, enough money to for instance build 2 seperate Modular 12,000 BPD Crude Oil Refinery Plants with enough change for variation.

http://techmodular.com/oil_gas_power_projects.htm

Beaf:

The story is so stupid. For one Akwa Ibom and Rivers are in the South-East;

No they are in the South-South. the five south-eastern states are abia, anambra, ebonyi, enugu and ebonyi states while the six south-southern states are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Cross River states.

bawomolo:

good point. madoff wishes he was nigerian

It is a concurrent sentence, so he also has only two years to spend behind bars.

noblezone:

My firend, I knew somebody would readily say such as you stated in order to "educate me". yet, bros there is a pschy about this whole thing in Nigeria. If the statements were reversed, Ojukwu would still get the knocks while Akande will go free.

And please let me ask you a persoanl question, what exactly is this "matter in this competent court of law?"

The matter in court is the appeal by Andy Uba pending before the Appeal Court which was the reason he called for war.

If he is calling for war over rigging, electoral nuances, bad governance, criticism would be minimal but to call for war as a commander-in-chief is no longer war but outright secession. As we all have seen during the week, those who bore the brunt of the last war, the veterans have outrightly condemned the statement which i still believe to have been reported out of context. At this stage, we need him more as a statesman and a senior one at that. The courts are not there for nothing.

The colour of his skin doesn't matter. He is the President of the United States of America, sworn into office to defend the American constitution and its people and not to help develop any other!!!

@courage89,

We have been educated severally that "deregulation" is in our best interests in the long term but very harmful in the short and medium terms so I am yet to understand why some people are so eager to push it down unilaterally on us.

What happens to our interests in the terms before the expected fruits germinate and what are the assurances that the fruits will germinate and not get caught up in the volatile screen we call the future. Not with the unpredictability of technology and advancement. Are we then to suffer in vain?

What are the pallatives to enable us bear the short and middle-term inconveniences?

What are the assurances that the so-called deregulation would not play into the hands of insensitive foreign capitalists who care only about their profits and who would merely continue to exploit us the way they have been doing in the upstream sector with the active connivance of corrupt public officials?

We all read about illegal refineries in the creeks. In the mood of amnesty, can we not harness the brains and capabilities of these boys to improve our refining sector first before we then talk of deregulation by which time, anybody benefiting from the deregulation has no choice but to make and spend and retain the money here in Nigeria?

noblezone:

2011 Election: Prepare For War, Akande Warns Nigerians
mmmhhh! What can I say? Ojukwu warned of war and got missiles, now that Akande has declared war, I will go by the corner and wait for the "atacks".

the difference my friend is clear. firstly he is calling for a war of vigilance and not a physical armament. Secondly he is not calling for war in a matter before a competent court of law. The difference my friend is that we need to declare war on rigging and voters' disenfranchisement. It is either Ojukwu got caught up in emotions or simply played into the hands of the press.

I seem to prefer the old anthem though, it seems to bring in a form of pride I don't feel singin d new one, Dis is further reinforced by seeing the faces at independence and the pride d anthem brought in them, sorry if I digressed!!!

Just a wonder that the UKs and USes have their own way of regulating aspects of their citizens' lives such as housing, medicare, education despite the simultaneous presence of private investors and interests. Yet we so gullibly swallow all their bitter pills on deregulation irrespective of our local wisdom and peculiarities, what a shame!!!

Nice idea behind it all but what are the founding principles and ideology? It should not necessarily be a come-all-to-fight-a-common-enemy then fight-yourselves-when-the-enemy-is-dead. You need to elucidate on the ideology behind ur party so as to reduce the risks after the fight. History has shown that it is easier to fight for something than to sustain and nurture it when you have won the fight for it.

Sky Blue:

?? ?? ??
Sorry but your report card is TOO VAGUE. Point six seems to be the only solid point but would be more informative if we are actually told how the IGR was increased, cause if it is through more oil revenue allocation then that is not necessarily impressive.

Oil revenue counts under statutory allocation and not IGR which is money generated within the state by ministries and parastatals of government.

1) On the other hand, one side of looking at it is that he is not doing anything based on the aforementioned points while
2) On another hand, it could be as a result of having to clear the mess and rot of yesteryears which a Fashola did not have in such massive proportions.

@pcicero, Rotimi Makinde was a candidate for the House of Reps, not Senate, Omisore's opponent is a Babajide Omoworare.
Sad part's d dude would get rigged back in so the judgement's got little to cheer about.

He was loathed because these peoples were intentionally misinformed about who he was and what he stood for. Propaganda can do such wonders especially at a time when there was no widespread access to news and information as we do have now. If we who have access to easily accessible news, it would be easy to discover that the much-maligned "tribalist" supported a non-Yoruba in the person of Ernest Ikoli against a candidate from the same Ijebu Division as himself Mr Oba Akisanya in an election on March 5, 1941, we need to cast out this type of baseless accusations and free ourselves from defeatist propaganda which are sadly being propagated from generation to generation.

Anglicans do not pray to Virgin Mary and they do not practice celibacy among priests and do not have nuns either. But we do have the same doctrine and even pledge allegiance to the catholic church during our catechism prayer.

WilyWily:

Of all the good you said Awolowo de Murderer did for his people, why is it that Yorubas rejected Awo and install Akintola. Maybe some Yorubas noticed that Awolowos legacy will end up as Infants Killer.

You need to get certain things right. Akintola became premier because the premier who was also the leader of the party resigned in order to move to the federal stage and as deputy premier, he was frontloaded by Awolowo to succeed him as premier. He took certain steps that were injurious to the economy of the Western Region such as reduction in tax which was going to run up a massive deficit for the Western economy and this caused friction between himself and his leader. To cut the story short, he was rejected by his party for re-election, he decided to form his own party and forge an alliance with NPC in order to make use of the federal might to win himself re-election and in the process conceded the formation of a new region from the West without a reciprocal from other regions which was the argument of his erstwhile party. It should be noted that Awolowo had been imprisoned all this while by the federal government. These caused the problems that eventually brought down the First Republic.

WilyWily:

Awolowo was completely a Murderer, It was because of his legacy as a Tribalist and Murderer that made his Excellency Otumba Akala took a wise decision to pull down Awolowos statue from Government house and destroy it, for him a man with so an ugly legacy need not to have his statue standing at government house.

It would interest you to read Awolowo's address to Western leaders (http://www.dawodu.com/awolowo2.htm) in the days leading to the civil war. he had his personal opinion but as history has repeatedly shown, he did not and could not force his own opinions down on the Yorubas because the level of enlightment was greater than a single man determining the fate of the people. That the people eventually decided not to force their own secession is no fault of Awolowo but a collective fault of the whole Western leaders if indeed secession was the best decision. On the other hand, while not condoning his excesses as may be reasoned in some decisions during the war, he eventually played a pivotal role in keeping the Nigerian economy on solid sound footing during the war which even the United States of this world could not achieve as evidenced by the huge debt US accrued in prosecuting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

How could a person be a tribalist if he sought to keep the country as one? As we all know, Azikiwe did not also support the secession bid of Biafra. Was it reasonable for them to fight for the division of something they fought so strenously for? It behoves on us to force a Nigeria of their and our dreams by shelving personal matters aside and making the country work through true federalism as they so valiantly for.

Is it enough for us to stand up and reclaim our land without having any plans on how to achieve our lofty goals? Have we studied our history enough to learn from the pitfalls of the past? Do we know where our ideological leanings are? Do we have the temperament to tolerate opposing views even from now? The present crop of leaders did not all start out to be evil so we also have to learn from the past before we can be adequately prepared for the great task before us. God bless Nigeria.

While not trying to say Fashola is perfect, but I believe in this era of mediocrity he is a breath of clear, fresh air. Decades of mismanagement would not go in just two years because this decay has set in Lagos for almost 33 years now since the white paper on relocation to Abuja under Gen Murtala Muhammed. But I genuinely believe he is doing a great deal in the proper management of Lagos state and it would be foolhardy to expect all the roads in Lagos to be fixed overnight. Why can't we blend into his vision(?) and allow the various transport schemes to either be delivered or otherwise before we descend of whether he failed or not. It remains to be seen if or not the light rail service presently being front-loaded would help to decongest the roads or not and allow for more effective road management or otherwise. It is like expecting a person to be able to afford all his needs all at once. We all know we have to take our problems one after the other and decisively solve them. I would rather swap a supposed non-performing Fashola for an Akala anyday. Criticism is only helpful when constructive.

It is a pity most people on here rely on hearsay to criticize this man without even reading his many works to be able to appraise his decisions from a higher and more enlightened pedestal. No one is perfect but even that should not take away or add to a man's worth, no matter who he may be.

MINERAL RESOURCES
The state is richly endowed with mineral resources that can provide the provide the base for prosperous mining and mining-related industries. They are kaolin, granite, clay, gemstone, and large deposits of petroleum. Others are gold, cassiterite (tin ore), columbite, gypsum, wolfram, coal, limestone, lignite and iron ore. However, only a few of these are as yet being mined, as some of them occur only in traces. Thus, for example, cassiterite is mined in places like gamau and Majijuju. Quarrying of granite and other rocks for road and other construction goes on in the south-western parts of the state within the basement complex and Plateau area, especially in Toro Local Govrnment Area.

http://www.bauchistategov.org/agriculture&mineralresources.html

1) How do you exploit these minerals without causing exposure of the ordinary people to civilization and modernity?

2) How do you ensure that the riches derivable from these minerals remain within the region without ensuring mass education rather than education of the privileged class?

It is rather a pity that the descendants of the fighters of true federalism have either lost their voices or been compromised as to abandon intellectual activism for thuggery and subtle submission.

Because most people in and out of government, i.e. most of us, do not know where their duties and rights start or end, it only takes a brave one of them to test the constitution in court and get things straighted out but who would when the governors handpicked and installed them there in the first place?

@Poster, no source? Or where you beside Fashola when he allegedly said this? I reserve my comments about Tinubu and Fashola till I can confirm it.

bidemi12:

@msaalli you have lost me on you second write up. what is your point exactly?

my point on the second post s being made on those saying th cab idea can be seen as utilizing a chance for something better. I believe in a state as richly blessed as Oyo state, it is an aberration to think of a cab scheme as a means of getting graduates employed when there are agricultural schemes that can be utilized such as AGRIC YES in Lagos and there are natural resources that can be exploited making use of as many of these graduates as would be relevant instead of the cab initiative, am I clearer?

I also heard Alex Ekwueme on AIT news at 8,

Back to the topic,

Is that really the best he can do in some people's opinion? Then I presume you have never heard of the Agric YES initiative in Lagos or you are not aware that there are at least fourteen discovered minerals in various locations of Oyo State in commercial quantities, such as marble, aquamarine, tantalite, quartz, talc, granite (you can cross-reference these at http://oyostate.gov.ng). A state as richly blessed as this IMO should not be struggling with unemployment. What happened to tourism? What happened to for example utilizing the tantalite in particular which is everyone of us is utilizing in one way or the other in form of phones, computers, medical equipment. Is it wrong having the graduates in research and development with a couple of willing professors or is it asking too much? Or those developing in the West and East of the world have more than a brain?

Princek12:

What do you expect from an unexposed, illiterate Ibadan boy? Incompetence. This man lacks the requisite intelligence to implement a policy that will substantially improve the quality of life and that which will reduce graduate unemployment for the indigenes of Oyo state. While critics here may express their cynicism towards his taxi-graduate partnership program, Alao Akala is just a reflection of the overwhelming population of benighted people in Oyo state, many of whom are unexposed and backward in their way of thinking; these same Ibadan folks, knowing the type of illiterate candidate they had, supported Akala during his campaign to unseat yet another illiterate, Rasheed Ladoja. Rasheed Ladoja inherited the governorship form another local and unexposed semi-illiterate, Lam Adesina. If in doubt, take a look at the complete history of civilian governors of Oyo state and you will realize that with the exception of the late Bola Ige and the late Obafemi Awolowo, most of the governors in Oyo state have been either illiterates or unexposed semi educated-illiterates. If he were to run in Lagos, Alao Akala would unlikely win; his class and intelligence also pales in comparison to governor Fashola of Lagos State, who represents the demographics of Lagos.

and if u cared to read as well, u would realize d following:
1) akala is not an Ibadan man but rather from ogbomoso.
2) at the last elections, akala was never the recipient of the votes of the ibadan people, who voted in their large numbers for ajimobi.
3) the case was duly pursued to the court of appeal which controversially confirmed him as governor, so please tell me how "the backward and unexposed people" could have prevented him from being on the seat with the active support of the instrument of state from OBJ himself without recourse to the same backwardness u so affirmatively see in the Ibadan people. or how are they to overrule the supposed wish of the ibarapas, ogbomosos, oyos who supposedly voted for akala?
4) what other governor could be said to have actually performed in the 1999-2003 era? while not holding brief for Lam, he at least had the decency to give the people free and almost qualitative education, free comprehensive health, addressed his promise of agriculture which can be attested to by visiting the Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun areas of Oyo state which have sadly being abandoned by subsequent administrations.
5) a semi-illiterate as u accused Ibadan people of being, Busari Adelakun was widely adjudged to e the best commissioner in the administration of Bola Ige and he contributed in no small measure to the success of Bola Ige in his position as Commissioner of Agriculture.
6) victor olunloyo, who took over from bola ige, is a doctorate degree holder in mathematics.

I'm not holding brief for akala but if u need to address a topic, address the topic and not generalize things about people you know little or nothing or nothing about.

Is it so easy to remove the hunch? Because my doctor told me that it is the deformation of the spine that causes the hunch and it cannot neatly be removed as the police is claiming. He even suggested that the hunch recovered be tested to ensure it is not that of a cow that is easily removed. The suspects probably have a load more confession to make. As long as the suspect have not named the Senator as the one who sent them and it is confirmed that the house has been abandoned for so long, then why are the police still holding him without bail? Or would all those with abandoned houses be arrested for vices occurring in them? I believe attention is being diverted from the proper investigation of this matter!!

Used to go through this place in my NYSC days and I used to be amazed if Akute/Ajuwon were really recognized as part of Ogun state by the government. I would never forget getting stuck in traffic on the mud-road for lack of adequate description.

This is seriously a contender for the joke of the century. BUt then coming from Akala who had a "three day carnival"(in my own words) to celebrate the purchase of 16 refuse trucks in August, I FAIL to be amazed.

This, I believe in my own opinion, can be traced to Gen 11:1-9 which tells us the story of the tower of Babel which laid the foundation for language diversity. This made them spread across the face of the earth but this does not imply that they all stopped worshipping God as all of them were either in the ark of Noah or born to those inside of them. As such, in Exodus 3:14, "and God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM, "
The point here is if Moses had been, for example, in the Yorubaland, speaking Yoruba, he would either have been spoken to in Yoruba or on his own translated what he heard into Yoruba because he would have obviously had to relay his experience to those around him. This would have been possible either way because it was the same God who spoke to him that gave the different people the languages they spoke and as such who could understand and communicate in each better than Him.
In conclusion, it doesn't mean the name of the Lord is derived from an ancient language but it simply means the Lord reaches to each of us in the easiest way for us to understand Him.

femi4love:

The north was seriously encouraged to go into the military. According to him, they believe that the south may attend western education, but future leaders will always come from military background. Their traditional rulers were to be made influential and super human.

If you ever watch the official British documentary of the 1957 constitutional conference of Nigeria held in London, it lends credence to the "claims" of Harold Smith on the plot by the British to make the Northern rulers appear more superhuman than they were. It could aptly be tagged "the journey of Sardauna Ahmadu Bello to London."

While watching "Live from the National Assembly" earlier today on NTA, the executive bill on the formation of an electoral offences commission came up for second reading on the floor of the Senate and despite listening to well-informed arguments from both sides of the debate, I could not but side up with those arguing against it, despite the lucid and sensible arguments of particularly Sen. Mamora. I was able to pluck out some points I could do with some enlightenment on, such as:
1) Do we really need an added layer of bureaucracy?
2) What if we are unlucky to have another Maurice Iwu in charge? 3) A disturbing aspect of the bill is the power being sought for the President to be able to summarily dismiss the chairman and members of the commission.
4) Can't they simply merge the functions being proposed for this commission with that of the existing tribunals, especially in cases where electoral crimes are established?