₦airaland Forum

Martin Luther King Jr. in his Testament Of Hope observed, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat"

Arguably thrilling, it is approximately five months that Saraki grabbed the leadership of the 8th Senate against all political odds, equations and calculations. Despite all the politically motivated, calculated, masterminded and well orchestrated attacks and detractions he remains unruffled, unwavering and while still gaining more admirers and sympathy across all political and regional divides.

Political passivists and indeed Nigerians who hitherto did not have any interest in NASS business practices now watch with keen interest what happens in the NASS because they have seen radical changes and fast dying business-as-usual in the 8th Senate. We ought to give it to Saraki because I don't think we would have had it like this if a stooge had been installed as SP.
As a clear show of quality and high standing leadership disposition, the Senate President Saraki ensured that it was not only those "Senators Of Like Minds", who were instrumental to his emergence that got the privileges of becoming chairmen when constituting some of the ad-hoc committees of the Red Chamber.

In Legistilative business, the 8th Senate led by Saraki enhanced due diligence in the passage of motions have impacted positively on the average Nigeria in the street. The 8th Senate led by Saraki passed a motion that reviewed electricity tariff by NERC thereby abolishing the concept of bulk metering. Also, Saraki led a six-man delegation to Maiduguri, the Borno state capital for an on-the-spot assessment of the security situation and plights of the residents ravaged by insurgency. As a follow up to that, a delegation led by Saraki attended the 4th United Nations International Conference for Heads Of Parliaments where Saraki re-emphasized the need and appealed for international support for Nigeria in fighting the insurgency in the North-East and to resettle the people.

More so, not minding that the 8th Senate is just in the morning days and irrespective of the distractions, statutory breaks, and vacations, Saraki led Senate has shown signs of becoming one of the most result-oriented and focused sessions. Saraki did make it clear in his letter he read during a plenary that legislative functions in the interest of the Nation should be the top priority of the 8th Senate and every other thing secondary. They have equally made frantic effort to keep an eye on the economy. The Senate has just summoned the Custom Boss over Rice Importation.
Furthermore, having perceived the leadership sagacity and legislative perspicacity of Saraki, international ambassadors, government institutions, corporate bodies, various associations and groups have been paying courtesy visits to the Senate President since inauguration of the 8th Senate. British High Commissioner, Andrew Pocock had in one of his visits, stated that the British government would offer necessary assistance to support the Federal Parliament in addressing its shortcomings.

It is obvious that the unreserved move by Nigerians to shun old system of imposition and godfatherism is paying off and even amidst the intrigues and Shenanigans to pull down the Leadership of the Senate. Everybody now follows with keen interest NASS activities more notably, the ongoing not business-as-usual screening of the ministerial nominees.
Saraki has sufficiently demonstrated that he is imbued with the political, mental, and psychological acumen to pilot a culturally and politically diverse but performance focused 8th Senate. As events unfold, those opposed to him initially have started appreciating his leadership and Legislative shrewdness. I believe that no matter what happens, Nigerians will be at the positive receiving end and we will have no other option than to follow suit in the change manthra.
God Bless Us All And At Large Nigeria!

dunkem21:
Fake news OP
..or put a live link ..

The live link is there, bottom-down.

kbshow100:
How i wish one day you will channel this your research to something important that will develop the youth,,

May God open your eyes and brain as he opened the eyes of Edwin Clark, NOI, Akpabio and so many other wailers. Ameeen

With due respect sir, this enlightening article is more important to developing the youth. I'd rather ask that your own myopic eyes be opened because Fashola himself cannot distance himself from the acts of the same institution he set up. He would have equally received the praises and glory if the institution performed so well.
This is why Nigeria has got a long way to go; having different standards for truth and senses of judgement. Agreed, Fashola is competent man with outstanding CV, but it does not exculpate him from the contract inflation.

Did you call that clearing air?
If I asked my student that question and he gave me this Fashola-like answer, I would score him zero. I was even expecting him to dismiss the allegation rather he admitted running a state government institution that awarded the contract. And the same people that impaled Odua are here celebrating Fashola's prevarication, philosophical and grammatical exercise.

NgeneUkwenu:
Nyesom Wike The Comedian:

Having failed to sway the mind of President Buhari (through hate documentaries) to stop him from nominating Amaechi...

Having failed to rally a protest from Rivers people to stop Amaechi, as the Good people of Rivers state vehemently rejected his hate moves against his fellow Rivers Man..

Whereas, Wike has also failed to Use Rivers Senators to stop the confirmation of Rotimi Amaechi:

Whereas, Wike has failed to use the Senate Rule to Stop Amaechi..

Whereas, Wike has failed woefully to use a doctored inquisition report called Judicial inquiry report to Stop Amaechi...

Nyesom Wike the alleged Murderer of his people, now plays his last card by assembling hungry, faceless and nameless youth and tagged them Northern Youth, to whip up sentiment and see if his futile project will get a lift!

Wike, you will commit Suicide by next week, When Rotimi Amaechi Shall Be Sworn In As The Honourable Minister Of Defence, Federal Republic Of Nigeria.

I just knew it must be you. Only you know why you're supporting Amaechi amidst all these corruption allegation.

bluaero:
This is a joke. Oliseh, enough of all these childish comments abeg. You need to focus on improving that team

You can really see how petty this Oliseh can be. Just a friendly match he won and he's boasting. Why didn't you tweet that when you lost to Congo. You won't let sleeping dog lie and do your job. Grow up man, you're now a manager.

This is good and fine. But his contemporaries like Amaechi, Fashola, Kwankwaso and other similar characters are yet to be eyed by EFCC. Amidst public outcry, EFFC still pays deafening ears to invite them. This is not good for Nigeria.

Saraki Still PDP at Heart – Tinubu Posted By: Breaking Timeson: October 12, 2015In: Breaking News, Nation, NewsNo Comments Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, added that the Senate president might have joined the APC on paper, but has remained committed to the malpractices and wrong aims of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at heart. He launched his attack in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Sunday Dare, in response to a report alleging that the national leader had conspired with the Senate president to undermine the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. In the six-page statement issued from Conakry, Guinea, Tinubu’s media adviser said his principal remained glued “to the party’s decision that the manner by which Saraki captured his current seat travestied party discipline”. Dare stressed that it was a crass act of disloyalty showing that Saraki might have joined the APC on paper, but has remained true to the malpractices and wrong aims of the reactionary PDP in his soul. He noted that the idea of an alleged conspiracy between Tinubu and Saraki against the president was an “execrable lie”. “The alleged conspiracy is a figment. It takes at least two people to make a conspiracy,” he said. He revealed that there had been no substantive communication between the duo since Saraki decided “to foul the integrity of the Senate and the party. To be truthful, I do not think Saraki would care to hear what he will have to say to him”. He advised Saraki to shelve his personal situation for the moment and concentrate on the people’s business, adding: “It would be a grave mistake and abuse of office for Saraki to directly or indirectly inject his personal matter into the approval process (for ministerial nominees). “Saraki should not link the approval of a single minister to his desire for extrajudicial treatment of his issues. If adhering to the decisions of the party, supporting the government’s progressive plank and working for the good of the people qualifies Tinubu for surveillance, then he will accept that. However, we know that any such surveillance is not from state security organs. “Such activity would come from the insecurity agencies of the PDP and its mercenary allies elsewhere who would seek to fragment the true core of the APC so that they may scuttle the Buhari reform programme and return the nation to the misgovernance of the past. “They hope to delude the APC into attacking itself. By so doing, they believe they can regain through stealth, the reins of government the people seized from them through elections. “They seek to break the hearts and hopes of the people. Tinubu would never team with anyone to gain such an inhumane objective.” He added that “those who midwifed this garish tale would give birth not to truth but to lies intended to kill APC’s unity and to retard the Buhari administration’s strategic reform initiatives, as earlier outlined by our party manifesto”. “Given the potential for change that stands before us, we are now beginning to see the true nature of many people. There are those who truly want positive change so that we can break from the ways of a stolid past. “Then there are those who speak of change with their mouths but never believe in it in their hearts. They came along with us for the ride or because no other political option availed itself at the operative time. Now, given the chance to redeem themselves from their past political actions, they would rather return to the political morass from whence they came,” Dare claimed. He added: “If this nation is to have more than a fleeting chance of escaping the quagmire into which years of PDP misrule have taken us, we cannot allow these regressive elements to deploy their cunning tricks to divide and pit progressive against progressive. “Tinubu waited for the president to select his cabinet. The majority of the selections have been made. There is nothing to do but congratulate the appointees and pray for them. Their responsibilities are vast, the future of the nation now rests on their shoulders. “The challenges before them are manifold and daunting. Those who want the best for Nigeria can only hope that these people succeed. The only intervention that Tinubu will make is one of encouragement. He will charge them to remain true to the progressive vision of the party and our president. “None should allow themselves to be enticed to join league with those who would cast us back into the old mold of PDP governance: to pilfer, destroy and pillage. Instead they should cohere faithfully to the enlightened programmes and promises made by our party and this government.” Emeka Nwankwo www.thebreakingtimes.com/saraki-still-pdp-at-heart-tinubu/

midolian:
I hate to say this. Fayose is going mad!

No sir! He is not. The man called Fayose says the bitter truth. He says what people are afraid of saying. He says what many Nigerians murmur in their mind. The recent political development regarding Alamieyeseigha's extradition request could have exacerbated his health condition, hence his demise. So, Fayose's submissions may not be out of place.
He(DSP) sinned, admitted and pleaded guilty, restituted, served his sentences and was lawfully pardoned. Why can't we forgive this man and put politics aside especially in his unfortunate death?
RIP to DSP. Your life sojourn has significant points for us the living to learn.

jomoh:
Imagine.
He wan go infect them with cluelessness



We dey wait. Make we see d drama wey im go go perform dia.

Smelly comment. Must you comment?

This is indeed a very humble and objective submission. No body is convicting Amaechi already before the court but these allegations are just too weighty to be ignored. Everybody has shortcomings, but when yours become alarming, people will leave theirs and talk yours. Many petitions against just one person. Why were the APC senators shouting No No No? Would it acquit Amaechi? This is a cumbersome burden on Amaechi if he goes on without clearing his name.

Listen OP, there is no readier means for a man to bring his own worth into question than by trying to detract from the worth of others. I am more deeply pained by the name, Ojukwu that I saw on the least. Only few among first class brave men in the world would have done what Ojukwu did. It would have been even riskier if he never took that risk. Ojukwu is an enigma. He was who other region secretly wished they had. No act of bravery could be more than identifying injustice and openly standing up to fight it. Bravery is not knowing your oppressors and kissing their ass hoping that they will alleviate your pains. The later is what my dear OP would call bravery. Somehow for you!

Super Eagles Managers have a history of having issues with their key players. It's somehow for Oliseh.

sammyj:
When is this per time Governor's Wike and his team wizard hunt on Ameachi stop. Well time will tell if he succeeds or not !!!

It's dawn already. Isn't it high time you woke up. We are talking about Billions of Naira stashed and you're prevaricating. Simply advise your Lion of Ubima to go and clear himself legally. The allegations are becoming too alarming to be ignored. Can't you see?

simplycarro:
This agbaya, do you have any thing doing in your life except wailing?

None of your business. Does he beg you for food or money?
You're equally as much here as he is. Just that you can't express yourself freely as he does.

This Oliseh self!
Enyeama buried his mother on 4th and still made made it to the Camp on 6th. What's wrong with that?
Oliseh should just watch it. It seems he found himself on oversized shoe.

Image makers and launderers! Kontinu, after you'll say you want change for Nigeria. Someone is watching you.

TonyeBarcanista:
The 8th Senate is the most dumbest and useless Senate EVER! How can you even think of screening a President that has popular mandate? I think these Senators don't have any idea on their duties as parliamentarians. Lemme be very clear, they CANNOT screen a President.

As for 'Take-a-bow' Senators, I don't see anything different.

Oga, management of a ministry is not a popularity contest.
Competence and technical dispositions cannot be sacrificed on the alter of public mandate and that is why ministries are not for political exercises.

PassingShot:
This got me thinking if PDP has learnt a lesson. The same "propaganda and deceit" they shouted to high heavens when APC was formed. The same "propaganda and deceit" they shouted during the campaign. The same "propaganda and deceit" they shouted till they lost the presidency. Yet, it's the same words they're still shouting even when out of power!

Do they think Nigerians are as stupid as they are?

At the end of the day, Nigerians will not judge PMB and his government on what PDP says but on their performance compared with the previous PDP's.

Blind support!
It is not what the president wants but what the masses and essentially, the constitution says.

We don't need Metu tell us the obvious propaganda, lies and deceit that characterise the APC-led government.

We don't have to wait till the end to pass our judgement. Truthful people know so far that this government of APC has not lived up to expectation.

After ALL the Attention-seeking articles or essays on the economy written by SOLUDO.
After All the so called Human Rights Eye service by FALANA.
After All ''The I want to be heard and seen'' BBOG Campaign by OBY
Sorry compatriots. Next time. Some days are like that.
Anyway, there are still more appointments to be made by PMB. Keep hope alive. It's a Government of Compensation-Appointment. I pray yours won't pass you by.

Dear Senator David Mark,
Please, DO something good for Nigeria. Sacrifice for Nigeria. Make a remarkable mark in this country. Help your constituency without reservation.
Nigeria has given you far more than you have given her. She gave you the platform you jealously cling unto.

I wasn't expecting saints. I was expecting new brooms that sweep better rather than old brooms that know the corners.
Couldn't the long extensive search and wide consultation have produced better nominees?. Why did it take PMB 4 months to consult for just old boring faces whose political antics and leadership dispositions arguably leave much to be admired.

This is the beauty of democracy and independence of the Legislature. If it were a puppet on the seat as Senate President, it would just be 'Take a bow'.

tobimillar:
I am not suprised...but if saraki is not jailed then buhari's anti corruption fight is a scam

Hmm!
Whether convicted or not?
Remember, he pleaded not guilty and the court is yet to say otherwise as the case is still in view.
Am just saying because of your blunt comment. Not holding any brief both for the hunted and the hunter.

Why haven't we heard anything about Lamido Sanusi's indictment of financial recklessness in CBN?

simpleseyi:
Are Ibos cursed with chest-beating? These nonentities need to be whipped again. If you don't screen the Ministers, Buhari will be very happy because he never wanted Ministers in the first instance. It is the constitution that is forcing him to appoint Ministers. What about if he swears in Ministers without Senate screening as he has done for some appointments, what would the chest-beaters do?

How can we ever have a reasonable pattern of doing things in Nigeria with this kind of warped mentality. More annoying is that this compatriot calls himself an advocate of change. You've got a lot of growing to do no matter how tall your father or grandpa was. Oh Nigeria! Behold someone who wants to change thee.

Truth be told, a professional and subtle polithiefian like Fashola should be feared more than those whose 'thiefing' proclivities are glaring. Fashola is just like a proverbial rat that eats your unwashed hands while sleeping at night and at the same time blows you cool air so that you won't wake up. There is no worse act of corruption in office than inflating the costs of contracts. While the unsuspecting masses praised you for the contracts you awarded and executed, you indirectly used the inflated cost to enrich yourself. That's both stealing and corruption.
We may wish to lend our voice to this group's concerns especially when the touted criterion for ministerial nominees is ''near-cleanliness'' or incorruptiblility.
For people like Fashola, Amechi, Fayemi and the likes to be taken serious in course of doing their job, they have to as a matter of necessity submit themselves to EFCC for clearance.

Why?

support the call by Afenifere that all Fulani herdsmen should be banned from the south-west. Actually I believe that they should be banned from the entire south and not just the south west. I also stand by every word that I wrote in my widely published essay titled ”The Herdsmen From Hell”. This contribution serves as a follow up to that essay. The bottom line is this: we do not want those that slaughter innocent people, including women and children, in our midst.Those that say that we must remain silent when aliens and vandals invade our land, rape our women and kill our people are, at best, misinformed and misuguided and, at worse, insensitive and wicked. How can they expect us to remain silent when our elders and leaders are being terrorised and brutalised on a regular basis. Those that harbor such views and that have such misgivings are suffering from a callous and diseased state of mind and they shall be put to shame. No matter what they say we will continue to expose and resist this barbarity and we shall continue to call it precisely what it is: pure and unadulterated evil. We shall not be intimidated by those that seek to silence us and neither shall we cowered into silence. I have no regrets for describing those murderous Fulani herdsmen as tsetse flies. Actually they are worse than that because, like Satan, they only come to kill, steal and destroy. It is obvious to any discerning mind that this categorization is limited to those Fulani herdsmen that indulge in barbaric and criminal activities and not the entire Fulani race. Like any other ethnic group there are good Fulanis and there are bad ones. For someone to suggest that we ought to spare the bad ones simply because we are scared of offending the sensibilities of the good ones makes no sense to me. I have many Fulani friends and the last thing on my mind would be to demonise an entire ethnic group. For anyone to suggest that a literary attack and a verbal assault on a bunch murderers and killers who happen to be of Fulani extraction is an attack on the entire Fulani race is absurd. Worse still to describe such an attack as ”hate speech against the Fulani tribe” is simply asinine: it is nothing more than the gross manifestation of a subterranean slave mentality and an attempt at sucking up to those that believe that they own Nigeria. Those that have voiced such puerile nonsense ought to provide an answer to the following question: should we remain silent when we see some wicked and uneducated cattle rearers committing atrocities which may, if not properly checked, result in a full scale ethnic war. If the herdsmen had been Yoruba or Igbo I would have condemned them in similar terms and labelled them in precisely the same way. I may even have gone further because I would have expected far better from my own people. I also happen to know that if Yoruba or Igbo traders or farmers went to the core north and singled-out the elders, leaders, traditional rulers and women and children of the Fulani tribe for murder, pillage, torture and rape all hell would have broken loose by now and their reaction would not have been limited to harsh words, strongly-worded essays and uncomplimentary categorizations. The bottom line is this: the days of us keeping quite and suffering in silence in the name of political correctness are long over. If we don’t want trouble and we don’t want matters to escalate we must speak out against evil very clearly and very quickly and we must condemn and correctly label those that like to shed human blood at the drop of a hat. This is especially so when they prey on the weak, the elderly and the more vulnerable in our society. It is the gutless cowards that live amongst us that seek to play down the pillage, murder and rape of others that are guilty of hate crimes and collusion with genocidal maniacs and not those of us that have the courage to call a spade a spade. Those that support the atrocities of the herdsmen are insensitive to the feelings and sufferings of others and that is the biggest crime of all. They hate the victims of these terrible atrocities and they love and make excuses for the perpetrators. They are completely incapable of any form of empathy with those that have been violated and slaughtered and in their heart of hearts they relish the atrocities and they consider them fair game and fair sport. A good example of such people is the individual who leads an organisaton which is supposed to protect the rights of the less fortunate in our society. This individual apparently does not deem it appropriate to stand up against the evil that the herdsmen have been indulging in for the last few years and he prefers to pamper them. Why am I not surprised? Instead of speaking up for the human rights and civil liberties of those that have been maimed, killed and persecuted as he has been charged to do, the man is busy trying to say things that are politically correct. Whilst he is attempting to please and impress his new paymasters people are being killed by his cattle-rearing friends on a daily basis. I say shame on him and those that think like him and I honestly believe that the blood of those innocent people that have been maimed and slaughtered by the herdsman are partly on his hands because he has encouraged them with his complicit silence and his veiled support. Given the attitude of men like that, coupled with the apparent indifference of the Federal Government to the whole issue, it is clear that the carnage and tyranny of the Fulani herdsmen may not end any time soon. I say this because barely ten days after the abduction and matcheting (yes matcheting) of Chief Olu Falae and on October 1st 2015, which is Nigeria’s independence day, the Fulani herdsmen struck again. On that day they abducted a traditional ruler from the Yoruba-speaking area of Kogi state. His name is Oba Adebisi Obademi and they abducted him from his palace in Apa-Bunu in the Kabba-Bunu area of his state. They have asked the family to pay a ransom for his release. On the same day they released a 70 year old Yoruba cleric by the name of Pastor Japhet Obafemi who is from Ilepa, Ikare Akoko in Ondo state. They had abducted him and kept him in tortuous captivity for 11 grueling days. Sadly a number of others whose homes were invaded by the herdsmen were not so lucky. Mr. Agbaose Sowetan from Oja-Odan, Ogun state and Mrs. Ayeshi Balogun from Asa village, Ogun state, both of whom were farmers, were not allowed to go home to their families but instead they were murdered in cold blood. According to press reports Mrs. Balogun, who was a mother of three, was gang-raped before being hacked to death. Can there be any greater evil than this? Who will tame these wicked and hard-hearted herdsmen and who will clip the wings of these bloodthirsty cattle-rearers? Who will deliver us from these sadists and terrorists that have no sense of restraint or remorse and that have no mercy or compassion? Who will stand up to them boldly and say “let my people go”? Permit me to conclude this intervention by repeating an interesting and relevant contribution from the famous British historian, writer and educationalist Dr. T.R. Batten. He wrote: “The Fulani were at their most influential in Gobir. Then a dispute broke out between their Imam, Usman Dan Fodiyo and Sarkin Gobir Yunfa.The Fulani rallied behind their leader who encouraged them to defy their Hausa Chief. He began a jihad and fighting broke out. Thus the Fulani seized the country by force against the will of those who lived there. The enmity had nothing to do with religion for among those who fought (against the Fulani) were many Muslims. It was about the Fulani’s wish to seize power from the Hausas.” It follows that the herdsman and those that they represent conquer by infiltration, assimilation and guile. Those that doubt this should find out what became of the ancient Hausa kingdoms. They should also find out about the terrible fate that befell the famous Yoruba general, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of the old Oyo empire, Afonja, at the hands of Abdulsalami, the son of his erstwhile “ally” and friend the Fulani Salih Janta (A.K.A Shehu Alimi). After Afonja died Abdulsalami killed his son and took over his throne in Ilorin. Since that time a Fulani Emir, with a flag from the Sultan of Sokoto, has ruled Ilorin whilst the Yoruba descendants of Afonja have been denied the throne in a predominantly Yoruba town that was founded and established by Aare Afonja, their illustrious Yoruba forefather. It is better to learn from the mistakes of history rather than to allow them to be repeated. dailypost.ng/2015/10/04/femi-fani-kayode-the-carnage-of-the-cattle-rearers/

WHERE ARE THE SOYINKAS AND FALANAS OF THIS COUNTRY? THEM NO DEY HEAR OR READ AGAIN?