Reuben Abati: May Day, Tiwa Savage, Her Husband And Nigeria

<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Tiwa-Savagere" class="attachment-full size-full wp-post-image" height="640" src="http://omojuwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Tiwa-Savagere.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: move; display: block; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline; width: 647.875px;" width="640" /></em><div class="entry-content inside_single" itemprop="description" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Ol’boy, man don see something oh.” </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Wetin you see?”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“My eyes don see something. My ears don hear, and my mouth sef, I for talk something join.” </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Talk make I hear”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“No be dis Tiwa Savage and him husband matter? The husband wey say him wife offend am, he no gi am food, him wife dey form for house but him dey open leg for other men, and na another woman they give am edible catering, and the man come vex he wan jump inside river for Lekki-Ikoyi bridge”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Who the hell are you talking about?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Tiwa Savage and her husband”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “And who are those?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Tiwa, now. Marvin First Lady.  She is one of Nigeria’s topmost female artistes. And her husband.  They are quarrelling. The husband tried to commit suicide. She says her husband prefers to follow other women, take cocaine and ignore his responsibilities as a man and a husband. Social media is agog with the news. Mainstream media is feeding on it too. The man even tried to jump into the Lagoon.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “And has he done so?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “No. He was restrained by Banky W and Peter Okoye.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “And who are those? Red Cross Officials?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You are in this country and you don’t know Banky W and Peter Okoye?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “There is no way anyone can possibly know all the members of the Red Cross? ”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “They are musicians, not Red Cross, not NEMA”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Oh, I see”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Don’t tell me you are one of those dumb ones who do not know what is going on in this country?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I don’t get it. Am I supposed to worry about how Tiwa Savage and her husband are savaging the public space with their dirty linen and turning their marriage into a subject for beer parlour gossip?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “It is a serious matter.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Oh really? So, how has their matter affected the supply of petrol, the price of foodstuffs and the payment of salaries?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “It is the biggest news of the week.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Of course, because the media does not know what to prioritise anymore”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “There are issues involved. Tiwa Savage’s husband wanted to commit suicide. The same week, there was a report about a man who killed his target of amorous desire and stabbed her mother  in Ilorin because the lady refused to love or marry him.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Love is the most potent poison in the world. The graveyard is a prison yard of unrequited love.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Tiwa Savage’s husband says…”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You keep mentioning the wife.  That husband doesn’t have a name? They should have allowed him to jump into the Lagoon, and have his wife do a special song at his funeral and go home on the left arm of another man.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “They call him em em. actually that is the problem if you would listen to the wife. She is the breadwinner, she says and the man likes to squander money and so on and so forth.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Look, I am not interested in that story.  I don’t want a taste of Tiwa Savage’s #Lemonade. I don’t want any tales about the #Becky-with-the-Big-Hair that served her husband “edible catering”. Or do you want the National Assembly to have a special session on a derailed marriage, or may be you want President Muhammadu Buhari to issue a statement on it? One of these days, Nigerians will start insisting that the Nigerian President should become a marriage counselor and he will be blamed for marital squabbles.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “We are talking about celebrities. And come to think of it, in a normal country, Tiwa Savage’s husband will not have to depend on his wife. He will have a proper means of income.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">E ma gba mi ke. Doro Tiwa and husband fight and Nigeria no go hear word? E joor oh. </em>As you lay your bed, you lie on it. These things happen every day. Human beings pay for the choices that they make. They learn from the outcomes of their choices. Can we have the media focus on serious matters beyond sex, infidelity, cocaine and the poverty of matrimonial matters in the household of Tiwa and Tee Blliz? Which kin name be that sef?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “<span data-term="goog_1653781184" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tomorrow</span> is May Day for example”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Nigerian workers should actually carry placards <span data-term="goog_1653781185" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">tomorrow</span>, screaming May Day, May Day, May Day!!”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You want them to scream for help?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Yes, because the Nigerian worker today is hungry, angry, sinking, helpless, jobless, over-used, under-paid and in despair. State governments are not paying salaries. Companies are retrenching staff.  The latest I read is that First Bank is planning to sack 1, 000 workers, Aero Contractors, 100.  I know a couple, who have both just lost their jobs and they have five children. Some other companies are closing shop. Massive divestiture in the economy.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Incidentally, you know the people who caused the melt down. “</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Tell me”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I don’t know.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “If you don’t know, then you don’t know, before you say something that will make me give you a punch in the face. But I think all that President Buhari needs to do <span data-term="goog_1653781186" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">tomorrow</span> is to give the people hope.  In a situation like this, you give the people hope, you reassure them.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You are recommending rhetoric. Speaking for speaking sake.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “No. I am saying hope is a strong weapon. When a leader gives the people hope, he calms down their blood pressure. It is a strong pill.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress are not asking for hope. Nigerian workers know what they want. They are asking for N56, 000 minimum wage.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Chai”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You heard me. N56, 000”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Chai. Do they live in this country at all? Do they have economists among them? Does it make sense to ask for what you know you cannot get?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You can ask for what you think you deserve.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “But in matters like this, you look at the economy too. What they are asking for is called wage indexation. That is not sound economics. Wage indexation is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you base your calculations on it, there will never be an end to it, and it will undermine the economy.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Which economy? An economy where some people grab N2 billion, and millions of dollars all in the line of a day’s arrangement, and workers cannot get the existing N18, 000 minimum wage?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “If I were the NLC or TUC leader, I’ll be more interested in giving the government ideas about how to pay the current minimum wage and ensure that the welfare of the people is properly the concern of government. NLC should be pragmatic. Get all salary arrears paid to start with, and get government to pay all emoluments as at when due. Uncommon sense.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Sorry, Labour leaders don’t claim that they are economists. They just want the best for the Nigerian worker. That is their mandate.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Don’t speak for them. When they meet the President and the Governors <span data-term="goog_1653781187" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">tomorrow</span>, let them say so. I wonder if anybody even reads those long speeches on Labour Day. Nigerian workers are looking for unpaid salaries, but their leaders ride exotic SUVs, and live in mansions. I beg.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You are beginning to sound like a government spokesperson. Come, are you still one of us?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I beg”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “By the way, what do you think is likely to happen in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), now that the party leadership says the Chairman of the party must come from the North East, and the South West members are threatening to pull out?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Are you sure anybody in the South West is threatening to pull out?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Yes. You don’t read the papers? <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Na one of your brothers even talk am</em>”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Who?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “The Lion himself”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “A lion in my family?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Have you forgotten so soon? <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Abi as your phone no ring again, your brain no ring too? You no know the attack dog, the Lion?”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Lion. Attack dog.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Hen hen now. Him say if they don’t make somebody from South West the Chairman of the PDP, the South West wing of the PDP will leave the party.”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I’ll advise you not to lose sleep over what politicians say.  What you can be sure of though, is that before 2019, there is likely to be interesting re-alignments.  Nigerian politics may not be the same again before and after 2019.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Na dem sabi. Make they just give us the mekunnu, power, good roads, jobs and our salaries at the end of the month. Me, talking for meself, I don see say e no matter which party win election, as long as the economy dey kampe and man fit chop, pay school fees and get light to do welle for night. My broda, na the better thing wey matter pass be dat.” </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “What is welle?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “You no know Welle?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “No”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Kai. Lord of Heaven. No be the thing wey dey cause problem between Tiwa Savage and her husband be dat?” </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I still don’t get it.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“You no watch her interview?  As the girl they talk, dey cry, without make up, looking like an angel, doing her eye like this, her shoulder like that, e just dey pain me say dem no allow the husband jump for inside river. If I see Banky W and Peter Okoye, hen, the kine slap wey I go give dem.” </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Are you alright? Have you been sniffing cocaine?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “C’ommot there. You just carry book for head, you no know how life be?”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I am sorry for you.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Sorry for yourself.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Na you go sorry for yourself. And why your head dey always shine like this? You no get hair? You never reach old age, your head don become desert. Na people like you women dey look for?” </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “This is a special haircut, you can see that the shaving of the hair is completely clean.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “This is not a haircut. This is called desert encroachment, or the desertification of the human skull”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “I did it this way, in the shape of a shining mirror, in solidarity with the people of the Edo Kingdom who have just lost their revered monarch, the Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo,  Erediauwa I”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “Only Benin sons are required to do <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">gorimapa</em> in honour of the great king that has ascended to the rafters.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “There is no law that says other Nigerians cannot honour a revered monarch who kept the dignity of the throne and left behind a legacy of honour, character, royal grace, and dignity.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“You don spake my broda. Make I add my own; Oba gha to kpere”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Ise-ee”</em></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</em>May his path to the great Beyond be one of illumination and grace.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “So let it be.”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"> “So mote it be.”</div> </div>

Reuben Abati: May Day, Tiwa Savage, Her Husband And Nigeria

“Ol’boy, man don see something oh.”  “Wetin you see?” “My eyes don see something. My ears don hear, and my mouth sef, I for talk som...

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Fayose: Jonathan lost because of ‘elders’

<div class="article-photo" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #171717; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> <span class="set-image-border" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: top;"><img alt="Fayose: Jonathan lost because of ‘elders’" class="setborder" src="https://www.thecable.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Fayose-653x365.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; float: none; height: auto !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; width: 624px;" /></span></div> <div class="shortcode-content" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #171717; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"> <div class="cableads" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 604px;"> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-4634537558011240" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3820811019" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; height: 60px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top;"><ins id="aswift_2_expand" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: inline-table; height: 60px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; visibility: visible; width: 604px;"><ins id="aswift_2_anchor" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: block; height: 60px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; visibility: visible; width: 604px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="60" hspace="0" id="aswift_2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_2" scrolling="no" style="background: transparent; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;" vspace="0" width="604"></iframe><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;">Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, on Friday said former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 election because most of the people who advised him were elders who lacked the idea to steer the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to victory.</strong></ins></ins></ins></div> </div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> Addressing reporters at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Fayose said it was time for the elders who allegedly misled Jonathan to take the back seat and allow young people introduce new ideas in the party.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> He was reacting to the pronouncements of some PDP stakeholders led by Jerry Gana, former minister of information, who asked Ali Modu Sheriff to step down as chairman of the party.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> The stakeholders also declared the forthcoming PDP convention slated for Port Harcourt on May 21 as null and void, saying it had set up a 21-man committee to preside over the affairs of PDP in the interim.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> But the governor said nothing would stop the convention from holding.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “That convention would hold as proposed. You can wish anything but God’s plan for the PDP is that the May 21 convention cannot be stopped,” he said.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “If you are leading as elders and we lost election, then something is wrong; most of the people who were Jonathan’s advisers were elders and we lost election.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “We won’t say they should go but they should take a back seat. In most of the advanced democracies, if you lose election, it is just decent for you to allow other people to try, especially young people.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “I have no apology over that statement, and I am saying it again that if I am struggling for a position with my son, it is ridiculous.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “I was governor at 42. You need a lot of energy to be a leader, not when they are giving you Panadol to be strong. Age is a disease on its own.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “New generation should take over this party and build it. Anything you are doing and your children do not have insight into it will perish.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “Since this party started we have always referred to the elder, but are we saying that we should continue to say the younger generation should go to blazes?”</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “Are you saying that you will call somebody in the village to come and take a position? That era is gone. You have to struggle; you have to make efforts and show that you actually need that position.”</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> Fayose said the fact that there was so much in-fighting among PDP members was an indication that the party was still strong.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> The governor said before now, most of those who held leadership in positions in the party were unwilling characters, “but now willing characters are coming out that is why you see the struggle that much”.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “As a result, a lot of people will be displaced or feel displaced. A lot of people are feeling displayed but it is not displacement as it were,” he said.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “The fact that everybody wants to be relevant in the party shows that the party is strong. If there is no future for PDP, there would be no such struggle.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “Have you seen a party that is not in crisis when it comes to interest and leveraging of interests? Politics is about interests.”</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> Fayose said that in spite of the differences in the party, there was need for PDP members to settle the squabbles internally.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> “We will have differences; it is normal in politics but washing your dirty linen in public is bad. Let the young men take over in Nigeria,” he said.</div> <div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> credit: thecableng</div> </div>

Fayose: Jonathan lost because of ‘elders’

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, on Friday said former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 election because most of the p...

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PENDULUM: The Frequently Asked Questions By Youths

<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/thebossnewspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screenshot_2016-05-13-23-43-57-1.png?zoom=2&resize=340%2C286"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://i2.wp.com/thebossnewspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screenshot_2016-05-13-23-43-57-1.png?fit=1440%2C1212"></a></p> <p dir="ltr"><b>By Dele Momodu</b><br> Fellow Nigerians, let me posit on this page today that Nigeria is in dire new of learned teachers who can imbibe in our youths the spirit of entrepreneurship. The reason is simple. The biggest problem confronting our beloved country today is that of mass unemployment. And something very drastic has to be thought of and activated to avert a cataclysmic collapse of the entire system. The anger in the land is palpable and it does not discriminate.<br> I started the Ovation 20th anniversary series as a way of reaching out to our young friends and demonstrate how tough it is to build and grow any business or brand. I have had the privilege and opportunity of speaking to African youths globally and I have had to take many questions about starting and sustaining the Ovation brand.<br> The first question is about funding a new business. More often than not it is usually difficult to raise all the required money required to take off. We opted for a slow start since the supersonic version was not available to us. We were lucky to have dependable families and friends who chipped in their widow’s mites from time to time. We reached dead-ends a couple of times but God sent Angels down to us. Chief Oyekunle Alex-Duduyemi would always call out of the blues on such occasions not just to offer his support but to also sermonise on the profitability of hard work. He was fond of saying “ohun ti ko to si maa po to maa seku…” (what is not enough today will become too plenty in the fullness of time if you persist…). It was as if he was clairvoyant as he called several times at critical moments.<br> We had our young friend, Toye Ariyo, who was introduced to me by Nduka Obaigbena and our case was a matter of love at first time. He would call and tell me to go somewhere and pick up some support. Toye made it possible for us to cover our first major event in Ghana, the 40th birthday party of Mrs Edwina Baaba Banda, the gorgeous wife of shipping magnate and airline owner, Alhaji Asoma Banda. It was at that celebration that I first met President John Agyekum Kufuor, who had just been sworn in days earlier. That would open up many opportunities and our decision to expand our operations to Ghana and other West African countries.<br> There was a finance company headed by Ayo Kuteyi and we were offered helplines on many occasions that we ran into great difficulties. We had Tunji Fadairo who became our effective credit control manager and ensured that we stayed alive. What many do not know about media business is that it is too capital intensive. This is why most publications die as soon as they are born. The situation is much worse in Africa where most companies hate to spend on patronising local brands but rush to foreign media organisations. We were fortunate to come up with the idea of targeting more of events. The unmatchable quality of our magazine attracted readership as well as invitation to people, places and events of highest calibre.<br> Moving the magazine to different destinations was another big challenge. London became the centre of our printing and it is located right in the middle of Nigeria and New York. The bulk of our cargo was to Nigeria and the freight cost was astronomical as we were not ready to risk and compromise print quality. We were lucky to have a good friend in Kayode Odukoya the Managing Director of Bellview Airline who entered into a barter deal with us and flew in our magazine and staff between Lagos and Amsterdam. This meant that we had to truck the magazine from London to Amsterdam and this often caused major headache for us and the airline. Kayode Odukoya is a genius who was just ahead of his time. If he enjoyed great support from his home government he would have had the more lucrative direct flight to London very early and many Nigerians would have benefited immensely. We had two experienced agents, Tony Osibodu and Lekan Owodunni who helped to calm down the principalities at our airports. That is a story for another day. Our international distributors including Julie Ugbowankwo, W. H. Smith, John Menzies, Fola Tinubu, Nike Faleti, Veronica Mills Lamptey and Rachel Obilor helped to spread our wings massively.<br> Many have asked how we gained access to the high and mighty and my answer is brand integrity. We decided to be as objective as possible and allow the readers to draw their own lessons or conclusions. We were never going to practise censorship by behaving holier than the Pope. Everyone would be allowed his say or appearance. We shall tell our stories through pictures. There would never be an editorial abusing anyone but we shall let everyone express their views without intimidation. We had strict codes for our Bureau Chiefs everywhere, including Yinka Agboola, Remi Aboderin, Tosan Aduayi, Jean Frances Maduakor, Anne Sekyi, Laolu Akande, King Nee, on how to be fair and reasonable at all times.<br> Ovation metamorphosed several times before it settled mainly for events like weddings, birthdays, funerals, outdooring, housewarming, concerts, beauty pageants, fashion parades, lifestyles of the rich and famous, travels and tourisms, etcetera. We made people feel comfortable and it became aspirational. People dreamt of the day they would eventually appear in Ovation. Many brides said they were anxious to get a good husband so as to experience the feeling of gracing the pages of Ovation. Parents were proud and used Ovation as albums and souvenirs. No one ever throws the magazine away. We made and nurtured contacts. That’s our biggest assets.<br> How did we feel when people started copying us? We felt very flattered. I read somewhere that imitation is the best form of flattery. So many magazines came after us but there was no time we felt intimidated. We understood the fact that a marathoner would make a fatal mistake by trying to see if others were catching up with him. We tried to maintain our own speed and pace. Many came and threatened to give us a run for our money but we had no money. God and passion kept us going. We promised to publish a world class magazine and we did. Even our biggest critics could not quarrel with that fact.<br> Was there a time we felt like quitting? That was never an option but we were faced with monumental challenges that almost knocked our existence but for the benevolence of God. One of the strategies that helped was the diversification exercise. Being international ensured we were never bored or totally encumbered by the whims and caprices of powerful people who may wish to oppress us for the fun of it. We learnt great lessons from the days we fled Nigeria and decided never to keep our eggs in one basket. We spread our wings across the continents and covered events in over 60 countries.<br> How did we coordinate our international affairs? Chief Alexander Opeyemi Akinyele was one of the first people to invite us to cover a wedding beyond Africa and Europe when we travelled to Mumbai (Bombay) where the Ondo Chief married his Indian wife, Maria Bernadine Calvaho, on July 4, 1999.<br> John Fashanu was also very instrumental at the beginning. He used his wide contacts to introduce us to people and places. He invited us on a visit to the United Nations where we met the then Secretary General Dr Kofi Annan and the famous British politician Mo Mowlam. John introduced me to Ms Isha Tejan-Cole who became our greatest facilitator in West Africa. Isha introduced us to The Gambia in 2000 where we met President Yahya Jammeh and his Moroccan wife and the richest Gambian at the time Ahmadu Samba. We promoted tourism and John Fashanu attended the launch of Ovation in Banjul. We took Nigerian fashion designers Funmi Ajila and Graces Hats to showcase their talents before a powerful audience including the Vice President Madam Isatou Njie-Saidy.<br> We were invited to Sierra Leone in 2001 just as the fratricidal war was ending but there were remnants of the rebel forces. I invited my friends Mayor Akinpelu, Kunle Bakare, Folabi Odeyemi, Tunde Adewale (Tee A) along on those trips. We were received warmly by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and hosted by the most popular Nigerian businessman in the country Chief Tony Izubundu Chinyere. We met former military ruler Johnny Paul Koroma. We visited Nigerian peacekeepers and travelled through the danger zones of Port Loko District. Our gallant soldiers were very happy.<br> Our exploits took us to so many places. We were invited in 2002 to Dubai on a special tour to market the place to Africa. Dubai wasn’t this popular then and it was mainly patronised by traders. Dayo Adedayo the Nigerian-born London photographer invaded Dubai with his Mamiya cameras and came back with crispy pictures. We dared to change the famous slogan “see Paris and die” to See Dubai and die!”<br> We were invited on sight-seeing and tourist exploration to the Eastern Caribbean island of Commonwealth of Dominica by Valery John (of blessed memory). There we met the then oldest woman in the world, Elizabeth Israel (aka Ma Pampo, born in 1875) and the Prime Minister of Dominica, Mr Pierre Charles. We had a team of seven, Segun Fatoye, Tosan Aduayi (our North American Bureau Chief), Mike Effiong (who was Editor of Encomium magazine), Gbenga Olunloyo, Tunde Adewale (the comedian known as Tee A) and Photo Editor, Ajayi Oyebo…<br> Which were the stories that made us extraordinary? We had so many, beginning with Mohammed Al-Fayed. We wrote stories on Moshood Abiola, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, James Onobiono of Cameroon, the Olympio Brothers of Gabon, Samuel Adedoyin, Rasaq Okoya, Anthonio Oladeinde Fernandez (one of our most ambitious stories in New York, Paris and Scotland), The Ooni Oba Okunade Sijuwade, The Awujale of Ijebuland Oba Sikiru Adetona, The Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, The Alaafin Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, The Emir Ado Bayero, Wole Soyinka, The Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, The Esama Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion and Lady Cherry, The Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, The Ibru Brothers led by Olorogun Michael Ibru, Parakoyi Bode Akindele, Baba Ijebu Kessington Adebutu, Gani Fawehinimi, Agbaakin Harry Akande, Pastor E. A Adeboye, , Sonny Odogwu, Subomi Balogun, Alex Duduyemi, Bola Kuforiji-Olubi, Bode Olajumoke, Michael Adenuga Jnr., Bola Tinubu, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Fola Adeola, Tayo Aderinokun, Tayo Amusan, Keem Belo-Osagie, Tony Elumelu, President Nelson Mandela, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Stella, President Ibrahim Babangida, Head of State, The Abachas, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, The Abachas, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.<br> The Ikemba Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Bianca, President Gnassingbe Eyadema, President Jerry John Rawlings, President John Kufuor, President John Evans Atta-Mills, President John Dramani Mahama, President Jacob Zuma, President Omar Bongo, President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Kola Abiola, Lt. General T. Y Danjuma, Daisy Danjuma, Fela, Florence Ita-Giwa, Folorunso Alakija, Cletus Ibeto, Sayyu Dantata, Kanu Nwankwo, Jay Jay Okocha, Terry Waya, Sam Jonah, Asoma Banda, President George Bush Jnr., President Bill Clinton, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Richard Branson, Prince Charles, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, Bola Shagaya, Cosmas and Charity Maduka, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, Pastor T. B Joshua, Pastor Chris Okotie, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, King Sunny Ade, Kwam 1, Chris Uba, Bisi Onasanya, Lisa I’Anson, SEAL, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora, Paul Boateng, Mai Deribe, Fifi Ejindu, Angelique Kidjo, Tunde Baiyewu, Patty Boulaye, Agbani Darego, Bode Ajagbe…<br> What was our staying power? Naturally we must thank God. We also mastered how to reinvent our brand. We did some of our stories in French, Portuguese, and Hausa, subject to request. We introduced Ovation television last year as a weekly program using existing platforms of AIT, Silverbird, GhONE Ghana, BEN Tv London and Afrotainment in the US and Canada as well as YouTube. We started an online newspaper www.thebossnewspapers.com to be a very authoritatively objective news portal. There is much more to read when our books are published.<br> No matter the difficulties, we shall continue to encourage our youths to keep hope alive. Nothing is impossible.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN9qqZLOW3Ao9zKI8qcYdGSYsEWY4hMf6-1DdMNyGSSfj1pbJ0DII9bN4ugxHihH7CY6IuozPItNk1XMQ8QyL7-lrln00fTVR3QxtNHsxdI9vPWcvpvFPIcTMJQ-p0yOFZxuAFKFwfv92/s1600/TwImg-20150125-115919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN9qqZLOW3Ao9zKI8qcYdGSYsEWY4hMf6-1DdMNyGSSfj1pbJ0DII9bN4ugxHihH7CY6IuozPItNk1XMQ8QyL7-lrln00fTVR3QxtNHsxdI9vPWcvpvFPIcTMJQ-p0yOFZxuAFKFwfv92/s640/TwImg-20150125-115919.jpg"> </a> </div>

PENDULUM: The Frequently Asked Questions By Youths

By Dele Momodu Fellow Nigerians, let me posit on this page today that Nigeria is in dire new of learned teachers who can imbibe in our you...

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Militants give oil firms 2-week ultimatum to shut down

<p dir="ltr"><b>The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the militant group which claimed responsibilities for recent attacks on oil installations, has asked all oil companies operating in the region to suspend operations within two weeks.</b></p> <p dir="ltr">The group, which said failure to comply with the directive will be bloody, claimed that the military lacked the power to prevent it from striking.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Niger Delta Avengers is giving two weeks ultimatum to all oil companies in our region to shut down and evacuates their staff,”  the group said in a statement signed by Mudoch Agbinibo, its spokesman.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If at the end of the ultimatum and you still operating. We will blow up all the locations. It will be bloody. So just shut down your operations and leave.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The statement said NDA had been able to halt 50% crude production in the country “without killing a single fly”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The militants dismissed the threat of the military to crush them, saying they have spies among security personnel.</p> <p dir="ltr">“To the Nigerian military, we will always be ten steps ahead of you because Niger Delta Avengers are among you. We know all your plans. If you smart or intelligent enough, you will look inward and not outside. We know you are vulnerable, but do not take our calmness for granted.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We have come to the conclusion that the military will get a feel of the Avengers if it harasses or invades any community in the region.”<br> Source: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBhkLnw-wG-ZQd-FggNJtlXcIw3Wb2D7JALZmaNC3vT-DF7S0mC9RScVXth7-n2o3corYcPHa57FqQSJKNiy3O8RhFJUfC3Hma4J7KcbfCQfVcsS4_FsM7tvOwjv_RIFiwvXPTfZL-lo_/s1600/ND-priates-tife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBhkLnw-wG-ZQd-FggNJtlXcIw3Wb2D7JALZmaNC3vT-DF7S0mC9RScVXth7-n2o3corYcPHa57FqQSJKNiy3O8RhFJUfC3Hma4J7KcbfCQfVcsS4_FsM7tvOwjv_RIFiwvXPTfZL-lo_/s640/ND-priates-tife.jpg"> </a> </div>

Militants give oil firms 2-week ultimatum to shut down

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the militant group which claimed responsibilities for recent attacks on oil installations, has asked all oil...

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Everton sack manager Roberto Martinez

<p dir="ltr">Everton have sacked manager Roberto Martinez after three years in charge.</p> <p dir="ltr">Martinez’s side, 12th in the Premier League, were beaten 3-1 by champions Leicester on Saturday and lost 3-0 at Sunderland on Wednesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Toffees lost in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup this season.</p> <p dir="ltr">They have won just five league games at home all season and are guaranteed to finish with their lowest points tally at Goodison Park since the introduction of three points for a win in 1981.</p> <p dir="ltr">The club are expected to make an official announcement imminently to confirm their decision.</p> <p dir="ltr">There have been an increasing number of protests against the Spaniard from supporters at recent home matches.</p> <p dir="ltr">A banner saying “Time to go Roberto” was flown over Goodison during the 2-1 win over Bournemouth on 30 April, while some Everton fans remained inside the ground for more than an hour after the match to protest against Martinez and chairman Bill Kenwright.</p> <p dir="ltr">A 4-0 loss to Liverpool and FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United at Wembley came within four days of each other. Martinez had previously stated that they would be “defining” fixtures for his side.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 42-year-old promised to deliver Champions League football when he was appointed to replace David Moyes in the summer of 2013 and he finished fifth in his first season in charge with 72 points – the most achieved by Everton since they last won the league title in 1986-87.</p> <p dir="ltr">Last season they slipped to 11th.</p> <p dir="ltr">Martinez leaves Everton with a 38% Premier League win percentage during his tenure. Over the past two seasons Everton have won a combined 22 league games – just one more than in 2013-14.</p> <p dir="ltr">They have conceded 18 points from winning positions this season – only Tottenham with 20 and Liverpool (19) have a worse record.</p> <p dir="ltr">Two-goal advantages were lost at Bournemouth and Chelsea – and even when they regained the lead in injury time in both games they still were pegged back to 3-3.</p> <p dir="ltr">In March, a 2-0 lead at home to West Ham with 12 minutes left ended in a 3-2 defeat.</p> <p dir="ltr">Last season the Toffees had the joint worst record with Sunderland for teams losing points from winning positions with 19.</p> <p dir="ltr">Martinez successfully fought to keep hold of defender John Stones last summer as Everton rejected a £30m bid from Chelsea, but striker Romelu Lukaku said in March that he is keen to play in the Champions League next season.</p> <p dir="ltr">In January, Martinez bought forward Oumar Niasse from Lokomotiv Moscow for £13.5m – Everton’s third most expensive signing – but the Senegal striker has started only two matches, failing to score in seven appearances in total.</p> <p dir="ltr">Everton came under new ownership in February when Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri bought a 49.9% stake.</p> <p dir="ltr">Martinez began his managerial career at Swansea in 2007 and oversaw promotion from League One in his first full season in charge before joining Wigan in 2009.</p> <p dir="ltr">He led the Latics to their first FA Cup victory in 2013, beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final, but they were relegated from the Premier League three days later and he took over at Everton shortly after.</p> <p dir="ltr">BBC <u>Sports</u></p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixr_eYDjrZaczYi64FCaBJgqT3H7OCKOkxgLYRKDNroUMFvrWKwUTe2iyupl2NM5JtkrCvj1dfePV4JZKX3KQptTBABpt4YeanCQjbtJDAnGXqE79s1akzyotCnjLHtlf3L1pM1KKh8Zj/s1600/IMG_20160512_155841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixr_eYDjrZaczYi64FCaBJgqT3H7OCKOkxgLYRKDNroUMFvrWKwUTe2iyupl2NM5JtkrCvj1dfePV4JZKX3KQptTBABpt4YeanCQjbtJDAnGXqE79s1akzyotCnjLHtlf3L1pM1KKh8Zj/s640/IMG_20160512_155841.jpg"> </a> </div>

Everton sack manager Roberto Martinez

Everton have sacked manager Roberto Martinez after three years in charge. Martinez’s side, 12th in the Premier League, were beaten 3-1 by c...

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South African Hands Self To Police After Killing A Nigerian

<p dir="ltr"><b><i>South African man has handed himself over to the police after shooting dead a Nigerian over the weekend.</i></b></p> <p dir="ltr">The 37 year old Nigerian, Dewunmi Oladele, was a bouncer at a popular Pretoria night club.</p> <p dir="ltr">He was shot in the back, as he headed back into the club, after he had quelled a fracas.</p> <p dir="ltr">The South African, who is expected to be arraigned, was part of a group of club goers who were involved in a fight inside the club but were guided outside by the dead Nigerian who then got shot<br> Credit: channelstv </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8J9sN-kssCImbvyRyQifo2XVa1CqyPF-eRt4Esl3m1qy_yoMKGBoeyCpdlDfL2EP0mfO0GaLv4xHgyZ3AspToqwxR_dgJiPBCxkcy_d1vevcILSu4hAgNTdPYxt6Q_8IewnM8DagWq_k/s1600/South-Africa-police.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8J9sN-kssCImbvyRyQifo2XVa1CqyPF-eRt4Esl3m1qy_yoMKGBoeyCpdlDfL2EP0mfO0GaLv4xHgyZ3AspToqwxR_dgJiPBCxkcy_d1vevcILSu4hAgNTdPYxt6Q_8IewnM8DagWq_k/s640/South-Africa-police.jpg"> </a> </div>

South African Hands Self To Police After Killing A Nigerian

South African man has handed himself over to the police after shooting dead a Nigerian over the weekend. The 37 year old Nigerian, Dewunmi ...

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Brazil’s President Rousseff loses appeal, faces suspension

<p dir="ltr">Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff attends a meeting on state land issues, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, April 15, 2016. The lower chamber of Brazil’s Congress began a debate on whether to impeach Rousseff, a question that underscores deep polarization in Latin America’s largest country and most powerful economy. The crucial vote is slated for Sunday. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)</p> <p dir="ltr">Brazil’s Supreme Court has on Wednesday in Brasilia, rejected an appeal by President Dilma Rousseff, to block a Senate vote on her impeachment.</p> <p dir="ltr">The court prosecutor said the decision by Judge Teori Zavascki has paved the way for the Seante to decide whether to suspend Rousseff and put her on trial over allegations that she illegally manipulated the budget to hide a growing fiscal deficit.</p> <p dir="ltr">A report said the senators have begun debating ahead of a vote expected to last well into the night.</p> <p dir="ltr">It explained that if the Senate votes by a simple majority to consider the impeachment, Rousseff would be suspended for 180 days, during which time the Senate would investigate the case.</p> <p dir="ltr">It said further that a two-thirds majority would then be required in the upper house to permanently remove her from office.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a last-ditch effort to block the vote, Rousseff had filed an appeal late Tuesday asking the court to suspend the Congressional proceedings because it constituted an “abuse of power.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In her filing to the Supreme Court, Rousseff accused bitter rival and former speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, of abusing his power in calling the April vote.</p> <p dir="ltr">Cunha was suspended last week over accusations of obstructing a corruption investigation against him.</p> <p dir="ltr">The legal tactic was the latest in a series of dramatic manoeuvres around the process to remove Rousseff from office.</p> <p dir="ltr">In April, the lower house of parliament voted to impeach Rousseff, who has been president since 2011 and is the first woman to hold the office.</p> <p dir="ltr">But on Monday, Waldir Maranhao, the Interim Head of the Legislature’s Lower House, the Chamber of Deputies, threw the impeachment effort into disarray by annulling that vote, citing procedural problems.</p> <p dir="ltr">He then reversed the decision several hours later, setting the stage for the vote in the Senate.</p> <p dir="ltr">Deeply unpopular, Rousseff’s presidency has been battered by high-profile corruption scandals, political paralysis and a sharp economic downturn. Some 11 million people are out of work.</p> <p dir="ltr">Rousseff faces impeachment over accusations of tampering with figures to disguise the size of Brazil’s budget deficit during her 2014 re-election campaign.</p> <p dir="ltr">She has denied any wrongdoing, and cast the efforts to oust her as a coup.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UoWPn3l1WVsPnrLi4zJy50WHBWkwoD5yvDuEnurkncxuFQvwZ1dWD5Se-AqOL0FM4weALEkMjhFlbjv5wCS5j1voohPmpeGPCV6MadNIY5SmXfjDST3C8eMU_qluOhPvXQWr5i1ryxSZ/s1600/President-Dilma-Rousseff-of-Brazil-502x336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UoWPn3l1WVsPnrLi4zJy50WHBWkwoD5yvDuEnurkncxuFQvwZ1dWD5Se-AqOL0FM4weALEkMjhFlbjv5wCS5j1voohPmpeGPCV6MadNIY5SmXfjDST3C8eMU_qluOhPvXQWr5i1ryxSZ/s640/President-Dilma-Rousseff-of-Brazil-502x336.jpg"> </a> </div>

Brazil’s President Rousseff loses appeal, faces suspension

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff attends a meeting on state land issues, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, April...

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BREAKING: Newcastle, Norwich relegate from Premier League

<p dir="ltr">Lamine Kone’s brace were his first for the club</p> <p dir="ltr">Sunderland sealed their Premier League safety and relegated Norwich and local rivals Newcastle with a comprehensive victory over Everton.</p> <p dir="ltr">Defender Lamine Kone struck twice from close range after Patrick van Aanholt scored with a 25-yard free-kick that was misjudged by keeper Joel Robles.</p> <p dir="ltr">Victory capped an impressive revival by Sam Allardyce’s side, who have lost only two of their past 13 games.</p> <p dir="ltr">Everton were dire, heaping more pressure on boss Roberto Martinez.</p> <p dir="ltr">Norwich have also been relegated to the Championship despite a thumping victory over Watford at Carrow Road.</p> <p dir="ltr">Troy Deeney had given Watford the lead, but Norwich responded through Nathan Redmond’s strike, Dieumerci Mbokani’s tap-in and a Craig Cathcart own goal.</p> <p dir="ltr">Odion Ighalo pulled a goal back, but Mbokani dinked in Norwich’s fourth.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2I4gfdfKLdF1SQzC5r3FpCe_GK-A9Pc4ddl47xLY7I61RebVe6KPZsQ6a2Hn6qiu8kNDUI6Do5AeF5yraimeAmq6YKPkr-U3CCtAP1KvEbdi_e4fyUcFQi1hvOpECeGVEqAv6-VKSB8lN/s1600/Kone-504x284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2I4gfdfKLdF1SQzC5r3FpCe_GK-A9Pc4ddl47xLY7I61RebVe6KPZsQ6a2Hn6qiu8kNDUI6Do5AeF5yraimeAmq6YKPkr-U3CCtAP1KvEbdi_e4fyUcFQi1hvOpECeGVEqAv6-VKSB8lN/s640/Kone-504x284.jpg"> </a> </div>

BREAKING: Newcastle, Norwich relegate from Premier League

Lamine Kone’s brace were his first for the club Sunderland sealed their Premier League safety and relegated Norwich and local rivals Newcas...

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N86 per litre or battle, NLC tells FG

<p dir="ltr"><b>The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the federal government to revert the pump price of petrol to what it was or be ready for a showdown.</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Peter Ozo-Eson, secretary-general of the union, said the increase is the “most cruel in history”, vowing that labour would do all within its powers to resist it.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ozo-Eson said at a meeting that the organisation held with the government earlier in the day, labour advised that the idea be shelved “until, at least, it meets with the appropriate organs of the congress”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We urge the government to revert the prices to what they were. We would want to put everybody on notice that we shall resist this criminal increase with every means legitimate,” he said in a statement.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The unilateral increase in prices of petroleum products today by government represents the height of insensitivity and impunity and shall be resisted by the NLC and its civil society allies.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The unjustifiable electricity tariff and other economic challenges brought on by the devaluation of the naira and inflation, the least one had expected was another policy measure that would make life miserable for the ordinary Nigerian.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The latest increase is the most audacious and cruel in the history of product price increase as it represents not only about 80 per cent increase but it is tied to the black market exchange rate.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Furthermore, the process through which government arrived at this is both illogical and illegal as the board of the PPPRA is not duly constituted.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The statement said NLC through its previous statements and communiqués had said the need for the reconstitution of the boards of NNPC and PPPRA.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ozo-Eson accused Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, of having overbearing influence and acting as a sole administrator.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said the next line of action would be determined at an emergency meeting which had been fixed for Friday.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizG6MSb9E31LufXS2Quv_FjRyB0JJ2Mqywt-md8os9iIyI0mVc3DiIBlmVyIlGIatlMN-69odcMB0EEOEDuBwist5oDX3wGROeA93NlpC6UfE9Sjqnel8G7eZt3GVYIn3a12L6s0wtBUOz/s1600/IMG_20160512_053636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizG6MSb9E31LufXS2Quv_FjRyB0JJ2Mqywt-md8os9iIyI0mVc3DiIBlmVyIlGIatlMN-69odcMB0EEOEDuBwist5oDX3wGROeA93NlpC6UfE9Sjqnel8G7eZt3GVYIn3a12L6s0wtBUOz/s640/IMG_20160512_053636.jpg"> </a> </div>

N86 per litre or battle, NLC tells FG

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the federal government to revert the pump price of petrol to what it was or be ready for a sho...

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FG increases pump price to 'N145'

<p dir="ltr"><b>The  federal government has announced the removal of subsidy on petroleum motor spirit (PMS), saying the pump price of petrol may trade at N145.</b></p> <p dir="ltr">This is coming less than 24 hours after Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, announced that a new subsidy policy will soon be unveiled.</p> <p dir="ltr">The development was attributed to the current fuel scarcity and supply difficulties in the country.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We share the pains of Nigerians but, as we have constantly said, the inherited difficulties of the past and the challenges of the current times imply that we must take difficult decisions on these sorts of critical national issues,” Kachikwu said in a statement issued at the end of a meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja on Wednesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Along with this decision, the federal government has in the 2016 budget made an unprecedented social protection provision to cushion the current challenges.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We expect that this new policy will lead to improved supply and competition and eventually drive down pump prices, as we have experienced with diesel. In addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector. It will also prevent diversion of petroleum products and set a stable environment for the downstream sector in Nigeria.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We believe in the long term, that improved supply and competition will drive down prices.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tOyL7gXNVnVIEouXGLnlnITehmw_2_HUhXiRGuIiOVTTSv9wYOQJ6AE679QtS8qgtZ6-KtXGzhhIZnOwCXCG9fEOx2TCk2AGxeQikS58k9WOtN1CrXW9Zbqxzy4lwCMg-lWNUVpI3ccR/s1600/IMG_20160508_145744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tOyL7gXNVnVIEouXGLnlnITehmw_2_HUhXiRGuIiOVTTSv9wYOQJ6AE679QtS8qgtZ6-KtXGzhhIZnOwCXCG9fEOx2TCk2AGxeQikS58k9WOtN1CrXW9Zbqxzy4lwCMg-lWNUVpI3ccR/s640/IMG_20160508_145744.jpg"> </a> </div>

FG increases pump price to 'N145'

The  federal government has announced the removal of subsidy on petroleum motor spirit (PMS), saying the pump price of petrol may trade at N...

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I Need Our Assets Not Cameron’s Apology – Buhari

<p dir="ltr"><b><i>President </i></b><b><i>Muhammadu</i></b><b><i> </i></b><b><i>Buhari</i></b><b><i> on Wednesday said he is more interested in repatriating Nigeria’s stolen assets than any apology from British Prime Minister, David Cameron, following sour remarks ahead of the Anti – Corruption Summit in London.</i></b></p> <p dir="ltr">He said this during a question and answer session with journalists after delivering a keynote address on “Why We Must Tackle Corruption Together” at a pre-summit conference of development partners, the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, Transparency International and other civil society groups.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>“What Will I Do With Apology?”</b></p> <p dir="ltr">The President said Britain should be prepared to hand over to Nigeria assets left by former government officials, as he had nothing to do with apologies.</p> <p dir="ltr">He maintained that what was uppermost in his mind was the return of assets and funds stacked away in Britain and other countries back to Nigeria.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am not going to demand an apology from anybody. All I will demand is the return of assets.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have already mentioned how Britain really led and how disgraceful one of the Nigerian executives was, he had to dress like a woman to leave Britain and leave behind his bank account and fixed assets, which Britain is prepared to handover to us.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is what I am asking for, what will I do with apology; I need something tangible,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Cameron was caught on camera telling the Queen that the UK would be greeting <a href="http://www.channelstv.com/2016/05/10/cameron-says-nigeria-afghanistan-are-fantastically-corrupt/">leaders of some ‘fantastically corrupt’ nations</a> on Thursday and citing Nigeria and Afghanistan as one of those countries.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Anti-corruption Summit that will begin in the UK on Thursday is expected to come up with a declaration that will make it faster to repatriate all stolen funds back to their countries of origin.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Mr Simon Orga, said the<a href="http://www.channelstv.com/2016/05/10/anti-corruption-summit-reach-agreement-repatriation-stolen-funds/"> declaration would remove all obstacles and bottlenecks</a> that had impeded the repatriation of such funds.</p> <p dir="ltr">Agreement will also be reached on the repatriation or extradition of persons that had looted their nation’s funds to ensure they faced trial.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Orga expressed optimism that the summit would remove all impediments to the efforts of the Nigerian President to get all stolen money in the UK repatriated.<br> “At the end of the conference there will be a declaration and it will focus on all stolen wealth that are in the UK to have them repatriated.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It will be faster to facilitate the repatriation of the assets that are abroad and even the people behind it, leaving abroad could be extradited to Nigeria.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria and many world leaders already know the implication of fighting corruption and that is why they have conveyed the summit,” he told Channels Television’s correspondent, Chukwuma Onuekwusi.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b><i>An Old Snapshot Of Nigeria</i></b></p> <p dir="ltr">The Presidency had on Tuesday said Mr Cameron’s statement that Nigeria is a “fantastically corrupt” country is not reflective of the anti-corruption posture of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.</p> <p dir="ltr">A spokesman for the President, Mr Garba Shehu, gave the response hours after a video of a conversation between, Mr Cameron, Queen Elizabeth, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and the Speaker of parliament’s House of Commons, John Bercow was published online.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said Buhari was changing all that was wrong with Nigeria, including corruption, stressing that the president’s efforts reflected in his selection as a keynote speaker at a pre-summit in London.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said: “It (Cameron’s statement) is certainly not reflective of the good work that the President is doing. The eyes of the world are on what is happening here.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Prime Minister must be looking at an old snapshot of Nigeria. Things are changing with corruption and everything else. That, we believe is the reason they chose him as a keynote speaker at the pre-summit conference”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Shehu further commended the Archbishop of Canterbury for emphasising that President Buhari was not corrupt.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said Nigeria cherished the good relationship between the two countries and that nothing would truncate the relationship.</p> <p dir="ltr">Credit: channelstv </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNnwIimqWPPsuPBFQHXNqguWOFBEv5G_mArLiOpP-O4gnRvKqRUIWQ7R5C_hsAhugY_lo9w4KjobFys1xwBYfG02I19aNy6LnHv6MimqZygiZ5hAtVEd8cZ9o8eXO2UIY3QyX06MkVeny/s1600/Muhammadu-Buhari-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNnwIimqWPPsuPBFQHXNqguWOFBEv5G_mArLiOpP-O4gnRvKqRUIWQ7R5C_hsAhugY_lo9w4KjobFys1xwBYfG02I19aNy6LnHv6MimqZygiZ5hAtVEd8cZ9o8eXO2UIY3QyX06MkVeny/s640/Muhammadu-Buhari-1.jpg"> </a> </div>

I Need Our Assets Not Cameron’s Apology – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said he is more interested in repatriating Nigeria’s stolen assets than any apology from British P...

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Fani-Kayode Arrives EFCC In Police Convoy

<p dir="ltr">A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani -Kayode, has arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former Minister who served as the spokesman for the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation in 2015, arrived the EFCC in a police convoy.</p> <p dir="ltr">He arrived the Commission in a blue native attire around 9.45am.</p> <p dir="ltr">He was invited by the anti-graft agency over an alleged N840m he received during the campaign.</p> <p dir="ltr">The money was said to have emanated from the account of the Central Bank of Nigeria.</p> <p dir="ltr">Source – punchng.com<br></p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Eh7V-ODcPcMQTB7rFvuKOSiVUkrGNUHSw_AzS1kEHmnqDTwpHrAaM-XXlV1rRA80X1L7skUeKiPQq7KWvIbRs6SsiqTUGUxI52DF-WP34CRGlAcSe2WG8aLfxho5wYeCSQcVvK5vLKUs/s1600/Fani-Kayode1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Eh7V-ODcPcMQTB7rFvuKOSiVUkrGNUHSw_AzS1kEHmnqDTwpHrAaM-XXlV1rRA80X1L7skUeKiPQq7KWvIbRs6SsiqTUGUxI52DF-WP34CRGlAcSe2WG8aLfxho5wYeCSQcVvK5vLKUs/s640/Fani-Kayode1-1.jpg"> </a> </div>

Fani-Kayode Arrives EFCC In Police Convoy

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani -Kayode, has arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Th...

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Petrol price may go up soon

<p dir="ltr"><b>The federal government may soon effect an upward review in the pump prices of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.</b></p> <p dir="ltr"><b><a href="http://punchng.com/fg-may-increase-petrol-price-soon-marketers/">PUNCH quoted oil marketers</a></b> as attributing this to the recent increase in the cost of crude oil at the international market.</p> <p dir="ltr">The newspaper said the marketers also complained about the challenge in sustaining the improvement in the supply of petrol across the country.</p> <p dir="ltr">Lawal Taofeeq, corporate affairs manager of Nipco Plc, a renowned oil marketing firm, advised government to manage petrol subsidy properly in order to ensure adequate sustenance of the present improvement in fuel supply.</p> <p dir="ltr">He noted that the marginal rise in the price of crude oil could force the government to review the pump price of petrol upwards, particularly should the government insist on not paying petrol subsidy to oil marketers.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We’ve started importing products. But on sustenance, it depends on how the government handles the issue of subsidy. You know subsidy on petrol has returned and its management will go a long way in affecting fuel supply,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Before, there was no subsidy on petrol. But now, considering the rise in crude oil price, there is subsidy despite the fact that the official pump price hasn’t been changed. So, if the subsidy issue is not managed properly, marketers may not want to import the product unless they are sure of their money.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The government has been using the price modulation technique, and as crude oil price is going up, it will be adjusting the pump price of petrol. Any moment from now, there may be an upward review in the pump price of petrol to take care of the rise in the price of crude oil in the international market.”</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivK9-iO1jp9vkZwfWP2fnPodLig_nNGGxfDXL8V5GV-9L_lxB66yRWB7jtgc1ILtJRdvIIhUVudqzU63xqE_CvwJw9fWFVZh0xQDPoqIoU-wbtXgWs7-29NsPJkDgAoewkWRlVAgSa75o_/s1600/IMG_20160508_145744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivK9-iO1jp9vkZwfWP2fnPodLig_nNGGxfDXL8V5GV-9L_lxB66yRWB7jtgc1ILtJRdvIIhUVudqzU63xqE_CvwJw9fWFVZh0xQDPoqIoU-wbtXgWs7-29NsPJkDgAoewkWRlVAgSa75o_/s640/IMG_20160508_145744.jpg"> </a> </div>

Petrol price may go up soon

The federal government may soon effect an upward review in the pump prices of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol. PUNCH ...

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Dangote will end fuel scarcity, says Lai

<p dir="ltr">Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and culture, says the problem of fuel scarcity will become a thing of the past in the country once the petroleum refinery being built by Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, comes on board.<br> According to Dangote Group, the refinery, which is targeting 650,000 barrels per day, will become operational by 2018 .<br> Speaking when he visited Rutam House, headquarters of the Guardian Newspapers in Lagos, Mohammed said in addition to preparing existing refineries for optimal usage, government would license new investors to bring in modular refineries that would be sited close to the existing ones for access to crude.<br> He identified diversion of petroleum products to neighbouring countries as one of the major reasons for the ongoing scarcity of petrol.<br> The minister said when the current administration ended the “corrupt subsidy regime”, the independent marketers demanded for their outstanding payments before they could resume importation.<br> Mohammed said after government had paid the marketers over N594 billion subsidy arrears, they reneged on their promise to be importing fuel, leaving the task for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) alone.<br> On signing of the 2016 budget, Mohammed said the economy would be reflated by increasing aggregate demand, increasing money supply and job opportunities<br> He said against the N13 billion earmarked for roads in the budget, N350 billion would be released to road contractors to get back to sites.<br> He said with this, millions of jobs would be created, and there would be more money in circulation.<br> The minister reiterated government’s decision not to award new road contracts, saying efforts would be on completion of projects abandoned by previous administrations.<br> He said it would no longer be business as usual, as government would ensure close supervision of projects, as well as ensure probity and accountability in the disbursement of funds.<br> On power, Mohammed said with the privatisation of the electricity generation and distribution companies, government no longer has absolute control over the sector.<br> He said lots of things went wrong with the privatisation process, with a misunderstanding of the sector as a “cash cow” rather than a long- term investment project.<br> Mohammed said the lack of a gas policy was also affecting the sector.<br> “Because there is no gas policy in place, the major oil players are laying claim to ownership of the gas on the ground, that it is a by-product from crude they are refining,” he said.<br> “Besides, in the international market, gas is sold for $4 per cubic metre, but we are buying slightly above 3$, so you can understand their problem.”<br> He said government had been trucking gas to power stations as a result of activities of pipelines vandals, particularly in the Niger Delta region.<br> He was received by Toke Ibru, executive director of the Newspaper, Emeka Izeze, editor-in-chief, and senior members of staff.<br> Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9A7eyCOR_k8_47mvcCqEpkrMwcj4cOoyGWOt7I8WYRcIb49P2F-aipZE-tEVKrgGH7WCYDsex-st5lmuJaNDUkMryySCRP6du5e_eb859eVulxLr4FscEiXonxahDum7CLxrr99fYVA3/s1600/Aliko-Dangote-New-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9A7eyCOR_k8_47mvcCqEpkrMwcj4cOoyGWOt7I8WYRcIb49P2F-aipZE-tEVKrgGH7WCYDsex-st5lmuJaNDUkMryySCRP6du5e_eb859eVulxLr4FscEiXonxahDum7CLxrr99fYVA3/s640/Aliko-Dangote-New-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Dangote will end fuel scarcity, says Lai

Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and culture, says the problem of fuel scarcity will become a thing of the past in the country once the...

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Jonathan was booed for supporting gender equality - Okonjo Iweala

<p dir="ltr">Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, two-time minister of finance, says former president Goodluck Jonathan, was booed by male parliamentarians for supporting gender equality.<br> In a speech titled: ‘ Why Should Finance Ministers Care About Gender Equality? ‘ addressing finance ministers across the world, Okonjo-Iweala said a special entrepreneurship programme for women in Nigeria, succeeded in creating 10,000 jobs for the nation.<br> EXCERPTS BELOW :<br> I am delighted to see so many ministers and officials around the table. How over the last two years did this come about, you many wonder.<br> The idea first came to me in 2013, when I became Nigeria’s minister of finance for a second time. I had grown tired, quite candidly, of the phrase “gender mainstreaming.”<br> It wasn’t getting us anywhere fast enough. Yet here I was, minister of finance, with so many tools at my disposal—what excuse could I give for not moving forward on this? So I sat down with my team and asked, ‘What can we do? What incentives can we offer through the budget—that’s the big tool we have—that would really empower women and move us toward gender equality?’ It took us some time, but we realised we had this powerful instrument and we needed to use it.<br> Budget incentive<br> The president was supportive. We came up with the idea to work with the World Bank Group and the UK aid agency, DFID. And we designed a system whereby, through the budget, if a ministry delivered certain additional results for girls and women—over and above its targets—it would receive additional budget as an incentive.<br> We offered this to the cabinet on a voluntary basis and five ministries initially signed up: agriculture, health, water, communication technology, and public works. The ministry of women’s affairs agreed to monitor and evaluate progress, and our colleagues, partners, and the donor community agreed to support our initiative.<br> We kicked off with a small amount, US$21 million dollars, to see if this would work. When the president announced it in parliament, he was booed by male parliamentarians and cheered by female MPs, but it passed. It stayed in the budget and achieved excellent results:<br> Our ministry of agriculture was eager to boost productivity from a very low level, subsistence, to a high level. And if 70 percent of your workforce is in agriculture, and most of them are women, then women surely need access to the right inputs.<br> Very quickly, the minister of agriculture, who is now President of the African Development Bank, designed a system of electronic wallets—getting the middleman out of the graft-prone distribution of inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. We said, ‘If you get an additional number of women to use these wallets, your ministry will get additional budget.’<br> The results were spectacular: 2.5 million women began using electronic wallets, far more than anticipated. Our health ministry was concerned about vesico-vaginal fistula, a debilitating and degrading condition we weren’t able to address quickly or widely enough.<br> Our initiative prompted an additional 3,000 surgeries to repair it. Our ministry of water resources developed a system for women to manage health and sanitation centers in their communities, which just won a prize in the 2016 World Water Exhibition. Our ministry of Public Works began to train women as subcontractors in procurement. This was critical and absolutely unprecedented.<br> Those are just a few examples of how we were able to leverage the budget to advance gender equality. If you incentivie fellow ministers, they will deliver. This will empower more women and get more resources into their hands.<br> Support for entrepreneurs<br> Secondly, we developed a program for women entrepreneurs. A World Bank team supported us, and again we achieved spectacular results. We used a portion of the budget to incentivize young entrepreneurs, 40 and younger, who would register their businesses, get peer learning and mentoring, and a grant if they won a business planning competition.<br> In the first round, only 17 percent of the applicants were women. But more than 50 percent of small and medium-sized firms in Nigeria are run by women. So we held a second round just for women, setting aside about US$8 million dollars. About 64,000 thousand people applied. We ultimately selected 1,200 women to receive grants of US$10,000 to US$90,000—and they created about 10,000 new jobs.<br> These programs are helping women and men at the grassroots. They’re targeting our poorest and most vulnerable people. Our results in Nigeria should remind everyone what a vital role Finance Ministers can play to level the playing field and create truly equal opportunity for all.<br> Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkjqh9DzLbMMQOWR4i0IqHAftzMrFQJdyjUGsbY4GI8CN6_p7qFnJ6lWxTwiM3qCbazjdQF2iGntkNvX0LHkw13a0E9EvmHlrN3jAOd6FUc9cekvd8EriTS6GMDKhwMRoWcVCQtEA4fbj/s1600/Goodluck-Jonathan-2-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkjqh9DzLbMMQOWR4i0IqHAftzMrFQJdyjUGsbY4GI8CN6_p7qFnJ6lWxTwiM3qCbazjdQF2iGntkNvX0LHkw13a0E9EvmHlrN3jAOd6FUc9cekvd8EriTS6GMDKhwMRoWcVCQtEA4fbj/s640/Goodluck-Jonathan-2-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Jonathan was booed for supporting gender equality - Okonjo Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, two-time minister of finance, says former president Goodluck Jonathan, was booed by male parliamentarians for supportin...

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