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Run, Jonathan Run

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By Ben Nanaghan

The drumbeats of the 2015 presidential elections are very clear and even deafening. However the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, is treading, cautiously as a result of the President’s ban on political campaigns for 2015. President Goodluck Jonathan has warned his ministers and officials to resign if they want to participate in the politics of 2015 and some have complied. This disciplined approach to governance is to ensure the administration’s focus is not derailed or dimmed by early politicking for 2015.

It is however pertinent to note that this is the first time a sitting president would restrict politicking to a specific period to allow the government-in-power to concentrate on governance without much distraction. In previous civilian regimes politics and campaigns for the next election take off immediately the government in-power is sworn in, especially when the incumbent president is contesting the next election. And this is one of the disadvantages of the double tenure system as against the 6 years single tenure which President Jonathan proposed in 2011. This fine proposal was killed by the National Assembly especially the Tambuwal-led House of Representatives which attacks with the ferocity of a starved  lion any proposal or bill originating from the presidency.

The anti-Jonathan plot is thickening by the day just as the Jonathan administration is scoring very high in areas of the economy, infrastructure, security, education and good governance.

But all the plots of the opposition will crumble like a pack of cards because it is the people who will elect their President not Tambuwal and definitely Prof Ango Abdullai, the new chairman of the Northern Elders Forum who just last week threatened that the North will not accept President Jonathan as their President in 2015. I did not expect anything less from the Prof who has for long been sidelined in Northern politics and only ascended into his political eldorado recently.

However, it is frantically unfortunate that the learned professor has never commented on the critical lack of education or even total lack of education in Northern Nigeria. About a forthright ago the Director General of the Nigerian Teachers Institute (NTI), Kaduna, Dr. Aminu Ladan Sharehu shocked the nation when he said less than 20% of teachers in the North are qualified to teach. This means more than 80% of teachers in the North are themselves illiterates with mainly certificates in Islamic Studies. If this woeful educational imbalance is allowed to fester it will not be too far from now when the effect of such ignorance and illiteracy will manifest into anger and violence that will obliterate the Nation called Nigeria. Professor Ango Abdullai and his gang of professional politicians should bury their heads in shame and plan proactively to reverse this poignant and dangerous trend of ignorance which has reached a fatally critical level. After all, Aristotle and Horace Mann said respectively: “Educated men are as much superior to uneducated men as the living are to the dead” and that a     “Human being is not in any proper sense a human being until he is educated”.

The figures on education in the North are mind boggling. Before the boko haram insurgency 10 million school age children were already out of school in Northern Nigeria alone. With the recent wanton wastage of the lives of pupils/students in Yobe States and other boko haram states in the North, the withdrawal from school will almost double.

In 2010 Adamu Ciroma and his cohorts tried all the tricks in their political lexicon but President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan won in all the geopolitical zones including Katsina State which is the home state of his main opponent. In 2010, so many associations and fora sprang up to defeat GEJ but they all failed because of the pull and allure of President Jonathan’s promises and candidacy. And today Nigeria is better for it as GEJ is on course in his efforts to bring Nigeria out of the woods. A critical look at the President’s transformation programme shows that out of the 14 points programme, the president has already achieved reverberating success in 8 of them and on course in the remaining 6 points.

Let us take a brief look at the economy: Nigeria’s economy like all other economies of the world cannot escape the challenges and the woes of the global economic crises. Even the world’s 3 biggest economies, USA, China and Japan battle with their own difficult peculiarities. Even China which plans to topple American monopoly of the numero uno spot in 2023 has its own peculiar problems. In its figures for the 2nd quarter, China recorded just over 7% growth which is less than the experts’ projection.

In spite of these challenges Nigeria has fared very well under President Goodluck Jonathan: Our GDP has recorded encouraging growth and this has stabilized our exchange rate at between N150 to N160 per dollar for a long period of time. In May 2011 our inflation rate was 12.4 percent but today it is about 9.1%. The domino effect of this on the economy is inestimable.

Our external reserve also rose from $ 38.08 BN in May 2011 to #48.4BN in May 2013. Our External Crude Account (ECA) also rose from $ 4BN in May 2011 to $ 9BN in December 2012 and in May 2013 we recorded $ 6BN. This is because our projected crude oil production fell from the 2.53 million bdp to between 2.1 and 2.2mn bpd. Government’s annual borrowing was also drastically reduced from N852 BN in 2011 to N588 BN in May 2013.

The Jonathan administration is assiduously working to earn international trust and confidence and this has made Nigeria the highest foreign investment destination in Africa with  $ 7BN Foreign Direct Investment. Many foreign investors have openly praised the Jonathan administration due to his transparency and absence of covert and personal pre-agreement conditionalities and kickbacks as in some previous regimes.

The administration has added to its strings of achievements in the area of agriculture by blocking some loopholes in the procurement and distribution of fertilizers. Gone are the days when top officials of government and fertilizer distribution parastatals became billionaires overnight without any query from former conniving presidents. We now have a fairly diversified economy with our  non-oil sector increasing export from  9% in 2008 to 31% in 2012.

In 2008 our total oil export was 91% of total export, making it a mono-commodity economy but today total oil export is now 69% of total export while non-oil export is for the first time since the 1970s hitting 31%. The administration’s stride in food production like cassava, wheat and rice has been phenomenal. The Jonathan administration has moved the nation just one step to food self-sufficiency and this has moved the people out of poverty.

In the areas of rail and road transportation the Jonathan administration has achieved political, cultural and mental demystification. These were infrastructure facilities that were already pronounced DEAD, but this administration has resuscitated them to the glory of God.

For the past 30 years our railway system has been between comatose and DEAD but because of his love for this naturally blessed and endowed nation, Jonathan performed the rail miracle. In December 2012 he flagged off and reinstated the Lagos/Kano rail link in the western rail corridor and in May 2013 he commissioned the Abuja/Kaduna rail link. Also intracity rail services are now fully operational in Lagos, Kano and Kaduna.

The impact of the re-invigoration of the rail system on the economy his another plus for the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Food prices will reduce and Nigerians  now travel more comfortably and cheaper too. The rail system will also convey those heavy equipment like machinery, steel, cement, etc. whose transportation has had a negative effect on our roads.

In the road sector government has made Nigerians very proud with the refurbishment of the Lagos-Ore-Benin Road, Kano-Maiduguri Road, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road. Even most of the eastern roads which were hitherto gullies of death traps are now pleasurably motorable. The much publicized East-West trans state road linking the West to the East is also progressing as planned.

President Jonathan wants the best for Nigerians and he is right on track. Let us also remember that the President is one of us. He does not have the traditional power base of Nigeria’s power brokers. His father was a local community leader and a canoe builder. When choosing his minister he did not go begging to Nigeria’s politically established families to release one of their sons or daughters for ministerial or ambassadorial appointments to maintain the status quo.

This president has been focused ab-initio but with great challenges from Aminu Tambuwal and his opposition team.

Petrol queues have vanished. The usually quarterly deregulation tango is now a thing of the past.

Electricity even with its external sabotage by loyalists of past presidents has improved tremendously. And the President is not losing focus as electricity will be one of his greatest legacies.

Most Nigerians are highly impressed by the President’s handling of the boko haram issue. A few critics have lambasted the President for handling the boko haram issue with kid gloves instead of using the bulldozer approach which  levelled Odi on November 20, 1999. But even the most powerful military leader will find it almost impossible to bulldoze Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and Kano states to flush out boko haram.

Is it not however encouraging to note that in spite of boko haram and our security challenges, Nigeria is still the preferred destination of foreign investors with a foreign direct investment of $ 7BN in 2012.

Despite this new spring of life in Nigerians, why does the North and the opposition rage against President Goodluck Jonathan?

Northern Nigeria has its own special programme for Nigeria- to permanently govern Nigeria while southern Nigeria plays the underdog permanently. Chief Obafemi Awolowo almost single-handedly fought against this obnoxious monopoly of power but he did not get the support of the then Eastern States which played the beautiful bride even as late as 1979. But today the situation has reversed itself.

The North has never hidden its disdain for the right of southerners to  govern this country since amalgamation in 1914 and self-government rule in 1957 when Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa  became Nigeria’s first Prime Minister-ala the incredibly fictional census conducted by the colonial masters. From 1957, the North ruled Nigeria till 1999 apart from Gen. Obasanjo’s 3 years military rule. The North after ruling for 38 years now felt very sorry for the south and openly ceded power to the South West due to Gen. Obasanjo’s support for President Shehu Shagari in the 19793 12 2/3 saga that finally nailed Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s ambition to make Nigeria a nation to be reckoned with in the comity of advanced nations. And so the North has ruled Nigeria for 41 years while the south in 2013 has ruled for 15 years from 1957.

Boko haram was rehabilitated and refurbished by northern leaders to intimidate, embarrass and scare President Jonathan from governing Nigeria because he is a minority President. The North should think of ways of educating its citizenry and support Jonathan’s educational programme for the almajiri’s. The North will still vote Jonathan into power in spite of the Ango Abdullais and the now sidelined Adamu Ciromas.

President Goodluck Jonathan may not be a strong, military, bulldozing president but nothing will deprive him of his constitutional right to contest the 2015 presidential election.

Jonathan may be humble and humanitarian in nature but he is genetically engineered by that never-yielding Izon gene that makes him stand where others buckle, fight when there is need to, display the universally acknowledged Izon generosity when the need arises.

As an Izon, he was brought up in a stormy and sometimes violent oceanic environment and he survived it all. President Jonathan’s story until this moment is a story of survival amidst insurmountable odds.

Jonathan will run for the Presidency in 2015 and there will be no “shaking” about this by the special grace of GOD.

So run, Jonathan run.

•Nanaghan wrote from Lagos. •e-mail: [email protected]

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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: PM News

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Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

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Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

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By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

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Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

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Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

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Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

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President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

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