₦airaland Forum

safarigirl: Ojukwu dies. Bianca gets Ambassadorial post, Yakowa dies. Amina gets Deputy Governor's post....*off to find me a top politician to marry...might end up as Senate President...or deputy*

Knowledge9000: Very shameless comment. Didn't you read that she was former Assistant-director Ministry of Defence, Abuja? What other qualification do you need? This is by far the most relevant qualification needed for Kaduna with her credential at Ministry of Defence.

Did you know that her Husband was former Director at Minsitry of Defence, Lagos before he was made Minister of Solid Minerals by Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar? That was his qualification. She is not your regular first lady, she is self-made...joined Ministry of Defence more than 25 yrs ago.

She was a former deputy director at the Ministry of Defence and only retired after her husband became governor.

maasoap: Then what? Even if a king die prematurely, the post will go out the next qualified person. Let's not use sentiment and emotion to turn Nigeria upside down. They can give her another post that has nothing to do with being elected like commissioner, SA. Yar'dua died and Turai moved out of Aso rock. Period.

jhydebaba: Are they trying to re - write 9ja's constitution






_{Nigeria is now run as a family business. *SMH}

Blazay: When was he ever "Goodluck"?
Not even since birth!
Shioooooor!

eGuerrilla: It is becoming increasing clear that Nigeria's skies are just as unsafe as her road network.

demmy: ^^^Good point.

Still I find it interesting that Yorubaland is enjoying growth now that there are no Yoruba politicians in the upper echelon of Nigeria's political hierarchy: President, VP, Senate pres, House speaker etc.

truth4meal: @papaBrownie

Your assessment betray the truth. first i don't understand what you mean by Lagos "It is the Center of Nigeria" you seem to me like someone with a palatial access to distort truths. wen Financial Times listed Ibadan as one of the “next 5” cities in Africa because According to the article, the city possesses a “rapidly growing economy but serious business climate deficiencies – that offer some of the biggest potential rewards – provided multinationals can stomach the risks" - you leapfrogged Calabar was never consider a space in the list. so also is your fairy developed city of Calabar, Uyo, Benin City, Warri, Asaba starkly missing on the list. i don't understand why you listed the names of some media mogul but is it fair to your conscience that Galaxy Television, MITV, TVC, THE Nation, Tribune, Newswatch, Compass, City People, Ontv, Punch just to mention but a few is own by Yorubas. And to the airport you must be kidding with your white lies - Uyo airport?
its a knwn truth that democracy of PDP as weaken progress in all the states in Nigeria; it has nothing to do with a particular region or state.
one advice - next time you want to lie say it to a deaf man

I don't know where you got that idea. Without question, Ibos and Bendelites have always been known to be the smartest Nigerians in the country!!
They are by far the most successful. They control the Nigerian economy. They produce the best technocrats.
The Lagos economy is run by the Igbos. Pull them out and Lagos would look like Cotonou.

faraday77: ACN IS TEN TIMES BETTER THAN PDP

For me I see the tinubu figure giving vision and direction to the party. Aside for curruption and Indiscipline which is inherent in every individual Nigerian,ACN is better.

lagcity: Well, people like you see what they want to see - only Lagos. Look for the ekiti thread created some weeks ago and tell me that small state isn't doing more than the large states. Ekiti has done so well that one can not even compare her to ebonyi , nassarawa and zamfara, which were all created simultaneously. We can only compare with older bigger states and it still beats them.

Perhaps, the greatest of Ajimobi’s bridge-building penchant is the Mokola flyover bridge. The stretch of road that leads from Challenge, through Ring Road, to Dugbe and through University of Ibadan to Ojoo road, is very strategic to commerce Ibadan.

It is the road that leads in and out of the Northern and Eastern parts of the country. Indeed, the road, at a conservative estimate, must be one of the most plied roads for traffic of merchandise and people. Because of the implosion in population, the Mokola axis, where four footpaths meet (apology to Ola Rotimi’s The gods are not to blame), witnessed heavy human and vehicular traffic. Governments came and went and no one had the sense of direction to halt the drift, until Ajimobi. The last time such a bridge was constructed in Oyo State was under General David Medayese Jemibewon, over 30 years ago.

Awarded to an international contractor of reputation for excellence, CCECC, that bridge is on the verge of completion, with workers working day and night. At completion, it will provide a Lagos-like feel-good feeling to the people of Oyo State, aside its ancillary role of easing traffic.

afam4eva: Only a clannish person will point out that the governors i posted are from the SS and SE. I just named PDP governors that i know are performing to the best of their ability.

The ACN is not also all about about Lagos. It's currently in charge of 6 states. Tell me what those states have achieved thus far.

afam4eva: Compare them to Amaechi, Akpabio, Chime, Rochas, Donald duke etc.

Top government officials, politicians contract us – Sea pirates
Crime Alert Thursday, December 13, 2012


By Evelyn Usman

The Task Force Team constituted by the Nigerian Maritime And Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA), to checkmate the menace of attacks on vessels on the nation's waterways, recently arrested four suspected members of a dreaded gang of vessel hijackers on both the Nigeria waters and neighboring West African countries' waters.

But to the great surprise is - the suspects displayed an unrepentant and nonchalant attitude towards their arrest, bragging instead.

In their confessional statement, it was observed that the war against illegal bunkering and attacks on vessels on the nation's waterways by the federal government, may never be won unless urgent and stringent measures, beyond mere political statements are taken to checkmate this worrisome trend.

This is because two of the suspects identified as Bless Nube and Sola Sam, alleged that key players in the political and government corridors were their sponsors. Aside this alarming revelation is the temptation of the huge amount each member of the gang gets at the end of a successful vessel hijack.

According to the 27-year-old Bless, who claimed to be the commander of the dreaded syndicate, " I have nothing to hide again. I am the gang's commander and I am second to none in terms of hitting targets. Even Wazo, earlier arrested, is my boy and he can attest to what I am saying"…

He kept mute for a while and when he continued, he said, " I can't remember how many operations I have led, I have lost count of the number of vessels my gang hijacked".


I made N10 Million from the last operation

He confessed to have led his team to several operations some of which took place in the African continent's territorial waters. One of such hijacks took place in Lome, the capital of Togo,involving the vessel, MT Energy Centurion. Hear him: " The last vessel we hijacked was in Lome, Togo and I made N10 Million from that operation". To the amazement of all, he revealed, " that particular operation was sponsored by some powerful people in Nigeria whose names I will not want to mention… Some of them are even in the Presidency.

Government Officials are our informants

He disclosed further that some top government officials usually gave his gang information on vessels before it struck. " We do not work in isolation. We have a network of ministries' workers. What they do is to give us information on the location and content of the vessels to be hijacked. After furnishing us with the information, they would make part payment and after the hijack, they would pay us the balance.

"Once we complete the assignment , we would inform the pointsmen who thereafter, contact the cabal that takes charge of the hijacked vessels. We usually meet at a designated point on the high sea, from where they would offload the contents from the hijacked vessels and thereafter, deposit them in various oil facilities for distribution by oil marketers.

"We are not directly involved in the sale of the product. We only assist to convey the product to the designated point by acting as escorts in case of any confrontation. My gang has about 3000 various weapons which are kept in different parts of the country", he stated. But he did not say where the weapons were precisely.

We kill during hijack

He likened the operation on the high sea to a theatre of war, saying "at times our victims are killed in the process. This is usually when the crew members try to put up resistance", he said, adding that sometimes,the crew members who were armed opened fire on the gang thereby leading to a shoot-out, during which some of them were killed. " So far we have about 1250 trained pirates across the country. And the truth is, no successful vessel hijack operation takes place in Africa without the knowledge of my gang.''

Piracy is a lucrative business

Asked why he had not left the illicit business for a genuine one, he said he was carried away by the huge amount of money made on each operation which usually runs into several millions of naira.

"The code name for piracy is COJA and it is very lucrative just as it is dangerous because one may be confronted by security agents in the process, or even get arrested as I am now. But it will be difficult for the president to win the war. If he must win, then he has to look inward. Lagos state for instance, is a major coastal place where we meet to discuss on our next target . So, government must first search its big men if it is serious in winning the war".

I begged to be enlisted into the gang- Sam

Also arrested was Sola Sam, who claimed he was tempted to join the gang because of the huge amount of money they received. Preliminary investigation revealed that Sam was initially the gang's errand boy.

"But I had to plead with them to enlist me into vessel hijacking when I saw the money they made on each operation. Whenever they were sharing their loot, they would give me just a token. So, I begged them before Bless agreed to enlist me into the group", recalling that "his first operation with the gang fetched him the sum of N2.7 million, out of which he bought a new car."

I was deceived -Olu Ade

On his part, the third suspect, 28-year-old Olu Ade, claimed he was deceived into joining the gang.

Hear him, " It all happened in November 2011, when I was called to carry out repair on the engine of a vessel in Ondo state. But on reaching there, the gang members told me their plan and I could not go back because I was scared they would kill me.

"They took me into a vessel and I watched them arrest the crew members on board. We thereafter, discharged 2000 metric tons from the vessel named MT ROSTARS. After that, another vessel came to receive the product. The receiving vessel's name was CLEAN. After the transaction, we moved to Ondo State and lodged at Wazo's house to collect the money for the transaction and at the end I was paid N1.8 million"

On receiving the money, Olu travelled to Lagos state from where he intended processing a visa to study in Ukraine. But he was reportedly swindled.

Crime Alert gathered that they were arrested in a hotel in Festac Town, while planning for another operation in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

Arrested at last

Bless and members of his gang have been having sway for a long time until they were arrested in a hotel in Festac Town in Amuwo odofin Local Government area of Lagos. Bless as gathered was in the company of some sex workers in the hotel when he was apprehended.

The gang as gathered, was at the final stage of its preparation for an attack on a vessel in Cotonou before they were arrested.

The first person to be arrested as gathered was Sam. He was reportedly lured to Lagos, on the pretext that there would be a meeting prior to the operation. Unknown to him, the call was made by a security operative. Next, was Mike, who reportedly called Sam on his mobile phone to know his whereabouts. He was again lured to a designated place in Lagos, only to fall into the arms of the security operatives and thereafter, Olu.

The gang confessed that the foiled operation was contracted to them by a top player in the oil industry for the sum of N16 Million

HNosegbe: I'm shocked that a topic like this did not make front page. What on EARTH are the mods doing?

@ topic, I am for the scrapping of the Land Use Act, but I think we should ask ourselves some important questions. If the old land tenure system was scrapped 34 years ago, then there must have been a reason. We should weigh the pros and cons, compare with what advanced nations are doing and work out a solution that best suits present-day realities.

Mods, front page please.

Clerverly: Through prophetic utterances

k2039: My president doing what he knows how ro do best, 'making promises'.

I'm surprised no committe was set up to the attainment of this promise of his'.

Donald7610: Shut ur dirty mouth, idiot slavery ACN

ACN leads in Thuggery
PDP leads in corruption

mrrock: There's definitely a rise in the spate of lawlessness in this country. Those of us that follow events in Nigeria know why.
Make no mistakes the Otedola VS Farouk Lawan saga and compensation to Niger delta militants is a catalyst to this recent huge rise in crime. Needless mentioning the consistent looting of our commonwealth by government officials.
................. Everybody now know that crime pay in Nigeria.

TRUTHTELA: ^^^ There's a word called LEGACY. This president can't do nothing. Someone has to build ( LEAVE A GOOD LEGACY ) for him, then he can build on something. Not people like Obasanjo, that left STEALING, CRIMINAL & ALL MANNER OF EVIL LEGACIES for weaklings to follow. Failure begets FAILURE.

fingard02k: Who's fault?

Hoodlums may take over Nigeria – Afenifere
on DECEMBER 13, 2012 · in NEWS
9:11 am

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE—AFENIFERE, a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Wednesday, challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to rise and act fast to stem the spate of insecurity and the wanton destruction of lives and property or face the possibility of hoodlums completely taking over the country.

Secretary-General of the group, Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa, said the rate at which kidnappers abduct prominent Nigerians and the Boko Haram menace had not only put the lives of people at risk, but also scared away prospective investors.

Arogbofa listed the recent abduction of the mother of Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the wife of former Governor of Western Region, Gen. Oluwole Rotimi (rtd), as examples, which had brought bad publicity to the country.

According to him, “nobody is any longer safe in the country. Just a few days ago, it was the elderly Prof (Mrs) Okonjo that was kidnapped; only yesterday it was the wife of Gen. Oluwole Rotimi, former governor of Western Region.

“In the Northern part of the country, the Boko Haram is in charge and kills with reckless abandon.”

The group asked the President to act decisively before the menace gets out of total control, while expressing concern over the President’s various reactions to insecurity in the country.

The group warned that criminals may take over the country if the government fails to act decidedly.

Arogbofa alleged conspiracy among the criminals and some security agencies in the country.
He said: “More than any time, President Jonathan must not only be seen to be barking but biting if criminality is to be brought under control in the country.

“The President should act, especially by giving red card to the nation’s security officers in particular the Police and prisons officials, while the Bar and the Bench must no longer toy with or rationalise obvious criminal cases.

“While it may be true as said by AIG Tsafe in Abeokuta that ransom paid to criminals to hasten the release of victims is mainly responsible for the rise in kidnapping, is that why the Police, believed to be aware of most criminals in the society, have not always acted swiftly and decidedly when criminals strike?

Blackteeth: Did you see the part in bold? What makes you think that the beautiful ones are not yet born? In my opinion they were born since Nigeria was born. They simply refrained from politics because in your own words; "it is has been bastardized to be a get-rich-quick scheme for a few". If the good folks sit back and watch devils run governance then where would change come from? The good guys need to participate to neutralize the high concentration devils in the political affairs of the country before we start seeing any signs of progress. If you keep adding fresh water to a cup of poison we should expect that eventually the cup would contain fresh water and not the poison anymore.