₦airaland Forum

If he succeeds where OBJ failed, then I'll drink a beer for him. I miss Gani Fawehinmi!

100% tired. Didn't know it's so damn tough to find a spouse. Very frustrating

Poster:
What makes a good man? Give us details of your shopping list. I've been searching for the proverbial good-girl since the last 8 months. Maybe, we need to set up a good guys/good girls shop, where they can meet to test out their levels of comparative goodness. Lol! Idealism and stereotypes are normally far from reality. I sure can't find her, even in the church  

My dear, the fun died. Hard to swallow. Been very long indeed. I try to live everyday as if it never was. But it was, and I have no choice than to live with it. Sometime ago, I decided to forgive her and I've completely come over the hurt. Yes, I had a job and God has been faithful. I'm scared by the memory and everyday, I wish it didn't occur. So many things went wrong, but God went RIGHT. Yes, I'm single and very much doing my bit to stay sane and afloat. Thanks for exhuming this from the morgue. Has the cat in you found this answer useful?

i'm interested. my offer 1.4m. my email is celestine.mel@gmail.com

Six-year tenure is a Frankenstein monster -Obahiagbon

Tuesday, 09 August 2011



Patrick Obahiagbon
Honourable Patrick Obahiagbon represented Oredo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, from 2007 to 2011. The lawmaker, popularly known as Igodomigodo, was one of the most vocal members in the lower chamber. In this interview with Uchechukwu Olisah, he speaks on the proposal for single tenure of office for the president and state governors; the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker, House of Representatives and the Boko Haram saga, among other issues.

What is your take on the recent single tenure of office proposal for the president and governors by President Goodluck Jonathan?
Let me asseverate that President Jonathan is seised of all the privileges to bounce his political thoughts within the field of play and we have a bounden duty to interrogate his presidential vision without recourse to vituperative and ad hominem exegesis.

Having made the above point, let me posit prestissimo that the single tenure proposal for executive suzerains and major domos as an Aladdin lamp out of our vaudeville of political phantasmagoria, economic quagmire and social miasma amongst others, presumptuously takes for granted that it is not the same prebendal, narcissistic and namby-pamby Nigerian political class that would operationalise same.

Yes, it has been argued that it has the potency for blunting the edges of acidic acrimony and political gbogbonshe. Yes, the point has been made that it can engender a focused executive biceps; yes, we are being told that it would entrench the principles of rotation and what have you. But I submit with all sense of responsibility that this new fangled single tenure prescription is, at best, a Frankenstein monster and an execrable political hobgoblin that must be put back in the bottle.

It would, of certainty, encourage lawlessness and rascality and foist upon the citizenry for a period of eon an executive carpetbagger and rapscallion, whilst depriving us the opportunity of inebriating ourselves with the utilitarian achievements of a philosopher king.

What I think is fundamental just now is the further deepening of our electoral ceramics in such a democratic modus that, in Plato’s Peoples Republic, there should truly be a place for the people.

As a former member of the House of Representatives, what would you say of the events that led to the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker in the face of directive from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party with majority in the House, that the position be zoned to the South-West?
I want to believe that various political hierarchs and supremos must have learnt one or two useful lessons from the events that led to the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker. Having spent 12 years of my political peregrination in Parliament, I am in cahoots with the robust and salubrious democratic dialectics that threw up Tambuwal as Speaker. We are talking of the Federal House of Representatives here. It was enervating that the PDP political high priests decided on a macabre dance and perilously skated on thin ice and had to opprobriously skedaddle out of the sacrosanct Green Chambers when the Tambuwal votes started singing for victory. It was, indeed, a crushing and deserving defeat for party dictatorship. The issue now is how Mr Speaker deploys the authority of the gavel to the benefit of Nigerians and we are on the qui vive.

Do you believe in party supremacy? Some people believe that the emergence of Tambuwal as Speaker of the lower chamber made nonsense of the supposed cherished principle of party supremacy. Do you believe in party supremacy?
Yes, I believe in party supremacy, but within the matrix and praxis of real politic, contextual dynamics and contemporaneous fulcrum, and we must look at the Tambuwal political sirocco from the aforementioned prism to appreciate the extenuating ambience, that itself helps to attenuate from the very harsh view of giving a rendition, suggestive of subjecting party supremacy to pugilistic pulverisation. The concept of party supremacy is no excuse for party dictatorship; a democratic political party is not a czarist politburo. Chikena.

President Goodluck Jonathan said he would not reduce the programmes of his administration to any specific-point agenda. Do you share in this sentiment or do you have areas of priority for Mr President and his cabinet?
I conjecture that the desire of Mr President not to reduce the programmes of his administration is borne out of the imperative need of extricating governance from the balcony of vacuous and insipid sloganeering. That is not to say that we do not deserve to know the clear trajectory of our government.

I want to believe that this government would, of course, see as priority the need to urgently focus on issues such as security, our road infrastructure, the provision of an efficacious health care delivery system, our parlous educational cadence, agriculture, youth unemployment and weaning the Nigerian economy from the chess board of international monopoly finance capital inter alia.

Now that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is fully constituted and inaugurated, do you think President Jonathan’s cabinet has the reach and depth to tackle, within the shortest possible time, the myriads of problems confronting a seeming impatient people in the face of apparent deprivations in the midst of plenty?
I am of the sanguine predilection that Mr President has brought together men and women in the Federal Executive Council that can assist him navigate the ship of the state from eschewable icebergs, cataracts and oxbow lakes, even though I have fundamental reservations about one or two characters. The important point, however, is for Mr President to take into immutable cognition the fact that the buck stops on his table. He must be able to rein in all his ministers and damn their ministerial megalomania, especially when such excrescences are becoming odoriferous and deleterious to the body polity. He must take the driver’s seat and lead by example. There must be a conscious and advertent policy in place to ensure that his ministers are on the same page with the people.

The Federal Government seems to be carrying much of Nigeria’s nation-building burden with the state governments, providing occasional cushion, while the local governments appear to be in existence only in name. Do you share in the view of some persons who think the local governments should be scrapped because they are presently irrelevant and has not justified their constitutional status?
It is a fact too indubitable to be contested that in spite of our federal posturing, a cursory reading of the 1999 Constitution reveals that we are, in truth and indeed, a unitary state with so much powers inhering at the centre and little wonder federal politics have become increasingly atomistic and oozing with all the trappings of brinkmanship and gambadoism. Rather than the National Assembly talking about states creation, when we should in fact be merging some of our states together, it should use the opportunity at re-jigging the constitution to address our lop-sided federal constitution in favour of fiscal federalism.

I have posited elsewhere that our local government administrations are moribund and otiose in concrete terms to the extent of their irrelevance to the sociological yearnings of Nigerians. It has just become one huge drain pipe. If it must continue to exist, then we must all pay more than a passive attention to the apple of Hesperides, that is, our local government administration just now.

Would you offer an alternative to the present political power structure in Nigeria?
From my practical experience thus far, I do soberly think we can do better without the local government as a third tier of government except we are willing to extricate it from state government’s control and really remove the impediments that has made it one huge drain pipe thus far. We really also do not need more than a unicameral legislature at the national level. This is my experiential assessment.

Some persons have said some state governments were in connivance or conspiracy, as the case may be, with some state Houses of Assembly which render local governments impotent by fleecing their financial resources under different guise. What do you think about this trend? Can it not be checked?
That allegation has been there and the reasons why this can occur is that, in real terms, the local governments are apron strings of the state governments and they need to be empowered by the constitution to be able to resist gubernatorial poaching into their domains. Equally important for this trend to stop is the fact that the various state Houses of Assembly must stop being political halleluiah boys to their governors and that is why I was deposited in a portmanteau of parliamentary somnambulism when majority of the state Houses of Assembly rejected the clause to give them pecuniary autarky in the last effort at constitutional amendment and expressing a preference for legislative servitude. That action of theirs was a mortal blow for legislative vibrancy at the state level.

What do you say about the continued extension of the tenure of local government transition committees in Edo State? Is this extension within the law and is it in the interest of political parties within the state and in the interest the people and democracy that the extension, which appears unending, should continue?
I sincerely don’t know what the constraints of the Edo State government is in conducting local government election and I do hope they are able soon to brace up to such constitutional onus probandi because the diaphanous provisions of the 1999 Constitution makes it audible to the deaf and visible to the blind that the tenure of local governments are democratically guaranteed. It goes without saying, therefore, that any contraption that is not in conformity with the relevant constitutional provision violates same and asphyxiates democracy with its concomitant advantages.

I am optimistic that we would get it aright very soon in Edo State, as it has to do with the democratisation of local government administration and I wish the state government well in that regard.

What is your assessment of the administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole? What do you think of Oshiomhole’s style of leadership? Do you think he is leading the people and the state in the right direction?
The governor is certainly doing his best to transmute and transmogrify the infrastructural topography of the state and the passion he brings to bear in the service of the state is, indeed, deserving of eulogies and even panegyrics. You cannot take from him a sincere and burning desire to make an eldorado out of Edo State and I call to the fore his achievements particularly in the area of road infrastructure.

I am also not unmindful of the fact however that some eminent Edo State citizens have also raised some questions in the public domain as to the cost implications to the people of the state of these projects and other incidental matters and it would serve him well to read every minutiae of these objurgations and expostulations. I have very strong views on his leadership style, but that would be a subject matter for another day and i hope you show understanding. I really wish him best of luck in his efforts at navigating the ship of state to safer shores.

Some commentators have expressed the opinion that the Edo State House of Assembly, for its lack of quality representation and the opposition parties, have failed the people of the state. As a former member of the state House of Assembly and House Leader, what is your opinion on this?
I like to look at the reasons why the various state assemblies have decided to apotheosize legislative recumbence over and above legislative recusance, rather than singling out the Edo State House of Assembly for animadversion. Members of the various state Houses of Assembly would continue to be legislative invertebrates, save and until they have financial independence and that is exactly the reason why a preponderant number of governors have fought such attempts with their last breath. The ball is in their court.

Do you perceive any hidden agenda in the escalation of the Boko Haram’s violent assault against the Nigerian state? Besides, do you think the Boko Haram attacks could have been different, if a northerner were to be the current president of Nigeria?
It appears to me that the Boko Haram tendency, which seemingly had its fons et origo in Islamic fermentism and religious resurgimento, permit me the alliteration, has since transmogrified into political content and form and this conclusion, is not a sphyxian conundrum difficult to fathom, given the interplay of our national centripetal and centrifugal proclivities and pigmentations. Do not forget that we once had in this country both religious and political shari’a, when the core northern establishment came to the conclusion that it was time to clip the obtrusive and phillistinic wings of Olusegun Obansajo who was becoming something of a Gorgon Medusa to caliphate interests and values.

So, beyond the stated attempts to bring about the Islamisation and shari’anisation of Nigeria, it thus appears that some vested northern political interests have moved in to rattle and rein in the Jonathan administration for both purposes of political vendetta and even to negotiate and position Arewa for 2015. Yes, I say yes, This is the rough and tumble and the humpty dumpty that is Nigeria’s politics. If Niger Delta militants made it happen for the South-South, why will Boko Haram not make it happen for Arewa? These are messages I am getting from the celestial key-board.

How can the Boko Haram challenge be tackled?
Given its religio-political content, the government must be very sensitive, pro-active and sophisticated in the handling of the phenomenon. Rolling out the tanks and armada of attack would drive them further underground and deepen their resolve for international Islamic patronage. Key northern political players must be reassured that this government can guarantee their present and future political permutations. The bogey of a clear and present danger hovering over Arewa must be molly coddled.

Do you think your party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), is providing the right opposition? What is your reaction to people who say the opposition in Nigeria is attacking Mr President’s personality and using inelegant language against him, instead of proffering superior ideas?
You know as well as I do that but for the ACN, a one party state would have been foisted on us by now. The ACN cannot but continue to be a democratic battle axe for credible and constructive opposition. The national chairman of the Labour Party is also doing his level best at pointing to alternative pathways from time to time.

But on the whole, I think opposition political parties can still do more by having a position paper on all matters and ministries as if it was in government. That is certainly what the Ikenne philosopher, Papa Obafemi Awolowo, would have done. We must continue to address issues and not resorting to vile and scabrous idiolect, nor must we deploy ad hominen stratagems so as not to become political troubadours tilting at the windmills.

What do you think of the Minimum Wage Act, the way federal and state governments are handling the provisions of the Act and the organised labour’s response?
Is the so-called agreed minimum wage really a take home wage? If you ask me, I would even say that it is ‘wageless’. Its specific and caboodle implementation therefore, without much ado, is the expected and demanded irreducible minimum and to further tie its implementation to whatever gerrymandering is not only insensate, but it amounts to a monocle governmental monomania.

what happened to my request for the price of 2007 BMW X3? Can N3m deliver to Lagos?

I made inquiry sometime ago about BMW X3 2007. I got a very big price tag and my budget couldn't cover that. Can you look up 2007 Acura RDX Technology for me? I can't go beyond N2.8m. Thanks.

My brother, I went silent coz my budget for the 2007 BMW X3 fell below your pricing. I've tried to research for something close. I've discovered that I can get Acura RDX 2007 full options for less. Can you check it out for me? Are your prices negotiable??

Facts:
1. Your money is safe in Keystone, Mainstreet and Enterprise Banks.
2. Those banks are at present, the safest and strongest banks in the country, having been injected with more funds.
3. NDIC guarantees instant refund up to N500,000 if any conventional bank fails in Nigeria, and N200,000 for Micro-Finance Banks and Primary Mortgage
Institutions. This represents about 70% of all deposits in Nigerian Banks. However, the three new banks are not failing in the near-future.
4. The three nationalized banks were at the brink of dying, before the intervention.
5. The ultimate beneficiary in the whole mix is the economy of our dear country and depositors, whose funds are now 100% safe in thos banks.
6. The ultimate loser is the shareholder who would get nothing from the banks, since the banks they had shares in, no longer exist. And, each of the old banks
was sold for N1 (one naira) only. This was because their liabilities were in billions of Naira more than the assets. Their buyers (AMCOM) are injecting much more money in each of them, than would be required to start at least 25 new banks from scratch, due to their huge debt and liability portfolios.
7. The era of rogue banking is gone, forever. Kudos to CBN and NDIC!

Those banks died long ago. Simple!  All efforts to revive them were thwarted by their so-called owners.  Now, the new banks are just there to manage the assets+liabilities for a short while and sell same to any interested buyer in the future. A bridge bank is a temporary bank, set up by a regulator to manage a distressed, failing or failed bank. It is good riddance to bad rubbish . NDIC is acting to protect the depositor and ensure that THEIR funds are safe.  Too bad for the workers who would be the big losers in the long run. If you had any share in the defunct banks, sorry for you.  Just keep the certificate as memorabilia. You would get nothing for it forever. If you hold an account, keep running it.  Your money is safe and guaranteed.  For those who are reading islamic, christian, hausa, ibo etc. meanings, I have no word to share.  I'd rather leave you to drool in your myopia and foolish fantasies.  The NDIC and CBN moved swiftly, to safeguard the little that is left in those banks and shield the economy from the consequence of their collapse that was a matter of days. Sanusi is a man of great courage, valour, determination and professionalism.

is it an HUAWEI modem? If yes, paste the IMEI number here. Let me unlock it for you instantly

No basis for comparison. SLS is a thorough professional with deep insights. He represents what we lack in Nigeria: courage to do the right things. For all I care, the whole world can gang up against him because he touched the untouchables. SLS is restoring public confidence in the sector.  The bad guys are feeling the heat.  Banking is being restored to it's care functions: intermediation and source of funds for the real economy.  Forget the hype. Those who know would testify that it is no longer business as usual.  Rules are being made and obeyed and for once, banks are not easy conduits for slush funds and stolen commonwealth. A million Soludos can't hold a candle to SLS. FAct!

Poster,
Call him again and I'll campaign for you to be de-woman-ned! (do we have such a word?) The guy never loved you; never cared. It's that simple. If he did, you would have been the first person he would have called if his "grandmother" took ill. That is a fact. He was looking out for that opportunity to back out. And if he cared about you, he would have looked up to you for support at his moment of pressure. We the men are fibble and weak in the presence of our women. Just chill and pursue other dreams. If you don't you'd be the worse for it. I'm a man and I know exactly what I'm stating here.

I have a fairly used SonyEricson Xperia 10i for sale. Reserve price is 30k. Interested buyers shd call 08090818418. I also want to buy the new Samsung Gaalaxy Tab 10. Any sellers in the house?

@Cuddlemii:
Idiokke o! Edi didie? Sosongo. Akpenyene ufang, no mi nomba mfo man nkot fi. No email esinde nomba mfo aka idongmel@yahoo.com man nnyom usung nkot fi. Lol. O du ke mmong? Ami mi k'obio Lagos o! Didn't know I got sisters in the house. I hope your sunday was smooth.

@House Members:
Sorry, I needed to code-swicth for masking purposes.

Sex in the beach is risky. In life generally the riskier the sweeter, the more romantic! But there is too much idealism about chocolates, berries, candle-lit-dinners, ice-creams, etc. Way back then, I'd roll my sleeves up and cook for my sweetie. She used to tell me, it was very romantic! But, cooking is a hobby to the average Calabar Boy (like me!). A quick "I Luv U" sms can bring out the best in a woman, depending on the mood and season. Romance has too many colours jare!

She's like a rose, tender and glowy at the rise of the sun. She makes the family tick with joy and laughter. She's all that a man needs, to complete the home. She sometimes is the man of the house with broad shoulders in times of need. She's pious, effervescent, charming, honest, well-mannered, homely, romantic, flavoured and sexy. She is the one I open the car door for at entry and exit. She respects me and makes me believe that I'm all that matters in the world. I reciprocally respect her and adore her poise, charm, love and care. She is the mother of our children and I'm her "Knight in Shinning Armour". She won't desert me, in times of trouble but would stand with me and fight the storms. She is right there in the crowd looking desperately for me. It's been very tough to spot her because she is just one in ten-million. I know that I would find her someday. With God by side, we shall find a way to our hearts.

I'm still single, not because I preferred it so, but because she ran away then, thinking that I won't ever conquer my deprivations. Now, whomsoever must come, would as well show me her account balance else, no show! I don't care if it takes me forever. I loved her with all my heart, bended over backwards to make her a happy wooman but she left, the moment she had a job and I hadn't. I can still love again, but NO WOMAN shall ride on my back to stardom again. Never!

Thanks. Quite mouth-watering. Can we get colors that are not white? I prefer black exterior. And, can't the price tag be scaled down? I guess I told u my budget on the phone. Please reach back to me by email.

Please I need price for BMW X3 2006 and 2007, delivered to Lagos.

my brother, I want to buy a BMW X3 2007 ride. Can you please give me the best price? You may as well check the 2006 model for me for comparison. Send details to idongmel@yahoo.com. You may reach me on 08090818418 so that we talk. Or, drop your number on my email and I'll call you back.

First, I must apologize for eulogizing Airtel very early, immediately they anchored on the Nigerian market. I really thought that they were a serious bunch. Agreed, they forced most other service providers to cut tariffs, I must say, Airtel is full of wayo. I stopped using their network for calls, the very day I discovered that they always charge an extra second, for every call initiated in their network. For instance, if you make a 10 second call, which should cost 2.00 (at 2k/second), they'll deduct 2.20. There is always an extra 20k for every call. And, if you aggregate that for all the calls that are made with their lines everyday, you'd realize the millions they make from zero calls. They are foxy, cunny and "smart". For me, I returned to my good old "eti-baba" long long ago. AIRTEL may be going under soon.

way too high for me. Thanks all the same.

BMW X3 PREMIUM 2007
Please furnish me with the landing cost of the above named car in Lagos. I need it very urgently and at the best price too. You may send the response to idongesit.mel@gmail.com

ok, u may send the details to: idongesit.mel@gmail.com

idongesit.mel@gmail.com

I need the BMW X3 2007 premium SUV with power-everything. How much would land it in Lagos? Please reply asap to idongmel@gmail.com

Please furnish me with the best price for BMW X3 2007 premium edition, with low mileage and the best condition possible delivered in Lagos. i NEED it very very urgently.