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"Mr President please leave entertainers alone." Etcetera writes

Once again, Nollywood and President Jonathan are disconnected from the priorities of Nigerians. Millions are hungry and the country is headed off a cliff and what we get is the President having weekly dinner with celebs at Eko Hotel.
Mr. President should know that all entertainers in the country won’t amount to a spoon of water in the bucket of our population. I agree that our entertainers judging by recent behaviour are now seen as hungry men and women with insatiable appetite, but Mr. President, the larger part of the society are equally hungry and should be fed as well.
Why feed just the entertainers? Isn’t that discrimination? What will the entertainers say to Jonathan except the usual lies and half truths? Can a man with a mouthful of undeserved food speak or say the truth? 
An assessment of the lifestyle of these entertainers gives a false picture of the situation of things as it affects the society at large. I got your invite for the first dinner which held at Eko Hotel and I boycotted it because I felt that any event by the government at this point in time should be about reassuring the people that the government feels their pains deeply with promises of working tirelessly to bring an end to the underlying causes of such situations in this country, not getting together to eat small chops and samosa while most Nigerians are languishing.
It was very embarrassing waking up the next morning to see our shameless celebrities posing with their invites on social media which invariably means they are telling their fans and the masses who brought them to fame that they are enjoying the good life and everyone else can go to hell.
Any event by the government at this point in time should be about reassuring the people that the government feels their pains deeply with promises of working tirelessly to bring an end to the underlying causes of such situations in this country, not getting together to eat small chops and samosa while most Nigerians are languishing.

One entertainer jokingly asked why the President is having these dinners with (the same set of) celebs all the time. I wanted to attribute it to youth empowerment but on a second thought, If Mr. President has a genuine interest in youth empowerment, hosting a few entertainers doesn’t cut across as empowering the youth.

I think Mr. President has been wrongly advised that entertainers can be used to influence the Nigerian youths and electorate. These entertainers can’t influence votes within their families.
Another thing is, if Mr. President must have an interactive session with entertainers, he should consider a larger representation of entertainers from all parts of the country, not just those who ply their trade in the south. It will seem to most people that Mr. President is only interested in entertainers from the south. It is called the Nigerian entertainment industry not the South South and South East entertainment industry.
Has Mr. President taken over responsibilities of the Lagos State governor because he currently seems to enjoy greater visibility in the state than the governor and these visits come with a heavy cost to the state in terms of lost man hours caused by traffic along the routes to the event venue.
Streets are usually cordoned off by security personnel and a strange difficulty to use mobile phones in such areas, possibly because of the deployment of radio signal jamming devices by the operatives on guard in those areas.

Residents of Lagos shouldn’t go through this because their President is in town. I’ll love to tell Mr. President that service, not celebrities, delivers votes.
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Entertainment

Tres Chic! You will love these new photos of Rita Dominic

She is as strong in the style department as she is in the acting department, albeit this isn’t only about the outfit but the flawless look. Arguably the best dressed Nollywood actress, Rita Dominic looks youthful, fresh and chic in these new ‘commercial’ photos for Keystone Bank.
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Entertainment

I will never forgive Buhari – Afenifere leader.

Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has vowed not to forgive the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari for his past misdeeds against Yoruba leaders while he was head of state.
Speaking yesterday at the post-National Conference in Lagos themed, ‘Into tomorrow and beyond’, the 87-year-old elder stateman said, “Back then, Awolowo warned Shagari that his government would soon hit the rock if he did not put things in order. Shortly after, in December 1983, Buhari overthrew the government but the man that was speaking against Shagari was harrassed by Buhari.
He added that, “Buhari picked up 
all the Yoruba governors: Adekunle Ajasin (Ondo State); Olabisi Onabanjo (Ogun) and others, who were true progressives and locked them up.

“Somebody said I am a Christian and I should forgive Buhari but I said I cannot forgive such. Ajasin’s children say they have forgiven Buhari but I am not in their party, I can’t forgive him.”
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UCL Quarter-finals draw: See who your favourite team has been paired with

The official result of the Uefa Champions. League draw is out. Which quarter-final are you looking forward to most? For me it’s Real Madrid Vs Athletico Madrid. Some interesting tie there. Matches will be played on April 14/15 and 21/22 2015.
(1) Paris Saint Germain vs Barcelona
(2) Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid,
(3) FC Porto vs Bayern Munich
(4) Juventus vs AS Monaco
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Entertainment

Louis Van Gaal yearns for family life, says Man United job will be his last.

63 year-old Red Devil manager, Louis van Gaal has revealed that his Manchester United job will be his last managerial role in football. The dutchman who has had spells at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich is looking forward to returning to Portugal and spending quality time with his family.
“I have a paradise in Portugal. I want to quit to go there, play golf, eat fantastic food. There are very good wines in Portugal. There is the beach, the very beautiful weather. I don’t want to travel.

“Everyone wants to touch my body in the airports; it is always peeping because I have an 
artificial hip. I am the only one who has been controlled every time when we fly. I don’t like it. It’s better to sit down in my – our – paradise.

“I am also old. This is my last job. For sure. I have to pay attention to my kids, my grandchildren but also to my wife. They deserve it. Now I cannot pay that attention. I was not at the birthday of my grandson for example. I don’t like it.” He said
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Entertainment

Opinion: Nigeria Offers Blood Money Again | By: Abimbola Adelakun

After a year of seeming neglect of the victims of the botched Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment that claimed 15 lives and left many more maimed in body and soul, Nigeria has once again offered blood money in lieu of justice. At a recent event, President Goodluck Jonathan gave each bereaved family a cheque of N5 million and also handed out 35 employment letters to them, collectively.

Nigeria has that habit of throwing cash at issues that should be resolved through a deployment of state juridical apparatuses. In the wake of these tragedies, you hardly hear of any diligent investigation, rigorous prosecution, enactment of relevant legislation and heightened social conscientisation.

 Rather, Nigeria resorts to sating the grief of the bereaved families with cash; a way of also assuaging state officials’ conscience at having failed in their primary duty of protecting members of the society.

Let’s not forget that this sudden book of remembrance opened in favour of the deceased was most 

likely to have been inspired by the coming elections. 
Look everywhere, past acts of negligence are suddenly gaining currency and being shoddily redressed. From Borno State to Lagos State to Abuja, the government is making frantic efforts to be seen as government of the people and deserving of the votes of the people. 
The problem is, Nigeria has wronged most of us and if we all were to issue an invoice, the country will be bankrupt under the overwhelming weight of the receipts.
In 2011, after the post-election crisis that resulted in the death of nine youth corps members, there were neither arrests nor prosecution of those who committed that heinous evil. Rather, Jonathan resorted to also “settling” their families with cash and a promise-laden speech.
Truly, Jonathan instituted a 26-member committee – which would – turn out to be one of the many his government would- led by Sheik Ahmed Lemu to inquire into the cause of those acts of violence in northern Nigeria that claimed some 800 lives (according to Human Rights Watch) but not much came out of that effort.
The panel, in its report delivered on October 2011, particularly pointed out that the culture of violence in Nigeria is largely precipitated by the country’s persistent failure to enforce justice when violent crisis occurs.
As a result, the panel recommended that the President looked into certain past reports on incidences of civil disturbances violence such as the Justice Disu Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Plateau State Disturbances; Babalakin Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Bauchi State Civil Disturbances; Niki Tobi Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Plateau State Disturbance; Justice Sankey Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Wase and Langtang Disturbances; Karibi Whyte Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Kafanchan 
Disturbances; Professor Tamuno Panel of Inquiry on National Security and Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee. 
The Lemu panel asked the state to follow the recommendations of the aforementioned panels to prevent future reoccurrence of violence.
In all the discourse about the possibility of violence in this current election, not once have I heard the government mention its implementation of the suggestions of the Lemu report. 
It makes one conclude that really, it will never bother learning hard lessons when it is easier to just pay off people.
The case of the “NIS nine” is not the first and only time people will die in a stampede that occurs at large gatherings. When the Adoration Ground tragedy happened in Enugu in 2013, politicians blamed one another and left it there.
 We have seen poor people scrounging for food in Senator Bukola Saraki’s soup kitchen die and nobody is ever queried for what is most likely through attitudes of negligence.

Those deaths have happened through consecutive years but we have yet to see deliberate steps taken to prevent a recurrence.

 The best Nigeria does is thrust cash in the palms of the bereaved and urge the rest of us to move on, move the nation forward and put those “distractions” behind us and let old things pass away just like that. 
The wrap-up of the case of the “NIS nine” as done by President Jonathan is particularly immoral considering the road that led to the deaths of those young job seekers.

Here is how it all went down: A government agency advertises a recruitment for a vacancy of about 4,000 spaces, most of which have most likely been snagged by politicians and prebendalists close to political power.

This same agency sells application forms to between 500,000 and 600,000 candidates (there are no official figures) at the rate of N1000 each turning the exercise into one of the most disingenuous lotteries ever. The applicants were asked to congregate at various stadia all over the country where the tawdriness of the exercise resulted in tragedy when stampedes occurred at the venues of the exercise.
The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, under whose watch the whole disaster happened, in a bid to save his incompetent face, quickly blamed the victims for their own death. In a society where people have shame, leaders who fall into disrepute like Moro would enter their bedroom and never come out again but in Nigeria, leaders wear shame like a designer label. 
The House of Representatives said it would investigate the tragedy and that promise concluded its contribution.
So, why has financial compensation come up before a detailed inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths? Who was to blame for the deaths and what punishment has been meted out to such a person? Even worse, there has not been anyone owning up to the reality of unemployment in Nigeria. What we have been gifted with are lies, false statistics and barefaced abuse of figures!

Despite the President’s promising that this will never happen again, we know the likes of Moro have barely learnt their lessons. One might argue that the tedium of Nigeria gets to everyone such that we all just want to move on, far away from the many disasters that characterise our national existence and leave the dead behind. Yet, the reason they keep recurring is because we do not deal with them appropriately.
Rather than stampedes and similar disasters be accepted as acts of God, Nigeria needs to take some time to invest in organisational planning at both public and private levels. And the reality of that necessity cannot hit anyone until those who have been responsible for shoddy preparations in the past have been called to judgment. That is one thing blood money can never do. It can only take off the moral weight off the conscience of those responsible for the disasters but it can never prevent such occurrences from happening again.
Credit: thesheet.ng

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Entertainment

Short Story: Just a glass of Rubis….and the… | By: Ogechi Nwobia

You see, the things that get you in trouble are usually the things you spend your entire life avoiding but somehow, they manage to catch up with you. And then you wonder and ask yourself, how did this even happen? How did I get here?

My name is Bimpe and this is my story.
I’ve been dating Yazid for a little over a year now and it’s been great. We’re practically headed for the altar and I am madly excited about it. He is a fine boy with plenty Dubai Arab money to throw around and no, he does not hit me or bully me.

Yazid is just perfect. He is calm, soft spoken and somewhat reserved. I am the more eccentric and crazy one.
It so happens that Yazid’s dad for some weird reason doesn’t really approve of me. He’s of the opinion that women should be homely and quiet and “responsible” and all that old school kind of thinking. But my darling Yazid always rises to my defense and insists that he cut me some slack.
Yazid says we’re perfect for each other, we balance each other out. I appreciate that he does that because I know how close he is to his dad. They are more like siblings actually. It’s so weird.
Now, because I’m naturally crazy, I never take alcohol. I have always believed my madness would triple if I attempted liquor so alcohol has always been a no-no for me. I can get my groove on without any form of assistance, thank you.
It was Ameera’s ( Yazid’s baby sister) graduation, Yazid had thrown her a party in their family house and of course, I was there to raise the roof.
The party was bubbling and everyone was having a great time. I had danced till my feet hurt and I was really thirsty. I walked over to the table where the drinks were set out and tried to find some water. Ameera walked up beside me and drew me close in a hug.
“Sis! This party is aweesomeee! Thank youuuuuu!”
I laughed and removed strands of her Brazillian weave from her face.
“You’re welcome princess. But this wasn’t me. It was all your brother.”
She snatched up a bottle of red wine and passed it to the guy behind the table.

“Can you help me open it please?”
The guy smiled and nodded then she turned to me and said
“You’re drinking that with me.”
I laughed and shook my head.

“No darling.”
“Hell yeah! It’s my grad party and you’ve got to celebrate with me.”
I shook my head again but Ameera would have none of it. She cajoled and begged and insisted and then I gave in.
“It’s Rubis, it’s really sweet. Just one glass.”
“Alright! Fine! Just one glass.”
Ameera clapped both hands together in glee and giggled like a school girl. I shook my head.
The bottle returned and she poured some for me in a glass. I hadn’t eaten at all that evening and I was really tired from all the dancing so I promised myself it would not be more than one glass.
 As soon as I tasted the wine however, something changed. It was amazing!
Ameera kept chattering on and on and I kept drinking, one glass after another. Soon, I realized I could not stand right. My heels were suddenly uncomfortable. I took them off and held them in my hands. Ameera looked me over
“Feather weight! You okay?”
She laughed really loudly and I even thought I didn’t hear her clearly, whatever it was that she said felt funny so I laughed loudly too. I was a little dizzy and needed to lay my head down.
“I’m going back to dance.” This time, she yelled over the noise of the music and I heard her.
I nodded.
“Where’s Yazid?” I yelled back.
 I was dizzy but I wanted a kiss as well. My head was fuzzy and the signals in my brain were all messed up.
“Room!”
I nodded again and walked away, laughing and shaking my head. Ameera had done the one thing no one had ever been able to do. She’d gotten me drunk. I walked slowly up the stairs. Everything seemed to be moving, including the doors.
I finally located Yazid’s door and just opened it without knocking. My eyes went straight to the bed. He was right there cuddling some other lady.
I was in absolute shock. I froze.
I raised my hand and pointed my index finger at him stuttering and failing at coherence.
“Boo, wha.. what’s this.. that…that..wha…”

He got off the bed swiftly, anger burning in his eyes. The other lady just sat there and stared at me oddly.

I was stunned into silence by the stinging slap that hit my face and the voice that thundered
“What is wrong with you?!”

I blinked several times. There was something wrong with his voice.
The slap seemed to hit my reset button and my eyes opened clearly to see Yazid’s dad staring furiously at me.

Mega mess up.
I chanced a quick side look and realized this wasn’t Yazid’s room.
Shoot.
I opened my mouth to apologize but what came out instead was something that ruined my life.
I threw up. All over Yazid’s dad…

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Ogechi Nwobia writes flash fiction, lifemathics articles and run fiction series on her blog. She’s a people lover and a talkaholic.
Twitter: @Oge_writes

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Are you a writer? Interested in sharing your short stories on this
platform? Be our guest on our Short Story Fridays segment.
Email: ololade.olatunji@yahoo/gmail.com‎
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Entertainment

Mrs Buhari to Patience Jonathan, "Don't be afraid of jail".

Mrs Aishat Buhari, wife of the All Progressives Congress, APC’s presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari while addressing the people of Edo State today asked Dame Patience Jonathan not to entertain fear of being jailed if her husband wins the election.

Recall that Mrs Jonathan told women in Tuesday not to vote for Buhari saying she isn’t prepared to feed her husband in jail.

“These are digital women, not analogue.” She began. “Each zone of the country has its peculiar problem. For me in this zone, girl-child trafficking should be considered one of our problems, though I know there is unemployment. Unemployment is the major factor that contributes to brain drain and also the girl-child trafficking. General Muhammadu Buhari is a leader who led Nigeria some decades ago and he is coming back now to sanitise the system,”


She continued, “For those that are campaigning, saying that he is coming to jail Nigerians, I don’t know what their fear is. But they shouldn’t be afraid, because we are all yearning for change. 



The insecurity in the country, the very poor healthcare system, lack of education and other basic necessities that people are lacking I believe Nigerians need somebody like General Muhammadu Buhari now.

“Already, they have painted him black, using religion. I’m happy today that Nigerians realize that they use religion as a cover to loot Nigeria. Any politician who talks to you about religion is a liar, he only wants to loot the treasury and the little resources you ought to enjoy. So say no politics merging it with religion to deceive the people.

“I’m here today to let Edo women know that when my husband is elected into office as President, all these will be history. The insecurity, the girl-child trafficking, suffering of the widows in the South East will come to an end. There must be a cultural design that can accommodate the widow.

A design that would make the girl-child comfortable wherever she is in this country. She doesn’t have to leave her country to go and prostitute elsewhere, it’s not her portion. Her portion is to have a highly standard and moral society for her to live in. Get married, have children, train them and also mould them to become the future leaders.

“We are here today to also let you know that the collection of your PVCs is important and don’t ever sell it. It’s like selling your future. If you sell it for N5,000, you won’t see N5,000 again until after four years which will be bad. Get your PVC, vote for APC, vote for freedom, vote for a new Nigeria with good security, good education, good healthcare, good roads and all the basic necessities.” She concluded.
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Juliet Ibrahim & Emma Ugolee to lead Kidney Awareness Walk in Lagos

Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim and ex on-air-personality, Emma Ugolee who is battling with kidney disease and Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim will be headlining a Kidney Awareness Walk themed “Walk Against Kidney Diseases’ in Lagos on March 21, 2015.
The two-hour walk which is an Emma Ugolee and Juliet Ibrahim Foundation initiative will see celebrities taking off from a designated point in Victoria Island down to Cool FM office in Victoria Island, to talk more about public awareness initiatives about kidney related diseases and ways to reduce their risks. 
Emma Ugolee, former TV host with MBI over a decade ago had a hand in making celebrities out of a considerable number of Nigerian entertainers back then via his pioneer all Nigerian music video countdown .
Emmanuel has been battling with chronic kidney disease (CKD) for years now and revealed in a recent interview with Vanguard Newspapers in January that he has been living without kidney for 3 years.
Juliet Ibrahim is the founder of Juliet Ibrahim Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on creating awareness on kidney cancer and providing necessary interventions to ensure a society free of such issues in Ghana and Africa at large.
JIF understands that cancer, especially kidney cancer is preventable but not curable and aim at helping those in need of treatment in Africa.
They operate by offering awareness/education, treatment and other social needs that would help individuals dealing with kidney diseases.
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For Jega, the hour of reckoning draws near | By: Steve Ayorinde

Barely a week to the rescheduled presidential election, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, must be the most important man in Nigeria today.
But I do not envy him at this critical moment.
As the clock ticks from today, exactly a week to the day that campaigns will end for the presidential candidates, the countdown is not just for the election, which, without doubt, is fast approaching as the most keenly contested ever in Nigeria. 
It is as much a countdown on the fate of this former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The biggest issue that has become more recurrent since the postponement of the election on February 7 has been INEC’s preparation, with more particular emphasis on Jega’s insistence on using the card reader technology to accredit people with the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) on Election Day.
Several paid adverts and sponsored articles have come out in the past four weeks challenging INEC’s readiness and fault its claims on the credibility of the card readers. All these anti-INEC campaigns have directly emanated from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and groups apparently working for its interest.
If there was any doubt that the anti-INEC sentiments oozing out of PDP are indeed symptomatic of a greater desire to ease Jega out of his role as the electoral umpire, some important events have since revealed the real intention of those who are vehemently opposed to Jega’s procedure for these general elections.
The first was last week’s meeting of the PDP governors in Lagos, in which they were unanimous in voicing their reservations about the adequacy of PVC collection and the reliability of card reader machines.
They started with the plausible argument that if the elections had held last month with barely 65 per cent of registered voters collecting their PVCs and the card readers not yet tested in the full glare of the public, it would have been greatly flawed. But they soon descended to the controversial and outlandish when they argued that Jega’s insistence to proceed with the election could only be a ploy to rig PDP out.
The PDP governors say they are neither satisfied with the more than 80 percent PVC collection rate nor with the pass mark given to the mock election in selected states across the country to test the card readers.
What would suffice, if the election must hold at all, they say, is for both the PVCs and card readers to be jettisoned so that anybody with temporary voter’s card (TVCs) should be allowed to exercise his/her right.
Beyond the fact that a fortune had gone into the production and procurement of both the PVCs and card readers and that all the political parties originally endorsed the use of those technologies as a veritable way to curb electoral malpractices, there are inherent holes in the return-to-the-TVCs argument.
One, the collection rate for the TVCs during the 2011 and subsequent governorship elections in Edo, Bayelsa, Ekiti and Osun States was nowhere near 100 per cent and, in any case, barely half of those who collected their TVCs voted in the previous elections.
To argue, therefore, that because there are still several millions of PVCs to be collected, INEC should be forced to return to the use of TVCs, is being clever by half. It won’t guarantee huge turn-out; rather it can only give room for the type of manipulations that INEC seeks to avoid. If there have been errors in the registration and issuance of PVCs, the only way to correct it is to ensure fool-proof accreditation through the card readers.
Furthermore, what is the guarantee that many people without PVCs still have their TVCs or are still interested in collecting the PVCs if they know that as a result of temporary displacement, transfer from jobs, or relocation, they are not going to be able to vote anyway?
The excuse of the PDP governors doesn’t look like they are eager to help INEC reason through an acceptable resolution. It looks more like a fait accompli to force a replacement of the electoral umpire a few days to D-Day.
An attempt to give a bite to the governors’ position apparently was Monday’s protest by certain people under the aegis of Concerned Nigerians in conjunction with a faction of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) on the street of Lagos. Ostensibly, it was an exercise to express their support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.
But it turned out to be a camp
aign for Jega’s removal, as well as fear-mongering and a violent parade that witnessed the destruction of the opposition’s billboards and campaign materials.
Calling for the sack of INEC’s chairman barely 10 days to the election by this people does not necessarily seem like the president’s friends do not want the election to hold, but more like they would rather prefer it holds under the watchful eyes of a man who can promise that the ruling party will not lose.
Will Jega buck under the pressure to have him replaced or at least get his body language to assure the president that his interest is protected?
From the outcome of the meeting with the president and security chiefs in Abuja on Tuesday, it is apparent that Jega is determined to stand his ground. He has reportedly affirmed his readiness to conduct the elections on March 28 and April 11 and insists that the card readers remain the best options to guide against rigging.
It is curious that a government that has promoted the idea of fighting corruption through digital technology and a cashless society, which requires even the market women to embrace the use of ATM cards, is standing against the use of technology that it funded to curb electoral malpractices.
For sure, Jega is in the eye of the storm.
The clock ticks for him as it does for Nigeria. Will he be forced out of his seat as being widely speculated or will he break the jinx to become the first Nigerian electoral umpire to conduct two elections?
Since Eyo Ita Esua conducted the first post-independent election in 1964, none of Jega’s 10 indigenous predecessors has had the privilege of conducting two elections. And being the first Northerner to hold this position, Jega will be making history not only as the first to conduct two elections but as one who introduced the game changer that finally put a halt to election rigging in Nigeria.
Credit: Premium Times
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