Another shot.

Another view.

Another pix.

Aerial view

A lady's glass and shoe.

Why we struck – MEND
From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa
Saturday, October 02, 2010



The Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday claimed responsibility for the bomb explosions that rocked Abuja, saying it took the action to press home its demand for the Niger Delta to control its resources.

According to the spokesman of the group, Jomo Gbomo, there is nothing to celebrate in the 50 years existence of Nigeria since the Niger Delta region, which produces the oil that sustains the country’s economy has been neglected.

The group said that it had planted explosives in cars and waste bins across Abuja to make a statement about its agitation for resource control for the people of the Niger Delta.

The MEND statement reads in part: “With due respect to all invited guests, dignitaries and attendees of the 50th independence anniversary of Nigeria being held today (yesterday), Friday, October 1, 2010 at the Eagle Square Abuja, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is asking everyone to begin immediate evacuation of the entire area within the next 30 minutes. This warning expires after 10.30Hrs.

“Several explosive devices have been successfully planted in and around the venue by our operatives working inside the government security services. In evacuating the area, keep a safe distance from vehicles and trash bins.
“There is nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure. For 50 years, the people of the Niger Delta have had their land and resources stolen from them. The constitution before independence, which offered resource control, was mutilated by illegal military governments and this injustice is yet to be addressed.”


SUN Newspapers 2nd October, 2010.

These are various pictures of sorrows, tears, and blood.

Lagos deserves another airport. You need to go there daily to see how that structure embarrassed this nation daily.

Being critical of Fashola's government is a very sensitive issue. There are many factors that will be considered before reaching any conclusion. I used to go against building of a new airport in Lagos, but the events in MMIA of recent has changed my orientation. In fact, even that of Abuja (local) should be demolished, and a new International airport built there, while the current International be made local. We are really lacking behind.

I just went through this post again and noticed that, if all these airlines still existed, a good number of youths in this country would have been painfully employed. What is really killing this airlines?.

Lagos is becoming advanced countries . African culture will decide how potent this law will be, if passed into law!.

Lagos Parents May Go To Jail For Flogging Their Children

Author: Date: Jul 7th, 2010. | Category: Metro, News. | Follow comments: RSS 2.0. | You can leave a response below. |

If the Criminal Law Bill currently being deliberated by the Lagos State House of Assembly sails through, then many parents in the state would face various prison terms for beating up their kids.

The bill has prescribed prison terms for various offences including the beating or flogging of children by their parents.
The bill also sees the maltreatment of animals as a criminal offence while the culprits are liable to imprisonment.
It also seeks to legalise abortion but this is limited to incidents of rape and incest.

This was made known at a public hearing on the bill for a law to enact rules on criminal conduct, regulate public order and for other connected purposes with the title: “The Criminal Law of Lagos State 2010”.
The bill, if passed into law, would also promote an orderly society, foster collective obligation and duty towards the preservation and protection of life and property.

It would also discourage and deal with conducts that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflict or threaten substantial harm to individual or public interests.
The bill also seeks to look at persons whose conducts indicate that they are disposed to commit offences.
The bill which is divided into nine parts, 48 chapters and 414 sections, classifies offences into three types namely: felony, misdemeanours and simple offences.

Section eight of the bill defines felony as “any offence which is declared by law to be a felony, or is punishable, without proof of previous conviction with death or with imprisonment for three years or more.
“All offences, other than felonies and misdemeanours are simple offences.”

However, some Lagosians who attended the public hearing advocated for the abolishment of capital punishment, life imprisonment, and called for the legalisation of abortion in cases of incest, rape, HIV/AIDS and other unusual circumstances.

According to them, the maximum prison sentence for offenders should be put at 20 years since criminals could be reformed and make meaningful contribution to the society after serving their prison terms.
Professor Adedokun Adeyemi of the University of Lagos, while commenting on the issue said, “death penalty does not affect the rate of criminality and Lagos in the 21st century should not adopt it.”
—Eromosele Ebhomele

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/07/07/lagos-parents-may-go-to-jail-for-flogging-their-children/

Elders of Oghara, the home town of embattled former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefi Ibori, have resumed talks with President Goodluck Jonathan, with a view to making sure their son gets off the hook in his present travails of money laundering and other related offences.

But LEADERSHIP gathered last night that President Jonathan had tactically washed off his hands over the Iboris' saga.

Sources said that the elders of Oghara had raised an emergency meeting to unanimously agree to seek the President's intervention on the matter.

Oghara youths had barricaded the town in the heat of the bid to arrest Ibori for several days until he was said to have been picked up in Dubai.

A source hinted that the President's visit to Oghara opened ways for the case, when Oghara elders including some royal fathers pleaded with the president to intervene.

According to an insider, the elders in a closed door meeting appealed to the President to look into their son's travails as the only help they requested from him.

Though, sources disclosed that the meeting was very brief after thousands of Oghara youths presented to the President their stand on Ibori, including pledging their loyalty especially, in his commitment to the Niger Delta development.

Investigations reveal that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State in his bid for 2011 second term in his office had assured elders of Oghara of his contribution with a view to making sure Ibori gets some respite and be assisted in the case.

One of the elders told LEADERSHIP that the President's intervention in the case would bring about peace as it was apparently displayed during his visit to Oghara town by the youths including traditional rulers in apparent joy pledged their supports for his administration.

The elder statesman who does not want his name in print, told our correspondent that an agreement for the intervention of the President in Ibori's matter was reached between elders of Oghara, the youths and the President which necessitated the peace throughout his visit.

It will be recalled that the visit of the President to the fast developing Oghara attracted the who is who in the state with a large turnout of Oghara indigenes, who pressed home for the intervention of the President in Ibori's case.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori's money laundering trial in the United Kingdom, the British Police have brought fresh allegations against him in Dubai prison, where he is being kept by the Dubai Police after the bail granted him by the United Arab Emirate (UAE) court was revoked.

Also joined in the charges against Ibori by the metropolitan police was the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa.

It was gathered that part of the fresh charges brought against Ibori by the British investigators were allegations of money laundering, involving the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Aondoakaa, who is reportedly under surveillance and investigation by the British law enforcement agency for a range of alleged criminal offences.

UK authorities are reportedly looking at a transaction between the duo of Ibori and Aondoakaa that involved $44 million, routed through South Africa. The money is believed to have been frozen by the UK authorities with the help of their South African counterparts.

The former minister of justice, who was recently barred from holding further public office in Nigeria by a Federal High Court in Calabar, sources said, might be arrested on a sweeping arrest warrant anywhere in Europe as soon as the investigation concerning his collaboration with Ibori in money laundering activities is concluded.

LEADERSHIP reports that the Metropolitan Police, which is expecting Ibori's petition for asylum in Dubai to collapse quickly in order to get him back to the UK for proper prosecution,are expected to interrogate the former Delta State chief executive as long as his detention lasts in Dubai prison.


http://allafrica.com/stories/201006220826.html

Kobojunkie:

You think those on Okada's for well over 12 hours of their days love riding out in the sun and what not? Come on now. Even you know what you have above does not even compute. Ofcourse they do it for employment reasons, what else? They just love being a nuisance and what not? lol

How many of them do you want to regulate? Millions in a small state like Lagos? How? NOTE- I have not in anyway said they should be allowed to run free but I think we need to CHOOSE our solutions carefully and CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONES. Not just apply that which works in places that don't even have a pinch of our problem.

And what government has actually ever done this, knowing that airlines in most countries are regulated by the same Governments, anmd provide major employment and benefits to their people?

The Okada problem came about as a result of increase in poverty and conjestion. Just about 12 years ago, Okada's were rare in most parts of lagos. BUt with increase in population, increase in conjestion and decrease in employment, they have become the preffered form of transportation for many. Much in the same way generators have. Again, 12 years ago, generators were rare. People rarely used them. Companies, and businesses that did, did so only a few hours of the day.But today, every corner houses about 2 generators. Do you now proceed to BAN the generators that have become a complete nuisance? Or do you put your head down to solving the REAL PROBLEM FIRST? I hate Okada's -- still have a huge mark on my leg to show for the one time I decided to ride --I loathe going back to Nigeria to have to deal with the noise pollution from generators. However, I understand the reason for these things, and how banning them will only work to the negative and not the positive.

This is a very dicey situation for Lagos and Okada riders.

Lagos and Okada business, are like 5 and 6 in a football match.

Lagos Assembly moves to ban Okada
By CHINELO AGINA
Friday, June 11, 2010


Lagos State House of Assembly has expressed concern over activities of motorcycle riders popularly called Okada on highways in the state and has commenced plans to hold a public hearing to that effect.

The public hearing which date is yet to be fixed would be an opportunity for members of the public to suggest what could be done to check the excesses of the Okada operators and to consider the possibility of banning their operations completely from the state.

In view of this, the House had set up a four-man ad-hoc committee to come up with recommendations that would put an end to the dangers caused by operators of commercial motorcycles in the state.

At plenary session, Sanai Agunbiade representing Ikorodu Constituency (I), under Matter of Urgent Public Importance, informed his colleagues how Okada operators had turned the popular Ketu and Ojota bus stops to illegal parks where they pick and drop passengers indiscriminately.
According to Agunbiade, “Okada riders plying the Ikorodu Road have turned Ketu and Ojota bus stops to illegal parks. On a daily basis, they come in droves where they pick and drop passengers along the expressway and with this, they contribute to traffic congestion on that road. Apart from that, the cases of Okada accidents, especially along the expressway has increased drastically, and something needs to be done about it.”

Funmi Tejuoso while contributing noted that Okada riders had caused a lot of havoc, traffic jams and accidents. “It seems that those ones that were chased from Abuja have stormed the state and are causing a lot of trouble. We have to do something concerning it because even when they cause trouble on the road, they will turn around to fight you.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/june/11/national-11-06-2010-013.htm

UK Jury Finds Ibori's Mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, Guilty

Written by SaharaReporters, New York
Wednesday, 02 June 2010 05:34

The 12-member UK jury has found James Ibori's mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee Onuigbo), guilty in a unanimous verdict delivered this morning at the Southwark Crown Court in London. She was convicted on three counts of money laundering. Mrs. Okoronkwo and Ibori's sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori, will both be sentenced at 2 :00 PM on Monday June 7 2010.
Read more: ,

http://www.saharareporters.com/

Why are the figures not constant?

Enjoyment1:

The many troubles of Mr. Ibori. What a pity!.

He really have to face the reality of his actions.

This is the damaged car. Useless Oba. I pity his subjects!.

Leonidis:

This is highly unfortunate. It appears wage increases for the rank and file of workers is inevitably followed by large job losses.

Why not find a way for a modest increase while keeping majority of the workforce? There is little capacity outside the public sector to absorb these workers and I doubt the 'after service training' will amount to much apart from lining the pockets of those who get the contracts.

While the wages might not be sufficient, a small wage is likely better than no wage.

Exactly!.

Kobojunkie:

I said earlier Naija story tire person. The members of the assembly are seeking for a huge increase for themselves and the president is instead looking to give a measly increase to lower level officers.

Now, if he is trying to get rid of GHOST WORKERS at the federal level, that makes sense to me but I don't think this is the right way to go about such, neither do I think this is the right time to lay people off in that country.

You are right. There are so many measures that can be taken, in stead of job loses.

1. You can look for loose ends in the pay roll, to curtail ghost workers.
2. You can also look for how to cut down on Public servants salaries and allowances, and systematically divert it to civil servants payroll.
3. Also, government can put a stop to employment (temporarily) etc.

In summary, set up one of those useless committees, and get them cracking, on how to raise cash to pay these guys, rather than letting them go. Already, the crime rate is nothing to write home about, as a result of job losses, and government being the largest employment of labour will only add to the existing problem.

top_kin:

Good news i guess. . . 

What is good about the news? This is not the first time they have said this. Let them implement it first. After all, it might take them another seven months to do so, if at all.

Kobojunkie:

I don't think he is going at this the right way.

How much are these people been paid per month (total wage bill )? Let him tell us know, and the reason to retrench some of them?

Even with meagre N18,000, FG still wants to retrench workers.

How much is the whole wage bill compare to what each Senator takes home, even on daily basis.

All Nigerian leaders are the same. No body should tell me any stuff.

Even Jonathan might be worst! .

Belgore committee submits N18,000 new wage to Jonathan
By Fidelis Soriwei
Tuesday, 1 Jun 2010


Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore
The Committee on Minimum Wage headed by Justice Alfa Belgore has recommended a minimum wage of N18,000 for Nigerian workers.


Belgore and members of his committee, comprising representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and employers of labour, were said to have submitted the proposal to President Goodluck Jonathan on May 22, 2010.


Indications that the Federal Government might put the expected new minimum wage at N18,000 emerged on May Day, when the TUC President-General, Mr. Peter Esele, said in his address that Jonathan would soon announce a new figure.


But the announcement did not come because of the reaction of the workers; who rejected the N18,000 minimum wage and insisted on N52,000 originally proposed by labour before the commencement of negotiation with the government.


It was learnt that prior to the announcement by Esele, the workers’ unions had agreed, after months of deliberation with government, that increasing the minimum wage from N7,500 to N18,000 was not a bad deal for workers.


A source said that the only snag in the N18,000 minimum wage was the fear that the Federal Government might reduce the agreed sum.


The source said that reducing the N52,000 recommended minimum wage would culminate in an industrial crisis in the country.


It was further gathered that representatives of labour accepted N18,000 because of the feeling that insisting on a higher sum could culminate in job losses.


However, it was gathered that the state governors were opposed to the new wage and were pushing for its reduction.


“There are fears that government may likely reduce the money. They are saying that how can you move from N7,500 to N18,000? Well, some labour leaders do not want to own up in public that that is the agreed amount.


“Let’s be realistic, you and I know it is not realistic to pursue N52,000. We had to do it across the board to get employers and manufactures to accept it.


“What the workers are expecting is N18,000. The President will raise a White Paper on it and put in place the requisite machinery to amend the national minimum wage,” the source said.


The Federal Government has already reduced the wide disparity between the salary of a permanent secretary and the most senior director in the Federal Civil Service.


Our correspondent gathered that the Federal Government had acceded to labour’s demand by increasing the salaries of the directors substantially, to bridge the existent gap between the remuneration of permanent secretaries and the director’s cadre.


However, the Chairman of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, Mr. Olakunle Olaitan, said on Monday that what was approved for the workers by the Federal Government was an adjustment of the disparity in the civil service.


He said that what was expected on July 1, 2010, as announced by the President on Democracy Day, was not salary review but a new pay emanating from the relativity in the public service.


He said that the disparity, which culminated in the disagreement between the JNPSNC and the Federal Government, had been bridged substantially.


Olaitan, who is also the president of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, refused to explain what the reduction of the disparity between the salaries of permanent secretary and the directors would lead to when applied relatively to the various grade levels in the Federal Civil Service.


He said, “It is not a salary review; it is a wage disparity adjustment in the core civil service. A permanent secretary earns the salary of 10 directors. We have only said that that gap is too much. It has been bridged substantially, there is still unfinished business. A new salary will come with the minimum wage.


“The relativity will have a ripple effect on the economy. It is not a new salary. The new salary is for the Alfa Belgore committee. It is before the government now.”


The Federal Government under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua had constituted the Belgore Committee on Minimum Wage in August 2009, to look into the call for a review of the national minimum wage.


The move came even as a bill proposing a minimum wage of N30,000 in reaction to workers’ lamentations passed second reading in the House of Representatives in July 2009.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100601123114

London jury indicts Ibori's sister
By Ayo Okulaja
June 1, 2010 03:02PM


A 12-member jury deliberating on the money laundering trial of associates of the former Delta State governor, James Ibori, has found his sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie, guilty of all charges of money laundering and mortgage fraud.

The jury, however, acquitted Mr Ibori's former assistant, Adebimpe Pogoson, of the charges against her.

The jury is yet to announce its verdict pertaining to the third accused aide, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, who is Mr Ibori's mistress.

The money laundering trial involving Mr Ibori's female aides began in September 2009 at the Southwark Crown Court, London, after Ms Pogoson, (a personal assistant on confidential matters during his tenure as the Delta State governor) and his sister Christie Ibori-Ibie, were charged in December 2007 on three counts of conspiring "together with Mr Ibori, Udoamaka Onuigbo and others, to defraud the Delta State government".

The aides allegedly helped the former governor move an estimated £70 million worth of looted funds through several London banks.

Mr Ibori is currently detained in the United Arab Emirates where he was recently arrested by INTERPOL after evading arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5575062-146/story.csp

Eya!

Afam:

Do we still have editors working in these newspapers because the type of written english being published by national newspapers is getting out of hand.

I think the problem has to do with too much delegation, or neglect of duties or even being in a hurry to publish.

Why cant we for once in this nation, have a good news, such that, the whole world will celebrate with us, and give thanks to GOD for beginning of a new dawn.

Gosh! What a nation!

Poisonous gas: 500 Kaduna residents hospitalised
By SEGUN OLATUNJI
Sunday, 30 May 2010


TRAGEDY was on Saturday averted in Kaduna as over 500 people were hospitalised following the emission of a poisonous gas in the Kakuri Area of the state capital.


According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred when a welder operating along DIC Road in the Kakuri area attempted to cut open a big gas cylinder.


A resident, Ahmed Musa, said that at about 3 pm, several people in the area were noticed to have suddenly fallen and passed out, while several others started gasping for breath at about the same time after inhaling the gas that was later traced to an emission from the cylinder in the welder‘s shop.


The whole of the area was immediately thrown into commotion as residents struggled to rush those affected to the hospital, and at the same time tried to run for dear lives to escape the effect of the emission.


When our correspondent visited the St. Gerald Catholic Hospital, Kakuri, the Gwamna Awan Hospital and Maneks Hospital, where most of the victims were rushed to, the wards were overflowing with persons affected by the emission.


An unidentified Red Cross official, who said he received a call to come and help the victims of the emission, fell off the ambulance that was carrying the victims to St. Gerald, apparently affected by the gas. He was still on admission on Saturday night.


The doctor on duty at St. Gerald, Dr. Charles Elonuchukwu, said that those victims who were pregnant were affected most by the emission as many of them were still unconscious, expressing fears that gas inhaled by this category of the victims was capable of causing them to have stillbirth.


Elonuchukwu said many of the pregnant victims were still unconscious, while many others who were still having serious stomach pains were being kept under watch in the hospital.


”There was a gas emission and a lot of people inhaled it and we don‘t know the nature of the gas yet. But being a poisonous gas, it almost suffocated people. We had a lot of people here; they were approximately a hundred people. They were gasping for breath and most of them we had to do some palliative treatment,” he said.


”We had to send them outside after treatment to get some fresh air outside. Naturally, when they ventilate very well the gas will disappear gradually from their system. A lot of them actually got well here and they left. But some of them who could not get well spontaneously, we have to do something further in order to stabilise them and some of them are even still here.


”Most of them that have further problems are pregnant women. So we don‘t even know whether the gas is even a teratogenic kind of gas, that is the gas that can cause the baby in the womb to have problem. It can either kill the baby or harm it. So, we still have a lot of the victims that are pregnant women with us here, they are still having some stomach pain and dizziness. Some of them are even unconscious, like this woman here. They are just too many. It‘s so overwhelming and we can‘t see all of them at the same time. There are no deaths yet.”


The councillor representing the area in the Kaduna South Local Government Council, Mr. Adeleye Suraju, assured that after the evacuation of the cylinder the welder would be identified and necessary action would be taken against him.


Suraju appealed to the residents to remain calm and avoid the scene of the emission.


”The stench from the gas was so bad and people were just falling unconscious from its effect, but thank God there has been no case of death. More than 200 people are still unconscious in hospitals, but they are being revived. The doctors at the hospitals are trying their best to save the victims,” the councillor said.


”The local government has called on NEMA, SEMA and the health department of the Kaduna Polytechnic and they are on their way here now. I appeal to the people to remain calm and avoid the scene of the emission so that more people would not be affected. We don‘t know the owner but we have called on relief agencies to come and remove the cylinder. After it is removed, we‘ll identify the owner and then know the necessary action to take,” the councillor said.


Many residents of the area were seen going about in face masks, while others used handkerchiefs and other pieces of cloth to cover their noses.


Armed soldiers and anti-riot policemen from the state anti-crime outfit, Operation Yaki, have however cordoned off the area.


Sources said that the welder had taken to his heels to avoid arrest.


Usman Agonan, the Divisional Secretary for the Red Cross in Kaduna South, said most of the hospitals in the area were filled with children and women who inhaled the poisonous gas.


Agonan added that the Red Cross and other relief agencies were making efforts to evacuate the cylinder, which he said was still emitting smoke from the welder‘s shop as at 6.30 pm.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201005301645935

Saint Nasir and Saint Nuhu
By Ikenna Emewu [ikenna@sunnewsonline.com]
Saturday, May 22, 2010

It is the turn of two outstanding saints of the order of the fraudulent and questionable political leadership system of Nigeria to stage a comeback.
On their return, they will commence their bullying from where they had left off in 2007 when their imperial master of misrule failed to pick his third term ticket.
Today, the demons of misdeed that have made unrelenting attempts to conquer the author of light on dominance of the nation gave them back their mandate to come and do more of their damage.

They are the new saints of our clime, the super brats of our time who know it all and have the right to do as they wish. It’s funny how we handle them with soft palms to placate them for the wrong the ‘nation did them’ for making them embark on self-exile from where they threw brickbats at the late President Umar Yar’Adua until he could reply them no more.

They have stepped in to prove to us that we know nothing and that only them have the keys to the straightening of the bent nation. You can hear Nasir El-Rufai sounding it clear and loud that he did wonders in Abuja and for Nigeria when he was minister. Silly as it may sound, but it is true that while EFCC discusses arraignment of El-Rufai before a court for fraud and mismanagement of the FCT land allocation in his days as minister, his Kaduna State government listed him among the prominent citizens of the state that paid President Goodluck Jonathan visit to condole him over the death of Yar’Adua. What this means is that you are meant to believe that El-Rufai is pained by the death of the same Yar’Adua he dressed in all manner of odd robes and poured invectives on while he was away to further his studies as he told us.

While El-Rufai faces ‘trial’, he also visits the president as special guest. You can on your own deduce the manner of prosecution EFCC has embarked on. And to celebrate his triumph over all of us and the laws of the land, he came out from Aso Rock to commence a campaign backing Jonathan to run next year and pointing out the oddity of zoning in PDP.

So, all of a sudden, El-Rufai’s fight to frustrate Nigerians in his selective search for the Abuja master plan, his role in the third term bid of his master and the other ones involving selecting who was anointed president prior to election and the one to be dropped have been blotted out. El-Rufai has completely purged himself of these errors and has been crowned a saint of modern Nigeria to rule and dictate to us. His roles in fighting all those Obasanjo pointed out to him as his enemies in defiance of the law have been overtaken by time and space.

Today, El-Rufai is the crowned custodian of the puritan order of Nigeria.
The noise of how he demolished the homes of those who could not play ball and those who were of the wrong camp, including that retired judge of the FCT High Court from the North that later died of frustration after his household items were left in the rain and sun for day are over. The court orders that stopped El-Rufai from embarking on that demolition and the rest have fizzled out and null and void forever.

Because El-Rufai marked Bolingo Hotel in Abuja for demolition, six directors of the hotel came to Ota Farm to beg the god for his mercies and on their way back to Abuja; the Bellview plane they boarded crashed and killed them at Lisa. The justification of that move by El-Rufai and the role he played in making these people take the trip that consumed them have all been drowned in the jubilation heralding the triumphal entry of this new saint from Zaria.

After a thorough probe by the Senate, El-Rufai was grossly indicted for re-allocating those plots he said were out of the plan to his people. Senate also held he should not hold public office again because of his wanton ways. They found he allocated about 300 of such plots to his family members and cronies. Today, he stands a mock trial whose end is already known while his co-traveller had already received a state pardon to stay free. So, with the type of campaign this man who employed the services of a lady NYSC member and paid her N1m per month from public coffers only to snide that it was not easy to be a Harvard product is mounting for the man in power, who would not predict accurately how the trial will play out?

El-Rufai’s brother saint is Nuhu Ribadu – the lawyer crime fighter who had no regard for the law. Homes of prominent Nigerians were raided at night and searches embarked on without warrants. Nigerians were detained in defiance of orders enforcing their fundamental rights or even court orders for their release.
Nuhu wasted Nigerian money filing, withdrawing, amending and refilling charges that never got prosecuted.

He enjoyed double promotions in the police and refused to be redeployed from the EFCC. He stayed away from his duty post after removal from EFCC job and at last left the police on unclear terms, ran out of the country and declared wanted by the police. But when he sneaked in, nobody touched him again because the visit by Mr. Acting President to US was to pave the way for fugitives of justice to return home on red carpet with their ‘sins’ already atoned for. He is back to continue from where he punctuated his heedless drive. Very soon the new saint of the new and refurbished order of a failed third term three years ago will be appointed to the position for which he was brought in.

At the fullness of time, he and his brother, Saint Nasir, will take the centre stage and manage the nation as they wish.
The rule is: Do what you want to do, exercise all the impunity your mad mind could muster, when the heat is on, jump ship and abscond overseas. When the coast clears, come back and stampede everyone your usual old style. So far as you belong to the ruling cabal, nothing happens any more. These are indeed the days of the refurbished saints.

N40m and Emordi’s delayed ouster

Please, ask the Senate of the Federal Republic and the distinguished senators as they call themselves what N40 million quarterly constituency project allocation has to do with the pranks over the ouster of the Mrs. Joy Emordi from the Senate.

I heard, maybe, wrongly or rightly, that there is this money shared to senators, their distinguished highnesses, every quarter of the year. The booty is corporately called ‘constituency project fund’. You can see the sugar coating because I belong to a senatorial district like all of you reading this, and I can’t remember a project I ever saw or was told was executed by the senator representing me. I have seen neither infrastructure provision nor additional human resource contribution. The last I know in my constituency is the great stride Senator Anyim Pius Anyim took to hand us a brand new wonderful road (Okigwe-Afikpo road) handled by Julius Berger.

But I was told that Emordi was/is a very powerful inner caucus member of the hallowed chamber. That was why she had the juicy position of the chairman of the education committee.

When her ouster was pronounced, Mark, the oga, and his men decided to sit on appeal over the Court of Appeal decision. But the sole aim, I found out, was not about confusion in the letter and spirit of the verdict. It was rather to buy time in favour of Emordi so that she could pick the imminent N40 statutory and legal N40m constituency windfall as parting gift and also to make sure the one that would come in starts in a desert and in austere clime to teach him a lesson. So, the great Senate and senators, how true is this rumour?


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/columnists/thoughts/2010/ikenna-may-22-2010.htm