₦airaland Forum

Far be it from me to preach morality to a priest. It's on the same order of impertinence as trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs. However, if an ordained priest can go on TV to warn a country so severely traumatised by the rapacious looting of its resources and development opportunities of the dangers of seeking return and restitution of its own property, then there must be something wrong with either his own moral compass, or his understanding of what Nigeria is currently undergoing as a country.
Bishop Hassan Kukah
Sahara Reporters Media
This is a country still dealing with American revelations to our new president that the country has been losing between $10 and $20 billion annually in the oil sector alone, going back only God knows how many years. And Father Kukah believes it is a distraction to hunt down that money?
This is a country whose citizens had virtually given up hope that its public service would ever get round to doing what it was set up to do: serve the public. Incompetence and corruption everywhere, abetted by a feckless president who went on record to say Nigeria's corruption was 'over-exaggerated'. Abandoned projects paid for with public money number in the tens of thousands, each having gulped millions of dollars. And Father Kukah thinks it amounts to some sort of witch-hunt to retrieve the diverted funds?
This is a country whose main export commodity, oil, has suffered a plunge in global prices for over a year with no upturn in sight. Government has to be paid for somehow. Now if some looters have kindly helped us to 'save' some of our money in overseas accounts for rainy days such as this, what exactly is Father Kukah's interest in asking that the fellow who presided over such humongous thievery be granted a free pass? And if Jonathan is given a free pass, what moral right do we have to prosecute his subordinates, presumably carrying out his orders, for theft?
Or perhaps Father Kukah fundamentally misunderstands what is going on. Call it probe, investigation, fact-finding or inquiry, so long as due process is followed and the constitutional guarantee of fair hearing is followed, this can only be a good thing for Nigeria.
It can only be a good thing for our institutions. We don't want strong men abi? Good. Let's start strengthening our institutions by interpreting 'Rule of Law' for the first time as also meaning beaming a relentless searchlight on criminals instead of shielding them.
It can only be a good thing for Jonathan himself, if indeed Nigeria didn't make a mistake in electing him president. If he is investigated and he is found clean, the ugly rumours will be silenced. His supporters will stop damaging their consciences by defending him in the face of mounting evidence.
You want justice for Jonathan sir? Fine, so do I. Then fight, like I would, not for him to be spared any probe by threatening that his probers would be probed (a very good thing actually!) but by insisting that any investigation carried out be conducted transparently, impartially and in accordance with due process. You cannot advance the private interests of Jonathan to the detriment of the legitimate claims of Nigeria for transparency and accountability. I paraphrase the Socrates of the Supreme Court, the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa:
"Justice is not a one-way traffic. It is not justice for the (accused)only. Justice is not even only a two-way traffic. It is really a three-way traffic, justice for the (accused person) accused of a heinous crime...; justice for the victim, ‘whose blood is crying to heaven for vengeance’ and finally, justice for the society at large…”"
Giving account of one's stewardship is something Father Kukah should be preaching to Jonathan at the moment, not jesuitically trying to elude by claiming he is absolved from investigation by mere reason of not breaching the constitution by handing over power having roundly lost an election. The example of Samuel, who handed over power to King Saul in Old Testament times is apposite. He personally, publicly and directly called for evidence against his own government after having handed over power. That is what you do if you hands are clean. The scripture is justly famous:
" "And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”
"They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”
"And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”" (1Samuel 12:2-5)
Surely Father Kukah has read this scripture somewhere before? Please let it reflect in his preaching.

Nigerians got a kick in the mouth on Sunday, August 15 with a story published by The Nation on Sunday. Titled Naira rain as senators collect N23.4m each, it affirmed what some Nigerians have always suspected: our National Assembly is a sybaritic enclosure where members might not be able to contribute meaningfully to the task of developing Nigeria. My mind was made up on this week’s topic last Wednesday when the Senate decided to go on another vacation, the third since inauguration, till September 29, having rejected a pay-cut and setting up a 13-member ad hoc committee to probe the power sector under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
Too often we focus on the executive without beaming our searchlight on the legislators who, if things continue the way they are, are nothing but parasites on the country’s increasingly scarce financial resources. The Nation revealed that nearly N13 billion may have been spent on maintaining our senators and representatives just for two months even when our senators have sat for a mere 11 days since their inauguration on June 9. The exact amount spent on maintaining 109 senators and 360 representatives was N12.967 billion with each senator collecting N36.4 million and each representative pocketing N25 million, I’m not sure even drug traffickers make as much as our federal legislators have earned in just two months.
Last Wednesday, the Senate rejected a suggestion by its Finance committee to cut senators’ salaries and allowances. Their argument was that other beneficiaries of the N120 billion National Assembly budget must accept a cut too in their salaries. Of course, this was at an executive session, a euphemism in the Nigerian context whenever they want to talk about money due to them. A newspaper reported that the senators rejected the recommendations because they were not practicable. Excuse me, what is not practicable in cutting down emoluments in a country where millions are wallowing in acute poverty? What is so difficult in following the example of the president and vice president who slashed their take-home by 50%? Some of us criticized President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of tokenism by slashing their salaries, but why can’t our legislators follow suit with such tokenism?
It is the height of insincerity and clownishness by suggesting that civil servants working at the National Assembly must be consulted before cutting the budget. Pray, has any Nigerian complained about the salaries of civil servants? Are they the ones sucking Nigerians like leeches without a corresponding productivity? By the way, the last two months of both chambers did not witness any innovative lawmaking or groundbreaking bills that will advance Nigeria except the usual resolutions and probe panels. A smarter senate would have taken into cognizance a similar probe organised by the House of Representatives some years back on the power sector and actually asked for that report before settling for another probe which report most likely might not see the light of the day. Further, if our legislators are not fighting each other over who will lead them with some forging the rules used in such elections, another leader will hire a helicopter with millions of naira to go and open a sanctuary. These and other sundry duties like accompanying someone accused of fraud to the EFCC are also what occupy their time in the past eight weeks, yet they pocketed millions of naira for doing practically nothing. It is now clear that possibly the gentleman paid for the helicopter from his pocket having collected N25 million for eight weeks worth of work, if we can call it that.
Have you also noticed that they are united in swindling Nigerians? Party affiliations are jettisoned whenever our commonwealth is involved with no discernible difference between the political parties. Lest I forget, where is our dear Senator Ben Murray-Bruce who promised us a copy of his pay slip? Will his constituents, the people of Bayelsa East, remind him of his promise? So why keeping such luxury at a period oil price is dropping regularly and how long are we going to support such inanity? A group of Nigerians some weeks back started a campaign asking for greater openness of the National Assembly demanding that the opacity, which is the main feature of the way and manner 469 people conduct their affairs be removed. It will be to our advantage joining this crusade as too often we have been taken for a ride. We are tired of the well-worn excuse that we stigmatize legislators forgetting the rot of the executives, as all eyes are on the legislators presently.
It was the Senegalese who felt they don’t need two chambers and thereby scrapped their senate in September 2012, it is high time we followed suit. Or we ask our legislators to work part time only and pay them accordingly, we can’t continue with this fraud.

hardbody:
I talk too much because my stupidity befuddles even an idiot. So i will keep talking to try and beat myself back on track. Although i have realized how futile an effort that will be.

hardbody:
[s]I would have been disappointed if u had any response beyond what you did[/s].

Next time, choose your battles.

u talk too much

hardbody:
[s]Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise


Do i expect you to comprehend that?[/s]

maxiuc:
Who said I shouldn't pray fire fire fire die die die infact diis tym I wil increase mt tempo

hardbody:
Na God enslave una before?...

folly question

Yasirarafat:
.















Let me book place here[color=#000099][/color]

BeeBeeOoh:
Again?

Kano, Nigeria:Boko Haram extremists on Monday raided a village in restive northeast Nigeria's Borno state near the border with Niger, killing seven people, community leaders told AFP.

Dozens of gunmen stormed Awonori, a farming and herding village near the fishing town of Damasak, and carted away food supplies and livestock, they said.

"They killed seven people, looted grains and took away all the livestocks in the village before fleeing into the bush," Muhammadu Modu Wan-Wan, head of the Damasak fishermen's union, told AFP.

"The gunmen who came in vans and on motorcycles around 7:00 am (0600 GMT) besieged the village and opened fire on residents as they were having breakfast before moving to their farms," he said.

Wan-Wan said the attack forced the villagers to flee but they returned after the assailants had left.
Abubakar Gamandi, the head of Borno's fishermen's union, confirmed the attack.

"I received report from my members in the Damasak area that Boko Haram gunmen attacked Awonori village this morning where they killed seven people and took away food and livestocks," he said.

Last month, residents of Damasak and surrounding villages fled their homes and crossed the border into the Niger town of Diffa, fearing Boko Haram attacks.

But Wan-Wan said many residents have since returned to their farms.

"People have no food to feed their families which is why they take the risk of going back to their villages to work on their farms now that the rainy season has started," he said.

Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve out a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, has killed some 15,000 people since 2009.

A regional 8,700-strong force aimed at ending the insurgency is due to deploy within days.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday told a national security gathering in Abuja that his government would "employ at least an extra 10,000 police officers and establish a properly trained and equipped federal anti-terrorism multi-agency task force" to crush the rebellion.

vascable:
was the first to update this nah... u guys are now playing politics here oooo

shame to my enemies,my thread reach front page just on my 2nd day on nairaland.. Pls pple just give me 500 likes.
Catchfun

After more than two years on the run, Islamic State top cleric in Lebanon, Ahmed Al Assir was arrested by Lebanese authorities on Saturday as he attempted to fly out of the country on a forged passport.

The country’s National News Agency reports that Mr. Al Assir was caught at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday while trying to board a flight to Egypt using a fake Palestinian passport.

It quoted Lebanon’s general security directorate as saying Mr Al Assir was planning on flying to Nigeria via Cairo.

A photo posted by the National News Agency after the arrest revealed that Mr. Al Assir had recently adopted a new look, shaving his long, unkept beard and trading his usual religious robes and headwear for a more inconspicuous jacket and sweater.
Some local news outlets suggested Mr Assir had also had plastic surgery to alter his appearance. Mr Al Assir became one of the most wanted men in Lebanon after his militia went to battle with the Lebanese army in the port city of Sidon in 2013, resulting in the deaths of 18 soldiers and dozens of Mr Al Assir’s gunmen.

When the war in Syria began emboldening extremist Sunnis in Lebanon and inflaming sectarian tensions here, Mr Al Assir swiftly rose from obscurity to become a powerful voice.

From his modest Bilal Bin Rabah mosque in the southern city of Sidon, he railed against Hizbollah and later the Lebanese state, accusing them of subjugating Lebanon’s Sunni community.

Mr Al Assir was ridiculed by his opponents for his hardline rhetoric and media stunts, such as a 2013 incident in which his followers forced their convoys through Christian-erected roadblocks to reach a ski resort and play in the snow.

But amid a leadership vacuum for Lebanon’s Sunni community and passions against Hizbollah and the state running high, Mr Al Assir’s strident tone struck a chord with many disaffected, radical Sunnis in the country.

His movement even attracted Fadl Shaker, a Lebanese-Palestinian rooftop wedding singer turned wildly popular pop star. At first, Mr Al Assir maintained that his movement was peaceful in nature. But slowly, the guise of a peaceful movement dripped away.

Soon, the closed-off street where his mosque was located in Sidon’s Abra neighbourhood was teeming with gunmen.
Mr Al Assir’s words became more bellicose as he encouraged Lebanese Sunnis to go to Syria and aid the rebels. He spoke about the need to confront Hizbollah, which he called “the party of Satan” or “the Iranian project” and accused it of dominating the Lebanese state.

In early 2013, Mr Al Assir released a video of himself on the front line near the Syrian town of Qusayr, moving through a trench carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle and firing a machine gun from a rooftop position.

Tensions between Mr Al Assir and those he accused of oppressing Sunnis came to a head in June 2013 when his followers attacked a Lebanese army checkpoint in Sidon. The attack kicked off 48 hours of fighting in Sidon as the army launched an assault on Mr Al Assir’s mosque compound.
Hezbollah and allied militias also joined in on the attack on Mr Al Assir’s forces. When the fighting ended and the army captured Mr Al Assir’s mosque, 18 soldiers were dead along with dozens of militants.

Mr Al Assir and his surviving companions fled and kept a low profile. He is believed to have fled to Sidon’s Ain Al Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, a lawless enclave known to be a safe haven for extremist elements. Mr Al Assir’s fall was as sudden as his rise.