₦airaland Forum

high oil prices may not have had any positive impact on the average Nigerian, but i bet you low prices will have negative impacts!

the little (reduced) monies would become inadequate to share for the corrupt politicians at the various state capitals, then they resort to not paying salaries! don't forget govt is the highest employer in the country,

what follows? more teachers' strike; more doctors and nurses strike; even less drugs.

there was a script.

whether he read directly from it is another question.

babs787:
Salam brother. I loove this questions and I believe it would enlighten us more on how to atone for forgetfulness before the expiration of solat and atonement for forgetfulness after expiration of solat.


It is called the concept of Qabliyyah and Ba'adiyyah

QABLIYYAH is an Arabic word which means BEFORE or any action or actions (errors) that deserves atonement. The atonement for actions committed before the expiration of a particular salat is called Sujud-Sahw wherein you are expected to bring forth two prostrations before saying salamah (Taslim).

BA'ADIYYAH on the other hand referred to AFTER or any action or actions (errors) that deserves atonement (Kaffarah) committed after the expiration of a particular salat. The atonement for it is called sujud-sahw wherein you are expected to bring forth two prostrations after the normal Taslim.

In order to authenticate this assertion, Prophet Muhammad (saw) was reported in the narration of Abdullah bin Bujainah (R.A) to have led them in the Zhur prayer, where he stood up after the first two rakats and did not sit for tashahud; so the people stood up with him as well. When he had completed the pratee and the people were waiting for his salutation, he said 'Allah Akbar' while he was sitting and did two sajdah before the salutation. Then he said the salutation (Bukhari, Muslim).


Another dimension concerning the state of forgetfulness in prayer, Abu Saeed Al-Khudri (R.A) narrated that rhe Messenger of Allah (SAW) said , 'when one of you becomes confused during his prsyer and he does not know how many rakats he offered, he should ignored what is doubtful and base his prayer on what he believes is certain. Then he should do extra sajdah before the salutation. If he had prayes five rakats, then these sajdah will make his prayer 6 rakats (2 of which would be nafilat) and if he had prayed the correct number of Rakats, these two sajdah will be humility for the devil (Muslim)[/b]

[b]Instances that require Qabliyyah

1. If a person reduces up to three or more sunnah aspects.

2. Whoever adds and reduces some sunnah aspects in the same prayer.

Forgetting the recitation of a surah after Suratul Fatiah but remembered before Taslim.

4. Whoever recites silently where he should recite loudly.

5. Leaving teo Takbirs or 'samia Allah Liman Hamidah twice or more

6. If someone prays two rakats and forgets to observe Tashahud till he stands up should continue his prayer till the end, ghe should correct it with Qabliyyah.

7. If someone omits the recitation of a verse or two verses in suratul fatiah unintentionally.

8. Whoever forgets to recite Suratul Fatiah completely in a non-obligatory prayer.

9. Supposing someone is to observe Qabliyyah but forgrtsd to do so and it has not taken a long time, he is going to do it (that is Ba'adiyyah instead of Qabliyyah). But if it has taken a long time, and the sunnah aspects left are not up to three, his prayer remains valid without resorting to atonement (SUJUD SAHW) but if they are up to three or more (like leaving the recitation of a surah) in such case, his prayer has spoilt. The prayer has to be repeated.

10. Al-Ma'mum (the follower of an Imam who misses a rakat or more). If he found that the Imam has to do Ba'adiyyah, and he (tyhe follower) personllay is indebted to Qabliyyah for reducing sunnah aspect after Imam, he should do Qabliyyah for both and if the opposite is the case Qabliyyah is sufficient for him.

Instances that require Ba'adiyyah

1. Unconscious repetition of suratul Fatiha

2. Infusion of other citation/words beside reading of Quranic verse.

3. Reading aloud while silence is required.

4. Unconscious blowing of dust.

5. Terminating the salat after the first two rakats apart from Ssubhi prayer (the affected person wil rise for completion of the last two rakats and observe the atonement of Ba'adiyyah thereafter.

6. Unconscious talking while praying.

7. Distorting the Quranoc pronunciation in such a way that it spoils the meaning.

8. Increasing one or two rakats. But addition of two rakats to Subhi renders it invalid.

9. If someone forgets bowing and remembers while prostrating. He should stand up and preferably recite something from the Glorious Quran. He then perform the bowing, continue his prayers and correct it by performing Ba'adiyyah.

10. Whoever leaves prostration unintentionally but remembers only while standing should perform the sujud, complete his prayer then Ba'adiyyah follows.

11. If someone forgetrs bowing (rukuuh) or sujud but do not rememberuntil the next rakat , he should replace that rakat with a new one. If the repeated rakat is among the first two (that have fatiha and other surah) he is going to do Qabliyyah, but if it is the last two rakats, then Ba'adiyyah is required.

12. Persistent multiple doubt requires Ba'adiyyah in all prayers but one should try to avoid too much doubt.

13. Doubting whether one has performed taslim or not, if the time lasped and its not long and has not turned his back to the Qiblah, he should there say Taslim and if he has turned his face from Qiblah, he should turned back to do it, Taslim and perform Ba'adiyyah.

14. Forgotten Ba'adiyyah should be made up even after a year.

15. Prolonged thinking not related to the prayer or over-doubting where not necessary (for instance when he rises from bowing or between prostrations) Ba'adiyyah is required of him based on popular opinion.

How to perform Qabliyyah and Ba'adiyyah

QABLIYYAH: whenever one realises the error of omission in his prayers that command atonement of Qabliyyah before the termination of salat with taslim, he should proceed to observe two sujud (prostrations) to be preceeded with Takbirs and sit down again for Tashahud and taslim.

BA'ADIYYAH: whenver anyone detects or realizes his errors or addition, he will have to offer the atonment of Ba'adiyyah by observing to sujuds after the termination of the salats. There and then one sits down recites the tashahud and to be followed woth Taslim.

Notes: recitation of Al-tashud after the observance of sujud or ommission or addition (Qabliyyah or Ba''adiyyah) is at individual's discretion. One may decide to recite it or not as the consensus of opinion of Islamic scholars gave credence to that.

we should also take note that whoever forgrtsd the exact number of Rakats he has performed should work on the number he is certain of. That is, if he doubts whether he has prayed three or four, he should take the least number that is three, then complete his prayers followed by Ba'adiyyah.

Whosoever after Taslim. remembers that he has left a compulsory aspect of prayer, if it is not far he should make intention together with Takbir by raising his hands while performing the Takbir of intention. For instance, idf it is rukuuh or rising from sujud etc. If it is rukuuuh, he should go back for it after standing, then go for rukuuh that has been left, then continue the prayer folloowed by Ba'adiyyah. If it is rising up from Rukuuh, he should go for the rukuuh, then rise from the rukuuh, likewise if sujud is left, he should start with sujud then rise, after terminating the prayers, he should then do Ba'adiyyah.

good job! detailed response.
jazaka-LLahu khyra.

what about it?

i'd rather they show 'us' respect by guiding our basic rights and providing basic infrastructural needs that will shore up our standard of living than stand up for a national 'song'.

Ujujoan:
Haba, why not?? But the transplant has not been carried out abi?? Maybe he came back to die

some nigerians are religious but still corrupt - in government

some nigerians are religious (even claim Godliness) but are still haters

you don't have to agree with Yar'adua's policies

but I can't see why anybody who is not a hater should hate the man as a person

ramadan kareem!

Abraham Lincoln had exactly eight years of legislative experience in the Illinois state senate at Springfield and four years of service at the Senate in Washington.    sounds like Barack?

He took oath of office on the eve of a war.

He is still one of the most terrific Presidents Americans still talk about to date.

OK. Experience is crucial and it's good McCain called attention to it.

But then he turned round and put a near rookie, layman a heartbeat away from the Preidency of the USA.

So why has he been shouting about readiness and experience everywhere?

Self-centred political expediency!

Or is Mr. McCain just impulsive? I mean he has met this woman only once ever!

If this woman isn't "dangerously unprepared", as his ads say, I don't know who is!

I have been shocked with the naivety of many individuals here, just like many Americans are still shell-shocked!


Obama should have picked Hillary: obvious, cheap, simplistic, maybe even risky, but definitely road-side beer palour analysis.

McCain selects Palin: Even republicans are shocked (but they call it pleasantly surprised).

McCain has been shouting from the rooftops that Obama isn't ready to be C-in-C and inexperienced.

Lets suppose that's true.

Now how does your choice of person you're trusting, putting one heartbeat away from being C-in-C tally with your age-old rooftop cries? McCain might have shot himself in the foot in this regard! At best this is hypocritical!

Is this Palin's selection in anyway in the interest of the country or solely in the interest of John McCain?

Is Obama's selection of Biden in the interest of both country and self or solely in the interest of Obama?

McCain and his advisers passed over Tom Ridge, Mitt Romney, even Joe Liebermann with all their credentials and settle for an individual with no credential beside being 2-year governor of a state with fewer than 700,000 inhabitants!

I heard a republican argued that Palin has foreign relations experience because her state is closest to Russia!

It could be argued that Joey plugs Obama's loophole and, most importantly, Joey is qualified to be President.

Pray tell! What does Sarah add to the ticket? And more importantly, is Sarah ready to be president. McCain obviously thinks she is.


It would be difficult for McCain and his supporters to argue that this woman's only qualification isn't the fact that she's a woman. To win some ofHillary's die-hards over, any woman will do! - Pandering! Also an insult!

This says a lot about McCain's judgement. His first presidential judgement, maybe.

If America is what many people believe it is, McCain lost the election yesterday.

But alas! America isn't what many people think it is!

Jakumo:
Yar Adua has in fact been clinically dead for quite a while even before he assumed office. His life-like appearance is acheived with the skillful application of theatrical makeup by a team of special-effects technicians and reconstructive morticians.

If Yar Adua were in fact alive, he would have been observed or recorded making at least one speech or public appearance, which has not been the case. The only evidence of Yar Adua's living existence consists of various still photographs for which his body appears propped up with hidden supports so that he can be made to mouth the words of a nearby ventriloquist in order to fool press photographers.

happy gibberish!

Joey brings a lot to the equation, regardless of what anybody says.

He gave an effective speech on the night. His speech should do some good with the undecided voters. He seems able to connect with the ordinary folk.

And John Kerry's was great too!

Kobojunkie:
Please learn to read.  Your "PRESIDO" is sick and who wishes the same condition on others? Are you sane? Do you realize that there are so many thousands in the same Nigeria who suffer from the same disease this man is having to deal with? Does it ever occur to you that irrespective of the many healthy you think you see out there in Nigeria, there are many of them walking around with conditions such as the one your "PRESIDO" has? These can not afford to travel out of the country to seek help and they wait for your "PRESIDO" to have a heart and actually provide them access they need down there in Nigeria.

By the way, is it that the president does not reveal information on his whereabout to the Nigerian press? Does he not feel we ought not to be informed of where he is at most all times? I don't know about this one. Isn't the press supposed to get information directly from the presidents inner circle on his whereabouts at all times?
By the way,

I have been around here long enough to know you are about the biggest apostle of keeping the focus on the issue and not descending low to personal attacks.

posting 'Are you sane?' in my opinion is everything against what you preach.

Walk the talk!

no he shouldn't have

folahann:
what's my concern, America is far from Nigeria And Ghana.

what if i also post here that the presidential candidate of the ruling party in Ghana has chosen his running mate

exactly what you should do!

maybe you're not aware that some of us visit here for such bits of information.

in this age of information, every bit of it counts.

While we are at it -
I would not mind to be told who Nana(?) Addo is choosing to run with him. The woman?

Barack Obama has reportedly picked Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate, CNN reports.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/23/biden.democrat.vp.candidate/index.html

Obama picks Joe Biden as his running mate

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/23/biden.democrat.vp.candidate/index.html

posted by cola:

this is my fear for this country!

young 'educated' nigerians not being able to show clear understanding of the difference betwen 'invitation for questioning' and 'arrest'.

portends danger for the future

, and these same youths make noise about current 'leaders'

as bad as they are (current crop of leaders), I hope they wouldn't turn out to be better than many of these ignorant and sensation-seeking 'future leaders'.

By no means is this a generalization,

my respect to those Nairalanders that are very discerning.

this opinion here by no means is meant to be in support of Prof. Ndi's misplaced energy.
all I'm sayng is that EFCC's involvement be understood in the right perspective.

as for the media,

the police inviting someone for questioning should not be misrepresented as arrest by any responsible editor

such careless and selfish agenda has caused plenty of problem for this country in the past. Probably still does.

Some folks here are tearing one another apart in another thread on this board finding elusive answers to why (some) southerners hate (all) northerners: I say a section of the media is a big part of the reasons.

a section of them are a part of the problems in this country.

PM News's use of 'arrest' is obviously meant to sensationalize the event for probably no noble reason.

recent history of leaders of the southern states (esp. niger delta) is not any encouragement.

clamour for bigger control of resources doesn't seem people-centred

they will get more and get poorer!

that's the professor's warning.

How the military pauperised the North
By Pat Utomi


,
What had changed since 1966. Military rule, Oil and Nigeria's federal arrangement were the intervening variables. How did it get to hurt the North? My greater fear was that the same phenomenon was getting ready to destroy the Niger Delta if new leaders did not emerge. Two events which took place simultaneously in Port Harcourt recently bring them into focus. These were the Job Creation and Empowerment Summit of the Rivers State Government of which I was Chairman, and the Niger Delta Legislative Retreat sponsored by Vanguard Newspapers so the South-South could speak with one voice.


You do no have to be a genius to tell that what happened was that soldiers who had political power and were predominantly more Northern saw Oil revenues and wanted to get more to their part of the country thought he instrumentality of fiscal transfers. Net result, the North got more and became poorer. Why? Simple. The incentives were scramble for power and appropriate as much of the unearned receipts as possible. How do politicians who have appropriated money not earned spend it? Like people who have won the lottery. They often return to poverty.

In the meanwhile more and more revenues are going to recurrent expenditure to meet the needs of these politicians and the bureaucracies they create than build infrastructure that open opportunities for growth.

Go to the North East and see cities that boomed more with the arrival of good roads that have since died because the infrastructure has deteriorated and collapsed. Do we remember the rise and fall of Numan (part of the Numan - Biu highway). So when I see people from the Niger Delta agitate for more, not to maintain a principle but to get more, I fear the same 'gold rush' effect that pauperized the North.

This is why I celebrated Rotimi Amaechi's job creation and empowerment initiative as a way of building a generation that seeks to create wealth as against those waiting for their share who will more quickly turn to kidnapping for ransom. The voracity thesis of the scramble for unearned income, the reason for many of Africa's civil wars is still alive in our midst.

None of these phenomena should surprise people who make a point of learning from the mistakes of others.


I have been showing Niger Delta leaders, and the governors particularly, the need to work assiduously to prevent themselves from repeating what Gnerals from the North did, pauperize their people in thinking they were doing them a favour. When I heard a former Northern governor accuse Niger Delta leaders of their corruption and incompetence being responsible for the state of the region, I laughed. Insensitive and inappropriate as the remark was, it happened to be true, but the speaker was himself a classic example of that phenomenon. We must not democratize poverty in Nigeria because a political class seems unwilling to make democracy work. Civil Society and direct popular action must safe Nigeria the worsening 'resource curse' effects of our experience.

N.B: I have removed some parts of the article to make t more readable. See link for full article.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/editorial_opinion/article04//indexn2_html?pdate=210808&ptitle=How%20the%20military%20pauperised%20the%20North


Learn! Learn! Learn!

this is my fear for this country!

young 'educated' nigerians not being able to show clear understanding of the difference betwen 'invitation for questioning' and 'arrest'.

portends danger for the future

, and these same youths make noise about current 'leaders'

as bad as they are (current crop of leaders), I hope they wouldn't turn out to be better than many of these ignorant and sensation-seeking 'future leaders'.

By no means is this a generalization,

my respect to those Nairalanders that are very discerning.

Good job lawyer,

I am in urgent need of accomomdation: 2-bedroom or mini-flat in Anthony, Maryland or Obanikoro

Total package: Max. N550,000.

IMO Nigeria has enough negative energy as it is. We need some positive energy.

America is good, UK is good, is it not people that made sacrifice to make it so? Did they become good by running away to some foreign country and bad-mouthing every single event or news about their countries from their homes in exile?

People made sacrifice in almost all the countries that Nigerians go to before those countries became what they are today, including America, UK France etc.
The people in those countries didn't run away to other lands.
They acknowledge things were not right in their countries but
they did not refuse to see anything good coming out of their country.

It's ok to travel out of the country for whatever reason but
refusing to see anything good whatsoever in the country or anything good coming out of it is sad

anytime anything seemingly good is developing in the country, some people say it's a fluke
anytime the people they left at home see something to cheer about, they shoot down the hope
ok make a wish for Nigeria, it becomes a problem
it DIDN'T say make a wish for the govt, NO!
it says make a wish for (the people of) Nigeria who may not be as fortunate as you to abandon the country
all some people can do is point out why they can't make obviously good wishes. Shocking!

The way to start effecting a change is for Nigerians to start believing in Nigeria regardless of what the govts do!

Ghanaians amaze me. I have listened to commentaries of matches where Ghana was woeful but the commentators would keep saying wonderful things about their team, even though they are losing!

I have a feeling that people that would forever see gloom in Nigeria, if they were asked to name one thing that they have ever done for Nigeria, it's a null set! It'ok to talk but what have you done or what are you doing?

No doubt, things have been terrible, it is still bad, but believe we must, work we must!

some people have made wishes like:
may Nigeria split
may bad leaders die
may nigeria unite and so on
IMO these wishes may not be the end in themselves, but means to an end

my wish: I wish the people of Nigeria will have abundant prosperity and justice (whether split or united) muslim or christian, young and old.

bilymuse:
niger police no sabi grammer o , na egunje

[quote author=Nigeria1@ link=topic=160703.msg2665177#msg2665177 date=1218897252]if i remember well. As long as you have your wazobia, you are ok with police stop. No wazobia, you are in trouble. Have they change or still the same. ??[/quote]

cescky:
yes nice write up!!!

it will be practised when we reach civilization aka vision 2020

these are the reasons Nigeria is what it is right now
some people make all noise about corruption and how bad Nigeria is
but they are not prepared to do the right thing themselves
they surrender to corruption
even when they are told this is a good way to deal with a situation, they refuse to believe it's possible
the only way they can see is 'egunje', 'wazobia', 'not possible now' and so on
every time people like you give egunje or wazobia to a police at a checkpoint(of course it means you're appeasing them to cover up something), you undermine the future of your unborn children.

doyin13:
I am currently watching it on AIT and na so so 419 full there.

One guy came there with two coconuts and coconut oil, asking for three
sums which he added up to 35 million naira, but when the dragons added it up,
it came to 34 million.

Just jokes man. . .

Even the UBA advert managed to misspell Tenure as Tenor.
Na wa for Naija

@ doyin13
don't know what UBA stuff you're talking about but I think tenor is the right word in terms of loans repayment or returns and sort.
I stand corrected.

@show
I need to be reassured this isn't stage-managed.
Well, maybe b'cos I didn't get to hear much 'bout it before yesterday.

Interview

Fifteen months into the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar Adua, not a few Nigerians are feeling apprehensive about the administration taking the nation to the Promised Land. But his spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, in this chat with Ike Abonyi in Abuja thinks otherwise. He also spoke on a number of other issues, including teachers’ strike and the Niger Delta question

The Niger Delta issue appears to be overwhelming the Yar’Adua administration. Why did the government drop the summit for a dialogue?
The Niger Delta issue is not in anyway overwhelming the Yar’Adua administration and nobody has dropped the Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit. In fact, I fail to understand the slant given the recent comment of the Vice President, which was interpreted to mean the summit had been dropped. Fortunately, I was around when the VP made the statement in question and I heard what he said. The explanation of the VP was that if people feel so fixated about the word summit, which they erroneously connote to mean another jamboree, then they can call the stakeholders engagement a dialogue or anything. The bottom-line is to find solution to the problem; that was what he said, not that the idea of a constructive engagement that is meant to address the Niger Delta question has been shelved. It has not. The peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta question is a process and not an event so nobody is under any illusion that you would just hold one conference and the problems would disappear. While the President is determined to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the problem, there is need to acknowledge its complexities and very soon he will unfold his Niger Delta agenda in which the issue of a stakeholders summit is just one part of the entire inventory. That is essentially what the VP was saying.
Will government adopt military option?
I wonder where some people get the idea that the government is adopting a military option to tackle the problem…
Well, the impression has been created by government, otherwise what then is the extent of foreign support the president has been seeking in tackling the issue especially from the UK , US and France?
What the president has always called for by way of assistance is in the formation of the Gulf of Guinea Guard Force for the sub-region. He is the principal promoter of that idea which is meant to make the entire Gulf of Guinea safe for maritime activities and the assistance he is seeking is by way of training and logistics. By his idea, troops will be contributed by the countries within the sub-region since we have the men, what we need is just support. You don’t need soldiers from Britain to fight some people in the Creeks, the whole campaign is ridiculous. And when you read about some alleged secret deals you begin to wonder how anybody could believe such mumbo jumbo in today’s world. To make matters worse some otherwise respected newspapers have been feeding an unwary public such stories that have no basis in fact. I recall that at the recent G8 meeting, the president asked for and got pledges of support for help in combating the rampant criminality of bunkering in the Niger Delta. While he identifies with the genuine claims by peaceful groups clamouring for righting historical wrongs, the point must be made that he will not stand by and allow violent criminal gangs operating with the connivance of some international criminal cartels to undermine our national security and sovereign responsibilities. But he has never sought direct military assistance from UK or from any government to fight any group. That is just part of the propaganda. How would the President bring the British military in, just how? The President has always believed in a peaceful resolution of the crisis, which we must admit has two fundamental phases. There is the challenge of development, which he will tackle. And there is also the criminal element, which he will confront. But because the problem has festered for long, the two now feed on one another but the president recognises that there is no problem that cannot be resolved through dialogue and instilling rule of law.
If that is the case, what is the level of talks between the government and the militants and what really are their demands?
The office of the Vice President has been coordinating most of the talks with the Niger Delta stakeholders and that includes some of the militant leaders and we are all aware of the contending issues of development. But we also know there can be no meaningful development without peace. For instance, as I stated recently, no contractor wants to do any business in the Niger Delta because of the high risks involved so even if you want to military projects aimed at development, that can only happen if you bring a measure of stability to bear which means peace must precede any meaningful efforts in that direction. That is the essence of the summit really, to get the stakeholders to buy –in into the president’s plan of action for the region. The militants, that are those who are genuinely campaigning for the development of the region, are recognized by the government and they are being engaged and will continue to be engaged but those who hide under the crisis to kidnap for ransom and steal crude oil will also be dealt with in accordance to the law.
More than one year after President Yar’Adua promised to declare emergency in the power sector, all we hear everyday are stories while the power situation deteriorates. Will he ever declare the emergency?
The emergency in the power sector will be declared but it is also not for another entertainment, it is a serious matter meant to tackle in a realistic manner the power challenge in our country and I am talking of both short and long terms. I am aware of what critics are saying but the hard part of leading an orchestra is that you must have the capacity to back the crowd and that is what the President is doing. There are those who argue that he could have pumped more money into the power projects when he came in last year without stepping back to see why the genuine efforts of the last administration have not yielded the expected results despite all the efforts. With the way things were and with no clear direction, any spending would have ended up a waste. I feel sad about the way President Obasanjo is being castigated for the power projects because he took a bold decision and made considerable efforts but it would have been a shame if President Yar'Adua could not learn some lessons form that experience that would allow him avoids possible pitfalls. It may have taken him a year but at least now, the president has a clear direction on power in the short term, medium term and long term and his achievements in the direction will be measurable once the emergency is declared.
But when will the emergency be declared? I recall that the president said he would do this within three months of assuming office. Three months became six months, then one year and now we don’t know for sure if it will ever happen.
I don’t know if the President promised to declare the emergency within three months but even if he did, the point remains that at the point when he said that, assuming he did, he was not yet the President. On assuming office, he must have seen things differently and a fuller picture could have compelled him to review his strategy. You see, as they say, the view of the road changes the moment you move from the passenger’s side to the driver’s seat. When he assumed office, he had the opportunity to see more than he did as an aspirant. Now, what was the President to do at that point? He had two options. Either to coast along and declare the emergency unprepared just to please the mob or tarry awhile to get it right. He chose the second option. One thing you forget is that this same power issue was critical in 1999 when President Obasanjo took over and he made promises. Efforts, and I am talking of genuine efforts have been made and in spite of what you read, the problem in the sector was not all about corruption, yet nine years after we are still more or less where we were in 1999. That should tell you something about the sector and the compelling need to have a proper plan. But now, there is a clear direction and the Power emergency bill is ready to go to the National Assembly for appropriation. The states will also appropriate the money legally. But that is just one aspect because there are other components designed to make Nigerian self-sufficient in power supply in the long run.
Okay, let’s talk about education which is also one of the campaign points of the president. For weeks now, Nigerian children in public schools have been at home due to the nationwide strike action. Considering that the President is a former teacher, one expects a better approach to tackle the impasse. Why is there a lacklustre attitude from the government?
I feel very sad about this but so does the President and you are not correct to say the attitude of government on the issue is lacklustre, no, it is not. The problem is that the whole strike was designed to create a wrong impression that the Federal Government is the principal actor when the NUT officials are quite aware it is not within the purview of the president since he doesn’t pay primary school teachers. You see the problem is that perhaps because of decades of military rule, we have more or less created an all-powerful president who should be involved in everything and our democracy will never grow if we allow such notion to continue. This is a matter that concerns the states and I am aware that some states even pay much more than the TSS that the NUT is demanding. The problem is that we must decide whether we want a unitary system or we want to be what the constitution says we are which is a federal system. Many people have been calling on the president to intervene and when you ask them how, they would not give any plausible answer. How can the president dictate to the governors what to pay teachers? The Ministry of Education has had extensive sessions on the issue and dialogue is still going on with regards to the issue, which is quite unfortunate. I am an advocate of public schools, I attended public schools and I believe teachers should be well remunerated but you can’t dictate what you don’t pay. That is the dilemma of the president on the issue. But there are other issues some of which were raised in the back page of your paper (THISDAY) today in a piece by my friend and former colleague, Bolaji Abdullahi, who is now the Kwara State Commissioner for Education. I think people need to read Bolaji’s piece because he comes with the perspectives of someone who knows and can situate both sides of the arguments. But I agree that we have to find solution to the problem of our education at all levels and working with other stakeholders, the president will do that. But he will not be blackmailed on this TSS issue because that exactly is what is going on.
But there is this allegation in some quarters that Obasanjo's friends and associates are now prey to attack by the EFCC while some former governors believed to have looted their states are going about free. Yet the likes of Prof. Borishade, Femi Fani-Kayode and Bode George are being haunted.
One thing you must give credit to President Yar’Adua for is that he doesn’t interfere in the work of other arms of government. He respects the principle of separation of powers. He also doesn’t meddle in what doesn’t concern him, like what the EFCC is doing. Prof Babalola Borishade and Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode as far as I am concerned are innocent people to whom allegations were made and I think the case is in court so I will not speak about that. As for Chief Bode George, I am surprised to hear he is being haunted, by whom? But since we are all Nigerians, I perfectly understand where you are coming from and this is where I believe the media should help. It is not always good to criminalise people who have not been convicted, whether they are former governors or political opponents. Every citizen should have the opportunity to defend himself in a competent court of law. But the point is that we most often want to apply the law of the jungle for people we don’t like. That goes against the spirit of the rule of law which presupposes all accused innocent until proven guilty. But I need to stress that contrary to what some people say, the rule of law is not meant to protect any corrupt public official, whether former or still serving. The law is ever sure and while the process of conviction may be slow, under President Yar’Adua’s watch, people who steal public funds will account for their deeds. However long it takes, as the Bible says, the sinner will not go unpunished.
There is a general feeling that the President is ill prepared to govern Nigeria , that he has no plan or vision for the country and many say this because of the seeming inaction and I can give you an example. Last year, the Minister of Transportation under a media blitz visited the Benin-Ore express road yet as I am talking today, that road remains as impassable as it was last year…
Let me assure you that the president is aware he has a mandate of four years and he will deliver on his promises but he has realised that to succeed, quick-wins and low hanging fruits would just not do so he set out very clearly to identify problems and plan meticulously before applying solution that will work. Yes, there are major economic roads that are today eyesore, like the Lagos Ibadan Express road, the Benin Ore express road, the Kaduna-Abuja road, the Onitsha-Owerri road to mention just a few. These are roads that have been in deplorable conditions for more than a decade now. What you have had over the years are periodic repairs and resurfacing of these roads after which they go bad again. Hundreds of billions of Naira have been spent on them yet the stories remain the same year in year out. As they say, you don’t continue to do the same thing again and again yet expect different results. The president has taken a different approach and I would say that before year 2011, he intends to deliver most of these roads, some with no fewer than eight lanes and when that happens what people would be talking about is the quality of the roads and not the amount spent on bad roads. All the plans are in place and some of these roads will be concessioned with work started before the end of the year. The ones that are not economically viable will be operated under a different arrangement. I once said it that planning takes time but if the President wants to adopt the approach of populism which some people suggest then he could because he has everything on his side to do that. Considering the amount of money we have in our foreign reserve, all a populist president would do is perhaps call a meeting of the governors and agree to spend huge sums on roads and some of other projects. He would then take the money and then award the contracts upon contracts. Of course that would make some people happy but at what cost? That again would be an easy choice that requires no rigour or fresh thinking and while it may earn for the president a temporary applause, such recourse to cheap populism will hurt the nation ultimately. The President has elected not to travel that road because as a leader, he knows it is his responsibility to chart the course. But ultimately, his approach will pay off because I am very certain that Nigerians will at the end of the day applaud this president who is bringing a scientific approach to governance. Because at the end of the day his achievements will be clear and measurable.
Finally, there seems to be confusion concerning the birthday of the President…
Well, if there is any confusion, it was created by the media to make money and the least I expect was that those who benefited from the so-called confusion would just keep quiet. We were attending the G-8 summit in Japan when some editors contacted me about the President’s birthday, asking whether the birthday was July 9 and I replied that the real date is August 16. I recall that when the number of calls and text messages on the same issue kept increasing, I also began to have my doubts even when I thought I was very sure so had to ask one particular media chief to wait so I could ascertain the correct date from the President’s International Passport again and I did. I asked for the passport from one of our protocol persons and he gave it to me and I reconfirmed that it is indeed August 16 and sent a text to the person in question to reconfirm to him because he was the person who actually informed me people were placing birthday adverts in newspapers to congratulate the president. I knew what was going on since I come from the newsroom. I am sure letters were written from the advert departments of the newspaper houses to some identified people to place adverts for the president and they obliged without checking whether the date they were given was correct. But even though most papers knew they were wrong they still allowed the adverts to run in which case they did not allow the fact to stand in the way of making money and I don’t want to blame anyone for that. But it is unfortunate that some newspapers whose editors knew the fact, including one to whom my office actually sent a copy of the President’s CV, would go ahead to run ridiculous stories about a so-called confusion. Even while he never flaunts it, considering his background, we all know there couldn’t have been any question about the President’s date of birth. The reason why I didn’t make a public statement on the issue when we came back from Japan was that I thought I should not embarrass the people who had been misled to place the adverts to congratulate the president. Even though I know he cares less about such things, I still considered it unfair to make the people who innocently felicitated with the President to look stupid, that was why I quietly told editors that the birthday is August 16 and not July 9. But now you read stories of how the president is not listed in Newswatch Who is Who as if we don’t know how people are listed in such publications. It’s a simple thing, they send you questionnaire which you have to return with a token fee and if you don’t return your form, you are not listed. So what is the big deal if the president, a former governor was not listed? Well, I just hope nobody will place any other congratulatory advert on August 16, after all the President has had the fortune of celebrating his birthday in advance, at least on the pages of newspapers.

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