GEJ Pays $1.2 million to Washington Post to launder his image.  -- My feelings  --

If there is any set that needs convincing today about the seriousness of GEJ to combat the numerous plagues in Nigeria today, its Nigerians and no one else.  Why does he have to take his campaign to America through the Washington Post? How many Nigerians have ever seen the Washington Post Newspaper? Has he any respect for our feelings? Is he ever worried that his actions are the main reason why Nigerians don't trust him. To win election in Nigeria you need Nigerian voters, why waste humongous sums of $1.2 million to launder you imagine abroad? You would have used that money to settle part of what the Polytechnic Lecturers are demanding that has forced the students of Polytechnics to be sitting at home for almost a year now.

Alternatively, GEJ I am sure you know that the Benue chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers have been on strike for the past 10 months.  Some of their members have been reported dead as a result.  If you have used $1.2 million to settle that issue, you would have been a darling of that state even after the 2015 elections.

If you have fixed electricity in Kano, I give you my words, I will lead my family and even go out of my way to convince my friends to vote for you in 2015.  You would have used that money to ensure that ordinary people have access to life essentials.

GEJ sir, your advisers and you, in most cases, are given to banding this word - "opposition" around to the extent that I think it's clouding your judgement of Nigerians genuine assessment of your performance.  The ordinary Nigeria does not understand the word opposition.  What we know is the gap between what we need and the opportunities that exists for us to reach such things.  The fewer the opportunities, the harsher our assessment of whoever is at the helm of affairs.  If you think such assessments is from the opposition, so be it.

If you need anyone to be convinced on who you are or how noble your intentions are for Nigeria, GEJ sir, please talk to us.  We have the capacity to assess you fairly where tangible indices exists on ground.

If there is any set that needs convincing today about the seriousness of GEJ to combat the numerous plagues in Nigeria today, its Nigerians and no one else.  Why does he have to take his campaign to America through the Washington Post? How many Nigerians have ever seen the Washington Post Newspaper? Has he any respect for our feelings? Is he ever worried that his actions are the main reason why Nigerians don't trust him. To win election in Nigeria you need Nigerian voters, why waste humongous sums of $1.2 million to launder you imagine abroad? You would have used that money to settle part of what the Polytechnic Lecturers are demanding that has forced the students of Polytechnics to be sitting at home for almost a year now.

Alternatively, GEJ I am sure you know that the Benue chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers have been on strike for the past 10 months.  Some of their members have been reported dead as a result.  If you have used $1.2 million to settle that issue, you would have been a darling of that state even after the 2015 elections.

If you have fixed electricity in Kano, I give you my words, I will lead my family and even go out of my way to convince my friends to vote for you in 2015.  You would have used that money to ensure that ordinary people have access to life essentials.

GEJ sir, your advisers and you, in most cases, are given to banding this word - "opposition" around to the extent that I think it's clouding your judgement of Nigerians genuine assessment of your performance.  The ordinary Nigeria does not understand the word opposition.  What we know is the gap between what we need and the opportunities that exists for us to reach such things.  The fewer the opportunities, the harsher our assessment of whoever is at the helm of affairs.  If you think such assessments is from the opposition, so be it.

If you need anyone to be convinced on who you are or how noble your intentions are for Nigeria, GEJ sir, please talk to us.  We have the capacity to assess you fairly where tangible indices exists on ground.

In search of bombs with naked eyes

What else can I call it except double jeopardy for Nigerians in these trying times!  The Boko Haram (BH) sect will throw bombs and kill us en-mass and the security personnel in response to the situation will mount roadblocks, to harass those that are yet to be consumed by the BH bombs. This cycle has been going on for decades unabated. 

BH can be said to have upped their game significantly with the inclusion of the suburbs of Abuja as the potential fourth theater of war.  It is however, difficult to say same of our security personnel. They still rely on their traditional roadblocks and stop and search technique, whenever a security challenge arises. What exactly are they looking for? And do they think that BH are that stupid to walk into them with incendiary materials in their possession? And even if they do, in a well-concealed package, how will the security personnel recognize the bomb with their naked eyes? They don’t even use sniffer dogs, chai!!

While discussing with a friend the other day about the futility of our security personnel’s approach to our collective challenges, my friend aptly summarized the mindset of our security men as; “they need to show Nigerians that they are on top of the situation”, whatever that means. Surely they use this phrase, so often to the extent that we can second-guess them when they speak.  Must you punish us to demonstrate to us that you are working? What happens to hi-tech equipment that can be deployed to help you carryout this onerous task? How far can you go applying primitive techniques in combatting 21^st century degenerates like BH?

 

I recall reading about an interview with Aneni’s Lieutenant, forgot his name. (Aneni’s gang is the notorious armed robbers operating around the South West circa the ‘80s). He was asked how his gang was able to elude the authorities for so long, and he simply responded, “it is common sense…whenever the authorities intensify search in a particular area, we wait for them to wear out and we attack again”, sometimes around the same vicinity.  Déjà vu, isn’t it? 20 years on, the combatting strategy remains the same. Why can’t we move with the world and embrace technologies that can help us solve our problems with ease.  I am sure even the military officers deployed to guard the streets will do with more dignity.

I read somewhere that incendiary bombs, small arms and even rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) emit heat signatures that are detectable by hi-tech scanners. These scanners are usually mounted by the roadsides and can scan cars or moving objects approaching from as far off as 500 meters, (half a kilometer).  If a signal is picked up, the security personnel monitoring the scanner from afar will simply move in and intercept the vehicle containing such object, without necessarily disrupting movements of other innocent road users.  This device is similar to the scanners used at the airports to check hand luggage taken into the aircraft. 

Are our leaders unaware of this technology? Or is there something more about this  'reactive' approach than meets the eye? Or could it be that we don't have the money to buy them? I thought I heard one-trillion-Naira was budgeted last year for security, which comes to about 30% of the total 2013 budget.  How could there be no money to buy necessary equipment that will save our lives? Are our lives that worthless now to merit persecution from all fronts – BH on one hand and the nonchalant attitude of the authorities on the other?

On a second thought, what happened to the close circuit television cameras installed around Abuja in 2012 or was that just another red-herring security policy designed to freight away our sovereign wealth in the name of “procurement”?

There is no gain saying that at the moment 3 states in Nigeria are totally shut down, under the guise of 'state of emergency'. No fewer than 5 physically manned roadblocks exists in and around each of these state capitals, with fierce looking and gun toting security personnel, watching motorists meander through sand bags placed on the roads in “z” shape designed to impede movement. Majority will agree with me that this strategy is not only ineffectual; it has punitive connotations to it. They may be saying in their minds, “…you bloody civilians, your undisciplined manner of disturbing peace brought us out of the barracks. We will teach you how to stay peaceful through drills…” (These views are mine).

 

Residents of Nyanya and its contiguous neighbors will attest to this.  A colleague of mine who resides in that neighborhood told me that he now has to leave his house by 4 am everyday for a 20 km trip to the office that opens at 8 am and still there is no guarantee that he will get to the office on time. In the first week after the initial Nyanya bomb blast, some wise residents of the area were forced to take their annual leaves for fear of losing their jobs to tardiness. No thanks to the military that are "on top of the situation” by forcing motorists to pass through the eyes of the needle in the name of “checkpoints”.

The only effect of this strategy to my knowledge is the waste of valuable man-hour spent in the long traffic jams at these checkpoints. Else, why are the bombs still going off with increasing rapidity? No fewer than 2 instances of bomb blasts with at least 10 lives lost in each situation have been reported monthly in the last 5 years.  Last April, as the lucky Nyanya blast victims were nursing their wounds at the hospital, two more bombs went off in Maiduguri.  The first one for May has just been recorded on the very first day of the month and the authorities have started bandying figures of causalities around.  At the last count they released reports saying 12 dead 19 others injured.  We are watching.

NB:  All pictures used were culled from:

https://www.google.com.ng/search?q=army+checkpoints+in+Nigeria&es_sm=91&noj=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=WmNjU9HJPPOA7QaG6IHgDQ&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1309&bih=690

A Response to Mr. Wilberforce Okoli on BH

Mr Okoli! May I indulge you a little please? Kindly hold a conference with yourself and attempt to answer this simple question - How much of the North do you really know? And do you really think Northerners are happy with the situation as is? My advice is that we look at this Boko Haram (BH) problem as a national one and approach it in that direction rather than apportion blames or look for scapegoats.  BH and their ideology is warped, anti-Islam, inhuman and anti-developmental and we  have collectively cried so. I am a Northerner, living in Kano and will like to tell you  a little about wars.  

Nobody - Nation or State desires to fight wars on their soil, as doing so is simply foolhardy. The implication is that you will kill your own people, destroy your own property, and impede your development.   That is what BH has subjected the north to. Do you really think we are happy with that?   

If you conduct a simple perception survey today of the Northerners around you, you will find out that the BH activity is like a pestilence that they all wish will go away immediately. The destruction and deaths that BH has forced on us over the years can only be imagined. Virtually all of us have a story or two to tell about the pain that the dreaded group has forced on us. You must have heard of a police officer (female) that was shot to death recently in Kano - that was my sister.  Talk to more Northerners and you will hear worse.

Should you care to understand the North even a little, you will discover that pronouncements such as yours is simply causing more pains to people that are already burdened with pains.  How can you say that BH go around in convoys in the North? How can you even use the word "conspiracy" in this rather sordid situation we have found ourselves? I think you and your likes are grossly unfair to the suffering majority of the north. 

We call on Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) and ask for more from him simply because he is the president. We would have done the same to any other person holding that post.  Or are you trying to deny us that by your pronouncements?

Mr Okoli, I wish you will understand the psychological trauma that the Northerners are subjected to by these insurgents. I wish you will understand the degree of fear we feel at night when we are robbed of sleep by incessant bombings and gunshots. I wish you will understand how scared we are when our children leave home to go to school every day.  I wish you will understand how frustrating it is to spend hours on a journey of usually less then 4 kms because of the various checkpoints we have to encounter?  I wish you will understand the pain of losing a loved one. 

Your statement is not only an attempt to colour the situation based on your limited understanding of the socio-political implications of BH and their warped ideology. It is also a classic case of a stupid patronage that doesn’t benefit even you, the advocate.  We are Nigerians, we need each, let us be learn to support each other.

WHO DO THEY REALLY SERVE

Why do they keep making policies or pronouncements that the generality of Nigerians cannot identify with? Why are we so insignificant in their eyes?

The other day I was listening to someone analysing Nigeria and making allusions.  According to him, Nigeria has joined the unenviable ranks of failed nations.  It is number nine now in the list he said. Listening to him, a very faint feeling of anger was growing inside me, but on a second thought, I simply nodded my head in agreement. I will only be deceiving myself refusing a spade its name.

On a different day, but not too far off, right on my TV, GEJ was telling Nigerians how his administration has made giant strides in bringing development to Nigerians. According to him Nigerians are now enjoying uninterrupted power supply because his administration has increased generation to 4,000 megawatts. My first reaction was to turn and look at my wife, just to check if I heard him well.  My wife’s reaction was dismissive. She simply told me not to mind them.  We were running on generator, and it’s been like that for three straight days.

These issues and several others, especially the new thinking by the government to buy mobile phones for 10 million farmers in Nigeria informed this piece.

Strange and bizarre things will not seize happening in Nigeria, at least for now.  Sometimes one wonders if our leaders’ brains still function in a manner that can be called sane.  Else how can a government enact a policy that supports expenditures that the eventual benefit is at best flaky?   Even a ‘no-brainer’ knows that buying mobile phones for farmers can only in the immediate, promote their social status and in the long run burden them financially, because of the recurring costs of buying recharge cards that are so expensive in Nigeria.

Considering the myriad of challenges that farmers face in Nigeria today, mobile phones are what our political leaders thought as the silver bullet.  What about infrastructure, ie., storage facilities, good roads, tractors, etc. Can't they even think of bringing back extension workers who in those good old days used to advise farmers on new methods?  How about fertilizers???

Sometimes one will be forgiven to think that our leaders approach to policy issues is guided by pure malice.  If not, how do you explain government’s pronouncement to buy 10 million mobile phones for farmers? What purpose will it serve? Will it solve the problem of failed crops? Will the farmers use it to weed their farms? Will it preserve yields that go bad before the next session? Will it fix bridges that stop farmers from taking their yields to the market themselves for better value? Will it provide them hospitals to treat themselves and save them from missing a farming season because of ill health?

Let's even go back to the basics, how did the government come to the figure of 10 million phones? Is this the number of farmers without phones or the number of entire farmers in Nigeria?  And why expend N60 billion on phones when the total budget of the Agric Ministry is a paltry N81 billion.  If it is a case of stealing through contracts that you guys are interested in, don't you think you are all been lazy even in the act of stealing? If you use your heads very well, you will make more money providing tangible things.  For instance, should you decide on a policy that will move say 10,000 small scale farmers to a mechanized level, don't you think you will make more money from that initiative, using the same resources you are planning to waste on phones that will not get to the farmers? And above all, you will receive several accolades from Nigerians.

Another basic issue to consider also, is that for decades now, the government cannot successfully distribute fertilizers to farmers; their usual claim is that the fertilizers are hijacked by middle men.  On the remote premise that we even agree that the phones are necessary, what guarantee do we have that the same middlemen that have refused fertilizers getting to farmers for decades will not put on their best acts of hijacking the phones again?

Mr President Sir, the actions of our representatives in government are becoming shameful to us, we are finding it very hard to defend you or your actions.  Please stop these nonsensical policies and channel the money to services that are beneficial to Nigerians. A stitch in time, wise men say, saves nine.

Fanning the Embers of Fire

Dear blog, here I am again filled with excuses why I wasn’t able to keep my last promise. I hope you understand. Its not easy being a Nigerian with all the woes - garnished prefixes of “lack” everywhere; electricity, peace, security, money and all. So I hope you will really understand.

I was forced out of my shell amidst all these woes, to write a passionate piece to Sahara Reporters, a web media news syndicator who have kept Nigerians informed about happenings around us. But sadly the umbrage that the “comments” to most of the news items elicit is so discomforting and provocative that I had to spare time to write this. Read on.

Dear Editor

I am one of your regular readers and also someone who believe that your efforts have taken information dissemination to higher and beneficial level, which eventually will lead to sustainable development especially in Nigeria. However, I am a bit worried by the amount of freedom you gave your readers, especially in their comments. Nigeria today is sincerely at a cross road and her unity, you will agree with me, is threatened as a result, such that any well meaning Nigerian is deeply worried about.

As a patriotic Nigerian, I take pride sincerely in our oneness, while been conscious of our diversity, which to me defines the beauty and elegance of the country. This diversity, which ordinarily should have been the cornerstone of our development, is still been peddled negatively since independence. The Igbo man in addition to his business, should have been guiding the Hausa man on how to manage his farm produce using his business skills such that waste resulting from storage and transportation is reduced. While the Yoruba man on the other hand, should have been acting as the financier for the two. And proudly, we would have been one big family call Nigeria. But sadly this isn't so.

Every opportunity, especially those bordering on negativities are exploited and interpreted by all using the prisms of ethnicity and religion, completely devoid of any kind of support to the region or group facing such "trying times". The outcome of this, is that all parties are beginning to feel totally disparate and by extension hated by the other. I think its time for us to start emphasizing on positives and less the negatives, to see if it will make a difference.

Reading the comments from fellow Nigerians on every news or article published by you, makes me feel so bad, that a times, I am forced to simply close your site, never to come back until the following the day. This is notwithstanding the urge to follow you on happens around the world.

The idea behind reading comments, is to triangulate stories, so as to arrive at a sound conclusion about a particular issue, but unfortunately the comments one reads on your site are filled with hate and intolerance that one finds very difficult to digest as a Nigerian who wish the country well.

I am not asking that you gag your readers, but there must surely be a way that you can filter comments such that only those that add value to the news or article in question are published. Allowing the currently trend where members of one region or religion cast aspersion on the other because of a news item about their member or son will not only in the long run affect your readership, but will also continue to negatively impact on the country.

Consequently, I am pleading that you kindly introduce content filtering of comments to bar publication of "hates" and the likes. I am asking this of you as a Nigerian who is passionate about the peaceful coexistence of the country and the application of its diversity for positive development as against the current mudslinging, backstabbing and bare face lies peddled by the elites across region and religion.

The country is indeed going through trying times, but fortunately Nigerians are resilient sets that have overcome bigger challenges in the past through collective efforts. Let this request be Sahara Reports role in ensuring that we overcome this trying time.

Let me use this opportunity to thank you for your effort in keeping Nigerians informed, thereby arming us with the necessary tool to fight these emerging ills.

FANNING THE EMBERS OF FIRE

Dear blog, here I am again filled with excuses why I wasn’t able to keep my last promise. I hope you understand. Its not easy being a Nigerian with all the woes - garnished prefixes of “lack” everywhere; electricity, peace, security, money and all. So I hope you will really understand.

I was forced out of my shell amidst all these woes, to write a passionate piece to Sahara Reporters, a web based news syndicator who have kept Nigerians informed about happenings around us. But sadly the umbrage that the “comments” to most of the news items elicit is so discomforting and provocative that I had to spare time to write this. Read on.

Dear Editor

I am one of your regular readers and also someone who believe that your efforts have taken information dissemination to higher and beneficial level, which eventually will lead to sustainable development especially in Nigeria. However, I am a bit worried by the amount of freedom you gave your readers, especially in their comments. Nigeria today is sincerely at a cross road and her unity, you will agree with me, is threatened as a result, such that any well meaning Nigerian is deeply worried about.

As a patriotic Nigerian, I take pride sincerely in our oneness, while been conscious of our diversity, which to me defines the beauty and elegance of the country. This diversity, which ordinarily should have been the cornerstone of our development, is still been peddled negatively since independence. The Igbo man in addition to his business, should have been guiding the Hausa man on how to manage his farm produce using his business skills such that waste resulting from storage and transportation is reduced. While the Yoruba man on the other hand, should have been acting as the financier for the two. And proudly, we would have been one big family call Nigeria. But sadly this isn't so.

Every opportunity, especially those bordering on negativities are exploited and interpreted by all using the prisms of ethnicity and religion, completely devoid of any kind of support to the region or group facing such "trying times". The outcome of this, is that all parties are beginning to feel totally disparate and by extension hated by the other. I think its time for us to start emphasizing on positives and less the negatives, to see if it will make a difference.

Reading the comments from fellow Nigerians on every news or article published by you, makes me feel so bad, that a times, I am forced to simply close your site, never to come back until the following the day. This is notwithstanding the urge to follow you on happens around the world.

The idea behind reading comments, is to triangulate stories, so as to arrive at a sound conclusion about a particular issue, but unfortunately the comments one reads on your site are filled with hate and intolerance that one finds very difficult to digest as a Nigerian who wish the country well.

I am not asking that you gag your readers, but there must surely be a way that you can filter comments such that only those that add value to the news or article in question are published. Allowing the currently trend where members of one region or religion cast aspersion on the other because of a news item about their member or son will not only in the long run affect your readership, but will also continue to negatively impact on the country.

Consequently, I am pleading that you kindly introduce content filtering of comments to bar publication of "hates" and the likes. I am asking this of you as a Nigerian who is passionate about the peaceful coexistence of the country and the application of its diversity for positive development as against the current mudslinging, backstabbing and bare face lies peddled by the elites across region and religion.

The country is indeed going through trying times, but fortunately Nigerians are resilient sets that have overcome bigger challenges in the past through collective efforts. Let this request be Sahara Reports role in ensuring that we overcome this trying time.

Let me use this opportunity to thank you for your effort in keeping Nigerians informed, thereby arming us with the necessary tool to fight these emerging ills.