Buhari’s cabinet has already been formed – Ogunlewe …. PUNCH

A former Minister of Works, Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe, says President Muhammadu Buhari has already made all his key appointments and his government is fully formed.

He, therefore, urged the President to immediately swing into action, saying that the absence of ministers was no longer an excuse.

Ogunlewe, who was a member of the Senate between 1999 and 2003, said this during an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday.

Ogunlewe said the most important people in the government were the President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the President’s Chief of Staff.

He said since all these positions had been filled, Buhari had no excuse being slow.

He said, “Buhari’s cabinet has already has been formed. Any other person that comes now is a stranger and a mere visitor to the villa. The villa is the engine room of the nation in terms of policy formation and implementation. And these are the people that determine what will happen in Nigeria. The villa is the headquarters and who are the participants in the villa?

“The SGF and Chief of Staff are always with the President in the villa. Although the Senate President and the Speaker don’t live in the Villa, they are more important than the Vice-President. The Vice-President does only what the President tells him to do. He has no staff of his own. His staff are the staff of the President.

“So, the government is already formed and they have already been holding meetings. Even though the APC claims that the President still has thousands of other appointments to make, it is these people that will determine who will be appointed.

“It is the SGF that will write letters of appointment to appointees. As a minister, if you want to present a memo to the Federal Executive Council, you must go through the SGF. It is the SGF that will then forward the memo to the President. It is what he wants the President to see that he will see.”

Ogunlewe said those complaining of marginalisation should stop distracting the government because Buhari was not the kind of person that would easily change his mind.

He said it was the prerogative of the President to appoint those he trusts.

Who becomes Bayelsa APC candidate? …. NATION

How the Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate will emerge is a major challenge to the party. Correspondent Mike Odiegwu takes a look at the issues that will shape the the party’s shadow poll. 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is  the most beatiful bride in Bayelsa State. Politicians of note  and their supporters are defecting to the party. The rate of defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaves many guessing what will become of the ruling party before and after the governorship election.

In spite of the APC’s popularity, analysts believe the only hurdle standing before it and electoral victory is the emergence of a credible and acceptable governorship candidate. They are of the view that the only way APC can scale the hurdle is to provide a level playing field for aspirants and allow them to slug it out in an open and transparent primary. According to observers, given the array of aspirants, an open primary will save the party from a post-primary crisis. The transparency of the process that produced President Muhammadu Buhari made other aspirants to concede defeat and pledge to work for his success at the poll.

It is not easy to unseat a governor. But, with strong determination and collective will of the people, the problem is surmontable. That undersores the need for unity of purpose among members of the APC; who need to go to the poll as a united fold, if the party must take over power from the PDP in the oil rich state.

A major problem threatening the unity of APC is the divisive tendency of old members trying to label the defectors as new comers. Rather, APC should treat every member equally irrespective of when he or she joined the party.

Of the eight local governments in the state, only one has neither produced a governor, or a deputy governor. The first governor, DSP Alameiyeseigha, hails from Ijaw South Local Government   of the Central Senatorial district. His deputy, Dr Goodluck Jonathan from Ogbia Local Government of the East senatorial zone took over after Alameiyeseigha was impeached  . He won the PDP ticket for re-election but was given the vice presidential ticket in 2007.

The exit of Jonathan threw up Chief Timipre Sylva, who is from Brass Local Government Area in the Senatorial District.

After Sylva came the incumbent Governor Dickson who hails from Toru-Orua in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa West Senatorial District. Some leaders of the APC are of the opinion that the party’s ticket will be contested on the basis of disparity and political inequality in local government areas.

Among the eight local government areas in the state, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Brass and Sagbama have produced governors in the persons of Alameiyesiegha, Jonathan, Sylva and Dickson respectively.

Though Nembe, Ekeremor and Yenagoa have produced deputy governors in the persons of Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd), Chief Peremobowei Ebebi and Chief Werinipre Seibarugu respectively, the Kolokuma-Opokuma has produced neither a governor nor a deputy.

Observers believe that the quest to govern the state was the major reason behind the grand reception for the APC in Kolokuma-Opokuma. Most political heavyweights from the area have dumped the PDP for the APC to present a common front for the party’ tickets.

No struggle for BoT chairmanship – Tinubu ….. NATION

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday debunked report that himself, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, were struggling to emerge the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT).

He spoke with State House correspondents after visiting President Muhammadu Buhari along with Akande at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him, no such rivalry exists in the party and that the party is focused on supporting President Buhari achieve his goal of transforming the nation.

He said: “Don’t listen to rumors, there is no struggle. Our party is not even looking at the direction of power struggle or anything of such.

“The support structure is to encourage and support the President as you have heard from Chief Bisi Akande, to help him institutionalize his goal, principle and vision for a new Nigeria.”

On those complaining about delay in the release of the ministerial list, he said: “There is pitfall in rushing, quick fix, depending upon the depth of the rot. And that rush can cascade into mistakes of unimaginable magnitude. There is equally glory and recovery in slowness, when you have a slow fix of a bad foundation.

“So to me, I would rather take the one that will last the country and endure for a longer period of time than the rush hour shopping.”

He also disagreed with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claim that President Buhari was dictatorial.

Falling oil prices ‘stall’ SWF funding ….. NATION

The Federal Government’s contribution to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has been stalled due to falling crude oil prices in the international market.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, spoke with State House correspondents after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the fund.

He also disclosed that the $1billion initial sovereign fund contributed by the government recorded N15.7 billion profit last year.

He said: “Oil price is below benchmark and because we are supposed to be funded when the oil price is above benchmark, so it will not make any sense for the government to make any contribution now when the oil price is still low.

“But there are other ways to support the fund which we have discussed with the President, but when the time is ripe that will be made known by the President’s spokesperson.”

On the state of the fund, he said: “The government gave us $1billion which is the only contribution we have received and we made N15.7billion profit last year from the contribution. We haven’t gotten additional fund from the government, but the fund is structured in a way that it can go through hard time.

“We all know that the oil price is volatile, it comes up and goes down but the fund is structured in such a way that it can remain continuously profitable.

“The funds come from the government and the profit made. We also discussed about potential infrastructure investments that can be made, but when the time is right the President will make that known.”

FOREX: CBN foreign currency policies killing us – LCCI … VANGUARD

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, yesterday, said the biggest challenge facing investors currently is the dislocations caused by the recent foreign exchange policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Speaking at 2015, third quarter press conference, the President of LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, said the chamber appreciates the challenge of scarcity of foreign exchange as tough choices have to be made, but that the chamber has serious reservations over the policy choices of the CBN in managing the current crisis.

He said the CBN should put in place policies that would encourage inflow of forex without necessarily creating a tolerance for money laundering, adding that, the chamber believes this can only be done through intelligence.

“Significant disruptions, distortions and dislocations have been created in the business environment by the CBN as a consequence of the following policy measures: restrictions on the use of export proceeds, denial of access to foreign exchange market for 41 broad categories of products, including critical inputs needed in manufacturing and service sectors, prohibition of cash lodgements into domiciliary accounts and tight exchange controls and admintrative allocation of foreign exchange are typically characterized by lack of transparency, corruption and considerable abuse” he stated.

He noted that the economy is now faced with a scenario where there is much greater pressure to move funds out of the economy than move funds into the economy.

“This can be likened to a run on a system. This is a typical scenario which a confidence crisis would create. Future international trade transactions, financial and investment relations are now at risk. Round tripping of forex has continued to flourish because of the disparity in the exchange rate between the official and parallel market. Inflow of forex into the two autonomous sources has been adversely affected. It is worthy of note that Diaspora funds into the country was about $23 billion in 2013. The current policy will discourage the inflow of such funds which normally help to strengthen the supply side of the foreign exchange” he said.

According to him, the sovereign risk perception of Nigeria has worsened over the last months and several credit lines for Nigerian investors have been lost following the numerous cases of payment defaulted to foreign suppliers.

The long wait for Buhari’s cabinet By Olalekan Waheed Adigun

Since he was elected in March, President Muhammadu Buhari has been working hard to choose those he would work with to deliver his campaign promises, at least, in the next four years.

The task of choosing ministers is never an easy one in Nigeria or in any other parts of the world for political and technical reasons.

Considering that Buhari was elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, he is duty-bound to protect the interest of the party that got him to power at all times. This is because he has become the leader of the party. He must deal with crises that may arise from within the party. His choice must also take into consideration the fact that there will be elections in the next four years.

In choosing ministers who are, more often than not, party members, the President must identify potential conflict that his appointments may cause so that that party’s unity is preserved ahead of the next general elections. In doing this, the President should look out for persons with a history of party loyalty. In Nigerian politics, people with long years of party loyalty are rare. Since the President is the leader of the party, he must defend the party ideology and manifestoes, by appointing party men and women into his cabinet for the formulation of policies, guidance and implementations.

The second factor the President must consider is that apart from being just the party leader, he is the father of the nation. In some cases, he may want to look outside the party for some appointments when it appears no party member is thoroughly suited for a particular portfolio. He can find loyal technocrats to head ministries like Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Education, and Science and Technology that must not be left for ‘professional politicians’.

The 1999 Constitution contains a provision known as the Federal Character principle, under Section 14(3) which states, “…to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from few states or a few ethnic or other groups in government or in any of its agencies”. This simply means that he must appoint ministers for at least two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation. This is to ensure that all ethnic groups are fully represented in the administration.

Apart from the constitutional provision, appointing people from different geopolitical zones of the country is just another votes-winning strategy the President may want to employ. It cannot be assumed that the party or the President will not be interested in consolidating on covering more areas or zones in the next election. The administration must be able to at least have a fair representation across the country.

There are certain instances when the President appoints some cabinet members due to special needs. For example, the Ministry of Niger Delta, is to be headed by a person from the Niger Delta by the law that created that ministry. The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation must be occupied by a professional lawyer. The Minister of Women Affairs cannot be a male. The President must look for persons with these qualifications to occupy these positions.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the choice of the President’s cabinet will in no small ways make or mar the lives of Nigerians at least in the next four years. This is why the President must display deliberate wisdom in his choice of his cabinet this month as he promised some days ago in Ghana.

PUNCH

The legal side of blogging By Adeola Kayode

Setting up a blog is relatively simple. However, sourcing for articles, news, photographs and other content to attract traffic to it is not a child’s play.

To achieve success in blogging, one may have to experience the risks facing journalists. For those doing copy-and-paste blogging, they may not understand what journalists face.

As blogging continues to gather steam, attention on the activities of bloggers will continue to rise. The popularity of online news portals is an invitation to others to jump on the train. But there is the need to understand what is required to build a respected and successful blog. While many give credit to the web for removing barriers to publishing, there is still a lot of education one needs to build a successful blog. There are also ethical sides of the job; while one also needs to consider the risks that come with information gathering.

All over the world, bloggers are also exposed to legal and risky factors of journalism. According to Public Radio International, Islamic fundamentalists have collated a list of 84 secular and atheist bloggers to be killed because they dared to oppose their views on Islam.

They have, so far, killed nine with many others already forced to close their blogs and social media accounts. In a number of countries, it is that serious. A popular Kenyan blogger who I met during WordCamp Kenya was arrested and docked for calling President Uhuru Kenyatta an “adolescent president”.

Back in 2014, a former governor of Katsina State was reported to have ordered the detention of a student for criticising him on Facebook. One Wasiu Ogunnoiki was arraigned on September 2 for allegedly “engaging in acts capable of denting the image” of Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Facebook. Also recently, Seun Oloketuyi, faced court charges for allegedly defaming the Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo.

Blogging and social media posts have continued to earn people a lot of enemies. It is worth examining the common myths among many bloggers. To what extent are the myths true? Here are some of the myths:

You can be anyone on online

It is common to see people who think that they cannot be held responsible for a comment they post online. The cases of defamation as a result of content posted online have been on the rise. Once you are identified, you can be held responsible for what you share on online. It doesn’t matter if you copied it from another blogger, you can be held responsible.

Copy-and-paste is not plagiarising

Some of my articles are all over the Internet and this is largely due to cope-and-paste phenomenon. In 2008, I published a research document on consumer behaviour on social media through SlideShare. That document has been downloaded and used by many people without an attribution. When you copy and post articles and images without attribution, it is not cool and you may be sued.

When you are a small player, they may ignore you. But believe me they will come after once you start making money.

The best practice is to cull some parts and attribute to the source. Unless you notify the copyright owner and get permission, you are not allowed to take an entire article and use it. You may be helping the owners to advertise their work, but it is still not right.

You can use it since it is on Google search results

The common notion is that once you find an article, image or music on Google, you can use, share, tweet it as if it were originally created by you. This is not true. Google clearly says that users are responsible for what and how they use the information obtained from its platforms, including Google Search.

For images, the best practice is to source from websites with royalty-free images. One can also subscribe to websites with stock images. Also ensure you credit the source of the photograph you use. According to the International Copyright Convention, any creative work is copyrighted even when there is no notification on it.

Traffic is everything

In the quest for traffic, it is a common practice to look for information everywhere and anywhere. Businesses are already getting smart and are associating with bloggers that are concerned about building authority rather than traffic. Instead of looking for traffic, concentrate on creating quality content. Then, traffic will follow.

PUNCH