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a perdurable a day, helps you sleep, work and play

FGN ~ 200bn Coop Societies Fund Trapped In CBN For 10 Years.

The Federal Government has said it will begin
to access the N200bn Cooperative Societies
fund, which has been trapped in the Central
Bank of Nigeria for 10 years.
Under the arrangement, which will take off
soon at the zonal, state and local government
levels, people will be able to establish small
and medium scale businesses and rely less on
the government for the provision of jobs.
Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and
Values, Dr. Sarah Jibril, said this in an interview
with Saturday PUNCH during the inauguration
of the first batch of National Youth Vanguards
on Ethics and Values and public presentation of
the Code of Conduct handbook.
Both were initiatives of the Centre for the
Promotion of Ethics and Values, a non-
governmental organiation.
In her speech at the event, the Executive
Director of CENPEV, Dr. M. J. Sokomba,
regretted “the continuous downward trend of
morality due to breakdown of ethics and
values, standards and accountability, which has
been of great concern to many Nigerians.”
According to Jibril, the government cannot be
“talking to people and preaching ethics and
values on empty pockets and empty stomachs.”
She said, “Government must be accountable to
the citizens through economic empowerment.
“The CBN has been holding the over N200bn
because we have not been organised and have
not been able to take off. The CBN is, however,
now happy that Nigerians have been able to
organise themselves for this exercise.
“The N200bn is for economic activities. It will
assist people to establish small and medium
scale businesses.
“It is multiple; it is not only for social and
economic development but also to make
people self-reliant and to be actively useful to
themselves, their families and the society at
large.
“If people are too busy, they will have no time
for crimes that will ruin their own businesses.
We really have to emulate other countries of
the world.
“Asia is moving from being a third world
country to a developed nation because the
government helps to develop the people
through economic cooperative societies that
will now make them to leverage on
independence and self-reliance.”

WOMEN YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME MEN ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE...

1. If he calls you and your phone is off, he
thinks you’re cheating….
then he sends sms saying “don’t tell me the
battery story cuz I know that line”
2. If u TREAT him nicely, he says u are TOO
IN LOVE
If u Don't, he says u are PROUD
3. If u DRESS NICELY, he says u are trying to
LURE other men
If you DON'T, he says u are RURAL.
4. If u ARGUE with him, he says u are
STUBBORN, too manly
If u keep QUIET,he says u have no BRAINS,
a walk over;
5. If u are SMARTER than him, you’re a
SHOW-OFF
If he's SMARTER than u, he is GREAT.
6. If u don't LOVE him, he tries to POSSESS
u
If u LOVE him, He takes you FOR GRANTED.
(very true huh?)
7. If u don't MAKE LOVE to him, he says u
DON'T LOVE him
If u DO, he says you are CHEAP...
8. If u tell him your PROBLEMS , he says u
are TROUBLE
If u DON'T, he says you don't TRUST him.
9. If u SCOLD him, u are treating him like a
CHILD
If he SCOLDS u, it's because he CARES for u.
10. If u BREAK your promise, u cannot be
TRUSTED
If he BREAKS his, it is circumstances beyond
his CONTROL. (yea rite!)
11. If u SMOKE, u are a BAD girl
If he SMOKES, he is GENTLEMAN.
12. If u do WELL in your career, it's LUCK
If he does WELL, it’s definitely BRAINS.
13. If u HURT him, u are CRUEL
If he HURTS you, you are too SENSITIVE !!
14. If u send this info to guys, they will
swear that it's not true...
but if you don't, they say u are selfish...
HOW ARE WOMEN SUPPOSED TO GET IT
RIGHT? ?
We know we're sometimes hard to please
but keep trying please.

Ibrahim Advises Govt To Devalue Naira.

The Group Managing Director, Energy Group
Conglomerate, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, has advised
the Federal Government to devalue the naira
in order to mitigate the impending global
financial crisis projected to occur in 2014.
Ibrahim spoke at the Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, where he donated a
multimillion naira postgraduate college
building complex named after him, on
Thursday.
According to the business mogul, the entire
world will witness real financial crisis in 2014
up till 2018 – owing to financial meltdowns in
some economic sectors of Britain, United
States of America and other parts of Europe.
Specifically, he said a slide in home equity
investment in the US and indebtedness in
British banking sector coupled with two per
cent recession in France and economic
challenges in other parts of Europe posed a
real threat to global economy.
He said, “I know that my suggestion will raise
criticisms. Some people will query why I am
saying this. But the entire world is in financial
crisis. The financial crisis will start in 2014 and
it may last till 2018.
“The housing sector will be affected in the US
and many banks will go under in Britain. We
are looking at how the US is going to react to all
this.”
Ibrahim cautioned the Federal Government
against assuming a self-sufficiency profile that
would give a wrong signal to donor agencies
that all is well with the country.
He also advised the government to ensure that
“no bank in the country goes under,” adding
that “the private sector should be encouraged
to create jobs.”
He said, “The Federal Government should
mitigate capital flight. There is the need to
encourage investors to spend their money in
the country.”
He explained that a foretaste of the financial
crisis was already manifesting in Europe and
the US with laying off of thousands of workers,
urging the Federal Government to take
proactive steps.
Ibrahim recalled that the projected budget
estimate of the Federal Government stands at
N4.8trn, adding that N2.7trn of the budget
would be spent on recurrent expenditure while
N1.7trn would be used as petroleum subsidy.
The philanthropist, who said N800bn would be
left for capital expenditure, warned that if the
country’s budget witnessed a 25 per cent
budget slide, “there will be no budget to pass
down.”
The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing
Council, OAU, Prof. Rowland Ndoma-Egba, and
the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof.
Bamitale Omole, commended Ibrahim, who is
an alumnus of the university.
Both Ndoma-Egba and Omole called on the
alumna of the university to take a leaf from the
example set by Ibrahim.

What MKO Abiola Told Me About June 12 ~ Son, Lekan .

Lekan Abiola was interviewed, Read Below;
What do you think about the annulment of
the outcome of the 1993 presidential
election which your father was believed to
have won?
Of course, I was very disappointed and I felt a
sense of betrayal because IBB was someone we
knew very well. This was somebody who
assured the nation that he was leaving, how can
he do that? If all along, he knew that he had no
intention to leave, why did he allow my dad to
go all the way, do all the campaigns and spend
all that he spent? He could have told my father.
But as a family, we have forgiven him; we have
taken it as act of God.
Have you had an opportunity to speak with
IBB since then and what transpired?
Yes, I met him (IBB) about three years ago and
we discussed. But he could not explain much
but that he himself regretted what happened
and that the whole situation was out of his
hands. He said that his hands were tied and
that there were many things that he could not
discuss. He said we should let bygones be
bygones and to bury the hatchet.
Wednesday will make it 20 years since the
historic June 12 presidential election was
held. Where were you when you heard
about your father’s death?
I was in the United States when I heard the
news. We were preparing to watch a World Cup
game between Brazil and Holland. I had
expected my father to have been released. I
was expecting a call. I went to pray and when I
came back, I saw all my friends who had
gathered together to watch the game but they
were all looking gloomy. Instead of the
television to be tuned to a football channel, I
noticed that it was tuned to CNN. I put all of
these together and asked ‘is my father dead’?
They replied that they were just finding that
out. It was really shocking because we were
expecting that he would be released. Instead,
what we got was the news that he was dead.
And remember that my mum had died two
years before, so losing both parents on the
same issue hurt very much. It was painful for
all of us but more painful for some of us who
are Kudirat’s children, in particular, because his
death meant that we had lost both our parents.
So, where do you start from? It was a disaster;
the worst case scenario.
Why do you consider yourself luckier than
your siblings?
The last time I saw my father alive, he was in
detention and there were about 10 of us – all
siblings – waiting to see him. It was at the
police commissioner’s office in Abuja. This was
like four years before his death. We were there
waiting and we had waited for like two hours. I
remember thinking to myself that when daddy
comes out, I would like to be the one that he
would see first. Like five minutes after I
thought of it, they all left, some to get drinks
because we were all thirsty. Almost
immediately they all left, they brought my dad
out and I had my wish because I was the only
one there. It was after like 10 or 15 minutes
before others came back. I had an extra 10
minutes with him and you can’t buy that with
N1 million. That was the last time all the 10 of
us that went saw him. Before they came, my
father and I chatted and joked one on one. He
had a beard and I said ‘daddy, this beard fits
you’. It was totally black and he had always
been clean shaven; that’s why I said I was
fortunate to have that extra moment with him.
The last time you saw your father, when you
had about 10 extra minutes with him, what
did he tell you?
He (MKO) told me to be strong and to make
sure I pray a lot. He said he would never back
down and that we should not be discouraged.
He said he was sure that he would win back his
mandate and that I should be very prayerful,
hold on to God and to tell my younger ones to
do the same.
How would you describe your relationship
with your late father?
We had a good and wonderful relationship. He
was a good father and I wasn’t a terrible son. I
was lucky and fortunate to get more from him
than a lot of my siblings. I looked up to him
because he was a problem solver; I respected
him a lot. If you had a problem, just call dad to
say these are the problems. He was always
there for us. I wish I can be half as good to my
children as he was to me. He was a good
husband to my mother and a good dad to me
because you need to be both to be considered
a good dad. You can’t be a good dad and be a
bad husband.
How would you like him to be remembered?
Nigeria needs someone that actually cares. We
didn’t need a school to be named after him or
any specific thing. He did what he did to bring
about change in the country, and that is the
only thing that would truly make him happy. He
gave his life for this country, but I have to say
that the public reaction that followed the
attempt to rename UNILAG (University of
Lagos) after him was bad. Even if people had
issues with it, there are ways to go about it;
they can go to court, write letters and things
like that. But the way some people went about
it, blocking the road, and going on Twitter, and
social media and insulting the man is just sad.
Maybe Nigerians are not worth all the sacrifice
because they are ungrateful. This was someone
who gave up everything, including his life. I
would like to commend President Goodluck
Jonathan for being the first president to try to
do something to remember our father. We
appreciate what he tried to do; I wish to say
that he should not be discouraged by the
reaction from the public. Our father and
mother gave their lives for this country. My
mum took a bullet; what is worth doing at all is
worth doing well.
How has it been for the family?
The elections cost a lost of money – billions.
The struggle against Ibrahim Babangida to get
back his mandate, after that, the interim
government of Shonekan and then Sani Abacha
cost him a lot. Government did not pay the
debts owed to him for projects he had done; all
the contracts he had were cancelled. They
locked him up; no compensation for the family.
My mother got shot in the head; her businesses
too were shut down. But we thank God that he
died for something honourable and just. For
like 14 years, government has not done
anything, they have not really apologised, and
they have not done anything to compensate us.
So I’m not going to hold my breath that
government will still compensate the family for
everything they did to us. After all, all that we
have in the end is our deeds.
You lost your mother two years before you
lost your dad. How did you and your dad
take the loss?
I was in the US at the time; someone called to
say that somebody in our family had been shot.
It was the last thing any of us expected. When I
was told, I remember repeating ‘daddy’, but
they said it wasn’t daddy but mummy. I couldn’t
imagine that it would be mummy because she
was free; it was daddy who was in detention.
I came back home to see dad and to try to get
back my mum’s containers that were held but
we were not allowed to see him. We wanted to
know what we should do but they did not allow
us to see him in detention.
We met with Oladipo Diya, who was the
second-in-command then. He asked us to talk
to Hamza al-Mustapha, but al-Mustapha would
say we should call back the next day. He just
said, ‘Call back tomorrow’. Then one day, he
banged the phone. So we didn’t get to see him
(MKO Abiola) to know his reaction to it. It must
have been very painful for him, to hear that
the woman that had seven children for you was
shot just like that. It was injustice on top of
injustice, but I know that Allah will judge.
My younger brother, Jamiu, had told me to get
our mother out. He said the government would
kill her but I said that the worst they would do
was to lock her up, that who would want to kill
a woman? That’s to show how wicked some
people can be. You shot someone in the head
and did not allow the children to see their
father.
When she died, it was the last thing I could
ever imagine, that these people could descend
so low. My mother knew Mariam Abacha; my
sister and her kids were in school together. My
dad also knew Abacha. Last year, I met Mariam
Abacha in Mecca and some of the kids. I told
her that I don’t have any animosity against her
family. I told her that I expect God to forgive
my father and her husband too. I know that
when Abacha died, my father wrote Mariam a
condolence letter. So if my dad buried the
hatchet, why not me? As Muslims, we are
brothers and sisters.
How do you remember him today?
I’m glad that he was a good Muslim; both my
late parents actually. At the end of the day, we
have nothing except our faith and our good
deeds – no money, no shoes, no cars, we have
nothing.
When Abiola was alive, there used to be so
many visitors coming and going, but the
premises are very quiet now. Why is that?
He was always helping people a lot; if you have
a place where the owner helps people, there
will be crowds. People were always coming to
come and collect something. Now, my father is
no longer alive and his businesses have been
crumbled. The family is no longer in a good
shape to be able to continue doing that kind of
thing anymore. Obviously, you will not see
people coming like they used to, but some of
his children are still here. Two of his wives are
still living here and the mosque is still open. So
maybe not as many people as before, but we
still have people coming in.
Abiola had many wives and many more
children. How was growing up for you?
He only had four wives as a Muslim. The ones
outside were concubines and they were not
inside the house. So it was just us – the four
wives and their children – and we had a good
relationship with one other. Out of the children
belonging to the four wives, I had a good
relationship with about 15 of them. The other
four that I was not so close with, it was not
because of animosity or anything like that. It
was just because they were older than me and I
didn’t get to see them often. The wives also got
along fine but sometimes you know women,
they sometimes don’t get along. But generally,
the relationship was okay.
After Abiola’s death, many people wonder
why his businesses have gone down. Why is
this so?
There is no guarantee that your business will
survive over time. Today, the exchange rate is
so high. During Abacha’s time, it was N80 to a
dollar, but now, it’s about N160. It’s very
difficult to do business in Nigeria. There have
been efforts to improve the rail system but the
Central Bank of Nigeria should do something
about the interest rate which is above 20 per
cent. As it is, products made here will find it
difficult to compete against those of other
countries. If countries like US and the UK
where their interest rate is like two or three
per cent, their economies are still shaky, so
what can we say about Nigeria where the
interest rate is over 20 per cent? We’ve seen
improvement in electricity generation but we
still need more improvement in electricity. No
compensation for the family: you called an
election, campaigns were held, money went
into these campaigns because materials like
posters were made, etc. He now won the
election, you now annulled the election and
followed that up by locking him up. You closed
down his businesses, you killed his wife and
before that, you crippled her businesses too.
No compensation till now.

Activists Blame Obasanjo For Non- Recognition Of June 12 .

A cross-section of activists, who gathered to
mark the 20th anniversary of the annulment of
the June 12, 1993 presidential election, has
blamed former President Olusegun Obasanjo
for non-recognition of the election during his
eight-year rule.
Speaking at a news conference held on Friday,
in Osogbo, to herald the anniversary, the
Coordinator, Committee for Democracy and
Rights of the People, Amitolu Shittu, accused
Obasanjo of working against the recognition of
June 12.
“Those who worked against the interest of June
12 are the ones in high political offices. They
are found in the upper and lower legislative
chambers,” Amitolu said.
The Coordinator, Osun Civil Societies Coalition,
Wahid Lawal, said it was unfortunate that
military apologists, who worked against the
actualisation of the election, were currently
enjoying various political offices across the
country.
Lawal said, “Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo never wanted to hear anything about
June 12. It is most unfortunate that Chief MKO
Abiola, being a kinsman of Obasanjo, could be
given such a treatment.”
Osun State Commissioner for Information and
Strategy, Chief Sunday Akere, said, “June 12
would soon be given a national recognition as
soon as the All Progressives Congress wins the
2015 presidential election.
“The decision to collaborate with civil societies
in the state is to ensure a befitting June 12
celebration that would be symbolic. Osun
State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, will soon
send a bill to the house of assembly to make
June 12 constitutionally recognised.”
An activist, Rahman Shenge, called on Nigerians
across geopolitical divides to unite in the
struggle to give June 12 national recognition,
adding that the winner of the election, Chief
MKO Abiola, should be immortalised.
The theme of this year’s celebration is, “20
years after June 12, thenational question.”

Saka goes to school.

st saw this picture of the current telecomms
“hot cake”, Saka who is currently the most
recent bone of contention between telecomms
giants MTN & Etisalat. See the hilarious
comedian in Secondary School Uniform. Baba yi
lasan! looolz.