The Labaran Maku peculiar story: I must have trekked the earth’s circumference to attain primary education

The former minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who quit office a couple of days ago to pursue gubernatorial ambition in his  native Nasarawa State, told the story of his life recently during a thanksgiving service.Maku’s antics as minister would sure irritate anyone and so many, and in same measure, the peculiar story of his life would equally excite and inspire you.

In his testimony, the former minister said, having walked 14km everyday for about five years as primary school pupil,  it was possible the distance he covered was could equal the circumference of the earth.
The story of his birth has it that in his village, his dad was attending to his mother when the baby was born. On account of the  setting, there was no record of his birth, hence, there is no record of his birthday. He says everyday is his birthday.
Some years after birth, a tussle ensued in his family on why he should not be taken to school by the catholic priest, because such was punishment not meant for an only son of his mother in a multi-wife setting where his mother was just one of the wives. But by what he called substitution, he was picked for the ‘punishment’ instead of his brother from another mother.
That is exactly how providence made Labaran go to school to later become a teacher, journalist, public officer as commissioner, deputy governor and at last minister with an eye for the gubernatorial seat of Nasarawa.
He likened his story to that of David in the Bible, the little family shepherd that tended his father’s sheep that was selected above his elder sibblings, even when almost forgotten in the bush as King of Israel.
The special thanksgiving service tagged “A Testimony of God’s Goodness and Mercy” based on the scripture Psalm 113‎, held at the Catholic Diocese of Lafia, St. Patrick’s Parish, Akwanga. He also narrated the encounter he had with cultists whom he said visited his home to give him conditions on joining them if he would want to be governor.
He stated that he does not know his birthday even though officially it is stated he was born January 1, 1962, because his peasant farmer parents were the only ones present when he was born at home.
The teacher and journalist who resigned his appointment as minister on October 20, in accordance with President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive those with political ambition resign from the cabinet, also used the occasion to reveal how his journey so far in his professional and political career has been of divine providence as he did not have to lobby anyone‎, saying he is on a mission to rescue Narasawa State and to fight for peace and justice.
Maku was ‎deputy governor of Nassarawa State from 2003 to 2007. Before then he was Democracy and Governance expert at USAID from 1997 to 1999. In he was Commissioner for Information in Nasarawa State till 2003. He was also a teacher and headmaster from 1981 to 1983
He told Abuja Metro his story on the day of his thanksgiving
Nasarawa roads
Our roads are crying for attention and we at Federal Executive Council have agreed we should resume this work very soon. ‎As at last week, I am aware that the Ministry of Works had concluded arrangement to resume the construction of this road and they were waiting for the release of fund for the contractor to move to site.  I have that assurance of what is about to happen.
Child of grace
‎My wife, Mrs. Mary Maku, with whom I have come to hold this thanksgiving is also filled with special gratitude to God today.
The various biblical text read by the priest sums up the reason why we are here.‎ But I will add that Psalm 113 is of special significance to me in addition to what our priest has already told you. If you look at Psalm 113 you will see that King David was expressing to God his heartfelt gratitude for how God took him from behind; from tending his father’s sheep in the bush, over and above his strong, well groomed elder brothers and made him King of Israel. Now as I stand before you here, the summary of my life is that I am here because of God’s grace and mercy.
For those who know my little village by the hills, Wakama, Akun Development Area of Nasarawa State‎, if you go there, what it will remind you of will be what was said in the Bible that Bethlehem was the least of the cities of Judah and what good could ever come out of Nazareth.‎ So God can go to the most unlikely places and raise people from the dust and place them at the rulership of their communities and their nations. That is exactly what God has done for me.
Child of the poor
My late parents didn’t go to school. They were ‎peasants farmers; and so when I was born, there was no modern facility in my village. My mother didn’t go to the maternity because there was no hospital around. And she told me that on the day I was born my father was the birth attendant, so he received me. It was not midwives and nurses that received me at birth. This is really a very interesting story. That is the way I came into the world. Indeed I don’t know my birthday because it was not recorded, so every day is my birthday, maybe it was today I don’t know but everyday is my birthday.
In our time, our people did not go to school. There was a catholic school at Alushi, St Michael’s Primary School, here but my community refused to go to school because we were very deep in culture. So I started life worshipping as all the traditionalists in my community were. Then some times at the beginning of the civil war, a priest from this church convinced the village head, he told him, ‘look we want to start a school in your village but you people don’t come to school, can you please go house to house and get maybe one child per house so that we can start a catholic school in your compound?’ So the village head went from compound to compound himself because he knew if he didn’t nobody will agree, forcing each household to release a child to come to school.
Conscription into school
When he came to our compound, there was a big drama. My father said it will be my younger brother that will go to school. So I was very happy because they said then that they use to beat children in school, so anyone sent to school then was like punishment. I was very excited that I was not the one, so I went behind the compound rejoicing. Then some twist of fate took place, my step mother refused. She was begged for more than 30 minutes she said no that her last child will not go to school. Because my elder brother, Alhaji Usman Sule had already been forced to go to school earlier on in the 1940s, she felt that this last child will stay with her. So my father said I am the only son from my mother’s side so if I go to school, who will take care of my mother on the farm. There was stalemate and every opportunity to convince my step mother to allow my younger brother go to school failed. So the village head said look, if his younger brother’s case is impossible can we call his mother and plead if she will allow him to go to school. They called my mother and she said yes. That is how I went to school, by substitution.
The problem called school
This school was just a Catholic class. We went there first year, by the second year the catechist, stranger absconded.  I can’t even recall‎ his name now because we were so little. There was no road to the village, there was only the bridge ‎that was build in 1974, there were only thatched roofs all over, so after some months he didn’t come back and my father rejoiced and we returned to the farm. After one year, the priest sent another catechist to go to the village again to restart the school. My father said ‘why are these people disturbing us I thought this matter of school had ended.’ Then we were compelled to go back to school. After a year the second catechist who is still alive today also left. I recently invited him to my office in Abuja where we sat and rejoiced together. So he too left after a year and we returned to the farm, enjoying ourselves.
Johnnie Walker
Then the third year the village head announced that all those children that started school three years ago, that they are now to go to school at Badah compulsorily. That is how our parents were compelled to send us back and I happen to make the class, to come and start school here. For those seven years, we trekked something like 14 kilometers to school and back each day to finish class 1-7 and on our way back we have to go to the farm because they will carry your food there, so that you won’t be a lazy boy. So for me to finish primary school, maybe I trekked something like the circumference of the earth. To trek 14 kilometers for seven years if you calculate it you will see how difficult it was to be able to finish school.
Higher school
So when we finished‎, I went to Zawang Teacher’s College, Bukuru, Jos‎, another Catholic College. To go to school was not like the children of today, they took me to Akwanga, asked the driver where are you going he said Jos, they put me in the vehicle and went home because my parents didn’t know the direction of Jos.
So you see everything concerning me has been God’s grace‎. It is not my effort, it is not my family’s pedigree, it is not royalty, it is not wealth, or fame. It is all God’s grace. God was so merciful to me. The first time I started in that Catholic class, I came first in the exam that followed.
First, but poor position
I will tell you a funny story. When we went home, my cousins were sitting around in the moonlight with our parents in the village. So they asked what position we took in the exam. I had a cousin who came 12th another 19th and I said I took only one. So the people exclaimed and said how can somebody took 19, another 12 and you took only one, we are going to withdraw you from school. Because they didn’t understand how someone who took one could be better than someone who took 19. This is true life story because they didn’t know. Now I can tell you that when I left the university I also took first. So God has been gracious upon all the limitations of not having anybody in the school. Whenever we went home on holiday, there was nothing apart from moonlight. Nobody will ask if you have done your home work because nobody knew what you were doing. But in spite of that God lifted me above the law of gravity and I was always leading my class and I led up to the university.
Rejoicing in God
So today, I rejoice with God‎ because His mercy has been so much in my life. My younger who was supposed to go to school in my place, when I was in Form Five, I came and instigated him to go to school, we quarrelled with that but eventually he went to school. I taught him in Form Five because I was already a Grade II teacher then, and he was coming first in class, he was more brilliant than myself. I trained him up to Form Five but as fate will have it in that fifth year, some people came and convinced him and he left school and got married and returned to the village and refused to continue. He is today with the Civil Defence, and doing well with his family.
Never despise little beginnings
I must say that on behalf of myself, my family and everyone around us, I want to give this testimony so that when you see little children from poor family you should also remember that God thinks about them and lift them above those from the families of acclaim.
The priest talked about poverty here; so I tell you that you would be wrong to look down on children from very rural settings whose parents are nothing. And that is why I will continue to tell politicians, do not misuse anybody’s child because I know where I am coming from. The child that God may use to lead may be from the least of families and I am a testimony that God can use anybody’s child. So don’t be discouraged especially parents and children from backgrounds like mine. All that my parents gave me was sound morale training to do right at all times, you are not permitted to misbehave and you must be very hard working. Therefore, poverty is not the absence of material comfort, it is rather the absence of character.
Definition of poverty 
So we must not ‎define poverty as the dearth of material things. People living in good houses, in comfort and luxury may be the poorest in the community. Sound upbringing, strong faith in God, strong bringing up of children, that is what we need in this world, it is not the material comfort. Like Christ said, for the poor they will always be here, that I come from a poor family in terms of the material things, we didn’t have skyscrapers and the modern things of life but we had a comfortable life. A life of strong culture, a life of enough for everybody in the community, we didn’t lack in terms of what to eat, what to drink, what to celebrate. So poverty must be properly defined. Sometimes we underestimate certain people, certain community because of the material things but I think that life is more than the comfort we live. And that is why I keep telling my children, you can see the way I am, God lifted me from ground zero so don’t ever think the position of your father is what will lift you. No. It is strong character, faith in God that will lift you. I don’t have authority to lift you. I can pray for you‎ and prepare you like my parents prepared me.
When the president said he went to school without shoes, many Nigerians are surprised. If you look at our previous leaders, from Gen. Gowon to Obasanjo, their stories may be as interesting as mine and that of the president today. They didn’t come from big families, but from what we will define today as the poor. So I think we need more confidence in ourselves and those of us God has lifted, should always remember to thank God and when I look back I keep saying God you are an amazing God, you can do anything with anybody.  That is why I called for this thanksgiving.
When I went to the university I became a student leader in the second year, in the third year I was elected the National Publicity Secretary of all Nigerian students all over the world. ‎I graduated and became a journalist and rose very rapidly to be political editor and member of the editorial board. I went to USAID, I rose very rapidly and became a director, coordinating the governance and training that led to the democracy in 1999. When I was leaving USAID, my former governor had to write a formal letter for them to release me because they trusted me and what I was doing with them. I came home in 1999, two years later they sacked the cabinet, and I was retained. In 2003 everything ended I was elevated to a deputy governor.
Cultist condition for being a governor
I wanted to vie to be governor, and some people came to my home and said look, you cannot just be governor. We have to recruit you into a cult. My wife and I were sitting after the morning prayer. They insisted that becoming the governor is not just a matter of preaching. They said there is a cult I need to join, and there are 12 people controlling the world, so if I agree then they would recruit me and with that I would become the governor.
I quickly ordered them to get out of my house. “You are a shame, you came with a Bible and you are telling me this story. I told them that I want to be governor just to help, just to serve but if being governor will separate me from my God then to hell with it.”
I said look at the trees outside, the goats outside God created them, I came into the world and I am a human being. Some things came into the world as flies, cockroaches, ants, but I came into the world as a human being ‎therefore God has already made me a governor over all his kingdoms. So anything that you are giving me as governor cannot add anything to me. Therefore I want to rejoice with God for making me a human being not because I have been in any office. See the experience of animals around you God created them, look at the trees outside they will never move from where there are. So I am rejoicing not because of those things, so I drove them from my house. Well, as you know the story I didn’t become a governor I returned to my village.
Divine prophecy
When I was in my village, an old woman came to me and said my son, you were climbing a tree to the top and some people drove you down because you have nobody. I want to give you an assurance today, God is going to lift you from this village and those people who stopped you in the way will not be able to stop you. I said Mama, thank you very much. First year passed, the second passed, this person will dream and said ‘we saw that you were given appointment’ another will dream, ‘we just saw that they elevated you, we saw you in a large convoy.’ I always said to them keep praying.
On the day before I was appointed a minister, my cousin dreamt that I was appointed a special assistant to President Obama but when they went for the thanksgiving they were singing the Nigerian National Anthem. And I said my brother thank you just keep praying. The following day my name was announced as nominee for ministerial appointment.
Passion for Jonathan, Nigeria
So I will like to tell you that if you see me work for President Jonathan, work for Nigeria as if my life depends on it is because God has lifted me free of charge and given me the things He has given me using the President, using my former governor Abdullahi Adamu, using all those He has used to bring me where I am.
And that is why when I work for Nigeria I am not looking for money. I am not looking for money from this country to be rich, no. That is not my mission. My mission is to make sure that I serve this nation to the best of my ability and set standards. They are those who go into government for skyscrapers, that is their own dream, I am in government to serve the people, to work for my country with gratitu‎de to God, to lift the image of my nation. That is why I am there.
Forgive if I disappointed you
So for those of you whom I may have disappointed, a number of you here wanted so many things from me but I couldn’t give in spite of my high status, not because I didn’t want to give you, I didn’t have the opportunity to give. But at the same time, those that were able to  get, those who didn’t, trust in God. People come to me and I pray for them, I said God you know I cannot do anything for these people but you will do it for them, meet them at the point of their needs.
A praying wife
I also want to thank God because I have a wife that prays for me daily. There is no place she wouldn’t go to pray. So if you see us succeeding it is because we are always praying. So I want to thank her here openly for being a spiritual anchor in my journey. I am very grateful. And I know all of us here will take my story because the reason why I give this thanksgiving is that I want politicians to abandon a lot of things, to abandon the role of principalities and power and run to the throne of Jesus where you will be lifted without even asking for it because this is how it happens.

Onye hails Siasia’s appointment

Former Flying Eagles defence ace in the 1980s, Kingsley Onye and teammate of Samson Siasia in that cadre of the national team has commended the new board of the NFF  for giving Siasia another chance at handling the Under 23 team.
Onye, who called from his London base, said he was certain that the Nigerian team under the supervision of Siasia will not only qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics, but will also win the tournament.

“The last time, he took the team to the final and lost by the odd goal to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina. He will raise his standard this time around”, remarked Onye.
He also commended the inclusion of Fatai Amoo. He, however, called for a revisit to the case of Sylvanus Okpala, whom he described as the engine room of the Keshi technical crew that led Nigeria to win the Africa Nations Cup last year.
“If you notice, the dropping of Okpala signaled the gradual decline of the Super Eagles after the Africa Nations Cup, a situation that almost made Kenya to beat Nigeria at home in World Cup qualifiers.
Onye wanted Okpala to be pardoned for what ever offense he might have committed. He also argued that Nigeria would have performed better at the World Cup if Keshi had opted for the best available players.
He pointed out that no fewer than five of the players taken to Brazil ought not to have made the squad. He advocated for Sunday Oliseh to be made the substantive Super Eagles coach instead of the search for a foreign coach.

FCT of darkness: One year after private sector take-over

On November 1, in the next nine days, it will be exactly one year since the private sector bought over and effectively started operating the power generation and distribution companies.
The hope and assurance prior to the sale was that the sector would record significant improvement. There will be light. Now the story sounds worse, especially in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
To find what the problem is, Abuja Metro recently engaged the managing director and chief executive of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) Mr. Neil Croucher to explain to residents of the city and its environs why they have to remain perpetually in darkness one year after they took over supply of the amenities.
Why can’t Abuja Electricity Distribution Company give us light in almost one year after you took over the supply of electricity?
Of course, this is a massive transformation. And the whole world is watching because this is probably one of the most ambitious transformations going on around the world. But there are many links in the supply chain of electricity. And each of those links needs to improve to get better quality to the customers at the end of the day. It is also, a very big ship and a big ship will take a while to turn around. So managing it with public expectations is very challenging of course because it doesn’t transform overnight.
In reality, a big sector like this will take time to become a world class entity, but of course, the public quite rightly can expect to see some changes immediately. And I believe that change is already evident. So, to me and outside, there is much that has been done to improve the quality of electricity supply and quality of service. We have carried out the maintenance that was never done before not to the extent that was necessary. Taking the past 12 months for example, we cured the servitude relics of something about 4000 kilometers of lines and we have seen the benefits of doing that when we have storms, and winds blows, we have lesser altitudes. This lines stand. We also have done numerous maintenance and also reactionary maintenance. So things like these have been put in place. We have also put in place a 24-hour dial call center which is manned at all times by five operators to receive dial out call from customers. The information is logged directly into our computer system and immediately dispatched to the field so that there can be quick response. In addition we have a back-up office so that there can be a follow up and close up on all of the issues raised. And we see the increase in number of the contacts we made with these companies starting to come through it.
Ultimately, we would want it to be the dominant way in which customers feel that the contacts have been given to them for quick response. So there are many ways in which things have improved already.
Customers are groaning over estimated billing in the absence of electricity meters. When is this going to end?
Close to one area we are yet come is metering. Customers are not particularly happy with the estimated billing system and not having meters. And we feel same with their expectation. It is not acceptable for customers to have estimated bill, we believe it is the right of every customer to be accurately metered for the electricity that is given and are required to pay for. So certainly that way we have to get to as quickly as we can. More than half of our customers do not have meters and that is certainly unacceptable. But before we can carry out the massive roll out of meters, we need to ensure a platform on which all of that is based is sound and solid and it has the integrity and it has the ability against fraud and corruption because there is a very high level of that as we speak.
So again, we have been analyzing that platform, in the case of our pre-paid meters which is going to be the dominant method of metering for domestic customers. We had five different platforms which are in existence. And these platforms didn’t communicate to each other, so a customer had to be in a particular area to buy electricity and could not buy electricity anywhere else on our system. It could be from a poor management information system from our five different information systems not communicating and it will also mean there were a lot of opportunities for fraud and corruption to take place on that system.
We have already taken a decision to roll out one platform only and that project is already on the way. And that single platform should be up and running within a matter of weeks from now. Work is already on the way. And once we have the single platform, then customers would be able to purchase power anywhere on our system but they will have to do within a particular area. With one system in place now we can start heading all the various convenient methods of payment on to that system. We could not do it before because when we have all the different systems but now that we have only one we will be taking on all these kinds of e-payment, single out internet and the rest onto that system. So that is on the metering side. On the billing side, we also have six billing centers on our all unit platforms. When a customer pays money on his bill, receipt has to be manually taken and entered manually into the computer system. We need something like 85 staff for our data computer system we need to do away with the corruption in the system.
So we are looking at the upgrading to a window space system, much more one single system so that we can remove these opportunities for errors and corruption so that when a customer pays it reflects immediately in the billing system. That way, decisions could be taken within weeks on which platform then should be implemented.
These are all necessary before we can do a massive roll out of meters. And our plan on the meter problem is a hundred meters per year. So we can quickly wipe out the back log. If we can do it faster, then we can do so but then it has become logistically challenging but we can do it as fast as we can. We will quickly get to a point where every customer’s confidence is restored, so that what you pay for is metered accurately. I believe things are getting better but there are so many links in that supply chain. And starting from gas, water, the primary energy sources, and all of that, you know we are the last link in the supply chain and we are the ones that collect the money which feeds the entire supply chain. Most of the money we collect sustains the chain. We use it to pay the generators, the transmission and gas companies etc. So we need every link to improve and I believe that will happen soon.
In our case we can say we would spend something like $200 million in the next five years on capital, apart from bringing in the resources and skills. We will spend another $200 million on improving the system and the networks.
Other Discos and the Gencos have some other plans. And they all need to make money. So there is no doubting the fact that this transformation will work. We have gone well beyond the point of return, this will work, it is not going to happen overnight but it should see steady improvement. At the moment, the biggest problem that make customers not to see anything better in the services that has not been fixed yet.
What is the current quantity of power allocation from Transmission Company of Nigeria to your DISCO?
It is the problem on the side of the primary energy sources. The gas supply at the moment, the common knowledge is the last strike and indeed all strikes in the sector by the oil and gas workers definitely impact on the power supply daily. The daily power load is very low. On allocation, we only receive 11% daily which is very low. But even before the strike, there were other problem on the supply side. We also had low water levels at the hydro stations previously. But again, there are a lot of partners coming to own power stations. I read recently in the papers about a partner looking at the 226 megawatts power station. That will take time, but these things increase the good market here. There is a big market. And for customers, we need to just make sure we can beat the cost of diesel generators because that is what a lot of people use when there is low power. So there is a good market here for generators to come in. We are also encouraging more investors in generation because in our case we are not into generation business, we distribute but we are encouraging companies to come into our areas as well with smaller level generators with better generation so that they can generate locally so that we can increase that level of power for our customers as quickly as possible and avoid load shedding.
Government is still holding on to transmission of electricity. How does this affect operations of power distribution?
On the transmission side, it is fairly typical in countries where they have privatized power sector. Transmission remains in government’s hand. It is a natural monopoly. You don’t want to duplicate those wires because they are very expensive. So, it is quite typical, it is monopoly and it stays in government’s hand. I have seen here, government is contemplating some level of private sector involvement in transmission. May the situation will change. It is true because it is one of those links in the chain and a very critical part of that link. It has under investment previously, so there many facilities that will be required. For example there has not been sophisticated control center that can control such big and expensive power network. Those are essential pools for transmission on this side. There are many other areas now that need investment and increase capacity. They are bottlenecks in the systems that have been tackled. We are fortunate in Abuja we have less bottlenecks like others; so in effect, if we have some constraints on the system, we get to take some more power than our 11 ½ percent allocation because of constraints elsewhere. For our system currently, we can receive 47 items per megawatts of power and the highest we can take is between 550 megawatts. But we want to make sure that for our area of supply, we stay ahead of that game so that we are able to stay with whatever generation that will come our way. And that has been the case to date.
There are many substations government has bought like the NIPP substations, which we look forward to take over in the coming months. We have already taken over six of them that have been commissioned and are in service. There is another phase of 20 to go that would also assist us with our connection to our transmission system to ensure that we can receive any power and also ensure that the quality of the power is good. Since we commissioned the substation at Gwagwalada, there has been immediate improvement as we link up to the voltage and the quality of supply in those areas.
What is the capacity of AEDC in terms of electricity supply and operations?
We were very excited about the opportunities we saw when the government went on a road show around the world to look for investors to come in for this privatization. We were very excited and we also believe that the process that was followed was a very well brought up process, and the confidence we had at that time had been borne out. There is no doubt, it is a well-rounded process. We have seen the commitment of government, the projects used to fail us because of lack of commitment of government. You need to follow up and you show serious commitment in something like this and have confidence in that and every challenge that comes along. That challenge has been quickly addressed and I believe most of the hurdles that we should encounter are behind us. As far as our company is concerned, we did former consortium with the local entity and the company I come from has been in the power sector for 50 years, it is now a private sector that has gone through the transformation through the public sector hands to private sector hands and it is now also a listed company and been a power company that predominantly supplies general power equipment. We depend on extreme power quality and reliable power. We also put a team together which is also so vast in the power sector. So we believe we have the right skills and resources within our group to make a success of the transformation. We are long term investors because we certainly don’t believe that you can come into the power sector and make a quick buck and leave. This is a long term project and that is the commitment of our shareholders. We are here for a long hope. In fact the probability is that there would be no returns to the shareholders in the early years.
Ultimately, Nigeria needs to have a competitive tariff because it has good resources of oil and gas, and also has unexploited hydro and of course a huge potential market. So with these basic things, ultimately I think the tariff should be competitive. But on the other hand, there is huge backlog of investment; there is huge capitalization that is needed to take place in the sector. So the challenge for us is to balance up. So we have open shops so that it will help sufficient revenue that will be coming into the sector so that it can be transformed and give out good quality service. But as I said, we have a long term view, NERC is working with the sector to see how we can smoothen a tariff adjustment and make it acceptable to customers and electricity affordable too. So, hopefully we will be looking at the long term tariff that is stable and to give sanctity to the market.
Any discouraging challenges that made you feel like dumping the business since you started operation?
We would never want to back out ‎and we certainly wouldn’t do that. There are a lot of challenges but we tackle them with excitement, with vigour, although we sometimes get frustrated; but it gainful and we will not back out. Challenges coming in are basically that we didn’t have access to the business before handover. We didn’t have access. We only imagined what was in from what we saw and the environment and from the available information. But we had a good idea of something well different. I think the assets were in worse condition than we thought and in most cases we found that about 200 transformers were found in the field and were left there. So our immediate reaction was tackling those lapses. There was also complete absence of information and ICT networks. That also made the company very inefficient, so that been our focus area to put up an information system. As I talk there is information system on the metering and the billing system and these are the key information systems that need to be put in place. There are many others as well. There is also staff reorganization. The company was very delighted to be right sized because it is one whole opportunity to create an efficient electricity sector. Yes, I believe jobs will be lost in the sector but the knock out effect of an inefficient electricity sector in Nigeria, the multiplier effect will create tens of thousands of more jobs that were lost within the electricity sector in Nigeria in a short time. We must seize this opportunity to create an efficient electricity sector in Nigeria. That is the summary of the standard features today but we are still extremely confident that we will turn it around.  There so many expectations but we can’t do them overnight even when I believe that we have already achieved much and we will be achieving much more each year forward.
What are your plans for daily electricity supply to Abuja?
Certainly there are plans in place‎ for resolution of some of the gas supply constraints and in the longer term, there are plans for new generation capacity.  At the moment, there are severe shortages but those are for the various reasons that need to be resolved because in Lagos, there are many gas pipelines that are not working. But those are the short term problems that can be tackled. They are not infrastructure problems. I believe the problems we have now is to quickly resolve the low generation and by the end of this year we will be getting back to the level that went down by the beginning of this year. Also, as we get other infrastructure projects commissioned by the end of the year, and during next year, we should have an increase to the next level. From the outside, we are keenly looking out for other stakeholders and the generating companies. But for our customers, they need to get access to power so we have to put plans and we have to support them in any way we can. We are also looking at creating embedded generation in our networks. So we are talking with some independent teams to install various kinds of medium to strong generation projects within our area of supply. Things like solar power, small hydro, those kinds of projects that will also assist in improving our level of power supply to our customers will be there with time.
What is your daily electricity supply scope?
We have been given a schedule by the TCN of how much power we must take. ‎But there is increasing limited resources in the country at the moment, and each country has power allocation. Our allocation is 11 1/2 % and we are constrained to supply what we get. Other companies too have their allocation from TCN. We often take more but that figure is our basic allocation from TCN. The percentage we get vary depending on the circumstance. We can get as high as between 500 to 600 megawatts and sometimes as low as 150 megawatts.

From 700 JAMB candidates I moved Sokoto to 15,500 this year –Wamakko

A day last week was one for the Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko in Abuja.

Among the number of governors that bagged awards at the Leadership Newspapers annual award, Wamakko somehow stole the day with a quiet but richly attended lunch in his honour at the Zuma Grill of the Transcorp Hilton.
That lunch for the governor who would be exhausting his final tenure in office in may next year, was hosted by a son of the state, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives. His official presence with his full entourage added much colour to the gathering that was rich and sumptuous.
But beyond the fanfare, Wamakko who said he has facts to show for his stewardship sounded excited about the award in an exclusive chat with Abuja Metro at the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro.
Asked about what he thinks would endure after him from next year he would be out of office, he said: “I remain proud of the fact that I have entrenched the rule of order and openness to my people through governance.
“I have used the resources of the state judiciously, and I have no doubt that that has become entrenched culture in the state my successor would not sideline. And because of the tradition of openness and democratic process I made a culture even in the deployment of the resources of the state, I am not afraid of my shadows when I must have left office. I am sure my records are clean and would be commendable because while in power, I never forgot that one day, I would be accountable to the people, to God and to history on how I managed the opportunity given me.
“In addition, I completed and delivered to the people of Sokoto my promise of a state university that is now operational. I started and completed it and from that, education among the people became a popular industry where from the 700 candidates of the state that enrolled in the JAMB exams in 2007, this year, the state made a leap to 15,500 candidates in the same JAMB. You can see the amazing difference. I completed the state power and water plants and ensured manpower development through education, and the shoring of the morale of the workers at all levels.”
Wamakko’s award came for his role in engendering true democracy entrenched on viable opposition. According to Leadership Newspapers that gave him the award alongside the other former PDP governors that defected to the APC, he took a vital step and bold decision to damn the consequences of possibly losing his office to step over to the opposition party when they felt things were not actually working according to expectation in their former party.
The news media said that the decision has been a positive development to the deepening of democracy in the nation with virile and viable opposition and therefore the award of the Politician of the Year to him and the other governors.
Also at the lunch, Hon. Tambuwal praised the leadership qualities of Wamakko whom he described as open minded, fair and humane.
He said: “None of us from the state in the National Assembly has any reason not to align with the governor or have any grudges against him. He a fair person, he does not work against anyone’s interest and I hold him in very high esteem as a true leader, and that is why I think it is just proper to associate with him on this outstanding honour and recognition.”
I feel honoured
After receiving the award, Wamakko in his acceptance speech said he felt it a great honour to pick the award which came unsolicited.
He recalled: “I feel highly honoured to be here as part of this distinguished gathering of well-meaning Nigerians convened by the Leadership Newspapers to celebrate the country’s democratic experience. I am also profoundly grateful to the organisers for giving me the opportunity to rub minds with highly distinguished personalities and stakeholders in the nation’s democratic processes. There is no doubt that our democracy has witnessed series of upheavals and yet we are trudging on with vigour because of our belief in democracy as best form of Government that gives citizens the right to participate in how they are governed. Indeed, Nigeria’s democracy has come of age despite the current travails occasioned by the PDP Led Central Government.
I must state that democracy provides alternatives and a motley of choice to the people, it becomes more attractive and most appealing to the people. As we quite know, it readily offers avenue for replacement of a government that is not performing due to poor leadership and insensitivity to the wishes of the citizenry; i.e. the Ballot Box. Leadership is about being responsible and responsive to those being governed. Any leader that turns deep ears to the governed is not only excluding them from the scheme of things but callously reneging on the principles of accountability and good governance. Such leaders are truly not worthy of their positions and deserved to be disgraced from office.
“I wish to state in all modesty that, we have consistently made efforts in my state to ensure that we operate a government with listening ears where the wishes and aspirations of the people form the basis of policies formulation and implementation. In Sokoto State, people hold the aces because they are involved in the running of the affairs of government. We leave our doors open not only for suggestions but also for the people to interface with us as their servant-leaders. We listen to their opinions on policies; siting of projects and in fact, even the direction they want us to follow.”

Namibia 2014: We’ll overrun Bayana Bayana –Ordega

Super Falcons forward, Francisca Ordega is confident Nigeria will overrun South Africa’s Bayana Bayana in today’s African Women Championship, Namibia 2014, semi final showdown.

Falcons are billed to face Bayana Bayana in the first semi final inside the Sam Nujoma Stadium, while Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire will slug it out in the second semi final at the same venue.
Ordega who plies her soccer trade in Sweden with Pitea IF told Goal.com that one thing going for the Falcons is the desire to re capture the trophy they lost two years ago to Equatorial Guinea.
Nigeria reached the last four as Group A winners with nine points, while semi-final opponents South Africa finished as runners-up in Group B with four points edging out Ghana on goal difference.
Ordega, sounding quite confident ahead of the clash stated: “What really makes me proud in the Super Falcons so far in the tournament is the zeal and eagerness in camp. I can’t even tell it all, because everyone is ready to come out in the fight to win. I don’t know if it was because we lost the last championship to Equatorial Guinea.”
The former Delta Queens forward stressed that the Super Falcons have everything to win the encounter billed to kick off 4 pm Nigerian time.
“The ambition is for us to get back the trophy and we not going to relax at anything. We are all hungry to bring back the cup to Nigeria,” she concluded.”

…Aim for the trophy, Danagogo charges Falcons
As  the Super Falcons battle South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in the semi final of the African Women Championship in Namibia Wednesday, Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission, Dr. Tammy Danagogo has urged them never to lower their guard until the World Cup ticket and trophy are in their kitty.
The Falcons who have won six out of the seven titles competed by the continent’s senior national teams lost the 2012 title to Equatorial Guinea when they were handled by Coach Kadiri Ikhana.
On the way to the semi final, the Falcons won all their group matches, beating Cote d’Ivoire 4-2, Zambia 6-0 and host Namibia 2-0, garnering the maximum nine points. A win against South Africa assures them a ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year in Canada.
“The Falcons have shown that they are truly African Champions and are ready to reclaim their title. I urge them to continue winning their matches until the World Cup ticket and the trophy is won”, Dr. Danagogo said.
He reiterated President Goodluck Jonathan’s promise to continue to reward deserving Nigerian athletes, stressing, “I am ready to take them to Mr. President  to reward them for bringing honour to the country.”
Cameroon who topped Group B of the competition will take on Cote d’Ivoire who placed second behind the Falcons in the second semi final. The two semi final winners qualify automatically for the World Cup and vie for the trophy while the losers will battle for the third ticket in the third place match final on Saturday.

How Atiku’s economic blueprint plan to cage PHCN, NNPC mafia

As 2015 elections cascade down, the political gladiators are busy oiling their armoury to overwhelm their opponents and take over power.

One of such politicians is the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who last week announced his economic blueprint.
He vowed to tackle what he called Nigeria’s greatest economic headaches which are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) headlong. Do succeed in this, he promised that the mafias that hold them bound would be unchained.
Atiku said until these mafias that run these institutions are chased out they will not work better.
“I remember when we came into office, I told my boss that there are two mafias in this country, one is NEPA and the second one is NNPC. Unless you break those mafias, you will never get those institutions to work. Unfortunately, up till now, we have not been able to break those mafias. So, one thing you must do is to dismantle the mafia,” he said.
He however, denied privatizing Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and the Nigerian refineries and so cannot be connected with their dysfunctional state.
On job creation, Atiku gave the indication of stimulating the private sector and getting direct foreign investment.
For him, government has the duty to create an enabling environment for the private sector that is the engine of job creation. He decried the over-dependence on the fast-drying oil revenue.
Alliance with private sector
“Right now, our revenue is on the decline. Before, we were exporting 2.3 million barrels of oil per day. Today, we exporting I.8 million barrels of oil per day and the price is falling. I bet you, if you are relying on ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to create employment, the government would have less money and the next thing will be how do we close this, how do we cancel this and so on and so forth. If you stimulate the private sector and you get direct foreign investment and you give them incentives, they will come, create the jobs 10 times more than the MDAs will create. So, stop looking at job creation solely as the government’s responsibility. It is the responsibility of government to make sure that jobs are created. And the best way to create jobs is to stimulate the private sector, deregulate the economy, ensure the flow of direct foreign investment into the country and make it very easy for investors to come and invest in the country. We have seen it work in many places. I don’t know why we are shy of doing that in this country?” he ask rhetorically.
Atiku said that he would sensitize and incentivize the private sector to create jobs, because, according to him, they are the major creators of jobs.
“I will like to sit down with each and every one of you and ready to give you tax rebate. But you must create half a million jobs for me. People have asked me, ok, you are going to lose the tax from that and I ask, why do you also forget that those that are going to be provided with jobs are also going to pay tax? So, what I am losing from giving tax rebate I am going to recover from a larger taxable base. Running government is business nowadays. Don’t think government can do everything. Government does not have the money to do everything. The jobs that are created to develop the economies are created mainly by the private sector, and not essentially by government. But we continue to make the mistake in this country by thinking that government can create all the jobs that we want. No.
What is the problem if I call Aliko Dangote and give him 10 percent tax rebate, but with mandate and agreement that he gives me a million jobs? If he says I can give you, fine. One million jobs created and out of those one million jobs, of course they will pay tax. So, why do you say that I don’t have the will? I want to challenge anybody who thinks that I don’t have the will to give me the opportunity to see whether I have the will or not,” he boasted.
Policy summit
These statements, preceded Atiku’s Policy Review Summit slated for October 27, 2014 at the Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
“The Summit will host a panel of experts who will fine-tune the elemental details of the Atiku 2015 Policy Document. The Draft Policy to be reviewed was drawn up within the context of the manifesto of our Party, the APC. This document provides an overview of our policy position.
The main thrust is the explicit bid to modify the way the machinery of federal government works by clarifying and streamlining MDAs remits and responsibilities, removing overlaps and operational redundancies.
Systematically devolving and delegating operational responsibilities to states and local governments, and private sector organisations (commercial and charitable) as well as to address habits and practices that currently compromise policy implementation,” he said.
Apart from enshrining good governance as the hallmark of his administration, the summit will eventually ensure that solutions can be implemented, monitored and evaluated.
Training and manpower development
Besides infrastructure and power, the summit will deliberate on education and skills acquisition, security, citizenship and governance as well as agriculture and food security.
Also, Niger Delta and North East reintegration will be on the card.
Recall that the Federal Government has attempted to privatize PHCN by unbundling the enterprise into 17 firms but several months after the privatization, the darkness that has engulfed the nation since independence seems to be darker. For several months now, the nation has been in total darkness. Some of these companies deeply committed themselves with the banks that they have repayment issues.
As for NNPC, the mafias are still waxing stronger that it needs a stronger force to destabilize them. Whether Atiku has the will or not to do so, only time will tell.

Ebola: US Limits Entry of West African Travelers to 5 Airports

The US Department of Homeland Security yesterday announced that travelers from West African countries where the Ebola Outbreak is present can only enter the US through one of five airports specially equipped for Ebola screening.

Countries affected by this policy are: Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, according to Sahara Reporters.

Starting from today, Wednesday October 22nd, all travelers from the aforementioned countries will have to enter the US via the following airports only: New York’s John F. Kennedy, Washington’s Dulles, Chicago’s O’Hare, New Jersey’s Newark airport or Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airports.

“Nigeria is not broke” – Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala

The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala, has assured Nigerians that the economy is growing positively in spite of the reduction of oil price in the international market.

Okonjo-Iweala, who stated this on Tuesday at the 2014 Ministerial Platform in Abuja, said the nation was not broke as being speculated in the media.

She said “if you look back two years ago, that title “is Nigeria broke” was written in a newspaper article, it is like people are trying to force Nigeria into brokerage.

“I think since two years, we have managed to keep things going, let me explain these; Nigeria is a country that depends on a stream of income.

“That income is being able to collect taxes from companies, individuals and our income is also based on selling a product and that product you take to market and you take whatever price a buyer is willing to pay.’’

According to her, government is doing everything within its power to ensure economic stability in the country.

She said that presently, government had been budgeting below the existing oil price to help build buffers in case of uncertainty.

“We are operating an economy that depends on a product that fluctuates with oil price and we don’t have the right to control the price.

“Just like you have in your own household, when the quantity diminishes or the price drops, you remember in 2007 to 2008, the price of oil dropped from $140 to $38.

“At that time, nobody asked if the country was broke because we had saved up 22 billion dollars in the Excess Crude Account and we were able to continue spending and to stabilise the economy.’’

The minister said that presently Nigeria was faced with fluctuations in quantity and price of oil, adding that it had affected the amount paid into government coffers.

“Does that mean that the country is broke? We still have resources that we depend on; we still have the ability to tax.

“Sometimes, things need to be a little tighter, easier and we just have to weather it and manage ourselves but that does not amount to the country being broke.’’

The finance minister said if government was not able to pay salaries to people and continue to manage, “then we can say that the country is broke but we have not gotten there yet.’’

She urged Nigerians to bear with the nature of the economy, adding that it was the reason every effort was challenged to ensure the economy was diversified.

Commenting on the management of the fiscal deficit, she said that the Ministry of Finance would continue to ensure that it was kept as narrow as possible.

She said that in 2013, the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ration was 1.4 per cent and 1.03 per cent in 2014 and projected to be one per cent in 2015 budget. .

She added that borrowing had been on the decline and external debt stood at N1.46 trillion or 14 per cent of the total debt.

The ministry had adopted prudence to debt management and Nigeria’s debt to GDP remained one of the lowest in the world.

Actress Biola Ige releases new photos as she turns a year older

Actress Biola Ige is a year old today October 21st and she released these beautiful new pics to mark the special day. Happy birthday, girl! Continue to see more photos...

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Karen Igho says she's taken out her breast implants....

Awww...good for her!

Aww... From Kanye West to his wife Kim K on her 34th birthday

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Adorable! Julius Agwu and son play around in matching outfits

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Armed robbers who killed Newswatch Editor arrested, say why they killed him

The armed robbers who shot and killed the Deputy Editor of Saturday Newswatch newspapers, Toyin Obadina (pictured left0 on February 3rd along the Itoikin Old Ijebu-Ode road, have been arrested by men of the Lagos state police command, eight months after they carried out the dastard act.The notorious armed robbers named Adeshina Festus, Sunday Samuel, Ibrahim Adeokin and Babatunde Makinde, (all pictured right) were arrested after two members of their gang led the police to their hideout in Ikorodu.

 

Speaking on how they were arrested, the Lagos state police commissioner, Kayode Aderanti, said;

"Based on the information, a team of crack detectives, led by the officer in charge of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Abba Kyari, swung into action and two suspected members of the gang, Ibrahim Adeokin and Babatunde Makinde, were arrested. Immediate search conducted on them led to the recovery of two cut-to-size locally-made single barrelled short guns, with 12 rounds of live cartridges. During interrogation, they confessed to belonging to a six-man robbery gang who has been terrorising Lagos State and its environs. They also confessed to be responsible for the killing of the owner of a Toyota Yaris car with registration number AKD 701CE, which they snatched and later abandoned with the corpse at Ikorodu. The victim was later discovered to be Mr. Toyin Obadina, the Deputy Editor of Saturday Newswatch. Their confession later led detectives to Ikorodu area where one Festus Adeshina and Sunday Samuel were also arrested. They mentioned Olasheun and Omo Alhaja, who are at large, as members of their gang, while Oke and Benjamin, who they claimed were members of the gang, were killed in a shoot-out with operatives of SARS at Mile 12 area.” he said

On how and why they killed the 50 year old editor, one of the suspects, Shina Festus said Mr Obadina was shot dead by their leader because he tried to struggle his car with them

"We were coming from Imota, while he (Obadina) was going inward. On reaching a bad spot, he slowed down and we blocked him with our vehicles: one in front and the other behind. Four members of the gang came down from the vehicles. While two of them positioned themselves to wade off intruders, Oke and Benjamin went to the man in the car. An argument ensued between Oke and the man, and Oke shot him dead. When one of us asked Oke why he shot the motorist, he got angry and shot the gang member for challenging his authority. At the end of the operation, we collected his phone, laptop and some money we saw in the car. When we got to our hideout, Oke told us that the man struggled with him. We did not know the man was a journalist and my job is to drive the operational vehicle.” he said

Police Commissioner said the suspects would immediately be charged to court.

Photos: Kim K shows off her curves in red body-con skirt

Kim K showed off her banging curves and huge butt in a grey polo top, red body-con skirt and red-toed court shoes as she headed to her family's office in LA yesterday. See more pics after the cut.

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Kate Middleton makes her first public appearance since her 2nd pregnancy was announced

The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, who is three months pregnant with her second child, made her first public appearance since her pregnancy was announced today, as she and her husband Prince William rode in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace as part of the state visit by the president of Singapore. See more photos after the cut...

 

 

Singer Harrysong poses next to a pile of cash

He shared the pics on his instagram page and wrote "Me and best friend (money)"

Oh dear! Check out Blac Chyna's outfit to Amber Rose birthday party

Amber Rose celebrated her 31st birthday last night and threw a costume party at a mansion in LA which was attended by a lot of her friends including Chris Brown, Karrueche Tran, and Blac Chyna. And that's the costume Blac Chyna, who recently split from rapper, Tyga, chose. A sheer nun's outfit. Choi! See more photos from the fancy dress party after the cut...

 

Amber dressed up as 'Zombie Peg Bundy', the leopard print-loving matriarch played by Katey Sagal in US sitcom Married...With Children.

 

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