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 Politics › Re: FEC Approves N124bn For Reconstruction Of Enugu-Port Harcourt Road, Four Others by erinolu(m): 1:25pm On Aug 22, 2013 |
[/b][b] Sincere 9gerian: Meanwhile, lets reiterate the progress that have been made in the road sector in the last 2yrs.The following roads projects have been COMPLETED (32 Road Projects In all) : True many part of the country has experienced serious road rehabilation, but some few points below (1) Rumukurshi-Chokocho road in Cross River State;......This is not in CrossRiver sir. Rumukurshi should be in Port-Harcourt (2) Vandeikia-Obudu-Obodu Cattle Ranch road (Phase 1) in Benue State.......This is not true naaa....Vandeika axis is still as it is ooooo Massive work is ONGOING in various other highways in the 6 geo-political zones (1) the Onitsha–Enugu Expressway.......This also is not true, just recently passed there and did not see any thing massive, infact one section of Onitsha Enugu road is completely condemned |
| Politics › Re: Pictures Of Military Hard-wares At The Army Day Celebration 2013 by erinolu(m): 3:54pm On Jul 13, 2013 |
Kingsteve: With only their fleet of submarines, they can easily cause more destruction on a wide scale, than the Nigerian Military would.And what do you think our total 6 units of "Frigate" and "Corvette" are for? To stand akinbo and look while the sub do the destruction...Hey common!!!! |
| Politics › Re: Pictures Of Military Hard-wares At The Army Day Celebration 2013 by erinolu(m): 1:35pm On Jul 13, 2013*. Modified: 3:55pm On Jul 13, 2013 |
Kingsteve: Hey, don't digress from the topic!Before going too far, compare the firepower between SA and Nigeria and judge if they measure with us http://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-comparison.asp
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| Politics › Re: Pictures Of Military Hard-wares At The Army Day Celebration 2013 by erinolu(m): 8:24am On Jul 12, 2013 |
musiwa31: so you think you have weapon in the north.Stop talking rubbish Musiwa, what then would you say of 3rd Armoured Division in Jos....... |
| Christianity Etc › Re: Scientist Found Message From God In Mars by erinolu(m): 8:26am On Jul 10, 2013 |
Interesting !!! |
| Foreign Affairs › Wooo !!!(video: Meet A 12-year-old Egyptian Boy Who Explains His Country Crises) by erinolu(op): 5:51am On Jul 08, 2013 |
This young Egyptian boy, reportedly 12 at the time, was actually interviewed in Cairo by the newspaper El Wady way back in October. That was a few months into President Mohamed Morsi’s controversial rule, before he had granted himself near-unlimited powers but after several other worrying steps toward consolidating power among Islamist allies. The video circulated widely on Saturday – far more widely, it appears, than it did in October – as much of the world turns its attention to Egypt and the protest movement that culminated in July 3′s military coup ousting Morsi from power. The young boy, currently a star on the link-sharing site Reddit, articulates the opposition movement’s gripes and complaints with surprising sophistication and a remarkably clear-headed passion. At some point, maybe when he explains the contradictions between a constitution meant to enshrine the rights of women and a parliament that had carved out broad exceptions for conservative interpretations of Islamic law, the young Egyptian takes a leap from precocious to downright impressive. This two-and-a-half-minute video couldn’t capture all of the complexities of Egypt’s multifaceted protest movement, of course, much less the broader political, economic and social crisis of which that movement is a part. But for newcomers eager to understand the protests, this video is a concise introduction to one segment of the protesters, delivered by a delightfully passionate and improbably well-spoken boy who appears to grasp nuances that are way, way beyond his reading level http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/06/video-meet-the-12-year-old-egyptian-boy-who-wonderfully-explains-his-countrys-crisis/ This got me thinking !!!!! |
| Politics › Re: Kano Airport Before And After Jonathan by erinolu(m): 3:42pm On Jul 05, 2013 |
Acidosis: Have you ever been to Kano?Show us pictures of the Kano you are talking about biko...Seeing is believing!!! |
| Politics › Re: FG Condemns Removal Of Egypt's President Morsi. by erinolu(m): 3:19pm On Jul 05, 2013 |
Frank-C:What then would you say about the success of the FRENCH revolution..? |
| NYSC › Re: JNI Wants Separate Camp For Male And Female Corpers by erinolu(m): 9:02am On Jul 04, 2013 |
princesammmy: JUST SHOW ME THE MOST PEACEFUL PLACE ON EARTH AND I WILL TELL YOU WHICH RELIGION IS NOT THERE1. Afghanistan 2. Pakistan 3. Somalia 4. Iraq 5. Iran 6. Libya 7. North Sudan 8. Northern Nigeria 9. Mali 10. Syria 20.....Anymore Most Peaceful Nations, as ascribed by Islam..? 1 Like |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria's Power Sector Is Ready For Investment - General Electric by erinolu(m): 1:58pm On Jul 03, 2013 |
Afrocatalyst: Calabar. How do you attract these investors to your place sef?By being hospitable...PERIOD!!!! |
| Politics › Re: Borno ANPP Chairman Escapes Death As Vigilante Burns Down His House by erinolu(m): 4:37pm On Jul 02, 2013 |
lakpa lakpa: Only a fool will see nothing wrong in the barbaric actions of these misguided youths.Ehnnnn...go arrest them nah!!!....no wonder your head get Lakpa Lakpa |
| Politics › Re: Borno ANPP Chairman Escapes Death As ‘civilian JTF’ Burns Down His House by erinolu(op): 9:08am On Jul 02, 2013 |
Baba_Eleko: Rip Azazi.True talk bro.....!!!! He said it, that Boko Haram was in the government, the politicians and some sitting official have been pointed out with cutting edge evidences. Must a mass action do the job of the law efforcement agencies. |
| Politics › Re: Jonathan's Re Election Will Be Based On His Treatment Of Muslims-sultan by erinolu(m): 9:01am On Jul 02, 2013 |
berem: 2015: Jonathan's Re-Election Will Be Based On His TreatmentThe Sultan should get lost !!!! |
| Politics › Re: Borno ANPP Chairman Escapes Death As ‘civilian JTF’ Burns Down His House by erinolu(op): 7:46am On Jul 02, 2013 |
erinolu: The Borno state Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Alhaji Mala Othman narrowly escaped death, when Volunteer Youth group, popularly known as Civilian JTF stormed his New GRA residence in Maiduguri on Monday and raised it down, alleging that he is one of the sponsors of Boko Haram militants.We await to see if the Civilian JTF might visit the likes of Senator Ali Ndume and his likes implicated in the BOKO malaise !!!! |
| Politics › Borno ANPP Chairman Escapes Death As ‘civilian JTF’ Burns Down His House by erinolu(op): 6:28am On Jul 02, 2013 |
The Borno state Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Alhaji Mala Othman narrowly escaped death, when Volunteer Youth group, popularly known as Civilian JTF stormed his New GRA residence in Maiduguri on Monday and raised it down, alleging that he is one of the sponsors of Boko Haram militants. DailyPost in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital has gathered that as early as 10:30 am, the youth in their hundreds stormed the politician’s house, demanding for his arrest and burnt down his building, chanting Sai mun Kawo Karshensu, meaning (we must bring to an end their activities). The youth blocked the entire major streets leading to his house to avoid harming innocent people passing through the area. Efforts by the youth to track down the politician proved abortive, as he was later sneaked out of the house by security operatives. On realizing that the ANPP chairman has been smuggled out, the youth set his house ablaze and proceeded to the house of his boss, the former Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, chanting “Saura Mai Gidan shi” meaning ( His boss’ house is the next), but they were prevented by the security men who manned the gate. The security men also shot sporadically into the air to disperse the rampaging youth. It would be recalled that the youth have been hunting for the ANPP chairman, Alhaji Mala Othman, alleging that both the Chairman and his boss were responsible for the ongoing crisis in the state |
| Music/Radio › Re: Songs You Didnt Know OJB Produced by erinolu(m): 2:51pm On Jun 28, 2013 |
Fear catch me as i see the grammatical. English ish ferry axpensive oo scipher: ah! English na your eye I de look o 2 Likes |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria Is A Lie And We Believe It – Nyiam by erinolu(op): 1:19pm On Mar 23, 2013 |
The mistakes Rotimi Williams and I made about Nigeria’s constitution PROFESSOR Ben Nwabueze (SAN), the chairman of The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerian citizens is disturbed that the transformation agenda is on the wrong step and might not yield the desired result. In this interview with newsmen, he proffers suggestions on how to re-track the agenda. He opposes calls for amnesty for Boko Haram sect and doubts the ability of the congregating opposition parties to dislodge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015. Excerpts: His assessment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda The transformation agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration is inadequate because of its limited objectives. To begin with, it focuses only on the economy. Even as limited to the economy, it does not aim at a radical change in the nature or character of the economy. Its aim as stated in its enabling document is to engender economic growth and development in a way to achieve improvement in the welfare of the citizens. The word ‘transformation’ according to the dictionary definition of it, is “change in condition, nature of character of a thing”, ‘a change into another substance.’ A new approach in the management of the economy may well bring about a great improvement in the economy in the form of enhanced growth and development and welfare services, but such improvement cannot in any meaningful sense be described as changing the Nigerian economy into something radically different in nature or character or changing it into another substance. The Transformation Agenda is inadequate for another more fundamental reason. It has absolutely nothing to do with, not a word to say about, the transformation of our society from moral decadence into which it has sunk. No agenda, in the context of Nigeria, is worth being called a transformation agenda, which does not aim at the moral and ethical transformation of our society. Its focus must enhance the entire society or nation not the economy alone. On how to improve the transformation agenda What this country needs is national or social transformation not just economic transformation. I can think of nothing more disastrous for this country than an enhanced growth and development built or superimposed upon a morally and ethically decadent society, a society bereft of a sense of justice, probity, integrity, accountability, civic virtues and noble values. The vice-President in a speech at the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership Award Ceremony on March 6, 2013 said that government planned as part of the transformation agenda programme to establish mega universities, each of which can take up to 200,000 students. The establishment of such universities will be a disaster, a disastrous misplacement of priorities when it is taken in the context of the incredible decline in educational standards in the country as attested by the phenomenon of near-illiterate university graduates, the existence of magic schools all over the country whose students are guaranteed automatic success in the school certificate examination, not of course by merit, certificate racketeering; examination malpractices etc. His take on perceived looming revolution For the present, unless the situation deteriorates to a point where the mood and reaction of the people can no longer be controlled, what I advocate for Nigeria is a peaceful, non violent social and ethical revolution led by a person imbued with a revolutionary ardour for national transformation. And I implore Mr. President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan to lead it. On calls by major northern stakeholders for amnesty to the Boko Haram sect I think the call for amnesty for the Boko Haram people is misplaced and it is based on mis-guided comparison between the amnesty granted to the militants in the Niger Delta. These are two different things, completely different. The Niger Delta militants were fighting for justice, it is not an insurgency. Boko Haram is an insurgency, revolt against constituted authorities. Carrying arms against the state, that is what insurgency means. Militants in the Niger Delta never revolted against the state when they were protesting and that is the difference between militancy and insurgency. These Boko Haram people are insurgents therefore there should be no question of amnesty. However, I sympathise with them because they are revolting against the absence of social justice. Now, forget the hardship and suffering, these are not the only cause for their insurgency, it also has political and religious undertones. The origin of the group Boko Haram is political, it was what happened after the death of (former President Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua, the North said the South has ruled for eight years under President Obasanjo and therefore it is their turn justifiably or unjustifiably, that was their argument. They also said after the acting tenure of President Jonathan, that power should return to the North and that the price of that is what Nigeria is experiencing now. That is the political angle to it. I have mentioned the economic side of the revolt, which include hardship, suffering and poverty as well. They have now added a position which is untenable by adding religion to it. They say they want to convert Nigeria into a Muslim state; that is incredible. On The Patriots recurring call for a National Conference, resistance from the National Assembly and next line of action We are still going ahead with the National Conference. The arguments from the National Assembly are again misplaced. They are representatives of the people who are elected members, elected by the people, but what is their mandate? There is a clear difference and distinction between the National Assembly and the Constituent Assembly or National Conference. The National Assembly are elected and given a mandate to govern according to the Constitution. The Constituent Assembly, the National Conference is an assembly for just one specific purpose, the purpose of making a constitution. Their mandate is not to govern, the mandate is a special one and that is making a constitution. The people are the constituent power; the constituent power in any country is in the people as a sovereign people. The National Assembly is not sovereign, the people are sovereign. In exercise of their constituent power of their sovereignty to deliberate on their constitution and how they are to be governed, that is the whole purpose of the demand for a National Conference. On areas that need amendment in the 1999 Constitution Quite frankly, there are many flaws and many errors in the content of the constitution. So many errors and I as a person was partly responsible because I was a member of the constitution drafting committee set up by the military government in 1978. I was not only a member but chairman of one of the sub-committees that produced Chapter 2, the fundamental objectives and one of the cardinal flaws in the constitution is the concentration of powers in the centre. That is why I accept that I am partly responsible for that because at the time, late Chief Rotimi Williams, a close friend of mine and nearly everybody in the Constitution Drafting Committee were so overwhelmed with this feeling, this patriotic feeling that we needed unity and the most effective way to achieve unity of the country is by having a very strong central government. Most of us in the committee shared that idea at the time. Chief Williams shared it because of the patriotism in us and we wanted a united Nigeria, we feel we can achieve unity by having a strong central government. Then, what did we do to achieve our mis-guided objective? We took away 50 per cent of the items on the concurrent list and gave it to the centre. We feel by doing this, we are establishing unity. We did not stop at that. We looked at the residual matters, these are matters exclusive to the states, we took a large part of it, more than 30 percent and close to 50 percent; we took it away from states and gave to the centre. And the result is the almighty Federal Government, but what we discover was that instead of producing unity, we produced disunity because of the intensity of the struggle to control the centre. The intensity is so much and it is not just in the political power that was concentrated at the centre, much of the money also went to the centre and so by action, we destroyed what is called fiscal federalism. Too much money at the centre increased the struggle for the control of the centre and the control of the money itself and that has remained the feature of the Constitution up till today. So when people struggle and agitate for true federalism, for fiscal federalism, they know what they are talking about and they are right, that must be changed and until it is changed, we might not achieve true federalism because the basis of which we did it has proved to be misguided, the unity we thought we will achieve was not achieved and what we achieved was more disunity than unity because of the struggle. So I am not sure the rectification of that error is what the National Assembly can do because so much is involved. We have to restructure the territorial basis of the federation. Even if we have to take power away from the centre, whom are you going to give it to? The 36 states, many of them carry even the power they have now not to talk of bringing back what has been taken away. Many of them are so small to carry those powers. So not only restructuring in political power, not only restructuring in financial power, you have to restructure territorial basis of zones. Six zones as suggested already but there is nothing sacrosanct by number of zones, it can be six, seven or eight but realistically six zones. So that has to be done. Can the National Assembly do it? http://www.todaysgist..co.uk/2013/03/the-mistakes-rotimi-williams-and-i-made.html |
| Politics › Re: Emir Opposes Amnesty For Boko Haram Members by erinolu(op): 10:08am On Mar 14, 2013 |
Shame on those who will not see beyound their nose to allow the ELITES and POLITICIANS use ISLAM to sentimentally brainwash them into wickedness.. Many of them are here in Nairaland.........Especially those Kwara Yoruba Moslem, who see nothing wrong as long as it is done in the name of ISLAM If una like, make una ban me !!!! Take a cue from a honest man, the likes of Attahiru Ahmed, the Emir of Anka |
| Politics › Emir Opposes Amnesty For Boko Haram Members by erinolu(op): 10:03am On Mar 14, 2013 |
Emir of Anka in Zamfara State, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan not to grant amnesty to members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram. Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar lll, had at a meeting of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam in Kaduna, last week, urged the President to grant members of the sect amnesty. However, the Emir of Anka at a workshop on peace building and conflict management for sustainable development, organised by the National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday in Kaduna, said “amnesty is for people you can identify”. He added, “Where were our leaders when members of Boko Haram were going to receive trainings outside the country. Let us check ourselves, if there must be justice, we must go back to the basics.” He also blamed the current security challenges on the elite and politicians. Ahmad said, “From experience, I have come to realise that whenever you have crisis and a proper investigation is carried out, you always find the involvement of these two classes. Within my domain, a sad experience occurred sometimes ago when an Igbo man, who owned a shop, was attacked and his shop burnt because his son was said to have torn a copy of the Quran. But upon investigation, I found out that a native of Anka, who was also in the same business with the Igbo man, deliberately roped-in the Igbo family. “He took a piece of paper with an Islamic inscription on it and tore it into pieces in front of the Igbo man’s shop and then raised the alarm calling on all Muslims faithful to come and see a copy of the Quran torn into pieces by the son of the Igbo trader. The crowd grew angry and set the house and the shop of the Igbo man ablaze immediately. You can see that this native of Anka did this malicious act purely for personal interest and not religion. And that is how it is with the elite and the politicians”. He added, “As a traditional ruler, who lives with the people, I have come to a conclusion that if the common man is left alone, there is going to be peace in the land. But any place you find crisis, just look around, you must find the involvement of these two classes – the elite and the politicians.” http://www.punchng.com/news/emir-opposes-amnesty-for-boko-haram-members/ |
| Politics › Re: Corruption Beyond Capacity Of Jonathan’s Govt—buhari by erinolu(m): 10:02am On Mar 14, 2013 |
erinolu: How can GEJ fight corruption when infact he served as deputy governor in Alaiyemesegia's tenure. A man known for money laundry and caught by the British police only to escape cladded as a woman. Did GEJ denounce his known action? If he did not as at then, where would he have the telemetry to do so today.The state pardon granted Alam just reminds me of my last comment in this post. So Buhari was right after all....Corruption is beyond the capacity of Jonathan Una wey vote for this man, una try ooo !!!! |
| Politics › Re: Corruption Beyond Capacity Of Jonathan’s Govt—buhari by erinolu(m): 8:15am On Mar 06, 2013 |
How can GEJ fight corruption when infact he served as deputy governor in Alaiyemesegia's tenure. A man known for money laundry and caught by the British police only to escape cladded as a woman. Did GEJ denounce his known action? If he did not as at then, where would he have the telemetry to do so today. Remember the golden word; birds of a feather flock together !!! 2 Likes |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria Is A Lie And We Believe It – Nyiam by erinolu(op): 5:44am On Mar 05, 2013 |
obicentlis: Corruption binds us together.The creation of Nigeria was biased and loop sided from the unset, this inbalance gave birth to corruption and at different levels. For example, we do not have a fair employment policy into our Federal Civil Service where quota system is being used as a basis for intake. Quota system that recognizes a region or state as educationally disadvantged and so should have standards reduced to favour them, even at the expense of mediocrity. The unprepared man from a quota favoured state with his little education and experience is made head over a group of people who are by far and wide better educated and more experienced. What do you think happens in such environment.............WAHALA abi... Now this needs to corrected where different nationalities draw up how Nigeria should be structured and run without a dysfunctional biase. |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria Is A Lie And We Believe It – Nyiam by erinolu(op): 5:33am On Mar 02, 2013 |
saintohia: .@Sainthola //Each region should start buidling their files towards 2014// I would rather say each NATIONALITIES should start building their files and move for the call towards a National Conference. Each Nationaility should begin to engage their respective represetatives at all quaters of government, engage their students, local enclaves, etc. NIGERIANS need to rewrite the ERRORS of 1914 |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria Is A Lie And We Believe It – Nyiam by erinolu(op): 9:31am On Mar 01, 2013 |
noblezone: Nigeria is a lie!!!@Noblezone, You don’t believe in it? Wooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!! I don’t know if you are fully educated on the history of Nigeria well enough to understand if we qualify to be regarded as a Nation. Take a look at the following Nations and ask what happened; Eritrea was once in Ethiopia, but they are split. South Sudan was once in Sudan, but they are split. Pakistan was once in India, but they are split. What about the great USSR that split into several Nations including today’s Russia. It’s simply, a Nation is defined by a people even though with different ethic nationalities, Religion, etc that share the same ideology which binds them together. The formation of Nigeria was conjured by the British and for the British economic interest. That is why they are called Imperialist. They cared less whether this fusion would create attrition with the different over 250 ethnic nationalities that was within the perimeter called Nigeria. The cared less whether there would be friction on the different religious background amongst these nationalities. All they were interested in was in the resources available at their reach within the carved out area called Nigeria. It was called a “Protectorate”. To see to it that their interest was well preserved (like I mentioned protectorate), they created Nigeria in 1914 and they devised a style of governance which created confusion amongst the nationalities (The indirect rule) using one ethnic tribe to subject others. After independence, in 1960 we were left with a Nation of ethnic tribes who; 1. Were not involved in the forced fusion of nationalities that formed Nigeria 2. Were not involved in the formation of the type of governance that would harmonize the collective agreement of the different nationalities 3. Reason 1 and 2 gave birth to mis-trust and unhealthy rivalry amongst the different nationalities that formed Nigeria. 4. Reason 1 and 2 gave birth to CONSTITUTIONS written to favour a section of the country and so gave birth to the myriads of corruption, coups, quota system and many ills Is this what you call a NATION  ?For this reason, many great minds saw they need for all Nationalities in Nigeria to come together under the umbrella of the Sovereign National Conference to Re-Write the mistakes the British Imperialist have done. And decide how we want to structure the political entity called Nigeria. Because as it is now. Nigeria is Lie. |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria Is A Lie And We Believe It – Nyiam by erinolu(op): 9:56am On Feb 28, 2013 |
Past notable persons including the great sage, Late Pa Anthony Enahoro worked hard in educating us about the need for a sovereign national conference. A conference that would bring all the ethinic nationalities together to re-write the wrong of 1914 (An Almagamation of a forced fusion of different nationalities) and re-write the wrong of the all the amended constitution especially the military 1999 constitution. Until we have these re-structuring done, we are living a lie, with no concrete basis for the nationalities to co-exist. |
| Politics › Nigeria Is A Lie And We Believe It – Nyiam by erinolu(op): 3:11pm On Feb 26, 2013 |
Lt. Col. Gabriel Anthony Nyiam came to national reknown after the abortive April 22, 1990 coup orchestrated by a group of middle belt and southern officers of the Nigeria Army against the then authorities headed by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Col. Nyiam was the highest serving officer involved in that uprising which seriously violated Babangida’s headquarters in the Dodan Barracks and led to the death of the military president’s ADC, Lt. Col. Usman Bello. A son of a soldier from Cross River State, the young Nyiam followed his father’s profession early in life when he enrolled into the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, and from there into the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna as part of the 9th Regular Combatant Course that began in January 1971. Following the completion of his studies at the NDA he was enlisted into the Army Corps of Engineers and from there proceeded on study leave obtaining a first degree in Quantity Surveying from Earthwork University in Scotland and subsequently, a masters degree in International Relations from the University of Aberdeen, also in Scotland. While studying, he was seconded to the British Army, where in his words he claims to have learnt that “soldiering is an honourable profession in the defence of the weak”. Upon returning to Nigeria he was deployed to the army headquarters where he worked directly under General Babangida who was at that time Army Chief. Nyiam His last posting was as a directing staff at the Command and Staff College, Jaji. Following the failed April, 22 1990 failed putsch, Nyiam relocated abroad and joined forces with the camp of pro-democracy enthusiasts that fought the Sani Abacha regime from abroad. Nyiam has written a book “True Federal Democracy or Awaiting Implosion: an aide-memoire” which he envisages should be used as a working document for making a new Nigeria constitution. Ahead of the formal presentation of the book, Col. Nyiam had an interaction with Vanguard Editors during which he spoke on issues relating to Nigeria’s federalism, his relationship with Gen. Babangida, reasons for the coup and the commercial reasons behind the amalgamation of the north and southern protectorates of Nigeria 100 years ago. Excerpts: WHAT are you campaigning for? I thought that the first thing we should have done was to have come up with a process whereby we meaningfully start building the basis of democracy. You would see what has happened in Egypt of recent; the first thing people do is to go for a conference towards a constitution. It is on the basis of that agreement that every sensible state proceeds from. In our own case, people who are supposedly democrats took over a constitution which starts with a big lie and makes a claim on behalf of the people and we have been working on a constitution which was imposed by military decree. The problem that we did not solve with the Aburi Accord still hunts us and I see as an observer that democracy which we are supposedly pursuing and that we are just paying lip service to democracy. Our elections I can say with all humility are 70% fraudulent. Our census is fraudulent. And we know this and we are supposed to be intelligent people and we accept this. Our federalism is in itself fraudulent and it is not surprising why there is pipeline vandalism, it is not surprising why there is bunkering. In other words, Nigeria is in lack of people who can discern the principles that determine a process and keep by those principles. Look at the US and the issue of the use of drones, you can see the discussion and the level it is going as to how to make the government more accountable with some suggesting that the judiciary may have to come in before they can authorise an American to kill. In our own case, we pay lip service to things that are very fundamental because they are not bread and butter matters. What are important to us? Elections! They will come and go and we are still in square one and we yet we have no constitution that Nigerians consented to. You hear parliamentarians saying that because there is a government in place that there cannot be another conference. Rubbish. Right now in the UK which is a very old democracy, there have been national conferences. Scheduled referendum There is a scheduled referendum and it all came out from a conference which was something like a sovereign national conference. A bill was passed that whatever is arrived at that conference would be subjected to a plebiscite, but here, you hear people arguing because people forget that there is a difference between what is called direct democracy and indirect democracy. Most of what we are familiar with is what I call the indirect that is, we delegate sovereignty to our National Assembly. They are delegates. When it comes to what is beyond making laws, people take back their sovereignty. What I am trying to point out is that once you breach the principles of a process, the consequences would be that anything else would be dysfunctional. This argument you have put down in your book is it a one-off one man brain wave? I have said nothing new. In fact, those who are familiar with Awo’s writings would know that what we fought for in April, 1990, all we have been saying are footnotes of what Awo had written. That we do not have politicians of the quality of Awo, politicians, who think from first principle like Mandela. All we have are people who are jumping to action without thinking through what they do. Correspondingly, we do not have the institutions that ensure that thoughts always precede action. Don’t you think that if the military had not intervened that many of the things we are grappling with now would not have arisen? Agreed. I agree. So, what do you think we should do as a nation? First of all, it is to discuss. Why are we running away from sitting down to discuss our problems? The first thing is that no one has the answers and the first thing to do is to have a conference. If you look at the growth of India and Pakistan. Pakistan is made up of Aryans much more than the Indian part. Pakistan had much more potential to develop more than India, but because of military rule they have not and also because of the failure to practise federalism and these are two things that have also been our problem. Failure to practice federalism But India which pursues federalism properly and sticks to democracy, you can see the progress. In the first republic we did not have the commissioner of police in Enugu being a Yoruba man or an Hausa man. The senior cadre of the police in the east or in the west were indigenous people. What I am trying to say is that once you breach principles you would just be dancing around. OPC as it is organised now is much more in tune with the principles of policing than Nigerian Police Force. I still believe that if we carry on democracy we will get there. But my point is that we cannot say we are a federal state and there is no fiscal federalism. People wonder why Boko Haram? I tell people that Boko Haram is an indication of the lack of self determination and self determination is seen as treasonable in Nigeria. But federalism allows for people to self-determine who governs them. How do you think we can move this country forward if we cannot develop pillars of trust, given that should there be a national conference it could be easily hijacked? I think you are right and this has been an issue since Aburi. At Aburi, a decision was reached and people came back and advised government which then went back on what was reached. But we have examples to learn from. In South Africa they started by having a truth and reconciliation commission, but here what do we do? No, you cannot discuss that, you are overheating the polity! That terminology I don’t know where it came from. Col. Nyiam…our federalism is fraudulent We pretend to ourselves, we lie to ourselves and we believe the lies. You have a constitution in a democracy which says that someone’s resources beneath the soil is not his; ab initio, you have attempted to steal those peoples resource. That is why I have nothing against illegal bunkerers because from the beginning, the Federal Government itself is the biggest thief. I have to put it straight because you go to Pakistan, you go to India, nobody would go and tell a man that what is underneath yours is not yours. The Federal Government is the first thief and they put that in the constitution and then we accepted that! My point is that the way we are going we will not last. We will keep on having problem, we are not going to break, but we will keep on having problems. Some say it is better to break? I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ came to teach us the oneness of God and God is one. It is not for nothing that every religion says that God is one. From that angle, unity is paramount. I say this for somebody who may at times have been said to have been asking for the excision of a section of the country. If you read that statement, we gave conditions that if these leaders from these areas continue doing like this that they are suspended from the union. I believe that mistakes were made and of course we have learnt our lessons and that Nigeria needs to be together. If you break and say remove the south-south, then the middle belt of the South-south would soon say that they want their own autonomy and where do you stop? So, I don’t think that is the way out. The way out is that we need to be more creative, we need to use the head God has blessed us with. Considering the fault lines you mention in our federalism, do you think we were better off in 1990? We were better off in 1963. I went to school in Yaba and in my community where I grew up in Lagos the politicians were Ibos and there was no discrimination. When we were going to military school, Gen. Maimalari took us, the Lagosians; myself, Marwa, they treated us as if we were Lagosians. We were more united though we had regions that had their own constitutions, their own anthems, everything. So, the 1960/63 constitution is a model that would work anytime. If you ask me, 1990? I would say things are worse off right from the government before this. Remember we took action before the June 12 crisis even though we foresaw that it would go that way and that was why we took the action, but if Obasanjo’s last government was a military one, I would have taken an action, but if it is elected, I wont. But there is need for clarification. If elections continue becoming fraudulent, then it is bad as a coup. To what extent has the fact that someone from your region is now president mollified the angst of your people in the south-south? That’s not my point. My point is that being a president is too transitory. It doesn’t even matter to me. I think having a structure is more important. I remember a man who played a key part in my life, that is Obasanjo, I remember when I worked for him asking me what I wanted. I told him, sir if you restructure this country and he then said to me, you are pontificating. I said no and in no time after he left office some of the things he did were being thrown aside because there are too many tactical manourveres in Nigeria. Strategic thinking In politics, there is no strategy. There is a lack of strategic thinking in our institutions. We cannot run away from trying to build institutions and to think strategically – strategically in that we think about the posterity of our children. In advanced countries you see them thinking about their children but in our case, it is just about ourselves. Are we animals? There is no rocket science about it as Awolowo did it. Why is Yoruba land ahead of everyone else? Before? Till tomorrow! Awo was a man who understood politics and went to the first principles and tried to establish that. Even when he was minister of finance during the war, Awo working under the basis of first principles helped Nigeria to be able to win the war more than anybody gave him credit for because the measures he took which are misinterpreted in certain quarters – I am not saying that he is blameless- but the measures he took undermined the efforts of the opposite side. When he knew the opposite side was trying to buy arms he strategically approached the issue by undermining the currency. Awo was not a military man, but he was a strategist. One of the few strategists today is the man in robes, Bishop Kukkah, a man who thinks everything from the depths. But our politicians very few think in that direction. What is more important to me now is that there should be a conference by whatever name it is called. Let our people sit down together and we all pour our grievances. Why should the National Assembly with representatives from all sections of the country be a platform for that? Democracy has two dimensions indirect democracy and direct democracy. Indirect is what we are doing now and you delegate sovereignty to some people to act on your behalf to make only laws. When it comes to making the constitution, the people take back their power and do it directly by plebiscite. So, I do not know where we learnt this argument that because there is a National Assembly that there cannot a national conference. National conference It is not true. The military deliberately came up with a skewed system, they made some regions to have the block votes that they can determine how laws are passed in this country. It was a deliberate thing, it wasn’t by accident that there are so many local governments in some areas and some areas are deprived. So, we have to go back to basis and until we begin to tell ourselves the truth we will not move. Were you more Nigerian in 1963 than you are today? I was. I was. My dad was an ex-soldier and the minister of defence then, Ribadu treated everybody without discrimination. Of course you know Tafawa Balewa that some of his best ministers were not from the north. So, Nigeria gave me much as a young man. I went to school where I was paid salary and from that salary and as a student I was paying my younger sister’s school fees. So, I was a Nigerian through and through. Don’t you think Nigerians would be more interested in you telling them why you took the action against Ibrahim Babangida instead of a treatise on federalism? The issue of writing about oneself is so much of an ego trip. We have not solved our problems. This country has done so much for me and for many of my colleagues who are VCs and so on. We all had scholarships. Young officer As a young officer I was earning even more than the British prime minister with my estacodes. I was getting a £1,000 monthly in the early seventies and my salary from Udoja awards was another £600 and the British prime minister at that time was earning £14,000. When he is taxed, his salary came down to £11,000 and that enabled me to help my relations that I could help and I was able to buy houses and that’s what I have been living on. So, the country has given me…and I am not alone. Hardly any one of my generation that didn’t enjoy the benefits of this country and what are we doing? We pay back by corruption! Where would you take the money to? It is not that I am not tempted to be corrupt, but I see the futility. I remember a man I respect very much, Beko Ransome-Kuti, they were begging him to come and take a plot of land and he refused. Who was begging him? Tinubu! The man lived so selflessly. If you knew Beko, his sitting room was so poor looking, but that was a man for me! When I came back from exile and he came to welcome me and the car he drove, an old Volvo! And if you know Beko, he was more courageous than many generals in our army. In fact, the things Beko did? I have seen enough of life to know that if you are in the rat race you will remain a rat and I don’t want to be a rat. What is your take on Prof. Chinua Achebe’s book on the civil war? I was a young man from the east and they didn’t make exception. If you were a young man from the east they just thought that all of you were Iyanmiri! I was actually by the Jebba bridge but my dad asked me to go back to the north and I was one of the people on the bridge that they stopped and I saw them picking people and shooting them. I was a form one student going to form two. So, I saw some of the things that happened. I also lived close to the barracks and I saw how Ibo officers, and even a relation was killed in Abeokuta. Traumatised people I experienced these as a young man so I can see where Chinua Achebe is coming from. It is this issue of trust. A people so traumatised like Chinua Achebe. Remember Chinua Achebe left the country and for most of the time has lived outside the country, so he is like what they say that an “Indian who has left India is more conservative than an Indian who is still in India.” Chinua Achebe still has not forgiven Nigeria. I, also there are certain things that push me and even our action, I would say that some of it were driven by that my childhood experience. On what Chinua Achebe has said, he has a right to write history as he sees it. Other people have a right to correct the picture. But one thing I must say is that at one point, I think there was a discussion between Ojukwu and Awo and somehow, one person did not follow the agreement that was reached. Concerning April 1990, you talked of learning your lessons are you saying you regretted the action? I do not regret an action against a military government. People see it as a coup, but I don’t see it as a coup. We did not take action against an elected government. Some of the officers who took part in the action and soldiers who joined, were actually Hausas and they came and said oga, thank you for this, but during the action when they heard the speech – (to excise the core North from the country) they became confused and I think that is where the regret is for making that statement I must say, youthful overzealousness or whatsoever. I have also seen that over time that the common Fulani man following his cows and there are many in my state, Cross River, he is just a human being like any other human being. If you go to Osun, you will see some beautiful Yoruba looking people, but I heard that they are Fulanis. Accusing a people So, my regret is this: it is not the people, it is not Yoruba or Ibo that is the problem, because in our action it tended to give that impression, the regret is that you cannot accuse a people. God has blessed us and I do pray that the leaders help us towards having a country. This would be the greatest country there would ever be. A country where you have people with round faces, you have people with slim faces, bantu looking, Fulani looking and I think that this could be one of the greatest countries looking if the leaders give it a chance. What’s your present relationship with Ibrahim Babangida you were recently seen with him at a book launch? We were all honouring a common friend, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi. Of course that is not the first time we have met as it is being portrayed. One of the papers went as far as saying that Great (Ogboru) was apologising. There was no apology, it was just respecting in the true Nigeria culture, an elder-statesman. We have no apologies to give and like I said, Gen. Babangida and myself have made mistakes and we have moved forward. Having successfully conducted the civil war and the idea that no part of the country should again be able to question the centre, do you think that the case of devolution of powers to the states would work? Lets be clear, if you see the killing of Easterners, Ojukwu had no choice. It wasn’t that anyone in the east was too powerful, in fact, the east became the weaker side. It goes back to Lugard. You know Lord Lugard was the governor of the northern protectorate, he was sent to come and be both governor of the north and the south. When Lugard came and said these people are so rich, he saw how the south was rich and he then used his connection in Whitehall (British Civil Service) to convince them to amalgamate these two people so that the crown office would not be subsidising the northern office. It was by chance! In the same way when the civil war happened it was expedient to as well undermine the other regions by centralising power. It was only for war. But in so doing, they now realised that “ah, we can now have a share of this wealth.” What that has now done is that it has made some who were among the best farmers in this country to become lazy. As a young man in Zaria, I saw that the Hausa farmer was a better farmer than any other farmer in the country. The irrigation techniques we read about Egypt, I saw it in practise around my school in Zaria. Instead of baking we are now sharing the cake. Sharing makes people lazy, we need to go back, let the people from each region do their best and contribute to the centre. The Hausa man would be better off because he is a very hardworking man if he is not deceived by this issue of governors going to the centre to take money which I see as stolen money. In the sharing of the cake you said “they” saw. So how can you convince the they to hands off the cake? If they don’t allow, you see what Boko Haram is doing? People forget that Boko Haram now is a class war. The people who are affected more than anybody are the emirs from the north more than even us. So, it is no longer they now, but it is a time of reckoning now and it is in that spirit that some of us believe that Babangida, Buhari, the southern leaders should get together because we really need to talk. We cannot run away from talk. What the National Assembly is doing is just a joke and I knew it was coming to that and I am not surprised that the issue of hidden agenda has now come out. The people there, how many of them were properly elected? How many of them are really representatives of the people. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/nigeria-is-a-lie-and-we-believe-it-nyiam/[/b][b][b][/b] |
| Politics › Re: Young Nigerian Airforce (NAF) Officers Design, Build Drone by erinolu(op): 9:02am On Jan 23, 2013 |
If these young chaps get the necessary support as has been kicked off, it will spiral other great minds into showcasing their inventions and engineering feats. And i guess its left for investors to take advantage of the Nigerian market, either the people in general or government patronage to commence Industrialization of Nigeria. |
| Politics › Young Nigerian Airforce (NAF) Officers Design, Build Drone by erinolu(op): 8:02am On Jan 23, 2013 |
Young officers from Nigerian Air Force School of Engineers, Aircraft Design Centre, Kaduna, yesterday, dazzled the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Okon Bassey-Ewa when they displayed to him an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV, referred to as drone, which could fly non-stop for about four hours at 3000 feet. The drone was conceptualised, designed and built by them in Kaduna under the direct supervision of the Provost of the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, Institute of Technology, Prof. Emmanuel Ezugwu. According to officials of the institute, the drone’s empenage was about three metres while the wing span was about half a metre. The four officers, all Flight Lieutenants, said it was a three-year effort in collaboration with Cranfield University of United Kingdom with funds from the Federal Government. The officers who asked that all the credit for break through be given to the Commandant of the school and Chief of Air Staff pleaded that their names be not mentioned in the press. The school had earlier displayed a conceptualised model of an ab-initio training fighter aircraft known as Farawa (meaning “the beginning” in Hausa) for the Air Force just as it was trying to design a Nigerian-made Air Beattle, AB-18, for the Air Force. The four officers had bagged Masters degrees in various fields related to avionics from Cranfield University, after their first degrees from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. They told Vanguard: “We designed and built this UAV based on the pressing needs of our country today. The vehicle can be used in pipeline monitoring, border patrol, mapping and disaster monitoring. Other areas of use include maritime patrol, aerial surveillance and pest monitoring. “The vehicle can fly at 3000 feet, and remain airborne for four hours using petrol for now. The first one we built is called Amebo 1. The second one is Amebo 2 and is an improvement over the first. “If we keep getting the right support as we are getting now, we will accomplish our mission for the country.” http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/young-naf-officers-design-build-drone/ |
| Celebrities › Re: Linda Ikeji - Should A Role Model Dress Semi-nude by erinolu(op): 11:29am On Jan 21, 2013 |
Adura_ngba: whats your definition of a role model?Adura, I will define a role model as someone or anyone who is an achiever and has the capacity to inspire. Of course you and i know that Aunty Linda has been invited to talk programs and the likes geared towards challenging youths and others. Now for such a person that has inspired, does this Semi-Nude apperance add to her "in quote" being a Role Model.? |
| Celebrities › Linda Ikeji - Should A Role Model Dress Semi-nude by erinolu(op): 9:55am On Jan 21, 2013 |
Am shocked to see Aunty Linda in this Semi-Nude post. Is it for Fame or Money? Make una help advise ooooo http://www.olufamous.com/2013/01/linda-ikeji-is-hermaphrodite-says-jim.html |
| Sports › Re: Eagles Defeat Farense 5-0 In Final Warm Up by erinolu(m): 6:18am On Jan 16, 2013 |
Can this result be translated to ACTUAL during the Nations Cup Proper..? |
