That Our Community May Have A Voice For Change And Impact ~ Dr Eniola Ajayi

THAT OUR COMMUNITY MAY HAVE A VOICE FOR CHANGE AND IMPACT: Being the Statement of Press delivered by Dr. Eniola AJAYI, the APC House of Representatives (Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency) Candidate at Inaugural Campaign Press Conference on 26th December 2014.

Gentlemen of the Press,
I am humbled to be amidst you today, as a feminist-comrade in the course of re-shaping our National polity and political space. It is no fallacy that the best time to collectively save the Nigeria political system is no other time than now, if we take a cursory look at our fiscal federalism, security and the spate of rising poverty in our land; it is indeed worrisome!

For the records, Dr. Eniola AJAYI is my name, an ocular pathologist, optometrist and a servant of the public. I had the opportunity to serve Ekiti State as Commissioner in two different portfolios: Firstly, as Honourable Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, and secondly as Honourable Commissioner for Environment. Most importantly, after a keenly contested free and fair primary election between men of high political wit and candour, I had the choice of majority of our party (APC) Faithfull’s votes and thereby returned as the Candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress for the Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency Election, scheduled to hold on the 14th of February 2015. It will also interest you to know that I may probably be the only female candidate of our great party in the south west.

Gentlemen, as a patriotic Nigerian, I have painstakingly taken my time to analyse the problems facing this nation within my closed doors, and I have come of the accurate finale that only our legislative system can restore and reposition the Nation through robust and vigorous parliamentary bill presentation, deliberation and adoptions. It is a statement of fact that the law-making arm (Legislative) of any nation/government is the mitochondrion of its existence and death; thus, if indeed we are interested in the unity, sanctity, and development of this political system of our nation, intellectuals of firm principles and progressive ideological leaning, must rise up to take up the challenges and correct the wrongs. It is on this background that I volunteer myself to serve the people of my Federal Constituency (Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun), my dear State, Ekiti State and my country, Nigeria.

One key thing that I learnt in the period of my soul searching over the years as to why Nigeria is where we are today is that we do not rightly value and appreciate our country men. It is like, being a Nigerian does not count for anything. We don’t seem to consider our fellow citizens in our individual or collective decisions or actions as a people. I would like to see what I call the CITIZENS CHARTER, where the interest and the rights of the weakest in our links are protected. The life of every Nigerian- young or old, man or woman, strong or weak, in the North or South should count for something. I want us to be true CITIZENS of Nigeria. Every life is important and crucial to the well being of Nigeria.

My inspiration to contest in this election come February isn’t borne out of the singular fact that I am a feminist- who believes that the voice of the women must be heard in every society, neither is it limited to the fact that I have a vast experience in the private, public and military sectors of administration, but it is on the foundation that it is time for our National Policies to be reviewed; It is time for us as a Nation to review our Fiscal Federalism System, It is time we review our Strategies for Job Creation and Employment therefore reducing the threatening peace and security of the nation which is as a result of the intimidating unemployed army that the Nation parades, It is time we legally institutionalise the percentage of women in Public Sector, It is time we review our National Education Policies to contemporary times and functional National Systems, It is time we address the unending spate of terror, It is time we effect via robust legislation workable plans to cut down cost of governance and curb corruption in our land, It is time we put in place social security plans for our aged and the vulnerable in our society, It is time we deregulate our National Economy, It is time we protect our Natural Habitat and Ecosystem, most essentially, It is time we ensured that the principles of the Federal Character is pursued to the letters not selectively reserving the juicy positions for a geopolitical zone and tribe.

It is in these interests of my good people that I believe I would win the election with the backing of my people and the God I serve. I cannot undermine the fact that it wouldn’t be an easy ride to the Federal House of Representatives, but I am confident that our programmes and track record of diligence, hard work, virtue and sense of purpose in the private, public and military sectors will speak for us.

Presently, I am proud to inform you gentlemen of the press that my team is confident in victory and thus commenced the processes of writing necessary bills that are considered urgent in re-shaping our country. Aside my duties as a legislator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I shall also in my little way and in the dictates of the ideological predilection of our great party APC, ensure that the government of Ekiti State shall have her way through in facilitating the essential infrastructures needed from the Federal Government. I shall ensure that the good people of Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency shall greatly benefit from constituency project scheme of the Federal Government, which shall be a result of a town hall dialogue approach before being facilitated on behalf of the people.
In conclusion, I hope to accomplish these dreams through quality and accountable representation. Again, I repeat, I am contesting for this seat, in the interest of my people.

Thank You.

Dr. Eniola AJAYI  (@DrEniolaAjayi).
APC Candidate, Ekiti Central I (Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun) Federal House of Representatives

Candidate For Change And Not Party For Change ~SANNI AYODEJI

With a Political Undertone;

Nigeria Politics is one thing I used to know that seems very articulate and interesting when it comes to Discussing. Leadership from unset has been a thing of the Flesh, only resides with the kind of individual if You will bring out the value of your flesh.

To start with, #Team Buhari#- Firstly, Buhari without any iota of Doubt is no point of a Good leader but to be Frank he is also a Good Leader.

 1. Insurmountable economic problems plagued the Buhari regime as petroleum prices collapsed in the face of expanding foreign debt. Buhari instituted austerity measures that caused severe hardship to the average Nigerian. In addition, political corruption continued unabated, with politicians escaping to Western countries with millions of dollars in government money. In an effort to stop dissension, Buhari instituted restrictions on the press, political freedoms, and trade unionists. By August 1985 even the military had had enough, and Ibrahim Babangida took control of the government. Buhari was detained in Benin City but was released at the end of 1988.

In 2003 Buhari ran for president; he was defeated by the incumbent, Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari ran again in 2007 but was defeated by the PDP’s candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, in an election that was strongly criticized by international observers as being marred by voting irregularities. Buhari also stood in the 2011 presidential election, which was praised for largely being transparent, free, and fair, but he again lost to the PDP’s candidate, incumbent Goodluck Jonathan. Just the Tip of the iceberg #Team Jonathan#.

Secondly, Jonathan is a Good president But he has done what he can/could in absense of Capturing and Excellent Leadership. Jonathan’s political career began when he became involved with the nascent People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the late 1990s. He was elected deputy governor of Bayelsa state in 1999 under the party’s banner. He served in that position until 2005, when he was elevated to the governorship after the incumbent was charged with corruption and impeached. In 2007 he was selected to be the vice presidential running mate of the PDP’s presidential candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He and Yar’Adua were elected in April and inaugurated in May.

As Vice President, Jonathan engaged in efforts to negotiate with militants in the Niger delta, who were fighting against petroleum companies operating in the delta region, but otherwise he largely remained in the political background. His profile rose considerably in early 2010 when Yar’Adua’s extended absence from the country for medical treatment made many Nigerians anxious and generated calls for Yar’Adua to formally transfer power to Jonathan.

As concerns mounted and there was no word from Yar’Adua on the request to transfer power to his Vice President, members of Nigeria’s National Assembly took matters into their own hands and on Feb. 9, 2010, voted to have Jonathan assume full power and serve as acting president until Yar’Adua was able to resume his duties. Jonathan agreed and assumed power later that day, but it was unclear whether the assumption of power was constitutional.

When Yar’Adua returned to Nigeria on Feb. 24, 2010, it was announced that Jonathan would remain as acting president while Yar’Adua continued to recuperate. The next month, Jonathan asserted his power by replacing Yar’Adua’s cabinet. Yar’Adua, who never fully recovered, died on May 5, 2010, and Jonathan was sworn in as president the following day. Jonathan vowed to continue his involvement in the Niger delta peace negotiations and declared his intentions to reform the country’s oft-criticized electoral process as well as tackle corruption and deal with the country’s energy problems.


There was much speculation as to how Jonathan’s unexpected term as president would affect the PDP’s unofficial policy of rotating the presidency between candidates from the predominantly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north. Jonathan’s declaration in September 2010 of his intent to stand in the 2011 presidential election immediately generated controversy, as many argued that the northerners were still owed another term in office. In the PDP’s January 2011 primaries, Jonathan was elected to be the party’s candidate for the presidency. His overwhelming victory showed that his candidacy had considerable support—in the north as well as the south—even though it was a departure from the unofficial north-south rotation policy.

 Jonathan was also victorious in the country’s presidential election, held on April 16, 2011. He won about 59 percent of the vote, securing an outright victory and avoiding the need for a runoff election. Reforming Nigeria’s electoral process had been one of Jonathan’s goals, and international observers praised this election as being largely transparent, free, and fair..

#Team Jonathan# Goodluck Jonathan is a good man as a person, his simplicity and gentlemanness is second to “Nil”

*He has given us his very BEST over the last 6 years. I mean, what else are we asking for?

*He has granted Alameisiya ‘STATE

PARDON’ and my guy is now running for Senate.

*He allowed Fayose to disrupt a court session and beat up a judge, while he walks freely. I wonder if Nigeria is sane.

*He locked up the house of rep from the entrance of the CONSTITUTIONAL speaker of that house.

*7 law makers impeached a speaker in Ekiti in a house of about 26 men, and nothing happened.

*16 was suddenly greater than 19 in base 10, just to cancel the one-term agreement he signed with the NIGERIA Governors’ Forum and all Nigerians in 2011.

*Subsidy has been removed and the standards in our hospitals have reduced with time.

*$20 billion is missing and minister of Petroleum eats and dines with the prexy. *Another BIGGER & BOLDER subsidy is scheduled for 1st of June, 2015 and you may have to sell your laptop charger before you can buy fuel to charge that same laptop!!!

* Earlier this year, over 22 innocent Nigerians were killed in the job scam organized by the Nigerian Immigration Service(NIS) . The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, told us the job interrwas “simply mismanaged” and he has retained his office and even with extra luggage.

*1 Naira used to be equal $1.2 under #GMB but now it’s #186.5 to just $1, the worst ever in our history.

* Madam Gele, Ngozi Okonjo, just told us we need an extra $5 billion, through debts of course, so that our economy will not collapse like Humpty-Dumpty.

*While Benue State University was on an unending internal strike killing the future of poor Nigerians, Senator DAVID MARK (son of the soil) built his own PRIVATE UNIVERSITY, of course with tax payers’ money, and my gentle president followed him to launch the school shamelessly.

*He has spent all money in the treasury and even had to BORROW an extra $1 billion but #BokoHaram keeps getting more equipped than.

*Having made Asuu on the MOU to go on Industrial Action @least 8times in is tenure.without meeting the Revitalization need despite the strike having putting the Tomorrow of youth under Pressure. A Very Good Man.

Can Gen Muhhammed Buhari can do better.making you to be rest assured of this…..An Individual contesting on various kind of Days….Loosing and yet still saying The passion for Nigerians..

Adjourned by I Sanni Ayodeji(Diplomatic) Seconded by Other Posts and Comments
Amongst them. Who is a True and Born Leader?

Piece from: SANNI AYODEJI (A.K.A Diplomatic).

Getting The FEC To Clean Up Its Cookstove Act, By Temilade Sesan

A few weeks ago, newspapers around the country reported on an issue that hardly ever makes its way to the forefront of public consciousness: clean cookstoves for the poor. Several popular blogs ran reprints of the newspaper articles, most of them featuring reader comments that were unapologetically and almost uniformly vilifying in their condemnation of what many see as the government’s latest display of ineptitude and wastefulness.

The crux of the story is that the Federal Executive Council suddenly announced plans to import clean cookstove components and ‘wonderbags’ for free distribution to ‘poor rural women’ with the colossal sum of N9.2 billion – and this is for the first phase alone. By the time the ‘aggressive’ scheme winds up five years from now, the project is expected to have spent tens of billions more procuring a total of 20 million cookstoves for poor households nationwide.

Notwithstanding the public sentiments alleging subterfuge and foul play, it is indeed the case that the poor rural women targeted by the scheme often cook over basic wood stoves that endanger their health and that of their families as well as pollute their immediate environment. There are other accompanying hazards: firewood fetching mostly falls to women and girls, exerting a physical toll on them and often narrowing their chances for self-improvement by encroaching on their productive and schooling time.

The subject of cookstoves is an important one, even if it is one that seems inconsequential – or as one commentator put it, ‘non-essential’ – to people in certain classes. Clean cookstoves (which are not to be confused with kerosene stoves, as many commentators seem to have done), deployed under the right conditions, can help to address some of the social and environmental ills highlighted above. At about N12,000 per unit, the stoves procured by the FEC are probably higher-grade varieties that can deliver substantial firewood savings and/or smoke reductions to users. Nonetheless, there are many as-yet unresolved issues surrounding clean cookstove acquisition and use that have historically rendered their potential benefits elusive.

One such issue is a longstanding dilemma on the global cookstoves scene over the merits of distributing stoves freely or at subsidised rates to poor people versus offering them at full price on the open market, just like most other commodities. Over the past ten or so years, the global cookstoves community has been leaning more and more toward the open market approach, following a plethora of free/subsidised cookstove programmes that were widely regarded as disasters. One of the most widely criticised stove subsidy debacles is a national scheme launched by the Indian government a good three decades ago, in which nearly 30 million stoves were distributed over a twenty-year period with subsidy rates as high as 75% for the poorest households.

The premise of the current FEC project ‘to engender [a] clean cooking culture’ in cookstove recipients echoes that of the discredited Indian project to stimulate long-term demand for clean cooking solutions among the rural poor. The Indian example, however, delivered a striking lesson: people who got the heavily subsidised stoves were not willing to replace them at full market price when they broke down after a few years. No clean cooking culture engendered there, alas. While examples like this do not automatically signal a triumph of the increasingly favoured market approach, they do highlight the failure of even well-meaning promoters to identify the base conditions for the success of cookstove initiatives.

Rather confusingly, the FEC project looks set to flout the important lessons that have been demonstrated several times over by cookstove programmes around the world. Experience has shown that such programmes need to take their inspiration from the social, cultural and economic realities of poor people to have a chance at succeeding.

This requires promoters to ask and answer some fundamental questions before going into poor communities: Why do people use the stoves they do now? Do they see any reason to change these stoves? If yes, what would they like a new stove to do for them? How would they get the fuel to power the stoves? How does the cost of running the new stoves compare with current costs, and how would this impact their willingness to switch?

Further, how compatible are the new stoves with the food types, cooking patterns, and broader lifestyles of users? (As one Facebook commenter pointed out, albeit jokingly, the slow-cooking function of the wonderbag may overshadow its energy-saving properties in households where people need to eat breakfast early before going out for the day.)

 What about maintenance and repair, particularly for those in remote areas? Crucially, as in the Indian case, when the stoves invariably get spoilt beyond repair and need to be replaced – what then? Will poor rural women be willing or able to replace the stoves themselves, or does the project intend to keep supplying the stoves infinitely? It should be noted that many of these questions would apply even if the stoves were to be mass-produced locally and sold on the open market, as some commentators have suggested.

One of the most interesting themes to emerge from media reports of the FEC scheme and the barrage of comments on them is that many people say they don’t need cleaner cookstoves, or at least that they don’t need government to hand such stoves to them freely. While this general reaction partly reflects societal attitudes that relegate stoves to the domain of women in the home, it brings to the fore some of the things that citizens (including poor rural women) believe are vastly more fundamental to their well-being: better nutrition, affordable and accessible cooking fuels, improved infrastructure, security, healthcare, jobs for young people, and access to credit for small business owners.

 The overall message here is consistent with what I’ve found in my own research on energy poverty, that clean cookstoves do not feature prominently on the priority lists of many poor people.
If this is the case, how does a project like the FEC scheme, detached as it is from the everyday experiences and expectations of the poor rural women it purports to be so concerned about, hope to establish and sustain the clean cooking culture it is so lavishly trying to promote?

 Part of the answer lies in the kind of research that my centre at the University of Ibadan and a few other African universities are currently collaborating on, with leadership provided by the University of Nottingham. Our research is asking precisely the sorts of questions raised above in other African contexts, in a bid to identify barriers to the use of clean cookstoves and possibly arrive at strategies for addressing some of those barriers. It is slow-going, painstaking work, but it offers the best chance of eventually making any real impact on those who stand to benefit the most from using clean cookstoves on a sustainable basis. Perhaps the FEC could borrow a leaf from this?


Dr. Temilade Sesan is an associate lecturer in renewable energy policy at the Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan.

URGENT APPEAL ~OluwaKayode Ogundamisi

Urgent Appeal! #GMB15 before it is too late, please tweet to @AsiwajuTinubu let him know anyone advising him to run 4 VP is Nigeria’s enemy, if the former Lagos State Governor should run he would have erased all the goodwill he gained in the last one year as a result of his determination in building a formidable opposition. It is time Tinubu should stop listening to the hawks around him and concentrate on building a viable opposition behind the scene. Nigeria can not afford to miss an opportunity for change and progress. 
                                        ~Kayode Ogundamisi (@Ogundamisi).

THE FAULT IS IN US NOT IN OUR STARS ~Dada Ajibola

it is disheartening that government care not about these which has affect majorly all sector of the economy. But by far, what happens to be the greatest challenge in this country is the issue of conducting free and fair election that is acceptable locally and internationally..

With all these manifestations, Nigerians often appreciated the essence of good governance, transparency and accountability. Despite all these blessings, corruption has pervaded all spheres of public. And private life with serious implications for service delivery without concrete efforts from government to fight this menace.

Political office holders do seldom want to leave office, they manipulate the electoral process and compromise the electoral process and electoral laws.

The electoral reform being articulated by well-meaning Nigerians centers on the following issues: Independent candidacy, membership of political party to contest election, restriction on political party formation, campaign finance, election funding, the immunity and overpowers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and issue of gender.

On 29th may 2007 at the eagle square in Abuja, immediately after former president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua took oath of office he admitted that Nigeria elections must especially the one that brought him in was flawed.

The electoral reform is very necessary in Nigeria, if Nigeria wants to continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy and achieve tremendously in her quest for development.

There has been struggle over the years to find ways to endanger confidence in the conduct of free and fair elections in Nigeria.

This struggle can be said to be two sided; first is how to design and ensure an efficient, effective, and politically non-partisan election management body; and second is on how to re-orient the country's political culture so that the political culture so that the political elite and general public (Nigerians) will show a genuine commitment to rules and regulations governing the electoral process in Nigeria in order to ensure free, fair, credible and competitive elections in Nigeria.

We need at this point to draw attention to some of the deficits in the country's electoral process that necessitated the need to reform Nigerian electoral process.

Among these deficits are; The abuse of power of incumbency which has become the major problem of electoral reform; severe financial and logistical constraint on the work of electoral management bodies thereby making these bodies to depend on state and local government for field offices of electoral bodies; ballot boxes stuffing or ballot paper manipulation; electoral violence before, during and after elections; the unwholesome role of security agencies to favor the ruling party. 

What is to be done and what is at the bottom of electoral heist in Nigeria? Why is it almost impossible to hold elections that losers can accept without resort to the courts or the streets of protest.

In the last fifty four years we have not had any election that was not a subject of disputation and challenge and rather for the situation to improve, it is getting worse. One of the reasons is the structural imbalance in the country in which political power for long was located in one part of the country to the detriment of free access to power by others no matter how qualified or talented they may be.

Elections since 1951 to the present have not been able to foster a feeling of common destiny and if we are to remain together we must find ways and means to harmonize individual and group rights within an overarching federal architecture.

But the key to the removal of this curse of election lies in education, adoption of full-proof technological electoral machinery to minimize tampering with the electoral process.

We must also build a Nigeria economy in which people who wish to work would have work to do and in which politics will be a vocation rather than a profession. This was what it was in the past and we must go back to the past in order to guarantee our future. Dissolution of the federation will no guarantee fair election in the successor States..
   
I want my Children to inherit from my generation a country better than I met it. What presently exists is a travesty of governance and I am ashamed that this is all that resourceful and cerebrally endowed country has.

The fault is in us not in our stars. It will not matter where the President of the Country comes from if he performs well.

Our problem is that the routine performance of government duties (Such as road construction and potable water supply) by those in authority is celebrated as "achievements". Victory at a recent football competition has been made the opium of the people and money left from the denuded coffers of government is being frittered away as gifts to footballers without budgetary provision.

Governance has been shoved aside in parliament and in the executive to celebrate a mere football victory. This sterility of idea about what governance is the more reason why there must be a credible force and opposition to a long ruling party that has taken the electorate for granted.

It is however heartening that even members of the ruling party have welcomed the formation of a virile opposition party strong enough to be a government-in-waiting. It is in the interest of all politicians to make sure that peaceful change through electoral politics is possible. The alternative is so ghastly that it is unmentionable.

We cannot continue like this, we must change course lest the American prediction that Nigeria will disintegrate in 2015 become a self-fulling prophesy.

I thank you.

Dada Ajibola is a graduate of Bio-chemistry,  he writes from Lagos State. Follow him on twitter @i_otunbaola

IF IT IS IN THE INTEREST OF NIGERIANS: CHOICE OF APC VP CANDIDATE ~ 'Deolu OYEBODE

IF IT IS IN THE INTEREST OF NIGERIANS: CHOICE OF APC VP CANDIDATE

14th December 2014.

The National Chairman,

All Progressives’ Congress, Abuja.

Through: The APC Deputy National Chairman (South)

Your Excellency,

IF IT IS ABOUT CHANGING NIGERIA; THE CHOICE OF APC AND GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI’S VP

1. I am humbled to join my voice with many Nigerians and party faithful on the need for our great party to consider some very pivotal points on the selection of who is best to be the running mate of our great leader and mentor, the standard flag bearer and candidate of our great party APC, HE General Muhammadu Buhari (retd). It is a statement of fact that the party will present to Nigerians sooner than later, the anticipated VP candidate having sought the opinions of Nigerians and the country’s Statesmen in the next few hours, I have thus decided to share my very little opinion as a party man; A Party that recognises the wishes of her members, and poised on CHANGING the Nigeria State.

2. The good people of Nigeria are eagerly anticipating who will be unveiled. I have taken my time to study the antecedents of these distinguished personalities and I must confess that nobody out of the shortlisted (as circulated on social media) isn’t worthy to occupy the seat and perform well. Be it: HE Babatunde Raji Fashola (Governor of Lagos), HE Rotimi Amaechi (Governor of Rivers and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum), HE Comrade Adams Oshiomole (Governor of Edo, Labour President Emeritus), HE Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Former Governor of Ekiti, Security Expert and Chairman APC Presidential Primary Election & 3rd National Convention), and Prof. Yemi Oshibajo SAN (Former Attorney-General and Professor of Constitutional Law).

3. My Leader Mr. Chairman, even though Religion is supposed to be a private affairs and not supposed to be a serious issue of public concern, but the previous statements credited to our Candidate and his unflinching faith in Islam which is being politicised by the ruling PDP has heaten the polity on the need to field a Christian by faith and practise as the running mate to our flagbearer, putting into consideration that President Goodluck Jonathan got some sympathy votes in 2011 having knelt down before a respected cleric in Pastor EA Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, as a ‘faithful Christian’. It is on this premise that I humbly propose that being a Muslim, our visionary HE Babatunde Raji Fashola as running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari may be a political suicide for our great party.

4. With every form of modesty and due regards Sir, YE Mr. Chairman is holding a very sensitive position as the anchor and captain of the ‪#‎ChangeTeam‬. You are from the South East and it will be unfair in the principle of political power sharing to also have the Vice President from that zone, let alone having our comrade governor and NLC President (emeritus) as the most preferred. I humbly opine that you put this into consideration also as at when the final resolution will be made.

5. Even though politics is about been calculative, I don’t think it will be very judicious for our great party to field the VP from the South-South Zone simply because it is against the principle Strength Maximization to field a South-South VP to trade away a South-South President. Also, it is a known fact that the 2015 Presidential elections will be more of individual political parties holding firmly their strongholds and trying to pinch little votes from the weak zones. Choosing the very outspoken and charismatic HE Rotimi Amaechi of the South-South (Rivers State) as VP won’t mean that it will be a creep into the zone. The fact is we (APC) have only Rivers State in the entire zone. Therefore, the best option for our party is to choose a candidate from the South-West. Please put this also into consideration!

6. Coming to take a look at the remaining shortlisted distinguished personalities: HE Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Intellectual Prof. Yemi Oshibajo SAN, both Christians, well read, from the South West and capable to occupy the seat of the VP of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Sincerely, apart from the fact that Dr. Kayode Fayemi had lost the recent Ekiti election in a mysterious way, having lost in all the 16LGAs of the state, he stands tall to fit in into the position. Prof. Oshibajo is a Pastor of the RCCG, where President Goodluck Jonathan went to seek for God’s ‘good-luck’ in 2011. Political history of this nation has shown us that the title of being a ‘pastor’ doesn’t add any value, if the likes of Pastor Chris Okotie couldn’t even pull all the votes of his worshippers during the 2007 and 2011 Presidential Elections, Pastor Tunde Bakare didn’t garner more votes for GMB (retd) in 2011 even though he was a Pastor from the South West.

7. The fact remains that there is a clear-cut difference between Politics and Governance. While everyone are still expecting the last to be said about the 21st June 2014 Ekiti election, issues such as Thermo and Photochromic Ballot have become an issue to inwardly look into. The prompt sensitization and public vigilance guided against another fraudulent defeat in the State of Osun. Up till now, the international community and elites of the nation are still trying to unravel to puzzle of how a well-performed man like Dr. Fayemi could have lost the election. Dr. Fayemi might have lost because he couldn’t fulfil all ‘political requirements’ in the Nigerian ways but he satisfied virtually all yardsticks of ‘Good Governance’.

8. Those who fight corruption must be ready to face the repercussion, which to me, was what cost the re-election of Dr. Fayemi at the poll. He is a better person in Governance than the dirty mulk of politics. Good, the likes of HE Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, and host of others are in the zone can cover up for him during the election before the act of governance is faced come May 29 2015.

9. Another advantage that the party APC and Nigerians will benefit from is the fact that a combination of a Retired Military General and a Civil-Military Relations Security Expert will not only bring an end to the unending spate of terrorism (Boko Haram) but will also nip in the bud permanently any threat to our internal and external security at the short and long run. Dr. Fayemi is a scholar, who has practically addressed and postulated the solutions to virtually all the problems facing the country, as a lecturer-governor, while he was the spokesperson of the Progressive Governors’ Forum. Dr. Fayemi was very active in the formation of the Regional Roadmap to development under the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria.

10. If it is about CHANGING Nigeria for better, where there shall be zero-tolerance to corruption, insecurity and unemployment, where there shall be good governance and the ideals & manifestoes of the party shall be religiously implemented; the best opportunity for our party to indeed influence genuine fiscal federalism is having a General Muhammadu Buhari/Dr. Kayode Fayemi ticket come 2015.

11. Adeolu OYEBODE is my name, a registered member of the All Progressives Congress (EK/01000311). This letter is STRICTLY my perspective as I speak for myself.

12. Thank You.

Adeolu OYEBODE
(APC/EK/01000311)

@adeoluoyebode

President Jonathan: A Litany Of Failed Promises By Babatunde Raji Fashola

My duty today is simple; yet it is one that excites me very deeply because as I welcome you all to Lagos and to the first Presidential Convention of the All Progressives Congress, I am confident that I am welcoming you to change.

I welcome you to a change that is for the better.

I welcome you to change that will liberate Nigeria from inefficient national management.

I welcome you all delegates from across Nigeria, to Lagos, where the first building blocks of the country now known as Nigeria were laid.

I welcome you back to the epicenter of nationalism and the home of change, where our pre-eminent nationalists forced a change from colonial government to a Nigerian government.

I welcome you all back to where the promise of Nigeria was hatched, as a land of endless opportunities.

Unfortunately, the bridge between us and our opportunities have been shattered by a series of broken promises by a party, Government and President for whom promises mean nothing.

I have made it my task to record as many of the promises made by President Jonathan and his party. The lists of promises are as long as the list of disappointments.

All over Nigeria, he made promises to us and as far as Lagos is concerned, I can tell you that those promises remain unfulfilled without explanation.

I do not know what all experiences from your various states are, but I will repeat here, some of the promises that I recorded that he made across Nigeria and ask you to tell us whether they have been fulfilled.

1. To complete the second River Niger bridge before the expiration of the tenure.
2. To make the Minister of Works to immediately start repairs of the road  leading to Murtala Mohammed International Airport
3. To transform all major routes in Damaturu to federal roads
4. To assist in resuscitating all the collapsed industries in Kano state
5. To set up a committee to review Federal government landed properties in Lagos, hand over those that should and retain those that should be in possession of the Federal Government.
6. To give Sokoto-Kotangora road unfettered attention
7. To  deliver stable, constant supply of electricity
8. To ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than two times in a week
9. To explore the coal deposits in Benue and Kogi states for improved power supply
10. To reduce the importation of generators at least 90 percent in four years.
11. To address the issues of unemployment through diversification of the nation’s economy to that of sustainable agricultural development across the 36 states of federation
12. To create 1.5 million jobs in 2 years
13. To transform the economy within four years
14. To construct 2 world scale petrochemical plants, 2 fertilizer plants and 2 fertilizer blending plants.
15. To establish petrochemical plant around Koko Free Trade Zone in Delta State
16. To make Nigeria go beyond producing and exporting crude oil to exporting refined petroleum products because Nigeria has no reason to keep importing kerosene
17. To make anyone caught breaching the public peace to face the full wrath of the law.
18. To make sure that no part of the country is allowed to be a sanctuary for criminals anymore be they armed robbers or kidnappers
19. To make a complete transformation of national security architecture
20. To ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption; all crimes will be investigated as security is key.
21.  To strengthen EFCC and ICPC to fight crime
22. To embark on irrigation project to boost production; to start two projects in Kwara State
23. To boost farming activities by providing power and water
24. To re-build Ilesa water scheme
25. To  complete Ife/Ijesa dam
26. To provide sufficient water to the people of Taraba;
27. To revamp mining activities in Jos, Plateau State
28. To make solid mineral key revenue source in Nigeria
29. To fight corruption regardless of the position of the person involved
30. To play politics without bitterness.
31. To lead by example; strengthen the anti-graft agencies, not interfere and give free hand on all matters of investigation against any government official.
32. To ensure that the National Boundary Development  Agencies are funded to tackle the challenges that arose out of the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun

 
Today, we must rebuild the bridge that will bring change to Nigeria and more Nigerians closer to the promise of Nigeria.

Today you will have the opportunity to change broken promises to fulfilled promises and rescue Nigeria from mismanagement and bad governance.

Our party has carefully developed a Manifesto through which the broken and unfulfilled promises made to the people of Nigeria can be actualized.

The Manifesto is anchored on changing insecurity to security.

That Manifesto will change a dysfunctional government to an efficient Government.

That Manifesto will change underdevelopment to rapid and accelerated development.

That Manifesto will change our poor circumstances to a prosperous dawn.

That Manifesto will change Nigeria’s global reputation from its current dismal status to one of international respect and global admiration.

One man will bear the responsibility and enormous burden for implementing that Manifesto and the change that it brings.

All of you, our delegates are the men and women to whom history has been so kind to bring to this day, to this State, to this venue and to this moment, to choose that man with your votes.

Let me be clear. What you are gathered to do is epical.

What you are gathered to do is not easy. Change is not easy.

What you are gathered to do is important to the whole world.

Let me remind you that we gather to vote to make a choice that will alter the way Nigeria develops and in that way, Africa develops.

You are gathered to elect the potential leader of Africa’s most populous nation.

You are gathered to elect the Ambassador of Change.

Please do so wisely, decorously and with a sense of duty.

God bless you all as you cast the votes to change Nigerians for the better. Long live the All Progressives Congress.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Thank you.
 
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State

2015 ELECTIONS What’s Faith Got To Do With It? John Kayode Fayemi, PhD. Civil / Military Relations Expert

A Speech at 

GLEEHD Foundation’s Election ThinkTank Series

Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, November 12, 2014

Protocols

“It is easy to blame religion-or more fairly, what some people do in the name of religion-for all our troubles, but that is too simple. Religion is a powerful force, but its impact depends entirely on what it inspires people to do. The challenge for policy-makers is to harness the unifying potential of faith, while containing its capacity to divide”
                                                        ~Madeleine Albright

I am delighted to share my thoughts with this distinguished audience on a subject that has gained primacy in public discourse in recent times and which by all means deserves sober interrogation by leaders of thought in our country as the 2015 General Elections approaches.

Before I go ahead, I must commend the organizers of this series for the patriotic instincts that has birthed this splendid idea of facilitating discussions on some of the most crucial issues pertaining to the 2015 elections. I salute your courage and pray that the Almighty God blesses your noble exertions which are in line with the role of Civil Society to continually advance the cause of equity, justice and progress in any society.

As a product of Civil Society myself, I share your burden and ever abiding restlessness to birth a new Nigeria. As actors in this space, our methodologies may vary over time and space – in my own case as like many others, I have in recent years extended my activism to the realms of politics and public governance and have only recently transitioned out – we are however bound by an endless struggle and must never make the mistake at any point in time to assume that our work is done.

Sociological change in any society is slow and painful, and often features false starts that can mislead us into resting on our oars. Just like we collectively realized after much damage had been done, that the return of Civilian Rule in Nigeria in 1999 did not inevitably mean the inculcation of democratic ethos by our politicians, we are today reminded by very desperate elements in our democratizing country that the fact that we are holding our fifth cycle of elections in the fourth republic does not necessarily mean we have fully emplaced a culture of free, fair and peaceful elections.

We are today on one hand faced with an insurgency that has claimed the lives of over 13,000 Nigerians with close to a million others internally displaced. Only yesterday, it was reported that at least 32 people who were internally displaced due to ethno-religious violence in Nassarawa state were killed while returning home on the assurances of the authorities that their homeland was safe. Similarly, it was also reported yesterday that a government secondary school in Yobe state was attacked by a suicide-bomber killing about 47 people and injuring about 80.

 A young Nigerian helplessly reacted to the sad news, lamenting on social media and I quote:
“My heart is breaking at the thought of a mum saying “bye Son, have a good day at school, make sure you pay attention… and no fighting” and with a smile sends her little boy off to school only to hear he was torn apart in a most violent death a few hours later.”

While some have sadly become inured to these recurring sad news with ready templates of ‘expressions of shock’ and endless promises to ‘bring the perpetrators to book’, the truth is that 79 souls who shared this world with us as fellow human beings and this country with us as fellow citizens up till a few days ago, are no more, due to ethno-religious violence.

The feeble response of the government of the day to the escalation of the insurgency in terms of sophistication of operations, causalities count and geographical spread is a cause for concern for discerning Nigerians, more so since the Federal Government seems to achieve more success in the deployment of our troops to militarise the polity and gain partisan advantage during elections and also in selectively deploying our security agencies to intimidate perceived enemies.

On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly clear that one of the do-or-die strategies of the ruling party to retain power in 2015 is to compensate for poor performance in office by stoking ethno-religious sentiments and pushing the country to the brink of crisis.

There is no gainsaying that we are going into the 2015 elections a deeply divided people, with the elections itself being a potential source of further polarization. It is for this reason, there has been increased advocacy particularly by renowned civil society actors to force ‘Peace and National Cohesion’ to the top of the agenda as the single most important factor in determining who the next President of Nigeria should be. That is to say, the candidate and by extension the political party with the most convincing manifesto for achieving sustainable peace and national cohesion should be elected President.

The argument has its merit when you consider the fact that though there are several priority areas needing urgent intervention in the country, the issue of ‘Peace and National Cohesion’ is the greatest threat to our country and at the same time also offers the greatest opportunity for us to achieve accelerated development and take our rightful place in the comity of nations.

In some quarters, the issue of faith as it concerns the 2015 elections is being reduced to discussions about the viability of a ticket that features the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates belonging to the same faith, or how it is an absolute necessity for all parties in serious contention to ensure both the Muslim and Christian faiths are represented as either Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidates. This in my view unfortunately skirts around the main issue and does not address the substance of how we want to get out of the mess we currently find ourselves in.

Indeed, the fact that we can be having such conversations 21 years after June 12, 1993, calls to question how much progress has been made in unifying the country after 15 years of Civilian rule under the PDP. We must remember not to forget that in 1993, the presidential election was contested by Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention and Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party. 

Tofa picked as a running mate from the south east, an Igbo Christian in compliance with the unspoken rules of religious and ethno-regional balancing that formed the conventional wisdom of Nigerian politics. This wisdom held that for a party’s ticket to be electable it must offer an equilibrium of ethnic, regional and confessional identities that bridges our historic fault lines and offers an all-inclusive sense of belonging to all.

Hence, in the most simplistic rendering of this ethno-religious equation, Tofa as a Northern Muslim had expectedly picked a southern Christian. Abiola as a southern Muslim was largely expected to pick a northern Christian. Indeed there was no shortage of groups offering counsel on who Abiola should pick as a running mate. In the end, he boldly violated this supposedly sacred rule of Nigerian politics and chose the running mate that he felt would bring the most to his political campaign. He picked Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, a Northern Muslim.

 Pundits weighed the chances of an all-Muslim ticket in a climate of politicized sectarianism and concluded that Abiola had erred. But he gamely argued that his choice represented the most logical and rational option. Refusing to be swayed by sectarian and provincial sentiments, it was a statement of intent and a demonstration of faith in the sort of Nigeria he believed was possible – a country where the best could lead regardless of their creed or ethnicity. It was a statement of faith in the Nigerian voter that with all of the facts before him, he would be able to scrutinize both tickets and make an intelligent choice. It was a daring, even radical gambit but it paid off.

On June 12, 1993, Nigerians voted in defiance of ethnic and religious dog-whistling and elected the two men they believed the most capable, disregarding the coincidence of their religious beliefs and other sectarian notions of equilibrium. They made a choice that was informed, intelligent and supremely rational. 

This is a point worth stressing because it is generally believed that electoral choices in 2015 would be so distorted by the politics of identity as to be exercises in tribal selection or in-group solidarity affirmation. It is believed that ethnic and religious sentiments would overwhelm all other instincts and calculations leading up to the polls and render political contest and discourse a bitter competition for primacy along lines of primordial identity rather than ideology.

For the avoidance of doubt, no ethnically and religiously diverse nation can escape the dynamics of identity and provincial sympathies at the polls. Heterogeneous countries far older than our republic and far ahead of us in their practice of democracy continue to grapple with themes of diversity, tolerance and pluralism. It is fair to say that Nigeria’s challenges in the political management of diversity and plurality are not uniquely Nigerian. 

Our history affirms that ethnicity and religion are political and electoral factors, and while I am not saying political parties should not pursue inclusion in ensuring a national spread of their key political operatives that takes into account our ethno-religious heterogeneity, it is far from accurate to depict Nigerians as being so bound by provincialism that they cannot but vote along ethnic and confessional lines. This is simply false.

Our challenge as Civil Society and active followers as we approach the 2015 elections is to shape political discourse around ideology rather than identity, so that candidates will be judged much more by how they intend to address our challenges not by where they hail from. Politicians will have to run on the platform of practicalities not the theatrics or sentiments of feigning identification with the electorate at a primordial level. At that point, one’s tribal marks or facility in a local language will prove less important than a proven track record of performance and integrity.

In the words of my brother and friend Dr. Chidi Odinkalu in his recent op-ed:
“Ahead of the 2015 elections, therefore, we have to find a way to return safety and security to the top of the political agenda: to politicize it while taking partisanship out of it. We need a non-partisan manifesto on public safety and security that can be taken to the country.

“All elective offices in our system are time-bound to tenure of not more than four years. The plans we need must, therefore, be credible with specific and measurable outcomes that can be attained within this period. We are part of the problem as long as we tolerate politicians who want us to believe that we’re in a clash of identities or between hemispheres, north and south. 2015 is about whether or not there will indeed be a Nigeria for anyone to rule. 

The contest will be defined by safety and security of the country and all who live in it. As citizens, we must find ways to ensure that politicians who don’t want to engage with these issues find other vocations.”

As the frenzy of politicking gathers momentum with its attendant razzmatazz, Civil Society and the Media have the crucial role of ensuring ‘Peace and National Cohesion’ remains on the front burner – we cannot afford to be bamboozled with empty promises again.

Another issue Civil Society and the Media have to take note of is the need to moderate the rhetoric of our political operatives towards the 2015 elections. We have a duty to ensure the contents of the political communications of the various candidates and their parties are within the confines of civility.

 We must call out politicians who would seek to appeal to sectarian intolerance and tribal prejudice. Our political debates must not be poisoned with incitement. Most conflicts begin from the realm of political communication, from how political elites mobilize their supporters and along what line they seek to obtain support. Once we elevate political discourse leading up to the 2015 Elections to the level of ideological contestations for hearts and minds, we stand a better chance at achieving a peaceful electioneering/post-election season ahead of us.

I believe very much in a New Nigeria, where our diversity is harnessed into our strength and competitive advantage. I believe that the challenge ahead of us in 2015 is to, just as Madeleine Albright prescribed, elect leaders who have the capacity to utilise the unifying potential of faith, while containing its capacity to divide. Both Islam and Christianity are strong forces for good in our society.

It is significant that the Christian contribution to Nigeria was acknowledged on the very first day of our journey as an independent nation. In his Independence Day speech in 1960, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa acknowledged that the history of Nigeria would be incomplete without the endeavours of missionaries and affirmed them as being among “those who made Nigeria.” This was by no means an overstatement. 

Many Nigerians even today are direct and indirect beneficiaries of the missionaries’ legacy. Through their schools, the first generation elites of this nation were raised. Through missionary education, many of our parents acquired the tools with which they embarked on their quest for upward mobility. As an alumnus of a mission school myself, I can certainly testify to the quality of the training we received that sharpened us both morally and intellectually. I suspect that many of us here would say the same.

Even so, the Christian contribution to Nigeria went beyond mission schools. The story of faith communities is entwined with the evolution of the nationalist struggle. According to the historian Emmanuel Ayandele, from the late 19th century onward, “the church became the cradle of Nigerian nationalism, the only forum of nationalistic expression until the beginnings of the indigenous press after 1879, and the main focus of nationalist energies until after 1914.”

Influenced by the British Labour Party (which in turn bore the intellectual stamp of the Christian socialists), Obafemi Awolowo propounded a political ethic rooted in moral tradition, arguing that religion and politics were complementary and that “the most beneficial political system derives its strengths from the tenets and practices of great religions.” He saw a natural congruence between Christianity and socialism and appropriated the biblical phrase ‘Life More Abundant’ to encapsulate the ideals of his political party, the Action Group, and defined it as freedom from British rule, freedom from ignorance, freedom from disease and freedom from want. 

“In the process of bringing out the best that is in man, and of enabling him to live a healthy and happy life, the agencies of Politics and Religion must work in close and harmonious co-operation. The eradication of ignorance, disease and want is a matter of the utmost concern to Politics as well as to Religion.”

For Awolowo, the Golden Rule, empathy, loving our neighbour as ourselves, which summarize the Law and the Prophets and indeed, the great moral traditions, constitute the cornerstone of a sustainable society. 

Any system based on greed and naked self-interest is bound to generate social disequilibrium, progressively degenerating until it suffers extinction and yields place to a system which either approaches or approximates the ideal of love. 

In the public domain, this love takes the form of social justice – fairness and a commitment to equity. From the foregoing it is clear that the Christian faith had an investment in the very foundations of our nation that was far more than tangential.

Similarly, the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria has historically been at the forefront of national development. I am certain that some of the other speakers would be able to shed more light on the significant role that the Islamic faith has played in the development of our great country and the great potential the religion and the true adherents have to contribute to the birthing of a great Nigeria.

Accordingly, the 2015 elections is a great opportunity to redefine Nigeria as a peaceful and prosperous secular state with functional citizens of different tribes and tongues, working together to make Nigeria the greatest country in the world.

Thank you for listening.

                                   ~ J. ’Kayode Fayemi, PhD.

ENCOURAGEMENT MUST BE MERITED

Some would argue that employees need fewer ear-tickling compliments or pats on the back. Instead, most of them could use a “reality slap” in the face. That is, they could do with a healthy dose of the unvarnished truth. They would benefit from having a Simon Cowell in their life—someone willing to deliver feedback unfiltered by undue concern for their feelings

.

Just because some persons have been excessively coddled and improperly pampered does not mean they should therefore receive less encouragement. Everyone needs to be affirmed in their abilities and shown appreciation for what they do. However, encouragement must be authentic to achieve its purpose. 

Some leaders employ encouragement as a manipulative device. They say what their people want to hear in order to get them to perform as desired.  Eventually, inauthentic encouragement rings hollow, as people recognize that it’s a management tactic rather than heartfelt affirmation. Over time, people can differentiate feel-good platitudes from actual praise.

Encouragement should be given proportionately, with more lavish compliments reserved for more extraordinary feats. It should also be given in a timely manner so that people know immediately the value of their contribution.

To be credible, encouragement must be merited by identifiable achievement or discernible potential.

If encouragement is to help others grow, it shouldn’t be one-sided. Recognition of exceptional work should be offset by constructive feedback that points to opportunities for improvement.

Overly generalized encouragement doesn’t hit home. For encouragement to make a difference it must be connected to concrete deeds or behaviours.

Be an Encourager !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                ~ Olajuwon Obalola

A Picture of a 500-room house where tenants live as prisoners.

From afar, the massive building looks like a ship sailing on the Atlantic with different national flags flying at the top with scores of bulbs arranged at strategic spots.

Lacking proper ventilation, electricity supply was the only means to keep the temperature within the room normal.

I AM NOT A POLITICIAN BUT I DEEMED IT NECESSARY TO SHARE THIS AS SHARED WITH WHO IS AFRAID OF BUHARI?

I write this because of millions of Nigerians who are below 30 and who constitute a significant chunk of our voting population.

This is the ICT generation that is largely ignorant about the events of the Buhari era (1984-85) and so can be misinformed and misled by needless propaganda. I have sat with many in the under-30 bracket and those slightly above who only have faint recollections of the Buhari era and the level of ignorance about that era is amazing.

Before being MILITARY Head of State, Buhari had been Governor of one of the Northern States (under Obasanjo’s Military government) as well as Minister for Petroleum. He later served as Chairman of PTF under Abacha.

Please consider the following unassailable facts:

1. He birthed and supervised the establishment of our existing refineries.

2.There was no religious crisis while he was Head of State. It started under his successor IBB!

3.In his time as Head of State he reduced inflation from 23% to 4%, by fiscal discipline and a homegrown economic team (not achieved under any other era, even military).

4. JJ Rawlings of Ghana took over 2yrs before him, and killed all the corrupt leaders, while Buhari only sentenced the corrupt leaders here to prison.

5. Under his watch as PTF Chairman, what he did in road construction in that short period hasn’t been matched by almost 16yrs of the PDP rule.

6. Hospitals and universities around the country never witnessed as much benefits as they got from the PTF from any government after or before his time.

7. Despite serving in senior capacity in the oil sector, first as Minister for Petroleum and then Petroleum Trust Fund, Buhari has no petrol station, much less a rig, refinery or an oil block like so many of our leaders.

8. He could have retired into nauseating opulence like most of his counterparts (IBB or Danjuma or even OBJ) but didn’t. Instead of hobnobbing with the high and mighty, he has cast his lot with the ordinary man most of who follow him out of hope and belief in his values.
People who know him have said of him… “All I need from Buhari is his word, I can take it to the bank”.

9. He is the only politician in the Country today who fills rallies without renting a crowd. The Kaduna rally of 2nd March is eloquent proof!

10. He refused to collect an allowance while serving as Chairman of the PTF because he said since he was already drawing a pension from government, his conscience would not allow him to draw another salary from the purse of the same government.

11. He is the only former head of state that does not own property or land in Abuja . Every attempt to rubbish him through probes in time past eneded up vindicating him! The man who was asked by OBJ to take over the running of PTF before it was scrapped with the aim of probing and indicting Buhari, was the one who ended up being prosecuted for misappropriating $100m of PTF funds! Buhari again, was vindicated.

12. He has OPENLY challenged those who accuse him of religious fundamentalism to come out and show proof. No one has till today, taken up the challenge. His personal driver of many years is a Christian from Plateau State!

13. His government initiated the War Against Indiscipline that has made environmental cleanliness, queuing up, not urinating by the roadside etc features of our national life even till today.
Does it then surprise you why corrupt people would be spreading such heinous rumours about Buhari?

14. He is a threat to them and they know what he is capable of doing to corruption and corrupt people when he comes into office! So shine your eyes and make the right decision.


If honesty and probity are the things you want for Nigeria, now is the time to choose right.
Now that you know better, will you please educate others BY FORWARDING THIS TO AS MANY AS YOU CAN WITH ME.

                                               BY ISHOLA AKINGBADE.

Decision Not Yet Taken ~APC

The All Progressives Congress is considering the list of three nominees by its presidential candidate for the 2015 elections, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) The party is to select one of the three names as the running mate of the general.

A high ranking member of the party, said the presidential candidate has been under pressure by power blocks within the party long before he emerged.

He said the candidate and the party were both aware of the enormity of the task ahead and were determined not to leave anything to chance.

The source said the candidate had already given notice to the party that he would submit three names of party loyalists he would like to work with. The source said, “In choosing the three names, he will consider three things: Religious balancing, votes or what we call electoral value and he will also consider the personality of the individual.

“The governors elected on APC platform are insisting that it must come from among them, but Buhari had told them that he agrees but that the names he would submit to the party would contain at least the name of one of them but that the party would ultimately decide. “Those in the South-East want one of their own. Their argument is that doing so will strengthen the party in the region.”

The source noted that the allure of block votes from the South-West is tilting the scales in favour of the geo-political zone which has been a strong base of opposition politics.

This throws up the possibility of a candidate coming from the Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu’s political camp.

A member of the Buhari camp said the General would have loved to work with Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, but “a muslim/ muslim ticket will be a hard sell considering the situation in the country today.”

However, Prof. Yemi Osibajo appears the most likely choice because of his untainted public record and intellectual depth. Apart from being a member of Tinubu’s inner circle, Osibajo is a Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God and a close associate of the church’s General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. Many Christians are likely to support this choice. Hailing from Ikene, the hometown of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo , is also seen as an added advantage. The three geo-political zones in the South namely: South-South, South-East and South-West were also said to be showing interest in the vice-presidential slot.

But that the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the party would meet and take a decision on the matter.

He dismissed comments on the social media that the party had picked a running mate.

“We haven’t even met,” Mohammed said.

The party also denied a report that it had picked the Rivers States Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, as Buhari’s running mate.

Mohammed told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Friday that picking a vice-presidential candidate would require wide consultation, but said the party would announce the person next week.

“What you are reading now is the handiwork of mischief makers. No one had been picked as Buhari’s running mate but we will pick and announce next week,” he said.

AFSOL

An initiative of IPSS, AfSol (“African solutions”) meets the need for relevant, focused and rigorous debate on African centered solutions to peace and security challenges on the continent. It is a response to the need to refine the concept of African solutions to be reflective of the contemporary realities on the continent through broad and deep discussion.
This call welcomes submissions from students, researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, activists, and artists in the following thematic areas: the intersection between good governance and peace and security; conflict early warning, conflict resolution, post conflict reconstructions, peace building, finances and resources; African Union and RECs; the Africa Peace and Security Architecture and other related issues.
Submit
If you have a project that fits the brief in the following formats: article (between 500-1000 words), video or photo series submit it to research@ipss-addis.org
What’s in it for you?

• The best submission will be invited to speak at the expert workshop in February 2015
• Selected blog posts will be offered an opportunity to be developed in to a working paper
• To be considered for the competition, bloggers should submit their articles before 31^st December 2014. 

That Our Community may have a voice for change and impact ~ Dr. Eniola Ajayi

Effective leaders ensure that people feel strong and capable. in every major survey on practices of effective leaders, trust in the leader is essential if other people are going to follow that person over time. People must experience the leader as believable, credible, and trustworthy. One of the ways trust is developed--whether is the leader or any other person-is through consistency in behaviour. Trust is also established when words and deeds are congruent.

People want to work for leaders who fire them up, not who put out their fire. They want leaders who will lift them up and help them fly, not who keep them down. They want mentors who will help them reach their potential and succeed. If they perceive that their leaders is more concerned with maintaining their authority and protecting their position, they will eventually find someone else to work for. 

Intelligence is no substitute for information.
Enthusiasm is no substitute for capacity.
Willingness is no substitute for experiece
                                            ~~~~JOHN MAXWELL.

Our Community need CHANGE and the people living there need to be IMPACTED.




Dr. Eniola Ajayi is a Doctor of Optometry Graduate from the University of Benin and a Master of Philosophy graduate in Ocular Pathology from the University of London with postgraduate research and training experience from Moorfield's Eye Hospital and St Thomas' and St Guy's Hospital in London as a postgraduate scholar of the European Commission with additional A.H. Bygott Scholarship.

Upon Graduation in 1986, Dr Ajayi worked with the Eye Department of 445 Nigerian Airforce Hospital in Lagos before starting a private practice in 1997. The Clinic has grown steadily since inception and it now has a client base of over fourteen thousand {14,000} patients. The practice, Enny Eye Care (Eye Clinic and Optical Services) now has two outlets in Lagos-Nigeria; Ikeja and Ikoyi.  She is a seasoned Professional and she has won many professional awards. The latest being a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Benin2012 and Eye care Personality of the year - 2010.

She served as the Chairperson Nigerian Optometric Association, Lagos Branch. The association moved in leaps and bounds during and after she took over the rein of affairs.  Dr Ajayi was instrumental to the association's registration and launch of a Non-governmental Organization called, Save a Sight Vision Foundation. The aim of the Foundation is to make good quality Eye Care affordable and accessible to all; in line with the global initiative of "VISION 2020 - THE RIGHT TO SIGHT". Save a Sight Vision foundation (SASVF) has about eighteen (18) aims and objectives but it is currently pursuing three of them in collaboration with Lagos State Government. These include installation of Vision corridors in all the Local Government areas and all the Local Development Councils as well as public places like Markets, Churches, Mosques, Schools, and so on. Vision Corridors enable people do a self eye check. SASVF is also training Teachers in Secondary Schools to recognize simple eye problems and refractive errors in their students and then refer for proper eye test where necessary. It also aims to establish primary eye care centres in all the Local Government areas in the state.)

She is also a member of the Board of Governors, Olashore International School, Iloko-Ijesha and was the President of Christ's School, Ado Ekiti Alumni Association 1975/80 Set until 2013, thus contributing a lot to the process of shaping the lives of children in Schools in Nigeria.

Dr Ajayi is a motivator and a Minister of God in her local assembly Daystar Christian centre, catering for the well being of Couples believing God for children and those who are already pregnant.

She was the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in Ekiti State 24^th December 2010 to 9^th January 2013. She has been responsible for implementing the Governors vision for Education Science and Technology in the state. Some of her achievements include but not limited to the seamless merger of the erstwhile University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD), University of Science and Technology (USTI) and The University of Education, Ikere (TUNEDIK) into one cohesive Ekiti State University (EKSU). We have also began implementing the provision one (1) laptop per child in our Secondary Schools in Ekiti. We also began Operation Renovate all Schools in Ekiti (ORASE) with visible impact. Being an Eye Specialist is her profession but Education of the Nigerian Child is her life's mission. She is the immediate past Commissioner for Environment in Ekiti State.

@DrEniolaAjayi