₦airaland Forum

ABUJA-The Police Authorities have engaged services of 21 seasoned lawyers to engage the pioneer Chairman of EFCC, Mr Nuhu Ribadu in an on-going legal battle ignited by him to reverse his dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force.
The police made the disclosure on a day Ribadu described as unfortunate the statement credited to the Police Affairs Minister, Ibrahim Lame that his dismissal was final and irreversible.
He said it is wrong for anyone to usurp the power of the court when a matter is before it.
According to his lawyer, Mr Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), he said "It is unfortunate that this is coming from a minister"
But the police yesterday dismissed Ribadu's comment as sheer balderdash. challenging him to come to court and prove his case.
It said that it was battle ready for Ribadu.
The Police legal team is led by a member of the inner bar and one time Chairman of the Ikeja Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Milton Ohwovoridle (SAN)
The decision of the police to hire a long list of lawyers was perhaps galvanised by reports that over70 lawyers had indicated interest to defend Ribadu in court pro bono.
According to the police, Ribadu deserved the dismissal.
In its Counter Affidavit filed before the court, Police claimed that he frittered away the opportunity to be heard when he deliberately refused to appear before its disciplinary committee and that his action is a gross abuse of the court processes, incompetent and is liable to be dismissed by the court.
The A-GF in a counter affidavit deposed to by Simon Egede also said the plaintiff was given ample opportunity to be heard but instead "chose the path of blackmail, insubordination and court actions contrary to police regulations and discipline."
He also explained that Ribadu was not a victim of any power play because he was demoted along with about 140 other police officers who had been irregularly promoted and were reverted to their lawful ranks by the police service commission.
NPF had issued Ribadu a query dated November 21, 2008 on grounds of improper dressing, discreditable conduct, conduct prejudicial to discipline and serious acts of misconduct.
Ribadu was asked to explain in writing which he did.
As a follow up, the IGP set up a disciplinary committee to investigate the allegations. According to police, the former EFCC boss turned down the request of the committee to appear before it twice.
Ribadu believed the IGP and the disciplinary committee set up by him were not the appropriate authorities to exercise disciplinary powers against him.
Dissatisfied with decision of the committee and the approval of the Police Service Commission (PSC), he filed a suit challenging his dismissal.
Ribadu is presently before the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja challenging his dismissal.
He came by a way of originating summons on the account that the subject-matter of the case is not contentious and purely a statutory matter.
In the originating summons dated January 7 filed by his counsel Oyetibo and Charles Musa Esq, Ribadu wants the court to declare his dismissal as unconstitutional, null and void.
Defendants in the suit are the Police Service Commission (PSC), the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN).
Ribdau stated that his dismissal on the basis of the allegations contained in the Police Service Commission's letter dated 22nd December, 2008 was an infringement on his right to fair hearing and natural justice.

WASHINGTON DC -FEW minutes after he took oath of office as the 44th President of the United States, President Barack Obama gave in his inaugural speech an assessment of America's present, as well as a glimpse of a vision of what the world's most powerful nation can still become. Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, supported by his wife, Michelle, takes the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in front of the Capitol in Washington, yesterday. AFP PHOTO
Obama told the capacity crowd at the National Mall that America's challenges are real. His words:
"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time," Obama told hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in front of the Capitol.
"But know this, America - they will be met," he said.
He also vowed to end the divisiveness and partisanship he said was rampant through Washington.
"We come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics," he said.
In another allusion to Washington's shortcomings, Obama promised to hold accountable anyone who handles taxpayers' dollars.
"And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
The new president, who hugged civil rights stalwart Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, upon walking on stage, also hailed the civil rights movement.
"This is the meaning of (America's) liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath," Obama said.
Wearing a navy suit and red tie, Obama was sworn in using the same Bible that was used in President Abraham Lincoln's inauguration.
The crowd became silent as Obama began his address, with only an occasional "That's right" or "Amen" and scattered applause from the hundreds of thousands in front of him. Mr. Barack Hussein Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States warns terrorists
Saddleback Church founder Rick Warren delivered the invocation, applauding what he called "a hinge-point in history." Aretha Franklin sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" before Joe Biden was sworn in as vice president.
Hundreds of thousands of people were on the National Mall -dancing, singing and vigorously shaking flags - in anticipation of Tuesday's swearing-in.
"This is America happening," said Evadey Minott of Brooklyn, New York. "It was prophesized by King that we would have a day when everyone would come together. This is that day. I am excited. I am joyful. It brings tears to my eyes."
Minott was at Lafayette Square near the White House, where Obama and his wife, Michelle, had coffee with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush before heading to Capitol Hill.
The Obamas attended a prayer service earlier at St. John's Episcopal Church to kick off the day of events surrounding Obama's inauguration.
The historic event has drawn myriad celebrities and politicians, including actors Dustin Hoffman and Denzel Washington, director Steven Spielberg and former vice presidents Dan Quayle, Al Gore and Walter Mondale.
Former Presidents Clinton, Carter and George H.W. Bush also were in attendance. Clinton and Bush shared an embrace.Oprah Winfrey and actor Samuel L. Jackson sat on the same row. Winfrey hugged Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy and later said of the inauguration, "It's behind the dream. We're just here feeling it with the throngs of people. It's amazing grace personified."
Suburban Washington train stations were jammed. A four-story parking deck at the Springfield, Virginia, station was filled at 5 a.m. Trains rolling into the stop about 15 miles south of the Capitol had no room for the hundreds on the platform.

A Baptist minister and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Micheal Luther King, Jr., on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. The grandson and son of Baptist ministers He grew up singing in his church choir. In 1935, his father changed both of their names to Martin to honor the German Protestant leader who bears the same name.
Young Martin attended segregated public schools and graduated from high school at age 15. In 1948, he received his B. A. degree from Morehouse College in Georgia, the alma mater of both his father and grandfather, and in 1951 he earned the Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) from Crozer Theological Seminary.
While at Crozer, King was elected president of a predominantly white senior class and in 1955, he received a Ph.D. from Boston University, where he also met his future wife, Coretta Scott, with whom he had four children.
Dr. King was ordained a minister in 1947 at his father's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953at age 24. He became committed to black civil rights from 1954 and was an active member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
With an oratorical style that drew directly on the force of the Bible and a serene confidence derived from his non-violent philosophy, King from 1955 advocated a program of moderation and inclusion and was the guiding light for 13 of the most crucial years in America's civil rights struggle.
Relatively untested when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a bus in December 1955, King led the boycott of segregated buses in Montgomery in Alabama state for 382 days. This led to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 1956 that segregation on buses was unconstitutional The situation became so intense that he was arrested, he and his family were threatened, and his home was bombed. But eventually the Supreme Court outlawed discrimination in public transportation and King emerged a prominent national leader of the civil rights movement.
In 1957, Dr. King Jr. was elected president of the newly formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), organized by Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy who succeeded Dr. King after his assassination on April 4, 1968. SCLC was a group designed to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the interest of civil rights reform. And Dr. King's approach was based on the ideas of Henry David Thoreau and Mohandas Gandhi as well on Christian teachings. A trip to India in 1959 to meet the Gandhi family cemented his belief in nonviolent resistance and his commitment to civil rights in the United States.
In 1959, King moved to Atlanta to become co-pastor of his father's church, and in the ensuing years gave much of his energies to organizing protest demonstrations and marches in such cities as Birmingham, Alabama (1963), St. Augustine, Florida (1964), and Selma, Alabama (1965). The marches were for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. The protests won media attention and public sympathy for the indignities suffered by Southern blacks, providing what he called "a coalition of conscience" and bringing the civil rights movement to the forefront of American politics in the 1960s.
Between 1957 and 1968, King canvassed the country and appeared more than 2,500times to speak in protest against injustices toward his race. He wrote five books and numerous articles. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in 1964, was a manifesto for the revolution, drawing on his experience as a preacher to galvanize and inspire an audience.
During these years, King was arrested and jailed by Southern officials and on several occasions was stoned and physically attacked, and his house was bombed. He was also placed under secret surveillance by the FBI due to the strong prejudices of its director, J Edgar Hoover, who wanted to discredit King as both a leftist and a womanizer.
King's finest hour came on August 28, 1963 when he led the great march in Washington, DC, that culminated with his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. The March on Washington for jobs and freedom was the cooperative effort of the Big six civil rights organizations, SCLC, NAACP, Urban League, SNCC, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and the Congress of Racial Equality. An unequivocal success, more than a quarter million people of all races attended the event, making it the largest gathering of protesters in and United States history.
Political success arrived with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At the height of his influence, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at age 35, becoming the award's youngest recipient.
He turned over the prize money, $54,123, to the movement.
King then used his newfound powers and prestige to attack discrimination in the North. To educate themselves about the plight of Northern blacks, King and Ralph Abernathy moved to Chicago where Obama lived before becoming president today and helped found The Chicago Freedom Movement. Both reflected that the public reception in Chicago was much worse than in the South, the politics more corrupt, and the threat of violence more dire. Abernathy and King eventually returned to the South, leaving young Jesse Jackson to continue their work.
King was also an advocate of a government compensatory programme seeking restitution of wages lost to slavery. In 1968, without the full support of the SCLC, King organized the Poor People's Campaign, which included a march on Washington D. C. The organization demanded aid for the poorest communities in the United States and sought an economic bill of rights that provided for massive government job programmes to reconstruct society. Critics called this switch in agenda a new brand of democratic socialism.
In the spring of 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, to show support for black city workers striking for higher wages and better treatment. He was shot and killed on April 4, 1968 by a white racist, James Earl Ray as he stood on the balcony of his motel there. He was 39 years old. The assassination led to a wave of riots in cities nationwide, and President Lyndon Johnson declared a national day of mourning in his honor. Two months after the shooting, escaped convict James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the murder, although he later insisted he was innocent and was sentenced to serve 99 years in prison.
President Jimmy Carter of the Democratic Party acknowledged King's contributions by posthumously awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and from 1986 during the tenure of Republican President Ronald Reagan his birthday January 15 became an annual national holiday in the United States.
This script which was obtained from Goggle on the internet was produced by A & E Television Networks in the United States and edited by Sina Adedipe, who divided the script into paragraphs bringing the last paragraph in the original text to become paragraph four.

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late General Sani Abacha, yesterday told a Lagos High Court in Ikeja that he was forced to make 28 different statements in the course of investigations put up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to unravel alleged killings under the late General Abacha government he served.
Specifically, he told the court presided over by Justice Mufutau Olokooba that he was forced to make the statements under duress at the retired Kayode Are's panel before he was told to sign only one of the statements, which they are now using in prosecuting him.
He said this yeaterday while being led in examination in chief by Mr. Chinedu Ikegbule, defence counsel to Mr. Jubril Yakubu, the third defendant in the ongoing trial of Major Al-Mustapha and three others.
Al-Mustapha and three others including Mr James Danbaba, former Lagos Police boss; ex-Zamfara miliary administrator, Jubrin Bala Yakubu; and CSP Rabo Muhammed Lawal are answering a five-count charge of conspiracy and attempted murder of The Guardian publisher, Mr Alex Ibru, in 1996.
At the resumed hearing of the case yesterday, the defence team opened their case in the trial within trial ordered by Justice Olokooba late last year to determine the veracity, admissibility and voluntariness of some of the statements tendered by the prosecution on the third and fourth defendants.
Their counsel had objected to the tendering of the statements and some documents tendered by the prosecution as evidence during the trial.
Al-Mustapha in his evidence said all the statements were made under terrible and inhuman conditions by the investigators.
"There was no water for us to bath, we did not allowed to change our clothes. We were beaten, chained, kicked, drenched in cold water and kept in a very dark cell in the basement at the northern side of the former Force Headquarters in Abuja," he said.
He added that all the statements he made were under this condition.
The case continues today.

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I think it is insensitive of OAU officials to delay students who had completed their course work by not sending their names to the NYSC for the March Batch A service. Some of these students are getting older sitting at home. As it is, employers don't provide pre-service jobs, while age limit for jobs drop at an alarming rate. The results of these students have been ready for months. The appropriate authorities should do something about this so the students can meet up with the March batch.

How can an ex-governor who reportedly plundered the resources of his state while in office be made the chairman of an important forum? Pray, what advice does such an individual have for those in authorities? What legacy are we leaving behind for future generations? And to think that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been entering into the so-called plea-bargain with those who stole our collective wealth. Ours is a country of the absurd.

The Court of Appeal in Benin will on Monday (today) deliver its judgment in an appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Action Congress in the April 2007 poll in Delta State, Mr Peter Okocha.
Okocha is challenging the election of the state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Delta State had earlier dismissed the petition of Okocha and upheld the declaration of Uduaghan by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Dissatisfied with the tribunal's verdict, Okocha approached the appellate court, asking it to set aside the judgment of the lower court.
The AC candidate had claimed that he was unlawfully excluded from the governorship poll in the state.
Also, the Court of Appeal will today and tomorrow resume hearing into the appeal filed by the Ondo State Governor, Chief Olusegun Agagu, against the judgment of the lower tribunal headed by Justice Garuba Nabaruma.
It had returned the candidate of the Labour Party in the April 2007, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, as the duly elected governor of Ondo on July 25, 2008.

The United States President-elect, Senator Barack Obama, warned Americans on Saturday of the vast challenges ahead as he rolled by train into Washington, kicking off three days of celebration of his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. Obama waved to crowds from the back of a vintage train car and stopped twice for rallies in frigid weather on the more than seven-hour journey from Philadelphia to Washington, where he takes office on Tuesday amid the deepest economic crisis in generations and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast," Obama said as he began the trip in Philadelphia, evoking the patriots who launched the American fight for independence in the city in 1776.
"While our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not," Obama said. "What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed."
He stressed in Philadelphia and at later stops in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was joined by Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and Baltimore that it would take time and sacrifice to turn the economy around.
"Such enormous challenges will not be solved quickly. There will be false starts and setbacks, frustrations and disappointments," Obama told about 40,000 cheering supporters in Baltimore.
"We will be called to show patience even as we act with fierce urgency," he said.
Obama, a Democrat who will become the first black US president, has vowed to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to jolt the country out of a deepening recession.
"America faces its own crossroads - a nation at war, an economy in turmoil, an American Dream that feels like its slipping away," Obama was quoted as saying by the Reuters.
The 137-mile (220-km) train journey launched three days of parties, concerts and shows to celebrate Obama's inauguration at the US Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.
The carefully staged trip was designed to recall the 1861 rail journey to the capital by Abraham Lincoln before he entered the White House. Obama frequently evokes Lincoln, a fellow resident of Illinois, who led the United States during the Civil War and ended slavery in America.
Janice Winston, 56, one of about 250 invited guests who watched Obama leave Philadelphia's 30th Street train station, said she was thrilled to see a black man assume the presidency.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked security agencies to rein in former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over his declaration that blood would flow unless the Court of Appeal gave his party's candidates victory in Osun and Ekiti states, describing the Action Congress (AC) chieftain as a grand patron of political violence.
The PDP, in a statement released to the media on Saturday by its National Vice Chairman (South West), Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, declared that in making that statement, "Tinubu had once again shown the whole world that he is an anarchist who should be made to respect the law of the land.
"If it is indeed true that he made that statement, then he has simply confirmed what we have always known that he is the grand patron of political violence in Nigeria who has no regard at all for the judiciary.
"He obviously wanted to intimidate and blackmail the judiciary by giving the Court of Appeal conditions for peace. For all we care, Tinubu can jump into the ocean if his wishes are not the wishes of the law. We believe in the rule of law, which is stronger and mightier than Tinubu's rule of guns and cutlasses.
"We also hope he knows that he would be living in a fool's paradise if he believes that violence, which failed him and his acolytes in Yorubaland in 2007, would avail him in 2011. Anyone who wants to use guns and cutlasses to win elections in 2011 will simply be taken care of by the law. We urge him and his boys to have a rethink now because we expect them to know the fate that awaits he whose head is used to break coconut shells," the PDP warned.
The party stressed further that it would not lose any of its five states in the South West in 2011, but would legitimately add Lagos to the list of states under its control. The party also alerted Tinubu to prepare for the mother of all defeats in the next election.
The statement further admonished parents in the South west to form a united front against political violence, "as a way of protecting their children from leaders like Tinubu who are out to wreck their future by making them political thugs."
Similarly, Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Lasisi Olagunju, stated that he hoped Tinubu would deny the statement "otherwise, he should simply be ignored by all reasonable people in the society.
"The AC went to court in the first instance and one would expect Tinubu as an AC leader who professes democracy, to give the judiciary the respect it deserves by allowing it to do its work dispassionately instead of threatening it (judiciary). We hope Tinubu was misquoted," Oyinlola said.

ANGRY supporters of the PDP in Kano yesterday destroyed President Yar'Adua's effigy on a day the national vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, north west, Dr. Danladi Sankara, escaped death by the whiskers during the inauguration of the state executive council at the party secretariat.
Youths had smuggled the effigy into the venue, chanting anti Yar'Adua slogans before they destroyed it to the chargin of party chieftains including Alhaji Abubakar Rimi and others.
The effigy had unprintable words on it and they chanted slogans like "Down with Yar'Adua", He is a betrayer", "Up Obasanjo" before party officials moved in and tore them into shreds.The conference room where the harmonized executive were billed to be inaugurated was seized by the youths who also chanted anti Sankara slogans.
Former Deputy Governor of Kano, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, however, calmed the situation. Danladi Sankara who was conscious of the danger lurking around tried vainly to smuggle himself out of the venue in Rimi's car, an adventure that cost the former governor his exotic car. It took the courage of a Rimi supporter to cover the shattered part of the windscreen with his massive body amid rain of stones to make their escape out of the secretariat.
The police were overwhelmed as the irate youths seized control and dealt maximum damage on the car, as the occupants escape unhurt. Sunday Vanguard learnt that the anger vented on Sankara was provoked by his alleged statement praising the Kano Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau while trying to woo him over to the party. Sankara who survived the attack went in to a crucial meeting with other chieftains of the party at the Durbin Katsina residence of Abubakar Rimi.

Wat a country's security!!

It started off as rumour. And at every party the song was played, people gathered in groups to discuss it. Gradually like a wild fire, the rumour spread all over town, Tu Face had recorded a song that was not his.
Tu Face
Initially no one knew who the aggrieved musician was until a young London based and upcoming musician called Komo came to town formally with the now familiar story that, Jungle Don Mature one of the songs contained in Tu Face's new CD, Unstoppable, was written and composed by him.
Gist have it that since coming into town, Komo has in the last two weeks been to many newsrooms alleging that Tu Face who brought honours to Nigeria when he became the first African musician to win an MTV Europe Award included the song in his latest work without giving him (Komo) the deserved credit.
No be small thing as the young and talented artiste is determined to collect his pound of flesh from Tu Face for what he described as betrayal of the 'highest order'
But in a swift reaction Natz spokesperson of Hypertek, Tu Face's management company said we've read in some major newspapers, an attempt by Komo to climb on the back of our artiste to stardom by claiming that one of the songs, 'Jungle Don Mature' contained in Unstoppable, was written by him.
"We have equally been bombarded with telephone calls from media organisations and journalists seeking our side of the tissues of lies, which the London based bloke has been spinning ever since Unstoppable was released,".
Initially he said, "we didn't want to glorify Komo by joining issues with him, but as you know, if a lie is told repeatedly without challenge, it will in no time assume the status of truth; hence we have decided to respond to the allegation once and for all".
The song in question was originally produced by J.Sleek and taken to London for mixing and mastering before Tu face met Komo in London.
"Though, both know each other, it was during their meeting in London that Tu Face was told that Komo also has a song with the same title and after a brief discussion, it was agreed that Komo be featured in one of the tracks.
He was asked to do a rap session which he did. But after a careful listening session, it was generally agreed by the producers that worked on Unstoppable that the quality of Komo's rap was not good enough and so his rap was deleted.
"We made attempt to inform him of the decision to drop his rap but it was frustrating as nobody could reach him after several telephone calls.
"Tu Face did all this as his own little way of appreciating a long-standing relationship and more so, it was a gesture intended to help a brother man whose career has not blossomed as expected. Aside, all of these, no one can lay claim to intellectual ownership of a street slang like No Shaking, Nothing Dey Happen, and Yes o!

It started off as rumour. And at every party the song was played, people gathered in groups to discuss it. Gradually like a wild fire, the rumour spread all over town, Tu Face had recorded a song that was not his.
Tu Face
Initially no one knew who the aggrieved musician was until a young London based and upcoming musician called Komo came to town formally with the now familiar story that, Jungle Don Mature one of the songs contained in Tu Face's new CD, Unstoppable, was written and composed by him.
Gist have it that since coming into town, Komo has in the last two weeks been to many newsrooms alleging that Tu Face who brought honours to Nigeria when he became the first African musician to win an MTV Europe Award included the song in his latest work without giving him (Komo) the deserved credit.
No be small thing as the young and talented artiste is determined to collect his pound of flesh from Tu Face for what he described as betrayal of the 'highest order'
But in a swift reaction Natz spokesperson of Hypertek, Tu Face's management company said we've read in some major newspapers, an attempt by Komo to climb on the back of our artiste to stardom by claiming that one of the songs, 'Jungle Don Mature' contained in Unstoppable, was written by him.
"We have equally been bombarded with telephone calls from media organisations and journalists seeking our side of the tissues of lies, which the London based bloke has been spinning ever since Unstoppable was released,".
Initially he said, "we didn't want to glorify Komo by joining issues with him, but as you know, if a lie is told repeatedly without challenge, it will in no time assume the status of truth; hence we have decided to respond to the allegation once and for all".
The song in question was originally produced by J.Sleek and taken to London for mixing and mastering before Tu face met Komo in London.
"Though, both know each other, it was during their meeting in London that Tu Face was told that Komo also has a song with the same title and after a brief discussion, it was agreed that Komo be featured in one of the tracks.
He was asked to do a rap session which he did. But after a careful listening session, it was generally agreed by the producers that worked on Unstoppable that the quality of Komo's rap was not good enough and so his rap was deleted.
"We made attempt to inform him of the decision to drop his rap but it was frustrating as nobody could reach him after several telephone calls.
"Tu Face did all this as his own little way of appreciating a long-standing relationship and more so, it was a gesture intended to help a brother man whose career has not blossomed as expected. Aside, all of these, no one can lay claim to intellectual ownership of a street slang like No Shaking, Nothing Dey Happen, and Yes o!

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has requested a Federal high court sitting in Ado to compel the sitting Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Mr. Chris Ola, to investigate and prosecute his men linked with the murder of five undergraduates of Ado-Ekiti University in November 2007.
The deceased undergraduate are Tosin Ibironke, Afolalu Adeyinka, Dele Olaleye, Idowu Animashaun and Ademola Adepoju. They were all arrested for rape but were tortured to death in police cell.
The lawsuit seeking investigation and prosecution of their killers came one year after the police refused to take any step.
The Lagos lawyer is also asking for damages against the police for payment to the parents of the deceased.
In the suit No: FHC/AD/CS/1/09 filed last week at the Federal High Court sitting at Ado Ekiti, Mr. Falana is specifically seeking the following reliefs:
1. A DECLARATION that the extra judicial killing of Messrs Tosin Ibironke, Afolalu Adeyinka, Dele Olaleye, Idowu Animashaun and Ademola Adepoju by the agents of the 1 st Defendant in November 2007 is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates the fundamental rights of the deceased to the dignity of their persons and life guaranteed by Section 33 and 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and Articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act) Cap 10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.
2.A DECLARATION that the refusal of the 1 st Defendant to investigate the complaint of conspiracy to murder and murder leveled against his agents who killed Messrs Tosin Ibironke, Afolalu Adeyinka, Dele Olaleye, Idowu Animashaun and Ademola Adepoju is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Section 4 of the Police Act,
3.AN ORDER compelling the 2 nd Defendant to charge to court forthwith the criminal suspects who killed Messrs Tosin Ibironke, Afolalu Adeyinka, Dele Olaleye, Idowu Animashaun and Ademola Adepoju in November 2007 with conspiracy to murder and murder.
4AN ORDER directing the Defendants to pay monetary compensation fixed by this Honourable Court to the parents of Messrs Tosin Ibironke, Afolalu Adeyinka, Dele Olaleye, Idowu Animashaun and Ademola Adepoju for the illegal and unlawful killing of their children.
In a supporting affidavit of 6paragraphs deposed to by Mr. Tajudeen Akingbolu, a lawyer in Mr. Falana's law firm, it is alleged that the students who were arrested for alleged rape sometimes in November 2007 were extra judicially killed by the Police while in custody.
The affidavit said that up till now, neither the University Authorities nor the parents of the deceased have been informed of their death.

AS Americans get set to spend over $150m (N225b) to inaugurate Mr. Barack Obama President of the United States of America, Nigerians in the diaspora have sent a warning home: Don't celebrate more than the owners of the occasion.
Rather, Nigerians should use the occasion to ponder and pray for their country. Americans and Kenyans, the warning went on, worked hard to get to their present status in life.
The warning is coming as Nigerians are trooping to the United States to witness the historic occasion, tagged the most expensive US inauguration ever.
Perhaps, one of the most painful Nigerians comments arose when pictures of Obama's Kenyan grandmother were shown on CNN Españñol on her way to the US aboard Kenyan airways.
To most of the removed Nigerians, as Africans, Nigerians are thrilled by the event but the real celebrants are Kenyans and Americans as well as men and women of goodwill. The inauguration, one of them said, is a time to "pray for our country and our children in America, "
Elsewhere in the world, the Obama inauguration is getting feverish. From Germany and Poland, the feeling is high as it is in Nigeria.
An Obama admirer in Germany, with links in Poland told Saturday Vanguard in an email that there, "the people are very happy about it. Even in Poland they are very optimistic. Germans celebrated everywhere that day he won".
U.S. intelligence services said such a high profile event would be perfect for a terrorist attack, but they have no specific intelligence that anything has been planned. Obama will use the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln during the swearing in ceremony.
Meanwhile, cost of Obama inauguration is reported to be the most expensive ever. With disputes on the actual cost, some pundits have put it at over $150m. Obama is said to have raised over $45m, while bailed out US banks are contributing to Obama's inauguration fund.
Citibank executives, expected to ask for another billion-dollar federal bailout on top of the $45b in rescue funds they received in November, have contributed the most to Obama's inauguration fund - at least $113,000 as of Wednesday.
Among those contributions is $50,000 from Ray McGuire, Citi's co-head of global investment banking, and $50,000 from Louis Susman, the recently-retired vice chairman of Citigroup.
The presidential inauguration has already cost Maryland at least $11m, state officials said. The unbudgeted
US President elect, Barack Obama
spending, mainly for transportation and security, is part of some $75m that Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia have already had to absorb, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty told reporters. The $11m figure also includes costs associated with Obama's Saturday train trip and scheduled stop in Baltimore.
There will also be all sorts of souvenirs for sale, including T-shirts, hats, buttons, pens, cuff links, key chains, porcelain plates, even throw rugs at the event. There are Obama commemorative coins too.
But irked by Nigerians' excitement over the inauguration, one the Nigerian commentators said, "I remember there was a time we used to read with glory Nigerian Airways. A Nigerian pilot of the Nigerian Airways flew the our Aircraft to Philippines for repair at a cost of almost $100 million. We did not pay and the Aircraft was seized. Greed, corruption empty pride is responsible for Nigeria's woes. Yet, some idiots from the pulpit, in the name of preaching are blaming innocent people for witchcraft, in a country with battalions of scientists. The sad part, is none of those so called scientists ever came out to denounce these preachers.
"South Africa has taken over leadership from Nigeria, Ghana followed and now Kenya has come to the forefront. Those in the Diaspora who should know more are dedicated to tribal jingoism insulting either who thinks different and who differ in belief. Ours is a condemned nation. Our nation like Herod is decaying gradually. Another sad part is that we are many decaying with Nigeria because we are helpless and our voices are not heard and we are not listened to."
For those Nigerians in the diaspora, the occasion calls for sober reflection on how to move the country forward. One of them reminding Nigerians of Fela's statement on a follow-follow mentality, said Americans and Kenyans "dedicated and worked hard to attain this goal; all we can do as Nigerians is to clap for the winner instead of seeking how we can achieve the same progress so that Nigeria may be blessed.
We sit in front of our computers and sing praises of how our forefathers were dedicated enough to get us where we were before the Civil war. Yet we cannot step up to attempt half as much. $500.00ticket to go no where near Obama but simply dance, eat and drink in his name. Wake up folks!!! Celebrate but think of your future."
In spite of this warning, flights to the US from Nigeria for the event are said to have been fully booked.
Nigerians in the US are not left out of the excitement. Event flyers are being sent out online by different groups as they plan to mark the day. But one of the posts that irked the Nigerians abroad was the flyer from www.innercaucus. com, an event company based in the US asking Nigerians to "Join us as we celebrate the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of United States of America, Saturday, January 17th, at The Luxurious The ' Enat Plaza Hotel, in Washington, D.C.0http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/6166/132/

The nation's quest for a new constitution was at the point of derailment after the House of Representatives delegation to the National Assembly Joint Constitution Review Committee (JCCR) staged a walk-out from the committee's retreat that commenced in Minna, Niger State yesterday.
The 44-member House delegation gave as their reason the designation of the Deputy Speaker Alhaji Usman Nafada as the Vice-Chairman of the Committee instead of co-chairman.
The protesting members who addressed a press conference before returning to Abuja also alleged other fundamental issues which they, however, refused to disclose.
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State who watched the high drama leading to the exit of the House members in an address to the opening ceremony charged the lawmakers to bury their ego in order to give the nation a workable constitution. As the House members left Minna they passed a message to the Senate that they would prefer to go alone in the review exercise on the ground that they could not allow the institution of the House and democracy to be undermined.
At a separate press conference after the opening ceremony, the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) flanked by several senators flayed the action of the House members affirming that the Constitution and tradition buttressed the designation of the Deputy Speaker as Vice-Chairman of the JCCR.
He produced reports of previous constitution reviews to buttress the designation of the Deputy Speaker as Vice-Chairman.
However, beneath the actions of both chambers, Saturday Vanguard gathered that the walk-out by the House members was the final script aimed at killing the plan to review the Constitution.
One National Assembly source, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused the House members of acting the script of some unseen prominent figures who were determined not to change the status quo as pertaining to some contentious clauses in the constitution, notably, the immunity clause for governors.
Besides, another source affirmed that the designation of the Deputy Senate President as the Chairman of the JCCR and the Deputy Speaker as Vice-Chairman had been agreed in previous meetings of the committee.
The high drama that preceded yesterday's walkout by the House members was signposted by the unusual delay in commencing the opening ceremony that was attended by several dignitaries including Governor Aliyu and Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly in the Northwest. The immediate past governor of Edo State Senator (Prof) Oserehinmen Osunbor was also a witness to the drama of yesterday.
One associate of the Deputy Speaker also disclosed that House members were offended by the action of Senator Ekweremadu in not bringing Governor Aliyu to meet the Deputy Speaker after he (Ekweremadu) received the Governor in his hotel suite at the retreat venue.
Instead of bringing the governor to meet an expectant Deputy Speaker and waiting House members, Ekweremadu was alleged to have directly taken the Governor to the hotel auditorium where other senators and House members were waiting.
As committee members and other invited guests did the formal registration required for participation minutes to the commencement of the opening ceremony correspondents noticed the unusual exit of House members from the auditorium. In minutes the auditorium was emptied of House members who reportedly retreated to a member's room for discussions.
While dignitaries waited for the commencement of the opening ceremony, the House members sent a delegation to meet the Senators on the issues at contention. As the two delegations conferred over the alleged slight on the Deputy Speaker, the opening ceremony got underway.
The final straw for the House members was the point the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ekweremadu was called upon to give his welcome address as the Chairman of the JCCR. House members, Saturday Vanguard gathered, were peeved that Ekweremadu slighted them by his action in standing up to give his welcome remarks instead of excusing himself to settle their grievance in the designation of the Deputy Speaker.
In his welcome remarks Ekweremadu said the ongoing exercise was only a first stage in a gradual effort at remaking the Constitution to fit the needs of the citizenry.
Governor Aliyu after observing the walkout drama in his remarks called on the National Assembly members to bury their egos if they must bring about a workable constitution.
"We have this opportunity to make some fundamental corrections and we should therefore not trivilaise issues.
Every issue no matter how insignificant it might seem should be treated seriously in its all ramifications and we must bury our ego and do the exercise well."
He also said that issues as concerning derivation should be delisted from the Constitution.
Giving reasons for their walk out yesterday before they left Minna, Representative Bala Ibn Na'Allah flanked by several House members alleged an attempt to bend democratic procedures as their reason for the boycott.
"We expect that normal processes are followed and acceptable democratic procedures should be put in place in this process."
"We therefore decided that we are not going to participate except on the condition that acceptable democratic processes are put in place."
Rep. Na'Allah admitted that the designation of the Deputy Speaker as the Co_Chairman of the JCCR was only one of the fundamental reasons for their boycott but, he nevertheless, refused to give other reasons.
Giving the Senate's position on the issue after the opening ceremony, Senator Ndoma_Egba said:
"Now we believe that that provision along with the provision that makes the President of the Senate to become the Chairman of the National Assembly applies in every other situation."
"Now the implication here when we are talking about this committee, the Deputy Senate President presides and in his absence, the Deputy Speaker of the House presides. Apart from the Constitutional provisions, this position is also rooted in the tradition of this National Assembly."
"This is a matter of constitutional provision and it is surprising that it is being made an issue here. We want to believe that our colleagues in the House of Representatives would later reflect on this and see matters within the constitutional framework and return so that we can debate on the issues which is of paramount interest to all."
"The Constitution is very, very clear that at every joint sitting of both Houses the President of the Senate shall preside. It is mandatory, it is not discretional and in his absence the Speaker of the House shall preside."
The retreat was ongoing with only Senators participating as at yesterday evening.

Action Congress (AC), yesterday said the continued stay in office of INEC Chairman, Maurice Iwu, had become an embarrassment to the administration of President Umaru Yar'Adua, and emboldened Iwu to insult national icons.
The party was reacting to the vituperation poured on some Nigerians by Iwu, explaining that his continued stay in office was a waste of public funds.
In a statement signed by AC's National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, AC said to continue keeping Iwu in office was to doubt the sincerity of Yar'Adua to genuinely reform the electoral system.
"Iwu, after the disgrace he brought to himself, his family and Nigeria with the mess he made of the 2007 general elections, should not be allowed to continue to use the power of his office to further ridicule the country and make disparaging comments about highly-respected Nigerians.
"But his continued stay in office could well be construed - or misconstrued? - as a reward for rigging many of those in authority now into office, AC said.
The party wondered "why anyone in his right senses would attempt to ridicule a man like Prof. Wole Soyinka, whose level of achievements Iwu could not even dream of reaching until he dies, just because he (Soyinka) dares to criticise a public office holder.
"For the avoidance of doubt, let's remind Iwu that Soyinka remains Nigeria's greatest gift to the world, the most recognisable personality from these parts, whose trade mark white hair stands for intelligence, integrity, talent and wisdom - none of which Iwu possesses. While every nation can boast of a president or whatever title its leader is known by, not everyone can boast of a Nobel Laureate."
"To use insulting words against such a man - who is perhaps more believable around the world than even the government that Iwu is serving -is a joke carried too far! The danger in Iwu's behaviour is that his position may even be seen as representing that of the government he serves, further dealing a credibility blow to the wobbly Yar'Adua administration," AC said.
The party said equally astonishing were comments credited to Iwu that former Senate President Ken Nnamani lobbied him to stall the 2007 elections, so that he (Nnamani) could become interim President.
"This statement, which no one believes, provides no greater evidence of Iwu's continuous descent into irreversible infamy. Coming over 18 months later, it is nothing short of a figment of Iwu's imagination.
"This is because the Iwu we know would not have waited this long to make his 'revelation' if indeed it were true. Is this not the same Iwu who concocted the story of a truck bomb aimed at the INEC offices in Abuja by those allegedly seeking to stop the 2007 elections? And just as it came, the obviously conjured truck disappeared into thin air," AC said.
It said "Nnamani's best legacy -and the memory that Nigerians have of his tenure as Senate President - is that he helped to thwart the illegal third term ambition of then President and maximum ruler, Olusegun Obasanjo.
"It is inconceivable that a man who, at a great risk, did all he could to prevent an illegality in the name of an unconstitutional third term, whose display of rare integrity helped to save Nigeria's young democracy, will then turn around to lobby for an unconstitutional interim presidency," AC said.
The party said it was even more laughable that Iwu is threatening Nnamani with prosecution, when those who willfully rigged elections in Edo State and across Nigeria have not been prosecuted.
"In any case, if anyone deserves to be prosecuted over the 2007 general elections, the worst in the history of our nation and perhaps anywhere else around the world, it is Iwu! His day of reckoning may yet come," it said.

The demolition squad of the Lagos State government moved to the Ikeja axis on Saturday with victims crying foul over the government's bid to rid the state of illegal structures and shacks.
The Ministry of the Environment backed by mobile policemen attached to the Alausa Government House stormed the Opebi-Allen axis of Ikeja in the early hours of yesterday where shacks and stalls erected close to the roadsides were demolished.
Hundreds of shacks and stalls were destroyed, leaving the victims in a sorrowful mood.
The demolition also extended to the adjacent streets linking Opebi. A government spokesman who preferred anonymity said that the government resolved to rid the state of illegal structures and shacks in order to bring out the beauty of the state.
According to him, it is an ongoing exercise that would not stop until Lagos rightfully takes its place as one of the modern cities like Japan and New York. But the victims, mostly Hausa traders, 'Tokunbo' clothes and shoe sellers and the likes were full of lamentation while they watched helplessly as their stalls demolished.
One of the victims, Alhaji Usman, told Sunday Sun he had been selling there for over five years and that he rightfully got permission and paid some money to the local government authorities before erecting his stall. "The government is insensitive to the plight of the common man. There was no notice given to us before this demolition exercise. If they had given notice, perhaps we would have removed what we erected ourselves and avoid this huge loss. Now they are destroyed," he said.
Another lady, who preferred anonymity, urged the state government to make provision for alternatives before destroying peoples\ stores because most times, she said, the stores are legally paid for.

COUNSEL to the 28 soldiers standing trial at the Court Martial in Akure Barrack for protesting the diversion of allowances paid to them by the United Nations (UN) through the Nigerian Army, Peters Ike Adonu, has accused the Nigerian Army of flagrant disobedience of the rule of law.
Adonu, in a statement made available to journalists in Akure, accused the Nigerian Army of refusing to obey the court process in the trial of the 28soldiers, saying "We challenged the detention of the 28 soldiers, at Akure High Court, we were granted bail but the Army refused to release them."
The credibility of this administration as emphasised in the sermon by President Musa Yar'Adua to uphold the rule of law, he said, has been violated by the actions of the Nigerian Army for refusing to adhere to the court process.
He said before the commencement of trial for mutiny, the chairman of the Court Martial, Brig. Bauka, had threatened to deal with the accused persons in a speech delivered in Sokoto.
Adonu said the published speech was believed to be pre-emptive and it showed the extent of the bias and the length the Nigerian Army would go to cover its sins.
It is strange that Brig. Bauka-led Court Martial could lend itself to such a reckless statement on the pages of newspaper on a matter still before it.
Brig. Bauka, he said played a dual role as the President and the lead prosecution in the case of the Nigeria Army v. Sgt. Okwara & 27Ors, on the day of the inauguration of the General Court Martial and refused the defence of Adonu adjournment of two days on the ground that the Court Martial is a Court of Summary trial and would end under a month.
He wondered how suddenly he turned around to adjourn the matter to June 1, 2009, when overwhelming, irresistible and credible evidence was being established.
"It is more painful that the Nigerian Government and those in authority have folded their hands and kept mute watching this tragic drama because of the fear of the military despite all the efforts to properly intimate them, he said.
It is already established in evidence that the so-called investigation team led by Col. Odunwa (as he then was) collected $150 US dollars each from the soldiers and those that could not pay were made sacrificial lamb on the altar of mammon," he said.
Adonu called on the National Security Adviser to Mr. President and the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Martial Paul Dike to promptly wade into this matter by advising President Yar'Adua to release those innocent young servicemen whose ages ranges between 18to 35 years languishing in the Military dungeon for daring to ask for their entitlement.
He enjoined the military not show their power as to oppress those who have no might. Stressing that these men are heroes that have made Nigeria proud in the foreign mission only to be treated like cheap and deadly criminals.
'It is our humble opinion that if this trend of evil is not checked on time, it can lead to the formation of a formidable terrorist gang that will unleash terror on this nation one day. These boys have not only been cheated but wounded and traumatised. The Army and the Brig. Bauka's Court Martial should bear in mind that they have children too and as long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest time will not cease; what ever a man sows, he will reap. Nigerians should rise to this broad daylight wickedness to save these patriots from the hands of their oppressors.'

COUNSEL to the 28 soldiers standing trial at the Court Martial in Akure Barrack for protesting the diversion of allowances paid to them by the United Nations (UN) through the Nigerian Army, Peters Ike Adonu, has accused the Nigerian Army of flagrant disobedience of the rule of law.
Adonu, in a statement made available to journalists in Akure, accused the Nigerian Army of refusing to obey the court process in the trial of the 28soldiers, saying "We challenged the detention of the 28 soldiers, at Akure High Court, we were granted bail but the Army refused to release them."
The credibility of this administration as emphasised in the sermon by President Musa Yar'Adua to uphold the rule of law, he said, has been violated by the actions of the Nigerian Army for refusing to adhere to the court process.
He said before the commencement of trial for mutiny, the chairman of the Court Martial, Brig. Bauka, had threatened to deal with the accused persons in a speech delivered in Sokoto.
Adonu said the published speech was believed to be pre-emptive and it showed the extent of the bias and the length the Nigerian Army would go to cover its sins.
It is strange that Brig. Bauka-led Court Martial could lend itself to such a reckless statement on the pages of newspaper on a matter still before it.
Brig. Bauka, he said played a dual role as the President and the lead prosecution in the case of the Nigeria Army v. Sgt. Okwara & 27Ors, on the day of the inauguration of the General Court Martial and refused the defence of Adonu adjournment of two days on the ground that the Court Martial is a Court of Summary trial and would end under a month.
He wondered how suddenly he turned around to adjourn the matter to June 1, 2009, when overwhelming, irresistible and credible evidence was being established.
"It is more painful that the Nigerian Government and those in authority have folded their hands and kept mute watching this tragic drama because of the fear of the military despite all the efforts to properly intimate them, he said.
It is already established in evidence that the so-called investigation team led by Col. Odunwa (as he then was) collected $150 US dollars each from the soldiers and those that could not pay were made sacrificial lamb on the altar of mammon," he said.
Adonu called on the National Security Adviser to Mr. President and the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Martial Paul Dike to promptly wade into this matter by advising President Yar'Adua to release those innocent young servicemen whose ages ranges between 18to 35 years languishing in the Military dungeon for daring to ask for their entitlement.
He enjoined the military not show their power as to oppress those who have no might. Stressing that these men are heroes that have made Nigeria proud in the foreign mission only to be treated like cheap and deadly criminals.
'It is our humble opinion that if this trend of evil is not checked on time, it can lead to the formation of a formidable terrorist gang that will unleash terror on this nation one day. These boys have not only been cheated but wounded and traumatised. The Army and the Brig. Bauka's Court Martial should bear in mind that they have children too and as long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest time will not cease; what ever a man sows, he will reap. Nigerians should rise to this broad daylight wickedness to save these patriots from the hands of their oppressors.'

Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili and the President, West African Bar Association (WABA, Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday, disagreed on how to make the rule of law and constitutionalism work toward making it the bastion of Nigerian civil democracy.
The minister, who was a special guest of honour at this year's Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) Annual Lecture, organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said the administration of President Umar Yar'Adua has made the principle of the rule of law its cornerstone, urging Nigerians to continue supporting the government in its drive to make the country attain greatness.
However, Falana, one of the three guest speakers on the occasion, in his paper, scored the administration low, insisting that the Yar' Adua government rather than practise what it preaches, is trampling on the rule of law with impunity.
The title of this year's lecture, the fifth in the series, was "Constitutionalism and the Re-Invention of the Nigerian State."
Falana and Mrs. Ayo Obe delivered papers on the topic.
Akunyili, who spoke glowingly on the good things the administration was doing, however, admitted that the country cannot achieve socio-political and economic developments without a standard workable constitution and free and fair election.
Speakers including the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice S.M.A. Belgore, said the country was blessed with abundant human and natural resources, asking the government to tap these and make the country an enviable one.
Akunyili, in her presentation, said: "I am excited to be here today because of the importance of the title of this year's lecture: Constitutionalism and Re-Invention of the Nigerian State with Democracy and the Challenges of Good Governance and Survival of Rule of Law in the Firmament of Poverty."
''A tongue twister, no doubt, but the essence of the crossroad at which we find ourselves at this time. Yes, no time would have been more suitable for this topic than now when the Federal Government led by President Umar Musa Yar'Adua is repositioning Nigeria with a view to making it one of the strongest economies, safeguarded under the rule of law by 2020.
However, in his paper, Falana as if reacting to the minister's presentations, attacked the government's policies, saying it has turned the principle of the rule of law on its head, and it is indirectly supporting corruption and abusing due process.
He said: "Since the powers of government are defined and limited by law governmental actions of the various organs of government are required to be in strict accordance with the law. Therefore, constitutional democracy cannot survive without a strict observance of the rule of law.

Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) on Tuesday suspended its strike, calling on teachers of the 102 Unity Colleges in Nigeria, to immediately return to classrooms.
The industrial action was embarked upon by the teachers to express displeasure over the cancellation of the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for admission into the junior arm of the Unity Colleges by the Federal Government.
Aside their disagreement on the decision of the Federal Government to cancel the exam after over 64,000 pupils have undergone the rigours of the examination, the Association has other issues to settle with the government through the Federal Ministry of Education.
Some of the issues are the alleged ceding of the Unity Schools to the state government, private firms and bodies, non-payment of the 15 per cent salary increment, non payment of arrears of promotion for the past three years, and posting of staff without any financial provision.
The strike was called off after an emergency meeting of the union executive with the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu yesteray in Abuja.
Egwu, after listening to the issues tabled by the trade union,said they were fundamental, but pleaded for the suspension of the strike to enable him study the situaiton.
Satisfied with the stance of the Minister, the Union agreed to direct its members to go back to the class with immediate effect so as to alow the Minister treat the case accordingly.

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday said that recent disclosures about the award of oil blocks and the $16bn allegedly spent on the power sector between 1999 and 2007 were enough grounds for the investigation former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration.Oshiomhole, who also alleged that corruption thrived more in the Presidency during Obasanjo's eight-year in office than in state Government Houses, said the fact that the former President was not under probe indicated that he still enjoyed immunity.
He spoke at the 6th Annual Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja where a former Secretary of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and an erswhile Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Masari, called for electoral process that would guarantee the rights of voters.
The governor, in a veiled call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission to go after Obasanjo, said there was "abundant evidence that some of our rulers 'ate' while in office."
Oshiomhole, whose paper was titled "Democracy: Restoring Faith in Politics," said, "With the disclosures about large-scale corruption under the last administration such as the $16bn power sector scandal and abuses in the allocation of oil blocks, the former President is still not being investigated to the best of our knowledge, which indicates that even out of office, the system still confers immunity on him.
"The real challenge, therefore, is to strengthen the law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies and encourage them to overcome their apparent self-imposed restraint and official control."
He lamented the "blatant nature" of corruption and its celebration in Nigeria, saying it was responsible for the erosion of public confidence in politics, democracy and governance.
Oshiomhole said, "For instance, in a well-publicised confrontation with the late Chief Bola Ige, Chief S.M. Afolabi had said, and I quote, 'Look at somebody we have called to come and eat, and he is busy abusing the party that rescued him.'
"There is abundant evidence that some of our rulers actually 'ate' while in office at all levels.
"For instance, how else can we explain the transformation of a near-bankrupt proprietor (Obasanjo) of an insolvent farm into the proud owner of a private university and a large expanse of farmlands in all the geo-political zones of the country.
" The same man owns land and real estates in choice locations, other lucrative investments by proxy and a sprawling library complete with a five-star hotel openly funded by agencies of the government and beneficiaries of contracts, waivers, joint venture agreements and other forms of patronage."
According to Oshiomhole, the damage that corruption has done to the country was responsible for the renewed debate for the removal of immunity clause from the 1999 Constitution.
He, however, argued that the fight against corruption was beyond removing the immunity clause.
The governor said, "But the most compelling argument, which I am persuaded to adopt in toto, is that a hostile Federal Government, using federal law enforcement agencies, could abuse the removal of the immunity clause by harassing governors who are opposed to him whether they are in opposition parties or, indeed, his own party.
"Many Nigerians, including governors, may be comfortable with the removal of the immunity clause with a more civil, tolerant and broad-minded leader."
Oshiomhole also said the last administration focused on governors in the fight against corruption whereas the Presidency had a lot to account for.
He said, "To cap it all, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former EFCC chairman had disclosed, although without providing the evidence, that 24 serving governors had amassed so much at the expense of the people, but could not be prosecuted because of their immunity.
"Yet, Transparency International in a report towards the end of the tenure of the last administration had disclosed that 60 per cent of the corruption in the Nigerian system was domiciled in the Presidency.
"Therefore, if some of the governors were the proverbial 40 thieves, many will readily argue, based on the Transparency International report and other disclosures of corrupt enrichment, that the former President could be regarded as the Ali Baba, who had, skillfully managed to re-direct the focus from himself."
He submitted that Nigerians would continue to lose faith in the polity because of the gap between what is promised by the rulers and the reality on the ground.
"In contrast to the abject living conditions of the people is the manifest offensive opulence of their rulers, which arises largely from the huge costs expended on office holders at the expense of the people," he added.
Anyaoku, who was the chairman of the occasion, said that Nigerians could only have faith in the electoral process if there was a guarantee that their votes were important.
He implored politicians to avoid the winner-takes-all syndrome and the government to be transparent in conducting its affairs.
In his presentation, Masari recommended stiff penalties for those who engage in electoral malpractices.
According to him, when those involved in electoral malpractices go unpunished, the cycle of electoral fraud would remain with Nigeria for a long time.
He said, "The 2007 elections left a terrible taste in the mouth of all Nigerians of conscience and the performance of Independent National Electoral Commission could be classified as the worst since 1923 when we started conducting election in this country following the provisions of the Clifford Constitution of 1922."
Dignitaries at the occasion included Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State; his counterpart in Gombe State, Alhaji Danjuma Goje; and Etsu of Lapai, Alhaji Umaru Bago III.

Officials of the Nigerian Customs Service on Wednesday allegedly gunned down a bus conductor identified as Arinze Nwachukwu at the former Asaba-Onitsha toll gate.
The alleged killing caused a stir on the highway and created a -prolonged traffic jam from Abraka market, Asaba to the bridgehead.
This caused a spillover in Onitsha, Anambra State as it temporarily blocked access to the Niger Bridge
It was gathered that Arinze, the only child of the Nwachukwu from Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Council, was murdered at 7.30 am while in a bus with registration number XC 220 JJC.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to our correspondent gave two versions of how the customs officials on duty at the toll gate fired a shot that killed the 25-year old conductor.
One source claimed that the anti-smuggling agents fired shots at an Onitsha-bound luxury bus after attempting to stop the bus without success.
One of the bullets was said to have hit another Onitsha-Asaba bus, a Mitsubishi L-300 driven by a man simply called IBB, whose conductor was Arinze.
The bullet, the source said, pierced the door behind the driver and penetrated the chest of the conductor.
The source said there was no passenger in the bus, adding that both the driver and the slain conductor were on their way to carry passengers at Asaba when the incident happened.
Our correspondent gathered that the bullet created a wide hole on the bus.
It was learnt that the driver narrowly escaped death as another bullet hit the edge of the vehicle's door, above the glass, but could not penetrate.
Another eyewitness said the bus was filled with passengers who scampered for safety when the bullet hit the conductor.
It was gathered that after the dastardly act, the customs officials fired several shots into the air to scare onlookers and also paved the way for their escape through the swampy bush close to the River Niger.
The source said that the customs officers pulled their uniforms to avoid identification.
It was also learnt that some onlookers had trailed the trigger-happy men, but could not get them. The sympathisers, however, vented their anger on a customs official vehicle, Peugeot 504 Saloon, which was burnt beyond recognition.
The remains of Arinze covered with traffic jacket were kept in the ill-fated bus hours after the incident, but were later taken to Area "B" Police Division, Delta State along Asaba-Onitsha Expressway.
As at press time, a crowd of sympathisers and protesters, besieged the police division.
The killing of Arinze sparked off violent protests as commercial drivers and conductors, especially those who plied Asaba-Onitsha route took over the highways wielding weapons and chanting solidarity songs.
Scores of rioters barricaded the highways, created gridlocks on the busy road for hours and defiled all the efforts by the policemen to pacify them.
The scene attracted squads of anti-riot policemen, men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Joint Military Task Force who were put on the alert to avert possible escalation of the protest.

Not quite long after the death of 13 members of a family in Imo State from generator fumes, another family of six in Benin City, Edo State, has fallen victim of the same incident. In the case of the Obile community in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, 13 members of a family were reportedly choked to death by generator fumes.
Victims of the Obile incident include eight children, two pregnant women and three men. Among them were one Ethelbert John, his wife, maid and four children.
An eye witness account said that the victims were watching television at night and slept off while the generator was on. They were later found dead in the morning. An autopsy conducted and released to the officials of the State Ministry of Health linked the death to carbon monoxide arising from generator fumes. A similar incident was recorded in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State in 2007 in which eight persons lost their lives.
In Benin City, Edo State, a 75year-old man, Michael Aiwekhoi, his 50-year old wife and four other members of the family have reportedly died of fumes emitted from his generating set. The incident, which occurred at his Ihogbe Street residence in Benin City, claimed the life of the son of the deceased, Eric Aiwekhoi, who was to have completed his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in February this year. It also claimed the life of a graduate of Auchi Polytechnic and three others.
According to a neighbour who witnessed the incident, the late Michael Aiwekhoi had put the medium-sized generator in the passage of his residence with the exhaust facing the wall close to the rooms and the main sitting room of the house before going to bed. Report had it that the poisonous carbon monoxide from the generator might have affected the respiratory systems of the affected people in the apartment as they were discovered dead in the morning.
These incidents are just a few of many that occur in Nigeria almost on a daily basis. It is a pointer to the fact that the nation's power utility has failed to generate the needed power hence the masses have resorted to generating their own power with its attendant consequences.
In spite of government's declared intention to increase power supply in the country, the total power generated in Nigeria has continued to decrease. In December 2008, power generation in the country dropped from about 2,600 megawatts to about 1,200megawatts. The national demand for power is estimated to be about 10,000 megawatts. Increasing deaths by generator fumes is an indication of the government's failure to tackle the energy problem.
We bemoan the situation where Nigerians are daily sent to early graves by no fault of theirs but the ineptitude of the government in providing power. We therefore call on the government to fast-track whatever it is doing to improve electricity supply in the country. However, the point must be made that people die from generator fumes not necessarily because we are having energy crisis, but due to the squalid settlements in which Nigerians live.
There should therefore be an enlightenment campaign on how people can install their generators without putting their lives at risk.
We have had enough of deaths emanating from generator fumes. Let the government be steadfast in ensuring that its power utility generates the quantity of electricity needed by all Nigerians.

I N fiscal 2009, the Ministry of the Niger Delta has only N18 billion to spend on new projects.
This may have informed the bid by the House of Representatives to jack up the N50 billion allocated to ministry in the 2009 budget, which the lawmakers described as insignificant.
The House has, therefore, liaised with the Presidency to ensure a healthy discussion of the matter.
The meeting at the instance of the House Committee on the Niger Delta was held with Vice President Jonathan Goodluck to explain to the Presidency the need to raise the allocation.
In his briefing, the Minister of the Niger Delta Ministry, Chief Uffot Ekaette told the committee yesterday that only N18 billion would be available for the execution of new projects in 2009 and assured that the ministry would put the money into proper use. It was not clear if the N18 billion is part of N50 billion allocated to the new ministry. If the fund for capital projects is from the budget, it means that the ministry may spend N22 billion on recurrent expenditures during the period.
On the plan for the development of the region, Ekaette, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) said the ministry had started consultation with stakeholders in the region on the projects to be executed, adding that the ministry would soon come out with an action plan. On this note, the committee urged him not to allow bureaucracy to delay the action.
As the panel addressed the Niger Delta enigma, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has approved some projects to tackle ecological problems in some parts of the country.
Yar'Adua in the 2009 budget he sent to the National Assembly allocated N50 billion to the new ministry. Shortly after the presentation, lawmakers from the South-South zone led by the Majority Leader in the House, Tunde Akogun, addressed a press conference where they faulted the budget on the ground that it did not meet the yearnings of the people of the region. The lawmakers had said that that the vote was too small.
At the meeting between the House Committee on the Niger Delta and ministry officials, which Ekaette and his Minister of State, Godswill Orubebe, attended, the chairman of the committee, Olaka Nwogu, said the panel had met with the Vice President over the matter.
Although Nwogu did not disclose the outcome of the meeting, The Guardian learnt that the Vice President agreed that the allocation ought to be higher but pleaded with the lawmakers to start with the provision and wait for further development.
Olaka told the ministers that the committee on the Niger Delta ministry shared the view that the area was in dire need of infrastructure and in the end, they should be able to prove to the people that the problems of the region were not insurmountable.
"The National Assembly and the House in particular are happy that at last some concrete efforts are being made to address the problems in the Niger Delta region. We share the goal of ensuring peace and development in the region and we are ready to partner you. The problems are not insurmountable if people do the right thing. The committee is very much concerned about the issues of Niger Delta and that is why we met with the Vice President over the allocation to the ministry. Whatever details the ministry has, you should give us and we will do our best to see that the right thing is done as a committee," Nwogu said.
The Minister of Environment, John Odey, who disclosed yesterday the President's approval of the ecological projects during a budget session with the House Committee on Environment, said the projects included erosion menace in the eastern part of the country, and desert encroachment in the North. He said every part of the country would be touched by the projects, which are being funded from the Ecological Fund.
"The President, as part of his efforts to aggressively address ecological problems nationwide has approved about 42 projects to be funded from the Ecological Fund," he said.
The minister sued for the cooperation of the lawmakers, stressing that issues should not be toyed with and expressed the readiness of the administration to address them headlong. Odey said the ministry would soon come up with a programme of action and assured that all stakeholders would be consulted.
On its part, the House Committee on Power headed by Ndidu Godwin Elumelu, has called on the Minister of Power, Lanre Babalola, to immediately begin the full implementation of the Power Reform Law passed in 2005 by the National Assembly.
The committee which gave the charge during a budget defence session with the officials of the ministry yesterday, lamented that despite the assent to the bill three years ago by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the law was yet to be fully complied with.
According to the committee, the assets of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) which was unbundled ought to have been fully inherited by the successor companies but that had not been done.
"PHCN today, is an illegality. It ought to have wounded up since following the law we passed but it is unfortunate that the successor companies have not been allowed to take over the assets. It is a matter of law and the power ministry should ensure compliance immediately," the committee said.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Lower House, Dimeji Bankole, has expressed concern over the failure of some committees to present the reports of the budget defence with ministries and parastatals.
The Speaker stated his worry during the plenary session yesterday, noting that only a few committees had turned in reports and urged others yet to do so to expedite action.
He, therefore, announced the suspension of plenary till tomorrow.
"We are not doing too well in the reports of committees on budget defence. I am embarrassed by the number of committees that have so far submitted their reports. We need to go back and do extensive work on the budget so that within three days, they would have been submitted," Bankole said.
Meanwhile, the President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Kimse Okoko, has said that except the fundamental problems that generated the formation of militant organisations in the Niger Delta are resolved, the country would continue to be plagued by the menace.
He spoke just as some gunmen who kidnapped the Deputy General Manager of Total, Mr. Ikechukwu Anozie, were yet to make contact with his family or with his employers as at time of going to press.
Also, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) have dissociated themselves from the recent killing of two soldiers in Bomadi, Delta State.
Okoko, who will be vacating office as the INC president tomorrow, during an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta was a serious one that could only be tackled through the dispensation of justice.
He observed that the biggest tragedy in the Niger Delta was that people have now begun to see the militants as criminals, stressing that the biggest mistake anyone could make was to classify all militants as criminals.
Alozie was kidnapped in Port Harcourt on Monday night by gunmen. The circumstance of the kidnap is sketchy. Total's spokesperson, Mr. Fred Owhawha, who confirmed the incident, said "management has expressed solidarity with the Anozie's family and has pledged support to ensure his early release."
MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said the recent death of two Nigerian soldiers in Bomadi was not carried out by unknown gunmen as claimed by the Joint Task Force.

Speaker of the Edo state House of Assembly, Mr. Zakawanu Garuba, yesterday ordered investigations into the academic and moral profile of one of the commissioner nominees, Mr. Victor Enoghama.
He gave the order following petitions against the nominee, noting that independent investigation would be conducted on the credentials submitted by Enoghama before the House can approve his nomination.
It would be recalled that Governor Adams Oshiomhole had last week sent list of 18 Commissioner - nominees to the House for screening and ratification as members of his cabinet. The lawmakers who cut short their vacation to consider the list commenced the screening yesterday on the floor of the House.
At the beginning of the exercise, the two candidates called, Dr. Tunde Lakoju, a former member of the House of Representatives and a University lecturer, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Osarenren, did not give the lawmakers any problem as former simply bowed and left while the latter answered the questions posed to her.
However, drama ensued when one of the nominees from Oredo local government, Mr. Victor Enoghama was called to come and defend his credentials he sent to the House.
The first observation raised was the attachment of three different certificates and results to his curriculum vitae (CV). As he was battling to defend it, members discovered that he claimed to have been abroad between 2001-2003working as full time employee of court in New Jersey, running a full time programme in the same city and trading with a company name in Nigeria at the same period.
Mr. Enoghama also claimed to have worked with Afribank in Nigeria during the same period and resigned without a proof of resignation and letter of acceptance of resignation from the bank.
Members were also confused that during the said period, he displayed a tax certificate said to have paid even as a student.
Worried by the doubtful explanation and grammatical errors during the interaction, the Speaker, Mr. Zakawanu ordered that full scale investigation be conducted on his claims to know his true status.
Speaking at the end of the exercise, the Speaker said the exercise was not to intimidate any of the nominees but to get the best hands to work for the state.
The exercise continues today.

For giddy Democrats and wary Republicans alike, the waiting is over: Barack Obama has officially arrived, shutting down streets in the nation's capital and sending the news media into a tizzy. Over the next couple of weeks, as the postelection honeymoon builds to its inaugural apex, the gossip rags and the news pages can all report the same story. Entertainment NewsHour will be able to compete for scoops.
Obama flew in Sunday afternoon from Chicago on a jumbo jet from the Air Force's presidential fleet. (He was choked up leaving his old house!) He moved into a hotel with his family. (The Hay-Adams, where Mark Twain drank!) His daughters were shuttled off to a new school. (Tuition is almost $30,000 a year - but the hot lunches are free!)
The President-elect has always understood how to maximize photo ops for political ends, and his first day in Washington was no exception. Obama's task was to look like a man in charge, reaching out to Republican and Democratic members of Congress, followed by photo ops and statements that could be read as closely as the oracles. Would the Republican House minority leader, John Boehner, thank Obama for making a courtesy call or praise their "productive discussions"? Would Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell demand for Republicans a bigger seat at the legislative drafting table or simply welcome the new President?
Obama knows that just beyond the flashbulbs, a darkening storm hangs over the nation. The national and global economies continue to deteriorate at a terrifying pace. The ISM Manufacturing Index, a key measurement of domestic production, hit a 28-year low in December. Payrolls fell an additional half million last month, leading economists to predict that the total job losses in 2008 were greater than at any point since the immediate aftermath of World War II. The housing-price free fall has yet to show any clear sign of stabilization.
And so, after a morning powwow with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - she called meeting the President-elect in her office a "great honor and personal privilege" - Obama hit his day's talking points. "The reason we are here today is that the people's business can't wait," he said. "We have an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us."
The immediate medicine for this ailment is widely agreed upon within Democratic, and many Republican, circles: a large stimulus package, perhaps as big as $ 750 billion or even $1 trillion over two years. The number is large by design. To have an effect on the economy, it has to be big, say economists. (The entire Vietnam War cost about $700 billion, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere since Sept. 11, 2001, have already cost more than $860 billion, according to congressional bean counters.)

For giddy Democrats and wary Republicans alike, the waiting is over: Barack Obama has officially arrived, shutting down streets in the nation's capital and sending the news media into a tizzy. Over the next couple of weeks, as the postelection honeymoon builds to its inaugural apex, the gossip rags and the news pages can all report the same story. Entertainment NewsHour will be able to compete for scoops.
Obama flew in Sunday afternoon from Chicago on a jumbo jet from the Air Force's presidential fleet. (He was choked up leaving his old house!) He moved into a hotel with his family. (The Hay-Adams, where Mark Twain drank!) His daughters were shuttled off to a new school. (Tuition is almost $30,000 a year - but the hot lunches are free!)
The President-elect has always understood how to maximize photo ops for political ends, and his first day in Washington was no exception. Obama's task was to look like a man in charge, reaching out to Republican and Democratic members of Congress, followed by photo ops and statements that could be read as closely as the oracles. Would the Republican House minority leader, John Boehner, thank Obama for making a courtesy call or praise their "productive discussions"? Would Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell demand for Republicans a bigger seat at the legislative drafting table or simply welcome the new President?
Obama knows that just beyond the flashbulbs, a darkening storm hangs over the nation. The national and global economies continue to deteriorate at a terrifying pace. The ISM Manufacturing Index, a key measurement of domestic production, hit a 28-year low in December. Payrolls fell an additional half million last month, leading economists to predict that the total job losses in 2008 were greater than at any point since the immediate aftermath of World War II. The housing-price free fall has yet to show any clear sign of stabilization.
And so, after a morning powwow with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - she called meeting the President-elect in her office a "great honor and personal privilege" - Obama hit his day's talking points. "The reason we are here today is that the people's business can't wait," he said. "We have an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us."
The immediate medicine for this ailment is widely agreed upon within Democratic, and many Republican, circles: a large stimulus package, perhaps as big as $ 750 billion or even $1 trillion over two years. The number is large by design. To have an effect on the economy, it has to be big, say economists. (The entire Vietnam War cost about $700 billion, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere since Sept. 11, 2001, have already cost more than $860 billion, according to congressional bean counters.)