NIGERIA: THERE WAS AN OIL BOOM. BY SULAIMAN KAZEEM

Caveat: Don't expect castles in the air, don't expect flying elephants, there is nothing practically possible that can be done to revive our economy, by the government of the day... Nigeria is currently faced by a monumental financial crises, which no doubt, is as a result of the failure of past administrations to diversify the economy and invest in both infrastructural and human development, when crude oil was sold at a ridiculous high price in the international market. But instead of huge capital investments that would have strengthened our economy and perhaps save us from our rainy days, the money in the Excess Crude Oil Account was shared among the State Governors during the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, with Governors in the SS/SE taking the Lion share. While the remaining was squandered by unscrupulous elements in the same administration. To make matters worse, the previous administration left a depleted national treasury and an almost empty foreign reserve, with 'a little' to show for it. The reality remains that Nigeria and other affected countries, as members of OPEC has absolutely no control over the price of Crude Oil in the international market. Well, it should interest you that the drastic drop in oil price is at a great advantage to countries who are not members of OPEC, because they get to buy at a reduced price and save up to strengthen other sectors. Dear friends, neither do u need a college degree in Accountancy or Finance, nor do u need a Masters Degree in Economy and business management, to be able to understand and interpret our present financial predicaments. Well, for those who were mute during the last 'Oil boom' but are now clamoring for the diversification of our economy under the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, you are joking and thus need more enlightenment. How do u diversify an economy, in the absence of the needed 'funds' to fuel other sectors of the economy?. The ongoing 'diversification of the economy', which is obviously biting the masses hard is driven by captains of industries and other 'money bags' in our society, making them richer at the expense of the masses but what do u expect from the present government, when they lack the financial force to drive other sectors of the economy?. Again, the reality is that our economy is crude oil driven, and until the price of Crude Oil rise in international market, the economy will continue to deteriorate, foreign reserve will continue to deplete, job-cut will continue to skyrocket, Sates will continue to owe salaries, infrastructures will continue to fade, prices of goods and services will continue to soar into the sky, and above all poverty will continue to stare at the faces of Nigerians. Unfortunately, the price of crude oil in the international market does not look like one that would rebound anytime soon. Well, you may be of the opinion that the present administration has made some economic blunders which seem to have obvious retrogression on the drained economy but don't be beclouded by your hatred for this government. Don't expect castles in the air, don't expect flying elephants, there is nothing practically possible that can be done to revive our economy by the government of the day, than for the government to excel in its race to block leakages in government, reduce ridiculous high wages and allowances by Public Office Holders and senior civil servants in the government, bring corruption to its bearable minimum, quell the ongoing vandalization of crude oil pipelines and other oil facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers in the SS/SE-NG, and encourage foreign investors to invest in Nigeria, just to mention a few. It is no news that our crude oil production has experienced the worst hit in history, 'a round of applause' for the vandals in Nigerian oil producing States. In other words, even if the price of crude oil rise in the international market, you can not sell what you don't have. Hence, Nigerians should not expect miracles from this government but expect more 'bites', if the vandalization continue. I pray that this present administration succeed, else ... Enjoy your weekend. Sulaiman Kazeem Twitter & Instagram: @MrSteam_ Facebook page: Mr Steam

The Buhari Presidency and the Demystification of the Elites, My Prayers For Nigeria:

The Buhari Presidency and the Demystification of the Elites, My Prayers For Nigeria:
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First, let me quickly give a rough definition of the term "Elite": it is a word used to refer to those selected group of people the society considers special and superior to others probably because they possess more wealth, more knowledge, more connection, more influence etc. E.g Wole Soyinka, Femi falana, father Ejike Mbaka and others.
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Now, let's proceed,
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If there is one 'positive' thing the emergence of the daura-born ex-soldier; Muhammadu Buhari as the president of the 21st century Nigeria has taught us as a people, it is that the Nigerian elites--the so called intellectuals, the so called human right activists, the so called men of God (not all) etc, are nothing but a bunch of over-indulged morally bankrupt pseudo-intellectuals full of education but devoid of common sense and with no empathy to the course of the common man.
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This government has really exposed the so called elites for the counterfeit that they really are.
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Please note, my views here got nothing to do with one's choice of a political candidate during an election. I fully acknowledge the right of everyman to support any candidate of their choosing in an election. It is called 'franchise'. But when a man who strongly frowned at bloodshed during the days of president Jonathan suddenly started feigning indifference to bloodshed under president Buhari, then its high time the hypocrisy of the moral code of such a man was called out.
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During Jonathan era, whenever Boko Haram bomb went off in any part of the country, these elites would argue (and rightly so) that a president who is incapable of protecting the lives and properties of his people had lost both the moral and legal right to continue drawing salaries as president. Today, under Buhari, a well equipped, well funded group more daring and deadly than boko haram; the Fulani herdsmen, now kill, maim and rape and sack Nigerians from their homes with state-sponsored impunity and active connivance of the security agencies. And these so called elites are suddenly deaf, dumb and blind!
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Why??
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Let me reiterate one thing which we all know but are probably too scared to publicly admit:
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The murderous land-grabbing campaign by the Fulani Herdsmen is state sponsored and it has the blessings of almost all the Hausa/Fulani headed security agencies in the country. President Buhari is complicit in these killings. His security chiefs who are mostly of the same tribe and religion with these Fulani criminals are all complicit in these. It is not a case of negligence, it is not a case of incompetence. It is a clear case of criminal complicity!
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Before you accuse Charles Ogbu of making wild allegations, ask yourself the significance of president Buhari donning a military fatigue for the very first time in 3 decades to inaugurate a high powered military taskforce to protect fulanis and their cows from thieves less than 48 hours after these same fulanis killed over 81 people in Benue state?
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Ask yourself, why did all the security chiefs in Enugu state allow the April 25th massacre of the people of Uzor-uwani despite having foreknowledge of the attack and receiving all the necessary logistics from governor Ugwuanyi to stop the attack? These are all verifiable information. A quick Google search will help you determine the truth
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Ask yourself, how many fulanis have been arrested and prosecuted despite all their heinous crime and the fact that they once went with one senator Dagiri Alkali to the Defence headquarters on May 4th to admit to and justify these crimes?
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Take me before a court presided over by Buhari himself and watch me convince him that himself and his Hausa/fulani security chiefs are complicit in the mindless bloodletting by the world 4th deadliest terror group; the Fulani herdsmen a.k.a 'Butchers From The North' Apologies to chief Femi Fani Kayode.
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Femi Falana was quick to write to the ICC that Ngozi Okonjo Iweala should be investigated for allegedly releasing arms fund to politicians but this same Femi falana has not deemed it necessary to write to ICC about the role of the president Buhari and his security chiefs in these killings. As a human right activist, what other right could be more important than the right to life which these Fulani beasts and their enablers have taken from us??
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The likes of Emeka Ngige, Femi Falana, Festus Keyamo etc should stop subjecting the tag "human right activist" to ridicule because they are no right activists! They don't even understand the meaning of that clause!
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Where were they when over 1000 thousand citizens of this country (the Shiite muslims) were massacred in Kaduna by a common army chief; Lt gen. Tukur Buratai (not even the C-in-C) for blocking his convoy in a country where immediate past president Jonathan was once pelted with stones in Bauchi with no case of his security details shooting anyone? Since December the Shiites leader; Alzakzakky is still being detained without being taken to court......in a democracy??
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Where was the so called human right activists when security agency invaded homes and churches, killing hundreds of Igbo sons and daughters on may 29 and 30th of this year in an act described as hate-induced murder by Amnesty International? The full report of this was carried by an online media; Premium Times with a full testimony of a DSS official who took part in the operation. Please, Google it to confirm for yourselves.
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On Dec. 17th 2015, Justice Adeniyi Ademola granted bail to the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra; Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. The DSS defied that order and Buhari came on T.V on his media chart to justify it. Where was the so called right activists then?
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In law, even if a judge makes a pronouncements under the influence of cocaine, the only way to set it aside is by filing an appeal against that judgment. But the DSS never appealed that particular judgment, they only went to another high Court with the same case. This is also verifiable.
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A Femi Falana who led 23 lawyers in an attempt to convince a judge that president Buhari has a WAEC result instead of prevailing on the president to fulfill the provisions of the electoral Act by presenting his 'O' level result.......I find it criminally offensive that the name of such a man is being mentioned as a right activist. How can you fight for my right when you are in bed with the worse violators of this same right of mine?
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However we look at this, the truth remains that these so called activists, intellectuals and opinion moulders are in bed with our oppressors and they take up most of the casas they handle solely for financial gains and not for any altruistic considerations.
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That our badly trained, badly motivated security agencies could get away with all the proven cases of extra judicial killing is because we don't have human right activists in this country.
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Even against the provisions of the Criminal Code named "Crocodile Smile" soldiers are still being deployed against unarmed defenceless protesters.
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Speaking on Television doesn't make one a human right activist. You have to go further than that. You have to initiate cases in court to challenge government impunity. When government refused to properly probe Buratai and his London property case, as a right activist, you initiate a court case to force them to do the needful. That is what a human right activist does. That is what the late Senior Advocate Of The Masses; chief Gani Fawehinmi would have done!
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Oh, Chief Gani, If only you were here! If you can hear me, I want you to know that the people you left behind are at the mercy of a very powerful tyrant and all the "boys" you trained and left for us have since chosen the side of our oppressors. They cower in fear and regale us with trash about the sham that is the anti-graft war while we are all being killed by both the state and non-state actors.
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Where are all the civil society and NLC organized protest and strikes that characterized the past government? Where is Obasanjo the letter writer? Where are those who cried blood and called for Jonathan's head (and rightly so) at every boko haram attack??
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They have all gone deaf and dumb.
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The silly excuse of blaming Jonathan even for their inability to make their wives reach orgasm has since died a natural death. In their Ostrichic attempt to shield Buhari from criticizm, they now blame some fictitious nonsense known as "the cabal". Fuel scarcity and hike in kerosene was seen as a sign of ineptitude during GEJ era but today, it is the fault of the cabal, not the president. Boko haram killings was blamed on GEJ but today, the state-sponsored fulani bloodletting is now the fault of a governor.
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Bunch of morally bankrupt integrity-challenged men!!
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As usual from Freedom Siasia
Grandson of d VillageLeader
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SUBSTANCE AND CIRCUMSTANCE By Adekunle Bolarinwa

In the general elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011, President Mohammadu Buhari contested and lost woefully. As a matter of fact and figures, he wept publicly few days before the 2011 general election. He wept not because of his insatiable taste for power but because he thought that the Nation Nigeria was crumbling under the watch of the PDP which today is the number one opposition of his governing wit. Those at the helm of affairs then never considered him to posses the substance needed to paddle the canoe of the Nation. The table eventually turned and the substance in him was needed as a matter of urgency and emergency. He was ultimately nominated as the Standard bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and consequently emerged as the first elected President on the platform of an opposition party. Nigerians in thier numbers empathize with him and gave him the sympathy votes required for him to come out victorious.

The likes of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega et al made provision for the four(4) 'M' needed as a prerequisite to his victory and that of the party as a whole. The four(4) 'M' are the "masses, media, militia and manipulations. What is the substance in PMB? This is nothing other than the boldness and courage needed to fight corruption and insurgency which were the thorns piercing through the beatiful flowers of the Nation i.e the circumstance hitherto his emergence. The arrangements that led to PMB addressing other World Leaders at the Chatham Institute of International Affairs was more or less the global endorsement of his candidiacy. This was part of the substance in some movers and shakers of the APC. By proper juxtaposition of history and statistics, anytime Muhammadu Buhari occupies the seat of power, he always deemed it fit to veto on himself the office of the substansive Minister of Petroleum in tandem.

To the best of my knowledge and understanding, this perpetual move or act of his translate to two things; the one, no one can serve in such capacity except him alone and two, it is an indication that he knows nothing about the Nigerian economy other than petroleum. As clueless as the former President (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) was, agriculture was booming during his reign. The giant strides of the then Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in person of Dr Akinwunmi Adeshina led to his nomination and sebsequent selection as President, African Development Bank (AfDB).

He was inaugurated three months after being nominated. By virtue of his administrative wits, you will agree with me that the substance in him spoke and continues speaking for him. Mr President Sir, the entire populace will always appreciate your effort towards combating insurgency and corruption (though a bit political), seeking the advice of men of substance like Dr Akinwunmi Ayodeji Adeshina on how to go about diversifying the economy will help substantiate the feasibility of the "GREEN ALTERNATIVE" Policy. Neglect the empty barrels and allow men of substance offer progressive way foward. You don't have to wait till you can appoint him. All you need is to swallow your pride as a leader, seek his advice and opinion on the policy. He is a patriotic Nigerian, he will definitely come to our rescue. When the head lacks substance, the entire body becomes a victim of circumstance (keynote). Remember, "I belong to everybody, I belong to nobody". 

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