Buhari made me cry...

Buhari Made Me Cry Today ‘For Jonathan’s 6 Wasted Years’ – Dr. Essien Attah: For the first time in a long while, I cried profusely like a baby. Tears of joy. For six years we had a President from the South South who failed to address the decades of environmental degradation that have plagued the Niger Delta. For six years our lands lay like the scorched earth of a nuclear apocalypse. For six years many held their head high that their kin was President by day but drank bitter polluted waters by night. Isn’t it a shame that it takes a Hausa man vilified by most of my kin, to arise to this challenge and order the immediate clean up of the Delta? I wept because to be truthful we do not deserve such having blown away our chance at salvation on a clueless man from Otuoke. We don’t deserve such, for the greatest senseless critics of this benevolent President are in this region. Those who insult him and laugh at his Fulani accent are now going to be the beneficiary of his greatest act since becoming President. Indeed President Buhari is not a Nigerian, who prefers to colourise every action under the microscope of ethnicity and religion. I have no choice but to cry like a baby at the six wasted years wandering in a wilderness called Jonah and Patience. For now our saviour has come and he is not even our kin, but an Aboki Muslim from the much vilified North. President Buhari thank you for sanctioning the clean up of the Niger Delta. To me that is your greatest act since you became President. You have not let us down, we that support you and pray for you. Thank you for saving Nigeria from the hands of those who drove us to the brink of destruction. Thank you and Thank you. God bless PMB and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Dr. Essien Attah

Jonathan’s ministers behind oil theft –Buhari

Jonathan’s ministers behind oil theft –Buhari

JULY 23, 2015 : ADEMOLA BABALOLA AND OLALEKAN ADETAYO


President Muhammadu Buhari


THE near future of some former ministers and top government officials appears to be behind bars as President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday confirmed that he had started receiving some documents, which showed that they were thieves.

The President vowed that the ex-ministers would be prosecuted based on the indicting documents while the proceeds of their fraud would be repatriated to government coffers from their multiple foreign accounts, which he said were opened for the purpose of laundering money.

Buhari said the documents at his disposal indicted some former ministers and other top government officials of massive fraud, including oil theft.

“Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels per day. I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised,” the President said.

He spoke at an interactive session with Nigerians in Diaspora at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, United States of America, as part of his four-day official visit to the country.

He also said that while many Nigerians had nicknamed him “Baba Go Slow” because of the delay in forming his cabinet, he would prefer to be “slow and steady” in taking decisions.

He said the government officials who had been stealing Nigerian oil also opened as many as five bank accounts abroad for the purpose of laundering the money they made from their thievery.

The President said, “We are now looking for evidences of shipping some of our crude, their destinations and where and which accounts they were paid and in which country.

“When we get as much as we can get as soon as possible, we will approach those countries to freeze those accounts and go to court, prosecute those people and let the accounts be taken to Nigeria.

“The amount of money is mind-boggling but we have started getting documents. We have started getting documents where some of the senior people in government, former ministers, some of them operated as much as five accounts and were moving about one million barrels per day on their own. We have started getting those documents.

“I assure you that whichever documents we are able to get and subsequently trace the sale of the crude or transfer of money from ministries, departments, Central Bank, we will ask for the cooperation of those countries to return those monies to the Federation Accounts.

“And we will use those documents to arrest those people and prosecute them. This, I promise Nigerians.”

Buhari faulted the mode of operation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, saying his administration would check the excesses of the corporation.

The President restated his position that removal of subsidy would bring more hardship on Nigerians.

He however said he would study the debate and take a decision based on his experience.

He said, “Who is subsiding who? But people are gleefully talking ‘remove subsidy.’ They want petrol to cost N500 per litre.

“If you are working and subsidy is removed, you can’t control transport, you can’t control market women, the cost of food and the cost of transport.

“If you are earning N20, 000 per day and you are living in Lagos or Ibadan, the cost of transport to work and back, the cost of food. You cannot control the market women because they have to pay what transporters charge them.

“If there is a need for removing subsidy, I will study it. With my experience, I will see what I can do. But I am thinking more than half of Nigerians cannot afford to live without subsidy.

“Where will they get the money to go to work? How will they feed their families? How will they pay rent? If Nigeria were not an oil producing country, all well and good.

“Our refineries are not working. We have a lot of work to do.”

Buhari decried those he said had started calling him “Baba Go Slow” because he has yet to form his cabinet, weeks after his inauguration.

He said, “Within the past two weeks, I am being asked when I am going to form my cabinet. And in some quarters they are now calling me ‘Baba Go Slow.’

“I am going to go slow and steady. Nigerians should be patient to allow this administration put some sense into governance and deal with corruption.”

He also pledged to study the Diaspora Bill with a view to signing it into law as being demanded by the Nigerians in Diaspora.

The President advised the Nigerians in Diaspora looking for government jobs back home to suspend their ambition, saying the national economy was in a bad shape and that it would take his administration about 18 months or more to resuscitate it.

He, however, promised that some of them would be engaged by the Federal Government as consultants to enable them to contribute their quota to national development.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, later issued a statement quoting Buhari as saying that his administration would trace the accounts of individuals who stashed away ill-gotten oil money, freeze and recover the loot and prosecute the culprits.

The statement read in part, “Corruption in Nigeria has virtually developed into a culture where honest people are abused.

“250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude are being stolen and people sell and put the money into individual accounts.

“The United States and other developed countries are helping us to trace such accounts now. We will ask that such accounts be frozen and prosecute the persons. The amount involved is mind-boggling.”

One former minister, who served in the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, in his reaction on Wednesday, said Buhari was not a frivolous person and that his allegations against former ministers should not be trivialised.

The ex-minister however added that it was only former ministers who had access to oil that could have been engaged in the stealing of the product.

The minister, who is from the South-West, but who asked not to be named, told our correspondent that Buhari, being a cautious leader, could not have made a general statement tagging all ex-ministers as crude oil thieves.

“It is only someone who has access to oil that could steal it. I won’t believe that the President made a general statement calling all ex-ministers thieves. The President Buhari that I know doesn’t speak anyhow. This is a serious allegation that we should not trivialise,” he said.

Also a former junior minister, also from the South-West geo-political zone, told one of our correspondents on the phone late on Wednesday that he could not defend anybody because he did not know those that Buhari was accusing.

“I don’t want to react because I am not sure about those the President is accusing of stealing oil. I don’t even think it concerns me; its people like (former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani) Alison-Madueke that you should be talking to. By the way, you know I came late to the whole thing,” the former minister of state said.

Copyright PUNCH.All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Ex BBC Boss, David Hayward complains ” this is not the Nigeria I was expecting”

Ex BBC Boss, David Hayward complains ” this is not the Nigeria I was expecting”
9jatravel
EARLIER this year, I was approached to do some media consultancy in Nigeria. I had just left the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) after 18 years to set up my own business, so this seemed a great opportunity.

I spoke to a number of friends and former colleagues. I had heard many of stories about Nigeria, seen the reports on Boko Haram and had my own impressions of sub-Saharan Africa.
The advice fell into two camps: “Don’t go, you’ll get kidnapped or catch malaria. Either way, you’re going to die,” and, “Nigeria is a nightmare. When you arrive, you’ll be swamped by hustlers trying to rip you off, steal your luggage and all your money. If they don’t get you, the corrupt police officers and officials will.”

I was mainly to be based in Asaba, the capital of the Delta State, one of the biggest oil producing states is Nigeria.

In an attempt to be a bit more thorough with my research than asking a few old mates, I contacted the office of BBC Media Action in Abuja.

The fairly pragmatic response was: “We treat the Delta State as a hostile environment. It is an oil producing area and there is a strong risk of kidnapping.

“However, if you have armed security, this risk will be slightly reduced.”

I took this to be reassuring and made sure an armed security clause was written into my contract. I spent some time talking to my wife, Jo, and children about the prospect of going to Nigeria.

Jo’s attitude was: “For God’s sake, this is exactly what you love doing. The more dangerous a place, the better the stories. You’ll be able to show off and bore people senseless about roadblocks, men with guns and how brave you are.”

Buoyed by this, I accepted the work and prepared for Asaba. I got my Visa, all the vaccinations I could fit into my arm and made sure I had a small mountain of malaria tablets.

I really didn’t know what to expect from Nigeria. It is easy to fall into preconceptions that Africa is all about war, famine, corruption and poachers killing endangered animals.

I caught the overnight BA (British Airways) flight from Heathrow to Abuja, arriving first thing on Sunday morning. The flight was made slightly more interesting by the chap next to me hissing at the flight attendant to attract her attention. This did not go down very well.

I was later to discover this is common practice in Nigeria and not considered rude in the least.

Not sure the flight attendant saw it this way!

So, the first challenge and opportunity for anecdotes was here. Running the gauntlet through the hordes of hustlers outside the airport, once I had collected my luggage and passed through security.

Interestingly, this is the first airport I have been to in the world where they check your bags belong to you by making sure your baggage labels match your ticket. I had always thought it would be very easy to simply walk off with the nicest looking suitcase on the carousel. Not here!

Imagine my disappointment when I was almost completely ignored and simply met Yinka, the guy I would be working with. We walked, unthreatened, straight to his car.

We drove through newly completed roads, past new buildings and billboards advertising numerous western goods and luxury items. This is not the Africa I was expecting.

We checked into the hotel, logged onto wifi, I emailed home and uploaded a couple of pictures to facebook, still waiting for this hardship and danger to kick in. Maybe when we go out into town this afternoon, I will see a bit of the real Nigeria.

We certainly didn’t come across it at the couple of bars we went to that evening. I think it will take some time to get used to the isi-ewu (goat’s head pepper soup) and the chilled red wine. But the Star beer is very much to my taste.

The next day, we flew down to Asaba. Again, there was no problem at the airport; it was quite the opposite.

I was struck by the way the airline, Arik, made sure with every passenger that his or her bag was on the flight. I wish this had been the case when I went to Moscow last year and had to spend the first three days in the same clothes, because the airline had lost my luggage somewhere between Heathrow and Domodedovo.

The airport at Asaba is something to behold. It is brand new; everything was gleaming and had that just unwrapped feel. It was relaxed outside too.

The driver picked us up, no hustlers grabbing our bags. This is really not the Nigeria I was expecting.

The runway is being extended to take international flights. Within the next six months, Emirates will be flying in. Warehouses are being built around the site to cater for a mass of cargo.

About 10 minutes drive away, just across the Niger Bridge, is the city of Onitsha, one of the busiest markets in Africa, where you can buy almost anything.

I was to travel in and out of the airport several times in the next five weeks. Each time, something new was completed.

The baggage carousel, sadly lacking when we first flew in, was fully operational the next time. So were the check-in areas and the very plush departures hall.

The next morning was the first venture out. Yinka and I decided to go for a bit of a run. It seemed sensible to set off early, because of the heat and to avoid the risk of being kidnapped or shot at. So, at 6am, we were off.

About a minute into the jog, we approached a group of somewhat hard-looking men with very big guns. They were guarding the gates to our compound. This is not a sight I am used to on my normal runs in rural Leicestershire in the UK (United Kingdom).

Anxious to appear as inconspicuous as possible, I tried to sneak past, not drawing too much attention to myself, convinced I was about to be arrested. But it was quite the opposite, as we were greeted with cheers of “Good morning sir. Well done. How far?”

Once I had composed myself from the shock, very nearly tripping over in a sweaty heap, we continued our circuits. Every time we passed someone, we had the same greeting.

It began to feel as though we had our own troupe of heavily armed cheerleaders (or should that be troop?).

This was quite an introduction to what, I began to realise, was one of the most friendly countries I have been to. This is a genuine friendliness; it is not a means to get to know you and rip you off.

The following few weeks continued to surprise me- and to make me feel very embarrassed about my initial preconceptions. I have been lucky enough to visit a whole range of places in the Delta State. The television and radio stations need some work, but the staffs are young, enthusiastic and very hardworking.

Warri, the oil centre, is a thriving hub that is only going to get bigger with the construction of the largest business park in West Africa.

The sign at our hotel was a bit disconcerting. It asked everyone carrying guns to make sure they weren’t loaded- which was nice.

The University Teaching hospital in Oghara is as well equipped as any I have been to in the UK or the rest of Europe. There are state-of-the-art CT and MRI scanners, a world-class renal unit and 25 paediatric intensive care beds.

The journey to the hospital gave me the first opportunity to see a proper Nigerian village. This was far closer to what I had been expecting- the goats and cattle roaming the dusty roads, the food stalls cooking chicken, fish and corn over open fires and dozens of bars with dodgy looking satellites, advertising the latest football matches live.

When we slowed down or stopped the car, we were surrounded by two groups: The children pointing at me were shouting Oyibo, Oyibo (white man), and teenagers trying to sell anything from palm wine to cola nuts to the latest mobile phones.

Now, I can’t be sure, but I don’t think the iphone 5 I was offered for N5000 (about £20) was as genuine as it could be. All of this was done with great fun and humour. If you chose to, you could buy everything you needed from your car. If you didn’t, that was fine too.

The transport system is far from perfect, but all the roads we have driven on are absolutely fine. The most interesting experience was seeing the suicidal okada (motorcycle taxis) in full force for the first time. They have been banned in the Delta State and replaced by three-wheeled kekes.

But this is certainly not the case in Onitsha, about a 15-minute journey from the centre of Asaba. It could be on another planet.

You drive over the Niger Bridge, enter the neighbouring (Anambra) state and a different world, one where thousands of the small machines ferry people and any goods you can think of around.

We saw one driver with four passengers- two adults and two children- precariously balanced in front and behind him and oil barrels, containing God knows what, weighing heavily on the clearly inadequate suspension.

The drivers are quite mad. We were there for about a minute before our car had its first near miss. We were to have many more in the next half an hour, with the rules of the road, like driving in the same direction on a dual carriageway, simply ignored.

The noise is deafening. As the okadas rev their tiny engines, they sound like a swarm of very loud insects buzzing inside your head. You very soon begin to choke on the fumes of burning oil and petrol.

It was quite a relief to cross back over the bridge into the far more serene and calm home ground of Asaba. The welcome I have had everywhere is stunning.

The one thing you cannot escape in Nigeria is the love of the English Premier League. I have so far failed to meet another Leicester City fan, an obvious shame, but there are millions of diehard Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea supporters.

Watching the Liverpool v Man Utd game at the Asaba Viewing Centre, with thousands of people wearing the respective replica kits, was one hell of an experience, although my eardrums may take some time to recover.

There is no doubting their passion. They may not have been to Old Trafford, The Emirates or Stamford Bridge, but the passion they exuded was clear. I am not sure what ‘come on ref,’ or ‘what was that, you id.iot’ is in pidgin (English), but I heard it several times that day.

Nigeria and Delta State are far from perfect. You see great poverty next to immense wealth. There is a long way to go before the full potential of the natural resources and people are used for the good of all.

While I have had no real security problems, we have not been silly. When going into potentially dangerous areas, we have had armed police officers.

The truth is that Nigeria and Delta State have some problems. There is the risk of kidnapping and malaria. But it is not the place I was expecting.

I am going to find it very strange walking around London and not saying hello to everyone, using elaborate handshakes and bumping shoulders. I will miss it a great deal.

In my view, it is a fascinating country that needs a massive PR (Public Relations) overhaul. I would better find another source of anecdotes about how brave I am for my friends at home in the Leicestershire countryside and at my favorite place in London, the Frontline Journalism Club.

Nigeria has not given me half as many heroic stories as I had hoped. How very disappointing.

On Soludo, Buhari, Jonathan And The Elections – Professor Pat Utomi

The firestorm generated by Chukwuma Soludo’s well reasoned commentary on the place of issues in the 2015 electioneering campaign has somehow become the core of the campaign. What a way to come from outside and define agenda.
Of course I do not agree with all the points marshaled by the erstwhile CBN Governor and Patito’s Gang member, but not to commend his citizen duty of engagement or indicate as reprehensible the resort to ad hominen bashing of the former Economic Adviser instead of providing Facts to counter the views he had raised. That is issues based campaign. I will myself raise logic to support and dispute some of the points in the Soludo intervention.
I do agree with Soludo that issues matter. I also think that those who turn to divisive emotion-laden typecasting of others rather than issues pertaining to the well being of the Nigerian people do a grave disservice not only to democracy but to the long term common Good of all.
The Soludo thrust of criticism sounds like an attack on the statist perspective that intervention can generate jobs and economic growth. Even as one who likes to see government out of the way, I find the approach worrying because beyond the Keynesian logic that brought the ultimate capitalist state, the US, out of the Great Depression with initiatives like the Tennessee Valley Authority in Infrastructure, there is more recent example of post 2008 global financial crisis and the stimulus packages of the Obama Administration, and now Europe turning to Quantitative Easing, not to knock the wall street / Main street tag team approach to ensuring prosperity. Soludo’s solutions sometimes sounded like Deepak Lal on the poverty of Development Economics. I think that if we see current oil price slum as an opportunity rather than a threat then we have to see a role for government in the way Lee Kuan Yew used state intervention when Singapore was prostrate in 1965, as Nigeria is today.
This leads to another point I am not in agreement with Soludo on. He talks about cost of programmes and the fact that low oil prices mean you cannot finance a big idea. In 1965 Singapore’s main revenues came from rent for the British Naval Base and the British had decided to shut all bases east of Eden. The decision of leaders of the United Malay, National Organisational (UMNO) to eject Singapore from the Federation that was thought to be the only hope left. Singapore, out of pocket, and all dressed up with nowhere to go. Then they rolled up their sleeves, got creative, transmitted the right values and found leadership that inspired and had integrity. Today the small country probably has the largest concentration of billionaires per capital on earth.
Here in Nigeria, shortly after self government, in the 1950’s, Nnamdi Azikiwe as Premier of Eastern Region was anxious to match the free education policy of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Palm Produce did not fetch as much as Cocoa in the Market. The civil servants led by the new Permanent Secretary in Finance, Chief Jerome Udoji thought it could not be done because of limitations of money. Zik insisted and accused Udoji, in Parliament, of trying to sabotage his government. After 40 percent of the Eastern Nigeria budget of 1957 had gone to education and was still inadequate, the Ugoji team suggested the introduction of fees for Primary 1 and Primary 5. But leadership kicked in. A philosophy called “Ibu anyi danda” raised a formula that created a partnership between government, the communities and missionaries that enabled the East leapfrog the gap in education between the East and West.
In both cases the difference was leadership. At the centre in Abuja for some reason that may be from exposure, or whatever, does not inspire as Lee Kuan Yew, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Michael Okpara did. Money is not everything in making dreams come through.
Among the many lessons we will learn, if we begin to operationalize the cash transfers initiative of APC, a concept that helped Inatio Da Silva pull Brazil out of ‘potential’ into a global economic powerhouse, is that we may not need as much cash as Soludo projects and that corruption and goal displacement is so high in a bloated public service that the savings will more than be adequate. Besides from Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola we learn that with such programmes in Ekiti and Osun that the numbers projected are often exaggerated. Given our abuse of census we are likely to find much fewer people in those brackets. Check with the Bill Gates Foundation on satellite imagery studies of target population groups.
Having stated my major point of disagreement, it is useful to reflect on some other points raised by Soludo.
His broadside on austerity measures pronouncement and the road to austerity is a true, fair and proper read. No question that we walked with our eyes open into a repeat of 1982. In many of my speeches and my 2006 book WHY NATIONS Are Poor, I recall how the Iranian revolution pushed oil prices into the stratosphere of USD 40 a barrel. We went reckless with champagne and even importing sand and big men bought Rolls Royces. We managed to borrow ourselves into a dept trap. On this round we moved up private jets and buying up Dubai.
When this current boom started with India Rising and China producing I recall on several occasions calling for fiscal responsibility compact in which flows into the distributable pool, the FAC account, not go above $40 a barrel, with additional revenues up to $70 a barrel price going to a stabilization fund. This fund would be available were prices to drop below $40 to be used to ensure a constant budget funding up $40 in lean times. Beyond $70 it should flow into a future fund. I have been singing this song for several years but the technocrats say the politicians insist on sharing the whole money and say of talk about saving for a rainy day that it is pointless planning for the rain when it was already pouring torrents. My retort was what is so wrong in resigning to make a point and force public conversation to educate the people because these politicians may be greedy but they surely do not hate their children. They have only acted in ignorance. I point them to young Mahathir Mohammed in Malaysia who disagreed with the position of the then Prime Minister and spoke up. He was dropped from the government where he was a junior minister, and expelled from The United Malay National Organization (UMNO) the dominant party at that time. Out of government he wrote a book: The Malay Dilemma. That triggered soul searching that finished with the resignation of the Prime Minister. He was brought back into the Party. Not long after Dr Mahathir Ibn Mohammed became Prime Minister and the history of Malaysia changed for good.
What does it take to lead such change- Genius? No. I draw from the Ronald Reagan experience in the US. President Reagan was not a genius. Some think he probably already had Alzheimer disease when he entered the White house. But his values were clear as was his vision. He found the right people and an America, in retreat, was revitalized, opening the way for teen and twenty American young stars to create a new industry with the .com revolution. Ironically, I have said elsewhere that the Buhari movement somehow reminds me of the coming of Ronald Reagan.
Let me close with a caveat. My response is a citizen response. My prism on this is not partisan. But I am a card carrying member of the APC. The emergence of the APC is a culmination of my life’s quest as an institutionalist to see the dynamic of two balanced political parties. I was sure that without competition between parties that are equals progress would continue to elude Nigeria So I longed for and worked for the scenario we have today. But I see in the torrent of abuse on Chukwumah Soludo for speaking truth to power and worry this thing we have worked hard for, not in any pursuit of any self interest, but for the advance of the common good, could be threatened by those who fail to understand the very idea of the public squares and the triumph of the ideas rather than emotional outbursts that result in tension and violence. I have read unprintable things on line and in so many e-groups, some more offensive than Charlie Hebdo cartoons from both sides. This is poison we must curb. It is a double blow when those who follow this track are well educated. So let us leave this business of certificates and uncompleted PHDs and hateful portrayals of opponents in caricature from the cross to throw backs of earlier life of candidates that seem like Hitler’s Goebbels at work let’s examine vision of society of challenges and the record of incumbents. Lets ask people, regarding incumbents, is your life better today than it was four years ago and to the challengers how can you make these same lives much better four years from now. To win elections from intimidation, a shower of insults and trying to diminish opponents rather than engage their minds can only produce pyrrhic victory. The worst such “victory” would be to win an election and lose a nation through bitterness that makes it difficult to get people to work together to advance the shared good of the people. For people like me the public sphere is about the pursuit of the elevated immortality. This comes when you do what is right and if providence beckons, as it did for Mahathir Mohammed, lee Kuan Yew and Ronald Reagan then you live a name that time cannot find an eraser to rub off. Those who negate the opportunity for progress to blossom and the triumph of the human spirit to bring progress deserved die a thousand times while they still inhale and exhale no matter the title they get for their place is in infamy.
Prof. Pat Utomi

Nollywood actor Muna Obiekwe is dead.

Posted by: Mercy Michael in Entertainment 15 hours ago

Talented Nollywood actor, Muna Obiekwe is dead. The actor, whose demise hit the movie industry like a shock wave yesterday, was said to have died of kidney failure in an undisclosed hospital in Lagos.
According to a source close to the actor, Muna has been battling renal related ailment but has kept it secret for a long time before informing the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima who has since been in touch with him. The source further stated that that actor’s drinking habit may not be unconnected to his death.
Until his death, the Enugu based actor was one of the controversial actors in the Nigerian movie industry dubbed Nollywood. Muna, who has a knack for acting romantic scenes, once came under attack for grabbing fellow actor, Biola Ige’s breast, in the movie, Pregnant Hawker. However, the actress later denied the story, claiming that the picture which went viral was doctored and that there was no such scene in the movie.
Muna on his own part was quoted to have said, “…I don’t remember the movie. I also don’t remember sucking Biola’s breasts. If the movie exists, that scene never took place.
“Like I told you, I don’t recall the movie. I do a lot of movies and I can’t remember what happens in all of them. The fact that I don’t recall means that the movie was shot a long time ago. Probably three or more years back. When love scene was in vogue with producers. I’m still searching for the movie to acquaint myself with the story.
“There has never been anything between myself and any actress that I’ve made a movie with. My romantic relationships have always been outside the movie industry. I don’t take my work home”.

Religion and it's negative impact on the 21st Century...

‘If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.’ ~Albert Einstein

Religion is like slow poison, and just as poison is killing your body, in the same way religion is killing your soul. There is only one difference: religion is masquerading as medicine, and while you think it is there for your own benefit, it is secretly killing you. And before you become aware of it, religion has turned you into a lifeless being.

The negative effects of religion on society are tremendous. Here are the main ways religion is destroying people’s life:

Religion is filling people with fear

Religion is one of the main reasons why people are afraid of living. And when I say ‘living’ I don’t mean just surviving. To survive is one thing, even stones do that, but to live is a completely different thing. To live means to be sensitive, it means to feel, to grow, to discover your potential and achieve to higher states of being each and every moment.

The starting point of religion is fear. Religion is based on the idea of sin: all people are born sinners, impure souls, and if they don’t purify themselves they will soon be condemned to hell by God, where they will have to experience eternal suffering.

In order to avoid hell, religion demands that people prove to God that they are worthy of heaven. How? By following the dogma of religion. Naturally, when people are put in such a situation, they find themselves in a continuous state of fear. They are always afraid whether their actions are right according to religion or not.

When you believe that you are being continuously watched by an all-seeing eye of God, you will have to act in certain ways to please God. The fear of hell is continuously in your mind, filling you with worry and anxiety, and this does not allow you to live spontaneously. As a result, most so-called religious people become neurotic and in some cases even schizophrenic.

Religion is turning people against themselves

The demands that religion places on people are unrealistic. Religion, on the one hand, teaches that people are born sinners. Sin is what we are made of, and whatever we humans are doing is bound to be corrupted in one way or another. On the other hand, however, religion is teaching people to behave in the best ways possible – in a few words, to be perfect, just like angels. But unfortunately, people are not angels, so how can they act in such an unnatural way?

But this has many serious consequences. When you fail to do what God has ordered, you start hating yourself. You begin to accept the idea that you are indeed a bad person, corrupted, and not worthy as a human being. And once you do so, your life becomes filled with anger, bitterness and resentment — a true hell on earth.

Religion is turning people against each other

The other is just a projection of yourself, a mirror, on whom you can see your own reflection.

Once you start hating yourself you are bound to start hating others too. When you accept the idea that you are a sinner, you start seeing those around you as sinners. And when believe that others are sinners, there is always a deep-rooted fear within you that the other wants to harm you–the other is corrupted, ill-willed, an enemy of yours.

In addition, you will not tolerate religious ideologies that are different from the one you follow. This is why you can see religions fighting against each other. Similarly, religious people are fighting nonreligious ones. To identify with a religious ideology, and call it the only truth and way, leads to tremendously negative consequences – hatred, racism, and all kinds of violence. Just think of how many wars have been carried out throughout history in the name of God and religion.

Religion is keeping people in ignorance

To live means to learn, and life is a continuous lesson. When, however, you have grown up conditioned to believe what is right and wrong according to religion, and told that to doubt religion means to go to hell, naturally you become afraid of seeking true knowledge. You stop searching to find the truth, to learn, and hence to grow as a human being.

Conclusion

As you can see, the negative effects of religion on society are tremendous. To blindly follow a religion, or any other ideology, simply means to restrict your perception, suppress yourself, and live in hypocrisy — in other words, to live in suffering and misery.

Many people choose to follow religion, even though they suffer from this choice, simply because religion frees them from personal responsibility. To live spontaneously one has to take responsibility for oneself, and this is certainly painful. Life is made of choices, and to make the right choices is not always easy. So people prefer not to chose for themselves, but to have others chose for them. They prefer to walk on paths made by others, instead of creating their on path. But unless we stop having an authority to tell us what to do or what not to do, will never be free. 

And unless we are free, we will never be happy and peaceful.

- See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com/the-negative-effects-of-religion-on-society/#sthash.ySvUirJp.dpuf

‘Only sheep need a shepherd.’ ~Voltaire

Stephen Davis’ 7-Year Secret Deals with Boko Haram

Written by Transparency Nigeria  

FG flew him in presidential jet, lodged him at Transcorp Hilton *Probe those named by the Australian, Restore Joint Task Force in Borno – Col. Kontagora *I’m ready to face Ex-Governor Sheriff – Davis

With a truckload of soldiers,  a good intention and a high expectation, 63-year-old Reverend Stephen Davis, an Australian, drove into the darkness of New Marte, an uncertain darkness made accessible by the half-full moon.

The large expanse of land in the corridor of the Lake Chad Basin, with President Olusegun Obasanjo had opened up for farming under an irrigation scheme which shares border with Cameroon. It is located in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State. Instead of the intended farming activities, the field that stretches beyond where the eyes could reach, occupying a space of some 50,000 hectares,  had been subdued by the Boko Haram sect. To demonstrate their control over that land and space, the militant sect had set up camps on the farms, and had asked the Australian and the ladies who wanted to negotiate the release of close to 300 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok to meet them there under the cover of darkness.

“We had to drive to New Marte because that’s where the sect commanders we were in touch with wanted to talk to us,” a woman who was on the entourage told our reporter. “It was a very dangerous trip to make at night, but the sect had given us the assurance that they would not attack us.”

In was in late April, about two weeks after the abduction of the schoolgirls from their hostel in Chibok, and Reverend Davis had reached out to the sect members who wanted to know what government wanted to put on the table in the deal to have the girls released.

“It was a very scary encounter,” the woman elaborated. “At about 3.00am, we saw the sect members engaged in a kind of military drill. We initially thought it was the Nigerian Army personnel who were training, but we were wrong; it was the sect members. We even discovered that the soldiers who accompanied us to the camp abandoned us in the night. I thank God that we came out of the place alive. At the end of it all, we gained nothing, because government did not demonstrate the commitment to obtain the release of the girls.”

The scene above was one of the encounters The Reverend Davis, recognised as an international arbitrator, had in his efforts to obtain the release of Chibok girls, a five-month struggle that has come to nothing – but frustration.
His 7-year relationship with Boko Haram

Our reporter learnt that Reverend Davis didn’t  jump into the Boko Hararm crisis recently. The former Canon Emeritus  at Coventry Cathedral in the United Kingdom and an associate of The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, has had a relationship with the sect that spanned over a period of seven years. His initial contact with them was way back in 2003 through a group in the North-East, called Women Peace and Security Network. This group, Sunday Trust learnt, was cultivating the young men in the region, and training them on the need to eschew violence. As one who worked in the Church of England’s Ministry of Reconciliation, Reverend Davis learnt about the activities of the women and decided to visit Nigeria to appraise their activities. In the process, he became acquainted with the Boko Haram sect, its leadership, among them the late Mohammed Yusuf and even Abubakar Shekau.

“He knew all these people before the sect went violent,” one of the women who have worked closely with The Reverend Davis told our reporter. “It’s not like he came here to make a name after the abduction of Chibok girls. As at the time we came in contact with him, he had done some work in other parts of the world, including his secret negotiation for peace in the Niger Delta. Davis showed us many photographs of himself with leaders of the Niger Delta militants. Many of those photographs were in his computer.  He showed us evidence of the work he has done in other parts of the world. At a point, the Tony Blair Foundation wanted to come into Nigeria to negotiate with the sect through him. But Davis was already working for government, and the Foundation didn’t want to work with government. So, he didn’t spearhead that project. His expertise is known all over the world.”

Corroborating this position, The Reverend Davis told The Mail of London in June this year that he had had an “ongoing contact” with Boko Haram, describing it as “a long process of building trust on both sides.” Our reporter learnt further that even during the period in which the Presidential Committee on Peace in the North-East was meeting with members of the sect, The Reverend Davis was helpful. “He was lodged at the Transcorp Hilton, and flew in a presidential jet. A top official in the presidency paid his bills. We held meetings with him and elements in the sect at Transcorp Hilton. You know what that means. At a time government was desperate about the release of Chibok girls from captivity, the presidential jet was used to convey him to Maiduguri. Thereafter, he would be given the security cover while he met with the sect’s leaders.”
Speaking about his own experience, The Reverend Davis said in an interview with The Cable, an online publication, recently that, “I have been involved in peace negotiations in Nigeria since 2004 when President Olusegun Obasanjo invited me to intervene in the Niger Delta crisis. With a local Nigerian colleague, I spoke with Asari Dokubo and took him to Obasanjo at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Because Asari is a Muslim, the Muslim boys in the North heard about me and warmed up to me. I did a report in 2005 on the threat of extremism among young northern Muslims.

“Obasanjo’s security chiefs dismissed the report with a wave of the hand. They said no such thing existed. In 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, who desired to end the militancy in the Niger Delta, invited me and made me presidential envoy. I toured all the northern states. I went to the country’s borders. I came back with a report that there were some budding sects in the North. The national security adviser (NSA) at the time, Gen. Sarki Mukhtar, dismissed the report. He said they didn’t exist. A succession of NSAs dismissed all these reports and allowed the groups to flourish.
“By the time President Goodluck Jonathan came to power in 2011, these groups had spread all over the North. They had cells and commanders in 16 out of the 19 northern states. President Jonathan called me and sought my opinion on the best way to tackle the militancy and bring it to an end.
“I knew many of the leaders. I spoke with them. They trusted me. They initially wanted to kill me. They thought I was an American but I told them I was not. They also thought I was British but I said I was not. I told them I was an Australian. They relaxed. I don’t know why but they became more accommodating. They became friendly and, gradually, we built the trust. They started feeling free with me. I don’t call them Boko Haram. I call them JAS. People call them Boko Haram. They don’t call themselves Boko Haram.”
BUNGLED EFFORTS FOR PEACE DEAL AND RELEASE OF CHIBOK GIRLS
Our reporter learnt that last year, while government took steps to enter into dialogue and peace deal with the sect, Reverend Davis made contacts with the sect’s commanders and secured a kind of terms of peace agreement from them. We learnt that in the first instance, the sect wanted women and children of the sect’s leaders released from captivity. The Reverend Davis, Sunday Trust, learnt, successfully convinced government to release that class of detainees on June 14, 2013, but when the sect leaders who wanted to drop their arms sought unconditional amnesty, government disagreed with them, hence the peace process collapsed.
The lady who worked closely with Davis added that, “When the dialogue committee was at work, the Australian, too, was in secret talks with some of the sect’s leaders. There were 12 Boko Haram commanders with whom he worked, and their main demand was that their women and children in detention should be released as a sign of government’s seriousness. After that, they would name the persons who would negotiate other terms of peace agreement with government. That was the stage we were. Suddenly, instead of government to take that line of action, it decided to declare a state of emergency. The sect leaders, therefore, went into hiding, believing that any effort to negotiate with government would lead to their death. They gave an example of some persons who met government in Kaduna for peace talks, but were later caught and killed.”
Speaking in an interview The Cable on how this peace deal collapsed, Reverend Davis said, “They wanted training for the widows of their deceased fighters. They asked the government to give these women cottage training. They, ironically, wanted education for the children of their deceased members. That is why I don’t call them Boko Haram (“Western education is a taboo”). They asked that the children be sent to school. They also wanted the government to rebuild villages that were destroyed by the security agencies. They asked for amnesty as well. : The president said he would not grant amnesty in the sense that they meant it. He said those who surrendered their arms would not be prosecuted, but those who continued to commit more crimes would face the law and would be charged with treason. They also wanted women and children who were being held in custody to be released. Their leaders that I spoke with were ready to accept the conditions. But the NSA then, Gen. Owoye Azazi, went vehemently against it. He said there should be no negotiation with terrorists. He completely turned the military against the peace deal I was working on, even though we were very close to bringing an end to the insurgency the same way we did it in the Niger Delta. The military then refused to back the deal. They succeeded in convincing the president not to accept it. I could understand where they were coming from: the security budget was like $6 billion and any peace deal would seriously reduce their budget.”
It was in the same manner that the effort to release Chibok girls failed, because the military didn’t want government to yield to the sect’s demands.
THE CURRENT OUTBURST AND COUNTER-ACCUSATIONS
The Reverend Davis claimed that he went to town with the story of his frustration in rescuing the Chibok girls because he couldn’t imagine how a  government would behave as if all was well when over 300 girls are held in captivity by a very violent sect. According to him, “We are talking about 200 Chibok schoolgirls, but there are over 300 other girls that have been kidnapped. There are many young men that they also kidnapped and turned against their families. They asked them to go and slaughter their family members and they are doing it. Nobody is talking about those ones. They are the new child soldiers.”
Though his major concern has been the need to release the young girls from captivity, his comment on the supposed sponsors of the sect has taken a central position. In his interviews, The Reverend Davis claimed that some of the sect’s commanders named former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff and General Azubuike Ihejirika, a former Chief of Army Staff, as some of the sponsors of the sect. He also listed an unnamed official of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as an agent through which funds are mobilized for the sect.
Both ex-Governor Sheriff and General Azubuike have dismissed the allegations. It is not clear how the retired General was implicated in the sponsorship of the sect, but elements in Maiduguri told our reporter that the disbandment of the Joint Task Force (JTF) led to the escalation of the insurgency.
“Many of us think Ihejirika deliberately disbanded the JTF,” our reporter was told. “What it meant was that only the army would be in charge of the operation, and that’s not possible. When the JTF was in force, all the services, the SSS, Police, Navy, Air Force, Customs, Immigration, etc, were involved in intelligence gathering, which helped in the operations. But now, the army is alone, and that is why the sect has an upper hand.”
It is difficult to understand why government has disowned The Reverend Davis, saying it has nothing to do with him, but Sunday Trust learnt that a section in government believed that the Australian was not dealing with the mainstream elements in the sect.
“Davis’ contact with the sect is through a woman who truly has a measure of contact with Boko Haram,” another person who claims to understand the working of the sect argued. “However, I don’t believe the woman knows anybody in the Shura Council who take decisions. There are all sorts of splinter units, all of them in Boko Haram, but to reach the core of the group is no tea party. I don’t think the Australian did. Those in the fringes may have their own measure of influence, but the hardliners hold the ace. Perhaps, government discovered this and decided to do away with him and his roles.”
AN INDEPENDENT BODY SHOULD PROBE DAVIS ALLEGATION:
A former Commissioner of Police and social critic, Abubakar Tsav has said the federal government should constitute an independent body to look into the allegations by the Australian negotiator, Stephen Davies.
Describing the allegations as weighty, Tsav said it was rather curious that the federal government that was said to have engaged Mr. Davies is now denying ever engaging the Australian hostage negotiator.
“How can a foreigner come into the country and travel to such places without the knowledge of the authorities that be?  The denial by the federal government over Mr. Davies engagement follows that same pattern of denial over the Chibok girls abduction, where the security agencies came out to say they had rescued the girls only to recant later. So they are always giving false information over security matters.
“It is therefore only through an independent body of investigation that the allegations made by Mr. Davies, that a former Borno governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, and former army chief, General Ihejirika, are sponsors of Boko Haram should be properly inverstigated,” Tsav said.
Commenting on Ihejirika’s exoneration by the DSS, Tsav said: “It is possible that Ihejirika could sponsor Boko Haram in order to avenge what the northern troops did to his people during the Civil War.  For instance, it is rather curious that up till now the circumstances that led to the death of the late General Shuwa are still unknown.”
Also, speaking to Sunday Trust at the weekend, the former military administrator, Colonel  Isa  Kontagora  reasoned that former governor Modu  Sheriff  might have been linked with Boko Haram because one of his cabinet members that was arrested and killed in a very suspicious manner with the sect leader, Muhammad Yusuf during the insurgency crisis in Maiduguri when he was serving as governor of Borno State, was a member  of the sect.  “If this and many other things are why they think he has any explanation to make concerning the insurgency issue, I think he should be thoroughly investigated.”
Col Kontagora (retired) added that it was wrong for the DSS to exonerate former Chief of Army Staff Azubuike  Iherijika without investigating the allegations leveled against him on the insurgency issue. “If anyone is mentioned, I think what is proper is for the authorities to investigate him on all the allegations. Nigerians need to know if he is a culprit or not. They need to know the financiers or backers of the sect so that government can approach it in a way that will help to restore sanity to the community.”
Kontagora  insisted that the claims made by Stephen Davis should not be swept under the carpet.
“Government should investigate it thoroughly to get to the root of the matter and put an end to the mess. Anyone found wanting, either in financing the terrorist group or otherwise, should be prosecuted.”
WHAT FUTURE FOR PEACE IN THE NORTH-EAST?
The lady who claimed to have worked closely with Davis and had met some of the sect members told our reporter that government’s emphasis on the use of force made those who initially planned to renounce violence to have a rethink.
 “Government is not ready for peace talks, hence many of them who initially wanted to drop arms have joined the violent wing. It seems they are determined to fight to death or success, and that is very bad for our country. All over the world, insurgency is defeated through dialogue, but we have taken the other course, which is tough and rough. It’s only God that can save us. I feel strongly that Jonathan wants peace, but the issue is apparently beyond him. You have all sorts of government officials and godfathers who benefit from the violence. They are in control, so they don’t want the violence to end.”
The Reverend Davis, in his interview with The Cable made a similar statement, saying government can’t overcome the crisis without entering into a peace deal: “A peace deal backed by a strong military is the way out. But the government must first bring the sponsors of insurgency to book. Government must arrest and interrogate the politicians funding the insurgency. Government must cut off the supply of funds to the militants.
“There is a ritualist group in Boko Haram that delights in slaughtering people. This group is being heavily supported by someone based in Cairo, Egypt with funds supplied by Nigerian politicians and power brokers. If funding is cut to this guy, there are many commanders in the Boko Haram camp who are ready to dialogue, release the captive girls and end the insurgency.”