Group to Buhari – Collect Your Result From Cambridge Before Returning to Nigeria

 

Move On Nigeria, a civic action group promoting good governance, democracy and the transformation agenda, has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to quit dodging issues and face squarely issues concerning the health and certificate of its presidential candidate and former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).
The group said Buhari’s qualification had always been an issue even within the military circle where his intellectual ability had always had a question mark.
“Buhari’s qualification will remain an issue until he comes clean on the matter. If Buhari will be willing to publicly declare his assets as he said he would, he should also be willing to publicly show his acclaimed certificate.
“So far, every independent inquiry with regards to Buhari’s qualification has returned negative, the onus now is on Buhari to ensure that he collects his original secondary certificate from University of Cambridge in United Kingdom before returning to Nigeria during his London trip in order to put rest to the controversy surrounding his academic qualification. Any cab in London can take him to Cambridge.”
The group which accused the APC of lying and deceiving Nigerians about Buhari’s health and qualification, urged the party’s leadership and Buhari’s new mentor, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to prevail on their candidate to collect his result from Cambridge before returning back to the country, insisting that Buhari did not possess secondary school certificate as he claimed in Form CF001 submitted to Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC).
Move on Nigeria, according to it, took the pain to make enquiries from WAEC office in Nigeria and the West Africa Regional Office, Accra, Ghana, where the authorities said with finality they have no information on the candidate.
Speaking through a signed statement which was made available to journalists in Lagos yesterday, the National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Clem Aguiyi, maintained that if Buhari failed to collect his controversial result from the University of Cambridge this time around, and a clean bill of health supporting he is fit to withstand the rigours of office if elected, he should voluntarily withdraw from the the race, urging Buhari to use the opportunity to shame his critics over the controversial school certificate by collecting it from University of Cambridge.
Aguiyi said: “We strongly believe Buhari does not possess school certificate as he claimed and may have risen to the rank of General in the army using the same deception but we want Nigerians to give him the benefit of the doubt by bringing the result from University of Cambridge that claimed to conduct the said examination during his London trip and the result must tally with the earlier Statement of Result released through online medium by the Provincial Secondary School in Katsina State.
“It is high time Buhari cleared the air and lay the controversy surrounding his school certificate to rest before it is too late. Nigerians are graciously waiting to see Buhari’s original result of 1962 and we want to tell Nigerians that the APC candidate was enlisted into the Nigeria Army on the basis of Principal’s recommendation letter not basis of Secondary School Certificate.
“Also, failure of Buhari to bring the result during this trip, it means, his acclaimed integrity is not complete and he should hide his face behind a rock as we know that integrity begins with personal matters before graduating into ultimately public matters,” Aguiyi said.
The group, which expressed deep concern about Buhari’s rumoured ill health, urged the North to wise up saying the North is again being taken for a ride. We insist it is in the best interest of the North to allow President Goodluck Jonathan complete the eight-year tenure for the South-south while the north takes its turn by 2019 when it would provide a sound, healthier and younger Northerner who will be less a divisive character and generally acceptable than Buhari whose antecedent and competence is nothing to cheer.”

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Ghana pulls down Jonathan, Buhari billboards

Jonathan and Buhari

The campaign billboards of two Nigerian presidential candidates erected in Ghana’s capital, Accra have been pulled down following an order by the country’s (Ghana) national security agency.

The billboards of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party featuring President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as those of the main opposition All Progressives Congress of Muhammadu Buhari, located on Accra roads, were pulled down over the weekend by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

The decision to pull down the billboards was said to have come amid fears by some Ghanaians that their country could be drawn indirectly into the politics of Nigeria, with security implications, especially with the Boko Haram terrorists wreaking havoc in Nigeria.

Following the order by the National Security, according to GhanaWeb, a security expert at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr. Kwesi Annin, had indicated that Ghana had been saved from a possible attack by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, by pulling down the billboards put up in some parts of Accra.

He was quoted to have said that political elite in the country could have been targeted by Boko Haram if the political campaign in Ghana was not stopped.

He said, “I think it is critical that the National Security and Accra Metropolitan Assembly have listened to the concerns and voices raised by ordinary citizens that these billboards and some level of active political engagement might pose potential threat in the future.”

He said the removal of the billboards should not only be about Boko Haram, but also about whether or not laws governing the country permit foreign political entities to campaign in Ghana.

Meanwhile, an international relations expert, Dr. Vladmir Antwi Danso, said Ghana had been saved from severing future relations with Nigeria.

He was reported to have explained that if there was the perception that Ghana was supporting one candidate over the other, then the relationship between Ghana and Nigeria after the elections would be marred.

“What if after the elections the scales change, then the relationship between our country and Nigeria will also have some hiccups,” Danso said

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Youths can promote peaceful election

As the countdown to the February 14, and 28, 2015 elections in Nigeria begins, it is time to call on the Nigerian youth to make them violence-free. This is a golden opportunity for them to participate freely and support a free and credible election. Their involvement to be vigilant and promote peace-building activities before, during and after the elections is crucial to having violent-free elections.

So much fear has been expressed regarding the elections’ impending violence and the possible disintegration of Nigeria. Some early warnings have already been recorded in Port Harcourt and Jos and these incidents call for the Nigerian youth to maintain law and order during the election period.

The youth must not allow history to repeat itself. The 2007 and 2011 elections witnessed loss of lives and destruction of property. Statistics show that more 800 Nigerians including 11 youth corps members were killed in 2011. As Nigeria’s greatest asset, the youth are well-placed to mainstream peace in the electoral process because of their energy and enthusiasm. All the political campaigns are being targeted at them because of their ability to mobilise and deliver. Ages between 15 and 35 constitute 38 per cent of the total population of Nigeria. They form the fulcrum of the society and thereby often vulnerable to unemployment, lack of education, crime, terrorism and other social vices. Hence, they should break the habit of complaining about how events go around them. The way the elections are conducted will shape their future. Therefore, their role in these elections is necessary for a peaceful, democratic, united and progressive Nigeria.

There are countless ways they can accomplish this feat. One of such is to be at peace with one another. This is because they cannot help to build peace in the community without being at peace with themselves. By now, they should have collected their Permanent Voter Cards; if they haven’t, they should go and collect them now as there’s still time. It empowers one to exercise one’s civic responsibility by voting.

The second is to start to talk and connect with like-minded and inspiring peers to foster peace and renounce violence. They should engage one another in conversations and discussions in such ways that can promote peace.           Make commitment that you will not involve in illegitimate actions such as bribery, intimidation, thuggery, obstruction of political process, rigging, incitement, rumour propaganda and reprisals.

Thirdly, mobile telephones, the Internet and social media provide veritable platforms for preaching peace and to create awareness of the need to conduct and mobilise yourselves for positive actions during the elections. You can communicate messages of peace effectively and efficiently on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Short Message Services, radio, television, etc. These media have strong youth following and telephone hotlines. Use the media to educate, inform and mobilise young people about why, when and how they can be involved in the elections. The artistic among you can write messages of peace on free walls, sides of buses and stadiums. These are efforts to discourage violence.

Fourthly, as the elections are approaching, the youth can organise themselves into groups at the community level. Come together as vanguards of peace and embark on some peace-building initiatives such as talking about your willingness to have crisis-free elections in rallies, town-hall meetings, viewing centres, sport arenas, motor parks and other places, by specifically emphasising PEACE. Young adherents of religious organisations can also join in this effort in their activities including prayer sessions. This step does not necessarily need money to accomplish. Creativity and willingness to speak out is what that matters.

During the elections, you should use your numbers and form yourselves into vigilance and monitoring groups. Your lawful conduct at this time is very important as any sign of violence or rascality would negate your goal. By this, you should monitor your community of potential areas and colleagues where violence could occur. Your mobile phones can also be used here to communicate with one another and security agents. You can also use it to monitor the voting process in real time. Remember you would cast your individual vote during this time.

After the elections, the most crucial time to be very active in your watch, the youth must make sure violence does not erupt. As you keep watch from the time votes are counted to the time results are announced, you can interact with police and civil society organisations that are working in your communities. You must respect the electoral and security authorities. Do not take laws into your hand but report any sign or act of violence to the security agents who are not far away from you.

In all, you must demonstrate you are committed to the ideals of democracy by shunning violence and other acts capable of derailing the political process or tarnish Nigeria’s image. Do not be violent no matter the level of provocation. Elections can only be deemed free, fair and credible if conducted in a peaceful environment, free of violent conflict and fear of intimidation. It is your future and so vote and support your future peacefully. Peacefully, election is the collective responsibility of all. Your duty is not only the peace in this election, but to build lasting peace in Nigeria.

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Power your ideas into productivity

Even as most Nigerians complain about the challenges facing the country, more people are praying for more problems. This is because within those problems lies the power to transform the country. You only need to be calm and persevere to see the possibilities.

The difference in perception is the reason why many people are running away from Nigeria. Foreigners who see the possibilities are rushing in, facing and tackling the challenges. And they are making in-roads in several industries in the country.

While many people have creative and innovative ideas, the question of funding has always been the number one limitation facing many entrepreneurs and innovators.

However, the concept of crowd funding is an innovative way to raise funds for ideas. Many people are embracing it as a concept since sourcing for funds from venture capitalists and banks is highly competitive and currently poses a huge challenge to many businesses.

Maybe, the story of tomato juice will inspire you a little. It is no news that Nigerians love fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. Yet, in a country with plenty of arable land, over 60 per cent of tomatoes produced never get to the market. They get rotten before reaching the market because of the shortage of storage and processing facilities in the country.

Since we lack the resources to process and store tomatoes locally, Nigeria remains one of the largest importers of tomato paste in the world. It reportedly wastes almost $500m annually on imported tomato paste.

While this is sometimes considered to be a viable business idea to ‘agropreneurs’, getting banks and investors to invest in the risky and unpredictable agriculture industry can be a daunting task.

Enter the story of Mira Mehta and Shane Kiernan. Last year, the two Harvard- educated Americans successfully raised $54,000 for their start up of tomato juice after their crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter that lasted about 30 days.

While the funding raised from the public on Kickstarter will hardly solve the many challenges within the country’s tomato paste production sector, they have taken a bold step and other people needing the right kind of funding , investment and support can learn a lot from them.

What is crowd funding?

It is the practice of funding a business idea, project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people via the Internet. Traditional financing used to be about asking people and banks for money. Crowd funding is an innovative way to fund ideas, businesses and projects, especially when you need to escape the problems of documentations and collaterals. It essentially allows you to reach the public or consumers directly, making it look like you are sourcing for funds by sharing envelops but this time digitally.

Some of the most common crowd funding platforms include Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Fundable, GoFundMe, FundedbyMe, Razoo, Pozible, Crowdtivate, MedStartr and 234Give.

Some can be industry-specific and involve ideas in medical, agriculture, application development, service sector and not-for-profit organisations.

Kickstarter is the most popular of all crowd funding platforms and can boast of 9,000 active campaigns at any moment. Till date, there are claims that it has raised over $1.26 billion dollars in funding.

Crowd funding platforms also have a peculiar way of functioning and it is not only donations without partnership and responsibility.

There is the reward-based crowd funding where contributors get no financial returns for their donations. Instead, they are offered thank-you perks or even an early version of the product/service being funded.

This is the most common and offers a project owner requires to get a business idea beyond its present level. And project owners do not need to repay the donations.

However, equity-based crowd funding requires that the donations made are actually investments. This essentially means that crowd funding platform will operate like you are selling shareholding in your company.

How can you succeed with crowd funding campaign?

Kickstarter admits that only 44 per cent of its crowd funding campaigns are successful. However, it is not always the fault of the platforms but challenges are traceable to the business idea, value proposition and positioning. How can you ace a crowdfunding campaign?

Be clear about the problem your business is solving

Most businesses succeed with their crowd funding campaign because they are solving a problem. It is important to identify the challenge you are trying to solve because people will connect with your dreams and aspirations easily. People who understand what you are trying to do are also more likely to invest in your ideas.

Clearly identifying the problem you are solving also helps you immediately identify the solutions you need.

Communicate propositions clearly

You need to communicate the propositions clearly and articulately. Using clearly-established digital tools and platforms such as social and digital media communications, infographics and videos is important. Building a story into your value propositions helps you communicate depth, connect deeply and emotionally with your target audience and build an established brand.

It is a pitch, build it

Crowd funding is an option to begin to consider if you want to choose the largely un-charted road of disrupting the market, beat the existing loopholes

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Is the military still searching for Chibok girls?

On the night of April 14, 2014, Boko Haram insurgents stormed Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, seized close to 300 schoolgirls and disappeared into the night. It’s been 10 months since the abduction, the girls have not been found. The abduction, which provoked global outrage, gave rise to a global advocacy movement, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. In the wake of the abduction, the world seemed to stand still as the global community, world leaders and celebrities joined the campaign for the release of the girls.

Amidst the global outcry and outpouring of support, the once obscure village of Chibok, in Nigerian northeast was suddenly thrust into global consciousness. A lot has happened in the last 10 months. As the international community and local campaigners continue to demand action from the Nigerian government and its security forces, one question that I had long pondered on is if the Nigerian military is still searching for the girls.

In the months since the abduction, I have seen how the world and the #BringbackOurGirls campaigners led by the irrepressible Oby Ezekwesili had continued to mount pressure on the Jonathan administration to do everything it can to ensure that the girls are returned to their loved ones. But one question that has not been addressed is if the Nigerian government through its military is still searching for the girls. As I reflect over the question, I have come to the hard but painful conclusion that the Jonathan administration may have long given up on the search for the girls. Indeed, the search may have stopped as soon as it started. Any contrary statement by this government is just to save face.

I believe the search for the girls has been abandoned a long time ago. My conclusion is informed by the events that had played out after the abduction. Any Nigerian who believes our military is still searching for the girls is either ignorant of the prevailing facts or living in denial. While it may be painful to realise that those innocent girls are now forcefully married to terrorists or being used as sex slaves, we have to accept the hard truth that their rescue is not dependent on the military. The Jonathan government and its military have long given up on the search for the girls. In fact, this government and its military have moved on. To them, those advocating the girls’ return are just irritants. Why do I think the government has long given up on the search?

Soon after the abduction, the Jonathan administration never believed the girls were abducted. The President’s handlers had promoted the conspiracy theory that the abduction was a scam to embarrass President Goodluck Jonathan by some elements in the North out to sabotage the Presidency. It is these same elements who have long promoted a widely held view that Boko Haram is a Northern creation even when it was evident that the insurgency had long existed before the President came on board. Now, let’s look at this way; if the President who is the commander-in-chief did not believe there was an abduction, why do we still think the military will be motivated to search for the girls? Long before Jonathan asked the international community and the United States for military assistance, the military had addressed the media that it knew where the girls were located. While Nigerians had wondered why the military would be so naïve as to divulge such classified information publicly, it later turned out that they were only playing to the gallery because of pressure. But it wasn’t long before the truth came out – that they had no idea where the girls are. Even the President said he had no information about where the girls are kept.

It will be recalled that the US had responded to the request for assistance by providing security and intelligence experts who were to work with the Nigerian military in advisory capacity. The now moribund assistance was the closest our military ever got to searching for the girls. For a while, American drones provided surveillance over Sambissa Forest and vast areas of the North-East in search for the girls. The Americans were said to have provided intelligence which was reportedly ignored by the Nigerian military. The assistance later stalled and the Americans returned home. The drones no longer flew over the Sambissa Forest.

One question that had become imperative since the botched foreign assistance is: How has the military been searching for the girls? With poor communication, lack of surveillance capabilities, access and absence of collaboration with neighbouring countries, how is the military conducting its search? In the closing months of 2014, the government announced it had entered into negotiations with some Boko Haram negotiators who they believed were in contact with the insurgents. That again turned out to be a scam. It later turned out that the government and its military had been conned. Indeed, what the failed negotiations had revealed to Nigerians was that the Jonathan administration in its desperation, had been dealing with impostors. This shows that it had become desperate and had no idea about how to proceed with the search.

The government, through its military, had become hostage to its own incompetence. Since the abduction, it had become clear that the military lacked the capacity to address the entire terror war or use advanced intelligence to end the frequent abduction in the North-East. While the abduction of the Chibok girls may have gained international attention, there had been several abductions before and after the Chibok abduction. In fact, in 2014 alone, statistics put the number of those abducted at 528 people. Many of them are young boys, girls and women who are being married off to the terrorists as sex slaves or used as suicide bombers. In October 2014, 60 women were abducted in Adamawa State. In January 2015, 40 boys were reportedly kidnapped in Borno. Many more have been seized as Boko Haram continues to raid villages and towns in the troubled areas.

Apart from the girls, how many of those abducted have been rescued by the military? Why then do we think the girls will be rescued? What is the difference between the girls and hundreds of children and women that are daily being seized by Boko Haram? The truth must be told. The military has neither the capacity nor the wherewithal to stem the tide of abductions in the North-East. Does it not surprise Nigerians that the President has been avoiding any mention of the girls in his campaign? Only in Maiduguri did he mention the girls as part of his campaign rhetoric. What does this tell us? The search for the girls has long been forgotten. If the military has not rescued anyone abducted by Boko Haram in the last six years, why then do we still believe it will rescue the Chibok girls? Like I have written on this column before, let’s just hope those abducted so far find the courage to escape or that Boko Haram will have a change of heart.

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Psychology: A simple trick to improve your memory

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Want to enhance your memory for facts? Tom Stafford explains a counterintuitive method for retaining information.

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If I asked you to sit down and remember a list of phone numbers or a series of facts, how would you go about it? There’s a fair chance that you’d be doing it wrong.
One of the interesting things about the mind is that even though we all have one, we don't have perfect insight into how to get the best from it. This is in part because of flaws in our ability to think about our own thinking, which is called metacognition. Studying this self-reflective thought process reveals that the human species has mental blind spots.
One area where these blind spots are particularly large is learning. We're actually surprisingly bad at having insight into how we learn best.

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Researchers Jeffrey Karpicke and Henry Roediger III set out to look at one aspect: how testing can consolidate our memory of facts. In their experiment they asked college students to learn pairs of Swahili and English words. So, for example, they had to learn that if they were given the Swahili word 'mashua' the correct response was 'boat'. They could have used the sort of facts you might get on a high-school quiz (e.g. "Who wrote the first computer programs?"/"Ada Lovelace"), but the use of Swahili meant that there was little chance their participants could use any background knowledge to help them learn. After the pairs had all been learnt, there would be a final test a week later.
Now if many of us were revising this list we might study the list, test ourselves and then repeat this cycle, dropping items we got right. This makes studying (and testing) quicker and allows us to focus our effort on the things we haven't yet learnt. It’s a plan that seems to make perfect sense, but it’s a plan that is disastrous if we really want to learn properly.

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Karpicke and Roediger asked students to prepare for a test in various ways, and compared their success – for example, one group kept testing themselves on all items without dropping what they were getting right, while another group stopped testing themselves on their correct answers.
On the final exam differences between the groups were dramatic. While dropping items from study didn’t have much of an effect, the people who dropped items from testing performed relatively poorly: they could only remember about 35% of the word pairs, compared to 80% for people who kept testing items after they had learnt them.
It seems the effective way to learn is to practice retrieving items from memory, not trying to cement them in there by further study. Moreover, dropping items entirely from your revision, which is the advice given by many study guides, is wrong. You can stop studying them if you've learnt them, but you should keep testing what you've learnt if you want to remember them at the time of the final exam.

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Finally, the researchers had the neat idea of asking their participants how well they would remember what they had learnt. All groups guessed at about 50%. This was a large overestimate for those who dropped items from test (and an underestimate from those who kept testing learnt items).
So it seems that we have a metacognitive blind spot for which revision strategies will work best. Making this a situation where we need to be guided by the evidence, and not our instinct. But the evidence has a moral for teachers as well: there's more to testing than finding out what students know – tests can also help us remember.

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Oshiomhole to Jonathan: Don’t expect Edo people’s votes

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has advised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan, against banking on the votes of people of the state. He stressed that Edo people will not re-elect the President in next month’s presidential election owing to his abandonment of the state.
According to Oshiomhole, President Jonathan did not fulfill his promise to contribute to the development of the South-South state, despite enjoying 95 per cent of votes of Edo people for his election in 2011.
Speaking separately at the All Progressives Congress (APC) rallies in Ehor and Igueben towns in Uhunmwode Igueben Local Government Area on Saturday, the governor explained that in spite of several letters to the Federal Government to assist the state on erosion challenges, the Jonathan administration neglected Edo after persuading them to vote for him as their brother in 2011.
Stressing that the people of the state are wiser now and would “vote the President out on February 14 for abandoning them,” he recalled that “The last time we voted for President Jonathan, He got 95 per cent of the total votes in Edo State. Yet, I cannot think of any meaningful thing he has done in the state.
“Last year, President Jonathan gave N2bn each to some PDP states even where he lost election to deal with erosion. Those that don’t have flood erosion were given money for desertification but we in Edo State that voted for him got nothing. I am not lamenting this. We have learnt from it and are determined not to repeat our mistakes,” he said.
Oshiomhole accused the federal government of insensitivity by failing to prosecute “those indicted” in the ill-fated immigration recruitment exercise in 2014, adding that it “is a clear indication that President Goodluck Jonathan did not care about the welfare of the Nigerian youths.
“People lost their lives. Last week, the relatives of those who died in Benin were protesting to us that the Federal Government has not given them even the jobs they promised.”
Expressing confidence that Nigerians will vote for change at all levels in next month’s elections, the Governor assured that “I believe that with Maj. Gen. Buhari, Nigeria will be in a safer hand beginning with security.

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