Over the years I have always marveled at how you keep reinventing yourself and remained true to your values as a human being, Nigerian and Catholic priest.

But even at that, who at age 70 dreams of establishing a “school of government,” to promote good governance in society for generations unborn? Only Bishop Kukah does!

Seventy has a sacred meaning in Scripture; it represents perfection, completeness and God's law. As such, it symbolizes perfect spiritual order.

At 70, you have become more relevant not only to Nigeria as a nation in need of urgent transformation, but to humanity in general as the world continue to face different challenges that will take genuine persons like you to overcome.

By seeking to entrench a culture of research and innovation, especially in the art of governance, Bishop Matthew Kukah; the priest, scholar and gentleman, demonstrates that at age 70 years, all that matters to him is a better Nigeria that is truly democratic, just and prosperous. A Nigeria that works for all Nigerians regardless of tribe, religion or social status.

As you mark your 70th birthday today, may your blessings continue to multiply.

Like St. Paul, may you continue to pour out your life like a libation in service of the poor and for a better Nigeria.

Happy 70th birthday Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah!

31st August, 2022
Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time.

- DJK

Governor Lalong has done the needful to manage the damage he caused by involving the Pope in his local politics.

tolakush92:


Shut up sir

That's police or anyforce for you
Like wise a Yoruba man can head the police outfit in bayelsa

Or didn't you read that he was a 2time deputy commissioner of police in imo so he has the experience of how it works in imo

Show me one northern state headed by an ibo commissioner of police or you remain a disgrace to ur lineage.

Show me one northern state headed by an ibo commissioner of police or you remain a disgrace to ur lineage.

LegalWolf:


Please get educated. They’re Igbo CPs in the North and West. Come on!

Mention their names and the states or you are a disgrace to ur linage.

What is wrong with these Ibo leaders? Have you ever seen an Ibo man in Kano, sokoto, katsina, Zamfara etc as police commissioner Don’t you know that it is a psychological defeat splashed on you when you keep accepting Hausa/Fulani as commissioners in ur states when ur own CAN NEVER be accepted in any northern state? When will these Ibo politicians unite and fight these Fulanis as one people? All Ibo politicians are a bunch of disgrace to themselves and their people. They keep shortchanging their people for peanuts.

It’s a network marketing business. You are trained on network marketing which is very informative and educational. As a partner you stand the chance of making millions and travel on all paid vacation to your choice destination. Share with me what you know about it.

“FATHER KUKAH HAS GREATLY OFFENDED MANY WITH HIS CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.”

The statement quoted above was part of the message issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the president, Hon. Garba Shehu over the reaction of a group in Sokoto regarding the Christmas sermon of the Catholic bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah.

Credit must be given to the government for issuing a strong caution to those who threatened the internationally acclaimed bishop. The intervention of government in this matter was not only timely but proactive, considering the potential for violence which the reckless threat carried.

Another positive thing in what Hon. Garba Shehu said in his statement was the fact that freedom of speech is a constitutional right of all Nigerians and Bishop Kukah acted within his right by exercising it as a Nigerian. Kudos to the government for upholding the constitution on this matter.

Where I was disturbed with Garba Shehu’s statement was his deliberate choice to address bishop Kukah as father Kukah. It was “deliberate” because I refuse to believe that a whole Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the president does not know that former father Kukah is now a Bishop. Not that the learned gentle bishop Kukah I know has time for titles or prefixes, these mean nothing to a highly political thinker and intellectual of Bishop Kukah’s caliber, but I am interrogating the intention of the Senior Special assistant to the president for his deliberate choice of language in addressing Bishop Kukah inappropriately because it does not only smark mischief but portrays Garba Shehu as grossly uninformed thereby unfit for the office he currently occupies in Aso Rock.

Fact is, the name Hon. Garba Shehu will disappear faster than lightning by 2023, but the name “Kukah” will endure forever in the minds of Nigerians. Whatever prefix you decide to attach to the name “Kukah” doesn’t add or reduce anything from its integrity and the socio-political and religious weight it carries. Bishop Kukah was not appointed an adviser to the Pope for no reason.

So, let me give the Senior Special assistant to the president a small taste of his own medicine by saying to Hon. Garba Shehu using his own words, you greatly angered many Catholics (Christians in general) by your controversial address of Bishop Kukah as father Kukah.

Secondly, the senior adviser to the president in his message claimed that “father Kukah greatly offended many with his controversial remarks against the government...” This claim could’ve been true had Hon. Garba Shehu also acknowledged the many people in millions who were happy with Bishop Kukah’s criticism of government with regard to nepotism. If a national census were to be taken of those who were happy with Bishop Kukah’s criticism of this government on nepotism against those who were angered by it, the result will shock Hon. Garba Shehu to realization of how much ordinary Nigerians are offended in so many areas by this government.

But the crux of the matter that bishop Kukah and so many prominent Nigerians have publicly criticized this government about is NEPOTISM, simply defined as “the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.” In a federation of multi-ethnic and religious groups, you cannot make certain positions in government exclusive preserve of one particular ethnicity, religion and region, and still expect everyone from other ethnicities, religion and regions to accept such behavior and clap for you.

It’s not about posting a baseless chat to show which region has what percentage of political appointments. That is diversionary at best, you are only trying to run away from the truth which steers at you in the face. No article of Nigeria’s constitution gives the president the right to appoint one ethnic/religious group to head all top positions that matter in government. That is an insult to other ethnic/religious groups. The president has insulted other ethnic groups in Nigeria by his nepotism, and they have the right to feel insulted and voice it out.

Fact is, there are certain top positions in government that I cannot remember the last Christian from any region that occupied them, or if a Christian from any region has ever occupied them at all. That is the crux of the matter. Based on the nepotistic policy of this government, all political appointees at the federal level are ultimately answerable to one particular ethnic/religious/regional group directly or indirectly. Must one be a Muslim from the north to be appointed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, custom boss, etc., I don’t want to continue with the list because it’s shameful and disrespectful. The government of the day has carried nepotism to its capstone in the history of our nation. It’s an undeniable fact, which even some Muslims from the north have publicly confessed to it. That is the crux of the matter. You don’t run a heterogeneous society like that. Simple!

Lessons to learn:

1. For the government, the lesson at least is that when you appoint one ethic/religious group to head all top positions that matter in a federal government, other ethnic/religious groups who must be answerable to those in-charge will not be happy. This unhappiness, has not been managed well by the government of the day which has turned deaf ears to the clarion call of well meaning Nigerians for inclusion, respecting at least the federal character provision in the constitution. To continue on this recalcitrant path and expect everyone to accept this unprecedented anomaly as normal, is to say that we are now living in a full blown fascist system. Democracy is government of the people, not one section of the people.
2. For Nigerians, anybody that is capable of having his/her voice heard and has something meaningful and constructive to say that will promote unity, progress and development of our country should say it. No one should be cowed into silence in a democracy.
3. For bishop Kukah, the lesson is what you know already, and I want to borrow the words of a young priest Rev. Fr. Jonah Kundi to say this, namely that “you should not expect an average human being to clap for you when you tell him the truth, worst a politician, because if you tell him the truth you are against him.” My Lord, you are the John the Baptist of our time, a lone voice crying in the wilderness calling for a new social order. Please do not look back, do not relent or doubt the support of Nigerians. We are fully behind you. To this end, I pray that God who, in order to free the world from dominion of darkness, revealed the Truth (John 14:6) to the world, continue to use you as an instrument of truth, gadfly of our collective consciousness and courageous moral voice of the oppressed, for the emancipation and development of our God-given country. Amen!

- Fr. Kyom (DJK).

I write this to you because in my country, many persons take a story as true on the surface of the bearers of those messages without making efforts to interrogate. As such, my country men are interested in what is popular than what is logical and sometimes truth is buried on the table of popularity. I went to Church on Sunday with your reasons for absconding Catholic Church at heart. As anticipated, the priest did not fail me, he called for fundraising after the communion. Then, my question was, WHAT FOR?

It was then that I recalled that you never accused Catholic Priests of embezzling money. If you did, then, that would have been a more serious problem because it is theft and is punishable under both civic and religious laws. I thus, became very critical of your assertions and I have few basic questions for you: has there ever been a fundraising in your parish without a palpable project at hand? Well, in my parish on Sunday, we have a building under construction and there are two Deacons to be ordained priests later during the year. This explains the rationale for the fundraising and people gave willingly. Meanwhile, do you think there would be fundraising if people stop judging the performance of a priest at a parish based on the number of infrastructural development he brought during his tenure? When CWO, CMO, CYON, CHOIR etc celebrate their days and request for fund, is it not for the growth of these societies? Has anyone ever taken money from you for the basic sacraments especially of penance and Holy unction? Does the Church sell graces to you?

The last time I checked, no one has ever been forced to raise fund in the Church. It is undisputable that there are basic levies leveled on groups like CMO and CWO but they are all highly affordable by all. If your point is, "fundraising should never be central" at the Church, then, I stand by you. But the fact that it has never been central dislodges the truism of such assertion. I know that most times, rich people try to show their wealths in Church and very stingy rich ones feel ashamed if they can't measure up with their colleagues, I hope that is actually not your problem, Dear Amanda?

To understand you better, I sought for a little connection of the prejudice through which your thought pattern concerning the Catholic Church was formed. I recalled that you once claimed at an earlier interview that you were disgraced out of the Church because of your dressing pattern by the Parish Priest of your Church at Enugu; upon which in your previous interview, you vowed never to attend Church again. If this is true, why then are you of recent trying to hide under the guise of fundraising?

I have this feeling within me that there are much to the interview than the eyes can see. Moreover, your interview reminds me of your central character in your award winning Purple Habiscus, Kambili Achike, who sought for a more liberal Catholicism which allows her to be inquisitive and speak up her mind. Your mention of agnosticism explains this further as the path you would love to chose if given the chance.

Well, your statement that gave me sleepless night is this: "when I see a progressive Catholic Church, I will go". What do you really mean by this? You have the appellation of being an intellectual feminist, pro choice and a promoter of abortion for women. You are a huge fan of a free world which legalizes gay marriage. Since the Catholic Church is against all these, does that make her unprogressive? Seemingly, the fact that you mentioned that many churches are more open and accommodating explains that better.

Kindly be reminded that the Church is highly conservative and will never say yes to any feminist, neo-liberal, counter culture and fascist western ideology which is sympathetic to the novel world agenda of destroying religion, culture and family. If being progressive means means all these things, then, your poisonous eloquent verses are dead on arrival.

The Church is not a social gathering, it is a religious institutions. It is wrong and at the same time impossible for you to force her to conform to your personal views. She is the standard of morality so long as she stands by the dictates of God and natural law. By her nature, she is conservative.

You also claims that the Church teaches you guilt in a certain way. Yes, the central Catholic message about sin is not merely "go, your sins are forgiven", rather it has an active imperative, " go and sin no more." It is true that people want to follow Christ on their own terms and you have outlined your terms. Most people hate to embrace the discomforting and convicting aspect of Christianity which Catholicism presents. I will kindly advice that you continue to question more with a child-like disposition to understand. We have a rich cultural heritage in the Church and these cultural heritages are not understood by antagonising agnostics but child hearted individuals who seek God with faith and reason. The Church is always open and ready to welcoming all her stranded questioning Children; we need the Mother Church more than she needs us... Come back home.

FROM Omeogo

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I write this to you because in my country, many persons take a story as true on the surface of the bearers of those messages without making efforts to interrogate. As such, my country men are interested in what is popular than what is logical and sometimes truth is buried on the table of popularity. I went to Church on Sunday with your reasons for absconding Catholic Church at heart. As anticipated, the priest did not fail me, he called for fundraising after the communion. Then, my question was, WHAT FOR?

It was then that I recalled that you never accused Catholic Priests of embezzling money. If you did, then, that would have been a more serious problem because it is theft and is punishable under both civic and religious laws. I thus, became very critical of your assertions and I have few basic questions for you: has there ever been a fundraising in your parish without a palpable project at hand? Well, in my parish on Sunday, we have a building under construction and there are two Deacons to be ordained priests later during the year. This explains the rationale for the fundraising and people gave willingly. Meanwhile, do you think there would be fundraising if people stop judging the performance of a priest at a parish based on the number of infrastructural development he brought during his tenure? When CWO, CMO, CYON, CHOIR etc celebrate their days and request for fund, is it not for the growth of these societies? Has anyone ever taken money from you for the basic sacraments especially of penance and Holy unction? Does the Church sell graces to you?

The last time I checked, no one has ever been forced to raise fund in the Church. It is undisputable that there are basic levies leveled on groups like CMO and CWO but they are all highly affordable by all. If your point is, "fundraising should never be central" at the Church, then, I stand by you. But the fact that it has never been central dislodges the truism of such assertion. I know that most times, rich people try to show their wealths in Church and very stingy rich ones feel ashamed if they can't measure up with their colleagues, I hope that is actually not your problem, Dear Amanda?

To understand you better, I sought for a little connection of the prejudice through which your thought pattern concerning the Catholic Church was formed. I recalled that you once claimed at an earlier interview that you were disgraced out of the Church because of your dressing pattern by the Parish Priest of your Church at Enugu; upon which in your previous interview, you vowed never to attend Church again. If this is true, why then are you of recent trying to hide under the guise of fundraising?

I have this feeling within me that there are much to the interview than the eyes can see. Moreover, your interview reminds me of your central character in your award winning Purple Habiscus, Kambili Achike, who sought for a more liberal Catholicism which allows her to be inquisitive and speak up her mind. Your mention of agnosticism explains this further as the path you would love to chose if given the chance.

Well, your statement that gave me sleepless night is this: "when I see a progressive Catholic Church, I will go". What do you really mean by this? You have the appellation of being an intellectual feminist, pro choice and a promoter of abortion for women. You are a huge fan of a free world which legalizes gay marriage. Since the Catholic Church is against all these, does that make her unprogressive? Seemingly, the fact that you mentioned that many churches are more open and accommodating explains that better.

Kindly be reminded that the Church is highly conservative and will never say yes to any feminist, neo-liberal, counter culture and fascist western ideology which is sympathetic to the novel world agenda of destroying religion, culture and family. If being progressive means means all these things, then, your poisonous eloquent verses are dead on arrival.

The Church is not a social gathering, it is a religious institutions. It is wrong and at the same time impossible for you to force her to conform to your personal views. She is the standard of morality so long as she stands by the dictates of God and natural law. By her nature, she is conservative.

You also claims that the Church teaches you guilt in a certain way. Yes, the central Catholic message about sin is not merely "go, your sins are forgiven", rather it has an active imperative, " go and sin no more." It is true that people want to follow Christ on their own terms and you have outlined your terms. Most people hate to embrace the discomforting and convicting aspect of Christianity which Catholicism presents. I will kindly advice that you continue to question more with a child-like disposition to understand. We have a rich cultural heritage in the Church and these cultural heritages are not understood by antagonising agnostics but child hearted individuals who seek God with faith and reason. The Church is always open and ready to welcoming all her stranded questioning Children; we need the Mother Church more than she needs us... Come back home.

FROM Omeogo

Yesterday President Trump tested positive for corona virus hours after he made a mockery of his contender Joe Biden when he described Biden as wearing the biggest mask he has ever seen.
Do think this will be a defining moment in favor of Biden?

Hausa Fulani pay lip service to one Nigeria, but do everything to break the country. Who would sit down and accept ur stupidity?

Useless hausa Fulani, they want one Nigeria but northern monopoly. Are we in 1700?

Trikytee and Leycon ... When Agberos win HOH

Covid-19 has made him to drink too much since he stays at home most of the time. But now it has taken a toll on his health and finances and he seems unable to stop drinking. He drinks every blessed day. Pls give advice. Thanks

Why El-Rufai can’t address 60th Annual Conference of NBA–Lawyers
 editor
8 hours ago


A group of prominent lawyers operating under the name of Open Bar Initiative (OBI) has requested the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to withdraw the offer of platform given to Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai at the forthcoming 2020 Annual General Conference of the association.

The Technical Committee on Conference Planning if the NBA headed by Prof Koyinsola Ajayi had chosen to invite el-Rufa as a headline speaker to address the 60th Anniversary Annual General Conference of the association.

The choice of Rufai had unsettled the Nigerian Bar with some arguing that el-Rufai is not a proper person to address the largest gathering of lawyers in Africa whose motto is promotion of rule of law given the rights record of his administration.

Also joining forces with them, lawyers under the aegis of Open Bar Initiative wrote a letter demanding that Rufai’s name be dropped.

The group in a five-page letter addressed to the Chairman of Technical Committee on Conference Planning of the NBA, Prof Koyinsola Ajayi presented a 12 compelling reasons why NBA should act on its request

The letter was signed by past Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Abuja Branch & Coordinator of the Open Bar Initiative, Mr. Joseph Onu.

The Chairman of NBA Board of Trustees, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and the President-Elect, Olumide Akpata were copied.

Specifically, the group said whereas the motto of NBA is promotion of rule of law, El-Rufai “represents the very anti-thesis of what we profess to defend…

“As Governor, Mallam El-Rufai has shown no regard for the rule of law, for human rights or for human beings. He has been reckless in his utterances, hubristic in his outlook and irresponsible with power,” it added..

The lawyers therefore proceeded to justify why El-Rufai is adjudged in their estimation unqualified to be offered a platform at the biggest gathering in defence of the rule of law in Africa with instances of the governor’s action between 2018 and 2020 considered inimical to rule of law.

In what looks like a jab on the human rights record of the APC-led Federal Government, the group said NBA should not forget how it offered the same platform to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 and he “used it to advance an agenda that is against the motto of the NBA when he asserted that “Rule of law must bow before National Security”.

It however threatened that in the event the NBA is not persuaded to act on its request, the group said “we will take steps to make you and your conference popular and join you in ensuring that the Conference under your leadership enjoys maximum disrepute.”

The letter which appears like a dossier on El-Rufai regime in Kaduna in the last two or threebyears reads in full:

18 August, 2020

Prof Koyinsola Ajayi, SAN
Chair, Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP)
Nigerian Bar Association, NBA
CBD, Abuja

REQUEST TO WITHDRAW THE OFFER OF PLATFORM AT THE 2020 ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION TO MALLAM NASIR EL-RUFAI

We are a collective of lawyers enrolled to practice in Nigeria and have duly subscribed for our Practicing Fees in 2020. We have learnt that the TCCP under your leadership has chosen to invite Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, as a headline speaker to address the 60th Anniversary Annual Conference of our beloved Association. We regret that our Association, whose Motto is “Promoting the Rule of Law” extended this invitation to a man who represents the very anti-thesis of what we profess to defend. We, therefore, write as members of the NBA and citizens of Nigeria to request that this invitation should be withdrawn. We set out our reasons below.
As you may know, at the end of June 2020, Civic Media Lab, which monitors mortality in Nigeria’s many security crises, declared Kaduna State, which is governed by Mallam El-Rufai, as “the most dangerous state in Nigeria.” As recorded by the organization, Kaduna’s “record of 493 persons killed between January and June, is higher than the reported deaths in the Boko qHaram/ISWAP terrorised territories of Borno; 290, Adamawa; 37 and Yobe; 5.” As at today, Southern Kaduna is the most active site of massacres and mass atrocities in Nigeria. Despite this, when the Governor met with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna on 17 August, Governor El-Rufai dismissed the atrocities going on in Southern Kaduna as “media hype”. The previous day, on 16 August, he informed Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” programme, that he had been unable to visit the sites of atrocity in Southern Kaduna nor extend empathy to the victims because of COVID-19. However, not having found time to show up for victims of mass killings in his own state, on 8 August, Governor el-Rufai found time to travel to Benin-City for the flag-off of the Campaign of his party in the Edo State Governorship elections. Apparently, COVID-19 did not preclude that.
In April 2020, Bello El-Rufai, Governor El-Rufai’s son, who is also himself a special adviser to the Senator representing Kaduna Central in the Senate, Uba Sani, threatened another citizen who had criticized his father, the governor, with the gang-rape of the person’s mother. When Samuel Ogundipe, a journalist with Premium Times, reported the episode, Bello El-Rufai, parlaying his filial propinquity to a powerful governor, threatened to arrest or disappear Mr. Ogundipe.
In the run-up to the 2019 General Election in Nigeria, Governor El-Rufai infamously threatened foreign observers that they would “go back in body bags” if they reported what he or his ruling party did not like. He suffered no consequences.
As you may know, on 9 December 2019, Quartz Africa named Governor El-Rufai at the head of a “powerful” group of Nigerian state governors who “now regularly use security agents to arrest & intimidate journalists & activists who dare to question their actions or attempt to hold them accountable.” One of the most prominent victims of this is University lecturer, Abubakar Idris, better known as Dadiyata, who was abducted from the gate of his house in Barnawa, Kaduna, on 1 August 2019 and has not been seen since then. At 10:16 Hours on 23 December 2019, one of Governor El-Rufai’s sons, Bashir, issued a tweet gloating over the disappearance of Dadiyata, in which he signed off with the line “Dangerous lines in the public space have consequences.” The Kaduna State government has not much acted as if the disappearance of Dadiyata is of much concern to it.
Many other critics of Governor El-Rufai have been luckier, but only because they ended up in prison or detention. These include university lecturer Dr. John Danfulani. Digital activist, Stephen Kefason, was abducted from his home in Rivers State on the orders of Governor El-Rufai and detained for over five months. Luka Biniyat, journalist with Vanguard Newspaper, was also detained and, at the instance of Governor El-Rufai, fired from his job for writing a report the Governor didn’t like. The same thing happened to Segun Onibiyo, another journalist with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN.
A major focus of the intolerance of Mallam El-Rufai has been lawyers and the legal profession. In 2016, when he was visited by the then President of the Nigerian Bar, A.B. Mahmoud, SAN, Governor El-Rufai threatened to the NBA President to abduct Kaduna lawyer, Ms. Gloria Ballason, because she had criticized him in a news article, a perfectly lawful act of exercising constitutionally protected speech. Ms. Ballason sued to protect her rights and in May 2017, secured a judgment of the High Court of Kaduna State, which found that the Governor had indeed violated her rights. The High Court awarded also damages against the Governor. He refused to pay up. Instead, he instigated another round of violations of the rights of Ms. Ballason, instructing the Kaduna State Police Command to blockade her law office in Kaduna at the end of 2019. In July 2020, the High Court of Kaduna State presided over by Honorable Justice Hannatu Balogun again found Governor El-Rufai and the Police in Kaduna State under his direction, in violation of the right of Ms. Ballason to practice her vocation as a lawyer. The High Court specifically found that they had violated the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
As the proceedings were pending in February 2017 in Ms. Ballason’s case, Governor El-Rufai arranged to abduct one of her clients, Audu Maikori, from Lagos. Mr. Maikori, himself a lawyer of some distinction, was transported to Kaduna on the orders of Mallam El-Rufai, where he was detained and tortured, first at the police before being sent into detention. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal have found that the conduct of the Governor constituted egregious violations of the laws and the constitution. There is presently pending an award of N10.5 million against the Governor for the violations inflicted on Audu Maikori. Governor El-Rufai will not comply or pay up.
On the eve of the presidential elections in February 2019, Mallam El-Rufai took to the television to announce on 15 February 2019, that “66 Fulanis” had been massacred in an Adara settlement in Kajuru Local Government Area in Southern Kaduna. The Police as well as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), denied that any such incident happened. When Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, one of our leading members and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, challenged Mallam El-Rufai to provide proof of his claims, the governor sought to procure his abduction with an order in a case that did not have a suit number.
You may argue that it is a good thing to offer Mallam El-Rufai the platform of the #NBAAGC2020 so that he may be subjected to some examination by the participants. However, as you can see, those who have criticized him so far, many of them well placed members of our Association, have suffered untold persecution from Mallam El-Rufai or his family. When these members of our Association fought for their freedom and against their own persecution by Mallam El-Rufai, neither the NBA nor its leadership showed up. If you ask our members to criticize him now, will you protect them when Mallam El-Rufai levies his inevitable retribution and persecution or will you offer us all balaclavas so that we will ask him question with our faces fully covered?!
We have set these out factually because we do not wish to be presumptuous. This then is the person that you have decided to elevate and offer a platform at the biggest gathering in defence of the rule of law in Africa. As Governor, Mallam El-Rufai has shown no regard for the rule of law, for human rights or for human beings. He has been reckless in his utterances, hubristic in his outlook and irresponsible with power. Offering him the platform of the NBA Annual General Conference 2020 is reward for misrule.
Recall that in 2018, this very platform was given to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and he used it to advance an agenda that is against the motto of the Nigerian Bar Association when he asserted thatb”Rule of Law must bow before National Security. That is still a very bad stain on the image of the Nigerian Bar even now. Let us not repeat such a reckless mistake as this is even potentially worse
This is why we have chosen to appeal to your professional conscience with a factually founded letter to withdraw this invitation that brings our cherished Association into irremediable disrepute. We hope that you will find our correspondence worthy of your time and our prayers deserving of your attention. If, however, it is the preference of the TCCP, to disregard our very reasonable request, we will take steps to make you and your conference popular and join you in ensuring that the Conference under your leadership enjoys maximum disrepute.
Yours sincerely

Silas Joseph Onu Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Ph.D.
CONVENER CO-CONVENER

CC: Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Chair, Board of Trustees, NBA
Olumide Akpata, President-Elect, NBA

Whatever is making these hausa Fulani to think Nigeria is their exclusive property and that they can do whatever they like, while the rest of the country just follows them like sheep, will soon be cured, cos it’s a sickness.

Bishop Kukah is very very right...FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES should be places where religious and ethnic biases shouldn’t be allowed. Kukah is talking about Federal Universities in the north and he is right. All the universities he mentioned are federal universities. There should be churches and mosques in all federal universities.

Is it true that Angola has banned islam and is tearing down mosques? If that is true do you think its the right thing to do?

If not for the phone call i put through to my mechanic i wudve been scammed to the tune of over N20,000 yesterday. I was driving along Yakowa road and wen i stopped at the red traffic light at NNPC junction a young man was crossing the road and he pointed his hand at my car tyres as if to tell me something is wrong with my car. I became scared and thought somebody might have brushed my car without me knowing. I decided to pull over after making a right turn to check my car. I didnt see anything wrong. Suddenly another young man approached me and said my car tyre was wobbling. I said yes someone just mentioned to me but i dont see anything. He insisted that i check the tyres and offered to tighten the bolts for me. He checked the tyres and said "o my Gosh! its something under the tyres and i need to see a mechanic immediately or else the tyres will pull off anytime. He said i was lucky the tyres didnt pull off before now. He then offered to repair it for me if i can follow him to a house near by where he is going to repair someone's car. I accepted cos i was scared of driving with tyres that could go off anytime. We got to the place and he went in and brought a pair of spanners and started work. immediately he loosed the tyres and brought out some damaged metals and said this is the problem. He gave me a number to dial and he spoke to a man begging him to send his boy with new set of something cap immediately. The guy brought the things and i paid the bike man that brought the boy N100. After fixing it he asked to start the car and i did and he everything is ok now. I asked the boy how much is the new thing and he said N18,000. I said ok let me call my mechanic first and find out something. As i called my mechanic and started telling him what am passing through, my mechanic just shouted "dont give them anything they are thieves". He said they have been doing this to people and that its a new way they have deviced to rob innocent people. As i was talking to my mechanic before i could turn to ask them the next question there was nobody around. They ran away. Please be forewarned and tell others about it.

Gbaghan:
The poster above ^^^ is a fool!

If you post below me, you are a goat!

And if you quote me, i will kill you!

I dont know you but i bet with my life YOU MUST BE A MUSLIM to talk like that; no christian will talk like that.

soe:
That is why we keep saying...islam is the way

You are very right, that's why the shiites are killing the Sunnis and other sects too numerous to count. Shut up! Yours is murderous religion accept it and begin the revolution that will make Islam wear the face of God and become a tolerant religion like Christianity.

This Oba needs to be REMINDED that NIGERIA is our fatherland regardless of where we CHOSE TO LIVE. If he continues to call NIGERIANS non-indigenes in NIGERIA, one day little children in nursery school will insult him. Someone should go to his so-called palace and tell him he has been dancing naked in the market square for some time now. The Oba should learn from other traditional rulers who remain non-partisan cos of their traditional office as royal fathers of all. He is fast losing it.

Madrid (AFP) - Police found an eight-year-old Ivorian boy hidden in a suitcase that was smuggled across the border into Spanish territory in north Africa, an official said on Friday.
A 19-year-old woman took the case through a pedestrian crossing from Morocco into the small Spanish-governed territory of Ceuta on Thursday, a spokesman for the Civil Guard police force said. "When they put the suitcase through the scanner, the operator noticed something strange, which seemed to be a person inside the case," he told AFP. "When it was opened they found a minor, in a terrible state." The boy said he was eight years old and from Ivory Coast, according to the spokesman. The Civil Guard arrested the woman, who was due to go before a judge.
They also arrested the boy's father when he tried to cross the border a few hours later. The father is Ivorian and lives in Spain's Canary Islands. Thousands of migrants each year risk their lives trying to enter Ceuta and another Spanish territory bordering Morocco, Melilla, in search of a better life in Europe. Many Africans try to scramble over the seven-metre (23-foot) fences that separate the Spanish cities from Morocco. Others smuggle themselves over the border hidden in vehicles and cargoes or try to swim or sail from shores on the Moroccan side. Earlier this week a 23-year-old Moroccan was found in a shipping container in the port of Melilla. He was dehydrated after four days cooped up without food or water, since the container was left unattended over the May holiday weekend.

Brother Adebayor shut up! You spoiled them and they are only giving you back what you deserve. Who buys a house of $1m and asks his siblings to go stay there? If Dangote does that his business will fold up in one week. You have a carrier with a limited life span, why spent money on your family instead of investing money on your family? If they want to go to school, sponsor them. If they want to start business, they should start with their own money first, then you can augment the capital IF they are serious. But you spoiled them from the word go. African siblings who are not educated are a disaster with money they didnt suffer to get. Dont give them the fish, teach them to catch it. You prefered give them plenty fish thinking you are helping them. Now you are here. To clean up the mess you must take control of all your property and reconcile with your mom first. Dont bother about your siblings for now. You have done enof for them. Concentrate on investing your money for your own family and reconcile with mom and take good care of her. You spoiled your siblings with money but you can "unspoil" them by retrieving all your property from them and begin to invest for your children. I wish you well.

The poster of this thread is a concerned Nigerian and I commend you. I lived in Manhattan NYC couple of blocks from the Nigerian Embassy for over 3yrs. It's really embarrassing and bad for the Country's image in NYC. Everything the poster has is true of the staff and structure of that embassy. You would think u r in Nigeria cos of the attitude of the staff there. You just got to overlook everything and get what you want and leave.

I know about the case of "Pot calling cattle black." Honestly it doesnt matter who is "blacker" or "less black" between IBB & OBJ; whether it is the pot or cattle is inconsequencial (I dont even know who betw them is the pot and the cattle, cos they look so much alike in their "kaki". What matters is that both of them are black. The only fools Nigerians know are those guys in "kaki" who subverted the Will (Constitution) of the Nigerian people and imposed themselves as dictators over the people. Once a dictator, always a dictator whether in military or 'civilian' garb. Have they finished explaining to Nigerians the sources of their stinking wealth yet? That palacial "concrete jungle" in Minna doesnt fit the describtion of a wise and examplary leader. The only good thing these dictators can do for Nigerians right now as i type this is to shut up their mouths and let the country move forward. The nightmares they caused helpless Citizens are already over and no one can make Nigerians go through those traumatic times a second time. Both OBJ & IBB had rare opportunities to write their names in gold in the annals of Nigeria's history, but chose to write their names in 'black'. "June 12" & the scandalous "3rd Term" imbroglio will go down as the worst moments of Nigeria's history. And here you have the architects of those dark moments 'shamelessly' pouring vituperations on each other as if in all their years of "service" they were able to stabilize even NEPA. They left Nigerans in "darkness" so that they can continue to hide under the cover of "past presidents" (who lacked common sense) and avoid arrest and prosecution. Let them continue to talk until they talk themselves into spilliing their own beans, and then Nigerians will have their own pound of flesh from both of them. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, i take God beg you, please stabilize NEPA and write your name in gold in the hearts and minds of Nigerians, and let these so-called "past presidents" continue to disrespect their old age in public. Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria! Long Live Nairaland!! Long Live Modern Media!!!

Somebody just announced that his goods were stolen, and the next thing is "it happens everywhere", "people are looting in uk as we speak", etc. When will Nigerians stop comparing apples with oranges? Europe and America are not the same as Nigeria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was riot in uk cos someone was killed. Who was killed to created the "riot" that cause those thieves to break into someones goods and steal? But even if there is riot in Nigeria, when has it ever become justifiable for people to steal? I need an answer from those two guys who said "it happens everywhere" and "people are looting in Uk as we speak". I will respond to you immediately, i'm waiting.

silly judicial system, its either he is guilty and sentenced or there is no enough evidence to prove he is guilty, and he should be aquitted. Why keep someone for years in jail without judgement? Nonesense system. silly government.

any woman that excuses the action of mercy johnson (by saying the woman should blame the man not mercy johnson) should go and have their brains examined by the best psychologist around.