Ebola death toll crosses 4,000

More than 4,000 people have died in the Ebola epidemic that broke out in west Africa at the start of the year, according to the latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO on Friday said that as of October 8, 4,033 people have died of Ebola out of a total of 8,399 registered cases in seven countries. The last toll put the figures at 3,865 dead from 8,033 cases.

The seven affected countries are split into two groups by WHO. The first includes Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- by far the worst-affected countries. Second group consists of Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and United States, which have seen a small number of highly isolated cases.

Liberia is the worst-hit of all, with 4,076 cases and 2,316 deaths, followed by Sierra Leone with 2,950 cases and 930 deaths.

Guinea, where the epidemic originated in December, has seen 1,350 cases and 778 deaths.

Health workers continue to pay a heavy price for their efforts with 233 deaths out of 416 cases across the countries. Nigeria has now been declared Ebola-free and its toll remained unchanged at eight dead from 20 cases.

There has been one death in the United States and one case contracted in Spain.
The toll remained unchanged in Senegal with one case. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, hit by a separate strain of Ebola from the one raging in West Africa, the WHO said there have been 71 cases and 43 deaths up to October 7.

On Friday the UN special envoy on Ebola said the number of cases was probably doubling every three-to-four weeks and the response needed to be 20 times greater than it was at the beginning of October.

David Nabarro warned the UN General Assembly that without the mass mobilisation of the world to support the affected countries in West Africa, "it will be impossible to get this disease quickly under control, and the world will have to live with the Ebola virus forever."


UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said catching up with "the menacing exponential curve of the virus'' demands a massive scale-up of financial resources, medical staff and equipment.

"I now appeal to all member states to act generously and swiftly,'' Eliasson said.

"Speed is of the essence. A contribution within days is more important than a larger contribution within weeks." Eliasson added.

Source: Aljazeera

Ebola death toll crosses 4,000

More than 4,000 people have died in the Ebola epidemic that broke out in west Africa at the start of the year, according to the latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO on Friday said that as of October 8, 4,033 people have died of Ebola out of a total of 8,399 registered cases in seven countries. The last toll put the figures at 3,865 dead from 8,033 cases.

The seven affected countries are split into two groups by WHO. The first includes Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- by far the worst-affected countries. Second group consists of Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and United States, which have seen a small number of highly isolated cases.

Liberia is the worst-hit of all, with 4,076 cases and 2,316 deaths, followed by Sierra Leone with 2,950 cases and 930 deaths.

Guinea, where the epidemic originated in December, has seen 1,350 cases and 778 deaths.

Health workers continue to pay a heavy price for their efforts with 233 deaths out of 416 cases across the countries. Nigeria has now been declared Ebola-free and its toll remained unchanged at eight dead from 20 cases.

There has been one death in the United States and one case contracted in Spain.
The toll remained unchanged in Senegal with one case. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, hit by a separate strain of Ebola from the one raging in West Africa, the WHO said there have been 71 cases and 43 deaths up to October 7.

On Friday the UN special envoy on Ebola said the number of cases was probably doubling every three-to-four weeks and the response needed to be 20 times greater than it was at the beginning of October.

David Nabarro warned the UN General Assembly that without the mass mobilisation of the world to support the affected countries in West Africa, "it will be impossible to get this disease quickly under control, and the world will have to live with the Ebola virus forever."

As Nigeria's Oil Dries Up....Okey Ikechukwu

Shortly after he was sworn in as president of the United States, Barrack Obama said the US must look for alternative sources of energy, to reduce its dependence on petroleum products for the bulk of its energy needs.

The emphasis was on biofuels. American farmers were charged with all manner of tasks and the fuel output of various food items was the prime issue at most US research national energy policy discussions.

But fuel yields from most agricultural products were found to be rather unimpressive, given the huge volumes for agricultural products needed as input. The comments on the matter on this page attracted scant attention at the time, but events have now come full circle. The US, which had hitherto been Nigeria’s biggest oil customer, has stopped buying our oil. Last week, we heard it from the US authorities and from official sources in Nigeria that the total volume of oil bought from Nigeria by the US now stands at zero litres.

For a nation that operates an ‘almajiri’ national income management policy, Nigeria is up against the wall as I write. At regular intervals, all states of the federation present their empty plates. The plates are then filled to varying degrees from the federation account, depending on the agreed national sharing formula. There is never a talk about a national production formula. In addition, nearly all the states are in debt. Saving is anathema. The driving disposition of all ‘stakeholders’ in matters pertaining to the national treasury is consumption. No one ever hears about production. Meanwhile, what is being consumed is dug out of the ground by foreign companies whose alleged output we accept in good faith. No one also knows for sure the truth about the actual daily output of Nigeria’s oil fields.

We must wake up to the fact that the America’s quest for an alternative energy source has sounded the death knell for the large quantities of oil that used to go to the US and created new problems. Loss of market and loss of revenue for Nigeria are it! Voila, the grave dangers facing Nigeria and other countries whose economy is highly dependent on revenue from oil! With imports from Nigeria dropping to zero in July, and with clear indications that the situation is now irreversible, are we re-strategizing?


Amidst the declining revenue, disappearing foreign reserves and colossal pressures on the exchange rate, some allegedly knowledgeable experts are saying that the Nigerian economy is more than robust enough to withstand the shock waves all manner of economic counter currents. Brilliant, is it not? A man is told that a trailer has just run over someone and replies with: “Don’t sound so tragic, as a toe is still twitching in the dead man’s crushed right leg!”

That Nigeria in now the first country from which the US, the world’s largest oil producer and consumer has completely stopped buying oil is because of the growing sourcing of very high quality oil from shale. This shale revolution has led to dramatic increase in its domestic production, following the use of such new technologies as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking to maximise oil yields. As I write, international oil firms like the Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Total and Chevron, which operate most of Nigeria’s major oil fields, are divesting. What is going on today among these oil companies is a portfolio rotation of their assets, as they divert more resources into shale oil production. Does Nigeria have shale in the right quantities and is working towards its commercial exploitation? Shale is more ‘democratised’ in the world than petroleum. Nigeria shares the same fate with countries like Algeria, Libya and Angola, whose high quality crude is similar to the one pumped in the new oil fields of North Dakota. See how our ‘sweet crude’ has now become a curse?

It is interesting that the Middle East nations, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are less affected by this development, because their lower quality crude oil is still very much in demand by US refineries. The one year old warning of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, about the threat posed to oil producers by energy from shale did not, to my knowledge, elicit a national response or a strategic position document from her ministry. The nation’s switching of more of its oil exports to Asia, and the replacing of US with India as the largest importer of Nigerian oil, is an ostrich move. The truth is that we have a lousy product in a demand-switching world.

The solution is diversification of the national economy. Otherwise Nigeria’s global relevance and economic viability in the medium and long term will become history. Slaves became unwelcome commodity in international trade when mechanisation came on the scene. Coal gave way to petroleum over time. These ‘energy sources’, as well as and national economies that depended on them in a mobile world, collapsed because they were overtaken by the march of events.

Other nations facing the same problem as Nigeria today are also in search of new markets in the same Asia. The possibility of price crashes and all manner of undercutting by marketers will reign.  The giant of Africa must now find other ways of measuring its greatness, besides talking about its large population with limited capacities and misused high income from oil. Almost every country in the world today can produce fuel from shale.

In addition, countries like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Kenya, which have discovered oil in commercial quantities, will not tremble before Nigeria because it once wielded a big purse that it did not manage strategically. Looks like it’s back to our agricultural products of the thirties, forties and fifties; this time with cutting edge technology and a focused national leadership.

Source: Thisday

As Nigeria's Oil Dries Up....Okey Ikechukwu

Shortly after he was sworn in as president of the United States, Barrack Obama said the US must look for alternative sources of energy, to reduce its dependence on petroleum products for the bulk of its energy needs.

The emphasis was on biofuels. American farmers were charged with all manner of tasks and the fuel output of various food items was the prime issue at most US research national energy policy discussions.

But fuel yields from most agricultural products were found to be rather unimpressive, given the huge volumes for agricultural products needed as input. The comments on the matter on this page attracted scant attention at the time, but events have now come full circle. The US, which had hitherto been Nigeria’s biggest oil customer, has stopped buying our oil. Last week, we heard it from the US authorities and from official sources in Nigeria that the total volume of oil bought from Nigeria by the US now stands at zero litres.

For a nation that operates an ‘almajiri’ national income management policy, Nigeria is up against the wall as I write. At regular intervals, all states of the federation present their empty plates. The plates are then filled to varying degrees from the federation account, depending on the agreed national sharing formula. There is never a talk about a national production formula. In addition, nearly all the states are in debt. Saving is anathema. The driving disposition of all ‘stakeholders’ in matters pertaining to the national treasury is consumption. No one ever hears about production. Meanwhile, what is being consumed is dug out of the ground by foreign companies whose alleged output we accept in good faith. No one also knows for sure the truth about the actual daily output of Nigeria’s oil fields.

We must wake up to the fact that the America’s quest for an alternative energy source has sounded the death knell for the large quantities of oil that used to go to the US and created new problems. Loss of market and loss of revenue for Nigeria are it! Voila, the grave dangers facing Nigeria and other countries whose economy is highly dependent on revenue from oil! With imports from Nigeria dropping to zero in July, and with clear indications that the situation is now irreversible, are we re-strategizing?

2015: Why Jonathan may lose as an incumbent...by Bayo Olupohunda

President Goodluck Jonathan

For those who are upbeat about the chances of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan winning re-election if he decides to run, I have bad news for them. The President may not only lose in 2015, he could lose by a landslide even with the incumbency factor perceived to be in his favour.

Let’s even consider a massive defeat of an incumbent impossibility; he could still be edged out by a narrow margin. Indeed all evidence point to the first shocking defeat of an incumbent in a presidential election in the country. For the first time ever, it seems the incumbency effect may not matter. While I acknowledge the usual arguments about the incumbent advantage; 2015 may yet prove to be an exception.

Why do I think so? If the supporters of the President can just sit back and remove the scale of sycophancy from their eyes and honestly assess the situation in the country, they will see that in a free and fair election, the President does not stand a chance. I think they may be in for a rude shock. Those who fancy an easy win for Jonathan may have failed to appreciate the enormity of the challenges stacked against his re-election.

But supporters of the administration seem to have been living in denial all this while. For them the President’s victory is a foregone conclusion. Not quite. Their optimism seems buoyed by the gale of endorsements by some phony groups and intimidated Peoples Democratic Party governors who seem not to have any choice anyway. Supporters of the administration have also trumpeted what they considered to be some achievements of the President. But it appears the so-called achievements are known only to them alone. As for Nigerians, it has been a case of the more you look, the less you see when it comes to assessing this administration. In the ultimate decider will be Nigerian voters.

Despite the huge arsenal of funds and state machinery at the disposal of the Jonathan presidency, politics and life often have other plans. This is what recent elections have taught us. The reality is, incumbents can be defeated. It may happen in 2015 – in a few months from now, President Jonathan will find out whether he will be keeping his job. For most voters, their choice will ultimately come down to how they expect either a new president or Jonathan to run the affairs of our country in the next four years. Unfortunately for Jonathan, he does not seem to have much of a presidential record, and a review of it leaves little doubt that Nigerians may want to fire him.


Let me make it clear for people reading this, especially supporters of this administration, the laziest thing will be to dismiss my thoughts as the ranting of a hater of the President or an opposition hatchet job. Far from it, I am completely apolitical. One does not need a crystal ball to see the realities of why President Jonathan should be preparing his handover note. Or shouldn’t he? Here are my reasons. The first is in the changing demographics. Increasingly as we progress in our democratic experience, it is becoming clear that it is the voters that will ultimately determine the fate of candidates.

In the past, defeating incumbents was unthinkable. Incumbents held what proverbialy could be called the yam and the knife – but not anymore. We have the situation where sitting Presidents deploy state machinery to induce and coerce all electoral institutions. In recent governorship elections incumbents have been beaten while some held on to their post by a thin margin. It is no longer easy to steal the people’s mandate. Now if elections are not won by ballot, one can be sure the courts will overturn any stolen mandate. The trend will surely continue in 2015.

If the situation persists, President Jonathan may be Nigeria’s first one-term President. Not even the rallies being held across the country in support of the President may help the re-election. In 2015, the President will be assessed by his performance in the last five years. A look at history has shown that if President Jonathan loses, he will not be the first incumbent to do so.

There have been nearly a dozen one term Presidents who ran for second terms but were denied by voters, in the United States, for example, there have been three one-term presidents since World War II. The most recent one-term president who lost his re-election bid was George H.W. Bush, a Republican who lost to Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992. Republican George H.W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993.

He lost a campaign for re-election in 1992 to Democrat, Bill Clinton. Bush’s official White House biography describes his re-election loss this way: “Despite unprecedented popularity from this military and diplomatic triumph, Bush was unable to withstand discontent at home from a faltering economy and continued high deficit spending.’’

Though some of the one-term US presidents lost due to the prevailing economic, political and social factors of their time; those factors will pale into insignificance when juxtaposed with the failures of the Jonathan presidency. If any of the US presidents had been Jonathan, they would not have even made the mid-term election as they would have been impeached. Unfortunately, we have legislative arms that are largely part of the rot.

But in spite of ongoing propaganda, Nigerians seem to have become wiser—more discerning. They may express their displeasure with this administration in 2015. I have written in this column that the next election may yet be a protest vote by a people tired of this administration’s arrogance, contempt and disdain for their welfare as a people. What will be the greatest obstacle in the path of Jonathan’s re-election is his attitude to corruption. Needless to say that Nigerians have become embarrassed by how corruption scandals at home and abroad have taken a toll on their country’s reputation.

What is worse is Jonathan’s denial of corruption as the cause of our underdevelopment. In several public statements, the President had declared, much to the bewilderment of Nigerians, that corruption is not Nigeria’s problem. The President must know that Nigerians are seriously angry about his ‘body language’ to corruption when allegations of corruption continue to taint his government. This President has too much baggage going into an election year. They will certainly hurt his re-election chances.

For example, Nigerians are scandalised by the President’s refusal to probe the ongoing cash-for-arm scandals rocking his administration. That he has continued to maintain silence even as these allegations continue to taint the integrity of his administration is unnerving to Nigerians. Meanwhile, under this administration, all the agencies meant to fight corruption have also gone comatose. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that this is happening under his Presidency.

The lack of leadership and the damage inflicted on Nigerians living in the North-East by the administration’s delay to confront growing insecurity has had its attendant consequences. The President is going into the election as a largely unpopular candidate. Can Nigerians afford four more years of Jonathan? Something tells me that we may have seen the last of the Jonathan’s presidency. I will be surprised if he is re-elected.

Source:Punch

2015: Why Jonathan may lose as an incumbent...by Bayo Olupohunda

President Goodluck Jonathan

For those who are upbeat about the chances of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan winning re-election if he decides to run, I have bad news for them. The President may not only lose in 2015, he could lose by a landslide even with the incumbency factor perceived to be in his favour.

Let’s even consider a massive defeat of an incumbent impossibility; he could still be edged out by a narrow margin. Indeed all evidence point to the first shocking defeat of an incumbent in a presidential election in the country. For the first time ever, it seems the incumbency effect may not matter. While I acknowledge the usual arguments about the incumbent advantage; 2015 may yet prove to be an exception.

Why do I think so? If the supporters of the President can just sit back and remove the scale of sycophancy from their eyes and honestly assess the situation in the country, they will see that in a free and fair election, the President does not stand a chance. I think they may be in for a rude shock. Those who fancy an easy win for Jonathan may have failed to appreciate the enormity of the challenges stacked against his re-election.

But supporters of the administration seem to have been living in denial all this while. For them the President’s victory is a foregone conclusion. Not quite. Their optimism seems buoyed by the gale of endorsements by some phony groups and intimidated Peoples Democratic Party governors who seem not to have any choice anyway. Supporters of the administration have also trumpeted what they considered to be some achievements of the President. But it appears the so-called achievements are known only to them alone. As for Nigerians, it has been a case of the more you look, the less you see when it comes to assessing this administration. In the ultimate decider will be Nigerian voters.

Despite the huge arsenal of funds and state machinery at the disposal of the Jonathan presidency, politics and life often have other plans. This is what recent elections have taught us. The reality is, incumbents can be defeated. It may happen in 2015 – in a few months from now, President Jonathan will find out whether he will be keeping his job. For most voters, their choice will ultimately come down to how they expect either a new president or Jonathan to run the affairs of our country in the next four years. Unfortunately for Jonathan, he does not seem to have much of a presidential record, and a review of it leaves little doubt that Nigerians may want to fire him.

Leadership lessons from Lion

FACT: A Lion’s roar can be heard from five miles away:

LESSON: Make yourself heard

A famous author once said “You may have a heart of gold, but then so does a hardboiled egg.” You may have good intentions in mind, but if you don’t say them out, nobody will know how noble they are. There are plenty of animals that are bigger and stronger and have more stamina than the Lion, there are animals that are faster, there are animals that are even better hunters, but what makes the Lion arguably the most fearsome animal to walk the earth is its voice, its voice is its reputation.

Many of us never met Albert Einstein, but we all have knowledge of him because he had something to say and he said it. Many of us never met people like Adolf Hitler or Mother Theresa of Calcutta, but we know about them because they had statements to make and they made those statements. It is important for you to know that the statement you make is not just about what you say, the things you do and your character is part of what make your reputation.

The Lion knows that its roar precedes it everywhere it goes, that is why it is the epitome of boldness. If you develop your reputation properly, your boldness will increase as well Never make the mistake of believing that your friends, or siblings or neighbours or co-workers should be able to read your mind. Remember what Jesus Christ himself said in Matthew 7:7: “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you”. There is nothing to be gained from keeping to yourself, express yourself, if you know you are not extroverted, you can write. If you know you have a talent or a gift, use it. Go out and make friends, a recluse is of no use to anyone. As the popular maxim goes “unless the tortoise sticks its head out of its shell it cannot go anywhere”

FACT: Lions Are Very Social Animals; They Form Groups Called Prides With Sometimes As Many As Forty Individuals In a Pride:

LESSON: Interact With Others So That You Can Get Better

Robert Greene’s eighteenth law of power says: “Do not build fortresses to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous.” Many people believe that life is a road that must be travelled alone and that the task of leadership is a burden that cannot be shared. While these assertions are true to some extent, we all still have to recognize that there is a reason that we have family members, friends, co-workers, bosses, mentors followers or even employees.
They are not just there because they are our blood or they have something to gain from us, they are there to rejoice with us in happy moments, to share sorrows with, to impart knowledge to us and to help us in our travels on the highway of life. One fascinating thing about a pride of lions is that other females are always ready to help a female babysit her cubs when she goes hunting. We should recognize that the reason why the sea is so big is that it has many small rivers, streams, and rivulets feeding it. The leader should recognize himself as a river feeding others and being fed by others in turn. A river which isolates itself, which feeds nothing and which nothing feeds will sooner or later start to stink or dry up. Remember the popular acronym TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More).

FACT: A Lion can Spend up to 20 Hours a Day Sleeping:

LESSON: There Is a Difference between a Leader and a Slave, Find Time to Relax

The temptation to work and work until one collapses from sheer exhaustion has never been greater than it is in our current society. Every day we wake up, there are always targets to meet, meetings to participate in, dates to keep and objectives to realize. As a result we are tempted to work and work as slaves, we give ourselves freely to our activities and to people around us, yet we fail to realize that we need time for ourselves, we are constantly burnt out and worn out yet we do not see the need to relax.

And so we slave our lives away like worker bees and do not enjoy the short time we have to live. Learn from the Lion who knows that every day it must eat, yet still sleeps for more than half the day. In spite of this perceived irresponsibility, the Lion never goes hungry. The irony of work is that it never finishes, the more you do, the more you still have to do. French playwright Moliere says: “Our minds need relaxation, and give way, unless we mix with work, a little play.” In the insect kingdom workers are the ones that have nothing else to do but work, one of the marks of a leader is that he does not soil his hands with work meant for his followers. If you want to have an enjoyable life, learn to not let activity dominate your life. Find time to relax.

FACT: Lions rarely eat entire prey, they usually leave leftovers for other animals like hyenas AND vultures:

LESSON: the ability to share is the hallmark of a leader

When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package. Magnanimity is one of the attributes that defines a man as a true leader. Every leader has people following him and it is the duty of that leader to ensure that those followers get a fair distribution of every benefit that accrues to the organization. Being a leader is not just the ability to give commands or share out work, it is also the ability to motivate.

There is nothing that can motivate like reward and incentive, a true leader does not hold these things back. Learn from the popular Yoruba proverb which says “the old man that eats without consideration for the people around him, will carry his load home by himself.” If you want to be respected you must learn to give freely of yourself to others. It is hard to imagine that the Lion in spite of its voracious appetite, and the amount of food needed to satisfy its massive body needs, is still considerate enough to leave leftovers for carrion eaters. There is no level of need that should prevent you from giving to others. Jack London gives us an advice: “A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is a bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog.”

Source: Tribune

Leadership lessons from Lion

FACT: A Lion’s roar can be heard from five miles away:

LESSON: Make yourself heard

A famous author once said “You may have a heart of gold, but then so does a hardboiled egg.” You may have good intentions in mind, but if you don’t say them out, nobody will know how noble they are. There are plenty of animals that are bigger and stronger and have more stamina than the Lion, there are animals that are faster, there are animals that are even better hunters, but what makes the Lion arguably the most fearsome animal to walk the earth is its voice, its voice is its reputation.

Many of us never met Albert Einstein, but we all have knowledge of him because he had something to say and he said it. Many of us never met people like Adolf Hitler or Mother Theresa of Calcutta, but we know about them because they had statements to make and they made those statements. It is important for you to know that the statement you make is not just about what you say, the things you do and your character is part of what make your reputation.

The Lion knows that its roar precedes it everywhere it goes, that is why it is the epitome of boldness. If you develop your reputation properly, your boldness will increase as well Never make the mistake of believing that your friends, or siblings or neighbours or co-workers should be able to read your mind. Remember what Jesus Christ himself said in Matthew 7:7: “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you”. There is nothing to be gained from keeping to yourself, express yourself, if you know you are not extroverted, you can write. If you know you have a talent or a gift, use it. Go out and make friends, a recluse is of no use to anyone. As the popular maxim goes “unless the tortoise sticks its head out of its shell it cannot go anywhere”

FACT: Lions Are Very Social Animals; They Form Groups Called Prides With Sometimes As Many As Forty Individuals In a Pride:

LESSON: Interact With Others So That You Can Get Better

Robert Greene’s eighteenth law of power says: “Do not build fortresses to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous.” Many people believe that life is a road that must be travelled alone and that the task of leadership is a burden that cannot be shared. While these assertions are true to some extent, we all still have to recognize that there is a reason that we have family members, friends, co-workers, bosses, mentors followers or even employees.

Why I’m contesting for president again — Buhari

A former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday said he would contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He said he decided to run because the Peoples Democratic Party-led federal administrations from 1999 till date were purposeless and that there appears not to be a government in place in Nigeria at present.

Mr. Buhari, who disclosed this in Abuja while addressing about 60 different groups urging him to run for the presidency said he would make his declaration formal on October 8.

The APC leader criticised the PDP-led administration since 1999, saying they lacked purpose. He said in the circumstance, it is important for him to step in to seek an opportunity to salvage the situation.

According to him, “Today, we are in the 15th year of purposeless leadership by the PDP and all we have seen is unprecedented deterioration in the security and law and order situation, astronomical rise in the incidence and intensity of corruption, and in the failure of governance.

“And as we reach this last lap of the journey, I would like to request that we concentrate all our effort and energy toward realising and achieving change in how this country is run.

“The only way to meaningful change in this country is to vote the PDP out of power to which it was never legitimately elected, anyway. The task before us today is wide ranging and very great. The first and most important is to take away power from those who have been misusing it.

“Indeed, except for the call of patriotism, public-spiritedness and an abiding love for the people off this country, nothing will today make honest, honourable and sane politician want to be saddled with Nigeria and an economy in trouble and a society in even deeper trouble – with its perilous security situation, with its extensive and almost unmanageable corruption and with its pervasive lawlessness. And a government – is there really a government? – that is not working.”

A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, had last week declared his intention to contest the presidential election on the same APC platform, Nigeria’s main opposition party.

Mr. Buhari, a retired major general, who will be 72 in December, was Nigeria’s military head of state between 1983 and 1985.

He had contested presidential election on three previous occasions, but lost to the PDP candidates.

The former military leader, who joined politics in 2003, contested that year’s election on the ticket of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, but came second to the incumbent, Olusegun Obasanjo.

In 2007, he ran again on the platform of the same party, but lost to PDP’s Umaru Yar’Adua.

Mr. Buhari quit the ANPP to float the Congress for Progressives Change, CPC, became its standard bearer in the 2011 presidential poll, but was defeated by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Source: Premiumtimes

Why I’m contesting for president again — Buhari

A former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday said he would contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He said he decided to run because the Peoples Democratic Party-led federal administrations from 1999 till date were purposeless and that there appears not to be a government in place in Nigeria at present.

Mr. Buhari, who disclosed this in Abuja while addressing about 60 different groups urging him to run for the presidency said he would make his declaration formal on October 8.

The APC leader criticised the PDP-led administration since 1999, saying they lacked purpose. He said in the circumstance, it is important for him to step in to seek an opportunity to salvage the situation.

According to him, “Today, we are in the 15th year of purposeless leadership by the PDP and all we have seen is unprecedented deterioration in the security and law and order situation, astronomical rise in the incidence and intensity of corruption, and in the failure of governance.

“And as we reach this last lap of the journey, I would like to request that we concentrate all our effort and energy toward realising and achieving change in how this country is run.

Ekiti indigenes’ll go on exile for Fayose –Falana

Lagos Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana

LAGOS lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has said that some indigenes of Ekiti State are planning to go on exile as soon as the governor-elect of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, assumes office.

Fayose, who won the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti, will be sworn in on October 16.

Falana, who is an indigene of the state, said, “It is clear that the people have been taken back to the era of state-sponsored terrorism. Already, rival drivers’ unions and urchins are unleashing mayhem on innocent people, including judges and judiciary workers.

“Fayose should be advised not to frustrate his own inauguration. With the ongoing political crisis, some development agencies have decided to pull out of the state.

“I know industrialists who have decided to relocate to neighbouring states. I have some friends who have resolved to go on exile from Ekiti State for the next four years.

“The exodus of business and the elite will have adverse effect on the fragile economy of the state because no investor takes funds to any place where the rule of law is in abeyance.”

Asked if the people of the state had made a mistake in electing Fayose as their governor, Falana said the wishes of the people must be respected.

“The Ekiti people are perfectly entitled to elect whoever they like to govern them. That is what bourgeois democracy is all about. Up till now, the world is still paying for the decision of the American people to elect George Bush Jr. I believe that the wishes of the Ekiti electorate should be respected,” he said.


“However, Fayose owes himself a duty to turn away from violence because no leader can govern in an atmosphere of anarchy and chaos. He has to embrace the rule of law,” Falana added.

Reacting to Falana’s claims, a media aide to the governor-elect, Lere Olayinka, said the Ekiti people had made their choice and that “Falana, as a lawyer, should know that he does not have more stake in Ekiti than the over 200,000 Ekiti people, who expressed their preference for Fayose with their votes on June 21.”

Olayinka said, “Ekiti people have spoken loudly with their votes and if the likes of Falana does not like the decision the people have made, they can relocate to wherever they so desire.

“As for Fayose, he will remain committed to the welfare of the teachers, local government workers, civil servants, health workers, okada riders, artisans, market men and women, students and others who gave him their votes on June 21, not minding the anger of the likes of Falana, who believe that Ekiti people cannot choose their own governor.”

Source: Punch

Ekiti indigenes’ll go on exile for Fayose –Falana

Lagos Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana

LAGOS lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has said that some indigenes of Ekiti State are planning to go on exile as soon as the governor-elect of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, assumes office.

Fayose, who won the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti, will be sworn in on October 16.

Falana, who is an indigene of the state, said, “It is clear that the people have been taken back to the era of state-sponsored terrorism. Already, rival drivers’ unions and urchins are unleashing mayhem on innocent people, including judges and judiciary workers.

“Fayose should be advised not to frustrate his own inauguration. With the ongoing political crisis, some development agencies have decided to pull out of the state.

“I know industrialists who have decided to relocate to neighbouring states. I have some friends who have resolved to go on exile from Ekiti State for the next four years.

“The exodus of business and the elite will have adverse effect on the fragile economy of the state because no investor takes funds to any place where the rule of law is in abeyance.”

Asked if the people of the state had made a mistake in electing Fayose as their governor, Falana said the wishes of the people must be respected.

“The Ekiti people are perfectly entitled to elect whoever they like to govern them. That is what bourgeois democracy is all about. Up till now, the world is still paying for the decision of the American people to elect George Bush Jr. I believe that the wishes of the Ekiti electorate should be respected,” he said.

NIGERIA: Limping on at 54...by Onogwu Muhammed,

 It is clear that our country faces a big choice: We can either have a hard decade or a bad century. We can either roll up our sleeves and do what’s needed to overcome our post-colonial excesses and adapt to the demands of the 21st century or we can just keep limping into the future.

 Given those stark choices, one would hope that our politicians would rise to the challenge by putting forth fair and credible recovery proposals that match the scale of our economic, political and social problems. But that, alas, is not what we’re getting today. While we accuse the military leaders of leaving behind, a political morass and socio-economic mess, nepotism, mismanagement and corruption, the civilian leaders, even in the presence of anti graft agencies such as the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC continue to bribe, steal, smuggle and speculate; accumulating vast illicit fortunes and displaying them lavishly in stunning disregard for public sensitivities.

 In this regard, political activity is seen by ambitious Nigerians as the most direct way of securing wealth and social standing, as a result, post independent Nigeria has become an orgy of power being turned into profit.
In the words of one of the Nigeria founding fathers, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in 1959 –”When we have our citizenship, our national flag and our national anthem, we shall find that the flame of national unity will burn bright and strong”.

Nigeria, pre-independence was a country of equal men and women who came together for a common goal whereas today, Nigeria is a country made up of gathering of divided people along religion, ethnic and political lines.

The founding fathers of this great country never envisaged a Nigeria where tradition of autocratic governance and paternalism are all embedded in the institution of governance; they never envisaged a country where massive culture of impunity and total failure of accountability will overwhelmingly thrive unchecked.

At 54, government has not been able to do anything to break the mould of poverty and to move the nation towards sustainable growth. After 54 years, our political leaders are not bold enough to access our hospitals for their own health needs due to high level of decay they know they have brought to the sector. Our healthcare delivery system is still comatose as a result of massive brain-drain of medical experts due to poor welfare and poor working conditions. Our hospitals can best be described as corridors of death just as Nigerian children are still dying of preventable diseases such as cholera and malaria and high level of infant and maternal mortality.

At 54, our farmers are still using the same crude agricultural implements used by our forefathers – a reflection of how much our agricultural experts have failed us. It is practically the case that almost all other areas of our national life are equally sick.

Today in Nigeria, governments at all levels have disowned primary education; public primary schools in many states of Nigeria have been closed down for periods ranging from four months to 11 moths in some states as governments are being wilfully indifferent to the plights of primary schools’ teachers hence their resort to downing tools.

Despite the esoteric rebasing which placed Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, over 65% of the population have no access to basic amenities such as clean water, good healthcare system, motorable roads, quality education and so on.
At 54, Nigeria remains politically, economically and socially malnourished nation.

Source: The Nation

NIGERIA: Limping on at 54...by Onogwu Muhammed,

 It is clear that our country faces a big choice: We can either have a hard decade or a bad century. We can either roll up our sleeves and do what’s needed to overcome our post-colonial excesses and adapt to the demands of the 21st century or we can just keep limping into the future.

 Given those stark choices, one would hope that our politicians would rise to the challenge by putting forth fair and credible recovery proposals that match the scale of our economic, political and social problems. But that, alas, is not what we’re getting today. While we accuse the military leaders of leaving behind, a political morass and socio-economic mess, nepotism, mismanagement and corruption, the civilian leaders, even in the presence of anti graft agencies such as the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC continue to bribe, steal, smuggle and speculate; accumulating vast illicit fortunes and displaying them lavishly in stunning disregard for public sensitivities.

 In this regard, political activity is seen by ambitious Nigerians as the most direct way of securing wealth and social standing, as a result, post independent Nigeria has become an orgy of power being turned into profit.
In the words of one of the Nigeria founding fathers, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in 1959 –”When we have our citizenship, our national flag and our national anthem, we shall find that the flame of national unity will burn bright and strong”.

Nigeria, pre-independence was a country of equal men and women who came together for a common goal whereas today, Nigeria is a country made up of gathering of divided people along religion, ethnic and political lines.

From vibrant textile industries to ghost towns

Industrialists note that Nigeria had one of the best textile industries in the world with more than 180 functional factories in the early 1980s.

They recall that the textile industry in Nigeria then was vibrant and it used to be the second largest in Africa, after Egypt, providing more than 800,000 direct and five million indirect jobs for Nigerians.
They observe that at that time, multi-purpose textile machines such as shuttles, knitting, spindles, among others, improved productivity in the textile sector and ensured good quality of products
.
Mr Oladele Hunsu, the President, Nigeria Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria (NUTGWN), said that textile factories such as United Nigerian Textile Ltd., Aswani Textile Mill, Afprint Plc, Asaba Textile Mill, Edo Textile Mill, among others, were the pride of the sector at that moment.
Analysts, however, note that the fortunes of the sector began to dwindle in 1994 due to political crises and the lack of political will to implement some policies which could enhance productivity in the sector.

They opine that the situation was worsened by lifting of the ban on importation of textile goods in 1997, massive smuggling of foreign textile products into the country and increased taxes and levies imposed on the industries.
They observe further that these developments led to the closure of various textile industries, including Afprint Plc, Aba Textile Mill, Asaba Textile Mill, Specomill, Unitex, Supertex, Royal Spinners, NTM and Oodua Textile Mill.

The analysts recall that the popular Aswani Textile Mill was forced to transmute into Chellarams Plc — dealing in nylon and bicycles — while Afprint Plc in Lagos became Kewalram Nigeria Ltd. and started selling cars.
Statistics from the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) indicate that as of 2007, not more than 30 textile industries across the country were functioning with less than 30,000 workers.
The statistics also reveal that the nine textile mills in Kaduna were closed down by the end of 2007and their workers were thrown into the labour market.

Expressing concern about the situation, the members of NUTGWN recently raised alarm that the closure of the industries had compelled many of the big players in the industry to change their businesses. Lending credence to this, statistics from MAN state that the capacity utilisation profile of the nation’s textile industry has declined by 9.5 per cent between 2011 and 2013.

The statistics state that “the capacity utilisation dipped  to 50.8 per cent in 2012 from 54.5 per cent recorded in 2011, in spite of the Federal Government’s N100 billion intervention funds to the sector.
“Also, the sector’s capacity utilisation further dropped to 44.9 per cent in 2013, indicating a cumulative depreciation of 9.5 per cent during the period.’’


Describing the trend as worrisome, NUTGWN admits that although the Federal Government has made several efforts at revamping the sector, multiple interventions are needed to fully revitalise the sector. Hunsu, the president of the association, therefore, urged the concerned authorities to implement existing economic policies, aimed at guarding against smuggling of foreign fabrics into the country.

He said the nation incurred an annual loss of N75 billion due to the smuggling of textile products into the country, insisting that smuggled products accounted for 90 per cent of the textile products in the Nigerian market.
According to him, although the Federal Government has made concerted efforts to revive the industry through the N100 Cotton and Textile Intervention Fund in 2009, few companies have been able to access the funds.

Beyond the intervention, Mr Olanrewaju Jaiyeola, the President, National Textile Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (NTMAN), urged the Federal Government to adopt a protectionist policy for the textile sector so as to provoke its revival.
He said the lack of funds was not the only problem plaguing the textile industry, insisting that a well-implemented, manufacturers-friendly policy would turn the sector around.

Sharing similar sentiments, Dr John Osemede, the Director-General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), solicited a proactive measure to guard against the importation of textile products.
Alhaji Ali Madugu, the National Vice President of MAN, corroborated his view, insisting that the major challenges facing the industry were importation of foreign fabrics to the country and smuggling of Nigerian textile products to other countries.

In his view, Alhaji Aliyu Bello, the Company Secretary of Funtua Textile Ltd., one of the few surviving textile factories in Nigeria, said that multiple taxations by the federal, state and local governments were some of the challenges facing the sector.
However, Mr Bimbo Ashiru, the Commissioner for Commerce in Ogun, attributed the closure of the two textile mills in the state to lack of funds and importation of foreign fabrics.
He said  bthe mills — Shokas Lace Factory in Ijebu-Igbo and Austro Embroidery Mill in Aiyepe — could not easily source for foreign exchange to import some of the needed materials from Austria before their closure more than a decade ago.

Ashiru said attempt by the firms to bring the prices of their products down affected the quality of the products, adding this, therefore, affected the people’s patronage of the products.
“The cost of importing materials for production was unfortunately on the high side, compared to the prices of imported textile materials,’’ he added.

Irrespective of the myriad challenges facing the sector, Mr Andy Edobor, the President, Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture in Edo, underscored the need to initiate pragmatic efforts to revive the textile industry, as part of the country’s economic diversification plans.
All the same, Mr Navdeep Sodhi, a textile consultant, stressed that Nigeria would need a minimum of N205 billion to revamp the sector.

Sodhi, the Managing Consultant of Gherzi Sub-Sahara, an international textile consulting firm, said that with this amount, the local textile industry would be able to capture more than 40 per cent of the Nigerian market by 2015.
“Today, the market share of the industry is only 15 per cent because of the poor state of the sector. The key issue for the industry was the lack of funds; if you are looking for money, it is not just there,’’ he said.

Sodhi said the government’s intervention was just to subsidise interest rates on loans or compensate for the interest rates so that the cost of obtaining the funds would not be too cumbersome.
Nevertheless, stakeholders believe that any effort to revive the textile industry will somewhat be futile unless there is an improvement in the power situation in the country, while bank loans become accessible to entrepreneurs at a low interest rate.

Besides, the stakeholders call on the government to curtail the smuggling of foreign fabrics, improve the patronage of local materials and sensitise the citizens to the importance of patronising locally produced fabrics.
Above all, they underscore the need for the government to demonstrate the political will to implement sound policies which can provoke the revival of textile plants and ensure the sustainable growth of the textile sector.

•Mammaga is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Source: The Nation

From vibrant textile industries to ghost towns

Industrialists note that Nigeria had one of the best textile industries in the world with more than 180 functional factories in the early 1980s.

They recall that the textile industry in Nigeria then was vibrant and it used to be the second largest in Africa, after Egypt, providing more than 800,000 direct and five million indirect jobs for Nigerians.
They observe that at that time, multi-purpose textile machines such as shuttles, knitting, spindles, among others, improved productivity in the textile sector and ensured good quality of products
.
Mr Oladele Hunsu, the President, Nigeria Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria (NUTGWN), said that textile factories such as United Nigerian Textile Ltd., Aswani Textile Mill, Afprint Plc, Asaba Textile Mill, Edo Textile Mill, among others, were the pride of the sector at that moment.
Analysts, however, note that the fortunes of the sector began to dwindle in 1994 due to political crises and the lack of political will to implement some policies which could enhance productivity in the sector.

They opine that the situation was worsened by lifting of the ban on importation of textile goods in 1997, massive smuggling of foreign textile products into the country and increased taxes and levies imposed on the industries.
They observe further that these developments led to the closure of various textile industries, including Afprint Plc, Aba Textile Mill, Asaba Textile Mill, Specomill, Unitex, Supertex, Royal Spinners, NTM and Oodua Textile Mill.

The analysts recall that the popular Aswani Textile Mill was forced to transmute into Chellarams Plc — dealing in nylon and bicycles — while Afprint Plc in Lagos became Kewalram Nigeria Ltd. and started selling cars.
Statistics from the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) indicate that as of 2007, not more than 30 textile industries across the country were functioning with less than 30,000 workers.
The statistics also reveal that the nine textile mills in Kaduna were closed down by the end of 2007and their workers were thrown into the labour market.

Expressing concern about the situation, the members of NUTGWN recently raised alarm that the closure of the industries had compelled many of the big players in the industry to change their businesses. Lending credence to this, statistics from MAN state that the capacity utilisation profile of the nation’s textile industry has declined by 9.5 per cent between 2011 and 2013.

The statistics state that “the capacity utilisation dipped  to 50.8 per cent in 2012 from 54.5 per cent recorded in 2011, in spite of the Federal Government’s N100 billion intervention funds to the sector.
“Also, the sector’s capacity utilisation further dropped to 44.9 per cent in 2013, indicating a cumulative depreciation of 9.5 per cent during the period.’’

Nigeria’s under Jonathan is growing in corruption, poverty, insecurity – Northern Groups

Leading voices from the North yesterday mocked President Goodluck Jonathan’s self appraisal in his 54th Nigeria’s Independence Day address in which he claimed to have performed well in his five years in office.

They said the President failed in as much as he shied away from dealing firmly with those that were slowing down the nation’s progress.

Prof. Abdullahi, currently spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), said: “There is nothing for one to say than that there is no reason to celebrate Nigeria at 54″.

According to him, “Those of us who are over 70 have a different view about what is progress and what is development. Those of us who saw independence and what happened at independence with our founding fathers, our leaders of those days, in the North, in the West and in the East and at the centre recorded far more progress with the limited resources they had than what we are witnessing today. The revenue of Nigeria between 1999 till date is far more than the revenue this country had from 1914 to 1999.

“Almost 90 years revenue is not equivalent to what we have accrued within the last 15 years. And we had steady power supply in those years. We had free medical services in hospitals. We had free education in most parts of the country, particularly in the Western Region and the North. And then, we could sleep with our doors opened and we could move freely from one village to the other and from one city to the other, no matter what time of the night it was, without fear of being robbed or killed.

“So, I don’t know what is their yardstick for celebration. If they are talking about concrete buildings and so on, as their measure of progress, that is not my own measure of progress in socio-economic terms.

“The ordinary Nigerians have nothing to celebrate. Those who are celebrating must be those who are looting our treasury.

“Reacting to President Jonathan’s claim that he had done well in his five years of leading the country, the NEF spokesman said: “Do you expect him to score himself failed? But that is his own assessment and those praise singers around him. Ordinary Nigerians will tell him he has achieved nothing.”

On its part, the Arewa Consultative Forum said Nigeria was in dire need of credible leadership to navigate it out of its current quagmire.

The forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, said in a statement that Nigeria had the potential to be one of the biggest economies in the world with the right leadership and urged all eligible Nigerians to fully participate in the imminent 2015 general elections by “ensuring that they register as voters and also vote for competent and credible candidates of their choice in all the elections.”

Source: Dailypost

Nigeria’s under Jonathan is growing in corruption, poverty, insecurity – Northern Groups

Leading voices from the North yesterday mocked President Goodluck Jonathan’s self appraisal in his 54th Nigeria’s Independence Day address in which he claimed to have performed well in his five years in office.

They said the President failed in as much as he shied away from dealing firmly with those that were slowing down the nation’s progress.

Prof. Abdullahi, currently spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), said: “There is nothing for one to say than that there is no reason to celebrate Nigeria at 54″.

According to him, “Those of us who are over 70 have a different view about what is progress and what is development. Those of us who saw independence and what happened at independence with our founding fathers, our leaders of those days, in the North, in the West and in the East and at the centre recorded far more progress with the limited resources they had than what we are witnessing today. The revenue of Nigeria between 1999 till date is far more than the revenue this country had from 1914 to 1999.

“Almost 90 years revenue is not equivalent to what we have accrued within the last 15 years. And we had steady power supply in those years. We had free medical services in hospitals. We had free education in most parts of the country, particularly in the Western Region and the North. And then, we could sleep with our doors opened and we could move freely from one village to the other and from one city to the other, no matter what time of the night it was, without fear of being robbed or killed.

“So, I don’t know what is their yardstick for celebration. If they are talking about concrete buildings and so on, as their measure of progress, that is not my own measure of progress in socio-economic terms.

“The ordinary Nigerians have nothing to celebrate. Those who are celebrating must be those who are looting our treasury.

I’m vying for Presidency, says Buhari

A former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has finally declared his interest in contesting the Presidency in 2015. Addressing volunteers and representatives of the Buhari Support Groups, in Abuja on Tuesday, he said the most important task before members of the All Progressives Congress was to snatch power from the   Peoples Democratic Party.

“Today, we are in the 15th year of the purposeless leadership by the PDP and all that we have seen is the unprecedented deterioration in the country’s security situation,” he said. Buhari listed other infractions of the PDP-led administration to include astronomical rise in the incidence and intensity of corruption, and in the failure of governance.

He urged party supporters to take advantage of the time remaining before the elections to concentrate their efforts on achieving positive change for the country. Buhari said, “The only way to meaningful change in this country is to vote the PDP out of the power to which it was never legitimately elected anyway.

“The task before us today is wide ranging and very great. The first and most important is to take away power from those who have been misusing it. “Indeed, except for the call of patriotism, public-spiritedness and an abiding love for the people of this country, nothing will today make any honest, honourable and sane politician want to be saddled with Nigeria’s leadership with an economy in trouble and a society in deeper trouble.”

He wondered whether there was really a government in Nigeria. According to him, the opposition has made all the necessary preparations to take away power from the “inept ruling party.” He equally noted that the coming together of hitherto fragmented opposition political parties to form one formidable party, the APC, would give the ruling PDP a run for its money.

While offering himself to undertake the task of leading the party to victory in the 2015 Presidential election, Buhari told his supporters, “With your support, I intend to offer myself for the position of the President of the Republic on the platform of our great party.” The former military dictator promised to make a formal declaration “soon.”


He also appealed to his supporters to extend their support beyond his person but much more for the party. Buhari equally charged them to remember that the “APC is a party with several qualified people for each and all the positions that will be contested, including that of the President.” He noted that it was the party primaries that would determine who would eventually get the APC ticket.

The aspirant further said he expected his supporters to redouble their efforts and commitment until the party won the Presidency. He, however, said in the event that another aspirant won the party’s nomination, he would expect his supporters to support the winner.

While appealing for vigilance, Buhari urged them not to take the laws into their hands no matter the level of provocation. However, the PDP has described Buhari as a distraction. The party said this while replying to a speech made by Buhari, who is a presidential aspirant in the APC, while addressing volunteers and representatives of Buhari Support Groups in Abuja on Tuesday.

In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said that it was unfortunate that Buhari would be talking the way he did when he refused to fix the economy as head of state.

He said instead of making unfounded allegations, Buhari should go and prepare for the APC presidential primary, saying the ruling party would continue to pray for him to win the APC ticket. Metuh said, “He was a former head of state. While in office, he was not distracted as he was allowed to work, but he refused to fix the economy and other problems bedevilling the country.

“He is a distraction. Nigerians would not and cannot be deceived. We are advising him to go and get prepare for his party’s primary. We wish him well.”

Source: Punch

I’m vying for Presidency, says Buhari

A former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has finally declared his interest in contesting the Presidency in 2015. Addressing volunteers and representatives of the Buhari Support Groups, in Abuja on Tuesday, he said the most important task before members of the All Progressives Congress was to snatch power from the   Peoples Democratic Party.

“Today, we are in the 15th year of the purposeless leadership by the PDP and all that we have seen is the unprecedented deterioration in the country’s security situation,” he said. Buhari listed other infractions of the PDP-led administration to include astronomical rise in the incidence and intensity of corruption, and in the failure of governance.

He urged party supporters to take advantage of the time remaining before the elections to concentrate their efforts on achieving positive change for the country. Buhari said, “The only way to meaningful change in this country is to vote the PDP out of the power to which it was never legitimately elected anyway.

“The task before us today is wide ranging and very great. The first and most important is to take away power from those who have been misusing it. “Indeed, except for the call of patriotism, public-spiritedness and an abiding love for the people of this country, nothing will today make any honest, honourable and sane politician want to be saddled with Nigeria’s leadership with an economy in trouble and a society in deeper trouble.”

He wondered whether there was really a government in Nigeria. According to him, the opposition has made all the necessary preparations to take away power from the “inept ruling party.” He equally noted that the coming together of hitherto fragmented opposition political parties to form one formidable party, the APC, would give the ruling PDP a run for its money.

While offering himself to undertake the task of leading the party to victory in the 2015 Presidential election, Buhari told his supporters, “With your support, I intend to offer myself for the position of the President of the Republic on the platform of our great party.” The former military dictator promised to make a formal declaration “soon.”