₦airaland Forum

ayobase: Before being too fast to judge David Mark, OP pls what is the correlation btw the topic and content....Im lost pls!
.
Because Im seeing about 70yrs ago!

Make your inference from his statement.He doesn't have to be direct,remember he is the President of the Senate.He just spoke in parables hope you understand?

What could have prompted a 21-year-old man to send a gang of armed robbers, to which he belongs, after his own sister? The reason was revealed by a suspected armed robber, Amuda Lawal Najim, who was recently nabbed by the police in Osun State. OLUWATOYIN MALIK reports. Just like the blood of Abel cried from the ground when his brother, Cain, killed him, according to a biblical story, so did the the bond between a notorious armed robber, Amuda Lawal Najim and his sister, Mrs Sade Sonibare, cried out in protest early this month when the former led his six- man gang of armed robbers to the sister’s resident, but was caught few hours after the robbery operation. Information gathered by Crime Features had it that Najim (21), in company of Adewale Wasiu (28), Lawal Abiodun (27), Abiodun Emmanuel (25), Wale Osunleye (30) and another gang member popularly called KB, who is currently at large, invaded Igbo-Ile area in Ikirun, Osun State, on Wednesday, October 10 at about 12 midnight and attacked the residents while armed with a dane gun, a cut-to-size double- barrel gun and iron rods. About seven residents, among whom were Najim’s sister, Mrs Sonibare, her husband, Akeem, and an 80-year-old woman, Mrs Olasunkanmi Morufu, were
reportedly robbed of a huge sum of money, jewellery and other valuables. Not only that, Najim reportedly instructed his gang members to beat his sister who had just been delivered of a baby, an instruction they carried out, inflicting her with serious injuries. They were said to have also put a knife to her baby’s neck, threatening to kill him. Madam Olasunkanmi was also not spared, as the elderly woman was also thoroughly beaten, after which the armed robbers escaped with their loot. Or so they thought. Crime Features learnt that immediately the police were alerted to the gang’s activities, they went after them. This led to an exchange of fire between the police and the gang, with some of the gang members sustaining gunshot injuries. They, however, escaped into the bush. After sharing their loot, the gang members were said to have divided themselves into two groups and two of them had walked through hills in the town to link Iree, a nearby town, while others hid in the bush till dawn. Crime Features gathered that the okada man, who noticed the blood stains on the bodies of the two suspected armed robbers he picked at Iree, became suspicious of their personality . After dropping them at the motor park, the okada man was said to have alerted some people who in turn alerted the police. The policemen, led by the Divisional Police Officer at Ikirun, immediately swung into action and went ahead of the vehicle to block the road. After stopping the bus, they asked all the passengers to disembark for searching. They noticed the two men who had injuries on their bodies, as well as cash and some jewelry.
When questioned, they were said to have lied that they had an accident. Meanwhile, the other three who also hid in a bush in Ikirun were suspected by the people when they came out from the bush and the Divisional Police Officer at Ila was also alerted. When questioned by the DPO and his men after they were handed over to them, they also lied that they went somewhere and had an accident while on okada. The five armed robbers, however, opened up when they were transferred to the anti-robbery section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Osogbo. It was there that Najim confessed to the police that he was the one who led his gang members to his sister’s house. He revealed further that he stole N75,000 from his sister in
February and ran away. The sum of N1, 144,000, jewellery valued at N120,000, charms and other valuables were also recovered from the suspects. Narrating how he became a notorious armed robber to Crime Features, Najim said: “When I stole N75,000 from my sister and her husband, I ran away. When I had no where to stay, I left for Ibadan where I met the gang. I joined them for robbery operation and we robbed at Challenge and Ago Taylor areas of Ibadan. “After following the gang to some operations, they asked me to suggest a ‘business’ they could do because I had been benefitting from the operations which other people suggested. That was how I remembered that my brother- in-law is a cocoa merchant and
he used to handle a lot of cash at home. “I knew there was no way he would not have money, so I decided to lead my gang to my sister’s house. When we got there, I stood outside with a gun while others went in. I also heard that my sister just delivered and held the naming ceremony of the new-born baby before our arrival. I then thought that it was an opportunity to get my pound of flesh back if someone who was not ready to take care of me could be celebrating. “I asked my gang member to deal with my sister very well. That was why they beat her. They even put a knife on the baby’s neck, threatening to kill him. I heard her and her husband begging my gang members not to kill the baby. “In the Ibadan operations, we usually invaded buildings in the dead of the night to inflict injuries on our victims and rob them of their valuables. We had four guns that we were using for our operations. All the guns were dane guns that we forcibly took from night guards. We usually targetted the night guards so that we could increase the number of weapons in our armoury. “Immediately we left Ikirun after the operation in my sister’s house, we went to Iree town. In Iree town, we mounted an okada and went to the motor park to board a vehicle to Ibadan. We were stopped by the police on the way and searched. When they found a lot of money on me and I could not give them a satisfactory explanation, I was arrested .” Confirming the story, the Police Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Mrs Folasade Odoro, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said that the case was still being investigated by the anti- robbery section, adding that efforts were still on to apprehend the sixth suspect who is on the

In far away Quebec, Canada, last Monday, October 22, 2012 in his address at the 127th Inter Parliamentary Union, IPU, Assembly, Mark addressed the theme: “Citizenship, Identity, Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in a Globalised World”, with the progressive view that he would push for the replacement of “State of Origin” with “State of Residency” in the impending Constitution amendment exercise.

Said he, to journalists: “Let’s forget the business of state of origin and go to state of residence. Once you are resident in a place and you perform your civic responsibilities for the period, there is no reason why you should not benefit, provided, of course, you don’t claim dual residency”.

I call this a Zikist agenda, because Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC, right from its days under the leadership of Dr Herbert Macaulay, had dreamed of an independent Nigeria where the citizens would “forget their differences” and build a nation where everyone would be proud to belong; a model of patriotic dynamism out of Africa and a toast of the Black world. He had as associates outside the NCNC another political party in the North named the Northern Elements Progressive Union, NEPU, led by Malam Aminu Kano and his followers.

The NCNC was a truly national party, where Igbos produced elected officers in Lagos and parts of the old Western Region, and people from the Mid West and Yorubas won election in Port Harcourt. A Fulani man, Alhaji Umaru Altine, a staunch member of the Zikist Movement who went to jail in defence of zero tolerance to British colonialism, was elected the first Mayor Enugu.



Zik’s fellow travelers

But Zik’s fellow travellers in the fight against British rule did not share his dreams. When Obafemi Awolowo returned from England, his vision was to become part of a national political movement, but only if he would be allowed to control the Western Region cell of it. He eventually founded the Action Group, which had the primary mission of taking over the West and launching out to other parts. In the North, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and his group were deeply concerned of what Zik would do with Islam and the North if he assumed leadership at independence. They hijacked the Northern Peoples Congress, NPC, an unabashed regional party. With the West and the North now in the hands of regionalists, the NCNC and its nationalist vision were thwarted and reduced to the regional fringes. Awolowo popularised the agitation for creation of states for the Minorities.

It was from these stimuli that the struggle by local elites to take control of the political space within their areas became popular. As soon as the nationalists were pushed out of political relevance, the regionalists in the Nigerian Army started as from 1967 to split Nigeria into states and local governments to give local elites the platforms for the freeloading on Nigeria’s oil wealth (the National Cake).



Born of the demon

Thus was born the demon of “state of origin”, which created the indigene/settler dichotomy among Nigerian citizens. This is the singular detractor to our national integration because a Nigerian can live all his life in a part of the country other than his place of ethnic roots and yet live like a foreigner in his own country. He will pay taxes, yet his children will not benefit from state government free education and bursary awards, which are reserved for “indigenes”. He can register and vote, but cannot be voted for. He and his family will be counted as part of the local population of his state of residency, and yet when the federal allocation that comes as a result of the population density arrives he and his family are discriminated against.

In spite of his contributions to the development of the state, he and his family are frequently harassed, displaced and often killed by mobs incited by local politicians against enterprising “settlers”.

Mark’s intentions are noble. Without giving Nigerians a sense of belonging wherever they live the country will never become a nation. It will never be united. Nigerians have been raised on a diet of ethnic and sectional dichotomies for more than 70 years. States and local governments have been established to institutionalise national disunity. We all are now tribalists and sectionalists at heart. It is in our blood. Even if Mark gets the support of his colleagues to push through the reform, it might merely exacerbate the hostility of “indigenes” against “settlers”, and local politicians might respond with more incitement to violence.

However, we commend the Senate President for standing by this nationalist agenda and hope he will not be discouraged by the odds.

Chidi4u: I don't know if anybody has observed this .Every Naira note has an Arabic inscription despite the fact that Arabic is not among the top 10 Nigeria Language. This is an insult on our collective physche i don't know the meaning but i will find out soon if you know kindly tell me. I also urge the government to remove this inscription.

Update anomaly corrected by Soludo but some notes still have it.

klas: Apart from Punch and Tribune, name others owned by SW

Haba did you forget thifenubu's The nation newspaper.

klas: ^^^ you should ask how many GMs does FAAN have. The list is for those sacked. Possibly there are many more still left in service but non-yorubas.

Your PM NEWS should be able to supply it.But as you can see non.

Chidi4u: Aunty Stella,dalu Ada Ogbaru jise ike.Chukwu ga gozie gi.Ala must gba ndi ala.Not suprised at all by the report,for all i care PM News is owned and operated in the south west a Yoruba.Check the statistics according to them Six General managers from the South West,Two from the North.Perhaps no one was qualified from the South East and South South when those appointments were made.Is it not curious they did not complain then,talk of double standards.The Rector of Nigeria College of Aviation Technology Captain Adebayo Araba is Yoruba suprising is't it,Wale Babalakin CEO Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited Managers of Muritala Mohammed International 1 & 2 Yoruba.A national airport for that matter yet no complain.Tunde Fagbemi Maevis MD Revenue Generating Concessionaire Contractor for FAAN for Lagos and Abuja Airport(Yoruba) yet no complain.You can now imagine the hypocrisy of this people.The question now is were was Federal Character when all this was happening.Further more were are the ethnic activist when this loop sidedness took place.Does it then mean that Yoruba's all these while were the most qualified.Mbanu.

Remember what we call the Nigeria Press most of them are owned and operated by Yoruba's and in the South West.

Imagine our national team Super Eagles operating with Federal Character where the six geo political zones must be represented.Disasterous i would say.Certain things should be left for competent hands and people that can bring result.Federal Character principle is the greatest un doing of this country.

Aunty Stella,dalu Ada Ogbaru jise ike.Chukwu ga gozie gi.Ala must gba ndi ala.Not suprised at all by the report,for all i care PM News is owned and operated in the south west a Yoruba.Check the statistics according to them Six General managers from the South West,Two from the North.Perhaps no one was qualified from the South East and South South when those appointments were made.Is it not curious they did not complain then,talk of double standards.The Rector of Nigeria College of Aviation Technology Captain Adebayo Araba is Yoruba suprising is't it,Wale Babalakin CEO Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited Managers of Muritala Mohammed International 1 & 2 Yoruba.A national airport for that matter yet no complain.Tunde Fagbemi Maevis MD Revenue Generating Concessionaire Contractor for FAAN for Lagos and Abuja Airport(Yoruba) yet no complain.You can now imagine the hypocrisy of this people.The question now is were was Federal Character when all this was happening.Further more were are the ethnic activist when this loop sidedness took place.Does it then mean that Yoruba's all these while were the most qualified.Mbanu.

If na igbo man,you for don see tribal activist in action.

Na dem sabi.

definitly no

Debate and project thesis.

Maka ginikwan.

Even before the Prof wrote we knew him.

Crisis in Western Nigeria From the eve of independence,
he led the Action Group as the
Leader of the Opposition at the
federal parliament, leaving Samuel Ladoke Akintola as the Western Region Premier.
Serious disagreements
between Awolowo and
Akintola on how to run the
western region led the latter
to an alliance with the Tafawa Balewa-led NPC federal
government. A constitutional
crisis led to a declaration of a
state of emergency in the
Western Region, eventually
resulting in a widespread breakdown of law and order. Excluded from national
government, Awolowo and his
party faced an increasingly
precarious position. Akintola's
followers, angered at their
exclusion from power, formed the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) under Akintola's
leadership. Having previously
suspended the elected
Western Regional Assembly,
the federal government then
reconstituted the body after new elections that brought
Akintola's NNDP into power.
Shortly afterwards Awolowo
and several disciples were
arrested, charged, convicted
and jailed for conspiring with some Ghanaian authorities
under Kwame Nkrumah to overthrow the federal
Government.

No nobody is sponsoring anybody .Achebe wrote a book and and because a particular portion mentioned Awo some Yoruba's went haywire on the print and electronic media.vanguard,punch,nairaland.Other names of notabale Nigerians were mentioned but some Yoruba's decided to spread hate speech and disparage Ndi Igbo in general and Achebe.

The coup plotters despite thier diverse ethnic background knew those that were the problem of Nigeria.Hence they struck and gave them the Jerry Rawlings treatment.For a better Nigeria.

The story continues.Truth finally coming out

Publication, this past week, of
Chinua Achebe’s memoir of
Biafra, There Was A Country,
had the Awoist camp up in
arms. The Awoists – followers
and defenders of the legacy of Chief Awolowo- have
expended a lot of verbal
grapes on the person of Chinua
Achebe. It felt like a dangerous
mob unleashed on one of the
world’s most important cultural icons. All Achebe did
was tell the truth about Awo. In his new book, Achebe
writes about many things. His
memoir is a deeply reflective
tour de force into the events
that shaped the Achebean era
– an era of great promise that slipped into great infamy.
Chinua Achebe has given shape
and form to the truths of this
era. But truth, particularly if it is
uncomfortable and
disconcerting is also
dangerous. It unsettles too
many comfortable myths.Awo
is a great industry for mythmakers. Among the
provocative truths that Achebe
tells in his book is Obafemi
Awolowo’s war crime of
genocide by the “diabolical
policy” of starvation against Biafrans. I should say here, that it is a
bit sad that out of the very
many important issues that
Achebe raises and explores in
his new book, the one that has
gained so much attention is his comment on Awolowo
because Awoists do not want
such dirty linens aired. It
makes them nervous and
uncomfortable. It drives them
to tears and to rage. Achebe calls out other
important members of the
Gowon administration like
Anthony Enahoro and Allison
Ayida, including Gowon
himself, on the same issue of genocide against Biafrans. The
clear evidence of Achebe’s
allegation is based on Awo’s
own statement: “All is fair in
war, and starvation is one of
the weapons of war…” But we do know that all is not fair in
war. There is something called the
“Geneva Convention” and
Awo’s war policy violated it.
You do not starve civilian
populations in war. It is called
a war crime. Awo’s storm troopers and Brownshirts have
nonetheless trooped out in
great strength and have come
only short of calling for Chinua
Achebe’s head for his exposure
of Awolowo. Calls ranging from a ban of all his books to a
“Nuremberg trial” of him and
all the Biafrans have been
made in response. An obscure two-penny actor,
who also claims to write
books by the name Femi
Robinson says Achebe’s books,
from Things Fall Apart, should
be banned. Ayo Opadokun has made innuendos of ethnic
cleansing by reminding the
Igbo that much of their
property is in Lagos, and
presumably the Igbo, like
Achebe, should be circumspect about the war. Chinua Achebe It is a great wonder what Igbo
property in Lagos and Yoruba
magnanimity“permitting” the
Igbo to reside and thrive in
Lagos has to do with Achebe’s
book, except to draw, as did many of such fierce and
ignorant diatribes, Achebe as
somehow voicing an “Igbo
agenda.” I think Ayo
Opadokun exhibits not only
pitiable small-mindedness but ought to be censored and
warned. Meanwhile, the Igbo do not
seek his permission or
anybody’s permission for that
matter to live and thrive in
Lagos. Igbo who came to
Lagos, and who reside everywhere in Nigeria do so
because they can. They are
Nigerians and have a right to
live and prosper anywhere in
Nigeria and be protected under
the laws of Nigeria. They do not need the
magnanimity or permission of
Ayo Opadokun who himself is
a settler in Lagos much like the
Igbo residents. Ayo Adebanjo,
Femi Fani-Kayode, Biyi Durojaiye, and Ebenezer
Babatope all threw their hats
in the ring in challenge of
Chinua Achebe’s view of their
idol. But it seems as though against
Achebe’s articulate and
textured views, these are
Calibans learning their first
curse-words against their
master! They “cuss out” the writer, Achebe, but they are
yet to contradict him. It is not
just enough to defend
Awolowo. It is important to
defend him with facts; to
show that Achebe has lied against him. But the evidence
is too compelling. Achebe has
not lied against Awo. Even in his 1983 interview re-
published to prove and
indemnify his innocence,
Awolowo does not deny his
policy of starvation. He
accounts for how he visited the East in the heat of the
conflict, in his official capacity;
saw “Kwashiokor children”
and found out that the food
allegedly sent by the Red Cross
and Caritas was being hijacked by soldiers: “So I decided to
stop sending the food there. In the process the civilians will
suffer. But the soldiers will
suffer most.” This is illogical
and counterintuitive,and it is a
compelling evidence of
Awolowo’s deliberate policy of starvation. It is enough to
bring him before the
International Criminals Court
to face the kind of Justice
meted out to Milosevic and
Charles Taylor in whose company he belongs. But, no! his followers say. Awo
was right in using the strategy
of mass starvation to end the
war. These guys do not belong
to a civilized century and have
learnt nothing from war!The poet Odia Ofeimun for
instance has spent an entire
career on Awo, laboring to
turn him into the first modern
political saint in all of Africa.
Odia’s project of apotheosis makes him mouth, in reaction
to Achebe’s work, what I can
only describe as blasphemy. He
wants Achebe and those in
Biafra who defended
themselves against the Nigerian onslaught to face a
“Nuremberg-style trial.” In Mr. Ofeimun’s rather strange
and, dare I say, warped logic,
those Biafrans who knew
about starving children
without surrendering should
be put to trial for genocide. But not Awo who ordered the
starvation of children. He
blames the victim. It is not just
enough that Odia Ofeimun
continues to defend atrocities
meted against other humans, like all zealots, he is incapable
it seems of honesty in this
matter. He defends a legacy
that includes genocide. The Biafrans did not start the
war and therefore did not
prepare for a vicious war. They
were pushed to war when the
Federal Army began a two-
pronged attack and they defended themselves. The Biafrans made serious
efforts before and during the
war to avoid war and settle
the Nigerian question
amicably. At each point, they
were subverted by the Federal government. People who
come under siege defend
themselves, Mr. Ofeimun; they
do not surrender. The Biafrans
did not hide the fact of
massive starvation. In fact they made it a central
issue, and on each occasion
when it came out, Enahoro
and other Awoists in Gowon’s
government denied it and put
it down to “Biafran propaganda” until compelling
evidence pushed them in the
Niamey talks in 1968 to make
starvation a “legitimate
instrument of war.” Biafrans
always pushed for settlement, but without precondition. Awo wanted nothing less than
to “crush” Biafra by any means
as he declared during the
Commonwealth Conference of
Prime Ministers in London in
1969: “This war must be fought to the finish and the
federal government is poised
for the final push” Mr. Ofeimun
may have forgotten; the
honest accounts of that war
are available, and among the great chroniclers of the event
is a woman called Suzanne
Cronje whose book publishedm
who wish that other writers
be tried for telling the truth

And then the lion of Ikenne committed Sucide.perhaps his evil Machinations never fully materialzed hence this abominable option.

Britain,Us France and U.s.s.r four permanent members of the United Nations joined Nigeria in the fight yet the Biafrans could not be quickly annahilated.Three years is such a long time upon all the international conspiracy against us.

Gowon does not have to
apologise.The contraption
called one Nigeria is already
hunting his people.His home
state of plateau is the hot bed
of violence in Nigeria.See how his people are constantly been
slaughtered.Is there any other
punishment Greater than
this.The major reason we still
have one Nigeria is because of
crude oil,once oil finish.We will have several Nigeria.