'I don't hate you' - Tompolo says in an open letter to Pres. Buhari

Ex militant leader Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo has written an open letter to President Buhari, saying that he does not hate Buhari. In the letter, Tompolo said that his support for ex president Goodluck Jonathan during the last election was borne out of the fact that Jonathan was his own person. Read more

David Cameron calls Nigeria 'fantastically corrupt'

The PM was speaking with the Queen, the archbishop of Canterbury, Speaker John Bercow and Commons Leader Chris Grayling

David Cameron has described Nigeria and Afghanistan as "fantastically corrupt" in a conversation with the Queen.

The PM was talking about the forthcoming anti-corruption summit when he made the comments.

It was not clear whether he knew the comments were being recorded.

Life And Times Of Olubadan

                                           

The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1, is dead, sources said Tuesday night. The monarch was 101 old. He would have been 102 in April 14. The Olubadan lost consciousness before he eventually passed on, it was gathered. One of his sons, Prof. Femi Lana, declined comment last night. Some Ibadan chiefs contacted also kept sealed lips but sources close to the family said the body of the late monarch had been taken to a morgue. The personal assistant to the late monarch, Chief Isiaka Akinpelu, denied that the monarch had passed on. He said it was a rumour, adding that Oba Odulana ate yesterday.

His death will likely throw the city into mourning after the brouhaha that followed the promotion of nine high chiefs on January 1. The action pitted the Olubadan-In-Council against the state government.

Oba Odulana mounted the throne in 2007 as the 39th Olubadan. He was the 17th Olubadan since the title was elevated from Baale Ibadan to

US Predicts Challenge In Protecting Nigerian Citizens

The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, has predicted that the new government in Nigeria might face the challenge of protecting its citizens against terrorism threats.

Kerry made the assertion in a statement by the African Regional Media Hub of the United States Department of State yesterday in Lagos.

The statement quoted Kerry as making the prediction after signing a Memorandum of Cooperation to support disease control and prevention in Africa with the African Union (AU) in Washington D.C.

STATEMENT BY H.E. JERRY RAWLINGS ON OUTCOME OF NIGERIA’S ELECTIONS

“Nigerians have taken the lead in the rejection of corruption.

“The election result is a manifestation of the people’s resolve to confront corruption, dishonesty and exploitation. This is a clear message to the new leadership. A bold step has been taken towards a new Nigeria and the incoming leader cannot be unaware of what is expected of him.

“Nigerians did not vote for just anyone. They voted for a man whose integrity is extremely high. Nigeria is tired of corruption and the choice of this leader is a

Google To Train 100 Reporters, Editors On Election Reporting

Ahead of the February national elections, Google Nigeria said on Wednesday in Lagos that it would train 100 journalists on poll reporting.

Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, said the workshop for poll reporting would be held in Lagos on Jan. 16.

The theme of the workshop, is “Data Tools for Elections Reporting’’, a statement by Kola-Ogunlade said.

It said the Google for elections workshop was a hands-on certificate programme with a focus on using social media tools, visualisation and citizen reporting tools in ‘unearthing’ and telling elections-based stories.

BIG TROUBLE! Nigerians In US Attacks Jonathan

Nigerians based in the United States of America, have urged President Goodluck Jonathan to stop paying lip service and bring an end to insurgency in the country by taking more decisive action in this regard before the February 14 elections.

The Nigerians, speaking under the aegis of Nigeria Moral Democratic Awareness Council (NMDAC), however,

praised Jonathan for the various electoral reforms he had initiated in the country, saying this had “started to manifest in the free and fair governorship elections in Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo states” respectively.

NMDAC coordinator, Mr Samuel Ayodele, in a statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Saturday, condemned what it said was “the senseless killings and maiming of innocent Nigerians and expatriates by insurgents in the North”.

CONGRATULATION: New year, New strengths, You are welcome!

WELCOME TO YEAR 2015
As you rise again to work, may the almighty strengthen you beyond measure and lift thy efforts to glory....
YOU ARE BLESSED;

My Book ‘Watch The Watcher’ Puts Obasanjo’s Records Before Him – Odumakin

An author and a columnist, Yinka Odumakin, says his book, ‘Watch the Watcher’, was written to put the records of a former Nigerian leader, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, straight.

The author of ‘Watch the Watcher’, published three weeks after the former President released three volumes of his book entitled, ‘My watch’, said that the content of his book was not influenced by Mr Obasanjo’s book.

He, however, said that the title of the book was changed after Mr Obasanjo’s book came out.

“It is a public intellectual duty to set the record straight and to let those who have been in charge of affairs and those who are still in charge of affairs to know that a time has come for us, as victims of their misrule, not to forget.”

2015: SERAP Drags PDP, APC To Court Over Spending On Elections

A civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to compel the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to make public their sources of spending on their respective electoral campaigns.

In the suit filed under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, SERAP also wants the court to declare whether by virtue of the provision of section 4(a) of the Act, the Defendants are under an obligation to provide the Plaintiff with the information requested for.

According to SERAP, it filed the suit following the refusal of the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu and APC national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to reply Freedom of Information requests dated 18th November, 2014.

You Are Worse Than Nebuchadnezzar, Soyinka Tells Jonathan

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka on Tuesday lampooned President Goodluck Jonathan over increasing rate of impunity by his government, saying the nation’s leader is worse than Neo-Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar.

The Literary icon who said this at a press conference in Lagos accused Jonathan of fueling the crisis at the National Assembly in which lawmakers resorted to scaling the fence of the Assembly complex in order to gain access to their chambers after been prevented by the police.

According to him, despite the fact that the president was democratically elected, his actions had showed that he was given to dictatorial tendencies.

Soyinka who sited the split in Nigeria Governors’ Forum last year in which 16 governors had the final say over 19 other governors said the incident revealed that the President was willing to do anything to achieve his political goals irrespective of

Dangote Foundation To Fight Ebola With $3m

Africa Union’s (AU) efforts at containing the dreaded Ebola virus in West Africa has been boosted with the Dangote Foundation pledging a sum of $3 million to a fund established by African business leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This is in addition to previous interventions in Nigeria where the Foundation owned by the Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had spent about $5 million to evolve a two pronged strategy that directly support the Nigerian government’s Ebola containment efforts, through investments that strengthen Nigeria’s health system in a manner that will endure beyond the current Ebola crisis

Shonekan Blames Nation’s Slow Growth on Delays In Policy Implementation

The former Head of State, Chief Ernest Shonekan, on Thursday attributed the slow pace in the nation’s economic growth to the delays in policy implementation.

Shonekan disclosed this during the formal commissioning of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) House in Lagos.

He said that the nation had reach the stage where “it is not that we lack good policies, rather we have always faltered at the implementation stage of many credible policies.

“Time has come for us to change this sad trend. I believe that the NESG, as a think-tank institution, can help in this regard by monitoring government policies.’’

CORRUPT LEADERS STOLE $400 BILLION FROM NIGERIA

The former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa and former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, said in Abuja that a staggering $400 billion of Nigeria's oil revenue has been stolen or misused since the country's independence in 1960.

Ezekwesili also declared that while oil accounted for about 90 per cent of the value of Nigeria's exports that over 80 per cent of that money ended up in the hands of one per cent of the population.

Presenting a paper titled "Corruption, National Development, The Bar and The Judiciary” at the on-going 52nd yearly general meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ezekwesili said the fight against corruption and demand for good governance must transcend the actions or efforts of government.