₦airaland Forum

Picture looks like Femi Brainard to me.

black9jaberry: Dickson i hope that you wont fall out with GEJ.........Remembering Timipreye Sylva and his supportive days (laughing in china)

Timipre Sylva got into trouble because he failed to support GEJ when he needed it most. During Yar'Adua's Saudi Arabia sojourn, he chose to align himself with those trying to stop Jona' from becoming president. He is paying the price now.

I think Dickson has learnt his lessons well and he is doing the smart thing to survive in this kind of times: support Jonathan.

Facts, figures on Jonathan’s administration
Written by Doyin Okupe Thursday, 25 April 2013

http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/10301-facts-figures-on-jonathan-s-administration

IT has become the penchant of these opposition party leaders to use every platform to denigrate this nation and its government, confuse innocent members of the Public and deceptively present themselves as possessing what it takes to move Nigeria forward. Let me state unequivocally that these individuals do not have any antecedent that support this claim neither do they have the social political structure to move Nigeria forward.

Nigerians will note that the merger which these politicians are putting together is made up of PDP renegades, moribund and lacklustre ANPP which had existed for 13 years without any meaningful impact on the polity, and the ACN which is a one man owned and controlled political party with no form of any internal democratic credential whatsoever and totally devoid of any form of modern liberalism.

The leader of the opposition, Chief Bola Tinubu, who spoke disparagingly about the Federal Government on a number of issues bothering on the economy, democratic governance and social security, was once a governor of one of Nigeria’s richest states for 8 years and we all have a record of what he made of that position. The Bola Tinubu, who spoke about poor budget implementation at the federal level never attained sixty percent budget implementation while he presided over the affairs of Lagos between 1999 and 2003.Contrast this with the remarkable budget implementation record of the present administration in the last two years. The records are there for all to see. Senator Tinubu, who spoke about meager wages for public servants in Nigeria, was known to have ignored calls of Lagos civil servants for a 7,500 Naira monthly wage and when he eventually buckled to the pressure of Labour leaders, he wickedly sacked the major arrow head of the struggle in person of Comrade Ayodele Akele who was never re-instated.

The present National chairman of the ACN, Chief Bisi Akande as Governor of Osun State during the same period denied workers of a 5,500 Naira minimum wage and eventually laid off over 9,000 workers during his four-year reign. Comrade Adams Oshiomale,who was then NLC President and now Governor of Edo state led workers on protest march in Osun State during the period but Chief Akande remained adamant. Where then is the credential of these people to talk about job creation, promotion of workers interest and democratic etiquette?

As I speak with you, Ekiti and Osun states which are being governed by these opposition political parties are embroiled in one form of industrial crisis or the other as a result of the insensitive, cruel and anti-workers policies of their present governors. Local government workers and teachers went on strike in Ekiti and lost a number of their members to sack and other forms victimization. In Osun, tertiary institutions are at present under lock and key. School fees have tripled in institutions of higher learning owned by Ekiti, Lagos, Osun and Oyo states.

Yet, Senator Tinubu spoke of the present government as “heartless and mean that put the interest of small elite above the interest of the common working man and woman who are the backbone of this Nation”

These sets of politicians who want to desperately supplant the Jonathan’s administration are promoting an incongruous alliance of political weaklings and dysfunctional Lilliputians out primarily to foster their ego and psyche being repeatedly frustrated political power mongers; forgetting that one million giant ants can never muster the required strength to lift a concrete pole not to talk of a nationally entrenched pillar and structurally established institution like the PDP.

It is worthy of note that the major plank of this motley assembly, the ACN, is notorious for outsourcing its presidential standard bearer from the ranks of the same PDP they gleefully vilify. In 2003, their choice was Vice President Atiku Abubakar who now knows them better. In 2011, it was a protégé of former President Olusegun Obasanjo Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who fitted the slot although he was later betrayed and sacrificed on the altar of self-interest.

Presently, the debates within the factionalised alliance suggest that they will not mind fielding another PDP stalwart as its presidential flag bearer. It is clear that a party that consistently over a period of 12 years has been unable to find any suitable member from its own rank and file as presidential candidate has clearly exhibited its own structural and ideological weakness and its unsuitability as an organization capable of providing national leadership and can therefore not run an efficient or competent federal government in a country like Nigeria.

Apart from all the above, it is evident that the proposed merger revolves around two personalities only, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Retired General Muhammed Buhari. Unfortunately, both are heavily burdened political liabilities. We will not dwell much on this for now. The Federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan will not be distracted by these empty criticisms in its unrelenting drive to transform the social, economic and political landscape of Nigeria.

On the issue of power, which is the highest expectation of citizens from this government, we assure Nigerians that all hands are on deck to ensure delivery of uninterrupted power supply within the shortest possible time. You will recall that this administration inherited 5 major problems in this sector and these are: [1] low generating capacity due to failure to invest in the power sector for 20 years; [2] comatose NIPP projects; [3] poor and inadequate gas infrastructure and supply; [4] dysfunctional and inefficient transmission and distribution capabilities and [5] non achievements of the much-desired privatization agenda.

The Jonathan administration has nearly completely resolved four out of these five challenges; leaving only the fourth item to which sufficient attention is also being dedicated. It is projected that within the next twelve months, the problems affecting transmission and distribution will be substantially resolved.

On infrastructure, Nigerians are already reaping the benefits of government’s investment especially on ongoing road rehabilitation projects some of which are on the verge of completion.

Notable of these are the Kano-Maiduguri, Port Harcourt-Enugu, and the Benin-Ore road which now takes commuters less than three hours as against 13 to 17 hours previously. The second Niger bridge will be completed in the next 24 months other things being equal. As for the Lagos-Ibadan express road, Nigerians and people living in the South West should expect a major pleasant surprise as government is in the process of concluding arrangement on the provision of a first class road project which will be the first of its kind in Nigerai. I can say it on good authority that the Federal Ministry of works has completed the design of this project and its ancillary structures such as security and hospitality facilities.

On rail transportation, Nigerians are beginning to enjoy the revitalization and rehabilitation of Railway services nationwide. The over 5,000 kilometer Lagos-Kano rail line abandoned for over 20 years has been fully rehabilitation and in full use to the admiration and commendation of commuters. The Eastern axis rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is virtually completed and will be operational very soon. These are land mark achievements which cannot be glossed over.

In the agricultural sector, major strides were achieved in the governments drive to ensure that Nigeria achieves self-sufficiency in rice production. The country produces 3 million MT of rice and imports 2.1 million MT. Through the rice transformation agenda launched one year ago, an additional 690,000 MT of rice was produced in 2012 from the interventions under the rice program. This is 140 per cent higher than the target set for 2012. This means that the domestic rice self-sufficiency rose from 60 per cent to 74 per cent in 2012 – an increase of 14 per cent.

This achievement has not gone unnoticed. Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda’s rice production value-chain aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in rice production by 2015 has received recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which has projected that the increased rice output in Nigeria and Ghana will make global rice production for 2012 to outpace consumption in 2012/13 year, resulting in an upward revision of 5 million tonnes in 2013 closing inventories.

New fiscal measures were announced by Mr. President raising tariff for brown rice, and levy on imported finished rice, to encourage local rice production. In response, 13 new private sector mills were established in the last 12 months, buying and processing local paddy. The total capacity of the new mills is 240,000 MT. High quality local rice rolled out on commercial scale by Ebony Rice, Ashi Rice, Mikap rice and Umza Rice. The local rice is in the market, displacing imported rice due to high quality, taste and price.

To ensure that Nigeria has in place industrial capacity for international quality grade milled rice that can compete with imports, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance concluded arrangements to facilitate the acquisition of 100 large scale integrated rice mills, with a total capacity of 2.1 million MT, to be located across the country, owned and operated by the private sector. This is being acquired under a low interest rate facility of $ 1 billion from the China EXIM Bank. For the first time in Nigeria’s history, Nigeria will have the full industrial capacity to mill and replace all the rice it currently imports – and become an exporter of finished rice to other African countries.

Dr Okupe is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.

Sunny_bobo: I thought governorship election cases end at the Appeal court?

The law has since been amended. Gubernatorial electoral disputes now end at the Supreme Court.

bobbydbobo: Here's wats happening nd wats gna happen.: The west, under wide nd secretive consultation are looking for an opportunity to burst Nigerias bubble, so they say, let's find a reason to get there, nd like they do wen it comes to other nations, they send a black ops team, for a clandestine operation, they kidnap their own pple, nd play under the pretext that it is boko haram, cos any reasonable man wld biliv that cos that's the most reasonable thing to biliv in the circumstance. Nd then they decide to work with the nigerian govt nd hereby deploy their troops, assert their stations, form a black site somewhere all for what? To monitor our govt, dictate through neo-colonialist means, nd also ensure a free flow of oil for the next American Generation., I said "American gen." because they are our First "friends"in times like that so theyld come up first nd welld welcome them wiv open hands... Ohhh, I love America... Asserting their power cos they are worthy of it..... I'm still waiting for that person who will come here to make a comment nd say I watch too many movies, nd illd laugh at such folly.....

I don't think "you watch too many movies". I believe you must be high on some controlled substance.

To all of those making excuses in line with Fani-Kayode's argument that "a strange woman" can provoke a man to do what he would not normally do, let me pose a few questions:

1.) What would the same man do if his colleague constantly provokes him on the office? Slap the person? Or grab a gun and shoot?
2.) Did we ever think of women who are constantly being provoked by their male partners? What should they do with "the strange man" in such a circumstance?
3.) Islamic fundamentalists in Nigeria have killed hundreds in the past because they were provoked. An Igbo woman used the Quran to pack faeces in Kano, a teacher threw out the Quran through the window in Gombe, a lady wrote something derogatory about Mohammed in a newspaper, all these were stimuli for the various carnages that followed. Yeah, the killers were also provoked. So, does this make it justifiable, or understandable?

My conclusion:
If you are one to hinge your stupidity on the premise of being provoked, you should be locked behind bars for the rest of your life since you have refused to be civilized.

Although we still do not know the actual details of the alleged crime attributed to Pistorius, if indeed he killed his partner because he was provoked, he definitely does not deserve any mercy and he should get his due comeuppance.

elampiro: Efe Ambrose was easily our man of the match today. He won almost all his tackles, he cleared crosses, he made good passes, held the ball with confidence, didn't give away possessions and overlapped well.

He was also picked as the tournament best right back.

Thanks pal.

I always knew an excellent defender may be overlooked when it is time to select the most outstanding player in a team. Efe Ambrose was it in this final match. I was happy some folks could appreciate this guy's contribution especially in this final match. His tackles were clean, he is good aerially, and he's got excellent positioning.

Not only is he my man of the match, he was selected in CAF's best eleven (further vindicating my position), and I believe his career is destined for greater heights.

Okija_juju: My post was deleted?!

But why?!

All I did was say 'Praise be to the God of Sharia Justice system?!'... I thought we were all thought to give praise to God in all things?!

Anyways, nothing I say here will change Anything.. AFTERALL;

- Malala was shot dead by her fellow M*$L!#s for simply going to school and wanting to get an education.
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Malala was shot, but is still alive and recuperating. Thank God for her life.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/malala-yousafzai-grateful-life-creates-malala-fund-girls/story?id=18398161

Many home-based players are as good as the foreign-based players and deserve to be given an opportunity to prove their mettle.
No one knew Sunday Mba until Stephen Keshi gave him an opportunity!

I am not a regular on the sports section but I need to make these points:
Nigeria will defeat Burkina Faso.
Nigeria will top its group.
Nigeria will get to the semi-final.
What happens afterwards, I don't know.

I have been pondering on what to say to my Uncle who recently lost his wife to a sudden illness.

Some people say, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh", does this help to comfort anyone?

I have also heard people say "we are all destined to die", is this a good consolatory statement?

What should I tell him?

Freiburger: Na Afica everybody dey flex their muscles, make dem go try am for Syria or Iran na?

This is an uninformed comment. A coalition army of Western countries was involved in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, were those African countries? And they are not involved in the crisis in Somalia and Congo? Are those not African countries?

Freiburger: And you can just assume the French never heard of Boko haram, They will not intervene because the oil belongs to whom it already belongs, to compared to a virgin land like Mali.

Let us assume that the French decides to join in the fight against Boko Haram, I am sure you will come here to spew this same trash that it was all because of oil. Now they are not involved and you say it is because the oil already belongs to someone. And how is Mali a virgin land?

And some people are even talking about oil as the reason for France's involvement, which oil does Mali have? Does Afghanistan have oil? So how come America and other western countries are involved in the Afghanistan war?

The West got involved in Libya, people blamed them. They refuse to get involved in Syria, some people are still blaming them.

I thought Okey Bakassi was not interested in the suffering of the masses any more. Since he choose to serve one of the worst governors this country has ever seen in person of Ikedi Ohakim. The only Governor that made history by flogging a reverend father. How come he never saw fit to write this letter when he was busy enjoying the filthy lucre of office?

Okey, abeg stop complaining. Your boss is part of the reason we are where we are now; so just shut the f*ck up!

talktimi: This reminds me of Dr Abalaka in the 90s who was frustrated by the IBB regime over his alleged cure for HIV/AIDS, dude had to run to Zimbabwe whr he was sponsored by the Zimbabwean govt to work on his cure, IBB just placed a nice threatening call and our nice Dr was deported to Nigeria and his travelling documents seized. Right now I hear he's into ice block business in abuja.
Moral of the story is - the cure for hiv/aids will only come out when the powerful west wants it to come out.
Next time prof should do things in the proper way sha

This is bullsh*it. Abalaka's fake claim to cure for HIV/AIDS was punctured and he melted back into the obscurity from which he came. His fifteen minutes of fame could only take him that far when patients who flocked to his clinic for cure got no such remedy. Your whole Zimbabwe story is pure fiction.

sure way: A lecturer once explained to me "there is cure for HIV but it will create set back for many HIV/AIDS Awareness organisation"
perhab he found the cure..but you shud knw dis is naija.
dr ibeh at this moment of ur life l think you need security agents.

@sure way:
Your lecturer was certainly wrong and you too for believing him.
And to all the conspiracy theorists, no Western power would want to stop any effort to get a cure for HIV/AIDS. The US Government spends more than a billion dollars every year providing treatment for HIV/AIDS in third world countries and other forms of services to those affected. Why must some people always see a catch in every straightforward thing

Gambrosia: Health concerns of course!

BLOOD PRODUCTS ARE NOT SAFE!

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/9894/1/Is-the-Blood-Supply-Safe.html

Yeah, and death is a bit safer!!

Truckpusher: If you don't solve the problem of poverty, dysfunctional health care system, education and sanitation whatever that keeps making them widows so early is still lurking around.

Recycling women like ragolis bottle water will only worsen the situation.
Encouraging mass wedding in a period of mass unemployment, mass infrastructural decay , mass bombing and mass civil unrest is just mass madness.

I agree entirely with you.

This fixation on marrying off women who are divorcees and widows is still a general symptom of the northern Nigeria's variant of Islam that looks down on women and deny them of education and economic empowerment. A society that regards an unmarried woman as a failure and would rather give them off as second or third wives. In actual fact, what is wrong with being an unmarried woman if you can take care of your dependants and you contribute to the development of the society? Is an unmarried woman who is economically empowered and an employer of labour not more useful to the society than hundreds of Almajiris?
Unless and until the north gravitates towards "reasonable and intelligent Islam" like Senegal, Tanzania, UAE or Kuwait, and abandon the retrogressive type of Islam as is being practiced in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan, development will continue to elude it.
Meanwhile, both Zamfara and Kano States are part of the backward northern Nigeria belt with the worst development indices globally. Polio-ravaged, with milions of Almajiris, endemic for fistula, with less than a quarter of their women able to read and write and less than a tenth of their kids getting immunized. And yet marrying off divorced women is their next priority. In actual fact, it is actually safer for a woman to have a baby in Afghanistan than in Zamfara!
Sometimes I really wonder whether even the educated northerners recognize the magnitude of the problem they are contending with. You travel anywhere in Nigeria: Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, Ibadan, Sokoto, Calabar, Yenagoa, Maiduguri and you notice that virtually all the destitutes and beggars in all these places are from only one part of the country. And their concern is about morality and marrying off single women!!! In a 2011 assessment, a state like Osun fully immunized about 55% of its children while Sokoto immunized less than 5%.
The Islamic north needs to think!

The author of the article was listed as Bayo Oluphunda at the beginning, but as Ms. Adamolekun at the end. Which is which?

I however share the author's concerns about Rochas' unimpressive performance as well as his impulsive approach to governance.

DrummaBoy: May I offer a word on this issue as I try to approach the issues you raised paragraph by paragraph

Paragraph 1: It is easy to say Bakare is bitter when you consider he lost an election against GEJ and remains his worst critic; but Bakare is known to criticized past head of states, Pastors, and even Ojukwu; the question is "did he contest elections against those ones too?" If you would unbiasingly consider the context in which Bakare criticizes anyone, you would realize that the criticism was valid. And Yes he criticized Buhari once but came out to state he was wrong on the man and supported his candidacy before he was invited by Buhari to run for presidency.
Paragraph 2: Those who know Bakare well know that he prediction do come to pass. Among others, he predicted the time and manner with which Abacha will die and it happened. Recently he predicted ACN will loose gallantly in Ondo; and they did. Yes some of his prediction have not come to pass bc the best of prophets are still men at their best. It could be said that Jonah's prediction that Neneveh will be destroyed missed the mark. The issue about prophecy is that sometimes the prophetic word may not be clear to the prophet himself and he has to use words to describe what he is seeing to the best of his ability. It is only after the event that he understands it better himself. One certain thing about Bakare's prophecy on GEJ is that he is not Nigeria's messiah and at God's mercy to this nation, he would not finish his term in Aso-Rock.
Paragraph 3: Bakare's silence on the killings followed the silence of many other prominent Nigerians who believe that the fruit of voilence Nigeria is reaping is the result of years of PDP planting corruption in our body polity. There was no reason to talk officially on the issue since the CPC and Buhari, their party leader, had spoken on it. But then he did speak in passsing on the issue, making reference to it in his messages. Latter Rain being a church that offers prayers for the family of people lost to voilence in the nation.

And for his being not your hero; that is fine but considering the amount of votes he garnered from folks on this forum, he is an hero to some other people. You have your say, gentle man, but the majority have had thier way here.
Finally, in a nation were christianity has gone over to the dogs it is refreshing to know that someone like Bakare can still keep the touch of Christ shining. The people who voted for Bakare on this forum were mostly non-christians, what is a better way

How did you confirm that majority of those who voted Bakare were non-Christians?

I disagree with this award.

Bakare is a bitter person voicing out his frustrations at GEJ for losing in the 2011 elections. His inconsistency is legendary. After running down Buhari and affirming that he has no plans of contesting elections, he aligned with the same guy he earlier claimed has nothing to offer Nigeria to be his running mate out of ambition.

Above all, this guy finds it difficult to distinguish his personal opinions from what he claims God is telling him and his predictions have failed severally. Sometimes ago, he predicted that GEJ will not be president by October 2012. Well, we are already in 2013 and GEJ is still the president.

My biggest disappointment and the exact point where I parted ways with him however was his unbelievable silence when those southern corpers were murdered in cold blood in 2011 in some northern states. This guy had nothing to say about the grievous murders other than throwing tantrums about how the elections were rigged. This has been followed by his loud silence anytime Boko Haram strikes. Rather than condemn these blood-thirsty fanatics, he would always turn around to blame Jonathan.

He is no longer my hero.

Okija_juju: Come on now!!

What evidence do you have to prove this claim?!

And yes, Jonathan could do more in terms of funding for the Judiciary and I am glad you agree that the hands of the judges are tied especially when the Prosecution seems to be very weak and disorganized..

But how do we blame Jonathan for the inability of the judiciary to successfully prosecute criminals?! A sector that is not under his control?!

Q: What evidence do I have?

A: Publicly available news sources cited below.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/efcc-plea-bargaining-pdp-chairman%E2%80%99s-son-over-fuel-subsidy-fraud-premium-times

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/plea-bargain-fuel-subsidy-scammers-anti-people-anpp-says

Q: How do we blame GEJ for the inability of the judiciary to successfully prosecute criminals?

A: The judiciary cannot convict without a government agency with the appropriate powers bringing up the case to their courts. Where have the key actors in the various scams been charged? Halliburton? Pension scam? Farouk Lawan? Wilbros? Siemens? Power sector? And who is in charge of the relevant agencies such as EFCC, Code of Conduct Bureau, ICPC, Police etc? It is still Jona'.

Okija_juju: [b]lol!! I am not attributing Nigerias lack of prosecution of corruption solely to poor funding of the justice system o!! I'm only saying that even when we try to prosecute these crooks, most times we lose because of poor funding.. When you have a defence attorney that has unlimited access to funds, experts witnesses and investigators, para-legals, private jets and good hotels plus logistics to build their defence and a Prosecution staff that is poorly paid, poorly funded, poorly staffed, with alot of bereaucarcy and bottlenecks to overcome in terms of access to finance for investigation and all worth not.. A prosecution that isnt as inspired/motivated as the defence!! Its gonna be hard to pull in alot of wins..

Before we blame Jonathan for his lack of interest in fighting corruption, lets not forget that he was the person who blew the lid off of this subsidy scam. He even had his committee publish names of subsidy crooks and then the case was handed over to the attorney generals offcie and till today, NOTHING!!! Jonathan is the head of the Executive and has no jurisdiction in the Judiciary...


For us to get results, the judiciary needs to be remodelled.. I dont mind giving out some of these cases as contracts to Litigation law firms around the country to handle..


I almost forgot ... BRITAIN SPENT AN ESTIMATED 3.6 BILLION NAIRA ON IBORIS TRIAL ALONE...

http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/07/15/revealed-uk-spent-n3-6billion-iboris-trial-justice-musdapher/

Little wonder they said the best brains in virtually all fields of academic expertise are not in the public sector... I would rather earn 1 billion to defend a criminal than earn 50,000 to prosecute him!! lol




Think about that!!
[/b]

Still a no from me. Jona' could appropriate more money to these agencies to fight corruption if he wants results. You (I assume) and I have no inputs into how funds are allocated and Jona' is in a good position to make those decisions.

I still don't get your point about commending Jona' for uncovering subsidy fraud. When he is already doing deals to prevent any of the suspects from paying the price of corruption.

I agree that we need to overhaul the judiciary. But what do you want a judge to do when for instance you plead for time to bring in your prosecution witness and after two years and several adjournments you are still pleading for more time? While I agree that Jona's role in judicial reform is a bit limited, that is no reason not to even arraign the real criminals in the Halliburton, Siemens, Wilbros and Julius Berger scandals which have been well documented in their various foreign home countries.

I am aware that it might have cost that much to prosecute Ibori, but do you by any stretch of imagination believe that his assets that were seized by the UK government is not enough to offset this amount and leave some for repatriation to Nigeria?

Okija_juju: [b]I will be honest with you that I absolutely get your point.. HOWEVER!!! Right now, its either we put certain developmemnts on pause nd pursue corruption fully or we focus on developments while taking the puppy steps to curb it..

I had the opportuinity to speak with one of Nigerias top and high ranking Lawyer/Legel counsel in Nigeria and I was going on and on about how Nigeria has failed to arrest and prosecute a single soul succesfully ever since Obasanjos EFCC tackled Tafa Balogun, Bode George and Yaraduas EFCC handled Cecilia Ibru.. His response to me was that fighting corruption is very expensive.. EFCC couldnt send Ibori to Jail despite posessing more danming evidence than Scotland Yard.. The man told me that for Nigeria to successfully prosecute political criminals without using a MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM would cost us billions if not trillions.. He said that how can a man on minimum wage win against a man with billions.. He siad we shouldnt blame the judges, that they cannot convict a person based on emotions but based on how the lawyers handle the cases and that most times the defence is so good its difficult to convict them based on the funds and resources available to the prosecution.. That was when I sat quietly/..

I am sad that Farouk Lawan is back in the House of Reps.. I am sad that the subsidy regime is still going on, I am sad that the police still couldnt jail those who stole their pensions..

So knowing this, I think I am happy that these things have been exposed.. Now I know.. Maybe, oneday, we will get to that point where we can afford to throw 13milliom abi billion pounds sterlings into pursuing a case.. [/b]

@Okija_juju
I absolutely disagree with you and your top-ranking lawyer friend on the opportunity cost of fighting corruption. While I belong to the school of thought that progress can still occur even with corruption, it is apparent that it slows the pace of development.

This is actually the first time I am hearing that the financial cost of prosecuting corrupt persons is the real reason why the present government is not that committed to it. Yet you mentioned the example of Bode George, Tafa Balogun and Cecilia Ibru who were all prosecuted and convicted by a relatively more determined government using the same institutions that we have under the current government. How did they (Obasanjo and Yar'Adua) do it that Jona' could not? To even make it easier, there are several clear evidences to show that the proceeds of corruption could actually be sufficient enough to fund the prosecution of corrupt persons. Do you imagine that the Swiss Government could incur any loss in identifying and tracing the Abacha loot from which they repatriated $700m to Nigeria? Or could the EFCC spend more than the $15m Ibori bribe to prosecute him if it is really determined to convict him? How much did it cost the British government to indict and seize Erastus Akingbola's assets worth billions? I think given the level of corruption in Nigeria, I am firmly convinced that the amount of money a determined government could retrieve should be enough to fund the agencies responsible for tackling corruption even with zero government subvention.

No Sir. Jona's tepid fight against corruption is not because it is too expensive for the government in financial terms. I think the government had found a way to use it as a bargaining tool for political favours. While Obasanjo and Yar'Adua also leveraged on the political currency it could get by bargaining with corrupt persons wielding some power, Jona' has turned it to a way of life.

Even if I were to agree that the government might not have the resources to go after every case of corruption, it could select and make examples of the few cases it chooses to pursue. But what have we seen? For example the EFCC serially failed to produce the prosecution witness in the Halliburton-bribe trial of Bodunde Adeyanju after several adjournments and the judge was left with no option than to strike out the case. Was that due to the huge cost of prosecution? In fact, I don't know of any single case of corruption initiated under this regime that successfuly led to conviction since the Jona' era started almost 3 years ago.

My friend, we can actually pursue development and fight corruption at the same time. Most developing countries do. Ghana is a good example. Brazil is another one.

informatix: Imo is a useless state like Adamawa how can you Allow woman to be come senator i dont blame her.

Are you human?

Rochas is a fake person and it is becoming more apparent by the day. Pretending to be a democrat, but behaving like an autocrat.

The other time it was his securitymen fighting Peter Obi over a chair. Rochas' version of this story is unbelievable. That Chris Anyanwu ordered her naval securitymen to open fire! Haba!! No normal person will drive in such a way as to overtake and cut off a governor's convoy, moreso someone like Rochas with securitymen whose overzealouness have been well-documented.

Pride, they say, always goes before a fall.

If you are new to this thread, try not to comment unless and until you have read the entire story so your comments will not be totally out of sync with those who have been following. I have been following for the past twenty hours or so and I have not commented until I got to the last page.
By the way, let someone please confirm that what mrrock just said about donziko is untrue. That will be calamitous!

I have always observed that it is near impossible to get any member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to agree that Adeboye is very human and can be wrong.

dominique: Was that epistle necessary? The whole thing could have been summed up to two or three tidy sentences.

On the contrary, I actually enjoyed the narrative write-up including the minute details. And then the pictures.
Tokotaya, thumbs up jare. I bet you must be a journalist or writer of some sort.

I have dumped my MTN line for about two months now based on the way the network have been treating me.
First, about 3 months ago I made several calls up to the minimum daily call to enjoy the advertised daily bonus, N400 was deducted from my balance suddenly and for no reason.
Secondly, I was in Dakar last month and tried to call a Nigerian Airtel line, MTN deducted N700 for a minute call just because I roamed. That was outrageous. They did the same thing to me while I was in Johannesburg last year even though I roamed to their local MTN network.
MTN is a shylock network and I am not going back to them.

Lagos State did not ban Okada. They only limited their areas and times of operation which makes sense in a city like Lagos. You only need to visit an Orthopaedic Ward in major Nigerian cities to know the number of lives that have been ruined by Okada. I support Lagos State in stopping Okada riders from plying major roads and operating at night.

While there has been a groundwell of support in some Muslim countries of the world for Malala Yousufzai, the 14 year-old Pakistani school girl who was shot by the Taliban for advocating for education for girls, I expected some statement of support from Nigerian muslims groups. Does anyone know if there has been such? There has been rallies in Pakistan and Iran to support her cause and they have been offering prayers for her recovery too.
Since there were rallies by Muslims here in Nigeria against the desecration of the Qu'ran, the Danish cartoons, the film titled "Innocence of Muslims", and yet another rally to support Senator Yerima's marriage to an under-age girl, is it too much to expect these same protesters to come out for Malala, a fellow Muslim who was shot for promoting girl education?