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Tag: Fear

  • Fear over use of credit cards overseas from Jan.

    Fear over use of credit cards overseas from Jan.

    Banks are giving conflicting conditions to their customers on use of both debit and credit cards abroad. While some lenders banned completely, use of the cards abroad, others specified countries where the cards are acceptable, The Nation has learnt.

    The BBC quoted a source, saying the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) even ordered commercial banks to stop customers from using their debit and credit cards abroad. But the information cannot be independently verified at press time. A call to CBN Director of Communications was not answered.

    Standard Chartered Bank had in email to customers to this effect, stressed that their naira debit cards will no longer be used for international transactions, from January 1, 2016. It attributed the decision to limited foreign exchange supply in the market.

    It said the action, remains a temporary measure that will be reversed when the forex supply improves.

    Equally, Diamond Bank emailed its customers, specifying countries where their cards are acceptable. “Due to the current forex market realities, please be informed that your naira debit card has been restricted for usage in United Arab Emirates, China and African countries.  We encourage you to make use of the Diamond USD Dollar or Diamond GBP debit card to transact in any of the above mentioned countries,” it said.

     

     

    The bank also promised its customers unlimited annual spend from their dollar and Pounds Sterling accounts; increased daily spend limit across all channels like web, Point of Sale (POS) terminals, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) among others.

    Such spends, it said, will not attract conversion fee on transactions done in card’s denominated currency and also chip and PIN protection.

    Analysts said the policy shift is part of government’s effort to stem the flow of foreign exchange out of the country.  In June, the CBN banned businesses from accessing hard currency to import about 40 items. The list included Indian incense, plastic and rubber products, soap and even private jets. The amount that Nigerians could spend on credit cards abroad has already been reduced by the banks.

    The fall in crude oil prices has reduced Nigeria’s dollar earnings, making it difficult for the CBN to fund imports. The Nigeria’s crude oil – bonny light, which traded at $110.2 per barrel in January 2014, reaching $114.6 per barrel by June of the same year, now trades below $37 per barrel on December 15.

    Boxed to a corner with the continued slide in reserves and crude oil prices, the CBN is thinking of ways out of the quagmire. One of the steps taken by the apex bank was tinker with its forex policies to conserve the reserves.

    In June, it banned importers of 41 items including toothpicks, private jets and rice and other items classified as finished products from accessing the official forex markets to fund their imports.

    Before then, it banned the sale of forex by banks to importers without the requisite shipping documents and directed that only imports, which are backed with evidence of shipment and other relevant documents, will qualify for purchase of forex at official rate among other restcitions..

  • PDP acting out of fear of rerun in Delta -Emerhor

    PDP acting out of fear of rerun in Delta -Emerhor

    In this interview with Bolaji Ogundele, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, talks about his appeal against the decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed Dr Ifeanyi Okowa as winner of last governorship election and the plans to revive the economy of the state under an APC-led government in the state. Excerpts

    How ready are you and your party to pursue the appeal of the tribunal’s judgement, delivered in favour of Governor Okowa recently?

    Our solicitors have received our instructions to appeal the judgement. They have equally received the certified true copy of the ruling and are already working on the grounds of appeal. They would be more authoritative than me in spelling out the grounds of appeal but I can give you a few indications here: We believe the tribunal erred, when after holding that INEC has powers to issue guidelines, including the use of card readers, nonetheless, failed to find that Okowa/PDP/INEC breached those guidelines through their admitted resort to manual voters accreditation.

    We believe the tribunal erred when it ruled a duly certified INEC generated card readers accreditation report that showed total voters accreditation at 715,392, inconclusive based on unsubstantiated oral evidence. We also believe that the tribunal erred when it expunged our star witness, Barrister Ore Ohimor’s analysis that had earlier been admitted as exhibit, on the premise that it was only front loaded during the reply of the petitioners to the respondents’ reply. This analysis was core to our case of over accreditation/voting. It showed over voting in 1,847 polling units or 61% of polling units in Delta State. We believe based on this alone, the elections ought to have been cancelled.

    Furthermore, we believe the tribunal erred when it applied the recent case of Balogun v Akpatason (August 2015 ) to dismiss our case on the basis that it was signed by only one of the two petitioners ignoring the subsisting legal authority at the time the case was instituted ie Ibrahim v Sheriff (2002 ) that allowed one signatory!  We believe the petitioners couldn’t and were not expected to anticipate the recent Balogun v Akpatason ruling.

    These, among others, I believe will form the many grounds of our appeal.

    Another issue is this belief that the national leadership of your party rather sees you as not popular enough to execute a campaign that will deliver the state to APC and thus is not in your support, like the cases in Rivers and Akwa Ibom. How true is this?

    You have raised two issues here. First, I’m not aware that APC as a party and government are the ones directing the tribunal judges on which elections to cancel or not. The APC and PDP have won and lost a number of tribunal cases all over the country. APC lost Gombe’s judgement even before losing in Delta. Akwa Ibom was only partially won. Rivers is the only clear win by APC so far. This trend cannot be interpreted to mean APC is directing judges on which states to deliver to it. Your inference of APC’s direct intervention is highly untrue and I can only say it falls into the narrative that the PDP national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, has been pushing to falsely smear our great party. Secondly,  I believe it is the PDP in Delta State that stand to gain by pushing the story that I’m not popular enough to win Delta State or that my national party leaders are not in my support. They are only pushing this out there out of fear for a possible rerun. I’m the candidate of the party. The party supported me during the April 11, 2015 elections and has been supporting me since then. It is the PDP that did not allow an election in Delta State that would have established who was more popular.  Instead they resorted to rigging and allocation of votes. They are the unpopular party and candidate that are waiting for embarrassing rejection by Deltans. Their strategy, therefore, is to sow doubt in the mind of Deltans who now know that the federal might is now with APC and no longer with opposition Delta PDP. This is rerun politics already at play and Deltans must be wary. With the spate of defections from PDP to APC already happening in Delta and with more envisaged once a rerun is ordered, the PDP is acting out of fear!

    Why then did the minister representing the state in the federal cabinet not picked from the ranks of the party in the state, if not that national body of the party feels indifferent about the Delta APC chapter?

    This again is untrue!  Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, from what I understand, was targeted as an oil industry professional to manage the petroleum sector, a key sector that President Buhari is serious about revamping. My take is that Kachikwu just happened to come from Delta State. The story would have been the same if he came from any other state. Moreover, Delta is not the only state where the appointee was not from the core APC family. The same issue was protested in Kaduna, Sokoto and Gombe. My further take is that the President in making these appointments placed Nigeria’s national interest ahead of APC local state interest.  True, every state wanted one of their own as minister. This definitely empowers the local party and helps it to grow stronger and even win elections. In our case, yes, we would have liked one of us but definitely, national interest comes first.  Also, the appointed Minister is a Deltan and it’s only a matter of time and he will identify with us and support the party.  Again, those who want to divide the APC family in Delta are the ones eagerly pushing the above narrative.

    Should the appeal favour you and a rerun is ordered, how ready is Delta APC to take over the state from PDP?

    You only need to seek the opinion of the average Deltan to know that in a one man one vote free and fair election, the PDP does not stand a chance. For 16 years and more, the state has been under PDP’s misrule. The state is crying for change and in April 11, 2015, the PDP again scuttled the people’s opportunity to throw them out by disallowing an election. Instead, they resorted to allotting votes to themselves with the active connivance of a compromised INEC staff and security forces. The Okowa/PDP government has admitted to inheriting over N700 billion in debt. It has in the space of less than 5 months, borrowed over N50billion Naira. At a conservative estimate of N10 billion monthly, the PDP government had received from Federal Revenue Allocation over N1, 970 billion in its 16years and 5 month reign in the state. Now, outside the state’s Internally Generated Revenue,  adding funds available from loans/debts plus federal allocations, the PDP government had spent a total of N2.72 trillion in the state in the 16years. The PDP has wasted this colossal amount without any visible development to show for it. The road network is totally broken and dilapidated. Unemployment is at the highest. There are no industries and 90 percent of those in formal employment are government employees who are, ironically, owed several months of salaries. Contractors, mainly with government, are owed billions. The economy of the state is in comatose.

    Deltans are looking to APC to liberate them from financial squalor and imposed poverty. Even members of the PDP are in large numbers preparing to bail ship. Deltans see the declaration of a rerun as their day of freedom in the state; they are only looking for an arrow head, which I, as the candidate and the APC, am already providing.

  • Living in the fear of abductors

    SIR: Recently, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae was abducted and an alleged ransom of about N50 million was paid for his freedom from his abductors. Although two Fulani herdsmen were later arrested by the Department of States Security (DSS) officials in connection to the abduction; the trauma incurred on the person abducted as well as friends and families remains indelible that it would have been better avoided. Across the country, the nightmare on who the next victim could be thrives and makes one wonder if our security institutions are responsible in their obligation to protect the lives of the Nigerian citizens at large.

    Kidnapping has become endemic in our country today because it appears to be an alternative, quick and “cool” way to eke out a living next to oil vandalism. The rate of this inhumane activity is so high that even the wife of a journalist was deemed a prospective “victim”. Gone are the days when foreigners were the core targets; now, the elites are the focus while children and aged men and women are not left out.

    But a cursory look at this budding menace reveals that there is never a smoke without a fire. As our tertiary institutions religiously churn out thousands of graduates on a yearly basis; unemployment is paraded at its peak, and the survival of the fittest principle dares jobless youths to dance to the rhythm of crime and societal ills. The inability to secure good jobs coupled with mounting responsibilities has made many to resort to criminal activities which kidnapping is no exemption.

    Also, poverty is a propelling force that tempts people to find shelter in kidnapping. The mind-boggling ransoms prompts a tremendous leap in the abductors social strata. A consuming desire to escape poverty has eroded the cause of morality in sourcing for wealth.

    War must therefore be declared against this societal threat. The government must not relent in its efforts to the end. Anti-kidnapping agencies must be equipped with due training and intelligence. Also, payment of ransoms should be discouraged as obtained in other developed climes so as to serve as a deterrent to people in search for a criminal but lucrative source of income.

     

    • Modupe Elegushi,

    Lagos.

  • Fear not

    The fear of President Muhammadu Buhari is growing in many quarters. In his days in the military as Head of State, he was known to be a no-nonsense man and an apostle of discipline, transparency and accountability.

    Those in government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies prior to Buhari’s democratic administration, who have done things anyhow to enrich themselves and drained the nation’s resources, are now treading cautiously out of fear.

    The fear and new self-inflicted restraint from doing things anyhow is said to have mainly been responsible for the improving power supply in the country.

    Frequent acts of vandalism in the energy sector under the former administrations have suddenly stopped with the inauguration of the administration on May 29.

    Fuel scarcity and long queues that have been the story of past administrations have also stopped under Buhari’s administration.

    The improvement could visibly be seen during the recent festive periods and independence anniversary celebration as the country was spared of such fuel scarcity and queues.

    These are just two areas where the fear of Buhari has helped in services rendered to the nation.

    There are many other silent areas of improvements resulting from such fear.

    But President Buhari on assumption in office has counseled Nigerians not to fear him.

    As if the counsel was falling on deaf ears, President Buhari in his October 1st independence anniversary message to Nigerians again urged them not to fear him but should rather fear the consequences of their actions.

    This means that those who soil their hands have course to worry while those on the right side of the law will never have any problem with him but earn his support.

    He said: “As I said in my inaugural speech, I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone.

    “People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to join me in working for the nation.” He added

    But he harped on the need for change in the habits of Nigerians in order to bring about the desired change being championed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

    “I would like to end my address this morning on our agenda for CHANGE. Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring CHANGE about.

    “We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behavior in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens.” He said

  • Fear of massive discounts

    Everyone likes a discount. That is why stores sell more products through promotions. This makes the shopper to spend more and come back more often. Discounts are good but no matter how big the discount is, stores almost never sell at a loss, TONIA ‘DIYAN writes.

    Knowing that stores keep reeling out discounts and promos daily to attract buyers, a shopper, Augustine buys items he doesn’t really need simply because they are discounted, he is an impulse buyer just like many others.

    He has failed to realize that retailers sell the same product to the customer, but raise the price and even put a discount on it, so the shopper is happy with the discount, while he is actually paying more.

    It is funny what luxury retailers do to get the attention of shoppers some times. Augustine knows an Italian shoes store that is has the ‘buy two get one free’ promo ongoing. Excited he ran off to go get the awoof, only to discover that the price of the two items could fetch him four of the same quality stuff from another shop in the same neighbourhood. He left the place having realised that he would have played the mugu if he had not known the other store.

    But one thing was certain. The offer made people rush to that store and they did make great profit for the retailer.

    The scenario is similar to when global system for mobile communication (GSM) technology was first introduced into the country. The telecommunication companies, in collaboration with handset companies ran similar promos. The level of sales today explains how huge the profit they made at the time.

    Retail experts have said it is important for stores to offer good services, thereby endearing customers to always come back. Former Broll Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Erejuwa Gbadebo once said: “When it comes to sales and discounts, shoppers want to see all products offered and prices available on daily basis, most importantly, they like to see excellent customer service that they will receive which of course, they are entitled to. It is almost a sure bet that everyone will be coming back over and over whether there is a sale or not.”

    She added that friendliness and good service is better. “I have been to many shops where all they are concerned about is for you to buy something. All they want to do is make sales. If a shopper finds himself in such shop and is not sure of what to buy, he would either be thrown into confusion or end up buying the wrong item.

    That’s why it is always advisable to go to a reputable shop where one can ask questions and receive good answers concerning purchases. Such shops would care about maintaining their name and reputation, so they would most likely give a good service.”

  • Suspected hoodlums spark fear in Ogun community

    Suspected hoodlums spark fear in Ogun community

    There is fresh apprehension   in Ijoko  community, Ogun State, following what residents call the return of some hoodlums who were arrested a few months ago.

    The suspected hoodlums were  arrested in connection with the  mayhem which engulfed the  community on December 23, 2014 during which many vehicles and  buildings including the palace of a traditional ruler  were razed.

    Nine persons were arrested  at the  time.

    T he police also recovered assorted guns, cutlasses and charms said to belong to the suspects were recovered from their  alleged base at  Alasia area of  the community.

    Two groups, Ijoko Youth Forum and Concerned Citizens of Ijoko,want the state government to save residents from the suspects alleged to  have  been harassing residents  since their return.

    In a petition to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, spokesmen for the groups  Musbau Olatidoye and Kafayat Shokunbi, said the men  “have been harassing, molesting, killing, looting and destroying innocent people’s property. They have been using an uncompleted building at Alasia area of Ijoko which serves as their armoury.

    “Sometime last year, some anti-riot policemen came to the same uncompleted building and 12 locally made   guns, two pump action guns,191 cartridges, two cutlasses, one axe, charms and masquerade clothing among others were recovered but surprisingly they secured their freedom in the court. Since they returned and resumed their hostility in Ijoko, all of us have been living in fear.”

    The groups said the situation might escalate if the men are not called to order immediately.

    The petitioners added: “No fewer than 13 people have been killed by the hoodlums since they started terrorizing the community. We want to urge the police, Department of State Security Service (DSS) and other law enforcement agencies to come to our rescue from the grip of the heartless thugs.”

    A community leader who simply identified himself as Elder Lande said: “We have been living in fear since the boys returned from detention. They would drink and smoke cannabis and beat up people with impunity.They should be checked  in the interest of  peace in this community.”

  • Residents: we live in fear of ‘area boys’

    Residents: we live in fear of ‘area boys’

    Many live and trade in the neighbourhood because it is close to Onipanu bus-stop on Ikorodu Road. Now, they are contemplating moving out because of the fear of hoodlums. Kayode Street in Onipanu has lost its attraction to them.

    Shop owners claim that they are the easiest preys whenever hoodlums clash in the area and neighbouring streets, killing and maiming.

    The Nation gathered yesterday that not a few traders and tenants have relocated,  while those still there are living in fear.

    “Just about 10 days ago, around 8pm, I was attending to a customer when I heard gunshots as people ran for dear lives. Before I could demand to know what was happening, I saw four armed young men in my shop. Despite the fact that I was used to such an experience there, I was terrified to the marrow. ‘Where is our money?’ One of them hollered. They collected all the money I had made that day – about N180,000 – and left for other shops.

    “My passionate plea to them to have mercy on me because I’m a widow and retired teacher meant nothing to them. Their bloodshot eyes were threatening as the offensive odour of marijuana was all over them. I have suffered such attacks thrice in the past one year. Now, I am on the look-out for safer areas where I can enjoy some measure of peace,” said a woman who sells babies’ wares.

    A young male trader did not agree to speak with this reporter until he was assured that his name, business and address would not be mentioned.

    His reason: “Those boys are deadly. If they identify me, they will kill me or in the least, send me away from here after looting my shop again.”

    The trader, who said he could not quantify how much he lost to previous attacks, added: “The attack of last week did not catch me unawares as I got alerted on phone when they started their trouble from the Mushin Toll Gate. I wasted no time in packing my things. I had left my shop when they reached there. I was watching them from the Mobil Filling Station at the Ikorodu Road end of the street.

    “What baffles me is that they always have free reign whenever they swoop on us as there is usually no policeman to come to our rescue. We are in serious mess here. I just hope the police can appreciate the magnitude of our plight and do something about the matter. Nobody is safe here at nightfall – even during the day!”

    Another trader, who said she just came around to spend a few hours, told The Nation that she no longer opens her shop beyond 7pm for fear of such attacks.

    She added: “Just three days ago, a man was shot dead near us here by members of a rival group. He was left to bleed to death as no one wanted to be caught in the web of the crisis.”

  • The fear out there

    The fear out there

    Can Saraki fight corruption?

    President Muhammadu Buhari became an issue in the last presidential election because of his antecedent in the anti-corruption war. The ‘Change’ slogan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under which he contested itself became appealing to Nigerians as a result of this perception of Buhari as a man with zero tolerance for corruption. So, Buhari’s victory at the polls was Nigerians’ powerful statement of rejection of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and its romance with corruption which it glorified as ‘stealing’.

    That was why many Nigerians were shocked by what transpired in the National Assembly last Tuesday, when Senator Bukola Saraki was elected Senate President. He was able to get 34 votes from senators of his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as 23 from the APC, a clear indication of the gulf in the party. This was at a time majority of the other APC senators were said to have gone to honour an invitation from President Buhari, probably in a last ditch effort to mediate in the crisis that had rocked the party before Tuesday and make the party speak with one voice in the election.

    Although the APC does not have two-thirds of the membership of the Senate, it has a simple majority. With that, Nigerians went to sleep after the elections, thinking that they had done their bit to give the party the opportunity to dictate the policy thrust in the National Assembly, which is crucial in the fight against corruption.

    The same situation applies to the House of Representatives where the APC also has simple majority. Speaker Yakubu Dogara who (alongside Senator Saraki) defied the party to contest the position of speaker defeated the party’s favoured candidate, Femi Gbajabiamila, by a slight margin of 182 votes to 174. Apparently, the development in the Senate influenced the voting pattern in the House because the south west (where Gbajabiamila comes from) alone could not have produced the vice president, Senate President as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Apparently too, the crisis reflected the party’s inability to reconcile the different tendencies in its fold, especially with regards to the legislature’s leadership, a thing that eventually led to the mock primary that it held on June 6, preparatory to the inauguration of the National Assembly on June 9.

    Regrettably, the mock primary was itself mocked by the Saraki group which rejected its outcome outright and decided to defy the party by standing for election into the National Assembly positions against the party’s directive. Senator Saraki and his group promptly reported in the National Assembly and went straight to business. The rest is history.

    It is instructive though that, in a Senate with 108 members (one is dead), the upper legislative house started on such a shaky note. The APC initially threatened to deal with Senator Saraki and Co. even as some other senators also threatened to go to court to challenge the process of Saraki’s election. Unless the matter is amicably resolved, the eventual winner of the caucuses flexing muscles would depend on a lot of factors, including financial inducement, given the role that money was said to have played in the Senate even on Tuesday. This position is further strengthened by reports that some of the APC senators have been pledging to work with Senator Saraki.

    But the incident should not have caught anyone by surprise, unless we want to deceive ourselves. It was inevitable, whether in the long or the short run. The surprise element is that it came this early.  When you have political juggernauts and those who see themselves in that light in an alliance, there is bound to be problem. Remember too, the way and manner the APC was formed is another issue. It was not as if most of the people there are bound by any ideology; they just came together by happenstance. And that happenstance was the common enemy: former President Goodluck Jonathan. So, the only consideration that brought the different people from different backgrounds into the APC was the need to ease out the former president, probably for different reasons, too. It is now that that has been achieved that the centripetal tendency is now giving way to the centrifugal contradictions.

    But let me leave politics to politicians. After all, some of the APC senators who earlier said they would not accept the result of the senate election are reported to have resolved to work with Senator Saraki. These politicians, they work in mysterious ways, and that is why it is difficult to stick out one’s neck for them! I hear the reason for the volte face is to enable them be in the good books of Senator Saraki for consideration for juicy committee appointments!

    That, if true, is part of my fear for our politics. But my main worry is about Senator Saraki’s emergence as Senate President and the likely implications for the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption war. Even the uninitiated knows that President Buhari won the presidential elections because of his anti-corruption credentials. Indeed, I said in this column after the retired general emerged the presidential hopeful of the APC that the PDP was in trouble. Even the PDP knew; and that was why they resorted to hate campaign when they should be advertising their achievements.

    Mercifully, I am not alone in my fears that President Buhari’s anti-corruption war may soon enter into some troubled waters with the developments in the National Assembly; many other people share a similar sentiment.  Indeed, some of them called on Tuesday as the event unfolded to ask how the war would be won with Senator Saraki as the Number Three Citizen. Many of my colleagues received the same message either via personal calls or through text messages. Will Senator Saraki be comfortable when laws are to be made to make people who once grounded our banks pay for their crime? Will he be at home with laws or efforts to make those who exploited and are still exploiting Nigerians through fuel subsidy account for their actions? Or will he be at ease when the powers that are keeping Nigerians in perpetual darkness despite the humongous amounts of dollars we have spent on power projects are asked to vomit the public funds that they had swallowed? These and many more other questions went on simultaneously in my mind and made me uncomfortable throughout last Tuesday and even for the better part of Wednesday. I am just recovering from the stupor. Again, many people who sent similar messages of depression wondered aloud if this would not be a mere continuation of the business as usual in the Senate.

    It should be understood that there is nothing personal about my fears and Senator Saraki. It is just a matter of his antecedent and the antecedents of some of those behind him. I have no doubt Senator Saraki would be shocked if he conducts an independent opinion poll about what I am talking about. Of course I am not unaware that some people would want to ask whether some other people or persons are better than Senator Saraki when the issue is corruption. But that is beside the point. Those people are not the country’s Number One or Number Two citizen or even Number Three; even if they were, they had served in different periods, including when the government did not see any need to deal the corruption cankerworm a serious blow that would make all other things fall in place, because corruption is at the root of almost all our problems in the country.

    I have said it before. And I am restating it; that corruption is not the easiest thing to fight because it would always fight back. To put it bluntly, not a few persons saw Senator Saraki’s emergence as part of the plot by corruption to put a clog in the wheel of President Buhari’s anti-corruption battle, even if the ruling party itself contributed inadvertently or otherwise to the development. I can only hope this is a misplaced fear. I sincerely pray so. For now, however, I hold my peace.

  • ‘I will rule with the fear of God’

    Abia State governor Victor Ikpeazu has promised to rule with the fear of God.

    Ikpeazu spoke at a thanksgiving service at the Seventh Day Adventist Church Headquarters for Eastern Union Conference, Osisioma, Abia State. He said he was at the service to thank God for making him the governor, present his plans for the state before Him and seek His guidance.

    Ikpeazu said he would resume work in Aba, the state’s commercial nerve centre today and embark on on the spot assessment of roads before proceeding to Umuahia, the capital to replicate same tomorrow.

    The governor sought the cooperation of the people, especially through prayers, for the success of his administration.

    “I want God to make Abians understand that if you want to eat Omelet, you must be ready to crack eggs. I thank God that I am courageous enough to take these decisions, God being with me. I will serve Abia and   Nigerians with the fear of God.

    “I will also take decisions that may not be very palatable, but let the guiding principle be, ‘is it in the best interest of the greater majority of our people?

    “We have travelled long on the wrong path, probably by events not caused by governments but caused by our people. But this is the time to turn around because this is not going to be business as usual.

    “We must change the way we think, the way we do things, the way we build our houses, we must have respect for our neighbor because in doing so, we will be more responsible. The things that we see abroad can be done here and it must start in our hearts”, he said.

    In his homily, Pastor Udoh Bassey warned Ikpeazu against displeasing God. He assured him of God’s presence and guidance in all that he does if he places God first.

    “You need great wisdom to be safe in whatever you do. If God gives you money and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die. If God gives you beauty and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die.

    “If God gives you a position and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die, so be careful what you do” Bassey warned.

  • Fear and hate at the time of Lent

    SIR: The media helmsman of the Goodluck Jonathan\Sambo team, Femi Fani- Kayode has clearly defined his job in a way that will haunt our politics as well as the very concept of societal cohesion and indeed of social solidarity upon which as of necessity a republic should be constructed upon, for a very long time to come.

    The unhealthy template he has set bears a disconcerting, striking resemblance to the modus operandi of Hitler‘s propaganda minister the perfidious Franz Josef Goebells.Columnist Femi Aribisala has also joined in on the same band-wagon.

    We all know that electoral contests are by their very nature divisive. Nevertheless, an election should not be positioned in such a way as to destroy the very basis of democracy as well as by cynical manipulation whose end result will be to tear apart the fabric of society.  Elections ought to be conducted within the context of a preexisting national democratic arrangement.

    In the true manner of the template set by Goebells, all the fault lines are being ruthlessly exploited. Ethnicity, religion, regional differences, no holds are barred and there is obviously no intention to take prisoners. For a democracy though there is, has to be, a critical issue: What happens after the elections?

    Much of the big lie on offer is not just offensive to the sensibilities, it is meant to create a permanent rupture undermining the very sustainability of the democratic ethos and of constitutionalism. This way the republic is imperiled.

    The hate speeches coming during lent provides food for thought. The hate maestros do not just resemble Goebells which is bad enough, they also bear a sickening resemblance to the ultimate bogeyman Pontius Pilate. Through the ages, every Sunday school pupil has been taught to regard Pilate as a‘ bad man‘. Pilate was more than just your run of the mill ‘bad man‘, his place in eternal infamy was earned because of the way he abdicated his responsibility.

    Pilate was in actual fact a ‘chancer‘, his eyes firmly fixed on self-preservation. Fixated on his impending comfortable retirement and the prospect of a quick exit from a perennially problematic Roman colony\outpost in Judea he simply cut and run, washing his hands off the matter.

    His successors today demonstrate the same trait. Those who use hate speeches and divisive politics based on exploiting divisions based on religion and tribe follow in the footsteps of Pontius Pilate.

    As Bob Marley said ‘when the rain falls it won’t fall on one man`s house.`Like Pilate Femi Fani-Kayode obviously believes that his house will be exempted. This is not going to happen of course but the deluded always have this erroneous belief.

    Now that we are in lent, might we ask in all of this what is the light that surprises the Christian as he prays?It cannot be about enveloping the polity in the politics of hate.That is not withing the context, meaning as well as the interpretation of this seminal season.

    The light that should guide the Christian at this time is clearly foretold by St Francis of Assisi. The words of St Francis were recollected by Mrs Margret Thatcher on her first day in office as Prime Minister:

    ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope‘.

    It is obvious that those jumping from pulpit to pulpit while at the same time promoting hate have never really thought about the import of St Francis‘ prayer. Quite honestly they should.

     

    • Ayo Badmus,

     Osogbo