The premier SHOWDOWN of the much anticipated talk-show/debate-“The Nigeria of Our Dream” (The N.O.D.) begins on 27th April, 2013.

This maiden weekly event will feature The N.O.D. Executives, Human Right Activists, Nigerians online, Friends of Nigeria, Leaders & Delegates from other Reputable Organizations, Nation Building Experts & Strategists. More so, the talk-show promises a healthy debate and the end result will have a great impact in Nigeria’s development in the nearest future. A copy of the BLUEPRINT will be published worldwide after each debate.

Time: 7pm; Venue: www.facebook.com/groups/thenigeriaofourdream (online)

DISCOURSE 1: Decline in purposeful LEADERSHIP; bane of Nigeria's woes.

LEADERSHIP is one of the topics that feature most prominently in public discourse in Nigeria lately. The irony of it all is that it remains one basic requirement in the management of human society that is grossly in short supply, particularly on the political arena. The political manifesto has become a list of promises that are not meant to be kept. The well-being of the masses is no longer the reason for aspiration into public office. Hardly would you find someone whose reason for taking up public job is to help improve the system. Today, ‘the leaders’ are more interested in their personal comfort and material security as against giving out their best to lead the people to where they long to be.

On Obasanjo’s assumption of office as a democratically elected president, however, he carefully classified the ills afflicting the country and promised to deal with them decisively. Hopes were raised and expectations were high. There was the general belief that the economic devastation of the 16 year of military loot would give way to an era of prudent management and prosperity but this was not to be.

After the demise of Yar’Adua, Jonathan whom the people had entrusted their vote in the 2011 general election started off with same people on a bad note by afflicting the them with a CRUEL increment of the pump price of PMS by almost 100%, thereby worsening the already low living standard of the populace. As if that was not enough, up to date, the innocent masses are still being mercilessly killed by the boko haram sect because of somebody’s irresponsibility and the general selfishness and wickedness on the part of the politicians. If leadership was at it ‘average level’ in Jonathan’s government, suicide bombings would have been contained or curbed to the barest minimum…Let’s not exhaust all the points here; see you at the SHOWDOWN for further discourse!

MODERATORS of the event are:

-Nuhu Gidado-Member of BoT (Abuja)
-Aderogba John-Member of BoT (Lagos)
-Ogunyemi Dayo-Member of BoT (Ondo)
-Ijeoma Nebe-Member of BoT (Lagos)
-Ukan Kurugh-National Executive (Lagos)
-Queeneth Ndudim-National Executive (Lagos)
-Inno Oriri-International Executive (Ireland)
-Sheila Sloan-International Executive (Ireland)
-Jewel Enebeli-State Executive (Delta State)
-Jonathan Ogbu-State Executive (Zamfara State)
-Ann Padua-The N.O.D. Corp (Phillipine)
-Lil’Oyinz Macfeez-The N.O.D. Corp (Malasia)

Special Guests of Honour:

-Dele O. Olawale (Coordinator @Nigerians United Against Corruption).
-Isqil Najim (Cordinator @International Corps for Community Development: I-Corps)
-IG Wala (Founder @Nigeria Youth Leaders & Entrepreneurs Initiative)
-Adesoji Adebisi (General Secretary of Patriotic Forum)
-Raymond Eyo (Political Analyst)
-Pamela Braide (Strategist & Member @Spaces4Change)
-Samuel Taiwo Brown (General Secretary @Fabian Society of Nigeria)
-Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri (Executive Director @Spaces4Change)
-Daniel Aremu (Founder @Nigeria Youth Democracy Coalition)
-Femi Adeoya (Executive Director @Patriotic Forum)
-Abdulrasaq Hamzat (Nigerian Ambassador @International Human Right Commission)

Featuring:

*The NOD Executives
*The NOD Corps
*The NOD General Assembly
*Nigerians @Large, Friends of Nigeria & The International Community

Initiator & Organizer;

Gata Harrison (President & Founder @Greenlight Youth Empowerment Initiative)
Email: harrison.gata@glyei.org
Website: www.glyei.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/GataHarrison
Blog: www.glyei.blogspot.com | www.gataharrison.blogspot.com | www.9jamg.com
Group: www.facebook.com/thenigeriaofourdream
Page: www.facebook.com/nigeriayoungscholarsforum

For further enquiries please call:
-08039363011(Aderogba John-General Secretary), or
-08069082285(Ukan Kurugh-Publicity Secretary)

Nigerians complain of discrimination in Mumbai, India

Sheeba Rani has been ostracised by many friends and relatives for marrying Nigerian Sambo Davis

Africans staying in and around India's commercial capital, Mumbai (Bombay), complain of indiscriminate racism and constant police harassment, reports the BBC's Zubair Ahmed.

Nigerian Sambo Davis is married to an Indian woman and lives in Mumbai. All his documents are valid, but he was arrested by the police recently on suspicion of being a drug dealer.

He and 30 other black Africans were detained for hours before they were let off with an apology.
But the following day, Mr Davis said that he was shocked to read in local newspapers that they were "arrested for drug peddling".

"The police treat us Africans like dogs," he says. Mr Davis claims he often faces discrimination when he goes to restaurants or when he tries to rent an apartment in gated middle-class communities.

 

But he is nevertheless one of the lucky ones. He found a decent flat to rent, thanks to his Indian wife.

But his fellow countrymen, he says, still face discrimination: "When they go to rent flats in a normal building they are told - 'you are a black man, you are Nigerian, and you are not wanted'. This is racism."

'Hide and seek' There is no official data on how many Africans live in Mumbai, but since India's economic progress gathered momentum in recent years, many have come to work in and around the city. Unofficial estimates put their numbers at more than 5,000.

Most of them are engaged in exporting garments to Nigeria and other African countries.
Many others are students, enrolled in the region's prestigious educational institutions.

But there are also hundreds of Africans, mostly Nigerians, who live as illegal immigrants in India. They have either "lost" their passports or their visas have "expired".
Every day, these people play hide-and-seek with the police - if they are caught, they are sent to jail.
Ikeorah Junior from Lagos runs a cafe for Africans in a crowded market on Mumbai's Mohammed Ali Road.
"I don't understand why they [police] have to go from house to house to arrest the people who don't have their papers. If they don't have papers, then deport them, don't put them in jail," he says.

Ahmed Javed, who is in charge of maintaining law and order in the state of Maharashtra, says it is not that simple: "In most cases they have no passports. So, unless their nationalities are determined, they cannot be deported."

Dozens of Africans have taken up residence on Mira Road, a dusty, nondescript town just outside Mumbai.

One "illegal immigrant" there asked me for money, claiming he had not eaten for two days.
He looked worried and told me that he had been approached by drug dealers to work for them.

"I have been here for three years - my visa expired a long time ago. I want to go back home. Please help me, brother," he tells me.

In this neighbourhood, Negro or kaalia (black in Hindi) are the two words indiscriminately used to describe all black people.

"We call them Negro because they are black. They look frightening," says one woman.
"They don't find homes to rent in Mumbai, they only stay in Mira Road. Why? Because of the way they behave. They sell drugs and indulge in other illegal activities. They cannot be trusted," a local man commented, seemingly unaware of the offensive nature of his words.

'Embarrassed and ashamed' Against such a backdrop of pronounced prejudice, Sheeba Rani married Sambo Davis four years ago and the couple have two children.
Mrs Davis says her parents are enlightened Christians and they blessed them because they thought the marriage was God's wish.
But, she says, she has been ostracised by many friends, relatives and society since her marriage.
Mrs Davis is "embarrassed and ashamed" by the behaviour of the Indian people towards black Africans.

"When I used to go to a mall or if I walked with him, I always wanted him to hold my hand. But when people saw me with him, they thought I was from a bad family or even a prostitute."
Earlier, she did not understand why black people were being looked down upon, but now she says she does.
"Because our society is obsessed with white skin. If I had married a white man, I would have gained more friends and society's approval too."

Mr Davis believes that the discrimination is solely "because I am a black man".
"It's because I am from Africa, I am a Nigerian. I think Indians see us as inferior."
Yet despite the discrimination they face, nearly all Africans the BBC interviewed said they had a soft spot for their adopted country.
They say the relations between India and Africa are "rock solid". Many argued that Indians and Africans are brothers.
"We look after Indians in our countries. They have become rich there. All we want here is for Indians to understand we are not drug dealers. We are not violent. We are just like them."

Source: BBC

Gegenge ---> Police at it again: Army, police fight in Ibadan

There was pandemonium at Mokola area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday as men of the Nigerian army engaged the police in a shootout.
It was gathered that the army were reacting to the attack on one of their men at Mokola by some unknown policemen on Wednesday.

The army and police fired several shots into the air scaring members of the public.

Attempts are being made to get reactions from the police and the army.

My people be calm, hv got solution to d Police Killing watch for my article of d solution soonest..

2014 GUBER ELECTION: ABUJA IMPOSITION OF OMISORE FURTHER DIVIDES PDP OSUN

The National Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reportedly adopted Senator Iyiola Omisore as the gubernatorial candidate of the party for the 2014 governorship election in the State of Osun, the decision which most of the members of the party in the state described as a continuation of the culture of impunity and disregard for internal democracy.

According to sources within the PDP the national caucus has also appeased former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade to drop his gubernatorial ambition and become Omisore’s running mate.

Akinbade, who is also a governorship aspirant under the PDP, has not acceded to the deputy governorship candidate offered him, according to informed sources.

It was gathered that that the PDP’s national caucus adopted Omisore’s as the party’s flag bearer last week following the directives from the presidency. President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have consented to Omisore’s candidature, making it difficult for aggrieved members of the party to protest the decision of the national caucus.

Information has it that President Jonathan adopted Omisore following the report from the National Secretariat of the PDP that the former Senator has both human and financial resources to challenge the re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

Bioreports  reliably gathered that Omisore earned the loyalty of the president and the national caucus of the PDP by allegedly compromising the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) to falsely accused Aregbesola of planning to turn Osun to an Islamic state.

However, the decision of the PDP’s national caucus did not go down well with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and majority of the chieftains of the party in Osun State, said sources.
Bioreports checks further revealed that Omisore’s adoption has further worsen the crisis rocking the PDP in the state, revealing that some of the party loyalists have vowed to drop the party if Omisore is eventually foisted on the party as its governorship candidate in the 2014 election.

A worried PDP member of the PDP, told Bioreports under anonymity early in the week in Osogbo that the national caucus has committed a great error by adopting Omisore as the party’s flag bearer.
She argued that Omisore lacks the credibility and the goodwill to contest with Aregbesola’s popularity, stating that majority of the PDP members are not even in support of the Ife born politician.

Meanwhile, the state executive of the PDP was said to have thrown its weight behind the decision of the national caucus. The development has further  worsened the factional crisis of the PDP in the state, as loyalists of  other governorship aspirants of the party, particularly Akinbade’s faction have rejected the decision of the national caucus.

The PDP chieftains are calling for a level playing ground through the conduct of a primary election for all the gubernatorial aspirants of the PDP, rather than the selection and adoption of Omisore by the national caucus.

Nigerian Leaders in the New Millenium

Beginning from 1999, here's a review of Nigeria Leaders until date.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo


Obasanjo was born on march 5, 1937 in Ogun state. He grew up in Owu Abeakuta, and enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1958. He trained at Aldershot.

A military city and centre in Hampshire, Southern England.he was a chief of staff during Murtala  R. Mohammed regime before he named as a military leader in the country.He was the first military leader in the country to hand over power to the civilian government. He became the elected president on May 29, 1999.He also conducted the country first civilian to civilian hand over on May 29 2007.He is the only Nigerian to have ruled twice as a military and later as elected leader..Political Party, People democratic Party, Spouse Stella Obasanjo(deceased)


Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'adua



Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (16 August 1951-5 May 2010) Yar’Adua was born into an aristocratic Fulani family in Katsina; He stated his education at Rafukka Primary School in1962. In 1971 he received a Higher School Certificate from Barewa College.

He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria from 1972 to 1975, attaining a Bsc in Education and Chemistry, and then returned in 1978 to achieve an M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry.
Professional Career: Yar’Adua’s first employment was at Holy Child College in Lagos (1975-1976). He later served as a lecturer at the College of Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria, Kaduna State, between 1976 and 1979. Board Chairman of katsina State Investment and Property Development Company (KIPDECO) between 1994 and 1996. Yar’Adua served as a director of many companies, including Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd.

Presidency: In the presidential election held on 21 April 2007,Yar’Adua won but strongly criticized by observers, as well as the two  primary opposition candidates, Mohammed buhari of all Nigeria peoples party (ANPP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress(AC). After the election, Yar’Adua proposed a government of National unity. In late june 2007, two opposition parties, the ANPP and the Progressive Peoples Alliance(PPA), agreed to join Yar’ Adua’s government. On 28 June 2007, Yar’Adua publicly revealed his declaration of assets(becoming the first Nigeria leader to do so).This disclosure, which fulfilled a pre-election promise he made, was intended to set an example for other Nigerian politician and discourage corruption.



Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan



Jonathan was born in Otueke in Ogbia Local Government Area of the then eastern region, later River State, now Bayelsa State.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours, Upper Division.He also holds an M.Sc in Hydrobiology/Fisheries biology and a Doctor Of Philosophy(Ph.D) in zoology from the University Of Port-Harcourt. He is married to Patience and has two children. Jonathan is an Ijaw.

Presidential Race: In December 2006, Jonathan was selected as running mate to Umaru Yar’Adua for ruling PDP presidential ticket in April 2007 election.
Vice Presidency: Following the PDP’s disputed electoral victory, militants blew up Jonathan’s country house in Otueke Bayelsa State on 16th May; two policemen were killed in the attack.Jonathan was not present at the time, after taking office, Yar’adua publicly declared his assets, and on 8th August 2007, Jonathan also did so.

Action President: On 13 January 2010, a federal court handed Vice-President Jonathan the power to carry out State affairs in the presidents continued absence. On 9 february 2010, the Senate determined that presidential power should be transmitted to the Vice- President.He will serve as Acting President, with all the accompanied powers, until Yar’Adua has returned to full health. The Power transfer has been called a “coup without the word” by opposition lawyers and law makers.Jonathan remains the Acting president while Yar’adua continues ro recover.

President: Following Yar’adua death on 5th May 2010.Jonathan was sworn in as Yar;adua’s replacement on 6th May 2010, becoming Nigeria’s 14th head of state. He will serve as president until the next election.He states that he came to office under very sad unusual circumstances.On 18thMay 2010, the National assembly approved President Goodluck Jonathan’s nomination of former Kaduna’s State Governor, Nnamdi Sambo an architect, for the position of Vice- president on 17th March 2010.Jonathan dissolved the country’s cabinet while he appointed his own cabinet.
Elected President:  On 16th  April Jonathan emerged as elected president, and was sworn in 29th  May 2011.The election was marred by bloodshed and the death of ten Corp members killed by suspected Boko Haram gang members.

Meet Nigeria's Leaders From Independence (1960) till 2003

1960 - 1975		1975 - 1983		1984 till date
Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister 1960-1966 Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, Head of State 1966 Gen Yakubu Gowon, Head of State 1966-1975 Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, President (Ceremonial) 1960-1966		Gen. Murtala Mohammed, Head of State, 1975-1976 Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Head of State 1976-1979 Alhadji Shehu Shagari, President, 1979 -1983		Gen.Mohammad Buhari, Head of State 1983-1985 Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Head of State, 1985-1993 Chief Ernest Shonekan, President 1993 Gen. Sani Abacha, Head of State 1993-1998 Gen. Abubakar, Head of State, 1998-1999 Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President, 1999 - 2003

Nigeria, We Hail Thee!

Nigeria, we hail thee, Our own dear native land, Though tribe and tongue may differ, In brotherhood we stand, Nigerians all, are proud to serve our sovereign motherland.

Our flag shall be a symbol, That truth and justice reign, In peace or battle honoured, And this we count as gain To hand on to our children A banner without stain.