₦airaland Forum

obowunmi: I don't know why Sowore is always confrontational. You can make your point without being confrontational.

because our problem is too much in nigeria,hope one day your eyes will open

Do you think President Jonathan should contest in 2015?yes why?
or no why? please no insult

Published on May 7, 2013 by · 6 Comments
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has described Nigerians as very difficult people to please just as he says insecurity remains the greatest challenge confronting the nation.

Fashola spoke on Monday at the St Saviour’s Anglican Church, Tafawa Balewa Square, Marina, Lagos, southwest Nigeria during the church’s 32nd Synod.

He lamented that people complained too much instead of helping the government to solve the problems at hand.

“Nigerians are very difficult people to please. When Nigerians were complaining of incessant harassment by policemen at checkpoints, they were dismantled by the Inspector General of Police. The same Nigerians are now complaining that the absence of the checkpoints have aided the free operation of criminals on the roads.

“The same scenario is playing out on the issue of ban by the police of the indiscriminate use of tinted glasses by motorist, which has been taken advantage of by criminals. The people are now accusing the police of being highhanded on the issue,” he said.

Fashola added that insecurity in the nation is becoming a huge mountain to climb, adding that “our greatest challenge today is insecurity. Just a few minutes ago, there were reports of people who have been killed in Taraba State and over the weekend some people died in Bayelsa State.

“In the last week, the number of lives that have been lost to violence and insecurity must bring any serious people into a sense of sobriety and a very serious question about what direction our country is heading,” the Governor said.

He urged the people not to engage in the wholesale condemnation of the security agencies in the light of what is going on in the country, stressing that the issues of whether they had been given the tools needed for their job and whether the society really cared for them should agitate the minds of the people.

“How many of us on Christmas or Ileya festivals have remembered the police station near us by giving the officers a cooler of rice? It may not fill them but such gesture would remain evergreen for them. It will give them commitment to go and protect us.

“Let us show some concern. Let us find our humanity back. We are too detached from the reality of our society. A lot of care and love would bring down the anger and hate that is seeping through our land. It should not be the survival of the fittest anymore but the survival of the greatest majority. It should be a case of everyone pulling up the next person so that we can march forward together as a people who truly fear God,” he stated.

He also urged the people to resist the urge to hold a telephone line that is not registered in their name and charged the phone companies to help the government by not issuing SIM cards without identity and background checks, saying the possibility of some people owning as many as ten telephone lines without any being registered in their names portends grave dangers.

The governor emphasized that Nigerians must love their country and treat it as a home and cited the example of the major breakthrough recorded by Nigerian Police Force recently at Badiya in Lagos which prevented a major crime from being committed, adding that instead of commendations, the general outcry was that Lagos was under a siege.

He said when a similar scenario played out in Boston in the United States, the crime could not be nipped in the bud but took place and that if the two scenarios were placed side by side and given the resources and equipment at the disposal of the Nigeria Police compared to its Boston counterpart, he would cast his lot behind the Nigerian Police for a job well done.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/05/07/fashola-nigerians-are-too-difficult-to-please/

The cold war between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Goodluck Jonathan Administration came again to the fore on Sunday at a thanksgiving service held in honour of a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, in Abuja.

At the service that had many eminent Nigerians, including a former Head of the Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, and ex-Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi, in attendance, Obasanjo said if the Goodluck Jonathan administration was keen on probing his government, it should come after him instead of people that served under him.

He also flayed the plan by the Federal Government to set up a pipeline protection agency, saying it was another avenue for corruption.

But Obasanjo’s comments drew the ire of the Presidency which said no past administration, either past or present, should be afraid of probe. It also advised the former President to allow Jonathan to do his work.

The former leader had at the 50th birthday thanksgiving service for Ezekwesili, said, “I have always said this, whatever you want to blame in my government, blame me; don’t blame any of those people who assisted me. If there is any credit to dispense, we share it. But for anything you want to say is wrong, I was the one in charge and I was in charge.”

Obasanjo, whose comments were necessitated by the war of words between Ezekwesili, and the Presidency over the $67bn the Jonathan administraion inherited from his government, said he had absolute trust in those that worked under him, especially as ministers.

Ezekwesili’s claim that the Federal Government squandered the sum was described by the Presidency as reckless.

Turning to the former Education minister, Obasanjo said he was sure nothing would be found against her because of her integrity and commitment to public service.

He said, “Actually those who wanted to probe you (Ezekwesili), you should have asked them to go ahead because if they are honest, they would find out that the government should give you money for what you have done for this country without stealing money.”

Obasanjo, who is the immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, then faced Oronsaye, Agabi, a former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Charles Soludo; and ex- Minister of Information, Frank Nweke Jnr., and said, “When I look at you, I thank God for making you available to serve in my administration, to serve Nigeria and serve God at the time you did.”

But he faulted Agabi’s earlier call at the service for the establishment of a National Commission for Integration, saying it was not necessary. According to him, the entire 1999 Constitution is for integration.

“What else do you need. You have a constitution that is intended to integrate the country. You have the Federal Character Commissiom for instance. What is that one meant to do? It is for integration. The entire constitution is all about integrating this country. If at all we failed to use it, it can even be said that we have breached the constitution. You don’t need a commission for integration,” Obasanjo added.

On the planned agency for pipeline protection, the former President said it would be another avenue for corruption.

“This (Sunday) morning, I was travelling from Abeokuta and I was listening to a radio station when I heard that they (government) are going to set up an agency for pipeline protection. Now, what are the police for? What are all the security agencies that we have doing? This is another chop chop.

For those advocating change in Nigeria, Obasanjo said they must be prepared to take insults.

“I just hope that we will get it right. We have no choice, we have to get it right. Let us decide individually that ‘I would do what I have to do to bring about change in Nigeria.’ If you do that, let me assure you, you will be called names; you will be abused; some people are hired to do that. But like Oby (Ezekwesili) say what you believe is right and stand by it.

But the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, responded to Obasanjo’s comments, saying that any administration could be probed.

Gulak, in an interview with one of our correspondents, argued that even the current administration was being probed regularly by the legislative arm of government.

He added, “ This administration and past administrations can be probed. Nobody should be afraid of probe.”

On Obasanjo’s description of the planned pipeline protection agency as another chop chop, Gulak said as an elderstatesman, Obasanjo should not just criticise government for its sake, but should proffer solutions if indeed he loves the country.

He said since Obasanjo was not the present President, he should allow the incumbent to concentrate on his job.

Gulak said, “The former President is entitled to his opinion; but he is not the President. He should allow the President to do his work. People should stop making derogatory statements about the President. There is only one President in the country today and we should all support him.

“People should not just be criticising government. As an elderstatesman, if he indeed loves this country, he should proffer solutions rather than criticising.”

Some aides of the former President- Hassan Lawal, Nasir el-Rufa, Femi Fani-Kayode, and Adeyanju Bodunde - are currently being tried for various offences.

While Lawal, a former Minister of Works, is being prosecuted for N75bn fraud, el-Rufai, an ex- Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is facing trial for irregular land allocation and abuse of office.

Fani-Kayode, who is former Minister of Aviation, is facing trial for money laundering while and Bodunde, an special assistant to Obasanjo, was in 2011 arraigned for his alleged involvement in the $180m Harlibutton bribery scandal.

Ezekwesili had in her remarks, recalled how her parents moulded her by teaching her moral values. She said she could not understand why people would wanted to enjoy a life that they never worked for.

“I was born to parents who are from a humble family. My daddy was a man of uncompromising integrity. My daddy worked in Nigeria Ports Authority. He used to say to us that the NPA had become a centre of corruption. That was so many years ago. My mother talked my father out of public service because she was afraid for him.

“My mother used to go to what we call bend down boutiques in Tejuosho Market in Lagos to buy clothes for us. She knew what they called grade one okrika (used clothes). We did not have money. We were poor but rich in values. Those values shaped everything about me. From young age, good governance and accountability mattered to me,” she told the congregation.

Ezekwesil, who said she felt “a sense of completion of a certain phase in my life,” added that corruption in governance today might not allow a child of similar background to survive.

“In a relatively decent society, I got the kind of education that has taken me thus far. I was Minister of Education. A similarly poor child, who comes from the kind of family I came from when I was young would not have the kind of opportunities that I had in this same nation.

“We must therefore build a decent society that does not sow this terrible seed of inequality that I see around me today. When I see the children of drivers, the gardeners and I see that they will not have the kind of education and opportunities that I had, it pains me.”

On why she criticised the government recently, she replied that “democracy is incomplete without the engagement of citizens in the process. The demand for accountability and results is the right of citizens.”

In his homily, Rev. Dr. William Okoye, appealed to Nigerians to shun corruption and be contented.

According to him, any nation that places values on materialism is doomed.

“Life is not about material things that some of us are concerned about today. Life consists of far more than that. When people value money more than life and God, they can do anything. The life you live pursuing mundane things at the expense of God has no blessing and can’t save you.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/probe-me-not-my-aides-obasanjo-dares-fg/

is there any hell fire on earth like living in most african countries without basic amenities??please my people tellme

alaoeri: U are not as sensible as BEAF, honestly i miss Beaf.

are you sure Sincere 9gerian is not beaf??

Abagworo: Who is better than him and in what?

one million dollar question

[quote author=100%]It's TIME we re-focus, re-engineer and re-align our efforts resources, physically mentally spiritually and otherwise

We need a revolution===yes but peacefull
What is a revolution===fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time
What and how do we want Nigeria to be==be among the 20th best countries in the world
What do we stand to gain==respect among other nations and dignity for all of us
How do we go about revolution==we need some money to sponsor it.
What are risksA revolution,, How do we handle the risk===the people who sponsor it will want to have upper hand,handle it??give them pre-conditions if not, they will be as corrupt as our old schools.
How do we sustain the revolution====make it away of live,ideological basis
How will the coordination be===from the sponsors to the fighters everybody is thesame.no oga at the top syndrome

[quote author=sexy-excalibur]nigerians, if all our leaders are bad..... I wounder what we are good??[/quote]that is the problem we have,we lack the ability to organise our selves to fight to change our society.but we have the ability to fight for religion,football,make money quick syndrome.that is the nigerian way of live

deluxecad: This shouldn't be news in any way. I would recommend that no public officer should be allowed to go overseas for medicare, they should be treated by the hospitals they "provided" here. Why scurry off to go get a service you could have very well provided here if you managed your monthly federal allocations and state-generated revenue well? I solicit a ban on travel permits for medical treatment for all elected public officers.

who will pass that law ??thesame national asembly,,that can not pass law to pay unemploy graduates in the country.

profjustine: Shame on to all rochas haters in nairaland

tell us what rochas has done since he became governor,from security,healthcare,education, infrastructure and job creation
please no sentiment,facts and figures

[quote author=Ejiné]Nne, for the sake of honesty on Nairaland, I would really like you to tell me how many governors I have blindly praised here.

Is it Fashola the noisemaking turncoat who makes a living from licking his master's sweaty black asss?
Is it Aregbesola the empty rascal who is busy claiming federal power projects as his own?
Is it the effeminate Peter Obi who looks for tribal sentiments when taken to the cleaners on a blog by a 3-foot aboki?
Or is it my bastaard governor Uduaghan who uses 7 billion naira to pick stones in an airport?

Tell me, exactly WHO have I praised blindly? Why are you shying away from the obvious truth that your governor is a petty criminal masquerading himself as a populist with cheap theatrics that portray an archaic communist mindset?

Hell, is my governor in Delta state not a criminal too? You see, the difference is, I'm not lying to myself.

Your governor was so dumb to dissolve the local government (which was NEVER under his control) and you see nothing wrong in this.

Your governor was shameless enough to pay kids N100 a month to attend school like almajiris and you see nothing wrong in this.

Your governor had a scratch on his mango head and quickly flew himself to LONDON and you see nothing wrong in this.

Anyway, free me abeg. I'm not caught in the delusion that he's a messiah, cuz I don't pass the renovations of the government house and commissioners' quarters as "achievements".

Your governor is a crook. Deal with it.
Cuz I've learned to deal with mine.[/quote]thank you free minded nigerian,only the truth will set us free in this country

check google for his real pictures are there

eko ilee: Stop getting fed garbage...


The pictures of new roads up there are from Okotoa..

the inner roads in okota are very bad,they are building the main road now, but 99% of the roads inside okota and festac are bad,we know the governor is trying,what we are saying is that he should focus on inside street roads and drainages, so that we can descongest the mejor roads.

Capnd143: GOD KNOWS NOBODY SAID THE AINT BAD ROADS IN LASGIDI! The Op must be a pro-buhari campaigner, because the are the type of people that went infront of bristish palamantarians to spew all sort of rubbish about Nigeria, without acknwolodging a single "good deed". To hell with the Op. Go and hug transformer, if u like, even in US AND India and china there are slumps and bad roads.

85% of the roads in us are tared,china and india are not examples to compare

HNosegbe: Kindly educate the house on what the Ministry of ICT should be doing then.

make the telecom companies to invest more on internet services so that we can enjoy the same fast conection like other countries

WELCOME BROTHER
I LIKE HIS COURAGE

ib55: For a person that claims to be fighting corruption, where did he get the money to buy a bulletproof car.
Just asking!

HE WILL BE STUPID NOT TO HAVE ONE,WE NEED PEOPLE LIKE HIM TO HELP FIGHT THE PAST RULERS

FRONT PAGE PLEASE

20pounds: Has Nigeria finally become a theatre of absurdities? One second twenty bizzare happenings!

we are cowards and our political class know that

Sincere 9gerian: It is fraudulent for Transparency Nigeria to claim association with TI when nothing of such exist. I guess the name of Oby was mentioned in the fraudulent TN, but I'm not sure now.

and if you are not sure,,, please live oby alone,just because she is not in support of ngozi does not make her fraudulent

callydon: None of these candidates has affected people's lives more than Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah. He employs more than 3000 workers in his lagos depot alone out of which 65% are from Anambra, dis is not counting all his workers scattered all over the federation.
Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah has given scholarship to over 200 students in Anambra state. this is jst a few of wot dis man has find n he is willing to do more.
N.B: Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah is nt in ANY way related to Andy Uba n d rest of them.

if what you wrote about him is true,, most he get into politics??,,

arest him if you have prove or stop speculating.

this will be the debate of the year,GOD PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN.

$67 Billion Forex: Ezekwesili Attacks Okonjo-Iweala, Wants a Debate
Posted by: Our Reporter on April 12, 2013 in Exclusive Leave a comment

Former World Bank Vice President for Africa and former Education Minister, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili has descended on Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for accusing her of peddling false information over Nigeria’s foreign reserve.

Ezekwesili had alleged that $67 Billion left by the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime has been squandered by the Government of late President Musa Yar’Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan’s government fired back, insisting that what was left by the Obasanjo’s regime was $45 Billion and not $67 Billion. The Government tendered a CBN document at a Press conference by Dr. Doyin Okupe which showed that $45 Billion was what was left behind by President Obasanjo’s government.

The former Education Minister who has since resigned from her World Bank job requested to have a debate with officials in Government.

But Dr. Iweala at the Future Awards Symposium said “We should stop having false debates based on wrong or no information. Sometimes, I think it’s deliberate.”

Pointblanknews.com gathered that the latest attack from Ezekwesili who was nominated by Dr. Iweala to the World Bank job even when she does not have a PHD, a requirement for the World Bank job, has signaled a crack in their relationship.

Series of tweets released by the former World Bank VP for Africa, and minister of education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili claimed that, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and a former World Bank Managing Director subbed her

Ezekwesili released series of tweets where she attacked at her former colleague and friend.

She challenged Iweala to a public debate

http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/exclusive/67-billion-forex-ezekwesili-attacks-okonjo-iweala-wants-a-debate/

Former Deputy Governor Of Anambra State Killed By Kidnappers

SaharaReporters has learned that Dr. Chudi Nwike, the former Deputy Governor of Anambra State who was kidnapped on March 19, has been killed by his kidnappers who had demanded a N30 million ransom and actually collected a negotiated amount.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said that the body was identified at the Agbor Police Station in Delta State by the Anambra State Chairman of the party), Chief Amaechi Obidike, State Secretary Barr Emeka Ibe, and the victim’s brother, Dr.Bufo Nwike.

The statement noted that the family had negotiated and paid a ransom prior to the discovery of the body, Bufo Nwike handling the negotiations and arranging to pay to the kidnappers N5million at an undisclosed location in Delta State.

That ransom was in paid on April 5, but the kidnappers, after collecting the money from the courier, cut off all further communications. The body was discovered thereafter.

“We are tremendously ashamed of the circumstances of his death and wish we could now erase from history that a former Deputy Governor of a State in Nigeria died in this manner,” ACN said in the statement.

The party called on the security agencies, in view of the fact that they did not succeed in tracking down the abductors of the former Deputy Governor while he lived, to “rise and smash all obstacles on the way to unearthing the abductors and killers of ACN’s rare gem, an embodiment of peace and knowledge.”http://saharareporters.com/news-page/former-deputy-governor-anambra-state-killed-kidnappers

[quote author=sweet_gala]Most eco friendly ideas in developed countries have an incentive, in U.K and Ireland there are grants and rebates on property/household tax etc, should be similar in most of E.U

I've been thinking with the vast expanse of otherwise useless land up north with almost 360 days of lashing sunshine.[/quote]we need to fiscalise our tax system in nigeria,and make it compossary that everybody above 21 most file their tax return every year.

Billyonaire: This is what I have been dreaming of doing. The intelligences that made the planet earth are actually cyborg-like with nonperishable bodies.

with your oga at the top gej??

give 2.000.000naira to anybody who gives information to police that leads to boko haram arrest and let see how many of them will remain.nonses

we need opposition party to file in credible candidate,so that we can start a new nigeria.