₦airaland Forum

The Save Nigeria Group has said it is concluding plans to begin a nationwide protest against corruption and official graft in the country.

The Convener of the group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, who said this in Lagos during the Sunday service at the Latter Rain Assembly, where he is the Serving Overseer, argued that corruption remained the major hindrance to the country’s progress and not the removal of fuel subsidy.

According to the cleric, the group is putting finishing touches to the rally which will not be announced.

SNG was one of the organisers of the Occupy Nigeria protest rally against the removal of subsidy on fuel, which held for one week at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos.

Bakare explained that unlike the Ojota rally against fuel subsidy removal, the planned protest would be prolonged until the “official excesses” like the emoluments of the National Assembly members were slashed.

He said, “The next rally that we are holding is against corruption in Nigeria. Corruption is the major enemy against the nation; the protest against subsidy was just one phase. But this one, we are not going to announce it; it will just come suddenly.

“This time around, we will occupy until the lawmakers agree to cut all that we will demand. No one will continue to take more than he is entitled to.”

Bakare added that the House of Representatives would do well than probe subsidy payments without taking action, noting that the SNG would compel the federal lawmakers to prosecute those who were found to have defrauded the nation through frivolous claims.

He said, “This probe will be different. It is better that the House (of Representatives) handles this probe very well. This is not the era of concluding a probe and throwing the report away. The lawmakers may come up with the usual excuse that they do not have the power to prosecute offenders.

“They did that during the independent power probe. We will not accept that this term. We will compel them to prosecute those who have been found to have illegally cornered our wealth. We have had enough.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/sng-concludes-plans-for-protest-against-corruption/

Beaf:
The anti-GEJ brigade justs breaks the records for pettiness and idiocy with each passing day.
Thats why the Ghanaians have fodder to poke fun at us.

Whenever you think you are messing up GEJ with some stup!d petty stuff, or paying foreign newspapers to publish stup!d petty stuff, whenever you do these things, realise that you are really only making a fool of yourself and doing harm to your country. . . And Ghanaians will laugh, small as their country is.

Yes,Ghanaians and other citizens of small and less endowed countries will continue to poke fun at the idiocy and pettiness of your paymaster.

If I may ask you where are the the promised palliatives? It is a month since the subsidy removal

Yes,Ghanaians and other citizens of small and less endowed countries will continue to poke fun at the idiocy and pettiness of your paymaster.

If I may ask you where are the the promised palliatives? It is a month since the subsidy removal

If you read French, here are links to the newspaper reports.

http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20120126110125/ua-benin-nige,

http://www.benininfo.com/29011201.html

http://www.lanouvelletribune.info/index.php/actualite/une/9969-union-afr,



My Father Is A Motor Car: Reuben Abati, GEJ, And The Addis Ababa Fiasco By Pius Adesanmi[b][/b]

Baba Sala needs no introduction unless you came around in the age iPods, iTunes, and music files. The dinosaurs among us who are more at home with LP records will remember him. He is one of Nigeria’s greatest artists in my book. In one of his memorable radio skits, Baba Sala decides to learn the English language. A friend’s son offers to help with home lessons in basic English conversation. The scenario is classic: the teacher reads a simple sentence from a grammar primer and the student repeats the sentence. We all went through that “repeat after me” ritual in primary school. If you were in French class, your teacher, often from Togo or Benin, screamed “répétez après moi” as you struggled to memorize the antics of Aja Dudu and Monsieur Mayaki.



“My father has a motor car,” says Baba Sala’s teacher, reading from the primer. “My father is a motor car,” choruses Baba Sala. Naturally, the teacher is dissatisfied. He reads the correct sentence again, Baba Sala repeats the error, and a back and forth ensues between the determined teacher and the stubborn student. Frustrated, Baba Sala finally asks the teacher for a Yoruba translation of that problematic sentence. “Baba mi ni moto ayokele kan – my father has a motor car”, replies the teacher. “Excuse me, come again” thunders an incredulous Baba Sala. The perplexed teacher obliges him: “Baba mi ni moto ayokele kan”.

A furious Baba Sala summons the ritualized protocols of the familiar – what we call “see finish” in popular culture – to upbraid his teacher, giving him a long, sanctimonious lecture about lying, lies, and liars. Baba Sala knows the teacher’s family. E don see dem finish, as the popular saying goes. “Your father did what? Bought a motor car? Look at this small boy o! You really must think that I am dumb! Ibo ni Baba re ra moto ohun si? When and where did your father buy a motor car? Have you forgotten that your father and I used to trek to oko egan (the farm) together? Until he died, your father was never able to afford an ordinary bicycle let alone a car. How dare you look me straight in the face and lie to me? You dare to tell me that your father is a motor car. What’s the world coming to?”

The teacher stands his ground and tries to explain to Baba Sala that the sentence comes from the grammar primer they are using for the English lesson. This is where Baba Sala delivers one of the most memorable lines of his career. Says Baba Sala to the teacher: since I have absolutely no doubt that there is a lie hanging ominously in the air, the question is, who is telling that lie, you or the book that you are reading?

These scenarios came to mind as I monitored the recent faceoff between Sahara Reporters’ Omoyele Sowore and Dr. Reuben Abati, a former progressive intellectual who, sadly, is now in charge of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Ministry of Truth. The first cause of disagreement between the two men needs no further elaboration beyond the necessary reiteration of Sowore’s demand for the full list of President Jonathan’s official entourage to Addis Ababa. Dr Abati has not denied reports that he claimed to have forgotten the list in his hotel room in Addis Ababa at the time of Sowore’s initial request last week. We are still waiting and I hope the goats of Addis Ababa are not as ravenous as the goats of Yoruba land. The truant kid who fails his exam can return home at the end of the term and claim that a goat ate his report card. Perhaps a goat invaded Dr Abati’s hotel room in Addis Ababa and ate the list?

While we wait for him to make good on his promise to release the list and thereby prove that the President’s entourage to Addis comprised “not more than 32 people”, as opposed to the higher figures that had been reported, I must again express considerable sadness that this is what Dr Abati has been reduced to: an unrecognizable marionette who must now split hairs to explain the difference between stealing a cow and stealing a goat to the Nigerian people. No, we were about thirty-two people on the trip and not fifty-seven as was reported, as if it was okay to jamboree thirty-two people to Addis Ababa in the first place.

In Addis Ababa, they characteristically mismanaged everything including the question of President Jonathan’s woolly-headed moves for the AU Presidency. Why an incompetent President, whose leadership report card, is evidenced by the distraught condition of Nigeria and ECOWAS, would get ambitious about leading the AU is beyond me. Moreover, the moment news of that scuttled ambition filtered out of Addis, I knew that his Ministry of Truth would enter panic and crisis mode and swing into action. That much was predictable. What I couldn’t predict was the format of the damage control. Would Dr. Abati dare to depart from Aso Rock’s compulsive recourse to irritating lies in every situation?

Spinning, nuancing, and glossing come with the territory of statecraft. Those with no temperament for euphemisms call it deniability. There are countless occasions when the Presidency or the President must not be disgraced, humiliated, or embarrassed, hence the recourse to spin, nuance, and gloss by spokespersons of a given administration as they retail talking points to the public. That much we understand. In advanced democracies, officials of the state try as much as possible to spin, nuance, gloss or stretch the truth with considerable circumspection. You want to make sure that the spin does not cross the border into the province of outright lies because there are consequences for lying to the people. If you lie under oath, that is perjury; if you lie ex-oath and you are caught, the people will wait for you and your principal at the ballot box.

Alas, Federal statehood in Nigeria comes with the sort of unbridled impunity that I described in my essay, “The Nigerian Presidency: Assault with a Deadly Weapon.” Impunity translates to the absence of consequences for even the most grievous travesties committed by the agents of an omnipotent presidency. The absence of consequences means that the Nigerian presidency enjoys the luxury of telling endless lies without repercussion. And who wants to deal with the strictures of spinning, glossing, or nuancing your way out of tight situations when an outright lie would do the trick without unsavoury consequences? This explains why the Nigerian presidency does not just lie primordially, she lies needlessly and continuously about the obvious and the unnecessary. As far as institutions of state go, the Nigerian presidency is a lie telling lies as I explained in my essay, “iro n paro fun ro”.

Precisely because that institution has enshrined lying and lies as the singular basis of her social contract with the Nigerian people since October 1, 1960, she has created a citizenry that knows the opposite to be true of whatever she has to say.

Thus, when Reuben Abati rushed out a press statement claiming that Yayi Boni did not defeat Jonathan in Addis Ababa and that the West African caucus did not reject the idea of his leadership, I knew instinctively that the opposite had to be true, given the history of the Nigerian presidency and her integrity-challenged officials. The first thing I did was to make a number of phone calls to strategic contacts in Cotonou, Lomé, Abidjan, and Dakar to get a firsthand assessment of the situation from the viewpoint of our Francophone friends. Was there a prevailing sentiment of a Nigerian ambition in the build-up to the summit in Addis Ababa? How was this ambition reported in the media? As soon as I heard the other side from various sources on the ground, I did next logical thing: scour the internet for my daily dosage of newspapers from Francophone West Africa.

All the Francophone newspapers that I read reported the exact opposite of what Reuben Abati had claimed in his press statement to Nigerians. Even before the summit, on January 26, 2012, the pan-Francophonic weekly magazine, Jeune Afrique, had reported “murmurs” of President Jonathan’s ambition. The report indicates that Cotonou “was surprised” by the information on the Nigerian president’s ambition. In the penultimate paragraph of its own report, Benininfo.com insists that the names of Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh and Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan had made the round as “candidates” in addition to Yayi Boni but the leaders of West African countries decided to support the candidacy of Yayi Boni.

La Nouvelle Tribune was even more detailed in its own account of the intrigues that led to the collapse of President Jonathan’s ambition in Addis Ababa. The newspaper regaled her readers with juicy details of the situation that Abati had tried to deny in his press statement: President Jonathan’s candidacy; behind-the-scene moves by the Beninois delegation to gain a concession from the Nigerians; the decision by Ghana and Burkina Faso to support Benin Republic in the face of the obduracy of the Nigerian delegation; subsequent public announcements of support for Yayi Boni by Ghana and Burkina Faso to checkmate Nigeria.

According to La Nouvelle Tribune, it was only after these public announcements of support for Boni by other West African delegations, and after further pressure by Ghana, that Nigeria finally saw the handwriting on the wall and backed off. All the Francophone radio stations that I listened to on January 29 and 30, from Gabon to Benin Republic, Togo to Senegal, and Mali to Côte d’Ivoire, pretty much confirmed these details as reported in the newspapers. True, they confirmed it in the celebratory tone informed by the usual Francophone/Anglophone rivalry, complete with the usual hints of giant resentment but they were nonetheless all very consistent in terms of the details of Nigeria’s ambition. And Reuben Abati would have us believe that none of this ever happened! President Jonathan was never interested, was never a candidate! He even worked assiduously for Yayi Boni’s election! Somehow, everybody else in Africa made it all up! Waoh.

President Jonathan and his handlers dreamed up the ill-fated ambition to gun for the Presidency of the AU because their juvenile rivalry with a far better governed South Africa. Nigerians should worry about the modes of actuation of that ambition. A few commentators, including yours truly, have grumbled that a President who has so thoroughly malgoverned Nigeria, serving as undertaker for his citizens via Boko Haram, armed robbery, unemployment, fuel subsidy removal, and general economic hardship, should not be gourmandizing for regional leadership. That view is only partly right. The real problem is what the President didn’t do in the months leading to Addis Ababa. We heard of no scrupulously thought-out leadership vision, no carefully planned roadmaps to continental initiatives with actionable results going to Addis Ababa. The possibility of continental leadership thus becomes a function of somebody’s perfunctory, spur of the moment brainwave, possibly over peppersoup and Sapele water. He was going to become AU President first and think later about what to do, maybe constitute a thousand advisory committees along the way, as is his wont. Does that sound familiar about how he rules Nigeria?

There is worse. If we were dealing with reasonable people, one would have hoped that the humiliation suffered in Addis Ababa would be an occasion for serious lessons and sober reflection. What went wrong? Maybe the days of thinking that the rest of Africa would just queue up behind us because we have 160 million people and oil money to throw around are over. Maybe we should try to put our house in order? Maybe we should face corruption, Boko Haram, youth unemployment, comatose infrastructure, deeper questions of Nigerian statehood and federalism and hope to earn the respect of the continent based on how we run our own lives? After all, when someone promises to buy you new clothes, you examine his own vestments. Africa now has responsible democracies to loop up to in Ghana, Botswana, Benin Republic and South Africa. What should we do to join that league?

These would be the reasonable working questions of genuine leaders in the wake of the Addis Ababa summit. Alas, the rulers of Nigeria are wired differently. They are wired weirdly. On the flight back to Abuja from Addis, they probably were asking: who did we forget to bribe? Should we have promised President Atta Mills an oil block? Looks like funding for HIV/AIDS clinics is drying up in Ghana and a major international agency is pulling out of Accra. Maybe we should offer to take over the funding of Ghana’s HIV/AIDS programme as the giant of Africa? Will they support us at next year’s summit if we did that? Meanwhile, Reuben, don’t forget to release a statement when we land that this never happened o.

I have written repeatedly in this column that Nigerian government officials – especially those in the Presidency – are not believable. They are utterly contemptible liars, direct descendants of Apate, the famed goddess of lies and deceit in Greek mythology. Even without the benefit of my research into the issue at hand, ain’t no chance in hell that I would have believed an Aso Rock statement anyway.

They have lied to the Nigerian people too often for one to grant them such considerations. A lie hangs in the air about what actually transpired in Addis Ababa. There is no doubt in my mind that the account of the Nigerian presidency is a blatant lie. This brings us back to Baba Sala: who is lying about Addis Ababa, Reuben Abati or the press statement he issued?

NB:
If you read French, here are links to the newspaper reports I cited.
http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20120126110125/ua-benin-nige,
http://www.benininfo.com/29011201.html
http://www.lanouvelletribune.info/index.php/actualite/une/9969-union-afr,

http://saharareporters.com/column/my-father-motor-car-reuben-abati-gej-and-addis-ababa-fiasco-pius-adesanmi

[flash=500,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51a0aPNGItU&feature=player_embedded[/flash]

Mark Zuckerberg was an undergraduate at Harvard University when he co-created FACEBOOK in 2004 and he was just 20 years old then.

Dear ladies,
Due to d recent Boko Haram attacks, we would avoid public places like fastfood, cinemas, bars, restaurants, beaches
To safe guard our lives. Therefore,this year's valentine will be strictly on bed.
Signed __________
Nigerian Association Of Boyfriends(NAOB)

alj harem:
Buhari I think

Although am also an unrepentant supporter of General Buhari.The Nigerian Medical Association of Nigeria embarked on a strike action during his regime which was spearheaded by Prof. Femi Soyinka (Wole Soyinka's younger brother),then a professor of Medicine at University of Ife which led to his brief dention and Late Dr Beko Ransome Kuti.

I am suspending myself from activities with ladies (No toasting/wooing/dating/outing) until after Feb 15th. The suspension will not be reversed and nobody should try to compel me otherwise. All sanctions are welcomed and charges may be begged to be dropped at exactly after the suspension is over. All other information as to the suspension will be communicated to all and sundry as the case may be. Thanks, mgt.

The Save Nigeria Group, one of the organisers of the protests against the removal of subsidy on fuel in Ojota, Lagos, has sued President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi and four others for allegedly violating their rights in the course of the protest.

The group, convened by Pastor Tunde Bakare, commenced the protest on January 9, at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, as a follow up to the strike action declared by the organised Labour to protest against the subsidy removal.

SNG alleged that it had wanted to continue the protest on January 16 when the combined team of men of the Nigeria Army and the police were deployed by the respondents “harassed, intimidated, tortured and restricted” the movement of its members and supporters into the park.

In the suit filed before a Lagos High Court, the applicant also urged the court to award the sum of N100m against the respondents as damages for the violation of its rights. The group also sought the court to order the respondents to publish an apology in at least three national newspapers.

It stated that the security forces deployed in the park acted as agents of or on the instructions of the respondents to deny it, its members and supporters to the Gani Fawehinmi Park, in Ojota, “for the purpose of continuing their peaceful protest.”

The other respondents are the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Oluseyi Petinrin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar; and the Attorney General of the Federation, Bello Adoke.

The applicant argued that the action of respondents its supporters’ and members’ rights to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions, freedom of movement, personal dignity and peaceful assembly and association.

http://www.punchng.com/news/sng-sues-jonathan-azazi-for-stopping-protests/

Mark my words! GEJ's 2012 National Honours list is gradually shaping up: Dimeji Bankole, M.D. Abubabakar, Zakari Biu, Hamza Al-Mustapha. The subsidy vampires will also make the cut: Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Diezani Allison Madueke, Labaran Maku, Reuben Abati, etc etc.

Nigeria's judiciary remains an interesting study. Yesterday, Nigerians celebrated Justice Mojisola Dada for holding Abacha's chief enforcer, Hamza Al-Mustapha, responsible for the wicked assassination of Kudirat Abiola. Today, another judge, Suleiman Belgore, ruled that the EFCC's case against former speaker of the House of Reps, Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy, Bayero Nafada, had no legs to stand on. Did the EFCC file a frivolous case, or was the judge out to set two high-class criminals free? Is it another case of Nigeria's thieving class perverting the cause--and course--of justice?

I am suspending myself from activities with ladies (No toasting/wooing/dating/outing) until after Feb 15th. The suspension will not be reversed and nobody should try to compel me otherwise. All sanctions are welcomed and charges may be begged to be dropped at exactly after the suspension is over. All other information as to the suspension will be communicated to all and sundry as the case may be. Thanks, mgt.

The day Reuben was writing that rubbish that Nigerians in the Diaspora are holed up in shanty homes and do menial work was the day I concluded the man was completely out of his mind. If he is to be told the truth, majority of Nigerians in the United States are serious professionals in their own right. The era of Nigerians in the Diaspora engaging in menial work was in the 1980s. That era has since gone. Mr. Abati and his co-travellers should hide their inadequacies in government because that is the only means they can survive. Shame!

The sum of this write-up is that Mr. Abati is devoid of conscience. The Guardian motto is: "Conscience, Nurtured by truth." That conscience nurtured by truth has deserted Mr. Abati when he joined the looting government of GEJ that has continued to impoverish the Nigerian masses. Thank you, Sowore, jare!

Mogidi:
It is impossible to get an objective evaluation of GEJ's presidency on Nairaland. The heteromorphic hatred of GEJ on Nairaland is in the main inspired by tribalism and nothing else. There are so many examples but am picking one of the newest. There's a thread here that implied Dame Patience travelled to AU meeting with 24 aides.

Thread starter referenced Shakara Reporters as the source. Without checking other online newspapers (not that it mattered) the goons went to work.
Reuben  just posted (Abati's rejoinder) to Shakara reporters detailing only 32 aides went with (wait for it) GEJ. Dame Patience never took any aide to the AU meeting, an obvious fact from the onset.


Why are the goons not in that thread apologising for getting it so wrong. Come to  think of it they may be there (with egg on their faces) spinning their lies uncontrollably.

Why has truth become a foible affecting the majority on nairaland? Yes I've got the answer> "Tribalism". Posting an out and out lie to discredit Dame Patience shows their arguements carry no weight, value or intelligence, hence the resort to banalities.

These muppets are bereft of decent human ethos.
Do I think they will change in future?
Ans= Of course not. But guess what, you can't do anything to GEJ until 2019.

GEJ carry go!!!

Just before GEJ carries and lands you in the ditch,read Sahara reporters rejoinder to Reuben Abati's poor attempt at obfuscation.


[b]Sahara Reporters to Abati: You lied

Sahara Reporters has replied presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben abati, that it lied in a report it carried that the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonahtna, contrary to his promise of cutting spending on foreign trips, went to the African Union Summit that ended today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a delegation that did not fulfill his pledge.

According to the reply written by Omoyele Sowore, Sahara Reporters accused abati of being economical with the truth by not stating the fact that the First Lady was also attending another fringe meeting on the side of the AU meeting involving First Ladies of other countries and thus had her own entourage.
Sahara Reporters put the entourage of the First Lady at 32, which was the total number of delegates Abati said was on the trip to Ethiopia.
The publication challenged Abati to make available to Nigerians the names and designations of those officially on the trip to Ethiopia with Jonathan to prove that the delegation was indeed not more than 32.

The letter by Sowore reads:

“Dear Reuben Abati,

“I read your cleverly written letter to me regarding our latest report on President Goodluck Jonathan’s junket to Ethiopia. In writing what purports to be a rejoinder, you deliberately left out details of our sms exchanges on the same issue. That omission, I suggest, was an attempt to evade the central issue raised in our report. Instead of confronting that issue – the list of delegates invited and sponsored by the Jonathan administration and his wife to Ethiopia – you chose to play a semantic game over what is a straight forward issue. I’ll respond to your rejoinder pointedly.

“1. You sent me a text message on Friday claiming that our report on the Ethiopia trip was false and malicious because, according to you, there was a “mix up” somewhere. I quickly responded, telling you that a truthful report could never be malicious. Thereafter, you sent another text saying you didn’t mean to criticize the report, but wanted to put matters straight. You proceeded to explain that there was only “one delegation” led by the president to Addis Ababa and that the number of people on the list was far lower than we reported. I quickly requested for the list. You responded by claiming that it was in your bag at your hotel room. However, you curiously sent another text claiming you couldn’t reach some people involved in getting the list as it was “past midnight” in Addis Ababa. My last text to you was a reminder that I would be waiting for your response regarding the list and size of the delegation. That response never came; instead, you released this letter that pretends to be a refutation, but is rather an attempt at obfuscation.

“2. You claimed that there was a single list of delegates to Ethiopia. That claim amounts to a puerile effort to conceal the fact that Mrs. Patience Jonathan was attending a program of African First Ladies which was different from the AU summit being attended by President Jonathan. This meant that the “First Lady” was traveling with a retinue of staff, associates and hangers-on to aid or support her “official” activities at a separate event from that of President Jonathan.

“3. As the president’s chief spokesman, you ought to have the delegate list. I challenge you then to provide the public with a breakdown of Mr. Jonathan’s “one delegation entourage” to Addis Ababa, categorized in order of designation of officials, their date of travel, mode of travel, and explanation of whether they were part of the advance party or arrived in Addis Ababa in the same aircraft as the President – or in an extra aircraft that was deployed.

“4. From your letter, it is clear that you concede that some “Nigerians” may have traveled with the delegation “unofficially.” Does this technical admission not defeat your initial insistence that there was only “one delegation”?

“5. SaharaReporters has a history of documenting the culture of waste occasioned by the profligate junkets by the Presidency. We are glad that your principal appears to have realized that wasteful trips need to be eliminated and the size of delegations cut – especially after the president’s scandalous outing in Perth, Australia where an out-of-control delegation engaged in waste, corruption and even broke Australian laws.

“6. We maintain that “First Lady” Patience Jonathan traveled with a retinue of aides, friends and associates to the tune of 32 people. Their travels and accommodation were arranged and paid for by the Nigerian government. What you owe the public is an obligation to be transparent. In this event, that entails releasing your official delegates’ list as well as names of associates, contractors, friends and “other Nigerians” the government gave a nod to visit along with the president and his wife on this trip to Addis Ababa. In other words, we await the release of that list that you claimed was in your bag in the hotel room in Addis Ababa. Thank you.[/b]”

Sahara Reporters to Abati: You lied

Sahara Reporters has replied presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben abati, that it lied in a report it carried that the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonahtna, contrary to his promise of cutting spending on foreign trips, went to the African Union Summit that ended today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a delegation that did not fulfill his pledge.

According to the reply written by Omoyele Sowore, Sahara Reporters accused abati of being economical with the truth by not stating the fact that the First Lady was also attending another fringe meeting on the side of the AU meeting involving First Ladies of other countries and thus had her own entourage.
Sahara Reporters put the entourage of the First Lady at 32, which was the total number of delegates Abati said was on the trip to Ethiopia.
The publication challenged Abati to make available to Nigerians the names and designations of those officially on the trip to Ethiopia with Jonathan to prove that the delegation was indeed not more than 32.

The letter by Sowore reads:

“Dear Reuben Abati,

“I read your cleverly written letter to me regarding our latest report on President Goodluck Jonathan’s junket to Ethiopia. In writing what purports to be a rejoinder, you deliberately left out details of our sms exchanges on the same issue. That omission, I suggest, was an attempt to evade the central issue raised in our report. Instead of confronting that issue – the list of delegates invited and sponsored by the Jonathan administration and his wife to Ethiopia – you chose to play a semantic game over what is a straight forward issue. I’ll respond to your rejoinder pointedly.

“1. You sent me a text message on Friday claiming that our report on the Ethiopia trip was false and malicious because, according to you, there was a “mix up” somewhere. I quickly responded, telling you that a truthful report could never be malicious. Thereafter, you sent another text saying you didn’t mean to criticize the report, but wanted to put matters straight. You proceeded to explain that there was only “one delegation” led by the president to Addis Ababa and that the number of people on the list was far lower than we reported. I quickly requested for the list. You responded by claiming that it was in your bag at your hotel room. However, you curiously sent another text claiming you couldn’t reach some people involved in getting the list as it was “past midnight” in Addis Ababa. My last text to you was a reminder that I would be waiting for your response regarding the list and size of the delegation. That response never came; instead, you released this letter that pretends to be a refutation, but is rather an attempt at obfuscation.

“2. You claimed that there was a single list of delegates to Ethiopia. That claim amounts to a puerile effort to conceal the fact that Mrs. Patience Jonathan was attending a program of African First Ladies which was different from the AU summit being attended by President Jonathan. This meant that the “First Lady” was traveling with a retinue of staff, associates and hangers-on to aid or support her “official” activities at a separate event from that of President Jonathan.

“3. As the president’s chief spokesman, you ought to have the delegate list. I challenge you then to provide the public with a breakdown of Mr. Jonathan’s “one delegation entourage” to Addis Ababa, categorized in order of designation of officials, their date of travel, mode of travel, and explanation of whether they were part of the advance party or arrived in Addis Ababa in the same aircraft as the President – or in an extra aircraft that was deployed.

“4. From your letter, it is clear that you concede that some “Nigerians” may have traveled with the delegation “unofficially.” Does this technical admission not defeat your initial insistence that there was only “one delegation”?

“5. SaharaReporters has a history of documenting the culture of waste occasioned by the profligate junkets by the Presidency. We are glad that your principal appears to have realized that wasteful trips need to be eliminated and the size of delegations cut – especially after the president’s scandalous outing in Perth, Australia where an out-of-control delegation engaged in waste, corruption and even broke Australian laws.

“6. We maintain that “First Lady” Patience Jonathan traveled with a retinue of aides, friends and associates to the tune of 32 people. Their travels and accommodation were arranged and paid for by the Nigerian government. What you owe the public is an obligation to be transparent. In this event, that entails releasing your official delegates’ list as well as names of associates, contractors, friends and “other Nigerians” the government gave a nod to visit along with the president and his wife on this trip to Addis Ababa. In other words, we await the release of that list that you claimed was in your bag in the hotel room in Addis Ababa. Thank you.”

"The Nigerian Entourage list contains 35 names in total, however three of those whose names are listed did not join the delegation and the total number of delegates in Addis Ababa is not more than 32." - Reuben Abati

In other words, we stole a goat, not a cow as widely reported.

It is very unfortunate that this is the first time president Jonathan of Nigeria is losing an election since he made his debut in politics a decade age.May be his gods have gone to sleep.Only time will tell.

When the blind leads the blind,their abode is certainly a ditch.

As a result of the completion of the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank Plc by Access Bank Plc, the bank on Friday terminated the employment of about 1, 500 employees of Intercontinental Bank.

Also, it was gathered that the bank shut down some branches of Intercontinental Bank nationwide. A visit by our correspondent to two of Intercontinental Bank’s branches in Ibafo Area and Ikeja confirmed the report. The branches were shut with only security personnel talking to customers. When asked why the bank did not open, one of the security personnel told our correspondent that the network was down and directed our correspondent to another Intercontinental branch.

It was learnt that the sacked employees were served with their disengagement letters on Friday.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Affairs Department, Access Bank, Mr. Austin Edoja, confirmed that some branches had been shut down, but declined to give further comment, saying, “We will issue a release on that later.”

Our correspondent learnt that the action was taken by Access Bank with an eye to reducing overheads.

Access Bank and Intercontinental are expected to fuse into one entity by March 2012, and the closure of some branches of Intercontinental Bank is seen by analysts as a step in that direction.

Already, Intercontinental Bank branches are being rebranded in Access Bank colours, in preparation for the completion of the merger process in March, which will leave Access Bank as the surviving entity.

According to a statement by Access Bank to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in December, Intercontinental Bank Plc will cease to exist by March 2012.

The statement said the merger of business would be effected through a Scheme of Merger pursuant to Part XII of the Investments and Securities Act (No 29) of 2007.

Access Bank said it had earlier envisaged that the merger process would take between 18 and 24 months, adding that it was able to fast-track the process due to a number of factors ranging from the pre-merger integration process and the support of stakeholders.

The statement read, “We are pleased that this acceleration has been made possible by the success of our pre-merger integration processes leading to the achievement of key milestones well ahead of initial target dates.

“This has been assisted by the high level of cooperation and support received from all stakeholders to date. The acceleration has also been necessitated by the successful completion of change of control at the parent as well as subsidiary levels of Intercontinental Bank.”

“To ensure that the momentum is sustained and that value is preserved, Access Bank has decided to accelerate the merger timetable in line with the progress of integration. This is particularly important as some critical aspects of the integration exercise such as customer and product integration will only be completed subsequent to the legal merger of both banks,” it added.

http://www.punchng.com/sports/access-bank-sacks-1500-intercontinental-employees-shuts-branches/

Despite the promise made by GEJ to reduce waste in Governance. Culture of Waste and Insensitivity Continues today as Mrs. Jonathan in company of the President arrives Addis Ababa With 32 Aides.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/culture-waste-and-insensitivity-continues-mrs-jonathan-arrives-addis-ababa-32-aides

On this day in 2002, explosions at a military cantonment in Lagos, Nigeria, trigger a stampede of fleeing people, during which more than 1,000 people were killed.

On that fateful Sunday, residents of Ikeja and its environs were shocked to hear the thunderous sound, intermitently coming from the barracks. While some thought it could be part of an attempt to seize power from the then civilian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, others could not even hazard a guess.They simply fled from the ‘war zone’. When the dusts eventually settled, over a thousand residents of Lagos, eventually met what they were running away from inside the pitch-dark water canal at Oke Afa area of the state -death.

Giving more insights into what actually led to the infamous incident, the then Commanding Officer of the command, Brig. George Kolawole Emdin, blamed the ugly episode on the lackadaisical attitude and negligence on the part of those in authority at the time.Emdin, the then commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade and the commanding officer of the cantonment, where the bombs exploded revealed that the blast should have been pre-empted some months before it actually occurred.According to the retired Army officer , the different army formations in Lagos State as at then informed the Senate Committee on Defence and the Army Headquaters of the impending disaster at the Armour Transit Depot situated within the cantonment .According to him, the ATD had become, not only obsolete but also inundated with unused ammunition from the ECOMOG peace keeping mission to Liberia and Congo.He further stated that the Senate Committee on Defence had on its visit to the cantonment on the 4th of October 2001 been informed of the impending danger at the ATD. Brigadier Emdin (Rtd) also stated that the then Chief of Defence staff, Major General Ogomudia was also aware of the precarious situation of the ATD.He disclosed that the former Chief of Army staff had, during one of his visits to the ATD, ordered that tarpaulin be acquired to cover the littering bombs from the sun.He also claimed that the Senate leadership during the Pius Anyim era had allegedly sent a recommendation to the Presidency to include the ATD in the budget for the following year

Indeed, January 27, 2002 was horrendous in the chequered history of Lagos and the entire nation. As the bomb exploded at the military cantonment, the city was thrown into confusion and disarray. Every part of the metropolis felt the pangs arising from the explosion. The farther away from the site, the more it appeared that the explosion was taking place next door. Items hung precariously in many homes crashed like a pack of cards, with buildings vibrating menacingly as a result of the impact of the explosion.It was as if the nation was embroiled in another civil war. Thousands of residents scampering for safety ran across the major highways till the wee hours of the day, with Lagos streets depicting the ugly scenario in war-torn Somalia , Sudan and Angola , where brothers have been at each other’s jugular for decades. While some Lagosians managed to take along a few clothing as they rushed out of the residences to the streets, others merely ran for cover in near nudity.

Like in every disaster, the explosion was accompanied by dire consequences. Thousands became homeless after fleeing from their homes. Many others lost their means of livelihood. A near food crisis soon crept in, as the ubiquitous street traders, hawkers and food vendors vanished to take refuge in obscure locations. The restless city suddenly went to sleep, with virtually all the commercial outlets closing shops, especially in the popular Oshodi market, the closest civilian-dominated commercial point to the cantonment.

However, the most horrific consequence was the human causalities that resulted from the disaster. Till date, no one knows the exact number persons that lost their lives. But no fewer than one thousand of persons who got drowned in the canal at Oke-Afa, in Isolo, while running away from the impeding calamity, were given a state burial. While some families were able to reconnect after the disaster, many others are still smarting from the memories of their missing relations.

Nigerians-Both Dead and Alive

Nigeria on fire as Boko Haram strikes again.

A totally shameless old man.In sane climes,his ilk will forever languish in gaol.

assetstrap:
Is'nt this the same guy that was indicted over the Jos crises?

Niki Tobel Panel in 2001 recommended that NEW IG OF POLICE MD Abubakar be removed from police because of alledged complicity in Jos crisis

Investigations conducted by www.societynowng.com revealed that in the face of public furore generated by the public exposure of celebrated presenter, Frank Edoho kissing his new lover, Sandra at wedding recently- his employment remains unthreatened.

His employers- the promoters of the must watched programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire- remain consistent in their stance on issues relating to Edoho's matrimony- it is a private matter.

This is even in the face of campaign by some within the organisation attempting to leverage on the development to replace the popular presenter with 'another favoured candidate'

His job is one of the most coveted within the organisation (because of the inherent gains)

The 'sack Edoho' group within and outside the organisation hinge their moves on claims of 'irresponsibility' on the part of the presenter.

They premise this on interpretation that he was caught kissing his new lover at a public place, when he is yet to fully divorce his wife.

The allegation is that as a brand ambassador of the programme- his action portrays it in bad light.

Pro Edoho's faction had countered these claims with the revelations that 'the issue of irresponsibility doesnot come into play'

That he is still very much responsible for the upkeep of his wife and his three children.

He is said to just pay her house rents and increase their monthly allowance.

They were on two hundred and fifty thousand naira monthly allowance- the increment is yet to be ascertained.

Aside this- Edoho is said to just make provisions that will take the stress of taking the children to and from school off kathrine.

According to his supporters 'he is trying to make them comfortable and happy like he is trying to be on his new romance'

They stretched the argument further that 'it takes a responsible man to do that- that those attempting to create an issue out of a kiss with a fiance, his parents approved are just being mischievous'

Sources claim the decider that strengthened his employers resolve to be consistent in their stand on the issue is Edoho's competence.

It is generally agreed that- he knows his job.

Insiders revealed that though the move to get him sacked is yet to be totally eradicated- there are strong indication that because of the need not to contradict official position against the background of caring for his estranged wife and children, Edoho will escape with only 'a strong warning- until he commits professional blunder'

http://societynowng.com/Frank-Edoho-Pays-Estranged-Wife-Kathrine-Rent-Increases-Children-Monthly-Allowance

The pix is that of goalkeeper of the female under 17 team.

By the way which of these crimes is lighter?Politicians who steal billions of naira from the public till and a citizen who understates her age usually aided and abetted by NFF officials to eke out a living?

Peter Esele states that he disagrees that 35 million litres of PMS is consumed on a daily bsais.

Peter Esele,TUC president says he objects to being a member on the PIB commitee because he is the only labour official.He suggests NLC and PENGASSAN members to be in the committee as well.

General Muhammadu Buhari-His incorruptibility is simply unimpeachable.A former president,an ex-governor,one time chairman of NNPC,erstwhile minister of Petroleum Resources and Chairman of Petoleum Trust Fund.Yet does not own a house either in Lagos or Abuja.His two houses are in Kaduna and other in his hometown in Daura Katsina state,a modest bungalow.He is a rare breed.

Natural disaster

‘They Should Not Lead Any Rally’

(His Eminence, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, Prelate, Methodist Church, Nigeria)

THE role of any clergy is to stand in the gap between the government and the people. They should intercede on behalf of the people. Divine intervention is better than any rally. A cleric should not lead in any rally, but advise government on what they should do. You don’t lead the crowd. By doing so, you are telling us that God is weak in dealing with any situation.

We know Bakare is a politician, whether you like it or not. For him, political assignment is his primary while his religious obligation is secondary. I can call on government or advise the government to do this or that. But when a clergyman embarks on a rally or protest, it is inciting the people against the government. Area boys (miscreants) can hijack it from him and begin to unleash terror before our very eyes. ‘Oh, look at our pastor’. It is very easy to set up a fire, but difficult to quench it. When the government is doing something that is bad, we speak out. We can call for a press conference where we advise the government to do what is right.

This man (Jonathan) we are talking about needs our prayers, whether you are a Muslim or Christian. He needs our prayers in order to govern well. I was in the Holy Land (Israel) when I heard what was going on and I thank God for intervening. I thank God for answering our prayers.

I appeal to clerics not to use their cassocks or positions to get involved in any rally. For Tunde Bakare, we all know him as an activist; he was a running mate to the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), who was defeated in the 2011 presidential election.

For me, government cannot take him seriously. He is fighting for his belly; he’s fighting for the theology of his stomach. We should not mix politics with religion. It is very dangerous for our nation. Bakare is mixing politics with religion and I advise that no cleric should mix politics with religion. May God bless our Fatherland. Amen.

http://ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74589:role-of-clerics-in-mass-protest-&catid=102:ibru-ecumenical-centre&Itemid=596