₦airaland Forum

ozoigbondu:
These children have been scared for life......l blame father Abraham if only he had used condom when bleeping that haggai of a lady the world would have been a peaceful






and u call urself a christian. pity

#gmb

Industrial Relations

I pledge to:
• Give political force to collective bargaining in all sectors of the economy; revive Tripartite Committee of Government, employers and workers organisations, whose task would be to constantly review matters of labour relations and the practice of industrial relations.
• Undertake to institute an annual statutory tripartite body contributes towards formulation and implementation of broad macro-economic policies.
• Reposition Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity and all relevant agencies mandated to manage labour dispute and grievance handling process to ensure pre-emptive strategies to halt the current frequent incessant strikes phenomenon.

Power
The power sector has become a monstrous demonstration of corruption. Despite investment of more than X there is nothing to show but few fat cats.
I pledge to:
• War against corruption in the power sector
• Tackle the issue of gas availability for the proposed power plants
• Emphasis alternative sources of power such as small, medium and large hydro plants (Mambilla has capacity for 4,700 megawatts), wind, coal and solar. Efforts will be geared towards smaller and potable power supply.
• Start an accelerated training of human resources for the power sector.
• Work with PenCom to consider giving soft loans to power sector operators.

Youth and ICT Development
The youth are the salt of the nation. More than 60% of our population is categorized as being of youth age. The future of the nation depends on the brains of the youth and not on what is buried under the ground.
I pledge to:
• Declare support for the appointment of young people with requisite qualification into key political offices to begin the incubation and mentoring for a successor political generation.
• Unveil a policy that all federal contractors must employ at least 50% young people.
• Work with the private sector to establish innovation fund for young people.
• Encourage that girls’and boys’ education is prioritized in states where this is established to be a big problem.
• Review and make pronouncements, with attendant political will and commitment, on the full implementation of the national youth policy.
• Establish innovation centers in conjunction with proposed National Science Foundation and the private sector.
• Include vocational skills in the curriculum of Almajiri schools so that they become self-employed.
• Unveil a policy that will begin to multiply the efforts and effects of technology incubation centers to at least establish two of such centers in each of the geopolitical zone.
• Establish a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O/Levels to study ICT-related courses.
• Immediately establish linkages with friendly names to champion exchange programmes for the acquisition of IT related skills.
• Extend the local content policies to cover software and hardware developments in the youth-driven markets. Put in place a quality assurance mechanism to ensure that standards are met and adhered to and make it a policy for companies to procure a % of their ICT needs from the local market.
• Hold a summit of all ICT service providers, OEMs, etc both local and foreign that are doing business in Nigeria to device concrete skills transfer and capacity building models in a sustainable manner.

Agriculture
I pledge to:
• Make pronouncement to make agriculture a major focus of the government and lay the institutional foundation to attract large-scale investments and capital into the agricultural infrastructural sector
• Launch a massive agricultural infrastructural investments plan that will focus on production, transportation infrastructure and marketing logistics across Nigeria
• Launched a massive, well-coordinated and innovatively funded Youth in Commercial Agribusiness Programme.
• Establish agricultural produce pricing and marketing mechanism and institutions
• Work with State and Local Governments to launch Agricultural Support Programmes that will drive state level massive agricultural land development and mechanization agenda
• Revamp, revitalize and continuous improvement on the national agricultural extension and rural support service system
• Initiated a holistic project aimed at promoting and securing access of standardized agricultural products to both local and international markets
• Lay the groundwork for a standardized market uptake and aggregation outlets for specific agricultural produce
• Initiated a comprehensive revamp of key development banks (Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and Nigeria Import & Export Bank) operations to fund inclusive agricultural value chain operations
• Lay the groundwork for an ambitious, massive, seamless, accessible single-digit agricultural value-chain finance Programme
• Initiated the process to appropriately liberalise and expand agricultural and rural insurance system with premium subventions support to farmers
• Revamp the agricultural cooperative system to drive rural agriculture and improves stakes for smallholder farmers
• Launch appropriate tariff rectification instrument to support import-export anomalies

Management of the Economy for prosperity
Every Nigerian deserves to benefit from the running of our collective resources. We promise not to leave any Nigerian behind in our determination to create, expand and ensure equitable and effective allocation of economic opportunities. No matter the amount of funds we generate, unless there is an efficient and effective utilization, it will only create few billionaires. Unless we fight corruption, the economy will only benefit the greedy in our society.
I pledge to:
• Work with the legislature to strengthen constitutional provisions to make the meetings of the National Economic Council more periodic and predictable and its decisions more binding.
• Present annual report on the state of the economy to the National Assembly and the Nigerian People.
• The Preparation of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and annual Budget will be guided by job creation projections.
• Negotiate rule-based oil revenue management process, and adopt a rule based excess crude account management process, which will entail a fixed percentage (e.g. 10% or 20%) of oil revenue each year, and also set clear rules about where the proceeds will be domiciled, when the savings can be used, by whom, and what the savings can be used for.
• Work with the National Assembly to adopt a rule based, realistic and predictable oil benchmark as a basis for a more transparent management of federation account revenue and excess crude account.
• Launch a Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme in partnership with Commercial Lenders to improve access to finance for SMEs.
• Automate the business registration process to ensure sole proprietorships can be opened within 24 hours and incorporated business within 5 days.
• Reduce the cost of company registration to a maximum of N10, 000 for sole proprietorships to encourage formalization.
• Review and regulate import duty waivers to promote transparency and accountability;
• Forge partnerships with state and local governments and private sectors to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and cottage industries;
• Work with the National Assembly to review and finalize work on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB);
• Boost community and local participation in downstream through expansion and promotion of local content development;
• Commence organizational reforms to curb corruption

Niger Delta
I pledge to:
• Restore the integrity of the Niger Delta by implementing relevant sections of the Ledum Technical Committee on human capital development, resource management and distribution, governance and rule of law, reclamation and environmental and sustainable development.
• Commit myself and my administration to the phased implementation of the United Nations Environment Program’s(UNEP) recommendations on Ogoniland.
• Unveil a marshal plan for the regenerative development of the Niger Delta.

Diversity
Diversity refers to the inherent complexities of the variations in the social fabric of a people. Elements of poorly managed diversities include absence of cohesion, low capacity or political will to address resulting tensions, weak institutions of the state, in-equalities in every facet, impunity, breakdown of mutual trust, rising incidences of violence and total breakdown of law and order. To quickly reverse this observable trend in our society:
I pledge to:
• Continually acknowledge and consciously equality and equity in all government businesses and activities.
• Implement the National Gender Policy including 35% of appointive positions for women.
• Work with National Assembly to pass a National Disability Bill, which I shall immediately assent, into Law.
• Immediately charge relevant MDAs to implement new building codes to ensure that people with disability have easier access.
• I will lead the campaign for restoration of mutual trust and cohesion for nation building, while also working with the National Assembly to make appropriation to strengthen institutions and platforms promoting dialogue and inclusion.
• I will promote amendment to the provisions of section 14:3 of the Constitution to give effect to the expansion of the scope of representation to include women and persons with disabilities.
• Work with National Assembly to pass the National Disability Act and the Equal Opportunities Bill.

Health
I pledge to:
• Implement the National Health Act 2014,which guarantees financial sustainability to the health sector and minimum basic health care for all and ban medical tourism by government officials.
• Launch special programme to improve availability of water and sanitation.
• Review occupational health laws and immediately commence enforcement of the provisions to reduce hazards in the work place.
• Unveil a health sector review policy to ensure the efficient and effective management of our health systems.
• Mobilize the health workforce needed for the all-round implementation of our primary health programmes for rural communities.

click the link below:


http://abusidiqu.com/must-read-100-days-covenant-nigerians-muhammadu-buhari/



Corruption and Governance
I pledge to:
• Publicly declaration of my assets and liabilities
• Encourage all my appointees to publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a pre-condition for appointment. All political appointees will only earn the salaries and allowances determined by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC).
• Personal leadership in the war against corruption
• Inaugurate the National Council on Procurement as stipulated in the Procurement Act. The Federal Executive Council, which has been turned to a weekly session of contract bazaar, will concentrate on its principal function of policy making.
• Review and implement audit recommendations by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative including those on remittances and remediation.
• Work with the National Assembly towards the immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act
• Work with the National Assembly to strengthen ICPC and EFCC by guaranteeing institutional autonomy including financial and prosecutorial independence and security of tenure of officials. Make the Financial Intelligence Unit of the EFCC autonomous and operational.
• Encourage proactive disclosure of information by government institutions in the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act.
• Ensure all MDAs and parastatals regularly comply with their accountability responsibilities to Nigerians through the National Assembly.
• All political officer holdersearn only the salaries and emoluments determined and approved by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission RMFAC.
• Work with the leadership of the National Assembly and the Judiciary to cut down the cost of governance.
• I will present a National Anti corruption Strategy.

Insurgency and Insecurity
I have had the rare privilege of serving my country in the military in various capacities and rose to become a Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. I defended the territorial integrity of our nation.
I pledge to:

• As Commander-in-Chief, lead from the front and not behind in the comfort and security of Aso Rock to boost the morale of fighting forces and the generality of all Nigerians.
• Give especial attention to the welfare of our armed forces and their families; lost heroes and their families and the victims of insurgency.
• Boost the morale of the men and women in the field by public recognition of their efforts through memorabilia, stamps, statues, regular rotation, regular payment of allowances, regular communication between the men and officers of security agencies, provision of best health care and housing for families of deceased comrades.
• I will present a marshal plan to the nation that will combat insurgency, ethnic and religious violence, kidnapping and rural banditry.
• Provideof the best and appropriate military and other materials the country needs to combat insurgency, ethnic and religious violence, kidnapping and rural banditry.
• Establish personal relationship with governors of the affected states by insurgency, with leaders of the countries in the region and with leaders around the world to coordinate efforts to combat insurgency, oil theft, piracy and criminality.
• Restore confidence in the bilateral and multilateral partnerships in addressing insurgency including procurements.
• Activate regular meetings of the National Police Council to ensure the discharge of its true constitutional role in a transparent and accountable way.
• As a father, I feel the pain of the victims of insurgency, kidnapping and violence whether they are the widows and orphans of military, paramilitary, civilians and parents or the Chibok girls. My government shall act decisively on any actionable intelligence to #BringBackOurGirls.

mr presido who are your script writers. I now believe they are as clueless ..................

as for the salary range, dont have any idea. but believe to be good and secured.

was there also jan 8th to be precise. learnt that they have started giving offers for the internal recruitment. 'expect to be called from the 27th of this month things being equal', my source said. we need to continue with our prayers and waiting.

pity. could still remember when we were in school that law students used to brag the most and make mockery of other undergrads. after all cramming of this vs that , they ended up with high bp in one law firm. pity indeed.

answer only the questions that u are sure of. though no one'll tell u about negative marking but i think they do. wish u Goodluck

well they said were through with the internal recruitment but the external one there is too much pressure on our own mrs okauru, she dont know what to do . God help o

got the same mail too. lets keep praying

to the screening exercise hopeful, any good news from FIRS?

By Dr Aliyu Tilde



The Tragedy of Umar F. Mutallab



The first involvement of a Nigerian in terrorism has reduced the nation to the status of a child. Immediately the chap was identified as a Nigerian, we were all on our knees begging America, doing our best to convince it that we are not terrorists: "Wallahi, this boy is a black sheep. We are law abiding citizens wherever we go overseas. Yes. At home, we are known for fraud, election rigging, corruption, armed robbery, bank robbery, cultism, human trafficking, religious intolerance, concealment of truth to our citizens, we tell them lies and even engage in forgery at high places. Eh. We have also been pushing cocaine for over two decades now. But Wallahi – America – we are not terrorists. It is not in our character… Do anything with Umar Mutallab. The boy deserves it. We completely dissociate ourselves from him…. Chinekeeeee!!! This boy has shamed us. He wants to put us in trouble."

It is true. We are not lying. We are not terrorists. If we were, we would have blown off our leaders first before any other person and effectively rid the country of corruption. However, courtesy of our inherent African docility, the people whose actions have caused so much misery on our land are walking about Scot-free. They would not do so if we had sufficient thymotic potential to blow their planes or shoot them down at gatherings. They would not have had the temerity to rig our elections or the guts to steal our wealth.

Yet, it appears that America is not convinced by the confession chorus voice of Nigerian officials, non-governmental organizations, religious and secular, at home and overseas. Nigeria produced maitatsine and, recently, boko haram in addition to a whole catalogue of transnational criminal activities. By now, the world has concluded that every Nigerian is either a fanatic or a fraudster, unless he is proved innocent. This is a golden opportunity to impose some severe security measures against these fraudulent people, America insists.

The first step has been announced within a week of the event: body scanners will be installed in all our four international airports such that a record of the anatomy of every Nigerian traveler will be documented. Fingerprints are not sufficient. "Would these scanners show the naked bodies of people?" a foreign journalist asked a Nigerian official, three times. And three times he evaded the question: "It is just in case the passenger is carrying something on his body, the machine will detect it." I laughed. The truth is that the scanners would show your naked natural body, including everything. I had that experience with a similar equipment at Heathrow Airport in December 2004 when I was singled out, for no stated reason, and scanned before I boarded a British Airways flight back to Nigeria. To assuage my feelings, the official showed me the picture and said they were just testing the equipment. Behold, there was Tilde, ad naturalis. I did not protest, lest some cocaine is planted in my luggage. My destination, I reminded myself, was Abuja, not prison in the distant land of homo leucodermaticus. Scanning our bodies may not be the only measure, I suspect. Nigerians must be prepared for more.

But why are we jittery about this singular act, heinous as it is? Are we the first terrorist country in the world? Did we produce Carlos – The Jackal, Al-Nagrahi, IRA, Timothy McVeigh, or the 911 bombers? Are we worse terrorists than Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, or Libya, countries where many terrorists lived and carried out their threats? Are we worse than Saudi Arabia, the country that produced Osama Bin Laden and 18 out of the 19 terrorists that bombed the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001? Why have we not heard the officials and citizens of these countries pleading against any possible collective victimization by America? Why are scanners not installed at Jeddah and Riyadh International Airports? Instead, we saw Obama paying a visit to King Abdullah and bowing his head to the King in respect, as he bowed before Queen Elizabeth III during the G20 meeting last year. I doubt very much if the Arabs will allow their privacy be so encroached on - down to the anatomical level - on their own land.

I think something is wrong with us and our leadership. Would this be how we will respond when one day we find ourselves in conflict with America? I believe General Victor Malu will not be surprised, having lost his job simply by refusing to "co-operate" with the military experts who America sent during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff. Malu did not know that our Nigerianness exists only at the mercy of the only superpower in the world today. Obasanjo proved him wrong. "Hey boy," Obasanjo told Malu, "When America says 'jump', simply ask: 'how high?" Commot jare. The munci man has since been enjoying his pounded yam in his native Benue. Literally speaking, the Defence Towers in Abuja are not for his kind.

On contemplation, I think the real reason why we elite are afraid of our newly acquired feather is because of the inconvenience that we will suffer from whenever we visit overseas or the opportunities we will miss in our hideout countries where we send our children to study after celebrating the collapse of our public schools at home; where we take our wives for delivery after we have allowed our hospitals to deteriorate; where we hide the billions we steal daily from public coffers; where some of us think is the Promised Land. Think about it: what restrictive measure would the average Nigerian, who will never have the opportunity to board even a domestic flight be afraid of? Will the airport scanners scan him on his farm? Indeed, we are crying for ourselves, for our interests, not for Nigeria.

Here, I have much to doubt about the sincerity of Umar's father, Alhaji Mutallab. I initially thought that he has been very heroic in alerting the Nigerian and American security officials about the indoctrination of his son. He must be one of the most patriotic citizens of the world, I thought. But in fairness to the son, I now think differently. I was only naïve. The father must own up and accept that he exposed the son to the risk of indoctrination. He knows his son better than anyone. He should. At what point did he start to notice the defiance of his son and what did he do about it?

This chap has been complaining of loneliness since when the father isolated him from this country and sent him to a British elite secondary school in Togo. Doesn't his life in that school initiate his anti-white racist doctrines before he even met with terrorist groups later in the United Kingdom? Why did not the father return him to Nigeria and enroll him in one of our best secondary schools or private universities. Why was Umar ignored by his father until he became a prey of the vicious elements that exploited his racist sentiments?

Also, would the poor and lonely Umar have been conscripted into international terrorism if his father were poor? Would he have been to Togo or Britain? International terrorism, as I said in an interview with Radio Deutche Welle, is a product of affluence, not religion. The overwhelming majority of terrorists – from Bin Laden down to their latest flag bearer, Umar Mutallab – are people from affluent backgrounds, homes that have links with the West and have firm roots in its economic order.

Umar's father did not get this calculation wrong. By alerting the police, he has secured his wealth but not his son. He has conveniently surrendered the son, against the biological instinct of protection, to the FBI, in protection of his economic interests, most likely, instead of taking all necessary measures to restrict him to this country, getting the authorities to seize his passport and sponsor a program of his de-indoctrination. After all, the father is well aware of the Hausa adage that says ba gagararre sai bararre – there is no outlaw except the condoned. The father cannot, therefore, claim that he was taken by surprise because he was rich enough, pretty rich, to buy multimillion pound mansion for the family in London where the son lived. He was not living on campus. Someone here – the father – does not do his duty well. He should own up.

The second blame should be dumped at the doorstep of American counter-terrorism officials. Obama has every right to look at them straight in the eye and tell them that they have not done their job well. There was a report indicating that al-Qaida is training a Nigerian for a terror attack on an American Airline. Then there is a Nigerian father who complained of the indoctrination of his son and the son has already been placed on America's Terrorist Watch list. Would it be clear even to the most incompetent agent that Umar was the most likely person? How many Nigerians are there on the list after all?

Umar's ordeal should serve as a wakeup call to all Nigerian parents who send their children overseas for studies. I know it is inevitable in many cases given the failure of our educational system here at home. But each of them can, and should, do something to salvage it, in his own way. I believe Alhaji Mutallab must be regretting this way: "Had I known, I would have built a model secondary school and a even a private university in my hometown Funtua where Umar and other Nigerian children would study without being exposed to indoctrination by people alien to our culture… A good secondary school would not cost half the price of one of my houses in London… Had I known…"

The whole idea of sending children to study abroad must be done only out of necessity, as Dr. Yusuf Qardawi once said. Where necessary, they must not be sent until, among other conditions, they have acquired the cognitive maturity that will protect them from indoctrination.

Please let those of us who have children studying overseas keep an eye over them. Terrorism is not the only thing we need to guard them against. There are just plenty other negative tendencies that they must not be allowed to indulge in. We must ensure we engage them constantly such that we can understand the cognitive developments they are going through. We must not, even for a day, fail to listen to them or attend to their needs especially for company. And we can do this today so easily through modern communications facilities. It is our duty. We must not delegate it to school authorities.

Umar had access to wealth but it did not buy him the protection he needed as a teenager. Poor Umar! Surely, he has been a victim of three people: an incapable father, a vicious group of terrorists, and incompetent and negligent American security agencies. He could have been saved the doom of becoming a criminal of this order. This beautiful looking son of Africa was, therefore, a prey. His story is a tragedy. He set out looking for knowledge but would end up serving a twenty year prison term. I pray that by the time he comes out – for he will still come out pretty young, 43 – he would have contemplated enough to purge himself of the indoctrination he went though. He would then return to African and reside among us quietly, enjoying the docility that is typical of our passive continent, or suffering the consequences of its lack of thymos.



Bauchi, Nigeria

1 January 2007

By Dr Aliyu Tilde



The Tragedy of Umar F. Mutallab



The first involvement of a Nigerian in terrorism has reduced the nation to the status of a child. Immediately the chap was identified as a Nigerian, we were all on our knees begging America, doing our best to convince it that we are not terrorists: "Wallahi, this boy is a black sheep. We are law abiding citizens wherever we go overseas. Yes. At home, we are known for fraud, election rigging, corruption, armed robbery, bank robbery, cultism, human trafficking, religious intolerance, concealment of truth to our citizens, we tell them lies and even engage in forgery at high places. Eh. We have also been pushing cocaine for over two decades now. But Wallahi – America – we are not terrorists. It is not in our character… Do anything with Umar Mutallab. The boy deserves it. We completely dissociate ourselves from him…. Chinekeeeee!!! This boy has shamed us. He wants to put us in trouble."

It is true. We are not lying. We are not terrorists. If we were, we would have blown off our leaders first before any other person and effectively rid the country of corruption. However, courtesy of our inherent African docility, the people whose actions have caused so much misery on our land are walking about Scot-free. They would not do so if we had sufficient thymotic potential to blow their planes or shoot them down at gatherings. They would not have had the temerity to rig our elections or the guts to steal our wealth.

Yet, it appears that America is not convinced by the confession chorus voice of Nigerian officials, non-governmental organizations, religious and secular, at home and overseas. Nigeria produced maitatsine and, recently, boko haram in addition to a whole catalogue of transnational criminal activities. By now, the world has concluded that every Nigerian is either a fanatic or a fraudster, unless he is proved innocent. This is a golden opportunity to impose some severe security measures against these fraudulent people, America insists.

The first step has been announced within a week of the event: body scanners will be installed in all our four international airports such that a record of the anatomy of every Nigerian traveler will be documented. Fingerprints are not sufficient. "Would these scanners show the naked bodies of people?" a foreign journalist asked a Nigerian official, three times. And three times he evaded the question: "It is just in case the passenger is carrying something on his body, the machine will detect it." I laughed. The truth is that the scanners would show your naked natural body, including everything. I had that experience with a similar equipment at Heathrow Airport in December 2004 when I was singled out, for no stated reason, and scanned before I boarded a British Airways flight back to Nigeria. To assuage my feelings, the official showed me the picture and said they were just testing the equipment. Behold, there was Tilde, ad naturalis. I did not protest, lest some cocaine is planted in my luggage. My destination, I reminded myself, was Abuja, not prison in the distant land of homo leucodermaticus. Scanning our bodies may not be the only measure, I suspect. Nigerians must be prepared for more.

But why are we jittery about this singular act, heinous as it is? Are we the first terrorist country in the world? Did we produce Carlos – The Jackal, Al-Nagrahi, IRA, Timothy McVeigh, or the 911 bombers? Are we worse terrorists than Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, or Libya, countries where many terrorists lived and carried out their threats? Are we worse than Saudi Arabia, the country that produced Osama Bin Laden and 18 out of the 19 terrorists that bombed the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001? Why have we not heard the officials and citizens of these countries pleading against any possible collective victimization by America? Why are scanners not installed at Jeddah and Riyadh International Airports? Instead, we saw Obama paying a visit to King Abdullah and bowing his head to the King in respect, as he bowed before Queen Elizabeth III during the G20 meeting last year. I doubt very much if the Arabs will allow their privacy be so encroached on - down to the anatomical level - on their own land.

I think something is wrong with us and our leadership. Would this be how we will respond when one day we find ourselves in conflict with America? I believe General Victor Malu will not be surprised, having lost his job simply by refusing to "co-operate" with the military experts who America sent during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff. Malu did not know that our Nigerianness exists only at the mercy of the only superpower in the world today. Obasanjo proved him wrong. "Hey boy," Obasanjo told Malu, "When America says 'jump', simply ask: 'how high?" Commot jare. The munci man has since been enjoying his pounded yam in his native Benue. Literally speaking, the Defence Towers in Abuja are not for his kind.

On contemplation, I think the real reason why we elite are afraid of our newly acquired feather is because of the inconvenience that we will suffer from whenever we visit overseas or the opportunities we will miss in our hideout countries where we send our children to study after celebrating the collapse of our public schools at home; where we take our wives for delivery after we have allowed our hospitals to deteriorate; where we hide the billions we steal daily from public coffers; where some of us think is the Promised Land. Think about it: what restrictive measure would the average Nigerian, who will never have the opportunity to board even a domestic flight be afraid of? Will the airport scanners scan him on his farm? Indeed, we are crying for ourselves, for our interests, not for Nigeria.

Here, I have much to doubt about the sincerity of Umar's father, Alhaji Mutallab. I initially thought that he has been very heroic in alerting the Nigerian and American security officials about the indoctrination of his son. He must be one of the most patriotic citizens of the world, I thought. But in fairness to the son, I now think differently. I was only naïve. The father must own up and accept that he exposed the son to the risk of indoctrination. He knows his son better than anyone. He should. At what point did he start to notice the defiance of his son and what did he do about it?

This chap has been complaining of loneliness since when the father isolated him from this country and sent him to a British elite secondary school in Togo. Doesn't his life in that school initiate his anti-white racist doctrines before he even met with terrorist groups later in the United Kingdom? Why did not the father return him to Nigeria and enroll him in one of our best secondary schools or private universities. Why was Umar ignored by his father until he became a prey of the vicious elements that exploited his racist sentiments?

Also, would the poor and lonely Umar have been conscripted into international terrorism if his father were poor? Would he have been to Togo or Britain? International terrorism, as I said in an interview with Radio Deutche Welle, is a product of affluence, not religion. The overwhelming majority of terrorists – from Bin Laden down to their latest flag bearer, Umar Mutallab – are people from affluent backgrounds, homes that have links with the West and have firm roots in its economic order.

Umar's father did not get this calculation wrong. By alerting the police, he has secured his wealth but not his son. He has conveniently surrendered the son, against the biological instinct of protection, to the FBI, in protection of his economic interests, most likely, instead of taking all necessary measures to restrict him to this country, getting the authorities to seize his passport and sponsor a program of his de-indoctrination. After all, the father is well aware of the Hausa adage that says ba gagararre sai bararre – there is no outlaw except the condoned. The father cannot, therefore, claim that he was taken by surprise because he was rich enough, pretty rich, to buy multimillion pound mansion for the family in London where the son lived. He was not living on campus. Someone here – the father – does not do his duty well. He should own up.

The second blame should be dumped at the doorstep of American counter-terrorism officials. Obama has every right to look at them straight in the eye and tell them that they have not done their job well. There was a report indicating that al-Qaida is training a Nigerian for a terror attack on an American Airline. Then there is a Nigerian father who complained of the indoctrination of his son and the son has already been placed on America's Terrorist Watch list. Would it be clear even to the most incompetent agent that Umar was the most likely person? How many Nigerians are there on the list after all?

Umar's ordeal should serve as a wakeup call to all Nigerian parents who send their children overseas for studies. I know it is inevitable in many cases given the failure of our educational system here at home. But each of them can, and should, do something to salvage it, in his own way. I believe Alhaji Mutallab must be regretting this way: "Had I known, I would have built a model secondary school and a even a private university in my hometown Funtua where Umar and other Nigerian children would study without being exposed to indoctrination by people alien to our culture… A good secondary school would not cost half the price of one of my houses in London… Had I known…"

The whole idea of sending children to study abroad must be done only out of necessity, as Dr. Yusuf Qardawi once said. Where necessary, they must not be sent until, among other conditions, they have acquired the cognitive maturity that will protect them from indoctrination.

Please let those of us who have children studying overseas keep an eye over them. Terrorism is not the only thing we need to guard them against. There are just plenty other negative tendencies that they must not be allowed to indulge in. We must ensure we engage them constantly such that we can understand the cognitive developments they are going through. We must not, even for a day, fail to listen to them or attend to their needs especially for company. And we can do this today so easily through modern communications facilities. It is our duty. We must not delegate it to school authorities.

Umar had access to wealth but it did not buy him the protection he needed as a teenager. Poor Umar! Surely, he has been a victim of three people: an incapable father, a vicious group of terrorists, and incompetent and negligent American security agencies. He could have been saved the doom of becoming a criminal of this order. This beautiful looking son of Africa was, therefore, a prey. His story is a tragedy. He set out looking for knowledge but would end up serving a twenty year prison term. I pray that by the time he comes out – for he will still come out pretty young, 43 – he would have contemplated enough to purge himself of the indoctrination he went though. He would then return to African and reside among us quietly, enjoying the docility that is typical of our passive continent, or suffering the consequences of its lack of thymos.


Dr Aliyu Tilde
Bauchi, Nigeria

1 January 2007

The Tragedy of Umar F. Mutallab



The first involvement of a Nigerian in terrorism has reduced the nation to the status of a child. Immediately the chap was identified as a Nigerian, we were all on our knees begging America, doing our best to convince it that we are not terrorists: "Wallahi, this boy is a black sheep. We are law abiding citizens wherever we go overseas. Yes. At home, we are known for fraud, election rigging, corruption, armed robbery, bank robbery, cultism, human trafficking, religious intolerance, concealment of truth to our citizens, we tell them lies and even engage in forgery at high places. Eh. We have also been pushing cocaine for over two decades now. But Wallahi – America – we are not terrorists. It is not in our character… Do anything with Umar Mutallab. The boy deserves it. We completely dissociate ourselves from him…. Chinekeeeee!!! This boy has shamed us. He wants to put us in trouble."

It is true. We are not lying. We are not terrorists. If we were, we would have blown off our leaders first before any other person and effectively rid the country of corruption. However, courtesy of our inherent African docility, the people whose actions have caused so much misery on our land are walking about Scot-free. They would not do so if we had sufficient thymotic potential to blow their planes or shoot them down at gatherings. They would not have had the temerity to rig our elections or the guts to steal our wealth.

Yet, it appears that America is not convinced by the confession chorus voice of Nigerian officials, non-governmental organizations, religious and secular, at home and overseas. Nigeria produced maitatsine and, recently, boko haram in addition to a whole catalogue of transnational criminal activities. By now, the world has concluded that every Nigerian is either a fanatic or a fraudster, unless he is proved innocent. This is a golden opportunity to impose some severe security measures against these fraudulent people, America insists.

The first step has been announced within a week of the event: body scanners will be installed in all our four international airports such that a record of the anatomy of every Nigerian traveler will be documented. Fingerprints are not sufficient. "Would these scanners show the naked bodies of people?" a foreign journalist asked a Nigerian official, three times. And three times he evaded the question: "It is just in case the passenger is carrying something on his body, the machine will detect it." I laughed. The truth is that the scanners would show your naked natural body, including everything. I had that experience with a similar equipment at Heathrow Airport in December 2004 when I was singled out, for no stated reason, and scanned before I boarded a British Airways flight back to Nigeria. To assuage my feelings, the official showed me the picture and said they were just testing the equipment. Behold, there was Tilde, ad naturalis. I did not protest, lest some cocaine is planted in my luggage. My destination, I reminded myself, was Abuja, not prison in the distant land of homo leucodermaticus. Scanning our bodies may not be the only measure, I suspect. Nigerians must be prepared for more.

But why are we jittery about this singular act, heinous as it is? Are we the first terrorist country in the world? Did we produce Carlos – The Jackal, Al-Nagrahi, IRA, Timothy McVeigh, or the 911 bombers? Are we worse terrorists than Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, or Libya, countries where many terrorists lived and carried out their threats? Are we worse than Saudi Arabia, the country that produced Osama Bin Laden and 18 out of the 19 terrorists that bombed the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001? Why have we not heard the officials and citizens of these countries pleading against any possible collective victimization by America? Why are scanners not installed at Jeddah and Riyadh International Airports? Instead, we saw Obama paying a visit to King Abdullah and bowing his head to the King in respect, as he bowed before Queen Elizabeth III during the G20 meeting last year. I doubt very much if the Arabs will allow their privacy be so encroached on - down to the anatomical level - on their own land.

I think something is wrong with us and our leadership. Would this be how we will respond when one day we find ourselves in conflict with America? I believe General Victor Malu will not be surprised, having lost his job simply by refusing to "co-operate" with the military experts who America sent during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff. Malu did not know that our Nigerianness exists only at the mercy of the only superpower in the world today. Obasanjo proved him wrong. "Hey boy," Obasanjo told Malu, "When America says 'jump', simply ask: 'how high?" Commot jare. The munci man has since been enjoying his pounded yam in his native Benue. Literally speaking, the Defence Towers in Abuja are not for his kind.

On contemplation, I think the real reason why we elite are afraid of our newly acquired feather is because of the inconvenience that we will suffer from whenever we visit overseas or the opportunities we will miss in our hideout countries where we send our children to study after celebrating the collapse of our public schools at home; where we take our wives for delivery after we have allowed our hospitals to deteriorate; where we hide the billions we steal daily from public coffers; where some of us think is the Promised Land. Think about it: what restrictive measure would the average Nigerian, who will never have the opportunity to board even a domestic flight be afraid of? Will the airport scanners scan him on his farm? Indeed, we are crying for ourselves, for our interests, not for Nigeria.

Here, I have much to doubt about the sincerity of Umar's father, Alhaji Mutallab. I initially thought that he has been very heroic in alerting the Nigerian and American security officials about the indoctrination of his son. He must be one of the most patriotic citizens of the world, I thought. But in fairness to the son, I now think differently. I was only naïve. The father must own up and accept that he exposed the son to the risk of indoctrination. He knows his son better than anyone. He should. At what point did he start to notice the defiance of his son and what did he do about it?

This chap has been complaining of loneliness since when the father isolated him from this country and sent him to a British elite secondary school in Togo. Doesn't his life in that school initiate his anti-white racist doctrines before he even met with terrorist groups later in the United Kingdom? Why did not the father return him to Nigeria and enroll him in one of our best secondary schools or private universities. Why was Umar ignored by his father until he became a prey of the vicious elements that exploited his racist sentiments?

Also, would the poor and lonely Umar have been conscripted into international terrorism if his father were poor? Would he have been to Togo or Britain? International terrorism, as I said in an interview with Radio Deutche Welle, is a product of affluence, not religion. The overwhelming majority of terrorists – from Bin Laden down to their latest flag bearer, Umar Mutallab – are people from affluent backgrounds, homes that have links with the West and have firm roots in its economic order.

Umar's father did not get this calculation wrong. By alerting the police, he has secured his wealth but not his son. He has conveniently surrendered the son, against the biological instinct of protection, to the FBI, in protection of his economic interests, most likely, instead of taking all necessary measures to restrict him to this country, getting the authorities to seize his passport and sponsor a program of his de-indoctrination. After all, the father is well aware of the Hausa adage that says ba gagararre sai bararre – there is no outlaw except the condoned. The father cannot, therefore, claim that he was taken by surprise because he was rich enough, pretty rich, to buy multimillion pound mansion for the family in London where the son lived. He was not living on campus. Someone here – the father – does not do his duty well. He should own up.

The second blame should be dumped at the doorstep of American counter-terrorism officials. Obama has every right to look at them straight in the eye and tell them that they have not done their job well. There was a report indicating that al-Qaida is training a Nigerian for a terror attack on an American Airline. Then there is a Nigerian father who complained of the indoctrination of his son and the son has already been placed on America's Terrorist Watch list. Would it be clear even to the most incompetent agent that Umar was the most likely person? How many Nigerians are there on the list after all?

Umar's ordeal should serve as a wakeup call to all Nigerian parents who send their children overseas for studies. I know it is inevitable in many cases given the failure of our educational system here at home. But each of them can, and should, do something to salvage it, in his own way. I believe Alhaji Mutallab must be regretting this way: "Had I known, I would have built a model secondary school and a even a private university in my hometown Funtua where Umar and other Nigerian children would study without being exposed to indoctrination by people alien to our culture… A good secondary school would not cost half the price of one of my houses in London… Had I known…"

The whole idea of sending children to study abroad must be done only out of necessity, as Dr. Yusuf Qardawi once said. Where necessary, they must not be sent until, among other conditions, they have acquired the cognitive maturity that will protect them from indoctrination.

Please let those of us who have children studying overseas keep an eye over them. Terrorism is not the only thing we need to guard them against. There are just plenty other negative tendencies that they must not be allowed to indulge in. We must ensure we engage them constantly such that we can understand the cognitive developments they are going through. We must not, even for a day, fail to listen to them or attend to their needs especially for company. And we can do this today so easily through modern communications facilities. It is our duty. We must not delegate it to school authorities.

Umar had access to wealth but it did not buy him the protection he needed as a teenager. Poor Umar! Surely, he has been a victim of three people: an incapable father, a vicious group of terrorists, and incompetent and negligent American security agencies. He could have been saved the doom of becoming a criminal of this order. This beautiful looking son of Africa was, therefore, a prey. His story is a tragedy. He set out looking for knowledge but would end up serving a twenty year prison term. I pray that by the time he comes out – for he will still come out pretty young, 43 – he would have contemplated enough to purge himself of the indoctrination he went though. He would then return to African and reside among us quietly, enjoying the docility that is typical of our passive continent, or suffering the consequences of its lack of thymos.

By Dr Aliyu Tilde

Bauchi, Nigeria

1 January 2007

The Tragedy of Umar F. Mutallab



The first involvement of a Nigerian in terrorism has reduced the nation to the status of a child. Immediately the chap was identified as a Nigerian, we were all on our knees begging America, doing our best to convince it that we are not terrorists: "Wallahi, this boy is a black sheep. We are law abiding citizens wherever we go overseas. Yes. At home, we are known for fraud, election rigging, corruption, armed robbery, bank robbery, cultism, human trafficking, religious intolerance, concealment of truth to our citizens, we tell them lies and even engage in forgery at high places. Eh. We have also been pushing cocaine for over two decades now. But Wallahi – America – we are not terrorists. It is not in our character… Do anything with Umar Mutallab. The boy deserves it. We completely dissociate ourselves from him…. Chinekeeeee!!! This boy has shamed us. He wants to put us in trouble."

It is true. We are not lying. We are not terrorists. If we were, we would have blown off our leaders first before any other person and effectively rid the country of corruption. However, courtesy of our inherent African docility, the people whose actions have caused so much misery on our land are walking about Scot-free. They would not do so if we had sufficient thymotic potential to blow their planes or shoot them down at gatherings. They would not have had the temerity to rig our elections or the guts to steal our wealth.

Yet, it appears that America is not convinced by the confession chorus voice of Nigerian officials, non-governmental organizations, religious and secular, at home and overseas. Nigeria produced maitatsine and, recently, boko haram in addition to a whole catalogue of transnational criminal activities. By now, the world has concluded that every Nigerian is either a fanatic or a fraudster, unless he is proved innocent. This is a golden opportunity to impose some severe security measures against these fraudulent people, America insists.

The first step has been announced within a week of the event: body scanners will be installed in all our four international airports such that a record of the anatomy of every Nigerian traveler will be documented. Fingerprints are not sufficient. "Would these scanners show the naked bodies of people?" a foreign journalist asked a Nigerian official, three times. And three times he evaded the question: "It is just in case the passenger is carrying something on his body, the machine will detect it." I laughed. The truth is that the scanners would show your naked natural body, including everything. I had that experience with a similar equipment at Heathrow Airport in December 2004 when I was singled out, for no stated reason, and scanned before I boarded a British Airways flight back to Nigeria. To assuage my feelings, the official showed me the picture and said they were just testing the equipment. Behold, there was Tilde, ad naturalis. I did not protest, lest some cocaine is planted in my luggage. My destination, I reminded myself, was Abuja, not prison in the distant land of homo leucodermaticus. Scanning our bodies may not be the only measure, I suspect. Nigerians must be prepared for more.

But why are we jittery about this singular act, heinous as it is? Are we the first terrorist country in the world? Did we produce Carlos – The Jackal, Al-Nagrahi, IRA, Timothy McVeigh, or the 911 bombers? Are we worse terrorists than Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, or Libya, countries where many terrorists lived and carried out their threats? Are we worse than Saudi Arabia, the country that produced Osama Bin Laden and 18 out of the 19 terrorists that bombed the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001? Why have we not heard the officials and citizens of these countries pleading against any possible collective victimization by America? Why are scanners not installed at Jeddah and Riyadh International Airports? Instead, we saw Obama paying a visit to King Abdullah and bowing his head to the King in respect, as he bowed before Queen Elizabeth III during the G20 meeting last year. I doubt very much if the Arabs will allow their privacy be so encroached on - down to the anatomical level - on their own land.

I think something is wrong with us and our leadership. Would this be how we will respond when one day we find ourselves in conflict with America? I believe General Victor Malu will not be surprised, having lost his job simply by refusing to "co-operate" with the military experts who America sent during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff. Malu did not know that our Nigerianness exists only at the mercy of the only superpower in the world today. Obasanjo proved him wrong. "Hey boy," Obasanjo told Malu, "When America says 'jump', simply ask: 'how high?" Commot jare. The munci man has since been enjoying his pounded yam in his native Benue. Literally speaking, the Defence Towers in Abuja are not for his kind.

On contemplation, I think the real reason why we elite are afraid of our newly acquired feather is because of the inconvenience that we will suffer from whenever we visit overseas or the opportunities we will miss in our hideout countries where we send our children to study after celebrating the collapse of our public schools at home; where we take our wives for delivery after we have allowed our hospitals to deteriorate; where we hide the billions we steal daily from public coffers; where some of us think is the Promised Land. Think about it: what restrictive measure would the average Nigerian, who will never have the opportunity to board even a domestic flight be afraid of? Will the airport scanners scan him on his farm? Indeed, we are crying for ourselves, for our interests, not for Nigeria.

Here, I have much to doubt about the sincerity of Umar's father, Alhaji Mutallab. I initially thought that he has been very heroic in alerting the Nigerian and American security officials about the indoctrination of his son. He must be one of the most patriotic citizens of the world, I thought. But in fairness to the son, I now think differently. I was only naïve. The father must own up and accept that he exposed the son to the risk of indoctrination. He knows his son better than anyone. He should. At what point did he start to notice the defiance of his son and what did he do about it?

This chap has been complaining of loneliness since when the father isolated him from this country and sent him to a British elite secondary school in Togo. Doesn't his life in that school initiate his anti-white racist doctrines before he even met with terrorist groups later in the United Kingdom? Why did not the father return him to Nigeria and enroll him in one of our best secondary schools or private universities. Why was Umar ignored by his father until he became a prey of the vicious elements that exploited his racist sentiments?

Also, would the poor and lonely Umar have been conscripted into international terrorism if his father were poor? Would he have been to Togo or Britain? International terrorism, as I said in an interview with Radio Deutche Welle, is a product of affluence, not religion. The overwhelming majority of terrorists – from Bin Laden down to their latest flag bearer, Umar Mutallab – are people from affluent backgrounds, homes that have links with the West and have firm roots in its economic order.

Umar's father did not get this calculation wrong. By alerting the police, he has secured his wealth but not his son. He has conveniently surrendered the son, against the biological instinct of protection, to the FBI, in protection of his economic interests, most likely, instead of taking all necessary measures to restrict him to this country, getting the authorities to seize his passport and sponsor a program of his de-indoctrination. After all, the father is well aware of the Hausa adage that says ba gagararre sai bararre – there is no outlaw except the condoned. The father cannot, therefore, claim that he was taken by surprise because he was rich enough, pretty rich, to buy multimillion pound mansion for the family in London where the son lived. He was not living on campus. Someone here – the father – does not do his duty well. He should own up.

The second blame should be dumped at the doorstep of American counter-terrorism officials. Obama has every right to look at them straight in the eye and tell them that they have not done their job well. There was a report indicating that al-Qaida is training a Nigerian for a terror attack on an American Airline. Then there is a Nigerian father who complained of the indoctrination of his son and the son has already been placed on America's Terrorist Watch list. Would it be clear even to the most incompetent agent that Umar was the most likely person? How many Nigerians are there on the list after all?

Umar's ordeal should serve as a wakeup call to all Nigerian parents who send their children overseas for studies. I know it is inevitable in many cases given the failure of our educational system here at home. But each of them can, and should, do something to salvage it, in his own way. I believe Alhaji Mutallab must be regretting this way: "Had I known, I would have built a model secondary school and a even a private university in my hometown Funtua where Umar and other Nigerian children would study without being exposed to indoctrination by people alien to our culture… A good secondary school would not cost half the price of one of my houses in London… Had I known…"

The whole idea of sending children to study abroad must be done only out of necessity, as Dr. Yusuf Qardawi once said. Where necessary, they must not be sent until, among other conditions, they have acquired the cognitive maturity that will protect them from indoctrination.

Please let those of us who have children studying overseas keep an eye over them. Terrorism is not the only thing we need to guard them against. There are just plenty other negative tendencies that they must not be allowed to indulge in. We must ensure we engage them constantly such that we can understand the cognitive developments they are going through. We must not, even for a day, fail to listen to them or attend to their needs especially for company. And we can do this today so easily through modern communications facilities. It is our duty. We must not delegate it to school authorities.

Umar had access to wealth but it did not buy him the protection he needed as a teenager. Poor Umar! Surely, he has been a victim of three people: an incapable father, a vicious group of terrorists, and incompetent and negligent American security agencies. He could have been saved the doom of becoming a criminal of this order. This beautiful looking son of Africa was, therefore, a prey. His story is a tragedy. He set out looking for knowledge but would end up serving a twenty year prison term. I pray that by the time he comes out – for he will still come out pretty young, 43 – he would have contemplated enough to purge himself of the indoctrination he went though. He would then return to African and reside among us quietly, enjoying the docility that is typical of our passive continent, or suffering the consequences of its lack of thymos.


By Dr Aliyu Tilde


Bauchi, Nigeria

1 January 2007

this na before,


“SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA TOOK HIS ONLY ANNUAL LEAVE IN 1963 WHICH HE DECIDED TO SPEND IN HIS VILLAGE. A BRITISH PHOTO JOURNALIST CAME CALLING, BUT WAS TOLD THE PM IS ON VACATION. HE ASKED TO WHICH COUNTRY, BUT WAS SHOCKED TO HEAR HIS VILLAGE. ON GETTING TO THE VILLAGE,THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OR PARAPHENLIA TO SHOW A BIG MAN WAS THERE,EVERYONE WAS BUSY WITH THEIR CHORES. HE MET A FARMER WITH HIS DONKEY CARRYING BALES OF SUGARCANE, FOR THE PMS HOME, AND HE WAS UTTERLY SPEECHLESS WHEN THE FARMER SAID, I JUST LEFT HIM, YOU WILL SEE HIM SITTING ON BARE FLOOR WITH HIS KIDS DRINKING SUGAR CANE THAT I GAVE THEM. HE MET THEM LIKE THAT AND TOOK THIS PIX, WHAT AN EPITOME OF SIMPLICITY AND HUMILITY, ”

alhamdulillah for witnessing the big sallah again. we should not forget about fasting on the day of arafat i. e. on thursday as it wipes away sins commited last year.

as for me i will leave lagos for my village on thursday morning, go to eid on friday with my brand new attire and come back to slaughter my ram, enjoyment don start o, barka de sallah

to all on-hold shell aspirants, let us continue praying. i applied for sitp and have my medicals in lagos last july but ending up receiving the wait letter. patience is no hardship to me. am waiting and praying. see u all at the top