Biafra Voice News

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the Federal Government is planning to have him indicted and silence him from expressing his concerns about the state of the nation.

According to a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Friday, the plot against the former President followed the statement he issued in January blasting the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Obasanjo who supported Buhari as he swept to power in 2015 has since them criticised the President’s performance in office and advised him against seeking re-election.

”Since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo declared in his State-of-the-Nation Special Statement on January 23, 2018, the desperation to frustrate, intimidate and blackmail him into abandoning his divine mandate to protect the rights of the people to better life and living continued unabated and has even taken a bizarre dimension,” the fresh statement on Friday read in part.

”Impeccable security sources have alleged Chief Obasanjo’s name is on their Watch List and that the security of his life cannot be guaranteed.”

The former President, who is a retired general, based his alarm on informants, “many of who are in the top echelon of the nation’s security management and close to the corridors of power”.

Kanayo O. Kanayo says he will run for a seat in the house of representatives in 2019.

The actor declared his intention on Wednesday after President Muhammadu Buhari declared June 12 Democracy Day and conferred the title of GCFR on the late MKO Abiola.

“History has been made today,” the ‘Living in Bondage’ actor said.

Kanayo, real name Anayo Modestus Onyekwere, seeks to represent Ahiazu/Ezinihitte Mbaise federal constituency, Imo state, at the house of representatives.

The actor is a member of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

He added: “History has been made today as I declared my intention to run for the House of Representatives, Ahiazu/ Ezinihitte Mbaise Federal Constituency, Imo State under the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA.

“I owe you this information as I enlist your prayers and support.”

The lawmaker representing Abia South senatorial district at the National Assembly, Enyinnaya Abaribe, a critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, has revealed that he is not afraid of speaking against Buhari because those who would return him to the Senate in 2019 are not from the North, neither are they in the Presidential Villa.

Recall that Abaribe had last month sparked an uproar in the upper legislative chamber when he declared that President Buhari was incompetent.

Following an excuse given by Buhari in London that the herdsmen on killing spree in Nigeria were allegedly trained by the late Libyan revolutionary leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Abaribe told his colleagues, “This validates my earlier position that the president has failed to take charge of the protection of lives and property across the country as enshrined in our constitution to be his primary responsibility. I, so make bold to say that the president is incompetent.”

Speaking lately in a local radio programme in Aba, the Abia South lawmaker said, “I fear nothing. The first thing they will say is you will not come back, but the people who will vote for me are from the South East and not from the North or inside the villa. The other thing is that they think they will investigate you and all that. Well, I don’t do contract and don’t engage in anything outside of my legitimate duties. You cannot hold me for engaging in fraud. EFCC cannot touch me.”

Abaribe further stated that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government has thrown Nigeria into huge debts and questioned Buhari’s sincerity on the anti graft war. His words, “Buhari’s government came on the platform of deceit. They deceived Nigerians into thinking that they were coming as saviour and they made certain assertions that Nigerian believed.

“What we have are people who said, first, we are going to deal with the matter of security. Then, they couldn’t deal with it. When they found out they couldn’t, they turned around and said we have technically defeated Boko Haram. When they found that it couldn’t happen, all of a sudden, they stage-managed a kidnap, and suddenly, they released the people

“Within this period, we had the whole Benue Valley starting from Taraba to Nasarawa following the Benue River, attacked by unknown persons. People are being killed every day. The Senate has compiled a list of people who have been killed. Up to a thousand, two to three million people are away in the IDPs and we are not in a war.

“Our economy is suffering because of their bad policies. And once they failed, they said Nigeria was at the brink before we came. They are now telling us that within three years, we cannot undo the bad things that PDP did in 16 years.”

"On the alleged insensitivity of Igbo leaders towards the plight of their kinsmen, the human right activist regretted that they have failed to maximise “a golden opportunity” provided by Nnamdi Kanu to negotiate a fair deal for the race. Emeruwa alleged that instead of leveraging on IPOB’s agitation as a bargaining power for a better share of the national patrimony, South East leaders and the political elite connived with the Federal Government to get rid of Kanu, who they considered a threat to their political future.

“They erroneously believed that Kanu would take the shine off them, and that is why instead of leveraging on the opportunity provided by IPOB Leader and Nnamdi Kanu to advance the Igbo cause, they saw Kanu as a threat and sabotaged him. It took only a man they thought was mad to galvanise Ndigbo without firing any shot. But Ohanaeze and Igbo Governors at the peak of the agitation betrayed that cause. They were quick to proscribe IPOB after their meeting in Enugu.

Governor of Anambra, Mr Willie Obiano, on Friday said the development efforts of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra would give it victory in the Nov. 18 governorship poll.
Obiano stated this while addressing newsmen after submitting his nomination form for the election at APGA’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
He said that a second term would help him to consolidate on his efforts in developing the state and institutionalise them.
“I am happy to be here to submit my completed party nomination form. I am very ready for the fight purely because APGA has done very well in Anambra and the record speaks for itself.
“We have been paying all workers’ salaries, pensions and gratuity. We have also been working on infrastructure in the state and when compared with three years ago, you will see major difference.
“We have done well over 320 kilometres of road. More importantly, the last government that ruled the state for eight years was APGA; so, it a continuous thing.’’
Obiano said that he had completed 80 per cent of the road projects awarded by the last administration, without abandoning any.
He said that the Onitsha Hotel and the mall in Awka were great legacies of his administration, adding that the Golden Tulip project would be open for business before Christmas.
The governor said that over 37 communities had been connected to the national grid, with street lights in most places.
He said that 181 communities in the state had benefited from government projects and that all the communities had completed their first set of N20 million projects, and that 82 communities were already working on second phase.
“This second term will help me to institutionalise the beautiful things that we have been able to do in the first tenure, particularly in the area of agriculture.’’
“Today, Anambra is self-sufficient in rice; when I took over in 2014 we were doing over 80,000 metric tonnes but today, with the addition of Ofuma integrated rice farm, we are doing 375 tonnes.’’
Obiano said that the state was targeting 578,000 metric tonnes in 2018, adding that since the state consumed 320,000 metric tonnes, it means that it was already self-sufficient in rice.
He said that the state exported “ugwu, onugbu, ichanwu leaves’’ and had received order to export five million tubers of yams to the United Kingdom.
This, he said, would create jobs for the youths and boost the four major pillars of agriculture, trade, oil and gas and industrialisation.
The governor added that the state was building a world-class airport, which would be available for inauguration in three years, saying “so, I am quite confident that we have done enough work to go into this election.’’
Receiving the form, National Chairman of APGA, Mr Victor Oye, said that the governor was doing well and that he would be screened on Saturday ahead of the party’s primaries on Tuesday in Awka.
“We are proud of the administration in Anambra, especially in the aspect of socio-economic development and that is why we are working hard to ensure that nobody takes Anambra from us.’’

Senate President Bukola Saraki has said the constitutional review at the plenary on Wednesday would include voting on Independent candidature.
He said this in a series of tweets while explaining the review.
He added that the creation of the office of Accountant General of Federal Govt and separation from the Accountant General of the Federation will also be considered.
see tweets below

A political interest group, Southwest Progressive Youths and Peoples Movement (SWYPM), has demanded the unconditional release of some All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Ekiti State who are being detained in Federal Prisons, Ado-Ekiti on alleged trumped-up charges.
Apart from the APC members, the group also deplored the arrest of those they referred to as progressive youths across the state.
Rising from its meeting held in Ado Ekiti at the weekend, the youths urged the Attorney General of the Federation, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), National Judicial Council (NJC), and the Police to launch an investigation into why the APC members ‎had been “perpetually kept behind bars.”
According to the communique signed by SWYPM National Coordinator, Taiwo Ajayi, and other exco members, the youths said they have commenced aggressive mobilization of young people to ensure the installation of a progressive government “that will return Ekiti to the good old days.”
It urged the youths to be creative and self-reliant rather than depending on government for all their needs at all times, saying this ‎will build their confidence and help maximize their potentials.

Former Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime has described the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as dead and gone.

The former governor noted that no matter how strong one was, when death called, one must answer, adding that the PDP they all belonged to was now dead.

Chime spoke when a former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Enugu State, Chief Joe Mmamel, on Saturday defected to the All Progressives Congress with over 1000 people.

The former commissioner completed his defection to the APC when he registered in Agu Obowa Ward II in Ezeagu Local Government Area of the state.

Mmamel was received by his ward Chairman of the APC, Chidozie Uchenna; state Chairman, Dr Ben Nwoye; National Vice Chairman (South-East), Chief Emma Enukwu and Sullivan Chime.

Mmamel in his acceptance speech, said that his decision to join the ruling party was to attract visible development to his local government and the state.

He said that communities there were in dire need of infrastructural uplift.

He said, “It is sad that the PDP is dead. Therefore, we need to align ourselves to a political party that will bring visible development to our people.

“We are going to a political party that will receive and help us to realise our dreams.”

Chime on his own said that it had become imperative for those remaining in the PDP in the state to chart a new course by looking for a better platform.

According to the former governor, having led the PDP in the state for eight years, he owed it a duty to direct his people on what is good.

He said, “The PDP we all belonged to is dead. If I fail to tell you, my conscience will judge me. One of the factional chairmen of the party even advised his followers recently to contest elections elsewhere.

“APC came into existence and barely one year after they dethroned the PDP. No matter how strong you are if death comes you must go and that was the lot of PDP.

“The party was strong nationally in 2015 because those of us in the states were strong. But it is now dead.

“If you see any PDP member pray for such person because they do not know what they are doing.

“They will come to you because they don’t have alternative and you should not laugh at them when they come.”

Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, not to sign the 2017 budget because it was illegally increased by the National Assembly.
Human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, not to sign the 2017 budget because it was illegally increased by the National Assembly.
Falana said in Ilorin, during a colloquium organised by the Movement for Genuine Change to mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of Kwara State.
He said the controversy behind whether the Acting President had presidential powers or not should stop since the president had transferred powers to the vice.
Falana said, “Pending the resumption of duties by President Buhari, the Acting President, Prof. Osinbajo, is competent to sign all bills validly passed by the NASS.
“If President Buhari did not exercise powers during his vacation even though he was in the country, why would he want to do so while he is on medical vacation abroad?
“Instead of dissipating energy over the competence of an appropriation bill signed into law by the Acting President, Nigerians should subject the 2017 budget to scrutiny.
“We are therefore calling on the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who is a professor of law not to endorse and sign the illegal appropriation bill of 2017 into law.”
Falana also said the National Assembly has no constitutional powers to increase the budget presented by Buhari.
He said the legislators erred constitutionally by increasing their share of the budget.
An Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Opadokun, who also spoke on the occasion, agreed with Falana that the National Assembly had no right to increase the budget.
He said, “The legislature does not have the legal authority to increase the budget because they are not the ones that will scout the revenues that will come in and they are not the ones to execute it.”

The North have declared that the zone must complete the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari if he fails to continue to lead the country due to his ill health.
According to a Second Republic House of Representatives member, Juniad Muhammed,  the North will insist on another two terms in 2019.
Mohammed, who made the remark while frowning at the current zoning system in the All Progressives Congress, APC, claimed that the North may agitate to see that power remains in the zone should anything happen to Buhari.
The trained medical doctor said, “The zoning in the Peoples Democratic Party has not worked. Now it is trending in the All Progressives Congress. It is either we fix it or ship it out altogether. If that is not done, then you have to go back and redress it by saying that in the course of zoning and rotation, (Umaru) Yar’Adua died in office.
“The years he ought to have spent in office were not compensated for. Those who are claiming that Yar’Adua was theirs or that he came from their region did not get the compensation that was due to them.
“We are now having a situation whereby Buhari is sick – whether he resigns or God forbid, something else happens, we are going to have the balance of Buhari’s years taken over by someone else from outside the zone Buhari comes from. What are we going to do? Are we going to say okay, nothing has happened, let’s carry on?
“They invoked the so-called Doctrine of Necessity and carried on. Whereas you can ignore agitations from people who didn’t win an election, you cannot ignore agitations from people who won an election. I have no doubt in my mind that Buhari won an election.
“What he has done with the mandate is another matter and I have been very critical about what has been happening.
“But the fact of the matter is, those who see Buhari as their representative and are not being treated justly are going to claim their own rights and the only way you are going to resolve the issue is that after Buhari’s administration, you have it zoned to a certain part of the country for eight to 10 years.
“Whether this makes sense in a democracy or not is beside the point, because I don’t support zoning and rotation.
“You should ask those who support it and see whether they can continue with the system.”

The Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, said on Friday that he had forgiven his political opponents for distracting him with litigation that lasted for about two years.
The governor said this while reacting to a Supreme Court judgment on Friday that affirmed him winner of the 2015 governorship election in the state.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Enyinnaya Appolos, Ikpeazu said he now expected all Abia indigenes, including his political opponents, to join hands with him in moving the state forward.
He said, “The time for politics is long over and I have forgiven all those that were bent on distracting me. Let all well-meaning Abians, including my opponents, come and join us to grow and develop our state without distractions as we ultimately have stakes in the growth and development of our state and people.
“Today, there is work to do in Abia and history will judge us by how much of that work we do, not by how much of politics we play. My doors are open to all, my ears are open to hearing and my eyes are strong enough to read suggestions on how we can best deliver greater dividends to those who really matter.”
The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed Ikpeazu’s win after dismissing the case of Uchechukwu Ogah, who had earlier obtained a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which removed Ikpeazu from office.
A five-man bench of the apex court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, unanimously dismissed Ogah’s appeal for lacking in substance on Friday.
An appeal filed by another aspirant in the 2015 governorship election, Friday Nwosu, with respect to the subject matter was also dismissed in the same judgment.
Justice Dattijo Mohammed, who prepared the lead judgment, was absent on Friday, but his decision was read by another member of the panel, Justice Ejembi Eko.
In the judgment, the apex court directed each of the appellants (Ogah and Nwosu) to pay N500, 000 in favour of Ikpeazu and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Justice Okon Abang, then of the Federal High Court, Abuja (now of Asaba Division), had in his judgment delivered on June 27, 2015, sacked Ikpeazu and directed the Chief Judge of Abia State to swear in Ogah as governor.
Ogah was the plaintiff in the case and was a runner-up in the PDP primaries won by Ikpeazu.
Justice Abang had agreed with the plaintiff that Ikpeazu was not qualified to have contested the 2015 election in the state on the grounds of alleged falsehood and discrepancies in the governor’s tax documents attached to Form CF001, which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission for his nomination as the PDP governorship candidate in the state.
But in its judgment delivered on August 18, 2016, a five-man panel of the appeal court, led by Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, nullified Justice Abang’s judgment and set aside all the orders, including the one directing INEC to issue fresh certificate of return to Ogah.
The Supreme Court, in its unanimous decision on Friday, affirmed the substantial decision of the Court of Appeal.
The court held that it was detrimental to Ogah’s case that the PDP’s guideline around which the suit of the plaintiff was built was not presented before the court.
Highlighting the key issues in the judgment, the CJN said, “Was the lower court right by saying that the originating summons was a wrong mode of commencement of action in the sense that the facts were irreconcilable. That issue is resolved in favour of the appellant.
“But the lower court was right to hold that the PDP’s guidelines ought to have been exhibited to enable the court to assume jurisdiction properly.
“We agree that the use of the originating summons was proper but the PDP guidelines ought to have been exhibited for the court to look at.”
Justice Onnoghen also held that Ogah was unable to establish his case.
He held that the entire case lacked substance and was nothing but “a storm in the teacup.”

A group, Coalition of Progressives Youths Congress (CPYC) has said, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State will die if the right people are not appointed into good positions in the present administration in the state.
The group also accused some members of the party of secretly funding the Alliance for Democracy (AD) for selfish political ambitions.
Addressing Journalists in Akure, the state capital, Coordinator of the group, Olayemi Daudu said those who hold the structure of the party in their respective local government areas must be empowered so as to maintain the party.
Daudu, who condemned an alleged anti party activity of a chieftain of the party in Akure North, called on governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and other leaders of the party to beam searchlight on activities of some chieftains of the party in the local government.
He also called on Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who hails from Akure North and Hon. Saka Yusuf Ogunleye to join hands together and expose the activity of the money bag politician who is secretly financing the AD in the area.
According to the group, nothing could be more anti party than dishing out Jamb forms to members of the AD while most loyalists of the APC deserved such gesture.
Daudu said the APC in the state will break if the trusted and loyal party people are not appointed into good position of office.
“We know our leaders, the leader of all leaders, Engr. Ade Adetimehin can also attest to this. Engr. Adetimehin knows those who are loyal, those who truly worked for this party and he can point them one after the other.
“We know how passionate Senator Alasoadura worked for this party in the last election, people like him also know those who really worked and those that can be trusted.
“We like to call on the governor to ensure that trusted people are put in position, so as not to bring danger into both the party and the government”, he said.
Daudu also made a passionate appeal to the governor to ensure that leaders of the party were on the same page, stressing that it was the only way the APC can move forward.
He reasoned that since the elections into state and National Assemblies will be taking place soon, there was need for the party to be rooted in unity.
“We must hold this party firmly, we must consider the success of this party first, yes, we are in government but don’t let us to be carried away.
“The battle we fought in the past can’t be compared with what is coming, an analytical mind will understand that the coming elections will be tough, that’s why we need to have a united house and expunge betrayers among us”, he noted.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said that a governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress will be sworn in in Anambra state next year.
Ngige stated this on Friday night during a stakeholders’ meeting of the party in Awka, the Anambra state capital.
He said “Mark my words; on the 19th of November, an APC governor will be declared the winner of Anambra state governorship election and on 17th of March next year he will be sworn as the governor of the state.
“Nothing will stop this because will have worked hard for it, besides the man currently occupying the position has lost the support of the people because of poor performance.”
He said “We won’t fight, we won’t war, but we will take over Anambra State. It’s the easiest fight we shall do.”
“The most important task we must achieve is to get a credible candidate that will win the election.”
He asked members and delegates of the party to shun money politics in the choice of their candidate during party primary.
The meeting attracted APC governorship aspirants in the state, including Dr. George Moghalu, Senator Andy Uba, Dr. Tony Nwoye, Engineer Barth Nwibe, Dr. Obinna Uzor among others.

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop giving unnecessary excuses and justify the mandate Nigerians gave the party.
He made this call yesterday, while flagging off the dredging/sand filling of Abalama in Asari-Toru and Bakana in Degema local government areas of the state.
Governor Wike said that the Rivers State government was redefining politics in Nigeria by ensuring that campaign promises were kept.
He said at the separate flag off of the land reclamation projects: “We are redefining the pattern of politics in Nigeria. You cannot use people and dump them. We cannot give everyone money, but we can execute projects that everybody will benefit from.”
Speaking on the failure of the APC Federal Government to live up to the expectation of Nigerians, he said: “We are not like those who said they will make one naira to equal one dollar. Instead of actualising their promise, they are busy giving excuses”.
The governor urged the APC Federal Government to settle down and focus on fulfilling the several promises they made to Nigerians.
He said that the APC got the mandate on the strength of its promises to Nigerians, saying that it was uncharitable for the APC government to blame previous government, when it should be working.
The governor said the dredging, stand filing and reclamation projects, which run through the three Kalabari local government areas, would entrench development in the area.
He announced that the sum of N500 million had been released to complete the Degema General Hospital, pointing out that he would liaise with the Commissioner of Police to build a police station in the community to forestall insecurity.

The United States of America and the United Kingdom have expressed confidence in Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to very the continuation of the anti-corruption war
President Muhammadu Buhari had returned to the UK for medical follow-up last week.
Spokesman for the US Embassy in Nigeria, Russell Brooks said the US believes in President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Brooks said, “We are very much in favour of President (Muhammadu) Buhari’s campaign against corruption. We also believe that Acting President (Yemi) Osinbajo is strongly committed to this agenda and will continue to pursue it while President Buhari is out of the country.”
Spokesman of the UK High Commission in  Nigeria, Joseph Abuku also said the country has confidence in Buhari and Osinbajo.
“The Vice President is acting President in President (Muhammadu) Buhari’s absence. The United Kingdom has full confidence in both he (Osinbajo) and President Buhari. Questions on President Buhari’s health should be directed to his office,” Abuku said.
Recently, the US had praised the Buhari administration’s current agenda of fighting insecurity and corruption.

Nigeria is a land of opportunity. And I do not mean this the way Nigerian politicians usually mean it, as a cliched speech for the campaign trail. I mean this from the bottom of my heart because it is true and I have benefited from it and I can prove it.
Nigeria ought to change her educational model. Our educational system is still by and large a colonial model where the occupying colonial power merely trained a select few natives for the purpose of having clerks and translators to run their exploitative government. It was never designed to transfer knowledge that prepares the recipient to add value to Nigeria.
Our educational system is also designed to train the bulk of its intake to be nothing more than paper pushers who daily clock watch, while waiting for the end of the month to collect salaries that enables them to their insatiable lust for foreign goods.
Our educational system does not make us productive. It does not teach us to seize initiative. In fact, it kills initiative. Many Nigerian children who show initiative at an early age are made to feel ashamed of their initiative by their teachers themselves who call them ITK (meaning I Too Know). The subliminal message underlying that common label is that it is not our place to be overly intelligent or curious. We ought to leave that to the oyinbo man.
It is for this reason that Nigerian youths feel it is the job of the government to provide jobs for them. Pay attention to what I said. Our youths do not think it is government’s responsibility to provide the enabling environments for jobs to thrive. No. They believe, because of the type of education they have received, that it is the responsibility of government to provide actual jobs for them.
They have been falsely taught that the secret of success is to go to school, get a certificate and that that certificate acts as a receipt that you hand over to government in exchange for a guaranteed life of ease, laziness and entitlement, along with an official car, a driver, official quarters and domestic workers that do everything for you except help you do your business in the toilet.
That is the life their grandparents saw the colonial masters live. When their grandparents came of age, they chose to live that same life forgetting that the colonial masters where little more than an army of occupation whose mindset was to take and not necessarily to build except to the extent of building railways and roads from mines and farms directly to ports for onward transportation of the wealth of Africa to Europe and teaching (perhaps brainwashing is a better term) the natives to accept their particular brand of Christianity (which invariably has their monarch and not Christ as the head of the Church).


This is why a Nigerian youth who lives in Kaduna can complain that the government has not provided him or her with a job. Yet, Kaduna rice sells for almost double in Lagos. The government that he or she complains against has built a railway and train that will take them to Lagos for less than ₦2,000. They do not need a visa to go to Lagos.
Even the Bible says “my people perish from lack of knowledge.” Yes, the Muhammadu Buhari administration is inept, but this clueless government is not your problem. The problem of the Nigerian youth is an educational system that has robbed him of initiative and pumped him full of entitlement to the extent that he or she is expecting manna from heaven. The problem is mental laziness. The problem is YOU!
Probably the best thing that ever happened to Nigeria’s economy and her educational system is the second coming of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and her brilliant imitatives with former President Jonathan, chief of which was the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) initiative.
I just finished writing a book on the Jonathan administration titled Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years (Chibok, 2015 and Other Conspiracies). In it I devoted a whole chapter to YouWIN.


Even though I was somewhat involved in the process, I was nonetheless impressed when I took in the bird’s eye view of the scheme and how successful it was in creating jobs and changing the mindset of Nigeria’s youth.
It was not that YouWIN gave grants, although it did give grants ranging from $12,000 to $100,000 to over 4,000 Nigerian youths. The beauty of the initiative was that it provided business and financial education to tens of thousands of Nigeria’s youth and hopefully changed their outlook from one of entitlement to one of self reliance.
Unknown to many Nigerians, YouWIN is actually the world’s largest business plan competition ever created.
When David Mackenzie, a Senior Economist at the World Bank, did an Independent Impact Evaluation on YouWIN, which he published in 2015, McKenzie found that YouWin was two and half times as efficient as a 2013 management consulting program in Mexico, four and a half times as efficient as a 2014 wage subsidy program in Jordan and almost ten times as efficient as a 2011 vocational training program in Turkey.
That is why it was rather disappointing that President Muhammadu Buhari could not see beyond politics to understand the need to retain the initiative. Rather, his administration reduced Nigeria’s most successful job creation effort to “a weekly print media enterprise education programme designed to assist entrepreneurs start, plan and grow their businesses” which it christened YouWiN!Connect, an aberration and a bastardization of the original idea which has gone the way of other harebrained ideas that the current administration came up with including Change Begins With Me and the N-Power scheme (emphasis on scheme).
It is very sad to see what has happened to initiatives like YouWIN and the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovations and Development, Almajiri Schools etc. Sound policies, patriotic initiatives and powerful ideas that should have been consolidated into Nigeria’s educational system have been either canceled, watered down or left to wither away. And look at the impact such actions have had on the economy.
Speaking of the economy, the last time Nigeria had a Coordinator was in 2011 when President Goodluck Jonathan nominated Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as a minister and upon her confirmation named her the Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
How sad that in 2017, six years after that event, Nigeria has now got her second Coordinator and no, it is not another minister. It is no less a personality than the incumbent Vice President who has been reduced, in the estimation of his boss, from an acting President to a Coordinator.
In his first letter to the Senate on February 10, 2017, before going on medical vacation, President Buhari had used the correct nomenclature to describe the role that would be played by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
In the said letter, the Vice President was to ‘act’ on his behalf.
How very strange that in his second letter to the Senate on May 7, 2017, before going to see his London doctors, President Buhari curiously changed the wordings of his letter and named the Vice President as someone who would “coordinate’ rather than ‘act’!
And to those who are saying that the nomenclature does not matter, go home and call your father ‘my mother’s husband’ and after he has slapped you back into reality come back here and realize that if it is not panadol it is not the same thing as panadol.
Vice President Osinbajo did a very good job the last time he was acting President and as such no one who loves Nigeria should hesitate to accord him the respect he has earned even though by reason of his peculiar situation he cannot complain about this shabby treatment meted out on him for fear of playing into the hands of the ‘Cabal’.
I think the President was not too happy with vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s good performance the last time which out-shined him hence this Coordinator of National Affairs business. Where are our constitutional lawyers? Can’t somebody approach the court to stop this nonsense? Coordinator of National Affairs is unknown to our constitution! Our constitution was not made for President Muhammadu Buhari. Rather, President Buhari was made by our constitution and must be subject to it President or not!
Finally, on the recent release of some of the kidnapped girls, let me say that anybody that is not happy that 82 Chibok girls were released must be a monster whose humanity should be called into question. I thank God that these girls have been released and I commend the Federal Government for the feat of ensuring that these girls are reunited with their families. May God bless President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the leadership that enabled this to happen.
Having said that, there are some factual observations I want to raise. What you are about to read is completely devoid of any opinion. I am just stating facts. You may not like the facts. You may not even like me. But one thing you cannot do is ignore the fact.
Why should a Presidential spokesman turn himself to a praise singer for a terrorist group? Read the following quote:
“To be honest, without appearing to speak for Boko Haram, from the outlook of these girls, they appear better in terms of their physical outlook than the 21 we received before.”-Garba Shehu, President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman.
What can one even say when a Presidential spokesman praises Boko Haram for looking after Chibok girls well! What can I say? I am speechless!
On May 7, 2017, when the girls were ferried over to the Nigerian Presidential Villa at Aso Rock, Abuja to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, photographs released showed them looking very well fed and robust.
In fact, the next day (May 8) Africa’s top blog, Linda Ikeji’s blog published a photo of the released girls side by side with a picture of a woman and her baby in one of the Internally Displaced Persons camp in Borno state for a side by side comparison and these Chibok girls, who had been living rough inside Sambisa forest looked well fed, well groomed and buxom while the woman in the IDP camp looked haggard and hungry. It leaves you questioning who has been in captivity and who has been free. How is this possible?
This is not the first time Chibok girls have been released. Almost exactly a year ago, just a week before the current Nigerian administration marked its first year in office some Chibok girls were also released. Another batch were released in October 2016. The thing is that when these girls are released there is a media blackout on them. No one is allowed near them to interview them.
I understand that they have gone through an ordeal, but Malala also went through a similar or even worse ordeal and no one shielded her from the press. Malala Yousafzai was shot at age 15 by the taliban and left unconscious. She survived and she was threatened by the taliban who threatened to kill her should they catch her.
Her case was one of clear and present danger. Yet she was not sequestered from the public even though, like the Chibok girls, her English was not so good at first. In fact, an international press tour was arranged for her placing her on the world stage and kickstarting the activism that earned her a Nobel Prize making her the youngest person ever to be so awarded.
One would have thought that that is what would have played out for the released girls.
Last October, 21 Chibok girls were release by Boko Haram after negotiations. Till date, these girls have been kept from the press. Even their own parents are not allowed access to them according to a New York Times piece on them published on March 11, 2017. The girls are kept in S safe house according to the New York Times. During the Christmas holidays they were allowed to visit Chibok but were housed in the home of a “top politician”. Their parents were only allowed to ‘visit them’. Soldiers guarded the girls and after some hours asked the parents of the girls to leave.
Let me say again that I am glad that they have been released and I pray that the remaining captives are also released but questions remain and when you attempt to raise them, you are shouted down by suspected members of the Buhari Media Center that Farooq Kperogi warned us about.
Reno’s Nuggets:
And now for my nugget of the week.
A woman who is looking for a perfect husband will never marry, for there are no perfect men, few good men and many regular men. In fact, foolish women fall for men who know how to pleasure them. Wise women go for men who know how to treasure them.
A refined girl is better than a fine girl because fineness fades fast with age but refinement improves as you mature. And finally, whether you are a man or a woman, don’t be ashamed of your background. Focus on improving your future. Jesus was born in an animal barn but now lives in heaven #RenosNuggets
Reno Omokri is a Christian TV talk show host and founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and the Helen and Bemigho Sanctuary for orphans. He is the author of three books, Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, Why Jesus Wept and Apples of Gold: A Book of Godly Wisdom. His book, Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015 and Other Conspiracies, is set for release in June.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday in Abuja, said the 2017 budget approved by the National Assembly on Thursday would usher in better development in the country.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, gave the assurance in an interview on Friday.
He said that rather than criticise the budget, Nigerians should commend the lawmakers and APC leadership for making it open for public scrutiny before it was passed.
Abdullahi dismissed insinuations that the budget may have been padded by the lawmakers and said that the National Assembly deserved commendation.
He said that Nigerians were able to know how much was allocated to each sector of the economy, “because for the first time in Nigeria’s democratic history, its budget was open to public for scrutiny’’.
“By making the budget available to the public for scrutiny, they are demonstrating that we meant it when our party said we are going to operate within the principle of probity and accountability.
“What happened at the National Assembly is unprecedented because for the first time, Nigerians are seeing the details of the budget and this should be commended,” Abdullahi said.
NAN recalls that in passing the 2017 Appropriation Bill, the assembly raised the figure from N7.30 trillion proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Dec. 14, 2016, when he presented it, to N7.44 trillion.

Chief Ogbonaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology, on Friday, assured the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria of the Federal Government’s support for its mini refinery project.
Onu made this pledge during a visit to the site of the mini refinery at ABU’s main campus, Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State.
He said that Nigeria had relied on the three refineries built between the 1960s and 1980s by foreigners “but I am so happy to be here for a number of reasons; the most important is that we must develop our own technology.”
He also said that, “Nigeria must develop its technology to enable us build an economy that is based on knowledge as well as innovation driven.”
The minister, however, expressed happiness that from what was on ground in ABU, though, a small scale refinery, Nigeria had come of age.
“But you have to start small and increase to a greater level, I am highly impressed.
“I have just spoken with the Director General and Chief Executive, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC).
The minister, who lauded ABU for the giant stride in the oil sector, charged the university not to relent in its research and development initiatives.
He noted that once the project was accomplished, it would greatly assist in teaching students both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
“Once you understand how to refine the crude oil, then you will extend it to so many other things.
“Many people do not even know that palm oil can also be refined into many other fractions; many very valuable products that are needed in the pharmaceutical industry and other sectors of the economy,” Onu said.
The minister lauded the RMRDC for the support given to ABU towards the project and pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to the realisation of its success.