₦airaland Forum

Less than five days to the kick off of the voters registration exercise, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega yesterday gave an insight into why the commission requested for the closure of all schools in the country during the period of voters registration exercise in order to guarantee the safety of students and pupils whose schools would be used for the exercise.

At joint press conference with the Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi at the commission's headquarters in Abuja, Jega explained that the decision to include private schools in the planned closure was to ensure 'equity and uniformity in the education calendar.

Jega said the decision to close all schools in the country during the voters registration exercise has sparked controversy in the country with some interests groups threatening to take the government to court to challenge the decision.

Explaining the rational behind the decision, Jega said the bulk of the 119, 976 polling stations across the country is located in public schools and allowing schools to be in session while the registration exercise is going on would "disrupt" school activities and may put the security of the pupils and students at risk.

"We are concerned about the security of the pupils and students during the exercise" he said.

He explained that after the decision was arrived at by government, the commission wrote to all the governors of the thirty six states of the federation soliciting their cooperation in the successful implementation of the shut down order.

Jega rationalized that public schools constitute about 70% of the schools in the country adding that it would be unfair to allow private schools which constitute about 30%,to be in session while the public schools are closed.

"If 70 percent of the schools are going to be affected, it does not make sense to allow only 30 percent of the schools to be in session. If it were only 25 percent of the schools that would be affected, we would not have closed all the schools. It is easier to close the school at the same time for the sake of equity and to maintain the equilibrium in the school system" he said.

Jega said the commission had written to all the state governors to help enforce the closure of schools adding that if some state governors opt to keep the schools open during the exercise, it may have been as a result of a "communication problems and that would be unfortunate".

In his brief comment, the Minister of state for education, Mr Kenneth Gbagi noted that "some people see elections as a do or die affair and we do not want our children to be exposed to danger" during the registration exercise if schools are left open."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201101110761.html

@ poster
Have you forgotten that pdp is a monster, it will quickly metamorphose into something more sinister!

Ibime:
So this DDC machine wey dem dey hype since na just laptop, camera and printer?

Oh yes, a laptop that cost $1771 (N282250) each and freezes at the touch of a key!

Godfatherism taken to the extreme. What does Lola Abiola want in the PDP in the first place, thinking about what they did to her father _ those involved are the same people in todays PDP.

SaharaReporters interviews the daughter of Chief M.K.O Abiola the acclaimed winner of the June 12 1993 presidential election whose election was annulled by former military dictator Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. Lola Abiola- Edewor contested against Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello the daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo for the Ogun Central Senatorial District last week and trounced her. However, Obasanjo went ahead and held a parallel party congress at his library where he chose his daughter as the senatorial candidate. The PDP leadership has reportedly annulled Abiola's mandate, but Mrs. Abiola -Edewor told SaharaReporters today she won't back down.

Read more: www.saharareporters.com/interview/how-obasanjo-tried-stealing-my-mandate-his-daughter-lola-abiola-edewor

The beginning of Jega's metamorphosis into Iwu  

Good Luck is bad luck

Goodluck is bad luck

A federal high court in Abuja today rejected a lawsuit filed by aggrieved People's Democratic Party (PDP) members seeking to stop Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the party primaries on Thursday.

More: http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/pdp-primaries-and-jonathans-candidacy-judge-rejects-anti-jonathan-lawsuit

Many of the 132, 000 units of the Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines ordered by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the purpose of registering Nigerians ahead of this year’s elections are not working seamlessly. P.M.NEWS investigation has revealed.

The machines cost $1771.73 per set comprising a laptop, webcam, and printer and were supplied by three companies including Zinox Technologies Limited, Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation and Avante International Technology Inc to the commission.

The DDC machines which were manufactured in China, from where they were brought to Nigeria are expected to be used by ad-hoc staff of INEC and corps members in the country for the registration of adult citizens between 15 and 29 January, 2011.

But P.M.NEWS learnt that most of the ad-hoc staff employed to train and monitor the members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) had hectic time at the weekend trying to operate the machines.

Though the ad-hoc staff who are also the supervising registration officers were instructed by INEC not to speak with journalists throughout the exercise, some of them who pleaded anonymity, expressed their pessimism about the exercise to P.M.NEWS.

According to them, the registration would experience hitches as many Nigerians may not be able to register in order to get their voter’s card.

They said they had complained to the officials of the commission that they could not successfully operate the machines to no avail.

“One of the officials told us to just make do with what we have and get our allowances at the end of the day since our complaints could generate problems if they are made public.

“That is also the reason we were asked not to speak with the press throughout the registration of voters,” one of the supervisors said.

Another ad-hoc staff of the commission told P.M. NEWS that it was too late to effect any changes or since the date for the commencement of the exercise had started.

According to him, “this challenge is sure going to be another setback for the commission in the conduct of a free and fair election this year.”

“Many people will not be able to register. Some would even register and they would not get their slips which would enable them get the voter’s cards when they are ready.”

Some of the Corps members, apart from expressing fears about their security during the exercise, also said they were disappointed that they could not operate the machines well at the practical.

“If we are finding it difficult to even register ourselves now, what do you think would happen when we are facing Nigerians during the exercise?” one of them queried.

Another Corps member complained that though she was among the first set of people to use a machine in her centre, it took her 45 minutes to successfully register herself, “because the buttons on the keyboard stopped working immediately I started.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/four-days-voters%E2%80%99-registration-inec-staff-can%E2%80%99t-operate-ddc-machines-pm-news-lagos

How much have they spent so far? No inflated costs please!

@ poster
You should know that Auntie Dora lost her credibilities and whatever honour she was able to build during her years in NAFDAC the moment she allowed herself to be used as a square peg in a round hole. The hatred towards her is not down to ethnic or tribal motives bot solely because of her inability to say no to a role she knew she couldn't handle. She performed excellently at NAFDAC because that was in line with her profession. It was a big mistake for her to have accepted to be a minister of information knowing fully well that she was lousy in nature and would be prone to making a lot of gaffes. But her perchant for power clouted any sense of judgement she might have in refusing such a demanding role as the mouthpiece of the Government. Such role is usually reserved for spin doctors in the legal profession and not for a don in pharmaceutical profession.
You would realised that her problems started the moment she was called upon to be minister of information; people wondered about the rationality behind such appointment and questioned why she accepted. Then she started making a lot of mistakes in an attempt to maintain her former reputation as a no-nonsense public officer; she became over zealous and came with a series of ridiculous ideas like her rebranding saga, her NTA HD Camera upgrade contract; the don't call Nigeria Naija wailings; the UMYA misinformations at early stage and lately her political love peddling.

Who could be behind this?

A worrying development

Anxiety over the possible outcome of the general elections scheduled for April has continued to heighten among the elite, the general populace, and international community following the negative developments attending the congresses and primaries of the leading political parties.
More,

http://allafrica.com/stories/201101100116.html

In Eket, Akwa Ibom State, this weekend’s National Assembly primaries of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which broke into violence, has claimed one life as one of the victims on unsuspecting delegates died today at an Eket hospital.  He has been identified as Tony Etifit of Etebi Ward in Esit Eket local government.
Armed men in military uniform under the command of the PDP hierarchy attacked Mr. Etebi at the primaries, and hospital sources at the private hospital to which he was taken said he died of the serious injuries he received during the assault on him.
Meanwhile, on the political turf, Esemeh Eyiboh, the House of Assembly Spokesman who represents Eket Federal Constituency and Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette who represents the same constituency in the upper legislative chamber, both failed to win a PDP ticket.  Chief Helen Esuene and Mr Dan Abia beat the incumbent legislators for their seats in the Senate and the House of Assembly seats respectively.
The situation in Akwa Ibom State has continued to grow tenser.  As part of Akpabio’s desperate re-election bid, the government has secured the services of Military and Security Chiefs in the state, resulting in the formation of a Joint Military Task Force codenamed “Operation Aduma” for the ongoing party primaries, with consequences for life and politics in the area.
It has been gathered that the PDP primaries were calculated to ensure the emergence of candidates with proven loyalty to Akpabio’s second term bid.
Akpabio reportedly won 99 % of delegates votes at the gubernatorial party primaries today.


http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/army-kills-pdp-delegate-eket-house-reps-spokesman-eseme-eyibo-and-senator-eme-ekaette-lose

[size=18pt]Please don't go into that boutigue![/size]

uplawal:
Nothing is fake on me,all is natural

Except your smile when you are not alone, your weave-on hairs and your light skin face

So what's the big deal? anybody can speak any language if you learn it. If a Yoruba man can speak chinese, why can't Americans speak Yoruba.

^^^^^
That's exactly what I thought

By Vancouver Sun


A Metro Vancouver mother is waging a legal battle to keep her three daughters in Canada to protect them from the controversial tradition of female genital circumcision in their native Nigeria.
The family has lost one legal skirmish but won a second, and is now preparing for a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to find out if the mother and daughters -- now aged eight, 14 and 16 -- can remain in Canada.
Their incredible journey is spelled out in documents, at the Federal Court of Canada, that tell a tale as inspirational as it is heartbreaking.
Both Naomi Koin and her husband come from tribes in Nigeria that continue to circumcise young girls -- a practice that includes the partial or complete removal of external Instruments.
Koin became a Christian in 1986 and in 1993 married Rotimi, also a Christian.
( The Sun agreed not to publish Rotimi's last name to protect the privacy of his and Koin's daughters. The couple declined to be interviewed for this story, saying they did not want to speak publicly until the IRB has made its final ruling in this case.)
The couple are united in their opposition to female circumcision, which the United Nations has criticized "as a form of persecution."
But Rotimi's relatives remain committed to the practice, and, according to Koin, continued to "harass the family and threaten them" to try to get the three girls to undergo the procedure.
"As my daughters grew older, the efforts and desires of my late father-in-law to force them to be circumcised intensified. The in-laws would appear at my home, yell from the outside, calling me names and insulting me," she said in court documents.
Koin could not, she argued, just move from Lagos to another area in Nigeria to escape her in-laws because she had a public career: She hosted a weekly Christian talk show and children's program on TV, recorded religious music CDs, and was an actress in a soap opera.
Rotimi, now 50, had moved to the United States in 1999 -- where he is a pastor in Houston -- to try to establish a life that would allow him to get his wife and children out of Nigeria.
Koin tried three times to obtain visitor visas to join her husband in the U.S., but was turned down.
She received visitor visas for London, England, where she has relatives, and flew there in 2005 and 2006, but was told by a British lawyer the immigration process would take years and she would not be able to work during that time.
In July 2007, she was granted a visitor visa for Canada, and made plans to move here in September of that year.
That August, the family had its last confrontation with Rotimi's relatives, which occurred while Koin was at work and her three daughters were at home, momentarily left alone by their maternal uncle.
The eldest daughter relayed to the IRB what happened: "My Dad's relatives told me that my Mummy had given permission for me and my two sisters to go on holidays to their village; they wanted us to pack our bags and go spend some time with them. Because my Mum had given an instruction earlier never to leave the house without speaking to her, I went into the bedroom, called my Mum, told her everything, and she told me not to go anywhere."
When Koin arrived home, the daughter said she could hear her mother and her father's relatives "yelling at each other really loudly. I felt really scared."
Some of Koin's fierce opposition to this practice must surely come from her own horrific experience of being circumcised at 12, as part of a public ritual that included no anesthesia to dull the excruciating pain.
"I screamed and cried inconsolably until I had no more strength. I bled profusely and almost fainted. I was in shock and could not believe that my mother had allowed this to happen to me," Koin recalled.
"To this day, I still endure the negative psychological trauma of that experience."
The family settled in Metro Vancouver in the fall of 2007 and made a Canadian refugee protection claim in 2008.
However, the IRB denied the claim in March, ruling there wasn't enough proof the girls would be forced to undergo circumcision if returned to Nigeria and that the family had not been subjected to persecution.
Koin's lawyer appealed to the Federal Court, and in November Justice Russel Zinn ruled the IRB's decision was "seriously flawed" and ordered it to reconsider the application.
Zinn added: "Given that the in-laws want to force the young girls to undergo a painful and dangerous procedure with severe and well-documented negative physical and psychological ramifications, the Board's finding that 'there is no evidence to suggest that the in-laws' threats amounted to anything' is unreasonable."
The IRB has not yet scheduled a date for a new refugee hearing for the family, but a spokeswoman said such files are given priority when they are referred back by the Federal Court.
The pastor of the family's church wrote a supportive letter to the IRB, saying Koin is a talented gospel singer and that she and her daughters "are a responsible and loving family."
Perhaps the most straightforward argument in this long legal drama, though, comes from Koin's 14-year-old daughter, who simply told the IRB:
"I understand that circumcision means that I would have to be cut in my private parts. I am really afraid of being circumcised in Nigeria and I do not want to do it."
---
A RITUAL OF 'PERSECUTION'
According to the World Health Organization, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or circumcision:
- Includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for nonmedical reasons.
- Has no health benefits for girls and women.
- Can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths.
- Is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15 years.
- Is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and northeastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among certain immigrant communities in North America and Europe.
An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of FGM. In Africa, an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM. The practice continues due to a mix of cultural, religious and social factors:
- The social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing for generations.
- It is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.
- It is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity.
- It is believed to reduce a woman's libido, and thereby is further believed to help her resist "illicit" sexual acts.
- It is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are "clean" and "beautiful" after removal of body parts that are considered "male" or "unclean."
- Though no religious scripts prescribe the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support.
Source: www.who. int/en/

Friday, January 7, 2011Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, on Friday, won the Ogun East Senatorial District ticket at the National Assembly primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).


Daniel, who clinched the ticket with 2,021 votes, defeated his opponents, Senator Lekan Mustapha, who is currently occupying the seat, who polled eight votes; Ahmed Bankole-Shehu who had 10 votes and Toheeb Odunowo with one vote.
The exercise was held at the Gateway International Stadium, Ijebu-Ode. amid tight security.
In Abeokuta and Ijebu-Ode, parallel primaries were held.
In Ijebu-Ode, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Iyabo, won the Ogun Central Senatorial District with 1,371 votes to defeat daughter of the late business mogul cum politician, Chief MKO Abiola, Lola Abiola-Edewor, who scored 41 votes.
But Abiola-Edewor defeated Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello by 567 votes to three in a parallel primaries held at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta.
Also, in a parallel exercise held in Ijebu-Ode for the same Ogun East Senatorial seat, Mr Adetunji Odunowo scored 1,004 votes to defeat Governor Daniel, who scored 35 votes.
It was gathered that Senator Mustapha made a last-minute withdrawal from the race, a situation that paved the way for Odunowo.
As of the time of filing this report, result from the Ogun West District was not available.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/jan/7/606.html

Please could someone explain this to me: If the first election was declared by the court as being rigged by Uduaghan in the first instance and nullified, didn't that amount to a criminal act? Or is election rigging not a criminal act? Why then should the INEC allow him to participate in the re-run? Didn't they know it would be the dsame story again? Why wasting the tax payers money for him to rig the election again for the few months remaining. Nigeria is a joke

Mo

dasarge:
@ omotodun! God bless you for your comment on this issue. Nigerians are naturally proud people in Nature who love to show off! The very reason why most people like to donate in Church so people will respect them even though they dont have a clean heart! I cannot remember Jesus saying anything about giving your tithes, neither did i see in the bible that people got cursed for not giving first fruit, tithes nor offerings. The last time i went to Christ embass was when my pastor in London practically cursed those of us that dont give our "first fruit" imagine a whole January salary; in london! after all the expenses of december, he said the whole january salary was for the pastor or what befell ananias will nefall us! Well, i stopped from that day and that never stopped me from rising to become a manager in my postition, because I give to the poor, i help people who cannot afford food and basic needs, i refuse to finance any pastor wanting to buy private jet to take God's message to Canada, UK, USA, Germany, France etc, when there are countries like Mali, Niger republic etc without the Gospel. In my village, there are only two churches; one is catholic and the other is Jehovah's witnesses and these are people who dont curse you for not giving your money, time and personal belongings as seed!

If i should continue here tonight, I could write a whole book on the crime taking place in our country. How can God answer our prayers with all these thieveing going on in places of worship?

One more thing, as an accountant, i know that churches are classified as Charity, but once a church(aka a charity) involves itself in any going concern like owning a school(Redeemed et al), a Bank(Christ embassy) or property and stock business(KICC) that charity becomes taxable! Nobody talks about this, and Jesus said "Give unto ceasar, what is ceasar's(Tax) and unto God what is God's(Offerings).

How can Nigeria grown when armed robbers are the people sitting in the front rows of churches because they give the largest offerings and tithes? how how how?

Thank u for your thruthful and wise comments. Enough of this thievery in the name of God. Religion has been the instrument of oppression, pillage and control; the europeans and the Arabs used it to steal all our wealth and created all the problems we have today.

Should it be in Nigeria, all you would be hearing is 'Its a political move by my enemies who are out to destroy me because I am from Delta State'. Next he would be given an automatic ticket for the next election. Bunch of thieves.

The former Labour MP David Chaytor has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for falsifying his expenses claims.
Chaytor submitted bogus invoices to support claims totalling £22,650 for IT services and renting homes in London and his Bury North constituency.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8246187/MPs-expenses-David-Chaytor-sentenced-to-18-months-in-prison-for-false-accounting.html

By Niyi Odebode
Friday, 7 Jan 2011


Action Congress of Nigeria presidential aspirant, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, will on Friday (today) obtain the party’s nomination form in Abuja.

The Director of Media and Publicity, Nuhu Ribadu Campaign Organisation, Chido Onumah, who unveiled the plan to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said the aspirant was hopeful that he would pick the party’s presidential ticket for the April elections.

Onumah stated this just at Ribadu said Nigerians had wasted opportunities to transform the country. He stated that if elected, he would work with Nigerians to build a society of ‘full opportunities.’

Ribadu said this while receiving delegates from Team Ribadu China who paid him a solidarity visit in his office. He expressed concern about the high level of indiscipline in the country, blaming it on the “few bad eggs who have terribly depressed our national image stock before the international community.”

He promised to instill discipline in Nigeria through policies and programmes that would have a direct bearing on the people’s lives.

Urging Nigerians to take advantage of the April elections to vote for competent candidates with a high level of integrity, he also advised them to protect their votes.

Ribadu, who is a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said he had a manifesto that would ensure the security of lives and property.

He said, “Regular power supply is very important to industrial growth. We will look into this while the deplorable condition of federal roads across the country and road accidents which cause and loss of lives and property will be tackled.”

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201101074244648

toba:
theres a thread started yesterday on this same subject. search for it

This is a different topic, post the link

Judging by how much some churches are making every week from tithes and offering and from books published, videos and musics,  many churches can no longer be regarded as charity organisations. It is high time that we also looked into the earnings of the so called men of God. How could they afford their lavish lifestyles if not at the expense of the church money? How much of the church earnings actually giving out as charity?

nuclearboy:
Well, they have been busy thinking up new "moves" and may likely no longer worry you much about offerings.

"Gate Fees" are now here and you can't avoid that if you'll enter "church", can you?

I learnt it starts from N1000 flat
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-580005.0.html

Churches are supposed to be charity oriented organisations. Show me any church in Nigeria that is fulfilling that obligations. They con you with their sweet talks and coerce you into giving what you don't have by quoting the relevant verses albeit wrongly in most cases. They then go about buying designer suits, crocodile shoes and top of the range SUVs; some even buying helicopters and private jets; They build state of the art private universities and charge students from their own congregation excessive and exhorbitant tuition fees. Could anybody tell why I should obey this kleptomaniac's call for offerings and tithes. I would rather give my money to the poor and the needy who are in their millions roaming our streets. I will then wait for the judgement day for God to send me to wherever He wishes - hell or heaven. At least I would be glad that I have not been duped.
'An army of sheep led by a lion will always defeat an army of lions led by a sheep' Shine your eyes.