Fayose Moves Against Buhari Again!

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has said that what Nigerians are now desirous of hearing from the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government is the defeat of hunger and untold hardship ravaging the country and not recycled stories of defeat of Boko Haram insurgents, which is as usual, aimed at diverting the attention of Nigerians from the fact that there is ravaging hunger at this time of the year.
The governor said it has become predictable that whenever Nigerians cry of the pains and sufferings they are going through, the federal government will come with stories like; “20 Chibok girls found,” “$1 billion found in Mr A, B or C bedroom,” “Boko Haram technically defeated,” “We have captured Sambisa forest,” etc just to divert attention.
In a release issued in Ado Ekiti on Monday and signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said; “It is painful that Nigeria under President Mohammadu Buhari has become directionless either due to the cluelessness of the president or his old age that has foisted a purposeless leadership on the country.
He said; “This year’s Christmas is the worse in the history of Nigeria. People cannot afford to celebrate and enjoy themselves due to the hardship caused by the APC government. To make matters worse, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also created artificial scarcity of cash, such that people could not access their hard earned money in the banks as most banks in the country do not have cash to pay their customers.”
“Like I have maintained, the main issue confronting Nigerians now is hunger and hunger does not speak the language of political propaganda that is being used by the APC led federal government. It is therefore no longer about diversionary news, it is about preventing Nigerians from dying of hunger,” he said.
The governor said “the only solution to the myriad of problems facing the country is for those holding power in Abuja to face the sad reality that it was the hard stance of the president, his statements against Nigeria and its people both at home and abroad coupled with his demonstration of hatred against some sections of the country and desperation to crush his perceived enemies that led us to where we are today.
“It was the president that went to foreign countries to de-market Nigeria by calling all Nigerians thieves and dishonest people. He was the one who created atmosphere of economic and political instability in the country by his acts of nepotism and vindictiveness?
“Therefore, for the country to move forward, the President must change his attitude from a vindictive military dictator to a civilian president of all Nigerians.”
He lamented that those cabal in the presidency have hijacked the president and his government, running the country aground, saying; “Things were never like this at any time in the history of Nigeria apart from 1984.”
He said; “They are not running the economy of Nigeria by the open participation of Nigerians but by some cabal, who see themselves as superior to others. By their failure to involve those who know more than them, they have succeeded in creating unemployment instead of three million jobs that they promised Nigerians per year. They have taken Nigeria back to the Stone Age and it will take several years for the country to recover, if it will ever recover.”
Governor Fayose, who appealed to Nigerians not to keep silent in 2017, said; “With every means of livelihood of the common people taken away from them, free; fair and credible elections becoming a mirage, Nigerians must begin to speak out now before the country is completely destroyed by this directionless federal government.”

We Are Praying For You and You Will Succeed In Jesus Name, Pastor Adeboye Tells Gov Fayose

World renowned cleric and General Overseer of the Redeemed Christain Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye yesterday encouraged Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, saying that his courage and willingness to defend his people and the cause of the common man in the country is appreciated. 

 Pastor Adeboye who was received by the duo of governor Fayose and the monarch of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, Ewi of Ado, at the palace, during his tour of the country to the state as part of the church’s annual ‘Let’s Go A Fishing” programme, said to Fayose: ” 

We thank God for your life sir. We thank God for your courage, for your boldness, we thank God for your being willing to take risks so that your people can be protected. You have been a governor who knows when to say enough is enough in defense of his people. And I’m sure you know what I’m talking about and am sure the world knows. I don’t want to say more than that but be assured that we are praying for you and you will succeed in Jesus name.”
Urging other governors to equally defend their people, Adeboye prayed for all state executives, adding: ”

We wish all other governors who stand for their people defend their people and know when to say enough is enough success and we thank God for their life.” 

Governor Fayose who said he had woken up very early enough to recive the Adeboye, said he was sure all Ekiti people are blessed with his coming :” I know what it is for you to go round . And we pray that the almighty will continue to be with you as you transverse the length and breadth of the world spreading the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have longed and waited for your coming. We appreciate your coming because we know what it means. You have been an inspiration to so many and are indeed We need prayers that the Lord would make our year 2017 a meaningful one. We believe in God We believe in you. The Bible says if we believe in the Prophet. We will have the benefits of the prophet and the benefits of God.”
Revealing that Ado-Ekiti remain his home as his grandmother had hailed from the town, Pastor Adeboye explained to the Ewi of Ado that he could not resist his invitation to call at the palace even though his shedules were tight. He therefore promised to specially visit the monarch someday, saying: “Kabiyesi, this is my home as my grand mother hailed from here. Many have been waiting for me in all parts of the state and I have to visit all of them, that is why I haven’t been coming. But I promise to specially visit you someday.”
The Ewi of Ado also appreciated Adeboye’s visit saying: “you have come to your source. By your coming here today to bless the palace, you are by extension blessing all the palaces in Ekiti State and also all the people of Ekiti.”

Lekan Ishola, MD, PR Redline speaks on what it takes to run a successful PR agency

Lekan Ishola is the Managing Director of PR Redline, one of the leading Public Relations agencies in the country. In this interview with Prestige International Magazine, the amiable professional bares his mind on various issues including the practice of public relations in Nigeria and what it takes to run a successful PR agency.

How did you get into public relations practice?

It is a long journey; I actually started out as a journalist. But before that I read Communication Art from University of Ibadan. When I was asked to go and do my national youth service in Taraba State, I didn’t know the quality they saw in me, I was appointed the corps Public Relations officer (PRO) for NYSC office in Taraba State. We were the first set of corpers to be posted to Taraba State that was in 1992. I happen to be the first NYSC PRO and I had to work directly with NYSC information Officer. My first assignment was a crisis management, at the orientation camp corpers rioted and at the end of the day they embarrassed the Governor of the State. Governor was so angry to the extent that organizations and offices were asked not to admit corpers for their primary assignments unless corpers go and beg the Governor. That was my first assignment and I had to lead the team of Corps Liaison Officers (CLOs) together with NYSC Information Officer to meet with the then Governor Jolly Nyame. I had to speak on behalf of the corpers and Governor was so impressed that he said “I have forgiven all the corpers”. I did not know that I was coming to do that as a professional at the end of the journey. In journalism I covered various beats like education, business and brand. Latter I asked myself ‘After Journalism where else can I deploy my experience, talents and educational background having read communication art in school ’. I saw Public Relations (PR) as a fantastic idea. I came in; I started from the scratch being a media relation person. By the grace of God I have been in that field now for 15 years.

What are the various organizations you worked with before getting to PR Redline?

I started with SDI Associates, from there I moved on to TPT, but in TPT I was not in core PR, I was in publications. Then Brand Faces was our flagship publication for brand. It was then I sat down and I conceptualized idea for special publication for Gulder Ultimate Search from the conceptualization of idea to when a winner would emerge. And we sent the proposal to the Agency that was handling Gulder for Nigerian Breweries and they loved the idea. I coordinated the production; we called it a Mini Brand Faces for Gulder Ultimate search. Nigeria Breweries people loved the idea. From there I started seeing myself as a strategy person. The bedrock of PR is strategy. But I had to move on and I went to Ruyi Communications. It is a 360 degrees marketing communications agency. They do Advertising, Media Buying and PR. They were working for UBA, that was when UBA has just being acquired by Standard Trust Bank and they were doing the merging. We worked on UBA successfully, from UBA we moved to ARM. Along the line Lekki Concession Company came up where we had to be involved in stakeholders’ management. From Ruyi I was called back to TPT to become Group Head, Publications. It was a bigger assignment for me then. Latter this opening came up to become MD of PR Redline, then we were FCB redline. We thank God we have done some fantastic things in the last 5 years.

What stands out PR Redline among its peers?

First and foremost; we are 100 percent for clients’ happiness. We do not believe that we have to be making noise when our clients are not happy. We are into business strictly to make clients happy. Clients will be happy when you deliver on agreed objectives. And that is what we always do whether it is a big budget job or small budget job. We believe that we must keep clients happy by delivering on agreed objectives. There are no clients that we have worked with and we had not over delivered. We have never shortchanged our clients. That has been our core strength. For instance, you cannot talk about the success story of Moneygram without talking about the inputs of PR Redline. To the extent that the Lagos State Government awarded PR Redline for what we did for Moneygram.

Can you compare and contrast the practice of Public relations now with what was obtainable when you started then?

Things have really changed. On the good side, there are many tools you can easily assess as PR person. We thank God for the internet and the growing technology. We have tools that we can work with, technology has really helped. More and more clients are beginning to realize the importance and the need for public relations. On the other side, there are so many PR practitioners that don’t really add value at all. By the time these people don’t deliver; clients might be thinking that PR has nothing to offer. Also, a lot of media people are going about claiming that they do PR and PR is not limited to media relations. But the PR practice has carved a niche for itself and people have come to see it as a profession that adds values.

For the sake of our readers, what is your own definition of PR?

PR is a management art that helps organizations and individuals to build goodwill with their target public, the keyword there is in building goodwill. It is not about making noise; it is about the outcome of being heard. Organizations have their target public and your message must meet the target public. Organizations want to be seen as responsible, performing, effective, good corporate citizen. It is the function of PR to help organization achieve this.

Can you tell us some of your clients?

We are serving Phillips, it a global brand; we are serving eco bank; moneygram, we are serving city of Knowledge Academy, which is one of Nigeria emerging bigger school. In the recent past, we served Heritage Bank, Skye Bank, Wema Bank, PZ, especially when they brought Canoe Detergent. On the government side, we work for the APC government. We worked for Osun State Government. We did something also for former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, when he was coming for the second term. We brought the idea of Nollywood Unite for Fashola.

What is your management style?

I believe very much in delegation, I believe very much in team work. I believe that to get things done you need people and objective. So, mine is of management by objectives and micro managing. I like to break my objectives down into units. So that, individual will be driving each units of achieving that objective. That is micro managing. There must also be an objective, before I set out to do certain things I must known where I’m going. I must known where we are driving to, that is why I’m here. We are not interested in I’m the one doing this; we are interested in the happiness of clients.

What is your view on the emergence of in-house PR/ Advertising Agency in some organizations and multinationals?

I will not condemn it, because they must have their reasons. The truth is whether you have in-house experts or a consultant working for you it is important for you to understand what you want to achieve for the brand. It is also important that people who look at your brand with third eye will give you a better assessment of your brand.

Can we say the practice of PR in Nigeria is of international standard now?

It is of international standard; we are moving on and doing well. The problem of comparison is that, culture and tradition are different. Also, the level of development is not the same. We do a lot here.

When you are not busy as a corporate executive, how do you unwind?

I’m a complete family man; work takes me away from my family a lot. Any small time I have, I spend it with my family. And I like to spend time with my constituency, which is the media. I also talk politics a lot. I also write poem. But when on my own I like to listen to music.

Man Caught Having Sex with Goat, Says He Fears Contracting HIV from Women

A 23-year-old Kenyan, Otieno Jalango, has been arrested for having sex with his neighbour’s goat.
According to eDaily, Jalango was caught in the South East Muhuru area in Nyatike Sub-County, Migori County while having sex with the domestic animal.
Upon his arrest, the young man confessed that he regularly engages in sexual activities with animals because he fears to contract HIV/AIDS from ladies.
When he was asked why he had sex with the goat, Jalango allegedly told Muhuru East Location Chief Jim Kawa that, “I have sex with animals because I fear contracting HIV. Animals cannot contract HIV, unlike humans. Sex with animals is, therefore, safer.”
Kawa told the newspaper that Jalango was handed over to him by irate residents who claim they are worried about their livestock following the suspect’s confession.
He added that Jalango had confessed that he had had sex with many animals in the area including sheep, donkeys and dogs.
Chief Kawa said the suspect, who is a casual labourer in the area, is of sound mind and does not have any mental disorder or is he spiritually possessed like the residents suggested.

Barrister Mack Ogbamosa speaks on emergence of Honesty International

Barrister Mack Ogbamosa is a Co - founder of International Organisation for Promotion of Honesty, otherwise known as Honesty International. He is a man of many parts, a lawyer, political scientist, journalist, public relations consultant and an advocate for honesty. In this interview with Prestige International Magazine, the amiable professional bares his mind on various issues including state of the nation and activities of Honesty International.

Recently DSS invaded a Judge residence and alleged that some Judges are corrupt, what is your view on this?

I don’t support corruption in any form in this country. It is by virtue of this philosophy, swe founded an organization called International Organization for Promotion of Honesty, otherwise known as Honesty International. We believe that people especially those in public offices should honestly account for their activities.  We also believe that they should be held responsible for whatever acts of corruption they are involved in. We believe in President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption. But I do not like the approach that was taken by DSS against the Judges. We are in a civilized society. Arresting judges in a midnight raid was crude. After all they remain suspects until they are proven guilty. This, however, does not mean we support corruption. All corrupt judges must be brought to book   following due process.

What is the mission of Honesty International?

Honesty International is a new organization.  We want the virtues of honesty to be taught at various levels of our educational system especially   our primary and secondary schools. We want governments at local, state and federal levels to give account of their stewardships. By doing this, we will be deepening the values of democracy.Today; virtually all our governments at various levels are not accountable. For instance, most if not all state governors do not account for their security votes. We will probe into the use of our resources for the common good of all Nigerians. This is what we stand for.

As a co- founder of Honesty International, what is your assessment of President Buhari’s administration so far?

I believe in Buhari and I believe in his administration. I have been involved in his bid to become president since 2003 when he made his first entry into civilian politics. I worked in Prince Tony Momoh''s office where we were his campaign managers. This continued till he became President in May 2015. But Buhari of 1983 when he was a military Head of State is not the Buhari of today in terms of agility. He is now an elderly man but his innate qualities remain the same. He is honest and sincere to the cause of reviving the nation. We are aware that the economy was very bad before Buhari came in and it will take some time for it to pick up. You cannot doubt the man's honesty or sincerity.

What is your assessment of Nigeria democracy?

What we have is uninterrupted democracy for about 17 years. But in concrete terms of intsilling democratic culture in our people, there is much to be desired because we are still following the same pattern of Nigeria democracy where you have to be  involved in election rigging and violence in order to get to power.

The struggle to capture power at all cost is still there. There is too much money involved in our democracy.

What is your view on Godfatherism in Nigeria politics?

You cannot rule it out. Godfatherism will always be there, even in more civilised societies, there is element of godfatherism.  But it should not be done in the way that will not allow independence of the office holder.

You are a man of many parts, a journalist, legal practitioner, Public Relations Consultant and an advocate of honesty, can you tell us your background that has really prepared you for these?

As a young man I dreamt of what I’m doing now. I originally wanted to be a medical doctor. When I realized that I could not get sponsorship for the course, I changed my subjects to Arts after obtaining my Secondary School Certificate. I decided to be a Journalist because I read something on the pages of Daily Times in 1980 that changed my cause. I wanted to be an independent professional. I wanted to have my own office where I could offer advice to clients. This where law came in.  When I was Editor in the Daily Times I found time to read law. I was with Tony Momoh for a while before I established my practice. I also belong to public relations Practice.

Let’s talk about your public relations activities, what are the various organizations you have consulted for?

I have consulted and still consult  for several organisations including the Association of Food,Beverage and Tobacco Employers as well as the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

What is your philosophy of life?

I’m a spiritual person. I believe in sowing and reaping. I give generously because I believe that givers will never lack.

Some stakeholders are calling for true federalism in Nigeria, what is your take on that?

 It is not practicable to have true federalism in Nigeria for now.This is so because of our political history which has largely been dominated by military interventions.We are not likely to have true federalism through negotiation.

As a legal practitioner, what is the cause of delay in court proceedings and tribunals like elections petition tribunals?

The courts  are overburdened and they are not used to digital system. Most of the courts are still analogue based. The courts are also understaffed. Some lawyers are also involved;they deliberately delay cases.

What is the way out?

The system needs to be overhauled.

What is your assessment of Governor Ambode of Lagos State?

Governor Ambode is doing well. He has been working on various developmental projects since he assumed office. He deserves commendation.   I believe he can still do better.

Are you a card carrying member of any political party?

Not really, but I have sympathy for APC. Our political parties do not have ideologies. They   are virtually the same