Apolitico.com

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday affirmed the Nigerian government's commitment to ensure timely delivery of the landmark Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas (AKK) pipeline project within budgetary allocation and specifications. Speaking at the virtual flag-off ceremony of the project at the Ajaokuta, Kogi State and Rigachikun, Kaduna State camp sites simultaneously, President Buhari said the project was very dear to the people of Nigeria and must succeed.   The President, therefore, directed the NNPC and partners to remain focused, noting that the AKK project is part of the delivery of the present administration’s Next Level Agenda for sustainable development, enhancement of economic prosperity and increase of the country’s infrastructure assets.   Governors Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna physically flagged off the commencement of works at Ajaokuta and Rigachikun sites, while the President watched remotely via video-conference from the Council Chamber in Abu...

By Habu Dawaki “There is something that is much more scarce, something finer, something rarer than ability. It is ability to recognize ability”                          -  Elbert Hubbard                                                              Motivation is the act of inspiring others to be what we know they can be, do and have. It is the ability to help bring out the greatness in others. You know most humans tend to see only the worst in others and themselves, as such; they devalue rather than promote what they carry. I believe we need to breathe hope into peoples lives - our children, loves ones, friends, neighbors and the world around us.  If you believe you are destined to do great things you must be careful who you associate with. The people we should ...

By George Udom LOOK AT TINUBU's CABINET AS GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE Lai Mohammed, Chief of Staff from Kwara. Yemi Osinbajo, Attorney General from Ogun. Wale Edun, Finance Commissioner from Ogun. Dele Alake Commissioner for Information from Ekiti Rauf Aregbesola Commissioner for Works from Osun State. Ben Akabueze, Commissioner for Budget and Planning from Anambra State. Femi Lanlehin, SA from Oyo State. Aurthur Worrey Commissioner for Land from Delta State. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, third term Federal House of Representatives member, Representatiing Ikeja Federal Constituency - From Kogi State To name a few. For the eight years that he ruled Lagos, he hired several guys to work with him. Apart from using them to work in his government, he also groomed them politically. Twelve years down the line, see where those Tinubu guys are today - 1. Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN was Tinubu's Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. He is today, Nigeria's Vice President. 2. Rauf Aregbe...

 By Hakeem Bello “BRF is a genius at breaking it down, laying it all out. When he goes on project tours, he stops to ask the artisans and food vendors on the site about how the project has touched or is touching their lives. And that’s what government communications should really be focusing on: telling and showing the actual impact / outcomes. Not just the contract sum (input) — which is what tends to make the headlines, the media love these numbers — but also the “stimulus” effect on ordinary people and communities and neighbourhoods.” - Tolu Ogunlesi, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital Communications, on “Lessons in/from public sector communication” Right on the money. The stories told by these Nigerians - Abu, Sunday and others during BRF’s tours, can fill a book, but much more than that, they tell a story: Impact.  In 2017, Mallam Abu, a labourer at the site of the Gombe State National Housing Programme, told Fashola that he had worked at the site ...

The   International Monetary Fund (IMF)   has predicted a gloomy global economic recession for 2020. The body said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a more negative impact on activity in the first half of 2020 than anticipated, and recovery is projected “to be more gradual than previously forecasted.” The fund today said the global economy is expected to contract 4.9 per cent this year, 1.9 per cent below the April 2020 World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast. For 2021, the fund anticipated growth of 5.4 per cent, down from the 5.8 per cent that it earlier forecast. While giving its April projection, the fund   warned that the global economy is plunging into its deepest slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s   adding that governments and health officials must work together to prevent an even worse outcome. In an update to the WEO, it said economic data released since April suggest “even deeper downturns than previously projected for several economies.” It said for e...

Bola Tinubu I am still looking for any National or State Chairman of any political party whether ruling or not that has completely solved all the problems in the party. Even if the party is just a week old. The Chairman has been a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the party. He has steered the party through difficult elections. His contributions should not be undervalued now that the bulk of elections are behind us.  To do so would be an act of ingratitude. The [coup] plotters launched their attack solely because they perceive the chairman as an obstacle to their 2023 ambitions. In a well-structured society, people come to understand that the time for politics is seasonal; it is periodic. The responsibilities of governance are what are perpetual. Many of our politicians sadly have inverted this reality. We even had a National Deputy Secretary improperly calling for an NEC meeting on the basis that he believed himself to be the acting National Chairman.  Clearly, this man w...

Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary will hold today in the 192 wards across the 18 local government areas. Two aspirants – Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Dr. Pius Odubu – are participating in the direct primary election, which a Court of Appeal in Benin on Thursday technically cleared to hold. Ize-Iyamu, the 2016 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to APC in December and was on May 21, cleared by the ruling party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to contest the  election. More details later...

By Habu Dawaki “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes” Oscar wilder, 1892. High achievers both past and present are not those who never make mistake but those who never dwell on them. They know that we are all mere mortals and making ommissions, bad judgments and misteps is part of life's journey. Moreso, as humans everyone has weaknesses and limitations which can only be overcome as we grow.  One of the tragedies of life is those who carry heavy burdens of anger, hate … and lot more of what those supposedly close to them have done. As a result you find them disconnecting themselves from the very people they need to help them reach their destiny. They forget that the best of men are still men not angels; that we all make mistakes; that we are not perfect and we should create little rooms in our hearts for forgiveness and improvement. Why should we hate people who have been so good and kind to us because of one or two errors in judgment, actions, choices, ignorance...

It is clear by now that   Adams Oshiomhole’s suspension   may not put Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the path to peace. Many Nigerians, rightly or wrongly, see Mr Oshiomhole as a major obstacle to stability in APC, even though the party’s crisis appears deep-rooted and beyond the suspended chairman. But he is a part of the problem, nonetheless. It is about four months to two crucial governorship elections – the Edo election in September and Ondo, October. The events that happened in less than 24 hours after the Court of Appeal ruling on Mr Oshiomhole is an indication that the APC crisis has just moved on to the next level. Shortly after the court ruling, the APC announced the Deputy National Chairman (South), Abiola Ajimobi, as the acting chairman of the party. The next day, the deputy national secretary of the party, Victor Giadom, backed by a court order, declared himself acting national chairman of the party . And then, like a game of ping-po...