Some twitter users spotted a beautiful babe driving Lamborghini Aventador, one of the most expensive cars in the world.
Money dey najia o, only if u know your way and know the right people, This car is worth over $400,000 dont even try to convert that to naira, See another pic bellow.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
A young lady that drove this ₦ 79million Lamborghini Aventador on Awolowo Road got everyone talking !
Baby Born Without Nose [Photos]
Take a deep breathe, this baby was born without a nose.‘
The rest of him is so cute, sometimes you don’t realize he doesn’t have a nose,’ says mother Brandi McGlathery.Her baby, Eli, was born with an extremely rare condition called complete congenital arhinia.There are thought to be just 37 babies in the world with the condition, and the odds against it are 197 million to one.Father Troy Thompson had joked before the baby was born, ‘I hope he doesn’t get my nose,’ according to local news site
When the baby was born on March 4 in South Baldwin Hospital, Alabama, US, mother Brandi says, ‘I pulled back and said, ‘Something’s wrong!’ And the doctor said, ‘No, he’s perfectly fine.’ Then I shouted, ‘He doesn’t have a nose!’”’ Eli does not have an olfactory cavity and cannot smell. He had a tracheotomy to help him breathe, and thus doesn’t cry, either. Brandi has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Eli – who may eventually have surgery to build him a nose, and faces frequent doctor’s visits and hospital appointment. Doctors may have to wait until after puberty, as his palate also didn’t form all the way, and his ‘brain is lower.’
25 die lost their lives, others injured while celebrating Buhari’s victory
At least 25 people lost their lives while several others sustained injuries in the ‘wild’ celebration which greeted the victory of the President Elect Gen Muhammadu Buhari in last Saturday’s election.
According to reports, 4 of the victims died in Kano, 17 in Abuja, one in Benue while three died in Kontagora, Niger state. Many of the victims in Kano were crushed to death as car owners staged a car racing competition after Buhari’s victory was announced. One of the victims, a staff of Etisalat was crushed to death along the Uku end of Zaria road in Kano.
Many of the victims died on the spot while others died at the Mallam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano where they were rushed to for treatment. In Makurdi, most of the youths besieged the road in Wadata and North Bank area where they engaged in acrobatic displays with their motorcycles. One of them died in the process while two sustained injuries.
President Goodluck Jonathan is not the True Hero Of Nigerian Democracy!
The revisionist historians of Nigeria have attempted since Tuesday of this week to rewrite the true account of the recent history of the Nigerian democracy since General Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by calling the outgoing Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the true hero of the Nigerian democracy.
President Goodluck Jonathan is not, will not, cannot and will never be the real hero of the Nigerian democracy for the following reasons. Firstly, the Ekitigate scandal that was directly engineered and supported with the federal might from the Aso Rock villa was an electoral fraud by this federal government of Nigeria against the constitutional rights of the voters of Ekiti State of Nigeria. This development cannot make Goodluck Jonathan, the hero of our democracy in Nigeria.Secondly, the invasion of the All Progressives Congress (APC) office in Lagos by the federal government through the DSS violated the constitution of Nigeria. Thirdly, the bribing of the Yoruba Obas, Afenifere elders and Gani Adams of the militant OPC with the Nigerian tax payers money and contract by this President cannot be a democratic practice in all reality.
Fourthly, the use of the Nigerian military to intimidate opposition politicians across Nigeria during presidential campaigns and in Imo and Rivers States of Nigeria in violation of the recent court order that banned the use of the Nigerian military to conduct the elections in Nigeria was an anti-democratic act in all ramifications and the violation of the rule of law. The highly divisive utterances that came out of the mouths of Mama Peace, Asari Dokubo and many supporters of this President that were allowed to go on unchecked by this President can never make him the real hero of the Nigerian democracy, Fifthly, the use of the military and security agents to rig the presidential election in the South-South and South-East regions of Nigeria by preventing the APC supporters from voting and by manipulating the votes to reflect 100% voting turnout and pattern for this President will never be make him the true hero of democracy in Nigeria today, tomorrow and in the future.
~ S. I
Meet the The 6 Wise Men Who Made BUHARI’s Victory Possible
The brains behind Muhammadu Buhari’s triumph is underlined by the way that this will be the first in the historical backdrop of Nigeria’s discretionary procedure when an officeholder president is crushed.
It was no little deed that was accomplished by a portion of the nation’s most noticeable political figures. Dapo Akinrefon revealed.
1. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu ( The Jagaban)
The former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is considered a master political strategist who guided Buhari’s aspiration to a success at the party’s national convention last year.
Tinubu was able to ensure that not only did Buhari get the block vote of the Southwest, but also ensured that many states outside the region that did not have governors in the contest supported Buhari.
After the nomination convention, Tinubu together with likeminded party members was able to weave a formidable campaign machine that put Buhari to victory. Reflective of Tinubu’s imprint in the victory was the fact that Buhari in his last three runs never made an impression in the Southwest, a region he swept last weekend with victories in five of the six states.
Despite the lures and lashes from the opposition, Tinubu stood firm in an unwavering support for Buhari that proved crucial in achieving victory.
2. Governor Chibuke Amaechi
Governor Amaechi ably steered the Buhari campaign in such a way that brought the old candidate into reckoning in ways he never had been before. The governor’s input was there in the transformation of the general in his dressing and approach to campaign.
The governor was in direct control of strategy and deployment of personnel at the campaign headquarters. He was also believed to be involved in the indirect talks with some major political players who helped to ensure the victory of the general at both the nomination convention and the general election.
3. Senator Bukola Saraki
Senator Bukola Saraki who served as governor of Kwara State before going to the Senate was also instrumental to the victory. His deployment of political and other resources not only helped in the general’s sweep of Kwara State, but also in forming bonds with other major political players in the country.
4. President Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is perceived another influential personality to Buhari’s ascendancy to Aso Rock. President Obasanjo’s behind the door counsel and patronage of Team Buhari was an open secret. He demonstrated so even in the days before the election was postponed last February when he went on an international circuit to launch his recently released book, My Watch.
He also met with market leaders in his Abeokuta office where he gave them counsel on how to vote.
However, the most strategic role President Obasanjo may have played is believed to have been in bringing international focus on Nigeria in such a way that put the defeated president in a cul de sac on allowing his subordinates to manipulate the results.
5. Atiku Abubakar
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar may not have been seen regularly on the podium pushing for Buhari, but he was a main backer in terms of resources. Once he lost the ticket to Buhari, Atiku pushed his structure including his savvy media team headed by Mallam Garba Shehu to Buhari’s use.
The team proved to be a torn in the flesh of Candidate Goodluck Jonathan.
6. APC GOVERNORS
All the APC governors without exception backed the general. Though two of them, Al Makura in Nasarawa and Adams Oshiomhole in Edo were not able to deliver their states to Buhari, but the efforts they made was undeniable. Oshiomhole was especially a thorn in the flesh of Camp Jonathan in the last few days.
Hazardous gadget Explodes Near Bank in Kiev,Ukraine.
A hazardous gadget went off close to a bank, found on the Borshagovskaya road in Kiev, Ukraine. Nobody was harmed in the impact, which caused minor harm to the building.
Explosives specialists gathered pieces of obscure things at the scene. The samples were sent to a lab for testing, Chief Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kiev said in a press discharge.
An investigation concerning the occurrence is in progress.
President Jonathan saved Nigeria from political chaos – PFN
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has described President Goodluck Jonathan’s concession of defeat in the March 28 Presidential election as a move which “saved the nation from political chaos and violence.”
The President of PFN, Reverend Dr. Felix Omobude, commended the president for enabling a peaceful election, adding that his action was a true demonstration of sportsmanship in the interest of the country.
Omobude, in a statement on Thursday, also congratulated the President-elect, Major-General Mohammadu Buhari on his victory in the presidential poll.
He said, “The PFN shares in your aspiration to move Nigeria forward and hope that with the support of Nigerians, we can together build a strong, virile and united nation where no one is oppressed.
“We commend President Jonathan for his courage and spirit of sportsmanship in accepting the outcome of the elections. This has saved the nation from political chaos and violence.
“The PFN call on all Nigerians to continue to maintain peace and order and engage in things that will unite us and strengthen our democratic values.”
List: Behold The Real Men Of God & The False Prophets In Nigeria
Nigeria is honored with incredible men of God who are valid to their calling and show magnificent knowledge. However in every twelve there must be a Judas.
A great deal of untruths has been utilized to stigmatize the most high God. This is the thing that happens when mortal men case to hear God when in all actuality, They fantasize and lie aimlessly for the sake of God.
The following is a rundown of prophetic articulations by men of God who guaranteed that God identifies with them concerning the presidential races in Nigeria.
The rundown is in not specific request
Pastor Enoch Adeboye
As the General Overseer of the Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye is perhaps, the most influential clergyman in Nigeria. I can confirm that he is a true and wise man of God. His 2015 New Year Day statement on the election was very guarded.
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“Unfortunately, because it is election year, I can’t tell you all that God told me about Nigeria. But I will tell you this: by the end of the year, many will say ‘all is well that ends well.’”
Apostle Johnson Suleman
He is the founder of Auchi, Delta State-based Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide. Apostle John Suleiman is one of the most respected Prophets in Nigeria and he had so much to say about the election in his yearly prophecies released at the beginning of the year.
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*I see president Goodluck Jonathan coming back but troubles.
*El Rufai should go and sit down. For abusing Jesus, he will not win Kaduna election.
*Aminu Tambuwal, I saw him leading Sokoto State.
*2015 presidential election will be rigged, marred in violence and end up in court case.
*Thank you Jesus! Finally a Christian is now the governor of Lagos state.
*Rochas Okorocha; I saw him moving to PDP.
*Contrary to most prophecies, Nigeria will not break up.
*I saw governor Amosun return.
*APC Rivers State needs to do grass root campaign because I saw the election been rigged for PDP. Prayers are needed because of so much bloodshed.
*I saw a man win Governorship but not allowed to govern.
*I saw attention in Delta state moved to Agbor.
*I saw people who resigned as ministers to contest election return back as Federal ministers.
*Let’s pray against military intervention and interim government.
*President election inconclusive, yet Jonathan declared winner. APC Pray!
*I don’t see Buhari with credentials to vie for president.
*With the level of bloodshed I saw, it was better Goodluck goes now to his village quietly.
*2015 election is another June 12. The man who truly won will not govern or rule.
*Prophet T.B Joshua
His Ikotun-Egbe Lagos is Mecca for Christian pilgrims from across West Africa and beyond. Prophet T.B Joshua is perhaps the most popular Prophet in Nigeria and he revealed his mind in a recent interview.
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“Elections will not happen in some states because of the frequent attacks. This could affect between three to four states. The states would be a no-go area due to violence and elections would not take place in those states unless we move closer to God. We must intensify our prayers. This is what God has showed me and you can imagine what would happen if elections don’t hold in those states. It would have great implication for our democracy.
*Prophet Joshua Iginla
The General Overseer of Champions Royal Assembly, Prophet Joshua Iginla, is one of the most popular men of God in Abuja. He describes the election as a ‘battle between the lion and the tiger.”
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“No matter how powerful or well-organized 2015 election is, it will be faulted. I am not a politician nor belong to any political party, I am just speaking God’s mind. The person sitting on the seat might not be perfect, but he will retain the seat. It’s not guess-work. Howbeit, it will be a battle between the lion and the tiger…Shortly after the election, especially on the night of the election, there will be great vandalisation. I see cars being burnt, lives killed.”
*Primate Peter Ayodele
Primate Ayodele is known for his widely-controversial prophecies. The popular founder of Inri Evangelical Spiritual Church went as far as recommending a 14 days prayer for President Goodluck Jonathan to have a ‘peaceful elections.’
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“This year’s election will throw up a lot of issues. President Goodluck Jonathan will do everything to win a second term, however, he needs 14 days prayer to have a peaceful reign to enable him complete a second term. Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega will be confused during the polls. There will be several gimmicks to cajole the INEC to rig the election. E-voting will not work. There will be ballot box snatching and stuffing during the election.”
*Bishop David Oyedepo
Speaking in a sermon, Bishop David Oyedepo was alleged to have said that the gate of hell will be opened on those who vote the incumbent president (President Jonathan) out in the forthcoming 2015 presidential elections.
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“We will open the gate of hell on those who oppose you (President Jonathan). There shall be a rise of many giants – giants in all sectors of human endeavor; Men like nations will rise in the year 2015; Men that will command attention of many nations shall arise in 2015 and God has brought us into the realm of heaven on earth, where men will live like angels.” ”
*Dr D.K Olukoya
Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, General Overseer Dr D.K Olukoya, it’s going to be a mysterious year.
*********
“I will speak in parables. This year is going to be a mysterious, cautious and dribbling year, so, you will have to find the solutions instead of diagnosing the problems carried by the year.”
*Pastor Tunde Bakare
So far, only Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly seems to have given hope about the election year.
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“Whether you are from the East or from the West or from the North or the South, you will experience joy in 2015. Other nations will say ‘how did they do it.’ It will be indescribable joy. The nations of the earth will testify. I bring good tidings of joy to every part of the nation…”
* Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka
A Catholic priest and founder of the Adoration Ministry in Enugu, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka during his New Year prophecy declared that President Jonathan will lose the election. He claimed that the
******
“President has become a bad luck., The multitude of our youths, the quality young men, quality young women, brilliants youths but nobody has plans for any of you. Our so-called leaders should come and apologize. In 2015, it shall not continue like that. By the grace of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are announcing spiritually, change! 2015 should not be a year of any hooligan maneuvering to hijack power. This is our New Year message. Listen, when you go home, tell anybody you see that from the oracle of the Holy Spirit, we are announcing change
The Goodluck met Yar’Adua and Yar’Adua died. Before you know it, the Goodluck met our oil and the oil had a bad luck and poured away, before we knew it, the Goodluck met our naira, our naira had a bad luck. Where are we going? What is the fate of this country? Shall we continue like this, we need change”
* Primate Theophilus Olabayo
Primate Theophilus Olabayo, is the pastor and founder of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh, Lagos and he prophesied saying
*****.
“God told me that they are going to rig the election and this will cause an upheaval and the results of the election will not be declared and if the result is declared, the winners of the election will not govern. But my advice to our politicians is that they should let the President Jonathan go peacefully and retired to his village.”
* Prophet Anthony Nwoko
As if the mockery of priesthood wasnt yet enough, Prophet Anthony Nwoko, A popular Enugu based prophet who had also in 1998 prophesied that late Gen. Sani Abacha, would leave government of Nigeria in a mysterious way, briefed journalists in Enugu on the state of the nation, stating that neither Jonathan nor Buhari will win.
*****
“Neither Jonathan nor Buhari will be president after the election. I told Nigerians that they should not expect much or any miracle from Jonathan. Now, in this coming election, Jonathan will only serve as John the Baptist and Buhari has not got any heavenly crown to rule and he will not rule this country because he hasn’t got that crown.
“Don’t take my prophesies for granted because I had also told Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar(rtd) not to make Olusegun Obasanjo president and I had also warned Obasanjo not to make late Umaru Yar’Adua president and my advice was not heeded and you saw what happened, I can see the glory of Nigeria in the Southeast, An igbo president and I don’t agree with Wole Soyinka that Jonathan is Nebucadnezar, Jonathan is a forerunner to the glory of God.”
*Prophet Williams Onuoha,
The General Overseer of Galilee Christian Centre, Lagos predicted thus:
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“the current governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, would become Nigeria’s president.” He will rule unless the governor failed to adhere to God’s direction.
*Bishop Tom Samson
The founder of the Christ Royal Family Church, Lagos Bishop Tom Samson warned
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Nigerians must brace up for some “hardship and darkness in this year election.”
*Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo
Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, KICC, said,
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When the president’s name is announced as winner of the election, 20 percent of a certain part of the country will not agree. Eventually, after negotiation they will. We will agree that we are one.”
*Prophet Michael Olubode
Not done, Prophet Michael Olubode, aka Micadeolu of the Celestial Church of Christ, Lagos said,
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I want to let the people of Nigeria know that the Lord will return His Excellency, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to his presidential seat. Despite much hatred for him, it pleases the Lord God of Celestial to increase his tenure at the Presidential Villa”.
*Venerable Ndubuisi Obi
Venerable Ndubuisi Obi an Anglican priest based at Onitsha in Anambra state said:
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Jonathan had never lost any election in his life. Buhari had never won any election in his life. Jonathan’s rise to the Presidency was not his making. It was simply an act of God. Buhari forced himself into power via the military coup. He has failed in four previous attempts. The last time he failed, he wept. This time will not be different. He is accustomed to failing and failure is his second name. Come Saturday, bring out your PVC and make him cry again. We are moving forward in this country. We can’t afford to put our vehicle on the reverse gear.
Dear readers, I am not here to judge but to provide a yard stick with which we can measure the veracity and authenticity of certain prophetic uttrances from the men standing behind the pulpit.
Who amongst these holy men do you think is a true man of God who hears from the almighty?
Police nab 65-year-old man for defiling girl, eight
The Police in Edo State have arrested a 65-year-old man for allegedly defiling a eight-year-old girl at Iyaro, Egor Local Government Area of the state.
The suspect, identified as Christopher Olowoeheri, was said to have lured his victim behind the park of a private transport company in Benin, where he had carnal knowledge of her on March 10, an allegation Olowoeheri denied.
He said, “I only carried her on my lap and called her my wife. I have carried her before. But she told her mother that I defiled her.”
But the Police Commissioner, Mr. Samuel Adegbuyi, who paraded the suspect at the state police headquartres in Benin, said the suspect, who was arrested following a report at the family unit of the command, had “made useful statement to the police.”
”On March 10, a case of defilement was reported at family unit against one Christopher Olowoeri aged 60 years old, who had carnal knowledge of an 8-year-old girl behind Goddy Edosa Motor Park at Iyaro, Benin City.
“The suspect has been arrested and he had made useful statement to the police. Meanwhile the case is still under investigation.”
Meanwhile, the state command has said no fewer than eight persons were arrested for various electoral offences during last Saturday’s presidential and national assembly elections held in the state.
Adegbuyi, however, explained that the Independent National Electoral Commission had the “sole responsibility” to prosecute them, at the conclusion of investigation.
“As of now, we are having about eight suspects arrested in connection with electoral offences. Investigations are ongoing.
“At the end of our investigation, the relevant case files will be forwarded through the office of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5, for further necessary actions,” he added.
Rivers lifts curfew, calls for peaceful coexistence
The Rivers State Government on Thursday lifted the curfew it had imposed on the state after last Saturday’s Presidential election.
The announcement which was made in a statement signed by the secretary to the administration, George Feyii, said the directive was with immediate effect.
“The general public is hereby informed that the dusk-to-dawn curfew declared by the state government earlier in the week has been lifted with immediate effect. “Consequently, residents in the state are free to go about their lawful duties and continue to keep peace at all times,” Feyii said in the statement.
Panic and anxiety greeted most parts of Port Harcourt, the capital, earlier on Monday, March 30, 2015, when the curfew was first imposed by the government. Motorists and many of the state’s residents who got the announcement late, hurried to their destinations for fear of being punished by law enforcement agents.
The curfew, while still effective, lasted between 7:00pm and 6:00am. Rivers was among states across the country which witnessed violence and destruction of lives and properties during last weekend’s crucial polls and the immediate imposition of the curfew by the government is believed to have curbed the further spread of disorderliness.
CrossTalk: The Yemen Template (great show!)
Peter Lavelle, Marcus Papadopoulos, Mark Sleboda, and Eric Draitser do a fantastic job taking apart the absolutely insane and incompetant US policies in the Middle East in general and in Yemen in particular. A great show – enjoy it!
Nigerian to die in Indonesia for drug trafficking
Local media report on Thursday in Jakarta, said another Nigerian, Simon Ezeaputa, has been sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
It said the district court in Tangerang, near Jakarta, on Wednesday found Ezeaputa guilty of controlling a drug transaction from his prison cell, where he was serving a 20-year jail term for drug offences. The report said the transaction involved 350 grams of crystal methamphetamine.
With the latest development, more than 60 people are on death row in Indonesia for drug offences. The report said Indonesia executed six drug convicts in January and was preparing to put to death another 10 death-row inmates. It said these include two Australians who have been the subject of a diplomatic row between Jakarta and Canberra.
Meanwhile, the Amnesty International said in its annual report on the death penalty worldwide released on Wednesday that “Indonesia stood out for all the wrong reasons.”
Papang Hidayat, Head, Amnesty Researcher, Indonesia, said the death penalty was always a human rights violation. He said there were many issues in Indonesia, in particular fair trial concerns, that make death sentences more complicated. Hidayat said investigations by human rights groups have found that individuals sentenced to death have been tortured and forced to sign police investigation reports.
APC congratulates Buhari, commends President Jonathan, Nigerians
The All Progressives Congress has congratulated Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for his historic victory in Saturday’s Presidential election, while thanking Nigerians for voting massively for the party to bring in a new dawn after a long dark night.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Gen. Buhari’s victory will make Nigeria work again, rekindle hope and bring succour to the long suffering people of the country.
”Nigerians have used their votes to bring change. We hear their message loud and clear: They want a government that works, and will not hesitate to use the same votes to kick out any government that fails to deliver,” it said. APC also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for the rare sportsmanship he exhibited by conceding defeat and congratulating Gen. Buhari, even before INEC formally declared him as the winner. The party said by that singular act, which went a long way in dousing post-election tension, the President has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, written his name in gold in the annals of Nigeria’s history and catapulted himself to a statesman.
APC said it is time for all Nigerians, irrespective of their political leaning, to put the acrimonious electioneering campaign behind them and to forge a united front to tackle the enormous challenges facing the nation. ”The APC-led Federal Government will work for all Nigerians, whether or not they voted for us in the elections, or did not even vote at all,” the party assured. ”Our party will not discriminate against any Nigerian on the basis of religion, region, ethnicity or gender. We are all God’s own people.” APC said it will also appreciate a virile opposition, because it is indispensable in any democracy that is worthy of that nomenclature. ”
Having been in opposition ourselves, we know what it means to keep the government of the day on its toes with very robust and constructive criticism, and we expect no less from those who have swapped places with us,” the party said.
It commended the media for staying true to its constitutional watchdog role, saying without the support of this Fourth Estate of the Realm, Nigeria may neither have enjoyed democracy nor sustained it. APC thanked ECOWAS, the African Union, the EU, the UN and the entire international community for their support for the country’s democratisation process, describing as invaluable their role in the success of the ongoing political transition.
Ex- late Yar'Adua's spokesman berates OBJ, lauds President Jonathan for putting Nigeria 1st.
In his article titled ‘In Losing Power, Goodluck Jonathan Finally Finds Himself’, chairman of the publication board, Thisday Newspapers & previous Special Adviser on Communications to late President Yar’Adua, Segun Adeniyi subbed OBj and lauded Jonathan for putting Nigeria first.
He wrote;
“The fact most people ignore is that given the objection of his party to the use of the card reader, if the president had stormed out of the polling unit at Otuoke when three card readers failed him, that probably would have been the end of the election. And by now, Nigeria would be on the boil. Fortunately for all of us, Jonathan chose not to travel that familiar road often trudged by African leaders and history will forever be kind to him for it.” Read the full article after the cut…
Goodbye Ebele Jonathan – by Segun Adeniyi as published on Thisday
It remains for me the most memorable moment in the movie. The captain was informing the ship owner (who had bought into the lie that no force on earth or in heaven could sink the Titanic) that the ship had hit an iceberg. “From this moment, no matter what we do, the Titanic will founder,” he said. Having put so much faith in his own propaganda, the ship owner retorted: “But this ship cannot sink.” Without missing a beat, the captain responded: “She is made of iron, Sir. I assure you she can. And she will. It is a mathematical certainty.”
Because those who survive on rent in our country are adept at marketing their greed, they always succeed in selling to whoever occupies the number one office in Nigeria at any period that he is not only above the law, he is so powerful that he can never be defeated in an election. But with the current defeat of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), it is now very clear that the president of Nigeria is human, afterall and he can be ousted by the same people whose votes put him in power. That message has been most eloquently passed and our country will never remain the same again. It is a new day!
For sure, the president of Nigeria has enormous financial resources he can mobilise at any given time while the security agencies and critical institutions of state work at his pleasure regardless of what is written in the Constitution. And he is forever surrounded by clowns and jobbers of all sorts—I was privileged to have seen many of them at work in the Villa—who sing the mantra that, as “President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”—a title that is so needlessly repeated for his pleasure almost as if it is a line in the national anthem—he has such unlimited power that he can even turn a man into a woman. Now we know better.
Having never bought into the scam that a president of Nigeria cannot be defeated, I have since about four months ago been telling some people very close to President Jonathan that he was electorally vulnerable. But they never took me serious. In my personal encounter with the president in his office on July 23 last year (he sent for me), I particularly explained to him that he was increasingly being perceived as “anti-North” and that it could hurt him at the general election. I recall the president interjected by saying “but Segun, you know me…” to which I replied that it was not my view but a perception challenge he should deal with. If he made efforts in that direction, they were either too little or too late, going by the results of the presidential election across the entire Northern zone where Buhari won outright in 16 out of 19 States. Details of that private encounter I had with the president will come in my coming book on the 2015 general elections in Nigeria that should be out before the end of the year.
Needless to say, I am not one of the people surprised by the outcome of the presidential election. In the fourth instalment of my 2015 election series, “A Time to Choose”, on 29 January this year, I wrote: “as the incumbent, Jonathan will run on his record which unfortunately would include not only his performance in office (which is not as bad as being projected) but also mismanaged relationships that may have been more costly in terms of the eroded support base. We may never know how much political damage the president inflicted on himself by his failed bid to install a Speaker for the House of Representatives in June 2011 and the refusal to accept defeat gracefully thereafter; the futile attempt to oust Rotimi Amaechi as the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman and how that eventually led to the split within the ruling party; the ill-feelings from aggrieved party members who lost out at the recent PDP primaries; the unfortunate Chibok ‘Waka-Come’ theatrics at the Villa by the president’s wife that went viral internationally; the saga of the ‘unaccounted for billions of Dollars’ in oil receipts that is yet to be conclusively resolved and the accompanying drama with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that played out from the CBN Governorship office in Abuja to the Emir’s palace in Kano; the presidential redefinition of corruption as being different from–and perhaps more tolerable than—stealing; the evident contradictions inherent in the fact that those who once ran a vicious media campaign against Jonathan, baptizing him with the moniker, ‘clueless president’ are now the ones speaking for him etc. The thing about elections is that choices are usually made by most voters on the basis of sentiments (and emotions) such as the foregoing and that is why the incumbent is often disadvantaged, especially when the public mood is as fouled as it is in Nigeria today…”
I wrote that three months ago and I have been proved to be correct. However, despite the bitterness that characterised the 2015 presidential election campaigns, President Jonathan redeemed himself when it mattered most not only by the way he gracefully accepted defeat and congratulated Buhari even before the collation of results was concluded on Tuesday but also by the manner in which he rose to the occasion last Saturday.
Despite the discomfort of having to stand in the heat, Jonathan comported himself very well as the president, not a partisan, as we all watched on national television how three card readers failed to read his biometrics and accredit him for voting at his home town, Otueke, Bayelsa State. At a time television camera could project very clearly that his wife was already boiling with anger, the president said he was prepared to wait for as long as it would take for it to work before he was eventually accredited manually. Calm in disposition and measured in his utterances, Jonathan refused to be goaded by the reporters who were asking him leading questions about the use of card reader, knowing where he stood on the issue. “President Jonathan is just one person, so if we have problem with one person, as far as the election is going on well nationally, I am not worried. There might be a delay, my interest is that we conduct a credible election,” he said.
At the end, even if he lost the election, President Jonathan has turned out to be a man of his word. The fact most people ignore is that given the objection of his party to the use of the card reader, if the president had stormed out of the polling unit at Otuoke when three card readers failed him, that probably would have been the end of the election. And by now, Nigeria would be on the boil. Fortunately for all of us, Jonathan chose not to travel that familiar road often trudged by African leaders and history will forever be kind to him for it.
That Nigerians are today proud of Jonathan is not in doubt and it is a shame that it would take a defeat for him to approximate to the president many had wanted to see in recent years. But in the days and weeks to come when he begins the self-introspection as to how he lost the presidency, Jonathan should look no farther than his immediate environment. From his overbearing wife who used the campaign podium to preach hate, forgetting that there indeed is a God in heaven who promised in the Bible to “overturn, overturn, overturn… until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him” regardless of whether such a person is “analogue” or “brain dead” to people like Godsday Orubebe who made a disgraceful public show of himself on Tuesday not to mention Chief Edwin Clarke and confederates who, forgetting that politics is a game of addition, imagined they could abuse and blackmail the whole of Nigeria into re-electing their Ijaw kinsman.
How and why Jonathan lost will be a subject of interrogation in my coming book but it is a pity that his handlers paid scant attention to my warning of 19 January 2012, in a piece titled “Their Son, Our President”, which rankled Aso Rock and for which someone procured the services of hacks to attack me. I hope that Jonathan’s people will go back to read (http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/their-son-our-president/107435/) and reflect on what might have been had they taken counsel in the Yoruba adage that when your tuber of yam is growing too big, you use your hand to cover it.
For an election that had been predicted to be the end of our country, Nigerians have every right to be happy about the turn of events but there are just too many heroes and the first to be commended is the ordinary voter who stood under the sun and in the rain to exercise his/her franchise. And then the much-maligned chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega. Calm under pressure, mature in his approach to issues, serene in the face of provocation yet so firm and resolute in his conviction, Jega has written his name into the history books by delivering when it mattered most. With any other person, it is doubtful if we would be where we are today as a nation. And of course we must commend our president-elect, Buhari, not only for his tenacity of purpose (having lost three previous times) but also for the maturity with which he handled the campaign irritations from some PDP bigwigs and the president’s wife.
Finally, the biggest accolades go to the president who conceded defeat so that his nation can move on. By that simple but important gesture of patriotism, honour and nobility, Jonathan has earned the status that one old man imagined he could confer on himself just by the theatrics of tearing his party card before television camera. I just hope that the leaders of the victorious APC would have the decency to treat the president with respect in the remaining period of his tenure and after he leaves office. He deserves it.
I will be a bloody hypocrite to say that I was praying for Jonathan to win the presidential election. To be honest, I felt the country could do with some Change (even if I still don’t know its content) because of the way Jonathan mismanaged a couple of serious national issues, especially the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east. There was also this academic interest about whether the proposition in my May 2011 research paper ‘Divided Opposition as Boon to African Incumbents’ on factors shaping incumbent elections in Africa with special focus on Nigeria, would prove to be correct. Now that my thesis has been validated, I enjoy no real satisfaction that Jonathan is leaving office this way because, despite my misgivings about some of the people around him or his mixed stewardship, I still have a strong affection for the president who I consider a very good man.
If the president needed any validation that he acted wisely, it is by the outpouring of congratulations to him from all over the world and the way he has practically repositioned our country for business. Perhaps nobody has captured the situation as succinctly as Mr. Mo Ibrahim, one of Africa’s wealthiest men and philanthropist, who said yesterday: “The news from Nigeria today is wonderful. Africa’s largest country has concluded a peaceful election process. Furthermore, the incumbent has already gracefully conceded and congratulated his successor – a first for Nigeria and a benchmark for other African countries to follow. Today, we Africans are all proud of Nigeria and President Jonathan. Thank you Mr. President. If you are seeking a legacy, you have definitely achieved it.”
Last Saturday in my hotel room in Lagos, my friend and research assistant, Dipo Akinkugbe, with whom I was watching on television the drama of Jonathan and the Card Reader as the election accreditation exercise unfolded, said after the president had fielded questions from reporters and left: “This is a rare display of statesmanship that I have not seen in President Jonathan for a long time.”
That, I told him, is the essential Jonathan whose Ijaw handlers and a few power mongers from other parts of the country did not allow to blossom. But in falling from power through the electoral process, Jonathan has risen in the estimation of Nigerians for his statesmanlike concession to General Buhari.
Perhaps, in this final moment of loneliness, the President finally acted as Jonathan, unencumbered by the hidden motives of the army of power merchants and ethnic salesmen who have held him hostage all these years. Perhaps it is this last act of selfless submission to the will of the people that will eternally redeem Jonathan in Nigerian history. This end, then, could justify the murky path of this humble man from Otuoke who started life without shoes but has risen to great power and now to the honour roll of great Nigerians.
The message from the foregoing is profound yet so simple: In losing power, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has finally found himself.
Buhari vows to eradicate Boko Haram when he gets into office
In a meeting with foreign news media CNN yesterday night, Nigeria’s leader elect Gen. Buhari guaranteed to “plug” corruption and pulverize Boko Haram in 2 months.
He told CNN’s Amanpour from Abuja the previous evening
“We know how they started and where they are now and we will rapidly give attention to security in the country. And I believe we will effectively deal with them in two months when we get into office. We will be needing the cooperation of neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger. There were efforts made by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, but it was not good enough and it came rather late”
“We expected the Federal Government four years ago to sit down with these countries andmake sure they do not allow the terrorists free movement across borders, training facilities and movement of weapons. These were only done a few months ago and we have seen how Cameroon, Chad and Niger are fighting Boko Haram more than Nigeria is doing until recently. Really we have seen enough and we have enough law enforcement to face Boko Haram squarely.”
Buhari said the military didn’t perform as well as they should have because of corruption in the system
“They will…if you recall, the Nigerian soldiers out of all ethical expectations were granting interviews to foreign journalists, saying they were being sent to fight terrorists without proper weapons. And then the National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing to find out how much money was approved for training and weapon in the last three years but that hearing was scuttled by the administration.”
Aluta Continua..!! Seun Kuti thanks APC leader, The Jagaban for bringing change to Nigeria
GMB may have imprisoned his dad yet Seun Kuti appears to have proceeded onward from it.
He took to twitter to express gratitude toward Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for conveying change to Nigeria…
Photos: Atiku Abubakar meets Buhari in Abuja to congratulate him
The previous VP met with the president-choose yesterday in Abuja to praise him on winning the presidential race.
He imparted the photographs on his Facebook page. Another pic when you proceed.
Abia PDP accuses INEC of double standard !
The Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat at last Saturday’s presidential poll.
The Chairman of PDP in the state, Senator Emma Nwaka, who addressed journalists on Wednesday in Umuahia on the outcome of the elections, said Jonathan had by conceding defeat distinguished himself as “an icon of peace.”
He said the President had by his peaceful disposition demonstrated that he valued Nigeria’s peace and unity more than his personal interest. Nwaka called on the nation’s leaders to emulate him. Nwaka, however, blamed Jonathan’s electoral misfortunes on the Independent National Electoral Commission, which he accused of introducing two different rules for the polls.
He argued that whereas voters in the South, a region considered Jonathan’s stronghold were strictly adhering to the use of card readers for accreditation, manual accreditation was allowed for voters in the North. This, he said, accounted for the low number of accredited voters recorded in the South during the polls, a situation he said gave Buhari an edge over Jonathan.
He argued that if the massive number of voters who trooped out in the South to vote but could not be accredited following the failure of card readers were allowed to vote, Jonathan would have won. Nwaka described the card reader as a huge disaster but urged the PDP faithful to remain calm and steadfast in their support for the party.
On the continued delay in announcing the result of the Abia North senatorial election , Nwaka called on INEC to declare the winner of the contest without any further delay so as not to undermine the integrity of the exercise. He claimed that the PDP candidate had been declared winner in four out of the five councils in the zone by the collation officers, and urged INEC to declare him winner.
Nwaka said it was unacceptable for INEC to fail to declare the winner of the contest four days after the poll.
Jega for Nobel award !
Now that the change in the political leadership we desire in Nigeria has become a reality, what is our immediate need? Stable, relatively cheap electricity is our major need.
The multiplier effect of uninterrupted electricity cannot be over-emphasised. Our moribund refineries must work again. I salute Prof. Attahiru Jega’s uncommon determination for success. l recommend Jega for a Nobel Peace award. Except God, no one could have restrained Jega from losing his head when Godsday Orubebe acted the fool in the full glare of cameras.
Pastor Taiwo Ekun-ode,
SangOta, Ogun State,
+2348059052
Pay dying Imo contractors
It is no longer news that an Army of Imo State contractors under the aegis of unpaid Imo contractors are being owed over N180bn since 2011.
The contracts range from road construction, buildings, supply and other civil engineering works. Unfortunately, the association has suffered untold hardship in accessing their pay before the administration (which keeps on making failed promises) inspite of the harassment meted out to its members by banks over loans.
Worst still, 19 of their members have reportedly died of heart attack,while government is insisting it is owing none. This serves as a distress call to the state governor, Rochas Okorocha,who claims to be running a rescue mission.
ONYEYIRI Chidi,
Owerri, Imo State,
+2348035428
We may return to the Creeks, says Asari-Dokubo
A former Niger-Delta militant, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, says with the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan, he and other militants may be forced to return to the creeks.
Asari-Dokubo, who hails from the same state as Jonathan, said the voting pattern showed that the South-West and the North ganged up against the South-South and South-East geo-political zones.
The ex-militant said in a statement by his spokesperson, Rex Anighoro, that it was unfair that the minorities were being emasculated by the majority ethnic groups. He said he feared that the government of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, would be vicious.
Asari-Dokubo said,
“The conditions that advanced the need to embrace the creeks have been sadly re-energised. It is clear that a vicious government who may maim and murder the voice of the so-called minorities may have just been birthed. “Indeed integration is non-existent as regional gang-ups and supremacy is symbolic with this victory.”
The ex-militant, who had in January said he and his colleagues would wreak havoc if Jonathan lost the election, praised the President for being a true statesman. He said it was the struggle of the militants that led to the Jonathan presidency. Asari-Dokubo said since the South-South had lost the presidency, ex-militants would meet to decide the next line of action.
He said,
“While President Jonathan enjoys his moments and basks in the euphoria of a new world-renowned statesman having congratulated Muhammadu Buhari, we must quickly be reminded that our struggle was never about Jonathan or about the presidency. “President Jonathan is an establishment beneficiary of our struggle, our sweat and blood that many bled and died for. He was never in the struggle and he can never wish away our collective march for statesmanship.“Yes indeed, to an extent, he was a mitigating factor in self-determination pursuit as we went on sabbatical. This mitigation he seems to have willingly repudiated. The days coming will be critical. We shall study all the conditions and consult widely before determining the way forward for our collective existence and survival as a people. The days coming shall either drive the quest of integration or further separate us.”
Jega & his colleague profs
Watching how the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, was relating with his colleagues, all professors and heads of universities in the country, at the presidential election collation centre, is a lesson in civility for us all to imbibe.
You could see the show of respect from these distinguished academia to their colleague, Prof. Jega in their presentation of the collated presidential election results, notwithstanding that they are equal in the academics.
This culture of respect exhibited by these professors is a challenge to our youths to emulate. Respect your elders and those in authority with civility. But the challenge to the system now is that; how will a successor in office to Jega, who is not an academia draw from this poll of academia? This is a food for thought.
Prof. Jega, well done for this initiative in election process management.
Gabriel Ipheghe,
206 Road, FESTAC Town,
Lagos State,
+2348022920
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