₦airaland Forum

zizazizu:
2000 per head? Wow.

I wonder o!!!!!
Those are the kind of youths we have in this our funny country

A new findings by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugee, UNHCR, made public on Tuesday indicated that no fewer than 13,000 Nigerian refugees have fled the country into neighbouring Cameroon due to the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency.

According to the UN refugee agency report, most of the Nigerian refugees crossed from Adamawa state after insurgents attacked and captured the town of Mubi in late October.

The report urged the country to keep its borders open for Nigerian refugees.

It was gathered that the refugees fled to the towns of Guider and Gashiga in the North region of Cameroon and to Bourha, Mogode and Boukoula in the Far North.

Quoting local authorities in Cameroon, the Nigerian refugees were said to have arrived in Cameroon in over 300 vehicles including many personal vehicles, as well as some trucks and rented cars.

However,the report stated that the vast majority of these 13,000 Nigerians have now returned to Nigeria, saying that their final destination was Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, south of Mubi.

Thousands of hired ‘supporters’ of President Goodluck
Jonathan declaration to seek reelection performed a
mini sit-down protest at the Eagle Square to show their fury over non-payment of their N2000 per head fee.

According to reports, the protest was held during GEJ’s official declaration.

The rented followers, who assembled at the place of the occasion as early as 7.00am, upheld that their handlers didn’t pay the money promised to them.

A visibly-irritated supporter who wanted to be anonymous uttered his displeasure over the casual attitude of some of the leaders of the various groups who brought them to the event for not showing any concern for their well-being
despite the long distances they had to travel.

He said, “They asked us to enter the bus when they came to Maraba this morning and they promised to give us two thousand Naira each and also give us food but we are very disappointed to see them running around and later disappear into the middle of the crowd and nobody come back to give any money or bring water for us to drink.”

It is not clear to what extent the present move would shame Nigerian leaders to bring about the. desired change, but the dismal state of Nigerian roads is now a campaign on social media which has gone viral on the internet. Posting under the hashtag #MyRoadIsWorseThanYours#, Nigerians have
been sharing pictures of the country’s worst roads to shame the authorities into action. From the eyesore that is the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) road in Lagos, to the busiest road in West Africa (the Lagos-Ibadan expressway), the pictures of the dilapidated road network represents the worst degree of national shame. The eyesore is a bad advertisement for the country that reinforces the poor sense of priorities and ineptitude of the government. If visitors gauge a country by the aesthetics of its entry and exit points, Nigeria would rank as a refuse dump. The
situation is a nightmare and an embarrassment that Nigerians cannot afford to live with any longer. Jonathan must rise up to the challenge, in the larger interests of the Nigerian people.

Certainly, the future is ominous if this challenge is not addressed comprehensively. Pictures of decrepit, dilapidated, bomb crater-sized potholes, with gulleys of water combined with mud to create trenches and muddy rivers have been posted online on Facebook and twitter.

Amongst them include: the bumpy waterlogged death trap Ikorodu-Shagamu road, in Ogijo, Ogun, the Nnewi- Ameichi-Uga-Arondizuogu road; Rijau -Kontagora road, in Niger State and the Igbe road, Igbogbo Ikorodu where
residents have been purchasing water pumping machines to assist in draining the water-logs on the road. Nigerian roads should rank highest on the President’s transformation agenda.

However, the government has refused to be outdone in the new war that is being waged on twitter, Facebook and other social media. Instead of taking up the challenge to fix the
roads, the Presidency is fighting back with its own campaign on social media. Using the hashtag #BeforeandduringGEJ, the Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, has been posting images of some roads before and during the Jonathan
administration on twitter. But the move has invited an avalanche of criticisms from followers of his twitter account, who attacked him from posting computer- generated dummies and prototypes of roads that are not in Nigeria. This prompted Omokri to ask for testimonies from
road users if the roads are indeed in Nigeria.

But, why are Nigerian roads so bad?
It is highly regrettable that in spite of Nigeria’s resource endowments, no administration has made it a priority to arrest the descent into anarchy with sound policies and appropriate investment in the road infrastructure. The
federal authorities stand accused of despicable conduct by continuing to overlook the sorry state of Nigerian roads especially as visitors to the country are immediately exposed to dirt, disorder and insecurity upon arrival in Nigeria.

Fuel tanker drivers compound the problem with their lawlessness, as they have little regard for the safety of other motorists.

Containers from unlatched articulated trucks have also claimed many lives on the pot-hole
infested roads, while the unlit portions of highways and roads across the country give safety worries to many road users especially at night. Nigeria has the highest road fatality rates in Africa and one of the world’s highest rates
of road deaths.

The unpleasant ambience is made worse by commercial vehicle operators having little regard for traffic regulations. Nigerians spend a lot of money on car maintenance because of potholes, and the collateral damage it has on tires, wheel
rims, shock absorbers and other components.

Also, the debilitating roads cause traffic jams which rob businesses of productivity.

Commuting in Lagos and other big cities in
Nigeria can be a gruesome ordeal as well as a heart-rending life time experience. It also does not help that motorists stuck for hours in traffic jams are sitting ducks for armed robbers.

This sorry state of affairs is attributable to the
federal government’s negligence, despite the whooping 1.4 trillion naira ($8.5 billion) reportedly spent on road infrastructure
since 1999. So much has been appropriated for Nigerian
roads with very little to show for it. The system is rotten
and nothing but a thriving platform for corruption in the
country.

As the nation’s much talked-about centenary year
comes to an end, and another election year approaches, this
is the time for a systemic revolution that should upturn the
tables of Nigerian roads. Nigeria cannot afford to plummet
further, by remaining the crawling giant of Africa, and the
beggarly, weeping boy in the assembly of nations.

If after 54 years of independence, a country cannot project
in good light the road leading to its main airport with a
view to showcasing its potentials in tourism and business,
how can it manage anything else? The cosmetic patching by
Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) is not what
Nigerian roads need; it is an insult on the intelligence of
Nigerians. As states and the federal authorities trade blame
over responsibility for maintaining and improving the
roads; nothing gets done, and frustrated Nigerians are left to
spend their time in traffic jams, cursing and developing
high blood pressure.

The embarrassing photos have dented the already battered
image of Nigeria. Reversing the ugly trend requires policies
and a state of emergency declaration on Nigerian roads.

Nigeria has abundant deposits of limestone for producing
cement. There must, therefore, be a collaborative effort by
the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, the
Nigerian Road Federation, the Federation of Building and
Civil Engineering Contractors and the Cement
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, for the use of cement
as a substitute for asphalt in road construction.

The federal and state governments have a responsibility to
salvage the road infrastructure begging for attention in the
country. What the poor road infrastructure advertises is that
Nigerian leaders, who frequently travel abroad, have no
class. Recently, the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen
expressed the federal government’s desire to implement the
Road Reforms Initiative that commenced in 1993. On this,
the Minister announced that a Cabinet Committee headed
by the Attorney General is reviewing the Draft Bills for
establishing the National Road Fund and the Federal
Highways Authority. In so doing, this government is
breaking from the norm of the past in which governments
missed the opportunity to set up an appropriate government
agency for roads.

It is hoped that the Road Fund and the Federal Roads
Authority will guarantee the steady flow of funds and the
management structure for efficient road networks in
Nigeria. With this, the funding of road safety programs is
also secured. And under the scheme, road projects will be
so routine that the nation’s roads will be transformed in no
time. So, with this scenario, the government has its job
well cut out. But unless it discharges it creditably, the much
vaunted transformation agenda would remain nothing more
than a political slogan.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on Friday arrested an employee of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, Israel Onyemaechi, for driving against traffic.

It was learnt that Fashola arrested Onyemaechi for committing the offense on Awolowo Road, Ikorodu, while he was inspecting projects in the Ikorodu and Epe areas.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the governor’s convoy blocked the suspect’s vehicle and he was brought down from the blue bus which was branded LASAA. The driver reportedly pleaded with the governor but Fashola was said to have been angered by the fact that he expected employees of the state to lead by example.

Onyemaechi was said to have been apprehended by the governor’s security detail while the vehicle was impounded.

The governor has been known to arrest traffic offenders in the past.

On July 17, 2012, the governor accosted a colonel, K. I. Yusuf, for plying the BRT lane along the Outer Marina.

The governor has also been known to arrest several commercial motorcycle riders plying restricted routes.

Meanwhile, policemen attached to the Ikotun Division responded to a distress call at 30, Oriswani Street Ikotun, and arrested one Moshood Afolabi of no fixed address.

The suspect, with two others at large, were said to have robbed one Chukwuma Okoli.

Thousands of people hired by former Niger
Delta Affairs Minister, Peter Godsday
Orubebe, last Thursday turned against him
when he failed to pay them, several sources have told SaharaReporters. Mr. Orubebe, who had hired the crowd from across Delta State, is a
candidate for the governorship of the state.

“The same people he hired to show support for
him staged a mass protest against him because
he did not meet his promise to pay them,”
according to one source.

The protesters reportedly gathered at Mr.
Orubebe’s campaign office shortly after the
former minister’s declaration in Asaba, the capital
of Delta State. Mr. Orubebe has long eyed the
governorship seat in Delta State, and has formally
announced his intention to run in 2015.

“Elder Orubebe sent his people to go all over the
state and rent crowds of people, but in the end he
did not pay the sum of N200 to N500 that his
people promised to pay the crowd he rented
from every nook and cranny of the state,” said a
spokesman for a civil rights group based in Delta.

The source added that people like Mr. Orubebe
represented the politics of voter inducement that
has caused a lot of moral disruption and led to
democratic woes in the state and Nigeria at large.

The visibly angry protesters, who included
women, men and the youths, rained curses on
Mr. Orubebe, describing him as fraudster who is
not fit to govern the state. They also accused him
of looting funds during his tenure as Minister of
Niger Delta Affairs.

“Why can’t he pay us common two hundred naira
that he said he will pay?” one of the protesters
stated, admitting that he was recruited from
Ogwashi Uku to pose as a supporter of the former
minister.

SMH for 9ja polithievcians

He lives in a farm, and his official car is a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle. He donates 90% of his monthly salary to charity.
President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, is not your average
president.

It is commonplace to see some presidents of countries living
lavish lifestyles, and in some extreme cases, looting their
countries’ finances for personal gain. But not Mujica.

He is commonly known as the world’s “poorest” president
because of his austere lifestyle.

Mujica rejected the luxurious presidential residence the
government provided for him and instead opted to live on his
wife’s farm located on a dirt road outside the country’s
capital. They have no domestic workers – they do all the farm
work by themselves. The only staff they have are two police
officers.

In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration – mandatory
for officials in Uruguay – was $1,800, the value of his Beetle.

In an interview with BBC, he said:
“I’ve lived like this most of my life, I can live well with
what I have
I’m called ‘the poorest president’, but I don’t feel poor.

Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an
expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more

This is a matter of freedom. If you don’t have many
possessions then you don’t need to work all your life like
a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time
for yourself…”

Mujica also has unique views about poverty alleviation. In the
2012 Rio+20 summit he stated:

But what are we thinking? Do we want the model of
development and consumption of the rich countries? I ask
you now: what would happen to this planet if Indians
would have the same proportion of cars per household
than Germans? How much oxygen would we have left?

“Does this planet have enough resources so seven or
eight billion can have the same level of consumption and
waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is this level of
hyper-consumption that is harming our planet.

An Arab sheikh recently offered him $1 million for his Beetle.
Mujica is currently considering the offer, and says that if he
does sell it, he will donate the money to charity.

Popular Yoruba actress, Toyin Aimakhu, is just so
candid and lovable. Check out what she told
YNaija in a new, exciting interview. Toyin calls her
hubby her 'small god'. Hmm, that's so romantic.

Excerpts:
What has changed since she got married?

“Dressing, I can’t wear those skimpy outfits anymore,
moreover the way I talk to people has changed too. I can no
longer make decisions on my own and I can’t use my black
berry anymore, that’s the most painful one. My husband
doesn’t like me using It because it distracts me and I have to
obey him cos he is my small god”

Arguments and kitchen:

I love to cook o. My husband rarely joins me in the kitchen
except when he is very hungry, so he comes to monitor my
cooking. When we argue, I usually apologize first because he
is from Ondo and Ondo people are usually stubborn but
sometimes anybody can apologize first.

S*x before Marriage:

“Hmm, s*x before marriage. I am guilty of it as well. It is not
a good thing but what can we do. May God help us Christians
and forgive us. It is not easy, the temptation is too much. In
my own case, when I had with my husband before we got
married, I really felt bad about it and asked for forgiveness
and for like four months, we abstained from it till after our
wedding. It wasn’t easy but we made sure we there was some
distance.”

Pregnancy before Marriage:

I wasn’t pregnant before my wedding; my tummy was just big
in the pictures because of too much carbohydrate. I wasn’t
doing any form of exercise, I was too lazy but I am slimmer
and prettier now.

White wedding:

We haven’t done our traditional and white wedding because
there is no money. Of course when money comes, we will do
it. Many fans believe I pretend that I am wealthy but I am not,
in fact I wish Daddy Mike Adenuga or Otedola would call me
now and say my daughter, I heard you mentioned my name in
your Alakada movie, come and take N100million.
I will immediately go and buy a house in Banana Island, buy
Gwagon and range rover and do a lot of shopping…lol, the
truth is I don’t have money, we are struggling but we are not
begging sha and that is what matters, at least we live in a flat
and we have a car, we try”

On the controversy of being paid N1.5million to emcee a
friend’s wedding recently:

I wasn’t paid N1.5million for any MC job. The I.5M tag on
Instagram was the price of the ring, it was an exclusive
diamond ring and I haven’t seen such before, I don’t know
why bloggers will assume I was paid such, none of them
bothered to confirm it from me. Sometimes when you are
bored, you know you just write stuffs on social media but
these bloggers blow it out of proportion. And even if I was
paid N1.5million, why will I come on internet to let people
know I was paid so. Olorun Maje (God forbid), I don’t have
such upbringing about showing off my wealth to oppress
others, when some don’t even have food to eat. Yet you see
some celebs showing off almost 30 cars.
That is why I love comedian AY and his wife, Mabel, Jesus
Christ their house is awesome and out of this world, 2face’s
house nko. Those are rich people yet they don’t come online
to brag about their wealth or fake bags and shoes. Imagine
someone buying a $3000 shoe, I dey mad.

Flaunting wealth on social media:
Most times it is fans that cause it; they make many celebs lie
on social media. They expect too much, forgetting that we are
humans too. Imagine if I buy a 3k shoe for instance and I
wear it to an event once, fans expect me not to wear it again,
they will be like “is that not the shoe she wore last week” so
celebrities have to please the fans, I don’t let it affect me
though. if I should buy such a shoe, I will still wear it for
7months”

Most expensive item in my wardrobe:

The most expensive item in my wardrobe is nothing. My
phone is the only expensive thing I have and it is even cheap
sef. My clothes, shoes and bags are China or Uk primary new
look which I get from the Island.

Her recent controversial post on women being their own
enemies:

Whenever you want Nigerians to read or notice something
just put a little mistake. I was happy because everyone read it,
but they read it to make jest of me and my English, lol.
Women try hard are truly their own enemies, you know a man
is married yet still try hard to get his attention.

Women and her husband:
Plenty, what can I do? God will help us; you need to sell the
hell that goes on my husband’s facebook page all the time.

The best thing(s) that have ever happened to her:

“Being born again, my marriage and my new appointment
with the Actors Guild of Nigeria(AGN)

Splashme:
I have noticed lots of improvements lately - Ajao Estate (Lagos)

My friend, are you high on weed?
Which Ajao estate are u talking abt? Is it d one in Katsina state?
Cos we've not seen light in Ajao estate, Lagos since monday

saTANoid fellow

According to Nigeria Films, recently, Segun Arinze, expressed his anger over one of many films that was poorly scripted.

In a blackberry broadcast, the actor asked Africa Magic channel, to censor the movies they show to their viewers. He said,
“Pls Africa Magic should stop showing us all these silly Movies. I'm so angry I'm just watching a movie that a girl went blind and her mother paralyzed and in order to make ends meet she starts to sell recharge cards. Pray how does she
know what denomination of cards to sell being blind? Na all dis kind nonsense dey give Nollywood bad name. Blind girl
selling recharge cards?? hiaaaan! God help us,”

The President and his political associates are
particularly disturbed by the huge crowd that
followed Buhari to declare his political intention
at the rally of Governor Rotimi Amaechi in Port
Harcourt. The event attracted a massive crowd,
with Buhari making an appearance.

The panic-stricken president is also reported to be asking the Minister of Defence, Aliyu Gusau, to Join his slate as candidate for the vice-presidency.

Mr. Jonathan is known to have traveled to
Germany in September, on his way back from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, to visit ailing former head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida. He urged the former dictator to prevail on Gusau to accept the offer, but Gusau is said to be reticent about the proposal so far.

Jonathan is said to be extremely keen to have
Gusau as his deputy to give him a good chance at the getting northern votes to counter Buhari’s
popularity there. His current deputy, Namadi
Sambo, is held as having no political weight
anywhere in the North.

In the likelihood of Gusau turning down the offer, Mr. Jonathan and his political associates are said to be prepared to sacrifice the North to Boko Haram militants as a way of reducing the impact of the Northern vote in the election.

Already, the sect controls large swathes of territory in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Worse still, military commanders are fleeing from battlefronts in droves, in some cases enabling the Islamist militants to capture strategic cities and towns without resistance.

During a media chat in Nigeria in February 2014,
Jonathan had betrayed his emotions in
responding to the governor of Borno State,
Kashim Shettima, by saying, “I will pull them
(soldiers) out for one month whether he will stay
in his Government House”. Several political and
military analysts now say that the practice of
soldiers deserting the warfront might be related
to President Jonathan’s political strategy to
neutralize the north during the 2014 elections.

Apart from seeking a more influential vice-
president to enable him penetrate the North, Mr. Jonathan is also reaching out to several members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to get the party to drop Buhari as its presidential candidate in favor of “younger blood”.

To the surprise of many, Jonathan and his
political supporters are said to favor the
emergence of the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal as APC
candidate for the presidency. Several sources told Saharareporters that the hype about the removal of the Speaker might be deliberately designed to make him popular so as to catch the attention of the public as a viable alternative to the dreaded Buhari, who Mr. Jonathan and his political associates feel will be difficult to defeat in 2015.

Security sources across the country believe that it will be difficult to manage the uprising that would greet the election if Buhari is rigged out of power, especially in the North. To that effect, several northern traditional rulers and politicians are said to be too scared to even commit to a full-hearted support for Mr. Jonathan in the North because they fear reprisals after the elections. Jonathan’s camp is of the opinion that if Tambuwal is chosen
as the APC candidate, he can be rigged out
without consequence.

A presidency source told SaharaReporters that
the same tactic was used to scuttle the possible
loss of Adamawa by the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) recently. The source said the legal
victory of Barrister Bala James Ngilari was
arranged by the presidency to forestall the loss by the party in the gubernatorial election as
Adamawa voters favoured the APC candidate.

Several APC leaders told SaharaReporters that the party has silently decided not to give it
Presidential ticket to a former PDP person hence
the decision to stick with Buhari whom they feel
will give them an edge in garnering the Northern
vote. They said that as things stand now, while
they are not only hopeful of a majority of the
votes in the North, they are also certain about
sizable voting blocks in Rivers and Bayelsa States.

The President and his political associates are
particularly disturbed by the huge crowd that
followed Buhari to declare his political intention
at the rally of Governor Rotimi Amaechi in Port
Harcourt. The event attracted a massive crowd,
with Buhari making an appearance.

The panic-stricken president is also reported to be asking the Minister of Defence, Aliyu Gusau, to Join his slate as candidate for the vice-presidency.

Mr. Jonathan is known to have traveled to
Germany in September, on his way back from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, to visit ailing former head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida. He urged the former dictator to prevail on Gusau to accept the offer, but Gusau is said to be reticent about the proposal so far.

Jonathan is said to be extremely keen to have
Gusau as his deputy to give him a good chance at the getting northern votes to counter Buhari’s
popularity there. His current deputy, Namadi
Sambo, is held as having no political weight
anywhere in the North.

In the likelihood of Gusau turning down the offer, Mr. Jonathan and his political associates are said to be prepared to sacrifice the North to Boko Haram militants as a way of reducing the impact of the Northern vote in the election.

Already, the sect controls large swathes of territory in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Worse still, military commanders are fleeing from battlefronts in droves, in some cases enabling the Islamist militants to capture strategic cities and towns without resistance.

During a media chat in Nigeria in February 2014,
Jonathan had betrayed his emotions in
responding to the governor of Borno State,
Kashim Shettima, by saying, “I will pull them
(soldiers) out for one month whether he will stay
in his Government House”. Several political and
military analysts now say that the practice of
soldiers deserting the warfront might be related
to President Jonathan’s political strategy to
neutralize the north during the 2014 elections.

Apart from seeking a more influential vice-
president to enable him penetrate the North, Mr. Jonathan is also reaching out to several members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to get the party to drop Buhari as its presidential candidate in favor of “younger blood”.

To the surprise of many, Jonathan and his
political supporters are said to favor the
emergence of the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal as APC
candidate for the presidency. Several sources told Saharareporters that the hype about the removal of the Speaker might be deliberately designed to make him popular so as to catch the attention of the public as a viable alternative to the dreaded Buhari, who Mr. Jonathan and his political associates feel will be difficult to defeat in 2015.

Security sources across the country believe that it will be difficult to manage the uprising that would greet the election if Buhari is rigged out of power, especially in the North. To that effect, several northern traditional rulers and politicians are said to be too scared to even commit to a full-hearted support for Mr. Jonathan in the North because they fear reprisals after the elections. Jonathan’s camp is of the opinion that if Tambuwal is chosen
as the APC candidate, he can be rigged out
without consequence.

A presidency source told SaharaReporters that
the same tactic was used to scuttle the possible
loss of Adamawa by the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) recently. The source said the legal
victory of Barrister Bala James Ngilari was
arranged by the presidency to forestall the loss by the party in the gubernatorial election as
Adamawa voters favoured the APC candidate.
Several APC leaders told SaharaReporters that the party has silently decided not to give it
Presidential ticket to a former PDP person hence
the decision to stick with Buhari whom they feel
will give them an edge in garnering the Northern
vote. They said that as things stand now, while
they are not only hopeful of a majority of the
votes in the North, they are also certain about
sizable voting blocks in Rivers and Bayelsa States.

So we all know about the ongoing story between
upcoming Nigerian artiste Saeon and music star,
Wizkid. The ‘Boogie Down’ singer said she paid
Wizkid 1.5Milllion to promote her song which she featured him in, and wizkid reportedly didn’t do that. Wizkid, also spoke in an interview about the situation so as to defend himself from the
accusations… Well, the remarks he gave didn’t
please Saeon’s Ex-Manager, Alex Adegbenro.
Here’s what he said in a recent interview with UDR Radio NYC:

‘Contrary to Wizkid’s claims, Saeon at no point
made any contact with the kid, until I set up a first meet up. It’s funny when he said she slept in front of his house to beg him, I feel that’s a figure of speech and I feel it’s still wrong for him to say that.

She never had his contact, he also forgot that he
started the same way, sleeping at OJB’s studio
crying after M.I and so on. As a matter of fact,
myself and his manger were the ones discussing,
his manger, Godwin Tom gave us a fee, we
disagreed with the fee and told him what we could afford was N1.5 m and then he came back to us and said they’ll take it.

Here’s what I think, Wizkid has contradicted
himself already, he’s either not a thinker, or he has consumed himself with so much pride. Why would she pay you and then beg you. The irony of it all was that Saeon didn’t actually want to record with Wizkid, after paying, it took about a month to record the song because he was travelling a lot for shows.’

She wanted to use the money in putting out an EP, but when Wizkid got back, we pressed on getting the job done because he had been paid, now I’m not saying he was obligated to tweet about the song because I think that’s what started the whole thing, but coming from someone who was adamant about us shooting a music video so he could benefit from it.

‘And the one that got me was when he said he was going to beat her up. Saeon didn’t even get to meet him or talk to him until the day they
recorded together in the studio.

And I remember he gave us a list of producers he could work with, he said it was either, Samklef, Sarz or Maleek Berry and we picked Sarz and then when he heard the beat Sarz made, he didn’t like it, so he called Sarz and was like ‘dude, you know my new sound, why do you keep making beats like this.

So we went back the second time and Maleek
Berry just laced a beat and the song happened like a freestyle. I’m just a bit disappointed in him, I personally think the part of his statement where he said he would beat up Saeon shouldn’t be left alone. Well, if you look at it on the bright side, I think this whole thing has helped Saeon.’

Falana drew the attention of Mr. Suleiman to a
litany of partisan activities and his repressive
conducts against the law, order and human rights since his appointment in an acting capacity as Nigeria’s Inspector general of police.

Mr. Suleiman once acted as a bodyguard to the
wife of former dictator, Mrs, Maryam Abacha. He
is also known to be a crony of the current first
lady, Patience Jonathan.

Below is the full text of Mr. Falana’s letter:

Suleiman Abba Esq.

Acting Inspector-General of Police,

Police Headquarters,

Louis Edet House,

Abuja, FCT.

Since you were appointed the Acting Inspector-
General of Police by the President of the
Republic on July 31, 2014 the Nigeria Police
Force has been involved in partisan politics to
the detriment of law and order in the country.
Permit me to draw your attention to three
glaring cases of political bias recently displayed
by the Police under your leadership.

Firstly, the Osun State governorship election
which took place on August 9, 2014 was almost
marred by the Police and other security forces
which arrested and detained over 700 leaders
of the All Progressive Congress (APC). Indeed,
some electoral officers who were assumed to
be members of the APC were also railroaded
to police custody. But for the personal
intervention of Professor Attahiru Jega, the
Chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, the said electoral
officers would not have been released. Thus,
the election would have been disrupted by the
police and other security forces whose duty it
was to maintain law and order during the
democratic exercise. However, the detained
APC leaders who were released after the
election have not been charged to court for
breaching the provisions of the Electoral Act or
any other law whatsoever.

Secondly, Mr. Joseph Mbu, the controversial
Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge
of Zone 7 of the Nigeria Poilice Force
announced a ban any rally demanding for
#bringbackourgirls within the federal capital
territory. The ban was designed to assuage the
feelings of some officials of the Federal
Government who are embarrassed by being
reminded of their constitutional duty of
rescuing the over 200 Chibok girls who were
abducted 6 months ago by the nihilist boko
haram sect. In a judgment delivered last week,
the Federal Capital Territory High Court
declared the ban illegal, null and void on the
ground that it constituted an infringement of
the fundamental rights of the patriotic
campaigners to freedom of assembly and
expression guaranteed by the Constitution. In
spite of the judicial indictment you have not
deemed it fit to call Mr. Mbu to order for the
reckless abuse of police powers.

Thirdly, you caused the security details of
Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives to be withdrawn
last week on the ground that he had decamped
from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to
the APC. As if that was enough, you decided to
usurp the judicial powers of the federation
which are exclusively vested in the courts by
section 6 of the Constitution when you claimed
that the Speaker had lost his office and seat as
a federal legislator having contravened section
68 (1) (g) of the Constitution. By your illegal
pronouncement you disregarded section
section 50 (2) (c) thereof which stipulates that
the Speaker of the House of Representatives
can only be removed by a resolution passed
by votes on not less that two thirds majority of
the members of the House.

No doubt, your actions and utterances in the
circumstance have exposed the Police to
unwarranted ridicule as Nigerians are not
unaware of the fact that when the Ondo State
legislators elected on the platform of the
Labour Party (LP) decamped to the PDP last
month your office did not declare their seats
vacant. In particular, you did not withdraw the
security details of Honourable Jumoke
Akindele, the Speaker who led her colleagues
to dump the LP for the PDP. In the same vein,
Honourable Ahmadu Fintiri, the Speaker of the
Adamawa State House of Assembly and his
colleagues who decamped from the PDP to the
APC and have since returned to PDP. You did
not have cause to declare their seats vacant.
Neither have you withdrawn the security
details of the Honourable Fintiri.

Thus, by subjecting Honourable Aminu
Tambuwal to selective persecution on ground
that he decamped from the ruling party you
violated his fundamental right to freedom
from discrimination. As you are no doubt
aware, it is a breach of section 42 (1) of the
Constitution and Article 2 of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights to
subject any citizen of Nigeria of a political
opinion to disabilities, deprivation and
restrictions to which other citizens who hold
alternative views or opinions are not made
subject. Since the security details of other
Speakers who decamped from the APC and LP
to the PDP have not been withdrawn those of
Honourable Tambuwal were illegally
withdrawn. They ought to be restored without
any further delay.

From the information at my disposal your
harassment of the Speaker was instigated by
the Presidency. But having regard to section
215 (3) of the Constitution which enjoins you
to carry out the "lawful directions" of the
President of the Republic with respect to the
maintenance and securing of public safety and
public order the actions taken on the Speaker
are illegal and unconstitutional in every
material particular. Therefore, you should
withdraw your pronouncement on the office
and seat of Honourable Aminu Tambuwal and
advise the ruling party to seek redress in the
Federal High Court on the constitutional
implications of the defection. Furthermore,
unless he is removed by his colleagues in the
House of Representatives or by a competent
court in the land Honourable Tambuwal
remains the Speaker of the House. Neither the
Police nor any other agency of the Federal
Government can be allowed to resort to self
help on the matter.

As law and order in the country cannot be
maintained by a compromised Police
institution you may want to resign your
appointment if you are not prepared to
discharge your onerous constitutional
responsibilities without fear or favour,
affection or ill-will. Before making up your
mind may I remind you of the eternal
injunction of the Supreme Court in the case of
Attorney-General of the Federation v Atiku
Abubakar (2007) 10 NWLR (pt 1041) 1 at 183. As
the undisguised bias of both the INEC and the
Police could not be justified over the illegal
removal of the Vice-President for decamping
from the ruling party to one of the opposition
political parties the apex court held inter alia:
"Having regard to the nature of the function
which the Nigeria Police Force also performs,
that body must also insulate itself such that
impartiality and fairness may at all times be
ascribed to it. A situation where both of them
( the Inspector-General of Police and the
Independent National Electoral Commission
INEC) appeal in the instant case is very much in
bad taste.They have both thrown the quality of
impartiality and fairness which they must
possess to the winds. Their acts capable of
eroding the public confidence in them.
Unknown tob them, they may be said, by
the the public, to be biased and therefore not
worthy to be regarded as impartial umpires.

This trend must not repeat itself for the good
of the nation."
Finally, if the trend of subverting the
Constitution, the Police Act and the Electoral
Act by your good self and other top police
offices continues unabated we shall not
hesitate to approach the Federal High Court to
determine your competence and suitability to
superintend and manage the Nigeria Police
Force in the public interest.

Yours Sincerely,


Femi Falana SAN

Source: saharareporters.com/2014/11/02/illegal-policing-republic-falana-writes-ig-police

Sheik Ahmad Gumi welcomed us into his
modestly furnished, new apartment
somewhere in a highbrow part of Kaduna
town. He was there waiting for us, with broad
sparkling grin that seemed to illuminate his gray
beards.

As we exchanged pleasantries, the man who had
sparked a national debate with two letters he had written to some Presidential aspirants, appeared much younger that pictures portrayed of him. Our main mission was to find out why he wrote President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen.
Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) not to contest the 2015 Presidential elections and to have his take on the insurgency ravaging the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

Vanguard got more that it asked for. Gumi, in a
calm, comported manner spewed out shocking
and disturbing reasons for his letter. He further
gave a grim dimension to the Boko Haram
debacle, claiming that the Jonathan government
was deliberately abetting the war to pave way for his continued stay in power.

The son of late Shiek Abubakar Gumi, in this no-
holds-bared interview with our Kaduna State
Correspondent, Luka Binniyat, and Mayen Etim,
went on to claim that he was a marked man over
his recent letters, and gave reasons. It is a must-
read.

Sir, could you assess the state of the Nigeria
Nation today?

First, I welcome you all to my house. The state of
Nigeria actually is not seriously different from
what is happening in other countries in Africa.
Nigeria being a mixed society has different tribes, religions and cultures, and this has made the country significantly peculiar; because we share some of black Africa’s problems and also share the contemporary Muslim problems.
Every culture, every religion goes through stages like childhood, adolescence, middle age then old age. This is how civilization and religion grow, so we’re not different particularly now that our country is going through a very difficult stage. So, what may be good for other countries may not necessarily be good for Nigeria looking at our condition, developmental stage and peculiarity. So, Nigeria’s problems need a very special, careful approach, because the end result is if you don’t have peace and stability then nothing works.

If you look at Nigeria’s problems it is a microcosm of what is happening in the whole world. The underdevelopment, the whole of black Africa, the whole of Africa is compounded with the problems Muslims are facing now. These problems are both intrinsic and extrinsic and are caused by the Muslims themselves and external factors. So, if you put all these together and reflect on Nigeria the situation is pathetic but it is not hopeless at all.

You wrote to Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) and
President Goodluck Jonathan asking them not to
contest the 2015 presidential election. What
motivated that?

I wish to write more and more! There’s no
question of regret writing those letters and so far, I think the letters, to me, have achieved part of what I intended to achieve. First, to at least put the issue in national discourse; let’s discuss issues not like the National Conference where we tended to tell people what they wanted to hear.

The supporters of The President and the retired
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari have reservations
about your comments. And there are people who agreed with you. What more would you want to tell Nigerians about your fear for 2015 election?

”Buhari’s Supporters, irrational, fanatical,
sentimental? Yes, my fear about the 2015 election is that when I look at the parameters of 2011 election and what led to the crises, I didn’t see anything that have changed. In fact, the factors are more aggravated now. What’s coming now to explode is a big bomb. My letters addressed the factors.

It’s about a Nigerian citizen telling Gen. Buhari,
please step down for peace, unity and stability of Nigeria because your followers are fanatical,
irrational, sentimental and they are many, not
few.

So, please … and look at their reaction
(intolerance). Just telling their man to step down,
and they reacted this way; what more if they were hoping, dreaming – because I tell you they’re sentimental and irrational – hoping their man will be president and suddenly he’s announced the loser, how will their reaction be like? And who can control them? You see, the flames of war, when they start nobody can control them.

"Jonathan/Buhari are false lights”

Look at Syria now, people fighting the
government and vice versa. Then terrorists came
in, fighting the liberalists, liberalists fighting the
government and the dictators and now nobody,
not even the United Nations has the honour and
prestige to tell people. “please stop!”. That’s war.

Look at Libya, there’s war. War in Nigeria, when
it starts too, nobody can stop it and it may have
no boundaries. Now, it’s confined to some part of
the North but when it engulfs the whole country
nobody will settle anywhere. The worse thing is
that people don’t know how to behave in war.
It’s just like insects in the bush. If there’s light or
flame they think it is good for them; they rush to
it and fall into flame, killing themselves.
So,
there’s fake light. We’re creating fake light.

In the
North people think that General (Buhari) is light
whereby they can get salvation, but it’s a false
light, it will destroy them.

And in the South too, the government has false
light. It is saying, “followers”, especially Christians,
“this is your salvation, saviour” – it’s a false light.
Why? Anything that will cause polarization of the
society even if you have the upper hand, you
really don’t have it because the other hand will
try to undermine you. So, in a stable society,
there is a correct light whereby every segment of
the society is comfortable, relatively and
reasonably comfortable.

There’s no agitation, no urge to fight back, this is
the society we can all bring up ourselves. We live
happily together without destroying any culture,
religion and other differences. My dear sister
came with attire with different colours (referring
to the female reporter). I don’t want her to be all
white.

We should accept our differences. God made it
so. In fact in the Qur’an (he quotes a verse of the
scripture) which literally means “do your religion
and me my religion.” Is not by force, there’s no
compulsion in religion. In fact, a verse in the
Qur’an said you can never put faith into a
person’s heart except God, so your own is to
admonish people.

Sir, maybe that’s what you meant in the letter to
the President when you said; “surely with the
Christain votes and northern PDP followers, you
can win another election but you will also set the
nation into another turmoil because that segment of the nation that rejects you believe so wrongly or rightly that you are involved negatively in the Boko Haram saga”. Can you please elaborate on this?

“A big section of Nigeria will be uncomfortable
with Jonathan continuing as President”
The question of Nigeria now is not about winning election; it’s a question of “I’m right, I won”. It’s not about that now; it’s about responsibility; it’s not enough to say I’ve won election. It’s only enough when every part of Nigeria feels truly that you’ve won. Secondly, when all sections say, “we’ll be comfortable with your leadership then that’s it.

If there is any section of Nigeria which is afraid
and suspicious of your leadership when you’ve
not won, then don’t contest in the first place.
Because everything in this democracy was
designed to have a peaceful and mutual
understanding and consent of the people as put
in the constitution.

But in this case, if President Jonathan wins, a huge part of the society will feel uncomfortable and frightened by his continuation. The natural thing to do is to give the chance to another person to contest; this is just natural everywhere in the world.

”And what about Boko Haram?
Why the Boko Haram issue has two perspectives
the perspective you, the press, have been
bombarding Nigerians with and the true
perspective seen by the victims. Let me tell you
what the victims see in Boko Haram; We are
almost one full year of a state of emergency in
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. people gave the
government benefit of doubt at the beginning.

The National Assembly sanctioned the state of
emergency and that means that soldiers can
liquidate or kill anybody without trial. That
automatically puts you out of the area if you are
an outsider.

You cannot go and see for yourself what’s
happening. Powers were given to them and also
huge sums of money. With these huge sums,
nobody would have taught that after this long
period of fighting Boko Haram we will still be
fighting them. Soldiers at the fronts were being
eliminated, outnumbered, and many civilians
incarcerated. The Army were just there arresting
civilians and putting them in prison. There is no
military strategy to fight Boko Haram.

On the contrary some of these soldiers cry to me
personally. They come to us and tell us stories
contrary to what you people hear. Helicopter
droppings, tinted glassed vehicles, sometimes
with foreigners in them. Army officers telling me
that sometimes they’ll pursue them but would be given orders to stop, “don’t pursue”. You (the
press) don’t know this but we know, and even
recorded some. We know it’s a remote control
war. This stalemate is a remote control war

”There are Christians in Boko Haram”

Who can believe that with the kind of wealth that Nigeria has, our soldiers will be given few bullets to face Boko Haram. Nobody knows that this Boko Haram, from the few the army was able to kill, were mercenaries from Chad. There are even some none-Muslims among them.

A soldiers came to us here from Bita, which is very close to the Zambisa forest. He said when they went freshly with ammunition they were able to repel the first attacks of Boko Haram.

When the Boko Haram were withdrawing, he heard them say Victor, Amir, John, Mohammed e.t.c. Boko Haram are not only Muslims.

“Buhari and Jonathan are polarising figure”

So, that’s why people in the north are frantic they don’t want President Jonathan to come back because of their safety, lives and security.

And this has made them to be too attached to Gen. Buhari because they think he’s the only credible person and he has large followers who feel that they can help defeat Jonathan.

I know like Jonathan, Buhari is also polarizing
figure. Buhari is not only a polarizing figure in
Nigeria, he is even so in the North. There are
people who don’t want him at all for different
reasons. My Islamic credentials make me see
things in broader perspective.

And that’s why I am seriously telling him to
consider that leadership is not only about
honesty and accountability. It also has to do
about conformity, flexibility, being nice to people and not just disciplinary strictness. No!

All these people that are attached to him would be very surprised if he gets into power. He will not do what they want.

“My father was too soft, and a polarising agent to be president”

If my father told me he wanted to be President I
would say ‘I know you’re honest, more honest
than Buhari, but still you’re not suitable to rule
Nigeria because, you’re a polarizing figure even
among the Muslims just like Catholics and
Protestants. Secondly, my father was a very
lenient person.

Let me tell you something, he was at home and
the phone rang and his bank manager asked him; “did you send anybody to cash money from the Foundation account?” He said no and still didn’t want to know the person because he didn’t want anybody to look bad before him.

One day they brought a boy who presented a
letter he purportedly signed and endorsed for the boy to be employed. They apprehended the boy and my father asked him why he did so. The boy said he did so because he wanted a job. My father said bring the letter let me sign the correct signature for you.

In Hausa land they knew him too be soft. If he told me that he wanted to be president of Nigeria, I would have told him that he was to soft and would not be fit to be President. Nigeria needs somebody not too hard and not too soft.
There are qualities that make a leader.

Still on this Boko Haram issue, you have been a
target of the insurgents, Gen. Buhari too.
President Jonathan, is also a target, but well
protected. What would Jonathan benefit in
sustaining Boko Haram?

There’s too much secrecy about handling of
Boko Haram affairs. Many people were arrested, put in jail and we’ve never seen the reports. There should be open trials.

When there were bombings in Boston Marathon,
the press, police and national guards were
working hand-in-hand, step by step and when
they discovered pictures everybody stepped up
the search until the culprits were caught.
Everything was open. But in Nigeria everything
about Boko Haram is kept secret.

Why not exposed them so that they speak and we know who their sponsors are. There was a time Boko Haram targeted me. Explosives killed two of them when they were planting them. The military took their bodies away till today. They were not exposed for identification.

You are advocating for a president that will be
widely acceptable that will not divide the country.

Now there are so many people that have
indicated interest to run for the Presidency. Have you spotted any among them that meets these standard?

Okay, this is another question that is very good.
Nigerians are looking for an ideal President and
there is nothing like ideal person when you talk of human terms. No one is ideal. What we’re
looking for is someone palatable, someone that
will cause less friction, problems and polarization.
This is the man we’re looking for and Nigerians
should decide.

Okay sir, we’ve taken much of your time I want to summarize this. I want you to give a very good advice to Nigerians

My advice would in fact be to all Nigerians. It’s
very important we develop the culture of civility.
We have to be civil. If you have a case take it to
the court. The question of demonstrations, strive and killings should not even arise. If anybody feels he’s cheated in election let him go to court.

What is the value you get in trying to assert your
right by violence? In doing that you kill many
people? That’s why I’d thought it was important to pass this advice to the president and to Buhari before the elections. After the 2011, many innocent people that even didn’t know about politics died; youth corps members were killed, and villagers were massacring each other.

I thought that we have had enough of violence.
This is what I expected from Buhari and Jonathan.

Groom people. You can imagine now if Jonathan w groomed another person that will sustain our democracy, he would be a very great leader not to contest again and hand over to a successor. If Buhari would have stepped down, people will say oh! he’s a great man.

9ice is taking all necessary steps with his 2015 campaign
for a seat in the Oyo State House of Assembly.

The entertainer released new campaign pictures a few days
ago and has taken to the streets to share branded bottles of
Palm Oil as an additional step with his political campaign.

9ice shared pictures of the bottles on Instgram page and captioned the pictures, “LeolasRamas loke loke la ma ma

The president of the most populous black nation on earth has started his re-election campaign on a lighter mood....
In a bid to seek re-election to the highest office in Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been distributing bags of rice to aid his re-election bid

Lol.
Infact, I have one on ma list, she's always displaying the food she wanna eat






I told her she will soon display the pics of her having sex

nomabeeee:
Yeeee ftc ever present people..how I hate too many bcs.I feel jealous wn I knw dt ping is a bc.I want to be the only one reading dt ping not everyone.hop am nt selfish

Ohhhhh.......... So u want it to be private?

NORMAL PEOPLE
This folks do everything moderately in changing
dp, pm, chatting you up and they keep in touch
every ones in a while.

GHOSTMODE PEOPLE
This folks just never do anything, never change
dp, never change pm, never sends BCs, but if you chat them up they will respond, so you wonder how can someone be on bbm and be so quiet

EVERPRESENT PEOPLE
Menh, they are everywhere change dp at a rate of 20 per min, pm at 10 per sec, can send BC to say sometin as silly as “hi everyone” , first to wake last to sleep and you wonder if the person is possessed

SELFIE (SH) PEOPLE
Their picture is all u see and no one else, no
matter who you are, even if it is ur wedding they
will still put a selfie of themselves attending the
wedding na wa for them

UNKNOWN PICTURE
They will put pictures of only fine girls, fine boys,
and also pictures of others during their birthdays but never their own pictures, so if u no sabi who add u gats beg them for their name and who them be

EMOTIONAL DRAMA PEOPLE
They always have a problem every second and for each problem their is an appropriate dp and pm for it, always puting pictures of words and will not let us hear word all day

FUNNY PEOPLE
They scout for funny pitures everywhere and use them as dps, they can be fun people because at least you can always laugh whenever they change dp or pm

MONITORING SPIRITS
I mean this folks are on your case, day and night, 7 days a week 24 7, they will never leave you nor forsake you. And if u delete them another one will just arise. Every contact on earth have this people on them and they are here to stay

UP TO DATE PEOPLE
We know where they are, what they are doing,
who is with them, how they are doing what they
are doing, whom they are doing it to, in short they can’t sneeze without putting it up as a pm first and I’m like *we don’t give a spoon menh*

BOO & BOOLETS
Their relationship is literally online, if they are
fine we will know, if they are fighting we will know, if one has eaten and the other has not we will know even if they just had six we must definitely know, They won’t allow single people breath and spare us the unwanted convo

PM ADDRESS SYSTEM PEOPLE
This people have conversations with other people via pm so we know who they are talking to and what they are saying like it is any of our business... Mstchew


Hope i got them all

kingphilip:
what has apc done in Lagos for the past 15+ years?

You must be a learner or living in the desert

Residents of Onimaba, College Bus stop, Ikotun Road,
Igando, Lagos have been living in fear since last week
Thursday when a letter purportedly written by armed robbers
circulated their streets.

The letter, numbering about 20 was typed on an A4 paper and
scattered on the streets, was noticed by residents as they woke
up on Thursday morning.

The letter reads,
“Be prepared, be prepared, be prepared. Our dues must be
paid this festive season. Nobody can stop us as we can
strike at any time. Only enough money can save your
life. To be forewarned is to be fore-harmed. We have
warned you in this area, and if you have ears, you ought to
hear."

Speaking with Punch ,a landlord, who identified himself
simply as Alhaji Lawal, said..
“The threat letter is very disturbing. The last time we had
a robbery incident in this area was about six months ago.
At that time, they came in through the compound of
Igando Local Government Primary School, and escaped
through Potoku, an unfenced canal at an end of our street.

Potoku Canal reaches all the way to Lagos State
University Road, Igando.We are calling on the police to
intensify efforts in securing our area.

We want the Area
Commander, Area M Idimu, and the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad to beam their searchlight on our areas.”

Wat the Bleep is wrong wit these mods
I created this topic some weeks back and it didn't make front page. Now someone else created it and it has it front page after the news has become stale








Spits on the thread & the mods

nuclearboy:
Article proves the world isn't fooled = they know who handled and solved Ebola

And one stupid saTANoid gropu are using it for campaign

afolag:
av u ever wondered what the case would be if an ebola patient manage to enter the DEN oshodi.

It would have been a disaster my brother!!!












A story that touches the heart

In an Article titled "Meet The Man Who Tamed Nigeria's
Most Lawless City", UKTelegraph Explains how Governor
Fashola became Gov. and transformed Lagos and also how he
effectively managed the Ebola epidermic in the state.

He famously claims to be "just doing his job". But in a land
where politicians are known for doing anything but, that alone
has been enough to make Babatunde Fashola, boss of the vast
Nigerian city of Lagos, a very popular man.
Confounding the image of Nigerian leaders as corrupt and
incompetent, the 51-year-old governor has won near-celebrity
status for transforming west Africa's biggest city, cleaing up
its crime-ridden slums and declaring war on corrupt police
and civil servants.

Next month, he will come to London to meet business leaders
and Mayor Boris Johnson's officials, wooing investors with
talk of how he has spent the last seven years building new
transport hubs and gleaming business parks.
Yet arguably his biggest achievement in office took place just
last week, and was done without a bulldozer in sight. That
was when his country was officially declared free of Ebola,
which first spread to Nigeria three months ago when Patrick
Sawyer, an infected Liberian diplomat, flew into Lagos
airport.

Health officials had long feared that the outbreak, which has
already claimed nearly 5,000 lives elsewhere in west Africa,
would reach catastrophic proportions were it to spread through
Lagos. One of the largest cities in the world, it is home to an
estimated 17 million people, many of them living in sprawling
shanty towns that would have become vast reservoirs for
infection. To make matters worse, when the outbreak first
happened, medics were on strike.

Instead, Mr Fashola turned a looming disaster into a public
health and PR triumph. Breaking off from a trip overseas, he
took personal charge of the operation to track down and
quarantine nearly 1,000 people feared to have been infected
since Mr Sawyer's arrival.

Last week, what would have been a formidably complex
operation in any country came to a successful end, when the
World Health Organisation announced that since Nigeria had
had no new cases for six weeks, it was now officially rid of
the virus.

"This is a spectacular success story," said Rui Gama Vaz, a
WHO spokesman, who prompted an applause when he broke
the news at a press conference in Nigeria on Tuesday. "It
shows that Ebola can be contained.

The WHO announcement was a rare glimmer of hope in the
fight against Ebola, and even rarer vote of confidence in a
branch of the Nigerian government, which was heavily
criticised over its response to the abduction of more than 200
schoolgirls by the Boko Haram insurgent group in April. As a
columninst in Nigeria's Leadership newspaper put it last week:

"For once, we did not underachieve."
For Mr Fashola's many supporters, it is also yet more proof
that the 51-year-old ex-lawyer is a future president in the
making, a much-needed technocrat in a country dominated far
too long by ageing "Big Men" and ex-generals.

"He is the best governor we have ever had," said Odun
Babalola, a Lagos-based pension fund portfolio manager.

"He's made a lot of progress in schools, railways, and
infrastructure, and unlike a lot of politicians, who are corrupt,
he's a good administrator."
True, the successful tackling of the Ebola outbreak was not

Mr Fashola's doing alone. For a start, the doctor's strike that
was under way when Mr Sawyer collapsed at Lagos airport
turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Rather than being
taken to one of Lagos's vast public hospitals, where he might
have languished for hours and infected numerous fellow
patients and staff, he was instead admitted to a private clinic.

There he was seen by a sharp-eyed consultant, Stella
Adadevoh, who spotted that his symptoms were not malaria as
had been first thought.
She then alerted the Nigerian health ministry, and along with
other doctors physically restrained Sawyer when he became
aggressive and tried to leave the hospital to fly to another
Nigerian city. Her quick thinking help stop the virus being
spread more widely, but also cost her her life: she caught
Ebola herself while treating Mr Sawyer, and has now been
recommended for a national award.

But even by the time Mr Sawyer had been isolated, the virus
was already on the loose. Knowing that he had passed through
one of the busiest airports in west Africa, health officials had
to try to track down every single person who had potentially
been infected by him, including the other passengers on his
flight. The list started at 281 people and grew to nearly 1,000.
as eight others whom he turned out to have passed the virus to
subsequently died.

That was where Mr Fashola stepped in. He broke off from a
pilgrimage to Mecca, flew home and then helped set up an
Ebola Emergency Operations Centre, which spearheaded the
mammoth task of monitoring all those potentially infected. A
team of 2,000 officials were trained for the task, who ended
up knocking on 26,000 doors. At one point the governor was
being briefed up to ten times a day by disease control experts.

He made a point of visiting the country's Ebola treatment
centre, a way of communicating to the Nigerian public that
they should not panic needlessly.

"Command and control is very important in fighting disease
outbreaks, and he provided effective leadership," said Dr Ike
Anya, a London-based Nigerian public health expert. "He also
said exactly the right things, urging for the need to keep calm.

Regardless of whether you support his politics, he has been
very effective as a governor and I would be happy to see him
stand for leadership."
Born into a prominent Muslim family but married to a
Christian, Mr Fashola trained as a lawyer and went into
politics after being appointed chief of staff by the previous
Lagos governor, Asiwaju Tinubu, a powerful politician often
described as Mr Fashola's "Godfather". But while he has long
enjoyed the backing of a political "Big Man", is his role as a
rare defender of Nigeria's "Little Men" that has won him most
support.

Once, while driving through Lagos in his convoy, he
famously stopped an army colonel who was driving illegally
in one of the governor's newly-built bus lanes, berating him in
front of television cameras.

"The bus is for those who cannot afford to buy cars," he said.
"I want a zero tolerance of lawlesness, and those who don't
want to comply can leave our state."

It was one of the first times Nigerians had ever seen a civil
servant confronting a member of the security forces, whose
fondness for committing crime rather than fighting it has long
contributed to Lagos's legendary reputation for lawlessness.
Armed robberies - sometimes by moonlighting police - used
to be so common that few people ventured out after dark.

Foreign businessmen would routinely travel with armed
escorts, and the few willing to live there would stay mainly in
a heavily-guarded diplomatic area called Victoria Island, a
rough equivalent to Baghdad's Green Zone. Add to that the
suffocating smog, widespread squalor and regular three-hour
traffic jams, and it was no suprise that the city had a
reputation as one of the worst places in the world to live.

Today, much of the problems remain. But members of the
vast Nigerian diaspora say they now notice big changes
whenever they go back. "When you return you see an absolute
difference - things have improved 100 per cent," said Nels
Abbey, a London-based Nigerian journalist and businessman.

"Traffic is not what it used to be, bus lanes have been
introduced, and it feels a lot safer. Fashola has been like a
Tory mayor for Lagos - he is trying to make it attractive to the
well-off."
Styling himself as Lagos's answer to Boris Johnson has not
endeared him to everyone. As well as laying plans for a vast
offshore business park intended as an "African Dubai", he has
accelerated programs to clear the ever-expanding shanty
towns, ordering their occupants to return to their homes in
Nigeria's poorest east and north. That has led to criticism from
human rights groups, although others say it is hard to see how
Lagos will ever improve otherwise. "Do I endorse it?" said Mr
Nels. "I am afraid it is a bit of a necessary evil."

Another big achievement has been increasing tax revenues,
vital in a city where the GDP of $43 billion makes it the fifth-
biggest economy in sub-Saharan Africa. Mr Fashola has tried
to sweeten the pill by putting up signs on all new infrasructure
projects, saying "paid for by your taxes". It is a rare
acknowledgement of gratitude in a country where a
guaranteed stream of state oil wealth has historically allowed
rulers to remain aloof from the ruled.

However, despite being relected with 80 per cent of the vote
in 2011, the main hailed as Nigeria's brightest political hope
in years is far from guaranteed a life in office. Having served
two terms in office already, he is not allowed to run as Lagos
governor again. And as a member of a minority tribe and the
country's opposition All Progressives Congress, he currently
lacks the political backing to go head to head against
Goodluck Jonathan in next year's elections.

In the meantime, fresh from ridding Lagos of Ebola, he is
focusing on an arguably even tougher challenge, launching a
new initiative to stop motorists stuck in traffic jams from
blasting their horns all day. As he put it: "If we can overcome
Ebola, then we can overcome noise pollution."

Ride on BRF

This Pique na goat I swear!!!!!!!!

A Lagos State Polytechnic student named Bola had her right ear bitten off by her neighbour during a fight this past Monday October 20th at her residence in Ikorodu.

According to an eye-witness to the fight, the other lady allegedly hid the ear in her mouth for a few minutes after biting if off. She then spit it out and stepped on it as people were looking for it. Anyway, she was later arrested and the
case is now being handled by the police at First Gate in Ikorodu. Bola is recovering at the hospital

The bitter must be a relative of Suarez

The forward is unhappy with Real Madrid having
a day less rest than Barcelona and played down
talk of the game simply being a duel between
him and Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo is furious that Real Madrid's Liga clash with Barcelona is being played on Saturday, thus giving his side less time to prepare for the Clasico than their Catalan rivals.

The pair lock horns for the first time this season at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend, three days after Carlo Ancelotti's side tormented Liverpool in a 3-0 Champions League victory at Anfield.

Barca, meanwhile, were in action 24 hours earlier, beating Ajax 3-1 at Camp Nou to move a step closer to qualifying from Group F.

Imperious forward Ronaldo, who scored his 20th goal of the season on Merseyside, is baffled as to why El Clasico has not been put back a day in the interest of fairness.

"I don’t really understand why we are playing on
Saturday after having played tonight [Wednesday]," he told reporters at Anfield. "They don’t take care of the details, and El Clasico is the most important game.

"I don’t get it, big games like El Clasico needs to
been looked at in another way - it should really be played on Sunday, not Saturday at 18:00CET.

Any professional will tell you that it’s not the same having two days to recover from a game like this than having three days."

Despite the usual talk of the Clasico being a duel
between Ronaldo and Barca's star forward, Lionel Messi, the 29-year-old Portugese is more concerned about the overall quality of Luis Enrique's Liga leaders.

"It will be a difficult match because Barcelona are playing well," the Portuguese said of Luis Enrique's men, who have not yet conceded in La Liga this season.

"I'm not going to play against Messi, I'm going to
play against Barcelona. They are a great team. Real Madrid and Barcelona are playing each other."

Sauce & Maggi: m.goal.com/x/en/news/5400211/

Another useless thread..........
Are there no other news worthy of front page than this crap?
How will this inform & enrich the lives of Nlders intellectually







Seun, pls what is the reason behind nairaland's birth?
NL mods killing front page wit useless thread since wen Judas betrayed Jesus!!!

Is there any hope for this country @ all?