‎President Jonathan’s Speeches, the United Nations and International Diplomacy

The foundations holding International Diplomacy are like the fault lines beneath the earth's surface, they are usually in constant motion but appear calm on the surface until they gather enough momentum to bring about earthquakes, tsunamis, etc, etc. These natural disasters can be equated to Changes in governments, the rise and fall of leaders and or leadership ideologies, etc, etc. Votes at the UN Assembly are neither influenced by date nor time nor morality - the west only employs morality when dealing along petty alliances - they are influenced first foremost by economic self interest, secondly by the balance of power and then by individual abilities of spokespersons. And these factors are considered by nations mostly in the present but mid and long term considerations play a part for nations who can afford to envision.

The vote in support of a Palestinian state by our President should not be adjudged an act of bravery or foresight; it is at best, neither here nor there as there are veto votes already lined up by the permanent member states, in the case of an eventuality. It appears to me that in the present circumstances, it is in the interest of the President, given the religious undertone of our current battle with Boko Haram, to vote in favour of a Palestinian state and hope that it would help dowse the embers of disintegration which their actions are fanning, especially, if it continues unabated. The United States have risen against it because it would tilt the balance of power in that region. Russia, China and the rest of the Permanent Members of the UN would vote for or against it for varied reasons, which I can assure you, would be far from morality or love.

The point made by my friend and ardent President Jonathan supporter that " a lot of folks out there have not yet come to terms... with the fact that a man from a minority tribe particularly an Ijaw man is now the president of this great country....", is rather unfortunate and in my view is one of the major centrifugal forces tearing this country apart; it has at various instances manifested as nepotism, ethnicity, tribalism or all of the above. The criticisms our President receive is neither based on his ethnicity, nor his religious inclination nor his complexion, it is based on his performance level, his service delivery, his lack of fidelity to his electoral contract with Nigeria and Nigerians. Going by our President's utterances, what are indications that he has a good grasp of the issues behind the problems bedevilling us as a nation? What are the indicators that he has both a tactical and strategic response mapped out for our redemption? Each and every community must have outlaws, Britain had Robin Hood, Ireland had Michael Collins, The world had Adolf Hitler. The common denominator is that Britain, Ireland, and the world found the courage and insight to develop a strategy to contain the rise of these individuals and asphyxiate institutions/ machinery they invented and deployed to commit their atrocities. Talk is cheap. It's easy and lame to abdicate responsibility. Our President should rise with the strength of all his constitutional powers and "crush" these growing menace to our corporate existence as a nation and stop snivelling, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces for crying out loud!!! 

On another spectrum, taking excerpts from our President's recent Speech at the pre- Independent day celebrations “prayer session”, and given that the man has his background in zoology, it’s not surprising that he  made allusions to animals while describing his leadership style, hence his relationship with Nigeria and Nigerians. However, what I'm surprised at is that a President, who constitutionally is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, would say he is not a General and denigrates his position by commenting to the effect that he should not be expected to act like a "Chief of Army Staff leading his troops in war". This raises serious questions; if President Jonathan says that he is not, who then is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces?

Nigeria and Good Governance; any hope?

Governance is a people driven process to attain predetermined goals, which, primarily is promoting the good of the greatest number of people. People and process must work harmoniously, optimally for these preconceived goals to be achieved and if at any point in time either the wrong people or the wrong process is put in place, the wheels of governance will be moving in fits and starts and eventually grind to a halt. 

Our dear country is setting new records with the wrong people managing the wrong processes; socioeconomic growth has remained confined to the minds of the rulers and the pages of newspapers 

The only way we can get out of this quagmire and start registering actual growth/ progress is by dismantling the prevalent culture of mediocracy in Nigeria.

DISPENSING THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS - THE CIVIL DEFENSE CORPS

The Federal Government yesterday authorized The Federal Civil Defense Corps to bear arms.

This is rather disturbing given the palpable threats already posed by small and large arms proliferation in Nigeria and when the country is at the verge of losing the war against curbing the menace of extrajudicial killings dubbed "accidental discharge" by operatives of the Nigerian Police Force.

Apart from wondering what a Civil Defense Organisation would bear arms for when we already have a well armed, full fledged military and police departments one is at a loss at the propriety of this action. Did it follow due process? What is the justification for this approval? Was any feasibility study of the Civil Defense Corps undertaken or an Organisational Readiness Survey carried out?

Surprisingly, the Interior Minister in conveying this approval implored the corps management and their operatives to "bear the arms with responsibility". This is laughable, firearms are a tool of force and coercion, who has ever borne arms with responsibility? Except there are stringent and enforceable rules and regulations that acts as a restraint.

This is an accident waiting to happen.

PATRIOTISM IN THE FACE OF INSECURITY AND INJUSTICE; TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance...

First foremost, I want to nudge our minds towards a differentiation between blind hope and patriotism. Blind hope manifests in the form of selective amnesia which makes citizens to either "look the other way" when matters do not unfold according to their expectations or pretend all is, or will be well even when all indicators are pointing south. Patriotism imbues in citizens the open-mindedness to assess situations affecting their country or community as they are; the courage to discuss them openly and the love to seek for practical solutions to these adverse situations and circumstances while continuing to, not just pledge but show allegiance to the National flag.

War, like a cancer does not break out the very day a declaration of hostilities is made; events, issues and circumstances, especially those of irreconcilable nature consume the underlying fabrics of a society; in the case of a cancerous cell, the underlying tissues are eaten up before it breaks out to the surface. It is in this same stealth manner that corruption has consumed and made the Nigeria nation desolate. The widespread violence we live with on a day to day basis is a manifestation of the desolated state of our nation.  

Some of our co travellers have chosen to compare the innocent blood that are being shed on a daily basis in Nigeria militant and terrorist groups, security agents, etc, etc to the US led war on terror and most recently, the despicable, terrorist bombing in Oslo, Norway. This, to me is insensitivity of the highest order and makes mockery of the sanctity of human life. For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to point out that the security situation we face in Nigeria today goes beyond Boko Haram, MASSOB, OPC and the militia of the Niger Delta. Fear and insecurity have been weaved into the fabrics of our national consciousness.

Eleven days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was appointed as the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security in the White House. The office oversaw and coordinated a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard the US against terrorism and respond to any future attacks. Within twelve months from then, the US government have done a full integration of all or part of 22 different Federal departments and agencies into a unified, integrated Department to form the Department of Homeland security.

In the interlude between the appointment of Tom Ridge and the DHS becoming fully independent in its operations, far reaching regulations were put in place to curb the activities of terrorists within US soil. Biometrics was introduced, aeroplanes were redesigned, different and additional surveillance measures were adopted, etc, etc.

The master mind of the Norwegian massacre was apprehended and put in custody within 24 hrs of the incident. In over two decades of mass murders, accidental discharge, extra judicial killings, etc, etc in Nigeria, how many real culprits have been apprehended and brought to book?

What has the Nigerian government done differently to improve security of lives and property since the Maitasine riots in Yola in 1986? From Zango Kataf to Kano, to Kaduna, to Zaki Biam, from Jos to Bauchi and now Maiduguri, it has been sorrows tears and blood and we have a Federal Legislature that gulped N 339 billion Naira between 2007 and 2011 and they want us to pretend all is well!!!

We live in a country where the sanctuary of security, the office of the Inspector General of Police was bombed by a known group and one month later, the security chiefs are still trading blames and they want us to be patriotic and pretend it will be well!!!

We live in a country where the same group that claimed responsibility for bombing the Police Headquarters shoot and kill innocent people in the streets (the Maiduguri example) on a daily basis and go unchallenged and we must bow our heads in patriotic zeal!!!

In this same country, three governors who had foresworn to uphold the Nigerian constitution have openly apologized to the group that bombed the Sanctuary of security and serving senators from that geopolitical zone have held a Press Conference asking for the “go and sin no more” treatment for them and we think all will be well!!!

Well, we may remain in your Pimpers Paradise but someone should please help me tell our security Chiefs that no amount of chest thumping, let them reincarnate King-Kong if they like, let them breathe fire and brimstone if and as they deem fit, the suffocating spate of insecurity in the land will neither be washed nor wished away.

They need to put on their thinking caps and get proactive.

The way forward is entrenchment of justice and the principles of good governance which shall in turn engender peace. Let the government stem the stifling heat of corruption and graft so we can find the resources to invest in security, create employment and an ennobling socioeconomic climate.

The precursor for peace is equal rights and justice.

Re: President GoodLuck Jonathan vs Peoples Democratic Party

Dear Guest,

Your comments are very well appreciated, welcome to our world!

The purpose of this blog is principally to make objectively analysis of socio-political situations, issues and circumstances affecting our dear country and make attempts at providing/ suggesting practical solutions that would aim at improving our conditions, which you must agree with me, is sordid at the moment.

There is time for everything under the sun; a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to be slow and a time to move fast, etc, etc. In my humble opinion, our national psyche requires very urgent need for a makeover.

Our problems have been serially dissected; poor educational and physical infrastructure, abysmal power generation, unemployment and underemployment, an over bloated public service, the Almighty corruption, etc, etc.

My believe is that a government which is focused on resolving issues such as these in order to take its people out of the doldrums would at least have a blueprint or an action plan which would outline the strategy and interventions required to meet expected outcomes. Beyond the interventions, a nation needs to have or develop a philosophy, an ideology which would be embodied by her President, by her leaders and from whence it will diffuse down to the "lowest" rungs of the society.

From all indications, The President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government, which has every reason to hit the ground running, seem to be more interested in chasing shadows and has not shown the tenacity of wit and purpose requisite to tackling the mortal problems bedevilling Nigeria.

We could have been more patient if the world was not leaving us behind; if sister nations which we were hitherto classified together as third world nations have not put their acts together and has joined or are in the process of joining the league of developing /developed nations.

A call for patience, like you have made would have been very welcome if there is any evidence that this leadership have got its priorities right and are on track to lead the nation to anywhere at all except deeper into the morass.

A leadership that wants to bequeath a legacy of profligacy in the midst of abject poverty, a leadership that is preoccupied with elongating its life span even before it commences, a government that has been rendered impotent by huge budget deficits and recurrent expenditure, a nation that has been held hostage by a group of brigands who shed the blood of innocent citizens continually, remorselessly on a daily basis is in mortal danger.

I urge all well meaning Nigerians, including you to lose your patience a little bit so we could build up the critical mass required to nudge out government to action; positive, proactive action.

We will all be the better for it.

N/B:

This comment is in response to a note on the above subject matter asking that President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP be given more time to "settle down" before we start" judging" his performance.

President Goodluck Jonathan vs People's Democratic Party (P D P)

That attempted differentiation between President Goodluck Jonathan and The Peoples Democratic Party (P D P) during the 2011 Presidential Election was the gaffe of the century made by the Nigerian electorate.

It goes to show the extent of naivety and further underscores the need for structured voter education, without which such base deceit will continue to be a recurrent feature in our political landscape and people, enlightened or not, will continue to be hoodwinked.

The scars will remain with Nigeria and Nigerians for a long time to come. 


Four years may appear to be a short time in calendar months but in socioeconomic development terms, it's such a long, long time.

What role did the military play in under developing Nigeria?

Military regimes by default rule by fiat, by suspended a country’s constitution. This makes their incursion into a nation's politics more often than not have a stifling effect on democratic institutions.

However, the Nigerian example of under development crystallizes from factors way beyond the incursion of military adventurers.

Given the length of time we have continually had a civilian government, since 1999 to date; it would be untrue to deposit Nigeria’s underdevelopment entirely at the doorpost of the military.

We seem to have overlooked the fact that good governance, social transformation, economic development are not necessarily confined to the system of government adopted as a channel of delivery but by the sincerity of purpose of leaders. George Washington, who laid the foundation for greatness for the USA and the four Presidents after him all, had military backgrounds, in most countries of the G20, a form of military service is compulsory for one to rise to the apex of the public service. Jerry Rawlings rescued Ghana from the throes of degradation in military uniforms and didn't derail until he started mixing up with politicians, Moa Tse Tung of China, Charles de Gaulle, Pancho Villa, Napoleon Bonaparte, even Robin Hood, etc, etc all had military backgrounds but the Lowest Common Multiple among these men was their love and vision for their country and the sincerity with which they pursued that vision.

China and Japan do not practice parliamentary democracy but Japan was able to recover from the ravages of the 2nd world war and a tsunami recently, China has become the biggest economy on earth, all through pragmatic dedication towards specified goals but above all, they achieved prominence on the world stage owing to the vision, love and the sincerity with which their leaders pursued and defended their national interests. This is what is missing in our leaders in increasing degrees since the demise of the first republic and that has been the corner stone of our failure as a nation to join the league of developed nation’s in-spite of the humongous resources available to us.

America with all its perfection in governance was losing it until they got a president with the moral fibre of Barack Obama. 

In the final analysis, the system of government is not all of it when the purpose is socioeconomic development of a nation. Efficiency, vision and sincerity of purpose; that is the building block of good and effective governance.

THE POLITICS OF FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL

The recent statement credited to the Governors Forum that removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal government is to be a precursor for them to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage is laughable; when will these people stop playing the ostrich and focus on the business of governance?

Have they not realized that like the Nigeria-nation, the problem that has bedeviled NNPC and have prevented it from delivering on it's mission and vision statements as the Chief regulator of the Petroleum Industry is stifling, endemic corruption and not fuel subsidy.

Why have successive governments tended to take the path of least resistance regarding reformation of the Petroleum Industry? My take is that the current measures being put in place by the federal government in the name of industry reforms, including the Petroleum Industry Bill will tantamount to treating the symptom and come to nothing until conscious, concerted and sustained efforts are made to rid NNPC of corruption, corrupt influences and practices.

How would the governors be able to pay the minimum wage when they spend billions of naira to build secretariats, government lodges and other such non-value adding and revenue generating projects. The governors should reorder their priorities and terminate forthwith the "white elephant projects" littered all over the states of the federation.

My other concern is given that the much touted Federal government-led fight against corruption has become still born; One is then persuaded that the collateral hope of retrieving Nigeria from the precipice might as well go down the cess-pit with it.

While the comedy of errors continue unabated, the governors should tell us another story jor!!!

The Great Expectations: Towards Sustainable National development by John Oke on Sunday, June 12, 2011

It is surprising to me that Nigerians, discerning ones inclusive, nurse expectations of our Federal Government as presently constituted. In so much as I would be exceedingly glad for the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government to surprise me(us) and turn things around for the benefit and betterment of the many impoverished Nigerians, I don't nurse expectations of the government, great or small.

My religion is the management sciences where the role God plays is mostly geographical, then, how a nation and its peoples harness their resources towards attaining their goals as a nation is entirely their call. With the advent of tsunamis and earthquakes, that role has become increasingly precarious.

Many patriotic Nigerians have been called names because of their vehemence in denouncing the unsustainable levels of ineptitude and profligacy in government business and insistence in a general change of attitude and approach to governance. They have been called pessimists, cynics, unpatriotic, etc, etc but I'm glad they have never been described as vain or foolish. In my "religion", if you must achieve a different outcome regarding a particular subject matter, you must change ur approach to that subject matter, you must apply different sets of variables and values in dealing with it; different inputs to achieve different outcomes. I don't subscribe to the kind of blind, unfounded hope that abound in Nigeria today, the hope that is built on empty promises and religious sentiments, on indoctrination, mediocrity and crass ineptitude. I subserve myself wholly to the hope that is built on work, hard work.

This regime has not done anything differently from what has sustained the status quo that has asphyxiated Nigeria's growth and development and there is no indication it will find the gumption to do so. I've always suspected the next four years of our democratic sojourn will be wasted chasing shadows, the only thing I'm unsure about is the quantum of the waste but I predict it will be monumental. However, patriotism moves me to work and hope and pray fervently that I'm proved wrong. 

Unless this regime changes it's approach to governance and adopts new variables, we should never expect a different outcome from the last 12 years of PDP profligacy.

Finally, someone should tell our president that international recognition, peace, security and socioeconomic development will not accrue to Nigeria, and by extension himself by the number of handshakes or photographs he takes with President Barrack Obama.

THE NIGERIAN SENATE - ENTRENCHING CONFIDENTIAL CORRUPTION by John Oke on Friday, May 20, 2011

In spite of public criticisms, Senate yesterday through a unanimous voice vote amended its Standing Rules 97 (1)(f) to give vent to the issue of ranking of Senators to vie and contest for position of presiding officer and other principal offices as well as appointments as chairmen of committees in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

“(b) In determining ranking, the following order shall apply: (i) Senators returning based on number of times re-elected, (ii) Senators who had been members of the House of Representatives, (iii) Senators who have been members of a State House of Assembly or any other Legislative House; (iv) Senators elected as Senators for the first time.”

The above statements in quote are the order of ranking for senators as recognized by the Upper Legislative House regarding aspiration to Principal Offices and parliamentary delegation by Senators. Is it not shameful that a country like Nigeria would not consider merit, education, performance and contribution to legislative business as a criteria for ranking? Shame! Shame!! Shame!!!

POST ELECTION VIOLENCE? ENOUGH OF THIS SCAPEGOATISM!!! by John Oke on Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Problem solving is a scientific process which basic components include but are not limited to a rigorous study of the problem, understanding and situating its influences and causative factors. The next step in the process would be to synthesize and simulate solutions based on the knowledge acquired in stage one of the process; and finally implementing the solution which provides the greatest quantum of relief, to the greatest number of people, at the most optimal cost.

An empirical approach adapted from the above hypothesis would set out the blueprint for us to understand and tackle issues and situations of national importance such as the recent orgy of violent murders that rocked some northern cities of our country, which we simply chose to label "Post Election Violence".

These dastardly act predates the 2011 Elections but as is traditional with us when faced with daunting challenges, we, as a nation are ever content to take the path of least resistance and either mis-classify, simplify or just sweep the matter under the carpet of political expediency. There is a clear and identifiable pattern to these murderous spasms but we lazily and conveniently choose to see it only through the prism of its periodic triggers.

This murderous indiscretion was invented with the killings precipitated by the Military Coup and Counter-Coup" of 1966. In 1982 it surfaced in Yola, now in Adamawa State as "The Maitasine riots", in 1987 it surfaced in Zango-Kataff as a religious riot, in 1993 the entire South West region was engulfed in violence after the annulment of the June 12 1993 Presidential election, and this culminated in the mass displacement and exodus of “non-indigene” from that geopolitical zone. In 2001 we gave it the same toga of a religious riot when it happened simultaneously in Jos, Kaduna and Kano. Before then, it was the Jukun and their erstwhile neighbours, in Zaki Biam, Taraba State. The reprisal killings in the South East of Nigeria after the Jos killings in 2002 are worthy for mention at this point.

Very recently, Jos was again enveloped in senseless killings, at which over 1000 Nigerian lives were lost; this was shortly before the 2011 elections. One would have reasoned that the government and security agencies would have taken precautionary measures to avert a repeat but this was not to be. At various times, these killings have been triggered by different stimulus but the outcome has always been sorrows, tears and blood.

It remains incontrovertible that violence of any kind is reprehensible and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Hence, the efforts of government in terms of setting up panels of inquiry to investigate the immediate and remote causes of these upheavals and make appropriate recommendations for a solution are commendable but have become routine, ritualistic and are grossly inadequate given the scope and complexity of the problem at hand. The provable test of government’s commitment to resolving these crises would be when it commences implementation of the many panel reports that are gathering dust on government shelves.

Our national memory seems to be incurably afflicted with selective amnesia. If not, how could it escape our notice that no single individual have been successfully, conclusively prosecuted since the foundation for this carnage was laid in 1966. In fact, the perpetrators of the 1966 killings became the crown prince’s of the Nigerian Army. Down the line through Yola, Zango-Kataff, Lagos, Zaki-Biam, Kano, Kaduna, Jos, Onitsha, Owerri, etc, etc, arrests are reportedly made after each bout of blood-letting but the apprehended culprits as sure as sunrise, always vanishes into thin air.

Our penal code is very much clear as to what constitutes murder in the various degrees; arson, grand larceny and all other such crimes collateral with civil disobedience and mob action; And made ample provisions for punishment for individuals or groups found guilty of murder and associated crimes. The failure of successive governments and its law enforcement agencies to see the need, talk more of finding the political will to apprehend, prosecute and enforce appropriate punishment to the perpetrators of these heinous mass murders has been an incentive for its continued recurrence. Out statute books provide for individual responsibility for crimes and acts of misdemeanour; going by that premise, it is legal, logical and proper to apprehend and prosecute those found culpable for the commission of these heinous crimes on the basis of their involvement, first foremost. Those established to have sponsored them or aided and abated the commission of the crimes in any way will be made to also face the full wrath of the law, but, also on the bases of their level of complicity.

All these rigmarole and misapplication of justice has made life for an average Nigerian brutish, short and of no consequence.

These orgies of violence and senseless murders have over the years been fuelled by injustice as exemplified by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential elections. In the case of the 2011 elections, the denial of political opponents access to public spaces for campaigns by State Governors, the lopsided access granted to political opponents to state media during campaigns, the sundry use of state powers to harass and intimidate political opponents and the failure of government to apprehend and prosecute some highly placed individuals caught in electoral malpractices are all cases in point. In the final analysis, these mass murders have been sustained by the ineptitude of a very vicious and insensitive status quo; This ineptitude is akin to a system failure and for so long as we continue to view the episodic murder spasms as the killing of Igbo's by Hausa's or Christians by Moslems and vice versa, or continue to look for scapegoats to crucify, the vicious circle would continue.

In recognition of these historical antecedents, one can deduce, and not be controverted that the attempt by various vested interests to crucify some prominent politicians for the recent orgy of violence and senseless murders in Kaduna, Kano and other parts of the north is foolhardy, mischievous and at best misplaced. This is a social malaise that must be rigorously assessed and defined in the proper sociological context if a permanent solution must be devised to check its further occurrence. It's not about 2011 Elections, Muhammadu Buhari, President Goodluck Jonathan, IBB, Northern Elders' Forum, or any other individual or group for that matter. This is a national emergency!!!

Above all, government must become alive to its primal responsibility in our social contract, which is to uphold the sanctity of the lives and property of its citizens. We must look beyond ethnic and religious lines for solution to this malaise. In addition to creating employment opportunities for the teeming, idle youth, conscious efforts must be made at building centripetal forces among Nigerian ethnic nationalities. Above all, no prospective solution can be as effective and efficient as apprehending, prosecuting and punishing both identified sponsors and perpetrators of these heinous acts. Enough is enough!!! Is just not enough. It is time to walk the talk with positive, proactive, empirical action.

Enough of this Scapegoatism!!! Enough of this ineptitude!!!

John Oke

FACT SHEET ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY... by John Oke on Friday, April 15 2011

In August 2006, the EFCC had seized the sum of N104 Million from one Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu. Nwosu testified on oath that the money belonged to Mrs. Jonathan, then the Bayelsa State first lady, and that she was a mere mule, contracted to launder the loot. The case eventually made its way through the EFCC’s convoluted investigative hoops, ending up in the court of Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court Abuja. Then, like all corruption cases involving favored members of the PDP family, the case fizzled out, never to be officially mentioned again. Even the fate of the seized money, which Justice Chikere ordered frozen, is still a mystery.

Another incident came to light before the dust of the first incident settled. The story, widely reported in September 2006 in the local and international media, was of yet another EFCC interception of funds traced to the then Bayelsa first lady. This time, the amount in question was an unheard of $13.5 Million. Like the previous loot, it was destined for laundering in offshore schemes. Mr. Osita Nwajah, the EFCC spokesman, gleefully announced the seizure. Again, the case disappeared into the PDP’s labyrinth of impunity.

CURRENT RECORD: Our public debt is 17.8% of the GDP while crude oil accounts for 95% of our exports. Our foreign reserves have gone down from $72 billion in 2008 to $33 billion in 2011. Our gross external debt has been put at $9.689 billion and the Gross Domestic Debt has shot up from $13.6 billion in 2006 to $21.8 billion.

South Africa gave a contract for 5,000MW at just $3b, but Nigeria spent over $17b in 11 years on power to generate less than 2,000MW. The 2011 budget shows that the government will have to borrow additional N1.3 trillion in 2011, to finance a deficit. The National Assembly has widened the deficit gap further by jacking the budget up by about N700 billion!

Excess Crude Account was valued at $22 billion in 2007 but was down to less than $4 billion by 2010. Our Domestic debt grew rapidly between March December, 2010 by up to as much as $30 billion. The state of insecurity has become increasingly worrisome.

Manufacturers consume 8.7 million litres of diesel weekly for their operations, amounting to about N903 million weekly or N3.6 billion monthly. A total of 834 manufacturing companies closed their factories in 2009. 176 firms were shut down in the Northern area, comprising the Kano and Kaduna states manufacturing axis. In the South-East-178, the South West- 225, in the Lagos area, 214 manufacturers closed their factories. The implications in terms of job loss can only be imagined.

Yesterday South Africa was inducted in the G20 and attended for the first time its executive meeting in Washinton.

It has also joined the BRIKS, which are the group of five nations which has been recongized to lead the set the pace in the new world economic order. We can decide to remain in our deluded state and vote GEJ/ SAMBO for as long as we want but that neither arrests the fatal haemorrhaging that is speedily and steadily asphyxiating our economy nor will it contribute in any way to mending the deep scars in our socio cultural and economic fabric. It will also by no means, facilitate the return of our professionals who have remained in The Diaspora not necessarily because they wish to but because the thought of residing in their father land is a disincentive and life threatening venture.

The Heavens help those that help themselves by John Oke on Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Lord is presently in Japan helping them decommission the nuclear reactor that was damaged beyond repair by the Tsunami and earthquake, that's compensation for their gallantry during the turbulence. After Japan, The Spirit of the Lord will travel through North Africa; Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, etc, etc, in order to help them rebuild their land after fighting gallantly to reclaim it from tyrants; by then it might be 2015 and the prophesy that "... we are not eating from dust bins yet" would have come to pass. If we are not ready then to pick up the gauntlet, the Lord will move on, helping those that help themselves.

The Dora Akunyili's that I know of... by John Oke on Wednesday, December 15, 2010

There are two Mrs. Dora Akunyili's; one served as the Director General of NAFDAC and her "distant cousin", served as Minister of Information. If it is the Mrs. Akunyili that served in NAFDAC that is going into politics, then there is the likelihood of her bringing electoral value but if it is her "distant cousin", the one that served as Minister of Information, the one that sent a budget of =N= 6 billion + to the National Assembly for SIM Card registration that wants to go into politics, Hmm! Hmm!! Ha! Ha!! Ha!!! I dey laugh O! Let's forget her.

Anyway, the cobwebs are yet to clear so we can see clearly which of the Akunyili this transfiguration shall produce.

Reaching out to the electorate: The need for documentation of action plan by presidential aspirants by John Oke on Tuesday, November 16, 2010

"The best place to solve a problem is on paper"

                                                        - Jim Rohn

My dear President Goodluck Jonathan,

I am writing this comment because I am concerned about our collective investment in the Nigerian project and the overwhelming feeling I have that we, the common citizens would all go to the bank to cash the cheque of our collective patrimony and it will be marked "insufficient funds, drawers attention required". I also have a predisposition to view issues and challenges from a project management mode and in this mode sentiments are cast aside and resolution plans documented to ensure full understanding of a problem, clarity of thought and action and that no stones are left unturned in the processes of action planning and solution implementation.

A lot of people are cheering you on in the pretext that all is well but I beg to differ, on the grounds that it shall take more than an uncanny believe in providence and, or indulgence in piety to steer our beloved country, this giant with feet of clay out the doldrums back into greatness. Making Nigeria great again will take clear, concise, creative action planning and focused wilful implementation to say the least.

I am so deeply pained that the Nigerian electorate has been so serially deranged that the mere thought of having the seeming best of several bad prospects as a ruler sends them into frenzied ecstasy like schizophrenics dancing to drumbeats from yonder worlds; like moth being attracted to the fire.

I recognize that you are a nice guy, who definitely has good, even great intentions for Nigeria but I write with every sense of responsibility that leading Nigeria out of the plethora of challenges facing it is not a job for "nice guys" and "the road to hell, they say... is paved with good intentions". All intentions are latent until they are concretized by documentation and followed through by self application towards the goal. Your taciturnity at critical moments of national unease, times when the nation is incontinent with confusion neither emboldens us to support your political aspirations nor epitomizes the firmness we expect in our leader in the unfolding dispensation; it portrays you as not having a firm handle on the depths to which this country has sunk or the fact that moving it forward will entail a complete departure from the current way of doing government business.

In the case that I am wrong, that you do know what measures to take to revive our irretrievably decaying socio-economic and infrastructural life as a nation, where have you documented your action plan? Where is your manifesto on how you plan to get Nigeria out of the guillotine? You were an academic; are marks awarded to students in a subject if they come into the exam hall and proclaim they know the answers to set questions but that the answers are cocooned in their memory? No way! You give them an answer script and ask them to put pen on paper. In all sincerity, we will rest assured in trusting you with our votes and defend that mandate with our lives if you would document your action plan and let it serve as a contract between you and us, the electorate.

The strive for a free and fair election is, and will remain a mantra until we can be able to read the action plan of aspirants to elective positions and debate with them on ways and means of implementing these action plans. Such a document would serve in deepening their understanding of situations, clarify their thoughts and in the course of fine-tuning the contents with the electorate, engender buy-in to their programs.

It is my humble believe that the contract for leadership in Nigeria can no more be between our leaders and their God or their conscience; it would and must be between them and Nigerians.

Thank you for finding time to read my comments.