₦airaland Forum

[size=14pt]Jonathan laments $13b expenditure on generators[/size]
News Oct 15, 2010 By Daniel Idonor

ABUJA—PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday declared that the annual expenditure of over $13 billion (N1.989 trillion) on purchase of diesel to run generators by Nigerians was unacceptable.

He spoke at the Presidential Retreat for power investors, lamenting that despite expending $13 billion (N1.989 trillion) every year providing power from diesel generators, less than half of Nigerian citizens have access to electricity.

The president, whose facts were backed up by statistics from the Central Bank Nigeria, CBN, however, assured stakeholders present at the retreat meant to have a better understanding of the investor’s concerns and gain insights from their experience in other markets that the government was on top of the situation.

He said: “With a population of more than 140 million people and the seventh largest deposits of natural gas, and a major fuel for power in the world, we are ready for business.

“Generating power from generators adds more than 40 per cent to the cost of goods and services in Nigeria and this we can ill-afford.
“Our mission, therefore, is for Nigeria to reach power reliability and sustainability within the shortest possible time so as to catalyse the much needed development.”

He also noted that Nigeria required just about $10 billion per year in investment, over the next few years, to develop her generation, distribution and transmission capacities.

The Presidential Retreat for Power investors came 49 days after the launching of the Road Map of the Power Sector Reform.

According to President Jonathan, understanding the investor’s concerns and gaining insights from their experience in other markets will help the country build a power supply industry that works for all and grows as fast as possible.

Jonathan, however, noted that “we know what is at stake”, hence the creation of the Presidential Action Committee on Power, PACP, which has finally birthed the roadmap for the reforms.

According to him, one of the things that Nigerians have come to agree on is that throwing ever-increasing amounts of government money that is better spent on improving education or healthcare cannot be the solution to Nigeria’s power problem.

To implement power sector reform

“This administration is determined to implement the reform of Nigeria’s power sector in a way that Nigerians shall be proud of.

“We are determined to attract high quality investors with the record that ensures they will bring world class expertise and industry best practices to our evolving power supply industry,” the president said.

Following this, the president said the Federal Government was now looking for companies that could efficiently and rapidly expand services to under-served parts of Nigeria.

“Remember this is a country with tens of millions of potential new power consumers. We need firms that can grow quickly. Our national interest dictates that we encourage investors who are willing to stand with us for the long term, not those without the requisite pedigree in the sector,” he added.

He noted that an opinion poll sponsored by the World Bank has confirmed that Nigerians were willing to pay for cost reflective tariffs for electricity, due to the fact that even some of the poorest Nigerians, including artisans and small business people, spend considerable amounts on petro-powered generators.

The president stated that with the backing of Nigerians, his administration was set to transform decades of paralyzing government monopoly into private sector efficiency.

“All we need to ensure its abundant supply is investment transparency and efficiency management. We are determined to make the power sector reform fair to all concerned. In this reform, there will be no losers and Nigerian people, including workers, will be the beneficiaries.

“No one is in doubt that the biggest casualty of our epileptic power sector is our manufacturing sector and the jobs that could have been created for thousands and thousands of our citizens. The work of building a prosperous Nigeria cannot be done if our factories continue to run on generator,” Jonathan stressed.

The president further disclosed that the reforms would allow investors to become involved under concessions or privatization, adding that from next year, the federal government will cease investment in power generation and distribution and also concession the management of the transmission company of Nigeria.

He said: “Federal government will complete processes for already initiated hydro-power projects.”

Earlier in his remark, the Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya, noted that “the government has calculated that something like $10 billion per year needs to be invested throughout the power supply chain in order to achieve the relatively modest (by international capacity) target capacity of 40,000mw by 2020”.

In his presentation, the Special Adviser on Power, Professor Barth Nnaji, said the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has established a N300 billion fund that could be assessed by prospective investors in the power sector.

With the unbundling of PHCN, establishment of NERC and the launch of the roadmap to power sector reform, the Special Adviser said the coast was now clear for private sector involvement. He assured prospective investors that fully cost reflective tariffs will be introduced.

Other top government functionaries present at the retreat were the governors of Adamawa and Ekiti states, Minister of finance, Olusegun Aganga, minister of state for power, the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and international investors.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/jonathan-laments-13b-expenditure-on-generators/

peacesak:
Do you believe him? Its just like Tompolo or Boyloaf saying they no longer have contacts with the militants still in the creeks. Its like asari saying he no longer has contacts with militants in the creeks. I believe while Okah may no longer be an active member, he still has some form of contact with them. In his interview he says the government have been in contact with him many times after the manesty. The government has not denied that. If that is true, it is obvious the government knows he still has contacts with the faction of MEND still active. Otherwise why meet a man that no longer has any influence.

The other issue is when the government says he had contacts with the bombers. That statement assume we already know the bombers. Who are they? Are they MEND or some individuals who want to cause trouble? Where does Mr Gbomo and his active MEND faction fit in all this? There are still many loose ends in this drama.

Having contact is very different from membership. Both Okah and govt say he isn't a member of MEND; not only that, Okah is always referred to as ex-MEND by all reputable sources (who are usually quoting expert opinions from security agencies). When you start trying to fit Jomo Gbomo and MEND into the matter, you run into trouble, so go with what has been learned from authoritative sources in Nigeria and SA. When the investigation and trials are over, all loose ends would have been tied, the police and security agencies are not expected to share all their info with the public.

As for the bombers, there are four people in custody, but the matter is still being investigated, so their names will not be officially released for some time.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941971#msg6941971 date=1287093073]So will still have this notion if Arabic is substituted for French ?[/quote]A person that can read French, can surely read English too. No?

babaearly:
If i was GEJ i would bring these bazterds down

Exactly. The pathetic clowns don't even have a pretence to a political ideology it is all anti-Western, religious extremist crap. A special prison needs to be built for them, like Guantanamo Bay, but within the law.

We always need to be specific when we say "North." It is too loose an expression, the author of the article clearly meant "core North."
That cleared, let the ball role.

[size=14pt]Between Henry Okah & the Northern leaders[/size]
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 01:00 Phillip Eyam-Ozung

. . .

Yet, as if the bombers and their sponsors didn't wreck enough physical and psychological havoc on the bereaved families and the generality of Nigerians, the brazen attempt to politicize the Independence-day bomb blasts is proving more devastating and deeply divisive! While President Jonathan dismissed MEND's claim of responsibility for the Independence-day bomb blasts on the grounds that intelligence available to him indicated that a few individuals were camouflaging under the name of MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) to commit acts of terrorism against the Nigerian state, Henry Okah who's widely suspected of masterminding the blasts granted Aljazeera an interview in which he claimed that after the bomb blasts 'someone' called him from the Presidency requesting him to incriminate Northern political leaders in the bomb saga!

[b]Curiously, while the self-styled Northern leaders led by Mallam Adamu Ciroma vigorously questioned President Jonathan's dismissal of MEND's claim of responsibility for the Independence-day bomb blasts on the grounds that intelligence available to him indicated that a few individuals were camouflaging under the name of MEND to commit acts of terrorism against the Nigerian state, they believed Henry Okah's Aljazeera claim hook, line and sinker to the extent of calling on President Jonathan to either resign or be impeached! Towing the same line with the Northern leaders, the four PDP Northern presidential aspirants namely Babangida, Atiku, Gusau and Saraki instructed their campaign organizations to jointly issue a press release that reflected their wholesale acceptance of Henry Okah's Aljazeera claim as the smoking-gun evidence of President Jonathan's sinister plot against them! It's fairly obvious that as far as the Northern leaders and the four Northern presidential candidates are concerned, President Jonathan is the devil who must be doubted while Henry Okah is the saint who must be believed.

[/b] But, if I may ask, was Henry Okah's choice of Aljazeera which is both the leading satellite TV channel in the Arab world and the media channel almost exclusively used by Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda high command a mere coincidence or a pointer to his proximity to global terrorism which vindicates President Jonathan's assertion that the bomb blasts were masterminded by a few individuals camouflaging under the name of MEND to commit acts of terrorism against the Nigerian state? Did President Jonathan or any of his aides publicly or privately link any Northern leader to the bomb blasts? Did the security agencies arrest any Northerner in connection with the bomb blasts? Why was Henry Okah's Aljazeera interview all that the Northern leaders and the PDP Northern Presidential aspirants needed to move against President Jonathan? Isn't it clear to the Northern leaders and the PDP Northern Presidential aspirants that by basing their biggest onslaught against President Jonathan 100% on Henry Okah's Aljazeera interview, they're rather portraying themselves as acting the same script with him? Isn't it clear to the Northern leaders and the PDP Northern Presidential aspirants that by basing their biggest onslaught against President Jonathan 100% on Henry Okah's Aljazeera interview, they're simply proving to the world that President Jonathan is their (Northern leaders'/Henry Okah's) common enemy? Whatever the plots and counter-plots, my prayer is God Bless Nigeria.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14352:between-henry-okah-a-the-northern-leaders&catid=96:columnists&Itemid=350

Nigerian ex-militant leader accused of involvement in deadly bombing attacks, Henry Okah, right, is led from the court after appearing for the third time in Johannesburg Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010. South African prosecutors said they have seized a military uniform and personal diary from the home of Okah. Okah denies any involvement with the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attacks in Nigeria's capital that killed a dozen people during a celebration to mark the country's 50th independence anniversary. (AP Photo /Tawanda Mudimu).

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5h6tIbco7HA4xX6AbIhX4IDLMm6EgD9IRJBTO0?docId=D9IRJBTO0&index=0

[img]http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5hZDMxKelNajrbrOl9CNn_5mq_YMQ?docId=2537e558-8e78-407d-9f7f-8b94992c4126&size=l[/img]

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941919#msg6941919 date=1287092337]It's not about making it any official language,the fact is that Arabic education is acquired form of knowledge.You better wake up,some schools are now offering it as either degree or education course and you are here lamenting.[/quote]Knowledge is different from literacy, even hunter gatherers had to have some form of knowledge to be successful.
Any schools offering Arabic, do it as an addition to knowledge; not as a basis for literacy. In Nigeria, if a person cannot read, write or spell in English, they are illiterate (like Boko Haram).

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941871#msg6941871 date=1287091766]And i still ask you to tell me how many of them are literates in any formal education ? Cuz even the boko harams are knowledgeable in islamic/Arabic knowledge.[/quote]Dude, an illiterate is someone who can neither read nor write. As far as Nigeria is concerned, Arabic is not and never will be an official language.
There are many old Ifa priests who cannot read or write in Western alphabet. Do you recognize them as literate, because they can write in their Ifa script?

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941833#msg6941833 date=1287091053]Did you see what i wrote before jumping into conclusion ?[/quote]Your argument is that all ND militants are illiterates like Boko Haram folk and my position is that your assertion is massively false. What has changed?
Your argument has failed, thats all.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941808#msg6941808 date=1287090662]Big lie ! Are you talking about Ateke that couldn't address Yardua in plain English but had to be allowed to speak pidgin ? Abegi,those guys are not in any way different from Boko harams infact they are worse off cuz they are hardcore criminals[/quote]Since when did speaking pidgin English mean that the speaker can neither read nor write?

peacesak:
What exactly are the boko haram fighting for? What are their demands? Can someone educate me.

The fckers are fighting for illiteracy and the right to remain illiterate, because they think that their brand of Islam forbids reading and writing Western texts.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941749#msg6941749 date=1287089973]So out of the over 20 000 militants and almost 60 generals among them,tell me how many graduates are among them cuz I know Ateke tom may not have even attended a primary school.[/quote]An illiterate is not a non-graduate, but a person who can neither read nor write. I am quite sure Ateke Tom can read and write.

peacesak:
We need better evidence. Okah made it clear that the struggles continue after the amnesty hence is anyone really in doubt that he still has contact with the faction of MEND who didn't accept the amnesty? The government even knows this that is why according to Okah, the they have been in contact with him many time so he can talk to the fighters still in the creeks. The smoking gun I was expecting is evidence linking Okah with the Abuja bombing. Still waiting for that to surface.

Okah has said it repeatedly since his arrest, that he is not a member of MEND and has nothing to do with MEND. Why are we content to sit back and make up stories. The man is not in MEND by his own admission. Period.

As for your "smoking gun," SA police have stated that Okah was in touch with the Abuja bombers, before and after the event.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=532043.msg6941699#msg6941699 date=1287089228]Are we not in the season of ''go and sin no more'' ? Abeg,if NIGER DELTA militants could be granted amnesty,then the ones too should be granted also.It has nothing to do with forced education afterall all the ND militants too are illiterates[/quote]That is a massive lie.
There is no young person in the Niger Delta that cannot read and write, except they have a mental problem.

krendo:
Forceful education of an adult is a crime under section 38 of the constitution of Nigeria. This Beaf you are a despot in the making

There is no place in the words below that says people cannot be forcibly educated. It only says religion must not be forced on people, look at it again;

38. (1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

(2) No person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if such instruction ceremony or observance relates to a religion other than his own, or religion not approved by his parent or guardian.

(3) No religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any place of education maintained wholly by that community or denomination.

. . .So, I repeat; set up a camp were all Boko Harams will be rounded up into and enforce, "a for apple, b for ball, c for cat. . ." if possible, with a judicious knock or two.
Once the fckers learn to read and can see where the problems lie, they will see the beauty of love, se'x and enlightenment and wonder how any body could be !diotic enough to kill for the "freedom" to remain illiterate and stup!d.

A lot of people are jealous of Jonathans progress and the fact that he has been able to reach the masses like no other President ever has, so they yap about facebook (funny when all aspirants have rushed to copy him, even Buhari of all people, has a facebook account ). In Jonathan, we have our very first thinking President, who is doing a lot to position Nigeria for industrial takeoff; a man who truly has the country at heart.

For the first time in our history, we have a deep thinker who is ready to tackle our critical developmental fundamentals by employing the brightest minds and identifying local solutions. Has anybody noticed that the foolish foreign "fact finding" trips our ministers and senators used to emback on every other week have died a quiet death? Things are really happening under Jonathan, all in a quiet, unannounced way; and the old forces really hate it, so they employ all sorts of underhand tricks and crimes to keep the country down; but with Jonathan, Nigerias time has finally come.

Here is a man that has become President by providence. He was not in the least interested in politics, but strangely there were always people who saw something special about him. Several missions were sent to recruit him into politics by political movers and shakers, but he kept turning them down one after the other, until they started turning up in person. Well, he finally took up the challenge and the rest of his story is history; I am not one for that sort of thing, but his steps seem to have been pre-ordained. All senselessly anti-Jonathan forces will cramp and paralyse themselves.

[size=14pt]Goodluck Nigeria!!![/size]

The main thing that pack of woebegone clowns needs is a forceful education; at gunpoint if necessary.

Nobody is too old to learn; a for apple, b for ball, c for cat. . . Indeed, it is such a profoundly fundamental building block, that once in place, those goons will forever forget their macabre deisre to kill for the the "freedom" to remain illiterate and backward.

krendo:
What is good for the goose is good for the gander

Bro Joe must grant them amnesty fast and invite the to Aso Rock for tea party

Is that not his security policy ?

Even oyibo people can see the comedy in the position of those claiming to be Boko Haram;

However, the delta sits firmly in the Christian south and in a region vital to the country's economy. North Nigeria, on the vestiges of the Sahara Desert, remains a rural area that depends primarily on agriculture.

Damn!
What a funny way of looking at it.

becomerich: Beaf go and ask Ojukwu the biafra president if he has not seen Gelede in Yorubaland. He use to live in Lagos.

Now look at Gelede in Oyo state in the alafia of Oyo palace.

Who told you I have access to Ojukwu? But I'm sure your sisters brothers friend daddy would have been Ojukwu's schoolmate?
You have really been misfiring in embarrassing ways since you stopped posting maps, abi your satellite don crash?
I'm sure you know it is a sin not to post maps to warn people of 15,000,000 deaths.

Anyways NLer's, who knows where this Oduduwa Bank is? We need to uproot the foundations, and troway di tin go Benin Republic!

rebranded:
True his interviews have been horrible, but he can improve

if he can get Fashola as his running mate, i believe the combination will send some kind of excitement around the country

Getting Fashola as a running mate wouldn't make the slightest difference, cos the deputy really does nothing; checkout Jonathan and Sambo - nobody hears about Sambo; I don't even know who Fashola's deputy is. I hope you see where I'm going? It will still be all about Ribadu and if he keeps coming out with horrible interviews, it wouldn't be long before people start pointing.

The best thing for Ribadu to do right now would be to really get hooked into civilian life, drop his command mentality (legacy of police service), gain civilian accomplishments and grow a softer, calmer edge. After that, he can really storm the scene, because he has what it takes.

[size=14pt]Nigeria: Islamic sect issues demand for amnesty[/size]
By NJADVARA MUSA (AP) – 6 hours ago

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — A feared Islamic sect responsible for a recent federal prison break and targeted killings in northern Nigeria has demanded an amnesty offer from the government to stop the violence.

The communication from the Boko Haram sect said the group wanted a deal similar to one made to militants in Nigeria's restive and oil-rich southern delta last year that slowed attacks there. However, such a demand could exploit regional and religious tensions that run through Africa's most populous nation and put new pressures on its Christian president.

Boko Haram made its demands via interviews with an anonymous spokesman to the Hausa language radio services of the BBC and the Voice of America late Wednesday night. The group said it wanted the government to release 195 detained sect members and for officials to allow members in hiding to re-emerge.

The group also asked for freedom to practice its form of Islam, the unconditional release of its seized mosques by government forces and "justice and equity" in local government affairs.

"We are law-abiding citizens, even though we do not subscribe with the unjust government of the western orientation that is being used to govern us here in Nigeria," the spokesman said in Hausa, the local language.

Despite that pledge, the spokesman went on to take responsibility for a recent bomb attack on a police station, as well as the targeted killings of local officials by motorcycle taxi-riding assassins. The spokesman said the government brought the attacks on themselves after the death of Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf in July 2009 after the group rioted, leading to a security crackdown that left 700 dead in total.

Human rights groups say Yusuf was executed by police while in their custody, but officials claimed he attempted to escape custody, though his hands were tied behind his back.

"Unless government ensures justice and equity and allow us to practice our religion ,  we will continue with these (killings) and we have our targets," the spokesman said.

Followers of Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, went into hiding after the July 2009 riots. Recently, the group engineered a massive prison break in nearby Bauchi state, freeing 750 inmates — among whom were sect members.

In asking for an amnesty deal, Boko Haram has brought into play the regional politics that form Nigeria, a country of 150 million that basically divides into a Christian south and Muslim north. The spokesman said that Boko Haram deserved "similar treatments accorded to the Niger Delta militants by the late president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, rather than being treated like second class citizens of Nigeria."

Before his death, Yar'Adua persuaded many militants in the creeks of the delta to sign onto a government-sponsored amnesty plan, which promised cash payouts and future job training. The relative peace that followed allowed oil production to boost in the OPEC nation, nearing highs not seen since the insurgency there began in 2006.

However, the delta sits firmly in the Christian south and in a region vital to the country's economy. North Nigeria, on the vestiges of the Sahara Desert, remains a rural area that depends primarily on agriculture. It also relies on President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the delta, to shepherd through what could be a complex and costly deal in the midst of a coming presidential election.

A presidential spokesman did not immediately respond for a request for comment Thursday on Boko Haram's demands.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNCU46VYMVf0VzhqkKJUus45PrDAD9IRFN0G1?docId=D9IRFN0G1

Youngichou: fisrt reasonable post in your whole miserabl life and stay on nairaland

Childish.

@topic
Imagine a 55 year old grandad wanting to organise a 2billion fight for himself!!!
Bash Ali probably wants the Guiness Book of Records entry for most expensive coffin! 
His family need to investigate whether winshes are affecting his mind.

I strongly believe that Ribadu will withdraw before the race is over. He is a good man who has overreached himself, because he is not yet ready for the civilian game; he has given terrible interview after terrible interview and like a wise head, will take action before he thoroughly demystifies himself.

[size=14pt]SAfrica: Diary, weapons receipt found at Okah home[/size]
By JENNY GROSS (AP) – 1 hour ago

JOHANNESBURG — South African prosecutors said Thursday that authorities had seized diaries vowing a "fight to the end" and a quotation for rocket-propelled grenades from the home of a Nigerian man accused of involvement in deadly car bomb attacks in his homeland.

The news came at a bail hearing for Henry Okah, who was arrested in Johannesburg on Oct. 2 and is being held on terror charges in connection with the bombings that killed at least 12 people in Nigeria's capital during a celebration to mark 50 years of independence. The hearing was adjourned until Friday.

Okah's lawyers say he denies any involvement in the attacks and say he is not a member of the militant group that claimed responsibility — the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND.

The diary entries, read in court, discuss guerrilla fighters, training discipline, the use of explosives, boats and night vision. In an entry dated Sept. 19, 2010, Okah wrote:

"God is with us. We will fight to the end," says an entry dated Sept. 19 — 11 days before the attacks.

Prosecutors said they also found in Okah's home a Sept. 3 invoice from a Chinese company not registered to deal in arms in South Africa showing the price of rocket launchers, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, guns and heavy artillery.

Nigeria's attorney general Mohammed Bello Adoke sent a written affidavit pleading for the magistrate not to release Okah, calling him the mastermind of the militant group and charging he is engaged in warfare and "economic sabotage" against Nigeria.

Okah, who has lived in South Africa for the past year, denies any involvement with MEND though he is widely believed to have been a former leader of the movement that has destroyed oil pipelines, kidnapped petroleum company workers and fought government troops since 2006.

The group accuses Nigeria's government of doing nothing to end poverty in the delta even as the nation receives billions of dollars from oil found in the delta region. Nigeria is a major oil supplier to the United States.

"I was arrested after the bomb attack to appease Nigerian officials who had placed significant pressure on South African authorities to arrest me," Okah said in an affidavit presented by his lawyer. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's reaction to the bombings has "resulted in a serious embarrassment," he said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6tIbco7HA4xX6AbIhX4IDLMm6EgD9IRJBTO0?docId=D9IRJBTO0

Oya, all Okah's brand new lovers, how una see am nau?

[size=14pt]SAfrica police - Okah in contact with Nigeria bombers [/size]
14 Oct 2010 16:53:38 GMT
Source: Reuters
* South Africa police say Okah was bombing "mastermind"
* Okah denies responsibility
* Affidavits read at bail hearing in Johannesburg
By Jon Herskovitz

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Nigerian militant leader Henry Okah was in contact with his bombing conspirators in Nigeria before and after a deadly car blast in the capital of Abuja, according to a South African police investigation.

Okah was arrested in Johannesburg shortly after the blasts that killed at least 10 people at an Oct. 1 parade to mark the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence. Four possible suspects have been arrested in Nigeria. [ID:nLDE6971FF]

South African police investigators said in an affidavit, read by a prosecutor at a bail hearing for Okah in a Johannesburg court, that he was "the mastermind" behind the blast but they could not reveal the evidence implicating Okah to protect their confidential sources.

Okah, residing in South Africa and charged with conspiracy in the bombing, said in an affidavit read by his defence lawyer that he did not have "any involvement whatsoever with the bomb acts".

The attacks were claimed by Nigeria's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

Security experts believe Okah -- who accepted a government amnesty last year after gun-running and treason charges against him were dropped -- was at one time the brains behind MEND, although he has denied ever being its leader.

Police searched Okah's home and found invoices for the purchase of thousands of submachine guns, rockets launchers and anti-aircraft machine guns, but did not find any firearms.

They also found that Okah and his wife own about 10 properties in South Africa valued at over $1 million.

In a separate affidavit, Nigeria's attorney general asked that Okah be denied bail.

Okah, dressed in a brown sweater and jeans, shook his head and laughed when a prosecutor read the affidavit in which the attorney general said Okah was engaged in economic sabotage and had links to various terrorists groups.

"The case of the state is so weak against me that it is non-existent," Okah said in his affidavit.

Okah said he was being used as a political pawn by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of an election.

The bombs have brought regional rivalries in Africa's most populous nation to the top of the political agenda ahead of what was already set to be the most fiercely contested presidential race since the end of military rule a decade ago. [ID:nLDE69626G]

The court was adjourned before a decision was made on whether the grant Okah bail. It will resume on Friday. (Editing by Alison Williams)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE69D1Z0.htm

[quote author=bk.babe97y link=topic=531219.msg6936513#msg6936513 date=1287027277]Do u "DENOUNCE" or "RENOUNCE" Citizenship?![/quote]She is not ready to renounce, she said "denounce." Pick up your brain and re-insert it.

jabbok:
@ Beaf, if you are an adult, then u certainly had no childhood. I can buy you some toys if u let me know where u are

Maybe your constant dreaming about toys is what leads you to make foolish comments without fail? I mean, dude, you can at least make an attempt to think sometimes, can't you? It can't be that difficult.

Nobody likes braindead oneliners, if they aren't funny and they are all a guy seems to have. I'm sure there's a bright kid in you, let him out.

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=530074.msg6936294#msg6936294 date=1287019333]according to becommrich

aloy.emeka=beaf=EzeUche0=chyz=Onlytruth=komado=seun osewa= dayokanu

All of you are fake. One person posting with the diff IDs[/quote]lol

jabbok:
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

- Matthew 5:22

First of all, I prove my case against you;

He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.

- Proverbs 10:18

Having proven my case, I go for the jugular and offer caution and intensive advice;

How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

- Proverbs 1:22

. . .More;

The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for want of wisdom.

- Proverbs 10:21; cf. 1:20-33

. . .More;

Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense

- Proverbs 17:16.

. . .More;

The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.

- Proverbs 15:14

As strangely as Mobutu had followers and hangers on until he died miserably; so IBB too has his own string of strange fellows, depraved tribal lords and crumb pickers.
Nigeria deserves better.

Here is a man who has obviously gone crazy! He wants to get in the boxing ring at age 55 and expects Jonathan to back him?
Jonathan bera send a convoy of mopols to sieze the man and match him off to hospital for the best care as one of Nigerias heroes of old.

[size=14pt]Bash Ali gives Jonathan deadline[/size]
By Tunde Eludini
October 14, 2010 12:37AM

“Do I have to be an ex-convict, a criminal or a dangerous and wicked militant before I can meet with you?” The question above is an excerpt from an open letter written by highly controversial Nigerian boxer, Bash Ali to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ali, who remains poised to set a record as the oldest boxer to win a world title has given Jonathan up till October 15 to declare his readiness to support his historic fight or risk the fight taking place elsewhere.

“Sir, once again, if I do not hear from you before Friday, October 15, 2010, I will approach another African president to host this historic event,” Ali had written in his letter.

Ali stunned many in 2006, when he suddenly declared: “I am at the ripe age of 50 years and all set to erase Joe Bugner’s name from the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest man to win a world title.”

However, four years down the line, the purported fight has failed to see the light of day as it has been clouded with so many controversies and setbacks.

A new date of December 11 is now been proposed for the fight which is expected to gulp about two billion naira.

Multiple benefits

For Ali, this is not in any way too much to spend on the fight which he believes the country will reap multiple benefits from.

“Sir, your great and wise advisers advised you to spend almost N7 Billion to celebrate Nigeria’s 50th anniversary because of their personal benefits while Nigeria did not get back a kobo in return. Now, you have set up a committee to probe how the money was spent.

“The same great and wise advisers of yours are against your keeping Nigeria’s promise to me by investing a small N2 Billion to earn a minimum N75 Billion and nine Sports Academies across Nigeria because they cannot share the money,” Ali said.

A Guinness World Record fight has never been held on an African soil, hence the historic event is set to be the first and the biggest boxing event to hold on the continent since Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in Zaire in 1974.

The International Boxing Union (IBU) had given Nigeria a deadline of October 8, 2010 to pay the $1m USD sanction fee which will authorise the approval for Nigeria to host the historic event or lose the right to host to the Republic of Ireland. But after the October 1 bombing, the IBU extended the deadline to October 29.

According to Ali, the 182 country members of the IBU and the WBF will be in Nigeria to watch the event and they include former and current world boxing champions like George Foreman, Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield, Ken Norton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Joe Bugner.

In addition, local and international movie stars and athletes from around the world will also be in Nigeria to be part of boxing history.

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