#20MillionYouthsFor2015: Nigerians On The Match Again

January 2012 was remarkable in the history of Nigeria. It was the month that sent a message to those whose core merchandise in statecraft is insensitivity in policy formation and implementation. That month, Nigerians proved those who used to dismiss them as cowards wrong.  Our legendary docility gave way to participation. Our penchant for not caring to know how our resources are massively looted in government was jettisoned for a new found love for knowing: knowing how we get our revenues and how we expend same; knowing how much litres of fuel we consume per day; knowing the exact amount it costs us to feed our president. It was this quest for knowing, and insistence on having things done properly, that pushed us to the streets to protest the blank increment of pump price of fuel. It was hugely successful.

Those eruptions were initiated by mostly young people. Under the aegis of #OccupyNigeria, youths planned such protests that staggered the establishment andjolted the pessimists. That was a revolution we started, but lost it to our lack of form. We have thought it through, and seen that the battle to reclaim Nigeria demands a new approach. We have opted for a continuation of the revolution we started with #OccupyNigeria. It has a new name: #20MillionYouthsFor2015.

What are we about? We are an assemblage of young Nigerians whose primary aim is to change the course of governance, not from the sidelines this time, but from inside the system. We plan to build a membership of, at least, 20 million people -from every tribe and religion - who will participate in educating Nigerians about the need to destroy the existing order that is fast running our country out of existence and instituting a new order that will birth equity, fairness, justice and development for all. We will be partisan becausepolitics is too serious a business to leave for the politicians alone. We will participate fully in the politics of this country. Our army of 20 million people will organize themselves, pick intelligent, courageous, transparent and detribalized candidates for all positions in the 2015 elections and run their campaigns from ground up. There is no age limit, but leadership of the movement will be restricted to young people alone.

We are tired of just becoming critics. Aluta Continua isn’t one of our favorite quotes. We won’t continue with the struggle. WE SIMPLY WILL END THE STRUGGLE by ending the grip of the corrupt in our polity. We owe our generation the duty of saving this country, building it to become a force to be respected in the world, and passing down to our children a nation they can be proud of.

What makes us different from regular NGOs?Most NGOs are mere observers. We will not just observe. We’ll become actors in the system. We will build an entirely new country beginning from our internal processes. We have in our roadmap a system that makes power of the movement resident in the local communities. Our strength is in our membership system that replicates itself. It is called the CELL system. Every member MUST belong to a cell. Ownership is by everybody. Every leadership position is by popular votes. Bribery is abhorred and punishable by expulsion. Every member will be made to understand the importance of working hard for the movement. Our core duty is education. But we will not educate people from afar. We will bring them into our fold and educate them on citizenship participation. We have an enormous pool of human resourceswith which to achieve this aim.

Movement Ownership: Every member is an owner. The rules do not give room for one-man ownership. We have put every structure in place to make it impossible for the movement to become a one-man movement.

Modus Operandi: We’ll run like a world-class corporation. We have set up our system to operate like a frictionless machine, with the speed of an insurgency and the efficiency of a corporation. We’ll take advantage of the youth population in the country. We will aggressively recruit members. In fact, outreach is part of our rules.

We have found the solution. All we need to do is begin implementation. And that implementation commences the moment you sign on. It begins with you!

Our road map is available for people who are interested. 

Register online at: www.20millionyouthsfor2015.org;

Facebook: www.Faceboook.com/20millionyouthsfor2015

Twitter: @20millionyouths;

Email: Info@20millionyouthsfor2015.org

Electoral Promises: GEJ Nigerians are waiting

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan while campaigning for the 2011 presidential election made so many promising statements that earned him trust among Nigerians, below are most of them and some of them are not even being talked about 


This is from nairaland user "Demdem"

1. You Promised to rule for only one term (reference http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12339017)
As a man of your words or rather as you want to make us believe, PLEASE stick to this plan and pledge. 
I sincerely hope we will not have political jobbers, groups like Youths Earnestly Ask for Jonathan, Dbanj, Lagbaja, Sunny Ade all singing for your second term bid? I sincerely hope also, you will not come out and openly deny you didn’t make such promise or statements as you did about the zoning saga.

2. You promised a constitutional role for Traditional Rulers!!! I am short of words but Nigerians are waiting

3. On March 17th 2011, in Dutse the Jigawa state capital, you promised:"If I win the election, within my four years in office, I will establish domestic airports in all the states without airports, WE ARE WAITING.

4. In Nasarawa, at the flagoff of your campaign you promised at least a university in every state including building specialist almajiri schools to shore up education in the North so as to eradicate illiteracy. The Almajiris are waiting o!

5. On February 8th in Ibadan, the day you called some people "rascals", you promised to create jobs and improve the power sector. The OYO people and indeed all Nigerians are waiting!!!

6. On Feb 9th, you were in Bauchi and you promised to intensify oil and gas exploration in the North-East as part of efforts to harness resources for economic development. Also you pledged to boost agriculture, power and water supply for wealth creation and revenue generation. Then you assured that projects such as the Mambilla hydro-electricity, Jada irrigation project and Kafin Zaki dam in Taraba, Adamawa and Bauchi would be pursued to boost agriculture and industrial development. Then you promised that your administration would establish two universities in the region. The NORTH EAST PEOPLE ARE WAITING, 

9. You landed in Port harcourt on Feb 12 where you made alot of promises, maybe to woo your Niger Delta people. Be that as it may, you announced that the NNPC, in partnership with the private sector, would establish a petrochemical plant in the Niger Delta (you didn’t state where exactly). You promised the plant will create job opportunities for the Niger Delta youths. Then you went ahead to promise the implementation of Local Content Law and Petroleum Industry Bill. In case you can’t remember when you made all these, cast your mind back to the stampede that claimed some lives (where your wife called them martyrs).

10. In Kaduna- You promised massive transformation of the agricultural sector through construction of large dams and distribution of one million metric tonnes of fertilizers for the 2011 farming season (The rains are here already, so fulfill your promises o)
You also pledged to establish Almajiri model schools to address the challenges of the Almajiris. 

11. In Benue-You promised to revolutionize agriculture and establish industries in the country through a five-year plan (We need that Plan now so we can keep track, the five years have started counting already)

You also promised to complete the irrigation project in Otukpo. Then you promised that the second Niger Bridge and the Benue Bridge projects will  be worked on in the next four years. I think it’s better to start now so by April 2015, we trust you would have completed it.

12. February 17th, you were in Plateau where you made shocked the entire country with amazing promises.  First of all, you pledged to refocus on the solid mineral development of the state and make it one of the key revenue sources in Nigeria. The Plateau people are banking on you.
Mr President, You promised to  build more dams and complete ongoing ones, so as to boost agricultural growth. 

In addtion you promised to complete the Vom-Manchok-Jos road to boost economic links between Plateau and Kaduna states. You left the state and the Plateau people have been happy ever since and now that you have won, they are waiting

13. Mr President on Feb 21, you were in Kogi. You promised among other things promised that the dredging of the River Niger and Lokoja-Abuja road dualisation would be completed very soon. THE KOGI PEOPLE AND INDEED NIGERIANS ARE HOPING AND WAITING

14. In Kwara State on Feb22, you pledged that the irrigation project in Shonga would be completed soon to boost the commercial farming activities of the New Nigeria Farmers in the area. Mr president, remember you also said the Jebba-Mokwa road and Jebba bridge would be given adequate attention to ease transportation in the area. Kwarians are waiting!

15. On February 24, Mr. President, you pledged to rehabilitate ALL ailing industries in Aba. I believe all Abians are hoping on you to provide the enabling environment to do their businesses, you must keep your promises, 

16. Mr.President, on Feb 25th in Anamabra you said there is a plan to build a power station in the state, assuring that within the next four years your administration would construct and rehabilitate ALL federal roads leading to Anambra as well as the South East. You equally to provide potable water to the densely populated Onitsha and Nnewi cities and tackle erosion in the South-East. To tell you the truth, Mr. President, Anambrians are banking on you!

17. In Ebonyi state, you promised to dualise the Enugu-Abakaliki federal highway in addition to establishing  a secretariat for ALL Federal government's agencies and parastatals in Ebonyi. Mr. president, The people of Ebonyi has never had it so good since the creation of their state. Now, you have promised them the good life. Please keeep to your words!

18.  In Niger state, you promised the more power generation. Perhaps the most important aspect of your promises is that your government would map out a five-year strategic plan for road projects. (Please we are waiting for the Plan NOW!!!!)

19. On Feb 27, you were in Asaba, the Delta state capital. On that fateful Sunday, you revealed that “The NNPC is developing a new programme that will absorb about 5,000 youths, ”, Mr. President, Deltans are delighted at this REVELATIONS. While that number is a far cry from the number of unemployed youths in the state, at all at all na winch (as they say in Warri), so Deltans are waiting.

20. On March 2nd, you were in Ondo where you pronmised that roads and other basic  infrastructure across the states will be developed in four years. In addition you also promised the exploitation of the vast bitumen deposits in the state for national economic development and employment generation. The Ondo people are waiting. Your Four years have started already. You must start now.

21. On the same day, March 2nd, your campaigbn train was in Ekiti state. While there, you promised that more than N50 billion federal intervention projects were ongoing in the state. You can be rest assured that the Fayemi and indeed the entire Ekiti kete are waiting for you.

22. On March 9th, in Sokoto,  you promised to rehabilitate the abandoned Shagari irrigation project as well as reviving the nation’s rail system and fight the menace of desertification in the country. Sokoto people have sufffered for too long. This is your time to redeem your pledge, Mr President. The clock is ticking!!!

23.The date was March 12th 2011 and you were in Ogun state. 
Remember, the day you rode to Abeokuta through rail? 

Yes, That was the day you promised an improved power supply before the end of the year through the Integrated Power Project (IPP) initiative. 

You also pledged to build more refineries, encourage downstream activities, resuscitate rail transportation and create jobs. In case you have forgotten, that was the day that Gbenga Daniel (your South West campaign coordinator was booed by the Ogun people).

24.On March 14th, your campaign trained moved to Kebbi where you promised to establish a federal university next year (2012). You also promised to create jobs through science and technology, tackle environmental challenges and boost health care delivery.

25.Katsina, was your port of call on March 15 where you promised to enhance the living standard of Nigerians through implementation of people-oriented programmes that would provide citizens the necessary opportunities to realise their potentials. 

In my opinion, this was just mere rhetorics as you did not make any concrete promises. or did you have the premonition, you will lose in Katsina? I might just be right.

26.In Kano, you pledged to resuscitate the nation’s power sector and encourage the development of small and medium scale enterprises in the country while ensuring justice, equity and fair play in the polity.

Mr.President, Space and Time will not allow me to list the deluge of promises in Lagos, Osun, Borno, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Imo, Taraba, Jigawa, Edo, Bayelsa and Zamfara states. If you can accomplish all your promises in the next four years, then you will go down memory lane as the best President ever. I’m all honesty, I wish you GoodLuck!!


NIgerians are angry because they claim the president has deceived them and is taking them for a ride.

General Buhari: His records still speak for him

I was going through nairaland as usual when I found this post from a user called "OBEHIOYE"


" As a Nigerian under-30 who grew up in Warri I have been quite close to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and luckily so this has helped me understand some of the issues that come up in that industry.
I have also been very fortunate to have visit 3 major power stations as well as the “3” refineries in southern Nigeria while also ending up as an engineer so I can better understand and be part of this very lucrative industry.
It may not be a surprise but you should know that since after the late 70’s and early 80’s up until 2009 there has been no major infrastructural development  in Nigeria. No new power plants have been built and successfully commissioned nor has the foundation been laid for any oil refinery.
My visit to the ones I mentioned above turned up very interesting results as regards their capacities and operational efficiencies but mind you the visits to the power plants was conducted between 2004 and 2006 while those to the refineries were earlier.
While the PH refinery was operating at between 60-70% installed capacity at the time of my visit, the Warri plant was virtually non functional at that time. I was told that the crude line to the Warri plant was damaged (Vandalized) and so they couldn’t receive crude to refine and so they using the opportunity to do a mini in-house Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM). Not long after that visit the FGN also used the same excuse and officially awarded contract for the TAM to Chrome Oil Resources owned by Anambra business-man, Sir Emeka Offor. That TAM was never concluded and the refinery staff had to complete it on their own.
My visit to the three power plants showed that two of them had were operating at less than 40% capacity!! We were given the same excuse that gas pipelines had been vandalized and so they couldn’t get gas to run their turbines but I noticed that the turbines were very old with about half of them packed-up.
The most interesting thing I noticed on these visits was the name and dates on the commissioning plagues of these plants: Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo was the name while the dates ranged from 1977 to 1979. I immediately fell in love with Obj and when he became president later I silently wished and prayed he would perform the same magic until he began to scheme for 3rd term and that I couldn’t stomach.
When Obj failed bw 1999 and 2007, I tried to understand and then I realized and got to know that the master-mind of all those developments during his military stint was Brig. Gen. Mohammadu Buhari who was the Minister of Power and Energy during that period. Buhari it was, being in-charge of that ministry, built all those plants Obj had commissioned and I had visited.
We are also all aware of the magic that same Buhari performed as head the PTF, which ran a parallel government in Nigeria by getting JUST 3% of every litre of petroleum product purchased in Nigeria. Projects started and completed by the PTF are too numerous to mention here.
Buhari has never been indicted by any probe or inquiry as haven stolen any money. We have seen how prudent and useful the ministries and agencies he ran were yet we refused to vote him because we have been fed with lies upon lies that he was a religious bigot, he would make Sharia national thing etc.
The cesspool of corruption called Nigeria needs a man in the calibre of Buhari to run her affairs and the funny thing is in our heart of heart we all knew this yet we were afraid to take the bull by the horn and deliver that long-awaited change to Nigeria. Instead you all voted a man, so scared of public debates that he arranged his own private debate. A man who as deputy-governor and governor had no achievement to his name except a corrupt wife!
Unfortunately, Buhari has also hurt his credibility by the statements he made just after the elections. I would definitely vote for him again but for me he just should have appealed to the people instead of saying “the people have only reacted to cheating that was perpertuated”.
It’s rather unfortunate what our country has turned into, really very unfortunate that sometimes I think she’s irredeemable.
I just hope that we would have the courage to see through their lies and smiling faces and do what is right by searching the deep  recesses of our conscience and voting appropriately next time but for now let us live in peace with one another.
Cheers.

"

I was speechless after reading this, for how long will Nigeria be like this???

Occupy Nigeria, Agboju/Amuwo Chapter (in pictures)

It is no more news that the Nigerian government removed fuel subsidy on the 1st of January, it is also no more news that Nigerians have rejected the act and the the government is being stubborn and not listening to the people. We have taken to the streets and there is no going back till government listens to us. Occupy Nigeria started and it has been helped by organised labour making people stay at home.

The Gani Fawehinmi memorial park has been parked full since monday, we the youths of Amuwo Odofin, comprising of Festac, Agboju, Satellite town and its environs also started our own version for those who can't make it to ojota due to the restriction in movement. 

It has been three days and we are waxing stronger with support from law enforcement agencies and the masses. Below are pictures from the first three days.

 We had artistes like Sound Sultan, Baba Dee, W4, Rocksteady, Blackface naija. We are waxing stronger in our struggle and we won't relent in our efforts

PHCN to go: Professor Barth Nnaji

The tweet meet started past five, he actually came late as he was meant to start by 5 pm as earlier announced. He started by apologising.

Professor Barth started by responding to questions asked, saying there is a plan and it is captured in the power sector road map and that more licenses have been given out and that 40,000MW is targeted. He said there is no policy barring states from generating power that states and anybody can generate power. He cited Lagos and Rivers states as states currently generating power.

The high point came when he said PHCN will stop existing by 31^stDecember 2011, replacement wasn’t stated but he assured that all PHCN staffs will not lose their jobs that they will be absorbed by successor companies. PHCN corporate headquarter will be shut down, successful companies in distribution, generation and transmission will function. He went ahead to say a wind farm project in Katsina is expected to completed by the 3^rd quarter of 2012. He said there are a lot of policies on ground for prospective investors and that more information will be out by the end of January 2012. Someone asked about metre payments and he said NERC has been contacted and that they have removed extra metre charges.

He proceeded saying three coal-fired station are to be set up in Enugu, Gombe and Benue states with generative capacity of 1000MW each and that in addition, 2600MW hydro plant Mambilla Plateau state and 700MW in Zungeru Niger state. HE also said the installation of thousands of transformers across the country to improve power distribution is ongoing.

In his words “When we came at 2010, the generation was at 2800MW . We have improved it to over 4000MW”, “We have established the Nigerian Electricity Bulk Trading Company www.nbet.com.ng”, “We have re-established NERC, a strong regulator has been put in place to regulate the industry”, “The activities of the Bulk Trader are to act as a stand between the generating companies and the distribution companies”, “The activities of the Bulk Trader are to act as a stand between the generating companies and the distribution companies” , “We've gotten World Bank to provide the partial risk guarantee for gas and power. In support of the reform process”, “Increased power supply across the country as reflected in increase of quantum of 2800MW to over 4000MW as of today” ,“We have also got OPIC to provide a 1.5 billion dollars investment window to support the nigerian power sector” , “It takes 3-4 years to complete a power plant if all necessary things are in place.Based on this we project continuous improvements”, “You can also visit our website http://www.power.gov.ng/ to find out more about the activities of the ministry” , “CBN has provided the power intervention fund to support the power sector” , “The new tariff will provide a major incentive for new investment in the sector” , “We have paid PHCN workers N57 billion , have agreed on their 50% salary increase, agreed to convert 11,000 casual to regular staff”, “It is our long term goal that the Nigerian power market reaches a point of stability for a willing-buyer, willing-seller mode” .

He went ahead to say there will be new tariffs which will be announced by NERC next year arguing that Nigeria pays one the lowest electricity tariff in Sub Saharan Africa except Zambia. HE replied someone saying Nigeria supplies power to Niger, Chad and Benin.

He ended saying , “I want to assure Nigerians that we are doing everything necessary to boost power generation nationwide. It has been an engaging tweet-meet with you all. Further questions on other aspects of the reform could be forwarded to bart.nnaji@power.gov.ng.

The tweet meet lasted about an hour