₦airaland Forum

Ike Ojukwu opens up on Odumegwu-Ojukwu dynasty and crisis

Wednesday, 28 November 2012 11:57

Ike Ojukwu an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and eldest son of ProfessorJoseph Ojukwu, the late Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s brother speaks with Newswatch on a wide range of issues concerning the Odumegwu-Ojukwu dynasty and the crisis therein. Excerpts:


Newswatch: What’s your reaction to the story that was recently published in Newswatch?

Ike: I just want to clarify some points that were made there. The family has felt that private family issues should be kept private. But this is almost like a culmination in a series of, I won’t call it misinformation, but news that needed clarification. And so I thought I would avail you of my own perspective. I do have full authority of my family. I am a senior member of the family although fortunately, you have elderly people in the family. My father is in his late 80s. My uncles are in their 80s. So, I, in my early 50s, may feel like a small boy but I know that I’m a senior member of the family and I speak with the full authority of the family. And so, the purpose is to clarify certain points, that if not clarified, will keep being repeated and some people may get to believe them. Your main story says: “War in Ojukwu’s family.” I know that if you say “there’s peace in Ojukwu’s family” it would have been better. My grandfather died in 1966. I had travelled to Nkalagu with him that same year. The second time he went, unfortunately he had a heart attack and died. We lived in Lagos, Lugard Road, while he lived on Hawksworth. I was schooling at St Saviours and later in Corona and almost every other day, we were at his place. So, even as a very young child, I could give you a little insight into his life and, living with my father and mother throughout that time, I can show you some of the gaps and clarify a lot of the facts.

Newswatch: So, what aspect of the story do you want to react to?

Ike: First, the description that there’s war in the family…

Newswatch: Are the family members not quarrelling?

Ike: No, not at all. I lived in Biafra as a young boy during the war and I still know what the air raids and the anti aircraft were like. So it’s not war. Number two, when you say war in Ojukwu’s family, it has to be established that the people at war are members of the family, first of all. Secondly, there are certain things that are said there, that are totally inaccurate, like when somebody tells you that this particular house belongs to an individual. I have a gazette from the federal government releasing the property that clearly states it belongs to Ojukwu Transport Company. So, there are so many factually wrong information. There’s a question I saw in the interview where you said “is it true that your father tried to corner the property for himself” and the individual said, no, that it belongs to him. Not one of these properties belong to Emeka Ojukwu, my uncle. They belong to the company, Ojukwu Transport Company and the gazettes prove this and even he acknowledged that. Second, if I tell you that my grandfather had five wives, and I tell you their names and show you their pictures — of the ones I have, then it’s very clear. Then if I go on to tell you that my uncle said, on a certain date, and on another time… that he called a family meeting and said, if anything happens to me, this is my first son. And I mean senior members of the family. So that, if somebody grants you an interview and tells you he’s the first son, and you go along with it, it doesn’t do the man honour. Now, the idea is that certain things are private and, in Igbo custom, it’s not everything you come out to refute because you fall into two traps. One, if it’s somebody that’s worth ignoring, you elevate the person’s importance. Secondly, like they say, it may be a case of dirty linen being laundered in public. But these things need clarification. If somebody tells you that 13 Hawksworth belongs to Ike Ojukwu, then I will tell you no, it belongs to Ojukwu Transport Company. If somebody tells you that Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu is the only son, or the only natural son of his father, then I will tell you that in Igboland, the only way you can be somebody’s son is either money was paid on your mother’s head, or you had called your Umunna (family kindred) and tell them that oh, when I was posted to Okitipupa, this is the son I had o, he has come back. That’s the only way. If you carry a DNA lab and you look exactly like the person and the person has never said that you are my son, in Nnewi, you are not the person’s son.

Newswatch: The house at Queens Drive, Villaska Lodge, does it belong to Emeka Ojukwu?

Ike: It’s a family thing. Everything belongs to the family. There’s a gazette from the federal government that shows this, and you should be able to check this. When Lagos State government had an issue with General Ojukwu and he went on hunger strike when Lagos State wanted to eject him, the only way we got it back was that my father and engineer Emmanuel Ojukwu, phoned Rotimi Williams’ and Akintola Williams, family friends, to say that it belongs to our family. It belongs to Ojukwu Transport Company owned by the family. But when you asked a question and somebody says no, “he didn’t corner anything, first of all, he’s the owner of the property…” that takes me to the next point, and it’s important you have it there. My father is Professor Joseph Okwuabudike Ojukwu. He was born here in Nigeria. I don’t remember his primary school, but I know he went to King’s College. He not only went to King’s College, he went to Cambridge, my grandfather paid his school fees. This company we are talking about, he’s been a director since 1952. I have here the statement of accounts of the company in 1963 signed by him and my grandfather, Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu and the accountant, Akintola Williams, who’s still alive and is a very good friend of the family. He’s the head of the family, he’s the eldest son, and the compound in the village is his. I have five or six letters where the Ikemba himself said, you are the senior brother. So, it’s very clear. Now I don’t know anywhere in Nigeria where somebody will send you to Kings College in the 30s, send you to Cambridge in the late 30s, and you’ve been a director of his company for 60 years, and you are the only son that’s an executor of his Will (the other executors are Akintola Williams, my late uncle, Chief Okonkwo, he’s late now, honourable Justice Aina… he’s the only remaining sole executor of the state as at today)… The individual you interviewed, I don’t know anybody in the world that can come out and say that my uncle, the Ikemba, has ever accepted him as his child, not to talk of being the first. If you can produce one person… and I can give you my relatives contacts in Lagos.

Newswatch: Are you saying you don’t accept him as Ojukwu’s son?

Ike: There is nobody that will come and tell you that my uncle, Ikemba, has ever described the individual you interviewed as his child, not to talk of first, not one. That’s one. Two, I will go further…

Newswatch: Are you referring to Debe?

Ike : Sylvester Ude. That’s what I describe him as. Sylvester Ude … I’m telling you …Now, I am not Ikemba. My uncle was an ADO, Assistant District Officer, but there are certain things we read and we’ve been ignoring. But if you live in Nigeria and you are a journalist and somebody tells you that the Ikemba was A.D.O- and he was — in Udi in 1956 but he was too busy to run a family. You had a 23-year-old A.D.O in those days, and I wasn’t born then; an A.D.O in those days was almost like a governor. To say that a 23 year old man… we had 17-year-old men that got married… my uncle, the Ikemba, when the gentleman in question took a title in Nnewi around 2003, called his Umunna and told them, if anything happens to me, Diokpalam, my first son is, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu jnr, and sent for him outside. He came and he introduced him to them. That’s a fact. When the burial thing came up and you had all these… the family decided to just ignore things. Nobody is a fool. If they tell you, somebody says he’s in control of the family, he’s the first son, he’s the natural son, and on the day the person’s father is buried, he’s not allowed into the compound and you are a 57- year-old lawyer, and they tell you the person wasn’t allowed into the compound because of blackmail or court case, does that sound credible to you? Is that possible? The reason is simple. And then I will go into how he came to be managing the property. It is true that when he came out of the police, my uncle, Emmanuel, the engineer, who is a director up till now, decided to help him and felt that with his experience in the police, he will probably be able to help in retrieving some of the property and they had a management agreement which is in court, a management agreement from 1995 and was to last for 12 years, to manage a list of properties belonging to the family, collect the rents, manage the property and so on and keep 30 percent of the proceeds. The individual, in 12 years, which expired five years ago in 2007, in 17 years has not rendered kobo to the family. Now, everybody is taking it easy because it is a family thing, otherwise, it’s a very straightforward thing. If you brought somebody to manage your property and say take 30 percent… the normal rate is 5 or 10 percent for most real estate agents, but after 12 years, he turns around and says the family owes him 1.8 billion Naira, I don’t know what you call that. So, if you want to be polite, you can be polite. If you meet someone and say, were your parents married? Show me evidence… I will show you my own parent’s picture and tell you the time they were married. And if somebody tells you that A.D.O at 23 didn’t have time to be bogged down, that’s why they were not married, you should call it what it is. I do feel sympathy for the gentleman, and the family does feel sympathy for him too. Otherwise, when the burial thing was going on, he wasn’t involved. He formed his own committee, and each time I talked with the older members of the family, they said, no, no, why waste your time. People that know, know. I have mentioned my grandfather’s accountant, Akintola Williams, he is still alive, fortunately, and Rotimi Williams was also one of his lawyers. You heard, in the interview, my grandfather, my grandfather… I used to go to Eastern house, at Hawksworth, which is what it was called, every Sunday, to send him fruits, my grand father. The individual, probably, had never met my grandfather.

Newswatch: If you say that he is not Ojukwu’s son…

Ike: I did not say that… I never said that.

Newswatch: Okay, he did not recognise him as his……

Ike: I have given you enough to do your work.

Newswatch: Okay, how come your uncles handed over the family property to him to manage?

Ike: Oh, people make mistakes. You could have a company with your brother and you feel one is domineering or something like that and you say well, what’s the best thing to do; and you put in somebody that claims to be his son and he won’t be able to take it from him, given also his background as an ex-policeman. That somebody that gave you that interview…sounds so big, looks so big, and on the day your father is buried, you are not allowed into the compound and Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Jnr.) was the one that welcomed Jonathan, you think that’s an accident?

Newswatch: He explained it during the interview that he wasn’t there because his uncles said that because of the court case, he would not be allowed into the compound unless he withdrew it, implying that there is a pending court case between him and his uncles.

Ike: The management agreement is not made up; if you go to the court, you will get it.

Newswatch: What was the relationship between your father and the late Emeka Ojukwu?

Ike: The relationship is that they were brothers, I believe my father is almost 10 years older than him. They were in school together. They are of different mothers. My grandfather had five wives- first one is Ogbenyealumalize, who later on remarried. Second one is Madam Jenny Ojukwu from the Nwosu family, fondly called Mama Lota. Third one is Ifeoma, I believe, from Nwosu family. The fourth one, I believe, is Ijeoma and the fifth one is lady Virginia Ojukwu.

Newswatch: Which one is your grandmother?

Ike: My grandmother is Ogbenyealumalize from Ukpor.

Newswatch: How friendly was your father with his brother, Emeka?

Ike: They were very friendly, especially towards the end. Their lives are very different. My father is a consultant surgeon for many years and he is devoted — over devoted. He is over 86 years now, you have to seize his car for him not to go to work, even though he is retired. So, their lives were very different. He went to Cambridge University. His father was very proud of him that he was a doctor, as he was of the Ikemba. But they are very different people. Ikemba is Ikemba. He was a great man, a military man; he was ADO, his life was very different. My father had one wife, throughtout. My mother is late, a wonderful woman. So, they are very different. Towards the end, they attended meetings together. They did attend meetings together and many of the meetings were held in Ikemba’s place in Enugu.

Newswatch: What efforts were made by your family to recover the properties of your grandfather from the government while Ikemba was in exile?

Ike: Enormous effort. They finally released the property, I don’t remember when, but it was way after the war. It was very difficult, they wrote numerous letters and I have some of the letters, they wrote to FCO Coker who was the chairman of abandoned properties. Akintola Williams also helped a lot.

Newswatch: But were they able to recover any of those properties while Ikemba was in exile?

Ike: No

Newswatch: Why?

Ike: Because the seizing of the property… it was the company’s in the first place, it was not an individual’s. It was one person they wanted to punish, and that was why my uncle, Emmanuel, and my father, who were directors of the company, made numerous efforts.

Newswatch: So, how come those properties were recovered by Ikemba?

Ike: They were not recovered by Ikemba. I have the letters to the Lagos State government. It was held by Lagos State government, seized by Lagos State Government. It was the Abandoned Properties Commission chaired by FCO Coker. My father and uncle came down from Enugu many times. The holding of those properties, you know, was obviously political. When you say, how come he got them released, they were seized because of him. If a member of your family, because of the position he has taken, they seize your family compound, and they want that person to make a deal with them, and that person comes back from exile after some years, and they say, well, we pardon you and release them, are you going to say the family was lazy all these while? They seized the properties because of one person. I can name other Igbo people that had their properties seized and Rotimi Williams appeared for them, that had their property released earlier. This Queens Drive was part of it because when they evicted Ojukwu, they had to say it belongs to him, and the directors said it belongs to the company, and that became the test case, with which they released the rest. Now, you can say he had agreement with the then government, but it’s very clear, it belongs to the company. So, if somebody says he released it, all well and good. I will tell you this and give him enormous credit. One of the reasons why I admire my uncle,Ikemba, is that, if something is his, you can trust that he will fight for it. This was something that my grandfather laboured for, and if he fought and was able to get that from the government, that’s all credit to him.

Newswatch: How do you react to the allegation that, although those properties in Lagos and Port Harcourt were seized by the government, the ones in Onitsha and Enugu, your father allegedly put them up for sale, but people declined to buy the properties?

Ike: There is no property in Enugu. And do you have anything to show that he put it up for sale? I will show you evidence of a disclaimer on the person you interviewed, from the lawyer, telling people to stay away and not to deal with him, five years ago from the lawyer. You cannot sell something that belongs to the company; you can’t even attempt to sell it. I will show you evidence stating the names of directors and warning people that there is a running board and nobody should deal with anybody that says he is coming to collect rent. The properties are there now. I visited them last month. The guy managing the properties, Elodinmo, came to see my father last Friday and gave him a report. They are there. If you think that the fact that someone has been director since 1952, when his brother was probably 10 or 11 and is the only person mentioned in the Will… you think if that person wanted to sell family property that it will be just to sell a few things in Onitsha? Do you think so? You think that somebody who, as I am speaking to you, is the chairman of the board and the only executor of the estate, you think if that person wanted to sell the property in the 70s, he couldn’t have? The allegation is absolute nonsense.

Newswatch: When did these court cases begin between your uncle and your father or the larger Ojukwu family?

Ike: When you say court cases, there is a court case on the Villaska Lodge when he was evicted by Lagos State government and they wanted to involve my father as director and he had to be involved and Ikemba won. He won because Rotimi Williams and Akintola Williams advised on how to go about it and they eventually won and everybody was happy. And then we went from there. Now, there are different cases, I mean brothers have issues but when you say, Ojukwus at war, they are not of the same mother. They are wide apart in age. Their lifestyles are very different. So, as I sit here and talk to you, I have the facts, and then you have somebody who has no idea… I have told you the important things that Ikembasaid very clearly, if you people look for me and don’t see me, my eldest son is Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (Jnr), and he brought him and introduced him to the family.

Newswatch: When was that?

Ike: That’s about 2003, and the family meeting was Ezeubom family meeting.

Newswatch: Did your father ever go to court over his father’s property with Emeka?

Ike: Of course, of course. Oh, there are many cases.

Newswatch: Why and when did that happen?

Ike: There was a time when Ikemba and Lotanna were not directors and wanted to be directors and held a meeting and called themselves directors and my father took them to court and in the Appeal court they removed them as directors.

Newswatch: Why were they removed?

Ike: Because there was not proper quorum. You can’t just force yourself on… yeah, and eventually they were made directors.

Newswatch: In other words, there have been disagreements?

Ike: Of course. My father would list numerous Brazilian returnee families in Lagos that have been in court over the years. It’s nothing compared to his own. It’s because my uncle is prominent.

Newswatch: Do you know Professor Ukwu .I. Ukwu and his wife?

Ike: Yes, I know them very well. The wife, sister Comfort is my uncle’s cousin.

Newswatch: Was the wife teargassed at Ikemba’s burial?

Ike: To answer your question on the tear gas issue, there was a lot of confusion that day. You can never have everything perfect. It was a wonderful funeral and the family is grateful for the honour done the Ikemba. I seize this opportunity to thank so many people. I saw some people from Nnewi that I knew and they said they couldn’t come in because of the security. The security that day was totally indiscriminate. Even my father coming back from the church was almost pushed down. We apologise for that, but all in all, the security people were wonderful. There was the issue of crowd control. You think it was the family that could have done it? I greeted the lady you are talking about inside the compound the night before. I was at the high table with the other people when they brought that news that she was at the emergency room and then they released a car to go there and make sure she was fine. So, if somebody told you that it’s the family that tear- gassed her, where did they find teargas to spray her?

Newswatch: Was she taken to hospital?

Ike: I don’t know the details.

Newswatch: Some people feel that the tendency for the family to pander towards Emeka Ojukwu (Jnr) and to acknowledge him as the first son and to always say that his father recognised him as the first son is because he can be easily manipulated?

Ike: Don’t say, pander, no. If a man calls a meeting of his people and tells them, “if you look for me and you don’t see me, this is my first son,” it is not pandering. You could have members of the family that can overshadow that person but you can’t do that with Ikemba. You come and you tell me that oh, I did my youth service in Port Harcourt, that there are three people that resemble me there. If I go to Kirikiri this afternoon, I can see three people that resemble you; does it mean that they are your sons? So, when you say pandering to, be careful, it’s not pandering to. I’ve given you two major reasons. I don’t know where, in Nigeria, that a family company will give somebody a job to do and say take 30 percent for 12 years and the person hasn’t given… the contract ended in 2007 and the person has refused to move. And you expect when there’s a funeral, you welcome the person. There are times when you can accommodate people, but when you have somebody saying oh, I’m the only natural or first son… I’ve told you enough and I have enough evidence to debunk 80 percent of what you have in that interview. But even as I say that most of the elder members couldn’t care less. They say well, you people can write what you like, that the people that know, know. So, when you say, pander to, the man said who his first son is. Why do you say it’s pandering?

Newswatch: What I said is that the reason your family acknowledges Emeka Ojukwu (Jnr) as first son is because he can be easily manipulated, and that Debe cannot be manipulated?

Ike: Like what? Nobody fears anybody. We don’t fear anybody if you know where we come from. No, no. Everybody is responsible for his action. Don’t get something wrong. Let me tell you one thing. Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the younger one, until his father died, I had seen him only once since the end of the civil war. That’s 42 years. That was when I came to deliver a letter to his father in Villaska and he was there. Now, if you are talking about manipulation, I don’t know. The individual you are talking about, I think was born in 1964. That’s Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Jnr.). He was a commissioner under Peter Obi. I don’t know what kind of manipulation… manipulate him to do what? He’s not in control of any property, he’s not collecting rent.

Newswatch: There was an allegation, for instance, that he was manipulated into taking a title and declaring himself Ikemba, a way of getting his stubborn brother out of the way. And that it was the reason the government apparatus was used to deny Debe entry into the compound on the day of his father’s burial?

Ike: The manipulation, is it to give you rent or give you title? Secondly, the title, was awarded by who? Nawfia. Who’s from Nawfia? His mother. So, will we go from Nnewi to Nawfia? I have no control over Emeka Jnr.

Newswatch: With all these family politics going on…

Ike: That you have in most families…

Newswatch: Do you consider the fact that Ojukwu’s birth has something similar with Debe’s…?

Ike: (Laughs) You want me, even though I told you I worked in the media before, to fall into that trap? No, no, how do you say…how do you say that… I don’t know what your question is, I really don’t know the connection…

Newswatch: When the Ikemba died, who went to the Igwe in council to inform him about his death?

Ike: That morning, I was the one who informed my father. I was in Atlanta then but I knew. I was on the phone with his daughter the night before. They arranged and they had sent a message to my uncle in the village, Barrister Ude Ojukwu. The man is in Nnewi and you can confirm this from him. I name names. He’s in his 70s; he’s a lawyer. He was the one mandated to go and inform the Igwe. Let me tell you one aspect of Nnewi custom. When your father dies, it’s not you as a son that informs the Igwe. No. Go to Nnewi and ask.

Newswatch: I asked that question because days after the Ikemba died, the Igwe said that nobody had informed the council until the son…?

Ike: There’s a way you do things. Different parts of Igboland have slightly different perceptions. I don’t want to start telling you and somebody will go and say that Ike Ojukwu said the Igwe lied. Somebody may say I have not been officially informed, and that may mean there’s a particular person… you don’t send anybody, and there are particular things you may have to take because he’s a big chief not only the Ikemba of Nnewi, and so when somebody tells you, I haven’t been informed, that doesn’t mean they didn’t tell him, but you have to do it in a particular way.

Newswatch: During the interview with Debe, he said that his uncles went to Abuja with the aim of removing his father’s name from the list of board of directors of Ojukwu Transport Company. Is that true?

Ike: I am not aware of that but I will tell you that anybody that says that only displays a reasonable level of ignorance because you normally would need a board resolution and then the secretary of the company would submit that to the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja to change anything. So, I am not aware and I am not aware it’s possible.

Newswatch: So what effort are you making toward peace?

Ike: There is peace. I will ask my father to list you the names of big Yoruba families that had cases in court until all their monies finished

God’s Private Jets and Limousines By Ogaga Ifowodo
Posted: November 27, 2012 - 20:21

Posted by siteadmin


Columnist: Ogaga Ifowodo
And it came to pass, that the congregation of the Lord in the Word of Life Bible Church took count of the forty years marked by the wonderful things that Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had done through his humble servant, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, in their lives and they were ashamed that they had treated the anointed servant of the Lord very poorly. They had left him to the indignity of traveling by car and commercial air travel to his many deliverance missions in near and far places even when his fellow Daddy Overseers owned private jets. And being deeply shamed, they said unto themselves, Behold, in this year of our Lord, our father in Christ shall mark the fortieth year of the “unique anointing upon his life” that has “brought Salvation, Deliverance, Revival, Healing and outstanding Miracles to millions across the world as God’s power is demonstrated with signs and wonders.”


Now, therefore, let us hasten and do unto him according to the riches with which the Lord has blessed us; let us buy for him a private jet. And in this, we shall do as our brethren in the Living Faith Ministries did unto Bishop David Oyedepo, and in the Redeemed Christian Church of God unto Pastor Enoch Adeboye, and in the Redeemed Evangelical Mission unto Bishop Mike Okonkwo, and in Christ Embassy Church unto Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. Then shall we present the aircraft as a gift to our Papa Ayo, that he may fly without hindrance, delay or discomfort to the farthest reaches of the world, where the people walk in darkness and do not know God, and have not confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior, for behold, the kingdom of God is at hand. Yea, let us do this mighty thing in the sight of the Lord that we may cease to be the laughing stock of our brethren in Christ who say of us, Surely, their God is a poor God! Wherefore do they preach prosperity? Oh, their God is a poor God indeed!

And it came to pass that on the 10th day of November in the year of the Lord, which also is the anniversary of his birth, the congregants presented unto their pastor, Papa Ayo, who also is the spiritual leader of Christians in all of Nigeria, a Bombardier 601 Aircraft, the cost of which is about $5 million. And the same was done in the presence of the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who knows a thing or two about not one but a fleet of jets and their constant replenishment. And the president, whom Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, appointed over his people in the un-promised land of Nigeria, gave testimony of the servant of the Lord in words that I understand thus, Verily I say unto you, Papa Ayo is the uniquely anointed son of God in whom He is well pleased. Hear and honour him with every material thing of which your hands and the blessing they have received are capable; but which, in his own words, went thus, “I can say without any equivocation that Oritsejafor, from the very humble beginning in 1972, has moved from strength to strength. … he is a Christian visionary leader who preaches the words (sic) of God clearly and eloquently as a good shepherd … He has earned his respect among his peers and this explains why he is holding the two very important positions in Christendom in Nigeria as the President of CAN, and President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.”

And the congregants made a great shout, such as could have felled the walls of Jericho, and there was dancing and merriment and the offering of praise to Jehovah who had brought this great deed to pass, according to his riches and glory, that the world may know that he is Lord and there is none like him.

Since Pastor Oritsejafor loudly entered the Jet-set Club, many Nigerians disturbed by the phenomenon of unabashed embrace of a hedonism usually associated with the heathen have begun to ask questions about what a true life of the spirit entails. And the fruits of the prosperity gospel that has overawed a nation steeped in grinding poverty have now begun to set on edge the teeth of a few in the fold. Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly, for instance, does not believe that without private jets the gospel suffers. And I agree. After all, Mary Slessor did not sail from Scotland to Calabar in a private ocean liner. Nor did St Paul or any of the apostles, founders of evangelism, need the equivalent of a private yacht for their mission. Bakare sees not soul-winning but soul-weaning, the separation of church-goers, majority of them poor, from their means of keeping body and soul together. He sees thieves in priests’ clothing and would have them imprisoned and then cast into the hottest part of hell on judgement day.

But not so some of his brethren whose doctrine of prosperity has long done away with the key tenet of sacrifice. So we have heard the defenders of high-flying predator capitalists in cassock and collar, and very often in pin-striped suits, say that a pastor is deserving of his reward. Here on earth.“There is nothing wrong for a preacher to own (sic) a jet. If people in the secular world can acquire jets for chief executive officers of big private enterprises, there is nothing wrong in giving gifts to a man of God of Pastor Oritsejafor’s standing. … He deserves what he has been given,” says one Reverend El-Buba, General Overseer of Evangelical Bible Outreach Ministries International, Jos, clearly anticipating his own jet for the glorious all-nations-for-Christ crusades and revivals; though this always excludes, quite conveniently, places like North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, China, India, and even good old Judaist Israel. And, of course, there is nothing wrong with comparing self-proclaimed men of God and churches to CEOs and business enterprises!

The Pharisee-pastors and congregants defending crass materialism think they answer their critics by claiming that the jets belong to the church, and not to the Daddy Overseers. The only problem is the damning evidence of bondage to Mammon; of the manic setting up of treasures here on earth: palatial mansions, jewelry, fleets of luxury cars (even including stretch limousines).

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shalt set ye free? Here is the truth: the predator capitalists in cassock and collar are rich men in the manner of that poignant parable of Christ in Matthew 19. A rich man, who has followed the commandments, comes to the barefoot carpenter to know what else he might do to gain eternal life. Jesus says tells him to go and sell all that he has, distribute to the poor so he shall have treasure in heaven, and then “come and follow me.” Whereupon the rich man went away sorrowful, “for he had great possessions.” Prompting Christ to utter the famous words, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

http://saharareporters.com/column/god%E2%80%99s-private-jets-and-limousines-ogaga-ifowodo-%C2%A0

AMCON, Capital Oil’s talks collapse
Posted by: Wale Ajetunmobi Posted date: November 28, 2012


The talks between Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd and Assets Management Company Ltd (AMCON) have collapsed.

Spokesman of Capital Oil, Mr. Nick Hayes, said this mean plans by the company to re-open its depots in Lagos and other parts of the country have failed.

He said: “The implication of this is a crisis situation ahead, in regards to the shortage of fuel otherwise known as premium motor spirit (PMS), currently being witnessed across major cities in the country.”

Providing insights into what led to the collapse of talks barely 48 hours after Capital Oil and Gas said it was satisfied with discussions with AMCON, the spokesman blamed it on “inordinate ambition of some forces to take over the running of affairs in the company wholesale.”

In a statement yesterday, Hayes said: “It has now become very obvious that there is a grand design by some very ambitions people to capture the entire business concern and run it as if they set it up in the first instance.

“These people are the ones pushing AMCON to bring very unacceptable conditions to the negotiating table. Their whole plot is to ensure that there is no amicable settlement and in that way, AMCON can do their bidding which simply is, to take over the running of the affairs of the company.”

He said when Capital Oil sensed the personal interest, it backed out of the settlement plan electing instead to head back to the courts.

Hayes added: “Another issue that led to the disagreement by both parties we learnt, is the appointment of an Administrator to oversee the company. AMCON is understood to favour the appointment of an administrator who shall have sweeping powers. Expectedly, top Management of Capital Oil and Gas kicked against the move which they say will give such an Administrator the authority to throw out thousands of Nigerian youths in the employ of the company presently, in favour of those the Administrator may want to bring in. Mr. Hayes hinted that this is one issue that hurt the MD/CEO of Capital Oil and Gas, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, who has always been on the side of the youths as far as employment is concerned.

“He then warned that if AMCON is not stopped from playing politics with the country’s economy as they are presently doing, what happened in January when Nigerians took to the streets in protest against the removal of subsidy on oil, may be a child’s play to the chaos that will ensure when fuel finally dries out of filling stations nationwide.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/amcon-capital-oils-talks-collapse/

Ngige was wrong on Obasanjo power plants

November 28, 2012 by Olusegun Agagu

I read with consternation a report on page 8 of The PUNCH of November 24, credited to Senator Chris Ngige and titled, “Obasanjo power plants, wasteful”. The report quoted from a talk delivered by Senator Ngige on “Power Supply in Nigeria”, during the First Judiciary Day of the Student Union Government of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Since the Senator has so far not refuted the report, it can be taken that he had not been misquoted. Before the falsehood that Ngige peddled on that occasion begins to take root, I believe that it is necessary to lay bare the facts on the power plants established during the period he referred to and ensure that the public is not misinformed and misled.

Ngige was quoted to have said that “the power plants built by the government of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 to 2003 were wasteful ventures” and “that the cost of securing and laying pipe(s) to carry gas to the power projects at Papalanto, Olorunsogo, Geregu, and Omotosho and other places was enough to build more of such power plants and fund transmission and distribution projects”. He followed up with the insinuation that the siting of the power plants was based on “political considerations”.

I am constrained to say that the facts that pertain to the four plants established during the period and which can be verified by all, clearly show that nothing can be farther from the truth than Ngige’s assertion above. The siting of the plants namely, Papalanto (Olorunsogo), Omotosho, Geregu and Afam V were based on sound technical consideration and the prices at which the plants were procured were highly competitive by global standards and are the cheapest Nigeria has ever procured viz:

1) The Papalanto and Omotosho plants were located less than five kilometres to the existing Escravos – Lagos Gas Pipeline making the cost of connecting them to gas less than $5million each.

2) The Geregu plant was located less than eight kilometres from the existing Pipeline that takes gas to the Ajaokuta Steel plant.

3) The AfamV Plant was located within the existing Afam Power Plant and therefore did not need any special pipe laying.

4) The distance of all the four power plants from existing major transmission lines is less than two kilometres making the cost of connection to the National Grid infinitesimal.

5) The turnkey costs of all the four power plants were less than $500 per megawatt which was verified by the Due Process Office to be globally very competitive. The benchmark price used for the NIPP projects which came up later was more than $1000 per megawatt.

6) All the four plants were completed within 24 months from contractors’ mobilisation, making them the fastest of deliveries in the history of Nigeria. AfamV was commissioned within 12 months!

7) A concessionary funding programme was negotiated with the Chinese Exim Bank for the Papalanto and Omotosho power plants through which Nigerian government paid only 35 per cent of their cost for the plants to be delivered. The balance of 65 per cent will be paid over a seven year period at six per cent interest rate and two years moratorium. The idea was that after paying 35 per cent and the plant was completed within two years, the income from generated power would be used to pay up the balance of 65 per cent without recourse to the Nigerian treasury!

The facts above are all verifiable on the ground and in the books of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. What is perhaps intriguing is that Ngige, a former State Governor, presently the Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power and who was a contractor to NEPA

There is no doubt that we have problems in the Nigerian power sector and that all hands must be on deck to clear all bottlenecks on our way to end the needless pains that the mismanagement in the sector has caused us. There is also some merit in identifying periods and people that have contributed adversely to the mess. In doing this however, we must endeavour to tell the truth and ensure that we do not allow other sentiments to becloud our judgement. This will not allow us to learn and thereby arrive at how best to develop and maintain an efficient power supply system in Nigeria.

With all due sense of modesty, the period and projects that Senator Ngige is trying to deride were golden in our collective efforts at getting stable power for Nigeria. Between June 2000 and December 2002, our electricity generation capacity increased from 1425 to 4300 megawatts. Both the transmission and distribution subsections were strengthened such that peak load (delivered) for the first time in the history of Nigeria surpassed the 2400 megawatts maximum in 2002. The establishment of the Papalanto (335MW), Omotosho (335MW), Geregu (410MW), Afam V (276MW), Enron IPP(280MW) andKwale IPP (450MW) were added during the same period with the view of increasing the 4300MW generation capacity to about 6000MW. That was also the period when the Power Sector Reform Bill was crafted and submitted to the National Assembly to pave way for a more efficient deregulated power sector.

Finally, we concede to Ngige the right to pass his judgment on Obasanjo, his administration of Nigeria when he was in power and of course, the former President’s politics. I am sure that Obasanjo can deal with that on his own and I am not in anyway standing brief for him. Ngige has however chosen a very wrong Obasanjo project to bash in his Awka lecture. Some of us who worked conscientiously with Obasanjo to visibly move the power sector forward between 2000 and 2003 will not allow anyone to rubbish our sweat and the gains that Nigeria made during that period.

•Dr. Agagu, CON (Former Governor of Ondo State and Minister of Power and Steel, 2000 – 2002)


http://www.punchng.com/opinion/ngige-was-wrong-on-obasanjo-power-plants/

Ex-banker bows to pressure, suspends hunger strike
November 27, 2012 by Temitayo Famutimi 88 Comments


Olubiyi Odunaro, the 53-year-old former employee of Hallmark Bank Plc., protesting against non-payment of his terminal benefit, on Monday suspended his 14-day hunger strike.

The suspension of the protest followed spirited appeal by a representation from the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and officials from the Lagos office of the Public Complaints Commission.

Senior Special Assistant to Fashola on Justice Sector Reforms, Lanre Akinsola, who led a team of legal, welfare and medical officials to the tent Odunaro had turned to his home on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Lagos, promised to intervene.

Akinsola said, “The attention of the Lagos State Government was drawn to the various media reports about the protest being embarked upon by Odunaro and it’s quite pathetic.

“Governor Fashola who was worried about his state of health formed an inter-ministerial committee comprising medical, legal and welfare officials and directed me to lead the team to persuade him to end his hunger strike.

“As a responsible government we don’t want a dead casualty in our hands as a result of this protest. Once he ends this protest, we would first provide him medical service while the Lagos State Directorate of Citizens Rights would engage the authorities concerned in a comprehensive dialogue.”

Akinsola said the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, had given him his word on free legal services to Odunaro and other ex-workers of non-consolidated banks seeking the payment of their entitlements if the negotiations become unfruitful.

“We will mediate and talk to the right people and we believe reason will prevail in this matter and if not, lawyers from the Lagos State Ministry of Justice will work in conjunction with the lawyer of the group and ensure that justice prevails and everyone of them gets their entitlement,” he added.

John Ogunniyi, who led a legal team from the Public Complaints Commission, implored Odunaro to end the hunger strike.

He said, “The Lagos Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission, Funso Olukoga, sends his word that you end this protest and go back home while we look into your complaints.

“We’ve listened to the complaints and we are going back to report to the commissioner and see the best we can do concerning it.

“We are making this appeal because of your health and the negative consequences it may have on you. The commissioner has given us the authority to ensure that the matter is resolved.”

After persuasion and engagement by the state officials and consultation with members of the Association of Ex-Staff of Non-Consolidated Bank, who had gathered at the site which lasted for about three hours, Odunaro who clocked 53 on Monday announced the suspension of the protest.

He said, “This struggle is not only about myself; it’s about the right of over 14,000 ex-workers of non-consolidated banks who are ably represented here today.

“The Lagos State Government and the PCC have given me and my people their word and I would hold on to it. My other colleagues too have appealed to me to give the state government the opportunity to play their part in this matter.

“In view of this, I announce the suspension of my hunger strike for two weeks to enable me to go for medical treatment and allow the state government play its part in this debacle.”

President, Association of Ex-Staff of Non-Consolidated Bank, Magnus Maduka, said, “We will be leveraging on the clout of the state government and the promises of the Public Complaints Commission to get our entitlements which we have been fighting for for about seven years.”

As soon as he announced the suspension, the medical team from the Lagos State Ambulance Service who had been waiting for hours led him into an ambulance marked LA 167 A08 at about 3:09pm and took him to the Medical Emergency of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital for medical attention.

http://www.punchng.com/news/ex-banker-bows-to-pressure-suspends-hunger-strike/

US Judge Dismisses Ugwuonye’s Suit Against SaharaReporters

Posted: November 26, 2012 - 18:51
Posted by siteadmin

By SaharaReporters, New York
Judge Peter J. Messitte, a United States District Judge, has dismissed a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit filed in 2009 by Nigerian-born controversial attorney, Emeka Ugwuonye, against Sowore Omoyele, the founder of saharareporters.com.

Sowore was represented by notable free speech attorneys, Laurie Babinski and Bruce Brown at the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Washington DC. The two lawyers are part of the pro-bono network of the UK-based Media Legal Defence Initiative. Mr. Ugwuonye represented himself.

In a ruling dated November 20 but officially released this morning, Judge Messitte declared that Mr. Ugwuonye’s claims in his lawsuit lacked merit.

The judge consequently granted Mr. Sowore’s motion for a summary dismissal of the lawsuit.

Mr. Ugwuonye filed the lawsuit following a series of investigative reports by SaharaReporters to the effect that he had improperly withheld $1.5 million in IRS tax refunds to the Nigerian embassy in Washington DC. The funds in questions were tax refunds to the Nigerian embassy from transactions in which the embassy sold off some of its real estate holdings. Since Mr. Ugwuonye had represented the Nigerian embassy in the transactions, the refunds were given to him for transfer to his clients.

Instead, Mr. Ugwuonye kept the money, claiming that the Nigerian government owed him for legal work he did for other government functionaries.

Nigeria’s former attorney general Michael Aondoakaa has since denied that the government owed any outstanding fees to Mr. Ugwuonye.

Mr. Ugwuonye’s original lawsuit named several defendants, including former Nigerian ambassador to the US, Oluwole Rotimi and Professor Mobolaji Aluko. However, Judge Messite penalized Ugwuonye for suing Aluko in the US District court instead of a state court and then dismissed the case against Professor Aluko. The judge also dropped the case against the former ambassador because he could not be served the summons. The court then focused on Ugwuonye's case against SaharaReporters.

In a 15-page memorandum accompanying his ruling, Judge Messitte extensively quoted various legal principles to support the dismissal of Mr. Ugwuonye’s lawsuit. The judge stated that summary judgment “is warranted when a party fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the elements essential to the party’s claim and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial.”

Judge Messitte also declared that Mr. Ugwuonye’s failure to respond in a timely manner to queries administered on him by the defendant amounted to admission that “each statement he alleged to be defamatory was in fact substantially true and made without malice.”

Declaring Mr. Ugwuonye a “public figure,” Judge Messitte declared that it was impossible to conclude that any of the statements made by SaharaReporters about the plaintiff were “made with actual malice.”

After reviewing several of the statements that Mr. Ugwuonye alleged to be defamatory, the judge asserted that, on the contrary, the plaintiff’s submissions did not impeach the facts in the statement at issue.

Mr. Ugwuonye has up to thirty days to appeal the ruling.


The full text of the judgment is reproduced below:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

EPHRAIM UGWUONYE *
* Plaintiff, *
*
v. * Civil No. PJM 09-658
*
OLUWOLE ROTIMI, et al. *
* Defendants. *

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Pro se Plaintiff Ephraim Ugwuonye, an attorney admitted to the bar of this Court, originally filed this defamation and invasion of privacy suit against multiple Defendants based on an article that appeared on a website with the domain name “Saharareporters.com.” That website purports to provide “commentaries, features, [and] news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective.”

1. For various reasons, all but one Defendant have been dismissed from the case.

2. The sole remaining Defendant, Omoyele Sowore, is the founder of Saharareporters.com. In his Second Amended Complaint, Ugwuonye asserts claims against Sowore based on four Saharareporters.com articles published between 2009 and 2010. Sowore has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons that follow, the Court will GRANT Sowore’s Motion.

I.

“The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.

1 Available at http://saharareporters.com/page/about-sahara-reporters. For further background, see the Court’s July 30, 2010 Opinion (Dkt. 60), denying Defendant Sowore’s Motion to Dismiss.

2 Oluwole Rotimi was dismissed for lack of service of process. Ugwuonye voluntarily dismissed his claims against Domain by Proxy, Inc. and Mobolaji Aluko.


R. Civ. P. 56(a). The court must “view the evidence in the light most favorable to ... the nonmovant, and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor without weighing the evidence or assessing the witnesses’ credibility.” Dennis v. Columbia Colleton Med. Ctr., Inc., 290 F.3d 639, 644–45 (4th Cir. 2002).

The court, however, must also abide by the “‘affirmative obligation of the trial judge to prevent factually unsupported claims and defenses from proceeding to trial.’” Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens Football Club, Inc., 346 F.3d 514, 526 (4th Cir. 2003) (quoting Drewitt v. Pratt, 999 F.2d 774, 778–79 (4th Cir. 1993)). Summary judgment is warranted when a party fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the elements essential to the party’s claim and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial. 3 Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). If there is not sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find for the nonmovant, summary judgment is appropriate. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242,
248 (1986).

3. Ugwuonye failed to respond in timely fashion to Sowore’s Requests for Admission. Those requests asked Ugwuonye to admit, among other things, that each statement he alleged to be defamatory was in fact substantially true and made without malice. Under the Federal Rules, a failure to timely respond to a request for admission means that the matter is deemed admitted. Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 36(a)(3). Ugwuonye, a lawyer, is certainly expected to be familiar with the Federal Rules. His nonresponse effectively admits that the challenged statements are substantially true and were made without malice.

Ugwuonye argues in his opposition that he was unable to respond to the requests for admission because he was overseas in Nigeria and unaware of the discovery requests. But this is Ugwuonye’s suit and he has an obligation to keep up with developments in connection with it. See Robinson v. Wix Filtration Corp. LLC, 599 F.3d 403, 406-07 (4th Cir. 2010) (affirming grant of summary judgment despite opponent’s objection that he never received email notice and therefore could not oppose motion, because it was obligation of attorney to keep up with docket despite computer issues). Moreover, Ugwuonye admits that during the very same period he alleges he was unaware of Sowore’s requests, he was able to propound his own discovery requests. This calls into serious question his alleged inability to respond.

Ugwuonye’s failure to timely respond to Sowore’s Requests for Admission provides a sufficient basis for the grant of Sowore’s motion and the Court hereby adopts that as an independent ground for granting Sowore’s motion. Alternatively and cumulatively, the Court will also proceed to analyze the case on the merits.

In a defamation case, recovery depends on whether plaintiff is a public or private figure. For a private figure to recover, he or she must demonstrate that: (1) the defendant made a defamatory communication, i.e., communicated a statement tending to expose the plaintiff to public scorn, hatred, contempt, or ridicule to a third person who reasonably recognized the statement as being defamatory; (2) the statement was false; (3) the defendant was at fault in communicating the statement; and (4) the plaintiff suffered harm. See Piscatelli v. Van Smith, 35
A.3d 1140, 1147 (Md. 2012).

A public figure has a higher bar. In order to succeed on a defamation claim, he or she must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the statements were (1) defamatory, (2) false, and (3) made with “actual malice.” See, e.g., Chesapeake Pub. Corp. v. Williams, 661
A.2d 1169, 1174 (Md. 1995). Actual malice is established only if the plaintiff can show that the defendant published the statements with actual knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth. See New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 279-80 (1964), Shapiro v. Massengill, 661 A.2d 202, 217 (Md. 1995).

The actual malice standard is intended to give wide berth to reports on public figures and matters of public interest. See New York Times Co., 376 U.S. at 278-79; Capital-Gazette Newspapers, 445 A.2d at 1043. In this context, even erroneous statements are protected when honestly made are protected, a policy which fosters frank debate and dialogue.

Further, when the challenged statements are reports on legal proceedings, as some are here, Maryland recognizes a qualified privilege for fair and substantially accurate reports. In the modern view, this protects the statements regardless of the state of mind of the publisher. See Chesapeake Pub., 661 A.2d at 1174-75, Nanji v. Nat’l Geographic Soc., 403 F. Supp. 2d 425, 433-34 (D. Md. 2005).

A plaintiff cannot defeat summary judgment in a defamation case simply by asserting that the publication was false. See Pratt v. Delta Air Lines, 675 F. Supp. 991, 996 (D. Md. 1987). The purpose of Rule 56 is not to replace the conclusory statements in a complaint with those in an affidavit. See Lujan v. National Wildlife Fed., 497 U.S. 871, 888 (1990).

Allegations of invasion of privacy/false light claims are analyzed according to the same legal standards as allegations of defamation. See Piscatelli, 35 A.3d at 1146-47. Separate analysis of those claims is therefore unnecessary.

II.Ugwuonye is a public figure. The Circuit Court for Montgomery County explicitly found him to be such in a related proceeding involving many of the same statements sued upon here.4 Ugwuonye is, thus, collaterally estopped from arguing otherwise here. See Guccione v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 632 F. Supp. 313, 317 (S.D.N.Y. 1986), rev'd on other grounds, 800 F.2d 298 (2d Cir. 1986) (plaintiff found to be public figure in earlier libel suit was collaterally estopped from claiming otherwise in case at hand).5 Indeed, Ugwuonye himself acknowledges that he has achieved fame and notoriety in the community, claiming, among other things, that he has been “listed among the top experts on corporate law, finance and government” at the Harvard Institute for International Development (see Second Amended Complaint (Dkt. 70) ¶ 15), and that he has maintained power and influence on the basis of his education and high-profile positions,

4. See Ugwuonye v. Aluko, et al., No. 314155V. Mobolaji Aluko, originally a defendant in the present action, was voluntarily dismissed in July 2009, but Ugwuonye then filed the state court action against him.

5. Under Maryland law, collateral estoppel applies when, as here: (1) the issue sought to be precluded is identical to the one litigated; (2) the issue was actually determined; (3) determination of the issue was a critical and necessary part of the decision in the prior proceeding; (4) the proceeding was final and valid; and (5) the party against whom estoppel is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue. See Campbell v. Lake Hallowell Homeowners Ass'n, 852 A.2d 1029, 1037–38 (Md. 2004).

including serving as counsel to the World Bank and to the Government of Nigeria in several high profile cases. He avers that he is an attorney who has competed “at the highest echelon of the legal profession worldwide” (id. ¶ 17). His testimony about speaking to hundreds or thousands of people about this case demonstrates that he has ample access to channels of communication. These facts all point unequivocally to Ugwuonye’s fame, notoriety, and stature within the community. See Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 155 (1967). The allegedly defamatory statements in this case (including regarding high-level embassy transactions and dealings between the U.S. and Nigerian Governments), as noted by the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, are quintessentially of public concern. See Ugwuonye v. Aluko, et al., No. 314155V, July 23, 2010 Hearing Transcript, pp. 64-65.

As a public figure, then, Ugwuonye must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that Sowore made the challenged statements with actual malice—that is, with actual knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth. See Masson v The New Yorker Magazine, 501 U.S. 496, 510 (1991) (quoting New York Times, 376 U.S. at 279-80). Demonstrating actual malice poses a heavy burden. Courts have held that it “cannot be established merely by showing that: the publication was erroneous, derogatory or untrue; the publisher acted out of ill will, hatred or a desire to injure the official; the publisher acted negligently; the publisher acted in reliance on the unverified statement of a third party without personal knowledge of the subject matter of the defamatory statement; or the publisher acted without undertaking the investigation that would have been made by a reasonably prudent person.”

Capital-Gazette Newspapers, Inc. v. Stack, 445 A.2d 1038, 1044 (1982) (citations omitted). Applying this standard to the facts of the case, viewed in the light most favorable to Ugwuonye, the Court finds that no trier of fact could reasonably conclude by clear and convincing evidence that any of the statements in issue in this case were made with actual malice.

The Court considers each of the statements. 6

III. The first three statements appeared in a March 5, 2009 Saharareporters.com article. The article, headlined “Property scandal rocks Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC; former Ambassador Obiozor fingered,” reports on a variety of real estate transactions in the Washington, DC area involving the Nigerian Embassy, and questions the reported values of a number of real estate sales. The article notes that Ugwuonye provided legal assistance to the Embassy in connection with these transactions. The article further states that Ugwuonye withheld the Embassy’s $1.5 million IRS tax refund due from the sales, allegedly because the Nigerian government owed him legal fees for representing Nigerian officials in unrelated litigation. The article also reports that Ugwuonye has previously faced attorney disciplinary proceedings.

It is undisputed that, when writing the article, Sowore investigated public records, researched cases involving Ugwuonye, and spoke to Ugwuonye by telephone at least once. Sowore affirms that he and Ugwuonye discussed the Embassy transactions and that he asked Ugwuonye why he had withheld the refund, to which Ugwuonye responded that he withheld it as a fee to compensate him for previous litigation work for the Embassy and that he and the Nigerian Government were in the midst of negotiating with respect to the fee. Ugwuonye acknowledges that he discussed the Embassy transactions with Sowore, but claims he did not get to explain his side of the story; he says he simply told Sowore there was no fraud. However,

6 The Court confines its consideration to statements pled in the Second Amended Complaint. In his opposition to Sowore’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Ugwuonye appears to allege that additional statements are defamatory. While the Court declines to analyze these new statements, a brief review of same suggests that none appear to be defamatory. In any event, Ugwuonye has in no way suggested why these late-remembered statements were not set forth in the Second Amended Complaint.

even if Ugwuonye disputes that he told Sowore he was withholding the tax refund as payment for previous legal work, it is undisputed that this is what Ugwuonye actually did. He withheld the refund. Ugwuonye says as much in the papers he has submitted to the Court, suggesting that the Nigerian Government initially agreed that he could settle its outstanding legal bills by holding a tax refund due to the Embassy; that he thought he could disburse the refund after being paid by other sources (and therefore, as he testified in his deposition, that he promised the Embassy he would disburse the refund); that he later realized he could not disburse the refund; and that he then took steps to apply the refund to the unpaid legal bills.

Ugwuonye further admits that a dispute then arose with the Embassy regarding the application of the tax refund to his fees, and states that this dispute was part of a larger intra-Embassy quarrel that was resolved when the new Nigerian Ambassador (Oluwole Rotimi) was fired by his supervising Minister. Per Ugwuonye, it was in connection with that very dispute that a DC Bar Complaint was filed against him, one—to be sure—which was ultimately dismissed.

Against this background, the specific statements Ugwuonye alleges to be defamatory are these:

(1) “[Plaintiff] said he apprised [then Ambassador] Obiozor over his seizure of the embassy’s tax refund, fueling speculation that Obiozor tacitly approved the seizure for pecuniary reasons as he did not try to retrieve the money from [Plaintiff] before he left the U.S.”

Given the facts just reviewed, this statement can hardly be considered defamatory. Quite simply, it involves facts that Ugwuonye does not dispute—that he withheld over a million dollars of the Nigerian Embassy’s tax refund with the Nigerian Embassy’s knowledge. The statement could not have been made with actual malice.

(2) “But [Plaintiff’s] seizure of the embassy funds points to a track record of some professional troubles relating to his competence and manner of handling client monies.”

This statement involves the same undisputed facts, namely Ugwuonye’s withholding of the Embassy’s tax refund. In addition, it contains privileged reporting regarding Ugwuonye’s past professional misconduct proceedings. Unquestionably a disciplinary matter came before the Maryland Court of Appeals, which considered potential misconduct involving two of Ugwuonye’s matters, and which found that Ugwuonye had in fact violated various provisions of the code of professional conduct, including provisions regarding competence, fees and safekeeping of property. Sowore’s reporting as to Ugwuonye’s professional troubles relating to “competence and handling client monies” was therefore substantially accurate. Even if it were not, Ugwuonye has failed to proffer any evidence that this statement—or any part of it—was made with actual malice.

(3) “Details of the cases point to [Plaintiff’s] professional shadiness.”

The third statement amounts to a non-actionable opinion as well as privileged reporting on Ugwuonye’s past professional misconduct hearings.

Again, most importantly, Ugwuonye has failed to offer evidence that Sowore made this statement with anything approaching actual malice.

IV.

Challenged statements 4 through 10 appeared in the Sahareporters.com article, entitled “Ugwuonye loses lawsuit to summary judgment,” which was published on July 23, 2010. The article discusses the Nigerian Embassy real estate transactions and Ugwuonye’s seizure of the tax refund. It also speaks of Ugwuonye’s and the Nigerian Government’s “habit” of using libel lawsuits to suppress public debate. The article focuses on Ugwuonye’s state court case against Mobolaji Aluko, in which the state judge granted Aluko’s motion for summary judgment. The specific challenged statements made by Sowore are these:
(4) “Falsely stated that Plaintiff made a habit of using libel lawsuits to suppress public debate about the controversial sale of properties belonging to the Nigerian embassy in Washington DC and Maryland.”

By the time this article was published, Ugwuonye had indeed brought multiple lawsuits based on the March 2009 piece questioning the circumstances of the sale of Nigerian Embassy properties. Sowore was well aware of these lawsuits, having been the subject of one himself. Again, there is not the least evidence from which to find that this statement was made with actual malice.

(5) “Falsely stated or clearly insinuated or implied that Plaintiff withheld the funds of his clients to which he is not entitled or unlawfully.”

Ugwuonye does not oppose Sowore’s motion for summary judgment as to this statement. But regardless—Ugwuonye has admitted to holding a tax refund owing to the Nigerian Embassy, has admitted to telling the Embassy he would deliver the refund, and has admitted to not delivering the refund. Consequently, the statement could not have been made with actual malice.

(6) “Falsely stated or implied that this court had sanctioned Plaintiff for filing a frivolous lawsuit.”

Ugwuonye offers no opposition to summary judgment as to this statement. Even so, the Court finds that the statement is substantially true and could not have been made with malice. In addition, it was a privileged report on a legal proceeding. Ugwuonye initially included Aluko as a defendant in the present case. The Court allowed Ugwuonye to voluntarily dismiss Aluko based on lack of personal jurisdiction. However, the Court also ordered Ugwuonye to pay Aluko’s attorneys fees, given that Ugwuonye had filed the suit alleging diversity of citizenship jurisdiction even though both Ugwuonye and Aluko were Maryland residents. (See July 28, 2009 Memorandum, Dkt. 45.) A reasonable reading of the Court’s order clearly indicates that it was in the nature of a sanction because Ugwuonye, a licensed attorney, had filed a lawsuit that he knew or should have known this Court had no jurisdiction to hear. The fact that Sowore may have characterized Ugwuonye’s suit as “frivolous” was without a doubt fair comment. But even if his report of the import of the Court’s order was not entirely accurate, it is clear that minor technical inaccuracies may occur in the course of reporting on legal proceedings without giving rise to liability. See, e.g., Nanji, 403 F. Supp. 2d at 432-33.

(7) “Referring to a related case in the State court (Ugwuonye v. Aluko, et al., Circuit Court of Maryland for Montgomery County, Case No. 314155-V), Defendant falsely stated that the state court found that the allegation of fraud made against Plaintiff was true.”

Ugwuonye does not attempt to pursue this allegation in his Opposition and for good reason. The Court does not find this statement or anything resembling it in the July 23 article.

( “Referring to a real estate transaction, in which Plaintiff represented the Nigerian Government in Maryland, Defendant Sowore mischaracterized the power of attorney granted to Plaintiff by his client, and falsely alleged that the reason Plaintiff obtained such power of attorney was to enable him to control the funds belonging to the Nigerian government to Plaintiff’s advantage, and that armed with the power of attorney, Plaintiff improperly took control of the funds of his client.”

Ugwuonye has also proffered no opposition to Sowore’s motion regarding this allegation. The facts regarding the Embassy transaction, as discussed above, are that Ugwuonye retained his client’s funds and did not return them despite a promise to do otherwise. No reasonable jury could find that Sowore made this statement with actual knowledge of its falsity or a reckless disregard for the truth.

(9) “Referring to this lawsuit, Defendant falsely stated and/or implied that the Government of Nigeria had given funds to the Plaintiff and had a pact with the Plaintiff aimed at filing this suit for the purpose of suppressing or repressing the freedoms of Nigerian citizens.”

In his opposition, Ugwuonye argues that language such as this “betrays the tension that has existed” between Sowore and Ugwuonye over the years. This statement is of dubious relevance. Even if there truly was tension between the two, it would not satisfy the requirement of actual malice. Actual malice cannot be established by demonstrating that “the publisher acted of ill will, hatred, or a desire to injure.” See Capital-Gazette Newspapers, 445 A.2d at 1044. Actual malice requires clear and convincing evidence that Sowore published his statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth. On the evidence before the Court, Ugwuonye has made no such demonstration. Sowore has reported on the activities of the Nigerian Government for some time, and has been sued more than once on the basis of such reporting. Sowore contends that an individual who brought one of these suits against him is now working in a high-level Nigerian Government position. Ugwuonye does not dispute that he was counsel for high-level Nigerian Government transactions, and has further stated that the disagreement over the tax refund was tied to a larger Embassy dispute that was only resolved with the firing of an Ambassador, suggesting that Ugwuonye may well have been supported in his litigation by someone within the Nigerian Government. Sowore could fairly opine that the Nigerian Government was and is behind this suit and others. No reasonable trier of fact could find that he made this statement with actual malice.

(10) “Many who read the publication understood the memorandum as the judgment of the state court against Plaintiff.”

Ugwuonye’s Second Amended Complaint mischaracterizes the July 23 article, which by no construction reads as if it is the judgment of the Circuit Court of Maryland against Ugwuonye. In any case, Ugwuonye does not attempt to oppose Sowore’s motion for summary judgment regarding this point, so nothing more need be said about it.
V.
Statements 11 through 13 appeared in an August 2, 2010 Sahareporters.com article. The article, which covered much the same ground as previous articles, focuses on Ugwuonye’s companies, calling them “forfeited,” stating that they were revived at the same time Ugwuonye was working for the Nigerian Embassy, and reporting that a source at the Maryland State Comptroller referred to Ugwuonye as a “deadbeat resident agent.”

Sowore has testified that he wrote this article based on evidence produced in the state court case and on further research that that evidence generated. Sowore says he initially learned that Ugwuonye had two companies, ECU Law and ECU Associates, P.C., which, according to public records Sowore investigated, had their corporate charters forfeited more than once for failure to pay taxes. Sowore also determined that the records showed that the dates of reinstatement of the companies coincided with the times Ugwuonye was engaged by the Nigerian Embassy to carry out the real estate transactions mentioned in the March 5, 2009 article. Sowore says he contacted the Maryland State Comptroller to seek additional information regarding Ugwuonye’s companies, and it was then he was told by an individual there that Ugwuonye was a “deadbeat resident agent,” obviously referring to the multiple forfeitures of his corporate charters. In his opposition, Ugwuonye does not actually dispute any of these facts; he merely argues that Sowore had control over the article and that it defames him. The specific statements Ugwuonye deems defamatory are as follows:

(11) “Falsely stated or implied that Plaintiff obtained a power of attorney from his client for the purpose of improperly withholding his client’s funds.”

Based on the same rationale discussed in respect to Statements 5 and 8, no reasonable trier of fact could find that this statement was made with actual malice.

(12) “Falsely stated and implied that Plaintiff revived the charter of his company in a deceptive and improper manner for the purpose of Nigerian Government’s real estate transaction.”

Ugwuonye mischaracterizes the article. The article states that Ugwuonye revived his companies in time to do work for the Nigerian Embassy (which Ugwuonye does not dispute). The article does not contain any statement or even any implication that Ugwuonye revived the charter of his companies in a deceptive or improper manner. The actual statements, taken in context, quite simply, do not have a defamatory meaning and appear substantially true.

(13) “Falsely stated and implied that an official at the office of the State Comptroller in Maryland made disparaging remarks against the person of Plaintiff and his business practices.”

Sowore offers sworn testimony that statement 13 is an accurate report of his exchange with a Maryland State Comptroller employee, who told him that Ugwuonye was a “deadbeat resident agent” because his corporate charters had been repeatedly forfeited based on failure to pay taxes. Ugwuonye does not dispute that he failed to pay taxes for his companies or that his corporate charters had been forfeited. While he may feel that his characterization as a “deadbeat” is harsh, a dictionary definition of the term, namely, “a person who does not pay debts or financial obligations” (see Black’s Law Dictionary (9th ed. 2009)), does not unfairly characterize Ugwuonye’s situation with respect to the corporate charters. This statement could not have been made with actual malice.

VI.

Statement 14, which refers to an August 3, 2010 Sahareporters.com article bearing the byline of Ugwuonye’s sister, Ifesinachi Ugwuonye, 7 is as follows:

(14) “[F]alsely stating and implying that Plaintiff is a thief and an adulterer and a person that Plaintiff [sic] engages in acts that involve moral turpitude.”

Sowore has testified that the article was widely circulated in Nigerian online forums before he published it. Ugwuonye asserts in his opposition that Sowore received this article from Aluko and published it without doing any investigation. Ugwuonye also asserts that Sowore initially attempted to get an individual named Carlisle Umunnah to publish the article on his website, but that Umunnah declined because it was a “false story” and specifically told Sowore not to publish it.

8 The article in question was written by Ugwuonye’s sister, who has testified she believes the information in the article is true. Sowore, when he published the report, also believed it was true, and had little cause to believe otherwise. The statement, after all, came from Ugwuonye’s sister.

Thus, even if Sowore knew that Ugwuonye and Ifesinachi were on bad terms, the fact that the sister of a public figure was making such extreme allegations against her brother—a public figure after all—would be newsworthy in and of itself. See Campbell v. Seabury Press,
614 F.2d 395 (5th Cir. 1980) (private life of public figure who was married to author’s brother

7 The Court, in order to avoid confusion and intending no disrespect, will refer to Ifesinachi
Ugwuonye by her first name.

8 What Umunnah may have said to Sowore and when he said it is hardly relevant to whether or not the publication was defamatory. Similarly, whether Aluko was the source of the article has no relevance to that question.

was legitimately within public interest); Berg v. Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co., 79 F. Supp.

957 (D. Minn. 1948) (family members litigating against each other newsworthy). So right or wrong, publication of the statement could not have been made with reckless disregard of the fact that it was a sister making the allegations. Beyond that, from a policy standpoint it would seem distinctly inappropriate and unfair to sustain a defamation claim against a third-party for publishing an article written by the complainant’s own sister, particularly when the complainant has not sued the sister. The possibility for collusion and extortion by the family—any family— against a third party would be unacceptable.
VII.

For the reasons discussed above, this Court GRANTS Sowore’s Motion for Summary

Judgment as to all counts. A separate Order will ISSUE.

/s/
PETER J. MESSITTE November 20, 2012 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/us-judge-dismisses-ugwuonye%E2%80%99s-suit-against-saharareporters

Equipment fails at refurbished Lagos airport terminal

November 26, 2012 by OYETUNJI ABIOYE 29 Comments


A month after the refurbished General Aviation Terminal or domestic terminal of the Lagos airport was inaugurated, its effective performance is being hampered by faulty cooling and conveyor systems, OYETUNJI ABIOYE writes.

Over one month after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, opened the remodelled new domestic terminal of the Lagos airport as a measure to relieve the pains experienced by passengers, the multimillion naira facility has yet to be put into normal operation due to technical hitches, investigation by our correspondent has revealed.

The facility, which was opened on October 22, 2012, it was gathered, might not be ready for regular use at least in the next three to four weeks.

According to findings by our correspondent, the cooling system is somehow faulty, while none of the two baggage conveyor belts in the departure and arrival halls is operational, thus restraining the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria from putting the facility into normal use.

More than one month after its inauguration, only arrival passengers were being cleared through the terminal from the facility.

However, pressure from the media was said to have forced FAAN to open the facility for normal use on Friday. But a top FAAN official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak, confirmed that the facility was far from being ready for use.

When our correspondent visited the facility in the afternoon on Sunday, passengers and airline officials were seen sweating under intense heat. Some of the airline officials were seen installing industrial fans to keep the place cool.

It was also observed that the baggage conveyor belts at the departure and arrival halls were not working.

The entire departure and arrival terminal portrayed a picture of dishevelled operations, as checked-in baggage was manually carried from check-in desks to the baggage screening machine by some men.

Some passengers, who spoke to our correspondent, said apart from having a new building, the hardships and pains encountered in the initial make-shift canopies provided before the refurbishment were still being experienced in the new terminal.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the government in a bid to quickly complete and inaugurate the project, had jettisoned the plan to install the standard central cooling system, called chillers and found at airport terminals across the world, in the facility.

Consequently, the split units of air conditioners were later introduced as a hurried measure to finish the project.

According to findings, the development has, however, brought about performance hitches, which have forced FAAN to suspend putting the facility into normal use.

Specifically, it was gathered that about 50 per cent of the split AC units installed inside the terminal in place of the standard central chillers had yet to start working, thus making the arrival and departure halls to be very hot.

The development has been cited as one of the reasons the departure and arrival halls of the terminal were very hot on the day of the inauguration. Our correspondent, who also attended the inauguration ceremony, recalled that standing fans were used to keep the terminal bearable for invited guests during the short programme

However, a top aviation official said the contractors had been working round the clock to ensure that the remaining split air conditioning units become operational, at least, within the next one month.

A source close to the situation said, “The contractor has yet to hand over the GAT facility to FAAN, even though it has been inaugurated. The truth is that there are issues with the cooling system. They are working round the clock to fix it.

“Going by the initial plan, which is the standard thing for an airport terminal facility like this, the new GAT was meant to be installed with normal airport cooling system called chillers. But the plan was altered because the ministry wanted the project to be completed on time.

“The contractors told them that if they wanted the facility to be installed with the chillers, it would take at least two years to complete. This is because it will take time to install the chilling system.

“But because they wanted something they could quickly inaugurate, the government jettisoned that plan and came up with this patch up plan by installing AC units, which are not expected to be seen in a standard airport facility like this.”

FAAN officials told our correspondent that plans were on to also bring in some units of industrial ACs into the terminal to enable flight operations to commence in the new General Aviation Terminal before Christmas.

According to insider sources, the industrial AC units are part of those that FAAN is using under the make-shift canopies being used for flight operations when the new terminal was being constructed.

Industry stakeholders, however, said it would be a disgrace for FAAN to be using industrial AC units in “a modern terminal built for N648m.”

Another hitch facing FAAN over the new GAT facility has to do with the fact that the contractor has ordered for a wrong motor that cannot power the conveyor belts at the departure hall.

Findings revealed that the capacity of the electric motor that should have been ordered from China to power the conveyor belt was 350 volts, whereas the one brought was less than 250 volts.

However, FAAN officials gave an assurance that the right electric motor had been ordered and would arrive in the country in one month.

A similar fate had befallen the Murtala Muhammed Terminal Two built by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services in 2007.

It was alleged that the central chillers at the facility were not effective because of pressure to quickly get it completed and inaugurated in April 2007 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was to leave office in May.

However, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said the new GAT had been put into partial use.

On why the agency installed packaging AC units instead of the standard central chillers, Dati said, “On the cooling system, the technical experts are exploiting the best options available for the cooling of the Terminal 1. Being a facility of world-class standard, it is pertinent to also install commensurate cooling system befitting of such an edifice.”

On why the departure hall’s conveyor belts were not working, he said, “While it is noteworthy to state that the installation of conveyor belts has been completed, a small but major challenge we are currently facing is that the output capacity of our power supply is higher than what is obtained in the motor of the belts.

“Efforts have been concluded to get a step-down transformer to suit that purpose.”

The FAAN spokesman said the facility would be fully operational before Christmas.

“I wish to reiterate that start-up operational problems are common in construction and gaps discovered are being addressed immediately in conjunction with the contractor, who is still on site,” he added.

http://www.punchng.com/news/faulty-equipment-hampers-refurbished-lagos-airport-terminals-operations/

Jesus for love, Jesus for money
On November 24, 2012 · In My World 12:30 am 4

By Muyiwa Adetiba
If you were fed on a diet of James Hardly Chase, Sydney Sheldon and Harold Robbins as some of us were in the seventies or thereabout, you probably would have come across ‘The Spellbinder’, one of Harold Robbins latter novels.

It was a novel that came out at the advent of the tele evangelism in the US, and it tried to capture this growing phenomenon.

It had different sections including ‘Jesus for love’, and ‘Jesus for money’ which is the title for this week’s column. It was, briefly, a story of a young man who was consumed by his zeal and love for Christ.

He was also, a charismatic and fiery preacher. But to get the kind of audience that his talent required, he needed to be on TV. Unfortunately, TV slots in the US, have never come cheap. (Ask Obama and Romney) .

Then a group of men who saw beyond this man’s love for Jesus came up. They saw a potential. They saw a young, charismatic orator who could bring in top dollars, and were willing to invest in that potential.

Inevitably, the man became a willing captive, and Jesus for love became Jesus for money. After all, bills have to be paid. And like one famous man of God once said, ‘you can’t serve God on Halleluyah alone’.

Once tele evangelism took root in the US, it was inevitable that it would come down to Nigeria where the people needed its message of hope, faith, positive thinking and prosperity.

The messengers themselves, felt obliged to become symbols of their prosperity messages by looking like successful Hollywood stars all the time.

The more successive governments impoverished the people, the more the people came to rely on prosperity message.

All you needed to do, according to the message, was sow your seeds in tithes, first fruits, harvests, and church donations then watch the seeds germinate and grow into mighty oak trees.

The more the hospitals became consulting clinics and mortuaries, the more Nigerians keyed into miracles of healing and fertility. The more people lost hope in the system, the more churches sprouted and grew.

Warehouses that should generate employment, were converted into churches. Smaller churches were pulled down to make way for bigger ones.

More like the man in the Bible who, on realising that his farm had yielded more produce, decided to pull down his barn so as to build a bigger one. But Jesus told him, just as he is telling us, that his treasure should be in heaven.

We forget that the hood does not make a monk, and bigger churches do not automatically translate into the temple of God; just as a house does not become a home because it has a roof and some furniture.

We forget also, that the lifestyle of the early apostles is there to serve as a model, and the lives of the departed saints should instruct us on austere and disciplined living. These were people, like Mother Theresa, who identified with the poorest of the poor.

Of course, when you become more focused on financial growth than spiritual growth, when you move from feeding the flock to fleecing the flock, when this year’s harvest must be more than last year’s harvest, when you translate from Jesus for love to Jesus for money, then no matter how well intentioned you started out with, your spiritual standard is bound to be lowered.

Money launderers and conscience launderers will infiltrate your church; and the church will become like the Asian churches in the book of Revelations which the Lord promised to spew out.

The spirit says ‘ you think you are rich with your big church, fine apparel and private jet. But you are wretchedly poor, naked and blind.’

There are places of worship in every corner these days, yet corruption and crime are growing unabated. If these places of worship are not correcting the ills of the society, then what are they there for? After all, if salt loses its saltiness then we should throw it into the sea.

These places of worship have the power to arrest the moral decline in the country because they control such a large captive audience. Its not for nought that a general overseer was named one of the top 50 most influential people in the world.

But they finance their many projects by taking money from the corrupt rich. They flaunt wealth and materialism. They befriend the rich and tolerate the poor thus losing their moral influence.

The effect is that a young man grows up to see poverty as the ultimate sin and wealth as the reward of God’s favour. Nobody is deemed to be successful unless he is rich.

When Pastor Tunde Bakare raised the alarm that a revolution might start with the house of the Lord, some people started calling for his head. What he is decrying goes beyond the acquisition of private jets.

It goes directly to the mindset of those ‘men of god’ who are living lavishly in the midst of poverty; those who emphasize materialism instead of deemphasizing it.Those who think Pastor Bakare is an alarmist should read 1Peter 4; 17 on God’s promise of judgement on men of God.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/jesus-for-love-jesus-for-money/

Governor Yakowa’ s Convoy Kills Poor Orange Seller In Kaduna

Posted: November 24, 2012 - 02:24

By SaharaReporters, New York
A roadside orange seller was killed on Thursday by a high-speed convoy belonging to Kaduna State governor, Patrick Yakowa, the victim of a car carrying one of his commissioners.

And despite efforts to kill the story in the Nigerian media, an angry Kaduna resident who called SaharaReporters confirmed that the governor’s convoy not only killed the orange seller in a high-speed race in Kaduna town, but that the governor did not stop upon learning that his commissioner’s car was involved in the accident.

The source said, “It was Governor Yakowa’s convoy and their crazy speeding convoy, around Barnawa area in Kaduna that killed the innocent orange seller. The governor did not even cared to see for himself, rather only a car in the convoy that stopped to attend to the need. And we watched as the orange seller died. Everyday this convoy are harassing innocent users of our public roads, it is uncivil and inhuman as they always molest drivers.”

A security official in Kaduna, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to SaharaReporters that the commissioner involved was Alhaji Suleiman Richifa, the Commissioner of Works and Transport.


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/governor-yakowa%E2%80%99-s-convoy-kills-poor-orange-seller-kaduna

When You Fight Power, It Fights You Back — Sowore Of Sahara Reporters

Thursday, 22 November 2012 16:57 Written by Ahaoma Kanu/NVS

Their brand of journalism marks them out for constant official scrutiny. The name Sahara Reporters means different things to different people. While some credit it with having changed the face of online journalism in Nigeria, others see it as precursors of a brand of confrontational in-your-face journalism which most of the later entrants have abused.


Take it or leave it, Sahara Reporters has earned a reputation as having had the courage to take on every government that has come into power since Nigeria's return to democracy 13 years ago. Some see it as having neither friends nor enemies in the dispensation of its duties, others see it as highly opinionated, but whichever shade of the argument you see it from, it has become a force to reckon with in the Nigerian media industry.

Operating from its Seventh floor office in West 29th Street in Manhattan, New York, OMOYELE SOWORE transmits both Sahara Reporters and Sahara TV, feeding a host of Nigerians with breaking news.

National Daily's Head, Special Investigation and Crime Desk, AHAOMA KANU, was at the Sahara Reporters Head office in New York and had this interview with the man behind this citizen journalism movement.

Excerpts:

SAHARA Reporters and Sahara TV have become so huge in followership, readers and viewers that I want to ask if it is becoming a corporation.

I am uncomfortable describing what we are doing here as a corporation because it will look like we are part of a conspiracy to take away people's power by way of making profit. No, it is not a corporation but a compact platform for citizen reporters' movement; I will love to call this a media movement as opposed to being a corporation, that's the way I see it. I don't know if it's huge yet but I think it's an idea whose time has come in the sense that Nigerian citizens and by extension, African citizens, have found an alternative avenue to voice their opinions .This is what I love to call the main street media as against mainstream media. Another word that I love to use is disruptive media; it disrupts the official formal means of mass communication and gives power back to ordinary citizens to decide how their news is written, presented and told. And also, because of its interactive nature, people have a way of determining how the final news reaches the final consumers. So we find ourselves in a situation where people who otherwise are consumers of news have become producers of news.

What would you say is behind the drive?

Again, I will like to say that the time of this particular idea has come and it's just the timing first and foremost. I also don't want to ignore the fact that people made a lot of sacrifices and contributions. I said in a recent conference that part of the reason why SR was successful is because Nigeria is a bad place for governance, there are a lot of people in government who actually prefer better governance than they have. It is from these kinds of people we get information that are later processed and re-transmitted to the ordinary citizens and they take it and run. I hate when I read news and I see this all the time, the person who committed a crime is unnamed, the victim of the crime is unnamed because your news was written by lawyers. No, I want specifics; I am not afraid. In a lot of times, the issue of news reporting in a continent like Africa is not about law; it's about justice. And sometimes, in some cases, reporting news in a justifiable way will have to go beyond the boundaries of law. So, the motivation is this, I come from an activism background; I used to be a student activist in the 90s and I always wished that newspapers could do more. And when newspapers went out of business in my opinion, digital media came in.

(Cuts in) Which year did that happen in your opinion?

I don't know exactly but I will love to say that newspapers have gone to the museum and it's the best place it should be.

Can you be specific?

I think in the mid 2000s newspapers began to fade out and I say this because I know statistically today that even the best newspaper don't have more than 120,000 people subscribing to them. But if we publish a breaking news story that affects a lot of people, an investigative piece that reveals government secrets, within an hour of our publication, we can get up to 200,000 people viewing that particular story. It makes it possible for us to get up to 8 million page viewing in a month.

You studied Geography as a first degree, when did the transformation to journalism happen?

Yes I studied Geography at the University of Lagos and I will tell you that my interest was on Ground water Hydrology; if anything in this world interests me it is how to provide water to ordinary people on a regional basis. That was what I wanted to do when I graduated from the University of Lagos. When I came to the United States, I actually went to Columbia University School of International Studies to study Public Administration; my interest was to protect the interest of ordinary people by using public policy but I have never practiced any of those things. I developed interest in the media when I found out that every person can actually publish and, you didn't mention it, my first trial was with Elendu Reports. I had this guy that I had never met before, Jonathan Elendu and we started publishing. What we were doing around the world was going around the world looking for properties owned by Nigerian officials, taking the pictures of those properties and extracting from public information outlets and publish them. In fact, the person that made me popular was Orji Kalu the former Governor of Abia State then. He granted me an interview saying that Olusegun Obasanjo was very corrupt and a killer and I published it through the Guardian. The moment the news hit the stands, he (Orji Kalu) denied it; he said he never talked to Sowore, he is a strange element. That was how I started. The real coming to light of this brand of journalism was when I was travelling to Nigeria by sneaking through Benin Republic and I met Olugbenga Obasanjo. The reason we met was that he was travelling to avoid publicity in Benin Republic while I was travelling to avoid arrest; we met at the border. I had been arrested by the Customs but they did not really know who I was; they wanted to collect bribe from me for the goods that they thought was contraband. He met me and asked the Custom officers to release me. When we were discussing and I mentioned who I was, he was shocked and said, “I know you. You write those crazy things about my dad.” And I did not deny it. He then said, he love one thing we did, “when you were writing your news about my brother buying a house at Brooklyn, you said it wasn't me but the Nigeria media said it was Gbenga Obasanjo and I think you did a good job on that.” That was how we kind of merged together and he took me in his car and for four hours we talked and I published everything he told me and that changed the entire media industry in Nigeria as at 2005. By February 2006, we started publishing SR because by then, my colleague, Jonathan Elendu, had decided on a different trajectory; he wanted to become a consultant for politicians which I was not cut out for.

Let's look at the ideology behind SR, many are of the opinion that SR focuses more on the negatives while ignoring the positives, what's your take on that?

No, I disagree with that. I think that it is an excuse for mis-governance for people to talk about the negatives and positives. One thing I have always told people is that if governance is positive, you cannot make a negative version of it but if governance is negative, you cannot make a positive of it. A lot of people have fallen into the baloney that you can just put Nigeria as the giant of Africa in this fake place where you can say we are doing so well but we have no roads; we are doing so well and we have no hospitals; we are doing so well and we have no schools; we are doing so well and there is no hope, there is no infant mortality care; we can't take care of our pregnant women; we are doing so well and we have no electricity, no water. Even if you combine all these scenarios that I have just mentioned, you have to be a magician to present Nigeria in a positive way. But some few elitist young people feel that you have to present the fake and fallacious Nigeria. I am saying that that doesn't last for five seconds. One of the things that I ask for and we practice here is if somebody is going to talk about Nigeria being a fake state, a failed nation, I want it to be from a Nigerian; I don't want it to be a CNN reporter; I don't want it to be an Al-Jazeera reporter. Let it come from the mouth of Nigerians and say look we prefer and deserve a better nation and not to say that when the desirable is not available, the available becomes the desirable.

When you started this movement called SR, did you think it will get this far?

I didn't know; I was surprised. I started SR to see if I could have a platform to catch up with the rest of the world and it turned out to be the thing the rest of the world is trying to catch up with because I found our news to be headline news on CNN, BBC and you know, think about all the mainstream media; they cashed in on our breaking news. You know we had the UN building bombing of August 26th 2011 and everybody used our pictures when the reporters couldn't get there. We had the Nigerian underwear bomber, Abdumutallab and nobody knew who he was until we published his picture.

Talking about that particular incident, the underwear bomber, how did you feel seeing CNN use the picture you published of that young man?

I didn't know until I started getting calls that we were on CNN and BBC.

How did you get that picture so fast when even big media organizations in the United States could not get it?

It's very simple and I will reveal it for the first time to you today. It was a difficult but strategic decision. We have citizen reporters that we communicate with and we said to them on that day, “there is a guy who is Nigerian and has been accused of trying to bomb an airline, do you know him?” And we sent out emails to all our supporters. Someone got back and said, I went to school with him in Togo. And before we knew it, five minutes later, we got a class photograph were he appeared. We cropped out his face and put it on. Five minutes later, it was on CNN and because CNN referenced us, our website shut down because it was being accessed by so many people. So that was how it started. But don't forget that before the underwear bomber, we also had pictures of Yar Adua's son holding a gun in Aso Rock.

You have stepped on so many toes with your expository stories on corruption and corrupt government officials, are you not afraid for your life considering that some of these persons being exposed are influential and may put a prize on your head to get you assassinated even here in New York?

I have said this before, if you are ever afraid of death or assassination or threat to your life, you should never go after powerful people. I have said to myself, we have been at the receiving end of fear, intimidation, threats and danger; it is time we turn that around. And we have had a simple tool of technology, digital technology to turn that around and that's what I did. It is time that the people who are actually the consummate criminals start being afraid of the people who are being robbed, being deprived and denigrated. And that's what the tool is about for me, to turn the engine of fear on the perpetrators of fear, perpetrators of corruption and fraud. And that's why I do this. If I were to be killed today, I will be a happy man.

As a reporter that covers crime investigations, I know the essence of security, it was so easy to walk into your office here in New York; there were no guards, security doors and all that, how careful are you with your security?

I am happy you said you are a crime reporter and you investigate crime even in Nigeria. Now tell me how many bodyguards you have to protect yourself against the people you investigate? Perhaps nothing; you came here without a bodyguard too. My best bodyguard is my conscience and I have said it before, if you want to fight power, you can't afford to invest too much on bodyguards because when the chips are down bodyguards would disappear even bulletproof vest would not work. So I will say again that if they are to catch up with me, I will be a happy man that has lived a life of fulfilment. When Martin Luther King Jnr was killed, they found the heart of a 60 year old in a 39 year old body.

So many people back in Nigeria believe that you are kind of involved in some spiritual protection schemes courtesy of what you wear, do you patronize such?

No. Everything you see me wear is for African Pride. Somebody asked me one day why I wear all these things and I said because it's cheap. If I were to be wearing a golden necklace, nobody would ever ask me that; if these were gold, I would earn respect and adulations for wearing golden cowries. If I were to wear six golden cowries, everybody would love to just have a handshake with me; if my tooth were to be made of gold, people will love me. But I am saying this is made in Africa; poor people make these on the streets and I patronize them, I love them. If anybody thinks that any of these things can save you, that person is not only stupid but unscientific. I also wear a cross by the way which was given to me by a friend and the reason why I wear a cross is not because I am religious.

How religious are you?

I have no religious inclination.

Are you a Christian?

No. I was born a Christian but I do not believe in organized religion.

Why?

It is because Christianity has become part of the corporate structure of the world.

What challenges do you have running SR?

Our biggest challenge is finding funding but we are in existence because we believed that once this works, it will take care of itself. But we have been lucky to have some U.S foundations supporting our work. That has made it possible for us to expand in our influence and existence. But it is not about that, the reason we are what we are today is not because we have any form of funding but because we have legitimacy, acceptance and integrity.

Do you get any kind of support from Nigeria for your operations and talking about getting support from U.S foundations, are you not afraid they might want to influence what you do?

No, if we don't tell you who our supporting foundations are you won't even know because we make it clear to even the foundations that you cannot tell us what to do and it is based on that agreement that we exist today. So nobody tells us what to do. But for your information, we also have some Nigerian corporations and businesses that are advertising on our website and supporting our work. And we are the only one, in my view, that can tell an advertiser what is possible. For example, if anybody is advertising, we make it clear just as Fela would do in those days, your advert money has no power over our editorial policy.

Some media organizations in Nigeria somehow lost the flame of their vibrancy following the elapsing of the military regime, what will it take for SR to follow similar route?

We are not going to mellow down. People always say that maybe if we have an Eldorado we will mellow down and the question I ask is, the U.S democracy has been around for many years and people are still protesting in 2012. People still go to the World Trade Organizations to occupy. So this is what it is about; governments can never be perfect and you need a media that is always scrutinizing the government for them to do the right thing. It is my hope for as long as I am alive that SR, Sahara TV or any other platform that is created from this concern continues to hold the feet of government to fire.

Looking at what you do, you should have a big library of archives, how big is that?

I don't know but everything is online and searchable.

To what extent would you say cyber attacks have affected your operations?

Every time we upload a story, it is duplicated in several places that it is sheer waste of time to hack the main site; we keep them in different places. We have them in hard drives, soft drives and even if the attack is coming, it is temporary.

How often do these attacks come?

It has reduced in frequency by the way because it has become a waste of time for people who attack us but the most important thing for us is to keep the spirit, lethal and electronic life of SR alive and this is by pre-duplication of every story. So even if you attack us, by the time we are back online, everything is intact and that's what's important.

You have had a couple of lawsuits and have gotten out and evaded all the suits, how has these happened?

It is not by way of evasion; all the lawsuits we had have somehow come from the Nigerian government. The first person to sue us is now the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Dr Paul Orhii. He actually got that job because he promised the Yar Adua government that he could shut us down. We got legal support and overcame him but he is having a good life in Nigeria stealing money as the rest of them. And we went on and got sued by another individual, Emeka Ugwuonye who helped the Nigerian government sell some real estate in Washington D.C and Maryland; that case is still in play. But the interesting thing is that the Nigerian government turned against him and now they are fighting themselves. But it was originally a lawsuit initiated by the Yar Adua government. The third person that sued us was actually pushed and supported by the Nigerian Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Prof. Joy Ogwu. He got indicted by the FBI in a different case and he abandoned the case he had with us. I am just giving you all these information so you can understand that all the legal issues we have are somehow been inspired and sponsored by the Nigeria government except that of Emeka Ugwuonye who is now caught up in this complex fight against the Nigerian government and the judge has not ruled finally. It is expected that when you fight power, it fights back and we are not an exception and we expect more of these will happen. Again, we are lucky in the sense that they are coming after us with lawsuits and assassinations but I know we will get there. You must have probably read from Boko Haram when they mentioned that they would come after us but none of these will deter us because it is not about our persons; it is not about our businesses; it is not about our corporate existence, it is about an idea whose time has come. Even if they kill all of us, another set of people will emerge.

Just mentioning Boko Haram, after the group mentioned SR in one of their broadcasts, it now seems that SR has become a kind of mouthpiece for Boko Haram. Is SRs reporting of Boko Haram activities not promotional for the group?

No, I think people misconceive our position; we have always been accused of promoting Boko Haram from the government side. The first time the government went and killed the leaders of Boko Haram extra judicially, we were the first to procure the video where they killed the leader of Boko Haram and said that this is extra judicial killing and it was going to come back and bite Nigeria. So we have always said it that human rights is a separate issue from law enforcement especially extra judicial law enforcement. So we have always been accused of supporting Boko Haram, in fact we were accused of supporting Buhari but those are small, little ways of blackmailing media houses and we understand it. And then, when Boko Haram was going overboard, for us it was a human rights issue and we did take on Boko Haram as an informal or extra governmental body perpetrating human rights abuses and that's why Boko Haram came after us. So what that tells you is that even if it is between government and Boko Haram, we will take on anybody that violates human rights.

If not reporting the activities of Boko Haram helps in a way to curtail their activities, will you toe that line of thought?

No, I think reporting all sides is very important because the government has tried to do it; they tried to prevent people from reporting Boko Haram as a way of stopping their activities but it has been over one year after that line of thought prevailed in Nigeria and Boko Haram has gotten stronger. In fact, we are known to be the only people who can say this is what Boko Haram is going to do. But don't forget, it's not just Boko Haram; when MEND was the problem; we were also known to be reporting MEND because we were in touch with these guys. As a matter of fact, on the day the Independence bombing was going to take place, we were aware of it and reported that MEND said they were going to attack. So for us, it is about alerting government to its responsibilities; it is about alerting everybody that needs to know what is happening. That is more important than those jargons about patriotism and several styles of keeping the media quiet.

How do you get your sources of news as some of the breaking news you have published come on few minutes after they occur for example the plane crash involving the Taraba State governor, how do you access these sources within seconds while you are here in New York?

That is part of what I was telling you earlier; as much as you may want to think of Nigeria as a hopeless situation, there are people who want a better government; people in official circles who want a better Nigeria and somehow, they align with us and we don't know them. Sometimes some of the best reports we get comes from anonymous sources but we have a duty to verify. As you mentioned, the Taraba State governor, there are people still harassing us that we said that the man died but he didn't die but the question we asked them is, how many times in Nigeria do plane crashes and people survive? And the guys who saw them said they were dead and helpless. In fact, it was our news story that led several government organizations to go after them to try and save them. But most importantly, the question I asked one guy is, have you heard from the Taraba State governor? Has he spoken? Is he alive? Is it normal? It is almost three weeks now and we have not heard from him. Because it was the same kind of scrutiny we were subjected to when Jonathan's wife was taken to the hospital; nobody in Nigeria knew that she was even in the hospital until we mentioned it. Even when we reported it, they came back to say she was on vacation but when she sauntered into Nigeria she said, God gave me a second chance and nobody took notice of that and I will ask her what happened to your first chance?

Coming to the Yar Adua issues, I got from sources that you were in Nigeria when the late president was on admission in a hospital in Saudi Arabia and that you were in Katsina with a member of the family acting as courier for you, how true is that?

No, I wasn't in Katsina but I was in Nigeria. We were right on point and knew what was happening on a daily basis. In fact, this made it possible for us to disprove Al-Jazeera when they reported that a cousin of Yar Adua was drinking tea with him. We said to Al-Jazeera that Yar Adua could not drink tea because he was brain dead and that was exactly what happened actually. Even when Oyedepo and the rest were made to see him from a distance, we were the only group that said that they lied and it turned out that few days after he died. Even if he was alive, they just kind of extended his life span on a thread so that it allows his wife, his family and his cronies to take care of business and we kept reporting this. It is the same thing with Mrs. Jonathan. I keep asking people where is she? How come she is no longer active these days even after she came back ceremoniously?

Are you not mindful of the methods you use to expose some of the persons you write about like Yar Adua you just mentioned, you once published a caricature picture of him on his sick bed and you call government officials names on TV and so on, don't you abide by media ethics? Does it matter to you?

No. The truth is that the whole media ethics thing is a caricature itself; it's meant to cover up the truth.

Is it here in the West or back home?

Even back home; have you ever seen the ethics of performance or operation by the media in Nigeria? Most likely you will never be shown one because one does not exist. Everybody just thinks esoterically of this media ethics but what does these media ethics help you do; it helps you to cover the truth. We take it a step further by ensuring that the truth is primary to us. Sometimes people don't like it; people don't want to hear it. What I tell people is the fact that the news story is unbelievable doesn't mean that's it is not true because sometimes, we write and publish stories people can't believe and they assume that because they can't believe it, it is not true. But in 95 per cent of the time, our stories have been true. The truth is that nobody is going to come back and tell me and tell me sorry for disbelieving you and we are not looking for sorry asses; we are looking for people who understand that the media has disappointed the populace and the media cannot be left in the hands of professionals anymore.

Looking at the kind of news you publish which the Nigeria government perceive as harsh and considering the fact that you once held political office as a student at the university, do you have any political intentions?

The Nigeria government doesn't like us but we will be greatly disappointed if we are their favourite news platform. But guess what, the Nigeria government also patronizes us; they send us their press releases and their pictures. We don't advertise for government because we believe that once a government is good it needs no advertisement. We do not accept a government advert, that's our position. Remember that there was a time the president was travelling and they sent us pictures that he was travelling and wasn't travelling through Germany. We researched on the photos and discovered they were pictures taken in 2011 and they had no response to that. What it tells you is that in an attempt to understand how we operate they are part and parcel of our machinery. We get a lot of photos to their credits and they send us press releases which they were not doing in the past. But now they have accepted that the citizen journalism platform is part of governance reporting process and they are doing that. I answer to your second question; I do not have political ambitions.

Will you accept political appointment of any nature?

No. I have said it to people that there is no political appointment more powerful than being able to take the government to fire. But I will say this though in a way without bragging and without being arrogant; there is no government that is better than any of us. We can run Nigeria better than Jonathan and his bunch of cronies.

If you are asked by Nigerians to stand for elective office, will you respect such request?

There is no Nigerian that will ask you to come for office; the moment somebody takes power, they are the ones asking you to take the position because assigning positions in Nigeria does not involve the citizens and that's what we are trying to change. I keep saying that we will get to a point when Nigerians will have a say and that's why we are doing what we are doing. If Nigerians want me to run for the presidency of Nigeria and run Nigeria in the most efficient and egalitarian manner, I will do it because I am convinced that you and I are better than some of the people running the country.


http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/newsflash/when-you-fight-power-it-fights-you-back-sowore-of-sahara-reporters.html
Omoyele Sowore

Jail is too good for Nigerian pastors

November 22, 2012 by Abimbola Adelakun

Recently, the Daily Mail, UK, had a feature on Bishop David Oyedepo. He was accused (alongside his son who ‘manages’ the UK branch) of fleecing worshippers by making “spurious claims” and “cynical exploitation of the gullible”.

The undercover journalist who visited the British church and the British MP who condemned him acted ignorant of the antithesis of faith and logicality when they expressed surprise about how people were urged to give more money in return for blessings that were neither guaranteed nor cognisant of the realities on ground.

The feature also talked about how much of the money creamed off these worshippers are being repatriated to Nigeria (which, in a perverse sense, is a positive development!)

The same Daily Mail, weeks before, ran a feature on another Nigerian pastor in the same UK, Alex Omokodu, (who claims on his website to have raised the dead twice) and another Pastor Mbenga of the Victorious Pentecostal Assembly who scam worshippers by selling olive oil and black currant drink at double the market rate as “miracle cures”, capable of curing terminal diseases.

Like Oyedepo, Omokodu lives large, far removed from the mess he makes of peoples’ lives.

My visceral reaction at those articles was to defend my countrymen against a searchlight that might have been beamed with a racist undertone. I mean, Daily Mail suddenly woke up and realised religion is exploitative? Wow!

Isn’t that what religion has been all about for many centuries? How can we say that what Oyedepo and Mbenga are accused of peddling different from the Pope’s selling of Indulgences in the 16th Century? Religion plays on fear to rip-off poor and miserable people in the name of God. And the irony is, the more people are deceived, the more devoted they become. So, what’s new? From appropriating people’s money to shoplifting condoms to forcing youths to have sex, what have church leaders not done?

If people have refused to read History books that teach us that religion came to us riding on the back of exploitation and politics, why, with the celebrated cases of Jim Bakker, Eddie Long and Benny Hinn among others, do people still throng churches and sponsor their pastors’ excesses out of their poverty? Why has the case of financial scandals involving the creators of TBN Channel -some of which are so disgusting- not caused a mass boycott of these hawkers of falsehood? Why does it spur people to defensiveness instead?

Why did somebody like Jesu Oyingbo have followership in the first place and why didn’t people walk out on Pastor Chris Oyakhilome when he charged gate fees before one could attend service? Seriously, who should take the blame? The person who sells snake oil or the one who finds a psychic relief (however temporary) from buying?

Take the case of Pastor Enoch Adeboye: On his church website, Adeboye claims God told him He had no choice but to keep Covenant Partners alive for 10 years because they were giving to Him within that period. This takes ideas of bizarre and outlandish to another height entirely.

One, a god is meant to earn his keep but Adeboye’s is one whose services people have to pay for, never mind that billions who are not his covenant partners are not only alive, but live considerably better lives elsewhere. Two, can Adeboye, personally, account for every single one of his covenant partners and that in those last 10 years, not a single one died? Can he? We are used to Nigerian judges and politicians saying that their hands are tied, but God? That sounds like something from the mind of a freakish Nollywood screen-writer.

Since the news broke that Pastor Ayo Oritsejeafor has joined the league of Private Jet-Owning Pastors, there has been, thankfully, a sense of outrage at the excesses of Nigerian pastors.

For the record, let me state that Pastor Oritsejeafor is not a good poster boy for Christianity (never mind the various caps he wears, anyone can be anything in Nigeria’s Pentecostalism). I make this point – debatable, of course- not just because of his Bling Bling jewellery like 50 Cents or even his bond with the present occupant of Aso Rock Villa; there is something about him –and I came to this conclusion after watching him raise an offering on Cable TV- that doesn’t seem to me would wait for God to supply all his ‘greeds’ according to his riches and glory.

His private jet was presented while he was sandwiched, like Jesus between two thieves, in the presence of a President who bizarrely declared he couldn’t see how corruption and road accidents are interlinked and, a governor whose public morals fall below average. Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah could not have put it better: Oritsejeafor’s moral authority is undermined by these dalliances.

The issue is, religion, exploitation and subsequent scandals will not go away. Not in this generation. Not even in this world. As long as there is that primitive instinct in man to seek the supernatural, to seek God and the fear of death is constantly shaken before our eyes, people will continue to subject themselves to exploitative pastors to use as they like.

But the good thing Oritsejeafor has done for us is that he created a conversation; Oyedepo, Omokodu and other sellers of 21st Century Indulgences keep exposing the underbelly of these merchant-pastors; but whether this will translate into a rationality that will cause Nigerians to slow down on the ill-logic of tolerating these pastors’ shenanigans remains to be seen.

It takes more than throwing pastors in jail for their followers to be set free from the mind-prison they are ensconced in. Religion and political power are intertwined in many ways that make this impossible to begin with at all. History shows that, for instance, with an Industrial Revolution, the process creates a ripple effect that bleaches people of primitiveness to transcend religious superstitions while forging a better society that is not predicated on dogmatic concepts of theodicy which religion propagates. When that day comes in Nigeria, and even Africa, these pastors will wilfully choose jail as rescue from irrelevance the times would banish them.

But here’s the problem: These pastors know that with Nigeria’s developmental progress comes their end. And they are actively complicit in the dysfunctionality of Nigeria to extend their own longevity.

http://www.punchng.com/viewpoint/jail-is-too-good-for-nigerian-pastors/

Handicapped Lawyer Says He Was Beaten Up At Presidential Committee Hearing

Posted: November 20, 2012 - 18:30

By SaharaReporters, New York
A handicapped lawyer, Mr. Chinedu Anaje was yesterday beaten up and thrown out of the office of the Chairman of a Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices. Anaje, a Lagos-based legal practitioner was there to represent Hyundai Nigeria Limited on the invitation of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

The Committee was looking into a petition brought by Primlacks Galvanizing Nigeria Limited against Hyundai Nigeria Ltd. Primlacks had alleged “forgery, betrayal of trust and other trade malpractices” against Hyundai. Mr. Anaje was invited to give his perspective on the allegation.

Saharareporters source said that trouble started when Anaje informed the committee chairman, Mallam Dahiru Ado-Kurawa that the matter under discussion was pending in a competent court of law, and as such it should not be deliberated upon pending court decision. Anaje’s counsel did not go well with the chairman of the committee. “They felt uncomfortable with that,” Mr. Anaje told Saharareporters. “The chairman asked me to leave his office. They wanted to kick me out and then detain my client of which they had no such powers.”

According to Anaje, before he could say jack, three lieutenants of the chairman pounced on him, pushed him down and dragged him out of the office. “One kicked me on the ass,” he said. “One had to hold me by the neck. They tore the button of my shirt. I was on the floor, and they were dragging me.”

Mr. Anaje sustained injuries on his bad leg. He said he would be going to an orthopedic hospital to see a doctor.

Speaking further to Saharareporters about his ordeal, Mr. Anaje said, “I’m actually taking legal action against them. It is uncalled for. It is the height of barbarism.”

Nigeria has a long history of poor treatment of disabled individuals. The Nigerian Disability Bill, an act to enhance the dignity of disabled individuals has been languishing in the National Assembly for years. Most public buildings in Nigeria do not have handicap access.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/handicapped-lawyer-says-he-was-beaten-presidential-committee-hearing

Bishop Hassan Kukah

Pastors with private jets an embarrassment –Bishop Kukah

Posted by: Sunday Oguntola Posted date: November 18, 2012 In: Featured, News | comment : 91

The acquisition of private jets by Christian leaders diminishes the moral voice of the church in the fight against corruption, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Matthew Kukah, declared yesterday.

He spoke against the backdrop of the presentation of a private jet to the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, by members of his church during the celebration of his 40th anniversary in the ministry penultimate Saturday.

Kukah, who was guest speaker at the annual Founder’s Day Anniversary lecture of Providence Baptist Church in Lagos, described exhibition of such opulence by church leaders as embarrassing.

The fiery cleric who spoke on ‘Church and the state in the pursuit of the common good’, said: “The stories of corrupt men and women being given recognition by their churches or mosques as gallant sons and daughters and the embarrassing stories of pastors displaying conspicuous wealth as we hear from the purchases of private jets and so on clearly diminish our moral voice.”

Kukah, who was represented by the Administrator of Holy Cross Cathedral Lagos, Rev. Monsignor Pascal Nwaezeapu, also expressed displeasure with the perceived closeness of the CAN leadership to the corridors of powers.

He said such alliance will weaken the ability of the church to speak the truth to elected public office holders.

According to him: “CAN has become more visible in relation to national prayer sessions, pilgrimages, alliances with state power and so on.

“Unless we distance ourselves, we cannot speak the truth to power. We cannot hear the wails of the poor and the weak. We should not be seen as playing the praying wing of the party in power.”

He challenged the church to speak against corruption in low and high places, saying such responsibility must never be jettisoned for any reason.

Apart from Orisejafor, other church leaders who own private jets include Founder of Living Faith Ministries, Bishop David Oyedepo; General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye; Founder of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Bishop Mike Okonkwo and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy Church.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/pastors-with-private-jets-an-embarrassment-bishop-kukah/

$11bn cash taken abroad through Nigerian airports — Sanusi
November 16, 2012 by Okechukwu Nnodim 14 Comments

CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, has said that about $11bn (N1.73tn) has been taken out of the country through the airports this year, a development he describes as worrisome.

Sanusi, while speaking at an event organised by Bank Directors Association of Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday, wondered why many Nigerians now preferred carrying out transactions with the United States dollar at the expense of the local currency, the naira.

According to him, the dollar is becoming the country’s second currency based on its usage, adding that the central bank’s aim for contemplating the introduction of the N5,000 bill was to address the development.

He said, “In this country, almost everybody uses the dollar. This year alone, the records we have based on the declared amount at the airports is getting to about $11bn in cash that was taken out of Nigeria.

“Why would anyone walk out of an airport with $5m? Well, they will say is because the law has made it clear that you can take any amount so long as you have declared it and I cannot stop you. These are some of the issues we wanted the introduction of the N5,000 note to address.”

Sanusi said the planned introduction of the N5,000 bills was part of a thought process aimed also at driving the cash-less policy initiative.

He said, “If people want to carry N15m, they go to Bureau De Change and change it into dollars. You give them $100,000 and that is about N15m. The dollar has become a second national currency. Barely two months ago in Zambia, the nation passed a law stating that anyone who refuses to accept its local currency and who charges for a transaction in a foreign currency goes to jail for 10 years.

“But you come to Nigeria and you see people paying their children’s school fees in dollars. We laugh about this but it is an important issue. Can you go to America and buy something using pounds sterling? Or you go to Tokyo and use dollar and see if the hotel will accept the currency? Before they will transact with you, you must change it into their local currency.

“So, this is a problem, and it is apart from the fact that we are in a country where monetary and economic policies have been subjects to popular vote. In fact, it is not an election! If I want popular vote, I will go and contest for the chairman of a local government. Everybody is an economist, a central bank governor and many more.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/11bn-cash-taken-abroad-through-nigerian-airports-sanusi/

‘Fuel scarcity to last till next year’
Posted by: Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja Posted date: November 15, 2012 In: Business, Featured | comment : 6
The lingering fuel scarcity in the country is expected to last till next year, a report of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), has indicated.

The report listed outstanding debts of over N141billion owed oil marketings as one of the reason for fuel scarcity in the country.

The report, which blamed the Mnister of Finance, Dr Okonjo Ngozi-Iweala and the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) for the scarcity, said the debts have discouraged petroleum marketers from further importion, given that banks are no more willing to extend further credit to them.

These disclosures are contained in the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) on the re-occurrence of long queues in filling stations across the country.

It said Nigerians should be prepared for an extended scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) as commercial banks are no longer willing to give credit facilities to petroleum products’ marketers.

In addition, the Committee said System 2B, which distributes about 70 per cent of petroleum products from Lagos, Mosimi, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ore and Ilorin has collapsed, and has affected the petroleum product distribution system.

The report was presented to the House yesterday by the Chairman of the Committee, Dakuku Peterside.

In the executive summary of the report obtained by The Nation, the Committee expressed fears that due to a number of factors, “the current scarcity will last for a fairly long time beyond the first quarter of next year.”

The committee said apart from the the Ministry of Finance withholding payments of marketers under investigation, there was inadequate provision in the 2012 budget for payment of subsidy. It said only N306billion was allocated to PMS in the N888billion set aside for payment of subsidy.

It said: “The delay in payment to petroleum marketers traceable to the Ministry of Finance is adversely affecting the availability of reduced and credit worthiness of marketers. At a point, it took not less than six months to process payment due importers.

“The collapse of Syatem 2B which distribute about 70 per cent of petroleum products starting from Lagos, Mosimi, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ore and Ilorin severely affected the distribution system.

“Too many inconclusive investigations are affecting the willingness of banks to give credit, and thus importers given allocations by PPPRA cannot perform. For instance, out of 37 companies that were given fourth quarter allocation, only 19 performed by bringing the product into the country.

“There is a marked decline in investment in the downstream sector due to very low profit margin that has been gradually building up due to lack of storage facilities as has been observed over time.”

The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance should as a matter of urgency, pay every marketer being owed and whose claims have been verified by all relevant authorities, adding that all necessary measures should be taken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to immediately fix fix the collapsed System.

“That in 2013 budget, the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) should be skewed in favour in PMS by the Ministry of Petroleum.

“That all investigations carried our by the Prsodency in the oil and gas industry should be concluded within a time limit.

“That PPPRA should give allocation to only marketers that had performed

“All necessary steps should be taken to determine the actual quantity of daily consumption of PMS that will enable the country plan ahead”.

It would be recalled that the Committee was mandated to carry out the investigation following the adoption of action by Bashir Baballe (PDP, Kano) on 7th November, 2012.

According to Pererside, the purpose of the report was to find out from relevant authorities why the country is experiencing fuel scarcity and profer ways of resolving the issues.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/business/fuel-scarcity-to-last-till-next-year/

N5.6b pipeline contract: sack fever grips ex-militants
Posted by: Shola O’Neil Posted date: November 15, 2012 In: Featured, News | comment : 28


There is anxiety among former militant youths and beneficiaries of the N5.6billion pipeline surveillance contract in the Niger Delta following report that President Goodluck Jonathan might not renew the contract.

The contract has been due for renewal since February, but it was gathered that the president is unwilling to renew it due to perceived failure of Alhaji Asari Dokubo, Boyloaf , Farah Dagogo and some other beneficiaries to justify the payment in Bayelsa and Rivers states where attacks on oil facilites have cripped crude oil production.

The development led to panic by about 5,000 pipeline guards, who besieged the offices of Oil Field Surveillance Limited, the contractor handling the project in Delta State.

Niger Delta activist, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, cautioned President Jonathan against bowing to pressure to suspend the multibillion naira contracts awarded to former militant leaders in the region. He said terminating the contract would lead to fresh crisis in the Niger Delta, worse that the Boko Haram insurgence.

Bebenimibo said, “I want to advise Mr. President against cancelling the surveillance contract because doing so would unleash a fresh crisis in the region. People have blamed the crisis of Boko Haram (in the north) on poverty; but I can assure you that Boko Haram will be a child’s play compared to what will happen here.

“This contract is vital to the President’s transformation agenda. I don’t agree that the contract failed in Delta State. Oil companies and security agencies will attest that incident of bunkering and vandalism have gone down drastically. It has also helped in maintaining peace and security in the Niger Delta region because over 10,000 youths are currently employed in the programme and laying them off will plunge them and their families further into poverty.

“In spite of the failures you talked about, the contract has led to steady rise in the volume of crude oil production, especially in Delta State, where it has recorded a huge degree of success,” he added.

Responding to our question on renewing the contract Bayelsa and Rivers where beneficiaries have failed to combat illegal bunkering, Bebenimibo advised the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to meet with the beneficiaries to forge a way forward, maintaining that cancellation would be counterproductive.

Besides, he called for the commencement of the other stages of the contract in Ondo, Edo and Akwa Ibom states in order to achieve the 30,000 employment slots earmarked in the original deal struck between Chief Ekpemupolo a.k.a Tompolo and the late former President Umar Yar’Adua.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/n5-6b-pipeline-contract-sack-fever-grips-ex-militants/

Fuel subsidy scam: Ubah’s travail injustice to Ndigbo – S-East CAN


By Tony Edike

ENUGU—Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, South East zone, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, yesterday, condemned in strong terms the recent attack launched against Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Industry Limited by the Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy.

He said the development had again exposed the injustice against Ndigbo and their economic interest.

Calling on the Federal Government to dissolve the Presidential Committee headed by Aig-Imoukhuede, which he accused of being biased, having engaged in what he called “selective negligence,” Chukwuma, who is Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, said available evidence had shown that “there is an act of intimidation and attempt to ruin the business of Ifeanyi Ubah.”

The CAN chairman, who also frowned on the refusal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Alome Mukthar to swear in Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo as Justice of the Court of Appeal and the ongoing conflict among leaders of All Progressives Grand Alliance, asked all Igbo at home and in Diaspora to rise up and save Ndigbo from “selective negligence, wickedness and attempts by some people to portray Igbo in bad light.

Noting that Ubah and his company had provided job opportunities to over 3,000 persons and made available petroleum products, particularly Kerosene and petrol, to the public, especially at the grassroots level, Bishop Chukwuma said Ubah had the potential of helping to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians during the festive period by ensuring adequate supply of petroleum products.

“All we are saying is that they should leave Ifeanyi Ubah alone. There is a lot of intimidation and injustice going on against him. The Federal Government should urgently intervene and ensure that Ubah, who has contributed so much to the petroleum sector, should please enjoy his peace. If there is any problem they have let them resolve it rather than public maligning, intimidation and destruction of character always targeted at Igbos,” he said.

“From my own personal investigation, this man (Ubah) has no case to answer. It is a matter of injustice and intimidation against him, which we don’t want. This was how Ibeto was almost strangulated as an Igbo businessman because they wanted to protect another man’s interest who was in cement business,” the Bishop added

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/fuel-subsidy-scam-ubahs-travail-injustice-to-ndigbo-s-east-can/

http://saharareporters.com/gallery/photonews-fuel-scarcity-throttles-abuja-residents-businesses-government-silent

The acute shortage of petrol in Abuja and the surrounding areas has left many residents stranded and frustrated, with long queues of vehicles in filling stations across the city.

Motorists unable to get fuel are often left with no option than to sleep at the petrol stations, and commercial transporters have abruptly increased fares, inflicting a heavier burden on innocent passengers.

Black marketers have also taken over the major streets, some of them doing brisk business even in front of NNPC Towers, home of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. A litre of fuel is selling for as much as N300, over three times the official rate.

There is no statement from the government about the cause of the latest shortage.

House of Reps Deputy Leader In Physical Brawl With Isoko Youth Activist

Posted: November 13, 2012 - 04:26

By SaharaReporters, New York
Deputy leader of the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor Okuweh, yesterday engaged the president of an Isoko youth group, Isaac Ogaga Egbuwoku, in a physical brawl. An eyewitness told SaharaReporters that “dignity and decorum were thrown to the winds as the two men scuffled and punched each other.”



The fight took place at the country home of the Federal lawmaker. SaharaReporters was told that tempers flared shortly after a public hearing on constitutional review held at Opute Hall in Ozoro, headquarters of Isoko North local government area of Delta State. Several Isoko people who attended the hearing said they were disappointed with the exercise, with one of them describing it as “a mere political jamboree.”



Several sources disclosed that trouble brewed when the youth leader and his followers arrived at the lawmaker’s home and demanded to be paid for services they rendered at the hearing.



The physical brawl between the lawmaker and the youth leader lasted five minutes before calm was restored. Among those who witnessed the fisticuffs were the member representing Isoko North constituency in the state house of Assembly, Tim Owhofere, a special assistant to the Secretary of the State Government, Mike Ogwa, and the pioneer speaker of the state assembly and current chief adviser to the state governor on legislative matters, Emmanuel Okoro.



Two eyewitnesses said that, as soon as the Federal lawmaker and the youth activist attacked each other, some thugs suspected to be working for the lawmaker pounced on Mr. Egbuwoku and roughed him for engaging their boss in a physical combat.



In interviews with a correspondent, the leaders and members of other youth organizations who had also thronged the lawmaker’s country home to be paid for undisclosed services at the public hearing, described the lawmaker’s action as uncivilized and arrogant.



Numerous eyewitnesses said that the youth activist came out of the lawmaker’s house with his shirt torn. They also suggested that he left the compound with his followers in anger without receiving the fee that generated the fight.



The sources said the lawmaker subsequently came out to talk briefly with other youths waiting in his compound. “He gathered them and gave out some money which the youths shared among themselves,” said a source.



In a telephone interview, Mr. Egbuwoku admitted that he was at the lawmaker’s residence to fees he promised to pay the youths who rendered security services at the public hearing of the constitution review. He said the legislator turned around to treat him with disdain.



“Yes, [he] and I fought in his house because he lacks manner of approach,” said Mr. Egbuwoku. He added: “The behavior of the lawmaker who had agreed that I mobilize for him twenty youths to the arena of the public hearing was barbaric and shocking. As a member of the lower chambers, he ought to have comported himself in a more mature manner rather than addressing everybody like touts working in the motor park. Instead of releasing the money we both agreed for the youths, he was busy ridiculing me and playing [on] my intelligence because I was in his house.”



The youth activist said the lawmaker was lucky that his thugs were cautioned, otherwise something terrible could have happened in the premises.



Some of the witnesses accused the lawmaker of arrogant indifference, alleging that he was fond of boasting that he had amassed more than a billion naira to enable him to return to his seat in the National Assembly whether his constituents back him or not.



The lawmaker did not answer calls made to his mobile phone nor did he respond to text messages. However, one of his aides said it was not true that Mr. Okuweh fought with anybody.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/house-reps-deputy-leader-physical-brawl-isoko-youth-activist

Leo Ogor Okuweh

EFCC Plea Bargaining With PDP Chairman’s Son Over Fuel Subsidy Fraud-PREMIUM TIMES

Posted: November 13, 2012 - 18:39

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has entered into ‘discussion’ with Mahmud Tukur, son of the People’s Democratic Party Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, over his role in the fuel subsidy scam, his lawyer told the court.

Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja, on Tuesday adjourned the trial of Mahmud, after his lawyer said that they have entered into a ‘discussion’ with the EFCC.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party Chairman’s son is facing trial alongside Abdullahi Alao, son of business tycoon, Arisekola Alao; and Alex Ochonogor, for their alleged involvement in the fuel subsidy fraud.

Their company, Eternal Oil and Gas Plc, allegedly obtained N1.9 billion from the Petroleum Support Fund for a purported importation of 80.3 million litres of petrol.

It never imported the petrol, the EFCC insists.

Mr. Tukur’s counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, asked the court for an adjournment so that they could finalize their “conference” with the EFCC.
“We as senior counsels we have studied the processes…and have decided to enter into discussion with the prosecution,” said Mr. Oyetibo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. “That’s why we didn’t file any processes to challenge the prosecution in court,” he added.

Both Messrs Oyetibo and Taiwo Osipitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and counsel to Mr. Alao, did not shed light on the nature of their discussion with the anti graft agency.

Rotimi Jacobs, the EFCC counsel, however, did not oppose their application.
“The EFCC must give them the benefit of doubt and opportunity to explore,” Mr. Jacobs said.

A perpetually late judge
Lawyers’ who were in court on Tuesday allowed their frustration to boil over, after the judge, who always starts his proceedings late, failed to turn up two hours after the lawyers had been seated.

One lawyer complained that he had been in court since 7 o’clock.

However, when he arrived a few minutes after 11 o’clock, Mr. Onigbanjo after apologizing to the lawyers stated that he does not begin his sitting by 9 o’clock due to a “peculiar legislative policy.”

Release Tukur’s passport

Mr. Oyetibo also prayed the court to release the international passports of his clients, Messrs Tukur and Ochonogor, to enable them travel out of the country.

The EFCC did not oppose the application.
The judge granted the request, asking that the application be put in writing.
He fixed December 13 for the next sitting to “allow counsels resolve” their discussion.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/efcc-plea-bargaining-pdp-chairman%E2%80%99s-son-over-fuel-subsidy-fraud-premium-times

Okada robbery, accidents on the decline

November 10, 2012 by Comfort Oseghale

Before the Aug. 2 enforcement of motorcycle restriction on 475 routes in Lagos, congested traffic routes were the favourite spots of armed robbers. Some busy routes were especially notorious for this: the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway, and the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway to mention a few.

The men of the underworld would loiter around cars in traffic while other members stood nearby, waiting for an opportunity to steal. Often, they snatched bags, laptops and briefcases left on the car seat and usually through half wound windows. After the item had been snatched, the robbers would quickly make a getaway via a waiting motorcycle.

Sometimes, the robbers would approach motorists in traffic on foot and calmly knock on their window to gain their attention. Once the startled motorist has been shown a gun, the robbers would then proceed to rob their victim and walk away to a waiting accomplice on a motorcycle.

At the time, it was common to spot motorists in traffic with windows wound up (whether the car was air conditioned or not) and securely locked doors.

In 2011, while the debate on the impending restriction lingered, Lagos released statistics on the offences being committed by commercial motorcyclists in the state.

According to published reports, compiled from the Lagos Police Command, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and the Federal Road Safety Commission, between January 2011 and December 2011, 346 robbery suspects were arrested on okada, while 1,259 accidents involving okada riders were reported in government public facilities.

Between October 2011 and November 2011, there were 179 recorded cases of motorcycle accidents at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. One hundred and seventy of the total number of victims were passengers. Within the same period, 41 accidents involving motorcycles were reported at the Toll Gate emergency centre.

In a combined report from 20 government hospitals in Lagos State within October 2011 and November 2011, 1,039 accident cases involving motorcycles were recorded.

With regards to crime, between January 2011 and December 2011, there were 346 robbery incidents perpetrated by motorcycle riders. In October and November 2011 alone, 79 robbery incidents by motorcyclists were recorded. Those who got away in robbery cases on okada were seven, three in October and four in November.

Since the enforcement of the restrictions three months ago, another set of statistics was recently released from the Planning and Research Department of LASTMA. In The PUNCH of Oct. 26, the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said in a statement that no fewer than 619 people were either killed or seriously injured in commercial motorcycle accidents across the state in the last two years.

Out of the number, 107 people died, while 512 sustained serious injuries as a result of the accidents. It was said that those who died in the two years were 71 males and 36 females.

“Details of the accidents between January 2011 and October 2012 further revealed that a total of 442 commercial motorcycles, popularly called okada, were involved in accidents across the state during the period out of which 271 occurred in 2011, while 171 occurred in 2012.

“Also, according to the records, in 2011 alone, 47 were killed and 98 others sustained serious injuries, while from January 2012 to date, 63 people have been killed, while 59 others sustained serious injuries,” he said.

The government added that police records showed that a total of 513 fatal accidents recorded in the state in the last two years were caused by okada operators.

According to the record, out of this number, 305 happened between January and December 2011, while 208 of the fatal accidents happened between January and June 2012.

The record showed that of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in the state between the months of July and September this year, 22 of them involved the use of commercial motorcycles. Details, according to the record, show that of eight robberies that occurred in July, seven involved the use of okada, while okada was also used in 10 out of 14 robberies in September and in five out of eight robberies in August.

A comparison of the reported statistics shows a reduction in the number of recorded accidents involving motorcycle accidents in 2012. Although there was also a reduction in the number of persons who sustained injuries, courtesy motorcycle accidents in 2012, the same could not be said for the number of persons killed in motorcycle accidents in the same period. If anything, the number only increased in 2012. There was also a significant drop in the number of accidents caused by motorcycle operators in the state.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Transportation Mr. Sola Giwa, when contacted, said, “Definitely, there were a lot of accidents caused by commercial motorcyclists in the Lagos metropolis before the restriction. Since the restriction on the 475 routes has begun, it is expected the rate of accidents will reduce and it actually has, although we are more concerned with the rate of compliance. And I can confidently tell you that the response has been great and we are definitely getting there.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, also confirmed the reduction of crimes involving motorcycles since the enforcement began.

She said, “I can tell you that the rate of crime via okada has reduced drastically. Before the ban, I was getting reports of such incidents on a daily basis in my situation reports. Presently, I hardly get such reports; it has reduced drastically now. So, things are much improved.”

During the State’s Security Council meeting, the Lagos State Deputy Commissioner of Police for Operations, Mr. Tunde Sobulo, had on Wednesday announced the reduction in crime by motorcycle operators since the enforcement of the restriction on 475 routes.

Sobulo said, “The incidence of somebody taking an okada for N3000 from Iyana-Ipaja to go and rob in Lekki or Victoria Island has been curtailed. I thank the members of the public for their show of understanding on the issue; security agencies are getting the cooperation of the people on the enforcement.

“The accidents involving okada have been nearly reduced to zero. The use of okada to rob during traffic after closing hours has been reduced or even disappeared. Trailing people from banks to their houses via okada to go and snatch their money has also disappeared.”

http://www.punchng.com/feature/crime-digest/okada-robbery-accidents-on-the-decline/

Groups demand Okonjo-Iweala’s sacking over N2.7bn subsidy fraud

November 8, 2012 by Friday Olokor and Ifeanyi Onuba 166 Comments

Over 500 placard-carrying protesters on Wednesday in Abuja stormed the Federal Ministry of Finance and demanded the immediate resignation of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

They called for the minister’s sacking for what they described as unfavourable economic policies of the current administration and an alleged fraudulent payment of N2. 7bn to a firm which was allegedly not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

They specifically accused the minister of allegedly paying “the fictitious company” N2.7bn subsidy claim.

The groups also alleged that the minister breached the Appropriation law by her failure to release funds for the implementation of capital project, a situation they said had led to less than 50 per cent budget implementation.

The protest by a whistle-blowing organisation, Anti-Corruption Network and the Alhaji Balarabe Musa-led Conference of Nigerian Political Parties coincided with the time the minister was attending the Federal Executive Council meeting.

Some of the placards carried by the protesters read, ‘Economic policies would kill us’, ‘Ngozi Okojo-Iweala is an imperialist agent’, ‘Ngozi Okojo-Iweala must go,” “Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is our major problem’, ‘You can’t be saving money when Nigerians are suffering’, among others.

But in his response, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, urged the groups to put their allegation in writing for onward delivery to the minister whom he said was at the FEC meeting at the time of the protest.

He however absolved the ministry of any wrongdoing.

Executive Secretray of ACN and former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dino Melaye, alleged that the group’s finding had revealed that a firm received payment of N2.7bn from the ministry without registration with the CAC.

He said, “The minister must tell Nigerians who are actual owners of Pinnacle as it is not known to Nigerian law, it is a made-in Taiwan company.

“We are demanding the immediate resignation or sacking of Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. I want to educate Nigerians that the minister of finance and the Coordinating Minister of the economy released a list of 25 companies after the submission of report by the Aig –Imoukhuede-led presidential committee on fuel subsidy claims. Number 22 on the list of the companies is Pinnacle Construction Nigeria Limited. Pinnacle got N2.7bn tax payers money.

“An investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Network at the CAC revealed that the company is not registered with the commission. We are here to ask who approve the payment, who authorise the payment of the money and the minister must tell Nigerians who are the actual owners of the company?”

Secretary-General of CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu, condemned the alleged corruption going on in the ministry and said, “It is either we live as a country or we seize to exist.”

The Director of Outreach Services of the anti-graft group, Mr. Timi Frank, said it was unfortunate for the finance minister to be involved in frivolous payments, wondering why she was not veting documents as required of her.

In her reaction, Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday said the demonstration, led byMelaye was sponsored by “indicted oil barons.”

In a statement by her Senior Special Assistant (Communications), Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, the minister described the protest as a deliberate attempt to force her out of office.

She said her resolve to ensure prudent management of the country’s resources would not make her abandon her responsibilities to Nigerians.

The statement read, “Earlier today (Wednesday), a disreputable former member of the House of Representatives, Mr Dino Melaye, brought a handful of demonstrators to the Federal Ministry of Finance who conducted themselves in an unruly manner.

“We have it on good authority that Mr Melaye’s group was sponsored by some of the indicted oil barons who are currently being investigated and prosecuted for subsidy fraud.

“Their allegation of wrong subsidy payments made by the ministry is a mere ruse to conceal their true motives. It is important to note that the Federal Ministry of Finance does not pay any contractors directly. The relevant ministries do.

“So this allegation by Mr Melaye and his group is completely wrong and without foundation.”

She added, “The Melaye demonstration was ostensibly to call for the resignation of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance who is well known for fighting the fraudulent oil barons whose names were published by the Federal Ministry of Finance for various breaches of the subsidy regime.”


http://www.punchng.com/news/groups-demand-okonjo-iwealas-sacking-over-n2-7bn-subsidy-fraud/

How Oil Minister, Alison-Madueke, Runs NNPC, Oil Ministry, Like Personal Estate- International Centre for Investigative Reporting/ PREMIUM TIMES

By International Centre for Investigative Reporting/ PREMIUM TIMES

Nigeria’s controversial oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke’s management style, which is disrupting the governance structure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is causing concern in the state oil giant and the industry, a joint investigation by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting and PREMIUM TIMES has shown.

The powerful oil minister has rendered some administrative structures and personnel, including the position of permanent secretary, redundant with her penchant for using personal assistants in her office to conduct high level official duties.

Mrs Alison - Madueke rules the rich oil ministry like a personal estate, with lax work ethics, ignoring laid down rules and procedures and bypassing hierarchical order to achieve her goals.

In the process, staff of the corporation allege, the minister has compromised professionalism and undermined discipline.
Absentee minister

One of the most worrisome of the minister’s disruptions in the oil ministry is her style of working from home. Mrs Alison - Madueke has developed a knack for working mainly from her official residence in Asokoro District in Abuja, visiting the office only very infrequently.

Even a perfunctory observation of activities at her residence shows that she runs things from there as the ceaseless activity and security presence show.
It was gathered that the minister goes to her office at the NNPC headquarters in the Central Business District in Abuja mainly on Wednesdays, after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, or when she has to meet foreign dignitaries or important Nigerian oil industry executives.

Concerned sources confided that because of her ‘operate from home policy’, she forces a lot of ministry – related meetings to be held in her house, thus disrupting official schedules of key personnel.

She holds such meetings up to three or four times a week in her residence, usually making key personnel, including the group managing director of the NNPC, and even whole departments of the corporation, to relocate to her house.

Many of the senior staff of the oil corporation who are forced to attend such meetings are fed up with the situation but dare not complain about it.

Blowing millions on food from Transcorp Hilton

Apart from the administrative toll and man hour lost to having to move the corporations operations to her house, even more burdensome is the financial cost of the minister’s decision to operate from home.

Each time she holds her usually big meetings in the house, the minister gets the catering department of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja to serve a buffet.

Our enquiries indicate that the hotel does not engage in such outdoor catering services for a client with less than 50 guests at a time.

With a total of three or four meetings a week, by our calculations, the minister spends between N2.5 million to N4million on food and drinks weekly on official meetings held at her residence.
In a month, that costs between N10 million to N 16 million. And in a year, Mrs Alison – Madueke blows between N120 million and N192 million on such indelicate culinary extravagance.

The bills are entirely picked up by the NNPC, meaning that the burden for such mindless spending is borne by Nigerian tax payers.
Disregard for rules

Another worrisome aspect of the minister’s style is her utter disregard of rules, guidelines and official protocols and procedures, bothering on highhandedness. Nothing more aptly explains this than her employment of Eric Ufo as a senior special adviser/consultant.

Mr. Ufo is the oil minister major domo, a veritable man Friday who does all kinds of odd jobs for his principal. With no experience in the oil and gas industry, his employment has all the ingredients of Diezani-Madueke’s disdain for administrative rules and protocols.

The minister initially signed on Mr. Ufo on as special adviser. However, out of the blues, she changed his engagement and rather engaged the services of the young man’s company to offer consultancy services for a fee of N37 million annually. This bill was hung on the NNPC, though Mr. Ufo in practice, works for and ought to be paid by the petroleum ministry.

As if the controversies surrounding his employment were not enough, Mr. Ufo has become a tin god in the oil corporation, calling the shots and undermining the positions of senior management staff, including the group managing director to whom he routinely issues directives.
Information by sources inside the NNPC show that Mr. Ufo, bandying the minister’s name around, tried his executive high handedness with former group managing director of the corporation, Austen Oniwon, who rebuffed him.

The former GMD is said to have seriously warned the special adviser to the minister never to write him directly but through proper channels, which is to go through the minister’s office.

Forcing NNPC to pay estacodes
Using his closeness with the minister, Mr. Ufo subsequently caused some tension between the oil giant’s chief executive and the oil minister which persisted until the former was replaced in June.

However, the new GMD of the NNPC is said to be less assertive, thus allowing Mr. Ufo to have more than an elbow room to interfere in the daily running of the corporation.

A classic example of the enormity of the power Mr. Ufo now wields on account of being “madam’s errand boy”, is his overriding of the routine directive to transfer an employee of the NNPC from one department to the other.

The employee, Uzoh Ejidoh, had been sanctioned for some misdemeanor and transferred from the public affairs department to the human resources department but Mr. Ufo overrode the transfer directive and instructed that she should instead be transferred to his office, a directive that was immediately carried out.

Ms. Ejidoh was employed in 2005 into the public affairs department on NNPC on grade SS 3 having claimed to have had some experience. It was gathered that NNPC employs two categories of staff at this level – fresh from school, for new graduates who are placed on grade SS6 and experienced higher for persons with at least five to 10 years’ experience who come in on level SS3. It is said that it takes about 10 to 15 years to move from SS6 to SS3.

A few years into her employment, Ms. Ejidoh wrote a petition to the corporation’s human resources department complaining that she was not properly graded. This, she did, after some other persons with longer years of experience had been employed and placed on SS 2, higher than hers’

Investigations into her work history however revealed to the management that having graduated only a couple of years before her employment, she did not possess the experience she claimed before she was hired.

Rather than elevate her above those she complained had been wrongfully promoted above her, she was demoted to SS 5 and redeployed from public affairs to human resources department. However, former head of the public affairs department, Livi Ajuonuma, who died in the Dana air crash in June, refused to release her.
However, after Mr. Ajuonuma died, Ms. Ejidoh ingratiated herself with Mr. Ufo, the minister’s trusted and powerful aide, who got her transferred to the minister’s office to work under him.

To effect Ms. Ejidoh’s transfer, Mr. Ufo actually brazenly and against all rules of hierarchy and protocol, wrote a memo to the GMD of NNPC requesting him to redeploy her to the minister’s office where she now works with and reports to the special adviser.
Many senior management staff of the corporation are angry at the manner Mr. Ufo goes about dropping the minister’s name to get favours but they are scared to complaining because of the young man’s closeness to his boss.

Another evidence of Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s high handedness and absolute disregard for rules is her employment of domestic staff on the bill of the NNPC. The minister has a retinue of domestic staff who work in her residence.

Ordinarily, with her position as minister, she is allowed about two domestic workers in her residence. But Mrs. Alison-Madueke has several domestic staff but rather than pay them from her pocket, she found a way to include them on the payroll of the NNPC.

Apart from this, the flamboyant minister also has a penchant for travelling abroad with her retinue of personal aides, including several domestic staff. When she goes on her frequent foreign trips, the NNPC is made to pay for the flight tickets and accommodation of these domestic staff,
What is more, she also make the corporation pay estacode to the domestic servants each time she travels abroad.

Attempts by icirnigeria.org to react to our story were unsuccessful. The public affairs manager of the NNPC, Fidel Pepple, who also doubles as the minister’s spokesman, refused to speak to us.

Our reporter spoke to Mr. Pepple last week and it was agreed that questions relating to the story be emailed to him. However, since last week, the minister’s spokesman has refused to respond to the e-mail or answer the questions.

Also, reminder text messages sent to him were ignored.

PDP behind my wife’s ordeal, says Ajimobi

Posted by: Vincent Ikuomola Posted date: November 02, 2012 In: Featured, News | comment : 20


Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the “malicious allegations against his wife, Florence.

Ajimobi said the report that his wife was arrested in London for alleged money laundering was the handiwork of failed politicians in the state.

Speak with reporters in Abuja after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting. He said those behind the report lost out in previous elections.

Ajimobi said: “We know those behind it. Infact, they are political jobbers, who lost out in the last election. Three of them are from the PDP. They have never achieved anything in their lives. They are coming back with the old system of maligning people.”

The governor said those behind the report were out to taint his reputation.

He said: “We have built our reputation over the years. I did not come from nowhere. I worked with the oil industry. I did not work with Wero Enterprises; I worked with National Oil and Shell. I was the Managing Director of National Oil and the MD of Shell STSL in Togo. I have made my name.

“When you are doing well as a politician, some mischief makers, who want to pull you down, would concoct stories like this particular one.”

The governor said it was unreasonable to expect that anyone would carry the amount of money the report claimed was found on his wife.

He said: “In this modern age, will anybody be stupid enough to carry money around in boxes? If you travel with more than $10,000, you will be arrested. Even if you hide it, when you get to some of these countries, their dogs will sniff you out.

“So how will somebody travel with N500 million? It’s a lot of money. How will you carry it? The people who wrote that thing are illiterates, amateurs. We need more quality people in politics.

“We are trying to rid Oyo of wicked, malicious miscreants and political jobbers. Oyo State has been noted for jungle politics. We are working to change that, but the dark forces always try to stop us.

“That report was very malicious. My youngest child was attacked during the electioneering campaign in 2007. She panicked so much that she could not sleep and the doctors advised us to change her location. That is why she has been schooling in England since 2007. So, it is nothing new.

“It is wicked for people to be writing such things. Those behind the report are junk Internet outfits with one room sites. The moment we discovered them, they closed up and we did not see them again.

“The damage has been done. Fortunately for me, another media house published it and I sued them. No amount of pleading will make me stop. I will make sure I stop people from damaging others’ reputation.”

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State condemned the report.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, ACN said Mrs. Ajimobi could not have been in possession of huge cash because she has no access to the state’s treasury.

The party said the governor is known for prudence, adding that he has put mechanism in place to guard against financial recklessnazess.

ACN urged rumour peddlers to desist and support the government.

It said: “Journalist are advised to be alive to their responsibilities and avoid mischievous and untrue stories.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/pdp-behind-my-wifes-ordeal-says-ajimobi/

Anti-Corruption Activist Provides Photos Of Mansion Built For Minister Orubebe In Abuja

Posted: November 2, 2012 - 14:13

Posted by siteadmin


By SaharaReporters, New York
An anti- corruption watchdog group, Anti-Corruption Network, led by former house member Dino Melaye today provided photos of a residence it claimed was built for Nigeria's minister of the Niger Delta ministry, Elder Godsday orubebe in the Mabushi area of Abuja.

Mr. Dino stated that a construction company Setraco built and delivered the new mansion to Mr. Orubebe in less than six months after the company benefitted from contracts to build part of the East-West highway in the Delta region.

The photos taken by the group shows a mansion located on Minister's Hill area, Mabushi Abuja. Dino told Saharareporters that the offices of the group was burgled by unknown person after it revealed that Mr. Orubebe was involved in other scams totalling N29 billion in ficticious contracts.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/anti-corruption-activist-provides-photos-mansion-built-minister-orubebe-abuja

Yuletide: Jonathan orders rehabilitation of bad roads
On October 31, 2012 · In News 5:12 pm 0

Abuja – President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday directed the Ministry of Works to carry out immediate rehabilitation of all the dilapidated road infrastructure nationwide before the yuletide season.

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, disclosed this while briefing the State House correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the president.


One of the failed sections of the Lagos- Badagry Expressway between Trade Fare and Ojo military barracks
Johnson stood in for the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, who was on Good Governance Tour.

“As we moved into the Christmas period, you know there is going to be lot of travelling, as people will all go back to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

“Mr President has directed that the Ministry of Works to ensure that the key roads in the country are motorable and safe for all Nigerians to travel back home during the Christmas and the New Year period.’’

Speaking in the same vein, the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, said the Council approved a special programme for prompt rehabilitation of all roads damaged by floods.

“As a result of heavy rains witnessed in all parts of our country this year couple with the overflow of rivers Niger and Benue, our road infrastructure across the country was impacted negatively.

“Today, the Federal Executive Council approved that a special programme for the maintenance and rehabilitation of major arterial roads in this country be immediately carried out by the Federal Ministry of Works.

“Today’s approval by FEC would ensure that all impacted road infrastructure are given the due attention.

“So in the next couple of weeks, we are going to be witnessing a massive roll-out on most sections of federal highways across the country consequent on this approval.

“I want to assure Nigerians that we would do all we can to ensure that the roads are made motorable again as to be able to guarantee safe and comfortable motoring to various parts of the country during the end of the year.’’

Onolememen said his ministry was already carrying out repairs on roads and bridges damaged by floods in Katsina, Kano, Plateau, Enugu and Port-Harcourt.

The minister said he also briefed the Council on the successful completion of rehabilitation of the third-mainland bridge in Lagos.

“Yesterday, we re-opened the bridge which was awarded for maintenance and specifically the repairs of the eight numbers defective joints approved by the FEC in November last year.

“The work was scheduled to be completed by Nov. 6 but however due to effective planning and monitoring of the construction works, we were able to achieve the feat about 10 days before the scheduled completion date.’’

He said the re-opening of the third mainland bridge had brought succour and relief to motorists in Lagos. (NAN)


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/10/yuletide-jonathan-orders-rehabilitation-of-bad-roads/

Ajimobi’s wife denies money laundering arrest in London

October 31, 2012 by Akinwale Aboluwade, Ibadan

Wife of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Florence, has denied reports of her arrest by the Metropolitan Police in London.

Speaking with journalists in a telephone interview on Tuesday, the governor’s wife described the news of her arrest as the handiwork of the opposition trying to discredit the Ajimobi-led administration in the state.

An evening newspaper had, on Tuesday in its online version, published a report entitled ‘Anxiety over Florence Ajimobi’s alleged arrest in UK.’ An online agency, Newsleak, also claimed that the wife of the governor had been arrested in London for money laundering.

Asked if she was invited by the police since her arrival in London, she said, “No, not at all. I came back with my daughter on Sunday. Now, I am getting ready to come back home. I have not been invited by the police and I don’t know what all this is about.”

On the reason for her latest trip abroad, she said she took her 14-year-old daughter back to school after her holiday.

She said, “I have a 14-year-old daughter who has been here since 2007. She came to Nigeria for two weeks; we left Nigeria on Sunday morning. That is my mission here.

“I read the report here in England. I was shocked. I read it but there is no iota of truth in everything they wrote. I’m sure it is the work of the opposition and I am surprised that some people can descend so low to write falsehood.

“I am expected back in the country tomorrow (today) morning.”

Asked to confirm the allegation that she had since the inception of the administration travelled for 52 times, she simply said, “It then means I am not living in Nigeria. Maybe, when I travel back, I will show you my passport to count how many times I have travelled.

“I want you to deal with facts. If you look at my passport since 2007 and compare the way I travelled then with the way I travel now, you will discover that I travel less now.

“My daughter is complaining that I am not regular here. I make her come to Nigeria more because I can’t afford to spend 10 days or more over here.”

Meanwhile, the governor has instituted a N1bn suit against the Independent Communications Network Limited, publishers of PM News for the report.

One of the governor’s aide, who preferred anonymity, said, “So far the governor has spent 68 weeks. How do you reconcile the claim that the First Lady has travelled 52 times since the inception of this administration? Does it mean that she travels every week?”


http://www.punchng.com/news/ajimobis-wife-denies-money-laundering-arrest-in-london/

Achebe’s civil war book, a propaganda – Gowon

October 31, 2012 by Jude Owuamanam

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has described Prof. Chinua Achebe’s Nigerian Civil War memoir in his latest book, There was a Country, as “a propaganda”.

Achebe in the book, accused the Federal Government under Gowon and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was then the Minister of Finance, of using hunger as a weapon of war against the Republic of Biafra.

But Gowon, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, said though many books had been written about the civil war, none had been as controversial as that of Achebe.

He said the book was “written to whip up unnecessary sentiments”.

He said when he releases his biography many will know what happened during the war.

Gowon said, “Many books have been written about the civil war and unfortunately none had been as controversial as that of Achebe, which accused me and Chief Awolowo of genocide against the Igbo. Nothing can be further from the truth, because every decision we took was for the interest of a united Nigeria.

“It (Achebe’s book) is nothing more than a propaganda and many people have failed to see it that way, and that is why most of the reactions have been varied and vitriolic.

“I am not aware of any Igboman that had an account with the then Barclays Bank that was seized, because at the end of the war many of them got their money back. And it was because of our resolve to ensure that there was no victor no vanquished. We wanted to put the experience of the civil war behind us. We put in place a lot of measure to ensure that everybody was reintegrated into a united Nigeria.

“So it is very unfortunate for Achebe to accuse me and Awolowo of starving the Igbo to death.”

The Chairman of Nigeria Prays added the majority of of the principal actors at the end of the war did not appear as if they were starved.

He said he stood by every decision he took during the civil war and ready to defend his actions anywhere.

The former Chief of Army Staff denied that he prevented foreign aid from reaching the Igbo during the war.

Gowon added, “Most of those who accused us of genocide were looking well fed at the end of the war. During the war we opened road and air corridors to allow food, medicine and other aids to the people. Nobody can do such a thing to his people because I was optimistic that the war would end one day and we shall come together under a united country.

“So that was why we were very careful about every decision we took during the civil war

The 78-year-old said by the time he publishes his own account of the war, most of those insinuations would be laid to rest.

“I have been sufficiently challenged and the whole truth will be revealed one day,” he said.

http://www.punchng.com/news/achebes-civil-war-book-a-propaganda-gowon/

Fresh killings at UNIPORT’s host community
Posted by: Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt Posted date: October 20, 2012


Barely two weeks after four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) were murdered at Omuokiri-Aluu, three persons including another student of the institution have been shot dead at Choba, one of the university’s host communities.

Also killed in the Thursday night incident were the student’s girlfriend and a young man who had just completed his national service in Port Harcourt.

There is uneasy calm in UNIPORT’s host communities, especially Omuokiri-Aluu, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State, over threats of reprisals by kinsmen of the four students who were lynched on October 5.

The three latest victims were shot at close range at about 10 pm on Thursday by unknown gunmen driving a sport utility vehicle (SUV).

The names of the victims were unavailable at press time.

It was learnt that the deceased persons had gone out for a drink to celebrate the passing out of the NYSC member , but on their way back rammed into a shop with their car.

It was gathered that the owner of the shop accosted the occupants of the car.

An argument soon ensued between the two parties and in a matter of minutes, the gunmen arrived the scene and opened fire on the trio.

They then zoomed off without taking anything from their victims.

The Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, Mr. Ben Ugwuegbulam, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident, but said he had no details.

The Deputy Registrar (Information) of the university, Dr. Williams Wodi, in a telephone interview yesterday said: “After the protest of October 8, UNIPORT was shut on October 9. I am not in a position to comment on students who ought to be in their parents’ homes. We are awaiting police reaction.”

Meanwhile,Omuokiri-Aluu where four students of UNIPORT were murdered on October 5, is tensed following alleged threats by kinsmen of the murdered students to attack the community.

The victims, Biringa Chiadika Lordson (20), Year Two, Theatre Arts, U2010/1805036; Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor (18), Year Two, Geology, U2010/5565149; Mike Lloyd Toku (19), Year Two, Civil Engineering, U2010/3010094 and Tekena Erikena (20), a Certificate student in the Faculty of Education, were lynched for allegedly stealing mobile phones and laptops.

Spokesman for the umbrella organisation of Aluu Clan, the Ogbakor Aluu, Mr. Garshon Benson, said the threats to attack Omuokiri-Aluu were real.

Benson urged security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities, with a view to preventing further destruction of lives and property.

Two of the lynched students hailed from Okrika in Rivers State.

The murder sparked a massive protest at Choba Junction on the East-West Road on October 9.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/fresh-killings-at-uniports-host-community/

Police arrest suspected mastermind of Lagos robberies, kidnappings

Posted by: Jude Isiguzo Posted date: October 18, 2012

A woman who is allegedly behind most armed robbery operations, kidnappings and assassinations in Lagos has been arrested by the state police command.

The force said her vehicle was used for the robbery operation at Iteri area of the metropolis where two policemen were killed.

She also sponsored the abduction and killing of a businessman, Mr. Oddi Nweze and other prominent people in FESTAC, Ikoyi, Surulere, Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa, and Ago Palace way.

Police sources at Area ‘E’, Command, FESTAC Town, where Ngozi Onowu is currently being detained told The Nation that apart from arranging hotel accommodations for the gang which is led by her younger brother, the suspect also registered mobile communications network providers’ SIM cards with fake names and addresses for them.

“It is with these SIM cards that they used to communicate with their victims before their abductions and assassinations. If they are not hired to kill their victims, they will use the SIM cards to communicate with their relations and family members for ransom. The moment ransom is picked, the SIM cards are destroyed,” the source told our correspondent.

The Nation gathered that the two kidnap kingpins that were declared wanted by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, for their alleged involvement in the killing of Nweze are Onowu’s younger brother and cousin.

“She was the one that arranged their escape. Chibuzor Onowu and Kingsley Okwudili led the gang that killed the businessman. It was Ngozi that helped them to fled from the country,” the source said.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news-update/police-arrest-suspected-mastermind-of-lagos-robberies-kidnappings/