Caffeine for Your Health — Too Good to Be True?

That cup of joe may be good for many, but there are downsides as well

Drinking three 8-ounce cups of coffee a day can have positive health benefits, depending on the strength of the brew. — Ines Perkovic/Getty Images

En español l Picture it: 624 million cups of coffee. A day.

That's about three cups per coffee drinker in the United States, where 83 percent of adults can't imagine life without their favorite cup of java.

Add to that tea, caffeinated soft drinks and those infamousenergy drinks, and you won't be surprised to read that 90 percent of us consume caffeine in some form or another each day. Is this a bad thing? Not entirely.

Recent research has shown that coffee, in particular, may help prevent diseases like stroke and certain cancers, lower our risk of Parkinson's and dementia, and boost our concentration and memory. Partly that's because coffee beans are seeds, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reminds us, and like all seeds, they're loaded with protective compounds.

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"Coffee is an amazingly potent collection of biologically active compounds," Walter Willett, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, told the National Institutes of Health's newsletter.

Caffeine, a mild stimulant, also provides benefits: It's been linked to lower risks of Alzheimer's disease, for example. But when it comes to caffeine, there really can be too much of a good thing. Those who study caffeine's lesser-known effects point to studies that indicate it can be worrisome for people with high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoporosis. Plus, caffeine can interact poorly with some common medications, and it can worsen insomnia, anxiety and heartburn.

It would make things easier if the caffeine content were listed on food labels so you would know if you've exceeded the 300 mg level that most health experts say is a safe, moderate amount for the day — about the amount in three 8-ounce cups of coffee, depending on how strong you brew it — but so far that's not happening.

So before you turn on that coffeemaker or grab a grande cup from your favorite cafe, here are some things to keep in mind.

First, the bad news about caffeine (and coffee)

Remember: Caffeine is a drug, says Steven Meredith, a researcher in behavioral pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

While low to moderate doses are generally safe, caffeine is addictive and users can become dependent on it and find it difficult to quit or even cut back, he says. (Caffeine dependence was even named as a new mental disorder this year.) Anyone who's ever quit cold turkey knows it can trigger pounding headaches, mental fuzziness and fatigue for a couple of days until the body adjusts.

16,600 children lost parents to Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leon – UNICEF

UNICEF says no fewer than 16,600 children are registered as having lost one or both parents, or primary care-givers to Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone so far.

It said less than three per cent of this population has had to be placed outside family or community care.

This is contained in a statement issued by UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Mr Manuel Fontaine in New York on Friday.
“Since overcoming their initial fears and misconceptions about Ebola virus, families have been showing incredible support, providing care and protection for children whose parents have died.

“This shows the strength of kinship ties and the extraordinary resilience of communities at a time of great hardship’’, added the statement.
UNICEF said as of mid-January, nearly 3,600 children had lost both parents to Ebola virus in the three countries, while 16,600 were registered as having lost one or both parents.

It stated that the disease also affected primary care-givers.

It said pointed out that UNICEF was helping to identify children without parents or caregivers with the view to providing immediate care and protection to them.It said the assistance would either be through extended family members, community members or foster families.

In Guinea, for example, UNICEF said all 773 children who lost both parents have been placed with their extended families.
It added that children and the families looking after them were regularly given cash and material assistance.

Fontaine said UNICEF had helped in accessing schools for them and providing counseling to support their emotional and psychological well-being. The UNICEF said following up children who were in new families was an important focus as they remained emotionally vulnerable.

It added that unaccompanied children who may have come into physical contact with a person suffering from Ebola were provided with centre-based care while under observation for 21 days maximum incubation period.

Across the three countries, UNICEF said the total number of such children to date had been just over 250. Out of this, it said over 90 per cent of them were taken into the care of extended family members shortly after the quarantine period.
It added that UNICEF had also developed a network of Ebola survivors who have been playing an important role in supporting affected children.

It said because they had built up a level of resistance to the disease, survivors can interact with children who were under observation. UNICEF added that identifying vulnerable children and providing services to them had been one of the many challenges faced in responding to the Ebola crisis.

It quoted Fontaine as saying: “as the Ebola-affected countries head towards recovery, we should take the opportunity to improve child protection services for all vulnerable children.
“We have a chance to address other forms of vulnerability that existed before the Ebola crisis, such as child marriage, child labour, sexual violence and exploitation.”(NAN)

Like Obama Did To McCain, Buhari Must Hang Corruption On Jonathan’s Neck – Part 1 By Illesanmi Omabomi

GMB must at every stop remind Nigerians that while GEJ was very swift in removing the oil subsidy he has been travelling at a slower than snail speed in apprehending his friends who stole the N2 trillion plus in oil subsidy. He should put the stolen amount into perspective by telling voters that it is about 50% of the country’s entire budget. He can further flesh out the monstrosity of this fraud by explaining to the voters that his youth employment program under which his government plans to hire 20,000 young people from each state of the federation and 720,000 nationwide will cost N172.8 Billion a year if each person receives a salary of N20,000 a month. The total cost is less than 10% of the money stolen by GEJ’s friends.

rruption is the cancer of Nigerian politics. It is the reason nothing gets done in the country and it has come to take the center stage in the forthcoming presidential elections. No institution and person personifies corruption in Nigeria today as much as the PDP and the Goodluck Jonathan (GEJ) led government. In the last six years as president of this country he has left no one in doubt that that he loves corruption and will do anything to promote corruption and protect the corrupt. Whether by design or his sheer incompetence and cluelessness GEJ is now entangled in corruption from head to toe. It is not a subject he likes to talk about because he is corrupt. He has become a prisoner of corruption. And in GEJ’s corruption entanglement lies the game changer for General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) in this election.

Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan

Nigerians, who have always been willing to tolerate some level of official corruption appear to have had enough of it. This maybe because corruption has become more blatant, and has exploded in geometric proportions under GEJ. Not only is GEJ unable to tame the monster, he has made it known that he believes “stealing is not corruption.” There are signs everywhere that the voters are prepared to take a sledge hammer to corruption in this election particularly at the presidential level. GMB must avail himself of this opportunity by suffocating any message that GEJ’s may have with his anti-corruption crusade. He should put GEJ and PDP on the defensive by forcing them to defend their records in fighting corruption and in the process making it impossible for him to deliver any message he may have concocted to deceive the electorates. An analogy from a distant political terrain will help shed light on this approach. 

In 2008, John McCain, who later became President Barack Obama’s opponent in that year’s presidential election pandered to the right of the Republican party in order to win the support of conservatives and members of the Tea Party during the primaries. The modus operandi  he chose in proving his conservative credential was to tell the conservatives that he had voted 100% in support of the outgoing and unpopular, but conservative George Bush. John McCain would later regret this claim because Barack Obama and his campaign team made sure it hung from his neck like the sword of Damocles throughout the campaign.

George Bush was unpopular due to the combined effects of the Iraq war and a faltering economy. American voters blamed him for everything that was wrong with the country and did not want anything to do with anyone who agreed with him; and John McCain said he did 100%. At every campaign stop Obama reminded voters that John McCain agreed with George Bush 100% and that a vote for him would be tantamount to a vote for continuation of George Bush’ policies. Try as he could John McCain could not shake off the “just like Bush” tag and he went on to lose the election. 

Before continuing let me provide a brief snippet of some of the corruption scandals that have bedeviled GEJ’s six years old presidency.

• $20 Billion dollars of oil revenue missing and no concrete and rational explanation provided to date;
• N2 trillion plus stolen in oil subsidy scandal by people close to the president, including the son of former PDP chairman Bamanga Tukur and no single individual has been convicted to date for this monumental fraud;
• Billions of Naira stolen in pension funds under GEJ’s watch and the perpetrators given a slap in the wrist;
• N200 million plus Stella Oduah BMW scandal for which PDP tried to reward her with nomination for a senatorial seat;
• Billions of Naira stolen by bank executives under GEJ’s watch and government stepping in with public funds to stabilize the banks;
• Diezani Alison-Madueke’s multi billion Naira fraud relating to the purchase and servicing of NNPC aircraft;
• The minister who oversaw the immigration recruitment exercise that resulted in death of tens of jobseekers across the country is still sitting in GEJ government while keeping the over N6 billion collected from desperate applicants;
• Billions of Naira lost through fraudulent import waiver scheme benefiting the friends of GEJ

The list goes on. The scale of corruption under GEJ is mind boggling and GMB must make it a point to name instances of corruption at every campaign stop and force GEJ into defending himself and his government, leaving him unable to deliver his campaign messages of concocted lies and distortions. Some of these instances of corruption annoy some segment of the voters more than others. The youths/students/graduates who constitute the majority of voters in this election must be reminded often how their colleagues lost their lives because of a fraudulent immigration recruitment exercise. Additionally, rather than order a refund of the application fees and fire the minister, GEJ stood by the minister while the N6 billion plus application fees was  never refunded. He has to get this group of voters upset and pumped up to vote GEJ out. 

GMB must at every stop remind Nigerians that while GEJ was very swift in removing the oil subsidy he has been travelling at a slower than snail speed in apprehending his friends who stole the N2 trillion plus in oil subsidy. He should put the stolen amount into perspective by telling voters that it is about 50% of the country’s entire budget. He can further flesh out the monstrosity of this fraud by explaining to the voters that his youth employment program under which his government plans to hire 20,000 young people from each state of the federation and 720,000 nationwide will cost N172.8 Billion a year if each person receives a salary of N20,000 a month. The total cost is less than 10% of the money stolen by GEJ’s friends. He should let the voters know that the over N2 trillion stolen by GEJ’s friends and some of it later donated to him as campaign funds will pay the salaries of 7.5 million Nigerians a year if each person receives a salary of N20,000. These are damning figures and I believe they will send GEJ and his campaign team into disarray.

GMB must at every campaign stop remind voters that GEJ and his PDP led government continue to steal from Nigerians on a daily basis through the refusal to reduce the price of petrol to at least N50 per liter in line with the 55% drop in the price of oil. And that until the appropriate reduction is in place, the stealing from voters continues. 

GMB must remind voters that it has taken GEJ $30 billion to deliver the epileptic electricity supply in the country and that at that rate it will take eternity and cost trillions of dollars to achieve regular power supply in the country. But that even at that, GEJ and his friends will steal the money. 

As an aside and as a way of reminding voters of GEJ’s incompetence in securing the lives and property of Nigerians, GMB must remind voters of the numerous Maitatsine riots that took place all over northern Nigeria from early to mid-eightiesand how it was his responsibility to deal with them either as the GOC or as the head of state and how swiftly he dealt with them. He must remind voters that when Chadian soldiers invaded Borno in 1983, he did not only chase them out of Nigeria, he chased them into Chad. This will give the voters a platform for comparing his ability to bring security to the country against GEJ’s “all talk and no action” policy.  

GEJ is putting up a brave face but he is in the political fight of his life. While his spin doctors like Femi Fani-Kayode and Doyin Okupe resort to the absurd to convince Nigerians that everything is going well, his body language and resort to pouring invectives on his opponent speaks volume - my professor once told me that when the facts and the law are against you just yell. Like a boxer GEJ is lying on the ropes right now and GMB must launch the necessary combination punches to finish him off.  By making it apparent that GEJ is a losing proposition in this election GMB will spark an exodus of his fair weather friends from PDP. His friends and political associates are already keeping him at a distance while their attempts to secretly donate to GMB’s campaign funds have been rejected by the Buhari. GEJ must be seen to be defeated by the electorates before he is actually defeated in the upcoming St. Valentine Day Revolution. 

Peace and God Bless Nigeria!!

Doctors’ Strike: Bayelsa Records High Number Of Deaths

With scores of health workers at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Bayelsa State on strike since last November, the state has seen a sharp rise in the death rate of patients with serious ailments.

Striking health workers on strike at FMC BayelsaPremium Times

Doctors and other medical personnel employed by the Federal Government went on strike almost two months ago to protest what they called the government’s nonchalant response to demands made by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and Assembly of Health Care Professionals.

At a rally held today by the striking staff, the chairman of the University Teaching Hospital Research and other Allied Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Mr. Save Ubani, told reporters that the strike, which was called in November 2014, has resulted in the deaths of at least 100 patients in the state, including a nursing staff of the FMC, Ms. Theresa Edet.

The protesting health workers today carried placards with inscriptions that read, “Jonathan save the health sector,” “2015: No proper health care, no vote,” “Jonathan: Our health or your second term: choose.” The protesters urged Mr. Jonathan to immediately take a break from his campaign schedule to address the concerns of the health workers. “If the people are not healthy, how can you tell them to vote for you?” one of the striking workers told SaharaReporters. She added: “Out of those dying due to the Federal Government indifference, there are registered voters.”

Mr. Ubani stated that several meetings with officials of the Jonathan administration, including the Ministers of Health as well as that of Labor and Productivity, had failed to persuade the government to address the union’s demands. 

“It is sad that, in the president’s home state, the effect is worrisome and has resulted in a rise in deaths of patients due to the strike action and resulting high expenses paid in private hospital for health care,” said Mr. Ubani.

He added that the workers’ demands were in three categories. They include the unconditional and immediate implementation of all collective bargaining agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed with JOHESU and the full implementation of all judgment in favor of JOHESU by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN).

MEND Restates Support For Buhari’s Candidature, Urges Nigerians To Ignore Empty Threats By Ex-Niger Delta Militants

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has countered the  Ijaw Youth Council, the Peoples Democratic Party and other ex-militants in the Niger Delta region over its support for the candidature of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari.

In a release issued today, MEND's spokesperson "Jomo Gbomo" described the statement credited to Peoples Democratic Party spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, as "callous and irresponsible". Jomo Gbomo stated that MEND had no relationship with the APC. The militant group also took the leadership of the IYC to the cleaners for describing MEND as a "ghost".  The release provided a website news link where the IYC priased MEND for observing a ceasefire to show that IYC was just a praise singing organization. 

See full text of the press statement below:
 
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) views the recent question and statement credited to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, as very callous and irresponsible. This question: “Explain your connections with MEND”, further confirms and vindicates our views about Goodluck Jonathan, his inept government and the PDP.
 
MEND strongly denies any links with the All Progressive Congress (APC) and has never been approached for anything, at any point in time, by the party, as pettily alleged by Olisa Metuh.
 
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) stands strongly by our endorsement and full support of General Muhammadu Buhari as the man to lead the country out of its present calamitous state in the hands of Goodluck Jonathan.
 
MEND finds it laughable the recent statement by Mr Eric Omare, the Publicity Secretary of a mere tribal assembly and political praise singers, known as the Ijaw Youth Council, stating that “MEND is a ghost”. We clearly understand their frustrations at our stance as it obviously came as a shock to them.
 
Nigerians should ask this man (Eric Omare), if he was referring to “ghosts” when he lauded MEND for declaring a temporary ceasefire six (6) months ago as can be seen in the following links:http://thewillnigeria.com/news/iyc-hails-mend-ceasefire-urges-boko-haram-to-lay-down-arms/  http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/26006-ijaw-group-hails-mend-ceasefire(http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/06/iyc-lauds-mend-ceasefire-n-delta/)
 
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) once more, urges Nigerians to ignore the empty threats of this so-called “ex-agitators” and the Ijaw Youth Council. Their reckless utterances only ridicule and confirm the colossal failure of the “Amnesty Programme”. We advise the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to use their idle time in telling and showing Nigerians and Niger Deltans what the government of Goodluck Jonathan has done or achieved in Nigeria and the region in the last six years in office, apart from giving them handouts called “Monthly Stipends”.
 
“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time” – Abraham Lincoln.
 
For our Freedom and Yours
 
 
Jomo Gbomo
 

End Of Year Prophecies By Ijabla Raymond

Every night on New Year's Eve day, Nigerian Christians throng to churches in their millions to pray and listen to prophecies that they believe will guide their lives in the new year. This has become a culture and a way of life. Needless to add that offerings and donation are almost always collected during these church services.

Almost every other Pentecostal church leader produces an end-of-year prophecy. Sometimes, the prophecies contradict one another, causing one to wonder how the same God can say contradictory things to different pastors and prophets.

Pastor Adeboye

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) represents the largest body of Pentecostal Christians in Nigeria; so, it is apt to use Pastor Adeboye’s prophecy for 2015. This is accessible from his Facebook page but can also be found here.

At this juncture, it is pertinent to ask – have any of these pastors and prophets ever said anything of consequence for this nation in the last 10-15 years that end-of-year prophecies have been trending? Let's consider Pastor Adeboye's phopecies for 2015 as expressed on his website.

PROPHECY FOR THE YEAR 2015 BY PASTOR ADEBOYE OF RCCG

Individual: For those who fasted for 100 days last year

1. The Lord says the harvest for the 100 days fast will be given this year.

2. Daddy says this year will be full of testimonies; those who have none before will have this year.

3. Daddy says some of you will swim in the river of abundance this year.

4. Daddy says there will be miraculous completion of projects.

5. Daddy says there will be fulfillment of dreams.

6. Daddy says there will be miraculous restoration.

7. Daddy says the song of many will be - The Lord has been good to me.

International

1. Scientific and medical breakthrough will be many, particularly in the areas of lack of sleep, dreams and brain disorder.

2. Daddy says Ebola will die out.

3. Daddy says all over the world insurgencies will be considerately weakened.

4. He asked us to pray against massive calamities.

5. He asked us to pray against massive earthquakes, strong hurricanes and typhoons.

For RCCG

1. This year all you need is to charge off your batteries by fasting for 40 days only. Those of you who want to fast continuously 20 days and 20 nights will cover the 40 days. If you miss one day, you have to cover it with two days.

Nigeria

By the end of the year - you will say all is well that ends well.

The fasting begins January 2nd 2015.

Notice how the prophecy:

a). Is non-specific with respect to who, what, when, where and how

b). Says nothing about what really matters to Nigerians i.e. national security, Boko Haram, corruption and the elections which come up in February

c). Says nothing about the whereabouts of the abducted Chibok girls

d). Implies that earthquake, typhoons and hurricane can be averted by prayers and fasting Incredible, coming from a former university Mathematics lecturer!

Nigerians pray and supplicate more than any other people I know. Either God does not care about what is important to them or these pastors just make these prophecies up. I am sure that most of you would agree that anyone, including a smart child, could come up with the prophecy above. Yet, these are the words that millions of Nigerians stay up all night to listen to and live their lives by.

To me, a prediction (or prophecy) should not only be time and place-specific but it must be consequential. For instance, it is not enough to say there would be an earthquake; we should know its estimated magnitude, where and when it is going to occur. These will determine whether or not we evacuate people to safety, an action that saves lives. I have reviewed Pastor Adeboye’s prophecies from 2012 till date; he has not said anything consequential in that period.

Before I end, let me remind Nigerians that it was Pastor Adeboye who claimed he drove from Ore to Lagos on an empty fuel tank. And I have encountered many a Nigerian intellectual who believes this story. They are not even willing to consider other possibilities such as:

1. The fuel level could have been on reserve, and the car could have had a large fuel reserve

2. The fuel gauge could have been faulty

3. The pastor could have been hallucinating or having a déjà vu experience

4. He could have been out-rightly telling lies

5. He could have been driving a top fuel-efficiency car. After all, he can afford the best out there, can't he?

And what sort of God grants such frivolous requests but watches on as millions of children die from malaria every year?!

Whilst most Nigerians may not even see anything wrong with this claim, the real problem is that these pastors have succeeded in corrupting our way of thinking and help to develop a culture where our people cannot distinguish fantasies or magical thinking from reality. Heck, even our universities have become both breeding and dumping grounds for such ideologies. Unfortunately, the world clock does not stop for us; for whilst we are engaged in magical thinking, our competitors are landing robots on comets. How are we ever going to be able to compete for the same resources as them? We should know that manna does not drop from heaven. But I am sure most Nigerians will disagree!

Like I said in my last article for Sahara reporters (bit.ly/1sZJ20V), this brand of religiosity is holding back the progress of Africans. You can be spiritual without believing and acting on these kinds of stories and prophecies. If these pastors are not going to divulge the celestial secret codes for scientific and technological innovations, or tell us something else of consequence that can move our nation forward, then why are we reliant on their proclamations and making them wealthy with our scarce resources?It is time to begin introspection and self-examination. We are a society of very gullible and superstitious people brought up to obey, and to never question elders or those in authority. We are not critical thinkers. We scorn scepticism. Perhaps, that is why we are where we are.

I am persuaded that, now, more than ever before, is the time to start thinking and asking questions! That is how the nations which now explore outer space got to where they are. Not by wishful thinking and/or superstitions!

Ijabla Raymond is a medical doctor of Nigerian heritage, who writes in from the UK. Email: Ijabla.Raymond@facebook.com

How Many Presidential Jets Are Enough For A Child That Grew Up With No Shoes? By Dr. M.K. Hassan

In the 2015 budget  submitted to the National Assembly as reported by media outlets, Mr. President with penchant for buying executive jets for his own personal leisure, did not disappoint us. He has a 400 million naira budget item as deposit for trade-in for a brand new executive jet. It is no wonder that the Presidential Air Fleet has more modern and functioning airplanes than the whole aircrafts of  Nigerian Air Force (NAF) put together. President Goodluck Jonathan

In this time of insecurity, Nigerians deserve to know why this administration has failed to deal with Boko Haram before the elections so that they can decide if they want to continue on this path of failure. One of the reasons is, instead of arming the NAF with modern fighter jets, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) has been building a fleet of brand new presidential executive jets. While Jonathan is busy junketing the globe in his brand new executive jets, the struggling NAF is left with obsolete aircrafts to fight insurgents. The Nigerian citizens especially in the North East have been left in the mercy of marauding insurgents taking over our territory. With this kind of careless defense strategy from the President, how can the country defeat Boko Haram?

According to the well known intelligence and defence information company, IHS Janes  website,http://www.janes.com/article/45858/nigeria-wants-to-procure-scorpion-isr-and-light-attack-jet, “The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) currently fields a very limited offensive counter insurgency (COIN) capability in the guise of 11 Chinese-built CAC Chengdu F-7 fighters; as well as 21 Aero L-39ZA Albatros, 12 Alenia MB-339, and 12 Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet trainer and light strike platforms. It also fields seven russian Mil Mi-24 'Hind' assault helicopters”. Based on this available information on the main assets of the NAF, it is clear that it is handicapped. It may be one of the reasons  why the Jonathan’s  Government could not defeat Boko Haram.

Note that the 12  French built Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets have been  the main fighter Jets in the fight against Boko Haram in the last six years . For those who do not know, Alpha jets are out of production since 1991. They have some of the most obsolete surveillance capability one can think of due to low computing and imaging processing power of the electronics on board. The Jets were designed for the attack of long range fixed targets like Barracks in conventional warfare and not close and highly mobile targets like Boko Haram’s pick up trucks convoys. To summarise the capability of these alpha jets, it is like trying to use the early version of the black and white Nokia 3310 phone for facebook and internet browsing today instead of the smart phones like blackberry Z30, or iPhone 6. For all his promises of defeating boko haram, Jonathan is trying to use these jets as his main fighting air power to defeat them. Imagine GEJ and his military commanders using these to find Shekau!

The Chinese made Chengdu F-7 jet fighters were acquired by Obasanjo in 2005 and delivered up to 2010 as reported by Janes. Obasanjo and “Made in China” goods have one thing in common: Unreliability, and high failure rates when and where it matters most. The Chengdu F-7 were among some of the Jets that have been crashing and burning down during this conflict. I believe any fighter pilot that is asked to go on mission with any  of the unmaintained jets, will definitely make his last prayers before flying one.

I am not going to talk about the Czechoslovakian  made Aero Albatros L39 and the 12 Alenia MB339 military trainer jet aircrafts. Those are so old that they are suppose to be in the museum, and not for training our Jet Fighter Pilots. The old Russian MIG helicopters are among those crashing helicopters we have got, and some did crash recently and were in the news.

Some of these jets were burned down by Boko Haram when they attacked Maiduguri in March 2014 as shown in the pictures released online by the insurgents. This begs for explanation, why were even some of the Jets parked in Maiduguri, the epicenter of Boko Haram, instead of outside the region? Why would Air Marshall Bade allow this? At least we know that for security of defence assets, in most war setting situation, long range Jet Fighters are kept out of conflict regions and are most of the time signaled to come in for attacks. For example, will the US Air force park their most important jet fighters, the Northrop Grumman B2 stealth bombers, in Baghdad waiting for terrorists to come and burn them down? No! Anyway this is a story for another day.

How can rag tagged insurgents be moving in convoys for 100’s of kilometers within Nigerian borders unchallenged with air power and be able to establish a caliphate in Gwoza? In a pathetic show of comedy, instead of the President to acquire real drones like the Raptors from General Atomics, Stalkers from Lockheed Martin or their type from any where to stop the terrorists from moving in large convoys, he had his own drone made for him in Kaduna. This president is unserious! The Kaduna made “Gulma” drone he went to launch some months back, one can buy something better than it for three thousand dollars (600 thousand naira) on Ebay website. The President in his usual characteristic comical display of “C in C” powers praised the toy Gulma drone and said that it will be used to fight Boko Haram. Even on the launch day, the Gulma drone was a sitting duck on display inside a building. It was not flown to demonstrate its capabilities to fight boko haram and only God knows how much was spent in building Gulma. What a fraud and a joke!

As an expert in radar systems and electronics, I can say without mincing words that these out of style aircrafts the NAF uses in this battle against boko haram with not so good night vision capability, magnetometers, vision cameras, gyroscopes, and other must have sensors on board fighter jets, cannot find Shekau and his rag tag army. These military assets are incapable of accurately  tracking highly mobile insurgents targets like Boko Haram that move in large convoys to attack our towns and villages. 

Does it bother Jonathan that his Air force is in shambles since he came to power and cannot fight Boko Haram? NO! The reason is his measure of how successful and strong the economy and his country is, is not by the fighting power of his Air force.The President measures the prosperity of his country and its military strength with how many new jet owners we have since he came to power, and how many executive jets he has acquired for himself. O boy, we are in serious trouble.

Do not despair, there is a new strategy and fighter jet for fighting boko haram and it is the PVC. PVC stands for the Permanent Voters Card. Yes, it is a weapon that  Nigerians must acquire to defeat this incompetent government and Boko Haram. No matter what, every citizen must get this fighter jet, the PVC,  since the Government has failed to get fighter jets for its Air force to fight Boko Haram. The way to use the PVC fighter jet is to come out on the election day, line up no matter the heat and inefficiency of INEC on that day, to cast the vote, defend the vote against external aggression of riggers and their collaborators so that we can have a new government that will arm the Air force. The new Government to be headed by Muhammadu Buhari, has better strategy of defeating Boko Haram. It will sell all these unnecessary executive presidential jets acquired by Jonathan and buy the fighter jets and drones needed to send Boko Haram parking. His presidency will need only 2 executive jets: one for use and one as a spare in case of maintenance. GEJ has already bought 4 jets since he came to power in addition to the 9 Jets he met in the fleet. 

Finally, we have to ask how many Presidential Jets will be enough for a child that grew up with no shoes? and have you acquired your PVC Fighter Jet from INEC?

Governor Fayose Explodes: Presidential Contest A Do-Or-Die Affair, Advocates Use of Police/Army To Win Election

An inaugural meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Southwest was held in Akure on Saturday with the objective of outlining a strategy for winning the 2015 elections in the area, with Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose reiterating the party’s old mantra that the presidential contest is a “do or die” affair.

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BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKJAN 02, 2015

An inaugural meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Southwest was held in Akure on Saturday with the objective of outlining a strategy for winning the 2015 elections in the area, with Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose reiterating the party’s old mantra that the presidential contest is a “do or die” affair.Ayodele Fayose

The returnee-governor said the party must be prepared to use its control of the army and the police, which it currently controls, to ensure victory for President Goodluck Jonathan at next month’s polls.

The meeting was organized by the PDP South-West co-ordinator, Gov. Olusegun Mimiko, who shared the high table with Senitor Iyiola Omisore, Mr. Kolapo Ogunjobi, Senator Musilu Obanikoro, Governor Ayo Fayose and various leaders from the zone.

Governor Fayose underlined that the presidential election was critical, advising that the party should forget about governorship elections and concentrate on the presidential contest.  According to him, once President Jonathan was re-elected, everything else would fall into place and the party could declare the governorship candidates of PDP in various States as it likes.

Minutes of the meeting obtained by SaharaReporters shows that some delegates advocated de-emphasizing rallies as campaign strategy, preferring that the PDP should focus on propaganda aimed at tarnishing the image of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari.   Some of the delegates wanted to use the media to dent the image of General Buhari.

In that connection, Senator Omisore expressed support for the extensive use of propaganda against Buhari, joining Governor Fayose in stressing that the all efforts should be mobilized to win the Presidency because the PDP would be nothing without the presidency.

Mr. Fayose disagreed with the propaganda strategy, describing it as a waste of time.  Stressing that attack is the best form of defence, he said that the PDP in general and the South-west PDP should be valiant to face the Tinubus anywhere they are. 

He underlined that the PDP cannot afford to lose its control of the police and the army, which it will without Jonathan being the president.

On Fayose’s description of the presidential election as a “do or die” affair, Gov. Mimiko, obviously aware that the outburst could be used against the PDP, countered that it should not be a “do or die” but rather a “do-and-win” affair.

One of the decisions taken by the meeting was to set up a number of committees, including Security, Contacts, Traditional, and INEC.

The committee on Security is saddled with the responsibility of working with the police and the army.  The party leaders also further tasked the students at both the national and regional levels to monitor various institutions and polling booths to make sure that the election goes in favour of President Jonathan.  It was also stated that a national student body had submitted a proposal for a youth conference that will hold in FUTA this month where the South-west students would adopt Jonathan as their presidential candidate.

 

TEXT OF THE MINUTES OF THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE SOUTH WEST
PDP, HELD ON 27TH DECEMBER 2014

The inaugural meeting of the southwest PDP was held in Akure, at the Government House of the State (Ondo State).

The meeting was organized by the PDP South-West co-ordinator, Gov. Olusegun Mimiko. On the high table were Gov. Olusegun Mimiko, Senitor Iyiola Omisore, Mr. Kolapo Ogunjobi, Senator Musilu Obanikoro, Governor Ayo Fayose, a governorship aspirant in Oyo State and various leaders from the South-West.

At the beginning of the meeting, the host appealed to all the South-West PDP members and leaders to be united so as for them to be able to gain more votes from the zone. And people were given opportunity to give opinion on how they could get more votes for the presidential election in 2015 and win other positions.

A speaker from Lagos State made a comment that Senator Muslim Obanikoro’s son, Ibrahim Obanikoro, that contested for the position of council chairman in one of the LCDA’s in Lagos State, defeated Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his area but was not given the position. He mentioned that that they had the key in winning Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that Asiwaju only claims what he cannot do.

And the speaker further said that they needed the support of the Presidency to do so many things in Lagos State, concerning the forth-coming election.

Also, another speaker from Lagos State emphasized on issue of disbursement of funds for the election. He stressed that funds were always late for disbursement for elections, so they wanted early disbursement so that they could deliver.

While another speaker from another state said they were happy for the meeting because it would foster peace among the southwest PDP members and that they could move on easily.

A speaker from Oyo State laid emphasis on use of the media and said the party should go more on the media attack on the opposition party (APC). He mentioned that effective use of the media was the weapon being used by APC. Gov. Mimiko now stated that they made findings of who were the owners of some dailies and that it was discovered that those media outfits did not belong to members of the APC, and thus PDP could equally hijack the media.

A speaker from Osun State that he had told Gov. Mimiko to help them tell the President to use his power and office to quash Ogbeni Aregbesola before the general elections, so that PDP could produce more votes for the President and that the idea of fighting Gov. Aregbesola would be by going to the Court of Appeal which he said could be influenced to remove Aregbesola. So, he urged the honourable leaders of our amiable party to look into the issue of Osun State.

Discussions now moved on to the strategy that would be used for winning the presidential election;
• Delegates present at the meeting discussed more on campaign that they should do less of rallies, instead, they should embark on full campaign with propaganda that would tarnish the image of APC presidential candidate, Gen. Buhari. And part of what should be used use to campaign against Gen. Buhari in Lagos is that he was the one who stopped the Railway metro project of Lagos State 30 years ago, and that instead of Buhari completing the project, he paid the penalty for breaching the contract of the railway metro line project.
• Delegates present laid serious emphasis on using the media to dent the image of the presidential candidate of APC.

Some delegates maintained that the change that the emperor of Bourdillon wanted to change Nig. democracy to totalitarian dictatorship. Members stated that when PDP had no State in the South-west, the President got good votes from the South-west and now that the party has two States, it would be able to win all the other States if the two States in its kitty are well utilised.

Senator Omisore said in his speech that propaganda of any form shoule be utilised and that all efforts should be mobilized to win the Presidency as without the presidency the party is nothing.

In the speech of Mr. Ayo Fayose, he said propaganda would only waste time and that attack is the best from of defence. He maintained that the party in general and the South-west PDP needed to be valiant to face the Tinubus anywhere they are. He further said we have the control of police and the army and “I CAN NOT AFFORD TO LOSE MY CONTROL ON POLICE AND THE ARMY” and without Jonathan being the president we will lose the control. Further, he said the presidential election is a do or die affair but Gov. Mimiko quickly countered that it should not be a do or die affair but rather a do-and-win affair.

Governor Fayose later said they should forget about all governorship elections and concentrate on the presidential election, that once President Jonathan returns, we could be declaring the governorship candidates of PDP in various States as they like, meaning that the Presidential election is very paramount.

As the meeting progressed, leaders at the meeting put Oyo State in focus and maintained that PDP could get more votes for the president there by begging both Chief Alao Akala and Chief Rasheed Ladoja to align their parties with the PDP since they have no presidential aspirant and there is every need to throw out Ajimobi, Amosun with using militant thugs loyal to PDP.

Mr. Kolapo Ogunjobi representing Otunba Gbenga Daniel said they PDP on ground in Ijebu side of Ogun State and they were grassrooters and that they could deliver with good resources.

Sen. Musilu Obanikoro in his own speech said 3 days after he lost the PDP primary election, that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to him in private which he said was quite unusual of him. He said Tinubu asked him how much he had spent and that he was ready to give him 2 billion Naira and a senatorial seat from APC in Lagos State. He said he refused the offer and stressed that they could just imagine how smart and clever Asiwaju is. He further stated that Cardinal James Odunmbaku (Baba Eto) was almost at the concluding part of decamping to PDP and that even he had even concluded with the presidency in Aso Rock before Asiwaju hijacked him back with the position of Director-General of Campaign of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. He said they could see that Tinubu is the smart type. Senator Obanikoro further said he was the only person that could match Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he said he knew his tactics. He further emphasized that with cash in his hand, Tinubu is nobody.

While Governor Fayose intervened by saying that there was nothing special in Lagos and that he normally visited markets in Lagos every weekend and before the people in the market would recognize him, they would have said so many things in his presence that they won’t know. Govenor Fayose further said he was coming to Lagos to teach people the market approach to sensitizing the people on the need to support PDP and dump APC.

After all this, the communiqué prepared sequel to which the press was allowed entry into the place for a brief coverage before they were dispersed again. At the end, they set up various committees on such areas as:
• SECURITY
• TRADITIONAL
• CONTACTS
• INEC etc.

Committee on contacts will meet important personalities to canvass them, they mention people like Jimoh Ibrahim in Ondo, the Ogun people mentioned Sen. Anthony Adefuye as part of the personalities to be visited, and many other personalities.

Committee on INEC would monitor various INEC commissioners in various south-west states and try as much as possible to lure them with money to compromise in favour of our great party.

Committee on traditional rulers would meet up all Obas in the southwest for consultation on the presidential election and use financial gratification to lure them as many of them really need stomach infrastructure, according to Governor Fayose. Governor Mimiko maintained that many of those Obas are actually hungry and with good amount of money they could get them to support PDP

Committee on security is saddled with the responsibility to work with the police and the army. Leaders of the party further tasked the students at both the National (NANS) and southwest level, state level to monitor various institutions, polling booths and make sure that the election would go in favour of Jonathan. It was also observed that the National body of student (NANS) submitted a proposal for a youth conference that will hold in FUTA in January where the South-west students would adopt Jonathan as their presidential candidate.

Some leaders also talked about APC’s strategy of deploying 10 persons per polling booth and that they were aware of it and stated that all leaders should task themselves to use councilors in all their various booths.

Lastly, the South-west coordinator said the next meeting that would hold in Ibadan which would involve fund-raising for the presidential election from stakeholders of the PDP south-west and the meeting would be used to shake Oyo once again urging that the Governorship aspirant of PDP to be prepared.

The meeting ended with closing prayer from a delegate from Ondo State.