Cattle freight from Gusau

The Managing Director, Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending,ý Abdulhameed Aliyu, described the arrival of cattle by train to Lagos from Gusau as a feat and a pleasant surprise as well as (a) good omen for the innovative project of moving cattle from the north to the south by rail.

According to Aliyu, “We are indeed happy to hear that the wagons have arrived ahead of schedule. We are very delighted that the historic train has arrived earlier than projected.”

It is indeed sad if not depressing posturing to be smart in an environment like Nigeria, where anything goes. You end up doubting the humanity of otherwise enlightened individuals who handle the reins of office. In my days at the University of Lagos, the typical question was, “Ibu du ewu?” Meaning, “Are you a goat?”

We are so used to mediocrity that any activity or service delivery that approaches the norm is hailed as phenomenal. How on earth can the MD of NISRAL describe the mere arrival of a cattle train in Lagos after a two and half day journey as historic? When was this young man born?

In several writings proposing solutions to the unabating problem of the wandering Fulani herdsmen, I had recommended that cattle for slaughter must henceforth no longer arrive at the destination on the hoof. Cattle can cross state boundaries ONLY in a truck, trailer or train. It could not have been an original idea of mine when I recall those modes of cattle transfer in my youthful days at Enugu from 1957 to 1967 before the shooting war started. I lived barely 300m from the Railway Station and the locomotive running sheds.

The bar for performance has been set so low that it may not surprise me if Aliyu gets awarded an MON for “inventing” the cattle train. The question should have been why it took so long. Is this train ride a stunt, or a sample of things to come? Only time will tell.

Re: Use oil wealth to better lot of Nigerians - US tells FG in Yenagoa

CONSUL-GENERAL LEADS US DELEGATION TO BAYELSA STATE

It is difficult to discern the exact nature of US interests in Nigeria at all times. Those interests may have some fixed and variable components such that, to copy the Iranian example pre-1979, the US administration, in pursuit of a strategic objective, may overtly support an incompetent and repressive Nigerian administration. The recent visit to Northern Nigeria by US Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, has drawn a lot of flak from incensed Southerners and Christians alike. The question often asked has been, "Why exactly did Kerry come to Nigeria?" Nigerians have been at a loss over this matter. Kerry landed in Abuja and held consultations with a highly unpopular former military dictator who recently wormed his way into an elected presidency. As if to confirm the rabidly Islamic slant of the Buhari administration, Kerry proceeded to hold further consultations with Islamic religious leaders from only the north, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto.

Understandably the southern press and online social media have taken up this matter. And we are still not getting any answers, convincing or not. It is under this cloud of suspicion and distrust that a large retinue of US  consular officials, probably from the Lagos outpost, was dispatched to Bayelsa State to advise the governor and perhaps the natives to ensure that oil wealth is applied judiciously for the benefit of the people! To undertake such a perilous journey, in the midst of the ongoing Niger Delta insurgency, is supposed to be read as a show of true commitment to the affairs of Southern Nigeria, after the recent inexplicable slight by Kerry.

It is instructive to note that the US never took the trouble to advice our various profligate southern and Niger Delta state governments about the benefit of accountability and good governance when they were awash with oil funds that could be applied to such ends. Why now? Which oil wealth was the delegation referring to? Everybody knows that the Federal Government and the vassal states have long run out of money. If, as I suspect, the trip of the Americans is one in a series of fence mending operations, I doubt that many Nigerians in the south can be taken in by it.Then again, it is an established fact that

NIGERIA’S 2015 ELECTION By Engr Ajulu Uzodike, OON January 22, 2015

The campaign issues for the 2015 general elections are many. They are – the Economy with sub issues like job & wealth creation (unemployment), domestic industrialization & patronage, investments (domestic & foreign), indebtedness (domestic & foreign); Security of life and property; Transparency of public actions (equated by many as corruption); Recklessness and impunity of government officials; Leader’s vision for the country’s future; and many others. Many authors have made reasonable contributions on most of the issues to enable voters make good judgement about whom to vote in the presidential election and maybe in the other elections too. However, many other articles appear to have been purposely written to mislead the voters.

I would limit my contributions on the above issues to personal experiences and reliable data, not comments, obtained from independent international sources. I would also concentrate on the two leading presidential candidates – President Jonathan of the PDP and General Buhari of the APC. Luckily for me both of them have led Nigeria once and have had to grapple with similar circumstances concerning the above issues. Their records, achievements or otherwise are verifiable.

THE ECONOMY

Under President Jonathan the confidence in the economy is growing. Nigerians abroad are