sjeezy8:

I actually find this funny I mean- Why would opposition partys attend a function that was for PDP?

I mean- it doesnt make sense. Thats like tinubu and fashola attending a PDP function because the chair is a yoruba- thats more of ethnic politics
lol nnnnaa

Why did the Yoruba opposition party, Alliance for Democracy (AD) not contest the election against PDP (Obasanjo) in 2003?

Where are those people who only see evil in Igbos. Where is one bbbaheke99 or whatever?

mens dept:

We heard this in 1999, then 2003, even 2007, that Igbo should focus on this and that. Yet today, Igboland is devoid of Int'l Airport, Seaport, Steel Factory, 2nd Niger Bridge, etc.

Nonsense, but then again, Nwodo is enjoying, so he'll say anything to retain the crumbs

An Int'l Airport is now being refurbished for Enugu
Talking about seaport, are you going to force the sea into Igboland or did you mean inland river port? If so, do we have inland ports elsewhere in Nigeria?
Why a steel factory? Why not any other factory?
A second Niger Bridge contract is being awarded.

Igbo do not need the presidency now as an Igbo president may also not be able to atrract any of these things you mentioned. We need to look inward now and then outward later

Our Yoruba brethren. Imagine setting your own brother up for rape charge. Always think they are smart. Will do about anything to stay abroad. lol

I guess the Oluyode man in question here has German stay (not necessarily German P) that is renewable every 10 years or so. Banning dual nationality will be the hardest nut anyone can crack in Nigeria. Most big men or their children have it. And, who says only Nigerians with dual nationality are corrupt? What about US permanent residents with Nigerian passports and no other nationality? What about Nigerians who have not even travelled out of the country before. Are they not all corrupt as well?

Dual nationality hampers economic growth—Oluyede
06 July, 2010 09:22:00 SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE
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A Germany-based Nigerian businessman, Mr. Felix Oluyede has advocated for a law banning Nigerians from holding dual nationality, which he said, affects the nation’s economic growth.

Oluyede said corruption in high places was being aided by dual citizenship arrangement to loot the treasury and weaken the economy, adding that as soon as they perfect the plan, they leave the country.

He said huge amount of money is being lost on daily basis to money laundering and other forms of financial crimes in the name of foreign investments by some Nigerians.

"The feeling is that the other country of the person’s nationality will readily be a safe haven for him, which will shield him away from possible prosecution," he said.

According to him, physical and infrastructural developments through the nation’s budgetary provisions have been hampered as money meant for such projects ended up in private pockets.

Oluyede however urged the federal government to as a matter of urgency, promulgate a law banning politicians with dual nationalities from contesting the coming general elections.

He noted that based on past experience, most of our political office holders with dual nationality are more prone to corrupt tendencies,"

"Experience in the past has shown that security operatives and other law enforcement agencies had hectic time extraditing such persons to face prosecution for their dubious activities," he said while arguing that, though there may be no law banning holding of dual nationality by the citizen, but it should be discouraged to improve our economic base and boost investment opportunities.

Oluyede said Nigerian business community in Germany where he has stayed for more than 40 years viewed the issue with serious concern and as a form of discouragement to invest in the country.

The Ekiti-born industrial engineer said, the business community in Germany perceived those with dual nationality as playing double standards against their country of birth.

He also decried the rate at which Nigerians compete for purchase of choice properties abroad, saying "corruption in government will continue to hinder economic development in the African continent as funds meant for development were being converted to private usage,".

The business community with the Nigerian embassy in Germany in its effort to discourage corrupt practices had exempted Nigerians with dual nationalities from attending its meetings. "By banning of those having dual nationality from meetings and other steps taken with the embassy in Germany, financial and other related crimes have been greatly reduced," he said.

This is a fake Kenyan. Real kenyans cannot do this.

Kobojunkie:

indeed he was. Do you have a source for his income back then?

No I do not. He is also a US permanent residence and his immediate family are US citizens. The guy was far back, made but he is also a greedy incompetent eediot.

I believe that Kalu stole Abia money. But we should bear in mind that he was already a serious multi millionaire before becoming a governor. Why he should still steal state money beats me. Greed.

How much of that money did Akerele get. He was friends with Kalu until the fell out.

Bluetooth=ignoramus?

It is not just Nwodo saying this, five SE govs said so earliar and even excluded themselves from pres or VP positions, and they are not all in PDP. Bluetooth, please speak for your own people and leave Ndigbo alone on this matter. Thanks.

It is not about PDP or Jonathan. According to the governors, Igbos will support whoever will address Igbo marginalization and political imbalance even if it is a northerner or a Yoruba or Jonathan. But we shall not be taken for a ride in that process.

^^^^
WTF. He is right that Igbos should not contest the presidency in 2011. We shall do so in the future. There are other more important things for us to do this time.


An aside: apart from the pride of it,  there is no advantage of being Nigeria's president to the region where he comes from. The Igbo president would not steal for all ndigbo, just like Obj did not do for Yoruba and IBB, Abacha and Abdulsallam did not do for the entire North.

^^^^^^
Ok got it. But Buhari has also done the same and we know Atiku's intention very well too. Why are their names missing there?

What was the criterion for making that list? Looks very incomplete.
You must add:
1. Orji Kalu (buhahahah!)
2. Ojukwu
3. Buhari
4. Tinubu
5. Atiku

Then we can begin to compare and contrast.

PapaBrowne:

Mr Fire. . . . don't mind the writer. First, Jonathan never revoked the dredging. It was propaganda used by the Yar Adua cabal to paint Jonathan as anti-north. But, if you read the artticle properly, you'd find he said the decision was rescinded. There was no decision in the first place, however, if he said it was rescinded, then there is no reason for you to ASSUME IT WAS CANCELLED.
Anyway was joking when I said you'd have 2 gop back 2 school.

No qualms; my bad too. I never got to finish the article and so did not read where he wrote that the decision was later rescinded. Just read that now. Generally, the article is one piece of crap anyways, fit for kindergartens. Very simplistic, yet very lamentatious.

Beaf:

As I read from the article, GJ has cancelled the dredging of the River Niger. Is that true? If so, be informed that he has already lost the Igbo vote as we will make sure of that. Thanks.

You are not a good reader. You might have to gop back to school. Read it again or go and buy WAEC form.

Quote from article

His decision to[b] revoke[/b] dredging of River Niger awarded by late President Umaru Yar’adua

Papa brown:

What does the above quote mean? What do you have a problem with in my response? Use of cancellation (instead of revocation)? Is Jonathan still deciding whether to cancel the dredging contract or he has carried out that decision already?

Beaf:

As I read from the article, GJ has cancelled the dredging of the River Niger. Is that true? If so, be informed that he has already lost the Igbo vote as we will make sure of that. Thanks.

I Foresaw PPA Collapse – Akerele
Written by Osby Isibor, Abuja
Sunday, 04 July 2010 21:29
The former deputy national chairman(South) of the Progressive Peoples Alliance(PPA), Chief Lisa Olu Akerele, said he foresaw the collapse of the party a long time ago.


Reacting to the resignations of the Senator representing PPA in the National Assembly, Comrade Uche Chukwumerije, and the national publicity secretary, Chief Ben Onyechere, Akerele said the party was built on a foundation of sand and was all this while waiting to crumble.

He maintained that the BOT Chairman, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, had, from the inception of PPA, been interfering with the administration of the party on the wrong assumption that he owned it.

"His claim at several quarters that he does not interfer in the running of PPA is a blatant lie and recent events have shown him for what he is,"Akerele noted.

He added that he (Akerele) and the former national chairman, Mr Clement Ebri, had to leave as a result of such incessant interferences.

He said that Kalu saw himself as sole proprietor who determined the goings-on in PPA, a situation that led to the resignation of two of its governors, a senator and principal national officers all within one year.

Akerele disclosed that the national chairman, Chief Larry Esin, and its national secretary, Mr Dahiru Musa Abdullahi, spent their whole time with Kalu at his Wuse residence in Abuja rather than attend to matters at the national secretariat.

He urged other key officers to quit now as the PPA was merely living as a shadow of its old self, advising members all over the country to remain calm as his faction had concluded plans to forge a new way forward for the party.

He disclosed that a national executive meeting of his faction would hold in Abuja next week to deliberate exhuastively on how to salvage the battered image of the party.

Abia is free at last!
People & Politics Jul 5, 2010
Share | By Ochereome Nnanna
THE resignation of Governor Theodore Orji from the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) was an event every concerned Abia indigene had eagerly awaited for long.

When on July 9, 2003 Dr Chris Ngige, former Governor of Anambra State was abducted by the police on the orders of the reigning “godfather” of Anambra politics then, Chris Uba, Ngige came out of it and announced that Anambra State was now freed from the clutches of political godfathers.

The same thing has now taken place in Abia State with the parting of ways between Governor Orji and his erstwhile political leader, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and his mother.

The question we will like to examine here is: Why did it take so long a time to come? Ngige rebelled within six weeks of his being sworn-in. The Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, severed all ties with his predecessor, Dr Chimaroke Nnamani almost as soon as he was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the 2007 election.

Breaking free early from the cankerworm greed of their sponsors enabled both men enough time and money to launch aggressively their programmes of development.

With T. A. Orji, the story was a little more complicated. Ngige and Chime belonged to a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that is national in character.

It has no founder, even though under Olusegun Obasanjo’s leadership it harboured a number of the President’s provincial commission agents (godfathers). T. A. found himself in a political party that belonged to the Orji Kalu family.

When Kalu’s political fights with Obasanjo got to the point where he and others were no longer wanted in the PDP he founded the PPA. By then, T. A. was his Chief of Staff. T. A. was the only political appointee of Orji Kalu that served on the same exalted position for all the eight years he reigned. He was so valued that he was given the nod to replace Kalu.
T. A’s reluctance to dump Kalu early in the day was understandable. He was in detention when the campaigns were on. His party stood by him, and when he was announced as the victor after the election, Kalu did everything in his power to ensure his swearing in.

In all these, Kalu was not just fighting to preserve T. A.’s mandate, he was also labouring to protect his political empire which, at that period, had two states in its kitty: Abia and Imo states. The second factor that stayed the Governor’s hand in the face of mounting greed and impunity from the Kalu family is T. A.’s gentlemanly disposition. T. A. does not carry false airs with him.

But there is a limit to human endurance. As soon as T. A. was sworn-in it became clear to him that he was merely a divisional manager in one of Orji Kalu’s businesses. His Chief of Staff, Mascot Kalu, was brought back from America and given the post by his brother.

The first crop of commissioners was nominated by Kalu and his mother, Eunice (alias “Mother Excellency”). Mascot was to administer the Government House, while Mother Excellency took charge of the local councils, whose chairmen and councillors she single-handedly nominated.

Between 1999 and 2007, Orji’s hometown, Igbere, was rebuilt with state funds and served as the alternate capital of Abia State. Any weekend when Kalu or his mother was in Igbere, the Governor, Deputy Governor and all commissioners were required to go and pay homage.

One of the public events where Kalu displayed his disregard for his successor was on May 29, 2009 when the Democracy Day celebrations were going on at the Township Stadium, Umuahia.

The former governor, who was a guest of honour, came late to the occasion. He swooped in with a large retinue of young men dressed in dark suits and went directly to the podium to address the gathered crowds, debunking the “rumour” that he and his successor had any problems. When he finished he made direct for his convoy.

While their association lasted, stories often made the rounds about how “Mother Excellency” imperiously stormed the Government House to remind the Governor of the sacrifices she and her son made, especially the huge amount they allegedly spent from their family purse to put him in office.

When Kalu assumed office as governor, he was fond of boasting that he was richer than Abia State. But instructively, it was during his eight-year tenure that he floated a newspaper, an airline, shipping line, an offshore bank, a construction company and other businesses.

He is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly stealing more than N5 billon from the state.

For T. A. to get anything at all done he needed to be more assertive. His growing independence got the Orji Kalu political family worried and they despaired that if he was given the ticket to a second term he might bolt away altogether.

The battle line had been drawn since the Governor’s victory at the election appeal tribunal in February 2009.

Right now, T. A. is like an eagle that had lived most its life in a cage. Now that it is out of the cage, what will he do? Embracing the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is a smart move, as Abia State is always the last stand for Igbo parties.

Abia people might not be able to look Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in the face and refuse him any request. The race of next year will be an interesting three-cornered fight between the PDP, PPA and APGA.

It is now up to Abia people to take their destiny in their hands and begin the process of rebuilding after the fall of the Orji Kalu political empire.

These southern ''traitors'' of Ibadan sef
Amala and obe ila politics

2011: IBB Penetrates S’West, Woos Adedibu ‘Boys’
From Tunde Sanni in Ibadan, 07.05.2010

The opposition of the South West to the presidential ambition of former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida seemed to have softened in Ibadan at the weekend as his presidential campaign train formally berthed in the Oyo State capital.


The campaign team is however led by members of the kitchen cabinet of the deceased strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, which included his wife, Bose and Hazeem Gbolarunmi.Gbolarumi on the occasion declared that Yoruba people were ready to support the presidential bid of Babangida, who annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by Basorun M.K.O. Abiola.


The Adedibu aide pointed out that the time has come for the Yoruba race to reciprocate the support accorded Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a Yorubaman by the entire North throughout his eight year term as the nation's President by fully supporting a Northerner especially a known hand like Babangida.


In a veiled reference to the opposition against the Babangida presidential project, especially from some political groups in the South West, Gbolarumi who is the Campaign Coordinator for the state, described the critics of the presidential ambition of the erstwhile military strongman as enemies of Nigeria.


“Nigeria belongs to every one of us and democracy is about participation. Those who consider IBB not suitable as President should present themselves to Nigerians and allow the electorates to make their choice. Without mincing words, Nigeria at this particular period needs a leader like General Babangida for the nation to move forward, adding, “Nigerians at this time should look beyond the ordinary in the choice of our next President,'' he said.

Gbolarumi emphasised that the Yoruba people are presently seeing above the campaign of calumny against the person of Babangida by some of his detractors but are determined towards sustaining the nation's unity by pitching their tent with a credible candidate from the Northern part of the country particularly a tested and trusted hand like General Babangida.


The IBB Campaign coordinator said, “the project for which we all gathered here from al the nooks and crannies of the pacesetter state is the IBB 2011 project. We in the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Oyo State have seen the qualities embedded in the man and we wholly identified with him in his quest to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, come 2011.

In chat with newsmen later, Gbolarumi dismissed speculations that the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala would force a particular presidential candidate on the members of the ruling PDP in the state.

“Has Akala told you he is working for Goodluck Jonathan? I' m sure Akala will not force anyone to support a particular presidential aspirant, rather, he will allow everyone to choose who to support and at the end, as you know, we are one family, we will sit down to disagree and to agree''.

The former Deputy-Governor said, ''we here present believe in IBB and see his quest to be president in 2011 as a collective aspiration. We are out to fulfill this goal through unalloyed and total commitment to the ideals of this ambition'', recalling that though, so much had been said about the man IBB and his leadership credentials, but noted that most of these are fallacies and a creation of a class of elite bent on denying Nigerians of quality leadership''.

EFCC arrests, detains Briton for N93.6m fraud
| Print | E-mail
Written by Lanre Adewole
Monday, 05 July 2010

A Briton, David Littlechild, has reportedly reversed the perceived norm in the advance fee fraud by allegedly duping former British football star, John Fashanu, of 300,000 pounds sterling and 100,000 dollars (about N93.6 million).

The alleged Obtaining by Trick (OBT) deal has landed Littlechild, the Managing Director of Business Mart Limited, Airport, Ikeja, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Commission’s spokeperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, confirmed that Littlechild was arrested on Thursday and detained in the custody of the commission.

It was gathered that in the course of the commission’s investigation into the alleged OBT offence, Littlechild was discovered to be a serial convict, having been convicted four times in the United Kingdom for various criminal offences.

Littlechild was said to have approached Fashanu in 2006 for investment in a business deal, with the alleged victim said to have put the said sums into it.

He was said to have raised the alarm after it turned out that he had been conned into a hoax business without his money being returned or profit given.

He reportedly petitioned the commission in 2006 under the leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, with no result, which compelled a reminder this year, leading to the investigation and arrest of the Briton.

Littlechild, it was gathered, was connected to people in high-places in Nigeria, a situation that was said to have frustrated the case until the leadership of Mrs Farida Waziri stepped into it following Fashanu’s complaint in his reminder that nothing was being done on his case.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that a prima facie case of criminal extortion had been established against him and would soon be arraigned in court.

Excellent move about not contesting the presidential election. But I guess the Governors spoke for themselves. Does their decision preclude the ambitions of THIEF Orji Kalu (PPA; God forbid!!) and Ikemba Nnewi (APGA) to lead Nigeria?. I wish all Igbos will stay away and let things play out. Like the governors said, any candidate with documented Igbo interest will be supported by Igbos.

Ignorance and low self esteem are not bliss. Asians also carry stuff on their heads. It may be medically not ok but primitive? I do not see how. Rich Africans do not carry stuff on their heads. It is a matter of poverty as I have seen some poor-looking americans also do it. Baby backing is universal as we can see from the photos. You can purchase a baby clothe sling at any shop

The SE, SS and SW are full of kidnappers. It is only a matter of striking.

False prophets. By their names they are known

The usual media hype. How is Asaba in Delta state (a state populated also by kidnappers) be any safer than the SE states?

As long as Nigeria remains one of the countries with the highest illiteracy rates (translates to ignorance) Chibua Achebe and Wole Soyinka are not going to be among the popular Nigerians. It is all about numbers.

Soyinka cannot be the most popular Nigerian. More than half of the population which are illiterates do not know him. Kanu or Okocha or even some Nollywood actors/actress are more popular than any other Nigerian. The other popular Nigerians would of course be IBB, Obasanjo and Ojukwu. Anybody who knows about the Biafra war must know the name Ojukwu, and from what we see on nairaland, Ojukwu is a very popular name (for good or bad, depending on where you belong). The muslim Nigerians (at least 50% of the population) do not know Adeboye, let alone him being popular amongst them.