Buhari: An Incredibly Revelatory Media Chat

By Idowu Akinlotan

If eloquence or elocution was all that is needed to prove one’s bona fides or demonstrate competence, President Muhammadu Buhari would prove a woeful failure. In his maiden media chat last week, he struggled to communicate, and worse, even struggled to form his thoughts. He did not have problem with his tenses, nor if he did should that worry us. At least the country understood their president, and from his responses, the president in turn claimed and indeed appeared to understand his countrymen, especially how sometimes difficult they can be. It was his first media chat, and doubtless his coaches must have worked on him, schooling him on difficult and anticipated questions, and gently admonishing the ramrod straight retired army general to rein in his emotions, soften his taciturnity, and crack some jokes. His coaches will now need to do more, and if need be, ensure he can tell the difference between excise and exercise, for one has to do with customs and the other military drill.

*Buhari 

Overall, notwithstanding his problematic elocution, President Buhari came across as honest, down to earth, dependable, and someone Nigerians can trust with their money — absolutely. But to trust him with their lives, Nigerians will have to school him on the constitution afresh and extract promises of his fidelity to the laws of the land. For now, he sees both the constitution and the law as hindrances and handles them with the expedience of his military antecedents. Former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan spoke clearer and more fluently, and had better, wider and more complex grasp of issues; howbeit the former was imperious with his guttural voice and elocution, and the latter, with his clipped speech and tremulous voice, suffered from persecution complex.

This is President Buhari’s first chat. Despite his age, education and inflexible approach to issues, he is expected to improve considerably and in many ways. But in some other critical ways, Nigerians must not expect any improvement, because there won’t and can’t be any. The president rightly drew a parallel between his first coming as a military head of state, when he railroaded suspected thieves to jail and put the burden of proof on them, and his latest coming as an elected president, when the burden of proof lies with his government. Yet, he sounded plaintive, and could barely hide his irritation with the procedural handicaps the rule of law imposed on him. Worse, when asked why he seemed impervious to the bail granted some of his quarries, perhaps particularly former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), the president bristled at the question, one of the two times he nearly lost his composure during the chat, and drew attention to the severity of the allegations and evidence against the retired colonel. At that point, and for him, the issue was no longer the law. It surprisingly bothered him little that he could be accused, very reasonably it seems, of pursuing vendetta against the former NSA.

The Presidential Media Chat – A Review

By Gimba Kakanda

President Muhammadu Buhari's first interaction with the nation this Week highlighted the hope of a new Nigeria, as well as the potholes, speed bumps and roadblocks ahead. It's perhaps the most honest ever revelation by a Nigerian president, even as such blunt and frank positions may undermine the efforts and popularity of the government he heads.

President Buhari during the Presidential Media Chat 

(pix:Vanguard)

I'll leave the praises of Buhari's performance at the chat to his media handlers and their fire-spitting minions, and address a few issues not exactly impressive.

The revelation that our security agencies have no intelligence on the whereabouts of the girls of Chibok is saddening, and perhaps even worse is the statement that the government has no credible means of establishing contact with the leadership of Boko Haram. What have the intelligence units of our various security agencies been up to all these months? This, to say the obvious, is reckless and not something any leader should say without feeling a sense of guilt or embarrassment. So, who have we been fighting all along? Ghosts? We've people like Ahmad Salkida and Barrister Aisha Wakkil around to serve as consultants in contacting this terrorist group and Nigeria still confesses to cluelessness.

The president's seeming disinterest in the Shiite-Army clash is only a leeway to an imaginable disaster. Despite claiming to have no conclusive report on the clash yet, he's already judged the clash and couldn't even mask his disgust at the activities of the sect. His reaction was more of old military elite losing his mind over the audacity of a gang of teenagers to dare confront members of the active military elite class.

The Shiites have already lost on moral grounds, and perhaps only need an unbiased foreign court, through interested human rights organizations, to file a case against the government of Nigeria for the unjustifiably brutal use of force to decimate their erring members. This court may interpret and exact the rule of engagements employed by the military and point out the moment their traffic offence degenerated into criminal offence, punishable by such horrible death.

Buhari’s 2016 Budget: A Consolidation Of Corruption

 By Remi Oyeyemi

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”  - Joseph Goebbels

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”   - Adolf Hitler 

*Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari promised CHANGE in the days and months leading to the last presidential elections. For a country in comatose, stagnated in misery and miasma, CHANGE was the sing song. At a point in the journey to the presidential elections, Buhari, to and for Nigeria, became much more than the promise of CHANGE. He became the CHANGE that the majority of Nigerians were seeking.

Thanks to the hitherto unprecedented propaganda in the history of Nigeria. It was a dexterous devilish manipulation of information that turned Muhammadu Buhari from the Satan that Nigerians have rejected at the polls for the previous 16 years into a Saint all of a sudden. He became the messiah. He became the savior. Hope rose to high heavens. Excitement was enormously generated. The enthusiasm was pervasive. It was all encompassing. Buhari was everybody’s man. Everyone was Buhari’s man. And woman!

The lies about Buhari were very big but were kept very simple in deference to the gospel according to Adolf Hitler. His party and handlers kept saying those lies repeatedly and consistently. Eventually, Nigerians believed the lies hook, line and sinker. In the face of historical facts to the contrary, Buhari became a man of integrity! Buhari became a man of competence! Buhari became incorruptible!

After sixteen years of trial, Buhari became the President of Nigeria. Contesting for an office for sixteen years consecutively would have meant an adequate preparation and deep grasp of the issues involved. The advantage of ruling the same country once before the second coming was also expected to be helpful. He was expected to know exactly what to do. Buhari was supposed to be the man with a plan; the man with the solution; the savior to salvage and save; the messiah to mesmerize, untie the shackles and set Nigeria free on the path to freedom and realization of its potentials.

Some of us believe that Buhari is and has always been incompetent. In addition to his incompetence, he is also corrupt as facts of history have attested to. Not just by his actions, but by his utterances that are well documented for and by History. But on this second coming, the day he began to deny himself and what he promised Nigerians during his campaign, it was crystal clear that he had no plans for Nigeria. It was clear he had no solutions. It was clear that he is more of the same. At that time, there was no new proof. But now he has provided a brand new proof to Nigerians and for the world to behold. And that proof is his Budget for the Year 2016!

Buhari Is Not God, We Will Not Worship Him – PDP

Press Statement

PDP Sympathises With Buhari, APC Leaders Over Inability To Take Criticisms

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sympathised with President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over their inability to accept, with equanimity, constructive criticisms of their administration.

In a statement on Saturday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said it was unfortunate that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably poured invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms.

“Unlike the APC that denigrated the office and person of former President Jonathan by wrongly depicting him as ‘clueless and incompetent’, the PDP remains the most decent, mature and constructive opposition party in our democracy and we have evidenced great respect for the person and exalted office of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“During the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, while in the saddle as interim Deputy National Secretary of the APC, in a post on his twitter page, described President Jonathan as ‘lazy, docile, incompetent, clueless, hopeless and useless leader.’ Other APC leaders made raining abuses on Jonathan a past time.

Buhari: A Dictator Will Always Be A Dictator – Fayose

Press Release 

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described the return to power of President Mohammadu Buhari as a misadventure for Nigerians, calling on the international community, especially organisations like the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) to focus their attention on human rights abuses and contempt for the rule of law in Nigeria in 2016.”

Governor Fayose, who said he was not disappointed by the President’s response during his media chat, to question on the disobedient of court orders by the Department of State Security (DSS), added that he had said it several times that once a dictator will always be a dictator and that those who helped him to power will end up in his goal of dictatorship.

In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said he was aware of plot to muzzle him and others considered as non-conformists because of their opinion and critical stance on the President and his government, adding that; “such plot will definitely be counterproductive.”

Nigerians Have Experienced Significant Hardships Over The Past Months - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari's New Year Message to Nigerians 

Welcome to the beginning of a New Year of the continuation of CHANGE in our beloved nation. I am aware that Nigerians have experienced a number of significant hardships over the past months. Living in the State House has not alienated me from your daily sufferings. I am aware of the lengthy queues at fuel stations and of the difficulties businesses have faced in acquiring foreign exchange.

These challenges are only temporary; we are working to make things better. When I presented myself to you as a presidential candidate and asked you to vote for me, I wanted to be a leader who keeps his promises. I wanted to be a leader who restores the people's hope in those elected to serve them. I wanted to be a leader who initiates positive and enduring CHANGE.

I am still totally committed to being that kind of leader. Unforeseen circumstances and other distractions notwithstanding, I shall still do my utmost best to keep every promise I made to Nigerians during my election campaign. In the past seven months since our inauguration on May 29, 2015, my administration has focused on laying the right foundation for the CHANGE you voted for during our historic presidential election. Nigerians will in due course begin to enjoy the fruits of all our ongoing work.

The effective and efficient implementation of our 2016 budget proposals will address many of the socio-economic issues that are of current concern to our people. One area in which Nigerians, especially those in the northeast, have already begun to experience major CHANGE is in the war on terror. I commend our Armed Forces for significantly curtailing the insurgency which has ravaged the northeast of Nigeria over the past few years.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of security. Our Armed Forces will maintain, consolidate and build on their successes in the war against Boko Haram and violent extremism. This government will not consider the matter concluded until the terrorists have been completely routed and normalcy restored to all parts of the country that have been adversely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Our crackdown on corruption will continue to be vigorously undertaken. I urge the courts to support our efforts and help in the recovery of stolen funds by speedily concluding trials and showing that impunity no longer has a place in our country.

There is much work to do in other areas as well and I have charged all my ministers and other appointees to ensure that Nigerians experience positive changes in their lives in 2016. We must reduce our country's reliance on oil. We must diversify our economy.

And we must do all we can to promote job creation. Our challenges are many but our determination to succeed is strong and unshaken. So too is our confidence in God. I wish you all a very

Happy New Year.

MUHAMMADU BUHARI

Buhari An Unrepentant Tyrant - PDP

Press Statement

“Media Chat Exposed Buhari’s Undemocratic Character”

…He Should Apologize for Labeling Nigerians ‘Difficult Lot’ - PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Muhammadu Buhari’s responses at the Wednesday Presidential Media Chat were not only embarrassing but also further exposed his undemocratic character as an unrepentant tyrant who has no regard for the rule of law and the self-worth of Nigerian citizens.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Thursday also said the President confirmed his partisanship in the much-vaunted war against corruption by openly absolving his ministers and party members of corrupt practices.

“Whilst we restate our respect for the person and office of the President, we note that President Buhari bared his true colours to the world as an unrepentant tyrant. Today, the world is no longer in doubt as to who is behind the prevailing recklessness, abuse of rights of citizens and outright flouting of judicial pronouncements by security agencies.

“A situation where the President openly pronounced persons facing trial guilty and sanctioned their continued incarceration despite being granted bail by the courts, presents a dangerous fascist practice obtainable only in totalitarian societies like Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Idi Amin’s Uganda and General Than Shwe’s Burma.

“This extremely shocking dictatorial tendency being brazenly exhibited by the President in total disdain for our laws and judicial institutions portends great danger for our democracy and constitutionally-guaranteed rights of the people, and should be resisted by the citizens before it festers.

“The scorn for the principle of separation of powers, especially the independence of the legislature, is further manifested in the declared craving to regulate the funding and running of the National Assembly, a matter constitutionally vested outside the jurisdiction of the executive. We are most uncomfortable about his attempt at trying to whip up public sentiments against an independent arm of government, especially the one vested with the constitutional power of appropriation.

“Following from the foregoing, therefore, it may be necessary to suspend the application of our Constitution and allow the President to operate as maximum ruler for four years after which the nation can return to a democracy.

Biafra Agitation And Antics Of Divide-And-Rule

         By Nwobodo Chidiebere

“I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”— Harriet Tubman

FOR weeks now, the issue of Biafra agitation has been at the front burner in the polity. The movement is being propelled by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) via peaceful protests ravaging the old Eastern region. The promoters of IPOB are led by the detained Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Agents of divide-and-rule have gone back to their age-long work of dividing the indigenous people of Biafra. Their major target is to Igbonize this present struggle of Biafra restoration using the instrumentality of the media to tag Biafra agitation Igbo “affair”. Majority of those divide-and-rule advocates are non-Biafrans, who ordinarily should not have any say in determining the future of old Eastern region.

Why is it that Hausa and Fulani which comprise major ethnic groups especially in Northern part of Nigeria are always referred to as Hausa/Fulani – as one indivisible people, instead of Hausa and Fulani? Why do we have South-South as a geo-political zone carved out of old Eastern region, but there is nothing like North-North in the Northern Nigeria? How did the creators of this South-South mantra invent this word that is not in line with known cardinal points as enshrined in the principles of geography? How come there is Niger-Delta in the South but nothing like North-Sahara in the North? Why is there one Northern Governors Forum in the North, but coming down Southern Nigeria; we have South-East, South-West and South-South Governors Forums; all in one Southern Nigeria? Why do we always hear about Northern Elders Forum and nineteen Northern states as one socio-political block and one North, but we hardly talk of Southern Elders Forum, seventeen Southern states or one South? Someone should put on his thinking cap by now.

Dasukigate: Open Letter To Femi Adesina, Presidential Spokesperson

By Yushau A. Shuaib

Dear Mr. Femi Adesina

Since I am a victim of association to one of the most vilified and scandalised Nigerians through media trial, this Open Letter is the best opportunity for me to put some issues in proper perspective following some of your public remarks about your old friend.

*Femi Adesina

As you are aware, I have been actively involved in cementing relationship between the media and security agencies in the recent past. Immediately after my premature retirement from the public service by the Jonathan administration, I was invited by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), under Col. Sambo Dasuki (retired), to help in changing the negative media narrative on Nigeria’s counter-terrorism campaigns. It was at a period when the Boko Haram was having the upper hand in the propaganda campaign of the war against Nigeria with a section of the foreign media castigating Nigerian troops as “cowardly” “undisciplined” and “ill-trained.”

Among other things, I have the responsibility of consulting for the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), then Chaired by Major General Chris Olukolade, which has membership from critical public institutions including the military, security, intelligence and response agencies. We also created and sustained web portals for providing accurate and timely information to the public.

I must commend Mr. Femi Adesina for playing greater roles on the success of our campaign because as the President of Nigerian Guild of Editors, you also encouraged Editors to support our activities through occasional self-censorship to manage negative terrorists’ propaganda.

Being one of the closest Editors to former National Security Adviser, you were always sincere and frank when you met and discussed with Dasuki. You never hid your hardened support for the candidacy of General Buhari of All Progressive Congress (APC). I remember your annoyance over security clampdown on the media and when you sought Dasuki’s intervention for compensation for media organisations over their loss rather than engaging in prolonged court cases. I was with you on that occasion in his office.

Addressing The Confusion In The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI)

By idowu oyebanjo

 There is no doubt that the challenges facing the electricity industry is huge even as all but the Transmission Network have become private concerns. There are fundamental changes now taking place which will define the general outlook of the Nigerian Power System in the future as the power grid becomes unbundled and privatised such that the traditionally integrated and centrally dispatched energy system becomes a largely distributed and more complex architecture.

It is fair to say that today's technical and regulatory governance framework is grossly inadequate to manage the seamless integration of the different stakeholders and functions within NESI which are largely under differing ownerships. This has the potential to lead to disaster and chaos in the future if not addressed now. One of the first things required to be done is to establish an independent expert group to ensure an holistic approach to the phased development of NESI as it is becoming more than obvious to the blind that a "whole System" approach is what is needed to address the challenges facing the industry.

The recommended steering group to address the mechanisms for whole-system integration should be made up of a panel of technical experts from the Transmission and Distribution Network companies, consultants, academia, NERC, BPE, NBET, IPPs, Nigerian Gas Company, NNPC, NEMSA, MAN, data and ICT companies, the Nigerian Electricity Consumers' forum, SON and so on who have practical experience of electricity supply business. The aim of the expert group is to assist in the building of an integrated perspective for the planning and operation of the future electricity network, ensuring not only technical performance but also the opportunities for jobs and exports (technical and materials), identifying issues, defining the questions to be answered, clarifying the parties accountable, obtaining synergies and highlighting areas of relevance to national policy-making.

For most complex systems (which electrical power system is one), there is often a gap between those who specify what the whole system is required to achieve and the plethora of contractors, design authorities, operators, and other technical specialists who provide the hardware, software and other technical skills to construct and run the many sub-systems that together form the whole. It must be mentioned heretofore that neither the transition electricity market nor the free electricity market alone will be able to shape the structure, supply chain and system architecture for the provision of goods and services within the NESI. Hence, it has to be stated that this expert group will provide the co-ordination and the glue between established parties and new entrants, including generators, network users and operators, to facilitate the technical operation and the market mechanisms in a multi-party complex system like the NESI.

The new architecture required to meet the challenges of the NESI would need to develop a "Power System Framework" to address whole-system issues plaguing the NESI and this can only be provided by what we will term a "System Architect". The system architect gives a purposeful direction in the immediate and future development of the power network infrastructure based on defined codes, standards, and processes that enable seamless movement of information and operational instructions. The system architect thus takes responsibility for the correct functioning of the architecture of the whole system.

The pertinent question therefore is "Who or what is the System Architect?"

*NERC Chair, Sam Amadi 

The system architect is a separately defined entity that would take a whole-system and long-term responsibility for developing and agreeing the framework of architectures, standards, protocols, and guidelines needed to ensure seamless technical integration of the sub-systems of the industry players and parties, enabling a seamless response to the challenges arising from policy imperatives as they emerge over the coming decades. This single entity will be responsible for the management of the complexity of the evolving power system architecture in the public interest on behalf of government. Solutions for system integration challenges should be developed in consultation with key industry stakeholders while considering whole-system cost-benefit across the supply chain. The system architect would also have advisory role in providing assurance that the whole system can meet the policy-driven technical challenges of the next two decades. The role would involve developing functional specifications, policies, interfaces and best practices, overseeing system integration, interpretation of the direction of established policies by government to enable the organisations responsible for implementation and operation to do so in a coherent manner. Acting as a risk manager, the system architect will provide early warning of emerging risks to system stability and advise on the feasibility and timescales for the implementation of policies. To this end, the system architect is limited in function to technical matters that will make the Nigerian Power System function effectively to meet government's policy objectives while accommodating the requirements of the markets. Of course there will be times when effective technical integration requires attention to commercial and regulatory frameworks, and in such times, the system architect would be expected to identify these and work with government and other parties to resolve them.

The system architect in general will operate as an integration model that combines the existing segmented functions into a single function with the overall responsibility and ultimate accountability to the Minister of Power. For example, the architect can extend the scope of two key existing entities- the Grid code and Distribution code panels whose scope at the minute is limited to operational and technical matters rather than the integration of technical, operational and commercial aspects across the whole system. To succeed, the panels must be constituted to address structural and technical constraints jeopardising the successful development of the NESI with a clear focus spanning the whole system - generation, transmission, distribution, consumer, and related information flows.

NERC too should ensure the integrity of the underlying systems engineering while keeping its focus on commercial and economic levels. The activities of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) and Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network (NECAN) forum need to be strengthened to realise the objectives of the power system. It is believed that the integration and management of data and ICT will present further challenges despite the goodwill or commitment of stakeholders and expertise of individuals involved if there is no adequate legal personality or party that will be accountable for ensuring the functionality of the increasingly complex system. Overall, there is a highly fragmented institutional landscape today that maintains and develop the codes which govern the operation of different aspects of the system, but none of which takes a whole-system view. This needs to be addressed urgently.

Buhari Regime Has elevated Propaganda To A Historical Level

By Olisa Metuh

No Nigerian should be happy with the bitterness, wickedness and vengeful spirit that pervades our land. Our people are now not only divided along religious and ethnic lines but also along political lines with the attendant bickering thereof.

Our new media is filled with people spewing insults, abuses and so much hatred. The government has elevated propaganda to a historical level while the ruling party, not content with lies and deceits, now engages in promoting spite and political persecution.

What can lead a distinguished Senator of the federal Republic of Nigeria to burn the constitution of an opposing political party? It is not enough to dismiss this as the excesses and exuberance of a victor, not at all, this is really part of an organized and coordinated warfare against the vanquished party!

We lost an election, some of us publicly convicted without trial by the government as a group of corrupt Nigerians, electoral victories of our governors, senators and honorable members reversed, members arrested and detained with orchestrated charges, our freedom and liberties denied and now our constitution torn and burnt by an opponent in pure disdain, ridicule and scorn. In what other ways can we be so humiliated and abused?

I speak the minds of millions of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members when I say enough is enough.
The Almighty God knows that in opposition we have been decent, responsible and civil. We have accorded our conquerors great respect not because we are afraid but because it is right, proper and will definitely assist in promoting an enduring political culture in our land.

Enough of the bitterness and acrimony, let the President start the healing process side by side his anti-corruption legacy.

WE ARE TOO DIVIDED!!!

 *Metuh is National Publicity Secretary of the PDP

Buhari To Borrow N5 Billion A Day To Finance 2016 Budget – PDP

...Nigeria Going The Way of Greece

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given more insight into why the N6.08 trillion 2016 federal budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari is a huge fraud, warning that with the proposed N1.84 trillion borrowing (a colossal borrowing), the nation is going the way of Greece.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday said a breakdown of the N1.84 trillion shows that the nation would be borrowing N5 billion a day for the next 365 days, starting from January I, 2016, without corresponding provision for economic production and a clear repayment plan, a scenario that spells doom for the future of the nation.

According to Metuh, “some people may be wondering why we raised an alarm about the budget. The reason is simple. When we analysed the budget, we discovered it is a misshapen attempt at a Keynesian economics of applying deficit spending to stimulate growth even when studies have proven that GDP growth rates decrease by over 50% when debt goes from low or moderate to high. But then we know the borrowing here is to pay huge campaign debt and fund a political war chest.

Nigeria: Running The Economy Without Oil Wealth

By Banji Ojewale

THERE were two major national problems our military rulers managed poorly. First was the enormous wealth that came our way in the oil boom of the early 70s. One martial ruler said his headache wasn’t money: It was how to spend it. Whereupon the country under him took upon itself the Father Christmas role. We gave and gave to African countries that were not as oily endowed as we were. When we could no longer locate the needy in Africa we turned to shores outside the continent.

There was that distant Caribbean island. One of the reports on the matter said we paid the salaries of that country’s civil servants when the government couldn’t oblige their servants. Was it a loan? Was the money paid back with interest? Or we gave it to them not hoping it will be returned?

After that era, another military leader came into the scene. He also enjoyed economic prosperity, engendered by the then Persian Gulf War that made Nigeria’s crude oil much sought after. His own problem was that despite applying all the political and economic strategies that big money could afford, a socio-politically ailing Nigeria failed to stabilise. And so he threw up his arms in despair and said the country had defied every solution in the books. Many astute observers wondered what became of the wise counsel of the galactic cabinet of his junta.

Now in our day, in the period that would soon pass as the post-oil age, there is another challenge: what do we do without oil wealth? Can we manage the country and its teeming population with depleting wealth from crude? Is it possible to run this huge economy without the black gold?

Those who have a keen sense of history, those who know what played out in the days of the old Western Region under Chief Obafemi Awolowo wouldn’t beat about the bush to answer those questions in the positive. They would tell you offhand that if he and the premiers of the other two regions developed their areas without oil in their days, Nigeria today would also thrive without oil, if we had the right leaders with bold and resourceful ideas.

Why Lai Mohammed Must Be Fired

By Femi Aribisala

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf was the Minister of Information in the dying days of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. Nicknamed “Comical Ali” by British tabloids, al-Sahaf made a fool of himself during the Iraqi war by constantly fabricating victories of the Iraqi army, even as territory after territory fell to the American-led allied forces.

*President Buhari congratulating Lai Mohammed after he was sworn in as Information Minister 

What was so ridiculous about him was that his lies were so blatant, only fools could believe them.  Even when American tanks rolled into Baghdad, Comical Ali declared: “There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad at all. We besieged them and we killed most of them. Today, the tide has turned. We are destroying them. The Americans are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks.”

Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, is Nigeria’s home-grown “Comical Ali.”  It would not be unfair to fashion him as “the Minister of FABU.” Barely two months of assuming office, Mohammed has established himself as an instrument of cheap propaganda and disinformation.  On internet blogs today, he is now generally referred to by his traducers as “Liar Mohammed.”  Without a doubt, he has earned this sobriquet by his penchant to be extremely economical with the truth.

Lai Mohammed’s tall tales have now reached epidemic proportions.  It is a contradiction in terms that a government that claims to be anti-corruption, and a president that boasts to be a man of integrity, should have a “Comical Ali” as its face and spokesman.  It is doubtful that Mohammed can stop being himself.  However, if President Buhari is interested in redeeming his now battered image, he needs to admit he made a big error of judgment in appointing Mohammed as a minister.

Lai Mohammed must be fired immediately.  Barring which, the only honourable thing left for the Honourable Minister to do is to resign.  A Minister of Information should not be allowed to become a Minister of Misinformation.

Mr. President, Your Government Is Losing Momentum

A Nigerian Citizen's Open Letter To President Muhammadu Buhari

Dear President Buhari,

We are in dangerous times, and your actions, or inactions, will count for a lot. The truth is that whenever someone begins a project, especially a project which he has fought so hard for, it is important to make haste, lest motivation wanes. If motivation wanes, there is a clear and present danger of the entire project faltering. That, is the cliff down which we all stare at the moment, including you, no, especially you.

The wind in the sails which swept you to office just over half a year ago are beginning to dissipate, and no other scenario illustrates this better than what is happening in the North East at the moment. I'd rather not, at this point, dwell on the fact that the buck stops at your table, and for my own, selfish reasons.

I voted you, and at this point, I don't want to accept that I may have made a mistake. In voting you, I had hoped that if anything, I'd be looking at an end to the Boko Haram nonsense post haste. That has not happened. Rather, I've been told about a "technical defeat". What does that mean?

Sir, a week before we all queued up and voted you into office, I stood before a room full of your supporters, an audience which included some of the "big men" in your government today, and I told them that no matter what, they should not lie to you. I took that stand, because I believed, and still believe, that the reason the government of your predecessor failed was because of that kind of dishonesty. Sadly Sir, it appears that my advice was not heeded.

You are the President of Nigeria. Your success will be beneficial to me, and to millions of my fellow citizens. Likewise, your failure, will negatively impact me, and millions of my fellow citizens. Telling you the real situation at every point in time will lead you to success. Hiding things from you, will lead to failure. It is my duty to you, and to my country, to tell you the facts always. I do not do blind support Sir, it is not in my blood, and will never be. I do not do blind opposition either. I say things, as I see them, regardless of how painful some of my peers may find such statements. It is both a weakness, and strength. How you see it Sir, depends on your disposition, and I still like to believe Sir, that you of all people, see such truths as strengths.

Sir, your government is losing momentum, and a large part of it is, at least to my mind, because the people around you, those you have chosen to surround yourself with, are being dishonest with you. They have continued to tell you the same tales that you were told during the campaign, the same tales their predecessors told your predecessor. Rather than sit you down and have an honest discussion with you about the state of things, they are living in denial about the realities on the ground, from the price of oil, to the pump price of petrol, to the state of the economy, to Boko Haram. They are living in denial about the constitutionality of some of your actions, actions which are eroding your credibility as a man of integrity.

I'll end this letter Sir, by asking a very simple question, a question who's answer is meant for you, and you alone: All things being equal, in thirty years, you will be gone, I'll still be here, how would you want me to describe you to my grandchildren?

Sincerely yours,
Cheta Nwanze

Some Of Buhari’s Assertions Are Patently Dishonest – Femi Fani-Kayode

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, writes an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari

Mr. President, as one of your most loyal and faithful subjects who has nothing but the utmost respect for your person and your office, I am constrained to write you this open letter. This is because there are a number of issues that I believe that it is important for you to clarify and to come clean on.

I say this because some of your assertions of late are at best contradictory and at worst patently dishonest. Whichever side of the political divide we are on I believe that we can all agree on one thing: that the prosecution of the war against terror is not something that any of us should play politics with. This is especially so given the fact that human lives are at stake and the very existence of our nation is under threat. Like much of the rest of the world our country is going through hell at the hands of the jihadists and Islamist terrorists.

There is no gainsaying that we must all come to terms with the fact that the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL), Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Hamas and another group that the internationally-respected Global Terror Index has described as the ''Fulani militants'' (aka Fulani herdsmen) are nothing but bloodthirsty murderers and the lowest form of life.

They are indeed the scum of the earth, the troublers of humanity and the vermin of hell. It is with this in mind that I urge you to take the war against terror far more seriously than you are doing and plead with you to stop passing the buck.

Buhari Has No Answers To Nigeria's Problems – Gov Fayose

Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has called on Nigerians to pray specially for President Mohammadu Buhari; saying; “The President needs God to give him the necessary wisdom to be able to find solution to the country’s economic and security problems.”

*Buhari 

The governor also challenged the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to relocate to Sambisa in Borno State or Yobe and move around there without heavy military security if indeed he was sure that Boko Haram had been defeated.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said; “only God’s intervention can save Nigeria from the present economic and security problems as it is glaring that the man running the affairs of the country at the federal level does not have any answer to the problems.”

He said; “Even the Holy Bible said in James 1:5 that if anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God and as it is, Nigerians must assist the President in asking for wisdom and understanding to tackle the country’s economic and security problems before Nigeria is further plunged into more woes with the federal government’s decision to borrow N2.2 Trillion, which translates to N6.066 billion per day to finance the 2016 Budget.” He described the Federal Government’s announced reduction of petrol pump price from N87 to N85 per litre as a continuation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government’s governance by deceit, saying; “Even secondary school students of economics know that you cannot deregulate and regulate at the same time.”

BuhariGate: A Malicious Propaganda Against Buhari

By Garba Shehu

As the war on corruption heightens, the political battle-line between the governing All Progressives Congress, APC and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has sharply been drawn.

While leaders from both parties voice out their support for the clean-up of the country by ridding it of corruption, the National Working Committee of the PDP seems clearly to be working contrary to the anti-corruption rhetoric of their Board of Trustees. Their public communication organs have, in particular, become increasingly combative against the exercise. 

*Buhari

All that the President, leading the APC change orchestra, is trying to do is to revamp a moribund nation with growth, jobs and recovered looted funds. Sadly, only a few, if any in Wadata House are treating the war against corruption as the extra-ordinary event which it is. Instead, when they speak up, they do so most ardently against it. In a clear demonstration of obstructionist politics, they challenge the government in every move it makes, but fail to spell out alternative roadmaps to curbing the monstrous corruption that threatens to consume the country; they rush to condemn and dramatize even the smallest of measures which, given time and patience will manifest through positive outcomes. 

Doing this gives the PDP the illusion of being an effective opposition party but taken in the context of national interest and the mood of the nation, it is doubtful it is yielding anything beyond limited political returns. To most Nigerians, the cacophonous opposition is just a media spectacle to distract or mellow the President.

After an historic loss in an election to the opposition for the first time in the annals of this country’s political history, PDP has not looked inwards in any serious way to seek its revival. The first and major leap at reform ended disastrously when first, the party establishment rejected a well-timed apology tendered on its behalf for their past failures. Then, the leader of the reform movement got himself mired in allegations leading to court charges of the theft of billions of Naira voted for weapons purchase to fight terror in the North East. Chief Raymond Dokpesi's trial (and Col. Dasuki's) is no doubt a serious blow to any prospects of a turn-around in the PDP. 

Stop Punishing Nigerians For Politicians' Wrongs! - Ben Murray-Bruce