The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tony Marinho

  • Our Girls; Citizens ‘No Parking’ a Draconian Democratic IGRobbery! IDPs; Indian Solar Plan

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15 2014. What hope?

    One wishes that the leadership would move forward faster. Time is not on government’s side-a little over two years left in their ‘first term’ and there are complaints of delays within a long democratic bureaucratic process, particularly procurement methodology. Government must open up and speed up this bottleneck by bringing everyone into a Georgia-like single space ‘long room’ and paying overtime. Government is losing the battle for hearts and minds because people are fickle and want quick-fixes.

    Already many state governors are burning the ‘good will bridges’ needed for re-election in 2019 with draconian democracy characterised by heavy backdated tax regimes, unrealistic tariffs and pursuit of laws like city-wide No Parking Laws with zero ‘No Parking’ signs or car parks.  The on-going Highway War in Nigeria is to ‘open’ the roads and improves IGR, Internally Generated Revenue. Nigerian Human Rights Commission, when is IGR actually ‘IGRobbery’? Nigerians have survived a Civil War and successive 419 governments only to have another ‘democratic’ government unleash ‘undemocratic’ ‘pouncing’, extortion, bribery, threats of violence and entrapment? Where is parking? Government is killing business nationwide with its draconian soldiers who do not care ‘whose ox is gored’. That ox to be gored may be the government at the 2019 election. EVEN ERRING CITIZENS ARE NOT THE ENEMY. GOVERNMENTS: TREAT CITIZENS IN A CIVILISED COMPASSIONATE MANNER OR RE-ELECTION WILL NOT HAPPEN.

    Why are road soldiers never ‘helpful’? Where are the – ‘Traffic Offence Tickets’ and ‘2-4 Weeks To Pay The Fine, a helping hand or a ‘Preventive Measure Is Better Than Cure’, Cautionary ‘No Parking’ Announcement, or 1st and 2nd Warning? In Nigeria the training is AAA, Arrest-Arrest-Arrest or ‘Arass- Arass-Arass’ as in ‘Harass’ and not ‘Help’.

    Without the civility of road markings, posters and warning signs, directions, ‘advice to move’ they, by powers-invested-in-them by our ‘elected’ politicians, unseen edicts, bye-laws and ‘arrogance-of-uniform’, intimidate, extort, seize vehicles and demand immediately payable fines of N25,000 -which only politicians think is small and carry around- from often unpaid citizens. The Nigerian road fines are disproportionate to income. Reduce the fines to N2,500. STATE 419 GANGSTERS IN UNIFORM SHOULD ENSURE CITIZENS HAVE SOMEWHERE TO PARK INSTEAD OF NOWHERE TO PARK.

    BEWARE WHERE YOU STOP, DROP, SHOP OR CHANGE LANE. THESE ACTS ARE PROHIBITED IN NIGERIA-JUST GO, GO,GO! Avoid stopping for vendors colluding in an ensnarement scam. In Nigeria the best plans are distorted, disrupted and destroyed by the uniforms who see ‘POWER’ OR ‘BRIBES’, NOT ‘SERVICE’ – like Nigeria’s politics –a failure.

    If Governors unleash IGR teams using corrupt methodology as IGRobbers on Nigeria, then Nigerians should set up cameras strategically and use the web to expose these criminals in uniform. Let us have a ROAD BLOG/WEBSITE to post our experiences. And the governors must know that they are building Protest Votes in 2019. These traffic draconian democracy policies are ruining access to SMEs by clients and customers driving down taxes and making cities unattractive to do business REDUCING IGR. No customer will shop where they cannot drop or park. So government YOU are driving business away from YOUR STATE and yet you want to tax those same businesses stupidly! City roads are not expressways!

    Road authorities need close supervision. The Ministry of Environment’s army advanced on the citizenry WITH NO SIGNPOSTS belligerently for Internally Generated Robbery. Pity! No warning. No signboard. Just pounce, arrest, seize car, fine. It is 419 and illegal to extort money by IGRobbery. Law-abiding citizens respond to instructions not accusations of anti-citizen government agendas.

    As Nigeria’s faces massive pipeline damage wrecking its gas to electricity plan, we hear that the Niger Delta Avengers are going for dialogue. Good! It must also use renewable locally available un-wreckable alternatives to circumvent vandalisation and domesticate power production. Nigeria claims a subnormal 4,700Mw but we deserve and have prepaid for 47,000 or 100,000MW. The government may be listening to the Indians as they offer us assistance with serious solar structures. “The world must turn to (the) sun to power our future,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “As the developing world lifts billions of people into prosperity, our hope for a sustainable planet rests on a bold, global initiative.” India wants 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 including 100 GW of solar energy by 2022. The World Bank offers India a $1billion solar loan. Nigeria has that $1billion in our CBN and can borrow to make a $2billion SOLAR ENERGY FUND FOR SINGLE DIGIT LOANS FOR FACTORY CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE AND END-USER PURCHASE OF CUTTING EDGE SOLAR PANELS, BATTERIES AND INVERTERS. Nigeria, wake up to our darkness. Our past living leaders Obasanjo1, Buhari, Babangida, Shonekan, Abdulsalami, Obasanjo2 do not apologise for their power failures or even keep quiet. Some seek profit from failure from new electricity contracts. African leaders, like Buhari seeking instant legacies should ‘Go Mega-Solar’.

    Sadly the Germans are forced to help 3000 Bakassi returnees and the UN is helping IDPs. Shame! Nigeria and Nigerians have abandoned responsibility. Nigerian should deprive themselves in this time of WAR to donate to IDPs.

    In Ibadan, the derelict old British High Commission grounds have been cleared! The compound is a metaphor for Nigeria. As the former BHC grounds are cleared, does that mean that Nigeria will be cleared for take-off developmentally? We expect the current leadership to be the best hope we have had.

  • Our Girls; BRT scam; Cut ‘MPR’ A government 419 against Nigerians

    Our Girls; BRT scam; Cut ‘MPR’ A government 419 against Nigerians

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15 2014. What hope as another video emerges?

    A selfish 419-driven political history of maximum greed and minimum service has made politics the number one Extractive Industry in Nigeria above even oil. There has been enough in this country to make everyone a millionaire in dollars. Greed has overrun need. There is another history of failure –a government perpetually failing its currency and economy also 419-related. We would not be in this penniless position if we had no theft by political parasites, political leeches or political locusts sucking our lifeblood particularly since probably from 1979. This economic history is an unfortunate trajectory of ‘Government 419’, breach of trust, treasury looting, each dollar stolen representing developmental failure to deliver on pre-paid promises i.e. 419, ‘death by deprivation and diversion -a dead Nigerian child, salaries and pensions unpaid and a ‘powerless grid’ costing business owners the price of a new car annually. The current spiral downward journey by Nigerians to professional and personal insolvency, penury and people pauper-y following lifetimes of productive but poorly paid work with ‘end-time’ denial of pensions is caused by all parties perfecting 419 political mismanagement, and epidemically escalating broken promises and 419 theft crowned with nonsensical media frenzy AWARD CEREMONIES for no growth.

    Government needs to monitor its men who deliberately lured vehicles leaving the expressway onto an UNMARKED, UN-SIGNBOARDED BRT LANE on the  Ojota Maryland Bridge, Lagos, last Saturday , arrested them and numbering many tens. Is that not Government 419? Will the Third Mainland Bridge be next point of BRT corruption?

    Politicians have ‘successfully’ subsumed their 419 avarice under many pseudonyms blamed as necessary 419 ‘strategies to support the party’. Such strategies include ‘outright theft’, ‘padding’, ‘party percentage 10-70%’, ‘party funding deductions 10-40%’, ‘election levy’, ‘campaign contributions’, ‘welfare in the forces’. All these 419 scams forced the ‘country’ to be devalued in development as with the currency, the naira building fewer roads, and the ‘419’ scam of constantly re-tarring of the same 5km of road instead of advancing additional roads going everywhere. Add to these the ultimate 419 administrative corruption which consumed pension funds for political gain and in many cases up to 50% of the budget and you can explain the devastation to development- failed promises, money obtained by false promises – 419.

    Only politicians escape this blatant 419 ‘rape of the budget and citizens’ by declaring for themselves ‘legally illegal’ ever-bloating 419 Salaries Allowances Perks, SAP, and multiple-sourced pensions for just 4-8 years in office leaving office with multiple mansions, bank accounts and cars worldwide. The benchmark of Nigeria’s corruption is best assessed by examining the fate of naira. When I started work in 1974, the one year old naira, DOB 31st March 1973, was stronger than the dollar. I, like millions have proudly worked hard for our Nigeria and our naira. Strangely our 419 governments, except Buhari’s, have no ‘NAIRA PRIDE and it is pitiable N400+ to the dollar, soiled toilet paper, in blind pursuit of the cedi, due to the political 419 profligacy 1999-2015 by all 419 politicians of all 419 parties, promising much but delivering little development for maximum cost, but especially the 419 ruling party of the time which must take full responsibility even as the members hide 419 stolen billions.

    We scream when Boko haram blows us up and when Niger Delta Avengers blow away our collective inheritance and when the North-North railways are fully refurbished even before South-North railways though the northern elite destroyed the railways to promote the trailer traffic which kills our roads. And remember the murderous Fulani herdsmen’s onslaught across Nigeria? However our 419 POLITICIANS HAVE COLLECTIVELY DONE FAR WORSE to each and every one of us by many 419 actions including 419 decisions to give away our oil blocks to individuals. Our blood is on the ground for every stolen naira or a discriminatory corrupt decision.

    Strangely our ‘survival’ economic tools are a weak naira, ‘stability’ with high interest rates, and a few favoured scheming ‘mega-billion loan’ customers with millions denied small loan banking assistance but who really run the people’s economy.

    Why is Nigeria’s response to economic crisis always opposite of what major foreign powers do: GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND CHEAP LOANS? We always introduce austerity, belt tightening and maximise poverty. We increase interest rates, make borrowing prohibitive, make businesses impossible to fund and run especially with NO POWER. Add THE GOVERNMENT RUN SCAM OF MONETARY POLICY RATE, MPR. In the USA and UK, Central Bank interest rates equivalent of our MPR here- the rate charged by government on all loans – have hovered around zero to 0.5% and the UK has just cut its interest rate by 0.25% to further encourage business borrowing to stimulate growth.

    The CBN holds these MPR funds for it and government to use or abuse or divert. Shame! Citizens and businesses needing loans should not have a high MPR. MPR IS ANOTHER GOVERNMENT 419 SCAM AGAINST NIGERIA and this government should cancel or severely cut the MPR towards 1% to stimulate the economy. The HIGH MPR IS PART OF A MASSIVE MALIGNANT GOVERNMENT 419 AGAINST THE NATION, SO LOANS IN NIGERIA ARE ACTUALLY BANK LOAN CHARGES 5-11% + MPR [14%] = 19-25%. We demand 1) Cancelation of MPR; 2) SINGLE DIGIT INTEREST RATES; 3) LONG REPAYMENT LOANS for all; 4) 20,000Mw and 5) Monthly Payments for accommodations and goods.

  • Our Girls; To stimulate economy, cut ‘MPR’ A government 419 against Nigerians

    Our Girls; To stimulate economy, cut ‘MPR’ A government 419 against Nigerians

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15 2014. What hope have the families?

    Beyond a selfish 419-driven political history, there is another history of failure –the graphic history of a failed currency and economy also 419 related. This economic history is an unfortunate trajectory of 419, breach of trust, treasury looting, each dollar stolen representing developmental failure to deliver on paid for promises i.e. 419, ‘death by deprivation and diversion -a dead Nigerian child, a dead labouring woman, a dead parent in a pothole, businesses gone bust, salaries and pensions unpaid and a ‘powerless grid’ costing business owners the price of a new car every year. The current spiral downward journey by Nigerians to professional and personal insolvency, penury and people pauper-y following lifetimes of productive but poorly paid work with ‘end-time’ denial of pensions is caused by all parties by 50 years of serial 419 political mismanagement, misunderstanding of development and epidemically escalating broken promises and 419 theft characterised by undeserved media frenzy AWARD CEREMONIES for no growth.

    Politicians have ‘successfully’ subsumed their 419 avarice under many pseudonyms blamed as necessary 419 ‘strategies to support the party’ while enriching themselves massively. Such strategies include ‘outright theft’, ‘padding for party sustainability’, ‘party percentage 10-70%’, ‘the need for party funding deductions 10-40%’, ‘election levy’, ‘campaign contributions’, ‘welfare in the forces’. All these 419 scams forced the ‘country’ to be devalued in development with the currency, the naira building fewer roads, costing more, and the ‘419’ scam of constantly re-tarring of the same 5km of road instead of advancing additional roads going everywhere. Add to these the ultimate serial presidential and governor and top civil servant-driven 419 administrative corruptions which consumed pension funds for political gain and in many cases up to 50% of the budget and you can explain the devastation to development-failed promises with money obtained by false pretences – 419.

    Only politicians escape this blatant 419 ‘rape of the budget and citizens’ by declaring for themselves ‘legally illegal’ ever-bloating 419 Salaries Allowances Perks, SAP, and multiple-sourced pensions for just 4-8 years in office leaving office with multiple mansions, bank accounts and cars worldwide. The benchmark of Nigeria’s corruption is best assessed by examining the fate of naira. When I started work in 1974, the one year old naira, DOB 31st March 1973, was stronger than the dollar and equivalent to 10 shillings. I, like millions have proudly worked hard for our Nigeria and our naira all our life. Strangely our 419 governments, except Buhari’s have never shared our pride in the naira. Now the naira is a pitiable N400+ to the dollar, soiled toilet paper, apparently in blind pursuit of the cedi, due to the 419 profligacy of the past especially 1999-2015 by all 419 politicians of all 419 parties, promising much but delivering little for maximum cost, but especially the 419 ruling party of the time which must take full responsibility even as the members hide 419 stolen billions.

    We scream when Boko haram blows us up and when NDAvengers blow away our collective inheritance and when the North-North railways are fully refurbished even before South-North and South-South railways though the Northern elite destroyed the railways nationally for 50 years to promote trailer traffic unfortunately killing our roads. We are right to protest but our 419 POLITICIANS HAVE COLLECTIVELY DONE FAR WORSE to each and every one of us by many 419 actions including giving away our oil blocks to individual Nigerians. Our blood is soaked into the ground every time they steal a naira or make a discriminatory corrupt decision.

    Can Nigeria never learn the lessons of the world and from its own past terrible economic mistakes? For years our economy has been run by CBN bankers who favour a weak naira, ‘stability’ with high interest rates, and a few favoured scheming ‘mega-billion loan’ customers to the detriment of the massed millions of potential customers who cannot get small loan banking assistance but who really keep the country going through the independent business activities of their personal lives which run the nationwide real non-oil economy.

    Why is Nigeria’s response to economic crisis always the same failed methodology, saving and stability, and the opposite of what major foreign powers do to fight recession with GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND CHEAP LOANS? We always introduce austerity, belt tightening and maximise poverty. We increase interest rates, make borrowing catastrophic, make businesses more difficult to start, fund and run. Added to this is THE GOVERNMENT RUN SCAM OF MONETARY POLICY RATE, MPR. In the USA and UK, Central Bank interest rates equivalent of our MPR here- the rate charged by government on all loans – have hovered around zero to 0.5% and the UK has just cut its interest rate by 0.25% to further encourage borrowing to stimulate business growth.

    The CBN holds these MPR funds for it and government to use or abuse or divert. Shame! Citizens and businesses needing loans should not have an MPR of this size. MPR IS ANOTHER GOVERNMENT 419 AGAINST NIGERIA and this government should correct past economic mistakes and cancel or severely cut the MPR towards 1% to stimulate the economy. The HIGH MPR IS PART OF A MASSIVE MALIGNANT GOVERNMENT 419 AGAINST THE NATION, SO LOANS IN NIGERIA ARE ACTUALLY BANK LOAN CHARGES 5-11% + MPR [14%] = 19-25%. We demand cancelation of MPR and SINGLE DIGIT INTEREST RATES for all. tonymarinho.com

  • Our Girls; 10yr Passport & Driving Licence; DL to 75yrs; Assassination Of Nigeria By Political Class

    Our Girls; 10yr Passport & Driving Licence; DL to 75yrs; Assassination Of Nigeria By Political Class

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. What hope?

    We want true ‘devolved’ federalism! Where are the TRUE NIGERIANS? Not those with undeserved prefixes like ‘Dis-Hon-Ex’ ‘winning’ or ‘taking’ elections and holding posts used to destroy Nigeria for personal gain. Certainly monitored by ‘live’ TV and the media, TRUE NIGERIANS are a tiny minority in politics.

    Time out from the ridiculous self-centred political scenario in NASTY NASS mired in ‘PREMEDITATED BUDGET FRAUD’ alias PADDING FOR FRAUDULENT PURPOSES. The innocent members are standing up. Nigerians must support transparency, investigation and prevent punishment of whistleblowing members! What is an internal affair when the smell of corruption permeates the NASS and is external? Nigerians expected NASS to face front and work for 20+% of pension funds for mass housing, increase the life of a Driving Licence to 10 years and raise the driving age limit to 75 or 80years and introduce ‘longer life’ 10 year passports.

    Ignore politics if possible and make concrete plans to take adequate evasive action for you and your family to survive the ‘ASSASSINATION OF NIGERIA AND NIGERIANS BY THE NIGERIAN POLITICAL CLASS’. If you sat in a five hour + traffic jam at Berger Bridge/causeway on the way to or from the Family’s 10TH YEAR MEMORIAL OF LATE ENGINEER FUNSO WILLIAMS’ you will be stressed –but take it easy. You die; you die; only family go really cry! Funso was killed in an ‘unsolved’ murder. President Buhari has reopened the Williams, Daramola, Uncle Chief Bola Ige and other cases. Only your family cares long after your ‘friends’ have ‘killed you’ and, like Elvis, have ‘left the building’.

    I travelled thousands of miles by train and road abroad in the last five weeks. No pot-hole threatened my life or blocked highway, no power failure, no cancelled train. Travel on the Lagos-Ibadan road has been a ‘slap in the face’ insult by governments on defenceless citizens for the last 20 years mainly because they NEVER FILL POTHOLES before they kill. Built in the 70s, development strategies suggest there should be six other express roads into Lagos and not just ‘A SINGLE POTHOLED ROAD REMNANT’ suffering from politicised contractor somersaults denying millions comfortable travel. It is now worse again as the good contractors, RCC and Berger, move back to site and close off lanes paralysing the travelling public in the name of finally finishing 120km road –hardly nuclear physics – using a well utilised third world vicious development strategy ‘YOU MUST SUFFER IN ORDER TO SMILE’. Road agents can keep traffic funnelling into a ‘FIRST COME FIRST PASSED’ to prevent queue-jumpers driving beside roads only to jump in-front of lane drivers! Do the contractors care about the 20km five-lane-deep traffic queue or discuss ‘CONTINUED SMOOTH TRAFFIC MOVEMENT’ with the supervising ministry and road agents? Development must not be punishment!

    The coming ‘change’ National Policy on Corruption Prosecution should ‘change’ emphasis to the French style where the defendant must prove he is not corrupt or ‘guilty until proven innocent’. Accounting for assets must never be the responsibility of the prosecution!

    Lagos State engages the Japanese in a belated Monorail Revolution. Remember Jakande Rail supervised by Funso Williams but aborted by Buhari in 1983 or so for which $184m was paid as contract termination penalty instead of completing the project? How much did Obasanjo get government to pay in order to disastrously terminate the World Bank contracted Lagos-Ibadan upgrade that subsequently floundered for 10+ years while Obasanjo and the CONTRACTOR DANCED TO THE TUNE OF MASSIVE TRASPORT MISERY!

    Meanwhile Oyo State engaged the same Japanese in building ‘common’ classrooms with a $6m grant. Imagine what that $6m would have bought as equipment upgrade for Polytechnics and Science Schools. Pity!

    Saraki’s call on ambassadorial nominees to be ‘patriotic’ is an insult as he speaks for a pathologically selfish generation of politicians of no known patriotism and politicians questionable moral standing and an avaricious attitude to government coffers.

    I have repeatedly warned that the management of IDP camps is a yard stick for judging Nigeria and this government. IDPs are not HIV/AIDS victims who we can cheat out of Bill Gates and Global Fund Grants. Why do IDPs especially children face malnutrition as if they are neglected foreign war prisoners. IDPs should run their own camps eliminating greedy thieving personnel from government agencies who should prosecuted. After being driven from your home, are you to be starved by the CINS -Incompetence, Incompetence, Neglect and Selfishness of Nigeria and its irresponsible agencies? NEMA et cetera must be probed. Or is this another case of the people in the field being starved of the tools to help IDPs while the bosses say all is well?

    Happily Nigeria’s accountant generals are looking into speedy trial for corruption offences. For those accused by EFCC, who have suspected stolen money of assets bought with such money in their or their relations and friends possession, the onus of confirmation of source of the questionable funds and property must be changed to be on the owner, as in France, and not the government or court, as in England. This would quickly allow the forfeited funds to return to the nation’s bank accounts. But who will judge and jail those whose corrupt actions and policies have ruined Nigeria’s rise to statehood? We are still not ‘pothole free’ or in the top 1000 universities.

     

    • Sorry… Back to stress next week.   tonymarinho.com/blog

  • Our Girls; The rats of politics Vs Nigeria and ‘Dr’ Buhari; Stealing Money is Murder; Stress

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. We pray.

    The money looted from Nigerian banks, federal and state and LGA treasuries and criminally inflated contracts between 1999 and 2015 do not make honourable, distinguished or excellent men or women. That stolen money is why our naira is toilet paper and all our incomes have been halved in international monetary value in the last 18 months. This must be added to the massive devaluation of the naira, with no fall in the oil price, during the oil boom and doom and ‘First Oil Windfall’ of the Babangida time and the serial profligacy of ‘the rats of politics’. Remember that padding, contract inflation, gifting of national assets like oil blocks to individuals, making individuals multimillionaires in dollars for little or no work done, were the stuff of the ‘coup-plotters and their nightmarish’ times. Nigeria is a cake which has had its centre excavated by the ‘rats of politics’, leaving only a thin layer of icing masquerading as a healthy cake which is now collapsing due to the fall in the value and volume of oil exports. Why is it that the round-cheeked ‘rats of politics’ who are very healthy during their years of thieving, suddenly all fall ‘too sick to stand trial’ when accused of corruption and demand humanitarian treatment? Did these ‘the rats of politics’ treat Nigerians in a humanitarian way when they, the rats, had the opportunity to save Nigeria from sinking by judicious use of those multibillions, trillions even? Now Nigeria sinks, the rats are suddenly ‘sick’. It is mind-boggling that ‘the rats of politics’ have never contrasted the stolen trillions with cheaply met needs of the innocent Nigerian masses.

    Nigeria did not start to die under purist Buhari. Nigeria has had arms, legs and brain and heart ripped apart by vulture-like serial killers and their cohorts in power. Nigeria may still die but the assassins are known already. Those vultures are the past civil servants, bankers, politicians shouting loudest for Buhari’s head when they failed. Buhari and his team are like a last minute emergency doctor who may still fail because the patient was nearly dead on arrival in 2015. Buhari and his team are interrupting the feast of these vultures on the nearly dead body of Nigeria–a near corpse. Vultures do not save lives!

    Even the EFCC on arresting a man who admits to stealing N1billion+, said he was to be released on bail because he was a ‘respectable man’. The thousands of Nigerians dead, destroyed and diseased by the theft of that money cannot be ‘released or returned’ to life and livelihood. EFCC, JUDGES:-STEALING MONEY IS MURDER, not a game of ‘catch me if you can’! There is the blood of Nigerian babies, children, women and the elderly on the dirty hands of such rats.

    How do you reduce stress in your life when such stress is caused by the politics destroying your earning power and position in your family and society? Beyond the destruction, you and I have somehow to stay alive for the ‘light at the end of the tunnel of doom’ and the ‘brighter tomorrow’- our children and grandchildren. Hope must overcome the hopelessness of random and systematic bombings, farm murders, kidnappings and robbery. Indeed the stealing of billions, trillions must count as the direct, remote and immediate cause of the current epidemic of bombings, kidnappings and robbery and general disgruntlement. Buhari and his team appear slow, too slow and he may have less than three years to reverse the corruption of 30 years. The thieves have billions to fight their campaign of misinformation and the citizens follow the money and are quick to change sides.

    Stress is all around us. From birth to death all is stress. Why do babies cry at birth? Stress! Remember that DELIVERY DAY is the Most Dangerous Day in the Life of Both Mother and Baby. From waking up, exams, coping with reading your books at night, lighting your path, keeping fridge contents edible when affected by power failure, traffic and the stress of meeting men and women in uniform are real stress-inducing phenomena. The fall in salary value is stress.

    Have you done your blood pressure this month? Do you do an annual medical examinations and special tests like PSA if you are male and breast and cervical tests if you are female? You know in medicine we used to recommend all girls and women ‘Do a Monthly Breast Examination’? In medicine, I am promoting that we now recommend everyone everywhere, FEMALE AND MALE, at every age carries out a simple ‘TOTAL BODY EXAMINATION’ AT LEAST MONTHLY. Choose a day you have time, maybe weekend, or last thing at night. Start with your SKIN. Examine your skin for changes and lumps, and your body from head to toe. Report any changes to your doctor. Early detection of abnormalities leads to early diagnosis and treatment. Too many young women leave hard swelling in their low tummy alone, hoping the swelling is a pregnancy or the sign of ‘good living’ only to report years later and be told thy have fibroids filling their abdomen and endangering their lives. Coping with stress is therefore an important responsibility of every Nigerian to help stay alive for the family especially today under this regime as tomorrow may be a brighter day. To be continued…  to_marinho.com/blog

     

  • Our Girls; No ‘change’ in rejecting True Federalism again!; Nigeria in the ‘Solar Century’

    Our Girls; No ‘change’ in rejecting True Federalism again!; Nigeria in the ‘Solar Century’

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) being properly catered for?

    True federalism seems to be a call to arms in Nigeria, but should unite, not divide us as we work to move the country to a level of equality, opportunity and maximum development! The power of the federal government to draw us back was again demonstrated before the last election when indigenes of states were given federal political positions to empower them to destabilise their own states run by ‘opposition parties’. That is False Federalism. Countries evolve. Nigeria should too! Look at the UK and its recent democracy issues in the last one month with the BREXIT and a disappointed PM Cameron’s humorous and non-bitter departing from power! No one country stands still to the advantage of only a few!

    God did not create this False Federalism. Military ‘man’ did starting with Ironsi and military men make mistakes often to the advantage of some, not the many. Armies are not democratic. Everyone in central government fights to keep their personal power under ‘current federalism’ exemplified by the Vice President Professor Osinbajo and cannot trigger true democracy, just as salaries will never be reduced for National Assembly (NASS) by NASS members! Military unitarian, centrist government may have helped save Nigeria during wartime, but now it is the opportunistic cause of the ongoing destruction of Nigeria and the destruction of legitimate aspirations of hundred+ millions. This spinoff of the unitary military government imprinted on a democracy as a ‘constitution’ is an aberration. It exists nowhere else and it has failed the majority of Nigerians, except a few tenacious elite, and it will fail us forever, enriching a few, until we ‘change’ it or die trying. Amendments to a bad militarist Abacha constitution cannot be the same as new constitution written by citizens free of military and ethnic oppression. Will a new constitution happen?

    That change from a FALSE FEDERALISM, self-centred, greedy centralism to true multi-pronged TRUE FEDERALISM, is possible but appears elusive, destroying the stage for the great leap forward towards becoming a GREAT AND THEN EVEN GREATER NIGERIA. True federalism can come during the Buhari regime but so far there is no ‘change’ in the fairly repetitive ‘rejecting True Federalism again and again’!

    For 50+ years Nigerians, mostly honest folk trying to get by in a corrupt society, have been made peaceful by swallowing an ELIXIR OF LOYALTY TO NIGERIA through the psychological trap of National Anthem and Pledge, leading to a miserable existence, in a country placing 150th + in every positive international index and top of every negative index like corruption. The ‘good’ elders weep at our lost glory and lost potential they worked for only to be thrown away by political greed!  Only those in active power or retired have been exempt from this tragedy because they stole ‘legally and illegally’ for themselves, their unborn progeny with blood-stained corruption treating the treasury as personal and political party property. Has this systematic federal and state treasury looting by the incumbent party stopped temporarily under ‘The Fear of Buhari’? If so, for how long?

    Do Nigerians in authority swallow some other ELIXIR OF DISLOYALTY TO NIGERIA which ensures they cheat Nigeria with perpetual pensions, undeserved salaries for life, plots of land, cars and servants for life? Strangely, the poor Nigerian citizens always fail to fight for rapidly broken promises of politicians who actually use the national anthem and pledge to cajole the citizens into becoming beggars and even Internally Displaced Persons–refugees- in their own country, begging. Why has a good 21st Century existence constantly eluded most Nigerians, their children and now their grandchildren who die mentally in rubbish schools, on rubbish roads and in rubbish hospitals and are denied pensions and salaries while all politicians get paid promptly and seek life pensions and perks and salaries for a few years work sometimes also getting governor and NASS salaries and pensions together monthly.

    While tackling Nigeria’s massive corruption, this ‘change’ government should introduce the ‘change’ needed to achieve ‘True Federalism’ and institute measures to save us politically, economically and morally from the years of ethnic authoritarianism and any future abuse of ‘Federal Might’. The sending of morally bereft indigenes masquerading as ministers from Abuja to destroy their home states is STATE TERRORISM. It must be documented as a low point in federal government/ state political relations and taught in political science lessons. The negative interface between federal and ‘political party state’ was Machiavellian mischief of false federalism and a disaster for Nigeria. True federalism ‘change’ is more than finance and can accompany current fiscal and agricultural reforms. ‘Change’ can dismantle a false federation. Long Live a True Federal Nigeria- if and when it happens!

    Nigeria must re-strategise and bypass all pipeline projects, only useable in peacetime, and redraw its plans for wartime survival. When war is ‘declared’ on Nigeria, Nigeria may talk but also must take evasive action especially in ‘POWER SUPPLY’. We also face the murderous Fulani–Farmers War and may boycott ‘blood meat’!

    Nigeria must decentralise electric power towards on-and-off grid ‘LOCAL POWER SUPPLY SOURCES’. Someone tried to tell Nigeria it has the wrong sun for solar power and should stick with oil, gas and generators. There is only one sun shining, offering every Nigerian God’s gift. We use solar to dry food and clothes.  Now let us use ‘Nigeria for Solar Power!

  • Our Girls; JAMB: No disadvantaged states; ‘He died in a Pothole made by thieving politicians!’

    Our Girls; JAMB: No disadvantaged states; ‘He died in a Pothole made by thieving politicians!’

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15 2014. Where are they?

    The cell phone can become be the saving grace of many potential victims of all types of crime around the world. We all remember the Naval Ratings who beat up a female driver some years ago. Across the world such videos, live or streamed on social media later have helped victims of police brutality and provide irrefutable evidence of the mechanisms of police murder and brutality. Unfortunately the I-Report message has not been given to law enforcement near you who are too slow to take on human rights as a right of the citizen to be protected, not ignored. Many of us have seen the video of, and many are aware through friends in the uniformed ranks, of the brutality meted out to military and police recruits and ‘other ranks’ by their training officers. This violence must stop. Teaching endurance and discipline is not by physical beating and such evil is only transferred to the citizenry.

    More JAMB palaver! How can we still have EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED STATES so long after free primary and free secondary education and so long after JAMB and UBE and SPEB have launched serial annual avalanches of funds at buying books and equipment and sports equipment and child and teacher friendly? Publish what each state has received during the last 30 years against spending on education, number of primary and secondary students and performance at primary school leaving certificate and NECO and WESC and GCE Level. There is no longer a single educationally disadvantaged state. There are disadvantaged students, abandoned victims of massive chronic systematic political and state education ministry corruption involving inflated unpurchased procurement and bribes for booklists. What manner of sovereign responsible country, not at war, with supposedly mentally normal people in power, parents all, would entrench a lack of books and chairs and desks in pigsties for schools as the norm for the children of their state? The Bible says it is better for a millstone to be tied placed around your neck and you be thrown into the sea than you harm one hair on a child’s head. And Parent Teacher Associations are silent. We have therefore bred a generation of mostly reactionary undereducated youth and we are already reaping the ‘rewards’ from such youth. Do George, Ogunlewe, Obanikoro and a host of former Federal Government surrogate spoilers not owe our children an apology and be prosecuted for anti-state activities on account for their negative antics?

    A country in which the best buildings are well known corrupt bank buildings but not the Museums and Exhibition centres built for the children is designed to fail. Too few have built anything for the people since 1999; PZ Cussons Educare Trust Youth Centres is one! During that time, I was begging publicly that the LGAs and the billions wasted on ‘Instant Millionaire’ philosophy could have set up ONE YOUTH CENTRE IN EACH OF THE 16,400 WARDS, the political unit of Nigeria to empower the youth locally. The money is misplaced and even now stolen!

    The Vice-President Prof Osinbajo has expressed a marked reluctance to endorse ‘national restructuring’ and the subsequent redistribution of the ‘assets and authority’ of the Nigerian estate among the three tiers of government. This need was so eloquently and vociferously articulated during any opportunity most recently at all national conferences. This is an unfortunate executive ‘death blow’ where other corrective efforts have fallen to corruption at every level, repeatedly.

    The sad comments reported on the condition of Atan Cemetery are so for almost every government cemetery across Nigeria. Like private education institutions, the private cemeteries have sprung to our rescue but Ikoyi Cemetery has as many problems as Atan Cemetery in terms of layout and lack of access.

    The political class, of every political party and manifesto, at every level, is dwelling in a self-aggrandisement that has brought financial and economic ruin to Nigeria and prevented her hard-working Nigerian institutions and professionals from dragging it into the 21st century democratic environment. Yes Nigeria is in turmoil, financially and economically, food, jobs, power and potholes to name a few. But why do many Nigerians place the current troubles at the doorstep of this government?  Surely they should look over their shoulder to see where we have been coming from –increasing oil prices, increasing corruption, but hardly a single real people’s project executed since 1999 for the trillions earned and spent. Common potholes still kill, murder or maim on almost every expressway in Nigeria including the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. We as a country inherited ‘PWD TEAMS FOR INSTANT POTHOLE FILLING! But we prefer to allow roads to decay so that we can have chop-chop ‘contract awarding ceremonies’  to flag off the ‘Corruption of the Contract’  rather than the emergency life-saving measures like the job-creation action of having 10,000 TEAMS OF THREE MEN AND A WHEELBARROW AND SOME TAR AND A HEAVY ROLLER. EVERY POTHOLE LIVES NEAR A VILLAGE WITH VILLAGERS EASILY TRAINED AND PAID AND MOTIVATED TO DO LOCAL MAINTENANCE WORK. THIS IS THE CHANGE WE EXPECTED AND IT HAS NOT COME YET!

    The murderous potholes, powerlessness, salarylessness, nairavalulessness, secondNigerbridgelessness, joblessness, pensionlessness, politicalleaderlessness all add up to stressfullness. We are in the era of ….’lessnessnesses’. Nigerians must stop dying in potholes. For how long will Nigerians tell God and their grandchildren ‘He died in a pothole made by a thieving NASS’?

     

  • Our Girls; Finance strike; Name potholes after politicians consuming National Carcass, not cake!

    our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014 and no resolution.

    EFCC must investigate if the protest against the finance minister by her staff may be based on the ‘change’ cut off under President Buhari of the ‘chop chop‘ corruption gifts and envelopes the staff got from finance ministry customers, government and private.

    The President should be concerned if his appointments point to ‘change’ – reversal to ethnic arrogance and domination. The best man or woman should have the job but Nigeria has many ‘best’ ignored by ‘Presidential political federal ethnic expediency’. It is unbelievable that the old failed ethnic domination principle of ‘Head’ of everything is again part of Nigeria’s giant ‘change’. This is a needless unwanted ‘change’. President Buhari should yield to more inclusive Federal Character appointments.

    ‘Change’ should be change in attitude of ‘Nasty NASS’ on this malignant ‘IMMUNITY AND LIFE PENSION PRINCIPLE’. What self-serving people do we have? Let these 109+360 failing assembly men and women, name one citizen who supports their malicious Machiavellian Criminal Act trying to ‘legalise illegality’, yet another ‘NASS leadership theft’ from Nigeria’s stolen funds! Who are these supposedly nationalist Nigerian politicians who posture flamboyantly in the media on and off birthdays, even as they sit, plot and plan to ‘legalise the illegal acquisition’ – theft of our national assets for undeserved pensions? The citizens of Nigeria must bring the criminally extravagant National Assembly under public opinion to stop this malignant evil and wicked attempt to steal what is left from our poverty-struck and financially-raped country. Nigeria is a country destroyed by repeated ‘rape robbery’ and looting and contract-hyper-inflation and ‘theft for political party purposes’ during 1999-2015 – a cause of the calamitous collapse in naira value in spite of the heroic stubbornness of President Buhari to protect it. He may still win.

    We have travelled this potholed road repeatedly before. In The Comet newspaper during 2002, I wrote ‘We pay toll fees to drive not to our destinations but to our deaths on fake roads filled with genuine potholes’. Today perhaps we do not pay tolls but we still die in potholes, and tolls may soon come back! PAY YOUR TOLL BEFORE DEATH IN A POTHOLE, ABI? Perhaps Nigeria, banks and individuals and the stock exchange should INVEST IN POTHOLES because potholes are the fastest growing ‘commodity’ in Nigeria. Perhaps Nijabet and other lottery groups can take bets from Nigerians on how many Nigerians will die today in potholes on different roads? But we would be foolish to bet on when potholes will be filled. ‘Continue to Die, Nigerians’. How much do governments really care for citizens above their political pockets and secret bank accounts? Their members always escape to build and buy with millions and billions meant for pothole filling!

    THE POLITICIANS, by stealing massively and neglecting their contractor supervision work in favour of bribes for over 50 years, have given us millions of POTHOLES. We cannot expect politicians who are perpetuating themselves through life pensions, salaries and immunity to take our potholes away. Politicians like to name buildings and streets after themselves. We citizens must name potholes after politicians. Yes!! WE SHOULD GIVE THE POTHOLES BACK TO THEM and embarrass them by NAMING THE POTHOLES AFTER POLITICIANS. Please play THE ‘NAME THE POTHOLE’ GAME! Name and shame’ potholes after politicians. Tweet to inform all of any politician’s personalised pothole. `Tweet or WhatsAp or I-Report the named potholes around Africa. Citizens of Nigeria ‘TAKE POLITICIAN POTHOLE ACTION’! Start Pothole Websites and honour our ‘Pothole Politicians’ with a Facebook message ‘THIS POTHOLE IS NAMED AFTER YOU- KEEP UP THE BAD WORK!’

    Let us give our potholes away to politicians and name potholes after politicians at Naming Ceremonies and Pothole Opening Ceremonies. We must invite the named politician for the closing or burial ceremony of the pothole as it gets filled in. The XYZ Pothole. Yes! Nigerian politicians would only want giant killer potholes bearing their names. Why did Nigeria kill the Public Works Department workman?  After 40 years of Letters to the Editor and Columns started in 1975/6 during my NYSC, I know THAT IN NIGERIA POTHOLE-FILLING IS NUCLEAR PHYSICS! Our coming nuclear plant must be built in Abuja, beside the NASS!

    ‘Brexit’ Referendum. The British exit from the EU confirms Nigeria should have a REFERENDUM or a 10million Signature Demand to change a bad status quo. It must shut down the opulent and duplicitous Senate, move to a ONE HOUSE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY- HOUSE OF REPRESENTITIVES, INSTITUTIONALISE PART-TIME SITTINGS and ALLOWANCES to save 80% of the unbearable costs of paying politicians their super- SAPs -Salaries Allowances Perks. Have they no sense of responsibility or pity? Nigeria is dying and citizens are crying from a greedy political class eating the nearly lifeless body of Nigeria, soon to be the cadaver of Nigeria, left for dead by the carnivorous, naira-vorous and dollar-vorous outgone political parties at all  levels and falling oil prices. Why are Nigerians yet to see one ‘leadership’ action from the 400+ ‘Nasty NASS’ members eating the Nigerian elephant’s carcass?

    This is not a ‘Nigerian National Cake’- making ‘theft’ ‘ok’ explained by –They did not steal- They only ate National Cake! We have only a ‘Nigerian National Carcass’ left. The NASS members’ hands, mouths and clothes are blood-stained as they devour the ‘Nigeria’ and ‘Naira’. NIGERIANS HAVE LOST 50-60% OF OUR VALUE. HAVE POLITICIALS NO REMORSE? WE NEED A REFERENDUM FOR A RESURRECTION OF NIGERIA!

  • Our Girls; BUHARI LGA EFFECT; Abiku bridges vs Federalism:  Who will build this bridge? Cyberwars

    Our Girls; BUHARI LGA EFFECT; Abiku bridges vs Federalism:  Who will build this bridge? Cyberwars

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15 2014. What hope?

    Nigeria must liberate the LGAs to become an independent layer of government. PERHAPS ONLY THOSE STATES WHICH HAVE INDEPENDENT ELECTED LGAS should be eligible for future FG bailout loans-a BUHARI LGA EFFECT?

    When better to change the nation for A TRUE FEDERATION than now with so little at the centre when the FG cannot deliver the expectations of the states.  THE QUESTION OF TRUE FEDERALISM IS A REAL AND PRESENT NECESSITY. TOGETHER WITH CORRUPTION, THE LACK OF TRUE FEDERALISM IS AT THE ROOT OF OUR DEVELOPMENT FAILURE. Beyond periodic restructuring ‘conference calls’, ‘NIGERIA IS CHANGE’ and ripe to wrestle true federalism from a warped greedy ‘false federalism’ political system masterfully manured to maturity by a malignant military slogan ‘unitary’ sown by the Ironsi Military Government and ‘kidnapped’ by his post-civil war successors.

    Today, Nigeria suffers the negative effects of false federalism with abandoned projects and failure of state and LGA development also due to major local corruption. However, the difficult cross-party relationship between state and federal has also stunted state dreams and achievement for its poor citizens and children. The Lagos State Jakande Rail, designed partly by Funsho Williams and cancelled by Buhari at a cost of $184m penalty should be carrying its one billionth Nigerian passenger around Lagos by now. It is now under construction to the credit of Governors Fashola and Ambode.  But that cannot restore the maliciously devastating blow to the state’s development or restore the billions of hours and other losses to those millions of Nigerians who missed trips between 1983 and now 2016 – 33 years of waste.

    Understanding this defect makes a true nation rise quickly. That misapplication of ‘Federal Might’ caused loss of independent development decision-making in Lagos, followed by the systematic strangling of Nigeria’s development during which there grew a list of nationwide unexecuted ‘state development projects’ sadly killed with a ‘PROJECT DENIED STAMP’ by federal bigwigs who paradoxically come from the states they oppress. They rejected their responsibility to use their federal power to drive development, preferring to say ‘no’ to every development request from a ‘wrong-party‘ state. Beyond political affiliation, what taste do George, Obanikoro and Ogunleye leave in the mouths of Lagos State when spat out? Do they stand out as leaders? Did they sell ‘their’ Lagosians for a mess of pottage or were the reversals just politics? But late President Umaru Yar’Adua stands out ‘Presidentially’ for cooperating with Lagos State’s Governor Fashola to build the Lekki Bridge soon to carry its one billionth citizen. But Nigeria needs 10,000 such bridges, all stalled by ‘Federal Miserable Might’ demanding to be ‘in charge’. So Nigeria stumbles, a huge uncompleted ‘Project Nigeria’ unbuilt by feuding federal ministers fighting dreaming state governors over territory, rights, responsibility, ‘exclusivity of lists’, right of way and authority over minerals, roads and waterways. Such development agendas must never be delayed by ministers from different political parties or used as ‘vote for me’ weapons. President Shagari infamously campaigned in Lagos State that he would build the second Lagos Bridge only if we voted for his party in Lagos. We did not and it took years for the bridge to open under Babangida. Now we have outgrown even that and fourth Bridge is being built by Ambode.

    Meanwhile the 40 year overdue baby called the Second Niger Bridge, has been conceived and aborted so many times that it is an ‘Abiku’. An abiku is a child who never lives long and keeps ‘coming back’, born again. Unfortunately the unbuilt ‘Abiku bridges’ are everywhere, victims of traumatic interparty politics perhaps awaiting the next election campaign? In every state, citizens demand ‘WHO WILL BUILD THIS ABIKU BRIDGE IN MY COMMUNITY?’ The APC and its predecessors particularly in Lagos have suffered malignant federal oppression from pariah ruling party minions ‘claiming’ also to be ‘Lagos’ perhaps deliberately planted to do evil to their own state and even in Ekiti from reports.  The APC must not reciprocate this history of deliberate discrimination and distortion during its own federal governance. It must institutionalise federal-friendly MULTI-MINISTERIAL MONTHLY FEDERAL/STATE MEETINGS stopping the politicisation of development projects. Nigeria cannot survive repeating dangerous past tactics.

    Nigeria is almost dead with a huge development hole nationwide in its heart because of this Federal/State animosity/dichotomy from a lack of devolution of democratic development decisions and from massive local corruption. The current lack of funds at federal centre has exposed the risks of a ‘Runaway corrupt Federation’ as a caricature of a country, each part rejecting cooperation. The FG has taken a disproportionate quantum of available funds but stole rather than sow the seed of a greater Nigerian state. However huge quantum of cash received by states from the Federal Allocation has also been stolen further ‘stunting state growth’. Obviously federal, state and LGA must urgently work synchronously in harmony, together, for Nigeria’s development. True federalism is a long overdue debt to Nigerians and good start. Nigerian leaders must become leaders of Nigeria!

    War, war, war everywhere! Trouble in cyberspace. Cyber space is the new ‘War Domain’. NATO declaring that a cyberattack on one member state will bring a mass response from all 28 states. It is not difficult to initiate an attack and blame it on others who will be felled by ‘friendly fire’. While sharpening your keyboard skills, do not throw away your notepaper and biro.

     

    • Blog:  tonymarinho.com
  • Our Girls; Olympic headache; ‘Single Digit Loans’ FOR ALL?; NASS & NEITII Report?; Buhari State Effect

    Our Girls; Olympic headache; ‘Single Digit Loans’ FOR ALL?; NASS & NEITII Report?; Buhari State Effect

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. We pray.

    Avocado pears, grown freely and discarded here in Nigeria, are in high demand in UK/Europe and expensive high yield following a poor harvest in Australia where any good harvests are actually being stolen, 40 thefts already, just like our farmers have their crops and fish stolen the night before cropping. Nigerians could export avocado as we are nearer to the EU than Australia.

    Nigeria needs a POWER POLICY to ‘GET AS MANY OFF THE GRID AND ONTO SOLAR to reduce pressure on the grid.

    Nigeria needs a POTHOLE POLICY to GET AS MANY POTHOLES OFF OUR ROADS IN ORDER TO REDUCE DEATHS, TODAY, NOT WHEN SOME CONTRACT IS FINISHED IN 2020.

    Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro declares State of Emergency’ before the Olympics, a Pre-Olympic headache- a ‘Financial Emergency’ requiring $550M. Greece suffers a ‘Post- Olympic hangover’ with unused event centres. This is a warning to Nigerian officials anxious to ‘Host’ to make profit and misappropriate the conference tents and protocol cars. From FIFA’s troubled NFF to others, officials fail to supply tools for development. Nigeria should ban itself from international hosting until it builds grassroots-up sports development pyramids with computerised databases to groom a new generation of sports gladiators.

    NEITI and others announce that NNPC, NIMASA, NAPIMS owe government $13+billion dollars – half our $26b foreign reserves. We question the moral credentials of National Assembly (NASS) to set up self-appointed anti-corruption committees to ‘further investigate’. Will more dollars be stuffed into headgear? NASS is seen as an opulent ‘immunity safe haven’ for questionable political officials. The self-acquired ‘Distinguished’ and ‘Honourable’ appellations contrast with the poor NASS performance compromised by greed, corruption, gifts, with the insultingly excessive Salaries Allowances and Perks. These drain Nigeria dry even as their home states cannot/refuse to pay or have stolen 6-9 months salaries. NASS members dare to visit destitute home-states to distribute ‘our money’ as ‘their dividends of democracy projects’. Insult upon thievery – legally-illegal thievery! CLOSE ONE HOUSE, THE SENATE, NOW IN THE ECONOMIC INTEREST OF NIGERIA!  POLITICAL RESTRUCTURING!

    NASS members’ salary should be paid from their home states! Why has no NASS member lead the REJECTION of their over-pampered life, livelihood and SAP excesses ‘legally-illegally’ extracted from the country by the GREEDY POLITICAL EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY when times were good? Late UK MP Jo Cox, much lamented, murdered for her beliefs by a ‘deranged’ racist right winger at 41, lived on a River Thames houseboat!!! And now a Right Winger is up for election to take her place???

    The perpetuation of NASS SAP is detrimental to economic recovery while citizens ‘earn nothingx six months’. Strangely, Governors invoke a ‘No Work, No Pay’ rule on striking workers who operated ‘Work, No Pay’ guidelines for six months. In America the entire workforce practices ‘No Pay, No Work’ the next day.

    Yes Minister of Finance, Nigeria as a country can ‘borrow at the most cost effective rates’ lowest, best, longest repayment terms. BUT YOUR CITIZENS CAN NOT’ BUT NEED LOANS ALSO. Nigerians borrow at 25-30% with 13% going straight back to CBN as MPR.  Minister of Finance: Please introduce SINGLE DIGIT INTEREST RATEs FOR ALL CITIZEN LOANS by scrapping/cutting Monetary Policy Rate and discuss with greedy banks to stimulate the economy by universal 5-9% loans, not just for ‘preferred’ SME businesses. LET EVERY NIGERIAN’S BUSINESS BECOME A PREFERRED BUSINESS, REQUIRING SINGLE DIGIT LOANS -a bail-out philosophy in the UK and USA! Excessive interest rates have made Nigeria A COUNTRY Of BOGUSLY GRANDIOSE BANK BUILDINGS in a country where there are almost no YOUTH CENTRES or Science and Tech Museums and Exhibitions to build and inspire the Youth. In Educare Trust we say: BUILD BRAINS, NOT BANKS

    The naira is floating. Remember the decades 1999-2015 and serial Presidential failure to ‘recover the naira’ especially in the last decade of profligacy. Can we fulfil Buhari’s dream of a powerful naira tomorrow. AS NAIRA FELL, SO COULD IT RISE!

    States, LGAs fail all anti-corruption development yardsticks. But wonderfully, the Federal Government is using the ‘Cash Carrot And Accountability Stick’, to get the states on board ‘anti-corruption budget and accounting programmes’ by forcing The STATE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY’ to have ‘anticorruption’ hands. The cesspool of corruption pollutes FG, States and grassroots LGAs. Check any state financial allocations for the last 25 years to judge the lack of development standards. Every LGA got N1billion+/annum on paper. LGA free elections must be the prerequisite for any further loan.

    THIS IS ONE BAIL WHERE THE BAIL CONDITIONS WILL REDUCE CORRUPTION NATIONWIDE IMMEDIATELY. This ‘BUHARI STATE EFFECT’ masterstroke is like the ‘BUDGET BUHARI EFFECT’, which cut budget fraud and where ‘Budget Padding’, a routine of 50 odd years, entered the Nigerian political Lexicon. LONG TERM, THE SOLUTION IS TRUE FEDERALISM not bailouts, with stronger states and weaker federal centre giving states more power over electric power, solid minerals, waterways and a larger share of VAT. States employ political hangers-on by outgoing governments bloating workers and ghost workers numbers. This ‘WORKER PADDING’ was common in 1999-2015 time of plenty but now we face a 2015-2019 FINANCIAL AND FAMILY FAMINE. We must encourage retirements without filling vacancies for a leaner budgeted workforce accommodated by the 40-60% budget collapse. Pensions, gratuities and even senior civil service perks negotiated during the times of plenty, are crippling now. Do governors still get N50-100m/month security vote-a hangover from the military? This must stop!