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100<br />

N1,500 $10 £7 PILOT EDITION<br />

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who<br />

points out how the strongman stumbles, or where<br />

the doer of deeds could have done them better. <strong>The</strong><br />

credit belongs to the man who is actually in the<br />

arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and<br />

blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes<br />

out short again and again, because there is no effort<br />

without error and shortcoming.<br />

<strong>The</strong> person who does actually strive to do the<br />

deeds; who knows great enthusiasm and devotion,<br />

who spends himself in a worthy cause, who “at best”<br />

knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,<br />

and who at the worst “if he fails”, at least fails while<br />

daring greatness, so that his place shall never be<br />

with those cold and timid souls who neither know<br />

victory nor defeat.<br />

<strong>The</strong>odore Roosevelt (<strong>The</strong> 26 th President of the<br />

United States of America)<br />

1


Paul Okade jr wears many hats. He is an Author,<br />

Entrepreneur,Finance coach and investment consultant.<br />

Paul has authored dozens of articles and has featured on<br />

several television programs in the United Kingdom. He<br />

was born in London England to Nigerian Parents.<br />

His Father worked for the Central Bank of Nigeria<br />

prior to his relocation to the United Kingdom for further<br />

studies and his Mother is a Director in a blue chip pharmaceutical<br />

company also in the United Kingdom.<br />

Paul has written over 50 books and brings passion and<br />

excellence to everything he does. His love for Nigeria was what informed his decision to publish<br />

this magazine.<br />

He is passionate about Nigerian Politics and he is actively playing his part in order to ensure<br />

that Nigeria remains a united entity. His book “Nigeria, one nation one destiny” offers timely<br />

solutions to the current economic and social challenges facing the country. Paul is happily married<br />

with children.<br />

Paul would like to thank the following people for their incredible input into this publication;<br />

• Engineer (Mrs) Omonefe Okade (Co-founder of Dream Academy Institute)<br />

• Ibrahim Mohammed (CEO of Webland Visionz Nig LTD)<br />

• Isaac David Balami (President of the National association of Aircraft Pilots )<br />

• Honourable (Dr) Zakari M B Wali (Former Chief Whip of the Kano house of assembly)<br />

2


THE <strong>POLITICIAN</strong><br />

Introduction<br />

JONATHAN<br />

Nigeria, By 2015<br />

DAME PATIENCE<br />

JONATHAN<br />

<strong>The</strong> Power Behind the Throne


DIEZANI ALISON<br />

MADUEKE<br />

For God and Country<br />

WHO IS NIGERIA?<br />

BOKO HARAM, TRIBALISM<br />

AND<br />

THE DESTINY OF NIGERIA


ISAAC BALAMI<br />

<strong>The</strong> Son of Destiny<br />

MUSA MOHAMMED SADA<br />

<strong>The</strong> Diamond of Katsina<br />

PRINCESS STELLA ODUAH<br />

<strong>The</strong> Wind Beneath our Wings


WEALTH PROTECTION<br />

STRATEGIES<br />

FOR NIGERIANS<br />

AISHA JUMMAI ALHASSAN<br />

An Exceptional Leader<br />

OBASANJO<br />

<strong>The</strong> Quest for a United<br />

Nigeria


HON DR ZAKARI MB WALI<br />

<strong>The</strong> Rising Star of Kano<br />

Politics<br />

ALEX SABUNDU BADEH<br />

<strong>The</strong> Golden Son of<br />

Adamawa<br />

ABDULLAHI SANUSI KAIMA<br />

<strong>The</strong> Moses of Kwara People


UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA<br />

Gone but not Forgotton<br />

TINUBU<br />

Let He without Sin, Cast the<br />

First Stone


Welcome to the pilot edition of our quarterly magazine titled “<strong>The</strong> Politician” a publication that aims to<br />

bring a fresh perspective on all the political happenings across the Federal Republic of Nigeria. <strong>The</strong> magazine<br />

will consist of “food for thought” articles and exciting interviews of some of the most influential politicians<br />

in the nation. It was Aristotle the Greek Philosopher and Polymath that stated and I quote “Human beings by<br />

nature are political animals” or to put it in Lay mans terms, there’s a politician in each and every one of us.<br />

<strong>The</strong> word “politics” in many circles is viewed in the same light as profanity, and politicians are mistrusted all<br />

over the world. People often wonder why politicians struggle to fulfil their election pledges, and they cite the<br />

reason for this to be because in their opinion, politicians are by nature dishonest souls, but I disagree.<br />

Many politicians step into public office with the best of intentions but they encounter already established<br />

“power structures” which make the fulfilment of their election pledges an uphill struggle. Let’s look at the power<br />

(electricity) sector of our economy. To the ordinary masses it looks like a simple matter. <strong>The</strong>y believe that all<br />

the government has to do is pump several billions of dollars into the sector and case closed. What they did not<br />

factor in is the fact that they’re very powerful people in the society who are making 100’s of Billons of Naira<br />

from the importation of Diesel and they’re not just going to sit down and allow President Jonathan to come and<br />

close down their operation without adequate compensation. President Olusegun Obasanjo led this country for 8<br />

years and throughout that time was he able to solve the electricity problem? No he was not able to, and it wasn’t<br />

because the country didn’t have the money either. In fact the country had so much money that we were able to<br />

pay of our national debt which we owed to the London and Paris club and had $67 Billion dollars left over in<br />

the excess crude account.<br />

Many people may not know this, but the Federal Reserve Bank, America’s central bank, isn’t actually owned<br />

by America and neither is it controlled by the American government. <strong>The</strong> FED, as it’s popularly known is<br />

owned by private international banks, and what they do is print $dollars, and then borrow those $dollars that<br />

they’ve printed to the American government and charge them interest on it. Can you imagine such a thing?<br />

International bankers came to America, bribed some high ranking politicians (Republican Senator Nelson W<br />

Aldrich) and these bribed Politicians voted in the Federal Reserve act on the 23rd of December 1913, which<br />

basically turned over control of the printing and distribution of the American $dollar to private bankers.<br />

10


For further reading on this please purchase “<strong>The</strong> Creature from Jekyll Island” a book by G Edward Griffin.<br />

American politicians such as Republican Senator Ron Paul have been advocating for the removal of the Federal<br />

Reserve Bank so that the power to print currency can be returned back to the American congress. This is the<br />

reason why Ron Paul could never clinch the Republican Presidential nomination because the powers that be, the<br />

secret unknown, the private bankers who control the $dollar will never allow this to happen.<br />

<strong>The</strong> only US President who attempted to close down the Federal Reserve Bank was President John F Kennedy<br />

and we all know what happened to him, he was assassinated. Politics is much bigger than what you see on the<br />

news or read in your daily newspapers, and until you begin to seek the real truth from alternative media outlets,<br />

you will continue to wallow in ignorance. President Woodrow Wilson, the President who signed into law the<br />

Federal Reserve act that gave these unscrupulous private bankers control over America’s money supply, realised<br />

what he had done to his nation. Below are quotes from famous American Presidents and politicians about the<br />

reality of the FED.<br />

“A great industrial nation is controlled by it's<br />

system of credit. Our system of credit is<br />

concentrated in the hands of a few men. We<br />

have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of<br />

the most completely controlled and dominated<br />

governments in the world-- no longer a<br />

government of free opinion, no longer a<br />

government by conviction and vote of the<br />

majority, but a government by the opinion and<br />

duress of small groups of dominant men." --<br />

President Woodrow Wilson<br />

11<br />

“I believe that banking institutions are more<br />

dangerous to our liberties than standing<br />

armies. Already they have raised up a<br />

monied aristocracy that has set the<br />

government at defiance. <strong>The</strong> issuing power<br />

(of money) should be taken away from the<br />

banks and restored to the people to whom it<br />

properly belongs." -- Thomas Jefferson, U.S.<br />

President


I decided to share the above quotes with you in an attempt to open your eyes. Please conduct your own research<br />

and start educating yourselves about the economic realities of our time. Far too many Nigerians have<br />

placed America on some sort of moral pedestal and act as if America is a corruption free society and that is<br />

the biggest lie of all. Let me tell you something, some nations have mastered the art of convincing the gullible<br />

masses that a “lie” is indeed the “truth”. All we hear on the news is how righteous America is and how corrupt<br />

the rest of the world is, and yet the entire American economic and financial system is built on corruption. Why<br />

is it that America only has 2 political parties? A country which is supposed to be the principle exporter and<br />

custodian of modern democracy with a population of 300 million people, only allows two political parties to<br />

contest their Presidential elections.<br />

<strong>The</strong> reason is because those 2 parties (<strong>The</strong> Democratic and the Republican parties), are both controlled by the<br />

same power structure, so it doesn’t matter who becomes President because both political parties are puppets<br />

controlled by the same central bankers that control the nation’s money system.<br />

It was Nathan Rothschild (Part of the Rothschild banking dynasty) that said and I quote “Give me control of a<br />

nation’s money supply and I could care less which puppet sits on their throne”.<br />

My prayer for Nigeria is that we will have a generation of young people who would spend their time on the<br />

internet seeking for the truth instead of wasting their lives on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter discussing<br />

the size of Kim Kardashian’s booty or Beyonce’s Brazilian hair.<br />

<strong>The</strong> world is a far more sinister place than many of you realise and unless you make a concerted effort to seek<br />

the “real” truth for yourself, you will become a pawn on the chessboard of deception. Just because somebody<br />

has been elected President of a country does not mean that he or she has absolute power. You can sit on your<br />

laptops from morning till night insulting President Goodluck Jonathan and using derogatory adjectives such as<br />

“useless” and “clueless” to describe him but if the truth be told, we all know deep in our hearts that the President<br />

is a decent human being who means well for this country. When he took over as acting President in 2010<br />

after the death of the late great President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, he met a power structure which has been in<br />

existence since the time of Nigeria’s independence.<br />

President Yar’Adua was President for 2 years and when he took over from President Olusegun Obasanjo, we<br />

had well over $60 Billion dollars in our excess crude account. So why didn’t President Yar’Adua immediately<br />

solve the power (electricity) problem? Because the power structure that controls the importation of fuel where<br />

not ready to slaughter that multi-trillion Naira proverbial “cash cow”. So politics in any country isn’t as straight<br />

forward as many of you may think. You have seen how America’s system is being run and now you can understand<br />

why America’s national debt which is fast approaching $20 Trillion Dollars can never be repaid. It’s not<br />

because President Obama does not know what the problem is (the Federal Reserve Bank) but that he is completely<br />

powerless to do anything about it, because it was the same system that brought him to power in the first<br />

place.<br />

President Goodluck Jonathan is not the problem in this country and until Nigerians start asking themselves the<br />

right questions, they will remain in ignorance. Isn’t it interesting how the minute President Goodluck Jonathan<br />

became the President in 2010, Boko Haram went into overdrive and intensified their activities, do you think that<br />

it was a coincidence?<br />

7


Of course not, it was clear that certain individuals were not happy with the decision to make President Jonathan<br />

acting President after the death of our beloved President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and they decided to make<br />

his Presidency a living hell. My Fellow Nigerians, our problems are much deeper than what we are being shown<br />

in the media. President Goodluck Jonathan urgently needs our support and our prayers because we have no idea<br />

what type of internal conspiracy that man is facing. He honestly wanted to transform this country, but as you all<br />

are seeing with your own eyes, certain power hungry and greedy elements in the society have vowed to frustrate<br />

him and his agenda.<br />

Even within his political party we have all seen what is going on. People who have no moral authority to<br />

call the President “corrupt” are opening their mouths, the entire thing is laughable. <strong>The</strong>y’re calling themselves<br />

“<strong>The</strong> New PDP”, wow, what an original name. What exactly is new about their movement? Do they have new<br />

policies or new politicians with fresh ideas? No they don’t. It’s just the same old faces wrestling for power and<br />

claiming to be fighting for Nigerians. <strong>The</strong> truth of the matter is that 2015 is on the mind of some of these so<br />

called New PDP members and the desire to seize power by any means is far more important to them, than the<br />

chaos and national instability that their actions are causing. Instead of them to concentrate on the job that they<br />

were elected for as Governors of their individual states, they’re busy running up and down Abuja holding press<br />

conferences.<br />

<strong>The</strong> people in their states need food, water, healthcare, quality education and employment today, but all their<br />

Governors are doing is plotting about 2015 and if some of them become President in 2015 what is this new<br />

thing that they’re going to do for Nigerians?<br />

Nigerians need to wake up, and refuse to allow themselves to be deceived by these selfish career politicians who<br />

do not seem to want to join any other profession other than politics or rather poli-tricks as one of my friends<br />

would say. Nigerians should rise up and tell those people who are not allowing President Goodluck Jonathan<br />

to govern that enough is enough. We should not allow<br />

ourselves to get mixed up in the politics of ethnicity<br />

because we are all Nigerians and the majority of us<br />

believe in “one Nigeria”. We don’t want to divide the<br />

country because many of us have friends and relatives<br />

from practically every tribe and religion and we see<br />

ourselves as one people.<br />

I repeat, President Jonathan needs our support, our<br />

encouragement and most importantly our prayers. He<br />

means well for this country, but if we are honest with<br />

ourselves we will admit that right from the onset of<br />

his administration the plot to make Nigeria ungovernable<br />

for him thickened. <strong>The</strong>re is a conspiracy by some<br />

demonic elements in the system to frustrate President<br />

Goodluck Jonathan out of office, and every well meaning<br />

Nigerian can see it. No matter how much money<br />

or followers you think you have, you’re not God and<br />

therefore you cannot behave as if Nigeria is your personal<br />

property, and that the only person who can become<br />

President is the one you anoint.<br />

8<br />

Even within his political party we have all seen what is going on.<br />

People who have no moral authority to call the President “corrupt”<br />

are opening their mouths, the entire thing is laughable. <strong>The</strong>y’re<br />

calling themselves “<strong>The</strong> New PDP”, wow, what an original name.<br />

What exactly is new about their movement? Do they have new<br />

policies or new politicians with fresh ideas? No they don’t. It’s just<br />

the same old faces wrestling for power and claiming to be fighting<br />

for Nigerians.


<strong>The</strong> day the American $dollar crashes and becomes<br />

as worthless as toilet paper will be the day of reckoning<br />

for some of these people who think that they’re<br />

too rich. What will you do when the American dollar<br />

crashes and it’s no longer accepted by the international<br />

community as the currency of international<br />

trade? It would mean that the $30 billion dollars you<br />

have stashed away in your secret vault would become<br />

practically worthless. This is the reality of the modern<br />

economic system, nothing is certain any longer. We’ve<br />

seen entire countries such as Cyprus brought to their<br />

knees<br />

and as I<br />

write this<br />

article,<br />

countries<br />

such as<br />

Greece,<br />

Italy and<br />

Spain who<br />

are supposed<br />

to<br />

be fully<br />

developed,<br />

are still on<br />

very shaky<br />

ground.<br />

So<br />

let us all eat a slice of humble pie and stop behaving<br />

as if we are God Almighty, because we certainly are<br />

not. This is why I always laugh when some people in<br />

Nigeria call themselves elites. In Great Britain where I<br />

was born, the elites are the ones who have had money<br />

and influence in their families for over 500 years. In<br />

Nigeria in order to become Elite you only have to rig<br />

an election and become Governor, and all of a sudden<br />

you have become part of the elite. What where some<br />

of these Governors before they entered politics? So<br />

please let us all relax and humble ourselves because<br />

none of us is better than the other.<br />

We are all one people, irrespective of our ethic<br />

origins or religious dispositions and we need to unite<br />

and fight the forces that seek to divide and rule our<br />

country. Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Anioma , Ijaw , Itsekiri,<br />

Urhobo, Efik, Tiv, Esan, Bini, Isoko and all the other<br />

9<br />

<strong>The</strong> day the American $dollar crashes and<br />

becomes as worthless as toilet paper will be<br />

the day of reckoning for some of these<br />

people who think that they’re too rich. What<br />

will you do when the American dollar<br />

crashes and it’s no longer accepted by the<br />

international community as the currency of<br />

international trade? It would mean that the<br />

$30 billion dollars you have stashed away in<br />

your secret vault would become practically<br />

worthless.<br />

tribes that make up Nigeria are all one people. Some<br />

of the names we call our children and certain verbs<br />

and nouns found in our vocabularies are almost identical<br />

so we should stop deceiving ourselves by claiming<br />

that we’re so different from one another, because<br />

we’re not.<br />

We are one people and we need to learn to celebrate<br />

the things that unite us instead creating unnecessary<br />

divisions. I am from Delta State and yet some of my<br />

closest friends are Yoruba and Hausa. <strong>The</strong>se are people<br />

that I consider my Brothers and I will do anything for<br />

them, so<br />

we need<br />

to stop<br />

all this<br />

divisive<br />

rhetoric<br />

and seek<br />

for pragmatic<br />

ways to<br />

promote<br />

national<br />

unity and<br />

Brotherly<br />

love.<br />

I was<br />

born in<br />

Britain<br />

and yet I do not call myself British. I am a Nigerian,<br />

and I feel sorry for other Nigerians who were also<br />

born in the west who are claiming that they’re not<br />

Nigerian.<br />

If your name is Oluwatobi Olabisi, or Chukwuemeka<br />

Umunna, or Habib Yusuf, then I don’t care where you<br />

were born or what colour passport you have because<br />

as far as the western democracies are concerned,<br />

you’re Nigerian, and if you think that you’re not a<br />

Nigerian then I am sorry for you. Recently there was a<br />

black Man on the news who murdered a British soldier<br />

in broad daylight. This young black Man was born in<br />

England and has a British passport, and yet when the<br />

British government where describing him they did not<br />

describe him as being British, instead they said that<br />

he was of Nigerian descent because his Parents were<br />

Nigerian. So you can see that the white man whose<br />

country some Nigerians are trying to claim as their<br />

homes do not even want them. Even if you were born


describe him as being British, instead they said that he was of Nigerian descent because his Parents were Nigerian.<br />

So you can see that the white man whose country some Nigerians are trying to claim as their homes do not<br />

even want them. Even if you were born inside Buckingham palace, if your skin is black then as far as the British<br />

establishment is concerned you’re a foreigner.<br />

Let this be a lesson to the countless Nigerians who have made the West their home, because when push comes<br />

to shove those countries where you have chosen to domicile will remind you in a not so overt manner that you<br />

are not from there. My fellow Nigerians, the time has come to put away the wrong looks and the bad blood and<br />

come together and sit down at the table of Brotherhood and seek appropriate solutions for our problems. As a<br />

nation there is no doubt that our economic potential is huge. Nigerians are go getters. We are an extremely ambitious<br />

race of people who are willing to work as hard as is humanly possible in order to achieve our goals. But we<br />

cannot make progress without peace and unity.<br />

We cannot make progress until those in the society who are sponsoring Boko Haram are brought out and made<br />

to either renounce their actions or face the full force of Justice. Pray for yourselves, pray for our President and<br />

pray for Nigeria because despite our numerous challenges, I still believe that Nigeria’s best days are still very<br />

much ahead of her. It is not over for us.<br />

Nigerians are leaders, anywhere we find ourselves across the world we excel, and our faith in God and in ourselves<br />

is what will truly turn this country into the envy of not just other African nations, but of the entire word.<br />

I am so proud of my Nigerian lineage and there’s no other country in the world I would rather have descended<br />

from. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, one united nation filled with liberty prosperity and justice,<br />

surely such a nation is worth fighting for. God bless you all. Paul Okade jr. Publisher of “<strong>The</strong> Politician”<br />

10


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focus on the social media space, go in big (halfway will not do), and do it<br />

better than most, right from the start.”<br />

Brian E.Boyd Sr social Media for the Executive<br />

•We will create the concept for you<br />

•Write the advertorial<br />

•Design all the graphics and images<br />

•Produce the advert<br />

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Our advertising medium is as follows;<br />

•Print Media; Newspapers, Magazines, Leaflets, posters<br />

•Social Media: Facebook, Twitter<br />

•Electronic media: Television, Radio, You-tube, e-marketing<br />

Contact us at :<br />

thepoliticiannigeria@gmail.com<br />

11


BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

Many Nigerians are wondering what Nigeria would<br />

look like at the end of the Presidency of His Excellency<br />

President Goodluck Jonathan. Prior to the<br />

emergence of democratic governance in Nigeria in<br />

1999 very few Nigerians believed that Nigeria could<br />

ever recover from the nearly two decades of military<br />

miss rule. But nearly 14 years after the democratic<br />

renaissance that swept across the national landscape,<br />

it has become clear to all that the Federal Republic of<br />

Nigeria is truly on the path to the proverbial “political<br />

utopia”.<br />

With the emergence and triumphant rise of the<br />

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and many other<br />

political parties all claiming their stake in the political<br />

quagmire of the nation, the practice of democratic<br />

governance with a multi-party expression has become<br />

the norm. With recent gubernatorial elections in Edo<br />

and Ondo states respectively being flagged as the freest<br />

and fairest electoral bouts of recent times, it is also<br />

fair to say that the sanitisation of the electoral process<br />

by the Goodluck Jonathan administration is yielding<br />

fruits.<br />

<strong>The</strong> recent onslaught of the “Boko Haram” menace<br />

across the federation has failed to dampen the optimism<br />

of the average Nigerian, and their resolve to<br />

forge ahead as a united and free nation stands firm.<br />

So what does the future hold for our beloved nation?<br />

What can we expect in the last 2 years of the Goodluck<br />

Jonathan administration? Firstly we can expect to<br />

see the completion of several major federal highways<br />

which connect the country. Already we can see expedited<br />

work on the Lagos-Ibadan express way, a major<br />

13<br />

highway which has plagued users for generations. Its<br />

completion will open up that axis, create tens of thousands<br />

of new jobs and cause an exponential growth in<br />

the real estate value of the area.<br />

Such a major highway which serves millions of commuters<br />

weekly should have been completed long ago.<br />

<strong>The</strong> proximity of Ibadan to Lagos is economically<br />

strategic and the completion of this all too important<br />

expressway would ease the immense pressure which<br />

has been exerted on the Lagos real estate market and<br />

help to stabilize prices. It is indeed an open secret that<br />

the price of Land and housing in Lagos is ridiculously<br />

high and even “blind Bartemaeus” can see that the city<br />

is heading for a major bust in their housing bubble.<br />

Ibadan, a great city filled with hospitable and highly<br />

welcoming people will experience a housing boom<br />

as a result of this great initiative by the Goodluck<br />

Jonathan administration, and we will also see many<br />

world class hotels, resorts, housing estates, recreation<br />

centres, schools, corporate offices and hospitals<br />

spring up along this expressway. <strong>The</strong> high taxation in<br />

Lagos state will further fuel the exodus of Lagosians<br />

to Ibadan and its environs, and we will see the emergence<br />

of a new corporate cluster in the area, as major<br />

corporations seek to escape the growing cost of being<br />

domiciled in lagos.<br />

Many other federal highways are also being worked<br />

on and these highways will open up many of our<br />

coasts and boost the local as well as the national<br />

economy.


Already we can see expedited work on the<br />

Lagos-Ibadan express way, a major highway<br />

which has plagued users for generations.<br />

Secondly, we can expect to see the completion<br />

of the privatisation drive of the power sector and<br />

Nigerians will at last have access to 24hr electricity<br />

supply, something which has eluded them for<br />

generations. Private companies will soon take over<br />

this sector and begin to provide Nigerians their<br />

long awaited power supply. Within the next 2 years<br />

we can also expect to see a huge reduction in our<br />

national debt due to the excess revenue that we will<br />

receive as a result of the increase in world crude oil<br />

prices that is imminent. <strong>The</strong> price of crude oil is set<br />

to rise significantly once again due to the political<br />

instability of the Middle Eastern political terrain.<br />

Iran, a major oil supplier has been a proverbial<br />

“thorn in the flesh” of the Western democracies for<br />

well over 2 decades and the threat of war in that<br />

region will certainly threaten the supply of crude oil<br />

and force prices to soar. Politics and Economics are<br />

Siamese twins and it is extremely difficult to surgically<br />

divide the two of them, especially in a world<br />

where crude oil is so vital to economic growth and<br />

to the continuity of modern civilisation.<br />

<strong>The</strong> excess crude revenues that our nation will<br />

realise as a result of the political crisis/uncertainty<br />

in the Middle East will be used by the Goodluck<br />

Jonathan administration to pay our national debt<br />

and bolster our foreign ($dollar) reserves. I will<br />

also like to see the government building our Gold<br />

and Silver reserves also, so that when the American<br />

dollar collapses (something that will occur within<br />

the next 5-10 years) Nigeria’s economy will not be<br />

wiped out with the rest of the un-informed nations<br />

of the world who have bought into the lie that say’s<br />

that somehow the American economy is indestructible.<br />

we can expect to see the completion of the<br />

privatisation drive of the power sector and<br />

Nigerians will at last have access to 24hr<br />

14<br />

electricity supply<br />

America is no longer the global economic super<br />

power, China has taken over and America’s national<br />

debt which is approaching 20 Trillion dollars can<br />

never be repaid by them, so their economy as well<br />

as their currency is on life support machine. An<br />

economist worth their salt would testify to this fact.<br />

America is falling and the dollar is falling with it<br />

and any nation that keeps the bulk of their foreign<br />

reserves in dollars is heading for a major economic<br />

catastrophe.


<strong>The</strong> Chinese Yuan, Gold and Silver and the<br />

three vehicles that African nations should be<br />

stock piling and they need to substantially<br />

decrease the amount of US greenbacks they’re<br />

holding in reserve.<br />

<strong>The</strong> stabilization of the Naira is another great<br />

fete which will be credited to the Goodluck<br />

Jonathan administration. In the next 2 years we<br />

should expect to see a stronger and more stable<br />

Naira due to the solidification of our political<br />

and economic environment.<br />

Nigeria is about to enter a period of incredible<br />

economic growth and 2014-15 will see our economic<br />

growth enter double-digits, and I candidly<br />

predict that the Naira-dollar exchange will hover<br />

around the N125 to $1 dollar figure by mid 2014.<br />

That is the Nigeria that our President will leave<br />

for the incoming President in 2015, a strong<br />

Naira underwritten by a strong economy and a<br />

stable political environ.<br />

<strong>The</strong> drive to promote national unity, economic<br />

stability and political tranquillity has been the<br />

guiding star of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency,<br />

and by the 29th of May 2015 when the<br />

President hands over the sceptre of national<br />

leadership to the Man or Woman whom God has<br />

chosen to lead our nation for the next 4 years,<br />

Nigerians would have received the complete realisation<br />

of the electoral pledge/promise that was<br />

made by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011<br />

when he was sworn into the office of President<br />

of the federal republic of Nigeria.<br />

Those who wondered whether President<br />

Jonathan truly meant well for Nigeria will soon<br />

have their question answered as his works would<br />

prove unequivocally that in his dispensation,<br />

Nigeria truly entered into its finest hour.<br />

2015 is clearly on the minds of many Nigerians,<br />

most of whom are wondering whether<br />

President Jonathan would contest the presidential<br />

primaries and seek another 4 years in office.<br />

15


Whatever the President decides to do, one thing<br />

is certain, he has every right to do so. However, the<br />

Presidency is a thankless job, and that seat is highly<br />

contested because of the incredible power that the<br />

office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria<br />

holds, but how many in our nation are actually vying<br />

for that position for the right reasons?<br />

<strong>The</strong> last thing Nigeria needs now is somebody aspiring<br />

for the position of President just because they<br />

desire the position. Say what you want about President<br />

Jonathan, but we all know that he never aspired<br />

for the office of President of the Federal Republic of<br />

Nigeria. In 2007 he was selected as the vice presidential<br />

running mate of the late and great President Musa<br />

Yar’Adua, and had it not been that the cruel hands of<br />

death snatched President Yar’Adua away, President<br />

Jonathan would not be the president of Nigeria today.<br />

But destiny played its hand and delivered to Nigeria<br />

her 14th president. His presidency has been far from<br />

rosy however due in large part to the exponential<br />

growth of the Boko Haram terrorist threat across the<br />

Northern part of the country. It has become ever so<br />

clear that they’re certain elements within our nation<br />

who are working tirelessly to undermine his presidency.<br />

Boko Haram is not a new organisation, it has been in<br />

existence for many years but it doesn’t take a Prophet<br />

to see that since President Jonathan was sworn in as<br />

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, their<br />

destructive acts have multiplied a thousand fold. <strong>The</strong><br />

media onslaught against his administration has also<br />

been relentless coupled with political infighting within<br />

his own political party. All this would make anybody<br />

not want to continue after 2015 and to simply say to<br />

Nigerians “to your tents O Israel”. But leadership is<br />

not a popularity contest and regardless of what certain<br />

people may think or say about him, the courage of<br />

conviction which informed his decision to contest in<br />

2011 will continue to strengthen his resolve.<br />

I can never forget the day President Barack Hussain<br />

Obama was elected America’s 44th President. <strong>The</strong><br />

global media was buzzing and some reporters were<br />

describing Obama as the “political messiah” who has<br />

16<br />

come to save America and the rest of world from the<br />

political abyss. He was awarded the Nobel peace prize<br />

only a few months into his Presidency, a decision that<br />

did not sit well with many, because at that point in<br />

time he had done absolutely nothing of note which<br />

would warrant such an award. Even till date, the world<br />

is still waiting for this man of peace to appear but to<br />

no avail, the only peaceful things about Obama are his<br />

speeches, body language and handshakes.<br />

His policies are far from peaceful. He is slowly<br />

stripping Americans of their civil liberties, constantly<br />

under-mining their constitution, excessively taxing<br />

businesses, crippling entrepreneurship and seeking<br />

for ways to topple Middle Eastern governments in the<br />

name of “human rights”. His predecessor George Bush<br />

jr told us that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass<br />

destruction and that the world should get rid of him.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y did just that, they executed Saddam and most of<br />

his family members but today, many years later, the<br />

truth has come out that there was never any weapons<br />

of mass destruction anywhere in Saddam’s domain.<br />

Was Saddam Hussein an Angel? Of course not, the<br />

man was a despotic leader, but he was imposed on the<br />

Iraqi people by America because America wanted to<br />

use him to fight Iran. Mubarak was also installed and<br />

supported by the same America who ended up removing<br />

him from power.<br />

I think that it’s pretty<br />

clear that America is<br />

not a nation that anybody<br />

can rely on, because<br />

the minute you<br />

decide to stop being<br />

their puppet and you<br />

stop dancing to their<br />

tune, they discover<br />

chemical weapons in<br />

your country and declare<br />

war against you.


This is not the country that African nations should<br />

be in partnership with. We need to build stronger<br />

links with China and other emerging economies such<br />

as Brazil, because they’re proving to be a lot more<br />

civilised than America, and they also have much stronger<br />

economies too. I am not saying that we should<br />

do away with America completely, because for now<br />

they’re still a proverbial “necessary evil” .If Obama<br />

was a Nigerian Politician he would certainly not have<br />

my vote. Check the opinion polls and you would see<br />

that the Majority of Americans are not happy with his<br />

Presidency and they were many reports of electoral<br />

malpractice (election rigging) during the last Presidential<br />

elections.<br />

America has a long history of electoral malpractice.<br />

I will never forget the fiercely contested 2000 Presidential<br />

elections in the USA. Al Gore, the democratic<br />

candidate received more votes than George Bush jr,<br />

the Republican candidate and yet George Bush jr became<br />

the president (work that one out).<br />

I don’t know about you but to me that is a classic<br />

case of the proverbial “the more you look the less you<br />

see” syndrome. Why am I speaking like this? Simply<br />

to show Nigerians that “corruption” was not founded<br />

in Africa irrespective of what the western media may<br />

try to project, but that the western democracies are the<br />

true architects of political malpractice.<br />

Obama spent $1 Billion dollars (N160 Billion Naira)<br />

on his last presidential campaign. Where did he get the<br />

money from? Large corporations and banks where the<br />

ones that sponsored Obama’s campaign and they did<br />

it for obvious reasons, and that was to gain political<br />

favours from Obama as and when they need it. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

didn’t do it because they love America, but they’re<br />

simply protecting their own selfish interests, end of<br />

story.<br />

18<br />

So please, the next time you bloggers, tweeters and<br />

social media addicts want to malign Nigeria and the<br />

African continent’s political terrain, have it at the back<br />

of your mind that the “America” that many of you<br />

worship and hold as the flagship of true democratic<br />

expression and the place where many Africans have<br />

made their permanent abode, is in actual fact the modern<br />

architect of political corruption. Is Nigeria perfect?<br />

of course not, but it is still our country. Is PDP<br />

flawless? Certainly not, but in my opinion it is still<br />

the only political party in Nigeria that has a national<br />

expression.<br />

Is President Jonathan perfect, not at all, but he is our<br />

President and he and all the Governors, Senators, Representatives,<br />

Ministers, advisors and LGC’s are working<br />

for a better Nigeria.<br />

States such as Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Lagos,<br />

Edo, Kano, Nassarawa and many others have seen tremendous<br />

economic growth and development. Can the<br />

state governors do more, I am sure they can, but we<br />

should still laud them over what they’re doing thus far,<br />

all under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. If you<br />

must criticise a leader for what you feel are his shortcomings,<br />

then please try and balance your criticism by<br />

also citing the things he is doing right, surely this isn’t<br />

too much to ask?<br />

Nigeria isn’t developing fast enough to take advantage<br />

of its economic potential, and the state Governors<br />

and Ministers urgently need to seek creative ways<br />

to expedite this deficit in infrastructural development.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y need to come together and combine their<br />

resources and develop a rail network that will connect<br />

the country. <strong>The</strong>y also need to look critically at<br />

nursery and primary education, because this is the<br />

foundation of the academic crisis besieging our nation.<br />

Healthcare is also a crucial and state governments<br />

need to do more to address this sector also, especially<br />

in the rural areas.<br />

Our Nation endured a destructive civil war, a gruelling<br />

military era and a challenging transition into<br />

democracy, but through it all our economy is growing,<br />

and foreign investors cannot get enough of our robust<br />

and extremely fertile investment environ. Nigeria’s<br />

best days are still very much ahead of her and the<br />

infrastructural and economic foundation that is being<br />

laid by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration<br />

will ensure that our nation will certainly be<br />

amongst the 20 most developed nations in the world<br />

by the year 2020. May God bless and strengthen the<br />

Goodluck Jonathan Presidency and may God bless<br />

the Federal Republic of Nigeria.


19<br />

May God bless and<br />

strengthen the Goodluck<br />

Jonathan Presidency and<br />

may God bless the Federal<br />

Republic of Nigeria.


DREAM ACADEMY<br />

20<br />

REDEFINING THE ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE


DREAM ACADEMY<br />

Dream Academy is an international Nursery and Primary school in the<br />

heart of Abuja Nigeria. <strong>The</strong> Principal and Co-founder of this academic<br />

institution is Engineer Mrs Omonefe Okade, a graduate of Electrical and<br />

Electronic Engineering from Nottingham Trent University in the United<br />

Kingdom. Her passion for education and dissatisfaction for the status quo led<br />

her to formulate a teaching style which enabled her 6 year old Daughter<br />

(Esther Okade) to pass the GCSE mathematics exam at the tender age of<br />

just 6 years of age. Esther is now 9 yrs old, has already passed 3 units in A-<br />

Level mathematics and is preparing to start her Degree shortly...<br />

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-black-country-11091046<br />

Above is a picture of Esther Okade, the 6 year old girl who passed GCSE Maths<br />

which is the UK equivalent for GCE maths<br />

<strong>The</strong> school is set to launch in September 2014 and as you can imagine, the<br />

spaces are almost filled up. To register your child for a place in the next<br />

academic session (September 2014) kindly send an email to;<br />

dreamacademyasokoro@gmail.com, a registration form and a prospectus will be<br />

emailed to you.<br />

21


Very few first Ladies of this great nation of ours<br />

have been as maligned, ridiculed, insulted and disrespected<br />

as much as our current first lady. <strong>The</strong>y have<br />

insulted her with adjectives that I cannot even bring<br />

myself to repeat on this medium. <strong>The</strong> most hurtful<br />

for me as a proud Nigerian was when the first lady<br />

began to endure insults because of her command of<br />

the English language. And when you consider the<br />

fact that the majority of these insults came from her<br />

fellow Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora,<br />

it was even more disheartening.<br />

Who amongst us has not erred be it unintentionally<br />

at some point or another in either written or<br />

spoken English? Even the so called custodians of the<br />

language have made statements that would cause<br />

their ancestors bones to rattle in their graves and<br />

shriek with horror and sheer disbelief at their misuse<br />

of the English language.<br />

For example, President George W Bush, the last<br />

Republican president of the United States of America<br />

made the following statements;<br />

• <strong>The</strong> German asparagus “are” fabulous<br />

• I thank the diplomatic corps, who “is” here<br />

as well. March 12 2008<br />

• And they have no “disregard” for human life.<br />

July 15 2008<br />

• Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions<br />

will be caught and “persecuted”. September 19<br />

2008<br />

Sarah Palin, a Republican Governor and one time<br />

Republican vice presidential candidate in the 2008<br />

presidential elections made the following statements<br />

• I love “that” smell of the emissions. May 29<br />

2011<br />

• But obviously we’ve got to stand with our<br />

“North” Korean allies. Nov 24 2010<br />

• John McCain and I “we” love you and thank<br />

23<br />

BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

you for spending a few minutes to talk to “me”<br />

President Barack Obama, a man who is loved by<br />

so many Nigerians despite the fact that since his<br />

inauguration as President of the United States of<br />

America in January 2009, has not even bothered<br />

to come to Nigeria even once. Nigeria, the nation<br />

which up until recently was supplying almost 25% of<br />

his nations crude oil needs. Such is life. Some people<br />

don’t want you, but are only interested in what you<br />

have. It’s analogous to what happens in the lives of<br />

so many beautiful women. Men are only interested<br />

in their beauty and in the shape of their bodies, but<br />

the real inner person (their emotions, spirituality,<br />

aspirations, world view etc) is of no interest to them.<br />

So when a Man tells her that he loves her so much,<br />

what he’s probably talking about is the “physical”<br />

part of her and nothing else.<br />

Now you can understand why they’re so many<br />

beautiful women in the world who are divorcees<br />

today. <strong>The</strong> man married her because of her physical<br />

appearance, but after the wedding day he began<br />

to notice the other side of her being (her character,<br />

attitude etc) and then realized that he wasn’t as “in<br />

love” with her as he had previously thought.<br />

Anyway, back to Barack Obama, a graduate<br />

of the “humanly” prestigious Harvard Law School<br />

made the following statements;<br />

• <strong>The</strong> reforms we seek would bring greater<br />

competition, choice, savings and “inefficiencies” to<br />

our healthcare system. July 20 2009<br />

• <strong>The</strong> Middle East is obviously an “issue” that<br />

has plagued the “region” for centuries. January 2010<br />

• Let me be absolutely clear, Israel has been a<br />

strong friend of “Israels”. It will be a strong friend<br />

of “Israels” under a McCain administration and it<br />

will be a strong friend of “Israels” under an Obama<br />

administration, so that policy isn’t going to change.<br />

July 22 2008


This is just a drop in the proverbial “ocean” of<br />

what is available for public perusal and consumption<br />

on the worldwide web, I only added these few quotes<br />

to this article in order to make a point. Bush, Palin<br />

and Obama are American politicians and English is<br />

their first language, they all attended “supposedly”<br />

prestigious academic institutions and yet they too are<br />

not infallible when it comes to their command of the<br />

English language. So excuse me for being a little upset<br />

at the manner in which our first lady Dame Patience<br />

Jonathan has been treated in this regard.<br />

Nigerians are the ones complaining about her<br />

command of the English language,<br />

not the English or the<br />

Americans who are the true<br />

custodians of the language<br />

and therefore should be the<br />

most offended at the manner<br />

in which their precious language<br />

is being utilized. I was<br />

born in London England and<br />

like all non-whites I experienced<br />

varying levels of racism,<br />

a situation that still exists in<br />

London today irrespective of<br />

the multi-cultural expression<br />

of the city. Nigerians are hated<br />

in Europe and are branded as<br />

thieves and criminals, even<br />

though the majority of Nigerians<br />

in Europe are honest and<br />

hardworking, and yet when<br />

an English person comes to Nigeria they’re treated like<br />

royalty.<br />

24<br />

What is it in this mentality amongst Africans which<br />

seems to always give preference to foreigners? We seem<br />

to believe that “White is right” and that we “the African”<br />

are second class citizens even in our own continent.<br />

We love people who do not love us in return, and<br />

yet we hate our own. <strong>The</strong>y’re Nigerians who have never<br />

entered an Airplane before who are attempting by any<br />

means necessary, to speak with either an American or<br />

a British accent. <strong>The</strong>y’re trying tirelessly to lose their<br />

Nigerian accents all because of their low self worth and<br />

esteem and utter disregard for all things “Nigerian”,<br />

and yet the Nigeria that some Nigerians hate and criticize<br />

ceaselessly has become the investment destination<br />

of choice for thousands of Lebanese, Chinese, American,<br />

British and Indian investors.<br />

As Nigerians are busy looking for visas to flee from<br />

their own country, foreigners are taking over all the<br />

local businesses, and if this trend continues, Nigerians<br />

will find themselves becoming tenants in their own<br />

fatherland.<br />

Even now when you look at the business sector in<br />

Nigeria you can see that very few of the major corporations<br />

in the country are<br />

Can Michelle Obama speak<br />

Yoruba or Ibo or Hausa? If<br />

she came to Nigeria, and<br />

managed to speak 2 words in<br />

Igbo while she was here every<br />

Nigerian newspaper would be<br />

applauding her efforts and<br />

shouting that “she tried”.<br />

etc are all in foreign hands.<br />

even owned by Nigerians.<br />

In the construction<br />

and Engineering sector<br />

Julius Berger has completely<br />

dominated it, in<br />

the hospitality sector<br />

the majority of the<br />

hotel chains are foreign<br />

owned, in the telecoms<br />

sector, other than Globacom<br />

which is owned<br />

by Mike Adenuga all<br />

the other telecoms<br />

companies are owned<br />

by foreigners. All the<br />

major Oil companies,<br />

insurance companies,<br />

shopping malls, restaurants,<br />

private schools<br />

MTN, a South-African owned telecoms company<br />

now makes 60% of its global revenue in Nigeria. We<br />

are a nation under occupation and this new form of<br />

colonization isn’t taking place with guns and bullets,<br />

but by economics. Our nation is being taking away by<br />

foreigners and all we know how to do is to insult our<br />

first lady regarding her use of the English language. Is<br />

she an English woman? I never knew that Okrika in<br />

Rivers state was part of the United Kingdom.<br />

Can Michelle Obama speak Yoruba or Ibo or Hausa?<br />

If she came to Nigeria, and managed to speak 2 words<br />

in Igbo while she was here every Nigerian newspaper<br />

would be applauding her efforts and shouting that “she


tried”. So why can you not give the same respect to our<br />

first lady, a woman who was born and bred in Nigeria?<br />

She made a few simple mistakes in a language that is not<br />

her native tongue, and her own fellow Nigerians decided<br />

to use it as a weapon against her.<br />

Have you never heard Chinese Politicians attempting<br />

the English language? You can’t even understand 99% of<br />

what they’re saying and yet you will never see Chinese<br />

people insulting their leaders over their command of the<br />

English language. It is only amongst Nigerians that you<br />

find people taking the proverbial “medicine for another<br />

person’s sickness”.<br />

We have become the self appointed international<br />

watch dog for all things relating to the English language.<br />

For all the English that Nigerians are speaking I can’t see<br />

what they’re doing with it. Whilst they’re in their houses<br />

speaking good “English” the Lebanese and the Chinese<br />

are here speaking good “economics” and are taking over<br />

the country. Foreigners have taken over corporate Nigeria,<br />

and yet all that doesn’t seem to bother us, all we are<br />

concerned about is whether our leaders can speak English<br />

better than Queen Elizabeth. When you make it a<br />

point of duty to constantly pick out peoples weaknesses<br />

and shortcomings, they will become so discouraged to<br />

the point of inactivity. <strong>The</strong>y will simply shut down and<br />

won’t bother to make a difference.<br />

I once heard a story about a Woman who was constantly<br />

abusing her husband and repeatedly used adjectives<br />

such as “useless” and “stupid” whilst addressing<br />

him. She kept describing him as someone who is<br />

constantly making wrong decisions. One day she came<br />

home and saw her husband looking through their wedding<br />

album, she looked at him and asked “what are you<br />

doing”? He said “oh, I am just looking at our wedding<br />

pictures and asking myself why I made such a stupid<br />

decision such as marrying you”.<br />

Perhaps she thought that by insulting her husband it<br />

would cause him to change for the better, but the opposite<br />

effect was the outcome. Words are powerful and<br />

if we concentrate on peoples strengths and praise and<br />

encourage them instead of picking out their weaknesses<br />

and amplifying those, we will get the very best out of<br />

them.<br />

25


<strong>The</strong>re’s no human being on the surface of the Earth<br />

who is perfect, we all have our flaws and shortcomings<br />

and that is the reason why we need each other.<br />

No man, woman, community, city or Nation has it all<br />

or knows it all, we’re interdependent.<br />

China needs Africa and vice versa, Africa has its<br />

strengths and its weaknesses and so does China, and<br />

if both entities were to concentrate solely on each<br />

other’s weaknesses then that would spell the end of<br />

the Africa-China relations.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Chinese have trillions of dollars to invest and<br />

Africa has multiplied billions of barrels of oil under<br />

its surface, and both regions are in a race against the<br />

clock. Africa must diversify its economy before the<br />

world stops buying her oil and China must utilize its<br />

vast dollar reserves before the American dollar collapses,<br />

and at the rate at which the American federal<br />

reserve bank is printing dollars “quantitative easing”,<br />

which is in the region of $75 billion dollars per<br />

month, it won’t be long before the American “fiat”<br />

dollar becomes worthless. I personally do not believe<br />

that the $dollar can survive another economic roller<br />

coaster like the type the world experienced in the<br />

autumn of 2008. I give the American dollar a 5-10<br />

year life span, after which the $dollar as we know it<br />

will be history and the global elite will have to devise<br />

an entirely new financial system. I cover this in detail<br />

in my upcoming book titled “winter in June; the day<br />

money died” due for release in March 2014.<br />

I was raised by my Mother and Grandmother<br />

(RIP) and I witnessed firsthand the enormous power<br />

which resides in the spirit of the African woman.<br />

When an African woman decides to stand behind<br />

a Man and give him her unyielding support, there’s<br />

nothing in this world that such a man would not be<br />

able to achieve. Such is the power of women.<br />

When most people think about their Mothers,<br />

thoughts of warmth, unconditional love, empathy,<br />

compassion, encouragement, refuge from daddy and<br />

delicious home cooked meals readily spring to mind.<br />

26


Mothers are the incubators and carriers of destiny, and they’re<br />

backbone of every family. <strong>The</strong>y're the rock upon which communities<br />

are built, and it is indeed said and rarely refuted that “the man<br />

may build the “house”, but it is the woman who builds the “home”.<br />

By the predetermined purpose and sovereign choice of the Most<br />

high, his noble Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has<br />

been chosen to lead our nation.<br />

He is a humble and well educated man who is on a mission to<br />

ensure that Nigeria achieves its vision of becoming one of the top 20<br />

most developed nations in the world by the year 2020. An audacious<br />

task indeed but one in which our dear President is more than able to<br />

accomplish. He is a strategic, compassionate and empathetic leader<br />

and a natural manager of men, and these qualities are the basic<br />

building blocks of greatness. He hasn't however, always been the<br />

President of Nigeria, and neither was he born in Aso-Rock. So what<br />

is the secret of his meteoric rise in national politics?<br />

<strong>The</strong> answer can be found in the ancient proverb which states and<br />

I quote “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor<br />

from God”. It takes a queen to produce a king, and the arrival of<br />

her Excellency Dame Patience Jonathan into the life of President<br />

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was the signal that his fortune was about<br />

to change. Dame Patience Jonathan, through feminine intuition<br />

perceived that there was greatness wrapped up in the life of her husband<br />

and she decided to do something about it.<br />

She began to encourage him and to speak possibilities into his<br />

being. She created an enabling environment through which her<br />

husband could nurture his political ambitions, interact with the<br />

right people and boldly step into politics without fear of failure or<br />

of man. He walked tall with his head held high because he knew<br />

full well that his rock, his strength, his number one encourager and<br />

supporter, her Excellency Dame Patience Jonathan was behind him.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is nothing in this world that a man cannot achieve when his<br />

wife is fully backing him.<br />

Great women have the ability to propel their men into their glorious<br />

destinies. This is the reason why it is widely stated and rarely<br />

refuted that “behind every successful man, there’s a woman”. If a<br />

woman decides that her husband will be great, no power on Earth<br />

can stop that man. However, if a woman decides that her husband<br />

will be nothing in life, a nobody, a spectator in the affairs of affecting<br />

his generation, a non-entity, a beggar, a perpetual failure, an insignificant<br />

fellow, a dwarf in the midst of giants, lifeless, purposeless<br />

and without vision, then that is exactly what that man will become.<br />

27


This is the power that resides in the spirit of women, the power to<br />

build and to destroy, to empower or to weaken, to kill or to make<br />

alive. In the mouth of a woman are the words of power and when<br />

she speaks she can alter the destiny of her husband in one of two directions;<br />

Either in the direction of greatness, or in the direction of<br />

failure.<br />

A man can never rise above the woman that he is<br />

married to. If she believes in your destiny, then you<br />

will make it, but if she doesn't, well as the saying goes<br />

in pigeon English and I quote “my Brother, your own<br />

don finish ooo!”<br />

Our illustrious and most noble first lady Dame<br />

Patience Jonathan decided to use her divine power<br />

to build up her husband. She used the words of her<br />

mouth as an instrument of encouragement. She spoke<br />

possibilities into him and told him that she believed<br />

in him, and that there is nothing that he cannot do.<br />

She told Mr President that nothing will be impossible<br />

for him, that he should not be afraid, that her love and<br />

strength will not allow him to fail. So he leaped out<br />

into the unknown and entered the turbulent waters of<br />

national politics, and just as her Excellency predicted,<br />

destiny was on his side and he went from deputy Governor<br />

to Governor, and then from Vice President, to<br />

now becoming the President of the Federal Republic of<br />

Nigeria.<br />

Such is the spirit and might of our beloved first lady.<br />

This same belief that she has in her husband, is what<br />

she also has in all Nigerians. As our mother, she has<br />

publicly declared her love and affection for us. She has<br />

told us as a nation that she believes in us, that she is<br />

behind us with her spirit and with her full strength.<br />

Nigeria will certainly achieve its goal of being amongst<br />

the top 20 most developed nations in the world by<br />

2020 because of the spirit of this great lady.<br />

She is telling the nation of Nigeria that she can be a<br />

great nation, and because she has said it, we will certainly<br />

become that great nation.<br />

First lady, we believe that you mean well for Nigeria.<br />

Whatever you say we will be is exactly what we<br />

will become. We are not afraid of the challenges that<br />

lay ahead; we are not concerned about the mountains<br />

that we have to climb or the seas that we must cross,<br />

because the spirit, the love, the encouragement and the<br />

power of our mother is with us. Nigeria, this is indeed<br />

our moment, our hour of greatness has arrived. We<br />

have a first lady that believes in our future, a mother<br />

that is willing to fight tooth and nail in order to ensure<br />

that we fulfill our highest potential.<br />

To our first lady, our beloved Dame Patience Jonathan,<br />

on behalf of Nigeria, I want to say a big thank<br />

you to you. Thank you for your empathy for the poor<br />

and your desire to eradicate poverty from our nation.<br />

Thank you for being a role model to women across the<br />

nation. Thank you for being the proverbial “wind” in<br />

the sail of Mr President. Thank you for your passion<br />

for education, and your desire to make sure that every<br />

child in Nigeria has access to quality and affordable<br />

education, clean water and quality healthcare. I know<br />

that you feel the pain of millions of Nigerians who go<br />

to bed hungry every night and that you intend to do<br />

something about it. First lady, you have our full support.<br />

We promise to give you all the respect and honor<br />

that the first lady of a nation deserves. We know that<br />

you will not let us down and that you will fight tooth<br />

and nail to see that every Nigerian gets a fair shot of<br />

the proverbial “Nigerian Dream”. Quality Healthcare<br />

and Education are major issues in the country today,<br />

please look into these sectors and use your position as<br />

first lady to transform them and if you do, you will go<br />

down in history as the “true” mother of the nation and<br />

all Nigerians irrespective of their geo-political origins<br />

will love you eternally. We know that you can do it because<br />

finally we have a first lady with a listening ear, a<br />

caring and wise woman who has nothing but our best<br />

interests at heart.<br />

28


A mother who only wants the very best for her<br />

children, and who is willing to sacrifice her own comfort<br />

and luxury in order to ensure that her children<br />

attain greatness; Our Mother, we will not disappoint<br />

you. Your labor of love and your sacrifice for Nigeria<br />

will not be in vain.<br />

Millions of Nigerians are eagerly waiting for you to<br />

rise up and take on the “Goliaths” that are besieging<br />

our nation. Health is wealth and a nation which places<br />

healthcare and the education of its youth at the apex<br />

of its national agenda, will certainly become a nation<br />

to be reckoned with. Thank you for giving us our 14th<br />

president, thank you for raising our hopes and aspirations,<br />

thank you for answering history’s call to be our<br />

illustrious first lady; May your star continue to shine<br />

for the whole world to see.<br />

Nigeria’s best days are still ahead of her because<br />

God in his infinite mercy decided to give us one of his<br />

most prized possessions, a precious jewel as our first<br />

lady.<br />

To her most gracious Excellency Dame Patience<br />

Jonathan, we say thank you for being the answer to<br />

the problems of Nigeria, truly you are the “<strong>The</strong> power<br />

behind the throne”.<br />

29


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In 1999, the nation known as the “giant of Africa”<br />

transitioned from an almost 20 year military dictatorship<br />

into a democracy. <strong>The</strong> Man elected to head<br />

this new democratic government was the one-time<br />

military head of state President Olusegun Mathew<br />

Obasanjo, known simply as “OBJ” to many within<br />

and outside the country. As a Nigerian, it was a<br />

dream come-true for me to witness this new era in<br />

the political environment of my country. It meant<br />

that the opinions of the ordinary people actually<br />

counted for something, and that their interests will<br />

be protected, being chaperoned by the Nigerian constitution.<br />

Many things could be said about the two-term<br />

Presidency of President Obasanjo, because it was<br />

filled with numerous success stories. He re-negotiated<br />

Nigeria’s foreign debt to the Paris club and paid it<br />

off, He granted GSM licences to competent operators<br />

and created an enabling environment for them to create<br />

what has now become the largest telecoms market<br />

in Africa. Prior to 1999 you could count on one hand<br />

the number of people outside of government that had<br />

access to mobile communication but today, they’re as<br />

common as agege bread.<br />

Banks and financial institutions flourished, the<br />

stock market came alive and flourished, international<br />

investors flocked to Nigeria and invested billions<br />

upon billions of dollars across the country. President<br />

Obasanjo brokered a peace between the North and<br />

South that was comparable to the “Pax Romana” that<br />

was created by Caesar Augustus (the sacred one)<br />

arguably the greatest Emperor in the history of the<br />

Roman Empire. Of President Obasanjo’s numerous<br />

achievements, the one act that stood head and<br />

shoulders above the rest was his recognition of the<br />

countless talented and qualified Women of Nigerian<br />

31<br />

BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

ancestry who needed to be grafted into the very centre<br />

of national leadership.<br />

From national icon’s such as Professor Dora Akunyili<br />

to World renowned bankers like Dr Ngozi<br />

Okonjo-Iweala , President Obasanjo recognized the<br />

fact that as a nation which claims to adhere to the<br />

true democratic principles of fairness and equality,<br />

Women had to take their rightful positions within<br />

the corridors of power. As a Man who was raised by<br />

a strong, educated and highly accomplished Woman,<br />

and now also married to one, and also become the<br />

proud Father of yet another one, I have experienced<br />

firsthand the immeasurable and irreplaceable qualities<br />

that Women possess. <strong>The</strong>y simply have an innate<br />

ability to make anything that they touch “better”.<br />

Women are the backbone of every home and the<br />

lifeblood of communities, Cities and nations, and<br />

it was only just and right that they should also be<br />

well represented in national politics. This quality<br />

that President Obasanjo possessed was passed on<br />

to his protégé and current head of state of the federal<br />

republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele<br />

Azikiwe Jonathan. President Jonathan has continued<br />

this trend of selecting and appointing to their rightful<br />

positions educated, experienced and service driven<br />

Women to strategic positions within his cabinet, and<br />

also within government run institutions. It was this<br />

philosophy that informed his decision to appoint on<br />

the 6th of April 2010 Mrs Deizani Alison-Madueke<br />

to the position of Minister of Petroleum resources.<br />

Mrs Deizani Alison-Madueke, who holds an MBA<br />

from Cambridge University, has well over 10 years<br />

experience in the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry and<br />

amongst her numerous accomplishments in the private<br />

sector was her appointment as the first ever


female Executive Director of Shell Petroleum Nigeria.<br />

She is an exceptionally talented and highly astute<br />

woman with phenomenal interpersonal skills, whose<br />

gift of oratory has served the nation well as she represents<br />

us at conferences and strategic meetings all over<br />

the world.<br />

She has raised the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector to<br />

“giddy” heights and has shown the World that Nigeria<br />

isn’t just open for business, but that it is open for<br />

“ethical” business. As a nation, we have suffered from<br />

the pens of unpatriotic journalists within our borders,<br />

Men and Women who profess to be Nigerian with<br />

their lips but their works betray them. <strong>The</strong>y have sold<br />

a highly “toxic” image of Nigeria to the outside world<br />

and given our enemies ample ammunition with<br />

which to malign us as a people. <strong>The</strong>re<br />

are so many Nigerians in different<br />

parts of the globe who are<br />

not involved in any form of<br />

criminal activity, and yet<br />

their stories are never<br />

reported.<br />

However, within the<br />

Oil and Gas sector the<br />

story is very different.<br />

Investors from all over the<br />

globe are flocking to Nigeria<br />

to invest their hard earned<br />

money in this sector because of the<br />

competence and extraordinary integrity<br />

which Her Excellency the federal Minister of Petroleum<br />

resources is endowed with. Her word is her bond<br />

and she stands by them, contracts once ratified are<br />

irrevocable and investors are confident of the fact that<br />

their financial investments are safe and their promised<br />

ROI’s are delivered. Integrity, integrity and more integrity<br />

so help us God, this is what Mrs Deizani Alison-<br />

Madueke has brought to the table of the ministry of<br />

petroleum resources.<br />

She can simply be trusted, and under her leadership<br />

we have seen production levels rise from 1.8 million<br />

barrels of crude per day to 2.6 million. She oversaw<br />

the signing of the Nigerian content act, a bill that will<br />

allow every single Nigerian to benefit from the proverbial<br />

“national cake” in ways that were previously<br />

32<br />

unheard of. <strong>The</strong> natural Gas industry is also about to<br />

be propelled to centre state as the honourable minister<br />

and her team prepare to begin extracting the 187 trillion<br />

cubic feet of Gas reserves sitting below the surface.<br />

A move that will create well over a million jobs over<br />

the next decade and bring revenues in excess of a trillion<br />

dollars into the country, revenues that will develop<br />

our nation and transform it into the “Singapore” of<br />

Sub-Saharan Africa.<br />

As a nation, we must learn to encourage our leaders<br />

and not just seek for ways to bring them down. If an<br />

elected/appointed official is found guilty of misconduct<br />

then by all means criticize them and bring them<br />

to order, but make sure that your criticism is based on<br />

proven facts and not on idle speculation and predisposed<br />

prejudice, because words once<br />

Constructive criticism<br />

is highly effective other hand, when they’re found<br />

uttered cannot be retracted. . On the<br />

if it’s just that “constructive”, to be doing what is right and<br />

and the one’s being criticized under<br />

such conditions are more likely<br />

fulfilling their ministerial<br />

obligations, we should also<br />

trumpet that also.<br />

to listen and even implement the critique<br />

that you have given. But when petually on the negative and<br />

We cannot just dwell per-<br />

your words contain nothing but never report the positive<br />

abuse, insult, slander and character<br />

defamation then why in the because that only serves a<br />

things that are taking place<br />

destructive purpose and it hurts<br />

World would anybody take<br />

our brand/image at home and<br />

you and your words abroad.<br />

seriously?<br />

Constructive criticism is highly effective if it’s just<br />

that “constructive”, and the one’s being criticized under<br />

such conditions are more likely to listen and even<br />

implement the critique that you have given. But when<br />

your words contain nothing but abuse, insult, slander<br />

and character defamation then why in the World<br />

would anybody take you and your words seriously?<br />

Facebook used to be a forum that many of us used to<br />

enjoy logging unto and exchanging ideas, but in recent<br />

times it has become a gutter, a place where human rats<br />

congregate to spew out their poison against anybody<br />

who has any form of governmental position. Some of<br />

the comments on there are just ridiculous and I think<br />

that the Facebook management board needs to look<br />

into it urgently. I am an advocate of free speech but


I am an advocate of free speech but there is a huge<br />

difference between free speech and an all out attempt<br />

to destroy the character and public perception<br />

of an individual, and something drastically needs to<br />

be done about this.<br />

Our leaders are not perfect. If they were, then they<br />

wouldn’t be leading an imperfect people such as us.<br />

Many of them are doing the very best they can to<br />

improve the lot of Nigerians, and even if we feel that<br />

the change we seek is not happening as fast or in the<br />

magnitude that we would like, that still doesn’t justify<br />

the use of the sort derogatory terminology being<br />

used when we speak about them. Let us learn to<br />

encourage our leaders and give them the benefit of<br />

the doubt, because things are not always as easy and<br />

as straight forward as they may appear. Leadership is<br />

an incredibly arduous task, and more so in a country<br />

like Nigeria where people with various motives are<br />

tussling for the same thing.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Oil and Gas sector is the economic backbone<br />

of our nation and the person charged with its oversight<br />

and leadership must be able to intertwine the<br />

economic and political components of the sector,<br />

and make sure that they both work in harmony.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Oil and Gas sector is as much about politics<br />

as it is about economics and to navigate this great<br />

ship of state, one must be able to bridge the socioeconomic/political<br />

and religious divides that exist<br />

within our country. In the person that we have come<br />

to know as Mrs Deizani Alison-Madueke, such great<br />

qualities domicile.<br />

She is cut from a different cloth altogether, a Woman who has distinguished herself in her field and continues<br />

to be a shining example to Women from all the geopolitical zones of the country, pragmatically demonstrating<br />

that Women are not just biologically different, but can indeed make a difference, and lead our country to<br />

greater economic heights. Join me therefore in the celebration of a woman who embodies the spirit of service,<br />

and has given her life to the development of our country.<br />

A true patriot and a loyal daughter of the nation, whose efforts and contributions to Nigeria’s economic<br />

development have proven to be invaluable. Our dear Sister, thank you for all that you’re doing, your labour<br />

of love will never be forgotten and your sacrifice for the people of Nigeria will indeed stand the test of time<br />

and in the end, even your detractors and critics would have no choice but to admit the truth, and what is this<br />

truth? That you were truly sent from above at this specific time in our nation’s history, and that your labours<br />

were indeed, for God and Country. God bless you, God bless the Goodluck Jonathan administration and God<br />

bless the federal republic of Nigeria<br />

33


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I can’t speak for anyone else but as<br />

for me, I am sick and tired of people who constantly<br />

complain about the state that Nigeria is in. <strong>The</strong>re’s no<br />

light, the schools are bad, the hospitals are terrible,<br />

the roads are suicidal, kidnapping is rampant, HIV is<br />

rapidly spreading, not enough jobs for graduates and<br />

on and on and on. Since when did complaining about<br />

a problem ever solved it? We can criticize the government<br />

till we’re blue in the face and accuse all the politicians<br />

of irresponsibility in the call of duty, but none of<br />

these will fix Nigeria. It was John F Kennedy, a onetime<br />

democratic president of the United States of America<br />

that said and I quote “Don’t ask what your country can<br />

do for you, but ask what you can do for your country”.<br />

Nations are nothing more than a concentration<br />

of individuals within an identified boundary. Human<br />

beings make up countries (real deep stuff right? Lol!),<br />

and it is the action/s of those individuals within that<br />

country that makes the difference.<br />

At the top of this article I have deliberately at<br />

tached the pictures of our founding fathers, men that<br />

34<br />

BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

decided to do something about the freedom and destiny<br />

of our nation. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa and<br />

Obafemi Awolowo were not Angels sent down from<br />

Heaven, they were ordinary human beings just like you<br />

and I who decided to stand up and be counted. What if<br />

these three legendary figures decided to sit on their behinds<br />

and criticize the state of the nation, like most of<br />

us do? Had they done that, Nigeria would never have<br />

gotten its independence, and we would still be a colony<br />

of the British Empire, instead of the sovereign nation<br />

that we are today.<br />

A population that believes that their destiny is in<br />

the hands of their government, is simply delusional<br />

and nothing more. <strong>The</strong>re is no government on Earth<br />

that has the ability to solve all the problems facing its<br />

citizenry. Even the nations that we admire such as <strong>The</strong><br />

United States of America and Great Britain are nations<br />

that were birthed by individual men and women with a<br />

pioneering spirit. Many towns and Cities in both these<br />

nations are named after their founders. Yes, individuals<br />

bought large expanses of land and began to develop<br />

them.


<strong>The</strong>y built houses, schools, hospitals, hotels, churches,<br />

fire stations, police stations, offices, roads and so<br />

on, and over time, people began to migrate to those<br />

towns, and the population began to grow alongside<br />

their economies. Human progress and development<br />

has never been as a function of government but rather<br />

as a function of the individual.<br />

<strong>The</strong> government that we have all focused all our attention<br />

and energies upon was established by individuals.<br />

God didn’t come down from Heaven to establish<br />

the United States of America and neither did Angel<br />

Gabriel write the American<br />

constitution (the rules by<br />

which the nation shall be<br />

governed )these things were<br />

thought out and written by<br />

human beings. For a nation<br />

to change, and rise to its<br />

highest potential, its citizenry<br />

must take upon themselves<br />

the mantle of individual responsibility.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y must look<br />

at the problems facing their<br />

country with the eyes of duty<br />

and service and not with the<br />

passive stare of complacency<br />

and criticism. <strong>The</strong>y must<br />

identify a sector that they<br />

would like to tackle; anything<br />

from building a school to a<br />

medical centre and everything<br />

in between. <strong>The</strong> nation of Nigeria is not in the<br />

hands of politicians and elected officials but in the<br />

hands of the ordinary citizen.<br />

Nigeria is a nation of pioneers and as such, that<br />

pioneering spirit must once again be stirred up and<br />

activated in the hearts and minds of all Nigerians. We<br />

must stop criticizing and start doing. No matter how<br />

small you may feel your contribution will be, it will still<br />

be a billion times better than those whose only contribution<br />

to national development is gossip, slander,<br />

character assassination and criticism.<br />

History only records doers and not critics. What<br />

our nation needs are problem solvers, not problem<br />

35<br />

spotters.<br />

We all know that the healthcare system in Nigeria<br />

is bad but what are you going to do about it? We all<br />

know that the educational structure is in shambles but<br />

what are you going to do about it? We all know that<br />

there aren’t enough jobs for graduates, so what are you<br />

going to do about it? We all know that the nation needs<br />

to put tribal and religious differences aside and work<br />

nation building but what are you going to do about it?<br />

We all know that HIV is spreading across the population<br />

so what are you going to do about it?<br />

We all know that there are major security issues<br />

in the country so<br />

what are you going<br />

to do about it? It is<br />

one thing for you<br />

to sit down and<br />

say “they will do<br />

it” but my question<br />

to you is this; who<br />

exactly are they?<br />

We behave as if the<br />

responsibility of<br />

building our nation<br />

has been given to a<br />

select few, and the<br />

select few that we<br />

always point to are<br />

the politicians, as<br />

if they alone can<br />

fix all of Nigeria’s<br />

problems.<br />

Nigeria has the potential to become a G7 nation,<br />

but what you must realize about the nations that make<br />

up the G7 is that their citizens aren’t just sitting down<br />

waiting for their politicians to fix everything. <strong>The</strong>y, in<br />

their own right are pioneers, they taking over entire<br />

sectors of the economy and reforming them. <strong>The</strong>y’re<br />

partnering with one another and generating the capital<br />

needed to birth new schools, companies, roads etc.<br />

Here lies one of the major stumbling blocks to national<br />

progress, the curse of individualism. When you<br />

dwell in a nation where everyone wants to be the biggest<br />

boy, it is hard to preach the gospel of partnership,


Arguments have been posed to the effect that these<br />

foreign partners were brought in because of their superior<br />

competence and expertise in business and even<br />

though there is some element of truth in that, there<br />

is also another reason why some Nigerians prefer to<br />

partner with foreign entities and that reason is simply<br />

because they don’t want any other Nigerian to know<br />

what they know, do what they do, and have what they<br />

have.<br />

This attitude however must be flushed out of the<br />

Nigerian psyche’ if our nation is to achieve its target<br />

of being amongst the 20 most developed nations in<br />

the world by the year 2020. We have less than 10 years<br />

to achieve this great vision that was set out by President<br />

Olusegun Obasanjo, late President Umaru Musa<br />

Yar’Adua and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and<br />

we can only achieve this when we realize that the<br />

task of nation building is “ours” and not “theirs”.<br />

So when I titled this article with a question “who is<br />

Nigeria”? <strong>The</strong> answer is simple, we are Nigeria. You, me<br />

and every single person of Nigerian ancestry has been<br />

mandated to be a problem solver in our great land. My<br />

question to you therefore is this; will you roll up your<br />

sleeves and begin the work nation building or will you<br />

join the other faceless and nameless critics that have<br />

absolutely nothing to offer the nation apart from cheap<br />

rhetoric and accusations? <strong>The</strong> choice is yours but as for<br />

me, I have decided to be on the right side of history. I<br />

have decided to stand up and be counted, to play my<br />

part in the realization of the 2020 vision laid out by our<br />

illustrious leaders.<br />

I believe in Nigeria because I believe in myself, what<br />

about you?<br />

36


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As our nation faces its greatest challenge thus far, this book could<br />

not have been written at a better time. As a country we are at cross<br />

roads. Internal enemies are working tirelessly to divide our beloved<br />

country and undermine the great work that our leaders are<br />

attempting to do.<br />

In this timely book you will learn the following:<br />

• Why Nigeria must stay united<br />

• <strong>The</strong> cause of the Biafran war and lessons learnt<br />

• <strong>The</strong> future of our economy<br />

• Why we will become the next economic super power<br />

• What the western nations are saying about Nigeria<br />

• <strong>The</strong> benefits of a united Nigeria<br />

• And so much more<br />

37


BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

<strong>The</strong> terrorist attack on a Catholic Church on Christmas<br />

day which claimed scores of innocent lives was<br />

indeed the proverbial “straw” that broke the Camel’s<br />

back. It wasn’t the first attack of this malicious sect<br />

against Nigerians of all ethnic and socio-economic<br />

divides but it was the first time that they identified and<br />

singled out a place of worship on one of the most sacred<br />

religious days of the Christian faith “Christmas”,<br />

a day when the birth of the son of God, Jesus Christ of<br />

Nazareth is celebrated.<br />

I must state at this junction that the majority of<br />

the Muslims in Nigeria are peaceful, law abiding and<br />

religiously tolerant people and they do not advocate<br />

nor endorse the radical extremism of the sect that has<br />

now come to be known as “Boko Haram”, which in<br />

English translation simply means anti-western education/teaching.<br />

This sect claims to be against what they<br />

believe is the secularisation of the Northern part of<br />

the country, and have sadly embraced violence as a<br />

means of expressing and furthering their cause.<br />

Although there is no historical evidence that authenticates<br />

the actual birth date of Jesus Christ, there<br />

is however overwhelming evidence of the existence of<br />

such a personality. Both the Christian Bible and the<br />

Muslim Quran recognise the existence of Jesus but<br />

differ in their beliefs about his divinity. According to<br />

the Christians, Jesus Christ is the Son Of God but not<br />

in the sense that God gave birth to him in the delivery<br />

room the way a pregnant woman delivers a baby, but<br />

in relation to his position and heavenly ranking. <strong>The</strong><br />

Christian belief of a triune God i:e one God expressed<br />

in three persons (God the Father, God the Son (Jesus<br />

Christ) and God the Holy Spirit) is at the centre of<br />

their faith.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Muslims on the other hand believe that Jesus<br />

Christ was simply a messenger/Prophet of God and<br />

not divine as the Christians believe. Both Muslims<br />

and Christians however do believe that Jesus Christ is<br />

coming back again and that He will judge the World.<br />

As far as I’m concerned, religion isn’t a good enough<br />

reason to murder innocent lives, people who were created<br />

by the same God you claimed to be acting for. It<br />

makes no sense whatsoever and such acts can definitely<br />

not go unpunished.<br />

40<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is absolutely nothing wrong with any group or<br />

sect deciding to opt out of the so-called “white man’s”<br />

educational system in order to pursue their own form<br />

of knowledge and intellectual capacity development.<br />

<strong>The</strong> freedom to choose is indeed one of the hallmarks<br />

of a democratic environment. People are free to worship<br />

whichever God they choose, train their children<br />

in the manner that suits their religious/ideological dispositions,<br />

as long as it does not infringe on the lives,<br />

liberties, freedoms and personal safety of others.<br />

When Boko Haram decided to adopt murder and<br />

violence as a political strategy, they lost all credibility<br />

as a legitimate democratic opposition and became<br />

nothing more than thugs and cold blooded murderers.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y have not only turned the government of Nigeria<br />

against them, but the whole nation and the World at<br />

large.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), was<br />

a man of peace and reconciliation. He was neither<br />

a suicide bomber, nor an advocate of one so I don’t<br />

know where these deceived murderers are getting<br />

their inspiration from.


41<br />

Majority of the Muslims in<br />

Nigeria are peaceful, law<br />

abiding and religiously<br />

tolerant people and they do<br />

not advocate nor endorse the<br />

radical extremism of the sect<br />

that has now come to be<br />

known as “Boko Haram”,<br />

which in English translation<br />

simply means anti-western<br />

education/teaching. This sect<br />

claims to be against what<br />

they believe is the<br />

secularisation of the Northern<br />

part of the country, and have<br />

sadly embraced violence as<br />

a means of expressing and<br />

furthering their cause.<br />

One of the most memorable quotes of the Prophet is as follows,<br />

“To overcome evil with good is good but to resist evil by<br />

evil is evil”. <strong>The</strong>se are the words of the Prophet himself. If he<br />

was alive today he would be the first to condemn the murderous<br />

actions of these terrorists. <strong>The</strong>re is no place in our society<br />

for murderous acts in the name of politics and freedom.<br />

Nigeria is a multi-cultural society with over 250 ethnic groups<br />

living as one entity under the umbrella called “Nigeria” and<br />

the majority of us want to stay that way.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y’re still a number of small groups within our nation<br />

who are still clamouring for the separation of the country. I<br />

cover this topic exhaustively in my latest book entitled “Nigeria;<br />

One nation, One destiny”. <strong>The</strong> book will be out on<br />

general release from September 2013. <strong>The</strong> majority of Nigerians<br />

however are still very happy to be part of this incredible<br />

nation, and we will not allow the myopic views of a few racist<br />

vermin’s in our society to alter our perception and love for<br />

our fellow Nigerian brothers and sisters irrespective of their<br />

ethnic/tribal origins and ancestry.<br />

As a nation, we have come a long way since the civil war<br />

and yet the journey is still far. We still have a lot of work to do<br />

to in order to heal our nation of the ethnic and tribal wounds<br />

of yester years, and bridge the gap between the rich and the<br />

poor. Nigeria, just like every other nation in the world has its<br />

elites, families who dominate the economic landscape of the<br />

nation, and whose influence and connections go right to the<br />

very apex of political power. It is the way of the world and I<br />

don’t understand why so many people treat it as if it is idiosyncratic<br />

to Nigeria when it certainly is not.<br />

In the United Kingdom where I was born, the British<br />

elites are fully entrenched in the society and they dominate<br />

the lives of the common man on the street. <strong>The</strong> gap between<br />

the rich and the poor is also widening and we witnessed its<br />

manifestation last summer when the country of the United<br />

Kingdom spiralled into an inferno of rioting and violent disorder.<br />

Currently, in cities all across America and Europe, the<br />

citizens have mobilized and begun demonstrations which<br />

they have tagged “occupy”, protesting against economic inequality<br />

and corporate greed. So for us to sit here and behave<br />

as if Nigeria is the only country in the world where there are<br />

issues of social class and economic division is nothing short<br />

of “ridiculous”.


I personally believe that they’re people who love nothing more<br />

than to sit down on their blessed assurances and tear down the<br />

image of our nation, and the minute you begin to speak up for<br />

Nigeria, they automatically assume that you have been bribed by<br />

some politician to do so.<br />

How did our minds become so bastardised as a nation? What<br />

happened to us? Why do we behave as if our country is the worst<br />

country in the World? We should travel to Sudan and Zimbabwe<br />

and Rwanda and Burundi and so many other countries, and then<br />

compare them to Nigeria. Perhaps then we will begin to appreciate<br />

our country a bit more and begin to seek for ways to improve<br />

our nation and the lot of our people. Thanks to social networking<br />

sites like Facebook, so many unelected and un-appointed wannabe<br />

politicians use these platforms to spew out garbage about<br />

Nigeria from morning till night.<br />

Nigeria has a destiny and no mov<br />

divide the country, we simply won<br />

disagreements, then we should sit<br />

discuss them, and if tensions have<br />

no longer bring ourselves to the ta<br />

involve the United Nations. Let th<br />

skilled in the art of mediation and<br />

our meetings, but under no circum<br />

arms and begin to slaughter innoc<br />

<strong>The</strong>y all know how to solve Nigeria’s problems and yet they<br />

won’t even join a political party or start an NGO, or even visit a<br />

motherless baby’s home and give out milk and pampers. All they<br />

know how to do is insult public office holders who are not even<br />

reading any of their stupid blogs or comments anyway.<br />

I am yet to meet a Nigerian in all my travels who doesn’t know<br />

how to fix Nigeria. <strong>The</strong>y all have the answers and yet most of<br />

them can’t even keep their marriages together. You can’t even keep<br />

your marriage together and yet you believe that you can keep the<br />

North and South together. What a bunch of clowns! Keep talking,<br />

after all that’s all you’re good for. <strong>The</strong> rest of us will keep working<br />

to improve our nation by investing in the country through starting<br />

companies and creating jobs and praying for our leaders that<br />

God will give them wisdom and strength to make the right decisions,<br />

and continuing to speak well of our nation whenever we’re<br />

abroad.<br />

Nigeria is a blessed nation and cursed be they who curse this<br />

country of ours, and may their negative words return upon them<br />

and their generations.<br />

America has dropped more bombs than most people have had<br />

hot dinners, and there is still a great divide economically between<br />

the Blacks and the Whites and yet, I have never met an American<br />

who wanted to be from another Country. <strong>The</strong>y’re so patriotic, so<br />

proud to be Americans despite all their shortcomings, and yet<br />

Nigerians would rather spend their time on social networks rubbishing<br />

their country, and washing their dirty linens in public.<br />

42


ement can stop that destiny or<br />

’t allow it. If we have<br />

down like civilised people and<br />

reached to a level where we can<br />

ble of dialogue, then we should<br />

e UN send personnel who are<br />

reconciliation and let them chair<br />

stances should we rise up in<br />

ent civilians.<br />

We are looking for nation builders and not nation destroyers. It<br />

was the late President John F Kennedy who said and I quote “Don’t<br />

ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for<br />

your country”. <strong>The</strong>se are the sorts of people that our nation needs at<br />

this time. You’re not happy about the removal of fuel subsidy, well<br />

who is? In every nation of the world, fuel prices have been increasing<br />

exponentially, it was only in Nigeria where the prices were<br />

still so low for such a long time. In the UK, the prices have risen<br />

to historic levels and yet nobody is calling Prime Minister David<br />

Cameron the sort of names that some Nigerians have been calling<br />

President Jonathan.<br />

We have no respect for our leaders and yet we want them to<br />

respect us. We speak to them as if they’re fools and then we turn<br />

around and wonder why they don’t take our grievances seriously.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is a way you petition a King or somebody in authority if you<br />

want them to listen to you and take your words into consideration.<br />

It is called adequate or appropriate protocol, and we must learn<br />

this as a nation. No matter how much we disapprove of our leader’s<br />

actions/decisions, we must not use insolent or derogatory language<br />

when we’re addressing/discussing them. Some of the comments<br />

that have been made about President Jonathan and first lady Dame<br />

Patience Jonathan were straight out of the gutter, and to think that<br />

some of the people using such vulgar language claim to be educated<br />

and exposed. Exposed to what? What were you exposed to that<br />

would cause you to speak as one without proper home training?<br />

Is that how your parents taught you to speak to and about people?<br />

I think not. <strong>The</strong>re are appropriate ways to address concerns and<br />

dissatisfactions with the actions of public holders, and supposedly<br />

educated minds should indeed know how to address authority<br />

figures.<br />

Sadly, the enemies of our nation are within our borders. Men and<br />

Women who claim to be Nigerian but have become a cancer, eating<br />

away at the health of our nation, but they shall be isolated and cut<br />

out before they spread any further. Nigeria has a destiny and no<br />

movement can stop that destiny or divide the country, we simply<br />

won’t allow it. If we have disagreements, then we should sit down<br />

like civilised people and discuss them, and if tensions have reached<br />

to a level where we can no longer bring ourselves to the table of<br />

dialogue, then we should involve the United Nations.<br />

Let the UN send personnel who are skilled in the art of mediation<br />

and reconciliation and let them chair our meetings, but under no<br />

circumstances should we rise up in arms and begin to slaughter innocent<br />

civilians.<br />

43


Such murderous conduct is against the<br />

teachings of both the Bible and the<br />

Quran. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus<br />

Christ said and I quote “Blessed are the<br />

peace makers for theirs is the Kingdom<br />

of Heaven”. <strong>The</strong> Prophet Muhammed<br />

(peace be upon him) said and I quote<br />

“Do you know what is better than<br />

charity, fasting and prayer? Keeping<br />

peace and good relations between people,<br />

as quarrels and bad feelings destroy<br />

mankind”.<br />

Both our lord and personal saviour Jesus Christ the<br />

Son of God and the Prophet Muhammed (peace be<br />

upon him) advocate nothing but peace, and cordial<br />

relations between all people groups irrespective of<br />

their ethnic origins or religious affiliations. We are all<br />

human beings, born of a woman and are all destined to<br />

die one day, and this body that we so much cherish and<br />

indeed almost worship, will return to the dust from<br />

which it came.<br />

It is appointed for all Men to die and after death is the<br />

judgment. What will you tell God when he asks you<br />

the reason why you murdered so many innocent people<br />

who have not done anything to you? What will you<br />

tell him on that dreadful and terrible day of judgement,<br />

when the books of our lives will be opened and everything<br />

we have done is laid bare? Can’t you see that<br />

hatred solves nothing? My dear Christian and Muslim<br />

brothers, it is high time we put away our differences,<br />

come together, and sit down like the civilised people<br />

that we are, and iron out our differences. We owe it to<br />

our children and also to generations yet unborn, to<br />

seek a peaceful resolution to our problems so that they<br />

can have a Nigeria to inherit. Boko Haram, I call upon<br />

you to put down your weapons and stop the slaughter<br />

of the innocent across the nation.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y’re not resting in peace because they left before<br />

their time. Put down your weapons and talk to us. Our<br />

ears are open and we are willing to talk, but you must<br />

lower your weapons because we cannot stand idly by as<br />

a nation and watch you continue to destroy innocent<br />

lives, not on our watch and not during the watch of<br />

President Goodluck Jonathan.<br />

As the head of state and President of the federal republic<br />

of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan<br />

swore to protect the lives and properties of all Nigerians<br />

and therefore he had no choice, but to declare a<br />

state of emergency in the troubled parts of the country.<br />

That is part of what he was elected to do and the nation<br />

is 100% behind him. <strong>The</strong> time to heal our nation has<br />

come. Let us put away the bad looks and the bad blood<br />

that is stifling our economic growth and hindering the<br />

full manifestation of our national potential.<br />

We are the envy of the World because of our vast human<br />

and natural resources. I don’t think that many of<br />

us know what we have or who we are as Nigerians. It is<br />

time for us to sit down at the table of brotherhood and<br />

reason together. North and South, Muslim and Christian,<br />

we are one people, Nigerians, a people of class<br />

and incredible worth and as a nation, we are poised to<br />

become one of the most industrialized countries in the<br />

world by 2030.<br />

We have so much to give to each other and to Africa,<br />

so let us unite, let us unclench our fists and extend a<br />

handshake of brotherhood and national identity. We<br />

are one people and we share a common destiny and<br />

that destiny is to be the economic powerhouse of the<br />

21st century.<br />

We have read the teachings of Jesus Christ the Son of<br />

God and of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon<br />

him), and we have seen that they both stood for peace,<br />

love and unity. Let us therefore listen to their voices<br />

today and embrace one another, because Christians<br />

and Muslims are indeed “Brothers” in every way.To my<br />

Muslim family “Asalam Alaykum”, and to my Christian<br />

family “God bless”. Nigeria; One Nation, One destiny.<br />

You are spilling precious blood, and the precious<br />

blood of all those you have slain are already calling<br />

for vengeance from the grave. Can’t you hear them?<br />

44


We owe it to our children and also to generations yet<br />

unborn, to seek a peaceful resolution to our problems so<br />

that they can have a Nigeria to inherit.<br />

45


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Once in a generation a force of nature descends upon<br />

a nation and the destiny of that nation is forever altered.<br />

Nelson Mandela’s emergence into the apartheid<br />

struggle in South Africa forever altered the destiny<br />

of that nation. Mahatma Ghandi could not stand idly<br />

by whilst his nation was being pillaged by the British<br />

Empire and through the principle of non-violence, he<br />

resisted the British occupation and won India’s independence.<br />

Time wouldn’t allow me to speak about the<br />

impact of men such as Thomas Sankara, Michael Collins,<br />

Kwame Nkrumah and so many others who fought<br />

tirelessly for the liberation and empowerment of their<br />

people and achieved great fetes despite the personal<br />

cost.<br />

Isaac David Balami was born in Borno state in the<br />

North-eastern part of Nigeria. Isaac didn’t have an<br />

easy childhood and economic challenges forced him<br />

to do manual labour, farming and anything he could<br />

lay his hands on in order to make money to support<br />

himself as he tried to acquire an education. Isaac’s<br />

persistence and determination paid off and he was able<br />

to gain a HND in aircraft maintenance engineering followed<br />

by a post graduate diploma in Aviation management<br />

coupled with several other professional qualifications<br />

from Nigerian as well as American institutions.<br />

He is also the recipient of numerous awards<br />

and accolades including the “this day newspaper”<br />

top 50 professionals of 2011 and the<br />

international African role model for business<br />

development. In April of 2010 he was<br />

elected as the national president of the national<br />

association of Aircraft pilots and Engineers<br />

(NAAPE), a position which he was<br />

once again re-elected in this year.<br />

48<br />

Isaac is also the spokes person for the trade union<br />

congress of Nigeria. He is an enormously talented and<br />

hardworking professional who attributes his meteoric<br />

rise in the Nigerian social ladder to providence, hard<br />

work, integrity and dedication to his duties. A young<br />

man who understands and fully implements the principle<br />

of deferred gratification, because surely true greatness<br />

doesn’t come except by patience and hard work.<br />

This is the attitude that the Nigerian youth so desperately<br />

need to imbibe in this fast food, microwave<br />

generation where nobody wants to wait for anything.<br />

If they try something for five minutes and it doesn’t<br />

work they immediately throw in the towel and look<br />

for something else to do. This short cut generation<br />

that wants to buy a Bentley even before they’ve even<br />

learnt how to drive car. In life’s numerous endeavours<br />

the principle of “sowing and reaping” holds sway and<br />

the people who we look at today as being “successful”<br />

didn’t achieve that status overnight. <strong>The</strong>y spent many<br />

years in obscurity honing their craft and perfecting<br />

their skills.<br />

Tiger Woods began playing the game of Golf at the<br />

age of 2 and his father would take him to the golf<br />

course daily and teach him that discipline and hard<br />

work are far more much more important than talent.<br />

<strong>The</strong> world is filled with talented failures,<br />

gifted people who refused to pay the price of<br />

self discipline and commitment. <strong>The</strong>y wanted<br />

overnight success and when it didn’t come<br />

quick enough for them they simply threw in<br />

the towel and abandoned their dreams.<br />

BY PAUL OKADE Jr


<strong>The</strong> discipline and focus that this young man brings<br />

to every single thing he puts his hands to are the attributes<br />

which continue to set him apart from his peers<br />

and make him the “go to” man in every organisation<br />

he joins. His name “Isaac” simply means laughter and<br />

this is exactly what this young man has brought and<br />

continues to bring into the lives of hundreds of orphans<br />

and economically challenged Nigerians across<br />

the six geopolitical zones of the federation.<br />

This young man is on a mission which I sincerely<br />

believe has been instigated by “the divine” to transform<br />

the lives of millions of Nigerians who have given<br />

up hope on life itself. From the school fees he pays for<br />

over 50 orphans to the micro-business initiatives he<br />

has launched for hundreds of people across Nigeria,<br />

Isaac has shown the world that truly “one man can<br />

make a difference”. His compassion for the poor and<br />

the down and out in the society speaks for itself, and<br />

hundreds of lives can attest to this. I personally have<br />

never met a young man who’s sincere love for the<br />

poor and the orphan has moved me as much as Isaac.<br />

He has made the plight of the orphan and<br />

the destitute his life’s ambition and he has<br />

a dream to see poverty completed eradicated<br />

from Nigeria and from the entire<br />

African continent. This is not just rhetoric<br />

either, Isaac walks his talk and well over<br />

50% of his income is given to charitable<br />

causes. He is a young man on an unstoppable<br />

mission to transform the lot of Nigerians.<br />

What an incredible role model Isaac is and his desire<br />

to plant the seeds of greatness into the hearts and<br />

minds of the Nigerian youth is what has now led him<br />

to create an extension of his foundation, a National<br />

youth organisation dedicated to raising tomorrow’s<br />

leaders.<br />

49


Let the youth of Nigeria rise up and draw inspiration<br />

from this young man who rose from obscurity like the<br />

proverbial “cactus in the desert” to become a motivational<br />

force that cannot be stopped. Isaac is wise<br />

beyond his years, he is an avid reader and his thirst for<br />

knowledge and self improvement are unquenchable. It<br />

is often said and rarely refuted that “you cannot stop a<br />

Man who has refused to be stopped”.<br />

As a nation we are blessed to have such young Men<br />

in our midst, but I wonder how many more potential<br />

“Isaac Balami’s” are out there yet to be brought to<br />

the limelight? Let this young man’s life inspire you<br />

to hold on to your dreams and never let go regardless<br />

of the obstacles. Isaac is indeed a force of nature, a<br />

young man called and sent to his generation to declare<br />

that “nothing is impossible for those who will dare to<br />

dream”. <strong>The</strong> economically challenged environment<br />

which he was raised in could have shaped him and<br />

limited his dreams and aspirations but Isaac did not allow<br />

it, instead he decided that “he was not going to be<br />

a product of his environment, but that his environment<br />

should become a product of him”.<br />

This is just the beginning of the story of a remarkable<br />

young Man, who is on a mission to transform his<br />

generation, and posterity will read of his exploits and<br />

the great fete’s which he accomplished in his life time.<br />

Isaac, may your days be long and may millions of Nigerians<br />

draw hope and inspiration from your incredible<br />

life. Your parents named you Isaac David Balami but to<br />

us you’re simply “the son of destiny”. May God bless<br />

you.<br />

This is just the beginning of the story of a remarkable young<br />

Man, who is on a mission to transform his generation, and<br />

posterity will read of his exploits and the great fete’s which<br />

he accomplished in his life time.<br />

51


ISAAC<br />

Isaac Balami Foundation is a Non Governmental Organization that has a<br />

primary aim of EMPOWERING AND UNITING PEOPLE. <strong>The</strong> NGO is focused<br />

on empowering the Widows, Youths and Orphans which has the core<br />

objective of Encouraging and promoting peaceful co-existence of citizens<br />

irrespective of ethnic or religious differences.<br />

FOUNDATION<br />

53<br />

Isaac Balami Foundation has improved the lives of countless individuals<br />

through programs aimed at empowering and uniting the youths and less<br />

privileged irrespective of ethnic or religious differences.<br />

For the past Five Years (5yrs) Isaac Balami Foundation has:<br />

•Organized training for youths in Borno State and also Opobo Local<br />

Government of Rivers State in liquid soap making, carpentry, antiseptics<br />

production, brick laying etc<br />

•Sank boreholes for irrigation in the host community {1 completed and<br />

9 on-going in Michika-Adamawa State plus 5 on-going in Hawul-Borno<br />

South}<br />

•Opened a high-tech musical recording studio for aspiring musicians to<br />

record & produce musical albums directly promoting peaceful coexistence,<br />

national unity and inspiring lyrics at no cost.<br />

•Opened a computer training center where individuals undergo training<br />

and are certified in Computer Skills appreciation<br />

•Undertake in charitable activities for the benefit of the Nigerian<br />

populace<br />

•Opened a Cyber-cafe in the host community, where individuals can<br />

have access to internet and complete their examination forms i.e (SSCE,<br />

JAMB, WAEC, etc) at no cost.<br />

•Gave scholarships at various levels of education to over 400 people<br />

between 2011 to date.<br />

SPONSORS ARE NEEDED FOR THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS;<br />

•ISAAC BALAMI SCHOOL PROJECT<br />

A Nursery, Primary and Secondary School project for orphans. <strong>The</strong> school<br />

will be located in Shaffa in Borno State, Nigeria and will consist of<br />

boarding facilities and Sports centre. Cost: N50 Million Naira<br />

•ISAAC BALAMI MEDICAL CENTRE PROJECT:<br />

A childrens hospital project in Shaffa in Borno State providing free<br />

medical care to Orphans and Widows. Cost: N30 Million<br />

Kindly make your donations into the following account;<br />

ISAAC BALAMI FOUNDATION<br />

ECOBANK<br />

48 ADENIYI JONES AVENUE, IKEJA, LAGOS<br />

Account number: 2122082608<br />

Block 2, Flat 1, Femi Okunnu Estate, Lekki, Lagos State<br />

Telephone: (+234) 0806 964 8792<br />

Email: info@isaacbalamifoundation.org<br />

Website: www.isaacbalamifoundation.org


54 BY PAUL OKADE Jr


Katsina state has a track record of producing some<br />

of the greatest public servants in the federation, men<br />

and women whose sole purpose for aspiring for public<br />

office is simply to better the lives of ordinary citizens.<br />

From political reformers such as Shehu Musa<br />

Yar’Adua, a military vice President in the Military<br />

government of President Olusegun Obasanjo and the<br />

pioneer president of the Social Democratic party, a<br />

movement which fought tirelessly for the transition of<br />

national governance from military to democratic rule.<br />

Mohammed Tukur Liman, a onetime majority leader<br />

of the Nigerian Senate and of course His Excellency<br />

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who served two<br />

terms as Governor of Katsina State and then as President<br />

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.<br />

Out of the womb of this great state comes another<br />

public servant whose achievements and accolades are<br />

as numerous as the stars in the sky. Musa Mohammed<br />

Sada was born in Mani in Katsina state and as a child<br />

he showed academic brilliance and displayed leadership<br />

qualities which would one day take him to the<br />

pinnacle of his career. He is a businessman of repute<br />

and a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. He<br />

serves on numerous boards as Chairman at both state<br />

and Federal levels. He was the chairman of the Katsina<br />

state government inauguration committee, chairman<br />

of the implementation committee for the Katsina<br />

state youth craft village, a fellow of the Institute of<br />

Industrialists and Cooperate administration of Nigeria<br />

and he currently serves as the federal minister for<br />

Mines and steel.<br />

He is an accomplished professional who worked his<br />

way up the corporate and political ladder with grace<br />

and with dignity. He is equally a deeply religious and<br />

pious man with a heart for the poor and destitute in<br />

society and a true public servant whose only mission<br />

is to uplift the standard of living of his people.<br />

In his capacity as the Federal Minister of Mines and<br />

steel development he has completely transformed the<br />

mining sector in Nigeria and has turned it into a viable<br />

revenue enhancing sector. <strong>The</strong> challenges and rapid<br />

changes currently taking place in the global economy<br />

has thrown light to the vulnerability of the fiat currency<br />

model and the nations of the world that can<br />

“quickly” move their $dollar reserves into minerals<br />

55<br />

are the only ones who will survive the coming global<br />

monetary crash. <strong>The</strong> American economy along with its<br />

$dollar is collapsing.<br />

Every single day the dollar loses<br />

more and more of its buying power<br />

and intelligent nations need to look<br />

for alternative hedges that they<br />

can use to secure their wealth.<br />

Throughout history, records have<br />

proven time and time again that the<br />

safest way to shield your wealth<br />

(both as individuals and as nations)<br />

is by investing in commodities. You<br />

only need to look at what has happened<br />

to the price of commodities<br />

such as Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron<br />

ore and so forth in the last 3 years.<br />

Today Gold is trading at $1311 an<br />

ounce and it is projected to rise to<br />

well over $5000 over the next 3-5<br />

years because of what is happening<br />

to the dollar.<br />

Why is the $dollar so central to the global economy?<br />

It is because it is the currency of international<br />

trade and all global business transactions are quoted<br />

and traded in US Dollars, so if the dollar should collapse,<br />

the global economy will follow suit, and the<br />

impact will hit nations who have not managed to<br />

move their $dollar reserves into commodities mostly.<br />

America’s national debt has reached $20 Trillion dollars.<br />

How can one single country have so much debt?<br />

and just in case you don’t understand the magnitude of<br />

this, let me quote it in Naira. America’s debt in Naira<br />

is 3200 Trillion Naira (in words: Three thousand two<br />

hundred Trillion Naira). It is economically impossible<br />

for America to ever clear this debt and to compound<br />

the problem even more, they’re printing $billions of<br />

dollars and dumping it into their economy in an attempt<br />

to kick start it, and all it is doing is devaluing


It is basic economics, the more of “something” you<br />

have in circulation, the less valuable it becomes. <strong>The</strong><br />

reason why Gold is so valuable is because there isn’t<br />

a lot of it in the world, it’s a rare commodity. Nigeria<br />

must intensify its mining operations and under the<br />

leadership of Musa Mohammed Sada we are beginning<br />

to see this happen. As a nation, we need to start<br />

building up our mineral reserves. We are already<br />

endowed with so much minerals so we do not need to<br />

buy it, we simply need to exponentially increase our<br />

mining output because the $dollar does not have long<br />

to go before it finally collapses.<br />

China is the biggest buyer of minerals, they have<br />

the largest deposit of Gold in the world and they mine<br />

it and store it. <strong>The</strong> Chinese do not sell their minerals<br />

because they know that in the coming fiscal tsunami<br />

that will soon hit the world, paper money will have<br />

no value and the only thing which nations will be able<br />

to trade with is minerals. As the Federal Minister of<br />

mines and steel development, his Excellency Musa<br />

Mohammed Sada is working tirelessly to protect Nigeria<br />

from the coming economic storm. His knowledge<br />

in mining will help to secure the economic future of<br />

this nation and see to it that we do not fall victim to<br />

the fiscal incompetence of the western democracies.<br />

Africa must understand that<br />

it has “real” wealth under<br />

its soil and we need to begin<br />

to cultivate and store it in<br />

preparation for what is coming.<br />

We need to stop chasing<br />

$dollars and start mining more<br />

and more minerals because<br />

they’re the true wealth. America<br />

prints paper and gives it to<br />

us in return for our precious<br />

minerals, they’re treating us as<br />

fools and enough is enough.<br />

56<br />

If they want anybody to take their paper money seriously<br />

then they need to stop printing it, because if they<br />

don’t, it will become as worthless as monopoly money.<br />

We need more and more leaders like Musa Mohammed<br />

Sada occupying state governments across the<br />

federation. Men who are in tune with the happenings<br />

of the times and have not bought into that old colonial<br />

lie that “white is right” because they know better. <strong>The</strong><br />

manner in which the European and American economies<br />

were shaken in 2008 and continue to shake till<br />

today has shown the whole world just how unstable<br />

their economies are. Cyprus went bankrupt and as we<br />

speak nations such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Ireland<br />

are on the verge of total economic collapse.<br />

We have nothing to learn from the western democracies<br />

any longer, and if we copy their system then we<br />

will only end up suffering the same fate. We need to<br />

look to China and model our economies around theirs,<br />

because they have become the strongest economy in<br />

the world and it didn’t happen by chance. We need to<br />

look closely at what they did in order to attain such<br />

a lofty height and then reproduce it in every state<br />

across the federation. <strong>The</strong> governments (both state<br />

and federal) need to look at alternative ways of raising<br />

revenue instead of borrowing. We need to stop running<br />

to the World Bank and the IMF each time we need<br />

money because they’re slowly getting us into massive<br />

debts which our children and grandchildren will have<br />

to contend with. Debt is bondage, and borrower will<br />

always be the slave of the lender.<br />

I repeat, we need to look at China and study what<br />

they did. <strong>The</strong>y stayed away from the two evils (World<br />

Bank and the IMF) and simply went into manufacturing<br />

and as a consequence they have become the market<br />

of the world. Everything we use is made in China.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y manufactured their way to the top of the food<br />

chain and now the whole world is at their feet. <strong>The</strong>y’re<br />

so rich that even America owes them over a Trillion<br />

$dollars. Isn’t it ironic that America (the country that<br />

prints and owns the $dollar) owes China $1 Trillion<br />

dollars? This is the reality of the modern world and<br />

America is becoming the economic laughing stock of<br />

the world.


As I sit and write this article the entire American<br />

government is at a standstill because their congress<br />

cannot agree on the contents of the budget and as such<br />

President Obama cannot sign it and authorise funds to<br />

be sent to government agencies. America is falling and<br />

Nigeria and the rest of Africa better move out of the<br />

way before America falls on top of their heads.<br />

This wealth of experience in the importance of<br />

minerals to the next global economy is what his Excellency<br />

Musa Mohammed Sada continues to share with<br />

Nigerians, and he has made his own people of Katsina<br />

extremely proud in the process. Katsina continues to<br />

produce many other great public servants such as His<br />

Excellency Ibrahim Shema, an outstanding governor<br />

whose tireless work in service of the people of Katsina<br />

speaks for itself. Katsina has undergone a complete remodelling<br />

and the citizens of the state are seeing with<br />

their own eyes and are fully partaking in the dividends<br />

of democracy.<br />

Musa Mohammed Sada’s<br />

credentials and history in public<br />

service speak for themselves<br />

and he will bring his vast transformational<br />

leadership experience<br />

which he has gleaned over<br />

30 years in both the private as<br />

well as the public sector, to any<br />

future role he is called upon to<br />

play in Nigeria’s development.<br />

He is a man of the people and<br />

God has endowed him with a<br />

listening ear. He leads with humility<br />

and empathy and he feels<br />

the pain of those who have less.<br />

58<br />

His plan to reduce unemployment, reduce crime<br />

and empower the youths through his charitable deeds,<br />

will completely transform the destiny of thousands of<br />

ordinary residents in his home state of Katsina.<br />

People can only rise as high<br />

as the leader they’re following,<br />

and when you have<br />

leadership capital such as the<br />

likes of Musa Mohammed<br />

Sada at the helms, then the<br />

sky is the limit for what the<br />

ordinary people can achieve.<br />

He is a visionary leader who<br />

has the well being and prosperity<br />

of his people as his<br />

primary objective. Join me<br />

in honouring an outstanding<br />

public servant whose candle<br />

continues to shine brighter<br />

and brighter as he pursues his<br />

dream to touch the lives of<br />

ordinary people through his<br />

philanthropic and charitable<br />

initiatives, a man known to<br />

his family as Musa Mohammed<br />

Sada but to us he is simply<br />

known as “<strong>The</strong> Diamond<br />

of Katsina”.


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<strong>The</strong> great people of Anambra state in the South-<br />

Eastern geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic<br />

of Nigeria have produced many outstanding public<br />

servants who have done them and the entire nation<br />

of Nigeria extremely proud. <strong>The</strong>y produced the first<br />

ever President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His<br />

Excellency Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (RIP), Professor Chinua<br />

Achebe (arguably one of the finest writers of his<br />

generation), Alex Ekwueme (Former Vice President of<br />

Nigeria), Charles Chukwuma Soludo (Former Governor<br />

of the Central bank of Nigeria), Emeka Anyaoku<br />

(the first black secretary general of the commonwealth),<br />

Dora Akunyili ( the former head of NAFDAC<br />

whose tireless efforts to fight the importation of fake<br />

medicines into Nigeria saved the Nigerian healthcare<br />

system), Nwafor Orizu (the first ever senate president<br />

of the Federal republic of Nigeria) and Chinyelu Onwarah<br />

a British politician and first ever female member<br />

of the British Parliament of African descent.<br />

Once again Anambra state has produced another<br />

outstanding public servant, a woman who is on a<br />

mission to reclaim Nigeria’s aviation glory. Stella<br />

Oduah- Ogiemwonyi comes from a prestigious royal<br />

family. She is the daughter of Igwe D.O Oduah of<br />

Akili-Ozizor in the Ogbaru Local Government area<br />

of Anambra state. As a child Princess Stella excelled<br />

academically, and her desire for learning was what<br />

propelled her to the United States of America where<br />

she acquired a Bachelors degree in Accounting and<br />

a Masters in Business administration (MBA) respectively.<br />

It is indeed an open secret that Nigeria almost be-<br />

63<br />

BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

came the laughing stock of Africa because of the poor<br />

state of the nations Aviation sector. Nigerians both at<br />

home and in the Diaspora were becoming so ashamed<br />

of the state of their airports, coupled with the fact that<br />

we no longer had a national airline. All indications<br />

suggested that as far as air travel was concerned, Nigeria<br />

was a failed state. From decaying airports right<br />

through to a non-existent national airline, it is fair to<br />

say that for a Nation which is reputed to be the biggest<br />

producer of crude oil in Africa and certainly it’s most<br />

populated, we had a lot to live up to.<br />

It is also projected that by 2015 Nigeria will overtake<br />

South Africa as the Continent’s largest economy. We<br />

are indeed a mighty nation, and to think that without<br />

a steady supply of electricity and almost 20 years of<br />

military miss rule, we have managed to become the<br />

African economic super power. What then will we<br />

achieve as a nation when the foundational necessities<br />

of industrialization such as steady electricity, a national<br />

rail system, a robust healthcare system, a reformed<br />

academic system and major investments in Agriculture<br />

(at least 20% of GDP) are fully in place? We will<br />

become the envy of the world.<br />

However, such great fete’s can only be accomplished<br />

when competent public servants are installed<br />

in their rightful positions. On the 2nd of July 2011 His<br />

Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan,<br />

having looked at the poor and rapidly decaying<br />

state of the Nigerian aviation industry made a decision<br />

that will forever transform that industry. He installed<br />

Her Excellency Stella Oduah Ogiemwoni as the Nigerian<br />

Minister of Aviation.


Prior to her appointment as Minister of Aviation,<br />

Princess Stella was the CEO of Sea Petroleum and<br />

Gas (SPG) Nigeria limited, a major player in the<br />

downstream oil sector and it was a company that she<br />

started after spending almost a decade as an executive<br />

in NNPC.<br />

When she first took the helms<br />

of leadership in the Ministry of<br />

aviation, many criticised her appointment<br />

because they felt that<br />

they were more qualified and experienced<br />

Nigerians who should<br />

have been given the position.<br />

However, with just 2 years in the<br />

job, many of her critics have suddenly<br />

become mute because her<br />

works are indeed speaking for<br />

themselves. <strong>The</strong> revamping of the<br />

International airports and the<br />

construction of over a dozen new<br />

ones across the federation have<br />

shown that she is truly a visionary<br />

leader who understood only<br />

too well the impact that overcongestion<br />

was having on the few<br />

functional international airports<br />

in the country.<br />

This arduous task to build world class international<br />

airports in the six geopolitical zones of the Federation<br />

will not only create thousands of jobs for the indigenes<br />

of those zones, but will also create an avenue for rev-<br />

64<br />

enue diversification, because an international airport<br />

impacts many other sectors of the economy such as<br />

hospitality, tourism and retail. Princess Stella Oduah<br />

has only been in this exalted position for 2 years and<br />

her proverbial “hand writing” is already on the wall.<br />

<strong>The</strong>refore, I am equally optimistic about the resurrection<br />

of our National airlines. I, just like many other<br />

well meaning Nigerians would love to see Nigerian<br />

Airways resuscitated, revived, reformed, re-born or<br />

any other form of “re” that will cause it to return unto<br />

our skies, and I sincerely hope that this is on the horizon.<br />

As a nation, we are rich enough (both in human as<br />

well as in economic resources) to build a world class<br />

airline which is fully owned and fully operated by<br />

Nigerians. We don’t need Engineers from China and<br />

pilots from America to run our airlines because we<br />

have well trained Engineers and Pilots of Nigerian<br />

ancestry both at home and in the Diaspora who are<br />

well able to run our national airline. Princess Stella,<br />

our beloved Sister, you are making us proud, please<br />

keep up the great work, and may Nigerians see and appreciate<br />

your tireless effort to breathe new life into our<br />

aviation sector.<br />

Leadership isn’t easy and people<br />

rarely take the time to assess the<br />

real situation of things, they simply<br />

jump on the critical “bandwagon”<br />

and begin to unleash<br />

their venoms of insults and verbal<br />

abuse upon their latest victim.<br />

It is an open secret that I am not an “Obama” fan. I<br />

don’t like his politics or the corresponding policies<br />

which proceed from them but I sincerely believe that<br />

some of the criticisms and verbal assaults that segments<br />

of the American press have unleashed on him<br />

are unfair, especially as it relates to the economy.


Political leadership is a relay race, and at the end of<br />

one person’s tenure another leader is elected and handed<br />

the Batten of leadership, and we all know the state<br />

of the American economy when President Obama took<br />

over don’t we? America (thanks to George Bush) was<br />

in an economic crisis which was threatening to destabilise<br />

the entire global economy. So when Obama<br />

took over as President, he immediately went to work<br />

in an attempt to revive the American economy. Now,<br />

whether he has done a good job or not is a different<br />

story but many Americans feel that the quantitative<br />

easing exercises are helping, although anybody with<br />

even a basic knowledge of economics can see right<br />

through it and know that with each new Dollar bill that<br />

is created out of thin air, the overall value of the dollar<br />

goes down, but that is a discussion for another day.<br />

Now, what was the condition of the Nigerian aviation<br />

sector prior to Her Excellency Princess Stella Oduah-<br />

Ogiemwonyi’s appointment as Minister? It was comatose?<br />

A completely lifeless and visionless sector which<br />

lacked any form of direction, and yet just 2 years into<br />

65<br />

her tenure we have seen the remarkable transformation<br />

which is taking place in the aviation industry.<br />

For some Nigerians that change is not happening fast<br />

enough, and thus they have decided to overlook the<br />

positive and dwell on sheer negativity, and this was<br />

why I asked the former question regarding the state of<br />

the sector prior to Princess Stella’s appointment.<br />

As a nation, we need to learn the art of appreciation,<br />

especially when it comes to public servants who<br />

are pulling their weight and fighting tooth and nail to<br />

make a difference in their sectors instead of simply<br />

just looking for how to pull them down with our nasty<br />

comments and counterproductive rhetoric.<br />

We have to judge situations with an unbiased mind<br />

and critically appraise each person’s work honestly<br />

and without partiality. Like I said before and I believe<br />

it’s worth repeating, the state of the aviation sector<br />

prior to Princess Stella’s appointment was abysmal.


She practically had to start from scratch to rebuild the<br />

sector because there was no structure in place which<br />

she could leapfrog from, and in just 2 short years she<br />

has transformed the industry and set very achievable<br />

goals for the next 2 years to consolidate her efforts<br />

thus far. Now we can all sit here and pontificate about<br />

this, that and the other, and complain about the pace<br />

of development till we’re blue in the face, but the fact<br />

still remains that her work thus far is evident and visible<br />

to all who choose to see, and therefore she should<br />

be commended and congratulated for a job well done.<br />

I don’t know when encouraging a public official who<br />

is working tirelessly to do her position justice became<br />

a Federal crime? With all that the Fashola administration<br />

has done in Lagos State, there are still many<br />

voices who cannot help but find something to malign<br />

him with. From high taxation, to the increasing debt<br />

burden of the state, Fashola’s critics seem to be having<br />

a field day maligning his efforts and they’re attempting<br />

to dismiss all his labours as Governor of Lagos as<br />

superficial. This is the reality for public office holders<br />

in Nigeria, it is practically a thankless job and<br />

anybody who embarks a mission to become a public<br />

office holder must have an extremely thick skin, and<br />

be able to ignore their critics whilst remaining focused<br />

on the job at hand.<br />

As a Nigerian, I am proud of the<br />

exceptional work that Princess<br />

Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi has<br />

done since assuming office, and<br />

I look forward with great eagerness<br />

to what she will accomplish<br />

for Nigerians in the next 2 years.<br />

Let us learn to appreciate our<br />

public servants and extend them<br />

the same curtsey which we would<br />

66<br />

want extended to ourselves. No<br />

human being is flawless, we all<br />

have our shortcomings and our<br />

weaknesses, but if we learn to<br />

overlook them and focus on our<br />

collective strengths, then there<br />

is nothing we will not be able to<br />

achieve as a nation.<br />

Princess Stella, thank you for<br />

breathing new life into our aviation<br />

sector. You have started<br />

well and we believe that you will<br />

equally end well. Thank you once<br />

again for being the proverbial<br />

“wind beneath our wings”. May<br />

God bless you.


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character to every Project we undertake. We pride ourselves in our paying attention to detail, and<br />

maintaining a longstanding relationship with our clientele, long after project completion. We aim at<br />

raising the standard for Functional Design and Interior Architecture in terms of design, choice of<br />

finishes, detailed workmanship as evident in our projects affordable luxury. We're young, skilled<br />

professionals and we are at your service.<br />

67<br />

Architect HAMSATU ALIYU<br />

C.E.O EDEN SIGNATURE LTD<br />

ABUJA, NIGERIA.<br />

Email: hamsatu@edensignature.com<br />

Telephone: +234-8074709898


Far too many people in the world stake their future and indeed the future of their families on the illusion<br />

known as paper or fiat currency which is popularly known as legal tender. Paper money, which isn’t backed or<br />

under-girded by anything, is nothing but an accident waiting to happen. <strong>The</strong>re was a time when printed paper<br />

money was backed by Gold and it was called the Gold standard. For every $dollar of printed money that was in<br />

circulation there was a $dollar’s worth of Gold set aside to guarantee it.<br />

<strong>The</strong> American government gradually removed the $dollar from the Gold standard until they abolished it completely.<br />

Today the $dollar is not backed by anything, and with America’s debt situation spiralling out of control<br />

with debt figures approaching £20 Trillion $dollar’s, it is only a matter of time before the dollar crashes completely.<br />

<strong>The</strong> only reason why the dollar has not collapsed is because it is still the currency of international trade, but<br />

even that has not shielded it from the economic quagmire of devaluation and diminishing buying power which<br />

as clearly demonstrated in the table below.<br />

69<br />

Table showing the devaluation of the American dollar over a 100 year period


From the table you can see how the American dollar<br />

has depreciated in “real” value i:e purchasing power<br />

by over 25 times. For example, what $1 dollar could<br />

buy in 1900 now requires $25 dollars, or to put it in a<br />

real scenario, if you wanted to buy a house which cost<br />

$1 million dollars in 1900 today,<br />

it will cost you $25 million dollars.<br />

Many people seem to believe<br />

that the more “paper” money<br />

they have in their bank accounts,<br />

vaults, mattresses and safes, the<br />

more economically secure they<br />

will be and yet that assumption<br />

couldnt be further from the truth.<br />

Paper money is not wealth, it is a<br />

means of exchange which means<br />

that it can be used to purchase<br />

wealth. So if paper money isnt<br />

wealth then what is?<br />

Wealth is any asset which has the inherent ability to<br />

maintain its value over several generations. <strong>The</strong> greatest<br />

form of wealth known to Man is “land”. It was<br />

Mark Twain the famous American poet who said and I<br />

quote “Buy land because they’re not making anymore<br />

of it”.<br />

In communities all over the world the value of land<br />

continues to increase from generation to generation.<br />

What your Grandfather paid for a plot of land in 1930<br />

is certainly not what you and I would pay for that<br />

same piece of land today. So if land is valuable then<br />

so is anything built<br />

upon that land. This<br />

now leads me to the<br />

ultimate wealth preservation<br />

vehicle “property”.<br />

<strong>The</strong> demand for<br />

housing in Nigeria far<br />

outstrips the supply<br />

and this is what has<br />

fuelled the exponential<br />

growth we are seeing<br />

in the real estate sector.<br />

Houses which were<br />

sold last year for N20<br />

million naira are being sold for N40 million a year<br />

later. It is an open secret that Nigeria has one of the<br />

fastest growing real estate sectors in the world and this<br />

is just the beginning.<br />

With a teeming young population which makes up<br />

75% of our 180 million population, the growth in the<br />

real estate market has only just begun.<br />

We are a professional real estate development and management company and our services are second to<br />

none. We will hedge your paper money against currency devaluation through the construction, rental and management<br />

of exquisite apartment blocks.<br />

<strong>The</strong> services we provide are as follows;<br />

• We source the land<br />

• We design the apartment block (Minimum of 12 apartments)<br />

• We build/construct the apartment block<br />

• We seek tenants for the apartments<br />

• We rent out and manage them on your behalf<br />

• You must simply seek back and watch your investment grow<br />

70


Our bespoke development model works perfectly on the Airport road axis of Abuja, and here we will develop<br />

the following for our clients;<br />

• 12 (3 Bedroom apartments)<br />

• Fully furnished<br />

• Swimming pool<br />

• Tenis court<br />

• Gymnasium<br />

• Corporate rental<br />

• N1.5 Million rental income per apartment<br />

• We will build this development for N250 Million<br />

71


Upon completion each Apartment will have a market value of<br />

N35 Million Naira, making the entire development value<br />

including swimming pool N500 Million.<br />

For an investment of N250 Million, We will build you an<br />

apartment block valued at N500 Million and giving you an<br />

annual rental income of N18 Million.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is only one place where you can secure your cash and<br />

that place is real estate<br />

. For further details kindly contact us;<br />

Mr Paul Okade jr<br />

Email: napoleoninvestments@gmail.com<br />

73


By Paul Okade jr and Ibrahim Mohammed<br />

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and<br />

then seek to win” Sun Tzu (Chinese military strategist)<br />

Many people desire to enter the Nigerian political terrain and become House of Reps members,<br />

Senators and Governors without adequate planning. It is often said and rarely refuted that<br />

“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail”.<br />

74


Sun Tzu, one of the greatest military and political strategists of all time, has truly said it all in the opening<br />

quote stated above. Victory belongs to the person who wins the battle long before the fight even starts but in<br />

order for that to happen, you must be in possession of a winning strategy.<br />

What is strategy? Strategy with the Synonyms strategics-tactics is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve<br />

a major or overall aim.<br />

As a company we are experienced in the development and design of winning political strategies. We intertwine<br />

our knowledge of grass roots politics with modern technology to deliver strategic political master plans<br />

totally capable of winning any election. Our services are as follows;<br />

Our research team will conduct an indepth study of each of the local government areas in your state in order<br />

to ascertain important demographic data that will give you a significant advantage over your competitors.<br />

We will design an action plan for you which will enable you to penetrate effectively all the local government<br />

areas in your state with your campaign message.<br />

75


Social media has become such a dominant force in the world today and it is the biggest “opinion shaping”<br />

medium currently in existence. <strong>The</strong> youth (people below 30 years of age) make up 70% of Nigeria’s population<br />

and tens of millions of Nigerians are now on social media.<br />

It has indeed become an inescapable reality. We will design and update your social media content and integrate<br />

it with your website in order for you to stay connected to voters and all your state indigenes both at home and in<br />

the Diaspora. You will win the social media campaign war.<br />

76


A world class website for a political aspirant is no longer optional. As I stated previously, Nigeria is now a<br />

youth driven nation with 70% of the population below 30 years of age and multiplied millions now have access<br />

to the internet. We will design a world class website worthy of a political aspirant and the site will include the<br />

following; social media integration, an SMS and voice message application, an interactive blog(video +written),<br />

a full presentation of your vision and reason for seeking political office, your bio and so much more. Your<br />

web visitors will have a world class web experience and will be able to interact with you, ask you questions and<br />

comment on articles, speeches and political events taking place during your campaign.<br />

77


What is the point of having a great vision or idea which you are unable to write down for your target audience<br />

to read and to follow? Do not worry, we will take charge of all your speech writing and article writing requirements,<br />

and we will write world class articles and speeches for you that will touch the hearts of your target audience<br />

and propel them to rally round and support your political ambition. We will also publish your articles and<br />

speeches in our monthly political magazine titled “THE <strong>POLITICIAN</strong>”.<br />

78


After writing a brilliant speech for you, we won’t just simply give it to you and leave you in limbo. We will<br />

also teach how to deliver the speech effectively in order for the written words to have the maximum amount of<br />

impact on your listeners. Speeches are not just about “what” you say, but “how” you say it. We will teach you<br />

the art of great speech making.<br />

As a political aspirant in this modern age it is more than likely that you will be called upon to attend a television<br />

interview. We will prepare you thoroughly via role plays for the interview, so that when the time comes you<br />

will be fully prepared to answer every question in a relaxed and yet competent manner.<br />

79


We all know that political campaigns cost money, and the last thing a political aspirant wants to do is to enter<br />

naively into a campaign without knowing exactly how much he or she would need to spend in order to have a<br />

successful political outing. Our budgeting department will design a financial plan for you that will allow you to<br />

implement your campaign strategies effectively in order for your campaign to be a success.<br />

80


When one person can wear the number of hats worn<br />

by Her Excellency Senator Aisha Jummai-Al Hassan,<br />

you instantly take notice and ask yourself a very<br />

poignant question; who is she, where does she come<br />

from and what makes her tick? In 2011 Aisha Jummai<br />

won the PDP senatorial primaries after defeating<br />

the incumbent Manzo Anthony in a fiercely contested<br />

primary which has gone down in the history of Taraba<br />

state as one of the most prolific political contests in<br />

modern times.<br />

Taraba north which is made up of Jalingo, Yorro,<br />

Zing, Karim-Lamido, Lau and Ardo-Kola local government<br />

areas became a political battleground, and<br />

through superior political intuition and sheer determination,<br />

Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan saw off all competition<br />

and<br />

clinched the<br />

seat decisively.<br />

Today, 2 years<br />

into her Senatorial<br />

position her<br />

great works are<br />

indeed speaking<br />

for themselves.<br />

She has represented<br />

her<br />

people with<br />

great dignity<br />

and class. Tirelessly<br />

she works<br />

day and night<br />

to ensure that the civil rights of ordinary people are<br />

protected. Aisha Jummai is a Lawyer by training and<br />

prior to her ascension into political life, she was a devout<br />

and committed civil servant. She was the former<br />

Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of<br />

Taraba state and also the former chief registrar of the<br />

High court of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. She<br />

hails from an outstanding political family. Her brother<br />

Abdulazeez Ibrahim once held a Senatorial seat also.<br />

She is an industrialist, entrepreneur and philanthropist<br />

whose sole desire is to improve the living standards of<br />

all the residents of Taraba state.<br />

Her exposure to the Judiciary, business and politics<br />

83<br />

She is a grass roots politician who<br />

understands the needs of the common<br />

man and has devised an action plan<br />

that will completely eradicate poverty<br />

and injustice in Taraba North local<br />

government area. An outstanding<br />

public servant on an unstoppable mission<br />

to be the voice of the voice-less,<br />

and bringing light where there was<br />

once darkness and prosperity instead<br />

of poverty and peace instead of chaos.<br />

BY PAUL OKADE Jr<br />

has given her exceptional qualities which she is currently<br />

using to represent her people at the senate. Her<br />

leadership experience is undeniable and her desire<br />

to help the poor and the needy of Taraba state is well<br />

evidenced by her own efforts in the state. She is a<br />

grass roots politician who understands the needs of the<br />

common man and has devised an action plan that will<br />

completely eradicate poverty and injustice in Taraba<br />

North local government area. An outstanding public<br />

servant on an unstoppable mission to be the voice of<br />

the voice-less, and bringing light where there was once<br />

darkness and prosperity instead of poverty and peace<br />

instead of chaos.<br />

Aisha Jummai is a political change agent who has<br />

been commissioned by the divine to be the saviour of<br />

her people. As religious as<br />

many Nigerians may be, they<br />

cannot deny the fact that<br />

God uses people as instruments<br />

of assistance i:e that<br />

God uses people to answer<br />

other peoples prayers, and<br />

when a leader whose sole<br />

desire is to better the lives of<br />

her people, then it can truly<br />

be said that such an individual<br />

was truly sent from<br />

above. Nigerians as a whole<br />

are crying out for leadership.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y want to be led<br />

by somebody who actually<br />

cares about them and their<br />

children, somebody who has<br />

not only good intentions, but<br />

the corresponding strategy necessary in order to make<br />

those good intentions a reality.<br />

We must realise that there is a world of difference<br />

between politics and governance and even if we have<br />

a leader who has incredible attributes that will enable<br />

him or her to govern well, if that leader isn’t well<br />

versed in the art of politics then he or she will not be<br />

able to govern effectively, and in some extreme cases<br />

they won’t be able to govern at all.


What is politics? It comes from the Greek word<br />

politikos and is defined as “the practice and theory<br />

of influencing people on a civic or individual level”.<br />

Governance however comes from the Greek word Kubernao<br />

and it simply means to steer, direct and effectively<br />

manage something. But my question is simple;<br />

how can you steer something that you have not yet<br />

influenced? This is the reason why individuals with<br />

this dual ability are the types of leaders desperately<br />

needed in Nigeria today, and Senator Aisha Jummai<br />

Al-Hassan embodies both qualities completely.<br />

As a politician she is first class and she demonstrated<br />

especially during her grass roots campaign to become<br />

the Senator for Taraba North that she knows how to<br />

influence people effectively and caused them to rally<br />

behind her and support her cause. In business and in<br />

all her entrepreneurial endeavours, she has demonstrated<br />

incredible management and leadership qualities<br />

which have strengthened her ability to govern, and to<br />

become an effective manager of both human as well as<br />

financial resources.<br />

She exemplifies a courageous heart and as Aristotle<br />

one of the greatest philosophers of all time said and<br />

I quote “Courage is the first of human qualities<br />

because it is the quality which guarantees the others”.<br />

It takes the personal conviction of one’s intentions<br />

and a courageous disposition, to embark on a<br />

political career in Nigeria. Senator Aisha Jummai<br />

Al-Hassan is a political trailblazer who continues<br />

to serve her people with dignity and with the highest<br />

level of integrity. She is a role model to women<br />

nationwide and a credit to the great people of Taraba<br />

state; a truly remarkable Nigerian Politician, lawyer,<br />

business woman and philanthropist who feels the pain<br />

and struggle of the common man, and works day and<br />

night seeking for ways to alleviate the sufferings of the<br />

masses. We are highly expectant and unequivocally<br />

convinced that the future has only great things in store<br />

for this remarkable public servant and humanitarian<br />

whose life is impacting thousands of people in and out<br />

of Taraba state. She is truly an “exceptional leader”.<br />

She is a role model to women nationwide and a credit to<br />

the great people of Taraba state; a truly remarkable<br />

Nigerian Politician, lawyer, business woman and<br />

philanthropist who feels the pain and struggle of the<br />

common man, and works day and night seeking for ways<br />

to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.<br />

84


One cannot ignore the reality of the tribal, religious<br />

and ethnic divides which exist across our beloved<br />

Nigeria. We call ourselves “Nigerians” in public, but<br />

in private we retreat back into our ethnic enclaves and<br />

speak about other Nigerians of differing ethnicities as<br />

though they’re from another planet. Whilst the majority<br />

of Nigerians would never even contemplate the idea<br />

of dissolution, voices still exist in our nation whose<br />

prayers and wishes are centred around the division of<br />

Nigeria. While their rationale for such a disposition<br />

may well be valid, it isn’t the wish of the majority of<br />

Nigerians who have embraced the idea of a united<br />

Nigeria.<br />

By Paul Okade<br />

On the 1st of October 1979 President Olusegun<br />

Obasanjo peacefully handed the reins of power to the<br />

democratically elected government of President Shehu<br />

Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Several<br />

years later the military intervened once again and<br />

ousted President Shagari in 1983. It would be another<br />

16 years before Nigerians would be given the opportunity<br />

to elect/choose their own leader. <strong>The</strong>y say that<br />

lightening does not strike in the same place twice but<br />

on the 29th of May 1999 that myth was forever disproved<br />

by the emergence of President Obasanjo as the<br />

overall winner of the presidential elections with over<br />

62% of the votes.<br />

How does one even begin to unite a country with<br />

over 200 different ethnic groups and languages with<br />

varying religious beliefs such as Islam, Christianity,<br />

Traditional/native religions, sorcery and witchcraft,<br />

as well as the Polytheist’s who also are amongst us?<br />

What type of personality would such an individual be<br />

who would even attempt such an audacious task?<br />

In 1999 our nation transitioned into a democracy after<br />

years of military rule, and the Man who was divinely<br />

selected to lead this democratic renaissance was none<br />

other than a former military head of state during the<br />

1st republic President Olusegun Mathew Obasanjo. He<br />

first took the helms of national leadership on the 13th<br />

of February 1976 when the Supreme Military Council<br />

appointed him as Head of State after he restored order<br />

and security in the nation by arresting the perpetrators<br />

of the coup attempt of 1976 which culminated in the<br />

assassination of General Murtala Muhammed the then<br />

Military head of state.<br />

86<br />

Once again the man who saved the country in 1976<br />

and peacefully transitioned the nation into a democracy<br />

3 years later, was at the helm of national affairs.<br />

But what condition was Nigeria in when President<br />

Obasanjo became its President once again? After<br />

16 years of military rule one could not blame many<br />

Nigerians for being cautiously optimistic, because as<br />

far as they were concerned the Nigerian nation was no<br />

longer a reality, and the country had descended into a<br />

freefall of every man for himself. However, the nation<br />

was in for a huge surprise because as history will now<br />

read, the Obasanjo Presidency was marked with one<br />

success story after another.<br />

<strong>The</strong> national debt was paid off, GSM licences were<br />

granted and the telecoms industry became a major sector<br />

of our economy leading to the creation of hundreds<br />

of thousands of jobs, the Nigerian Stock exchange was<br />

revitalised, Banks flourished, the Real Estate market<br />

experienced a boom which still continues till today.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re was equal representation in the corridors of<br />

power for all ethnic groups,


Nigeria became the investment hub of Africa as<br />

foreign investors flocked to our shores and sunk billions<br />

of dollars into our economy due to the enabling<br />

entrepreneurial environment that was created by the<br />

President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.<br />

Women took their rightful places as leaders of several<br />

government ministries, Nigerians in the Diaspora<br />

began to shut up shop and return home to take advantage<br />

of the countless economic opportunities that were<br />

now available, and many of them have never looked<br />

back.<br />

Both Citigroup and the World Bank gave the Nigerian<br />

economy a clean bill of health and cited that Nigeria<br />

was the nation to watch with regards to economic<br />

supremacy in the new markets.<br />

Over and above this catalogue<br />

of achievements by the President<br />

Olusegun Obasanjo administration,<br />

the greatest fete of his administration<br />

has to be the creation and preservation<br />

of the unity of Nigeria.<br />

A kingdom divided against itself<br />

cannot stand, irrespective of the<br />

vast natural and human resource<br />

that such a kingdom might possess.<br />

Even in a family unit which sociology<br />

describes as the smallest unit of<br />

socialisation, there cannot be progress<br />

and prosperity outside of unity.<br />

Nigeria has never lagged in potential<br />

or in economic possibility.<br />

We are a nation that has been blessed by God with<br />

unprecedented Natural and human resources and with<br />

a population fast approaching 200 million, it is truly<br />

an entrepreneur’s wet dream. 200 million people who<br />

need to be fed, clothed, educated, housed and entertained,<br />

and the entrepreneurs that can supply those<br />

needs to the population will prosper, and are indeed<br />

prospering beyond their wildest dreams. Look around<br />

you, the Indians, the Chinese, the Europeans and<br />

Americans are flocking to our shores in order to capitalise<br />

on this economic renaissance, and the Lebanese<br />

have practically made Nigeria their home because they<br />

know that they cannot prosper in Lebanon in the manner<br />

with which they are doing in Nigeria.<br />

President Obasanjo fought tireless for the preservation<br />

of our national unity via the strategy of political<br />

inclusion. He made sure that all the ethnic/geopolitical<br />

zones across the nation where fairly/proportionately<br />

represented and that the proverbial “national cake”<br />

was evenly distributed across the states.<br />

<strong>The</strong> principles of fairness and equity where the hallmarks<br />

of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration and in<br />

2007 when his tenure had ended, he once again demonstrated<br />

his passion for unity and national tranquillity<br />

by supporting a candidate of Northern extraction to<br />

contest the PDP presidential primaries, that candidate<br />

not only won the primaries but he later went on to win<br />

the Presidential elections in 2007. Without compromise<br />

there can be no unity and those who refuse the<br />

see the wisdom of the unofficial “zoning” arrangement<br />

do not have the interest of Nigeria at heart.<br />

<strong>The</strong> divine wisdom, with which President Obasanjo<br />

regularly functioned in, is what saved our union and<br />

kept the nation united. One tribe/ethnic group cannot<br />

hope to govern peacefully if they don’t recognise the<br />

leadership qualities/potentials in neighbouring tribes.<br />

Every ethnic group in Nigeria has something to contribute<br />

towards the leadership of the nation and the<br />

recognition of this truth and its pragmatic implementation<br />

by the Obasanjo administration was what secured<br />

forever the oneness of Nigeria.<br />

88


Women took their rightful places as leaders of several<br />

government ministries<br />

<strong>The</strong> national debt was paid off<br />

89<br />

GSM licences were granted and the telecoms<br />

industry became a major sector of our economy<br />

leading to the creation of hundreds of thousands of<br />

jobs


When the clarion call of duty is echoed across a nation<br />

very few have the audacity and courage of conviction<br />

to take the proverbial “Bull by the horn” and<br />

rise to the occasion. <strong>The</strong> majority seem to be content<br />

to dwell in a state of mediocrity and inactivity, where<br />

as the microscopic few, summon the courage and dare<br />

to believe the impossible, and pick up the gauntlet of<br />

sacrificial service for the sake of humanity.<br />

From the prestigious and royal family of Bashir Wali<br />

comes a man on a mission to transform the destiny<br />

of his beloved people of Kano State. Honourable Dr<br />

Zakari Mahe Bashir Wali embodies the spirit of political<br />

service like no other in his generation. He is a man<br />

whose heart and mind have been fully engaged in the<br />

service of his people. Integrity, hard work and philanthropy<br />

are his trademarks. He is a devout Muslim who<br />

follows closely all the tenets of Islam especially as<br />

they relate to the poor and the needy in society. It was<br />

the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), that said<br />

and I quote “Do not turn away a poor man, even if all<br />

you can give him is half a date. If you love the poor<br />

and bring them near you, Allah will bring you near<br />

him on the day of Resurrection”.<br />

This burning desire to help his generation achieve<br />

great things was what informed his decision to contest<br />

for the Kano state house of assembly, and in 1999 he<br />

was elected as a member of the house. Such was the<br />

dedication and political brilliance that Honourable<br />

Zakari M B Wali brought to the Kano state house of<br />

assembly that it wasn’t long before the other members<br />

of the state house of assembly conferred on him<br />

the prestigious position of “Chief Whip”, a position<br />

he held for 4 years. He is an exceptional lawyer and<br />

public servant whose passion for service and love for<br />

the people of Kano are immeasurable.<br />

91<br />

By Paul Okade<br />

Once again he has responded to the cries of his<br />

people for effective representation at the federal level<br />

and as a consequence, he has decided to contest to<br />

become a member of the Federal House of Representatives<br />

in 2015. An audacious and bold step, but one is<br />

hardly surprised, because such great fete’s of courage<br />

and duty are exactly the stuff that his Excellency Honourable<br />

Zakari Mahe Bashir Wali is made of. He is a<br />

fearless go getter who is willing to climb any mountain<br />

and overcome every obstacle which may stand in<br />

the way whilst attempting to achieve his dreams.<br />

Kano State, the great centre of<br />

commerce has once again given Nigeria<br />

one of their greatest stars, a<br />

man poised to make history and<br />

redefine the practice of politics in<br />

Nigeria. He is a true democrat who<br />

believes wholeheartedly in the rule<br />

of law, justice and equity for all<br />

Nigerians irrespective of their geopolitical<br />

origins.<br />

I sincerely urge the great people of Kano state to get<br />

behind this great son of the soil and give him all the<br />

support and encouragement that he requires in order<br />

to achieve his goal of representing his people at the<br />

national level.


It was Caroline Kennedy the Daughter of John F Kennedy<br />

the late/former President of the United States of<br />

America who said and I quote “Sometimes it takes a<br />

while to recognize that someone has a special ability<br />

to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to<br />

our highest ideals and to imagine that together we can<br />

do great things. In those rare moments, when such a<br />

person comes along, we need to put aside our plans<br />

and reach for what we know is possible”.<br />

Honourable Zakari Mahe Bashir Wali symbolises everything<br />

that is good about the great kano people such<br />

as honesty, dedication, hard work, transparency and<br />

philanthropy. <strong>The</strong> people of Kano are one of the most<br />

hardworking and industrious people in the Federation,<br />

and their desire to succeed despite the odds was<br />

the catalyst that ignited the Kano renaissance which<br />

transformed Kano into an economic power house with<br />

a GDP bigger than several African nations.<br />

Kano is a land that produces political giants and Captains<br />

of industry whose impact can be felt across the<br />

globe, so therefore it is not surprising that once again a<br />

political giant is about to emerge from its loins. A true<br />

son of Kano state who carries his royal status with dignity<br />

and humility, a man destined to impact the lives<br />

of his people and set a new precedence for the practice<br />

of democracy in Nigeria.<br />

Please join me in celebrating a man who has been<br />

singled out by providence to carry the glorious torch<br />

of equity, unity and prosperity on behalf of the people<br />

of the industrious and hard working state of Kano to<br />

the Federal House of Representatives, Kano’s royal<br />

son, his Excellency Honourable Dr Zakari Mahe<br />

Bashir Wali, a man who I have aptly called “the<br />

rising star of Kano politics”.<br />

92


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Anybody who knows the history of Adama<br />

wa State doesn’t need to be told the record numbers<br />

of exceptional public servants who come there. From<br />

Politicians to technocrats and industrialists, Adamawa<br />

has numerous Sons and Daughters that are doing them<br />

and the nation as a whole extremely proud. It is therefore<br />

not a surprise that the state named after the great<br />

warrior Emir Modibbo Adama has once again given<br />

Nigeria one of its finest Military personnel.<br />

From the cradles of Vimtim in the Mubi North Local<br />

Government Area of Adamawa state cometh a<br />

distinguished gentleman of the highest integrity and<br />

bravery. Air Marshall Alexander Sabundu Badeh rose<br />

from obscurity to become the Chief of Air staff of the<br />

Federal Republic of Nigeria. His career spans well<br />

over 30 years, and in that time he has undergone training<br />

and instruction from some of the finest institutions<br />

in the world.<br />

He holds an MSC in strategic studies from the prestigious<br />

University of Ibadan, and his exceptional Piloting<br />

skills/training were honed at the world renowned<br />

Vance Air force base in the United States of America.<br />

He worked his way up the proverbial “ladder” and has<br />

held numerous positions within the air force such as<br />

fleet operations officer in the Presidential air fleet, and<br />

later he became the overall commander of the Presidential<br />

air fleet.<br />

He was appointed as Chief of Air staff of the Federal<br />

Republic of Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan<br />

and he has not looked back since. Alex Sabundu<br />

Badeh is a strategic thinker, world class Pilot and a<br />

natural leader of Men. As impressive as his service in<br />

the national air force is, his philanthropy in his home<br />

state of Adamawa is just as outstanding. He is truly an<br />

unsung hero and because of his meek and calm nature,<br />

he has never sort the praises of men for his philanthropic<br />

work.<br />

Alex Sabundu Badeh embodies everything that<br />

is exceptional about our great nation. He has fully<br />

understood that success is more than the acquisition of<br />

personal wealth, but it is rather a function of charity<br />

and empathy for the poor and needy. Charity cer-<br />

95<br />

tainly begins at home and this was the reason why Air<br />

Marshall Alex Sabundu Badeh embarked on one of<br />

the most philanthropic missions ever witnessed in the<br />

history of Adamawa.<br />

From his borehole and clean water<br />

projects to his micro-Entrepreneurship<br />

endeavours, he is impacting<br />

the lives of hundreds of Adamawa<br />

indigenes. He is indeed a man with<br />

a big heart and this is only the beginning<br />

of the wonderful plans he<br />

has for his people.<br />

It is widely stated that the true definition of a leader is<br />

the person who is able to identify and meet the needs<br />

of those around him with dignity and honour, and<br />

Air Marshall A S Badeh certainly ticks the proverbial<br />

“boxes” of what a true leader is. We pray that God will<br />

continue to lift him higher and higher and put more<br />

resources into his hands in order for him to serve his<br />

people better.<br />

Often times it is human beings that are the answer<br />

to the prayers of other people, and when Men and<br />

Women who have a heart for the people are exalted<br />

and placed in positions of great wealth and authority,<br />

destinies are preserved. With almost 4 million people<br />

spread across 21 Local Government Area’s endowed<br />

with incredible skills in Agriculture and industry, Adamawa<br />

state has the potential to become an outstanding<br />

state in Nigeria.<br />

Air Marshall Alexander Sabundu Badeh, thank you<br />

for remembering your people and for having the empathy<br />

and human decency to give back to the poor and<br />

needy in Adamawa state. Hundreds of families have<br />

access to clean water, food, and hope for the future<br />

because of you. May God continue to strengthen,<br />

preserve and bless you in every way, because we know<br />

that this is only the beginning of your labours for your<br />

beloved people of Adamawa. We therefore join with<br />

all indigenes of Adamawa state to celebrate the life<br />

and achievements of one of their brightest stars, Air<br />

Marshall Alexander Sabundu Badeh“<strong>The</strong> Golden Son<br />

of Adamawa”.


From the cradles of Kaiama local government area of<br />

Kwara state cometh a man with a mission to liberate<br />

the great people of Kwara state from the shackles of<br />

poverty and destitution which has plagued the state for<br />

generations. Just like the historical account of Prophet<br />

Moses whom God sent to liberate his people from the<br />

grip of slavery and impoverishment, Abdullahi Sanusi<br />

Kaiama, a proud and loyal son of the great and<br />

harmonious people of kwara state has a burning and<br />

an unquenchable desire to take his<br />

people into the proverbial “promised<br />

land” flowing with peace,<br />

prosperity and overwhelming<br />

happiness. He has a robust and a<br />

well thought out plan to completely<br />

eradicate poverty and illiteracy<br />

from Kwara state and turn kwara<br />

into the most industrialized and<br />

literate state in the Federal republic<br />

of Nigeria.<br />

He plans to remove poverty and<br />

illiteracy in the rural communities through the orchestration<br />

of his micro-business model and the rural<br />

literacy initiative that his administration will launch.<br />

He is a visionary leader who understands only too<br />

well that poverty and illiteracy are the two biggest<br />

challenges facing far too many of his people and he is<br />

determined to stamp them out. Kwara has a population<br />

of 2.8 million people and many of them are domiciled<br />

in the rural communities with poor schools and few<br />

employment opportunities.<br />

As a successful business man and astute entrepreneur<br />

Abdullahi Sanusi Kaiama fully understands that<br />

the way to break the curse of poverty and bring his<br />

97<br />

By Paul Okade<br />

people into true and lasting prosperity is by training<br />

his people on how to run and manage micro-businesses,<br />

so that instead of them looking for a job, they will<br />

create their own jobs by becoming micro-entrepreneurs.<br />

<strong>The</strong> ancient proverb states and I quote “give a<br />

man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach him how<br />

to fish and he will eat for a life time” readily springs to<br />

mind.<br />

Abdullahi Sanusi Kaiama is a<br />

man who has ran an extremely<br />

successful oil and gas company<br />

for many years and therefore<br />

understands only too well the<br />

skills necessary in order to run a<br />

successful business, and he wants<br />

the opportunity if elected Governor<br />

of Kwara state, to pass these<br />

skills on to his people.<br />

We live in an economically<br />

driven world and the leader than<br />

can solve, once and for all, the<br />

economic challenges of his people and completely<br />

erase systemic and endemic poverty from their lives<br />

will certainly go down in history as the true “saviour<br />

of his people”. What is the job of a leader?<br />

Simply put, a leaders job is to identify the problems<br />

facing his people, organisation or any other entity that<br />

he has been mandated to lead, and then to apply the<br />

appropriate solutions necessary in order to solve those<br />

problems.<br />

Far too many leaders across our great federation are<br />

doing the exact opposite. <strong>The</strong>y don’t even know the<br />

“real” challenges facing the majority of the people<br />

with whom they have been elected to lead.


<strong>The</strong> minute they see a Governor in one state building<br />

an international airport, they too quickly jump on the<br />

band wagon and begin to build airports, even though<br />

that may not be the immediate need of their people.<br />

What is the point of spending billions and billions of<br />

Naira to build an international airport when well over<br />

half the population of your state cannot even afford 3<br />

square meals in a day? Who exactly did you build that<br />

airport for? Not for your people obviously, because<br />

your people certainly cannot afford the plane tickets,<br />

most of them are seeking for ways to put food on their<br />

tables and stay alive.<br />

only good intentions for his people and come 2015, if<br />

he is given the opportunity to lead his people, he will<br />

completely transform the destiny of Kwarans.<br />

With his agenda to completely eradicate poverty<br />

and illiteracy from the state and take his people into<br />

the promise land filled with happiness, prosperity and<br />

harmony, no child in Kwara state will ever go to bed<br />

hungry ever again. Any Man or Woman of working<br />

age will be empowered either by the micro-business<br />

initiative or by the employment opportunities that this<br />

initiative will provide.<br />

A friend of mine from a particular state told me<br />

about a road construction project that took place in<br />

one of the communities in his state in western Nigeria.<br />

<strong>The</strong> road project cost billions of Naira and yet very<br />

few people in that community even have a car. He said<br />

he has driven on that road several times when he visits<br />

his state and that you can be driving on that road for<br />

hours and not see a single car. <strong>The</strong> people in that community<br />

can hardly feed themselves so where exactly<br />

are they going to get money to buy a car when they<br />

can hardly feed themselves and their children?<br />

This is where Abdullahi Sanusi Kaiama is different,<br />

he exemplifies true leadership by identifying the real<br />

challenges that are facing his people and then applying<br />

the appropriate solutions.<br />

When the people of Kwara state come to understand<br />

the nature, integrity and sincerity of his noble Excellency<br />

Abdullahi Sanusi Kaiama, they will unanimously<br />

and wholeheartedly elect him as the Executive Governor<br />

of Kwara state in 2015. This visionary leader and<br />

widely exposed entrepreneur and business guru has<br />

98<br />

100,000 Kwarans will be trained in business and given<br />

microfinance loans to launch their businesses. Each of<br />

them will be mandated to grow their business to the<br />

point where they can employ at least 10 people over a 4<br />

year period and by doing this they will create 1 million<br />

brand new jobs for the great people of Kwara state.<br />

Now for a state which has a population of 2.8 million<br />

people, 1 million jobs will completely eradicate unemployment<br />

in the state. No state in Nigeria has ever<br />

achieved this, but this is what is waiting for the people<br />

of Kwara if they elect his Excellency Abdullahi Sanusi<br />

Kaiama as their Executive Governor in 2015.<br />

God has heard the cry of the great people of the Harmony<br />

state and has decided to send them a deliverer.<br />

Kwarans, the hour of your freedom and your prosperity<br />

has come, vote for change, vote for peace, vote for<br />

prosperity, vote for Abdullahi Sanusi Kaiama, THE<br />

MOSES OF KWARA PEOPLE.<br />

With his agenda to completely eradicate poverty and illiteracy<br />

from the state and take his people into the promise<br />

land filled with happiness, prosperity and harmony, no<br />

child in Kwara state will ever go to bed hungry ever again.<br />

Any Man or Woman of working age will be empowered either<br />

by the micro-business initiative or by the employment<br />

opportunities that this initiative will provide.


100


By Paul Okade Jr<br />

On the 5th of May 2010 Nigeria lost one of its<br />

greatest sons. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua may<br />

only have led the nation for 24 months, but in that<br />

short space of time he exemplified leadership in its<br />

purest form and gave the nation a glimpse of what it<br />

could become. He was a selfless and a humble politician<br />

whose sole desire was to better the lives of all<br />

Nigerians irrespective of their religious dispositions or<br />

geopolitical origins.<br />

President Yar’Adua was born and raised as a Muslim,<br />

but he never allowed his religious beliefs to<br />

interfere with his politics because he understood that<br />

all Nigerians whether they’re Muslim, Christian,<br />

Traditionalists, Witches, Wizards, idolaters or any<br />

other belief are all human beings who require housing,<br />

healthcare, education and all other things necessary for<br />

human existence.<br />

This is the reason why racism, tribalism and all other<br />

ethnic divisions are truly the pastimes of the ignorant<br />

because irrespective of the colour of your skin, the<br />

language you speak or the religious belief you adhere<br />

to, we are all still God’s children and we all breathe<br />

the same air, drink the same water and aspire for the<br />

same things in life. We all want to see our children<br />

succeed, our elderly parents retired comfortably, and<br />

for wealth and health to be the proverbial “cushions”<br />

under our feet.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re’s nothing worse than an educated bigot, and<br />

such people should never be allowed to ascend the ladder<br />

of national politics. Tribalism and ethnic divisions<br />

shouldn’t have a place in Nigerian politics, because<br />

101<br />

every Nigerian should embrace and welcome each<br />

other and seek to find a common national expression.<br />

This is why Sport is so important? Because if there’s<br />

one thing about sport, especially football, it is that<br />

for those 90 minutes that those 22 players are on the<br />

pitch, people forget their religion, language and skin<br />

colour and become completely engrossed in the game.<br />

Even the most ardent racists in Great Britain that hate<br />

all things “Black”, suspend their racial prejudices for<br />

those 90 minutes, and if an African player happens to<br />

be the person who scores the winning goal, then as far<br />

as they’re concerned that player is no longer Black, he<br />

has now become one of them, a full British national<br />

lol.<br />

<strong>The</strong> day a match is lost however due to a mistake<br />

made by a Nigerian player, the same British public<br />

who were calling him British a moment ago will<br />

quickly remind that player of his Nigerian ancestry.<br />

Such is the power of sport. People get emotional over<br />

their football teams, and in Europe Football is fast<br />

becoming a religion and the players are the Prophets.<br />

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, our 13th President<br />

loved his country. He was a man of exceptional integrity<br />

and the first ever Governor in the history of Nigeria<br />

to declare his assets prior to assuming political office.<br />

He was born into a political family, his late Father<br />

was a former minister of Lagos in the first Republic<br />

and his older brother the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua<br />

was one of Nigeria’s first progressive politicians and<br />

leader of the Social Democratic Party, an organisation<br />

which sought to end military rule in Nigeria.


President Yar’Adua Governed Katsina state for 8<br />

years and his transformational leadership style was the<br />

catalyst for the vast economic growth which occurred<br />

during his tenure. He worked tirelessly to deliver the<br />

dividends of democracy to the people of Katsina, and<br />

earned his hereditary title of the Mutawalli of the Katsina<br />

Emirate, a prestigious title which once belonged<br />

to his late Father, a title which in English simply<br />

means “<strong>The</strong> custodian of the treasury”.<br />

On the 29th of May 2007 he was sworn in as the<br />

13th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and<br />

immediately he went to work. Several months into his<br />

Presidency, the world experienced one of the worst<br />

economic crisis in history, and Nigeria was not exempt<br />

from the fall out. Our capital market went into a freefall<br />

and the Naira was shaken to its core.<br />

<strong>The</strong> banks were exposed and several of them were<br />

found wanting. <strong>The</strong>ir CEO’s were removed, prosecuted<br />

and some were sent to Jail. It was a challenging<br />

time for the fragile Nigerian economy, but President<br />

Yar’Adua rose to the occasion and with the help of his<br />

very capable cabinet, he was able to save the Nigerian<br />

economy and currency from the economic abyss.<br />

Although his passing was a great loss to Nigeria, we<br />

are thankful to the Almighty God that we were able to<br />

experience (be it only for a short while) his incredible<br />

leadership style and his relentless efforts to keep the<br />

nation united.<br />

President Yar’Adua, though you’re no longer<br />

with us in the flesh, your spirit and the great works<br />

you accomplished in your life time continues<br />

to live on and Nigeria is a better country today<br />

because of your sacrificial and selfless service for<br />

the nation. Continue to rest in peace and know<br />

that even though you’re gone, you will never be<br />

forgotten.<br />

He was a selfless and a humble politician whose sole desire was to better the lives of all<br />

Nigerians irrespective of their religious dispositions or geopolitical origins. President<br />

Yar’Adua was born and raised as a Muslim, but he never allowed his religious beliefs<br />

to interfere with his politics because he understood that all Nigerians whether they’re<br />

Muslim, Christian, Traditionalists, Witches, Wizards, idolaters or any other belief<br />

are all human beings who require housing, healthcare, education and all other things necessary<br />

for human existence.<br />

102


103


104


Love him or hate him, the truth of the matter is that<br />

you certainly cannot ignore him. Many Nigerians are<br />

still wondering how Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu<br />

rose from extremely humble beginnings to become<br />

the most powerful politician in South-west Nigeria.<br />

Till date they’re still intense debates going on about<br />

his state of origin, parentage, his wealth and business<br />

interests and his relationship with an accounting firm<br />

charged with overseeing revenue collection in Lagos<br />

state. His leadership style is described by many to be<br />

“Machiavellian” at best and at worst “Orwellian”, but<br />

while his critics are on social media pontificating, the<br />

man who has come to be known as the “Asiwaju of<br />

lagos”, continues to expand his proverbial political<br />

empire.<br />

For me, even though I have also heard the above criticisms<br />

on numerous occasions, the reason why I don’t<br />

weigh in on them is simply because none of these<br />

accusations have ever been proven. So, for supposedly<br />

educated and exposed minds to condemn a man with<br />

whom no evidence of misconduct has ever been unearthed<br />

leaves little to be desired. I personally pay no<br />

mind to unfounded gossip and speculation which have<br />

nothing to substantiate them, because such a disposition<br />

is retrogressive and certainly doesn’t convey the<br />

educated mind which many of Tinubu’s critics claim<br />

to subscribe to.<br />

I will never forget the incidence which occurred on<br />

social media where a supposedly educated and exposed<br />

Nigerian domiciled in the United Kingdom was<br />

calling all Nigerian politicians corrupt, only for that<br />

same individual to be arrested by the British Police for<br />

105<br />

By Paul Okade Jr<br />

using somebody else’s documents to work, and for being<br />

an illegal immigrant in the UK. Isn’t it interesting<br />

how the same people who lied and cheated their way<br />

through their Visa applications in order to leave the<br />

country have now re-invented themselves as the moral<br />

compasses of the Nation?<br />

<strong>The</strong>y sit on social media from morning till night<br />

spouting their poisonous rhetoric against anything<br />

Nigerian, and yet many of them are overseas illegally,<br />

or conducted fake marriages in order to gain American<br />

and European citizenship, and daily they continue to<br />

lie to and deceive the authorities in their host communities.<br />

We also have many Nigerians at home who<br />

have also jumped on this band wagon and equally<br />

spend their days abusing politicians and calling them<br />

a bunch of thieves, and yet many of these same people<br />

got their jobs by nepotism, bribed their way through<br />

school and slept with lecturers in order to pass their<br />

exams. None of these acts are deemed corrupt in their<br />

eyes all they know is that politicians are corrupt.<br />

You studied fine art at university and yet<br />

you got a job as an account executive in a<br />

bank. What connection has a degree in fine<br />

art with banking? You got that job because<br />

you knew somebody in the bank and not because<br />

you were qualified for it. Is that not<br />

corruption? Oh I get it, when you do something<br />

wrong then “God understands”, but<br />

when a politician does it they’re corrupt.


It is this hypocrisy that is hindering true reformation<br />

across our Federation, because the sins which you accuse<br />

these politicians of committing are the very same<br />

sins that you also are committing, the only difference<br />

is that you’re an unknown person so nobody is blogging<br />

or tweeting about you. When we can agree as a<br />

nation that “corruption” is not only found in politics<br />

but in every sphere of society then we will begin to<br />

make changes, but as long as we keep pointing our<br />

“self righteous” holier than thou fingers at the political<br />

class, and forgetting that for every finger we’re pointing<br />

at them, 3 fingers and a thumb are pointing right<br />

back at us, we will not make true progress.<br />

Many Nigerians are in<br />

their homes praying that<br />

their Brother, Sister, Aunty,<br />

Uncle and School friend<br />

will be elected/selected<br />

into public office. Why<br />

are they so interested in<br />

somebody they know occupying<br />

a political position?<br />

Is it because they<br />

love Nigeria so much and<br />

want the nation to change?<br />

Or is it so that they can use<br />

the “connection” to benefit<br />

themselves? <strong>The</strong> latter<br />

is the truth for many people, and just admitting it to<br />

one’s self would be a great place to start. When a Man<br />

or Woman is elected/appointed as a Governor, Senator,<br />

Minister and Commissioner, do you have any idea the<br />

amount of pressure they automatically come under?<br />

Every relative, friend, school mate, town man, old<br />

neighbour, church/mosque member etc would descend<br />

to his or her office seeking for favours. So who is really<br />

corrupt, the politician or the thousands of people<br />

that descend on them asking for favours? God help<br />

that politician if he or she refuses to oblige them.<br />

was not born in the Governors lodge and that<br />

when his tenure completes he will still have to come<br />

home and answer to them, so if he likes let him not<br />

begin to share the dividends of democracy with them.<br />

His school friends also abandoned him and many other<br />

people followed suit.<br />

It didn’t take long before this said individual buckled<br />

under the weight of the psychological and emotional<br />

pressure that his friends, family and acquaintances put<br />

him under and he immediately started issuing contracts<br />

without due process to people.<br />

This is the reality of the Nigerian environment.<br />

Some of the biggest critics<br />

of the government<br />

today are those who use to<br />

enjoy political patronage<br />

in the past, but now that<br />

their connections are no<br />

longer in power they have<br />

transformed themselves<br />

into preachers of holiness<br />

and integrity. <strong>The</strong>y’re only<br />

deceiving themselves,<br />

because when their “man”<br />

was in power, and they<br />

were enjoying contract<br />

money, they didn’t know<br />

that there was corruption in Nigeria. Now that the<br />

money has finished and other people’s “Man” is in<br />

power, they have turned in a political “John the Baptist’s”<br />

and are now preaching repentance to us all.<br />

When a Man or Woman is elected/appointed as<br />

a Governor, Senator, Minister and Commissioner,<br />

do you have any idea the amount of pressure<br />

they automatically come under? Every relative,<br />

friend, school mate, town man, old neighbour,<br />

church/mosque member etc would descend to his<br />

or her office seeking for favours. So who is really<br />

corrupt, the politician or the thousands of people<br />

that descend on them asking for favours? God<br />

help that politician if he or she refuses to oblige<br />

them.<br />

If you truly want to convince us that you’re the<br />

righteous messiah sent from heaven to save the nation,<br />

then you should start by selling all the houses and assets<br />

which you acquired through the money you made<br />

via your old political associates.<br />

I once read an article about a particular politician<br />

who attempted to do everything by the book. He refused<br />

to do special favours for his school friends, relatives,<br />

town people etc. One day a delegation of elders<br />

from his home town came to his office to see him. In<br />

the meeting they made it crystal clear to him that he<br />

106<br />

You cannot live in a house built with money made<br />

without “due process”, drive a car bought with money<br />

from the same source and send your children to school<br />

overseas with the same money, and still turn around to<br />

condemn the rest of us, and call us corrupt.<br />

You are nothing but a hypocrite and if hypocrisy was a<br />

crime you would be in prison.


Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu has risen to giddy<br />

heights in the Nigerian political terrain and has<br />

amassed so much political capital that nothing can<br />

happen politically in the South-West without his say<br />

so. He seized control of the Action Congress of Nigeria<br />

and used tribalism to bring many of his Yoruba<br />

brothers and sisters under his iron grip, and became<br />

the undisputed Godfather of South-west politics. It<br />

takes a particular kind of political intuition and will, to<br />

accomplish such a task in such a short space of time.<br />

His political skills and prowess are exemplary, and his<br />

ability to spot and select talented individuals to work<br />

with him, and in the case of Fashola, succeed him, has<br />

indeed marked him as a one of the greatest leaders<br />

ever to emerge from the South west.<br />

that as a politician he has certainly carved a place for<br />

himself in the history books, and when the history of<br />

South-West politics is written, his name will certainly<br />

be amongst the likes of Awolowo, Akintola, Abiola<br />

and Obasanjo ,as one of the great political titans of the<br />

Yoruba clan that has left his footprints in the sands of<br />

time.<br />

Asiwaju 1, the Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom, may<br />

God bless you and your family and may his face<br />

continually shine upon thee. You’re indeed a force<br />

of nature whose exploits has forever redefined the<br />

political landscape of South-western Nigeria.<br />

Alex Ferguson became an iconic figure in Football<br />

because he knew how to build winning teams, and this<br />

unique skill which he possessed turned Manchester<br />

United into one of the world’s greatest football clubs.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y’re people in my home town who have never left<br />

Delta state who know who Alex Ferguson is. Whether<br />

or not you support Manchester united or “Man U” as<br />

they’re affectionately called, is neither here nor there,<br />

the truth however is that you cannot ignore them or<br />

pretend that they have not achieved great things.<br />

This is the same rationale that I have applied whilst<br />

talking about Bola Tinubu. I have never been a member<br />

of the AC, or ACN and now APC, but that does not<br />

mean that I cannot give honour and recognise the talents<br />

of those who are members of that political party.<br />

Tinubu is a gifted man and there’s no doubt that God<br />

called him to be a politician. Is he a perfect man? Well<br />

that’s not for me to judge because the bible clearly<br />

states and I quote “remove the log in your own eye<br />

before trying to remove the speck from your brother’s<br />

eye”, and what that means in layman’s terms is that<br />

before you condemn your brother for his shortcomings<br />

you should deal with your own, because believe it or<br />

not, you’re not perfect either.<br />

I do not know what the future holds for Bola Ahmed<br />

Tinubu and neither do I know what other “political”<br />

surprises he is yet to unveil, but one thing I do know is<br />

107


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