Saturday 31 January 2015
The UN Pledges Support For The African Union's Joint Force Against Boko Haram
Whitney Houston's Daughter,Bobbie, Found Unresponsive In A Tub
Photos From The Day 2 Of Psquare's Father's Burial
Photos: Its A Fancy Affair! J&B Met 2015 South Africa Turns Up!
OMG! Read What This Muslim Columnist Wrote About Dokubo, Tompolo and Others
CNN Features Nigeria's Tara Fela-Durotoye of House of Tara and Her Success Journey
(CNN)Class is in session at schools across Nigeria, where students are learning to shape eyebrows, smooth foundation, apply eye-shadow, and -- perhaps -- defy economic gloom to grasp a glamorous future.
Did Buhari Really Say This??
"Igbos Hate Me Because of Biafran War" - Buhari in BBC Hausa
Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari has droped the bombshell, on the reason he has been loosing election in Igbo land and parts of Nigeria where the Igbos has be residing, stating that it is because he was involved in the Nigerian civil war.
Nigerian Army Relocates Female Soldiers
Friday 30 January 2015
Mr. Ibu Releases New Photos...
More Pictures From Psquare's Father's Funeral Today
Photos: Some 2015 Fashion Trends You Need In Your Wardrobe!
Photos From The Burial Of Psquare's Dad
Awwwww! How Cute! Kanye Features Daughter North On New Music Video
The song features former Beatle Paul McCartney on piano with Kanye on vocals. Even better, is the video for the song Kanye debuted on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday night. Directed by Oscar-winning Spike Jonze, the video is shot in the style of a home video and features Kanye walking in a field, hand in hand with North.
We love how she’s dressed in an outfit that mirrors her dad’s signature look – buttoned up shirt, boots, jeans and a long coat. Although, she obviously looks 100 times more adorable! See a bit of the video below as featured on Ellen's show here
Mugabe Emerges As The New Chairperson Of AU
The veteran leader, Africa's oldest president aged 90, shook hands with Abel Aziz in front of fellow leaders to applause at the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital.
"By electing me to preside over this august body, with full knowledge of the onerous responsibility that lies ahead, I humbly accept your collective decision," Mugabe said, as he thanked leaders for granting him the position.
Mugabe, a former liberation war hero who is Africa's third-longest serving leader, is viewed with deep respect by many on the continent.
But he is also subject to travel bans from both the United States and European Union in protest at political violence and intimidation.
Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, is accused of crushing opponents to ensure his Zanu-PF party won every election for more than three decades.
Mugabe described his memories of attending the AU's forerunner in 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), also in Addis Ababa.
"Africa has come a long way since then," he said.
Last year Mugabe boycotted an EU-Africa Summit in Brussels after he was given a rare invitation - but his wife was still denied a visa.
- AFP
See The Pill That Wakes People From Deep Comas And Cures Paralysis
South African Pro-Apartheid Commander Derby Lewis Denied Medical Parole
South Africa - Former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock was granted parole on Friday, while Chris Hani killer Clive Derby-Lewis was denied medical parole, Justice Minister Michael Masutha announced.
A decision on Ferdinand Barnard's bail application was delayed.
"In the interest of... nation building, I have placed Mr De Kock on parole," said Masutha.
The time and date of his release will not be made public.
The medical parole board had recommended Derby-Lewis be released. He has terminal lung cancer. But Masutha raised questions about his medical tests.
"There is nothing to suggest that Mr Derby-Lewis's condition is such that he is rendered physically incapacitated... so as to severely limit daily activity," Masutha said.
De Kock is serving two life sentences, plus 212 years for other crimes, Sapa reported. He was denied parole in July last year, despite being eligible after spending 20 years behind bars.
Derby-Lewis was arrested for aiding and abetting Janusz Walus, a Polish immigrant, in the assassination of Hani, and having lent him the gun used to shoot the former SACP leader in the driveway of his home.
Former apartheid-era CCB agent Barnard, was found guilty 17 years ago of the murder of anti-apartheid activist David Webster.
Almost a decade later, Barnard was convicted of the killing. He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of another activist, Dullah Omar, who went on to serve in both former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki's Cabinets.
-News24
AU Preps A Multi-national Task Force Against Boko Haram
The statement on Friday came after Boko Haram increased cross border raids in recent weeks, in neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and Chad, as it continued to take over more territory in Nigeria.
“Boko Haram’s horrendous abuses, unspeakable cruelty, total disregard for human lives, and wanton destruction of property are unmatched,” Dlamini-Zuma said in a statement after the bloc’s Peace and Security Council met late Thursday, ahead of a full AU summit meeting on Friday.
The Boko Haram uprising has become a regional crisis, with the four directly affected countries – Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria – agreeing along with Benin to boost cooperation to contain the threat and to form a Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
“I am deeply concerned by the prevailing situation as a result of Boko Haram terrorist activities, including the recent escalation of violence witnessed on the ground,” Dlamini-Zuma said after the meeting at AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, where the two-day annual summit of the 54-nation bloc is slated to be held.
“The continued attacks in northeastern Nigeria and the increasing attacks in the Lake Chad Basin, along the border with Chad and Cameroon, and in the northern provinces of that country, have the potential of destabilising the entire region, with far-reaching security and humanitarian consequences.”
More than 13,000 people have been killed and about one million made homeless by Boko Haram violence since 2009.
Regional nations pledged earlier this month to commit a battalion each to the force, a total of about 3,000 troops, Dlamini-Zuma said after meetings.
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Thursday 29 January 2015
Boko Haram Allegedly Regrouping To Attack Maiduguri Again!
Security and local sources told SaharaReporters that Boko Haram terrorists appeared to be regrouping to overrun the strategic northeast city before commencement of Nigeria’s general elections due to start on February 14.
Before the Islamist fighters struck last Sunday, residents of some communities near Maiduguri said they had alerted the Nigerian military that some insurgents were approaching along the Dambua-Biu road near Allahganrino village. According to the reported informants, the military had apparently paid no heed to their warnings. A day later, Boko Haram attacked Maiduguri.
A soldier who fled Monguno, a town that was also attacked on Sunday and seized by the insurgents, told SaharaReporters that the militants used to say when they would storm towns and military barracks and carry out such threats. He criticized commanders who boast about working on intelligence, saying they had nothing to show for such ostensible intelligence.
“We should stop defending all the time. There is an urgent need for a counter-offensive against Boko Haram,” said a military source. He alleged that the Islamist militants forewarned about their attacks on Baga and Monguno, adding that he had experienced such pre-attack warnings three times.
A resident of a village near Maiduguri told SaharaReporters that he and other residents had seen a large number of Boko Haram militants arriving along Dikwa road in sports utility vehicles, motorcycles and camels, adding that they had alerted military authorities as well.
“We have received tips from some of the locals that they have sighted the militants,” a security operative in the beleaguered city told our correspondent.
A member of the civilian joint task force combating the Islamist militants said many of the local people “have vowed to join in the fight to flush Boko Haram out. We are not going to take things lightly with them. We are ready for them [Boko Haram fighters]. Since they want to die, we shall kill them.”
However, some residents of Maiduguri say they have not been able to “sleep with two eyes closed since last Sunday,” as one of them stated. He added that the fall of Monguno barracks meant that the militants now control various types of deadly weapons, including artillery weapons with capacity to fire from long distances. “We don’t know when they will come again, but they have the weapons to cause major havoc,” said the resident.
-Sahara Reporters
There Is An Outbreak Of Measles In Arizona, USA!
DENVER — Arizona health officials were tracking more than 1,000 people on Thursday, including at least 195 children, who might have been exposed to measles as part of an outbreak that began at Disneyland in Southern California.
Arizona has seven confirmed cases of measles, and officials in three counties in the Phoenix area — Maricopa, Gila and Pinal — are asking residents who have not been vaccinated and who might have been exposed, to stay home from school, work or day care for 21 days.
The announcement comes as thousands of people are arriving in Phoenix for the Super Bowl on Sunday.
“This is a critical point in this outbreak,” the state health director, Will Humble, wrote on his blog. Any missed cases, he wrote, could cause “a long and protracted outbreak.”
Rhett Krawitt, 6, whose leukemia is in remission, remains vulnerable to infections. His family is especially concerned for his well-being because they live in a section of the Bay Area where a number of parents refuse vaccinations for their children.
Though some assume that measles is no longer a problem, it remains the greatest vaccine-preventable cause of death among children.When Measles Spreads From Disneyland, It’s a Small World Afterall.
Health officials said that one of the seven cases of measles involves a woman who walked into a Maricopa County pediatric clinic recently, potentially exposing about 200 children. The woman had been in contact with a family that had traveled to Disneyland, but she did not know she had the disease.
Measles is a viral illness that spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. Before vaccinations became common in 1963, about three million to four million Americans contracted the disease each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and about 400 to 500 died from it.
The recent outbreak began in California and has spread to several states, including Utah, Washington, Oregon and Colorado, as well as to Mexico. It has heightened concerns among health officials that opposition to child vaccinations has prompted a resurgence of an illness that the country believed it had eliminated in 2000.
California now has 79 confirmed cases of the measles.
In Arizona, state law mandates that children receive measles and other vaccinations before they attend school, unless a parent files for an exemption citing personal beliefs. In recent years, the state has seen a rise in the number of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children: In 2004, 1.6 percent of Arizona schoolchildren were not vaccinated; by 2013 that number had risen to 4.7 percent.
“It’s something that the state has been concerned about,” said Dr. Cara Christ, the state’s chief medical officer. “It allows the disease to get into those areas and really establish a foothold, and once it establishes a foothold, it’s very very difficult to control.”
A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Jeanene Fowler, said the outbreak had prompted a surge in requests for vaccinations. “If you’re trying to make lemonade out of the situation,” she said, “that’s the best we can ask for.”
-NewYork Times
Arizona has seven confirmed cases of measles, and officials in three counties in the Phoenix area — Maricopa, Gila and Pinal — are asking residents who have not been vaccinated and who might have been exposed, to stay home from school, work or day care for 21 days.
The announcement comes as thousands of people are arriving in Phoenix for the Super Bowl on Sunday.
“This is a critical point in this outbreak,” the state health director, Will Humble, wrote on his blog. Any missed cases, he wrote, could cause “a long and protracted outbreak.”
Rhett Krawitt, 6, whose leukemia is in remission, remains vulnerable to infections. His family is especially concerned for his well-being because they live in a section of the Bay Area where a number of parents refuse vaccinations for their children.
Though some assume that measles is no longer a problem, it remains the greatest vaccine-preventable cause of death among children.When Measles Spreads From Disneyland, It’s a Small World Afterall.
Health officials said that one of the seven cases of measles involves a woman who walked into a Maricopa County pediatric clinic recently, potentially exposing about 200 children. The woman had been in contact with a family that had traveled to Disneyland, but she did not know she had the disease.
Measles is a viral illness that spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. Before vaccinations became common in 1963, about three million to four million Americans contracted the disease each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and about 400 to 500 died from it.
The recent outbreak began in California and has spread to several states, including Utah, Washington, Oregon and Colorado, as well as to Mexico. It has heightened concerns among health officials that opposition to child vaccinations has prompted a resurgence of an illness that the country believed it had eliminated in 2000.
California now has 79 confirmed cases of the measles.
In Arizona, state law mandates that children receive measles and other vaccinations before they attend school, unless a parent files for an exemption citing personal beliefs. In recent years, the state has seen a rise in the number of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children: In 2004, 1.6 percent of Arizona schoolchildren were not vaccinated; by 2013 that number had risen to 4.7 percent.
“It’s something that the state has been concerned about,” said Dr. Cara Christ, the state’s chief medical officer. “It allows the disease to get into those areas and really establish a foothold, and once it establishes a foothold, it’s very very difficult to control.”
A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Jeanene Fowler, said the outbreak had prompted a surge in requests for vaccinations. “If you’re trying to make lemonade out of the situation,” she said, “that’s the best we can ask for.”
-NewYork Times
Buhari Boycotts Presidential Debate
Shehu argued that the Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG) powered debate was fraught with fundamental errors from the outset, by wearing the toga of government control, especially being composed mainly of agencies and allies of the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.
“A salutary inspection of the composition of NEGD brings into focus the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), National Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Africa Independent Television (AIT, owned by a PDP chieftain),” he said.
“And going by the avalanche of inflammatory statements, misinformation and blatant lies being propagated by some of these media against our party and candidates contrary to the Koffi Annan-brokered Abuja Peace Accord, and the failure of these aggressors to desist and apologise, have left the APC campaign with no option than to steer clear of any premeditated smear campaign that could be inimical to our prospective electoral success.”
He urged the public not to see the APc boycott as disrespect for Nigerian voters or an alibi for the party to dodge public scrutiny, but to view it as an honourable right not to consent to any activity that could distract, demean, denigrate or derail the fast-moving train of the party.
He described APC as a party of progressive intellectuals, genuine technocrats, successful businessmen and women, and most of all eminent and courteous people of honour who would never condescend to the level of sadistic gutter propaganda, all in the name of political exigency and crass opportunism.
He also noted that many government-controlled media have clipped the wings of APC promotional advertisements on one excuse on the other, and until a court upturned their decision recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shut down some telecom portals for soliciting legitimate campaign funds from members of the public for APC.
“Aside, elements close to sitting President Goodluck Jonathan have commissioned series of derogatory and death threat advertorials against the person, family and associates of the opposition leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, to which the APC had sent letters of complaint to the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of State Security, Advertisers Practitioners of Nigeria (APCON), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the erring media that published or aired such offensive adverts or documentaries,” he said.
“None of our letters of protest has been attended to by the authorities. So whatever the incumbent president wants to do with the instrument of state to harass members of the opposition into humiliating submission would not work. The APC/Buhari campaign is now a people’s movement. The more they try to rubbish it, the more popular we are with the populace.
“We are not shadow-chasers or moonwalkers. The APC is concerned mainly with the lack of unity and security in Nigeria; plus the growing decimation of lives, property and territory of our great country due to preventable insurgency; the slumbering economy; decaying educational system; absence of jobs; poor public health; and the cancerous institutionalisation of corruption in our national life. You can’t fool the people all the time. Nigerians will vote out their oppressors come February 14.”
President Jonathan's Convoy Attacked Today In Yola
The protesting citizens also destroyed cars and other valuables before security overpowered them in the course of the protest.
Mobile policemen were said to have sprayed teargas on the protesters.
As at the time of this report, the police are yet to react officially regarding the incident.
Facebook Makes A 34% Profit Increase From Last Year
Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook’s CEO, said in a statement that “We got a lot done in 2014.”
Facebook’s business has boomed thanks to its mobile ads for smartphones and tablets. Its success contrasts other established Internet companies such as Google Inc (GOOGL) and Yahoo Inc (YHOO) which have struggled as advertisers shift more to mobile apps from personal computers.
Ronald Josey, a JMP Securities analyst said in a statement that “they are taking share of advertising dollars online. They are taking share of overall advertising budgets”, noting the strong quarter.
Investors are betting that video ads, which Facebook started last year, will provide the company’s next length of growth.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Facebook, Dave Wehner, said in an interview that the company still had a lots to do being optimistic about video. “We have great marketer interest in video. It’s a creative medium that they know how to use effectively.”
Facebook’s revenue growth during the fourth quarter was outstripped by its operating expenses, which grew roughly 87 percent as a result of sharp increases in research and development costs and marketing and sales spending.
Facebook also mirrored a common complaint among US firms, saying its revenue would have increased by 53% instead of 49% were it not for unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
-Channelstv
Wednesday 28 January 2015
Hilarious! Watch Comedian Trevor Noah Brilliantly Take On The West For Ignoring The Boko Haram Baga Attacks!
Comedian Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” pointed out last Thursday how the West united over France’s Charlie Hebdo attacks, but ignored much deadlier slaughters in Nigeria that took place on the same day by Boko Haram.
“Sometimes it seems like Africa is the Vegas of Islamist terror,” Daily Show correspondent Trevor Noah said. “What happens in Africa stays in Africa.”
Check out South African comedian Trevor Noah’s hilarious yet articulate skit below:
Watch Trevor Noah
Ironic! General Danjuma Calls For The Arrest Of Niger Deltans Who Make War Threats
Elder statesman and former Defense minister, Gen. Theophilous Yakubu Danjuma has called for the arrest of Asari Dokubo, Government Tompolo, Boyloaf and others over recent war threat by the ex-Niger Delta militants.
Gen. Danjuma who spoke to reporters at the permanent site of North West University , Kano, after he commissioned the multi billion naira in Kwankwasiyya city said the threat by the Niger Delta militants was highly irresponsible.
The civil war General said “those were reckless statement coming from irresponsible individuals, they should be condemned and be arrested immediately”.
Bayelsa state Governor, Seriake Dikson hosted the former militants last weekend where they threatened to declare war against the country if President Jonathan is defeated in the February 14 General election.
Have Scientists Found A Bigger Saturn?
In 1610, after he built his telescope, Galileo Galilei first spotted enormous Saturn's gigantic rings. More than 400 years later, astronomers have in a sense dwarfed that discovery with a similar first.
Using powerful optics, they have found a much larger planet-like body, J1407b, with rings 200 times the size of Saturn's, U.S. and Dutch astronomers said.
It lies some 400 light-years away from Earth.
For decades, scientists have believed that many moons around large planets formed out of such ring systems. But this is the first one astronomers have observed aside from Saturn's, they said.
It was discovered in 2012, but a detailed analysis of its data was recently completed and published.
Dominating the sky
If J1407b were in our solar system, it would dominate Earth's nightly sky.
"If we could replace Saturn's rings with the rings around J1407b, they would be easily visible at night and be many times larger than the full moon," said Matthew Kenworthy from the Netherlands' Leiden Observatory.
Unlike Galileo peering a relatively short distance through his simple telescope, today's astronomers can't eyeball the rings hundreds of light-years away.
But using two very powerful optical devices with eight cameras each, they can observe the effect the rings have as they pass across nearby star J1407 -- written without a 'b' at the end.
It is similar to our sun. The rings of planet J1407b eclipse its light.
56-day eclipse
With the enormous size of the rings, the eclipse the astronomers observed lasted 56 days.
But the star did not go completely dark for nearly two months. Some of J1407b's 30 rings are denser, blocking more light, and some of them are less dense, letting more light through.
And there are gaps between the rings, leading the scientists to theorize that "exomoons" have formed and cut clean orbits through the debris, like the moons around Saturn.
Our own solar system's ringed giant has at least 60 moons, according to NASA.
Bigger than a planet
Like its system of rings, planet J1407b is also much larger than Saturn, said astrophysicist Eric Mamajek, whose team at the University of Rochester discovered the object. "You could think of it as kind of a super Saturn."
It is called a brown dwarf, a size classification somewhere between a planet and a star, according to the California Institute of Technology.
Brown dwarfs are hot but don't burst into nuclear fusion the way stars do, so they don't give off light.
The scientists are calling on amateur astronomers to keep an eye on star J1407 in hopes they may observe the rings eclipsing it again and report the results to the American Association of Variable Star Observers, which collects astronomical data on "stars that change in brightness."
And astronomers will also search for more such ringed systems.
-CNN
Inside Kim & Kanye's $20 million California Mansion
New details regarding Kim and Kanye's new mansion have emerged from Trulia—including its spacious rooms, amenities and even a private movie theater.
Here's what their house has, according to real estate site Trulia:
1) Eight bedrooms
2) Ten bathrooms
3) Two swimming pools, one with an awesome slide
4) A private movie theater
5) Humongous custom-made closets with a mirrored dressing area
6) A private movie theater
7) A game room with suede walls and a wet bar
8) A guest house, with perfect space for a custom recording studio
9) A vineyard. Wait, make that two vineyards.
Kim Kardashian is finally going to move out of Mom's house—and her starter pad with Kanye and North is going to be huge.
The family was already planning to move into a $20 million mega-mansion in California's Hidden Hills. And now, they've purchased the house next door for $2.9 million, real estate site Trulia reports. Combined, the two properties will make up 4.5 acres in the same neighborhood as matriarch Kris Jenner.
The property's real estate listing shows an old-looking home that doesn't seem fit for a couple that hand engraved guests' names onto their wedding tables, and it seems they'll likely tear it down.
Once the property is torn down, the land will go with their outrageously ornate mansion, which already features two swimming pools, a rose garden, and even its own vineyard.
With the new property, TMZ reports the couple is planning on building a basketball court, a spa, a full movie theater, and a recording studio so Kanye doesn't have to travel to make his music.
If you've got Kimye money, why not buy the neighbors' house? It will afford them more privacy from the paparazzi and, you just know Kidchella is going to be out of control next year. See more pictures after the cut;
Oby Ezekwesili Gets In On The Drama!
So this is really getting interesting! It seems Oby Ezekwesili wants to get in on the drama, take a look at her tweets to the finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, concerning the minister's response to Charles Soludo , read here.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Grabs Soludo By The Balls! Let The Drama Begin! Lol!
BEYOND BELIEF: SOLUDO’S SELF-SERVING ARTICLE ON ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT IS DEFICIT IN FACTS, LOGIC AND HONOUR
(Response to “Buhari Vs Jonathan: Beyond the Election, by Charles Soludo”)
1. For anyone who has not read Professor Charles Soludo’s article in the Vanguard (online version) on January 25 2015, I would encourage them to do so. It is littered with abusive and unbecoming language. It shows how an embittered loser in the Nigerian political space can get so derailed that they commit intellectual harakiri by deliberately misquoting economic facts and maliciously turning statistics on their head to justify a hatchet job. We hope all the intellectuals in the international circles in which Professor Soludo has told us he flies around in will read what a Professor of Economics has chosen to do with his intellect.
2. In this one article Soludo has shamelessly pandered to so many past leaders that Nigerians are asking one more time – what position is Soludo gunning for now? He claims in his article that he has had his own share of public service, yet he has failed twice in his attempts to be Governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of various parties. There is definitely an issue of character with Prof. Charles Soludo and his desperate search for power and relevance in Nigeria. Nigerians should therefore beware of so-called intellectuals without character and wisdom because this combination is fatal.
3. But let us turn to the main subject of Soludo’s discourse. So much of what is written is outright nonsense and self-seeking aggrandizement that need not be dignified with a response. It is totally remarkable that Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the man who presided over the worst mismanagement of Nigeria’s banking sector as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria between May 2004 and May 2009, can write about the mismanagement of the economy.
4. Nigerians must be reminded of his antecedents as CBN Governor, and even prior to that, as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President. The consolidation of the banking sector was a good policy idea of the Obasanjo Administration but Soludo went on to thoroughly mismanage its implementation leading to the worst financial crisis in Nigeria’s history. So what did Soludo do?
5. After consolidation, the regulatory functions of the Soludo-led CBN were very poorly exercised. As Governor, he failed to adequately supervise and regulate the now larger banks – an anomaly in Financial Sector Supervision. In fact as every Nigerian knows, in his time there was very little separation between the regulators and the regulated which is a violation of a key requirement of Central Banking success. This led to infractions in corporate governance in many banks as loans and other credit instruments running to hundreds of billions of naira were extended to clients without following due process, and several of these loans could not be paid back. This massive accumulation of bad debts or non-performing loans as they are called in the banking sector meant that our banks were ill-positioned to deal with the global financial crisis when it hit.
6. In fact, the banking sector was brought to its knees and required a massive bailout by Nigerian tax payers. This bailout was done by his successor (now Emir of Kano) who cleaned up all the bad debts and transferred them to the newly-established AMCON, from where they are managed today. So let it be noted for the record books that Soludo’s single-handed mismanagement of the banking sector led to an incredible accumulation of liabilities that will cost tax payers about N5.67 trillion (being the total face value of AMCON-issued bonds) to clean up. Let it be noted also that this amount, which is more than the entire Federal Government 2015 Budget, constitutes the bulk of Nigeria’s “contingent liabilities” mentioned in Soludo’s article. It is only in Nigeria where someone who perpetrated such a colossal economic atrocity would have the temerity to make assertions on public debt and the management of the economy.
7. Let us now look at some of the points he makes. Luckily, Soludo has told us that he has been busy travelling internationally, hobnobbing with his global partners. It is obvious from this article that from the rarefied heights at which he is flying he is completely out of touch with what is happening with the management of this economy. Take his comments on the mismanagement of the economy and the imposition of the austerity measures. The present fall in oil prices, a global phenomenon over which Nigeria has no control, has given every charlatan the opportunity to attack the economy, and by extension the managers of the economy
8. It is true that the economy grew well during the second-term of former President Obasanjo as a result of the reforms supported by the President and implemented by the Economic Management Team. Please note that the Finance Minister under whose leadership that good performance took place, including massive unprecedented debt relief, is still Finance Minister today. But thorough examination of the facts on performance under the Jonathan Administration will also reveal that at a time when global economic performance was mediocre, with GDP growth averaging about 3 percent per annum, Nigeria’s GDP growth – averaging about 6 percent per annum – is indeed remarkable. Even more interesting is the fact that the oil sector did not drive this economic performance but the non-oil sector (Agriculture, Manufacturing, Telecommunications, the Creative Economy, and so on), which shows that the current Administration’s diversification objective under the Transformation Agenda is working. Transformation equals diversification
9. This current government managed to control inflation, which he Soludo, was not able to do during his time at the helm of monetary policy in Nigeria. When he left the Central Bank in 2009, inflation – which hurts the poor and vulnerable in the society the most – was above 13 percent per annum. Now, inflation is at single-digit, at 8 percent per annum. What about exchange rates? Well this administration again managed to stabilize the naira exchange rates, such that between May 2011 and the end of 2014, official exchange rates against the dollar rarely moved out of the N153 to N156 band. It is only with the recent dramatic fall in oil prices and the consequent impact on our foreign reserves that the exchange rate has become quite volatile. The drop in oil price has been heavy and rapid impacting all oil producing nations significantly. Nigeria is no exception and appropriate fiscal and monetary policy measures are being put in place to manage this situation.
10. In fact, history will recall that careless remarks by Prof. Soludo (then Chief Economic Adviser to the President) hypothesizing a possible naira devaluation, condemned the naira to a free fall towards the end of 2003. Ray Echebiri, in his 2004 article in the Financial Standard, wrote that not even the assurances given by the then CBN Governor, Mr. Joseph Sanusi or President Obasanjo that any plans to devalue the naira existed only in the head of Professor Soludo could halt the fall of the naira from N128 to the dollar in the official market to about N140 between September and December 2003.
11. It is true that our foreign reserve accumulation is less than what it should be but the reason for this has been fully given, not as excuses but simply as fact: lower oil production and crude oil theft along with the refusal to save in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) are the reasons. Contrary to what Soludo said, oil production under President Obasanjo was higher than current levels. Quantities produced averaged 2.4 million bdp, 2.22 million bpd, and 2.21 million bpd in 2005, 2006, and 2007 respectively but has declined now to between 1.95 and 2.21 million bdp due to vandalism of the pipelines and the resulting “shut-ins” to fix the problem. It is true that had production been at the previous levels and had there been willingness to save we would have had more money in the ECA and also in the reserves. But the overriding setback to savings is that the State Governors felt it was their constitutional right to share the money. Please recall that even as we speak the States have taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court on this issue
12. Soludo’s claim that 71 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line is misleading and disingenuous. He uses 2011 statistics on poverty by the NBS to support his argument while ignoring more recent figures. But as stated in the Nigeria Economic Report 2014 by the World Bank, poverty rate in Nigeria has dropped from 35.2 percent of population in 2010/2011 to 33.1 percent in 2012/2013. By the way, the reason why our poverty numbers have been so wrong is that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), under Soludo’s supervision as CEA and Vice-Chair of the National Planning Commission, departed from the international standard method of poverty measurement. Is he now ignoring the right economic statistics to wilfully manipulate information?
13. No doubt we have a problem with unemployment in this country and we must deal with it. Indeed this Administration is dealing with it and stands proud of what it has accomplished so far and is pushing hard to accomplish much more. As a first step, the Administration, through the office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President and the NBS, worked hard to determine how many jobs we need to create in a year. What you don’t measure you cannot make progress on. Why didn’t Soludo do this when he was CEA?
14. We need to create about 1.8 million jobs a year in this country to cater for the new entrants into the labour market, but we also need to deal with the backlog of the unemployed and the underemployed, e.g. those selling on the streets. Dealing with this global challenge of unemployment is not an easy task for any country, as can be seen from the experiences of developed countries particularly in the euro area. But the Jonathan Administration is making good progress, creating an average of about 1.4 million jobs per year by driving quality growth in key sectors like Agriculture, where the bulk of new jobs are being created, Housing, Manufacturing, Financial Services, and the Creative Industries like Nollywood.
15. In addition we have special programs to promote job creation among the youth and these include:
Promoting entrepreneurship among the youth through the “Nagropreneurs” program to support 750,000 youth farmers with grants and training, and the YOUWIN program that is directly supporting up to 5,400 young entrepreneurs with grants, training, and mentorship and so far beneficiaries are creating an average of 9 jobs each, for themselves and others. About 22,000 jobs have been created by the first 2,400 youwinners.
Graduate Internship Scheme: that is reducing the vulnerability of unemployed graduates by enhancing their employability. The Scheme targets up to 50,000 unemployed graduates in the 36 states of the Federation and FCT and about 22,000 graduates have so far been placed by the program.
Community Services Scheme under SURE-P: developed to empower young unskilled Nigerians, women and people with disabilities. About 120,000 mostly young workers have been engaged across the country
16. On the issue of debt, Nigerians deserve to know the truth and we have said it before. The truth is that the government borrowed in 2010 to pay an unprecedented 53.7 percent wage increase to all categories of federal employees as demanded by labour unions. The total wage bill rose from N857 billion in 2009 to about N1.4 trillion in 2010, and as a result, domestic borrowing increased from N200 billion in 2007 to about N1.1 trillion in 2010 to meet the wage payments. Where was Soludo at the time? Why did he not react to the borrowing then? Was it because he wanted to pander to labour in preparation for his political career?
17. It is noteworthy that since 2011, the Administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been prudent with the issue of debt and borrowing. The Economic Management Team not only looks at debt to GDP ratio, where Nigeria has one of the lowest numbers in the world at 12.51 percent but it looks at debt service to revenues. That is why in spite of the rebasing and a larger GDP, the administration has taken a prudent approach to borrowing. The prudent approach helped to drive down domestic borrowing from N1.1 trillion in 2010 to N642 billion in 2014. In fact for the first time in our nation’s borrowing history we even managed to retire N75 billion of domestic bonds outright in 2013.
18. Despite the present tough situation, we do not plan to go on a borrowing spree but to keep borrowing modest at a level sufficient to help us weather the present situation. We have already ramped up efforts to generate more non-oil revenues for the government while cutting costs of governance. Therefore, Soludo’s claim that this Administration is reckless with debt does not hold true.
19. Since Soludo seems so ignorant to what has been achieved by the Jonathan Administration, let us present just a few examples of them here again. This information is easily verified.
• We are improving infrastructure across the country. For example, 22 airport terminals are being refurbished, and five new international airport terminals under construction in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja, and Enugu. Soludo’s kinsmen in the South East now have an international airport in Enugu, and for the first time in Nigeria’s history can fly direct from Enugu to anywhere in world for which they are very grateful to this Administration. But with Soludo being up in the air with his international travels, he has not touched ground in the Southeast to observe this development for himself.
• Various road and bridge projects have either been completed or are under construction. Those completed include the Enugu – Abaliki road in Enugu/Ebonyi States, the Oturkpo – Oweto road in Benue State, the Benin – Ore – Shagamu highway, and the Abuja – Abaji – Lokoja dualization, and the Kano – Maiduguri dualization. The Lagos – Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge are under construction.
• Rail from Lagos to Kano is now functional, as is parts of the rail link between Port Harcourt and Maiduguri. All these have brought transport costs down. We recognise that more needs to be done in the power sector, but bold steps (like the privatisation of the GENCOs and DISCOs) have been taken, and our gas infrastructure is being developed to power electricity generation
• In Agriculture, over 6 million farmers now have access to inputs like fertilizers and seeds through an e-wallet system, which is more than the 403,222 that had access in 2011. Rice paddy production took off for the first time in our history, adding about 7 million MT to rice supply. An additional 1.3 million MT of Cassava has also been produced and as a result, the rate of food price increase has slowed considerably, according to the NBS.
• In Housing, we have put in place a new wholesale mortgage provider – the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) – to provide affordable mortgages to ordinary Nigerians, starting with those in the low-middle income bracket. This sector will help the economy grow as we tap it as an economic driver for the first time. Mortgage applications from 66,000 people are currently being processed and 23,000 have already received mortgage offers
• Our Manufacturing sector is reviving with new automobile plants by Nissan, Toyota, etc. This is in addition to the backward integration policy in key sectors like petrochemical, sugar, textiles, agro processing and cement, which Nigeria is now producing 39,000 MT and exporting to the region.
• The Creative sector is now a factor in our GDP, with Nollywood alone accounting for 1.4 percent, creating over 200,000 direct jobs and nearly 1 million indirect jobs. This is the first Administration to recognise its importance and support its further development with a grant program.
• A new bank – the Development Bank of Nigeria – will soon be operational and this bank will help bridge the access to finance gap, which is a major constraint for the private sector especially SMEs. The bank will provide long-term (5 – 10 years) financing at affordable rates for the first time in our nation’s history.
20. This is the path that the government has been on before this fall in oil prices. The response to the economic shock has been spelled out to the Nigerian public over and over again, and the Administration intends to focus on managing this crisis appropriately. This year will be difficult. To say anything less to Nigerians will be untruthful. It would have been better if there had been a bigger cushion of the Excess Crude Account to manage this situation but despite this the nation can rise to the challenge. More importantly, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Economic Management Team are seeing this as an opportunity to diversify the revenue sources of an already diversifying economy. In fact let me at this juncture use this opportunity to comment on Soludo’s appalling statement that rebasing brings no policy value. Rebasing has enabled us to better grasp the new diversified nature of our economy. This provides the basis for our present drive to support different sectors with appropriate policy instruments to enhance their development. Rebasing has also enabled the Administration to create the platform from which to drive our work on increasing non-oil revenues. These are areas of critical policy value.
21. Soludo mentioned the issue of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU, noting that this Administration has not been vocal or clear on its direction with this agreement. On the contrary, the Administration, particularly the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, has been clear on this issue but since Soludo has been in the air he probably has not been aware of this. Just recently, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment reiterated again to the corporate sector that Nigeria has not signed and does not propose to sign the EPA in its present form.
22. The point is that this government has been pursuing the right economic policies, and its efforts have been acknowledged nationally and internationally. Let me say that there are objective ways to measure performance. There are international institutions globally accepted to do this. They have acknowledged this Administration’s good economic management up to the recent crisis and even now.
23. We cannot go by someone’s subjective view, driven by bitterness and bile. We need to look to the truth and to professionalism. This is where Professor Soludo totally fails. For the other gratuitous, political, and personal attacks, we are sure that those mentioned will respond appropriately. It is a sad day for Nigeria and the economics profession that someone like Soludo, a former CBN governor should write such an article. If Soludo wants to regain respect, he should return to the path of professionalism. He certainly needs something to improve his image from that of someone whose sojourn into National Economic Management ended in disaster for the banking sector, his sojourn in politics, ended in overwhelming rejection by the electorate, and more recently, his sojourn abroad, has put him out of touch with the reality of the Nigerian economy.
Paul C Nwabuikwu
Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance
SAA To Announce Its Annual Financial Results
“SAA management, led by its Acting CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout will present the financial results for the year ending March 2014 and give an update on progress with implementation of its 90 Day Action Plan” said SAA in a statement.
This comes after Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene approved an additional R6.488 billion guarantee for the country's cash-strapped national airline SA Airways, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
"The additional guarantee will enable SAA to finalise its annual financial statements for 2013/14, making it possible for the airline to hold its annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday next week, 30 January 2015," it said in a statement.
SAA was one of three state owned companies transferred to the Treasury from the department of public enterprises on December 12 after Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said Cabinet was concerned about their performance.
Last month, Nene held an introductory meeting with the SAA board of directors, after the Treasury took control.
Additional reporting by Sapa.
-TheNewAge
Meet The Prospective Princess Of Sweden, She Is A Diva!! I'm In Love!
At Queen Silvia's 70th birthday gala, December 2013
The Duchess of Cambridge has some serious competition in the style department. Meet Sofia Hellqvist, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden's fiance and the latest member of the royal style watch. Hellqvist, a former model and reality TV star, already shows a penchant for bold colors, sleek silhouettes and elegant eveningwear—perfect for a princess in training. Her fashion style doesn't make Kate Middleton look good I must say, she has a stunning appearance and the carriage of a queen! As we await her wedding next year, continue to see her best looks so far.
At an event in Stockholm, January 2013
At the christening of Princess Estelle, May 2012
At a concert in Helsinki, Finland, January 2012
At a concert in Stockholm with her fiance, October 2014
At the wedding of Gustaf Magnuson & Vicky Andren, August 2013
At the wedding of Princess Madeleine & Christopher O'Neill, June 2013
With Louise Gottlieb and a friend at a private dinner before the wedding of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill, June 2013
Announcing her engagement to Prince Carl Philip at the Garden of the Stockholm Palace, June 2014
Celebrating the birthday of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, July 2014
At the Opening of the Parliamentary Session in Stockholm, September 2014
At the Royal Christening of Princess Leonore, June 2014
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