₦airaland Forum

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President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has threatened to sue New York based online news media, Sahara Reporters for what it described as an irresponsible, deplorable, highly unprofessional and unethical antics of outfit to assault the sensibilities of all decent Nigerians over the president state of health.

This was contained in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati on Saturday.

The president while thanking Nigerians for their sympathies and solidarity as well as the mainstream media for its catual, fair-minded and objective reportage of the president’s indisposition said.

Below is the full statement: President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan thanks all patriotic and well-meaning Nigerians, including his supporters, friends and political associates who expressed and conveyed their sympathies and solidarity with him, through various means, following the announcement of his sudden indisposition while on a mission to attract greater investments to accelerate the growth of the Nigerian economy in keeping with his agenda for national transformation.

The Presidency also commends the generality of the mainstream media whose coverage of the President’s slight health challenge in London was mostly factual, objective, fair-minded and supportive.

We however condemn the utterly irresponsible, deplorable, highly unprofessional and unethical antics of certain fringe elements operating in the nebulous sphere of cyberspace who persist in seizing every opportunity to unjustifiably malign and impugn the character and integrity of the elected leader of their country.

It is very regrettable indeed that after, in compliance with President Jonathan’s standing instruction that Nigerians must never be kept in the dark about the state of his health, the public was duly informed that the President had received precautionary medical attention for an unexpected indisposition in London, Sahara Reporters and some other reckless, lawless, impudent and unpatriotic internet-based media chose to assault the sensibilities of all decent Nigerians again with their entirely fictional, malicious, hate-driven and scurrilous distortion of the facts of the President’s indisposition.

The suggestion by Sahara Reporters that President Jonathan took ill following a “heavy birthday party thrown to celebrate the President’s 56th birthday at his Presidential suite in the InterContinental Hotel in London” is fictional nonsense as there was definitely no party in London to celebrate President Jonathan’s birthday on Wednesday night.

The truth is that President Jonathan observed his 56th birthday anniversary quietly. For part of the day, he was airborne, in transit between Abuja and London. On arrival in London, he spent the rest of the day in the privacy of his hotel room. It has never been his custom to celebrate birthday anniversaries and no exception was made this year. No birthday party was therefore held for the President in London and there was certainly no drinking spree as Sahara Reporters claimed.

As unregulated as they are, Sahara Reporters and their ilk are not beyond the bounds of legal action for libel and willful defamation of the character and reputation of a President who has courageously stepped forward to serve his country.

They know very well that they can never substantiate or prove the constant false allegations and innuendoes they publish for the sole purpose of negatively portraying President Jonathan and his administration.

Their incessant claim of a bibulous President is pure fiction and blackmail, and the product of malicious imagination. We warn that our forbearance of their disrespectful caricaturing of the President is not limitless.

The Presidency will like to reiterate the trite point that no human being is beyond health challenges irrespective of their station in life. Sadly, this commonplace fact appears to be beyond the understanding of the publishers of Sahara Reporters who seem to have lost all sense of propriety, decency and human compassion.

The President is comforted by the prayers, support and overwhelming goodwill of the people of Nigeria, fully assured that the forces of good will continue to triumph over the forces of darkness in our land.

Reuben Abati

Alxmyr: And so?

Ngwakwe: Making fellow Nairalander a subject of either discussion or complaint is becoming a trademark for some folks.

It's becoming too childish for my liking.

Omooba77: You must be a Chelsea or ManU fan..........................

https://www.osundefender.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ASUU-student.jpgAcademic activities may pick up next week in the nation’s public universities as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would this weekend hold its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to take a position on the on-going five- month-old strike.

Saturday Sun source revealed that national officers and branch chairmen of ASUU have arrived at the venue of the crucial meeting to deliberate on the industrial action.

The industrial action, which enters 144 days today, took off on July 1, 2013 and has crippled academic activities in federal and state universities.

Ahead of the NEC meeting, some members of ASUU in two universities, Enugu State University (ESUT) and University of Agricultural Abeokuta (UNAB) had announced that their institutions would open for academic activities.

Also, the authorities of the University of Lagos despite the on-going strike have started the screening/registration for new students offered admission for the 2013/2014 academic session.

The source told our Correspondent that ASUU is aware of public concern about the situation in the universities and that NEC would do the needful after deliberating on reports from the outcome of the various congress.

According to the source, having mourned and honoured late Professor Festus Iyayi, who died while on his way to Bayero University Kano (BUK) for a NEC meeting by suspending the meeting, ASUU leadership felt it was ripe to hold the crucial meeting.

He refused to give insight to the outcome of the NEC meeting but stressed that the decision would be fair based on the various congress resolutions of the meeting its leaders held with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Expectations were high before the postponed ASUU NEC meeting because of the death of its former national President that the industrial action would be suspended after the Federal Government shifted ground on the demands of the university lecturers.

Recalled that President Jonathan had to intervene after the Vice President, Namadi Sambo and the chairman, Implementation and Monitoring Committee led by the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam failed to produce positive results. At the crucial November 5 meeting with ASUU leaders in Aso Rock, the government agreed to provide N220billion yearly for the next five years and improve on the amount to be released for the contentious Earned Allowance.

gurnam: What is the star (*) on some topics for?

adepojuot: Yerima again!!!!any way,space booked...

JECBOSS: I'll advise you to get another English teacher before talking of PhD.

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AHMED SANI YERIMA

There is a story from Zamfara State that might well be apocryphal, but has remained enduring. During Ahmed Yerima’s governorship in Zamfara, the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi had arrived in Gusau for a public event. He was received by Governor Yerima, who greeted Rimi: “Ranka Ya Dade”! “No, You should take ‘Ranka Ya Dade’”, Rimi had responded.

A confused Ahmed Yarima then asked why. Rimi was said to have reminded him that they (Rimi) can only be accused of having deceived the people with their politics.

But you, Ahmed Yerima, are not only deceiving the people, but deceiving Allah with your ‘Sharia politics’! It is this same political clown that has become the prayer entrepreneur, regularly taking Malamai* from all over the country to pray for President Goodluck Jonathan at the Aso Villa!

What does Ahmed Yerima really stand for? Isn’t he in the leadership of APC? Whose interest does he really serve?

*Malamai = Islamic Scholars, in Hausa Language

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*.I brew fake drinks to survive – Suspect



When policemen swooped on 65-year-old Donatus Ogubie in his factory where he brewed fake drinks, they were amazed at his cool attitude. What could have given him the confidence to radiate such coolness?


Some officers and men of the Imo State Police Command have put an end to the activities of the operator of an illegal distilling factory where various alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are produced in unhygienic environment.

The owner of the illegal factory, Donatus Ogubie, 65, from Ogubele village, Atta in Njaba Local Government Area of the state, however, claimed that he was given approval by NAFDAC to run the factory at its current location.

When Saturday Mirror visited the area, the building was dilapidated, while filth, dust and disorder adorned all the rooms where production always take place.

It was gathered that sometimes in 2005, the man applied and got approval from NAFDAC to process only two products he called ‘Made in Imo’ wines.

Rather than concentrate on those two products, Ogubie went far beyond his bounds to produce dangerous and poisonous concoctions with which he faked top classic foreign wines such as Red Label, Don Morris, Hennessey, MacDowell, among others. It was learnt that during production process, the concoctions are mixed in the three giant plastic tanks placed inside one of the rooms which was used as production hall where later the liquid content were transferred into bottles stacked in the hall.

Recently, the state police command’s Ambush Squad stormed his illegal brewery and Ogubie was arrested. Upon his arrest, Ogubie looked unruffled, insisting that he officially obtained a license from NAFDAC to brew the wines. He also claimed he had been doing that in the last eight years.

Reacting to Ogubie’s arrest, Imo State commissioner of Police, Mohammed Musa Katsina, while conducting journalists round the illegal brewery, claimed that the Ambush Squad acted on the strength of intelligence report regarding the activities of the unrepentant Ogubie.

He stated that following the remote location of the fake brewery, Ogubie had for years, enjoyed adequate patronage from innocent and unsuspecting buyers and had consistently exported the deadly products to such big cities as Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Kaduna before the long arm of the law caught up with him.

“From what we have seen here, you do not need a medical doctor to warn you to be careful because many people have ignorantly consumed these products, with disastrous consequences on their health.

“You don’t need a medical doctor to tell you that when next you want to buy a drink you have to be very careful because you may end up buying your death warrant. Children are now having different diseases, kidney, cancer, liver cancer yet the source of these illnesses are different to dictate. but I strongly believe that this is one of the sources. It is high time we stand up to kick against this illegality.

This man is a merchant of death,” the police boss said. Speaking with reporters, the suspect said that he set up the brewery to make ends meet, stating that the products are not for sale but for local consumption. His words, “This factory is established as a small scale industry not a modern one. We have bottles for different products any one we want to produce we get the bottle and fill them one by one for local consumption.”

He also claimed to have obtained Trade Test Certificates and had tutorials from some of his friends who he claimed studied Microbiology and Laboratory Technology from an undisclosed higher institution in Onitsha which had sharpened his business acumen in brewery.

“I have also applied my natural brain which God gave me to mix the drinks. If anybody opens the drinks you will not differentiate it from foreign made.

“We are Nigerians. We are finding ways to succeed. All those drinks are nice and good for consumption because I made them myself, I refined them and I computerised them in my Hectometre computer before I could refill them. NAFADC knows about it.” According to him he had 19 workers when he started the business before “foreign drinks begin to challenge the local drinks, now I have four workers.”

chidindufrank: I'm so that you choosed to waste your sper'm over 2015 that has been won already by Dr Jonathan. Start plotting of how to stop Peter Obi in 2019 because GEJ will hand over to him

AKUNWATA1: REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAID WHEN I CALLED YOU AN UNREPENTANT JIHADISTOGA EME GI NA ANYA VOOOM IN 2015

chidindufrank: Buhari whose candidates have not won a single governorship election in Kastina since 1983. Oboy talk of the living and allow the deads to rest joor.

chidindufrank: your inferiority complex is always on display on every thread. Asuanwuru

Sincere 9gerian: No sir! Nigerians are rather scared of Buhari looting. Buhari and co sacked Shagari in the name of corruption but he himself turned out to be far richer than Shagari today and tomorrow. So who then is more corrupt? Who is corruption personified? All fingers point to Buhari

chidindufrank: Slave free yourself