₦airaland Forum

“Labaran Maku, Most Corrupt Federal Minister” – Presidency..
The activities surrounding the renewed attempt by the office of the presidency in showcasing the good administrative efforts of the Goodluck Jonathan administration via the Good Governance Tour under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Information may have opened a Pandora’s Box that may spell doom for the continued stay of the Information Minister at the Information Ministry.

Information available to 247ureports.com obtained through a top sensitive source within the Presidency reveals the uncloaked perception of Mr. President towards some of the Federal Executive Cabinet members – particularly the Federal Minister of Information, Malam Labaran Maku. The source who is a national player in party politics of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] quotes the President as saying that Labaran Maku as the “most corrupt Federal Minister” following a brief ‘behind-closed-door’ discussion between the source and Mr. President recently.

From discussions with the President, the source understood that the President was livid over the ill performance of the Good Governance Tour – in terms of the limited waves/impact made in the print and electronic media. It was learnt that Mr. President was elated over the idea of a Good Governance Tour when it was initially proposed at the Federal Executive Council meeting by the Information Minister – partly because the Tour would enable uplift a fast dwindling political currency. Mr. President was also pleased the Tour was suggested by a former Information Minister, Jerry Gana.

Pleased with the prospects of having a Tour to showcase the developmental strides of the federal government – of which may result to a good ‘Public Relations’ job for the president, Mr. President immediately bought into the idea – and tapped his men to help make available the necessary logistics to facilitate the Tour. The Information Minister was given the go ahead – along with the authority to approach the various Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies for financial support – and a list of their various projects. The information Minister also approached each state governor for the same.

But with roughly over one month into the tour exercise, the initial elation felt by the President evaporated as the media headlines appear to have not carried the efforts in the manner he [presidency] thought was fitting. “The president was disappointed at the exercise”. Specifically, according to another source within the presidency, the president thought that with the monies raised for the Tour – that the Honorable Minister should have been able to ‘force’ the findings of the Tour into the Headlines of many Newspapers or Magazines. Rather, the Honorable Minister opted to focus primarily on federal government owed media houses for the dissemination of the Tour findings and developments. Of which our source indicates the President was grossly unimpressed.

On the part of the reporters – who had tagged along the entourage of the Tour – as official selected reporters to report on the findings along the Tour – the matter appears uneasy.

The reporters, according to the Tour details, were selected from a wide variety of media houses and embedded with the Tour. They were to receive a daily allowance of N100,000 from the Ministry of Information. Also, to augment their daily allowance, the reporters expected to receive monetized goodwill messages from the various State Governors following the completion of each State tour. But the reporters have yet to receive the monetized messages – of which 247ureports.com gathered were regularly given to aides to the Information Minister for onward transmission to the Minister. But the Information Minister hoards the money without distributing the monies to the Reporters. As a result, the Reporters remain unhappy.

But the Director of Press at the Ministry of Information, Mr. Dama disagrees. In a text message to 247ureports.com, he termed the allegation against the Information Minister false and untrue.

In his words, “There is no truth in these allegations. Mr. Labaran is prudent with the good governance tour expenditure and no reporter has been short changed as alleged. All reporters are being paid their duty tour allowances as and when due as we went on the tour. You can call any one of them on tour team and they will confirm that to you. Again the allegation that the presidency is unimpressed is equally not true. This is because Labaran briefed the Federal Executive Council on the tour two weeks ago and it was adjudged to be good. If the presidency has found any fault with the good governance tour it would have said so and even be reflected on their resolutions for last week that he briefed council but nothing of such was reflected. Please ignore all the lies being spread about the good governance tour. We are ready to open up our books for you to see please”.

Meanwhile, preliminary investigation carried out by our correspondent indicates the Information Ministry to be administered under a less prudent administrator. Our investigation showed the Information Minister as a familiar player in the art of funds misappropriation. Specifically, the 2011 budget for the Information Ministry earmarked N65.68million for upkeep of Utilities at the Main Ministry, it earmarked N261.6million for Maintenance, N69.1million for Other Services, and N5.4million for Repairs – totaling to a grand total of N401.9million for building maintenance and upkeep. However a visual inspection of the building facility [both external and internal] shows a disparity – a structured disparity.

See below for enclosed photographs depicting the disparity in earmarked funds and the dilapidated utilities and associated structures









.Read more! http:///JB5ZNvUh

taharqa: B4 going ahead with yr nonsense against d 'damn nation', read d article again- the #250 is cos of d local strike by tankers drivers in cross river....@OP, i stay in Benin and Asaba. In Benin, it is #97 per litre; while in Asaba, major marketers sell at #97 per litre (though all of dem smtimes dont hv d products at d same time) while most of d oda smaller stations who hv it at all times sell at bw #105-#120

where in benin do you stay that you buy fuel for 97 naira? As I type fuel is 120 in isihor in benin(eddygrace,conoil,ine oil,mobil,rapteen filling stations) and you have to spend like all day at the station coupled with the yanga from the petrol station attendants

FG, Boko Haram hold secret talks in Senegal..
The Federal Government and fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, held a secret meeting in Senegal a few weeks ago in a bid to end the terrorism onslaught against the country, SUNDAY PUNCH authoritatively reports.

The governments of Mali and Senegal played significant roles in the peace talks with officials of the two West African countries serving as mediators during the negotiations, our correspondent learnt.

Mali and Senegal have majority Muslim populations and also have mainstream Islamic groups with strong ties to religious groups in Northern Nigeria.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the Federal Government team to the meeting was led by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe. Orubebe is one of President Goodluck Jonathan’s closest associates. The newspaper also gathered that some senior Boko Haram commanders stood in for the sect.

A very reliable source in government, who pleaded not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter, disclosed that the leaders of the sect insisted that a ceasefire was only possible if their terms were met.

Pressed for more details, the source refused to disclose the terms Boko Haram gave for ceasefire, adding that the terms were “what the sect has always demanded.”

The terms that Boko Haram has been reported to have given government for a ceasefire include, the release of their detained members, the payment of compensation and the rebuilding of their houses and mosques demolished by government.

The source said the talks were successful but could not be sustained because hawks in the military advised President Goodluck Jonathan against accepting the terms.

According to him, the military advised the President not to give in to the demands of the sect with a promise that they would deal with the Boko Haram challenge.

Confirming the meeting in Senegal, the Convener of Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, accused the President of double standards.

Mohammed said the President could not claim that the sect was faceless because the Federal Government had interacted with some of them.

Mohammed said, “Yes, it is true. The minister travelled to Senegal where, on prior arrangement with Senegalese and Malian secret services, met some of the Boko Haram leaders.

“The Federal Government has been silent about meeting with leaders of Boko Haram in Senegal.”

Mohammed also flayed the price placed on the heads of leaders of the Boko Haram sect. He said the military’s action was aimed at frustrating the negotiations.

“After meeting with these people, you now say you are putting money on their heads. It is an act of bad faith. The mere fact that there was some kind of meeting clearly shows that what the military did was an act of bad faith.

“The decision to put money on the heads of Boko Haram commanders was a political decision. The Chief of Army Staff should stop making political statements.

“It is dangerous for soldiers to assume the power of taking political decisions in our democracy. It is also dangerous for the civilian government to be controlled by the military to an extent that 20 to 25 per cent of the budget expenditure goes to security; an average of one trillion naira a year. We can’t afford it.”

Similarly, the Secretary of the Borno State Elders’ Forum, Dr. Bulama Gubio, said the recent conflicting signals from the Federal Government had left the North confused.

He said while they were hopeful that the Federal Government would resume negotiations with leaders of the sect, the announcement of a bounty on their heads had complicated the situation in Borno and neighbouring states, where Boko Haram attacks had been rife.

He said, “Right now we are even confused. We don’t know what is happening again. The Federal Government said they would negotiate with Boko Haram if they agreed to negotiate. And we have been pleading with these boys to negotiate with the Federal Government. Now, JTF has put money on the heads of the people they listed as Boko Haram leaders. The problem is that the President will say one thing and government agencies will say another thing. We don’t know what to believe now.

“We are still pleading with the Federal Government to go ahead and negotiate with Boko Haram members who have come out to say they want to negotiate. Government would keep saying they are faceless. The situation here is bad. Our people are dying.”

When contacted, the Army spokesman, Brigadier Gen. Bolaji Koleosho, declined comments on the allegation that the army advised the President against negotiating with the sect.

Koleosho said, “Army’s response to that is simply no comment.”

Attempts to get reactions from the Embassies of Mali and Senegal in Nigeria were futile. When SUNDAY PUNCH visited the embassy of Mali located in Maitama, Abuja on Friday, an official of the Embassy said those who were in a position to respond to the enquiries on the issue were out of the country on an official assignment.

The official, a protocol officer who did not give his name said, “The Ambassador, the 1st and 2nd Secretaries who may be in a position to answer your question are currently in Cote d’Ivore attending an ECOWAS meeting about the situation in our country.

“The only person around is the accountant who cannot speak on any issue. I am sorry.”

At the Embassy of Senegal located at Number 12, Jose Marti Crescent, an official asked our correspondent to return at 4:00pm on Friday to meet the Political Affairs Officer whose name was given simply as Mr. Loum.

There was no sign of human presence when our correspondent returned.

Efforts to reach the Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati,  on Saturday proved abortive as calls made to his mobile number did not go through neither did he respond to a text message sent to him by our correspondent.

Boko Haram has a presence in Mali as over 100 members of the sect reportedly joined forces with Mali’s armed militia, Mouvement National de Liberation de l’Azawad, to declare an Independent Republic in Northern Mali in April.

On Tuesday, the sect wrote a letter to the Federal Government, reaffirming its willingness to negotiate. It replaced Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who had declined the nomination as lead mediator with the Federal Government, with Imam Gabchiya, an official of the University of Maiduguri.

The letter came less than 72 hours after a double suicide bombing led to the death of at least 17 people in Kaduna State and four days after the army had offered a N290m bounty for information leading to the capture of 19 leading members of the sect.

In August, Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, had told journalists that the government was already in talks with the sect through “backroom channels.”

Abati had confirmed the secret talk to The PUNCH, on November 12. He said, “I can confirm to you that talks are ongoing at the background. But the talks are not the kinds being envisaged by Nigerians. The ongoing talk is a back channel one in which those who know members of the group are talking with them on behalf of the government.”

However, during his latest Presidential Media Chat, Jonathan had dismissed Abati’s claims.

He said, “There is no dialogue between the Boko Haram and government. Boko Haram is still operating under cover, they wear masks and there is no face. They operate under cover.

http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-boko-haram-hold-secret-talks-in-senegal/

Just called u,hope it has no faults. Will call you tomorrow so we can deal

[quote author=Red-Light]these people funny o! Nuclear program for peaceful goal

are they hosting olympic 4 nuclear weapon or are they going to hunt bushmeats with nuclear weapons [/quote]the nuclear reactors in japan,what are they been used for? Apart from war nuclear energy has a vast number of good uses. Don't just post google is your friend. Its when nuclear energy gets into the wrong hands that protends danger

Last night when the reality dawned on me that my mum was gone for real. She passed on april this year. I just felt like talking to her last night and that was when the reality dawned on me and I just couldn't keep the tears from flowing. I miss my mum so much,cancer I hate that name cos it took my mum away from me

Amazondepth: All of u shouting dat there shldnt b negotiations make una go join JTF for north na.u don't know even d so called Americans go into covert negetiations with terrorist groups despite their diplomatics stance!do u realy think its about a winner or looser here?wateva it takes for peace even temporary one to b restored shld b welcome.even our military have been exposed as lacking ability to protect itself and u r there shouting dat negotiations shld not hold.sad as it is to admit,d FG lacks d intelligence and competence to wipe off BH.if it cowardly so be it,all d JTF bravado has taken us nowhere.Achebe said and I quote'cowards will one day sit in d their intact homes and points @ d ruins of d house where a so called brave man once lived'.if we will b cowardly to live,no b bad tin.

Help me tell them oh.you just hit the nail on the head and for that I add a billion like to your post

jamace: Correct.

very wrong,since when have the fulani and hausa been living there and after decades they now start robbing banks,I spoke with my colleague that works in the general hospital there and from what he said this was a coordinated and well planned op. They started by attacking the police and as at this morning soldiers have cordoned off auchi,total restriction of movement as no one goes in or out of auchi but do they think whoever did this would still be in town? The level of sophistication of robbers these days is alarming. The robbery in ogun state a couple of months back comes to mind where smoke grenades and dynamites were used and snipers positioned outside the bank

The crowd at the venue of the 2012 Comptroller-General of Customs’ conference in Katsina applauded as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar knelt down to greet his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Atiku and Obasanjo, who served as vice president and president of Nigeria respectively, between 1999-2007, had an estranged relationship during the last lap of their second term in office.

Both men were among a retinue of VIPs invited to the opening of the week long Comptroller-Generals’ conference held at the newly inaugurated auditorium of Katsina State University.

Obasanjo, who arrived ahead of Atiku, was seated next to second republic President Shehu Shagari and the Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuwade.

Atiku, who arrived nearly 40-minutes after his former boss, first greeted the Emir of Gwandu, Muhammad Iliyasu; Emir of Katsina, Abdulmimini Usman; the Ooni and Shagari who were seated at the podium.

When he got to Obasanjo, the former vice president knelt down and bowed his head to greet his former boss.

The delighted crowd followed the mild drama with applause.

Earlier, Vice President Namadi Sambo, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan, had inaugurated the 1,500 capacity auditorium of the Katsina State University, venue of the conference.

Two former heads of state, top traditional rulers from different geo-political zones in Nigeria, former Comptroller-Generals of Customs and Customs chiefs from the Africa region attended the opening event.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, delivered a goodwill message, where he challenged the Customs to go beyond its statutory role of combating smuggling of goods.

Tambuwal listed other roles of the service to include revenue collection, trade facilitation and border protection.

He urged the service to collaborate with other relevant agencies in the country to improve their services.

He pledged that the National Assembly would support the ongoing review of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) to enable the service discharge its function optimally

http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/41044/2012/11/26/katsina_crowd_cheer_atiku_stoops_greet_obasanjo_customs_conference.html
http:///O1tvYUWv
Season one of the 2015 movie

linearity: Why is this lies given front page coverage?

I have families all over 9ja and some in the villages and I am in NYC....in my numerous and constant calls to 9ja.....I have only experienced telephone glitch once or twice and in each case, the recipient is either not in a coverage area or are in the village with poor coverage.

Urban areas in Abuja is saturated with coverage, not to talk of Aso Rock and the President's office phone, which will even be a direct truck line...link all the 32 channels in a truck dedicated to his single number.

Bros this is naija anything can happen with our network. Imagine my folks in US and UK had issues calling me for about 3 weeks and they went into panic mode meanwhile my loaction is in ikeja saturated with network,I use MTN,GLO and Airtel. There are even times you use your number to call your other numbers and all you get is"the number you have dialled is either switched off or out of network blabla" or "the number you have dialled is unavailable" meanwhile the phones are on with full network bars in your hand. Just last week friday my kid bro travelled to lagos and for 3 days we couldn't reach him. I went on an assignment to oyo state tried calling with all the network and all I get is those silly voice prompts or it aint going through at all,my dad was trying to reach him from benin on MTN,Airtel and visafone all to no avail. When the dude got home he said he even sent a txt that day but it never delivered after 72 hours and his credit was deducted. We just pray not to be at the mercy of our gsm providers here cos it would be the end

In ishan(Esan language in edo state) its called OTIEN

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Tolofari

Post navigation

Next →

INDIA -99 vs NIGERIA-1 …. what really happened!!!

 No one can put an exact date on it. You would have better luck trying to sell ice to an Eskimo than you would trying to find someone who knows where it happened. No one knows anyone who actually saw it happen, but we all still know it did happen. Many years ago, on a date no one can verify, at a venue no one is completely sure of, Nigeria’s national team broke the unenviable record for the most goals conceded in a football match when they lost 99-1 – yes ninety-nine, one – to India. I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes, it is (supposedly) true.

Years after the Dutch had been successful with total football and long before Barcelona perfected the tiki taka, India played with a tactical method called the magic system in which they literally used magic to defeat their opponents. If you believe those who were told by people who never actually watched the post match press conference, the visibly confused Nigerian players spoke of being tackled by unseen players and of the ball at times turning invisible. When asked why he did not attempt to make any saves throughout the match, our goal keeper said he never saw the ball. What he say coming towards him were tigers, snakes and lions. Only after the animals had gone past him into the net did they turn into footballs.

Nigeria’s only goal was scored by Teslim “Thunder” Balogun who had been banned by FIFA from shooting with his left foot because it was so deadly. So deadly that he had unintentionally killed his younger brother with a thunderous left foot shot. Ninety-nine goals down, the Nigerian coach said to hell with FIFA and screamed to his player, “Thunder Balogun, use your leeeeeeeeeeeeft!! And Thunder used his left. And Thunder scored.It is not known what Thunder’s punishment was using his left. For using magic, India were charged by FIFA with bringin futbal to disrepute and banned from the sport
Source
BBM broadcast

Former Lagos Ministry aide, Toyin Hamzat killed...Read more! http:///7i69jZIv



God have mercy and this was one of the dudes tipped to succeed Fashola

Linguist: I haven't deleted my late dad's number since august last year cos I still try his number just hoping he will pickup, its a year plus and am still in denial stage not wantn to delete it. Don't think I will now. So to answer dat its a personal thing, u can decide to keep or delete it.

its a personal thing,lost my mum april and I don't think am gonna delete her number from my phone at all. I once called the number and it rang,the shock was beyond description only to discover my lil bro switched on her phone

Maiduguri—Joint Task Force, JTF, in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, said it killed a Boko Haram Commander for the North-East and North-West of Maiduguri and his lieutenants, who allegedly killed General Mamman Shuwa three weeks ago.

The name of the Commander was given as Ibn Saleh Ibrahim.

A statement by JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, said troops from the JTF, 333 Air Defence Regiment, the Department of State Security, SSS, with the support of a helicopter, conducted major offensive operations against some suspected terrorists in Nganaram, Bulabulin and Bayan Quarters in Maiduguri metropolis.

Sagir, however, said the operation was still ongoing at press time, pointing out that the late Ibn Saleh was confirmed to be responsible for the recent killing of the Nigerian Civil War hero, Gen. Mamman Shuwa through the orders of the sect’s leader Abubakar Shekau

http:///owoulsrf

A 40-year-old Bangladesh woman, Monju Begum, has reportedly cut off the penis of a man who was allegedly trying to rape her, and then took it to police as evidence.

According to police, Mozammel Haq Mazi, the suspect, who is also Begum’s neighbor, forced his way into her shanty and began sexually assaulting her. Investigators say Begum stopped the attack by cutting off his penis. She then placed the evidence into a polythene bag and took it into police as proof that Mazi had attempted to rape her.

Begum, a married mother of three, told the police that Mazi had been harassing her for the past six months. He is reportedly also married and has five children.

Police spokesperson, Abul Khaer, said “It is quite an unusual incident. As far as I am aware, this is the first time that a woman has brought a severed penis to the police station as evidence… We will arrest him once his condition gets better,” said Khaer.

Meanwhile, Mazi denied the allegations, telling investigators that the two were having an affair. In Mazi’s words “Recently she suggested that both of us can go settle down in Dhaka… I refused and told her that I cannot leave my wife and children, so she took revenge on me.” Doctors say the man’s pénis will not be re-attached.

http:///6troBjFJ

Lionel Richie - think of you
Jeffery Osbourne - you should be mine
George Benson - kisses in the moonlight
Atlantic star - I will remember you
Cool and the gang - God's country
The Commodores - oh no
Vanessa Williams - sweetest day
Aaliyah - journey to the past
3T - thankful
Lionel Richie - you are
Boys 2 me and Chante Moore - Your home is in my heart
Eternal. - Baby I
Gregory Abbot - I will prove it to you/ shake you down
The temptation - soul to soul
112 - I think
Debarge - the heart is not so smart
Evan Rogers - call my heart your home
Damage - forever
Medeiros - If I knew
Maurette Brown Clark - the one he kept for me
Aaron Neville/Linda Rosandlt - I don't know much
Lionel Richie - only one only love
Alexander O neal - if you were here tonight
Spyrogyra - send me one line
Maher Zain - number one
Backstreet boys - Perfect fan
98 degrees - invisible man
Xscape - understanding

You have already made up your mind,then why bother about other people's view bringing it up for discourse? Its either you just want to have fun with the comments or you are confused. If there is something I have learnt in life ,its if a man doesn't have a woman's heart he should forget about her,don't stay with anyone out of obligation or pity and finally if someone wants you to be part of their life you don't have to fight to be there.You may love the wrong person, cry for the wrong reason. But one thing is sure: Mistakes help us to find the right person. Some dreams can NEVER be shattered. Wish you best of luck in your quest and I pray God guides you in the right direction amen

The comrade governor on behalf of esan people in the south west congratulate you on your second tenure and hope you do better than your first term

How We Smuggle Arms Into Nigeria – Gunrunner
A suspect named Samuel Michael, who was recently arrested and put in the custody of a task force fighting criminals operating along the waters in Nigeria, has revealed that his syndicate that specializes in trafficking arms and hijacking Nigeria-bound cargo hired a vessel to perpetrate their crime.

Michael, who is also referred to as Logistics Officer, among the crew on board MV Naomi Corlet, betrayed no emotion while dishing out the details of his syndicate’s escapades.

Other suspected criminals in the Lagos coastline have been arrested by the operatives of the task force, just as a special operation by the Nigerian Navy is currently flushing criminals out of the nation’s waters in the Niger Delta.

According to Michael, MV Naomi Corlet was hired in Cameroun for a period of six months to enable his gang to have enough time to maximize its use for their nefarious operation. He specifically named one Charles as the person in charge of facilitating the vessel.

He said Charles is well-connected and has influence among the top officials of the federal government including an unnamed member of the House of Representatives and a prominent lawyer.

Said Michael: “The vessel anchors at Calabar port from where we usually take off and move down to Badagry, Lagos State, where we have a depot of sorts. We offload our cache of arms at Badagry and return to the water for operation. It is through Badagry that arms enter Nigeria.

“There are other locations across the country where the arms are kept. What I am saying is that only about 20 per cent of the arms stay in Lagos while others are scattered in different locations across the country, especially the Niger-Delta.”

Michael said he had participated in both hijacking and arms trafficking on four occasions with each operation fetching him what he referred to as “good money”. He said he was on his way to yet another operation in Cotonou, Republic of Benin capital, when the long arms of the law caught up with him and other members of his gang.

He said that would not have been arrested had the vessel not developed a mechanical fault which forced it to a halt. He said he called someone at Apapa who could fix the problem and the person brought a power-generating set to the spot but got the shock of his life when he entered the vessel and saw traces of hard drugs.

Another source in the task force narrated: “The person became suspicious, given the fact that the gang members were at first reluctant in allowing him into the vessel. They eventually allowed him because they were in dire need of his service at that point in time.

“So, when the person saw the traces of cocaine inside the vessel, he kept quiet and subsequently stumbled on some live cartridges. Because of the fear that they might harm him and throw him into the sea, he did not show sign of shock.

“But he tricked them that the generator could not function until he returned to Apapa to bring a certain component. This was what helped him out of the place. By the time he got to Apapa, he contacted somebody who alerted us.”

Michael disclosed that his gang was eagerly waiting for the engineer when, suddenly, through their monitor, they discovered that they had been surrounded by members of the task force. This development, he said, brought untold apprehension and forced them to throw some boxes of arms in the vessel into the sea.

Michael further said: “I was apprehended on October 13, 2012, in a vessel named Naomi Corlet which we wanted to use to hijack a vessel carrying AGO on the high sea. The person who chartered the vessel is one Mr. Charles.

“When we were apprehended by security personnel some ammunition and gallons of petrol were found on board the vessel. Apart from our sponsor, Charles and Ademola other known buyers of the stolen products are Ebere, IK and Abedo.”

 

Why we moved into the creeks – Naval chief

The new chief of naval staff, Vice Admiral Dele J. Ezeoba, yesterday said the navy was in the creeks primarily to flush out criminal elements from the sector as mandated by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The president had, while swearing in the new service chiefs, ordered them, especially the chief of naval staff, to end all illegal activities in the sector including oil theft. Speaking exclusively to LEADERSHIP, Ezeoba said he was leading the invasion of the hideouts of the oil thieves to show the seriousness his leadership attaches to the presidential directive.

“The president and the commander-in-chief, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has mandated us to put an end to oil theft, which is one of the greatest threats to our economy, and there is no going back. We are invading their hideouts in the Niger Delta region and whoever stands on our way will face the full wrath of the law. Next week has been declared a week against these unpatriotic elements amidst us and nothing is stopping us from carrying out the mandate,” he said. “In pursuance of Mr. President’s mandate to the Nigerian Navy (NN) to do all it can to stamp out the prevalence of illegal maritime activities, particularly crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering and piracy in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the Nigerian Navy will be conducting a major fleet evaluation. The exercise codenamed Exercise FARANTA, meaning ‘hunting’ in Hausa, from Sunday to Saturday this week in the Bight of Bonny. The aim of the exercise is to intensify the ongoing naval operations in the Niger Delta region with emphasis on Bonny Akasa-Escravos axis (an area notorious for crude oil theft) up to the extent of offshore oil platforms at Bings and Bogi.

“The exercise will enable the Nigerian Navy to assess its operational capability with a view to identifying gaps and taking necessary measures to fill such gaps for enhanced operational readiness. The synergy of this effort will ensure full mission accomplishment across the threat spectrum with specific emphasis to immediately end all criminal activities in the Niger Delta region. The scenario painted with the exercise is consistent with the contemporary maritime challenges in the country.”

The ships and helicopters taking part in the exercise  are NNS Thunder, NNS Kyanwa, NNS Nwamba, NNS Obula, NNS Bimtu, NNS Zaura, NNS Makurat, NNS Andoni, six gun boats, Augusta Helicopters 07, 08 and 09, two Nigerian Army section and one NAF maritime patrol aircraft.

The naval chief, who spoke through the spokesman of the navy, Commodore Kabiru Aliyu, called on all stakeholders in the marine sector to cooperate with the naval authorities. According to him, “those who have legitimate reasons to be on our waters have nothing to fear because we are not after them, but those who steal our oil, those who are pirates and other economic saboteurs of our country are in trouble”.

He disclosed that two other military services, the Army and Air Force, will be involved even as the NNS Thunder, the ship that would lead the operation, is billed to berth at the Bonny Akasa Escravos early this morning. He said the team would not return to Abuja until sanity is fully restored in the region. He later gave the exclusive photo of the NNS Thunder to LEADERSHIP

http:///n6XETmti

LAGOS – AS part of measures to curb reported excesses on enforcement of the state’s traffic laws, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, has ordered junior officers in its rank to stop arresting erring motor-cycle riders and motorists in the state forthwith.

The action is taken in a bid to checkmate aggressive enforcement of the state’s traffic law by LASTMA.

On the barring of junior LASTMA officers from enforcement of road traffic law, the General Manager of LASTMA, Engr. Babatunde Edu, gave the order in his address at a public forum on the Law, organised by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, at the weekend.

According to Edu, the move was a spontaneous measure to respond to the complaints against aggressive law enforcement by junior officers.

He urged the public to report any junior officer who victimises or harasses them, saying they have been stripped of the power to arrest.

While urging members of the public not to take laws into their hands when unlawfully arrested, Edu said the officers are to render assistance to the motorists in ensuring traffic laws are voluntarily complied with.

He charged members of the public to take note of the names of such officers, insisting that junior officers have been warned not to arrest again following the complaints of aggressive enforcement.

He said: “You can easily identify the junior officer with black epaulet on their shoulders; they cannot arrest, only the senior ones with red epaulets on their uniforms can arrest.

We have stopped the juniors from arresting motorists and Okada riders except during a joint operation. That is the extent we have gone in checkmating aggressive enforcement of the law”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/lastma-bars-junior-officers-from-arresting-traffic-offenders/

Citizens have reacted to the over-12hr arrest and detention of Odaudu Joel Minister and his wife, a journalist and citizen reporter who was arrested by the police on the orders of the Kogi State governor, Capt. Idris Wada , at 12.30am this morning for what a Police source said, was connected to a comment he posted on Facebook about the Governor on the crises rocking the state House of Assembly.

The said post was said to have exposed a secret meeting held at the Kogi State Governors Lodge Asokoro between Governor Wada and Hon. Yakubu Yunusa, the Majority Leader of the Kogi State House of Assembly representing Ofu constituency and a strong member of the 13-anti impeachment lawmakers on 5th November, where the State Governor was alleged to have begged the said Hon. Yakubu profusely to work on his colleagues from Kogi East who are members of the 13-anti impeachment group to dump the group and was also said to have offered each of the Igala born legislators 25million each.

The said meeting came after it was reported that,efforts by the Kogi State Government to win-over another set of four members of the House in support of Bello from Kogi West also met a brick wall.

Investigation revealed that a meeting to allegedly coax the four members to support the state government’s anointed Speaker was held at about 10.30pm on Wednesday last week at Chief Jide Omokore’s House in Maitama Abuja.

According to our source, those at the meeting were the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Arch Yomi Awoniyi , Chief Omokore and Prince Olusola Akanmode among other political leaders from Kogi West Senatorial District.

The pro-Bello’s members present at the said meeting, were Hon Henry Ojuola (Yagba East State Constituency), Hon Foluso Daniel (Mopa Muro), Hon Yori Solomon Afolabi (Ijumu) and Hon Abidemi Adeyemi (Yagba West).

Another top source at the meeting disclosed that the Arch. Awoniyi-led group requested the four legislators to withdraw their support for Hon Bello in order to confer legitimacy on the Speaker elected by 12 members of the House.

The source said: “The four lawmakers reply to the plea was that they were men of integrity and that they will not sell their integrity over a pot of porridge. They said they would rather maintain their integrity than capitulate

Mr. Odaudu Joel Minister , an online journalist and former moderator of a facebook group; The KOGI POLITICAL PLATFORM was alleged to have been beaten like a notorious criminal by some men of the Nigerian Police from The Kogi State Police Command, Anyigba division on the orders of one Hajia Habiba Wada, a younger sister to the Governor. This came as a follow up to an earlier calls to Mr Odaudu Joel Minister from one Fatima Abdullahi née-Wada,threatening the online journalist to either stop reporting stories on her father or risk arrest,detention and total annihilation. Our source has it that the social critic was arrested in his residence in Anyigba in Dekina Local Government area at or about 12.30 am today. “All i can say for now is that no arm was found in the possession of Mr. Odaudu Joel Minister when he was arrested.” A source was quoted as saying.

“Let me place on record that,what happened to this man is indefensible,” said a Lokoja-based lawyer,Idris Kabir on telephone, adding, “Curiously, the penal code doesn’t know Internet defamation as an offense.” The lawyer accused Governor Wada and the police commissioner of abuse” of power as well as “stretching a law to cover a ground that it does not cover.” “This man called a Governor should take a cue from President Goodluck Jonathan. If there were a law like that,Mr President would have arrested over Ten Million Nigerians because he is the most abused president on the social media”

When contacted, a Kogi born Media Consultant,Phrank SHAIBU had this to say “I want to say with all sense of modesty and responsibility that the way Mr. Odaudu Joel Minister was treated by the Police today is unlawful, barbaric, cruel, brutal, evil, vicious, wicked, vindictive and reckless! Why would Mr. Odaudu Joel Minister and his wife be that bashed when no arm was caught in his possession? What did he do to warrant that inhumane and sadistic treatment by people who are supposed to be friends of the masses? Where is the Freedom of Information and Right to Speech and Expression conferred on Mr. Odaudu Joel Minister by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended)? Whosoever instigated this shameless act must be apprehended, rebuked and condemned by all lovers of democracy.”

One Ahmed Idakwo who wrote on the Facebook page of The Kogi Political Platform said: “Mr. Odaudu Joel Minister and myself were neither friends nor enemies. We do not share identical political ideology and I don’t know him in person. We have even trade-tackled issues with each other on social media to the extent that he was compelled to block me; but our sprained relationship would not stop me from kicking against the illegality and injustice waged against my fellow human being by enemies of democracy.This is rather unfortunate! Injustice to one is injustice to all!”


http:///qkCIVtCF


I just wonder what this country is turning into,I thought we are in a democracy but well that does not give room for abuse of freedom of speech

Amya: Use the word "I love you" too liberally. You'd surely feel like a fool for saying it when the relationship becomes short-lived.

you are damn right but sometimes we love at the risk of been rejected. Its so sad when you love someone but they don't feel same way but the pointer is we should learn to put our feelings in check though it is better said than sha than practicalised

Will be less emotional,not showing so much care and be less open. Bottomline if anyone wants you to be part of their life you don't need to fight to be there they just make you part of their life.

anonimi: Oritsejafor is wrong to have collected the gift of private jet and it is very good that El-Rufai is joining those pointing it out to him.
However, El-Rufai should remove the log in his eyes BEFORE trying to remove the dust in Oritsejafor's.
He should focus on mass primary & secondary education for the millions of almajiris that his CPC counts on to foster trouble, kill & maim southerners because their candidate, [size=15pt]Ayatollah Brouhari CANNOT win the presidency[/size] despite their Northern/muslim alliance involving Ribadu, Adeola, Tinubu and Bakare stepping down and/or endorsing him

I pray Buhari does not give you hypertension cos of your bitterness towards him as I also pray that El Rufai does not develop hypertension over issues that are irrelevant with Boko haram ravaging the north. SMH for some of the comments here

Richfella: I can eat rice morning, afternoon and night...for 200 years straight, and won't complain.

Are you kidding me or what i love rice more than any other food. I just relocated from lasgidi and for the past three months in my new location i have never eaten any other food aside rice. Rice forever

my big cousin went nuts afta smoking the dreaded igbo from kwale and since then he ran mad,has been in chains for fourteen years now,so so sad

I was 23 and in 400 level then,it just lasted about two years cos she was a drug peddler and I no like wahala

Dapachez Nostra: dapacheznostra@gmail.com
Sex: male
Age: 34
Height/Body: 6ft/ chubby
Occ: Hospital worker
Location: Nig
Likes/Hobbies: playing games,reading,writing, travelling,chatting and making friends
Looking : Friendship and networking
PIN :26B4ECF4