₦airaland Forum

tinubu is a rogue, thug and bully.
pity that such a person is allowed to hold so much sway in 9ja politics reflects teh lackaidaisical attitude of thos eof us who refuse to get engaged. imagine the voters turnout in these elections. it just gives plenty of room for thugs to have a field day.

NEW YORK – The audience at Thursday's performance of "Fela!" on Broadway got an extra thrill when an unannounced guest arrived — the first lady.

Michelle Obama and six girlfriends stunned theatergoers when she arrived at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on 49th Street to catch the Tony Award-winning musical about Fela Kuti, the Afrobeat artist and
Nigerian political activist.

"When the audience realized that she was in the audience, they just went nuts," said Stephen Hendel, who co-conceived and produced the show. "People started standing up and applauding, saying 'We love you!' and 'We love you, Michelle!' It took a minute or so to get the audience to settle down."

The musical features dancers mingling with the audience and the first lady's group was seated along Row G, where many of the dancers cross over. The Secret Service asked the dancers not to change their performance but to give Obama some extra space.

Hendel was one of only few people who knew ahead of time that the first lady was coming. The cast was only told 20 minutes before Obama's arrival. She and her friends arrived shortly after 8 p.m. as the overture was ending.

The audience also cheered wildly when the musical made reference in the first act to one of Kuti's nicknames: Black President. Said Hendel: "The whole place just exploded."

At the end, the first lady's group gave the musical a standing ovation and Obama stayed to greet and congratulate each sweaty member of the cast as they passed. "She was hugely gracious," said Hendel, who watched the night's performance with his wife, Ruth, also one of the show's producers.

"It's a wonderful feeling that this show would have Mrs. Obama come to it."

Broadway shows have lured Obama before. She and daughters Sasha and Malia attended performances of "Memphis" and "The Addams Family" in March. And she and her husband saw "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" during a date night in 2009.

"Fela!" was nominated for a Tony Award as last year's best musical. It won for Best Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Design. In addition to the Hendels, it is also produced by actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith and hip-hop star Jay-Z.

A production opened this week at London's National Theatre with Sahr Ngaujah, who originated the title character on Broadway. The Broadway run, which features Kevin Mambo in the title role and Patti LaBelle as his mother, ends Jan. 2.

from: Yahoo News

Music is mightier than guns

The Babangida years

By Tolu Ogunlesi
April 17, 2010 10:36PM

In his first New Year Days speech as military president, months after deposing the Buhari-Idiagbon government in a bloodless coup enthusiastically welcomed by Nigerians, Ibrahim Babangida declared: I wish to reaffirm that this administration does not intend to stay in power a day longer than is required to lay the necessary institutional framework to bring about a better and more stable Nigeria. Babangidas bonhomie (its trademark an endearing gap-toothed smile) - in stark contrast to the stern, unsmiling façade of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor - made it easy for him to be believed.
The distinction between the two regimes in fact ran much deeper than personality quirks. Babangida, in action, proved to be the complete antithesis of his predecessor. He threw open prison doors, setting free hundreds of 3rd republic politicians convicted and jailed by Buhari. He repealed the obnoxious Decree No. 4 of 1984 with which the Buhari regime had shackled the media. He promised to run an open administration that is responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of all the people - a departure from the high-handedness of the Buhari/Idiagbon era.
One of his first actions as military president was to allow Nigerians to decide, through public debates, whether to accept the $2.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan the Buhari government had been negotiating for.
After the terror of the Buhari years, Nigerians appeared to have found a statesman in military uniform.

Tough times that lasted

By 1985, Nigerias foreign debt had ballooned to $18 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 1980 (it would rise beyond $30 billion by the end of the 80s), and external reserves had dwindled to less than $2 billion. Oil prices had been in freefall for 3 years running, and in January 1986 they finally fell to less than $20 per barrel, a record low since the start of the decade.
To his credit Babangida made all the right noises about revamping the economy. In his Independence Day 1985 speech, barely two months old in office, he declared a state of economic emergency for the next 15 months. That speech went on to lay down a comprehensive plan for economic reconstruction.
This plan included a moratorium on new foreign debt, promotion of agriculture and industrial development, restriction of importation to essential commodities, financial sector reform and privatisation.

Populist leanings

IBB was a master of the populist move - ambitious government programs targeted at tackling poverty, and empowering rural dwellers. His government churned out program after program, in a bid to actualize his promises to run an inclusive, people-facing government. In 1986, Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).
In 1987, the Directorate of Food and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) was launched to promote agriculture and transform Nigerias rural landscape by providing modern infrastructure. Other Babangida creations include the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (PBN), National Board for Community Banks (NBCB), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Urban Development Bank.
No other Nigerian government presided over such substantial expansion of government bureaucracy as the Babangida administration. In time, the fiscal prudence that Babangida espoused vanished: billions of naira were sunk into an endless transition programme, and in the early 90s, 12 billion dollars worth of windfall crude oil revenue (courtesy of the rise in the oil prices due to the Gulf War) could not be accounted for.
Mr. Babangida also came to perfect the art of dispensing patronage through political appointments (mostly targeted at leading members of the opposition) and a far-from-transparent allocation of lucrative oil blocks.

A man whose words mean nothing

Mr. Babangidas contradictions eventually overwhelmed his reputation so that when, in May 1993, the activist and lawyer Gani Fawehinmi described him as a man whose words mean nothing to him, evidence of this littered his eight years in power.
Only months after vowing to run a government by consultation with the people, Mr. Babangida in 1986 surreptitiously - and unilaterally - took Nigeria, an avowed secular state, into full membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a body which describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.
Mr. Babangida lamented the large role played by the public sector in economic activity with hardly any concrete results to justify such a role.Ironically, over the course of the next five years, he would go ahead to supervise an unprecedented expansion of government. And despite his deference to the wish of Nigerians to reject the IMF loan, Mr. Babangida went ahead to implement some of the Funds most drastic requirements - a devaluation of the naira, and removal of subsidies, chief of which were the petroleum subsidies.
Mr. Babangida promised Nigerians that the belt-tightening was sorely needed: the painful injection that would usher in vibrant economic health; the mandatory dark lining before a cloud of prosperity. Those reforms, which he christened Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), came into effect in 1986, with a far-from-pleasant impact on Nigerians. Purchasing powers dwindled, inflation rose, and the obliteration of the middle class began. In 1989, SAP riots rocked the country, as Nigerians had finally had enough of economic reforms which silver lining they waited in vain for.

Greatest failings

Mr. Babangidas greatest failings were however in two key areas: his human rights record, and his political transition programme. In December 1985, a group of soldiers, which included his close friend, Mamman Vatsa, were arrested on allegations of plotting to topple the 4-month old Babangida government. After Vatsa was convicted and sentenced to death, Mr. Babangida assured a delegation of distinguished writers (Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark), which had come pleading for mercy, that he was determined to do everything in my power to save (Vatsa).
Hours later, Vatsa and the other alleged plotters were executed.
As opposition to Mr. Babangidas rule grew, so did his intolerance for dissent, so that he routinely shut down or proscribed media houses; and harassed journalists, civil society and labour groups using the instruments of state (the State Security Service, Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Police).
In 1986, five students of the Ahmadu Bello University were murdered when mobile policemen invaded the campus to quell anti-IMF protests. He also promulgated a series of draconian decrees targeted at quelling all opposition, and on occasion did not hesitate to deport foreign critics (University lecturer Patrick Wilmot and journalist William Keeling).
In October 1986, frontline journalist Dele Giwa was murdered by a letter bomb in Lagos. Preliminary police investigations stated that senior officers of Mr. Babangidas intelligence services, who had hounded Giwa in his final days, had questions to answer regarding Giwas death. The mystery of the Giwa assassination remains unsolved till date.

An interminable journey

A maddeningly convoluted transition programme, whose terminal date soon became a mirage - first 1990, then 1992, and then 1993 - is one of the most significant things Babangida will be remembered for.
Early on in his administration, Mr. Babangida inaugurated a Political Bureau to kick off, as it were, the national debate on a viable future political ethos and structure for our dear country.
The political bureau was soon followed by a Constituent Assembly, which in 1989 fashioned a new constitution for the country.
Also, in 1989, he created, by presidential fiat, two political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention. Then in 1991, he released a controversial list of prominent politicians whom he said were banned from participating in the transition programme.
In October 1992, he cancelled the results of the parties presidential primaries, causing new primaries to be held in March 1993. And then in June 1993 he annulled the results of the presidential elections, presumed to have been won by billionaire businessman MKO Abiola.

This was the final straw
.
By this time, Nigerians had finally had enough of his shenanigans, and violent protests forced him to step aside on August 27, 1993,My colleagues and I are determined to change the course of history, Mr. Babangida told Nigerians in his maiden speech as Head of State, on August 27, 1985.
By the time he reluctantly relinquished power exactly eight years later, he had achieved that goal, far more successfully than he, or anyone else, could ever have imagined.

Source: Next
====================

The Holy Book says "my people perish for lack of knowledge".
Will you allow 150m of us (Nigerians) perish or will you ALSO forward this article on the (mis) deeds of our self-proclaimed "evil genius" to all Nigerians that you know
Will you help confirm "maradona" IBB's claim (in Germany in the 90s during one of his radiculopathy treatment trips) that we, his fellow citizens are "docile" (MUGUs) by not sharing this mail
Find a way to get involved at all levels- local, state and federal- this election period for a better Nigeria!!!

The Babangida years

By Tolu Ogunlesi
April 17, 2010 10:36PM

In his first New Year Days speech as military president, months after deposing the Buhari-Idiagbon government in a bloodless coup enthusiastically welcomed by Nigerians, Ibrahim Babangida declared: I wish to reaffirm that this administration does not intend to stay in power a day longer than is required to lay the necessary institutional framework to bring about a better and more stable Nigeria. Babangidas bonhomie (its trademark an endearing gap-toothed smile) - in stark contrast to the stern, unsmiling façade of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor - made it easy for him to be believed.
The distinction between the two regimes in fact ran much deeper than personality quirks. Babangida, in action, proved to be the complete antithesis of his predecessor. He threw open prison doors, setting free hundreds of 3rd republic politicians convicted and jailed by Buhari. He repealed the obnoxious Decree No. 4 of 1984 with which the Buhari regime had shackled the media. He promised to run an open administration that is responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of all the people - a departure from the high-handedness of the Buhari/Idiagbon era.
One of his first actions as military president was to allow Nigerians to decide, through public debates, whether to accept the $2.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan the Buhari government had been negotiating for.
After the terror of the Buhari years, Nigerians appeared to have found a statesman in military uniform.

Tough times that lasted

By 1985, Nigerias foreign debt had ballooned to $18 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 1980 (it would rise beyond $30 billion by the end of the 80s), and external reserves had dwindled to less than $2 billion. Oil prices had been in freefall for 3 years running, and in January 1986 they finally fell to less than $20 per barrel, a record low since the start of the decade.
To his credit Babangida made all the right noises about revamping the economy. In his Independence Day 1985 speech, barely two months old in office, he declared a state of economic emergency for the next 15 months. That speech went on to lay down a comprehensive plan for economic reconstruction.
This plan included a moratorium on new foreign debt, promotion of agriculture and industrial development, restriction of importation to essential commodities, financial sector reform and privatisation.

Populist leanings

IBB was a master of the populist move - ambitious government programs targeted at tackling poverty, and empowering rural dwellers. His government churned out program after program, in a bid to actualize his promises to run an inclusive, people-facing government. In 1986, Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).
In 1987, the Directorate of Food and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) was launched to promote agriculture and transform Nigerias rural landscape by providing modern infrastructure. Other Babangida creations include the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (PBN), National Board for Community Banks (NBCB), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Urban Development Bank.
No other Nigerian government presided over such substantial expansion of government bureaucracy as the Babangida administration. In time, the fiscal prudence that Babangida espoused vanished: billions of naira were sunk into an endless transition programme, and in the early 90s, 12 billion dollars worth of windfall crude oil revenue (courtesy of the rise in the oil prices due to the Gulf War) could not be accounted for.
Mr. Babangida also came to perfect the art of dispensing patronage through political appointments (mostly targeted at leading members of the opposition) and a far-from-transparent allocation of lucrative oil blocks.

A man whose words mean nothing

Mr. Babangidas contradictions eventually overwhelmed his reputation so that when, in May 1993, the activist and lawyer Gani Fawehinmi described him as a man whose words mean nothing to him, evidence of this littered his eight years in power.
Only months after vowing to run a government by consultation with the people, Mr. Babangida in 1986 surreptitiously - and unilaterally - took Nigeria, an avowed secular state, into full membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a body which describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.
Mr. Babangida lamented the large role played by the public sector in economic activity with hardly any concrete results to justify such a role.Ironically, over the course of the next five years, he would go ahead to supervise an unprecedented expansion of government. And despite his deference to the wish of Nigerians to reject the IMF loan, Mr. Babangida went ahead to implement some of the Funds most drastic requirements - a devaluation of the naira, and removal of subsidies, chief of which were the petroleum subsidies.
Mr. Babangida promised Nigerians that the belt-tightening was sorely needed: the painful injection that would usher in vibrant economic health; the mandatory dark lining before a cloud of prosperity. Those reforms, which he christened Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), came into effect in 1986, with a far-from-pleasant impact on Nigerians. Purchasing powers dwindled, inflation rose, and the obliteration of the middle class began. In 1989, SAP riots rocked the country, as Nigerians had finally had enough of economic reforms which silver lining they waited in vain for.

Greatest failings

Mr. Babangidas greatest failings were however in two key areas: his human rights record, and his political transition programme. In December 1985, a group of soldiers, which included his close friend, Mamman Vatsa, were arrested on allegations of plotting to topple the 4-month old Babangida government. After Vatsa was convicted and sentenced to death, Mr. Babangida assured a delegation of distinguished writers (Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark), which had come pleading for mercy, that he was determined to do everything in my power to save (Vatsa).
Hours later, Vatsa and the other alleged plotters were executed.
As opposition to Mr. Babangidas rule grew, so did his intolerance for dissent, so that he routinely shut down or proscribed media houses; and harassed journalists, civil society and labour groups using the instruments of state (the State Security Service, Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Police).
In 1986, five students of the Ahmadu Bello University were murdered when mobile policemen invaded the campus to quell anti-IMF protests. He also promulgated a series of draconian decrees targeted at quelling all opposition, and on occasion did not hesitate to deport foreign critics (University lecturer Patrick Wilmot and journalist William Keeling).
In October 1986, frontline journalist Dele Giwa was murdered by a letter bomb in Lagos. Preliminary police investigations stated that senior officers of Mr. Babangidas intelligence services, who had hounded Giwa in his final days, had questions to answer regarding Giwas death. The mystery of the Giwa assassination remains unsolved till date.

An interminable journey

A maddeningly convoluted transition programme, whose terminal date soon became a mirage - first 1990, then 1992, and then 1993 - is one of the most significant things Babangida will be remembered for.
Early on in his administration, Mr. Babangida inaugurated a Political Bureau to kick off, as it were, the national debate on a viable future political ethos and structure for our dear country.
The political bureau was soon followed by a Constituent Assembly, which in 1989 fashioned a new constitution for the country.
Also, in 1989, he created, by presidential fiat, two political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention. Then in 1991, he released a controversial list of prominent politicians whom he said were banned from participating in the transition programme.
In October 1992, he cancelled the results of the parties presidential primaries, causing new primaries to be held in March 1993. And then in June 1993 he annulled the results of the presidential elections, presumed to have been won by billionaire businessman MKO Abiola.

This was the final straw
.
By this time, Nigerians had finally had enough of his shenanigans, and violent protests forced him to step aside on August 27, 1993,My colleagues and I are determined to change the course of history, Mr. Babangida told Nigerians in his maiden speech as Head of State, on August 27, 1985.
By the time he reluctantly relinquished power exactly eight years later, he had achieved that goal, far more successfully than he, or anyone else, could ever have imagined.

Source: Next
====================

The Holy Book says "my people perish for lack of knowledge".
Will you allow 150m of us (Nigerians) perish or will you ALSO forward this article on the (mis) deeds of our self-proclaimed "evil genius" to all Nigerians that you know
Will you help confirm "maradona" IBB's claim (in Germany in the 90s during one of his radiculopathy treatment trips) that we, his fellow citizens are "docile" (MUGUs) by not sharing this mail
Find a way to get involved at all levels- local, state and federal- this election period for a better Nigeria!!!

while i don't support roobery under any guise, this seems like what the yorubas call- ole gbe, ole gba = thief carry wetin another thief bin don carry.

being a "good" wife is enough to keep a "good" man.
QED

alexleo:
foolish minds who are still ruled by the military regime mentality are the one's calling GEJ weak. I pity such display of stupidity.

Exactly!!!
sometimes you get the impression that the khaki boys kicked our collective brains in and we are still reeling from the impact 12 years into our CURRENT democratic dispensation.
Shame! Shame!! Shame!!!

Chase the Hooligans-in-Power (HiPs) out and vote in better candidates.

Remember to RSVP -

Register;
Select and sponsor(your candidates);
Vote;
Protect your votes;

Let this be our motto for this election period.
Copy and[b] text the motto[/b] to as many as possible on your GSM and several times during the voter registration period.
One Man, One Vote!!!

Chase the Hooligans-in-Power (HiPs) out and vote in better candidates.

Remember to RSVP -

Register;
Select and sponsor(your candidates);
Vote;
Protect your votes;

Let this be our motto for this election period.
Copy and text the motto to as many as possible on your GSM and several times during the voter registration period.
One Man, One Vote!!!

Chase the Hooligans-in-Power (HiPs) out and vote in better candidates.

Remember to RSVP -

Register;
Select and sponsor(your candidates);
Vote;
Protect your votes;

Let this be our motto for this election period.
Copy and text the motto to as many as possible on your GSM and several times during the voter registration period.
One Man, One Vote!!!

Ranoscky:
If you hear the name of the pastors church now, you'll see that it's not even worth hearin not to talk of attendin.

Sometimes, I blame the members for just walkin into any church they see.

Can u imagine a church named "Sapele water ministry" and some pipu go stil dey attend such church.

so na by name of church na im you dey sabi sey d pastor dey kampe with Christ and God
u fit give us example of church names that are "worth hearin and attendin"?
thanks in advance for your response.

texazzpete:
So how do you make the Government agree to such a pay increase structure if not by going on strike?
Prayers, perhaps? Or fasting?

the matter too serious for laugh BUT the above captures what all the educated illiterates would rather have the doctors and other long-suffering workers do. like sey im go pay "mama put" with prayers ONLY.

texazzpete:
Look, this is a simple give and take world. You provide a service and are paid for it. If the pay is not enough, then you withhold your service!

thank you for putting it so clearly for those who can read & write BUT find it difficult to reflect.

does anyone know how much % increase political jobbers (the two governors, legislators, LG chairmen and councillors, commissioners, special & unspecial advisers & assistants) have given to themselves since 1999
can you compare with what the civil servants have received as increase in the same period
what do you have.
yet they live in the same society and share the same cost of living.
anyone asking for sympathy from the doctors should first of all ask for sympathy from these political jobbers milking us ALL dry by the minute.

unbiblical tithes no longer sufficient.
sowing of seeds to receive their god's blessing no longer sufficient. (like sey God na olopa to drop egunje make im for remove roadblock)
now na to dey do import/export of indian hemp

aspabay:
the joke is older than your village and yet you want comments.
go to hell!!!

Goldmann:
"Some of you have probably heard this story before. It contains a lesson well worth considering.

.
.
.
What do you think? Leave a comment and join the conversation.

aspabay, did u see the first line?
some people lack any form of decorum or civility and can't wait for the least opportunity to display that inadequacy.
poster thanks for again sharing this evergreen story, I have seen it before and recount it to others every now and then to underline the need to realise that we need to strike a balance between looking for money and family/quality life before it is too late to enjoy them.

The Babangida years

By Tolu Ogunlesi
April 17, 2010 10:36PM   

In his first New Year Days speech as military president, months after deposing the Buhari-Idiagbon government in a bloodless coup enthusiastically welcomed by Nigerians, Ibrahim Babangida declared: I wish to reaffirm that this administration does not intend to stay in power a day longer than is required to lay the necessary institutional framework to bring about a better and more stable Nigeria. Babangidas bonhomie (its trademark an endearing gap-toothed smile) - in stark contrast to the stern, unsmiling façade of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor - made it easy for him to be believed.
The distinction between the two regimes in fact ran much deeper than personality quirks. Babangida, in action, proved to be the complete antithesis of his predecessor. He threw open prison doors, setting free hundreds of 3rd republic politicians convicted and jailed by Buhari. He repealed the obnoxious Decree No. 4 of 1984 with which the Buhari regime had shackled the media. He promised to run an open administration that is responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of all the people - a departure from the high-handedness of the Buhari/Idiagbon era.
One of his first actions as military president was to allow Nigerians to decide, through public debates, whether to accept the $2.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan the Buhari government had been negotiating for.
After the terror of the Buhari years, Nigerians appeared to have found a statesman in military uniform.

Tough times that lasted

By 1985, Nigerias foreign debt had ballooned to $18 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 1980 (it would rise beyond $30 billion by the end of the 80s), and external reserves had dwindled to less than $2 billion. Oil prices had been in freefall for 3 years running, and in January 1986 they finally fell to less than $20 per barrel, a record low since the start of the decade.
To his credit Babangida made all the right noises about revamping the economy. In his Independence Day 1985 speech, barely two months old in office, he declared a state of economic emergency for the next 15 months. That speech went on to lay down a comprehensive plan for economic reconstruction.
This plan included a moratorium on new foreign debt, promotion of agriculture and industrial development, restriction of importation to essential commodities, financial sector reform and privatisation.

Populist leanings

IBB was a master of the populist move - ambitious government programs targeted at tackling poverty, and empowering rural dwellers. His government churned out program after program, in a bid to actualize his promises to run an inclusive, people-facing government. In 1986, Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).
In 1987, the Directorate of Food and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) was launched to promote agriculture and transform Nigerias rural landscape by providing modern infrastructure. Other Babangida creations include the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (PBN), National Board for Community Banks (NBCB), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Urban Development Bank.
No other Nigerian government presided over such substantial expansion of government bureaucracy as the Babangida administration. In time, the fiscal prudence that Babangida espoused vanished: billions of naira were sunk into an endless transition programme, and in the early 90s, 12 billion dollars worth of windfall crude oil revenue (courtesy of the rise in the oil prices due to the Gulf War) could not be accounted for.
Mr. Babangida also came to perfect the art of dispensing patronage through political appointments (mostly targeted at leading members of the opposition) and a far-from-transparent allocation of lucrative oil blocks.

A man whose words mean nothing

Mr. Babangidas contradictions eventually overwhelmed his reputation so that when, in May 1993, the activist and lawyer Gani Fawehinmi described him as a man whose words mean nothing to him, evidence of this littered his eight years in power.
Only months after vowing to run a government by consultation with the people, Mr. Babangida in 1986 surreptitiously - and unilaterally - took Nigeria, an avowed secular state, into full membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a body which describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.
Mr. Babangida lamented the large role played by the public sector in economic activity with hardly any concrete results to justify such a role.Ironically, over the course of the next five years, he would go ahead to supervise an unprecedented expansion of government. And despite his deference to the wish of Nigerians to reject the IMF loan, Mr. Babangida went ahead to implement some of the Funds most drastic requirements - a devaluation of the naira, and removal of subsidies, chief of which were the petroleum subsidies.
Mr. Babangida promised Nigerians that the belt-tightening was sorely needed: the painful injection that would usher in vibrant economic health; the mandatory dark lining before a cloud of prosperity. Those reforms, which he christened Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), came into effect in 1986, with a far-from-pleasant impact on Nigerians. Purchasing powers dwindled, inflation rose, and the obliteration of the middle class began. In 1989, SAP riots rocked the country, as Nigerians had finally had enough of economic reforms which silver lining they waited in vain for.

Greatest failings

Mr. Babangidas greatest failings were however in two key areas: his human rights record, and his political transition programme. In December 1985, a group of soldiers, which included his close friend, Mamman Vatsa, were arrested on allegations of plotting to topple the 4-month old Babangida government. After Vatsa was convicted and sentenced to death, Mr. Babangida assured a delegation of distinguished writers (Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark), which had come pleading for mercy, that he was determined to do everything in my power to save (Vatsa).
Hours later, Vatsa and the other alleged plotters were executed.
As opposition to Mr. Babangidas rule grew, so did his intolerance for dissent, so that he routinely shut down or proscribed media houses; and harassed journalists, civil society and labour groups using the instruments of state (the State Security Service, Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Police).
In 1986, five students of the Ahmadu Bello University were murdered when mobile policemen invaded the campus to quell anti-IMF protests. He also promulgated a series of draconian decrees targeted at quelling all opposition, and on occasion did not hesitate to deport foreign critics (University lecturer Patrick Wilmot and journalist William Keeling).
In October 1986, frontline journalist Dele Giwa was murdered by a letter bomb in Lagos. Preliminary police investigations stated that senior officers of Mr. Babangidas intelligence services, who had hounded Giwa in his final days, had questions to answer regarding Giwas death. The mystery of the Giwa assassination remains unsolved till date.

An interminable journey

A maddeningly convoluted transition programme, whose terminal date soon became a mirage - first 1990, then 1992, and then 1993 - is one of the most significant things Babangida will be remembered for.
Early on in his administration, Mr. Babangida inaugurated a Political Bureau to kick off, as it were, the national debate on a viable future political ethos and structure for our dear country.
The political bureau was soon followed by a Constituent Assembly, which in 1989 fashioned a new constitution for the country.
Also, in 1989, he created, by presidential fiat, two political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention. Then in 1991, he released a controversial list of prominent politicians whom he said were banned from participating in the transition programme.
In October 1992, he cancelled the results of the parties presidential primaries, causing new primaries to be held in March 1993. And then in June 1993 he annulled the results of the presidential elections, presumed to have been won by billionaire businessman MKO Abiola.

This was the final straw
.
By this time, Nigerians had finally had enough of his shenanigans, and violent protests forced him to step aside on August 27, 1993,My colleagues and I are determined to change the course of history, Mr. Babangida told Nigerians in his maiden speech as Head of State, on August 27, 1985.
By the time he reluctantly relinquished power exactly eight years later, he had achieved that goal, far more successfully than he, or anyone else, could ever have imagined.

Source: Next
====================

The Holy Book says "my people perish for lack of knowledge".
Will you allow 150m of us (Nigerians) perish or will you ALSO forward this article on the (mis) deeds of our self-proclaimed "evil genius" to all Nigerians that you know
Will you help confirm "maradona" IBB's claim (in Germany in the 90s during one of his radiculopathy treatment trips) that we, his fellow citizens are "docile" (MUGUs) by not sharing this mail
Find a way to get involved at all levels- local, state and federal- this election period for a better Nigeria!!!

^^^
and what is the above all about?
persin ask simple question u no fit answer u dey talk OP?
FOR ME I AM GETTING READY TO VOTE FOR STATE & FEDERAL LEGISLATORS & EXECUTIVES elections.
I will also be convincing as many friends, relations and acquaintances as possible to do the same.

this is no good news for nigerians who travel.
we get more linked to terrorists and iran

[quote author=oyinda. link=topic=541085.msg7046501#msg7046501 date=1288459212]lol. you didn't get his comment did you?
he meant that she bought korean hair. the korean woman is happy because she's getting paid.
that's not actually the way it works but his post was still a bit funny. hahah[/quote]na so me sef bin dey wonder about the hair.
question mark for her repping african beauty with korean hair

faith without works is dead (James 2:20)
if you pray for naija to be better are you also working to make that come to pass
do not also forget that righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34)
so what are you DOING to make nigeria better apart from praying??

So what Buhari is trying to tell us is that any bill he sends to the national assembly must be accepted or he will show us that he is not weak. Guess he thinks we are still in the military era.

This is one of the reasons why he can rule this nation again, he thinks it is okay to want to jail every corrupt individual in the country, he is yet to understand what democratic tenets are and is yet to understand the laws of power.

thanks marvix for your post # 28 partly quoted above.
Buhari, IBB, Gusau and OBJ being ex-military dictators only understand BULLYING tactics.
We must say NEVER AGAIN to these BRUTES.
Jonathan;s main selling point is that his body languagae is that of a democrat as much as possible within the 9ja context hence the gradual opening up of the democratic space to allow dissent and discourse on national issues. the era of na-oga-know-all don dey pass.

drmoney:
Did the OP remember to mention the fact that the Shodipo guy was killed by armed robbers?
I guess it a bit of bad and good news-like most things in Naija!

cause of death is irrelevant here. the imporatant thing is he made the donation promise before he died and his family, very nobly honoured his pledge after death.
i have been seriously thinking along the same lines before i saw the story hence my decision to share it with BLers who are mostly youth open to positive change in our MOSTLY retrogressive culture.

dem suppose official photo na make we see d wife.
anyway congrats to d GO.

Though there are many people who are not happy over the tight control Tinubu maintains over the politics of Lagos State, but whatever misgiving anybody may have against the man, the community interest he serves as the foremost champion of multi-party democracy, federalism and social justice makes him one of the heroes of our present democracy. Like every human being, particularly a politician in a third world nation, he has his faults.

Even then, anytime the account of the present democratic dispensation in Nigeria is written, the story will be incomplete without the mention of Tinubu's contributions. And I believe history will be kind to the man for whom the title, the Asiwaju (leader) of Nigerian Opposition is a deserving accolade. Undoubtedly, Tinubu is a leading opposition figure in Nigeria's politics today.

it is articles like this and the mindset behind it that will make us linger as a people who do not matter to their politicians.
a man tightly controls lagos government's wallet to the detriment of the taxpayers and the citizens in whose names allocations are received from abuja YET one lazy journalist says to give him honours and accolades.
Instead of asking tough questions about where he got the money and doing investigative journalism on how much tax was paid by the godfather now being acclaimed asiwaju
it should be obvious that a godfather has no "community interest" at heart but rather his personal selfish power mongering ends.
why must we accept half measures in our society if we can get more??
btw the article also appeared in ThisDay

There is an appropriate dictum here:

RESPECT is earned not given

An eye for an eye

BY ADEOLA ADEYEMO
October 21, 2010 11:33PM

The first successful cornea transplant operation on two patients by a local donor was yesterday applauded by members of the medical community, friends and family of the donors and recipients of the cornea at a press conference in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

The two patients, names withheld, had a successful cornea transplant in August 2010 following the death of Kola Shodipo, a 47 year old man who was killed on August 18, 2010. Prior to his death, he had pledged his eyes, which were removed some hours after his death, and the corneas used to restore sight to two individuals who had cornea blindness in one eye each.

Making the blind see

Cornea blindness, according to Mosun Faderin, the Medical Director of Eye Bank for Restoring Sight, Nigeria, is reversible because it is just the front part of the eye that is damaged. “When that part is damaged, the person cannot see,” she said. “But with a successful surgery, which involves the replacement of the damaged cornea with a good one gotten from a dead person, sight can be restored.” She added that for the cornea to be useful for a transplant, it must be removed within 12 hours after death with the consent of either the deceased, given before death, or the family members.

Olaseinde Akinsete, Chairman of the Board of Eye Bank, recalled that although corneal transplant is lawful in Nigeria under Decree No.23, titled Cornea Grafting Decree 1973, not many corneal grafting operations have been carried out in the country. “Under the Decree, any person can, either by writing or orally in the presence of two or more witnesses authorize the excision of his or her eyes after death. The law stipulates that the person lawfully in custody of the body after death may unless he has reason to believe that the request was subsequently withdrawn, authorize removal of eyes. Notwithstanding the promulgation of the above mentioned decree, not many corneal grafting operations were carried out in Nigeria.” He further gave an insight to the number of people with cornea blindness in Nigeria. “Nigeria has about 1,170,000 blind people, based on a blindness rate of 0.78percent,” he said. “Cornea blindness is about 7.9percent, that is 92,430. It is the latter that may benefit from corneal grafting.”

Getting in the history books

Late Mr Shodipo is the first Nigerian to donate his eyes for a cornea transplant. Prior to this, all cornea transplants in Nigeria has been done with corneas gotten from other countries, mostly from China. “Since the bank came into existence in 2004, not a single cornea has been harvested locally until very recently,” said Mrs Faderin. “The biggest challenge we’ve had is that the public first of all do not believe they should donate any part of their body after death and also that it is not possible to restore sight to a ‘blind’ person. In order to convince the public that someone who is cornea blind, and this group accounts for about 33percent of those with reversible or curable blindness worldwide, that the Board of the Eye Bank decided to source for corneas from abroad.”

She added that Mr Shodipo made his intention of donating his eyes in 2008 because of his love for people and applauded his humanitarian work. “Today, we are here gathered to celebrate the first locally harvested corneas from a Nigerian donor who had pledged/donated his eyes prior to his passing on,” she said. “Our hero today was a member of the International Association of Lions Club, who at the Lions convention in Ibadan in 2008, after he saw and heard the experiences of two cornea graft recipients who were presented; told me afterwards that he was going to be a donor.”

Femi Olugbile, the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH described the transplant as a landmark achievement and commended the family for ensuring that they obeyed Mr Shodipo’s wish. He also called for the creation of proper legislation that would make it possible for unclaimed dead bodies and bodies of destitute to be used for the extraction of useful body parts that can help sustain lives of those who are still living. “The challenge of harvesting corneas and other body tissues for use on live patients in our country is a major one,” he said. “Unfortunately, these bodies cannot be touched for cornea transplant and that is a major waste. There has to be a way in which that can be tidied up. A practical law creation exercise needs to be embarked upon to get access to these corneas.”


Source: Next

and if he had succeeded he would have given a portion to his church or mosque for "god's blessing" and his town's chief/emir who may give him a chieftaincy thieftaincy title even though his act is adding to the collective shame of nigerians all over the world, even when they have double nationality.
i imagine the man and his beneficiaries (close & distant relations, friends and acquaintances) blaming nigeria's problems on bad leadership arrant hypocrisy!!!

and if he had succeeded he would have given a portion to his church or mosque for "god's blessing" and his town's chief/emir who may give him a chieftancy thieftancy title even though his act is adding to the collective shame of nigerians all over the world, even when they have double nationality.
i imagine the man and his beneficiaries (close & distant relations, friends and acquaintances) blaming nigeria's problems on bad leadership
arrant hypocrisy!!!

KunleOshob:
Even though it would be difficult to achieve, pastors are morally bound to teach memebers against making illicit money and worse still using such abominable money as an offering to God.

oga Kunle, I must disagree with you on the bold part above.
Pastors claim to know all because they are God's representative on earth. They claim to see witches, wizards and other demons to be exorcised from their members so small thing like to know if a man is offering pensioners and salary earners savings put into their IPOs should not be "difficult" please.
Cheers.

shagaman:
Dele Momodu is so bereft of ideas, sing for vote,he should come out and tell us how he has contributed to the development of the nation and why he deserves our votes, He thinks politics is all about Snapping of pictures up and down of armed robbers who have looted the country dry,

the bold part is the guy's only claim to anything. he must be thinking that having snapped other robbers and chief robbers it's time he becomes one of the robbers himself.

“I think, it is the devil’s plan to destroy me. I know it is an abominable act. I’m sorry, I regret my action.

that is to say, ï am not responsible. when d thing dey sweet am e no sabi sey devil dey dat time, na god dey cover im secret, abi? just like our leaders too, never accepting responsibility for their actions or rather misactions.

Nigeria police and my estranged wife should forgive me,” he said

hmmmmmmmmmmm, can you imagine the effontery no thoughts about the eternal trauma that the small girl will suffer!!! they should castrate him before putting him in jail. useless man.

long overdue. smart robbers in sharp suits should go and eat some beans and gari in prison also.
they have deprived our economy of growth and jobs by not lending to the real sector small and medium scale entrepreneurs while doling out cash to those who have no intention of paying as dem dey do big boy for lagos