2019: Why I won’t support Buhari’s govt - femi kuti

LAGOS—FEMI Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, said he declined Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s appeal to support the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration because of his late father.

Femi Femi said this, at the weekend, while on stage with the Vice President at the grand finale of the annual musical show, ‘Felabration’, which held at the New Afrikan Shrine, Ikeja in Lagos.

Osinbajo was one of the dignitaries who attended the just concluded 2018 Felabration event in  honour  of the late Afrobeat legend.

At the event, Femi told the crowd all that transpired between him and the Vice President. Osinbajo visits Bayelsa flood victims, says disaster is monumental

Femi, who spoke in  Pidgin  English: “Vice President Osinbajo came to my house for support,  na  him  dey  stand for my front now o. I tell am say I no fit support (Buhari) because of my papa. He said he understands and he respects my view. But he’s my friend.”

In addition, he said: “He (Osinbajo) said he wanted to come to the Shrine to see what everybody is saying about the Shrine and I am happy that he came and saw that we are not crazy here. He said he didn’t know this place was this big.”

Recall that President Buhari jailed Fela in 1984, as Military Head of State for being in possession of the sum of £1,600 meant for the band of 26 persons at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, while on his way to Europe for a scheduled concert.


SOURCE : OLUWATOFUNMI BAMIDELE
EMAIL : Oyewunmi001@gmail.com

Election 2019:Omoyele Sowore picks running mate

The candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has picked his running mate for the 2019 general election.

According to a statement signed by Malcolm Fabiyi, the Director General of the Sowore campaign, Rabiu Rufai was selected the vice presidential candidate of the AAC.

Mr Rufai from Jigawa State is an expert in public health intervention and his areas of expertise include Maternal and Child Health Services, Communicable Disease Prevention & Control, Health Systems Development for Primary Health Care, Health Management, Policy and Planning, Health Economics and Policy Research, Health System Development and Strengthening, Demography, Monitoring & Evaluation of Health Programs, Medical Statistics and Epidemiology.

He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians (FWACP) and also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH). He is also a member and Associate Fellow of the West African Postgraduate Medical College, a Member and Associate Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and a Member of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

Speaking on the choice of Mr. Rufai, AAC presidential candidate, Mr Sowore, said, “In our bid to work on Nigeria’s multifaceted challenges and proffer solutions that will create a true giant out of our nation, we have always believed that health care, population health and health economics, ranks alongside national security and power, as critical areas that a serious government must address.

“I can think of no one more qualified than Dr Rufai to spear head that aspect of our agenda. Health is Wealth – and in our government, Dr Rufai will be responsible for ensuring that Nigerians have access to affordable and world-class healthcare and translating that to economic growth.”

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Davido Declares His Uncle 'Governor' Of Osun State

Midway into his performance in the early hours of Monday, Davido said: “I want to give a shout-out to His Excellency, Governor Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, the Governor of Osun State."

Davido performing at the Afrika Shrine

Nigerian singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has declared his uncle, Senator Ademola Adeleke, winner of the Osun State governorship election.

Davido, who performed alongside all artistes under his record label in the early hours of Monday, stated this at the closing ceremony of Felabration 2018, which was themed 'Overtaking Overtake'.

The singer had difficulties gaining entrance into the backstage, as the crowd waiting to catch a glimpse of him blocked his path.

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Afterwards, waiting to catch a glimpse of him blocked his path.

he was ushered onto the stage by his protege, Mayourkun. He, however, stopped midway into his performance to announce his uncle the winner of the election.

“I want to give a shout-out to His Excellency, Governor Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, the Governor of Osun State," he said.

Felabration 2018 came to an end on Monday morning.

The week-long annual event is organised in celebration of Nigeria’s Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Amosun Accuses Tinubu, Oshiomhole Of Perpetrating 'Fraud' In Ogun State

“The issue of Chief Osoba and Asiwaju and co, what we said was that there was a definite silence from their end, and silence means consent. You can record me and publish it in your newspapers. We have not heard one word from any of them. Was there any election in Ogun State? Yes or No? They should come out," he said.

Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, has accused Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Bola Tinubu, APC National Leader and Olusegun Osoba of conniving to impose Dapo Abiodun as the governorship candidate of the state in the general election.

He insisted that there was no election in the state aside the one that was broadcast live, stating that the silence of Tinubu and Osoba on the matter was proof they supported the imposition.

He also said if the National Working Committee or Oshiomhole insisted there was an election in the state, it was "fraud".

Amosun spoke during an interview shortly after the swearing-in of the new Chief Judge of the state, Mosunmola Dipeolu, held at the Governor's office chamber in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

His words: “The President already knows there was no election in Ogun State. He knows that they just went to Lagos, wrote all results and that what they did is fraud.

“If the National Working Committee or the National Chairman said there was an election in Ogun State, it’s all fraud. That is what I said. Mr President already knows, there was no election in Ogun State, other than the one we held.

“The issue of Chief Osoba and Asiwaju and co, what we said was that there was a definite silence from their end, and silence means consent. You can record me and publish it in your newspapers.

“We have not heard one word from any of them. Was there any election in Ogun State? Yes or No? They should come out. People at this level should be courageous enough to take a position, to come out, to come and tell us whether there was an election.

“The one governorship election that we had, there was live telecast, people even witnessed it."

President Yele Sowore: In An Ideal Democracy By Dare Glintstone

In the last few months, I have read, followed [through online supporters] and listened to Yele Sowore ‘Mr. Take-It-Back’. I have personally criticised him on selected occasions and at some points commended him for his doggedness and radical approach of changing this current aberration.

Capacity, will and resources [natural and human] is all a prepared president needs to fix Nigeria. I wish Nigerians can see ‘SOWORE’ from the same prism as they see French president, Macron who has become the poster boy for young and purposeful leadership.

The eventual split of some Nigerian presidential aspirants under the acronym of PACT- (Presidential Aspirants Coming Together) dashed my hopes and I could not follow them as separate individuals as well as candidates again. This is not the time to fool around when ‘someone’ must give way in 2019!

Fellow Compatriots, let me use the opportunity to draw your attention to the task ahead – the need to dislodge completely our ruling elites with contemporary strategies. I have always being an advocate of good governance, ensuring that all citizens benefit from our commonwealth. Unfortunately, some of our youths are either docile or selfish in the matters of holding our common oppressors accountable in the management of our society. The above-mentioned situation calls for all stakeholders in nation building to firstly and as a matter of urgency, take back our country from incompetence.

No sane being can beat his or her chest to say all is well with Nigeria; our transitory hope in the former opposition and now ruling party of strange bedfellows has landed us in a deeper mess. Inveterate hypocrisy beclouded our sense of reasoning against available history in 2015, all we wanted was the ‘clueless’ and ‘peaceful’ Goodluck Jonathan out at all costs, without considering the best options obtainable and now we are all wailing. I know blind scoundrels would say “no alternative” apart from the incumbent.

We are who we choose to be. It’s time for well-meaning citizens of Nigeria to get involved!

In the last few months, I have read, followed [through online supporters] and listened to Yele Sowore ‘Mr. Take-It-Back’. I have personally criticised him on selected occasions and at some points commended him for his doggedness and radical approach of changing this current aberration. I remember his acts in replacing ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan with the ‘Man of the people’ in person of President Muhammadu Buhari, and I am happy he has joined millions of Nigerians wailing for a change of ‘change’ he once supported.

His history of activism has really helped his campaign and some youths are in love with this – a very usual stance of any youth who is familiar with campus politics. I hear them say, “He is now gearing up to run in the country’s forthcoming presidential election in 2019. We are supporting him to replace this old-fashioned leader.”

Let me quote him, these words will form the premise of my opinion: “I’ve always been in the forefront of the agitation and struggle to move Nigeria forward – first as a student and youth activist during military regimes. Since 1999, my focus has been on improving and sanitising the democratic space. This is a natural progression of my commitment to moving Nigeria forward. This will not be politics as usual. I have always been a part of the movement to move Nigeria forward. I have always played a leading role in that movement. It will be the largest mobilization of Nigeria’s ignored and dispossessed people. It will be the most direct engagement of a people in their own political future. I’ve always offered Nigerians a platform for amplifying their concerns and dreams for Nigeria. I am continuing that struggle. Yes – we will be part of a coalition of parties. These will all be progressive parties – committed to nothing other than the advancement of the Nigerian nation. It is Nigeria’s moment to see revolutionary politics in action!” Omoyele Sowore, in this interview with Musikilu Mojeed, published by PremiumTimes on 8/3/2018.

2019 will be a battle between ‘empty’ and a ‘half-empty’ jar. This will be the every first time electorates will be giving a side of the murderous ruling elites a chance to triumph over another, it is as bad as that – as it’s about survival first before dreaming of an ostentatious lifestyle, we must be hardheaded and be sincere to ourselves.

Presently, Yele Sowore appears to be the only presidential candidate in Nigeria to have commenced a crowd-funding campaign ahead of the 2019 elections. Sowore set a fundraising target of about two million US dollars. This is enough to run a clean campaign in a sane society where plans, ideas and ideologies are considered before voting. Majority of our voters are only interested in vote-buying and nothing more, the highest bidder will get anything as long as he/she is ready to pay more than the other candidates in the election. My opinion is not in defence of any of our political parties, acronyms like PDP, ADC, ADP, LP, APC, APGA to mention but a few are mere platforms to field anyone and they can all host a single politician in 24hours.

In the middle of the entire world's incessant noise, Sowore's message is all about justice, and justice is a thing that I had mostly lived my life without. Considering this current situation and the reality on ground, Sowore is intrepid, determined and agitated, and possibly the BEST MAN FOR THE JOB if we are to be in a better-structured society. The process of healing our country has started with the decision of not repeating the mistakes of the last general elections, there has been an increment in the population of those interested in a new Nigeria by changing the type of leaders we choose. If we must consider the recent unprecedented ‘change of promises’ of APC, then we are GOOD TO GO.

Vote buying and stomach infrastructure will be here as much as we desire money politics. Half of our entire population is in support of some candidates because of their ability to throw around some billions, not necessarily because of the expected divided of democracy. The cabals are assembling again, they are colluding against the incumbent not because of his policies which is perceived to be anti-people but their inability to loot or access public funds as usual – my thief is better than your thief is the norm. If we are not zombies, should we be considering another 4 years of pensioners as our best eleven? But off course, leadership is not about the age but the age of the idea which must be progressive and transformational!

Vengeance is never an ideal means to deal with any situation, the reason why we have pseudo-reformed democrats using state apparatuses to oppress perceived oppositions and anyone who would always counter their lies and speak against their lifeless policies. Election in Ekiti and Osun states have shown that not only will our general elections be biased but also systemic rigging is obtainable. How will new political parties make it to prominence? How will young and not-too-rich candidates poll votes in millions?

Sowore has started a movement, a just cause to unshackle many of us from mental slavery; he is calling everyone regardless of age, tribe, religion and social status to be conscious of who the next president is. His approach is what I personally term ‘disruptive advocacy'. Challenging established enemies of development of this sort is new, same way his style of journalism is unprecedented. We must encourage patriots who are unflinching enough to challenge constituted authorities without fear, people who have opinions and a stance against incompetent leadership are highly needed. His obstinacy to declare the truth to power suffices for him to lead, though some of his assertions are controversial but he is on the right track.

This is the time to galvanize those who can aid our development as a country, not those who cannot point to one successful business in their private life, not those who will blame their predecessors for their cluelessness. The ideal has many names and equity is but one of them!

Nigerians have another distinctive opportunity come 2019, just as it was available in 2015 to promote competence over incompetence, raise true character over insensitivity and performance over lifelessness. There are many competent candidates in the forthcoming presidential election running against the incumbent and they are exceedingly and eminently qualified to lead us once more to prosperity.

In Christian Larson’s words, “So long as the man with ambition is a failure, the world will tell him to let go of his ideal; but when his ambition is realized, the world will praise him for the persistence and the determination that he manifested during his dark hours, and everybody will point to his life as an example for coming generations. This is invariably the rule.”

With this current aberration, we are all in a ‘quandary’, so why must we reinforce failure?

Dare Glintstone, [@djglintstone] a trend sociologist, pollster and communication strategist, sent this via phenakiter@yahoo.com.

W’Bank: In 12 Years, 90% Extremely Poor will Live in Nigeria, Other Sub-Saharan Countries

Out of world’s 28 poorest countries, 27 in sub-Saharan Africa.

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The World Bank has predicted that by 2030, about nine out of 10 extremely poor people in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa, which includes Nigeria and others. In percentage term, this translates to 90 per cent of the population of the extremely poor people.

The Bretton Woods institution, which gave its forecast in its report named Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018, just released, affirmed that forecast for 2018 suggested that Nigeria would take over from India as the country with the most poor people.

According to the report, the rate of extreme poverty and the number of poor in South Asia, which been constantly declining, would continue, resulting in a shift in poverty from South Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa.

“In a sign of change, however, forecasts for 2018 suggest that India’s status as the country with the most poor is ending— Nigeria either already is, or soon will be, the country with the most poor people. The extreme poverty rate and the number of poor in South Asia have been steadily declining and are expected to continue that trend. The result of this trend is a shift in poverty from South Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa. By 2030, the portion of the poor living in Sub-Saharan Africa could be as large as 87 percent on the basis of historical growth rates,” the new report noted.

This publication is coming after a report by The World Poverty Clock released in June this year, which stated that Nigeria overtook India as the world’s poverty capital. Specifically, the report published by World Data Lab based in Vienna, Austria, revealed that, “At the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall.”

India with a population of 1.324 billion people, previously held the position, which is occupied with Nigeria which has a population of about 200 million.

The World Bank in this latest report with the theme, report, “Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle”, stated that, “Even if every other country in the world had zero extreme poverty by 2030, the average rate in Sub-Saharan Africa would have to decrease from the 2015 rate of 41 percent to about 17 percent for the global average to be 3 percent.”

In its analysis, the bank reckoned that, “That would require an unprecedented annual growth rate for the region. Stronger economic growth and renewed efforts to resolve violent conflicts will be crucial to speed up the rate of poverty reduction in Africa and elsewhere.”

However, pointing out that, business as usual will not be enough, the Washington-based global institution recommended that, “More needs to be done to ensure that growth is inclusive, with a stronger focus on raising the productive capacity of the poor. If Sub-Saharan African and other fragile countries are to have a chance of reaching the 3 percent goal, not only will their growth rates have to be high but incomes among the bottom 40 in their societies will also have to rise at a higher rate. “

“Yet, in two-thirds of the 13 extremely poor countries (with poverty rates above 10 percent) covered by the World Bank’s shared prosperity indicator, average incomes of the bottom 40 are growing at a slower rate than the global average of 1.9 percent per year. That is a worrying trend for the poorest economies and conflict-affected states, precisely the countries least likely to reach the 2030 target,” the report indicated.

“A second and crucial worry is that data needed to assess shared prosperity are weakest in the very countries that most need them to improve. Only 1 in 4 low-income countries and 4 of the 35 recognised fragile and conflict affected states have data that allow us to monitor shared prosperity over time. Because a lack of reliable data is associated with slow income growth for the poorest, the situation could even be worse than currently observed,” it added.

The World Bank lamented that, the huge progress against poverty in other regions contrasted sharply with the much slower pace of poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. It explained that, “Extreme poverty is becoming more concentrated there because of the region’s slower rates of growth, problems caused by conflict and weak institutions, and a lack of success in channeling growth into poverty reduction. “

“Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for most of the world’s poor, and— unlike most of the rest of the world—the total number of poor there is increasing.

The number of people living in poverty in the region has grown from an estimated 278 million in 1990 to 413 million in 2015. Whereas the average poverty rate for other regions was below 13 percent as of 2015, it stood at about 41 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. Of the world’s 28 poorest countries, 27 are in sub-Saharan Africa, all with poverty rates above 30 percent. In short, extreme poverty is increasingly becoming a sub-Saharan African problem,” the report noted.

“African countries have struggled partly because of their high reliance on extractive industries that have weaker ties to the incomes of the poor, the prevalence of conflict, and their vulnerability to natural disasters such as droughts.

Despite faster growth in some African economies, such as Burkina Faso and Rwanda, the region has also struggled to improve shared prosperity. The bottom 40 in the dozen sub-Saharan African countries covered by the indicator saw their incomes rise by an average of 1.8 percent per year in 2010–15 (slightly below the global average of 1.9 percent per year). More worrying, however, is that the incomes of the bottom 40 shrank in a third of those 12 countries,” it added.

Omisore Tackles Ex-Running Mate Over Zoning

Bello was Omisore’s running mate during the 2014 governorship election in the state, but the two of them currently belong to different factions of the Peoples Democratic Party.

A former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Adejare Bello, have sharply disagreed over which senatorial district in the state should produce the next governor of the state.

Bello was Omisore’s running mate during the 2014 governorship election in the state, but the two of them currently belong to different factions of the Peoples Democratic Party.

While Omisore is from Osun East Senatorial District, Bello is from Osun West Senatorial District.

Bello told SUNDAY PUNCH that any political party which chose its governorship candidate outside the Osun West Senatorial District would be rejected by the majority of the people of the state.

He said, “Osun West is the only senatorial district that has not produced a governor since the nation returned to democracy in 1999. Chief Bisi Akande and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, from Osun Central, spent 11 years as governors of the state. Governor Rauf Aregbesola is from Osun East and he will complete two terms of eight years by November.

“I believe it is just and fair to zone the PDP governorship ticket to Osun West which is yet to produce a governor.”

But Omisore claimed that Osun West was the first to produce a governor shortly after the state was carved out of the old Oyo State.

He cited the case of the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, a native of Ede, where Bello hails from, as the first governor of the state.

In a statement on his behalf by Mr. Idowu Afolami, Omisore said zoning system promoted mediocrity and deprived the people of the best leaders they need.

The statement partly read, “In Osun, if necessarily there must be zoning, it has to be done in a way that no zone would feel cheated or short-changed. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands.”