₦airaland Forum

@ib55: Thanks for addressing that first objection from Beaf, and also for your exposition below.

@Beaf: Chaos is a feature of natural and human system. The presence of chaos is not necessarily a problem - the real issue are efforts that actually increase, rather than reduce, chaos. That is the real problem with Nigeria's approach, and the basis for a highly corruptible system. So, you may be right that Nigeria's system is characterized by excessive chaos, but what you are failing to realize that the proposed approach by the government in this particular case does nothing to reduce the system chaos - it will leave corrupt officials & merchants to keep milking the system, and make life harder for the people.

The two great economic systems, capitalism and socialism, in my opinion succeeded or failed, not because they were more or less desirable, but by their approach to the chaos in human systems.

ib55:
^^^^
so we r hv settled your first objection, now to the second one.

Corruption:"Corruption itself is merely a symptom of chaos. The reason chaos breeds corruption, is that there are no standard approaches to doing things, everything is done in a crazy, adhoc, cut and nail manner; and in the do-or-die scrambles that result, laws (where they exist) are broken, principles compromised, lives lost, police forces become "roger" collectors, senators and reps spit on their constituents and LovePeddler to the highest bidder; rather than fear jail time for treason,  ex-coup plotters dream of becoming presidents; Abuja pays states and LG's instead of the other way round. . . Its a phucking circus."

I totally agree with you that its a circus, but what is Mr Presido doing about it? Nothing, you said once he cuts off the major source of funding corruption the problem will die off. But let me remind of one thing, what of the oil wells/crude lifting allocations. We also have the issue of political appointments and contracts, which also breeds corruption.

In my opinion its the politicizing of everything government, breeds corruption.I am not saying this started today, it has been a long practice by all governments we have had since independence.

Let me ask you this. We have a budget of almost 1 trillion Naira going to security in 2012. The minister of defense  is a former acting chairman of PDP and he was also implicated in the Siemens bribery scandal. Tell me, have they not found another way of getting the funds? If you close one door they will find another one.

Lastly i agree with you that the Lg and States should be funding the Fg not the other way round.I also believe that to fight corruption Mr president has to start from the bottom up cos there r more corrupt ppl at the bottom. That is why no matter how hard a leader tries to make changes his efforts r meaningless cos he becomes overwhelmed by the number of ppl he has to fight.

Beaf:
First of all, what is your claim that our refineries cannot or are not operating at more than 30% capacity based on? Sentiment, rumour or solid facts and figures? I challenge you to back up your words or withdraw them.

Secondly, you have mentioned corruption as a problem as if it exists only in govt, whereas it is an all-pervasive Nigerian disease. To you, corruption might be Nigeria's worst problem, but not everyone shares that belief.
A little meditation easily throws up chaos as the real reason why nothing works in Nigeria.

Corruption itself is merely a symptom of chaos. The reason chaos breeds corruption, is that there are no standard approaches to doing things, everything is done in a crazy, adhoc, cut and nail manner; and in the do-or-die scrambles that result, laws (where they exist) are broken, principles compromised, lives lost, police forces become "roger" collectors, senators and reps spit on their constituents and LovePeddler to the highest bidder; rather than fear jail time for treason,  ex-coup plotters dream of becoming presidents; Abuja pays states and LG's instead of the other way round. . . Its a phucking circus.

GEJ has looked at the mess and repeatedly told Nigerians that his govt will build strong institutions to fight corruption. I cannot understand how those repeated words can be lost on we, the educated. If we have identified chaos as the mother of corruption, where best to bring order, but the source of all our wealth? Kill the chaos there, sanitise the oil industry, provide rigid order through strong institutional frameworks and 90% of our corruption will be gone, because suddenly the oxygen that was freely available to intoxicate the powers would have been cut off, forever replaced with standards and due process.

There are different approaches to fighting corruption, but building strong institutions is the only failsafe one. Other methods amount to flailling against the current; ask Idiagbon the results of his efforts, corruption simply waited for him to go on Hajj to Mecca. The rest is history.
Strong institutions are the frameworks we need to defeat corruption and enthrone development.

GEJ should come and tell Nigerians why our refineries cannot operate at more than 30% capacity.

You will find out that it is the same high level corruption - which if not dealt with will continue to bedevil the entire system.

By the way, the issue is not whether to remove subsidy or not, but how you go about it and under what conditions.

GEJ's approach is not the way it is done anywhere - and this same approach is why no other government has succeeded in the past.

Beaf:
Please tell them.
Nigerians wish to remain slaves forever for N65.00 per litre petrol; I have never seen such cheap slaves.

For the first time in our history, we have someone who is willing to go out on a limb for the people, only for twopenny thugs like OPC to begin talking crap. I have always wondered why a man of Fasheun's education would stoop so low as to lead a band of area boys and armed robbers; but as they say, you know a man by the company he keeps.

You fool yourself if you think those eating from that subsidy right now will not get to it wherever it goes - as long as Nigeria's way of doing things remain the same THEY WILL.

How does the fact that governance in Nigeria is the epitome of high level corruption equate to imposing additional burden on the common man?

It is only a careless and incompetent government that does this kind of thing.

The problem they keep pointing to is high level corruption, the solution should have been serious prosecution by the EFCC.

Fasehun identified the real problem - our dependence on imports of petroleum products.

soloqy:
I was amongs those kicking against the removal but I recently had an eye-opening discussion with someone with real information about this rot called fuel subsidy. I think the president is evn brave to admit to it as everyone, I mean everyone in government circles is eating from it.

Its the same thing that Adams Oshiomole saw and changed his mind to support the subsidy removal too. If he was still on the outside looking in, he would have ordered for various sizes of placards and banners by now. But he has seen the realities of the situation. The fuel subsidy has to be removed. And I think the federal government is prepared to take the heat weighing the consequencies of retaining the subsidy.

Hey Kobojunkie, U still dey here?

What am I even talking about? This is what I expected. Carry on jare 

Kobojunkie:
Muhahahahaahaha!!! https://images-5.findicons.com/files/icons/1039/manto/128/laugh.png

Dude, I don chop 30 puff-puff, and I am looking to burning some of those calories in the forum today. ROFL

Name, Seydou Diarrassouba, doesn't sound Nigerian. All the same, this is tragic.

The article being discussed in this thread was obviously written by someone ignorant of the deal or even TTC - saying that scrap cars are sold for $15,000 - which had to be corrected to the actual value of $1,500. That was a basic premise for his write-up - and he flubbed it.

Still, there is even more information about the deal online (even on wikipedia).

The information below show:

1) That the Lagos bound cars include the H5 (135) & H6 (126) series - So yes, the H5 are about 30+ years old, but the H6 are about 5 to 10 years younger.
2) They will undergo engineering evaluation, refurbished inside and tracks would be changed to international gauge.

It appears to me that unlike the free-flowing criticism going on here the company and Fashola are both trying to make sure the trains are value for money. The engineering evaluation in US should enable cars that fail to be dropped from the purchase.

TTC subway cars bound for Nigeriahttp://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/1049970--ttc-subway-cars-bound-for-nigeria

Published On Tue Sep 6 2011

Tess KalinowskiTransportation Reporter

Just as the new Toronto Rocket trains start rolling in the subway tunnels, the TTC’s old cars are about to start moving right out of the city.

A company called Eko Rail has a deal to buy 255 H5 and H6 cars from the TTC to furnish a 27-kilometre surface rail line in Lagos, Nigeria.

The TTC cars are being gradually retired as the new Rockets come online.

The price for the cars is still under negotiation, according to TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

The first of the H5s is supposed to be trucked out of the Wilson yard to the U.S. next week where it will undergo an engineering evaluation.

The interiors of the cars will be refurbished and they will be converted to run on international track gauge, said London, England-based Michael Schabas, who is working with Eko Rail, the company expected to operate the Lagos line.

The Toronto-born Schabas toured the TTC with Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola in May.

The H5s have been around since 1977 and 1980. The H6s date to 1986 and 1990. They were built by the Urban Transportation Development Corp., in Thunder Bay, which later became part of Bombardier.

The H4 cars, which are not air conditioned, are not being sold. They will be scrapped, said Ross.

It is not unusual for subway cars to be recycled. Seoul and Beijing cars have both had second lives in other cities.

The TTC announced in 2009 that there was an interested buyer for the H5 and H6 cars but it did not disclose where the subways might be heading.

Lagos has a population of about 15 million people and is expected to grow to about 25 million in the next decade. The new Blue line metro is expected to be running in about three years, said Schabas.

There are three Toronto Rockets already running on the Yonge subway line. They feature open gangways that allow riders to see and walk the entire length of the train. They also accommodate about 10 per cent more riders than the T1 subways, which will be moving to the Bloor-Danforth line.

Combined with a new computerized signaling system called automatic train control, the Rockets are expected to increase the Yonge line’s capacity by up to 30 per cent.

Kobojunkie:
Actually the above are not assumptions at all. Yes, the h5 cars happen to be 30+ years old according to information available from TTC sources, and the many reports so far on this particular issue. Also, some of the same reports inform you that the cars are decommissioned, and compared to scrap too. I didn't make these things up.

You and others think you know the condition of the cars coming to Lagos based on two "heroic" assumptions:
1) That the cars are 30+ years old; 2) That the cars are scrap grade.

It may be true that officials do not buy used cars for their fleets. However, they have bought used planes for the presidential fleet in the past - didn't work out very well of course. In addition, used cars would have served us better in some cases than new cars.

It is a matter of making sure there is enough life in the used item - in accordance with its cost or better yet we learn to make the new stuff ourselves.

The only thing that this so-called news item should have produced is a call to make sure those cars are not really scrap grade. And this appears to be Fashola's objective in conducting his inspection. If that is not satisfactory for some they should ask for more inspections - perhaps by more qualified people.

Instead, people that know nothing about the trains are content to make the above two assumptions, so the criticism can flow freely.

Kobojunkie:
The same meagre-earnings argument never comes up when the same government goes to purchase fleet of cars in the millions, give gifts from tax-payer money, huh?? Matter of fact, we have never read a story of the state being so broke as to purchase old cars of this grade to rebuild it for it's workers to use. So I think rather than continue to dole out that ridiculous reason, we need to inquire as to the real reason for such a purchase.  For pete's sake, the project is estimated in the Billions, definitely not a train system on a shoestring budget as some would like for us to believe. If we are already going that far, then it makes sense to inquire as to why we are going for scrap grade when it comes to purchasing the cars.

When you make nothing for yourself you have to buy what your meagre earnings can afford.

This is the beginning and end of Nigeria's problem.

velo10:
Nigeria too like tokunbo, our dull leaders inclusive.

Bump

This kind of write-up in public fora complicates the problems facing Nigeria.

Obviously, you don't realize what is involved in conducting such a purge or more importantly that it would never see the light of day.

What it will lead to is a another northern-led coup - [size=14pt]but that is the exact outcome BOKO HARAM and their sponsors are COUNTING ON.[/size]

Beaf:
Such a purge will be temporary, but necessary.

The calculation is simple. We need to be able to take on boko haram frontally, without any sentimental officers screwing the works or leaking secrets.
The purge should not be limited to the army, but must include all security institutions, from the SSS to the Police.

The constant drip of terrorism from Borno state, alongside the constant massacres due to herdsmen might best be tackled without command involvement of officers from the affected areas.

It is time to start taking a much more hardline stance. We cannot continue to have our joy turned into sorrow, our milk into rivers of blood and our newborns heads chopped in two.

The other alternative would be more blood to split the nation.

Isn't this the same security summit ACN called for right after the elections? Instead of seeing the far-sightedness of that call GEJ sent his "thugs" after Tinubu.

In any case, a security summit is too late in the day. I don't know why the Presidency keeps following Boko Haram's lead.

[size=14pt]The only way to defeat Boko Haram is to anticipate and nip their actions in the bud[/size]

manchy7531:
BY DANIEL IDONOR

ABUJA – AS medical personnels continue to cope with overbearing pressure from victims of Madalla, Suleja Christmas bombing, the Presidency is set to organise a National Security Summit, NSS, in the new year on possible best ways to secure Nigeria in the present and future.

Top security officials, Sunday, rose from a crucial session with a declaration that Boko Haram decision to destroy Nigeria must be urgently nip in the bud, saying that the menace underscores the budgetary proposal for 2012 fiscal year.

The security chiefs also want the federal government to declare the new year a security year, as part of deliberate efforts to tackle the rising wave of insecurity in Nigeria, essentially the Boko Haram terror group and many other ethnic militia formation across the country.

Also, as part of fresh measures to address the growing security concerns, the security hierarchy has adopted a recommendation for a security summit early next year, where top Nigerian security actors are expected to inject fresh ideas into ongoing efforts by government to stem the tide.

The security summit which is being planned by the Federal Government is to hold in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and will be funded through the 2012 financial votes for national security.

An impeccable security source told Vanguard that “no amount of budgetary allocation is too much for security related projects because all over the world, security is a top priority of every responsible government and Nigeria cannot be  an exception, especially in the face of current level of insecurity”.

According to the source, the security summit would encourage all security experts, both serving and retired personnels to mount the stage and speak openly and frankly, in a manner similar to the constitutional conference, which would make far reaching recommendations to government on present and future security measures.

It was learnt that the summit is a follow-up to a recent meeting of all former National Security Advisers, NSAs, which was convened by the office of the incumbent NSA, Gen. Andrew Azazi, to discuss the menace of Boko Haram and the best ways out.

Exactly. They need to read here: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-832426.0.html#msg9833344

stpat1:
I wonder why sum ppl lk kobo junkie who's talkin like an uneducated literate man. Trains are not stuffs that just go bad off because of a few yrs, they are only changed cos of the terrain in toronto, do u expect the govnr to buy brand new coaches and run them on where? Do we av the staedy electricity and technology on ground to run modern rail system on? I dont want to go ranting on this but I expect u to circumspect the situation on ground before making regressive comments

Kobojunkie:
Used i.e AS-IS , Scrap, buyer beware . . . .  etc.

Refurbished . . .  i.e re-manufactured, cleaned, guaranteed to work for a period, and tested -- (not necessarily by original manufacturer)
https://images-5.findicons.com/files/icons/1039/manto/128/laugh.png

Yet, this Muslim-on-Muslim violence is a regular feature of our planet today.

You are talking too much theory, and not real practicals of religion.

A religion is defined by what its followers practice, not what it proclaims to practice.

gaakgaba:
@mikeansy. . please check your last argument and judge yourself. Did i hear you say diversionary tactics? what has that got to do with the issue on ground. Like you said, if these people are ready to kill any body to achieve their aim, does that make them muslims? Among the people that died in the UN building are muslims.Is it logical for a muslim to kill his fellow muslim? please THINK BIG.

This is all those arguing "disjointedly" over an ignorant article written by an ignorant reporter suggesting that the trains Fashola is purchasing from the TTC are used, not refurbished, and other nonsense.

You need to be able to remember previous related news items before coming up with all kind of space-hugging, but useless argumentation - [size=14pt]Google is your friend[/size].

The writer of that article was obviously doing a good job of ignorance about the subject. The telltale sign of that is the correction at the bottom of the article. That byline showed that he had originally written that TTC scrap trains go for $15,000 and that the rate Lagos is paying are much higher - the actual normal scrap rate is $1,500.

So the question is, if he doesn't know the actual scrap price, how is he supposed to know what Lagos is paying and that they are far higher?

The do-no-gooders are out to pull Fashola down, not because they are interested in making Lagos better, but because he represents a threat to their jaundiced political ambitions, as the star of governance in Nigeria today. Unfortunately, others are inadventently helping these do-no-gooders along by contributing wrong, but equally damaging comments. To the latter, whose real objective is good governance, I say you help neither yourself nor the cause of good governance that you seek.

In any case, below is the process those trains are going through before they come to Lagos. Fashola might not have done a perfect job - nobody ever does, but he did do his homework on this - and is head and shoulders above his peers in the space called Nigeria.

Quotes: [size=14pt]"As the electric-powered cars become surplus and are pulled offline in Toronto, they will be individually trucked to the United States for a rebuilding by a team of world-class rail engineers. The cars will also undergo track-width (or “gauge”) conversion and interior refurbishment before being shipped to Lagos."[/size]

[size=14pt]"Each of the TTC cars come equipped with air conditioning, automatic sliding doors, solid-state traction control, energy saving regenerative braking, and a wide range of modern safety features and amenities. Once equipped with a state-of-the-art, GPS-based train control system made by General Electric, Eko Rail’s trains will provide faster, safer, cheaper and more reliable transportation for Lagosians."[/size]

This is essentially what Eko-Ile pointed out on that ignorant thread.

Babatunde Fashola’s Refurbished Trains Begin Journey To Lagos http://tekedia.com/23806/babatunde-fasholas-refurbished-trains-journey-lagos/
https://tekedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Fashola-inspecting-train-300x252.jpg
By Tekedia Editors September 29, 2011

The first of hundreds of Toronto subway cars that will furnish a new surface rail line in Lagos, Nigeria, has left Canada for the last time, and is now en route to Africa’s largest city, says Toronto Star.
 
Eko Rail, has agreed to purchase 255 of the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) best-equipped subway cars for use in a much-needed Lagos Blue Line mass transit system. The TTC is in the process of purchasing larger “Rocket” trains to increase passenger capacity on their lines.
 
As the electric-powered cars become surplus and are pulled offline in Toronto, they will be individually trucked to the United States for a rebuilding by a team of world-class rail engineers. The cars will also undergo track-width (or “gauge”) conversion and interior refurbishment before being shipped to Lagos.

The trains have been inspected by the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, who endorsed the plan to purchase them following his official visit to Toronto in May 2011.

“The shipment of the first car is an important step in Eko Rail’s efforts to support the Governor’s transformation agenda for the city,” said David Potter, Eko Rail’s Chief Engineer. “Ultimately, the Blue Line, with this modernized fleet, will bring massive benefits to Lagos’ economic development and improve Lagosians’ quality of life.”

Each of the TTC cars come equipped with air conditioning, automatic sliding doors, solid-state traction control, energy saving regenerative braking, and a wide range of modern safety features and amenities. Once equipped with a state-of-the-art, GPS-based train control system made by General Electric, Eko Rail’s trains will provide faster, safer, cheaper and more reliable transportation for Lagosians.

Adapted from Toronto Star, BusinessNews

Merry Xmas to all & a Happy New Year.

Nobody knows how much money is really coming in or how much money is really on the books to be spent.

They keeping their hands in the "treasury" until it is empty.

However, this should not come as a surpise - the disease is called UNACCOUNTABILITY in both financial and non-financial areas of governance.

Kobojunkie:
WOW . . . . 2007 we had $40 Billion to work with. Less than 4 years later, we are back to borrowing, and with nothing to show for all that money?  I said this would happen, and . . . .  https://images-4.findicons.com/files/icons/1039/manto/128/sad.png

Very funny indeed - now I am really, really sorry for u.

Beaf:
^
Believe me, I am more sorry for you. All you do is bounce around the place making personal attacks, making no sense whatsoever, blowing with the wind and standing for nothing. I recall you even lying about the "free farmland" your hero, Aregbesola gave farmers on an elephant reserve (only to get thugs to beat them off it).
Please further increase your font size to 1000pt bro, it tells something about you.

Your type is called, hypocrite. You pretend to be for the people, but you stand for corruption and ethnic bigotry.

@Beaf
I am really sorry for u that u have committed yourself to "defending" GEJ and his lazy policies -blindly.

That keeps u from realizing what the following really means - "when they have written their operations into the law and it is impossible to secure our borders".

You basically called GEJ incompetent. SMH - vigorously.

Beaf:
^
Mr clever man, tell us how YOU will fight the cabal, when they have written their operations into the law and it is impossible to secure our borders. I am very interested to hear, O Wise One!

It isn't just a matter of cobbling together things heard around the corner and posting on NL, give us your practical A to Z.

I hope neither Sanusi nor anybody around here is jumping around for joy.

For Sanusi, IMF is merely buttering you up for your "next assignment".

For everybody else, that foolish woman just insulted the entire nation.

Sanusi is certainly intelligent, but there are far more intelligent people in Nigeria than Sanusi & Lagarde combined.

Largade also needs to tell us who is more intelligent between Sanusi & herself.

hustla242:
Lagarde also gave a nod of approval to the economic team that has dared to deal with the political hot potato that is the oil subsidy removal.

“It is unpopular, but absolutely necessary and in the interest of the Nigerian economy,” said Sanusi, who Lagarde described as “the most intelligent man in the country.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/imf-chief-warns-nigeria-that-europes-debt-crisis-could-affect-africas-most-populous-nation/2011/12/20/gIQAqy8b6O_story.html

Now, I'm not against Sanusi he's cleaned up the banking sector which was excellent. "The most intelligent man in country"? Inflation in double figures, Naira at record low, borrowingi rates at record high?? Yes I not we're not a manufacturing economy blah blah blah, but under Sanusi the economy has actually worsened due to his stringent policies. Islamic banking during such a delicate period Intelligent C'mon!!!

This dishonest approach to removing the subsidy will produce results worse than leaving it alone.

As I have said here once before, [size=14pt]even ABACHA, with his down-right COULD-CARE-LESS-ATTITUDE, could not force a pernicious, almost wicked, removal of subsidies down the throat of Nigerians[/size] - talkless of a weak government like GEJs. It is like someone needs to throw a book of Nigerian history at our Presidents and force their nose into it for a couple of months before they start making policy decisions.

Some people are goading GEJ on, but as much I am not a fan of OBJ he has being warning GEJ to refrain from this subsidy issue.

The real problem we have is that our leaders are [size=14pt]LAZY BLOKES[/size] - our people are not dumb, they will respond when an honest, people-caring effort is made on this subsidy issue.

Until then, it doesn't take a soothsayer to tell where this will end up.

Onlytruth:
You raised some serious points, and I must admit I'm scratching my head.   
But, the current system is still not sustainable.
Why can't they just drag oil thieves to jail then? Well, I have to answer myself: it is not possible in Nigeria's current political structure.
Subsidy removal may be one hard pill that may help.
Let's keep discussing this. 

Agreed, fuel subsidy is a sinkhole, but the worst thing you can do is take the subsidy away, punishing both the masses and those corrupt officials at NNPC, and then pour it into a bigger sinkhole.

Even if all these plans are well-intentioned and honest they still fail woefully. Simple illustration: You cannot raise the price of bread that I am eating today, claiming it is for my benefit since you plan to buy new land, plant wheat, construct a new flour-making factory and a new bakery.

It doesn't work because:

1. Your plans have no direct bearing on my need for bread "TODAY" - the problem I have is that your new price is higher than I am used to not how you come about producing bread.
2. It is untimely - I starve to death by the time your wheat is grown, and all that nonsense.
3. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong with all those plans - think Ajaokuta 30-40 years later.

And that is assuming that GEJ is being honest Abe. In reality, this government is being too clever by half.

It is not as if removal of subsidies have not being done before - but this is not how it is done.

When you do something the way it is not supposed to be done, expect the unexpected result.

Hopefully a comprehensive program to preempt BH will follow to put them down for good.

Dreaming perhaps, but we can always hope.

kevoh:
Bad week for the Boko haramites . First It was their bomb factory and now this.

How can you be so sure as to bet with your life.

adamabdul:
I can bet my life on boko haram attacking kano.boko haram is not mai tatsine,two different groups with diff. ways and ideology.Just wait and see @negro

This is the part that interests me most in this article: "Some of the extremists fled, and the suspected leader, Mohammed Aliyu, who also goes by the alias Hamza, was arrested at a checkpoint, according to Idris. [size=14pt]Members of the public also pursued the suspects, he said[/size]. Police said they found rifles in his car that had been stolen from police in Yobe and Kaduna states. Bomb materials were found in his house, according to Idris."

The point is that when residents band together and declare enough is enough on Boko Haram, it will be the end of the vile group.

Deadly raid, 'Islamist' arrests in northern Nigeria

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jsNx0RUcAXiAurG-lItWd5IdavJw?docId=CNG.fad80dffc69b5105a37f43fbbaedadfd.381

(AFP) – 1 hour ago 

KANO, Nigeria — A shootout between Nigerian police and suspected members of the Islamist group Boko Haram has left seven dead, while 14 people have been arrested and explosives seized, authorities said Sunday.

The shootout on Saturday in Kano came after a suspected Boko Haram leader discovered his house was under surveillance and called out other members of the group to attack police, Kano state police commissioner Ibrahim Idris said.

Two of the police officers on surveillance duty in the northern city were killed, Idris told reporters. Reinforcements were sent, with one of those officers also shot dead and another wounded.

"Four of the syndicate members were shot dead," he said, referring to the suspected Boko Haram members.

Some of the extremists fled, and the suspected leader, Mohammed Aliyu, who also goes by the alias Hamza, was arrested at a checkpoint, according to Idris. Members of the public also pursued the suspects, he said.

Police said they found rifles in his car that had been stolen from police in Yobe and Kaduna states. Bomb materials were found in his house, according to Idris.

Raids were also carried out on other locations earlier in the week that led to arrests and the seizure of weapons and explosives, the commissioner announced. A total of 14 arrests were made in the operations, he said.

Police said the suspects were not from Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria, and indicated they had come from Borno and Yobe states, which have been hard hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram.

Northern Nigeria has been hit by scores of attacks blamed on the Islamist sect, but Kano had not previously been targeted since the latest round of violence attributed to the group began in 2010.

In an incident on Thursday, gunmen attacked a military-run school outside the city, killing at least three air force personnel, but it was unclear if there was any link to Boko Haram.

A purported spokesman for the sect, Abul Qaqa, told reporters the group was not behind the school attack, but claimed it was involved in the shootout at the house in Kano.

Most of the violence attributed to Boko Haram has occurred in the country's northeast, but it also claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that killed at least 24 people.

It is believed to have several factions with varying aims.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

At least you understand my real point - unlike those two .

Still, I put it to you that there is no justification for the prince to spend $1 million in a night club.

No system of government confers you with any kind of legitimacy to go spending public money like that. This happens in outdated, illegitimate fiefdoms, where citizens are really slaves of their rulers - like Saudi Arabia.

kokoA:
They operate a completely different system from ours. The King is lord and the prince has a legitimate rigth to enomours wealth.

Are you guys saying that simple statement of mine is too much for you to comprehend?

I suggest you reel in your antennas and read the statement again - it is merely an analogy to illustrate how absurd it is for someone to say that a prince spending $1 million in night club is due to "God's blessing".

My statement really has nothing to do with GEJ, but that GEJ's kids could be considered "princes" of Nigeria. Using that analogy, would that guy still say na God's blessing if GEJ's kid are found spending $1 million dollars in a night club (?)

That is all there is to it.

werepeLeri:
Bros - wetin be the correlation with GEJ'S kids?

philip0906:
^^
Infact my broda,it took me over 5 mins trying 2 c how d story related to jona and co. . .Nigerians and their poverty mentality

Na God bless am

I guess it would be fine and dandy with you for GEJ's kids to spend a million dollars at a night club then.

kokoA:
Leave am. Na God bless am o,

I hope u are not serious, but in case. Paul spoke exactly to stop those that were misinterpreting Jesus like u are doing. Jesus was quite clear though.

Jesus said "YE SHALL. . .", so he is telling u to move the mountain having faith that you can do it. That is not the same as "PRAY, FAST, and the mountain shall move itself".

omo_to_dun:
No sir,  I .did not. How would you know if I misinterpreted Jesus? Are you his spokesman or his lawyer? The key to our problems is incessant and non-stop fasting and praying. No need to work. The "faith without works" statement was never uttered by Jesus, was it? It was probably one of his apostles or Paul. I'd rather listen to Uncle Jesus.

Oh really? All u need is prayer & fasting.

Same Bible says "Faith without works is dead".

Also, u misinterpret Jesus. His words were "YE will move mountains". Emphasis is on ye doing the mountain-moving. Faith helps u but wont move the mountain for YE. God wants u to work not wait & pray for magic.

Nigerians are the "prayest" people in the world. That should tell u something.

omo_to_dun:
I respectfully disagree. Even Christ said that if ye hath faith as small as a mustard seed, ye can moveth mountains. You do not need work, prayer and fasting are sufficient.

U did not grasp my statement about Ribadu. I was actually saying that Ribadu was the best option, GEJ 2nd.

lukkie:
@KORUJI

Your statements are just too illogical. So Buhari/Ribadu would have been worse just because YOU  think so. Their antecdents/experience don't  matter? Now that's a new one.

Your dumbo president failed as a gov but in your eyes he's the best president Nigeria ever had. Hmmmnnn!