₦airaland Forum

And what are you for using the below against OBJ: Lies and innuendo, and for bringing the Yoruba (and Igbo) nation into the discussion without good reason.

As we use to say, Sunkumus Riranmus (i.e.  ba ba n sun ekun a si ma n riran)

So, OBJ should have allowed Charles Taylor to escape justice so as not to betray a murderer - what about the hundreds of thousands whose entire lifes were destroyed because of his wickedness - betrayal my foot . This to me was actually one of OBJ's achievements - foreign policy was one area you could not fault Baba Iyabo during his two tenures.

Your statement on the Charles Taylor case adequately explains your view on zoning as well. If a group of murderers (yes they murdered those who fought against the June 12 annulment) come together to try to repay their error, having being fought to a standstill, how can anyone imagine such people would come up with a truly unifying solution to Nigeria's rulership problems. That zoning was designed by incompetent and selfish hands is shown by the brouhaha it is generating at this point.

kettykings:
I hate to say this, he was the first adulteous and incestous pres.
He goes about claiming he defeated the ibos in civil war but could not save him self and his yoruba coward tribe from general Abacha even with local and foreign support.
He was the greatest beneficiary of zoning and power shift in 1999 which he now wants to destroy by supporting the presidency of GEJ instead of power to a northerner in 2011 (operation totality).
He betrayed charles taylor handing him over after making him feel secure to escape thru chad.
Closed down companies belonging to people fromt other tribes at a time the country needed jobs over flimsy excuses ( slok airline, savanah bank, ibeto cement, sapetro oil licence)
Total disrespect to men of God (jos CAN,pst Bakare e.t.c)

The president went missing for more than 3 months, and the apparatus of state continued as if nothing major happened. In fact, we were told that the president does not have to exercise his power territorially.

In the case of those kidnapped by Somalian pirates, they only exercise their Nigerian citizenship territorially.

Long read, but well worth it - in case you are impatient below is the moral of the article.

This complex nexus of faith and value is, perhaps, what inspired a band of foolish Somalian pirates to kidnap the entire crew of a Nigerian tugboat on August 4, 2008. The boat was returning to Nigeria from Singapore. I will spare you the details of the story. Suffice it to say that after holding the Nigerians hostage for a total of 302 days, the Somalian pirates finally grew brains and realized how foolish it was for them to kidnap Nigerians! Because the Somalians broke the number one rule of international hostage taking – i.e. the life of your hostage must mean something to a particular state – they earned themselves the dubious distinction of creating the longest hijacking episode off the coast of Somalia.

Unlike me, the Somalian pirates had dared to believe that anybody in the rulership of Nigeria is even remotely interested in the lives of Nigerians.

They can be forgiven for they were not used to governments not fretting over the lives of their citizens in jeopardy. They paid heavily for their error of judgment. Their Nigerian captives became an economic burden on them for they must be fed. After 302 days the Somalians had had enough. It became a situation of  abeg make una jus carry unasef comot for here.


For those ten months, it was aloota continua in Abuja as nobody in the rulership was prepared to lose any precious sleep over some Nigerian lives in jeopardy in the coast of Somalia. The only consolation for me whenever I think of that episode is that Nigerian boats and their crew are now free to tread places that portend peril for citizens of responsible states in the coast of Somalia. We can go and come as we want. The Somalians have learnt their lessons: touch not the Nigerian in the business of international geopolitical kidnapping. You see, every dark cloud…

Truth is truth because truth mobilizes. That is Gayatri Spivak, one of those super famous but incomprehensible theoretical jargonophiliacs that I must read and pretend to understand because I teach literary theory in North America, writing in her book, A Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Truth mobilizes. The Star-Spangled Banner is truth because it mobilizes the American. It mobilizes the American because whenever it hangs from a pole and dances in the wind, it is spreading the message of the sanctity of the life of the American regular Joe.

Truth mobilizes. The Star - Spangled Banner mobilizes. That is the truth that mobilized, Sally Field, acting the part of Betty Mahmoody in Brian Gilbert’s powerful 1991 movie, Not Without my Daughter. On sighting an American flag fluttering in the wind in Turkey after her escape from Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran in the momentous last scene of that movie, she cuddles her daughter and exclaims: “we are home baby”. The real Betty Mahmoody would later declare in an interview: “That American flag was a point of safety for me. When I saw the American flag and touched it, I then felt safe.” Does the Green-White-Green mobilize? Can the Green-White-Green mobilize? Is the Green-White-Green truth? Is it true? We will answer these questions only when we win the struggle to sit down and renegotiate our way out of the untruths that currently bind us together.

By Pius Adesanmi
Posted: October 16, 2010 - 06:43
Posted by siteadmin
Sahara Reporters

When I was doing my doctoral studies at the University of British Columbia, I had an Iranian friend, a wealthy business man cum man of culture in town. Hassan and I had met casually at a book store in Vancouver.

He had taken an interest in the title I was buying, a volume of poetry by the great 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. His initial interest in me was partly stereotypical, even a tad racist, I must admit. It wasn’t everyday he encountered somebody looking like me holding a copy of Rumi’s poetry. That indicated a level of culture he was not accustomed to attributing to my ilk – it was written all over his face.

Anyway sha, we became very good friends. Our being men of culture cemented our friendship. We encroached on each other’s cultural fiefs. Hassan was too cosmopolitan to allow his faith to stand in the way of the love affair between his taste buds and vintage French wine. French wine almost always leads to a corresponding interest in French cheese, haute cuisine, and literature. That’s all my territory. My own Catholicism didn’t stand in the way of my love for shisha and the literatures of the Arab world. That’s Hassan’s territory. A Saturday evening at Hassan’s translated to Iranian cuisine, reading and discussing French poetry or Arab writers while smoking shisha on his Persian rugs and cushions. Bottles of French wine never survived to tell the story of those encounters. Hassan also played the oud! The melodious tunes oozing from his oud were always the icing on the cake during our soirées.
Soon, Hassan began to invite me to visit Iran with his family. They went home every summer and he couldn’t understand why I would not want to complement my interest in the literatures and cultures of the Arab world with a visit to that part of the world. I kept hedging and dodging. He even offered to pay my flight ticket in the summer of 1999. Nothing doing. I kept giving him body language that I didn’t want to go to Tehran. Mo f’oju so, mo f’enu so, mo tun fi gbogbo ara so! Hassan didn’t relent and kept renewing his invitation until I graduated and moved to Pennsylvania.

You may wonder at this point why I didn’t just kuku say no. That is where the koko of the matter lies. That, precisely, is the problem. To give Hassan a flat out no was to create a situation that called for further explanations. I would have had to give him a reason for declining his invitation. That would have meant plunging myself into a situation that is the albatross of every Nigerian: those moments of self-reflexivity when you realize that your life is worth absolutely nothing to the Nigerian state. Those are moments of intense itiju and embarrassment that a Nigerian isn’t wont to admit to outsiders.

How was I to admit to Hassan that I would have jumped at his offer if only I was carrying the passport of a responsible state at the time? To carry the passport of the Nigerian state is to be intensely aware of the non-value of your life and citizenship to that state in moments of distress. I couldn’t tell Hassan that if an international incident occurred in Tehran and something untoward happened to me and I made a distress call to the Nigerian embassy, I would be lucky if Abuja didn’t charge me with abuse of telephone and wasting the Federal Government’s time.

In my professional calling as a peripatetic student of culture, the choice of research trips is always determined by my painful awareness of the needless limitations of my Nigerian passport. When your name is Folorunsho, you do not tempt fate by attempting to climb a palm tree with a reed of banana leaves… You want to make sure that you travel to delicate locations carrying the passport of a state that’s got your back. Career world hot spots like Tehran are out.

The pirates operating off the coast of Somalia obviously do not share my sombre assessment of the Nigerian state. They have more faith in Abuja than me. International piracy of the sort that involves kidnapping the entire crew of a ship is, at a certain philosophical level, a demonstration of faith in value: the value of the incarcerated lives to political entities known as states. Beyond the criminality of the act, to kidnap an American, a Canadian, a Briton, a Ghanaian, or a South African is to set considerable store by the value that such states ascribe to the life of a citizen. The pirate is, ironically, providing the definition of responsible states: those with apparatuses of state designed for trigger-ready activation in order to humanize the citizen.

Wait for this: to kidnap a Somalian, a Palestinian or the citizen of any officially-acknowledged moribund state or non-state is also a demonstration of faith in the value of those lives to the international system. The pirate is saying that there are international organizations and agencies in the Mercy Industrial Complex – NGOs, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Médecins sans frontières – ready to claim and value those stateless lives, making considerable noise in the attempt to get the international community to act and negotiate. This is where the pain of double jeopardy cuts deepest for the Nigerian citizen. In situations of international distress, the Nigerian state does not value your life but the international system will not claim you because you are not considered stateless. Double wahala for deadi bodi…

This complex nexus of faith and value is, perhaps, what inspired a band of foolish Somalian pirates to kidnap the entire crew of a Nigerian tugboat on August 4, 2008. The boat was returning to Nigeria from Singapore. I will spare you the details of the story. Suffice it to say that after holding the Nigerians hostage for a total of 302 days, the Somalian pirates finally grew brains and realized how foolish it was for them to kidnap Nigerians! Because the Somalians broke the number one rule of international hostage taking – i.e. the life of your hostage must mean something to a particular state – they earned themselves the dubious distinction of creating the longest hijacking episode off the coast of Somalia.

Unlike me, the Somalian pirates had dared to believe that anybody in the rulership of Nigeria is even remotely interested in the lives of Nigerians.

They can be forgiven for they were not used to governments not fretting over the lives of their citizens in jeopardy. They paid heavily for their error of judgment. Their Nigerian captives became an economic burden on them for they must be fed. After 302 days the Somalians had had enough. It became a situation of  abeg make una jus carry unasef comot for here.


For those ten months, it was aloota continua in Abuja as nobody in the rulership was prepared to lose any precious sleep over some Nigerian lives in jeopardy in the coast of Somalia. The only consolation for me whenever I think of that episode is that Nigerian boats and their crew are now free to tread places that portend peril for citizens of responsible states in the coast of Somalia. We can go and come as we want. The Somalians have learnt their lessons: touch not the Nigerian in the business of international geopolitical kidnapping. You see, every dark cloud…

The recent events in Chile have, again, brought the question of the worth and value of the Nigerian citizen to the Nigerian state to the front burner. There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth in the Nigerian online community. For good reason. To seat down in front of your TV screen and watch two states, Chile and Bolivia, define what it means to value the life of the citizen is a sobering process for the Nigerian. Bolivia made one’s anguish worse: President Evo Morales travelled to keep vigil at the mines because of just one of his compatriots who was trapped deep down in the bowels of the earth with thirty-two Chileans.

The Nigerians who were watching the events unfold on TV, chatting endlessly about it, remembering their own country, and shuddering bitterly at the thought of what would have happened were the trapped miners Nigerians, were not alone. In their guest chalets all over Abuja, while getting their beering right and plotting to undermine the bad ideas that Attahiru Jega is beginning to nurse about organizing  free, fair, and credible elections in 2011, our friends in the political rulership were also probably watching the events unfold in Chile. As it always happens, they will subsequently go to extraordinary lengths to learn absolutely nothing from the episode.

We must, however, not make the mistake of believing that the rulers of Nigeria are impervious to the ethos of faith, value, and the worth of the citizen. The only snag is how they determine the lives that are worth protecting.  I am a member of the Nigerian Village Square editorial board that is currently interviewing our presidential candidates for the forthcoming election. Last week, we had Nuhu Ribadu on the NVS HotSeat. I was shocked when he revealed that the Nigerian state currently deploys about 50,000 crack police men on guard duty. That is 50,000 of the best equipped membership of our tattered and demoralized police force deployed to blare sirens illegally, koboko ordinary Nigerians out of the way of those yeye convoys, and secure the lives and obscene mansions of the criminals in our rulership.

That is Nigeria’s equivalent of Chile. That is how that state demonstrates which and whose lives she values. For as these 50,000 police men are extracted from the common good and deployed on guard duty for the criminals in our political elite, we lose the precious lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Nigerians to religious violence, political assassinations, armed robbery, and kidnapping. A lip service statement only comes from Aso Rock if the body count is sufficiently heavy to attract international attention.

Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. Thus goes the mantra of President Kennedy. It is infuriating to hear Nigeria’s unworthy political rulers regurgitate and turn that call to patriotic duty into a meaningless platitude. For there is a rider that I must add to Kennedy’s statement for the benefit of the rulers of Nigeria: every responsible state in the modern world recognizes the fact that only the living can ask what to do for their country. The Boma brothers and the Apo Six cannot ask what they can do for Nigeria. That is why the ability and willingness to protect and secure life of the citizen is the first condition of responsible statehood. That is why the entire American state can be grounded for a single citizen in distress abroad. That is what Chile was all about. And Bolivia too. Tomorrow, President Evo Morales can tell that single Bolivian miner: ask not what Bolivia can do for you but what you can do for Bolivia. Let President Goodluck Jonathan tell me the same thing. He will hear one or two things from me.

Truth is truth because truth mobilizes. That is Gayatri Spivak, one of those super famous but incomprehensible theoretical jargonophiliacs that I must read and pretend to understand because I teach literary theory in North America, writing in her book, A Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Truth mobilizes. The Star-Spangled Banner is truth because it mobilizes the American. It mobilizes the American because whenever it hangs from a pole and dances in the wind, it is spreading the message of the sanctity of the life of the American regular Joe.

Truth mobilizes. The Star - Spangled Banner mobilizes. That is the truth that mobilized, Sally Field, acting the part of Betty Mahmoody in Brian Gilbert’s powerful 1991 movie, Not Without my Daughter. On sighting an American flag fluttering in the wind in Turkey after her escape from Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran in the momentous last scene of that movie, she cuddles her daughter and exclaims: “we are home baby”. The real Betty Mahmoody would later declare in an interview: “That American flag was a point of safety for me. When I saw the American flag and touched it, I then felt safe.” Does the Green-White-Green mobilize? Can the Green-White-Green mobilize? Is the Green-White-Green truth? Is it true? We will answer these questions only when we win the struggle to sit down and renegotiate our way out of the untruths that currently bind us together.

To the accompaniment of Hugh Masekela’s Ibala Lam

blacksta:
Birds of the same feathers - ACN = PDP - So what happens when the PDP people starting trooping to ACN?

The pressure is on him to perform. After all this fight he has to show he is worth it.

Yes, waiting is what I have always advocated. It seems we agree on that - so I am going to celebrate a little 

---Celebration over ---

So, if Okah wants us to believe that his brother was faking his voice (assuming he actually wrote those words), then he cannot at the same time hold on to a call from someone pupporting to be a representative of the president as indisputable fact. In essence, he is kind of destroying his own case.

Kobojunkie:
Oh so you are suggesting now that someone faked the call made to Okah? Do we have proof or any evidence of that for Okah, and his lawyer to concern themselves with that at this time? If that ever came up, I am certain the will probably let us know. Only we are yet to get the name of the supposed caller and yet to get information or evidence proving none of the presidential aides actually made the call to OKah. So, I think we should wait on such for now.

@Kobojunkie
No, that is not what I am suggesting. These are my points:

1. If it is true that Okah wrote in his diary that his brother was faking his voice and collecting money in his name.
2. Then Okah must know that it is possible for someone to pretend to be somebody else - even with the stakes so high
3. If (1) & (2) are both true then Okah ought to know that if someone called him and said he was representing the president - it could be completely fake
4. If 1 - 3 are actually true i.e. someone did call Okah representing the president and someone was faking his voice then it is probably the same group of people all along.

Of course those are all big ifs

Kobojunkie:
Are you joking?  The man is in South Africa. His Brother is in Lagos. How can it be the same person during the same periods, in South Africa and Lagos? Are you suggesting Okah knew his diary would be confiscated and so conveniently wrote in it that his brother was faking his voice? I am not even sure what you are suggesting.

OBJ is not a great leader in the [size=14pt]real [/size] sense of the word because for all his "achievements" [size=14pt]he never met the criteria for great leadership - vision[/size].

Great leaders are not really made by the number of appellations they get or institutions they set up. Great leaders are DISTINGUISHED by the long-term nature of their vision. Vision so compelling that it would remain a touchstone for ages to come. On behalf of the Yorubas, Awolowo represented such crystal clear vision politically, that even 40+ years later every politician, either genuine or fake, still wants to be known as an Awoist. I am yet to see anyone want to be an OBJist.

First, great leaders see what needs to be done before anyone can see it through the fog of daily life. Moreover, they make focus on fundamental changes that affect the long-term direction of associates, nations and perhaps the world. Secondly, such leaders have little regard for self-preservation except in the pursuit of real, not borrowed, vision.

Almost everytime that Gen. OBJ has had the chance to set a new direction for Nigeria, he prefered to do what a soldier is trained to do - self-preserve.

Jesus H. Christ, the greatest leader that ever lived, never lifted a sword, hardly raised a voice, preached grace over revenge, preached meekness over pride, never owned a house but walked from city to city planting the seed of life, the donkey he rode into Jerusalem as king was donated for that specific occasion, his relatives called him crazy, he was accused of mixing himself with sinners and commoners, he was accused of trying to overthrow Caesar, hanged on a tree, was even made fun of as he died "he calls himself the son of God, let him come down and save him now" they said, yet at that same time Jesus asked the father to forgive the ignorance of the jesters. There were no christians when he was put to death, and the Roman world power of the time and the religious leaders of his nation thought they had gotten rid of him for good. So fundamental was the vision Jesus left with his disciples that they prefered to be burnt, crucified, sawn asunder, rather than renounce the faith or lift the sword. In a mere 31/2 years Jesus had planted the seed of a religion that would dominate the world for two millenia and counting.

Nobody is suggesting that any other great leader can measure up to Jesus H. Christ, but these qualities are reflected in their words and deeds, though they may be imperfect men. So, please, the next time you want to measure the greatness of a leader, rember the yardstick of vision and all that goes with it.

Still it is all relative, as Nigeria has never had a great leader, but if we are talking between dumb and dumber, then Gen. OBJ is less dumb. The problem is that partly because of his lack of vision almost all that he worked so hard to put in place tend to crumble a few years hence. In the current dispensation we have seen Yar'adua's imposed government bite the dust, and one by one the thugs that were imposed on Southwest Nigeria are fallen by the wayside. It is Akala's turn in Oyo State, and hopefully Osun State PDP in 2011 elections. If GEJ doesnt show better vision (so far he is handling his job okay) he should lose the 2011 elections too.

@Kobojunkie
But Okah should know better if it was true that he wrote in his diary that his brother, Charles, had been faking his voice and collecting money using his name. It is probably the same set of people, playing the two roles if both statements made by Okah in his diary and the call to "pin it on the northerners" were true.

Kobojunkie:
Usually, when the presidential aide puts in an order on behalf of the president, it is considered an order from the president. But that is just by the way . . . we may need to learn more here since he is not quoted as saying the President called him and not an aide.

Congratulations sister Ileke. U never hid how much u disliked the job Oni was doing.
So where is the party at 

Ileke-IdI:
Keep it coming. God bless
Wow, Fayemi is cute sha

Cecilia Ibru is in the hospital instead of jail long enough she would not remember her name when she comes out. Why won't Amos Adamu be selling his vote.

We really need to do something drastic about these thieves!

Posted: October 16, 2010 - 22:57
Posted by siteadmin
By SaharaReporters, New York

A Sunday Times report has revealed that Nigeria's representative on the World Cup hosting 24-man-strong FIFA committee, Amos Adamu, offered to sell his votes in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup.

The popular UK sunday newspaper has a video footage showing Adamu requesting for  £500,000 for "a project" in return for his support to an unammed country.

The football world body will decide the country that would host the 2018 and 2022 world cup on December 2nd 2010.

Amos Adamu in £500,000 bribery scandal

A newspaper video footage has shown a Fifa executive committee member, Amos Adamu asking for £500,000 to sell his vote for the 2018 World Cup bid.

The footage, filmed by undercover Sunday Times journalists, shows Adamu wanting money to be paid to him directly for endorsing a bid.

In the video, Adamu was asked whether the money for a "private project" would have an effect on the way he voted, he replied: "Obviously, it will have an effect. Of course it will. Because certainly if you are to invest in that, that means you also want the vote."

Fifa has so far not responded to the allegations.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5631402-146/amos_adamu_in_500000_bribery_scandal.csp

Posted: October 16, 2010 - 18:52
Posted by siteadmin
By SaharaReporters, New York

Plain clothed security agents in their hundreds seized, Charles Okah, the younger brother to detained MEND leader, Henry Okah, in Apapa area of Lagos.

Charles Okah was arrested with some of his children according to family sources.

His brother, Henry Okah, who is currently detained by the South African police and undergoing trial for terror -related charges claimed in diary seized from him that Charles was faking his voice to negotiate with the Nigerian authorities in a "cease-fire" deal.

It is not clear if Charles was arrested over his brother's claims before South African magistrate or relating to the latest MEND threats which security sources said might have been traced to him.

@JomoGbomo2
You were doing so well until you reached that part where you said "he was never meant to be an african". Meaning what?

The rest of your post may be on point, but on that one statement I say you need your head examined

JomoGbomo2:
Its a big slap on Africa as a whole and to Madiba rohilalah himself for mentioning Murtala or idiagbon where mandela is mentioned.

This man is the product of the mistake of nature, he was never meant to be an african, he is a product of the Law of exception. even obama does not compare to him, never.

He is my role model politically, and i am proud of him. Nigeria has never had anyone that could be in the same room with him, shameful enough, OBJ was among the delegate commonwealth sent to talk to him while in prison, i wonder y he cant just learn the spirit of selflessness from him.

please read " Long Walk To Freedom" before commenting on this "Legend" again

That is taking the privilege too far. A confession is usually done when you have stopped or are seeking help to stop committing crime. Confession is not for something you are doing deliberately, and plan to keep doing deliberately.

Plus the fact that the camp was located behind the church takes it beyond the realm of priestly privileges.

EzeUche0:
He is a priest for goodness sake. Even if the kidnappers confessed to him, he has to keep the vow of silence. Sorry but this is a separation between Church & State.

slap1:
JTF should start packing if they've nothing more to do. That priest is innocent, I know him. He only came back from London last month.

So they should just ignore the fact that a kidnapping camp was behind the church and the kidnappers were getting water from there. While this doesn't provide proof of his involvement it is grounds for suspicion, and they are right to arrest him.

Whether he is involved or not will soon become known with proper investigation. That is the only thing that we need to call for - proper investigation.

Ileke-IdI:
Lol. . . .remember you said 5?
Kilo depend on? lol

Really? the gods of NL must have said that Or u ve seen Dokpesi's news conference clip too many times

With the serious inflation going on here it has to depend on something. Not sure now, but anyhow I don't want to limit my options

From Chuks Okocha in Abuja, 10.14.2010
ThisDay

The meeting of the Committee of 12 Northern “wise men” charged with the responsibility of picking a consensus presidential candidate from among those contesting for the exalted office from the geopolitical North may have been deadlocked following the inability of members to agree on whom to adopt.

The candidates are former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida; immediate-past National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau; former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; and Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki.
Following the deadlock, a new meeting has been scheduled for next week Wednesday.

The consensus plan is in respect of the Northern candidates vying for the office of president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, running for the presidency on the platform of his newly-formed Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau and former National Republican Convention (NRC) presidential aspirant, Alhaji Bashir Tofa both vying for the ticket of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, vying on the bill of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and their parties do not subscribe to the consensus arrangement.

To ensure that whatever decision reached next week is binding on the four presidential aspirants, the committee has agreed to officially write a letter to each of the presidential aspirants demanding an undertaking that they would accept whatever decision reached.

The 12-man committee is headed by former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma.
The committee has three PDP Governors, Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Dr. Babangida Aliyu (Niger) as members representing the North-east, North-west and North-central respectively.

Other members of the committee include former Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, former PDP National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji M.D. Yusuf.

But Ayu’s decision last week to throw his hat into the presidential ring had first cast the initial doubt on the likelihood of the consensus panel achieving a success of the assignment.

At its meeting of Wednesday night which dove-tailed into the early hours of yesterday, the committee could not reach any consensus as members fought for disparate political interests and tenaciously canvassed support for different candidates.
Those representing the interests of some aspirants were of the view that their candidate was the best choice.

The members at the meeting could not push for the endorsement of a consensus candidate because the meeting was attended by only seven members.

One of the members, a retired army general, is away in the United Kingdom for medical treatment.
THISDAY gathered that a call by the chairman of the panel, Ciroma, for a vote on who to be adopted as a consensus candidate did not scale through as the call was roundly defeated by those at the meeting.

According to the source, “We were all playing politics at the meeting. We were not serious about the agenda of the meeting, which is to choose a consensus candidate from IBB, Atiku, Gusau and Saraki.

“From what happened at the meeting, all of us have a mindset and none of us is willing to shift ground. From what I saw among us, I can say without any fear of equivocation that the only member whom one can say is neutral and committed to the course of getting a consensus candidate is Mallam Ciroma and that explains his frustration at the meeting.”

The source further said: “We are not serious, how can those enthroned to be kingmakers change midway to become kings.”
It was learnt that the consensus plan was also frustrated by the utterance of one of the governors, who said he would not be a party to the choice of a consensus candidate because the president to be elected would not be a president of the North, but of the entire country.

Though the next meeting has been shifted to next week, the general feeling of those that attended the meeting was that the idea of consensus candidate be thrown open to allow other politicians from the North with credible credentials to come in.
It was to ensure that the decision of the Ciroma’s committee is binding on all the presidential aspirants that a letter is expected from them to pledge their undertaking to abide by whatever decision reached by the panel.

Justifying his position that more aspirants should enter the race, a source close to the panel, said: “From the look of things, the four presidential aspirants seem to have dominated the field and limited the circle of choice to them, thereby frustrating others from contesting. But our meeting that just ended is of the view that more credible presidential materials should enter the race.”
Some of those that attended the Wednesday meeting of the committee included Ciroma, Yusuf and Ahmed Kurfi from Bauchi.

Quote from: koruji on Yesterday at 05:19:05 AM
Thanks for the 5 unconditional, time-unlimited IOUs.

5? That one na serious inflation. Unconditional? Depends

Ileke-IdI:
lol she said it backwards. "ke ti re" "re ti ke". . . .

Kind of thought so.

Yes lol, ok let me make it easier on you. It's an expression like "Oh my Gosh" or "for real?"
cheater lol I'll take the IOU.

Much clearer now. IOU noted w/no expiration.

@deols: re ti ko? Sounds like u found this funny. Are u ROTFLYAO?
That is definitely not Ekiti - like I would know

deols:
re ti ko?.lol

What is this crap about "tasting power" our people keep talking about - Nigeria is not Gbegiri soup, is it? As far as I am concerned the 3 criteria are:

1. Are you trustworthy?
2. Do you have a progressive, workable plan to move Nigeria forward, with the organizing ability to get it done?
3. Are you accountable? This is probably the most crucial, since this gives us the ability to call you to order if you begin to run amock.

Tribe, region, etc all crap when it comes to moving Nigeria forward.

In the South-South, they have not tasted power before the sudden and lucky appearance of Goodluck Jonathan, who has spent four months only.

BTW - IBB fails all 3 criteria

May be President GEJ should talk less about this matter, but his first statement appeared inconsistent, so he is attempting to clarify.

People might not understand that this is delicate and could get anybody in the same position all twisted up (think about how the AbdulMuttalab incident was almost turned into political hotwater for Obama late last year). 

What he is trying to do is separate those MEND that were involved in this dastardly act from the MEND people he is working with on the amnesty. Basically, he is telling any MEND member involved (accepting amnesty or not), I DON'T KNOW U, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW YOU! He is putting any such person under the bus - and deservedly so.

He had to disavow being remotely connected with anyone, including those in the amnesty program, that could be connected with this incident. That is why those guys have to come to Abuja and publicly declare themselves not involved. Now, if after investigation any of them are found to be involved - then they are TRAITORS.

As inconsistent as he sounded, not distancing himself from anybody connected to the incident would ahve been worse - that is the basis for running his mouth.

OYB_MEND:
Na wa oh!!!! why Presido they fall our hand like this now?
As him no sabi talk make he keep quiet now.
U know he looked very brilliant when he was mute . . . . lol ;

Question to u Ms. Lou: Who are you? What "opportunities" are you talking about, how is that an interest of yours, and in what role are you making this request/announcement?

There is opportunity for people to denounce their Nigerian citizenship, we are forming a group to openly declare our intentions. If you are game. Please notify here by simply replying game with your full name.

I like this part the best. The man simply doesn't know his services are worthless to Nigeria.

IBB is a huge emperor WITHOUT any clothes on, dancing and prancing to palongo through the streets of Minna, Abuja, etc oblivious of his sorry record and state of being.

I felt a similar pity for our own IBB as I watched him rationalizing the monumental ruin wrought by his governance on Nigeria and the annulment of June 12 1993 elections. Watching the man talk about his so-called achievements you got the vibe that he was totally out of tune with the current realities. As the days go by in this new adventure for power Babangida sounds more like Marshall Mobutu and like one that has been living in a sound-proof silo since he cowardly stepped aside in 1993.

That's interesting. So, it is more of a general greeting with many possible responses. Great to know.

Now, about the return - since no contracts were signed before lesson began, I would have to say what do you think is fair - a big thank you, an IOU (don't know how you would use this, but you never know), etc Let's hear it

Ileke-IdI:
Lol the response depends on what you two are talking about.
But usually I just respond with "emi ni yen o" lol

So now what do I get for this lesson?

Mandela is the stuff real leaders are made from. They literally give their life for the nation, without demanding or even wanting anything in return other than the freedom of their people.

Before we say two words IBB woul remind us that he fought to keep Nigeria one (as if that is helping anybody now) and that he carries the shrapnel in his body. He forgot that his actions were instrumental to the ruin of our nation over the last 40 or so years.

IBB is neither wise nor intelligent, only cunning and wicked. If IBB wants to know his true worth - let him sit in Minna and see if anyone would volunteer his name to become President!

Ileke-IdI:
LOL If YOU teach me, I wouldnt even mind.

What am I going to teach you? Ekiti? Well, here goes - "Ke ti re" = What do we have here. That is all I know.

So now, what is the proper Ekiti response to "Ke ti re?

And I am still waiting for you to teach me some more Ekiti 

Ileke-IdI:
according to becommrich

aloy.emeka=beaf=EzeUche0=chyz=Onlytruth=komado=seun osewa= dayokanu

All of you are fake. One person posting with the diff IDs

Why does this have to concern the president?

If the fight is not going to bring enough revenue for any promoter to pick it up, then find another willing promoter.

Crazy indeed!

By Agency Reporter
Wednesday, 13 Oct 2010
Punch


South Africa — Iconic anti-apartheid campaigner, Mr. Nelson Mandela, has said in a new book that he never wanted to become South African president.

Reuters reports that Mandela said he would have preferred a younger person to become the country’s first post-apartheid black ruler.

Mandela said in the book, ‘Conversations with Myself,’ launched on Tuesday, that he only accepted after senior leaders of the African National Congress put pressure on him.

“My installation as the first democratically elected President of the Republic of South Africa was imposed on me much against my own advice,’ Mandela said.

The book, compiled by the Nelson Mandela Foundation from personal letters, interviews and an unpublished sequel to his autobiography, contains a foreword by United States President Barack Obama.

Mandela, 92, said that he would have preferred to serve the new South African State without holding any position in the ANC or government.

After being put on the carpet by one of the ANC’s leaders, he changed his mind, but made clear that he would serve only one five-year term.

Mandela’s release on February 11, 1990, after 27 years in apartheid-era jails, set in motion the country’s transformation to democracy, which culminated in historic all-race elections in 1994 and his inauguration as the country’s first black leader.

Reconciliation between blacks and whites was the cornerstone of Mandelas presidency, which ended in May 1999. But in the book, an important theme is his concern about the effects of his imprisonment on his family

Posted: October 12, 2010 - 14:02
Posted by siteadmin - Sahara Reporters
By Akin Goldsmith

Way back in the 1980s as Mobutu Sese Seko the maximum ruler of Zaire held his vast country in an iron clad, Washington rolled out the red carpet for the old fox anytime he was in town.

Femi my friend, now a grey-bearded professor of political science, was sure that beyond the red carpet and the lavish bash often thrown for the African Big Man, Uncle Sam must be having a big ball behind his back to snigger at his folly. My friend was sure also that the guardians of Uncle Sam’s portals had a code for the ilk of Mobutu and the continent they traded for a bottle of rum; a code only known to the highest echelon in the White House.

I didn’t bother to ask why the ilk of Mobutu and the continent they plundered deserved such elaborate discretion from their principals. But then I have always thought my friend was right. A cold war was raging out there in the 1980s and here was another willing potentate from Africa so ready to trade under klieg lights, why would anyone distract him from trading in peace? Think of it, it would be the height of indiscretion to tell Mobutu Sese Seko he was actually a cad if you were an American President. Back then it didn’t hurt if you had an African Big Man on your side ready to pitch against his own kind if you were a Ronald Reagan fighting Andrei Gromyko or Margaret Thatcher preaching Constructive Engagement and pitching for Botha and Apartheid in South Africa.

I later watched a documentary on the Mobutu long after he eventually succumbed to Laurent Kabila and prostrate cancer. He caught a pitiable sight as held onto the shards of his crumbling regime. Mobutu easily came across in the footages like an emperor without an empire as he pensively paced the lawns of his lavish retreat in Gbadolite. Though devoid of the familiar swaggers in the footages, his trademark loomed large in the neck-muffler, walking-stick and all. The megalomania streak was also still apparent as he waxed audacious on messianic roles, ungrateful subject, and critics that knew nothing about the pains of governing a complex country like Zaire.

I came out of that documentary feeling sorry for Lumumba’s Congo the country Mobutu had serially raped, maimed and rechristened. But I also felt sorry for the greying man at the verge of losing his most favourite toy; the country handed him by the West while he was still scarcely an adolescent. Mobutu deliriously confused rape with favour and the despoliation of his country with an act of great kindness.

I felt a similar pity for our own IBB as I watched him rationalizing the monumental ruin wrought by his governance on Nigeria and the annulment of June 12 1993 elections. Watching the man talk about his so-called achievements you got the vibe that he was totally out of tune with the current realities. As the days go by in this new adventure for power Babangida sounds more like Marshall Mobutu and like one that has been living in a sound-proof silo since he cowardly stepped aside in 1993.

@ziddy
You know what I mean - common now. All illegal works are dirty, but some are dirtier than others

And I was comparing gun-running to doing the actual fighting, not bank robbery to fighting!

Gun-running is the management position of armed conflict - no need to be in the creeks, moving from one location to the other and knowing that it could all end any second!

ziddy:
Gunrunning is not dirty work?? Bank robbery nko??