₦airaland Forum

IT is like a fairy tale; and that is exactly the impression Gen. Oladipo Diya, former Chief of General Staff (CGS), wants to correct.

According to him, despite being second-in-command in government, he did not know that the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was involved in large-scale plundering of the country's treasury.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, post his 65th birthday anniversary, Diya, a legal practitioner and publisher, said:

"I didn't know that Abacha was stealing money. I read about it on the pages of newspapers. I found it difficult to believe that Abacha was stealing money."

On how he could deny knowledge of the plundering spree of the Abacha family and associates, being the second-in-command to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Diya declared:

"These things (looted funds) being put (published) on the pages of newspapers were not taken from the budget. People said it was being taken from the Reserve Account.

"And up till now, I don't know how money was spent or taken from the Reserve Account and it's not something that was discussed or debated at the level of the Ruling Council. So, how would I have known?"

The Guardian in its edition of Sunday, March 22, published the sordid details of how, among other methods, the Abacha family and associates stole billions both in local and hard currencies from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

However, stressing that he did not know how much Abacha allegedly stole, and that he was not in a position to confirm what really happened; Diya advised that efforts must be made to block the loopholes that encourage such large-scale fraud.

Diya, who reserved his comments on the controversial annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election "for another time," said there was no alternative to democracy.

Noting that there was no comparison between military and democracy, he said the issue was "what can we do to perfect our democratic system? That is what should concern all Nigerians," he said.

"There is no alternative to democracy. But what do we do to sanitise the system and make politics accessible to everybody regardless of your status, regardless of the money you have. It shouldn't be for moneybags; that is the issue."

He also addressed the issue of Yoruba leadership, his estate business, law practice and publication, the Oladipo Diya Educational Foundation and his position in the Christian denomination.

So much hate, I must confess these guys are irritating with all fake American accent but we have to give credit where credit is due. These guys saw a gap in the market and took the opportunity. No more hating it is just business

Fantastic . if only they fix the electricity issues?

blackspade:
I will tell you now, building a subway in Lagos will not only be financially unfeasible, but will be much more difficult to build than it was in cities like New York, or London, or Moscow.

Lagos has a lot of marshlands, meaning the soil is much more unstable, raising the costs to astronomical heights. If it were necessary, only one line would be needed on the busiest route in the metropolis.

Everything else should be concentrated on an overground system consisting of: light rail, monorail, elevated rail, commuter rail, high speed train, and brt.

You have clearly provided a solution to your fears

Death of a giant. Government is a useless and an ineffective manager of business.

otokx:
can someone tell me the difference between a petition and a lawsuit?

I am guessing a petition leds to lawsuit


Petition is written instrument directed to some individual, official, legislative body, or court in order to redress a grievance or to request the granting of a favour.

These men are not real business men.  If their business plan is solid why dont they trade outside west africa and possibly the European Market.   I can guarrante you that any one of us will thrive in relation to business if you have the backing of successive corrupt governments who aid you in securing a monopoly in the market.  A real business man is one who does need any backing from any government or God father who solely relies on gaining an advantage over his competitors and not the nonsense Will have in Nigeria

Very Very Sad human would voluntary subject themselves to this low level life even animals live better than this in this same european country. I am very limited in what i can say. I just hope things get better for them, I am sure if would ask any of them to come back home i am very sure a large majority would refuse as their is nothing for them at home thanks to the bad government we have.

alan shearer is the best

the best name - Yar adua or bruno

All of una no get jobs, this thread is almost 20 pages long

Good Ridance to bad rubbish

LadyT:
70% of the NIGERIANS in east and south London are trash.  Honestly north London is better less Nigerians.

That is simply not true,  Please dont tell me north london is better, i can mention a few gutters (tottenham, ponders end, holloway, camden)

You need to supply a bit more information about your background

Please leave the guy alone. do u not know one can achieve alot with humility

How can they all forget all the goodies. THe large bags going in and out

Quota system - my ass 0 - nice one NaijaKing

davidylan:
hey doesnt this qualify us to be invited to the G-20?

Yes to top 20 NON electricity generation summit . we can call it Candle and lantern sumit

I am sure this guy is wishing  that his father was a present day Governor.  He go don hammer.

chidichris:
i laugh,
u sound as if you are not happy with nigeria not invited for the g20 meeting. if you are living in nigeria, if you have visited other countries in africa, if you are not a nigeria, will u allow nigeria to be part of a g20 organised in africa talkless of the one organised for the whole world?

do u know the meaning of g20?
this stands for the great 20, are we among the great 20?
do u know that apart from petrolium which we export as crude, the only thing nigeria is proudly exporting today which has factory in almost all household is CRIME.
if you are the german chancellor or american president, will you allow a criminal to seat beside u in such a meeting.
yar adua is the ring leader of robbery syndicate here in nigeria that robbed all nigerians of their voting rights on arpil 2007 so how can he be in g20 made up of credible candidates who worked their ways into their various govt houses.
yar adua and his likes are part of the problems of this g20 and as such cannot be part of the meeting.
furthermore, his not going there is to his advantage bcs nigerian abraod who have been suffering bcs of our leaders wickedness are nolonger taking things lightly when ever they see these leaders over there.

Stop wasting your time with this guy .  Poverty and abnormality( bad leadership, no light, corruption, hunger etc) has blocked his reasoning.  How can anybody in right sense be on side of a man that is crying over the fact Nigeria was not invited to G20 summit.  I am sure we all are aware of the critera of  joining the G20

Rebranding at the finest - The fat girl looks familar

u don finish me o

naijaking1:
What a joke

Why naija leaders dey make laughing stock of demselves .

First, one Alhaji Senator gets invitation/visa to attend Obama inauguration, he waits 2 months later to use the same visa to do his private business in US. When he was deported from the airport, he threatens to punish America for not recognising and respecting him.

Then, our chief od drug enforcement agency lands at a London airport complete with his service pistols and bullets, and expected the Oyibo people to understand how dangerous his job is in Nigeria!

Now Yar'dua is mad because Nigeria was not invited for G20! G20?
India, Mexico, Turkey, S. Africa, etc are all G20, why not naija? The man must have misunderstood eligibility for quota system, like they do it in Nigeria.

Ghana will join G20, b/4 us.

Has anybody in government taken a critical look at the criteria for invitation to G20? Few personal wealth from corruption doesn't translate into national prosperity.

I beg is the electric power back on yet? Last I heard, Nigeria electricity output has dipped to less than 1000kw, much less than most small sized towns in a G20 country.

Omo i feel your pain . e go better one day

i Hope she doesnt choke on her words. This is the same group that remmits about $14 billion into Nigeria Annually.

The Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, has debunked speculations that she was condemning Nigerians in diaspora.



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She said the ingenuity and diligence of Nigerians abroad deserved commendations.

She added that the campaign to change the perception of Nigeria and its people could not be achieved without Nigerians in foreign countries.

Prof. Akunyili, however, insisted that the actions and inactions of Nigerians in the diaspora who get involved in criminal acts, were a regret.

While making the clarification through her Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Sunday Dare, following reactions that followed her comments in an interview published by a national newspaper (not the Nigerian Tribune), Akunyili said some Nigerians abroad had tainted the image of the country while others had promoted its ideals.

“We have over 17 million Nigerians in the diaspora. In fact, in this re-branding committee, we have a representative of the diaspora and we’re prepared to have another person. Imagine 17 million people out of our population, it is a significant percentage. Some Nigerians in diaspora have brought bad names while others have done the country proud,” she said.

exotica:
BLACKSTA, my brother , pls wat do u mean by WMD? Is it [b]W[/b]atch [b]M[/b]umu [b]D[/b]isplay?

no bey that one. Weapon of mass destruction, anthrax, akara, hydrogen bomb , killer virus etc

I pray this is the begining of the pdp self destruction. AMen

chidichris:
Wow! for the first time in my nairaland life, i have decided to follow the crowd.
the hearam and doam shld be concentrating of how best to use prof. iwu in 2011.
he shld be talking about how pdp will rule nigeria forever and ever.
he shld look out for the best ways to further take nigeria back to early 30s.
how on earth can all these elected presidents have meeting with a selected president?
is he not feeling the heat of what happened to his oga(obj) in london?
someone, somewhere can somehow make yar adua to understand that g20 is for presidents from countries where there is electricity and security going to another country with same.
how can a man from the dark world (nigeria) go to such meeting. yar adua is supposed to be used to darkness, poverty, hardship, lack of security, fraud and embezzlement at high and low places.
i told ppl that obama is going to be more radical than bush and from the way he talks, idiot like yar adua will soon begin to feel the heat.
with pdp and these crop of criminals, nigeria has to wait till they form [b]G 1 million [/b]as that is when they will get opportunity to attend meetings with such action men like brown, obama and sarkozy.
by the way, will yar adua leave ekiti election to attend g20?
the nigerian london students made mistake of using eggs and tomatoes on obj. every goliat needs stone and as such, nigerians abroad shld learn to always have their stones in waiting for our leaders outside nigeria so that they will always return with plasters and bandage as the price they have to pay for making us slaves all over the world despite the rich kingdom God created us into.

lol

Omo u dey wicked o . I thought g1001 was o.k

It is only a mad nation with mad leader and a population  like l_laugh that will enjoy this madness.  you have about 45 billion in reserve and you go borrow 3.75 billion  dont u think that is madness.   The lender tells you  i will borrow you 3.75 billion with no interest charge but i will charge a loan fee of 1.75%

It is only a mad nation with mad leader and a population like l_laugh that will enjoy this madness. you have about 45 billion in reserve and you go borrow 3.75 billion dont u think that is madness. The lender tells you i will borrow you 3.75 billion with no interest charge but i will charge a loan fee of 1.75%

How can he lament the man wey no get conscience.

Please let her come to Nigeria and adopt I_LAUGH for free so that he can taste constant electricity, good roads and many more