₦airaland Forum

[size=15pt]Afenifere Condemns Deployment of Ships to N’Delta[/size]


The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, yesterday expressed concerns over the vigour with which the Federal Government has continued to deploy warships as well as military personnel to the troubled Niger Delta.
The group in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin said the development is ironic, bearing in mind that while the Federal Government is making an arrangement to organise a summit in the region, it is also preparing for war.He described as regrettable, a situation where a government is taking arms against its people.
Describing the act as condemnable, the group alleged that President Umaru Yar’Adua has continued to take instructions from opinion leaders and ignoring the wishes of the oil rich region.
“Afenifere is worried by the rate at which warships, gunboats and military personnel are being deployed to the Niger Delta region in the last few days. It is quite ironical that while talking of a Niger Delta Summit on the one hand, the Yar’Adua administration is putting up all preparations for war in the Niger Delta and the military spokespersons have refused to use the word ‘war’.
“Afenifere condemns the attempt to militarise the Niger Delta as it makes no sense for a government to take up arms against its own people.”
“It is quite unfortunate that the President, backed by opinion leaders from a section of the country, continues to see only the ‘criminality’ going on in the Niger Delta, ignoring the criminal acts of total neglect of the region that has laid the proverbial golden egg since 1958.
“At the heart of the present crisis is the increasing agitation for a better deal by the people of the Niger Delta. Afenifere backs their agitation for 50 per cent derivation as a just and fair demand.
We also condemn the insensitive comments by the Arewa leader that the leaders of the South-South are wasteful. The ‘wastefulness’ of a few
leaders imposed most of the time by the same complainants is not a basis to deny the people of their fair demand.”

source: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=115650

Summit: FG, N-Delta leaders' talks hit rocks


A LAST-DITCH attempt by the Federal Government to rally South-South leaders behind it over the planned Niger Delta Summit hit the rocks, Sunday night, in Abuja with the South-South leaders rejecting the talks.

The Niger Delta leaders at the Sunday meeting told the Vice President to advise President Umaru Yar’Adua to shelve the planned summit as the region would neither attend nor have anything to do with the talks to be chaired by one-time External Affairs Minister, Professor Ibrahim Gambari

Leaders ask FG to implement past reports

“They told Jonathan that what Federal Government should do is to set up a body to appraise the various reports that have been submitted on the way forward for the Niger Delta, from the Willinks Commission of 1958 to 2007 and let the body come out with the things to be done or not done from the different reports, and then, the larger house like the stakeholders gathered, could be called to fine-tune and ratify the final report,” source said.

It was gathered that emotions were charged at the meeting when the issue of Gambari’s chairmanship of the rejected summit was raised and speaker after speaker lambasted him for his previous utterances on matters concerning the region.

One of the leaders from Rivers State was particularly angry, saying Prof Gambari referred to him and others, including the late Ken Saro-Wiwa as common criminals, adding that it was by the grace of God that he escaped death.

He queried why such a man who sees Niger Deltans as common criminals would be invited to preside at a meeting where the destiny of the people of the region would be discussed.
The statement by the Northern group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), blaming Niger Delta elders for the militancy in the region did not help matters

source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11387&Itemid=0

[size=15pt]Aondoakaa Extorts N1.1 million from each departments of the Ministry of Justice for Press briefing

Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
Saharareporters, New York[/size]

Michael Aondoakaa, Umar Yar'adua's attorney general and minister of justice, has been caught red-handed in an extortion scheme in the Ministry of Justice. Mr. Aondoakaa, who has established a reputation as an ally of corrupt serving and former governors and ministers, is apparently turning his eye towards his ministry’s funds.

Saharareporters is in possession of a document which reveals how the controversial minister compelled each department of his ministry to approve at least N1.1 million each towards his April 29 2008 press briefing.

The document is in the form of a memo dated April 22 2008 was signed by Mrs. Abimbola Coker, the Secretary of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission. Minuted to the commission’s department of finance, the memo indicated that Aondoakaa had in a meeting required that each department contribute to the ministerial press briefing slated for April 29 2008. The media briefing was meant to present the ministry’s activities.

A source within the Ministry of Justice told Saharareporters that Mr. Aondoakaa did not give any account of how the money was disbursed. The source also suggested that the minister may have levied various departments of his ministry according to the size of their budget, but we were not able to confirm that this was the case. However, we were able to obtain the approval granted by the Law Reform Commission.

An Abuja-based senior advocate of Nigeria reacted by stating that “The memo gives a glimpse into the corrupt ways of the minister and the double standards applied by Yar'adua to deal with corruption amongst members of his cabinet.”

The SAN also said: “I wonder why former Health Minister Professor Grange is being prosecuted when Mr. Aondoakaa has acted, and continues to act, in a more ethically improper manner both with regard to funds as well as his shameful effort to help people like [former Governor James] Ibori and [one-time Petroleum Minister] Dan Etete to evade prosecution abroad.”

Saharareporters has reliably gathered that Yar'adua personally instructed that the minister of health case be “given maximum escalation” because of the involvement of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Several sources have told Saharareporters that Yar’adua was aware that several other ministries were involved in the embezzlement of unspent budgeted funds. For example, investigators reportedly found that the customs department also embezzled its unspent budgeted funds, but Yar'adua decided to let the culprits to go unpunished. Also, Yar’adua’s close friend and minister of agriculture, Mr. Abba Ruma, was said to have misappropriated unspent funds at his ministry. But when he was caught, he and Yar'adua worked out a scheme to fly him out to Germany on the ostensible ground that he was critically ill. Some of the stolen funds were then quietly recovered from Mr. Ruma and returned to the treasury to complete the cover up.

“Yar'adua's chief strategists worked hard on Iyabo's case because they needed a high profile case to boost their so-called anti-corruption war before western donor nations who were critical of Yar'adua’s removal of Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC,” volunteered a source within the presidency



a copy of the memo

for a copy of the memo check the link below
source:http://www.saharareporters.com/www/news/detail/?id=619

[size=15pt]Investigations reveal scams by Umaru Yar’adua regime.

Author: Posted by Admin Sahara

Investigations reveal scams by Umaru Yar’adua regime[/size]

A plethora of recent revelations about former President Olusegun Obasanjo's scam-infested administration has blinded Nigerians to the shady practices that the Umaru Yar'adua regime has instituted in Nigeria in the last one year.

Nothing exposes this fact more than the expose at the National Assembly where several investigations into the previous administration have unearthed alarming information about the fraud perpetrated by the Yar'adua's regime.

Last week, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, Nigeria’s Minister of Transport who is close both to Yar’adua and his deputy, Jonathan Goodluck, was in the spotlight following allegations that her ministry made massive withdrawals within four days in late December of 2007.

Saharareporters has also learned about an unreported revelation by Nigerian Custom officials about Yar’adua’s questionable gift of import duty waivers. Obasanjo’s government gave away import duties worth N1.6 trillion to political associates, businessmen, traditional and religious leaders as well as many women linked to him romantically. But a top Customs official also revealed that the Yar'adua regime in the last year has given out concessions worth N85 billion to his business and political associates for the importation of cement and fertilizers.

While these economic scams were playing out in both chambers of the National Assembly last week, a PDP memo also surfaced tacitly calling for the extension of Yar'adua's tenure from four to seven years. The ruling party’s position is an official follow-up to a campaign started by the corrupt former governor of Jigawa State, and now Senator, Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki.

Several sources in Abuja had told Saharareporters that Alhaji Turaki, who was widely dismissed when he first suggested extending Yar’adua’s term, was not working alone. He had Yar’adua’s blessing and full support in what political analysts regard as an insidious resurrection of the third term agenda that was unsuccessfully pursued by Obasanjo.

Yar'adua has charged his former Secretary to the Katsina State government and current Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Abba Ruma, to fund his own version of the third term campaigns. Alhaji Ruma is to “re-invest” massive profits to be made from fertilizer concessions to fund the campaigns. As Yar’adua’s government focuses on massive funding of power and energy projects, Abba Ruma is angling to become the next minister of Energy (Power).

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) officials have already put in place a plan and structure to embark on the seven-year tenure campaigns. A source within the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) told Saharareporters that the campaign is expected to commence about the same time the PDP re-absorbs a number of old PDP members who earlier decamped to other parties. Some of the newly absorbed members, whom our source described as “badly broke,” are to be offered “financial incentive to anchor the seven-year tenure campaign,” our source revealed.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke has reportedly gone into frenzied mode to defend her ministry’s scandalous withdrawals. A source close to her told us that she blames the embarrassing revelation of the withdrawals—made by Senator Patricia Akwashiki—as the culmination of “an on-going plot to replace her as a minister.” The source said she had survived so far thanks to the strong resistance by Yar'adua's vice, Jonathan Goodluck, to whom she is said to be “specially close.” But another source told Saharareporters that Mrs. Allison-Madueke also enjoys “very, very cozy relations” with Yar'adua. The source said that whenever she arrives to meet with Yar'adua, other presidency officials quickly leave the room. The source explained that the Transport minister’s ties to Yar’adua explain her recent fashion transformation “to dress more like a Muslim woman.”

It is unclear what will become her fate, though one of our sources said she would likely remain in the cabinet saddled with another portfolio since she is the only member of the cabinet nominated by Jonathan. One Presidency source told our correspondent that Yar'adua had met with her to get her side of the story, and may have decided to let things cool off as he headed out on a foreign trip today. He arrived earlier today in Egypt on a trip to a meeting of the African Union

One thing was clear, said our source: that Yar’adua was not thinking to call in officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the N30-billion scandal. This is in sharp contrast with the case of former Minister of Health, Adenike Grange, and Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello. Even so, our source said Yar'adua was troubled by a security report that Mrs. Madueke had purchased a multi-million-naira home in Abuja in the name of her young son. He added that Yar’adua has been seriously contemplating dropping Mrs. Allison-Madueke and, the minister of state for Agriculture and Water resources, Ademola Seriki from his cabinet. Also slated to leave the Presidency is Mr. Baba Gana Kingibe, Yar’adua’s Secretary to the Government, who is described as “a perpetually drunk, incompetent and corrupt.”, if Kingibe is eventually edged out he will likely be replaced by the current minister for defense, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed. The cabinet reshuffle is scheduled for between now and two weeks time. But as one Aso Rock observer quipped, “That’s if the president ever manages to get to the cabinet reshuffle folder.”


Yar'adua's political scam artistry is also playing out in Adamawa Sate where he recently abandoned his “non-interference” posture to force members of the state assembly to abandon their plan to impeach the state governor, Mr. Murtala Nyako.

Last week, the state assembly members had handed an impeachment notice to Nyako. The notice detailed his numerous acts of corruption, self-enrichment and abuse of office. But Yar'adua, who once stated that he would not intervene in a popular move to oust former Speaker Patricia Etteh of the House of Representatives, invited the members of the Adamawa legislature to Aso Rock. An authoritative source, a member of the assembly, told Saharareporters that they were offered N25 million each as bribe to stop Nyako’s impeachment.

A member of the House of Representatives also recently told our correspondent that, contrary to his public posturing, Yar’adua did intervene in a failed effort to help former Speaker Patricia Etteh to retain her job. “Even though Yar’adua didn't publicly intervene in the Etteh saga, he was using Dr. Aminu Shuaibu Safana to buy loyalty for Etteh,” said our source. Safana, who slumped and died while supporting Etteh during a rowdy legislative session, once served as Yar'adua's Secretary to the State Government in Katsina.

“That’s why we were able to remove Etteh only after Dr. Safana died,” said our source.


source:http://www.saharareporters.com/www/news/detail/?id=637

what there to say, everybody seem to be mad; and the president is sick!!!!

More warships head for N’Delta

More warships head for N’Delta
By ONYEDI OJIABOR and SOLA ADEBAYO
Published: Sunday, 29 Jun 2008
TO further tighten the noose on Niger Delta militants, more sophisticated weapons ordered by the authorities are soon to arrive the country to complement existing security network in the oil-rich area.

Skip to next paragraph

Photo file
Warship, insets, Gen. Andrew Owoeye-Azazi & Vice-Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye

Specifically, the Navy has ordered more warships from abroad in its renewed bid to fortify the area against the activities of militants.

Already, two warships, NNS Ologbo and NNS Nwamba, are on surveillance in the area following the recent acts of sabotage by the militants, leading to a loss of huge oil revenues by the country.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the attack on Bonga, an offshore oil facility, with the attendant loss of about 200,000 bpd.

The importation of the warships is among the fresh security measures of the Navy to complement the entire military operations under the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.

The Navy is articulating new security measures aimed at flushing out militants from the region, especially on the high seas.

A competent source told our correspondent on Friday that part of the measures included the immediate acquisition of a 31-metre seaward defence boat and 17 metre Mantra class patrol boat.

Apart from other unique features, a seaward boat has the complements of anti-aircraft guns.

The source told our correspondent that the warships would be deployed in improving security in the Niger Delta region as soon as they arrived.

The Director of Naval Information, Capt. Henry Babalola, confirmed the order for the importation of the military hardware.

He said the 31 metre defence boat would be acquired from Australia, while the 17 metre mantra class boat would be imported from Malaysia.

He said that the navy had also sealed arrangements to procure some weapons from Singapore.

Babalola said the defence boats would arrive in the country before the end of August and immediately be in the inventory of the Nigerian Navy.

He said that a navy delegation was currently in Malaysia as a follow up to the visit of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, earlier in the year.

The naval spokesman also said that talks had reached an advanced stage for the acquisition of off-shore tatrol vessels (OPVs).

Babalola, however, noted that despite the weapon acquisition, “no sane government will let loose its military on the citizens.”

He said, “We have rules of engagement. We are not fighting a full-scale war in the Niger Delta region. So it has always been a no-win situation for us because no sane government would let loose its military on the citizens.”

Babalola, who insisted that militants’ activities in the high sea were on the decrease, said the high profile attack on Shell Petroleum Development Company Bonga oilfield, gave a wrong impression about the true situation.

He, however, said that it was not the responsibility of the Navy to provide security for Bonga oilfield.

He noted that SPDC whose duty it was to secure Bonga contracted the function to a private body.

The navy, he said, maintains presence around the Bonga just like at other oil installations in the high sea as a pre-emptive action.

On the day of the attack, he said a naval ship was at another location.

He said that more attention should be paid to the protection of the sea since the life of the nation depended on it.

He asked, “If we say we are a maritime nation, what kind of attention are we paying to the sea? Nigerian Government and stakeholders should pay more attention to the sea in the interest of the country.”

Residents, who fear that they might be entangled in the crossfire between the federal troops and the militias, have opted for a safe haven in the cities.

The panic-gripped people of the coastal communities in Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo States trooped into Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, the oil community of Warri and Akure, the capital of Ondo State, in speed boats on a daily basis.

A nervous resident of a riverine community, Mr. Patrick Temewei, who arrived McIver Jetty, Warri on Friday morning, gave a brief account of the general fear in the coastal areas of the region shortly after President Umaru Yar’Adua, ordered a military operation to deal with militancy and criminality in the area.

He said, ”Gunboats are everywhere in the river and nobody is sure about the plans of the military. The people in the riverside communities are living in fear and a lot of them have fled the area. The few of them remaining there are eager to come to the cities.

“The people are afraid that the military may launch attacks on the militants anytime from now and there is apprehension that innocent persons may suffer from such attacks.”

Meanwhile, tension has heightened in the region following the sudden increased presence of security operatives under Operation Restore Hope, along the waterways and creeks.

The anxiety stems from the saturation of the coastal communities, hosting strategic oil platforms in the region with the federal troops and military equipment.

Especially anxious are the camps of the militants, who perceive the incursion as a prelude to the planned offensive against them by the JTF.

Sources in JTF told one of our correspondents that heads of the various militant camps, especially those identified and scheduled for destruction in the security report prepared by a former Commander of JTF, Major Gen. Lawrence Ngubane, were strategising on the way forward.

Ngubane, in a report to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi, in July 2007, had identified all the militant camps in the region, which he categorised as minor and major militant camps.

He had identified the manpower and weaponry strength of each of the militant camps and suggested military operation to dislodge them as part of the strategies to restore a lasting peace in the region.

He suggested that the federal troops could take on the minor militant camps first in order to boost the morale and strengthen the confidence of the Federal troops to clamp down on the major ones.

But the report could not be implemented because it leaked to the militants.

Already, NNS Ologbo and NNS Nwamba, as well as many gunboats and patrol craft deployed in the waterways, sea and oil locations in the region have stepped up their operations in the area.

While the latest deployment had compounded tension in the region, JTF sources, however, told Sunday Punch that the militants had resorted to propaganda to pre-empt the action.

One of the sources cited the alarm raised by the militants that the federal troops launched a premeditated attack on Boyloaf camp in Bayelsa State last

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2008062823315939

[size=16pt]North hits N-Delta leaders: You’re responsible for militancy crisis [/size]


The northern group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), says that leaders of the Niger Delta should be held responsible for the festering militancy problem in the region.

In a communiqué issued at the end of its national executive council meeting in Kaduna at the weekend, the ACF noted that it was regrettable that the people of the Niger Delta had gone through pains and hardship associated with environmental degradation from oil exploration without commensurate efforts at mitigating such suffering in the past.

However, according to the ACF, in spite of the huge resources accruing to the Niger Delta, the leaders “have not been able to translate such resources into developmental projects for enhanced standard of living for the people.”
The northern group pointed out that recent regimes had embarked on spirited efforts to address the problems of the Niger Delta.


“Such efforts range from OMPADEC through the NDDC, to full implementation of 13 per cent derivation. That is why a state in the Niger Delta region would have a budget of N377 billion while another state in the same country would have N53 billion as its budget.


“In fact, as recent as last month, some states in the Niger Delta took home as much as N42 billion while many of the non-oil producing states went home with a paltry N6 billion,” it said.

The communique went on: “The ACF thus appeals to the people of the Niger Delta region to have a rethink of their manner of agitations with a view to improving on their management practices of resources made available to them as well as to embark on constructive engagements with the rest of the country in the national interest of fairness, socio-economic justice and for unity of the country.


“Taking up arms against one’s fatherland in an endless manner can never solve the problems.


More distressing is the fact that the insecurity being visited on the Niger Delta region by violent militants is internecine in the sense that it scares away foreign investors at our collective peril.”

The ACF also said that the meeting deliberated on the “jumbo pay and generous allowances to public office holders.”
The communique explained: “It tends to make politics and public offices better business in the country hence the drift from the private sector to cut throat politics which has become a contest of survival.


“There is this transparent corruption whereby the executive and legislative arms connive and award themselves remunerations and perquisites that make them live in affluent islands surrounded by a sea of misery.


“There should be value for money in our practices of governance. Consider a public officer leaving the office with full salary and allowances and still entitled to gratuity and a befitting house at a location of his choice. This practice offends the sense of justice of many people.”


Write Comment
Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article.
Personal verbal attacks will be deleted.
Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed.
Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button.
Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.

source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11258&Itemid=0

[size=15pt]Anxiety over Yar’Adua’s health[/size]
There was tension again on Saturday, as to the state of health of President Umaru Yar’Adua, as indications emerged that he might be keeping a date with his doctors in Germany any moment from now.


Sources in Abuja disclosed to Sunday Tribune that the president’s health had degenerated on Monday, prompting fears among the presidential aides, but that the number one citizen picked up later that day.


But a source said on Friday that the situation was far from over as the president started feeling uneasy again.


The source said that the president would utilise the opportunity of the trip abroad this week to see his doctors once again.


Said the source: “We don’t know what was responsible this time, but he has been feeling uneasy. Maybe it is the same situation he has often had, but we understand he is due abroad for treatment again.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

source:http://www.tribune.com.ng/29062008/news/news12.html

l am sure some of the soldiers are directly involved in armed robbery, their military training would give then an edge over the ill equipt police force.

No wonder banks are been robbed as if its a pick pocket operation in oshodi market.
Time without number the police are complaining that the bank robbers are using better and sophiticated weapon

if proper investigation was conducted, it wont come as a surprise that the army also sells weapon to armed robbers.

well well well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the pikin wey say im mama no go sleep,

By the end of Yaradua's ragime, the militants will still be around, in one form or the other. If its possible to wipe out, Obasanjo would have done it.

To God be the glory

The Nigeria electoral system had made political scientist redundant, because there is nothing for them to analyse. Abacha perfected the system it called political cronism and selection. for more than 20 years now there has never been a proper election in Nigeria, what we have is a perfect selection.

Forget electoral reform, for the past 8 years Obasanjo electoral reform leads nowhere, the present reform will follow the same destiny.

Nigeria follows the communist model that says: it is not the person that vote that matters , it is the person that count the vote.

l condemn violence in all shade and form, everybody has the right to practice any religion of his choice without fear or intimidation.

the masqurade people should carefully planned their journey nest time and avoid place of muslim worship.

God punish all of them, they should stay in Nigeria. That is their constituency and place of primary responsibility.

oil is a gift to those who are looting the economy and a curse to those whose land is been devastated in the exploration of oil.

Our military are bunch of cowards, indiscipline and corrupt looters. the only thing they can do is to terrorize innocent citizen and rape defenceless women. they are useless without any sense of duty or moral decency.

If a proper investigation is conducted we ll discover that the military are not only selling arms to the militants in Niger delta, they are also selling it to armed robbers.

l ll wait to confirm the report.

that will not make Nigeria poor, we have many untapped natural resources

.

why are this treasury looters masqurading as government not tapping them. when the oil finish , the party is over, everybody must go home.

the Nigeria army barrack is a microcosm of the army in general, its probably the worst environment to live , apart from prison, the barrack is rife with all type of illicit drugs and dealers; cocaine heroin, indian hemp take your pick. the community is dirty , corrupt , indiscipline, prostitution, with all sort of crimes on the menu.

the barrack is the worst place you can bring up a child; he/she would turn out to be a criminal or a prostitute.

In Egypt the military are involve in community projects like road building , schools , education , charity work.

Our army lazy out in the barrack, get drunk, do stupid match and terrorize innocent citizen.

[b]what do you want the government to do.

Our government are compose of bunch of 419, criminals and treasury looters. All they care about is to loot the economy to the tune of N240 million daily. Amybody who stand against them will be eliminated. their action and inaction leave many innocent Nigeria no alternative than to become criminals and prostitutes[/b].

Nigeria is indeed a beatiful country, even the president is not safe.

Vandalism: NITEL yet to re-connect Yar’Adua’s phone lines
By Everest Amaefule, Abuja
Published: Thursday, 26 Jun 2008


More than two weeks after vandals cut cables that led to the paralysis of telecommunication services to the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited is yet to restore the connection, thereby keeping President Umar Yar’Adua out of the network.
Investigations by our correspondent showed that although NITEL had deployed some of its best engineers to go and fix the lines, the problem had remained intractable as a result of severe damage at three different manholes.

Apart from the Presidential Villa, other sensitive places, which were affected by the vandalised infrastructure included the Headquarters of Defence Services including the Army, Air Force and Navy as well as the headquarters of the State Security Services.

Another problem that had militated against the fixing of the cables, investigations further revealed, was the lack of the necessary cables.

It was also found that the vandalism had occurred about 10 days before the management issued a statement of the problem last week after struggling and failing to restore connection.

However, the outgoing spokesman of the company, Mr. Bala Abdukadir, told our correspondent that some of the necessary cables had been assembled from different parts of the country where they could be found.

Abdukadir also confirmed that the cables were sliced near the walls of the manholes thereby making it difficult to be fixed without replacing the cables from the manholes nearest to the ones where they were damaged.

Further investigation also revealed that the Nigerian Navy had written to the management of NITEL, outlining how it could help the beleaguered telecom operator tackle its recurring problems with vandals.

Another major response is expected from the Ministry of Defence.

In a letter written to several security agencies, NITEL had warned that the vandalism of its infrastructure, especially of the proportions it witnessed recently, was not only economic sabotage, but also a security risk to the nation.


source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200806260272870

my brothers, do not analyse issues with emotion or blind optimism. Nigeria has gone far beyond the days of cocoa and groundnuts. oil is the new reality. without oil Nigeria will look like Chad or Niger republic.

To compound the issues the ethnic groups do not like each other. the Ibo's don't want to be part of Nigeria, and they are saying it daily, loud and clear. if the opportunity arise Niger delta will break away. Take a referendum among the Yoruba's and you will get 70% vote for succession. the middlebelt do not see sense in the union, only the far north seems to be clinging because of their domination of government.

Countries that are strong and united are bind together by a common ideal and belief. In Nigeria there is nothing binding us together; different religion, culture, belief , ideas. The only thing that is holding Nigeria together is oil. when the oil finish , the party is over, and everybody must go home.

There wont be any money to pay soldiers, police civil workers and other essential services. there wont be money for our corrupt politician to mismanage. most companies, especially oil related, will simply dissappear. our abandone projects and crumbling infrastructure will finally crumble. the oil communities will be left with a catastrophic environmental disaster, that will last for generation. crime will spiral out of control, with the army and police leading gangs of robbers. Its a frightening scenario.


Oil bring in more than 95% of the country revenue. most state in Nigeria are not viable, even the federal government is not viable. we rely on oil for survival

Nigeria will have to break up. Nigeria is nothing without oil.

the era of the professional soldier is history, what we have is indiscipline, corrupt and political soldier.

the Nigeria army are responsible for the present state of affair in Nigeria today.

they are responsible for the collapsed economy, terrible infrastructure, armed robbery , prostitution , militia problem in the niger delta and the hatred between the different tribes. Without the army, Nigeria would be better of.

In Nigeria, why do people join the army?

Mustay

how can you defend an army who are selling weapons to the militant, who now use the same weapon to kill their fellow soldier. its pathetic

it took them just 24 hours to level Odi, 3 years later they couldn't defeat the militant. For your information the Obasanjo regime declare war on the militant as far back as 2005. The military were told to eliminate the militant, by all necessary means. Part of the Niger delta were placed under the direct control of the army command.

the Nigeria army is too corrupt and indiscipline to win a war.

abdurrazaq

Do the Nigerian Army know the terrains of all the country they've been for peace keeping mission than its home - Niger-Delta?
If they can succeed in peace keeping mission abroad up to the extent of getting international awards why not keep the peace in their home - Niger Delta. I think should begin at home

.

could you remind me of the mission abroad were they got award? Nigerian foreign policy in Liberia was a complete madness. Babangida spent millions of dollars preventing Charls Taylor from taking over the country, while Abacha spent millions helping to install Taylor as the president. during the war the Nigerian soldier return home with lots of electronic goods and other items from the war, mostly looted. Same story in Sierra Leone

since nobody seems to care, what is the essence of Nigeria