Everything is an insult to you people. Look at the below:
Tinubu: "Abia state has no visible development". Orji: "You must have something over your eyes, there is development all over the place, better than Lagos".
It is called politics. He did not call Orji any names, like the obvious one - Juju governor for example.
If we are talking about development in Nigeria over the last few years Abia will not be mentioned. Tinubu spoke the truth, but since he is Yoruba he must not say anything about U.
Always ignoring leprosy while running helter-skelter to cure ringworm!!!
EzeUche_: What does GEJ have to do with this situation? Tinubu insulted my state, and I take offense.
When are you going to kill off the Yoruba part of her , so you could have a full Fulani babe. You must really be holding your nose right now when she shows that Yoruba part of her you hate so much.
Chyz*: You yourself have even admitted several times that yorubas are tribalistic. It has gotten them nowhere. Allowing others into your environment soes not mean you are not tribalistic. My kwara babe is mixed with fulani. She takes after their(fulani) characteristics,to an extent as well, so she doesn't count. The SW does not have the highest number of people from other regions, exclude lagos, then what? The North definitely has the highest.
The hands of Esau, the voice of Jacob. All our deadwood oppressors are afraid of what a generation shift in the mode of Ribadu would do to their comfortable living on the backs of the masses.
[size=14pt]If Nigerians truly want a peaceful, yet sweeping change they need to let Ribadu come in and clean house during this coming April elections. It is a daunting task.[/size]
I don't know how people who twisted and turned to support IBB can write this kind of nonsense about a person whose only "sin" is to take down high-ranking corrupt people without fear.
hisssssssssssssses!!!!
Big B1: First, Ribadu is a true Nigerian and an exceptional human being, however, he isn't a presidential material. I continue to tell folks over and over to please set sentiment aside and never allow lack of good leadership in Nigeria to reduce what we deserve and truly desire. Ribadu is a good man, but not a leader, at least not a leader that Nigeria needs at this time.
The difference btw Gadafi and Ribadu isn't much if you honestly think profoundly.
Making noise or running around like a headless chicken or pointing out what is wrong with our system doesn't automatically make you a leader. There is much more to effective and efficient leadership, trust me.
During the debate once again I witnessed Ribadu's true color in action. What is Ribadu's true color? Unorganized, uncivilized, unpolished, power drunk, undisciplined, lawless, arrogant, ignorant and absolutely a pissed-off kid. This is not what we want or need in Nigeria. Pls keep in mind that just because you're pissed-off doesn't make you a leader or mean you care more than the rest. The truth is we are all unhappy and pretty much pissed-off, and we are also all Nigerians.
During the debate, Ribadu wasn't able to control himself 80 percent of the time, he also found it extremely difficult to obey the rules. He reminded me of a crack addict who was completely out of control.
My honest suggestion is for Ribadu and his VP (Fola Adeola) to switch position; I think AC N will have a better chance if this takes place right away.
It is important for Nigerians to elect a president that is organized, settled, balanced, no skeleton record, focused, competent and ready to work for Nigeria, and not just a power crazy entity.
Please also take a time out to check out the Governor of Kano, and I assure you that leadership will be seen on a totally different light.
Ribadu is better off leading Nigeria Police, but absolutely not leading Nigerians.
If Ribadu becomes the next president (which I honestly doubt) he will end up nursing problems upon problems for the 4 years and at the end of the day he will end up running away for cover in another country.
Ribadu is no Gani Fawehinmi or Mandela. He is just another northern kid that badly seeks for power. This power may end up affecting Nigerians and Nigeria negatively, all because Ribadu has no managerial skill.
Think and elect the right leader for the sake of tomorrow.
@Beaf I have recently become worried about your willingness to attack Yoruba people, history and culture after GEJ oversteped his bounds by calling SW governors radicals -and was adequately replied. The fact is nobody put the words in his mouth, except perhaps his godfather OBJ, who cannot speak more than a couple of sentences before generating a controversy. GEJ and his supporters ought to know that OBJ has no real following in the SW. His military background and pseudo-uniter of Nigeria role are his main backbones. Personally, I do not begrudge the man as he has done important things on Nigeria's behalf, but he did most of it by selling out his region. GEJ is not an OBJ type person, and for him to allow himself to be led that way for the sake of power is really unbecoming. In one sentence GEJ is praising Awolowo's vision, and then in the other he is calling those who seek to project his vision in a visionless system "radicals" in whose hands the SW must not be left. Nobody in the SW is scared to confront OBJ, talkless of GEJ.
You say Itsekiri is older than Yoruba, but is a mixture of proto-Yoruba (which is not Yoruba) and Igala. Then you say Itsekiri is closer to Igala. However, the Igala's closest relatives are the Yoruba and by extension the Itsekiris. As his listerners said to Paul 1000s of years ago, "Eko ako ju n ba e lo ri je" - too much learning is tying you up in a knot.
Look, all you are saying is that we were the same people with a long history together - the rest is arrant nonsense. Interestingly, you have joined people making incredible assumptions and major alterations to "re-write ancient history by the internet".
I am scared of what politics can do to otherwise rational minds!!!
Beaf: ^ Itsekiri is a mixture of proto-Yoruba (which is not Yoruba, but its ancestor) and Igala. It is a language that is far closer to Igala than Yoruba; more than that, the Igala also claim to to be the ancestors of the Yoruba (this is seemingly supported by anthropology).
So, if anything, the Itsekiri are progenitor of the Yoruba, which makes any expansionist claims absolutely ridiculous.
. . .By the way, your quote from Ayomike is miles out of context and has nothing to do with the current argument.
@PhysicsMHD Thanks for these quotes. This makes clear that Bishop Ajayi's attribution of Yoruba origins to a migration from Egypt and being sons of Lamurudu (Nimrud) were not some isolated view of his time. Oral history seems to support it as well. The Bible's early history, including the story of Nimrod, is well known to have been based on earlier documents out of Mesopotamia (Iraq).
However, it is curious that you say: [size=14pt]Not all that plausible, really. [/size].
It seems to me that while oral (and all) history is distorted the general framework fits the emerging outlines of ancient Africa's history. Perhaps your statement is because you interpret the quote as describing a migration lasting perhaps a couple of decades. However, pieces of the quote (particularly that they left people everywhere they crossed and being related to the Sudanese) show he was talking about thousands of years of movement. Also, I looked up the name mentioned in the quote "Ya'rub ibn Qahtan" and it turns out this was not somebody from the time of Mohammed (around 700 AD), but was the son of Joktan according to Arab oral history (Qahtan) of Genesis 10:25 (around 3000 BCE) - the generation that was living during the Bible's story of Babel following the epic flood of Noah's time. Incidentally, Egyptian civilization began to flourish around 3000 BCE.
In this fuzzy pictures of ancient history are the grains of truth about a long history of civilization going back 5-6 thousand years. There is nothing in this story that contradicts human origins out of Ethiopia. It only suggests that among the waves of migration out of Africa some began to move in the opposite direction from the plains of Mesopotamia.
PhysicsMHD: “An early example of such traditions of migration is given by the Sokoto scholar Muhammad Bello, according to whom the Yoruba were 'remnants of the Banu Kan'an, which is the tribe of Nimrud' who had been expelled from Iraq.” - The Oyo Empire: c.1600-c.1836 (1977) by Robin Law. Law's source for this is E.J. Arnett's Rise of the Sokoto Fulani, p.16 and Thomas Hodgkin's Nigerian Perspectives, p.78
I should point out that this Muhammad Bello is not the same as Muhammed Bello, son of Uthman dan Fodio and also that the “Yoruba” referred to here are specifically the Oyo, who were known as the Yoruba at that time to others. (Later in the 19th century, the other groups that spoke dialects of the same language as the Oyo became known by the same appellation as the Oyo, and were called Yorubas. However the (or maybe just one) original Yoruba name may have been “Olukumi” given the references to Lucumis or Ulkami in European accounts describing an area northwest of Benin that is sometimes held to be Oyo or be near Oyo.)
As for the meaning of the statement itself, my interpretation is:
Banu Kan'an = Brothers Canaanite = the Canaanites, who are related to or ancestral to the Phoenicians, so he might have been referring to the later remnants of the Phoenicians Nimrud = Nimrod, the famous early Mesopotamian king, could possibly be related to or the ancestor of the Canaanites/Phoenicians Iraq = Mesopotamia
But what Mesopotamian characteristics did Oyo have? Is there anything Semitic/Mesopotamian about Oyo culture and religion? I don’t see anything related there.
For the direct quote:
Bello – The Origins of the Yoruba3
“The country of Yoruba is extensive and has streams and forest and rocks and hills. There are many curious and beautiful things in it. The ships of Christians come there. The people of Yoruba are descended from the Bani Kan'an and the kindred of Nimrud. Now the reason for their having settled in the west according to what we are told is that Ya'rub ibn Qahtan drove them out of 'Iraq to the westwards and they traveled between Misr4 and Habash5 until they reached Yoruba. It happened that they left a portion of their people in every country they passed. It is said that the Sudanese who live up on the hills are all kindred; so also the people of Yauri are their kindred. The people of Yauri resemble those of Nufe[Nupe] in appearance. In the land of Yoruba are found the birds green in colour which are called 'babgha'' in Arabic and which we call 'Aku'.1 It is a bird which talks and is beautiful.” - Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-maisur (1929), p. 16. taken from Nigerian Perspectives, 2nd ed. (1975) by Thomas Hodgkin.
Thomas Hodgkin's notes:
3. 'Yoruba' in this context refers specifically to Oyo, not (as in current usage) to the Yoruba-speaking peoples in general. 4. Egypt 5. Ethiopia 1. Parrots.
So this is a journey from Mesopotamia, through Egypt and east Africa all the way to Oyo, Nigeria?
Not all that plausible, really.
On an unrelated note, the book The Oyo Empire c.1600-c.1836: A West African Imperialism in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Robin Law is possibly one of the best books ever written on any single African state. It's extremely well researched, masterfully presented, very well-reasoned, balanced, objective, and just a damn good read, overall. It also corrects numerous errors and pieces of political propaganda found in Samuel Johnson's classic History of the Yorubas. A very interesting read on the most ambitious West African Empire after Mali. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in African history. I'm not even Yoruba and I read the book and came away thoroughly impressed with the organization and ambition of the empire, and got a better understanding of how and why it ended.
This is not fair. If Pastor Bakare has "real stories" about Ribadu Nigerians need to know RIGHT NOW, not at some unspecified time in the future.
It is disappointing to hear someone who calls it as it is against the government of the day say he will keep "quiet". Why?
Pastor Bakare should either spill the beans, if there are any to spill, rather than engage in subterfuge!!!
Apparently questioning Ribadu’s anti-graft credential, Bakare said: “And all this anti-corruption ‘Czar’? We have stories that we can tell, but we will keep quiet now until the appropriate time.”
Anybody who doesn't realize that the corporate existence of Nigeria is in the balance over the next two months must be sleeping with fire on his roof. President GEJ has been advised on the need to lock down this country security-wise at least one month to election day - and that does not necessarily mean soldiers harassing citizens at every turn. We are already inside a month to election day! See what they are discovering:
Quote: "Meanwhile, the Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau State yesterday in Jos intercepted a truck with registration number KN XH 379 KMC, loaded with assorted explosive devices from Kaduna, The truck was conveying 15,000 Kg of ammonium Nitrate (25Kgx600) 50,000 Kg of codex fuse (500mx100ctns) 5000 pieces of electric detonators (1000 pieces X 5 cases) 1000 pieces of card relays 25ms (1 case) 80 pieces of electric detonators, Other items are 775 Kg of super power, 25mm (25 Kgx31ctn), 5pieces of drilling rod 4 fit and 5 pieces of drilling rod 6 fit."
Still one is encouraged by the renewed urgency: "Jonathan wants the security agencies to, increase their intelligence gathering effort so that attacks should be stopped ever before they are carried out,” the source further said.
I say step on it already. The good people of Nigeria must not be sacrificed for the inordinate ambitions of a bunch of thieves.
Saturday, 12 March 2011 00:00 From Isa Abdulsalami, (Jos) and Ibukunoluwa Kayode (Lagos) News - National .User Rating: / 0 --Agencies Unfold Fresh Plans Over Safety --Task Force Intercepts Explosives In Jos
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has carried his resolve to bequeath the nation with security of life and property across the country beyond the level of mere rhetoric.
To this end, he has asked the various security agencies to collaborate as never before in an effort to meet the target he has set out for them; zero unsolved security breach to start well before the general elections.
Meanwhile, the Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau State yesterday in Jos intercepted a truck with registration number KN XH 379 KMC, loaded with assorted explosive devices from Kaduna.
According to a top security source close to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), a meeting of high calibre members of the State Security Service (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Police and even the Military Intelligence will be convened within a week to map out how to address and meet the security challenge which had been deteriorating ever before President Jonathan’s inauguration.
According to the source, President Jonathan has issued an express order to the NSA to do all in his powers to see that the spectre of unsolved security breaches across the nation was brought to an end. The source said that “it is President Jonathan’s express desire to bequeath Nigeria with a new legacy, in which life and property will be totally safe across the nation; one in which assassination or arson will no longer be a viable option during an election campaign; one in which any deviant who shuns the rule of law and respect for human life and embraces mayhem, will be fished out and punished adequately.
The NSA, on his part, is said to be keeping the approaching inter-agency meeting under wraps so as not to unduly alarm the populace as crime is present in every society across the globe, though the seeds of discords sown ever before President Jonathan’s ascendancy into office were now bearing the fruits of wrath through blood-letting that has been exacerbated by the approaching general elections.
President Jonathan had security of life and property in mind when he promised Nigerians a free and fair election. And on this, a top Presidency source said the President was solidly bent on delivering the freest and fairest elections in Nigerian history. Once the elections are conducted and Nigerians see that nobody is cheated as peoples’ votes are be made to count, and peoples’ wished as expressed through their votes have the implied effect, there is bound to be a shift in the way Nigerians take recourse to violence during elections.
The source said that so far, at least during the party primaries, the President allowed internal party democracy to hold sway, and also encouraged those who came to him claiming they were cheated, to have recourse to the courts – and court orders in all matters have been obeyed to the letter according to the publicly stated stance of the President.
Of course, this may have alienated some persons who thought they occupy a special place in the good books of the President as he refused to disobey internal party democracy dictates and help in their bids for various elective offices, but President Jonathan is confident that with time, such persons will come to appreciate the essence of the “breath of fresh air” the President is introducing into the country.
According to the source, the meeting will give the security agencies the chance to work out more ways of collaborating among themselves, especially on the new moves of combating crime and assassinations in the land. The security agencies will also work out ways that the nation will benefit from the new law recently passed by the National Assembly, which has given a new interpretation to the term terrorism – now punishable by death.
Most of all, the source said security services had been faring better than the public ever thought; that those who claimed to be acting for Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) when they bombed Abuja have hardly been able to act again as the arrow heads have been arrested. Also, just minutes after the Suleja bomb blast, a suspect was already in the police net.
“Yet, Jonathan wants the security agencies to do much better than that; he wants them to increase their intelligence gathering effort so that attacks should be stopped ever before they are carried out,” the source further said.
The truck was conveying 15,000 Kg of ammonium Nitrate (25Kgx600) 50,000 Kg of codex fuse (500mx100ctns) 5000 pieces of electric detonators (1000 pieces X 5 cases) 1000 pieces of card relays 25ms (1 case) 80 pieces of electric detonators.
Other items are 775 Kg of super power, 25mm (25 Kgx31ctn), 5pieces of drilling rod 4 fit and 5 pieces of drilling rod 6 fit.
Confirming the arrest of the truck and its driver to journalists in Jos yesterday, the spokesman of the STF, Capt. Charles Ekeocha said the vehicle was intercepted at a check point at Mr. Ali NEPA Zaria Road by Sector One men on duty late on Thursday night.
Ekeocha explained that the truck was coming from Kaduna to Jos allegedly belonging to Duwan Company Limited with office at Plot 10129 Yelwa Complex in Jos with one police constable, Kingsley Charles, in mufti as escort at the time of the arrest.
Ekeocha further said the STF Commander, Brig. Gen. Hassan Umaru, has directed that the vehicle and its content be detained at the STF Headquarters in Jos pending full investigation as to the end use and also to properly look into the particulars which have discrepancies having originated in Kaduna and signed in Lagos and why in such large quantity.
He stressed that the explosives were being moved around without proper escort and knowledge of the security men on ground.
Gbagbo is going to join Charles Taylor at the International Criminal Court.
For those who know Gbagbo well, they need to advise him to take a look at Taylor's rap sheet to give him a glimpse of his future if he does not allow peace to reign in Ivory Coast.
4.Why is Charles Taylor being prosecuted and what crimes is he charged with? Charles Taylor is charged with 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Sierra Leone from November 30, 1996, to January 18, 2002. The Prosecutor alleges that Mr. Taylor is responsible for crimes which include murdering and mutilating civilians, including cutting off their limbs; using women and girls as sex slaves; and abducting children adults and forcing them to perform forced labor or become fighters during the conflict in Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor has pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Taylor is charged on the basis that he allegedly backed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels fighting in Sierra Leone; that he had links with senior leaders in the RUF—such as Foday Sankoh, Sam Bockarie (a.k.a. Mosquito), Issa Sesay, and others—in addition to a second warring faction, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC); and that he was responsible for Liberian forces fighting in support of the Sierra Leonean rebels.
The specific counts against Mr. Taylor are:
• Five counts of war crimes: terrorizing civilians, murder, outrages on personal dignity, cruel treatment, and looting;
• Five counts of crimes against humanity: murder, rape, sexual slavery, mutilating and beating, and enslavement; and
• One count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law: recruiting and using child soldiers.
The Prosecutor alleges that Mr. Taylor bears individual criminal responsibility for the crimes on the basis that he allegedly took part in the crimes by planning, instigating, and ordering them; aiding and abetting them by providing military training and support to the RUF and AFRC; and taking part in the execution of a plan to take control of Sierra Leone during which the crimes were committed. The Prosecutor further alleges that Mr. Taylor was a superior to perpetrators of the crimes and failed to take reasonable measures to prevent or punish the crimes while knowing or having reason to know about them.
One of the few moves by late President Yar'adua that turned out to be well-informed and in the best interest of Nigeria.
His argument against devaluing the Naira is very sound. Perhaps what is needed is a fine-tuning of our foreign exchange management system to promote smooth, rather jerky, adjustments to market conditions.
It is only common sense. This is the role a responsible government should play after listening and settling any legitimate disaggreements.
I have suggested that this is the kind ultimatum GEJ needs to issue to Jos residents -- "I will divide your towns and villages into tiny bits, create miles and miles of militarized buffer between the two parties" i.e. after carting them to Abuja, shining the camera on their faces, and making them tell the world what kind of "god" they worship and what type of animals they are to massacre each other day-in-day-out.
Instead the guy is promising to find culprits after every eruption of violence - political calculations can only take so you so far.
revomind: I like this guy. I mean---------------------- telling the elders of a town he was gonna raze their town and grow plants if they cannot live peacefully with each other is just-------------gangsta.
And the bit about Bala Muhammed coming to severe political ties because he 'did not make him rich' is hilarious. This guy has a good sense of humour walahi. What knocked me out really is that he requested Muhammed's family to pray for their patron cuz he was worried about his sanity.----------damn, damn, damn
Hear Abba-Aji: On the unconstitutionality of the FOI Bill, he argued that every public officer including the president is under oath of secrecy that is in the constitution ''which is what this new bill is trying to oust"
Don't we know it already? A secret society runs Nigeria!!!
By Michael Olugbode 28 Feb 2011
Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba -Aji has said his principal would be advised against assenting to the Freedom of Information Bill if it is eventually passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly
The House of Representatives had last week passed the FoI Bill.
The Presidential aide, who told newsmen in Maiduguri Monday that he was disappointed in the House of Representatives passing the bill, declared that he expects the upper chamber of the National Assembly to throw it out, ''as the bill was against the nation’s constitution''.
On the unconstitutionality of the FOI Bill, he argued that every public officer including the president is under oath of secrecy that is in the constitution ''which is what this new bill is trying to oust''.
Abba Aji said if the Senate fails in its duties to throw out the bill, he would be left with no option but to advise President Jonathan against assenting to the bill.
With the expectation that Senate will also pass the bill this week, Abba-Aji however said he will work against the passage of the bill which if finally passed into law will give Nigerians access to information unimpeded.
Emphasising that he led the group that opposed the passage of the bill on the floor of the National Assembly during Obasanjo’s tenure, Abba-Aji said he has not regretted his action and was ready to fight the bill to a standstill.
He said it was regrettable that the bill continues to drag for long and queried the support for the bill, stressing that no government or organization will offer its official secret to members of the public or the press.
The presidential aide insisted that all public institutions have information that must be closely guided for the benefit of peace, progress and development of the society.
Abba Aji declared that what distinguishes man from animals is the way he handles information, noting that what happens in a house is not for public consumption as everyone has right to privacy.
He said Nigeria should be wary of opening its secret to the rest of the world through this unpatriotic FOI bill, insisting that instead of the bill what needs to be promoted is the Freedom of the Press.
Abba Aji who claimed that the Nigerian Press remains the freest, said even in United States of America (USA) information still get classified, noting that once information get classified in the US it is after 30 years that it gets declassified.
Abba Aji said since the FOI bill will be running contrary to the nation's constitution is going to be an exercise in futility.
@noblezone Was not referring to papabrowne. Actually agreeing with him and giving what I see as another reason.
noblezone: He only made analysis based from his perpective and you are calling him names? I am optimistic that GEJ will win. I prefer his humility and calmness to arrogant Buhari who led his gang of criminal minded soldiers like Abacha and IBB and truncate our second republic. He claimed Shagari was corrupt, but later discharged and acquited same.
Let the truth be told, the PDP as led by GEJ is not the same as that led by OBJ and Atiku. If there is any election rigging, I will blame Jega and not GEJ. Reason, I have seen in GEJ a commitment for a free and fear election. The concluded voters registration is a pointer.
For the first time in along time, we have president who is not a tyrant, unlike Buhari, IBB, Abacha, and OBJ. I know we need a change, and that change has already taken place.
I cant understand why many are not seeing the light.
@PapaBrowne Our thieving elites have colluded as usual. The election is already over, and it is for GEJ.
All we asked them to do is give the man the PDP ticket if the alternatives were IBB and Atiku. The other political parties were not supposed to lay down and let him walk over them. That unfortunately is what they are doing.
GEJ is going to get the presidency in the name of "unity". Tinubu basically implied the other day that without the CPC/ACN alliance GEJ would "not" lose the election.
As such, GEJ is throwing caution to the wind and showing his true colors while making high falutin promises - people are dying everyday in Jos, but the man is promising to eradicate tribalism from Nigeria. It seems that his "humility" at the end of the day is mere pretention.
Jonathan who spoke at a presidential rally of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said that there will be no governorship election in Delta State come next April. Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan’s victory in the April 14, 2007 was annulled by Justice Monica Dongba-Mensah of the Appeal Court, Benin , Edo State last November 9 but won the re-run election on January 6.
Is GEJ serious? I think this man is already showing his true colors not having won any elections yet. SW governors are rascals, Uduaghan will get 8 years because he was found to have won the first election fraudulently (and we all know that no real elections happened the second time). What next? Ibori returns with fanfare, Olabode George goes from Prison to Campaign Head in Lagos, etc.
The man is not serious!!!
April Polls: Jonathan Hails Court Verdict On Five Govs . Saturday, 26 February 2011 00:00 From Hendrix Oliomogbe, Asaba News - National .User Rating: / 0 PoorBest .PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Asaba hailed last Wednesday’s judgment of the Federal High Court which ruled that governors whose elections were annulled and subsequently won re-run elections, did have fresh mandates.
Jonathan who spoke at a presidential rally of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said that there will be no governorship election in Delta State come next April. Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan’s victory in the April 14, 2007 was annulled by Justice Monica Dongba-Mensah of the Appeal Court, Benin , Edo State last November 9 but won the re-run election on January 6.
According to him, the judgment meant that the party’s efforts were not in vain and equally rubbished the notion of the opposition parties that the affected governors efforts were only buying time.
For Vice President Namadi Sambo, as at today, there is no candidate of any party as qualified as Jonathan to lead Nigeria to the promised land, maintaining that the president is an honest, transparent, patriotic, detribalized man who incidentally is the first Nigerian president with a doctorate degree.
Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih yesterday took a swipe at the opposition parties for not preparing for the April polls, insisting that while the PDP was working hard, other parties were already preparing to go to court to challenge the impending victory of the ruling party.
Anenih remarked that the impending victory of the PDP in the next election would be so transparent that anybody that goes to court to challenge it will merely be wasting his time.
The former Minister of Works said that President Jonathan and his running mate, Vice President Namadi Sambo have gone round the six geo-political zones and to 12 states wooing voters across the country campaigning whereas the opposition candidates are yet to start their campaigns less than two months to the April 9 presidential election.
He said: “While we are busy campaigning all over the country, others are already busy preparing to challenge the victory of the PDP in an election that has not yet been held. We are waiting for them.”
Sambo described Jonathan as a detribalized, educated, humble and patriotic Nigerian who means well for the progress and unity of the country.
With his support as an architect, he said that they are determined to change Nigeria for the better if elected to pilot the affairs of the country for the next four years Sambo said: “It is true the president is from the South South, an oil producing zone. Not that Nigerians want him based on that, but because he does not believe in ethnicity. He does not look at that before he gives anybody any assistance and God has a reason to make him a consensus candidate.”
Ironically, the gathering of the heavy weights of the PDP brought together the different feuding factions of the PDP in the state such as Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark and his resolute opponent, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.
Also present at the rally which took place at the Cenotaph, Asaba were the party’s Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Haliru Bello; Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke; his Enugu State counterpart, Mr. Sullivan Chime and a host of others.
Yar'adua accused Ribadu of lack of asset declaration after finding nothing worthwhile. A charge that has been declared invalid by GEJ's admin.
Does it occur to these nicompoops that Yar'adua who found the smallest dirt on OBJ's people and badly wanted to deal with Ribadu would have brought this up. This is the same way they started the $15 million Ibori bribe story, until the CBN confirmed they have Ibori's money.
Let them keep stoking the fire. We'll see who ultimately gets burnt by it.
Isn't it nice how as April gets closer and GEJ/PDP want another turn the NA suddenly starts looking like its made up of "sensible" people? It is actually reason to kick all of them to the curb, if possible. They knew what was good for the nation for these many years but refused to act.
b0dnel: LAGOS – THE House of Representatives, Thursday , responded to yearnings of the populace to have accountability in our public life as it passed the Freedom of Information Bill, 11 years after it was first introduced in the National Assembly. The passage of the Bill was immediately hailed by the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, and other Civil Society groups which have mounted a sustained campaign to make Nigeria join the league of other civilised societies by passing the Bill The Joint Committee of the House had, Monday, rounded off work on the 34 clauses of the Bill with input from the Open Society Justice Initiative and other media rights groups. Before passing the Bill, the House however deleted clauses 12 and 18.
@Ibitoru/EzeUche et al We should be careful before perperating false information, [size=14pt]worst of all against ourselves[/size]. I saw that report on one CNN program (Spitzer's new gig) and he did say the guy was Nigerian. Later Anderson on Anderson 360 correctly identified the guy as "Nigerien", easily mistaken as "Nigerian" like Spitzer did.
Watch the video - Is that your Green Nigerian Passport or most likely the Niger Passport - [size=14pt]Look at the Shield in the Video and the Shield in the Niger Passport image to the right[/size].
[size=14pt]What's most annoying is not the ignorance of CNN or the fact that this crap is all over the web, but that Nigerians themselves did not check before perpetrating it. Where is our Foreign Ministry?[/size]
Some Libyan is going to attack a Nigerian days, weeks, months, years from now based on this CRAP. Another reason to get rid of this Lugard-Concubine name!!!
EzeUche_: Well they did show images of a man who was captured with a Nigerian passport.
They are most likely from the North, because Southern Nigerians do not go to the "Arab" North. They would rather go to the West or even Asia.
Ibitoru A: I was watching a report on the Libya crisis on CNN yesterday and imagine my surprise when the reporter said that the Libyan president, Muammar Gadhafi had Chad, Sudanese and NIGERIAN militants in his employ. So the situation in Nigeria has become so bad that our militancy has become international
This is well and good, but you have to note that the person responsible for these statements would claim to have a "higher rank" than you when it comes to Islam and the practice of Islam. These are the people in control of thousands, perhaps millions, of followers all over the world. While there is always a divergence between the practice and actual teachings of a religion, unfortunately, the vocal minority/majority or whatever followers of Islam tend towards the corrupt, violent interpretation of the laws.
This is not a bluff and should be taken seriously. A pastor had only survived by the skin of his teeth up North years ago for the same "offense". He lost one or both of his eyes along with other unheard of injuries. The former governor of Zamfara, a senator of the BANANA republic called Nigeria, quoted the Hadith to support his pedophilia.
Please send this interpretation to those that really need it. Make it a topic of public discussion and take your religion back.
Lagosboy: The first rule in a debate is to understand the concept being discussed before formulating an opinion or making an allegation.
In islam an apostate is not to be killed and there is evidence in the time of the Prophet PBUH where someone changed his faith and was not killed in anyway.
The only instance where an apostate is killed is the instance of an islamic state , where someone changes side and begins to work against the state. This act is punishable under all laws of all modern countries. In the US it is called treasonable felony punishable by death or long jail sentence - example is John Walker Lindh who was US citizen and fought against the US in battle. In the UK it as an offence, In Nigerias law Treasonable felony is death sentence.
1400 years ago the Islamic state in Medina was newly established and the same law applied to anyone. Then, the oath of allegiance was to the state and you are free to choose your religion as the quran says in Q2 v 256 "Let there be no compulsion in religion". There were Jews and christians living under the state with full rights and priviledges. Death penalty was only prescribed on someone that switched side and worked with external agressors against the state.
I do accept some muslims dont help matters when they have the opinion that anyone switching sides should be killed. This opinion has no basis in islamic legal theory.
For jornalists to bring this issue into Buhari runnign for presidency means that some Nigerians dont want progress , some Nigerians are bent on dividing us on the basis of religion. Nigerians should acknowledge the fact that a devout muslim is joining hand with a devout christian to move our country foward.
I trust intelligent minds would look beyond this myopic religious politicking.
Although it is similar miscarriage of justice, they don't lock you up without trial as in Nigeria - either way however this shouldn't be happening anywhere.
aloy/emeka: But such a thing happens in US too. One black man was freed the other day after spending 30 years in jail.
Although it is similar miscarriage of justice, they don't lock you up without trial as in Nigeria - either way however this shouldn't be happening anywhere.
aloy/emeka: But such a thing happens in US too. One black man was freed the other day after spending 30 years in jail.
Election time is here again, and time for Gen. OBJ to harp on this fraud of an idea called "Nigerian Unity". In the name of Nigerian Unity they have seized the instrument of state for 50 years, and then proceed to do and/or allow great acts of disunity. That Nigeria is not united 50 years into this experiment shows that the unitary turn taken in 1966 has been a disaster that must be reversed.
Does PDP plan to win this election for GEJ by playing this same tired, old, fraudulent song of "Nigerian unity"? The guy can campaign, but cannot take frontal action concerning the Jos crisis - if he handles this with swiftness and justice there will not be much campaigning needed to win. Nigerians are not animals, they will recognize genuine leadership when it shows up.
If the people cannot eat $#&@ unity; if they are dying by the hundreds due to religious, ethnic, etc conflagrations $#&@ unity; if it is an excuse for one part to impose itself on the others $#&@ unity, if it is an excuse to foster another round of mediocrity on the good people of Nigeria, $#&@ unity.
Let's substitute that word "unity" for "progress", individual and national. If disunity brings us progress then so be it - let each state forge ahead, then see others follow in a hurry. As long as everyone is lackadaisically proclaiming empty unity, while rotating in place, even unity will be far from our doorsteps.
aloy/emeka: [size=14pt]Nigeria’s unity fragile -OBJ[/size] Written by Dipo Laleye, Minna Sunday, 13 February 2011
FORMER president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday took a critical look at the 51 years of existence of the country and concluded that the “unity of Nigeria is fragile.”
Obasanjo hinged his conclusion on the spate of crisis resulting in loss of lives and property across the country and the tribalisation of the politics of the country by certain Nigerians.
Speaking at the flag-off of the gubernatorial campaign of Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State in Minna, Chief Obasanjo declared that “the very fabric that holds us together is fragile; the issue of unity is still very important; we must not toy with it.”
Obasanjo said he was apprehensive about the continued unity of the country because those who had enjoyed the greatest benefits of this country “are not doing enough to keep the unity of the country.”
The former president observed that “thieves and barons of divisions on ethnic, religious, linguistic bases have taken over the country; what a shame, what a great shame. I believe that all of us who God has put in position must rise to correct the situation.
“It is not enough that our individual states are forging ahead; we all must be together. If we do not make it great it (Nigeria), it will not be the fault of God.
“Nothing is wrong with Nigeria; what is wrong is with us, the leaders and followers. We must correct it ourselves.”
@Kobojunkie You are a mess. You know you don't believe IBB and his "FOREST OF A THOUSAND LIES". I wonder why you would then be quoting the words of the deceiver-in-chief to proof he left voluntarily.
Did you watch IBB read his "stepping aside" speech on that momentous day. Well, the image that stuck with me was that of someone being forced to "flee". He was sulky, even as he claimed to be stepping aside and would be watching how his "colleagues" handle the affairs of the nation.
And why didn't you point to this part of your quote: and there was mounting unrest as protesters demanded that power be handed over to Moshood Kashimawo
And what is IBB expected to say anyway? Yeah, I ran with my tails between my legs
Kobojunkie: For those who want to pretend now that June 12th demonstrations/riots brought the leaving of IBB . . . .
Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, in power since the military coup of Aug. 27, 1985 [see p. 33956-57], stepped down as President on Aug. 26 and handed over power to a non-elected Interim National Government. The term of office of this administration was set to end on March 31, 1994.
Babangida had repeatedly reaffirmed his intention of relinquishing the presidency by Aug. 27, 1993, meeting a deadline set in November 1992, in the context of the promised return to civilian democratic rule [see p. 39179]. However, pro-democracy campaigners expressed bitterness and anger that the long-promised restoration of democracy remained delayed, and there was mounting unrest as protesters demanded that power be handed over to Moshood Kashimawo Olawale "MKO" Abiolaof the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the presumed winner of the aborted June presidential elections [see p. 39494].
Members of the new administration of civilians and soldiers were handpicked by Babangida. Chief Ernest Adegunle Shonekan, named as its head (effectively President), had ,
1. Protests were the major reason IBB couldn't put the finishing touches on his own planned 30-year rule. People were killed, houses were burnt, army tanks were called out. 2. It was under Abacha that Nigerian's spirit for protests was broken - the culmination of the longrun battle with IBB and then Abacha. The guy simply sent his tanks into the streets and went after activitists with his army of killers. Still the courage of many activitists and the fact that the nation was on the brink of war due to Abacha's 5-fingers of a leprous hand led Abubakar and his cohorts to "save" the nation. 3. Nigerians protested to get GEJ into his rightful position - in the face of an utterly shameless, toothless National Assembly.
One thing you are right about is that we have generally replaced one rotten leader with another. That however has to do with the plural ethno-religious-political equation called Nigeria. We are incapable of speaking in unison against a bad ruler. When Southerners condemn the action of one IBB, some Northerners say it is the will of Allah, etc.
Kobojunkie: We did not protest or riot to get IBB out of Office --No that is not what happened. We did not protest to get Obj to drop his third term bid and there were no riots of any kind planned, even over 6 months after we learnt of his plans. We know for a fact what happened, and in both cases, it had nothing to do with Nigerians protesting or rioting or even standing up against government. The same was the case during Abacha's time.
I am not a fan of your everything-no-matter-what-that-comes-out-of-Nigeria-is-good attitude here on NL, but . . .but on this one you are right.
Nigerians have demonstrated and gotten rid of would-be-sit-tight leaders, and attempts to heap on Nigerians "suffering" by claiming they do not fight back is disgusting. The fact is that the world watched, and sometimes collaborated, as military rulers mauled Nigerian protesters over and over again until their fighting spirit was broken.
The world tend to fall over each other when it concerns other places e.g. the jailing of Suu Kyi in Burma is celebrated at the highest levels, but do not bat half an eyelid as activists were jailed, harrassed, assassinated, exiled, etc for years on end.
Ikengawo: Against the british? Against Abacha? Against Babangida? Against Apartied in south africa Against an OBJ 3rd term and against the Yar Adua kidney fiasco?
i know the more ignorant of our country have been swept up in demonstration fever but this notion that Nigerians can't demonstrate is pathetic.
yeah. demonstrate against a president of 6 months that is facing election in 2 months from now. smh. crumbs.
@Ma_J_Blige You are the one confusing people. Your statements are contradictory. I have a right to vote, and a right to complain about bad governance. One does not depend on the other, and I can choose to exercise both, either or none.
As someone said, the government needs to encourage people to register and vote - not impose draconian rules. Let's say we accept the rule, but INEC can't even get its machines working and was unable to register you, do you still get to receive your salary for work done? And if you force me to vote, what guaranttees that the person I voted for is not a deceiver (aka Yar'adua) that would further ruin my condition. Nigerian politicians, and I am talking in general (not about Gov. Fayemi who just started his term - in fact the news I read a few days ago that he would be inaugurating 100 transformers to mark his 100 days in office gladdened my heart; hopefully it is not for show), force you to vote with all zealousness then they spend their entire term fighting to cart away our resources. When they begin performing and demonstrating they are worth voting for people would voluntarily exercise their rights to get them elected. That is all there should be to it.
@blacksta That one country practices this is not a recommendation for any other country. It is an abberation. If any government wants to ensure that you register and vote, they should take away privileges, not your rights, if you don't. Instead of these governors taking salary for work done (a right) they could say you will not receive a Xmas bonus next year - that is a privilege and a good incentive to go register, since the bonus is not part of your earnings.
blacksta: I cant remember the country but it actually against the law not to register to vore. In the Nigerian context because of our young democracy i think it should be mandatory to vote. Nobody should have a right to complain if you dont vote.
Ma_J_Blige: This is not political participation - voting is a civic right in a democracy. If you dont participate, you have no right to shout or even murmur about bad governance. Stop confusing people - poster.
To our friends Gov. Fayemi and the other governor who issued such a proclamation in the South-East we know you mean well, but this is illegal and should stop forthwith.
[size=14pt]There is no law, and there should be no law, that ties salary for work done to political participation, that is the short and long of it.[/size]
Instead of illegal fiat laws, these governors ought to advise INEC on how to conduct a timely voters registration.
Any worker harrassed by this nonsense should seek the legal help of human right activists!!!
Sunday, 23 January 2011 00:00 From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti News - National .User Rating: / 0 TO demonstrate seriousness attached to the voter registration exercise by his administration, Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday warned that any civil servant in Ekiti State who fails to obtain a voter registration card will not receive January salary.
The governor made the declaration in Ode-Ekiti, headquarters of Gbonyin Local Government Area of the state, shortly after flagging off the Free Medical Mission packaged by his administration for the people in the grassroots.
He said his administration places premium on the voter registration, which he described as an important step to prevent vote robbery in the 2011 general elections, calling on residents of the state to troop out en masse and get registered.
The governor charged all civil servants both at the state and local government levels to go to the nearest registration point and register their names as eligible voters so as not to lose their salaries.
Fayemi said: “Your vote is your power and I want all of you to ensure that you register as voters to enable you exercise your civic rights at the forthcoming general elections.
“Any civil servant without voter card will not receive this month’s salary and the subsequent ones. I am emphasising it that the card will be required from civil servants before they collect their salaries.”
@Aigbofa Don't mind Onlylies. He is part of a group that have being generating falsities on the internet and the news about what happened in the 1960s and Chief Awolowo. You 'll know because he is usually the first to post it here on NL. It was Onlytruth who first pointed to the "report of a 22 year study" out of Texas that "documented" that the Jan. 15 coup was not an Igbo coup - except that no such study report is known to exist although they managed to have a write-up inserted in a local Nigerian paper.
The "suicide" lie he referenced was again generated by no other source than the Biafran Warlords website - The Republic, claiming that Awo committed suicide among other lies. I am almost sure Onlylies has a hand in generating that one too.
Aigbofa: Who created the report, and can you please provide us a link to the said report?
@Onlylies Lies will lead you nowhere!!!
Onlytruth: Posted by: koruji My friend take a breather! It is a known fact that Awolowo was convicted and was serving a jail term for plotting to overthrow the first republic. He was in jail when the guys struck in Jan 1966.
Notice that I said he was "reported" to have died (committed suicide) because he was linked with another similar plot. I didn't create that report.
If you have a more authentic account of why and how Awolowo died, why not share it?
Politics › Re: Orji Cautions Tinubu! by koruji(m): 2:52am On Mar 21, 2011
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