Okonta still remembers  that morning when a neighbour rushed to the colonial  residence of Dr. Harrison at Ikoyi, Lagos, where he worked to announce to him that his wife Mariana  had been delivered of a bouncing baby boy. Okonta was dressed in his well- starched  khaki uniform in the colonial house when the cheery news got to him. He made merry and entertained his friends to celebrate the birth of his son and named him Harrison after the whiteman in whose household he served as a servant.

The birth of  his only son coincided  with  the celebration of Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960.
Today, Harrison is 52 years and lives in Lagos. He has no  regular job  after  graduating from the university several years ago.
He had tried to sustain himself as a self-employed businessman but his business at Tincan Island suffered from excess custom duties and multiple taxations. Harrison couldn’t  cope with the blows that fate had severally dealt on him. At 52, he has no house he could call his own.
He has no regular  means of livelihood despite his B.SC in Business Administration and Masters  Degrees in two other Disciplines. He has no home  and has transversed severally between being an okada rider and a tricycle driver. On many occasions , he has served as a bus conductor and the finesse he acquired through education has given way to a crude, frustrated, middle-aged man.
But Harrison Ogbonna is not the only Nigerian whom fate has dealt with badly. Across the 36 States of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, there are many Harrisons who have been battered by fate but only few  were able to make a success story from  the school of hard-knocks.
The above story sounds like the typical Nigerian story. From what they taught us in history,  the pathway to Nigeria’s 52 years of independence  was littered with broken  promises.
Nigerians are people  suffering from battered egos and damaged psyche. Ab initio, our leaders had envisaged prosperity for the country, given  the country’s enormous resources but that had been mere dreams. As a nation very rich in oil resources, we have  receded from oil boom to oil doom.  Nigeria  has become  a giant with mosquito legs.
The elders of the country left good legacies. But their successors could not match the strength of the sages.
Sir Ahmadu Bello, former Premier of Northern Nigeria at our independence in 1960 said that the freedom of Nigeria from British rule  is not the freedom of the jungle, where might is right.
“We are not free to molest others  less strong than ourselves or to trample on their rights simply because we are in a position of authority over them. Independence brings with it heavier and new responsibilities.
The eyes of the world are on Nigeria now and there are many friends who hope that we shall be the leading nation in Africa. Let us say with all emphasis at my command that we shall never attain this goal if there is suspicion and mistrust among the peoples of Nigeria.
Such an attitude cannot benefit anyone and can easily lead to strife as has been the painful experience of other independent nations in Africa and elsewhere.”

TO SNEEZE IS A BLESSING

Have you ever wondered why someone says ‘bless you’ when you sneeze? And no one says anything when you belch or cough or even fart. I’m sure you have wondered it as I have. My curiosity drove me to find out the relationship between these two seemingly unrelated phenomenon. According to findings, wishing someone well after a sneeze originated from time immemorial.During the Early Roman Empire, people would say ‘Jupiter preserve you or salve which meant good health to you and theGreek would wish each other ‘long life’ when someone sneezes. However, the coinage of bless youafter a sneeze is directly attributed to Pope Gregory the Great in AD 590 who it is believed to have uttered it during a bubonic plague as sneezing was believed to be one of the symptoms of the plague. Funny yet true, almost all countries have a way of saying a greeting after a sneeze, in china to start with when a child sneezeshe or she would hear ‘bai sui’ meaning ‘may you live up to 100 years (might explain why they livelong?). Arabs would say ‘Alhamdulillah’ meaning ‘praise to God’ while Hindus would say ‘live’ or ‘Live well’ among others Even more superstitious is the belief in some quarter that sneezing releases a bit of a person’s soul through the nose ( Iguess I have just a quarter of my soul left at this stage), however a ‘bless you’ would stop the devil from claiming the freed bits. In however form it may come, science has proven that a sneeze is a reflex action commonly caused by cold, strong odour or an allergy and has no founded spiritual connotation. Albeit, whether out of courtesy or custom, when next there’s a sneeze around you be sure to say a bless you – Etttcchhhheeemmm !!!! Did I hear a bless me?........K-UDZ

Application for Hostel Accommodation at the federal university of agriculture, abeokuta.

Application for Hostel Accommodation 12 July, 2012 Published by K-UDZ Undergraduate Students who areinterested in seeking accommodation in the University Hostels can apply for bed-spaces in any of the following categoriesof Hostels: Male & Female Hostel (old block): N18,090.00 Male & Female Hostel (En suite – new block): N25,090.00 Newly Completed Female Hostel (En suite): N30,090.00 Application is open from Wednesday, 11th July to Tuesday, 31st July, 2012. In view of the limited hostel spaces, the following criteria will be used on the basis of first-come-first-served in the allocationof bed-spaces to Students. 1. Physically-Challenged Students (as recommended by the Director, Health Services) 2. Foreign Students 3. Final Year Students 4. 200L-500L Students (Non-Final Year) 5. Biological Children of Staff 6. Outstanding Sportsmen and Women (on the recommendation of Director of Sports) 7. Fresh students 8. Student Union / Hall Executive 9. Student with CGPA of 4.5 and above Application requires an Hostel Portal Access PIN (Personal Identification Number) prefixed with 128. PIN can also be purchased at FUNAAB Microfinance Bank, Zenith Bank Plc., or Guaranty TrustBank Plc at N1000. Please note that further information regarding the successful applicants, payment procedure and so on will be made available on this site. Apply here @ http://hostel.unaab.edu.ng/login.php

Application for Hostel Accommodation at the federal university of agriculture, abeokuta.

Application for Hostel Accommodation 12 July, 2012 Published by K-UDZ Undergraduate Students who areinterested in seeking accommodation in the University Hostels can apply for bed-spaces in any of the following categoriesof Hostels: Male & Female Hostel (old block): N18,090.00 Male & Female Hostel (En suite – new block): N25,090.00 Newly Completed Female Hostel (En suite): N30,090.00 Application is open from Wednesday, 11th July to Tuesday, 31st July, 2012. In view of the limited hostel spaces, the following criteria will be used on the basis of first-come-first-served in the allocationof bed-spaces to Students. 1. Physically-Challenged Students (as recommended by the Director, Health Services) 2. Foreign Students 3. Final Year Students 4. 200L-500L Students (Non-Final Year) 5. Biological Children of Staff 6. Outstanding Sportsmen and Women (on the recommendation of Director of Sports) 7. Fresh students 8. Student Union / Hall Executive 9. Student with CGPA of 4.5 and above Application requires an Hostel Portal Access PIN (Personal Identification Number) prefixed with 128. PIN can also be purchased at FUNAAB Microfinance Bank, Zenith Bank Plc., or Guaranty TrustBank Plc at N1000. Please note that further information regarding the successful applicants, payment procedure and so on will be made available on this site. Apply here @ http://hostel.unaab.edu.ng/login.php

How we can accomplish Nigeria’s mission, by Wole Soyinka(1)

Do we need to point out that as a nation we are covered with shame that it took an external court of justice, of the former colonial masters, to finally put an end to the costly shenanigans of another of your former brother governors, one who held the forces of anti-corruption at bay, led them a merry dance all the way to Dubai until he was plucked out of his imagined sanctuary? And what of that judge, the judge who freed him of over a hundred and fifty criminal charges here, in this very nation, pronounced him innocent of blasting the very future of the generations under his watch by a career of systematic, unconscionable robbery? Why are we surprised therefore to find ourselves faced with a future where all sense of community has all but evaporated and only predators roam the streets, making their own laws of survival as they proceed. Yes, they make their own laws, for even these know that without law, written or unwritten, there is no community, and without community, all talk of nation is vain. Nations are built on the palpable operations of community, otherwise they are empty, artificial and hollow. They collapse with the tiniest pinpricksof unrest, they drift into oblivion with the slightest winds of external pressure. So, that learned judge held the strings of community in his hands, the judge who pronounced our elusive governor free of all blemish, that custodian and administrator of justice, our question today is – ishe still passing judgment in this nation, or has he proceeded on retirement leave to Dubai? Permit me to recall an exercise ina minor key in one’s seeming obsession with the future which,of course, I continue to see as the immutable responsibility of the present, otherwise, what is the present all about? In the early years of the return of the nation to civilian rule, I was invited to take part in a rather imaginative form of mentoring, initiated by a Japanese Televisionstation, loaded with the grandiose name – Super Teachers. It involved having a selected group of teachers – not necessarily teachers by profession – take a group of school pupils under their wing for a number of weeks. Those teachers were selected on the basis of having attained some prominence in their disciplines. They were free to decide on a school, and from thatschool extract a class, or a group of pupils across classes, then expose them to aspects of their own calling. Science, technology, architecture, the performing arts etc – virtually all disciplines were represented, and the entire mentoring interaction was filmed. What I privately relished in that project – this is just by the way – was that it enables me till today to boast that, for a few weeks at least, I was on the same payroll and salary as Bill Gates. I know that he would not have touched his honorarium – if at all they dared offer him such pittance. However, as a man whose field isvirtual reality, he would be the first to concede to me when I claim that, virtually speaking, we were earning the same salary from a shared project! So much for vicarious living. The programme, I was about to elaborate, allowed for the pupils to be taken anywhere that related to, or could enhance the imparting of knowledge – withinthe station’s budget of course. Thus, in the process of selecting a school, that school understood that it was obliged to release the pupils to accompany the mentor wherever – I recall that the American pupils were flown to some part of North Africa where the archeologist in the Super Teachers team was working on an excavation site. In my own case, the producers agreed that I would travel with my students to other parts of thecountry – it was an opportunity to expose the pupils to the nation’s diversity – religion, culture, history, the arts – whatever came under the rubric of Humanities. Now, as It happened at the time, I had also received invitations from two or three legislative houses to address them, and so I seized theopportunity to induct my pupils into the work of law makers. We began with Lagos where I off-loaded them on the public gallery of the House of Assembly. Afterwards, they were free to askquestions, make observations, and we would exchange views on their experience. I want you to listen carefully to the followingextract from my address to the Lagos House of assembly: “I invite you, honourable members, to look up at that gallery. You willobserve that you have some rather unusual visitors.

EASTER DAY BOMBING AT KADUNA

KADUNA (AFP) - A car bomb attack outside a church in Kaduna on Easter Sunday left at least 20 dead and scores wounded, a rescue source said.
The explosion, a stark reminder of Christmas Day attacks that left dozens dead in the country, occurred where motorcycle taxi drivers and passersby caught much of the blast.

Residents pull burnt motorcycles off the street in the cty of Kaduna Sunday after a car explosion killed at least 20 people .AFP PHOTO

At least one car said to be driven by a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, though a rescue official speaking on condition of anonymity said two vehicles packed with explosives detonated.
“Now we have 20 dead from the twin explosions,” the rescue official, who was not authorised to speak publicly, told AFP. Officials were still counting the number of wounded, he added.
“Bombs concealed in two cars went off just opposite this church,” he said.
A police officer at the scene said a man believed to be a suicide bomber driving a car was stopped at a checkpoint near the church and turned back, but drove to a nearby area close to a hotel and detonated the bomb.
Other cars in the area were damaged, but it was unclear if they were also carrying explosives, he said.
A spokesman for the national emergency management agency said most of the victims appeared to be motorcyle taxi drivers who were in the area at the time.
Police confirmed the explosion was a bomb, but did not officially comment further.
“We have a bomb explosion. We are trying to sort things out,” police spokesman Aminu Lawal told AFP.
Residents reported seeing dead and injured being taken away. An AFP correspondent said he saw 10 bodies, while one resident said he counted at least 10 wounded.
Another resident said that “from my balcony, I could see policemen loading the dead and the injured into waiting vans.”

People evacuate a victim after an explosion in Kaduna on April 8, 2012. A car bomb blast outside a church in northern Nigeria on Easter Sunday killed at least 20 people and put the country on alert over fears of further attacks, rescue officials and residents said.. Motorcycle taxi drivers and passers-by caught much of the blast. AFP PHOTO

One resident said the explosion was strong enough to shake his house and cause his ceiling to cave in. He ran to the site, which had already been cordoned off, but he said he could see damage to the Assemblies of God Church and cars.
Authorities as well as foreign embassies had warned of the possibility of an attack on Easter Sunday.

Bribery allegation:ACN asks NASS to impeach Jonathan

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has asked the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan,having admitted openly that he solicited a bribe from a foreign construction company, in violation of the Constitution that he swore touphold. In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said commencing the impeachment proceedings will enable the National Assembly to investigate the matter and also reach the appropriate conclusions, since the President, by his own admission and without any prompting, has thumbedhis nose at the Constitution. ”To know the gravity of the President’s self admission of soliciting the church ‘gift’ from the Managing Director of Gitto Construzioni GeneraliNigeria Limited (GCG), one needs to understand Section 6 of the Code of Conduct for Public officers embodied in the First Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and the Code of Conduct and TribunalAct (CAP C15) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. ”The Act states: ‘A public officer shall not ask for or accept any property or benefits of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything doneor omitted to be done by himin the discharge of his duties. “For the purposes of subsection (1) of this subsection, the receipt by a public officer of any gifts or benefits from commercial firms, business enterprises or persons who have contracts with the Government shall be presumed to have been received in contravention…unless the contrary is proved’,” it said. ACN said by his improper andunfortunate action, the President has also undermined the country’s fight against corruption and put Nigeria’s democracy in jeopardy, hence must not be allowed to get away with such an egregious act. ”Gitto has obtained billions of contracts from the Nigerian government, amid reported allegations in the media that it has not executed such contracts well.How can the federal government hold the company to account, when it(firm) has obtained an ”insurance cover” by bribing the President? Is this not why the country’s anti-corruption efforts have not achieved anything? Can the EFCC and the ICPC honestly and boldly fight corruption when the President is knee-deep in themud of corruption?” it queried. The party said by openly and gleefully saying, at the inauguration of the church at his Otuoke hometown, that ”the managing director of Gitto made him a promise to build and donate the church to Otuoke communityafter he (the president) had complained of the aging structure of his church,” the President has demonstrated that he is either not conversant with the Constitution he swore to uphold or thinks very little of the laws of the land. ”Either way, he should be held accountable for his deeds,” it said. ACN said it would amount to wishful thinking to expect the country’s anti-corruption agencies to probe President Jonathan’s admission of soliciting and receiving bribery, hence the call on the National Assembly to handle the issue. The party warned that ongoing attempts to twist the facts and make it seem as if the President did not solicit the bribe will not work, as Nigerians are too smart to be hoodwinked. ”If the President and his supporters deny that he indeed solicited the bribe – as he admitted at the inauguration of the church – we challenge the presidency to play – on national radio and television – the uneditedaudio and video recording ofhis speech at the occasion for all Nigerians to hear and see. Experts must also be called in to verify that the tape has not been tampered with in any way,” the party said.

HOW SPECIAL YOU ARE

Think what a remarkable, unduplicatable, and miraculous thing it is to be you! Of all the people who have come and gone on the earth, since the beginning of time, not ONE of them is like YOU!
No one who has ever lived or is tocome has had your combination of abilities, talents, appearance, friends, acquaintances, burdens, sorrows and opportunities.
No one’s hair grows exactly the way yours does. No one’s finger prints are like yours. No one has the same combination of secret inside jokes and family expressions that you know.
The few people who laugh at all the same things you do, don’t sneeze the way you do. No one prays about exactly the same concerns as you do. No one is loved by the same combination of people that love you – NO ONE!
No one before, no one to come. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE!
Enjoy that uniqueness. You do nothave to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You weren’t meant to be like someoneelse. You do not have to lie to conceal the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.
You were meant to be different. Nowhere ever in all of history will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.
If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap in history, something missing from the plan for humankind.
Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!
No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort with your kind of comfort. No one can bringyour kind of understanding to another person.
No one can be cheerful and lighthearted and joyous in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.
Share your uniqueness. Let it be free to flow out among your family and friends and people youmeet in the rush and clutter of living wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given you to enjoyand share. Give yourself away!
See it! Receive it! Let it tickle you! Let it inform you and nudge you and inspire you! YOU ARE UNIQUE!

funaab colmas timetable

Monday:
9-11 eco106 JAO1

Tuesday:
8-9 bem102 JAO1
9-10 bem 103 A101
10-11 eco 106 JAO3
11-1 bfn 104 JAO1
2-4 acc 102 JAO1

Wednesday:
10-11 eco102 JAO2
12-1 bfn104 JAO2

Thursday:
8-10 bem102 A101
10-11 eco102 MP01
3-4 acc102 JAO1
4-6 bem103 MP02

Friday:
10-11 eco102 ANENIH
12-1 gns102 JAO3
2-4 ets102 MPO3
4-6 gns103 JAO3

funaab colmas timetable

Monday:
9-11 eco106 JAO1

Tuesday:
8-9 bem102 JAO1
9-10 bem 103 A101
10-11 eco 106 JAO3
11-1 bfn 104 JAO1
2-4 acc 102 JAO1

Wednesday:
10-11 eco102 JAO2
12-1 bfn104 JAO2

Thursday:
8-10 bem102 A101
10-11 eco102 MP01
3-4 acc102 JAO1
4-6 bem103 MP02

Friday:
10-11 eco102 ANENIH
12-1 gns102 JAO3
2-4 ets102 MPO3
4-6 gns103 JAO3

FG PARTNERS WITH EU ON BOKO HARAM

FG partners EU on Boko Haram
On February 8, 2012 · In News
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By Victoria Ojeme

ABUJA – As part of efforts to stop attacks of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, European Union and Nigeria, Wednesday, agreed to engage counter-terrorism experts.

Boko Haram has, in the past months, claimed responsibility for bomb blasts and shootings that have killed over 1,000 people.

A statement by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, and his Danish counterpart, Villy Soevndal, on behalf of the EU, at the end of the two-day third Nigeria-European Union Ministerial Meeting in Abuja, said the experts will be saddled with the responsibility of identifying action plan to tackle security challenges in the Northern part of Nigeria.

They will also ensure continuous peace in the Niger Delta; they agreed on the need for the Federal Government to fully implement its amnesty programme in the region.

Ashiru, who read the statement, said: “The parties shared the same analysis as to peace, security and development challenges in Northern Nigeria, and in particular the threat of the extremist group known as Boko Haram.

“In that regard, they agreed to engage experts with a view to identifying a possible action plan and to enhance their cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism, while strengthening efforts in addressing the root causes of the security challenges in the North.

”The parties agreed that the core values which Nigeria and the EU share are key to overcoming terrorism.

“These values include an open society, adherence to the Rule of Law and respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights.

”The EU expressed its strong support for efforts being made to address causes of the current security threat, including socio-economic, governance and security issues.”

STUDENTS OF TASUED TO PROTEST

Students threaten protest over conversion of Tai Solarin varsity
On February 8, 2012 · In News
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There is tension in Ijebu-Ode and its environs as well as Abeokuta, Ogun state capital over the decision of the government decision to convert the Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode in to an Institute of Education with affiliation to the Olabisi Onobanjo University as, students threatened to block Lagos-Ibadan express way, if the government fails to reverse the decision within 24 hours.

The students also threatened that, the decision of the state government if implemented would lead to anarchy and chaos in the state.

The students who were led by National Association of Nigerian Students NANS,President, Mustapha Adewale and President,TASUED, Mustapha Oyekanmi said they would stage protest across the state if the government did not revert the decision.

Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner, Nicholas Nkedeme while reacting to the threat by the students, said though, he was yet to get the official statement, but, he would put his men on red alert.

He told Vanguard on phone Wednesday that, he would send his men to investigate the plan and do the necessary thing to protect lives and properties.

Also, parents of the affected students have rejected the government decision, describing it as a wrong step.

One of the parents who spoke with newsmen ,Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, said that, the institution was living up to the purpose for which it was established.

According to him, “I want to believe that it is uncalled for in the sense that the institution is known to be a formidable institution especially when you make comparison with other university in the state. You will agree with me that the decision is uncalled for.

“It will equally affect the morale of the student, I think it is unfair and not proper at this stage particularly when it is on record that that institution is well known and well recognized even by NUC and the international body because I was made to believe that the institution is among the best when it comes to education.”

labour, FG failed to reach an agreement

Meanwhile A joint statement by the Acting General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and General Secretary of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, Comrade Owei Lakemfa and Chief John Kolawole also categorically dissociated organised labour from any plot to change the present regime in the country through the mass action spearheaded by it and assured that whenever the government was ready and called labour for further meeting, it would attend without conditions.
The statement read in part: ”Labour’s analysis of the situation is that tension is very high in the land following the fuel price increase, the resultant strikes, rallies and street protests and the human causalties that have followed.And that a suspension of the new petrol prices will reducetension and return the country to normalcy. We decided to make a plea to President Goodluck Jonathanin the overriding interest of the country to suspend the PMS (petrol) price increases and direct that talks betweengovernment and Labour be concluded on the petroleum industry especially at it affects fuel subsidy and pricing within a short time frame.
“We made a pledge that oncethe price increase suspension is announced, Labour and its allies will immediately suspend the strikes, rallies and street protests. The summary of Labour’s position at the meeting was that talks and consultations were on-goingbefore government aborted them by announcing the 120-220 per cent increase inthe price of petrol, and that itis necessary to return to the status quo in order to douse tension, return the country to normalcy and allow for a conducive atmosphere for consultations and talks. However, Government’s only offer was to reduce the new prices while declining to allow a phased price increase. We think that the government position will notreturn the country to normalcy. The Labour Movement pledges that whenever and wherever government invites us for talks, we shall be there without any conditionality.”


Objectives of the Strikes and Protests

Continuing, the statement said: “The Labour Movement once again reiterate that the strikes, rallies and street protests must be peaceful and that the objective is the reversal of the petrol (PMS) prices to their pre-January 1, 2012 level. We are therefore not campaigning for ‘RegimeChange’. The Labour Movement is wedded to democracy, therefore, anybody or group that wantsa change in the political leadership of the country at whatever level, should do so through the ballot box.
“The Labour Movement and its Civil Society allies are also saddened by the unprecedented loss of lives and injuries sustained during the indefinite strikes, rallies and street protests that commenced from Monday January 9, 2012. We reiterate that those who visitviolence on protesters and their masters who gave suchevil orders will individually bebrought to justice.”

FG warns hoodlums to steer clear of rallies

Meanwhile, the Federal government has warned thatif the organised labour continues with protests and rallies today, hoodlums must stay away from the protests or else they will be dealt withruthlessly.
According to the Federal government, it has become imperative for it to take that decisive action of crushing the hoodlums because hijacking the strike and turning it into a riot was not the intention of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress and Civil society Organisations.
Answering questions from Journalists yesterday after the laying of wreath to mark the end of 2012 Armed forces Remembrance Day, Minister of Defence, Dr. Mohammed Haliru Bello who urged Nigerians not to panic as security is assured in the country, however stressed the need for everybody to continue to live wherever he is living now as nobody has the power to ask anybody to leave.

DIG cautions policemen on use of fire arms at rallies

The Deputy Inspector Generalof Police (DIG) in charge operations, Alhaji Audu Abubakar, has urged policemen to be extra cautious on the use of firearms at public rallies.
Speaking to newsmen in Yolaon yesterday, Abubakar said the role of the police was to provide security to everyone including protesters as far asthose protesters were withinthe confines of the law.
Abubalkar, who was in Yola to assess security situation and monitor protests againstthe removal of fuel subsidy, said so far the protests in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe had been peaceful.
“The main reason why we are in Yola is because we want to talk to our officers and men to ensure that they exercise extreme caution in handling the situation because this is a democratic dispensation and therefore whatever we are doing particularly policing should be democratic.

Ben Bruce Plan:- "SUBSIDIZING THE POOR"

The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria recently held a Town Hall Meeting to discuss the removal of Fuel subsidy by the Federal Government of Nigeria, which has now beenimplemented.
At that Debate, I came up with a transportation solution to the subsidy issue which allows government to remove the subsidy and at the same time subsidise the transport sector with a fraction of the savings from the subsidy removal, with a net effect of no transport fare increase in the post subsidy era.
My proposal, which is now christeneted ‘THE BEN BRUCE PLAN: SUBSIDISING THE POOR’is now more urgent in order to reduce the hardship which Nigerians have startedto experience since the January 1, 2012 subsidy removal!
A good plan is only as important as the willingness to execute it. Since Independence in 1960, successive Administrations have paid little attention to the Poor. Government has played the role of Robin Hood, unfortunately though in reverse, they have taken from the Poor to subsidise and sustain the Rich.
I urge The Federal Government to reverse that role and play the real Robin Hood, and now take from theRich and give to the Poor. This simply means that they must ensure that the Rich make the same sacrifice that the Poor have made and continue to make.
After all, it is not a sin to be poor. The Government of Nigeria must practice what itpreaches, if it does and implements the Ben Bruce Transport Policy, it will go a long way in easing the untold hardship the increase in the cost of Petrol will have on The Nigerian masses.
THE BEN BRUCE.
TRANSPORT POLICY is simple, realistic and very achievable. It is to provide affordable, sustainable, comfortable, reliable and modern mass transit system for Nigerians without fare increase and refleeting the national rollingstock (buses and taxis) and the provision of transport infrastructures (bus depot, bus terminals, bus shelters and laybys).
The Government needs to setup the National Transport Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and State transport Regulatory Authority (STAs) to implement this programme.
Murray-Bruce: Bayelsansare in for a great time
One of the focal points of my plan, is that all School Children in Uniform, senior Citizens over 60 and Children under 10 must travel free of charge by Public Transportation under this plan.
My plan guarantees stabilization of transport fares, massive employment generation, create new national identity through The‘Buses and Taxis’ that would be celebrated around the country and offer a breath offresh air rather than the gloom and doom that have pervaded the national scene in recent times. The details ofmy plan have been worked with global transport expertsand would be in the public domain soon!
To implement this plan, I propose $2b annually for 10 years. This will re-invent and re- build the Transport sectorof Nigeria and alleviate the sufferings of the Nigerian people and at the same time grow our Economy.
I demand for the Nigerian masses a $500m subsidy fund to subsidise Bus and Taxi services in Nigeria. I want that subsidy at 50% of the cost for all Nigerians. Many other developing and advanced Economies have subsidised their Transport Sectors.
For instance, Brazil by 70%, South Africa by 34%, Chile by 57%, the UK by 49%, Belgium by 69% and finland by 65%. We all know the problems that have plagued our Nation for Decades, we all know the untold hardship our people have been through, and so did the Afrobeat Legend Fela Anikulapo- Kuti as emphasised in many of his songs and a fraction of the subsidy savings would go a long way to reverse Fela’s prophesy! I estimate that we spend N50b annually on Transport Fare, deregulation will double that and make it N100b. The additional N50b should be paid by the Government.
And equally important, I propose an additional $500 annual intervention Fund at 5% interest over 5 years provided by the Banks and Guaranteed by the Federal Government to be used to buy fuel efficient Cars and Buses. These vehicles must be among the top 5 most fuel efficient Cars and Buses in the world and most importantly, they must be duty free.
I don’t have to be psychic or a soothsayer to know that the money that will accrue toGovernment from deregulation is more than enough to pay for the purchase of such Vehicles, with an estimate of N3m for Cars, N11m for mini Buses and N16m for bigger Buses. Old Cars and Buses should bebrought to designated centres, where they can be purchased for at least N300,000 each and crushed, so they are taken out of circulation and will reduce the carnage on our roads.
The money will be used as a down payment, towards the purchase of New cars and Buses............BEN MURRAY BRUCE PLAN, want to read more go search for the document on google titled :- "subsidizing the poor"