Mr. Rights Blog

Few days after the former Head of State and Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, retd, explained in an affidavit submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that all his academic credentials were with the Military Board, the Army have stated that they do not keep the certificates of any serving or retired officer or soldier. General Buhari is contesting the presidential election for the fourth time under different political parties including the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, but the issue of his qualifications had never been controversial until the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, recently described him as a ‘’semi- illiterate.’’ However, against the backdrop of Buhari’s affidavit in court, a military source said ‘’that the Army can not keep anybody’s original certificate because it is the personal property of the owner,’’ adding that

Elumelu Foundation to invest $10million for 1,000 African startups [DETAILS] by Muyiwa Matuluko For all the debate about lack of funding for African tech startups, things are about to make a turn for better in 2015. The Tony Elumelu Foundation is looking to provide 1000 entrepreneurs from across the continent with $10,000 in seed funding. The funding will be provided via the new Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), under which the 1000 participating startups will undergo 12 weeks of learning entrepreneurship and business skills required to launch and run their businesses at the early stage. They plan to do this every year for the next 10 years. That amounts to at least $100 million for 10,000 startups by 2025. Applications are now open and close by the 1st of March 2015. Who is Eligible ? TEEP is open to citizens and legal residents of all 54 African countries, aged 18 years and above. Both new business ideas those in existence for less than three years are

Renowned Enugu-based Catholic priest Rev. Father Camillus Ejike Mbaka yesterday reversed his support for President Goodluck Jonathan over his inability to stop corruption and loss of innocent lives. He spoke while delivering a sermon tagged, “From Good luck to Bad luck,” during the end-of-year mass Wednesday night at the Adoration Ground, Emene, Enugu. Rev. Father Mbaka, Founder of Adoration Ministry, Enugu said Jonathan has surrounded himself with very corrupt public officials. As a result, he said, the President has turned a blind eye to their corrupt activities while millions of Nigerians suffer daily in abject poverty and endless insecurity. He said: “Jonathan has ruled for six years. We need change. NEPA is not working because of corruption. The privatization of public companies has not yielded any fruit because of corruption. “Jonathan surrounded himself with very corrupt officers who advise him. Nigerians are sick and tired of wasting innocent lives witho

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said his administration’s strategy against corruption was to strengthen the capability of institutions to nip the menace in the bud.  He said his idea of anti-corruption war was not about arresting suspects and parading them on the television. Jonathan spoke during a special New Year service at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Area 1, Garki, Abuja. He admitted that the two main problems currently confronting the country were insecurity and corruption. The President said his administration was making efforts to tackle the challenges. He said, “There are two main problems confronting us as a nation: The issue of insecurity in the North where we have the Boko Haram terrorists and in the South where we have commercial kidnapping. The next thing that people worry about after security is the issue of corruption. “We are coming out with programmes and plans to clean up. These are things that you don’t just use a magical wand to wave off,

THE United States, joined by its closest ally, Israel, has again proved its super-power status over Nigeria, thereby prevailing upon the country to vote against the Palestinian resolution at the United Nations Security Council meeting. Palestine had expected the resolution to sail through with an expected nine yes votes to enforce its demand for an end to Israeli occupation, if Nigeria had voted in its support. But since it could not deliver a majority vote, the UN Security Council rejected the Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation within three years of presenting its demands. The Israeli and the United States governments before the final voting had crucially intervened to persuade Nigeria to abstain from voting. According to reports, Palestinian officials and other observers had thought Nigeria would back a Jordanian-tabled resolution, thereby delivering a nine-vote majority on the council which would have required a US veto to be blocked. But the US, acc

Opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday, alleged that the Federal Government was planning to use security agencies to rail-road its leaders into detention. It claimed that suspicious summons being planned by security agencies, particularly the Department of State Security Service (DSS), would start with its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. In a statement issued by the same Mohammed, the party claimed that the DSS and the police were being used to harass and intimidate the opposition with a view to decapitating it ahead the 2015 elections. In the statement issued in Abuja, on Wednesday, the party said the torrent of threats being issued recently by the Minister of Police Affairs and the DSS, over alleged inflammatory statements by the opposition leaders, was nothing but a thinly-veiled attempt at cowing the opposition and destabilising its ranks. It said the strategy included the ‘invitation’ of key opposition figures for questioning by the DSS, s

"MY ENEMIES ARE AT WORK" A former work-mate Jay was giving me the low-down about something that happened to him recently. A while back, he had attended an 'awesome' Halloween party, and had decided to go as a traditional masquerade. Ingenious right? Jay brought the mask back home after the party, and hung it as a decoration on his room wall. It was a really grotesque mask – just imagine the alien’s face in the movie Predator. I chided him for hanging up the mask in his room, as it stuck out like a sore thumb, spoiling the overall décor of the place. Fast forward, a month later, he pulled this really hot chick when he met at a wedding in Ph. They spoke on the phone for days, and then she promised to come visit him one Saturday. Jay got the place ready for the lass’s visit. He tried to make the pad ‘condusive’. He took out the sofa from the room, so that the girl would have to sit on the bed. He turned down the thermostat on his split unit AC so that the place wa

PRESIDENT Jonathan RELOCATE FAMILY TO U.K AHEAD OF 2015 President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is not winning the war against Boko Haram. An indication of his fears were confirmed with his recent visit to his kids earlier relocated from the British International School, Lekki, Lagos to London last month. Close aides of the President announced he was going to the United Kingdom without details on his mission last week. Close sources hinted his recent visit to the United Kingdom was to see his children who he might not see in the next few months of the electioneering campaign. On his visits were some of his close relations to ensure a family re-union. Prior to the relocation of the children from the British School, his aides had bought a befitting house in upscale London to accommodate the family and their aides, following threats and hints that Boko Haram were on their trails. Observers believed the move by the President preclude the notion that Nigeria is safe and confirms the fears in som

Jonathan not fighting corruption – Ex-ICPC chair A former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Justice Mustapha Akanbi and the Chairman, Anti-Corruption Commission, Nigerian Bar Association, Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN) have said that the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is not serious in the fight against corruption. The two decried the increasing rate of corruption in the country, saying nothing tangible and substantial was being done to address the trend. They spoke in interviews with journalists on the sidelines of the public lecture on “Corruption – the bane of our society,” organised by the Amicus International Club in Ilorin , the Kwara State captal, on Tuesday. Akanbi, who is a former President of the Court of Appeal said corruption, kidnapping and other societal ills were on the increase in the country and that government institutions and the judiciary were not helping in curbing corruption. Akanbi said, “Honestly, I do n

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he did not expect Nigerians to shower praises on him while he is still in office. He said it was normal that public office holders would only be commended after leaving office by the time his achievements were being compared with others. Jonathan spoke while granting audience to a delegation from his home state, Bayelsa. Members of the delegation led by Governor Seriake Dickson were in the Presidential Villa, Abuja to felicitate with him on Christmas and New Year festivities. The President said notwithstanding the various challenges facing the country, he would do his best to make his people proud. He said, “I always say that I will not even expect praises now because hardly do people praise serving leaders. It is when you leave, people will begin to know. “When you leave, people will begin to compare what you have done over the period vis-a-vis what others have done, then they will compare you with whoever takes over. “Probably that i

Agenda For Peace With Hamzat: 2015 Election - Hold Jonathan, Buhari Responsible For Any Bloodshed Written by Abdulrazaq O Hamzat (Mr Rights) The 2015 election is around the corner and threats of war, attack and counter attack by supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari is being allowed to litter Nigeria’s political space without caution. It was and still on record, that supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan such as Asari Dokubo, Niger Delta Militants and others have been threatening to unleash miam on the country should the president loose the 2015 election. These open threats by supporters of the president were and still never cautioned by the president, neither did his party (PDP) or any security agency caution the war mongers. Indirectly, it seems the president and all security agencies agree with those making the threats on behave of the president. Although, president Jonathan says his ambition doesn’t worth the live of any Nigerian, but h

A group of Nigerian yam farmers cutting across some northern states in the country have pledged to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari’s campaign in the 2015 general elections with N5 billion. The group disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Tuesday. Rev. Jacob Musa, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the farmers under the name “Buhari-Osinbajo Presidential Appeal Campaign Fund (BOPCAF), said that farmers from 10 states of the federation were planning the fund raiser. Musa said members drawn from Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Adamawa, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger and Kaduna states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, would feature at the occasion. He said that Prof. Emmanuel Garba, who lost the governorship primary of the APC in Plateau, was a founding father of the group. “We have contributed five million tubers of yam to be donated in support of the funding of Buha

A People Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representative aspirant, Ms Aisha Osori, has dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) after emerging winner on the PDP platform. Osori made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen at the APC national secretariat. NAN recalls that Osori emerged winner at the just concluded AMAC/Bwari federal constituency primary in the Federal Capital Territory. Osori, who was presented with the membership card of the APC, told newsmen she decided to carpet-cross after watching the APC primary because she believed in Osibanjo, who was her lecturer at one time. “I decided to denounce membership after watching the APC conduct its presidential primary in a fair and competitive manner and after seeing the combination of Osibanjo and Buhari, both men of integrity. “Osibanjo used to teach me at the University of Lagos, faculty of law, I believe that is a great combination that would move the country forward and I want to be part

The Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, on Monday, said a plot by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to form an interim government has been uncovered. The minister said this in Lagos at the launch of a book titled, ‘Watch the Watcher,’ written by an activist, Yinka Odumakin, in reaction to Obasanjo’s controversial book, ‘My Watch’. Adesiyan said he had already directed the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba; and the Department of State Service to arrest anybody that made inflammatory statements ahead of the 2015 elections. He said, “Many of those in the APC are disgruntled PDP members who are no longer relevant and because they could not have their way, they have started to heat up the polity. They have said they will form a parallel government if they lose. “I have already told the IG and the DSS to arrest anybody making such mutinous and inflammatory statements.”

2015: Why General Buhari Will Lose Once Again By Dibie Kingsley Chukwuma Most times when you make any statement that suggest anything but a victory for General Muhammadu Buhari before or during an election period in a gathering of his supporters you may be either greeted with insults or treated with disdain like someone who has just blasphemed against a holy prophet. Buhari at APC convention Sahara Reporters In the best possible scenario, you might be lucky to get someone reasonable enough to ask “where are you from? The South-South right? No wonder, na Jonathan dem brother na.” Such statements leaves me wondering, does one´s place of origin in Nigeria automatically disqualifies him or her from objectively holding opinion on national issues? Putting National interest first, will it not be unfair to assume that someone like Nasir El-Rufai is unqualified to comment on President Jonathan candidacy simply because he is from the North-West geo-political Zone of Nigeria? Like many Afr

The “Worthless” Life of an “Aboki”, By Marcel Ojinnaka In January, Nigeria enacted a law that criminalizes gay and lesbian acts with up to 14 years imprisonment if convicted. In a country that ranks second on the list of Most Religious Countries, it was only a matter of time before politicians exploited our religious proclivity. Some Nigerian activists exploded with indignation at the unfairness of the law. In both traditional and New Media, they condemned it for what it is – an injustice written into law. They pointed out that the law infringed upon the rights of gay people to freely give consent as adults. While these activists acted nobly in resisting this act of injustice, the silence with which many have greeted news of unrelenting killings in North Eastern Nigeria suggests hypocrisy. In February, 59 boys were killed in Buni Yadi, Yobe State while sleeping in their dormitories. In April, almost 300 girls were abducted from their school dorm at night in Chibok, Borno State. Sev

The Niger delta militants empowered by president Goodluck Jonathan with security contracts worth billions of naira are reportedly preparing for war should their benefactor loose in a free and fair election come 2015. Troubles Loom in Nigeria as the elections of 2015 forebode ill for the country given the forces in contention. The country is confronted with a presidency being cornered to the danger of being an ethnic President instead of a National President. Alhaji Asari Dokubo, the leader of the Niger Delta People’s Salvation and Volunteer Front (NDSVF), who is also the founder of King Amachree African University, Republic of Benin, has said President Goodluck Jonathan, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 Presidential election, has already won. Asari who spoke at the burial ceremony of Late Princess Preba Abigail Prince Ekineh, Asari’s grandmother organized by the NDSVF, at Buguma in Asari Toru Local Government Area, said it is not possible for the incumbe

Agenda For Peace With Mr.Rights: British Crown And African Sit-Tight Rulership Written by Abdulrazaq Hamzat British history has it that, the monarchy is the “raft of people who are paid out of the civil list”. Structural Marxism argues that, the monarchy symbolizes an “ideological state apparatus” through which stability is retained while the elite theorist claims that the monarchy represents the elites whose presence invariably helps to define and sustain the classed society. Study shows that, British monarchy is over 1195 years old and it and the parliament are the main ingredients of British sovereignty. The monarch and in this case, the queen is the head of state of the armed forces. It ascertains its relevance through the allegiance oath taken by the judiciary and the armed forces as both swear allegiance not to the state but to the crown. Before the 18th century, the British ruler had legislative and executive powers, but things changed in the 18th century during the re

Military blames sabotage in run up to elections By Senator Iroegbu It has emerged that despite the presence of over 1,000 well armed Nigerian troops in Mubi and its environs in Adamawa State, it took just a handful of 30 Boko Haram insurgents to capture the commercial city last October without firing a shot. The development, THISDAY learnt, forms the fulcrum of the series of ongoing investigations and court martials by the military high command, which has blamed the capture of Mubi and other towns in Adamawa and Borno States on sabotage by sympathetic northern troops and some of their commanders who refused to fight the insurgents. Military sources, who opened up on what transpired in several of the attacks by Boko Haram in the two states between September and October this year, revealed that the insurgents would not have succeeded had the troops who were deployed in several of the towns and villages that were overrun by the insurgents, defended the areas dilige

INVESTIGATIONS have revealed six basic issues that will shape the campaign of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan and his main opposition from the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, in the forthcoming 2015 election The two main contenders in the 2015 presidential contest would slug it out for the third time in February 2015. Buhari, who had lost the presidential bid three times against PDP candidates, including Jonathan, had, this time, emerged on a larger opposition platform, a merger of three key opposition parties, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigeria’s Peoples Party (ANPP). It thus appears that the contest between the PDP and the opposition this time would be keener. The calculations A number of issues ranging from factual to emotional are ruling the 2015 contest, with either of the two main contenders claiming advantage. The PDP controls 23 of t