The soldier killed in an attack in London has been named as Drummer Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Drummer Rigby, 25, from Manchester, leaves behind a two-year-old son.

Two suspects shot by police after Wednesday's attack in Woolwich remain under arrest. A further two people have been arrested on conspiracy to murder.

The two suspects who were shot, believed to include Michael Adebolajo, were known to security services.

Scotland Yard said the latest arrests were of a man and woman, both aged 29.

The victim's name was announced by the Ministry of Defence pending formal police identification.

"An extremely popular and witty soldier, Drummer Rigby was a larger than life personality within the Corps of Drums and was well known, liked and respected across the Second Fusiliers," the MoD statement said.

"He was a passionate and life-long Manchester United fan."

He had joined the Army in 2006, and is described as a "loving father to his son Jack" and someone who would be "sorely missed by all who knew him".

'Senseless murder'
Drummer Rigby had taken up a post with the Regimental Recruiting Team in London in 2011.

"An experienced and talented side drummer and machine gunner, he was a true warrior and served with distinction in Afghanistan, Germany and Cyprus," said 2nd Fusiliers commanding officer Lt Col Jim Taylor. "His ability, talent and personality made him a natural choice to work in the recruiting group."

Capt Alan Williamson said: "Drummer Rigby or 'Riggers' as he was known within the platoon was a cheeky and humorous man, always there with a joke to brighten the mood."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: "This was a senseless murder of a soldier who has served the Army faithfully in a variety of roles including operational tours in Afghanistan.

"Our thoughts today are with his family and loved ones who are trying to come to terms with this terrible loss."

Speaking earlier outside 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister David Cameron said the attacks were "solely and purely" the responsibility of the individuals involved.

Mr Hammond was asked if the attack showed how vulnerable soldiers were, whether they were in uniform or not.

He replied: "I think it reminds us how vulnerable we all are, but it also reminds us, by the response of the public, that we are not going to be cowed by this kind of terrorist action."

In other developments:

The Metropolitan Police said police officers arrived within nine minutes of the first 999 call and armed officers were there within 14 minutes
An increased police presence will be in Woolwich and the surrounding areas through Thursday night and "as long as needed", Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Crime and Operations Mark Rowley said
Properties in Greenwich and Saxilby, Lincolnshire, have been searched in connection with the attack
With dozens of witnesses to the killing, police are urging them to contact the Met's anti-terrorism hotline with information
Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards said: "It's always a tragedy, it's particularly poignant that it happened on the streets of this capital city of ours.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22644857

Mom-to-be Karen McMartin doesn’t have to wait for asonogram to get an idea of what her child is going to look like.

The pregnant woman can see an outline of her baby on her burgeoning belly. She discovered the print on her tummy when she was just 25-weeks pregnant and some colleagues at her hair salon were making jokes about her protruding belly button.

The British citizen explained to The Sun about her unique baby bump:

“I was in the staff room on a break. We were actually having a laugh at my belly button sticking out and checking for baby movement.

“Then Karen who owns the salon came in and said, ‘Oh my God, I can see a face.’ She took a picture and we’ve been showing it to folk ever since.”

Twenty-five year old McMartin, who already has a daughter Chloe, 2, with her husband David, added: “No one can believe how clear it is. You can see a nose, mouth and eyes — even the cheeks.”

Her boss Karen Monan, 45, who is the owner of the Kazmark salon in Irvine, Ayrshire, said: “Karen was lying back and I was having a feel of her bump.

“Then she lifted her head up and all of a sudden the shape of her tummy changed — and this face just appeared.”

What everyone is seeing is not actually the face of McMartin’s unborn child, but an illusion. The Sun spoke to medical expert Dr. Carol Cooper who explained that the “face” was actually a trick that was caused by her swollen belly button, an old bellybutton piercing, veins and stretch marks.

Link: http://247nigerianewsupdate.com/bizarre-unborn-baby-showing-face-outside-the-mothers-tummy-photos/

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The gay couple who tied the knot in a traditional Zulu and Tswana wedding while dressed in traditional attire say they will not be fazed by the criticism being aimed at them by social network users and Zulu culture experts.
Thoba Sithole, a Zulu from KwaDukuza, and Tshepo Modisane, a Tswana from Johannesburg, tied the knot on Saturday in KwaDukuza with about 200 people, including family, friends, onlookers and the media in attendance.
Sithole and Modisane, both 27, defended their wedding and said there was nothing evil or untraditional about it.
The Gay Couple Took a Kiss Professor Velaphi Mkhize, a Zulu traditional culture analyst and writer, said Zulu culture did not recognise homosexuality, therefore, traditionally, Modisane and Sithole’s marriage was void.
“In the olden days there were homosexuals, but when a gay child was born the family used to slaughter an animal to plead with the ancestors to intervene and take the evil spirit away from the child.”
“However, now the constitution recognises homosexuality and gay marriages and the biggest challenge we are facing is how do we continue to call something a taboo if it is recognised by the constitution.”
He said the marriage was an insult to Zulu forefathers because marriage was traditionally a way to expand the family. Wives were expected to give birth to children who would carry their families’ names forward. Homosexuality made this impossible, said Mkhize.
However, Sithole, an IT specialist based in Johannesburg, said:
“If being gay is evil, why did God create gay people? Gays are born gay and according to a Bible scripture we were all created by God, so I don’t see anything evil about being born gay because it means that God wanted you to be gay.”
Modisane said they did not need to justify their wedding to the public because it was only between them, and to make them happy.
“We decided to have a traditional wedding because we firstly wanted to show people that being homosexual can be part of an African culture.
“Secondly, we wanted to celebrate the love we have for each other and show people that we don’t feel ashamed for the choices we have made in our lives,” said Modisane, who works as a chartered accountant in Johannesburg.
The couple said the support they had received from their families made it easier for them to tie the knot.
“My family has always been there for me and had always been there for me even in my previous homosexual relationships,” said Modisane.
Sithole said his mother had always told him how she was looking forward to seeing him getting married to his partner.
They started dating in 2011 after they had been friends for some time.
Modisane said he was attracted to Sithole because he was a well-grounded man who loved God and was someone who could bring stability in his life.
Sithole said their next step after the wedding was buying a home and starting their own family. “We are fully committed to each other and we believe children form an important foundation in bringing stability in one’s life,” he said. “We will be adopting two kids – a boy and a girl – to be part of our family.”


Link: http://news.naij.com/30428.html

Why is that south east always find a way to destroy anything good? Yet, when they get abandoned, they start crying Igbo hatred. Na waaa.

Merger: Fresh Crisis Looms In APC !

A fresh crisis may soon rock the All Progressives Congress as a splinter group in the All Nigeria Peoples Party is seeking a halt to the merger and registration of the APC.

The ANPP is one of the three main opposition parties spearheading the formation of APC to defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 elections. The others are the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change.

Until last week, the ownership of the acronym, APC, had been a subject of controversy between the All Progressives Congress, the African Peoples Congress and the All Patriotic Citizens.

The All Patriotic Citizens dropped its name, while the Independent National Electoral Commission declined to register the African Peoples Congress which hitherto insisted on its name and the acronym.

The opposition parties had separately and collectively accused the PDP of sponsoring those behind the parties contending the APC acronym.

In calling for an end to ANPP’s involvement in the merger, the splinter group alleged that all the parties to the arrangement were not being treated equally.

The group, in a letter addressed to the ANPP National Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, therefore gave the party’s leadership three weeks to pull out of the merger to avoid committing political suicide.

The letter dated April 2 and signed by the convener of the group and the Usuma ward Chairman of the ANPP, in Bwari Area Council, Abuja, Mallam Isa Bala, was copied to INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. It is entilted, “MERGER/APC CRISIS: HOW WE HAVE BEEN FOOLED & DECEIVED BY BOLA TINUBU/ACN PARTY (THE SECRET TINUBU IS HIDING FROM US (MERGING PARTNERS).”

In the letter, the group alleged that the All progressives Congress was the brainchild of a former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who had in 2006 formed a political group with the acronym, APC.

According to it , the same APC, which was registered in January 2006 transformed to the ACN in August 2006 under Tinubu’s leadership .

It argued that the same people who sponsored the “failed” APC were insisting on the acronym just to expand their political empire.

A copy of the letter which was obtained by The PUNCH in Abuja reads in part, “The merger could have also provided a strong two -party system in Nigeria which will produce a virile opposition as it is obtained in advanced democracies of the world.

“The gains of the merger cannot be over-emphasised as the generality of Nigerians had anxiously waited for its realisation.

“However, to our utter bewilderment, we have discovered the unholy, inordinate, ulterior motive of a few insatiable political gluttons, who are largely obsessed with the self-driven interest of expanding their political empire to the detriment of the greater majority of Nigerians.

“We the members of ANPP Concerned Stakeholders, therefore, call upon our national leadership to henceforth suspend involvement in the merger process until this and other questions are answered.

“It has become obvious that the merger partners are not treated as equal entities in the merger project, rather it is being dominated by the Bola Tinubu- led ACN.

“The interest of our great party is evidently, not adequately protected, in the present merging arrangement. Therefore, our party cannot surrender its identity that all our founding fathers have laboured for, to satisfy the interest of an individual.

“Consequently, we give our national leadership three weeks to suspend their involvement in the merger if this anomaly is not corrected. We also urge our national leadership to start discussing the possibility of forming alliance with the Congress for Progressive Change and other political parties on basis of mutual respect and equality for one another in the 2015 general elections .

“On this note, we encourage the CPC led by General (Muhammadu) Buhari to also review its stance and stake in the merger arrangement, as it is a hoax that can yield no political or democratic dividend.

“As earlier advocated, an alliance with CPC and other political parties where Gen. Buhari, a time-tested leader is presented as a presidential candidate, will garner an overwhelming acceptance from Nigerians.”

But the National Publicity Secretary of the ANPP, Chief Emma Eneuku, dismissed members of the group as impostors who were being used to distract the merger.

He said, “He (Bala) is not a member of our party. He is just one of those people they are using to distract what we are doing. A member of my party cannot just write INEC, we have a NEC (National Executive Committee) meeting on the 11th of this month, where everybody will come. Anyone who does not like what we are doing can approach the party. When somebody is working like this, you know he is not working for our party.”

Also, the National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, recalled that Nigerians had been previously informed that the PDP would stop at nothing to frustrate the merger.

He said, “The ANPP has disowned the man. It is part of the antics to distract us from what we are doing. The ANPP says they don’t know him; he is an agent being used by the PDP to derail the process.

“The name APC did not even come from the ACN. If I can remember very well, it was the ANPP that even came with the name not us, what is his grouse? What has INEC got to do with this? I think he is just one who is seeking attention. We told Nigerians a few days ago that the Presidency will do everything to derail the merger; this is one of it.”

The CPC said the whole affair was part of the same script which showed the level of desperation of opponents of the merger.

“Their plan failed. It is not surprising that the PDP is making another failed attempt at scuttling the merger by using a political neophyte who is unaware of the legitimacy in our political system. Such is the confusion of the PDP company,” its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, said.

When contacted, INEC Director of Information, Mr. Emmanuel Umenger, said he was in a meeting and as such unavailable for comments.

Link: A fresh crisis may soon rock the All Progressives Congress as a splinter group in the All Nigeria Peoples Party is seeking a halt to the merger and registration of the APC.

The ANPP is one of the three main opposition parties spearheading the formation of APC to defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 elections. The others are the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change.

Until last week, the ownership of the acronym, APC, had been a subject of controversy between the All Progressives Congress, the African Peoples Congress and the All Patriotic Citizens.

The All Patriotic Citizens dropped its name, while the Independent National Electoral Commission declined to register the African Peoples Congress which hitherto insisted on its name and the acronym.

The opposition parties had separately and collectively accused the PDP of sponsoring those behind the parties contending the APC acronym.

In calling for an end to ANPP’s involvement in the merger, the splinter group alleged that all the parties to the arrangement were not being treated equally.

The group, in a letter addressed to the ANPP National Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, therefore gave the party’s leadership three weeks to pull out of the merger to avoid committing political suicide.

The letter dated April 2 and signed by the convener of the group and the Usuma ward Chairman of the ANPP, in Bwari Area Council, Abuja, Mallam Isa Bala, was copied to INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. It is entilted, “MERGER/APC CRISIS: HOW WE HAVE BEEN FOOLED & DECEIVED BY BOLA TINUBU/ACN PARTY (THE SECRET TINUBU IS HIDING FROM US (MERGING PARTNERS).”

In the letter, the group alleged that the All progressives Congress was the brainchild of a former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who had in 2006 formed a political group with the acronym, APC.

According to it , the same APC, which was registered in January 2006 transformed to the ACN in August 2006 under Tinubu’s leadership .

It argued that the same people who sponsored the “failed” APC were insisting on the acronym just to expand their political empire.

A copy of the letter which was obtained by The PUNCH in Abuja reads in part, “The merger could have also provided a strong two -party system in Nigeria which will produce a virile opposition as it is obtained in advanced democracies of the world.

“The gains of the merger cannot be over-emphasised as the generality of Nigerians had anxiously waited for its realisation.

“However, to our utter bewilderment, we have discovered the unholy, inordinate, ulterior motive of a few insatiable political gluttons, who are largely obsessed with the self-driven interest of expanding their political empire to the detriment of the greater majority of Nigerians.

“We the members of ANPP Concerned Stakeholders, therefore, call upon our national leadership to henceforth suspend involvement in the merger process until this and other questions are answered.

“It has become obvious that the merger partners are not treated as equal entities in the merger project, rather it is being dominated by the Bola Tinubu- led ACN.

“The interest of our great party is evidently, not adequately protected, in the present merging arrangement. Therefore, our party cannot surrender its identity that all our founding fathers have laboured for, to satisfy the interest of an individual.

“Consequently, we give our national leadership three weeks to suspend their involvement in the merger if this anomaly is not corrected. We also urge our national leadership to start discussing the possibility of forming alliance with the Congress for Progressive Change and other political parties on basis of mutual respect and equality for one another in the 2015 general elections .

“On this note, we encourage the CPC led by General (Muhammadu) Buhari to also review its stance and stake in the merger arrangement, as it is a hoax that can yield no political or democratic dividend.

“As earlier advocated, an alliance with CPC and other political parties where Gen. Buhari, a time-tested leader is presented as a presidential candidate, will garner an overwhelming acceptance from Nigerians.”

But the National Publicity Secretary of the ANPP, Chief Emma Eneuku, dismissed members of the group as impostors who were being used to distract the merger.

He said, “He (Bala) is not a member of our party. He is just one of those people they are using to distract what we are doing. A member of my party cannot just write INEC, we have a NEC (National Executive Committee) meeting on the 11th of this month, where everybody will come. Anyone who does not like what we are doing can approach the party. When somebody is working like this, you know he is not working for our party.”

Also, the National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, recalled that Nigerians had been previously informed that the PDP would stop at nothing to frustrate the merger.

He said, “The ANPP has disowned the man. It is part of the antics to distract us from what we are doing. The ANPP says they don’t know him; he is an agent being used by the PDP to derail the process.

“The name APC did not even come from the ACN. If I can remember very well, it was the ANPP that even came with the name not us, what is his grouse? What has INEC got to do with this? I think he is just one who is seeking attention. We told Nigerians a few days ago that the Presidency will do everything to derail the merger; this is one of it.”

The CPC said the whole affair was part of the same script which showed the level of desperation of opponents of the merger.

“Their plan failed. It is not surprising that the PDP is making another failed attempt at scuttling the merger by using a political neophyte who is unaware of the legitimacy in our political system. Such is the confusion of the PDP company,” its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, said.

When contacted, INEC Director of Information, Mr. Emmanuel Umenger, said he was in a meeting and as such unavailable for comments.

http://www.punchng.com/news/merger-fresh-crisis-looms-in-apc/

I thought I once read a line like ''.......I can't grant amnesty to faceless terrorists.....'' This dude has really lost it big time. Wanna use this to gain some political points? Nigeria is surely on the verge of collapse!!!

Sequel to a meeting with the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Wednesday night, in which he intimated them that he will convene a crucial security meeting the following day, President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday consulted the National Security Council (NSC) on the proliferation of terrorism arising from the belligerence of the dreaded Islamic sect- Jama’atul Ahlus Sunnah Lidda’awati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, seeking ways on whether or not to grant amnesty to the group.

NEF chieftain, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, had told State House correspondents at the close of the group’s meeting with the president that he (Jonathan) is contemplating options open to him, stressing that: “I’m sure something substantial will come out of that meeting.”

But the NSC wound-off Thursday without any statement or briefing by the service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Muhammad Dikko Abubakar and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki.


Link: http://www.punchng.com/news/boko-haram-jonathan-security-chiefs-in-a-crucial-meeting/

Chime's Cancer Did Not Go Away: Swelling On The Cheek Of Enugu Governor

President Goodluck Jonathan arrived to commission a church in Enugu state today. The church reportedly built by the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu had ailing governor, Sullivan Chime welcoming Mr. Jonathan at the airport.

An important photo taken of Mr. Chime's face swollen on the right cheek tells that the governor's cancer might be making an aggressive comeback.

And By the way, where did a deputy senate president get the money to build this billion dollar church?

Link: http://saharareporters.com/photo/chimes-cancer-did-not-go-away-swelling-cheek-enugu-governor

Police man !

Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar has allegedly ordered the arrest of policemen caught wearing their new camouflage all over the country.

The directive is said to be in response to a petition written against Abubakar to the Presidency concerning the sale of the camouflage.

Police source said on the condition of anonymity that violators were being arrested by the IG’s monitoring team and taken to Abuja.

The source said, “This incident began sometime last month when some concerned policemen wrote a petition to the Presidency concerning the sale of these camouflage uniforms. The camouflage, which is available at all police stores nationwide, were being sold at either N10,000 or N15,000 and then sewn for N5,000.

“Normally when there is a new uniform, a set ought to be issued to every policeman free of charge. As a matter of fact, the Federal Government, last year, approved new camouflage uniforms not just for the police but also for the navy and army. While the military has gone ahead to issue these uniforms to their men, the NPF has yet to do same.”

The PUNCH had on March 14, 2012 reported the introduction of a new uniform for the police force as part of the FG’s reformation and image laundering agenda for the force.

Abubakar reportedly described the new police camouflage as a testrun for the force as one of its operational outfits.

“The new police camouflage is cost effective; operationally durable; highly customised with security features to forestall impersonation and environmentally-friendly,” Abubakar had said then.

It was gathered that currently, the camouflage were only being worn by a select few.

Another source said the camouflage was initially meant for police officers from the rank of commissioners.

He said, “Later, the camouflage came down to the assistant police commissioners, deputy police commissioners and some state police public relations officers.

“Eventually, some junior police officers started buying the uniforms and it is not as if this is a new trend. Policemen always buy and sew their uniforms including all other accoutrements. The development caused some disaffection between the junior officers who had access to the uniforms and some senior officers who were yet to get them.”

Deputy Force Police Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, a chief superintendent of police, dismissed the allegation.

He said, “There is no iota of truth in that assumption or rumour. This uniform has come to stay and is an integral part of the force. Therefore, the IG cannot sanction the arrest of policemen who wear this uniform.

“That would mean all CPs and every other person including the IG himself who wear the uniform would be arrested. If indeed the uniforms are being sold, what the IG monitoring team has been doing is going about as decoy to get anyone who would sell the camouflage uniforms to them. If such happens, then we would act appropriately.

“There is no way the IG can order the arrest of policemen for doing the right thing.”

Link: http://www.punchng.com/news/ig-orders-arrest-of-policemen-in-camouflage/

B1

Chido Onumah
Columnist: Chido Onumah
Nigerians are justifiably outraged at the pardon of Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, ex-governor of Bayelsa State. Alamieyeseigha was governor from May 1999 until December 2005, three months after he was detained in London on charges of money laundering. President Jonathan had served under Mr. Alamieyeseigha as deputy governor.

Instructively, in August 2005, a month before his arrest, Alamieyeseigha delivered a message, through his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, at a seminar in Abuja on “Winning the War against Corruption”. The self-styled Governor General of the Ijaw nation “commended government's stride with the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau, and urged the bodies not to ignore the private sector”.

According to Alamieyeseigha who called for those with criminal records to be barred from elective office, “It is only in Nigeria where people who looted banks to a distress situation are allowed to use such loots to open their own banks or are given high political appointment". Alamieyeseigha’s paper titled: “Corruption Reduction Through Government Policies: The Bayelsa Experience”, highlighted “the various mechanism put in place by the state government to check corruption as it was inimical to national growth and development and as such, must be abhorred by all and sundry”.

By the time Alamieyeseigha was arrested a month later in London, it was reported that the Metropolitan Police found about £1m in cash in his London home and later a total of £1.8m in cash and bank accounts. Alamieyeseigha jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom by allegedly disguising himself as a woman. He had hoped to continue in office as governor. Even though that hope did not materialise, it was a good judgement call. Remaining in the UK would have been calamitous. Today, we know why.

On July 26, 2007, the fugitive governor pled guilty to six charges of making false declaration of assets and 23 charges of money laundering by his companies. He was sentenced to two years in prison. The following day, July 27, just hours after being taken to prison, he walked home a free man. In our convoluted justice system, the period he spent in detention had served to compensate for the prison sentence.

Reuben Abati, then chair of the editorial board of The Guardian and now presidential town crier had this to say about Alamieyeseigha in a 2005 piece titled, “Alami should go: It's over”: “By running away from England under the cover of the night, away from the British judiciary which was probing him on charges of money laundering, by taking evasive action from the law and communicating with his feet, Alamiyeseigha, a man who until now was known and addressed as His Excellency, has shown himself to be a dishonourable fellow, unfit to rule, unfit to sit among men and women of honour and integrity, unfit to preach to the people that he leads about ideals and values...

“As for those persons who have been packaging Alami as a victim and who have been mouthing the asinine line: ‘If Ijaw man thief Ijaw money, wetin concern Tony Blair inside’, may the good Lord forgive them for they do not know what they are saying. All Ijaw must feel embarrassed for this is a difficult moment for them as a nation. They are being blackmailed emotionally to defend not a principled fighter, not a spirit of Ijawland, but an Ijaw leader who danced naked in a foreign land. The questions that would be asked are: what do Ijaws stand for? Where is the ancient and modern glory of the Ijaw nation? These are difficult questions. Alami must save his own people the embarrassment by stepping aside. Let him return to England and act like an honourable man”.

Eight years later, nothing has changed, except that an Ijaw man is now President and Commander-in-Chief. “His Excellency, the (former) executive fugitive of Bayelsa State”, as Abati once described Alamiyeseigha remains a “dishonourable fellow, unfit to rule, unfit to sit among men and women of honour and integrity, unfit to preach to the people that he leads about ideals and values”. What a difference eight years make. Today, thanks to his pardon, Alamiyeseigha is now “fit to rule, fit to sit among men and women of honour and integrity, fit to preach to the people that he leads about ideals and values”.

Astonishingly, it is now Abati’s job to repackage “Alami” as a victim and condemn those who accuse him of being an ex-convict and a danger to society. May the good Lord forgive all the idle Nigerians who are not only exhibiting “sophisticated ignorance”, but want to destroy an Ijaw man for pardoning another Ijaw man for stealing money belonging to Ijaws for they do not know what they are saying.

To understand Alamieyeseigha’s pardon is to understand the character of the Nigerian state. There is no case to make for his pardon other than to say it is what the doctors ordered. And by doctors, I do not mean the type our First Lady and sundry public officers scurry to in foreign lands. I refer to the ubiquitous marabouts and native doctors that have become an essential part of governance in Nigeria.

They are the ones goading President Jonathan and have convinced him that to secure a second term, he must of necessity pardon the Governor General of the Ijaw nation. That is the only way he can secure the support of the Ijaws. Evidently, in Nigeria leadership is not about performance. What is uppermost now is that President Jonathan, the first president from the oily Niger Delta, has to, by any means necessary, complete his two terms of four years as the constitution stipulates.

A friend has likened President Jonathan’s dilemma, if we can call it that, to that of a managing director of a failed company who wants to remain MD even when his company is in the red. He will do whatever he thinks will help him keep his job, including cooking the books and satisfying every interest, no matter how vile. Of course, President Jonathan is also a victim of the Nigerian tragedy. Alamieyeseigha was set free many years ago when we had a certain Umaru Yar’Adua as president. The pardon on March 12, 2013, was just the icing on the cake.

I don’t think those who pardoned Alamieyeseigha thought or imagined that the tag “ex-convict” would ever leave him. Who cares really? Are we not witnesses to a senator wining election while on trial? A few days after his pardon, there were feelers signaling that Alamieyeseigha will run for senate in 2015. He doesn’t need to do anything to emerge the next senator representing his district. Like that other exemplar of perfidy in Akwa Ibom State, all the governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, needs to do at the behest of the president, is to remove the name of the winner and replace it with Alamieyeseigha’s, if necessary, for his great service to Ijawland.

Alamieyeseigha will be in good company when he joins the senate in 2015. For me, that is the really troubling part of his pardon and why we must continue the quest to restructure Nigeria. Like Tafa Balogun, the rogue former Inspector General of Police, Alamieyeseigha will no doubt make a case for the return of his property “confiscated” by the state.

Alamieyeseigha believes he is entitled to be a senator and much more; after all, not many in the “hallowed” chamber can boast of a superior résumé. Ours is a system that survives on cronyism. Alamieyeseigha may emerge as senate president if he so desires. He may even return to Bayelsa State someday to complete his second term as governor.

The structure of our country makes this unwholesome atmosphere possible. That is why President Jonathan deserves our pardon for his latest political blunder!

conumah@hotmail.com

Link:

http://saharareporters.com/column/please-pardon-president-jonathan-chido-onumah

What is your last on this ride !

What will be the price for Golf 2 or Golf 3 up to Lagos !

What is d last price !

My Oga At The Top Can Not Do This To Me !