₦airaland Forum

Interesting topic. I just had a little spat with a friend some moments ago about this. The friend claimed that I did not help his 'cause' because I refused to forward the broadcast about the lady's innocence making the rounds on BB. My views are:

a. Everyone that is forwarding this meaningless BB broadcast claiming that the woman (Mrs. Johnson) was innocent, were they at the scene?
b. When the woman claimed that she was innocent and we all believed her, let us know that it was just her word against LASTMA only, and the court ALONE could judge!
c. The case is with the judiciary, let them do their job. I said an emphatic 'no' to ambush judgement!
c. The LASTMA guy who was killed had a family and dependents! How would they have felt losing their breadwinner?
d. So, because the grief-striken family of the dead poor LASTMA official did not have access to BBM, we should just wish his cruel death away?

I told my 'activist friend' that we attended schools in order to hone our innate thinking faculties, and no one could force me to spread a broadcast that was purely based on sentiment and emotion.

In discussing issues, let us have some perspective...

Without prejudice to the rights of the so-called Igbo community spokesman, I believe that in terms of appointments and election of non-indigenes, Lagos is the most accommodating state in Nigeria! The list is endless: Commissioners from Tinubu's era to Fashola's: Dele Alake (Ekiti), Prof Osinbajo (Ogun), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Barr. Opeyemi Bamidele (EKITI), Ben Akabueze (an Igbo man, Commissioner of a sensitive Ministry since Tinubu's era till this minute), Jide Omowarere (Osun), Hussain (Osun), Ajata (Ekiti), Lai Mohammed from Kwara (Chief of Staff to the Governor!)etc.

In Amuwo-Odofin local government of Lagos State (or a related LG in that axis), an Igbo man was elected Vice Chairman. It can never happen in other states.

As huge as the non-indigene population is in Kano, would anyone dare elect a Yoruba or Igbo as Councillor, let alone as Commissioner or LG Chairman? Same with the Igbo states that have sizeable Hausa population...

In my state, which is a Yoruba state with a good number of non-indigenes, no single Yoruba from Yoruba-speaking neighbouring states has ever been appointed by any Governor or elected by indigenes, let alone non-Yorubas such as Igbos, Hausas and others!

Lagos REMAINS THE MOST LIBERAL AND ACCOMMODATING STATE in Nigeria. FACT.

This is probably the most stupid decision to have come from a state government in the past 2 years!

First, the First Lady was reported by Bayelsa State Government to have obtained the NCE certificate from a College of Education in 1989, and a degree later (the date of University graduation was apparently left out deliberately). Assuming that she started work in the Rivers State civil service with her NCE in the following year, 1990, it meant that she ONLY WORKED for 9 years (from 1990 to 1999) until she received a leave of absence upon her husband's election as Deputy Governor (as stated by the state government).

Second, the Permanent Secretary position is one occupied by senior officers in level 16-17 grade, who must have worked for at least 30 years (in most state and Federal Government establishments). One wonders how someone who worked for 9 years could become a Permanent Secretary!

Third, she will likely enjoy all the perks of that ofice, while she is at the Villa, several hundreds of kilometres away from Yenagoa!

Fourth, as idiotic as this is, also, when did our beloved First Lady transfer her service from Rivers State to Bayelsa State?

Fifth, and this Dickson clown (the Governor) was supposed to be a lawyer!

Sixth, why does President Jonathan like courting needless controversy?

Nigeria, what a country!!!

Our support for the President should never have been the main pivot for this sort of discussion. Rather, we should take a dispassionate view of the propriety of his visit to Brazil.

Whether we like the President or not is irrelevant in this matter. My view is that the President was wrong to have embarked on the trip when he was well aware of the senseless killings on Sunday. The flippant press statement issued by Reuben Abati and Labaran Maku's arrogant and obviously insensitive comment after the FEC meeting of yesterday made the matter worse for the image of the President.

This was an Earth Summit (not even the UN General Assembly) that the VP and/or Minister of the Environment could have easily attended on his behalf, for the sake of humanity!

There are a legion of examples where responsible world leaders have either had to entirely cancel trips, rush back home, or send representatives to more important meetings, conferences, and other forms of official visits on account of fundamentally critical issues plaguing their citizens. Please check this inexhaustive list:

1. April 2010: President Hu Jintao of China cut short his tour of Latin America and returned home after an earthquake in Western China.

2. April 2012: President Salva Kiir of South Sudan returned home early from his visit to China, due to the tension along the border of South Sudan and Sudan border.

3. July 2011: British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a trade tour to some African countries and returned home owing to a phone-hacking scandal (Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.).

4. June 2012: President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina cut her international trip and returned to Buenos Aires to monitor the teamster's strike. She even had to meet with her cabinet almost straight from the airport, after landing at 9:00 pm!

5. April 2012: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cut short an official trip to China because of Syrian border fire after Syrian forces fired shots into a refugee camp across the border wounding 4 Syrians and 2 Turkish staff at a refugee camp!

6. Sept. 2011: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan cancelled his official visit to the US, where he was to address the UN General Assembly to oversee flood relief operations! He rather asked the Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, to represent him and address the entire UN Assembly!!!

7. Nov. 2011: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cancelled a 'well-prepared for' official trip to London and Istanbul to be with her ailing 92-year old mother! She was scheduled to join Presidents, Prime Ministers and other officials from 60 countries in London, along with internet pioneers Google, Facebook and Microsoft as well as Chinese technology firms, to discuss cyber security. And she cancelled this!!!

In the 7 examples I stated above, these leaders had Deputies, Military Heads, Police Heads, Ministers of Interior, Environment, Water, etc, but they decided to stay back to face their various issues at home!!!

My little piece...

This game was a big miracle for Chelsea; their fans should just cool down, because they will be annihilated at Camp Nou next Tuesday.

What better miracle could you get? Ball possession: Barca 72%, Chelsea 28%; Goal Attempts: Barca 24, Chelsea 5; Goal Attempts on Target: Barca 6, Chelsea 1! And with the only one goal attempt on target, they won 1-0!

Barca hit the bar twice when Cech was in no man's land, Ashley Cole cleared a certain Fabregas goal off the line; Cech made at least 5 excellent goal-bound saves! Most analysts say the game might have been 5-1 to Barca on account of play and chances.

This stretch of luck won't endure at Camp Nou. I bet it!

So, Chelsea fans, enjoy your 6 days in the sun- before Tuesday, next week!!!

Guys, I think it does us all a lot of good to be dispassionate about debates. I am not a member of ANY political party in Nigeria, because I essentially see them ALL as largely identical. However, please read a summary of Tinubu's profile (culled from a web search) below and read my posers thereafter:

"On his arrival in the U.S. in 1975 and with the support of an ever-adoring mother, faced with an unflinching zeal to succeed, took on such menial jobs as dishwashing, night-guard and cab-driving to see himself through the initial difficulties of school at the Richard Daley College, Chicago, Illinois.

The brilliance of this young Nigerian showed in his ability to make the honours’ list of Richard Daley College. He subsequently transferred to the Chicago State University, Illinois, graduating with honours in 1979 and earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Accounting and Management). During his first year in Chicago State University, young Bola was given the rare privilege to partly teach other students of his Faculty remedial tutorial classes. Most of his colleagues and contemporaries at the university attributed their improved grades to his tutorial lectures.

Throughout his undergraduate years, young Bola was on the Dean’s List and was honoured with the Outstanding Student’s Award, the University Scholar’s Award and the Certificate of Merit in Accounting and Finance. He was also awarded the prestigious Sumna cum laude for scoring 3.54 out of possible 4.0 GP.

With his successful academic profile, young Bola contested and won his first political election as the President of the Accounting Society of the institution in his final year at the University.

Upon graduation with honours and several awards, Bola Tinubu cut his professional teeth at the American-based Arthur Anderson, Deloitte Haskins and Sells (now called Deloitte Haskins and Touche) and GTE Service Corporation - the largest Communication and Utility Company in the United States of America.

Meanwhile, at Deloitte Haskins and Sells, the young and professional Bola broadened his experience by participating in the auditing and management consultancy services of General Motors, First National Bank of Chicago, Procter and Gamble, International Harvester, GEC and other Fortune 500 firms.

On his return to Nigeria and with his international experience in Financial Management, young Bola joined Mobil Producing Nigeria as a Senior Auditor before he retired as the company’s Treasurer".

My posers:

1. As an ex-employee of Arthur Andersen (myself), I KNOW that T inubu couldn't have been employed in that foremost firm if he had questionable academic qualifications!

2. Having been an Accountant and having rose to the position of the Treasurer at Mobil Nigeria, he couldn't have had a phoney background! Mobil is a well respected multinational for God sake and the Treasurer position in most organizations- banking, manufacturing, FMCG, etc (let alone a MOBIL is a top management position)!

3. A man who scored a CGP (American format) of 3.54 out of 4.0 (equivalent of British First Class!!!) couldn't have been the 'agbero' people easily ascribe to him!

4. Again, Tinubu couldn't have worked in these highly respected global companies if he was a moral and intellectual nincompoop: Deloitte Haskins and Sells- now called Deloitte Haskins and Touche- (where he did auditing and management consultancy assignments for top organizations- General Motors, First National Bank of Chicago, Procter and Gamble, International Harvester, GEC and other Fortune 500 firms), GTE Service Corporation.

5. If one did a deliberate study of the people Tinubu's party, ACN, brought up as candidates, you cannot but respect the man! For instance, Gov. Fayemi of Ekiti has a Ph.D. from University of London and has remarkable international recognition among civil society groups; Gov. Ajimobi of Oyo was MD/CEO at National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company, a subsidiary of Shell; Gov. Aregbesola of Osun is a Chartered Engineer; Gov. Oshiomhole of Edo needs no introduction as Nigeria's most pragmatic and eloquent (and probably the most briliant) NLC President bar Hassan Sunmonu, and is a self-made man who attended Ruskin College, Oxford; Gov. Amosun of Ogun is an ICAN Fellow-FCA- (since 1996!) and has an accounting firm which he established in 1990!

6. Also, a man associated with Jimi Agbaje, Opeyemi Agbaje, Bolaji Akinyemi, Wale Edun, Yemi Cardoso, Dele Alake, Prof. Osinbajo, and so many other leading lights could not have been a fool! A look at Tinubu's cabinet (1999-2007) shows that he couldn't have been the clown people so derisively call him.

Hate him or like him, I think Tinubu is one of the remarkable characters in Nigeria, especially when one considers the dangers a one-paty state portends and his role in avoiding that debacle.

Should the hate mob begin their attack, I say: I have never met or seen Tinubu (either in full glare of the public or in private), and the closest I have ever been to his protégé, Gov. Fashola, was to see him speak (as a member of audiences) at four professional events.

It was a rambling session, No figures, no facts, no data, no direct answers! Even the most elementary one asked about the below 50% percentage of budget implementation year in year out, the Ph.D. wielding olod rabata stated this: '50%? That couldn't be true! I could call my Minister of Finance or Economic Adviser to give you the exact percentage, I can't remember, but it couldn't be below 50%"

Imagine a President not knowing % implementation of a national budget! Haba! How worse could it get? Ph. D indeed! Olodo,

I agree with PapaBrowne and a few others, These set of elections (2011) is the harbinger of gradual change from the culture of impunity by any ruling party. Governance (and real life-changing governance) would become the game changer in a few years,

Some of us have refrained from making high-sounding comments on the Presidential elections because it is so obvious that the battle against the power of  "the twin evils- ethnicity and religious bigotry"- had remained far from over. I shed silent tears when I read certain comments coming from otherwise educated minds within my generation (under 40 years-old), I had done massive canvassing at work and among other professionals and as much a I see hope, I also see a huge dose of disappointment, When asked to state the reasons behind their decision to vote for Goodluck, majority of people spoken to usually gave these 'hot-air, downright watery, obviously irrational' reasons- he hailed from a humble background, he's a minority, his parents were fishermen, he was a lecturer, he's a nice man, he's not opinionated, he's annointed, etc, etc, Could you imagine such issues being taken as the pivot for electing a President? The President of the most populous black nation!

Before people throw darts- I'm a professional, late 30s, married with children, fairly educated- first degree from a Naija Uni, MBA from a UK Uni, visited all the continents except Asia, never received any direct benefit from a party or a government, never closely met any government official beyond official occasions, Yoruba through and through, and from an extended parental background of Christains and Moslems, And I WILL VOTE BUHARI-BAKARE!!!

Majority of Nigerians agree that CORRPUTION remains at the root of the Nigerian scourge, the so-called 'Nigerian factor', If anyone seeks to remain trampled upon owing to the lure of filthy political money, pure religious bigotry, meaningless cultural affiliation, or any other sentimental emptiness, the individual may wish to vote PDP,

I agree that Jonathan appears humble; however, a man sorrounded by Tony Anenih, Ojo Maduekwe, Ibrahim Mantu, Metuh, Mike Oghaidome, and their ilk would not achieve anything considerable, EVEN IF HE MEANS WELL, I was at a public discourse earlier in the year when a popular economist/finance guru (who was in charge of Naija's Budget Office in the recent past) stated that NOTHING WILL IMPROVE IN NIGERIA IF PDP WON THE ELECTION BECAUSE OF HIS EXPERIENCE AT THE PRESIDENCY UNDER PDP!!!

My compatriots, let's check our souls, the inner recess of our minds, since PDP took the reins of power in 1999 (12 years and still counting), what had really changed in the lives of Nigerians? What had changed? Check the list- power, water, employment, agriculture (we spent $1 billion importing rice last year!), education, health, industrialization, poverty ratio, etc, etc,

As an aside, why was it practically impossible for BAT to supplant BRF with another candidate in the run-up to ACN primaries? Simple- that would have sounded the end of BAT's political career! This is so because in the history of Lagos state, aside from possibly Jakande, BRF appears to be the most loved Governor (based on performance of course), The other day, the ebullient and smooth-talking Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu (of the PDP), stated at a public event that Nigeria would have been a virtual El-Dorado if we had 10 Fasholas! The Lagos PDP executive issued a press statement the next day and lampooned the Niger Governor! They felt bitter that a PDP Governor made a statement that could help an opposition (ACN) candidate win an election which was a few weeks away!!! But the poor Governor was speaking as a patriot, rather than a selfish interested party animal,

In this election, we could possibly be better off voting individuals rather than their parties, God Bless Nigeria and He should give us the Grace to discern the best for our tomorrow and the tomorrow of our children and children's children,

On April 9 2011, VOTE BUHARI-BAKARE, VOTE FOR INTEGRITY, VOTE FOR PROTECTION OF YOUR FUTURE!!!

@faithin9ja

I recommend your well-reasoned and mature response to my post to certain other members of Nairaland. Thumbs up, bro/sis, However, there are certain parts of your post that I absolutely disagree with. I would take ALL your points one after the other:

1. Your first main response was to the effect that you "just cannot stand ex-military people pretending to be democrats". Now, let me ask, how else do you wish that a military Head of State behaved? All the cry about Buhari being a dictator holds no water because as a military Head of State, he had near absolute powers as it is in any part of the world. They suspend the Constitution and rule via decrees. People should be more perceptive when stating the over-beaten cliche of dictatorship. Also, what is wrong with being a democrat after having been a soldier? History abound of many Presidents (and I mean honest, clean, result-oriented Presidents here) in even the Developed World who had a history of being soldiers. Should we now hang the 'sword of Damacles' on the heads of any ex-military man and throw them off the democratic space?

2. The poor woman who cleaned the boot of the soldier in 1984 might have done it out of fear. That attitude is simply symptomatic of our national experience after several years of military rule. Even if that happened today (2011, 27 years after) the woman would still have cleaned the boots with alacrity. It is an institutional thing- we shouldn't pin it on Buhari's head.

3. Now on Jerimiah Useni, I beg to differ strongly with you here. Correct me if possible, I can confidently say that virtually ALL the military governors Buhari appointed were very clean at the time. However, under a certain sly man called IBB, some of them who were still in service after Buhari became terribbly corrupt. That instance is one of the most glaring case of 'when the head of a fish is rotten, the whole body does as well'. People like Useni, Diya, Latinwo, Mudashiru, etc, who according to the policy at the time, were made Governors in their individual states never had any choice property anywhere. However, after Buhari left and IBB came, the looting started!

On the long prison sentences, would you rather have the slap on the wrist a la Bode George, Lucky Igbinedion?

4. Buhari as a military Head of State could have considered all options before seeking to 'crate' Umaru Dikko and bring him back to face the law. The UK government truncated the move because they were beneficiaries of the pervasive loot at the time through their major banks- Barclays, BCCI, etc. They were also allies to Adisa Akinloye and the massively corrupt NPN leadership at the time,  

5. Your statement: 'Buhari created artificial scarcity of essential commodities (essenco we called them) milk, bread, toilet, rice, why because they corruptly stopped manufacturing firms from getting foreign exchange and sold the FX to middle men. This period saw closure of many factories' is akin to beer parlour analysis, my brother. Where is the proof of this weighty accusation? Is is just because the man was a Northerner like the bureau de change people?

6. I agree that Fela's sentence might have been harsh. But please, I love Baba 70 too, but we don't need to whip up sentiments by putting his name in capital letters!

7. Your comment on the drug agents/barons is taken care of by my analogy of military regimes. If you hadn't fogiven him, please do for no man is perfect.

8. Your comment 'Buhari threw out GUMI without recourse to any law' really amused me to no end! How could you expect any military regime not to act on whims? That is essentially their hallmark. Check history. Therefore, nothing new! Buhari saw that Sheikh Gumi could cause the disintegration of Nigeria through his comments and he acted as a firm, responsible leader.

9. Also, your comments on 'over 400 maitaisine followers killed in Kano? how many has Gadaffi killed? Can you imagine Obama killing 400 Americans?' falls pathetically flat on its face. How could a military regime curb a religious insurgence? By rubbing the heads of the deadly Maitatsine sect members? Like the clueless GEJ is doing with the unending Jos crisis? Buhari saw a misguided religious group killing innocent Nigerians of all tribes and faiths and he moved to quel their insurgency!

10. You asserted that 'Buhari is far from perfect'. Haba, my friend faithin9ja, how could I have ascribed perfection to any human being? I know that only God is perfect! No man born of woman is! In so far as I believe that Buhari is not the perfect article, I dare say, without any equivocation, that out of the lot seeking our votes today, a dispassionate analysis would point to BUHARI AS THE BEST OPTION!

11. You also stated that 'But most importantly why should we as nation go backwards? Buhari had his time, allow younger Nigerians rule.' This is mere fallacy, When has being young equalled performance? When has being in late 60s or even 70s meant indolence/failure? Let's rid our minds of this 'let the youth rule for ruling sake mentality'. I am a youth also, but on this score BUHARI IS BEST! Mind you, find out how old the great leaders of Malaysia, China, etc were when they transformed their countries,

On a lighter note, faithin9ja, it's good to see that you owned up to your slip about Eyadema- 'slip of the hand' (laughs)?

Let the healthy debate go on, my family and I are all for BUHARI! Peace,

@faithinnaija,

How could some people be so blind to the truth? Imagine someone who claimed to have lived under military rule stating that Eyadema was the President of Benin Republic! Even my 5-year old daughter knows that Eyadema was Prseident of Togo (father of current Togolese President), This dishonesty could either be based on the fact that you assume that everyone making comments are under 30 years, or you were just blatantly lying (much like PDP suppoters generally),

Again, I can't understand how any sane adult Nigerian could imply that he liked the Shagari regime, with the exploits of Umaru Dikko, Uba Ahmed, Adisa Akinloye and their eternally corrupt NPN!!! Incidentally, PDP is almost 100% NPN! History continues to repeat itself,

Anyway, that is beside the point. As an individual, I lived under Gowon, Murtala, Obasanjo (1st and 2nd periods), Shagari, Buhari, IBB, and all others after them. I knew how Nigeria progressed under Buhari, and I didn't just read stories, newspapers, etc as some commentators here, I lived through the period,

This is a summary of the nostalgic Buhari years:

1. Nigeria was regularly paying her national debts

2. Buhari/Idiagbon published all national debts and status of payments

3. Buhari, who some stupid people accuse of religious bigotry uprooted the infamous Maitatsine sect that killed so many people in the North (yet he was a Muslim)

4. Buhari did not hesitate to sanction a very popular Islamic scholar at the time- Sheikh Abubakar Gumi when (if I remember well) he made comments that could divide Nigeria

5. Buhari, it was, along with his deputy, Idiagbon, who stopped traditional rulers from Katsina (part of old Kaduna state at the time) and Ilorin, who attempted to pay solidarity visit to Dodan Barracks (the seat of the Federal Government at the time), and stated that they were Nigeria's leaders and not Kaduna or Kwara state leaders

6. During the Buhari years, one of my childhood friends returned home (Lagos) from school in Kwara in the very late hours (I think at about 11pm), he walked from Iddo to Lagos Island and was escorted along the way by an unknown soldier

7. During the Buhari years, Nigerians were beginning to imbibe discipline- we orderly queued at post offices (internet was virtually unknown to Nigerians at that time), stadia, amusement park, bus stops, etc

8. All inter-city and intra-city buses had waste bins- I recalled several times when you had to put away waste from oranges, mango, fruit seeds, paper foils, nylon, etc into the waste bins- no one threw things off the bus/car window

9. Bare-faced profiteering, corporate/commercial greed was very low owing to the Price Boards and the respect for enforcers (compare to now when every 'olodo' could import anything at 100% mark-up)

10. In the Buhari years, our parents (quite a lot of us had teacher-parents) could afford the best education available at all levels- elementary, secondary, tertiary

11. During Buhari's reign, the middle class existed and you could afford 'Geisha', sardine, Uncle Ben's rice, 'Carnation milk, etc.

12. The honesty of Buhari and his deputy, the no-nonsense Babatunde, meant that Idiagbon's mother still sold kerosene in their old family house in Ilorin during and well after the regime. I guess Buharis' parents also didn't live any ostentatious life.

13. I was classmate to one of Buhari's daughters (who also had a siser in another department) at ABU Zaria Accounting department well after Buhari had left office. The girls lived like the everyday Hausa girl- they wore ankara, regular slippers, etc. In fact their surname at the time was Muhammadu, Buharis' first name (therefore many students never knew that they were Buhari's daughters). The girls were too simple and gentle to be a former President's/Head of State's daughters. Please compare to nowadays,

14. Lastly, people should open their eyes and be perceptive, out of all our past national leaders, only Buhari had the least means and is also the most frugal of the lot- he doesn't have billions billions stashed anywhere, he has only the family house in Daura and his Kaduna house. If honesty does not pay, if honesty does not appeal to Nigerians, what does? Dishonesty? Bare-faced stealing? Undridled corruption?

Fellow Nairalanders, we all attended schools, we are educated, we are enlightened, some of us live in the Diaspora, some of us had our post-graduate education in Europe, why can't we just set aside sentiments that never helped the older generation? Why can't we just be objective? Let's objectively appraise Buhari, please. HE IS THE BEST OPTION OF THE WHOLE LOT!!!

It's crystal clear that most GEJ supporters are supporting him either based on empty emotions (oh, he was a poor, humble boy from Otuoke,  a Bayelsa riverine community), or the fact that they benefit directly or indirectly from the perfidy of his party-PDP.

All the bases for supporting GEJ that I have read either on NR or on various other blogs and websites are mere HOT AIR based on sentiments. In the heart of our hearts as individuals, would we seek to vote PDP in April

IF THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD, NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM A PDP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT! EVEN IF JONATHAN SEEKS TO DO CERTAIN THINGS, HE IS JUST TOO COMPROMISED!!!

@Rasputtin, why are you so deluded that you couldn't even summon courage to respond to GenBuhari's valid assertion below:

"We will amend the constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal cases,” Buhari states in his manifesto which was released in Abuja on Monday."

Gen Buhari, the CPC candidate, was quoted to have stated that removal of immunity clause would be encouraged for criminal cases only! One, your point about governors being distracted with all manner of cases falls flat because Buhari anticipated the issue and specifically mentioned "criminal cases",

It's also apparent that you've conceded defeat to a well-reasoned argument, that was why you conveniently avoided responding to GenBuhari even after you had responded to other posts that were submitted well after his response to you.

It appears that certain people earn their daily bread from members of the party that revels in perfidy and unabrasive corruption, hence the blind followership of their 'sheepish, weak, irrational, hollow, unprepared, evidently lack-lustre' candidate and sitting President called GEJ,

Nigerians, vote wisely! As a 36 year-old man, I shouted 'up NEPA' while growing up, my 3 kids are also shouting 'up NEPA'!!! Haba! Would my grand-children shout 'up NEPA'? God forbid! Yes, God forbid! But what are you doing to change this evil PDP government at almost all levels (except probably Chime and Amaechi)!!! God help us all,

We don't know what PHCN means in my neighbourhood!

The whole of Eric Manuel Crescent- including Bashir Augusto Street, Eric Manuel, Sulaiman, etc (off Bode Thomas Street, Surulere) and a part of the whole of Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, have not had one minute of power since Aug 3! Even before that date, at best, we used to get only about 5-6 hours at very odd hours (12am-6am)!

In August, my expenditure on power included: Fuel for 2 generators (N25,300), Repair of generators (N9,350), purchase of engine (motor) oil @ N1,700 each (N5,100), aside from constant harrassment at work by the guard to the effect that 'ooooga, puel don pinish por generata pa, buy am com', lol. In effect, I spent N39,750 on power generation in August 2010!!!! THIS IS REALLY SAD!!!

We don't know what PHCN means in my neighbourhood!

The whole of Eric Manuel Crescent- including Bashir Augusto Street, Eric Manuel, Sulaiman, etc (off Bode Thomas Street, Surulere) and a part of the whole of Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, have not had one minute of power since Aug 3! Even before that date, at best, we used to get only about 5-6 hours at very odd hours (12am-6am)!

In August, my expenditure on power included: Fuel for 2 generators (N25,300), Repair of generators (N9,350), purchase of engine (motor) oil @ N1,700 each (N5,100), aside from constant harrassment at work by the guard to the effect that 'ooooga, puel don pinish por generata pa, buy am com', lol. In effect, I spent N39,750 on power generation in August 2010!!!! THIS IS REALLY SAD!!!

Without holding brief for Dimeji Bankole (as I never knew him from Adam before he assumed the leadership of the House), it is true that MAJORITY of the members of the House are unfit to be there! They are all virtually common rogues!

This same Dino Melaye that claims to lead the so-called 'Progressives' was the immediate past House Committee Chairman on Information; when he dished out false, disjointed press briefings in support of this same Bankole! But when he was forced to resign the position and lost some reckoning, he now started fighting. Same goes for Ogunewe and the rest of them,

This fight is not about Nigeria and the common people, it is about how to STEAL more funds and return to political reckoning,

For some of us who knew Dino Melaye right from ABU Zaria during our undergraduate days, we are not surprised that he has continued his thuggery and stealing spree, Let him account for the video set and TV set of the student association he led at ABU, He stole the gadgets and fled after graduation! He who comes to equity must do so with clean hands!!!

@ banom (m), MAITAMA, ABUJA: I pity your dejected, miserable soul; we're discussing germane issues here and I never insulted anyone in my post, therefore labelling me a 'little mind' showed how much of a nincompoop you are,

For your information, and without being immodest in the least, you don't even qualify to lace my shoes, I could send an email to you so that you discover my personality and pedigree , Stupid asshole, your response to my post clearly gave you away as a nonentity basking in the euphoria of filthy lucre in your corner of Maitama, Abuja, dining with your devilish political godfathers,

Must you stoop to your God-forsaken level to type so much inconsequential drivel without making any sense or tackling the issues I raised in my post The fact that some people visit this site to contribute to national development does not give lilliputians like you freedom to throw trash around!!!

I have read certain comments based on purely ethnic, sentimental lines, How could a former CBN Governor, who just left office less than 6 months ago venture into the murky waters of politics?

I shuddered when I watched on Channels TV as Anenih, yes the same Tony Anenih, Mr. Fix It of election rigging in Nigeria said exactly this about Soludo during the 'Commitee of Friends' party organised by PDP crooks such as Dahiru Mangal, Ibrahim Mantu, Ogbulafor and co. at the Hilton, Abuja: "MY NAME IS ANENIH AND I'M FROM EDO STATE, BUT BECAUSE OF CHARLES, I HAVE CHANGED MY NAME TO ANENE AND I'M NOW FROM ANAMBRA STATE BECAUSE OF THE UPCOMING ELECTION" and everyone clapped their filthy hands, Anenih also said that "'PDP IS A DEMOCRATIC PARTY, WE DO NOT IMPOSE CANDIDATES AS BEING SPECULATED IN THE MEDIA, BUT IF CHARLES BECAME OUR CANDIDATE BY CONSENSUS, SO BE IT" and the clowns in the crowd (audience) started clapping again! They all clinked glasses afterwards,

Now, could it be that Prof. Soludo, an erudite scholar I admire and like so well, looked the other way when PDP hawks such as Ibori, Dangote, Otedola, Jimoh Ibrahim and co killed Nigerian banks thorugh their huge executive-induced loans, just because he was waiting to be the Anambra candidate at the expiration of his tenure, Or if not Anambra candidate, a Senator in 2011, as is being touted Did he continue to mouth the nonsense that even if there was global meltdown, our banks would bail out Nigeria owing to their so-called capital adequacy levels, rather than the Federal Government bailing out the banks!!!! Haven't we seen what organ is bailing out the other now? Where are our so-called 'unshakable banks'

Let 'Nairalanders' go watch the video of the Soludo PDP Committee of Friends party held in Abuja and you'd weep for Nigeria!!! Someone who left office less than 6 months ago as the Chief Regulator of our banks and whose tenure is still under scrutiny,

Prof. Soludo's indiscretion is unfortunate and this PDP perfidy would kill anything that remain of his integrity!!!

Nigerians would not cease to amaze me!!! A mere policy statement was made by the CBN and we just started attaching religious sentiments to it, without even waiting to get the full details!!!! The same polymer currency that Prof. Soludo had concluded before he left, and which Sanusi was just implementing!!! Haba, Nigerian people!!!

I can now see why it would take us eternity to develop in Nigeria, While certain countries are progressing, we dissipate valuable energy on which religion is better, which one would go to hell, which ethnic group dominates the cabinet, which tribe wishes to marginalise the other!!! Cry for my people, ignorant people!

It's so pathetic that Nigerians always return to their convenient cocoon of tribal and religious sentiments when officials genuinely undertake their assignments with all sincerity, Most times, when a Yoruba thief was caught, his kith and kin would cry blue murder that he was being 'persecuted' becuase he was Yoruba, The same thing goes on with other major tribes- Hausa and Igbo, If a Muslim/Christian stole and he was tried, his fellow religious adherents would claim he was punished because of his faith,

I am a Yoruba through and through (both parents) and I dare say that informed minds recognize that Sanusi just did what he had to do: what dispassionate, unbiased, and unfettered professionals had been clamouring for over the years, That our banks generally lack robust risk management and governance structures; and evidently the gravity of the inadequacies in some banks outweigh others,

I read a comment about Unity Bank not being touched because of its Northern origin and I laugh, Did you know that Unity Bank might likely escape the hammer? The reason is simple, At a recent private function (several months before the wind of change and during Soludo's tenure, for emphasis), the MD of Unity Bank claimed that he does not even know why there was so much noise about margin lending (lending to customers who bought bank and other companies' shares) and downstream lending (lending to clients, most of whom built tank farms); he said before he could find out, the lending market was already saturated!!! While this does not mean that Unity Bank had the best risk management structure, it shows that because they didn't partake in the lending bazaar- either by way of ignorance as depicted by their MD, or deliberate internal policies, they are likely to be free!!!

If the truth must be told:

Are the 5 banks not guilty of reckless lending?
Didn't they go on a lending bazaar?
Were their massive indebtedness on inter-bank in doubt?
Did they perpetually borrow from the Expanded Discount Window( EDW)?
Did the sacked CEOs live 'depositors-fate-doesn't-bother-me' lifestyles?
Are the symptoms in those banks not similar to the bad precedent of bank chiefs few year ago during the Failed Banks Tribunal era?
Aside from the reasons adduced by the CBN, would staff of these banks honestly confess to so many 'dubious deductions' from their salaries lately before the hammer fell?
Did one of the banks not put a withdrawal ceiling on customer accounts recently owing to liquidity problems?
Wasn't this the same thing that caused people like 'highly respected' Femi Adekanye, prolific banking author and a former bank CEO- Commerce Bank (and former CIBN President for that matter) to be jailed and disgraced by the Failed Banks Tribunal?

I can go on and on, NIGERIANS LET'S FACE FACTS, I am a senior banker too and I know certainly that some of my family members, friends, acquaintances, family friends, current and former professional colleagues work in ALL the five banks affected. I also know that people especially love Mama Ibru and Mr Akingbola (among the 5 CEOs fired), BUT THE TRUTH HAS TO BE TOLD!!! NO SENTIMENTS!!!

Parochial Nigerians should leave Sanusi alone! He means well and he needed to rein in on our profligate bank executives, People should read informed reactions and commendation of Sanusi from the papers- See a former ICAN President- L. Owoyemi's comments in the Punch of yesterday and several other comments from 'real thorough-bred professionals', not the many ethnic jingoists and religious fanatics on several blogspots and chat rooms in Nigeria, Even those in the Diaspora who should know better are not any different,

People should read Sanusi's interviews in the ThisDay newsaper of last Sunday and in the Punch of yesterday, Or lazy bones could type his name on 'google search engine' and see the plethora of articles and speeches by Sanusi several years before he became CBN Governor,

People should talk to senior people at UBA and FBN who worked with or who knew Sanusi; they'd tell you that he is fortright, intelligent, urbane, considerate, consultative and uncompromising, And knowledgable!!! This is not to say that he is a saint tough,

FOR EMPHASIS: NIGERIA'S PROGRESS WOULD REMAIN A PIPE DREAM IF ALL WE COULD DO IS TO CRITICIZE GENUINE POLICY DECISIONS ON THE BASIS OF ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS, NO WONDER WE ARE WHERE WE ARE!!!

And in case some people come out of their rat holes to slam me, the writer is a senior executive in a bank,