WHO YOU KNOW” SYDROME

The sound of my country as the most populous black nation in the world, largest producer of Crude Oil in Africa, second largest deposit of Bitumen in the world, 2^nd largest exporter of Cocoa, largest exporter of Cassava and some many other encouraging pedigrees, paints the picture of a very economically and politically stable country. Also as at when Nigeria gained independence, we were foreseen to be one of the greatest countries amongst the former British colonies, but with the prevailing realities on ground, that projection is still a future to look up to. Growing cases of corruption in diverse forms, bad leadership, increase level of poverty, high mortality rates, and increased insecurity has bedevilled this nation, leaving the developmental pedal on a standstill or, to be a bit generous, a “snail speed”.

            The level of corruption in the nation is alarming as the canker has eaten deep into almost every facet of the nation’s fabric. Every day we hear different types of manipulation, embezzling and doctoring of accounts. Ethnicity and nepotism have beclouded the sense of reasoning, of choosing of leaders and different people for different positions. Nigeria is ranked 139 out of 176 countries in Transparency International 2012 perception index, tied with Azerbaijan, Kenya, Nepal and Pakistan. The problems affecting this nation are numerous, ranging from corruption to bad leadership, ethnicity, to nepotism e.t.c., but the focus of this piece is on the “who you know” syndrome which can be tied to majority of the other problems facing this great nation.

            This issue of “who you know,” which could be expanded to include nepotism, tribalism, ethnicity and favouritism, is one of the major problems affecting this nation.  And my fear is that the younger generation are gradually being oriented to think that it is the way the society is meant to be. From top government officials giving appointments based on those with the longest leg (who know people), defrauding merit and character, to teachers giving better grades to students that are ‘closer’ to them instead of grading based on efforts, to elections, even, into religious offices, to universities not adhering to the set rules for admitting students, employing ethnic and religious bias in the process-some schools quickly come to mind). The matters arising from this concept or, should we term it practice, are so much, so numerous, that it is gradually becoming the norm; the right way looking like the wrong way; because when you do not participate, you are thought of as a fool. Hence, the ‘if you can’t beat them, you join them’ formula is running rent-free in our public lives.

            I beg to emphasise that a country that runs on this concept will never develop because, it, most times, will result in cases of round pegs in square holes in the corridors of power. The right people for the Job will not get it and the wrong people will not do it well; the consequence of it not done well spreads and that is the beginning of a damning end. To be very realistic, the prevailing situation in this nation fully supports the “who you know” syndrome but I will like to inform that the best way for things to be done is working and making decisions based on merit. Citizens of this nation should begin to work hard to get results and not always try to want to cut corners; students should read to pass and not know someone to pass; employment should be given to those that seek jobs based on merit and not bias; government should employ the right people for the right jobs; citizens of this nation should be ready to vote in the right person to do a job and not look at political aspirants from the eye of tribalism. The “who you know” syndrome has done more harm than good to this nation and its citizens and should be highly discouraged.

            However, it is one of those concepts that, when fuelled with positive energy, can be used to enhance growth, but it must go along with merit and equity. Dear Nigerians, let us strive to be the best we can be in every ramification of our endeavours and not rely on ‘Long leg’. Let us come together and make this nation great again; let the noise of our merits and abilities wake up the sleeping giant, teach the young ones to work hard and not look for short cuts....KICK  “WHO KNOW WHO SYNDROME” OUT OF NIGERIA

MAU(Moshood Abiola University): Another Sickening Decision by Gej

            Have you heard of "MAU"?if not,you maybe be wondering what that means. It means Moshood Abiola University,and end product of the Renaming of the prestigious University of Lagos by our "President"(trying hard not to use and adjective to qualify him).In a nationwide Broadcast to mark his 1 year in office,he capped it up with another "sickening and annoying" decision,something that has plagued the duration of his one year in office. It sometimes bothers me maybe he is not thinking right or he has the worst set of advicers. I have been looking for good reasons to count him as a good leader, and anytime I try to adjust,he displays his incompetence and lack of understanding of the Nigerian situation. Growing from the wrong timing of fuel subsidy removal,annoying palliative measure that are(were) barely felt,increasing insecurity and now this again!....haba,are you sure he is not sick or is he just having the wrongest of people surrounding him? Of all schools in Nigeria to tamper with,he chose UNILAG.
                  The name itself is household(international and National),considered traditional and with great meaning and symbolism attached to it. It might not neccessarily be a bad idea to immortalize Moshood Abiola by renaming a school,but not UNILAG!we have a polythecnic to his name already,a stadium and even a way.....what we should be doing to immortalize should not even be this again,but fruitous effort to ensure the survival and practice of true Democracy(which is lacking in our country). Sincerly,i do not know what section of the Nigerian society he wants to appeal to by this decision,But he has made the worst of decisions,it doesnt just click.
               It will take years to be readjusted to,the institution and the name does not Tally,it will affect the morale of students,the prestige of the school...like seriously,what was he thinking,Did he even think at all? Immortalize a True Nigerian Democrat(if he was) of Democracy by making concrete plans to stamp out corruption,giving Nigeria Light and water(the only nation divided into 3 by water,yet lacks drinkable water),proper and Efficient management of mineral resources(produces oil,yet import is what holds the economy) etc you might not be able to fully solve this issues but make a bold step that will keep your name in the mouths of many for time to come.(Mr president ,hope u Hear this) rather than taking a very "annoying decision"
               I sympathise with students of UNILAG,for the rashness of their president, and truly wish something is done to rescue them from this issue.Nigerians please continue to pray for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,sometimes when i measure his performance,i wish Yardua never died..cos he was better,presently he is the worst Democratically President In Nigeria(thats the way I see it oh).Please pray For our President ,that he begins to see the true problems of Nigeria and make efforts to solve them and not making unnceccassary Distraction or digression.

GET THINGS RIGHT

      Today on AIT,matters arising,Port Harcourt studio reported a group supporting Jonathan on the bases of tribe(Niger Delta). I do not want the reason for this protest to be misquoted. It is not about me being a Niger Deltan,a Hausa, a calabar, a Yoruba, or any other tribe. We are one Nigeria and we are looking beyond tribality and fighting to make the country great which will result in the all round development which will benefit all tribes. It is not about subsidy removal or the retaining of subsidy,but you do not tell us to suffer and make sacrifices when the so -called leaders are not doing so.Let me not go into the budget allocation for the leaders and the luxury they are basking in;because through out this protest ,that has been one of the major strength of the citizens on the street.

       My fellow citizens,we are trying to make sure things are done the right way in this country.Stop saying,it is for the future generation,which generation?it will provide more jobs,aw?when we had oil boom..more jobs no come..na now e go come,remember we still have d same people working in this ministries and civil societies oh,The petroleum bill that will lay down the procedures for the operation of the sector,either deregulated or underegulated,has not been passed and has been in the National assembly for about 3 years.The palliatives i have heard has in no way helped issues,because majority of the business(Small scale) make use of PMS and hence increase in the cost willl virtually affect everything and when things increase in Nigeria,it doesnt come down.It pains me when i hear,it is a suffering for just now and enjoyment later..where is the enjoyment coming from?they have not been able to manage the little one they have,what gives you the assurance that they can manage more money..please let us be realistic1

        Yes we might have to agree to fuel subsidy removal,but before then the system should have proved good business sense,trusthworthy,palliatives in place to reduce the pains of Nigerians at the time and then we will be ready to  accept subsidy removal.The removal of subsidy is because of importing of a resource that we have the raw material in abundance,hence  proper functioning of the refineries will make sure ther is no need for increase in price.Even the fact that petroluem is sold at higher price around us, is a great business opportunity..because if we can refine it in this country,we can supply it to those countries legitimately..providing more funds to facilitate develpment of the country.The youths shoul be ' the forefront of enforceing because,when your parents begin to manage under the  influence of the subsidy removal,it affects our pocket money,allowances,our school fees,amount we spend in upkeep in school..which can go a long way in affecting our  performances in school in a country where you get job only if you are excellent or know some1..what is now you plight.Do not be decieved by policies,we have come a long way,we now have youths that re educated and aware,hence you shouldnt be cheated again now!...haba! our awareness should help us in knowing the side to stay on.

     Oh Niger deltans! do not be misled into thinking people are against your son.your son is a good man,but he has surrounded himself with the wrongest collection of aides.Please people do not turn this into an ethnic war,must we ethnicize every political issue?But Nigerians are here to inform him through protests to know those wrong decisions he has made bcause of them and advise him on what to do.An adviser that tells you to remove subsidy on thr 1st of jan,that tells you to remove subsidy without palliatives first,that doesnt tell you  to answer the plight of masses after millions of people coming out to protest(are you waiting for Nigerian Harmatten-arab spring),Niger Deltans you are part of Nigeria and so handling corrption and this nation developing?every one of us will enjoy it.

I see incompentence and shortsightedness,when i hear commentators call subsidy an incentive to corruption!,is it only Nigeria that subsidizes?okay let us even agree..deregulation itself will also be an incentive because the sector will be open to all dick and harry with little or no control by the government..same business opportunity.abegi,let us face facts and do the right thing(s) and in the right order.removing subsidy does not in anyway affect corruption and thats why,our plea is not in subsidy removal but about  sanitizing the system and then the right poilicies can then be effectively implemented.leave subsidy the way it is...and any dailogue above 75 naira is not allowed..anything above that is not allowed.#occupy Nigeria#(most especially in your prayers). if you want to pay above it..pay the salary that comes with it. Below is a pics that shows the salary of countries with the correspondin pump price

LEAVE OUR SUBSIDY 2

The main problem of this nation is corruption and mismanagement of funds; not subsidy.The cry is that we want to be like the great economies in the world by deregulating and paying 14o Naira rite,okay i agree with you,here is a breakdown of some of those so -called economies,their pump price and the simultaneous minimum wage.

Fuel Price Per Ltr              MinWage.
1. Venezuela 3.61 .           N95,639
2. Kuwait 34.54               N161,461
3. S/Arabia 25.12             N99,237
4. Iran 102.05                  N86,585
6. Qatar 34.54              N101,250
7. UAE 78.18 -
8. Algeria 63.55             N55,957
9. Libya 26.69               N23,813
10. Iraq 59.66                N25,813
11. Naija 140-200          N18,000
 See the comparisms!..i believe we are so broke, and want to cut expenses so that soon we will be like USA,being an economic power is not by impoverishing the already poor, or by being an insensitive government that waits for the poor to sacrifice before they do.But they start,the sacrifice from themselves e.gSenators in the US earn about $6,000 dollars monthly and dats about what a university professor, or a director in a state dept, or a doctor wt 20yrs experience, or a teacher wt 25yrs experience earn too, but in Nigeria a senator earns 245million Naira per annum! Dats d salary of 25 vice chancellors, or 50 medical doctors, or 60 directors, or 500 schl teachers!The American President has only 2 aircraft, our president has 9 in his fleet and voted money recently to buy 1 more!.
# # The British prime Minister has only 2 official cars, our president has 23 in his pool and only recently voted 300m naira to buy 2 more bullet/bomb proof ones.# The US, almost d size of Africa with about 500million people have 24 ministers, and 32 govt parastatals and commisions, Nigeria has 42 cabinet ministers, and over 50 government parastatals! what are  they there for# The US, almost d size of Africa with about 500million people have 24 ministers, and 32 govt parastatals and commisions, Nigeria has 42 cabinet ministers, and over 50 government parastatals!wetin we dey use dem do?

     We don tire,fela durotoye ,explained and i see sense with him,a reckless government cannot turn around one day and say they want to manage# (paraphrasin]...Abeg,jonathan, deal with the issue at hand and leave fuel subsidy alone,deal with the erring cabals and do not let about 160 million people suffer for their sins.Deal with corruption,leakages, and luxurios cost of governance, and Nigeria will have enough to feed itself.You recently said,travels will be reduced to barest mininum,the term is relative cos m bearest minimum might be your worse.Cut salaries by 25%,how much is it before?it is those irrelevant allowances that are annoying.Please in case you do not know,Nigerians have "wisened up" what you will tell us 8years ago and we will swallow,this time..you will tell us and we will taste maybe it is good for our health before swallowing.

     Lives have been lost Mr.president,and if you do not want a NIGERIAN HARMATTAN on your hands,you better answer the masses.Because,the more people die,the more the protest get bloodier. And please protesters ,do it with wisdom;let everything be peaceful:wisdom is profitable to direct.If you are a police and you shoot on innocent protesters,you should Know God is above watching you,irrespective of the orders.He is ready to visit your iniquities upon your children children..so watch it!..please pray for Nigeria

LEAVE OUR SUBSIDY

                 With deep sadness in my heart, I tap the keys of my PC listening to AIT news, where 22 people were killed in a hotel in Adamawa state; it is important to note that the people killed were part of mourners that came to mourn a loved one. After that, a Deeper Life Bible church was attacked in Gombe state and 5 People were killed. This is a pure reflection of how insecure, the country has become, reprisal attacks has begun to occur as a  Muslim community in Delta state was attacked in Sapele  injuring about 50. Academic Staff Union of Universities is still on strike, shutting down the public owned tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the largest consumers of generators in the world, producing what they do not use for us; hence only those that can afford it enjoy Light and small scale organisations spend huge sums of their capital on Power. The list of the problems confronting the 6^th largest producer of oil in the world, The most populous black nation in the world and one of the most populous in the world is endless, and I Still strongly believe this country needs divine intervention.

                However the issues listed above is not the main reason for this write-up, but what I want to write on is the reigning gist in the country:” FUEL SUBSIDY”. Our dear president meted to the population one of the worst New Year gift in World History, something that Only God alone has been keeping this country from an occurrence of something that will beat Arab Spring. The president displayed the high sense of insensitivity, when he decided to implement this odd policy on the first day of the New Year, making people stranded in villages, hitting people with unexpected hardship from the beginning of the year. The policy itself started on the wrong foot, because through town hall meetings, the Nation was expecting something around April; that is even if we were to accept it oh!  And they surprised us on New Year day (Display of the beginning of deceit and corruption).

                Also, before we begin to display the hardships that the removal has caused already, let me first begin why Nigerians at all are not going to accept this for the main time. A  Common parlance says: Leaders lead by example  and the leadership of this nation has not in any way displayed this and so the talk of sacrifice, that the supporters of the policy has painted the media with is nowhere to be found when the leaders are not ready to do same. The Nigerian government is one of the most subsidized in the world, where political office holders do little or nothing with their own money, luxuriously enjoying the nation’s money without complaint and the one thing that the common man in the street enjoys, they want to remove it! No thanks. A government that is broke and cannot afford subsidy can afford subsidizing itself, paying to the level of wardrobe allowance for lawmakers, Government is broke but”; N184,000,000.00 to water the presidency’s garden this year, N1.2 billion to rehabilitate the State House inMarina;N608,700,000.00 to maintain n fuel cars in the
presidency alone this year. Computers n Scanners cost us N652, 983,600.00.00 for the presidency alone 2011; N1, 128, 640, 00.00 for Residential Furniture in d Presidency; we have over 50 ministers, Subsidy removal will cost each Nigerian, rich or poor, old or young, babies and virgins, etc N7,500/year directly . We will save almost $500million/year from cutting the salaries of just over 400 people (Lawmakers) We can save $115million/year from their salaries and still have our
Senators earn above Obama’s salary. We will save over $302million/year from their salaries and still have our House of Reps members earn Obama’s salary. Over 800,000.00/day for Presidency's refreshment; Presidency’s kitchen cost us N3million/day over N1.2billion/year; it cost us N8.6million to buy magazines and periodicals for the presidency; each Senator earns
$1.5million/year; the Presidency’s medical expenses cost tax payers over N2million/day. Imagine the staggering amount we’ll save from cutting the payoff figure-head ward councillors
in their thousands. If we halve the pay of Ambassadors, we will raise millions of dollars for capital
projects.” (SOURCE - Funke Treasure Durodola fanpage).  Listed above, is part of the expenditure of a government that claims that it is broke and will be like Greece if Subsidy is not removed. Not listed are the irrelevant travels of the Government officials with the best workers they can think of, the so –called security votes. And they sit down to complain of subsidy? Is this not getting annoying? They want to become like US and UK, are they ready to make sacrifices that the leaders of this nation made?” Can the occupiers of these lofty positions act in honour as Barack Obama did in 2010 when he got every member of his cabinet to take a pay cut, starting with himself? Within his first few days as British Prime Minister, David Cameron led the austerity cuts (upon his assumption) by cutting down his convoy to 2 cars and one outrider. The Members of Parliament in Britain are now only allowed 3rd class train tickets on official travel (as opposed to their traditional first class train ticket allowances). The Mayor of London now rides a bicycle to work. Leadership by example!!! – FELA Durotoye” Houses of senior government officials furnished yearly, do the citizens of the nation do that? You do not give us water to drink; we use petrol to fuel our generators to pump water to drink and you want to increase the price, hence increasing the price of water that is sold. There are no alternative sources of transport (nearest one to be built is in a year or 2, till then what), There is no light (electricity); almost all houses rely on generator to power their house (and you want to increase the price?),Sanusi claims it enriches the rich, let us say we buy it but it also gets to the poor; in his plight to make  the fuel subsidy look sensible, he threatens us with the case  of Greece and unknowingly outlines the failures of the government he represents :lack of control of territorial waters to stop stealing of petrol paid for by Nigerians to other countries, Irresponsibility of port officials which is supposed to have been dealt with by the govt, listing of companies benefiting without the govt  doing anything appreciable in bringing them to book etc. The government cannot allow about 160 million people to suffer for the sins of a few that the government have allowed to go scot free. It was very saddening for Sanusi to compare us with neighbouring countries selling at higher prices but lack the resources and population strength of Nigeria.

                Furthermore, an annoying occurrence was reported in the AIT network news of today, 6th of January,2012.  People were paid 1000 naira, to demonstrate as PRO- Government protesters. A sad story of exploitation, because I will not blame them. It is annoying enough that we are paying 65 naira and still they are thinking of increasing. As a government, we are the governed, the mandate is in our hands, the policy is for us and we do not want. We have meticulously analysed it and have seen that the government can do without the removal of subsidy, if our resources are carefully maintained; Our refineries are in good working condition, effective power to stimulate internal and local productions of our needs and employment of our needs, development of the maritime and agricultural sector, A standard educational system and wonderful transport system, if we are enjoying all these, if you remove subsidy we go understand.  Government has not done enough to make Nigerians trust them with their sweat, we do not trust them enough to make judicious use of the funds accrued; forget the committee set up, I concur with the words of Fela  Durotoye “wasteful leadership cannot make prudent investment”  prove to us that you are faithful and diligent in little, then Nigerians will be ready to sacrifice their sweat and blood for the future of their CHILDREN. If these have not been done, as it is evident enough, leave our Subsidy alone. Let me assume, government officials are reading this, ASUU is still on strike oh, if you have answered them already, you would have reduced the crowd of protesters because students would have been occupied in school(ANOTHER LAXITY);I am reminding you, in case you have forgotten and BOKO is stil BOKOING and shooting please handle them before you feed them with frustrated beings who are not in school and are suffering under  the hardship caused by your REMOVAL OF SUBSIDY....leave our subsidy alone.

                                                                                                                                

                                    OLUGBEMIRO OPEYEMI MICHAEL

A LETTER TO MR.PRESIDENT

Mr.President,compliment of the season.As a concerned Nigerian Kid that loves his nation so much and wouldnt want something like the Arab spring or anything that will affect national peace to happen.I want to tell you,something i think you know,that the citizens do not trust their government(very bad),your promises are counted as "here they go again,making promises they wont keep", anything about money,what comes to their minds is how much are these people going to embezzle again.
        When,i saw the candidiates for the April elections,the amount of people that believed in you for a new dawn  amazed me and i was almost choked my the "vote Goodluck Jonathan " people around me. But with the little time you have spent ,i am still caught in between the middle for maybe i should have supported them or my apathy was justified,with ASUU strike affecting the continuation of my schooling,Massacre by the Boko Haram brothers,national insecurity, high level of corruption etc.
        My main reasons for contacting you however, is on the matters of the removal of fuel subsidy.It will be highly inconsiderable for you to think of removing  subsidy at this time when tensions are high(as a result of insecurity) and people are barely managing to combine security and business.Your excuse is that it is becoming unbearable for the government to bear, but the questions to you are, the cost of running the government is "highly high",i read about the amount to be used in ASO ROCK for feeding alone ha!, aw do you think those that can afford daily meals will feel when you tell them you want to remove subsidy and increase subsidy that will result in increase in price of virtually everything, stationary for the vice president runs into millions(what kind of stationary are that), what effect is the security votes on the life of an average Nigerian,multiple foreign travels with little or no tangible effect on the average Nigerian,So much of high unemployment and people are managing ,still you want to increase their hardship, the subsidy comes from the cost of refining  crude outside Nigeria;the people cant see any of their refineries working at full capacities and is not looking like changing anytime soon,the list of obvious obstacles is endless,hence you have to understand that doing this you want to put your name on the hatred list of many for life and this defies you reason for being a leader,when the led hate their leader.
              The idea of removing subsidy might be the best for the nation,but   all these issues have to be settled, the people have to believe that they are not the only ones making sacrifices(cost of running govt should be reduced to the barest minimum). The people shouldnt be made to feel as if,running a government they are not feeling the impact yet is considered more important than a subsidy that to an extent affects their lives positively(even though you do not believe), by removing that to remove cost and leaving a government that is very expensive.
           Make sure we have a working refinery, and imports little or none. 150 Naira per litter is practically too expensive for the sixth largest producer of crude in the world and has no reserve.The other main problem is that the people do not trust the government to make proper and effective use of the funds accrued from subsidy removal but rather take it as another opportunity to have more funds to embezzle.when prices go up,they dont come down in NIGERIA you know! PROVE TO NIGERIANS THAT YOU ARE FAITHFUL IN LITTLE, AND THEY WILL GLADLY MAKE SACRIFICES TO GIVE YOU MORE TO WORK WITH

Miss Fresh ekehuan.ekehuan swag

Are u in uniben,around ekehuan precisely and you were not in the theatre hall,ekehuan campus.you just missed an interesting show.Just concluded was the much awaited miss fresh beauty pageant.It was everything of a show,the building was so packed that it was heated up. The event had lots of fun,booing,comedy etc. the pagent was the bomb. To cut the long story,the great MACSAN dominated again,as we came 1st,2nd n 3rd vis :isibor Great,Qacheal N Augustina.gist u more later. congrats great