SUPERMOM SPECIAL: HERO OF THE MONTH Obiageli Ezekwesili

Obiageli Ezekwesili popularly known as Oby Ezekwesili hails from Anambra State of Nigeria.

She obtained her Master's degree in International Law and Diplomacy from

the University of Lagos. She later traveled to the Unite States where she enrolled in the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and obtained her Masters Degree in Public administration. She also trained in the Accountancy firm of Deloitte and Touche and became a chartered accountant. 

Ezekwesili worked with Professor Jeffrey Sachs at the Center for International Development at Harvard.

Obiageli Ezekwesili co-founded Transparency International, an anti-corruption body based in Berlin, Germany. There, she was one of the pioneer directors. She later came back to Nigeria and served as the Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and later as Federal Minister of Education during the second-term of president OlusegunObasanjo. Oby Ezekwesili was once the Vice-President of the World Bank's Africa division, a position she held from May 2007 to May 2012.

During the regime of president Olusegun Obasanjo Obiageli Ezekwesili held the position of the Pioneer head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (nick-named Due Process Unit). It was at that time that she was given the sobriquet of "Madam Due Process" owing to the outstanding work she led a team of professionals to do in sanitation of  the public procurement or contract award at the Federal level in Nigeria. The Nigerian Bureau for Public Procurement legislation can be described as her brainchild. Other legislation she engineered include the NEITI legislation and the new Minerals and Mining legislation.

Apart from holding positions as the Minister of Solid Minerals (Mines and Steel) in June 2005 during which period she led a vibrant reform program that led to Nigeria being globally recognized as a credible mining investment destination. She was also the Chairperson of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). It was at this period that she led the first ever national implementation of the global standards and principles of transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector.

Oby Ezekwesili was appointed the Federal Minister of Education in June 2006, a position she held until she went for an appointment in the World Bank in May 2007. Her appointment as Vice-President for the Africa Region at the world bank was actually announced in March 2007, by President Paul Wolfowitz.

On October 1, 2012, Bharti Airtel, one of the world's leading telecommunications firm having operations in 20 countries, named Obiageli Ezekwesili as a director on its board. Oby is also one of the board members of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy,  the School of Public Policy of Central European University,  New African magazine and The Center for Global Leadership of Tufts University.

In May 2012, the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, awarded Ezekwesili an honorary Doctor of Science (DSC) degree.

After nearly 300 girls were abducted from Chibok by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram., Oby Ezekwesili co-founded the viral #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media, which urges action to bring the girls back. Some international personalities including  Michelle Obama, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown and others have identified with the clamor for the release of the abducted schoolgirls and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

Oby Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

Between BBOG group, police and new pro-Buhari group

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Having stopped the first silent protest of September 2nd 2016, embarked by the Bring Back Our Girls Group, by the Nigerian Police has, the group rescheduled its cause to Tuesday, 6th September 2016.

However, there was a repeat performance by the police as the authorities, once again, obstructed the BBOG group from attending to their business.

Co-founder, Oby Ezekwesili and other supporters of the BBOG movement are, as expected, disappointed at these turn of events; particularly since the last administration took the same stance about the BBOG protests.

As if to test the BBOG movement, a rival group tagged the Pro-Buhari group was also on hand to thwart the efforts of BBOG group.

In a series of tweets below, this was how the incident unfolded:

Arrey Elvis Ntui @ArreyMcNtui

#BringBackOurGirls so their parents can have a good sleep.#ChibokGirls should be priority. https://twitter.com/obyezeks/status/773051150237044736 … 

Oby Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

DAY876 of OUR #ChibokGirls.
WE @BBOG_Nigeria deferred our March of Sept. 2nd. Today, >72 working hours after our August30 one, WE MARCH.

Oby Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

DAY876 of #ChibokGirls abduction.
Mr. President @MBuhari :
NO MORE EXCUSES.
DECIDE NOW!
ACT NOW!!
WE WANT RESULT!!!

Oby Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

DAY876 of OUR #ChibokGirls
REMINDER NOTE to @PoliceNG
"BBOG: Police Has no Right to Ban Protests, Court Rules"

Oby Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

Pres @MBuhari History should be A GOOD TEACHER.
How could you instruct @PoliceNG TO STOP @BBOG_NigeriaADVOCATING FOR #ChibokGirls?

by Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

President @MBuhari
Our March today is a TEST.
Is the heavy @PoliceNG deployed to the Unity Fountain out to RESTRICT @BBOG_Nigeria MARCH?

Oby Ezekwesili 

✔@obyezeks

Pres @MBuhari
WE ARE IN A DEMOCRACY.
The 1999 Constitution & the Court of the LAND UPHOLD@BBOG_Nigeria 's RIGHT TO OUR MARCH. @PoliceNG 

We ask every good hearted individuals to help us Bring Back Our Girls, So  that their mothers can sleep with their eyes close. #BBOG

Meet the 25-year-old SUPERMUM that has given birth to 9 kids including a set of triplets and twins (photos)

Hello! the lady pictured below is 25 years old and she had 9 amazing kids including a set of triplets, a set of twins and four individual ones! She recently posted this message below on her Instagram for her critics:

“Folks be so busy making fake pages tryna bash me for having 9 kids but don’t gotta take care of none of them. It’s love knowing that your greatness goes unnoticed by complete strangers… Yes it get hard, yes they work my nerves but I got my kids…”I see lawyers, doctors & athletes” 

Lol, that what being a supermom is all about…… record breakers

Five new cases of Lassa fever discovered in Plateau

 

The Plateau State Health Commissioner, Dr. Kuden Kamshak on Tuesday said the state has reported four new cases of Lassa fever.

He disclosed this while speaking to journalists in Jos.

Kamshak said samples from the victims have been taken to Delta Sate for analysis and investigation.

He said two have tested positive to the virus out of the 10 cases discovered in the state.

He also said one of the affected persons was a student of the University of Jos, who has been treated and discharged.

He said others have been discharged after been quarantined and observed for 21 days.

He said, “We have commenced aggressive sensitization and awareness campaign in the state.

The campaigns are aimed at enlightening the people on how to prevent the disease and curb the spread.”

We Worship Olodumare And Not Idol - Ooni of Ife

Ooni Alayeluwa Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi – Ojaja II has reinstated God as his God. The Ife monarch was reacting to criticisms he faced when he led a praise and worship session in a Redeemed church in the United States. 

He wrote on his official Facebook page, We are tagged as idol worshippers, but truth be told we are not idol worshippers. Our traditions give all the glory, adoration and honor to the almighty God which we know as Olodumare.

Six Reasons to Update Your Business Plan

Business plans are living documents. Make sure that they evolve with your company and reflect the business you’re running by revising when your company meets these six milestones.
You want to refinance or fundraise. Investors and lenders want to know about your current challenges and have the most up-to-date look at the costs and opportunities you’re forecasting.




You launch a new product or service. A new revenue stream will impact how you manage your resources – and can impact profitability. Let partners and investors in on your vision to get their buy-in and help with execution.


You expand into new markets. How you allocate your time and resources will change dramatically as you expand into different cities and countries. An updated plan can help you set realistic goals and communicate those to you team.
Your competitors have changed. Half the battle of running a successful business is staying aware of what the others in your industry are doing. If your major competitor pivots or there is an up and coming venture that enters the field, include that in your plan


You change suppliers or technologies. Changing your supply chain could help you cut costs or even position your company as more environmentally friendly. Furthermore, a shift to a new tech platform could give your company an important competitive advantage that investors will want to know about.


Your customer changes. If your target customer has shifted, you might need to meet a different set of wants and need. If so, you’ll need to explain in your business plan how you’ll find your new core market and retain it.

  

You Deserve to Be a Millionaire. Follow These 12 Tips to Get There

I started with nothing and have been blessed with enough focus, commitment, follow through and the ability to not make excuses that I have done extremely well in my life. This principles work.

1. It's never been easier.

It has never been easier, so don’t make it so difficult. There is so much money in the world today and so many ways to get yourself known. The first thing you have to know is that it’s out there and it’s not that hard. In fact, everyone will be a millionaire in their lifetime: $50,000 per year times 20 years equals $1 million.

2. Saving won’t do.

The old ideas of saving every penny is not the way today. You can’t simply save your way to the first million without becoming old, at which point the money probably won’t matter to you.

3. Live below your means.

Live below the money you are making. Not because you are depriving yourself, but because you are seeking to bank millions. No one has ever done business with me because of the suit I wear, the watch I have on my wrist or the car I drove. Live below your means until you don’t have to anymore.

4. Push every tax angle you can.

Learn the tax code and use it to your advantage. Quit bitching about taxes and learn how it can benefit you. The code was put together to give preference to earners. I have joined multiple multi-level marketing companies while still being an employee so I could take advantage of write-offs like the home and car. These were, and are, legitimate ways for me to reduce my tax bill and possibly make some more money -- plus I have a chance to surround myself with great people.

5. Mature from income to investor.

The way to get rich is to make investments, but you can’t do that if your income doesn’t allow for you to set aside money to invest. The only reason to make and save money is so that you can invest it. Only invest money in projects you know will score and never give up your income.

6. Start acting like a boss.

Quit acting poor and quit acting like you are a spectator. Boss up in everything. When the bill comes for dinner, boss up. When you have to invest money to get information, buy a list, grow your brand or learn to sell you need to write the check like a boss, not like a little whiner.

7. Automate a pay-yourself-first program.

Set up with your employer to pay yourself to a savings account so that you have money deposited each month before you get a check to pay your bills and live your life. This is one thing I started doing when I was 26 years old that kept me "broke" without money to lose or waste and forced me to continue to hustle. This is the step that will make number five possible.

8. Be in a hurry.

Be the hare, the turtle and the millionaire! The only thing that comes to those that are patient are the crumbs left behind by those in a hurry.

9. Do the millionaire math.

Do the math on what it takes to hit a million. If you make $50,000 a year and can figure out how to put away 40 percent of it (that is my saving target) it will take you 50 years times $20,000 per year to get there. If you don’t do your math you won’t get there because you won’t have the right mindset. Math is a universal language.

10. Do not diversify.

I know the diversification concept is popular, but it’s wrong. If you are going to bank a million before you are old and tired you need to pick something you believe in and know it's going to work and go all in.

11. Seek multiple flows.

If you don’t get multiple flows happening you will never create financial freedom. Don’t confuse number 10 with multiple flows. These are not conflicts -- have parallel flows going. Don’t make your first flow disconnected, make it similar so that it takes less energy and less resources.

12. Avoid spending money or tying up your money in homes, IRAs or colleges.

I know it’s not popular, but these are traps. Show me someone that became a millionaire from buying homes, other than me. Flipping homes, by the way, is not buying homes -- that is a real estate play. Wall Street has convinced you to do these things to trap and immobilize you.

You deserve financial freedom. You should have your financial targets to be a millionaire up until the point that you become one. Then your target should be to hit 100 million!

Courtesy: http://www.entrepreneur.com/  

High heels can damage your feet

Chris Delpierre, a podiatrist at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town, gives the low-down on high heels and our health. High heels may look good but they can cause problems for your feet, ankles, legs, hips and back.

Feet and Ankle Problems

When you wear heels, the centre of gravity shifts forwards to the ball of the foot. The higher the heel, the more pressure it gives the foot. This can cause relatively simple problems, like calluses or corns, as well as more serious conditions. These may include forefoot deformities, like bunions, and nerve conditions, like neuromas. The narrower toe box and tendency of the foot to slide forwards in heels can cause blisters and corns. With the foot in a downward position, calf muscles are shortened, causing a shortening of the Achilles tendon. The muscles can then become tighter causing pain or injury when barefoot or in flat shoes.

Leg and Hip Problems

The dropped foot position and the increased pressure can cause compensation in the rest of the body. The knee remains in a slightly bent position, which affects the natural curvature of the back. Continuous use of high heels could cause knee arthritis as well as chronic hip and/or back pain.

TIPS for Wearing High Heels

• Get the best possible fit.
• Try to wear open-toe shoes to avoid corns and calluses on the toes.
• Get shoes with a wider, more stable heel.
• Switch between different heel heights to avoid Achilles tendon/calf issues.
• Cushioning the forefoot is good.

- Daily Fix

10 Ways to Keep Your Vagina Clean & Healthy

All women should be concerned about their vaginal health. A healthy vagina is naturally acidic and contains rich quantities of beneficial bacteria that help fend off infections and maintain a normal pH level. A healthy vagina will also secrete small amounts of discharge to keep itself clean, much as saliva is produced to help cleanse your mouth. Any interference with these normal conditions, and you may face vaginal irritation or infection. Here’s how to keep your vagina healthy. 1. Use Condom. You know that rubbers are great at protecting against STDs and pregnancy, but a study  suggests that using condoms helps keep your vagina’s pH level at the status quo so good bacteria, like lactobacilli, can survive in there. And this is super important since those little bacteria help prevent yeast infections, UTIs, and bacterial vaginosis. Just in case you needed another reason to wrap things up. 2. Wear Cotton Underwear. When it comes to your underwear selection, your vagina has a preference: cotton. That’s why most underwear comes with a thin strip of cotton fabric in the crotch. 3. Work It Out. Doing kegels is crucial for strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, which are key in producing stronger, mind-blowing orgasms—not to mention bladder control. Note to self: Include kegels in every workout. 4. Take Yogurt. Snacking on yogurt with live cultures helps boost the good bacteria in your hoo-ha, which, as you know, is all around fantastic for preventing annoying vaginal problems like yeast infections. Just be careful that you’re not noshing on the super-sugary kind, because that could make you more susceptible to those infections. 5. Use Lubricant. Sometimes when you’re about to hit the sheets, it seems like your vagina just didn’t get the memo. But it’s totally normal—vaginal dryness can impact you if you take certain medications like antihistamines, antidepressants, or hormonal birth control. It can also crop up after pregnancy or shortly before menopause. When this happens, make sure you’re communicating with your partner so they don’t forge ahead before you’re properly lubricated, which is obviously painful and can cause abrasions. 6. Say No To Douching. Think you need some assistance keeping things all clear down there? You don’t. Studies have shown that using intravaginal hygiene products can put you at increased risk of infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and STDs. Just don’t do it. 7. Handling With Care While Cycling. An unexpected place you might be putting your vaginal health at risk is the cycling studio. If you’re a frequent rider, you could be at risk for genital numbness, pain, and tingling (not in a good way) while cycling. In fact, a study of female cyclists in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that a majority experienced these symptoms. If you love to hit up cycling studios, try wearing padded shorts and following these form modifications to keep your vagina pain-free during your workout. 8. Approach Antibiotics With Caution. Another threat to your nether region’s good bacteria are antibiotics. Those pills can kill off some of that wonderful lactobacilli that keep your vagina healthy. Obviously, if you have to take an antibiotic to fight infection, you shouldn’t pass up the prescription, just load up on probiotic Greek yogurt to reduce the damage. 9. Be Mindful Of Other Sex Act. Make sure not to go from anal to vaginal sex without changing the condom or properly cleaning off first. Going from backdoor to front exposes your vagina to a host of bacteria and can up your risk of infections. 10. Be Careful With Soap. That scented body wash may be awesome, but it doesn’t belong anywhere near your genitals. Soap can be really drying to the sensitive skin around your vulva, and you really only need to rinse with warm water to keep things clean down there. But if you just don’t feel right about going soap-free, stick with a plain, gentle, unscented soap....

Source:  | Visit http://more.ng for more 

15 Ways Guys Say 'I LOVE YOU' Without Saying It By Samantha Escobar

From where we stop last week about about how our men communicate love to us without saying it. Let hear what Samantha got to say....

9. He Sticks Around

Does he like to do activities together for no reason? For example, rather than just wanting to meet up at a dinner party, he'd rather go grocery shopping with you beforehand so the two of you can make a dish to bring together. Simply doing household things shows an interest in being closer than just casual daters or sex partners.

10. Eye Contact Often
When you're at a bar with friends, does he glance across the room just to make eye contact briefly and smile at one another? This indicates how, even when you two are doing different things, he still wants you to be aware of how much he cares.

11. Hair Ruffling
When people are nervous, they tend to run their fingers through their hair more often than normal. Does he do this when the pair of you are in close proximity to one another and it’s a romantic moment? If so, it could show that he wants to say something intimate but can't find the words.

12. Mirrored Behavior
Does he tend to take bites of his food at the same time as you or do other things similarly? He could be displaying isopraxism, the matching or behaviors that couples tend to do when becoming closer together.

13. Meaningful Gifts
When I say 'meaningful,' I don't mean 'expensive'; I mean that he spends effort and puts serious thought into finding you something that truly fits your personality to a T. I had one guy give me three pairs of socks: one with a crazy cute pattern, one specifically for boots and one for high heels. The week prior, I had gotten a blister on my foot due to not having thick enough socks for a pair of boots I had just purchased, so it was super sweet and a clear indication of his listening skills that he remembered.

14. Frequent Laughing
Does he find you funny and can't help but giggle when you do something silly? As odd as it sounds, the more often he laughs and finds you hilarious, the more serious the level of interest and excitement surrounding your relationship is.

15. Spontaneous Touching                                         
When you're in a public place, does he put his fingers on your back to keep you closeby? Does he hold your hand atop yours while you two are in a restaurant? Random closeness via touching shows that he wants to maintain physical contact, even when it's not sexual.

TIME TO SAY OUR LORD’S PRAYER by DELE MOMODU,

This is why I’m flabbergasted that President Jonathan is allowing some rascals to mislead and drive him down that same evil alley. A man who was rescued and raised up by God should never play God. 

Fellow Nigerians, please I have no intention of scaring anyone today but to paint a realistic scenario of what may likely happen soon. Experience has taught me not to dismiss anything as mere rumour these days. I vividly recollect the damage even unfounded rumour can cause in a country so prone to malicious gossips as Nigeria.
Permit me to take you down memory lane especially those who were yet to be born, or old enough to experience first-hand certain events, in1989 that culminated in what was dubbed the SAP Riots. It so happened that an evil genius somewhere had released a bazooka of a rumour about General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and his family. The tale-bearer had mentioned that there was a story in Ebony, an American magazine, which purportedly listed the stupendous wealth of the Babangidas, including coded accounts in Switzerland, a sprawling boutique in Paris, choice properties in a few world capitals and so on.
The rumour ignited like bush-fire in harmattan just as some livid and obviously rabid Nigerians went wild and took to the streets. I don’t remember the exact date of this conflagration but it was on a particular Wednesday in May 1989. I was a reporter working for the Weekend Concord at the time and was out of Lagos when the demonstrators unleashed mayhem in different parts of Nigeria, most especially in Lagos and Benin City. I had returned on a Friday to my desk while the first edition of our wave-making and audacious newspaper had already gone out. And the cover read: Black Wednesday in Lagos.
I immediately approached my Editor, Mr Mike Awoyinfa, a man with an uncanny nose for news and scoops, and challenged him about the lack of adequate bite in the reportage of that important story. My Editor threw the challenge back at me and instructed me to write another version for the second edition. The story I was about to pen was so dangerously precarious under a military regime but I challenged fate and broke down the eventful riots into pieces and took the readers back into its original source. Every newspaper had celebrated the story but they were just too timid to situate the reasons for the total breakdown of law and order apparently for fear of a backlash from the petulant military rulers.

What I found preposterous was the fact that no one had made sufficient effort to look for the original publication that supposedly printed the satanic story. Even the famous social crusader, Dr Tai Solarin, who led a chunky part of the rebellion, said he had not seen an original copy of the magazine. Everything was thus based on rumours upon rumours and hearsay upon hearsay. Fortunately for me, as I sat down to write one of my most difficult stories ever, our Managing Director, Dr Doyinsola Hamidat Abiola, received some current editions of Ebony magazine from our Chairman, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, who had just flown in from one of his marathon trips abroad. Dr Abiola, as if in spirit, had urgently dispatched the copies of Ebony to my Editor who in turn sent them to me, and that confirmed our worst fears that there was no such story and it was all a mere fabrication to smear the government.
I must have written one of my best stories ever that night. I traced the origin of the rumours and painted a vivid picture of the allegations. I mentioned authoritatively that we had combed several issues of Ebony and there was no such story ever published. For extra effect, we made a bromide of the latest Ebony cover and plastered it on the cover of Weekend Concord. As I sweated over the story, I uncharacteristically sent for a bottle of beer to calm down my nerves. The Publisher of Classique magazine, May Ellen Ezekiel, had walked in to submit her MEE column which I had the privilege of editing, and asked why I was looking so tense. I told her about my delicate story and she was wowed by my bravery. That very night, she started working on how to poach me to her magazine. What was more, our Lagos edition of Weekend Concord sold 80,000 copies that Saturday.
My mind raced back to this experience about four weeks ago as I ran into a Nigerian lady in Madrid who told me she had left Nigeria in order to escape election violence but was returning because it was postponed. As I write this, I know of many families running away from Nigeria between now and next week. If you doubt the veracity of my gist, please call or try to book flights on any of the major airlines and tell me your experience later. Election has become a war and a matter of life and death in our country. I was hoping things would be different after watching the peace accord document that was voluntarily signed by our political gladiators in Abuja, before man and God.  I was particularly encouraged by the loud banter exchanged between President Jonathan and Major General Muhammadu Buhari. It is tragic that the accord broke down almost as soon as it was signed.
I won’t make you more miserable by regurgitating some of the nonsense campaigning we’ve been subjected to by adults and supposed nationalists who should know much better and act decorously. But the situation has so degenerated that no one can predict what would happen next. Now the scaremongering has reached a crescendo. The biggest rumour in town is that the ruling party has decided that it will never hand over power to the opposition no matter the outcome of the election. And these rumours are emanating from some of those very close to the corridors of power. The First Lady, in particular, has not hidden her disdain for her husband’s main challenger. I’ve taken time to watch most of her campaigns after my well-circulated open letter to her hoping to see a mellowing down in tone and tempo but she seems to have charged back with a vengeance thus spiralling out of control. The hate speeches have shone clearly that our nation is on tenterhooks and we need loads of prayers to have this cup pass over us.
The doomsday predilection should therefore be taken seriously since nothing can be ruled out in our dear beloved country. The power-mongers are never tired of trying new stunts. Who would have believed in 1993 that Chief Abiola would win the election and a few people would sit in a room and cancel what had the potential of unifying Nigerians forever! But it happened before our very eyes. Unfortunately, Nigeria has known no peace since then. We have become more divided and stupidly disunited since then.
The actors and characters currently in power seem to want to try their own June 12 fiasco. They have been going round taking lessons and tutorials in how to hold a whole country to ransom and by the jugular just because they must hang on to power. They do not mind wielding guns and cudgels in broad daylight on the streets of a megacity, with security agents in tow. They have reduced the issues of performance and under-performance to ethnicity and religion. I thought it should be obvious that elections are not won by force but through deliverables and persuasion. Rather than encourage Professor Attahiru Jega to do a better job this time, I’ve watched all manner of hirelings on television cooking some hocus-pocus in order to discredit the man and hopefully boot him out. Someone high up even assured me Jega will be removed by today because he would never be permitted to conduct the forthcoming election and it just didn’t make sense to me.

If I was going to dismiss the Interim Government rumour out of hand I was immediately jolted back to reality after the latest warning by no less personages than Professor Wole Soyinka and Lt. General Alani Ipoola Akinrinade both of whom have access to very solid and credible intelligence. General Olusegun Obasanjo had also spoken copiously against it and must have had good cause for doing so. In case some of the present warriors have lost their memory of the June 12 crisis, let me remind them about what happened to each of the dramatis personae one by one.
General Babangida was the President who supervised that election which Professor Humphrey Nwosu conducted efficiently.  After the annulment, Babangida, who went by the moniker Maradona, was forced to step aside and he never succeeded in coming back as he seemed to have planned and designed. He lost to boot what would have being his most glorious moment. Chief Ernest Degunle Shonekan was forced on the nation as Head of Interim Government but he hardly settled in before some soldiers put guns to his head and forced him to relinquish power in a jiffy. Chief Moshood Abiola was deceived into believing that General Sani Abacha would hand over to him after a coup that would flush out the Babangida renegades but it turned out to be a grand scam. Abacha took power and decided to sit pretty and the owner of the mandate was left out in the chilly cold.
Abacha wasted no time in arresting Chief Abiola and kept him for most part incommunicado and in solitary confinement. Abacha must also researched those likely to have voluble ambition to checkmate him and he discovered two influential Generals, Olusegun Obasanjo and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and promptly hurled both into detention after arranging some felonious charges against them. The latter died in prison. Both Abacha and Abiola would later die in mysterious circumstances, just one month apart in 1998. Nigeria itself went into a coma. Over two decades after, we are still grappling with lack of basic necessities of life and we’ve never had things so bad minus the civil war era which some of our brethren in the East also appear to have forgotten by playing race card above potentials.

The danger of plotting against your people is you never know the punishment that awaits you and yours. I’m sure many of those who brought crisis upon us these past decades must be gnashing their teeth by now. Had they concocted a better Nigeria, things would probably have turned out differently today even for them. Our country would have been rescued from the vermin now plaguing our land. Only God gives power and HE is the one who can take it back.
I will give my last example. In 2010, everything was done by the so-called cabal to stop the then Vice President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, from assuming power. The custodian of the power himself was too sick and totally oblivious to the power-game around him. Yet a few people commandeered Nigeria in his name. At the height of the higgledy-piggledy it was even suggested that power was going to be transferred to his wife. We were all afraid that Nigeria may collapse in the process but nothing of the sort happened because God the ALMIGHTY, as always, sorted Nigeria out. Without anyone firing a bullet those playing God ate the humble pie and left power without as much as a whimper.

This is why I’m flabbergasted that President Jonathan is allowing some rascals to mislead and drive him down that same evil alley. A man who was rescued and raised up by God should never play God. There is nothing more to gain by our President. He is the luckiest man I know, dead or alive. What more can he ever ask for? My advice as usual is simple and straight-forward.
Mr President has one week to make history and the only way to achieve that is not to end his career in unproductive acrimony. All those prodding him on, including his wife, have nothing to lose but he has everything to forfeit. I’m sure most of those who worked for the world’s most notorious dictators are still around to enjoy their loot while the despots have all been consigned to the dustbin of history. That is the tragedy that befalls those who listen to similarly wrong people that litter our political landscape and I see so many more of them along the corridors of Abuja.
There is a thin line between success and failure. What Nigeria needs is a visibly free and credible election. We need it now more than ever. If the President wins, so be it. And if the opposition candidate creates an upset, I expect the President to ring him up and concede defeat like other digital leaders such as him. The world shall rise up and give him a standing ovation. But if he plays for broke by deciding to fight dirty as pre-ordained by the hawks that appear to have enchanted and engulfed him, the rest of us shall take solace in the Lord’s Prayer:
“Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy Name
Thy will be done on earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.”

PENDULUM BY DELE MOMODU, Email: dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com