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Osinbajo Shifts Blame Again – Reno Omokri

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In response to Osinbajo’s ascertion that the country’s current state of recession should be blamed on the nefarious activities of the militants in the Niger delta region, Former aide to GEJ Reno Omokri has now come out to counter the claims of the Vice president telling him to focus on revitalizing the economy rather than pointing accusing fingers.

He wrote:

How we respond to an issue is in many cases more important than the issue itself. And one such issue is the current economic travails Nigeria is currently grappling with.

The response to this issue is definitely more important than the issue itself and will determine how long we remain in the sinkhole with our economy.

What our leaders have unfortunately failed to realize is that how we got into this situation is not as important as how we will get out of it it and if we must look backwards it must be for the purpose of learning how we got to our present situation and not for the reason of searching for scapegoats.

There is no virtue in looking for blame. The virtue is in looking for solutions. That is what an executive must preoccupy itself with. The apportioning of blame is the preserve of the judiciary. Leave that to them.

After blaming the current economic crash of the economy on former President Goodluck Jonathan on multiple occasions, I was shocked to read in today’s (Tuesday the 20th of September, 2016) papers a direct statement by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in which he blamed Nigeria’s economic recession on Niger Delta Militants.m

The vice President, while speaking at the maiden meeting of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum on Monday the 19th of September, 2016 said “If we did not have vandalism in the Niger Delta as we are currently suffering, we will not have this recession today.”

Now do not get me wrong, I do not speak for, advocate for or encourage any militants group in Nigeria’s Niger Delta or in any other theaters of belligerency in any part of the world. On the contrary, I am a pastor and preacher of the peaceful message of the one and only Prince of peace, Jesus the Messiah, yet I must say that Vice President Osinbajo’s comments betray a very serious character issue that may affect his capacity to assist President Muhammadu Buhari in piloting the affairs of Nigeria.

Why do I say so? Well, for one, Nigerians have been regaled with multiple statements from Mr. Osinbajo himself, his boss and their mouthpieces in which they blamed Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for Nigeria’s economic recession.

The latest attempt to pin the blame on Dr. Jonathan came via an article by Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, entitled ‘What is President Buhari doing with the economy?’

Said Garba Shehu “Believe me; episodes from the Jonathan era can fill books, and other possibilities, such as courtroom drama thriller.” Going further, Mr. Shehu declared that “The current pain is due to the mismanagement of the past.”

And now today, Mr. Shehu’s ‘cousin in office’ (to borrow a phrase that Garba Shehu himself used to describe the relationship between Dr. Reuben Abati and I) has contradicted him and said it is no longer former President Goodluck Jonathan that is to blame but Niger Delta militants.

Please, can this administration make up its mind? Choose a story and stick to it. Choose a scape goat and stick with him.

I will not be surprised if tomorrow they blame Mr. Chinakwe, the man who was sent to prison and is right now facing prosecution for naming his dog after his hero, President Buhari, for the recession.

The truth does not shift. You cannot have one truth today and another truth tomorrow. Truth is as stable as a rock. And one would think that Professor Yemi Osinbajo, himself a pastor, would know it.

What you are is always more important than what you can do. Your character is what you are. Your skill is what you can do. It is important to know the difference because if your skill takes you to a height and you do not develop your character to match that height, you will come crashing down!

Mr. Osinbajo’s skill as a legal professional  par excellence has taken him to such heights from a professor to a commissioner and now to the Vice President of Nigeria. But if pastor Osinbajo does not have the character to tell the inconvenient truth to his new boss and to the nation he now leads as a co pilot, then this character flaw may very well be the undoing of their joint administration.

And what is the truth?

Well, without mincing words, the truth is that the major reason for the crash of the Nigerian economy is not any alleged mismanagement by former President Goodluck Jonathan or the Peoples Democratic Party (to be sure, they were not perfect and had their flaws) but that for six months President Muhammadu Buhari did not appoint ministers in a nation where nothing substantial gets done at ministries, departments, agencies, parastatals or embassies without ministers giving the nod.

And before pastor Osinbajo sends his media hounds to argue with me, I suggest he leave his car unattended for six minutes without a driver in the middle of Third Mainland bridge and see if it does not crash. If he survives the experience, then by all means he can send his hounds to come and take me on!

But there is an even deeper reason for why Nigeria is experiencing this unprecedented economic recession and that is that even when President Buhari eventually came around to constituting his cabinet, he peopled it with individuals whose capacity to deliver the goods is at best suspect.

Let me elucidate this with a statement made by President Buhari’s minister of sports and broadcast on Channels television today Tuesday the 20th of September, 2016.

Said Mr. Solomon Dalung, ‘the disabled athletes have shown that all you need is a winning mentality and not too much preparation.’

Can you imagine that coming from a minister and member of the federal executive council?

But why should we be surprised? Nigerians are witnesses to the utterances of the minister of information, the aptly named Lai Mohammed, who blamed any good thing that happened in Nigeria immediately after President Buhari’s inauguration not on any form of preparation but on the President’s ‘body language’.

Early rains fell in obeisance to the President’s body language. Barren women became fertile as a result of President Buhari’s miraculous powers of non verbal communication. All kinds of orishirishi were attributed to body language.

One wonders where the fabled ‘body language’ was when it came to fighting the recession.

The truth is that preparation, pure preparation (that word that Mr. Dalung and other operatives of this administration hate to hear) is the only thing that can increase the likelihood of success in any venture including governance. As it is commonly said ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail’.

And the reason why Mr. Osinbajo and his co travelers will continue to shift blame from individual to individual is because they do not have the strength of character to accept responsibility for their actions.

At this juncture, it will be pertinent of me to remind Lai Mohammed of his words uttered on the 25th of May, 2014 when he said ‘a government that is unwilling to take any responsibility for anything, should not be counted upon.’ Right back at you Mr. Mohammed, right back at you!

President Buhari has to quickly learn that the more you blame others, the more power you surrender. The more you accept responsibility, the more power you take.

Early in 2015, Pastor Osinbajo called then President Jonathan’s administration a ‘visionless’ government. As I end this piece, I would like to define the vision of change that Mr. Osinbajo and his boss promised us based on what we have seen so far.

Mr. Osinbajo’s vision for change is defined as a sports minister who believes athletes do not need training, a finance minister who thinks recession is just a word, a science and technology minister who aspires to produce pencils in two years, an information minister who wants to generate jobs via masquerade dressing, an interior minister who uses his security to publicly shine his shoes rather than secure the interior of his country, an agriculture minister who fights for land for cows instead of farmers, a labor minister who threatens banks with revocation of license when they retrench workers due to bad economy, a communications minister who wants us to pay 9% tax on calls, a transport minister who gives one President credit for a railway built by another President, an economic adviser who wants women to donate their jewelry to help government fight recession and a Presidential spokesman who believes critics are ‘wailers’ all led by a President who believes #ChangeBeginsWithMe not him, though he was the one who promised it!

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Mide Martins bullied me into bleaching, says Habibat Jinad

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Habibat Jinad, the Nigerian actress famous in the Yoruba film industry, has revealed why she decided to bleach her skin.

In a recent interview on Talk To B podcast, Jinad alleged she was verbally abused by Mide Martins, a colleague, on the set of a movie.

She claimed that Mide insulted her and called her a “monkey with a black face”.

Jinad said people always complain about her dark complexion, advising her to “lighten up”.

She added that she “decided to change after Mide insulted me” to make people happy.

“We were at Afeez Owo’s rehearsal ground and a colleague of mine did something wrong which I was not a part of,” she said.

“They told us to kneel down. Mide Martins, my boss and some other people were there. Mide Martins insulted me and called me someone with a black face.

“She said so many things to abuse me and I felt very bad. I later found out that she called me a monkey with a black face.

“I’m sure that till now she might not know that what she said to me the other day somehow affected me.

“Even before then, whenever I was on set, people would say that I’m too dark-skinned and that I need to lighten up.

“So after Mide insulted me, I thought about what I could do to make these people happy. So I decided to change.”

Jinad had previously said she would no longer continue to bleach her skin.

“Nobody can bully me again into using bleaching cream. I’m not bleaching my skin anymore,” she said on Instagram.

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Eniola Badmus, Lege Miami clash over matchmaking service

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Eniola Badmus, the actress, and Lege Miami, the entertainer, have clashed over a matchmaking service.

Lege, who hosts a matchmaking show on YouTube, recently claimed that the actress sought his services to find a partner, but described her as “picky”.

In a viral voice note online, Badmus lashed out at Lege’s comments and criticised his approach to running his matchmaking show.

She also advised him to learn the proper rules of matchmaking if he lacked understanding.

“Hello Lege, it is like your brain is messy, what do you mean no one should look for your trouble? Who is your grandmother? Who are you? I am saying you have to be discreet about what you are doing,” she said.

“You are doing a matchmaking, if you do not know rules, f**king go online and Google rules about it. How dare you put my name out there saying Eniola is picky. You are mad!”

In response, Lege questioned if Badmus paid for a private service and insulted her appearance.

“Eniola Badmus did you pay for a private session? Did you tell me you did not want anyone to know? You are not alright and you will be well soon,” he said.

“You know I used to respect you, I am now running away from you. Did I post the video we made in Abuja? Are you a fool? Wule bantu, you are shapeless”.

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Kwam 1 finally addresses rift with ex-drummer Ayanlowo

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Wasiu Ayinde, the Fuji singer fondly called Kwam 1, has finally addressed his rift with Kunle Ayanlowo, his former drummer.

Ayanlowo recently alleged that Kwam 1 was fond of treating his band members like “slaves”.

The instrumentalist claimed he “achieved nothing” while working under the Fuji singer for over three decades.

Ayanlowo, who left the Fuji singer in October 2022, also asked the public to hold the ace singer responsible should any harm befall him.

Kwam 1 had earlier refused to address the allegations.

But speaking with journalists at his Mayegun Resort in Ìjẹ̀bú Ode, Ogun, the Fuji star denied Ayanlowo’s allegations.

Ayinde also shared his side of the story on his rift with Ayanlowo. The singer said he “single-handedly” formed his band,” adding that the initial sharing formula with members was 60/40.

Kwam 1 said as time went on, he adjusted the sharing formula to 40/60 due to the burgeoning size of his music band.

He explained that whenever they perform at an event, he takes 30 percent of the cut while his band members receive 50 percent. 10 percent of his cut and that of his band go to their management.

The singer also spoke about the years-long financial challenges he faced and his “numerous sacrifices” to ensure the smooth running of the band.

“You know how many things I have overlooked in my life to be able to keep a band working? I never can say how many times I have gone to borrow money to finance my band’s trip,” he said.

“From inception, the agreement between me and my group was 60/40. 40 percent to them because they were not many then. Maybe about nine of them. But when they were becoming larger, getting to 14, 15 there was an adjustment of money conditions. I said okay 50/50.

“It is a sole band. I have the grace of God to be able to be someone that is contented. Do you know how many times I have sold my things to fund my band?”

“In my band now I have like 27 or 28. You can imagine.”

Giving an illustration of the sharing formula, Kwam 1 said: “For instance, if we make N10 million from a show, I take only N3 million. and I pay my security details from the N3 million”.

Wasiu also referred to Ayanwolo as a “troubleshooter” who “complains too much”. The singer said due to the drummer’s troubles, he has left the band on several occasions.

The musician said about seven people have apologised to him on behalf of Ayanlowo to reinstate him in the band.

“Like Ayankunle has been a former member of the band. He has been a troubleshooter. He has gone and come back on several occasions. I will tell you, of all my bandmen, he is the only member that over seven times people have come to beg for to restore. Ayankunle that you see complains too much,” he said.

He also alleged that instrumentalists once absconded from the band when they travelled to England to perform in the 90s.

Kwam 1 claimed Ayanlowo’s “dubious act” was eventually uncovered at the British Embassy after overstaying in the city.

“Ayankunle that is complaining that we tore his passport, let me tell you his story. He ran away from the band in England while we were on tour in the 90s. He ran away from the band with his passport. Together with him and another two members of the band. And we came back to Nigeria,” the singer said.

“After overstaying in London, he now gave the passport to somebody to renew it at the embassy. They took the passport, changed the head, and put another person’s head. When they got to the embassy, they discovered that the interview they did for that one did not tally with the visas in the passport. They now asked the person he sent to tell the owner of the passport to come and collect it. Ayankunle’s passport is inside the British embassy.

“This is a man I did the passport for. He cannot write and read. I did everything for him. He ran away with the passport, how come you that ran away with the passport claimed it is with me?”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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