Promhize: ^^^^ pls no one should reply that guy. Silence is the best answer

noted

@C_A_Lawan 5m
We are barred from entering the national assembly and these guys claim they represent us? #OurNASS

‏@cchukudebelu
The Nigerian legislature is a metaphor for "privilege without responsibility", what have they done? #OurNASS
@cchukudebelu
It's not too much to start by asking both houses to present detailed accounts of expenditure - what did they do with the money? #OurNASS
@cchukudebelu
Although I couldn't make it to the #OurNASS protests I support the move to ask questions about legislative excess. They are part of govt too

"@blcompere: We have about 200+ young folks out in the scorching Abuja Sun ready to ask #ourNASS."

‏@signetseal
#OurNASS: One march, five demands. 1) A comprehensive breakdown of their budgetary allocation of N150 billion for 2013.

@signetseal
#OurNASS: One march, five demands. 2) An account of the N1 trillion received since 2005 before the next recess in December.

@signetseal
#OurNASS: One march, five demands. 3) Demand our reps must be reachable! Nos, email addys& physical addresses of their constituency offices

@signetseal
#OurNASS: One march, five demands. 4)
ALL voting records on ALL constitutional amendments. Nigs have a right to know how their reps voted

@signetseal
#OurNASS: One march, five demands. 5)We demand the attendance list for each plenary be made public. Pix shw empty chambers on plenary days

@elnathan At the National Assembly. We will not be let in. Addressed the crowd about rules of engagement. Peaceful.

@egbas 11m
We are in front of the State Assembly RT @ojmagic: egbas where are you guys... Am at Alausa #OurNASS

Promhize: Pls where @ alausa is it starting

[size=14pt]Nigerians demand answers from National Assembly[/size]

Thousands of protesters plan to take to the streets in Nigeria's capital Abuja and across the country on Thursday. They are demanding more government budget transparency and an end to an ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which has left public universities shuttered since June.

The Enough is Enough Nigeria Coalition, one of the main groups calling for protests, is demanding more transparency, including a breakdown of how the National Assembly's N150 billion ($937 million) annual budget is spent.

Many online are focusing on the high salaries paid to members of Nigeria's National Assembly. Nigerian MPs rank among the highest paid in the world, earning more annually than members of the US Congress and the UK Parliament. They are paid an estimated salary of $190,000 annually, or more than 100 times Nigeria's GDP per person.

http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201309251958-0023066

@omojuwa
You need a critical mass of people to change things but you only need one person to start change. WILL YOU BE THAT ONE PERSON? #OurNASS

Not sure of PH but will let you know once I get the info

Titiluvly:

Fp plzzzzzzz!!..

Wat abt ph?

Promhize: Mods move this to FP now, nothing on FP since
More grease to ur elbow jare OP.
Where is the protest happening in Lagos?

Thanks for joining me here, it is at Alausa

Kano too is on

@mustysarina 2m
The protest was peaceful all around. Loads of chanting & frustrations around. The SUG, NANS & reps of ASUU were all present. #OurNASS #Kano

Abuja, Lagos and Oyo states live....

@EiENigeria Democracy actually has dividends. We need #OurNASS to ensure "dividend" doesn't stop at just being a DictionaryWord in #Nigeria

@fidelisMbah
It has cost #Nigerian tax payers about $32.5 million per Bill passed by federal legislators since 2011 based on yearly allocation. #OurNASS

N51.8bn is spent on members of House of Representatives for one year #OurNASS. Give education a priority

I'll be posting updates from Japhet Omojuwa's timeline as he's at the venue of the protest

I'll be posting updates from Japhet Omojuwa's wall as he's at the venue of the protest

easy on the insult, you don't wanna start a war with me, don't even try it

emmysenior:

Stop acting so daft. you don't have to quote the whole write up to pass your frivolous point across.

Coming up

In truth the cost of governance in Nigeria is tragically appalling. There are 112 million poor Nigerians living below the poverty line, some of them in abject, debilitating penury according to the national bureau of statistics; however our national assembly in a magnanimous show of self love pays itself a plethora of the following allowances Hardship, Constituency, furniture, newspaper, wardrobe, recess, leave, severance gratuity accommodation, utilities, domestic staff, entertainment, personal assistant, motor vehicle, vehicle maintenance and duty tour allowance.
For those who are familiar with social media, young people in Nigeria have decided to take the conversation offline; they have resolved to protest at the National Assembly. The three arms zone will receive those who are rightly the proverbial leaders of tomorrow in a bid to set Nigeria path to redemption.
With this action they have not only transited from the years of siddon look, but have also transited beyond what some call social media rants on Twitter and Facebook.
Stemming from a life time of military rule, some components of governance in Nigeria are still shrouded in a veil of utter secrecy. The opaqueness is so alarming that government after government have maintained the status quo irrespective of their progressive inclination. Take for instance the NNPC, perhaps one of the most opaque and shadowy organisations in the world with a labyrinth of accounting and auditing parameters, or other opaque government expenditures like the security vote, the ubiquitous financial pool to maintain law and order in states and local governments.
A while back at a convocation ceremony in Benin the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had raised an alarm in his speech where he challenged the deficit reasoning in spending a whopping 25 percent of the country’s budget on the national assembly. This singular action no doubt created a ripple in the polity.
The catalyst for this protest in my opinion was the Economist Magazine’s analysis that A Nigerian legislator receives an annual salary of about $189,000, equivalent of N30 million, which is 116 times the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per person.
Nigerian legislators beat their counterparts in Britain who take $105,400 yearly, as well as those in the United States ($174,000), France ($85,900), South Africa ($104,000), Kenya ($74,500), Saudi Arabia ($64,000) and Brazil ($157,600).
In terms of lawmakers’ salaries as a ratio of GDP per capita, the gap is even much wider. While the salary of a Nigerian lawmaker is 116 times the country’s GDP per person, that of a British member of parliament is just 2.7 times.
The report also said Britain’s legislators pay is “relatively parsimonious” when compared with that of their counterparts in poorer countries, including Nigeria, who “enjoy the heftiest salaries by this measure.”
According to the data, only Australian lawmakers, with $201,200 annual salary, receive higher amounts compared to Nigerian legislators, but their salaries are only 3 times their country’s GDP per person.
Other yearly salary details published by the Economist are those of lawmakers in Ghana ($46,500), Indonesia ($65,800), Thailand ($43,800), India ($11,200), Italy ($182,000), Bangladesh ($4,000), Israel ($114,800), Hong Kong ($130,700), Japan ($149,700), Singapore ($154,000), Canada ($154,000), New Zealand ($112,500), Germany ($119,500), Ireland ($120,400), Pakistan ($3,500), Malaysia ($25,300), Sweden ($99,300), Sri Lanka ($5,100), Spain ($43,900) and Norway ($138,000).
However, the RMAFC in a bid to do damage control has said described the lumping of all salaries and allowances into yearly totals as erroneous as some of the entitlements were “non-regular” and are paid only once in four years.
According to the RMAFC each Senator gets N 4 million while each House of Reps member gets N3.97 million. As vehicle loan each Senator takes N8 million, while Reps collect N7.94 million. The furniture allowance for each Senator is N6 million, while Reps’ furniture allowance stands at N5.956 million for each member. Severance gratuity for each Senator N6.09 million, for Reps, it is N5.956 million. Like the vehicle loan, severance gratuities are paid only once in 4 years. The commission however made it known that accommodation allowance is paid to each legislator every year.
Other annual allowances include those for motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance, for which Senators are entitled to N1.52 million each and their House of Reps counterparts pocket N1.489 million. Constituency, Senators get N5 million, Reps N1.985 million, domestic staff allowance for Senators amounts to N1.519 million while each Rep takes N1.488million.
Legislators are also given allowance for personal assistants, for each Senator, the figure is N506,600 while for Reps it is N496,303, for entertainment Senators take home N607,920 and Reps N595,563, recess allowance for Senators stands at N202,640 and N198,521 for Reps.
Senators get N607,920 for utilities as against N397,042 for Reps. For newspaper/periodicals N303,960 accrues to each Senator and N297,781 to each Rep, house maintenance for Senators, N101,320 and for Reps,N99,260 while wardrobe allowance for Senators is N506,600 and Reps are given N496,303 for the same purpose. .
The protest is not just about the National Assembly it is a metaphor for the sky rocketing cost of governance in Nigeria in the midst of such hopeless poverty, it is time the citizens of Nigeria begin to take Nigeria more seriously than complaining on radio talk shows, at vendor spots or hissing at passing motorcades blaring sirens. It is time to begin to take Nigeria back, it looks herculean, but it can be done.

http://pheesayor..com/2013/09/ournass-who-will-pay-hardship-allowance.html

I'll help you publicise this, moderators front page please

tyyworld: OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA (SAN), THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE ON THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN LASU


Dear Sir,

The issue of sexual harassment and misconduct by lecturers in Nigerian universities has always been reoccurring in some of our universities and many lecturers have been found culpable in this ignoble act to the detriment of students. So many students have been victims of lecturers' escapades and we can no longer keep quiet over this issue that has ruined the lives of many students who have been our classmates or school mates as the case may be.



At the Lagos State University (LASU ), Ojo, we have so many dedicated lecturers who take their job seriously and discharge their duties accordingly. But there are those who capitalise in sexually harassing students they are meant to teach. At the Faculty of Law in LASU, the Sub-Dean of the faculty, Mr A. O. Ogunseye is one lecturer who has been known to be involved in the victimisation of students and sexual harassment of girls.



Your Excellency, I want to bring your attention to this issue and the attention of Nigerians to what we are passing through in the hands of Mr Ogunseye because we are tired of this extortion, victimisation and sexual harassment by him.



He has been doing this for a long time and for over five years without any form of reprimand from the school management thereby causing many students grief, pain and delays in their academic pursuit. The Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Professor John Oladapo Obafunwa is a man of integrity and I believe that if he is aware of this act, he will not hesitate to deal with such lecturer accordingly. Mr Ogunseye has committed so many atrocities against we students in the Faculty of Law and I think it is time to let you and the whole world know that we have suffered enough in silence.


He gives many girls 5 points after taking them to bed and many other brilliant students who deserve to have 5 or 4 points he would deny them this and would give them 1 or 2 points at most, even when it is glaring that these academically sound students deserve more than what he gave them. He collects huge amount of money from students in order to falsify and upgrade their results for them. Recently, he told a girl doing her undergraduate programme in Law and who is supposed to graduate with a third class degree to pay him one hundred and fifty thousand naira in order for him to upgrade her grade to second class upper. But when the girl told him she didn't have the money, he advised her to sell her blackberry phone in order to bring the money to him. He is obsessed with money and sex and has slept with so many girls in the Faculty of Law in order to give them marks they don't merit and many of them have suffered too much in his hands.


He also collects two hundred and fifty thousand naira from some students doing their Masters in Law (LL.M) programmes in order to upgrade their score to a higher score or grade which they don't merit. Every year, Mr Ogunseye abandons his official duty and travels abroad and spends up to two months without leave or any approval from the faculty and he would assign his course to junior lecturers who are not competent to handle the course. His stock in trade is to continually extort money from students and he has agents who usually solicit on his behalf for other students to pay him money for marks. As a result of his dishonourable role in upgrading scores for students, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr Olatokunbo Obadina had to change the password of the portal used by lecturers in the Faculty of Law for uploading students' results so that Mr Ogunseye will not have access to carry out his despicable acts.


Mr Ogunseye was my project supervisor and for over four months he kept tossing me up and down and refused to approve my project even after collecting over ten thousand naira from me and despite all the efforts I put in researching, writing, re-writing and typing the project and all the money I spent in doing this. Later when I discovered he was not ready to approve my project and was only interested in continuing to extort money from me, I had to apply for another project supervisor, Barrister Gbenga Ojo, who supervised my project and approved it without delay and without collecting any money from me. But I had to write another project for Barrister Ojo since his own department is different from that of Mr Ogunseye.


It is so frustating the type of pain, both emotional and psychological, which Mr Ogunseye has put many students through. By his conduct, he is a disgrace to the Faculty of Law and the Lagos State University as a whole. People like this should not be entrusted with positions of authority because they end up abusing their power and corrupting the minds of young and upcoming students and jeopardising the future of many of them.


I hereby call on you sir, as the Visitor to the Lagos State University, to institute a proper and thorough investigation into this issue of sexual harassment, intimidation, victimisation, dereliction of duty and extortion by Mr Ogunseye, the Sub-Dean of the faculty of Law and if found culpable, he should be dealt with accordingly.


We recall that some lecturers were sacked recently by the University of Benin for these same issues of sexual harassment and extortion of students. Any lecturer who engages in this dishonourable behaviour does not deserve to be a lecturer and should be shown the way out of the university system to avoid bringing down the image of the university.


I hereby call on the Nigerian media to also investigate this matter discreetly using their tool of investigative journalism and I want the media to come to LASU Faculty of Law and interview many students on this issue especially girls who have been sexually harassed and abused on several occasions by Mr Ogunseye. This matter must not be swept under the carpet by the Lagos State government, the media and all well meaning Nigerians because enough is enough. We have suffered enough and we can no longer keep quiet in the face of flagrant abuses and misconduct by our own lecturers who should be role models to the youths.



It is my hope that this letter will be given adequate publicity by the media to let Nigerians know what we are passing through in LASU in the hands of randy lecturers even after the school fees were increased to a whooping two hundred and fifty thousand naira per student.

From: Adeshina Johnson.
Faculty of Law, LASU, Lagos.

It surprising no one has posted this here all these while, I'll try to post updates from the protest as they come from Abuja, Lagos and other locations.

“If our people lose the courage to confront what is wrong then we become collaborators.”
- Jerry Rawlings

“It does not require a majority to Prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”
- Samuel Adams

Objective:
Raise awareness about the disconnect between legislators and Nigerians and freedom of information requests to mark the International Right to Know Day (September 28).
469 men & women represent 170 million Nigerians.

Date: Thursday, September 26
Venue: National Assembly, Abuja

Similar protests to state assemblies in Lagos, Ilorin and Benin. More might be added.

Demands:
Peaceful march to the National Assembly with five demands, which are:
1. Immediate disaggregation of the National Assembly’s 2013 allocation of N150 billion.
Most Nigerians believe the entirety of the allocation goes to salaries for 469 people. Various members of NASS have publicly stated that this is false though some have also anonymously stated that they are overpaid.

SENATOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE MEMBER
Estimated salary per year N400 million N300 million
Estimated salary per month N33.3 million N25 million
Salary per month from RMAFC* N1.42 million N1.25 million
*Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) 2009 Report

The Economist magazine recently released a study showing that Nigerian parliamentarians are the highest paid in the world relative to GDP.
In a country where 71.5% of the population live under the poverty line (N300), their allowances are obscene.
HARDSHIP
Constituency
Furniture
Newspaper
Wardrobe
Recess
Leave
Severance Gratuity
Accommodation
Utilities
Domestic Staff
Entertainment
Personal Assistant
Motor Vehicle
Vehicle Maintenance
Duty Tour

The last disaggregated budget was in 2010 and it included some atrocious expenses. A summary table is below.

LINE ITEM BUDGET
Security Vote for Senate N1.259 billion
Refreshments & Meals N1.156 billion
Senate Admin N2.289 billion
Programmed Activities N9 billion
Total Goods & Non-Personal Services – General N31.742 billion

2. An account of income and expenditure of the over N1 trillion the National Assembly has been allocated since 2005.
There is a subsisting court judgement on this issue and our representatives in the National Assembly owe it those they represent to give an account of their use of our common wealth.

3. Make available functional email addresses, phone numbers and constituency office addresses for all members of the National Assembly.
Nigerian citizens should be able to reach their representatives.

4. ALL voting records on ALL the constitutional amendments made public.
Aside from the voting record on Section 29 4(b), none of the other records have been made public. For all Nigerians who are engaged in this review process, we deserve to know if our representatives voted in line with our wishes.

5. Attendance list for each plenary made public.
Pictures and videos from both chambers show considerable truancy. Nigerian citizens would like to know when their representatives attend plenaries.

Furthermore, ASUU is on strike to enforce an agreement.
The Federal Government is looking for N87 billion.
Based on available data, CJET under the Citizens’ Wealth Platform estimates that the National Assembly can operate with N25 billion per year.
So, for the 2014 Budget, the Federal Government will have an extra N125 billion, from which they can honor their agreement with ASUU!

We have every intention to be orderly and peaceful as we ask #OurNASS.

Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE Nigeria), Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth & Advancement (YIAGA), Reclaim Naija (Community Life Project), Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund, Say No Campaign

Freedom of Information Coalition, Beacons, SleevesUp, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Centre for Policy Advocacy and Leadership Development, Youth Alliance on Constitution & Electoral Reform, United Action for Democracy, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Original Inhabitants Descendants Association of Abuja (OIDA).

very very bad, yelling alone even makes some cry

oh.dude:
Yelling is bad!!!!! Preach it. I prefer u hit ur child with stick than yelling, its bad psychologically for the child and health-wise for the yeller. Nonsense Nigerians

We’ve all done it. Many of us grew up with it. But should we?
Your teen walks in 30 minutes past curfew. You’ve been worried sick and have worked yourself up. The minute she comes through the door, you yell, “Where were you? It’s 30 minutes past curfew and we thought something terrible happened to you. You are in trouble now!”
The above example isn’t harsh , but is could be depending on the tone. And that is what you want to be careful to avoid–harsh, verbal discipline that involves yelling, screaming, insulting or name calling. Had the parent added, “You are an idiot” or something along that line, that would have been worse.
Why is this a big deal? Haven’t parents been yelling at kids for years? Yes, but yelling at anyone isn’t terribly effective as a discipline method. Now and then, yelling isn’t a problem, but when it becomes your discipline method, it is. Even when yelling is done “in love” to help the teen, it backfires.
Harsh verbal discipline can cause depression and will increase the risk of the teen misbehaving. So the very thing you are yelling and screaming about could increase! Harsh verbal discipline does not work as an effective discipline tool.
A study published in the journal, Child development, found that over a two year period of study, parents who used harsh, verbal discipline had teens who were more depressed by age 14. They also showed problems like vandalism, misconduct , anger and aggression. Exposing kids to ongoing harsh discipline can fuel relationship difficulties and rebellion. And physical discipline of teens is really problematic. It tears at the respect you need to develop for each other.
The better option?
Educate, don’t humiliate with constructive consequences. For example, curfew violation could require a grounding for a few weeks. Late homework could equal the removal of a tech device for a short period until the homework is in on-time again. The idea is to teach responsible behavior, not scream at the problems.
So stay on them, but also praise often. You have to build up the positives in the relationship in times of non conflict. When you do encounter a problem, use “I” statements, explain your concerns, problem-solve and negotiate and set consequences. Think about keeping the relationship positive so you can work on problems together, not humiliate the person. This is good advice for any relationship!

http://pheesayor..com/2013/09/does-yelling-at-your-teen-work.html

George Essien has been a presenter with Larry Izamoje's Brila FM for many years. He finally bid goodbye and had this to post on his facebook wall:

"Hi everyone,As of this morning, the 25th of September, 2013, I no longer work with 88.9 Brila FM.
I thank Mr & Mrs Izamoje for the wonderful years of guidance, love and mentorship. But as with everything in life, change happens.
Which is why I want to personally invite you to one of my personal pursuits 'So you think you know Sports Nigeria' the first and biggest Sports Knowledge Contest in NIgeria, holding on the 5th of October, 2013 at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos. You can register by simply clicking http://gieartleads.com/membership/signup.

To everyone who has followed me on air for so many years, just get ready for the best in the years to come. I love you all.

What A Rush!"

Football fans will miss you on air, Mighty George, but the only constant thing in life like you have said is change, all the best in your future endeavours.

source:
http://pheesayor..com/2013/09/mighty-george-essien-quits-brila-fm.html

767 work effectively, when the suya spot behind my house was burning we called 767. They responded on time but came late due to distance (lagos fire service)

Not absolving the government of the blame of not fixing the bridge but the way these military men break the traffic law is alarming. You see two or more soldiers on a bike on the express without helmet. Is that bridge supposed to by passed by the soldier?
The LASG govt might defend the driver in court based on the state traffic law

Mr Aboki:


He fled out of fear.. Abi you dont know Nigeria again?! Talkless of a matter where the dead person now happens to be a soldier..



If this were a sane country, the guy would not have run..
The Biker seems to be a fault because from the looks of that picture, that road is not one on which bikes are allowed to to ply on.
The max the driver would face would be manslaughter.. And I doubt he would get any jail time.

A frontline NGO has released details of the various government offices and officials, as well as other organisations through which Nigeria is being milked dry by about 5% of her estimated 170 million population while the greater majority wallows in poverty and misery.

In the third of series of reports focusing on the rot in the country’s higher education, the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety) restated its earlier claim that the solution to the crisis in the Nigerian university system and the country’s higher education sector in general does not lie with the implementation of the 2009 Agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The group in a Public Information released from its Onitsha base in Nigeria’s South-East this morning also insisted that the “ASUU-Federal Government Agreement of 2009” is only “a smokescreen solution to the failed standard of higher education & socioeconomic consequences of industrial disputes in Nigeria.”

Said Intersociety in the Public Information jointly signed by Board Chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi and Head, Publicity Desk, Comrade Justus Uche Ijeoma:

“This is the continuation of our Public Information on how less than 5% of Nigerians continued to corner and pocket close to 80% of her public finances on annual basis especially in areas of spurious allowances and scandalous overheads. This less than 5% Nigerians comprises 17,500 top public office holders including 12,788 elected LGAs’ chairmen, their deputies and councilors from the constitutionally recognized 774 LGAs in Nigeria. Others are 1,695 elected officials at the 36 States and Federal levels including 72 governors and their deputies, 469 federal lawmakers, 1,152 States’ lawmakers and the President and his deputy.

“Also included in the list of 17,500 milky Nigerians are 3,062 appointed executives at Federal and State levels including about 472 federal executives excluding the president and his deputy already added above, about 2,664 state executives excluding 36 State Governors and their deputies already added above; 792 State Judges and 142 Federal Judges. The 14,445 milky Nigerians with other additions by the Salaries & Wages Commission bring the total number of those milking Nigeria’s public finances in the names of “allowances” and “overheads” to about 17,500. From the angle of “allowances” and salaries contained in the revised Pay Act of 2008 enacted for them, they pocket N1.13trillion (about $7 billion) every fiscal year with over 90% or over N900 billion going into payment of “allowances”.

“From the angle of “overheads”, which they allocate to themselves through “executive-legislature conspiracy” using Federal Appropriation Acts and States’ Appropriation Laws, they use them as conduit pipes to pocket spurious and scandalous sums amounting to trillions of naira or billions of dollars yearly. Part of these is now commonly referred to as “security votes”. An average Nigerian governor maintains a “security vote” of at least N4 billion a year. The security or defence budgets for Nigeria’s Presidency for 2012 and 2013 fiscal years amounted to over N1. 9 trillion or about $12 billion, which included personnel and overhead costs; yet nobody is secured in Nigeria except by divine intervention. The “security votes’ malaria virus” in Nigeria has since been extended to other holders of top public offices such as LGA chairmen and leaders of their legislative councils, chief judges of the States, FCT and Federal High Courts and their equivalents in Islamic and Customary Courts, President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice of the Federation.

“Others are speakers and their deputies at States and Federal levels including the President of the Senate and his deputy, heads of key government ministries, parastatals and commissions, chairmen of the governing councils and vice chancellors, provosts and rectors of government-owned higher institutions, heads of key security agencies, to mention but a few. There are also over 35,000 personal aides working for these 17,500 milky Nigerians on average of two for each of them. Some of those occupying plum elective and appointive public offices maintain as much as six aides each. These over 35,000 personal aides are serviced monthly through scandalous allowances smuggled into public budgets and Pay Wage Act with each of them taking home at every month end frivolous allowances ranging from N30,000 to N100,000 or more. It is estimated that between N1 billion and N3.5 billion is spent monthly in the maintenance of these personal aides and between N12 billion and N42 billion a year to foot their bills. The least political appointee recognised by the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 is “special adviser” for governors, presidents and their deputies.

“But in practice, there are “special advisers” for legislators and their leaders, ministers, commissioners, heads of key public commissions and parastatals, etc. There are also motley of “senior special assistants”, “special assistants”, “executive assistants”, “personal assistants”, to mention but a few. The introduction of motley of “allowances” described in different names by public industrial bodies like ASUU, ASUP, SSANU, NLC, NUT, TUC, NMA, etc, and agitations through industrial strikes for their payment is predicated upon the foregoing. In Nigeria, striking bodies also include academic staff and non-academic staff associations for universities, polytechnics/monotechnics and colleges of education; and associations for government primary and secondary schools, medical practitioners, nurses and midwives as well as bodies of clerical office attendants such as NLC and senior civil servants bodies like TUC, etc. Nigeria labour force has one of the lowest labour productivity and highest corruption indexes in the world.

“Following from the foregoing including the part one and two of this important public information, it is now indisputably established that the 2009 ASUU-Federal Government Agreement is far from having a concrete answer to the battered and failed standard of higher education in Nigeria. Nigeria, in abundance of plenty has continued to wallow in confusions of various social variables. The hydra-headed monsters of corruption, scandalous governmental running costs including spurious overheads and allowances have been solely responsible for socioeconomic downturns including battered standard of her higher education in Nigeria especially since 2007. In the 2011 fiscal year, for instance, Nigerian Government generated $24.54 billion or about N3.9 trillion and spent $32.65 billion or about N5.2 trillion (CIA World Fact Book 2012).

“Beyond these man-made socio-economic challenges hurting and hunting the country, Nigeria’s higher education policies are utterly awkward and retrogressive. The carrying capacities of the country’s 297 higher education institutions are very minimal, manual and unscientific. For instance, the 297 higher institutions in the country do not have up to 3 million students. The 124 accredited universities have student population of under 2 million. On average of 20,000 students for each of the 74 Federal and States’ Universities, the 74 universities’ student population is under 1.5 million. On average of 6,000 students for each of the 50 private universities, less than 400,000 student populations abound. And on average of 5,000 students for each of the 173 colleges of education, polytechnics and monotechnics, less than 900,000 student population abounds. This is against the UK Open University’s 193,000 student population made up of “full time”, “part time” and “electronic/distance based” students. Ninety percent of those that take part in the Nigerian higher education entrance examinations are denied admission and out of every five that get distinction in the pre-university exams marks, three are denied admission.”

http://pheesayor..com/2013/09/those-milking-nigeria-dry.html

The death toll from last week’s attack in Borno State that saw insurgents dressed as soldiers, set up checkpoints and gun down travellers on a highway, has risen to, at least, 142.
Abdulaziz Kolomi, an official with the Environmental Protection Agency in the state said, yesterday, that “we recovered 55 bodies on Wednesday and 87 on Thursday”. The previous toll from the attack late Tuesday in the Benisheik area was 87.
The insurgents, suspected to be from Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram, also burnt scores of homes and buildings in the assault and left corpses littering the roadside.
The motivation behind the assault was not immediately clear, but Boko Haram members have repeatedly carried out revenge attacks against residents over the emergence of vigilante groups that have been formed to assist the military.
Army General Mohammed Yusuf, who briefed the state governor, Alhaji Kassim Shettima on the attack, said troops ran out of ammunition while combating the assault, adding that the insurgents were armed with “anti-aircraft guns.”
In one of the latest known attacks, Boko Haram fighters armed with Kalashnikov rifles, rocket launchers and homemade explosives reportedly raided Yadi Buni Town in Yobe State on September 18, setting fire to a makeshift police station, telecommunications masts, parts of the local government headquarters and the home of the divisional police head, whose wife was burnt to death inside the building.
Son of the Yobe Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youth leader was also reportedly killed, while one soldier and nine sect members died in an ensuing shoot-out. On September 17, some 143 commuters were killed and several abducted when well-armed Boko Haram gunmen in military fatigues and bullet-proof vests ambushed vehicles along the busy Maiduguri to Damaturu Express Way in the early evening, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), an advocacy group investigating the situation.
Travellers were reportedly asked to produce their identity papers, then were lined up and shot. One survivor was quoted as saying that people from the BornoState capital, Maiduguri, were singled out for execution. The gunmen went on to overrun Benisheik Town, 75 kilometres (44 miles) west of Maiduguri, killing around 14 people and torching over 100 homes, businesses and vehicles, CSW said.
It quoted one report as saying that most of the dead were members or otherwise associated with the Civilian Joint Task Force in charge of fighting militants, and were beheaded. Three policemen and two soldiers were also reported to have died in what were seen as reprisal attacks by Boko Haram against those opposed to them.
The phone network in Borno has been switched off since the emergency measures were imposed, a move the military said was aimed at blocking the Islamists from coordinating attacks.
Some have suggested that the lack of phone service has prevented civilians from sounding the alarm during attacks. It has also made it difficult to verify information from the region.

http://pheesayor..com/2013/09/borno-attack-troops-ran-out-of.html

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday announced Alhaji Abubakar Murtala of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the State House of Assembly by-election in Ringim Constituency of Jigawa, held on Saturday.

The INEC Chief Returning Officer, Alhaji Umar Sani, said that the PDP candidate polled 22,431 to defeat his close rival of All Progressive Congress (APC) who scored 11,533 votes.

The re-run poll followed the death of the former Deputy Speaker of the state assembly, Alhaji Inuwa Udi in a road accident in August.

Sani said that a total of eight political parties participated in the by-election.
Reacting, a chieftain of the APC, Alhaji Farouq Aliyu, alleged irregularities in the election, saying APC had been robbed of its electoral victory.

Aliyu said the party had written a petition to INEC challenging the results of the by-election.
He alleged that election in some polling units were inconclusive because of the violence that erupted in those areas.

http://pheesayor..com/2013/09/pdp-defeats-apc-in-jigawa-assembly-by.html