₦airaland Forum

your insulting Hausas and their almajiris

the guy is gone mental

[size=15pt]I Conducted the Most Credible Election–IBB[/size]
From Aisha Wakaso in Minna, 07.23.2008

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Former military  President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) has declared that his administration conducted the most credible elections in the country since Independence .
"Aside from the cancellation of the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, you will agree with me that the elections conducted under my watch between 1989 and 1992 were generally free, fair, acceptable and credible", he said.
He made this known when he presented a memorandum on Electoral reforms and Party system in Minna, yesterday.
In the memorandum he presented, he gave one of the reasons that limit democracy in Nigeria as power of incumbency as most of the people at the helm of affairs are interested in succession election, he therefore stated that elections are conducted freer, fairer, and more credible during the military regime.

source:http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=117619

Congrat to Osundare, lets hear a good news for a change

[size=15pt]Osundare wins Africa's highest poetry prize [/size]
Written by Uduma Kalu
Thursday, 24 July 2008


PROFESSOR Niyi Osundare has won this year’s Tchcaya U Tamsi Award for African Poetry. The prize, debuted in 1989, is named after Tchicaya U Tam’si, one of the continent’s best poets.
The Tchcaya U Tamsi Award has been given every two years for African poetry in the small Moroccan city of Asilah. It is worth $10, 000, the highest for the literary genre in Africa. Nigeria’s highest poetry prize is ANA/Cadbury Prize worth $1000.

A letter from the organisers of the award, Assilah Forum Foundation, a non-profit organisation, says the award ceremony holds from the fifth to the ninth of next month in Tangiers, Morroco.

The letter signed by Mohammed Bentoudja, secretary general of the foundation, said Osundare was chosen by its jury as the 2008 laureate.

The award ceremony slated for August 7, is part of the 30th anniversary of Assilah International Cultural Festival. But the ceremony will be preceded by a one day round table on ‘Africa and the Hazard’, a topic proposed by the french writer and ethnocenologue, Madame Francoise Grund. Osundare is equally invited to take part in the debate.

Chicaya U Tam’si, born August 25, 1931 in Mpili; died on April 22, 1988 in Bazancourt, near Paris, was a Congolese author. His official name was Gérald-Félix Tchicaya; his artist name means small paper that speaks for a country in Kikongo.

The Congo is in Central Africa. U Tam’si spent his childhood in France, where he worked as a journalist until he returned to his homeland in 1960. Back in Congo, he continued to work as a journalist; during this time he maintained contact to the politician Patrice Lumumba. In 1961, he started to work for UNESCO.

U Tam’si’s poetry incorporates elements of surrealism; it often has vivid historic images, and comments African life and society, as well as humanity in general.


source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12918&Itemid=46

NNPC said they gave N1.4b to militants, the militants said they didnt receive any money.
where is N1.4b?

if this is how they manage and spend our money, then ,

[size=15pt]MEND denies receipt of NNPC’s funds for pipeline protection [/size]
By Ibanga Isine,Port Harcourt
Published: Thursday, 24 Jul 2008

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta on Thursday said it never collected any money from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for the protection of oil pipelines.
To prove that it did not collect the funds, which it described as ‘Jacob’s bowl of porridge,’ MEND said it would destroy the Chanomi creek pipeline and other major pipelines within the next 30 days.

source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200807240315650

well, the whole thing is getting very interesting. cony man die, cony man bury am

If Governors with all their entourage and security are not safe anymore, l wonder who is safe.

Okiro and the contractor just did a deal to defraud poor applicants

the judge need her head examine; nobody alive today would be around in 300 years time

at least it now official from the umpire

yes oooooo

let them produce the receipt given to them by the militant on the acceptance of N1.4b


this shows how the country is govern, no planning, no budget , nothing. How can a government establishment just hand over N1.4b to some faceless individual. And the fool who called himself GMD has the audacity to say it in the Parliament, this guys are taking everybody for a ride.

The army sells weapons to militant, NNPC gave them N1.4b , this country will never progress, were doomed.

The convoy of Abia State Governor Theodore Orji was yesterday attacked by gunmen on the way to Port Harcourt International Airport as it was going to pick the governor and his wife, Odochi, who were returning from a trip to the United States.
The attack, which occurred at about 8 am at Ngwa-Iyiekwe in Ugwunagbo Local Government Area of the state along the Port Harcourt- Aba Expressway lasted about 15 minutes and left many of the vehicles in the convoy, including the governor’s official car, riddled with bullets.
THISDAY learnt that the gunmen opened fire on the convoy as the security men attached to the convoy started shooting into the air to scare away robbers, who were operating along the expressway.
The governor’s convoy was said to have run into the robbery operation
One journalist, who was in the convoy, told THISDAY that the armed robbers just waited for all the convoy vehicles to enter within the radius of the robbery operation before they started opening fire on them.
When the smoke cleared, a body of a man ostensibly caught in the crossfire was found at the scene. He was said to be a bus conductor.
Two vehicles including a back-up SUV of the governor were taken away by the gunmen but were later recovered at Ogwe in Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state, where the fleeing gunmen apparently abandoned them.
Some villagers who were said to have rushed into the scene allegedly vandalised the vehicles, carting away cell phones, laptops and video camera belonging to Silver Bird Television.
The state government said the attack was an assassination attempt on the governor.
Orji, who later at arrived the scene of the gun battle with his wife and some personal aides with reinforced security, insisted that he was the prime target of the armed men, adding that it was not a coincidental attack.

source: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=117623

to God be the glory

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigerians should take their electricity problem to God, adding that they should take to God anything they do not have which they wished to have or cannot get.

Obasanjo: Power, which power?
Journalists: Electricity
Obasanjo: Do you have electricity in your area?
Journalists: No
Obasanjo: Anything you don’t have or you cannot get, then leave it to God
Journalists: How do you feel when Nigerians don’t appreciate your contributions to the development of the nation?
Obasanjo: Hey! Hey!, calling a friend of his who was on his entourage; the man walked up to him and he said to him: “They are asking about good governance, Go into your car. Bye bye o,” he said, waving.
Obasanjo, who arrived in a chartered HS125 aircraft from Abuja, also described his political “sons” including the former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, as his good children.
The former president retorted when asked his reaction to the move to reconcile him to all his estranged political supporters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), “All my children are good children.”
The interview went thus; “How do you react to the move by some leaders of your party to reconcile you with some of your estranged political children?”
Obasanjo humorously responded: “All my children are good children. Do you have bad children, if you have bad children na your own toro”
The former president was besieged by Aviation Correspondents but he did not say anything again.
He walked leisurely to his GMC four-wheel-drive, boarded and departed with a stream of convoy.

source:http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=117622

well, guys in diaspora this is your own share of national cake

The N80 billion investment fund for Nigerians abroad

SINCE assuming power over a year ago, the government of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has promoted its seven-point agenda as the instrument to make Nigeria one of the 20 advanced economies in the world by the year 2020. Not much has been done in practical terms to demonstrate any serious commitment to this objective, except that the Minister of Industries, Chief Charles Ugwu, recently extended the government's investment campaign overseas with a package that will give Nigerians in the Diaspora the opportunity to draw from an N80 billion investment fund.

Although the government's intention is clear, we think that the proposal is ill-conceived. Contrary to the government's thinking, the very low level of foreign direct investment in the Nigerian economy is not for want of investible funds but is a direct consequence of the structural deficiencies of the local economy that make it unattractive to foreign investors, including Nigerians in the Diaspora.

source:http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/editorial_opinion/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=230708&ptitle=The%20N80%20billion%20investment%20fund%20for%20Nigerians%20abroad
According to the proposal unfolded by the minister in Berlin, Germany, any Nigerian citizen interested in participating in the country's industrialisation but lacks the means could draw from the fund. The money is apparently part of the National Resource Fund (NRF) meant for local capacity building, technology transfer, and product standardisation as a means to boosting the country's export in manufactured goods. In the course of the discussion in Berlin, the minister also revealed that the country needed the expertise of Nigerians in the Diaspora in such fields as meteorology, metallurgy and petrochemicals in order to grow the national economy.

An analysis of the minister's statement reveals that there are in fact two tracks in the government proposal. One deals with making funds available for Nigerians in the Diaspora who may want to invest in the national economy while the other deals with the issue of repatriating Nigerian expertise in the Diaspora for the benefit of the local economy. In essence, the government is thinking of reversing the brain drain of the last three decades that has seen the country lose the cream of its professional elite to foreign countries. And therein lies the fallacy of the whole proposal.

Like all investors everywhere, Nigerians in the Diaspora will only invest in an economy that provides the necessary enabling environment for foreign direct investment. No rational and serious investors, including Nigerians, will put their money in an economy that lacks the necessary investment dynamism. Certainly, not in Nigeria where unemployment among graduates of tertiary institutions, not to talk of the teeming masses of primary and secondary school graduates and drop-outs, is so disgracefully high.

If the economy is unable to absorb Nigerians at home, how can it be attractive to Nigerians in the Diaspora who left the country as economic migrants? Early last year the then Minister of Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Oby Ezekwesili, lamenting the decay in the country's educational system, revealed that 70 per cent of the graduates of Nigerian institutions are unemployed, underemployed and unemployable. Recently, the Governor of the Central Bank, Prof. Charles Soludo, commented along similar lines when he said that over 60 per cent of the people who apply for jobs in Nigeria are unemployable. Put simply, the educational system does not equip them to meet the challenges of today's workplace operating environment.

Worse, the real sector has been terribly incapacitated by lack of basic infrastructure. Productivity and capacity utilisation in the sector is very low, and has been like that for years. The same can be said of agriculture. In spite of government's claim to the contrary, not much is happening in the national economy. The windfall that the country is making from the high price of crude oil in the international market is not being translated into accelerated industrialisation. At least Nigerians cannot feel that there is much dynamism in the economy. This is not an economy that will lure Nigerians in the Diaspora to come back home.

For all practical purposes, therefore, the N80 billion that the government is setting aside for Nigerians abroad to draw from will not meet its objectives. If past experience is anything to go by, the fund may follow the usual trajectory of appropriation for personal aggrandisement, rather than for the national purpose.

Nigerians are patriotic citizens. They want to be proud of their country, but are disappointed that the ruling elite lack the will to get it right for the benefit of the national collective. The government should concentrate its effort in making the economy beneficial for those still at home. Once this is done, Nigerians in the Diaspora will come home on their own volition, inspired by the national purpose to build a country we shall all be proud and excited about

this country is doom

IT may not be news that government or its agencies reach out to militant groups who take hostages for ransom. What may be curious, however, is the price paid to pacify some of the deviants like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation's (NNPC) experience.

Yesterday, NNPC's Group Managing Director (GMD), Abubakar Lawal Yar'Adua, admitted that the corporation held talks with the militants and even paid them N1.4 billion ($12 million) in the two months before they allowed the corporation to repair a damaged oil facility in Delta State.

Yar'Adua in his testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance probing revenue earnings and remittances to the Federal Government, said that the action was to stop further loss of revenue by the government.

Yar'Adua who led management of the NNPC to the public hearing, said that the Charmoni facility attacked by the militants is operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the corporation's major revenue earning subsidiary. He said the NNPC paid the money to the militants because attempts to put the facilities onstream were threatened by gunmen and "the management had to negotiate with them."

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=230708&ptitle=NNPC%20pays%20militants%20N1.4b

what did Baba Iyabo done to you?
Some years to come, history will look back at Baba Iyabo and declared him one of the best Nigerian president.

CHAIRMAN of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, has disclosed that most of the current public office holders bought their way into power during the 2007 general election.


Iwu said INEC warned the nation before the elections that some politicians were going to buy victory and, indeed, that there were forces that were bent on derailing the transition programme, but that the warnings were ignored.


The election tribunal across the countries have nullified the elections of many governors while the Appeal Court had ordered re-runs in about four states so far.


Professor Iwu said this in the United States at a Nigerian Democratic Development stakeholders symposium held in Atlanta.


The symposium was hosted by Nigerians in the Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Alliance of Nigerian Organisations in Georgia (ANOG) and All Nigerian American Congress (ANAC).


He disclosed further that some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some members of the opposition did not want the 2007 elections to be held, but that INEC was determined to conduct them.


Iwu said, “The elections were bought even before the elections took place,” just as he lamented that the influence of money had eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian electoral system, thus handing victory to the highest bidders.


He added that some politicians in Nigeria had made money the overriding issue, adding that Nigerians abroad were used in furthering the interests of such politicians. He said the problem of violence in elections should be addressed.


Speaking further, the INEC boss said civilian and military conspirators had been undermining Nigeria’s democracy for 47 years.


Nigeria, according to him, was one of the few nations that had been able to successfully transit from the military or strong dictatorship to democratic system. He said some Nigerians had benefited from the awkward political situation in the country.


“It is only natural that those who have been the masters or beneficiaries of the old order will refuse change, especially the change that will no longer guarantee the self-serving opportunities they have been enjoying for long at the expense of the larger populace,” he said.


He told the audience that the solution to the endemic problem of election in Nigeria was in the ability of the Federal Government to change the mindset of Nigerians and their attitude to democracy.

The government, according to him, must begin to initiate moves aimed at de-emphasising money in politics.

source:http://www.tribune.com.ng/22072008/news/news1.html

INTERNATIONAL call rates may drop by as much as 80 per cent in a few months, going by a gateway and submarine cable operators' pledges.

The rates charged at present by local operators hover between N10 and N60 per minute but may drop to about N5 per minute under the new regime.

The operators rose from a meeting in Accra, Ghana, recently with the conclusion that if Africa contributes only two per cent of global traffic yearly, something must be fundamentally wrong. They traced this to high cost of bandwidth, which should be reduced very significantly.

They identified high cost of connectivity and decided to also correct same.
They plan to provide a minimum of two megabits per second (2mbit/s) transmission. But Main one cable says it will provide a capacity of 1.28terabits/s.

The operators agreed that the cost of Eth Interface converter (El) voice and data multiplexer should drop to $400 from its all time high cost of $5,000 per month.

With this, cost of international calls, which stood at between N15 and N80, would automatically drop to below N6 per minute

Source:http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article03//indexn2_html?pdate=220708&ptitle=International%20call%20rates%20may%20drop%20by%2080%20per%20cent

The House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs on Monday queried the Inspector-General of Police Mr. Mike Okiro, over the sharing of N2bn by the police and its Information Technology consultant.

Skip to next paragraph

Our Correspondent
Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro

The sum was received as application fees by Nigerians seeking to be recruited into the Nigerian Police Force in 2008.

Each applicant paid N2, 000 through a scratch card online system designed by the consultant whose name could not be ascertained by our correspondent as at 8pm on Monday.

Okiro told the committee, chaired by Mr. Paulinus Igwe, that the police adopted the e-recruitment system which yielded the huge amount in order to generate funds for its smooth operations.

He explained that based on a sharing ratio of 60/40, the consultant received N1.2bn while the police got N800m.

But the Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Bayero Nafada, criticised the sharing ratio, saying an individual should not be enriched at the expense of the government.

He said, ”If we want an individual to be richer than the government, there are better ways of doing that without having to make it look like a rip-off.”

Nafada, a former Chairman of the committee, drew Okiro’s attention to a recent resolution by the House banning online recruitment exercises.

At its sitting last Thursday, the House criticised e-recruitment by ministries and agencies, because of the fact that most eligible applicants in rural areas did not have access to the Internet facilities.

Members of the committee who were displeased with Okiro’s explanation, accused the police authorities of cheating applicants.

According to the lawmakers, some of the applicants in the 2008 recruitment drive may have paid for the N2,000 scratch cards via the Internet only to discover that they were not qualified to apply in the first place.


source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20080722147731

A United States based organisation that helps the United Nations (UN) to uncover cases of human rights abuses worldwide, Benetech Initiative, has said that it will visit Nigeria to investigate likely cases of genocide and sundry rights abuses by government or institutions.

The company's investigation led to the arrest of former president of Yugoslovia, Slobodan Milosevic in the 90s.
The upcoming mission to Nigeria was disclosed by Vijaya Tripathi of Benetech's human rights programme who also stated that other countries like Guatemala, Egypt, Lebanon, and Cambodia will be in their ittinery.

In a testimony to the work of Benetech, Howard Varney, former chief investigator for Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone stated that his commission's detailed understanding of the role of different factions in the conflict and the impact on women and children was aided by the US based company.
In its 2005 report on human rights practices around the world, the US Department of State found that Nigeria's human rights record was "poor." According to the report, Nigerian government officials and police were responsible for "serious abuses," including politically motivated killings; the use of lethal force against suspected criminals and hostage-seizing militants in the Niger Delta ; beatings and even torture of suspects, detainees, and convicts; and extortion of civilians. Other abuses included violence, discrimination, and female genital cutting ,child labor and prostitution , and human trafficking .

In addition, the era of former president Olusegun Obasanjo witnessed the invasion of Odi in Bayelsa State in 1999 during which the entire town was allegedly leveled, killing many people in the process. In the same vein, the Zaki Biam episode in Benue State in 2001 was similar to that of Odi.

Source:http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=117502

I don't know why Thisday decided to spin Yardie's comments. . . . this is what he said

Africans must ensure that we anchor democracy on credible elections. We could not recognise the run-off election as the basis of a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis

l do not see any spin in thisday reporting. If they could not recognise the run-off election, it invariable mean they could not recognise the Mugabe's government, because it legality is derived from the run-off election. If you dont recognise the run-off election on any basis, then you dont recognise the government.