₦airaland Forum

seunmsg:
The court cannot disqualify him over the NYSC certificate because it was not presented to INEC and it’s not a requirement to be eligible for election.

duro4chang:
That stupid man from agulu wants to become a president. He forgot how his father was killed by his drug gang. A big stone was tied to his neck and thrown into a river.

Varunpulyani:
Duro4chang is currently in a mental home

It has been established that Osun State is the Only State in Nigeria currently with a Full-fledged Ministry of Cooperatives and Empowerment that is newly created with a mandate to empower all Osun people in respective of their party affiliations using the instrumentality of the sustainable Cooperative Model.

In a recent courtesy/familiarization visit made by the Management team of the Cooperative Rating & Award Society of Nigeria (CRASoN) to the newly created Osun State Ministry of Cooperatives and Empowerment Honorable Commissioner, Prince Bayo Ogungbangbe (Fcssm), with a view to advocating, and seeking collaborative support for CRASoN projects, programmes and activities especially the upcoming 5th Nigerian National Cooperative Awards, Symposium and Exhibitions 2023 to be held in Lagos State.

Hon. Ogungbangbe has promised to deliver the message of CRASoN to the Governor and gave us his word, that his entire Ministry would attend the National Cooperative Award in Lagos by God’s grace.

During the meeting held at the office of the Commissioner, the first to address the sitting was the Osun State Director of Cooperatives, Mr. Ogunjide Babatunde who introduced the CRASoN Management Team to the Honorable Commissioner and briefed him further on the reason they were at the Ministry.

Speaking next, was the CRASoN President/CEO and leader of the team, Mr. Victor Oyegoke who appreciates and commended the Honorable Commissioner for operating an open-door policy, He said that within the shortest notice of their intention to pay a courtesy visit to the Ministry, they were granted an appointment to meet with the Commissioner, this is what we call a leader with a listening ear and a sign of good leadership and inclusive governance par excellence.

Mr. Oyegoke further briefed the Hon. Commissioner on issues germane to the promotion, development, and ensuring sustainability of the Cooperative Sector in Nigeria and Osun State in particular. He narrated how he set up 2010, a Cooperative Consulting Organization – Cooperative Support Services (CoopSupport) after a survey that revealed the information gap and lack of capacity within the industry that now birthed CRASoN and recently the Naija Cooperative News, all for the sake of Cooperative development, growth, and Information. He Shared how the Maiden edition of the annual Nigerian National Cooperative Awards organized by CRASoN in collaboration with the Federal Department of Cooperatives under the aegis of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security debuted in 2018 at Lagos, followed by the Second edition that was held in 2019 at Abuja and how COVID-19 didn’t allow them to host the event in 2020 and resumed back in the year 2021 at Lagos doing the Third edition. The Fourth Edition was held last year at Abuja, while the 5th Edition which is the main purpose of their visit will be held in Lagos State come November 17th to 19th 2023.

Ms. Adewura Adewuyi CRASoN EA to CEO
The CRASoN CEO revealed that the 2023 Panel of Jury of the organization has unanimously agreed to recognize the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Senator Ademola Adeleke as the Most Outstanding Governor of the Year for his love and belief for cooperatives as a veritable vehicle to alleviate poverty at the grassroots is seen by the strategic moves in setting up a full fledge ministry for Cooperatives and Empowerment, which to us is a great feat as no Governor in Nigeria of today did such, hence the need for the national recognition and to be celebrated as a worthy cause for the emancipation of the cooperative movement as this would aid the development and growth of cooperatives in the state and by extension the nation at large, in several ways by improving on the economic and social life of cooperators.

In response, The Honorable Commissioner, Prince ‘Bayo Ognugbangbe commended the selfless efforts of Mr. Victor Oyegoke and his team for their input to the cooperative sector and stated that His Excellency understands Cooperatives and believed in the sustainable model as a veritable tool to impact the grassroots lifting majority out of poverty and hunger.

He appreciated the organization for recognizing the strategic decision of creating a new Ministry of Cooperatives and Empowerment by His Excellency, Senator Ademola N.J. Adeleke, which happens to be the only State with such a feat and promised to deliver the message to His Excellency personally about the National Honor and Award as the Most Outstanding Governor of the Year and a Patron of the Organization as he is expected to grace the occasion as Distinguished Guest of Honor

id911:
Reno is using Peter Obi's name to make money on Twitter and other of his social media accounts unknown to Obidients. The more he attacks Obi, the more impression and traffic he gets and ultimately the more money he makes. Na Obidients dey give Reno food, If you tell them this, they won't listen. So Reno can't stop attacking Obi because Obidients give him energy and 💵

Many Obidients commenting on his posts daily are too dum.b not to realize this.

Ofunaofu:
Such level of maturity from Peter Obi needs to be studied

Lagos Business School to host U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo in a landmark event .

The US Deputy Secretary of Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, has said Nigeria lacks the macroeconomic framework to attract more dollar denominated foreign direct investments into its economy.

Adeyemo noted that the government needs to develop a macroeconomic framework that demonstrates its commitment to the fundamentals and this will in turn help attract foreign investors to the country and help the country’s economy thrive.

This was made known by Adeyemo while speaking at the Lagos Business School (LBS) at a forum with business leaders in Lagos on Monday, September 18, 2023.

Adeyemo, who spoke on the US-Nigeria Economic Relationship, praised the early steps taken by the government in terms of the fiscal policy and unification of the exchange rate.

More needs to be done
The US top official stated that more needs to be done, noting that as companies around the world become more comfortable with the approach of Nigeria, the country would be destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Responding to a question about investments and the Nigerian economy from the audience, Adeyemo said,

“Nigeria lacks a macroeconomic framework that is going to help to bring more foreign direct investments including dollar-based foreign investments into the country.

“The early steps the government has taken is good in terms of what they have done (fiscal policy), in terms of what they are trying to do with unifying the exchange rates. More needs to be done and they recognise that. The truth is as companies around the world become more comfortable with their approach, you would expect that Nigeria would be a destination for FDI.”

No quick solutions
The Deputy Secretary said the proposed reforms by the Nigerian government will not have bring quick solutions because things have been difficult economically over the past few years due to COVID, the Russian-Ukraine war, and a confusing exchange rate policy.

He said, “We need to make sure that as you are making the transition, which will take longer than anyone wants, that you are taking steps to make sure that you are helping Nigerians who are feeling it the most. But I think the most important point, is that you need to put reforms in place that allows people to bring in capital into the country in a way that they are secured and can take their money out when they choose to and they continue to make investments.’’
According to him, America is bullish on Nigeria because of its people, adding that the recently introduced reforms in Nigeria were long overdue.

He said the US had made it clear to the Nigerian government that it wanted to partner in the implementation of the reforms.

He disclosed, “And this is not just the US, the World Bank, the AFDB, and other international institutions too. I know that before I came, I spoke to the president of the World Bank who has seen the president of the administration and is ready to work with them in terms of trying to help make the transition easier, especially for Nigerians feeling the pinch.”

He noted that United States is one of the largest foreign investors in Nigeria, with the country being the US’s second-largest African trading partner. He stated that the US government provided Nigeria with over $1 billion assistance in 2022, to support Nigerians with access to health care and reduce food insecurity.

The crises surrounding the authenticity of President Bola Tinubu’s academic sojourn is as old as his political career. But the simple desire of the Nigerian public has been for the president to show evidence that he attended school, especially the Chicago State University. This plea has been met with rebuff, therefore, dragging the saga of a supposedly unauthenticated certificate.

However, on Friday, the Chicago State University announced that a said Bola A. Tinubu attended their school, but the transcript released still bear female as gender, and offers discrepancy in dates, thereby sustaining the saga.

Earlier in 2002, the present Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, went to court over certificate forgery against Tinubu. This was cited by the spokesperson, Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Daniel Bwala, in an interview on Channels TV. He noted that Keyamo had sued the Lagos Assembly in 2002 over Tinubu’s candidacy as the then governor of Lagos State.

Citing a law report titled Keyamo V. House Of Assembly, Lagos State (2002), Bwala said, “This is the Supreme Court decision in the case I have cited and I will just read a line: The appellant alleged amongst others as a legal practitioner that he has been confronted by some of his clients who wanted to understand certain things they consider important relating to their contesting the governorship in Lagos State.

“He further, that is Festus Keyamo, alleged certificate forgery against the Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that the latter was not qualified for the office of the governor.”

Bwala noted that Keyamo, who is today speaking in favour of and defending tinubu’s eligibility, was the appellant in the then case.

Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election had heightened the tension associated with the 2023 election by filing a petition to obtain information about Tinubu’s academic records at Chicago State University, where the president claimed he attended and obtained a certificate.

Atiku’s attorney, Angela Liu, had requested documents pertaining to Tinubu’s admission, attendance, degrees, awards, and honors obtained during his time at the university. These issues had been a subject of disputes since the days of Tinubu’s stewardship as the governor of Lagos State.

Atiku had aimed to use the subpoena to verify the authenticity of his claims and establish the truth amidst ongoing disputes about his election and academic history.

Atiku’s application was spurred by an earlier case in Nigeria on November 9, 2022, several months before the Presidential elections, in which one Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah, described as a “Human Rights Defender and Public Interest Litigator” in Abuja, commenced proceedings against Tinubu by filing a “Direct Criminal Complaint” in the Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In a swift response however, President Tinubu’s legal team had filed a counter motion to dismiss the subpoena in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Chicago, USA through Victor Henderson, counsel to President Tinubu, who argued that the petition lacked the necessary court authorization and provided inadequate time for compliance, violating the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.

According to BussinessDay, “Legal experts and commentators have voiced their opinions on Atiku’s pursuit of justice abroad. Mike Ozekhome, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, viewed Atiku’s actions positively, stating that the international nature of the matter warranted seeking legal assistance outside Nigeria.

“Kennedy Khanoba, a Constitutional lawyer, however, maintained that unless President Tinubu is convicted in the US court, Atiku’s efforts might yield little results. He emphasized that only a conviction would have a significant impact on Tinubu’s presidential position, as convictions result in a prohibition from holding public office for a specified period.

“Jackson Ojo, a political analyst, told Punch Newspaper that the sovereignty of Nigeria as an independent state could limit the influence of foreign court rulings on Nigerian affairs. He expressed skepticism about the direct impact of an American court ruling on the outcome of Nigerian elections and judicial proceedings.

As the legal battle unfolds, Nigerians remain divided on the efficacy of seeking justice abroad. Atiku’s pursuit of evidence through the US court system has ignited debates about the integrity of Nigeria’s legal system and its potential impact on the country’s political landscape. The final verdict and its implications for the Nigerian presidency remain uncertain as legal proceedings continue.

But complicating the defence of Tinubu and his legal, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, admitted that it has jurisdiction in the case instituted by Atiku, to compel CSU to produce critical documents relating to Tinubu.

The desire of all and sundry to know the truth led to a bombardment of the university official X (former Twitter) account, and due to heavy traffic and enquiries about President Bola Tinubu academic records, a lockup of the account of authorised.

In the X account of the university, there was the ‘protect your posts’ feature that allows users to disclose their mission from persons who are not followers.

This, it was learnt was due to new enquiries to those who were not usual visitors to the X account of the university.

Owing to this, any new visitor to the social media account was asked to disclosed the purpose.

THE ORIGIN

In his original complaint as described by oblongmedia, Mr. Enahoro-Ebah alleged that Mr. Tinubu submitted an “Affidavit of Personal Particulars” to INEC in June 2022 as part of a required filing to run for President that included a forged CSU diploma dated June 22, 1979 and other information that is inconsistent with the CSU documents.

According to court papers filed by Atiku in the US court dated August 2, 2023, to support the allegations, “Mr. Enahoro-Ebah stated that after Mr. Tinubu made his INEC filing, Mr. Enahoro-Ebah obtained a subpoena from the Circuit Court of Cook County, dated August 11, 2022, and served it on CSU. In response to the subpoena, CSU’s Registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, sent a letter dated September 22, 2022, to Mr. Enahoro-Ebah’s Chicago counsel, Mr. Matthew J. Kowals, advising Mr. Kowals that “[t]he enclosed documentation is all the records we have for Bola E. Tinubu.

“According to the complaint, the documents that accompanied Mr. Westberg’s letter included a CSU diploma issued to Mr. Tinubu on June 27, 1979. The June 27 diploma allegedly produced by CSU to Mr. Kowals, and the June 22 diploma allegedly submitted by Mr. Tinubu to INEC, are very different documents. In addition to the different dates, the documents have different seals, fonts, and language. The June 22 diploma has grammatical errors that the June 27 diploma does not have. They are also signed by different persons who are ostensibly officials of CSU. The June 22 diploma has three signatures, one of which purports to be the signature of Dr. Elnora Daniel as President of CSU. The other two signatures on the June 22 diploma are illegible.

“By contrast, the June 27 diploma only has two signatures. They purport to be the signatures of Dr. Daniel, again as the President of CSU, and Dr. Niva Lubin as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Compare

“In his complaint, Mr. Enahoro-Ebah asserts that the June 27 diploma produced by CSU to Mr. Kowals is authentic, and that the June 22 diploma submitted by Mr. Tinubu to INEC is a forgery. However, Applicant’s staff have recently conducted further research into the names of CSU officials with legible signatures on the two diplomas: Dr. Daniel (whose signature appears on both the June 22 and June 27 diplomas) and Dr. Lubin (whose signature appears only on the June 27 diploma). According to public records, Dr. Daniel and Dr. Lubin did not join CSU until the late 1990s—around two decades after CSU supposedly awarded the June 22 diploma and/or the June 27 diploma to Mr. Tinubu.

Applicant’s research therefore calls into question the authenticity of both the June 22 and the June 27 diplomas.

In his complaint, Mr. Enahoro-Ebah alleged the following additional discrepancies between the information provided by Mr. Tinubu to INEC and the documents produced by CSU to Mr. Enahoro-Ebah:

“According to documents produced by CSU, the “Bola Tinubu” who attended CSU was a U.S. citizen, while in the information provided to INEC, Mr. Tinubu states that he has always been solely a Nigerian citizen and has never acquired the citizenship of any other country. According to the documents produced by CSU, the “Bola Tinubu” who attended CSU was born in 1954, while according to the information provided to the INEC, Mr. Tinubu was born in 1952.

“According to the documents produced by CSU, the “Bola Tinubu” who applied to CSU submitted a prior transcript from Southwest College that identified “Bola Tinubu” as “female.” According to the documents produced by CSU, the “Bola Tinubu” who attended CSU claimed that s/he had graduated from Government College, Lagos, in 1970, while in the information provided to INEC, Mr. Tinubu makes no mention of having attended Government College.

ATIKU SATISFIES ALL REQUIREMENTS – US COURT

Pursuant to the above, Atiku, by and through his counsel, applied to the Court for an order granting him leave to compel CSU to release and verify the authenticity of documents purportedly issued to Tinubu by the university.

The court said Atiku has satisfied all statutory requirements as he is an “interested person”; and the respondent, CSU, is a public university established and existing under the laws of Illinois, with its principal campus and offices in Chicago.

Having met all requirements, the court said it will not hesitate to grant the prayers of Atiku.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on March 1, 2023 declared Bola Tinubu winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election, having polled 8,794,726 to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party to the second and third positions respectively.

Both Atiku and Obi questioned Tinubu’s eligibility to run for the presidency. Obi’s argument revolved around Tinubu’s alleged forfeiture of $460,000 due to a drug-related case in the United States and his inability to secure 25 percent of votes in the Federal Capital Territory among other irregularities he felt occurred during the elections.

CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY CONFIRMS TINUBU’S STUDENTSHIP

Chicago State University, CSU, in an article published on CBS Chicago, confirmed that President Bola Tinubu attended the university and graduated in 1979.

Read the full statement below:

“As an educational institution, we are sometimes asked to provide information related to student records. The federal law known as FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protects the privacy of student records and limits what an institution can release.

In August 2023, a request was made in U.S. federal court for the university to provide information related to educational records concerning Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, and a former CSU student. The university has confirmed Tinubu attended CSU and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree. Federal law, however, prevents us from providing further information without consent or unless allowed via court order.

CSU is confident in the veracity and integrity of our records regarding Tinubu’s completion of graduation requirements and degree certificate. The university is not a party to the Nigerian legal proceedings that spurred this request, and a U.S. federal judge will determine whether the university will provide further requested information.

Our response to the request for Tinubu’s academic records has been entirely consistent with our practices, policies and federal law. We would respond in exactly the same manner for any request for any student information by a third party.”

Meanwhile in a post on the PDP website, Angela Liu, who is Atiku’s Attorney for the case against Tinubu about the Chicago University Certificate, argued that the university never gave the president any certificate.

The application made in Case No. 23-cv-5099 was filed pursuant to 28 United States Constitution 1782.

The post stated that Liu already submitted a 24-paragraph declaration in support of the application, pursuant to 28 U.S.C 1782, for an order granting leave to serve the Subpoenas to Chicago State University attached to the Application as Exhibits 1 and 2.

Angela Liu stated, “How can you have two certificates issued by the same university, to the same person, for the same course of study, but issued on different dates and signed by two different people.”

According to Atiku’s lawyer, the certificates which Tinubu submitted in Nigeria were different.

“The first Chicago State University certificate which Bola Tinubu submitted to INEC was issued on 22nd June, 1979, and signed by three signatories including a certain Dr. Elnora Daniel, whose signature is dated 22 June 1979.

“The second certificate supposedly issued to Mr. Enahoro by Tinubu and tendered at the PEPT was issued on 27th June, 1979, and now signed by two people and the same Dr. Elnora Daniel, signed it but now the date changed to 27th June, 1979, and a certain Dr. Niva Lubin also signed.”

According to the post, “Now evidence has shown that Tinubu submitted two different certificates and both may even be fake. The two certificates have different fonts, they both have different dates, they both have different Chicago University Logo, they both have different grammar written, they both have different signatories.

“Now here is the crazy part, the Dr. Elnora Daniel who Tinubu put on his certificate as a signatory for CSU in 1979, was not an employee of CSU in 1979. She was not employed by CSU until 1998

“A whole 19 years after Tinubu allegedly graduated. So how did she sign in 1979, when the woman was not even an employee of Chicago University as at that time.

“Also the second signatory Dr. Niva Lubin who Tinubu claimed signed his certificate dated in 1979 was not an employee of Chicago University until 1996. A whole 17 years after Tinubu claimed he graduated.”

It alleged that Tinubu had no certificate from Chicago State University and Atiku had taken the bold step to summon Chicago State University as a respondent in the case in Illinois.

Tinubu’s political rival, Atiku Abubakar, claims that documents showing that Tinubu graduated from Chicago State in 1979 are not authentic, and that is grounds to nullify Tinubu’s election victory earlier this year.

csu-diploma-use.jpg
According to the People’s Gazette, Tinubu submitted the diploma to Nigeria’s election commission. It was purportedly issued in 1979 and signed by university President Elnora Daniel. But Daniel didn’t arrive at CSU until 1998 and left about ten years later. Submitting false records to the National Election Commission before the vote should nullify the election, Abubaker claims.

At a hearing in Chicago, Abubakar’s lawyers asked a federal judge to compel CSU officials to turn over Tinubu’s academic documents and appear for depositions. Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois did not rule on the request.

CSU’s lawyer, Michael Hayes, told Gilbert that the university wouldn’t be able to certify Tinubu’s diploma under oath.

A CSU spokeswoman said the university can confirm the president graduated. However, it cannot authenticate the diploma because it is a ceremonial document that is not part of a student’s official academic file.

westberg-use.jpg
With the confirmation of a certain Bola A. Tinbu attending and graduating from CSU in 1979, it therefore behoves on the Atiku legal team to prove that the aforementioned Bola is not Nigeria’s president, but a certain lady as the documents tend to declare.

The parties will soon have their day in court, and so the saga continues.

I was left depressed by the news that President Tinubu was heading to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the G-20 summit in India, to lobby President Mohamed Al Nahyan for the removal of a Visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers by the UAE authorities. Unfortunately, it happened. Tinubu landed in the UAE. The Arab country had in October 2022 banned nationals of 20 African countries, including Nigeria, from entrance. In that notice issued to trade partners, including travel agents, the UAE authorities directed that all Visa applications should be rejected from Nigeria and the aforementioned countries.

In February 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to Al Nahyan via telephone to lift the Visa ban but he rejected the request. This is a clear case of racism and aspersion casting on an entire continent. What nonsense! What an insult! Who the hell is Al Nahyan and his UAE?

Regrettably, Nigeria is no longer the great country we used to be, no thanks to years of failed leadership and policies. We are no longer the leader of Africa. This UAE rubbish could not have happened to this country during the golden era of our foreign policy. It could not have happened during the superb era of our foreign relations. I’m talking about the 1976-1979 Murtala-Obasanjo era; an era during which the Nigerian government and people enjoyed global respect. If this UAE garbage had happened then, Nigeria would have retaliated with a reciprocal suspension of Visa issuance to UAE citizens.

So, racist UAE suspended Visa issuance to Nigerians and the Nigerian government went begging this disrespectful President Al Nahyan. Yes, it occurred. President Tinubu landed on September 11 in UAE to lobby President Al Nahyan after insulting our entire country with his Visa ban. The Nigerian government went begging instead of retaliating. UAE showed so much disrespect for us as a country and our leader went pleading. So, what has happened to Nigeria’s dignity? This is not the Nigerian leadership of my dream. Leadership has clearly collapsed in this country and it is now affecting Nigeria’s international relations.

Our President came out of the meeting with insolent Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi celebrating; that he had sealed a historic agreement, resulting in an immediate cessation of a Visa ban placed on Nigerians by the UAE authorities; that by the agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to resume flights into and out of Nigeria without delay.

Those leading Nigeria should be ashamed that the UAE authorities did not even acknowledge these so-called agreements announced by our President. In a statement the same day on its website on the outcome of the diplomatic meeting, Emirates News Agency, UAE’s official news agency, did not mention anything about the lifting of the Visa ban on Nigerians as well as flight resumption. The agency only noted that UAE’s president and Tinubu explored opportunities for further bilateral collaboration in areas that served both countries’ sustainable economic growth, including the economic, development, energy, and climate action fields.

Emirates News Agency added, “The two sides also exchanged views on a number of regional and international developments of interest. The meeting discussed the upcoming COP28 climate conference set to take place in the UAE later this year, with both parties stressing the vital importance of encouraging and enabling international cooperation to tackle global issues, including climate change.”

Evidently, there is nothing like “an immediate cessation of a Visa ban placed on Nigerians by the UAE authorities.” There is nothing like “both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to resume flights into and out of Nigeria without delay.” The word, “immediate” is an exaggeration by the Nigerian authorities. The arrogant authorities in the UAE have not agreed and will still have to hold further meetings on the issues. That is the meaning of that report released by Emirates News Agency which did not acknowledge any immediate resumption of Visa and flights.

In any case, I don’t think resumption of Visa issuance to Nigerian travellers is of interest to traumatised masses of this country. How would this put food on their table? How will this improve our health, education and roads? This Tinubu Visa drive should not be a priority of a people-oriented government. A good government should improve security and encourage domestic tourism in order to develop our country and reduce pressure on forex.

Government should be involved in an aggressive drive to encourage more Nigerians to spend their holidays at home and motivate them to visit our tourists’ resorts. This idea of promoting UAE Visa is preposterous. It amounts to promoting UAE tourism and trade. Nigerians have been going there to bring in all sorts of useless goods at the expense of our local industries. This also puts pressure on forex.

Those in support of Tinubu’s “begging mission” to the UAE argue that it would help thousands of Nigerians working in that country who urgently need to have the Visa ban lifted. But they forget that Nigerians are trooping to the UAE and jostling for Visas because our beloved country failed to meet their hopes in life. These Nigerians are victims of failed leadership and policies of our country. The rush abroad was not happening in the 60s, 70s and 80s because we had a government, a country and good leadership with good policies. We also had a good economy with strong Naira. This is the path Tinubu should return this country to, so that Nigerians won’t be trooping abroad to become second class citizens. The nature and character of the leadership is pertinent here. Tinubu must be proactive, effective, pro-people, courageous and lead by example. Enough of “begging missions.”

What has this country lost since Emirates and Etihad stopped flying to Nigeria over a year ago? Nothing! These two airlines are only interested in taking away forex from Nigeria. Emirates suspended flight operations to Nigeria over its inability to repatriate $85 million at government subsidised forex rate. Major players like British Airways, Qatar Airways, Air Maroc, Virgin Atlantic, Air France did not suspend flights to Nigeria despite the forex challenges. It was just the avaricious and selfish Emirates and Etihad that pulled out. These shameless exploiters want to be enjoying Nigeria’s subsidised forex while selling tickets to Nigerians at prices far higher than they do in other countries.

Before the crisis, the racist UAE authorities also did everything possible to frustrate the Nigerian airline, Air Peace, that was flying to Dubai using the BASA slots. At a point, it reduced Air Peace’s three weekly flights to one. At another point, it cancelled Air Peace’s approval to land in Dubai and moved the airline to the unattractive Emirate of Sharjah. The Nigerian government did very well then by also withdrawing the approval to Emirates to operate 21 flights to Nigeria following the refusal of the General Civil Aviation Authority of UAE to grant equal rights to Air Peace. The flight allocation crisis was eventually resolved. However, Air Peace was eventually forced out of the UAE by the Visa ban on Nigerians.

Nigerian flag carriers like Air Peace should be protected by a good government. Government should be concerned about our strategic interest in the aviation sector. The return of Emirates and Etihad will not do any good to this interest. The interest of Nigeria’s aviation sector and flag carriers must be served first. The Nigerian state has an obligation to protect our interest, not begging Emirates and Etihad to return. Foreign airlines should not enjoy any special treatment. No serious-minded country does that. Air Peace did not enjoy full BASA rights in the UAE before the crisis. Besides, a country struggling with forex liquidity issues should not be talking about doing business with Emirates and Etihad. They are simply extreme capitalism firms interested only in capital repatriation.

My message to Nigerians today is very simple: Embargo racist and insolent UAE’s tourism, goods, education, hospitals and everything about this country. We must preserve our dignity.

For those not following the story, Hajia Naja’atu Abdulahi was the pregnant woman murdered by terrorists in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State last Sunday. The innocent woman was declared missing by her husband on Thursday, September 7, 2023. She left home to braid her hair in Tsafe town but did not return. Naja’atu was abducted by terrorists on her way home. These bastards roam unhindered in Tsafe in a country supposedly with a government. Her husband and relatives waited patiently for a call from her abductors, who would, as usual, demand ransom.

The demand for ransom did not come. What her husband found was her dead body dumped in a farm behind the College of Health Technology in Tsafe, with many cuts and injuries on her body. The bastards murdered Naja’atu with her unborn baby. This is the tragedy of this country called Nigeria. Daily, scores of people are killed by terrorists in communities across Zamfara State. They control territories, collect taxes and terrify citizens. Those who fail to cooperate with them are summarily murdered. So sad that Nigeria can no longer protect its citizens.

Asking the Nigerian state to ensure that Naja’atu gets justice is a waste of time. As usual, the terrorists will get away with this latest murder. Security agents will pretend as if the murder did not happen. However, one thing is certain: Those who murdered Naja’atu have murdered sleep. They will never sleep again. Naja’atu will get justice in the court of Allah.

On the flip side, the eight young graduates from Akwa Ibom State who were abducted in Zamfara on their way to the Sokoto State National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp are 31 days old in the dungeons of terrorists today. The traumatised parents of the abductees have paid N13 million to the terrorists, yet, they have refused to release these young Nigerians who were on the way to serve their father’s land. As at press time, the terrorists were demanding an additional N200 million ransom to free these young Nigerians.

A family member of one of the abductees remarked: “We don’t know how we are going to raise that kind of money. Everybody was shocked when two parents, who have been in Sokoto State since the incident happened, told us that after they paid the final N8 million (to make up the N13 million ransom negotiated), the terrorists suddenly refused to release our children.”

“They said instead, the kidnappers contacted them to demand an additional N200 million ransom. We have paid N13 million already. First, we paid N5 million, later N8 million. Some parents sold their lands, and some even collected loans to raise the N13 million. We have not received any help from the government. So, how are we going to raise this fresh ransom of N200 million? We have deliberately kept this development from my mother. I don’t think that poor widow will survive if she hears this. We are suffering and helpless.”

The health conditions of the abductees are deteriorating due to the nature of the place they are being held captive, so says another parent. Terrorists molesting our children with impunity! This is heart-wrenching. The terrorists are communicating with the parents and relations of the abductees on phone, yet, security agents can’t tap into this to rescue these young graduates. What a country! I’m challenging Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State to raise his game and lead the mission to rescue these young graduates. They must not die.

Hikana:
I wonder why lawyers are unconcerned about the perception of our Legal system

Aisha Yesufu Reveals Why Politicians [b]And INEC [/b]Boast And Tell Opponents To ‘Go To Court’

Human Rights Activist, Aisha Yesufu, has claimed that many Nigerian politicians are confident of victory at the court, the reason they tells opponent after an election to go to court.

Naija News reports that challenging the outcome of an election has always been a norm in Nigeria, just like the victory of President Bola Tinubu, currently being challenged at the Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) by the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi and his counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, the country has only recorded a few cases of a sitting politician losing the result being challenged in court.

In a post via Twitter on Sunday, Aisha Yesufu recalled how the Supreme Court declared that the Card Reader Machines deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2015 election were not admissible in court.

According to Aisha, many corrupt politicians continue to tell opponents to go to court after an election because they can influence the judiciary in their favour.

She tweeted, “In 2015, the Supreme Court declared that Card Reader is not admissible in the court and that took our democracy back.

“Many corrupt politicians continue to stay in office because they have the judiciary in their pockets. They boast and tell opponents to ‘Go to court”

tolue42:
Really? Then why don't you caution obideints running up and down across the world with insults. They even got so low insulting insulting Chicago government.

They are the lowest set of human being in Nigeria as at today

tolue42:
Did you read what FAROOQ A posted today which a page was created for it on nairaland today?? Go and read with open mind, and come back here

tolue42:
Hope you people will not drag the US court when the who thing favors Tinubu, which we believe will favor him

duro4chang:
My answer is this: The school said Tinubu attended the school. People like Omokri and Peroogi made enquires and they all agree he attended the school. What else are you still looking for. You saw the school year album with Timubu's picture. You don't need any other thing again. His academic records belong to him. You cannot go to my school and demand for my academic records without my consent. You may make enquiry if I attended the school or not but for you to ask for my academic records without my consent is not allowed.
Peter obi claimed he attended UNN but failed to submit the certificate for the election purpose, we don't fight him for that. He has his reason.