President Jonathan’s blackmail is in full swing – and more in today’s news round-up with Cheta Nwanze

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I think Mr. President should just tell us the truth, Christmas is round the corner, and money is needed to buy hampers. We won’t get angry, we are Nigerians.

How una dey? As things are, the Presidential blackmail is on in full swing. Yesterday, the President presented a supplementary budget to the National Assembly seeking an extra N161 billions so that we will not have the pleasure of queuing up for petrol during this Christmas. Don’t worry about the extra money my Prez, we are already used to queuing, or in the alternative, fulfilling our petrol addiction from those boys who sell the stuff just beside empty filling stations. Personally, I think Mr. President should just tell us the truth, Christmas is round the corner, and money is needed to buy hampers. We won’t get angry, we are Nigerians.
But then again, Nigerians are capable of getting angry, especially when we are hit in the pocket as patients in LUTH are about to discover. Annoyed over a new tax deduction which would rather than go to better roads, or hospitals, go to yet another set of Christmas hampers, doctors in that institution have withdrawn their services. I guess that this latest doctor’s strike in Lagos would help accelerate the case of former Don, Wale Babalakin who had taken the liberty of checking himself into that institution with some unnamed malady.
At the very least though, the strike in LUTH will mean that the erstwhile Kogi state I-am-that-I-am will not have the option of taking up the bed next to Babalakin in LUTH’s private ward the day after escaping from the EFCC by the skin of his teeth. The former governor had tried to go down the well worn route of thwarting justice, but unfortunately realised, maybe a little too late that im levels no reach. Since the Supreme Court decided that he should face trial, and LUTH (with its private wards) is on strike, Abubakar Audu decided to take another route. He jumped out of a window…
Sadly, and quite distressingly, jumping out of a window is not an option available to Prof. Kamene Okonjo, given her age. Forty eight hours after Delta state governor, Uduaghan promised that she would be recovered “within 24 hours”, the kidnappers have finally gotten in touch. They have asked that her daughter, NOI, our Minister of the Economy, either bring the fuel subsidy money, or the sum of N200 millions. I guess they had not heard about the supplementary budget request as of the time of the phone call.
Bits and bobs
Despite his best efforts to have them thrown out, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday told serving Senator, Ali Ndume, that records of phone calls and text messages between himself and Boko Haram members will be used as evidence against him. Three things that are clear, the Senator will not resign, the Senator will try and get the case adjourned for the next ten years, and if that fails, the Senator will be admitted into LUTH.
Despite the fact that there was a “partial removal of fuel subsidy” in January, the President (still on that issue) has told us that the cost of fuel subsidies have gone up even more. I admit to using more petrol in 2012. The power situation got worse in the second half of the year, so my generator was a lot more active, poor thing.
Determined not to be outdone by Paul Biya, fellow countryman Isa Hayatou has schemed his challenger out of the way. The 66 year old is apparently the only person in a continent of over a billion souls that has the vision to run our football. It’s too early in the day, but permit me to go and get drunk.
YNaija.com

Mandela: His Spirit And Sparkle Is Fading – Wife

Madiba & Wife, Graca Machel: Says The Former S/African Leader Has Lost His ‘Sparkle’

As South African military doctors continue Nelson Mandela’s treatment for a recurring lung infection – an ailment the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader remains susceptible to because of his age and his 27 years incarceration ordeal, his wife, Graca Machel, has revealed that she is losing hope as the icon battles the infection.
She gave the indication while speaking to a local television station. Machel said it was painful to see her husband “ageing”. “I mean, this spirit and this sparkle, you see that somehow it’s fading,” she told ENews Central Africa. “To see him ageing, it’s something also which pains you … You understand and you know it has to happen.”
Mandela’s grand-daughter Ndileka told the same TV network that he had come to accept his condition. “I think he takes it in his stride, he has come to accept that it’s part of growing old, and it’s part of humanity as such,” she said. “At some point you will depend on someone else, he has come to embrace it.”
 InformationNigeria.org

Everything in the Nigerian State has become meaningless – Maitama Sule

Elder statesman and representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama-Sule has decried the dwindling fortunes of the Nigerian politics, philosophy and economy.
The Northern elder who bagged a Lifetime Achievement Award alongside a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, at an annual dinner organized by the Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies in Lagos on Tuesday asserted that things are gradually falling apart in the nation, noting that everything is fast becoming “meaningless”.
He lamented that Nigerian leaders had forsaken the foundation laid by the nation’s founding fathers who fought gallantly to bring orderliness and greatness to the country.
He said, “Honestly, everything in the Nigerian state has become meaningless. In short, today there is meaningless in philosophy, intellectualism, politics, immorality in the society, corruption in the economy, fraud in act, and lack of creativity.
“Nigeria today is not what it used to be. Our founding fathers made all efforts to give us foundation and dream that between the next 15 and 30 years, Nigeria will become a great country. But things have fallen apart. The family institution today has broken down. Respect for elders and constituted authority, which used to be a standing order in our society, has now become a wasted effort.”
He added, “I remain optimistic. I believe that we shall overcome. I saw it in the past. In the First Republic, I saw so many crisis and we overcame. As we overcame those crises in the First Republic, so shall we overcome these crises in the present Nigeria by the grace of God.”
DailyPost

There is a difference between fighting the gov’t and fighting the nation – Wole Soyinka

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Soyinka

Noble Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said that corruption was being used as a unifying factor in Nigeria as it had eaten deep in all sections of the country with no restriction.
Soyinka stated this yesterday while speaking at the Second Muazu Babangida Aliyu Annual National Literary Colloquium at Justice Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna.
He said that corruption was an heinous crime against the nation that must be tackled by every means possible saying that it was not restricted to any region, religion , tribe or ethnic group.
The literary icon maintained that since it was not restricted to any section of the country it could be seen as a unifying factor even as it has gradually destroyed the value and sense of nationhood.
Soyinka therefore urged writers to rise up against corruption.
He said writers should find solution to the problem of corruption and other vices through proper research works instead of bemoaning the situation.
Soyinka recalled that when the advance free fraud started in Nigeria it was called 419 and some writers gave it names as it was seen as a means of repatriation instead of rising against the scourge.
According to him vices like kidnapping should not be blamed on unemployment but a product of criminally minded individuals who are out to undermine the freedom of others for their own greed.
He  said, “let us not trivialise issues, it is criminal for anyone to throw bomb at market places and places of worship under the guise of marginalisation” adding that, “there is a difference between one taking arm against the authority and declaring war against the nation”.
Meanwhile, the colloquium followed the commissioning of Cyprian Ekwensi Library at F-layout Minna. The colloquium attracted 44 writers with Professor Charles Nnolim, Odia Ofeimun and Ahmed Maiwada as discussants and chaired by Professor Samsudeen Amali of Nassarawa State University.
YNaija.com

Stop posting NYSC members to schools; they cause mass failure – Teachers Council

The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, have attributed partially the cause of the mass failure witnessed in various examinations for primary and secondary school students to youth corps members who are posted to teach without relevant qualifications.
The Director of Operations of the Council, Steve Nwokocha, made the declaration at the maiden induction/graduation of 118 Professional Diploma in Education graduates held at the Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta on Tuesday.
He advised authorities of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to stop deploying corp members who lack basic teaching knowledge to schools, emphasizing that this act contributed to the mass failure being witnessed in the country in recent years.
“The issue of having mass failure is a process. Part of the people contributing to the process are these corpers. It is an abuse to our profession.
“Government should stop posting youth corpers to teach in schools. We at the council are against posting of NYSC without teaching background to schools,” he said.
Nwokocha condemned the hundreds of thousands youth corpers deployed to schools to teach, emphasizing that only graduates of education should be posted to schools to teach students.
DailyPost

Presidency in 2015: Northern youths oppose elders

The race to the next general elections is getting fierce with every passing hour with intrigues, betrayal, acrimony, horse-trading and underground politicking – just to mention a few – being the order of the day.
What may be regarded as a house divide against itself, is the open rejection of the decision by Arewa Leaders, that whoever will occupy the nation’s number one seat in 2015 must come from the zone
The opposition to the group’s stand however, is coming from the Arewa Youths Forum (AYF), which many had thought would obey the consensus recently reached by the elders.
Last week, the leaders had met in Kaduna with a view to closing ranks as the next elections is barely three years away. The gathering it was learnt, was organized to resolve all grievances and ensure that there was unity in the zone.
But the AYF in a statement on Monday dissociated itself from the leaders’ position, saying the region with persistent violence and insecurity, has no moral claim to the presidency.
The organization accused Northern leaders of ignoring the huge task of governance, chasing only the political ambition of a few.
President of AYF, Mallam Ibrahim Gambo Gujungu, said: “while our leaders talk more, they are doing nothing tangible to curb the ugly monsters threatening the peaceful and once accommodating region”
He called on the Governors of the region to embark on meaningful projects, as rapid infrastructural development would bring about the change the people desire.
DailyPost

Sucker Punch: Ten Provocative Demands from Dr. Okonjo-Iweala to President Jonathan

By Churchill Okonkwo

A rare good news for Nigerians: two prominent Nigerians made the list of the “100 Top Global Thinkers of 2012” according to Foreign Policy magazine.
They are Prof. Chinua Achebe, for “forcing Africa to confront its demons” and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for “showing Africa how to break the resource curse.” While the inclusion of Chinua Achebe is welcome without hesitation, the inclusion of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala vis-a-vis the record monumental corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas sector may raise some eyebrows.
While I agree with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala on the concept of oil subsidy removal, I disagree with her on the roadmap. While Dr. Okonjo-Iweala believes that our resource curse will be reversed by simply removing subsidy, I believe that corruption and corrupt practices in Nigerian oil industry remains the main problem and as such, should be the starting point.
Of what use is oil subsidy removal for a government that cannot account to its crude oil production(with a fifth of our crude oil stolen), running an inefficient and oversized NNPC with dilapidated refineries? Of what use is oil subsidy removal in a country that spends over 70% of its budget on recurrent-expenditure, servicing bogus and extravagant lifestyle of the executive and legislative arms of government? Has Dr. Okonjo-Iweala learnt anything from the present subsidy scam with President Jonathan's unwillingness to prosecute the likes of Otedola and co that financed his campaign?
I sincerely hope by now that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has realized that she is being used by the GEJ administration as a camouflage while confusion and corruption reigns. To truly succeed in helping Nigeria overcome the oil curse and corruption, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala must force President Goodluck Jonathan to confront the demons in his (himself) administration. To help her, I came up with ten provocative demands she should confront Jonathan with.
1.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he is not just incompetent but that he is impotent in fighting corruption in Nigeria. She should thus advise him to honorably resign. We know President Jonathan will not resign so, she has to demand a pragmatic approach to tackling corruption with this second demand;
2.    Paraphrasing Benjamin Netanyahu, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that the fight against corruption in Nigeria should not be fought with Diezani Alison-Madueke on his laps but with a rocket-propelled grenade between his teeth.  She should tell President Jonathan to stop his eyes from beholding and his concupiscence from coveting his concupiscible and corrupt mistress at NNPC.
3.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke must be removed as the Petroleum Minister as a condition for her continued involvement with the establishment of the sovereign wealth fund to manage our oil riches
4.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should then admit to Dr. Jonathan that she was wrong with her approach to tackling the endemic corruption in the oil sector through subsidy removal. She should then tell him that all our refineries must be sold out rightly, the management and board of NNPC sacked and restructured as a pre-condition to future subsidy removal
5.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that EFCC as currently constituted and empowered is not effective because of the obstructive interference from him, through his Attorney General Adoke. She should therefore go ahead and ask him to sack Adoke and appoint someone that will not only assist EFCC in fighting corruption in Nigeria but one that will ensure that corrupt judges are not rewarded by appointment to Supreme Court and federal high courts.
6.    In the words of Chinua Achebe, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he has surrounded himself with corrupt “Politicians with plenty of money and very low IQ.”She should remind Mr. President that money without brains is dangerous. She should ask him what he is doing with second-rate friends including Dr. Doyin Okupe and Tony Anenih. She should remind him that since the start of the oil boom in the 70s, we’ve had all the money, but unfortunately not the brains to take the country in the right direction.
7.    With her mouth closed, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should shout to Dr. Jonathan's hearing that the few smart people he appointed to work with him are intellectually lazy (including herself and Dr. Abati). With her gaze firmly resting on Mr. President’s nostrils, she should tell him that there is little excuse for obviously well paid and well educated professionals to be deceiving themselves and those around them that Nigeria is being moved in the right direction by this administration.
8.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he is a diet of underdone roasted yam and owner of the trumpet of misery and deceit
9.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he is an epitome of a school master that cannot read nor write. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should tell Mr. President that she sometimes wondered how he managed to engage his students in critical problem solving in designing research as a professor. She should then pick a piece of paper, write this down and hand it to Mr. President:  “I’m afraid Mr. President, but you are a model of foolish consistency.”
10.    Finally, Okonjo-Iweala should advise Dr. Jonathan not to run for office in 2015 if he has ever cared for Nigeria in his adult life. She should quietly tell him that he is dumb and does not possess the leadership qualities needed to take Nigeria to where we should be heading to. She can simply convince him by reminding him that his administration has been not just one of poor moral level of leadership and competence, but also one with blurred vision.  Vision blurred by corruption, intellectual dullness and moral depravity. 
Then Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should turn in her resignation, tell Jonathan to call her when demands 2 – 10 are met, quietly go home and think. Between oil subsidy removal and addressing the oil theft and government-assisted corruption in the oil sector, she should take time and think about what should come first. Critical thinking, that’s what “Global Thinkers” do.
Saharareporters.com