₦airaland Forum

Is he dead?
Is he alive?
Thats the million dollar question.

Whichever way the script plays, the sure thing here is that once again Nigerians are being shortchanged. Why would obj impose a sickly person and a political neophyte as the pdp candidates for the presidential elections, even where there existed stellar presidential material in the fold of contestants? If indeed there is no sinister undertone, then the man is simply not fit to hold public office cos in naija candidates dont really campaign unlike yankee.

If indeed the man is alive, it is my prayer that some pple are not flying a kite just to test our disposition before they carry out the real thing. We all know that the pdp is a "nest of killers" so nobody is safe. Yaradua had better beware before he is given the infamous cup of "abuja tea"  which was also given to mko of blessed memory.

My people, the time is now, we need to be vigilant to guard our collective inheritance from rapacious wolves like obj, the man must go on 29th may the matter is simply not negotiable or else we must make the country ungovernable by civil disobedience. The election must hold and and we shld use our best efforts to prevent corruption of the electoral process.

Just imagine wat would have happened to southerners living in the north if northerners start to say that obj (yorubas) killed yaradua? ur guess is as good as mine

May God help us!

I see some of u are also very uptodate.

My greatest fears have now been confirmed, because by virtue of S27 of the new electoral act, INEC may postpone elections if a flag bearer dies before the election and do u know the funny thing? this was an amendment inserted in the heat of third term debate. So thru the back door OBJ has gotten what he wanted all along?

I still hold out hope that obj will not have the liver to try it. Naija is a terrible country, we must fear these politicians.

A poser as i leave, was this the plan all along? if it was, people we need to come together to escort obj out of power come may 29th.

News just in Yaradua is dead.

Cute-ass are u really for real? I'm sorry to say this but ur really naive to be talking like this. Oh dont get me wrong i agree with the part that God can dissolve any bad habits and thats as far as am willing to go with u on that trip.

lets face it the guy na wicked person, so dont make excuses for his wickedness. We all know that even animals hate being beaten, not to imagine your fellow human being. what lesson are u trying to impact that must involve physical violence? Ask the guy if he ever enjoyed getting beat down wen he was younger, he would definitely say no. He's also hiding behind love to say he wants to change so if there is no love he is willing to beat the woman up. Shouldnt we then feel sorry for the sistas and househelps in his life? are they not humans as well?

My philosophy is that if woman no hear ur own, then make u hear her own or better still step if her own no gree ur system. There is simply no excuse for beating another human being so mister man desist or else you'll get whats coming to u some day remember those men who in their sleep lost their "something" to the sharp edge of their wives kitchen knives.

Violence isnt the solution even though women can say and do stuff to you that make you feel that it is but thats why ur the man. Guy ur sick and u need help cos beating ur woman is foul! stop it!

da bomb?, pls those guys are more like firecrackers

eh hen? put the magun on him too then u both sit back and watch gymnastics

Let us tell ourselves the truth atiku was obj's deputy and the constitution does not give him seperate powers from obj, where and how did he steal all the money alone? if that is so then obj is guilty of negligence which is worse than actual fraud.

What is the basis of this thread? arent we supposed to be better than the brigands, the mobs who mete out jungle justice and lynch people on the basis of allegations of ole! ole! You say the man is a thief yet nobody including ur much vaunted EFCC can produce a single thread of unimpeachable proof of atiku's corruption that can stand up in a court? Please lets stop this atiku bashing we are simply fooling ourselves if we look to him as the source of our problems. All he has been accused of is ptdf and the dilema for me is how can a man be accused of mismanagement in a transaction that yielded profits for the FG? the money has been paid back with interest so wat was stolen, wat was lost?

If ribadu has a case against Atiku or not we will know post May 29th. It pains me that the EFCC and the president have virtually squandered all the credibility that nigerians gave them to the extent that very few people believe them anymore. Their actions are perceived as a witch hunt of obj's opponents.

The only silver lining to this brigandage exhibited by PDP is that our laws are being constantly tested in the courts and that is fantastic! we are the better for it. now we know that contrary to what adedibu told us, an impeachment can be challenged. I have nothing but praise and applause for the justices of our superior courts of record, they have exhibited exemplary courage in deciding the pdp cases, because, even a small child in nigeria knows u cant afford to offend obj he will take it to you, yet they have stood their ground against him.

if their decisions were so rite, why is obj and PDP loosing all their cases? Let us pray that the recent flurry of activity is not leading us down the path tread by Nzeribe and his infamous ABN and the ill-fated justice ikpeme.

May God keep us all! Amen

After watching the charade going on in the name of WA idols, i have come to the conclusion that the quality of judging is a greater let down than the quality of the contestants. To me, Dede is simply put, an unmitigated disaster!, where does he get off judging other people? what is his claim to fame? what is his musical pedigree? why must he be so foul mouthed and uncouth? is he the best that we have? and he has the audacity to call someone with the determination to be original a disgrace to musicology? wasnt he a loafer in shrine leeching off fela till he was kicked out? Its a crying shame that like in our political life we have once again put our worst foot forward in the competition.

Can anyone tell me if they have discovered any discerning criterion to selection by the judges? because i havent, I hear voices that i think yeah! only for those guys to just shoot them down. Why  must dede come down so hard on young people whose only offence is that they dared to dream? If its not too late, i strongly urge the organisers to kick him off the show ASAP.

My verdict on the other judges. Nana is there to oil her lips and gaze into space while letting dede bully her while Dan Foster just salivates after the pretty girls.

I cannot speak for other faiths but if you are a practising christian you dont want to mess with ouija boards, its all part of divination and the bible tells us that those practises are evil and if u mess around you may just end up destroying yourself.

The trip is that hollywood through movies like jumanji make the whole thing look harmless

There are some things we are just not supposed to fool around with and the ouija board is one of them. Pls be careful!

I for one believe where there is life there is always hope. Rejection of today can easily become the acceptance of tomorrow. We as human beings dont always know wat we want all the time. Maybe u just need to polish up ur image or ur game, get to know the girl very well but pls dont be pushy or obnoxious about it.

But i must say... 5hrs? Now that is a lot of effort to put in2 someone you havent met.

Nevertheless in anything u decide, goodluck my man!

Guys,
I am not sure i agree with the various rose tinted glasses view of marriage between tribes. It does not reflect the reality of the diversity between the various ethnic groups. I believe its a very complex and tricky issue that goes far beyond love it requires study and pragmatism.

Tell me what type of love will make a woman marry a man who in the event that he pre-deceases her, his relations will require her to drink the water used to wash the corpse or even sleep with the corpse to show she didnt kill their relation?

There are many issues involved in intra - tribal marriage, my candid advice is to ask questions, study your spouse's people, and ultimately pray that God will guide your decision in order to mitigate the possibility of grief in the future.

I think by and large everybody has made very good contributions to this topic on the state of the Nigerian graduate.

I agree that our educational system has declined over the years to its present sorry state, its gotten really really bad lets not kid ourselves; sciences no longer have practicals but alternative to practicals, probably the humanities and the arts may have fared a bit better, but the whole thing has gone to hell. When i was growing up, it was usually the olodo's amongst us who were pulled out of nigerian schools and taken abroad because they could not cope with the prevailing standards and back then there was no sorting or expo. It was not a thing of pride to study abroad! but look at us now.

Where are the lecturers? they have all fled in search of greener pastures and what we have left are a calibre of teachers (with a few exceptions) who all things being equal could never have made it to teach in secondary schools not to talk of our universities. Students are preoccupied with things that shouldnt concern them. Lecturers are hungry. Grooving to me is not a problem young people will always rock, infact i do not believe we can hold a candle to the grooving of our foreign counterparts who are supposed to be scholastically superior to us.

Its also true that a lot of misfits who shouldnt be there end up in the university and of course their inability to display any discernible learning or intellect after their stay in the university will only serve to add further oppobrium on our educational sector, maybe its because its comparatively cheaper to procure an admission and an education in naija, but i may be wrong.

ASUU and NASU Strikes, the destructive policies of the respective governments of the day, poverty and corruption have not helped matters.

Nevertheless, i also believe that when it comes to self development, the Nigerian graduate is second to none. He is simply cut of a brilliant cloth.

I finished university in '98 and that was long after wole soyinka had rightfully advocated that our universities needed to be shut down for a year so that they could be refurbished and reorganised properly. Then he was shouted down as being an alarmist and a non - conformist, but now we all largely agree that the system urgently requires such radical and drastic treatment.

Personally, the only reason why i will not send my child to a nigerian university is because  Nigeria has become a country that engages in "apartheid" against its own people where "foreign has now become better" and for that reason as long as i am financially able, my child will not go to a nigerian university so that he can enjoy every advantage i did not have. A case in point, in my office a higher premium is placed on a graduate with a foreign degree, they are prepared to pay them  a lot more than the rest of us and they are generally treated like ice cream, but most times, when these people come in, they usually come to us the Naija trained staff to learn what they are supposed to do, also they cant compete with us when it comes to drive, output, initiative and knowledge  so i doff my hat to the "real nigerian graduates"

What exactly is the point of this thread?

Please, provide us with the possible merits of legalising bribery/crime.

some of you guys are confusing male sterility (firing blanks) with impotency; with the latter you cant even get it up, talkless of firing any shots of any kind whether live rounds or blanks.

i think the "koko" is whether people should be engaging in pre-marital sex at all with its attendant hazards including unbudgeted pregnancy. Really, it takes two to tango, if the woman wants to take that risk in the name of whatever it is that she is feeling then good luck to her.

As for me, it is not a practice my parents encouraged nor is it something a personally believe in, so if i were to moot the idea to a woman and she agrees that would probably get me thinking if i want to be with that woamn.

ps: by "theft" i mean burglary and not financial crimes.

I appreciate the Serious effort put into the reply by cimon jorr, it was a lenghty and well thought out response.

If you will permit i would like to respond to your post and throw up some more issues with regards to this matter:

1. Do you really believe that the instruction to arrest a sitting nigerian governor could have come from any other person but the commander in chief, do you believe that EFCC went on their own to direct the arrest of the man?

2. Let us not get the issue of immunity crossed. A case in point; i remember some years ago a russion diplomat killed an american in a drunk driving incident and the guy simply drove straight to the embassy where he was holed up until he returned to his country, despite the public hue and cry by the americans for his immunity to be rescinded he was not handed over. That my friend is the proper procedure although i do not know if he faced a trial back in Russia. My point is that nobody not even a President has the right to waive the diplomatic immunity bestowed on any individual it is a sovereign right backed by international law and practise, it is simply ultra vires his powers.

That singular action by obj was illegal, extremely reckless and has set our image back by eons. The issue is not abuse of immunity it is about following the rule of law no matter how frustratingly slow or inefficient it may appear at times or else we are no better than these people we condemn. That is my grouse with baba, he just does not care about the rule of law or doing things properly, he is destroying public institutions just to settle scores. Imagine how Nigerian governors and public functionaries will be viewed and treated in foreign countries both now and in the future? probably as common thieves! That is the message baba has passed in effect that if you see anybody with an official/diplomatic passport from nigeria feel free to detain or humiliate him nothing will happen you have my blessing... what gives him the right!

3. The presence of diplomatic or constitutional immunity does not prevent the investigation of the individual it merely precludes his arrest. Besides this is not murder or theft, which typically grow cold if not investigated on time, these crimes involve financial institutions who keep records of transcations the trail will always be there ( as not even nigerian banks as shady as some of them are destroy records). Anytime his immunity ends the case could have been tried or investigated

4. Contingency funds in this context are travel expenses and have been part of international relations for a long time, it is practised by every country in the world including america! Public office holders always carry foreign currency for logistics and security reasons and they usually account for the funds upon their return. i believe the practise has been abused by Nigerians including our dear governor.

5. A State budget is not sent to or approved by the FG. It is the lopsided (school principal) federalism we practise in Nigeria, that permits Obj to attempt what he did to dariye and alamayeseigha. Do you think George Bush can instruct that an American Governor be arrested on foreign soil? Obj has carried our dirty linen to wash it in public!

6. You quoted me out of context, what i meant was that when this rebellion was in its infancy, our "lords in abuja" in their infinite wisdom treated the situation with kid gloves, the end result is what we have now the cancer has metastasised. In addition i feel that the solution to these anarchists is not to merely abuse them and dismiss them as ignoramuses, because they do present a real threat to the corporate existence of nigeria. Like it or not we need to take them seriously and engage them constructively and yes, where it is in the best interest of the country make concessions to them, because nigeria simply cannot bear the material and human losses that will be inflicted if these guys are taken head on.

7. The saying that he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones should be repeated to obj because i do not believe that he is oblivious or innocent of the rampant "chopping" going on by the top hierarchy of PDP, his own time may not be too far off, maybe thats why he doesnt want to step down anymore, maybe he is now scared of even his own shadow.

I look forward to responses from you guys.

Thus far everybody has stated very good points for and against the whole issue, but as i am wont to do let me provoke your grey matter.

Assuming that the Bayelsa Governor indeed stole the money found with him, there is a concept in international law called diplomatic immunity which absolutely forbids the arrest and detention not to talk of the arraignment of the grantee of diplomatic immunity by any other sovereign power, the man's luggage cannot even be searched at the airport. Diplomatic immunity can be evidenced by a diplomatic passport which all the governors and the president travel with. The question we should ask ourselves is why is our president further helping to dent our countries image by abdicating Nigeria's sovereignty? i am sure the British are scratcing their heads and wondering why would breach both nigerian and international laws by getting the man arrested. Diplomatic immmunity is equally entrenched in our constitution, obj cannot simply waive it when it suits his agenda. He has been making noise about amending the immunity clause for about two years, why has he not done anything till date? Compare this with the indecent haste with which the nigerian labour law was passed in his bid to destroy the NLC.

Very soon our politicians will all be subjected to humiliating searches overseas then what happens to the rest of us ordinary folks? i shudder at the thought. This more than anything is a clear signal that Nigerians can be treated with utter disdain without repercussions, just because obj has an axe to grind with some people

Let me add that it is the practice for governors and presidents to travel outside their countries with large volumes of cash it doesnt necessarily point to thievery, it is called contingency funds, and yes the practice has probably been abused by the nigerian office holder.

I am not fighting for the Governor, i believe if he stole the money there is a proper time and place to prosecute him which is post 2007 either in Nigeria or where ever. It is not for obj to once more rubbish the same constitution he swore on two occassions to uphold. Is there no limit to his contempt for the right way of doing things? the man simply does not give a hoot about what is legally possible or not.

Dont blame the IYC, when the insurgency started what were our abuja people doing? what do we expect from the IYC they are avowed anarchists? of course they must protect their own person and of course they will seem impervious to our kind of logic, but that doesnt mean we should abuse them, that will be a dangerous move, cos if those boys strike, God help naija.

Please be very careful about joining this shouting mob condemning the governor before his alleged "trial", let us all adopt siddon look and watch, because they will settle and when they do, neither you nor i will be there.

My only consolation is that "rofo rofo" fight has started amongst the "nest of killers" (apologies to prof soyinka),  it is no longer a "family affair" so expect more startling revelations in the days to come and believe me baba may not come out of this latest episode smelling like roses.

I dont need to steal anything cos i got it all

Ladies, why all this beef for the poor fellow, at least he is honest?

Look at it this way, by putting on weight, the lady may have changed the parameters of the relationship and the guy is entitled to reevaluate the basis of the relationship.  

This is for the ladies... what will you do if you discover that your boyfriend drinks and smokes heavily, and he refuses to change despite your efforts, will u marry him if u find those habits distasteful?

Weight for him maybe a fundamental issue, so why knock him, its his taste. What i expected was for the ladies to advise the fellow to talk to his girl and encourage her to slim down even if that means him exercising with her or even eating less.

Dont drink panadol for the girls headache, if the babe feels very strongly about the relationship, then she should be prepared to fight for her man and lose that weight, abi?

Why is love being touted as a "cure all"?

A relationship is pretty complex thing, compatibility is so crucial, and i doubt if people from different educational backgrounds will possess this critical ingredient to make it work

Do not be suprised if wen the illiterate guy was courting her, she often times failed to stand up for him when jibes were being fired at the poor guy in her presence

What i think should have been the thrust of this thread should not be the likelihood of a strike, but the likelihood of it effecting any meaningful reversal (if any at all) on the pump prices. That to me is the real issue!

Lets face it, the strike option is totally played out, its now taking on tragic-comic proportions, it has become a knee-jerk response to government. Can the NLC please be a little bit more constructive in their thinking

except the guy is a "mugu" she will definitely not be able to control him. is he/she prepared for the looks, or all those snide comments that will come from the public. How will they relate on an intellectual level? personally i dont believe that love is a cure all for all relationship ills.

Kai! that is the original recipe for disaster, i think you are more likely to win the lottery than succeed at this kind of relationship.

Kai! that is the original recipe for disaster!

For any woman who wants to venture on that kind of perilous journey, i wish her good luck!

I always look on with glee when the nest of killers... sorry PDP washes its dirty linen in public. Where else but Nigeria will a ruling party with an almost total grip on elective positions across the country be engaged in this kind of mudslinging. It just goes to show that the party is a cobbled together hodge podge of very strange bedfellows.

Well I doff my hat to Gov Kalu, he is either a very courageous man or he is a very stupid one, or worse, mad! i really hope he has cleaned out his cupboard with a microscope and fine tooth comb before he decided to engage baba in open hostilities. However, I am very sceptical of his sincerity of purpose, experience shows us that he usually has a selfish interest. This is not the first time he has engaged in sensationalism if you all can rememeber the Anenih wants to kill me saga, which i believe ended with him giving Anenih a public apology. Something tells me that apology will not do for OBJ; na die Kalu dey o! But there is this saying - something about if a child walks upto you and slaps you you shouldnt beat the child but look behind him to see who sent him

What i really find galling is to hear Baba and Fani-Kayode pontificating in their usual holier than thou attitude pretending to launch an investigation Are we expected to believe that the EFCC investigation can ever turn in any damning evidence against the Prez? or that the fact that weight of his office will not influence the out come of the investigation. In civilised countries when such a grave allegation is made against a public figure, the honorable thing to do is to commission an investigation and resign thereafter to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done, but that will never happen in this primitive African society we call Nigeria.

that is just it they are all ingrates

layi,
There are rules to be followed in obtaining a conviction, the law is about following the laid down procedure, judicial precedent and legal requirements that are on all fours with the matter to guide the court in reaching a decision. Its too If the other side cant present their matter within the context of those rules, then who is to blame if they lose.

This is a tired old argument which no side ever concedes, i have said my piece, please feel free to think what you wish