Nigerian Visa Goes For A Dollar In 13 Countries - Punch

While many Nigerians may have known visa fees of different European and American countries, not many take interest in what the country charges other nationals for the document.

But the fact is that the Nigerian Immigration Service has a long list of the fees on its website, indicating clearly the differences in terms of countries, the visa type and number of entries.

If what the NIS displays on the website is anything to go by, nationals of Mauritania, Monaco, Morroco, New Zealand, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Burma, Dominican, Chile and Colombia are charged between N100 and N 200 for a single-entry Nigerian visa. For those applying for multiple entries, the fee is multiplied by the number of entries they are seeking.

Weighed against the current exchange rate, it implies that a Nigerian visa is still going for half a dollar or a little above that.

Applicants from the United States are charged the highest. They pay N14,000 for either a single or multiple-entry visa.

Russia and other former members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are next to the US, and a visa application from the region attracts N10,500.

A traveller from the United Kingdom, who is applying for a single-entry Nigerian visa, pays N9,700, whereas a multiple-visa applicant is charged N16,200.

Interestingly, UK nationals picking up temporary employment in Nigeria pay N9,700, which is less than what their multiple-visa counterparts are charged.

A British woman married to a Nigerian has the option of obtaining an “indefinite” visa at N40,800, according to the NIS’s fee schedule.

Most European countries, such as Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Belgium and Spain, pay a little above N6,000 for a single-visa application. Multiple-entry visa application fee in most of the listed countries is N9,000 plus.

Based on the fact that the immigration service deals with many people in different parts of the world, it is expected that the facts presented on its website are valid as this is a major platform where potential visitors to Nigeria can access it.

Many Nigerian establishments have, however, yet to embrace online operation as an essential part of their corporate integrity. Hence, what such organizations, especially federal ministries, departments and agencies, tag new information are, in some cases, one or more years stale.

Even the NIS is not free from the practice, which visitors find worrisome. For instance, what the Service calls “news”, as of Sunday, is a notice of a recruitment exercise examination that was to be held on March 15, 2014 in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Also, a document by the Service says it has in the past 10 years cancelled no fewer than 1,288 passports.

But an Internet search by our correspondent shows that the list has not been upgraded since August 2013 when it was uploaded despite a promise that it would be “updated regularly.” This is apart from the fact no reason is given for the cancellation. This, indeed, leaves visitors in the dark as to the number of the ‘green-back’ that have been cancelled in the past two years.

An online document obtained from the NIS portal on Sunday also says it started compiling the list in 2005. There is nothing anywhere on the site to show the updated status of the two-year-old document.

Source: http://www.nairaland.com/2306510/nigerian-visa-goes-dollar-13

Xenophobia: MTN Nigeria warns of 6,000 job losses

MTN Nigeria on Monday warned that should there be attacks on its facilities, it might be forced to close shop and 99 per cent of its over 6,000 workforce in the country, who are Nigerians, would be thrown into the labour market.

 

It also said that calls for the boycott of its services were unjustified as such an action would affect its support chain, which could cause another 500,000 Nigerians to lose their means of livelihood.

The company stated this in Lagos some hours after two groups protested in its Abuja and Benin offices against the killing of foreigners in its home country, South Africa.

According to the Corporate Service Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Wale Goodluck, there are only 12 expatriates working for the company in the country, compared to a workforce of 6,000 Nigerians.

Goodluck said, “So, if people go ahead with their threats to attack our facilities, what that means is that we may be forced to close down the business in Nigeria and about 6,000 Nigerians that make up 99 per cent of our workforce will be unemployed.

“Then, when you look at our support chain, we have about 500,000 Nigerians gainfully employed. So, boycotting our services simply means destroying so many other Nigerian businesses and making over 500,000 other Nigerians to lose their jobs.

“This business supports a lot of businesses across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Many of the businesses that are affiliated to South Africa are in the retail space, supporting the growth of Nigeria and employing so many Nigerians.”

He noted that the company had spent in excess of $15bn on capital expenditure growing the telecommunications business in Nigeria.

“We see no revenge of Xenophobia and we commend the role the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa has played; at least there has been no fatality on the part of any Nigerian,” Goodluck added.

Source

New York Times calls GEJ lousy, says he's trying to frustrate Buhari

In an article titled 'Nigeria's Miserable Choices' Published on New York Times yesterday Monday February 16th, and written by the editorial board of the US newspaper, they described Nigerian president as a 'lousy incumbent' & described Buhari as a 'former autocratic leader'. 

 

See article below

The Nigerian government was supposed to hold presidential elections this past weekend, which presented voters with the dispiriting choice of keeping a lousy incumbent or returning to power a former autocratic leader. Now they will have to wait at least six weeks to cast votes.

The Nigerian election commission said earlier this month that it had pushed back the vote until at least March 28, after the country’s security chiefs warned that they could not guarantee the safety of voters in northeastern areas of the country where Boko Haram, the extremist militant group, captured international attention last spring when it abducted hundreds of schoolgirls. On Friday, Boko Haram fighters attacked a village in neighboring Chad for the first time, an alarming sign of the group’s expanding strength in a region that also includes areas of Cameroon and Niger.

Any argument to delay the vote might be more credible if President Goodluck Jonathan’s government had not spent much of the past year playing down the threat posed by the militants and if there were a reasonable expectation that the country’s weak military has the ability to improve security in a matter of weeks.

It appears more likely Mr. Jonathan grew alarmed by the surging appeal of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has vowed to crack down on Boko Haram. By dragging out the race, Mr. Jonathan stands to deplete his rival’s campaign coffers, while he continues to use state funds and institutions to bankroll his own.

That Mr. Buhari, who helped launch a coup against a democratically elected government in 1983 and ruled until late 1985, has emerged as potential winner is more of an indictment of Mr. Jonathan’s dismal rule than a recognition of the former military chief’s appeal.

Nigerian voters have grown increasingly worried about the stunning rise of Boko Haram, which has committed terrorist atrocities including bombings. 

The abductions and attacks by the group have exposed the weaknesses of Nigeria’s armed forces and the dysfunction of the government. Although Mr. Jonathan’s government has in the past been less than enthusiastic, and at times obstructive, in response to offers of American and European aid, he appears to be growing increasingly worried. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, he said he would welcome American troops to fight the insurgency. 

Beyond security matters, entrenched corruption and the government’s inability to diversify its economy as the price of oil, the country’s financial bedrock, has fallen have also caused Nigerians to look for new leadership. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, and a relatively young democracy, cannot afford an electoral crisis. That would only set back the faltering effort to reassert government control in districts where Boko Haram is sowing terror. The security forces may not be able to safeguard many districts on Election Day. But postponement is very likely to make the security threat worse.

 

Source

Forensic audit report indicts NNPC, NPDC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company were on Thursday indicted by the investigative forensic audit done by PriceWater House Coopers into the allegations of unremitted funds to the Federation Accounts.

The highlights of the report was released by the Auditor General for the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, in Abuja.

In the report, the accounting firm asked both organisations to refund to the federation account “a minimum of $1.48bn.”

PriceWater House, was last year hired to carry out the exercise following an allegation by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, that $20bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, had written a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan that $49bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

But following the controversy which the letter generated, a committee was set up to reconcile the account.Sanusi later recanted and said the unremitted fund was $12bn which he later changed to $20bn.

4000 NYSC Fee: House Of Reps Has Betrayed Nigerian Youths—ACT

A youth political pressure group, Advocates for Collective Transformation (ACT) has described the endorsement of 4000 online registration fee for NYSC mobilization by the House of Representative as a misrepresentation and betrayal of Nigerian youths.

ACT in a statement signed by its President, Tayo Fashogbon and National Secretary Isaac Ifetoluwa Ajayi describe the endorsement by House Committee on Youth Development Chairman, Hon Kamil Akinlabi despite public outcry against the fee as ‘evil endorsement of oppression’ of young people in the country. The group said the action signals that youths cannot be assured of quality representation from its elected lawmakers.

The group said young people in the country are at greater risk with leaders like Hon Akinlabi representing Nigerian youth interests at the legislative chamber. "Hon. Akinlabi and his committee has swallowed the NYSC pill to extort fresh Nigerian graduates, we wonder how it taste in their mouths. If Nigerian youths cannot be assured of quality representation from its elected lawmakers, our future is at greater risk. "Representative like Hon Akinlabi and his committee members has failed promising young Nigerians who deserve better representation at decision making process at all level of governance."

The group called on the Speaker Hon. Aminu Tanbuwal to immediately disband the committee on Youth for falling to protect the interest of Young Nigerians. The group however insisted that it’s unfair, wicked and satanic to monetize any process of the NYSC scheme, saying there is no justification for the fee.

The youth group added that arguments that the fee charged is to provide technology at all NYSC offices across the country lacks merit, saying the NYSC has run for more than 40 years without charging any corps member for money and the scheme has not collapse. It maintained that the government has not says its broke to fund the scheme noting that the scheme stills takes more than 70percent of money allotted to the Ministry of Youths.

"We also call for immediate suspension of this fraudulent extortion of helpless and jobless fresh graduates who are eager to serve their fathers land. We called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately stop the online fee and ensure all prospective corps members who have been defrauded in this process are refund back their parent's hard earn money."
Source

Elma's Dream (The GUARDIAN, April 4, 2011, Pp 64) - A Goodluck Campaign in 2011

When President Goodluck won the PDP primary elections, my father was very happy. 

He said it was the beginning of good things to come. He said Power will be fixed and there will always be light so I can do my home work. Education will be improved and all childern will go to good schools and my school will have computers and teach music like they do in private schools; water will be steady and I wont (won't) have to go to the well to fetch water. All roads in Nigeria will be fixed so no one has to die because of bad roads. The president says he will Transform Nigeria. I believe he will, because my father says so.

Nigeria Government Approves N13bn for Rice, Cassava Mills

The Federal Government has approved N13 billion for the procurement of 10 integrated rice mills and six high quality cassava flour mills to boost rice and cassava production in the country.

The government also approved N568 million for the award of contract for the procurement and construction of an additional transformer for the Maiduguri Substation.

Briefing journalists after the weekly federal executive council meeting, which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, said the rice mills will be located in 10 states of the federation.

The 10 rice mills have a capacity to mill 36,000 metric tons of paddy rice, making it a total of 360,000 metric tons of paddy rice to be finely processed across the country.

The rice mills will be located in Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ogun, Bayelsa, Niger, Kogi, Anambra, Benue and Bauchi States, while the cassava mills will be located in Ondo, Ogun, Abia, Delta, Cross River, Nasarawa states.

Mr. Adesina said the council deliberated extensively on the need for more integrated rice mills across the country as it is currently working at the total blackout of the importation of rice.

N10bn Private Jet: Reps Give Allison-Madueke Fresh Summons, Lawyer Protests

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Account has issued fresh summons to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Allison-Madueke, to appear before it over the alleged expenses of 10billion Naira on private jets.

Also summoned are the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu; Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Engr. Saleh Dunoma; the Managing Director of Pipeline and Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPPMC, Mr Haruna Momoh; Vistajet International Limited and other stakeholders.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, said that all those summoned were to appear between June 15 and 17 to shed light on various aspects of the alleged N10 billion expenses.

He added that anyone who refuses to appear would face a subpoena under the law.

You Can’t Probe Deziani For Now, Lawyer tells House

Meanwhile, Constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, has warned the House of Representatives against making any move to resume probe of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, on the alleged N10B aircraft charter scam.

The senior lawyer asked the House to put the probe on hold for now since the Minister has a legal action before a Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the legality of the House of Representatives’ decision on the over-sight function.

In a letter of protest delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambawal, Mr Ozekhome faulted the announcement of the fresh move to begin the probe, warning that the move would amount to an affront to the law court where the legal action was pending.

The human rights activist, in the letter also copied to the Senate President, Senator David Mark, said that the practice in the world especially in a civilized society is for both parties in a dispute to take their hands off the disputed matter once a law court has been invited for adjudication on the issue.

He said that it was wrong and abnormal for the House to proceed to probe the Minister even when the House has already joined issued with her in a law court of record and in competent jurisdiction.

U.S. Criticizes Nigeria Over Kidnapping Response

U.S. Criticizes Nigeria Over Kidnapping Response

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Defense Department official on Thursday said Nigeria had been too slow to respond to the threat of Boko Haram but Washington is committed to helping fight the Islamist militants and rescue over 200 girls seized from their school a month ago.

U.S. officials have said the effort to retrieve the girls is now a top priority but has been complicated by Nigeria's early reluctance to accept assistance, and U.S. rules banning aid to foreign forces that have committed human rights abuses.

"In general Nigeria has failed to mount an effective campaign against Boko Haram," Alice Friend, the Pentagon's principal director for African Affairs, told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Africa subcommittee.

"The Department has been deeply concerned for some time by how much the Government of Nigeria has struggled to keep pace with Boko Haram’s growing capabilities," Friend said.

Friend said it was troubling that atrocities have been perpetrated by some Nigerian forces during operations against Boko Haram.

Robert Jackson, acting assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said Washington has urged Nigeria to reform its approach to the group. "When soldiers destroy towns, kill civilians and detain innocent people with impunity, mistrust takes root," he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Abuja offered help almost immediately after the kidnapping. But it was two weeks before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to offer aid, which was accepted on May 4, Jackson said. Friend said U.S. reconnaissance flights started days later.

Nigeria has been reluctant to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist threat at the United Nations, but Jackson said it has changed its position and he expected that designation imminently.

Delaware Senator Chris Coons, the subcommittee chairman, said that the odds the girls would get home safely were diminishing every day.

"It took too long for the Nigerian government to respond to the girls’ abduction. It took too long for the Nigerian government to accept offers of assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and China, and once accepted, it took too long for that assistance to be fully implemented," he said. The U.S. officials said Boko Haram is a regional threat that is becoming international, with ties to al Qaeda. They said the Pentagon and Department of State were developing a "regional response," including improved security along Nigeria's borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

"We've definitely determined that there are links between al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb and Boko Haram. They have probably provided at least training, perhaps financial support," Jackson said. 

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid, Andrew Hay and Ken Wills)

Source: Reuters Mobile

Stop those trivialising schoolgirls’ abduction, Falana tells Jonathan

May 8, 2014 by Ade Adesomoju

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to stop people from further trivialising the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 19.

The Lagos lawyer in a statement on Thursday said the comment credited to “some people”, including the President’s wife, Patience, that “no child was missing”, was “incendiary” and capable of deepening the agony of the abducted children’s parents.

“President Goodluck Jonathan should ensure that the abduction of the innocent girls is not further trivialised in the interest of our collective sensibility and public morality,” he stated.

He described as insensitive for some highly placed persons to insist that there was no missing child despite the step by the Christian Association of Nigeria to publish some of the abducted girls’ names.

He said, “In spite of the inauguration of the Presidential Committee to investigate the abduction of the over 200 girls  and the publication of the names of about 185 of the missing girls by the Christian Association of Nigeria some political leaders have insisted that no child has been abducted.

“Such level of insensitivity is being displayed by highly placed persons at a time that the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau has admitted that the criminal sect abducted the innocent girls and threatened that they would be sold into slavery.”

He queried the basis for the government’s accepting of international aid to rescue the children if truly the girls were not missing.

His statement also read, “Why has the Federal Government accepted the offer of the United States’ Government to join in the frivolous -search for the girls since they are no longer missing?

“No doubt, the incendiary statements credited to certain people to the effect that “no child is missing” must have accentuated the agony of the parents of the abducted some of whom had taken part in street demonstrations to demand ‘Bring Back Our Girls’.”

He asked the President to disband the committee set up by Patience to investigate the incident arguing that she had no power to do so.

He added that even the one set up by the President himself for the same purpose could best serve as a “ministerial act” and never as a Commission of Inquiry.

The Punch Newspaper.

US To Assist Nigeria In Rescue Of Chibok Girls

The US government has offered to assist Nigeria locate and rescue the girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, abducted three weeks ago in by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

Accepting the offer on Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said Nigeria would appreciate any support that would be given in ending the insurgency in Nigeria’s north east, reiterating a statement he made during a media chat on Sunday.

A statement by a spokesman for the president, Reuben Abati, said President Jonathan welcomed and accepted the offer.

“The offer from President Barack Obama which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry in a telephone conversation, which began at 15:30 Hours on Tuesday, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the "search and rescue operation."

“Mr Kerry assured President Jonathan that the United States is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end,” the statement read.

President Jonathan thanked Mr Kerry for the call and offer of further assistance and told him that Nigeria’s security agencies, who were already working at full capacity to find and rescue the abducted girls, would appreciate the deployment of American counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts.

After speaking with the United States Secretary of State, President Jonathan on Tuesday met with the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies in continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue the abducted girls.

He also received updates on the ongoing search and rescue efforts, and gave approval for further actions as recommended.

The terrorist group, Boko Haram, has carried out series of attacks on villages, churches and schools in Nigeria’s north-east. Scores have been killed in bomb attacks, with the latest attack on Chibok on April 14 resulting in the abduction of over 200 girls of a secondary school. The abduction occurred same day that the members of the sect carried out a bomb attack on a Motor Park in Nyanya area of Abuja. The attack left at least 70 persons dead and over 200 injured.

The abduction of the girls has sparked protests in Abuja, Lagos and some other states, with the protesters mounting pressure on the government to take drastic action in efforts to rescue the girls.

Last week a bomb blast also occurred in Nyanya few meters away from where the blast of April 14 occurred. at least 19 persons were killed while over 60 were injured.

The Nigerian government had declared a state of emergency in three states in the north east in an effort to quell the increasing insurgency. But many are saying that the state of emergency has not changed the situation.

The recent attacks in Abuja raised fears of insecurity as the nation prepares to hold the World Economic Forum on Africa from Mar 7-9, but President Jonathan during the media chat reassured the international community of the government’s commitment to the safety of participants.

Ahead of the Forum, there is increase in Police presence in Abuja and surrounding villages.

Fraud: Budget Office Credited N791m To NTI Account Without Any Request, Bursar Tells Reps

The House of Representatives Wednesday expressed shock at the revelation by the Bursar of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) Kaduna, Mallam Abdulkarim Affo,  that a whopping N791million was credited  into the Institute’s bank account on December 31, 2012 by the Budget Office from the Service Wide Vote (SWV) account without prior request for any financial assistance.

The bursar disclosed this when he appeared before the House Committee on Public Accounts, which is probing how the over N4.7trillion was expended by the Presidency through the Budget Office from the Service Wide Vote between 2004 and 2012 financial years .

Testifying before the committee, the bursar said:  “On December 31st 2012,we just received an alert and the sum of N791million was credited into the Institute’s bank account from the Budget Office without any prior request for financial assistance from the Federal Government. We tried to make enquiries and we wrote to the Office of the Accountant ant General of the Federation to find out what was the purpose of the whopping amount but all efforts yielded no result.

” At end of the day, what the Institute did was to pay back the money to the treasury at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as required by the law of the federation. We have the evidence of payment, we never made request for any money,” he added.

Reacting to the revelation, chairman of the House committee, Hon Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, directed the Institute to furnish it with the official Treasury receipt to show that it actually returned the money to the Treasury as claimed and not that it actually went into individual bank accounts while further investigations into how the money got into the Institute’s Account in the first instance continue.

He described the transaction through the Service Wide Vote as a monumental fraud which had been allegedly going on for a long time unabated and lamented that several billions of naira of the tax payers’ money had gone down the drain.

According him.” Only last week, the NAFDAC officials appeared before the Committee over the whopping sum of N5billion claimed to have released to the Agency by the Budget Office from the Service wide vote and Agency claimed it received only N365million from the amount.

“Also, just a while ago, the National Boundary Commission appeared before the Committee over the N2billion the Budget Office claimed it released to the Commission which the Commission also denied ever receiving a kobo from the Budget Office under the Service Wide Vote. Where are we heading to? We must get to the root of these claims and counter claims. The fraud must stop, ” he lamented.

“It is disheartening that the National Assembly approved about N2.1 trillion for the Service Wide Vote Account in the period under review but at the last count over N4.7 trillion had been expended by the Executive.”

SAINT MUGAGA, ABUJA.

Source: THEWILL, http://thewillnigeria.com. Posted date: February 19, 2014

THEWILL_ Posted date: February 19, 2014http://thewillnigeria.com

NAIJA GOVERNANCE: WHERE I STAND

NAIJA GOVERNANCE: WHERE I STAND

Irrespective of the number of years of military rule in Nigeria, I am in the class of the people that believes that Nigeria ought to be better and greater by now. This is not because of the political manifestos of our leaders or the freedom of expression. I would not want us to start the debate of whether Nigeria is a nation or a country. Politics without principles will only plunge our Nigeria deeper and deeper in corruption and injustice.

In Nigeria today, anyone that wants to make a difference is seen as an antagonist. Martin Luther King (Jr.) was seen as such in America many years ago. However the result of his “antagonism” is there today for everyone to see – Barrack Obama. Records are meant to be broken, bars are meant to be raised. We cannot say that investors should come into Nigeria when we are not ready to empower our people. The enduring legacies of our founding fathers are still in place today in various structures and institutions. Chief Obafemi Awolowo craved for the empowerment of the Southwest. Nigerians have benefited from his legacy of free education today in structures like the Obafemi Awolowo University. The Coca House and the Nigerian Television Authority both located in Ibadan are the results of his vision for Nigeria.

If at all we have been following the trends in Nigeria, we would have noticed some great disparity between what our leaders say and what they do. That is where the value edge seems to be falling off before our own very eyes. Nigerians have to begin to shoot at their target – the ideal Nigeria. To achieve this, I strongly believe that what we need to fear is fear itself. We are in a new era, we are in a new age, and we are not supposed to be given what we do not bargain for as a people. When we vote, we should put aside sentiments, resentments and frivolities. If our leaders perform below expectation, let us arise to challenge them. If they refuse to listen, then let us ask for their recall at their constituencies. Enough is enough.

Let us come up to the round table and discuss the way forward for our dear Nigeria. This is one of the reasons why this page has been put up for us to really dig deep into the basics of rebuilding our dear Nigeria. If Nigerians succeed abroad, then they should be able to succeed here in Nigeria. Let us remember that the more we keep silent, the more we become more vulnerable in our own Nigeria. The ruling class in Nigeria today is not up to 5% of the entire Nigerian population. Let us remind our leaders that they are leaders because we are followers. Let us hold them accountable and begin to think of voting out the “benchwarmers” amongst them. Let us free our minds and liberate our mentality. Post relevant suggestions, comments and constructive criticisms and let us break the vicious cycle of bad leadership and value disorientation. The New Nigeria would not be a coincidence. God bless Nigeria. 

My Nigerian Vision: I see Nigeria in the future having solid infrastructural development, utilizing state-of-the-art Information Technology facilities and well-trained and well-remunerated public and civil servants. I see Nigeria with a master plan that encompasses all the sectors of the economy with a view to planning for the security, environment and education of our youths. I see the best Nigerian technocrats giving the best advice on achieving the vision of a new Nigeria. Welcome to the future!!!