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Philips Akpoviri - "Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there." ~ Dr John P. Kotter.

I have been deeply immersed in some kind of wandering thoughts all evening in this land that is gradually becoming home to me. Just as I continued, my Korean friend and colleague came by, and as if he knew what I have been thinking about, he retorted with his distinct Korean accent, "I would love to visit Nigeria.

Your country must be very beautiful, and all of you very rich...", I looked at him dazed, and quickly asked what informed his conclusion. His response further left me startled when he defended his supposition by telling me this words "In Korea we are not lucky. We do not have petrol (meaning oil and gas) but you have so much of it...if we that are not lucky to enjoy that blessing could still get all we get, and live comfortably as we do, then certainly, Nigeria with all your enormous oil wealth would all be living as kings and queens" To shorten the rather lengthy story, I would sincerely submit that by the time he finished with his adulation of my sorry country, a deep well of tears had been dug up in my heart.

Source: The New Nigeria Project: South Korea As A Veritable Model

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Joint Army/Police units routinely kill Nigerian protesters

By Ahmed Saka (CP)

JOS, Nigeria — Soldiers in a central Nigerian city opened fire Saturday on university students protesting continuing violence between Christians and Muslims, witnesses said, with at least five people killed in the ensuing violence.

The shooting came as gas stations and a farmer's market smouldered after late Friday violence that sparked when Christian students attacked Muslims trying to bury a corpse in Jos, a city at the epicenter of tensions between Nigeria's two dominant faiths. One Muslim died in that attack, which sparked retaliatory assaults on Christian churches in the region Saturday morning.

This is the latest violence in Jos and its surrounding villages, a region once known as a vacation spot for British colonialists and as a tin mining town. Human Rights Watch said at least 1,000 people died in 2010 and another 200 more have died within the last month in violence largely fueled by ethnic, economic and political disputes.

Source: Shoot-At-Sight Order In Jos: Nigerian Soldiers Shoot At Protesting Students-Canadian Press

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Dr. Wumi Akintide - A serious renewal of pledge for good Government worthy of emulation by Nigeria

President Obama correctly defined October 4, 1957 as the "Sputnik" moment that challenged Americans to actively get involved in the race to conquer space which the defunct Soviet Union was clearly winning at the time. It was a moment of truth American scientists and researchers needed to hear loud and clear from John F. Kennedy. The situation was reversed when American became the first country on Earth to land the first man on the Moon in less than 10 years thereby beating the Soviet Union to second place. America became the world's number one super power and later on the ultimate winner of the cold war with the Soviet Union. I submit that there is nothing wrong in Nigeria taking a script from America if the move can help to strengthen our own country.

Source: The Annual State Of The Union Ritual In America

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Pastor Tunde Bakare

Barring last minute cancellation and in less than two hours from now, fiery Lagos priest, Pastor Tunde Bakare is set to become the vice presidential candidate to retired army general and former Nigeria head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

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Philips Akpoviri - I saw it coming much earlier. Yes, as early as the time he reeled out the timetable and surprisingly apportioned a miserably insufficient two - week duration for the registration of the scores of millions of eligible voters. Every sincere Nigerian who is truly true to himself given today's palpable realities cannot expect such a normally monstrous exercise to consume anything less than two months even if the Christian Association of Nigeria were to organize it in collaboration with the Supreme Islamic Council of Nigeria on behalf of INEC.

This two months is even without prejudice to the daily execution of the exercise at INEC offices across the country for persons who might have been out of the country, or sick in hospital beds while the registration exercise lasted, and of course those who only just got due for suffrage in reasonable time before the elections.

Source: Jega Needs Help, Not Sticks - By Philips Akpoviri

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Uche Igwe - The passage of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act in May 2007, sent very positive signals about Nigeria's desire to sustain her leadership in the global initiative to the world. The Nigerian oil and gas industry, like in many resource rich countries, has been largely seen as an avenue to fuel corruption and enrich a few privileged, parasitic elite at the expense of ordinary citizens.

The blessings that theorists predict will befall a natural resource rich country has not managed to happen in Nigerian even after more than forty years of the flow of petrodollars. . The decision of the Nigerian government to implement wide ranging reforms and openness in payments and receipts, back in 2003, in line with the global multi-stakeholder Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) paved a way to enthrone a more open, transparent extractive (oil, gas and mining) industry and to hold governments accountable for public revenue.  Indeed the comprehensive financial, physical and process audits conducted by NEITI on the Nigerian oil and gas sector between 1999 and 2004 clearly exceeded the global focus of EITI and have been often referred to as EITI plus plus.

Source: Periscoping The Nigeria's NEITI Act 2007

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   By Tondu Aonduna           Professor Jega’s reported denial that he threatened to resign if the PDP-led federal government of President Jonathan were to put undue pressure on him  and the INEC  cannot be reassuring to Nigerians. The INEC chairman’s statement that he will remain in his position and bear the consequences of any failure on his part is no consolation at all if,  at the end of the day, the INEC really inflicts yet another electoral debacle on the nation.

Source: Professor Jega: To Resign Or Not To Resign?

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   By Churchill Okonkwo           One of the few things you learn quickly as Onyeigbo commenting on national issues is never to open your mouth wide against Ndigbo even when that appears to be the only sensible thing to do. As 2011 election draws near, the high level of scavenging and hypocrisy from politician in the Southeastern Nigeria have once more exposed the political naivety in Igbo nation.

Source: Southeast Governors, Dora Akunyili And Ohaneze: The Scavengers That Will Destroy Ndigbo

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Adetokunbo Mumuni - The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to "urgently rescind the recent decision by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke (SAN) to withdraw the case file of Minister of State for Health Sulaiman Bello, who is accused by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) of N11.2million fraud."




Source: SERAP Urges Pres. Jonathan To Rescind AGF's Withdrawal Of Minister's 'Corruption' Case File

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One thing that one cannot take away from our politicians is their insatiable penchant for grandiose solutions to problems and this is clearly evident in the power sector. After spending over $10b in the last 10 years to fix this problem, the outcome was actually a net loss in the amount of power generated!

One would think that the so-called technocrats in government would have learnt one or two lessons from the failures of the past. However, it is quite obvious that no lessons have been learned. I say this because President Jonathan's plan for the sector is a continuation of the strategy that has failed twice already since 1999.




Source: A Practical Solution To Nigeria's Power Problem