₦airaland Forum

[B]Boko Haram Tears Elrufai and Fani-Kayode Apart![/B]

It started like a joke. After being so close to each other during the hey day of the Obasanjo administration, the relationship between Malam Nasir Elrufai, the controversial former minister of the FCT and Femi Fani-Kayode, the equally controversial former minister of aviation has reached the stage of a cold war.

Both men are now fighting a proxy battle over Boko Haram. While Malam Nasir Elrufai believes that the Federal Government should dialogue with the Islamic terrorist sect that has been responsible for thousands of death, Femi-Fani Kayode believes that the Federal Government should not dialogue with terrorist.

But last week, Malam Elrufai gave an interview to an American news outlet where he lampooned an unnamed Nigerian who is actually Femi Fani- Kayde. Not known for pulling punches, Femi Fani-Kayode responded by hitting Malam Elrufai without mentioning his name. And before he gave the interview to the American media outlet, Elrufai had said the same thing on twitter (images below)

As it is now, it appears that the trouble in paradise has caused a rift between the two hitherto bosom friends.

This is even as few weeks back, the controversial former Minister, Chief Femi Fani-kayode blasted Mallam El-Rufai as one having Amnesia based on the Mallam's misleading view on the dresscode of the Boko Haram Sect. http://www.naijapundit.com/news/ffk-to-elrufai-you-have-amnesia

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/boko-haram-tears-elrufai-and-fani-kayode-apart

NNPC Mega-Station Runs As Private Business in Calabar, As Diesel is Sold Above Official Rate

Despite the oil subsidy probe, some persons at the NNPC Fueling Station in Calabar appear unbothered as they continue to subsidies their pockets.

For example, the Manager and officials at NNPC Fueling Station along Murtala Mohammed Highway, Calabar, smile home daily with proceeds they make from selling diesel at N155/Litre as against the displayed pump price of N145/Litre.

The phone numbers on display for complaints as such and poor service never yield any result because they are perpetually switched off at their head office.

Who is in charge of NNPC? Can they claim to be ignorant of these practices or is it an opportunity for junior ones to have a bite of the oil subsidy?

Steve, Calabar
Citizen Report.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/nnpc-mega-station-runs-as-private-business-in-calabar-as-diesel-is-sold-above-official-rate

Elrufai Says Buhari is Better Than Obasanjo!

In a sensational switching of sides, Malam Nasir Elrufai, the controversial former minister of the FCT, who served under former President Olusegun Obasanjo as first Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and later minister has today declared that Major General Muhammadu Buhari, his new found love, is better than Obasanjo whom he served!

In a tweet on his twitter profile, Elrufai, who was President Obasanjo's blue eyed boy made his true intention known about his former benefactor. As usual, NaijaPundit brings you the tweet below.

During the last days of the Obasanjo administration, the former EFCC Chairman described El-Rufai as the "de facto No. 2 official", tagging him with the role of a Vice-President, especially after the fall-out between the former President and his Vice-President. It is believed that Obasanjo's trust and confidence in El-Rufai angered a vast number of the political elite within the country. Indeed, it was widely believed that the former President was considering blessing EL-Rufai as his successor. However, it was believed the vast political powers against him were too much, probably as a result of the fear of what may happen to them once he was in power.

Flowing from the above, Obasanjo would no doubt consider this latest controversial remark from Elrufai as a stab in the back!

His statement is all the more confusing for Erufai's followers as the same Elrufai had in October 2010 thoroughly insulted Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) saying amongst other things that "Mallam El-Rufai wishes to remind General Buhari that he has remained perpetually unelectable because his record as military head of state, and afterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians have wisely heeded. His insensitivity to Nigeria’s diversity and his parochial focus are already well-known. In 1984, Buhari allowed 53 suitcases belonging to his ADC’s father to enter Nigeria unchecked at a time the country was exchanging old currency for new. Against all canons of legal decency, he used retroactive laws to execute three young men for drug-peddling after they were convicted by a military tribunal and not regular courts of law. Buhari was so high handed that he gave himself and his officials immunity even from truthful reporting. That obnoxious Decree 4, against which truth was no defence, was used to jail journalists and attempt to cow the media as a whole. That tyrannical legislation shows the essence of his intolerance. These are facts of recent history.The story of counter-trade and import licensing, the cornerstone of Buhari’s stone-age economic strategy and those whose interests it served, is a tale for another day."

But it appears that Malam Elrufai has changed his mind on Buhari today.

Nigerians are beginning to get used to Malam Elrufai who also on Twitter cursed supporters of President Jonathan.

He also famously called those who gathered for the National Summit at the Sheraton hotels and towers to call for a Sovereign National Conference "fools at 40 or 70"

Christians Should Defend Themselves Against Attacks Insists Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has denied reports published in an online site which quoted him as having asked President Goodluck Jonathan to allow every Nigerian to carry gun.

He however called on all Christians to defend themselves when attacked saying that it was suicidal to sit and do nothing when one is attacked and suicide is a sin. He warned Christians not to retaliate or to initiate an attack but cautioned them to be prepared to defend themselves.

It will be recalled that Pastor Oritsejafor had come under intense criticism by mainly Muslim politicians for asking Christians to defend themselves.

In fact, Malam Bashir Yusuf, a former Political Adviser to the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had on the Social Media network, Twitter, taken Pastor Ayo to the cleaners (see tweets below)

Pastor Oritsejafor, in a telephone interview, said that the online site named News Naija quoted him wrongly.

The site also wrongly referred to the Nigerian Tribune edition of Monday, February 27 as having reported the claim attributed to the CAN President.

Pastor Oritsejafor said: “What I have always said and will continue to say is that if you are attacked, you should defend yourself. As Christians, we don’t retaliate. But it will be suicidal for you to sit down there and allow somebody to kill you.

Suicide is not allowed in our religion because if you commit suicide, you go to hell. As Christians, you should defend and protect yourselves.

“I don’t understand why some people protest when I say Christians should defend themselves. I wonder if people want me to say, as the leader of all Christians in Nigeria, that if they come to cut off your head, you should surrender. I will never say that because that would be suicidal and it is wrong to commit suicide in Christianity.”

The online site, in a news report entitled: Allow Every Nigerian To Carry Gun, Pastor Oritsejafor Tells Jonathan, indicated that the CAN President told the president to allow all Nigerians to carry guns to protect themselves.

Visit wakanow.com #Easy

[B]Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Is Wrong, This Is The Reason For Boko Haram Not Derivation![/B]

Even as CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, clamour for more oil money for the Northern states because according to them the North needs more money while the Southern states have too much money, the true picture of the feudalistic system operated in much of the North which keep the masses dirt poor while a few elite are for want of a better term 'stinking rich' begins to emerge.

What NaijaPundit is about to show you will boggle your mind. At a time when Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, told reporters at a press conference in Abuja recently that figures released from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the North-West and North-East geopolitical zones recorded the highest poverty rate in Nigeria with 77.7 per cent and 76.3 per cent respectively, the same Northwest boast of a man whose monthly income from his oil block granted him by Abacha is allegedly more than the monthly allocation of his state (Borno).

In fact so rich is the Mai Deribe family of Borno who own Cavendish Petroleum, the operators of OML 110 who get about 120,000 barrels of crude oil daily from their OBE 4 and OBE 5 wells. Below are pictures of their house which reportedly cost 5 million Naira to clean every month.
[LINK=https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-881188.0.html][/LINK]


[LINK=https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-881188.0.html]https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-881188.0.html[/LINK]

El'rufai Accuses President Jonathan of Partnering With Boko Haram

Controversial Former minister of the FCT, Malam Nasir El'rufai has accused the President of being in partnership with Boko Haram. He made the allegation today on his twitter profile (see tweet below).

This will not be the first time that Malam El'rufai will accuse the government of being in partnership with Boko Haram.

In an interview in January with the Sun Newspapers entitled 'BOKO HARAM, [LINK=/news/boko-haram-nigerians-made-a-mistake-not-electing-buhari-el-rufai]Nigerians made a mistake not electing Buhari – El-Rufai[/LINK]', the controversial former minister said "According to the former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, “there are forces within the government and outside the government collaborating to throw this country into crisis. I do not believe that some of these things in the name of Boko Haram and so on and so forth are (done by) Boko Haram. Nobody knows really whether Boko Haram is from the North or from anywhere. Nobody knows for sure, because their leaders were killed. Now, anybody can come to my house and plant bomb and say it is Boko Haram, A few days ago, I saw on the internet pictures of some people covering their faces, wearing jeans and saying they are Boko Haram; that Southerners should leave the North. I am sure that those people are not Boko Haram. Boko Haram people don’t wear jeans. They wear kaftan… I believe that beyond Boko Haram, which is a metaphor for dissatisfaction with the state, there is something going on.”

But interestingly, the same El'rufai who accused the President of collaborating with Boko Haram had also few months back, asked the same President to dialogue with Boko Haram

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/el-rufai-accuses-president-jonathan-of-partnering-with-boko-haram

Q and A With Reuben Abati

Courtesy: NigeriaVillageSquare.com

First of monthly round-table discussions with Dr. Reuben Abati, the Media and Communications Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Interview conducted on Sunday Feb.12, 2012

NVS: We have a few questions that have been submitted by members of the Nigeria Village Square

Abati: No problem.

Boko Haram and National Security

NVS: Ok Good day Dr. Abati, the first series of questions is on Boko Haram and security. How is the president planning to solve the internal security question; Boko Haram, police brutality, kidnapping and armed robbery, rape and pedophilia?

Abati: Well there is a lot in that question but let me just say this. 1. The President has made it very clear that his administration is committed to the rule of law and guaranteeing the security of lives and properties and general welfare of the people. In other words, that means and he is committed to providing security for the people of Nigeria. In several interviews, he has taken on many of these issues you just isolated.

On Boko Haram, and other crimes, the President has made it very clear that 1. the security agencies will be empowered to do their work, to be more efficient, that the security architecture of the country will be improved; full training, provision of equipments and also the strengthening of the internal processes of the various agencies.

And you can see what has been done for example, with the change in the leadership of the police and what has been done in terms of providing better equipments for the various security agencies. And also, the efforts that the various security agencies have been making to tackle the Boko Haram challenge.

I know that Nigerians are very concerned about what has been happening particularly with regards to Boko Haram but in the last few weeks, the security agencies have made a lot of progress in terms of arresting some of the chieftains of the Boko Haram and also in terms of getting quality information with which they were able to make a lot arrests and at the moment it is very clear that there has been a lot of improvements in the response of the security agencies.

However, the president has made it clear that the use of force or the use of the security agencies is not the only way to solve the problem, he believes that the challenge of boko haram and other forms of crimes in society is a collective responsibility that can also be addressed at a community level and to this end, he has been meeting with various stakeholders, leaders of thought, community leaders, traditional rulers, soliciting their support to the extent that the people that are engaged in crime are not ghosts but human beings who live in communities; people know them and its only people that can assist the security agencies with information. He believes that very strongly that mobilizing the people of Nigeria to support the government to fight crime will be a major step forward in tackling the challenges.

The third point the President has also made repeatedly is that there is an economic dimension to any form of crime that we may have whether it is boko haram or armed robbery or kidnapping, and that his administration is committed to providing an enabling environment for people to realize their potentials and to have jobs. In this regard, the emphasis is on job creation and many of efforts have been made in the last 6 months particularly in agriculture and by the ministry of finance in collaboration with the various state governments. These efforts have been targeted at creating jobs, at mobilizing Nigerian youths to see them more constructively engaged.

The fourth level of intervention that the President has focused on and that the administration is working on is also to place a greater emphasis on the education of the youths; because he believes that if the people are properly educated and you create opportunities for them, then of course, there will be fewer people to be recruited to engage in crime. He is however aware of the fact that the magnitude of the problem is big and that the problems were not created yesterday. But the government is determined to make sure that it continues to make a difference and this can only come about with the FG playing its part; the state government playing its part and also even the local councils and then the people.

NVS: I will like you to answer the question regarding police brutality because there is this video on Al-Jazeera on YouTube that shows suspected Boko Haram members being assassinated by our very own members of the Nigeria Police that are supposed to be protecting citizens and due process was not followed. This video is all over YouTube and we see the images of these police officers that are responsible for the gruesome murder of Nigerian citizens without due process.

Abati: This is an old issue!

For the Full Text; Visit: http://www.naijapundit.com/news/q-and-a-with-reuben-abati

Niger State Governor Decries Revenue Formula, Calls For More Oil Wealth For Northern States

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State who is also the chairman of the Northern Governors' Forum has declared that the Northern states were not getting their fair share of Nigeria's oil wealth. He spoke in Abuja at the inauguration of a 12-member Advisory Council of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.

Corroborating what the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi propounded when he said that the 13% derivation to the Niger Delta state was a major causative factor in the rise of Boko Haram, governor Aliyu said that the federal revenue allocation formula was heavily lopsided against northern states such that “some states are not doing well while others are doing extremely well.”

Speaking further, Governor Babangida Aliyu declared that the oil from the continental shelf should not benefit Niger Delta states but should be shared more equitably taking into consideration the population of states.

Citing example with Niger State, Aliyu said the state receives an average allocation of N4.2 billion and spends N2.1 billion on salaries and emoluments, leaving government with about N2 billion for servicing a population of over 4 million. But as this happens, some states collect 20 times more for far lesser populations, he added.

The governor however in. Moment of candor condemned the parasitic tendencies of the Northern elite who hardly create wealth but rather cast their gaze on the wealth created from other zones. According to the governor it was time stakeholders in the North began to change their mind set “from the parasitic and consumptive tendencies” towards what they can do to productively contribute to the economic development of the region.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/niger-state-governor-decries-revenue-formula-calls-for-more-oil-wealth-for-northern-states

Mallam ElRufai: A Manipulator Revealed

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Nasir El-Rufai, has boldy stated that he has no plans to contest in the next general elections in 2015.

Mallam El-Rufai when asked by his twitter followers about the possibility of contesting in the 2015 elections, responded with a direct NO. However, not much value can be given to this response of his, especially as close associates of the mallam have revealed that Mallam ElRufai is solely behind the financing of the OccupyNigeria initiative tagged "20Million Youths For 2015" with a well detailed plan of turning this initiative to his benefit towards his currently hidden 2015 Presidential agenda.

Further revelations have revealed that Mallam ElRufai is seriously and covertly making intense consultations towards ensuring his smooth emergence as Presidential candidate come 2015. A close source of the Mallam who preferred we keep his name from print, also revealed how Mallam ElRufai has taken up a hat of 'saint-hood' across social media platforms (Facebook & Twitter), thereby manipulating thousands of Nigerians users on these social media platforms towards seeing him as the messiah Nigeria deserves, all with the intent of getting their support towards his hidden Presidential ambition.

These recent manipulative actions by a former Minister leaves much to the imagination as to why Mallam Elrufai would be enlisting the support of the masses under a farce persona of saint-hood, while covertly employing this support to another hidden agenda.

Below are his twitter response (circled in red) to his followers where he is deceptively claiming not to have any 2015 agenda;

FFK to Elrufai - You have Amnesia

Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi-Fani kayode has taken a stand against the deceitful comments made by the Former Minister of the FCT, Mallam El-Rufai.

In a tactical show of disapproval of the deceitful comments made by Mallam El-Rufai, Chief Femi-Fani Kayode, a bossom friend of Mallam El-Rufai, published to his facebook fans, Mallam El-Rufai's embarrasing stance where El-Rufai stated that BH do not wear Jeans of which was later disproved by the arrest of Kabiru Sokoto dressed in a Puma T-Shirt and Levis Strauss jeans.

**However, few minutes after this news went public, the flippant Chief Femi-Fani Kayode seeing that his act of betrayal was now revealed to a more broader audience, took down the published story from his Facebook page

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/ffk-to-elrufai-you-have-amnesia

Atiku's Political Adviser Attacks Femi Fani-Kayode on Sovereign National Conference, Asks Him to Clear His Name!

Malam Bashir Yusuf, the political adviser to former vice President, Atiku Abubakar has hit out at former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, for calling for a Sovereign National Conference. In a posting on Twitter (see below), Malam Bashir heavily criticised FFK calling him "dishonest" and "driven by hate".

Malam Bashir Yusuf has become notorious for attacking those whose opinions he disagrees with. In a post on his Twitter profile, he had attacked the character of the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) calling Pastor Ayo a bigot who is driven by childhood grudges against his own mother and insinuating that he was under the influence of drugs (see below).

Malam Bashir also heavily criticised President Jonathan for closing Nigeria's border with Niger republic because of the Boko Haram menace, claiming that it could be construed as an act of war by Niger Republic which could then initiate a pre emptive attack against Nigeria.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/atiku-s-political-adviser-attacks-femi-fani-kayode-on-sovereign-national-conference

Phone Log of Rearrested Christmas Day Bombing Mastermind Shows Link With Top Politicians

A stunning revelation has come uo with the rearrest of Kabiru Sokoto, the alleged Mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing atvthe St. Theresa's Catholic church. Apparently Kabiru Sokoto is linked with top politicians and prominent individuals in societybgoing bybthe call logs on the phone seized from him.

In addition to that, the security agencies have been able to get recordings of previous conversations he made on his ozone and the conversations are mind boggling. Those the identities of the top politicians are being kept under wraps, it was revealed that among such recordings in the phone, according to highly dependable sources, was his conversation with the suicide bomber who struck at the Louis Edet House police headquarters in Abuja, a few moments before the attack.

“It was embarrassing and painful that Kabir Sokoto escaped from custody after his arrest which took time and concerted efforts to actualize. It is true that his phone had been recovered, and I can tell you that the recordings therein are stunning. There are so many highly placed individuals, mostly politicians, involved. And from all indications, the suspect was deeply involved in most of the bombings. In fact, he was the co-coordinator. The suicide bomber who attacked the force headquarters in Abuja made a last minute phone call within the radius of the Federal Secretariat in Abuja on the day of the incident. And that call from the bomber was placed to Kabiru. And there are several of such calls and recordings in his phone linked to influential politicians and top government officials”, a security source who pleaded anonymity, confided.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/phone-log-of-rearrested-christmas-day-bombing-mastermind-shows-link-with-top-politicians

Nigerians may recall that controversial former minister of the FCT, Malam Nasir Elrufai had in an interview with the Sun News papers entitled 'BOKO HARAM:Nigerians made a mistake not electing Buhari –el-Rufai' claimed that Boko Haram members do not wear jeans. He further said he was sure that the people who asked Christians and Southerners to leave the North are not Boko Haram members.


In that interview, Elrufai had said the following;


“A few days ago, I saw on the internet pictures of some people covering their faces, wearing jeans and saying they are Boko Haram; that Southerners should leave the North. I am sure that those people are not Boko Haram. Boko Haram people don’t wear jeans. They wear kaftan… I believe that beyond Boko Haram, which is a metaphor for dissatisfaction with the state, there is something going on.”


But with the rearrested of Kabiru Sokoto who was captured wearing jeans and a Puma T-Shirt, the question is being asked why did Elrufai make the statement he made. Why was he trying to exonerate Boko Haram?
There are many questions, but all we can say at this point is that members of Boko Haram, unlike what Elrufai said, do wear jeans as the photos below prove.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/capture-of-christmas-day-bomber-kabiru-sokoto-proves-elrufai-wrong

Did CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Meet With Osama Bin Laden in the Sudan?, His Link With Elrufai

There are fears in some quarters that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi may have been radicalized during the time he spent as a student in the Sudan.

Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was in the Sudan between 1991 and 1997 where he was a student at the International University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan. Coincidentally, this was around the same time that Osama Bin Laden lived in Khartoum, Sudan. Osama Bin Laden lived in Sudan between 1992 and 1996. He left the Sudan in May of 1996.

Being that Malam Sanusi  Lamido Sanusi is an aristocrat and the grandson of the renowned Emir of Kano and Islamic Scholar, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, he was well received in Khartoum and  there are claims from a prominent Nigerian who has served at the highest level that during his stay in Sudan, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi met with both Osama Bin Laden (a fellow aristocrat from a lineage that had Islamic scholars) and Dr. Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi, who was Speaker of the Sudanese National Assembly and a then ally of Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir.

Recent utterances from Malam Sanusi Lamido have brought up the possibility that he might have been radicalized during his stay in the Sudan. The people and government of Sudan heavily dominated by people from the North had operated under the principle that the people of Southern Sudan are people of a lower culture and had in recent times shut them out of power and unleashed the dreaded supporter of APC militia (a fore runner of  Boko  Haram?) on them.

In an article he wrote in 1999 and entitled "Issues in Restructuring Corporate Nigeria" he had made comments to the effect that he considered some of the cultures that exists in certain parts of Nigeria to be lower cultures.

Similar views were expressed again by the CBN Governor this time on the international stage. He had told the Financial Times of London that attempts to redress the despoliation of the Niger Delta via the policy on derivation are in large part to blame for the rise of the Boko Haram insurgency and stated that funds must be redistributed more equitably and taking into consideration the huge population of certain parts of the country.

These, fears take on another dimension with the strong tilt that Malam Sanusi has towards things pertaining to the North and the dominant religion of Islam there. For instance, many Nigerians were disturbed by the way and manner he prosecuted the introduction of Islamic banking. It may be remembered that Sanusi used words that were perhaps not too diplomatic against the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) which caused Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor to at different occasions warn the nation that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was also a Muslim cleric and might have allowed his faith becloud his judgment on the issue of Shari'a and Islamic banking.

Meanwhile, NaijaPundit investigations have revealed that the reason why CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has in recent times began to take a pro Nasir Elrufai public posture may not be unconnected to the marriage scheduled between the CBN Governor and the sister to Malam Nasir Elrufai's second wife.

Malam Elrufai is married to three wives and the sister of the second of them is affianced to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the marriage is to be contracted soon.

Many Nigerians where puzzled when Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi wrote what may be termed as a public love letter on the controversial former minister during the heat if the fuel subsidy debate last January.

Sanusi had written the letter in response to Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode's own letter. Given that Malam Elrufai is one of the bitterest critics of the present administration, many Nigetians wondered why Malam Sanusi would go all out to defend him so publicly.

NaijaPundit also brings you the letter Malam Sanudi wrote on Malam
Elrufai below;

I have one request to make and Allah is my helper. Any attack on Nasir el Rufai or on Nuhu Ribadu is an attack on me. Nasir is to my mind is one of the greatest and most patriotic Nigerians to have served in public office and he is by far the best FCT minister we have ever had. Like all of us he is not perfect.

In my AIT interview I said I agreed with 90% of what he said a day before our interview and the two bits I didn’t agree with I stated: I don’t agree that there is no subsidy and I believe Nasir was quoting contributions from tHrusted experts which have been flying around recently including Prof Tam David West.

And we have debated this issue of accounting and economic concepts in this forum. I also do not agree that it is easy in the short-term to have massive fiscal retrenchment without a huge political backlash-indeed the fuel subsidy is one such case and retrenchment for instance would also bring people out.

But Nasir is one person for whom I have always had the highest level of personal respect. His integrity is beyond reproach-of course, people will say anything but after years of trying no one is yet able to show any evidence backing up allegations. Intellectually, I am yet to know anyone who can match him and this has been the case since the 1970s. Femi Fani-Kayode has written in Nasir’s defence but these are not Nasir’s words and if you knew Femi well you would not be surprised or bothered by his peculiar choice of language. I have seen Femi transit from a rabid ethnic chauvinist and christian fanatic who thought Obasanjo was a stooge of the backward Muslim north, to a minister in Obasanjo’s cabinet preaching national unity, and now to some freelance activist and public commentator.

This is just a stage he is going through but I like to think he means well. When AIT requested me to speak they never said it was to respond to Nasir and when we started and they played their clip we told them we didn’t want to personalise this. Nasir and I were friends and brothers as teenagers. We have remained friends and brothers and will remain
friends after office.

We don’t have to agree 100%. He also understands that so long as I am in government I have 100% loyalty to the president. If I feel I cannot be loyal I should step down. This does not mean supporting every policy but it means standing up to play my part in doing what is good for the economy.
I, therefore, request please that no one defending me should attack his person. And only those who don’t know Nasir will even think I am his intellectual match- he is just exceptional in his brilliance.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/did-cbn-governor-sanusi-lamido-meet-with-osama-bin-laden-in-the-sudan--his-link-with-elrufai

President Jonathan's strategist talks on Nuhu Ribadu's appointment

In a post on his facebook page facebook.com/ondlaw the President's strategist, Oronto Douglas talks on Nuhu Ribadu's appointment

Many Nigerians have been angry for decades. The time to come out of anger and take up tasks for positive transformation is now. Some analyst believe being patriots consists of fault finding, throwing stones at others and giving the worst possible interpretation to even the most noblest of acts. But there are also the millions working very hard in every corner of our Nigerian space. They are to be found in our villages, towns and cities, offfices and market places, doing their best but have remained unsung. These are the patriots who are tireless in projecting the positive so that ultimately goodness over- shadows the unacceptable. And this is what I have seen in Malam Nuhu Ribadu, a man who at all times thinks nationally where some think in partisan and regional terms. A man who sees the achievable potential of Nigeria to be a great nation where some see stagnation and disintegration. I doff my hat to this great patriot who reminds me so very much of the words of the 26th President of the United States , Theodore Roosevelt, who said "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

The Jonathan administration's commitment to build strong institutions and system that can help strengthen our democracy for good governance is clearly on course. In the years to come, we will remember a great many people for what they said, but people like Malam Nuhu Ribadu and the great men and women in the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force will be remembered for what they did. May God bless Nigeria. OND.

Sanusi's Dream Becomes Reality As Islamic Bank Begins Operations

The controversial Islamic banking model which lays emphasis on interest- free loan facility has commenced full operation in Kaduna.

Checks at the bank located along Akilu Road, Kaduna, showed that the Islamic bank with the name Jaiz Bank Plc commenced operation last week without a billboard on the bank building.

The Jaiz Bank, sources gathered, only operates a current account both personal and corporate.

On a visit to the bank, only staff members and private security guards were seen in and around the bank.

A corporate account opening form obtained showed that the bank has about five types of account.

Central Bank Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had last year indicated that the apex bank would soon introduce the banking model.

The decision to licence the Islamic Banking attracted criticism with many seeing it as a calculated attempt to ambush Christians, while others applauded the idea.

When contacted, the bank manager declined comment and directed our reporter to Abuja.

But, a source at the bank stated hat the bank was for all people irrespective of religion.

“There is no religion that will reject funding without interest, whether it is Islam, Judaism or Christianity. Every community will like to borrow money whereby it will not be restricted to some kind of interest structure which has killed a lot of very viable projects.”

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/sanusi-s-dream-becomes-reality-as-islamic-bank-begins-operations

Atiku's Political Adviser Escalates His Attack on Wole Soyinka, Insists Soyinka "Speaks Like an Illiterate"

After accusing the world renowned Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka of speaking "like an illiterate" Atiku's former Political Adviser and member of the Northern Political Leaders Forum, Malam Bashir Yusuf, has escalated his attack on the eminent intellectual.

Malam Bashir who was also one of former Vice President's Atiku Abubakar's agents at the January, 2011 PDP Presidential primary, went on a tirade in response to our story and unleashed a furious salvo on the person of Professor Wole Soyinka and insisted that the eminent Nobel laureate speaks like an illiterate.

It will be recalled that the same Malam Bashir had insulted the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and questioned his status as a man of God simply because Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor had the effrontery to call on Christians to defend themselves. At that time he had alluded that Pastor Oritsejafor was mentally unstable due to drug use and childhood grudges against his own mother.

Bashir Yusuf had also attacked President Jonathan for closing Nigeria's border with Niger Republic. At that time he had warned that it was unfair to Niger Republic for Nigeria to close her borders with her and said that Nigeria could face a preemptive attack from Niger for that indiscretion.

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/atiku-s-political-adviser-escalates-his-attack-on-wole-soyinka

[B]Atiku's Political Adviser to Wole Soyinka-You Speak "Like an Illiterate"[/B]

Malam Bashir Yusuf, member of the Northern Political Leaders Forum and Political Adviser to former VP, Atiku Abubakar, who recently insulted the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, for calling on Christians to defend themselves against Boko Haram attacks has again hit out at his perceived political enemies.

In a Twitter post earlier today he accused Africa's first and Nigeria's only Nobel Laureate for literature of speaking like an illiterate. This was in response to Wole Soyinka's revelation that he had been placed on Boko Haram's hit list. Apparently unhappy with Professor Wole Soyinka for making that comment, Bashir hit on him in the same manner he had hit Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

NaijaPundit has brought you the tweets from Malam Bashir.

This is even as Malam Nasir Elrufai, the controversial former minister of the Federal Capital Territory called those who attended today's National Summit convened by a group headed by Professor Pat Utomi fools at 40 or 70

http://www.naijapundit.com/news/atiku-s-political-adviser-to-wole-soyinka-you-speak-like-an-illiterate

[B]Shocker! Elrufai Calls Participants of Ongoing National Summit in Lagos "fools at 40 or 70"[/B]


Amazingly, controversial former minister of the FCT and Chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change, Malam Nasir Elrufai, has called participants of the National Summit currently going on in Lagos "fools at 40 or 70".

The summit is being anchored and convened by former Presidential candidate, Professor Pat Utomi, and has in attendance such statesmen as former education minister, Professor Ben Nwabueze, former Kaduna State governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, former minister fir information, Chief E.k Clarke, Former Governor of Anambra State, Chukuwemeka Ezefe, foremost human rights activist, Chief Femi Falana, former minister for aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode etc.

At the summit, several speakers had condemned the apparent justification of the Boko Haram insurgency by CBN Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who had said that the practice of paying out derivation to certain states in the Niger Delta has led to not enough money reaching states in the core North which is contributing to the insecurity of Boko Haram.

Femi Fani-Kayode had in his own submission indicated that there were certain individuals who believed that they are mire equal than other Nigerians and who desire to always be in power and reminded the audience of the threat of some to make Nigeria ungovernable should they and their candidates not win the election.

Femi Fani-Kayode also reminded the audience that the British amalgamated three incompatible nations together and these are Sudan, India and Nigeria and of these three only Nigeria has not broken up. Sudan had divided into two, India into three and Nigeria is now facing pressures. He therefore advised that Nigerians should sit down and talk.

The statements by Mr. Fani-Kayode were re echoed by former aviation minister, Alabo Graham Douglas, who traced the threat if some politicians who firmed the then Northern Political Leaders Forum to "make Nigeria ungovernable" to the current insecurity being spearheaded by Boko Haram.

Most of the participants of the summit called for a Sovereign National Conference because the constitution Nigeria is currently operating and the system of government it finds itself in was not what was agreed by Nigerians but rather it was imposed on Nigerians by the military. They also opined that the founding fathers of Nigeria negotiated a different Nigeria with the British where there was autonomy of the zones and that each region had control over the resources in its region unlike what occurs today where the monies goes to the Federal Government.

But when NaijaPundit spoke to Femi Fani-Kayode on what was responsible for the strong defence of Malam Nasir Elrufai by Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, NaijaPundit was told that the bond between Elrufai and the CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi is the fact that Sanusi is about to take as one of his wives the sister of the second of Elrufai's three wives and as such they are about to be linked by marriage.