₦airaland Forum

Nigerians especially the youths must begin to subject a lot of these sensational headlines to some form of intellectual scrutiny.

We know for sure that the government had neither sent invitations to 53 countries or shortlisted 53 Nigerians for any kind of award. For who then are these phones been ordered for?

The whole idea is to tilt public opinion against the government as ASUU is currently doing.

So sad that we can be this gullible...

It is high time people realize that it's no longer Sir Alex, but moreyears and more tears.

Aguero has always been ManU's nemesis and it's like that is not about to change soon...

Those who seek to make the world believe that they are the only ones that possess democratic credentials should remember to always live by example.

Only recently, the iyaloja of Lagos, who is also the mother of the ACN leader; Bola Tinubu died and his daughter was immediately installed as the next iyaloja.

From my little understanding, I know that an iyaloja is most times a career trader who in most cases is illiterate, but commands respect and authority within the circles of traders and market women generally. The question that arises here is; does this Tinubu's daughter fit into this description? Is the succession of an iyaloja a family heritage?

If indeed she is a trader, which market and in what commodity does she trade? Does the iyaloja normally have a deputy? If yes, who was the deputy to the late iyaloja and why was she disqualified from taking over?

Was Tinubu's daughter a member of the last executive to warrant her elevation despite her age, to that position? These questions and more need to be answered so that when people irresponsibly brandish the title of democrats, we can with evidence, proof the contrary.

I can only imagine the venom Mr LIAR MOHAMMED would have been spitting out if a PDP leader was the one guilty of this. We are watching these clowns that call themselves a credible alternative.

I never knew Lagosians with their self acclaimed smartness and exposure, could be so docile and intimidated in the face of blatant abuse of power.

To all discerning minds and for all intents and purposes, despite the caution from INEC and the charge by the President for 2015 campaigns to be temporarily suspended , you would agree with me that the campaigns for the 2015 general elections is now on full blast.

Every week, we are inundated by bellicose and belligerent voices representing one vested interest or the other as it concerns the 2015 general elections and other sundry issues. It’s either Asari Dokubo is threatening war if GEJ does not get re-elected or Prof Ango Abdullahi and the ACF are spitting fire if a “Northerner” does not get elected president in 2015. Though the ACF and the Ango Abdullahi had not clearly defined who a “Northerner” is, I would presumptuously assume that what they are saying is a northerner from the Muslim Hausa/Fulani stock, not an Ishaya, Josiah or Markus.

My concern today is not the rightness or wrongness of these calls by these various interest groups. My concern is the role of the Nigeria youth who had eternally been referred to as a future leader for a tomorrow that seems to take forever to come in all of these.

A cursory look at all the main dramatist personae will show that majority of them are either above 70 or represents the recycled breed of politicians that had over the years, offered nothing but guaranteed failure in the Nigeria polity.

The youths as usual, are on the back burner. There is no formidable group in the political space that represents the interests of the youths in my opinion! We need to be heard audibly, properly and strategically from 2015 and beyond. We must not only be useful for political violence and some inanities that are usually foisted on us by those that have perpetually sabotaged our collective future. We must begin by defining what our interest really is and drawing up qualities we wish to see in whoever will get our support.

My youth plan for 2015 is for us to start a very robust engagement on the social media and then we see how it goes from there. In the coming weeks, I will be discussing various issues that should shape 2015 in my opinion. We must create relevance for ourselves and the time to begin is now!

Listening to Senator John McCain, a die hard republican and a former presidential candidate give support to the Obama administration's decision to supply arms to the rebels in Syria, I secretly wished that our own opposition would in the nearest future mature to this level.


An opposition is supposed to oppose or support government policies based on their merits or de-merits. Where a policy is opposed, it behooves on the opposition to propose a more workable solution to the populace. There should be a time when politics is set aside for the overall national interest. In Nigeria however, this is never the case, as everything including the lives of Nigerians is usually politicized.


Only recently, the government declared a state of emergency in some boko haram infested states which the opposition had vehemently opposed and even tried to influence the parliament from approving it. One would wonder why the opposition that prides itself as meaning well for Nigeria, oppose a move that would drastically reduce the capability of the terrorists to strike.


It is noteworthy that since this move was made, no single bomb blast had been recorded. Yet our dear opposition, are still speaking tongue in cheek. Is this a sensible position?


I don't hate opposition, what I hate is the senility in some of their opposition. Opposition should offer a clear and better alternative not rhetorics. The opposition must also be told how they should act and not be left to fool around.


The opposition should put the ruling party in check by proposing better alternatives, while the populace should put the opposition in check to make them a viable alternative. This is my view.

For me there are several lessons for Nigerians to learn from the recent Boston bombings, especially the lousy and very loquacious opposition political parties. The main lesson is this; there are times when politics is put on the back burner and national interest allowed to take center stage. Sadly for us here, every issue is politically tainted.

Firstly, no one accused Obama of incompetence because of the bombings, or attributed the incidence to poverty or unemployment. Aside from this bombings, in all the other school shootings that had occurred in the US this year, no such accusations were directed at the person and the office of the president. The whole country rose in one voice to condemn the dastardly act.

We saw a country that rallied together in moment of national tragedy, a country that comforted each other across political lines and finally a country where the citizens actively cooperated with law enforcement in fishing out the vagabonds. Unfortunately for us, this never happens in Nigeria.

The first reaction after every tragedy is for the useless opposition parties in this country to heap insults on the president and call for his resignation. They then proceed to mis-inform the largely ignorant populace about the cause of the sad event. Poverty and unemployment are often very handy excuses for this group of ill bred politicians. For them, political capital could be gained from every tragedy that occurs.

When the last suspect was eventually arrested, we saw the people of Boston lined the street in jubilation and commending the police. I heard that there are usually wide jubilation in the boko haram invested states whenever a security operative is killed. How further low can a people get?

We travel, watch TV, study how others do things, but we never learn from them! Except of course the wrong things . Until a time when Nigerians come to the realization that there are moments that call for national consensus, we would continue to live in this low state of life.

Even animals have moments when they come together to grieve!

I am constrained to join the current debate on the purported arrest and interrogation of some Leadership newspaper journalists. My position as usual, is not influenced by emotions, ignorance or some narrow minded mentality that is now alarmingly pervading the entire country. The level of ignorance out there is enough to trigger a series of cataclysmic political occurrences. Some of us have however managed to keep our senses even in this melee.

The level of misinformation often peddled by even those that should know better, is often very puzzling, surprising and sometimes gets to nauseating heights.

Granted, democracy offers freedom of expression and information, but this freedom and information is inextricably linked with its responsible use. One cannot because of the freedom offered by democracy, decide to deliberately engage in publications that are false, unverifiable, malicious and libelous.

The Leadership newspaper had published a story containing a document that purportedly emanated from the presidents’ office. In a rebuttal, the presidency dissociated itself from this document and maintained that it never issued any such document and that the document was forged.

Is it not only natural that the source of this document be investigated and determined? Should we just fold our arms and see presidential directives been forged with reckless abandon? It is in the course of this investigation that the police invited the editors of the newspaper to answer questions as to the source of the story. This should normally be a routine investigation process, but never in Nigeria.

The opposition led by its lousy spoke man, Lai Mohammed had been screaming blue murder since the invitation. They question why the editors should be invited for “doing their job”, they say that it is a clamp down on press freedom, they say it’s a return to the dark days of military era and all sorts. One can see how the lousy and baseless protests are well choreographed to deceive the largely uninformed Nigeria public. But I refuse to be deceived by these bandwagon of opportunist whose stock in trade is to peddle false hood and cause upheavals.

If you claim someone said or did something, and the person denies it, what is the standard procedure the world over? Do you just keep quiet and go about your business or take steps as provided by the laws of the land to clear yourself? Leadership said the president gave a directive, the president said he did not, why should this not be investigated?

When you give a piece of advice, whether sensible or senile and it's rejected, one tends to look for every opportunity to attribute any mishap to the rejection of such advice. In some instances, people go out of their way to create chaos so as to justify the adoption of the advice they gave.

I was therefore not surprised when the JNI and the Borno elders, instead of condemning the dastardly and senseless bomb blast in Kano with the strongest words imaginable, immediately attributed the incidence to the rejection of the blanket amnesty advice they gave the FG. This is the danger we are all facing today. When individuals and organizations that are supposed to condemn these acts become the very ones giving moral support, you know that reprieve is very far away.

Even if the FG will give amnesty, at least, let us know why we are giving it. Let us know the offence the Nigeria state had committed to warrant the killing of innocent and defenseless men, women and children. This knowledge is important so that future generations will not repeat such costly "mistake" again.

In the case of the Niger-Delta, we knew that visible environmental degradation due to several years of oil exploration was the reason for the agitations. Even at that, innocent lives were not taken, hostages were not killed and places of worship were never bombed. It was purely an economic battle aimed at crippling the economy of the Nigerian state.

In this situation however, nobody has told us what the problems are and yet, the government is been arm twisted to give blanket amnesty. What manner of advice is this?

This piece is rather lengthy, but read on if you love this country.

These are indeed very turbulent and disturbing times for all well meaning and right thinking Nigerians, especially the youths. For me, it’s not just about Gej or PDP, it’s is about the soul of our dear country Nigeria. If we don’t unanimously rise up to condemn what is currently going on, we may not have a country to call our own in the nearest future.

The orgy of bloodletting and unmitigated violence against the innocent, defenseless and most vulnerable members of our society threatens the already very weak fabric of our national unity. The pictures of wounded and roasted Nigerians whose only offence was that; they dared to exercise the freedom of movement as guaranteed in the constitution by going to the North, won’t just go away. As much as I hate to sound like this, I think the north has shed enough innocent blood over the years.

As if the trauma of this violence is not enough and to rub salt to our already battered and injured psychic, those who should be at the fore-front of condemning and encouraging the bringing to justice of these senseless murderers are the very ones calling for blanket amnesty for them. To me, this is the worst form of betrayal and hypocrisy since the stabbing of Julius Ceaser by his trusted ally Brutus. The same people that openly told us that what these people are doing is un-Islamic and condemnable are the very ones that have used the same mouth to call for blanket amnesty!

The questions that arises here are many, but I will touch on just a few; what injustice has the Nigerian state committed for which this violence in been visited on us? What will be the reason for giving a blanket amnesty? What injustice are these guys supposedly fighting for? How do we compensate the dead and the lost properties? I can go on and on…

Never in the history of this country has any President faced an insurgency of this magnitude, not even during the civil war! What we are facing today is a grand conspiracy and premeditated violence against a President whose only offence is that he comes from the minority. God in his wisdom allowed this minority to produce the resource that feeds the majority. Yet in our senselessness, we have refused to see beyond our noses. That Nigeria is even still in existence today despite the events of the past few years calls for celebration.

The blacks came to America not as free citizens but as slaves. Today, a black man presides over that same country where black people were once considered inferior. He not only won the first time, he got re-elected. We did not see white Americans killing people or throwing bombs. We celebrated the event, but refused to embrace same.

Only recently, the Catholic Church elected a Pope outside the continent that had gotten accustomed to producing Popes. Europe had produced all the Popes in the last 1,200 years!! They may be excused to see it as their birth right and divine gift. Yet, when after 1,200 years this position shifted, we did not hear a protesting voice or a threat to violence. Had this happened in Nigeria, we would as well forget a country ever existed.

It hurts to see all these violence simply because of a change in political power. But one thing is sure, if the blacks in America could survive slavery and get to the White house, we will also survive this insanity. This is the time to speak with one voice and say very loudly, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

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That is why the Catholic Church defines the doctrine of Mortal sin and Venial sin. All sins against the 10 commandments are mortal sins, while other minor offences are venial sins.

God is a just God and in justice, God will not condemn a man who had been killing innocent people for money rituals with a man who steals food to eat in order to survive with the same judgement. Though both have committed a sin, the circumstance and intentions are different.

For a sin to be committed, 3 factors must come into play; the willingness, the opportunity and the act itself. For instance, a virgin who willingly goes to a man's house to get the real deal and another who was going on an errand an got raped had both lost their virginity. The difference is that; one lost hers through a willful sexual act while the other was forcefully taken. God in His justice will not subject these 2 virgins to the same judgement.

I most times get very pissed when I hear people saying sin is sin. Even in our normal day to day life, do all offences against the law carry the same punishment? The Catholic Church can not err in matters of faith and morals. The Bible in talking about death does not mean physical death. The death been talked about here is eternal damnation. For those who commit sins that are not unto death, the Catholic church teaches that they go to a place of purgation called PURGATORY. Here, they make expiation for all those sins before they can see God. Purgatory is in fact, a demonstration of God's justice. God is so righteous that he cannot behold the slightest of sins. Yet, His justice does not allow him to condemn all sinners to the same judgement.

When next you hear someone saying that sin is sin, ask him/her to interpret this portion of the Bible. Watch out for a post on Mortal sins and Venial sins.

NEW METHOD INTN'L CHILDREN SCHOOL: LAGOS STATE

COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL AYETORO: OGUN STATE

MADONNA UNIVERSITY: OKIJA, ANAMBRA STATE.

UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL: UK

Why is the North always fond of getting people to sign agreements whenever power is about to shift? These agreements most time, negates the provisions of the constitution which is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. I think this illegality must stop as I cannot remember ever hearing that a northerner was asked to sign any agreement before becoming President.

From the days of OBJ and now GEJ, we have heard that people were either blackmailed or forced to sign some phony documents. OBJ revealed this in 2002 when some people insisted that he was elected only for one term. The governor of Niger state in a widely publicized broadcast had again said GEJ signed a one term agreement. We have not heard about the one Yar'adu signed before he became President.

This knack for getting people to sign agreement is rather absurd giving the fact that; the agreement signed by Gowon and Ojukwu at Aburi was never respected by the same Northern elements who constantly force people to sign documents. Had that agreement been respected as signed, there wouldn't have been any need for the civil war. The rest as they say is history.

Since any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution is null and void, any agreement that also negates the provisions of the constitution should suffer the same fate. The decision to run or not to run in 2015 should be the exclusive prerogative of the President and not because of any agreement or intimidation from any quarters. This madness must stop!!!

I had long ago arrived at the conclusion that; most Nigeria are largely ignorant about the workings of government. To them, everything must start and end with the President as though we were operating a form of monarchy or dictatorship. They forget that in a democracy, there are certain functions that have been constitutionally delegated to other agencies of government for which the President, unless acting in a dictatorial manner cannot and should not be seen to perform. If we must practice democracy, we must be ready to obey the rule of law, no matter how inconveniencing or absurd it may be. This is one area I commend the late President Yar’adua.


The position of the law is that issues bordering on civil servant misconduct and discipline must be handled by the office of the Head of Service of the Federation. It is therefore both befuddling and absurd for the senate, who ordinarily should know better, to ask the President to sack a civil servant! When has it become the constitutional duty of the President to sack and discipline earring civil servants? Abdulrasheed Maina the man in the middle of the storm is neither a minister nor a political office holder, he is a civil servant for crying out loud and should be subject to the civil service rules!


The office of the Head of Service has the constitutional responsibility to discipline and dismiss all civil servants that have acted in contravention to the laws governing the service. One had expected the senate to direct the Head of Service to commence the process of dismissing Maina and not to give an ultimatum to the president to sack a civil servant. The position of the senate on this matter is both misleading and sets a dangerous precedence. The senate should not only be viewed as the bastion of the law, they should act in consonance to the provisions of the laws of the land.


We must begin to understand that the office of the President is an exulted one and therefore, should not be dragged into petty and trivial issues. The earlier we realize this, the better for us, this wobbly democracy we are practicing and the office of the President irrespective of who is occupying it. If care is not taken, someone will ask the president to issue query to a civil servant who comes late to work one day.

It is now very clear to all discerning minds that; the House of Reps is on a vindictive mission aimed at crippling both the SEC DG and the CBN Governor, all because they have been bold and courageous enough to look them in the face and expose their sleazy affairs.


Only recently, the house in apparent reaction to the SEC’s DG’s exposure of Herman Hembe, refused to appropriate funds for SEC in the 2013 budget unless she was sacked. They ignorantly forgot that there are other Nigerians with families that work in SEC who have families to cater for and who will be adversely affected by this very unprofessional approach. Tomorrow Nigerians will be told that they are the true representatives of the people.


On the part of the CBN Governor, his offence is that he touched on the very sensitive constituency project matter which the house felt was their exclusive preserve and also refused to submit his budget for scrutiny as the Act setting up the CBN granted him that autonomy. The CBN governor had stated that 25% of our National budget is spent on keeping these people who sit for only 107days in a year and that he was not bound to submit his budget for scrutiny and defence. This alarm and clarification was not received with kindness by the buccaneer house. They reacted by summons and threats and when the CBN Governor arrived, he was too intellectually fecund and advanced for them to handle. They now decided to whittle down his powers, no matter how negatively it will affect the Economy.


They hurriedly put together a bill to water down the powers of the Governor and only recently, they decided to move the banking supervisory function away from the CBN! How else can one describe this mad haste to be vindictive? Though not a fan of the CBN Governor, it does not stop me from condemning any perceived injustice to his person and office.


It is funny that both Herman Hembe and Farouk Lawal still sit comfortably in the house, making contributions to the laws been passed in this country. The house has not deemed it fit to take similar action on these fellows who have brought the house to great disrepute, but will stop at nothing in their quest to be vindictive . We are all watching!!!

In this Bauchi where the youth corpers were killed, Buhari won overwhelmingly with 1,315,209 as against Jonathan's 258,404 (http://nigeriaelections.org/presidential.php).

So even if they were IT consultants for PDP, how did their consultancy affect the election result in Bauchi State to warrant their death? Those who reserve any modicum of sympathy for that party called CPC must have their heads examined.

Keshi should not disturb himself explaining why Osaze was left out of the AFCON list. Any keen follower of the National team will know that Osaze has built an unjustifiable larger than life attitude for himself in recent times. He had issues with Lagerberg, Egauvoen, Siasia and now Keshi. A coach must take full charge of his dressing room and keep out detractors in the mold of Osaze and his co-travelers.


Messi has surpassed all imaginable records in football and his set to win a 4th world player award. Despite these achievements, he remains humble and cool headed. Compare this to Osaze's unruly conduct simply because he plays for a mediocre westbrom side.


We should all support Keshi and hold him solely responsible for whatever the outcome of the nations cup would be. I have always said that players that feel they cannot be controlled should not be in any team. They cause disaffection and chaos in teams.


Romario was the best and most prolific Brazillian striker in the run-up to the 2002 world cup. For disciplinary reasons, Scolari refused to take him and opted rather to go with the half-fit Ronaldo. Brazil went on to win the world cup that year without the unruly Romario. I wish Keshi the best.

What I love most about my self is my brain

Personally, I feel deeply pained that the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI will decide to introduce a religious angle to the recent redeployment of top military officers as a fallout to the recent Jaji bombings. Reacting to the redeployment, JNI had said amongst other things: “The fact that the two officers who were swiftly removed were Muslims, and were replaced by two officers who are non-Muslims makes any discerning observer to be suspicious of the motives behind the whole exercise.”


“It is our sincere concern to which we make bold to state that any attempt at politicizing the issue of security in Nigeria will not only worsen our security situation but will also continue to polarize the military family and the entire security system along religious and ethnic divides, something that would not augur well for the future of our dear nation.”

It is public knowledge that all over the world, whenever there is a security breach, it is usual for top heads to roll. JNI conveniently chose to forget that when Ogbonnaya Onovo was removed as IG, he was replaced by Hafez Ringim. They also forgot that when Azazi was sacked as NSA, it was Maccido that replaced him. In these occasions, JNI did not see anything wrong with a Muslim replacing a Christian. It is therefore both disgraceful and shameful for JNI to begin mopping up religious sentiments just because certain officers who were redeployed are Muslims. The question that one begins to ask is; was JNI initially consulted before these officers were appointed? Was it JNI that recruited them into the military? What is the interest of JNI to military postings and redeployments?

Only yesterday, the IG after visiting SARS office in Abuja said that heads would definitely roll as an aftermath of the recent boko haram attacks. This is the usual practice and an expected response to such brazen breach of security. Whether those heads would be Muslims or Christians, nobody knows yet. But heads will surely roll! It will therefore be sinister for anybody to attribute religious sentiments to whatever the IG will do. What cannot be denied is the fact that, a security breach precipitated his actions.


Religious leaders in this country have already caused enough problems. Let them all face their various religious issues and leave politics alone. If it is not CAN today, it is JNI tomorrow. Religion has brought great pains and misery to this country in recent times and I think it’s high time a law is passed that makes religion a strictly personal affair. This madness must stop!

While I join the very few sane Nigerians still in existence in condemning the barbaric act of burning the four students from UNI Port alive and also commiserating with the families, I find it rather curious and befuddling that most Nigeria are finding this act horrendous and acting in ways that suggest that such crimes are alien to this part of the world.

It is on record that many Nigerians in certain parts of the country before the age of 30 would have engaged and actively participated in gruesome murder, mob action, ethnic cleansing, religious killings, blood drinking and human flesh eating. This is the disgusting reality of our times. If I may ask, what differentiates this killings form the several massacre of children and women in Jos who are in most instances, literarily burnt or hacked to death? What differentiate this murder from the several lives that have been lost in the series of Church bombings that had wiped out entire families? The slaughter in Okene of deeper life worshippers? The selective massacre of travelers along certain highways in the country? The killings in Zanko Kataf of an entire Fulani settlement? I can go on and on with the gory tales of how barbaric and animalistic most Nigerians have become.

I have said it many times on this page that most Nigerians are no longer fit to be called humans and I say this with several incontrovertible evidence. A country where people can kill a parent or a sibling for money, where a neighbor’s child can be beheaded for a paltry sum of 60k, where a day old child can be pounded alive to make charms, where ritualistic individuals are given traditional titles and where evil that will even shame the devil reigns, such people are best described as barbarians in human clothing.


I won’t be surprised if human flesh eating and human blood drinking becomes one of our delicacies in the nearest future. As disgusting as this may sound, this is the animal kingdom we have found ourselves. A few years ago, it was shown on national TV how matured men burnt an 8 year old boy to death in Lagos on the unsubstantiated allegation that he attempted to kidnap a baby. Nothing surprises me again in this country. I have heard so many gruesome tales that I need not imagine how hell is again. A barbaric description of our actions will be a compliment in this case.

God will cease to be God if He requires mortal man to fight His battles. How can the created be stronger than the Creator? The God that created the world out of nothing knows how best to deal with those who offend against His Majestic Splendor, Glory, Power and Divinity.

When Pharaoh, questioned God, He answered him in His own way. God has won battles without anybody even throwing a punch! Remember the famous walls of Jericho, how that great city was conquered without a fight? He rained down burning Sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah when they committed abominable sins. He arrested Saul on his journey to massacre His followers. He does His things His own way at His own time.

I think we get it wrong when man begins to feel that He can fight God's battles. The One who gives life can take it whenever He decides. Trying to fight for God is like a day old baby attempting to fight for the parents. It is an exercise in futility. The Bible tells me that the Greatness of God is beyond human comprehension, His eyes are 10,000 times brighter than the sun and sees through the conscience of men. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is God and man is man, He knows best how to punish those that offend against Him.

Every young Nigerian under the age of 40 must begin to make a deliberate and conscious attempt not to allow our own generation slide down the road of ethnic bigotry, religious fundamentalism, crass ignorance and monumental corruption that has continuously held down successive generations in this country.

We must begin to think our way out of this strangle hold of backwardness and intellectual penury that our leaders have been unable to address. We must resolve and strongly so, that in whatever we do and wherever we find ourselves, we will give our best devoid of these canker worms. We must emphatically repudiate the notion that unless you are corrupt, you cannot make it. We must rise above parochial sentiments and allow our actions and decisions be guided by strong intellectual considerations and giving the best man the job.

This may look insurmountable at the moment. But if we have the strong will to make this resolve, we shall get there. Our older generations have failed us, because probably they did not question the legacy that was handed down to them. We must not allow our own generation to follow that same high way to doom. We must resolve, act and stay the course! Our own generation must not be a shame to the upcoming ones. God bless Nigeria.

In recent weeks, a lot of Nigerians have been speaking rather ignorantly about the contract pay out to ex-agitators in the Niger-delta aimed at protecting the entire pipe line infrastructure in the creeks. Those who have read the economy of nations by Adams Smith will agree with me that any nation thinking reasonably will do everything to protect and defend its source of economic wealth. In this instance, we are talking about oil and whatever is done to guarantee the continuous flow of this black gold that currently maintains the bulk of the Nigeria state which is largely unproductive must be encouraged and applauded.

What led to militancy in the first instance? The continuous injustice, neglect, wickedness, oppression and insensitivity of successive governments in this country is what has brought us to where we are today. Before oil was discovered, cocoa and groundnut were the main stay of the Nigerian economy and those who produced these two commodities got 50% derivation from them! What this meant was that; 50% of whatever was gotten from the sale of these commodities went to the producing regions. This was fair until oil was discovered. People may argue about the system of government we had then and what we currently practice, but injustice is injustice under whatever grab.

As soon as oil was discovered, derivation was stopped. All other regions now depended on oil revenue as their main stay. I have no problem with this. What I found rather disturbing was the deliberate and malicious decision of successive government to completely abandon the people from whose land this oil was gotten. You agree with me that the environmental hazards associated with crude oil exploration is worse than that of cocoa and groundnut combined. Instead of the government to design a developmental plan for the region because of the environmental impact of oil mining activities, they rather chose to oppress, subjugate, dehumanize and even kill the people. There is nowhere in the world were such wickedness is meted out to a people that represent the proverbial goose laying the golden egg except of course in this strange entity called Nigeria.

The main stay of the people of the Niger-Delta before the advent of oil was farming and fishing. With the discovery of oil, aquatic life was completely destroyed and the farming lands polluted and rendered useless. In short, the peoples livelihood was brazenly taken away without any alternative. With this scenario, the survival instinct of the men led them to crime and the women embraced prostitution so as to stay alive. A lot of children are fatherless today in these region because, they were a product of transit relationships. After digging oil from the ground, oil company workers will turn around and also dig oil from the women’s oil well and move on. Leading to a preponderance of children without a man to call their father. This was the cycle for several years.

Those who had the courage to peacefully point out this injustice by the Nigeria state were killed. Isaac Adaka Boro, Ken Saro- Wiwa and the ogoni 9 are some of the peaceful agitators that were gruesomely murdered by the Nigerian state simply because they asked for justice……. To be continued tomorrow.

The elements of mischief are at work again and this time around, the leader is Nasir el-rufai a former minister of the FCT who is standing trail for allocating revoked plots of lands to his family members, cronies and friends. The issue at hand this time is the huge pay-out to the ex-militants in the Niger delta.

On his face book page, el-rufai specifically called it “Jonathan’s handsome pay-out to Militant friends: manifestation of profligate cronyism”. This with all intents and purposes is made to cast the president in bad light and present him as someone who just called militants together and started giving them money. I will again as usual, counter this malicious vituperations of a disgruntled and frustrated politician with sound logic and incontrovertible facts.

To start with, President Jonathan was not the one who started this amnesty programme. He inherited it from the late Yar’adua and only implementing what was agreed in the amnesty package. This discussion will not be complete without casting our minds back to the pre-amnesty era. As at 2008/2009, Nigeria’s daily oil production had taken a nose dive from 2.4 million barrels per day to 500, 000 barrels per day due mainly to the activities of the militants in the Niger-delta who were sabotaging oil production because of the years of neglect they had suffered. This can be verified by anyone who doubts this figures. It is also noteworthy that all through the time of militancy, no house of worship was ever attacked or a religious sect targeted. It was an economic sabotage and strictly so in all ramifications.

The then president after due considerations of the huge economic implications of this situation decided to grant amnesty. A school of thought still believes that if there was no economic implication to the country, amnesty would not have been granted. But that is a discussion for another day. It should also be noted that, the combined efforts of the army, navy, police and all other security agencies were unable to prevent the damage to the pipe line infrastructure or the kidnapping of foreign oil workers. In a nationwide broadcast, late President Yar’dua against the advice of some hawks and perpetual elements of subjugation announced the amnesty package to all those who will renounce violence, hand in their arms and give government the chance to address the grievances of the people from that region.

We recall that there were several “generals” who were heading various camps prominent among who were Tompolo, Boylaof, Asari and co. Tompolo was the head of the dreaded camp5 to who Yar’dua had this to say when he finally accepted amnesty “ if you had not come out, I would have doubted the success of this programme”. Tompolo was personally received in the villa by the late president. This was to mark the official end of militancy and the beginning of a new phase which included; rehabilitation, training and re-integration.

Now, coming back to the amnesty package, the government agreed to train those fighters that were willing to go to school, provide stipends to those that turned in their weapons in an arms for money programme and then make the ex-militants commit to securing those pipe-lines which they were vandalizing before. It is in the spirit of securing those pipe lines that these ex-warlords set up companies that are primarily responsible for protecting our huge pipe line infrastructure. Today, oil production is on an all time high of 2.6 million barrels per day! What is =N=5.6 billion compared to what we were losing as a nation when the militancy was at its peak? Ask all the oil companies and the NNPC if this current arrangement does not soothe them. Imagine if because of militancy, states cannot receive federal allocation.

My people, this is what led to amnesty and Jonathan is only implementing an agreement which in my opinion, favours the country more than anything else. So when next you hear that President Jonathan is doing bonanza to militant friends, just know that some hate propaganda machine is at work again. Tomorrow, I will conclude with the years of injustice that led to militancy in the first place. No amount of blackmail will stop GEJ from transforming this great country.

I have observed and rather very sadly so, that most of those insulting the president are doing it mainly out of hate and crass ignorance. I use the word insult because this has gone beyond ordinary productive criticism. Of recent, some people have been accusing the president of populating his government with only Ijaw people and therefore, they say the president is too clannish and ethnically biased to be the president of a diverse country like Nigeria.

I decided to do a comparative analysis between the appointments in this administration and that of our immediate past president (may his gentle soul rest in peace) for Nigerians to judge for themselves if this malicious accusation is right or wrong. I don’t want to go down memory lane when we had an armed forces ruling council that had only the vice president as the southerner in the cabinet. Let us focus on current events so as not to reopen healing wounds.

I have selected certain critical appointments in both the Yar’dua presidency and the Jonathan’s presidency for us to do the judgment. The table below outlines the names, portfolios and the region of the office holder for this analysis. I will provide the names of the occupiers of these offices during the Yar’adua days and then ask you to do same with the Jonathan’s administration.
S/N NAMES PORTFOLIO REGION
1 DR MANSUR MUKTHAR MIN OF FINANCE NORTH WEST
2 DR SHAMSHUDEEN USMAN MIN OF NATIONAL PLANNING NORTH WEST
3 ALH SAYADDI ABBA RUMA MIN OF AGRIC NORTH WEST
4 DR RILIWAN LUKMAN MIN OF PETROLEUM NORTH WEST
5 SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI CBN GOVERNOR NORTH WEST
6 DR TANIMU YAKUBU ECONOMIC ADVISER NORTH WEST
7 GEN SARKIN MUKTHAR NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER NORTH WEST
8 MICHEAL AONDOAKAA ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION NORTH CENTRAL
9 MOHAMMED BARKINDO GMD NNPC NORTH WEST
10 HASSAN LAWAN MIN OF WORKS NORTH CENTRAL
11 ABDULRAHAMAN DAMBAZZAU CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF NORTH WEST

In my estimation, these 11 portfolios are about the most juiciest in any administration and they were all occupied by people from the same section of the country and ethnic stock as the president. This was only very recently and nobody at that time accused the sitting president of being clannish or ethnically inclined. Apart from Col Dangiwa Umar who voiced out that most of these top appointments were going to people from mostly Kano and Kastina, no other person spoke up against this huge ethnic imbalance and deep clannish mentality in a country like Nigeria. Those that have suddenly found their voices today were either dumb as at that time or probably in exile.

Just try to fill these portfolios with their occupants as at today and tell me who was more clannish. It will interest Nigerians to know that there are only two ministers who are Ijaws in this administration and only one of them is from the same state as the president. How then do you say such a president is clannish? On what grounds is that accusation based? I remain passionately committed and irredeemably optimistic that this president means well for Nigeria and he is demonstrating it in all ramifications. My support is anchored on sound logic and incontrovertible facts. Those that can’t bear to see a Jonathan as the president of this great country are the ones spreading malicious rumors about town. But let me remind them that lies have a very slender body.

Next time you hear people insulting the president, ask them for facts and you will be surprised that all their arguments are based on hear say, lies and annoying ignorance. Least I forget, for the past 3 days, PHCN has not done the usual, how about your area? Fresh air all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This goes to show the very GREEDY DNA make up of most Nigerians. Commonsense would have told any sensible fellow that, if MTN truly wanted to give out 750 airtime, they will simply effect that on all the registered lines on their database. Why make people slave by sending ten sms freely before they receive the airtime?


If it is true that it's a scam, I will be the happiest person, as some idiots have been disturbing my phone with this useless message. GREED and most Nigerians are one and the same. This is why corruption will never leave us alone.

The most intresting part of this post is that; all those diehard farouk supporters are soo quiet. Imagine the heavy blow Jagaba has just given farouk. He said farouk wrote the letter as an after thought, after been rattlled by the scandal.

Farouk achieved a feat of writng a two page letter in 1second!Even if we hate GEJ soo much, let us divorce him from this scandal and compel farouk to answer for this theft. The house of reps is just playing to the gallery, they all agreed to remove those two companies and probably got a share from the loot. THE HOUSE LEADERSHIP MUST RESIGN AND BE PROSECUTED FOR THIS LEGISLATIVE CONSPIRACY!!!

When something favours us, that is how God wants it. But if it favours another, all hell must be let loose. If we truly beleive as we pretend to, that nothing happens without God permitting it, why then do we kill ourselves when God chooses to give the leadership of the most populous black nation in the world to a man from a minority tribe, the smallest state, the smallet local government and from the smallest clan in the country?


He may not be the most sagacious politician or from the most influential families in the country, but God has chosen him. For those who are familair with the Bible, you'll discover that God has has never chosen the qualified, but qualifies the chosen.


Mary was a lowly handmaid, but through her, Jesus was born. Moses was a chronic stammerer, but was chosen to deliver the message of liberation to the king. David was a shepered boy, but was called from the fields to be crowned as king. Gideon was the least important member of his family but was chosen in the book of Judges to deliver Isreal. Need I say more?


Even if they gather, they will surely scatter for such a gathering is not...................

@ Olaolufred, even if I heard, this information is very true. Ask any Christian northerner if I had said anything out of the ordinary.

The recent security challenges in the country had prevented me from commentng on other topical issues in the polity. Chief among these issues is the laughable and irresponsible summons issued by the house of reps to the president.


To start with, I hav observed the bellicose posture the house of reps had adopted in its relations with the executive since the emergence of it current leadership. The house had often been antagonistic on any matter that has a direct bearing to the executive and seems to be more interested at playing to the gallery.


One would have expected the house to deligate a high powered committee to visit the president and find out whatever they intend to ask him on the security situation in the country and not to issue a public statement summoning the president like a school boy.


This house which at best, can be described as a den of theives and morally bankrupt individuals lacks the locus standi to summon the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in such a disgraceful manner. A house that could not muster the courage to summon an ex-president who called them robbers and theives, who could not call to order an ex-dictator who is best known for issuing inciteful statements cannot summon a sitting president on the pages of newspaper.


The house of reps should be reminded that there is a limit to madness and irresponsibility. They can also go ahead and summon me for expressing myself! Nonsense!

I heard a very disturbing information this morning and I will plead with anyone that is close to security agencies to bring this information to their notice. Those with BB should pls help to broadcast this message and spread it around.


The information is that; after the 2011 elections, some northern leaders met to analyze the election results and concluded that it was the Christian population in the north that made up the chunk of the 25% required votes for GEJ. It was then agreed that; a war will be waged on Christians living in the north to decimate their numbers or drive them out from the north completely. The aim is that; if Christians are killed en masse, there will be nobody to vote in support of GEJ should he decide to contest in 2015. In the alternative, they would have driven out all Christians from the north.


It was also agreed that while this pogrom is going on, the leaders will be calling for dialogue. The aim of which is to secure the commitment of power going back to the north in 2015. If this is gotten, hostilities against Christians in the north will seize, if not, the plan A to exterminate all Christians living in the north will continue unabated. My first reaction when I heard this information was to dismiss it. But on a second thought, I asked myself; why are the Christians in the north been targeted every day? What offence did they commit? The only answer to these
questions for now, is this story.


No wonder, no leader of strong standing in the north has come out to condemn what is currently going on. Instead, they are asking the government to dialogue and nobody is asking what the terms of the dialogue will be. The reason why the Christians in the north are bombed every Sunday is to ensure that nobody will alive to make up 25% again. Those who shed crocodile tears before the 2011 elections and vowed never to contest elections in this country again have started singing a different tone. This is a grand orchestrated political killing arrangement to get power back at all cost.

They have suddenly decided to go back to the ACN they accused of betrayal. They want to deliver a block vote from the north and then ACN will deliver the southwest, so that there won’t be a clear winner in the first round of the elections. With this, before the announcement of the second round, they will declare victory and begin to cause serious violence should that declaration not stand. My fellow people, this is why Christians in the north are being killed every day.


Christians in the north have suffered a lot over the years. They are denied job opportunities, promotion at work, juicy appointment and in some cases, forced to covert before they are given any opportunity. Unlike in the south, religion is the only determinant yardstick for measuring success in life in the north. If you are unfortunate to be born a Christian and you are not ready to embrace Islam, be ready to suffer extreme deprivations in all facets of life. Ask any Christian northerner, they will tell you better.


When this madness started, we were told that it was not a war against Christians, But today, we just wait for Sundays to count the number of Churches that have been bombed. The decision to choose Sunday is because, that is the day you can get a very high number of casualties. We hear that house to house killings are even secretly going on in some northern states. God help us.

THOSE LOUSY NAIRALANDERS THAT NEVER SEE ANYTHING GOOD WITH GEJ/NIGERIA ARE NOT MAKING ANY COMMENT AT THE MOMENT. SHAME ON YOU ALL! I KNOW WITH TIME GEJ WILL MAKE US PROUD. ALL ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT, AND PRESENT GEJ AS INCOMPETENT WILL CERTAINLY FAIL.