₦airaland Forum

Eziachi:
Its now you are talking sense and comfirmed my whole suspision.  The whole thing about polygamy has nothing to do with any culture or even religion but simply based on sex and for the satisfaction of man alone. It is unlawful in develop lands because they understand that it based on subjugation of the female sex and inequality.

The most ardent supporter of polygamy, especially in Africa/middle East when you ask them if the same privilege should be extended to women to have more than one husband, immediatly, they develop a cold feet. . They will no longer talk about choice, culture or other excuses.
If any one here or anywhere else is ready to share his wife without someone legally, I will join him in the polygamy crusade. And if you can't, then you don't have a leg to stand on supporting out dated man's quest to have his way when is comes to equality of privileges.

I know for sure based on my grandfather tips years ago to me. He told me never to marry more than one wife, though he married 3 in his time, because as he said, it is an outdated culture and not necesary in the modern times. He said to be that in the oldies, especially in Igboland, a man's wealth is often measured by the size of his YAM BARN. So to help till his land, the man had to marry many women to have many children to farm his land and also harvest his vast estate of palm produce.

But according to him those things or lifestyle no longer obtained in modern times, and when I considered that my grandfather died almost 48 years ago.

Beaf:
Just as I predicted, Hilary Clinton has indeed joined the 3 ex ambassadors and launched a warning against Nigeria, putting us on the same footing to the US as Cuba (thats pretty serious).

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200912173551228

The thing that pains me, is that instead of us thinking about ways out, a lot of folk have jumped in here to exchange words. Why can't Nigerians think? There was a thread on critical thinking, why can't we employ proper analytical methods?
I weep for Nigeria, because of the damage we have inflicted on our collective psyche and intellect. We need new and radical thinking to save us, our democracy and our nation.

wirinet:
First and foremost, there is already a law against Polygamy - It is illegal. Even at the marriage registry, the marriage councilor would remind you. The problem is in enforcement of the Law.

MrCrackles:
Becomrich

When you become president, can i be your [b]Mapo[/b]graphical and [b]Mapo[/b]logy records keeper and adviser

Afam:
You seem not to understand the issue. He has the right to use his discretion just as Prof Iwu used his but he has no right to tell us that the process was fair because he mistakenly included someone who secured a lesser number of votes in the tie.

You may call it a joke or fun but this is the same attitude that will follow us when serious elections come around and he will also tell you that as far as he is concerned the election was free and fair and in fact remains the best - just as Prof Iwu scored the 2009 over 90% or so.

Also, please stick to the topic as I have not asked you for any advice.

Most of the politicians who loot the public treasury today may have started by stealing pencils in primary schools and I am sure people like you would have told others who complained that they are over reacting because the cost of pencil is small.

On some issues there are no middle grounds. Nigeria is the way it is because of people like you who would effortlessly support any anomaly or illegality as long as it does not affect you directly but would shout to high heavens if it does.

A simple admission or correction would have made sense but no, instead he chose to lock the thread, dismiss valid complaints, ascribe the election the best on the forum and you come here to talk about being judgmental?

[size=18pt]Yar’Adua: Failure to write N’Assembly is impeachable offence —Falana[/size]


The President of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana, has said that President Umaru Yar’Adua’s failure to formally inform the National Assembly about his medical trip to Saudi Arabia constituted an impeachable offence.

He said this in an interview on Wednesday shortly after the public presentation of The Gatekeepers, an abridged biography of 20 of Nigeria’s leading newspaper and magazine editors, edited by O’Femi Kolawole, in Lagos.

The theme was “Towards credible elections and deepening democracy in Nigeria: The state, the media and the people.”

Falana had on Tuesday asked the Federal High Court, Abuja to invalidate decisions taken by the Federal Executive Council in Yar’Adua’s absence.

He also asked the court to compel the President to formally inform the Senate president and Speaker of the House of Representatives about his medical trip and empower Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to function as acting president.

Speaking with our correspondent, he said, “Presdent Umaru Yar’Adua’s failure to write to the National Assembly before his medical trip abroad is a violation of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution. It is an impeachable offence.”

He lamented the statement credited to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, that Yar’Adua was in charge of the government, wondering how a man who had been admited to hospital for over three weeks could be running the country.

He said, “How can the President, who is on medical vacation and has not been able to discharge his functions for the past 23 days, remain in effective charge of this country? The statement is unbecoming of an attorney-general.”

Earlier, during the event, Falana, who was the guest lecturer, said Nigeria needed credible elections to transform into a global leader.

He said the media had a great role to play in deepening democracy in the country by holding the government accountable to the people and disseminating information.

He urged the media to collaborate with other stakeholders to press for the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill without further delay.

According to him, “FOI must be passed without further delay. What befell the bill under former President Olusegun Obasanjo should not be allowed to be. All the stakeholders must be involved to make this a reality; as access to information is not restricted to the media. It is invaluable to NGOs, lawyers, entrepreneurs, researchers, among others.

“This time around, we have more problems on our hands as the leaders of both Houses of the National Assembly have sworn that they will not pass the bill, because the media will use it as a means to abuse them.”

The event, which was chaired by Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ambassador Segun Olusola, was attended by a former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh; Editor, ThisDay, Mr. Simon Kolawole; Editor, The PUNCH, Mr. Steve Ayorinde and Editor, The Sun on Sunday, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, among others.

“Nobody is deceived. Even the statement that has been issued by the Federal Government has confirmed that the President has not been able, unfortunately, to discharge the functions of his office.

“And if we are being told that the Federal Government cannot say for certain when Yar’Adua will be in a position to resume duty in Nigeria. I think the AGF should be assisted to learn to speak the truth.”

On whether the vice-president could sign the 2009 Supplementary Appropriation Bill in the President’s absence, he said that even Aondoakaa knew that Jonathan could not sign any bill passed by the National Assembly in accordance with Section 148 of the constitution.

He said the vice-president could not preside over the meetings of the Federal Executive Council, as the constitution stipulated that the President “shall hold regular meetings with the VP and the ministers on the administration of the country.”

He explained that his suit was meant to clear doubts surrounding the entire issue, expressing the hope that it would be given speedy hearing.

Kay 17:
@ martian, a french-speaking lawyer who's well-knowledgeable in french law could do, not anybody that speaks french. submitting govt documents and matters to foreign embassies, isn't that too irresponsible?

“The powers of the President are not exercised territorially. Yar’Adua can exercise his powers anywhere in the world, on the plane, at the meeting of the United Nations or even on his sick bed, as long as he is not incapacitated by the sickness."

Beaf:
^
I am at home, fool.

The Federal Government on Tuesday made a U-turn on its promise to deliver uninterrupted power supply, saying 6,000MW of electricity is no longer possible by December 31.

It said at the 15th summit of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group in Abuja that going by all permutations, the deadline would not be met.

The Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Alhaji Tanimu Yakubu, who made the government’s position known, said, “We may not achieve 100 per cent of the target. We have been able to achieve 5,200MW so far.

“As I am talking to you now, 35MW is being added to the national grid and another 100MW will be added in the next two weeks.”

Yakubu did not give a firm reason why the 6000MW would not be met, but THE PUNCH had exclusively reported on December 3 that inadequate gas supply might invalidate the December 31 deadline.

THE PUNCH had, in the publication, reported that power stations run by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria were facing a huge gas supply shortfall of not less that 77 per cent.

The report had said that gas supply fell by 76.7 per cent as the power stations got 182 million standard cubic feet of gas per day as against 782.77 million scfd.

But the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who also attended the summit, argued that if the government attained the 5,200MW, it would have recorded 86 per cent or 90 per cent of the 6,000MW.

He said the figure (86 or 90 per cent) would be regarded as an excellent result if assessed in an examination.

The minister, who said the nation needed 30,000MW of electricity by 2020, assured that after 2011, additional 2000MW would have been added to the power sector.

Even though President Umaru Yar’Adua made power generation one of the pillars of his administration’s Seven-Point Agenda, he had curiously revised downward the 10,000MW target set by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007 to 6,000MW.

Yar’Adua had, during his campaign, promised to declare an emergency in the power sector. The promise is yet to be kept more than two and half years after he assumed office in May 2007.

Also speaking at the event, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan said some elected government officials failed to do the right things because they were frightened by perceived enemies and fear of not getting a second term in office.

He said that delivering the dividends of democracy took more time because of the need to allow every arm of government to perform their legitimate functions.

Jonathan said, “In the civilian era, things are a little bit slow. The 2008 budget for instance was passed by about the middle of the year. We have this problem of delay that comes from the National Assembly.

“Now, we are still awarding contracts for 2009. With the adjustment of budget implementation to March, implementation of capital budget will be better.”

He explained that the government proposed a stimulus budget for 2010 to ensure that positive results were achieved.

The vice-president also said that it was not true that Nigerians were paying exhorbitant taxes, adding that tax reforms were ongoing to ensure that Nigerians got value for the taxes they paid.

He added that what made the case of tax payers worse in Nigeria was that they also spent a lot of money on infrastructural needs, especially on power.

Jonathan said the government had embarked on diversifying the sources of power, adding that $100bn must be invested on infrastructure in the next 11 years.

He also emphasised the need to ensure that the economy was driven by the private sector, adding that when Nigerians go to schools or hospitals abroad, it is not public utilities that they patronise but private institutions.

At the Presidential Dialogue session of the event, a Managing Director of World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said corruption thrived in Nigeria because of the failure of government to punish known culprits.

Emphasising the need to invest in the nation’s education and health sectors, Okonjo-Iweala said the elite in Nigeria might not know how badly the quality of education had deteriorated.

Asked to advise the government on what it needed to do to eliminate the perception of Nigeria in the international community as a corrupt nation, the former Minister of Finance said that ordinary Nigerians were not corrupt.

She said, “I want to repeat what I have always said; 99.9 per cent of Nigerians are not corrupt. The ordinary Nigerian is not corrupt. But there is impunity in the country.

“We know people that have done the wrong things. We know institutions that have done the wrong things. They are also known abroad. No action is taken against them. There is impunity in the country.”

The World Bank boss said much of the 2010 budget needed to be invested in the health, road construction, education and power sectors.

The President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, who was on the panel, expressed regret that government’s affairs were not being conducted with openness and transparency.

He said it was sad that for 10 years, the country had not been able to pass the Freedom of Information bill.

Responding to this, Shamsudeen said while the FOI bill was desirable, the Yar’Adua administration had, in the interim, done so much to make governance open.

The President of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana, has dragged the Federal Government before the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to compel President Umaru Yar’ Adua to inform the National Assembly about his hospitalisation and empower Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to take charge of governance.

In suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/732/09 filed on Tuesday, the plaintiff is asking the court to hold that that it is illegal for the President to travel abroad for medical treatment without transmitting information about it to the National Assembly.

Falana is also seeking an order of mandatory injunction compelling Yar’Adua to transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives that based on his medical trip to Saudi Arabia, Jonathan should be empowered to lead the nation as the Acting President of Nigeria.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr. Sola Egbeyinka, had filed the suit on behalf of the WABA president and joined the Atorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michale Aondoakaa (SAN), as the sole defendant.

The lawyer is also asking the court to determine whether the President’s refusal or failure to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives before proceeding on the trip on November 23, 2009 was not a violation of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.

The plaintiff further asked the court to determine whether Jonathan can discharge any of the functions of the President when a written declaration has not been transmitted to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House by Yar’Adua pursuant to Section 145 of the constitution.

He also asked the court to determine whether the weekly meetings of the Federal Executive Council held since November 23, 2009 and the decisions taken by the council were not illegal and unconstitutional by virtue of Section 148 of the constitution.

In the suit, the plaintiff is also said that, “before his medical vacation, the President had nominated Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and Justice Ayo Salami as the Chief Justice of Nigeria and President of the Court of Appeal respectively subject to the confirmation of the Senate; after the President had proceeded on vacation, Justice Umaru Abdullahi retired officially as the President of the Court of Appeal on the 30th day of November, 2009; owing to the absence of the President, the most senior justice of the court has not been officially sworn-in as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal as required by the 1999 Constitution.

He also said that unless the Senate confirmed the appointments of Katsina-Alu and Salami as soon as possible, the administration of justice at the highest level of the judiciary may be brought to a halt due to the absence of the President; several cases involving his clients would not be attended to if the appointments of the CJN and President of the Court of Appeal are not regularised as a result of the President’s medical vacation; if the appointment of Katsina-Alu is confirmed as the Chief CJN by the Senate, he has to be sworn-in by the President

According to him, “I know as a legal practitioner that the meetings of the Council of State, the National Defence Council, National Security Council, Nigeria Police Council and the Federal Executive Council cannot be held in the absence of the President as he is required to preside over them in his capacity of the Chairman; in the conclusion of the last two meetings of the FEC presided over by the Vice-President, it was announced in the print and electronic media that the approval to the award of the following contracts:-

(i) An International Development Association policy credit of $500m for bridging the shortfall in the 2009 Budget; (ii) Supply of one unit of IG7 generator assembly and spares for Kainji Hydro Electric River PLC for E4.352M; (iii) Upgrade/expansion of Existing gas metering facilities at the Sapele power station for $26.4m and N1.1bn.

Falana said he believed that “a written declaration by the President to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the effect that he is on medical vacation will enable the Vice President to discharge the functions of the President in an acting capacity; that I know as a fact that President George Bush of the United States of America, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, President Levy Manawasa of Zambia and Prime Minister Aeriel Sharon of Israel and President Ahidjo of Cameroun handed over to their deputies when they were sick in office; the vacuum being experienced in the Presidency was never contemplated by the constitution. Hence a vice-president was elected with the President on the joint ticket on the same Political Party i.e Peoples Democratic Party; as far as the constitution is concerned, the vice-president is required to be the Acting President whenever the President is on vacation or otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office; that unless the reliefs sought by the plaintiff are granted, Nigeria may be plunged into a serious constitutional crisis which may be exploited by anti-democratic forces.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case. The application was backed with a 10-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mr. Samuel Ogala.

“When he assesses that he will stay long, I believe he will send the letter and it depends on his discussion with his doctors. If the doctors say that he will stay long, the Yar`Adua I know will send the letter and if it is just a few more weeks I think there will be no problem,’’ he said.

“What most people do not know is that Yar`Adua will come back. He has done it before, when he was Governor he was away for six months and the death wishers did the same thing when he was Governor and he returned and he did not only return to continue his job as Governor, but he went on to have a second term and completed the second term successfully and went on to contest the presidency of this country and won.”

VALIDATOR:
If you love your life more than Nigeria its better you resign. Your wife and children still need you alive.
If you love Nigeria more than your life its still better you resign. Nigeria is too rugged for a sickly gentleman like you.
If you love the sycophants around you more than both Nigeria and your life then ride on Yar' Adua for 2011. to your grave.

Sam Milla:
How could people not understand a simple question ?
No wonder many people fail exams.
i did not ask why you didnt do anything or why you hate your president.

I asked what you have done for him.

Now you can shut up if you dont want to say anything.

He might have failed you but he did not fail everybody.

Capable hands my foot.

Give me one example of that capable person ?
And give me a guarantee that he will turn Nigeria to Japan in 4 years.

I still maintain that whether we agree or not , he is our Dear President.

chidichris:
@pro anti,
if you are not in yaba mental rehab, it means u are in the wrong place for your type.
who made u a judge? do u have the power to call yar adua your president slow? u are simply a misplaced spermatozoa.
the most responsible way to address the situation of our president is to add presidential to whatever. if he is mentally ill like his much trusted saudi doctors say, we can address him as a PRESIDENTIAL MAD MAN.

chidichris:
to all nigerians,
we need not to bother ourselves on his resignition and replacement as we did not choose him in the first place and have no right to replace him.
we are waiting for the god of nigeria, who choose and reject, who appoints and disappoint, the one who make u big and make u small at will. that one who decides the state of your mental health.
if time is not taken, very soon, anambra will have a mad gov because i see the same hand that raised yar adua trying to raise prof soludo. we are watching. nigerians must know it that obasanjo is like a devil and can never give u anything for free.

ezan:
@OAM4J, Iyke-D, Manny4life, the thing is I'd love to be able to tell you guys in about 10yrs time: I TOLD YOU SO but it wouldn't be worth it. If you understood simple math and debt-which you obviously do not-you would see pretty clearly that America is finished. Done. Dead. What is military might if you can't service the troops? What is military might without a SOUND economy to support it? Who do you think finances all the wars the US is engaged in? The country is in a perpetual state of war! The US has over 170 military bases across the globe and counting! If that isn't reminiscent of the Roman empire then I don't know what is. You think this economic mess is over? Think again. It's only just begun. Enjoy the US while you still can 'cause within a decade it's gonna be a shadow of it's former self.

Nigeria's got massive problems, some might even call it a failed state however our problems pale in comparison to that which the US is going to be mired in-in the coming years. You have been warned.

Sagamite:
@topic

Bullocks of bullocks.

Because Obama regime has some reservation (which I am for) of the Nigerian government does not mean Nigeria is losing its importance.

It still has the resources (human and natural) to be very relevant. America is not the be all and end all, if we choose to ignore (which we have not) there are avenues to still progress if done right.

Typical narcisism of an average American about their self-importance is not a fact.


You are completely wrong there.

America is addicted to Nigeria like an addict is addicted to Nicotine.

Majority of other sources of oil are people that despise the US like the Arab nations, Venezuela, Russia, Kazakhstan etc and most are very volatile with in regards to their response to US based on its foreign policy history.

So if Nigeria ceases to exist, their is a huge risk the price of fuel in the USA would be very volatile and speculators would keep it artificially high. And the US is a country that cannot exist or function productively without vehicles as there is limited public transportation.

Furthermore, I don't think the western world wants a world of possible 80m refugees and asylum seekers. This would act like a domino as neighbouring African countries economy would collapse as their population doubles rapidly, leading to more poverty. Furthermore, the western countries that would be obligated to take in refugees would have a financial crisis as local financial fraud would escalate. Any scenario planning that does not factor in these must be cretinous.

So Nigeria is very important as its stability is very critical.

ezan:
@manny4life, if you don't know what I'm talking about then I feel the sorriest for you. Reality check? The joke is on you.