₦airaland Forum

https://media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2015/03/720x449xAbdul-Adewale-Kekere-Edun-22.jpg.pagespeed.ic.t9IkDbgTCV.jpg
A Nigerian fugitive, Abdul Adewale Kekere-Ekun, who was arrested on February 12, 2015 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for identity theft-related offences, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the United Kingdom.

He was jailed for the murder of 18-year-old Marcus Hall in 2001, following a brawl outside Luton’s Atmosphere Nightclub, where the popular music group, So Solid Crew, had performed.

Though 39-year old Mr. Kekere-Ekun, who goes by several aliases like Adebayo Dalvin James Ekun, Adeba Yo Kekere-Ekun, Adeba Yo Muta Lito Kekere-Ekun, James Dalvin, James Adebayo, had initially pleaded guilty to the murder charge before the Luton Crown Court, he later fled to Nigeria.

He was, however, arrested in Nigeria in February by the EFCC.

During investigation, it was revealed that Mr. Kekere-Ekun, who was arrested for fraud, was on the wanted list of the United Kingdom Police.
Consequently, an extradition notice signed by the then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, was served on him by the EFCC.
He was finally extradited to the United Kingdom, where he reportedly admitted to the killing.

Before his conviction Monday, seven of the gang members had been convicted in 2002 and 2003 for their part in Mr. Hall’s murder, but two convictions were later quashed.

Revealing how he was traced, the Bedfordshire Police said he was identified in CCTV footage of the attack, where he was wearing a distinctive checked coat.

Upon discovery of a flyer for the shop found by the Bedfordshire Police during a raid on his home, detectives went to a designer clothes store in London, where it was discovered that the jacket was one of only nine sold in the United Kingdom and the convict was listed as one of the buyers.

After the sentencing, Mr. Hall’s mother, Icelyn Wilson, in a statement issued through the Bedfordshire Police, was quoted to have said, ‘‘My son’s death still hurts as if it had happened yesterday and I will never get over it.
‘‘You did not just ruin one life, you left a ‘ripple effect’ which has impacted on everyone involved in my son, Marcus’ life.”

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/189637-nigerian-fugitive-wale-kekere-ekun-jailed-for-life-in-uk-for-murder.html

Lalasticlala

vivypretty:
that is y i said whip them reasonably and another thing neverwhip them with anger

i want to know what u did to be flogged so badly,to know if what u did deserved such punishment

Are u trying to say there are offences your kids will commit that will can make u beat them so badly?

Well, I only went out when I wasn't supposed to.

PassingShot:
If the head is good, the whole body is good.

If the head is rotten, the whole body becomes useless.

Register this as one of the results of fight against corruption, indiscipline and impunity.

Oh yes! Without the head, the snake is only a rope. That's how important buhari is to Nigeria at this critical moment.

With Buhari, I am sure we are headed in the right direction.

Nigeria has just strolled past the first 100-day milestone of the Buhari Administration. Critics insist the performance has been bland and lacking in colour, but is this really fair comment? Staunch Buhari followers will tend to see the first 100 days through rose-tinted glasses, hyping up only the pleasant parts of events and choosing not to see what the critics see. However, the critics only see things in black and white and occasionally they throw in a bit of mud to relate sepia coloured events. Those who have been tracking the promises of the new government, such as through the Buharimeter of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), claim the President made 222 promises gleaned from documents such as “One Hundred Things Buhari Will Do in 100 Days” and “My Covenant with Nigerians”, regarding his first 100 days in office of which, only one promise has been achieved (asset declaration), a total of 24 others are in progress, while 197 cannot yet be rated.

A fair assessment of Mr. President’s performance so far might require examination of the first 100 days through a completely different set of lenses. The right equipment with which to view the “heated” state of Nigeria’s political economy, in a manner of speaking, is not a pair of glasses but a thermal imaging camera, even if this produces pictures only in shades of grey – for we are likely in the final analysis to find neither success nor failure but circumstances, ways and means.

Take the “heat” generated over election of principal officers for the Eighth National Assembly. This battle seemed to be about preempting Mr. Tinubu’s choices for National Assembly leadership. This lost valuable legislative time and that for anyone trying to balance the geo-politics of the leadership of the country. It also left people wondering if the President’s authority was not whittled as leader of the party. Today, we see a compromise agreed in the House of Representatives, and trouble still brewing in the Senate but a stronger posture from the President.

His re-focusing of the war on terror necessitated replacement of the National Security Adviser (NSA), and changes at the Department for State Security, Police, and line up of Service Chiefs, issuing them an ultimatum to contain Boko Haram within 90 days. The NSA’s removal generated debate and controversy as politicians wonder whether his removal and being charged with firearms offences were not related to the NSA’s poor treatment and subsequent incarceration of Buhari in times past. The real “thermals” behind this manifestation are unclear.

Leadership of several government agencies has changed such as in the Customs, Immigrations, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and so on. These changes can be related to Buhari’s anti-corruption drive and his infusion of change agents into the system. Nigerians argue that there could have been more consideration given to the Federal Character principle in the new appointments than it would appear he has done, asking if change agents come only from the North – the net beneficiaries of the movements.

Many more events from the first 100 days left “heat signatures”, such as the choice to focus the anti-corruption war on the immediate past administration. However, by far the most “incandescent” event has been that of choosing aides and forming a cabinet. It had been rumoured that Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Mr. Fashola and Mr. Amaechi should expect to play key roles in the new government. Some have argued that Mr. Tinubu is not in agreement with the fielding of some of such candidates and his alleged struggle to “omit/replace” them has resulted in the delay by Mr. President to name his full list of aides and final list of ministers. Despite denials issued by the Jagaban himself, it is widely speculated that the tarnishing of Mr. Fashola’s record in recent times was not unconnected with him and this struggle, which saw the president drop Fashola from his entourage for foreign trips beyond London and Germany. Some analysts suggest the South-West lost out in the process as Fashola could neither be minister nor Chief of Staff after the revelations, and the South-East lost out as well due to similar “in-fighting” and tarnishing of candidates – leaving the president constrained to take his A-team from amongst northern candidates. So, even if the 100-day image is not rosy, it is neither black and white nor sepia.


Is the 100-day milestone a really good indicator of progress for the new administration against the backdrop of a weak, corrupt State with predatory stakeholders in an environment of economic decline? Just because it worked for Theodore Roosevelt who is credited with it, does it mean it would work for President Buhari? Is it not time we paid greater attention to reading the thermal “images” of our political economy and strengthened our voices to influence the outcomes rather than sit back to track and react at prescribed milestones?

To the uninitiated it may appear that nothing much happened in Buhari’s first 100 days since they did not have the equipment with which to see into that which was shrouded by the dark of politicking. With “thermal imaging” we now see that on each of the 100 days, the President must have dealt with one specific shade of grey or the other. One can summarise the entire period under one rubric by describing “President Buhari in 100 shades of grey.”

Credit: Soji Apampa

Soji Apampa, the co-founder of The Integrity Organisation, can be reached at Twitter: @sojapa, and email: soji.apampa@integritynigeria.org.


http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/?p=168790

For years? how come they didn't die? He must have fed them "well" with dog food and gasoline

Jokes apart, some people can be so heartless!

baralatie:
I still do not understand what and why festus could not perform at the NPC.
his sack under Gej was strickly based on non performance.
I maybe wrong though but that is what I was meant to believe.

you can't be wrong on this. I heard same from some very reliable sources in the NPC.

LWKMD

Cc: Lalasticlala

Nah Nah Nah! I doubt if david can do this

If true, this is highly condemnable

..But I can't see even a picture of the police. I hope our media forces are not at work here.

OrlandoOwoh:
Nobody works with his CoS, SGF, etc that he can't trust. The CoS and CSO are like the diary of the President. They make arrangements for his day to day activities.

you are so on point, bro. Would have done the same if I were him.

osifred:
Tell me my friend if for some reason unknown to you your child of 8 start urinating inside your fridge which of this strategies as listed above will you use to handle the child?

hahaahhahahahahaaha.. . You don't mean it!

I ll go spiritual, brother. Flogging him won't take that madness out of him

bayino:
i've gat this scar from one canning i rcivd and each time i remember i feel like ending the life of the 3 fools who did it. I dont consider pple who beat children till they get scars as lovers. Only smokers and drunkards shld do such. Im not saying u shldnt beat a child bt dnt beat a child like ure beating a horse.

lol @ the emboldened.

You are on point, bro

vivypretty:
i will like to know what u did to receive that punishment
i agree with u to an extent but i think whipping a child is necessary atimes depending on the wrong he did but never let him get used to it if not he will grow a thick skin just like in talking to them they will start seeing it as normal thing and therefore not afraid of the punishment

whip them reasonably

why do you want to know? what reason would make you beat your child till he/she develops marks on the body?

Some people don't deserve to have anything in between their legs ..As for urine, they can always pass that through their mouth

A seven-year-old girl (names withheld) has narrated how her father paid her after sexually abusing her at their Ojokoro Housing Estate, Meiran, Ijaiye, Lagos, residence.

https://cdn2.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/178x213xchukw.jpg.pagespeed.ic.sZWver59KO.jpg
Chukwuemeka Odunzie

The primary three pupil said: “My daddy usually gives me money after touching my private part or putting his penis in my mouth. He touches my private part when my mother is outside washing clothes or when she is not in the house.”
The victim’s father, identified as Chukwuemeka Odunzie, allegedly started defiling his daughter early last year.

Narrating her ordeal, the victim’s mother, Mrs Odunzie, said: “Last year, my son told me that his younger sister was fond of playing with her private parts. It sounded strange that a seven-year-old child would be doing that.

“I will talk to her, scold her and sometimes beat her. There was a time I told my husband.

“All he said was that if she was acting strangely I should take her to any of these white garment churches. I was alarmed when one day, while we were in the sitting room, she started touching and playing with herself.

She confesses to mother

“Immediately, I called her inside the room and asked her what the problem was. I asked her if anyone was fiddling with her private parts. She said it was her father that always touched her private parts and that after touching her private parts, he would give her money.

“I confronted my husband when he returned from work but he denied vehemently. I reported a case of defilement to Ebenezer Divisional Police and the policemen invited my husband for questioning.

“He was arrested later by the police, who gave me a report to take my daughter to the hospital. The doctor said there had been no penetration, but that there is an opening in her virginal and advised that the victim be tested for infection.
 
Family pressure

“By the time we came back from the hospital, the IPO said it was a family issue and that we should go home and settle the case.

“Members of his family were shouting, saying that I had no right to report the case to the police, that it was a family issue that should be treated as one. They pressurized me till I withdrew the case, after which he promised not to defile our daughter again.

“After I withdrew the case, my husband began to beat the children at the slightest provocation. And at times, he would beat them for no tangible reason.

“Two weeks ago, it happened again. I asked her what she did for her father that made him give her money without giving her siblings. That was when she said that daddy gave her the money after touching her private part.

“Her siblings said it had been ongoing for a while and that they refused to tell me because the last time they did, their daddy kept beating them.
“He puts it in my mouth”

“Her brother said whenever I was not around, or I was outside washing clothes, daddy would send him and his other siblings inside the bedroom, while he would ask the victim to kneel down in between his legs and bend her head towards his manhood.

“She also confirmed that after touching her, daddy would put his penis in her mouth.
“There was even a time my daughter was caught in the act with a four-year-old boy, who is a neighbour’s child.”

In his defense, the victim’s father, Chukwuemeka Odunzie, admitted that it was only once he abused his daughter and that he was not doing it for occult reasons.

Reacting to the issue, the Co-coordinator, Project Alert, Josephine Effah Chukwuma, said: “Apart from ensuring that the law takes it course, the main task is how to rehabilitate this little girl, whose life has been messed up by her father.

“This is because the abuse was not a one-off thing as the victim had become so accustomed to the act, that when she feels the urge and there is no one to touch her, she touches herself.
“There is need to rehabilitate her and her siblings, who watched.”
 
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/daddy-touches-me-puts-his-manhood-in-my-mouth-gives-me-money-7-yr-old-girl/

Lalasticlala

The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has advised the Federal Government to introduce preventive measures against corruption instead of waiting for individuals to steal before prosecuting them.
Mr. Ndume, who gave the advice when he addressed a news conference in Maiduguri on Sunday, explained that the measure would help in curbing corruption from its roots.

“The fight against corruption in Nigeria is a big war; It is going to be tougher than that of the Boko Haram insurgency war.

“Government must begin to initiate preventive measures against corruption, instead of waiting for people to steal public wealth before taking action,” Mr. Ndume, who represents Borno South, said.
He suggested that part of the measures should include mechanism for questioning individuals or public officers with sudden massive wealth.

“What I am saying is that government must make deliberate effort to ensure that even those who stole, do not find a hiding place in the society,” Mr. Ndume said.

He said that the authorities must begin to raise alarm once an individual is suspected to have ill-gotten wealth.

“For example, once you see a new flashy building coming up in an area, the EFCC or ICPC should quickly find out who the owner of the building is, then invite him to say where he got the money to start the project.

“If this mechanism is on ground, people will think twice before they even steal public money,” Mr. Ndume said.

He said Nigerians celebrate public officers who steal government money rather than question their source of wealth.

“How can I, for example, begin to buy big houses just because I became a senate leader, when I used to live in my three-bedroom apartment in Apo since 2003?

“Just because I have became the senate leader, I will start buying houses in Maitama and Asokoro in Abuja, and Nigerians will be hailing me and declaring that my time has come.
“If nobody comes to question me, that will be really sad,” he said.

He said that Nigerians must also key into the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration by asking questions, especially if public servants become rich overnight.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/189590-anti-corruption-war-tougher-than-boko-haram-senator-ndume.html

Aminat508:
Why are u laughing, u no get me

I know av gat u..Na Agarawu dey make me laff

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has again been accused of failing to remit into government accounts, monies it recovered.

The Chief Executive Officer, Panic Alert Security System, George Uboh, while appearing before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition on August 26, had disclosed how the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, allegedly diverted N2tn it recovered from ex-public officials.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, Uboh said that the commission recovered over N1.7bn from 15 companies for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, but failed to remit same to the agency.

“FIRS in its submission denied receiving any payments/transfers from EFCC in respect of the said companies.” he said.

Documents Uboh made available to journalists showed that the funds were recovered between 2010 and 2011.

The security expert said members of the public interested in getting details of his earlier N2tn seized by EFCC but unremitted to government should download the documents from his website: www.pasecng.com.

Uboh also expressed his readiness to expose the country’s former presidents, vice presidents, current and ex-governors as well as the current administration over numerous shady practices.

The breakdown of the N1,767,594,842.65 said to have been recovered by the EFCC and list of the 15 companies include Zakhem Construction Limited — N401m; Daewoo Nigeria Limited — N208m; WAPCO — N311m; Mikano International Limited —N16m; Protea Hotel, Apo Apartments — N10m; Reiz Continental Hotels — N32m; Coscharis Motors Limited — N130m; and Elizade Nigeria Limited — N555m.

Others are ITCC Technical Limited, Kaduna — N47m; Grand Ibro Hotel, Abuja — N14m; Efab Properties, Abuja — N19m; Le Meridien Hotel, Port Harcourt – N10m; Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc – N2.7m; Ni’ Ima Guest Palace – N2.8m; and Okomu Oil Palm Plc – N5m.y

http://dailypost.ng/2015/09/06/efcc-in-another-n1-7bn-scandal-as-petitioner-vows-to-expose-former-current-leaders/

Lalasticlala

agarawu23:
So

Make we wey no get wife go dey think?

By the standards of sub-Saharan African leaders, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is dirt-poor.

According to a statement released by his government, he has $150,000 in his savings account. He owns five homes and two mud houses, an orchard and ranch with 270 head of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses and a variety of birds. He has bought two cars from his savings

“President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also had no registered company and no oil wells,” reads the statement released by the spokesman, Garba Shehu, describing the president’s assets as “Spartan.”

The question on many minds is this: Is Buhari, Nigeria’s former military ruler and ex-head of the oil ministry, telling the truth?

Corruption, after all, is a major problem in Africa’s largest economy. Buhari himself has publicly said that more than $150 billion is missing from the government’s coffers. Still, the public declaration appears to be an attempt to show some much-needed transparency. Buhari was elected in March largely by promising that he wouldn’t tolerate corruption.

What’s clear is that Buhari has done what his predecessors — and most other African leaders — have never done.

Consider these five other African leaders. They have been labeled by Forbes Magazine as the “five worst leaders in Africa.”

1. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea

He’s Africa’s longest-serving ruler, an autocrat who leads the tiny, oil-rich West African nation of Equatorial Guinea. Despite its vast natural wealth, the majority of its people live in deep poverty with no access to clean drinking water, proper educational or health facilities. One fifth of children die before age 5. The money has gone into the pockets of Mbasogo and his family. They own luxury properties in the United States and other countries, a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars.

2. José Eduardo dos Santos, president of Angola

He’s Africa’s second-longest-serving leader. Angola is the continent’s second-largest oil producer, and one of the biggest suppliers of oil to the United States. It also has massive diamond deposits. Dos Santos’s relatives hold key positions in his government and control a huge share of Angola’s economy, amid widespread allegations of corruption. Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in dire poverty, and a third of the nation’s children are malnourished.

3. Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe

He has ruled the southern African nation for a quarter-century. He was the architect of controversial policies, most notably the seizure of white-owned commercial farms. Though the country in recent years has seen an economic rebound, Mugabe remains one of the continent’s most autocratic rulers. He wields nearly total control of government institutions, and his loyalists have used violence to retain control. Human rights abuses are rife, while unemployment remains among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

4. Omar Al-Bashir, president of Sudan

Bashir seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1989 and has since disbanded political parties, the nation’s parliament and many privately-owned media outlets. Under his rule, civil war erupted, in which more than 1 million people were killed. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court at the Hague on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the killing and rape of civilians in Sudan’s Darfur region. A U.S. diplomatic cable, leaked by Wikileaks, unveiled that Bashir may have stolen as much as $9 billion from state coffers and deposited it into his private bank accounts in Great Britain.

5. King Mswati III, king of Swaziland

He is the continent’s last reigning monarch, presiding over a nation with one of the world’s highest HIV rates, where average life expectancy — 33 years — is among the lowest in the world. Despite his people’s suffering, the king leads a lavish life with a taste for luxury cars, first-class travel and expensive parties, even as the nation’s economy is in dire straits.

http://www.nigerianmonitor.com/2015/09/06/buhari-may-be-the-least-corrupt-leader-in-africa-washington-post/

Lalasticlala, happy sunday

Alicia Keys obviously is.

PRYCE:
A change where the rule of law has been thrown out The window Midolian? A sitting governor's house who's protected by immunity is ransacked, A change where 99% of the people that have been marked as corrupt and charged are members of the oppostion Save Nyako.... Whose case was even there During The Last Administration? , A Change where the ruling party keeps denying its Various campaign promises? A change where The Federal character Clause has been thrown to the dogs? A change where Our president told us he had no house in Abuja, Owing millions in rent, Has A million, 150 cows, mud houses etc just for the story to suddenly change! Hmmmmm



An EX- Head of state, An EX Minister of petroleum, An Ex General, An elder statesman and national figure head telling you midolian that he borrowed money to build his houses.... Buhari didn't tell us he forfeited all these benefits accrued to him... He didn't reject the Federal Government's cars so he didn't reject the Cash Gifts accrued to him as an ex HOS As being paid MONTHLY IN MILLIONS , General etc.


THIS LIES ARE MIND BOGGLING BROTHER...just wish you can see it... cos it's the same as Babangida coming out to tell you he's poor and you believing it since he was only indicted by the assertions and economic situation of nigerians at that time rather than the courts...

you should know A politician will always be a politician.

But frankly, just as Jonathan told Nigerians he had no shoes, which aroused sympathy from both old and young, enlightened and the naïve, "sympathetic" and the heartless, and they for this sole reason voted for him, Buhari "probably" thought it wise to pull a fast one there..and it worked. This doesn't mean Buhari isn't a saint compared to other politicians we have in Nigeria.

..And I am sure you know this wasn't the only reason Nigerians voted Buhari. They were fed up of GEJ's way of ruling and needed a change of government... and they simply made it happen.

PRYCE:
We warned him too!



BTW, Midolian I've never seen an Anti-Buhari thread under your moniker... Guess you just wanna lead a charge against the Senator!

At least, you have seen one now. This is to show you I am also for everybody and for nobody

PRYCE:
We warned him too!

what did you warn him about?

All what this man has said gives him away to be a staunch member of your party(PDP) and talking like one. This is because it is just too early for an elderly man like him to make conclusions as this about Baba's regime. Plus, majority Nigerians are already feeling the change he has refused to feel. Doint you think so?.

With all these strides, how did you feel when President Buhari said he would not implement the outcome of the national conference?

As I have said, I knew from the word go, that if he wins, he will not implement it. That was why towards the elections we organized a strong campaign that Jonathan is only the can didate of all the candidates who will implement the reso lutions of the national confer­ence. (Gov) Mimiko led that campaign and we all rallied round him.

We held several meetings around Yoruba land, to let our people know that because we have been the ones champion ing this national conference, we finally got a president who listened to us, we had the con ference, it was very success ful, we have achieved most of our objectives, if we vote for Buhari, we are going to throw away all that we have achieved, whereas if we vote for Jonathan, he has commit ted himself to implement these resolutions.

Of course, the people are always right, our people de cided they will vote for Buhari because of the Tinubu pro paganda machinery, because of the money. Unfortunately, people cannot distinguish be­tween news and propaganda. Tinubu is able to control the media network throughout the country. Almost every news paper editor is in his pocket. He dishes out what he wants people to hear, and everybody who reads them thinks this in the news. Everybody was carried away by the change mantra, and we all voted for Buhari, so this is where it has got us.

What are the lessons from all these?

The lesson is that people must always know their his tory. Today, a lot of those in school don’t even know what happened twenty years ago, and there is no nation where people don’t know their histo ry and make progress. In every Jewish school, they are taught the history of second world war, how Jewish people swere persecuted in Europe, how six million Jews were killed. Ev ery Jewish boy knows that. If you go to America today, and you want to become an Ameri­can citizen, they will give you an exam. If you don’t pass it, they won’t give you citizen ship.

When you talk of Buhari’s record as Head of State, how many voters were mature then to know what happened, so it’s easy to deceive people. That is the problem. Our people don’t know history

Any regrets about the national conference?

No regrets at all because the report is there. We have made the effort. There is a saying that once you try, you try and try again.

We shall keep making the efforts until we die, but if we die, subsequent generations will take up the struggle. The struggle must continue until we achieve a Nigeria where ev erybody feels there is no ruler, there is no servant, and of us are equal citizens. That must be the ultimate goal. I have no regrets at all.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/we-warned-tinubu-about-buhari-senator-femi-okurounmu/

https://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Okurounmu-702x336.jpg
Senator Femi Okurounmu led the committee that midwifed the 2014 Na tional Political Conference as chairman of the National Con­ference advisory committee set up by former president Good luck Jonathan.

In this interview, he as sessed the Buhari administra tion and more, declaring that President Buhari is promoting Northern hegemony. Excerpts

What is your assessment of the Buhari administration?

My assessment is that Bu hari administration is going just the way I expected it to go. It’s doing just the things I expected it to do. It’s only those who are not familiar with Nigerian history and Ni gerian politics that will be sur prised about what is going on now. People like me are not surprised, and that was why we warned our people before the elections about the dan gers of voting for the APC in the presidential election, that in the long run, it is not good for Nigeria, it is not good for our people, so I’m not sur prised about what is going on.

Clearly, what is going on now shows that Buhari is a president out on a mission, and the mission is to reinstate Fulani hegemony over the whole of Nigeria. We’ve always said that Buhari is a Fulani irreden tist. This is not a new posture of his. He has always been so, even in his first coming as Head of State, he behaved the same way. You will remember that when he was fighting cor ruption as a military Head of State, those who were most persecuted were the UPN gov ernors, the progressive gover nors of the UPN, NPP and the GNPP. They were the most persecuted, even though they were the least corrupt. Their administration between 1979 – 1983 were most progressive, they achieved the most for their people, but when he took over power, it was they he per secuted the most, so this is not new with him. Every time he has the opportunity, is to rein state Fulani hegemony. That is what he is doing now. Look at the appointments he has made. The first nine appoint ments he made, only one was from the South, I’m not talking of Yoruba now, I’m talking of the entire South, all the other eight were from the North.

The subsequent 32 appoint ments, because we’ve been keeping track, only six was from the South, 26 of those 32 were from the North.

There were six appoint ments he made yesterday (penultimate Thursday), again only one of the six was from the South. How does one jus tify that in a country where there are so many ethnic na­tionalities and the South and the North are almost about equal? Why will the appoint ments be so preponderantly favouring the North to the dis advantage of the South? Even if you are to say its time to pun ish those who didn’t vote for him, did the Yorubas not vote for him? The Yorubas under the propaganda of Tinubu and his acolytes kept crying this agenda of change, support ing Buhari, even though we were warning them that the agenda of the APC of North are totally different. The APC of South were making them selves to believe that there will be change, whereas the APC of the North had only one agenda – to reinstate Northern hegemony, to get power back to the North and get the Fulani back in the control of Nigeria. That was the only agenda they had, nothing else. They only exploited the APC in the South so that they could achieve their aim. One would have expected that Tinubu, with his years in politics should have seen it, but because of his selfish interest, his selfish ambition, he couldn’t. He was been driven by selfish ambition and so he went along and supported the agenda which he knows was not going to be in the interest of his own people. I kept reminding him of Afonja of Ilorin who was betrayed by Alimi. Afonja was betrayed by Alimi even though he was the one that sought the cooperation of Alimi because Afonja was trying to rebel against the Alaafin of Oyo. Afonja achieved his purpose, but after achieving his purpose, what happened to him?

Alimi killed him off and took over and the Fulani established their Emirate in Ilorin, and that was how the Yorubas lost Ilorin forever. Tinubu is the modern day Afonja. I remember I wrote this in several papers because I’m not saying this for the first time. What we had anticipated is what we are seeing now.

Don’t you think it was a grave error that an agreement was not reached on power sharing among
the different blocs in the APC?

Tinubu had his own agenda. The agenda of Tinubu was personal, purely personal, and Tinubu was only using the Yorubas to achieve his personal agenda. Tinubu did not understand the Fulani man. He believed he could use Buhari and that once Buhari is in power, he will effectively be in control. That was why I said he doesn’t understand Nigerian politics.

He should have listened to people with more experience. Money is not all you need to do politics, you also need experience. Tinubu underestimated what Buhari will do when he gets to power. He thought he will be dictating to Buhari. He tried to dictate who will be Senate president, he flopped. He tried who will be Speaker, he flopped. Those controlling Buhari are the northern hegemonies, not the Tinubu party.

What is your take on Buhari’s anti- corruption campaign?

The anti-corruption campaign so far, I think it just mere propaganda. I say that for several reasons. One: as a president seriously interested in fighting corruption, you must try to wage a war that must be effective. If you want to try people for corruption, you try them in court, whether they are special courts or regular course. It is the judges who will try these cases, how innocent are our judges of corruption?

There have been so many studies done saying the judiciary is the most corrupt institution in Nigeria. In 1994, there was a committee under the late Justice Kayode Esho that investigated  the judiciary which strongly indicted our judiciary, which led to the retirement of so many judges. In 2002, there was another one under Justice Babalakin, which strongly indicted the judiciary. Since then, the judiciary has become even worse, to extent that judges openly lobby to be appointed to election tribunals because elections tribunals have become where people just take money and get judgment. Election tribunals are just cash and carry affairs.

A lot of attempt to fight corruption has been stalled by the judiciary. Between 1999 and 2007, there were several cases of investigations, but they couldn’t prosecute them. Most of the cases in court against these former governors have been stalled by judges. More than 12 cases of governors who have been indicted between 1999 and 2007 are still lingering in the courts because the judges will not give ruling. The first step is to clean the judiciary. The judiciary is filled with corrupt people, and you cannot be passing judgment on corrupt people if you are corrupt. Secondly to fight corruption, we must go back to when corruption became a serious cancer on Nigeria. A lot of people have diagnosed this to mean the Babangida era. It was during Babangida‘s era that corruption became institutionalized.

It became a fad because everybody was doing so, and nobody was punished. It has to go back to the Babangida era which led to the Abacha era. All of us know the extent of corruption under Abacha. Although Abacha is dead, a lot of those who worked with him are still alive. A lot of money stolen under

Abacha are still abroad. The agencies fighting corruption are also very corrupt.

We must go back to Babangida, Abacha, Abubakar administrations and also Obasanjo when we had the 16 billion dollars power contract scam. Nothing was done. After all the noise and fury, it all died down. Nobody was prosecuted, nobody was punished.

Why then is the Jonathan administration being singled out for probe?

Because his mission is to fight Jonathan. Look at a person like Obasanjo in alliance with Tinubu, in alliance with Buhari. Their mission is to fight PDP and Jonathan. If you want to fight PDP, PDP didn’t start with Jonathan.

You have to look at what the PDP did between 1999 and 2007. It was then Obasanjo used the EFCC as a witch hunt instrument against his opponents, and those who were loyal to him could get away with anything. In fact, it was because Obasanjo’s regime was so corrupt, that it became difficult for Yar’Adua to fight corruption. Of course, Jonathan is an extension of Yar’Adua who did not want to become president. He was not interested. The people interested were people like Ibori, Odili and so on. What Obasanjo did was to show them their files, which had been compiled by Ribadu about the extent of their corruption, and threatened them with prosecution.

He said if they did not want to be prosecuted, they should drop their ambition and go and fund Yar’Adua. He made these people to fund Yar’Adua’s election and Jonathan. When Yar’Adua got there, knowing who funded his, campaign, how could he go after these men? Obasanjo made it impossible for Yar’Adua to fight corruption and it now turned to a situation where when Yar’Adua got to power, those who were always hanging out with him were the Iboris and the corrupt clique within the Obasanjo administration. If you are going to fight corruption, these are the people you have to go after. Nigeria should have seen that Yar’Adua’s not fighting corruption was due to the way Obasanjo imposed him and made corrupt people to fund his campaign.

Don’t you think the Buhari’s emergence is similar since his election had to be sponsored by politicians?

In fact, look at the leader of the APC, Nuhu Ribadu when he was still active as the EFCC Chairman in 2010, appeared before the National Assembly during plenary to give them a list of governors that had been indicted. He made a special reference to Tinubu that his own was of international dimension. So, if you are going to start fighting corruption,

certainly, you cannot leave Tinubu out. Ribadu has the files on a lot the governors in APC. If you say the PDP was corrupt, how come its leaders came from PDP? If they were corrupt in PDP, did they become saints an soon as they joined APC? They were all in the same camp with Jonathan but because of their Northern agenda, they crossed over to the APC. A lot of people in APC today will have to lose their shirts if Buhari is going to really fight corruption. Amaechi and Tinubu should be some of the first to be probed and jailed.

But we learnt there is no documented evidence to probe Tinubu

That was not Nuhu Ribadu’s EFCC.

The EFCC as I’ve said is also corrupt.

Let them call Ribadu and ask him.

Even all of us in Lagos State know the extent of Tinubu’s corruption. We knew what Tinubu was worth in 1999.

Today, he has three private jets. We can even start by asking him the source of the funds for those private jets. He has almost acquired the whole of Lagos

How was he able to acquire all those properties without any trace of corruption?

These are questions, that must be asked. Tinubu could have been jailed in 1999. All the schools he claimed to have attended in his INEC form were fake. He was guilty of all those things Gani Fawehinmi alleged.

You belong to the Afenifere which backed Tinubu for governor; don’t you think you should share part of the blame?

Afenifere supported him to be governor.
Afenifere people are not all saints.

Tinubu turned out to have been the black sheep within the Afenifere. No sooner had Tinubu become governor than he turned against Afenifere. He turned against Baba Adesanya, He turned against Adebanjo. He turned against the whole organization, and he led a rebellion of his fellow governors, because they now had money, and you know in Nigeria, everybody follows whoever has money. Tinubu betrayed Afenifere. He was a rebellious Afenifere man. All the problems in Yoruba land
today was due to Tinubu’s rebellion.

That was what split the unity of Yoruba land that has continued till today.

You midwifed the national conference, can you tell us your experience?

My experience is that naturally; those
who benefit from the status quo would not want a change. The reason many of us have been crying over the years,

including Tinubu was to stop Northern hegemony, the idea of first class citizenship and second class citizenship, where some people would think they are born to rule and others are born to serve. Everybody was feeling that this was inequitable. Not only that. A lot of power was concentrated in the Federal Government. So whoever controls the Federal Government more or less has a strangle hold on everybody else in the society, and that is why the competition for president, was always so severe, and that was why the North always wanted to hold on to the presidency.

So, these are some of the reasons for asking for a national conference to restructure, to decentralize, so that all powers does not reside in the center.

A lot of the power can be devolved on the federating units so that the struggle for the centre will become less severe, less cantankerous, and the idea of born to rule will be removed, so that all of us can have a sense of eq uity, sense of justice.

These are some of the rea sons why many of us have been advocating for a national conference. In fact, all of us in Yoruba land, including Tinubu were advocating for it, but when Tinubu saw that there is a personal advantage for him to back the Hausa/Fulani people, who did not want a na tional conference, all of a sud den the national conference was not necessary. That it was a diversion. He was speaking on his own immediate advan tage, thinking that if they get to power, he will become very powerful. Because of this, he changed his course, turning around to oppose the confer ence.

He was only aligning himself with the North because the North have always been the ones opposing the conference. If you look at the constitution we operate today, it is a con stitution tailor – made to pro­mote Northern hegemony, to make the North dominate the rest of us. Starting from when Gowon had 12 states, six in North, six in the South and Awolowo was his lieutenant. There was justice.

There was every reason to create those 12 states so that they could get the support of the minorities for the war ef fort. It was done in a fair and equitable manner, but as soon as the military hegemonies took over, they began to de stroy things until finally, they started creating local govern ments and today, the North has 200 local governments more than the South, and those lo cal governments became a basis for revenue sharing and representation in parliament.

Even in terms of 19 and 17 states, they have an advantage because each state has the same number of senators, and when you get to the House of Representatives, they have bigger advantage because Kano State alone has repre sentatives than three states combined. The constitution was tailor–made to favour the North. That is why the North has never supported any na tional conference.

That was why when Jonathan finally agreed to have a national conference, the North opposed it. That was surpris ing. What was the national conference. It was a betrayal, a betrayal of the Yoruba people.

Don’t you think the conference timing was rather late?

You know we have been fighting for something for more than 30 years. There have been several presidents before Jon athan. We made presentations to them, they did not listen, in cluding Obasanjo. Finally we found a president who finally agreed to carry it out. You can not say because of the timing, therefore it’s wrong. If that is what we want, any timing is good timing, provided we will solve Nigeria’s problem once and for all. If we solve the problems, generations will still be having elections and those elections will be on the basis of equality. Before Jona than, we made presentations to them, they did not listen. Finally, we found a president who listened and who finally agreed to carry it out.

You cannot say because of the timing, therefore, it’s wrong. If that is what we want, any timing is timing, provided we will solve Nigeria’s prob lem once and for all. If we solve the problem, generations will still be having elections and those elections will be the basis of equity and justice for all Nigerians. If we don’t solve that problem we have now, we will have to conduct elections without carrying out the rec ommendations of the confer ence.

Now we are back to square one in the terms of ethnic domination, back to the prob lem of suspicions among one another. These are the things that create instability. It is not only Boko Haram that can cre ate instability. Once other sec tions of the country feel they are being oppressed, they are marginalised, they too will be gin to organise mini rebellion. The instability will multiply around the country. Instead of us solving the causes of in stability once and for all, we are engaging in the causes of instability. That is what is hap­pening.

How were you able to face criticisms, especially from the northern axis while carrying out your assignment?

Well, I’m not new in politics. I worked with Awolowo. I cut my political teeth under Chief Obafemi Awolowo. As soon I took up the assignment, I already knew what the posi tion of the North would be, what their stand would be, so I was prepared, fully prepared. Fortunately, we already had some kind of accommodation between the South-east and South-south. We were already meeting under the umbrella of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly.

The Southern Nigeria Peo ples Assembly visited Jona than several times on the issue of the national conference be fore he finally gave in. Because we had this meeting point, we were not as divided as in previ ous conferences. We were able to adopt some common points of view for the South, just the same way the North is always together. Not only was the South together, we were able to get some elements within the Biddle-Belt. The Middle- Belt are the most persecuted people in this country. They are in the North, but they are being persecuted by the Fulani people of the North.

Their own persecution is worse than that of us in the South. They cannot complain. If they do, they get persecuted even more. It’s like a slave complaining against his mas ter. Because of that they sup­ported us in the South, and be cause of that alliance between the South and middle-belt, we were able to get most of the recommendations that will be for the better governance of this country, recommendation, that will devolve power, en sure equity, that will decentralize the Federal government; that will foster equity; that will foster justice, and give more power to the states. All these we were able to do at the na tional conference, but the North was opposed to them. The North wanted the confer ence to collapse because they couldn’t have their way, still we did not allow them to. That made them more determined that power must return to the North.

Caseless:
30 ratio 1.

if I told u there are worse places in the white man's land than that in the first picture, would you believe?

Let's even assume you are right..Bro, you still havnt convinced me enough that God is a white man.

Ama80:
I ve bn unbanned.wat has bn happening.

welcome back.

Nairaland has been hot! Especially the politics section. Its been a tough one between the scorpions and the wailing daniels

tomakint:
enjoy bro........Chess is my own, I love it too much because it's a GAME OF LIFE why? It teaches you how to understand life more as a big game! Have a fruitful weekend!

thanks man. U too