tax lawyers to deal with and I will use it as long as I can to speak about these things I have seen, since that is why it has been given to me. I will not waste it on frivolity, but I will spend it on being healthy and making sure that if one of us gets the flu the electric bill is still paid. And I am giving some away, because many people have helped us and I think they need some magic. I am an arbitrary pick out of millions of hardworking and talented people. People had raised some money for dental surgery. I am grateful, but have found someone to give it to given my changing circumstances. I will pay a bill or two to the people who have loved me that are struggling. I might take a thousand just to do things like get a really comfy blanket that fits the bed perfectly. I am being told that it is wisest in my situation to simply pick a small bit and that is what you have to spend. That makes a lot of sense. So I will have a bit of luxury, because if nothing else I have spent endless hours on the Internet discussing these things and being patient with trolls and I have earned a small bit, I think.
I will say that I will always speak about this in any medium or venue that I can access. For some reason I have this chance to explain realities that a lot of people never imagine, and I will do it at every opportunity. That is all that I can promise you, but I think it is enough.

HuffingtonPost