Clay Richie

Kayode Ogundamisi needs no introduction. He is a pro-democracy leader and a civil rights activist. On Twitter, over 75,000 followers follow his views. His TV show ‘Politricks with KO’ is one of the few programs on television that deal with issues that concern Nigerians in Nigeria and the diaspora. He took some time to talk to our  Tundun Adeyemo . Many people look up to you as leader, but could you have gotten it wrong on your choice of presidential candidate for the 2015 election? Are you not saddened at the way the Vice Presidential candidate of the party you are backing was selected?

On Wednesday, December 17, 2014, the Presidential flagbearer of the leading opposition party in Nigeria, the All Progressive Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari picked his running mate. After days of speculation amidst varying theories and opinions, the popular statesman picked Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his Vice President for the upcoming 2015 elections. Mr. Osinbajo’s credentials have been disseminated to the electorate over the past weeks. Therefore, in the interest of time, I would point to the critical accomplishments of the diminutive lawyer-turned politician that I believe are a major benefit to General Buhari and the APC. As a result, the strengths and weaknesses (if any) of Mr. Osinbajo will be amplified, with sole of aim of highlighting his influences and deficiencies.

As we welcome the year 2015, I have shared a message to Nigerians in general, but I find it crucial to send another message directly to Nigeria’s youth, who are the major stakeholders of this enterprise. The year 2014 was a challenging one for most citizens of our dear country.

Nigerians look around! Can you see common men and women amid the care and struggle of daily life? Can you see people in the jar of the noisy streets and amid the squalor where want hides? Can you see the wrong that produces inequality?

In a move that seems to betray his fears ahead of the February 2015 general elections, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has quietly moved his children to the United Kingdom. Presidency sources said the action was  based on security advice.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, on Monday, said a plot by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to form an interim government has been uncovered.

Most times when you make any statement that suggest anything but a victory for General Muhammadu Buhari before or during an election period in a gathering of his supporters you may be either greeted with insults or treated with disdain like someone who has just blasphemed against a holy prophet.

After my hand washing in my kitchen, I stood still on the topmost floor, expecting the arrival of the day’s musings. It was a cold, brooding day in Lagos, long day and humid. The river behind my apartment had shrunk and black crows gorged on bright mangoes in still, dust-green trees, just by the street side. Bananas ripened by the washing effect of time and the atmosphere, mangoes burst. Depraved green butterfly hum gormlessly in the fruity air. Then they stunned themselves against my clear windowpanes and died, utterly puzzled in the rising sun.

The Department of State Service has warned the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and other politicians against inciting and unguarded statements ahead of the 2015 general elections. The deputy director of public relations, Marilyn Ogar, in a statement made available yesterday, noted particularly the statement of Governor Amaechi calling on men of the armed forces to rise up in protest against constituted authority, with the intent to undermine the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Contrary to the widespread insinuation that former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida endorsed President Jonathan’s bid for another term in office when he received the president in Minna, it has been revealed that IB made no commitment to Jonathan as far as the 2015 election is concerned.

It has emerged that despite the presence of over 1,000 well armed Nigerian troops in Mubi and its environs in Adamawa State, it took just a handful of 30 Boko Haram insurgents to capture the commercial city last October without firing a shot.

Punch  – A leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State, Chief Jude Tabai, has said the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is a big threat to President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.

Reputable online news platform Sahara Reporters, has bombed the Nigerian Army, calling them a petty organisation with generals who specialise in deploying troops to attack the news organisation on twitter. In an exclusive chat with the publisher of the news organisation Omoyele Sowore, the New York based publisher told The Paradigm that he is not surprised the army has resorted to name calling.

What happened in 1993 between Alhaji Bashir Tofa and the late Chief Moshood Abiola of the blessed memory is about repeating itself in Nigeria in Nigeria today. Before the June 12 1993 presidential elections, handlers of Alhaji Bashir Tofa knew that comparing Bashir Tofa and Chief Abiola is like Apples and Oranges comparison.

“So in the Libyan fable it is told That once an eagle, stricken with a dart, Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft, ‘With our own feathers, not by others’ hands, Are we now smitten.’ ” -Aeschylus

Former Minister of the FCT and Kaduna State governorship candidate under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has said that Nigerians will witness three major changes during the first 100 days of an APC led government at the centre.

It took me only a few minutes to discover that I would never make a good Nigerian politician. It was during my days at the University of Lagos. As students of Mass Communication, it was part of our training to produce a newspaper, called Unilag Sun, for the university community. Positions in the Editorial Team were filled through a democratic process. Candidates would be nominated and the class would vote. Waziri Adio, as the best student in class, was naturally nominated for the position of Editor. There was no opposition. I was so much into sports journalism in those days that the class unanimously agreed I should be the Sports Editor.

Rivers State PDP Governorship Candidate, Mr. Nyesom Wike has declared that the party has decided to make a woman the deputy governor for 2015. The candidate made the announcement at Omagwa, Ikwerre LGA on Christmas Day where he celebrated the Christian festival with the people of the area.

The vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 presidential election, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was on Thursday spotted with passengers on a ride in the Bus Rapid Transit from the Tafawa Balewa Square to Barracks area of Lagos

My attention was drawn to a series of deliberate misrepresentations and distortions of particularly my comments during the visit of the Kaduna chapter of Oha-na-ze Ndigbo in some newspapers. For the records, I am not a politician and I don’t have sympathy for any of the political parties.

I had fully attuned myself to the fact that our Owu retiree soldier and prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the same era and nation space must learn to endure. However, it does appear that there is no end to this individual’s capacity for infantile mischief, and for needless, mind-boggling provocations, such as his recent ‘literary’ intrusion on my peace.

“It was December 25, 1914, only five months into World War I, German, British, and French soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and fraternized with ‘the enemy’ along two-thirds of the Western Front (a crime punishable by death in times of war). German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, ‘Merry Christmas’; ’You no shoot, we no shoot.’

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell A large noise from a large man inside Aso Rock Propaganda Empire echoes across an imposing cacophony rising above all critics of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Equipment, vehicles and goods belonging to government and other Nigerians reportedly stolen by Boko Haram insurgents have been smuggled to the Republic of Chad, officials said yesterday.

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has described former president, General Olusegun Obasanjo, as an irredeemable hypocrite and a liar who takes delight in denigrating people. Soyinka, in his reply to the attack on him by Obasanjo in his latest controversial book, My Watch, pillories Obasanjo for invoking God all the time and wonders whether Obasanjo actually believes in such an entity, given his recourse to lying compulsively.

The  Nigerian Army has sentenced three officers and 13 other soldiers to two years’ imprisonment each   over the April 14, 2014   abduction of over 200 schoolchildren from their hostel in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents.

One obvious truth about our country today is that it is successfully grappling with those challenges of nation building that are inevitable for any country that wishes to attain real greatness. I make this statement against the background of the many thoughts that were going through my mind as I sat in the auditorium of the Federal Ministry of Finance and listened to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, present details of next year’s budget. The first is that this government is not just resolved to place Nigeria and Nigerians on a firm footing for the 21st century, but is putting that resolution into implementable policy actions with measurable impact on the economy and the people. One clear proof of that is the well thought out, evidence-based budget that was being presented to us on that day. The CME’s submissions ties inflows to the realistically projected expenditure profile for the budget year. The benchmarks shown were scientific and the an

President Goodluck Jonathan wants to ride yet another new aircraft, and he has asked the National Assembly to approve the purchase.  The request is part of the 2015 budget presented to the National Assembly in Abuja last week by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

BY ‘LAKUNLE JAIYESIMI The reputation (better, ill-reputation) of that man, Femi Fani-Kayode is public knowledge. He’s wont to gibbering and one wonders at the rationale behind his efforts at continual incoherence or ideological dismemberment (to be lenient with choice of description). Any reader (deliberate or accidental, as this writer is) of his written pieces (lacking ‘head or teal’) will notice the previous description with ease.

It was learnt that the Peoples Democratic Party’s national leadership have said they may not appeal to aggrieved PDP members not to defect, over the bitterness that mar the just concluded PDP primaries. Dr. Ahmadu Ali, a former National Chairman of the PDP, has been named as the Director-General of Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation.

I am glad that the APC eventually took my advice and saw the wisdom in not fielding a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the 2015 Presidential election even though I hear that, right up till the last minute, they almost did. I congratulate my friend and brother Professor Yemi Osinbajo on his nomination as the Vice Presidential candidate of the APC and running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari.

In presidential politics picking a running mate is a fine balancing act. The needs of a candidate: how to play to his strengths, and compensate for his weaknesses, usually determine who he ends up selecting. Those laboring to convince themselves that the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer, General Muhammadu Buhari, made a mistake by picking Professor Yemi Osinbajo, do so without considering these factors.

President Goodluck Jonathan said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had in the last 15 years created many millionaires and billionaires in the country.

By SaharaReporters Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) seems to be enjoying a groundswell of support from Nigerians as results of an informal poll show that 93% of Nigerians think he is a better candidate for Vice President of Nigeria than current Vice President, Namadi Sambo (PDP).

The Buhari 2015 Support Group Centre on Sunday flayed the over N21.27bn donated to President Goodluck Jonathan by businessmen, multinationals and the Peoples Democratic Party governors to finance his 2015 presidential election campaign.

A gory video released on the internet by Boko Haram insurgents yesterday revealed how the insurgents gathered hundreds of trapped residents of Bama in a school dormitory and shot them point blank, with one of the sect’s leaders describing the victims as infidels who they could no longer fend for under their new rule.

“Once to everyman and nation comes the moment to decide; in the strife between truth with falsehood, for the good or the evil side.” J. R. Lowell, 1819-1891, (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS,VBQ, p 254).

The immediate past United States Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, in separate events in New York City said the Nigerian government under President Goodluck Jonathan, squandered its oil resources, and indirectly helps corruption to fester in the Boko Haram troubled country. In the words of Hillary Clinton: “The government of Nigeria has been, in my view, somewhat derelict in its responsibility toward protecting boys and girls, men and women in northern Nigeria over the last years.

Now that we have settled the routine issue of ethno-religious equation ─ the Muslim/Christian tag team, the Northerner/Southerner pairing ─ may we move on to what really matters at the end of the day? I’m talking about the progress of the Nigerian society. First, I must say I am as excited as anyone can be about the progress we are making in our democracy. Many people cannot see Nigeria beyond the doom and the gloom, beyond the drawbacks and the setbacks. Many analyses start with despair and end with hopelessness. “Nigeria is finished” is an all-too-familiar conclusion. But there are still many of us stubbornly counting our blessings, insisting ─ rather recklessly ─ that we are moving forward gradually, even if slowly.

The old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, was filled with rains on naira as governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), businessmen, multinational organisations, interest groups and individuals donated the sum of N21.27bn to President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday.

For at least four days the Nigerian people were not aware that a convoy of Boko Haram gunmen had stormed Gumsuri in Borno state on Sunday, at least fourdays before President Goodluck Jonathan’s Wednesdaybreakfast with security chiefs to obtain an update on the nation’s security.

A very large number of terrorists have met their final waterloo after falling into an ambush laid for them by Nigerians troops between Maiduguri and Damboa, Borno State on Friday. Security sources close to the ongoing mopping operation will determine the number of the terrorists who died in the encounter. The clash followed the troops’ move to stop the terrorists who were in the process of attacking the electricity engineers who were working to restore power to parts of Borno State.

Whether they admit it or not, one word that is currently giving President Goodluck Jonathan, his handlers and indeed the hierarchy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party great concern ahead of the much-expected 2015 general elections is “change.”

“Deregulation of the downstream oil sector will improve the efficient use of scarce economic resources by subjecting decisions in the sector to the operations of the forces of demand and supply. This will attract new sellers, buyers and investors into the market, thereby increasing competition, promoting overall higher productivity and, consequently, lowering prices over time. The ultimate effect of this chain of activities is increased gains for the people of Nigeria who would be getting the most out of their natural resources.

The coasts appear almost indisputably clear as we embark on an electoral journey towards 2015 with the recently concluded primaries and conventions of both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the two contenders for Nigerian electorates’ patronage. Now, one can safely initiate some permutations regarding the probabilities of the outcome in the general elections next February.

The primary elections of Nigeria’s two strongest political parties, the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) might have come and gone, but the dusts raised by the exercises across various states of the federation are yet to settle. As things are currently going, it is unlikely that the primary election appeal committees of both parties will adequately or significantly settle these dusts so much that it will amount to a major change of the status quo.

Fellow Nigerians, this has been a most suspenseful but exciting week, courtesy of APC, the opposition party. For the first time since 1993 when Chief Moshood Abiola had great difficulties picking his running mate, the same scenario was re-enacted as General Muhammadu Buhari kept the nation on edge while struggling to find and name his Vice Presidential candidate. The situation almost became like Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.

An Africa adage says if the oppressed does not struggle vehemently to break the bondage of oppression and escape the wreck of the oppressor, the oppressor will never willingly cease oppressing. In Nigeria context, the power is concentrated at the center which places the onus of responsibility in the hands of the President to dictate the cause of activities in conformity with the dictates of our Nigeria Constitution.

Those that learned from history will never be a victim of it. But how will a wrongdoer who suppose to pay for the consequences of his action called that victimisation? The elite and cleric that are having sleepless night since from the day General Muhammadu Buhari made his presidential declaration did so for the fear of the justice that Buhari administration will bring about. His precedence to rule of law and corrupt free society remains the watch words of his government and when did fairness and justice become victimisation?

That President Goodluck Jonathan is one of the(if not the) most vilified president in Nigeria’s 54 years, is stating the obvious. This to an extent, can be said to be an evidence that our democracy is growing. Citizens are getting more aware of the duties/roles of government and naturally expectations are getting higher daily(I believe the next president will have a tougher time), most importantly the new media has given so many people an opportunity to air their opinions – leading to the emergence of overlords & tin gods; hitherto parlor talks have become matters for public discussions. THE STAKES ARE HIGHER!