MILITARY CONTRACT FRAUD: CABAL, EX-SERVICE CHIEFS FIGHT NSA

written by Our Reporter March 18, 2021

For daring to question the lack of military equipment to prosecute the war against Boko Haram and terrorism ravaging Nigeria, the President Mohammadu Buhari cabal led by Mamman Daura and Sabiu Yusuf, aka Tunde, are mounting a well-orchestrated campaign to remove the National Security Adviser, NSA, Babagana Monguno.

Only recently, Monguno had insisted that nobody has the information about the whereabouts of the billions budgeted for the procurement of arms during the reign of ex-Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai; ex-Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and ex-Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as service chiefs.

Recall that in February 2020, Monguno had in a letter addressed to President Buhari raised the alarm over unauthorized meetings between Abba Kyari and the service chiefs, a development he said was adding to the niggling security challenge.

The NSA wrote: “Chief of staff to the president is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn to an oath of defending the country.

“As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with service chiefs and heads of security organisations as well as ambassadors and high commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising ministers are a violation of the Constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President.

“Such acts and continued meddlesomeness by chief of staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts, but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr. President has sought to achieve.”

However, miffed by Monguno’s boldness, sources toldPointblanknews.com that Mamman Daura, Buhari’s nephew, Yusuf, a Personal Assistant to Buhari and Governor Bello Mohammad Matawalle of Zamfara State have ganged up to blackmail the NSA and have him keep quiet from questioning the whereabouts of weapons supposedly paid for.

According to findings, less than 24hrs after Monguno’s interview with the BBC, the cabal led by Yusuf aka Tunde directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to fish for “whatever” to indict the NSA.

Part of the moves according to a source knowledgeable with the scheme, is to investigate Brigadier General Jafaru Mohammed, a Director of Finance in the office of the NSA.

General Mohammed is suspected to be a front of the NSA whom they allege has acquired properties on behalf of Monguno.

Sources told Pointblanknews.com that during the reign of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC Chairman, the cabal through late Chief of Staff Abba Kyari, had used him to investigate Monguno. The investigation yielded no result against the NSA whom many within the security circle see as upright and as someone not interested in primitive acquisition of materialism.

Pointblanknews.com investigations revealed that once Magu was removed and Mohammed Umar appointed as Acting Chairman of the EFCC, he was immediately mandated to investigate the NSA. His investigations of Monguno throughout his short-lived tenure yielded nothing.

According to Pointblanknews.com sources, as soon as Monguno’s BBC Hausa interview over weapons for the military went viral, the cabal and the ex-service chiefs felt embarrassed and immediately commissioned the new EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, to go after the NSA.

“That is why as soon as that BBC interview was aired and the cabal felt embarrassed, they immediately asked Bawa to commence investigation of the NSA,” a source told Pointblanknews.com.

According to the source, “they have investigated the NSA and found nothing. They did that twice with Magu and Umar and since they couldn’t link any corruption directly to him, they are going after his Director of Finance in hopes of getting something and they would fail.”

Pointblanknews.com gathered that most of the properties linked to General Mohammed are the ones he had acquired before he was appointed as Director of Finance in the NSA’s office.

A top security source who described Monguno as a saint among sinners, said the forces fighting the NSA are bent on blackmailing him to make him keep quiet and desist from making further disclosures on the state of arms acquisition to fight insurgents. The network of the Aso Rock cabal namely Mamman Daura and Yusuf , according to our sources, has recruited the likes of Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, two former bosses at EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde and Ibrahim Magu, the new EFCC Chairman, Bawa, the governor of Zamfara, Matawalle, remnants of the cabal namely Babagana Kingibe and Lawal Daura, to prosecute their war of attrition against the NSA.

The latest onslaught against the NSA by Bawa through Brigadier General Jafaru Mohammed is said to be a continuation of the old script drafted by Magu and Lamorde. Bawa is described in security circle as the god son of Lamorde. It was said that Bawa’s loyalty is more to Lamorde than Abubakar Malami who recommended him for the EFCC top job.

 

EFCC Gets Order For Forfeiture Of Army General’s Property

By
• John Chuks Azu

Wed Mar 17 2021

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has obtained an interim forfeiture order in respect of eight properties linked to Brigadier-General Jafaru Mohammed.

Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo granted an ex parte application for interim forfeiture of the assets and property by the chairman of the EFCC, made on March 9.

• Law permits Adamu to remain IGP till 2024 – Buhari, Malami
• EFCC gets order for forfeiture of army general’s property

The court ordered the publication of the interim forfeiture of the assets and invited people “who may have interest in the assets and properties listed in the schedule to show cause, within 14 days of such publication, why a final order of forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of the said assets and properties should not be made.”

The assets traced to the proxies and associates of the General include: House on Plot 7, God’s Own Estate, Road 1, Wamna District, Abuja; a fencer plot at No 1 Jubril Aminu Crescent, Katampe Extension, Abuja; plot at Kubwa Express, Directly opposite Abuja Model City Gate, Abuja; and a house on Block SD 22 House 2, Road 5, Kabusa Garden Estate, Abuja.

Others are: No 15, 21 Crescent, 2nd Avenue, Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja; No 3 Liverpool Close, Sun City Estate, Abuja; No 52 Mainstreet, Sun City Estate, Abuja; and No 25 Osaka Street, Sun City Estate, Abuja.

FEC approves $1.5bn for rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery

March 17, 2021

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, March 17, approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers state.

The approval was given at the 38th virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja today.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva confirmed this while addressing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting at the Presidential Villa.

Sylva said; “The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery for the sum of $1.5bn, and that memo was $1.5 billion and it was approved by council today.

“So, we are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of the refinery will commence in three phases. The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its nameplate capacity.

“The second phase is to be completed in 24 months and all the final stage will be completed in 44 months and consultations are approved.

“And I believe that this is good news for Nigeria.”

2021 Grammy Awards: Burna Boy, Wizkid win big (See full list of winners)

Published

 

on

 March 15, 2021

By

 Nsikak Nseyen

Nigerian Stars, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, AKA Burna Boy, and Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, AKA Wizkid won their first Grammy award on Sunday.

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, acclaimed to be the world’s most prestigious music honours, held on Sunday night at Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles.

Burna Boy won the award for the Best Global Music Album, with ‘Twice as Tall’, while Wizkid’s song with Beyoncé ‘Brown Skin Girl’ won the best music video.

Performers at the event included Burna Boy, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.

Beyoncé, who led the field with nine nominations, broke the record for the most Grammy wins ever by a female artist and most Grammy wins ever by a singer. However, Taylor Swift took home her third Album of the Year award.

Here are the full list of winners

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL:
WINNER: Andrew Watt

COUNTRY SONG:
WINNER: “Crowded Table” — Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby & Lori McKenna, songwriters (The Highwomen)

COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: 10,000 Hours — Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber

COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “When My Amy Prays” — Vince Gill

ROCK ALBUM:
WINNER: The New Abnormal — The Strokes

ROCK SONG:
WINNER: “Stay High” — Brittany Howard, Songwriter (Brittany Howard)

METAL PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “Bum-Rush“ — Body Count

ROCK PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “Shameika” — Fiona Apple

RAP ALBUM:
WINNER: King’s Disease — Nas

RAP/SUNG PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé

TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM:
WINNER: American Standard — James Taylor

POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “Rain on Me” — Lady Gaga with

R&B ALBUM:
WINNER: Bigger Love — John Legend

PROGRESSIVE R&B ALBUM:
WINNER: It Is What It Is — Thundercat

R&B SONG:
WINNER: “Better Than I Imagine” — Robert

TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “Anything For You” — Ledisi

LATIN JAZZ ALBUM:
WINNER: Four Questions — Arturo O’farrill &

LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM:
WINNER: Data Lords — Maria Schneider Orchestra

JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM:
WINNER: Trilogy 2 — Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade

JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM:
WINNER: Secrets Are The Best Stories — Kurt Elling Featuring Danilo Pérez

IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO:
WINNER: All Blues — Chick Corea, Soloist

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM:
WINNER: Fetch the Bolt Cutters — Fiona Apple

MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM:
WINNER: Jagged Little Pill — Kathryn

COMEDY ALBUM:
WINNER: Black Mitzvah — Tiffany Haddish

SPOKEN WORD ALBUM:
WINNER: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy,

GLOBAL MUSIC ALBUM:
WINNER: Twice As Tall — Burna Boy

REGGAE ALBUM:
WINNER: Got To Be Tough — Toots & The Maytals

FOLK ALBUM:
WINNER: All the Good Times — Gillian Welch & David Rawling

CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM:
WINNER: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? — Fantastic Negrito

TRADITIONAL BLUES ALBUM:
WINNER: Rawer Than Raw — Bobby Rush

BLUEGRASS ALBUM:
WINNER: Home — Billy Strings

AMERICANA ALBUM:
WINNER: World On The Ground — Sarah Jarosz

AMERICAN ROOTS SONG:
WINNER: “I Remember Everything” — Pat Mclaughlin & John Prine, Songwriters (John Prine)

AMERICAN ROOTS PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: “I Remember Everything” — John Prine

SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA:
WINNER: “No Time To Die” [From “No Time To Die”] — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas Baird O’Connell, Songwriters (Billie Eilish)

SCORE SOUNDTRACK FOR A VISUAL MEDIA:
WINNER: “Joker” — Hildur Guðnadóttir, Composer

COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR A VISUAL MEDIA:
WINNER: “Jojo Rabbit” (Various Artists)

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION:
WINNER: Rouse: Symphony No. 5 — Christopher Rouse, Composer (Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)

CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM:
WINNER: Thomas, M.T.: From The Diary Of Anne Frank & Meditations On Rilke — Isabel Leonard; Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor; Jack Vad, Producer

CLASSICAL SOLO ALBUM VOCAL:
WINNER: Smyth: The Prison — Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton; James Blachly, Conductor (Experiential Chorus; Experiential Orchestra)

CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO:
WINNER: Theofanidis: Concerto For Viola And Chamber Orchestra — Richard O’neill; David m

CHORAL PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: Danielpour: The Passion Of Yeshua — Joann Falletta, Conductor; James K. Bass &

CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: Contemporary Voices — Pacifica Quartet

OPERA RECORDING:
WINNER: Gershwin: Porgy And Bess — David Robertson, Conductor; Angel Blue & Eric Owens; David Frost, Producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE:
WINNER: Ives: Complete Symphonies —

TROPICAL LATIN ALBUM:
WINNER: 40 — Grupo Niche

REGIONAL MEXICAN MUSIC ALBUM:
WINNER: Un Canto Por México, Vol. 1 — Natalia Lafourcade
Hecho En México — Alejandro Fernández

LATIN ROCK OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM:
WINNER: La Conquista Del Espacio — Fito Paez

ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL:
WINNER: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar’

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL:
WINNER: David Frost

REMIXED RECORDING:
WINNER: Roses (IMANBEK Remix) — Imanbek Zeikenov, Remixer (SAINt Jhn)

ENGINEERED ALBUM, NON-CLASSICAL:
WINNER: Hyperspace — Drew Brown, Andrew Coleman, Shawn Everett, Serban Ghenea, David Greenbaum, Jaycen Joshua & Mike Larson, Engineers; Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer (Beck)

HISTORICAL ALBUM:
WINNER: It’s Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers — Lee Lodyga & Cheryl Pawelski, Compilation Producers; Michael Graves, Mastering Engineer (Mister Rogers)
Celebrated, 1895-1896 — Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, Compilation Producers; Richard Martin, Mastering Engineer (Unique Quartette)

Richard Dodd, Mastering Engineer (Béla Fleck)
ALBUM NOTES:
WINNER: Dead Man’s Pop — Bob Mehr, Album Notes Writer (The Replacements)

BOXED OR SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE:
WINNER: Ode To Joy — Lawrence Azerrad & Jeff Tweedy, Art Directors (Wilco)

RECORDING PACKAGING:
WINNERS: Vols. 11 & 12 — Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, Art Directors (Desert Sessions)
Everyday Life — Pilar Zeta, Art Director (Coldplay)

ROOTS GOSPEL ALBUM:
WINNER: Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album) — Fisk Jubilee Singers
Beautiful Day — Mark Bishop

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ALBUM:
WINNER: Jesus Is King — Kanye West

GOSPEL ALBUM:
WINNER: Gospel According To Pj — Pj Morton
2econd Wind: Ready — Anthony Brown

NEW AGE ALBUM:
WINNER: More Guitar Stories — Jim “Kimo” West

DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM:
WINNER: Bubba — Kaytranada

MUSIC FILM:
WINNER: “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice” — Linda Ronstadt

MUSIC VIDEO:
WINNER: “Brown Skin Girl,” Beyoncé — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Jenn Nkiru, Video Directors; Lauren Baker, Astrid Edwards, Nathan Scherrer & Erinn Williams, Video Producers

ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCALS:
He Won’t Hold You — Jacob Collier, Arranger (Jacob Collier Featuring Rapsody) | WINNER

DANCE RECORDING:
WINNER: 10% Kaytranada Featuring Kali Uchis — Kaytranada, producer; Neal H. Pogue,

CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM:
WINNER: Live At The Royal Albert Hall — Snarky Puppy

INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION:
WINNER Sputnik — Maria Schneider, Composer (Maria Schneider)

ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA:
WINNER: Donna Lee — John Beasley, Arranger (John Beasley)

Buhari Would Have Breached ECOWAS Protocol Signing Electoral Bill...Sen Omo-Agege

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) said the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance forbids President Muhammadu Buhari from signing the Electoral Bill.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker gave this insight in a phone interview with newsmen in Abuja on Friday night.

Article 2 of the protocol forbids member countries from making “substantial modification” to their electoral laws less than six months to elections “except with the consent of a majority of political actors”.

Omo-Agege, who is a staunch supporter of the President, noted that with the elections less than three months away, signing the bill would violate the ECOWAS instrument.


NAN reports that the presidential and National Assembly elections are slated for Feb. 16, 2019, while those of governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on March 2.

Omo-Agege said, “I have yet to see the president’s letter to the Senate, but this bill means so much to Mr President. On a good day he would want to sign it.

“However, without even seeing the reasons he has advanced so far, I am aware of the challenges posed by the ECOWAS protocol.

“I don’t know if that is part of the reasons he has advanced, but with the bill coming two months or thereabout before the election, assenting to it will breach the protocol.”

Newsmen report that Buhari did not mention the ECOWAS instrument as part of his reasons for declining assent to the bill for the fourth time.

The president’s latest decision came in a letter dated Dec. 6, 2018 and addressed to both chambers of the National Assembly.

He said signing the amendment bill with elections close by could “create some uncertainty about the legislation to govern the process”.

“Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the elections may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process,” he stated.

Buhari, therefore, asked the National Assembly to specifically state in the bill that the amended Electoral Act would come into effect after the 2019 general elections.

Reacting to the development, Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi, who represents Delta North on the platform of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the reasons given by the president were “untenable”.

“It is not a good reason for him not to sign the bill because the Senate worked with INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) in preparing that bill.

“If INEC felt otherwise, they would have advised us when we were working on it.

“You are aware of the controversy that this issue of amendment of the act has generated, with people accusing the Senate of not wanting to amend the act.

“We amended it, but he declined assent the first, second and third time; he made certain observations, which we agreed with.

“We sent it again, and the reason he is giving now is that it will disrupt the election. It is really unfortunate,” he said.

An Abuja-based lawyer and civil rights campaigner, Mr Frank Tietie, said the credibility of the 2019 elections was at stake without the compulsory use of card readers as proposed in the bill.

Although, INEC has been using the card reader for elections since 2015, there is no provision for the technology in the extant electoral law, making its use optional.

Tietie said, “Without the card reader and electronic transmission of results, our elections have been subjected to might, brute force and the power of money.

“Card readers and electronic transmission of results have totally eliminated that, and there is need for a legal force to that.

“This is what the amendment seeks. Buhari’s refusal to allow the card reader and electronic transmission of results will only lead to electoral compromise,” he said.

In September, Sen. Ita Enang, Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA), said the president had no problem with the use of the card reader contrary to allegations by the opposition.

Why PMB didn't sign Electoral Bill...

“Pursuant to section 58 (4) of constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives, my decision on 6th December 2018 to decline Presidential Accent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill , 2018 recently passed by the National Assembly,” he wrote.

“I am declining assent to the Bill principally because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general election which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act, could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.

“Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process.

“This leads me to believe that it is in the best interest of the country and our democracy for the national assembly to specifically state in the Bill, that the Electoral Act will come into effect and be applicable to elections commencing after the 2019 General Election...

“It is also important for the following drafting amendments to be made to the Bill: section 5 of the Bill, amending section 18 of the Principal Act should indicate the subsection to which the substitution of the figure “30” for the figure “60” is to be affected.

“Section 11 of the Bill, amending Section 36 should indicate the subsection in which the proviso is to be introduced.

“Section 24 of the Bill which amends Section 85 (1) should be redrafted in full as the introduction of the “electing” to the sentence may be interpreted to mean that political parties may give 21 days notice of the intention to merge, as opposed to the 90 days provided in Section 84 (2) of the Electoral Act which provides the provision for merge of political parties.

“The definition of the term “Ward Collection officer” should be revised to reflect a more descriptive definition than the capitalized and undefined term “Registration Area Collation Officer.”

Muhammadu Buhari

A woman spotted the snake

Simon Kolawole
Three years ago, Oronto Douglas, then adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, lost his brave battle with cancer. He fought to the very last minute. For once, cancer met a stubborn victim who refused to go down without a fight, even when the odds were hopelessly stacked against him. His death on April 9, 2015 – four months to his 49th birthday — is one of the most heartbreaking experiences I have had in my life. I wept like a newborn. We were good friends for nearly 20 years, although we also frequently argued fiercely, mostly on issues of governance and development. Since his exit, I often replay, in my mind, our discussions and debates about democracy and nation-building in Nigeria.

One of such is the anti-graft war. I often argued with him that Jonathan was not doing enough to contain corruption, especially as he was apparently reluctant to get rid of certain elements perceived to be extremely corrupt in his government. Oronto never uttered one bad word about Jonathan to me, which I understood very much. He kept telling me the president was doing his best within the circumstances and peculiarities of governing a politically and economically complex country like Nigeria. His view, which I found very consistent, was that to fight corruption effectively in a country like ours, you need to deploy different approaches beyond “public lynching”.

Indulge me to paraphrase him: “There are institutions that have to be strengthened if you want to fight corruption in a sustainable way. You need the police, EFCC and ICPC to be led by competent and independent people and to function properly. I will call that the institutional approach. You need the prosecution to be robust and the judiciary to be alive to its responsibility. I call that the legal or enforcement approach. You also need public bureaucratic processes to be well established and enforced. That is the administrative approach. Finally, you need a re-orientation of the populace as well, and that is the most difficult aspect of the war.”

We both agreed that it is a combination of these approaches that will lead to a robust anti-graft war, but we failed to agree that Jonathan needed to make a scapegoat of some top government officials as part of the overall strategy. He told me plainly: “Public lynching is one thing President Jonathan does not like. There will be temporary applause but that will not address the problem beyond the media trial. He will allow EFCC and ICPC to do their job without interference.” In truth, it was not as if we disagreed fundamentally, but I kept telling him that for the optics, Jonathan needed to fire some ministers and take some tough actions before he could be perceived as fighting corruption.

Oronto often said something that did not make much sense to me then but which, on hindsight, was important. Jonathan’s preferred approach, he said, was to prevent corruption from the root and reduce the more difficult task of enforcement with all the complications that come with legal battles. He also said the measures being adopted by Jonathan would outlive his government. How true. Although, there are now startling revelations about the corruption under Jonathan’s government, it is ironic that some of the instruments being used by the Buhari administration to expose the rot were actually started by his predecessors. And this brings me to the focus of our discourse today.

First, much of what Oronto said about administrative strategy is yielding fruits. The idea of a treasury single account (TSA) started with Obasanjo in 2004 before it was abandoned. Jonathan dusted it up and partially implemented it. Buhari has fully implemented it. TSA has helped to eradicate a certain type of corruption in ministries, departments and agencies. From time immemorial, MDAs would place funds with banks at a low rate and leverage on the same funds to borrow money from the same banks at a high rate. The bankers and the civil servants were sharing the spoils across the fence. The full implementation hurt the economy and I wanted it reversed at a point, but you really cannot make omelette without breaking an egg. All government revenues can now be monitored real time.

Another administrative approach introduced by Jonathan is the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS) which uses the biometric system to verify civil servants and eliminate ghost workers from the payroll. Nigeria was losing hundreds of billions of naira to evil servants in the past, but through IPPIS today, ghost workers have relocated to hell. It was recently reported that 80,000 police “officers” were actually ghosts. They have been eliminated by IPPIS. Also, the biometric verification number (BVN) is a major tool in the hands of EFCC in its anti-graft war. Nobody who has a bank account is “safe” anymore. A simple administrative approach is fighting corruption without firing a bullet.

Recently, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), started the #BuhariChallenge on Twitter with a satire: “Anyone on this street that can name one infrastructural development project initiated and completed by @MBuhari since he assumed office will get a 50k prize from me.” Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, President Buhari’s social media aide, replied: “The PDP Admin left behind HUNDREDS of abandoned projects, that the Buhari Administration has been painstakingly completing, one by one. Only an IRRESPONSIBLE Govt would set aside important ABANDONED projects to instead be chasing the cheap glory of ‘We started our own!’” And that’s how the fight started…

It took only a couple of minutes for Twitter to catch fire, which was not surprising by the way. Nevertheless, the pattern of responses reinforced my distaste for partisan politics. The comments kept coming in – from the mundane to the ridiculous – and if you enjoy humour, you would laugh yourself to the point of no return. I love humour, yes, but I was so disheartened by some of the things that were being said. There is this mindset that refuses to see government as a continuum, that can’t see the state as an institution rather than a person. I understand that people must play politics, but at what stage does Nigeria become our primary constituency?

One common trend in Nigeria is that people go into government with a mindset of dissociating themselves from their predecessors, thereby discontinuing inherited projects in order not to be taunted as not having new ideas. God only knows how many court cases Nigeria is fighting at the international level because one government comes and breaks the contract entered into by another. We are paying millions of dollars in litigation and settlements. At the state level, it is so common for new governors to discard the programmes and policies of predecessors simply to make a point that they have their own ideas. Good policies and projects are sacrificed. Nigeria cannot make progress that way.

We need a new mentality, a new mindset that says “Paul planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase”. Or, to put it in local parlance, “woman see snake, man kill am, case closed”. As long as a snake bite has been averted, the argument over who spotted it and who killed it is purely academic. I will always say that politicians must play politics. I cannot argue over that. But the pattern of comments by ordinary Nigerians appeared to suggest that most of us have been sucked in by the war of attrition between PDP and APC. We cannot use this war to define Nigeria. Jonathan started a project, Buhari completed it – Nigeria and Nigerians are the beneficiaries. That should settle it.

Infrastructural projects, by the way, take time. We conceived a mega power project in Mambilla, Taraba state, over 40 years ago. Governments have come and gone but the project, which can generate up to 3,500 megawatts, had no life. Buhari has shown more seriousness in finally getting it off the ground. If it is completed and we begin to enjoy better power supply, who cares whether it is APC or PDP that did it? Obasanjo conceived Abuja-Kaduna rail, Jonathan did most of the work and Buhari put the finishing touches, and so what? We are moving to self-sufficiency in rice but the journey started under Obasanjo was continued by Yar’Adua and Jonathan, and has been revved up by Buhari. All we need is rice!

I can understand the anger of the PDP that no credit is being given to them, that they are only being portrayed as looters by the APC government. I sympathise with them. But that is at the level of politicking and I would leave the matter to the partisans to fight themselves to the finish. We, the ordinary Nigerians, should see the bigger picture: previous administrations started important projects in infrastructure and agriculture and Buhari did not abandon them. Instead, he is pursuing the completion with determination and passion. As a Nigerian, I am truly, truly excited by this. Everything cannot be politics. Politics cannot be everything. Let’s try to focus on the progress of Nigeria once in a while.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Park Geun-hye, the former South Korean president, has been sentenced to 24 years in jail with a fine of $17 million. Her offence was “minor” compared to what we witness daily in Nigeria: she colluded with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive funds from conglomerates, such as Samsung and Lotte, to help Choi’s family and fund non-profit foundations owned by her. Meanwhile, Lula da Silva, former president Brazil, is due to start a 12-year jail term for corruption and money laundering while in office from 2003 to 2011. In Nigeria, even former commissioners don’t go to jail, much less lawmakers, ministers or presidents. The jails are meant for pickpockets and bloggers. Travesty.

STATUS QUO

When news broke that Mr. Ali Janga, the Kogi state commissioner of police, had been removed because of the escape of suspects from detention, something told me this is impossible in Nigeria. I thought the world was about to come to an end. In Nigeria, government officials never get sacked for dereliction of duty — neither do they take responsibility for failure under their watch. You only get fired if you don’t have a godfather. After the announcement, the drama started. Mr. Esa Sunday Ogbu, his replacement, failed to assume duty, allegedly because he was warned not to by Alhaji Yayaha Bello, the state governor. Then Bello visited Abuja. And before you could blink, Janga was re-instated. Nigeria!!!

ROBBING PETER

Remember when government officials wondered why students were protesting over fuel price hike when they were not car owners? It’s getting better. Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says the train fares between Kaduna and Abuja were increased because the majority of those using the service are rich. Hear him: “Some of you have been asking why we increased the fare between Kaduna and Abuja. For each locomotive, we spend N56 million, when we were charging you N600, we were getting N16 million so all you rich men, we were dashing you N40 million per month. Actually, very few poor men use those trains.” Now, I can confidently say I have seen it all. Ridiculous.

AND FINALLY…

“He died that we might live,” we Christians usually say about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, what about this? Two months ago, Scott Westgarth, a British boxer, tragically died a few hours after winning a fight. However, the 31-year-old had signed up for organ donation. His mum, Rebecca, has now revealed that his late son’s organs saved SEVEN lives. Millions of people die every year waiting for organ transplants without getting donors, but this can change if we are willing, like Westgarth, to donate our organs when we die. It is something health campaigners should focus us in Nigeria. Imagine the death of ONE man saving SEVEN lives! Invaluable.