Our country is on fire and the causes of the flames are a combination of the activities of the government in their attempts to sabotage a righteous movement and the unhinged reaction of inflamed youths who are currently on a rampage. These understandably angry and incensed people assume that the destruction of private property is “fighting the system”.

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I am truly bothered by the huge amount of destruction of public and especially private property taking place everywhere.

While stationed at the gate to my estate yesterday as we were trying to prevent hoodlums from gaining access, a woman attempted to leave the estate in the heat of the riots. She had been told her shop had been destroyed and all her goods stolen.

We had to work hard to prevent her from proceeding to her shop I saw the grief on her face. I knew this woman has no other source of livelihood. She and her dependents would now be in financial ruin. I hope she doesn’t act in desperation. Less has led to suicide in the past.

This lady isn’t a part of the government, nor is she guilty of any of the injustices that we are calling on the government to correct. She is just someone who is trying to make a living. She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a sister. She has groaned with all of us under the yoke of bad government. Now she has been further punished for crimes she did not commit Her life will never be the same – ever again To be clear, the reaction of the government to the protests is disgusting, shocking, and unconscionable. I will not lessen the gravity of this by adding “but”. I will respectfully wait till the next paragraph to continue.

The fight must continue but it must also be fought through righteous means Civil disobedience and peaceful protests are more effective than riots If things continue in their current trajectory, we will lose our moral standing and the government will win the moral battle. Our grievance is not with banks, shopping malls, or any other businesses.

Our grievance is with the government.

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Remember that this is the same year that the covid -19 has devasted the economy and caused large unemployment Think about the effect of continuing on this path of destruction. Think of your jobs and the jobs of your family members. THERE IS TOMORROW MY PEOPLE. We must think of TOMORROW.

Do we not all share in the yoke of police brutality Do we not all share in the perils of bad leadership?

Our solution cannot be worse than the problem. We MUST Not contribute to the problems. Remember, one of our major grievances is corruption. What is happening now is also corruption. IT is the corruption of what was until 20/10/20 a righteous struggle that was garnering international support.

The response to police brutality and corruption in our government CANNOT BE riots, looting, pillaging and killing of police officers.

The hand that gave soft drinks to the police officers did more for this struggle than the hand that struck them.

We grieve for all who have lost their lives in this struggle. Protesters and Police officers alike.

#STOP THE VIOLENCE. CONTINUE THE PRORESTS

I am calling on all patriotic Nigerians to calm nerves and to engage with the youth through any medium available to them.

This struggle must not be prematurely aborted.

The youth must be guided even as they lead.

US Election 2020: Mike Pence v Kamala Harris – How their views compare ahead of vice presidential debate

It holds at 3am on Thursday morning Nigerian time (Wednesday night US time).

By Amy Coles, news reporter

Wednesday 7 October 2020 08:44, UK

The two will go head-to-head in a debate on Wednesday

A debate between US Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris is being touted by commentators as one of the key moments of the election campaign.

The pair are due to face-off in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a televised debate on Wednesday night in what is usually a low-key affair that has little impact on the race for the White House.

However, President Trump’s hospital admission last week with COVID-19 and his subsequent health concerns have made the event more significant for voters and observers.

Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked on Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential bid, said: “Normally, the vice presidential debate is inconsequential. That is not the case in 2020.

“The public has so many questions about how we got here and it’s an opportunity for Pence to answer some of those.”

Democratic Senator Harris is certain to push Republican Mr Pence on Mr Trump’s health and poor record of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the president’s relationship with Russia.

With such different backgrounds and policies how do the two compare?

Age and background

Kamala Harris

At 55, Ms Harris is much younger than Mr Pence and Mr Trump.

She was born in Oakland, California in 1964 to an immigrant family.

Her father is from Jamaica and her mother is from Chennai, India.

She attended Howard University before entering law school at the University of California.

She lives in Oakland and is married to lawyer Douglas Emhoff. She has two stepchildren Cole and Ella.

She is Baptist but was brought up with a mixture of Christianity and Hinduism. Her husband is Jewish.

Mike Pence

Mr Pence is 61 and was born in Columbus, Indiana, in 1959. His father was a Korean War veteran who ran petrol stations.

He went to Hanover College in Indiana and then studied at Indiana University school of law.

He’s been married to Karen Pence since 1985. They have three children together.

He is a socially conservative, ‘born-again’ Christian evangelical. His religion has influenced his policies on abortion, birth control and LGBTQ rights.

Mike Pence and his wife Karen at a festival parade in Indianapolis in 2014

Experience

Kamala Harris

She is an experienced lawyer and prosecutor. She began her law career in the Alameda County district attorney’s office before working as a district attorney in San Francisco.

She was the first black person and first woman to get the role. In 2011, she became California’s attorney general before being elected to the US Senate in 2017.

Mike Pence

He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013 and Indiana’s governor from 2013 to 2017.

Before entering politics, he hosted a talk radio show.

Ms Harris, 55, ran for the Democratic nomination for president

On coronavirus

Kamala Harris

She’s been very vocal in her criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic that has seen over 210,000 Americans die.

In a speech, she said: “Donald Trump froze. He was scared. And he was petty and vindictive.”

She went on to say Mr Trump was “fixated on the stock market” and “caved” to the Chinese government.

“And here’s what you have to understand about the nature of a pandemic: It’s relentless. You can’t stop it with a tweet. You can’t create a distraction and hope it’ll go away. It doesn’t go away,” she said.

In May, she put forward the COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act to look into racial disparities, since BAME people are thought to be more adversely impacted.

Mike Pence

At the start of the pandemic in February, Mr Trump appointed Mr Pence to head up the nation’s coronavirus task force.

Like Mr Trump, he has downplayed the pandemic and taken aim at the media’s reporting of deaths.

He has said that panic over the virus is “overblown” and hailed his administration’s “success” in dealing with it.

Mr Pence has also downplayed a second wave and reassured Americans: “We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy.”

On healthcare

Kamala Harris

Ms Harris suffered during the presidential nomination race thanks to her position on healthcare.

She has gone back-and-forth on the subject, at times supporting free and subsidised care, and at others supporting continued privatisation.

At first, she supported Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All bill – a government healthcare scheme that would have eliminated the need for private insurance. In January 2018, she said: “We need medicare for all. That’s just the bottom line.”

But in August 2019, she said she was “not comfortable” with the plan. She further backtracked, telling MSNBC she was not in favour of abolishing private health insurance for all.

Then she laid out her own healthcare plan, a form of Medicare for All which is a hybrid of both. A government-run system which still allows private insurers to operate inside of it.

Mike Pence

His religious views have influenced his work on healthcare.

When he was a congressmen, his opposition to abortion led him to head up efforts to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organisation that provides reproductive healthcare.

As governor of Indiana he refused to expand Medicaid under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, eventually relenting when he was allowed to introduce his own plan that saw low income adults above the poverty line forced to pay premiums.

He has been criticised for the state’s handling of a HIV outbreak in 2015. He initially refused to introduce needle exchanges as it went against his religious beliefs. He relented when the number of cases soared over 200.

On immigration

Kamala Harris

She bitterly opposes Mr Trump’s plan for a wall with Mexico. She said: “Because I was a prosecutor for many years, including the attorney general of California, I specialise on trans-national criminal organisations. That wall ain’t gonna stop them.”

She introduced the 2018 Access to Counsel Act. It guarantees detained migrants access to an attorney.

In 2019, she unveiled a plan to remove the threat of deportation for undocumented immigrants. And she supported the Reunite Act to bring together families separated at the border.

Mike Pence

He supports Mr Trump’s plans for a Mexico border wall and for tougher controls on immigration. He’s called immigration a “security crisis” and has criticised Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s campaign, tweeting: “Joe Biden is for open borders, sanctuary cities, free lawyers and free healthcare for illegal immigrants.”

He backed Mr Trump’s travel ban and said the president’s executive order to stop those coming from Muslim countries was “constitutional”.

Republican ticket: Mike Pence and Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Virginia

On climate change

Kamala Harris

Ms Harris has long supported action on climate change, calling it an “existential threat that demands bold action”.

She supports the 2019 Green New Deal which would see the US go to 100% clean and renewable energy in 10 years and the Paris Agreement.

In September, she released her own climate plan which include $12trn (£9.2trn) in investment to create a clean economy and make the US carbon-neutral by 2045.

She also supports a carbon tax.

Mike Pence

Like many conservatives, he has repeatedly denied climate science and called global warming a “myth”.

He has also refused to call it a threat to US security and has criticised Mr Obama’s Clean Power Plan (to reduce coal plant pollution) which the Trump administration rolled back.

On guns

Kamala Harris

When running for the Democrat presidential nomination, Ms Harris made bold statements about banning guns in the country.

She said if she was elected president she would give Congress 100 days “to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws, and if they fail to do it, then I will take executive action”.

If elected she promised to sign an executive order mandating background checks for customers of any firearms dealer who sells more than five guns a year.

She also vowed to increase checks on manufacturers and close the loophole that sees domestic abusers allowed to buy guns if their victim is an unmarried partner.

Mike Pence

Like Mr Trump, he is pro-guns.

In 2019, he told gun activists at an event hosted by National Rifle Association: “I’ll make you a promise: under this president, and this vice president, no one is taking your guns.

“The president and I stand with the NRA because, like all of you, we stand for freedom.”

On law and order

Kamala Harris

As a district attorney and attorney general, Ms Harris has lots of experience to draw from when talking about her record on law and order.

At times she has been criticised for seeing to be too tough, thanks to her stance on non-violent crimes.

In the past, she has fought prison releases due to overcrowding, defended convictions of up to a dozen people after they were found not guilty and pushed for state legislation that would have seen the prosecution of parents of children who play truant from schools.

However, she has made lots of moves to bring about a reform of the justice system. She has a criminal justice reform plan that seeks to minimise incarceration, end the death penalty and solitary confinement, ban private prisons, get rid of cash bail, create national standards for police conduct and end mandatory minimum sentencing.

And she has a strong record when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement, calling it “essential” and praising protesters.

On the issue of drugs, she co-sponsored an act to end the federal prohibition of cannabis and has moved to get non-violent cannabis offences removed from offenders’ records.

Mike Pence

He has long reiterated Mr Trump’s calls for law and order across America.

He pledged to work with the president to restore order after riots started following the shooting of black man Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

He said: “Too many heroes have died defending our freedoms to see Americans strike each other down.

“We will have law and order on the streets of America.”

Referring to riots and Black Lives Matter marches in some states, he said: “Let me be clear: the violence must stop. Whether in Minneapolis, Portland, or Kenosha.”

He has also lambasted activists who have attempted to take down controversial statues.

Mr Pence has called for tougher penalties for those convicted of drug-related crimes, doesn’t support the legalisation of cannabis and backs the death penalty.

On Foreign Policy

Kamala Harris

She has often used her background and upbringing to defend her stance on foreign policy.

Senator Harris is running on a ticket based around a centre-left view of foreign policy. She promised to support Ukraine in their fight against Russia.

And she has pledged support for the Uighurs and those in Hong Kong suffering oppression from Beijing.

She is thought to have a lot in common with former president Harry Truman in her desire to promote America and American interests abroad.

She is expected to challenge Mr Pence on Mr Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin and the administration’s handling of Russia.

She has expertise in this area as a member of the Senate select committee on intelligence which investigated Russian interference with the 2016 election.

Mike Pence

As VP, Mr Pence has travelled all over the world including Iraq, China and Israel promoting American interests abroad.

He was instrumental in persuading President Trump to keep American forces in Afghanistan “until we eliminate the terrorist threat to our homeland, our people once and for all”.

He has openly condemned Russia and Iran for their role in the Syrian conflict and has fervently denied any collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.

He is in favour of investing in the US military saying: “I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength.”

Nigeria gained Independence from the Great Britain on 1st October, 1960. Ever since then, October 1 has been set aside to celebrate the nation for its freedom from the shackles of colonialism. 2020 is the 60th time Nigeria will be marking the day.

A majority of Nigerians are not happy about the state of the country and suggest that no one should celebrate Nigeria at sixty years of age. Corruption in governance, unemployment, inadequate social amenities, kidnapping and many other breaches of sanity steal the atmosphere of the nation.

Amidst all, these ten reasons posit why Nigerians must celebrate and merry on this day, 1st October, 2020.

They include:

1. There is hope for Nigeria

Hope is not finished for Nigeria. Nigerians can still have progressive dream for their dear country, whether such dream translates to reality in due time is another thing. Nigerians contesting political positions can come with promises of change and development every four years. There can be better days ahead if conscious and right efforts are made. Nigeria can be better.

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2. Nigeria is sovereign

If Nigeria were still dependent literally on another country, Nigerians would definitely be under external control too. Colonialism is not a thing to wish for. The fact that Nigeria is independent is worth celebrating. Nigeria has the free political will which she guard jealously and being held in high esteemed by other countries.

3. Nigerians are doing well

Nigerians are doing well and making the nation proud within and outside the country. Nigerians are hustling in an innovative manner and engaging in legitimate ventures they find worth doing, be it business, research, production, governance, diplomacy amongst other things. Many distinguished persons are making Nigeria proud even though few some still put her in bad light. Recently, a Nigerian, Kaycee Madu was made  first Black Canadian Justice Minister, this is a pointer to how well Nigerians are doing in disapora.

4. Nigeria is not in wartime

War is not fun. Those who witnessed the civil war of 1967 to 1970 will always have unpleasant tales to tell about the war which was characterised by colossal loss of lives and valuable properties. Nigeria at 60, we are in the peacetime, the rule of law is obtainable and right to life is not outrightly threatened, for this Nigeria must celebrate, notwithstanding the fact that Nigeria can do more in this regard.

5. Abundance of Resource abound

Despite mismanagement and underutilisation of resources Nigeria is blessed with by caretakers, those rich natural resources have not vanished the land. Oil still flows, limestone, iron ore and marbles have not been used up, plants still grow generally in the country, many other resources abound. Nigerians must celebrate her national pride.

6. Diplomatic ties are not severed

The sixty year old nation enjoys good relationship with countries around the world. Conflicts with any nation are well resolved before escalation. Worthy of mention is the recent issue of flight ban between Nigeria and UAE which was settled in due course. The wonderful relationship with other nations has led to great development in the nation via financial aid, infrastructures, medical facilities supplication, scholarships and lot more other benefits.

7. Nigeria remains the Giant of Africa

Nigeria remains the Giant of Africa against all odds. Nigeria has got the number being the most populous Black nation in the world. She has one of the largest economy in the developing world. For her diversity, heterogeneity and abundance of resources, Nigeria remains the giant of Africa. This has forever remain an identity that won’t fade, Nigerians need to celebrate for that. Many other nations want to be called Giant.

8. Nigeria’s beautiful Culture persists

Awesome culture is an interesting part of being Nigerian. Every tribe has its fantastic way of life. Culture is beautifully diverse. Nigeria has numerous clothing manners, sense of fashion, building styles, delicacies amongst other things. Despite sixty years of independence, those culture of awesomeness tarry. Nigerians must celebrate this.

9. Nigeria is a country with funny and happy people

So many hilarious persons domicile in the Giant of Africa. Nigerians love to make one another happy. A good number has turned it to a venture making huge amount for them. This lay emphasis on Nigerians’ innovative prowess. A scroll through any social media platform is enough to confirm that. Nigerians are deliberately happy people despite all what they face.

10. Independence day is once in a year

1st October comes only once in a year. Celebrate Nigeria on this day and hope for better days ahead while doing your part diligently.