₦airaland Forum

[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

Ndigbo in Lagos have pledged support for the re-election bid of Governor Babatunde Fashola, saying that his  administration has protected their interest.

The Coalition of Igbo in ACN, led by Chief Chris Ekwilo, praised former Governor Bola Tinubu and Fashola   for  involving some members in governance at state and local government levels.

Ekwilo observed that Fashola has demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities and made the state a model to others in the federation.

At a rally held at the Lagos State secretariat of ACN, on Acme Road, Ogba, Ikeja, the Publicity Secretary of the coalition, Comrade Joe Igbokwe, said Igbo would give 95 per cent of their  votes to the party.

He noted that Fashola  has been celebrated by the opposition parties, adding that he is a dedicated, decisive, dependable, intelligent, tested and trusted administrator.

Igbokwe also pointed out that Fashola has made Lagos a clean and secure state, thereby making it attractive to investors.

He said: “Governor Fashola is opening up Lagos through investments in massive road construction. anytime a brand new road passes through your house, the value of the property goes up. This is how government puts money in your pocket”.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/32827.html
[img]http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/thumbnail.php?file=Ndigbo_520617346.jpg&size=article_medium[/img]

ALTHOUGH President Goodluck Jonathan may have officially ended his campaign tour of the country in his quest to return to Aso Rock on April 16, 2011, the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is still intensifying secret campaigns in some parts of the country which they believe that the opposition appear to hold sway even as indications have emerged that the National Assembly may tinker with its April 19 resumption date.

The Guardian gathered that immediately after the grand finale of the PDP presidential campaign held in Abuja on March 26, 2011, the chieftains of the party under the leadership of Jonathan held a meeting and agreed that there was a need for the party to carry out what a source described as ‘’informal meetings with some areas that the party still has some challenges in terms of extracting “concrete commitments from the political gladiators that the presidential candidate of PDP would be delivered at the polls which will now take place on April 16.

The strategy, according to party sources, became necessary because of the ‘’misinterpretation which some sections gave to certain comments made by PDP during the campaigns and the ferocious inroad of the opposition in vital areas like the North West’’. The North West has large number of votes that can likely determine the winner of the presidential election. The zone has seven states namely Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Kebbi.

The leadership of PDP is of the position that the North West political leaders from the party still has more work to do on the electorate because of the incident in Kaduna on February 11, when some people who had come to listen to President Jonathan at the zonal rally in Kaduna left the venue before the president spoke. Some political pundits have explained that to mean that PDP is not acceptable to many people in the North West. According to a source, “this negative impression needs to be cleared before we go into the election’’.

For this reason, the party has given a charge to the Director General of Jonathan/Sambo campaign organisation to reverse the trend before the presidential election. ‘’This was one of key issues that the party is handling and we are positive that the desired results will be achieved because apart from these people who are visible in the campaigns, the party is equally reaching out to leaders of thought, including clerics from the zone’’, the source said.

In the case of the South West, The Guardian gathered that the president and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party led by the acting national chairman, Dr. Haliru Mohammed Bello, had a private meeting with the delegates in Abuja, where a reference was made to the statement he made at the Ibadan zonal rally that the zone should not be left in the hands of jokers because it is sophisticated. Members of the party from the zone were advised to take the opportunity of the Neigbour-to-Neighbour method of the campaign organisation “to erase the wrong interpretation given to the president’s message by the opposition’’,

“With the presidential election shifted to next Saturday, it is our hope that the party’s message of good hope and fresh air in Nigeria will further sink and that will mean that the opposition are living in illusion to say that there will be a second ballot. No party has campaigned the way PDP has done and no candidates has toiled for votes like our candidate. We have toured the entire country and we have reached every Nigerian with our Neighbour-to-Neighbour campaign and when a man has worked hard like that, his reward is success and that is what we expect. Like we said, we were ready for the presidential election and we are still ready and we expect Nigerians to vote massively for the party at all levels’’, the national publicity secretary of the party. Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali said.

Meanwhile, indications have emerged that the two chambers of the National Assembly - Senate and the House of Representatives will shift their date of resumption from April 19, 2011 earlier fixed by them. Speaking with The Guardian on the telephone from his Enugu North Senatorial District in Enugu State yesterday, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Communications, Senator Ayogu Eze, said that with the recent development where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shifted the elections, the National Assembly would not be able to reconvene on April 19, 2011. He described the postponement of the National Assembly elections as unfortunate.

“It is unfortunate that the we have this situation on our hands but I appeal to Nigerians to remain calm. Let them be patient with INEC and still contribute their quota to the success of the exercise. With this development, the National Assembly can not reconvene on April 19 because we have elections up till March 26, but the leadership of the National Assembly will let Nigerians know’’, he said.

Also, the PDP has said it was targeting at least 80 per cent victory in the various elections in the South-East, even as it urged her supporters in the zone not to be discouraged by the sudden shift in the elections.

National Vice Chairman of the party in the South-East, Chief Olisa Metuh, who stated this while addressing reporters in Enugu yesterday, said the party does not need to resort to violence to achieve the feat, stressing that PDP has become dominant party for the politics of the zone.

He said he was certain that the party would win the elections in Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia states and an overwhelming majority in Imo State, refraining however to comment on the fate of the party in his home state, Anambra.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43805:pdp-intensifies-lobby-in-nwest-swest-for-jonathan&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

•PPN accuses PDP of plot to stop Isiaka •Olurin: we want the court to clarify his status

Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel yesterday said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has derailed. He declared: I’ll not support the party in the general elections.

Daniel spoke in Ijebu - Ode during the disbursement of grants-in-aid to Community Development Associations (CDAs) for various self-help projects.

The state chapter of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) yesterday raised the alarm over a plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop its governorship candidate, Mr Gboyega Isiaka, from participating in the election.

In a statement, PPN’s Publicity Secretary Mr Raheem Ajayi said: “This is not only condemnable but a usurpation of the functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

‘’It is also an infraction of the rights of the PPN under the electoral laws to present its duly nominated candidates for election.

“We cry out to the world that both the PPN and those of us who are victims of Justice Kafarati’s injunction and judgment have no confidence in Kafarati. And we do not sound this warning without cause.”

He described the state PDP as a “band of desperados and opportunists.”

Ajayi called on President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Federation, (INEC, civil rights organisations and the media to caution the party against “truncating democracy in Ogun State.”

But the PDP’s governorship candidate Gen. Adetunji Olurin, in a statement, said the case was not that of the state PDP and PPN in Ogun State.

He said it was between the PDP and INEC because of an alleged illegality in admitting Isiaka as a candidate against provisions of the Electoral Act.

Olurin said: “How possible is it for Isiaka to be a candidate when at the time our case against him was determined, nomination process and substitution had closed?

‘’The law made provision for substitution but we are yet to be told that Isiaka met those conditions.

‘’There is also a pending appeal on the matter, in which he is involved, so how can he be candidate of another party when he is still fighting in court for PDP ticket? These are what we want the court to decide.”

Daniel said: “The PDP that you hear about in Ogun State has become a shadow of itself. As somebody well brought up, there is no way I can afford to support PDP in the state. The PDP of today, where you conduct primaries in the open and some people changed the process through the backdoor cannot be a party I would associate with.

“But our President, Goodluck Jonathan, is of good character and I am sure he did his best , We worked assiduously for his presidential ambition. The president was not part of the conspiracy that occurred in Ogun PDP. But let us go and vote enmasse for the president. However, after that, there is nothing else we can do than to support the new political party in Ogun State ; that is PPN.

“We thank God that we came and toured all the 236 wards in the state , appealing to you that despite the fact that we do not like the PDP, let us vote for the party because of our baba, Chief Obasanjo. And I thank God that you agreed with me and we succeeded in the election. But I want to tell you that the PDP of the last eight years is quite different from the current PDP,” Daniel said.

He chided the PDP governorship candidate Adetunji Olurin for threatening to jail him. He said: “The person they chose as their candidate said he would send the governor (me) to jail.

“They think civilian government is run like the military. They think the way the military trampled on people’s rights is the way government would be run in Ogun; their forefathers will go to jail. If I have worked tirelessly to develop Ogun State in eight years, their forefathers will go to jail. You would observe that your governor has not spoken like this before, but if one ought to speak out, one should speak out,” Daniel said.

He denied that his administration was using public funds to support the campaign efforts of PPN and its candidates

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/31762.html

In spite of efforts of opposition parties to take advantage of the multi-ethnic nature of Lagos State, ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN writes that the support for Governor Babatunde Fashola transcends ethnic lines.





If there is any state in Nigeria whose character fits Femi Osofisan’s book, “Many Colours Make the Thunder King”, it is Lagos. The state has an estimated population of 18 million people of varying ethnic groups and nationalities and is perhaps the most diverse in the whole country. Although official census puts its population at nine million, from all indications, the city has higher population especially since the voter registration figure says the number of people who were eligible to vote were more than six million.


In this vein, there has been a high appeal to the ethnic diversity of the state in recent times. First, it was President Goodluck Jonathan, who met an Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Aka-Ikenga, in Lagos State. Though the president at the meeting stressed how important it was to appreciate ethnic diversity, it was largely perceived as rallying Igbo support for himself especially since Yorubas is Lagos might not be too predisposed to voting him. In his Ibadan rally, [size=14pt]the president pointed out that the number of non-Yorubas outweighs the Yorubas in the place; a tacit way of making an ethnic appeal against Yorubas’ voting strength[/size].


T[b]here are no figures of the number of Igbos and other ethnic nationalities[/b], who live in Lagos but various word of mouth accounts put it between 40 to 60 per cent of the actual population of Lagos. With such belief tottering in the minds of the Igbos and others, [size=14pt]it is obvious that Lagos is a breeding ground for ethnic battles[/size] in the coming election. Recently, some Igbo groups threatened to give their protest votes to another party other than the Action Congress of Nigeria if the governor did not promise to give them more appointments based on their population.


[size=14pt]Not only are the Igbo clamouring for a share of Lagos, the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum recently claimed that they didn’t have a representative in the Lagos State Executive Council and they wanted to be included in the running of Lagos.
[/size]

With the various interplay of ethnic factors, the governor, Babatunde Fashola, might have a hot clay pot in his hands which he must set down carefully and handle with utmost tact. Recently, when he attended a debate organised by the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church, somebody in the audience identified himself as an Igbo who has been living in Lagos for 32 years. He accused the governor of using the Igbos to win elections and afterwards, destroyed their businesses and then they left for the East where they took to crime.


T[b]he governor replied that his life long friends are mostly Igbos because of where he schooled. He gave instances of several appointments that he has given to people who are non-indigenes and non-Yorubas in Lagos State, saying that the quality of expertise they bring to the table matters more.
[/b]

He said, “on the issue of appointment, I focus more on content and Quality rather than where people come from. Lagos is home for all. We don’t need to integrate them because they have already made a home here. They are in various aspects of governance, from civil service to the judiciary.”


For those who might have thought the ethnic nationalities would explode on his head and probably cause him to lose elections, a gradual turnaround of ethnic agitation occurred recently when various socio cultural groups representing the northerners, Igbos and South-South indigenes in the state started endorsing and showing support for the Governor Babatunde Fashola and his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria.


First, it was the Ebonyi community resident in Lagos State who conferred him with the chieftaincy title of “Omenkeafurunanya 1 of Ebonyi.”


Also, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, on behalf of their people, held a rally in his support. The National President of the AYFC, Alhaji Yerima Shettima said the Arewa community has not had a fair share of representation in governance at the State Executive Council, despite the contributions the community has made to the success story of the state under the Fashola administration.


He said, “[size=14pt]The Arewa Community has been sidelined, we do not have a representative at the state executive council but the Igbos have. We pay our taxes more than any other community in the state. We contribute our own quota to governance and we believe that we should also have our people representing us at the top.
[/size]

“We expect that in his acceptance speech by May 29, 2011, the Governor will announce that at least one or even two of our members will be in his cabinet, if the Igbo have one, we should have at least two because we have contributed more to state development”.


As the race towards the elections heats up, one ethnic based group or the other has been endorsing Fashola overwhelmingly. These days, Fashola greets Hausas and Igbos at various campaign grounds in their indigenous languages before switching to Yoruba or English. At a recent rally in Agege, the Nupe Community gave him overwhelming support, making T-Shirts and other campaign materials for him.


A rally was held on the international trade fair grounds in Ojo, Lagos. Leaders of diverse ethic nationalities in Lagos such as Igbos, South South and northerners. Present at the occasion were the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Revd Ben Akabueze, Abia State ACN governorship candidate, Chief Paul Ikonne and Arewa leader in Lagos, Mr. Ahmed Kabiru who endorsed Fashola’s re-election bid and encouraged their members to vote for him overwhelmingly.


Kabiru said a poll was conducted among the over one million members of Lagos State Arewa Community to choose among the candidates, the one they should support in the next governorship election and, according to Kabiru, Fashola “ranked first among other gubernatorial candidates from political parties”. He said their ratings showed that Fashola’s credentials and performance towered above the others.


He said, “Fashola scored 72 per cent. His cumulative average was put at 68 percent. The assessment report also shows that Fashola’s administration “performed 73 per cent in the education sector, 78 percent in health, 74 in public works, 58 percent in transportation and 52 percent in environment. But his administration only performed 58 in transportation and 52 percent in environment due to the excesses of the officers of the state Traffic Management Authority and Kick Against Indiscipline Brigade officers”.


Ikonne urged the residents of the state to sustain the broom revolution in the state, saying Lagos State “has been a reference point in all states of the federation,” a rationale for which he said, all residents of the state irrespective of their status and groups should vote for Fashola.


Not only that, shortly before the solidarity rally took place, some Igbo professionals also took up the governor on issues which concern his plan for Lagos residents across ethnic borders if he is re-elected. Another Igbo group and non governmental organisation, Sisters Forum, organised a solidarity rally in Surulere for the governor. The founder of the group, Mrs. Chinyere Anokwuru, said their basis for endorsing Fashola is because “he has fulfilled all his promises by constructing several roads such as Cele Okota Link Bridge, the Sabo Yaba road and the LASU-Iba road. Fashola’s administration has also given succour to thousands of women who have been trained at the various skills acquisition centres across the state”.


Anokwuru also alluded to the credit facility scheme of the state, from which she said a good number of people “have benefitted through Lagos State Micro Credit Finance Institution just as public schools have been renovated and many new ones constructed. On the strength of his achievements, Fashola deserves re-election due to socio-economic transformation he has brought to the metropolis”.


Recently, Fashola met a group of Igbo businessmen and discussed the issue of Lekki Free Trade Zone among other issues. He told them that the project now caters for the goods and services they travel as far as China to import and that the difficulties they experience in clearing their goods at the ports was the handiwork of the PDP-led federal government. Fashola told them that his government “has shown in the last four years that we are a government for everybody, not a government for the Yorubas alone”. He promised that his cabinet, if re-elected at the April 9 gubernatorial polls, “will consist of the best brains in the state regardless of ethnic or religious leanings”.


With only a few weeks to the elections, it will be interesting to see how far the various ethnic nationality factors will play out both at presidential and governorship elections.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110324139459

Former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has charged candidates to go into the National Assembly and make laws for fiscal federalism.

“Go ahead,” he told the cheering crowd, “and elect all ACN legislative candidates into the National Assembly to tackle fiscal federalism and financial responsibility.”

Addressing a rally at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, to mark the Local Government Day in Lagos State, Tinubu told the crowd, comprising mainly local government officials, that the current federal revenue formula should be changed for Nigeria to develop.

He said: “As it is, the Federal Government takes far too much revenue to the detriment of states and local governments, where the real development takes place. For a truly federal state, states and local governments must take a minimum of 70 per cent of federally collected revenue.”

Praising Governor Babatunde Fashola, who was present, for showing good leadership, Tinubu said the governor kept the fiscal federalism issue on the national front burner.

The former governor congratulated the local government officials for keeping faith with what he called a “bottom-up” development paradigm which he said was being suppressed by Nigeria’s quaint federalism, which is no better than a unitary system.

He criticised federal authorities for their handling of local government administration.

Tinubu accused the Goodluck Jonathan campaign group of promoting “adversity instead of prosperity” and “divisiveness instead of unity”.

C[b]harging the President with playing the ethnic card by trying to turn the Igbo, the Hausa and other non-Yoruba against the Yoruba in Lagos, Tinubu said Jonathan was looking for division where there was none.[/b]

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/31516.html

A faction of the Igbo-speaking community in Lagos has thrown its weight behind the candidature of Dr. Ade Dosunmu, the gubernatorial flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

The group, speaking under the aegis of ‘Ndigbo for PDP’, said their members predominantly reside in Kosofe area of the state, where they promised to vote massively for the PDP against the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The Chairman of the group, J. C. Onyeabor, said they took the decision because the “Igbo have been in economic and political darkness in the state for the past 12 years”.

Onyeabor further insisted that the ruling party (ACN) has brought untold hardship to the people of Igbo extraction; hence they would pitch their tent with the PDP.

Onyeabor said: “The ACN that claims to be leading us have brought pains, sorrow and misery to the Igbo community in Lagos. We have gathered to demonstrate our resolve to improve on our plight, so that the Igbo may be free from the bondage of the present administration.

“Governor Babatunde Fashola once insulted us when he said we could go back to our states if we were not comfortable with the way he was destroying our businesses. The hardship he brought upon us during the closure of Ladipo Market is still fresh in our memory.”


http://www.compassnewspaper.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1907:-igbo-in-lagos-root-for-pdp-governor&catid=37:general-news&Itemid=607

[quote author=Chyz* link=topic=627286.msg7950418#msg7950418 date=1300646794]Show me the link where DEDE1 said the Edos were  Pro- yoruba. I'd like to see that. Also, I didn't know that you regard DEDE1 so high that his words now are all truthful and solid without a shadow of a doubt now. From now on you should cease to argue with him.

The Edos NEVER vote in the same pattern as the SW! Where the hell have you gotten this unbelievably false claim from?!. As far as your MW claim, yorubas didn't "dominate everything" as you are claiming. They simply suppressed the other ethnic groups and also used them for their resources. This was so because the heads of the Western Region were yorubas. It's called Discrimination.[/quote]sharrap dai you bloody lier


the leader was a yoruba man but his vice was an edo man,.,.,. true or false

nice one op

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=626175.msg7945961#msg7945961 date=1300569940]I read Ondo State lost 260 Oil wells to Delta state a few year's ago (see links), so what's new?

Nigerian Oil wells/wealth belongs to Nigerian Politicians, their families and their goons regardless of ethnicity.

Join politics my people, quit crying over resources that will not benefit you. 


http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/21532-ondo-loses-whopping-260-oil-wells-delta.html


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5589595-147/ondo_seeks_legal_redress_over_delta.csp[/quote]gbamm

ki lo de gann

[img]http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStLVQSWwGzO1ik5Cc40E0fdpQcdefvsnRyDq3fa9m_7YjjRcXl[/img]

semid4lyfe:
This has to be the most pointless and senseless thread I've seen this year. . .

Jeez!

how 

you know you do not have to look at it not even comment on the thread

hater

Beaf:


Its almost safe to say Tinubu has gone senile.

you are right he is senile but remember you are still a mumu

i can see that his tiunbu is drunk or just a rascal like mr presido rightly said

[quote author=Chyz* link=topic=611784.msg7796598#msg7796598 date=1298605660]Ba wo ni,jare? [/quote]

wetin be that olodo

[quote author=Chyz* link=topic=611784.msg7796562#msg7796562 date=1298604758]You are yoruba.stop trying to keep up with this fake northern identity. Alj olu haram, kedu? [/quote]you can you just shut your mouth, can you explain to me how i am yoruba because i do not side igbos

Beaf:
Have you seen how civilians are whopping the arses og Gaddafi's almajiri's? lol
Same thing will happen to anybody that disobeys orders, because they are coming from an Igbo man, they will end up riding camels in Northern Chad.

well let him try it

i can see that there is no point reasoning with all of you here

some are even talking about terrorist while other and saying the east drive the economy

songothor

i will not put africa above my religion either do i expect you as a christian to put africa first before Jesus but at the end of the day it is you decision

[quote author=EzeUche_ link=topic=611070.msg7796543#msg7796543 date=1298604389]Any Igbo men willing to satisfy Ileke-Idi's carnal needs? She seems like is getting worse each day, without having an Igbo man satisfy her.   [/quote]you peolple made her like this

Beaf:
Then they will end up in Northern Chad. Simple as abc.

see your logic,, ,. nothing

who will put them in chad you or mend

or maybe opc or massob

[quote author=EzeUche_ link=topic=611784.msg7796464#msg7796464 date=1298602839]He did it, because he wants an Igbo man to protect him. Smart move on his part. It is hard to sleep, when you have a Northerner breathing down your neck. [/quote]what do you mean he wants an igboman to protect him,.,.,. how would the igbo man do it if the military is held by northerners and they decide not to take order from the igboman

he did it to end tribalism in the military thats all

THE deputy governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja, has told former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, that he lacks the liberty to speak for the Yoruba race.

Alhaji Arapaja stated this while reacting to the outburst credited to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leader in the media, while reacting to President Goodluck Jonathan’s address at the official commencement of the South-West campaign rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Mapo Hall, in Ibadan two weeks ago.

According to the Arapaja, who spoke through his chief media officer, Kola Adegoke, Yoruba people of the South-West were the most educated, the most enlightened and the most politically sophisticated in the country, and would have reacted to the president’s statement if they felt insulted by the remarks that had generated needless controversies in the media.

Arapaja said with the array of self-determination groups like the Yoruba Unity Forum; Afenifere; Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE); Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC); Oodua Redemption Movement (ORM); The Agbekoya Group, all peopled by eminent Yoruba men and women of proven integrity, the Yoruba race would have spoken out if the president really abused them or offended true, genuine and morally upright Yorubas with his comments at the Mapo rally.

Alhaji Arapaja asked if Tinubu, who had refused to publicly disclose or associate with his root in Iragbiji, Osun State, had the moral right to speak for the Yoruba race.

He said leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Adegoke Adelabu; Chief Abraham Adesanya; Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola; Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin; Chief Bola Ige and a host of other Yoruba leaders, never

adopted hook and crook means to assume leadership positions. They all lived by good examples which those who claimed to be their disciples must emulate.

He said those affected by Jonathan’s remarks were not the people of Yorubaland but political desperadoes who had perfected the art of blackmailing the society, including the judiciary to get to office at all cost.

The deputy governor said the campaign of calumny launched by Tinubu’s foot soldiers against Governor Alao-Akala portrayed them as a bunch of petty and insincere politicians because industrial unrest in the health sector was not peculiar to Oyo State, while he reminded Tinubu that his political godson, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola was yet to resolve the strike embarked upon by medical workers in the state in spite of the close to N20 billion revenue accruing to the state every month.

Alhaji Arapaja also said Tinubu’s adopted Lagos State was ranked 32nd out of 36 states in the implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme, thus, tampering with the future of innocent children in Lagos State.

The deputy governor of Oyo State, however, wants Senator Tinubu to concentrate on how to clear the mess he created in ACN through imposition of family members and his cronies and those of other party leaders as candidates against the wish of party members

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/18085-tinubu-lacks-privilege-to-speak-for-yorubas-arapaja

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has explained why he appointed an Igbo man, Lieutenant-General Azubuike Iheji-rika, as Chief of Army Staff (COAS), saying that beside basing it on merit, it was also in conformity with his resolve not to discriminate against any Nigerian, no matter his tribe or religion.

Jonathan said this during a visit to members of the Abia State traditional rulers council, led by its chairman, Eze John Akaniru, in Aba.

The president, who was in the state in continuation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nationwide campaign, asserted that it was in view of his administration’s policy of equal opportunities for all Nigerians that he chose General Ihejirika, after much submissions and analyses, with conviction of his brilliance and competence among his contemporaries.

According to him, “he is a brilliant and competent officer, and when people thank me for his appointment, I say no, because we are re-creating a Nigeria, where no one or ethnic group suffers discrimination of any kind.

“I did not know him, I did not know he was from Abia State, but I did my analysis and I was told he was the best and I decided that being the best, he has to take the job,” Jonathan said.

On the issue of kidnapping, Jonathan reassured of the commitment of the administration to eradicate the menace and tackle other issues of insecurity in the South-East region and the nation in general.

The traditional rulers later conferred the title of Omezuri Abia, meaning “the one that has built Abia” on the president.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/18099-why-i-appointed-igbo-man-as-coas--jonathan