Government talks about corruption, the people talk about corruption & the constitution forbids corruption. It is the center of discussion during elections & politicians run on the platform of eliminating it. Yet, corruption persists, it steers us in the face. At school with teachers and administrators who play the game of favoritism, at places of worship with dishonest spiritual leaders who amass wealth, mis-interpret the holy books and incite the populace with detrimental ideologies to the poverty and backwardness of their followers. At the market place, with dishonest traders who sell fake products, set unreasonable profit margins on goods upon which our very existence thrives. At political rallies with politicians, who keep lying with their mouths wide open and their hearts closed. In our communities with leaders who are tribalistic, egocentric and sentimental to our collective downfall.
This corruption confronts us when we meet with policemen on the highway. It is evident on our streets. It's stench is visible in our policies the more we condemn it the bigger it grows. Where does this thing reside? Who is powering it? Are we really serious about eliminating it? If we all agree that it's a bad thing, how come it's still with us? When we are angry, those who profit from this corruption machine tell us are not patients. Our leaders say we don't see the clear picture, that their thinking and way of doing things is good for us, that their policies will benefit us in the long run..... Long run?? There can't be any long run when the short run is not clearly marked. When provisions are not made for the short run, when the long run arrives we will by then be all gone. Then who will those policies benefit?
Let the people arise and speak. Speak, for it is your fundamental human right to express your opinion. Do not be silent, because if you are, only you will go to bed without food in your stomach, shelter over your head and clothing to cover your unclothedness. All men are created equal but not all men die equal. Before you die, ensure you have lived having said what's on your mind.
God Bless the Federal republic of Nigeria.
nydc2012@gmail.com

Happy reading
The rising cost of maintaining four private jets has forced flamboyant Nigerian pastor, Bishop David Oyedepo, to set up a commercial airline that uses four airplanes that had hitherto served as part of his private fleet.
Last year, as staff costs, fuel prices and landing fees escalated, Bishop Oyedepo had contemplated selling two of the jets. But when no buyers were forthcoming, he turned to Plan B: to set up Dominion Air and put the jets to commercial use. A senior church source told Saharareporters that each of the jets cost Bishop Oyedepo some $1,000 per hour in parking fees and maintenance. Oyedepo, whose specialty is “prosperity ministry,” has amassed a huge personal fortune with vast holdings in real estate as well as investments in education. Last year, he achieved international notoriety when SaharaReporters highlighted a Youtube video in which he slapped a hapless young woman who said she was not a witch but “a winch for Jesus. Bishop Oyedepo, who is called “Papa” by his church members, is also planning to build a multimillion dollar college in upstate New York, according to a source familiar with the pastor’s desire to expand his business empire across the world.
Already Bishop Oyedepo owns one of the most expensive universities in Nigeria – Covenant University – where students are banned from using mobile phones or wearing “sinful” dresses to class.
Oyedepo has become stupendously rich by collecting tithes and hand-outs from wealthy congregants, many of them public officials whose source of wealth is questionable. Forbes magazine recently estimated that the bishop is worth $150 million. Ironically, most members of Bishop Oyedepo's congregation, especially indigent worshipers who are ferried from the slums of Lagos and other cities in American school buses converted to Holy ghost transportation, cannot imagine much less afford the luxurious lifestyles reserved for the bishop and his household.
Most Nigerians, including members of Bishop Oyedepo's congregation, live on less than a dollar a day.
A source involved in the setting up of Dominion Air disclosed that the airline will offer executive jet services that would charge users up to $10,000 per hour. The source said that Oyedepo has plans to purchase additional aircraft to expand his profile in the aviation business.

I watched this on (25/03/2012) NTA Newsline.

A young lady, Ime Anwana, a Batch A corps member, was posted to serve in the NNPC depot in Niger State. She visited a friend serving at a local girls secondary secondary in the nearby village of Kaffin Koro and was told the school has no chemistry teacher. Ime volunteered to use her free time on Friday evenings to teach chemistry to the students - free of charge. While teaching in the school she saw the sorry state of the student accommodation and took it upon upon herself to do something about it.She raised the sum of 3.8 million naira and supervised the building of a student hostel equipped with 40 double bunk beds complete with mattresses.
One fateful day, while riding on a motorbike taxi (Okada) on the way to the project site she had an accident that killed the Okada rider and seriously injured her. She spent three weeks in a coma and was bed-ridden for three months.
On the NTA Newsline programme it was shown how the village of Kaffin Koro rolled out the drums to honour Miss Anwana for her work for them. The District Head of the village, Alhaji Abubakar Mamman gave her the chieftaincy title of Jekadiyan Kaffin Koro (Ambassador of Kaffin Koro) and also a piece of land in the village.

1. Niger State, Ime's host state, is the home state of two former Presidents of the Federal Republic - Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar. Ironically (and sadly), one of them recently hosted a high-profile meeting in the same state to discuss the problem in the North. All they need is few minutes trip to Kaffin Koro and they will see the problem staring them in the eyes.

2. In the NTA Newsline report there was neither representation nor acknowledgement of Miss Anwana's work from - or - by her host, Niger State Government.

3. Paiko Local Government, under whose jurisdiction Kaffin Koro falls, has a Local Government Chairman,

NIGERIA: RUTHLESS LEADERS, TOOTHLESS FOLLOWERS

For two weeks now, Nigerians have been fed with a cocktail of stories from the National Assembly concerning instances of official corruption, financial scandals of monumental proportion involving even some of those finely educated Nigerians that are holding high profile political appointments in the three arms of government namely the Executive, legislative and judiciary which goes to show that Nigeria's disturbing cases of entrenched official corruption are perpetrated and perpetuated by core members of the political elite in Nigeria.
What makes the Nigerian situation very shocking and peculiar is that a greayter majority of these corrupt and thieving members of the core political elite were schooled in some of the best schools in the developed western World and are persons that have spent considerable amount of time in the developed and disciplined civilized parts of the World who ordinarily are expected to become role models and change agents in the collective drive to reposition Nigeria to take her rightful place in the comity of developed Nations. To be very specific, Nigerians in mid March 2012 were treated to a huge dose of stories of scandals allegedly involving financial indiscretion in the running of the Security and Exchange Commission headed by Miss. Orummah Otteh who only recently was seconded to the Nigeria's Security Exchange Commission from a reputable international financial institution. Appearing before an equally grossly corrupt and compromised Committee of the Federal House of Representatives on Capital Market, Miss. Otteh was accused of sundry allegations of financial malfeasance including but not limited to the allegation that she spent a princely sum of N85,000 on a particular day at the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja and while some Governors rejected 18k minimum wage.
(OSISE WA LORUN, ENIMAJE WANI IBOJI)And that so far she has burnt several millions of tax payers money on bills accumulated in the same hotel since assumption of office. On her own part, Miss. Otteh accused the House Committee and its Chairman mr. Herman Hembe of the Peoples Democratic Party of demanding for bribe of over N40 million from the Security and Exchange Commission shortly before the commencement of the so-called public hearing on the capital market. Miss Otteh looked Mr. Hembe to his face and rebuked him for allegedly claiming a First Class Ticket to travel for a foreign seminar but failed t honour it or return the first class ticket and allowances he was advanced purportedly for that trip. While rational human beings in Nigerians are battling to come to terms with the absurdity playing itself out in the Federal House of Representatives then comes another damaging report that the hierarchy of the Federal House of Representatives allegedly increased the wage bills of each member of the lower Chamber from N15 million to nearly N30 million allegedly on the weight of monumental pressure mounted o him by the members angered by the fact that each Senator earns nearly fifty million quarterly whereas the House of Representative members are paid N15 million each up until the recent astronomic increment. In the Senate of the Federal Republic about the same mid-March, huge discovery were made during the public hearing on the administration of Police Pension scheme relating to the disappearance of several billions of tax payers' money. On March 19th 2012, the local media were awash with a story that a certain serving Permanent Secretary in the Federal civil service was found with N2 billion cash in his bedroom which he stole from the coffers of the Nigeria Police Force's pension office. The said Permanent Secretary was reportedly arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission headed by serving Deputy Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Lamorde but later left to enjoy his freedom on what is nebulously called 'administrative bail' of the anti-graft commission. The question is why will a man said to have stolen so much from the public treasure and a princely sum of N2 billion found on him be allowed to go Scot- free on bail even when the same anti-graft body allegedly detained a well known lawyer Mr. Amobi Nzelu over alleged N6 million fraud which the Courts quashed for lack of evidence. Several petty criminals like the 'yahoo boys' have been detained for so long in excruciating jail conditions in the different notorious EFCC detention facilities without trial but here is a Permanent Secretary who we were told by the anti-graft commission was found with over N2 billion cash of stolen fund yet he has been released on bail. This same EFCC is known to have detained several petty criminals and the small 'yahoo boys' for several months without fair trial and yet it is now granting arbitrary administrative bails to big suspects on the so called self cognizance. Some of us are not shocked after all the new Chairman of EFCC went through grueling confirmation procedure in which we read some reports that prominent religious and traditional leaders lobbied President Jonathan for his [Lamorde's] confirmation as substantive chairman. Could it be that the same powerful traditional and religious leaders have intervened on behalf of the indicted serving Permanent Secretary and since the Chairman of the anti-graft commission owe them some level of pay back, he may have listened? I am just speaking aloud. Nigerian leaders are indeed ruthless and unfortunately the so-called followers are toothless because in other climes the discovery of N2 billion cash from one man's bedroom is enough motivation for widespread social discontent and civil unrest by the members of the public but in Nigeria no one pays attention talk less of demonstrating and venting their righteous indignation at this show of shame in the highest places. Nigeria indeed need good leaders and active followers we must transit from our current bad situation to a respectable position and if we must stop being laughing stocks in the comity of nations, the institutions of government set up to fight corruption must not politicize the fight against corruption as is the case whereby the members of the ruling party make up the greater percentage of the governing councils of these two anti-graft commissions.
If we may postulate on the big question confronting Nigeria today I will say like most intellectuals that what makes a good leader depends on the degree to which the individual’s qualities match the demands of the contexts. Whether a person is born a leader or develops skills and abilities to become a leader, there are some clear qualities that are found in good leaders, and they are as follows by Barbara White: Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for the following character traits.
A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., said, Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion. Experts say that a good leader has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honesty and integrity. A good leader walks the talk and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads. Scholars with considerable quality materials on leadership say rightly that a good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their role as leader. Miss. Nwamaka Asuzu, a political science graduate of Imo State University citing other works of established scholars wrote that people will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. Miss. Asuzu said that from her findings, leaders need to be able to be sources of inspiration, and become motivators towards the required action or cause.
For her just like most other younger observers, Nigeria is gravely bereft of these kind of political leadership since the nation gained political independence which accounts for the parlous economic situation and the ongoing anarchy and impunity in most parts of Nigeria. Experts say that although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the goal. This kind of leaders will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty. The opposite is the case in Nigeria whereby the so-called leaders corner the greater percentage of the annual budget to service their salaries and obscene allowances at the detriment of good capital projects that would change the life of Nigerians who are increasingly becoming impoverished and unsecured. Unfortunately, Nigerians or those we may identify as the ordinary people are so toothless and clueless that they are not ready to reclaim Nigeria from the bad guys who have cornered all the resources to service themselves and their families including hundreds of local and international mistresses. A good leader is said by experts to be confident. In order to lead and set direction a leader needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. Such a person, according to scholars inspires confidence in others and draws out the trust and best efforts of the team to complete the task well. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from team members. But in Nigeria we have political leaders who can not provide the commonest essential of good governance like security of lives and property of Nigerians and foreigners living in Nigeria and yet they still cling to leadership position using the force of arm even when they have lost legitimacy from the people who are daily bombarded by armed splinter groups fighting in the name of religious ideology in the North. A leader also needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. This attribute is grossly lacking in Nigeria under President Jonathan and shockingly the civil populace are so weak and toothless that they keep quiet even when poverty has ravaged about eighty percent of the populace while a tiny fraction of the political elite have cornered all the resources to their foreign bank accounts and are traveling all around the World to hide these looted public funds. Ordinarily, it is generally believed in learned circle and by several writers that ordinary people ought to look at the leader during times of uncertainty and unfamiliarity and find reassurance and security when the leader portrays confidence and a positive demeanor. In Nigeria, from the President to the Governors, they have all become chief mourners of the hundreds of innocent persons murdered by armed Islamic fundamentalist group even while they are incapable of bringing these mass murderers to justice. A good leader as well as keeping the main goal in focus is able to think analytically, so says leading authorities in leadership. Not only does a good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection. Not only is the goal in view but a good leader can break it down into manageable steps and make progress towards it.
A good leader is committed to excellence. Second best does not lead to success. The good leader not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas. We in Nigeria can not say that what these scholars is true of Nigeria because the kind of ministers and federal cabinet members we have are political sycophants like the minister of the Federal Capital Territory who is so bereft of innovative ideas on how to run Abuja so much so that the only thing he remembers is to name a District after the serving President who in any case is the head of the executive segment of the Federal Capital Territory. How can any analytic politician name a district after a serving President as is contemplated by the Abuja minister. It is only in Nigeria that Politicians have canonized sycophancy and mediocrity.
God save Nigeria.

There is a list of corrupt Nigerians who have stashed stolen funds in foreign accounts abroad. What have we used that list for? Transparency International has annually published list of most corrupt countries in the world today. Given that we know the people who have earned us this unfortunate label, what have we done about it?
Right here and now, we know the number of organisations and individuals that have looted and continue to loot Nigerian resources locally and internationally, what have we done about that?
I think any attempt at compiling a list of Criminal Nigerians abroad will only end up a futile effort, because nobody will do anything about it except perhaps use it for other ulterior motives. Besides, other countries also have laws for punishing such persons. In our country, criminals have better previledges and greater numbers of friends than people who live by honest means. Why is that?
We know the thieves in Nigeria. Let's do something about them. At least Criminal Nigerians abroad had the good sense and love of fellow Nigerians to take their dirty linen out there for drying.
Let's deal with the criminals around us, among us, within us, that parade as saints and whom we all, many at times over glorify, edify, oversensationalise to our collective detriment.
Those who wish to spend their productive moments compiling lists of such people, had better come up first, with a current list of most corrupt and thieving Nigerians. If nothing at least, we now have upcoming organisations who take the law into their own hands. The list might prove useful to such people oriented organisations. At least innocent and poor Nigerians may know a little peace.

Thanks,

It is now obvious that South Africa over- reached itself when it decided on the first day of March 2012, to deport 125 Nigerians on account of what is generally regarded as a rather flimsy reason that they possessed fake yellow fever inoculation certificates. Of course, South Africa was being smart by half with her enemy action because if yellow fever was her real fear, she would have quarantined the travelers, inoculated and observed them for a few hours and allowed them to go about their business. What makes the South African decision more untenable is the fact that Nigeria by the certification of the World Health Organization (WHO) is not a yellow fever epidemic nation. Thus, the panic by South Africa was untenable and obviously premeditated.
The decision by Nigeria to retaliate a few days later by deporting 131 South African travellers with fake documents is therefore expedient on the basis of reciprocity which is a cardinal principle in foreign relations.
Our Foreign Affairs Ministry has been hailed by all particularly the National Assembly and the pro-active Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa. In earnest, many Nigerians were impressed with how the federal government acted in line with public opinion suggesting clearly that Nigerians deprecate the past attitude of their government which often overlooked the ill treatment of their kith and kin in other countries. It is therefore quite reassuring that both the government and the people are now on the same page that in foreign relations “tit-for-tat” another word for reciprocity is allowed. Our main foreign affairs minister (we have three) underscored this a week ago at the induction of 88 newly appointed Nigerian ambassadors that “as a government, we will not hesitate to apply strict reciprocity as a cardinal principle in our relations with all countries. In fairness to the present administration, that was not a new point considering that our Aviatio
n minister had earlier put a halt to the refusal by Britain to grant adequate landing slots to Arik air at London Heathrow airport which British airways exploits in Nigeria.
Oh yes, we need to now and again reciprocate the actions of other nations to us and put away our toga of subservience. One issue which immediately comes up here is the way Nigeria virtually hero-worships the ambassadors of some countries. In highbrow Victoria Island in Lagos for instance, there is a street named after Walter Carrington- a one-time American ambassador to Nigeria. Whatever extra-ordinary thing he did to warrant such eternal recognition is not the issue. What matters here is that no Nigerian ambassador to the USA has been so honoured. If the gesture of honouring ambassadors is a unilateral initiative by Nigeria which is not likely to be reciprocated, with whom then do we really want to prosecute this new found love for reciprocity?
The location of embassies is another point of relevance. In Nigeria, some embassies operate as if they own both their buildings (even when rented) and the streets where they are located. Sometimes, an entire street is made impassible to the discomfort of inhabitants only because one embassy is in the area. But a visit to Nigerian embassies abroad will show a scenario that is a far cry from what happens here. How best then should reciprocity be handled? ,
One obvious objective of an embassy is to protect citizens of a nation in a foreign country. For that reason, some embassies are usually quite pro-active in making information available for the safety of their nationals especially in troubled spots. For some embassies, Nigeria is a place about which their citizens must be warned permanently of an impending danger. Sometimes, it could be about some health hazards while at other times it could just be one crisis or the other. It could be quite occasionally disheartening where European embassies exaggerate certain infractions into national disasters when the so called problems also occur in their own countries. For example, being in London in the first week of August last year was quite a risk.
The shooting of a man by the police in Tottenham had led to widespread riots. Three days later, the riots were still on with several shops looted while many buildings and vehicles were set on fire and over 200 rioters arrested by the police. Painfully, the Nigerian embassy in London did not warn those of us travelling to the UK at the time that the place had become ungovernable! A smaller riot than that in Nigeria would have been treated differently. Why do our own embassies not propagate the problems of other nations for the safety of our citizens leaving abroad or are they unaware of “reciprocity? More often than not, an embassy issues a statement about a purely national event like the conduct of elections which is not her business. Interestingly, in the so-called developed nations the conduct of election is occasionally also poorly handled but the Nigerian embassies in such places keep mute. May be we need to bring back such envoys for proper induction on reciprocity.
They also need to be properly trained on how to ‘play big’ and avoid inferiority complex so that citizens of their host nations can once awhile also seek protection from our own embassies. As the dreaded wikileaks has shown, many well placed Nigerians often went for dinner in some embassies only to reveal state matters to officials of a foreign country to the detriment of their fatherland.
There is doubt if we can achieve such considering what it takes to be an ambassador in Nigeria. As alluded in this column many months back, no mediocre is saddled, in the developed world, with diplomatic assignments on the basis of prescriptive criteria like state of origin or religious denomination.
Indeed, they do not use ambassadorial postings to placate members of the ruling political party who could not win elections in their constituencies. Rather, an ambassador is a fit and proper character whose charisma and articulation can consummate his nation’s vision. It is only such appointees that can handle reciprocity with ample discretion while those with little or no initiative would deal with the subject like robots watching out for only what others do so that they can reciprocate. If no one does anything, they may remain docile.
In reality however, reciprocity is not all that Nigeria needs. We should not only deport travellers with fake certificates; we should also initiate sound decisions which for instance requires South Africans to produce Tuberculosis free certificates because that is a contagious disease for which they have very high prevalence rate.
In addition, the wise counsel in 2009 of Ambassador George Obiozor, a former Nigerian ambassador to the USA that a nation‘s capacity to employ reciprocity is dependent on her “self improvement and dynamic development of her political, economic and social institutions” is instructive because it points at the need to improve Nigeria so as to reduce both the number of citizens checking out of the country as well as the instances of their being maltreated

After 20 years dominated by inaction on climate change, the world is entering a “third era” when the impacts of climate change are unavoidable, says a London climate expert.
Even if countries instantly reduced carbon emissions to zero, the impacts of emissions already in the atmosphere are “inevitable and unavoidable for the next 20 or so years,” said Saleemul Huq, a climate expert at the London-based International Institute of Environment and Development and former executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies. Speaking at a recent program on climate change in South Asia, Huq, whose work focuses mainly on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), said climate change will have “disproportionate impact” on poorer and less developed countries and called for large industrialized countries to begin taking the problem more seriously.
However, the new “third era” of climate change - the period beyond early awareness of the problem and initial efforts to solve it, such as the Kyoto Protocol – is different from earlier periods in that “today even rich, industrialized nations are affected,” Huq said, and now “adaptation is central not only to poor countries, but these rich ones as well.“


Huq said his native Bangladesh, a low-lying, heavily populated country expected to be one of the most seriously at risk from climate change, has shown leadership in creating a national action plan focused on adaptation, and putting $100 million a year of its own funds into adaptation efforts.

One of the most serious problems facing South Asia is the expected long-term impacts on agriculture of climate change, particularly as Himalayan glaciers melt and affect water availability.


“Not only is climate change a problem with mountains, but with food security as the basin at the foot of the Himalayas is the most heavily irrigated area in the world,” said Andreas Schild, the outgoing director-general of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, and one of the speakers at the program.


A haze of black carbon emitted by industries in China and blowing across the region already has reduced agricultural production by 5 percent to 10 percent in the Himalayan basin, he said.

Drops in water availability and agricultural production as the “third era” progresses will hit women in South Asia particularly hard, predicted Natalie Bennett, a journalist and politician who leads the UK Green Party women’s group.


“Women will be the ones bearing the brunt of climate change…They must adapt,” Bennett said, noting that 60 percent of the world’s chronically hungry already are women.

She predicted women may take a stronger role in bringing change as the “third era” continues.

Today “more prominent women are involved in government delegations,” she said. “Perhaps we are in the picking-up-the-pieces stage (of climate change). The traditional women’s role is to pick up the pieces of decisions made by some very prominent men.”


Andrew Simms, a research fellow at the New Economics Foundation, stressed how this “third era” will see a huge boost in the effort required to try to hold world temperatures increases to 2 degrees Celsius or less, the level considered relatively safe by many scientists.

“Had we stabilized and begun to reduce global gas emissions as short a time ago as 2007, the annual target for year-on-year reductions (in emissions) would have been 3 percent,” he said. (If) we wait until next year that figure rises to 6 percent. Leave it until 2020 (and) that figure rises to 15 percent,” he said.

Such emissions cuts are highly unlikely, though, he said, as “it has only been in times of extreme economic breakdown that we’ve done better than 1 or 2 percent.”


Jean Lambert, a London-based Green Party member of the European Parliament, warned that the world’s poorest and most vulnerable will be “the first victims of climate change.”

“From South Asia to London, we all have a responsibility to take action, which will prevent global warming and protect communities. Time is slipping away - now must be the time for action,” she said.

The people I'm talking about is all of us. Money is so powerful and evil that once it intervenes, people you've known as decent and moral all your life suddenly become monsters.

Here is a New York Times reader's response to the Lottery Win story. Sounds familiar? Your family members, your friends, colleagues, you yourself... we are all implicated.


Money corrupts. Big money corrupts absolutely.
1) When my older cousin, a father of five and a lifelong slacker who owed many relatives money, won $50,000.00 in a raffle at the Sands Casino in A.C., he quickly moved to Florida with his family to avoid paying any of his creditors, esp. relatives. When he died in his sleep at 63 down there, no one cared.
2) When a 60-something waitress at Dom Polski's restaurant, in Galloway, NJ, won $936,000.00 on the Lottery in 1986, she kept on working. The depressed morale of the other waitresses finally forced the owner to fire the lottery winnner.
3) When my father died and left an estate of $6 million, a few of my 7 brothers and sisters did their utmost to execute the will in ways that shorted their own siblings. It was like a real-life version of The Little Foxes. In the 11 years since, I spoke with my closest brother several times, who was suing the younger brother-executor, but never told me for 8 months, until the suit was settled.
I haven't talked to them in 10 years, except at mom's funeral, and could not care less about the greedsters.
4) When my aunt died, my sister kept secret the fact that the aunt and uncle had written their last will and testament on an envelope for her prior to their trip to Europe. She never vetted it with an attorney, and never reminded our ailing uncle that she still had the will, lest he change it. When he died, his nephew sued and got $250K of the $500K estate. Sis was hoist on her own petard.

Forget about patriotism because at this time there is a gang conspiracy against us. The writing is on the wall. So,we must continue digging our past to learn more from our heroes.
ZANNA BUKAR DIPCHARIMA SULOMA{1917-1969}
Nigerian politician .He was born in 1917 in Dipcharima village in the Borno province of Northern Nigeria.Dipcharima attended the Maiduguri middle school and later trained as a teacher at the Katsina Higher training college,the former Northern Nigeria's highest institution of learning at the time.
He began teaching in 1938,working at various schools until 1946 when he embarked on a political career. He first joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroun{NCNC} led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe,and was in the party's delegation to Britain in 1947. He left the NCNC to become a Manager for John Holt.Dipcharima re-entred politics in 1954,this time as a member of the Northern People's Congress[NPC} on whose platform he was elected to the Bornu Native Authority.
An exteremely popular politician, Dipcharima soon rose to become presidential of Bornu Province branch of the NPC and head of the Yerwa District in 1956,taking the traditional title of Zana. He won a seat in the federal House of Representatives in Lagos in 1954 and was made parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Transport in 1957,he became minister of state without Portfolio and later minister of communication and industry,before taking the portfolio of transport in 1964.
What made this man a shaker of his time was his determination,hadwork,zealousness. He understood the need of his people and he died while gallantly pursuing the legitimate right of his people.
We must restore the glory of our beloved Northerners.

When you marry an illiterate woman as wife, you make stupid mistakes like jonathan- Wole soyinka!

It’s No More about Subsidy Alone.
The American President has only TWO aircraft, our president has 9[Nine] in his fleet and was voted money recently to buy ONE more! Making it TEN!
The British prime Minister has only TWO official cars, our president has 23 in his pool and only recently voted 300Million Naira to buy TWO more bullet/bomb proof ones!
Senators in the US earn about $6,000 dollars monthly and that’s about what a university professor, or a director in a state department, or a doctor with 20years experience, or a teacher with 25years experience earn too, but Here in Nigeria a senator earns 245 million Naira per annum! That’s the salary of 25 vice chancellors, or 50 medical doctors, or 60 directors, or 500 school teachers!
The US, almost the size of Africa with about 500million people have 24 ministers, and 32 government parastatals and commisions, Nigeria has a whooping 42 cabinet ministers, and over 50[Fifty] government parastatals!
America with about 500million people and more mileage to drive consumes 39million litres of petrol daily, Nigeria with 150million people 60% out of which live in remote areas, yet our government tells us we consume about 35million litres of petrol daily!
2. Is Subsidy Really the Problem of Nigeria?
When you marry an illiterate woman as a wife, you will definitely make stupid decisions like jonathan’: wole soyinka spoke!
Our Dear President GoodLuck Jonathan has become a tyrant, a shandel, a shame, he has become the No.1 Enemy of Nigeria. Is this because we, Nigeria are yet to adopt to CHANGE? Change that only Jonathan can see? The End will justify everything. Pray for Nigeria! Pray for our Beloved Country!

The sudden disappearance of Police-mounted road blocks along Abuja-Kaduna-Kano express way must be responsible for the commercial taxi I boarded this afternoon, to make Kano from Abuja, in less than 5 hours.
5 hours is a record for the standard 4-hour journey that could take you 7-8 hours, all of recent. I noticed that the road was free - no road blocks, no holdups and the usual queues of vehicles that tail along. I couldn't suppress my curiosity, I asked the driver what was happening and whether the absence of Police checkpoints was as in compliance with the IGP directive.
He told me that what I observed is the topic of discussion even among the drivers. And moreover, the drivers noticed SHARP DROP in ARMED ROBBERIES on that road in the past 2 months of sustained deadly attacks by members of "Boko Haram" on targets in Kano and Kaduna States. Save for 2 isolated robbery attacks in the last 2 weeks. So, what is happening now? Where are the armed robbers? Who are these criminals that dis-possesses people plying Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road of their valuables between the hours of dusk to dawn on daily basis?
Is this dismantling of Police road blocks such a positive thing that can make the armed robbers take flight without gun fights?
Does the sustained Boko Haram attacks now scares even those dare-devil robbers reigning on our roads?

Have your say.

The News Agency of Nigeria yesterday reported the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, saying that it will cancel the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in volatile states of Northern Nigeria if the Boko Haram attack on primary and secondary schools in Borno State continues. “The Board will be left with no option”, he said, “than to tell candidates to go elsewhere to write the exams if schools which serve as centres will be attacked. The report appears contradictory, making me believe that NAN did not get its facts right. Consider another statement it reported from the Registrar: When we reviewed the situation in volatile states, for instance Borno, we realized that some of the schools are being bombed but our investigations showed that only primary schools are affected and not secondary schools. By this statement, to my understanding, the Registrar did not rule out JAMB holding examinations in those states. After all, UTME examinations are held in secondary schools. Primary schools hardly have the large space facilities that JAMB needs. I am not accusing NAN of crying wolf where there is none; after all, it is a reputable news agency on which our media houses depend as a veritable source of news on a wide range of domestic affairs. I only think the Registrar should be clearly understood on this important subject matter that will affect the future of hundreds of thousands of our children. Despite the contradiction in the report, I still felt it is worth making a short comment on the matter. I understand the concern of JAMB. As any prudent agency would aver, it does not want its indiscretion to result in the death of Nigerian children and staff of the Board. The Registrar deserves our commendation for this foresight. In the event that the unexpected happens and attacks secondary schools in the next two weeks before the exams, I still feel that JAMB should not contemplate canceling the examination but go ahead to plan its execution and taking the necessary precautions. The UTME examination is too important to be brushed aside for the scare of an anticipated attack by Boko Haram. Canceling the examination will cause so much pain and complications in the learning career of the candidates and compound the admission exercise of higher institutions to which the affected states are catchment areas. JAMB should go ahead with its plan due to two reasons. One, I am inclined to believe that Boko Haram will not attack these centres when the examinations are holding. To be fair to Boko Haram, the sect has always maintained that it does not target civilians but security and law enforcement personnel. It has repeated this time without number. And if we can remember, its leader announced in his second video broadcast on Youtube that the group will start attacking ‘boko’ schools after an alleged attack by JTF of a Qur’anic school in Maiduguri, an allegation that JTF quick to refute. So far, Boko Haram has attacked four primary schools. But in all the attacks, no life was lost because the group refrained from carrying out the attacks during schools hours when it will lead to deaths and casualties to the civilian pupils and staff. With this record, it is clear that Boko Haram is targeting infrastructure, not the pupils, of the primary schools. Doing otherwise will contradict its claim that it is “working for the interest of the ummah”, as its leader Shekau would put it. JAMB examinations, therefore, are very unlikely targets of Boko Haram. Relax your mind, my Professor Ojerinde! Two, if I am proved wrong and Boko Haram attacks secondary schools during schools hours – something I still believe is not in tandem with its modus operandi – JAMB should still go ahead with the examinations but make adequate security arrangements for their safe conduct. A number of measures would be necessary. First and foremost, JAMB should liaise with the JTF and the state government to study the situation and look into the necessary measures for safe conduct of the examinations. Fortunately, the examination, unlike NYSC, is not protracted; it takes only few hours. The military and other agencies can mobilize a substantial number of personnel to each centre. To ensure that the centres are not blown off a night or so before the examinations, law enforcement personnel need to be posted there early enough. Then on the day of the examination, the schools or the neighbourhoods where the centres are located should be adequately manned. In fact, the entire state could be placed under curfew that Saturday for the period the examinations are conducted. These measures are necessary especially for town like Biu, Bama, Uba, Gwoza, etc. If it proves to be too difficult or risky to hold the examination at the various centres in Maiduguri town, there is still a better option than to “tell candidates to go elsewhere to write the exams.” The authorities should think of pooling the centres into one for candidates within Maiduguri town. The University of Maiduguri would be a suitable site. It has many theatres and lecture halls that can accommodate the candidates. The university community should make do with the inconvenience of few hours to enable its prospective candidates sit for the matriculation examination. I think a combination of statewide curfew and shifting the examination to the university for candidates in the capital, which is the epricentre of Boko Haram attacks, will be the best. If all the above fails and JAMB insists that the fear of Boko Haram is the beginning of wisdom, and only after having obtained a red card from JTF, then I would suggest that candidates from Borno State should be given a waiver by JAMB such that they can be admitted on the basis of post-UME tests in the institutions they applied for in addition to their fulfillment of WAEC/NECO requirements. Skipping JAMB itself would not matter much since in most universities passing the post-UME test is as important, if not more important, than passing JAMB. Finally, I call on Borno State government to take this issue seriously. Its candidates and indeed the state cannot afford to miss UTME examinations. Boko Haram may be here next year also. Does that mean that my Kanuri brothers will continue to miss UTME and universty admissions indefinitely? So instead of running away from the problem, it must be handled now. The government must do whatever it takes to ensure that JAMB is convinced on the security of its centres in the state. It must not sit back and see the twelve years it invested in its candidates washed away by the fear of a Boko Haram attack.

A philosophy  professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him .When class began,wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceed to fill it with rocks right to the top, rocks about two diameter. He than asked the student if the jar was  full? They agreed that it was .
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar .He shook the jar lightly .The pebbles ,of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks .The students laughed .He asked his students again if the jar was full?They agreed that yes ,it was.
The professor then picked  up a box of sand and poured into the jar.Of course ,the sand filled up everything else. Now,said the professor , I want you to recognize that this is your life
The rocks are important things -your faith ,your beliefs,your family ,your partner ,your health ,your children-anything that is so important to you that if it were lost ,you would be nearly destroyed .
That pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on smaller scale,The pebbles represent things like your job ,your house ,your car  etc.
The sand is everything else.The small stuff. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first ,there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life .
If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff ,material things ,you will never have room for the things that are truly most important .Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life.
Play with your children .Spend quality time with your spouse .There will always be time to go work,clean the house .fix the car etc.
Love moral:Take care of the rocks first ,the rest is just pebbles and sand !!!!!!

Ebi kiiwo ‘nu k’oro mii wo [When it takes up residence in the belly, hunger leaves room for no other thing]
A Yoruba adage.

With regard to the term Kunya in the title of this essay, readers might recollect that I explained its meaning and political context in Elombah about a month ago. Briefly, I stated that this was the nickname given to General Olumuyiwa Diya [rtd.] when he was the military governor of Ogun state in the Buhari-Idiagbon dictatorship. The nickname was an inversion and corruption of the General’s last name, Diya. Diya means to reduce, relieve or save completely from suffering while, on the other hand, Kunya is the opposite: a magnification, an intensification, a deepening of suffering. In that column, I explained that the inverse relationship between Kunya and Diya was a remarkably apt metaphor for the Buhari-Idiagbon dictatorship in particular and, more generally, all the military and civilian administrations in the country in the post-civil war period.
What this in essence means is that while the government periodically calls for discipline and sacrifice from the nation and the people, practically everything it does has little or no sacrifice, discipline or accountability about it. As a matter of fact, it is nearly always the case that it is precisely when a given Nigerian administration calls for disciple and sacrifice in order to end hardship and suffering that the regime is at its most undisciplined and arrogantly unaccountable.
Perhaps the best illustration of this point is the infamous so-called 53 suitcases case in the Buhari-Idiagbon regime when it enacted an edit banning the traffic in foreign currencies outside the banking system. So severe and thorough was the regime’s pursuit of those deemed to have flouted the edict that they famously detained, persecuted and charged the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti when slightly over one thousand pounds was found on his person upon his return from a foreign tour. But barely a month after this, 53 suitcases containing millions of dollars in diverse foreign currencies were impounded at the Murtala Mohammed airport and nothing, absolutely nothing was done to the guilty party because of strong connections to a top military officer in the regime’s upper echelon of shakers and movers. To the very end of its short rule, the Buhari-Idiagbon regime continued in this fashion: relentlessly calling for discipline and sacrifice from the nation while being absolute in its arrogant disdain for accountability. On this particular issue, that regime went so far as to pass an edict that outlawed doing or saying anything calculated to bring the regime into disrepute, even if what is said is true. Kunya is your lot and not even the truth will save you: welcome to regressive neocolonialism!
This is not a mere play with language, a self-indulgent dalliance with words and ideas, this talk of Kunya and something I am calling regressive neocolonialism. In some previous reflections in this medium, I have described regressive neocolonialism as a social order in which things continuously worsen to such an extent that nearly every preceding period seems much better than successive periods. Indeed, this process is so extreme in decadence and regressiveness that, mirabilis dictum, the colonial period itself may come to seem to some people as having been infinitely better than the postindependence period. In other words, in the concept of regressive neocolonialism, the neocolonial helps us to keep in mind the profoundly disturbing relationship to the colonial pasts of the present while regressiveness points to the fact that every step forward comes with two or three steps backward as things fall more and more apart. As I see the matter, Kunya is perhaps the best indicator of what is both regressive and neocolonial in the public, national affairs of our country at the present time. In other words and for me - at least insofar as this is not a mere academic exercise – as we try to make sense of the riot of illogicality and reason in the ethos and behavior of our ruling elites at the present time, we must keep in mind the absolute centrality of the intensification and deepening of suffering for the great majority of our peoples. Kunya, unlimited but not irremediable, is the bottom line, everything else either points to it or away from it. Dear reader, as long as you keep this in mind, nothing in the national affairs of the country will come to you as a surprise, as something natural and therefore unalterable.
Perhaps a few concrete observations might prove helpful here. Right now, the National Assembly is conducting a probe of the oil subsidy cabal involving hundreds of billions of naira paid out to both phantom and real oil marketers. Meanwhile, the sums paid out monthly to our legislators are as scandalous and unjustifiable as the sums entailed in the oil subsidy scam. And as if that were not ironic enough, we learn that recently, our legislators again dipped into national coffers and bought each legislator a luxurious car to the tune of 45 million naira per person. There is also the case of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank Governor. He has reportedly spoken to the National Assembly on the scale and recklessness of the oil subsidy scandal, just as last year, he confronted the National Assembly itself on the scandal in the rate of remuneration they enjoy both statutorily and illegally. But then, we recently learned that Sanusi himself has been paying out huge sums of money from the excess account of the Central Bank, apparently at his whim and fancy and exactly in the same manner in which the legislators have been dipping deep into our national coffers. There was the controversial 100 million naira that he gave to his hometown consequent to the Boko Haram attacks in that city in January. This was followed by another 100 million that he paid to Madalla residents when he was quite justly accused of nepotism for the Kano payment. And then, lo and behold, we learn that he had much earlier gifted the University of Benin a half billion naira in an act that some see as directly linked to the award of an honorary doctorate to Sanusi himself. The chain of regress that we find in this series is interesting to track in order to make sense of it. First, the National Assembly shows its outrage at the oil subsidy cabal and the impunity with which it has robbed the nation. To this, we must ask not one but a series of questions: Why did the government itself - which first cried foul at the work of the cabal – not publish the names of the culprits and have them prosecuted? Why does the National Assembly in the very moment when it is piously going after the oil subsidy racketeers, then proceed to help themselves to more largesse from the national coffers? And Sanusi: Why is the mote in his own eyes not visible to him? Why does the impunity and lack of accountability with which he dips into the coffers of the Central Bank seem to him justified while that of the National Assembly is not? Is this because the relative sums are far apart in scale? Or is it because in his own case he cannot be said to have personally enriched himself at our expense? Is he incapable of perceiving the simple fact that no matter how genuine his testimony before the National Assembly might have been, he now appears as flagrant and unaccountable as our legislators in the way in which they seem so indifferent to how the rest of the society views them?
I would like to state, once again, that these questions are not coming from an idle, tired academic exercise that posits questions whose answers everyone can easily discern. For the point is this: after each and everyone of these questions has been posed and correctly answered, there remains the sobering fact of “Kunya” for so many in the land. Thus, after the oil subsidy national strike, after the intervention of the National Assembly and its probe, after Sanusi and his Baba ke, Megida generosities at our expense, our national coffers continue to be depleted relentlessly, incorrigibly. Indeed, we read with great anxiety and angst that the Nigerian state is currently, right now, going borrowing big time. It is not enough to have completely bankrupted the state now in the present, but the future is being mortgaged and compromised for our children and their children. Regressive neocolonialism is reaching out far beyond the horizon of the present to what will come after us. As Soyinka has put the matter in another context: forget the dead; forget even the living; think only of the unborn.
I would like to conclude these reflections on a cautiously optimistic hope. Regressive neocolonialism is not a natural and unalterable condition. It generally assumes that character only or largely because “Kunya” locks people into extremely narrow confines of trying merely to survive. Here’s how the first epigraph to this essay puts it: when it takes up residence inside the belly, hunger leaves room for no other thing. And based on this, larger frames of reference are either completely excluded or obscured. Some of these wider frames of reference that Kunya makes distant to the desperate struggles of our peoples are the are neocolonial foreign control and domination of our national economy; our competitiveness on the stage of global currents of economy and culture; the countless opportunities missed to make the best of the brand new techniques and means of production of our age; and the very kind of questions that we raise concerning where we are now and where we are headed. Fortunately, even a cursory perusal of our newspapers and weekly magazines will readily show that these wider contexts and frames of reference are not completely absent in our discourses, our national conversation. As the second of the two epigraphs puts it: yes, it is spoilt, broken, but it is not rotted, not at the endpoint of entropy.

Time will tell with all there promises b4 the election. 24hrs electricity all what we gain is 24hrs hardship and fuel subsidy

How often have you heard the comment, He or she is a born leader? There are certain characteristics found in some people that seem to naturally put them in a position where they're looked up to as a leader.
Whether in fact a person is born a leader or develops skills and abilities to become a leader is open for debate. There are some clear characteristics that are found in good leaders. These qualities can be developed or may be naturally part of their personality. Let us explore them further.

SEVEN PERSONAL QUALITIES FOUND IN A GOOD LEADER

1. A good leader has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honestly and integrity. A good leader walks the talk and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads.

2. A good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their role as leader. People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. Leaders need to be able to be a source of inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required action or cause. Although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the goal. This kind of leader will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty.

3. A good leader is confident. In order to lead and set direction a leader needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. Such a person inspires confidence in others and draws out the trust and best efforts of the team to complete the task well. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from team members.

4. A leader also needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. People look to the leader during times of uncertainty and unfamiliarity and find reassurance and security when the leader portrays confidence and a positive demeanor.

5. Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main purpose. Storms, emotions, and crises come and go and a good leader takes these as part of the journey and keeps a cool head.

6. A good leader, as well as keeping the main goal in focus, is able to think analytically. Not only does a good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection. While keeping the goal in view, a good leader can break it down into manageable steps and make progress towards it.

7. A good leader is committed to excellence. Second best does not lead to success. The good leader not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas.

These seven personal characteristics are foundational to good leadership. Some characteristics may be more naturally present in the personality of a leader. However, each of these characteristics can also be developed and strengthened. A good leader whether they naturally possess these qualities or not, will be diligent to consistently develop and strengthen them in their leadership role.

It took high wisdom, for the late Yaradua, to declare a feasible way forward
In the Niger Delta Militancy issue was Amnesty. He stood his grounds, even
When some retired and refired military emeritus Generals were on the pages
Of various papers saying it will not work. Whether it is working or just a facade, we are seeing in retrospect. Then beer parlour talks that reason for the amnesty, and not the full. Recommendation of some white paper, was because the then #2 civilian citizen! Was also a militant or was part of the sponsors of militancy. True or false?

Na their wahala, God no dey sleep.

With the reduction of the kidnapping syndrome in the east, the North woke up
To an unbelievable saga of law enforcement personnel killings in Maiduguri
Of citizens and uniformed persons, even when the law was at hand to protect
And punish any offenders found wanting. The genesis of the Boko Haram
Killings were on pages of news papers, the Internet, global electronic media
Then then the government was smiling.
As usual, it was beer parlour exchanges that mentioned the former Governor,
Trying to cover his tracks. Whether na true or lie? God no dey sleep.
I cry for Maiduguri, it is one of the most ancient civilizations in Nigeria,
I dare to say West Africa, if not Africa as a whole. Look closely at the
African Map. Borno is like the umbilical cord of Africa, It is so central
And the Lake Chad a fountain (Oasis) of life for the millions of tribes and
Creeds that traversed that region as they migrated to their present day
Enclaves.

The Leo Africanus, wrote in the literatures of the then Carthage and mention

Maiduguri as that region of Commerce, Education, Medicine, Religion and
Culture. A very peace loving people you will be told. What has happened to
Maiduguri? Kano is the Central Heart of Northern commerce like maiduguri affecting
Nations like Niger, Chad, Sudan, Saudi, Italy, Morocco, Algieria, Mali,
Tunisia, Libya to mention just few. A day of business rest in any those
Cities, is worth more than the subsidy of a month of the whole nation, this
Predates the colonialist entre'. The need for the Europeans to benefit from
That trade led to the building of the rail roads to Kano and Nguru.

My questions,
1. Why will a Northerner want to kill the same fabrics that nursed and
Raised him/her?
2. Why will a Northerner want to see the people he/she calls his/her
Brothers and sisters regressing from grace to grass?
3. What does any person stand to gain by directly / indirectly derailing
The lives and livelihood of billions of people in several nations of the
Earth?
4. What are the factors that led to the present day scenario? Could it
Have been avoided?
5. Who are the real mentors and benefactors of this chaos?
6. Why is the Security Paraphernalia of the Nigerian Government always
Showing lack of will / lustre, when it comes to internal crisis, but are
Rated globally as tops when outside in AU/ UN mission fields.
7. The Masses, Women and Children are always the mostly hit, why? Are
They the cause?


The Government of Goodluck and Namadi do not seem to have the panacea to the
Challenges, they are interested in protecting
Themselves and their close relatives letting hell to fall on any other.
The Governors and Local Government Chairperson have followed suite. The only
Seemingly good thing you imagine/see of them is a show of shame, giving
People reason to believe these people want only to steal as much as they can
now using security votes and any other possible removal/subsidy or
Whatever), because they may not be coming out for a second term. We watch
To be proved wrong.
The People of the North and Yes Nigeria, Nigeria is so heterogeneous that an
Igbo man may one day win Lagos or Sokoto Governorship and a Hausa Man may be
On the seat of Governance in Calabar or Aba; while a Yoruba man will be
Heading Enugu. Plateau and or Borno State. I hear some laughter, Nigeria is
Not what the politicians tell us, it is deeper than that ask the military or
Traditional leaders, if they will tell you the truth. They have a better
Understanding of Nigeria. Quote me on that.
I respect the advances of some of our Northern Leaders to seek for a way
Forward towards the true reconciliation/resolution of this conflict. He The
Galtimari Committee, The Lame initiative, the Walaone initiative and NRCM are good examples. There Is a need for the Government at Local Government, State and National levels To key into this back waters diplomacy for at least a good grip of the Situations needed steps to proper resolutions. Then the formal machinery of
managing crisis can be instituted with the sincere purpose of building and
maintaining peace. With the uneasy calm in almost every state of the North, it is now more than ever the time to start reaching out to any/all true vanguards of peace. It is not in religious houses alone, it is a need in every home, street, school
and gathering. May this phase of our painful lives pass sooner than our thoughts. May the Borno bound trailers return in greater numbers; may the groundnut pyramids and leather tanneries start to generate more dollars than their state
subventions from abuja. May our children wake up tomorrow and forget that these bombings and killings ever happened. May the sweats / tears of our Heroes past be
remembered in greatness and not ashes of past glories.

God bless Nigerians and then the Federal Republic.

JOKE
A lawyer and a senior citizen are sitting next to each other on a long flight.
The lawyer is thinking that seniors are so dumb that he could get one over on them easily. So, the lawyer asks if the senior would like to play a fun game.
The senior is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and tries to catch a few winks. The lawyer persists, saying that the game is a lot of fun. I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me only $5.00. Then you ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500.00, he says. This catches the senior's attention and, to keep the lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game.
The lawyer asks the first question. What's the distance
from the Earth to the Moon? The senior doesn't say a word, but reaches into his pocket, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer.
Now, it's the senior's turn. He asks the lawyer, What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four? The lawyer uses his laptop to search all references he can find on the Net. He sends E-mails to all the smart friends he knows; all to no avail. After an hour of searching, he finally gives up. He wakes the senior and hands him $500.00. The senior pockets the $500.00 and goes right back to sleep.
The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the senior up and asks, Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?
The senior reaches into his pocket, hands the lawyer $5.00, and goes back to sleep.
You know you're going to send this one on.
Loll. .Don't mess with seniors

One gets the impression sometimes that there are Nigerians who wish that EVERYTHING fails in Nigeria over the next four 4 years simply because their choice did not become president. I hope that impression is wrong. Because IF everything fails in Nigeria over the next 4 years it is those on the lower economic chain that will suffer more not the people in the government of this world.
Nigeria will gain IF Ribadu & his committee even achieve 50% success in their TOR. As an oil industry operative yourself a more useful purpose will be served by sending to them whatever contributions you have that may aid their success. If after sending them your ideas they failed we would have been no worse off than we already are; If they succeed (even partially) then Nigeria would be a little better than it was yesterday. IMHO we need a strategy to get as much lemonade out of the lemon that a combination of PDP Buhari’s political naivety.
Wishing that everything fails is NOT a good strategy.

This write up is quite paraochial and makes a mockery of otherwise serious matters reducing them to the level of Buhari making him look like a saint or the Messiah of Nigeria. Lets keep sentiments aside and be objective so we can tell the truth. It is a known fact all over the world that when you are a fan of someone you hardly see or speak the other side of the person which is not pleasant. Luckily for i dont give damn about any politician and so can speak freely about them all. Buhari, IBB and Abacha who raped our democracy on December 31st, 1983 in broad day light have nothing to offer Nigeria that they did not have the opportunity to offer. Please it is irritating talking about the crocodile tears shed by a man who has been a major player in most regimes from the 1970s to the discredited Abacha regime where he was in charge of PTF money. Where was he when Nigerians groaned in pain and died while he was romancing with the Abacha regime and pretended not to see? Is it now he is crying and is it now he is seeing what is befalling Nigeria? The wise men of foresight had seen these days coming long time ago and warned and cried about it! To me Buhari is nothing more than a successful coup plotter who would have been executed like Dimka, Gideon Orka, Vatsa, etc except that his coup and his friends Abacha and IBB succeeded. Men like Buhari and IBB still owe Nigeria and Nigerians a well deserved apology for interrupting our democracy and putting us where we are today! This is the Nigeria brought about by Buhari and cohorts

There are private contractors hired to smear and batter the image of muslim and islam, they are called Boko Haram. They have so far killed, directly or indirectly, more than 1000 muslims in Nigeria. They have been but slowly waging war against muslim, saying if Allah say they shall kill anyone, they will kill him like a chicken subhaNAllah. Muslims are urged to wake up from their slumber and face the reality: have you ever wondered why they attacked kano which has the highest Muslim population and yet promise to attack again?? Do you know they are also targeting Sokoto state another muslim dominated state? Do you really believe they are killing for Allah's sake? My brothers and sisters let's protect the religion of Allah and the least u can do is to forward this massage to your contacts including me until it gets to our respected Ulamas and force them to speak out against the dare devil(Boko Haram) working against Islam. Let's unite and fight the blackmailers of Islam. Let's continue fighting through electronic media until muslims are awake all over Nigeria. May Allah reward you as you forward this msg to your friends.

Here lies a traitor to his country Nigeria

a rebel leader and a coward to the core

At the height of the Biafran rebel war

he dressed like a tramp

boarded a cargo plane

and in the middle of the night

abandoned his ragtag Biafran rebel army

and his Igbo kinsmen to their fate

ran to far away Ivory Coast

to escape capture

by the brave Nigerian soldiers

His story goes like this

First he tried his trade in his father's failed transport business

but did not find way

then he went offshore

to search for academic laurels

in a prestigious colonial university

and just managed to pass out

He joined the Nigerian Army

for his Igbo kinsmen to dominate Nigeria

or dismember Nigeria

he did not succeed

he only succeeded in dismembering a phantom dream

the Biafran state

He now sought for fame

in Bianca's beauty and wrapper

still no way other than the fanciful

The Biafran sun that rises with him

is the Biafran sun that now sets with him

In his last hour his kinsmen cry

that the Nigerian military he sought to desecrate in his life time

and not Biafran Army

to bury his dead body
with full military honour

what an irony and absurdity

though living an inglorious life

now seeking a glorious exit

Nevertheless may Almighty

grant him perfect peace

and forgive his transgressions

leading to the loss of many Nigerian souls

children and women

traders and farmers

young men and old men

north to south and east to west

including my late uncle

who was killed by an Igboman

while he was trying to assist a 60 year old Igbo man

to cross a stream near Orlu

a town in Igbo land
Adiew Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

May his soul rest in peace

Fellas,

Please what is so special about OJUKWU death? Will you compare Ojukwu with M.K.O Abiola? The martyrdom who sacrifice his lfe 4 his pple to gained Democracy.

Hello, NAIRALANDERS,

Nigerian elites are always passionate about political issues only in the news paper and medium like in the internet fora, where they celebrate their being educated.
They however, DO NOT VOTE, THEY ONLY INDULGE IN THIS PALOUR TALK;
THEY RARELY TAKE A STAND. AS SOON AS AN INDIVIDUAL FEELS HE HAS MADE IT HE STOPS BEING COMMITTED TO THE STRUGGLE, WHEN THERE IS PROBLEM AT HOME THEY TRAVELS ABROAD ETC.
,
NAIJA POLITICS IS ALL TALK NO ACTION.

By action I don't mean war, but there has to be commitment to the cause people belived in. People should be willing to sacrifice and tell themselves the home truths.
Nigeria problem is not with our leaders, it is with us the followership that are docile and would rather bark (or sit down look) rather than bite.
I wish all my fellow comrade who cameout during the Fuel subsidy protest well as you contribute your own quota towards the development of Nigeria.
May god bless you all

In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful, I greet you all fellow Nigerians, my brothers and sisters, Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh (May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you).
I am grateful to the Almighty God who granted me the opportunity to write to you today. I am pained and saddened by the violence that has visited our towns and cities for many months now. It is my hope in preparing this piece that it will have a profound impact on three primary issues. Firstly, it will dispense with the notion that Islam and Muslims are synonymous with terrorism. Secondly, it will emphasize that there is no popular movement in Northern Nigeria to split our Nation into two or along religious lines. Thirdly, and more crucially, this decree will provide clear, categorical and comprehensive injunctions that will dissuade the confused and impressionable young Muslims in northern Nigeria from entering the path of extremism and radicalism that eventually leads to the murderous outrages we have all seen; particularly the horrific attacks on a worshiping congregation on Christmas day and in their house of worship, may the souls of the departed rest in peace.
Let me make it clear from the outset, I believe strongly that Islam is a religion of peace; I wish therefore to lead the way for all Muslims, leaders and scholars in condemning these acts and all acts of terrorism as un-Islamic and an attack on all of us. Islam is a religion of peace and of love; and love is purity. The holy Qur’an tells us that "God is love" [Allahu muhibba], and the Arabic word for love used in the holy Qur’an is related to the word for seed. No plant can grow without a seed - and so no pious act can grow without love. If love is the seed of every act of piety, then how can an act of hate like terrorism please God? ‘Boko Haram’ by their actions have brought shame on Islam, they are in the minority in the Muslim ummah (brotherhood) but as is often the case, such forces are always the most vocal. It is time now in our dear country for the voice of the majority who have always been against extremism and terrorism to move away from silence and let their voices be heard too. I know it to be true that terrorism is not right - how can it be? Clearly many are confused about what is right and why; it's all there in the Qur’an, but people don't understand it, which is why I have taken it upon myself to set out what I know, so that those who are confused may gain true knowledge. We can all appreciate that terrorism is particularly corrosive in any society and that is why this FATWA is an absolute condemnation of terrorism, without any excuse, without any pretext and without any exceptions.
This fatwa is delivered in the context mainly of the recent spate of suicide bombing and gun attacks carried out across Nigeria against a variety of civilian targets, including against Christians, targeting of southerners living in the North and on the attacks against International interest in Nigeria including the bombing of the headquarters of the United Nations in Abuja. There can be no justification for these attacks indeed I can say categorically that suicide bombings and attacks against civilian targets are not only condemned by Islam, but renders all the perpetrators totally out of the fold of Islam, the are unbelievers and common criminals whom it is the obligation of Government and Moslem leaders in the community to work together to decisively root out from society.
The horrendous onslaught of terrorist activity that has continued unabated for the last many months has brought the Muslim Umma, and Nigeria in particular, into disrepute. There is no denying the fact that the vast majority of Muslims oppose and condemn terrorism in unequivocal terms and are not ready to accept it as even remotely related to Islam in any shape or form. It is clear therefore that only a negligible minority amongst them seem to give terrorism tacit approval, instead of openly opposing and condemning terrorism. It is also clear that only a minority of individuals have signed up to the self named ‘Boko Haram’, a group committed to violent and indiscriminate killings including the use of suicide bombings against innocent and peaceful people, bomb blasts on churches, buildings of government and other international agencies, trade centres, markets and other public places: heinous, anti-human and barbarous acts in their very essence. These people justify their actions of human destruction and mass killing of innocent people in the name of Jihad (holy struggle against evil) and thus distort, twist and confuse the entire Islamic concept of Jihad. This situation is causing Muslims, the young in particular, to fall prey to doubts and reservations, muddling their minds in respect of Jihad, because those perpetrating these atrocities are from amongst the Muslims. The perpetrators practice Islamic rituals, perform acts of worship and put on outward forms set down in Sharia. Worst of all, they have turned their violence against Christian, wrongly declaring a Jihad against them. As a result of this situation, two kinds of negative response and destructive attitude are developing: one in the form of damage to Islam and the Muslims, and the other a threat to Nigeria as a Nation, and Christians and Southerners in particular. The consequences are that both the Muslim Umma, as well as Nigeria, is heading towards catastrophe; heightening tension, and creating an increasingly large deficit of trust between the Islamic North and the mainly Christian South. This widening gulf is not only pushing Nigeria towards inter-faith antagonism but also reducing totally the possibilities of peace, tolerance and mutual coexistence among the different communities of Nigeria; driving our Nation ever closer to civil war. It is in this regard that it becomes essential to place the Islamic stance on terrorism precisely in its proper perspective before the entire nation and in the light of the Holy Qur’an, Prophetic traditions and Books of Jurisprudence and Belief so that both Muslims and non-Muslims, entertaining doubts and reservations about Islam, are enabled to understand Islam’s standpoint on terrorism more clearly and unambiguously.

Islam is a religion of peace

I wish to note here, that Muslims and Christians have been living together in harmony in Nigeria through its history. The events that we have seen are recent and indeed the violence of terrorism is very recent. Islam is a religion of peace and safety that champions love and harmony in society. According to Islamic teachings, only such a person will be called a Muslim at whose hands the lives and properties of all innocent Muslims and non-Muslims remain safe and unhurt. The sanctity of human life and its protection occupies a fundamental place in Islamic law. Taking anyone's life for nothing is an act that is forbidden and unlawful. Rather, in some cases, it amounts to infidelity. These days, the terrorists, in a vain attempt to impose their own ideas and beliefs and eliminate their opponents from the face of the earth, killing innocent people ruthlessly and indiscriminately everywhere in mosques, churches and other public places are in fact committing clear infidelity. They
are warned of humiliating torment in this world and in the hereafter. Terrorism, in its very essence, is an act that symbolises infidelity and rejection of what Islam stands for. When the forbidden element of suicide is added to it, its severity and gravity becomes even greater. Scores of Qur’anic verses and Prophetic traditions have proved that the massacre of Muslims and terrorism is unlawful in Islam; rather, they are blasphemous acts. This has always been the opinion unanimously held by all the scholars that have passed in the 1400 years of Islamic history, including all the eminent Imams of Tafseer and Hadith and authorities on logic and jurisprudence. Islam has kept the door of negotiation and discussion open to convince by reasoning, instead of the taking up of arms to declare the standpoint of others as wrong, and enforcing one’s own opinion. Only the victims of ignorance, jealousy and malice go for militancy. Islam declares them rebels. They will abide in Hell.

The rights of the non-Muslim citizens

Islam not only guarantees the protection of life, honour and property of Muslim but also assures the equal protection of life, honour and property of non-Muslim citizens. The rights of non-Muslim citizens enjoy the same sanctity as those of Muslim citizens. There is no difference between them as human beings. That is why Islamic law metes out equal treatment to both Muslims and non-Muslims in the matters of blood money and Qisas. Non-Muslims have complete personal and religious freedom in a Muslim society. Their properties and places of worship also enjoy complete protection. Islam does not allow and advocate the use of violence against and killing of peaceful and non-combatant citizens under any circumstances. Those indulging in attacks on peaceful non-Muslim citizens, killing and or torturing them mentally or physically, or keeping them under unlawful custody, are in fact committing serious violations of Islamic teachings. This applies to all of the activities carried out by the Boko Haram.
Islamic commands on the sanctity of human life
The importance Islam lays on the sanctity and dignity of human life can be gauged from the fact that Islam does not allow indiscriminate killing even when Muslim armies are engaged in war against enemy troops. The killing of children, women, the old, infirm, religious leaders and traders is strictly prohibited. The public cannot be massacred. Likewise, places of worship, buildings, crops and even trees cannot be destroyed. On the one hand, there is a clear set of Islamic laws based on extreme discretion, and on the other, there are people who invoke the name of Islam to justify the indiscriminate killing of people, children, and women everywhere, without any distinction of religion or identity. It is a pity that such barbaric people still refer to their activities as Jihad. There can be no bigger discrepancy than this to be seen on earth. It can in no way be permissible to keep any citizen under unlawful custody and murder them and other peaceful non-Muslim citizens in retaliation for the political actions of national leaders. The one who does has no relation to Islam and the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him).

We justify as lawful the atrocities of terrorism

Boko Haram invokes Islam and raise slogans to establish the Divine Order, but all of their actions and steps constitute a clear violation of Islamic teachings. When their supporters do not have any legal argument to defend the actions of the Boko Haram, they draw the attention of people to the vices of the ruling elites and what they deem is foreign interference, the political leadership shift to the South as a justification for their killings. They are content in the belief that although the terrorists are doing wrong, their intention is good beyond any doubt. This is a major intellectual faux pas and many people, both educated and uneducated, suffer from this doubt. An evil act remains evil in all its forms and content; whatever we may interpret as injustice, this principle remains the same. Therefore, no forbidden action can ever become a virtuous and lawful deed due to goodness of intention. Law in Islam applies to an action. The massacre of humanity, perpetration of oppression and cruelty, terrorism, violence and bloodshed on earth and armed rebellion and strife cannot become pardonable actions due to any good intention or pious conviction. Nor is there any place for deviation from this fundamental principle. Thus, this argument of the terrorists and their well-wishers is also false in the sight of Islamic law.

Good intentions can never change a vice into a virtue

Terrorism, carnage and mass destruction can never be justified in the name of any intention of enforcing Islamic commands and its judicial system. Nor can these reprehensible activities be any exception to the rule, or be overlooked, or forgiven. These Qur’anic verses explain this point: “When it is said to them: ‘Do not spread disorder in the land,’ they say: ‘It is we who reform.’ Beware! (Truly) it is they who spread disorder, but they do not have any sense (of it) at all.” (Al-Qur’an, 2:11-12) Here the mischievous and criminal mentality has been described, and that the offenders never regard their activity as disruption, violence and strife; rather, they may call it Jihad and deeds of reconstruction and reformation. They presume that the tyrannous activities they perpetrate are aimed at the greater good of society. Today’s tragedy is that terrorists, murderers, mischief-mongers and rioters try to prove their criminal, rebellious, tyrannous, brutal and blasphemous activities as a right and a justified reaction to foreign intervention under the garb of the defence of Islam and national interests. They should know that, as good intention can never prove an unlawful act justified, pious designs can never prove blasphemy as righteousness, and virtuous objectives can never prove an impure act wholesome; that the intention to perform Jihad, in the same way, can never prove violence and terrorism lawful and permissible. An in-depth study of the Qur’an and Hadith makes one resolutely establish that Islam declares the realisation of lawful objectives conditional upon lawful means only, the attainment of noble targets only through permissible ways and reaching sacred objectives by treading only the righteous paths.
The actions that are forbidden, unjust, unlawful and blasphemous cannot be made permissible or lawful or just and creditable by even extremely good intentions joined together. This is such a crucial Islamic principle and legal formula that not one of the Companions, pious predecessors, Imams, and authorities of Hadith and exegeses has departed from to date. Some scholars have also interpreted the Hadith, ‘actions are judged according to intentions,’ as pointing to the expression of deeds according to intentions, that the actions take shape according to the intentions. So a terrorist’s actions speak of his intentions. His killings and destructive activities refer to his foul intention and condemnable ideas and beliefs. His heinous actions cannot stem from pious intentions and beliefs. The bloodshed he causes refers only to a cruel man inside him and not any kind and merciful soul. It is, therefore, evident that whatever false implications and foul justifications these rebels, criminals, evil-mongers, tyrannous brutes may put forth to prove their atrocities as acts of Jihad, they have nothing to do with the teachings of Islam. The Holy Qur’an has vividly described them in this verse: “It is those whose entire struggle is wasted in worldly life, but they presume they are doing very good works.” (Al-Qur’an, 18:104).

Becoming an accomplice to terrorists is also a crime

The Prophet a categorically forbade people to provide help or material support to terrorists. He ordered us to isolate them and deny them any numerical strength, financial assistance and moral support. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet a said, ‘If anyone helps in the murder of a believer—even if with only a few words—he will meet God with the words written on his forehead: “hopeless of God’s mercy”.
This hadith also indicates that it is not only financial and numerical assistance that must be denied to terrorists, but, according to the expression ‘bi sha~ri kalimatin’ (‘a few words’), speeches or writings which lend support to the enemies of peace are also condemnable and must be banned. Such support can only deprive us of God’s forgiveness and mercy. This hadith contains a strict warning to those who mastermind terrorist acts and misinterpret the Qur’an by brainwashing youth with glad tidings of Paradise for murdering peaceful civilians.

Paradise is forbidden for the one who commits suicide

The masterminds of terrorism who groom and brainwash young people for suicide bombings and encourage them with dreams of Paradise by means of ‘martyrdom’ should realize that God has decreed a permanent torment in Hell awaiting those who commit suicide. Jundub b. ‘Abd Allah reported that the Prophet a said, ‘Amongst those before you was a man who was wounded. Unable to bear the pain, he took a knife, sliced his wounded hand and died due to excessive blood loss. God Most High said, “My slave decided to hasten his own demise, so I made Paradise forbidden for him”.’ Al-.asan al-Basri narrates from Jundub b. ‘Abd Allah that the Messenger of God a said, ‘Certainly, a man before you belonging to the people of the past suffered from a boil. When its pain became too much for him to bear, he drew out an arrow from the quiver and pierced it and the bleeding did not stop until he died. Your Lord said, “I forbid his entrance into Paradise”.

Forcing your Belief upon Others and destroying Places of Worship is unlawfulness

Islam gives complete religious freedom to non-Muslims, and the Islamic government is not to interfere in their religious affairs. Islam also guarantees the protection of their places of worship and other religious sites, as well as their life, honour and property. In short, Islam presents an unprecedented model of tolerance, harmony and peaceful co-existence. The Qur’an fostered feelings of harmony amongst religions and ensured their freedom to the point that it forbade the believers from insulting the false gods of other faith traditions. God says in the Qur’an, ‘And do not insult those whom they worship besides God, lest they insult God wrongfully and out of ignorance™. There can be no better example of interfaith tolerance than this.
There is no room for coercion in Islam and no one can be forced to convert. Islam gives complete religious freedom to all non-Muslim citizens to adhere to their respective faith traditions and to freely practise their teachings. God says, ‘There is no compulsion in religion. Surely, right guidance is clearly distinguished from error’ Ibn Kathir explained this verse in the following words: ‘Do not coerce anyone to embrace the religion of Islam, for its proofs and evidence are clear, obvious and manifest. There is no need for anyone to be coerced into embracing it’God also says in the Qur’an, ‘So will you coerce people until they become believers?’God has strictly forbidden the Muslims from coercing others to embrace Islam. Therefore, no non-Muslim can be compelled to become a Muslim, because Islam is not merely the profession of faith or the performance of bodily rituals; it requires the confirmation and conviction of the heart; and in matters of the heart, there is no scope for coercion.

Destroying the places of worship of non-Muslims located in Muslim-majority areas is unlawfulness

Islam has strictly forbidden the Muslims from destroying the places of worship that belong to non-Muslims—even if they are located in Muslim-majority areas. The Islamic state is constitutionally responsible for the protection and safeguarding of these sites. Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas quoted Muhammad b. al-hasan al-Shaybani, who said, When a territory under treaty becomes a territory of the Muslims, no church, sanctuary or Zoroastrian temple that was there before should be demolished’. All of these quotes and texts establish that Islam orders the Muslims to safeguard the places of worship that belong to the non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic lands. Furthermore, Islam grants them complete freedom to practise their religion without any interference. Considering all this, how is it possible that a person who claims to be a Muslim can shamelessly murder people engaged in worship and destroy their places of worship?

Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil

I want to end with a call on Boko Haram to end all armed conflict against Muslims and non-Muslims in our country and to recognise that such acts of terrorism brings Islam into disrepute. As Muslims we must ensure that our intentions as contained in our actions are such that expresses the greatness and mercifulness of Allah. The prophetic traditions speak of the importance of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and the dire consequences of neglecting them. Hudhayfa reported that the Messenger of God said, ‘The tribulations a man faces with regard to his family, wealth and neighbours are expiated by prayer, charity and the act of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil’. My prayer is that we will all work together to guarantee peace, unity and inter-faith harmony in our country, and I urge all Nigerians to pray and work for peace. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh (May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you).

Forward this email to ALL your friends - Enlightenment on the Boko Haram Issue

Tobatinka adurayi, ki ote owo kosi mase amin. Oni corrupt bi ALAO AKALA, onisi oge se biti STELA OBASANJO, oniri ogun ejo biti AL MUSTAPHA, onidi agbaya biti OBASANJO, onise aisan biti YAR'ADUA, oniya iyakuya biti RUBEN ABATI, wase orire biti FASHOLA, wa bori otae biti AREGBESOLA, onidi enitiju biti OLAGUNSOYE OYINLOLA, wase oplolopo unexpected orire biti Goodluck Jonathan, wa gbajumo biti OBAMA, oniku ni kekere biti DAGRIN, omo araye onifibi sue biti MKO ABIOLA, ire ati ayo lamafi lo odun yija lagbara olorun amen

Since 2008 the FG have been engaging the BH in a combat yet the result is more
deadly attacks on innocent lives and property with more sophistication.
The same apply to the militants of Niger-Delta when the FG deployed boots on the
ground the end result was more death of the troops and gross loss of revenue as
a result of vandalising of oil pipe lines. Fortunately enough for the Militants the late yaradua grant general amnesty to them, and GEJ even went further to appoint some of them as FG delegates to just concluded hajj. In return FG is now exporting over 2million barrels of crude oil
daily, as such it is a WIN-WIN situation for both FG and the Militants.
I believe FG should apply new method and approach in dealing with BH even if it
means granting them amnesty in order to avoid the killings of both Muslim and
Christians. In doing so, I believe we will have a WIN-WIN situation as well, as
in the case of Niger-Delta.

Here we have TWO POWERFUL WOMEN in the Nigerian Government, Diezani Allison-Madueke and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (interesting that they both need DOUBLE-BARREL names to identify themselves, a Black Woman Disease that is very widespread among the Igbo) CONTRADICTING each other at every turn!
Who is LYING, since both cannot be telling the TRUTH?
Like I have always repeated on these forums:
A nation or people will never be better than their women want them to be be.
While women in other nations are ready to sacrifice their lives for the betterment of their people, these two are the samples of the BEST WOMEN that Nigeria is able to produce - women who are only too ready to LIE, LOOT and SELL their FATHERLAND to the highest OYINBO BIDDERS!

What a SHAME!!!



By: Nigeria.Youths.Democracy.Coalition
I Did Not Authorize The N1.3trillion Payment” – Finance Minister The unfolding charade of musical chairs within the Jonathan administration over the oil subsidy removal debacle unleashed by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria on new years day upon the common people of Nigeria appears on a never ending spin. This is as the house of representative committee [adhoc] charged with investigating the management of the oil subsidy funds and chaired by Hon Farouk Lawan has begun to remove the veil over the sharp practices within the oil sector managers of the Jonathan cabinet. On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, the Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Allison Madueke appeared before the adhoc committee. During her exchanges with the committee, she made clear that the N1.3trillion paid out last year for oil subsidy was authorized by the finance ministry. The Petroleum made the claim repeatedly to the committee while admitting that she was not aware of the volumes of petrol consumed domestically in the country, or the volumes of refined product produced by Nigerian refineries – under her ministry’s care. However the Finance Minister, Mrs Okonjo Iweala’s appearance before the adhoc committee today [Thursday] contradicts the Petroleum Minister’s claims as untrue. The finance minister began her presentation by clarifying the process of payment authorization laid down by the operating protocol. She listed seven [7] steps of procedure – 1) Selection and Registration of oil marketers/importers by NNPC/Petroleum Ministry - 2) Submission of selected importers to PPPRA for approval – 3) Certification of Imported products by appropriate partners [eyewitness checks at the ports] -4) Inspection of Import documents by PPPRA – 5) Checks by PPPRA – forwards to finance ministry – 6) Finance Ministry forwards to Auditor [for an audit] – 7) It is then forwarded to Accountant General for payment. The entire process is allowed 30days. We [finance ministry] have no role in selecting importers or marketers” added the finance minister. The Finance Minister clarified that the actual amount paid for oil subsidy last year was not N1.3trillion but N1.43trillion – comprising of 35million liters of petrol and 10millin liters of kerosene. “Some of it is arrears. There may be more payments remaining”, she added. The N1.43trillion was deducted at source by the NNPC before it enters the nation’s account” stated Mrs Okonjo Iweala as she added that “we tried to change the system while I was the Finance Minister under General Obasanjo but today the subsidy is withdrawn from the source. We will change it. We have told NNPC that we would prefer that they don’t deduct at source”. It was understood that the NNPC withdraws monies directly from the national revenue stream before it is paid into or recorded in the national accounts – without authorization or consultation from the Finance Ministry or any ministry. The current procedure is NNPC deducts money and then informs the finance ministry of the amount deducted. There appear a tin-ch of impropriety in the manner the finance ministry prepared the 2011 budget allocation for oil subsidy provision. The sum of N245billion was allocated in the 2011 budget for subsidy payment and N630billion was allocated for the previous year’s budget [2010]. But N1.43trillion was paid out in subsidy for 2011. The Director General of the Federal Budgeting Official, under questioning as to the wide discrepancy in the amount budgeted and the actual amount paid, indicated that several causative factors. He pointed to the increased volumes of petrol and kerosine ‘imported’, fluctuating exchange rate, price of crude oil, and the politics of oil subsidy removal. He explained that the Budget office was aware of the government’s policy on oil subsidy – and for this reason believed that oil subsidy will be done aware with by the March of 2011 – so they chose to present a budgeted amount of N245billion in the appropriation bill to the national assembly for approval. We would have never put N1.43trillion in the fiscal frame work for 2011. We know it would not pass” stated the Director General. The Chairman of the adhoc committee, Hon Lawan further impressed on the Budget Chief on any available evidence from the federal government indicating that it was about to do away with oil subsidy by March 2011. The Budget Chief answered that there was no documentary evidence indicating such. “The political economy of oil subsidy did not allow for a documentary evidence” stated the Budget Chief – who could not provide answers to why the finance ministry paid the sum of N647.6billion to PPPRA marketers when only N245billion was budgeted for in the 2011 budget.

More details into the quagmire of oil subsidy removal scandal presently
unfolding within the Jonathan administration appears to be making its way into
the public arena. This is as the house of representative committee charged with
investigating the management of funds related to fuel subsidy began public
inquiry into the process of subsidy payments by the Federal Government of
Nigeria to select licenced marketers of petrol and kerosene.
Yesterday, the finance minister, Okonjo Iweala honored the invitation of the
[adhoc] committee. The committee quizzed her on the finance ministry’s
involvement in the oil subsidy process. In her exchanges with the committee, the
minister made it clear that all monies made from crude oil through NNPC and
partners – are not paid directly into the federal accounts of the
nation. The minister stated that the monies for the oil subsidy are withdrawn
before it gets to the national accounts – of which she accented by noting that
it was unconstitutional for the NNPC to deduct any monies from Nigeria’s crude
oil revenues before payment into the national accounts.
However the Petroleum Resources Minister’s appearance before the adhoc
committee today discounts the finance minister’s accession as untrue. The
Minister pointed blame to the finance minister for the authorization of the
N1.3trillion payment for oil subsidy. This she noted repeatedly while adding
that the N1.3trillion may have been misleading to the Nigerian public.
The Petroleum Minister admitted under questioning from Hon Lawan Farouk that the
N1.3trillion was not only paid for petrol subsidy – that the sum contained
arrears for Kerosene and Petrol subsidy dating back to 2008 – thus giving the
impression to the Nigerian public that the nation was disbursing disturbing
amounts of money for the payment of petrol subsidy. She admitted also that only
N250billion out of the N1.3trillion was paid for petrol subsidy.
The Petroleum Minister admitted that she does not know the total volume of
petrol consumed in Nigeria. This is as she complained that Nigerian Federal
Government was virtually subsidizing the entire ECOWAS community – as illegal
transporters of petrol move subsidized petrol out from Nigeria to neighboring
ECOWAS countries. But the federal petroleum minister was pinned on an
embarrassing note – as it was pointed out to her that the Petroleum Ministry
should know the total volume of petrol consume locally – that it would amount to
a rudimentary embarrassment should the ministry not have the data.
The Petroleum Minister was not able to provide the total nominal capacity of the
refineries in Nigeria. She indicated that information available to her showed
that 12% of locally consumed petrol is refined in Nigeria – that Nigeria imports
up to 90% of her petrol. She explained that Nigeria’s refining capacity has
increased to 60% from 30%.
It was learnt that operations at the Petroleum Ministry may have lost is focus
starting from 2006. As gathered, the NNPC imported 92% of all the petrol used
for local consumption in 2006 – at a much reduced cost – while private marketers
[importers] were contracted to import about 8% of petrol. Today, it has flipped,
virtually the entire locally consumed petrol is imported by independent
marketers at an exorbitant cost. The Minister states that the independent
marketers were introduced “to add competition”.
“We have done nothing unconstitutional as a ministry” – exclaimed the Petroleum
Ministry who spoke in a subdued demeanor as she managed to explain the huge
disparity in the amounts of money paid to subsidize petrol in 2006 [when it was
recorded that 27million liters of petrol was subsidized] and in 2011 [when it
was recorded that 33million liters of petrol was subsidized]. In effect,
N200billion in subsidy money was paid in 2006 for 27million liters of petrol
while N1.3trillion was paid in 2011 for 33million liters.
In 2008 when the average crude oil price per barrel was $100 about 33million
liters of petrol was subsidized at N630billion – similar to today’s market
conditions where the average price per barrel of crude oil is $100 – and about
33mllion liters of petrol was subsidized at N1.3trillion.
The Petroleum Minister battled to explain why N245billion made available in the
2011 appropriation bill for payment of fuel subsidy when N1.3trillion was
paid in November/December 2011. In her attempt, she admitted that the
N245billion in the 2011 budget was for payment of fuel subsidy for two [2]
months and not for one year. She indicated that the federal ministry of
petroleum had anticipated that the oil subsidy will be removed by March/April
2011 – during the general elections – but it was not removed – so the
ministry in tandem with the finance ministry proceeded to release additional
payment of N1.3trillion.
stay tune

NigerianRevolution# Our heartfelt condolence to the brave men who gave their
lives and to those equal patriots who despite police & military brutality stood
up to make their country better. For us, we have just started the long walk to
freedom & we shall NEVER SURRENDER! Viva Ala Revolution! Long Live Nigeria!

while we were deep in our poverty induced slumber, hundreds were killed on our
roads, in ethno-religious skirmishes, and ill equiped hospitals. As we turned and twirled in our swetty beds, the fans are still with no power to run them, but there is the different ballads from hundreds of brandless
generators viberating across the neighbouhood. while we slept wearily in our cars qued up in a filling station waiting for the refineries to refine, billions were being spent to host a tournament.
while we slept, our ailing leader was sneaked away to be treated by our brother
who didnt have the facilities needed to ply his trade at home hence, he joined
the diaspora! while we slept, a few were awake busy looting the treasury away! but of course
they were cought and sentenced to the penitentiary for a week or two.
when will we wake from this kind of slumber please? when?

My fellow citizen.

I have a question for you and i'll be ver glad if you can give me the answer. What did you benefit, i mean what is our achievement since 12yrs and 8months that we have returned to this Demomadnss that we called Democracy? Did you remembered how many Wks, Days and Hrs he took us to got our Voters Registration cards? Let me also remind us how long we stay in the hot weather just bcause we want to vote for does imposture and villainy that we called leaders. Simulated of our Governors and the Senators as if they are innocent about the Fuel Subsidy caused consternation among of my fellow comrades. Military Government left the fuel price@ the rate of 22Naira. While our own elected civilian Government so corrupt and wicked. They has no mercy for the masses. Nigerians, are we a fool ? I suggest that we should all ignore any coming election or we should depose PDP in 2015 general election. Your suggetion pls