₦airaland Forum

berem: It seems it has become a new trend for some men to request for their spouse to be to be pregnant fIrst before the proper marriage takes place.I have had the opportunity to ask about 20 yet to be married men and 15 of of them wants their wives to be to get pregnant first.I also asked them why they wanted it,I was shocked when they all said "I don't trust nigerian girls these days".
I have a cousin who is gonna be 34years by next year and she is not yet married.There is this guy she was introduced to for marriage but the man gave her condition that she must get pregnant first.My cousin being a very stubborn lady refused and said she will never get pregnant before marriage.Her mum has been worried because of her age and also being the first daughter.
My main worry now is that her mum wants me to advise her on what to do.Right now am confused.I don't know what kind of advice to give.Should I advise her to get pregnant or wait for the right time? Am really scared the guy might leave her if she refuses to get pregnant first.

your cousin should keep off that myopic scum bag that calls himself a man.
my neighbour fell for that c.rap and few weeks after marriage,she lost the pregnancy and the guy disappeared. He claimed to have come from the US and the poor lady is claiming he is preparing her papers. Now the lady has been stuck in naija for over 2 years and has resorted to internet love with her own husband. Even xmas the guy no fit come visit him wife.
I find the idea of pregnancy before marriage,childish and myopic. What if you lose the baby during childbirth?
What if you miscarry?
Any man that is that myopic is not worth marrying.

Imo State is cursed from one fraudster to a court jester.
God needs to deliver my neighbours from these sort of leaders

chamotex: Don't be myopic and look at the bigger picture...your team is leaking goals left, right centre and you are happy because the forwards have been bailing us out?

I don't care where other teams with more clean sheets are in the table, I care about my team's inability to stop conceding pathetic goals.
The point here is not about the clean sheet per say, it's about the high number of goals we are shipping in and the amount of chances/opportunities that opponents get ...more especially at Old Trafford. Newcastle had more shots on target than us, when we played Sunderland they had over 10 shots on target, the same Sunderland that barely had shots on goal earlier in the season not to talk of hitting the target.

Its not just about keeping clean sheets, we can concede goals in every game and still have one of the meanest defence in the league - If we only conceded one goal in all 19 games so far, we would not have kept a clean sheet but still have the 5th best defence in the league. Right now only the bottom 6/7 have conceded more goals than United.

We are only 7 points clear which is nothing to rely on considering we let an 8 point lead slip in the last few games of last season. If we don't improve our defending and other teams improve, it could cost us. I might be okay if it was only happening away from home but it's even worse at OT where we are meant to be more solid.

The composition of the defence unit needs to be well structured and aim to improve. It could be our down fall in the Champions League where 'away goals' is a determinant factor.

The forwards will not always bail us out as proved already this season. Even the manager is worried about our defending so if you are not worried about it, I am!

Chamo,i feel your pain too. However, i think this goal leaking syndrome will continue until we find a bit of stability injury wise. It is virtually impossible to great a platform for solidity with the amount of injuries we are having. I will not be surprised if the medical crew are sacked in the summer. the amount of injuries are almost laughable. Kagawa has been out since October? What was his injury record at Dortmund? Nani has been out for months too. Vidic has been in and out. You don't know when Rafael is injured and when Fergie is having a brain fart abd resting him.Jones has barely played 3 games since last summer. Same with Smalling.
These leaky goals syndrome can never be addressed until we have a stable back 6.
Our injury record needs a panel of inquiry.
I think it is the main reason why you are just not sure what will happen in any minute of our games. Even the players themselves are unsure. The whole team is so damn unstable for any sort of defensive solidity.

StarBoard: Both are the same jare.
The howlers in the first season are enough to write fella off.Balls passing underneath him and looking lost when going for aerial balls.
How Atletico got around 18 million out of us for this weak dude is beyond me.

dude you are having a laugh,right?
DDG has made errors but tell me one keeper in EPL who has not made similar howlers this season?
Dude is improving and his massive obvious talent is reason enough to persevere. This kamikaze back four is not helping issues.

StarBoard: Elementary keeping suggests Newcastle shouldn't have had the first goal.
Similar to the Swansea goal-parrying to the opposition directly in front of you.

But peeps here were slating Lindegaard after the Reading game.
De Gea is a mediocre keeper, abeg.

If RIO had reacted faster than Perch instead of looking stunned we would not be having this discussion.
When he was bought, i said this; that DDG will cost us points in the short term but save us a whole lot more in the medium and long term. All he needs is perseverance from Fergie.
I can understand if DDG is being dropped for Brad Friedel in the short term but being dropped for an all round average Lindegaard is hard to take.
There are obvious points in DDG's game that you can see first class ability and considering the lad is barely 21, he will improve (and is already improving in the other areas).
Lindegaard is just average all round and is way older. He is just more confident in his 'averageness'.

I am actually more worried by the 4 persons who have liked Gumi's comments than Gumi himself.
The fact that a supposedly sane person likes such comments means that we have a bigger problem than we first imagined.

Figurine was also very good.

i have seen most flicks on that list. Phoneawap was very good, Mr and Mrs good but Mirror boy was a waste of my precious time.

seeing giggs, scholes and Valencia in that line up is proof that fergie sold this game.
he will be very unhappy if we win.

mukina2: e be like valencia smoke sontin today

he has been smoking something for weeks.
his poor form is laughable. I think he needs to see a shrink. he is so scared of the ball at present and can barely move forward with it.

Abagworo: One thing I've come to understand is that amongst the Governors of 1999 to 2007, Odili was one of the best performing. Probably only Donald Duke outclassed him. Contrary to what the media has portrayed of him, his infrastructural strides were visionary. He constructed several new link roads in Port-Harcourt incuding the now famous Odili road that links LNG to slaughter, The Slaughter to Woji road with 3 bridges, the Airforce to Rukpokwu bypass amongst others. He is the genesis of this natural gas based electricity generation which was later adopted by the Obasanjo administration and is currently our major plans for electricity generation. So it is not all evil about him. His major evil was the use of militants for politics.

Is this some sort of wind up? tell me you are being sarcastic?
This was all he spent 8 years doing? one of the 3 bridges in question has collapsed.
the air force to rukpokwu by pass had to be torn up and redone afresh.
the electricity generation project was some white elephant project probably used to launder cash as it has no bearing with reality.
The major evil you talk about is the bedrock of the amnesty program that is costing the federal govt unquantifiable billions and the source of the greatest scam around. At least the oil subsidy scam can be accounted for. Amnesty scam is one bottom less pit,thanks to Odili and his visionary leadership in Rivers state.

Seems this thief is going senile at his relatively young age.
Is this Amnesia or what?

Dr. Peter Otunuya Odili

Tunde Rahman
He kept sealed lips for more than five years over what actually transpired in those dying days in 2006, at the height of the race towards the 2007 presidential election.

Former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Otunuya Odili, has now revealed the intrigues and power-plays that led to the emergence of the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate.

Odili also explained how he was nominated as Yar’Adua’s running mate only to be dropped dramatically at the Convention venue in Abuja through a complex power game between then President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Nuhu Ribadu.

Odili’s revelations are contained in his new biography titled “Conscience and History: My Story,” a copy of which was made available to THISDAY at the weekend.

The former governor had moved from being a frontrunner in the 2007 presidential race to a sure bet as Yar’Adua’s running mate, but eventually emerged with nothing at the end of the day.

In the book, Odili narrated how Ribadu was deployed against him on what he considered spurious grounds, first to pave way for the emergence of Yar’Adua as PDP presidential candidate, and subsequently to knock him (Odili) off the ticket as running mate after which Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was drafted in.

Odili said in the book: “On 12th December, a spurious and anonymous petition was posted on the internet from a questionable ‘source’ alleging CORRUPT practices against the Rivers State Government under me. These allegations were contrived into a petition by the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu’s hand, to the President (Obasanjo) the same day.

“On the 13th of December 2006, Mr. President directed EFCC to investigate. On the 14th day of December, 2006, EFCC submitted a so-called 'interim' report to the then president who promptly minuted for my response on the same 14th December, 2006, but forwarded to me on 15/12/06, a day to the convention vide ref. PRES/44. I assembled what was left of my cabinet team, a few having been arrested and kept at the EFCC office in Lagos within these few days of urgent dramatic action.

“We submitted our response on the 15th day of December, 2006 by which time it had become clear what the whole exercise was about— 'get Odili out of the race for the presidency at all cost'.”

He said: “Till date the innocent uninformed still make reference to that judicially nullified and voided report. This became lucidly clear with the instant release of my staff who were being detained in Lagos by the EFCC as soon as I voluntarily and wisely withdrew from the contest. There was jubilation at the EFCC office immediately news of my withdrawal broke and all my staff were asked to go home immediately. This was on the 15th of December.

“Then came the ‘D’ Day- 16th December, 2006-the date of the convention. I was invited for morning prayers with the president at the presidential villa and after the prayers I had a brief chat with the then president in his private study at the residence. He acknowledged my letter of withdrawal from the race and informed me of his intention to get Umaru Yar’Adua-the now expected winner of the upcoming primaries at the convention- to make me his running mate.”

The former governor spoke of the late President Yar’Adua’s readiness to work with him.
According to him: “I was persuaded to go and accompany Umaru to the convention venue. I had been informed earlier in the day that the news of my pairing with Umaru was in the air and that ‘some people’ were already ganging up to oppose the proposed pairing.
“It was, however, noteworthy that when I got to the Katsina State Lodge to join Umaru to proceed to the Eagle Square I met him downstairs in the company of some party leaders-Chief James Ibori, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, Dr Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Aliko Dnagote, Malam Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir el-Rufai.

“Their conversation stopped when I walked in but I read nothing sinister to the gathering or reaction to my entry. Umaru quickly took me upstairs and thanked me for coming and assured me of his happiness at the prospect of our working together.
“He called his wife Turai into the room and introduced us. We later proceeded to the Eagle Square together and were joined by other colleagues in waking round the square”.

He continued: “In the course of the night, I was invited to the VIP Guest Room at Eagle Square and was privileged to sight the typed copy of Umaru’s prepared acceptance speech. It was clearly stated that he had nominated Dr. Peter Odili as his running mate for the presidential race.

“This was at about midnight or so. In the course of the next few hours, information started reaching me that there was a strong pressure to drop me from the ticket.

“At about 3.30am or so, I was again invited to the VIP Guest room at Eagle Square and informed that there was a strong challenge to my being the running mate based on ‘some fresh information’ just received from Nuhu Ribadu, that would need to be sorted out later in the day.
“By the close of convention at dawn only 2 State Delegate Stands were still full-Katsina and Rivers- all others were empty or had one or two people left. The result was announced—Umaru was the winner and he promptly read a handwritten acceptance speech that excluded my name. He announced that further consultations were being made on the matter of his running mate.”

He said, however, that “By 4pm on Sunday 17th December, 2006 Dr. Jonathan was announced as the running mate to Umaru Yar’Adua. By Monday 18th December I congratulated Umaru and Jonathan and urged all my supporters nationwide and Rivers people to support the ticket. Odili was out of the race and the ticket.”

On why he was stopped from the race, Odili said he was later informed that Ribadu had told Obasanjo that some foreign missions in Abuja would not be happy to see him on the PDP ticket on the basis of the “EFCC interim report”.

In the book, the former governor also narrated how his anointed successor and current governor of the state, Mr. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, was disqualified from the governorship race.

He talked about the bad blood that would later be generated between Amaechi and him.
Odili also detailed all his legal battles to clear his name from what he labeled “mere contrivances” by Obasanjo and Ribadu to justify what they did against him.

He said it was after “a very astonishing meeting at the Presidency over the matter of my successor as Governor of Rivers State that I instructed my legal team led by the Attorney-General Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, to commence action first at the State High Court and then at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, against EFCC.”

‘As I was Driving out of the Villa, Jonathan Was Driving in... Moments later, He Was Named Yar’Adua’s Running Mate’
Below are excerpts from the book “Conscience and History: My Story,” By Odili

With the failure of the constitutional amendments, which included tenure elongation, campaigns for the presidency in 2007 took off about the 3rd quarter of 2006 across the country. By October and November my campaign, led by Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, had penetrated every state in the Federation and it became obvious the Odili candidacy had attained national acceptance and had become a movement. Odili was seen as the frontrunner, the candidate to beat. Traditional rulers, emirs, tribal leaders, labour unions, stakeholders, etc had embraced and were favourably disposed to Odili. For some inexplicable reason, the plot to stop him, by some people, became pathologically ‘urgent’. The PDP convention for nomination of the presidential candidate was slated for 16th December, 2006.

The commissioning of the Omoku Power plant of 150 mega watts, and 120 km double circuit Transmission Line to Port Harcourt, by President Olusegun Obasanjo, took place on 5th December, 2006. This again was the biggest power plant designed, constructed, completed and functional by any state government, between 1999 and 2006, the second by Rivers State Government under Dr. Peter Odili. We were lauded very generously and extolled for the unprecedented feat.

Exactly one week later, 12th December, a spurious and anonymous petition was posted on the internet from a questionable ‘source’ alleging CORRUPT practices against the Rivers State Government under me. These allegations were contrived into a petition by the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu’s hand, to the President the same day. On the 13th of December 2006, Mr. President directed EFCC to investigate.

EFCC's Interim Report
On the 14th day of December, 2006, EFCC submitted a so-called “interim” report to the then president who promptly minuted for my response on the same 14th December, 2006, but forwarded to me on 15/12/06, a day to the convention vide ref. PRES/44. I assembled what was left of my cabinet team, a few having been arrested and kept at the EFCC office in Lagos within these few days of urgent dramatic action. We submitted our response on the 15th day of December, 2006 by which time it had become clear what the whole exercise was about—“get Odili out of the race for the presidency at all cost.”

For maximum mischievous damage this contrived so-called “interim report” was hurriedly uploaded into the internet, but when our response to the spurious allegations was submitted on the 15th of December 2006, it was not accorded the same treatment. Why, you may ask? Some sense of fair hearing isn’t it?

Till date the innocent uninformed still make reference to that judicially nullified and voided report. This became lucidly clear with the instant release of my staff who were being detained in Lagos by the EFCC as soon as I voluntarily and wisely withdrew from the contest. There was jubilation at the EFCC office immediately news of my withdrawal broke and all my staff were asked to go home immediately. This was on the 15th of December. Then came the ‘D’ Day- 16th December, 2006-the date of the convention.

I was invited for morning prayers with the president at the presidential villa and after the prayers I had a brief chat with the then president in his private study at the residence. He acknowledged my letter of withdrawal from the race and informed me of his intention to get Umaru Yar’Adua-the now expected winner of the upcoming primaries at the convention- to make me his running mate. I thanked him for his kind thoughts and assured him I bore no grudge or ill-will for the turn of events and that all through my campaigns I had ended my speeches on the note: “let God’s will be done”.
I left him on that note at about 7.30-8.00am. The convention was to start at 10am. As at 12.30pm the venue was literally empty, I was informed that most of the delegates who were in support of my candidacy were upset and unwilling to go to the venue. It took extra-effort and persuasion of my campaign organisation to get most of the delegates out to the Eagle Square. By 3pm the venue became fairly full.

Meeting Yar'Adua
I was persuaded to go and accompany Umaru to the venue. I had been informed earlier in the day that the news of my pairing with Umaru was in the air and that ‘some people’ were already ganging up to oppose the proposed pairing.

It was, however, noteworthy that when I got to the Katsina State Lodge to join Umaru to proceed to the Eagle Square I met him downstairs in the company of some party leaders-Chief James Ibori, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, Dr Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Aliko Dnagote, Malam Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir el-Rufai. Their conversation stopped when I walked in but I read nothing sinister to the gathering or reaction to my entry. Umaru quickly took me upstairs and thanked me for coming and assured me of his happiness at the prospect of our working together. He called his wife Turai into the room and introduced us. We later proceeded to the Eagle Square together and were joined by other colleagues in waking round the square.

Convention started after the arrival of all dignatories and convention events proceeded peacefully. In the course of the night, I was invited to the VIP Guest Room at Eagle Square and was privileged to sight the typed copy of Umaru’s prepared acceptance speech. It was clearly stated that he had nominated Dr. Peter Odili as his running mate for the presidential race. This was at about midnight or so. In the course of the next few hours, information started reaching me that there was a strong pressure to drop me from the ticket. Since I did not lobby for it, I wasn’t bothered-I remained with my state delegates.

At about 3.30am or so, I was again invited to the VIP Guest room at Eagle Square and informed that there was a strong challenge to my being the running mate based on ‘some fresh information’ just received from Nuhu Ribadu, that would need to be sorted out later in the day. I took the information in my stride and went back to the Rivers’ Delegate Stand and didn’t say a word about it to anyone.

By the close of convention at dawn only 2 State Delegate Stands were still full-Katsina and Rivers- all others were empty or had one or two people left. The result was announced—Umaru was the winner and he promptly read a handwritten acceptance speech that excluded my name. He announced that further consultations were being made on the matter of his running mate. End of story! The plot had worked. This confirms what Russel Wayne Baker, an American Columnist, said in 1935 in ‘The Sayings of Par Russel’:

“The dirty work of Political Conventions is almost always done in the grim hours between midnight and dawn. Hangmen and politicians work best when the human spirit is at its lowest ebb.”

Announcement of Jonathan
By 4pm on Sunday 17th December, 2006 Dr Jonathan was announced as the running mate to Umaru Yar’Adua. By Monday 18th December I congratulated Umaru and Jonathan and urged all my supporters nationwide and Rivers people to support the ticket. Odili was out of the race and the ticket.

At the general election in April 2007, Rivers State under my leadership returned the highest votes in the country for Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket for the presidency. But ‘how did water enter the mellon’? Let’s try and find out. So many conspiracy theories emerged in the days and months that followed. Since nothing is hidden under the sun someday God will reveal the truth.

What was the genesis of the fight against the possibility of an Odili presidency? Who was threatened by that possibility and why? Whose decision and when was it made to stop Odili by all means possible? Who was the fulcrum of the execution of that decision? How come that for 71/2 years nothing was raised by the EFCC or any relevant agency against Odili’s government in Rivers State and suddenly on the ‘eve’ of the PDP presidential primaries all conceivable vile allegations were unleashed? When did we Nigerians acquire such meteoric and forensic expertise and competence to produce a report within 36 hours of instruction to investigate? Just in time for the date line-December 16th 2006. These are questions yawning for answers. God’s time will tell.

On Sunday the 17th of December 2006 at about 3pm I was invited to the Villa to see the president. When I got there I met him sitting in his private study at the Residence with Chief Tony Anenih then Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali then chairman of the party, the late Yar’Adua then flag-bearer of the party and Chief Bode George then Deputy National Chairman of the party. It was there and then I was informed that Nuhu Ribadu had informed the president that some ‘Foreign Missions’ in Abuja would not be happy to see me on the PDP ticket on the basis of the “EFCC Interim Report” which had been circulated to them. I was now formally told that I have been taken off the ticket.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/odili-how-jonathan-displaced-me-as-yar-adua-s-running-mate/134352/

I'll vote Coogar as i love the relentless in his arguments but i am certain Dayokanu will win. DK is the man.

shadrach77: princess and helen paul are both funny. Lepacious Bose has serious inferiority complex issues and it relects so much in her so called jokes

Helen Paul,yes. Princess, a very big NO.
same with that Cigurl lady. very dry and uncreative.

plendil: The problem, one has to say, is mainly Nigerian female comedians. They're nt creative enough.

I've listened to American and British counterparts and boy are they funny.

Gbam!!

yuzedo: Call me a chauvinist, but there are some things a female wasn't made for, and can never have impact on/in...
But hey, balancing things out, i think i'd rather watch one of those comediennes than sit through AY's attempt at humor... Now that's one dry sonofa'.. It is a wonder he got so successful..

Dude is one hell of a hustler. so i guess all the hard work is paying off.
I am sure even his wife acknowledges his dry sense of humour. Must be the driest comedian in naija.

paniki: Sandton City will be the biggest after the completion of phase 2 upgrade. Phase 1 upgrade is complete, which added 30 000 sq/m of floor space to the original 120 000 sq/m. Gateway stands at around 180 000 sq/m

does that not make Sandton 150,000?

lindegaard is a very average keeper with no redeeming value.

Tony Spike: Thank God, the e-fights have stopped. Please, let us enjoy the pictures. I would like someone to start a thread of pictures from Durban. I understand the biggest mall (I think) in Africa is located there. I think the gigantic mall is called GATEWAY.

The biggest in the southern hemisphere. before it, the biggest used to be Canal Walk in Cape town.

By Chris Ihidero

Tina Okpara has a beautiful smile.
Her beautiful smile lights up her face and gives off a sense of teenage innocence. When she smiles, which is often, you see none of the scars within; none of the pain that has marked the past 12 years of her life, none of the tears she has cried. All you see is a beautiful young woman with a beautiful smile. What lies beneath that smile, as I found out over the course of two days last week, is a cringe-worthy horror story that will leave you shocked to the core.
Last weekend I was invited by Ayo Arigbabu, the coordinator of the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) organised Lagos Book and Art Festival, to moderate a session on Tina Okpara’s book, My Life Has a Price. Perhaps because I had recently made a short film on rape, Big Daddy, Ayo thought I would be well equipped to handle a young woman’s account of her rape ordeal. I read the book knowing that I would be familiar with many parts of her account, since I had done a lot of research during the making of Big Daddy. What I didn’t realise was how different it would be to hear her speak to me directly of the horrors.
Tina Okpara was adopted by ex-Golden Eaglets and Super Eagles defender, Godwin Okpara and his wife Linda in February 2001. She was thirteen years old and an SSS 1 student. Tina and her family were poor neighbours to the Okparas, and she and the Okpara’s first daughter, Sophie, were friends. Godwin and Linda had tried to adopt Tina a year before but she refused, insisting that she’d rather stay and survive with her family. But her mother’s subsequent demise forced her hand, as her father’s new wife made life unbearable, coupled with the family’s inability to cater for all the children. The Okparas promised to give Tina a better life, so she boarded the plane and went to a new life in Paris.
As a fresh secondary school student in the late 80s, I met Godwin Okpara when he captained my school’s football team. He wasn’t a student in my school but had been co-opted into the school team, along with a few other professional footballers, by our coach, who believed that the end justified the means. That year, we beat every school that was unfortunate enough to come across us in Ogun State. It was so bad that some schools, like Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, would refuse to come out for the second half after we’d scored like four goals in the first half. He was the hero of my school’s astounding victory, the cynosure of all eyes. A year later, I would see him on television representing Nigeria at the U-17 World Cup in Scotland. After that tournament, the great Pele asked the world to watch out for Godwin Okpara; he was destined for greatness.
Twelve years later, as she boarded that plane to Paris, someone should have warned Tina that she was being lured into a life of servitude, rape and dehumanization.
A few months after arriving in France, it became clear to Tina that the Okparas had no plans of sending her to school. She cooked, she cleaned, she washed and got regular verbal and physical assaults from Linda Okpara, always being reminded that she, unlike her siblings, was being saved from a life of wretchedness in Nigeria. All the while she lived in the basement without heating, with only a thin mattress on the floor.
The first rape occurred about two years after Tina’s arrival in France. She was 14 years old. After a heavy fight with his wife and her consequent storming out of the house, Godwin Okpara took Tina from the couch upstairs to the basement, put his hands in his pants and told Tina he wanted to sleep with her. Her resistance could not match him physically. He suffocated her and crushed her with his weight and had his way. When it was done, he gave the classic and familiar statement: ‘If you talk, I’ll kill you’. It was the first time, but many more would follow. At a point, for over a year, while clubless and searching for a new club, Godwin Okpara raped his adopted daughter consistently. I leave you to imagine a frustrated man left alone in a house with a defenseless young girl. When she talked to me about this period, tears falling from her eyes in torrents, she said at a point she stopped fighting altogether; she just lay there like dead wood and took her mind elsewhere while he ravaged her body.
One fateful day in February 2005, four years after Tina was brought to France form Nigeria, Godwin Okpara raped her again. This time his wife walked in on them and however hard she tries, Tina says she will never forget that day. ‘Each time you want to sleep with a man, you will remember me! I am going to mark you till the end of your days!’ Linda Okpara thundered. Blows, slaps and curses rained on her. Her hair was chopped off in handfuls, with the blade connecting often with her skull. A mouthful of vodka was spat in her face. A syringe full of hot pepper sauce was pumped into her vagina. A vodka bottle was inserted in her vagina. And the coup de grace? Linda Okpara took a razor blade to her adopted daughter’s vagina twice and drew a deep line. Twice. ‘I cup my hands over my vagina, as if to stop the red flow with my fingers…The wounds take a long time to heal and the healing is painful. It burns when I walk, it burns when I sit down…it is worse when I go to the toilet. The pain is so intense I almost faint every time I have to urinate.’ Linda was right; Tina can never forget.
Six months later, Godwin Okpara was ready to rape his daughter again, but this time Tina found the courage to flee and not return to the house.
Tina is 25 years old now. She’s a caregiver and nursing student in France. She wants to be a nurse so she can help others as she has been helped. She has been through counseling with psychologists; she has lived in shelters but has a place she can call her own now. She struggles to speak English now, as French as become her first language…she feels more French than Nigerian. Bit by bit, through the amazing support that the French authorities have provided for her, she’s finding her feet again, charting a new path for her life. Writing her book and letting it all out was part of her therapy. The need to share and let others learn, she told me, outweighed any other consideration.
Godwin and Linda Okpara are currently serving 10 and 15 year jail terms in French prisons. I believe they got off lightly.
During my discussion session with Tina at the book festival, a young girl asked why Tina didn’t poison Godwin all through her ordeal, since she made his food. ‘I didn’t think of poisoning him because killing someone is not a good thing. God does not like something like that. Rather, I thought about killing myself a lot.’ That’s the kind of innocence Tina still displays.
When the discussion session was over and all the tears have dried up, I hugged Tina tightly and whispered in tattered French ‘C’est bien mainetenent; tu va bien. (It is well now; you’ll be fine). She smiled beautifully and nodded in the affirmative.
There’s hope yet.

naijababe: Look who's talking, baba olowo like you!

no wonder his son is nicknamed O.B.O at his nursery school.

AjanleKoko: Do I need to prostrate before Jagaban? He's already collecting my money either which way.

PointB: Says a card carrying AC.N goon!

That man can never be accepted by ACN.
His big belly will not allow him prostrate before the Bourdillon lord.

naijababe: When thieving and cronyms provide better returns

hahahaha. thieving and cronysm bring better ROI indeed.
the big boys are tired of long grammar and all this EBITDA talk.

AjanleKoko: $300m can't buy much in MTN. MTN must be worth at least $25bn, the Nigerian operation alone.

It is the Nigerian one he is buying into. besides, this is like top up. dude already owns shares before now.
Just a bit perplexed why someone will want to off load. abi the person wan go into oil importation (Ifeanyi Uba/Cosmas Maduka style)?

AjanleKoko: Source: http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/48248-shanduka-mtn-deal-highlights-sa-scramble-for-solace-in-nigeria-market

posted same thing. guess no one is interested?
very soon the 18% owned by naija men and women will be wiped out completely.
but where are all those corporate governance gurus?
all the same Cyril Ramaphosa is doing very well for himself.

PointB: Guy stop grasping for straw. The project Lagos state government is pursuing should be within the context of its means and resources. If it is not, it should find other ways to raise funds. The external debt profile of the country is growing and those in charge are wary, and doing something about it. Fashola should quit politicizing the issue.

do you have a fundamental problem with borrowing from the world bank?
If you do, state it?
what makes other means of raising funds any better in this case (like raising cash from the capital market)?
The crux of the matter is, has LASG being servicing its debt?
the debt incurred in the past are its impact being felt by the citizenry?
any white elephant projects?
This is a simple economic case and i wonder how low we can go as a people if we choose to politicise this.
Besides, if the FG is placing a blanket ban on guaranteeing loans for states, it should come out and say so and Fashola would stop dancing around NASS members and go seek other ways of funding his projects.
I don't think Fashola is dumb enough to go to NASS if Ngozi et al have given him a proper response.

PointB: Guy stop grasping for straw. The project Lagos state government is pursuing should be within the context of its means and resources. If it is not, it should find other ways to raise funds. The external debt profile of the country is growing and those in charge are wary, and doing something about it. Fashola should quit politicizing the issue.

the problem is debt being accumulated for non visible projects.
not debt in itself.

How long does it takes for the FG to relay its reason for refusing to guarantee the loan?
Why is this even being discussed in public?
give Fashola your reason and if it is a situation he can remedy, he remedies. if it is not, he can then come to the public and cry.
All these voodoo politics just heats up the polity and does not help anyone.

PointB: Which portion of Lagos State budget is fund with deficit spending? Why is that the case with the huge IGR the state generate via various tax components. Nigerians (especially) opposition parties having be very vocal lately about increasing debt portfolio of the country, shouldn't those in charge of curtailing the 'ugly' trend ask question and do the needful?

What exactly is LASG going to do with huge loan? What about PPP or full privatization?

23 billion naira IGR, huge?
Not for the size of lagos state.

Shanduka, MTN deal highlights SA scramble for solace in Nigeria market
THURSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2012 00:00 PATRICK ATUANYA & BEN UZOR JNR



South Africa strategic investment drive into Nigeria is continuing apace with the purchase of a further $335 million stake in MTN Nigeria by Shanduka Group, the investment holdings group controlled by Cyril Ramaphosa, businessman and chairman of JSE-listed mobile phone group MTN.



Analysts say it is an indication of the scramble among South Africa investors to seek solace, amid the European crisis, while at the same time increasing their intra Africa investment drive.

“The intra Africa investment drive is a strategic effort underlined by their competitive advantage,” Bismarck Rewane, CEO Financial Derivatives, told BusinessDay yesterday.

In the past few years, South African firms have been moving fast to tap into Nigeria’s huge consumer market.

Last week Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa’s second-largest financial company, got a license to operate as a merchant bank in Nigeria. The minimum capital base for merchant banks is N15 billion ($952m).

In September, Tiger Brands, another South African company in the foods business, bought 63 percent of Dangote Flour. The company has lately said it would raise its shareholding to 70 percent.

Rand Merchant Bank, in its 2012 report: Where to Invest in Africa, observed that Nigeria “has the most favourable macroeconomic backdrop for sumption spending growth.”

Nigeria’s population and pent up demand for goods and services makes investment case. From mobile phones (Nigeria’s is the largest), unbanked population (36 percent of SSA’s unbanked population are Nigerians)

The latest move by Shanduka Group Ltd whittled down Nigerian ownership of MTN Nigeria to about 18 percent.

MTN Nigeria, with over 45.6 million subscribers and an estimated market share of 48 percent, is the largest subsidiary of the MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, and contributes about 30 percent of MTN group’s earnings.

Shanduka Group stake makes it the third largest shareholder in MTN Nigeria.

“Nigeria is the most populous country on the continent and is an important market from a consumer perspective,” said Shanduka Chief Executive Phuti Mahanyele.

The investment firm declined to say exactly how much it owns of the Nigerian unit, purchased from three private investors including private equity company African Capital Alliance.

BusinessDay analysis of the investment, however, shows Shanduka Group stake amounts to about 3.1 percent of MTN Nigeria, with the MTN Group valued at $36 billion and the Nigerian business alone valued at $10.8 billion.

The investment leaves the South African telecommunication company (MTN Group) with 78.8 percent ownership of MTN Nigeria, the second-largest shareholders are a group of Nigerian shareholders at 18 percent, while Shanduka Group has a 3.1 percent stake.

MTN Group in a 2007 private placement, sold a total of 43,024,602 “MTN Nigeria linked units” or shares at $24.56 per unit, intended to raise the Nigerian ownership of MTN Nigeria to 21.4 percent.

It was learnt that Standard Chartered alerted Shanduka Group to the opportunity and also helped finance the purchase through debt and equity.

But the deal according to the newspaper report, raises questions about corporate governance and a potential conflict of interest.

The concerns stem from Ramaphosa being the chairman of the MTN Group, of which MTN International is a subsidiary.

The $335m deal was Shanduka’s largest-ever investment outside of South Africa, its CEO Phuti Mahanyele said on Tuesday. She insisted that the deal was above board and that Ramaphosa was not directly involved in negotiating the deal.

“It was not an exclusive deal, but was put out into the open market,” Ms Mahanyele said. “The shareholding in MTN Nigeria is held by MTN International and (Ramaphosa) sits on the board of the (holding) group and was not involved (in the negotiations). “

A telecoms industry executive, who asked not be named, said it was difficult to imagine that Ramaphosa would not have been aware there were investors in MTN Nigeria who wanted to sell their stake. A corporate governance expert, who also asked not to be named, agreed that the deal raised questions.

“Shanduka should not be anywhere near MTN, end of story,” the second source said. “Ramaphosa should be aware of the conflict of interest.”

MTN Group on Tuesday refused to comment on the deal. The stake was purchased from three private investors.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/48248-shanduka-mtn-deal-highlights-sa-scramble-for-solace-in-nigeria-market