₦airaland Forum

donkidoss@yahoo.com

pls, can the moderator place this on the front page for wider view? I stormed on this chronicle and was taken aback.

Sometimes it is good to look back to history and work with hindsight.Today, a political saint, though has been a serial failure, has suddenly risen from the North. A saint who is devoid of corruption and who will stop Boko Haram insurgency immediately he is sworn in as Nigerian president, as we were told to accept.But brothers, antecedents matters a lot in scrutinizing a leader at any capacity. We need democrats at this stage in our country's political space.

The Dikko Affair was a joint Nigerian-Israeli attempt to kidnap Umaru Dikko, a former Nigerian civilian government minister living in the United Kingdom, in 1984, and secretly transport him back to Nigeria in a diplomatic bag. The kidnapping took place, but the transportation was unsuccessful. After it was foiled, the political fallout seriously damaged relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom for years. Dikko was an influential Transport Minister in the civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari, his brother-in-law. In 1983, the Nigerian government was overthrown in a military coup led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, and a new military government led by Buhari was established. On his second day in power, Buhari issued a list of former government officials accused of a variety of crimes. Dikko, who topped the list, was accused of embezzling several million dollars in oil profits from the national treasury. Despite strenuous efforts to locate him, Dikko vanished without trace. In actual fact, Dikko moved to the UK and settled in London, and became a vocal critic of the regime in exile.
Though Israel, at the time, did not have formal diplomatic relations with Nigeria, there were less visible ties between the two nations. In particular, Nigeria was an important source of oil for Israel, and Israel was a significant supplier of arms to Nigeria. The Israeli national intelligence agency Mossad was recruited to locate and bring Dikko back to Nigeria to stand trial.Mossad sources across Europe were mobilized, but all failed to locate any trace of Dikko. However, Mossad Director-General Nahum Admoni decided that Dikko was probably in London, which had become a haven for Nigerian exiles critical of the new regime. Mossad katsas, accompanied by Nigerian security service agents led by ex-Nigerian Army Major Mohammed Yusufu, traveled to London. The Nigerian team rented an apartment on Cromwell Road and posed as refugees from the new regime. The Mossad agents rented rooms in hotels catering to tourists from Africa, and posed as anti-apartheid activists. Working separately, the two teams moved among the Nigerian expat community in London, gradually narrowing their search to West London, to the area around Hyde Park, where many wealthy Nigerian exiles lived. They combed the electoral registers freely available in the area's town halls, but found no trace of Dikko.

On 30 June 1984, a Mossad agent driving down Queensway spotted Dikko[citation needed]. He parked his car and then tailed Dikko on foot to his house in Porchester Terrace. Admoni was immediately informed, and ordered surveillance on the house. From then on, the house was constantly watched, while the Nigerians, using their London embassy as a base, prepared a kidnapping operation. Meanwhile, the Mossad recruited Dr. Levi-Arie Shapiro, an Israeli doctor who was a consultant anesthetist and director of the intensive care unit at HaSharon Hospital, to fly to London and participate in the operation. Shapiro's job would be to drug Dikko, and insert an endotracheal tube to keep him from choking on his own vomit whilst being transported in a crate.

Late in the evening of 3 July 1984, a Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 arrived at Stansted Airport from Lagos. The aircraft had arrived empty, and the pilot notified the authorities that the plane had arrived to pick up diplomatic baggage from the Nigerian embassy. On board were several Nigerian security guards, who openly identified themselves as such and stated that they were there to protect the baggage. Their presence was reported to Scotland Yard's Special Branch. The following day, Dikko was kidnapped in front of his home while he was out for a walk and taken away in a van driven by Yusufu. He was then drugged into unconsciousness by Shapiro. However, the abduction was witnessed by Dikko's secretary, Elizabeth Hayes, who quickly notified the authorities. Dikko and Shapiro were placed in one crate (dimensions 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.5 meters), while Mossad agents Alexander Barak and Felix Abithol occupied a second.However, proper documentation that would have ensured that the cargo could not be inspected was not provided.[ The crates were not labeled as diplomatic bags, as required by Article 27(4) of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. As a result, customs officials who had received an all-points bulletin alerting them to the kidnapping while the crates were being processed at the airport, were able to open the crates without violating the convention and foil the kidnapping. Dikko was taken to a hospital; he was uninjured.Seventeen men were arrested;[6] four were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 14 years: Shapiro, Barak, Abithol, and Yusufu. All four were released after serving between six and eight and a half years, and were quietly deported. In retaliation, two British engineers in Nigeria were arrested and given fourteen-year prison sentences.
The Nigerian and Israeli governments never admitted any connection to the incident. Nonetheless, the British government immediately expelled two members of the Nigerian High Commission in London, including the High Commissioner. Diplomatic relations with Nigeria were broken off for two years. The CEO of Nigeria Airways was at one point almost arrested by British police. In the aftermath of the affair, Nigeria filed a formal extradition request for Dikko, but it was refused. The Nigerian governments war against the previous government's corruption was also weakened, as the British governments also rejected Nigerian requests to extradite other politicians wanted in Nigeria on corruption charges and living in exile in Britain.Dikko was eventually asked to return to Nigeria. He accepted the invitation and set up a political party.

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikko_Affair

Those condemning peter obi are ignorant. he has transformed education sector in Anambra state. His ANIDS remains the best MDG vehicle within the sub-Saharan region. lets wait for the result of UN by the year 2015. he has brought unprecedented prudence in Nigeria's governance. carry go OKUTE IGBO n'ile.

A FINAL PUSH TO EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR HIS SUCCESSOR! A FINE INVESTMENT THANKS MY PUBLIC LEADERSHIP MODEL

A few days after Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State presented cheques to the tune of N6.5 billion for the rehabilitation of primary schools returned to the churches and those owned by the state government, as well as the upgrade of missionary hospitals, he presented another cheque of N1 billion yesterday to strengthen libraries and laboratory facilities in 420 secondary schools and those returned to the churches in the state.

Speaking during the presentation in Awka, Governor Obi said it was part of the N40 billion his government was committing in the next six months into various sectors, as final push towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

He said the money was not borrowed from any financial institution but as a result of savings, prudent management of resources and unprecedented support the state enjoyed from development partners.

Giving an insight on the last push in the area of education, the governor said in a few days time the state would employ teachers in core subjects, such as English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, among others.

According to him, this is in addition to the ongoing recruitment of 5, 000 teachers in the state whose salaries for one year after his exit from government had been saved in the bank.

He also said the state had already procured 500 buses from local manufacturers, Coscharis and Innoson, to be shared to public and private schools.

Other things he said would be provided to secondary schools before the end of the year include 25, 000 laptop installed, with full school syllables and books, generators, sick bays and internet connectivity.

On why the support is for both public and private schools, Governor Obi, who said some people raised that issue at the planning level, insisted that he was not concerned about ownership of those schools but the fact that they trained the children of the state.

He said he was encouraged because the massive support he gave to schools in the past had manifested in the improved performance of the schools in the state.



Earlier, Commissioner for Education, Dr. Mrs. Uju Okeke, said: “The event of today is one of 13 series of events to fully implemented Anambra State package on accelerative progress in the attainment of education for all in the state tagged final push.

“There is no doubt that our investment and efforts are yielding maximum results. Just recently the Basic Education Certificate Examination results released by our Exam Development Centre indicated that out of 46, 741 candidates who sat for the examination, 45, 196 (96.69 per cent) passed at Credit Levels and only 1, 545 (3.3 per cent) failed.

“In the last NECO examination into junior secondary schools, nationwide, Anambra State pupil took the overall first position. The Senior School Certificate Examination result analysis of WAEC recently released clearly shows that our schools are making significant improvement.”

In their own remarks, Commissioners for Local Government, Mrs. Azuka Enemuo and her Planning cCounterpart, Prof. Chinyere Okunna, said the good things coming to the state was because the governor had remained committed and focused in serving the people.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/national/obi-gives-n1bn-to-equip-school-labs-libraries/

immature and sentimental views belittling nairaland [b]

All things being equal, Anambra state is set to become the cleanest State in Nigeria. This was disclosed by Governor Peter Obi yesterday during the commissioning of different types (according to function) Refuse Disposal Vehicles, compactors receptacles, ANIDS School buses, at totaling over 500 million naira at the premises of Innoson Motor manufacturing company, Nnewi yesterday.

Obi commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his interest in private enterprises as shown by his accepting to commission the motor plant, when he paid a State visit to Anambra State in 2010. He called other Nigerian investors to emulate Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, who is behind the plant. He appealed to wealthy Anambra citizens to invest their money in such project rather than use it to cause confusion in the state. Obi said that he deliberately decided to perform the commissioning at the premises of Innoson to showcase to the nation and other countries of the world, especially in the West African Sub-Region, that such things were now manufactured in Anambra State, Nigeria. “come and buy your wide range of needs at Innoson, rather than travel abroad for the same purpose”, Obi said.

Obi, who disclosed that the State would buy more of such vehicles said that ANIDS School buses were meant for some schools that did not benefit from the over 150 buses given to schools earlier. For the refuse disposal trucks, he said that the commissioning represented the change on tactics for the disposal of refuse in the State. Gov. Obi said that part of the tactics was the formation of a new Anambra State Waste Management Agency (ASWMA) and the appointment of an environmental chemist, Dr. Anthony Okoye to head the Agency. “As long as refuse are not seen on Anambra Streets, his work is secured, otherwise the contrary will be the case. Now is not the time for platitudes, but for action and more action”, Obi thundered. Obi also said that the Agency was a bit delayed in taking off because he wanted to provide them with the tools to work with as represented by the event of today.

Speaking during the commissioning, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma said that he had received tremendous goodwill from Governor Obi and that he did not regret investing in Anambra State. He called on other investors to come and invest in the State and enjoy the support of a Governor who understood investment in its totality.

Speaking earlier, the State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Mike Egbebike, who recalled the sacrifices the Governor make for the good of the state, said that the Governor was committed to environmental cleanliness, not just to health, but to create the environment that would allow business to blossom.

On her own part the State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Kay Onyechi said that due to revolutionary approach of Governor Obi to education that the sector had changed completely to what it used to be. According to her, Anambra school system now boost of school buses, well equipped science laboratory, computers and other modern learning aids. She said that what was amazing in all these was that he channeled some of the things donated to him for private use into schools.
http://nigeriamasterweb.com/Masterweb/anambra-set-become-cleanest-state-nigeria

a good thing to come.the governor who believes in private public partnership

Anambra State has concluded plans to build an independent power plant in the state. According to a statement issued by government yesterday, the state Governor Peter Obi led a delegation in the state power project (125mw) to Bahrain, to inspect the construction of the power badges and for further discussions to finalise issues on the power project, which includes the Senior Management of Arab Shipbuilding and Repairs Yard Company (ASRY).

Other delegates included those from Centrax Limited, UK, the oldest gas turbines company in the world, and Eaglefin Structures Finance Mauritius Limited.

While conducting the delegation around the facilities of the company, particularly to inspect the two badges meant for the state that were under construction, the Chief Executive of ASRY, Mr. Chris Potter, said that the starting of work on the badges was to show their commitment, faith and confidence in the project.

He said that the advantage of the badges was that the facility would be 100 per cent manufactured, tested before shipping to the state, noting that it could be re-possessed, towed or ship-lifted to any part of the world. Explaining the geometry of its construction, Potter said it had dual fuel capability of gas and liquid with fuel badge option.

Responding, Obi said he was impressed by what he saw but that there was need to define things properly as to know when each stage of the work would be completed and when the entire project would be finished.

The governor added that going by the commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan in solving power problem in the country and the move towards deregulation of that sector, he did not envisage any problems or delays on the part of government.

The Director of Centrax Limited, Mr. Guy West, said they would produce the best turbine for Anambra that would meet international standards in all its ramifications, adding: “We could not do otherwise going by our experience, having started production of industrial turbines since 1961.”

He said that the engine for the actual generation of power would be manufactured by Rolls Royce famed for quality and durability.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/anambra-plans-independent-power-project/112448/

Masterweb team was on the ground in Awka August 25 to 27 for celebrations marking the twentieth anniversary of the creation of Anambra State. Anambra was created on August 27, 1991 by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida. Our team operating as independent observers travelled across the state on August 25 inspecting projects by Governor Obi’s administration. The team began their trip at 9.00 am ending at 7.00 pm when it was getting dark and did not completely cover all the targeted projects. Our team returned to Anambra on August 30 after the celebrations to visit remaining projects.

It took us this long to file a report on our assessment of Governor Obi’s performance which we are rating “excellent”, because we employed both visual, common sense and scientific methodology in arriving our rating. We visually saw the projects and not a third party describing them to us, used common sense to assess them and scientific methods to cross-check assumptions and conduct accurate analysis.

In our analysis we compared Anambra State under Governor Obi to other states in Nigeria and not in the United States nor anywhere-else in the developed world. Comparison of a Nigerian city or state to any place in the developed world can not be made until the federal government delivers on her responsibilities. The infrastructural and power supply situation in Nigeria is shameful, to say the least. These are constraints among others, in the ability of a non-corrupt efficient governor doing his best.

In our statistical comparative analysis, the performance of Governor Obi was above the mean (average) and significantly too. Using a confidence interval around the mean of 3 standard deviations, Obi's score was determined to be statistically significant. This ranked him one of the best governors in the country.

In the analysis we rated the projects by Obi’s administration assigning each project a number between 1 to 10 (10 for excellent), adding up the total and deriving the mean value. We came up with mean values for other states from figures from members of our team and reliable contributors, in a survey organized for that purpose. These were the numbers we used in our statistical analysis.

In the next couple of days we will commence the release of our inspection reports and photos. Our reports will be on few projects at a time, to enable readers devote more time and attention on each project.

Projects visited and inspected by our team include:

1. Amaku University Teaching Hospital

2. Anambra State Ultra Modern Fire Service Headquarters & State Emergency Management Complex, Awka.

3. New Anambra Govt. Secretariat (Twin Building)

4. Roads: Dualized Awka-Enugu Road (Zik’s Ave); Ora-eri-Obeledu-Akwaeze-Igbo Ukwu Road; Anambra State University, Uli Campus Road;

5. Alex Ekwueme Square

6. Prof. Kenneth Dike Library

7. Hydraform Block Industry

8. Anambra State Housing Development Corporation

9. Anambra State College of Agriculture, Mgbakwu

10. Obibia Bridge linking Okpuno and Mgbakwu

11. Neem Fertilizer Company

12. Otuku Bridge linking Umueze Anam – Nmiata

13. Faculty of Law, Moot Court, Library & Dept of Mass Communication –Anambra State University, Igbariam.

14. Onitsha Business Park

15. Onitsha Judges Quarters

16. Ministry of Justice

17. Onitsha North Local Govt. Headquarters

18. Onitsha Governor’s Lodge

19. Kidney Dialysis Center & Resident Doctors Quarters – Onitsha General Hospital

20. Justice Chuba Ikpeazu Stadium Onitsha North

21. Onitsha South Local Govt. Mini Stadium

22. Sabmiller Brewery (South African Brewery attracted to Anambra by Gov. Obi)

23. Obizi Water Scheme (Main Station at Uga, Booster Station at Uga, Reservoir Tank at Uga & Booster Station at Nkpologwu)

24. Ekwulobia Erosion Site Gully

25. Agulu Aguinyi Water Scheme

26. Odor Bridge linking Awgbu and Amaokpala

27. Comprehensive Secondary School, Nwafia (rebuilt by Gov. Obi)

28. Amansea-Ebenebe Road Bridge

29. Women’s Development Center (Rebuilt by Gov. Obi)

30. Okija Road Project (Okija to Ogbaru) & Okpu Bidge, Okija.

31. Dept. of Biochemistry - Anambra State University, Uli Campus

32. Lilu Road Project

33. Anambra State Judiciary High Court Complex

34. Umunze Cottage Hospital

35. Ekwulobia General Hospital (upgraded by Gov. Obi)

Anambra State is one of the names that can not be omitted in the history of Nigeria and Igboland. It has always been at the forefront of issues in Nigeria and South East Region. This is the reason why Anambra is among the places Masterweb has reportorial interest. Masterweb independently covered Anambra State Association-USA (ASA-USA) ‘09 Convention which held in Washington DC on October 24, 2009. In 2010, our team in conjunction with citizen reporters monitored (live) Anambra 2010 gubernatorial election. This year we were on the ground in Anambra touring the state and independently inspecting projects by Governor Obi’s government. Yes, eventually we touched down in Anambra to report the true situation of things in the state in terms of development. Masterweb is renowned for the authenticity and accuracy of her investigative, fact-finding and reportorial works. We do not operate based on hearsay, vindictive or tabloid reporting as some news media and authors have done in Anambra in the past.


culled from: http://nigeriamasterweb.com/blog/index.php/2011/10/04/nigeria-masterweb-team-scores-governor-obi-high

he is performing

it is pathetic that most of the followers of this trend are using this forum for campaign .it is unarguably that fundamental developments neglected over the decades by previous governments are being revisited today by OBI's administration

new anambra state secretariat ant gate state teaching hospital constructed by OBI after 20 years of creation

mr. globe is looking for an airport in state that has just completed her state secretariat and teaching hospital which many states had gotten long ago.where river-line areas were neglected in terms of access roads over the decades.

mr. globe is looking an airport in state that has just completed her state secretariat and teaching hospital which many state had gotten long ago.where river-line areas were neglected in terms of access roads over the decades.

let the devil start with you!

by now you should know properly ,even going by your reference, that anambra is not second to lagos in terms of number of banks. come home and do your personal scrutiny on OBI'S developmental strides so far. i hope he is not owing your mother her salary becos he had paid them their arrears owed by previous govts.?

i have withdrawn the 'onuku' the moment i understood that you actually come from my state. but not the 'ingrate' because you are not lampooning your governor with proper facts and figures but rather sheer sentiments.

buja, Nigeria’s political capital, has the second highest concentration of bank branches with just six percent of all bank branches. Rivers State, which could be classified as Nigeria’s oil capital, has the third highest concentration of bank branches with about 5 percent of all bank branches in the country.
Anambra State, the commercial hub of the South- East, has the fourth highest concentration of bank branches.



re-read the above.you told the house that anamabra state is second to lagos? my broda!

thanks for exposing your background a little bit. now i know best the reason for your unwarranted sentiments.anambra state actually was in comatose, going your language predilection,before the coming of this man called peter obi. come back home and see for your self the facelift he is giving to the state's dilapidated utilities. let not use this forum for name-calling, lets be objective for the first time. we may be brodas. who knows?

no market is collecting "N500-N1000 monthly" FOR THE SATE COFFERS IN ANAMBRA STATE. check WHOM YOU ARE PAYING your MONEY TO. ANAMBRA COLLECTS N1200 ANNUALY AS DEVELOPMENT AND STALLAGE FEE. again, ANAMBRA IS NOT THE STATE WITH THE high number of BANKS AFTER LAGOS. MAKE A PROPER RESEARCH. RIVERS STATE, FCT, KADUNA etc are in this cadre. mister man with wrong figure.

i called you 'ingrate' because you sounded as a resident in anambra state who do not appreciate the multi-sectoral developments going on in the state. ok! you are among those waiting to be fed by government ..... am sorry. he no dey share the money again.. akanogheri!