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Kingsley Moghalu Declares 2023 Presidential Ambition With 4-Point Agenda

Former Presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria, Professor Kingsley Moghalu has formally announced his intentions to run for the country’s top job in the 2023 Presidential elections.

Moghalu, who ran for president under the umbrella of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in 2019, was a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before he got into politics.

He mentioned in January 2021 that he would run for the office of president again in 2023 because he believes that Nigeria deserves a capable leader to take to the next phase in its journey to self-actualization.

While making the announcement on Twitter, he came short of announcing the party platform thru which he will pursue his ambition. He left the YPP after the 2019 general elections where he scored a miserly 22,000 votes.

His announcement was captioned:

2023: I WILL RUN BECAUSE WE THE PEOPLE MATTER

1. What is the value of a Nigerian life?

2. We live daily today under the shadow of terrorists. Our economy is collapsing. Many families cannot afford the price of food. Millions of young men and women have no jobs and have no hope

3. Our university students know more about ASUU strikes and long school closures than any skills they need to be competitive in the world of the 21st century.

4. Only the rich and powerful can access quality healthcare in our country or abroad as medical tourists, because our health system, like most other systems, is broken. I lost my father, Isaac Moghalu, in December 1998 because he had a stroke but the doctors were on strike, and therefore we could not get him adequate healthcare on time.

5. Soon after we found a private clinic and moved him there, he went into a coma and passed on shortly afterward. I was heartbroken. Today, 23 years later, not much has changed. Like many, I have suffered the effects of bad governance in our country.

6. With life in it increasingly nasty, brutish and short, the very idea of Nigeria is now almost meaningless to many Nigerians. Cries for self-determination fill the air in response to fundamental injustice.

7. Meanwhile, politics in Nigeria does not bring change, and its benefits go to only one group – the political elite. Their message is loud and clear: we the people —you and I – DO NOT matter.

8. The bodies of Nigerians are buried in cold corners of foreign cemeteries, strewn across the Sahara desert, and float in the Mediterranean Sea, as a consequence of a non-existent leadership. Our country can no longer speak confidently in the gathering of nations.

9. Life as ordained by our Creator, that we may experience His Goodness in this land of the living, has eluded us as a people.

10. Only the emergence of visionary, competent, and inclusive national leadership, on the one hand, and a fundamental restructuring of Nigeria based on a new people’s constitution, on the other, can arrest Nigeria’s ongoing disorderly and violent degeneration into a completely failed state. We were not born to be miserable and to die miserable. Enough is Enough!

11. It is now more than ever necessary that we elect in 2023 a leader who is TRULY committed and has the capacity to initiate the constitutional restructuring of Nigeria. A leader who is competent to secure our lives and property, successfully manage our diversity, save our economy, and restore our international respect.

12. For the sake of the youth of our country — including my four children — whose future is being drowned in reckless foreign borrowing, and for the sake of all Nigerians suffering and seeking a clear alternative to the status quo, I intend — with all humility — to present myself— again — as a candidate for the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2023 general elections.

13. If elected, I will run a government with a dream team of highly competent Nigerians from all parts of our country. Along with strengthened, independent institutions, we will deliver results on a 4-point agenda in four years (4 by 4):

  • Security for all Nigerians and Nigeria’s territory;
  • War against poverty: skills, jobs for our youth, and an innovation economy;
  • Accelerated education and healthcare reform;
  • Good governance: inclusive, transparent, effective, and accountable.

14. This is my SWAG Agenda for a 21st century Nigeria. I seek the support of all compatriots — of everyone who is tired of our present national situation. We also need the energy and support of our youth, the middle class, entrepreneurs, and our compatriots in the diaspora. These important segments of our population have in the past been reluctant to engage actively in our electoral process, ostensibly because of the flaws in that process.

15. The National Assembly @nassnigeria must now pass into law, without further delay, necessary electoral reforms that will make democracy yield real dividends for Nigerians. Our votes must count, and be counted transparently. The amendments should include a provision for Diaspora Nigerians to be able to register and vote in all elections in Nigeria from abroad.

16. I am only one face of a movement. A movement of silent and suffering Nigerians fed up with the insecurity, poverty, and a seemingly hopeless future for our country. A movement that has decided that Enough is Enough.

17. That movement, soon to be present in our numbers in every voting ward in Nigeria, will announce within the next few months the political party we will join en masse and seek its platform for the presidential, legislative, and gubernatorial roles in governance.

18. We can do this. We can change Nigeria.

19. Together, let us walk this road to a Nigeria that, within 30 years of successive administrations, will have achieved the kind of economic and technological advancement attained by countries such as Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates within similar timeframes. It is possible. We only need to participate actively in the democratic process and vote right when the time comes.

20. We the Nigerian people matter. We the Nigerian people deserve better. Let’s do this. Because we can and we must.

[Signed]

Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, Ph.D. OON FCIB

Ifekaego Nnewi

June 1, 2021

moghalu4nigeria.org

kingsleymoghalu.com

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Kanayo O. Kanayo demands lifetime streaming royalties for Nollywood stars

Veteran Nollywood actor Kanayo O. Kanayo has stirred up a conversation the industry has been quietly avoiding for years. The award-winning actor and lawyer recently proposed that the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) implement a policy mandating lifetime royalty payments for all Nigerian actors and actresses featured in films uploaded to streaming platforms.

He also called for a dedicated agency to oversee and enforce compliance nationwide, arguing it would ensure performers earn from their craft long after the cameras stop rolling. The timing of the proposal is telling. Stories of financial ruin among once-beloved Nigerian actors have become alarmingly common.

Last month, veteran actor Abiodun Ayoyinka, widely known as Papa Ajasco, spoke openly about his financial struggles despite decades in the industry.

Two years prior, Hanks Anuku made headlines with public pleas for financial assistance after falling on hard times post-Nollywood.

Patience Ozokwor recently put it bluntly: “The reason why Nollywood actors and actresses are poor is that we don’t get royalties for what we do, we only get paid for our appearance at the shoot.” Her words, along with the others, show a consistent pattern of demand.

The proposal has drawn mixed reactions from industry figures. Writer-director Jadesola Osiberu responded with sarcasm, suggesting that if actors want royalties, perhaps they should also contribute to covering a producer’s losses proportional to their screen time, a dig at the one-sided nature of the demand.

Producer and actress Bolaji Ogunmola was more direct: if actors want backend earnings, they should negotiate equity stakes and invest in projects upfront rather than seek guaranteed payouts after the fact.

It’s a fair challenge. The music industry comparison many have reached for doesn’t quite hold up here.

In more structured film industries, residuals are tied to carefully negotiated distribution contracts and enforced by unions, organisations built over decades with legal infrastructure and industry-wide buy-in.

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News

Katsina plans mass wedding for 1,000 couples

The state government’s maiden welfare initiative will unite 2,000 individuals on April 25, even as armed bandits terrorise nearby communities. The Katsina State Government has announced a mass wedding ceremony for at least 1,000 couples drawn from all 34 local government areas, describing the initiative as a bid to ease the financial burden of marriage on the state’s most vulnerable residents.

The event, scheduled for April 25, 2026, will bring together 2,000 individuals, including widows, orphans, and economically disadvantaged people who, officials say, have long been willing to marry but unable to afford it.

The Director General of the Katsina State Hisbah Board, Malam Abu-Ammar, announced a livelihood support and counselling training session on Thursday.

He said the programme was conceived as part of the government’s efforts to reduce conditions that breed social vices.

“Many widows, orphans, and vulnerable individuals are unable to get married despite their willingness due to socioeconomic challenges,” he said.

The Katsina State Commissioner for Women Affairs, A’isha Malumfashi, added that all 1,000 couples had already undergone medical screening and compatibility verification ahead of the ceremony.

The government has promised support packages for both brides and grooms, though the total budget for the event has not been disclosed.

The announcement, however, comes at a fraught moment for the state. Just hours before it was made public, armed bandits reportedly issued a written ultimatum to communities in Kankia Local Government Area, demanding 700 cows and 1,000 sheep within four days or face violent raids.

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News

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on countries arming Iran

Donald Trump has cautioned that the United States will impose heavy tariffs on any country that is found to supply military weapons to Iran, raising the bar of pressure in the midst of continuing tensions with Tehran.

On Wednesday, in a statement released on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that any country supplying arms to Iran would be subjected to a 50 percent tariff on all its goods exported to the United States without any delay.

“A country supplying military weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed on all goods sold to the United States of America, 50 per cent, effective immediately. There will be no exclusions or exemptions,” he wrote.

The warning comes shortly after the U.S. president announced a temporary ceasefire arrangement with Iran following heightened tensions in the region. This happened just hours before the deadline, Donald Trump urged Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The US President announced a ceasefire facilitated by Pakistan. In a post X, the White House shared that Trump has issued a temporary hold on all military activities in Iran.

President Trump announced that after conversations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, he will be suspending the bombing and attack on Iran for a period of two weeks after the Iranians agreed to an “immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz”.

He went ahead and added that the US has already met and exceeded all military objectives and is making progress on a long-term peace agreement with Iran. Trump also said his administration is considering possible economic relief measures for Tehran, noting that Washington is currently engaged in discussions around tariff and sanctions relief.

The developments follow Iran’s reported agreement to temporarily reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route at the centre of recent geopolitical concerns.

While details of the ceasefire and negotiations remain limited, the latest remarks highlight a mix of economic pressure and diplomatic engagement from Washington as it navigates relations with Tehran.

The series of warnings started in March, when Trump issued one of his most explosive warnings yet to Iran, saying the United States could “completely obliterate” the country’s electric plants, oil wells, and Kharg Island if a deal with a so-called “new and more reasonable regime” fails and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.

In a post on social media, Trump claimed the U.S. is in serious discussions with a new Iranian leadership aimed at ending American military operations in the country. However, he warned that failure to reach a deal quickly could prompt devastating military action against Iran’s infrastructure.

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