The Three Categories of Those Attacking Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

 Gen Olusegun Obasanjo (retd) is the first Nigerian military head of state who later became a civilian President of Nigeria.

Most of those attacking former President, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (retd) are in three categories.
1. Ignorant intellectual illiterates.
2. Poor students of history who don't read and
3. Those suffering from political amnesia.

None of them can even achieve half of what he has achieved in life. And majority of them are non-entities.

He is one of the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  and by tearing his membership card shows how worthless it has become. 

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has destroyed the PDP by his divide and rule tactics and polarized and worsened the North-South Dichotomy. That is why he uses his Hausa Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo to lie to Hausas in the north that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a Christian party with only few Muslims and then President Jonathan comes to the south east and his own south south region to lie to voters that APC is a Muslim party with only few Christians. 
Now he is using the military past of Gen. Muhammad Buhari (retd),  the presidential flag bearer of the APC to character assassinate him while he is enjoying the support of former military generals who even committed worse atrocities like those who summarily executed Kenule "Ken" Beeson Saro Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) of the  Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and eight of his comrades on November 10, 1995 by the late military dictator General Sani Abacha whose eldest son Mohammed Abacha is now a chieftain of the PDP. President Jonathan's government wthdrew N446.3bn theft charges against Mohammed Abacha in June 2014. And another right hand man of President Jonathan is Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd) who needs no introduction. So, you can see the evil hypocrisy of President Goodluck Jonathan. He is not attacking them, because they are in the PDP. Lest we forget, he sacked two prominent Igbo military leaders, including Air Marshal Paul Dike (retd), the first Igbo Chief of Air Staff whom the late President Yar’Adua later appointed as Chief of Defence Staff and Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (retd), the first ever Igbo Chief of Army Staff.


Chief Olúsẹ́gun Mathew Okikiọla Arẹmu Ọbásanjọ́, GCFR, is the most highly respected Nigerian leader in the world today and author of more than 28 books and they include the following.

My Command (African Writers Series)
Jun 1981
by Olusegun Obasanjo
Women of virtue: Stories of outstanding women in the Bible
by Olusegun Obasanjo
Africa in Perspective: Myths and Realities (The Russell C. Leffingwell lectures)
Jun 1987
by Olusegun Obasanjo
The Challenges Of Agricultural Production And Food Security In Africa
Sep 13, 2013
by Olusegun Obasanjo
The Leadership Challenge Of Economic Reforms In Africa
Mar 1, 1991
by Olusegun Obasanjo and Hans d'Orville
A New Dawn: A Collection of Speeches of President Olusegun Obasanjo
Nov 2004
by Olusegun Obasanjo and Ad'Obe Obe

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed more Igbos in his cabinet than current President Goodluck Jonathan. Read the following report by Max Siollun.

However things improved for Igbos after Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. Democracy has been much kinder to the Igbos than military rule was. Ironically it was the much maligned President Olusegun Obasanjo that did most to reintegrate Igbos. He appointed Igbos to head the ministry of finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange was also Igbo (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Charles Chukwuma Soludo and Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike). Heading these three portfolios virtually left Igbos in control of Nigeria’s economy and monetary policy. That economic dominance remains as today Okonjo-Iweala has returned as Finance Minister, and Bright Okogu is the Director-General of the Budget Office.
 
In addition, Obasanjo appointed Fabian Osuji, Chinwe Obaji and Obiageli Ezekwesili (all Igbos) in succession as the Minister of Education, and Dora Akunyili as the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
 
Later, Obasanjo broke a taboo by appointing an Igbo: Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi (the son of Nigeria’s first military head of state, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi) as the Defence Minister. After Obasanjo left office his successor President Yar’Adua appointed Mike Okiro to become the first Igbo Inspector-General of Police in Nigeria’s history. When Okiro retired, he was succeeded by another Igbo – Ogbonnaya Onovo. Yar’Adua also appointed Ojo Maduekwe as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

~ http://www.gamji.com/article9000/NEWS9794.htm

"Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria's military head of state (1976-9) and President (1999-2007). His career is made the focus for a history of Nigeria's first fifty years of independence (1960-2010) and of African continental affairs during the same period (Obasanjo having been an active opponent of apartheid and an architect of the African Union). The most important African leader of his generation, Obasanjo has had an extraordinarily diverse career as soldier, politician, statesman, farmer, author, political prisoner, Baptist preacher, and family patriarch. As a soldier, he secured the victory in Nigeria's civil war. As military head of state, he returned the country to civilian rule. For the next 20 years he was ceaselessly active, before spending three years as a political prisoner. Released from prison, Obasanjo served Nigeria as elected President from 1999 to 2007, until his growing authoritarianism and his manipulation of his successor's election ruined his reputation among many Nigerians. This book argues that the controversial end to his presidency must be understood in the light of his earlier career. The author has used mainly published sources, especially Nigerian newspapers and political memoirs, as well as recently released FCO documents in Britain. John Iliffe is a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He retired as Professor of African History at Cambridge in 2006 and has published widely on African history including: A Modern History of Tanganyika; The Emergence of African Capitalism; The African Poor: A History; Africans: the History of a Continent; Honour in African History and The African Aids Epidemic: A History. Nigeria: HEBN (PB)".
~ John Iliffe is a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He retired as Professor of African History at Cambridge in 2006 and has published widely on African history including: A Modern History of Tanganyika; The Emergence of African Capitalism; The African Poor: A History; Africans: the History of a Continent; Honour in African History and The African Aids Epidemic: A History.

Former US President Jimmy Carter and Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1978.

THE BEST BOOKS BY GEN. OLUSEGUN OBASANJO (RETD)


 About the Author of this article:  
Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, aka Orikinla Osinachi, is a prize winning Nigerian writer, most prolific African blogger and he Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report Online, Nigerian Times, "Kisses 'n' Roses, TALK OF THE TOWN By Orikinla with other blogs and author of Children of Heaven, Scarlet Tears of London, Bye, Bye Mugabe, In the House of Dogs, Diary of the Memory Keeper, The Prophet Lied, co-author of Naked Beauty, editor of The Language of True Love and Publisher/Editor of NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® SERIES. 

He has written many articles, commentaries and news reports published byTechnorati, Blogcritics, Huliq, Yahoo Voices, Shvoong, Gather, Huffington Post,Face2Face Africa, Black Film Maker, Nigeria Films and Modern Ghana. 

He is also the social media consultant for the Transform Nigeria Network.

He was a project artist for the Johns Hopkins University's Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) at 21, An Art/Features Editor for the successful Kiddies World magazine at 24 and a National Program Consultant for the UNICEF in Nigeria at 25. He was the national curator of the 1993 World AIDS Day Art Against AIDS exhibitions at the National Museum and National Arts Theater in Lagos, Nigeria. He is currently working on launching iPost Nigeria, the first Nigerian owned video sharing news and entertainment website for all users of mobile phones and tablets in the world,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-jjMBCgthM and also launched Girls United Together for Success (GUTS), http://sowc2015.unicef.org/map-location/girls-united-together-for-success-guts/?mpfy-pin=22745.

 



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I Thank Former President Obasanjo ~ Ambassador and High Chief Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi

I thank former President Obasanjo for finding me suitable to take up the sensitive post of Minister of Defence at a young age.  I learnt a lot from him, being one of the founders of modern “digital” Nigeria.  Unfortunately, the matters I discussed with President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua did not materialise for reasons I will not dwell on here.  As a PDP member and a Nigerian, I remain committed to serve my country in the future.

Yes, the 2007 elections were flawed but democracy was maintained.  Well, that is a story for another day.

~  http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/aguiyi-ironsi-nigeria-not-a-failed-state/188991/

Ambassador and High Chief Thomas "Tom" Aguiyi-Ironsi is a former Minister of Defence of Nigeria and the first one from the south east. He is the son of former military leader, the late  Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, and was the ambassador to Togo before former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him to succeed Roland Oritsejafor as Defence Minister, Aguiyi-Ironsi is from Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State.

The diplomat served as first secretary in Geneva, Switzerland, between July 1979 and September 1982, and in Niamey, Niger Republic, from September 1982 to September 1984.  Aguiyi-Ironsi is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

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Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

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Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

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Article 3.

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

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Article 4.

• No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

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Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

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Article 6.

• Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

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Article 7.

• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

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Article 8.

• Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

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Article 9.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

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Article 10.

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

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Article 11.

• (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
• (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

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Article 12.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

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Article 13.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

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Article 14.

• (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
• (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

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Article 15.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

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Article 16.

• (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
• (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
• (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

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Article 17.

• (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

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Article 18.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

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Article 19.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

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Article 20.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
• (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

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Article 21.

• (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
• (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
• (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

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Article 22.

• Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

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Article 23.

• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

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Article 24.

• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

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Article 25.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
• (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

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Article 26.

• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

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Article 27.

• (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
• (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

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Article 28.

• Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

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Article 29.

• (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
• (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
• (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

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Article 30.

• Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

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White Collar Crime in Nigeria: Politician Blows Whistle on Alleged Bribes

Contributed by Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe & Belgore

February 16 2015

Elections are due to be held in Nigeria in March and April 2015, having been postponed from February. Federal elections (for the presidency and National Assembly) are due to take place on March 28 and state elections (for governors and state assemblies) are scheduled for April 11. Against this backdrop, an interesting story concerning an individual who is currently a member of the federal legislature and who had ambitions of becoming the governor of Delta State has been in the news.

This particular individual, who had been charged with corruption in connection with his membership of a committee of the federal House of Representatives in 2009 (he was discharged on a technicality in 2012), reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that certain "high-ranking members of the ruling People's Democratic Party" had demanded, and received, N750 million (approximately $4 million) from him as bribes in order to arrange for his nomination as the party's candidate for governor of Delta State. He did not win the nomination and observers are speculating as to whether he would have reported the alleged bribe demand (and giving) had he succeeded in securing the nomination. In the interim, "investigations" are ongoing.

For further information on this topic please contact Babajide Oladipo Ogundipe at Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe & Belgore by telephone (+234 1 462 2502), fax (+234 1 462 2501) or email (boogundipe@sooblaw.com). The Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe & Belgore website can be accessed atwww.sooblaw.com.

Source: International Law Office.

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Love in the Time of Cholera in Nigeria

A child receiving treatment for cholera in Nigeria.

While millions of other Nigerians are exchanging and sharing love greetings and gifts to celebrate the Valentine's Day, many families are mourning in Bayelsa and Rivers states in the Niger Delta as the outbreak of cholera claimed the lives of more than 56 people. But there was still a Valentine's Day party in Yenagoa and lovers will still flock to Bishop's Court Erepa Road in Yenagoa Sunday evening for the "Nite of A Million Laff, Season 2" with MC Koboko, other comedians and upcoming musicians. So, I am calling it Love in the Time of Cholera, using the title of the love novel of Gabriel García Márquez (1927 - 2014), the great Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. 

As I was at work yesterday and exchanging love messages and calls, I could not ignore the reports of the cholera outbreaks and the unfortunate victims who died before Valentine's Day and left their bereaved families harrowing in sorrow.  To these ones mourning their dead, any celebration would be meaningless to them, except the condolences of sympathizers. The love the others still on admission in the emergency wards of different hospitals need most is urgent medication to save their precious lives before it is too late. 

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Valentine's Day Saturday donated drugs and relief materials to the Bayelsa State government for the treatment of patients.  The commission has also donated medical supplies to the Rivers State government. 

In Bayelsa, the cases of cholera are in Sagbama Local Government Area (LGA) where the Governor Seriake Dickson comes from and also in Ologi community of Ogbia Local Government Area (LGA) and Southern Ijaw LGA of the Speaker of the Bayelsa House of Assembly. 

More than 171 cases of cholera have been reported in different communities in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State since the first week of January and some cases were reported in Anambra State in the south eastern region.

The outbreaks of cholera in Bayelsa, Rivers and other states in Nigeria show the failures of the government to provide safe water supply and sanitary measures for the poor. 
The president, governors and other government officials have been distracted by the crucial 2015 general elections and wining the elections means more to them than responding to the national emergency of cholera epidemic since 2010 to date. Cholera killed more than 800 people in Adamawa State in December 2013 as reported by Bloomberg. According to UNICEF Nigeria:

about 70 million people, out of a population of 171 million lacked access to safe drinking water, and over 110 million lacked access to improved sanitation in 2013. Open defecation rates, at 28.5 per cent pose grave public health risks. Every year, an estimated 124,000 children under the age of 5 die because of diarrhoea, mainly due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. Lack of adequate water and sanitation are also major causes of other diseases, including respiratory infection and under-nutritition. Every year, an estimated 124,000 children under the age of 5 die because of diarrhoea, mainly due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. Lack of adequate water and sanitation are also major causes of other diseases, including respiratory infection and under-nutritition.~ Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)

The best Valentine's Day gifts to give Nigerians is the UNICEF's Valentine's Day Love Bundle and the contesting politicians from the local government to the state house will gain more support when they give these bundles of love to the voters everywhere in Nigeria and help UNICEF to support the Nigerian government to provide more safe water and sanitation for our children who are the future voters and leaders of Nigeria.

Give UNICEF Love Bundle this Valentine's Day to share your love with the world's children. This thoughtful gift is a great alternative to the usual flowers and chocolates and most importantly, will provide vital supplies to children who need it most. Includes 100 pencils and 2 storybooks to help a lifelong learning journey to unfold, as well as 45 Therapeutic Food Plumpy' Nut sachets to provide children with nutrition and vital energy.


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Cholera Has Killed Thrice More People in Bayelsa State than Ebola in Nigeria

Photo: *Cholera patients at a hospital. Credit Vanguard Newspaper.

Facts don't lie.
President Goodluck Jonathan cannot be bragging about any success in health care in Nigeria when cholera has so far killed three times more people in his home state of Bayelsa than Ebola did in the entire country Nigeria.

Please, read the report "Cholera – A Country’s Shame" in the Vanguard Newspaper of Friday, 13 February 2015..

TWO ignored factors that emphasise governments’ insensitive to Nigerians – overwhelmingly unacceptable sanitary conditions and the abysmally low levels of access to medical services – have helped in the ricocheting cholera outbreaks. Contaminated water, unhygienic handling and poor food preparations are among factors that aid rapid spread of cholera. Its high mortality rate is evidenced by the number of States reporting deaths.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/cholera-countrys-shame/.

The death toll arising from the cholera in Bayelsa has reached 36, with six more persons reported dead in the Ologi community of Ogbia Local Government Area (LGA).
Ogbia is President Jonathan’s LGA of origin. Several persons, including women and children, are also reported to be in critical condition in the area.
Cholera a disease caused by poor access to potable water, is prevalent in endemic proportions in Sagbama LGA, Gov Seriake Dickson LGA of origin, as well as Southern Ijaw LGA, which is the LGA of the the Speaker of the Bayelsa House of Assembly. Observers say this is an indication that political office holders couldn’t care less about their own people.
http://saharareporters.com/2015/02/12/another-cholera-outbreak-hits-bayelsa-state-death-toll-now-36

It is embarrassing that both President Goodluck Jonathan and the governor of Bayelsa State have failed to provide sanitation and simple primary health care for the least populated state in Nigeria with only 1,704,515 people.
Because, cholera is cased by poor sanitation and poor primary health care system.
What is Bayelsa State doing with N173 billion annual revenue allocations?
Show me your home and I will tell you how successful you are.
The appalling deplorable state of Bayelsa is enough proof of the failures of President Goodluck Jonathan from when he was deputy governor and governor of Bayelsa to becoming Vice President and President of Nigeria since 1999 to date.

 
President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.

How can the federal government fail to provide potable water and simple primary care for in Bayelsa, one of the oil producing states in the Niger Delta with a population of less than two million people! And the state collects more annual revenue allocation than Lagos State, with a population of more than 21 million people! 



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Nigeria's 2015 Presidential Election: Contingency Planning Memorandum Update

Nigeria's 2015 Presidential Election
Contingency Planning Memorandum Update
Author: John Campbell, Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa 

 The success or failure of democracy, rule of law, and ethnic and religious reconciliation in Nigeria is a bellwether for the entire continent. With a population of more than 177 million evenly divided between Muslims and Christians, Nigeria is Africa's largest economy and most populous country. A 2010 Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Contingency Planning Memorandum, "Electoral Violence in Nigeria," considered the potential for widespread violence associated with Nigeria's 2011 elections and the limited policy options available to the United States to forestall it. This assessment remains relevant today.

 The 2015 elections again may precipitate violence that could destabilize Nigeria, and Washington has even less leverage in Abuja than it did in 2011. The upcoming elections are a rematch of the 2011 elections between the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan (a southern Christian) and Muhammadu Buhari (a northern Muslim and a former military chief). Tension between Washington and Abuja is higher than in 2011, largely over how to respond to the radical Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram, which is steadily gaining strength in northeast Nigeria. According to CFR's Nigeria Security Tracker, Boko Haram has been responsible for nearly eleven thousand deaths since May 2011. Nigerian domestic instability has also increased as a result of the recent global collapse of oil prices, which are hitting the government and political classes hard. Oil constitutes more than 70 percent of Nigeria's revenue and provides more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange. Since October 2014, the national currency, the naira, has depreciated from 155 to the U.S. dollar to 191.

Policy Studies http://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigerias-2015-presidential-election/p36087


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Gen. Muhammad Buhari's APC Change Campaign Moving Like Hurricane - PDP Insiders

Presidential candidate Gen. Muhammad Buhari (retd) speaking at a campaign rally.

The fears of losing the presidential election to Gen. Muhammad Buhari (retd), the popular presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) made the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency to force the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the 2015 general elections from February 14 to March 28.

Insiders in the PDP have been overwhelmed by the nationwide support for the "CHANGE" campaign of the APC and the increasing momentum left them in political quandary.
"The Change campaign is moving like hurricane," one of them said.

They have also noted the international disapproval of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration even after his government paid more than $1.2 million to Levick, a prominent PR and lobbying firm in Washington to boost his public image locally and internationally as he failed to rescue the kidnapped Chibok school girls since April 14, 2014.
According to Megan R. Wilson in The Hill on 06/26/14 06:00 AM EDT.

Levick will be paid $75,000 per month for its work, in addition to the extra costs of advertisements, video production and website development, and is working for the government through a state-owned media agency.

If members of the firm travel to Nigeria, there will be an additional estimated cost of $22,500 per person. A subcontract with Perseus Strategies is valued at $25,000 per month, bringing the monthly retainer to a total of $100,000.

The glaring failure of President Goodluck Jonathan to guaranty national security has become the Achilles heel of his administration.
He has become very unpopular among the majority of Nigerian voters, who have felt betrayed and disappointed by his administrative failures and large scale corrupt practices in his six years in office.

Former US Secretary of State, Senator Hilary Clinton said: "Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan has squandered oil wealth and has bred massive corruption." Therefore, Nigeria needs a President who can guaranty the security and welfare of the people and Muhammad Buhari, the presidential candidate of the main opposition is widely known as a fearless anti-corruption crusader and proven Commander-in-Chief who totally eliminated Islamic terrorism in northern Nigeria when he was the military head of state for only 20 months in the mid 1980s.

“He’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?” said former President Olusegun Obasanjo, endorsing Muhammad Buhari at the public presentation of his controversial new book "My Watch" in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, February 10, 2015. His endorsement matters most for the popular approval of Buhari, because Chief Ọbasanjọ, GCFR, is a former Nigerian Army general and military head of state of Nigeria in the late 1970s who also became civilian President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP and he is still one of the founding fathers and leaders of the party. 

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With 3 out of 4 Parents Admitting Their Kids Forget to Brush their Teeth

With 3 out of 4 Parents Admitting Their Kids Forget to Brush their Teeth  

Kids’ Healthy Mouths Campaign Continues to Encourage Kids to Brush for Two Minutes, Twice a Day As part of National Children’s Dental Health Month, Campaign Announces Video Contest Winners, Texting Challenge and Revamped Mobile App

PR Newswire, 

New York, February 10, 2015

To coincide with National Children’s Dental Health Month, the Ad Council and The Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives are extending their successful Kids’ Healthy Mouths campaign to encourage children to brush their teeth for two minutes, twice a day. Beginning today and continuing throughout February, the campaign will announce the winners of a national video contest. They will also introduce a new SMS texting challenge and new characters for their popular mobile app, Toothsavers.

In December, the Ad Council kicked off its first ever video contest with Zooppa, the world’s leading crowd sourced marketing platform for producing creative content. The Kids’ Healthy Mouths contest called on Zooppa’s community of over 27,000 amateur and professional video makers to leverage the existing campaign strategy to create their own videos showing parents trying to give important advice in just two minutes. The final videos were reviewed by creative directors at ad agency Grey New York and the Ad Council.

The Ad Council is pleased to announce the following videos as contest winners:
Eyes on the Ball (Sam Benenati), How To Weed The Garden (Joseph Binetti), Mime (Jason Kraynek), Birds and Bees (Jason Kraynek), Children’s Oral Health Career (Sean Tracy), Big Boy Time (Justin Pinder) and Sharing (Terrence Jones) with Let’s Change the Oil (Cynthia Bravo) and The Talk (Allen Baldwin) as early entry winners.

Created pro bono by Grey New York, the Kids’ Healthy Mouths PSAs stress that while most parenting is difficult to do in two minutes, such as learning how to cook or ride a bike, making sure kids brush for two minutes, twice a day is something a little simpler. The contest winners capture the spirit of the original PSAs and feature a lighthearted look at parenting today. The videos will be highlighted on the Kids Healthy Mouths social pages throughout the month of February.

“This contest and our Kids’ Healthy Mouths campaign celebrate the dedication of parents,” said Ad Council CEO and President Lisa Sherman. “This is one of our most successful campaigns because the message is simple and succinct, and the creative strategy is compelling and fun – while parenting can be challenging, this simple daily task is a bit easier.”

The mouth is the gateway to a person’s overall health, and an unhealthy mouth can be associated with obesity, diabetes and even heart disease. Additionally, while dental disease impacts all children, it disproportionately affects children from low-income families and minorities.

“While National Children’s Dental Health Month is a wonderful reminder that parents should be focusing on their children’s oral health, we want to make sure that caregivers are dedicated to healthy mouths all year round,” said Gary Price, Secretary and CEO of the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation. “We hope that our ongoing initiatives will continue to give parents the encouragement and guidance they need to teach their children lifelong oral health habits.”

In addition to announcing the video contest winners, Kids’ Healthy Mouths has various additional initiatives planned for the month of February including:

• Texting Program Challenge: Kids’ Healthy Mouths invites parents to join their free texting program which further supports the campaign’s main goal of encouraging parents to make sure their children brush their teeth for two minutes, twice a day. Texters can take part in a five-day family brushing challenge this month, and will also receive personalized tips and support. Text TOOTH to 97779 to join.
• Toothsavers App Update: The widely popular mobile app Toothsavers is getting an update this month with three new characters (Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, and Rabbit). The new characters will be announced on Kids’ Healthy Mouths social channels. Since its launch, more than 68,400 people have downloaded the app.
• Scholastic Partnership: Kids’ Healthy Mouths has partnered with Scholastic to continue to educate parents and teachers on the importance of brushing. Resources are available at Scholastic.com/HealthyTeeth for caregivers and Scholastic.com/2min2x for teachers where they can download lesson plans, activities, an oral health care book list, oral health care tips in English and Spanish, and a printable oral health poster.

Since the campaign launch in August 2012, media outlets throughout the country have donated more than $78 million to run the PSAs. Additionally, over 1.9 million people have visited the campaign website to learn more about the importance of children’s oral health.
For more information about the Kids’ Healthy Mouths campaign, visit 2min2x.org and follow the campaign’s social media communities on Facebook and Twitter.

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Campaign Partners

The Ad Council
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit http://www.adcouncil.org/, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or view our PSAs on YouTube.
Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives
The Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives is a coalition of more than 35 leading organizations in the field of oral health. The Partnership is committed to improve children’s oral health so that they can develop into healthy, productive adults. The coalition shares the view that no child should be in pain and suffer broader health issues or endure the social stigma and lack of opportunity resulting from untreated dental diseases and conditions. The coalition’s primary mission is to teach parents and caregivers, as well as the children themselves, to take control of their own health through oral disease prevention. A complete list of members of the Partnership can be found here.


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