OBLONG MEDIA GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE is where independent minds meet to dissect politics, society, power, and global affairs without fear or filters. This is not mainstream media.
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As the relationship between Russia and the West has deteriorated, some have hastened to blame the United States and NATO for starting a new Cold War, while others entirely blame Putin for annexing Crimea. There is, however, another way to think, both more plausible and more troubling: the question is not “Has a new Cold War started?” but rather “Did the old Cold War ever end?” In my opinion, WWI began around 1870-75, when the scramble for Africa and Asia really began. European nations were amassing territorial control over large parts of the world, and there were constant battles as…
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The panel also stated that recent police shootings have created a “human rights crisis.” Whenever the idea of reparations is presented, it’s usually met with some sort of racist rhetoric or flimsy excuse as to why descendants of slaves aren’t owed anything. However, a recent report done by a U.N.-affiliated group says that due to recent events and the United States’ history of slavery, Black Americans should receive reparations. As part of a study done by the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, experts concluded that “the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and…
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It is a tale of mixed feelings for a symbol of Nigeria’s Independence when we visited the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. Nigeria’s Independence Day on October 1, is always nostalgic as the young and the old, male and female ponder on the significance of the day and reflect at memories and how the country has fared. Despite the palpable expression of dissatisfaction by many Nigerians about the state of the nation, a lot more celebrate the sovereignty the country has earned. The much-celebrated independence was achieved with the lowering of the Union Jack and replacement with the green, white…
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Strong indications have emerged that troops and security personnel involved in the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign against Boko Haram are unhappy with the release of five top Boko Haram commanders. The commanders were said to have been released in exchange for the 21 of the Chibok schoolgirls who regained their freedom on Thursday. Some security personnel, who confided on the matter , said that while the return of the girls is worth celebrating, those in the armed services are not pleased with what Nigeria gave in exchange for the girls. Investigations revealed that the military expressed reservations about the swap which…
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As Nigeria continues to liaise with other countries abroad on the repatriation of looted funds stashed abroad it has emerged that the exact figures of looted funds outside the country may be difficult to ascertain. This is due to the complexity and dynamics of legislations, culture and policies of various countries regarding the repatriation of the funds. Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), gave this indication yesterday at a Media Roundtable on Open Government Partnership (OGP), in Abuja. The Minister in response to questions from journalist on the exact amount of looted funds outside…
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People tend to be alarmed when the Nigerian Presidency takes certain decisions. They don’t think the decision makes sense. Sometimes, they wonder if something has not gone wrong with the thinking process at that highest level of the country. I have heard people insist that there is some form of witchcraft at work in the country’s seat of government. I am ordinarily not a superstitious person, but working in the Villa, I eventually became convinced that there must be something supernatural about power and closeness to it. I’ll start with a personal testimony. I was given an apartment to live…
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Below is the full text from Aisha Buhari’s controversial interview with BBC Hausa Service. BBC Hausa: It has been One and a half years since President Muhammadu Buhari came into power, a lot of people are expressing their unhappiness over the way few acquaintance of the President have hijacked power while neglecting people that work for his success. Like we have promised, here is how the interview with Aisha Buhari and Naziru Maka’ilu from Abuja goes. BBC Hausa: People have goodwill towards President Muhammadu Buhari, especially looking at the things he did before, but since coming into power things have…
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A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, and the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, have condemned the Department of State Services for the recent arrests of some judges and raids on their homes, Punch reports. The duo spoke on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti while laying the foundation of the state new High Court complex. Babalola said even if the judges were found to have done something offensive, the normal thing was to report them to the National Judicial Council for disciplinary action. He wondered why the judges were released on bail on personal recognition after the DSS raids, querying…
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Yesterday, Hajo Sani made preparations to leave Nigeria by British Airways to underscore her undue supervisory role over Aisha and be the chaperone again! She wasn’t with Aisha when she gave the BBC interview, she’s scrambling to go to London before Aisha proceeds to Brussels and say more stuff. They are angry as hell and are smarting from the exposé. Unfortunately for them, they cannot prevent BBC from airing the remaining part of the interview tomorrow and we are waiting with bated breath to hear it and to read it. Buhari is a thorough Northern conservative who loves his wife.…
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The National Judicial Council of Nigeria has presented its position to the public regarding the actions of the Department of State Security against judges whose houses were raided last week across the country. The position of the NJC is coming after two days of emergency meetings held to discuss the controversy generated by attacks on several judges. The press release issued by Soji Oye berated the DSS, describing its actions as an attempt to ridicule, harass and intimidate judges. The NJC made a particular effort to discountenance allegations levied against it bet the DSS that it made attempts to shield…
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THE National Judicial Council (NJC), on Tuesday, recommended the most senior justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Walter Onnoghen, as successor to Mahmud. Mahmud will retire on November 10. Onnoghen, who is from Cross River State, is the first Southern CJN-designate in 29 years. Only his name was agreed upon by the council and will be sent to President Buhari No stand-by nominee was chosen at the emergency meeting. A council source told our source that the practice of sending two names to the president stopped with the appointment of Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. The single-nominee arrangement leaves the president with…
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Fellow Nigerians, let me start by apologising for my absence on this page last week. I could not believe the torrents of comments on social media and the number of calls from friends and well-wishers from far and near enquiring about my welfare. Everyone was concerned because they know how much dedication and discipline goes into writing a weekly column. Even I sometimes wonder how I’m able to keep a date with you week in and week out. Once in a while we all suffer from what’s often referred to as mental block. It is a writer’s affliction that makes…
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Conceived in September 2015, with the foreword written by Lt. General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (rtd) in July this year, “Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria”, probably took about six months for John N. Paden to write. And, I am sorry to say, this is a rather unserious literary work. Aside the fact that you don’t write the biography of a man like President Muhammadu Buhari within so short a period, this effort is, to put it mildly, very poor. However, to the extent that it was authorized not only by Mr. Mamman Daura, “a senior adviser of Buhari”,…
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Following allegations of corruption, there was a massive arrest of Judges in Indonesia in May this year. But it was not a big public issue, essentially because the country has a history of dealing with such cases. For instance, in July 2014, Indonesia’s anti-corruption court sentenced the former head of the country’s Constitutional Court, Akil Mochtar, to life imprisonment for bribery and money laundering. Mochtar was found guilty of accepting more than US $3.37 million in bribes to tamper with the results of no fewer than 10 local elections while serving as head judge; and with laundering more than US…
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The UK government has concluded that epileptic power supply is the single biggest factor hindering economic growth in Nigeria. While Naijiant.com holds the view that security is more critical to economic growth than power supply, the UK position seems to be backed by research. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) provided this view today while responding to a report by the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee on DFID’s work in Nigeria, which was published in July. DFID stated that: “there is already strong survey evidence that poor power supply is the biggest single constraint on investment and growth,…
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Details emerged on Tuesday of an angry letter of protest the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mahmoud Muhammed, penned to President Muhammadu Buhari in the aftermath of the raid on homes of senior judges and their subsequent arrest by operatives of the Department of State Services over the weekend. A source who saw the letter told the Nigerian Times that Justice Muhammed left very little unsaid about various attempts by senior members of the administration to bribe judges and subvert the cause of justice. In the letter, the out-going CJN directly named Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers State…
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The BBC Hausa Service is under intense pressure from President Muhammadu Buhari and members of his kitchen cabinet to pre-empt broadcast of the full interview granted by his wife, Aisha Buhari. The interview is due for broadcast on Saturday, but the President is said to have reached out to his wife, who is currently in London, to stop granting further interviews to the media. In excerpts that have been widely reported in the media, Mrs. Buhari is quoted as saying that the President had ditched those who really worked for his victory in the 2015 election and is instead focusing…
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Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has flayed alleged moves by some powerful forces to divide All Progressives Congress, APC, saying they could not countermand the mandate vested in her husband by 15 million Nigerians. Mrs. Buhari was quoted in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service as also saying that Nigerians, who voted for the President, knew those causing problems for the administration. Wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari and Her Aidw, Dr. Hajo Sani (r) during the presentation of a book titled Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges Of Leadership In Nigeria authored by Prof. John Paden at…
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As received from a very reliable diplomatic source in UAE: “You must have seen the fabricated message going round about the alleged stabbing and killing of a Dubai Police Officer by a group of Nigerians. Well, nothing like this happened and Nigerians are as expected going about their lawful businesses in Dubai unmolested. Sadly, this rumour was initiated and disseminated by fellow Nigerians, for whatever it is worth. While calling on us all to be mindful of the kind of information we share via the Social Media, we should also always have the interest of our fatherland at heart.”
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It is obvious that the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) is assailed relentlessly by fissiparous forces. It does appear the poison has been carried over into something as straight-forward as the story of how the running-mate to President Muhammadu Buhari emerged in 2014. Or how else can one explain the illogicality in the claim by PMB’s biographer, Professor John Paden, that Professor Yemi Osinbajo materialized emerged in spite of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s desperate manoeuvres and machinations. Who, in all honesty, has forgotten Buhari’s well-publicized concession to Tinubu after emerging winner of APC’s primaries in December 2014, apparently as a mark…
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With the inauguration of the Ken Nnamani committee on Tuesday, the Buhari administration is following closely the footsteps of his predecessors in what seems to have become a perennial national racket. But coming soon after the president had openly dismissed the report of the 2014 National Conference as only fit for the archives, this sudden U-turn is bound to arouse suspicion. Increasingly censured for being too obsessed with the anti-corruption advocacy as if it were the sole purpose of governance at the expense of other equally critical pillars of nation-building, President Buhari is perhaps learning fast how to keep sections…
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The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, on Tuesday, urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to refund the N43bn the state spent on the rehabilitation of federal roads. The governor said the reimbursement was necessary to facilitate the rehabilitation of more federal roads in the state, which were in deplorable conditions. The governor, who spoke through his Commissioner for Information and Communication Strategy, Mr. Tony Nnacheta, after an executive council meeting, said withholding the money had incapacitated the state from rehabilitating more federal roads. He said, “The total sum we expended on federal roads in the state was…
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Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Engr. Babachir Lawal, has accused the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of not doing enough to resolve the crisis in the Delta state chapter. The NWC is chaired by APC National Chairman, John Oyegun, who recently refused resignation call by former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu. The SGF was, before his appointment, the National Vice-Chairman, North-East. At a meeting held in the conference room of the Office of the SGF in Abuja, yesterday, Lawal reportedly lambasted, the NWC, for watching as crises lingered in several state chapters of the…
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Barely 24 hours after I described the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, as Nigeria’s ultimate “outdoor leader”, in a Facebook tribute to his impressive achievements in the state, the governor was out at 1:00 a.m on the streets of Port Harcourt to stop the abduction of a Federal High Court judge, by hooded men of the Department of State Services (DSS). The DSS men had arrived at the home of the judicial officer in a manner disturbingly similar to how Boko Haram marauders stormed the female hostels in Chibok in 2014. It is a tragic parallel to draw, but a…
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Dele Awogbeoba in this piece writes on the cracked relationship between the presidency and the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The author stresses that President Muhammadu Buhai would not be re-elected in 2019 without the support of the Yorubas which covers 7 states and a third of Kogi state. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu The cracked relationship between the presidency and Jagaban A lot has been said (mainly by people within the PDP) emphasizing the supposed cracks between the presidency and the most influential political figure from the South West of Nigeria in the person…
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Sokoto – The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has reacted to a recent accusation by the Igbo Leaders of Thought accusing President Buhari’s administration of plotting to Islamise Nigeria, ThisDay reports. The Sultan said he was worried that people who were supposed to be elder state men could make such provocative comments. His words: “I am always worried when Nigerians who are supposed to be elder statesmen make provocative comments about this government trying to Islamise Nigeria. “I keep on asking how? How do you Islamise a country like Nigeria that is probably 80 million Muslims (in population)…
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‘’ Some people don’t know and some pretend not to know that law has its technicalities-both civil and criminal proceedings. They talk of technicalities and say that lawyers delay cases, look, without being immodest; I have been involved in a lot of cases in this country. I have defended a lot of…
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A forrmer minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has lambasted the Department of State Services, DSS, for arresting some judges in the middle of the night. Fani-Kayode in a statement released on Saturday, said the action of the DSS to arrest judges is an indication that Nigeria is under attack by “ravenous” President Muhammadu Buhari and his government. The former campaign spokesman of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan called on Nigerians to “rise up and fight back” against the alleged oppression by the current government. The statement reads in part, “Their homes were raided by hundreds of fully armed DSS commandos between 1.00…
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Nigeria’s banking industry is experiencing a “full blown financial crisis” as failed fiscal and monetary policies lead to a credit crunch, according to Arqaam Capital. Unity Bank Plc and Skye Bank Plc are close to being insolvent while lenders FBN Holdings Plc and Sterling Bank Plc “will need a dilutive capital hike,” Jaap Meijer and Tarek Sleiman, analysts at the Dubai-based investment bank and brokerage, said in an e-mailed note on Monday. Banks’ capital ratios are set to worsen because of currency depreciation and souring loans, they said. Calls to Unity and Skye Bank weren’t immediately returned. The central bank…
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On December 17, 2015, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, a judge of the Federal High Court ordered Kanu’s unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu. In a statement at the weekend, Ifeanyi Ejiojor, counsel to Kanu, linked the continued detention of the IPOB leader to President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment at the presidential media chat on December 30, 2015, where he said no court would grant him bail. “The order made on December 17, 2016 by Justice A.F.A. Ademola, directing the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu was served on the Department of State Services (DSS) that same day the order was made,” he said. “Still,…
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There was this story of a Chinese couple who gave birth to a child with Negroid features. At the elaborate party to welcome the newborn, they gave him the name Sum Tin Wong. Something was definitely wrong at the weekend when agents of the Department of State Services [DSS] launched midnight raids on the houses of some High, Appeal and Supreme Court judges. They ransacked the houses looking for evidence of corruption and arrested some of the judges, including two Justices of the Supreme Court. Many things were wrong with the DSS operation, beginning with the English. DSS’ spokesman Abdullahi…
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Consequently, the pan-African highway would link Nigeria to five other countries, namely Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Niger and Chad which are member countries of Trans-Saharan Road Liaison Committee, TRLC. Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, who stated this at the opening ceremony of the 65thTRLC in Abuja, said the roads would be upgraded to take the form of dualisation to the member countries. Fashola said: “I would like to assure this gathering that plans are underway for all major routes in Nigeria that link the trans Sahara route to be upgraded while future road interventions in Nigeria…
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The invasion is unconstitutional. The assault on the premises of the judges is unconstitutional. By the action, the Department of State Services is usurping the functions of the National Judicial Council which is constitutionally allowed to discipline erring judges. Dramatising the issue under the canopy of fighting corruption is not fair. Nobody is saying that judges should not be arraigned before a court; nobody is saying judges shouldn’t be arrested. But for goodness sake, why at night? Why under the cover of darkness? I am assuming that they have a search warrant. But even if they have a search warrant,…
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Mahmood Mohammed, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, has confronted President Muhammadu Buhari in a face-to-face meeting in the Presidential Villa following the weekend crackdown on federal judges and two Supreme Court justices by the country’s secret police. The meeting, which held in the morning of Monday, October 10, 2016, was at the instance of the Honourable Justice Mohammed, multiple sources reveal. Present at the meeting were Lawal Daura, the director-general of the Department of State Security Services, DSS, which serves as the country’s secret police and the president of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Babatunde Adejumo. Our findings…
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus in the House of Representatives condemns in strongest terms the State Security Service, (SSS) invasion of residences and arrest of some judges on allegations of corruption and other acts of professional misconducts. We condemn in its entirety, the said Gestapo invasion of the residences and arrest of the judges at those odd hours as it is not only unlawful but a threat to due process, usurpation of the responsibilities of the Nigeria Police, EFCC, ICPC or the NJC AND A BREACH OF CHAPTER 4 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FED REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AND…
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China today demonstrated how it deals with corruption, just as Nigerians debate the crackdown on corrupt judges by the Department of State Service. China sentenced a 70-year-old former senior legislator to death for taking ‘a huge amount of bribes’ and holding excessive assets with unidentified sources, a charge similar to the allegations of the DSS against the arrested judicial officers. The legislator, identified as Bai Enpei becomes the latest official to be punished for graft under a campaign launched by President Xi Jingping. Enpei was a former senior lawmaker with China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress. He had also served…
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The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and other leaders have called on leaders to preach peace and shun violence. The Sultan made the call at a conference organized by the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) in collaboration with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution. President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Dr. Samson Supo Ayokunle said “I wrote the Sultan telling him of CAN’s to work with Muslims in order to promote peace in the country. “Lack of trust and mutual understanding must be dealt with. “There are more common issues that unite us than issues…
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Condemning and shouting adds little to the unfolding fascist reality in Nigeria. If we are not bold enough to decouple ourselves completely from the Caliphate-led pretence called “Nigeria”, by de-federating the failed Union, the agenda to conquer and islamize is well underway. Those who did not understand the decisive LNC/MNN Broken Map of Nigeria that isolates and quarantines the rampaging invasionists on this matter, are likely to learn the same hard way the Bosnians in old Yugoslavia learnt, after many heads had fallen off their erstwhile shoulders. Unilateral action is more likely in the folly represented by non-consensus on the…
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Former Vice President and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Atiku Abubakar, commends the Federal Government, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari for the withdrawal of criminal charges against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, thus paving the way for the resolution of the impasse between both arms of government. The former Vice President describes it as “a wise and timely move”. In a press statement released by his Media Office in Abuja on Friday, October 7, the former Vice President says that the move by the Federal Government is an indication that the government values…
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The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has said he is yet to decide on which of his loyalists would be his successor in 2019. He said he would make his choice known to Imp people at the at the appropriate. This was just as he described his deputy, Eze Madumere, as one of his diehard loyalists in the last 23 years, who has stood by him during his political travails and has proved to be a man who could be trusted no matter the circumstance. Okorocha, who stated this yesterday during the public presentation of a book written on the…
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FULANI HERDSMEN KILLINGS; MODUS OPERANDI, THOSE INVOLVED, AND THE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS. The most significant problem that African nations face is lack of leadership. Normally, Leadership should be an intentional conscious effort to attend to the people’s needs and aspirations. But in Africa, even though many of those that are thrust into the position of leadership mean well, they lack the capacity to lead and meet the people/s hopes and aspirations. Apart from lack of adequate preparation for leadership, one other notable factor that had inhibited good leadership among African leaders is the seemingly non-existent structures for research and information management…
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Street traders skeptical about central bank’s liquidity pledge Official rate seen unsustainable as dollar shortage endures Sitting in his cramped office in the basement of a Chinese-themed hotel in Lagos, Abubakar Mohammed complains about a shortage of dollars that’s crippling Nigeria’s economy and driving black-market naira rates to a record. The experience of the 37-year-old, who runs one of Nigeria’s roughly 3,000 money-trading outlets known as bureaux de change, or BDCs, belies central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele’s insistence that liquidity has improved since policy makers said they would allow the naira to trade freely in the interbank market more than…
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In a scathing criticism of governors of the five South East states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria have described them as spineless and cowards who have done nothing to protect the people of the region from the incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen. People of the South East including the clergy have not been spared by marauding herdsmen armed with sophisticated weapons attacking unarmed farmers in both their farms and houses. Addressing reporters at the Assumption Cathedral, Nnewi, Director of Communication in the diocese, Rev. Fr. Hyginus Aghaulor, alleged that suspected Fulani herdsmen,…
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Abdulmumin Jibrin, the suspended lawmaker had last week gave his colleagues in the House of Representatives three days to return all questionable allowances they paid themselves. Mr. Jibrin accused his colleagues of raking in millions in illegal allowances, and after he indicted himself as having received N650 million illegally. To return their loot, Mr. Jibrin advised his colleagues to individually approach the appropriate authority and make arrangement on how to pay everything back into the federal purse. Mr. Jibrin said any lawmaker who fails to heed his call should be prepared for the backlash that would follow when he publishes…
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The Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to get serious with reviving the sick economy instead of shifting blames to past leaders of the country. The president, his handlers and cabinet members have constantly blamed past leaders and administrations as responsible for the current economic crisis Nigeria is facing. In a recent report, the president was quoted as saying he inherited nothing from the past leaders. As a result, northern leader, Senator Joseph Waku asked that former presidents including Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan should be probed. But speaking at the Catholic…
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Emirates Airlines has explained its demand for credit card payment from Nigerians travelling to Brazil. The Dubai-based airline, at a meeting with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), yesterday, said the policy would checkmate growing activities of Nigerian drug cartels on the Brazilian route. The airline, meanwhile, has started the refund of fares to passengers affected by the policy, which took effect September 22, 2016. The airline, recently, had left some Nigerian passengers behind on the ground that they bought Lagos-Dubai-Rio tickets in naira, rather than via credit card. The action, which violates Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive and…
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I sincerely believe that our harsh criticisms are working. And Madam Adeosun is fast coming into realisation that she is the Minister of Finance of Nigeria, with full awareness of the responsibility and expectations of that office. We criticise out of love not hatred. We want her to be better at her job, because if she gets better, Nigeria will get better for all of us. Yesterday, I was at the Jack Morton Auditorium of George Washington University, Washington D.C, where she held her own, and creditably well, during one of the flagship seminars on better infrastructure for developing countries.…
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There are two events that are of major significance this week. The first is the birthday of a man of immense integrity and a great son of the Yoruba by the name of Olusegun Rahman Mimiko who was 62 years old on October 3rd. Much has been said about him over the last few years and encomiums have been deservedly showered on him from all quarters for his birthday. I will only add this: ever since I have known Mimiko when he was a senior colleague in President Obasanjo’s cabinet he has been kind, forthright, courageous, honest, consistent, clear-thinking, hard-working…
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This is going to house a state of the art hospital and the biggest medical research centre in Africa. It is located in a village in Anambra named Umuchukwu. It was built by a single individual who has apart from doing this project, tremendously transformed his village in many other ways. He is no other person than Godwin Maduka. The Medical director/CEO Las Vegas pain institute.
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I am not in the business of rising to the defence of previous Presidents or regimes especially as most of them are still alive and capable of defending themselves. Besides, those of them who refuse to retire into graceful silence deserve the return brickbats they get. My intervention is motivated by the desire to focus attention on the solution. It is thoroughly misleading to isolate and demonise past regimes for the situation where Nigeria has no savings. The fault is in the 1999 Constitution (Section 162) which makes it mandatory for all monies collected by the Federal Government with a…
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The Federal Government has finally agreed to consolidate the criminal charges filed against former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and others before two different High Courts of the Federal Capital Territory Judiciary. This followed a complaint by the former NSA that putting him on trial in two different courts on the same issues would prejudice and cause double jeopardy. At the resumption of the trial today (October 5, 2016) the counsel to the Federal Government, Mr. Rotimi Jacob and that of Dasuki, Mr. Joseph Daudu agreed before Justice Baba Yusuf to formally write the chief judge of the FCT…
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The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday said it is taking the continued detention without trial of its leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, to the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, court to seek justice, since the Nigeria judiciary cannot deliver good judgment in the matter concerning his illegal detention. It also said that “the trial Judge, Mr John Tsoho did a tactical withdrawal from the case because he knew that the Federal Government of Nigeria has a bad case, and urged the Nigerian government to read the handwriting on the wall and do the…
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Two Russian vessels will join up with Russia’s permanent naval fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, where they will assist in the military operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria. “It is planned that the Serpukhov and the Zeleny Dol will go to the Mediterranean as part of a planned rotation that will join up with the permanent naval task force,” Russian Navy representative Nikolay Voskresensky told journalists. The two guided missile fast attack craft left from the port of Sevastopol on October 4 and are currently sailing through the Black Sea in order to join up with the…
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Hysteria, Euphoria & Amnesia: A nation’s long walk to freedom Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, diagnoses Nigeria. He spoke at the Platform, an occasion organised by Covenant Centre, Lagos, on October 1, 2015, to mark the country’s 55th independence anniversary For years and, perhaps, out of deep frustration, Nigerians have raised up messiahs, hoping and praying that they would take away their sins and sufferings and usher in a new dawn. But, in almost all instances, our joys have turned into ashes. For over 50 years, we have celebrated every military or civilian regime only to lose patience…
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In Kahlil Gibran’s seminal book, The Prophet, a most apposite question relative to good governance was asked of the protagonist, who provided anilluminating answer; “But what of our laws, master? And he answered: You delight in laying down laws.Yet you delight more in breaking them.” Gibran might have well presaged present-day Nigeria, where governance, suddenly seems all too humongous a task, as those charged with upholding the laws are the very ones who truncate them. Reframing the governance principles in this country, including cutting the cost of governance, should perhaps, start with reframing the mindsetof thoseelected or appointed to serveNigeria.…
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Whenever I look back at the last thirty years of selling our national assets and privatization, I see a litany of lies, cathedrals of falsehood, labyrinths of trickery, monuments of treachery, systematic asset-stripping and serial deception. This infamous heritage has an equally infamous origin in the 1985 National Debate on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Loan and its CONDITIONALITIES which included removal of subsidies, sale of national assets, floating of the currency and trade liberalization. Nigerians overwhelmingly rejected this contraption. In his December 13, 1985 address to the nation, then Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida said that “This…
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The Nigerian Senate has rejected a bill seeking special status and federal grant for the Lagos state on October 5, Wednesday. According to the official Twitter handle of the upper legislative chamber, the bill didn’t pass the second reading. It was rejected after failing a voice vote called by Ike Ekweremadu. The bill was sponsored by Senator representing Lagos Central Oluremi Tinubu. The bill sought 1% of federally generated revenue as special grant for the state in view of the former Nigeria capital’s socio-economic significance.
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Former Secretary to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Odia Ofeimun has stated that former President Goodluck Jonathan was kicked out of office by foreign powers because he wanted to truly liberate Nigeria from relative colonialism. Watch the video of the interview below:
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– President Muhammadu Buhari has effected over 50% increase of the Presidential Villa security agents’ allowance popularly referred to as Risk Cautious Allowance. – The President also cleared the backlog of allowances of security agents therefore dousing the tension that was brewing among the operatives Despite Nigeria’s economic situation, President Muhammadu Buhari has effected over 50% increase of the Presidential Villa security agents’ allowance popularly referred to as Risk Cautious Allowance. The President also cleared the backlog of allowances of security agents therefore dousing the tension that was brewing. According to a report by Punch, Mr Buhari through the Office…
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The Northern oligarchy may have begun consolidation of their power grip on the top seat of the federal government of Nigeria. This is according to new information revealing that a collection of top Emirs and traditional leaders of the core north had approached the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, General Mohammadu Buhari to impressed on him on the possible dangers of his continued association with the former president of Nigerian in the person of General Olusegun Obasanjo. According to a competent source who is usually reliable, the collection of northern leaders had cautioned the President and reminded him…
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The global consensus surrounding liveable cities and overall quality of life brought about the “Smart City” concept. From New Delhi to Copenhagen, New York to Cape Town, cities all around the world are focused on local development and place based strategies as a way to kick-off national well-being and economic development. It is worrisome that in our talk about economic recovery there are still too few discussions about innovation: we will recover from this recession. But what next? How will we radically change or even improve the way Nigerians live and do business which ultimately, contributed to the recession in…
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He has a jaundiced mind — AFENIFERE It’s for Nigeria’s betterment — Babatope Elder Statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, has said that the current agitation to restructure Nigeria was an age-long ploy by the Yoruba-speaking group of the South West to take a shot at power. The second Republic politician, who spoke with Vanguard in an exclusive chat at his Hadejia Road residence in Kano, explained that the desire was driven by envy and hate for the north. Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Yakassai said: “From Action Group to UPN, to NADECO to PRONACO, the agitation for restructuring is concentrated among the South…
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The unrestrained invasion of communities and massacre of innocent citizens by the Fulani herdsmen across the country is now causing provocation for bloody uprising from the South East since the incident in Enugu State. Prominent Igbo leaders, at their meeting at the weekend, decided on urgent need for the Igbo nation to organize the people for self-defence against the invasion and killing of Igbo indigenes by the Fulani herdsmen. The dreaded Bakassi Boys, a violent vigilante group mobilized to terminate the troubling armed robbery menace in the south east some years ago, were revealed to have started regrouping to strengthen…
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Nzeogwu died in the final week of July 1967. While there is consensus that he died, exactly how he died and at the hands of whom has remained in dispute. In conspiracy rife Nigeria, all manner of rumours and apocryphal stories have alleged that Nzeogwu was murdered in a Machiavellian plot engineered by Ojukwu to eliminate him or perhaps that he was killed while trying to defect to join the federal army. As always, the truth is much more mundane. Nzeogwu in Prison For his role in Nigeria’s first military coup, Nzeogwu was imprisoned by the military regime of…
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Russia claims that US has started World War 3 in Syria The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has accused the U.S. of igniting World War 3 by deliberately killing Syrian troops and aiding ISIS terrorists. Top Russian military officials have warned that the U.S. deliberately killed 62 servicemen in order to provoke a war against Russia. Sputnik News reported September 18 that top Russian military officials are questioning the veracity of their American counterparts who claim that the airstrike on the Syrian military base was a mistake. But one Russian official, First Deputy Chairman of the Defense and…
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Some staunch supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari are becoming frustrated and rethinking the roles they played in helping the president to power amid increasingly excruciating economic and political crises rocking the nation. The supporters believe Mr. Buhari had so far failed to demonstrate that he has the wherewithal, and even the political will, to resolve the multifarious challenges the country is facing. On Wednesday, Feyi Fawehinmi, with Twitter handle @Doubleeph, well known for his pro-Buhari/APC stance, surprisingly expressed disappointment in the administration, and apologized to his followers for convincing them to vote for Mr. Buhari last year, “It is possible…
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Nigerians say that they want the nation transformed into one of the leading nations of the world, but there are no signs that many of them truly mean it. Talk is cheap. Our actions since Independence do not support that view. Why do I think so? Since October 1, a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, has been top in national discourse. His name has been trending in the social media platforms. He delivered an inspiring speech at The Platform 2016, organised by the Covenant Christian Centre. In the speech, he spoke about how to cut out waste…
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The Federal Government has proposed the sum of N6, 866,335,052,740 as budget for 2017 fiscal year. The government also put the oil production figure for 2017 at 2.2 million barrels per day, while the projected oil benchmark price is put at $42.50. Average exchange rate for 2017 is slated at N290.00 per dollar. These were contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) submitted to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday. The government budgeted N6,060,677,358,227 for the 2016 fiscal year, while it pegged the oil production volume also at 2.2mbp. The oil benchmark…
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The Nigerian government is demanding $406.75 million minimum from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and its surrogate Shell Western Supply & Trading Limited over alleged crude oil theft. The amount, according to court papers in Lagos, represents the shortfall of the money paid by the multinational oil firm in the account of the Nigerian government with Central Bank of Nigeria, for crude oil lifted in 2013 and 2014. Government lawyer, Professor Fabian Ajogwu accused the Anglo-Dutch company of not declaring or under-declaring crude oil shipments during the period, following forensic analysis of bills of lading and shipping documents,…
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A former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Hon. Bola Ilori has said the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was the one who instructed them to join the Alliance for Democracy. Tinubu’s decision was taken following the way he was treated on the party’s governorship primary election which was upheld on September 3, by the national executive committee members, led by Chief John Oyegun, Bola Ilori was quoted as saying on TVC Political programme. Ilori, who is a staunch supporter of another aspirant, Chief Olusola Oke was said to have raised alarm over…
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The Senate will prioritise and fast-track the passage of its petroleum industry bill (PIB), Senate President Bukola Saraki’s office said on Tuesday. It said passage of the bill, which covers everything from an overhaul of state oil company NNPC to taxes on upstream projects, was part of a 20-point resolution passed by the upper house of parliament to stimulate the economy, which is in recession for the first time in more than 20 years
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More and more allegations of wastage continue to trail the presidency and each time the figures are astonishing considering the current economic conditions of the country. It does seem like the Presidency is always seeking for an excuse to dip its dirty hands into the national treasury and this excuse came this time in the form of President Buhari’s book presentation which was revealed to have gulped a whooping N612 million. A source within the Presidency at Aso rock villa revealed this to us in a closed door interview that the money was allegedly spent on logistics, travels and hotels…
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The mistake of putting square pegs in round holes by President Muhammadu Buhari reverberated again as a Chieftain of All Progressives Congress, Kabir Yahaya urged the President to reverse the trend by sacking at least 90 percent of his aides including Abba Kyari, his Chief of Staff. The frontline politician and Deputy Director President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign office alleged that most of the aides were either inept, corrupt and as such should be relieved of their jobs to save the President’s integrity and incorruptible scorecard. ‘President Buhari is one of the few exceptions in the club of 75 that has…
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Instead of investing in the future of Nigeria, the only real investment taking place now is towards the hegemonic control of the country by a small segment of the population for the foreseeable future. Let me re-introduce myself in case you have forgotten. I have been an implacable critic of the politics of Bola Tinubu. Among others, I have written articles against Tinubu entitled: “What Does Tinubu Want?” “Time to Get Rid of Tinubu’s Cronies;” “Time to Disgrace the South-West Godfather;” and “Don’t Cry for Bola Tinubu.” I stand by every one of those articles even though the warnings…
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….Sets up C’ttee to ascertain the level of disrepair The Senate on Tuesday urged the Federal government to commence the rehabilitation of Onitsha-Enugu dual carriage way to save commuters from further traumatic and tragic experiences they go through on daily basis. The upper chamber also mandated its committee on works to ascertain the level of disrepair on the road with a view to make recommendations to senate. These resolutions of the Senate followed a motion sponsored by Former governor of Ebonyi state, Senator Sam Egwu (Ebonyi North). Senator Egwu had noted with great concern the dilapidated state and total collapse…
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Hauwa is a middle-aged Nigerian woman from Gombe State. She is a mother of three, pregnant for the fourth and currently studying for a postgraduate degree in a prestigious university in the United Kingdom. She maintains a bank account in a new generation bank in Nigeria that her husband regularly transfers money to carter for her school fees, pay her rent and attend to her housekeeping needs. She made an elaborate plan for Christmas, and waited for the monthly allowance to hit her account. As soon as she got the alert from her bank, she started a mental preparation of…
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Muhammadu Buhari, a former general, has not had much luck when it comes to the oil price. Between 1983 and 1985 he was Nigeria’s military ruler. Just before he took over, oil prices began a lengthy collapse; the country’s export earnings fell by more than half. The economy went into a deep recession and Mr Buhari, unable to cope, was overthrown in a coup. Now he is president again. (He won a fair election last year) ( The Economist endorsed him.) And once again, oil prices have slumped, from $64 a barrel on the day he was sworn in…
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Anytime you hear that a new great ‘developmental project’ is being planned and undertaken by the Government of Nigeria (GON), it is important to identify who the short, medium and long term beneficiaries and losers created will be. Consultants, contractors, traditional land-owners, traditional rulers, government officials, board members and special interests groups are the short, medium and long term beneficiaries with a mix of obscene upfront fees, atrociously inflated contracts, preferential job offerings, generous concessionaire privileges under privatisation and convenient abandonment clauses. The 150 million ‘everyday Nigerians’ who the GON take out odious “development debts” on their behalf without asking…
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Shoprite’s top man, Whitey Basson, took home a little more than R100m in the year to June 30 2016 – an amount double his earnings in 2015 – after delivering what the group called excellent results during the period, a report today in South Africa’s Business Day said. In the naira, the currency of Nigeria, where Shoprite has in the past few years experience breath-taking expansion, this amounts to a whopping N1.15 billion bonus and a take-home of N2.3bn as a rand exchanges for about N23 naira. The group’s annual integrated financial report showed that Basson took home R49.7m in…
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European Union (EU) official Fillippo Amato has advised the Federal Government to devalue the Naira as part of measures to tackle the economic recession. Amato, Counsellor, Head of Trade and Economics Section of EU, made this known in an interview with newsmen on Monday . The EU official said that recession could not be addressed with traditional development tools. He said the recession was a recent development which was due to a number of factors, including the fall in oil prices and resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta. “To come out of recession, the country has to take brave…
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Addis-ababa-djibouti-rail-line Ethiopia will on Wednesday launch Africa’s first modern electrified railway line. Built by China, the rail line links the Ethiopian capital , Addis Ababa with the port of Djibouti. The full length of the railway is 752.7 kilometers, with a designed speed of 120 km per hour. With a total investment of 4 billion U.S. dollars, it is was built by China Railway Group and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. “The railway is constructed on the basis of Chinese railway technology standards while taking into account the national conditions of Ethiopia and Djibouti,” said Zeng Deli, a project…
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In a sharp deterioration of relations, the U.S. on Monday suspended diplomatic contacts with Russia over Syria, while Moscow halted cooperation on a joint program for disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. The U.S. move followed a threat last week from Secretary of State John Kerry after new Russian and Syrian attacks on the city of Aleppo. The State Department said Russia had not lived up to the terms of an agreement last month to restore the cease-fire and ensure sustained deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged cities. “This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” State Department spokesman John Kirby…
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Plans by the Federal Government to borrow billions of dollars from the World Bank to plug its budget deficit have run into delays as the international lender is demanding for further reforms from the government as a condition for any loan. This came barely one month after the Presidency gave the Ministry of Finance its seal of approval to obtain the loan. People briefed on the talks said the Ministry of Finance was now facing calls from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to push through further reforms on the economy. These discussions, they said, had held up…
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Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s Health Secretary pledged today at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham to end the NHS’s reliance on foreign doctors. Data from the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) shows that 30,472 doctors come from the EU and other countries in the European Economic Area, while 71,139 were trained in other parts of the world. These include 4,153 trained in Nigeria. Hunt asked: “Is it right to import doctors from poorer countries that need them?” Nigeria certainly needs all the doctors that it trains. The brain drain of Nigerian doctors to richer countries like the UK was…
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The Court of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, on Tuesday declared the arrest and detention of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, as unlawful and arbitrary. The court also held that the further arrest of Mr. Dasuki by government on November 4, after he was granted bail by a court of law, amounts to a mockery of democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Dasuki is facing multiple trials for alleged diversion of $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms in the immediate past administration. He is also accused of illegal possession of fire arms. He…
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Nigerian man Emeka Nelson claims to have developed an electricity generator that is powered by water – The young inventor started a fundraising campaign, hopes to get N2,000,000 (or $10,000) asap – Emeka promises that his new invention, an “ultra modern bio digester” is coming soon Nsukka-born Emeka Nelson claims to have invented a generator that runs on water, a machine for recycling non-biodegradable wastes. His third invention, a bio digester, is under development. A graduate of the National Metallurgical Training Institute has started a fundraising campaign on social media trough his partner, Karo Kanye Akamune. Photos of made in…
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There is a sense in Washington and Moscow alike that a military showdown between the US and Russia is inevitable – direct this time, not through proxies, like the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish jets last year. When the big powers are in direct confrontation, minor players step aside and run for cover. When President Barack Obama Friday, Sept. 30 attended the funeral in Jerusalem of the Israeli leader Shimon Peres, he must have realized he was only 514km as the crow flies from Aleppo, the raging crux of the escalating big-power conflict. The moment after the ceremonies…
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We are exploring tactics used by bad leaders, what we call “cheap psychological tricks,” to control and subjugate followers. A variation on the abuse of requiring follower obedience to authority is when leaders call on the ultimate authority – God. Many despotic leaders throughout history have declared themselves gods, from the Egyptian pharaohs, to modern times, such as North Korea’s Kim Il Sung. Leaders of cults, such as Peoples Temple founder, Jim Jones, (leader of the Jonestown, Guyana mass suicide in 1978) declared themselves “god” so that followers who disobey the leader’s orders are seen as blasphemers and can be…
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September 23, 2016 The Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 15A Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. REQUEST TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATION OF CRIMINAL DIVERSION OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND ILLEGAL WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS FROM THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT In our letter dated 8th April, 2016 we prayed the Minister of Finance to take urgent steps to recover billions of dollars either criminally diverted or illegally withheld from the Federation Account. Apart from informing us that the letter was receiving attention no step has been taken to accede to our request. Since then the peripheral capitalist economy of the country has…
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“Nigerian bankers, businesspeople and foreign investors have warned that the government’s management of its currency system is fuelling corruption, in another blow to market confidence in Africa’s top oil producer. The Nigerian central bank raised concern when it unveiled new unorthodox currency policies to bank executives at a meeting last week, instead of formally announcing the measures. The banks were given detailed instructions on what they could do with the dollars they receive from the central bank at the official exchange rate: who they can sell it to, when, and at what price. Bowing to pressure as the worst economic…
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A former governor of Anambra state Chukuwuemeka Ezeife has condemned federal government attitude towards economic development in Nigeria – Ezeife also said that the current recession in Nigeria was caused by the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, Ezeife said the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration plunged Nigeria into the current economic crisis. He said the attitude and statements made by the federal government scared foreign investors away. “If the government of the country begins to say the government is broke, they (investors) have nothing to doubt. That accounts for so many exits from Nigeria,”…
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Maj. Gen TC Ude (SE) Maj. Gen LC Ilo (SE) Maj. Gen IN Ijoma (SE) Maj. Gen O Ejimai (SE) Maj. Gen PAT Akem (SS) Maj. Gen ED Atewe (SS) Maj. Gen Letam Wiwa -Younger brother of murdered Environmental Rights activist and author, Ken Saro-Wiwa (SS) Maj. Gen FO Alli (SS) Maj. Gen Mobolaji Koleoso (SW) Maj. Gen SD Aliyu (MB) Maj. Gen MY Ibrahim Brig. Gen GO Agachi (SE) Brig. Gen Okonkwo (SE) Brig. Gen Ogidi (SS) Brig. Gen Koko Essien (SS) Brig. Gen PE Ekpeyong (SS) Brig. Gen Bright Fiboinumama (SS) Brig. Gen. M. Onoyiveta (SS) Brig. Gen…
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The EFCC has returned houses it seized from Timipre Sylva – The properties located in Abuja are already for rent – The APC chieftain was exonerated of any wrong doing by three Federal Courts in Abuja The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has returned 48 houses to Timipre Sylva, the former governor of Bayelsa state. The houses were seized during the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan in 2013 although Sylva who succeeded Jonathan as governor described it as a witch-hunt. The Punch reports that most of the properties are located mostly in highbrow areas of Abuja such as…
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The Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to get serious with reviving the sick economy instead of shifting blames to past leaders of the country. The president, his handlers and cabinet members have constantly blamed past leaders and administrations as responsible for the current economic crisis Nigeria is facing. In a recent report, the president was quoted as saying he inherited nothing from the past leaders. As a result, northern leader, Senator Joseph Waku asked that former presidents including Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan should be probed. But speaking at the Catholic…
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Permit me to pay a special tribute to a great football club this week – Rangers International Football Club of Enugu. Many would wonder why I am doing so, knowing that the football club was the greatest rival to the club I played for through most of my football career – IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan. Between the two clubs, Rangers and Shooting Stars of Ibadan, they defined and set the agenda for football development in Nigeria for almost two decades. Some of the best and most reliable friends that I cultivated through the course of my life in…
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Fellow Nigerians, let me quickly congratulate all of us on this special anniversary of our Independence before returning to the quote above. Against all odds, we stayed together as one indivisible country despite agitations here and there for the collapse of the current problematic union. We even fought a very bloody civil war which terminated the lives of millions of our brothers and sisters. Since then, we’ve continued to fumble and wobble along. In the middle of this celebratory mood, the ruling party APC is in a messy and not so merry situation despite winning the gubernatorial election in…
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Ben Murray Bruce, the senator representing Bayelsa East and the chairman of Silverbird Group, had over the weekend cited the civil war, otherwise known as the Biafran War, as the reason why Nigeria has not grown technologically. Senator Murray Bruce who was in Aba, stated this on Saturday, August 27, 2016, while addressing the International Youth Day Conference which was organised by the Vision Alive Empowerment under the recognition of the United Nations, UN. While speaking on the theme, “How To Make A Good Choice While At The Youthful Age,” the senator revealed more about his youthful age stating that…
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Former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi on Saturday spoke at The Platform, an annual event on leadership, business, creativity and national empowerment- and everyone has been talking about it. Obi spoke on cutting the cost of governance especially during this time of recession, while sharing his experience as a governor. He talked about how he cut cost during his tenure by visiting Abuja alone when the need arises. He also advised governors to scrap the Office of the First Lady which he said gulps N2bn monthly. He said, “It costs an average of N2 billion to run the office of…
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The British trader and empire builder Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie (1846-1925) created the Royal Niger Company, which secured British claims to the lower Niger and Northern Nigeria. The son of the Speaker of the Manx Parliament, George Goldie was born on the Isle of Man. His family were influential landowners on the island. The family name was Taubman, but Goldie adopted his mother’s family name when he was knighted in 1887. In the 1860s Goldie trained as a royal engineer at Woolwich but afterward used a legacy to visit Egypt, where he took an Arab mistress. He went to…
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