₦airaland Forum

[quote author=Abu-Maryam link=topic=652658.msg8184794#msg8184794 date=1303513206]This shows how we need each other [/quote]thank you

this people understand nothing about nigeria and the balance of system

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=367789.msg8121881#msg8121881 date=1302738442]Why? It is in the interest of everyone for the city to be a success, isn't it? If the city is destroyed, everyone loses, right? Just come up with a power sharing agreement that is fair and that everyone respects. If you do that, then everything will be smooth sailing.

T[b]here will only be problems if one group tries to take it all for themselves. Otherwise, should be fine.[/b][/quote]and that is the problem

there will always be a group (likely ijaw) that will try to take it all for themselves

EPOMA:
The North this , the north that, I am from Niger delta, common debate our only candidate(PHD) could not come out and defend us. What does that tell you. The most corrupt and brutal governors are south south. I am not being deceived anymore.

The thought of people like Ibori , Odili and Godswll just wanna make me throw up

thank you

[size=15pt]Nuhu Ribadu stepping down for Buhari?[/size]

Update: Unconfirmed reports say The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Nuhu Ribadu has bowed out of the Presidential race in favour of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd). But elombah.com sources say the report is not yet true. Some reports are claiming that the deal which has just been struck between the ACN and the CPC would see Mr. Nuhu Ribadu stepping down for General Muhammadu Buhari in Saturday's Presidential Election.

A source close to Ribadu simply told elombah.com: "The parties are still meeting".
Pressed on the possibility of this happening, the source said they "Should know in about an hour or so".

This is corroborated by a CPC Chieftain who told elombah.com that while that could be a possibility, that has certainly not taken place. "meetings are still taking place", he said.

Asked whether it is possible for Ribadu to step down for Buhari, the CPC Chieftain says in view of what happened last Saturday it is in the interest of the opposition to work together, and "I am sure a sort agreement will be reached between the parties on the Presidential election".

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu had over the weekend vowed never t to step down for anyone ahead of next week’s presidential election.

The two parties - CPC and ACN, gained a sizeable representation in the National Assembly after last Saturday's election which reduced the dominance of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). However officials of both parties feel that an alliance of both parties would be very welcome.

Answering questions from journalists in Gombe April 9,2011 when he came to seek voters’ support for has aspiration, the former EFCC boss said Nigerians wanted a generational change.

He said, “why don’t you ask Buhari to step down for me? We are looking for a progressive who can take this country forward not to look back.

This country requires a change, a generational shift, we want people who can deliver, people who can work. We want modern people who can address modern problems confronting our country and that is what the challenge is all about”.

Mallam Ribadu said that Nigeria must embrace a generational change in its leadership if it wants to be enlisted in the map of advanced countries.

He said Industrialising the country remained the only solution for curbing unemployment adding that it could only be feasible if the lingering problem of power sector is tackled.

Me Step Down? Never! - Nuhu Ribadu, Yola, Adamawa State, April 2, 2011

My attention has been drawn to the claim, which started first as an April Fool joke yesterday, and is now made viral by opposition CPC members, that I have stepped down for General Muhammadu Buhari in what is termed a consensus arrangement.

First, I must clarify for my teeming supporters, our ever progressive ACN party members, and the millions of young people of this country who have trained their sights toward, and have sacrificed so much for a better Nigeria, that this is wicked falsehood, and a piece of mindless propaganda.

I have not and could never betray the confidence of Nigerians by trading my candidacy for any other person. So this claim remains a lie and a poor attempt to manipulate the electorates to seek cheap victory.

Secondly, I want to stress the point that this cheap scheme is deliberately calculated to abort our democratic march through manipulation, and through the hijack of our right to electoral choice, a central value of a true democracy.


To all the architects of this devilish scheme therefore, I have a simple message: that their electoral manipulation only goes to feed into the machinations of the same forces of misrule and darkness that have kept our nation down for the past two decades. If it is not clear to them that they are in bed with the PDP, Nigerians are finally getting to know now whose interest they are working to advance.

http://www.elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6183:nuhu-ribadu-stepping-down-for-buhari&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=67

[quote author=Abu-Maryam link=topic=645300.msg8113867#msg8113867 date=1302648634]Guess who was born 1999 and will die 16 Aprill, 2011[/quote]FI DI FI (PDP) Insha Allah

^^^^^^



this is getting better day by day  

The ACN candidate, Nuhu Ribadu has bowed out of the Presidential race in favour of the CPC candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd).

By Chidi Okoye
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Nuhu Ribadu has bowed out of the Presidential race in favour of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd).

Sources have told Daily Times that the deal which has just been struck between the ACN and the CPC would see Mr. Nuhu Ribadu stepping down for General Muhammadu Buhari in Saturday's Presidential Election.

The two parties gained a sizeable representation in the National Assembly after last Saturday's election which reduced the dominance of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). However officials of both parties feel that an alliance of both parties would be very welcome.

Beaf:
Lol! Dude,[s] it is Nigeria vs "born to rule."[/s]

that is a lie

it is DEMOCRACY vs MEND and corruption

[quote author=ndu_chucks link=topic=645300.msg8113809#msg8113809 date=1302647931]News 100% confirmed. Shekaru next. [/quote]is it really true

kai i go dance tonight oooo

brother can you provide links to confirm this

EzeUche:
Kobojunkie brings out the worse in people.

how jor

she is just saying how she fells

remember she is igbo as well before you think she is ofemann nu or something else

recoome:
The evil ones have gathered against the child of GOD, they shall fail cos GOD reigns. This people should please not throw this country into ethnic or religious(ACN/CPC are majorly muslims), the minorities have been marginalised enough already, if they bounce back, no one will benefit 4rm it o!

guy you must be mad or drunk to think it is about minority, religion or ethnic sentiment

sege mumu

Eziachi:
How come your choice is limited between Amaechi and Sekibo, when Nigeria got 62 political parties? For the sake of argument, if Amaechi contested under PRP in 2007 would you have voted for him?
Although we are now been force fed some deceitful convenient theory that you no longer vote for a party but rather an individual because they think it will help GEJ.
If we now vote individual, why did GEJ use every apparatus of govt in his power to fought off northern zoning apostles just to get the PDP's mandate, when he should have join the JUSTICE PARTY,after all party no longer count but individuals and let us see how much vote he will get from his own family alone.

hmmmm

words

Beaf:
LOL! Another Northern consensus candidate waiting to be Atiku'd!

[size=16pt]Ribadu has just put this nation first before personal interest

if only jonathan can do the same then he would be a national hero[/size]

Kobojunkie:
I don't think we need them . . . you may think so, but in the last 40 years, most every issue in Ibo land can be traced back to the so-called leaders. At some point, it is OK for the people to step out and take their democracy into their own hands. And not until that starts to happen, will we see improvement in Iboland. Ibos do not have to do it like the Hausa's or the Yoruba's or the Ijaws or even the Ibibios. We can look outside to see that there are more successful people's out there who do not have leaders per say. In the west, those models don't exist and look . . . these people seem to be doing a lot better than we are with our co-dependence on these numbskulls called leaders.

Ibo people are strong enough to make decisions for themselves . . . we finally have a system that allows us do just that  . . . I would rather than than have a bunch of lowlifes continue to sarbotage the future of our children in the name saving it.

you are certainly right here

i strongly believe we can use our republician nature to our advantage

which is what Nchara was saying yesterday

Andre Uweh:
Uche, I know you hate evil, how I wish you can silence that Bigot. I wonder why her parents failed to teach her good manners.

Andre I know you are angry because of the tone at which she adress the igbo leader. ndo ewele iwe brother

Now what do you think about our leaders, I know the truth and i will speak the truth

the reality is that we need A leader not ohaneze

whether kalu or obi anyone but we need A leader

ohaneze leaders are not good in politics at all.

alex101:
Thesame way you love-peddler mother sold her p#ssy to you crack dealing father for 2 rock of crack. No wonder you are a frustrated junkie living on section 8 and food stamps in america. Stay away from Igbo affairs you old barren/childless witch. Igbo men don't do ugly Yoruba/Yoruba women. Go find your Yoruba men to grease that your ugly looking and smelly puna##y of yours. naughty person!

what is with you insults again, how does this relate to Yoruba

moreover with is with you signature (death to alj harem=ndu chuks)

Andre Uweh:
You are a no brainer at all. Your deceased fingers does not type anything good but only insulting words on Igbo leaders. Yorubas, Hausas, Ijos etc have leaders, yet you hardly insult them. Should I say menopause is the reason?.

you are right there leaders do not treat them like this

how come our leaders are making common mistakes

Kobojunkie:
Revolution in Ibo land will have to begin with the public denouncement and disowning of these nincompoops who continue to pretend they are ibo leaders. I mean they make skin crawl each time I read of them claiming to make yet another decision on behalf of people WHO DID NOT ELECT or select them to LEAD.


For those not aware, these are the Tinubu's of Ibo land -- going around pretending to be LEADERS, only selling the people's future for a kobo or two!

i think we need a leader in igboland but certainly not this people

spambot has ban me

username Alj Uche

thanks

Hon. Juventus Ojukwu was elected to the House of Representatives twice in the second republic. A commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army before the civil war, Ojukwu tells Daily Sun in this interview conducted in Abuja that as the 2011 presidential election draws by, Nigerians should look for the person who has the capacity to confront the twin evils of indiscipline and corruption which have been the greatest obstacle to national development. Fortunately, he says, Candidate Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) fits the bill.

Ojukwu is not happy that the Igbo socio-political organization, Ohaneze, had endorsed the candidacy of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, and charges that Chief Ralph Uwechue and his cohorts railroaded the Igbo into the position without due consultation and wonders whose interest their action was meant to serve. According to him, in the process of endorsing Jonathan, Ohaneze has foreclosed the chances of the South-East producing the president of the country in the next 20 years.

Ojukwu is surprised that Igbo people are excited by the Ebele in the President’s name, and explains that it is short for Ebelemi which is an Ijaw word and not an Igbo name as many of them have supposed.

We must address indiscipline and corruption
I am not satisfied with what I see in the political atmosphere for the reasons that it appears that in spite of all we have gone through, Nigerians don’t appear to have grasped what our problems are. We talk about it, but we have not grasped it. The biggest problems confronting this nation today are indiscipline and corruption. And it is at the root of every other problem.

When you talk about power supply, when you talk about the road, when you talk about education, unemployment, infrastructure, indiscipline and corruption are at the root of it all because when money is voted and the people are corrupt, and there is no probity and integrity, you can’t develop. You can’t do anything; you can’t employ; hospitals will decay; universities are decaying, and it’s all because of indiscipline and corruption. And Nigerians don’t seem to be addressing it.

Everybody is crying and crying, this government is not good, this government is not good, but we don’t seem to be doing anything about it. Everybody seems to fear and praise the man who distributes the money. This doesn’t give much room for cheers. That’s one area. Another area is the apparent insecurity that is prevailing in the country today. We don’t seem to have learnt much from history, and a nation that does not learn from history is doomed to fail and decay.

There’s so much insecurity everywhere – killing, bombing, and what have you, and the people at the helm of affairs tend to look the other way. They only pay lip service to these problems, telling us government will do something about it, and nothing is being done - at least we are not seeing anything being done. And when you cannot secure lives and property, you cannot say you have a nation. These are areas that bother me in this period of electioneering. People are interested in wearing uniform and dancing and singing praises; that’s not electioneering. Issues are not being discussed.

From the presidential campaign, only one or two candidates have given the indication that they will address these issues. But one of them stand out on top of the bill, and that is Gen. Buhari. I don’t make any bones about it, I don’t feel shy about it, I am talking as a patriotic Nigerian. Buhari is known in this country as a person who is highly disciplined. And I happen to know him personally, and I can vouch for him. If Buhari comes to power, he can arrest this indiscipline. He had once tried to do it, and for the short period he was in power he succeeded.

People are saying it was idiagbon, but they forget that Idiagbon was his second in command. Buhari was the man calling the shots. He’s a taciturn kind of person, and not given to too much talking. Now about indiscipline, Buhari can handle it; in terms of corruption, he has shown that he is anti-corruption personified. And he has had the opportunity to be corrupt, and he has refused to be corrupt. Why can’t Nigerians look at his antecedents. He does not own propeties all over the places, whether here or abroad. So I think General Buhari can address these two nagging issues.

Buhari is not a bigot
There is something people hold against Buhari – against him in quotes - religion. And I don’t want to shy away from this issue because we must face the fact. People say Buhari is a religious fanatic, but he is not. Nobody has come to show how he is, whether by words of mouth or action. They attribute certain words to him which he did not say. I read somewhere where the renowned Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah, a catholic priest, wrote something few years ago when this matter was raging. He said Buhari didn’t say that.

And he said what Buhari said, vote for a God-fearing person. Buhari never said vote for a muslim, and you will be Buhari’s friend if you are God-fearing; that’s it, period. He’s not a fanatic. Maybe I’m a fanatical Christian myself, but I don’t think I’m a fanatic; I just like to practise my faith. He practises his faith, and if you practise your faith well, whatever religion you belong to, you are my friend because it means that you’re God-fearing.

CPC has no disdain for the South-East
I wouldn’t say CPC has disdain for the south-east because of the way Mike Ahamba’s bid to be the chairman of the party was truncated. I’m not an insider in the party, I must admit. And when I look at facts given by people, I judge them by what they say. If there is hidden agenda, I should be able to see. They had an issue; I read what Buhari said, and I was sympathetic to him. Buhari said Ahamba did not discuss this matter with him; did not tell him he had any interest, not that he had the power to do it if he had told him. But the party had decided to take a chairman from the South-South. Ahamba did not make his interest known. And when Ahamba complained, I was a bit disappointed, he went to the press.

When I’m dealing with my friends, I like to discuss with them, unless there is a big quarrel and we have fallen apart. There was nothing to show that they had fallen apart except when he went to the press, and Buhari said, since he complained to me through the press, I will answer him through the press. And what Buhari said was plain truth. You see Buhari doesn’t lie, even if he is joking; that’s one thing about him. Even it is against him, he says it as it is, that’s Buhari for you. He said he didn’t tell him and did not complain to him. He said the Board of Trustees of the party had decided that the chairman would come from the South-South.

How would I know the ground on which they took their decision? Let’s look at it from another angle. In the past three elections, Buhari had chosen his running mates from the South-East. When you are into an election, going to a contest, you look for areas and possibilities that will enhance your position. It is possible, I don’t know. But from what we read in the papers, Buhari chose Tunde Bakare, and gave his reasons why he chose him.

They had not been friends. It was not that he was looking for somebody from the South-West. It’s simply that it suits his bill, what he intends to do, the programme he wants to execute, that’s why he chose Tunde Bakare, and Tunde Bakare happens to be a Yoruba from the South-West. And it is possible that if Chuba Okadigbo, may he rest in peace, were still alive, he still would have chosen him. After Chuba Okadigbo in 2007 he chose Ume-Ezeoke, and we know how that ended. If I were in Buhari’s shoes, I would look

for somebody I will trust, who will go with me, swim and sink, and whatever I believe in he believes in. they have not been friends, but they met for the first time during the Save Nigeria Campaign. So that’s how I want you to look at it. Now about the zone and all that, I happen to know that Buhari does not disregard our people. And in any case, win or lose.

Ohaneze did not consult before endorsing Jonathan
I am not happy with the position taken by Igbo leaders on the presidential election; the way that Ralph Uwechue and some people in Ohaneze seem to have railroaded into Jonathan presidential project, saying we have all agreed to vote for Jonathan, claiming to have consulted with the people. I don’t expect them to consult with everybody, but if they consulted with people we would have known. It is typical Igbo politics, always the short term, not looking for the long run. A president from the South-South will not favour Igbo cause unless we have decided not to have a shot at the presidency in the next 20-30 years. Unless we have taken that decision, there is no way a South-South presidency will favour us.

But if we say as a people, for which I am proud to be one – if you are not a good ethnic person you cannot be a good Nigerian. So I am not being tribalistic or whatever. If Igbo people have decided they are not interested in the presidency, they can then go for the South-South, whether Jonathan or whoever. There was a beautiful analysis by Nnanna Ochereome in Vanguard, and many people have written, if the man is there, it only makes sense that after four years, if he is going to run one term, that the North will likely insist it will come to them, because they were short-changed this time around. So I think that is a very poor thinking by Ndigbo.

Secondly, Jonathan looks nice, but I have not seen him as a man I can trust politically, and I doubt his credibility. And a man with such a big question mark on his credibility, I cannot, with my yes open, tell my people to vote for him. If it must be somebody from the South-South, another person, maybe. Why do I say this? A man who cannot keep an agreement of his party, cannot be trusted to keep a national agreement. It’s simple. Don’t tell me it’s politics; I don’t think politics is opportunism. I have been a politician; I was a member of the National Assembly two times. I believe in politics with principles, even if it doesn’t favour me.

For a man who signed an agreement, his name was number 33 or 34, to now jettison it because there is an opportunity…and let me tell you, what led to the civil war was the reneging of an agreement. That’s what caused all the conflict. People say it is politics and it doesn’t matter, no. So Ndigbo are short-sighted in queuing behind such a person because he will not keep to his word in their regard.
Again, the next thing is, before Ralph Uwechue and others took that decision, they did not consider those who are likey to be our future friends politically. Now they are saying 2015 is not negotiable, and I laugh.

When Abba Aji said we should forget it, people abused him. He was merely stating the facts which are bitter. Now we don’t have political friends. Those we would have supported based on principles would have been candidates from the North. I am not saying it because I like the Northerner or I hate the Southerner, I say based on principle, on what is equitable and good. When it is now your own turn, you will have somebody who will support you. But now you are just blowing hot air, saying you must have it, how can you have it? Politics is a game of numbers. You don’t support me now, and tomorrow you expect me to come and support you. That’s why I’m against the leadership of Ndigbo in this matter.

Jonathan’s name is Ebelemi, it’s not Igbo
And look at, recently, Jonathan’s government appointed top management team for the NNPC, and 75 per cent of them was from Niger Delta, not one Igbo. The rest were from the North and West; because the man answers Ebele which is Ebelemi - it is not an Igbo name, his name is Ebelemi – the Igbo people are saying he is one of their own, it’s not Igbo; it’s an Ijaw name.

We have never had any political friend, and it is our making because we have not husbanded our political thinking properly. It is not because other people hate us, but because we have not managed our political affairs well. That’s why we don’t have political friends. And each time we are about to have political friends, we blow it. Take for instance during the Abiola era, that’s the time we could have had political friends from the West, but we failed to do that.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/abujareports/2011/apr/11/abujareports-11-04-2011-001.htm

mods please warn or ban this poster

i really do not want to start

please ban this poster infact, he has been following me about with insults and abuses

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?action=profile;u=217644

The Ndigbo has a lot to gain if Ribadu or Buhari enters as the next president because zoning still exist in the minds of Nigerians.

Ohaneze has put us Ndigbo in the worse political situation in resent times, but if Ngige wins we can push for political relevance but in the western Nigeria and ACN as a party

The new political game that has to be played by our igbo elites is to make sure Jonathan loses and Ngige wins the senatorial seat.

By 2015 if Buhari keeps to his words, not only would we have ACN fielding Ngige as a presidential candidate or VP but also we can truly fight for our place in Nigeria economic centre of Lagos because of the ACN.

Moreover we still have PDP and APGA still in the bag as a backup plan.

Please air your thoughts on this Ndigbo

OBJ, what a shame

chai !!!!

this is sad indeed

the daughter of such a great person

may Allah grant her eternal peace

EzeUche:
That would make CPC a socialist party. . .

PDP is purely capitalist.

and do you think capitalism is needed in nigeria

remember nigeria is not america where people are still comfortable even if they are broke

EzeUche:
None of the major parties with maybe the exception of the Labor Party has a clear political ideology. We are not at that stage yet.

CPC ideology is as clear as day

" give power back to the people
fight against corruption"

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=642832.msg8095968#msg8095968 date=1302461709]Dora is not going to win. Enough of the ACn being a Yoruba party drama. Thank God for Fayemi's justice/Fashola's influence tho. Wish the whole SW could be ACN, need to unite, peeps. After SW and NC, ACN needs to move SE bound.[/quote]are are pples allowing igbos to rule in lagos

why

they do not like you people

they do not like anything ACN or yoruba

so why is fashola doing this to his people

Chief Eddie Ugbomah, a pioneer filmmaker in Nigeria, lives in Lagos. He recently clocked 70 years, but he tells ADEOLA BALOGUN why he decided to postpone the celebration
Why did you choose this remote part of the city as your home?
It is an exclusive place to be. Over 40 films have been shot in this place and if not for the elections, you would have met some people shooting a film here. So, this is a place where I set up what I call the first African film village since 1979. I bought the thick forest, over five acres of land. By then, nobody could pay N100 per plot but I paid N500 and I set it up for people to shoot films. If you watch most of the films, even Feyikogbon stayed here for one year shooting his TV series. Oga Bello, Jide Kosoko, Chico Ejiro, Zeb Ejiro, name it, all the major filmmakers, this was their former film village before the Igbo brought their tribalism and took it to Enugu. The Yoruba took their own to Ikorodu and Osogbo. But now, the governor of Lagos State has agreed to help us build a film village here in Badagry when I spoke to him since he said he would not give us money. Don’t forget too that President Goodluck Jonathan has provided $200m for entertainment development; right now we’re negotiating. I moved here to create a Nigerian/African film village, where we have a natural environment far away from the chaotic atmosphere of Lagos. Creative people have their own eccentric way of thinking; you know that I can’t create a film village in Ikoyi. Apart from the fact that I can’t afford it, the atmosphere there is not conducive. Here, we’re next door to Peter King Music College, where the likes of Asa, Omowunmi and other stars were made. I’ve been able to create so many stars here; somebody like Liz Benson was brought up here, Mercy Johnson was brought up here, name it. So many stars have been trained in this house. The exclusivity of this area is a factor. The only headache I have here is electricity and okada (commercial motorcycles), but we can’t control both.
You have always been a strong critic of the Nigerian home video industry. In fact, at a point you said there was nothing like Nollywood. Do you like being referred to as a born critic?
No, it is a mistake Nigerians make; we’re hypocrites. We hate to be criticised or told the truth. I’m one of the icons and pioneers of the film industry and because of the bad economy when the military messed up Nigeria, when the economy nosedived, then celluloid died. And the boys came up with this craze to shoot anything and any nincompoop can jump up and say I’m a filmmaker. One day, one stupid Indian woman came and said, ‘Oh, you are like Hollywood and Bollywood, why don’t you say Nollywood?’ and the boys jumped up and said they are Nollywood. Nolly means nothing in the dictionary, so we have Nothingwood. But for peace, I started to tolerate it and if you don’t know, I’m the chairman of the board of trustees for the producers and directors. Nowhere in the world where you have video festivals, don’t let anybody fool you. So, why are we fooling ourselves to say we’re the third makers of junk videos in the world? Film is still film, whatever the technical knowhow that is coming up now. The only way is that when you shoot film on celluloid, you can download it for home video for those who can’t go to the cinema; they are the reason why there is video. In Europe, they hire videos from video clubs, unlike in Nigeria where you acquire it and dub in your house. The filmmaker first of all starts making money from celluloid film; they start making money from the video before going to television stations. The path of a good movie is from the cinema, to home video and then television stations. I wasn’t criticising them for shooting videos; I criticised them for refusing to grow up. I don’t just criticise; I’ve been all over the world. I grew up in Britain, I schooled in America and I tour Europe a lot and I wish Nigeria is far better because we have more opportunities.
If the likes of Ogunde, you, Ade Love could shoot on celluloid, by now, the industry should have grown beyond the popular home video. Why have we not grown?
Mainly, the most important thing is training. How many of them know what celluloid is? How many of them know how to shoot celluloid without a monitor? How many of them know the right footage at sequences? They don’t know this but they hide under the phrase, ‘Time has changed;’ we’re hypocrites; we always like to cover up our stupidity with excuses. Then, there is this hatred for people like me for having such an intimidating qualification and instead of being humble enough to tap, they run me down. As Obasanjo will say, I dey kampe. Whether it is home video, I dey kampe; whether it is celluloid, I dey kampe. Like the $200m put down by Jonathan, everybody is going to apply to shoot a video film; I have applied to shoot a celluloid film on either the Niger Delta or Aba Women Riots. I shoot authentic contemporary epics. You can watch the line of my films, The Mask, The Death of the Black President, Oyenusi, Apalara, Oil Doom. I forecast the doom in 1978; where are we today? So, these are the kinds of films I shoot to educate and propagate and entertain my nation, to let the white man know that we can do better if given a chance. But unfortunately, Nigerians don’t like decent things. I’m like Jesus Christ shouting alone in the desert. I’m only asking for $1.5m and I will shoot an epic that can win any award, a Nigerian story, shot in Nigeria by Nigerians and taken to anywhere in the world. We have been going to the Cannes Film Festival for the past 12 years with nothing to show. The Nigerian Film Corporation used to hire a kiosk, but nothing else. What they should have done like South Africa is to shoot locations with nice sceneries depicting our tourism potential and sell to foreign filmmakers, thus inviting them over to come and shoot their films. Kenya doesn’t have anything but they could advertise their animals and their forests and people troop to Kenya. We have over 16 waterfalls in Nigeria; if you want to do tourism, you have to correct Nigeria first. You are coming for tourism in Nigeria, you land at the airport and it takes five hours to clear your luggage; you take a taxi and it takes you five hours to go through the traffic without air condition to your hotel and as you are checking in, PHCN strikes. Would you want to come back to such a country again? The same thing is happening in the movie industry: we don’t have those who know movies. We only have boys who want an easy way out; they shoot in the morning and in the evening, they are out.
Apart from training which you have mentioned, are you saying that the practitioners don’t need people like you to guide them?
It is because our people hate to learn; we don’t learn from past mistakes and that is why we keep on repeating the same thing. The bottom line is money: there are no people financing the industry and it is a mega industry. I praise those marketers who put down their money or else there wouldn’t have been nothing called the movie industry today. I’m only angry at the boys for refusing to learn and grow up; they want to shoot on Monday and release on Friday and make their money and use it for something else. If those who have made millions from the industry have put some of it back, and open a place where people can be trained, we would have gone far. When they find out that they can’t continue shooting films, they go into heavy piracy by going abroad to perfect their act. What the government too does not realise is that the entertainment industry is a very vital segment of the economy to be well catered for. I was in America when there was going to be a riot of 35 million blacks; so the government was worried because a 35 million-man riot is no joke. They told all the major network stations in America to play James Brown and when they were playing James Brown music, every black sat down at home to watch. They were all happy, they were all drunk. That was how they forgot the strike. That is the power of entertainment. Movies sooth people’s anger and stress, especially having passed through hectic traffic. You saw how (Dora) Akunyili failed in her rebranding project: she came begging me and Nollywood that she needed us to rebrand Nigeria; the next thing she said was that Nollywood was the worst thing to happen to Nigeria. That is why she failed. Look at Americans, they came here and stole bata music and called it break dancing. James Brown too came and adopted Owerri music of double drums and he became a world star. We have so many epic stories that the world wants to watch.
If you could take to filmmaking training by the time you did, I think by now, more Nigerians should have opted for the career.
Let me give you the joke: almost 50 universities have departments of theatre arts; do they have equipment to train their students? Some of these guys come out with honours, but they have nothing to show. But in America, Britain or Germany, when you go to the university to learn cinematography, your first year, you learn all aspects of it, at the end of your study, you must pick just an area: either you want to be editor or director or a producer or an effect person, but here in Nigeria, things don’t happen that way. How many stars have come out of the universities? The only ones are those who came out of the Jos Film Institute, which I set up when I was the chairman of the Film Corporation. But we need a film village, which (Raji) Fashola has assured me he would help us build. My daughter read theatre arts in LASU, but she can’t run the school I built for her. In Nigeria, I do a lot of part time lecturing but do they want to pay? When I go to America, I lecture and I get paid. I was a lecturer in LASU for four years when they set up the Department of Film, now Theatre Arts and Music, while the young lecturers were taking N60,000 monthly, they wanted to pay me N20,000 a year, saying it is just honorarium. When I went to UNIBEN to teach, the same thing and that is why I don’t take much interest but when I go to America, especially New York and Washington DC, I lecture there for $200 a day. So, when I do three days for each university, I get $600 and I have eight universities I do that for. So, I do my shopping and I come home. Look at the film, Spiderman, they build special cameras for each film and after shooting it, the camera is useless. The man who does all the acrobatics in Spiderman is Japanese, though the film is American. As he was doing the acrobatics, he is carrying a camera recording everything he does because no cameraman can follow him and get everything. But we refuse to learn here. Look at the insult when they say they create a new segment for Nigerian videos in Ouagadougou. When you get there, they take you to the Ajegunle aspect of the place, while all the French films will come first, second and third. We have the Zuma Festival in Nigeria, it is a failure; we have Bob TV, it is a monumental failure; they have the Abuja Film Festival, it is worthless, look at Lagos Film Festival, it is a failure. I’ve been talking to them but they say my time has gone. Charlie Chaplin died at 98 on set, why do they want to kill me at 70 because they don’t want to learn? The movie industry is a great employer of labour, but we don’t realise it. That is why you see a lot of artistes dancing for Jonathan because for the first time, a president has come to talk to us. (Olusegun) Obasanjo didn’t do it, yet he loved music and comedy. The time he wanted to do it was the time he was about to leave. When he went to London, he was asked whether he brought Nigerian films. He was surprised and when he came back, he called (Frank) Nweke Jnr. to tell him. Babangida built a film lab in Jos but people killed the lab because they were using it to steal money.
But you had encounters with Obasanjo,
Yes. When he asked me whether I was happy with my OON, I told him that it was 20 years late but better late than never because they gave me MON during the time of Shagari, I refused to take it. Shagari gave me MON and removed EY, money which is what I want. But when Obasanjo came and gave me OON, I said that is high enough and I took it. Look at the wall: I have 13 children, nine are graduates, two are in the university. God has been so good to me, the industry has been good to me but I want to leave something behind. That is why I’m fighting these boys to get big, not to get cheap by shooting a film on Monday and be in the market on Friday. There is nowhere you mention The Death of a Black President today that people will not remember the film, but you can mention over 200 home videos and people don’t know. Many years ago, the NTA told film makers that it was going international, and so they should stop selling films to African Magic. It said instead of buying at $1,000 by African Magic, NTA would buy for $2,000. Are they buying; are they paying? I did a documentary on the history of Nigeria film at 50, only AIT bought it and NTA got N500m from the government to write their history. They say our films are famous abroad; it is a lie. In Europe, it is those Nigerians that miss home that watch them, not the white men. I’ve not seen a white man in America or Britain go to buy a Nigerian film. It is when Nigerians are watching it that the white friends say, ‘Oh you make films in Nigeria?’ I remember when I was watching one of my films in London, they couldn’t believe we have skyscrapers in Africa; they were telling me, ‘Where did you shoot this Eddie?’ I said, ‘New York;’ they said, ‘No wonder.’ I then told them, those black people you see on the streets, are they Americans? I said that is Lagos, they couldn’t believe it because they were brought up to believe we live in jungles.
Don’t you think that government should support the industry because of its potential?
That is the problem in this country; we always have square pegs in round holes. Who are these ministers of arts and culture? They are just some people from their political parties; they are not close to those people in the business. I know the agony I went through as the adviser and consultant to the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board when I started educating them during the days of Mrs. Odeh; things changed. People stopped doing bloody films, but when Emeka Mbah came, since 2008, they have not paid my salary till today because they found out I was telling them the truth. He came in with four of his assistants who were dumped on him by his godfathers, they just pushed me out. And look at what is happening here now. Because of the $200m Jonathan money, the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria has about Actors Guild going to court every day. See the Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners, they have about 15 segments, for what? That is why they have not achieved anything. If all of us come together irrespective of tribe and language, we write a proposal for a big budget film, we would be respected in applying for the $200m.
At 70, how would you describe your life as a filmmaker?
This is an unappreciative country. As Eddie Ugbomah, I’m very proud of myself. I’ve 13 children and nine are graduates; I’ve this massive compound here; I’ve a house in my village and a house in Washington DC. What else do I want God to do for me? I’ve trained so many artistes; if I die now, I will be smiling like Zik. I’m only regretting that the younger ones are not tapping anything from me, not trying to see me as old school. Now I’m living on goodwill; I have no income. The other time, my car broke down and I took an okada to the office; yet I’m OON. None of my children wants to be involved in the industry because they know the agony I have passed through. I’ve lost a lot because of lack of proper storage for my films. Celluloid should be kept in a cool place. I’m now trying to salvage some of them by taking them to America to turn into DVD. Apart from this, I’m a very happy man. The only sad aspect is that I lost my wife about 10 years ago, but I am happy with my children.
Why did you even take to filmmaking?
I found out very young the power of cinema. I was a small boy and climbed the wall of Glover Memorial Hall in 1959 to watch Zik bring Charlton Heston to Nigeria with a film called Ben Hur. The man was kind of reprimanding Nigeria that a big country like ours didn’t have a film industry and I shouted on top of my voice that, ‘Oyinbo, you will never come to Nigeria again because I’m going to be a filmmaker.’ That is how the thing sank in. I was very brilliant in school and everybody thought I was going to be a doctor or engineer but I chose film.
When you clocked 70 last December, why did you postpone the birthday bash?
We couldn’t raise enough of the fund we needed because people don’t appreciate men. That is why I decided to take it upon myself to celebrate myself. I’m shooting a film called Desert Warriors, how the Fulani invaded Nigeria. I’m also publishing a book called Pains of Eddie Ugbomah at 70 with lots of stories on all my films. Then I’m going to do a concert to launch my foundation, Eddy Efosa Food Foundation with a lot of old and new artistes. We’re looking at May or June to do all this and then, I would have celebrated my birthday properly.
Why didn’t you consider getting married again after you lost your wife about 10 years ago?
I’ve had bad luck with women. My first wife was harassed by my family: they said she couldn’t cook Nigerian food and she said we should go back to America or England and I said never, so she left. The second one, I was away in America, she got pregnant for the deacon of their church. Then the last one I married, she was about 40, she died suddenly. So, for the past 10 years, I’ve been a bachelor and I’m not looking for ever to make a mistake of a woman again. I’m happy with my children.


http://news2.onlinenigeria.com/entertainment/89048-i-used-oil-doom-to-predict-the-niger-delta-crisis-in-1978-%E2%80%93-eddie-ugbomah.html

[size=18pt]bayelsa on fire[/size]


Voters in Bayelsa State were jittery on Friday following the fear of a possible outbreak of violence as the Independent National Electoral Commission holds the rescheduled National Assembly election on Saturday (today), an investigation by SATURDAY PUNCH has shown.


It was discovered that with such phobia in the minds of eligible voters, many polling units, especially those in the creeks, might witness a low turnout of voters.


It was found that voters were more apprehensive of possible explosions, which had become rampant in the state in the build-up to the elections.


Some residents told SATURDAY PUNCH that they were scared of being caught up in a crossfire that usually occurred between armed hoodlums and security agencies in different parts of the state.


It was learnt that stakeholders were worried on the possible outcome of elections in the state, especially considering that it is the home of President Goodluck Jonathan, who will be expected to cast his votes at his Otueoke hometown.


It was learnt that there were subtle moves from Abuja to douse the political tension in the state by appealing to the political gladiators to maintain the peace.


Such moves, it was gathered, became necessary to avoid a repeat of what happened on Saturday, which is capable of impugning on the integrity of the President, who has been an advocate of a peaceful election.


It was gathered that the shootout that occurred last Saturday morning at Ekeremor between armed youths and operatives of the Joint Task Force codenamed Operation Restore Hope, in which three of the miscreants were killed, had aggravated the anxiety in the state.


More so, the explosion that rocked a three-star hotel owned by Mrs. Tikere, the wife of the reinstated deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Peremobowei Ebebi, on Wednesday, had further raised fresh fears in the state ahead of today’s poll.


Some persons had thrown explosives suspected to be dynamite into Latik Hotel located in Kpansia, Yenagoa Local Government Area at about 8 pm.


The state chairman of the Labour Party, Mr. Adou Bobo, was said to have held a meeting with the leaders and youths of the party in the hotel on Monday, a day before the incident, heightening the tension between the party’s camp and the Peoples Democratic Party.


Ebebi has been in battle with Sylva leading to his impeachment by the state house of assembly.


But he was reinstated by the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.


Ebebi is contesting the Bayelsa West senatorial district seat under the umbrella of the LP.


But the explosion, which happened four days to today’s election, has reportedly highlighted a possible outbreak of violence.


The new Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Aderenle Shinaba, had summoned the officials of the Bomb Disposal Unit on Wednesday morning to his office at the state police headquarters, to review the incident and promised to forestall a recurrence.


Despite the assurances of the police, voters were still apprehensive based on the fact that the police had made such promises in the past without fulfilling them.


Some of them, who spoke to SATURDAY PUNCH on the condition of anonymity, said to encourage voters to participate in the election today, there must be special security arrangements especially in the creeks.


Based on the developments in the state, Shinaba was summoned to the Zone Five Police Headquarters in Benin, Edo State on Thursday for a special security meeting.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104081461362

Three persons were feared dead in election violence on Saturday in Delta and Bayelsa states.





Two persons reportedly died in a clash between supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party and Democratic Peoples Party in Ogume, Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State while one life was lost when members of the PDP engaged faithful of the Labour Party in a gun battle in Twon Brass, Bayelsa State.





There were also reports of injuries and damage to property.





More details in Sunday PUNCH tomorrow.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2011040914135512

Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is putting undue pressure on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Attahiru Jega to change election rules midstream, Congress for Progressive Change’s (CPC) presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari charged yesterday. He also expressed worry over the “duress and undue influence that President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling PDP are exerting on the INEC chairman.”


Speaking through his spokesperson Yinka Odumakin, the CPC flagbearer said, “We had hitherto believed that the National Assembly elections that had to be aborted and postponed in the middle of voting was because of non availability of critical materials as announced by Prof. Jega. However we now have reasons to believe that covert as well as overt pressures are being exerted by President Goodluck Jonathan, the ruling PDP and their agents because of their vested interests in manipulating the outcome of the elections.”


Buhari said “if we had doubts about the widely circulated rumour that senior officers in the Legal and Operations departments of INEC deliberately engineered the delay/non availability of the critical materials as an act of sabotage to discredit Prof. Jega, such surreptitious or covert moves now pale into relative insignificance in light of the emergency meeting of the National Security Council chaired by President Jonathan with Prof. Jega and other senior officials of INEC after the postponed elections.”

The presidential candidate also demanded “a probe of the role of INEC’s Federal Commissioner for Operations, Dr. Nuru Yakubu in the event that led to the bungling of last Saturday’s elections just as we call on Prof Jega to clear the air on the rumour making the rounds that two sets of result sheets with the same serial numbers were allegedly printed by the official printer of INEC.”

Buhari’s spokesman also said that yesterday’s edition of Daily Trust “reported that Vice President Namadi Sambo, National Security Adviser to the President, Ministers of Defense and Police Affairs along with other service chiefs were also present at the meeting where accusing fingers were repeatedly pointed at the INEC chairman for the problems that led to the postponement.”

He added that the pressures were so strong that the INEC chairman succumbed and agreed not to combine the National Assembly elections with that of the presidential elections as has since been publicly announced by INEC.

The opposition leader said that like most other Nigerians, he was disappointed by the postponement of the elections midstream but strongly believes that Jega made the right call to postpone the elections rather than continuing with flawed elections.

“So, we see no reason for the president and National Security Council meeting in the first place. We also understand that there will be more surreptitious moves in the days ahead to embark on a media campaign of calumny to force Professor Jega to resign so that one of the PDP-friendly INEC commissioners can be appointed as acting chairman of INEC,” Odumakin said.

The CPC leader wanted to know “why should the National Security Council be meeting with INEC at this stage without other political parties being present? Why should the ruling party embark on duress and undue influence for the rules to be changed in the middle of the game? Why should the president and PDP’s preference for the National Assembly elections and the presidential election not to be combined be imposed on all the other major parties? Why should the president and the ruling PDP be clamouring for the involvement of the military in the conduct of the elections? Will Prof. Jega eventually succumb just as Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo of Ekiti State, who initially resisted but later bowed to pressure from the ruling PDP?”

Buhari said that it is in view of these and many more reasons that they strongly urge President Jonathan and the ruling PDP to cease and desist from any further covert and overt interference in the way and manner in which the elections are conducted by INEC; not only in the interest of free, fair and credible elections that Jonathan has promised Nigerians and the world at large but also in the interest of peace and stability of the country.


http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16081:buhari-to-jonathan-dont-harass-inec&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8