Buhari faults clampdown on Boko Haram members

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Read Time:5 Minute, 43 Second

Former Head of State and Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari has faulted the federal government’s clampdown on  Boko Haram Islamic insurgents.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Some people think the North is not good for Nigeria – Maitama Sule

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Read Time:21 Minute, 11 Second

Alhaji  Maitama Sule, an elder statesman, was Nigeria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations during the second republic. Before then, as the Minister of Mines and Power in the first republic, the oil portfolio was under his ministry. While at the UN, Sule chaired the committee which sought to end apartheid in the now independent South Africa. In this interview, he explains why many first republic politicians, including himself, ended in penury.

There is this needless dichotomy between the North and the South of the country. What do you think?

One of my problems is the fact that some section think that the North is no good for the country. That should not be. They think we are hangers on and that we don’t have anything to offer whereas over 70% of our ‘oil’ came from the North in the past. The revenue base of the country at that time was in the North. The cocoa in the South-West also contributed to the revenue base of the country. And nobody complained at that time. At that time, there was no division, we were all one and that is why the leaders of those days behaved in a nationalistic manner.

We know how the oil industry started, and how the contributions of those leaders, irrespective of where they came from, made our oil industry what it is now . Let me tell you another thing. When Shell decided to leave the country after some years of exploration, they invited the Minister of Mines and Power, Alhaji Ribadu, to London, and told him that they had spent so much money and time looking for oil in Nigeria and they had not found any, and so, they were leaving the country. Ribadu (he had native intelligence, he was not academically qualified but he was sound), he saw through what they wanted to do, he suspected that they must have found oil but they were trying to sit on it until it suited them to start exploiting.

So, he said ‘if you are leaving Nigeria, please, take everything along with you, shut down your filling stations, because, you will not sell any kerosene or anything to do with oil, good bye and thank you’. They too saw through him, too, and came back the next day and said, ‘Mr Minister, please give us some more time, we will try again, perhaps this time we will be lucky’. So, they came back to Nigeria. Two, three months after, they announced they had found oil in commercial quantity; that was in 1958. There was the independence election in 1959 and I succeeded him as Minister of Mines and Power.

Battle with oil firms

There was another fine gentleman, Chief Feide, Nigeria’s first Chief Petroleum Engineer. He was the boss of Maurinho. He employed Rilwan Lukman as a young engineer. Feide was a man of integrity, a decent Yoruba man. There was another fine gentleman who was my Permanent Secretary, Musa Daggash, a very honest person. Talking about oil, Shell was the only oil company in the country at that time, and Chief Feide said we could not afford to have only one company operating in Nigeria.

He said one company should not monopolize our oil industry, we must promote competition. He then said Shell must surrender part of its concession so that we might give other oil companies. Shell refused at first, they said that legally, concession the belonged to them, and that they will not give it up. Of course, we all argued it that the concession was given to them so that they might work on it, not sit on it. ‘If you are prepared to work on all aspects of the concession at the same time, I will be prepared to leave it to you, otherwise, you have to surrender part of the concession because, we want to bring other oil companies in order to develop our country’. Of course, they threatened.

We knew oil companies were very powerful, they could make or mar countries. Eventually, they surrendered part of the concession, and we advertised and oil companies came. They took up concession only for Chief Feide to tell us that we were not out of the woods yet, because all the new oil companies that had now taken up concession belonged to the same club. They were seven sisters, such that the issue of competition we were talking about may not be there after all. So, what do we do?

There was only one oil company in a country that was not in this club and which was giving them (seven sisters) headache and that was Italy. The Eni of which Agip was a subsidiary was the only company that was not with the seven sisters, Mobil, Shell, BP, ESSO, Texaco and so on. So, we had to go to Italy. I remember the late Sunday Awoniyi, Senior Assistant Secretary, served as Secretary to the delegation. I led the delegation naturally. We got there and saw Mate who was the President of the Eni.

A powerful man, a man of integrity, he had no wife or house, he lived in a hotel and he was earning more salary than the Italian Prime Minister. He was very much respected. He asked if we were not afraid of the powerful oil companies and I told him we were not, and that all we wanted him to do was to give us a better offer so that I could justify my invitation to him, because, back home, these oil companies –seven sisters – were mounting a campaign against me. I added that I would be in trouble if I returned home without anything better than they were offering us.

So, he said ‘alright, we are coming to Nigeria, we would give you high royalties, we train your workers (engineers, administrators, lawyers and so on) and if Nigerian government wanted, we can offer participation, that meants that we can be partners’. By the time I returned, the pressure against us was already high. The Prime Minister then asked me, ‘what is this new oil company about?’ I told him we wanted to promote competition. He said what he heard was contrary to what I was saying.

I told him that the oil companies then in the country were in the same club, and I thought it would be better if we could promote competition, and that the new company I was bringing had offered to do this and this for us. Then the Prime Minister said ‘why not bring your paper to the Council?’ I did. I remember Festus Okotie-Eboh (Minister of Finance) was jokingly saying I wanted to cause trouble for the country. After my presentation to the Council, the Prime Minister asked if there was anybody who had something to say, that is how Agip came into Nigeria.

Nigeria’s first refinery

Shortly after that, I thought it would be unfair for Nigeria, an oil producing country, not to have refinery and that is why we built the first refinery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Then, there was this issue of oil companies paying the highest wages among other companies in the country. If you bring any body to the ministry to work under a Permanent Secretary, naturally, he would not earn more than the Permanent Secretary.

But a Permanent Secretary’s salary in the oil industry is nothing but a chicken feed; that is why we decided to take the oil sector out of the ministry and make it independent and allow them to employ people of right caliber and give them salaries commensurate with their qualifications while we remain the supervising ministry. We called it then NOC, National Oil Corporation, which later became NNPC.

I got Nigeria into Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, against the wish of the oil companies, because they didn’t want the oil producing countries to form a group. They lobbied so much that the Prime Minister had to ask me what the hullabaloo about OPEC was. And I told him that the OPEC was a group of oil producing countries including developing countries like Nigeria, ‘they get together to look at their problems and seek solutions’.

In any event, if the oil companies, the buyers of our oil, unite to form a group, why should we, the sellers, not have a group? The Prime Minister bought the argument and gave me the go ahead and we joined OPEC in 1962 or 63.

Controversial continental shelf

There was this crisis on the controversial continental shelf. The Eastern Region came with an argument that territorial waters contiguous to a region belonged to the region. At first, as you know, our oil was onshore, it was not offshore but the East got to know that most of our oil, if not all, was offshore. If it was agreed that territorial waters contiguous to a region belonged to the region, then everything in the territorial waters should also belong to the region, but I said no, that it was not possible because it was not the practice anywhere in the world.

Territorial waters belong to the central authority in a federation. In any event, the regional or state government has no navy to protect the waters. You cannot claim something you cannot protect. However, the argument became heated so much so that I had to set up a committee, comprising of representatives of the Eastern Region and the Federal Government, to go round the world and visit oil producing countries and see what obtained in those countries concerning territorial waters.

They did and came back to report that in all the countries visited, territorial waters belong to the central authority, therefore, whatever is found offshore belongs to the central authority, not region or state, and that put paid to the matter.

What was it like being the Minister of Mines and Power for seven years, with all the influenceof having oil under your portfolio? It was a powerful office?

It was a powerful office, but we didn’t use it to amass wealth. When the coup took place in January 1966, I had to borrow money from my friend and Permanent Secretary to send my family home. I had no bank account. Here at home I had no house except the house where I was born in the city and where I lived with my father. I had no money at all. I remember I was told that when Ironsi took over, he asked the oil companies to tell them what they were paying me, of course, they said nothing.

‘In fact, he was a good riddance to bad rubbish , we are glad that he is gone because he has been giving us a lot of trouble’. Then, he set up a judicial enquiry on the ECN now NEPA. I was in charge of ECN at that time; we were installing high tension cables all over the country, it was a big contract at that time. And by the grace of God, not even once was I asked to come and give evidence. I think that was an act of God. Again, I must say that all my actions then were inspired by my leaders.

Who were the leaders?

The Prime Minister, a gentle man who went into politics to serve but not to be served, to give but not to take.

Can we replicate that now?

I don’t know. You can answer that yourself by what you see in the country today. When the Prime Minister died and they looked into his bank account, he hadn’t a kobo except a mud house he left in Bauchi. There was no fleet of cars. No investment or shares in any company. The Sardauna, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, died like that too. In fact, when the coup leaders sent for his bank account, they discovered that it was in  red.

That was the Premier of the North. These were good leaders. We have a saying in Hausa that if any congregation prayer goes wrong, it is the Imam leading it that spoils it. Regarding other leaders, they were excellent leaders, too. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, these were principled politicians who went into politics to serve but not to be served.

After all, Zik returned from abroad a rich man. He stopped in Ghana to establish a newspaper, he could not have established a newspaper unless he had money. He brought the newspaper to Nigeria, the West African Pilot. So, he was in money even though he didn’t make the money from politics. Chief Awolowo was a successful lawyer, one of the most prominent lawyers.

He made a lot of money from his law practice, it was not from politics that he made the money. Tafawa Balewa and the Sardauna were poor teachers before they came into politics. These people belonged to different parties, tribes, religions and cultures, just as we are today but there was a difference.

What is the difference?

They loved Nigeria. They were always ready to put national interest above self interest. These people, inspite of their differences, were always ready to come together, to accommodate one another, to respect one another, to cooperate with one another in order to move the country forward. That was why Nigeria was a decent country, that was when we were our brothers keepers.

Nigeria,  as a result of this good leadership, became very much respected in the eyes of the world such that our reputation was high. Wherever a Nigerian went in those days, he was respected and held his head high. Those were the days. The norms and values these men and leaders left for us have been thrown away. We are no longer what we were, what is happening now in the country was not in our character then.

It was  a decent, peaceful, united, morally sound  country with little corruption, if any. I am not saying there were no problems in those days, after all, we are all humans, we were not perfect, perfection is only an attribute of God but, even at that, they were not as bad as it is now.

Why was it that your career as a diplomat overshadowed that of minister of oil for seven years?

First of all, it was years after I had left as Minister of Mines and Power that I went to the United Nations. I was Minister of Mines and Power in the first republic, 1959 to 1966. Then, there was the coup which brought Ironsi to power, then Gowon, and later Murtala, then Obasanjo. It was not until 1978 that the military lifted the ban on politics. It was a long time in between.

When we returned to politics, I remember Chief Awolowo called me, I was then Chief Ombudsman in the Public Complaints Commission. He said, ‘Maitama, I want to see you,’ and I asked if anybody had brought complains against me. He said was going to Ikenne for his birthday and on his return will like to see me. So, when I saw him, he said politics was around the corner. He said he wanted to float a national political party that will cut across religious and ethnic boundaries. He said he wanted me to come on board with him. I said why me?

He said, ‘I cannot forget when you were a young minister and I was leader of the opposition, every morning, during the sitting of the House, you come and greet me, kneel down in the presence of the members and greet me? Really was the politics of those days. Respect for elders was there such that the Prime Minister noticed this and called me to his office one particular day and said it was like there was an unholy alliance between me and Awolowo and I replied him that it was what he taught me.

So Chief Awolowo told me he had the dossier of every prominent politician in this country. I replied that that much I knew. He said there were two of us in the North who he could not point accusing fingers: me and Ali Shettima Munguno but Shettima Munguno was too much of a gentleman to be a good politician. You are rascal like me.(laughter), I need you. You are bridge between the old and the young. I said thank you sir. I advised him and you know Chief Awolowo was a proud man. He did what he wanted to do against my advice and he told me that there was a time the North rebuffed him. I told him to avoid certain things but he did not.

He was a principled man, he would not lie. He would speak out his mind. So, I joined the NPN. Adamu, Shagari, Saraki and I sought to be the flag-bearer. I came second, followed by Adamu Ciroma and we the first three were to go for a second round. It was quite clear I would defeat Shagari in the second round because, all the other candidates said they would give me their votes, however,  I saw something. If I defeated him, those promoting him will not take it kindly with me, thereby dividing the party.

Shagari would  lose, I will lose and we would lose the election eventually to UPN or NPP. So, I decided to concede to Shagari and announced at the convention that Nigeria and my party were greater than any of us. Eventually, Shagari won the election. He wanted me to be a member of his cabinet but I said no. I had my own idea of how to run the government just as Shagari had his.

Was it that you were angry?

No, far from it. I was just being realistic. I thought there would be conflict joining his cabinet, but I told him I would give him support. Some people said I should go to the United Nations as the country’s representative and some said taking such a role would amount to sending me on exile but I was later telling them that it was a pleasant exile, because, of all the political appointments I took, that appointment to the United Nations, to me, was the best.

I went to the United Nations to serve the international community, to serve the world and humanity, it was a place where  what made us prominent was our struggle against apartheid. Nigeria, being in the fore front of the struggle, was made the Chairman of the committee against apartheid. So, I found myself in the special committee against apartheid as its Chairman which gave me the opportunity to tour the world, to talk about apartheid, to preach and pray for the release of the late Nelson Mandela and end of apartheid.

So, I have been around, doing one thing or the other. For example, I formed the NEPU, not Mallam Aminu Kano. I gave the name NEPU to it. Even the NPC  that eventually became a political party, we formed it .  I was the Vice President in 1949, shortly after I left secondary school, I was barely 20 years old then. People forget about all these political activities and focus on my diplomatic career.

Did you envisage you will become this famous?

I think it was an act of God. However, I remember when I was in Kaduna College, Shagari was four years ahead of some of us in the college. I used to pray God to give me the opportunity to serve my country. I think in 1946 or so I left the college and trained as a teacher in Zaria, I went to Lagos for the first time on education excursion. On my way back from Lagos, I was in the same train with Dr. Azikiwe. He was coming to Kaduna, and we were in the same coach. He became interested in me and we were talking all the way from Lagos to Kaduna.

What was it  the younger ones respected the older ones at that is now missing in today’s politics?

You can’t eat your cake and have it. The present day leadership wants  money. You can’t have money and honour at the same time. Our former leaders didn’t want money, they wanted to serve the country, and that is why they were respected. As some people say, if these leaders were to come back to life, Azikiwe, Awolowo, Sarduana, Tafawa Balewa would die 10 times and go back to their graves because this is not what they were expecting.

They expected that Nigeria by now would be a decent country, united, morally sound and its leadership will not be corrupt, these were their dreams, because there was respect for elders, constituted authority, there was morality in the society, there was little corruption in the society and, above all, we were peaceful people. We had problems then too but we were able to over come them.

There was a statement credited to you then which was that the West had intellectuals, the East was blessed with industrialists and the North were born leaders, which generated a lot of controversy?

Compared with what happened in the past, I leave that to you. In any event, I tried to explain to people what I meant by that, that Nigeria is lucky that we have got all we need in leadership. To lead a country, you need industrialists to develop the country, enterprising people; to lead a country, you need diplomats, good civil servants and, of course, administrators. So, we have all these things that we need for good governance.

And luckily for us, all the three things are not concentrated in one area, they are divided, we have to need one another. That was the import of the statement which was misunderstood. However things have happened, people have been able to compare and contrast, so it is not for me to make comment anymore.

Are you fulfilled?

I thank God for everything. I am the luckiest at my age. Nobody of my age is looking as healthy, as young as I am. I am 85 now. You think I am 57? I became member of parliament when I was 24, I became a minister at the age of 29. So, I thank my God. Even at that, one way or the other, my names keep coming up and I think maybe because I have finished paying my debt(long laughter). I am still relevant by the grace of God. If I wanted to contest election, I still would because politics is a thing of the mind. And even if it a thing of the body, God has given me good health.

Allah says ‘if you are grateful to me, I will give you more, if you show your ingratitude, your punishment is severe’. People say the joy of a dying father is seeing a worthy successor. If you want your successor to be wealthy, you have to train him, you have to groom him and impact your experience in him. That is why I keep talking, telling people about what happened in the past, how things went wrong. And that is why I am saying we need leadership, not rulership.

When would that happen?

When you, the potential leaders, the younger ones, make up your minds to do the right thing. You are the panacea to our ills, the solution to our problems, the vehicles of change, the vanguard of the revolution.  I am not calling for a bloody revolution, but a reorientation, change of attitude, you are the real change. When you refuse to be bribed in order for those in authority to perpetuate themselves. You can mar make your future through your actions. However, you must seek the experience of the old, because the best organization is the combination of the old and young.

Who are your role models?

Tafawa Balewa . His love for the nation, honesty and gentility.  Awolowo, he was a man of principled, here was a man in Nigeria who never had a girlfriend in his life, he never smoked nor drank , he never lied. He was a great man. Zik inspired me when I was young and Mallam Aminu Kano who I regarded as the greatest politician in Africa because he never had a government but, yet, his people obeyed him more than any leader that I know of. They died and suffered for him. They were imprisoned because of him and he never gave them a penny. He was a man of his words.

What would you consider your saddest in life?

The death of Tafawa Balewa. And that of Murtala Muhammed. Murtala was trying to give  Nigeria a sense of direction, he was about instilling discipline in the society, he raised the moral tode of the society. He fought corruption.

– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/some-people-think-the-north-is-not-good-for-nigeria-maitama-sule/#sthash.BVM1cTVs.dpuf

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nightmare in Akwa Ibom: One dead, 60 houses razed as friends fight over girlfriend

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Read Time:4 Minute, 36 Second

IKOT EDAH—ONE person was killed, 60 houses razed and over 400 persons rendered homeless in a disgraceful inter-communal crisis that broke out, weekend, between youths of Ikot Umiang and Ikot Edah communities, Nkpat Enin Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.

90-year-old woman and the remains of her house and property;

Niger Delta Voice learned that the fracas that caused extensive havoc to the residences of the Village Head of Ikot Edah, Ete Idung Sunday Usoro, and councillor representing Ikpa Ikono, Ward 2, Mr. Nkreuwem James, was kindled by a dispute between two boys from both communities over a girlfriend.

Besides property running into millions of naira and money that were looted, about 40 motorcycles, bicycles and ancestral heritages were torched. Two cars belonging to the monarch were also destroyed.

A dependable source told Niger Delta Voice: “A young man, who hails from Ikot Umiang and residing in Ikot Edah had a minor misunderstanding with his friend, an indigene of Ikot Edah, over a lady both of them had dated previously.

“What really transpired between them is not clear. But it was so serious that in the evening of the following day, when the Ikot Umiang boy was passing through Ikot Edah after his normal business, the Ikot Edah-based lover boy and his gang waylaid and stabbed him to death.”

Revenge

In an apparent reprisal attack, youths of Ikot Umiang invaded Ikot Edah at about 8a.m with guns, machetes, axes, fuel and other dangerous weapons, burning all the houses in the community.

The invaders manhandled aged people, especially the women who tried to plead with them.

Our source said inhabitants of the community, mainly peasant farmers and traders, were setting out for their farms and shops on the ill-fated day, when the invaders stormed the town.

A villager, Aniete Bradforth, said: “The Ikot Umiang youths came in like soldier ants with guns, petrol and matches and before we knew what was happening, this house (pointing to a residence) was on fire.

“They beat up a 90-year-old woman, who lives here, leaving her with injuries all over her body.”

The village head, Usoro, said: “I watched my house set ablaze with N2 million cash inside.”

Usoro said he was on his way to the Police Station to lodge a report that a corpse was abandoned in the community when armed youths of Ikot Umiang invaded Ikot Edah.

He said the attacking youths were armed, but that police were able to make some arrests.

A fish seller, who is in her 60s, Mmayen Bassey, bemoaned: “I have been keeping money in my wrapper for over 10 years to buy a piece of land. It has amounted to over N200,000. Today, I am as good as dead as they all got burnt; not even to talk about my goods.”

Niger Delta Voice observed during a visit that the houses in Ikot Edah were completely razed. There was uneasy calm in the community as victims wailed and called on government and public-spirited individuals to come to their assistance.

Ikot Umiang deserted

At Ikot Umiang, it was discovered that the community had been deserted by villagers for fear of possible arrest by the police, while economic activities and social life in the town have been paralyzed.

Chairman of Mkpat Enin Local Government, Mr. Eph-raim Akpan and Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in-charge of the area, CSP Abri, rushed to the community as soon as report of the incident reached them, to ascertain the cause of the fracas and extent of damage.

They were accompanied by Mr. James, Deputy Leader of the council’s legislature, Ekaette Akpan, Chief Whip, Mr.Isaac Akpan, councillors for Ibiaku, ward 2, Mr. Ini George and ward 4, Mr. Michael Daniel.

For over five hours, they trudged through the ruins of the devastation with the chairman practically weeping.

Council boss sues for peace

Mr. Akpan cautioned the warring parties to maintain calm, while security agents carried out investigations into the matter with a view to bringing the guilty to book.

The council boss, who described the situation as heart-breaking and sorrowful, however, assured that no culprit would escape the wrath of the law.

He said: “There is no situation that would warrant this barbaric act at the beginning of the year. This is heart breaking and I cannot hold back tears. But as I said, there is no point retaliating as the police, who have done very well already, will investigate the matter and bring all the culprits to book.

“On our part as a government, the council will ameliorate the situation and as a matter of fact, 12 hours from now, we will assemble all villagers of this community and give them some relief materials.

“It is pathetic that the only property of these people now have are the clothes on their body, but we will do our best.”

He said a committee would be set up to evaluate the mayhem and come up with intermediary measures to cushion the sufferings of the affected persons.

Over 25 suspects nabbed

A police officer said police were making plans to evacuate the remains of the Ikot Umiang youth that was killed in Ikot Edah, adding that about 25 persons have been arrested in connection with the crisis.

He disclosed that the arrested suspects were handed over to men of the Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Uyo.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Violence-free polls: APC restates call for peace meeting with PDP

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Read Time:3 Minute, 32 Second

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has restated its call for a meeting of the leadership of the APC and the PDP to stem the rising cases of violence ahead of next month’s polls.

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About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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General Buhari must apologise to Yoruba or else – Adeyeye

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Read Time:1 Minute, 22 Second

Ado Ekiti—Minister of State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye has described the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Major General Mohammadu Buhari as an unrepentant enemy of the Yoruba in the South West Nigeria.

For Buhari and his party,APC to be looking for the votes of the people of Yoruba that he must tender a public apology to the people of the zone.

In a statement which was personally signed by him and made available to the newsmen in Ado Ekiti yesterday, Adeyeye who reviewed all the programmes and policies of the APC presidential candidate while he was the Head of State and also the chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, said Buhari was number one enemy of the Yoruba.

“Buhari must be rejected by all true sons and daughters of Oduduwa.”

Adeyeye further noted the incalculable damage the former Head of State did to Lagos State and the entire Yorubaland with the cancellation of the Lagos Metroline Project and how he bastardized the educational policy of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Free Education Programme,

He challenged Buhari to mention one single project that he did in the Southwest when he was Head of State and Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF.

Adeyeye said: “Buhari did not only cancel the Metroline Project, he went ahead to pay what was enough to complete the project as compensation to the French Company that handled the project.

“The idea of developing rapid transit in Lagos dated from the 1980s with the Lagos Metroline network conceived by the Alhaji Lateef Jakande during the Second Republic.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Buhari’s campaign promise excites some Igbo APC members

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ENUGU—All Progressives Congress, APC, South-East geopolitical zone is excited by the promise made to Ndigbo by its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, (retd) to revamp the abandoned coal deposits in Enugu.

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About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Jonathan pledges 2 million jobs annually if re-elected

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Read Time:1 Minute, 6 Second

President Jonathan at PDP Rally in Ibadan

President Goodluck Jonathan has promised two million jobs yearly if re-elected into office.

Mr. Jonathan spoke Monday in Ibadan, Oyo State, were he met supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the February 14 election.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted the president as saying he will generate jobs for the teeming unemployed population in Nigeria.

He did not say how that will happen, after largely failing to provide as many jobs in the last six years as president.

Besides corruption and insecurity, the Jonathan administration is persistently criticised over the huge unemployed population in the country.

The government has always pointed to its Small and Medium Scale support programme, Youwin, which gives grants to only 1,200 people yearly.

The government says the programme has engaged hundreds of thousands, a figure that has been questioned.
The government has also failed to defend its claim that it created 1.6 million jobs in 2013.

At the Ibadan campaign, Mr. Jonathan also lauded South-West leaders for promoting equity, human rights, saying he will continue to respect and work with people from the zone.

The president also said the votes of Nigerian women will either liberate or sanction them to the kitchen, urging women to vote for PDP.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Don’t fight yet until after the election, Buhari tells supporters

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Flag-bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, urged his supporters to abide by the rule of law and must not tarnish the party’s image unless they are fighting to make their vote count .

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About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Why I will never vote for Buhari – Seun Kuti

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Seun Kuti, son of late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has said he will vote against Buhari over what he did to his father 31 years ago. Seun Kuti, son of late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has said he will vote against Buhari over what he did to his father 31 years ago.

In a recent chat with the Nigerian Tribune, the father of one said: “Truth is that I have no reason to give my vote to any of the two contestants, but more especially Buhari because of the eternal emotional damage he caused the Kuti family, especially me.” “I will only urge Nigerians, especially her youths, to come out enmasse to elect the ruler of their choice so that Nigeria’s democracy will continue to grow. As for me though, I will never vote for Buhari because of what he did to my father.

It is a personal grouse. Buhari denied me the chance of seeing my father in the early stage of my life. He arrested and detained Fela in Kirikiri for the same number of years I was growing up without a father, and even did not allow his family members to see him on a daily basis. He eventually jailed my father and I will always remember that. He jailed my innocent father on currency trafficking, but he is claiming to be a saint now. “ source:Ynaija

 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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DSS report: PDP’s plot to postpone elections —APC alleged

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LAGOS — THE All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, alleged that the invasion of its Data Centre by the Department of State Services, DSS, was a plot by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to postpone next month’s general elections.

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About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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