₦airaland Forum

How can you MEET the MDGs, when you failed to make an appointment ?

@2Legit2Qui

while jara's items may not be 100% correct there was no egregious commission or omission in his statements.

as for you I am forced to ask whether your reply is: 1) your true belief; 2) working for someone ?

Before you answer consider:

If you answer (2) then it is understandable where you are coming from, and that should be the end of it.
If you answer (1) then, 

2Legit2Qui:
hahahaha

Some kobo kobo are hard to spend, especially by junkies.

1.  You can not stay in one place and know what is going on all over Nigeria unless you read newspaper, watch TV and go on internet. But most people in Nigeria can not afford to while most people outside Nigeria can. So they are better informed than those at home.

Because they have no job and they sit on their computer all day, and when they have a job, they still spend the time writting jargons on NairaLand instead of doing the job they get paid for - they get third rated information and stale information passed to them and lo, they make big deal out of third rated information - i need them to scratch my butt hole.

2.  The days of moving printing machines from one house to another running away from authorities are gone. Damaging info can not be printed in Nigeria, it can be printed and debated outside Nigeria and out of reach of the dictators.


Can not be printed in Nigeria because it is all lies, if it is damaging and the truth, why wont it be printable in Nigeria? They now use the pages of the internet to write rubbish passed down from third rated sources, they cant show their face in Nigeria because they write jargons.


3.  To appreciate Nigeria, you have to compare it to other places. Smiling and suffering in Nigeria is not good enough. Those of you who are blaming Diasporans make up less than 10% of Nigerians who are rich and spend whatever money you make outside Nigeria or on products made outside Nigeria. What about 90% of Nigerians?

The 90% of Nigerians you are talking about no nothing about the diasporians, they hate the diasporians because to them, they have joined forces with the white man to the detriment of Nigeria, do you think an average Nigerian like the been tos? You are living in a fools paradise if you think Nigerians see the diasporians as the solution to their problems - they call them run away bastards.


4.  Diasporians send more money home to families than all of you care to spend on the same extended families. You only care about your nuclear families and live in places extended families can not reach you.

what is this one? You send money home to your family to feed them and that deserves a national award? Dont send money to them and see how dey will call you names, as if you didnt take their money to travel in the first instance? thats what you are paying back, you deserve no national award for that.




5.  The amount of businesses created by Diasporians employ Nigerians in various fields. They build houses in Nigeria they do not live in. All the money you people at home make legally and illegally are saved and spent outside. All your businesses employ cronies and you loot the banks or treasury.


Rubbish - they build houses? so the Nigerian who live in the hell hole, the jungle, the failed system dont make enough money to build more houses than built by diasporians? You are praising yourself for putting on your boxer short before your trouser, no point!



6.  The dedicated Nigerians are the lower middle class that is disappearing and the poor who are exploited and have no where to go. Most others are oppressors who pay their workers low wages.

[i][color=#990000]So?[/color][/i]


7.  Good Nigerians at home struggle to change but most of the loud mouths here love the status quo and hate those who call for change. It is true, Nigeria is a failed State and Ghana has to come and preach to you. You remember them? Those you kicked out!

Good diasporians beleive in the country Nigeria, pray for her success, wish her well and dont rant about war, failed system, this and that, they have a well meaning organisation to portray the name Nigeria better than the ones here on NairaLand do-

8.  Diasporians will not stop until the poor man in Nigeria can afford three or two meals a day.

Then come back to them, dont stay away and use the left hand to point to your father's house, my people call the people that do that, bastards.



9. Diasporians are coming home in large numbers and making a difference. Nigeria belongs to us all and nobody is going to shut anyone up until the failed State become a Country for its people. It is THAT Country now, we must make it OURs.


Coming because they have no choice, you contradict yourself, the system is failed, failing or it is a jungle, what are they coming to do?

@gadogado
I have seen this picture many times. Here is what comes to my mind everytime I see it.

First, you need to look at the guns on those two in the foreground (their arms is what I mean). These four and the others in the group both alive and gone (by which I mean Muritala Mohammed, Shehu Yar'adua) were no doubt well-trained soldiers physically. That they were also brilliant and ambitious individuals is evidenced by how at least three of these have managed to rule Nigeria at one point or the other - more than 20 of 49 years in total. Besides, all of Nigeria's regime since 1966 - Gowon, Buhari, Shagari, Abubakar and Umaru Yar'adua were their handiwork - these other ones were outsiders as I see it, except for Umaru Yar'adua who is actually ruling in place of his brother.

Most of all, I see Nigeria's missed greatness in these picture in that these brilliant generals directed their efforts at politics, rather than their chosen profession. I wish I had the opportunity to serve in the armed forces - THERE IS NO OTHER PROFESSION MORE GLORIOUS WHEN UNCORRUPTED BY POLITICAL AMBITIONS. Imagine if these guys had helped resolve Nigeria's teething problems at independence, rather than take advantage of it. Allowing those who had devoted intellectual capital to the problem of development and received the necessary life-training for political leadership to man the civil affairs of state. Just imagine how good Nigeria's armed forces and civilian life would be. All they had to do in 1966 was stand as a GUARD OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS' INTEGRITY, rather than take it over. 

But no, they had to dabble in an area for which they had no training. In the history books their names would now be written in pencil, rather than gold, of greatness - when Nigeria's true great leader of the people finally arrives their records would be put in its proper perspective.

It should be clear that this is the dominant "faction of the armed forces", that has managed to rout other factions since 1966. They turned the armed forces into a mini-country with its own political "parties". No doubt the Obasanjo group see themself as the "vanguard" of Nigeria's unity, but all they have really achieved is personal greatness - of which Obasanjo is no doubt the greatest of them all. In terms of serving their country, despite flashes of brilliance they, all of them together, CANNOT BE PROUD OF THEIR 43 YEARS OF WORK taken together. The day they realize this is the day Nigeria begins to move forward. Unfortunately, we seem to have a long wait ahead of us judging by the number of the same group that now at the helms of our government, even under a democracy!

You know what is common to all of them - Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

My 2 cents.

gadogado:
this is obasanjo playing a game of checkers with babangida (IBB) while abacha and T.Y Danjuma look on. so they were wayo people from those times.

Kutigi queries judge handling Ibori case

By Nicholas Ibekwe

October 30, 2009 01:55AMT

The Chief Justice of Nigeria and chairperson of the National Judicial Council, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi has directed the High Court judge handling the case between the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus James Ibori and others to formally reply the petition against him by the chairperson of the Coalition against Corrupt Leaders, Debo Adeniran.Mr. Kutigi gave the order in a letter dated October 21, 2009 in which he noted that, "The petition speaks for itself.


I shall be glad to have your comments within two weeks of the receipt of this letter, please."Gross misconduct On October 19, 2008, Mr. Adeniran had written a petition titled "Gross misconduct on the part of the Federal High Court Judge in the case of FRN VS James Ibori and ANOR" in which he expressed concerns over the actions of the trial judge in the Federal High Court, Asaba who had sometimes in October 2009, allegedly sent a letter to the court handling Mr. Ibori's case in London. Mr. Adeniran claimed that the trial judge had informed the court in London "that the case at the Federal High Court Asaba will be disposed of at the next adjourned date on October 26, 2009." He also said the judge forced the case involving Mr. Ibori forward by calling lawyers on phone to appear before him on October 12. On that date, the application of the accused challenging the 170-count charge against him was taken and the ruling fixed for November 6, 2009. The coalition claimed that it had confirmed that based on the information forwarded to London, the 170-count charge against Mr. Ibori will be dismissed on November 6, 2009, which will lead to the automatic dismissal of the case fixed for November 9 in London.The coalition said that there is no provision in the Criminal Procedure Act for the exchange of letters between a trial court in Nigeria and a foreign court and urged the National Judicial Council to investigate the circumstances surrounding the letter written to London by the Federal High Court, Asaba.

It alleged that the trial judge erred by disclosing to a foreign court in advance that all charges against Mr. Ibori would be dismissed on a particular date even before the commencement of trial, and prayed the National Judicial Council to "call the trial judge to order and transfer the case to another judge in the Federal High Court without any further delay." With the directive from Mr. Kutigi however, the trial judge now has up to Nov 4, five days to the date he had earlier fixed for judgment on the Ibori case, to respond.

I actually enjoyed watching this. The foreign minister was well-dressed, composed and articulate even if he did not say much. But this is a good representation of Nigeria, but only a very small start.

Maduekwe needs to reorganize our foreign embassies to serve as real outposts to serve Nigeria and Nigerian interests around the globe.

@ROSSIKE
I understand your concern over employment for the populace, but please reconsider this argument. I am especially kind of saddened that you stated that there's "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING" wrong with what Sam Egwu said.

What is wrong with it is not the possibility of jobless teachers finding jobs in South Africa, but the fact that:

1. Sam Egwu is our HIGHEST public servant for EDUCATION IN NIGERIA.
2. His job is to educate our children not to serve the SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT even going as far as advertising for them - is this part of the Nigerian Corps or something? In any case, this is not how to measure the performance of our education system.
3. Our education system is completely bankrupt, and he is referencing things that other administrations did.
4. Where is the Nigerian education roadmap, and how is sending our teachers to South Africa part of that roadmap.
5. To emphasize again Sam Egwu is our HIGHEST public servant for EDUCATION IN NIGERIA, and his job is to educate our children, not to serve the SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT.

Countries that understand the absolute importance of education would take knowledgeable people from any country they can find it. That doesn't mean that their education system is worse than ours or that our education system is not bad - in fact such brain-drain (some of which was absorbed by South Africa) under Babangida is responsible for the comatose state of our Universities today.

Rather than thinking about our problems these so-called ministers continue to show they can't be bordered.

ROSSIKE:
Far too many people write without thinking - their first instinct being to criticise the govt.

There's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with what the minister has said.

It is indeed TRUE that Nigeria has FAR MORE QUALIFIED TEACHERS THAN SHE CAN HANDLE AT PRESENT, just like she has far more qualified doctors, engineers, lawyers, and architects than the economy can absorb, even at current 7% annual economic growth rates.

You forget we have 103 universities in Nigeria. That's an awful lot of graduates of all disciplines being churned out yearly.

For a single teaching job advertised in Nigeria you have up to 50 applicants or more, all qualified.

Why then should we not export some teachers and outsource employment generation, if we have the requisite manpower?

Afterall, those teachers will be remitting their money back to the Nigerian economy.

Can't fault the fact that Dr. Akunyuli is doing her part, being one of the few that survived from the last administration. Unfortunately, the blind move by Yar'adua to unplug Obasanjo got her stuck in a Ministry as useless as attempting to eat coconut without teeth.

Nice page too, the content could be improved - I would not mention people like Babangida in it. What is a picture of Solar Power in the American Nevada desert doing in a Nigerian rebranding document, and what is this complaint about Obasanjo's power program. Where is Yar'adua's emergency declaration.

How much did this cost? Would have been better spent in connection with the Under-17 tournament.

Still, Grade: B

naijamini

Egwu is a Mis-Education Minister for certain.

With all these court-jesters as his ministers President Yar'adua needs no enemies - it is either he doesn't know better himself or he is under obligation to keep these people around.

Either way Nigeria is going to the dogs in the hands of these handlers.

back2back:
very sad.

when is Mr Minister and Yara-Dull going to salvage NIGERIA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM??

is he working for Nigerians or for South African?

Why cant Minister ask the SA to send their children to come and school in Nigeria?

In that way, we make money and use that to improve our system!!!

What a country!

This is certainly good news, and an indication that President Yara'dua may afterall be interested in really resolving the Niger Delta issue for good. Hopefully this is not another mouthing-off like the "Power Emergency", "Seven Point Agenda", "Rule of law", etc.

This is the common sense approach employed all over the world to keep resource communities/owners happy.

Having said that this can only work if:

1. There is a good record of those communities and families to whom resources belong.
2. A water tight legislation by the national assembly - even a constitutional amendment.
3. Foolproof system of distribution so that communities are not being paid in name only.
4. Even within communities individuals should receive a direct cut of this cash.

Nigeria 'to give 10% of oil cash' 

The government says it wants to benefit the people of the delta
Nigerian officials are reportedly planning to give 10% of the country's oil revenues to people in the Niger Delta, an area plagued by insurgencies.

Presidential adviser Emmanuel Egbogah told the UK's Financial Times that the money would go directly to communities, bypassing powerful state governors.

Analysts say the government fears local officials would embezzle the money.

The plan is part of the government's effort to stop militants from attacking oil installations in the delta.

Such attacks have been going on for years, but the government recently held an amnesty and claims to have persuaded a number of leading militants to hand in their arms.

The rebels say they are fighting for a fairer share of oil wealth for delta residents, but frequently resort to killing and kidnapping, and fund their activities by stealing oil.

 
Mr Egbogah told the FT the idea was for the benefits to "flow directly" to the delta people.

"Every community, whether blind or deaf or dumb, every citizen will say: 'I own a part of this business.'"

The FT reports that the plans could see more than 50bn naira ($338m; £207m) diverted to the communities in its first year.

But the BBC's Ahmed Idris in Abuja says the government's proposals have a long way to go before they see the light of day.

He says it is likely to face stiff opposition from the regions outside the delta, because it would mean less revenue for them.

The allocation of Nigeria's oil money is strictly governed by the constitution.

@Sagamite

Your LOGIC is escaping me. Here's why:

You read the following:

[b]Double-speak 2:
The "rescued" aliens were camped and 28 years later had grown to almost two million, their camp a slum, and their criminal activities beginning to chafe the South Africans who then called for the aliens to leave their land.  These calls for eviction from District 9 were made by both black and non-black South Africans. However, the sentences "they mus go, they mus jus go" and "at least they are keeping them separate from us" were uttered by only blacks. So now black South Africans in Blomkamp's District 9 world are depicted as xenophobes and segregationists. Sure there were xenophobic attacks in South Africa recently, but the approach in the movie is especially appalling. This is because, though supposedly based on actual events that happened at District Six ("an inner-city residential area in Cape Town, was declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966, with 60,000 people forcibly removed and relocated to Cape Flats, 25 km (15 mi) away." Blomkamp finds no room for the GREAT CRIME of APARTHEID that actually took place in South Africa in his movie. Yet, he used words uttered by black South African victims of that era today to paint them in the light of xenophobia and segregation. Common sense, honest writing and lack of a hidden agenda would dictate that Blomkamp pay close attention to the crime of apartheid in South Africa and the untold suffering that it produced, even if he also intends to suggest a human side to it. Instead in Blomkamp's world and movie the true victims are accused of exactly the same crime, because they asked for their land back and engaged in rioting. Blomkamp equates death to sleep! In his world a  slap to the face is equal to to a cutting-off of the head. [/b]

And you accused me of this:

To me, this is just conspiracy theory despiration and a spark of hatred for whites.

Yet you did see not the hatred for blacks and Nigerians in a white man who makes a global movie depicting black people in the most sub-servient positions possible, and propagating caricatures that have been painted of us from time immemorial - aka cannibalism, etc. He named the group of whites in his movie Multi-National United (not Americans, British etc), but he had the THOUGHT PROCESS to name the banal people in his movie Nigerians and their leader Obasanjo - a real nation and immediate past President. Please re-examine your logic here.

I was a bit confused because you supported my view in another post, but you did not read the wholet piece before sending your comments, to see how the GROUP in this movie with no other side but the BAD, TERRIBLE CARICATURE is the NIGERIANS. The only country repeately named and pinned to the se terrible things in the movie. This is my point.

In any case we agree to disaggree, but please note that asking a SINGLE white South African writing a movie about racism not to PAINT TERRIBLE CARICATURES of black people is not hatred for whites. I am a member of the global community and have no hatred for any race, but will defend against hate and racism vehemently.

http://www.engineeringbritain.com/space/archives/254-Nigeria-completes-milestone-in-space.html

Nigeria's space program has passed another milestone as both the state of the art NigeriaSat-2 and the Nigerian-built NigeriaSat-X (NX) spacecraft passed their Flight Readiness Reviews.

The completion of this review signifies that the two spacecraft are now ready for launch. At the same time, the Launch Services Agreement was signed that will see the two spacecraft launched onboard a Dnepr rocket in Q4 2010.

Meanwhile, the 26 Nigerian trainees, some of who have spent 3 years at SSTL, have now returned to Nigeria ready to begin operations of their two spacecraft once they launch next year.

Seems they are listening, but why would hitch-free hosting be a surprise! More information on the web - please.

We’ll Surprise Everyone Says Minister of Sports - ThisDay
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 10.13.2009

HITCH FREE HOSTING

With barely two weeks left to the commencement of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 – and despite near absence of publicity in the media – the Local Organising Committee has again assured Nigerians not to fret, promising a hitch-free hosting that will make Nigeria proud. The Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the LOC, Mainasara Ilo was again making this assurance, adding that his committee has been able to meet most of the requirements of the world football governing body, FIFA, for a successful hosting of the tournament.
Recently, Ilo led a team of the LOC information technology concept department officers to a power-point presentation on the readiness of the ICT Department at the LOC, at their various centres for the benefit of the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Sani Ndanusa, at the National Stadium Complex in Abuja.
“At this level of our preparations for the championship, I can say that we are extremely positive and ready for the world and all the departments have been charged to complete other finishing touches to ensure a hitch free hosting”.
Making the presentation, the head of the ICT Department of the LOC, Air Commodore Abdul Razaq Balogun disclosed that all the venues had been linked to the IBTC as a result of fruitful agreement entered into with DAAR Communications the official broadcasters of the championship.

There is some information here http://www.nigeria-2009.com/ but the site has not been updated in a long time.

naijamini:
Nairalanders,

Are there NLs out there that could provide us with pictures of the facilities that are supposed to host the Under 17 tournament. Lets document how they are handling this tournament only a couple of weeks to the event and during the event itself. Sahara Reporters where are you?

The cities are: Abuja, Bauchi, Calabar, Enugu, Ijebu-Ode, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos.

See Vanguard article below. This tournament seems headed for failure. There is no information hub on the web, nothing about these cities and what visitors are supposed to enjoy while there!

Thanks.

naijamini

Quote
He disclosed that most of the Sub-seats are not empowered by the Main LOC hence most of the training pitches as well as scoreboards are not ready but “yet they keep deceiving people that everything is ready.” Alhaji Gara-Gombe said the only aspect of the entire process that is ready is the Broadcasting and security area , adding that even the broadcast equipment on ground are obsolete but “for AIT which has installed a digital system for hosting the event.”

“Rather than the Nigeria Football Federation to commend AIT for this they are fighting them over an Award ceremony. The private sector is backing AIT on this issue,” he said, adding that the football body has not even prepared the team that will represent the country in the competition.


U-17 World Cup: LOC plots to embarrass FG over funds
Vanguard
Sports Oct 10, 2009 By Patrick Omorodion

*As NSC says LOC has received N9.6bn
The Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-17 World Cup tagged Nigeria 2009 has been accused of plotting to embarrass the Federal Government over preparations for the event which is scheduled to begin in 13 days.
The accusation from former Gombe State Football Association Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe is coming on the heels of cries from officials of the LOC of lack of funds to complete some of the facilities earmarked for a successful hosting of the event.
Some officials of the LOC said the committee lacks enough funds to carry out completion works on some training turfs, score board at some of the stadia among others as it is being starved of funds by the National Sports Commission, NSC.

In a reaction at the weekend however, Director-General of the NSC, Chief Patrick Ekeji debunked the claim, saying the Federal Government recently released the sum of N9.6 billion to the LOC for its work.

“It is not true that they are being starved of funds. In fact N9.6 billion was released to them last week and the NSC does not hold on to their money because we know that accusations like this will come,” he said.
Alhaji Gara-Gombe said that the blackmail by members of the LOC is in reaction to the government’s refusal to approve the LOC’s initial bogus budget of N37 billion which was considered outrageous.

“I think it is just a plot to sabotage government’s efforts because it refused to approve their initial budget. Why have they not told Nigerians how much they have or how much they have made from their marketing drive,” he queried.
The former football administrator said instead of using the money they have wisely, they are “spending money on other things, like importing 90,000 spare tyres for the vehicles to be used at the event. They have also (allegedly) earmarked N1.2 billion for computers.”

He disclosed that most of the Sub-seats are not empowered by the Main LOC hence most of the training pitches as well as scoreboards are not ready but “yet they keep deceiving people that everything is ready.”
Alhaji Gara-Gombe said the only aspect of the entire process that is ready is the Broadcasting and security area , adding that even the broadcast equipment on ground are obsolete but “for AIT which has installed a digital system for hosting the event.”

“Rather than the Nigeria Football Federation to commend AIT for this they are fighting them over an Award ceremony. The private sector is backing AIT on this issue,” he said, adding that the football body has not even prepared the team that will represent the country in the competition.

Nairalanders,

I am wondering if there are posters that could provide us with pictures of the facilities that are supposed to host the Under 17 tournament. Lets document how they are handling this tournament only a couple of weeks to the event and during the event itself. Sahara Reporters where are you?

The cities are: Abuja, Bauchi, Calabar, Enugu, Ijebu-Ode, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos.

See Vanguard article below. This tournament seems headed for failure. There is no information hub on the web, nothing about these cities and what visitors are supposed to enjoy while there!

Thanks.

naijamini

Quote
He disclosed that most of the Sub-seats are not empowered by the Main LOC hence most of the training pitches as well as scoreboards are not ready but “yet they keep deceiving people that everything is ready.” Alhaji Gara-Gombe said the only aspect of the entire process that is ready is the Broadcasting and security area , adding that even the broadcast equipment on ground are obsolete but “for AIT which has installed a digital system for hosting the event.”

“Rather than the Nigeria Football Federation to commend AIT for this they are fighting them over an Award ceremony. The private sector is backing AIT on this issue,” he said, adding that the football body has not even prepared the team that will represent the country in the competition.


U-17 World Cup: LOC plots to embarrass FG over funds
Vanguard
Sports Oct 10, 2009 By Patrick Omorodion

*As NSC says LOC has received N9.6bn
The Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-17 World Cup tagged Nigeria 2009 has been accused of plotting to embarrass the Federal Government over preparations for the event which is scheduled to begin in 13 days.
The accusation from former Gombe State Football Association Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe is coming on the heels of cries from officials of the LOC of lack of funds to complete some of the facilities earmarked for a successful hosting of the event.
Some officials of the LOC said the committee lacks enough funds to carry out completion works on some training turfs, score board at some of the stadia among others as it is being starved of funds by the National Sports Commission, NSC.

In a reaction at the weekend however, Director-General of the NSC, Chief Patrick Ekeji debunked the claim, saying the Federal Government recently released the sum of N9.6 billion to the LOC for its work.

“It is not true that they are being starved of funds. In fact N9.6 billion was released to them last week and the NSC does not hold on to their money because we know that accusations like this will come,” he said.
Alhaji Gara-Gombe said that the blackmail by members of the LOC is in reaction to the government’s refusal to approve the LOC’s initial bogus budget of N37 billion which was considered outrageous.

“I think it is just a plot to sabotage government’s efforts because it refused to approve their initial budget. Why have they not told Nigerians how much they have or how much they have made from their marketing drive,” he queried.
The former football administrator said instead of using the money they have wisely, they are “spending money on other things, like importing 90,000 spare tyres for the vehicles to be used at the event. They have also (allegedly) earmarked N1.2 billion for computers.”

He disclosed that most of the Sub-seats are not empowered by the Main LOC hence most of the training pitches as well as scoreboards are not ready but “yet they keep deceiving people that everything is ready.”
Alhaji Gara-Gombe said the only aspect of the entire process that is ready is the Broadcasting and security area , adding that even the broadcast equipment on ground are obsolete but “for AIT which has installed a digital system for hosting the event.”

“Rather than the Nigeria Football Federation to commend AIT for this they are fighting them over an Award ceremony. The private sector is backing AIT on this issue,” he said, adding that the football body has not even prepared the team that will represent the country in the competition.

@Sagamite

I am not sure what you meant by "the logic is poor". Please explain. I "wrote that", but wasn't claiming to be a flim critic - simply describing my interpretation of the movie, which is what matters since viewers are not movie critics by profession.

Most of the piece actually describes the movie - and Blomkamp himself said he aimed to make it difficult to figure out whether he had a message or not. EXCEPT for the parts involving "the Nigerians" of course where the message was clear as day. If you think the movie as described sounds like crap, that is because the movie is actually crappy - not a few patrons walked out of the theater before the movie ended. Others have related the same experience.

Take time to listen to Chimamanda's (ehnn your baby - keep dreaming ) talk.

Thank you.

naijamini

Sagamite:
Ahhhhh!!!

Thank god my baby did not write that. I knew she was smarter than that.

I was reading it and thinking "what crap", and just could not believe she could be writing something like that.

I was not happy condemning my baby in public. But I just had to as the logic was poor.

Negative, others are doing it arguments are always useless.

Becos there is a bed-wetter in the family (which you should do everything to remedy) doesn't mean it is alright for someone to piss on you through your the window, and while you are down on your luck too.
Another similar argument is "It took America more than 200 years to develop, so Nigeria at 50 can take its time."

By the way the posted article wasn't written by Chimamanda. Her talk on a parallel subject can be heard at the provided link. The name of the author is on the article.

naijamini

Sagamite:
@ Texazzpete and rethink

It is one thing for one of your own to portray the bad side and traits you demonstrate. It is a completely totally different thing for an outsider (antagonist) to not only potray this but also manufacture ones just to denigrate your type and portray you as irredeemable human thing.

Never, ever try and justify the latter.

texazzpete:
The Author of that piece is just like John McCain: he just doesn't get it!

PS: 80% of nigerian home videos do a far more effective job of displaying Nigerians in a bad light than the movie District 9. I don't see any yahoos petitioning against them.

Thread was: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-325776.0.html
Petition Against District 9's Appalling Caricature Of Nigerians 

Kay 17:
its unfortunate that blomkamp failed to see things thru your lens that nigeria is perfect country which permits freedom of speech and tolerates criticism, that there are no witchcraft practising cannibals, no thugs, no prostitutes.

@Kay 17
With this reply you need to look into the meaning of fallacy, strawman and pavlov's syndrome because you are guilty of all three. Many of us (Nigerians and Africans) are especially suffering from pavlov's syndrome. But if I have to beat you and others like you over the head with this point until you get it, I will. It is my believe that the movie District 9 was only a teaching moment. There is a deeper attitudinal problem afflicting many of us. Here are my main arguments again:

1. The error that Blomkamp committed is not that he depicted some scene as involving Nigerians, but presented ONLY REPEATED GORY scenes in which ALL that the Nigerians in his movie are doing is commit all these attrocities.

2. Only a person with blinders on would read my piece and remotely suggest I am trying to argue that none of these things happen in Nigeria. I guess you, Kay17, are going to tell me that all other countries Blomkamp could have chosen are free of these things. That is the reverse of your silly argument.

3. The deliberateness of Blomkamp's action is emphasized by the fact that he took his show as far as to represent former President Obasanjo the way he did in his movie, most importantly because the main point of his movie, as he would have us believe, is about "indirect racism". I don't care for much of what President Obasanjor did, especially domestically. No matter what, he doesn't deserve such FORMAL disrespect for any reason, and Nigeria and Nigerians do not deserve it either. Imagine yourself writing up a movie where you are trying to show that there are at least two sides to everything, but included repeated scenes of Bill Clinton as the head of a brothel, but you didn't stop there. You ONLY showed these scenes repeatedly throughout the movie and refer always to that group of prostitutes and their head only as THE AMERICANS. My point is not that you couldn't do it, but that it would invlove a rather DELIBRATE DECISION on your part to ridicule America and Clinton that way, and it would be untrue and demonstrate that you are seriously lacking in sense.

4. It just occured to me today that Blomkamp's error is even more ignorant, sinister or both. The reason is that when  Mugabe kicked white farmers out of Zimbabwe ONLY OBASANJO defused the situation and invited them to farm in NIGERIA. Talk about picking on the wrong person.

5. Perhaps the point you want to make is that those who should represent us are doing a bad job of it. However, this doesn't mean you should buy into a wholesale condemnation of your nation - unless you are guilty of these acts yourself or all the Nigerians you know are? I know the latter to be patently untrue and any suggestion to the contrary is unacceptable. Yorubas would say "your kid cannot be so bad that you feed him/her to a leopard", and if you do it says more about you than the kid and the leopard.

I hope you see my point. Thank you.

naijamini

I have had a draft of notes on the District 9 movie for quite a while, but was motivated to post it by the following thread:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Tells The Nigerian Story- A Must Watch
« on: Today at 01:24:34 AM » 
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/652

The talk by Chima at the above site parallels my concerns and reason behind the call for a petition about the District 9 movie. Take the time to listen to this talk, and to read the District 9 notes below.

Also you can still sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/ddd2009/petition.html

DE-CONSTRUCTING THE MOVIE DISTRICT 9
'Debo Oladosu

District 9 is a movie about a group of aliens stranded and floating above Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a movie that talks from both sides of its 'mouth' as it were. It is what you would describe as an animal without head or tail. This characterization fits almost every aspect of the movie EXCEPT one - look for this exception below. Let me start with two innocuous  pointers at the opposites that characterize this movie:

1.  The movies' name District 9 is derived from events surrounding an area named "District 6" in Cape Town, South Africa . Here 6 is turned on its head to make 9.
2.  The movie's posters carry two different messages. On one poster a giant alien is depicted along with the phrase "No Humans Allowed"  and "You are not welcome here". On another, it says "For humans only: Non-humans banned".

The above should convince the reader that the conflicting messages related in this movie are deliberate. In case you are not convinced this is how writer and director Blomkamp (an English speaking South African) puts it: "It wouldn't be clear whether or not I actually had a message, but rather that all of these themes that interest me are being presented to the audience, and you can make up your own mind and you can view this hopefully in a somewhat honest environment." (see http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/14/interview-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp/)
Walking into the theater, I expected  to see the typical alien movie: the human spirit triumphs against all odds in the face of alien superior technology and aggression, that kind of thing. What I found was double-speak after double-speak. The list is long:

Double-speak 1:
The aliens had superior technology alright - a massive hovering aircraft with no visible source of energy. They had individual weapons too, 10,000 times (my estimation) more powerful than anything seen on planet earth. It was clear that these aliens could take Johannesburg and the planet if only they wanted. Instead District 9 aliens were largely benign creatures. In fact, it was humans that went up to the ship and saved the aliens from a dying condition. During interrogation an alien even said: "we mean you no harm", "we had no choice". Whoever, heard of a peaceful civilization that relies on massively superior weaponry. I guess, the disease that forced these aliens to planet earth also implanted a violence-forgetting/what weapons-are-good-for virus in their brains, transforming them into a docile set of cockroaches to be pushed around.  The excuse Blomkamp gives is that they were worker drones who lost contact with their command center, and therefore unable to make decisions - far-fetched if you ask me.

Double-speak 2:
The "rescued" aliens were camped and 28 years later had grown to almost two million, their camp a slum, and their criminal activities beginning to chafe the South Africans who then called for the aliens to leave their land.  These calls for eviction from District 9 were made by both black and non-black South Africans. However, the sentences "they mus go, they mus jus go" and "at least they are keeping them separate from us" were uttered by only blacks. So now black South Africans in Blomkamp's District 9 world are depicted as xenophobes and segregationists. Sure there were xenophobic attacks in South Africa recently, but the approach in the movie is especially appalling. This is because, though supposedly based on actual events that happened at District Six ("an inner-city residential area in Cape Town, was declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966, with 60,000 people forcibly removed and relocated to Cape Flats, 25 km (15 mi) away." Blomkamp finds no room for the GREAT CRIME of APARTHEID that actually took place in South Africa in his movie. Yet, he used words uttered by black South African victims of that era today to paint them in the light of xenophobia and segregation. Common sense, honest writing and lack of a hidden agenda would dictate that Blomkamp pay close attention to the crime of apartheid in South Africa and the untold suffering that it produced, even if he also intends to suggest a human side to it. Instead in Blomkamp's world and movie the true victims are accused of exactly the same crime, because they asked for their land back and engaged in rioting. Blomkamp equates death to sleep! In his world a  slap to the face is equal to to a cutting-off of the head.

The rest of the movie largely depicts the "adventures" of a MNU operative, Wikus van der Merwe, tasked with effecting the evacuation of the aliens to a more remote location. MNU - Multi-National United is a private military group.

Double-Speak 3:
Wikus is portrayed as a good-natured operative who at once wants to ensure that the aliens are evicted legally and treated well, but at the same time leaves no one in doubt about his views of the aliens. He repeatedly refers to the aliens as "prawns", a derogatory term based on their appearance. In a scene he is seen walking into an alien breeding room (sort of a human nursery) and disconnecting nutrition from the embryos. In another he gleefully steps on alien babies like cockroaches - "no more prawn he says".

Double-Speak 4:
Even in his insistence on legality Wikus accepts the protest smack of the eviction notice by alien fingers as good enough signature of acceptance.
In his search for aliens Wikus ingested a fluid and began to slowly turn into an alien. This marked the beginning of his role as a victim and eventually a defender of the aliens.

Double-Speak 5:
Wikus' father in-law had used his position at the head of MNU to appoint him to oversee the eviction process. However, he soon discovered that Wikus was growing an alien arm that could also fire alien weaponry. Without hesitation he committed to harvesting Wikus' organs for research - alive, towards acquiring alien weaponry. Such loving father, such wicked businessman.

Double-Speak 6:
In his mad desire to reverse his transformation, keep his love, and avoid capture by MNU soldiers Wikus appeals for the help of an alien named Chris. Chris had escaped from the same house where Wikus ingested the alien "fluid". Wikus discovered that the jar of fluid that caused his transformation, the only one Chris could muster in 20 years of search, was actually fuel for the alien control ship that would allow them to leave the planet - don't you wonder how they came about the urge to leave all of a sudden. As pointed out these aliens had lost contact with the mothership, and as worker drones are incapable of making decisions - that is Blomkamp's story! Under the promise that he would somehow be cured Wikus agreed to a mission to help recover the fluid from MNU headquarters. Once they had the fluid, and Wikus discovered he cannot be cured immediately he knocked Chris out cold and decided to take the ship for himself. Long-story short, he saved the day for the aliens by defending them as the control ship and Chris beamed up to the hovering ship - after a lightbulb came on in his head or something. This is the so-called redemption message Blomkamp wants us to take away from the movie. As he puts it: "So at the end, it's really a story of redemption, and hopefully it should be about the guy who made wrong decisions in his life and been an indirect racist, is laying waste to this group that has been oppressing another group for a whole bunch of years. So hopefully it works on an emotional level first." (see http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/14/interview-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp/). To tell you the truth I couldn't see this so-called "redemption" story as I watched the movie.

After the above parade of double-speak the reader is probably wondering about the one EXCEPTION I promised above.

Well here it is - THE NIGERIANS were the only group of REAL WORLD people REPEATEDLY referred to in District 9. The NIGERIANS were also the only group in District 9 who were collectively named and had NO GOOD SIDE to them.

Here Blomkamp reveals his true heart. It is the same heart that failed to find room to teach the world about the REAL sordid sins of apartheid South Africa in his movie, yet created an alien race with the gentility and appearance of the cockroach, while aiming to teach a message of redemption about an "indirect racist". If Blomkamp was aiming for a catharsis of his own indirect racism while growing up under the protection of apartheid South Africa, his job is not done.

By the lack of sense displayed in characterizing a nation of 150 million black Africans (Nigerians) as thugs, mercenaries, alien-servicing prostitutes, and witchcraft practicing cannibals who believed that eating the aliens would give them greater power and cure illnesses Blomkamp's heart is colored with racist thinking at the best. Blomkamp even took his show as far as to call the Nigerian gang leader ‘Obasanjo’ - the name of Nigeria's immediate past president. One might have missed this slight of hand in the movie if it had been brief. But no, gory scenes of this group of thugs were repeated again and again. And to be sure, these particular scenes were interlaced with a sort of "Newscast" where a white woman describes in English what you see on the screen.

There is enough caricature of Nigerian citizens floating around without having to deal with a medium of culture in the Western world, which though supposedly for entertainment, has become one of the main means of information and cultural transformation. People take messages from these movies. This, and the money of course, is infact why Blomkamp made District 9, and the message about Nigerians is not only unpalatable, it is untrue and most of all RACIST.

If Blomkamp has a message about bad people he needs to look at recent revelations in the West where  daughters and stolen girls are kept in cages for decades, and produced children for their captors (some of them unrepentant after being caught) like animals. I bet Blomkamp would not make a movie depicting this type of behavior and call such a  family Australians, New Zealanders or  Americans since that would be ridiculous and amount to hate. Most of the population of these nations do not behave or agree with such acts, but more importantly ABHOR it. The same is true for the NIGERIANS. WE ARE NOT thugs, mercenaries, prostitutes or witchcraft practicing cannibals.

Lastly, there is precedent for mass generalization of anecdotes and the result was Hitler and the decimation of 6 million Jews, not to talk of Blomkamp's apartheid South Africa.

I am tempted to give Yar'adua some praise too, but I think this will be pre-mature. I hope that this stops militancy in the Niger Delta, but the real work of building a country must not consist of merely putting down insurrections or queling negatives. The day Nigeria gets a REAL peoples government, it would be clear from day one. There was so much hope, but that is fading by the day. However, there is half of a term left for real work on the part of the Yar'aduan Presidency. For the sake of the average Nigeria, I am hope for the best.

I have had a draft of notes on the District 9 movie for quite a while, but was motivated to post it by the following thread:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Tells The Nigerian Story- A Must Watch
« on: Today at 01:24:34 AM » 
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/652

The talk by Chima at the above site parallels my concerns and reason behind the call for a petition about the District 9 movie. Take the time to listen to this talk, and to read the District 9 notes below.

Also you can still sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/ddd2009/petition.html

DE-CONSTRUCTING THE MOVIE DISTRICT 9
'Debo Oladosu

District 9 is a movie about a group of aliens stranded and floating above Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a movie that talks from both sides of its 'mouth' as it were. It is what you would describe as an animal without head or tail. This characterization fits almost every aspect of the movie EXCEPT one - look for this exception below. Let me start with two innocuous  pointers at the opposites that characterize this movie:

1.  The movies' name District 9 is derived from events surrounding an area named "District 6" in Cape Town, South Africa . Here 6 is turned on its head to make 9.
2.  The movie's posters carry two different messages. On one poster a giant alien is depicted along with the phrase "No Humans Allowed"  and "You are not welcome here". On another, it says "For humans only: Non-humans banned".

The above should convince the reader that the conflicting messages related in this movie are deliberate. In case you are not convinced this is how writer and director Blomkamp (an English speaking South African) puts it: "It wouldn't be clear whether or not I actually had a message, but rather that all of these themes that interest me are being presented to the audience, and you can make up your own mind and you can view this hopefully in a somewhat honest environment." (see http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/14/interview-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp/)
Walking into the theater, I expected  to see the typical alien movie: the human spirit triumphs against all odds in the face of alien superior technology and aggression, that kind of thing. What I found was double-speak after double-speak. The list is long:

Double-speak 1:
The aliens had superior technology alright - a massive hovering aircraft with no visible source of energy. They had individual weapons too, 10,000 times (my estimation) more powerful than anything seen on planet earth. It was clear that these aliens could take Johannesburg and the planet if only they wanted. Instead District 9 aliens were largely benign creatures. In fact, it was humans that went up to the ship and saved the aliens from a dying condition. During interrogation an alien even said: "we mean you no harm", "we had no choice". Whoever, heard of a peaceful civilization that relies on massively superior weaponry. I guess, the disease that forced these aliens to planet earth also implanted a violence-forgetting/what weapons-are-good-for virus in their brains, transforming them into a docile set of cockroaches to be pushed around.  The excuse Blomkamp gives is that they were worker drones who lost contact with their command center, and therefore unable to make decisions - far-fetched if you ask me.

Double-speak 2:
The "rescued" aliens were camped and 28 years later had grown to almost two million, their camp a slum, and their criminal activities beginning to chafe the South Africans who then called for the aliens to leave their land.  These calls for eviction from District 9 are made by both black and non-black South Africans. However, the sentences "they mus go, they mus jus go" and "at least they are keeping them separate from us" were uttered by only blacks. So now black South Africans in Blomkamp's District 9 world are depicted as xenophobes and segregationists. Sure there have being xenophobic attacks in South Africa recently, but the approach in the movie is especially appalling. This because, though supposedly based on actual events that happened in District Six ("an inner-city residential area in Cape Town, was declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966, with 60,000 people forcibly removed and relocated to Cape Flats, 25 km (15 mi) away." Blomkamp finds no room for the GREAT CRIME of APARTHEID that actually took place in South African in his movie. Yet, he used words uttered by black South African victims of that era today to paint them in the light of xenophobia and segregation - note that this is not an endorsement of xenophobia or segregation in any form or even the kind of actions Mugabe of Zimbabwe has carried out.  Common sense, honest writing and lack of a hidden agenda would dictate that Blomkamp pay close attention to the crime of apartheid in South Africa and the untold suffering that it produced, even if he also intends to suggest a human side to it. Instead in Blomkamp's world and movie the true victims are accused of exactly the same crime, because they asked for their land back and engaged in rioting. Blomkamp equates death to sleep! In his world a  slap to the face is equal to to a cutting-off of the head.

The rest of the movie largely depicts the "adventures" of a MNU operative, Wikus van der Merwe, tasked with effecting the evacuation of the aliens to a more remote location. MNU - Multi-National United is a private military group.

Double-Speak 3:
Wikus is portrayed as a good-natured operative who at once wants to ensure that the aliens are evicted legally and treated well, but at the same time leaves no one in doubt about his views of the aliens. He repeatedly refers to the aliens as "prawns", a derogatory term based on their appearance. In a scene he is seen walking into an alien breeding room (sort of a human nursery) and disconnecting nutrition from the embryos. In another he gleefully steps on alien babies like cockroaches - "no more prawn he says".

Double-Speak 4:
Even in his insistence on legality Wikus accepts the protest smack of the eviction notice by alien fingers as good enough signature of acceptance.
In his search for aliens Wikus ingested a fluid and began to slowly turn into an alien. This marked the beginning of his role as a victim and eventually a defender of the aliens.

Double-Speak 5:
Wikus' father in-law had used his position at the head of MNU to appoint him to oversee the eviction process. However, he soon discovered that Wikus was growing an alien arm that could also fire alien weaponry. Without hesitation he committed to harvesting Wikus' organs for research - alive, towards acquiring alien weaponry. Such loving father, such wicked businessman.

Double-Speak 6:
In his mad desire to reverse his transformation, keep his love, and avoid capture by MNU soldiers Wikus appeals for the help of an alien named Chris. Chris had escaped from the same house where Wikus ingested the alien "fluid". Wikus discovered that the jar of fluid that caused his transformation, the only one Chris could muster in 20 years of search, was actually fuel for the alien control ship that would allow them to leave the planet - don't you wonder how they came about the urge to leave all of a sudden. As pointed out these aliens had lost contact with the mothership, and as worker drones are incapable of making decisions - that is Blomkamp's story! Under the promise that he would somehow be cured Wikus agreed to a mission to help recover the fluid from MNU headquarters. Once they had the fluid, and Wikus discovered he cannot be cured immediately he knocked Chris out cold and decided to take the ship for himself. Long-story short, he saved the day for the aliens by defending them as the control ship and Chris beamed up to the mothership - after a lightbulb came on in his head or something. This is the so-called redemption message Blomkamp wants us to take away from the movie. As he puts it: "So at the end, it's really a story of redemption, and hopefully it should be about the guy who made wrong decisions in his life and been an indirect racist, is laying waste to this group that has been oppressing another group for a whole bunch of years. So hopefully it works on an emotional level first." (see http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/14/interview-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp/). To tell you the truth I couldn't see this so-called "redemption" story as I watched the movie.

After the above parade of double-speak the reader is probably wondering about the one EXECPTION I promised above.

Well here it is - THE NIGERIANS were the only group of REAL WORLD people REPEATEDLY referred to in District 9. The NIGERIANS were also the only group in District 9 who were collectively named and had NO GOOD SIDE to them.

Here Blomkamp reveals his true heart. It is the same heart that failed to find room to teach the world about the REAL sordid sins of apartheid South Africa in his movie, yet created an alien race with the gentility and appearance of the cockroach, while aiming to teach a message of redemption about an "indirect racist". If Blomkamp was aiming for a catharsis of his own indirect racism while growing up under the protection of apartheid South Africa, his job is not done.

By the lack of sense displayed in characterizing a nation of 150 million black Africans (Nigerians) as thugs, mercenaries, alien-servicing prostitutes, and witchcraft practicing cannibals who believed that eating the aliens would give them greater power and cure illnesses Blomkamp's heart is colored with racist thinking at the best. Blomkamp even took his show as far as to call the Nigerian gang leader ‘Obasanjo’ - the name of Nigeria's immediate past president. One might have missed this slight of hand in the movie if it had been brief. But no, gory scenes of this group of thugs were repeated again and again. And to be sure, these particular scenes were interlaced with a sort of "Newscast" where a white woman describes in English what you see on the screen.

There is enough caricature of Nigerian citizens floating around without having to deal with a medium of culture in the Western world, which though supposedly for entertainment, has become one of the main means of information and cultural transformation. People take messages from these movies. This, and the money of course, is infact why Blomkamp made District 9, and the message about Nigerians is not only unpalatable, it is untrue and most of all RACIST.

If Blomkamp has a message about bad people he needs to look at recent revelations in the West where  daughters and stolen girls are kept in cages for decades, and produced children for their captors (some of them unrepentant after being caught) like animals. I bet Blomkamp would not make a movie depicting this type of behavior and call such a  family Australians, New Zealanders or  Americans since that would be ridiculous and amount to hate. Most of the population of these nations do not behave or agree with such acts, but more importantly ABHOR it. The same is true for the NIGERIANS. WE ARE NOT thugs, mercenaries, prostitutes or witchcraft practicing cannibals.

Lastly, there is precedent for mass generalization of anecdotes and the result was Hitler and the decimation of 6 million Jews, not to talk of Blomkamp's apartheid South Africa.

Quite a progressive message. Fearless too.

If only we could multiply progressive religious figures like these, both Christian and Muslim, to open the eyes of our people to God's true will of freedom, self-dignity and prosperity.

Still, with the courage of Pastor Bakare there is surely hope. There is hope.

naijamini

@dinggle

You don't get it. Nigeria should not allow her citizens to be executed by other countries. His crime should be handled according to our laws - this is necessary to protect innocent citizens in a foreign land - but Africans know nothing about that,

It is a matter of national dignity and sovereignty. I admit that a country that will go this far to protect her citizens would also be sure not to let herself to be represented by the worst of the worst either in GOVERNMENT or PRIVATE life. That country will also know with reasonable certainty where the citizens are around the world.

naijamini

dinggle:
They should spend their time saving someone better not a drug dealer who knew what he was going into when he did what he did!, he thot he was a sharp man back then!!!

[quote author=*jona link=topic=333118.msg4672702#msg4672702 date=1254766899]Australians act to save Nigerian on death row in Indonesia

By Ayo Okulaja

The Nigerian government’s negligence of Nigerians in foreign prisons has been made bare in the case of one on death row in an Indonesian prison for drug smuggling.

Titus Ani has been convicted for smuggling heroin, without, what members of Amnesty International described as “experienced lawyers carefully preparing and presenting his case”.

Mr. Ani was charged with the smuggling 350gms of drugs into Bali. He pleaded guilty and was given a life jail term. The prosecution, however, appealed the judgement and his sentence was upgraded to death by the Supreme Court.

According to Indonesian laws, Mr. Ani has a chance to appeal the Supreme Court’s ruling. However, he has been in the legal battle for over five years without any proper representation.

The Nigerian is now getting legal support at the instance of Scott Rush, an Australian cell mate also on death row in Denspasar, Bali, who asked an Australian team of lawyers that visited him in the prison to help Titus because he had limited legal representation and will be executed unless his case can be well argued in the last appeal.

The Australian legal team is led by Russell Thirgood, a partner at McCullough Robertson. The team are working on a pro bono basis to prepare for Titus’ final appeal.

According to Mr. Russell in an audio interview posted on the Internet, “Titus fled Nigeria some years ago to Pakistan where he was working in a construction industry till his visa expired and he ended up, in and out of UN refugee camp for a period of time. Towards the end of 2003, he was approached by a drug syndicate who offered him a false illusion of paying him $2000, these drug syndicate gave him a wrong passport and he ended up being caught in Indonesia.”

[b]Mr Russell argues that “Titus is not regular drug trafficker and,  is being sentenced on a wrong personality as he is not the person on the passport that he is carrying but he is Titus and not Emmanuel from Sierra Leone as the Passport reflects,  it was his first time doing a small amount.

“The Indonesian law distinguishes between organised crimes and serious drug offenders and a one-off offender. A death sentence should not be passed on someone of Titus’s category” said the former President of Amnesty International Australia.

Explaining his team’s progress thus far, the Australian lawyer said, “We have being going about getting a DNA evidence, establishing who he is, from his family in Nigeria and we’ve working with the United Nations to obtain the evidence that he was in Pakistan at a relevant time than being a regular drug trafficker.”

According to the lawyers, “they have uncovered evidence that gives them confidence that Mr. Ani has a strong case and has been sentenced on the false premise that he was a regular drug courier and that he was a citizen of Sierra Leone (rather than Nigeria)”.

The lawyers hope to use the final appeal called a PK, which will allow the presentation of new evidence, to prove that the Nigerian does not deserve to be punished by death. However, Australian lawyers do not have the right to represent anyone in an Indonesian court. They are, therefore, providing research, and helping to prepare the defence’s argument. They are also helping to raise about $100,000 to pay Indonesian lawyers who are vast in Indonesian law to represent Mr. Ani in court.

Australians show support

An evening of classical music was organised in Australia on September 20 to raise funds for Mr. Ani’s legal fees.

Uzbekistan violinist Attilla Sautov accompanied by the Mueller Chamber Orchestra played at the benefit concert at Claver Theatre, All Hallows’ School, Brisbane.

Tickets were sold at $50 for adults, $150 for 4 adults with a $25 concession made available online.

Online donations are made on www.ourcommunity.com.au/qpilchtitusani, with donations of $2 or more being tax deductible.

The concert was organised by a Brisbane lawyer, Roland Peterson, who attends the same parish as Mr. Rush’s (Titus cell mate) parents, Lee and Christine Rush.

“I was touched by the fact that Titus was facing the death penalty alone, and became more involved when he heard of the circumstances that led to Titus being charged,” Australian online blogs quoted Mr. Peterson as saying.

“This is his last chance - Titus has one final appeal left before the sentence is carried out,” he said.

A Titus Ani foundation has also being set up to solicit for the funds. The foundation’s webpage www.titusfoundation.com.au is supported by the Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House and sponsored by Amnesty International and The Law association for Asia and The Pacific

A defence almost ready

The three lawyers already representing Titus at no cost, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Russell Thirgood and a Nigerian lawyer,; Emmanuel Ogebe, say they are almost ready to pursue the final appeal.

Mr. Ogebe told NEXT that “we are working on the critical stages of his case at the moment. In fact we are trying to round up some final pieces of evidence from Nigeria in the next week or so.”

Mr. Peterson said “The brief has to be done by October and I’m trying to save money by doing some of it myself.”

A familiar road

Last year, Indonesian authorities executed two Nigerians found guilty of heroin offences - the first drug offenders put to death in four years. The Nigerians, Samuel Iwachekwu Okeye, 37, and Hansen Anthony Nwaoysa, 40, were executed by two firing squads in Nusakambangan Island, off the southern coast of central Java, in June 2008. Mr. Okoye was sentenced to death after he was caught smuggling 3.8 kg of heroin into the country at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, while Mr. Nwaoysa was given the death penalty for circulating 3.2 kg of heroin in the country.

They were convicted and sentenced to death in 2001. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned down both men’s requests for clemency three years later.[/b]
Back
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5466877-146/Australians_act_to_save_Nigerian_on.csp[/quote]

This is not about President Yar'adua's person. I am sure he is a good man and also mean well for Nigeria in his actions. However, he seems unable to attend to national needs for certain reasons - some of these seem obvious. If this tournament turns out to be a big embarrassment, and it is looking very likely, then Yar'adua must go in 2011.

The dreams of 140 million people have been delayed enough! Enough is enough!

[size=14pt]Nigeria: FIFA U-17 World Cup Scare - How Adamu Saved Nigeria From Embarrassment [/size]
Abdulrahman Tonga
2 October 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaduna: But for the timely intervention of Nigeria's FIFA and CAF executive member Dr Amos Adamu after some critical members of the executive committee of world's football governing body had perfected plans by circulating text messages to kick against Nigeria's quest with going ahead to host the championship only few weeks away, FIFA would have embarrassed the country by withdrawing the hosting right.

Shortly before the meeting that held in Brazil Tuesday and Wednesday between FIFA executive members, some anti-Nigeria members who are disturbed by the state of unpreparedness of some major facilities for the championship had lobbied other influential members through text messages on taking a position not to allow Nigeria continue with the hosting. They had proposed that Mexico be on stand by in the event of the possible last minute withdrawal. According to the plan, all FIFA would have to do is to adjust the calendar for a month or two to allow Mexico perfect her plans.

But Nigeria's Dr Amos Adamu getting wind of the plan swung to action and frustrated the plan on the grounds that as a Nigerian he would never be at the FIFA executive and allow his country to be rubbished before the entire world.

Adamu muscled round other members and killed the idea before it was brought up convincing them that Nigeria would not disappoint the confidence put on them by FIFA. Most of them not convinced requested that Dr Adamu must make a personal pledge where he then had to stake his executive membership as a sign of seriousness and commitment to the realization of the U-17 dream.

On the disturbing news why the event a major media tournament but experiencing poor publicity even in Nigeria and worse outside the country with most committees set up crying over being starved of funds to properly package the event to the delight of FIFA, Adamu was able to convince them that it is due to the budgetary procedures associated with the release of funds that has brought about the delay.

Meanwhile Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission (NSC), Engr. Mohammed Sani Ndanusa assured Nigerians not to panic as the country is on course in the hosting of the FIFA U-17 World Cup come October 24 to November 15 2009.

Ndanusa Wednesday after news broke that FIFA is contemplating withdrawing the hosting right held a closed door meeting with the LOC's officials led by the Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive, Mainasara Illo. After the meeting, the minister agreed there are few challenges in some of the venues but added that it would be accomplished well ahead of the tournament.



[size=14pt]UAE slams Nigeria facilities [/size] 
By Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC Sport, Lagos 



UAE is threatening to withdraw from the Under-17 World Cup
The team manager of the United Arab Emirates team Jamal Hassan has launched a savage attack on the facilities for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) are due to be based there in Group E alongside Malawi, Spain and the USA.

Hassan threatened to withdraw his team from the tournament if the Gwagwarawa and Bayero University training pitches are not completely revamped.

"How do they expect my youthful players to come and train on a pitch without grass?" he told Punch newspaper in Nigeria.

"They want us to train on the field which cannot accommodate even a five-a-side game. This is horrible; I have never seen a thing like this all my life in football.

"Even the doping room is only comparable to a detention centre, there are no excuses, and we cannot stay here."

Even though facilities in Kano have come under severe criticism from the local media, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in the city insist they are on track to be perfect hosts to the teams in Group E.


They want us to train on the field which cannot accommodate even a five-a-side game


Emeka Odikpo, a spokesman for the 2009 Under-17 LOC defended the work being done on their facilities.

"We have challenges in Kano but some of these exaggerated condemnations are unfounded," Odikpo told BBC Sport on Friday.

"The training pitches are a major concern but there is ongoing work there to make things ready because we want them to be graced by, and appreciated by teams coming here.

"They (UAE) cannot pull out because it is a Fifa-organised tournament, besides Fifa looked at Kano and pronounced it fit to stage the tournament.

"Things that need to be done are minor which can be fixed in matter of hours and not days.

"We will, of course, seek to address any concerns raised by the UAE officials and hope to work it out to reach a satisfactory conclusion for all."

Earlier in the week, Fifa vice-president Jack Warner raised fresh concerns over Nigeria's preparations for their hosting of October's Under-17 World Cup.

Warner says organisers of the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria should use Egypt's preparations for the under-20 event as a catalyst to help them get ready.

Football's world governing body at one stage threatened to move the tournament from Nigeria because of organisational difficulties.


[size=14pt]Nigeria: Fifa Delays Decision On 2009 U-17 World Cup Host [/size]
Orkula Shaagee
1 October 2009

World soccer governing body, FIFA yesterday delayed taking a final decision on whether Nigeria's right to host the 20099 FIFA U-17 World Cup is revoked or retained, even as it received reports on preparations for the biennial soccer fiesta.

The Executive Committee of the global soccer ruling body met in Rio de Janeiro Brazil on Wednesday and was to announce the withdrawal of the hosting right to Nigeria over poor preparations.

Before the meeting in Brazil, FIFA wrote its Executive Committee members, among who are Nigeria's Amos Adamu expressing its dismay over the choice of Nigeria as the host of the cadet World Cup this month.

Trustsports had gathered from a competent source that FIFA also detailed Mexico to be on the standby in the event of a final withdrawal of the hosting right from Nigeria.

But Wednesday's meeting ended without FIFA making formal pronouncement on the matter, it confirmed receiving updates on preparations for it.

It was learnt that FIFA considered the proximity of the kick off date for the U-17 World Cup for not revoking the hosting right from Nigeria; hence the commencement date cannot be shifted from October 24.

According to FIFA on its website "The Executive Committee received reports about the 2009 FIFA competitions, including the successful FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 and the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009, which kicked off on 24 September.

"Updates were given on the several forthcoming 2009 competitions (FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Dubai 2009 and FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009)".

Efforts to get confirmation from the Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup LOC Chief Executive Officer, Mainasara Illo of its General Manager Media, Emeka Odikpo proved as they cannot be reached on phone.

@kosovo

The reason is simple. Outsiders, due to the behavior and utter irresponsibilities of our leaders, see such practices as ACCEPTED NORMS among us. Just imagine that the TOP law enforcement officer of Nigeria is not ashamed to be remotely linked to people who everyone can see are corrupt, but even goes out of his way to hide behind the one finger of national pride to defend them. Can you imagine he would climb on a plane to attend to Ibori's travails in the U.K.? That mere act, regardless of what he says there, is itself an indictment of our entire system of doing things. Where are the AGFs pronouncements on the injustice Nigerians suffer each day?

This my friend is the reason. Peoples of other nations are no less greedy than Nigerians, the difference is recognizing that this is a problem that must continually be combated, and it starts with standards of law and responsible governments. Turn off the traffic lights or remove the effective system of penalizing traffic light violators for one day in any developed country, and you will see the meaning of traffic chaos on their streets.

Just ask yourself what our government has done about those involved with Halliburton and other revelations of corruption in recent times. In our society these are the same untouchables in the corridors of power. Ah!

naijamini

[/quote]

typical:
Just heard on BBC news now that BAE systems is to be dragged to court over bribery and corruption in Africa (not first the first time). These british and Americans do these things regularly but no one ever labels them as American or British corruption or even british scam.

Why is this so?

[quote author=typical link=topic=331187.msg4645077#msg4645077 date=1254381808]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8284073.stm

BAE Systems, the UK's biggest manufacturer, is facing bribery charges and a possible confiscation of between £500m and £1bn, the BBC understands.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is expected to announce later that it wishes to prosecute defence giant BAE Systems for alleged bribery.

The case refers to allegations the UK firm paid out millions of pounds to win contracts from a number of countries.

BAE admitted last year that it had not always met the top ethical standards.

A separate investigation into BAE by the SFO was dropped in 2007 after it was decided that national security was at risk.

In that case, the SFO ended its investigation into a giant 1980s arms deal BAE secured from Saudi Arabia.

The latest SFO investigations are into contracts BAE won from countries including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa.

The BBC's Andy Hosken said any deal would involve BAE pleading guilty to charges of corruption and agreeing to pay a substantial sum in compensation - between £500m and £1bn.

Criminal charges would be brought under the 2001 Prevention of Corruption Act, but conviction would be decided by a judge without needing a crown court trial in front of a jury, he added.

A final decision on whether to proceed with criminal proceedings will have to be made by the Attorney General Baroness Scotland.

A BAE spokesman said the firm was working with regulators to help bring the investigation to an end, "providing access to people, information and premises whenever requested".

The firm is the UK's largest manufacturer - making everything from British Army kit to warships and planes. It has about 105,000 employees worldwide with customers in more than 100 countries.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said the continuing SFO probe into BAE was "the most explosive investigation into a British company that I have ever encountered".

He said the SFO was continuing to put pressure on BAE to admit limited responsibility and pay a fine, and that he still thought "there is a probability that the two sides will reach agreement".

After much thought on the deplorable state of our nation on the domestic and foreign fronts below are some thoughts on what would be needed to move our potentially great nation forward. There is also a need for practical approaches to implementing the proposals implied in this write-up. Thoughts on these would be shared in the near future. Meanwhile, like-minded readers are called upon to respond with their own thoughts on this subject.

Thanks.

'Debo


C3REES   -   Campaign for Reform, Rights, Responsibilities, Education, Equity and Service
                                                                                      ---An Agenda for Change in Nigeria

'Debo Oladosu

September 28, 2009

As Nigeria approaches 50 years of independence from the colonialists one cannot but stop to think about where we were, where we are and where we are going. There is no gain saying that Nigeria needs a new approach in our quest for true nationhood.  As we celebrate the 49th independence anniversary of our potentially great nation I see the need for a people-grounded alliance of independent groups across our nation unified by a Campaign for Reform, Rights, Responsibilities, Education, Equity and Service (C3REES).

Why C3REES:

Campaign because a sustained, bottom-up, engagement among all stakeholders is the only hope for transforming our nation from potentially great, to a truly great nation. Many today are disappointed in the idea of Nigeria.  Apathy, and sometimes outright cynicism about the concept of Nigeria is rife. The promise of a united and peaceful nation of 150 million that could shine as a beacon of hope for all black people across the globe sounds like an impossibility to many. Our common belief in Nigeria may suffer from such cynicism, but it shines through on occasions - national soccer triumphs come readily to mind.  This common belief is also apparent when a leader that truly cares about the people appears to be coming over the horizon. Of recent memory is the nationwide, jubilant campaign of MKO Abiola. Whether these moments of national pride and comradery were justified or not, they show that national pride and patriotism is in our blood - dormant or perhaps on life-support, but nevertheless, in our blood. We must work to wake up this spirit of togetherness in our countrymen through a sustained campaign for the ideals that we seek in our nation. We must seek reconciliation over old animosities. We must begin to respect our cultural and religious diversity. Most importantly we must ingeniously and candidly address these diversities to device arrangements that will allow us to live together in peace and stability as our founding fathers dreamt as they struggled for independence.

Reform because many of the imperfections that faced Nigeria as a nation during and after the struggle for independence has, rather than cured, become systemic features of national life. Like a malignant cancer that begins with one cell these imperfections have multiplied without restraint. In the same way that advanced medical cancer invades the entire body and dominates the life of its victim, these vices have inadvertently become the "face" of Nigeria to the outside world. Corruption and the insecurity of violence, aided by non-functioning institutions of governance have become the norm, rather than the exception of life in Nigeria today. These malignant vices suffocate any effort at moving our nation forward. Prosecutorial methods, whether through commendable agencies such as the EFCC or ICPC or the ill-equipped, ill-trained NPF are powerless in the face of these unfortunately powerful forces that govern almost every aspect of productive, governmental and even personal life in Nigeria today. As healthy cells soon become recruits cancer remains untreated, these agencies soon lose their true purpose, and become instruments of the same vices they are setup to fight. What is needed to defeat these systemic vices is also a systemic reformation of our institutions, attitudes, knowledge and innovation system (a.k.a. education), security system, and administration of justice. Until we rid ourselves of these vices most of our efforts at national development would continue to come to naught - 8 military coups and attempted coups (consuming 35 of 49 years of independence), a devastating civil war, incessant religious and political violence, virulent militancy in the Niger Delta, dilapidated schools and hospitals, etc. should convince us that our previous methods are not just ineffective, they are moving us in the wrong direction. While our history and story may be unique, the solutions to our problem do not require any new or unique methods. What we require is the ability to see our situation and its solutions in the light of modern knowledge that abounds around us, commit ourselves to reason over violence, and show a dogged determination to fulfill our objectives. If we are willing to do this, our nation can bloom again like the cells of a body from which cancer has been surgically eradicated. These vices are not inherent to our nature or culture and we must not accept the words of those who would make us believe otherwise. We can rid ourselves of these vices, but we must work hard at it.

Rights and Responsibilities because these two are the basis for national pride, progress, and the fulcrum of our national reformation. The views of the average Nigerian today on these two crucial aspects of national life are at best schizophrenic. There are those who insist on rights that are no rights at all, while easily giving up or failing to insist on many other fundamental rights. Both of these result from our failure to recognize that rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. We have a system of government today where leaders claim rights to comfortable housing, rides, all kinds of allowances and essentially all national land and resources derived from it, but forget that in reality they are hired hands whose rights to some of these things depends on fulfilling their responsibilities to project Nigeria's dignity, protect her citizens wherever they may be in the world, administer impartial justice, and secure life and property, among others. Further they fail to recognize that they have no rights to our collective resources beyond that which is necessary to perform the job for which they have been hired. As a result they continue to fail woefully, whether in civilian clothes or military uniforms. In the same vein, the majority of Nigerians do not know or understand their own rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, petition, and security of life and property, among others.  At the same time personal responsibilities to conduct individual affairs with obedience to the rule of law, respect for rights, beliefs and opinion of others, and reliance on one's honest work as the source of support and maintenance are easily relegated. There is too much begging in our land, there is too much imposition of opinions and beliefs on others producing untold violence, there is too much misuse, misapplication and stealing of public funds all of which can be traced to a lack of respect for individual and collective rights or a sense of citizen  responsibility. We must return to these fundamentals. Each and every stakeholder must be challenged to assert their rights, under the one condition that they also fulfill their corresponding responsibilities. A government official that insists on living in privileged quarters must also be held responsible for failure in public governance. Workers that insist on good pay must produce good work. Individuals must look inwards, putting in needed efforts to support themselves, rather than seek to harvest where they have not sown.  All must strive to play their role as a citizen in reforming our nation and be her ambassador. Our army and police force needs to be transformed into projectors of national strength and rule of law, both at home and abroad. In return the instruments of violence entrusted to these few for the sole purpose of countering violence must be held sacred, and never turned against the citizenry, nor used in the service of those who would make themselves into demi-gods in our midst.

Equity because the contribution of individuals, communities, agencies of governments and all stakeholders must be meritoriously acknowledged and rewarded. Those whose land provide resources to the nation in all forms must be rewarded for their rights to such land, damages to their environment and livelihood must be avoided, and any such damages adequately compensated. At the same time we much recognize that component parts of our federation are not endowed equally, through no fault of their own, and that their disadvantages are ours too - implying a collective responsibility to help overcome such disadvantages without promoting dependence or parasitic behavior. Equity must mean the liberation of women who constitute over half of our population, holding the potential to double national productivity if allowed the necessary opportunities. Equity must mean liberating our kids from the burdens they now bear from disease, abuse, back-breaking work, and enslavement, so they would be adequately prepared to truly become the next generation. Equity means that those who engage in life-threatening work to protect the nation or secure life and property deserve a special place in our national consciousness.

Education for all because this remains the single most effective means known to man for liberating the mind and body from the bounds that hold people in poverty and mental darkness. At the collective level, education of a large majority of the citizenry that is also put to good use is recognized as the most important ingredient to increasing productivity and promoting economic growth. In the beleaguered 49-year history of Nigeria most of those who have managed to escape the traps of an ineffectual system are those who received some meaningful level of education. However, our inequitable approach to education has meant that many millions more  who would power our greatness have been reduced to penury, living in ignorance of their God given potentials or the nightmare of dead dreams. As one of Nigeria's foremost educationist once said: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance". The cost of ignorance promoted by a succession of overbearing governments is apparent today in our dying institutions of learning, ill-prepared graduates, almost complete loss of our stock of skilled people to other nations around the world who recognize the value of knowledge above all else, and the low standards that characterize our society today.

Service because the task needed to transform our nation cannot be denoted in Naira and Kobo alone, but in the sweat of patriots who devote themselves to volunteerism. In the steps of one of America's greatest President who said "not to ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" we "encourage all who have benefited from Nigeria's resources and standing as a nation to ask what they can do for her in return, for those who are struggling to make ends meet each day we encourage them to ask what they can do for themselves and their community, we encourage all to contribute their quota, no matter how small, in reforming, strengthening, and promoting Nigeria" as a nation of brothers and sisters with a common destiny with fellow Africans and the global human collective.

@sbo
I agree with most of your points, especially the statement:

"The government should also implement mechanisms that will guarantee transparency at all stages in the tendering process. These mechanisms must include setting procurement specifications, open public hearings for major government contracts, and the final selection of contractors; and Involvement independent agencies to oversee the bidding process. Unfortunately most of the PPP contracts in Nigeria are announced on the front pages of newspapers. The process of awarding these contracts is shrouded in secrecy. A classic example is the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway N89billion concession contract. Up till now, the public is yet to be advised of the process that led to the selection of Bi-Courtney Ltd. Where was the tender for the procurement advertised? How many companies bidded for the contract?"

However, the attitude of seeing any type of privatization as "selling our assets" is so rampant with Nigerian workers that I am not sure the legitimate concerns you stated above are the underlying reason for the strike. I often find myself musing that we don't know what our government is doing - particularly when you see how the American President is challenged to explain his decisions each and everyday. This is especially ironic since Nigeria is one of the remaining countries that maintain a full "Information Ministry" and governments continue to control radio and television houses. Yet they refuse to pass a FOI bill.

Don't get me wrong I think the impact on workers must be adequately addressed, and an agreement that freezes any airport development for 36 years is not only monopolistic, it is downright thievery, but capitalist will look for a monopoly whenever possible. The government officials in charge of that agreement probably did not read the documents, nor cared, as long as their already greasy palms are well oiled.

Now they are waiting for the President to be involved in this issue! Amazing. We think statically and run a country of 150 million like a small town.

naijamini


@

sbo:
I don't think that is issue. The question we need to ask is? Did the PPP Agreement between the FG and Bi-courtney follow due process? Did the govt carry along FAAN workers during the contract negotiation process? What was the communication between the govt and Union was the idea of Concession was mooted?

Below is my blogpost on this issue.

@Gamine

Not too frequent, but airport worker strikes occur in other places too, and not just developing countries.

My main concern here is whether it is within the purview of airport workers to say who manages the airport.

It seems peculiar with Nigerian worker strikes that with one mouth they complain about corruption/bad management of government run operations, then go on strike when private enterprises are called in to do the business they know how to do best. The moribound NITEL is the classic case of this phenomenon in Nigeria. We cannot have our cake and eat it too.

Thanks.

naijamini

Gamine:
This is horrible,
just horrible

I dont even know what to think.
and they are busying pursuing District 9
when their own district is on fire *smh*