₦airaland Forum

biachwest:
Nigerian categories stories so much.The president has done his job now and some one has just place his action as a decision from the legislative organ.
If the president doesnt act,we wil run out mouths and place blame and now that he has taken action we still dont give him credit?.
I thinck the president has just acted very smarth and correct just like other any inteligent leader should act.Hoever that will stimulate other ministers to perform to avoid being sacked.

Nigeria is a very complex country to govern. Many interests are at stake.

I find it intruiging that he asked the minister to handover to a counterpart who hails from the SE.

Anything other than that would have set tongues wagging about ingratitude to the SE who voted massively for him in the elections.

We should give the man credit when i t is due to him!

Jonathan suspends Interior minister
By Elizabeth Archibong


April 19, 2011 04:00PM
print email





President Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the Minister of Interior, Emmanuel Iheanacho.

Mr Iheanacho has been directed to hand over to his counterpart in the Ministry of Labour, Emeka Wogu, who will, in addition to his present portfolio, oversee that ministry.

This development may be connected with the protests in some parts of the country after Mr Jonathan was announced winner of the presidential polls. It may also be seen as the beginning of an imminent shakeup of his cabinet.

The Imo State born minister, a retired Navy Captain, was appointed substantive Minister of Interior on April 6, 2010, when Mr.Jonathan, as Acting President, announced his new cabinet

A statement by the spokesman to the president, Ima Niboro, said that the suspension comes "as a result of a number of lapses in the political leadership of the ministry traceable to his personal and official conduct. For now, his continued manning of the ministry is not in the interest of the nation."


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5691157-146/jonathan_suspends_interior_minister__.csp

Good to see that you guys are still having a go at this.

PapaBrown made a very interesting submission which I think has been largely dismissed but which I consider very plausible:

[b]@OP
You can look at it from another angle. What if Ribadu was in this elections all the while just to scuttle Buhari's chances.  For a job well done, he gets a top position in the Jonathan Government. He uses that position to build political capital and popular support in preparedness for 2015. He enters 2015 with more visibilty and political experience garnered from running in 2011. That to me is strategic thinking and I bet you it would serve him better than working in a Buhari party.
I also believe that was also Shekarau's strategy- use these elections to prevent a Buhari victory and garber enough exposure for 2015.

As per Tinubu, I always used to say it that  since sometime in 2009, Tinubu was in the same ship with Obasanjo. They met sometime in that period.
They had one common goal- breaking the northern hegemony!!  These two men are the greatest political strategists in Nigeria currently and they did a great job in pulling the rug of the northern hegemony!!
The Ekiti and Osun state victories were just trade-offs. Forget all those arguments between Katsina Alu and Salami.[/b]

Don't call me a conspiracy theorist but I agree with PapaBrowne.

Let's see what GEJ makes of Ribadu in his new government!

Here's my take on this issue which I posted earlier today:


I first heard the allegation that INEC software had been used to rig the elections from one of the CPC agents on Sunday.

The agent claimed at that time that ‘INEC software' had been programmed to reduce the CPC votes by 40%. I was very curious to know why/how a computer program that would deliver such sensitive information would be rigged in such a manner as it would be very easy to detect such a fraud.

Better information was however provided by the same agent and the chairman of the party yesterday.

Malam Almajiri Geidam, while speaking the Channels correspondent (Lanre Lasisi) after the INEC chairman declared the results last night, complained that the excel sheets used for collating the results for Kano and one other state (probably Kaduna) did not compute the total votes for CPC correctly, giving totals that were about 40% short of what they (CPC) had collated on the field.

In answering further questions from the reporter (who I must say asked very brilliant questions), Geidam said that the excel sheet left out the figures of some local governments but admitted that the results of the two states were corrected when they were pointed out to INEC.

When asked if he thought that CPC had been targeted for this treatment, Geidam admitted that he did not know if the same problem applied to other parties but that they CPC) noticed the error, pointed it out to INEC and that it was corrected.

The major grouse of CPC was that the same error might have applied to all other states and that that was why they insisted that the results should be recomputed manually.

When I listened to the press conference addressed by the party's chairman, Prince Tonyy Momoh, he admitted that the error was not that of reduction of 40% exactly from their votes tally.

Thinking about the whole matter, I came to the conclusion (based on the information available to me) that  Excel spreadsheets were prepared to capture the votes scored by each party in each local government. The spreadsheet s for the two states were defective in that the SUM() function was not  correctly entered by leaving out some rows or columns. I think this might have been an innocent mistake by whoever programmed the spreadsheet and the same problem most likely applied to all the parties involved.

The good thing is that it was spotted and corrected.

Having said that, I must say that I was shocked to learn that Microsoft Excel was being used to collate such sensitive information given the weaknesses of the productivity tool for such a job as this. Excel is prone to data entry errors, data diddling, accidental deletion or modification or data, etc.  

One would have expected that Commission would have deployed a more robust application, a custom built one for the exercise. Such an application ought to allow for verification and authorization of data entered by a higher authority before being committed to the database with appropriate audit trails. Totals, of course, would be handled easily by such an application.

The excuse for not deploying such a robust application would probably be lack of enough time given the well know problems and delays we experienced from the time the INEC chairman was appointed. But then, it says something about our lack of proper planning and preparation for major events. We had four years to get to this point but wasted time.

I hope that we would not be hearing the same complaints in 2015 or even 2012 when some gubernatorial elections will be held.

Even in the use of the excel spreadsheets, proper testing of the templates should have been carried out to avoid such a national embarrassment. Rigorous testing would have aided the wedding out of such bugs quickly.

On the part of CPC, I commend their vigilance and thoroughness in detecting the problem and promptly bringing it to the attention of the Commission. What is however not clear to me is whether INEC after receiving this report, took time to go through all the spreadsheets for the other states to confirm that such bugs were absent. If INEC did not do this, then CPC is right is right in crying foul and should get a fair hearing.  It is only when such complaints are properly handled that we can say we have a credible election.

If on the other hand, INEC carried out proper checks of all the other spreadsheets before releasing the final results, CPC is wrong to be making a mountain out of a mole hill and throwing the whole country into confusion.

To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer. -Paul Ehrlich
 
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance- Thomas Jefferson

GoodMuyis:
So 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + nth as turn to a difficult task to accomplished in Excel such that they won't be able to
SUM(A1 + A2 + A3 + A4 + nth) SUM(A1 : A2 : A3 : A4 : nth)

What I am saying, for example, is that if the results are in cells C5 to C15 and the total is to appear in C20, the formula should be =sum(C5:C15).

If by error, for instance in dragging the cursor down from C5, the operator stopped at C10, , the formula would read =sum(c5:c10) thereby leaving out five cells and resulting in a shortfall in the answer.

This is a likely human error in using Excel but can b easily detected by testing the spreadsheet .

A simple test is this:

if you input 1 into each cell from c5 to c15, you should get 11.

if that error was made, the answer would have been 6 showing the error.

[quote author=Akanbi_edu link=topic=649879.msg8162167#msg8162167 date=1303208108]One advice for Tinubu, he should just join the PDP with his silly "opposition" party[/quote]Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you!

I wish people could understand Tinubu for who he really is!

As far as I am concerned, he is not better that OBJ!

nulldev:
@Lagosboy, so how is this mobilization done? I was in Lagos during the election period and Ribadu adverts were non stop on tv, text messages got almost to the point of irritation so again short of rigging how did ACN conduct this underground stay away campaign?

I remember clearly that ACN did serious demarketing of Buhari - remember the adverts on electronic and print  mdeia saying that Buhari who stopped the metroline project should be blamed for the traffic situation in Lagos. This ad surfaced immediately after the talks with CPC broke down.

I first heard the allegation that INEC software had been used to rig the elections from one of the CPC agents on Sunday.

The agent claimed at that time that ‘INEC software' had been programmed to reduce the CPC votes by 40%. I was very curious to know why/how a computer program that would deliver such sensitive information would be rigged in such a manner as it would be very easy to detect such a fraud.

Better information was however provided by the same agent and the chairman of the party yesterday.

Malam Almajiri Geidam, while speaking the Channels correspondent (Lanre Lasisi) after the INEC chairman declared the results last night, complained that the excel sheets used for collating the results for Kano and one other state (probably Kaduna) did not compute the total votes for CPC correctly, giving totals that were about 40% short of what they (CPC) had collated on the field.

In answering further questions from the reporter (who I must say asked very brilliant questions), Geidam said that the excel sheet left out the figures of some local governments but admitted that the results of the two states were corrected when they were pointed out to INEC.

When asked if he thought that CPC had been targeted for this treatment, Geidam admitted that he did not know if the same problem applied to other parties but that they CPC) noticed the error, pointed it out to INEC and that it was corrected.

The major grouse of CPC was that the same error might have applied to all other states and that that was why they insisted that the results should be recomputed manually.

When I listened to the press conference addressed by the party's chairman, Prince Tonyy Momoh, he admitted that the error was not that of reduction of 40% exactly from their votes tally.

Thinking about the whole matter, I came to the conclusion (based on the information available to me) that  Excel spreadsheets were prepared to capture the votes scored by each party in each local government. The spreadsheet s for the two states were defective in that the SUM() function was not  correctly entered by leaving out some rows or columns. I think this might have been an innocent mistake by whoever programmed the spreadsheet and the same problem most likely applied to all the parties involved.

The good thing is that it was spotted and corrected.

Having said that, I must say that I was shocked to learn that Microsoft Excel was being used to collate such sensitive information given the weaknesses of the productivity tool for such a job as this. Excel is prone to data entry errors, data diddling, accidental deletion or modification or data, etc. 

One would have expected that Commission would have deployed a more robust application, a custom built one for the exercise. Such an application ought to allow for verification and authorization of data entered by a higher authority before being committed to the database with appropriate audit trails. Totals, of course, would be handled easily by such an application.

The excuse for not deploying such a robust application would probably be lack of enough time given the well know problems and delays we experienced from the time the INEC chairman was appointed. But then, it says something about our lack of proper planning and preparation for major events. We had four years to get to this point but wasted time.

I hope that we would not be hearing the same complaints in 2015 or even 2012 when some gubernatorial elections will be held.

Even in the use of the excel spreadsheets, proper testing of the templates should have been carried out to avoid such a national embarrassment. Rigorous testing would have aided the wedding out of such bugs quickly.

On the part of CPC, I commend their vigilance and thoroughness in detecting the problem and promptly bringing it to the attention of the Commission. What is however not clear to me is whether INEC after receiving this report, took time to go through all the spreadsheets for the other states to confirm that such bugs were absent. If INEC did not do this, then CPC is right is right in crying foul and should get a fair hearing.  It is only when such complaints are properly handled that we can say we have a credible election.

If on the other hand, INEC carried out proper checks of all the other spreadsheets before releasing the final results, CPC is wrong to be making a mountain out of a mole hill and throwing the whole country into confusion.

To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer. -Paul Ehrlich
   
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance- Thomas Jefferson

BBC

[b]B[/b]latantly [b]B[/b]iased [b]C[/b]orruption

Big Brother Coverage

Brainwashing British Citizens

Breast-Beating Conmen

Bloated Baleful Calumny

Brutish Bullying Cowards

Read more: http://biasedbbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=articles&thread=1089&page=1#2624#ixzz1Jwy464JC

BBC blamed for Nigeria’s post-Presidential election violence

April 18, 2011– From Agency Reports –

The BBC Hausa Service has been blamed for the riots and confusion in Adamawa State following its alleged broadcast that CPC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari had won the election in Adamawa State when the electoral commission in the state was still collating results.

The Special Adviser to the Adamawa State Governor Aminu Iyawa told journalists that the BBC broadcast was orchestrated to cause mischief and chaos. He said violence erupted after the electoral commission announced Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP as winner in the state.

Reports from our correspondent in Adamawa say the state government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in the state after riots broke out in various parts.

Several buildings and cars belonging to mostly Igbo traders were destroyed in Yola by youths on Sunday who also barricaded roads and razed the Jonathan campaign office there.

So far, 3 persons have been killed, while police say they have arrested about 50 persons carrying arms and jerry cans of petrol.

There are also reports that violence has spread to Michika and Mubi, the commercial hob of the state.

http://africanheraldexpress.com/blog7/2011/04/18/bbc-blamed-for-nigerias-post-presidential-election-violence/

And these "soldiers" should be arrested and tried!

These pictures are disturbing.

Please stop posting them.

Imagine what is happening to wives and daugthers of less prominent people who have been similarly "captured."

Sad! And it was avoidable, wasn't it!

12 April 2011 Last updated at 23:02 GMT
Viewpoint: Ivory Coast's lesson to Nigeria

Ahead of Nigeria's presidential elections, Nigerian-born novelist and journalist Kingsley Kobo - who has spent the past 16 years in Ivory Coast with his Ivorian wife and children - reflects on what lessons Nigeria could learn from the Ivorian crisis.

Fellow Nigerians, it is a great opportunity to exercise your civic rights as the country goes to the polls. Generations to come will salute your courage in helping to consolidate democracy in our beloved nation.

However, the most important thing in an election is not the voting process but the aftermath. Will the ballots be well handled? Will losers accept the verdict? Will the winner humble the vanquished?

As a Nigerian-born, adopted in the Ivory Coast and now living modestly in Ghana with my little family after fleeing the Ivorian post-electoral conflicts, I wish to arm your spirits by sharing some of my own bittersweet experiences.

'Setting the land ablaze'

Similar to the Ivory Coast, the campaigns in Nigeria during the last days culminated in some violence and tension.

But these conflicts don't matter - what matters is the change your one single vote will bring to your life and to that of your family.

During the Ivory Coast elections, few thought about their own future while voting.

They wanted their candidate to win by any means necessary, even if the price meant sacrificing their own lives and setting the land ablaze.

My brothers and sisters, what shall it profit you and your loved ones in fomenting civil disorders for a candidate you have not, and may never, meet?

“Start Quote


Please don't let 150 million Nigerians lose”

Elections are meant to create a peaceful atmosphere for progress and development, in the way we imagined the Ivorian presidential election would. Sadly, artilleries and mortars, pillaging and looting are speaking.

I urge you never to let this happen in our great country, Nigeria.

No matter which region you hail from, you remain a Nigerian, and your primary duty is to see the country win.

If your candidate loses, never mind, whoever wins is a Nigerian and it is therefore a victory for everyone.

During the Ivory Coast elections, some voters and aspirants vowed never to live and see the victory of others, which is why the final results were never accepted, and which is causing the war today and claiming the lives of thousands who had queued up to vote on polling day.

Living together

Aspirants, if you lose it's nothing, but please don't let 150 million Nigerians lose.

After decades of deadly conflicts between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, we ought to learn tolerance from Ivorian Christians and Muslims, who refused to kill each other, even after mosques and churches were attacked and parishioners killed.

Vengeance belongs only to our supreme God.

Although Ivory Coast has been politically split into north and south since the 2002 rebellion, and Nigeria still alternates leadership between the north and south, we are bound to live together as one people.

If we can intermarry why can't we live together?

Ivory Coast, a once peaceful haven and economic power, is now a shadow of itself because of a failed election.

Please, voters and aspirants don't let our election fail. Let the vote count for peace. Long live Nigeria!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13035540

Lagosboy:
The common underlying factor you forgot in all these names are they are of the alao akala type. They never had any integrity to protect in the first place, they were typical politicians.

And Alao Akala's time is up this weekend unless Ajimobi and Ladoja allow what happened to PDP in Ogun State last week (i.e Otedola a la Agbalajobi-Sarumi) happen in Oyo.

Lagosboy:
Man mi , you have made my day with this post taking me down memory lane. How can i forget Adeniji Adele the area boy commander chairman. You have spoken the truth and indeed very insightful post which explains the point I am making about Ribadu.

Could that be why they made him commissioner for Youths and social development?

I hope we don't end up dragging ourselves before the ICC.

Political leaders need to speak up and fast to calm frayed nerves. A stitch in time saves nine!
-------------------------------------------------------

Alpha Blondy's warning to the Ivorian leaders:

'Good liars'

There is a song of mine which was a real revelation, I was surprised when I listened to it this year. It's called "Course au Pouvoir", or Running for Power.


Alpha Blondy met Laurent Gbagbo (L) as part of his role as UN peace messenger The song goes: "There is a blood on the road that leads to the tower of power. There is blood, innocent blood."

The lyrics of that song describes what we are living today in Ivory Coast.

So the politicians cannot say that I did not warn them. I warned them, but power and greed made them deaf.
I would not want to be a politician - no way, because I love life too much!

You cannot be a good politician if you are not a good liar. You have to be able to lie with conviction.

What we are living with now is the failure of the Ivory Coast political family.

I would love all the Ivory Coast people, in all political parties, to come together.

It's not only Mr Ouattara's duty to reconcile Ivory Coast's people.

Every one of us should get involved in this reconciliation process, and the rebuilding, the reconstruction of our country.

And may God help us.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13063216

johnie:
The points highlighted about Buhari are very right. He indeed is a man of high moral principles but in democratic politics, it is very difficult to succeed[b] purely [/b] on that ground.

BBC Interview with Ivorian Reggea Star- Alpha Blondy:

There is a song of mine which was a real revelation, I was surprised when I listened to it this year. It's called "Course au Pouvoir", or Running for Power.

Alpha Blondy met Laurent Gbagbo (L) as part of his role as UN peace messenger The song goes: "There is a blood on the road that leads to the tower of power. There is blood, innocent blood."

The lyrics of that song describes what we are living today in Ivory Coast.

So the politicians cannot say that I did not warn them. I warned them, but power and greed made them deaf.

I would not want to be a politician - no way, because I love life too much!

You cannot be a good politician if you are not a good liar. You have to be able to lie with conviction.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13063216

Gbawe:
The point is that many do not think like you and me . They are not bothered by considerations that should be very troubling . It is highly disturbing to me that Jonathan possibly helped a man escape a murder charge just so he can win an election . Others , from what we have seen , clearly do not care about that . The idiosyncracies of the Nigerian voter , that defies logic , needs a book of its own . Nothing happened here Ribadu himself cannot reverse with deliberate and measured efforts . Many villians , with reputations me and you think is totally trashed, are celebrated highly across Nigeria. Is Andy Ubah now not a Senator when he has done enough , along with his brother, to be forever condemned to the political wilderness ? Abeg it is Nigerian logic-defying politics we are still talking about here . Lets never forget that .

Atiku too was "finished" yet he ended up consensus candidate against GEJ !!!!! Give it 2 months and everyone would have moved on . Ribadu is undoubtedly one of the good guys . If guys like Andy Ubah can 're-invent ' themselves I certainly don't see why anyone would hastily write off Ribadu . The reality on the ground always rubbishes the lofty idealism of the most educated Nigerians .

Nigeria is experiencing a change albeit slow.

It is that change that made it difficult for Atiku to bounce back despite the very strong backing of the "old" order.

IBB recognised that change and announced his withdrawal from the political scene.

That change partly accounted for Buhari's loss , though you may not agree.

Buhari's reputation which cast him as a villain in some minds worked against him.

Uba and co will have their day when the people have their say. It's only a matter of time!

El-rufai, maybe he learnt his politics lessons when he was FCT minister or maybe after, to me seems to have gained huge political capital  from what has just happened.

If you remember, El-Rufai (like Ribadu who he shared an office with when EFCC started and also shared ideologies with) was very brash in his early days at BPE and later the FCT. Remember the spat he had with Ibrahim Mantu and co and how we went about things at the FCT? He seems to have learnt to be more calculative. He had the option of supporting Ribadu or een going against him but he chose to bid his time probably acknowledging that the time was not yet ripe for him or Ribadu.

I remember Prince Ademola Adeniji Adele who at the time he was Chairman of Lagos Island Local governement was considered by many next in line to the governorship position of Lagos. That was during the SDP/NRC days. He was a strong member of the SDP and strong backer of MKO Abiola during the June 12 debacle.

He was locked up with the likes of Polycarp Nwite, Ameh Ebute (Senate President) and other "NADECO" members while the likes of Tinubu managed to escape abroad.

By the time, the dust on June 12 had settled and Abacha organised his five fingers of the same leprous hand (political parties), Adele joined one of them and thought he could cash some of the political capital he had earned during the SDP/NADECO days.

Alas, this drew the ire of the NADECO camp  who saw him and treated him as a traitor.

Of course, the Abacha adventure fell through and inflicted further injury of Adele's political capital.

By the time "democracy" returned in 1998-1999, Adele was like an orphan who unsuccessfully tried to re-integrate himself into the progressive camp.

It took him  a while to find his balance and the best he could manage was a commisioner (for sports and youths development) position under Tinubu's godson, Fashola.

1. Ribadu will find it difficult to re-enter the northern political space as a hero where he would be seen as having betrayed the cult-hero-Buhari.
2. He would find it difficult to shake off the stigma of associating with Tinubu in trying to find space among young anti-corruption elements.
3. He would be seen as being politically naive, a pawn in the hands of Tinubu and/or Obasanjo (depending on how you look at it), as events unfold.

El-rufai on the other had would be seen by the northern elements as a succssor to Buhari. He has always potrayed himself as a nationalist lways associating wih people from the south freely and even commending people like Fashola openly even though he did similar things to what Fashola is doing now when he was in charge of the FCT.


The points highlighted about Buhari are very right. He indeed is a man of high moral principles but in democratic politics, it is very difficult to succeed[b] purely [/b] on that ground.

Okay, so you thought it was only in Nigeria that the lawmakers are afraid of certain individuals or are afraid to pass/amend certain laws?
------------------------------------------


Royal weddings: time to update the laws of saying 'I do'?

The outdated laws on royal marriages need changing, says a researcher – and William and Kate's wedding is the perfect time

Prince William's forthcoming marriage to Kate Middleton is unlikely to be beset by any legal confusion. But future Windsor weddings could easily be mired in controversy unless there are changes to the law, according to Professor Rebecca Probert from Warwick University, an expert on marriage law.

Probert argues that laws need to be unravelled which, for example, give the royals exemptions that don't apply to the rest of us, while others saddle the royal family with archaic restrictions that contravene their human rights.

The forthcoming royal wedding seemed a good impetus to convert 10 years of research into a book, The Rights and Wrongs of Royal Marriage: How the Law Has Led to Heartbreak, Farce and Confusion, and Why It Must Be Changed.

Probert points out that, as the law stands, any future heir could succeed to the throne if he or she married a Muslim or a Hindu, but not a Catholic. And in fact, marrying a scientologist or a Satanist would still put him or her in the clear. "There's nothing stopping them under current legislation," she says. "The Act of Settlement says only that you drop out of the succession if you marry a Catholic. Any other religion, it's fine. Of course, it's absurd by 21st century standards. But it's a consequence of 18th century law designed to secure a Protestant succession. It's ridiculous that it has never been repealed. "

It's even more ridiculous, perhaps, when heirs are allowed to cohabit with Catholics or enter into same-sex relationships with them without forfeiting their place in the succession. Also there is nothing to stop the wife or husband of a royal from converting to Catholicism after the wedding.

The issue of royal consent is just as baffling. Anyone who can trace his or her ancestry back to George II may require the Queen's consent before marrying. Otherwise the marriage could be declared technically void under UK law.

Extensive research in the National Archives has led Probert to conclude that while successive governments have been aware of the "absurdities" of royal marriage law, they have done nothing about it. "They don't want to be seen to be legislating during a crisis, such as Princess Margaret's plan to marry [the divorcee] Group Captain Peter Townsend in 1955. And when there isn't a crisis, there are always more pressing problems."

The issue came to a head, she feels, 50 years on from Princess Margaret being pressed into breaking off her engagement. The build-up to Prince Charles's marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005 brought about judicial contortions from the Lord Chancellor of the day. Lord Falconer struggled to balance laws that were forged in the 18th century to bolster the hereditary monarchy with a Human Rights Act passed in 1998 making equality before the law a fundamental principle.

Result: farce. "The initial announcement that the civil marriage was to take place at Windsor Castle had to be hastily revised," Probert recalls. "It was shifted to Windsor Guildhall, which was registered for civil marriages." And why did it have to be a civil ceremony for the man who was first in line to the throne and head of the Church or England? Because he was a divorcee, and so was his bride. Attitudes had changed in 50 years, and the Queen felt able to give the consent to her son's marriage that she had been advised not to give to her sister's.

Crucial to the Queen's decision was Lord Falconer's judgment that the Human Rights Act meant that nobody, including the Prince of Wales, could be discriminated against on grounds of birth. "All we had was a statement in parliament and a decision by the registrar general to grant a certificate of marriage," says Probert. "The Lord Chancellor never went into detail about how the Act might apply to other members of the royal family. Can any of them now get married in a civil ceremony? And, if they choose to marry in church, do they have to go through the same formalities as everyone else?"

Royal privilege, it seems, has hitherto exempted them from certain requirements enshrined in the Marriage Act of 1753, including the need to get a licence and sign the appropriate parish or civil register. If Probert has her way, even the Archbishop of Canterbury could face a fine of £1,000 if he failed to ensure that this was done. Why? Because claiming rights on the basis of non-discrimination must inevitably mean forfeiting privileges enjoyed since the 18th century, she argues. "The time to legislate is now while there is a groundswell of enthusiasm for the forthcoming wedding." But surely the government has more pressing problems to deal with?

"Successive governments have been saying that since the 1950s and ducking the issue."

But why does it matter? "For the general population, it doesn't matter too much these days whether or not their parents are married. But unmarried royals can't pass on titles to their heirs. So as long as we have a royal family, we need to have clear laws that ensure that their marriages are free from challenge as to whether or not they're valid."

The Rights and Wrongs of Royal Marriage is published by Takeaway Press at £9.99

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/05/royal-wedding-william-kate-law

May God deliver all of us!

We need to close this matter now!

Let's hope Jonathan's opponents and well meaning individuals will urge these hoodlums to exercise restraint quickly!

FORMER Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida on Saturday announced his final withdrawal from active politics, saying that it is time for the young generation to take over the leadership of the country.

He, however, canvassed a five-party system as the best option for the country against the 63 registered political parties.

Answering questions after casting his vote at the Up Hill polling station, Sabon Gari, Minna, Babangida said he believes there will be a realignment of political parties in the future, adding that he tried two political parties but hopes the number could be brought to a manageable size of five.

Accompanied by his daughter, Halima and son, Mohammed, the former Head of State said that he is still a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that as a founding father, would never leave PDP for another party.

On the chances of the PDP winning the presidential election, Babangida said, “Going by what I have been reading in the newspapers, everybody has a chance. Politics is like a game; if you lose, try again and that is the essence of politics.”

On the security situation in the country, reoccurring incidences of bomb blast and the call from some quarters for military intervention, Babangida said, “I have always said that the military is an aberration; we shouldn’t introduce them into our politics now, we have had it before and I don’t support that we introduce military to come and truncate our democratic process, not even to take part in our electoral process.“However, we should be vigilant and sensitive to issues around us especially on security, I think State Police would solve our security problem.”

Babangida commended the large turn out of Nigerians for the exercise and praised Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for providing an enabling environment for a free and fair elections.



http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45039:ibb-quits-active-politics-canvasses-five-party-system&catid=199:latest-election-coverage&Itemid=721#comments

auwal87:
Picture of some hoodlums as was sent to me

* Picture deleted as it was claimed to be an old picture, not of today's mayhem

God bless you!

Guys, that picture is an old one.


Let's be careful not to inflame passions here!

Ogun will complete Oparo River dredging soon –Osikoya

By Akinpelu Dada
Monday, 18 Apr 2011


The Ogun State Government has said that the dredging of the Oparo River in Isheri area will be completed before the advent of the rainy season.

Failure to dredge the river in the past had led to severe flooding of most parts of the Riverview Esate, Isheri, with property owners suffering heavy losses there annually. However, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Kehinde Osikoya, said that the dredging worked, which commenced some weeks back, would allow the river to accommodate excess water usually released from the Oyan Dam by the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority.



Such excess water, he explained, would easily run into the Majidun River in Lagos State without causing any erosion or flooding problem.



A statement by the Director of Information and Site Publicity, Ogun State Road Management Agency, Mr. Biodun Awere, on Friday, quoted Osikoya as saying that the completion of an earth canal would also ease the passage of water into the river.



Osikoya, who is also the chief executive of OGROMA, was also quoted as saying that the permanent solution to the flooding situation in Riverview Estate was the total dredging of the River Ogun by the Federal Government, noting that the fund required for the project was beyond the capacity of the state government.



He also said that measures were already being put in place to reclaim all service roads in the Isheri axis to enhance smooth movement by the people in the area.



Meanwhile, Osikoya has assured citizen of the state, particularly motorists, that the ongoing reconstruction of the Isale-Igbein Bridge in Abeokuta will be completed before May 29.



He said that the main structure of the bridge had been constructed and that what remained was the back filling and asphalt overlay.



According to him, OGROMA engineers are working round the clock in order to meet the target date, while not compromising quality job.



The delay in the reconstruction of the bridge, he said, was as a result of the late release of money from the Ecological Fund by the Federal Government.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104181381196

When Bafarwa, Ribadu and Malami showed interest in being the presidential candidate of ACN, they were laughing.

When Bafarawa stylishly complained that he was asked to step down for Ribadu at the ACN primaries, Ribadu was laughing.

He did not think about the yoruba adage: The cane that was used to beat the senior wife is still in the attic and sooner or later will be used on the younger wife.

Now Ribadu has been taught politics 101. Tinubu is laughing.

I dey laff o!

Ouattara to ask ICC to probe Ivory Coast massacres
13/04 16:14 CET

Ivory Coast’s main city is trying to get back to normal but 10 days of fierce fighting for control of Abidjan have left deep scars.

The winner in the power struggle – internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara – said his priority is to restore security and basic services.

“The post-election crisis is over,” he told a news conference. “We are now going to embark on two big projects: reconciliation and reconstruction.”

Ouattara has urged Ivorians not to settle scores. But the fear is supporters of his defeated presidential rival Laurent Gbagbo could face reprisals. Ouattara said the captured ex-strongman had been moved to a secure villa somewhere in the country.

As French and UN troops seize abandoned ammunition and as French expats return to Abidjan from the safety of a military base, Ouattara said he would ask the International Criminal Court to investigate reports of post-election massacres in Ivory Coast.


http://www.euronews.net/2011/04/13/ouattara-to-ask-icc-to-probe-ivory-coast-massacres/

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The ICC ponders investigate violence in Ivory Coast

The Hague. (Reuters) .- The Attorney General of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has revealed he is gathering information about the increasing violence in Ivory Coast with the opening of any inquiry, for which require the cooperation of some member countries. "What we're doing is gathering information in order to open an investigation there.

We are concerned about the recent information on the massive atrocities in western Ivory Coast and we are trying to define exactly what happened," said Moreno- Ocampo. As part of this work, has said it is liaising with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and France to any of these countries, as members of the ICC, refer the case of post-election violence Ivory Coast international body.

"We are discussing with some member states, particularly those in the region, for if they wanted to refer the case. That would help accelerate the court's activities," he asserted, from his office in The Hague. In this regard, Moreno-Ocampo has said that although Cote d'Ivoire is a member of the ICC, so it could request the opening of the case, an additional request of another member country would be "very useful" for the development process.

According to the 1998 Rome Statute, any member state can request the initiation of an investigation to the ICC. Apart from this instance, the Security Council of United Nations may also refer a case to court, although the country to which it relates does not recognize its jurisdiction. Ivory Coast is mired in political crisis since it was released results of the November elections, which gave victory to opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.

However, President Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power, which has led to a violent conflict that has skewed the lives of about 1,500 people.

http://world-news-post..com/2011/04/icc-ponders-investigate-violence-in.html

8 April 2011 Last updated at 15:46 GMt

Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta appears at ICC in the Hague

Uhuru Kenyatta is also finance minister and the son of Kenya's founding president

Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and two others have appeared at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accused of links to 2007-8 post-election violence.

The three are seen as allies of President Mwai Kibaki.

Three suspects connected to Mr Kibaki's rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, appeared on Thursday.

All six are accused of crimes against humanity during the violence in which some 1,000 people died.

Some 500,000 people were driven from their homes, 100,000 of whom still remain in camps.

The violence broke out after supporters of President Kibaki were accused of trying to rig the presidential election in December 2007.

It ended when Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga agreed to share power, with Mr Odinga becoming prime minister.

The ICC judges said hearings would be held on 1 September and 21 September to decide whether the men would stand trial. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment.

All six deny wrongdoing.

Arrest warning

Mr Kenyatta, who is also finance minister and the son of Kenya's founding president, is accused of organising a vigilante group which carried out attacks after the disputed election.


Uhuru Kenyatta - deputy prime minister and finance minister and son of Kenya's founding president
Francis Muthaura - head of civil service and cabinet secretary
Hussein Ali - police chief during the violence
Supporters of Raila Odinga in 2007

William Ruto - former minister of higher education. Member of the Kalenjin community
Henry Kosgey - former minister of industrialisation - chairman of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement
Joshua arap Sang - reporter and executive of radio station, Kass FM
Alongside Mr Kenyatta were secretary to the cabinet Francis Kirimi Muthaura and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali, who were also accused of organising attacks on those seen as supporters of Mr Odinga.

They were not formally charged but face allegations of murder, deportation, persecutions and violation.

During Friday's hearing, Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova warned all six suspects to avoid making "dangerous speeches".

"It came to the knowledge of the chamber through following some articles in the Kenyan newspapers that there are movements towards retriggering the violence in Kenya, by way of delivering dangerous speeches," she said.

"This might prompt the chamber to replace the summonses to appear with warrants of arrest."

On Thursday, former Higher Education Minister William Ruto, former Minister for Industrialisation Henry Kosgey and radio executive Joshua arap Sang appeared in court for their preliminary hearing accused of similar allegations.

Mr Ruto - who has fallen out with Mr Odinga since 2007 - told the court the allegations "made here sound to me like they can only be possible in a movie".


The violence brought Kenya to the brink of civil war Kenya had asked the ICC for a deferral, and says it is now able to investigate and prosecute these cases itself, although the government previously declined to set up a tribunal, which is why the ICC intervened.

Some 40 Kenyan MPs gathered outside the court in The Hague to provide moral support for the accused on Thursday.

Kenyan television stations have interrupted their normal programmes to carry live broadcasts of the court proceedings from The Hague.

The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says with elections due again next year, any trials at the ICC could potentially alter Kenya's political landscape.

[b]Both Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are seen as likely candidates to stand in the 2012 presidential elections, but any criminal charges could effectively end their political ambitions.

The ICC alleges that a criminal plan was put in place in the Rift Valley for supporters of President Kibaki to be attacked after the election.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has said that in retaliation, police were given the green light to use excessive force and a vigilante group was organised to attack civilians.

The violence brought the country to the brink of civil war, with long-standing ethnic and economic rivalries ignited by political divisions.

One of the worst incidents saw a church where about 100 people had sought sanctuary set on fire, killing dozens inside.

The violence ended after former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan brokered a peace deal between the two presidential rivals. As part of the deal, it was agreed that perpetrators would face justice in Kenya or at the ICC in The Hague.

The organisation Human Rights Watch says the appearance of the six Kenyans in The Hague is an important test of their co-operation with the ICC. [/b]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13010942

New battle ground opens over Lagos Lekki Toll Gate project
Monday, 18 April 2011 00:00 By Joseph Onyekwere Property - Property

THE legal debacle over construction of Lagos Lekki tollgate project, which appeared whittled some weeks ago, has resurfaced at the Federal High Court, Lagos, as an aggrieved party has approached the latter to wade into the controversy rocking the planned venture.

An earlier efforts by some residents of the area to stall the project through a judicial intervention by a Lagos High Court, had met a brick wall, as the state court struck out the suit.

In the suit, the residents had sued the Lagos State government, Lekki Concession Company (LCC) and others over the collection of toll fee at the Lekki-Epe Expressway. But Justice Candide-Johnson had punctured the move.

However, The Guardian has gathered that the Federal High Court is set to hear the matter, which has already been assigned to Justice Murtala Nyako, who would commence hearing on June 6, 2011.

In the originating summons, by Messrs Ebun Adegboruwa, the applicant is asking whether under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Lagos State Works Management Board Law, Land Development (Provision for Roads) Law and other prevailing statutes, Lagos State Government is entitled to abdicate its statutory responsibility of providing road and other infrastructures for its citizens to private individuals and companies, purely for profit, in such a way that will lead to a contravention of the applicant’s fundamental rights.

Whether there is any law in existence in Lagos State made by the House of Assembly of Lagos State authorising the collection of tolls, money, tariff or any other fee howsoever described, on any road from the applicant and the people of Lagos State in contravention of the applicant’s fundamental rights.

Similarly, whether the imposition and collection of road tax, levy, toll fee or tariff from the claimant, road users and other residents and indigenes of the Lekki/Ibeju/Epe communities to have access to and use of the Lekki-Epe Expressway does not amount to discrimination and therefore a flagrant violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights as enshrined and guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and therefore null and void.

Consequently, the applicant

sought a declaration of the court to the effect that the concession by the Lagos State Government of “its statutory responsibility of providing roads to and other infrastructure to the people and residents of Lagos State, to Lekki Concession Company Limited, purely for profit, is illegal, unconstitutional null and void and violative of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He also wants the court to make an order directing the first respondent (LCC) to forthwith remove and dismantle the Admiralty Circle Plaza toll points erected on the Lekki-Epe Expressway as same is hindering free mobility and access to and use of the said road/highway by the claimant and the people and residents of Lagos State as well as an injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their servants, officers, agents, banks, privies or otherwise howsoever, from collecting, receiving any money, fee, toll, tariff or any such levy from the applicant or any other person for the purpose of granting access to and use of any portion or part of the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

According to an affidavit in support of the originating summons deposed to by the applicant, he averred that he contributes to the economic prosperity of Lagos State and of Nigeria, pay his tax and partake in other various ways in the development and progress of Lagos State and of Nigeria.

That “he is also an employer of labour in Lagos State and I have cases being prosecuted and defended in various courts in Lagos State and other parts of Nigeria whose outcome can be and indeed will be affected in one way or the other by the running of the administration and government of Lagos State.”

He swore that apart from having family members who lives and work in the area, his law office and library are based in Lekki, Lagos State, adding that as a leader in his church and community who reside in Lagos he has a great stake in the outcome of the leadership and administration of Lagos State and of Nigeria.

“I know that several other roads and other infrastructures have been built by the Lagos State Government without imposing the hardship of tolling and tariff on the people. Private companies and organisations have also built roads and other infrastructures in Lagos State for the use of the general public without any tariff or toll, being performance of their social or statutory responsibilities.

“There is no road in Lagos State presently where toll fee is being collected by Lagos State or its agents or concessionaire in any manner whatsoever as residents and indigenes of other communities in Lagos State such as Ikeja, Surulere, Apapa, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agege, Kosofe, etc, are not being subjected to any form of toll fee or road tax by the Lagos State Government for them to have free access to and use the roads built by the Lagos State Government in such communities”, he deposed, adding that if the 1st defendant is not restrained by an order of the court, it would be setting a very dangerous precedent for other parts of Nigeria and encouraging organisations and governments to abandon their social and statutory responsibilities to the people.

He said: “I know that the entire land constituting the Lekki-Epe Expressway was acquired by Lagos State Government under the guise of public use and enjoyment and the same government is now attempting to turn over the said land to the 1st defendant for private, personal commercial exploitation and profit at the expense of the land owners, the claimant, other road users and the general people and residents of Lagos State.”

But the first defendant (LCC) in its notice of preliminary objection argues that the subject matter of the suit does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court as contained in section 251 of the 1999 constitution, adding that the applicant’s claims as presently constituted are not justiciable by virtue of section 6 (6) (C) of the 1999 constitution because the claims bothers on public law rights which should have been commenced by way of judicial review.

In a 12-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Olabisi Akinkugbe on behalf of the first respondent, the defendants averred that the action was aimed at irritating and annoying the respondents because the Lagos High court had earlier struck out the applicant’s amended originating summons for refusal to proceed with the hearing.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45116:new-battle-ground-opens-over-lagos-lekki-toll-gate-project&catid=25:property&Itemid=655

The Egyptian military has also hijacked the "peoples' revolution."

I am shocked that anyone would be openly canvassing a military government in this day and age.

That's out of fashion bro!

[quote author=bk.babe97y link=topic=647832.msg8143242#msg8143242 date=1302985851]Believe it or not, if the politicians in this current dispensation keep going the same route the military is coming back! Nowhere on earth do politicians earn Millions of Dollars/Annum while the people live on approximately $60/month!

Buhari DID NOT "destroy" a "Democratic" or "legitimate" Govt.; He took out a criminal one. His mistake was not rounding them all up and putting a fuxcking bullet btwn their fat faces. Have you ever read of Umar Dikko? No? Read up on him.
[/b]

The coup of Dec.1983 was a very necessary and needed action![/quote]Even IBB, a major beneficiary of military governments has renounced military rule:


FORMER Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida on Saturday announced his final withdrawal from active politics, saying that it is time for the young generation to take over the leadership of the country.

He, however, canvassed a five-party system as the best option for the country against the 63 registered political parties.

Answering questions after casting his vote at the Up Hill polling station, Sabon Gari, Minna, Babangida said he believes there will be a realignment of political parties in the future, adding that he tried two political parties but hopes the number could be brought to a manageable size of five.

Accompanied by his daughter, Halima and son, Mohammed, the former Head of State said that he is still a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that as a founding father, would never leave PDP for another party.

On the chances of the PDP winning the presidential election, Babangida said, “Going by what I have been reading in the newspapers, everybody has a chance. Politics is like a game; if you lose, try again and that is the essence of politics.”

On the security situation in the country, reoccurring incidences of bomb blast and the call from some quarters for military intervention, Babangida said, “I have always said that the military is an aberration; we shouldn’t introduce them into our politics now, we have had it before and I don’t support that we introduce military to come and truncate our democratic process, not even to take part in our electoral process.
“However, we should be vigilant and sensitive to issues around us especially on security, I think State Police would solve our security problem.”

Babangida commended the large turn out of Nigerians for the exercise and praised Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for providing an enabling environment for a free and fair elections.



http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45039:ibb-quits-active-politics-canvasses-five-party-system&catid=199:latest-election-coverage&Itemid=721#comments

He is a Nigeria hater though