Call for Buhari's resignation: "It's unfortunate PDP does not understand the meaning of shame"-Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has reacted to the call for President Buhari's resignation by  PDP.The Minister who slammed the opposition party in statement released today via his Special Adviser, Segun Adeyemi, says it is quite unfortunate that the opposition party does not understand the meaning of shame or it would never have dared to even make a single comment on the same economy that it did everything to kill.
According to The statement:

''We are on a rescue mission to resuscitate Nigeria after the PDP left it in a coma, and the noise from the same PDP seems designed to sabotage the rescue efforts. But we are not deterred,'' if the PDP had understood the meaning of shame,. ''While the PDP was emasculating Nigeria on all fronts, including social, economic and political, the rapacious party was deceiving Nigerians by giving them the illusion of growth and prosperity.

Instead of showing remorse and rebuilding itself to a strong opposition party, the PDP has continued to blame the successor Buhari Administration which is left to pack their mess. PDP undertakers have continued to engage in a blame game, when they should be hiding from the shame they brought upon themselves and the nation,'' he said.

Mohammed said what the PDP has consistently put up as a vibrant economy under its watch was nothing but a bubble that was buoyed by massive corruption and chronic incompetence, an economy in which someone without any known means of earned livelihood would boast of $31.5 million! ''They keep saying we should stop talking of the past, yet the past will not stop rearing its head.

They keep saying we should no longer refer to the past, but how can we forget so soon that our foreign exchange reserves plummeted from $62bn in 2008 to $30bn by 2015, at a time when oil prices were at a historic high, reaching a level of $114 per barrel in 2014.

By comparison, Indonesia, another oil producing economy with a high population, increased its reserves from $60 billion in 2008 to $120 billion in 2015. The candid truth is that we failed under the successive PDP administrations to save for the rainy day, and we need to constantly remind ourselves of that so that we won't repeat the mistake.

Take the excess crude account which fell from about $9bn in 2007 to about $2bn in 2015. The argument that it was the State Governors that depleted the account does not hold water since there were Governors in place when the account was being built up. Worse still is the fact that up to $14bn in revenues from Nigerian LNG remains unaccounted for and indeed until the Buhari Administration came to office, State Governments never got any allocations from this source of funds which properly belongs to the Federation Account. The naked fact on the revenue front is that there was just a failure of leadership.

This was compounded by the non-transparent uses of funds. We are all witnesses to the sacking of a Central Bank Governor because he raised an alarm about $20 billion that had gone missing. We are indeed still trying to recover huge sums looted from the national treasury under the PDP's watch, with $15 billion stolen from the defence sector alone.

Perhaps most painful is that because of the way funds (about $322m) returned from Switzerland were mishandled, we now have to accept conditionalities before our stolen assets are even returned to us,'' he said. Mohammed said one of the achievements that the PDP has been touting is that it reduced the nation's national debt. ''However, at the time that we were earning such large revenues from oil, we only managed to double our external debt from $5.6 billion to $10.7 billion between 2011 and 2015.

The case of domestic debt was even worse, almost tripling from N888 billion to N2.1 trillion in the same period. Even these figures mask the extent of unpaid obligations to contractors and the huge plethora of uncompleted projects on which money continued to be spent without visible results. Payments to contractors stopped several years ago while not a single dollar was contributed to the Joint Venture activities.

Over N4.5 trillion was spent on fuel subsidy in just two years under the PDP! Despite a recent oil boom, Nigerians are indeed all victims of the dilapidated and decrepit infrastructure. The economy that the Buhari Administration inherited was certainly in dire straits, if the huge amount of salary arrears that were being owed at various tiers of government is anything to go by. If, after earning so much resources and increasing the total debt stock, our governments were not able to meet salary obligations, sometimes for up to seven months, then something was definitely wrong somewhere and if this is not evidence of a collapsing economy, one wonders what it is.

Indeed, it was not so long ago that the fuel subsidy regime almost bankrupted the country. Through credibility and commitment to good governance, the current administration has managed to save up to N1.4 trillion that would have been spent on subsidies for PMS. Moreover, the daily demand for PMS has halved from 1600 trucks a day to 850 trucks a day.

If we could achieve such savings, then clearly the petrol sector which was and remains a huge source of foreign exchange demand was not being well managed. It is also important to point out that the poor security situation in the North East has had ripple effects on the economy.

Apart from the dislocation of daily lives, there was extensive loss of agricultural production arising from the fact that our citizens in that zone could not go to their farms not to talk of planting and harvesting produce. Yet, in just a space of about 15 months, the Buhari Administration has liberated this region from the clutches of Boko Haram, which is now left to release meaningless videos when it could no longer carry out spectacular attacks,'' he said.

He however, added that the government will continue to welcome constructive criticism, it had nothing to learn from a party that was in charge of the nation's affairs at a time of plenty, but ended up frittering away the commonwealth, looting the nation blind and setting the stage for today economic crisis, which the Buhari Administration is working tirelessly to put an end to.

'I can't apologize for the person I choose to be' - Nigerian cross-dresser Bayo makes headline

If you  were a student or you are still a  student in Uniport within the last five to six years and you don't know this guy, you are missing. So earlier today Bayo  broke the internet and made headline on Social Media with his  somewhat annoying pictures which got many talking. and guess what the "bad girl" says? 'I can't apologize for the person I choose to be'  The Nigerian Cross dresser also has some few words for those bothered by the person he choose to be. In his words:

"To Be Yourself In a World That Is Constantly Trying To Make You Something Else Is The Greatest Accomplishment....(AmHotterDanYaGyalDem)okbye!" "I Can't apologise for the person I choose to be..... I watch friends take a walk and doors bang shut in my face cause I am not the certain "fixed" being people expect me to be...#CrazyOutift #Ye m weird buh is it ya consign? # Baba if u want to be weird cum nd have it# hahahahahahah life z a biatch tho# .......Thank you I know m cute!!!!!!!"

 More picture after the cut:

I am yet to experience change- Fr Mbaka says, accuses President Buhar's aides of playing crocodiles in fish pond

Enugu Catholic priest, and Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu State, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka,  has  alleged that some of the aides of President Buhari are playing the  crocodiles in a fish pond against the government, which is hindering Nigerians from experiencing the change Buhari promised during the elections.

The clergy man made the allegations when he spoke with some newsmen during the graduation of Niger Delta youths who trained at Innoson Plastic Factory under Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme. According to him, he is yet to experience the change in government as promised by the current administration.

“I am talking about change from corruption to moral probity, a time Nigeria will become a country that is worthy of emulation, that internationally when you mention Nigeria, Nigerians shall begin to smile. I am talking about change that is beyond embezzlement of funds meant for the development of the people and country. Only few people who call themselves politicians will be stealing the money and whatever they are doing with it nobody knows. The poor masses are dying and they are enriching themselves wickedly calling themselves politicians, so, such team of people should be changed and if some of them are still remaining and they want to come back, I still pray that the broom of God will sweep them out because Nigeria must move forward. These people are wicked, they are not Nigerians per say, I don’t know where their blood came from because they are not representing us; they are representing themselves and the devil that is using them. If you know the pattern of their regime, the way they move and the way they truncate the activities that will be for the wellness of the poor masses, you’ll know that some of them are possessed and they need deliverance before they enter that seat.”he said

He also alleged that some of the people working in the Buhari led administration were part of past governments and are working to pull him down

“The government we are experiencing is not yet a Buharinised government.
Many people who are in different strategic positions are still the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) people and Buhari may not even know and even some people who are working around him are working to pull him down. Buhari means well, Buhari is a good man, Buhari is God-sent for this country but, I am telling you that there are crocodiles in the fish pond. Buhari may not know that he is feeding not the fish in the fishpond but crocodiles that are even feeding on the fishes!”he said

Mbaka however stated that it was too early for the Buhari administration to be assessed. 

“Many are complaining that Buhari has not started changing everything, Buhari is not a magician. Like I used to tell people, somebody had been cooking in the kitchen for six years and he did not feed us well and just few months ago, somebody entered the same kitchen and all of us want him to cook a very wonderful delicious soup whereby his water is still in the pot. He has not started putting ingredients and people are testing the water and saying he cannot cook well. Let us give him a chance to pour the whole ingredients into the pot and when he is done with cooking, we can now judge him. It is too early to judge a man who has just entered few months ago, remember, even the budget is being attacked, padding or no padding and some people want to baptise criminal fraudulent machination with the name padding as a non criminal offence. So, when you steal money that is in billions, it is padding and that one is a no offence? But catch a poor man that steals a phone of N20, 000, he will be burnt alive.”

He however, urged Nigerians to be prayerful to counter the activities of those he said were plotting to break the country and take over power.

“Nigerians should go on their knees and pray for divine intervention because apart from God, we are going to see horrible things. The way these people are ganging up, they want to break Nigeria and take over power and take us back to where we were coming from. I pray it shall be well with Nigeria and it shall be well with Nigerians.”he said

Photos:VP Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, gov Ambode and others in a Eid el kabir Visit To Tinubu

Vice president, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, governor Akinwunmi  Ambode, and other APC stalwarts paid  Bola Ahmed Tinubu   Eid el kabir  Visit in his home. More Pictures after the cut:

The present recession is as a result of failure in the past to plan and save for difficult times- President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the  recent economic recession on the inability of the past government to save for difficult times. According to him, it is impossible to separate the present from the past in order to appreciate the extent to which mistakes of the past are affecting everyday life today.  This was contained in  his Sallah message to Nigerians.
 Read below:

Fellow Compatriots, as you celebrate the Eid-El-Kabir, I salute your steadfastness in spite of the difficult economic times the country is going through. The lessons of the Eid are piety and sacrifice and, my dear brothers and sisters, you have exhibited these in equal measure.

The present recession is as a result of cumulative effects of worldwide economic downturn and failure in the past to plan and save for difficult times. It is impossible to separate the present from the past to appreciate the extent to which mistakes of the past are affecting everyday life today.

I assure you that this administration is working round the clock to remove the hardships the country is going through. Rail and road constructions, projects in the housing sector, support for farmers and for small and medium scale industries, youth and women's empowerment programmes, support for revival of industries are all designed to reinvigorate the economy and enhance living standards of ordinary people.
We are getting security right. We are stopping corruption in its tracks and we will get the economy right by the Grace of God.

I enjoin Muslims to live by the dictates of Islam, to keep good relationships with their Christian brothers and sisters and as patriots to maintain the spirit of the Nigerian nation.
I wish everyone happy holidays.

Muhammadu Buhari

Is NYSC broke as 70,000 prospective Batch C members wait endlessly?

Of late, there  has been a retrogressive change in the schedule timetable of the NYSC. This cannot be unconnected with the issue of funding for the mobilization of prospective corp members, which can also be as a result of the current web of recession the country is currently battling with. This year alone, there were shift in dates and timetable of Batch A and B of prospective corp members who were supposed to have been mobilized in March and June respectively but were shifted to  sometime in May and the Batch B having to wait longer till September. As the issue as patterning to the fate of the prospective Batch C members this year is gaining ground, with over 70,000 who are yet to be mobilized. The Director, Media and Publicity of NYSC, Mrs. Bose Aderebigbe,in an interview with The Guardian, said that even though the times are hard, the situation is not a hopeless one. According to her:

 This year for instance, since the Federal Government does not want a situation where youths who are done with tertiary education hang out longer than necessary before having their chance to serve, we were given 260, 000 corps members to mobilise. “So far, we are left with about 70, 000. Once the present set leaves in October or thereabouts, this outstanding will be taken care of for the year. This is not a hopeless situation as people are made to believe. 

It should be noted that once the federal government gives us the figure to mobilise for a particular year, they back it up with funds take care of that number.  “We are in need of a lot of funds to ease our operations, but we will continue to cry to the government until the situation improves. “As we speak, all 37 orientation camps have boreholes that take care of their water needs. The battle to make the camps spick and span took a different dimension under the immediate past director-general, Brig-General Johnson Olawumi, who went the extra mile to ensure that there were adequate facilities in camps. “In those days, when the NYSC visits state governors, we usually went with copies of the laws setting us up. And we always let the governors to know that state governments have a duty to provide facilities at these camps. Of course, in this direction, some state governments performed creditably well. “When I was a state coordinator, I remember former Governor Alao Akala of Oyo State, providing the NYSC with a giant Mikano generator. “Former Governor Martins Elechi, of Ebonyi state, also gave NYSC in the state three Mikano generating sets, and Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state, also gave NYSC in the state a power generating set.”   Continuing, she said: Right now, through the instrumentality of the NYSC, and some state governments, all orientation camps in the state have power generating sets to take care of their power needs. “General Olawunmi would even go straight to see what the toilets look like on visiting an orientation camp. Thereafter, he would move to the kitchen to inspect the conditions, taste the meals, check out the sizes of meats and fishes given to corps members, and ensure that things were generally done the right way. “He also ensured that more toilet facilities, including mobile toilets were put in place for the convenience of corps members. The good thing in all of these is that all these steps the incumbent DG, Brig-General Sule Zakari Kazaure, I also taking in a bid to lift the scheme higher. “The sum of N10, 500 is budgeted by the federal government for the complete set of kits for each corps member. “This includes a pair of khaki; two white vests; one crested vest; two pairs of shorts; a fez cap; a pair of canvass and a pair of jungle boots. In Nigeria today, we all know that this amount is incapable of purchasing the topmost quality of all of these.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is an organization set up in 1973 by government to involve the country's graduates of universities and polytechnics in the development of the country for a period of one year. Ahmadu Ali served as the first Director-General of the NYSC until 1975. The incumbent Director-General is Brig. Gen. Sule Zakari Kazaure

Between The Journalist And The Spokesperson By Reuben Abati

Read his article below:

In the past few weeks, my colleagues who have taken over as spokespersons for the Muhammadu Buhari government and the All Progressives Congress have found themselves in the line of fire, as they are accused of destroying their old reputation as truth-tellers, courageous journalists and activists of the Fourth and Fifth Estates of the Realm.

It is the same old accusation. Once a journalist crosses into government and becomes a spokesperson, he or she is called all kinds of names: traitor, turn-coat, hustler. Readers and fans feel betrayed. The defender of the people’s interest is accused of “joining them” to go and “eat”.

This is the dilemma of every Nigerian journalist who has taken up the job of spokesperson in whatever governmental capacity. I was abused, vilified and called all kinds of names, but it wasn’t so different with my predecessors nor has it been any easier for my successors. My favourite on this subject was a poem published online titled “The Death of Reuben Abati’s pen” (I don’t remember the author) but Pius Adesanmi was charitable to me in another piece in which he argued that I really didn’t need the job, but my “arrogance” could be tolerated. Pius, o kare oh.

In other parts of the world, journalists also get appointed as spokespersons. The assumption is that a journalist who has spent years communicating with the public, will be able to write, articulate views, understand the media system and the technology of the practice, cultivate his or her colleagues and forcefully defend the interest of the appointing system. But this is precisely where the problem lies. A journalist is required to be independent: free from partisan political involvement, be completely unbiased, and defend the underprivileged, the powerless, the displaced, and all victims of the oppressive, negligent or indifferent state.

The primary job of the journalist is neither advertising nor propaganda: his job is to shed light so the people can see the way, and their oppressors can be constantly reminded that there are barking and wailing watchdogs who will not permit oppression, or utter irresponsibility in the use of power.  The journalist is to tell the truth so forcefully and forthrightly, the truth will cause the oppressor pain and distress, but at the same time set the people free. To jump from this background into government or a political propaganda assignment could definitely attract criticisms.  The more prominent and influential the journalist is, the more controversial his new role could be.  People put a tag on you over time, they don’t imagine you could assume another role in the public space, and when you do, they don’t see it as a new assignment, they use your original role to define your present.

And in the age of technology where every word that is written or spoken is eternally lodged in cyber-memory, you really can’t win the argument. I was hunted with articles I had written on fuel subsidy removal (my revision based on new facts and understanding was considered convenient). In the same manner, today’s men are facing the same heat, as tomorrow’s men would.

The simple truth is that the job definition of a spokesperson is not the same as that of a journalist.  When you take up a job as a spokesperson, you have elected to defend the interest of the appointing authority, in this case, the person or organization you speak for, and in the case of a country, the national interest, the definition of which is probably one of the most contentious issues in public policy.  If it is a political assignment, then you have the added baggage of being accused of endorsement: something a journalist doing basic reportorial work is not supposed to do, and if as a journalist, you become a brand ambassador, you have also again crossed the line, you have become a commercial face, not a dispassionate dispenser of truth who can investigate the truth and deliver it not minding whose ox is gored.

As a spokesman or brand ambassador, you definitely have no opinion of your own.  You are a vehicle, a compromised special purpose vehicle: you speak according to directives, and in the name of the authority you work for.  It took me some time to figure that out, when you work for government, you are not expected to sound like an activist in the corridors but you can make a lot of significant inputs. “When you eat, you don’t talk”, that was how some people rationalized it, unfortunately, not knowing that a lot of serious talking actually goes on in government.

What was not properly acknowledged is that the knowledge acquired working in the public sector is quite different from that of the private space: you will certainly as a former private sector person gain access to the inner workings of government. You will build a new network. You gain access to new knowledge and opportunity to contribute to the process of change - you are definitely better positioned to do so from within - except that forces of ethnicity, nepotism, cronyism and even the insecurity of key players could limit your ability to ensure the triumph of good reason in such an environment that is dominated by vicious search for advantages, rustic thinking and competition driven by fear and greed. But still, a spokesperson must do the job. You must be ready to take the bullet for your boss. You are a fall guy. You prevent unnecessary news if you can. It is not your job to tell the media - go and shoot.  You are a spin master, a spin-doctor: you help the media to get the facts about government’s efforts, and persuade them not to “kill.”  Even if the heavens are falling and every one is lamenting about the falling weight of heaven, it is your job to give the ordinary people hope. You must let them know that something is being done on their behalf.

To defend the ordinary people is at the base of the assignment: if you work inside government, you don’t throw people into despair, you reassure them, if you work outside government, you give the government people hell, so as to promote the same people, two sides of the same coin.  On both sides, the most important element is the people-element, their rights, their relevance, because it is the reason government and society exist.

I admit the whole thing is delicate; it is a walking-a-tight-rope scenario. How do you convince the people you are serving their interest when they see you actively defending the government, the political head and his political party, in the name of giving hope? They would tell you pointedly you are lying to keep a job.  The critical point is that government is not a media house. The rules of engagement are different. And that is why every government spokesperson becomes a target of virulent criticism.  Where does this lead us to then? It is this:  that the people’s mind works differently from government’s mind, particularly in developing countries.

The challenge is to find a synergy. And that synergy lies in government serving the people’s interest: not populism, but meeting the people’s expectations, keeping promises and being seen to be actually working, accepting responsibility, not shifting blames or goal posts, and having a good team. The last point is important- having a good team. You can interpret this whichever way you want, but a political leader must have around him, people who are ready to take the fall for him. They must be willing to shield him, and not throw him under the wheels. When you have ministers who don’t speak up and are virtually absent, or spokespersons who are busy hiding their necks and faces, then there is a problem. Can you imagine some government spokespersons at a critical hour posting Rio Olympics pictures, or talking about fashion or some other irrelevancies when they should be on their Oga’s case?

May be what we are dealing with is actually a conflict of roles. A journalist in government still thinks he is perhaps a journalist and in his mind, he is torn between two conflicts. Those who manage to walk the tight-rope carefully come out looking clean, those who stick their necks out get bruised: but whichever way, much reputational damage is incurred. But the painful fact of the Nigerian reality is that the entire Nigerian journalism establishment is in cahoots with the partisan establishment. There are more sponsored spokesmen outside than within, with the people outside perpetually peeping inside and the whole concept of professional independence trampled afoot as the media digs deep into Nigerian politics and business for easy profit.  This must be a subject for another day.

All told, the fortunes of the government make the difference. The ambition of every political leader is to be popular with the people, to win elections and to be taken seriously. Nobody in a leadership position wants to end up badly. Every leader wants to make an impact and be remembered positively.  The rub of it is that what the people see is what they believe, and this may be different from what they get to know in the long run. When a government does well, the people will know and acknowledge its achievements.

Unfortunately, Nigerian democracy in the last 16 years has suffered greatly from the rise of competitive propaganda, but the simple local logic is that if a lie travels twenty years ahead, one day, the truth will catch up with it. That is not to discount the fact that Nigerians only appreciate their present in the future. We condemn everything that is before us, only to look back a few years later and regretfully revise history. My take is that Nigeria is not an easy country to govern. How easily can anyone govern a country where everybody including the uneducated are vocal experts on every subject from football to politics, foreign exchange and governance?

When you are a spokesperson though, speak. Every job has its own definition. And when you are in the kitchen, don’t complain of heat. The same people who criticize and talk about “doing the job with wisdom” know the truth, and one way or the other, the truth gets told.