Top Redeemed Pastor involved in a fraudulent property deal (pics)

Pastor Jamiu Isola Kolawole

A top minister with The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Ikosi Parish, Ketu district, Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole has been arrested and charged before a Lagos court for allegedly defrauded one of his tenants, Dr Emeka Ugwunze to the tune of N9 million in Lagos.

The incident happened at 2 Gbagada Road, Gbagada, Lagos where Ugwunze rented an apartment on a two-storey building owned by Kolawole.

The defendant is now facing Criminal charge of obtaining money under false pretence and stealing before Isolo Magistrate’s court presided by Mrs O.A. Adedayo.

The 57-year old Kolawole, who was once deported from abroad, approached his tenant, Dr Ugwunze and asked him to pay seven years rent arrears because he was facing financial challenges due to his deportation.

The contentious house

P.M.EXPRESS learnt that about one month later, he approached Ugwunze again and informed him that he had hectares of land in his Ikorodu hometown and he needed money to perfect the land documentation so that he would sell part of the land and use the rest to build houses on the remaining.

Kolawole then told his tenant that he wanted to sell his two-storey building, and use the money to process the Ikorodu land document at the Lagos State Land Bureau .

He explained to the victim that he did not want to sell the house to another person because he had assisted him in the past.

And to prove how serious and commited, Kolawole handed over to Ugwunze all the house documents to prove to him he actually wanted to sell the house.

During the court proceedings, Kolawole admitted that Ugwunze paid him the total sum of N9 million out of the N20 million they agreed with further agreement that he would pay the balance at a further date.

However, after obtaining the initial money, he then disappeared and refused to sign deed of transfer to Ugwunze.

When it was time to balance him the remaining N11 million, Kolawole said he had changed his mind as his family advised him against selling the house.

When Ugwunze requested that the suspect should refund the initial N9 million paid to him, it was then he allegedly started dribbling Ugwunze for almost seven years now.

The scam was reported to the Special Fraud Unit and Kolawole was arrested and charged to court.

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect the bail condition.

During the trial, Kolawole admitted that he actually obtained the money and wanted to sell the house but reneged when Ugwunze defaulted by not paying the balance.

He also told the court that he actually handed the house documents and was unable to return the litigant’s money because he took him to court.

The matter was adjourned till 11 April for cross examination and continuation of trial

Half unclad rice retailers protest inhuman treatment by Nigerian Customs (pic)

With chants of “bring back our rice,” scores of traders at the Sango-Ota Market Thursday appealed to the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, to help retrieve their seized bags of rice from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Some of the aggrieved traders, who stripped Unclad, mounted a human blockade at the main entrance of the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, demanding his immediate intervention.

Customs operatives from the Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, Lagos had in the early hours of Wednesday raided the Sango-Ota market, carting away thousands of bags of rice and jerry cans of vegetable oil.

Miffed by the seizure, which they described as “injustice,” hundreds of rice sellers and youths barricaded the Abeokuta-Lagos Expressway in protest and paralysed traffic and commercial activities for about 14 hours.

Some of the traders, under the aegis of Sango Marketers Association, stormed Amosun’s office Thursday and called for his intervention over the alleged invasion by the Customs men.

They were armed with placards bearing different inscriptions such as “Customs bring back our rice;” and “Our rights are being trampled upon by Customs officers of FOU, Ikeja,” among others.

The rice sellers, who were led by their coordinator, Alhaja Wakilat Salako, said some of the affected traders have been hospitalised due to the huge losses suffered from the raid.

Salako said 4,200 bags of rice were taken away by the law enforcement agents contrary to earlier reports that 18,000 bags were carted away.

See the video:

In an effort to further ease economic gridlock, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday released new foreign exchange policy actions.

The CBN in a press release said the new forex policy will help ease the challenges faced by Nigerians in obtaining fund for foreign exchange transactions.

Having managed to scoop up the foreign reserves to $29.3 billion, the CBN has broadened its forex supply policy by including the previously excluded categories, medical needs, school fees, Personal and Business Travel, and reduce the tenor of it forex forward sales contracts.

Here are the key aspect of the new policy;

School and Medical Fees

Perhaps, this is the most important aspect of the policy. One, because it shows it’s an inclusive government, where people’s needs are given priority.

Two, understanding the challenges face by parents, guardians and sponsors, the CBN appropriated about $20 million dollars weekly for commercial banks to cater for school fees payment and others, but in order to check banks’ excesses, commercial banks were directed to pay directly to the institution specified by the customer.

According to the CBN, this will ensure “that as many customers as possible get the foreign exchange they genuinely demand.” Also, banks are instructed to do the same for customers seeking to buy foreign exchange for medical bills or make payment to hospitals.

Again, the CBN has said the supply of forex to retail end-users (PTA, BTA, School fees, medical bills, etc.) would be sustained by the apex bank.

Forex Sales Tenor

Previously, commercial banks have to wait for 180 days before their forex forward sales contracts mature, but in order to increase market liquidity and boost economic activities, the CBN has significantly reduced the current maximum cycle to 60 days from the transaction date.

However, this depends on the sustenance of current oil production level and gradual increase towards 2.2 mbpd NNPC target. Any further attack on the pipeline will undermine current progress and impede the nation from taking advantage of the surge in global oil prices to revamp the economy and effectively fund it diversification agenda.

Forex Sales at Major Airports

To further ensure that travelers access forex at a more competitive exchange rates and ease their burden, the CBN has directed commercial banks around the country to open forex retail outlets at major airports.

This, will not just ease traveler’s burden but significantly reduce parallel market patronage and gradually close the gap between the official rate and black market’s rate, since commercial banks are instructed not to sell above 20 percent of the official interbank market rate (N305).

Clearing Backlogs

Accordingly, the CBN will immediately begin the implementation of its articulated program to clear all the backlogs in the interbank forex market. Likewise, effective intervention programme would be implemented to ensure the interbank market is well-liquid and function efficiently.

This is one of the highlights of the new forex policy because the inability of commercial banks to meet financial obligations have forced them to introduce all kinds of charges that have worsened the nation economic situation and stress bank’s customers.

Similarly, Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said clearing forex backlogs will allow banks meet financial obligations and restore normalcy to the banking sector. Noting that economic recovery depends largely on both policy makers and implementation, which according to the agency depend on financial institutions.

Overall, the policy appears sound and tailored to help bolster economic activities. However, “the effectiveness of the new policy depend on sustenance, while sustenance depends on continuous foreign exchange generation through the sales of crude oil,” said Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange research analyst at Investors King Limited. “An attack on any of the pipelines can disrupt the whole policy and hinder the nation from progress economic recovery,” he added.

Since the new policy was introduced, the Naira has gained about N19 to trade at N501 on the parallel market on Wednesday, after reaching the all-time high of N520 on Monday.In an effort to further ease economic gridlock, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday released new foreign exchange policy actions.

The CBN in a press release said the new forex policy will help ease the challenges faced by Nigerians in obtaining fund for foreign exchange transactions.

Having managed to scoop up the foreign reserves to $29.3 billion, the CBN has broadened its forex supply policy by including the previously excluded categories, medical needs, school fees, Personal and Business Travel, and reduce the tenor of it forex forward sales contracts.

Here are the key aspect of the new policy;

School and Medical Fees

Perhaps, this is the most important aspect of the policy. One, because it shows it’s an inclusive government, where people’s needs are given priority.

Two, understanding the challenges face by parents, guardians and sponsors, the CBN appropriated about $20 million dollars weekly for commercial banks to cater for school fees payment and others, but in order to check banks’ excesses, commercial banks were directed to pay directly to the institution specified by the customer.

According to the CBN, this will ensure “that as many customers as possible get the foreign exchange they genuinely demand.” Also, banks are instructed to do the same for customers seeking to buy foreign exchange for medical bills or make payment to hospitals.

Again, the CBN has said the supply of forex to retail end-users (PTA, BTA, School fees, medical bills, etc.) would be sustained by the apex bank.

Forex Sales Tenor

Previously, commercial banks have to wait for 180 days before their forex forward sales contracts mature, but in order to increase market liquidity and boost economic activities, the CBN has significantly reduced the current maximum cycle to 60 days from the transaction date.

However, this depends on the sustenance of current oil production level and gradual increase towards 2.2 mbpd NNPC target. Any further attack on the pipeline will undermine current progress and impede the nation from taking advantage of the surge in global oil prices to revamp the economy and effectively fund it diversification agenda.

Forex Sales at Major Airports

To further ensure that travelers access forex at a more competitive exchange rates and ease their burden, the CBN has directed commercial banks around the country to open forex retail outlets at major airports.

This, will not just ease traveler’s burden but significantly reduce parallel market patronage and gradually close the gap between the official rate and black market’s rate, since commercial banks are instructed not to sell above 20 percent of the official interbank market rate (N305).

Clearing Backlogs

Accordingly, the CBN will immediately begin the implementation of its articulated program to clear all the backlogs in the interbank forex market. Likewise, effective intervention programme would be implemented to ensure the interbank market is well-liquid and function efficiently.

This is one of the highlights of the new forex policy because the inability of commercial banks to meet financial obligations have forced them to introduce all kinds of charges that have worsened the nation economic situation and stress bank’s customers.

Similarly, Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said clearing forex backlogs will allow banks meet financial obligations and restore normalcy to the banking sector. Noting that economic recovery depends largely on both policy makers and implementation, which according to the agency depend on financial institutions.

Overall, the policy appears sound and tailored to help bolster economic activities. However, “the effectiveness of the new policy depend on sustenance, while sustenance depends on continuous foreign exchange generation through the sales of crude oil,” said Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange research analyst at Investors King Limited. “An attack on any of the pipelines can disrupt the whole policy and hinder the nation from progress economic recovery,” he added.

Since the new policy was introduced, the Naira has gained about N19 to trade at N501 on the parallel market on Wednesday, after reaching the all-time high of N520 on Monday.

I Want to Go to London… to See Buhari

When 15 million plus Nigerians voted for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 General elections, their expectation was that he would be available to serve them 24/7/365, and that those who fielded him as their candidate had done their home work to avoid what is curiously becoming the Katsina problem in Nigerian politics. Katsina! But we have now found ourselves in a situation whereby our President is now in London, for more than one month sir, ma, and we are here, and we have an acting President, who according to everybody, including the extremists and the mischievous, and the politically partisan, is beginning to try his best, with his admirers, now praying for the worst.

For that reason alone, we have an emotionally, politically and spiritually divided country on our hands. Don’t mind what they tell you, and don’t deceive yourself, the Nigerian Presidency is in turmoil. It is not our wish. It is not what the voters asked for. But that is how democracy works. You cannot predict the results that democracy produces. Not even in America. Or Russia.

Now that we have found ourselves in this situation, anyway – an absentee President trying to remain relevant and an acting President struggling to put up appearances, and struggling harder not to be seen to be ambitious (sorry, Prof. I was your student but I have something to say sir, I don’t mean any harm – truth be told), where should the Nigerian people stand? For the past one month, we have all been trapped in a post-truth situation, pretending as if all is normal. We should stop pretending.

Those who supported and are supporting the APC that brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power and office cannot talk. They cannot talk due to embarrassment and shame. They are busy putting up a face. But for how long can they do this? The Nigerian media is also on its knees, looking so pitiable, with the exception of a few blogs, newspapers that we can’t even trust, professional media consultants who are in disarray, a few bloggers and then some gentlemen: Pa Ikhide, Farooq Kperogi, Sonala Olumhense, Omoyele Sowore, Pius Adesanmi and Okey Ndibe who have since been specially illuminated as they journeyed to Damascus.

I will return to this subject some other day. But I think right now, we should begin to take the subject of the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari more seriously. Bukola Saraki, our Senate President has visited him in London, twice, within two weeks. I don’t think we should leave this business of visiting the President to party chieftains, the executive and the Federal Legislature. If care is not taken, Senator Saraki may be tempted to visit the President again next week. And the week after and he may even be tempted to travel with all the members of the National Assembly. There must be equity in this matter.

Figure it out as follows: we all know that President Buhari is now in London and he is the man Nigerians chose as their President in 2015. We cannot forsake him. He is in London on working leave, for more than one month now, and we don’t know when that leave will end. We have been told it will end soon. Later. One day. Whenever. We are not God. Let the leave end when it will. But we, the people, have a duty to stand by our President. This is the point of this article. We are Africans. We have traditions. We respect elders. We don’t joke with old age. The time has come, right now, for Nigerians to behave like Africans.

We should therefore, not leave this business of visiting to Senator Busola Saraki alone. Party chieftains have visited Mr. President. The leadership of the National Assembly has also gone to London to be part of President Buhari’s working leave. I think Vice-President-Acting-President Yemi Osinabjo should also visit his boss, this week, next week, or ASAP. Henceforth, he should be in London at least once a week. Let us stop pretending that the President is not in charge. He is. If Aso Villa is now in London, let us make it work. The Acting President and the real President need quality face time. If the acting President must go to London everyday, let him do so, but don’t let us run Nigeria by telephone or DHL Am I making sense? I am not talking about common sense. I mean real sense. So, do I make any sense at all?

After the Acting President’s visit, all former Presidents should also start going to London to see the President. Those former Presidents are not as harmless as they pretend to be. They are projected to the public as advisers but they are more than that: they all left something in Aso Villa that makes them eternally powerful. It is like leaving your DNA in a woman’s body. They should be allowed or perhaps encouraged to visit President Buhari while he is on working leave. I think our Baba in Abeokuta, Ota and Ibogun should be the first to visit. That may negate the order of seniority, but trust the Ebora Owu to return from London with front-page news! After him, the others can start visiting and probably advise on the possibility of holding a Council of State meeting in London. As it were, the Nigerian Constitution does not insist that the Council of State Meeting must be held inside Nigeria. The main subject of that first historic, diaspora, Council of State Meeting should be phrased by OBJ in his own unique way: “Momodu: are you well or sick?”

There is something called the separation of powers. I don’t want to disrespect mi’lords but I think they too should go to London. The National Judicial Council (NJC) should put together a high-powered delegation of judges from every part of the country, from all divisions, and level, to proceed post-haste to London to visit, no, to confer with President Buhari on matters of judicial interest to the nation. But Sirs, don’t go there and talk about the welfare of judges, or the non-payment of your entitlements – if you try that, well, I won’t be in a position to tell you what awaits you on your return. You know mi’lords, as well as I do, that the law in Nigeria is now being made to look truly like an ass!

After the judges, okay may be the Nigerian Bar Association should also send a delegation, but I don’t trust many of our lawyers. They think they know the law, and they could go to London and say things that will disrupt the President’s working leave. To make that impossible, members of the NBA should be booked on an Arik flight to London, please. But if they get there, fine. The next delegation should be that of Permanent Secretaries. These ones should spend more than a week in London with the President. In fact, they can stay with him till he returns. If they also have medical issues, they should use the opportunity to ask for tests, with the condition that they must return immediately the President leaves London, notwithstanding the status of their own medical tests!

Once the Permanent Secretaries have been fully accommodated in London, the Ministers, those who were once dismissed by their own employer as “noise-makers”, and who have proven to be no better, should also visit London. They can go ahead and make as much noise as they wish in London and even enjoy the benefit of a full Federal Executive Council Meeting. I suspect that this will be a particularly productive FEC meeting. If the people in the Foreign Affairs Ministry know what they are doing, however, they would arrange ahead of that meeting in London, a special meeting with Theresa May, Prime Minister of Great Britain, followed by a dinner with Her Majesty the Queen of England, with a proviso, please, please, please, that nobody should bring up the issue of Biafra or Southern Kaduna after shaking the Queen’s hand, and there should be a strict guarantee that President Buhari will be accompanied by his extremely beautiful wife, Aisha, and he will not, meeting the Queen, no matter how excited, make the mistake of referring to “za oza room”.

Stop laughing, my friend; this is how you people cause problems for innocent writers. What I am now trying to add having made all these points above, is that the Governors’ Forum should also visit President Buhari in London. The Governors have already signified their intention to do so and that seems to be fine with the Nigerian public. The Governors should therefore appoint representatives who should proceed to London. When they meet with the President, they should hold a special prayer session with three prayer points: one, that President Buhari will not work for another person to come and eat; two: that the demons of Aso Rock will spare and forgive him and his family; three: that President Buhari will return to Nigeria with his two feet. The Governor to lead the prayer should be Peter Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.

If he starts sounding as he has been sounding in recent times, Nasir el-Rufai should be asked to take the microphone from him. And if Nasir sounds like he is playing politics, as he has been doing, Adams Oshiomhole who will like to be there anyway, as a Governor ex-officio, should be given the microphone and asked to pray for the President as best as he can or as best as Trotsky could.

I have left out some people. In the past month, some Imams and ulamas and concerned relatives have been reported in the media, holding prayer sessions for a hale and hearty President who is just in London to enjoy the weather and do some quality check-ups, private and public. These prayer warriors have prayed and prayed in Abuja, Daura, Borno and everywhere else. The matter is so serious that nobody should be surprised if Rochas Okorocha or James Ibori organizes a prayer session for Muhammadu Buhari. This is the biggest business in Nigeria at this moment.

I think, therefore, that we should also encourage the ulamas and the imams to visit. Let them go to London and pray for their President. We have been told they have been sending prayers through skype, whatsapp and the air, the same channels that GSM service providers in Nigeria now want to block. Let the imams go to London then and let the verses of the Holy Quoran rain down. It will be unfair not to allow Christian leaders to go to London too. They are also anxious to go to London. Pastor Tunde Bakare, my beloved, secondary school senior should lead that team. His job should be to screen out any Pastor with Biafra, or Southern Kaduna or pro-PDP blood in him or her. I mean Pastors like Reno Omokri, Ebun Adegboruwa…. you get what I am saying? The prayer should be commissioned!

Traditional rulers, bloggers, public intellectuals, trolls, and journalists! Oh, I almost forgot. I think we should also be invited to London to have tea with the President. I volunteer to lead that team but if I am considered unpopular, since they say I am not one of them, let @ikhide, @akaebube, or @dejiadeyanju, @realFFK, or @YeleSowore, be the team leader. But please, make sure we have on that list, @lindaikeji, @SDimokoKORKUS, @emepretty1, @bellanaija, @omojuwa, @ChiomaChuka, @AbangMercy, @toyeenb, @MrStanleyNwabia and… and… My friend, STFU! I am not planning a special episode of #bbnaija. I just want to go to London and see …my President.

Nigeria expect Solar ecplise this Sunday February 26th

The National Space Research and Development Agency has said that there would be a partial Solar eclipse across the country on Feb. 26.

The Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Dr Felix Ale, in a statement on Thursday said, “A partial solar eclipse will be visible all over the country with different degree of totality to occur on Sunday, February 26.”

According to Ale, the highest degree of obscurity of 33 percent will be observed in the country during the natural occurrence in the southern part of Nigeria, particularly Port Harcourt, Uyo and Calabar.

He said that the lowest degree of obscurity would be about nine percent in the northern part of Nigeria, particularly in Kebbi.

Ale noted that in the South-West, the level of obscurity would be 23 per cent at about 5.42 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

He, however, said it would be recording 28 to 30 per cent between 4.45 p.m. and 6.33 p.m. in the South-East.

“Meanwhile, the level of obscurity in Abuja, the Federal Capital City (FCT) will be 20 per cent between 4.54 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.,” he said.

He stressed that the solar eclipse would be observed across the nation, thereby making each part of the country a great site for viewing the eclipse at different degree of obscurity.

According to him, the solar disc will be covered by the moon as seen from the earth and the eclipse will be visible as much as there is clear sky without rain or cloud.

He, however, said there was no cause for alarm or reason to panic as the solar eclipse was a natural occurrence and should be seen as part of the beauties of nature.

Leicester City Football Club sacks Ranieri, Management issues reasons.

Claudio Ranieri

Leicester City Football Club has tonight (Thursday) parted company with its First Team Manager, Claudio Ranieri.

– Leicester City Football Club announces the departure of Claudio Ranieri

– Ranieri has served as First Team Manager since July 2015

– City won the Premier League title in Ranieri’s first season as manager

– Vice Chairman pays tribute, but explains the need to serve the Club’s long-term interests

– Craig Shakespeare and Mike Stowell to assume interim First Team responsibilities

Leicester City Football Club has tonight (Thursday) parted company with its First Team Manager, Claudio Ranieri.

Claudio, appointed City manager in July 2015, led the Foxes to the greatest triumph in the Club’s 133-year history last season, as we were crowned champions of England for the first time. His status as the most successful Leicester City manager of all time is without question.

However, domestic results in the current campaign have placed the Club’s Premier League status under threat and the Board reluctantly feels that a change of leadership, while admittedly painful, is necessary in the Club’s greatest interest.

Vice Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: “This has been the most difficult decision we have had to make in nearly seven years since King Power took ownership of Leicester City. But we are duty-bound to put the Club’s long-term interests above all sense of personal sentiment, no matter how strong that might be.

“Claudio has brought outstanding qualities to his office. His skilful management, powers of motivation and measured approach have been reflective of the rich experience we always knew he would bring to Leicester City. His warmth, charm and charisma have helped transform perceptions of the Club and develop its profile on a global scale. We will forever be grateful to him for what he has helped us to achieve.

“It was never our expectation that the extraordinary feats of last season should be replicated this season. Indeed, survival in the Premier League was our first and only target at the start of the campaign. But we are now faced with a fight to reach that objective and feel a change is necessary to maximise the opportunity presented by the final 13 games.”

First Team preparations for Monday’s Premier League fixture against Liverpool will resume on Saturday, with Assistant Manager Craig Shakespeare and First Team Coach Mike Stowell taking charge of the squad until a new manager is appointed.

Assistant Manager and First Team Coach Paolo Benetti and First Team Sport Science and Conditioning Coach Andrea Azzalin have also parted company with the Club and leave with our thanks for their service and best wishes for the future.

The Board will now begin the recruitment process and will make no further comment until that process is completed.

Desperate Kenyan man hangs posters looking for a wife.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

This guy who is desperately looking for a wife went round hanging posters in the streets and listed the qualities that any lady who wants to be his wife should have.

Check this out.

Primate Ayodele speaks on President Buhari’s health, state of the nation

Primate Ayodele

Popular Nigerian preacher and prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has spoken up on the recent unrest trailing the rumoured death of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The rumours making the rounds about the president’s health status have made a lot of people ask series of questions, especially with Buhari not returning to the country on Monday, February 6 as initially promised.

So many Nigerians have spoken about the state of the nation as well as what they think about the president’s health status, with many Nigerians fearing that the unbelievable may have happened to him.

But the fearless preacher has come out to state categorically that President Buhari is still very much alive. He noted, however, that he needs serious prayers if he is to continue at the helm of affairs when he returns.

In a telephone chat with NAIJ.com on Thursday evening, Primate Ayodele said: “Since 2015, I have been telling you that Buhari cannot go for second term and that his government will have a lot of protests, now see what is happening in the country.

“There shall be rumbles with politicians and I have seen it clearly that it is an unexpected person that will emerge as Nigeria’s president in 2019. Tinubu will also want to contest, Dogara, Tambuwal, Atiku… they will miss it.”

Asked what he thinks about the rumoured death of the president, the INRI spiritual head, confirmed that he is still alive but stated however, that “his coming back needs a lot of prayers. He needs a lot of prayers to be able to come back to that seat otherwise, it might not work as we are looking at it. Only God will bring Buhari back.”

He added also that the president has to deal with certain bothering issues in the country.

“I want to tell you that the economic hardship will continue. Dasuki issue will continue, Avengers’s request must be met. CBN governor should be removed, then we can have stability in the economy.

“There will be more protests, Osinbajo will betrayed by those he trusts the most. America is in trouble presently, the world is also in trouble.

“The United Nations and the American government will be in trouble. America, Lagos, and Nigeria will break unless the right things are done.

“Biafra is not a joke, it should be handled carefully. The people defecting to the APC will be disgraced from there. Some will leave APC and let us pray because not all governors will finish their terms,”the revered Nigerian preacher offered

Primate Ayodele spoke about his upcoming birthday slated for Tuesday, February 14, explaining that he would be “sending people to Jerusalem, empowering women and give out free foods to as many people as can be at his church’s Isolo headquarters on Tuesday.

“There shall also be empowerment for students, support for police, road traffic management officers and several others.”

In his prophecy at the beginning of the year, the primate stated that Nigeria’s chances of having a smooth ride in 2017 is hinging on the condition that President Buhari adheres strictly to what the spirit of God asked him (the president) to do.

NLC PROTEST AGAINST BAD ECONOMY

Members of the Nigerian Labour Congress  gathered at the Unity Fountain in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, protesting what they called ”the effect of poor governance”.They marched on the streets of Abuja, carrying placards with Various Inscriptions to the  National Assembly and the Presidential Villa.

The protest code named ‘national day of action against corruption and for good governance’ held simultaneously in Abuja and Lagos.

At the Presidential Villa, a delegation of organized labour and civil society organizations led by the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress and his Trade Union Congress counterpart presented an 18 point demand to the Federal Governmental

Receiving the 18-point demand, acting president Yemi Osinbajo said that there is an orchestrated campaign by corrupt people in the country to diminish the successes so far recorded by the present administration in its fight against corruption.

Prof. Osinbajo who noted that corruption has ravaged the nation, said that if the country fails to win the battle against corruption, it will not return to the path of sustainable growth.The Acting President said that the Buhari administration is aware of the difficulty that Nigerians are going through but maintained that the Federal government’s response is to go back to agriculture.

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress Ayuba Wabba expressed concern over the issue of poor governance and the systemic corruption in the country. He noted that to realise the fight against corruption, it is important that Nigerians are kept abreast with Government Policy actions.

President of the Trade Union Congress Bala Kiagama said that the organised labour identifies  with the Federal Hovernment in its fight against corruption. He called on government at all levels to imbibe the change mantra of the present administration, stressing that corruption should not be tolerated.

Meanwhile, Nigerian workers under the umbrella body of NLC and TUC stormed the National Assembly complex demanding  good governance. The workers also want government to intensify its anti-Corruption crusade.They want government to look into issues of minimum wage; have their salaries increased to match with current high cost of living in the country.

Senate President Bukola Saraki told the protesters that they are not alone in the situation. He assured them that government is doing all that was possible to address the situation.The workers were somehow comforted by Saraki’s words as they walked away with their hope re-energized,  ashe called on the Present administration to find Palliative even as the Budget Process continues.

”As we continue with the budget process, we must find palliative measures. We cannot continue like this”

“I hear you! The exchange rate is high, the tension is high — the only thing that has stayed low are your salaries.”

”We feel your pains! We hear your words! Everything that you have brought to our attention will be addressed”

“We are on the same side, because we all want Nigeria to be better!”

North’s apprehensivess over Buhari’s Inconclusive Medical Vacation

Al jazeera’s analysis

Buhari’s unclear health situation rings alarm bells for Nigeria’s future.

It was Ayodele Fayose, the Governor of Ekiti State, who first said everything under the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was becoming inconclusive.

That outburst – and Fayose has quite a litany of complaints against Buhari – came after Nigeria’s electoral umpire declared the Bayelsa State governorship election “inconclusive” on the third day of the exercise.

It was a happy ending for Fayose: Seriake Dickson, candidate of his party, won the election a month later. Actually, there was little to worry about in the first place.

One year on, a crisis of monstrous scale and manifold consequences is brewing. Buhari is on medical vacation in the United Kingdom, and it is so far inconclusive, even indefinite.

The announcement of Buhari’s latest vacation on January 19 was itself inauspicious – not because it was his third in one year, but because he had asked the National Assembly for 10 days off when he was in fact going to be away for longer.

That a “10-day vacation” began on January 19, and was to end on February 6, offered faint indication of the president’s much-guarded state of health. And it was all sudden: Yemi Osinbajo, the man Buhari temporarily handed power to, abruptly ended his participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Rumours of hsi death have spread on fake news sites, and it is very worrisome that Buhari has refused to personally assure the country of his wellness. On one occasion Garba Shehu, one of his two spokesmen, tweeted a photo of Buhari supposedly watching Channels, Nigeria’s leading television station, but it all seemed a cover-up.

The president could have called that same station to address his countrymen for just a minute. In such an ethnically divided country as Nigeria, such a move is crucial for the preservation of democratic sanity. With that assurance still missing, the power grabbers are already at work.

The fears of the north

Until May 2010, it seemed inconceivable that a member of a minority ethnic group would become president.

Were that even to happen, it looked like an outright impossibility that the north – a region that typically sees the number-one seat as its birthright – would be the victim of such power transfer.

But when northerner Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the former president, left Nigeria for Saudi Arabia in November 2009 to get treatment for pericarditis and hadn’t returned by February 2010, Goodluck Jonathan, from the Ijaw ethnic group, was formally declared acting president.

With Yar’Adua’s death three months later, Jonathan – a man who was chosen as Yar’Adua’s running mate not for his political appeal but for his reputation of “never rocking the boat” – became president.

Either Buhari returns to office in earnest to personally oversee the fulfillment of the promises he made to Nigerians in 2015, or he gives up the position for someone else who will run his own vision and will be entirely accountable for the state of the nation.

The north had lost the power it had been impatiently waiting for since the turn of the Fourth Republic in 1999. Worse still, despite the protests of the northern elite, Jonathan ran for office, and won in 2010.

The possibility of a repetition of this situation is why the north is particularly apprehensive over Buhari’s extended medical vacation. There is no chance Buhari’s northern friends, already accused of imposing a political stranglehold over the masses, will watch Osinbajo become president without a fight – in the event that Buhari is unable to continue in office owing to ill-health or death.

Despite the denial of rumours that there is pressure on Osinbajo, a southwesterner, to resign, the meeting of northern governors with the National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno and Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai has raised eyebrows.

Osinbajo himself has, in practice, done very little to dismiss the rumours. He has been typically calm and self-controlled in his response to matters, but his incoherence while discussing Buhari’s health was a striking giveaway. “I think that the health status of Mr President is an issue that only Mr President would discuss at the appropriate time,” he said in Abuja on Monday.

“Again, he is running test and all of that. Before you will be able to determine your health status you must be able to say this is my health status.” Those closing words show Osinbajo is himself in the dark about the state of the president’s health.

Nigeria over Buhari

Buhari must be honest with himself. At 74, he alone understands his body and the rigours it can accommodate. He may have temporarily transferred power to Osinbajo but that’s just a procedural constitutional requirement.

Osinbajo will not exercise that power beyond the extent to which he knows Buhari would want him to. And, quite frankly, that is not what Nigeria needs at the moment.

Either Buhari returns to office in earnest to personally oversee the fulfillment of the promises he made to Nigerians in 2015, or he gives up the position for someone else who will run his own vision and will be entirely accountable for the state of the nation.

With the Nigerian currency naira falling to an all-time low, companies folding, and the cost of living on the rise, there were protests against Buhari’s government across the country on February 6. There was no news from Buhari and his vice president could not be held wholly accountable.

For all his failings, Jonathan remains a hero for conceding the 2015 election. Buhari will be a far bigger one were he to concede the presidency to a fitter candidate if his health deteriorates further.

In his absence, the hawks will be hovering over Osinbajo, and the behind-the-scenes power play won’t result in any meaningful national development. Buhari must spare Nigeria the political heartbreak of governance by an absentee president.

Photo of Crippled man brutalized by Nigerian Soldiers

The victim

I posted a video of a man brutalised by Nigerian soldiers recently.

His offence: He was wearing a replica of the military fatigue uniform.

This is common with Nigeria soldiers, always claiming anyone wearing it as impersonation.

Unfortunately the man is a cripple

It is about time the military authority do something about these inhuman treatments meted to hapless Nigeria on daily basis