Everything The Media Told You About Occupy Wall Street Is Wrong

After 10 days out of town, I finally made it to Occupy Wall Street on Tuesday and had a chance to see for myself what's going on. My conclusion: almost everything the media told me about the protest is wrong.

Based on my observations, here's what I consider the Top Ten Myths About Occupy Wall Street.

Myth #1. The Movement Is Violent.

One of the most striking images I witnessed at the demonstration was a young black man holding a sign that read "End NYPD Violence!" in front of a group of police officers.

The officers quickly challenged his accusation. But the young man didn't leave. Next, the police turned away and ignored him. But he still didn't leave. Then the officers chuckled and let out an unexpected laugh when they realized the man wasn't going away. The scene was confrontational, but definitely not violent.

In fact, one of the first things I noticed was a sign posted on a wall that embraced "Kingian Nonviolence," the peaceful principles that guided Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Myth #2. It's Just A Bunch Of Pampered Kids.

Although I supported the concept of the Occupy Wall Street movement when I first heard of it, I admit I didn't think the group had much to offer me. From what I could see in the media, they were well-educated, well-intentioned young white people, but they didn't really represent me.

I was wrong.

What I found was a wide-ranging group of people from various backgrounds, young and old, male and female, black, white, Latin, Asian and mixed. It was the essence of New York, the reason why I moved to this city 10 years ago.

Myth #3. There Are No Black People Involved.

I was taken aback by how many black and Latino participants I noticed at the demonstration. I hadn't seen them on the television coverage of the movement, but they were clearly there.

Myth #4. They're Anti-American.

In my experience, I saw a lot of American flags being waved proudly at the demonstration. The protesters may not all think the same things, but many of them were clearly hoping America would live up to its promise as a land of opportunity where the rules are fair and all are welcome.

Myth #5. They're Just Modern-Day Hippies.

To watch some of the media coverage of the movement, you would think the protest was filled with long-haired hippies left over from the 1960s. In fact, from my experience, I saw a few people who might fit this description, but I also saw just about every type of person you could imagine at the demonstration.

There were high school-aged kids with their parents, college students in their school sweatshirts, men in business suits, mothers with baby carriages, people with jobs, people who were unemployed, white-haired retirees, African drummers, rhythmic dancers, and one person who appeared to be wearing pajamas.

Myth #6. They Don't Know What They Want.

I found many different people gathered in Zuccotti Park with many different interests and agendas, but they seem to be unified by one common purpose. They're tired of a system that seems only to cater to the rich and powerful while ignoring the concerns of the vast majority of Americans.

Myth #7. The Labor Unions Are Behind This.

I saw only one labor union table at the demonstration, but most of the people seemed to have no connection to organized labor. Even if they had, there's nothing wrong with that. Labor unions are an important part of our country, and while not perfect, they've helped throughout history to improve working conditions for millions of Americans.

Myth #8. They're Pro-Obama. They're Anti-Obama.

"I don't have facts to back this up," Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said in an interview recently, "but I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration." That seems unlikely.

Not long after I arrived I found a Hispanic man in a camouflage jacket complaining about Obama to a small crowd of onlookers. "Obama is not the savior," he cried out. Moments after he finished, a young black man in a sweat jacket stood up to defend Obama to the crowd, acknowledging that the president wasn't perfect but he was doing the best job he could to clean up the mess he had inherited.

Both sides had their points to make and both were respectfully acknowledged.

Myth #9. They're In The Wrong Place.

I love to hear conservatives complaining that the protesters should be in Washington instead of Wall Street, as if the conservatives were really concerned about the most effective way for the demonstrators to make their case.

This location-based argument suggests a limiting "either/or" mentality that you can't be in both places, and also assumes that there's no reason to be on Wall Street at all.

As Herman Cain said recently, "Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself.

But there's a good reason why Wall Street serves as an ideal venue for the demonstration. Unlike politicians in Washington, who have to answer to voters every few years, corporate executives on Wall Street don't have to answer to the public, even though their actions have a huge impact on all of us. It seems to me, the protesters picked a reasonable venue to launch their movement. In fact, judging by the row of satellite trucks parked outside the protest, I'd say Wall Street was exactly the right place to draw attention to their cause.

Myth #10. They're Taking Over Wall Street.

I've lived in New York City for 10 years, but I'd never been to Zuccotti Park until the Occupy Wall Street protests took place. I assumed the protesters were camped out at a park somewhere at the end of Wall Street, throwing around garbage and creating a mess.

Once again, I was wrong.

First, the group was clean, neat and orderly when I saw them. The park was actually cleaner than any park I've ever seen in New York City. Some demonstrators even walked around with brooms to clean up any mess that might have been left, and signs were posted advising the occupiers to observe a "good neighbor policy."

Finally, as it turns out, Zuccotti Park isn't even on Wall Street. It's a couple blocks away. As you can see from the image below, the only mess on Wall Street came from the police horses standing guard in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

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Keith Boykin: Everything The Media Told You About Occupy Wall Street Is Wrong

There’s no fuel subsidy in Nigeria, says David-West

Former Petroleum Minister, Prof Tam David- West, yesterday added a new dimension to festering controversies on attempt by the Federal Government to remove subsidy on petroleum products.



He said there had never been petroleum subsidy in Nigeria and that the term was only coined to deceive Nigerians into believing that government is subsidising prices of petroleum products, which ought to be higher than what they are. David-West, who served under the military government of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari and Major-General Ibrahim Babangida respectively, as such cautioned President Goodluck Jonathan “never to contemplate increasing petroleum prices. “He should resist all pressure from all sides.


The mere thought of increasing petroleum prices is an irresponsible thought. There is no subsidy. The concept of petroleum subsidy is fraudulent. General Buhari was Petroleum Minister under Generals Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo respectively, before he later became Head of State. I was also Petroleum Minister under him. And both of us independently addressed the congress of the world that any form of petroleum subsidy is fraudulent. “During the time of Obasanjo, he unilaterally increased fuel prices.


The poor people are suffering while people in government are getting fatter. They are under the burden of bad governance. I know somebody in the Senate who in 1984 could not service his car. Now, he is so fat, earning N34 million and government cannot pay N18,000 minimum wage,” he bemoaned. 


David-West lampooned “government negligence and sabotage by its officials in crippling the country’s refineries which, he said, had the capacity to meet both domestic and international demands, to the relief of the ordinary Nigerian. “While the poor man is suffering, the government is telling him, ‘tighten your belt’. He keeps tightening his belt until his hip is broken. Contrarily, those in government are increasing the size of their belt, every month. “


When Obasanjo was in power, I told him, ‘go on national television and announce that petroleum price has been reduced to N50 per litre and see if NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) will close down. It will never close down. So, the concept of subsidy is made to deceive the people. “We have four refineries in this country; the contract for the Kaduna Refinery was signed by me in 1984.




The refinery was rated as one of the best the world over. Years later, they deliberately damaged it. They have to sabotage the refineries so as to import fuel from abroad. And for every barrel sabotaged, they make millions the year round. “I, Tam David-West, can afford to pay N100 for petrol per litre. But what of the ordinary man in the street? 


If you increase petroleum price, other things, commodity goods will increase.” He also condemned the position of the state governors who at their recent Forum agreed to pay the new minimum wage provided the fuel subsidy goes and what is recouped is pumped into the federation accounts to buoy monthly allocations to the states.


Expressing disgust, David-West said, “The comment by governors that they can pay N18, 000 minimum wage, contingent on removal of petroleum subsidy is an irresponsible thing to say. “If governors stop stealing of public funds, paying the new minimum wage will not be difficult. For all I know, N18,000 is cheap. The Nigeria Labour Congress should stop talking; they should take action, they should go to the streets. “


These governors are riding in cars free of charge; they are not paying for petrol, they eat free food, live in free accommodation and don’t have to buy their clothes or pay the tailors to sew them. Why must the poor people suffer, why?” He asked rhetorically.

Jonathan, AGF Adoke, CBN, Private Developer Implicated In NITEL Land Scam

By SaharaReporters, New York

An investigation by SaharaReporters has unearthed a scam in Abuja in which officials of the late Umaru Yar’Adua government as well as the Goodlu

ck Jonathan a

dministration colluded with a shady property developer in a deal where a government-owned land was bought and sold at a scandalous profit for the private developer (A Group Properties Ltd.).

At the center of the deal is Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu (boss of AA Oil), a close friend of the ex-convict former governor of Bayelsa state, D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha. Former Governor Alamieyeseigha was prosecuted for money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – and convicted.

The highly questionable land deal also involved the Central Bank of Nigeria, which was used as a conduit to buy back a piece of land that had earlier been sold to Mr. Aliyu by the Yar'Adua regime.

The high-priced piece of land, located in the central business district of Abuja across from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), originally belonged to t

he Nigerian Telecom Company (NITEL).

A source at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) told SaharaReporters that when NITEL was about to be liquidated, the large piece of land was put aside as an asset to be applied to the NITEL pension fund. The pension fund had a deficit running into billions of naira. However, before handing over to Umaru Yar'Adua, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo decided to hand the land over to the Ministry of Communication, which was then headed by John Odey, a former secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Once Mr. Yar’Adua took over, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, the owner of AA Oil, began to lobby top members of that government to persuade Mr. Yar’Adua to approve for the property developer to buy the land from the Ministry of Communication. Our sources disclosed that officials of the ministry protested, arguing that it made more economic and strategic sense for the ministry to develop the land on its own.

Besides, at the time that Mr. Aliyu was bargaining to acquire the land, he and his company were deeply indebted to several banks and had defaulted on several loans, the highest being one from Skye bank. Despite his shady corporate profile and huge debt burden, Mr. Aliyu was able to secure Mr. Yar'Adua’s approval of the deal to buy the land.

Several sources told SaharaReporters that the rogue businessman bribed his way to Mr. Yar’Adua’s approval. And then, since the approval came just before Mr. Yar’Adua took gravely ill and was flown away to a hospital in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Aliyu manipulated the process of the land deal, including fixing the evaluation of the property, a task that ought to have been done by the Federal Government. “Alhaji AA Oil bribed officials in President Yar'Adua’s government, and they let him use his personal evaluators to value the land,” said a source.

Our sources revealed that Mr. Aliyu’s evaluator did not assess the value of the land, but focused on an uncompleted building on the land. A legal wrangling during the era of former General Sani Abacha had led to the freezing of the uncompleted building. The legal tussle arose when Nasir el-Rufai, who acted as a quantity surveyor on the development, dragged the Abacha regime to court over contractual services offered to the government. Mr. el-Rufai was later to handle the botched privatization of NITEL, which included the land. 

Our sources disclosed that the land area was 80,000 square feet. They also revealed that the going rate of land in the area at the time of the evaluation was N100,000 per square feet in the area. Going by that rate, the government could have easily negotiated to sell the land for at least N8 billion naira. However, in what was the first phase of the scam, the evaluator hired by Mr. Aliyu focused entirely on the uncompleted property on the land, ignoring the value of the land itself.

As a result of Mr. Aliyu’s fraudulent moves, he got the government to sell him the land for less than N1 billion. A few years later, he attempted to sell the land to several businesses, including a firm belonging to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. A source said Mr. Atiku reportedly offered to buy the property for N3.5 billion, but Mr. Aliyu rejected the offer, asking for N4 billion to enable him to offset one of his bad bank loans. He could not find a willing buyer.

As several banks increased their pressure on the debt-burdened AA Oil, threatening to take over the company’s assets, Mr. Aliyu approached more buyers, including banks, but none put together an offer that the company considered acceptable.

However, Mr. Aliyu’s troubles ended when the Goodluck Jonathan administration came into office. Attorney General Mohammed Bello Adoke, who is reportedly from the same area as the owner of AA Oil in Kogi State, started working directly to help AA Oil market its landed properties.
One source said Mr. Aliyu recruited Mr. Adoke to speak to Goodluck Jonathan, who was then completing the remainder of Yar'Adua's presidential tenure.
With the attorney general on his side, AA Oil saw a quick swing in its fortunes. The company had two properties for sale.

President Jonathan approved a deal for the Central Bank of Nigeria to immediately buy one for N4.5 billion on behalf of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). Sources within the Presidency and the Central Bank told SaharaReporters that the six-story building was over-inflated. Even so, payments were promptly made to AA Oil.
 Soon after the conclusion of this property sale to AMCON, Mr. Adoke again approached Mr. Jonathan with a proposal to ask the CBN to buy the controversial NITEL property from Mr. Aliyu. One source said that President Jonathan found the deal too good to disregard when Mr. Adoke suggested that the sale would be a good source of campaign funds for the Jonathan presidential campaign.

As soon as Jonathan gave his approval for the deal to proceed, the CBN corralled an evaluation committee to value the land. The evaluators reported returned with hugely over-inflated evaluations. One group claimed the property was worth N21 billion while another group put the value at N17 billion. The CBN did not only speedily approve the deal; it also quickly paid Mr. Aliyu through two banks. One of the payments to Skye Bank reportedly wiped out AA Oil’s debt to the bank. A second trance was paid through another commercial bank. It was from this second payment that several officials involved in the deal, including Mr. Jonathan, received a share of the loot. Our sources confirmed that Mr. Jonathan's campaign received $7 million (approx. N1.2 billion) in December 2010 through the treasurer of the then Jonathan Campaign team, Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi. She is currently the Minister of Aviation.
Our sources said CBN staff members who processed the deal shared N1 billion. Attorney General Adoke was also handsomely rewarded. Mr. Aliyu, whose property business specializes in building and furnishing homes for sale, built and donated two houses to Mr. Adoke. One of the buildings is reportedly located on Gana Street across from the Hilton Hotel while the second house is on Ikogosi Street, near the official residence of the Inspector General of Police in the Maitama section of Abuja.

A source, who once worked in the Presidency, said he was shocked that the government would dole out approximately N20 billion naira for a piece of land it sold just a few years ago for less than N1 billion. “This is the kind of deal that makes Nigerians look at people in government as crooks,” said the source.

An official at the Central Bank of Nigeria, who asked not to be named, claimed that the bank relied on evaluations provided by professional real estate valuers in arriving at a price for the property. The Central Bank also stated that an international conference center that meets "global standards" is to be built on the land acquired from Mr. Aliyu.

But a source in Abuja described the CBN claim as “both curious and spurious.” “Look, the Federal Government has in recent years been selling properties owned by it at greatly discounted prices. It has also begun a policy of monetization for public officials instead of building new government buildings in Abuja. In fact, it was with this pretext that most government-owned properties, including this NITEL property, were sold a few years ago,” said the source.

Nigerian Millionman March Project

Date: 24 October, 2011

Let there be Light In Nigeria Project
The Nigerian Million Marchwww.Nigerianmillionmarch.com

The Nigerian Million March, is a PEACEFUL march with NO POLITICAL AGENDA and is NOT POLITICALLY AFFILIATED.

What is the purpose of the peaceful "Nigerian Million March"?

To create a greater awareness that the lack of electricity denies Nigerians of their basic necessities such as: Employment, Security, Good Health, Education, Economic Growth and many more.

EFFECT OF LACK OF ELECTRICITY(LIGHT)

• Lack of electricity = Poverty in Nigeria
• Lack of electricity = High unemployment in Nigeria
• Lack of electricity = Armed robbery in Nigeria
• Lack of electricity = Nigerians needlessly dying in hospitals
• Lack of electricity = Lack of infrastructures in Nigeria
• Lack of electricity = Nigerians paying high prices for food
• Lack of electricity = Lack of quality education
• Lack of electricity = Life expectancy of 48yrs

Venue Listings & Local Start Times

Abuja

10am-11am - Assembly at the UNITY FOUNTAIN

11am-1pm March/Rally - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ARCADE

Anchor/coordinator name - Barrister Kayode Ajulo

E-Mail add - Kayode.Ajulo@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

Phone # - 0803-315-4349

Lagos

10am-11am Assembly at the NIGERIA AIRWAYS CLUB GRA, IKEJA

11am-1pm - March/Rally - STATE GOVT OFFICE ALAUSA, IKEJA

Anchor/coordinator name - Barrister Malachy Ugwumadu

E-Mail add - Malachy.Ugwumadu@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

Phone # - 0802-312-0716

Port Harcourt

10am-11am Assembly at the ISSAC BORO PARK

11am-1pm March/Rally - STATE GOVT OFFICE, STATION ROAD

Anchor/coordinator name - Kingsley Okafor

E-Mail add - Kingsley.Okafor@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

Phone # - 0803-949-8905

London

11am-1pm -Assembly/Rally-NIGERIA HIGH COMMISSION

9 Northumberland Ave London.

WC2N 5 BX. UK

Anchor/coordinator name - Moses Owolabi (Champions For Nigeria)

E-Mail add - Moses.Owolabi@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

Phone # - 011- 44-794-914-0059

Washington DC

9am-10am Assembly at the VAN-NESS UDC Metro Station.

10am-12pm March/Rally - NIGERIAN EMBASSY

3519 International Court, NW

Washington, DC 20008 USA

Anchor/coordinator - Nnamdi Akwada

E-Mail add - Nnamdi.Akwada@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

Phone # -1-240-353-6862

New York

11am-1pm Assembly/Rally CONSULATE GENERAL of NIGERIA

828^th 2^nd Ave, New York City.10017 USA

Anchor / coordinator name - Morris Akinfolarin

E-mail add - Morris.Akinfolarin@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

Phone # - 1-800-627-0583

Legal Advisor

Bamidele Aturu Esquire

E-mail add - Bamidele.Aturu@Nigerianmillionmarch.com

234-1-8043418, +234-8023128967,+234-8055999888,+234-8033375796.

‘Over 70 million Nigerians are illiterates’

BY NGOZI SAMS

About half of the Nigerian population cannot read, according to the minister of state for education on Tuesday in Abuja. Out of these, about 60 per cent are women.

While briefing the press on yesterday’s celebration of International Literacy Day, Kenneth Gbagi attributed this situation to the education sector’s inadequate infrastructure, weak governance and lack of funding.

“

Statistics reveal the peculiar nature of illiteracy in Nigeria, which is about 47 per cent of the entire 150 million population,” he said.

He said that attacking illiteracy and poverty has become not only a national, but an international concern. He also called for the reshaping of the informal and formal educational systems, for national development.

Women more affected

This year’s internal literacy day focused on women’s literacy. Irina Bokova, director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), said that two out of every three of the world’s 796 million illiterate adults were women. Mr Bokova, who was represented by UNESCO country director, Nigeria, Joseph Ngu, said this reflects one of the most persistent injustices of our time.

“There is no justification, be it cultural, economic or social, for denying girls and women an education,” he said. “It is a basic right and an absolute condition for reaching 

all internationally agreed development goals.” 

Mr Bokova said illiteracy keeps women marginalized and constitutes one of the leading obstacles to reducing extreme poverty. He also said that investing in women’s literacy carries very high returns, as it improves livelihoods, leads to better child and maternal health, and favours girls’ access to education.

‘Over 70 million Nigerians are illiterates’