The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Our girls

  • Our Girls; Health Insurance Scams

    Our Girls are missing since April 15, 2014. Pray.

    Today – Floods; NASS; Yam; Stop Health Insurance Scheme Scams for Slush Fund 2019 Election Fraud.

    The nationwide floods were pre-announced. Did officials act, control or contribute to the floods? Did sand-dredging and sand-filling the lagoons and lakes and building on waterways contribute? Does our meteorological office give us daily rainfall figures –something we learnt in school geography class? Was flooding inevitable, because of, or in spite of, our poor sanitation costing lives and billions? Many new constructions, some massive and high tech is at a higher level above sea level than historic old properties. This has inevitably locked rainwater in areas just above sea level, stagnating or reversing flows in age-long canals and guaranteeing flooding in old and new lower-lying areas -a vicious circle. As for Lagos and its sand-filling frenzy, may the new Eko Atlantic and other sand-filled outgrowths examine their plans and consciences if they blocked any channels instead of running them under their property to the ocean? Son should not kill father. The new must not drown the old. Patricide is not progress –just murder!

    Drain cleaning is only good if the contents are removed. Nigerian drain contractors rarely remove rubbish which therefore falls back into the drain- ‘negative progress’. Is there a separate contract for removing rubbish? Even street, market and shop sweepers all dump rubbish into gutters. God may allow rain but man must not worsen flood!

    National Assembly (NASS) appears filled with independent candidates whose allegiance is to themselves as individuals first and then to themselves as an unregistered political party NASS, collectively as NASS members and with no allegiance to the party platform they ran on or defected to. Independent Candidates, ICs, come with radical ideas unencumbered by party loyalties, secret oaths and other baggage. However most independent candidates abroad have high moral ground’ or great ‘wealth’ that recommends them for election. For our NASS ICs, ideology, knowledge or affinity for party manifestos seems of little consequence. Nigerians need to look beyond the mainstream parties to interrogate the rest. ‘Seasoned politicians’ become ‘over-seasoned’ and ‘out-of-season’. For 2019, pluck fresh fruit from the forest of politics!

    Exporting raw yam is not a ‘development’. Starch and other products should be extracted, the product concentrated, reducing volume and increasing export profile of Nigeria. No ‘Export of Oil and Import Petroleum Products’ disgrace o!

    Why have we forgotten that Nigeria always had a ‘free’ Health Service Scheme in its regional days?  UCH started in Adeoyo Hospital. Remember that the National Health Service in the UK is budget funded. In Nigeria the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and indeed any state health service scheme are misused to reduce the government responsibility to make health care available through the budget. This has freed up 1] budget billions to steal from and, 2] takes billions from citizens pockets to replace the budget withdrawal or the money is stolen, again from citizens! Imagine the money for administrative staff -money that should be used for paying health workers, equipment and drugs. Government is dodging the bullet by passing the responsibility for health to citizens by contributions.

    Nigerians survived a lifetime of being cheated by governments diverting or not allocating health funds. If all the $350billion+ stolen from our budgets had never been stolen, Nigeria would have a functioning top medical network even employing all Nigerians who were unfortunately driven abroad by the ‘First Professional Exodus’ to avoid financial ruin and ‘Professional Ignominy’ under Babangida when the First Gulf Oil Windfall $12.5billion was reported missing by the Financial Times of London. Know that the ‘Second Professional Exodus’ was ‘Fear Factor’ motivated under Abacha’s murderous rule. Yet, now we pay for health, abi? That ‘Generation of Professionals Abroad’ helped save Nigeria through remittances in billions and guaranteed Nigeria’s ‘Professional Image’ contrasting with the denigration and neglect of professionals and infrastructure at home. Today even our school children buy water or die of typhoid or kidney stones.

    And who will prevent fraud in the health insurance schemes/scams nationwide? Already NHIS boss and HMOs and University of Ibadan are under ‘Query’ fraud. Soon we will allocate some air per day and have to buy excess air by the sachet or bottle, for ‘excesses’ like jogging, dancing and ‘sexercise’, abi? Nigeria done spoil O!

    And get ready for more atrocities of politicians. From past experience, 100 million election posters and 100,000 multimillion naira mega-billboards and overt and covert election bribes with rice, gari and bread ‘stomach infrastructure’ corruption will cost N50-80+billion by 2019. Money stolen or to be stolen from the budget ‘past, present and future’. Budgets also include pension and health funds! The former NHIS boss is accused of diverting or being forced to divert NHIS funds under the last government. How many health schemes will that ‘electioneering money’ fund? All that spent electioneering money must be stolen or has already been stolen from the budget? How many health posters or health billboards will be in schools, communities and markets? Probably none and certainly too few!! The equation does not balance! What stops a government official taking the NHIS funds or the state health scheme funds for fraudulent 2019 political and personal exigencies? A pre-emptive strike and monitoring by EFCC? It happened to pension and NHIS funds before. Health Insurance Scheme money must not become ‘2019 Election Slush Fund Fraud Scam’ OOO!

     

    NB: Nigerians- find new untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.

  • Our Girls; Restructure; Amnesty Bill?

    Our Girls are missing since April 15, 2014. Pray.

    Corrigendum:  July 5th: ‘’ The country will NOT stand still if NEC appoints ministers or a committee to face ‘Restructuring’ and ‘False Federalism’.’’

    There is widespread agitation for Restructuring and ‘True Federalism’ to replace the ‘False Federalism’ or ‘Fake Federalism’ that has been a negative developmental ‘Military Millstone’ around Nigeria’s neck. Why is ‘Restructuring’ a dirty word for a so-called ‘progressives’? I reject being labelled an ‘opportunist’ for wanting ‘Restructuring Now!’ Nigeria should be 100 times more developed if we had thrown Unitary government out in 1979 or latest 1999. But the false federalism beneficiaries, choking on the national ‘cake’, still reject true federalism. We all know the ‘Strong Centre: Weak Periphery’ and the evil anti-development ‘Federal Exclusive List’ approach has failed development but empowered evil. States are reduced to ‘celebrating’ petty fly-overs and exercise books as ‘Dividends of a rubbished democracy’. Is our right to true federalism just a deceitful election wayo? There has never been a greater need, opportunity, desire and responsibility on government to lead away from ‘Fake Federalism’ to ‘True Federalism’.

    Yes, the 2015 conference had its hidden agendas, problems and politics. However agreed points can be presented to Nigeria, but not by a tainted, self-serving National Assembly (NASS), for further discussion and decision. NASS cannot arbitrate in its own matter. The people never voted for the current 1999 constitution. The Presidency should go over NASS’s head to the people in a referendum. NASS has too many beneficiaries of False Federalism –FFF- ‘Fellows of False Federalism’. NASS, the structure, is a ‘product’ of ‘False or Fake Federalism’ and the main reason why Nigerians are screaming for restructuring. NASS can never free the country from the unbearable ‘NASS Yoke’. A referendum to correct the deliberate military distortions in the 1999 constitution is welcome. Anti-true federalism politicians have gravely misread the people’s anger and will pay at the next election when the country may vote for a smaller honest untested political party.

    With our citizens’ ‘vocal but no action’ nature, the politicians will manipulate us as puppets to be brought out and fed on election day with stomach infrastructure and then put away again – Nigeria’s story for 50 years with occasional fits of ‘Liberation Electionography’. One day money will be rejected by the people’s will and die in all parties. Then policies will surpass propaganda and ‘Naira-ganda’. The recent debacle of the APC primaries should caution party hierarchy that citizens want their say on who will represent them in a ‘democracy’ and on true federalism.

    Fellow Nigerians have been uniformly disgraced by almost everyone empowered to work politically and in governance who mostly escape with our budgets. Fellow Nigerians have a right to know when a person ‘chooses to become a common thief’ and is caught by the ICPC or EFCC, led by Magu who is vilified by NASSty NASS. Fellow Nigerians have a right to know when such convicted persons pay back our money, by force, never voluntarily. Secret plea bargains will breed more corrupt practices. Adhere to ‘Plea Bargain Protocol’ 1] in a public space and even use 2] negotiators include forensic witnesses and under oath in open ‘court’ or hall and with professional tax personnel, bankers, accountants and estate agents and Interpol present. It is always public money stolen that is being returned fully and not just half or quarter. ‘Plea Bargain Protocol’ must also 3] aim get full restitution 4] with interest and the thief 5] must be left as destitute as possible with maximum deliverance of all the stolen funds and 6] the return of profits from ill-gotten gains and 7] punishment. After all, the thief was merciless in attempting to ‘Make Fellow Nigerians Destitute’. Plea Bargain Protocol is to the advantage of Fellow Nigerians and not a ‘Thief Bargain Protocol’! Hurray, the courts have ordered the release of the ‘List of Convicted Looters’ and their ‘Loot Returns’. A country which allows such criminals to escape public disgrace is encouraging corruption. Why do public office holders become insanely greedy and thieves in money matters? Now there are huge scandals in NHIS and University of Ibadan. Is nowhere corruption-free?

    Many countries like France are surgically cutting National Assembles to redirect funds to development. Nigeria is paying for NASS’s selfishness with its tiny petty constituency projects spreading the budget too thin, thus decimating impact. In its wasteful and pointless supremacy struggle with the Presidency, NASS fails to see and embrace the needed big national picture condemning Nigeria to more mundane okada deaths from ‘Corrupt Constituency Petty Projectism’ by severely reducing modernising development projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    Nigeria also needs surgery. Horrifyingly NASS has embarked on another ‘self-protection’ legal-illegality as it introduces a bill which I paraphrase as the ‘Corrupt Persons Protection/Amnesty Bill’. Perhaps the NASS will soon give us the ‘Compulsory Congratulations for Corrupt Persons Bill’. NASS is uncharacteristically ‘deafeningly silent’ on disgraced members at the Supreme Court- ‘Silence’ on fraud and a criminal diversion of the democratic will, denying Nigerian the right to elect true NASS representation. The members misdirected NASS during their illegal occupation of NASS. Who made such UnGodly people, god over us? How many other NASS members are equally guilty? Nigerians must shout about failing arms of government. Silence does not mean consent- it allows corruption!

    NB: Nigerians-Vote a new generation of untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.

  • Our Girls: ‘Restructure now?’ Yes Please

    Our Girls are missing since April 15, 2014. Pray.

    Nigeria is at a dangerous multi-directional crossroads. Politicians arrogantly browbeating and insulting ‘Reconstructionistas’ or ‘True Federalistas’ is not the answer. The pressures of dwindling oil revenue and corruption-driven high exchange rates and poverty and unemployment, callous state governments’ misusing ‘Paris Fund Windfall’, pension backlogs, and political infighting are creating the economic and social conditions for a ‘Perfect Storm’. There is a real likelihood of a people’s upheaval from any seemingly trivial incident causing a ‘Massive Tsunami’ sweeping away the current politicians to a political ignominy and a vacuum where their voices will never be sought for advice or direction. Community against community, neighbour against neighbour. Too many are at breaking point from life-long developmental, infrastructural, oil-block misallocation, economic and political injustice inflicted on them. Politicians should not stand against the tide of public opinion that is endeavouring to improve lives by extracting more from the federal purse and using it for faster regional and state development –if it is not stolen ‘as usual’ when it gets to the state and LGA.

    The argument does not hold water that some do not know what they want or do not know what ‘Restructuring’ and ‘True Federalism’ mean as there is no consensus. They know they do not want another day of ‘False or Fake Federalism’ under a false 1999 Constitution. So give the people justice and what they do want. ‘Restructuring’ and ‘Fixing False Federalism’ can progress beside all other government business. The ruling government is supposedly democratic anxious to re-install ‘True Democracy’ though it has been diluted by political party ‘changers’ taking anyone without question. This government can right political and regional wrongs while addressing the yearnings and survival needs of the people for jobs, electric power, roads, security et cetera. Governments must multi-task! The country will stand still if NEC appoints ministers or a committee to face ‘Restructuring’ and ‘False Federalism’. Many Nigerians will add technical value to the ‘Restructuring Effort’.

    Why do we keep repeating the same mistake before the court? Why do police, EFCC, ICPC seek to complete investigation into multiple ‘counts’ against an accused before going to court? Government needs an Executive Order ‘’2019 New Guiding Principle of Prosecution’’ – sing: ‘Count Your Crimes One by One, And It Will Surprise You What The Judge Has Done. One Crime, One case at a time. Guilty, imprisonment, a heavy fine. This will draw the line’. The police must use the simplest case to get a jail-able conviction. Once the person, now clearly a criminal is jailed, the police can add other cases after investigation. Court cases will be shorter with better conviction results. We are tired of ‘100 or 105 count charge’, four year trial with no conviction, just rubbish smiles on TV insulting our intelligence!!

    Even kidnappers complain of ‘illegal detention’. Is ‘illegal detention’ not kidnappers’ modus operandi? A beg jo! Are even lawyers working against the law?

    Is this democracy the democracy we really want? Even if it is carbon copy of the American system, is this American system, with Nigerian modification, the best democratic example out there? Can we learn from examples of true federalism like in Switzerland? Politicians may be happy with themselves having financially exploited the system but they are failing our expectations of them. They demonstrate scant regard for the citizen once they are in government.

    Be cautious when taking advice for past leaders mainly responsible for our current poor ‘State Of The Nigerian Nation’. If you pray as Jonathan has suggested, keep both eyes open, watching the budget and CBN dollar electronic transfers and bullion van movement so ‘our money’ is not ‘disappeared’ to Ikoyi and other ‘safe houses’ during ‘close ya eye’ and ‘Amin- Amen’ prayers. Johnathan is the immediate past architect of Nigeria- some say – Nigeria’s Rape. As for Babangida, haba, you still de talk again? The youth and the new press have no memory of you. They seriously ‘Need To Know The Babangida We Lived Under, His Double Speak And Regime Results’ and, ‘settlement’ corruption, trauma of financial and political and economic nature, the increasing interest rates from 3% mortgages to 15% to 28% with high CBN slush funds from an astronomical Monetary Policy Rate and the associated Dele Giwa parcel bomb –long before Boko Haram, the first bombing in post-Civil War Nigeria. These all took place during the ‘Dark Ages’ of Babangida, Abacha and Abdusalami.

    Babangida is certainly a key architect of ‘The Fake Federalism and Failure of Nigeria’ to modernise. His recent call for restructuring with his ‘Evil Genius’, ‘Machiavellian’ moral credentials should be microscopically examined for time bombs. Remember he left us a deadly present in Abacha and his Al Mustapha- also now seeking ‘Rehabilitation and Reconstruction’ perhaps for further high office like Governor or even President. He was and remains an offence to the sensibilities of most Nigerians surviving the tyrannical Abacha era on whose watch we mourned murdered MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Pa Alfred Rewane, Mr Onogoruwa-the son, and machine-gunned and maimed Mr Ibru and Pa Adesanya who was accused of shooting at himself, and the harassed NADECO Front. Best we not forget this past before Babangida puts himself or a son up for 2019 President. Who cares? Please care more for your country than our collective past presidents did!

    NB: Nigerians, find a new generation of ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’

    KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.

     

  • Our Girls: Earthquake Supreme Court Judgement

    Our Girls: Earthquake Supreme Court Judgement

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Pray and work for their release.

    Hail the Political Earthquake Supreme Court’s Judgement, SCJ to ‘Cancel’ the election of politicians for what amounts to fraudulent electoral practice – an attempt to pervert the people’s will, a civilian coup plot and treason. But the real power of the SCJ is that it has two parts. The Supreme Court also magnificently and wisely ordered at least one of the two sacked lawmakers to refund all money taken during the time of criminally illegal occupation of the post they conspired to occupy when they maliciously and deliberately participated in lying to and cheating fellow Nigerian voters’ representatives, usurped legitimate winners. For 24 months serially stole salaries and perks were stolen under false pretences. Corruption Free Elections are possible. Hurray!!!

    This second part of the SCJ is hugely significant at this pre- Election 2019 time when clandestine and other activities, like scheming to steal, money from government coffers and contracts, are being planned by politicians and parties toward ‘Election Exam Scam Success’ by ‘Any Means Necessary’ in Election2019. This must stop and a new moral compass must guide elections. The UK, USA, France had elections steeped in verbal violence but no fake results, maiming, murder, or property losses. Crime must be punished with penance, return/recovery/restitution of stolen money –‘illegally acquired’ while masquerading as a legitimately elected politician. We have screamed this for years and happily the Supreme Court is biting back when the citizen is bitten…..

    In a Splash FM Corruption Lecture at Trenchard Hall University of Ibadan in 2014, I said, slightly modified ….

    ‘‘We take licence without consequence, power without responsibility and fight elections without morals.’ …

    Politics must learn the lessons of good sportsmanship and have a radical rethink. Demand dismissal for cheating in elections, NEVER A RERUN. A rerun is not for a cheat but for a genuine mistake. Armstrong, the cheating cyclist, and hundreds of athletes have been dismissed, and suspended, not offered a race rerun. Politics can be no different. The people’s mandate is finite, life-changing and more valuable. When a politician is found guilty of cheating, he should be 1] Dismissed, 2] Prosecuted and 3] Jailed for ‘Stealing the people’s mandate through fraud and deception’ and the financial crime of ‘attempting to extort salaries and perks for himself under false pretences and through falsifying the facts by illegitimate and illegal means’. The second in the race should automatically take his place, no rerun, and so on until there is a stainless candidate. Cheating is a common but illegitimate tool, a terror event and must lead to personal and party responsibility, dismissal and banning. 4] Punishment -The political party should be punished for its member’s actions as the party gains power illegally by such cheating and terror, even more violent than a military coup. The name ‘election malpractice’ covers a serious crime worse than ‘examination malpractice’ for which politicians happily prescribed 21 years jail for cheating students. Both party and candidate should be severely punished for terror activities–a fine, ban on the party proportional to the damage,”

    In The Nation Oct 26, 2016, I wrote “Nigeria must initiate a STANDARD ANTI-CORRUPTION PROCESS/RULE- SUSPENSION, RECOVERY, PROSECUTION AND IF GUILTY – REMOVAL FROM OFFICE, RECOVERY OF ASSETS AND RESTITUTION TO VICTIMS”. Sack to enjoy ill-gotten gains is a stamp of approval. It is an additional crime by government too lazy or too intimidated to prosecute. Prosecution is next and restitution must follow. Property must be sold and bank account funds evaluated and recovered.” Today we must demand 5] IMPRISONMENT COMMENSURATE WITH THE CONSEQUENCE AND CRIME.

    Well at last ‘fighting elections without morals’ has consequences. The Supreme Court judgement has caused a seismic shift between politicians and the electoral process – Long overdue.

    However welcome the SCJ is, prevention of election malpractice is better than a 2-year late SCJ. How many others have slipped through the net? We could have completely avoided the recent nightmare.  A country Nigeria was subject to whims and caprices of cheats who manipulated the political system to disenfranchise those elected- a crime, moral theft and anti-democratic action by evil people masquerading as democrats. When is a democrat not a democrat? When he or she and political party deliberately use an evil blueprint and collude to maliciously, fraudulently falsify and derail the electoral process to steal victory for ‘ill-gotten gains’ of position, power, salaries, allowances, perks, trips, recognition and unearned ‘status’.

    The performance of dishonourable and undistinguished individuals while in stolen offices demonstrates low morals and poor ‘leadership qualities’. Nigeria sadly recalls arrogant NASS-antics, unrestrained by NASS leadership made on the Securities Exchange Commission, SEC, harassment of the then Director General, her magnificent battle defending SEC and her person and revealing the corrupt demands of ‘NASS oversight’ to the detriment of development, and malicious NASS abuse of power of summons, inquiry, delaying approvals, ransoming and cancelling budgets, all hamstringing progress of MDAs. The actual cancellation of budgetary allocation to SEC staff was spiteful, despicable and unbelievable arrogance of a person in office now found to be criminally holding office ‘under false criminal pretences’. NASS leadership and the ‘Committee of the Whole’ conspired in this fraud by not Monitoring & Evaluating and then reversing its Committee’s Report. The Committee became accuser, judge and jury. To be continued…..

    NB: Find ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’CANDIDATES for Election2019.

  • Our Girls: Budget & road delays

    Our Girls: Budget & road delays

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Pray and work for their release.

    Obviously this presidency with a ‘lean and supposedly anti-‘No bags, No Bills’ and the hyper-salaried legislature giving off the odour of greed and grandeur are on opposing sides in the budget power play. Call in the Supreme Court now. The six-month late budget demonstrates an insultingly monumental failure of legislative duties and is perceived as an insult and blatant backhanded slap in the face of every Nigerian voter or not. Even though half the legislature claims to be in the presidential party, it has no demonstrable allegiance to party or Presidency. Rather the National Assembly (NASS) members appear to alter their allegiance to ‘herd mentality’ and think ‘NASS first, foremost and finally’ and the people do not matter.

    The six-month delayed budget and six+year delayed Petroleum Industry Bill, now three Bills, are tiny examples of the perceived careless serial failure of NASS, a perceived very cost-ineffective institution and are exactly why most Nigerians pray that NASS will somehow commit Harakiri in the national interest and reduce itself to one house, preferably the House of Representatives, with part-time duties and just sitting allowance. That would release over N100billion for education, health and the above-mentioned travesties called roads. Citizens pray and work for the miracle of ‘Political Humility’ or at least ‘Political Remorse’, through referendum or other legal means.

    Students in about 170 teams from 20 countries are in UK competitively demonstrating designs for the next generation of low consumption/light weight cars. Where is Nigeria in this? We are stuck on potholed roads with ‘common rain’ destroying broken bridges, cutting off states. Note that many roads and bridges are destroyed by rain because, as TV reports show, they have no rock underlay, just wash away laterite especially in the North. Why? Design failure or who chopped the road contract money?  The road catastrophe called Apapa Port Lagos dual-carriageway is duplicated nationwide demonstrating that we are incapable of decisive sustainable development government decisions to maintain existing infrastructure. Are we so mumu? Good roads are never destroyed except in war and environmental disaster. An unfilled pothole from an overweight trailer, which grows to be a million potholes costing billions and millions of wasted citizen hours, poor productivity, and accidents and breakdowns.

    It is also an academic failure to express academic outrage and do research and write articles fighting failure! Nigeria’s university social science and political science departments, please do research on these road breakdown aspects of past government’s grinding policy failure. I have recommended a ‘Nationwide Pothole War’ as an easy low cost measure, to every government for 30 years but nothing sustained is done except when a politician visits. ‘High politicians must see no potholes!’ Governments prefer big contracts to old reliable Public Works Department, PWD, daily maintenance work. The past military and civilian federal governments share responsibility for the total collapse of this and other roads. Remember the preventable tragedies of Lagos-Ibadan, Benin-Ore and the Ibadan-Ife roads?  FERMA,-remember Obasanjo’s 400 engineers, failed ‘Pothole Kings’, mutated into a ‘mythical beast of no conconbility’. Yet the governments expressed no past public remorse for this, yet another, preventable tragic disgrace to Nigeria’s ability to maintain the integrity of the import/export chain which in other countries would have 10-lane highways, multiple roads and container rail evacuation. This demonstrates a monumental mismanagement, malicious and corrupt incompetence by government as the 20-year engineer reports, dismissed by politicians, will confirm. These governments failed on so many roads, to anticipate, plan, fund, expand or even eliminate ‘common potholes’. This is exactly why the Abuja runway had to be shut down because successive unchallenged governments demonstrated malicious, corrupt incompetence and criminal indifference to engineering reports, normal practice and aviation safety rules, even when defects appeared on the tarmac. Where were these people called federal government hiding and who were they specifically who at serial recorded meetings repeatedly turned down aviation industry wisdom perhaps to make available more money to steal for elections? Only God saved Nigeria from an Abuja landing pothole crash. Good roads last if maintained.

    For years Nigeria has lost up to N1trillion/annum to imports stopping at friendly neighbouring countries and losses from extra time stuck in traffic from trailer haulage and drainage issues. Dangote has the opportunity to ‘shine’ demonstrating that ‘cement is better than tar’ through a CSR road reconstruction. Congratulations, budget thieves, for precipitating a traffic crisis. But our law enforcement and haulage industry has a great deal of burden in the destruction of the Apapa Port Road and other roads nationwide – trailer-overloading, a vicious tradition in Nigeria. Most loads would be distributed between 2-3 trailers on a weight basis in other countries. Who abused and destroyed the weighbridges which should have saved our roads from excessive axle load?  A re-education programme is urgently needed for CEOs, port agents and trailer managers. Smaller loads mean more speed, faster travel, trailer turnaround time and more work with longer lasting roads. Overloading should be banned. Today’s overloaded trailers will still destroy the less strongly built roads nationwide. Super-minister Fashola has mentioned this before. For both economic and political gain, we require nationwide pothole-filling action to make our dying road network serviceable before funds are available for massive upgrade.

    NB: Nigerians like you must put forward a new generation of untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.

     

  • Our Girls: ‘Bribery, Violence, New Faces’

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Pray and work for their release.

    Repeatedly we see democracy in action from the so-called cradles of democracy in the USA, France and now the UK where Theresa May unwittingly threw away her party majority and must link with a smaller party to rule effectively, losing many conservatives their seats. Not one of these democracies bribed, killed or even maimed a single citizen in the electoral process. It was all ‘Policy’ not ‘Physical’ or ‘Fiscal’ corruption.  Three elections, no deaths, no physical violence! Only the word violence was allowed and was quite vicious. Terms like ‘fake news’ were landmarks of the election process.

    Nearly all 37 governments and even the much debated National Assembly (NASS) boast of their sometimes questionable achievements at half-time in their four year ‘game’. Let us all be more analytical and perhaps more critical, constructively of course, of all the governments nationwide. Politicians worldwide are known for turning failures into verbal achievements. As we in Nigeria prepare for our Election 2019, we require to take on board the issues of Election 2019 – BVN =‘Bribery, Violence, New Faces’. Election 2019:  No to Bribery & Violence and Yes to New Faces.

    The application of the term ‘New Faces’ does not mean young faces but also trusted older persons newly introduced to politics on the basis of contribution, integrity, honesty and ability. However in general, Nigeria’s politics must shift towards a younger generation of politicians and a higher female representation. These were achieved at once in France where there is a 39-year old President who immediately appointed a cabinet with 50% women and several minority participants.  Even the old cry about ‘Experience In Government’ being a key qualification for government office has been thrown out in successful democracies and even in Lagos State where at director level, many ‘private sector’ outsiders have been introduced with good results cutting down the paraphernalia of government and action time.

    Finally it is fully established as a myth that women are less corrupt than men. Equal bragging rights to ‘Corruption Maximus’ are shared by both genders. This is exemplified in Nigeria where some females elevated with admiration to the highest offices in banking, professions and political levels have disappointed us, ‘lost it’ and ‘gone as mad for money, power, possessions and buildings,’ as men when it came to corruption and even outstripping them often. However those rotten eggs are not sufficient evidence to deny womankind the right to have a 50% share in offices based on their percentage of the population. The country has millions of good honest hardworking women of maximum integrity, in the mould of the ‘Virtuous Woman’ who could really change the country if ‘opportunity knocked’.

    Nigeria has had men as ‘Oga at the top’ of affairs for ever. Women in power and position have fallen short but many have been a credit. Men in power and position have fallen but many have been a credit. Many blame the women in the men’s lives for receiving stolen goods and money so easily to maintain extravagant lifestyles. Certainly the women in the lives of many corrupt men receive a sizable proportion of the loot but the man always keeps the majority. And women who steal do not give all to lovers. So women cannot be the catalyst for men’s corruption and vice versa. So let us put aside gender bias and ensure adequate representation of women in Election 2019 at all levels. If the women ‘mess it up’ they still would have done no worse than the men before them.

    My Nigeria, Do My Morals Matter? MMM? Do Your Morals Matter, YMM? Certainly they should do. Examine yourself. Do you do the right moral thing? Every Nigerian who went to school here recalls ‘Expo’ -fake or real exam questions leaked and bought at huge cost before the exam. Who does not remember actual cheating students and actual collaborating teachers at exam time in many schools and examination halls nationwide?

    Say this out loud ‘MMM’, ‘My Morals Matter’. A parent corruptly ‘child-age-lying’ on a form or corruptly facilitating an alteration on a child’s birth certificate is as corrupt as the parent offering a bribe to a teacher or willing to buy ‘Expo’ question papers or rent a mercenary to sit his child’s examinations or for the parent to cheat during at any point in an election. All corruption incidents are criminal offences. Remember to say and teach your children ‘MMM’.

    Nigeria awaits immediate action to Halt Corruption in the Uniformed Services through holding the leadership responsible for the criminal corruption of subordinates.

    Most politicians who loudly give anti-corruption advice are not immune to well-founded suspicion of corruption. We must each fight corruption. Each person goes to judgement, heaven or hell, as an individual not collectively!

    The revelations on the distribution list of the $115m slush fund to facilitate or manipulate the 2015 election shows the number of hands of INEC officials, security agencies and all others whose hands are ‘stained and tied’ to the party by money that was not the party’s to give, it was stolen. The money was for development. INEC should punish, de-list, fine or suspend any guilty party of such a terror attack to prevent a further assault by any party on Election 2019.

     

  • Our Girls; ‘Made from Nigeria’ billionaires: Give up oil blocks and more

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Pray and work for their release.

    At last a piece of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has been passed –7 or 8 years behind schedule partly because of animosity to allocating a miserly 10% of oil block profits to the community? I have said that all oil blocks should be recovered, from their already billionaire owners for little benefit to Nigeria, by the federal government and returned to the communities for the benefit of thousands. Nigeria should enrich thousands with millions instead of one with billions. Why is one $50,000,000,000 Bill Gates is better for society than 50,000 millionaires or why one $19,000,000,000 Dangote is better than 19,000 millionaires catering for 19,000 families?

    Why do individual hairdressers, fashion designers, generals, Alhajis, Obis, Kings, ‘seasoned politicians’ and insultingly, their progeny, have the singular right to ‘a king’s ransom’ in billions annually because apparently devious, selfish and even anti-Nigerian Presidents ‘dashed’ away Nigeria’s sovereign property? Depriving host communities where the billions are made but which wallow in the mud of exploration and developmental deprivation without books in their rubbish schools, medicines in clinics and with maximum potholes per square meter of road. Shame! They are now over-wealthy enough in Nigeria with a minimum monthly wage of N15-18,000 that shamefully does not fill the petrol tank of a politician’s jeep bought with the people’s money.

    Have the oil block leases not expired? Can we not ‘expire’ them? If not, government should exercise sovereignty and demand loyalty from our ‘Made in Nigeria Billionaires’, MINB, to give space for others. Call the oil block owners to agree that enough is enough and get back our oil blocks. Change the ownership of oil blocks in favour of the people and change Nigeria forever. Amen. In fact there is still too few Bill Gates/Warren Buffet ‘GIVE BACK’. I call it ‘Shame for exploitation or self-enrichment’ at the expense of others, though WB has an apparently clean slate.

    Conscience should encourage our ‘Made in Nigeria Billionaires’, MINB, to also come together to change education with a few million books and a few thousand libraries and a few thousand science laboratories and a few tens of thousand sets of sports equipment and change the face of medical cancer care with 37, one per state, modern cancer investigation and equipment centre and  a few hundred hospital upgrades and change the face of transport with a few hundred kilometres of modern high-speed railways.

    When Steve Jobs died, he regretted family and fortune – poor links with family and poor spending of fortune. At death everyone wealthy wants to give away most his fortune to make life better for others [and get to heaven], but is usually too incapacitated or prevented from doing so by friends, family and lawyers. At death no one regrets not buying Arsenal. Are they happy the price of cement went up from N300 to over N2000 on their watch? So why should we praise them when they donate N1-400,000,000 to a Presidential library? I do not think so!!!! MINB need to work harder in D-CSR-Developmental Corporate Social Responsibility to each every village and school!

    Imagine Customs holding up yet more imported electricity equipment at the port and thus further delaying Nigeria’s electricity empowerment and emancipation from generators. Whatever happened to joint inter departmental an inter-ministerial meetings where movement of such goods is monitored and accelerated in the national interest? Too many illegal and legal bottlenecks! Open them up or kill Nigeria!!

    The rumour of a coup is not the question but a wrong answer to a Nigerian citizenry unnecessarily burdened by the financial and power excesses of its servants- politicians and civil servants and contractors- all running roughshod over us with no sense of loyalty! The real question is ‘What manner of ‘Malware’ politics are we enduring that gave rise to any requirement for ‘rumours’ of a coup, even if not in fact? Certainly it is not the abuse of the now legendary debilitating and corruption infested and sometimes laughable ‘Electoral Process’ by almost all of Nigeria’s serving and past politicians and many citizens- thugs and stomach infrastructure givers and beneficiaries. Politicians should correct their self-enriching and vocally arrogant ways in favour of the citizens’ will for change.

    Not one of the millions of suffering citizens with any ‘mental, physical, emotional or body-count injury from or memory of military rule’ wants a ‘military one step forwards, 100 steps backward’ and probably bloody coup and counter coup, no matter how they is couched in wild imagery of near-divine rescue – ‘salvation’, ‘redemption’ or ‘corrective’ and even ‘punitive’. But unfortunately our politicians, who must exonerate themselves from being mostly election-manipulators, bribers and corruptors of elections, also know this and are largely running roughshod over citizens and emptying the treasury in their impunity and immunity from even coup plotters violent ‘justice’. Because of the general hatred and unfriendly international attitude to coups, politicians think Nigerians have no way of reacting to their abundant, abysmal, arrogant and avaricious anti-people actions. But one day ‘We The People’ will be forced to react to abuses and insulting behaviour including arrogant and insulting unsubstantiated claims to being Distinguished, Honourable or Excellent! It may be at the forthcoming elections when hopefully Nigerians will rise above stomach infrastructure and bribery for votes!

    NB: Nigerians like you must put forward a new generation of untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ political leadership.

  • Our Girls; VIO dead? Good. Now Police Corruption

    Our Girls; VIO dead? Good. Now Police Corruption

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Pray and work for their release.

    Government at state and federal must implement long-term anticorruption strategies. We are happy with the Lagos State Governor Ambode’s outrage at corrupt practices in the VIO, a Vicious Invasive Organisation, with a long tradition of terror from the motoring citizenry, not just in Lagos and his warning to FRSC to revert to preventing road crashes on highways and not hamper traffic with disruptive checks and blocking roads with their vehicles. I was stopped by Federal Road Safety Corps, on Saturday on UI Secretariat Road, Bodija, for ‘car check’. Is it even a federal road? And I have been stopped by the same FRSC more than 10 times including again last week on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while trailers destroy traffic rules and roads by overloading and driving on the left lane. ‘Trailer/Lorry- Drive in Right Lane’ and ‘trailer-Lorry Anti-Overloading’ Education Campaigns would be appreciated. Please extend the ban nationwide till the VIO is cleansed.

    Most government agencies quickly mutate into uniformed criminal organisations. I fear for the citizens at the hands of the newly created local policing groups unless there is proper monitoring and daily documenting and review by civilian security monitoring committees/ Security Ombudsman. We know that citizens need protection from uniforms. It is sad to see the driving of high officials even the dark blue clad and gun-toting Civil Defence in Bodija Ibadan every morning at 7.30am.

    This government made a huge mistake. It could have stopped institutionalised corruption in its uniformed organisations from Day 1. By all means chase our corrupt outflows of money cross-party please. Which party is innocent of corrupt diversion of public funds? But they can all stop today!

    Government should have immediately on assumption, read the ‘Stop Your Office Corruption Now Or Your Head of Department Will Be Fined/Fired/Retired Agenda’; not the ‘Please Come On Boards If You Like Agenda’ to all its uniformed agencies. These uniformed agencies, instead of being helpful to citizens, extort massively from citizen and business which mop up and therefore add an additional ‘Hidden Cost of Business And Living Tax’ conservatively estimated at N12-24b for citizens using checkpoints and another N50-70billion from ‘Seasons Greetings’ Customs etc. checkpoints at airports, ports, Customs roadblocks and borders nationwide. This does not include the extortion of tax agencies, ministries and agencies where citizens seek services. Government has at long last taken action against Customs, a most corrupt outfit and is also ordering ports to work 24/7 something ports should have been doing for 30 years.  It is similarly easy to reform the Police and wean that organisation from its established reputation of corruption which the FRSC seems strangely happy to also inherit from it. The citizens are already armed with social media ready to flood government with information on corruption from cell to commissioner. To stop police corruption, government should not go to the streets but face the top brass. A Federal Executive Could meeting should simple inform the Inspector General of Police that if in one week, there are still reports of corruption from any part of the country, he will be suspended and if it continues for two weeks he will be fired/retired unceremoniously- no parade and perhaps so will all his top circle of AIGs and commissioners! He should be instructed to return in one week to inform FEC about any remaining pockets of corruption in the Force which he/she needs help to eradicate. He will quickly turn to bite his AIGs and commissioners with the same threat and they will turn to bite Area Commanders who will turn and bite their DPOs and road block remnants. By the time 10 DPOs, five Area Commanders two state police commissioners and one Zonal AIG are under suspension for ‘Dereliction of Duty’, they will understand the seriousness of the government.  Allowing or not preventing corruption is a failure of leadership and ‘Dereliction of Duty’ means permitting corrupt behaviour on their watch. Police corruption will stop and if it does not then sack more and more until we get a clean force. Corruption is indeed a disease but not like hypertension which does not go away. Corruption kills the country. It is not compulsory even if it has been a way of life for 50 years. It is an action which is not necessary and you will not die or choke if you stop. Everyone alive can stop being corrupt for a day, a week, a month, a year if the cost of corruption is instant, sufficiently high with disgrace, suspension without pay and without uniform rights, incarceration, an instant dismissal and prosecution.

    The same process must be repeated for all uniformed agencies and MDAs with a huge nationwide ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ monitoring network observing and reporting corruption among traffic police, traffic wardens and prison warders. I can safely say that simple ‘50metres Observation Post Test’ will prove that too many of the traffic wardens including females in Bodija and at Orita Mefa in Ibadan are very busy with extortion from danfo and micra taxi illegal taxation and also private car ‘greetings’ demanding ‘gratification’ embarrassing and disgracing the uniform in the presence of children, our future leaders and doing wrong with no punishment. However there is redemption as there is a traffic warden, male, light complexioned, at Customs junction Secretariat who is a saint and should be triple promoted.

    NB: Nigerians, put forward new untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.    www.tonymarinho.com

  • Our Girls; Budget DelayGate; Killer MPR

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. Pray and work for their release.

    At last the very annoying and slow running Abuja Saga ‘Budget DelayGate 2017’ is perhaps finally over and the budget has been passed back to the presidency for assent or rejection of any additional funding inserted by the National Assembly (NASS) which could bring even further delays perhaps making Nigeria miss a whole budget year- like with university strikes!  The presidency has to swallow a bitter pill if it wants to get moving. If not, the saga will continue. This Budget 2017 has been passed in May five months ‘too’ late, by the ‘Almighty’ NASS which seems to have forgotten that more than half of it is from the President’s own party, in theory at least, even though many appear to have two party caps. They also wear the toga of NASS and they ignore party responsibility and act against everyone else. Yet they were sent to the NASS building to fight for and protect ‘our’ rights and not their own rights. Why does it seem to us that NASS sees itself as ‘a separate entity’ immune to the needs of the citizen?

    Whatever the cause of the ‘Budget DelayGate’ the Nigerian people will never forget or forgive the NASS for this delay of the budget. It is unfortunate for the citizens that they are on the receiving end of such poor cost effectiveness from a very expensive organ of governance which is getting more expensive by the day and refuses to reign in its own financial ‘budgeting’.

    Let that NASS know that ‘We the People’ are very disappointed with the delay and recent increases to the budget. How many Nigerians truly believe that constituency projects (CPs) are really primarily of any real value to the citizenry and not just conduits for fund diversion through corruption drive chosen contractors? EFCC should investigate every single CP in the past eight years and discover if there really is monumental fraud by those who claim they own CPs or is that just fake news? EFCC should become more proactive and preventive by placing itself in the vanguard of ‘Preventive Monitoring of the CPs and Budget’.  EFCC requires to ‘budget for’ training, equipping and dispersal of an ‘EFCC Preventive Unit’.

    This government must learn from its mistakes and the activities and inactivity of NASS which have slowed down governance and government activities and reducing the impact of government on the citizenry. Government must submit the Budget 2018 by July or August 2017 latest so that for once we can start a budget on January 1, 2018. Then in December submit a 2018 Supplementary Budget to take care of any improvement in financing that occurred between July and December.

    Is the monstrously murderous Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) not also a deadly parasitic disease punishment for being Nigerian inflicted by a past CBN and government and perpetrated for government and CBN to illegally continue to live off Fellow Nigerians and their sweat? Nigeria has suffered assault and battery and murder by politicians, corrupt officials and the maliciously calculated MPR. Who was responsible for our high MPR? Strangely economists have not called loudly enough for the CBN to kill the Development killing ‘Killer MPR’. The Monetary Policy Rate of 14+/- 2% is inbuilt in that rate by ‘tradition’ and enriched CBN beyond all expectation directly at the expense of the nation’s needy borrowers. The MPR is a prime example of the Banking Extractive Industry at work and remains a huge problem and obstacle to development at the family, microbusiness, mid business levels. Indeed this has been recognised as many programmes are ‘magnanimously’ exempt by government from the MPR in order to get more realistic, family budget and business-friendly single digit Interest rates of 5-9%. The entrenched MPR in the economy is a major stumbling block to business borrowing. Since many organisations, Nollywood, Aviation, Entrepreneurship programmes are now exempt it is time to exempt all borrowing citizens and all businesses for such a yoke.

    Away with ‘Killer MPR’ above 1-2%! We now know that hyper-inflated politicians and arrogantly high government and parastatal officials whose excesses are already paid for by our taxes, have access to huge slush fund sums in bastard safe houses and stolen cash caches stashed in cartons and coffins and caves with friends, gardeners, and even cemetery attendants. Ordinary citizens, unlike the big guns, suffer from low power supply, high cost of power substitution and high interest rates for goods and services needed for business development. Government needs to realise that entrepreneurship is not a new word. Tens of millions of Nigerians employ the rest of our fellow Nigerians in micro, medium and large businesses, educational institutions, agricultural establishments, market shops and in medical and media professional groups around the country.

    The only recognition Nigerians get for keeping the country going by market activities during the decades of power darkness,  maximum theft, and no pensions and salaries-also due to government appointees’ theft, is not ‘a tax holiday’ but their reward is to be hounded by the tax man or woman. And this while they witness the billions recovered from those who were and maybe still are in power.  We are tired of governments perpetuating past government’s irresponsible policies. We are tired of CBN, taxing us with 14% interest on loans in the false name of economic stability.

    NB: Nigerians, put forward new untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.    www.tonymarinho.com

  • Our Girls; Health-President/School; NASS hyper budget

    Our Girls; Health-President/School; NASS hyper budget

    Our Girls missing since April 15, 2014 have 82 more released and have met President Buhari! Hurray for all involved.

    Life is serious and deadly in a country lacking visionary leadership in the past and even electric power – the basic foundations of sustainable rapid development for every business. Generators should not be in Nigeria’s business plans! None of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway 26 dead expected death especially death-by-burning through commercial driver carelessness and arrogance. We add the 30 electrocuted in Calabar and farmers murdered by Fulani herdsmen.

    Death is all around us. Nigerians fall sick with serious consequences for themselves, families and finances. Today our President’s health is The Big Issue among all Nigerians and foreigners and threatens to destabilise the ‘Nigerian Ship of State’. ‘The Health of Our President Is The Health Of Our Country’ is a reality quote. Interpreting the ‘lack of information’, our President’s health challenges oscillate between good and bad days. Fortunately many pray for him, believing that his family, the anti-corruption war and the naira need him, while others wish him evil so they can return to corruption and a weak naira inflating the naira they get for stolen dollars. As with any sick working patient, the President has just three options all in his own, family and country’s interest: ‘Recover, Resign/Retire, or Expire’. Beyond his control is a fourth option ‘Option Impeachment’ by the tarnished National Assembly. Our President is in UK since Monday on ‘Medical Leave of Absence’ and has handed over to the VP Osinbajo as acting President. We wish President Buhari a speedy recovery and AP Osinbajo a second successful outing as acting President.

    With firm criminal historical precedent, election 2015 money came from development-denying massive budget-theft, diversion and contract kickbacks at federal and/or state levels for every single political party ‘in any power’ with full knowledge of almost every politician who immediately becomes an accessory after the fact and  ‘ARSG’ – ‘A Receiver Of Stolen Goods’. However, most Nigerian voters were not bribed to give Buhari the Presidential mandate but believed in the Buhari mantra of twin gaols of fighting corruption and protecting the naira. To avoid rumours that he is sick making him a puppet president while others rule, he must appear regularly to annoy his ‘death-wish’ detractors.

    The ominous gathering of ex-military, non-civilian, past presidents in Minna reminds us that, had he lived, Abacha would have been in Minna too, pontificating on our presidential future. Others nko?  Nigeria must resist perpetual underproductive, non-developmental interference of the PPT-Past Presidential Triumvirate’ in our ‘Present Presidential Predicament’. They ‘gifted to Nigeria’ massive underdevelopment. The National Assembly, that bloated highly expensive, cost-inefficient, underproductive, self-centred, millstone around Nigeria has side-tracked party policies, party allegiance and has formed a dangerously reactionary ‘Politician-Protectionist, self-aggrandising Third Force’ against the party in power, and the people since it has not passed the budget in -5+ months. Politicians in this recession have just insulted us further by instructing an increase in NASS hyper budget from N120b to N150,000,000,000. So what is the lot of ‘We the People’ as our development money has been massively and repeatedly stolen at state and federal levels to fund fraudulent political lifestyles and fraudulent election purposes?

    In one day I saw a woman whose first pregnancy has ended in sudden death inside her of her baby at 32 weeks, a 30 years old lady with breast cancer spread to her liver, a two-month infant with glaucoma, a child with retinoblastoma- an eye cancer, a foetus with no head in the mother, a man with fatty liver, a man with prostate cancer and two schoolchildren who had an eye each injured, one by a playmate using a catapult and the other by a cane. That is one small clinic. Imagine the medical problems nationally where many states refuse to upgrade health facilities in order steal the money meant for medicines, salaries, equipment and employment of specialist consultants.

    Anyone can die of natural or murderous causes, but all suffer from poor electricity and poor health services and too little organised Preventive Medical Education in school. The Meningitis, Cholera And Typhoid epidemics, though not as flamboyant as Ebola, were spread by ignorance caused by poor School Health Education Strategies.

    Medicine is about Treatment, Research and Teaching Prevention. Nigeria’s ministries of health and education must unite to quickly implement the strategic teaching of Preventive Aspects of Medicine to 50m youth from an as yet unwritten Inter-Ministerial Preventive Health Textbook – A Topic A Page, 100-200 pages, 100-200 topics, in our schools and read ‘One Page Daily’ at Morning Assembly –nationwide backed up with Health School Posters Series.

    Hands should still be washed after toilet use and handling food. Drink enough water, 2-3litres a day, or you risk kidney stones, blood in urine and kidney failure. Fasting from fluids causes kidney disease. Urine should be colourless, clear like water. If it is yellow, drink two glasses of water immediately to make it colourless. Constipation is a crime against your colon and is a preventable, treatable disease and affects even children. Backed up undigested food in the colon causes haemorrhoids, abdominal pains, and can be misdiagnosed as typhoid and appendicitis. Prevention is drinking water, eating fruit and vegetables, soft watery cooked beans, and cupful of cooked vegetables like ewedu, okro, efo and bitter leaf. Adjust quantities for daily bowel movements.

    NB: Nigerians, put forward new untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.    www.tonymarinho.com