First results from Nigeria
It appears that Nigeria has reelected its president.
Nigeria election: Atiku Abubakar rejects Muhammadu Buhari's victory
The runner-up in Nigeria's presidential election has rejected the result as a "throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship".
Atiku Abubakar criticised what he called a "sham election".
President Muhammadu Buhari won Saturday's election with a margin of nearly four million votes, according to the country's election commission…
In the 1980s, Mr Buhari, 76, was one of several military rulers in Nigeria and this election marks the 20th anniversary of the return to civilian rule.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Buhari urged his supporters not to "gloat or humiliate" the opposition following his victory.
"No section or group will feel left behind or left out," he promised in the speech…
Turnout was a record low at just 35.6%…
A former soldier, Mr Buhari led a military regime for 20 months in the 1980s and was first elected president in 2015, becoming the first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent and win the presidency.
His record in office is mixed. Mr Buhari's critics say that the very attributes that won over voters four years ago - his strictness and inflexibility - have emerged as liabilities. They accuse him of autocratic leanings as well as a disastrous tendency towards inaction…
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Labels: elections, leadership, Nigeria
Foreigners not welcome (for now)
It's not just the Tiananmen protests that cause political jitters in Chinese authorities.
China bans foreign travellers from Tibet as 1959 uprising anniversary looms
China is barring foreign travellers from Tibet over a period of several weeks that includes a pair of sensitive political anniversaries questioning the legitimacy of Beijing’s rule over the Himalayan region…
The ban was confirmed by the online customer service portal of the Tibet Youth International Travel Service, as well as staff at the Tibet Vista and Go to Tibet travel agencies. Both are based in the southwestern city of Chengdu, the main jumping-off point for visits to Tibet…
March 10 is the 60th anniversary of an abortive 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, while anti-government riots occurred March 14, 2008, in the regional capital Lhasa.
Although the foreigner travel ban is an annual occurrence, the occasion of the 60th anniversary is drawing added attention…
The 1959 uprising resulted in the flight of Tibet’s traditional Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile in India and the start of increasingly harsh Chinese rule over the region. Nearly five decades later, anger exploded in a series of protests in an around Lhasa that culminated in attacks on Chinese individuals and businesses in which the government says rioters killed 18 people.
An unknown number of Tibetans were killed by security forces in the aftermath.
China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for more than seven centuries and regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist.
Some Tibetans insist they were essentially independent for most of that time and have protested against what they regard as China’s heavy-handed rule imposed after the People’s Liberation Army battled its way into the Himalayan region in 1950...
Despite the suffocating level of security, Tibet is an increasingly popular destination for tourists looking for mountain adventure and monuments to its unique Buddhist culture.
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Labels: China, demographics, history, protests
The counting begins
Details on Nigeria's election
Nigeria election 2019: Counting under way
Ballots are being counted in Nigeria's closely fought general election, although voting has been extended to a second day in a handful of places…
The main results centre is expected to open at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT) in the capital, Abuja, but final results are not expected until Monday at the earliest…
Was the election peaceful?
Most of the country was calm but there were reports of attacks by the Boko Haram Islamist militant group in the north, and voter intimidation and attempts to steal ballot boxes from some polling stations, especially in the southern states of Rivers, Lagos and Anambra…
How does the election work?
The candidate with the most votes is declared the winner in the first round, as long as that person gains at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states…
What are the main issues?
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer but corruption and a failure to invest the proceeds from the industry have hampered development in the country…
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Labels: elections, Nigeria
More dissent in Commons
This time, MPs from the Conservative Party have joined the group of Labour leavers.
Three MPs quit Tory party to join breakaway group
Three Tory MPs have resigned from the party to join an independent group, set up by former Labour MPs…
The PM said she was "saddened", but her party would "always offer... decent, moderate and patriotic politics".
The three criticised the government's "disastrous handling" of Brexit and said it had undone "all the efforts to modernise" the Conservatives.
The pro-Remain trio will join the new Independent Group - made up of eight Labour MPs who resigned from their party over its handling of Brexit and anti-Semitism - saying it represented "the centre ground of British politics"…
The departure of the three MPs has reduced the government's working majority to nine MPs, and Ms Allen claimed there were "absolutely" other colleagues "keen" to join the group.
The Independent Group now has more MPs in Parliament than the Democratic Unionist Party and equals the number of Liberal Democrats…
The three MPs said they will support the government on areas such as the economy, security and improvements to public services, but they felt "honour bound to put our constituents' and country's interests first" over Brexit.
They told Mrs May in their letter: "We voted for you as leader because we believed you were committed to a moderate, open-hearted Conservative Party.
"Sadly, the Conservative Party has increasingly abandoned these principles and values with a shift to the right of British politics."…
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Labels: Brexit, legislature, political parties, politics, UK
Another party splintering in the UK?
The resignation of seven MPs might not seem to be a big deal, but how often do such things happen?
7 Labour Lawmakers Resign in U.K., in Rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn
Seven lawmakers from Britain’s opposition Labour Party resigned on Monday to protest their leader’s approach toward the country’s withdrawal from the European Union and his handling of accusations of anti-Semitism.
The party, which is led by Jeremy Corbyn, has been divided by growing tensions for months, with some centrist lawmakers struggling to reconcile their positions with the leadership’s more leftist policies…
[Luciana] Berger said that the lawmakers would sit in Parliament as an independent grouping. “I cannot remain in a party that I have come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally anti-Semitic,” she said.
[Chris] Leslie said that the Labour Party had been “hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left,” and criticized “Labour’s betrayal on Europe.”
Responding to the announcement by the members of Parliament, Mr. Corbyn said, “I am disappointed that these M.P.s have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945.”
“Labour won people over on a program for the many, not the few,” he added. “The Conservative Government is bungling Brexit,” he said, referring to Britain’s exit from the European Union, “while Labour has set out a unifying and credible alternative plan.” …
[T]he resignation of the seven Labour lawmakers on Monday reflects the strains that Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has placed on a political system dominated by two main parties, each plagued by schisms…
Now, with the British government’s deal on the terms of its departure in jeopardy, and the threat of an economically damaging exit rising, many members of the Labour Party have expressed support for a second referendum on the issue…
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Idealist?
Was Li Rui an idealist? On another note, he must have had powerful mentors (
guanxi) to come back from disgrace and to continue writing critically about China's government.
Li Rui: The old guard Communist who was able to criticise Xi Jinping
"We are not allowed to talk about past mistakes."
Li Rui said this in 2013, while reflecting on the similarities between China's then-new leader Xi Jinping and the founding father of Communist China, Mao Zedong.
Mr Xi, he warned, was echoing Mao's suppression of individual thought, and was trying to build a similar cult of personality - both things he had experienced at first hand.
Li Rui joined the Communist Party in 1937… He was hand-picked by Mao to become his personal secretary in 1958.
But he was also imprisoned soon afterwards for criticising Mao's Great Leap Forward…
Despite this turbulent history with the party, the fact that Mr Li was one of the original revolutionaries meant that he occupied a special place in contemporary China - one that allowed him a degree of freedom to talk about the ruling party's many issues, and how he felt things should be done differently.
People may not be allowed to talk about past mistakes, but Mr Li did it anyway - and his work has helped historians understand the truth and scale of Mao's atrocities.
Li Rui died in Beiijng on Saturday, aged 101.
 |
| Li Rui |
As a university student, Mr Li joined a group of idealistic Communist activists protesting against Japanese occupation. Shortly afterwards, at the age of 20, he officially joined the party. He was tortured for his communist activism.
But things changed when the party came into power in 1949, and by 1958 Mr Li had become the youngest vice minister in China…
Following Mao's death, the more pragmatic Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1978 and Mr Li was rehabilitated and allowed back into the party. He then became a strong advocate for political reform…
He wrote five books on Mao, all of which were published overseas and banned in mainland China…
But even though his writing was censored, Mr Li was not a dissident - he remained a party member until his death. And the fact that he was left to compose his memoirs from a prestigious apartment block in Beijing shows how, despite his outspoken criticism of the current leadership, he continued to be revered for his role as one of the country's original revolutionaries.
But with Mr Li dies the idealism of the activist who joined his party eight decades ago, and spent the years since vigorously rebelling against leaders who abused their power.
"He was among the last of that generation of idealists who joined the Communist Party at the beginning, and who tried to hold the Communist Party to the rhetoric [they heard] when they were being recruited," Prof Tsang says.
"There is probably nobody else who will hold the party now to what the party had originally said it was meant to do."
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Labels: China, history, ideology, leadership, politics
Little red app
During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the Communist Party of China published a book of quotations by Mao Tse-tung. It became known as The Little Red Book. Under President Xi, there is now "the little red app."
Little Red App: Xi’s Thoughts Are (Surprise!) a Hit in China
Call it the Little Red App.
Part social platform, part indoctrination tool, a new smartphone app called Study the Great Nation is the latest effort by the Chinese Communist Party to bring its propaganda initiatives into the mobile age.
So far, it seems to be working. Study the Great Nation recently became the most downloaded app on Apple’s app store in China, and on several app stores that cater to phones running Android as well.
Not all of the enthusiasm appears to have arisen organically, however. Since the app’s release at the beginning of the year, Communist Party branches at universities and local governments have arranged for administrators to guide and monitor party members as they use the app for political education…
Study the Great Nation, which was produced by the central government’s Publicity Department, has polish and sheen enough to match any of China’s popular news and entertainment apps. Most of those apps are not focused so narrowly, however, on all things Xi Jinping, the country’s leader.
In Study the Great Nation, you can catch up on the latest state media reports on Mr. Xi’s decisions, savor a quote of the day from Mr. Xi or brush up on “Xi Jinping Thought.” You can quiz yourself on Mr. Xi’s policies and pronouncements, or take in a television show called “Xi Time,” which is … well, you get the picture.
Doing each of these activities can reward users with “study points,” which can be redeemed for gifts in future versions of the app…
Is there a social element? Of course there is. Study the Great Nation is integrated with DingTalk, a messaging app made by the e-commerce giant Alibaba. As a result, you can call or text your friends in the app, host video hangouts and even send messages that disappear, Snapchat-style, after they are read…
Ratings and reviews for Study the Great Nation are currently disabled in Apple’s app store. But App Annie, an analytics firm, has preserved 497 reviews that had been submitted to Apple’s store as of Tuesday.
They are not kind, by and large. Many are laced with dry sarcasm. The average rating is 2.7 stars out of five…
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Official word on election postponement in Nigeria
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offers explanations for the delay in voting.
Why We Postponed Elections - INEC
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, yesterday explained reasons behind the commission's decision to reschedule the 2019 elections to new dates, citing inability to distribute election materials…
According to the new timetable, polls slated for yesterday would now hold on February 23, while elections for governorship and states houses of assembly were shifted to March 9.
Yakubu, who addressed stakeholders Saturday at the National Election Collation Centre located at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, said the decision had nothing to do with security, political influence or inadequate resources.
He attributed the postponement to mainly logistical challenges faced in deploying human and material resources for the conduct of the elections.
"Apart from these logistical challenges, we also faced what may well be attempts to sabotage our preparations. In a space of two week, we had to deal with serious fire incidents in three of our offices…
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Labels: elections, Nigeria
Reconstruction in Nigeria
Creating a federal system in Nigeria has been a delicate issue since independence. It's come up again.
Nigeria’s Election Is Shattering Political Taboos
On Feb. 16, Nigerians [went] to the polls for a presidential election. At stake [was] not only who will be president but also fundamental issues about the structure of the Nigerian state and relations between its constituent units. Who should control the country’s oil resources and security forces? In which areas should the federal and state governments have preeminence over each other? These previously taboo questions have been elevated as key topics on the national political agenda. Regardless of who wins, President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress and his main opposition rival, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party, have opened the door to political forces they cannot control or stop.
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| Buhari (left) and Atiku Abubakar (right) |
At first glance Buhari and Atiku (as he is known in Nigeria) appear to be opposites. Buhari is austere, tough on corruption, and lacking in flair…
Atiku is a gregarious multibillionaire businessman and veteran politician who is seen as business-savvy and has promised economic liberalization, but he has been dogged by corruption allegations. It seems that voters can have a fight against corruption or economic stimulus, but not both. But there is a third and more serious issue bubbling beneath the surface…
Since both men are ethnic Fulani Muslims from northern Nigeria, neither can resort to pandering based on ethno-regional or religious sentiment to take votes away from the other, as is frequently the case in Nigerian elections…
For the past 20 years since Nigeria returned to democracy, the country has been stuck with a highly centralized federal structure bequeathed to it by past military governments.
This structure gives the federal government huge power over states, control of the country’s oil deposits and security forces, and the power to declare a state of emergency in any state whether or not that state consents. Rather than being reservoirs for local interests, Nigeria’s states are consequently little more than conduits for the implementation of federal government policies.
Atiku has described Nigeria’s current political system as “unworkable” and has advocated “devolution of powers and resources to states and local governments” and greater autonomy for states. To combat the insecurity that has led to the military being deployed in at least 32 of Nigeria’s 36 states, he also supports allowing Nigeria’s states to form their own police forces to reinforce Nigeria’s currently federally-controlled military and police forces. Buhari [a former military ruler] is a conservative and has rejected a political restructuring of Nigeria.
Such proposals will reverberate at both ends of Nigeria. The issue of restructuring Nigeria’s unusual federal system has been a big talking point for the last three decades. However, regional autonomy is a potentially explosive issue in a country that fought a civil war from 1967 to 1970 and sacrificed over 1 million of its citizens to prevent one of its southern regions from seceding, and in which just three of the country’s 36 states today produce 75 percent of the country’s oil and over 50 percent of government revenues.
Atiku’s proposals will delight many younger and southern Nigerians who have campaigned for such measures for three decades, hoping that it will allow Nigeria’s oil-producing states to have a greater say over and share of the profits from the oil drilled from their lands…
Historically, many northerners feared that such changes to Nigeria’s constitutional order would reduce the poorer northern states’ share of lucrative revenues from the oil fields in Nigeria’s south. The chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Ango Abdullahi, claimed that some have “personalized restructuring with a view to targeting a section of the country, and this is the area that we feel very sensitive about, and we will resist it.”
Yet the north also has its own reasons to support Atiku’s restructuring ideas. Many complain that Nigeria’s police and soldiers (who are recruited from all over the country under a quota system) are disadvantaged in their fight against the militants of Boko Haram because most of them are not from the northeast where the insurgency emerged, are not familiar with the terrain, and don’t speak the local Kanuri language of the region, thereby making it difficult for them to win the trust of locals and obtain intelligence from them. Some argue that troops should be locals with knowledge of the local language, terrain, and customs…
Some of the military’s successes against Boko Haram have been due to the assistance given to them by a militia of local volunteers called the Civilian Joint Task Force. Using their local knowledge, the group has provided vital intelligence to the military, set up security checkpoints, arrested or executed Boko Haram members, and even assisted the military during raids. Twelve states in Nigeria’s north operate under sharia. Some of these states created enforcement corps known as Hisbah to police their legal code. Several years ago, some southern states also allowed vigilante groups to apprehend armed robbers…
[L]ocal ethno-cultural and religious differences demonstrate the challenges of allowing local communities to create their own security forces. In one part of the country they may be used to fight insurgents, to enforce a theocracy in another, or as political thugs in another. In a country with deep sectarian cleavages such as Nigeria, legislating different legal regimes for these groups would be impossible without accusations of ethnic, geographic, or religious bias. Thanks to Buhari and Atiku’s candor, these are no longer academic debates but immediate real-life problems that Nigeria’s next government must confront.
If Buhari holds on to power, he will be under pressure to respond to these thorny issues. If Atiku wins, the electorate will expect him to deliver on his campaign promises. Even if neither man intends to touch the restructuring time bomb, the issues they have raised are likely to be picked up by whoever contests the next election…
In Nigeria, younger politicians are far more likely than their conservative elders to implement massive reforms. No matter what Buhari and Atiku do, a southern successor is far more likely than them to push for radical changes to Nigeria’s structure. And that means four years from now Nigeria may have a president with the motivation to not only espouse reforms, but implement them, too.
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Labels: election, federalism, leaders, Nigeria, politics
Danger for election
It's disturbing that election is being sabotaged. Is there a pattern to the attacks?
Fire Razes Another INEC Office — The Third In Two Weeks
In less than two weeks, a third office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Awka, the Anambra State capital, was engulfed in flames on Tuesday.
 |
| Awka INEC office |
Loads of materials for the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for February 16, 2019, were affected by the inferno, which occurred at the INEC office near the Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka.
Card readers and other sensitive materials for the elections were razed during the incident.
The cause of the fire has not been determined as officials of the fire service are still trying to put out the fire.
Two INEC offices in Plateau and Abia states had been affected have been razed over the past few days.
The commission had called for improved security and the Inspector General of Police ordered tight security around INEC offices across the nation.
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Labels: election, Nigeria, political culture
German analysis of Nigeria's election
This is a useful analysis from Deutsche Welle news service. Interesting title.
2019 Nigeria election: What you need to know
This time next month Nigerians will be heading to the polls to vote in the general election. It looks likely to be a tight race between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). A record 84,004,084 people have registered to vote — an increase of 18 percent from the 2015 election.
With no opinion polls published indicating clear support for any particular candidate, it's difficult to accurately predict the outcome. Observers are already branding it one of the closest political races in the country's history.
Currently 25 candidates are set to take part. While Buhari and Abubakar are widely seen as the frontrunners, there are a number of interesting candidates in the mix.
For example, chartered accountant and activist Oby Ezekwesili – best known internationally as the founder of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Given that Nigeria is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to female political representation, Ezekwesili's decision to run with the Allied National Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) could be viewed as a sign that things are slowly changing.
However, Abubakar is widely considered to be Buhari's main challenger. The former vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo has made a bid for the presidency five times for four different parties…
Buhari's chances of victory this time are less certain than in 2015, when he became the first opposition leader to win a presidential election in Nigeria. The 76-year-old has been criticized for failing to meet many of his campaign promises…
Nigeria has one of the largest youth populations in the world; however this election has again made it clear that national politics remain dominated by the older generation.
Blogger and member of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign, Maryam Laushi, believes Buhari and Abubakar do not provide young people with a clear enough choice.
"The issue with Nigerian politics and the two major parties is that we do not clearly see a difference in ideology," she told DW. "And that lack of ideological direction makes it difficult for a voter to decide, as a young person, who to vote for. We want to know that we're going to get more jobs, we want to know that the future is secure for us."
Laushi think that cultural barriers in Nigeria, such as always placing the older generation on a higher level than the youth, are making change harder.
"In some ways this is a good value to have, but when it comes to the open political space it makes it really difficult for young people to participate."
Ultimately, it seems this election will be decided on the three key issues which also characterised the 2015 election: insecurity, the economy and corruption.
INSECURITY
Ongoing insecurity in the north of the country is a major election issue for Buhari, as extremist group Boko Haram continues to hold on to or retake ground in the country's north-east. He has been criticized for failing to stem the insurgency. But while the extremist group frequently makes international headlines, it's easy to forget that Nigeria is struggling to contain other security crises.
This includes the conflict between farmers and herders in the north-west, south-east and Middle Belt region, which is often attributed to ethnic and religious differences. There is also the issue of the Niger Delta, where militants often target oil pipelines…
THE ECONOMY
Economic concerns are likely to play a significant role in next month's elections. Current unemployment data shows unemployment has risen to 23.1 percent, up from 18.1 this time last year, and the economy is again in danger of slipping back into recession.
While both frontrunners take a similar stance on the other key issues, they differ when it comes to economic concerns. While Abubakar takes a more market-friendly, business-like approach, Buhari's policies are more interventionist. This is not surprising, as, for decades, Abubakar has been viewed by the people of Nigeria as a businessman of sorts.
CORRUPTION
Buhari frequently claims he has taken steps to tackle the country's endemic corruption. But although the government has taken some measures to reduce corruption —including the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to manage government revenue — it still has a long way to go…
Buhari's main rival Abubakar can also hardly boast a clean record. The former vice president has been implicated in an international money laundering scandal and is banned from travelling to the United States for a reason unknown to the public; he maintains that his visa is still being processed.
The reality is that corruption remains so pervasive in Nigerian society that observers are already expecting allegations of fraud and vote buying to be voiced.
"There will be corruption," Ajala told DW. "It's practically impossible for the security apparatus to ensure free and fair elections in every polling booth."
But he remains optimistic for future elections: "Nigeria's democracy is still developing and still emerging. So it will get better. The only thing is the extent to which it will be free and fair. As long as [violations are] not widespread, then it will be acceptable."
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Labels: corruption, election, Nigeria, parties, politics
Big Man politics in Nigeria
Most American textbooks use the term "big men" to describe these political movers and shakers in Nigeria. Academics in Nigeria label them "godfathers," although that term is seen unfavorably (anti-democratic) by most people.
Nigeria election 2019: How ‘godfathers’ influence politics
"Godfathers" in Nigerian politics don't usually run for office themselves, but many believe they are the ones who decide the election winners and losers.
With campaigning well under way for general elections on 16 February, these are the men - and they invariably are men - who pull the strings behind the scenes.
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| APC election banner |
They are political sponsors, who use money and influence to win support for their preferred candidates.
Their "godsons", it is believed, are not always selected for their political acumen, but rather on their ability to repay and enrich their godfather.
These arrangements have spawned the term "godfatherism", says Dr Dele Ashiru, a senior lecturer at the department of political science at the University of Lagos.
"It refers to a situation where there's a big man who wields enormous political power and then anoints a godson, who he adopts as a candidate for the election.
"And the godfather will do all that is reasonably possible to get the godson appointed into political office.
"The godfather must be influential, most often they are, or were, a political office holder."
In the southern state of Akwa Ibom, the country's largest oil-producer, many people believe the main godfather is Godswill Akpabio, who holds a senate seat…
So powerful in fact that his defection just a few months ago to the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) is seen as pivotal to the party's hope of winning its first victory in the state since Nigeria's return to democracy in 1999.
A hope reiterated by President Muhammadu Buhari when he chose Akwa Ibom to launch his campaign for re-election in December.
And Mr Akpabio certainly seems to deliver in numbers. During a recent rally I spoke to followers who said he would bring more than 300,000 voters over to the APC…
In a very different part of the country, the political future of the majority Muslim state of Kano in the north may also be defined by a larger-than-life godfather.
Kano has the second-biggest number of registered voters in the country, making it a key state for either of the two main parties to secure victory.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor, has built a loyal and dedicated following there, partly built through a free education programme implemented during his tenure. Whichever candidate gets his blessing is guaranteed a lot of voters.
He is backing Abba Kabiru Yusuf, a candidate from the People's Democratic Party (PDP), after falling out with a former ally…
As godsons become political players in their own right, it is inevitable that they fall out with their godfathers…
[T]his is because in developing societies like Nigeria, the state is the most important source of revenue and wealth accumulation, which both will want to access to.
But it is also a question of ego, according to Emmanuel Onwubiko, from Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria.
"Some of the godfathers are not really out to get money, they just want respect, they want to be venerated if they come into the state; they want to be recognised as the most important person in that society," he says.
For Mr Ashiru this is a key problem with godfatherism: "Godfather culture is more about the individual than the collective.
"Democracy is about the people, but here you have a few individuals across the country who take critical political decisions, particularly that have to do with the recruitment of public officers.
"So it goes without saying that such a system cannot make democracy thrive."
All the politicians I spoke to shied away from the term "godfather" as it has become loaded - associated with bullish tactics and undemocratic practices.
And as godsons gain their confidence, it is not clear how much longer godfathers will be able to keep their hold on power…
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Labels: corruption, elections, Nigeria, politics
National minimum wage in Nigeria
The campaign for a minimum wage in Nigeria has been going on for a long time. Passage by the House of Representatives is the first formal step.
Reps Counter Council of State, Pass N30.000 As New Minimum Wage
House of Representatives on Tuesday approved N30.000 [±$83.00 per month] as new minimum wage for Nigerian workers…
By this development, the House has countered the National Council of State, NCS and the State Governors who had earlier at an emergency meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja approved N27.000.
Meanwhile, the House has formally adjourned plenary to February 19 due to the Presidential and National Assembly elections that would hold February 16.
Prices in Nigeria:
McMeal at McDonalds 1800 Naria
Coke/Pepsi (12 oz bottle) 122 Naria
Toyota Corolla (or equivalent new car) 11,388,888 Naria
International Primary School (yearly tuition): 667.857 Naria
Pair of Nike Running Shoes (mid-range): 18,951 Naria
Average Monthly net salary (after taxes): 70,965 Naria
Source:
Numbeo
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A break in the ideological divisions
Can a pop singer bridge the political animosity between the People's Republic and Taiwan?
In the Heart of Beijing, a Taiwanese Pop Idol Makes Fans Swoon
A beer in one hand, a microphone in the other, Meng Xiaoli stood in a crowded restaurant and began to sing…
During the workweek, Mr. Meng, 53, a strait-laced budget analyst who wears a red Chinese Communist Party pin on his lapel…
But on weekends, he retreats to what he calls his “spiritual home,” a two-story restaurant and museum in Beijing that is a shrine to the woman he considers a goddess: the Taiwanese pop singer Teresa Teng, one of Asia’s most celebrated artists…
Ms. Teng, who died suddenly in 1995 at age 42, was renowned for turning traditional Taiwanese and Chinese folk songs into maudlin Western-style hits. She was once banned in the mainland, her music denounced by the authorities as “decadent” and “pornographic.”
But she never lost her base of rabid fans here, even as tensions have escalated between China and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing considers part of its territory.
Her most ardent followers now gather at the Teresa Teng Music-Themed Restaurant in a sprawling residential neighborhood in western Beijing… An enormous portrait of Ms. Teng, smiling as she holds a white rose, graces its front door…
Inside, singers dressed in elegant gowns perform renditions of her signature ballads like “The Moon Represents My Heart” and “Sweet as Honey.”…
Ms. Teng is claimed by many mainlanders as one of their own, even though she was born in Taiwan.
Her father, who grew up in the mainland in the northern province of Hebei, was part of the Nationalist forces that fought Mao Zedong’s Communists in the Chinese Civil War. He retreated to Taiwan in 1949, four years before Ms. Teng’s birth…
But her music was quickly banned as part of a campaign by the Communist government to block “spiritual pollution” from the West. The Taiwanese government used her music as a psychological weapon, blasting it from loudspeakers positioned near the mainland.
Tapes of Ms. Teng’s music circulated on a black market in the mainland, and her popularity was clear. Because of her surname, which in Chinese uses the same character as the Communist leader Deng Xiaoping’s, she was sometimes referred to as Little Deng, reflecting her hold on the public imagination…
In 2011, officials opened a memorial hall in honor of Ms. Teng in her father’s hometown, Daming, where fans now converge on the anniversary of her death…
Ms. Teng has been hailed as a symbol of commonality between China and Taiwan at a time when relations have deteriorated, with President Xi Jinping of China recently warning that efforts by Taiwan to assert independence could be met by armed force…
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Labels: China, political culture, politics
It was 40 years ago today...
No mention of this in mainstream Western media that I could find.
Iran marks 40th anniversary of Islamic Revolution
Iran is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed shah, overturned 2,500 years of monarchical rule and brought hard-line Shiite clerics to power.
The anniversary starts every year on February 1 - the day Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 returned from France after 14 years in exile to become the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Across the country on Friday, sirens rang out from trains and boats and church bells chimed at 9:33 am. - the exact time Khomeini’s chartered Air France Boeing 747 touched down 40 years ago at Tehran’s International Mehrabad airport.
The 10-day anniversary festivities, known as the “Ten Days of Dawn,” end on February 11, the date Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s government collapsed.
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Labels: history, Iran, political culture
Campaigning outside the country
The Nigerian newspaper Vanguard says that Buhari partisans are campaigning in New York. Unfortunately, the article only cites examples of Nigerians "campaigning" in London and Washington, D.C. Still, campaigning outside of Nigeria seems unusual.
Nigerians storm streets of New York, urge US, UN to back Buhari
Barely 24 hours after some concerned Nigerians trooped out en mass in the United Kingdom to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption fight, their counterparts in the United States (US) have followed suit.
These Nigerians, under the auspices of Restore Nigeria Coalition (RNC) were spotted in the streets of Washington, chanting ‘Sai Baba’ as they urged the Donald Trump-led government and the United Nations to support President Buhari in flushing out corruption.
Cosmas Collins, President of RNC, speaking on behalf of the group, believes Nigeria has made tremendous progress in the anti-corruption fight as witnessed in the case of embattled Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen.
“They are sufficing to note that since 2015, the present administration has initiated measures aimed at reducing corrupt practices in the conduct of government business at all tiers of governance. This effort has yielded positive results to the admiration of the bulk of Nigerians and the consternation of a select few that have benefited from the rot in the system,” he said. “Undeterred, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has carried on with enthusiasm and a determination to see that structural defects are fixed to curb the rot in the system for the betterment of Nigeria as a country…
“Since 2015 when the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari took over the affairs of the state in Nigeria, Nigeria has recorded tremendous progress in governance evident in the dividends of democracy trickling down the ladder.
“However, the present administration has encountered numerous challenges from individuals and organisations that have subverted the system through nefarious ways and means all in the quest to portray the Muhammadu Buhari administration in poor light in an attempt to pitch the populace against the government to fulfil their personal agenda of causing unrest and disaffection in the country...
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Labels: corruption, elections, Nigeria, politics
