₦airaland Forum

nedu2u:
@Superboi, who told you GOD does not dictate d affairs of man? na your gun kill abacha abi na your blow send yaradua to coma that might break some shackles off our feet,

@ ijele-igbo ,lets pray and do our part by voting the right people. leave that man wen say election no go dey. na bad belly people dey talk like that,

Very funny. Make una dey pray; Al Qaeda in North Africa is already answering your attitude. Meanwhile, God don postpone 2011 from next year to 10 years time? Ode.
I'm here laughing.

Mekusxyz:
Is this not in the same Lagos that Fasola is supposed to be governing? Even poorer states do better. Na waofor WAEC oh!

This problem is not tied to any region, state or ethnicity. For one reason or the other, there are a lot of similar examples throughout the country.
There is a lot of wickedness pervading Nigerian society that allows it. Let us for once sit back and think very deeply about the societal faults that can make it possible for fellow humans to reside in rubbish dumps, yet there are churches and mosques on every street corner; every politician drops the name of God at the slightest rustle of the wind. . . Hipocricy.

I find it deeply hipocritical and troubling. In my opinion, there is a void in the average Nigerians being that needs to be filled. That void cannot be filled with hipocritical pastors and imams that are nucturnal okija and jankara customers. It cannot be filled by lying, thieving and decietful politicians, neither can the dread the army puts in us cover the gaping hole.
That void can only be filled by entrenching policies, cultures and actions that recognise the humanity in the next woman, child or man. The average Nigerian is an empty shell, dehumanised and brutalised until all that is left is an everlasting snarl.

Terrible, shocking, unbelievable

ozalogbo:
Any discerning mind can perceive that the purpose of this thread is to reenforce, reaffirm, intensify and sustain the belief that the absence of the President has created big problems, and heat up the polity.

. . ."heat up the polity". Talking rubbish is getting easier these days.
Some people sha.

nabiz:
MY FELLOW NIGERIAN YOUTH,IT IS PAINFUL HOW WE ALLOW OURSELF TO BE USE TO RIG ELECTION. AND WE FORGET THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE THE ONE TO SUFFER FOR IT IN THE FUTURE. 2011 GENERAL ELECTION IS FAST APPROACHING, PLEASE SUGGEST WHAT WE NIGERIAN YOUTH CAN DO TO MAKE SURE THAT 2011 ELECTION WILL BE FREE AND FARE
GOD BLESS U AS U SHARE your OPINION

If you ask me, I do not see the possibility of elections in 2011.

citizenY:
@Beaf

This is realpolitik and those who do not understand it will never understand. Anyway, lets hope
this becomes a permanent feature on the part of ACF, in which you can never find an Almajiri as you
understand the word. It is elitist and of course represents the face you do not want to see.

Honestly, \i just wish everyone comes to his senses and we all do the right things this year.

Nyway, happy new year.

Happy new year citizenY.
I think its too late and the wheels are finally coming of the car. . . Except there is intensive fire brigade action. . .

^
That man must either go to jail or get the death sentence.

[size=14pt]Nigeria: Mark Refuses to Accept Executive Bills from Jonathan[/size]
31 January 2010

Another constitutional conflict may arise from the alleged refusal of Senate President David Mark to accept executive Bills from Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

Justice Daniel Abutu of the Federal High Court ruled last Friday that the court cannot compel President Umaru Yar'Adua to transmit a letter to the National Assembly (NASS) on his poor health, and that Jonathan cannot act as President until the provision is met.

A Bill can be bought to the legislature either as a private member Bill or an executive Bill. Executive Bills are normally presented by the President.

It was learnt that Mark is insisting that unless Yar'Adua transmits the letter, he will not accept any executive Bill from Jonathan.

Jonathan is also reported to have said that unless Mark rescinds his decision, he will not send in any Bill, a development that has caused argument between the two men, according to a source.

The source narrated that, "Jonathan has presented some Bills before the (NASS), but Mark refused to accept them, claiming that he cannot perform the duties of the President when (Yar'Adua) has not sent a letter to the (NASS) that Jonathan should act on his behalf."

NASS officials last Thursday held a rancorous meeting with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, to persuade Mark to change his mind in the interest of the party and the government it runs.

Reliable sources at the meeting informed Daily Independent that Mark was nor persuaded, and instead said he would consult with lawyers in the Senate before taking the final decision.

This consultation was done last week with the federal Attorney General and Justice Minister, Michael Aondoakaa, and all Senators with legal training.

Critics have accused Mark of deliberately creating a stalemate, since the Constitution allows even NASS members to present Bills.

A source in the PDP argued: "Mark is only trying to create a deadlock on the matter. Yar'Adua is not around and the court has ruled that Jonathan can perform his duties in his absence.

"Since the Constitution allows members of the National Assembly to present Bills, why can't a Vice President who is performing the functions of the President do so?"

Whichever way things go, nevertheless, Senate Spokesman Ayogu Eze reiterated on Sunday that the Chamber is sticking with both Yar'Adua and Jonathan, and has no plans to impeach them.

He said Jonathan is not a party to the matter and talk should be restricted to Yar'Adua's inability to comply with Section 145 of the Constitution since he left for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment on November 23 last year.

Eze explained that the Senate only advised Yar'Adua to transmit a letter that he is on medical vacation, to reduce tension in the polity and find a way round the lacuna.

"As it is, given the way section 145 of the Constitution is, there is nothing anybody can do to compel (him) to issue the letter.

However, as elder statesmen and representatives of the Nigerian people, we felt we had a duty to speak up in support of the right thing being done, even if the Constitution has glossed over its necessity.

"I wish, therefore, to state categorically that at no time did the issue of impeachment arise in the Senate either when the matter was taken in plenary or in closed sessions," Eze maintained.

"We are responsible and patriotic enough to know that we cannot contemplate criminalising ill health. Anybody can fall sick at anytime. The issue of health lies with God."

He said it is mischievous to allege that the Senate leadership favours the impeachment of Yar'Adua and Jonathan, something that was "never discussed and was never contemplated."

In his view, this is handiwork of spin doctors using everything at their disposal, "including the ones that are so asinine, to frustrate every effort to find a political solution to a very obviously testy situation.

"We all love our President. We all love our country too, and will do whatever it will take to preserve her corporate existence.

Eze said the Senate believes that impeachment is a fractious process that will divide the country and heat up the polity.

"Our resolution urging (Yar'Adua) to give us a vacation notice is enough to produce the desired result, moreso when our call has been backed by former Presidents and the cream of Nigeria's elder statesmen as well as the international community.

"Let me once more appeal to our people, especially journalists, to be wary of people who are bent on pushing this country off the cliff. The time calls for vigilance in whatever we do or say.

"Let us resolve to find a solution to the problem rather than constitute ourselves into the problem.

"The leadership of the Senate is firm on the resolve of the Upper Chamber to remain responsible and not be blackmailed or provoked into any hasty decision.

"Those who are planting these fabricated stories in the press, knowing same to be false, shall reap the fruit of their misadventure. My faith teaches me that no evil or malice committed against fellow human beings knowingly ever goes unpunished."

However, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) asked Jonathan to dissolve the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and reconstitute it to include vibrant people who will revive the nation.

A statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by CNPP Secretary General, Willy Ezegwu, said Nigeria has "grounded to a halt" since Yar'Adua "absconded from his duty post" for health reasons.

He noted that while taxpayers' money is providing world class medical treatment for him in Saudi Arabia, the suffering faced by Nigerians gets worse daily because of the power play over his absence.

"Dissolving and re-constituting the cabinet will immediately ensure that Nigeria gets back on track," Ezegwu stated, since working with the current cabinet will pose credibility problems for Jonathan.

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201002011433.html

forpeace:
why has magician fashola not cleared the shanties on the dumpsite? ?oh he's too busy looting and missapropriating money

To be honest, this is not Fashola's problem. Let's leave, region, state and ethnicity out.
It is a 100% Nigerian problem; a nation were the citizens and govt have no love for each other, will only recede into backwardness and slowly fragment.

@Tpia
You are only typifying the above mentality. Shame.

[quote author=paddy_lo link=topic=390626.msg5427856#msg5427856 date=1265045957]@beaf
what exactly is your problem?
its a dumpsite. . or u want me to show u dumpsites in brazil,india or USA?

jeez. . get a life dude[/quote]Does the fact that your fellow humans live on a dump site not seem wrong to you? Or are they animals to you just because they are poor?
For your information, I don't care about pictures of rubbish dumps from other countries. In any event, I am quite certain that your beloved foreign dump site photo's will not show children hawking fruit's or citizens "dump top" dwellings.

stiyke:
Thats count one.
The federal Gov is moving JTF to abuja, are they running?? http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/02/01/presidency-orders-security-beef-up-in-abuja/ nawa oohh serious dark clouds on the horizon.
MEND pls dont stop over some useless promises this time.
I wish more nigerians hav guts like MEND ,

They aren't running, it's just that Jos was a huge miscalculation by the almajiri's. You see, the potential of the army splitting between Christian and Mulsim, Core North and the rest of Nigeria is a much worse prospect to their planners than having to hang ND people to protect the bunkering operations of ex-generals.

The bulk of the army comes from Benue and Plateau states. Benue state provides most of the lower cadre, while Plateau state has produced a lot of generals (Langtang mafia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langtang_Mafia). . . Not nice, coupled with the other issue's in Nigeria, even nasty. There are many reasons why the Arewa Consultative Forum seem to have suddenly torn off the bigotted blindfold and gained sight to read the tea bags, they are now singing a radically different tune from their past chauvinistic outings.

[quote author=hatch# link=topic=390879.msg5426922#msg5426922 date=1265038190][size=18pt]An imminent break up! my foot [/size][/quote]Is your foot going to stop it?
Nigeria is paying for years of planlessness, stupidity and blatant wickedness.

The only way the country can be saved is if we hold a national conference to sit down and thrash out the structure of our nationhood.

[quote author=tpia. link=topic=390626.msg5424268#msg5424268 date=1265007936]can you volunteer your village as a rubbish dump, so Olusosun can be cleaned up?[/quote]You can do better than that, surely?

Nigeria is backward because people like you do not have human compassion. We simply don't care for each other, we have a thousand flesh and blood humans living on a dumpsite, but you can't see that?
It isn't even about Olusosun being cleaned up; it is more of how we can tolerate the debasement of our neighbours, our sisters and brothers; becuase that is what the residents of Olusosun are.

Abacha, Babangida and Obasanjo may be trailing miles behind but as it stands its only a matter of time before we know exactly which direction to go as luck and time seems to be running out for the Cabals puppet.

Obasanjo and yar Adua (RIP?) are far from Nigeria's worst leaders.
In fact, Obasanjo has been one of the best despite his shortcomings. Nigerias development grew in leaps and bounds under him, with the opening up of telecoms to the man in the street, the emergence of the Nollywood and banking industries, the tripling of our GDP, negotiation and payment of our national debt. OBJ got Nigeria off the hangmans noose.

Yar Adua has been useless, but that doesn't compare to the astronomic levels of corruption that IBB introduced into the Nigerian polity. The present crop of politicians are IBB's offspring.
Yar Adua also doesn't come anywhere near the sheer sardism and evil of Abacha's time when disappearances were a daily occurence and death squads brazenly roamed the streets.
He has just been too ill to ever grab the reins of leadership and the cabal has taken advantage.

[quote author=hatch# link=topic=390628.msg5426389#msg5426389 date=1265033771]@Bluetooth

Don't  waste your time trying to have a discussion with these delusional Idi.ots called Southern Mend Apologists.  

When clowns like Wily Wily ,OvieE and Beaf will always bring tribalistic sentiments into any discussion will always blame it on the North or Islam. The sad truth is your people are the enemies of your self and its obvious that you are blinded with your so-called hatred to see beyond the current picture.

Bloody Red Necks  [/quote]You are the delusional idi'ot. It is you Hausa/Fulani people that think Southern Nigeria is your piggy bank. Ole!
You people think Southern lives have no value, so whole ND communities were wiped out and razed to the ground in the past, just like your Maitatsine baboons burn churches each time a European in his far away country, abuses your prophet.

Bastar'ds.

“It’s going to be much, much worse, because people are angry,” says Okah. While MEND units focused their energies on oil production in the Cross Rivers States, it has now sent out 100 separate militant groups of 50 men in each group. “Kidnapping will still happen, but it will escalate. They will carry out attacks on land as well, and take the fight to the government. Officers will be targeted. Soldiers will be targeted. Police stations will be targeted. They will even go to the big hotels to kidnap people.”

The idea is to stretch the Nigerian Army’s capacity to fight and control territory.

“Even if they brought in 100,000 troops, it will be impossible to control an area the size of Scotland,” says Okah. “If we have mobile units of 50 men who are here today, and there tomorrow, how can they stop it? The Tamil Tigers [in Sri Lanka] fought for territory and to hold territory. We are blowing up oil pipelines in the middle of nowhere.”

“We actually control what Nigeria exports," chuckles Okah. "And there is nothing the Nigerian government can do about it.”

Henry Okah (MEND)

[size=14pt]North Africa Qaeda offers to help Nigerian Muslims[/size]
Mon Feb 1, 2010 1:20pm GMT

DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda group in North Africa has offered to give Nigerian Muslims training and weapons to fight Christians in the West African country, where more than 460 people were killed in sectarian clashes last month.

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan sent in the military to halt the violence after four days of clashes between Christian and Muslim mobs armed with guns, knives and machetes in the area round the city of Jos in central Nigeria.

"We are ready to train your people in weapons, and give you whatever support we can in men, arms and munitions to enable you to defend our people in Nigeria," the statement by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said.

It was signed in the name of Abu Mus'ab Abdel-Wadoud, who was described as the "emir", or leader, of the group, and appeared on Islamic websites that often carry statements from groups using the al Qaeda name around the world.

"You are not alone in this test. The hearts of Mujahideen are in pain over your troubles and desire to help you as much as possible, in the Islamic Maghreb, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya," it said.

Nigeria has roughly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, though traditional animist beliefs underpin many people's faith.

About 1 million people were killed in Nigeria's 1967-70 civil war, and there have been outbreaks of religious unrest since then. But more than 200 ethnic groups generally live peacefully side by side in the West African oil producer.

Last month's violence erupted after an argument between Muslim and Christian neighbours over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in previous clashes in 2008.

A Nigerian man tried to bomb a U.S.-bound plane on December 25 in an attack claimed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Saudi-Yemeni group using the al Qaeda name and based in Yemen.

AQIM kidnapped a Frenchman and three Spaniards in the Sahara late last year and said it would kill the French hostage by the end of January unless Mali freed four al Qaeda prisoners.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Monday the group had extended the deadline.

AQIM has waged a campaign of suicide bombings and ambushes in Algeria but in the past few years has shifted many of its activities south to the Sahara desert.

Last year it killed a British tourist, Edwin Dyer, after kidnapping him on the border between Niger and Mali while he was attending a festival of Tuareg culture.

The group also said it shot dead a U.S. aid worker in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott in June last year and carried out a suicide bombing on the French embassy there in August that injured three people.

Saharan states have been planning a regional conference to map out a joint response to the al Qaeda threat for more than a year, but the gathering has been postponed repeatedly.

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6100EE20100201?sp=true

Is it not strange that Sekibo foresaw current events since July 2008 and even proposed solid corrections?
These problems were always avoidable.

trueword:
Well they have agitating for greater resource control because they feel that all the government has ever done is to carry the wealth from that area away and not rewarded the area for being the place where the wealth is gotten.  Even if the Fed. govt. didn't want to give them more control, they could have started to develop the area. If these militants saw that all of a sudden many roads networks, rail networks, etc where being built then I don't think they will be making any noise. The cure for that area is simply development. And then the Fed. govt sends out JTF over there to fight them, so they know the Fed. govt doesn't want to address the problem.

Thank you, MEND is asking for true federalism (resource control is only a consequence).

@Sefago
. . .After spending $3 billion to arm the JTF.
Would $3 billion not have gone a very long way to providing infrastructure on the land the FG has siezed for oil production?

[size=14pt]Group asks ICC to investigate Jos killings[/size]
By Ayo Okulaja
February 1, 2010 02:02AM


A Lagos-based group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate allegations of unlawful killing of over 300 people during the recent violence in Jos.

The petition also wants the ICC to investigate reports that the military and police used excessive force in quelling the violence.

The petition, sent to the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo by the group’s attorney, Femi Falana, quoted the Plateau State Police Command as saying: “at least 326 people were killed during the violence. Tens of thousands are displaced and denied access to humanitarian assistance and basic necessities of life such as food and medical care. Many have not been assisted to return to their homes and land, or provided with alternative accommodation.” The group said the crimes committed against the Nigerian people in Jos ‘could amount to crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, which falls under the jurisdiction of the ICC.’ “The latest violation of international law in Jos is coming just after the apparently unlawful killings of more than 700 people that followed the Boko Haram crisis last year,” the group said.

It also said that those who are suspected to be responsible for the latest violence and previous outbreaks of deadly violence in Jos have not been arrested, let alone brought to justice because the government has shown itself to be too weak to act, contrary to its international legal obligations.

“The government usually respond to outbreaks of violence in many parts of the country by setting up commissions of inquiry, but few of them have ever published their reports, and even when they have, their recommendations have rarely been acted upon or led to prosecutions,” the group said.

Both the federal and the state government set up a committee to investigate the last crisis in 2008 that claimed close to 200 lives. While the state government’s committee, chaired by a former attorney general and member of International Criminal Court, Bola Ajibola submitted its report in January 2009, the government is yet to issue a white paper on the report. The committee established by the federal government recently commenced sittings.

Unwilling to prosecute

The group said that the government has shown itself to be unwilling or unable to transparently and effectively investigate and prosecute allegations of crimes under international law committed in the context of the outbreaks of violence in the country.

“This situation amounts to a denial of the victims’ access to a fair, effective and prompt system of justice,” it said. “The denial of justice to the victims of violence also violates the Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, which emphasises the responsibility of all states to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.” According to the group, under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the ICC is the last resort, as the Article 17 of the Rome Statute states “the ICC is expected to exercise its jurisdiction if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes.”

Mr. Ocampo is currently investigating crimes against humanity in Kenya, as a result of the 2007 post election violence in which over a thousand lives were lost.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5520368-147/group_asks_icc_to_investigate_jos.csp

SEFAGO:
What exactly are the demands of the MEND terrorists?

Oh by the way it was "called off its cease fire" so I misinterpreted and spoke prematurely, the s.t.u.pid statement blame is on me

Why comment if you don't even know their demands?

He is a bush man.

[size=14pt]Jacob Zuma 'fathers 20th child with friend's daughter'[/size]
The South African president, Jacob Zuma, is reported to have has fathered a 20th child with the daughter of a friend.

By Sebastien Berger in Johannesburg
Published: 11:43PM GMT 31 Jan 2010

His latest offspring, a girl, was reported on Sunday to have been born in October to Sonono Khoza, 39, the divorced daughter of Irvin Khoza, according to the country's Sunday Times newspaper. Mr Khoza is the chairman of the organising committee for the football World Cup finals to be held in South Africa later this year.

The newspaper said the girl's name was registered as Thandekile Matina Zuma.

Mr Zuma, 67, is a proud Zulu traditionalist, and as well as his polygamy – he married his third current wife and fifth overall, Thobeka Madiba, earlier this month – he has had a number of children out of wedlock.

In all, he has had children by seven women.

The paper said that the Khoza family were not happy about the liaison – Mr Khoza is six years younger than the president – and a delegation from the president had visited them to discusss inhlawulo, the customary Zulu damages payable when a child is born out of wedlock.

Last week Mr Zuma defended himself against accusations that polygamy was "a step backward" or unfair to women in a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"People interpret cultures in different ways," he said. "Some think that their culture is superior to others, that's a problem we have in the world."

In South Africa, he went on, "we follow a policy that says you must respect the cultures of others. That's my culture. It does not take anything from me, from my political beliefs and everything, including the belief on the equality of women".

Mr Zuma's personal life is not an issue for most South Africans. But Helen Zille, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, said that it was counterproductive given the country's fight against HIV-Aids.

"There are some people who may argue that Jacob Zuma's sex life is a matter of private morality or 'culture', but this is not so," she claimed.

Pointing out that after his rape trial, when he was acquitted, he had apologised for having unprotected sex with the HIV-positive daughter of a family friend, she added: "He has once again succeeded in sending the wrong message to the South African people."

Mr Zuma's spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/7120593/Jacob-Zuma-fathers-20th-child-with-friends-daughter.html

"Our message to the Northern Sultans and Emirs is this: The period of exploiting the Niger Delta is coming to an end. It is not the birth right of your people to rule the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"The war is just beginning and by the time it ends, Nigeria will practice true federalism such as fiscal federalism which will benefit the entire populace. Let your people brace themselves to develop their resources and such a bold change will be remembered," Jomo Gbomo, MEND's spokesman said in an electronic mail on Sunday.

The threat came a few hours after the Special Adviser to the Rivers State Governor on Budget, Austin Ngor, was kidnapped and moved to an unknown destination.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200905181144.html

May 2009.

[size=14pt]Yar’Adua Debacle Throws Up New Proposal on Presidential Succession[/size]
By Sufuyan Ojeifo, 01.31.2010

When the Senate spent a little over eight hours last week in a two-day closed session to take a decision on the briefing it received on the health condition of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Nigerians were expecting a far-reaching resolution that would break the gridlock in the polity occasioned by the president’s prolonged absence from the country.

Yar’Adua had been at the King Faisal Specialist and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he had been receiving treatment for acute pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane around his heart).  He left the country on November 23, last year, without transmitting a letter to the National Assembly to enable his Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to step in as Acting President.

The general concern has been that Yar’Adua should have transmitted the letter in line with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution so that there could be an Acting President in place.  But Yar’Adua minders have insisted that the exercise of the power to transmit the letter is discretionary.  However, when the Upper House drew the curtains on its two-day closed session, its decision was anchored on Section 145.

The Upper House urged Yar’Adua to notify the National Assembly with his medical vacation pursuant to Section 145.  But in charting the path of political solution to give a soft landing to the president, it could not attach a timeline within which he should notify it.   The Upper House was very careful in giving the president a deadline, realizing that its resolution does not have a force of law and therefore not enforceable.

Consequently, it gave a mandate to the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution to propose an amendment to Section 145 to “resolve the flaws exposed by the present circumstance.”  When the amendment is proposed, it would be aimed at removing the word “whenever” that renders the powers provided in the section discretionary.  Not only that, a timeline for the transmission of such letter will be proposed for inclusion in the section.

But this is not the only section of the Constitution that requires timelines for them to be efficacious.  In fact, the other sections had already been presented to the Senator Ike Ekweremadu-led Senate Committee on Constitution Review at its zonal public hearing that took place on December 14 and 15 at the Port-Harcourt centre by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Senator George Thompson Sekibo (PDP, Rivers East).

Sekibo’s memorandum was an improvement on his Presidential Succession Order Bill, which was read for the first in the Senate on July 7, 2008 and which had since then been kept in the cooler due to its tendentious form and content.  However, the memorandum he presented was tagged “Memorandum on Presidential Succession Order.”   

He said, “My proposed amendments are centered on the proper mechanism for filling the offices of the President and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the event of the occurrences of certain circumstances described and contemplated by the Constitution, which may occur in the course of governance.  Proper procedures for handling the speculated occurrences were not addressed by the constitution, thereby creating lacuna in the event of their occurrences.

“To the ordinary mind, it may appear that the constitution has fully provided for the order of succession to the Presidency; and, as such, no further addition is required.  This would be a completely wrong assumption, because constitutions, by their very nature, are meant to provide the general framework and guidelines of any system of government, and not the details of how such system should work in practice.  Since no other relevant Act has been enacted by the National Assembly, and a review of the constitution is in process, it is necessary to include these details on how those guidelines should be carried out into effect.

“As an example, we are all living witnesses to the declaration of a State of Emergency in Plateau State in this current democratic dispensation.  We may recall that after the imposition of the State of Emergency, the Presidency and indeed the National Assembly suddenly realized that there were no enabling laws to facilitate the running of the subsequent alternative government of Plateau State.

“You would also recall that frantic efforts were made by the Executive and the National Assembly to dig up, dust up and revalidate a series of moribund laws in order to make the declared State of Emergency workable. That blunder may have been overlooked or treated lightly and blamed on the learning status of our nascent democracy.”

But dwelling on the timeframe for swearing- in a successor, Sekibo said that the issue was not also provided for by the constitution or contained in any enabling law, asking, “Should this aspect be left to speculation, and thereby causing unnecessary tension and apprehension in the polity?”  He posited: “Where there are definite provisions of the law on the procedure to follow, the minds of the citizenry will be at rest whenever there is an occurrence of any of the circumstances described under section 143 and 144 of the 1999 Constitution. There should be concise provisions on the timeframe for the swearing in of any successor to the Presidency.

On the time limit for conduct of nullified elections, he observed that “there is also the Constitutional provision that stipulates that when the Senate President holds office as President of the country, election should be held within the period of three months for a new President and Vice President. It is pertinent to ask this salient question, what should be the situation where an election fails to hold within this specified period due to unforeseen circumstances? I feel certain that the constitutional provision in this area needs further consideration so that every loophole is carefully plugged.”

Sekibo had listed provisions for proposed amendment to include time specification in Section 136(2), which states inter alia: “Where the persons duly elected as President and Vice President die and are unable for any reason whatsoever to assume office before the inauguration of the National Assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall immediately conduct an election for a President and the Vice President.

He had proposed thus: Subsection (2) of Section 136 is amended by the addition after the words “immediately conduct an election” the words “within thirty (30) days.”  Thus, the new subsection 136(2), according to him, shall read thus: “Where the persons duly elected as President and Vice-President die or are unable for any reason whatsoever to assume office before the inauguration of the National Assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall immediately conduct an election within 30 days for a President and the Vice-President.                           

On time specification in Section 140, which states inter alia: “(1) A person elected to the office of President shall not begin to perform the functions of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this constitution and he has taken and subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this constitution; and, (2) The oaths aforesaid shall be administered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the person for the time being appointed to exercise the functions of that office,”  he said it should be amended by the addition of the following new subsections (3) and (4).
His proposed Subsection 3 provides: The oaths aforesaid shall be administered on May 29 of the year following an election year at 12.00 noon prompt,”  while in Subsection 4, “The person elected as President is deemed to have been inaugurated after 12.00 noon on the said date, as in subsection (3) of this section, even though he may not have subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office and shall commence his duties and functions as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; while the aforesaid oaths be administered to him thereafter.”

Sekibo had also dwelled on amendment of Section 145 even before the present crisis.  Section 145 of the Constitution reads: “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.” 

Consider his proposed amendment:  “Section 145 of the constitution is amended as follows: By making section 145 as subsection 145(1) after deleting the word “whenever” and inserting the words “shall” after the word “President,” and the new subsection 145(1) shall read: “The President shall transmit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”   

He had further proposed additional amendments thus: “By the addition of a new subsection as subsection 145(2)- “The Vice-President becomes an acting President whether there is a written declaration from the President or not, whenever the President becomes indisposed on medical ground for a period not exceeding 48 hours from when the President subjects himself to such medical attention and could not discharge his duties and functions from his office in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“By the addition of a new subsection as subsection 145(3)- “The Vice-President ceases as acting President whenever the President returns from such medical indisposition as contemplated in subsection 145(2)

Sekibo also proposed amendments to Section 146, which states inter alia: (1) The Vice-President shall hold the office of President if the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the President from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 of this Constitution.
(2) Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of Vice-President is also vacant, the President of the Senate shall hold the office of President for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new President, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.
(3) Where the office of Vice-President becomes vacant:-
(a) by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal in accordance with section 143 or 144 of this Constitution;
(b) by his assumption of the office of President in accordance with subsection (1) of this section; or
(c) for any other reason,
the President shall nominate and, with the approval of each House of the National Assembly, appoint a new Vice-President.”
Consider his proposed amendment: Subsection (1) of Section 146 is amended by the addition after the words “The Vice-President shall” of the words “be administered to the oath of Allegiance and oath of office within 24 hours to” and the new subsection 146(1) shall read thus: “ The Vice-President shall be administered to the oath of Allegiance and the oath of Office of the President within 24 hours to hold the office of President if the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the President from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 and 144 of this Constitution.
“Subsection 146(2) is amended by the addition after the words “the President of the Senate shall” of the words “be administered to the oath of Allegiance and Oath of office within 24 hours to” and the new Subsection 146(2) shall read thus:
“Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of Vice-President is also vacant, the President of the Senate shall be administered to the oath of Allegiance and oath of office of the President within 24 hours to hold the office of the President for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be election of a new President, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.”           

He proposed that Subsection 146(3)(c ) of the constitution is amended by the addition after the words “the President shall nominate” of the words “within seven (7) days of the death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the Vice-President,” and the addition after the words each House of the National Assembly of the words “within seven (7) days of presentation” and consequently “the new subsection 146(3) (c) shall read thus: “(c) for any other reason, the President shall nominate within seven (7) days of the death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the Vice-President, and, with the approval of each House of the National Assembly within seven (7) days of presentation, appoint a new Vice-President.”

Sekibo, in his conclusion, had canvassed the proper running of any system of government that seeks to make progress and carry the people along, saying “it must never be premised on personalities or sentiments, while the purposes of our laws needs to project into the future, whilst also taking cognizance of the present.”     He posited: “One of our main task as pioneering legislators of this system is to do all in our stride to entrench a solid and virile democratic injunction, so as to enable us attain our development dreams.”

He has left the committee with profound words that resonate in the circumstance of the nation’s current political crisis: “Now is the time to rethink over our system of presidential succession, not within or after a succession crisis,” adding, “We must note that presidential succession provisions are triggered by events that could tear the very core of our nation’s political stability. Therefore the need for a smooth, lawful, and constitutional transition of power is of utmost importance in our young democracy, and must be contemplated before they occur.” 

He advocated further: “We must have a system in place, so that it is always clear – and beyond all doubt – who the President is, especially in times of national crises,” warning that, “A non-properly defined Presidential succession order for a country practicing the presidential system of government is like an accident waiting to happen.”  He had admonished thus: “We must therefore take this opportunity and instill confidence in the government and our people who solely depend on our good sense of judgment.”

Indeed, this current political crisis would appear to be a blessing in disguise for Sekibo, whose perceived tendentious Presidential Succession Order Bill has been kept in the cooler in the Upper House.  And because the bill had run into a storm, he had chosen to come through the way of a memo to address specific sections of the constitution that could be controversial in the absence of timeframe.  The ball is the court of the Ekweremadu-led Constitution Review Committee to accommodate the proposed amendments by Sekibo.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=165472

Can Nigeria not do better than this?

A girl carrying mangoes on her head descends to a village on the Olusosun landfill site in Nigeria. The Olusosun dump is Africa’s largest, comprising 100 acres of garbage and collecting 2,400 metric tonnes of rubbish every day from *****, one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. *****’s population has tripled in the past 15 years and the infrastructure can’t cope. Roughly 1,000 homes have been built on Olusosun – the residents collect scrap from the dump and sell it.
Jacob Silberberg/Panos

[size=14pt]Yar’Adua: You ‘re unpatrotic, ACF tells FEC[/size]
From ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Kaduna
Monday, February 01, 2010

Barely four days after it said the region was the country’s headache, the Northern social-cultural organization, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has again come hard on the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which incidentally is dominated by northerners, for what it described as an attempt to cover up the truth about President Yar’Adua’s failing health.
For passing a verdict that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was fit to continue to rule, ACF said the FEC members are not patriotic Nigerians, just as their resolution was “lacking in patriotic courage.”

The Forum which threw its weight behind the position of the Eminent Elders Group led by General Yakubu Gowon to the effect that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua should formally hand over the affairs of the country to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan while he seeks proper medical care, had earlier last week insisted that the nation’s constitution be respected in all matters dealing with the absence of the president and the process of succession.

The Forum’s latest position was conveyed to Journalists in Kaduna yesterday vide a text message by its National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani. While condemning the position of the Federal Executive Council that the President was fit, despite his failing health, ACF further said it was regrettable  that members of FEC were trying to “play down the reality of the President being either on vacation or is incapacitated considering the fact that he (President Yar’Adua) has been out of his duty post for over two months.”

“The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) commends the Eminent Elders Group (as symbolized by former Presidents/Heads of State and Elder Statesmen) in lending its weight to the voice of those who have been saying that the National Assembly should pressure President Yar’Adua to transmit a letter to its leadership to the effect that he is on vacation or he is hospitalized in line with section 145 of the Constitution.

“This would be in the interest of constitutional democracy and in the interest of the nation and its economy.
“The resolution by the Executive Council of the Federation (FCE) that Mr. President is fit as a fiddle reeks of attempt to cloak the fact and lacking in patriotic courage because such is aimed at playing down on the reality of the President Yar’Adua being either on vacation or incapacitated, considering the obvious that the president has been away from his duty post for over two months now.

“This kind of resolution by FEC calls into questions our leaders’ commitment and adherence to constitutional governance, to the peaceful unity of the nation and to Nigeria’s image in the comity of nation.
“It is time for our leaders to enable the universal cliché which posits that great leaders are defined by great challenges to come on to his own.

“Difficult times should bring about vision in our own leaders who are expected to locate the courage of their patriotic conviction and demonstrate that they can pursue causes higher than themselves as worth impulse,” ACF insists

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/feb/01/national-01-02-2010-02.htm

Just last year, the Niger Delta suffered losses of several thousand; notably in Gbaramatu (Warri South), where women, children and men who were attending a festival were shelled by warships from the sea, bombed from the air and straffed by helicopter gunships. The army is mainly led by the very people shouting genocide for the Jos riots, what goes around comes around.

The latest government offensive in the Niger Delta is the heaviest for several years, with 3,000 troops, two warships, 14 boats and at least four helicopter gunships moving into Gbaramatu Kingdom, an Ijaw region in the Western Delta near Chevron's Escravos oil facility.

http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/18394.html (you will notice that this news outlet is completly neutral).

The people of Gbaramatu are still awaiting justice for the genocide of May 15 2009. Who is consoling the innocent and long suffering women in the video below?

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7xzRApvw1k&hl=en_GB&fs=1&[/flash]

Along with Gbaramatu, how about Tombia, Odi and 48 other Niger Delta communities that have been reduced to dust in the past 10 years?

[size=14pt]US raises stakes on Iran by sending in ships and missiles[/size]
Pentagon says Patriot shield will deter strike on American allies in the Gulf

Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.

The US is dispatching Patriot defensive missiles to four countries – Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait – and keeping two ships in the Gulf capable of shooting down Iranian missiles. Washington is also helping Saudi Arabia develop a force to protect its oil installations.

American officials said the move is aimed at deterring an attack by Iran and reassuring Gulf states fearful that Tehran might react to sanctions by striking at US allies in the region. Washington is also seeking to discourage Israel from a strike against Iran by demonstrating that the US is prepared to contain any threat.

The deployment comes after Obama's attempts to emphasise diplomacy over confrontation in dealing with Iran – a contrast to the Bush administration's approach – have failed to persuade Tehran to open its nuclear installations to international controls. The White House is now trying to engineer agreement for sanctions focused on Iran's Revolutionary Guard, believed to be in charge of the atomic programme.

Washington has not formally announced the deployment of the Patriots and other anti-missile systems, but by leaking it to American newspapers the administration is evidently seeking to alert Tehran to a hardening of its position.

The administration is deploying two Patriot batteries, capable of shooting down incoming missiles, in each of the four Gulf countries. Kuwait already has an older version of the missile, deployed after Iraq's invasion. Saudi Arabia has long had the missiles, as has Israel.

An unnamed senior administration official told the New York Times: "Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don't feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well."

The chief of the US central command, General David Petraeus, said in a speech 10 days ago that countries in the region are concerned about Tehran's military ambitions and the prospect of it becoming a dominant power in the Gulf: "Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the Gulf front."

Petraeus said the US is keeping cruisers equipped with advanced anti-missile systems in the Gulf at all times to act as a buffer between Iran and the Gulf states.

Washington is also concerned at the threat of action by Israel, which is predicting that Iran will be able to build a nuclear missile within a year, a much faster timetable than assessed by the US, and is warning that it will not let Tehran come close to completion if diplomacy fails.

The director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, met the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials in Jerusalem last week to discuss Iran.

Pro-Israel lobby groups in the US have joined Republican party leaders in trying to build public pressure on the administration to take a tougher line with Iran. One group, the Israel Project, has been running a TV campaign warning that Iran might supply nuclear weapons to terrorists.

"Imagine Washington DC under missile attack from nearby Baltimore," it says. "A nuclear Iran is a threat to peace, emboldens extremists, and could give nuclear materials to terrorists with the ability to strike anywhere."

Washington is also concerned that if Iran is able to build nuclear weapons, other states in the region will feel the need to follow. Israel is the only country in the Middle East to already have atomic bombs, although it does not officially acknowledge it.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said in London last week that the US will press for additional sanctions against Iran if it fails to curb its nuclear programme.

Europe's foreign affairs minister, Catherine Ashton, today said the UN security council should now take up the issue. "We are worried about what's happening in Iran. I'm disappointed at the failure of Iran to accept the dialogue and we now need to look again at what needs to happen there," she told Sky News.

"The next step for us is to take our discussions into the security council. When I was meeting with Hillary Clinton last week we talked about Iran and we were very clear this is a problem we will have to deal with."

However, China and Russia are still pressing for a diplomatic solution.

Tony Blair, Middle East envoy on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU, continually referred to what he described as the Iranian threat during his evidence at the Chilcot inquiry last Friday. Textual analysis now shows that he mentioned Iran 58 times.

Besides the new missile deployment, Washington is also helping Saudi Arabia to create a 30,000-strong force to protect oil installations and other infrastructure, as well as expanded joint exercises between the US and military forces in the region.

The move is a continuation of the military build-up begun under former president George W Bush. In the past two years, Abu Dhabi has bought $17bn (£11bn) worth of weapons from the US, including the Patriot anti-missile batteries and an advanced anti-missile system. UAE recently bought 80 US-made fighter jets. It is also buying fighters from France.

Petraeus said in a speech in Bahrain last year the UAE air force "could take out the entire Iranian air force, I believe".

Missile defence

Patriot missiles are designed to intercept enemy missiles before they reach their target. Since production began in 1980, 9,000 missiles have been delivered to countries including Germany, Greece, Taiwan and Japan.

During the first Gulf war Patriot success was 70% in Saudi Arabia and 40% in Israel. Since then the US has spent more than $10bn (£6.3bn) improving, among other aspects, the system's radar and computer compatibility for joint forces action. Once in position, the system requires a crew of only three people to operate. Each missile weighs 700kg and has a range of about 100 miles.

The US navy is in the process of upgrading all its Ticonderoga class cruisers and a number of destroyers to carry the Aegis ballistic missile defence system. It uses a surface-to-air missile that is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles above the atmosphere. It has also been tested on failing satellites as they fall to earth. Each missile is over 6m long and costs more than $9m. James Sturcke

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/31/iran-nuclear-us-missiles-gulf