₦airaland Forum

An extraction from an article i saw online by a writer i admire so much

This will be the last essay I write for the year 2006, a year that a lot has happened, one in which the last few weeks to the end has witnessed a lot that could end up affecting the forthcoming year. Once again the pipeline fire in which several hundreds were roasted speaks volumes. Also our condolences to the late Godwin Agbroko of Thisday Newspaper, a sad year one would have to say.

For political analysts, the crystal ball is no longer as crystal as it used to be and could be. We witnessed some last minute magic, we have also in Nda Isaiah's phrase seen issues that won't go. We have seen so much that it is a miracle that the eye has not stop functioning. A sizable number of Nigerians celebrated xmas without the traditional chicken stew. It has been a year of hardship, and the Nigerian citizenry has again paid the price,

Except the 'god' factor, we can as well be planning how to make Yaradua perform as President come 2007, because if not for fate and destiny, the rigging has already commenced.

I am not going to complain in this end of the year essay but thank God for Nigeria, I thank the Almighty that the nation has against all odds remained one despite all the abuse it has suffered in the hands of leadership and also the led. We remain optimistic that things could be better and with hope we embrace the new year, believing for once our voice would be heard as a people.

For a year that the Judiciary was so bastardized and is still abused, one cannot but thank God for the last effort of the Supreme Court which sought to give sanity to the system through the Ladoja verdict. If not we perhaps would have ended a year without a Judiciary as every Tom Dick, Harry, Ribadu, Obasanjo, PDP and co. chose to rape that tier of government without recourse to sanity.

It was the the year of 'third term' dance after squandering money on the project, the President came out to make a fool of the whole nation by calling black white in broad daylight. But we thank God that the redundant Senators against all expectations collected, ate the third term cash and still for once in a long time disappeared with Baba's money without delivering. It was a victory for democracy.

It was a year that we fought corruption, the Ribadu way and anyway, Governors were impeached with impunity, no one cared, Ribadu pounced. Alams, Fayose, and Dariye were all made living witness on how not to loot without Obj's permission. The opposition was not left out in the hunt. But we give thanks to God that we are not all blind as some us saw that how to steal was simply to steal and donate farm equipment to the life leader of Nigeria, father Obj and you can be gauranted imunity. What a year, from Anambra, Plateau, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Abia and others the drama was regular and for the onlooker one could not have asked for a more interesting Mexican soap other than the 'Governors Who Offended Obasanjo". We were witnesses of the continued plundering of state resources by the ruling party and its men.

As we end, so many lives have been lost, through road accidents, air mishaps, unemployment, retrenchment, hunger and depravation, robberies, pipeline vandalization. But we thank God that we are still alive to continue the fight for a better Nigeria, so that a better future can be secured.

INEC, Water Board, Police,educational,health systems, infact everything has failed. It was a year of failed promises yet again. At all tiers of governance, we witnessed monumental failure but we could not complain. Only God knows how truly the average Nigerian feels living on hope that never goes beyond hope.

Again we failed in our practice of representative democracy, as our representatives have being serving themselves. As the year rounds up we need thank God that only Okada was banned in Abuja, it could have been worse, El-Rufai could have banished poor men inclusive from the FCT.

Although it affected us, while the President and Vice has continued washing their extremely dirty wares in public, we watched on foolishly as spectators but at least we did not fight ourselves beyond the pages of newspapers this time around may be the common man is beginning to have some sense. It has been a total abuse of the system, and one big shock that somehow we have continued to tag along, Today Obj serves, the next morning the Vice serves, infact the laughable part is that they ask us to pray as they do their foolish act.

This is was one year that all the noise was about South-South Presidency that suffered and ended as a pipe dream or better put at the last minute was vandalized, now all we have is an all Kastina State arrangement.

We thank God that NEPA or PHCN did not disappoint us.

Infact sometime during the year a friend had electricity for eight hours non stop from PHCN, he had to rush to the nearest PHCN office to ask if all was okay as we are not used to having free flow of electricity for that long non stop. It could have been worse, buildings collapsed, and this was not surprising as the nation itself on several ocassion was dancing on the edge of collapse due to the idiotic inefficiency of the administrators of the system.

As the year rolled by, security was again an issue, no one was safe but we thank God that we are alive to see the end of the year. But for the female National Team, the Falcons, there was nothing to cheer as we were made to watch the World Cup on Television, football one of the effective painkillers of the nation was ineffective due to the usual unusual Nigerian factor.

I have left out so many things, not to bore us, not to sound like a broken record, but so many issues have refused to go, I wish us all the very best of the forthcoming year. May the blessings of the Almighty see us through.

As the saying goes what goes around comes around, this should serve as a lesson to all the thieves and tyrants we have as leaders all over the world especially in Africa and Nigeria

OBJ has done a very wrong thing by declaring the seat of the VP vacant but u felt it was right, that feeling it self is a wrong feeling, though u have ur reasons , cant force u to agree with mine so have fun

Afam:
Just yesterday, there was news that another pipeline had been vandalised and that Nigerians were scooping fuel even when a lot of people died in a similar venture some days ago.

And when they say that nigeria is a nation of idiots u start swearing lol

@ Donzman

how far now ma guy which kin life why u dey insult me now . i just the curse that mumu president and him PDP people na dem make all dis things dey happen for say them dey do the right things e for no dey like dis e for surely better for we all .

Afam:
Anyone that says Nigeria is a nation of idiots is a very big idiot.

On Audu Ogbeh, I do not have sympathy for people who commit crimes against Nigeria only turn themselves into defenders of Nigeria once they lose out in the power game.

Audu Ogbeh set an unprecedented record in Nigeria for being the first party chairman to oversee the use of the military to massively rig elections to ensure that PDP won elections in 2003.

Not even the PDP chairman under Abdusalami Abubakar did anything close.

He should be reminded of all the atrocities he commited, being against OBJ after they fell out is not enough because we are tired of hypocrites that will support policies that are bad only to turn themselves into human rights defenders overnight.

@ Afam

so you believe OBJ is still in power cos because the 2003 polls were rigged? why then are u supporting him?

am not talking about Okonjo Iweala here, am talking about the mad brainless OBJ so i wont anwer that question, because it has nothing to do with OBJ's neglect of the constitution.

alabiyemmy:
I hate it when people arrogate the power of God to themselves. Leave God to judge who is His or not. Even you talking about other Pastors, do you know God's opinion about you on other matters?

How can u hate when people say the truth about others, some of this pators are theives, they steal from people based on their ignorance and u dont want people to talk about it, knowledge is power, when people know that some of these people are stealing from them they will stop giving them money and use it for something else.

You no longer hear pastors preach about holiness and rigteousness these days all u hear is give and it shall be given unto u, people have been giving and nothing has been happening, the change is not coming into the peoples lives, every sunday people are giving but nigeria and nigerians are moving backwards, this just goes to tell us that we should be christians and serve God cos we want to do so not because some pastors are telling us its one of the surest ways to get out of poverty.

For those of you that are saying that atiku should resign, i will like you to know that if he does the mad OBJ will send the bulldog EFCC to come and lock him up, this is nigeria we are talking about where injustice reings supreme, u can never get justice if u are on the oppisitiuon and atiku knows it very well. he is taking full advantage of his immunity because without it he can't cough out.

we all know that OBJ is a dictaor that has no time for oppoistion, u don't expect atiku to resign and make the revelation he did about the PTDF and still be a free man , though i know that Atiku's campaing against the tenure elongation was on a personal basis i will still want to believe he has done something for the nation, else OBJ would have still been there for a long time and nigeria will still be moving backwards because nothing has change for good from 1999 to date.

Not in support of atiku but how can the charcoal be calling the pot black? it just doesnt make sense. OBJ has no right to tell we nigerians that Atiku is corrupt and not a loyal VP(how can he be loyal to such a meaningless administration, that is not there to serve the people?) remember Audu Ogbeh told OBJ the truth and see where it landed him, he told OBJ to call chris uba to oder else nigeria will fall and OBJ felt it was a slap on his face hence his removal as the PDP chairman. OBJ is not a man to argue with. what about Nogozi Uwela, most people don't even know why she was dropped, she was dropped because OBJ didnt want to be told the truth most of the time, her sincerity got her out so u see , u don't expect a resonable person to be loyal to such a rubbish baboon.

OBJ is just as corrupt as atiku. why didnt he tell us atiku was corrupt during their first tenure till atiku started  oppousing his 3rdterm ambition? this is just madness to me . OBJ is not a better person than atiku and we all know it, he swore to uphold the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria and he should else he should rot in jail.

very very true the bastard OBJ sdhould lead the march to Abacha's grave and ask for his forgiveness because Nigeria hasnot change a bit since he took over in 1999. everything is worse

never in our history have we witnessed this kind of armedrobbery, plane crashes , corupption, religious voilence,political killings and dictatorship. stupid old brainless baboon, his weak brain needs to be behind bars where he belongs bastard devil.

lol whats happening here? personally i feel radiant should apologise to the guy ,he was just trying to make a friend and was told to Bleep off, lol u should have just ignored him if u didnt want to talk to him, u first insulted him and u are caliming he did u wrong na wahhh ohhh which kin life?

twinstaiye:
This is what pisses me off in this country, what is the general notion when Atiku decamp to other party abandoning the party that get him to VP? Nobody saw nothing wrong with it, as far as they are concern it is normal and the constitutition did not say he cannot decamp, but when the presidency reacted, it is OBJ that is bad. Someone who wanted to be our president should know that once he is banadoning the party that take him to power should know that he should resign as VP honourably. But because he knew he will lose his immunity and he may be arrested, he doesnt want to resign thereby committing the first illegality. If I were OBJ and I trust him, he will surely frustrate Atiku's ambition, if that is the last thing he will do, mark my word. Enough of calling OBJ a bad name, the truth is let us first condemn Atiku's action and his utterances to his boss on the day he decamp to AC, and then thereafter, we can start talking about OBJ's unconstitutional means of declaring the VP's position vacant.

When the likes of Atiku stopped the monster OBJ from getting a 3rd term nobody felt it was a good thing, if not for people like Atiku OBJ would have been a life president in nigeria , am not a supporter of atiku but the truth should be told, just because OBJ is a yoruba man some people here are just supporting him blindly which is wrong, OBJ has no right to treat any body like his child because he is no body's father, remeber it was atiku that rigged most of the northern states for him during the 2003 election if not for people like atiku he wouldnt have been president, atiku was stoned in his home state because of OBJ , he scarificed too much for him but see the way OBJ is trying to show the world that atiku is the bad man when he is worse than him.

if the government had provided fuel knowing fully well that its a festive peroid no body will foolishly go and scoop any petroleum pipeline, but because the people were pushed to the wall they had to do what they did ,though it turned out to be ugly, i refuse to blame the peoplethat scooped the pipeline i blame the useless good for nothing government that foolish allowed fuel to be a scarce at this festive period of the year.

the surah of beheading and voilence koran 12 vs 5 its goes as follows

thou shall behead all the infidels and steal all their properties,
thou shall fight vigorously for the Allah's sake and drive away all the infidels and take over their towns and cities
thou shall hate and kill all the infidels, kill them all till the turn from their evil ways and accept isalm as the only true religion, which is the religion of Allah.
kill, kill, kill, kill them all bastard infidels

joshO:
I still hold that OBJ has done a great deal for this country and I'm not convinced that Atiku has the character to produce anything near.

Great deal indeed, u sit in london and open ur mouth and say OBJ has done a great deal for this nation na wah ohhh, what great deed has he done? he swore to uphold the constitution of the federal republic and he hasnt and u are saying he has done a great deal, he simply cant uphold the constitution. is nigeria's leadership OBJ's birth right? we all know why the fell out of favour with each other, it was basically on the issue of tenure elongation that made the president and his vice fall out with each other.

I repeat OBJ is not a better person than atiku in any way he has no right to point who the sinner is cos he is a devil. nigeria has witnessed 7 years of backwardness and retrogression under his puporsless leadership, instead of accepting his failure as a president he is trying to divert attention to other meaningless things, he only can fool him self.

fuel pipeline blast on boxing day too another christmas gift from baboon OBJ

Here is an article i came across written by a lawyer on the breach of constiutution the amala politician called OBJ is doing, he has no right or capability to declare the seat of the vice president vacant cos the constitution has made it clear that its beyond him to do so, infact he is supposed to be impeached for doing that cos the act is an act of coup deta and its totally undemocratic.


The leadership of People Democratic Party (PDP) expelled Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the party following the adoption of the Vice President by Action Congress (AC) as their Presidential flag-bearer.

Atiku was elected to power alongside Obasanjo in 1999 and 2003 on the platform of the PDP in line with Section 142(1),

“In any election to which the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Chapter relate, a candidate for an election to the office of President shall not be deemed to be validly nominated unless he nominates another candidate as his associate from the same political party for his running for the office of President, who is to occupy the office of Vice-President…”

but he declared for the Action Congress (AC) after so much battle with the leadership of PDP and after wining the court case against his suspension by the party which the party still refused to recognise. He emerged the presidential candidate for Action Congress (AC) with nine other political parties giving him their support for 2007 polls after a three-month suspension.

However, the decision of the leadership of PDP leadership to replace the Vice President as caused shock-waves across the country political arena as many constitutional lawyers and prominent political analyst await the legal showdown that will emerge from this saga.

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olisa Agbakoba, was reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as warning PDP against the replacement of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar because it would create a constitutional crisis in the country.

Whilst, the PDP grounds for expelling the Vice President after picking the Action Congress (AC) is understandable because he is no longer technically a member of PDP. The idea of removing him from the Office of the Vice President cannot be excused by the law. The full text of Section 142 (1) reads:

“In any election to which the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Chapter relate, a candidate for an election to the office of President shall not be deemed to be validly nominated unless he nominates another candidate as his associate from the same political party for his running for the office of President, who is to occupy the office of Vice-President and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of Vice-President if the candidate for an election to the office of President who nominated him as such associate is duly elected as President in accordance with the provisions aforesaid”

The latter part of this section stated that the Vice President “shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of Vice-President if the candidate for an election to the office of President who nominated him as such associated…” Any reasonable person can infer from the statement that the Vice President role will be validated by the Presidential victory but no longer restricted by the same political party principle. If membership of the same political party remains the criteria for holding the post, the law would have rightly identified this in Section 143 and 144 of the 1999 Constitution and it is important to note that both the office of the President and Vice-President are answerable to the people through the House of Assembly not to political parties.

The constitution is crystal clear that the Vice-President could only be removed from office by death, impeachment, resignation or on medical grounds, thus the PDP's request did not fall within the remit of the four conditions outline in the legislative provision.

There have been talks about the use of section 109 (g) of the 1999 constitution which states that:

“(g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored; or… “

This section above is not relevant in the case of the Vice President because he is not a member of the House of National Assembly, thus the law can not be inferred to suggest that it is relevant to the case. However, the only possible way to remove the Vice President is impeachment by the National Assembly or for him to resign voluntarily.

However, the ongoing political correctness in Nigeria which is interfering with every aspect of the political spectrum such as the obvious EFCC investigation of specific individuals, the re-engineering or master-minding of support for anointed PDP Presidential candidate and the political conflict between the President and the Vice President, will destroy the value of that office of the Presidency.

It is strange that the President has never being questioned on the subject of section 148 (2) which place a duty on the President to meet regularly with the Vice President on matters relating to the nations up-keeping. The duty is not discretionary but mandatory because the word used is “Shall” instead of “May”.

The battle line is now drawn and it is my political prophecy that this latest political correctness or madness whatever you prefer to call it, is only weakening the fibre of our young democracy and I am now calling on all true political elders and religious leaders in Nigeria to stand up and call some of our political leaders to order.

na wah ohh for all this somalians dem no go rest? abi dem no dey tire sef, this maddness of theirs is way too much, when will they ever get tired of it? since when i was a kid i have been hearing of the war thats going on in that region now am an adult and its still the same, i don tire sef

this is an extraction of an article i saw on line written by  some one i really admire


At about this time last year we were wishing each other the best of the year 2006, in the next few days it will be 2007 and again we are wishing ourselves the best of the in-coming year. The year 2006 has come and soon will condemned to the pack of history, it is the last year before father Obasanjo hands over to whoever it is that they choose, that is if he will, or if we can force him to.

2006 is going, going and soon would be gone and those that has suffered most is the Nigerian masses, whether we deserve the suffering or not is another matter. Our leaders have continued to play mickey mouse with the future of Nigerians. Every Merry Xmas since 1999 has witnessed an increase in the price of salt, bread, water, thank God they have no control over the air we breathe, they just might have privatized it or, increase in transportation, fuel has not only increased but is a scarce commodity. We have been on a progressive slide towards the tunnel of despair.

how merry, on the lighter side of life a lot of Fowls have the Obasanjo administration to thank as they would escape the stew pot. Workers have either lost their jobs, or have not been paid their pensions even after being disengaged and while those that remain go through hell every day. We wake to an everyday existence of it is well when we know that all is not well. If the PDP got a consensus candidate through a masquerade election, the ANPP selected theirs through an Ijaw dance in which the steps where well known by the drummers. AC cannot be said to have faired any better.

As I pen these words I reside in a neighborhood where water is as in demand as in fuel, a 10 litter bucket sells for N20, I have had no electricity because there is has a fault somewhere and no one has bothered explaining to me problem and its been two days now, In September I paid over N2000 in electricity bills, I complained and by September the bill was barely N400, only Almighty Allah knows what will be a merry xmas gift from the power house called PHCN.

As we observe Xmas and I say observe because for many it would be an observation rather than celebration I feel that there is a growing level of disenchantment amongst the populace. In the last four weeks across Lagos and Abuja there have been high profile robberies of banks and bureau de change. In Jos a money exchange dealer was brutally murdered. And we expect a Merry Xmas.

Listening to Atiku and the PTDF probe I really wished that one could shoot both men, my apologies, for one, why did it take this long for Atiku to talk, and is it not because he has fallen apart from master, And for master is it not a shame and an execution-able offense not just an impeachable one  if indeed he stole from PTDF too. How can we say merry xmas in the face of these facades. There are many PTDF's while the masses are suffering and dying.


Look at the entire year in retrospect and can we really say that it has been a fruitful year, how much of corruption have we chased away, especially with the trend now in the private sector not just in government. Only days ago the NTA, FRCN, VON called off their strike, after lying for the government the same government refuses to pay them the so-called monetization. But Frank Nweke the Information Minister has been galavanting the globe in the name of heart of Africa project, wasting money, achieving very little. The government if it will leave come May 2007 is busy selling everything and awarding all sorts of contracts, and wishing political jobbers and government lackeys a merry xmas, happy sallah and new year with our money.

Families lost loved ones last year and this year can you say to them merry xmas, is it possible for them to hold on to anything for the New Year, how much more those that lost friends and family for the same reason again. The roads to ply during this yuletide season are not there, the air is not safe, we may have to wait close to ten merry xmas and new years, countless sallahs and easters before we can see a functional railroad, Markets are burning here and there, the same market that provides a semblance of hope for the ordinary man and no one really cares.


Last year I cannot remember getting any xmas hamper, I have being buying a laptop in my dreams, after several don't worry I will get you one I just gave hope, besides not with the Greek nature of a Nigerian gift. How many Nigerians having been saving to buy a motorcycle, a television set, or a small transistor radio since Happy New Year 2006, now it is another new year in the horizon and our plans are still on the drawing board. It was late Fela that said every-time we almost buy the item, the item adds a Naira and the trend continues and no end in sight. Everyday, the same thing suffering and smiling, now its dying and smiling


It is a new year and Nigerians are finding it hard to really to say that we have been blessed with the dividends of democracy, in some cases we have seen the rich also cry which at least gives us hope that we have co-sufferers, from Tafa to Alams have cried, Dariye cried, Ladoja cried and should be smiling now. I gathered that Odili, Duke, Attah and co. are still reeling in tears of aborted dreams. The poor cannot cry anymore, the tears have long gone, we all suffer, cooking gas is more expensive than motor spirit, so as poorman dey suffer, we have animals in human skin fronting as leaders.

The Obasanjo farms do not hold any hope for the ordinary man, so even eggs will not grace the table of the masses this yuletide. For Muslims, a fowl if available can take the place of a ram, a bag of rice sells for N6000. And it might interest us to know that same bag of Rice was less a few hundreds last year, infact, in 1999 it was barely N3000 and things are supposedly getting better by the the Obj standard. We have seem the magic of Obasanjonomics, the economics of Obj, PDP and its effects.

We call it resolution, those decisions that are made at the beginning of each year, it is like a promise to be of good behaviour, to the best that we can, alot of us avoid it for many reasons, and strongest is the fact that we never keep to them or that we break them almost immediately. The resolution by the PDP controlled government to the Nigerian masses is one that has never been kept. That which the government said it would do, it never did, that which it did, it never said it would. And yet in our strong resolve and resilience we refuse to see that a merry xmas nor sallah is not feasible.

Nobody can even say this is the worst hit sector in Nigeria as the year rounds up, the educational sector is very sick, the health sector suffers acute malaria, our transport is now a case of recurrent migraine, our polity has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. It is a sad xmas, families are groaning under debt, all kinds and manners. The robbers we have are not just touts but graduates either freshers or those that have found solace in a system that has no future for them. Widows have multiplied, our society keeps no stats so we care less about the orphans let loose by our collective carefree attitude.

Sad end to a year, as the haves will still be in London for their xmas break and the have nots, better imagined than experienced. I personally have not called for an utopia where there are no problems but most of us hold the belief that things could be better, we have the resources, human, material and otherwise. Could it be that we need a silent revolution, a quiet questioning of the system by a new breed of Nigerians driven by a gush of hot patriotism? As we reflect during this yuletide season, one which also has the commemoration of Sallah close, let us start the process of granting a merry xmas and happy new to the future of this nation. May the Almighty help us

when the going was good btwn OBJ and his men (Ogbeh, Lar, Atiku.,Gemade,Rimi ,IBB and all those guys out there) they werent prolific plunderers now that the going is bad they are. lol no sentiments should be attached here when govenor saminu turaki and all is cabinet in jigawa state decamped from the ANPP to the PDP what happned? did they declear thier seats vacant? No they didnt so why should they declear they sit of the VP vacant because he seems to have shown the whole world that the stupid old nonsense baboon is more currupt than him?

what is going on here how many senators have decamped from other parties to the PDD? so many, and did they lose their seats? no . why is it that its when the opposition that leaves the PDP to any party that their seats are always decleared vacant? na wahh ohhh , this jungle maddnes needs to end, that amala politician needs to rot in jail cos he is no better than all these men he is trying to show are evil. not in support of atiku but OBJ is not a better man at all he is more currupt and more evil than atiku, because they have fallen out does not mean he has the right to do what ever he can , there are laid out procedures and he knows it why not follow them cos he knows he will never win stupid old useless bastard.

Jakumo:
Atiku is a thief and embezzler of gigantic scale who belongs behind bars. Good job, Obasanjo. Now deal the death blow and uncover all that disgusting man has been doing so that US law enforcement can indict and jail Atilku, if that is in fact where he fled.

how sad, is OBJ a better man than atiku? they both deserve to be in jail stupid thieves, that stupid, old outdated, ugly, good for nothing nonsense that calls him self the president has finally shown that is a mad animal by declearing the seat of the vice president vacant, the old fool knows nothing about democracy ,his tired brain needs to go and relax behind bars where he belongs. stupid old amala rubbish, idoit fool.

why is OBJ and his men taking this to the next level if atiku is actually lying why should they be trying to kill one of atiku'smen na wah ohhhh, even the presidential jet that the VP is using has been siezed lets see where all this will end.

http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1578