₦airaland Forum

PointB: I don't get this argument of threat to National Unity. Is national unituy sacrosanct? If people feel alienated by the country shouldn't they seek solace and outlet in their state, culture, and symbolism associated with it? It will be a shame if SW, and other affected reps fail to stand their ground on this issue.

National unity remains sacrosanct untill a federating unit is granted or gains autonomy. Any policy or programme that threaten national unity must be crushed with a sledge hammer. The introduction of flag, anthem, pledge and other rituals like forceful introduction and embrace of foreign languages are threats. The NASS must look into it

There is need for d military to cleanse their barrack. Walahi

They've got my support

Members of the House of Representatives held a near rowdy session on Thursday as they debated a bill to enact the National Symbols Act.

It took the intervention of the presiding Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, to ensure that the situation was brought under control.
Some lawmakers from the South-West states saw the bill as a move to interfere with their self identities and the rights of federating states to promote their culture and way of life.
Others, however, argued that the recent trend, where certain states are designing their on flags, anthem and coats of arms was a threat to national unity.
The sponsor of the bill, Mr. Karimi Sunday, told the House that at least 12 states in the country now had their own flags and other emblems.
He said, “The latest one is Bayelsa State. Almost all the states in the South-West have their own flags.
“In the North, Kwara has, and so on.”

He alleged that it had got to a point where some states no longer displayed the national flag but their state flags.

Sunday explained that while a state could have a flag, it was wrong for it to have an anthem and a pledge.
Where a state has a flag, he said, the state should display it beside the national flag.
He said, “No state should have a state anthem and a state pledge.
“The essence of this bill is to foster national unity” by properly defining Nigeria’s national symbols and stating the procedure for acquiring them.”
He argued that the existing law “has several lacunas” and did not give samples of the national symbols, thereby allowing people to design the symbols the way it pleased them.
The Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, however, said care should be taken not to interfere with the rights of some states to have self identity.
He observed that some flags had the coat of arms engraved in the middle, “which is wrong. It is a defaced flag.”

At this point, the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, interrupted and accused Gbajabiamila of losing track of the debate.
He raised a point of order, saying the minority leader was taking a position suggesting that there should be no laid down procedures for doing things in the country.

Speakers were divided, the majority of them opposing the bill.
The voice vote for were taken three times before Ihedioha ruled in favour of passing the bill for second reading.

http://www.punchng.com/news/reps-split-over-state-flags-coats-of-arms/

Today, the impact of globalization manifests in all independent states, making it necessary for all countries to adjust to prevailing realities. If the FEC decides in its wisdom that the present hall doesn't represent the image of the country, or presents some challenges, then a call for replacement mustn't be out of place. There are features in the proposed hall that are non existent in the old hall. For instance, security post, press briefing hall, and technical unit. All these are cardinal facilities that every seat of govt should have, especially given the present challenges in the country. We may not be direct beneficiary of the project, but the problems it safes us from, and the image it creates abroad cannot be overemphasized.

The senate yesterday expunged hard labour from Nigerian Prisons Act, stressing that it was inherited from the colonial masters.
It recommended that ‘hard labour,’ according to Section (1, is “an inheritance from colonial era and should be deleted and replaced with Prison Labour.”
The Senate also recommended a bill for an Act to repeal the Prisons Act Cap. 129 Laws, 2004 and enact the Nigerian Prisons and Correctional Service.
The decision came following the amendment of the Prison Act carried out by Senate Committee on Interior, which was headed by Senator Atiku Bagudu, who also solicited for the accommodation of the Nigeria Prisons reform in the Subsidy Re-investment Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
Senator Bagudu while speaking during the consideration of the report of the committee, added that anybody who interferes in the work of a prisoner by working outside a prison or entering any house commits an offence and is liable to one year imprisonment or N10,000 fine.

Section 8(g) stipulated that “interference with a prisoner working outside a prison, or allows such a prisoner to enter any house, yard or other premises (unless it is at the request of the prison officer or other person in charge of the prison), or assists such a prisoner to absent himself or neglect his work, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N10,000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months, or both.”

http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/11/28/senate-says-hard-labour-prisoners/

just4sola: GEJ IS WEAK..

Wrong my dear. It take nothing to march soldiers to the north. GEJ is being sensitive, he is being humane. Bayelsa once suffered it when OBJ ordered the Odi massacre. Then GEJ was a deputy Gov, and he saw the agony his people suffered. He doesn't want to be insensitive, wicked, and irresponsible. He is appropriating all avenue that will facilitate peaceful resolution of the matter. This is weakness. This is a responsive and responsible govt. GEJ doesn't take delight in seeing the innocent killed.

el-patch:
If the benefit outweighs the risk,why not?

But there is no way the benefit will outweigh the risk. Obviously, the number of casualties that will be recorded will be greater than whatever the goal would be. Sensible govt can't risk he lives of women, children, and the old. Govt must tread with caution.

I Hate it when a security agency sponnsors an article for self glorification. Recorded inconsistencies in the report were not even sorted out. When suspects are arrested, evidences are collected and linked to the crime. With weighty evidences, some suspects would have no option than to confess. While some give voluntary confessional statement. The idea of coming out to praise yourself is criminal. Should we scrap them for conniving with boko haram and allowing suspects to escape? Or for being so lazy as to allow arm robbers into their force, remember some arm robbers were arrested in police training school. Lazy people.
I think they understand this better

President Goodluck Jonathan has told an Abuja Federal High Court that he is eligible to contest the presidential election in 2015, even if it would mean staying in office for a total of more than eight years from the date he was initially inaugurated as President on May 6, 2010, following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The President made the statement through his lawyer, Mr. Ade Okeaya-Inneh, SAN, in response to a suit in which a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Mr. Henry Amadi, asked the court to declare that Jonathan no longer qualified to run for office in 2015.

Amadi had argued that in doing so, Jonathan would be spending more than the constitutionally stipulated maximum period of eight years in office.

The plaintiff said he was a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The suit is similar to another one filed by another self-declared member of the PDP, Chief Cyriacus Njoku, before an Abuja High Court.

Njoku’s suit, which asked the court to stop Jonathan  from running for office in 2015 on the grounds that he was currently serving his second term in office, having taken the oath of office as President twice already, has been adjourned for judgment.

In the new suit, which came up before an Abuja FHC presided by Justice Adamu Bello, on Wednesday, Jonathan and the Independent National Electoral Commission were listed as the defendants.

The court was also asked to stop Jonathan from once again running for office when his current term expires in 2015.

However, in his counter affidavit to the plaintiff’s originating summons, Jonathan averred that he took the first oath of office on May 6, 2010, following Yar’Adua’s death.

Jonathan asked the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the plaintiff had no locus standi to ask the court to stop him from running for office in 2015.

He described the plaintiff’s claims as “hypothetical and academic”, noting that he failed to disclose reasonable cause of action.

The matter was adjourned to January 23, 2013.

Okeaya-Inneh said, “The question that arises for determination is whether, having regard to the facts of this case, he (Jonathan) is in his first or second term.

“In other words, given that the Constitution prescribes a maximum of two terms of four years each totaling a maximum of eight years as President, is he eligible to run for re-election in 2015?

“In resolving this issue, the court is invited to make a determination whether the period of May 6, 2010 to May 28, 2011 wherein Jonathan occupied the office of the President, can in law be regarded as one term of office and relevance of the oath of office Jonathan took on May 6, 2010 in computing the tenure of office of Jonathan in line with sections 135 (1) and (2), 137 (1)(b), 140 (1) and (2) and 146(1) of the 1999 Constitution.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/why-i-can-contest-2015-election-jonathan/

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his latest blistering public criticism of the Federal Government, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s response to the Boko Haram insurgency was slow.  This is, no doubt, arguable.
He spoke in Warri as the moderator of a public lecture by former External Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, in honour of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who was marking his 40th anniversary as a pastor.
He seemed to have chosen the right forum to express his concern over a scourge that has become a national security problem, but his position was defective.
The former president reportedly accused his successors of allowing the Boko Haram insurgency to fester and was quoted to have said: “My fear is that when you have a sore and you don’t attend to it early enough, it festers and becomes very bad. Don’t leave a problem that can be bad unattended.”
When I read the news report which was accorded prominence on the front pages of some influential national dailies of Wednesday, November 14, 2012, I told a friend who was with me that the old fox was at it again.
I reminded my friend of how Obasanjo slammed the late Yar’Adua early 2010 at a Trust Newspaper forum when the former president was hospitalised in a Saudi Arabia.
Many people must have felt or reacted the same way and this is understandable.  Since 1979, after his lack-lustre administration as military Head of State, Obasanjo has characteristically and uncharitably become a critic of successive governments in Nigeria.
He retains the unenviable record as being the only former Nigerian leader (apart from General Muhammadu Buhari who is understandably an oppositional presidential candidate) who relishes open castigation of the seeming actions or inactions of the government of the day.   The only administration that did not get his (Obasanjo) open bashing was his.

Unlike some members of the clan of former Nigerian rulers such as Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, for instance, who have taken advantage of their access to the Presidential Villa to offer advice on governance, Obasanjo has incurably violated that norm.

Whereas he is not denied access to the President, yet he has chosen to pitiably mount the bully pulpit on a voyage of open criticism.  The impression Obasanjo creates about himself is that he is not happy to see the other man in the leadership saddle.  This tends to confirm the views in certain quarters that he has the penchant to destroy people than to build them.
There is even a proposition in some circles that Obasanjo believes he is the only man who, perhaps, has been created by God to offer the right kind of leadership to Nigeria; and which is why he always gleefully refers to his administration as a trail-blazer of sort.
He is wont to allude to some of the things he did while in the saddle as president from 1999 to 2007 in his effort to persuade his listeners that his successors have either lowered the standard or have not been pro-active.  But, in a bid to present as Nigeria’s patron saint, Obasanjo’s attitude has become increasingly confusing.
At a point, he donned the garb of a conciliator by going to Maiduguri amid the escalating Boko Haram insurgency to seek to broker a truce.  He claimed to have obtained the permission of President Goodluck Jonathan before embarking on the enterprise.

AT the end of the day, the move turned awry when his host in Maiduguri with whom he sought to kick-start the process of reconciliation, was killed about three days after he (Obasanjo) left the town.
But today, it is convenient for Obasanjo to wrongly accuse Jonathan of slowness in responding to the Boko Haram insurgency simply because he wants to portray the current administration as weak and incompetent. It is also game for Obasanjo to stomp on the Jonathan presidency just because he was instrumental to the political arrangement that threw up the Umaru Yar’Adua-Jonathan presidential ticket in 2007.
The truth, however, is that Obasanjo cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time on the same issue as he has tended to do in the Boko Haram case.  Here is a man who went to Maiduguri purportedly on a reconciliation mission now turning round to recommend the Odi treatment for the town of Maiduguri and perhaps other towns in the North just to nip the Bokom Haram insurgency in the bud.

He would have loved to see Jonathan deploy soldiers to the flashpoints to level the places-annihilate the innocent and the ‘criminals’ in a military action.  To Obasanjo, this is pro-activeness.  This is how to show that the Federal Government or the President is not weak.  This approach does not accommodate rationality that is grounded on humanity: how can you commit genocide because you want to take out some criminals?
While reflecting on the crisis at Odi, Obasanjo had said at the Warri forum: “I attended to a problem that I saw; I sent soldiers.  They were killed, 19 of them (were) decapitated. If I had allowed that to continue, I would not have the authority to send security anywhere again. I attended to it…. If you say you do not want a strong leader, who can have all the characteristics of a leader, including the fear of God, then, you have a weak leader and the rest of the problem is yours.”

As I wrote above, Obasanjo’s attitude is increasingly confusing.  He claims Jonathan’s response is slow.  He also claims that his successor, the late Yar’Adua, was soft on corruption. But I ask: When he (Obasanjo) became president and inherited the problem of militancy in the Niger Delta region, what did he do very quickly to end the scourge?  Was it not the late Yar’Adua who ended it with his famous Amnesty deal?
Is his claim about the late Yar’Adua being soft on corruption not tenuous against the backdrop of the fact that despite his much-trumpeted anti-corruption crusade, his administration witnessed, perhaps, the most bizarre forms of corruption? Did Obasanjo not couple a so-called Transcorp conglomerate and sold Nigeria’s prime assets to this group where he kept a N200 million worth of shares in the blind?
Did he not, with the vantage position of his authoritarian presidency, permit the launching of a N7billion Presidential Library Project in Abeokuta?  Has it not now become a notorious fact that Obasanjo was only paying lip-service to the war against corruption as nearly every action of his was a violation of the principle and creed behind the scheme?

Nigerians know that Nuhu Ribadu, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Chairman, used in fighting his personal battles, was promoted Assistant Inspector General of Police  without any recommendation from the Police Service Commission, thereby violating due process.

Yet there are other samplers which border on corrupt enrichment of certain individuals who were not prosecuted or allowed to go scotfree, including those linked to the  Halliburton scandal and   the ill-fated Obasanjo third term agenda.
I remember that a Senate Joint Committee, headed by Senator Abubakar Sodangi revealed that the plot of land originally belonging to the defunct National Primary Education Commission (allocated in December 2005 to Inter-Projects Association Limited which immediately commenced development) was illegally allocated to Obasanjo Farms Limited, curiously, on May 28, 2007, a day before Obasanjo handed over power to Yar’Adua.
I also remember that two Abuja lawyers had sued Obasanjo at the Code of Conduct Tribunal  over N1.2 billion belonging to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF. Specifically, the offence for which the lawyers wanted him punished were the 2006 presidential approval in respect of the payment of N250 million to a law firm for the incorporation of Galaxy Backbone and $10 million for the purchase of computers for civil servants, outside the scope of PTDF.

Besides, he was alleged to have illegally withdrawn as much as N231.4 billion from the Federation Account without due process or authorisation from the National Assembly (Daily Sun of Thursday, February 5, 2009) while the Ad-Hoc Committee set up by the House of Representatives to probe the activities of the NNPC between 1999 and 2008, indicted him and former Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr. Funso Kupolokun, for violating the guidelines for the respective bid rounds, thereby finding them guilty of “preferential treatment of winners at the conclusion of the bid rounds.”

Where then is the moral high ground that Obasanjo is standing on to pontificate on his administration’s fight against corruption and dismiss his successors as soft on the anti-corruption crusade?

Indeed, on both scores-Boko Haram and corruption-Obasanjo has been unfair to his successors.  It is in his character to be so disposed; only that I am surprised that he is behaving as if he has fallen out of favour with the government he helped to enthrone.  But then by recommending the Odi recipe for the Boko Haram insurgents, Obasanjo has succeeded in showing to the world the inhumanity and irrationality of his presidency.

He cannot in a self-ignited frenzy railroad a cruel recipe on Jonathan.
As far as I am concerned the President’s systematic and multi-faceted approach at tackling the Boko Haram insurgency, which factors in the innocent civilian population, is the best in the circumstance and should therefore be sustained.
Mr. CALLISTUS OMOREGIE, a public affairs analyst,  wrote from Benin, Edo State.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/boko-haram-obasanjo-and-the-odi-recipe/

I may not blame Kayode, he is doing his job which is, to protect his master even inthe face of glaring error. While Honourable men would bury their head in such cases, Kayode shamelessly sticks his neck. He must be a dogmatic aid.
Truth be told, Odi massacre didn't solve any problem. The spate of bombing in the region even increased in the creeks, with resultant fall in crude oil production. Yar'adua in his wisdom introduced tha amnesty programme and the region has been relatively quiet. Blaming and recommending force to arrest the Boko Haram is totally wrong. While OBJ's insensitivity may be the reason for such order, a responsible govt would consider the fate of the general public, and effects of such operations before taking any action. GEJ did this and has opened room for dialogue. GEJ'S call for dialogue is indicative of his commitment to the wellbeing of all. This isnt a sign of weakness. GEJ deserves commendation.

banki: yeah all of a sudden they are bad people because they disagree with the policies of the present government?

You forget that they were both instrumental in making GEJ president.... ungreatful bunch

Every well meaning Nigerian knows that a call for revolution is a call for anarchy. Which is better? Peaceful change through the normal stages of revolutionary change that will take us backward? We know that if these so called leaders had contributed meaningfully when they were in office, Nigeria would have been a better place. Having failed, to rally round and support the govt that is trying to right the wrong has become a problem too. Na waoooooooo

The war of words between Obasanjo and Jonathan appears to be taking a different dimension. Recall that Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, recently blamed the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan for allowing the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, to grow into a monster that is now uncontrollable by his failure to adopt his Odi and Zakibiam approach

The former president who spoke at a lecture delivered by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi to mark the 40th anniversary of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s call to ministry at the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri in Delta State, also tasked Nigerians to choose between a strong leader who might adopt unusual approach to tackle a problem or a weak leader who will leave the problem to fester.
Recall that The Odi massacre which was ordered by Obasanjo, was an attack carried out on November 20, 1999, by the Nigerian military on the predominantly Ijaw town of Odi in Bayelsa State. The attack came in the context of an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta over indigenous rights to oil resources and environmental protection.
The military invaded Odi, exchanged fire, and then proceeded to indiscriminately attack the civilian population and the town's buildings. Every building in the town except the bank, the Anglican church and the health center was burned to the ground.
A wide range of estimates have been given for the numbers of civilians killed. Human Rights Watch concluded that "the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely plausible." Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action, claims that nearly 2500 civilians were killed.
Similarly,In 2001, Obasanjo ordered the military to unleash systematic terror on unarmed civilians, a type that has not been heard of or seen in Nigerian history.
At the end of that military action, no fewer than 900 persons including women, children, young and old were massacred with many of the women violated in that gory expedition.
Many properties were also destroyed. Few years after, the Nigerian Army apologized to the communities.
GEJ while responding to questions on Sunday's media chat maintained that the Odi massacre did not solve any problem. That the spate of militancy and pipeline vandalism even incresaed after the massacre, until Yar'adua introduced the amnesty programme. He recalled that only women and children were victims as the real militants were not killed by the soldiers.

In a dramatic form, the former spokesman to Obj, Fani Kayode in a statement released recently, argued that the military action in Odi and Zakibiam achieved the desired purpose. He further stated that Gejs position is not true because he was briefed by security managers. He concluded that Gej must adopt thesame approach to tackle Boko haram.
Although the Boko Haram menace is a disturbing issue, raiding down the whole of North East as Obasanjo and his aid are suggesting may not be the best option. Kano for instance has a population of over 5million Nigerians. Imaging the death toll if the Nigerian military were to raid down Kano and other states. While Obasanjo may have "militarilized"our democracy, the civil, all inclusive, mass participatory, humane character of Gej's administration cannot be taken for weakness. Dialogue is the best way to resolve crisis, and GEJ deserves commendation for accepting that option. Killing innocent Nigerians like Obasanjo did will never win us the desired peace. I'm happy Obasanjo corrected himself when he said force must not be applied in all cases.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/10/zaki-biam-invasion-10-years-after-we-still-mourn-our-fate/

Almost in quick succession, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, and Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly spoke about revolution or made revolutionary remarks in the past few days. Of the two, Bakare confuses us the more. Whenever he presents himself in public we are in a quandary what to make of him: a pastor full of the character of his Lord, temperate in speech, gentle, kind and empathetic, or a typical Nigerian politician who must have things his way, opinionated, aggressive, inconsiderate and, in the literal sense, eager to bring the house down on everyone? The former president, on the other hand, is a self-canonising and irritable politician who speaks daggers, if Hardball is permitted to adapt Shakespeare, and uses it with utmost relish.

Obasanjo drew first blood and triggered the misspeaking that has culminated in the noisily talk of revolution. Newspapers and online media described his speech as revolutionary, and reported that it was made in Dakar, Senegal where he had gone over the weekend to attend a West African regional conference on youth employment sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the African Development Bank (ADB). They paraphrased him as saying that unless something drastic was done urgently to address youth unemployment, which hovered around 71 percent, we would head inexorably towards revolution. Inexpert paraphrasing can, however, become a very problematic issue in mass communication or in the hands of a clumsy redactor.

Though the media said he spoke of revolution, all the former president said was this: “I’m afraid, and you know I am a General. When a General says he is afraid, that means the danger ahead is real and potent.” In his refutation after he was widely reported to have spoken of revolution or warned that one was likely, the former army general said those who quoted him spoke bad English. He could never call for a revolution, he said, apparently because he had too much at stake in a system that has callously misused its citizens, a system he himself did his damnedest to promote, ossify and institutionalise.

If Obasanjo did not call for a revolution, what then did he do? A careful reading of his sanctimonious rationalisations in Dakar seems to lead the analyst to the point where he stopped just short of calling for a revolution, but hinted that social chaos was unavoidable. Knowing him for who he is, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, he would see opportunity for his kind of leadership in such chaos; and more, he would recommend a suppression of protesters if it came to that. In short, he would do anything but recommend a revolution.

Not only did the media misquote and misinterpret Obasanjo, their reports also brought out the hardliner in Bakare. The Latter Rain Assembly pastor simply assumed Obasanjo was quoted correctly and then concluded that the former president would be a victim of the revolution he called for in Dakar. More fanatically and sacrilegiously, Bakare said religious leaders, especially the private jet ensemble, could not escape the repercussions of popular revolt going by the damage they had caused the nation by their greed and connivance. Speaking in Lagos on Monday, he had said: “I am not inciting the public against the church and the mosque, but the congregation must demand explanation from their leaders. They must demand to know where they are getting the money. If it is not from the church offering, then it is from Abuja. All general overseers must go to prison. If the revolution does not begin in the church, it cannot spread; if it does not begin in the mosque, it will not spread, because they control the population.”

From his Dakar speech and follow-up explanations, it is clear no one should ever imagine Obasanjo a revolutionary; this closet radical is too conservative and too indebted to the decaying system to be one. Bakare, on the other hand, does not just seem to be unalterably irreverent and iconoclastic; his remarks show him to be more than a revolutionary. He seems in fact to be a Trotskyite or perhaps even a Stalinist, or a hybrid of the two Marxist tendencies, but certainly not a priest.

 
http://thenationonlineng.net/new/editorial/hardball/imagine-obasanjo-bakare-as-revolutionaries/

AS part of measures to  support farmers in the flood affected states, President Goodluck Jonathan has approved N9.7 billion for a National Flood Recovery Food Production Plan.
The plan, which involves the release of 40,000 metric tons of food from the Strategic Grains Reserve to the affected families will include provision of free seedlings and fertilizers to affected farmers.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this during an emergency meeting with state Commissioners for Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja.        

Adesina said: “The real issue is how we compensate for the losses incurred. We have already put in place a Flood Recovery Food Production Plan to support farmers in the flood affected areas. As the flood recedes, we will embark on the intervention. Mr President has approved N9.7 billion for us to implement this plan.

“The plan has four components: First, we will release 40, 000 mt of food from the Strategic Grains Reserve to the families directly affected by the flood. Secondly, we will provide free, improved seeds and fertilizers to farmers that are directly affected as soon as the water recedes.
“Thirdly, we will give improved seeds and fertilizers to states that are affected by flood, but where vast areas are not affected, while the last group which are states that are not affected will also benefit from the free seeds and fertilizers through the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme.”
Describing the flood as a wakeup call for all stakeholders especially in the agriculture sector, the minister identified Taraba and Kogi states as the worst hit by the flood.

He noted that the flood claimed 106,400 hectares (ha) of 751, 540ha total cultivated area in Taraba while Kogi had crop loss of 72,200 ha of 250, 670ha cultivated farmland.
However, the minister dismissed rumours of imminent food shortage next year, adding that  with the various intervention programmes and support schemes for  farmers, the country would not suffer food shortage.


http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/50791-flood-fg-okays-n97bn-food-production-plan

Abuja – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday warned  telecommunications operators against running lotteries and promotions.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Tony Ojobo, the Director, Public Affairs of the commission in Abuja.
The ban covered approved promotions and lotteries in which the NCC signed a Memorandum of understanding with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission.
The statement said the ban would be in place until such a time as might be determined by the commission.

The commission had in recent times been inundated with several complaints from consumers and stakeholders against the various promotions offered by the operators.

It said the commission had evaluated the complaints received against the backdrop of sustaining the integrity of the networks and the general interest of the consumers.

The statement further said  that the commission was mindful of one of its statutory responsibilities; to protect and promote the interest of consumers against unfair practises.

It said the promotions had increased the number of minutes available to subscribers for use within a limited period of time, thereby, creating congestion in the networks.

It also said that on-net calls were now being offered by operators at tariffs well below the prevailing inter-connect rates, thereby, introducing anti-competitive practises and behaviour.

It further said the termination of calls was becoming difficult between networks, making it extremely hard for subscribers to make calls successfully.

It listed the Telecom Operators affected by the ban as: GLOBACOM, MTN,  INTERCELLULAR,VISAFONE, ETISALAT, AIRTEL and MULTILINKS

The commission said it was determined to ensure that the quality of service offered by the networks were such that delivered value to the consumers. (NAN)


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/ncc-bans-telecommunication-operators-from-lotteries-promotions/

The Presidency on Monday confirmed that it had commenced dialogue with the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram. It however said that the dialogue was not the type envisaged by Nigerians.

“I can confirm to you that talks are ongoing at the background. But the talks are not the kinds being envisaged by Nigerians,” the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, told our correspondent in Abuja.

Abati added, “I know that some Nigerians are expecting that a venue should be chosen and a banner will be placed there indicating that the Federal Government is holding dialogue with the group there.
“That is not the kind of talks we are talking about here. The ongoing talk is a back channel one in which those who know members of the group are talking with them on behalf of the government.”

Boko Haram which has been prosecuting a bombing campaign against the Nigerian state recently gave conditions for ceasefire and talks with the government.

The sect, among others asked for compensation for its killed members; that its demolished mosque be rebuilt; that its members in custody be released; and that the dialogue venue should be in Saudi Arabia.

It spoke through Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, the second-in-command to its leader, Abubakar Shekau.

 Abdulaziz named a former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari; Dr. Shettima Monguno; a former Yobe State Governor, Bukar Ibrahim; Ambassador Gaji Galtimari; and Aisha Alkali Wakil, and her husband, Alkali as “trusted” Nigerians it would be ready to negotiate with.

Buhari has since rejected the offer.

Meanwhile, The PUNCH checks have revealed that the Federal Government is at the crossroads on how to hold a successful dialogue with the sect which is said to have been factionalised. But it was learnt that the President had ruled out dialogue with Boko Haram in Saudi Arabia.

A top security source told our correspondent that, “While it is true that the government is reaching out to the sect, the fact that there are various factions of the group is bringing confusion.

“There is concern that the dialogue may not yield the desired result. Even now, attacks are going on in spite of the peace moves by the group.”



http://www.punchng.com/news/govt-in-talks-with-boko-haram-presidency/

While many are misconstruing the January protest to be the bane behind the Ribadu committee, they have forgotten that the protest wasn't about setting up of committees. We are aware that each time govt increases Fuel price, Labour protests, so the January protest didnt come as a surprise.
On the issue of Ribadu's report, the man has made an honest and humble declaration that some of the data he used were not verified, as some where based on hearsay(gossip). He retasked govt by calling on them to conduct investigation on his report, with a view to affirming the facticity and authenticity of his recommendation. If Ribadu himself has recommended this, then all govt needs is time to finish what Ribadu has recommended. Why this unnecessary gragra.

Will this house fall?

I’ll Soon Expose Gov Obi, Bianca Ojukwu’s Role In APGA Crisis, Ojukwu’s Illness – Victor Umeh
The crisis rocking the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, may have assumed a frightening dimension as the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, is being dragged into the murky political waters bedevilling the party.

A close confidant of the late Igbo leader and embattled national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, has vowed to reveal to the world all he knows about Ojukwu’s death. Umeh, who was visibly angry, stated this while briefing newsmen yesterday in Enugu over a recent claim that himself and Governor Rochas Okorocha declined an invitation to a reconciliatory meeting held recently in Awka, put the blames squarely on the shoulders of both Governor Obi and Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu
He frowned at the attempt to portray himself and the Imo State governor to the public as those who do not want peace in the party stating that the time was ripe to expose the activities of those involved to the public. Umeh who also claimed that the late Igbo leader suffered heart attack as a result of pressure from certain quarters, vowed to expose everything he knows about Ojukwu’s illness and death once the one year remembrance of Ojukwu was done with on November 26.
“Let November 26 come and go and I will expose all of their activities as they claim to be upholding the ideals of Ojukwu. The way things are going, very soon I will start granting interviews again to put things in proper perspective both for Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, Governor Peter Obi, Dr. Tim Menakaya – all of them that are destroying this party now, I will come back to the public with their activities, with details one after the other so that people will know what they are doing.
“It’s time for me to expose everybody now. That time has come. I take no blame for what is happening; if there is any reconciliatory meeting, any meeting where the progress of APGA will be discussed, that meeting should be properly convened, people should be properly invited and notified, I will be the first person to be there. Because one after the other, I will look into their faces and tell them what they have been doing, which I have refused to tell the public.”
Umeh also expressed shock at news making the rounds that he was sent a text message notifying him of a meeting where the problems of APGA were to be discussed and solutions provided. According to him,”I wish to state unequivocally that nobody sent me any text inviting me to any meeting at Awka for the purpose of pursuing reconciliation in APGA.”
Umeh who said he was in London for the UK chapter of APGA’s convention and for the celebration of Ojukwu’s birthday in Oxford, said there was no indication of such a meeting anywhere before he travelled. “I was therefore shocked when I returned to read that I shunned an invitation for reconciliation; nothing can be further from the truth” he concluded.

http://www.informationnigeria.org/2012/11/ill-soon-expose-gov-obi-bianca-ojukwus-role-in-apga-crisis-ojukwus-illness-victor-umeh.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Politicizing this report isn't the right thing to do. GEJ deserves commendation first and foremost for setting up such committee voluntarily, and making a chief political rival and one time EFCC chairman the head of the committee. if Ribadu has recommended that govt should first look into the report because there are probable lapses, then implementation of the report shouldn't be the issue now. What people should be calling for is commencement of the recommended investigation. As far as Ribadu is concern, the content of the report is yet to be certified factual, accurate, and true. Before we condemn govt let's be objective in our analysis.

It is unfortunate that a former house of reps member, who orddinarily should be working for the growth and dev of the country is working against the ongoing reform in the oil sector. His romance with indicted oil marketers and tailored protest to cover up their heinous activities is evil. Nigerians are wiser now, and will not be deceived by his nollywood display. It is shamefull, that he is always coming out for the wrong cause.

While many are yet to recover from the revelation made by Boko Haram concerning the inclusion of Gen. Buhari in the proposed dialogue with FG, twitter Mallam, Nasir Elrufai has used his handle to vigorously defend Buhari whom many see as having links with Boko Haram. Although Elrufai has made efforts to defend the sects in the past, this recent move reveals that they both know something. What do you think?

The Federal Government has urged indicted Oil Marketers to Face trial rather than resort to propaganda.
In the face of the propaganda, the Police Special Anti-Fraud Unit is said to have confronted the suspects with hard evidence.
It was learnt that the persecutors have been assembled by the police for watertight cases against the marketers who were said to have become jittery and now resorting to a media campaign to launder them.

According to a member of the police team, “The documents they presented in their claims are there for everyone to see and we are fully prepared to face them in the law courts.”
The claims upon which huge subsidy payments were made to them have been punctured because some of mother vessels they claimed they used in importing fuel were not anywhere near the Nigeria waters on the days they were claimed to have brought in fuel,” he added.

A member of the team said, “They were brazen because they never imagined that anyone would ever audit the subsidy regime. Those claiming to be innocent should come to the court and prove it.”
Reacting to the propaganda issue a police officer in SFU said it was astonishing to read the propaganda of some of the affected oil marketers who were speechless when confronted with the findings of the SFU on their alleged participation in the fuel subsidy fraud.
Based on findings from a senior government official, the presidency was shocked following attempts to rubbish the report of the Aig-Imoukhuede Committee and investigations by the EFCC and the SFU of the Nigeria Police.

According to the Government official, “The probe of fuel subsidy scam was diligently conducted and we are confident that most of those affected have cases to answer.”

“Instead of resorting to propaganda, those indicted should go to court to clear their names.”
“We will not waiver in our commitment to ensure justice and recover looted public funds. The battle line is drawn. We will not bow to blackmail at all.”
“They had every opportunity to present their so-called fact-sheets to the EFCC, SFU, and Presidential Committee.”
A source who was involved in the investigation of the scandal, said, “When some of these suspects were confronted with the findings of the police on the fuel subsidy scam, they were dumbfounded. They were shocked that we uncovered their tracks.
“They were unable to defend the allegations levelled against them in the documents available to the police authorities.

“They manipulated shipment records through which the nation was ripped off billions of naira.

“When SFU investigators asked a notable oil baron among them questions about more than N9 billion traced to his firm, he did not provide any evidence to substantiate his innocence.
“The same man’s company collected subsidy payments without proof of existence of the mother vessel bill of lading and where the products were discharged.When it became clear that the evidence was too much, the man just kept quiet.
“That man failed to defend the many allegations contained in the charge sheet. We are shocked he is now defending himself through sheer propaganda. We have done our part; it is left to the court to take a decision.”

http://businessnews.com.ng/2012/11/02/fg-tells-indicted-oil-marketers-to-face-trial-as-police-tender-hard-evidence/?wt=3

It is disheartening that a former head of state like Gen Buhari could reduce himself to a terrorist, supritending over the death of innocent lives he is meant to protect. Buhari stinks.

I think along this line too. Govt should approach it from this perspective. Mortgaging our sovereignty isn't the best thing to do now.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I feel Mallam will bury his head in shame. A man who has made severally efforts to defend terrorism, a man who has taken up a duty to hoodwink people into believing that nothing can work in Nigeria, should not be given audience. Now that his Boss, Buhari has been identified as a mediator, let's see the story he will come up with.

Is he not a suspect?

This man collects Security vote, and is referred to as the chief security officer of the state, yet he feels security is non of his business. God is watching

The governor of Borno State, Kashim Shetima on Thursday said he is more committed to addressing developmental problem in the state while allowing security agencies to deal with the issues of the dreaded sect, Boko Haram.

The governor, who was in the Presidential Villa in Abuja to attend the monthly National Economic Council meeting, was reacting to allegations that some renowned politicians in his state are members of the Boko Haram sect.

Mr Shettima said his focus is to provide the indigenes of Bornu State with good governance while it behoves on the security agencies to unearth the truth concerning Boko Haram.


http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/11/02/addressing-boko-haram-problem-is-not-my-responsibility-borno-governor/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

The ceding of Bakassi and over 76 Oil wells belonging to crosss river to Cameroon and Akwa Ibom respectively has made the state dependent on budgetary allocation. Any move to alleviate their plight is a welcome development. They are yet to recover from the rape of justice