Nigerian Independence day: Full Text of President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech

Nigerian Independence day October 1st remains a special date for all Nigerians as this marks the day when we attained one of the most precious of human desires — freedom.

Over the years the country has gone through trials and tribulations, but October 1st is always a day for celebrations.

President Buhari while addressing the nation on 1st Oct 2017

It is a day for thanks giving, reflection and re-dedication. 

It is also a day for remembrance. We should remind ourselves of the recent journey from 1999 – 2015, when our country happily returned to democratic rule. 

However, in spite of oil prices being an average of $100 per barrel and about 2.1m barrels a day, that great piece of luck was squandered and the country’s social and physical infrastructure neglected.

We were left with no savings and huge infrastructure deficit.

The APC Government’s Campaign rallying cry to restore security, re-balance the economy and fight corruption was not all rhetoric.

The country must first be secured. The economy must be re-balanced so that we do not depend on oil alone. We must fight corruption which is Nigeria’s Number One Enemy. Our Administration is tackling these tasks in earnest.

In the past two years, Nigeria has recorded appreciable gains in political freedom. A political Party at the Centre losing elections of State Governor, National Assembly seat and even State Assemblies to the opposition parties is new to Nigeria. Added to these are complete freedom to associate, to hold and disseminate opinions. Such developments clearly attest to the country’s growing political development. But like all freedoms, this is open to abuse.

Nigeria Is Suffering From Cumulative Effect Of Leadership Failure – Peter Obi Channels Television

Channels Television   

Former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has attributed the problems of Nigeria to the failure of its leadership over the years.

Obi, who was a guest on Channels Television’s political programme, however, said both the leaders and the citizens should be blamed for the nation’s challenges.

“What we are suffering is a cumulative effect of leadership failure,” he said during his appearance on a special edition of Sunday Politics.

“The leaders are uncaring, the Nigerian followers have also abandoned the good governance of their country to this clique of uncaring people, and maybe our involvement in Christianity and religion now has even worsened and weakened our energy to confront this oppressive and weak leadership.”

(PHOTOS) Nigeria@57: Special parade by Nigerian Army Presidential Guards Brigade

Punch Newspapers by Zovoe Jonathan 

Special Parade and Change of Guards by the Nigerian Army Presidential Guards Brigade to mark the country’s 57th Independence Day on Monday.

 Photos: NAN

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Nigeria's exploitative mobile network providers

The mobile network operators in Nigeria are generally exploitative and their services below average. Voice and data tariffs are on the high side with the telecom operators preferring to waste money on promos instead of expanding their networks and making services more affordable for the generality of customers. 

My experience with the MTN network of recent has left me wondering whether they tweaked their meters in order to squeeze more money out of customers. It appears both credit and data get depleted at a faster rate than before.

The way MTN zaps data these days appears extraordinary. Yes, phone type, data use pattern, availability of good internet speed, etc affect data consumption. But, with all these factors taken into consideration, the contention that MTN data gets depleted faster these days appear to remain valid. The network is not data friendly at all. Many people already have the notion that MTN is notorious at fleecing customers under the guise of bonuses, promos, etc. If, the network introduces anything new, customers are advised to read between the lines before jumping on the bandwagon. With this type of reputation, it is not difficult to believe that something might be fishy about this issue of rapidly depleting data. 

The absolute beginners' guide to Pidgin

The launch of BBC Pidgin on the World Service is recognition that our English is not ‘broken’, but beautiful. Here’s what you need to know about it.

The launch of BBC Pidgin will come as a bit of a shock to many African parents and headmasters, and will leave many others confused as to why the world’s foremost exponent of the Queen’s English, the BBC World Service, is investing in what is often called “broken English”.

Lamido Sanusi, Kano's 'progressive fraud', takes aim at child marriage in Nigeria

Lamido Sanusi II, Nigeria’s second highest Islamic authority, is on a mission to end child marriage.

As the emir of Kano in northern Nigeria, one of 13 states where there is no minimum age for marriage, he is well placed to understand the issue. Yet Sanusi, a hugely symbolic religious figure, is at pains to point out that it is a social rather than scriptural problem.

“Every day you’re dealing with young girls who are withdrawn from school and are married, often into abusive or vulnerable situations, then divorced and left with nothing,” says Sanusi.

“There is an idea in the north [of Nigeria] that child marriage is Islamic, but it is not an article of faith, it is something societies decide for themselves.”

Although the legal age for marriage is 18, the Nigerian constitution allows states to set their own limits. This gives child marriage a legal and cultural foothold in regions across the country, including Kano and other areas of the largely Muslim north.

According to Girls Not Brides, a coalition of more than 700 organisations working to end early and forced marriage, 76% of girls in Nigeria’s north-west are married before they turn 18.

The juju curse that binds trafficked Nigerian women into sex slavery

Traditional west African ‘healers’ and Sicilian psychiatrists are struggling to help free Nigerian women forced into prostitution

Every night as dusk falls in Piazza Gastone in the Noce district of Palermo, a tall, imposing Ghanaian woman dressed in traditional west African robes stands before a small congregation sweating in rows of plastic chairs before her.

The Pentecostal Church of Odasani has been converted from an old garage in a backstreet into a place of worship, albeit one unrecognised by any formal faith group. But what many of the congregation – largely young Nigerian women – have come for tonight is more than prayer; it is freedom.

“Nigerian women come to me for help, they have bad spirits that have been put inside their bodies by people who want to make money from them,” says the self-proclaimed prophetess, as she prepares to start her service.