₦airaland Forum

Friday, March 11, 2011

PDP leader invades school with policemen

The Vice-Principal of British Nigerian Academy, Prince & Princess Estate, Abuja, Mr. Kola Pele, 67, has taught in numerous schools and nurtured many pupils.He was going about his duty at the last BNA visiting day when the National Vice-Chairman (South-East), Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, invaded the school with his wife, policemen as well as aides and allegedly assaulted him and other teachers for confiscating his son's GSM phone.

Metuh, a lawyer turned politician, allegedly held Pele by the throat and reportedly ordered an aide to put him in his car boot, saying "No police IG or SSS can secure your release."

The incident, which occurred on February 19, 2011, caused panic among the teachers and over 50 pupils that witnessed the incident.

The affected teachers had filed a lawsuit seeking N250m for general damages, N10m for punitive damages and N350, 000 for medical bills. The writ was issued by Joseph Dauda (SAN), the Nigeria Bar Association President.

Pele told PUNCH METRO on Wednesday that he went to the hostels around 6.30pm to check if the parents had dispersed, when a teacher, Ms. Amuche Igbe, informed him that she saw Metuh's son, Derrick, a former pupil of the school, giving his GSM phone to pupils to use in violation of the school rules.

The BNA VP explained that Amuche seized the phone, handed it to him and he dropped it in his office. But he said a few minutes after, three jeeps drove into the school premises at top speed and Metuh alighted from the lead car.

"The jeeps drove round and round and this attracted pupils and staff. Metuh alighted and said, 'who is Pele here' and I said I am. He said, 'where is my son's phone. Before I could speak, he held my throat and pushed me to the ground. He said his boys should put me and another teacher, Babatunde Adedayo, in the car boot and that no police IG or SSS can release us," Pele said.

According to him, a teacher, Hamzat Muftau, who was pleading with the PDP leader to calm down, was knocked to the ground by one of Metu's aides.

He alleged that Metuh's aides forcibly held Mufutau's hands and took away his office keys and phone in an attempt to get him to release Derrick's phone. Incidentally, Derrick is no longer a pupil of the school as he was withdrawn in December 2010 while in Senior Secondary 2.

Pele stated that the teachers, who were apprehensive that he might be killed, advised him to release the phone.

Pele said that the PDP leader had no right to visit the school as his son was no longer a pupil, adding that Metuh's police aides did not intervene when he was being molested.

He added that although the incident was reported at Garki Police Station, the Investigating Police Officer identified simply as Felicia said 'Metuh could not be arrested because he is a big man, but could only be invited.'

Igbe, who corroborated Pele's claim, stated that she saw Derrick chatting with some female pupils and asked him to leave the school, but instead of leaving, he walked towards the male hostel, saying he wanted to retrieve his phone.

She said, "A pupil offered to get the phone for him, but Derrick insisted on collecting it himself. There is a gap in the gate through which a hand held out the phone, but before Derrick could take the phone, I collected it from the person, but I could not identify the pupil who brought it out."

Muftau also explained that every attempt to placate Metuh on the day was rebuffed as he insisted on having the phone. "As I was begging him to take it easy, he said I should just get him the phone, and that it is very expensive and can buy 200 of my own. As I moved closer to him, his aide kicked me in the legs and I fell; he said I was touching his boss. I suffered body pains, but I am better now."

Another eyewitness, Adedayo, a housemaster, described the incident as a show of shame, which might have degenerated into a serious violence if more staff were around.

"When Metuh grabbed the VP by the throat, I moved to intervene, but he asked his aide to put me and the VP in the boot of his jeep, and boasted that no IG or SSS can release us," he explained.

A board member of BNA, who does not want to be named, expressed dismay that Metuh, a former board member of the school, would assault teachers in the presence of pupils.

"Why I am surprised is that he is a friend of the owner of the school as well as a former BNA board member. The teachers have gone to court and he will meet them there," she said.

But when contacted, Metuh said nobody was man-handled, insisting that the allegation was "a lie to cover up their (the teachers') incompetence and stupidity."

He said, "They don't have the right to seize someone's phone. The school never has such rule on a visiting day. During the visiting day, the pupils have the right to use the phone. When he was in the school, my son took my phone and used it there. The rule doesn't say anything about using phone on a visiting day.

"Why do they have to victimise a pupil because he left the school? My son and wife were the victims. I don't want to take issues with them because the owner of the school is my friend. But I welcome the law suit; let them serve me the writ."

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, however, said nobody was above the law. He said he would find out about the matter from the Garki Divisonal Police Officer.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103112223425

190::
[color=deeppink]who is uche

is it ikechukwu uche who played in usa 94 [/color]

[size=14pt]YES[/size]

[size=15pt]@ noblezone,

Lies will not help you here. I was in Awka in 1996/97/98. Arthur Eze Avenue, court road, Rgina caelli road and many more were constructed to international standards within a space of few months, drugs were supplied to many hospitals in the state. Nnamdi Azikiwe University took delivery of many buses courtesy Buhari's PTF. Please verify before commenting and prove me wrong. I want you to list the roads constructed in Awka by FG since PDP took over in 1999. If you are Igbo, it will do you a lot of good to start convincing people to vote credible candidates. Do not pe part of the large army of uninformed igbo people voting for a drowning and incompetent president- A PhD president avoiding debate.[/size]

[size=15pt]PHD!!!- Shameful and disgraceful[/size]

[size=15pt]May our God in haven never allow an incompetent man (fraternizing with deadly criminal gang) to continue leading this country beyond May 2011. It shall come to pass. Amen[/size]

[size=13pt]Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come (BB and other progressives are here), thy will be done (come April 9),
on earth as it is in heaven. (Nigeria will change for good) Give us this day our daily bread (which PDP has been stealing for 12 years).[/b]And forgive us our trespasses [b](our penchant for corruption and supporting corruption, incompetence, lack of vision, foolishness etc)
as we forgive those who trespass against us (those who have been lying to us for 12years and have been mercilessly stealing our daily bread). And lead us not into temptation (of voting an incompetent man simply because he is our brother)
but deliver us from evil[b](PDP and its numerous shameless supporters). [/b] For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. [b](Everlasting change has come)[/b]Amen [/size]

[size=14pt]Nigerians and ignorance. That man, Shekarau appeared to me as the most intelligent northern (and Southern) leader I have seen in recent times: more coherent than Goodluck Jonathan, more sensible than Obasanjo, more humble than Bankole. It is time we start being less tribalistic. That man was good but as usual we will always prefer one slowpoke to intelligent people. BTW the program is HARDTALK, not soft talk where you go and expect the interviewer to start asking you your name, your wife's name, your favorite food bla, blah, blah. Those people that go there already know the nature of the interviews ( grilling questions-unfortunately, Nigerians do not ask questions of their leaders that is why whenever a foreign journalist asks one, they term it disrespect. Nigerians truly deserve the kind of leadership they get[/size]

[size=20pt]It beats my imagination when a grown Igbo man or woman thinks that every Igbo man will vote for this clueless and hopeless Jonathan. Please stop this faulty and mischievous assumption. As for me and my family, our votes will never go to Jonathan. We are too intelligent to vote for a man that relies sole on luck to run a nation. Igbo people are not that dumb and silly. Jonathan the usurper must go back to Otuoke come May 30, 2011. Onye nwere nti ya nuru[/size]

jason123:
Chei!!!!!

Anyway, can you post the source?

Source posted. It's everywhere-Nigerian papers

[size=15pt]I dreaded contesting against IBB -Jonathan [/size] Written by Dipo Laleye, Minna
Thursday, 24 February 2011

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Wednesday confessed that he became “very weak” when he thought he would contest the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida.

Jonathan, who made the confession during his presidential campaign in Minna, the Niger State capital, said he became weak because “General Babangida is like a father to me.”

“Babangida is like a father to me, even in my days as a deputy governor and later as governor of Bayelsa State, I used to consult him. So when it came to the option that I might contest with him, I was very weak, but God knows why and God interpreted it and we never contested the primary,” Jonathan said.

President Jonathan expressed gratitude to the former military president “for congratulating me when I emerged as the standard-bearer of the PDP at the end of the primary” and said General Babangida was absent at the rally on Wednesday because “he had to travel out of the country.”

The president also commended the courage of General Abdulsalami Abubakar for handing over to a democratically elected government in the country within the shortest time possible and despite the pressure mounted on him to extend his tenure.

“We remain grateful to the people of Niger State for giving us a son that has made history in Africa, a son that had the opportunity to continue in office for at least four more years and nobody in the world would have stopped him, if he had come up with a transition programme that would last another four years,” the president said.

Jonathan, who recalled that in 2007 during the presidential rally in Niger State that he stood in for the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who was in Katsina State for the burial of the Emir of Daura, said he was also alone in Minna for a similar event on Wednesday, because, as the ‘senior,’ he asked the vice-president to preside over the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Abuja.

“Now I have no excuse. I am in charge. When I addressed the rally in 2007, I was the second in command, now I am in charge. So anything I say I must do it. I will have no reason to give anybody excuses.”

The president said his administration would not discriminate against anybody, either on account of tribe or religion, adding that “we will run an open government.”

He maintained that for Nigeria to change and be among the comity of industrialised nations of the world, “we must create wealth,” saying this would be achieved by stabilising the country’s energy sector and revolutionising agriculture.

“We must work hard to create wealth because if we do not in the next few years, we will create a huge population of destitutes in the country.”

Earlier, the Niger State governor, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, had said that the state had put the PDP presidential primary behind it and that those still nursing the wound of the primary were bad losers.

He described President Jonathan as a “man of sense and justice,” assuring him that the state would vote for the Jonathan /Sambo ticket.

Other speakers at the rally were the acting national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Haliru Bello Mohammed, the Minister of Agriculture, Professor Sheikh Abdallah, former governor of Kano State, Aminu Isa Kontagora, among others.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/18003-i-dreaded-contesting-against-ibb-jonathan

[size=15pt]I pity any Igbo man that wastes his vote on Goodluck Jonathan. May I warn all Igbo brothers to further desist from the insinuation that majority of Igbo Votes will go to Jonathan. Igbos are not known for supporting mediocrity, corruption, visionlessness represented by Jonathan. IGBOS be warned. Onye nwere nti ya nuru!!![/size]

While some people from other states are listing people who have occupied political positions (every state has many of those) and those that are of no consequence (local champions), Anambra seems to be by far, the most accomplished, a state with many Firsts of international repute

I also remember that

Emmanuel and Patrick Okalla hail from that state as well as the incomparable soccer commentator, the late Ernest Okonkwo (Emeka Odikpo too). I simply give it to them.

[size=20pt]http://buhari4change.com/[/size]

[size=20pt]This president has no sense. Shows he is not serious about fighting corruption [/size]

[size=14pt]Senate rejects Justice Aderemi as ICPC boss [/size] | Print | E-mail
Written by Ayodele Adesanmi, Abuja
Thursday, 10 February 2011

THE Senate, on Wednesday, rejected the nomination of retired Supreme Court Justice, Pius Olayiwola Aderemi, as the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on account of old age.

Last December, President Goodluck Jonathan nominated Justice Aderemi, 72, to head the nation’s foremost anti-corruption agency to succeed Emmanuel Ayoola, another retired Supreme Court judge.

He was screened by the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption, headed by Sola Akinyede.

In the report of the committee, it was advised that the Senate should reject his nomination, noting that ICPC “is in dire need of focus, repositioning, and effectiveness.”

The committee added that “it believes that a person over the age of 70 years will be unable to perform this task optimally,” saying that since the establishment of ICPC, it had been headed by old men, all retired justices of the Supreme Court, and that, that had impaired the performance of the commission.

According to the committee’s report, “even though ICPC is four years older than the EFCC, the committee believes the reason why the ICPC, unlike EFCC, has not done much in terms of establishment of its infrastructure and the effectiveness of its operations, is simply because the two previous chairmen were too old to cope with the tasking and demanding rigours of the position.”

The chairman of the committee, Senator Sola Akinyede, while presenting the report, disclosed that retired Justice Aderemi could not satisfactorily answer questions with regard to his plans to turn around the unimpressive performance of the ICPC since its inception.

He told the Senate that “he was also unable to answer satisfactorily questions relating to the global dimensions on anti-corruption. As a justice of the Supreme Court, the integrity of the nominee is not in doubt.

The committee, however, has serious concerns about the capacity and ability of the nominee to meet the demands of the job.”

During debate, however, Senator James Manager informed that “age can only be a barrier if someone is under-aged,” while Hosea Ehinlanwo argued that since the retired justice had presented himself for the duty, he should be confirmed for the job, especially when there were no medical reports indicating that his age would impair his performance at ICPC.

[size=14pt]SSS bars journalists from Jonathan’s campaign in Bauchi [/size]
By Patience Ogbodo , Special Correspondent, Bauchi



Bauchi State-based journalists, who were at the IBB Square as early as 10.a.m. on Wednesday to cover the flag-off of Jonathan/Sambo presidential campaign had a raw deal as they were turned back by fierce looking security agents who termed them security risks.

The journalists, who were earlier frisked to their pants at the main gate by the security operatives, before they were allowed into the area were later ordered out of the venue.

The security men said they were “acting on directives from above”, even as all pleas to them fell in deaf ears as they insisted that the journalists would not enter the main area.

Female journalists were even more humiliated as they were subjected to thorough searches before they were asked to go back and drop their hand-bags if they wanted to enter the area.

When the female journalists returned to the venue without their hand-bags, they were denied entrance, a development which made all journalists leave the venue in protest.

Even the intervention of the Bauchi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Al-amin Sani, could not save the situation as the security operatives stood their ground, and would not allow journalists into the arena to perform their professional duty of covering the event.

When the incident was reported at the Government House, Directorate of Press Affairs issued the journalists press tags and asked them to return to the IBB Square, but for the second time they were again turned back by security agents.

Efforts by top Bauchi State government functionaries did not save the situation as security operatives, mostly in mufti, stood their ground, indicating that journalists should do their jobs from outside the gate.

Reacting to the development, Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Habila Iliya, condemned the action of the security agents, saying it was rather unfortunate that in this era of civilisation, journalists could be barred from such event as the flag off of a presidential campaign in a country like Nigeria.

He said: “It is time these security agents were told how to relate with journalists, particularly during high profile occasion such as this.

“This is not the first time such a disgraceful treatment was meted out journalists. People should stop looking down on us with indignity; we are as important as the security agents.”

[size=18pt]A vote for Jonathan is a vote for another 4 wasted years. This will be in addition to the 8 wasted by Obasanjo, 3 wasted by Yaradua and 1 wasted by Jonathan all since 1999. We do not want to come back here January 2015 lamenting on what might have been. Do not say that I did not warn you. Please mark this day and spread this gospel to those that genuinely love our blessed but serially and brutally abused country[/size]

[size=18pt]PURE IGNORANCE: Buhari did not rule for 2.5years. He was there January 1984 (Coup was December 31, 1983) to August 1985. About 1.6 years (close to how long GEJ has been in power). There was discipline in Nigeria. Essential commodities were available to those that needed them. There was focus. No extravagance unlike GEJ[/size]

[size=18pt]Only Criminals and criminal minded souls are against Buhari and Bakare. Evil will never triumph over good. Not this time!!![/size]

[size=15pt]Jonathan Appoints Mu’azu NIMASA Chairman [/size]   Wednesday, 02 February 2011 05:10 administrator    

President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed a former governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, as chairman, board of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). He replaces Senator Baba Tela, who recently resigned his appointment to run for governor under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state,


[size=14pt]Just Recently[/size]
Alleged corruption: EFCC invites ex-Gov Muazu

By Emma Ovuakporie
ABUJA—The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, has invited former Governor of Bauchi Adamu Muazu to appear before its operatives to answer questions on fresh alleged corruption charges.

It was reliably gathered that the former governor had to clear himself before the operatives or he would be re-arraigned by the anti-graft agency.

The anti-graft body had two weeks  ago issued a statement denying media reports that the ex-governor was never at anytime cleared by the it as reported in some dailies.

The EFCC in the statement issued and signed by the anti-graft agency’s spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi debunked reports that suggest that the body had concluded investigation on the corruption charges against the former governor and found nothing against him.

The anti-graft body said it has to issue the clarification as a response to persistent enquiries coming from members of the press and the general public on its alleged clearance given to Muazu.

“We wish to state emphatically that ex-governor Adamu Muazu is still being investigated and as such could not have been cleared of graft allegations against him.

“The former governor who until recently has been out of the country is still expected to honour an invitation to interview a team of operatives investigating the case against him”, the statement added.

While urging the media to always cross check their information through the open communication channel provided by the Commission, it further explained that none of its officials has been mandated under any guise to speak on a case that is yet to be concluded.

Spokesman of the commission, Mr Femi Babafemi confirmed that the ex-governor has been invited to appear on Thursday

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/alleged-corruption-efcc-invites-ex-gov-muazu/#

[size=13pt]Reps kick as minister seeks N622.5m for trips[/size]

THE continued violation of budgetary provisions and unauthorised spending by public functionaries came under attack during talks between the federal legislature and officials of the Executive arm of government yesterday in Abuja.

Members of the House of Representatives, who met with the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, protested against the ministry’s spending of additional N184 million on trips last year without the approval of the National Assembly.

Only last Thursday, the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) headed by former Defence Minister, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, took the campaign against high cost of governance in Nigeria to President Goodluck Jonathan in Aso Rock, Abuja.

But the elder council’s pleas to the President for a cut in the overhead costs of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) seems not to have meant anything to some public officials, including ministers, whose provisions for overhead costs in the 2011 budget are considered outrageous.

At the defence of the 2011 budget of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity yesterday before the House House Committee on Labour and Productivity, Wogu asked the lawmakers to approve N622.5 million for the ministry’s foreign and local trips.

Curiously, the ministry spent N285.7 million on local trips alone in 2010 as against the N128.6 million appropriated for that purpose.
He said of the ministry’s N9.13 billion budget now before the National Assembly, N300 million would be spent on local travels and N322.5 million for international tours in the current year.

But the committee members were not happy that the ministry spent over N184 million as extra expenditure on trips in 2010 without the consent of the National Assembly.

The ministry also spent N263.1 million on foreign trips last year as opposed to the N78.85 million appropriated for that purpose.

In his defence, Wogu said: “There are many international labour conferences and meetings worldwide that are mandatory for us to attend. These include three meetings per year holding in Geneva. Each one costs an average of N40 million; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Ministers of Labour Congress, African Regional Labour Arbitration Centre and Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) and others that cost an average of N20 million per trip. They are mandatory meetings of which Nigeria is executive member in some of the bodies.”


On the local travel and transport components of the budget, the minister said: “Specifically, we had travel commitments of over N71 million that could not be accommodated due to the revised budget of 2010. We believe that an increase of up to 60 per cent in the proposed budget could be reasonable.”

The NN9.15 billion budget of the ministry is made up of N8.283 billion for personnel and overhead costs and a capital vote of N775.9 million. The proposed personnel and overhead costs are N4.995 billion and N3.288 billion in that order.

Earlier the panel’s chairman, Ado Dogo Audu told the minister that the meeting was necessary for the lawmakers to appraise the ministry’s performance in 2010 as well as the justification for the 2011 proposals.

Other highlights of the ministry’s budget include N250.5 million for the training of “500 members of staff across various cadres in the headquarters and the 36 states of the federation, N72 million for security services, N52.5 million for cleaning and fumigation of the ministry’s headquarters and the 36 state offices, and N70.2 million for meetings of the Labour Advisory Council, among others.

http://guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36716:reps-kick-as-minister-seeks-n6225m-for-trips-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

[size=15pt]I have made up my mind to join Latter rain Assembly. That church has the only pastor that cares about the living condition of the people and cares even more about how the people are governed unlike other pastors that busy themselves with the collection of tithes and offerings. This is practical christianity. My pastor, please don't listen to some pathetic Nigerians who are utterly confused, who refuse to understand that democracy is everybody's business-moslems, christians, pegans, hindus, Hausas, Yorubas, Igbos, poor, rich, educated, illiterates, pastors, imams, , It is only monkeys in Africa that think that politics is only meant for fraudsters and thieves.

"Every Nigerian is assumed daft until proven intelligent (many have proven themselves intelligent not because of educational qualifications but by the reason of sound reasoning and mind)"[/size]

@ adoniss

You are the only sensible one here. Most Nigerians are confused people. They do not know what they want and lack principles. They do not have any ordinary or scientific method of assessing leaders. It's only emotions and sentiments. With Tunde Bakare as VP and Buhari as the head, I want tell you that good things will definitely happen in Nigeria.

[size=18pt]Arresting the presidential profligacy[/size]

The recent news report that Aso Rock gulps a tidy sum of N1.57 million on food daily, provided yet another bitter-sweet cocktail, spiced with official profligacy and a dose of insensitivity to several millions of hungry Nigerians.

The total sum comes to N574 million in the 2011budget, about N168.7 million above that of the previous year of N405.3million.

But then, this amount is exclusive of the sum expended on foods eaten during sundry summits, under a different sub-head for “meals and entertainment.” For 2010 that stood at N73 million. It would certainly be higher in an election year billed to usher in a new government, at the tax payers’ expense of course. That may however, be only an icing on the presidential cake.

Our grouse therefore, goes beyond mere sentiments. It has to do with a troubling trend of government’s spending spree on items that would naturally rank at the bottom rung of the ladder in more advanced economies. While food is man’s constant contract with life and is naturally seen as an imperative, the same cannot be said of some fanciful furniture. For instance, “residential furniture” for the presidency is expected to milk the national till by a whopping N1.1 billion this year. To furnish the Vice President’s two guest houses will cost our dear nation another N500million.These, in addition to the redolent food budget form only part of the N13.9 billion, meant to fund sub-heads to run Aso Rock in the coming months.

Other details reveal that the lounge of Aguda Guest House was extended for N50 million, while another guest house for the Vice-President’s use was furnished for N50 million. That was in 2010.This year the ante is upped to N150 million to supply household equipment for the same buildings. Not left out is the Lagos-based Dodan Barracks with a provision of N400 million in this year’s budget. This allocation and the fore stated no doubt raise not just our eyebrows but the critical questions of propriety, or otherwise in government spending.

It is curious to note, that budgetary votes for the same items reported to have been bought or paid for in previous years are listed again to be taken care of in the current budget. This is out rightly fraudulent. Besides, there is no value for money if Dodan Barracks, which the president hardly visits is to have such huge sums expended on. We are compelled to ask if we are operating a feudal system, complete with emperors and an avaricious ruling class or this is Nigeria’s own version of democracy.

Can this administration, in all honesty, justify the huge budgetary allocations to the purchase of furniture and frivolous furnishing of guest houses at a time not less than 20 million Nigerian children go to bed haunted by hunger every night? At a time millions of Nigerians are victims of Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM)? Could the staggering sum of nearly N14 billion, earmarked for the seat of political power not have been drastically pruned down to provide a meal-a-day for recipients of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) as recommended by the United Nations, U.N.? Could it not have been used to provide a few power stations? Or, embark on rail roads to ease the tremendous traffic pressure on the country’s pot hole-dotted roads?

A country described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having some of the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in the world ought to be more frugal in satisfying the epicurean tastes of government officials at the expense of the long-suffering citizens.           

Is the presidency unaware that the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) is worried that Nigeria repeatedly posts one of the highest figures of household food insecurity amongst the oil-producing states, year after year?

We are of the firm belief that a country bedeviled by decrepit infrastructure, incessant power failure, where banks cannot make loans available to the real sector should prioritise its expenditure. A country with an alarming poverty rate of over 75 per cent of its citizens, up from 15 per cent as at independence in 1960 should devolve more money to capital projects that would rejuvenate the economy.

In a world battling to extricate itself from the global financial crisis, the presidency ought to learn from the former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown who lives an austere life in a two-bedroom apartment at 10, Downing Street, London. It should also borrow a fresh leaf from the United States, where sustained public attention on President Barack Obama and his household is on to ensure that all forms of frivolous lifestyles are belted under tight control.

But ours has become the world’s most wasteful democracy because our leaders have refused to see political appointments as the platform to serve the state, rather than the self. More so, because we conduct government affairs in a veiled unitary structure that sustains a bloated democracy, too much resources are concentrated at the hands of political appointees.

Short of sounding like a cliché we call again for the restructuring of the polity back to true fiscal federalism. If the federating units earn their money rightly, its leaders would spend it judiciously

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=27134

[size=16pt]In any credible, serious election or convention, you will never hear anything like  GEJ 250, Atiku 0, Atiku 1000, GEJ 0, GEJ 1million, Atiku 0. Please note that I am never in the habit of replying anybody unless it is absolutely necessary. So far, I see no need replying individuals here. I do not engagee in pettiness(which Nigerians are known for). I talk about issues not people-that's for narrow minded folks. This is jus the start of the series aimed at sensitizing Nigerians on the dangers of electing or talking people into electing PDP. It is an irredeemably hopeless party. Be warned !!![/size]

[size=15pt]Any Gathering of iniquitous men like Anenih, Alao Akala, Folarin Obj, Omisore will never get my attention. I urge Nigerians who are wasting their time following this charade of a convention to go to sleep or better still find something more important to do

Just look at this:[/size] Nigeria's Senate Majority Leader, Teslim Folarin, charged in the daylight murder of Lateef Salako, aka "Eleweomo", the factional leader of the National Union of Road Transport workers in Ibadan, Oyo state, is a free man!

Senator Folarin's "discharge" was due to the intervention of Goodluck Jonathan, who is trying to head off an ugly situation with angry lawmakers and put their loyalty on his side.  The legislators claim to have had an agreement with Jonathan for all Senators to be returned unopposed.  In last week’s convention in the states, however, about 50 senators and 60 members of the House of Representatives were in on their way out.  

A mass protest by the angry Senators got the attention of Jonathan, who promised to rectify the situation, starting with the release of the Senator Folarin today.

The Inspector General's office, which had hastily ordered Senator Folarin to be charged, reportedly discovered that the Commissioner of Police in Oyo state was acting on a script hatched by the governor, Bayo Alao-Akala,
O

[size=15pt]Nigeria is a big joke because:

1. Any comment against their supporters and their stinky system is seen as support for another candidate.
2. Most Nigerians think they understand governance and democracy, but truly they are totally ignorant of these core concepts.
3. They are excited about a PHD holder president's inability to showcase his achievement after more than a year in power.
4. Nigerians (perharps PDP delegates and most Nairalanders) are confused. They do not know what they want and have no standard yardstick for measuring performance except sentiments and Luck
5.It is only in Nigeria that a person accused of corruption is never prosecuted and is contesting the presidency.
6.It is only in Nigeria that a muderer is ordered released by the president so as to gain political points as we saw of Folarin
7.The citizens are too ignorant to think that the delegates voted with their conscience.
8. It is the only country where history repeats itself over and over and over and they never learn.
9. Ten years from now we will still be here complaining about things not working in Nigeria just like we have been complaining since independence. Only naive people are excited about this. My consolation though is that for me and my family, Goddluck will not get our votes during the general elections. We are too sophisticated and intelligent to leave Nigeria in the hands of Luck. No way!!![/size]