ogugua88:

She no dey fear? I don't believe in curses, but if I was First Lady (especially one without clean hands), I wouldn't give the statistic of presidents/first ladies dying a chance. Maybe she hasn't looked herself in the mirror lately. She isn't exactly healthy. If any kind of complications arise, doctors will have to work at least twice as hard reviving her due to her size.

Yes, what caught me attention too from the report was exactly the part you highlighted in that quote, i.e. the first lady would accompany the president on the planned trip against the advice of her German doctors!. This would appear to be a very expensive gamble, IMO.

Ailing First Lady To Accompany President Jonathan To UN General Assembly

Posted: September 16, 2012 - 16:52

By SaharaReporters, New York

With an eye on public relations stunt, President Goodluck Jonathan plans to reunite with his ailing wife, Patience next weekend, and thereafter head out with her the following day to the United Nations General Assembly in New York against doctor's advice.
Presidency sources told SaharaReporters that Mr. Jonathan is expected to arrive New York on September 24 for the plenary debate of the 67th General Assembly, which kicks off the same day.
Mr. Jonathan will also co-chair an event with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.
Doctors at the German hospital where Mrs. Jonathan's remains on treatment have reportedly delayed her treatment by another week while they await test results from body tissues sent out to other European specialist hospitals.
If all goes well, our sources said Mrs. Jonathan would return to Nigeria after the General Assembly. The presidency has, however, maintained official silence about Mrs. Jonathan’s condition, an irony that parallels late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s treatment in Saudi Arabia in late 2009 and early 2010 when Mr. Jonathan was Vice-President.
Meanwhile, a Dubai newspaper is refuting reports that Mrs. Jonathan suffered food poisoning there.
Original reports said the First Lady took ill in Dubai with food poisoning, following which she returned to Abuja only to be airlifted to Germany in a dire emergency. She was then said to have had her appendix, which had ruptured, removed. Subsequent reports said she had further surgery concerning fibroids.
But the Khaleej Times, in a September 8 story, said that food control officials said they are unaware of the alleged food poisoning in the emirate in the first place concerning “Patience Faka Jonathan.”
The newspaper quoted an Assistant Director-General of Public Health, Safety and Environment Monitoring Sector Salem bin Mesmar and the Director of the Food Control Department Khalid Mohammed Sharif Al Awadhi as saying they had not even heard the complaint.
“If she had come here, she would have stayed in and had food from well-reputed places only,” the paper quoted Mesmar as saying. “I don’t think they would serve her anything that is bad. We have not heard anything about such a food poisoning issue.”
The paper said the Jonathans are expected to be in Dubai in late October for the African Energy Summit and First Ladies’ Summit scheduled to be held as part of the World Energy Forum.

The link:

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/ailing-first-lady-accompany-president-jonathan-un-general-assembly

Dhelake: you were xo spot on .... This is gross insensitivity

Yes, insensitivity most probably motivated by racial prejudice.

As a poster pointed out, imagine if it were the other way round, i.e. if it were a white Briton that was robbed while lodging in a Nigerian hotel, and the hotel management were to treat his unfortunate plight with such shocking and callous indifference!

The gross insensitivity shown by the hotel management clearly smacks of racism and prejudice against a guest that has been a victim of crime.

If the victim were a white European, American or a Japanese or South Korean, the same hotel management would have surely treated his plight with much more sympathy and assisted him adequately.

I think Mr Okwoju and his friends should get in touch with as many Nigerian journalists and other professionals in the UK and the continental Europe as they can, and seek their assistance in giving this shameful attitude of the hotel management as much publicity as possible in the British media and blog-sphere.

The hotel management must be made to pay for this betrayal and abandoning of a guest of theirs when he obviously needed their assistance most. Bleeping racists!

The link:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/n34bn-id-card-scam-french-court-fines-coy-for-bribing-nigerian-officials/

N34bn ID card scam: French court fines coy for bribing Nigerian officials

ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 • IN NEWS
2:57 am

By MICHAEL EBOH, WITH AGENCY REPORT

A French firm, Safran, has been fined about N100 million (500,000 euros) by a court in Paris for bribing public officials in Nigeria to secure the N33.5 billion contract for the printing of more than 70 million identity cards between 2000 and 2003.

Safran, a French aeronautics and defence group, was found guilty by the investigating magistrates, of giving bribes to Nigerian officials that helped it win the contract.
The company is partly owned by France,which owns a 30 per cent stake.

The court found that SAGEM (Société d’Applications Générales de l’Électricité et de la Mécanique, translated to mean Company of General Applications of Electricity and Mechanics, a company that merged with SNECMA to form Safran in 2005, paid bribes worth between N4.8 million ($30,000) to N80 million ($500,000) to Nigerian officials between 2000 and 2003 to secure a 171 million euro contract.

The court condemned the company for endorsing the payments, but dropped charges against two former SAGEM executives: Jean-Pierre Delarue, then a sales manager in Nigeria, and François Perrachon, the former director for identification systems.
Prosecutors had sought a suspended sentence of up to 18 months and fines of 15,000 euros each for the two officials.

The prosecution alleged that Sagem paid millions of dollars as bribes to high-ranking Nigerian officials including the former Minister of Internal Affairs, late Chief Sunday Afolabi.

And a 70-year mornach in Bayelsa was also kidnapped today.

The link http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/08/gunmen-kidnap-bayelsa-monarch/

The link: http://saharareporters.com/news-page/isoko-development-union-president-kidnapped

Isoko Development Union President Kidnapped

Posted: August 25, 2012 - 16:14

By SaharaReporters, New York

In a continuation of high profile kidnappings in Delta State, the President of Isoko Development Union (IDU), Gregory Akpojene, was kidnapped two days ago, SaharaReporters has learnt. Mr. Akpojene was kidnapped in his home town, Otor-Igho, in Isoko North Local Government Area.

A source told SaharaReporters that at least seven gunmen invaded the kidnap victim’s home where they nabbed him. Akpojene’s home is a mere three-minute drive away from Owhelogbo where Markson Macaulay, the son of the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Ovuozorie Macaulay, was kidnapped in June. The latest kidnap victim’s home is also about 14 miles away from Emevor where a former soccer star, Christian Obodo, was rescued barely two months ago.

A family source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Akpojene, a veteran farmer, was kidnapped as he was about to enter his car. His kidnappers then took him away to an unknown destination.

The source added that the Isoko leader’s abductors were yet to establish contact with any member of his family as at yesterday morning.

The secretary general of IDU, Julius Mallam-Obi, confirmed the kidnap. Describing the development as unfortunate and troubling, he added security agencies had been informed. He appealed to the kidnappers to release the Isoko leader unharmed.

In a comment on the incident, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Duncan Akpovienehe Mr. Afahokor, decried the incessant rate of kidnappings and other crimes in Delta State. Mr. Afahokor also called on security agents to ensure that Mr. Akpojene is released unhurt.

“It is unfortunate that [Mr. Akpojene] could be subjected to this ordeal. These mindless crimes must be brought to a halt,” said the lawyer. He added that the Isoko leader was to be an honored guest at a celebration of his wedding anniversary last Sunday, but failed to make it due to his busy schedule. “It is then sad to hear this morning that he is presently in the kidnappers’ den in an unknown place,” the lawyer said.

In a tearful voice, Mr. Afahokor said, “I share in the trauma of our president and his immediate family, and I join my voice with other Isoko sons and daughters to plead with those holding him hostage to please release him unhurt.”

A police source told SaharaReporters that Delta State was currently under siege by kidnappers, armed robbers, rapists and other criminals. He added that many unlucky victims of violent crimes have lost their lives.

Insecurity continues to reign in the state despite Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s insistence that peace and security top his 3-point agenda.

Okupe Lawyers Admit He Did Fraudulent Contracts With Imo And Benue


By SaharaReporters, New York

New presidential attack dog, Dr. Doyin Okupe, road construction contracts from the governments of Benue and Imo States and got substantial payments, his lawyers have admitted.

On his behalf, the Lagos law firm of Yemi Gbonegun and Co said today that the rural road construction contracts were awarded in 2004 and 2005 to companies in which Dr. Okupe has substantial interests and served as Chairman, but denied they were awarded to him personally.

And beyond the mobilization payments, those companies received other payments over a period exceeding two years continuously for work done, the statement said.

“We also confirm that contrary to reports in the media, on no account did any of the companies bolt away with any money and if they had, the state governments would have legally had recourse to the Bank Guarantees issued, held the banks accountable and recovered their monies,” the statement said.

It said disputes about certificates of payments arose in both transactions, claiming that this is normal between a contractor and its employers, and that the issues were at different times thoroughly investigated by the EFCC, but that no fraud or any criminality was ever found against any of the Companies.

“In the case of Imo State Government a settlement agreement out of court was reached while in Benue State both parties agreed to go in for arbitration in accordance with the provisions of the signed contract document,” it further said.

[b]Today’s statement by Yemi Gbonegun and Co. raised more questions than it answered. It did not explain why, as previously reported by SaharaReporters, Dr. Okupe was personally detained by the EFCC for an entire month in 2006.

In 2005, during the tenure of Governor Achike Udenwa, Okupe went to Imo state with a business partner, the Israeli businessman Ilan Salman. Okupe got a contract to import Romix Soilfix, a soil stabilizing substance, from South Africa for the construction of four kilometres of road in each of the 27 local government areas at the rate of N14 million per km.

That amounted to N1.512 billion. Okupe was paid mobilization fee of N400 million twice (totaling N800m). He was then paid another N350 million for the little work done, with just about 8km out of the 108km Romix promised to construct.

This means that Okupe was paid over N1.2billion, with very little to show for it. He carried out his lack of work in the State in collaboration with the former Speaker of the Imo State Assembly, Chief Godfrey Dikeocha.

As investigations into the daylight hoax heated up, Okupe’s engineers were arrested in Owerri alongside the LGA chairmen and moved to Ikoyi, Lagos.

In addition, Okupe’s head office, which was at that time on Isale Eko Street in Dolphin Estate, was sealed up and Chief Okupe locked up for one month by the EFCC, but he was never tried.

The situation in Benue State was similar. Through Messrs Value Trust Investments Ltd., Okupe secured a contract valued at N2.303 billion, again for the construction of rural roads across the state. By July 17, 2006, he had been paid N886.8m.

The man who would later be invited by President Goodluck Jonathan to serve as his leading voice on Public Affairs then disappeared. That case, as was the situation in Imo State, was brought to the EFCC.

With today’s statement by his lawyers, Okupe confirms the two contracts that have come to light but not their details, including why the contracts were never completed, or what was done with the vast sums he collected using his top-level access in the People’s Democratic Party.
[/b]

Jonathan Gives ‘Tompolo’ Contract To Supply 20 Marine Patrol Vessels To Navy

By SaharaReporters, New York

A company, Global West Specialist Agency, believed to be owned by a former Delta militant, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, a.k.a Tompolo, has been given a huge contract, with the influence of President Goodluck Jonathan, to supply 20 patrol vessels for the use of Nigeria’s military authorities in securing the country’s coastline.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Abdullahi Idris Umar, revealed this to the BBC Hausa service, monitored in Abuja.

The Minister, who did not mention Tompolo’s name but that of the company, added that the company has already supplied eight vessels of the 20 vessels included in the contract agreement.

Although the Federal Government has always declared that the security of Nigeria’s coastline is ultimately the prerogative of her Navy, ex-militant Tompolo's company continues to enjoy the patronage of multimillion-dollar contracts from the Nigerian presidency.

Mr. Umar did not mention the cost of the contract, either. But he said that Global West Specialist Agency will also consult for the government in securing the Nigerian coastline, thereby rendering the Nigerian navy secondary to the firm.

He also said, “We did not say that the company will take over responsibility of the Nigerian Navy, the company’s job is to just buy the vessels and other components needed in securing the coastline. And the partnership reached has nothing to do with them taking over functions of the navy.

As if anticipating popular criticism in the country, the Minister said, “There is nothing like navy has failed; the issue is not that. The partnership is legal but not taking official functions of the navy. If we guard this coastline it will boost our revenue, and the reforms meeting we are doing is to bring change.

The link: http://saharareporters.com/news-page/jonathan-gives-%E2%80%98tompolo%E2%80%99-contract-supply-20-marine-patrol-vessels-navy

kettykin: The end of a Business Model will mark the beginning of yet another business model , the only permanet thing in life is change , The very smart igbo business men are no longer doing buying nd selling in parts of the north an e.g is innosson who was into motorcycle manufacturing and before motorcycle business declined through banning of motorcycle he already migrated to Car manufacturing and plastic industries.

At the turn of the century many igbos went into large scale farming owning palm , rubber , cocoa plantation doing business with White importers but all that changed 40 years after (after the civil war) when igbo went into manufacturing , importation , wholesale and retailing all over the country and i think it is about to change 40 years after the civil war as new generation igbos are already into international Banking , Shipping ,Haulage , Pharmaceutical , Manufacturing e.t.c
Quite a very well thought out article whose timing is right , i think the same way igbos are divesting from the north, they should start divesting from lagos , further investment into landed property in Lagos should stop forthwith and progress of work in the dredging of River Niger ,Ibaka sea port the International airport in Enugu and the Interntional Cargo Airport in Owerri should be sped up .
There are enough Diasporan funds that can be used as a seed for new busines opportunities. My hear felt sympathy goes to

I believe that for a long time to come, and whether we remain as one Nigeria or we go our separate ways, the Igbos would continue to be far ahead of other Nigerian ethnic groups when it comes to business and commerce, local or international.

However, I think the part in bold is not a solution to the potential competition the Igbo are likely to face from international retailers such as Wallmart, or from the Chinese traders who take to street trading in Nigeria); instead of divesting from the North and Lagos, the Igbos would need even bigger market in the future.

That is why I believe ordinary core Northerners and ordinary Igbos are worst affected by the murderous activities.

Many points raised by Rudolf in this fine article provide good food-for-thought not only for the Igbos for all Nigerians.

The End Of Igbo Business Model - By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo


"Even the blind can see the storms gathering across the Nigerian sky. The question left unanswered is, will they come together in such a formation that it becomes a perfect storm? If it happens, it will blow a lot of people away. But the people most vulnerable are the Igbo. Unfortunately, they have no clue about what is happening up in the sky.

Some have argued so eloquently that the security situation in Northern Nigeria is not a Northern problem. They argue that the Boko Haram threat to the security in Northern Nigeria is a Nigerian problem. It might as well be. But it is an existential problem for the Igbo.

For so many people in Nigeria, Youth Corpers, students, police men, government officials, who find themselves in Northern Nigeria it is a problem. For the Igbo, it is not just a subject of debate. It is not just a problem. It is haunting reality. Many have fled the North. They have abandoned homes and property.

Depending on where you are, your perceptions of events may differ. Watching from Lagos, you do what Nigerians do very well - you pray that Boko Haram doesn’t attack Lagos and force the OPC to declare war. If you are watching from the East, you see tens and tens of folks from your village bringing back their wives, children, spring bed and mattresses. For them the war is on. The country is in disarray. The dream is over. And watching from abroad, the fear is that the perfect storm is about to set on the sky of Nigeria.

The Azazi led security team essentially came up with this rudimentary strategy: get some Christians, pay them and assure them of no prosecution. Send them out to plant bombs in a few churches to make it look as if Christians are also planting bombs in churches. That did not work. Then they came up with the plan to get some Muslims to plant bombs in a mosque so that it would look as if Boko Haram is also bombing mosques. The hope was that maybe that move would cause disaffection for Boko Haram with people in that community. Again, that did not work. So rudimentary. So cheap. So lacking in imagination.

The hope that many of you have now is that the prince of Sokoto, Sambo Dasuki, will gain the trust of security agents and Boko Haram sympathizers who feel that this is all political. With Dasuki, you hope that those who feel alienated in the distribution of power in Nigeria could relax and rejoin the political process. You hope it works. You hope the Boko Haram genie can still be put back in the box.

Like the militants of the Niger Delta, even if Boko Haram group is quelled, we know they can always reactivate their fight whenever it suits them, irrespective of what rehabilitation they went through. When the real and imagined injustices and structural imbalances that permeate every facet of life in Nigeria remain unaddressed, the return to battle is guaranteed.
But that is not the biggest threat facing the Igbo. That problem they could see. And the wise ones have reacted with their feet.

The biggest problem facing the Igbo is so subtle. We got a glimpse of it penultimate week when some traders at Balogun market demonstrated against the Chinese who have come into Nigeria to do business.

The Balogun market branch Dealers of Bags and Leather Wears Association of Nigeria had a protest march against some Chinese business men. They accused the Chinese men of retailing leather products at a very cheap rate, thereby forcing these traders to operate at a loss. The traders said it was a systematic plan to undermine and kill off their business in Nigeria.

These traders said that they have been facing this problem for over five years now- that was when the Chinese came. They wanted the Chinese to remember that the reason the Federal Government allowed them to operate in Nigeria was to build industries that would create employment. These protesting traders called for dialogue with the Chinese with the hope that afterwards the Chinese would go back home and bring machines to set up industries.

One after the other they lined up and spoke to the press, begging the government to come to their aid. They said if the activities of the Chinese were not checked, thousands of them would lose their source of livelihood. If you read their statements you would be sorry for them. These men were shedding tears over the Chinese. They did not know that Walmart is on its way.

According to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Walmart is on its way to Nigeria. This news was also confirmed by the Nigerian ambassador to the United States who told Empowered Newswire that Walmart plans to open two stores in Nigeria. Walmart came into Africa when it bought a controlling share in South Africa’s Massmart Holdings Ltd.
Already Africa’s largest grocer, South African Shoprite, is in Nigeria and other big retail stores like Pepkor Ltd are making plans to come. According to Pepkor Ltd CEO, the clothing company “plans to ride on the coat tails of Shoprite.” So the Igbo traders shedding tears over the Chinese have not seen anything yet.

Currently, these stores appear to target high-income earners in big cities. But over time, they would default to serving low-income earners everywhere in Nigeria. Pepkor, for instance, plans to open up to 50 stores in Nigeria. And that is when these traders will shed more than tears.

Of course, people like the CEO of Pepkor, Mr. Wiese are saying, “there’s enough for everybody. It’s a growing market.” And I bet you, if you get the Chinese business men to speak to the media, they would say the same thing.

The real truth is that the Igbo business model of opening stores in markets across city centers is coming to an end. In a generation or two, there won’t be anything like that anymore. It would all go the way Mom and Pop stores disappeared in American cities where Walmart and Targets set up shop.

The Igbo business model is simple. At the top is an importer. His job is to import items from overseas and have a chain of wholesalers move the goods across Nigeria. The wholesalers on their own have a chain of retailers who buy from them and sell at markets across Nigeria. In one swoop, the Chinese and Walmart will replace all the Igbo traders on this chain from importers to retailers.

The question now is what will the Igbo do before Balogun, Ojo Alaba International, Ochanja, Ogbete, and other markets across Nigeria are turned into Malls, theaters and football fields? With millions of Igbo men and women who engage in retail business across Africa, what happens after the Walmarts of this world have settled in? What happens when regular Nigerians have become accustomed to walking into air-conditioned stores; looking up marked prices, paying for what they can afford and returning items they do not want seven days after they purchased it?

I trust that the Igbo will not fold their arms and go on the street to beg. I believe they will find something else to do. But it will be good if they begin to strategize now. It will be great if a ten-year and twenty-year plans for transition are put in place. I believe that a plan to transition into manufacturing, turning Aba and Nnewi and Nkpor into manufacturing hubs will greatly keep the Igbo in play as the Chinese and Walmart take their places in Africa.

The last war took the Igbo by surprise. They fought gallantly and lost. The debriefing has not been done. As a result, the aftermath of that war is still ravaging the Igbo society. This new war, already in progress, should not take the Igbo by surprise."

Link: http://saharareporters.com/column/end-igbo-business-model-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

Fuel Subsidy Probe: Femi Otedola, Farouk Lawan, Adams Jagaban Enmeshed In $3million Bribery Scandal
BY EDITOR · 9 JUNE 2012 · NO COMMENTS
CRIME, EXCLUSIVE ·

The last may not have been heard about the N2.7 trillion looted from the Nigerian treasury under the cover of subsidizing fuel consumption by the citizenry and the subsequent probe panel set up by the House of Representatives to probe the scam as ireports-ng.com has unveiled the actors behind a $3million bribery scam engineered to doctor the panel’s report before and after it was submitted on the floor of the House.

Behind the latest bribery ring in the country is the Chairman of African Petroleum, AP, Mr Femi Otedola, Chairman of the fuel subsidy probe panel, Hon.Farouk Lawan and Chairman of the House committee on Drugs and Financial Crimes, Hon.Jagaban Adams Jagaban.

Though a few of Nigerian newspapers had scratched the scam on the surface in their tilted reports today, findings by ireports-ng.com however revealed that soon after the conclusion of the televised public hearing by the Farouk Lawan-led House panel, Otedola who is said to be a close friend of Lawan had approached him to assist to doctor the report of the committee so that his companies, AP and Zenon Oil would not be indicted in their report.

A deal of $3million was said to have been struck while Otedola promised to make available a deposit of $500,000 and the balance provided after the dust has settled.

Not suspecting that he was being recorded by Otedola with pen camera, Farouk was said to have thereafter gone to his friend’s house in Abuja to collect the first payment of $500,000. Upon return from Otedola’s house with the slush fund, Lawan was said to have called his partner in crime, Hon Jagaban Adams Jagaban who is the House committee chairman overseeing the activities of the nation’s anti-graft police, the EFCC and confided in him. The latter prevailed on him to let him take custody of the money, a request that was obliged.

Again, Otedola was said to have gone ahead to invite the clerk of the probe panel,one Boniface Emenalor and handed him $100,000 to also help in the task of doctoring the report. The clerk was said to have briefed Lawan upon return from Otedola and handed his own bribe which was in turn deposited with Jagaban.

ireports-ng.com gathered that while the entire deal was going on, no other member of the probe panel was taken into confidence by the trio of Lawan, Jagaban and Emenalor. As such,the report was submitted with the full indictment of Otedola intact. He was indicted for using his companies to collect foreign currencies from the CBN under the guise of fuel import but diverted same, a pure money laundering criminal offense.

With a total of $600,000 slush fund all kept with the cashier of the syndicate, Hon.Jagaban, they all kept mute for weeks after the conclusion of their assignment, possibly waiting for the appropriate time to share the loot if there is no trouble coming.

When information however leaked this week that Otedola, a very close confidant of President Goodluck Jonathan and ruling PDP’s major financier, had recorded his deal with Lawan on video and handed same over to the president, the Lawan’s ring came out of it’s shel for the first time last Wednesday to throw the slush money on the floor of the House. The PDP leadership was also said to have stepped in to avoid a situation where the scandal will affect the image of its government since all actors in the scandal are PDP members. It was viewed that it will be scandal too many for the PDP government.

The move was rejected by the House leadership and for the first time, other members of the committee and other colleaques got wind of the development. Lawan and Jagaban’s defense now, it was learnt was that they were playing along with Otedola in the bribery scheme.

According to a member of the committee who spoke with our reporter in Abuja,”even if we have to believe their story that President Jonathan used Otedola to set them up and as such they were deliberately playing along, why did they not bring up the matter since we rounded up our assignment several weeks ago? Why do they want to put the money on the floor of the House without briefing us, members of the probe committee? Why did Farouk have to go to Otedola’s House when we all have agreed at the committee level that no member must hold any meeting with any oil marketer?”

Indeed, these and many more are the questions Farouk Lawan and Jagaban Adams Jagaban will need to answer satisfactorily to other members and Nigerians before their set up story can hold water.

Already, the presidency has directed the EFCC to give Lawan, Jagaban and their accomplices in the House the Hembe dose. Another member of the House, Hembe who was the chairman House committee on the capital market was recently enmeshed in a similar scandal. Attempt by his committee to conduct a public hearing probe into the near collapse of the capital market was aborted when the DG of Security and Exchange Commission,Aruma Eteh accused Hembe and his deputy of conducting the probe to witchunt her for not offering them bribe. Hembe and his deputy were later charged before court for obtaining about $4000 as estacode for a trip they didn’t go, thus technically killing the main issue of fraud in SEC.

A lawyer who spoke with ireports-ng.com on the latest development said” it is obvious that the Lawan group had walked into the trap of their enemy and they will surely be devoured because it’s all a power game and I expect them to know better. Now that EFCC has been brought in, the subsidy probe report itself is no longer relevant, they will now be the focus of trial as against those their report indicted. That is Nigeria for you”

Link:
http://ireports-ng.com/2012/06/09/fuel-subsidy-probe-femi-otedola-farouk-lawan-adams-jagaban-enmeshed-in-3million-bribery-scandal/

free2ryhme: [img]http://1.bp..com/-cHDHGv4ayaM/T9IMZr5WBDI/AAAAAAAAaec/yRrhGPIhTpc/s400/0missing+children+lindaikejiblog.jpg[/img]
The 3 boys pictured above (Chinemerem 5, Okechukwu 4 and Nzube 2) are missing. Their driver by name Godwin picked them up from their school ABC Academy Utako Abuja around 3:30pm yesterday June 7th in a new Toyota Avensis metallic colour (without plate number) and disappeared with them. They have not been found. Anybody that has seen or heard anything about their where about should report to the nearest police station.

Please other bloggers should put this on their blogs. Also put the photo above on your dp and send to all your contacts on Facebook and Twitter. Lets all help find these children. The face of the driver below

[img]http://1.bp..com/-Cc7XwdheW5k/T9IMfPkt-wI/AAAAAAAAaek/7j6NCe2rNwo/s400/02.jpg[/img]
The kidnapper, Godwin

This must be a heart-breaking experience for the parents, and agonizing for the kids too - for being separated from their parents!. I hope they are found very soon, and safe.

HAH: Na children full NL sef, I did mine in Osun state unity school 99 /2000

Kabikala: Silame LGA, Sokoto State, 1996/97 set.

HAH: in reply to Kabikala: see pesin wey senior me!!!!!!! Bros I hail o

@HAH, Now see pesin wey senior d pesin wey senior una below:

niddamugu: Na real children wey i fit even born. Anyway, 1995/1996........Adamawa

- - - and den come d baba-patata of NL:

vitality22: This NL is really full of kids. I did mine in Iloro Ekiti. Community Secondary School, Iloro Ekiti. 1981/1982 session

LOL

gator_666: A 40 years old airplane, but well and properly maintained, is safer than brand new but not maintained at all one.

Neither is acceptable in a normal society where sanity and rule of law prevail; a 40-year plane, no matter how "well and properly maintained", would ordinarily have been scrapped, while the question of having a plane that is "brand new but not maintained at all" does not even arise in such a society!.

chucky234: I boarded a Dana Airline from Lagos to Abuja in 2009 because their charges were lower than Arik's but the experience was hell,with a 1972 boeing aircraft on air I was restless for the duration of the journey.

I laughed seriously at the part in bold; thank God you eventually landed safely.

rawtruth: Vanguard must apologise to berom people for using their name erroneously in a 'bloodbath news report'. The crisis was between Alago and Eggon people, both of Nassarawa state. Beroms are in far away plateau and nowhere near Assakio. A little historical perspective might help in understanding how these unfortunate incidents came about and refused to go.Most of the crises in central Nigeria in which land issues are at stake are the legacies of the British/Fulani alliance's divide-and-rule tactics, otherwise known as the Indirect Rule System. It is a historical fact that the Othman Danfodio led Jihad was not successful in penetrating most of the areas that today formed Nassarawa and Taraba states. Therefore, when the British colonialists sought to use the Fulani Caliphate's model of governance over other ethnic groups that had no such centralised system of leadership the Fulanis saw an opportunity to exercise their influence over those tribes that had resisted or defeated them on the battle fields during the Jihad. Their prime target was the Tiv people who had inflicted on them painful defeat during the Jihad, and who were not in the good books of the colonialists because of their tireless resistance to white man' s disregard for their own value systems. Among the tribes under the indirect rule system were those whom the British/fulani alliance had chosen to favour over the others. Men from such favoured tribes were crowned as chiefs and given some level power to decide cases, including land disputes. The Jukuns with an interesting history of kwararafa empire, which the British studied with keen interest, easily fit the cap in the Wukari area. Besides the Kanuri controlled emirate of Lafia, the Alagos were the next favoured tribe under the indirect rule over tribes like Tiv, Koro and a few others. The Tivs whose scattered settlement and egalitarian nature ran counter to the concentrated settlement of most ethnic groups and their centralised system of government fared worse under the indirect rule system as they were completely excluded from membership of council of chiefs. It then became easy for the Fulanis to access land whereever they wanted since these chiefs controlled lands under their jurisdictions and were bound to submit to the wishes of their fulani 'kingmakers'. Therefore, after the British left the Fulanis became the next "colonial masters". The Assakio mayhem is traceable to this submit-to-my-will-I-favour-you tactis of the British/fulani system which saw the more "ammenable" and ambotious Alagos being appointed chiefs over other tribes even in areas where such other tribes had settled long before the Alagos arrived. In the Assakio land dispute, Eggons are saying that the right people to decide who should own the piece of land in dispute are the Koros who were already settled in Assakio before the rest of them, including the Alagos, arrived. See what a foundation that was laid with the bricks of inordinate ambitions is now supporting as a structure! May the love of God, His wisdom and mercy be our guide at all time. Amen!

Thanks for this brief but highly informative and largely plausible and unbiased analysis.

Human history is full of instances of nasty and desperate power games that are often characterized by divide-and-rule/conquer antics, and it would, unfortunately, continue to be so!.

afam4eva: This northerners are biting more than they can chew. They want to bring their madness to APGA. I dey laugh.

Afam4eva, you have disappointed me no be small here; reading some of your recent posts, I was thinking (wrongly ?) that you were making conscious efforts to steer away from the self-destructive path of ethnic bigotry - for your own personal good (as I have successfully done, Alhamdu lil-Lah!).

And I was even crediting Sam Ikenna with this noticeable improvement in the quality of your posting of recent, but alas, you still seem to enjoy basking in ethnic bigotry and stereotyping!

For goodness sake, how could the comments of one Northern politician that is barely known even in the North, on the internal issues of a political party that is virtually non-existent in the North as APGA, warrant your ethnic tirade and insult against the Northerners?. The crass ethnic bigotry you shamelessly displayed here stinks to the highest heveans, afam!

If you can not be as free from cheap ethnic bigotry as Sam Ikenna, at least try to be as smart and intelligent in your attacks against other ethnic groups (by looking for a stronger justification for such insults) as your senior Igbo brothers on NL, such as[b] Dede1[/b] and Logic Mind. LOL

LeoMax: I AM WAITING FOR JUNE 12, I WANNA SEE ANY WESTERNER THAT WILL SHAMELESSLY COME OUT TO HYPOCRITICALLY WANT TO CELEBRATE MKO ABIOLA. YOU PROVE THAT HE WASNT GOOD ENOUGH AFTERALL FOR A LOFTY "UNILAG" TO BE RENAMED AFTER

My response to another poster who had expressed a similar view as yours above (in one of the other threads on this issue) goes as follows:

It is not fair or reasonable for anyone to accuse Yoruba individuals or groups of 'not liking themselves' because they oppose this ill-advised decision, just as it would be unfair and unreasonable for anyone to accuse the Igbos of 'not liking themselves' when they vehemently resist any idea of renaming the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, after ANY Igbo personality!

Zik and Ojukwu were arguably the two greatest Igbo leaders in the history of Nigeria, yet no FG could dare rename the 'University of Nigeria' after either of them, neither at their deaths nor subsequently!

In fact, the Igbos so much cherish the name 'University of Nigeria' that many of them would interpret any suggestion at renaming the university after ANYBODY as being a 'conspiracy' to deny the Igbos the prestige of having the only university in Nigeria that bears that unique name: 'University of Nigeria'.

To a lesser extent, the name 'University of Lagos' also enjoys similar prestige of being the only university that is so uniquely described as the university of Lagos; so apart from its excellent academic reputation, the university also enjoys being so uniquely associated with the most important, most popular, most vibrant city in our country - Lagos.!

So the questions that may come to mind are:

1. If the GEJ govt could not dare rename the UNN after even the GREATEST IGBO personality (Ujukwu) AT HIS DEATH RECENTLY; with all the apparently genuine respect and admiration president GEJ personally has for the late Ikemba as witnessed at the latter's funeral; and with all the brotherly and neighbourly goodwill that apparently exists between GEJ and the Igbos, then how come GEJ found it so imperative at this time to rename UNILAG after MKO Abiola?

2. Why would GEJ want to immortalize the name of the late MKO Abiola with the re-naming of one of the 5 first generation universities in Nigeria after him, yet he could not think of according the same respect and privilege to the late Ikemba, for whom he apparently has even much more respect?

3. Did the FG make proper consultations, with all the relevant stake-holders, before taking this step? How widely did they consult, if at all they did?

4. Could there be some people somewhere, not necessarily GEJ himself, who are not comfortable that UNILAG was the only university that is described as 'University of Lagos', therefore they want to see it so re-named, maybe just after anybody, or anything, as long as their ill-motivated goal is achieved?

I have immense respect for the late MKO Abiola, mainly for his well-known, and nationally spread, philanthropic work and for the prominent role he played, and the ultimate sacrifice he made, in ending military dictatorship in the country; yet as an alumnus of UNILAG, I do not support renaming it after him, for the same reason that the Igbos would resist any idea of renaming the UNN after anybody, no matter how much they respect that person!

denko: The Yorubas claimed to love MKO, they even celebrate june 12. This has vindicate IBB, the Yorubas do not and will not like themselves. This is not the first University that a president will name after an individual why all bad bele pipo for naija.

It is not fair or reasonable for anyone to accuse Yoruba individuals or groups of 'not liking themselves' because they oppose this ill-advised decision, just as it would be unfair and unreasonable for anyone to accuse the Igbos of 'not liking themselves' when they vehemently resist any idea of renaming the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, after ANY Igbo personality!

Zik and Ojukwu were arguably the two greatest Igbo leaders in the history of Nigeria, yet no FG could dare rename the 'University of Nigeria' after either of them, neither at their deaths nor subsequently!

In fact, the Igbos so much cherish the name 'University of Nigeria' that many of them would interpret any suggestion at renaming the university after ANYBODY as being a 'conspiracy' to deny the Igbos the prestige of having the only university in Nigeria that bears that unique name: 'University of Nigeria'.

To a lesser extent, the name 'University of Lagos' also enjoys similar prestige of being the only university that is so uniquely described as the university of Lagos; so apart from its excellent academic reputation, the university also enjoys being so uniquely associated with the most important, most popular, most vibrant city in our country - Lagos.!

So the questions that may come to mind are:

1. If the GEJ govt could not dare rename the UNN after even the GREATEST IGBO personality (Ujukwu) AT HIS DEATH RECENTLY; with all the apparently genuine respect and admiration president GEJ personally has for the late Ikemba as witnessed at the latter's funeral; and with all the brotherly and neighbourly goodwill that apparently exists between GEJ and the Igbos, then how come GEJ found it so imperative at this time to rename UNILAG after MKO Abiola?

2. Why would GEJ want to immortalize the name of the late MKO Abiola with the re-naming of one of the 5 first generation universities in Nigeria after him, yet he could not think of according the same respect and privilege to the late Ikemba, for whom he apparently has even much more respect?

3. Did the FG make proper consultations, with all the relevant stake-holders, before taking this step? How widely did they consult, if at all they did?

4. Could there be some people somewhere, not necessarily GEJ himself, who are not comfortable that UNILAG was the only university that is described as 'University of Lagos', therefore they want to see it so re-named, maybe just after anybody, or anything, as long as their ill-motivated goal is achieved?

I have immense respect for the late MKO Abiola, mainly for his well-known, and nationally spread, philanthropic work and for the prominent role he played, and the ultimate sacrifice he made, in ending military dictatorship in the country; yet as an alumnus of UNILAG, I do not support renaming it after him, for the same reason that the Igbos would resist any idea of renaming the UNN after anybody, no matter how much they respect that person!

~Bluetooth:


Why do you guy s like tribalizing every issue for fu-ck sake ? If you feel oju-iku deserves a school named after him,why not beg jonathan to do that !

You just responded to my post obviously without reading it; if you felt you needed to respond to it, you ought to have read and UNDERSTOOD it before replying to it apparently impulsively.

Desola:

The name 'UNILAG' was fine just as it was, it was synonymous with class and panache but renaming it MAU just takes away the prestige in my opinion. I hate this jonasatan even more now. Gosh!

You are absolutely right!

It is for the same reason (i.e good reputation, nurtured on a name that is widely considered prestigious) that we see the Igbos always vehemently resisting any suggestion that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka be re-named after an individual Igbo personality, no matter how much they revere that personality!

Zik and Ojukwu can be described as the two most prominent Igbo personalities in the history of modern Nigeria, yet no FG could dare rename the 'University of Nigeria' after either of them, neither at their deaths nor subsequently as in this case!

In fact, we all have come across many Igbos trying to interpret any idea of renaming the UNN after ANYBODY (including Ujukwu) as being a 'conspiracy' (by the usual suspects) to deny the Igbos the prestige of having the only university in Nigeria that bears that unique name: 'University of Nigeria'.

To a lesser extent, the name 'University of Lagos' enjoys similar prestige of being the only university that is so uniquely described as the university of Lagos; so apart from it's excellent academic reputation, the university also enjoys being so uniquely associated with the most important, most popular, most vibrant city in our country - Lagos.!

So the questions that may come to mind are:

1. If the GEJ govt could not dare rename the UNN after even the GREATEST IGBO personality (Ujukwu) AT HIS DEATH RECENTLY; with all the apparently genuine respect and admiration president GEJ personally has for the late Ikemba as witnessed at the latter's funeral; and with all the brotherly and neighbourly goodwill that apparently exist between GEJ and the Igbos, then how come GEJ found it so imperative at this time to rename UNILAG after MKO Abiola?

2. Why would GEJ want to immortalize the name of the late MKO Abiola with the re-naming of one of the 5 first generation universities in Nigeria after him, yet he could not think of according the same respect and privilege to the late Ikemba, for whom he apparently has even much more respect?

3. Did the FG make proper consultations, with all the relevant stake-holders, before taking this step? How widely did they consult, if at all they did?

4. Could there be some people somewhere, not necessarily GEJ himself, who are not comfortable that UNILAG was the only university that is described as 'University of Lagos', therefore they want to see it so re-named, may just after anybody, or anything, as long as their ill-motivated goal is achieved?

I have immense respect for the late MKO Abiola, mainly for his well-known, nationally spread philanthropic work and for the prominent role he played, and the ultimate sacrifice he made, in ending military dictatorship in the country; yet as an alumnus of UNILAG, I do not support renaming it after him, for the same reason that the Igbos would resist any idea of renaming the UNN after anybody, no matter how much they respect that person!

Onlytruth: in response to Dede1:

You and I know that had a nation as powerful as a world power, REAL world power - - - supported Biafra, believe me even Hausa/Fulani will see us capture the whole North within DAYS, not weeks.

Eze, you seem to have under-estimated the super-human ability and capabilities of your Igbo people here!

I think "had a nation as powerful as a world power, REAL world power" supported Biafra, you could have captured not only the whole North, but also the whole of West Africa (or even the entire Africa); and not only within days but probably within hours, or even minutes! LOL

CyberG:

Yes, we can differ on opinion but like I opined in a previous post, I think you lace a lot of your posts with APPEASEMENT to people who would rather capsize the ship called Nigeria. How will they not do the same when you naively allow then an inch of a foothold? Do you know cities were sabotaged in war by allowing someone who hates you to stay behind thinking they will reciprocate your generosity and humanity?

If they creativity and diversity is not seen as a MAJOR advantage and a source of strength for Nigeria, is it when you divide it that you will get the creativity and diversity? Naija may never be divided or may never need to if people realize that the only two groups in Nigeria are the people who steal the nation blind from every tribe and religious persuasion and their enablers and the people who suffer for it (the majority). Until the wronged majority rise up to destroy the corrupt minority, Naija will not move forward.

The part in bold is ABSOLUTELY spot on, brother!

The vast majority of our suffering masses, from ALL the ethnic groups, are entrapped in an endless vicious circle of poverty, docility and succession of corrupt and self-centred ruling elite, from all the tribes.

And I am really afraid it's not going to be easy breaking this vicious circle:
- We need to[b] get rid of the present set of heartless, corrupt, irresponsible and self-centred ruling elite (of all the tribes), in one way or another[/b], for there to be any significant and meaningful change in our collective destiny.
- But we cannot get rid of them as long as we remain so docile and divided along ethnic and religious lines.
- And we would remain so docile and divided along ethnic and religious lines as long as these godless, self-centred elite (from all the tribes) keep the vast majority of us so acutely impoverished.
- And they would keep us so acutely impoverished so long as they continue to loot our country so blind;
- And they would continue to loot our country so blind and dry, as long as we allow them to do so;
- And we would continue to allow them to do so as long as we are so acutely impoverished, docile and divided along ethnic and religious lines'
- And we would remain so acutely impoverished, docile and divided along ethnic and religious lines as long as we are led by this set of irresponsible elite- - - -
- and the vicious circle goes on, and on, and on ------!

free_soul: someone says he is not a thief, but everytime he passed by, something disappears!
why is it only fulani involved in all these troubles all over nigeria?
fulani vs hausa
fulani vs berom
fulani vs yoruba
fulani vs tiv

why only fulani?

If you were to randomly take ANY race or tribe from ANY part of the world (be they white, black, Asians, Jewish, Germans, Hausas, Ijaws, Tivs, Spanish, Yorubas, Igbos, Igalas, Beroms, Arabs, Chinese, Kanuris, Russians, or whatever!) and put them in EXACTLY the same socio-economic and cultural position of the Nomadic Fulanis (i.e. living such a traditional pastural life that is entirely centred around nomadic cattle-rearing; in a country with as much ethnic diversity and varying geographical and climate conditions as Nigeria; and with the kind of leaders we have been having, coupled with the level of enlightenment and mentality of ordinary Nigerians), that race or tribe would surely be having the same, if not worse and more frequent, conflicts with the various local communities they would be coming into contact with, in their endless search for pasture and water for their cattle!

torkaka: @northsharp
please spare us the junk! whatever happened to cattle farms?
it is unfortunate that nigeria is yet to have the leader with will power to get rid of these nomads for good!

It is people like you who discourage reasonable people from commenting on a forum like this; you just responded to my post without making any mental effort to understand it!

In what sensible way could your question be a response to my post that you obviously quoted reflexively without understanding?

If you had been better educated than you are, and you had a better comprehension of the English language and, more importantly, if you were capable of following any argument logically, you would have surely, almost effortlessly, understood that in that post I did NOT in any way express any opinion whatsoever as to whether pastoral cattle-rearing is better than the 'cattle farms' or not.

My post has nothing to do with the merits or demerits of the two methods of cattle rearing.
It was simply a response to a question by a poster as to why Fulanis are having problems with so many other ethnic groups, including the Hausas?

All I did in my response to the poster (reproduced below) was to point out to him that any other race or tribe that live the same pastoral life, in the same circumstances as the Fulanis in Nigeria, could be having the same, if not worse and more frequent, conflicts with so many communities:

If you were to randomly take ANY race or tribe from ANY part of the world (be they white, black, Asians, Jewish, Germans, Hausas, Ijaws, Tivs, Spanish, Yorubas, Igbos, Igalas, Beroms, Arabs, Chinese, Kanuris, Russians, or whatever!) and put them in EXACTLY the same socio-economic and cultural position of the Nomadic Fulanis (i.e. living such a traditional pastural life that is entirely centred around nomadic cattle-rearing; in a country with as much ethnic diversity and varying geographical and climate conditions as Nigeria; and with the kind of leaders we have been having, coupled with the level of enlightenment and mentality of ordinary Nigerians), that race or tribe would surely be having the same, if not worse and more frequent, conflicts with the various local communities they would be coming into contact with, in their endless search for pasture and water for their cattle!

Ejiné: My brain has become so numb from all the bomb attacks and mass killings, that I feel sleepy when they happen these days.

Anyway, I'm beginning to get the feeling our Southern media has got some deep bias against the Fulani on these Middle-Belt conflicts, cuz according to my cousin (camping in Jos), the Beroms are actually killing MORE Fulani than documented. And as far as 'Frags' (killings, body counts) go, it's roughly on a ratio of 9:2 in favor of the Beroms.

He says Beroms are killing the Fulani like it's going out of fashion! But these kkillings get very little media attention.
He told me this, only last weekend. And I've learned to tone down my anger against the 'Hausa-Fulani' (on the Middle-Belt crisis) since then.

It has always been a circle of merciless and senseless killings between the Fulanis and Beroms, in which innocent people, including women and children, are brutally killed by evil-minded and heartless people ON BOTH SIDES.

But if you rely on the Southern media as your sole source of information, then you would only hear about the atrocities committed BY the Fulanis, and NEVER the ones committed AGAINST them!.

This is what I wrote in February in response to a poster who erroneously thought, as you used to do, that the Beroms are ALWAYS victims of Fulani attacks, and never the other way round:

I would not blame you if you innocently believe that the killings have been one-sided all those years. Afterall, this is the evil propaganda that you have been spoon-fed for so long by the Christian-dominated Southern press.

But the reality of the situation, as many Northern Christians have been openly confessing on forums like this for long, is that the senseless killings have ALWAYS been committed by the two sides in the vicious cycle of blood-letting, right from Zango-Kafat massacres of Hausa-Fulanis, to Kafanchan killings both in the 80s, up to the latest spate in Jos.

What has changed is that with the increasing power of the digital media (the Internet, cellphone, etc), the blatantly biased Christian-dominated Southern press (The Punch, Vanguard, Guardian, This Day, etc) no longer hold the absolute monopolistic control over what information the world should know about such killings.

The notoriously biased Southern media would only let the world know the graphic, gory details of any such killings when the victims are Christians; but whenever Christians are the perpetrators and Muslims are the victims, they hardly report it, and even when they do, they would shamelessly twist, manipulate, under-report and misrepresent it to suit their evil sectarian, regional anti-Hausa-Fulani agendas.

But in this our era of modern digital media, atrocities of this nature can be easily recorded by a 'citizen reporter', and the graphic images freely brought to the attention of millions of people around the world instantly; thus the irresponsible, openly anti-Hausa-Fulani editors of those biased Southern media are increasingly being by-passed and reduced to mere spectators, in the way the world gets to know about this kind of barbarity

.

modelmike7: I'm typing dis with tears welled up in my eyes, despite d fact that its almost 10years i last shed tears. Wats dis country turning into? Oh God, wats happening to our beloved nation? Dont u think d president would av resigned under normal circumstances in other countries? How Long will dis go on? Just imagine d scenario=> you heard a bomb blast, you ran out for safety only to be fell by d bullets of snipers waitin for you outside, oh gosh!!! Wat kind of painful death is dat. And they didn't commit any sin! Innocent People in Church!! This is Barbaric. Let me log out before i break down. God pleas intervene. What is the SOLUTION to all dis Sobbing as i log off.............

Brother, all DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, regardless of tribe, religion, etc, MUST feel as strongly as you do about this cold-blooded and callous massacre of so many ENTIRELY INNOCENT people; thus your raw emotions here only show the humanity and decency in you.

What these senseless and cold-blooded murderers did was an act of pure evil and unmitigated callousness that deserve only the strongest condemnation from ALL OF US.

I wish the despicably evil murderers would be eventually captured and summarily executed! Anybody who is so evil-minded as to set out deliberately to maim and kill INNOCENT FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS in this kind of senseless, heartless and barbaric manner, does not deserve to live!.