₦airaland Forum

chidichris:
yes, ribadu to follow suit as the court pleases.
what about dropping the charges against ogbulafor, bode george and then hang Ibori and orji uzor kalu who are the only confirmed criminals nigerians know.
what a shameless group called nigeria always willing to celebrate failures.
no wonder gangstars like late adedibu and chris uba were the heros of the last regime.
no wonder under ribadu, aged criminals like obasanjo, bode george, tony annenih and their likes were seen as saints and angels.
welcome back mr. perfect. pls accept to be our president.
we must not forget that mustafa under abacha has no differences with el rufai and ribadu under obasanjo.

Yes, Ribadu will follow suit as the court pleases because they don't have genuine allegation against him. Trust me, if they have strong evidence that this man is corrupt people like Ibori, Kalu, Tinubu, Atiku, Babangida and all their friends will not wait a minute to reduce this man to nothing. If all what they can tell us with their money and influence is that this man fails to declare his asset then the truth must either the man is smarter than them or they can't find anything incriminating about this man.

I don't have any doubt in my mind that if this plot succeed, most of those who are celebrating today will come back to seek for forgiveness for closing their eyes against the good work of this man. Nobody show appreciation when Ribadu was fighting corruption, when he was removed some people celebrated it and even compared him with likes of Ibori. Today, we know better, we want him back. I am very confidence that tomorrow, we will know more about the true intention of this man.

A balancing act says Judge .An Eye for An Eye.


The court heard that trouble started when Ajikere, his brother and two girls boarded an unpainted taxi cab operated by Fabiyi, who was in plainclothes. The group had to alight from the cab following disagreement on the fare charged by the driver.

Fabiyi was angered by the group’s decision to abandon his taxi in preference for another and made his resentment known to the group, following an exchange of uncomplimentary words between both parties.

Bent on getting his pound of flesh, Fabiyi trailed the group to a mobile police check-point close to a five-star hotel along GRA and hurriedly lied to the policemen that the occupants of the other cab were criminals and should be dealt with.

Testifying at the trial, the younger brother of murdered Ajikere said the group was ordered out of the cab and frog-jumped, beaten black and blue and ordered to lay face-down on the tarred road. This was even as the policemen refused to listen to their own side of the story.

Photo:instance of police brutality



Unable to bear the torture any longer, he said, Ajikere tried to stand up and was shot at point-blank range by Cpl. Aminu. His life could not be saved as he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital that said Ajikere died of excessive bleeding.

Delivering judgment after sentencing the men to death by hanging, Monday, Justice Boma Diepreyi said the sentence would serve as a deterrent to other uniformed men “whose stock-in-trade is to kill innocent citizens under the guise of accidental discharge.”

Diepreyi said it would be unfair to take the plea of both Fabiyi and Aminu for mercy, adding: “In as much as I sympathize with them, there is the blood of the young Nnamdi Ajikere, the deceased 20 year-old final year student of University of Port Harcourt crying for vengeance.

“Justice is a balancing act and the only way to a balanced justice in this case is to make the accused persons face the consequences of their reckless act and hope that this will serve as a deterrent to those who may want to emulate their terrible example.”

Meantime, in preparation for the 2011 elections, the Nigeria Police Force has warned its officers to steer clear of inducements by politicians or their agents during the elections stressing that officers found culpable may be dismissed from service and jailed.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. John Hamza Ahmadu, who gave the warning, Tuesday, while addressing the officers at the state command headquarters in Ilorin, also announced that N2billion has been released for the housing projects for officers nationwide.

Ahmadu charged the officers not to compromise their professional ethics and destroy their career because of what he described as chicken fees from politicians assured them that all their allowances would be paid before the elections.

He also urged politicians to warn their supporters to restrict their campaigns to their manifestos and play the game according to the rules adding that those who foment trouble will be dealth with

GOV FASHOLA SPEAKS @ HAVARD UNIVERSITY , MY GOVERNOR , YOUR GOVERNOR, !
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Africa Focus 2010 Organised By The African Caucus Of The John F. Kennedy School Of Government, Harvard University
Reimagine, Redefine, Reinvent: A new Paradigm for Africa’s Leaders - The Lagos Experience of Challenges and Opportunities for Transformation

Apr 12, 2010 - Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, not only am I delighted to be here today; I am humbled and honored by the opportunity.

I would like to thank the Africa Caucus of the Harvard Kennedy School for inviting me. I do so first because it is appropriate courtesy and secondly and most importantly because I am truly appreciative of the kindness of this gesture.

The enormity of my appreciation will be better understood when one realizes that I have only run a Government of a sub-national for barely 3 (three) years on a continent where there is no debate about the need for leadership as the critical defining element for change.

To be invited to speak about leadership, with no experience, in an institution that has become globally acclaimed for producing some of the world’s greatest leaders is a profound honor for the Government and people of Lagos State whom I serve and on whose behalf I thank you very much.

Before I proceed further, I think it is appropriate that I issue a caveat here; that while I am happy to be here, I cannot take responsibility for bringing myself here and whatever inadequacies you encounter, the Africa Caucus of Harvard Kennedy School must take responsibility for taking a chance on a Governor with barely 3 (three) years experience. However, I will not abandon my obligation and will take the fullest responsibility for what I say.

My presentation requires me to speak around the theme: Reimagine, Redefine, Reinvent: A new Paradigm for Africa’s Leaders; with the view to highlighting the socio-cultural, political and economic realities in Africa today by discussing challenges and opportunities involved in the governance of a State like Lagos and to share the most significant constraints with a hope to providing lessons for future leaders.

The story of how I became the Governor of Lagos State is one of the most profound experiences of my life. It validates the scriptures that God, in whom I absolutely have faith, is a miracle worker and that power truly belongs to him.

It would be an appropriate subject for a book and therefore cannot be discussed within the time I have been allotted to speak.

However, no precision in star gazing or clairvoyance could have foretold it as I was the most unlikely person within myself and to unbiased observers. I dislike Government and public service as a young man to my regret and I am now wiser.

Immediately after my call to the bar after completing my professional training in the Nigerian Law School, I was posted to the Ministry of Justice in the old Bendel State in Nigeria’s Niger Delta area in 1988.

For 3 (three) days, nobody could assign me a desk or a responsibility because the Solicitor General was away on an official assignment that took her out of the State. When she returned my mind was made up that that was not the place I wanted to start my professional career. I was adamant and she let me go to a private law firm which was legitimate even though at that time I had no placement with any firm but ultimately secured one.

After that year of compulsory national service, my father had concluded arrangements with his friend in a public parastatal of the Federal Government but I refused even though I had no job.

I went job hunting on my own until I got another law firm and remained in private legal practice from 1989 until 2002 when my immediate predecessor, Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who had been elected as Governor of Lagos State on Nigeria’s return to democratic governance in 1999 demanded that I come to serve as his Chief of Staff in 2002, to replace the then incumbent Chief of Staff who was leaving to seek elective office in another State.

I was retained as Chief of Staff when Governor Tinubu was re-elected for another 4 (four) year term in 2003 and as he served out his term, I was preparing to return to private law practice having worked at least 14 hours every day for four and half years; at the time 15 (fifteen) candidates, 11 (eleven) of them from within the cabinet were jostling to succeed him.

I was not one of them, I was not interested in politics even though I enjoyed what I was doing, rebuilding our State after many years of neglect and lack of development. I was content to have been a member of the team that started what I thought was an audacious reversal of negative fortunes of underdevelopment.

He had consulted me on the choice of a candidate and I had offered my advice as to who I thought merited the privilege of his endorsement which was and remains a huge political capital because, he had always been a much loved grassroot politician and given the mass appeal of the Party at the time, it was easy to guess that the candidate he endorsed was almost inevitably going to be elected.

He confounded me when he called me to his house one morning after shockingly broaching the subject on the telephone and I had evaded giving a response, to ask me if I would run as Governor. I told him I did not desire to be Governor, as I had seen him suffer at close quarters. His response was that this was an assignment and he was speaking as my boss. So began my journey to my first ever election of any type.

My nomination broke the party, a new one was formed, compromises were sought and achieved, we confronted the opposition parties and we won with 828,484 votes with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd runners up scoring 389,088, 114,557 and 29,836 votes respectively.

In terms of a vision, it is difficult for me to state that this was my vision. In my time as Chief of Staff, I have been involved as a cabinet rank officer in the debates and formulation of policies for the development of the State. We had evolved what we called the 10 (ten) Point Agenda addressing Security, Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, Housing, Environmental Sustainability, Poverty Alleviation, Transportation, Financial independence of the State, and because I was persuaded by the quality of what we had collectively articulated, I resolved that it fairly captured the challenges being faced globally by City-State and national leaders, it was therefore not necessary to re-invent the wheel.

After that discussion with my predecessor and my acceptance of the assignment, I took a week off from work with a copy of the 10 (ten) Point Agenda which had become a State Policy, our Party’s manifesto and a Charter of Objectives of the Millennium Development goals.

I locked myself in and wrote in long hand, what I thought should be done in respect of each sector and resumed work on the 6th November, 2006 to type it out. When I finished typing it, I drafted a resignation letter and went to my boss’s office to hand him both documents, making sure I put the resignation letter on top.

He was not pleased with my decision to resign and he explained to me how he had made plans to move me to head a Ministry where I would have more contact with people and become more visible and known to the public before the elections that were 5 months ahead, because before then, I had worked in the back room in the Governor’s Office managing daily administration and rarely attending public functions. I spent my time planning and organizing those functions of State and ensuring as best as I could that they succeeded.

I explained to him that if he truly was serious about me running for office, I needed to disengage from office to devote all of my time to the project and I did not see myself giving my best while running a Ministry and campaigning at the same time and that this would adversely affect the public service delivery of the Ministry. He agreed and let me go. The rest is history as they say.

From then on, I woke up earlier than 6 am to attend Radio and TV interviews as other candidates had been doing. I had a lot to catch up. I had no posters, but while that was being designed, I embarked on a grueling tour of 57 Local Government, sometimes covering 3 or 4 Local Governments a day, I got home to read materials about projects in those areas, books written by politicians, how to speak politically and so on. From then on until the elections in April 2007, I slept less than 3 hours every day; and lost 10 kilograms in the process.

But in all, from the document I wrote which became an Article of Faith that I titled “My Contract with Lagosians”, I explained at every opportunity what I intended to do and what the obligations of citizens would be in terms of support, payment of taxes and obedience of laws, maintenance of peace and the promise of what lay ahead.

After the elections, another round of late nights started, building the blocks for implementation. The question in my mind was not what we wanted to do but how and who to do it.

I picked a team of serving public officers in Health, Transport, Waste Management, Justice and invited bankers, economists and some other members of the private sector who volunteered their time and we met at a hotel every night for a month from 10pm to 4am detailing what the problems were, planning solutions, articulating costs, and methodology of implementation.

The day after inauguration, I began a tour of our Government Ministries, that was followed by a meeting with the leadership of all Government Departments who gave my Deputy and I reports of the work they had been doing and what was outstanding.

The truth is that I did that for the benefit of my Deputy Governor who had never served at that level of Government, even though she was a public servant herself.

I reckoned that if we were to move at the pace I intended, it was fair to start slowly to enable her catch up on the things I already knew in order for her to be able to share the responsibility.

We ran the Government for about 2 months with Permanent Secretaries who were senior management level career public officers while I was consulting with the leadership of the Party and other sectors about selecting the team of political office holders, Commissioners as we call them, who would lead the various Ministries and Departments.

By July 2007, we had constituted the team, and each person came on board with a clear mandate (based on what we had drawn up by the Committee of the Public and Private Sector that I referred to), of what we expected him/her to deliver.

There were 42 (Forty Two) of them, Commissioners and Special Advisers of diverse backgrounds, lawyers, bankers, economists, educationists, private businessmen, politicians and all.

I ensured that many of them were my colleagues in the last Government with a few first timers into Government. This was intended to help us start quickly, using the experiences of the old hands, while the new ones acquainted themselves with the nuances, culture and communication skills of the public service which are quite different from what obtained in the private sector.

We developed a few invariable rules. Being efficient with time, we resolved to meet weekly on Mondays at 9am and imposed a fine for lateness. There were initial complaints that it was too early but with time we got used to it. On two occasions, I went to those Monday meetings without taking my bath because I had slept late and woken up late and did not want to be the violator of the rule.

We resolved to keep promises and deadlines we made to the public whatever it took and at the earliest awareness that it would not be feasible, we went back to them to notify them and explain why. Our word was our bond.

We worked as a team, debated vigorously at meetings, voted when there was deadlock, but everybody respected and implemented the team’s decision whether or not he disagreed in the voting.

We sought knowledge and best practices from every part of the world, sent people to value adding trainings and tours, but more often brought the experts to Lagos so that the largest number of us could benefit and we could manage costs.

Before the Commissioners embarked on their work, I had commissioned a poll asking people what they expected of the Government they had elected. When I received the results, I suggested that we undertake a fresh tour of the 57 Local Governments.

I did so for 2 (two) reasons, first to hear from the citizens themselves what they expected and in that way validate the result of the poll; and secondly, to enable the team know all the Local Governments and see for themselves how real and bad things were, so that we could eat, sleep and dream the problem on a daily basis until we found solutions. It was a real wake up call.

I had been privileged to read Rudolph Giuliani’s book on Leadership about the transformation of New York whose population and complexities, ethnic and religious were not significantly different from Lagos. I had also read Lee Kwan Yew’s seminal work from “Third to First World” and just as we concluded our Local Government tour I attended the International Bar Conference in 2007 held in Singapore.

I had also fortunately been invited to an investment summit in September 2007 in New York. My trip to Singapore was again by coincidence routed through Dubai at the peak of its construction boom. I went to those places not as a tourist but as a City Manager, looking to see what I could learn, trying to relate what I had read in those books with what I saw.

I asked and was obliged the privilege to meet a few people who had been involved in those remarkable transformations, including Lee Kwan Yew with whom I spent about 30 minutes and a firm of Consulting Engineers in Dubai. The lessons of those visits and coincidental experiences were that, nothing was impossible.

I returned to Lagos with an almost angry determination to transform our State as quickly as possible. I shared my experiences with my colleagues and urged those who had not been, to visit those places. We established an inter-governmental relationship with some critical agencies in those countries and shared their knowledge and experiences

We set about the implementation of our plans with the understanding that law and order was the cause of difficult living in our State. We came to the understanding that not all people were deliberately lawless but that they had become desperate in a bid to survive. They broke traffic rules in a bid to get out of excruciating traffic jams because no new highways had been built in Lagos for almost 30 years until the return of democracy in 1999, and people were daily buying cars and needed to move about.

People traded on sidewalks because the last major markets built in the State before 1999 were built in the 1970s. The same applied to schools, hospitals, water supply and many public infrastructures.

We re-ordered the budget of the State from consumption to investment in infrastructure. We changed the expenditure profile to a 60:40 ratio in favour of capital over re-current expenditure and applied the proceeds to equipping the Police, building schools, roads, hospitals, water supply projects, sports centre, and reclaiming open spaces for parks and greening.

We made ourselves accessible to the public by publishing our email addresses and telephone numbers in the newspapers and responded as best as we could to complaints and suggestions. Till date, I receive an average of 300 text messages and about the same number of emails daily.

The response was most encouraging. Before the efforts started yielding results, we were getting feed backs of credibility. People trusted us. They believed that we meant well. They were ready to endure traffic because they saw construction going on and believed it would get better when we finished. In places where we needed to claim more land to build expanded roads, people voluntarily pulled down their walls so that our contractors could start work.

We embarked on a huge tax drive and rather than complains, we began to receive enquiries about how and where they needed to go to pay their taxes. It was a huge sign on that everybody seemingly wanted to be a part of.

My colleagues and I seized on this huge capital to take difficult but public benefit decisions. We started clearing out slums that had been in place for over 30 years and seemed immovable.

We used this enormous public support only for public good. We confronted groups and unions that had lived above the law with the public support behind us and succeeded in getting them to obey the law.

The investment in the Police by way of patrol cars, uniforms, insurance schemes, improved allowances and equipment brought down violent crimes by 79% at the end of 2009.

The private sector belief and support was enormous and we did our best never to abuse it and we never took it for granted.

Bank robberies became stories of the past, traffic congestion was daily being reduced, jobs were being created at construction sites, and in new businesses springing up as a result of renewed investor.

The public service gradually became attractive to many who had deserted it and we now have increasing requests for jobs or appointments into the service or to be part of our team. A large number of Nigerians abroad have seen Lagos as a choice of relocation in the thick of the global economic crises.

Lagosians now speak of their State with a lot of pride and belief that nothing is impossible. I know that we are very far from being a finished article and that a great distance still lies ahead on this journey, but I am humbled to have been the leader of the team that received a torch of hope from the last government and is able to keep it alive with seemingly endless possibilities.

A critical lesson for us was the realization that the people had lived on a diet of broken promises for 3 (three) decades of political instability and that democracy, as a more stable form of Government, at least in terms of predictability of tenure, offers the best platform for addressing humanity’s problems because it provides opportunity to plan and implement.

Seizing that opportunity is of course another matter, and for those who take public office or seek to do so, the best way to seize that opportunity is to prepare for it and plan to use it for only one purpose – public good.

The reality is that in the pursuit of public good all our individual needs are met and secured. We will use the roads we build, the hospitals we build, the security we put in place and benefit from the economic prosperity that we help to create in a situation of harmony as distinct from chaos, aggression and desperation where the privileged lived in fear of revolt or crime from the under privileged.

The truth is that, a leadership that cannot protect the poor will be unable to protect the rich.

Before I conclude, I wish to say that I have heard people speak about a success story in Lagos but the truth is that the Lagos I dream of still lies ahead. As I said earlier, it is not a finished article; indeed it is just starting; but my optimism that it is achievable, is fired by the enormous belief and support of our people which inspires me to no end.

I will like to conclude by expressing my appreciation for your time and to apologize that I may not have told you anything you have probably not heard before or read about. The responsibility for that, as I said belongs to those who brought me here and to them I remain truly grateful.

Thank you for listening.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos

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Make: Nissan

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Millage: 125,000

Price; N1.3 (Negotiable)

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If you are interested e-mail me on lateeffolu2000@yahoo.com

Below are the views of Islam and Christianity based on primary source texts and core beliefs.

ISLAM


1. Do Muslims believe he was a Messenger of One God? YES

Belief in all of the Prophets and Messengers of God is a fundamental article of faith in Islam. Thus, believing in Prophets Adam, Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them) is a requirement for anyone who calls him or herself a Muslim. A person claiming to be a Muslim who, for instance, denies the Messengership of Jesus, is not considered a Muslim.

The Quran says in reference to the status of Jesus as a Messenger:

"The Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger before whom many Messengers have passed away; and his mother adhered wholly to truthfulness, and they both ate food (as other mortals do). See how We make Our signs clear to them; and see where they are turning away!" (Quran 5:75).


2. Do Muslims believe he was born of a Virgin Mother? YES

Like Christians, Muslims believe Mary, Maria in Spanish, or Maryam as she is called in Arabic, was a chaste, virgin woman, who miraculously gave birth to Jesus.

"Relate in the Book the story of Mary, when she withdrew from her family, to a place in the East. She screened herself from them; then We sent to her Our spirit (angel Gabriel) and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. She said: I seek refuge from you in God Most Gracious (come not near) if you do fear God. He said: Nay, I am only a Messenger from your Lord, to announce to you the gift of a pure son. She said: How shall I have a son, when no man has ever touched me, and I am not unchaste? He said: So it will be, your Lord says: ‘That is easy for Me; and We wish to appoint him as a sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It was a matter so decreed" (Quran 19:16-21).


3. Do Muslims believe Jesus had a miraculous birth? YES

The Quran says:

"She (Mary) said: ‘O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me.' He (God) said: ‘So (it will be) for God creates what He wills. When He has decreed something, He says to it only: ‘Be!'- and it is" (3:47).

It should also be noted about his birth that:

"Verily, the likeness of Jesus in God's Sight is the likeness of Adam. He (God) created him from dust, then (He) said to him: ‘Be!'-and he was" (Quran 3:59).


4. Do Muslims believe Jesus spoke in the cradle? YES

"Then she (Mary) pointed to him. They said: ‘How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?' He (Jesus) said: ‘Verily! I am a slave of God, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet; " (19:29-30).

5. Do Muslims believe he performed miracles? YES

Muslims, like Christians believe Jesus performed miracles. But these were performed by the will and permission of God, Who has power and control over all things.

"Then will God say: ‘O Jesus the son of Mary! recount My favor to you and to your mother. Behold! I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit (the angel Gabriel) so that you did speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught you the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel. And behold: you make out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and you breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by My leave, and you heal those born blind, and the lepers by My leave. And behold! you bring forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the children of Israel from (violence to you) when you did show them the Clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: ‘This is nothing but evident magic' (5:110).


6. Do Muslims believe in the Trinity? NO

Muslims believe in the Absolute Oneness of God, Who is a Supreme Being free of human limitations, needs and wants. He has no partners in His Divinity. He is the Creator of everything and is completely separate from His creation.

God says in the Quran regarding the Trinity:

"People of the Book (Jews and Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and attribute to God nothing except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His command that He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and in His Messengers, and do not say: ‘God is a Trinity.' Give up this assertion; it would be better for you. God is indeed just One God. Far be it from His glory that He should have a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. God is sufficient for a guardian" (Quran 4:171).


7. Do Muslims believe that Jesus was the son of God? NO

"Say: "God is Unique! God, the Source [of everything]. He has not fathered anyone nor was He fathered, and there is nothing comparable to Him!" (Quran 112:1-4).

The Quran also states:

"Such was Jesus, the son of Mary; it is a statement of truth, about which they vainly dispute. It is not befitting to the majesty of God, that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be' and it is" (Quran 19:34-35).


8. Do Muslims believe Jesus was killed on the cross then resurrected? NO

"“They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but they thought they did.” (Quran 4:156) “God lifted him up to His presence. God is Almighty, All-Wise” (Quran 4:157) .




CHRISTIANITY


1. Do Christians believe Jesus was a human being and Messenger of God? YES & NO

With the exception of Unitarian Christians, who like all the early followers of Jesus, still do not believe in the Trinity, most Christians now believe in the Divinity of Jesus, which is connected to the belief in Trinity. They say he is the second member of the Triune God, the Son of the first part of the Triune God, and at the same time "fully" God in every respect.


2. Do Christians believe he was born of a Virgin Mother? YES

A chaste and pious human woman who gave birth to Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity, the Son of God, and at the same time "fully" God Almighty in every respect.

Christians believe however, that while she was a virgin, she was married to a man named Joseph (Bible: Matthew:1:18). According to Matthew 1:25, Joseph "kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus".


3. Do Christians believe he had a miraculous birth? YES

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit" (Bible: Matthew 1:18)


4. Do Christians believe he performed miracles? YES

"And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretches out thy hand to heal, and sign and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus (Bible: Acts 4:30).

Christians believe that Jesus performed these miracles because he was the Son of God as well as the incarnation of God.


5. Do Christians believe in the Trinity? YES

With the exception of the Unitarian Christians, who do not believe in the Divinity of Christ, the Trinity, according to the Catholic encyclopedia, is the term used for the central doctrine of the Christian religion. The belief is that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three Persons or beings are distinct from each another, while being similar in character: uncreated and omnipotent.

The First Vatican Council has explained the meaning to be attributed to the term mystery in theology. It lays down that a mystery is a truth which we are not merely incapable of discovering apart from Divine Revelation, but which, even when revealed, remains "hidden by the veil of faith and enveloped, so to speak, by a kind of darkness" (Const., "De fide. cath.", iv). The First Vatican Council further defined that the Christian Faith contains mysteries strictly so called (can. 4). All theologians admit that the doctrine of the Trinity is of the number of these. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that of all revealed truths, this is the most impenetrable to reason.



6. Do Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God? YES
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (Bible: John 3:16).

However, it is interesting to note that the term "son of God" is used in other parts of the Bible to refer to Adam (Bible: Luke 3:38), Israel (Bible: Exodus 4:22) and David (Bible: Psalms 2:7) as well. The creatures of God are usually referred to in the Bible as children of God.


The role of Paul of Tarsus in shaping this belief and the belief in Trinity

The notion of Jesus as son of God is something that was established under the influence of Paul of Tarsus (originally named Saul), who had been an enemy of Jesus, but later changed course and joined the disciples after the departure of Jesus.

Later, however, he initiated a number of changes into early Christian teachings, in contradiction, for instance, to disciples like Barnabas, who believed in the Oneness of God and who had actually lived and met with Jesus.

Paul is considered by a number of Christian scholars to be the father of Christianity due to his additions of the following ideas:

that Jesus is the son of God,

the concept of Atonement,

the renunciation of the Law of the Torah.

Paul did these things in hopes of winning over the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). His letters are another of the primary sources of information on Jesus according to the Christian tradition.

The original followers of Prophet Jesus opposed these blatant misrepresentations of the message of Jesus. They struggled to reject the notion of the Divinity of Jesus for close to 200 years.

One person who was an original follower of Jesus was Barnabas. He was a Jew born in Cyrus and a successful preacher of the teachings of Jesus. Because of his closeness to Jesus, he was an important member of the small group of disciples in Jerusalem who had had gathered together following the disappearance of Jesus.

The question of Jesus's nature, origin and relationship with God was not raised amongst Barnabas and the small group of disciples. Jesus was considered a man miraculously endowed by God. Nothing in the words of Jesus or the events in his life led them to modify this view.

The Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria till 325 CE Iranaeus (130-200) wrote in support of pure monotheism and opposed Paul for injecting into Christianity doctrines of the pagan Roman religion and Platonic philosophy. He quoted extensively from the Gospel of Barnabas in support of his views. This indicates that the Gospel of Barnabas was in circulation in the first and second centuries of Christianity.

In 325 (CE), a council of Christian leaders met at Nicaea and made Paul's beliefs officially part of Christian doctrine. It also ordered that all original Gospels in Hebrew script which contradicted Paul's beliefs should be destroyed. An edict was issued that anyone in possession of these Gospels would be put to death.

The Gospel of Barnabas has miraculously survived though.


7. Do Christians believe he was killed on the cross? YES
This is a core Christian belief and it relates to the concept of atonement. According to this belief, Jesus died to save mankind from sin. However, this is not stated explicitly in the four gospels which form the primary source texts of Christianity. It is found, however, in Romans 6:8,9.

Christians believe Jesus was spat on, cut, humiliated, kicked, striped and finally hung up on the cross to endure a slow and painful death.

According, to Christian belief, the original sin of Adam and Eve of eating from the forbidden tree was so great that God could not forgive it by simply willing it, rather it was necessary to erase it with the blood of a sinless, innocent Jesus.


Resurrection

The four Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul are the main sources of Christianity which discuss the Resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion. According to St. Matthew, Jesus appeared to the holy women, and again on a mountain in Galilee. Mark's Gospel tells a different story: Jesus was seen by Mary Magdalene, by the two disciples at Emmaus, and the Eleven before his Ascension into heaven.

Luke's Gospel says Jesus walked with the disciples to Emmaus, appeared to Peter and to the assembled disciples in Jerusalem. In John's Gospel, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the ten Apostles on Easter Sunday, to the Eleven a week later, and to seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

Another account of the resurrection by St. Paul is found in Bible: Corinthians 15: 3-8.

According to Christian belief, Resurrection is a manifestation of God's justice, Who exalted Christ to a life of glory, as Christ had humbled himself unto death (Phil., 2: 8-9). This event also completes the mystery of Christian salvation and redemption. The death of Jesus frees believers from sin, and with his resurrection, he restores to them the most important privileges lost by sin (Bible: Romans 4:25).

More importantly, the belief in the resurrection of Jesus indicates Christian acknowledgment of Christ as the immortal God, the cause of believers' own resurrection (Bible: I Corinthians 4: 21; Phil., 3:20-21), as well as the model and the support of a new life of grace (Bible: Romans 4: 4-6; 9-11).

Twenty-four-year-old Miss Gladys Chinwenwa Nwankwo, a graduate of Computer Science of the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, has cause to be eternally grateful to God. She had embarked on a trip to Sokoto State for the National Youth Service on March 2, 2009 when the bus she was travelling in ran into armed robbers between the Zamfara and Sokoto boarder.

Chinwenwa



The bandits had blocked their bus and opened fire on it for about 45 minutes after which six persons were killed and many others, including her, were seriously wounded.

The incident happened at Zamfara-Sokoto boarder between 9 and10 O’clock in the morning, after they have had a hitch-free all night journey.


The attack

Each time I remember that incident, I feel very strange. But I thank God who saved my life that day, not because I am more important to those who died, but because of his grace upon my life. He just chose to make me live.


A sound echoed like that of gunshot and I thought that our tyre had burst. Somebody in the bus told us that it was a gunshot. We all lay down on the floor of the vehicle. After a while, the driver and the conductor ran to the back of the vehicle to take cover. Those shooting were outside and for about 45 minutes they were still spraying bullets on the vehicle. They probably wanted to ensure that .every living thing in that bus was dead before they came in to rob. If not, why should people just open fire on travellers who did not resist them?


They were speaking languages we could not understand. The doors of the vehicle were wide open and they did not enter. They just kept shooting at the vehicle like people who had made up their mind to kill every one inside before coming in.

At that juncture, the conductor just ran out and told them to shoot him instead of shooting us as we are only youth corpers. They stopped shooting and ordered us to come down from the bus and we all came down. But by this time three people had already died inside the vehicle.

Then they saw an Hausa boy that had a dagger hanging on his left shoulder and shot him on the spot, making the number of dead persons four on the spot.


Before we got to the hospital, two other people died, making the number of dead people six, all boys. While we were on the ground, where we lay face down, we heard gunshot and I thought that they were shooting us one after the other, not knowing that it was policemen who were coming to our rescue. There was exchange of fire between them after which the robbers ran away. While we were outside, they entered the vehicle and were carting away our luggage, tearing them with their knives and searching for money and other valuables. They collected phones, but I was lucky that my phone fell down on the step by the door side and they did not see it.





My bullet wound

While I was inside the vehicle, I felt some sharp pains when they were shooting. I looked at it and saw myself in my own pool of blood. I removed my scarf and tied it on the spot to stop the bleeding. At that time the pain was not felt much. After that I called my pastor on phone and he assured me that nothing would happen to me. I noticed that the bullet in my arm was moving about. The police people, who came, took us to the hospital and called NYSC officials who came and transferred us to Usman Danfodio Teaching Hospital, Sokoto. There, they started giving us treatment and booked a date to operate on me and brought out the bullets.

On the appointed date, I was operated upon and the bullets, about six of them, were removed from my hand and that was after a week and three days. But unknown to me one was still lodging in my head. After six days, I felt like scratching a portion of my head that was making me uncomfortable.


While I was doing that one of the bullets fell down from my head, followed by blood. My fellow corpers started shouting and they took me to the clinic where I was given first aid after which I went to the hospital where I was treated.

When I saw the list that I would be serving in Sokoto State, I was not happy because I had prayed and hoped that I would be posted to Delta State or any of the mid-western states. I felt that since there are many companies there, if I am posted there, I might be retained in the company I served.


But when the posting came out and I knew that there was nothing else I could do, I prayed to God to lead me safely to the place. However, on Saturday, preceding the Sunday that I was to travel, I saw myself in a hospital in the dream, with a big hole in my hand and I was being treated. I was not shown what brought about the wound.

When I woke up, I told my elder sister about it and she rebuked me, saying that it was like the service had gone into my head. That did I think that I was the first person that has gone for service. Because of what she said, I just prayed ordinarily, not going extra mile as would have done in situation of that nature.


The journey

On Sunday morning, at about 8 O’clock, I left our house to Ezenwata transport, which goes to Sokoto, purchased my ticket and was told to come back before 4p.m and so we should try to be at the terminal before 4 O’clock. I went back to church at Kingdom Citizens Ministries and waited till after service. Then, around 3:00p.m, I went back to the bus terminal and by 4p.m., we took off.

I prayed in the Church and was sure that God would see me through. Ours was a direct bus to Sokoto and we travelled peacefully throughout the night into the next morning. At about 9-10 O’clock, I noticed that our vehicle had stopped between Zamfara –Sokoto boarder and the hoodlums struck.


When we got to the hospital, I phoned my uncle and told him, but asked him not to allow my mother to know about it, because if she does, she would not believe that I was still alive and she might kill herself before I come back.

My uncle encouraged me to be strong that he would be praying for me, and he was calling me every day till the day I came out from the theatre.

It was NYSC that paid the bill for the treatment. On the appointed date, I was operated upon, after a week and three days.

In all, I thank God who did not allow me to be shot dead by the robbers. If not for him, I would have been dead by now. I was the only girl that was shot. However, I thank NYSC officials in Sokoto State for taking good care of me and my colleagues who went out of their way to show me love. I know that some of them will read this interview, and I want them to know that I appreciate every bit of their assistance to me and to tell them that God will surely reward them for their kind gesture.

davidylan:
Sorry to disappoint you but the above is NONSENSE. Where has this man been championing the rights of the igbo to the presidency? A muslim head of state has been incapacitated (through no other person's fault) and all of a sudden muslims are crying that they are not represented in power? Do you think anyone cares that Jonathan is a christian or hindu?

Does this guy understand section 145 and its latest ammendment? I dont think so.

Thank u very much for the insult; what I said may be NONSENSE to you the same way your argument is not making meaning to me. If you decided to champion the rights of Ibo today, you have not committed any crime based on our constitution; the man has neither committed a crime by feeling that his ethnic or religion has been cheated. My argument with you is not about a Muslim or Christian or about Yoruba or Ibo but about the substance of his discussion. One statement which may be offensive to you does not nullified the valid point the man is trying to make.
Let learn how to tolerate each other without insult. I believe you can argue your point without insult. The relationship here is not “Oga or Omose”

davidylan:
I'm not sure you read the write-up quite well. If all our reps where like this man we'd be in very serious trouble. The presidency isnt about religion but competence!

I read it very well. In fact, that was my thinking when I read your comment, that why somebody should condemn this man just because the man said “Today, a section of this country is being cheated, that is the North and the Muslim”. Apart from this statement which may be offensive to you, the man is very constructive in his argument and hit the nail on the head.
As at today, it has not become an offence to demand for your right as a Muslim, a Christian, Ibo or Yoruba since our constitution recognize the diversity in our ethnicity, religion and culture.
@ davidylan, I know u are very active in religion section of this forum; I will advise that you stop looking at all issue from religion or ethnic point of view. Let leave issue of religion to God to decide who is right or wrong since He has the final say.

davidylan:
this guy shld shut up pls. Nauseating people like this are the ones who fan the embers of religious violence. Is the presidency now about your religious affiliation or who is right for the nation?

As regards Lukman . . . true, he has been a minister since i was a child too.

Mr. davidylan, let be objective in our criticism, even if it is a mad man that talk sense let give it to him. If all our representative reason likes this man; whether fake or genuine, Nigeria will surely be a better place for us all

Why not go and open ur own church to embark on your anti Islamic program rather than turning this place to one. You are one of the reasons why Nigeria knows no peace. What does it take to leave together in peace? All ur utterances is to attack other tribe or religion without proof of what make your own tribe or religion superior to other.

"All major hospitals abroad parade some of the best and brightest Nigerian doctors, surgeons, nurses and other medical and paramedical personnel. We have lost our most active brains to foreign universities. The few ones remaining at home are those most probably suffering from the incurable virus of patriotism, in a nation where it is no longer fashionable to send kids to Great ABU, Great IFE or Great UNN. Most of the universities are in their various stages of dilapidation. Only about 4,000 out of 0ver 200,000 candidates passed NECO exams according to a news item. It is no longer at ease here."
"There must be over 12 generations of unemployed graduates in Nigeria roaming the streets in total dejection and submission today. And those very lucky to be employed are currently losing their jobs in droves. The banks in particular are axing jobs and salaries with a vengeance in this era Lamido Sanusi’s wizardry. Those who have mortgages can no longer pay. School fees are suffering. Electricity continues to play pranks. Diesel has become the most essential commodity in this season of sorrow.

Dele Momodu

Fingers are not equal, and what is reasonable or adequate to Mr. A may not be to Mr. B. There are people with 40k per month that leave better life even than people with 100K. The moment you know your level and accept you fate then you are good to go, we are the manager of our own life.
If we see it as a taboo for somebody that is earning 40k to marry because of his low income; somebody earning 200k can as well come the conclusion that it as abomination for somebody earning 100k to marry and the same time have a car.
Money is not everything, if you are very sure with your life style that your 40k can provide you and your new wife the required love and happiness to build a future then do it now and start working for better future.

REAL TRUTH:
That is why I suggest that for any young couple getting married,,,,both of them should be "earners" atleast for the start of their marriage,,,,No job whatsoever is guaranteed,,,,even if the man looses his,,he could fall back on his wife support pending when things gets better,,,
In your scenerio,,,a banker who just lost his job and got married to a lady who is not working would suffer many things,,one of which might likely be the lady leaving the man,,,I have said it before,,,there is no pity in marriage ,,,nobody should pity U and U should'nt pity anybody,,
However for a smart banker whose wife is working or probably engaged in business to support the home,,if the banker looses his job,,,he would fall back on his wife for assistance pending when things gets better,,,This life is too tough and too hard for people not to think deeply b4 getting married,,,,

With the advice from some people here discouraging this guy that he cannot marry with 40k, I want to know what will be their advice to those married couples in our banking industry who lose their job; may be to divorce since they don’t have job again.

[i]Written by Majek Adega
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 23:48


Dear Mrs. Clinton:  With all your years in politics, foreign affairs and the resources available to the United States government, I do not think there is anything about Nigeria that I need to tell you. You have read about it and you have been there to see for yourself. You know who the big players are in the country’s world of corruption and you know where they have stashed their stolen wealth. You have openly, and presumably diplomatically, condemned corruption in the country, During your August 2009 visit to Nigeria, you made overt references to the fact that Nigeria’s problems are rooted in its failure to deal with corruption. Just today, while addressing state department employees during a town hall meeting, you again seized the opportunity to tell the whole world about Nigeria’s failure to address the legitimate needs of its people and how such failure is gradually turning the country into a breeding ground for all sorts of undesirable elements. On behalf of millions of Nigerians, I thank you and the Obama administration profoundly for the above efforts. However, there is so much more to be done.

More than ever before, there is an urgent need to increase the pressure on Nigeria’s corrupt-beyond-redemption political class in order to prevent a total breakdown of law and order and possible civil war. If U.S. diplomatic history provides any clue with respect to conflict resolution, it is that a break down of law and order in Nigeria will force the US to make gargantuan human and material commitment to Nigeria and the Sub-region: a situation that is unnecessary in light of the options available, a situation that neither ordinary Nigerians nor the United States want; a situation that would create a refugee problem of a magnitude not seen in recent human history and be destabilizing to West African, European and North American countries.

In order to prevent Nigeria from descending into a civil war or several civil wars as is more likely to happen because of the country’s ethnic and tribal configuration, urgent steps must be taken to effect immediate and long term changes in the country. Nigeria is where it is today mainly because of the “elements” in charge of the country and their devious device which they have christened government. Permit me to suggest we are requesting the urgent assistance of the Obama administration in putting in place a no-visa list consisting of Nigeria’s leading government officials and their private sector collaborators. The no-visa list should at the very minimum contain the following:

•        The country’s current leader (whoever that is) should be limited to the United Nations and Harlem the way Fidel Castro was during his 1960 visit;
•        all past leaders and governors;
•        all current state governors with the exception of one or two who are doing their jobs;
•        all past and current federal ministers and state commissioners;
•        all past and present lawmakers at the federal and state levels
•        all past and current local government chairmen/chairlady and the elected councilors who assist them in looting their respective treasuries;
•        past and present managers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and other leading government corporations;
•        past and present MD/CEO’s of all banks in the country;
•        all past and present ambassadors of the country for their roles as agents of an evil regime;
•        all previous and present police and military officers beyond the rank of Major or its equivalent;
•        all judges from the magistrate courts to the Supreme Court of Nigeria for their roles in accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice;
•        the present chairperson of the EFCC for her role in legitimizing corruption;
•        the children and wives of those on the no-visa list;
•        all known enablers of corruption not caught by the above list.

  A serious consideration of the above list will show that 99.99% of the individuals who have destroyed Nigeria and stolen the people’s commonwealth will be found on the list.  Having them on the no-visa list hurts no one but the crooks themselves. I believe in the list and given the power to implement it, it is exactly what I will have in place. Realizing that I do not have the power to implement the list and given other considerations, the above list maybe unwieldy and may lose the desired effect. Consequently, I will suggest a more pragmatic list made up of the following:

•        Umaru Yar Adua and Goodluck Jonathan;
•        all the current governors
•        immediate past president and governors, especially those indicted or convicted for corruption (i.e. Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Lucky Igbinedion, Orji Kalu, Peter Odili, and James Ibori – ignore the Kangaroo court discharge);
•        all current federal ministers and state commissioners, particularly, Michael Aondoakaa, Dora Akunyili, Ojo Madueke and Rilwani Lukeman;
•        all current senior officers of the police and armed forces
•        all current managers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria and other leading government corporations;
•        Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Dahiru Mangal and all Nigerian billionaires because there is no legitimate Nigerian billionaire (those who want to argue their cases should be asked to submit their income tax returns for examination);
•        The judges and justices of the Federal, Appeal and Supreme Courts for their roles in accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice;
•        The current chairperson of the EFCC, Farida Waziri;
•        The current officers of the National Assembly, including the David Mark, Dimeji Bankole and Jubril Aminu who has been indicted in the Siemens bribery scandal but is still angling to become the vice president in the event Goodluck Jonathan becomes the president of the country;
•        The chairpersons of all the banks indicted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, including Cecilia Ibru and the coward called Erasmus Akingbola who claims to have accumulated assets of over $2 billion (N322 billion) dollars with a monthly salary of $10,000 (N1.5 million). An eye should also be kept on below-rader crooks like Chukwuma Saludo – former Central Bank governor, Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank and Tony Elumelu of Uba who are just as corrupt as the indicted ones;
•        Some traditional rulers and pastors for their roles in providing recognition to corrupt politicians in exchange for part of the looted funds;
•        Including Journalists who have sold their souls in exchange for Abuja land and other pecuniary benefits will force them to return to their basic responsibility of holding government accountable to the people;
•        The children and wives of all those on the list because they school and live in the west with monies looted from the ordinary people of Nigeria;
 
This list is not exhaustive and no such claim is being made here. I have included in the list those I have been able to remember. There are few individuals on the above list who have demonstrated over the years that they are not corrupt and those individuals should be exempted. These individuals are not difficult to know, Nigerians know them and the US should have no problem in exempting them from the no-visa list.

Once again, the average Nigerian will agree with the US government that the individuals on the above list are the reasons why Nigeria has been on its knees since independence and any restriction of their abilities to trot the globe will reduce their money laundering abilities, their bloated sense of importance and arrogance lacking of empirical support. It will also limit their ability to travel overseas on holidays or medical treatment when they have destroyed hospitals in their own country – Ghana will benefit from increased tourism from this group of Nigerians!   

            Thankfully, I do not have to convince you about the efficacy of a no-visa list. The US and Britain have demonstrated that having politicians on a no-visa list is an effective tool in the reform of institutions and the fight against corruption, hence these governments’  decision to employ it against Kenyan politicians who refused to support reforms. In creating the US, and hopefully British no-visa list for Nigerian politicians specific accomplishments like support for the passage of genuine election reform laws, Freedom of Information Act, Whistle Blower law that will involve Nigerians in the war against corruption and compensate them for exposing corruption and a genuine war against corruption and election rigging should be attached as conditions for reconsideration.

            In case you are wondering why I believe blacklisting Nigerian politicians will do the magic that nothing else has been able to do since independence, below are my reasons:

•    Despite their public ranting, most present day Nigerian politicians are cowards; who when faced with the slightest threat to their vaunted sense of self-importance and life of luxury will be prepared to sell their parents for pennies – do what is necessary - to maintain their status quo;

•    Flying to US, London or other European countries for vacation or medical treatment is a status symbol for the country’s corrupt politicians and their family members. Depriving them of this ability to show-off to the victims of their crimes (ordinary Nigerians) will force a rethink on their part;

•    Nigerian politicians make thousands of unnecessary trips to the US, Canada and Europe every year supposedly to attend conferences. These conferences do not benefit Nigerians because Nigerian politicians are not interested in learning how to run a good government, the very antithesis of their modus operandi.  Some of the politicians, if they ever show up at the conferences, do not have a good enough command of the English language to understand the discussions and the others do not even bother to show up. But they all remember one thing and that is to create fake hotel invoices after staying with friends, add to them other dubious and padded expenses and submit to the government for payment. Those who are in charge of payment do not question the figures because they get a cut from it. The above will not happen if the politicians cannot travel to the US, Canada and Europe;

•     Nigerian politicians often use official trips to the US, Canada and Europe as covers for moving looted public funds into foreign countries and into legitimate businesses and the banking system (sometime in 2006 the US government seized $170,000.00 belonging to Andy Uba, an ordinary adviser on domestic affairs to then president Obasanjo). Andy Uba who was broke and almost destitute in California before May 1999 smuggled the money into the US aboard the presidential plane). Denying them visas will make it difficult for them to practice their trade;

•    Nigerian politicians spend a lot of the money they steal buying lavish mansions in the US, Canada and England. Depriving them of the ability to travel will ensure that they can no longer enjoy these mansions;

•    Denying visas to the children of those on the no-visa list will ensure that their children will be unable to spend looted funds attending the best universities in the US, Canada and Europe, while their parents have ensured millions of Nigerian students are either at home due to strikes over unpaid salaries or forced to take lectures in classrooms with leaky roofs. Almost everyone on the above list have their children schooling in the US, Canada and Europe with looted public funds, some of which were meant to fix, upgrade or operate local academic institutions (the minister of Education, Sam Egwu, spent N50 million of stolen funds to celebrate his birthday at a time when Nigerian students had been at home for months and wished him dead);

•    Denial of visas to those on the no-visa list will force some of them to keep their looted funds closer to Nigeria for easier detection or risk being duped by intermediaries (thieves often do not trust thieves because they often dupe each other).

•    Depriving indicted and convicted politicians of visas will better reflect the American and western concept of equal treatment. Ordinary Nigerians indicted of petty crimes or with criminal records cannot obtain US or European visas, yet politicians who have stolen billions from those they were supposed to lead obtain visas and travel to the US and London frequently without qualms. One is sometime tempted to join those who say the US does not care how a Nigerian politician got his money as long as it benefits the US economy. Orji Uzor Kalu, the immediate past governor of Abia state recently granted Nigerian newspapers an interview from London, England regarding the disappearance of Yar Adua. Yet, this individual is facing trial in Nigeria for stealing over N2 billion naira;

•    Including bankers on the list until they put in place transparent and auditable measures to combat corruption will hasten the implementation and enforcement of anti-money laundering programs and force investors into seeking out honest bankers to lead their banks and take charge of their investments;

•    The selective inclusion of politicians and their civilian collaborators on the no- visa list will reduce their prestige and influence within the Nigerian polity and create breathing space for the few who will work for the good of the country if the proper environment is allowed to exist. It will deny the corrupt of solidarity while enhancing the reputation of the minors who may not have crossed the Rubicon or point of no return in their involvement with corruption;   

Madam Secretary, I can go on and on about the benefits of a no-visa list for Nigerian politicians and their collaborators but I do not think I need to do so because your government is already employing this technique in a less corrupt society like Kenya where the level of corruption is a child play compared to Nigeria. I have tried to highlight the benefits of it in the Nigerian context and I am confident that your office will give this request the due consideration is deserves. It should be borne in mind that in the event of war, the whole world is going to find it very difficult containing a nation of about 150 million people with over 250 different languages and a complicated web of tribal preferences.

I will end by thanking you for your anticipated co-operation in this matter.


Regards,

  Majek Adega


* I am requesting those who are in agreement with the contents of this letter to replace my name with theirs and mail a copy each to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State and John Kerry, Chairman of US Foreign Relations Committee and Russell D. Feingold, Chairperson of US Sub-committee on African Affairs at the addresses indicated below. Unfortunately, the State Department will not release Mrs. Clinton’s email address. I know this will be a problem for those in Nigeria but you can only try your best. Further inquiries can be directed to me at majekadega@gmail.com

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
US Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington Dc 20520



John Kerry

Chairperson

US Committee on Foreign Relations

446 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-6225



Russell D. Feingold

Chairperson

US Senate Committee on African Affairs

United States Senate

Washington, DC20510

May God forgive all those who see Sanusi as the genesis of our current bank problem; the present revelation is enough to tell us who are to blame, definitely not this man who have demonstrated an uncommon courage.

"Elders" of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are at loggerheads with one of their own, the troubled former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, whom they've accused of stealing a $1.5 million gift belonging to them. The sum of money was given to the Elders present at a meeting held as soon as PDP candidate in the Anambra gubernatorial election, Charles Soludo's candidature was restored by the Supreme Court last week to run in the contest slated for next February.

Soludo, the former Governor of the Central Bank, went straight to the Elders meeting along with the former PDP Board of Trustees chairman Anthony Anenih, and the current PDP chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, in attendance and handed to them the $1.5 million appreciation gift. The meeting took place at Chief Anenih's residence in the Asokoro area of Abuja. The money was first handed over to Ogbulafor, but somehow, Ibori convinced Ogbulafor to let him handle the money since he is adept at handling large sums of cash.

After, the meeting however, Ibori disappeared from the venue and could not be reached for hours as he had switched off his phone. But, the "Elders," desperate to get their share of the money went out in search and found him in Abuja where they accosted him about the money. Ibori told them he had been busy with other party matters as well as running errands for the sick "president," Umaru Yar'adua.

But when the "Elders" pressed him for their share, he told them his assistant was handling it and urged everyone to calm down. But Saharareporters sources said that one week later, Ibori has still not distributed the loot as he disappeared, first to Lagos last Sunday and subsequently to Oghara, his hometown in Delta. He has remained there since yesterday and is unlikely to return to Abuja until after Christmas day.

The development has led some members of the "Elders Council" to begin exploring how to deal with the Delta thief. Anenih is said to be the most outraged, saying, "Ibori can never stop stealing".

Saharareporters sent a text message to Ibori's mobile phone number 234-802-224-3480, seeking his side of the story but he did not to respond to our inquiries.


http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4611:in-broad-daylight-ibori-419s-15-million-from-pdp-qeldersq&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

By Farouk  Martins Aresa


Here comes a  grandma advice  about  how to be a good wife. Be a good cook in the kitchen,  the better  mother  in the house and the best  LovePeddler  in bed.  This advice was soundly   rejected as we know, except one.  She  will hire a cook, get a babysitter and be  the best  LovePeddler  in bed for her husband. It was an impossible task for today’s   super mom. She has to juggle career and home. Many successful men  have  put  career before  family.

Unfortunately only two out of the three advices last forever.  A woman can only be the best LovePeddler in bed to her husband for so long, not indefinitely. The caring  as a  mother  gets  the respect and the loyalty of the children while a good cook keeps a family happy  at home.  The frequency of hot sexual relations become fewer as they reach a hundred years mark, if they ever live that long. But sex does not  have  to be traditional, other  form of sex,  even  touching  and caressing if  adequate for both, can  last forever.

Moreover,   women  financial contribution  at home  can  be the difference between a face to face rooming house and a flat  for the family. In cases where  the man  has  lost his job, the family has to  depend on wife’s income  until prospect improves. So the amount of contribution   by the wife cannot be compared to that in grandma days.  A family must adjust  to  modern and daily situations.

We all  appreciate a very intelligent woman  for a wife and daughter these days  and it takes education and training to achieve the amount of sophistication demanded  in our society. Your wife may be called upon to address some relatives, a  conference, or some community.  An intelligent woman  is fun to be with and may  advise you on some pertinent matters in business or social circles as a  confidant.

Most of the  super careers require  long hours,  some time away from home  and stopping by Mr. Biggs to get some food on the way back home,  because even  madam gets  tired.  Some men are good,  they can  cook and take care  of home  while madam is away but  none  of them do it well, often enough. When they do, they count  on it like  someone owes  them the whole world, waiting for big jara as payback. To  ease the burden, two career families need help.

In order to  avoid the problem  involved, many  wealthy  men  may decide on a woman  to care  for children,  another to cook his meals and one to present to the world as first  lady. Unlike sperm donors who are vagrants, these men  take responsibility seriously but may switch the roles of these women  if her career demands it. In  fact some of the women  who usurped the other’s  role are usually taught  well in  advance before  getting  into it.

If we also   know that the best  way to a man’s heart  is through  his belly, there  should  be  no surprise that the man  falls for the lady who cooks  for him whether she  is  the maid or just a friend. Even  without sex,  there  is some appreciation there   for the aroma that comes with the food. That is why some young women  made up  their minds that they will never  hire a female maid for anything  in the house.

When men  are   asked to be honest in blind surveys and asked what their greatest attractions to females were,  they have  consistently pointed  to physical  attributes rather   than  the mental acquisition of women.  Men prefer the shape of women’s  face,   boobs and curves around the hips. These qualities  may be related to men’s   genetic disposition to procreate with women  that can  breed and feed  their baby   for the preservation of life.

The fact  remains that today’s man  is confused about  his role as the head of the family.  There has  to be a captain in the ship unless we want to create chaos. Co-captains lag. Men react  as human to women  who they have  sex with, feed  them well and take   care  of the children.  Since these roles are no longer played  by the same  person, the confusion is even  greater like that of a blind mouse learning  its  way through  a new maze. It is not an excuse for men  to be unfaithful while the  woman  is trying to help them out.

We have  so  many  African women  who were pioneers in their days  and were still able to bring up promising  children in a devoted family. Since  the fifties, they were professional role models for all; and   mothers in their own rights: accomplishments that were better  than  that of men.   We had educators and later political leaders as Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, Mrs  Magaret Ekpo, Mrs. Olufunmilayo  Ransome Kuti and ‘Lady Doc’ Dr. Bimbola  Awoliyi. We still have  Mrs. Oyibo Ekwulo  Odinamadu, Professor Bolande Awe and others. How did they do it: extended family support? That is why our marriage last longer in Africa.

Many super moms  took exceptions to the former Prime Minister of Britain who made it her  duty to prepare breakfast for her husband regardless of the official cooks  at  home.  They even cringed when Hilary Clinton decided to follow her husband to  Arkansas South  of USA, after her graduation as a lawyer with prospect. We also   witnessed a highly respectable corporate lawyer who mentored an intern on the  job once,  and now resigned herself  to the traditional role of women,  as Mrs.  Obama in the White House.

It is important to note what each of these women  had in common. Both Mrs. Thatcher and Mrs. Hilary Clinton devoted themselves to the career of their husbands first before launching their own careers while Mrs. Obama had a corporate career before devoting herself to her husband’s endeavor. Each of them made a choice on when to support their husband careers. Many successful career women just want the opportunity and time for career and time to devote to the family. The reason some have children later.

It seems to boil down to where  we started from that it is very difficult for a super dad   and a super mom to hold down a family together without neglecting each other   for their careers. Who should devote him or herself  to the other  depends on  individual family situation  instead of the vogue  in time. This has led to  break-ups in many  families blaming one another for eventualities.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/farouk-martins/it-is-human-to-put-career-before-husband.html

It was a narrow escape for an employee of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Mr. Daniel Sagay, his wife and child, after they were allegedly attacked by a retired Army General.
But a mobile policeman attached to Mr. Sagay was not so lucky, as he was butchered by the thugs, who were said to be acting on the orders of a local government official, who is also a prominent member of the community where the victim comes from.

A GMC Explorer SUV, with the registration number, HQ570 EKY, belonging to the victims, was also set ablaze by the thugs.
The retired soldier was alleged to have swooped on them at Ughevwhughe community, in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State. The couple, now in pains, has also raised alarm over alleged threat to their lives and those of the members of their families, by the military officer and top official of the Delta State government (names withheld).

The Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Mr. Charles Muka, confirmed the attack on the policeman but said he was not aware that the life of Mr. Sagay was being threatened by some prominent indigenes of the community.

However, Mr. Sagay, who stormed The SUN office in Warri with his traumatized wife and son, insisted that their lives were in danger because of the threats by some faceless individuals, who he said, had vowed to make life unbearable form him, if he continued to seek justice.

He said: “I have been forced to make this passionate plea to the world, because I am no longer safe; my wife and son are not safe either. We have abandoned our house because of the threat. My wife, who was receiving treatment after the attack, had to be discharged from the hospital immediately.”

“My son has been withdrawn from school, because our lives are in danger. I, the victim of the attack, is now being hounded and I am using this medium to appeal to well meaning individuals, security agencnies and the Delta State government, to wade into the matter to ensure that this act of terrorism is not allowed to go univestigated and unpunished.”

He explained that his efforts to get justice over the atack was being truncated by the perpetrators of the evil act, adding that even the police seemed helpless, in view of the overbearing influence of the perpetrators in the community.

But the PPRO told Daily Sun that the police were investigating the incident, adding that the rifle gun assigned to the mobile policeman had been recovered while investigation was going on.

.

A friend of mine told me of his recent experience in one of the more popular hip and happening Churches in Abuja. Members had been told to come to Church with their Cheque books for some kind of special prayers. On the appointed date, there was hardly any spare sitting space in the church as Church member had turned up along with some other friends who they had shared the news with. The thinking of all was that the Man of God would pray and bless the Cheques and symbolically this would translate into better cash flows and successes in business, much like blessing a biro before an exam.

My friend was himself ecstatic. He is part of the management of an ICT firm in Abuja. Coincidentally, his CEO is also a member of the church. The CEO who wasn’t going to make it caused the company accountant to hand over all company cheques to my friend to take along to the special prayer including that of the CEO. So effectively, my friend had about nine bulky cheque books with him ready to be blessed for increased earnings.

That day, the sermon took longer than usual. The topic centered on generosity. Why brethren should be generous. Why brethren should sow seeds. Why brethren should bless the Lord (through his servant the Man of God) with gifts and all that. Those were stories the congregation had heard before. They all itched for the cheque blessing part, the reason why most of them showed up.

When it finally came, my friend said it was over in less than two minutes. Very simply, the Man of God told every body to raise their booklets in their hands and in prayer he asked God to bless this cheques bla bla bla and that was it. Like some kind of insignificant thing. My friend said the brevity and shallowness of the prayer deflated the enthusiasm he had come with and indeed that of most people in the congregation.

Then came the big one, the main act actually by the Pastors scripts. The Church was carrying out X Y Z projects and was requesting for financial assistance. The appeal was laced in these lines, “No need to pledge. We know your cheque books are here, just write us a cheque. God will bless you abundantly”. My friend said he had never felt more irritated and while those who the joke was on started scribbling down and tearing out cheque slips, he gathered the booklets he had on him and found the closest exit from the Church.

Beyond the laughter we shared while he narrated this story, an irritation was also steered up in me, one which has given me the temerity to steer the hornets nest today by challenging these money mongering, superstar men of God who have become demigods and saviours to many hapless people in this country.

I have once asked if churches paid tax to the Federal Inland Revenue. If they don’t, they ought to because they are very potent money spinning institutions and such windfalls should not go untaxed. In fact, Churches should be made to declare their accounts at the end of the year. So lucrative has this business become that a banker friend of mine told me once of the many loan requests they receive accompanied with Ivy League standard business plans by persons who want to set up Churches.

It is important I make it clear ab initio that I am not against the practice of any religion in any form the practitioners deem fit. But when the practice involves the organized, systematically executed and continuous reap off of a religiously gullible people in a population where 50% of the people according to the UNDP are poor, then it raises a deep moral question. One that right thinking people must begin to talk about and challenge.

In agreement to Karl Marx’s opinion of Religion being the opium of the Masses, Nigerians have under the pressures of a failing economy and a directionless leadership ran to the Churches for succour. The Penticostal outpouring of the early eighties and Nineties seems just apt for a people who were trying to hold unto something to sustain their hopes and belief in life. That religious revival however gave rise to a new set of Chief Executives going by various names such as general overseer, supreme shepherd, founding bishop and the like.

These individuals who driven either by a foresight of the boom that lay ahead had set up their own churches suddenly turned into kingpins as their congregations transformed from mushroom gatherings into business empires and very large conglomerates. Gradually but steadily, a new class of bourgeoisie emerged, this time around in the vineyard of God and thus unquestionably divine.

We watched as the focus shifted from an intercession to save our nation from final collapse to a grandiose scramble for the same old ‘root of all evils’, money. Pastors who had tasted the pleasures and comfort of the elite class by virtue of their headship of various churches and the unhindered assess it gave them to the common wealth of their congregation sustained their position by spreading a new gospel of prosperity, devising new methods of expanding their followership and squeezing out more money from them.

We have today therefore, mega rich, celebrity, Super star, stage con-artists parading in the name of Men of God. They move in long convoys. They establish Universities and colleges which most of their members can not afford to send their kids to. They dress in cloths bought off boutiques were Hollywood celebrities shop. They speak with cultivated accents. They own conglomerates. They cruise round the world. Only recently while the nation and indeed the world moaned under the weight of the Global Melt down with many losing their jobs and Government cutting down on spending, one of them chose it as the best time to announce the purchase of his personal jet bought at an amount that could make a dead man shiver in the grave.

Now, like I have once asked, would we be right in always attacking our civil leaders of corruption and deception when our religious leaders are as good? Would it be wise for us to continue to fall prey to these self-serving individuals who claim to be speaking for the Supreme Being when clearly it is evident that they are just toying with our sensibilities for their personal benefits?

The Cheque in Church episode is nothing but a big scam and should be rightly described as that. So also their many other tactics and gimmicks through which they get us to part with some more money. We can not continue to treat them all like sacred cows just because the Bible said we should not ‘touch’ an ‘anointed’. The ‘anointing’ has surely become an all comers affairs so it behooves on us to unmask them. Like it is said in pidgin English, our mumu don do.

http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4546:cheque-in-the-church&catid=81:external-contrib&Itemid=300

Few days after the amnesty report indicted the Nigeria Police of extra judicial killings and brutality, a journalist with TheNEWS Magazine; DESMOND UTOMWEN was brutally assaulted by a combined team of staff of Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB and Police guards assigned to the bank. In this interview, Utomwen, who is a senior correspondent in the Abuja Bureau office, narrates his ordeal

Excerpts:
Could you recount your experience with the police and how you got brutalized?
On Friday, 11th, December 2009 at about 11a.m, I came across a peaceful protest around the premises of the Area III, Garki Branch of Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, in Abuja. As a journalist, it was instinctual for me to stop and find out what was happening, which I did. On getting there, I realized that the people were protesting some fraudulent withdrawals from the account of one of the customers of the bank amounting to about N490, 000. Controversially, this fraudulent withdrawal was done in one night with an ATM card, which is in contrast with N60, 000 daily withdrawal limit of the Bank. The protesters opined that there must have been insider collusion to aide such colossal withdrawal in one night. As required of a journalist, taking some photograph of the protesters alongside their comments, I made effort to balance the report by attempting to speak with the Bank Manager or whoever was competent enough to speak on the issue, but I was denied access to the bank. At this point, I decided to leave for my office. I was on my way back to my car when a combined team of some of the bank official and policemen on patrol came after me. They asked me to stop and I did. The bank official who got to me first requested that I give them my camera, which I refused. I told them that I did not know them and it was not proper for me to just give them my camera, as it is my working tool. The attempted to forcefully take it and I resisted. It was at this point the police swooped on me and started rough handling me, panel beating my face. They seriously assaulted me massively, and inflicted bodily injuries on me until I fell down and became unconscious. They later bundled me into their van and took me to their station in Garki village. While the beating was going on, they held the gun against me and threatened to shoot to kill me if I uttered any word and nobody will do anything about it. At that point they confiscated my phones and they denied me the opportunity to make or receive calls from my boss, colleagues and relatives. It was at the station they later gave me the phones.

When they came for you, did you resist arrest or act rudely to provoke their anger?
No. I wish I were even given the opportunity to resist arrest. One, they did not invite me to go with them to the station let alone refusing them. They didn’t even ask me who I was or what I was doing at the scene. The only question I got from them was: “where is the camera, who did you give the camera to?” They came with the wrong assumption planted inside of them by the GTBank officials that I may have given my camera to somebody else whereas the camera was with me at that time. And before I could say a word, they started punching me as if I was wrongly matched in a boxing bout against the Klitschko Brothers until I became unconscious and fell down. Even at that, they didn’t stop. They bundled me into their car and ferried me to their station. They eventually forcefully took the camera from me after so much beating. They also took my digital recording device and I could not find my official working ID. Card and some of the money I had in my pockets before the beating. As a matter of fact I had no reason to resist arrest. Apart from the feeling of innocence, I am also an accredited police and crime correspondent with police accreditation tag issued from the Force Headquarters. If they had asked for my identity, I would have given them.

Why didn’t you release the camera to them?
I couldn’t have just release my camera to anybody in that chaotic atmosphere. Besides, I have some private photographs and some shots from other assignments, which I haven’t downloaded into my laptop. Some of these photographs are definitely not for their consumption. Perhaps, if the police officers have used their authority not power to invite me to the station, I would have quietly followed them to the station and give them utmost co-operation. But they didn’t. They opted for brute force.

With your experience, what is your perception of the Nigerian police?
While one may not want to dispute the fact that there are still some refine gentleman officers at the top hierarchy of the force, the experience without mincing words again calls to mind the widely held opinion that the Police force is crowded and infested with a bunch of callous, inhuman personnel with animalistic and murderous instinct among the rank and file and the earlier the government takes steps to sieve these bad eggs from the force, the better it would be for everybody especially at a time like this when the country claims to be rebranding. Otherwise, how do you explain a situation whereby police are called to troubled scene and without asking questions and properly identifying offenders, they just descended on innocent and defenseless citizens and beat him to stupor? Even if you have to confiscate the camera of a bona fide journalist, you don’t have to assault and brutalize him and reduce him to the state of a common criminal. Just imagine the scenario, when the patrol team came, they descended on innocent journalists who were only doing their job and rightly or wrongly they did not even do anything about the protesters themselves just because the GTBank officials asked them to come after us. For God sake we are not living in the jungle and this is not the era of Mongo Park. Even in a war situation, there are rules for engagement.

But why would the bank officials ask the police to come after you and not the protesters?
Like I said earlier, they were after my camera and to them my crime was that I innocently took photographs of the demonstrations. I think they were not comfortable with the inscriptions that were on the placards the protesters were carrying and felt that publishing that would affect their image negatively. So their major aim was to confiscate the camera and ensure the photographs taken never get to the eyes of the public, especially their customers. To them, the only option opened to them was to forcefully and callously take the camera away from me. While the Police may have the statutory responsibility to intervene in crises situation, I simply do not think they have any right to forcefully and criminally take away the private property of a harmless individual like they did. That was barbaric to say the least.

The Police claimed you had no right to take photographs of the Bank premises. What is your take?
I don’t know where they got that notion. I don’t know if it is a written or unwritten law or code. And if it is, then it is myopic. Their reasons as I was made to understand is that the Banks are keenly protected and that such protest could provide a cover for hoodlums to carry out some nefarious activities. Let assume the situation had actually deteriorated to that level, shouldn’t the police also think that the photographs of the protest and the entire crises taken by the journalist would have eventually offered a good support for their investigation by first providing a basis for identifying the supposed culprits. And to clarify it, I didn’t just go taking photographs of the Bank premises. I took that of the protesters. So the focus was not on the Bank.

What about the protesting woman, do you know her?
Not until that day. I met them protesting and I decided to do my job as a journalist driven by the instinct of work. I understand the police later decided to arrest and detain them after the incident.

Outrage and amazement are some of the emotions currently on display in Yola, Adamawa State, after the startling revelation contained in a letter addressed to a radio station in the state capital, Radio Gotel, by a lady who claimed to be an undergraduate of the Federal University of Technology Yola (FUTY).

The lady, in the letter which was sent to the producer of the programme, "Heart to Heart", said she contracted the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) from her student boyfriend and has, in revenge, willfully slept with some 124 students and lecturers at the school.

The letter also contained the writer's threat to make public the names of those who have had sex with her "on the notice board." This has led to panic and spirited discussions among the male population in Yola, especially within the school community. The school's authorities, however, claim to be unaware of the letter, but promised to look into it.

The letter reads, in part: "I have a well-documented report of all those guys and lecturers who crossed my path, since I got infected with this deadly disease in the campus. So far, I have had 124 students and lecturers; out of these, only six (6) used condoms".

On a revenge mission

Continuing, she said in the letter, "I owe nobody an apology and am still on a spreading till I spread it no more."

The writer, who did not hide the trauma and disappointment she faced, explained in the letter that her first impulse upon the discovery of her HIV status was to take away her own life.

"I, however, did not confide my status to anyone until today (i.e the disclosure via the letter)," she said. "Since 2006, I promised myself that it's in the university I got it and here I will leave it. I have indeed lived to keep my promise.

"I was in year three when a student on his attachment in our school proposed for a relationship. He had all the qualities a woman would want in a man so I gave in. He told me all a girl would want to hear. In my innocence and naivety, I succumbed to his pressure to have sex with him. Consequently, I lost my virginity to him.

"After his placement, he reported for his final year and we still had contacts. I visited him on a number of occasions, I have even lost count the number of times I visited him. He was my first and only love and, therefore, hanged on every word he told me.

"My boyfriend later graduated and we lost contact until last month when his sister told me about his whereabouts. Before registration in the faculty of science, I went for medical test as is the requirement. I then opted for an HIV/AIDS test, which unfortunately turned out to be positive.

"It then dawned on me that I have traded the rest of my life for a university student who had deliberately and intentionally preyed on my innocence".

Danger of casual sex

A medical worker, who gave her name as Agnes, said the only lesson from the letter is that people should be careful about casual sex.

"Whatever you think, it is a fact that casual sex is very popular and for a lot of people, it's something that either satisfies a desire or serves a purpose," she said. "It is, therefore, an issue that affects many young people today, as they patronise casual sex under the various terms like ‘No strings attached' and ‘the one night stands' culture gaining foothold in our social life."

According to the United Nations AIDs agency, a vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower and middle-income countries. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are25.

Buhari set to endorse Ribadu, Fashola tipped as running mate

In a surprising move, which is sure to send jitters through the spine of the ruling party, former President and two time Presidential candidate of the ANPP Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has finalized plans to endorse the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to contest the upcoming Presidential elections in 2011.

The move, which is rumoured to have been hatched in the residence of the late human rights activist Gani Fawehinmi will see Buhari emerging as the Chairman BOT of the party with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu taking over as substantive party Chairman. Presenting the position of his organization, TBO, Gen Buhari said “this is indeed the time to set aside personal ambitions for the good of the entire country. I, and other eminent Nigerians will campaign through all nooks and cranny’s of the country side-by-side with Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Babatunde Fashola to ensure we rescue Nigeria from its directionless state.”

Under the proposed administration, Professor Pat Utomi is expected to assume leadership of the Finance Ministry while the current special Adviser to the President on MDG’s, Amina Az-Zubair takes over the Ministry of National Planning. Reknowned nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and Justice Uwais are being considered for the position of INEC Chair. Prominent northern Statesman and former Governor of Kaduna State Mallam Balarabe Musa has described the arrangement as “a masterstroke” and has called on all patriotic elements to unite under the movement for the upliftment of Nigeria. "Nigerians at home and abroad should participate and fund this electoral revolution and let us put our country on a radically different path of progress and development" he added.

Feelers from the candidate, Nuhu Ribadu indicate that if elected, the administration would focus solely on the war against corruption. Buttressing this view, Arc Odu Ahaneku, the party’s youth leader in Imo State said “you don’t redesign your building plans when your workers are stealing the money! You redesign the system that ensures every worker gets his budget and does what he’s supposed to do. Accordingly if elected, we intend to make sure the system is redesigned to correct anomalies in our incentive structure to accelerate service delivery and development.”

Former Senate President Ken Nnamani and Gen. TY Danjuma are also rumoured to play a significant role in the coming months.


http://www.9jabook.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2109467%3ABlogPost%3A1083418&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

Ribadu filed December 2008, the “absence” of which had led to its declaring the former chairman of the EFCC “wanted and a fugitive of the law” on 20 November. 

Justice Constance Momoh, leading the Tribunal, said had she known the copies were available from the beginning she would have struck out the charges against Ribadu, and that she would do so once Ribadu presents himself before the Tribunal.   

Two months earlier, on September 25, Mr. Femi Falana, counsel to Mr. Ribadu, had written to the Code of Conduct Bureau requesting certified true copies of the asset declaration forms, but until today, there had been no response.

The lead judge told counsel to Nuhu Ribadu that she was surprised that the case had dragged on until now since it is clear that Ribadu did file his assets declaration forms in 2003 and 2008 in accordance with the law.
This morning’s court session heard arguments from the lawyer to the Federal Government, who told the Tribunal that the Ministry of Justice and the police had not succeeded in executing the warrant of arrest issued on Ribadu by the Tribunal at its last sitting.  He therefore sought an indefinite adjournment of the case until the warrant of arrest could be executed.

That request irked human rights activist Mr. Falana, who stood up and explained to the Tribunal that he couldn’t make the last hearing of the court because he had to travel to Spain in solidarity with the Sahrawi activists whose rights are being violated by the government of Morocco with the tacit support of Spanish authorities.

He then expressed dismay that the Tribunal had declared his client “wanted’ when it had not addressed the issues surrounding his safety. He brought the Tribunal’s attention to the recent memo issued by rogue elements in the Federal Government ordering Nigerian Consulates not to issue or renew passports to his client as part of the desperation of elements within the government to hurt his client.

He further he drew the attention of the Tribunal to the refusal of the Code of Conduct Bureau to avail his client of copies of his assets declaration forms that were needed to defend himself before the Tribunal.
It was at that point that Justice Momoh told Falana that she had a copy of the 2008 declaration by Mr. Ribadu, but not the 2003 forms.  Expressing dismay, Mr. Falana replied that it was a well-known fact that Ribadu could not have become the chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) in 2003 without a valid assets declaration form, since the Nigerian Senate required it to approve of his appointment when made by the president.
 
He informed the judge that he was in possession of a copy of the 2003 declaration, asking for permission to approach the bench and share with the court.  Justice Momoh did not object. In fact, she expressed dismay that the prosecutor did not have any copies of the document. She volunteered the 2008 copies in her possession to Falana and permitted him to make copies.
The Tribunal adjourned the case till January 7, 2010, after Falana made a final submission that Ribadu’s case does not meet extradition thresholds.


http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4440:ribadu-declared-his-assets-in-2003-and-2008-code-of-conduct-tribunal-admits&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

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If he calls you and your phone is off, he thinks you’re cheating…. then he sends a sms saying “don’t tell me the battery story coz I know that line”


If u TREAT him nicely, he says u are TOO IN LOVE, moving too fast;
If u Don't, he says u are PROUD.

If u DRESS NICELY , he says u are trying to LURE other men;
If u DON’T, he says u are RURAL.

If u ARGUE with him, he says u are STUBBORN, too manly;
If u keep QUIET, he says u have no BRAINS,a walkover

If u are SMARTER than him, you’re aSHOW-OFF;
If he's SMARTER than u, he is GREAT,

If u don't LOVE him, he tries to POSSESS u;
If u LOVE him , He takes you FOR GRANTED . (Very true huh?)

If u don't MAKE LOVE to him, he says u DON’T LOVE him;
If u DO, he says u are CHEAP.

If u tell him your PROBLEMS, he says u are TROUBLE;
If u DON’T, he says u don't TRUSThim.

If u SCOLD at him, u are treating him like a CHILD ;
If he SCOLDS at u, it’s because he CARES for u.


If u BREAK your promise, u cannot be TRUSTED;
If he BREAKS his, it is circumstances beyond his CONTROL.

If u SMOKE,u are BADgirl;
If he SMOKES, he is GENTLEMAN,

If u do WELL in your career, it's LUCK;

If he does WELL, it’s definitely BRAINS.

If u HURT him, u areCRUEL;
If he HURTS you, you are too SENSITIVE !!

HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET IT RIGHT??

If u send this to guys, they will swear that it's not true,
but if u don't, they say u are selfish,