The level of poverty we are witnessing in the West in recent time has never been seen before. In the coming years the number of suicide will increase simply because people are not used to poverty that has became way of life in most developing / over developed economies. (Developing is a derogatory word to use for nations that gave birth to new nations - How can they be developing - May be we should carve the new wordings (over-developed).

Why despite the level of poverty in Africa for example people are not taking to the streets or committing suicide? The reason is simple - As I compose this thought, there are few Africans faming for sustainability using hoes and cutlasses, that is no longer possible in the West where their heads had been taken away from them by their governments and they could no longer think on their own outside the social security norms that handover food ticket to them.

Is there a lesson in all this for Africans? Time we tell but not as we are hyping everything West!

Another Consensus Option Coming•As Northern Leaders Insist Jonathan Drops Presidential Bid

Another form of consensus option is set to emerge on the political scene, following the understanding reached by some leading political figures to adopt what is called a “national consensus candidate.”
The bid is said to be a response to moves by the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) led by Alhaji Adamu Ciroma to ensure the emergence of a single aspirant among the presidential hopefuls who are members of the Peoples democratic Party (PDP) from the North.
Investigations by the Saturday Tribune revealed that the top political figures had compiled what looked like a record of performance of each of the notable aspirants within the PDP and other major parties and have come to the realisation of the need to burst the persistent ethnicisation of the electoral process, ahead of the 2011 election.
A source, in the know about the deal, said that the leaders preferred to keep their names out of print for now and that the political figures are already working out a committee that would be similar to the 17-member Consensus Committee raised by the Ciroma team.
“Worried by the threat to Nigeria’s stability and the need to overhaul the political setting as far as the 2011 race is concerned, a team of elders is working on the emergence of a national consensus candidate, as opposed to the sectional consensus candidate being worked on by some northern leaders,” a source said.
Other sources with knowledge of the development said that the team of leaders had met more than twice on the idea and that they have already put together what could stand as an assessment of each of the leading aspirants.
One of the conditions, according to the source, is that the candidate that would be adopted for 2011 may be asked to stand for election for only one term, while a younger candidate would be groomed to lead the consolidation of Nigeria’s development from 2015.
It was gathered that the prognosis of this team is swinging the direction of President Goodluck Jonathan, who will be presented the final report of the team.

The team is said to be of the view that if Jonathan agreed to quit office in 2015, he should be supported to lay the foundation for Nigeria’s true development, while younger elements like Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai would be groomed to take charge afterwards.

The group is already sending signals to Jonathan that if he will stay in office only between 2011 and 2015, he should be named a national consensus candidate who will set the tone for Nigeria’s socio-economic growth.
It was learnt that the aspirants, already analysed by the group; include former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari; former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau; former anti-corruption chief, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and the governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
It was gathered that the team had already discovered that besides the power of incumbency, Jonathan appeals to a group of Nigerians who want to do away with liabilities of the past.
On Jonathan’s Bid
The northern political leaders on the platform of Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) are not about to give up fight on their demand for shift of presidential power to the northern region, and hence have started moves towards taking a court action on the issue.
The Forum led by Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Saturday Tribune can report, has started seeking legal advice on how to go by their resolve to seek judicial intervention on their demands, amid plans to drag the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to court
A top member of the Forum disclosed that once the elders got a peg of how to handle the litigation from suggestions by seasoned lawyers, including Senior Advoceates of Nigeria, they would not hesitate in proceeding to the court to challenge PDP on the issue of zoning.
The elders, it was learnt, are more interested in taking on the PDP on its constitution which they stressed recognised zoning, and the need to seek the court leave in compelling it to obey its constitution on the matter.
By implication, the North has now been leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that it gets back political power in 2011, following its conviction that any attempt by the PDP to make the incumbent president extend his government by 2011 meant that he would be doing so at the expense of the North.
More than three weeks ago, the NPLF, through Mallam Ciroma, had issued a week ultimatum through a press statement in which he called on PDP to prevail on President Goodluck Jonathan to withdraw from the 2011 presidential race, although Ciroma never specified any action his Forum would take at the expiration of the ultimatum
Already, some individuals had filed different applications in court on the issue of zoning, whereas the efforts being made by the northern leaders, according to some top shots, are meant to harmonise different views and positions on it and to approach the court as a formidable team.
The plan by the elders, as disclosed, is to mobilise most political juggernauts from the northern region to storm the court on the day the case would be presented to give an impression of seriousness on their preparedness to fight the issue of zoning to a logical conclusion.
The Forum on the other hand had initiated the process of picking a consensus representative among the four presidential aspirants who had collected nomination forms to run on the platform of PDP in 2011 presidential election.
Findings have, however, revealed that the elders who had commissioned a survey on the chances of each of the aspirants have been engaged in series of talks with each of them to accept any one of them who might have been selected by the 17 men saddled with the task of selecting the consensus candidate for the North.
As of the close of this week, the four aspirants, had restated their pledge to abide by any decision by the men on the issue of consensus candidacy for the North.

SA, Okah, IBB, Atiku, Group Behind Bombing

The Presidency is holding the Jacob Zuma led South African Government, Leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Mr Henry Okah, former Military Dictator Ibrahim Babangida and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar responsible for today’s deadly bombing that killed 16 persons including one State Security Service (SSS) Assistant Director and a former EFCC operative.
Two car bombs exploded a few metres from the Eagle Square on Friday morning a few minutes after the militant group, MEND issued an emailed warning to invited guests to evacuate.
A highly placed security source who opted to remain anonymous told THEWILL a few hours after the explosions that intelligence reports obtained last week from a foreign European government intelligence unit showed that a political group with strong ties to Babangida and Atiku had paid the MEND leader close to $100 million dollars to truncate the 50th independence anniversary celebration of the oil rich nation in Abuja.
Acting on this intelligent, the Nigerian government contacted the South African Government for help to foil the attack. It was gathered that the SA authorities stormed the residence of Mr. Henry Okah two days ago in an early morning raid. The source said the Nigerian government was taken aback when the SA government curiously released Mr. Okah a few hours later which showed the SA government might have been a conspirator in the bombings.
"The South African Government has a hand in this act of terrorism perpetuated against innocent Nigerian souls. We gave them the intelligence we obtained from our Western ally. They acted on it and arrested Henry Okah and to our surprise he was quickly released," the source said adding that the Nigerian government is on the verge of severing diplomatic ties with the South African government for the deadly bombings.
"Our government will cut diplomatic relations with South Africa for this wicked act. The Presidency formally contacted the South African authorities on Friday night over this."
The source further said the aim of the bombings was to force President Goodluck Jonathan to cancel the 50th independence anniversary parade at the Eagle Square and create a feeling of insecurity hoping to eventually force the president to either resign or abandon his presidential bid for 2011.
Curiously, checks at the Eagle Square showed that all former living heads of state attended today’s anniversary ceremony except General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
Those in attendance were General Yakubu Gowon, General Olusegun Obasanjo, President Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Ernest Shonekan and General Abdulsalam Abubakar.
Recall that General Babangida and Vice President Atiku Abubakar both declared their interest to run in the 2011 presidential election a few weeks. Both candidates have been strong proponents of zoning the presidential ticket of the PDP to the north. The have been very outspoken and often confrontational in asking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to present a northern candidate for the 2011 presidential election basing their argument on the party’s highly contentious zoning arrangement.
The National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party had ruled that the party would abide by its zoning principle and also ruled that it is unconstitutional to ask President Jonathan not to contest in the poll is if he wanted to.
The Northern Political Forum Leaders (NPFL) comprising former Finance Commissioner, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma; former Senate President, Dr Iyorchia Ayu; and a some politicians from the north have strongly warned the president against joining the presidential race threatening to make the country ungovernable if he runs.
A few days ago, the group issued a statement accusing the president of falsifying history by declaring openly that zoning in the PDP does not include the office of President and the Vice President.
Meanwhile, the presidency today issued a strong statement condemning the bombing while commiserating with the families of those killed and wounded in the attack.
The source said President Jonathan was infuriated by the incident and has vowed to deploy resources to unmask the identities of those who masterminded the dual attack with the aim of bringing them to justice.
"The president has vowed that those who died will not die in vain. He has instructed security forces to leave no stone unturned in the search for those responsible for the murder of innocent Nigerians," the source said.
Attempts to reach presidential spokesman, Ima Niboro for comments were unsuccessful. Calls to both Babangida and Atiku's campaign organisations' spokesmen were not also responded to.
United States, United Nations Condemn Attack
Meanwhile, the United States government has also condemned the bombing. A statement from the State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "The United States condemns the bombings that took place this morning in Abuja marring the celebration of 50 years of independence.
"We express our condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Nigeria on what should be a joyous occasion.
"This affirms the importance of Nigeria's upcoming elections. And we reiterate that violence has no place in political discourse in Nigeria or anywhere else," he wrote.
A statement issued on behalf of the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon via his spokesman, said: "The secretary-general condemns the car bombing today (Friday) near the venue of the National Day parade in (the capital) Abuja, which reportedly resulted in a number of deaths and destruction.
"The attack was particularly sad coming on the day on which Nigerians were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their nation's independence.
"The secretary-general expresses his sincere sympathy and condolences to the government and people of Nigeria and the bereaved families," the statement added.