Buhari, Tinubu Beg Amaechi To Join APC

Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd and the National Chairman of the APC Chief Bisi Akande, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, urged Governor Chibuike Amaechi to come over to the APC.

Describing Governor Amaechi as a very courageous politician, Tinubu said the APC was the party for people like the governor.

As the recruitment train of the All Progressives Congress, APC, moved to Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital yesterday, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, one of the seven opposition governors amused his numerous supporters as he promised to consult with President Goodluck Jonathan and other stakeholders in the political sector before deciding on whether he would remain in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or cross over to the All Progressive Congress, APC.

The governor who spoke at a rally organised to receive the national leadership of the APC in Government House; Port Harcourt, yesterday, said he was a special person among the seven governors that floated the new Peoples Democratic Party. Unlike others according to him, he hails from the same South-South zone with President Goodluck Jonathan.

I’m special among G7 govs  — Amaechi

“I am peculiar in the group of the seven governors. The President comes from our zone.  I will consult our leaders, the President; I will consult you, (referring to the mammoth crowd). I will consult all consultables.

I will come back to you. The day we shall take a decision it will be at the new stadium that can take 40,000 persons.  If we are staying (referring to the PDP), we shall call the President to the stadium to address us, but  if we are going we shall call Tinubu and Buhari to come and address us, ” he said.

The governor who took on  his political foes said the political crisis in the state was largely due to his refusal to abuse public funds, stressing that he was not a corrupt governor.  “They don’t accuse me of being corrupt. They only say I don’t run an inclusive government which is Chop I chop”, he said.

Continuing, he said he would continue to pray to the Almighty God to protect the state from those he accused of plotting to plunder its resources.

Governor Amaechi, who laced his speech with some  gospel songs said the Almighty God had always put his opponents to shame, adding that it was part of the reasons why he danced joyously at the funeral of the foster mother of the first lady which held in Okrika, Rivers State recently.

“I was told I would be stoned at Okrika if I come there. I went there, I raised my right hand and there was applause, I raised the left, it was the same. I said God, I thank you.  Those on the other side are corrupt. We shall reply them one after the other. They have served and now are hungry.”

Continuing, the governor described some of his political foes as “desperate and hungry politicians” even as he assured that he would continue to deliver on the dividends of democracy to the state.

Dismissing fears that he would be removed as governor through a court verdict on November 11, the governor also gave a brief account of how his administration had been spending public funds.  “You have been hearing we will remove him since 2007. Have I been removed?

They talk as if they own God. They said we will be removed on the 11th which is Monday.  Come on that day, I will dance here”.  Amaechi then burst into a gospel song again which said, “there is nobody greater than God, there is no one greater than Jehovah Lord Divine”.

He said his administration was constructing roads, building health centres and schools, adding that he had also commenced an empowerment scheme for youths in various wards in the state.

Governor Amaechi further called on the people to resist acts of impunity on the part of the Police command in the state.

“I came down to march with you when I heard that they locked the gate at the airport against you. We walked five kilometres to the airport. We forced the gate open and I walked with you. We must prepare ourselves from now on”, he said.

Come, join APC — Buhari, Tinubu, Akande

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd., and the National Chairman of the APC Chief Bisi Akande in their separate speeches at the event urged Governor Amaechi to come over to the APC.

While commending the achievements of the governor so far in the state, Tinubu said they were in Port Harcourt to invite him to join the APC.  “We did not come here to campaign but to see and invite. Amaechi has performed well.  This country can’t progress on lies.”

Tinubu later moved a motion calling on the governor to cross over to the APC and it was endorsed by the mammoth gathering.

Representatives of the 23 local governments in the state, 26 lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Hon Otelemaba Amachree and some members of the National Assembly took turns to pledge their profound loyalty to the governor.

The five anti-Amaechi lawmakers in the state House of Assembly and those against him at the National Assembly were absent.

You are epitome of courage under fire—Akande tells Amaechi

National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande in his speech said: “Today, the unstoppable APC train, which has made important stops in Kano, Jigawa and Adamawa, has arrived in Rivers State.

“This is another important stop, because it allows us, the APC leaders, not only to invite Chibuike Amaechi, the courageous governor of Rivers, to join the growing APC family, but to show our solidarity with a man who has succeeded in battling anti-democratic forces to a standstill.

“Let us be clear. Our party has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Governor Amaechi since the beginning of his travails. We have been unrelenting in our support because our party stands for justice, fairness and unfettered freedom. We abhor dictatorship clad in fake democratic garments.

“We believe that the system of government that we operate does not make provision for an imperial presidency, who can neither be criticized nor opposed. That is why we told those who said the APC is crying more than the bereaved on the Rivers State issue, that we are indeed the bereaved anytime the rule of law is supplanted with the rule of the jungle; and we are the bereaved anytime a democratically-elected President thumbs his nose at the Nigerian Constitution. Or how else do we explain a situation in which a duly elected Governor, who is known to the Constitution as the Chief Security Officer of his state, is now being made to run his state side by side with the State Police Commissioner, who has been elevated to the de facto Governor by the presidency?”

“How do we explain a situation in which a state governor is being prevented from accessing his official residence by the police who should take orders from him? Where is it done that a state governor cannot receive visitors, including fellow state governors, without being tear-gassed and humiliated by the police? Or how does one justify a situation in which armed thugs backed by the police attack lawmakers in the hallowed chambers of the State House of Assembly?

Gov. Amaechi has been enduring these and other indignities, without wilting under fire! His plane has been grounded under flimsy, cooked-up excuses! They felt they have clipped his wings, but he is soaring even higher.

What is his offence? Standing up for the defence of democracy and the Constitution, leading his fellow Governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to reject creeping dictatorship. But because he provided good leadership, because he has the support of his colleagues in the NGF and because his cause is just, he has prevailed over his adversaries, and he stands taller than his physique.

Because he stands as a bulwark against those who wanted to annihilate democracy and cripple governance, the plan to extend the anarchy in Rivers State to other states of the Federation has failed. That is why we called him an epitome of courage.

It was Maya Angelou, the African-American author and poet, who said courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. Perhaps that was why another American poet, Robert Frost, said that freedom lies in being bold. Thanks to Gov. Amaechi’s courage, Nigeria’s democracy is stronger, and our country is better.

We salute your courage under fire, your tenacity under an endless assault and your commitment to unfettered freedom for all citizens.

Since the leaking umbrella can no longer protect you from the vagaries of harsh weather, we ask you to jump on the APC train that will take Nigeria to the promised land!

• 
  

ASUU Strike To End Next Week

There are strong indications that the protracted strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, that has crippled academic activities for over four months may end in the next one week.

Sources at the Monday night meeting between the Federal Government led by President Goodluck Jonathan, the leadership of ASUU, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, said both the Federal Government and leaders of ASUU had shifted grounds and leaders of ASUU would meet with its organ (National Executive Council) to brief members of the outcome and then take necessary action.

One of the sources said: “Both the Federal Government and the leadership of ASUU are now on the same page. Both parties have shifted grounds. The leadership of ASUU will now meet with its appropriate organ to brief its members and take the necessary action.

 

“ASUU is in the right position to inform the public after meeting with its organ. However, I can tell you that all things being equal, the strike should be over in the next one week.”

The meeting between the government and the labour leaders started at about 2:30pm on Monday and ended at about 3:30am on Tuesday with a 15 minutes break.

5 Ways Women Play Hard-To-Get And How To Make Her Say YES

There's more to her tease than meets the eye: Women play hard-to-get to make you want them, and also as a test of your commitment.

Your willingness to keep pursuing her tells her your final goal: an actual relationship. Women have to weed out the men who are just interested in them for sex. Dealing with girls who play hard-to-get usually requires too much work for one-night-stand seekers.

Although men and women are equally guilty of playing coy, the study found ladies use five particular tactics. Never let her ploys wreck your game again:

1. She withholds sex.
You’re seeing a new girl who’s definitely not a virgin, yet she’s treating your first time together like the Holy Grail. She’s withholding because she doesn’t feel secure with you yet.

Your plan: Show her something serious could be on the horizon. Toss out the “wait 3 days to call” rule, hang out 2 days in a row, and invite her to an event that’s a few weeks away. She needs to feel that you’re sticking around. By making plans well beyond next weekend, you prove exactly that.

2. She acts sarcastic.
Don’t let her verbal sparring discourage you. A lot of guys fail this. Either they’re really nice or complimentary, or they take it personally, like she is actually dissing them. In reality, she’s flirting and trying to show you she’s a bit of a challenge.

Your plan: Give it right back to her. Be sarcastic, too. Play along. That’s what going to get her attention. Just make sure she knows you’re teasing, not lashing out because you’re offended. As you make a jab, smile and touch her on the arm or shoulder to show you're playing around.

3. She makes you chase her.
The harder you work to win her affection, the easier it is for her to let her guard down. We want to test men to make sure that they’ve built up genuine feelings for us—that they're not going to be hitting it and quitting it. And, she concedes, a lot of women like the pursuit.

Your plan: Put time and detail into getting to know her, instead of just throwing together last-minute or casual dates.

And when you make plans together, be on time. A woman will make a man chase as long as she feels like she can’t trust him—he’s showing signs of flakiness, breaking plans with her, things like that. But if you’re reliable, her walls will come down more quickly.

4. She looks at you, then turns away.
We think we should just give a guy a little signal, and he should be the one to come over to us.

Your plan: Before you introduce yourself, make sure she didn’t just make accidental eye contact. See if she looks back a second time. If she checks you out again, smile and motion for her to come over, perhaps even pat the chair beside you. She’ll likely protest—which gives you a chance to establish a fun back-and-forth. I’ve seen this done before, and usually the woman is the one to cave in. Voila, you’re in.

5. She's slow to respond.
If she takes hours to answer your texts, she may, in fact, be interested—but that interest is overpowered by skepticism. You haven’t made a strong enough connection yet to be on her radar.

Your plan: Playfully call her out on her Grandma pace. If it's becoming a bit of a pattern, you could send her a little joke, like, ‘You better try to respond faster this time, just to make sure I’m not married with kids already.’ That way, you don’t seem scolding, but get the point across.