₦airaland Forum

By Prof Steve Torkuma Ugbah
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press: We are here to brief you on the irregularities that marred the National Assembly elections held across Nigeria with particular reference to Benue State on April 9, 2011.

Voter Apathy: Voters in North-West Senatorial District were confused following an announcement by the Chairman of INEC on Thursday April 7, 2011 that elections were not going to hold in the “Benue North” Senatorial District. Most of our voters became confused and were not sure whether the suspended elections affected Benue North West or North East. In the event as it turned out, only Benue North West Senatorial District (Zone B) was affected. It is most unfortunate that, the basis for suspension of the election was misinformation by Alhaji Nasir O. Ayinlara; the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Benue State to the INEC Headquarters. He had told INEC headquarters that, he received only 84% of the materials needed for the election, whereas he had received over 93% of the materials required for the said election. Alhaji Ayinlara has since admitted his mistake which led to the unfair postponement of elections in Benue North- West and the creation of confusion in the minds of voters in Benue Senatorial zones A and B.

Our party has already called for the removal of Ayinlara as the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Benue based on this singular incidence and several acts of incompetence and bias exhibited by Alhaji Ayinlara.

Electoral Violence: On March 25, 2011, we political stake holders in Benue signed an accord on the Benue political crisis at the instance of the Director-General of State Security Services in Abuja. Whereas we have kept our part of the bargain by restraining our youth from embarking on violence even under provocation, the PDP has not.

Members of our party, the ACN were at the receiving end of acts of violence perpetrated by PDP thugs and in some instances, members of the security forces. This was most common in Katsina-Ala, Ukum, Logo, Obi, Utonkon, Ado and Guma. The violence experienced in these places was officially sponsored by the PDP-led, Benue State government under the leadership of Governor Gabriel Suswam. These can be attested to by the arrest of the ADC to the Benue State Governor, DSP Dickson Iorlu Pawa, Hon. Adzua Hindan; a Special Assistant to the Governor, State Youth Leader of the PDP, Mr. Moses Anaana with a cache of arms by the Army on patrol at the gate of Government Model College, Katsina-Ala on the day of the election. It is the responsibility of the media to demand an explanation on this issue from the relevant authorities.

Still in Katsina-Ala Local Government and at Utange ward, LG 011/BN, the militia started shooting in the air on the eve of the election to scare ACN supporters. This scared away our supporters. Those who dared to vote for our party like John Ikyor did at Donga PU code 014, were beaten to a state of comma.

In neighbouring Ukum Local Government, PDP thugs led by Terhemen Anza a notorious thug, popularly known as Basso snatched voting materials and took them to unknown destinations only to return them to collating centre with doctored results.

In the same local government, security agencies collaborated with PDP party stalwarts/thugs/agents to deprive our members their rights to vote. The security agents failed to go to various polling units in the hinterland but restricted their presence in the urban areas leaving our members at the mercy of PDP thugs. At NKST Igyemwase polling unit, one Hon. Terungwa Likita and Terngu Alade all PDP members called in the army who came and cordoned off ACN members and then proceeded to thumb print massively for the PDP.

In Mbavaa Council ward of Konshisha Local Government, Chief Atumba Shima hijacked and ran away with ballot papers and boxes. In the four council wards of Iwarev District, Aseer Soso, Terlumun Ashe were abducted and later discovered to have been detained at Late Prof Hembe, Iorwase Hembe’s fathers’ grave house until the elections were over.

In Iwuanyam council ward, Mathias Byuan, Governor Gabriel Suswam’s business associate, hijacked ballot papers and thumb printed and stuffed ballot boxes.

In Ikurav section of Ikurav/Mbatwev council ward, Hon. Sorkwagh Bebe; former PDP Commissioner, Abraham Nyikwagh; PDP Auditor and Moses Korayem thumb printed ballot papers.

Rigging: The PDP in Benue State introduced the use of violence in last Saturday’s election to enable it rig the votes. There is abundant evidence to show that, the results announced by INEC giving victory to PDP are based on rigged votes. We have a video clip of INEC officials thumb printing for PDP at Okpokwu. Also at Ohimini, Oglewu-Ehaji ward, 8,500 votes were recorded in the elections even though less than 4,000 voters were registered during the voter registration exercise.

Similarly in Apa local government, Edikwu ward, the INEC returned 8,000 votes while registered voters are less than 5,000.



In Katsina-Ala local government, the voting materials including ballot boxes meant for Michihe ward LG/009/BN were intercepted by Barrister Chive Kaave, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Benue State and the Chairman of Katsina-Ala Local Government, Hon. Augustine Avaan, who took them to the house of Mr. Agbidye Igyongo; the government house Accountant where they stuffed them with ballot papers in favour of PDP. In Tiir ward of Kastina-Ala West, Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Solomon Wombo spearheaded the snatching of ballot boxes, stuffing them with PDP papers and moving them to an illegal collation centre at Wombo - his house whereas the official collation centre is at Gbor. His brother, Msugh Wombo against whom we had lodged a report was caught with fake result sheets.

In Guma local government, the stuffing of ballot boxes was organized and supervised by David Tsevende; the Permanent Member of SUBEB, Mr. Tivlumun Nyitse; Permanent Secretary, Government House Administration and Hon. John Tondo; the Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Benue State who also organized thugs for them.

Another tactic of disenfranchising our supporters was the refusal of the Electoral officials to produce complete register of voters in constituencies where they knew ACN had many supporters. For instance, at Tse-Kyuur polling centre in Mbatian ward of Ukum local government, over 800 people had registered as voters. On the day of the election however, only about 200 names were on the voters’ list. Even then, the officers came a few minutes to 12 midday and they had barely accredited 20 people when they declared that the time for accreditation was up. They thus succeeded in denying the voters at this centre their right to vote because it was stationed in the village of our candidate for the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr. Jacob Chiangi Uja.

In Konshisha local government, no elections took place in the four council wards of Mbaka, Mbawar, Mbanor and Mbayegh/Mbakyer. The electoral materials were hijacked and diverted to destinations other than the designated polling units and collation centres only to be stuffed and outrageous results declared.

In Mbaashia area of Mbayegh/Mbaikyer Council ward for instance, the ballot boxes taken to the residence of one Dr. Orsugh Agera where massive thumb printing and stuffing of the ballot boxes was done. In Mbatser/Mbaikyer, Mbatwer, Kurav and Mbaiwarnya council wards, various sums of money ranging from N500 to N1, 500 were openly given to voters who had queued up to vote in order to induce them.

In addition, rather than announce results at the collation centre Gbagbo, the ward Returning Officer removed the result sheets and failed to declare the results at the collation centre thus raising doubts as to what transpired between Gbagbo and Tse-Agberagba. It is noteworthy that, all those malpractices and irregularities were perpetrated with the active connivance, collaboration, cooperation and participation of INEC staff.

In view of the above stated facts, we therefore on behalf of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Benue State call on the National Chairman of INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega to do the following:

1. To effect the immediate removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Nasir O. Ayilara to pave way for free, fair and credible elections.

2. Reject and nullify the purported results manufactured by the PDP in Katsina-Ala, Ukum, the five wards in Gambe Tiev of Logo local government and Konshisha Local Government Area in Benue North-East in their its entirety in the Benue North-East senatorial District.

3. Reject the purported results manufactured by the PDP in Ado, Utonkon, Obi (where hired PDP thugs from Otukpo came with already thumb printed ballot papers and replaced the authentic ballot boxes).

- Otukpo, where no ballot boxes were sent to a good number of polling units.
-Ohimini, Apa and Okpokwu local government areas of Benue South Senatorial District and order fresh elections in the affected areas.

Thank you and God bless.


Prof Steve Torkuma Ugbah
ACN Governorship Candidate

There was drama at the Nigerian Television Authority complex, Onitsha, on Thursday when arch-rivals in the Anambra Central senatorial election, Dr. Chris Ngige and Prof. Dora Akunyili, ran into each other.



What would have been a clash was averted by the general manager of the station, Mr. Emeka Obinwa, who stopped the two candidates from meeting in his toilet.



Ngige, a former governor of the state, is the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, while Akunyili, a former Minister of Information and Communications, is the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.



Ngige was due to be the guest of the station in a live programme, Crossfire, but due to his commitments in the field, he could not meet the 12 noon appointment.



He requested that the time be shifted for him till later in the day.



Meanwhile, Akunyili had been scheduled for 6 pm on the same programme.



When all hope had been lost that Ngige would make it, he suddenly arrived at the station at about 5.30 pm.



He blamed gastro enteritis for his failure to meet his appointment and asked to be shown the rest room.



A few minutes later, Akunyili arrived at the manager’s office tired and exhausted.



Before the manager could offer her a seat, she made straight for the rest room, where Ngige was already easing himself.



But Obinwa had to stop her, saying there was someone in the room. She then went back to sit on the sofa in the manager’s office.



Anxious about how the two candidates would see each other, everyone in the office waited to witness their encounter.



However, Ngige stepped out into an open embrace from Akunyili, who repeatedly hailed him, “Onwa!” Ngige’s praise name.



Akunyili did not waste time to tell Ngige, “If it is not me, it is you,” meaning that it was not a do-or-die affair between her and Ngige.



They later engaged in a friendly discussion that lasted several minutes with more embraces before Ngige left after securing another appointment for the programme.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104081361187

Powerful Nigerians close to President Jonathan are pushing for the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega. They are using last Saturday’s botched parliamentary elections as a convenient peg, and are mobilizing members of the National Assembly to return to Abuja to carry out a speedy trial and removal of Jega from office.

The plot, which has identified the National Security Adviser (NSA), Owoeye Azazi, Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, Chief Anthony Anenih and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, centres on the “disloyalty of Prof. Jega to President Jonathan.

Presidency sources told SaharaReporters on Monday that at a stormy “Security Council” meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja, which was presided over by Jonathan, the NSA and the IGP vociferously railed against Jega's bungling of the Saturday election.

Jega's “weakness,” according to several sources familiar with the discussions, is his alleged link with opposition candidates and civil society advocates. It is seen as reflecting his personal and strong desire to remove Goodluck Jonathan from office.

One source said Prof. Jega was summoned severally to the villa to discuss a suitable "election" strategy with which the President would be comfortable, but that each time Jega met presidency officials, he told them that he could not participate in the rigging of the election because the people of Kano, from where he hails, will wipe out his family.

But Jega's actual undoing has been his laziness, sources told SaharaReporters, stressing that since assuming office as INEC chairman, he has done nothing to dismantle the structures put in place by his predecessor, the disgraced Maurice Iwu.



An INEC source told SaharaReporters that the like of Philip Umeadi, Jnr. and Okey Ndeche, the INEC Operations Director and commissioner in charge of legal matters, have waxed stronger since Jega’s arrival. Mr. Ndeche, for instance, was made the INEC official in charge of "anti-corruption" even though his name featured prominently in the bribery case in the Ekiti election re-run saga which was investigated by the police.

The Iwu cabal within INEC is said to have been running circles around a complacent Jega, a factor which is said to have led to his problems in the running of the Commission. Since coming to office, Jega has presided over a turbulent election in Ondo south and then gone on to the unconvincing performance in the Delta State gubernatorial re-run that was ordered by a court.

The recently concluded registration of voters also put a huge question mark on Jega's competence. Not only was the register not properly processed, huge numbers hitherto unknown to the public later popped up in it. While he admitted that he had come upon many influential Nigerians that had multiple registrations, he has failed to identify them publicly or prosecute them, thereby granting them protection.

Jega's incompetence and lackadaisical attitude has become his Achilles heel, but even his worst critics say he is not the rapacious bribe-grabbing personality that Iwu once represented. Jega, a source told SaharaReporters, might be lazy or even naïve, but he is not accumulating wealth. As it stands, Jega's "don't-bribe-me-policy" may not matter anymore; hawks within the Jonathan regime want his head and are scrambling to take advantage of the fact that his desire to hold and free and fair elections will humiliate the president's chances of winning on the first ballot.

They had hoped that Jonathan would accept Jega's resignation at the emergency Security Council meeting, but Jonathan told the chairman to not resign, a smart move because if Jega's voluntary resignation were accepted, no one would have believed that he wasn't forced out, and the restless North, which has become Jonathan's greatest albatross, would refuse to accept.

Azazi, according to our sources, is particularly refusing to relent, and is churning out security reports that portray Jega as a CPC loyalist. One of those reports seen by SaharaReporters contains ridiculous insinuations that Mr. Jega's blood brother, Mahmud Jega, the editor of the Abuja-based Daily Trust newspaper, is part of the “conspiracy” to unseat Jonathan.


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/powerful-nigerians-want-jega-removed

Rossikk:
If some of you perennial MOANERS would actually get up your backsides and actually DO SOMETHING POSITIVE as opposed to constantly coming here to disturb us with your usual essays on why Nigeria is the worst place in the universe.

Better yet, why don't you just get a real job?

The time you spend here rubbishing the country daily could have been better spent by doing something yourself to help rectify any lapses you see in the system.

You are not in any way merit my response. You are still underage to fully understand the reason while we feel concern about the situation of things in the country. You may not feel what we feel because you think your people have stole enough for you to fly around. I pity you and your future, go and ask the spoil child of yesterday, they will tell you that not all that is glitter is gold.

The smartest way would have been to tell us what he has done in the last 10months. Your question is another cheap way to subject GEJ to ridicule. In your wildest imagination, what miracles has he performed in the last 10months?

• The governance is still business as usual
• The criminals are still roaming our street
• Our Roads are still death trap
• Our education is getting worst
• Heath sector is a disgrace
• Unemployment is still growing
• We are now sleeping with fear, because of the state of our security
• Electricity is a problem
• Corruption still strong front and back
• Drinkable is not readily available
• Rule of law has become a dream

The list are unlimited, our situation is just unfortunate, the issue of performance or general interest are no longer counted; if the reason to support GEJ today is because he is from Niger Delta, it means I need to cry out too that somebody from my state has not become Nigeria president.

There is always a consequence for our actions or inactions, we knew the situation 12years ago, and thank God we can ask ourselves if we are worst or better off. Those who believe that they need GEJ to perform unusual miracle in Niger Delta, regardless of his capability to solve Nigeria problem, I wish them the best.

I am looking towards seeing the Niger Delta as a small London; and those who see the present battle as the battle for our future, if we eventually lose the battle to rescue our country from fisherman and his blind supporters, our conscience will always be there for us.

Pharoh:
This is a very good revelation.

Good revelation from whom? From a traitor who joined the military government he calmed to hate with passion. Thank God, he was disgraced out of power because of his rebellious roles against the government; he is now a member of Peoples Destruction Party.

A few weeks ago, I declared my support of Muhammadu Buhari’s quest for the presidency. I have no doubt that if the interest of Nigeria is the issue, his is the best candidate, now.

In certain circles, this has raised the question of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who is running on the ticket of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). One of those circles consists of people who knew I had set out to support Mr. Ribadu’s candidature.

For purposes of full disclosure, I did meet with Mr. Ribadu, at his request, in New York. At that time, he was yet to declare he was running for Nigeria’s top job, but he solicited my support. I was glad to offer it, not because I thought he had been without fault during his stint at the EFCC, but because I believed he would be running on an anti-corruption platform.

I imagined him leading not a party, but a movement; running not a campaign but a crusade; sparking not a fire but a blaze. I saw in him not just a presidential candidate or even a president, but the anchorman of a new epoch. That dream was possible because in institutional terms—warts and all—Ribadu had come the closest to confronting corruption in Nigeria.


I have publicly, in this column, dreamt of “A Scream In The Streets:” disaffected Nigerians seizing the nation’s cluttered highways and byways to demonstrate their disgust and their arrival at the end of their tether. In Ribadu, I imagine I saw some kind of liberator and coordinator of that potent energy.

I thought his master plan involved deploying that kind of offensive against the past and against our demons. I thought he planned his assault not on the basis of money or the guidance of sleazy moneybags, but on the crest of the yearnings of the nation’s vast disaffected, the youth, the jobless, the marginalized, the exiled, the PDP-scandalized, and the business-as-usual weary. I thought the strategy would include grassroots mobilization of frustrated students, hungry farmers and tired parents: Nigerians willing to exchange his inconsistencies as the head of the EFCC for collaboration in the gestation ward.

Did I, in that heady period, think he could win the presidency in 2011? Actually, I did not think it was about the presidency at all. That is, I did not think he could possibly lose on what was the most important: awakening political consciousness at the most fundamental levels of our society and empowering layers of political organization to identify their significance and vigour.

But then, clarity soon arrived: in the opposite direction. Perhaps more correctly, change came, as it became clear Ribadu had convinced himself he could thrive in waters owned by the very sharks.

In politics, compromise is sometimes necessary in order to ensure that the objective is not mistaken for the method. But what you compromise are strategies, not principles.

The moment Ribadu chose to set up shop with the former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, we arrived at a philosophical Tinubu Square of sorts where it was difficult to reconcile mission and principle, like trying to cure prostitution by marrying a prostitute, or stepping into the lion’s den to persuade the lion to give up cannibalism.

Mr. Tinubu may not be the ugliest politician out there. Several times when he was boss of the EFCC, however, Ribadu had reason to mention Tinubu by name as being among our most corrupt. Those occasions include:

• The June 2006 Joint Task Force on fighting corruption set up by Obasanjo (comprising the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigerian Police), which Ribadu chaired; it recommended that 15 governors, including one Goodluck Jonathan and Bola Tinubu, be arraigned before the CCB;


• His famous September 2006 meeting with the Senate in which he presented the annual report of his Commission; and,

• The list of corrupt and indicted public officials published on February 7, 2007 by his EFCC in an effort to stop them from participating in that year’s elections; Mr. Tinubu, running for the Senate, was conspicuously listed at Number 28.

There is a certain analysis in which Mr. Ribadu’s alliance with Mr. Tinubu may have been justifiable, but the new trend in Ribadu’s emerging convictions was soon highlighted by his announcement that Mrs. Patience Jonathan’s two money-laundering cases in 2006, which the EFCC under his leadership announced and pursued with remarkable energy, were non-events.
Two weeks ago, on March 24, Mrs. Jonathan took out advertorials in Nigerian newspapers in which she denounced me, threatening to sue me for referring to those cases. I encourage Mrs. Jonathan to go ahead and sue: she currently owns both the ball and the field of play. But she must bear in mind that I am not the one who announced—TWICE—that she had tried to launder vast funds through her associates.

The announcements were made by the EFCC four and a half years ago but were never retracted. Where the involvement of the courts was necessary, it was the EFCC, not Sonala Olumhense, which initiated it. I am not the one who, in August 2007 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, filed suit number FHC/ABJ/M/340/06, naming Mrs. Jonathan as an accomplice in the N104 million-money laundering case. It was the EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ofem Uket—not Olumhense—who said, “Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of the Governor of Bayelsa State, was the person who instructed one Hanner Offor to launder the said sum of N104,000,000 into the account of Nansolyvan Public Relations Limited with First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FBN), Niger House, Marina, Lagos.”

My concern is with the facts. I have no personal battle with Mrs. Jonathan, who may well be innocent, but it is extremely curious that Mr. Ribadu kept her “innocence” in the pit of his stomach for four years.

In other words, Mrs. Dame Jonathan’s advertorial ought to have been directed at the former EFCC boss and a “justice” system that would advertise allegations but not “innocence.” I do not have half a million Naira per advertorial per newspaper, but if anyone attacked my integrity with dates and figures and courts as the EFCC did Mrs. Jonathan’s in 2006 and the commission eventually cleared me, I would make sure they broadcast it worldwide: on land, sea, air and the very bowels of the Internet, and I would hold giant “yanga” parties under some pretty big umblerahs. As Oga’s wife, I would have instructed Mr. Ribadu to publish the report that cleared me—promptly, not eons later and not discreetly—and to send a copy to every critic.

The final curiousity about Mr. Ribadu concerns his solicitation of the endorsement of Ibrahim Babangida, another man Nigerians hold responsible for the nation’s problems. At the peak of his powers in 2007, Mr. Ribadu told The NEWS, in reference to IBB, “We will never allow people who have stolen to use the same stolen resources to get into power.”

Last week, in a bewildering turnaround, he went to IBB’s Hilltop Hideaway to obtain his blessing for his stab at the presidency. IBB gave it, salting away another presidency, were it to emerge, which would never embarrass him or anyone under his protection. It is to be remembered that Obasanjo never embarrassed IBB. Would Ribadu, were he to win the presidency, embarrass Obasanjo or Tinubu, for instance, or anyone under their protection?

The point is that there are many hollow gods in Nigeria that ought to be set on fire so that we can set their victims free. But one of our key problems is that there are far too many people who enjoy monumental levels of political influence at the expense of the nation’s development. History confirms that a messiah who is burdened with a porous memory, shifting definitions or conflicting agendas is not on the side of change.

Is a new Nigeria possible? Absolutely, but it cannot be negotiated with the old.

• sonala.olumhense@gmail.com

Without any doubt, there are evidences that our future is in danger, I cry for the future of my country, I feel the pains. I don’t need soothsayer to tell me at this stage that Jonathan is currently a liability; if Jonathan wins this election, it will be another four years of business as usual.

The last 9 months of Jonathan have been wasted on one promises or another, the same way the next four year will be with promises without action; if we make another mistake to give him another four years mandate, then we must be ready to accept another four years of liability.

This is not a campaign statement; it is made out of genuine concern for my country. The rate at which people are putting up irritating arguments in favor of Jonathan is enough to confirm the danger ahead of us as a nation. Majority of people on naira land today, who are now against Jonathan have been consistent about their true love for this country.

These are the same set of people, who use this platform to condemn cabal when they denied Jonathan his constitutional right, these they do not for Jonathan, but because their reasons are beyond religious or ethnic bias.

These same set of people never fail to realize on time that Jonathan is not what we need for this country if we truly want better future. There position is not as a result of hatred for Jonathan, but because they know without putting sentiment, that will need somebody with an independent mind. These are people who their judgment or comments on Nigeria issues are beyond religion or ethnic bias. I salute these people, and I pray that that God in His infinity mercy will reward you abundantly.

• Jarus
• Aisha2
• Dayokanu
• Kobojunkie
• Pataki
• Oyb
• Etc.

Thank God, even the enemies of Nigerians are beginning to see reasons in supporting a man who has display an uncommon hatred for corruption in Nigeria.

There is no controversy about this, it is an open knowledge that in the last 12years of PDP, we have not witness free and fair election. We know our problem, the PDP, so if Buhari express his fear about these criminals the man is right and will shd not blame him for preempt what these criminals in PDP are capable of doing.

Going by our history, Buhari's statement is in order

The Nigerian soccer team, Super Eagles, beat the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia 4 goals to 0 at the Abuja national stadium on Sunday evening.


CPC candidate, Muhammad Buhari watched the match seated in the stadium. Two eagles players, Peter Utaka and Ikechukwu Uche scored two goals each to cement Nigeria's soccer superiority over the Ethiopians at the African Nation's Cup qualifier series.

Enugu_Ukwu:
yeah, it wasnt under Buhari, it was after.

Buhari must have recruited these guys from heaven. Nigerians. Think before you talk, dont talk because of politics. So suddenly, these guys are no more corrupt because they served under Buhari, but became corrupt because they served under Babangida and Abacha.

Anyway, even Buhari said no kobo of Nigeria is in Abacha's pocket.

I will be glad to sponsor u for psychiatric examination in Yaba. Tell me how many of these people are Millionaire? You don’t come here to spread lies just because you want to sell your Niger Delta candidate, ppl get problem sa.

PapaBrowne:
The sad and honest reality is that the other parties are not too different from the PDP. ACN has shown its hand in Tinubu. CPC is relatively unknown and as we've come too see is really just a regional party. ANPP is the same as PDP. The politicians are all the same. PDP is the worst because they control state resources.
As per the individuals, we are faced with candidates that all have their weaknesses and some strengths.

The best team in terms of knowledge and capacity like you said is the Ribadu/ Adeola team. They would probably initiate the best programs but their capacity to deliver would be hampered by the complex political landscape they would find in Abuja. Suddenly, they would find themselves having to learn on the job which isn't good for a country desperately in need of change.

Buhari/Bakare have the will and determination but from the debate I watched have no idea what the real problems of this country are. Buhari's responses on the solution to the Niger Delta, Power and Education were more than pathetic. However, he has the advantage of a desire to tackle corruption in government, but he will be faced with a massive uprising in the Niger Delta because of his sanctimonious rigidity and this would hamper his capacity to deliver any projects or even attract foreign investments.

Jonathan/ Sambo team has the advantage of both the Niger Delta and the power sector reforms. Corruption would probably thrive in governance, but the country would definitely experience economic growth and prosperity. Infrastructure development would probably be handed over to the private sector which I think is excellent.

Shekarau is the most intelligent of all of them, has the best grasp on Governance, but surely cannot win the elections.

In my opinion, any of the winners would bring something to the table which I think puts us in a better place than the 2007 elections!!

If the only advantage Jonathan/Sambo has over others are Niger Delta and the power sector reforms that means they don't have anything to offer. The root causes of Niger Delta and power sector problem is corruption. Niger Delta issue is less than 1% of Nigeria problem.

iyimide:
@lfj, so susprised that you can claim that i could be a man who wnats the state to stay backward !
in do not want to be a party to backwardness,
and to say that Gbemi is the best that kwara can produce wasnt what i said, i totally detest that!!!

i am a kwaran myself,

i only said that Of all the candidates we have contesting , Gbemi is just the best,

i dont think i should be a party to chats with you since you read all i said and you still term it the wrong way !!!

i am a nigerian with credibility, i am no criminal, and will not be party to crime,

bukola and gbemi are different individuals, dont mix them,

HUN! MADAM RESPONSIBLE

"These days you may not catch Senator Gbemisola Saraki in those funky and somehow revealing clothes, particularly in public. The pretty senator is nowadays dressed in female Muslim costume, covering most parts of her body except the hands and feet (Picture down). But for those who know Senator Saraki too well, her recent ways of dressing is an exception rather than the norm. The Kwara State governorship hopeful is more comfortable in hot clothes that reveal her curves and contours. In this picture (above), she relapsed into her wacky style, flaunting what she got, the Chelsea. And those who saw her on that occasion when she was photographed may have also seen her Barca fully packed in that tight fitting jeans."

iyimide:
Lfj, am so proud that you are a kwaran of great reasoning, the truth is that we do not have a better option,
fatai is known for misappropriation and every civil servant in kwara is swearing and placng curses on him,
belgore is no better man, he was shown the way out of the federal judiciary on account of infidelty and kwara was even accused of fielding a man on insincerity as a SENIOR ADVOCATE,
talk of khaleel bolaji, he has never been tested, no one knows his capabilities,
talk about abdulrahaman, he has never been to nigeria since he left at age 19, how will he know how to address the issues in the grassroot gbemi is the only viable option so please reason with me,

bukola no doubt is a failure and is a disgrace tto the saraki family, i do not like him although i have worked with him so much, but he is arrogant and proud, he only shares money with his friends (clique) and bukola is very corrupt,
i have a detailed file on him which has transactions between fatai him and alhaji isiaka Gol ,
i am just waiting for the right time, and like he has killed so many, he can not kill me,







grs our choice

I am sorry to disappoint you that the last thing I will do is to support the candidature of Gbemi. Oloye, Bukola, Gbemi and their family in Kwara are disgrace, selfish, and as you have confirm to us that Bukola is a killer, you are just confirming our fear that we cannot continue to give our future to the family of killer. To tell me that Gbemi is the best we can produce in kwara today is an insult to the good people of kwara. We may not have the power to rescue kwara from all these criminals today, but we can score a point by say the truth and let the whole world know that they are criminal. What you are selling is not marketable, you are now seeing Bukola as a criminal, what is the different between Bukola and Gbemi, they are both from the same blood, both ruin the Society Bank, and both have been in government in the past 12years. Tell Oloye that enough is enough for them in Kwara; people of your type are the reason why our state is still backward today.

,

iyimide:
@lfj i wonder what makes you think senator ruquayat is irresponsible as you have assumed!
I like to make everyone of you here know that SENATOR GBEMI SARAKI HAS NEVER SMOKED AND WAS NEVER A DRUNKARD>>>
I am a cardiologist and a respiratory anatomist, and no one with those presumed attributes that wont have a visible reaction to it.
if she does like you claim, the must have a bluish skin, which is otherwise called cyanosis, i have seen her and i can even tell u that she is pure,
as for u people with the first picture, that picture was taken on 18th april, 1997, that is how many years from now??
that was even before she became a legislative member in the country,
and you who said she doesnt attend senate plenaries, you are very wrong,
here are details
she was a lead opposition in the 3rd term bid,
she is chairman Maritime committee
vice chairman MDGS,
would the house be silly to make a truant a member of a sensitive committee?

and you who thinks you can use this avenue to talk immoral about a respected nigerian, i wonder if you have brains
you talking of someone's personal life and your country and you are busy saying bull poo

i hope you all think so fast and catch up with life,

GRS our choice

Thank you sir for bringing light into the life of your pay master; if this is what you can come up with what you claim as your qualification, then I am disappointed in your reasoning. I am a citizen of Kwara, and I am not ashamed to say it; if with your level, you are still claiming ignorance of the excesses of Saraki family in kwara State, I don’t see any reason in wasting my precious time arguing with you on this issue.

1.Buhari has held numerous juicy offices, but he has not enriched himself corruptly

2.Buhari has a passion for Nigeria

3.Buhari knows the odds against him, but that has not detered him because he is banking only on the fact that Nigerians will decide this time around if they are fed up with the PDP or not.

4.Buhari is not someone who strives to be politically correct - otherwise, he would have joined the ACN or pick a traditional politician rather than an activist pastor as his running mate

5.Buhari recognises deputies - just like Bakare is a relevant figure in his campaign today, we can remember how Tunde Idiagbon was a relevant figure in his government

6.Buhari is a victim of his love for Nigeria - Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

7.Buhari focuses on priorities of his office and not side attractions; as NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum Boss, he built refineries; as Head of State, he worked vigorously to kill corruption - a reason why he took power; as PTF Chairman, he made sure Abacha did not intefere to deter him from delivering results

8.Buhari is not a candidate of the northern elites; unlike the Atikus and IBBs of this world, Buhari's support is with the northern commoners, not the elites

9.Buhari is not an apostle of do-or-die; this was the infamous Obasanjo declaration. Contrary to popular critics, Buhari never asked riggers to be lynched - he only asked voters not to allow their votes to be stolen. He didn't say how.

10.Buhari was head of state who combated religious extremism; in 1984, he successfully quenched the Maitatsine in the north; unlike the PDP failure to quench Boko Haram; this is a teatament to the fact that Buhari can address the security situation in this country better thanthe PDP.

11.Buhari has NEVER advocated for Sharia in all of Nigeria; he only acknowledge that Sharia is a part of the consitution and he even mentioned that in difficult circumstances, the civil court always overide Sharia which is a legal and constitutional fact

12.Buhari does not have a godfather or godmother - all he wants is to serve Nigerians - ONLY if they allow him.

13.Buhari believes in the rule of law; when he was rigged out of past elections, he went to court for a record 50months. In 2011, he has said, he is not going to court again as this is the last time he will contest Nigerian election.

Jarus, I love this your write up. Please, allow me to make use of it on my facebook.





BUHARI/BAKARE 2011
Dear reader,
If asked to state Nigeria’s major problem today, your answer, if not exactly, will be close to CORRUPTION and INDISCIPLINE, all manifesting from our poor national attitude

Despite knowing our problem, we have refused to make attempt at solving it. We continue to lament about the state of our country. We have tried PDP since the return to civil rule in 1999, but the situation has not changed, if anything, things keep getting worse. In April, we shall be marching out to cast our votes for a new president, the person to pilot the affairs of this nation for the next four years.

In all honestly, respected reader, I do not see current President Goodluck Jonathan, leading us to the desired path of progress. The reasons are glaring, but I will highlight a few:

1, President Goodluck Jonathan is under ex-president Obasanjo’s control. We need an independent-minded president, and it is only in Buhari/Bakare we can get that.
2, President Goodluck Jonathan has proved to be another PDP politician, and you will agree with me that PDP is responsible for all failings of this country since 1999.
3, Security is key to the growth of any nation. President Jonathan has shown that he cannot guarantee the security of this country with the spate of bombings and uprisings in all parts of the country. We need a firm president. And in Buhari we can find that.
4, President Jonathan has committed too many gaffes(blunders) that clearly present him as somebody that is not a presidential material
5, It is common saying that ‘show me your friends and I’ll tell the type of person you are’. See Jonathan’s friends: Ibori, Alamieyeseigha, Obasanjo, Tony Anenih

It is for these reasons I invite you to join the team that holds the key to the change Nigeria needs, the team consisting of GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI and PASTOR TUNDE BAKARE contesting under the party CONGRESS FOR PROGRESSIVE CHANGE(CPC).

You may not have heard about Buhari/Bakare team or the party CPC in this area but you can put a call through any of your friend or family up North and they will tell you the popularity of this ticket/party. So don’t be discouraged, don’t say you have not heard about them. They are very popular. In fact the Buhari-Bakare team is the most popular and acceptable on the internet. You can go to websites like Nairaland.com, Nigeriavillagesquare.com, facebook etc and gauge the popularity of this team. So please don’t be discouraged, don’t say you have not heard about them on TV or radio or not seen their posters. Empty barrels make the loudest noise, you will agree with me.

Respected reader, Buhari and Bakare are two incorruptible men that will not steal Nigeria’s money. They don’t need it. Buhari was a former president, a former minister of petroleum, a former state governor, a former chairman of Petroluem Trust Fund yet he is not rich. He doesn’t have house in Abuja, he doesn’t have a petrol station not to talk of oil bloc. Despite all these opportunities to steal, Buhari did not. Is it now that he will steal? Haba.

Tunde Bakare is a top pastor. They may have fabricated all lies against Buhari as a Muslim fanatic, as an ethnic champion. They are all lies. Will a Muslim fanatic pick a pastor as deputy? I am a Yoruba man, I have never met Buhari, I did not collect 50 kobo from him, yet I am spending my money to campaign for him. And there are many people doing this for Buhari/Bakare. Dear reader, how many candidates can people do this for? It shows Buhari’s level of integrity and the level of trust placed on this man.

Respected reader, don’t be deceived by the misconception that Buhari is just another northerner, that northerners have ruled Nigeria for more than 30 years and they should let others rule too. It may interest you to know that the real northern leaders and elites like Atiku, IBB, Ciroma, etc are not supporting Buhari. It shows that these people, who we all know their records, are not for Buhari because he is not just another Hausa, he is a different breed.
Good leader can come from anywhere. Lamido Sanusi, a Hausa/Fulani man, is doing so well as CBN governor and Nigerians, whether Yoruba, Hausa or Ibo, like him, who says there are no good Hausa people? Buhari, like Sanusi, is a Fulani man that has the interest of Nigeria at heart.

It is also important to let my Igbo people know that only Buhari can give promise and we can believe in it.
It is for these reasons I appeal to you to come out on APRIL 9, 2011 and cast your vote for Buhari and Bakare(CPC). Tell your friends and family too about Buhari/Bakare. I assure you that, by the grace of God, Nigerians will not regret voting for these honest men.

Compiled by: Jarus, Ajah/VI, Lagos, 08061198625

I think the worst of Buhari is better than the best of your Jonathan going by what we have seen so far. Jonathan is a man of double character, a friend to all knowing criminals.

Buhari is the only Nigeria leader that the Govt at any levels has no corruption charge against. Nobody has ever come out to allege him of any form of corruption, either directly or indirectly, this is what Nigeria need. I advice you you not to sell your future for guguru and epa

This might help you to know who Buhari is; politics apart, your man Jonathan respect his integrity. I hope you will not come back here one day to express your regret for not giving your vote and support to man of honor.

dayokanu (m) What We Did Not Know About Buhari
« on: Yesterday at 07:01:33 AM »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vote Buhari.
In 2011, GMB is not alone. He's supported by a team of volunteers online and offline like me, who never voted for him before. We didn't vote for him, because we didn't know. We didn't know that he supervised and birthed our only existing refineries. We didn't know that what he did in road construction while in the PTF hasn't been matched by 12yrs of the PDP, even though we claimed they were lopsided. We didn't know that in his time as head of state he reduced inflation from 23% to 4%, by fiscal discipline and a homegrown economic team (not achieved under any other era, even military). We didn't know that there was no religious crisis while he led. We didn't know that JJ Rawlings of Ghana took over 2yrs before him, and killed all the corrupt leaders, while GMB merely gave his own, long-term jail sentences. We didn't know that the hospitals and universities around the country never witnessed as much benefits they got from the PTF from any government after or before his time. We did not know, that this man haven been in all the oil sectors in Nigeria, has no petrol station, much less a refinery or an oil rig like so many of our leaders. We never voted him, because we did not know.

But now we know, We know that he has followership in the north that money can't buy. We know that those who follow him are poor, and follow him out of hope and belief in his values. I have met old men who know him, who have said, "All I need from Buhari is his word, I can take it to the bank". Now we know that here is someone that has been in everything to make him a Dan-Something, but didn't take the road. We feared he was an Islamic fundamentalist, but he challenged us to provide any human being who can point at anything he did to show the same. His Cook and Drivers, two roles that can be influenced to have your life are Christians. In his passion for discipline, he has pulled down mosques, punished emirs, and followed principles over the respect of people. Then this year, to the utter shock of the world, he picks the most radically outspoken no nonsense Christian Preacher in Nigeria to be his vice. Now we know,

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people. The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense,"

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad had said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now."

The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."

The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep poo."

To an average Nigerian the most corrupt law enforcement agents are found in the Nigeria Police. The reasons cannot be far fetched; these are the ones Nigerians catch in the act everyday either on the road, in their stations or other places demanding and collecting bribe. I bet, not a few Nigerians cannot readily recognize a Nigerian custom officer in uniform.

My opinion of the Nigeria Customs Service as a paramilitary agency of the government until recently was that comprising officers, men and women of fine character, equipped to deal with smugglers of banned/ contraband goods, smuggled vehicles at borders or near border posts. But from the foregoing the service does not seem to be interested in smugglers or people caught with smuggled vehicles/goods, so as to deter the crime. They are more interested in the goods for their personal enrichment.

Unknown to many Nigerians, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) is unarguably a worse culprit whose propensity for backhander has far surpassed that of the Nigerian Police. The NCS agents are ironically public enemies, who hold the ‘rest of us’ without political, economic and social power to ransom. A lawyer friend of mine defined the ‘rest of us’ as non-citizens. He was correct! The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes a citizen as someone who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to its protection. The NCS is an arm of the government. Instead of deriving protection from them, what we get is tyranny. They thrive on our ignorance and defenselessness through official brigandage to inflict trauma on us, the result of which is helpless submission to their corrupt desires.

Many times before my sad experience with the ‘Men in Grey’ I had seen them at their duty posts on some border and non-border routes. They had never stopped me, so I had never shown any interest in them like I would grudgingly do police men once they appear in sight.

On Friday, 26th of November 2010, at a point, between sagamu and Papalanto, called Iyana abese, between 10am and 11am they had laid ambush. I was returning to Ibadan. No motorist can evade them at that crater point, where they laid siege on the long failed road.

They stopped me and asked for my car papers. As I had never been stopped by customs men before, I had the temptation to say I was driving a registered car which was obvious because of the number plates. But there was really no reason to fret, as even for about two years that I had been driving the car, policemen had never faulted my car papers. As a law abiding citizen, I obliged. After checking through the documents, they alleged that I did not have custom papers. I explained to the leader of the team, one ASC1 Ojeh, that I had never had an encounter with customs officers before neither did I even ever envisage having one. So, I pleaded that henceforth I would ensure that the papers were kept in the car. In all sincerity, since I completed the car registration I had never taken the custom papers with me in the car. Police men had never asked for it so I took for granted the need to keep it in the car. I had kept away the custom papers in a file at home. Sincere mistake really!

I was alone in my car while they were about 6 in number. A couple of them had guns. I begged that I had the papers they required and that I could even go to Ibadan where I reside and fetch it, assuming that they were from Ogun State. I was therefore surprised when the team leader declared that they were taking my car to Lagos from that point. All my pleadings fell on deaf ears.

The team leader hence ordered his men to remove my car number plates, eject me and all my belongings in the car. The men obeyed to the letter and took possession of my car at gun point. My plea that I was not in good health and to be allowed to follow them (either in my car or their patrol van) to where my car was been taken was rebuffed violently. As I stood bewildered, I gazed at car as it was driven away out of sight. As this brigandage cannot be less consistent with armed robbery, I concluded that my car had been snatched by some outlaws in uniform.

It may interest the readers to know that there was no paper issued to me, evidencing the confiscation of my car.

I was left stranded by the road at a great risk to my life, considering the alarming rate of insecurity in the country today, evidenced by incessant cases of kidnap and rituals. All attempts to reach out on phone to family and friends were abortive as the area did not enjoy any network service. Some good Samaritans, after more than two hours in the wilderness, later helped with useful information and transportation to Sagamu.

As soon as I got to shagamu I quickly contacted some friends on phone and relayed my troubles. One of them swiftly got into action, by going to Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Nigeria Customs Service, in Ikeja to inquire if the people that seized my car at gun point and left me in danger were actually customs men or some bandits considering the mode of their operation. I had intended to go to Ibadan (where I kept the custom papers), from Sagamu, to quickly pick it and head again for Lagos to present it hoping the men that violently took my car from me were customs men and had actually taken it to their office. But another of my friends, who is resident in Lagos strongly advised that I come to Lagos first and ensure that I locate my car. I heeded his advice.

I was in the Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service by 5pm, anxious and agitated. A crowd of civilians with tired mien and long faces, some standing in groups mixed freely with men and women in customs uniform. My friend that had gone in advance to FOU was already waiting for me among the crowd. During my transit, he had tried to make enquiries as regards my concern but he did not get a clue. One woman who he spoke to and who was pretending to be of assistance was actually in the waiting to take advantage of my situation. She told my friend, ‘when your friend gets here, if he can quickly come up with some money he will get his car’. My first interaction with her incited in me suspicion of extortion and of course a passionate feeling of hatred. I needed an assurance first and foremost that my car was safe but her close-minded interest had beclouded her sense of reasoning so much she could not perceive the trauma I was going through.

I was impatient, so I left my friend with her and looked around for a possibly more civilized and reasonable staff among the officials. A seemingly motherly staff caught my attention. I approached her and told her my day long suffering in the hands of her colleagues. She seemed to be moved by my cry and attended to me by obliging my request – the need to sight my car as I was not sure if I had been robbed by some fake men in custom uniform or uniformed custom men with criminal intention. She ensured that I locate my car in the unit’s mechanical workshop where seized cars are kept. She suggested that there was nothing I could achieve again that day and I should return on Monday with my car custom papers. For the first time that day I had a let-up.

The following Monday I confidently produced the requested custom papers at the Unit’s Legal department with the hope that I would be able to take possession of my car. My trouble had just continued.

On the directive of the Legal officer-in charge, my papers were taken for verification on the NCS computer system. A 3-page document was generated from the system with information bordering on my car. A hand written and signed report, showing the car’s declaration at Lily Port Pond and the import duty paid on the car, was written on the back of the first page of the generated document by the officer that did the verification. The document was thereafter passed to another officer for crosscheck. After 3 hours of waiting I was ushered in to his office. He opened the document and tried to call my attention to some data that I cannot comprehend and alleged that the chassis number of my car was not contained therein. Probing him to explain further, he asserted that the document was recycled. I did not still understand him so I replied that the paper was generated from the NCS system and asked him what the way forward was. He asserted that the document was fake and declared with finality that my car had been seized.

I was stunned beyond words! Observing his gaze behind some light-framed bifocals, I suspected some mischief and felt he was out to play a fast one on me in order to extort me. Quickly I demanded for the document which he reluctantly returned to me. Hence I began soliciting the interpretation of the entire document among some other custom personnel and some civilians around there some of who turned out to be clearing agents and have good knowledge of the workings in the system.

Everybody who checked the document agreed that something was fishy, basing their suspicion on the signed handwritten report, which was a confirmation that the information on the car clearance is contained in the NCS computer system indicating that the car was imported through the right channel and physically checked by Nigeria Customs as required, and not a smuggled car.

From that day on I was left to run from pillar to post in abject confusion in search of useful information in respect of the release of my car, as the operations of the customs service personnel had become shrouded in cult-like secrecy. The pursuit of the release of the car took me as far as Tin Can Island and Lily Port Pond, Apapa twice, where I got further useful information concerning the importation of the car. I also stumbled on the fact that an hour within which my car was driven into the NCS yard, it was placed under ‘’SEIZURE”, their terminology used for category of smuggled cars which are not recoverable by owners and eventually auctioned for pittance; a sharp departure from normal investigation while a car is in ‘’DETENTION’’. The point I have raised here should be an interesting concern for investigation.

With all the information at my disposal I still met brick walls. At this point I was advised to get a legal aid. About a month after my car was snatched and of daily appearance at the unit office, my lawyer came into the scene. They refused to acknowledge the receipt of the memo sent by my lawyer. However, the content of the letter spurred them into action as they did not only study it but kept it, and diplomatically suggested that I leave my lawyer out of the matter. They conceded that an error was made by their patrol men to have placed my car under ‘’SEIZURE’’ and assured me that I would have my car back. But that was not to be immediate as the ‘’SEIZURE’’ status would have to be reversed by those who ‘’made the error’’.

On the 30th December 2010 the reversal was done by the patrol men. I had thought that I would be given my car immediately, and even get an apology for the more than one month suffering I went through while my car was erroneously placed in ‘’SEIZURE’’.

I was shocked when some days later they insisted that the car clearance at the port 2 years ago was not perfected and decided I would have to pay some money to have my car back. I was given a hand written bill of =N=150,000 without reference to any guideline or authority, which eventually was reduced to about =N=71,000. At this stage, I had been beaten to submission and had to choose between enduring the suffering of traveling to Lagos everyday from Ibadan while my car was still in the FOU mechanical workshop and getting damaged and just having my car back by paying. Because of the slow bureaucracy in the system and financial inducement among the rank and file, my car was released to me two days after the payment was done at a recommended Zenith bank branch.

My car number plates were missing as at the time of retrieving the car. This was on January 5, 2011. For having the guts to complain at the gate of the mechanical workshop and ask for the number plates, the personnel on duty began to insult me and even threatened to lock me up. They said I should be happy enough that I was able to retrieve my car. I went to the head of the legal department to complain about the loss of the number plates. His response was neither helpful. My car is still without number plates as I write.

The motto on the NCS logo reads justice and honesty. The way and manner of the men and women of the service is a sharp contrast from the slogan. The generality of the service personnel at the FOU are uncooperative, insensitive and nonchalant lot whose handling of public concern is dependent only on the extent to which their personnal interest is involved. They do not see their position as a call to national service. They throw caution into the air in their demand for bribe. The entire place is a trade center. A seized car owner must physically follow up on his vehicle case through the long processes and he dare not appear at any desk without preparing to pay a non-receipted fee. The customs men and women are so daring in their demands for bribe that one wonders if we still have a financial crimes or anti-graft commission in this country. One even wonders again if journalists ever fall victim of the oppression expressed by these men and women, to bring their acts to public knowledge.

Every car seized is an avenue for extortion and so long are the processes and many the different desks created for this extortion. Where their victims are not showing ready disposition to their demand, they resort to tactical and frustrating delay of the already inefficient and deliberately designed long processes. The exercise is agonizing and traumatic. The FOU personnel treat fellow Nigerians with lack of respect for dignity of human person, decorum and diplomacy. They even resort to detaining whoever has the guts to prove his right or challenge their inefficiencies.

This is a psychological violence against the public whose taxes sustain the service. I call on well meaning Nigerians, Human rights organizations, Nigerian Bar Association and the Press to beam a searchlight on these men and women whose activities are capable of promoting the Rule of Force, a major threat to the jealously guarded refinements of a civilized society.


http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/my-sad-experience-with-nigeria-customs-service.html

Against all odds, a beggar who gained admission to the University of Lagos in 2006, Mr. Abdulsalam Idowu, was part of the 8,209 students that graduated from the university last Wednesday. SEGUN OLUGBILE, who covered the event, chronicles the academic sojourn of the beggar, who has also begun a law programme in the university.






BEGGARS








For two days last week, the University of Lagos was thrown into a festive mood with the conferment of various degrees and diploma certificates on 8, 209 students. Though 119 of the graduating students, including Segun Alawode, who emerged as the best graduating student, passed out with first class degrees, Idowu Abdulsalam, who graduated with a second class lower degree in Political Science, was the most celebrated.

Idowu, formerly a beggar, had secured admission to the university in 2006 with no hope of completing the programme. On the day he got the admission, he had just N39,000 in savings, the money he made from his begging business. But he exhausted this on the first semester registration. With no parent to turn to, Idowu had planned to continue his alms begging business to raise money to continue his education. But fortunes smiled on him after some compassionate Nigerians and organisations decided to sponsor him after reading his story in The PUNCH.

Born into a poor, polygamous family, Idowu lost his mother at the age of three years. An attack of malaria left him crippled shortly after. He could not complete his secondary school education because of his inability to pay his school fees. With nobody willing to employ him, he took to begging. He sat for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination O'Level as a beggar and passed after two attempts. He also gained admission to UNILAG as a beggar and so it was with glee that Idowu graduated on Wednesday. Idowu, who crawled to UNILAG in 2006, rode high on a tricycle amidst encomiums and cheers from colleagues and the university authorities during the convocation.

The 31 -year-old man, who has also started his law programme, in a chat with our correspondent after the convocation, said he was grateful to God, The Punch and many Nigerians who had helped to make his dream a reality.

"When I came to UNILAG, I had no mother, but God gave me compassionate mothers such as Justice Ajumogobia, Alhaja Osonaike, Alhaja Fowosere, Alhaja S.O Yusuf, Mrs. Comfort Obi and wife of the Kwara State Governor, Mrs. Toyin Bukola- Saraki.

"When I came to UNILAG, I had a very poor polygamous father, but God gave me very rich and responsible fathers such as Mr. Peace Emokaro, Pastor Adewuyi, Alhaji Olajobi, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, Prof. Tolu Odugbemi and the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Tokunbo Sofoluwe.

"When I came to UNILAG, I was moving around with the aid of a local skateboard, but God used organisations such as Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society of Nigeria, UNILAG Muslim Community, the Christian Community, Young Men Christian Association and some churches to give me walking aids and money.

"When I came to UNILAG, I had no voice but The PUNCH gave me a voice and here I am today, the yesterday's beggar has become a university graduate. I thank all the people God has used to help me thus far," he said poetically.

Asked how he intended to pay his way through the four-year law programme he had just started, Idowu went spiritual, saying that God that saw him through the first degree would not abandon him.

He, however, added that he would search for employment to help himself.

"Yes, I have thought about the challenges. However, I believe that God who has seen me through many difficult challenges before now will make a way for me. But I will plead with Nigerians and government to please give me a job so that I can help myself," he said.

But did he have any regret while on campus for his first degree, Idowu said no,

"I didn't have personal regret, the only thing I don't enjoy is seeing touts, street boys and hustlers, who saw me while I was begging on the streets of Lagos and who still refused to have a rethink. I wonder why they still continue to live like that. Only two of the street boys have changed. They are now students of UNILAG and they have made me their mentor," he said.

One of his mentees, Lukman Lawal, who is now a 200 Level Economics student, said Idowu's story motivated him to abandon the street for education.

"He is wise and inspiring. I knew him when he was begging and I was shocked when I saw his picture and his story on the front page of PUNCH one day in 2006. I went to see him afterwards, and he advised me that if he could make GCE and university admission that I could make it, too. I took to his counsel and today I'm in 200 Level. He's a worthy mentor," he said.

Idowu, who came all alone to the convocation ground, said he had no regret that none of his relations accompanied him.

"Yes, I can see that a lot of my colleagues came with their parents. I'm not bothered by this. My mother is dead and my father is too poor to come to Lagos from Adamawa where he does menial job. I have long overcome this because I have been living a lonely life since I lost my mother at a very tender age," he said.

He advised the nation's youths to shun criminality and acts capable of destroying their future.

"I want to advise youths to desist from criminality. Criminality is not the way out of poverty; it's only a fast lane to self-destruction. They should know that 70 per cent of Nigerians are poor; therefore, if they continue to engage in crime, the victims of their criminality are largely going to be those battling with poverty too. So, they should stop embarking on vices and set developmental targets for themselves, be focused and determined to realise their ambitions," he said.

Some of his colleagues, including Audu Okaala Nathaniel, Willams Nuatin, Chinaza Akabuogu and Adenike Ogunleye described Idowu as determined, focused and a brilliant motivator.

Akabuogu, however, added that Idowu was not just brilliant, he was also a non-conformist. "When you discuss issues with him, he always flows against popular views. Maybe, he does that intentionally but Kabasa (that is Idowu's popular name among his course mates) is intelligent and logical in his presentation of issues. He argues with facts and lecturers used his story to challenge us in class. I love him for his never-say-die spirit. He's my man any day," he said.

Also, the VC of UNILAG, Prof. Sofoluwe, had while addressing the press on the activities lined up for the convocation, said that the institution was encouraged by the graduating students' performance particularly Idowu and other physically-challenged students for their determination and will to succeed.

He pledged the university's determination to do more to enhance the welfare of the physically-challenged on the campus. Sofoluwe also commended the students for their peaceful conduct, which he noted, was responsible for the harmony on the campus.

But the convocation was not about Idowu alone, other students who distinguished themselves were also celebrated during the ceremony.

The graduates included Adedapo Aladegbaye, who obtained a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.74 out of a possible 5.0 to get a rare first class degree in the Department of Mass Communication, and Austin Andem, who obtained a first class in the Department of English.

Aladegbaye, 24, was said to be the second graduate after popular columnist, Dr. Olatunji Dare, to have passed out with a first class degree from the MASSCOMM department since it was established in 1966.

The Akure, Ondo State born young man in a chat with our correspondent, said that he did not set out to make a first class.

He said, "We were told during our first year that first class degree was a rarity in the department. But I just set my mind at making a good grade. It was when we got to 300 Level that I woke up to the reality that I could make a first class because my CGPA was within the first class range."

Aladegbaye's dream was nearly truncated when his father died in the first semester of his 400 Level.

But rather than allowing this setback to affect his studies, he was further propelled to make a first class. At the end of his degree programme, he made it in style beating his closest rival who obtained a CGPA of 3.98 to the second position.

Aladegbaye had shown signs of his brilliance when he



graduated from Government College, Ibadan, Oyo State, with eight As and a B3 in the 2002 WASSCE.

He, however, called on the university authorities to invest more in the purchase of relevant books to libraries in the institution.

He also faulted the process whereby lecturers were made to develop curriculum for their courses. This, he said, should be done by a body of experts.

He applauded his colleagues and lecturers, including Dr. Remi Ologbenla, Dr. Okoye and Dr. Ben Nwabueze for helping him to make history.

Also, Andem, 46, who obtained a CGPA of 4.64 out of a possible 5.0, was also applauded for his academic performance.

Born in Uyo, in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Andem had graduated from the Government College, Victoria Island, Lagos in 1982. Andem later moved to Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi State and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism for his certificate and diploma programmes in journalism.

In a chat with our correspondent after the ceremony, Andem said his desire to understand English informed his decision to study the language at the university.

Before he went to the university, Andem said he got a scholarship to read cartography at the Federal School of Surveying Oyo, Oyo State, where he graduated with a distinction in 1989.

"My love for journalism led me to the Federal Polytechnic, Idah and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos. I had a stint with the Voice of Nigeria as a student on attachment. From there I got involved on a part time basis with DBN TV, MITV, Crime Fighters television programme and Superscreen Television where I present the Campos Square programme on weekends. I still edit the Business Update Newspaper till date," the father of one said.

He hopes to pursue a postgraduate programme if a scholarship he is pursuing at a foreign university sails through.

At the event, some distinguished lecturers and the Proprietor, Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN) were honoured by the university.

While Ajibola was conferred with the honorary doctorate degree (Honorius causal) in Laws, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Prof. Giwa Osato-Osagie, was given the Distinguished Professor award for his contributions to the development of fertility in women.


http://www.9jabook.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2109467%3ABlogPost%3A1415750&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

quest003:
Its none of my biz, but it seems u both drink nd smoke dat stuff 2geda, u re jst a one sided homo. Let her keep drinking nd smoking, what we nid is gud governance nd she hasnt failed kwarans in dat aspect.

Posted on: November 27, 2009, 08:00 AM
Posted by: quest003
Fellow members, pls can anybody hlp wit d address of a private psychiatric clinic here in lagos. I'm a depression sufferer and i've realised da


The above statement from you on November 27, 2009 shd have given me enough clues to know who I am talking to. I advise you go back to visit your Psychiatric doctor for medication; when you are okay, you can come back to update your knowledge. I have tried not to go your way by passing insult. If I drink and smoke with Gbemi, what do you do with her? The same way they blindfolded your parent to make them think that Saraki is their god; it is unfortunate that you are fallen in the same trap. What do you know to be good governance? When you pass your JAMB and get admission to study statistics by combining your GCE and NECO, may be, then you will have enough marketing strategy to win more soul for your paymaster. Until then, I advise you to face your studies for now.

quest003:
Nigerians wil always tel u a lot of stories about your leaders but it wil be silly 4 u 2 believe evrything u hear

Nigerians are not fools, they are not silly as you presume, they know who deserve to be call leader definitely your paymaster is not one of them. I don’t want to say much on this issue of Gbemi, but you are taken this your sycophancy to another level. If you are confuse of who your paymaster is, ask those who know better. Gbemi is a spoilt child, a smoker, and drunkard. I don’t know how that sounds to you, and people of your like minds for Kwara ppl to be govern by an irresponsible woman whose pride has denied the title of “wife”. May God forbid bad thing

quest003:
@lfj, stop dis cacophonous jabberin nd face reality. What re u implyin by d pic u posted? She is legislature, hence she cant wear a sun shade, d pics itself is a very old pics. Only political opponents nd non residents of kwara state wil say grs hasnt performd exceptionally well in dat state, probably becos dey re oblivious of her contributn in d state, her performance in kwara state is outstandin and dis is y she'll continue gaining popularity but u hardly hear or see her in media cos she uphld her principle, she believes in action not words u beta embrace changes nd leave sentimnt aside.

@quest003,
These two pictures will answer your question about my intention for posting the 1st picture. What else to say about the person of our next governor; Let ppl know who you are and decide if you are good or not good for them. I doubt it, if the good people of Kwara will want hypocrite to be our next governor.

@quest003,
Make comparison to the 1st picture and let me know your view about your next governor

Oh, this is a Senator of Nigeria, not Anna Nicole Smith the codeine-addicted American Play girl. But what is the difference; they both smoke something and have addiction to exposing flesh and living in vanity! Sorry this is Sinnator Gbemisola Saraki of the "bank-robbing" Saraki family!


http://www.saharareporters.com/photo/sen-gbemisola-saraki