Nigerian Times

Muhammed Dahiru Abubakar, the current Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of Nigeria. Nigeria: Religious Irrationality and the New Inspector-General of Police ~ By John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D . Mr. President, the Us vs. Them Religious Irrationality should not stop the Confirmation of the Inspector-General of Police. This is a time when President Goodluck Jonathan is facing increased pressure from those at home and abroad to find immediate solutions to the rising religious violence which is dividing Nigeria apart. Yet, some chapters of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) the main umbrella group that contains numerous Christian denominations in Nigeria will come out, publicly and in a petition form, objecting to the appointment of a veteran police officer who happens to have been born into to earth as a Northerner and as a Muslim. His name is Muhammed Dahiru Abubakar, the current Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of the nation. One does not need to be a psychological...

President Goodluck Jonathan looks bored and tired of the perpetual problems of Nigeria. Approach Boko Haram as a Crisis of Compromise using the Power of Culture ~ John Egbeazien Oshodi,Ph.D Don’t negotiate, negotiate which way to go —Mr. President? With one side of the mouth of the Presidency we hear from the President’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika that the Federal Government must not engage in negotiation with the Boko Haram sect and that the use of pure militaristic approach is the ultimate way out. On the other side of the presidential cavity is President Goodluck Jonathan telling the world that the Nigerian government would dialogue with the unyielding Islamist organization, Boko Haram, if they are open with their demands and their identifications. With this clear lines of governmental mix-up, hundreds of lives are being lost constantly, continuously and painfully. The current intelligence operations and noise making from some in authority, and the mostly reac...

Nigerian Journalist killed in Weekend Terrorist Attacks in Nigeria Enenche Okogwu, a reporter with Channels TV was among over 180 people killed in the latest Boko Haram terrorist attacks last weekend in Kano, Nigeria’s second largest state in the predominantly Islamic northern region. He was on official assignment at the time of the most devastating Boko Haram onslaught since the horrifying Christmas Day attacks in the northern states of Niger, Plateau and Borno where dozens of people were killed and several others left with injuries in suicide bombings targeting the St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State and other churches. The serial attacks in Kano destroyed the Zone 1 headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force, a police post, a passport office of the Nigerian Immigrations and the overcrowded farm centre and Bompai axis of the busy metropolis. The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero wept as President Goodluck Jonathan came to commiserate with him over the harrowing incident ...

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Potential Benefits From Budget 2012 And Sure-P ~ By Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Against the backdrop of the recent debate on the removal of fuel subsidies , and the calculated misinformation being peddled by opponents of this policy, it is pertinent to highlight, in more tangible terms, some of the significant allocations that have been made to essential sectors of the economy, both in the 2012 budget as well as the recently-launched Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). This programme is a 3—4 year programme designed to mitigate the immediate impact of the removal of fuel subsidy and accelerate economic growth through investments in critically-needed infrastructure. It is noteworthy that, while the 2012 budget allocated the best possible amounts to these critical projects, additional resources are allocated to the same projects in the SURE programme to ensure that they are completed at faster rates than envisioned in the 2012 budget. Some of the ...

President Goodluck Jonathan. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown . Nigerians Report is yet to verify the purported plot to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan, but was reported to have failed. The plot was hatched in the U.S. to impeach him before the approval of the 2012 Budget and to stop the removal of the fuel subsidy on petrol. Top oil marketers of the cabal and legislators conspired in the plot, including the richest black man on earth according to the Forbes magazine. The plot leaked to President Goodluck Jonathan and the evidence is all on tape. That was why he hurriedly announced the removal of the fuel subsidy on petrol ahead of the scheduled deregulation of the downstream sector later in the year. The plotters who have scammed the government for years are even major donors and sponsors of first Presidential Library in Nigeria and also sponsored the election of President Goodluck Jonathan. But can the President have the balls to prosecute the sacred cows who presently are...

Dear President Goodluck Jonathan, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Diezani Alison-Madueke Dear President Goodluck Jonathan, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Diezani Alison-Madueke, there is no need for long speeches now, because the chickens have come home to roost. It is not rocket science to know the facts on the issues at stake on the 419 scam called Fuel Subsidy on Petrol. I stand by what Prof. Tam David-West said, that there is really no subsidy on petrol, because from the cost of production to the filling station , the real pump price of petrol should even be less than N65 per litre since it is from our crude oil. And why should the petrol from our own refineries be sold at the same price with the imported petrol? Again, why should you inflate the pump price of the same subsidized fuel imported last year 2011? When the 2012 8udget is still before the National Assembly? If you made no provision for subsidy in the 2012 Budget, then why not wait until the implementation before increasing the pump pr...

Nationwide strike over removal of fuel subsidy shuts down Nigeria. Nigerians rally against the removal of fuel subsidy on petrol at the popular Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos.Photo Credit: Nairaland . In spite of the spate of terrorist attacks by the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic Jihad group and other unidentified elements of the lunatic fringe on rampage in the middle belt and northern states, the nationwide strike to protest the undemocratic removal of the fuel subsidy on petrol has shutdown all commercial activities in Nigeria, except for neighbourhood convenience stores and canteens where the people could buy foods and drinks to feed and stay the course of the strike action. Prof. Pat Utomi among protesters on the street at Falomo roundabout in Ikoyi, Lagos. Photo Credit: Nairaland . The organized labour unions, Nigerian Bar Association, human rights bodies, student unions, both academic and non-academic staff unions and other coalitions called Occupy Nigeria led the vanguard of ...

Following his unilateral removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS) on the first day of the new year, the fans numbering over 678,829 turned against him enmass and have been raining curses upon him in torrents. Korrect Nation From all indication­s of the nationwide protests over the removal of the fuel subsidy on petrol, majority of Nigerians will even welcome a coup d'état to remove the corrupt and unpopular administra­tion of their once beloved, but now called an incompeten­t President Goodluck Jonathan as the protesters are asking for his impeachmen­t. Ironically the much talked about good luck of his first name has turned to bad luck to the poor masses of Africa's most populous nation where the majority live on less than $2 a day. Since President Jonathan has become the most cursed President on Facebook and majority of Nigerians will certainly celebrate his removal on the streets. Tweet

President Goodluck Jonathan plunged himself into a quagmire between the devil called "Boko Haram" and the deep blue sea of angry masses protesting the unpopular removal of the fuel subsidy on petrol since New Year's day to date. Mr. President, Public Offers and Sensitization about Oil Deregulation Came too late ~ By John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D No one doubts that there could be a long-term benefits for all Nigerians from the massive oil price deregulation but the ill-timed manner by which executive decision was made showed poor management style. This leadership blunder has not only resulted in a state of economic and social confusion but it has equally received tensed response to split-minded way with which the government reached its decision. The ineffectiveness behind the fuel subsidy removal order remains clear as evidenced in the people’s painful reactions. Certainly, in an economy like Nigeria which is marked by severe economic gap and class division among the people,...

The fuel subsidy has never favoured the majority of Nigerians, but the oil marketers and their distributors who are major stakeholders in the corrupt government of President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. The masses don't own the filling stations and they don't import fuel. So who are those ripping them off? The oil marketers importing fuel and the owners of filling stations who are leading members of the corrupt ruling party and the President is their major beneficiary. The real beneficiaries of the misappropriated fuel subsidy in Nigeria are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and others on the following list. List of Petroleum/Oil Marketing Companies in Nigeria September 24, 2007 The list below contains the names of the oil marketing companies in Nigeria. Companies that are only involved in the downstream section of the oil chain. The list is not exhaustive but these are the main players in the industry. The information is available both in the ta...

Why Nigerians Must Protest and Reject the Illegal Removal of Fuel Subsidy The sudden announcement of the removal of fuel subsidy on New Year’s Day shocked Nigerians who were still on holidays and they were outraged by the overnight change in the pump price of petrol by owners of filling stations across Nigeria without any authorized benchmark price by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). It is brazenly corrupt and outrageously fraudulent for the filling stations to start selling fuel at exorbitant pump prices immediately the government announced the removal of fuel subsidy on January 1, 2012, without any notification to the citizens who are the primary consumers. The fuel being sold between N137 and N200 per litre was imported under the fuel subsidy regime; therefore it is daylight robbery of consumers by the corrupt and fraudulent government, oil marketers and their distributors with thousands of filling stations all over Nigeria. Millions of litres of fuel imp...

Boko Haram Dares President Goodluck Jonathan; Vows To Attack Christians Masked members of Boko Haram. Photo Credit: AFP. In apparent dismissal of the state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan on New Year’s Eve, Abul Qaqa a spokesman of the dreaded Islamist group Boko Haram has issued an ultimatum to Christians in the country's north and threatened to confront troops according to the latest report from Agence France-Presse (AFP). Scene of the Christmas Day Bombing of the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla near Abuja in Niger State.Photo Credit: 360 Nobs . Abul Qaqa said they are giving southerners living in the north a three-day ultimatum to leave. "We find it pertinent to state that soldiers will only kill innocent Muslims in the local government areas where the state of emergency was declared," he told journalists in Hausa language in a phone conference late Sunday. "We would confront them squarely to protect our brothers.". Qaqa said ...

Nigeria's Head of State President Goodluck Jonathan Saturday afternoon declared State of Emergency in three states in the northern region and one state in the middle belt. The states have been under the siege of the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic terrorist group and other nomadic Hausa-Fulani marauders who have been on rampage killing several hundreds of innocent Nigerians who were mostly Christians and destroying properties in Borno, Yobe, Niger and Plateau. The Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing of the UN office in Abuja on Friday, 26 August 2011, killing 21 people and injuring over 60 others. On November 5, 2011, the group launched series of coordinated attacks in Borno and Yobe states, killing about 67 people in Damaturu and destroying a new police headquarters and other government offices. The most outrageous were the bomb attacks on St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla in Niger State and other churches in Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu on Christmas Day wit...

Captain Idris Wada, the newly elected Governor of Kogi State. Kogi Women Professionals Lagos Branch Felicitate With Capt. Wada Taking a cue from President Goodluck Jonathan and the Secretariat of the ruling People's Democratic Party, (PDP), the Federation of Kogi Women Professionals, Lagos State Chapter on Friday congratulated the new governor-elect of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada. The women expressed their joy at the ushering in of what they described as a new wind of hope into their beloved state. According to them, prolonged rule by Audu has turned the state in an object of national ridicule and a failure. They confirmed the fact that Capt. Wada is the best candidate that the state could possibly get and were overjoyed that he even agreed to contest for the elections at the risk of having his sterling profile tainted on the altar of politics by calculated negative propaganda. They assured the governor elect that the women and people of Kogi State are aware of his true intents...

13 Oct 2011 08:56 Africa/Lagos Nigeria police arrest six journalists NEW YORK, October 13, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Police in Nigeria arrested six journalists and one staff member from independent daily The Nation on Tuesday concerning the publication of a purported private letter from former head of state Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan about administrators of government agencies, local journalists reported. On the front page of its October 4 edition, The Nation published a letter, allegedly written by Obasanjo, that recommended Jonathan replace five CEOs of several government agencies, news reports said. Obasanjo filed a complaint last week, accusing the newspaper of publishing the letter with a forgery of his signature, Olusola Amore, the national police spokesman, told CPJ. The Nation, widely perceived as an opposition paper, said in a statement that they stand by their story and the letter's authenticity. On Tuesday afternoon, detectives raide...