Olatunde Olusegun

As the 2015 general election close by; the monomania of the Nigerians future is so important at these time that we need to be courteous of who and how the election will go in this year as the Presidential elections comes first.

On these note our correspondent met with Mr. Olatunde Olusegun who is a citizen of these blessed country Nigeria, who happen to be business career personality in these era. A graduate and alumus of a greatest University of Benin, Edo State Nigeria, lives in lagos and believe so much in good governance.

Rev4mation's of our generation plays a fore front for me on my desired ambition as the future shines brighter.

Mentor: Rev Sam Adeyemi the  Overseer of Day Star Christian Center Oregun Lagos Nigeria.

Saying succes power of life victory is that no one ever "teaches well who want to teach, or governs well who wants to govern." PLATO

Our future lies greatly in our hands, so let us all cast our votes for the right candidates.....Remember You Cannot Give What You Don't Have .

I can be reached on these address: olatundeolusegun456@gmail.com <> 07038976639

Guards shield Jonathan as soldier fiddles with rifle

 President Goodluck Jonathan

A member of the elite Guards Brigade   caused a minor stir during the wreath laying ceremony for the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Thursday.

The guard, who was part   of the two columns of soldiers drafted to form the firing party for the   event, was seen fidgeting with his gun which got stuck in the back of his belt.

In the   process,   the nozzle of the gun lowered, prompting two members of the Presidential Guard, who were standing behind the President’s Aide-de-Camp, who felt he had a negative intention, to form a human shield around the President.

Another officer, believed to be a member of the Presidential Guard, quickly moved to pull the soldier from the column, but had a rethink after explanations by the soldier about his problem.

The Presidential Guard then assisted the soldier to release the rope attached to the butt of the gun from his uniform.

However, the President, who was in the middle of the two rows of the firing party in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, was not ruffled by the incident .

After the stir which occurred on the third and last round of the shooting of the 21-gun salute later, Jonathan freed the traditional white pigeons from a   huge cage at the cenotaph.

He later signed the 2015 Register for   celebrations.

It was learnt that the bullets usually used for the traditional military ceremony are blank bullets which lack the capacity to inflict injuries.

Our correspondent also gathered that the officers in charge of the ceremony normally embarked on a holistic weeding process and psychological screening of those to take part in that aspect of the ceremony.

The event which held at the cenotaph opposite the Eagle Square at the Central Area, was attended by the top echelons of the security forces and government officials.

Among those who also laid   wreaths   were Vice-President Namadi Sambo; the President of                 the Senate,   David Mark; and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,   Emeka Ihedioha, who represented the Speaker,   Aminu Tambuwal.

Others were the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed; the Minister of Defence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau; the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Usman Jibrin; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu;     the Doyen of the Diplomatic community and the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion,   Micah Gayya.

Security personnel    conducted painstaking searches on workers whose offices are located in the three-arms zone before allowing them in.

The security operatives locked down the two major roads in the Three-Arms Zone – Ahmadu Bello and Shehu Shagari ways – to prevent vehicles from passing through the cenotaph while the event lasted.

A planned protest by the Ex-Service men Welfare Association did not take place as the event held smoothly without any interruption or disruption.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee set up to review the National Defence Policy has concluded arrangements to hold public presentations in three states.

The Chairman of the Committee,   Mohammed Umaru, said during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, that the event   scheduled for Lagos, Kaduna and Enugu, would hold simultaneously from January 21 to 22 .

Umaru said that the decision to open public hearing on   NDP was informed by a need to   have   many Nigerians   contribute to the policy.

Jonathan had inaugurated the committee on November 20, 2014 to review the   policy because of the social, economic and security changes that have taken place in the country.

He said that external developments and challenges in the global arena had direct impact on the nation’s security and national defence.

Goodluck 2015: The light goes dim

Fola Ojo

President Goodluck Jonathan surfed to power six years ago on the back of widespread national approbation. His approval rating spiked through the roof in a historically-unprecedented fashion. He was Goodluck the beloved, Goodluck the saviour, it was all about Goodluck! Nigerians from all tribes were determined to make his battle their battle; wherever he led them, they had braced themselves to follow; and his God they were prepared to make their God. The good and virtues Nigerians saw in Jonathan were probably much more than the virtue Jesus saw in Judas Iscariot when he appointed him a disciple overseeing his treasury.

Today, the President’s political fireplace has gone frigid, the fire-in-the-belly of his government has waned as Boko Haram and widespread economic uncertainties have come hitting Nigerians like an unannounced swirling killer-blizzard. And the President’s men, like a losing kick-boxer are flailing at anything and anyone real or imagined with the sharp instruments of presidential incumbency in an attempt to win the fight.

My President is in the fiercest battle of his political life against Muhammadu Buhari, an astute, stout and sharp-witted retired Army General who is backed by an undying, increasing, and resolute following across Nigeria. Previous fights the President had won were fought by godfathers and the few powerful who believed in him. Many of the exalted positions Jonathan has so far occupied were brought to him by Goodluck. And where are those ardent and true supporters now? One by one, they have fled and found new friends in the arch-rivals of Mr. President as his ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, continues to run out of clue. Strip by strip, the carpet of support is pulled from under his feet, and the haemorrhaging appears to have just begun.

Nine governors did not show up in his reelection declaration in Lagos; a buddy-priest of his, Enugu-based Father Ejike Mbaka, went on an endless tirade that our own Goodluck has actually brought Nigeria and especially the Igbo bad luck. On Monday, behind closed-doors in Abeokuta, the President smooched up in a room with two reputable Nigerian clerics and his estranged benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo, begging the latter for support. But “Baba” told his late-coming penitent son that someone else already sought and received his support. I learnt that this was the most depressing moment of Jonathan’s Presidency.

From state to state, Mr. President is losing steam, ground, and men in thousands to the opposition party APC on a daily basis. I cannot recall in Nigeria’s history where a ruling party and an incumbent President have lost so much support in a rumbling sequence of 30 days before an election. Jonathan’s electoral chances in this election are getting dimmer by the day.

His story can be likened to that of the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, whose administration was a train-load of unending scandals that ranged from cover-ups of shady business deals and large scale corrupt activities by members of his cabinet. Like Harding, no one has accused Jonathan of corruption; and like Harding, Jonathan’s Achilles heels are those around him who are believed to be the cruella-de-vil of greed, graft and gluttony. Money in the hands of Jonathan’s lieutenants at all levels of government, many believe, is like ice cream in the mouth of a child; it melts fast and easy through the conduits of corruption and thievery, and you will not remember it ever was.

Because of the complex and intricate nature of Nigeria as a country, Nigerians could have probably been more forgiving if non-performance in government were the only shortcoming of this administration. But dismal performance conjoined with supersize corruption is not a transgression that Nigerians easily forgive. Profligacy has been rumoured to be at a scary scale with Nigerian politicians; and in the world of the ruling party, the PDP, it appears as if it is a necessary and desired undergarment.

There is too much conscious or unconscious coddling of graft by this President. If former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, believes that his administration should be considered an angelic being regarding corruption compared to Jonathan’s, then this administration must be the unrepentant Lucifer of larceny and a dashing baron of daylight robbery that ever existed in the annals of Nigerian history. We all remember Babangida and his men. When the President said that corrupt government officials will not see the four walls of a prison under his authority, it was an announcement that depraved minds will always have a free pass with him. Incarceration of those adjudged corrupt, Mr. President, is a very powerful deterrent for those who steal public funds.

A heavy portion of this year’s budget was set aside for entertainment in the Villa, “estacode” for gazillion of aides travelling with the President all around the world, and the acquisition of more airplanes. The government is proposing to spend N517.9m this year on meals and refreshments for the Presidency, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ministries of power and petroleum resources as well as their parastatals. For the office of the President, N142.47m was earmarked for 2015 for refreshments and meals, and N25.58m was earmarked for meals and refreshments for the office of the VP. In a country where over 100 million people are considered poor, this is nothing but a legacy of waste.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Enwistle, has now told us that his country had intended to train a battalion of the Nigerian Army up to world standard; and the agreement was that the US would provide the trainers and the Nigerian government, the equipment. After a few weeks of training, the US had to back out because no equipment was provided by Nigeria. What happened to the N1tn the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, publicly announced was in the 2014 budget for the military? What happened to the first-class equipment that should have been procured? The minister had said; “Defence spending is top in everything, you know that military establishment needs new things to assist in its work and ours will not be different…To be specific, the military has about N968.12bn and we have disbursed N130.7bn between January and April 2014.”

With this huge sum, why is Boko Haram controlling more than 20,000 square miles of the Nigerian sovereign territory, an area larger than Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel and 144 other countries of the world? Why must our soldiers be ill-equipped, badly-managed, and morale badly bruised? About 17,000 innocent people have been killed so far more than those who died in the first US Gulf War. Presidents of nations make surprise visits to men and women who are laying down their lives for their countries in battles, but why is Jonathan not in that league? The music is fading for Mr. President, the light is dimming for the ruling PDP, and a shellacking train is about tearing through Abuja into Aso Rock taking the President and his men on a first-class cabin back to abodes of their choices. Nigerians can’t wait!

Having expressed this opinion, Dear Readers, I want you to mark this: It will be at your peril and pitfall to count out an incumbent African President called Goodluck. The battle will get dirtier as we draw close to February 14. But what shines in the horizon is that candidate Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who took the centre stage of global attention four years ago is not the same candidate today. No doubt, the light has dimmed drastically upon him, but he remains the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria throughout the election period. You never know, President Jonathan may still have some oil of Goodluck left in his presidential jar.

276 days after Chibok girls abduction, President visits Borno

• President Goodluck Jonathan sympathising with some wounded soldiers during his visit to the 7 Division Medical Service and Hospital, Maiduguri... on Thursday.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday paid a surprise visit to Maiduguri, Borno State, one of the three North-Eastern states worst hit by Boko Haram insurgency.

Jonathan embarked on the trip shortly after laying a wreath at the National Arcade, Abuja in commemoration of the   Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

There had been clamour for him to visit the   zone since April 14 when over 200 schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok by the sect.

Critics also chided the President   for continuing his presidential campaign without visiting or not making a direct comment on the January 3 killings in Baga and Doron Baga in Borno State by Boko Haram.

Amnesty International had said on Monday   that reports it got from the locals showed that over 2,000 people were killed and their houses razed. But the Defence Headquarters in Abuja denounced the international human rights agency’s claim, saying about 150 people died in the attacks.

Before the Thursday visit which came barely a week ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential rally scheduled to hold in Maiduguri on January 24, the United States denounced the latest Borno killings as “an enormously horrendous slaughter of innocent people.”

At the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army at the Maimalari Cantonment where he met with the officers and men currently in the frontline of the war against terrorism, Jonathan thanked them for their patriotic service to the nation.

He assured them that the nation would soon see the back of the Boko Haram insurgents as the military were now better equipped to take them on.

The President said that   the briefing from the service chiefs showed that the 10 local governments   in the state under Boko Haram control would soon be recaptured.

“Let me assure you that we will soon take over all the areas. From the briefing I have received from the service chiefs, I assure you that we will take over the towns and communities, “ he added.

Jonathan’s   Special Adviser   on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, later issued   a statement in which he quoted the President as telling the soldiers that the nation was proud   of them   for their   commitment to the defence of the civilian population against terrorists.

Describing the troops as a special breed of men,   the   President assured them that all necessary action was being taken to address challenges facing them in their operations against Boko Haram.

“In terms of equipment and logistics, we have already made considerable progress since the insurgency started and we will continue to improve in that regard until your operations are successfully concluded,” he   told the soldiers.

Abducted Chibok girls

Abati said   that Jonathan also toured wards of the 7 Division Hospital and Medical Services Centre where he met with soldiers recovering from injuries sustained in operations against Boko Haram and wished them a speedy recovery.

Before leaving Maiduguri, Jonathan was also said to have visited over 900 displaced persons from Baga at the Maiduguri camp.

Abati said the President sympathised with the displaced persons over their losses   during the attack on them   by Boko Haram.

According to him, Jonathan promised them that the Federal Government would strive to make their stay in the camps more comfortable while it continues to do all within its powers to restore peace and security to enable them to return to their homes soon.

The statement by Abati quoted Jonathan as also saying, “Terrorism and insurgency have been very traumatic for all of us. I feel particularly disturbed when I hear of our people being displaced within their own country.

“I assure you and other displaced persons that government is working very hard to ensure that you do not remain in these camps for too long.

“I know that many of your houses have been destroyed. We will assist you financially so that you can rebuild your homes and return to them gradually,” the President told the displaced persons.

The President also   thanked the Red Cross and other international organisations for assisting in the provision of relief materials to the displaced persons.

He   charged local, state and Federal Government officials to work in unity in rendering support to the displaced persons.

“I do not want to be hearing conflicting reports on support being given to them. Government is one and we must all work together to assist our people whenever the need arises.

“We must cooperate maximally and work together at the local government, state and federal levels to ensure that our people who are unfortunately displaced from their homes get the best possible treatment,” Jonathan said.

The Chief of Army Staff , Lt Gen Kenneth Minimah, said the President’s visit was significant since January 15 is the day set aside for remembering fallen heroes.

Also on the   Presidential entourage were the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Muhammad Sani-Sidi.

We’ll crush Boko Haram, others

–Obama, Cameron

The United States President, Barack Obama, and British Prime Minister, David Cameron, have vowed to defeat Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations   killing innocent people across the world.

They said in an article published on the United Kingdom Government website on Thursday, that “barbaric killers and their distorted ideology,” would be exterminated.

“Whether we are facing lone fanatics or terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIL) or Boko Haram, we will not be cowed by the extremists,” the two leaders wrote on the website,www.gov.uk.

They added, “ We will defeat these barbaric killers who try to justify the murder of innocents, whether children attending school in Peshawar, or girls forced to become suicide bombers in northern Nigeria.

“When the freedoms that we treasure came under a brutal attack in Paris, the world responded with one voice. Along with our French allies, we have made it clear to those who think they can muzzle freedom of speech and expression with violence that our voices will only grow louder.”

Obama and Cameron stated that there were more than one billion Muslims in the world, majority of whom are “sickened by the evil these terrorists claim to perpetrate in the name of Islam.”

They said that their countries   would continue to work closely with all those who believe in peace and tolerance.

The leaders recalled that “200 years ago this month, Britain and the US fought each other at the Battle of New Orleans,” adding that that   “was the last major battle where our nations met as enemies.”

They said that “in modern times, our special relationship as allies and partners has been the firm foundation of our shared security and prosperity.”

Cameron and Obama added, “Together we defeated the Nazis and hunted down the core al-Qaeda leadership. Our scientists collaborate to transform our world, from discovering the double helix blueprint of life to creating the technologies that power our digital age.

“Our businesses, investors and entrepreneurs fuel the largest foreign direct investment relationship between any two countries in the world.”

They however admitted that the progress achieved so far was not guaranteed.

The   US Secretary of State, John Kerry, had also on Thursday described the massacres in Baga and Doron Baga near Lake Chad by   Boko Haram on January 3 as a “crime against humanity.”

Kerry, who   addressed   journalists in Bulgaria, said, “What they have done with respect to the slaughter recently is a crime against humanity nothing less.

“It’s an enormously horrendous slaughter of innocent people and Boko Haram continues to present a serious threat not just in Nigeria and the region but to all of our values and all of our sense of responsibility regarding terrorism.

“Boko Haram is without question one of the most evil and threatening terrorist entities on the planet today”.

Kerry said he had discussed with the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, — who was also in Sofia — the possibility of “engaging in a special initiative with respect to Nigeria and with respect to Boko Haram.”

Meanwhile, a former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has urged world leaders to unite against Boko Haram’s use of schoolgirls as suicide bombers.

Brown, who is a United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, also said the actions of the insurgents contravened known conventions protecting the rights of children.

I didn’t endorse any candidate – Soyinka

 Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Thursday dismissed claims that he had endorsed some politicians as his presidential and governorship candidates ahead of the February elections.

Soyinka, in a piece titled, ‘Identity Thieves and the 2015 Election Peace Accord,’ warned those spreading the rumour of his purported endorsement of candidates “to be less gullible, and avoid becoming cheap conduits for the deception industry.”

He said, “Let me thus seize the occasion of the Abuja accord to state categorically that I have never made a statement endorsing any presidential or governorship contestant. All such attributions are fabrications by faceless, often self-appointed agents of deception, and should be publicly pilloried.

“Whenever I choose to declare support for a candidate – as is my electoral right – I shall ensure that I deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond dispute.”

Reacting to the peace pact signed by President Goodluck Jonathan and Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on Wednesday to ensure violence-free polls, Soyinka said he was impressed with the outcome of the meeting.

He described the pact as a “positive step in the direction of democracy.”

He commended the efforts of a former Secretary-General of the United Nation, Kofi Annan, and a former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, in ensuring the success of the accord.

The Nobel Laureate said if the peace pact was adhered to with sincerity, it would ensure a wholesome space for future elections and avert further violence.

“It might even come close to what the democratic ideal should be, as canvassed by others, including Governor Babatunde Fashola a few years ago,” Soyinka added.

He, however, said he was disappointed that the communiqué issued after the peace meeting made no reference to the victims of political violence.

He said, “From personal interest, however, I was disappointed that the communiqué makes no reference to the violence done to members of the electorate whose identities are stolen, abused and debased during this exercise.

“It is rapidly becoming commonplace to encounter totally fictitious statements, even entire interviews published and attributed to unsuspecting authorship. This criminal proceeding has even involved the cloning of media mastheads to which non-existent interviews are then attached. To render it in local parlance, this is political 419, and of the most despicable brand.

“While it would be unjust to place direct responsibility on the contestants, one must stress that they also have a moral responsibility to denounce these dirty tricksters in the strongest terms, even in their own interest.

“The resentment inspired in victims of such cowardly conduct cannot but impact on their own political image. The media must also protect itself by taking necessary measures against such unprincipled confusionists. It is the democratic right of every citizen to know exactly who is saying what on issues that affect their political choices.

“I take a less serious – indeed, near carnivalesque view of the opportunistic and sometimes de-contextualised use of genuine quotes from statements I have made in the past – that is a different matter entirely. As a non-pensioned writer, however, and thus dependent on the proceeds of intellectual property, such users should expect to hear from my literary agents.

“I join General Abdulsalami and others in hoping that 2015 prove a live-and-learn election year, not a do-or-die!”

Don’t come to Bayelsa, youths tell Patience Jonathan

 Mrs. Patience Jonathan

Some concerned youths in Bayelsa State, under the auspices of the Bayelsa Youth Vanguard, have threatened to disrupt the Peoples Democratic Party presidential rally if President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Patience, comes with her husband for the campaign.

The rally is slated for February 5 at the state capital, Yenagoa.

The organisation therefore warned Patience not to accompany her husband to the presidential campaign.

It accused her of causing crisis in the state and warned her to desist from that or face the consequences.

The warning, the group said, was sequel to what it described as attempts by the President’s wife to destabilise the state and fuel needless crisis and political tension in the state.

The spokesperson for the BYV, Precious Ebi Johnson, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said that Patience would only be allowed to come to the state “unless she retraced her steps or otherwise we will mobilise against the President’s rally.”

The statement read in part, “We are constrained to issue this statement to bar the President’s wife from accompanying President Goodluck Jonathan to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, for the presidential rally on February 5.

“Our action is well informed by the various steps and activities of the President’s wife in recent times which portend clear danger for the good health of our dear state.

“We note with regret the various attempts by the President’s wife to create crisis in the state through subterfuge or using surrogates.

“As things are, we want to make it very clear to her that she has to change this attitude or we go against her coming to Yenagoa with the President for the presidential campaign.

“Indeed, we may be forced to mobilise against the entire rally.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we want to state clearly that we love our dear president. President Goodluck Jonathan is our own even when we have to add that we have not really benefited from his administration as expected.

“We dare say the President should not come to Bayelsa with his wife if she continues to fuel crisis and destabilise the state for no just reason except for selfish reasons. This is not Rivers State and we won’t allow it to happen.”

He said that the youths of Bayelsa would not allow Patience to step her foot into Bayelsa soil unless she retraced her steps.

Johnson said it would be wrong to assume that they were sponsored by anyone to issue the warning.

The statement added, “We want to further state that we are not sponsored by anybody but certainly cannot just stand by and allow our peaceful state to be dragged to the mud, as she did in Rivers State.

“We are no fools. The President’s wife cannot come to our state to dictate to us who to support and vote for.

“We are matured enough to know what is good for us. Nobody should come and bribe our poor mothers and women with expired bags of rice and some money in the name of politics to mislead our people.”