Celebrities
Osinbajo Shifts Blame Again – Reno Omokri
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!
Celebrities
Uche Ogbodo reveals why she blocked May Edochie on social media
Uche Ogbodo, the Nollywood actress, has opened up about her decision to block May, the first wife of Yul Edochie, on social media.
The actress was responding to critics who linked the recent robbery at her boutique store to her support for Yul’s second wife Judy Austin via her Instagram page.
Uche claimed May’s fans have been consistently harassing her online. The film star said this prompted her to block May due to her “apparent tolerance for their toxic behaviour”.
She emphasized that karma does not target innocent people with pure hearts, and clarified that the robbery was simply a life event, not a form of karma.
Uche also expressed frustration with the “negative comments from May’s supporters”, telling them to stop watching her videos if they are bothered.
“Toxic May Edochie fans! Unah go dey Taya ooo. Very very toxic bunch of lunatics! You people don’t own this social media,” she wrote.
“No matter how toxic you get, you can never pass Wizkid’s FC. Stop watching my videos if it hurts so bad. Misfortune is life, and it’s rotational; it will surely swing. So wait for your own turn. Allow me to enjoy mine.
“Singing Karma Karma. Does karma visit innocent person? Someone whose heart is pure and not ridden with evil? Hell No!
“Thief stole my goods then it’s my Karma because I chose to mind my business. The real karma is coming to you for being evil and vile towards people.
“I blocked May because you wouldn’t let me like her pictures in peace. And she seems to enjoy the toxicity! So that pisses me off! As she cannot tell you to stop.”
Celebrities
‘Did I flaunt your wife?’ — Yul Edochie fumes after brother’s advice
Yul Edochie, the Nollywood actor, appears to have responded to advice from his brother Linc over his constant online display of his second wife Judy Austin.
Yul unveiled Judy as his second wife in April 2022. He also announced their first child together — to the dissatisfaction of May, his first wife.
Linc, in a recent interview on Kanayo O. Kanayo’s podcast, shared his thoughts on Yul’s decision to constantly flaunt Judy on social media.
He cautioned that the people praising Yul would quickly turn against him if issues arose in his second marriage.
“What is done is done… My father always says, ‘Take your marriage off social media,” he said.
In an Instagram post, Yul questioned why people were concerned about his constant display of Judy online, asking if they had paid for his data or if he was posting their wives.
The movie star also rained abusive words at his critics. Although he did not mention names, Yul concluded with a stern warning: “If my post offends you, hug transformer”.
“Ndi keep your marriage off social media kwenu! Ndi ala. You wey hide your marriage inside house, you still no divorce? Your wife no leave you? Psychos,” he wrote.
“Everybody na adviser for social media, your own life go dey scattter, you no fit fix am. But you sabi advise other people. If I post my wife a million times on my page, how it take concern you?
“Na you buy me data or na your wife I post? Idiots. The one wey dey sweet una na to wear black gather for person burial. One minute silence, the person go turn to hero.
“But when that person is alive being happy, his happiness go dey pain una. Thunder fire you. If my post dey offend you, hug transformer.”
Celebrities
‘I’m a daughter of two immigrants,’ Cardi B rants as Elon Musk calls her ‘puppet’
Rapper Cardi B has responded to remarks made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently called her a “puppet” for the Kamala Harris campaign.
Musk shared a clip of Cardi B’s speech on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Another puppet who can’t even talk without being fed the words. The Kamala campaign has no authenticity or true empathy.”
Cardi B fired back, saying, “I’m not a puppet, Elon. I’m a daughter of two immigrant parents that had to work their ass off to provide for me! I’m a product of welfare, I’m a product of section 8, I’m a product of poverty, and I’m a product of what happens when the system is set up against you… But you don’t know nothing about that. You don’t know not one thing about the American struggle… PS fix my algorithm.”
The exchange comes ahead of the U.S. presidential elections, scheduled for November 5, where Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is set to face Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Though Harris stands poised to potentially become the first Indian American president, a survey by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggests she may garner fewer votes from the community than President Joe Biden did in 2020.
In her rally speech, Cardi B spoke passionately about women’s rights, stating: “Just like Kamala Harris, I too have been the underdog, I’ve been underestimated, my success belittled and discredited. Let me tell you something: Women have to work ten times harder, perform ten times better, and still people question us, how we got to the top. I can’t stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.”
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