₦airaland Forum

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/police-quiz-delta-assembly-deputy.html

Friday Osanebi (Ndokwa East constituency), the Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, and Evance Ivwurie (Ethiope East constituency), have been quizzed by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, of the Delta State police command over accusations of genocide against Fulani herdsmen leveled against them by a northern Nigeria based human rights group.



Friday Osanebi (Ndokwa East constituency), the Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, and Evance Ivwurie (Ethiope East constituency), have been quizzed by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, of the Delta State police command over accusations of genocide against Fulani herdsmen leveled against them by a northern Nigeria based human rights group.

SaharaReporters learned that the group, 'My Body, My Right and Charity Initiative', based in Kaduna, had urged the Inspector General of Police to prosecute the two lawmakers over what they called a “proclamation of genocide” by them against Fulani herdsmen in their constituencies.

The allegation, it was gathered, followed an earlier petition to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo by Mr. Ivwurie on the need for the federal government to constitute a panel to investigate the attacks by armed herdsmen in the area before it snowballs into a major catastrophe.

In the subsequent petition by the group, obtained by SaharaReporters, the group alleged that the purported proclamation by the two lawmakers has caused the death of many defenseless, helpless, innocent and peaceful Fulani people in the clothes of herdsmen by warmongers in the area.

“Our source gathered that many (Fulani/Hausa indigenes) are trapped and killed with the accord of both the Deputy Speaker representing Ndokwa East and Evance Ivwurie, they said in the protest, signed by one Bala Muktar Muhammad and addressed to the Minister of Interior. “The mass killings and genocide [are] still going on and many a time, it happens with the connivance [of] those that [are] supposed to provide protection to these people,” the petition alleged.

On the alarm raised a few months ago by Mr. Ivwurie that a helicopter was seen dropping weapons and supplies in the areas, Muhammad said, “Osanebi and Ivwurie’s claims led to a total patrol of the forest for days by a joint military, DSS and police operatives but nothing incriminating was found on any peaceful Fulani leaving within the bush and no imaginary helicopter was found. This is because it was a planned genocide."

The group further complained that the lawmakers are now impeding justice and that their unsubstantial genocide claims have led to a proclamation issued by the people of the said local government areas as they have continued to motivate young Igbos and militants to kill any visible Fulani/Hausa man and woman, young and old they find.

“It is still ongoing and the IGP needs to take action because the State Police Command seemed to be taken along in this massacre. Messers Osenebi and Ivwurie should be immediately arrested by the claws of the law and equally prosecuted for issuing wrong and concocted information to the authorities,” the petition added.

SaharaReporters reliably learned that following Muhammad's complaints, the Delta police command swung into action, leading to the quizzing of Mr. Osanebi and Mr. Ivwurie.

Confiding in SaharaReporters under the condition of anonymity, a member of the Delta Assembly said the two lawmakers were quizzed following a letter sent by DCP Samuel Ojo, a Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Delta Command, through the Clerk of the House.

Cattle rustlers

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http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/10-quick-facts-about-mko-abiola.html

Twenty-four years ago on June 12, the world stood still for Nigeria to witness an unprecedented event; an election that would be dubbed the freest and fairest.

24 Years After, Nigerians Commemorate June 12 Election

While the result of the election proved that Moshood Kashimawo Abiola of the Social Democratic Party defeated his rival, Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention, the decision was rescinded and the election annulled.

What compounded the already heated controversy was the death of the politician which was viewed as an attempt to stamp out democracy from Nigeria.

As memories of the late politician live on, here are some facts you may find interesting.

Apart from his political reputation, Mr Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, (M.K.O Abiola) as he was often referred to, was also a businessman, publisher and an aristocrat of the Yoruba Egba clan.

1. At the young age of nine, he started his first business selling firewood. He would wake up at dawn to go to the forest, gather firewood and sell before going to school. He did this to support his old father and siblings.

2. He started his professional life in 1956 as a bank clerk with Barclays Bank in Ibadan, South-West Nigeria.

3. He was voted twice as the international businessman of the year and received numerous honorary doctorates from universities all over the world.

4. The was known for his charisma and for being a man of the people, a prominent social activist, as well as a democratic freedom fighter. Following this reputation, the Congressional Black Caucus of the United States of America till date, salute him as a hero in the global pursuit to preserve the history and the legacy of the African diaspora.

5. He married many wives including Simibiat Atinuke Shoaga in 1960, Kudirat Olayinka Adeyemi in 1973, Adebisi Olawunmi Oshin in 1974 among others, and fathered many children.

6. His involvement in politics started early on in life when he joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) at age 19.

7. He went ahead to run for the presidency in 1993 and is till date widely regarded as the presumed winner of the inconclusive election since no official final results were announced.

8. In 1994 he declared himself the lawful president of Nigeria in the Epetedo area of Lagos Island, an area mainly populated by (Yoruba) Lagos Indigenes, after which he was accused of treason and arrested on the orders of military President, General Sani Abacha, who sent 200 police vehicles to bring him into custody.

9. He died in 1998, after being denied victory when the entire election results were dubiously annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida because of alleged evidence that they were corrupt and unfair.

10. Born August 24, 1937, Abiola was his father’s 23rd child and the first of his father’s children to survive infancy, hence the name ‘Kashimawo’ (Let us wait and see). He would have been 79 years old this year.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/super-eagles-lack-quality-upfront-south.html

Stuart Baxter, coach of the Bafana Bafana of South Africa, has mocked Nigerian Super Eagles after their 2-0 loss in Uyo on Saturday in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

The Englishman said that much as the Super Eagles controlled the match, especially in the early stages, the team lacked the required quality upfront.

Speaking to South African media on Sunday, Baxter noted that with good cutting edge in front of goal, the score line would not have been bad for the Super Eagles.

“We are still relishing that result and it is good that we win. I am so happy because I just joined the team back and it is good we start well for the AFCON qualifiers.

“I will still say kudos to the Nigerians because they stretched us and made some dangerous movements. But if I may sound very respectful and modest, their attack was not the very best they could have presented.

“They were without quality frontline, otherwise, they could have scored in the early exchanges but like I said earlier, it is good that my players responded very well in the match,” he said.

Nigeria is currently third in the qualifying group behind leaders, Libya, and South Africa and will play Seychelles, who lost 1-5 to Libya in their next encounter.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/price-of-diesel-drops-by-over-30-in.html

Following the fluctuations in forex and international crude oil prices, the ex-depot price of diesel has dropped by over 30 per cent between February and June 2017.


As a deregulated product, the price of diesel is controlled by the market forces of demand and supply, unlike petrol, which has a price cap.


The international market price of crude above $53 in February, the prices of refined products were also high as the ex-depot price of diesel was between N225 per litre and N235.


The situation, it was gathered, was worsened by the high exchange rate at the period, which also impacted on the landing cost of products.


For instance, during the first week of February, the depots in Lagos were selling diesel above N235 per litre, while the pump price at filling stations were as high as N260 – N280 per litre.


While some were selling at N231, N230, 235, 227, 225, and N226, others were selling above N235 at the depots.


However, at the beginning of June, the depots were selling between N152 and N154 per litre.


According to market survey, the marketers were selling diesel at N152, 153 and N154, while the pump price was below N200 per litre at the beginning of June.


The price of diesel dropped further at the weekend with depots in Lagos selling at N155, 149, 147, 145, 144, and 144.50.


A marketer, who spoke on the situation, said the development was cyclic as a result of changing prices at the international and forex fluctuations.


“The price of crude and exchange rate in February were on the high side and they impacted not only on the price of diesel but all other products. Nigerians did not feel the impact on petrol because of the price cap. With the drop in price of crude below $50 per barrel, the country is not seeing the benefits of liberalisation on diesel,” he said.


Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa had told downstream operators in Lagos recently that the country was reaping the benefits of diesel and called on the federal government to remove the cap on the price of petrol.


“Without that, we will not realise the potential of this $5 billion revenue in the sector,” Akinfemiwa said.


The Chairman of Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Mr. Dapo Abiodun, had also made similar call, saying that it was not by choice that the marketers allowed NNPC to currently import 95 per cent of petrol.


Abiodun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Heyden Petroleum Limited, said in addition to paying the marketers’ outstanding $2 billion claims arising from the old subsidy regime, the permanent solution was to remove the cap on the pump price of petrol and fully liberalise the downstream sector.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/nine-states-received-n37bn-for-school.html

The Federal Government says it has so far disbursed N3.7bn to nine states under for one of its Social Investment Programme, the HomeGrown School Feeding Programme.

Yemi Osinbajo Flags Off Lagos-Ibadan New Rail Project

According to the Federal Government, the amount is meant for the feeding of 1,287,270 school children.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this on Sunday.

It listed the states that received the funds as Anambra, Enugu, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Delta and Abia, adding that 14,574 cooks had been hired as part of the programme.

A breakdown of the amount showed that Anambra state got a total of N693,013,300, in eight tranches with 103,742 children fed so far.

The total release for Enugu state is N419,427,200 in six tranches and 108,898 school children have so far been fed.

For Oyo state, a total of N414, 708, 700 have been released for the feeding of 107,983 children in six tranches.

Osun State got N767,483,244 in eight tranches for the feeding of 151,438 pupils, while Ogun state received N880,055,400 in seven tranches and fed 231,660 school children.

Ebonyi State received N344,633,100 in three tranches for the feeding of 163,137 school children, while Zamfara, Delta and Abia states got a total of N188,001,100, N63,366,100, N42,921,200, respectively for the feeding of 268,573, 90,523 and 61,316 pupils in that order.

According to the statement, Zamfara, Delta and Abia are the latest states to join the School Feeding Programme, which is projected to feed over Three million pupils this year.

It added, “The money is paid directly from the FG’s coffers to the cooks, with a slight variation in Osun State where some of the food items like eggs are bought centrally by an aggregator.”

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/june-12-1993-and-lessons-of-history-by.html

Those who were not born before June 12, 1993, may not know what is all about. For record purposes, June 12, 1993, was the day Nigerians from the East, West, North and rose voice, in amity, in unity, in concord and tandem to elect Chief M.K.O as the president of Nigeria. But on 21st June 1993 the former military president, retired General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the historic election and set Nigeria on the path of crisis, leading to many deaths including the winner and the wife , Kudrirat Abiola.

In my book, Heroes of Democracy (1999) the struggle for the revalidation of that mandate and the consequences was documented for posterity and generations yet unborn. Today I want to talk about the historical importance of that election, the pains, the sacrifices, the losses and the lessons.

Recall that the consummate winner of that historic election, a Yoruba first class leader, a Chartered Accountant of note, an international scholar, and a very successful businessman was hounded and incarcerated for five years and was eventually poisoned on July 7, 1998. The wife, Kudirat Abiola was shot in Lagos on June 4, 1996. It was a calculated attempt and carefully planned work to provoke the Yoruba to war in order to destroy the economy Lagos but did Yorubas play into their hands? NO! A lot of high profile Yoruba leaders including the late Chief Abraham Adesanya, the late Chief Bola Ige, Ayo Adebanjo, late Olaniwun Ajayi, Ayo Opadokun and others were incarcerated, some like Suliat Adedeji, Admiral Omotosho , Admiral Elegbede, Toyin Onagoruwa etc were killed. Former president OBASANJO was sent to jail for an alleged phantom coup.

Great minds like Professor Wole Soyinka, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Kayode Fayemi and many others were chased into exile .Yoruba leaders were abused, humiliated and ridiculed but did they resort to self-determination, abuse, hatred and ethnic bigotry? No! with pen and paper, and with common sense, sound education and civilization they faced those who planned to decimate them. No wonder the presidency was zoned to them in 1999 even though they did not allow them to use their choice, Chief Olu Falae. The powers that be chose Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. That singular mistake almost made Nigeria to lose almost everything in 16 years of PDP. Obasanjo was not prepared for leadership. He just came out from prison with no agenda, no plans, no strategy.

Then came the late Umaru Yar Adua who died in office and then Jonathan and in those 16 years Nigeria, many including this writer still talk about it as the years of the locusts. Now the questions people like us have been asking is whether Nigeria would have been where it is today had Chief Abiola been allowed to rule Nigeria at least for 8 years? Abiola would have brought to bear his cognate and very deep experience in the business world to transform Nigeria. Chief Abiola would have set the template for a prosperous Nigeria, he would have brought the hope he promised Nigerians, he would utilized our oil revenue to transform Nigeria as a Chartered Accountant and he would have changed for the better Nigeria's course of history.

Denying Chief Abiola his mandate caused Nigeria a great and monumental setback in 18 years .Today 24 years after, the annulment of that mandate is still haunting Nigeria.

What happened from June 12, 1993, to July 7, 1998, provoked the Yoruba nation to hate other Nigerians especially the Hausa- Fulani and Igbo for decimating a free mandate given to their illustrious son and killing him thereafter. But did the Yoruba go to war? Today southwest is the richest zone in Nigeria. In fact, the IGR of Ogun state is bigger than that of the entire South East States. Lagos IGR is bigger than that of 33 states in Nigeria put together. If Yoruba had gone to war where would they have been today? What would have happened if Igbo or Hausa-Fulani had suffered what Yoruba went through? I have no doubt in my mind that they would have gone to war but see what tact, common sense, education, intelligence, civilization and power of critical thinking can do in the life of a wise people. The same Yoruba was later to form an alliance with Hausa – Fulani in 2014 to box Igbo and their collaborators in the South South to a corner in 2015 general elections.

Now, what are the lessons? There are no permanent foes or friends in politics. If you can wait and not tired of waiting the world and everything in it belong to you. Chief Abiola would have given up his mandate and still be alive but he chose the path of human dignity to liberate his people. Chief Abiola's supreme sacrifice gave rise to May 29 we now celebrate as Democracy Day. I do not know any Nigerian multi-billionaire today who will do what Chief Abiola did yet other people think Yorubas are cowards. Perish the thought. They are the toughest and most advanced Nigerians I know today.

Today, is South West not better than those who seek to humiliate and destroy them? Those who seek to destroy and decimate others suffer more than their victims. June 12 lives on. Chief M.K.O Abiola lives on

-Joe Igbokwe, Lagos

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/happy-birthday-to-you-saheed-balogun.html


Saheed Balogun: Golden Jubilee. five things you might not know about the actor....

The award-winning actor has been in the industry for decades and has appeared in numerous films.

To celebrate him, here are five things you may not know about the actor:

1) He’s responsible for making the first ‘two cast’ film in Africa

Titled, Modupe Temi, featured Saheed himself and actress, Doris Simeon.

2) His first movie role earned him N3 in 1981

The actor has since then referred to the amount as his ‘highest paid job’, because according to him he has the ‘highest value for the money’.

3) The actor finished primary school in 1978 and did not get back into secondary school until 1984

According to a 2008 interview, he said of his decision to leave school for a long time. ‘I grew up in the Army Barrack and I could speak little pidgin and some English, so I felt I could make some money by going into acting ventures and then my mother was a trader.

‘But I now discovered that in the future, education will matter a lot in my acting career because the Yorubas started the acting and stage drama then and education was minimal. That was why I went back to school and today, it is paying off for me.’

4) He was once married to Nollywood star, Faithia Balogun

They share three children.

5) The actor speaks four languages

Saheed speaks Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa and English.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SAHEED BALOGUN....

www.titopeblog.com

Your Ex mistakenly credited you account with 500k Naira,


What will you do?

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/dignitaries-members-boycott-house-of.html

In what appeared as a major embarrassment, many of the guests invited to a second year anniversary of the 8th Nigerian House of Representatives stayed away from the event. Those who apparently boycotted the celebration included governors, former Speakers and ex-members of the lower legislative body.



In what appeared as a major embarrassment, many of the guests invited to a second year anniversary of the 8th Nigerian House of Representatives stayed away from the event. Those who apparently boycotted the celebration included governors, former Speakers and ex-members of the lower legislative body.

Also, the chamber of the House of Representatives, which was expected to have most current members present, had a scant turnout as some aggrieved members decided not to show up. One aide to a member of the legislature, who hails from Abia State, told our correspondent that many members of the House from the southeast zone decided not to take part in the ceremony. According to the source, the Southeast legislators were still nursing a grudge over the recent defeat of a bill calling for the establishment of a South East Development Commission.

Among the political figures in attendance at the legislative celebration were Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi of Ondo State, former Speaker Umar Ghali Na'aba, and former Deputy Speaker Babangida Nguroje.

The House had invited President Muhammadu Buhari as a special guest of honor, but the ailing president remains in Britain where he is receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed illness. Remarkably, acting President Yemi Osinbajo did not attend to represent Mr. Buhari. Other invited guests included the Chief Justice of the Federation, Walter Onnoghen, and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State.

Among other no-shows at the event were former members of the House who are now serving as governors. They included Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.

Our correspondent learned that those invited to the poorly attended ceremony included all former Speakers of the House, former Deputy Speakers, former Majority Leaders, former Minority Leaders, former Chief Whips, former Clerks of National Assembly, and members of the diplomatic corps.

Briefing reporters, the Deputy Chief Whip of the House, Pally Iriase, disclosed that N35 million was budgeted for the second year anniversary events, adding that two-thirds of the money would be spent on media coverage. He remarked that the House had considered the country’s tough economic circumstances in deciding not to spend too much money celebrating the event.

Some mild drama nearly disrupted the event as members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) raised their voices to protest what they described as the failure of Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Reps to recognize their president, Chinonso Obasi. The student group accused the speaker of bias in recognizing a leader of a factional student group. Security agents moved in and removed from the protesting students from the chamber.

Josh Amupitan, a professor of law, delivered the keynote titled “Image Perception of the Legislature: Causes and Possible Solutions,” while the chairman of the editorial board of ThisDay newspapers, Segun Adeniyi, presented a lecture on “Appraisal of two years of the 8th House Legislative Agenda.”



House of Representatives 2nd year event with empty seats

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/journalists-revolt-against-new-delta.html

Journalists at a press conference addressed by the newly elected Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Sheriff Oborevwori, on Thursday, revolted against the Speaker for preventing them from asking questions on the activities of the House. The press conference, which held at the Assembly Press Centre in Asaba, was organized to mark the second anniversary of the 6th Assembly. It was the first press conference addressed by Mr. Oborevwori, who replaced the impeached Mr. Monday Igbuya.



Journalists at a press conference addressed by the newly elected Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Sheriff Oborevwori, on Thursday, revolted against the Speaker for preventing them from asking questions on the activities of the House. The press conference, which held at the Assembly Press Centre in Asaba, was organized to mark the second anniversary of the 6th Assembly.

It was the first press conference addressed by Mr. Oborevwori, who replaced the impeached Mr. Monday Igbuya.

Billed to start at 10 am, the press parley did not kick off until noon.

Trouble started after Mr. Oborevwori delivered his speech and entertained about five questions from hand-picked media establishments, including the state-owned media houses. The Speaker then announced he would no longer entertain questions and subsequently ordered an end to the event.

This sparked loud protests by journalists, who felt they had been denied the opportunity to gain insights into the activities of the House.

"The press conference is an avenue for us to ask salient questions about the Assembly. Why stop us from asking questions? Only deliberately selected journalists were allowed to ask questions. The rest were stopped. There is more to it," a disaffected journalist said loudly.

Others joined in, shouting in protest. As the journalists’ voices grew louder, Mr. Mike Ekeogwu, newly elected Chairman of the Delta State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), intervened by asking the Speaker to allow more questions. His request was, however, turned down by Mr. Oborevwori.

On the issue of non-payment of two years’ furniture allowances to aides of lawmakers, the Speaker said it was not the business of journalists to know what the House was doing about the matter. He said it is the lawmakers’ business what they do to their aides.

The Speaker also spoke about the impeachment of his predecessor, describing it as unavoidable.

"I want to state here that as an arm of government, the House has undergone some challenges. But by God’s grace, we have scaled the hurdles. Despite the unavoidable change in the leadership of the House on 11 May, Deltans should rest assured that members are united more than ever to take on the task ahead. I wish to place on record that the 6th Assembly has performed credibly well by all standards." Oborevwori said.

A senior staff of the House of Assembly told SaharaReporters that he wants journalists to forgive the Speaker, whom he said is not media-savvy.

"The Speaker had told his media aides that he is not adept at speaking publicly and it was agreed that after his speech, only a few journalists, especially from state-owned media organs, would ask questions. The plan from the beginning was to end the event after a few questions," said the staff.



Delta state House of Assembly Speaker, Sheriff Oborevwori

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/ritualists-target-bald-men-believe.html


Ritualists target bald men, believe their heads harbour gold

Bald men could be targets of ritual attacks, police have warned, after the recent killing of five men for their body parts.
The BBC reports that suspects have been arrested in the central district of Milange, in Mozambique, where some killings had occurred.


“The belief is that the head of a bald man contains gold,” said a police commander in Mozambique’s central Zambezia province, Afonso Dias.
Albino people have also been killed in the region for ritual purposes.
Three men have been killed in the past week alone.
The BBC reporter in the capital, Maputo, says police think the notion of a bald head containing gold is a ruse by witch doctors to get clients to take a person’s head to them.
“Their motive comes from superstition and culture, as the local community thinks bald individuals are rich,” Commander Dias is reported as having told a press conference in Maputo.
The suspects are two young Mozambicans aged around 20, the AFP news agency reports.
A regional security spokesman, Miguel Caetano, told AFP that one of the victims had his head cut off and his organs removed.
The organs were to be used in rituals to advance the wealth of clients in Tanzania and Malawi, Mr. Caetano said, citing the suspects.
There has been a spate of killings of people with albinism in East Africa in recent years, with their body parts used to make charms and potions by witch doctors.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/inec-registers-apda-4-other-new.html

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Wednesday confirmed registration of five new political parties for the country.

A national commissioner of INEC, Mr Adedeji Soyebi, said in a statement that the registration of the new parties has brought to 45 the total number of political parties in Nigeria.

The newly registered parties are:
Young Progressive Party (YPP)
Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA)
New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGP)
All Democratic Peoples Movement (ADPM)
Action Democratic Party (ADP)

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/ondo-state-governor-akeredolu-sends.html

A lawmaker in the House of Assembly confirmed this to SaharaReporters in a telephone chat, saying that the governor proposed a budget of N169,720,580,000 for 2017.

Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu sent the 2017 state budget, totaling nearly N170b, to the State House of Assembly for approval on Tuesday.
A lawmaker in the House of Assembly confirmed this to SaharaReporters in a telephone chat, saying that the governor proposed a budget of N169,720,580,000 for 2017.
The legislator, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the budget was transmitted to the Assembly through a letter written by Mr. Akeredolu.
He disclosed that the budget was received on behalf of the Assembly members by the House Clerk, Bode Adeyelu.
"We received a letter from the governor transmitting the total sum of N169,720,580,000 to the Assembly,” the lawmaker said. “The details of the budget are still very much sketchy to me as I am speaking with you, but I am sure you will get the details before the end of the day.”
He stated that the House of Assembly members would deliberate on the budget before its passage into law.
The lawmaker added the budget would also be committed to the House of Assembly Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation, Sunday Olajide.
“So, after its deliberations, the Assembly members will invite the heads of the ministries and department or agencies to defend the budgets before being passed into law,” he explained.
SaharaReporters gathered that Mr. Akeredolu turned down the formal presentation of his first budget before the Assembly and opted for its transmission to the lawmakers via a letter.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/ourmumudondo-movement-to-organize.html

The march, said the statement, will begin at 8 a.m. from the Third Mainland Bridge.

The pro-masses #OurMumuDonDo Movement has concluded arrangements to hold a nationwide topless protest rally against the poor living conditions of the Nigerian masses and the indifference of political leaders to the plight of the common man.
This was announced in a statement signed by Mr. Adebayo Raphael, the movement’s Publicity Secretary. According to the group, the main protest march will hold in Lagos on June 12. The march, said the statement, will begin at 8 a.m. from the Third Mainland Bridge.
Participants, except females, are required to appear topless with inscriptions of their most harrowing predicament on their placards or chests.
Female participants are simply required to carry placards indicating what they are going through as it relates to the aim of the march.
The group said it was compelled to opt for a topless protest march because of the alarming dip in the standard of living among Nigerians.
“The quality of life of the Nigerian people has been demoted to a pitiable and decrepit state by criminal politicians and insatiable looters of the wealth of the common man. The shared humanity of the Nigerian people has been eternally ridiculed by national miscreants in positions of power. The thieving class in power has denied the Nigerian people of quality life through their endless plundering of national wealth. We know our silence has enabled corruption and impunity in governance but we will no longer sit and watch while our lives and future is looted by the sons and daughters of Jezebel in power,” said #OurMumuDonDo.
The movement explained that generations of Nigerians have been repeatedly dispossessed by members of the political class through unfulfilled promises. It added that the masses have come to realize that the continued stay of the current political class in power will spell doom for the country’s most vulnerable citizens. The group warned that the masses will no longer be deceived by the age-old tactic of using religion and ethnicity to prevent the masses from forging of a common front against exploitation.
“This battle is a battle between good and evil; a battle between the oppressors and the oppressed; a battle between the forgotten men and women in the slums who cannot afford one meal per day and the voraciously greedy looters looting mindlessly in positions of power,” said the movement.
It called on all suffering Nigerians to flood the streets on June 12 to express their anger and frustrations. #OurMumuDonDo described the march as the first of its kind in the country, saying it is one that will bring the decrepitude of the common man into sharp focus.
“The era of sitting and doing nothing has passed. Before we all die of hunger, we will flood the streets and demand good governance. Before we all die in perpetual penury and discomfort impressed on us by the thieving and looting political oppressors, we will march to express our discomfort and fight against our common enemy,” the group added.
To attain a better quality of life for all, the group called on all Nigerians come out and express their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs and displeasure with failed promises made by the same crop of leaders. It called on Nigerians to stop glorifying criminality and demonizing nationalism.
“The time to fight for the survival of the suffering man and woman in Nigeria has arrived. There shall be no going back because every suffering Nigerian must speak up this time,” the group urged.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/two-years-of-change-reuben-abati.html

Two years of change - Reuben Abati



“How is it going my brother?"
“We just dey look. Two years and we thank God.”

“How was your May 29?”
“There was no celebration. We just siddon dey look.”
“But the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo addressed the nation.”
“I know. I know. But there was no programme in place for celebrating two years of the Buhari government. In the past, we used to have a week-long programme, with military parades, prayers here and there and then a national broadcast to remind the people of how democratic rule has been so fruitful and kind.”
“There was a national broadcast."
“I saw that. The Acting President spoke about optimism, building confidence, and reassuring the people. It was as if the country was mourning.”
“How do you expect them to celebrate when the Commander-in-Chief is out of the country?”
“But there is an Acting Commander-in-Chief”
“Are you sure Professor Osinbajo is actually an Acting Commander-in-Chief or a co-ordinator? There can only be one Commander-in-Chief at a time. There were two flags behind the Acting President, instead of four. His ADC is a policeman not a soldier. When he conducts council meetings, he doesn’t use the Commander-in-Chief’s seat.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“But what is your assessment? The cloud has settled, we can now think more clearly.”
“What I hear is that the position of the Federal Government is that it is too early to assess the Buhari government. Femi, our friend and brother says it would not be fair to assess an administration that has a four-year tenure after two years.”
“He is probably right. May be it is better to assess the administration in 10 years time.”
“What are you saying?”
“History has a way of offering better views. Nigerians are always impatient. They don’t appreciate the good vision that history offers.”
“History. History. When the administration reached 100 days, they said we could not assess it. They said it was too early. When they got to six months, they told us to wait. One-year anniversary, we were again told to exercise patience. It is now two years, and we are told any kind of assessment will be premature. How many years does it take to prepare the grounds for madness?"
“By madness, I suppose you mean performance.”
“I assume you are educated.”
“Don’t insult me. I am not in government.”
“Then don’t sound like you are dumb, my friend.”
“I am not dumb. I am smart. After all, am I the person that said President Buhari does not owe Nigerians anything?”
“Someone said that?”
“Yes. One Presidential aide insisted that Nigerians should stop expecting this and that, because it is not the business of government.”
“I see. I see.”
“You keep saying I see, I see. Are you sure you don’t need to change your eye-glasses?”
“I have just remembered a story I read in which a group called SBM Intelligence reported that the Buhari administration has only achieved after 2 years, 4 per cent of its campaign promises since it assumed power.”
“SBM Intelligence. You better find out who owns it and who is behind it. What if SBM Intelligence is owned by the PDP or some marabouts who have upgraded their game?”
“They sounded professional to me.”
”I don’t know about that.”
“But what about Richard Quest, the CNN Correspondent who visited Nigeria recently? He also had something to say about our democracy.”
“What about him? “
“He reported that since the CNN visited Nigeria for the Presidential inauguration two years ago, the only achievement by the Nigerian government has been the repair of the Abuja airport runway.”
“He said that?”
“Yes”
“Well, what does Richard Quest actually know about Nigeria. He came here to eat jollof rice with Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Jollof rice has a way of inducing you to get carried awayand when you get carried away, you say all kinds of things.”
“But can you really blame him?”
“No. I blame jollof rice. Why would he reduce everything to Abuja airport runway? This government in two years has reduced Boko Haram to nothing. This is the government that seized the very essence of Boko Haram and Ibrahim Shekau.”
“The very essence of Boko Haram? I am not aware that the Federal Government captured Shekau’s wife.”
“This government captured the Boko Haram flag and Shekau’s Quoran. That is a monumental achievement. What is Shekau without his flag and his Quoran? Richard Quest is talking. Not even his own country America can claim to have captured the ISIS flag. When Nigeria does something, let us say so. I beg.”
“I just hope they are not keeping that flag and the Quoran in the Villa.”
“They can keep them wherever they like. Once Shekau’s essence was captured, the girls were bound to come out. Over 100 of them did.”
“I know.”
“What I even want to suggest is that Sambisa Forest should be turned into a legacy site. Something like the establishment of the University of Sambisa Forest, for girls only, to help us remember the battle that was fought in that forest.”
“Sambisa is about 60, 000 sq. kms covering six states.”
“I don’t see how that is a problem. Sambisa can be converted from a theatre of agony into a major educational theatre, given the nature of its story.”
“I don’t get it.”
“We need to prove that Boko is not Haram.”
“You think that is why it is too early to assess, and that change begins with us, or that they owe us nothing?”
“Of course they owe us something. Whoever said they don’t is either high on something or stupid.”
“They owe us electricity, for example?”
“Yes”
“But the Senate says the government can’t give us electricity. That is a major problem for the economy.”
“Clearly, the Senate doesn’t fully understand how the economy has worked in the past two years.”
“How?”
“The economy has been diversified, I can tell you that for a fact.”
“I have been hearing that, government to government, over the years.”
“But there is something different, this time.”
“Hear. Hear.”
“For the first time in Nigerian history, we have just been reminded of how lucrative grass cutting can be. You can become an instant multi-millionaire by cutting grass.”
“Grass-cutting!”
“Yes. You can also become stupendously rich by rearing snakes."
“Snakes?”
“Yes. Persons in this government have shown us how to diversify sources of revenue, so it is not just diversification of the economy, the new model is about the diversification of revenue.”
“But they say government can’t pay salaries and that they intend to borrow?”
“Don’t worry. It’s because the new model is yet to take root. In ten years’ time when you review the administration, you’d understand better.”
“Ten years.”
“Yes. Nigerians should learn to be patient. That is how change begins with you.”
“This change is beginning to look strange.”
“If it is, then by now, you’d be dead. You have to be grateful.”
“How?”
“Many jobs are being created. In Benue state for example, the Governor has distributed wheel-barrows as dividends of democracy and as a means of alleviating poverty.”
“Wheel-barrows? The Governor wants to turn his people into pushers of wheel-barrows in the 21st Century?”
“My brother, he even put his name on the wheel barrows.”
“I don’t see how that is okay. David Mark complained that Samuel Ortom should not reduce Benue state to a state of wheel barrow pushers."
“David Mark is just being jealous. We are talking economic transformation. A Federal Minister has also said that Nigeria will soon be self-sufficient in the production of pencils and toothpicks.”
“Pencils and toothpicks?”
“By 2019, of course. Something big."
“And if not, I guess that particular Minister will also resign like his other colleague in the Petroleum Ministry who says if we do not have enough petrol supply by 2019, he will just resign.”
“Don’t worry. Nobody resigns in Nigeria. You’d resign and miss the opportunity for grass-cutters? Commot-mouth-for-matter! I know at least one Minister who is already delivering ahead of schedule, though”
“And who may that be?”
“The Minister of Information. He said government was going to create many jobs through the promotion of masks and masquerades.”
“Masquerades”
“He delivered. During the Eyo Festival to mark the 50th Anniversary of Lagos State, many masquerades took over the streets. Solid diversification.”
“You have not heard of the violence that erupted, the rains that fell and the clash with the police.”
“There will always be occupational hazards. Think in terms of the jobs that were created.”
“You have also not heard of how the police shot and killed some masquerades in other parts of Nigeria. If masquerading is a state policy, then masquerades should be better protected.”
“But it is all part of the economy. Masquerade as business metaphor.”
“What business?”
“Okay, this government in two years has made music very popular. The biggest achievement by the National Assembly for example is that special song: Ajekun iya ni o je, ajekun iya ni o je…. I won’t be surprised if Beyonce, or R.Kelly or any of our superstars - Whizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Banky W turn it into a major remix, with some Senators appearing in the video. In fact, Ajekun iya was a major presentation during the Lagos at 50 celebrations."
“Recession is almost entering third quarter. Nigeria is going a-borrowing. Businesses are closing shop. More workers than ever have been retrenched.”
“That’s because some people emptied the treasury. That has nothing to do with the last two years. Some people emptied the treasury.”
“Your family members obviously.”
“No. This is not about my own family, but your chop-and clean-mouth family. The day your truth will come out, hen.”
“I beg.”
“But you are aware SMB Intelligence says the cost of governance has gone up and that nothing has changed?”
“What do those ones know about the economy? You can’t assess a whole administration by administering corner-side questionnaires. I can bet they gave those forms to PDP members.”
“Is it also the PDP that is responsible for Baba’s health travels to the UK?”
“God is in control. Baba will return hale and hearty and all of you will be put to shame. I thank God Mummy has said Baba is recovering fast and that he will be back home very soon.”
“Al hamdulillahi”
“We thank God for everything. And we thank God for the Nigerian drugs that Baba has been using in the UK.”
“But wait a moment. Did you just say Mummy?”
“Yes. Mummy of the nation, mummy Aisha.”
“Ha. Oh my. Look at me."
“What is it?”
“I know your type. You-are-a-sycophant! You have joined them to call the President’s wife, your Mummy? Haba.”
“She is our Mummy."
“Don’t worry. I understand.”
“You actually don’t have to worry, because I also think Osinbajo is doing well. And I see you people, the Oduduwa people are just so excited that your brother is now the one in charge. Una do well.”
“I am not excited. I am worried about the Acting President’s safety.”
“Why? How? Nobody is disturbing him."
“Have you not heard that some people are now saying he has surrounded himself with Yoruba people?”
“That is not true? Most of his staff are Northerners and Muslims.”
“They have started playing him sha. Obviously, some people don’t appreciate the fact that it is a good thing for this government that Baba formally handed over to his deputy. It is the best demonstration of good faith so far.”
“The people who are criticizing the Acting President, did they not read his speech on Biafra?"
“They don’t read.”
“He reached out to the Biafrans. He said we belong together, not apart. He then visited Cross River state.”
”Cross River state is not part of Biafra."
“It is in the map.”
“Which map? The map drawn up by IPOB and MASSOB?”
“I saw Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Akwa Ibom states in the map.”
“I have also seen comments by people from those states saying they are not part of Biafra and that they have no intention to leave Nigeria, and nobody should conscript them.”
“Are you sure?"
Look. Let’s leave that matter. Have you seen anybody from outside Igboland supporting secession?”
“Yes”
“And who is that?”
“Their in-law, FFK”
“A very good in-law.”
“It’s always good to support our wives.”
“My friend, can we talk about something else? FFK is an intellectual. Don’t insult him, my friend.”
“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”
“I didn’t like the way the Acting President was hugging and shaking hands with people when he visited Calabar. That is too dangerous. Anything could have happened to him. His security details should be queried. The man even collected vegetables from a market woman. His security was compromised.”
“The Acting President is covered by the blood of Jesus, and God of Adeboye. He will not be kidnapped in Jesus Mighty name.”
“Oh, you are part of that crowd?”
“Blood of Calvary. God of Ayo Babalola. The I am that I am…”
“Hellooo….”

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/100-countries-send-condolences-over.html

100 countries send condolences over Osotimehin

No fewer than 100 countries have condoled Nigeria over the passing away of the late Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.
Osotimehin died on Sunday night in New York at the age of 68.
Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the condolences had come in from the majority of the 193 UN Member States.
According to him, he has been receiving condolences from Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives of Missions since the sad demise of Osotimehin.
The Nigerian envoy commended the outpouring of the messages, saying it was a supportive gesture to Nigeria as the country mourned the outstanding legacy of the late UNFPA chief.
Muhammad-Bande also said that the gesture by was a testimony to the distinguished service of the late UN Under-Secretary-General to humanity.
Osotimehin was appointed on Nov. 19, 2010, as the Executive Director of UNFPA for a four-year term and assumed the position on Jan. 1, 2011.
He was reappointed to the position on Aug. 21, 2014, to become the organisation’s fourth executive director.
The deceased, until his death, held the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Osotimehin served previously as Nigeria’s minister of health between Dec. 17, 2008, and March 10, 2010.
Muhammad-Bande expressed the condolences of the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN, to the family.
He described the late Osotimehin as an accomplished and distinguished professional who made Nigeria proud during the period he served at the UN.
According to him, Osotimehin’s death is an irreparable loss not only to Nigeria but to the UN and the entire global community.
The Nigerian ambassador later signed the Condolence Register opened at the residence of the late UNFPA chief.
Muhammad-Bande was accompanied on the condolence visit by the Head of Chancery of the Permanent Mission, Dr Cyprian Heen.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/the-wapic-insurance-plc-internship.html

The Wapic Insurance Plc. Internship Program has commenced! We would like to begin screening and interviews immediately and would appreciate referrals from your family, friends and social network. Kindly send this message out via social media platforms like bbm, whatsapp etc.:

Wapic Insurance Plc., one of Nigeria’s leading insurance companies, is searching for brilliant candidates for the Internship program. If you are:

· Top holder/ best-in-class Graduates and Undergraduates
· Graduate with a first class or 2.1; or Undergraduate with CPGA of a minimum of 2.1 (3.5)
· Maximum age of 23 years for undergraduates and maximum age of 25 years for graduates
· A graduate who completed their degree between 2015 and 2017

Courses of Study
· Computer Science
· Computer Engineering
· Actuarial Science
· Electrical Engineering
· Mathematics
· Physics
· Insurance
· Statistics
· Business Information Technology

To apply, please send your CV and a 200 word Essay titled “Why I want an Internship Opportunity with Wapic Insurance” to careers@wapic.com. Undergraduates kindly include your current grade point average (GPA).

Applicants who do not meet these requirements will not be shortlisted.

Please note
Graduates of Universities in Nigeria and Abroad that are acceptable to Wapic Insurance shall be eligible to participate in the Graduate internship Program.

Wapic does not request monetary payments (e.g for Insurance Policy, visa/work permit, special job offer etc) for employment.

Wapic does not make use of employment forms, neither does the company process CVs that have not been submitted through the proper website or medium.

All offers are based on successful completion of a rigorous selection process.

Regards,


Human Resources

Seun
Lalasticlala
Mynd44
Ishilove
Marpol
Semid4lyfe
Obinoscopy

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/21-killed-as-boko-haram-sacks-villages.html

The Chibok axis in Borno State seems to be back under the radar of the terror sect, Boko Haram.

The group has, in the last one week, killed 21 people in two separate attacks in villages close to Chibok, according to residents.

Chibok attracted world attention for the first time in April 2014 after the sect invaded the Government Girls Secondary School in the town, abducting about 275 students.

Five of the girls managed to escape soon after the kidnapping, while 21 were first released after lengthy negotiations in October last year and another 82 last month.

The latest attacks on Kaya, 27 kilometres from Chibok occurred last Sunday and a village close to Gumsri last Wednesday.

The insurgents reportedly swooped on Kaya on the fateful day on motorcycles, bicycles and started firing at everyone in sight.

They burnt houses and killed those who were unable to run into the bush.

The survivors have relocated.

The second attack came 72 hours later when the terrorists attacked the next village close to Gumsri.

“As it is all the villagers in those communities have deserted, they have packed their belongings and come to Chibok. So many attacks and innocent lives have been lost in Damboa LGA but it is usually not reported,” online publication, The Cable, quoted a resident as saying.

“To us here in Chibok, we are living in fear because that it is the only place that has been like a roadblock to them coming to us. Some people that cannot withstand the situation are even moving to Maiduguri which is safe for them.”

On whether there are no soldiers on ground during the attacks, he said the soldiers around find it difficult to get to the place of the attacks “because of the far distance from where they are to the village.”

“Even with the presence of a brigade, the problem the security people are having here is that mostly, the communities attacked are under Damboa council but the soldiers are closer to Chibok,” he said.



The Nation

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/former-unibadan-union-leaders-condemn.html

Some of the former University of Ibadan union leaders have condemned the decision of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Idowu Olayinka, to suspend the union, and the attempt by the varsity Senate to review the students’ union constitution. Speaking on the issue, Jide Abiose, a former chairman of Nnamdi Azikwe Hall, believed that the ongoing imbroglio between the university management and the student is a symptom of a corrupt system.



Some of the former University of Ibadan union leaders have condemned the decision of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Idowu Olayinka, to suspend the union, and the attempt by the varsity Senate to review the students’ union constitution.

Speaking on the issue, Jide Abiose, a former chairman of Nnamdi Azikwe Hall, believed that the ongoing imbroglio between the university management and the student is a symptom of a corrupt system.

He said; “ the University of Ibadan has been bedeviled by the gradual politicization cum commercialization of the entire system by some cabals who have hijacked the leadership structure across the board and have developed what they think is a foolproof strategy for milking the system towards personal ends.”

He opined that many of the members of the management have no regards for the growth and development of the university and “would rather focus on white elephants that have solid potentials for kickbacks”.

“Olayinka is a product of this group, the process of his emergence to that office was a shambolic style that defeats the very standards the university prides itself on. So what do we really expect from individuals that have no regards for the sanctity of freedom? he queried.

“Students must realize that this goes beyond a battle for I.D cards and hotplates. It's a battle against systemic corruption, where the established livelihood of some individuals is being threatened. A war against the entrenchment of kleptocratic oligarchy in Nigeria's premier university is what you are currently engaged in,” Abiose said.

Ore Afolayan, a former editor in chief of the Union of Campus Journalist, shared his concern for what he tagged the highhandedness of the Vice Chancellor.

“You suspend a Union, fully recognized by the University. A Union guided by a constitution, a constitution that came into existence after deliberations, meetings, consultations and an implementation, you suspend such Union over a radio broadcast” he wondered, adding that the decision was illegal.

Afolayan said it is only through a constitutional process that the union can be suspended. It is the same process that birthed it, is the same process that will undo the Union. The incumbent Vice Chancellor has not tread the path of pragmatism” he said.

Mocking the VC for his statement about the students’ union president who he described as “a 200 level boy without beards”, Afolayan said; “I would have suggested a way forward for the VC, but I'm beardless, hence, not intellectual enough to proffer a workable solution”

“The blatant disregard for voices of discontent displayed by the administration is arrogant!” Enyioma Madubuike, a former Chief Judge of Nnamdi Azikwe hall, asserted.

He opined that; “The pronouncements of the university administration reek of a total disregard for students' plight. They have resorted to the 'do your worst' stance of the oppressive leadership we constantly cry out against in our public life! Closing down a school should be a painful resort if those who run it actually care! Proscribing a students' union because it expressed dissent only reminds us of the long days of decrees and edicts”

Madubuike advised that the Prof. Olayinka led administration to reconsider its position. “I ask that reason prevails and the administration led by Professor Olayinka reconsiders its position quickly. We cannot give what we do not have. Those who are charged with the responsibility of building young people, worthy in character and learning must show themselves qualified caretakers, solid in leadership and discretion” he said

One of the former Mellanby hall chairmen, Edet Iyamba, also opined that the suspension of the students union and its activities is “anti-democratic and repressive”. “The Vice Chancellor and the University senate have not been able to expressively quote the exact section(s) that the members of students union have contravened that warranted the suspension of its union” he added.

Iyamba also urged the “management of the University of Ibadan to reverse its oppressive directive(s) and allow the student to have a virile union, one befitting of a world class institution which the University of Ibadan is aiming to become”.

The former chair did not stop at that, he advised the vice chancellor to challenge his team on how to raise the IGR of the school to complement the dwindling allocation of the federal government rather than spend his time victimizing students.

“He should re-strategize on how to reposition the University of Ibadan on the international platform for good reason after his recent blunders that have severally dented the reputation of the institution” he added.

Rasheed Otegbola, a well-respected pen pusher during his days in the premier university also advised Prof. Olayinka to “retrace his steps or face the wrath of posterity.”

Otegbola who was also the former president of the Department of Pharmacy said; “the Student Union remains a vibrant platform for launching promising reformers into a debauched society. Any element which threatens its existence is a threat to a better future and should be regarded accordingly”.

“My sincere word of caution for Professor Olayinka is to swallow his pride and rescind his decision on the suspension of our union because I will be among millions of Nigerian students that will demand or call for his removal by the Federal Government", Olamiposi Obajuluwa, a former faculty of Arts president, said.

A former sports secretary of Nnamdi Azikwe Hall, Yousuf Jumu’ah, encouraged the students to be resolute in their demands and refuse every form of intimidation.

He also gave suggestions on possible means to deal with the university management and also reclaim the union.

“The SU excos, SRC, Hall chairmen/chairpersons, Faculty excos, leaders of student religious bodies and some notable stakeholders should form a body that will act on behalf of the generality of students. The SU president should demand strong allegiance and loyalty from them all, albeit democratically and there should be a signed document indicating strong solidarity amongst them. They should get a strong legal team, local and international media (I urge the University alumni to assist in that regard), paralyze on campus business through mass boycotts and be resolute” he suggested.



[img][/img]

Vice Chancellor of the University of ibadan, Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/infinite-jest-politics-of-looting-book.html

Infinite Jest: The Politics Of Looting The Book Dino Melaye Never Published By Bayo Oluwasanmi

The Kogi Senator Melaye needs no introduction. He's perhaps the most well read out of the 109 senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His chains of degrees swirl like a snake across continents. He has degrees from Nigeria, United Kingdom, Romania, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Canada, America, Cuba, and Antarctica.



The Kogi Senator Melaye needs no introduction. He's perhaps the most well read out of the 109 senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His chains of degrees swirl like a snake across continents. He has degrees from Nigeria, United Kingdom, Romania, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Canada, America, Cuba, and Antarctica.

The corrupt career of Melaye spans many years. It's a career with a footnote in corruption for our times. Unlike former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Melaye wasn't trying to sell a senate seat. Unlike former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, Melaye didn't try to portray himself as a lovable rogue. Instead, Melaye is of a debauch vision. He's technically a rabbit in the disturbed hallucination in a costume sense of the word.

Popularly known by his latest CD “Ajekun iya ni yio je” Melaye is a crazy, homicidal, faceless, shameless mania. He's known for his argle-bargle, jiggery-pokery. His book “Antidotes For Corruption” wasn't the book that should have been written by him. Punnily titled “Antidotes For Corruption ” is a lethal comedic nonsense. How can a raunchy, self-centered animated looter writes a book on prescription for corruption? It's like expecting Beelzebub to cast out Beelzebub!

Melaye, the hyperactive neurotic bunny author of “Antidotes For Corruption” should have written a book with the title “Infinite Jest: The Politics Of Looting.” That would have made sense and of course intelligent reading without any tinge of irony.

“Infinite Jest: The Politics Of Looting” would have been his memoir/self-help hybrid that traces Melaye's painful, impoverished, and unsteady climb out of suicidal despair. It would have been a compelling reading of how a Nigerian senator became instant millionaire made possible by rabid looting of our treasury.

Melaye would have written the book in a confiding, conversational prose that references figures from Soyinka's “Madmen And Specialists” to Shakespeare's Cordelia, where Melaye addresses the guilt and shame that comes with binge looting and incurable kleptomania.

Melaye would have made peace with himself and with Nigerians by describing the battles raging inside his red-raw naked mind in a bruisingly lucid detail how he and other reprobate senators plundered our treasury. He would have intimated us with their looting spree in form of unmerited bogus allowances and outrageous salaries. After all, they don't have to publish their salaries of Senate president, the speaker of the House, the majority leader, other principal officers and the legislators. He would have informed Nigerians that 25% of national expenditure goes to the National Assembly.

The book would have shed light on the fact that each senator rakes in N48 million per quarter or $1.2 million per year. Melaye would have taken pains to come up with insane justification why Nigerian federal legislators are the highest paid in the world and why the country is among the poorest in the world in terms of per capital income, security, and social services and living standards. Melaye would have tried to convince us that go into politics with his other treasury looters was not dictated by greed, fraud, and personal aggrandizement.

For example, Melaye wold have been audacious enough to tell us that out of the 2009 annual budget of N3.1 trillion, N1.3 trillion or 42% ended up as remuneration for legislators, and nothing literally is left for social and economic development, construction of roads, water, education, healthcare, electricity. That in four years, he and other senators will pocket N720 million. Each member of the House of Reps will get N540 million. That Bukola Abiku Mesujamba Saraki as senate president gets N250 million per quarter and his deputy Ekweremadu gets N150 million.

That each of the principal officers gets N78 million. He should have emphasized that looting conduits also include constituency projects, inflated contracts, bribery over appropriations, and other manufactured spending and he and other legislators pocket 90% of the country's GDP.

The history of Nigeria is a history of corruption. Corruption brings poverty, crime, violence, inequality, and class war. In Nigeria, when the poor ask for bread, they're given a stone. The thirsty are permitted to drink and the hungry are not allowed to eat. The sick cannot seek treatment in hospital and no access to drugs. The jobless remains jobless. Workers are not paid and retirees are denied pensions.

Children of the poor are trapped in cycles of poverty while their parents watch helplessly with jaw twitching in premonition. Nigeria is blessed with natural resources worth trillions of dollars but the population is blighted with extreme poverty and unrest. Spectacular oil boom for years generated riches for the political elite but offered little to poverty ravaged Nigerians. Unlike a true democracy, the looters are not accountable to our people through a social contract based on taxation and representation.

Melaye's book on corruption is a reminder of how often real-life political corruption can mirror the imaginations of Nollywood screenwriters. For Melaye of all people to publish a book on a subject of which is a poster boy, indicates that his foresight is much more myopic. His book should infuriate Nigerians who actually believe in democratic governance. Melaye is a man with faulty morals who is intoxicated with wealth acquired from corruption. He's led by greed to crave for more tethering on a destructive cycle.

The launching of a book on corruption by Melaye with all the titans of corruption – Bukola Abiku Mesujamba Saraki, Patience Jonathan, Ike Ekweremadu, and others as chief launchers is an affront on our values as a people. It's a distortion of our values and makes mincemeat of morality, truth, and virtue. It's no wonder that with the Melayes, Mesujambas, Ekweremadus, etc., there is barely any sphere of our social, political, economic, and religious activity that is free from graft, fraud, and corruption of some kind.

Melaye remains the most hated colorful and boastful icons of corruption in Nigeria. By reflecting in his book his truest and sometimes ugly self back to the Nigerian people, it's sad that sullen-looking, sleepy-eyed, foolish, cunning and dim, complicated illiterates and primitive people like him populate the Senate.


bjoluwasanmi@gmail.com

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/photos-from-burial-of-nurtw-chieftain.html

The remains of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) chieftain, Rasaq Bello, popularly called Hamburger who was killed in Shogunle on May 29, allegedly by members of a rival gang allegedly led by Samson Agbetoye, popularly called Golden has been laid to rest!


May his soul rest in perfect peace, Amen...

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/badoo-terror-gang-strikes-again-in.html

- Badoo cult group have allegedly butchered a family in Ikorodu - The cultists also killed a pregnant woman, removed and went away with her foetus in the process The dreaded Badoo cult group terrorising the people of Ikorodu in Lagos state has struck again. The group according to reports have murdered a family of five including a pregnant woman at Itamaga behind radio in the Ikorodu area of Lagos state.



Reports also have it that the attack came on the early morning of May 28th. The cult members also allegedly killed the pregnant woman, opened up her womb and went away with her foetus. One of the family members, an SS3 student, a survivor of the attack is said to be battling for her life at a specialist hospital (names withheld).



According to the Nation, the assailants used mortar and pestle to smash their victims’ heads. The group have been terrorising Ikorodu for quite some time now. In a strong condemnation of the killings, Rasheed Fatuga, coordinator, Ikorodu Ambassadors, urged the government to address the issues of Badoo urgently. He said: “How long will this continue, what is their mission and purpose? Why kill families? What for? What gain? So sad! “A kitchen mortar is a device used to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them. It is shocking and sad to see that Badoo gang hasn’t been neutralised.





“What happens in a community where constituted authorities cannot provide security of lives and properties? What is the function of the Ikorodu Police Divisions when they cannot give us peace of mind? “What is the essence of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad patrolling Ikorodu 24/7 looking for only Yahoo-Boys up and down? “And where are the Ikorodu Youths, that are supposed to take the Badoo issue as their priority, talk about it on social media every time, forward the news to the Lagos State Government’s platforms, stand up against these negligible acts? They are nowhere to be found. “Instead, they are busy carrying posters of politicians on their heads, politicians/leaders that are responsible for all this suffering in the first place. “Kudos to the Vigilante Group of Ikorodu, they have been awesome, but they cannot do it all. They don’t have the resources. We need to re-orientate and equip them. “We use this opportunity to call on our community, religious and political leaders to neutralise this ugly situation as soon as possible. “Also we are calling on Ikorodu indigenes/ambassadors all over the world, muslim community, christian associations, traditional worshippers, market men, women and all mothers in Ikorodu to stand up now. Remember, POSTERITY is watching you all,” he said.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/kemi-omololu-olunloyo-speaks-from.html

Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, a social media enthusiast, and daughter of a former governor of Old Oyo State, Omololu Olunloyo, has accused the chief registrar attached to the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court of sitting on her case in order to keep her perpetually behind bars, despite having allegedly met her bail conditions. But Maimunat Folami, the Deputy Chief Registrar, strongly denied the allegations, stating that her office had cooperated fully with Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo’s counsel to ensure proper vetting of her bail documents.

Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, a social media enthusiast, and daughter of a former governor of Old Oyo State, Omololu Olunloyo, has accused the chief registrar attached to the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court of sitting on her case in order to keep her perpetually behind bars, despite having allegedly met her bail conditions.
But Maimunat Folami, the Deputy Chief Registrar, strongly denied the allegations, stating that her office had cooperated fully with Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo’s counsel to ensure proper vetting of her bail documents.
“We have done everything that we’re supposed to do,” Ms. Folami said. “This allegation is very strange.”
Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo spoke inside Port Harcourt Prison, where she had been remanded since her initial arraignment in mid-March for alleged criminal defamation against a Port-Harcourt-based preacher, David Ibiyeomie.
Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES inside the office of the Comptroller of Prisons in Rivers State, Ifeanyi Amaliri, last week, Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo stated that her lawyers had satisfied all bail requirements set by H.I.O. Shamah, a federal judge who granted her bail on April 11.
She said she had strong indications to believe the deputy chief registrar was sitting on her case on alleged orders of some powerful interests. But the court registrar said the accused’s bail paperwork was still being perfected by her lawyers, with whom she said she had been in constant touch with.
“I have to do all the works of ensuring that all the documents are put in place,” Ms. Folami said. “Even if the documents are put in place, we still have to conduct certain investigations, like verifying the addresses of the sureties to be sure they are who they say they are.”
Ms. Folami also said Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo’s case file was taken away the last time her matter was heard on May 23. Although the judge was absent, the case file was not returned to her office, causing further delay in working out the final details of Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo’s release.
Peter Nkanga, the West Africa representative of the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo’s continued incarceration for over 78 days and counting, despite all bail conditions met since May 11, including signing an undertaking not to jump bail.
“It is an outrage that the judiciary can be taking over three weeks and counting to verify Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo’s bail requirements, at the expense of her freedom,” Mr. Nkanga told PREMIUM TIMES.
Fatai Lawal of Afe Babalola Chambers, which is representing Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo, spoke to PREMIUM TIMES but declined to blame the registrar for the challenges faced in perfecting his client’s bail requirements.
“We’re confident about her possible release this week,” he said.
A team of police officers first arrested Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo in Ibadan on March 13.
She was whisked to Port Harcourt where she was arraigned before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Port-Harcourt. The case was later transferred to the Federal High Court.
Ms. Omololu-Olunloyo, however, spoke positively about the prison officials.
They have done an excellent job taking care of me and ensuring that I don’t starve and my health does not deteriorate, she said.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/one-week-two-dramas-who-will-save.html

Whenever I’m about to forget what it means to be a politician in these parts, I remind myself of the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha. He combines the drama and ebullience of Ayo Fayose with the shenanigans and hubris of Wada Nas. The fellow just keeps your jaw agape, making you laugh and cry at once.It happened to me twice last week. First came the news that Okorocha had rejected the appointment of his daughter, Uju Anwuka, to the Board of the Federal College of Education and Technology, Omoku.
Whenever I’m about to forget what it means to be a politician in these parts, I remind myself of the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha. He combines the drama and ebullience of Ayo Fayose with the shenanigans and hubris of Wada Nas. The fellow just keeps your jaw agape, making you laugh and cry at once.

It happened to me twice last week. First came the news that Okorocha had rejected the appointment of his daughter, Uju Anwuka, to the Board of the Federal College of Education and Technology, Omoku.

He said he rejected it because he was not consulted and he suspected that it was a Greek gift by unnamed politicians who don’t wish him and his family well.

I’m sure that Okorocha knows by now that if his wellbeing depended on what people, especially those in his State wish, he would be long gone back to his village in Ogboko. The Imo State that he is governing today is, in many ways, a shadow of itself unable to pay its workers
or pensioners and yet having enough to dedicate official quarters to the first family.

Imo is a chattel of Okorocha, a piece of real estate for the governor and his family. I will come to that.

If Okorocha says the offer of a board appointment to his daughter was a setup, he must know what he is talking about. But I still don’t understand why it was his job to reject the offer for his adult daughter. Wasn’t it possible for him to explain whatever dilemma it
was privately to his daughter and for her to publicly and personally eject the offer for whatever reason?

How many Nigerians who are not Okorochas get such malicious offers of appointment? And God knows that out of the 541 Federal boards in this country you can count on the fingers of one hand those where an appointment means an appointment to work.

Take the National Population Commission (NPC) board, for example. The Board comprises 37 commissioners statutorily appointed from the 36 states and Abuja with a five-year tenure each. They are virtually on the same level with Federal ministers, drawing comparable personal
benefits, allowances, and perks.

For all the free milk and honey, in a place like the NPC board, for example, all 37 commissioners appointed after 2006 when the last census was conducted have done nothing in 11 years. No enumeration, no census, nothing. But they earned their allowances and perks
nonetheless.

Multiply this waste in about 541 places, including the College of Education board, where Okorocha would have us believe that his daughter was ruthlessly set up, and you will understand why the biggest favour anyone can do us is to scrap the boards, including the one where Uju Anwuka has been offered an unsolicited letter of employment. The board members should all go home.

But the College of Education board recusal was just one incident. It was, for Okorocha – my governor, my governor – one week, two dramas. The second was at the Children’s Day leadership summit hosted by the Imo State government and broadcast live on Friday, May 26.

I thought it was a day when any modest host would lead from behind, allowing the children to take the stage as they share their hopes, aspirations, and disappointments with us.

In a country where one million children die of preventable diseases yearly and where 40 percent of children between the ages of six and eleven have no access to primary education, I thought the generation of leaders that has been responsible for this mess would be ashamed to
preach to the same children whose future they have eaten along with their own.

Not Okorocha. He shamed shame. The summit stage was his shrine with his life-size pictures emblazoned in a backdrop. They provided a throne for him on his altar, while a few aides and security men squatted, almost incognito, on a low bench behind the governor’s
throne.

Speaker after speaker mounted the stage to speak of how the governor has turned their night into day. They spoke of how he makes the sun to rise and the rain to fall and how the state could never see the like of him again in our lifetime. His Excellency grinned through it all as
he fiddled with his trademark sash.

Hardly anything was said about leadership or the tens of hundreds left behind.

I didn’t see civil servants who have been compelled by Okorocha to forfeit 60 percent of their monthly salaries and still don’t get paid the balance regularly. I didn’t see pensioners who traveled all the way to Owerri, the State capital, to sign off 60 percent of their 24-month pension arrears and yet are not getting the balance regularly. I didn’t see elders of communities who levied themselves to support Okorocha’s fourth-tier community government but who have apparently been conned.

Only the whitewashed crowd was invited. Depressingly, they also recruited children, who took turns to praise the governor in exchange for plastic hugs from him. I’m trying hard to remember the lessons the children learnt about leadership but it’s the charade that keeps coming to my mind.

I know that with Okorocha nearing the end of his second term, there’s nothing we can do to make him change his ways. He will continue to reign like an emperor and we must bow or be bended for his good pleasure.

His fingers are in every pie. His wife, Nkechi, is the only person in Nigeria who has more government portfolios than Babatunde Fashola: she supervises the Ministries of Women Affairs, Works, Health and the Office of the Secretary to the State Government. His son-in-law, Uche
Nwosu, is the Chief of Staff, and a government building is named after one of his daughters, Uloma Nwosu. Imo is Okorocha’s chattel.

Is it too much to ask that he should leave the children out of his drama the next time?

As for the rest of Imo and other states afflicted with wolves in sheep’s clothing, the lesson is to be a little more careful the next time you vote. That’s your only insurance.

Ishiekwene is the MD/Editor-In-Chief The Interview magazine and board member of the Paris-based Global Editors Network.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/meet-arya-premana-worlds-heaviest-child.html



Have you ever carried/seen a child that weighs the same as six children his age? Arya Premana weighs 30 stone - and he's just 11-year-old.He's the world's heaviest child, and has had to have life-saving surgery


New Channel 5 documentary, World's Heaviest Child: Extraordinary People, is taking a closer look at his life.

After years of over-feeding him, parents Ade and Rokayah Soemantri were eventually convinced that their young son had to have drastic surgery or he’d die.
Travelling to the Omni hospital in Jakarta, Arya was the youngest person to ever undergo a five-hour gastric sleeve operation.

Daily Mirror reports in a trailer for the show, it's revealed that Arya weighs the same as six boys his age.

As he sits by the side of a pool eating an ice cream, his mother tells the cameras: "Arya is very famous, so I feel very happy."
His father adds: "We came from a village, and then we were considered celebrities in the media and on TV," as clips of him appearing on various TV shows are shown.

So far, a team of medical experts have failed to find a reason for his weight gain.

A doctor says: "If this situation is not controlled it could be fatal and he'll die.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/06/akeredolu-sets-up-committee-to-honor.html



The five-man committee is chaired by Mr. Alaba Isijola, while Mr. Michael Oshodi serves as its secretary.
Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has set up a five-man committee ahead of the commemoration of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election which was won by the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
This announcement was contained in a letter signed on behalf of the governor by Secretary to the State Government Ifedayo Abegunde and dispatched to the members of the committee in Akure.
SaharaReporters exclusively obtained an electronic copy of the letter.
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, widely known as “MKO,” won the June 12, 1993 presidential election only to have the results annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida before he was forced out office.
According to the letter, the five-man committee is chaired by Mr. Alaba Isijola, while Mr. Michael Oshodi serves as its secretary.
Other members of the committee include Doyin Odebowale, Margaret Atere, and Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya.
A section of the letter read that members of the committee are to resume action immediately and organize an anniversary symposium in commemoration for the day.
“The committee, which is required to swing into action expeditiously, is to highlight/incorporate the five (5) cardinal agenda of the present administration in the designated theme for the symposium,” it read in part.
A member of the committee who spoke to SaharaReporters under the condition of anonymity said there are plans to name some government projects in the state after the late MKO.
“There are good plans to immortalize the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) on the day of the celebration just like other states have been doing.
“Already, we are looking towards naming one of the most important government projects or properties in the state after him and possibly initiate a lifetime project to immortalize the death of the living legend,” he said.
On Monday, Mr. Akeredolu promised to declare a work-free day in Ondo State as part of the June 12 celebration.
The governor made the promise during this year’s May 29 Democracy Day celebration held in Akure.
“In Ondo State, we will celebrate June 12 and it will be a work-free day. MKO deserves a special honor, not only to him, but also to his wife. Their blood was spilled for the realization of our democracy and he was elected president but was not allowed to assume office,” he said.
Former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, during the first term of his eight-year tenure, commemorated the June 12 celebration by launching a free shuttle bus for secondary and primary school students in the state.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/june-8-poll-theresa-may-defends-uk.html

SaharaReporters learned that Mrs. May’s pull-out might not be unconnected to the latest decision by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to participate in the debate scheduled to begin in Cambridge at 19:30 local time.


British Prime Minister Theresa May has defended her absence from Wednesday evening's TV General Election debate after opting to take questions up and round the country.

SaharaReporters learned that Mrs. May’s pull-out might not be unconnected to the latest decision by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to participate in the debate scheduled to begin in Cambridge at 19:30 local time.

UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn Reuters/Peter Nicholls The debate, organized by the BBC, will have the Liberal Democrats, UK Independence Party, Scottish National Party, Green Party and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) also participating, while Home Secretary Amber Rudd will represent the Conservative Party (Tories) instead of Mrs. May.

The Labour Party had initially said its leader would not participate in the debate if the prime minister was not in attendance. But Mr. Corbyn made a U-turn at mid-day on Wednesday after criticizing the Tories over what he termed "a stage-managed arms-length campaign."

"If Theresa May fails to join me in this debate, then she would have demonstrated her weakness rather than strength,” the Labour Party leader said.

Mrs. May had earlier in the week said that Mr. Corbyn paid more attention to how many appearances he had on TV instead of concentrating on the Brexit negotiations.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has accused Mrs. May of keeping voters in the dark.

"The Prime Minister called this election but has now refused to turn up to debate the issues," Mr. Farron said on Wednesday.

SaharaReporters gathered that each panelist will make an opening statement before taking questions from the audience in the looming debate, which is the latest in a series of special broadcasts ahead of the June 8 general election.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/democracy-biafra-and-sense-of-history.html

It is sad that many Nigerians today talk glibly about the possibility of a coup or of military intervention in politics. They make it seem as if this democracy is something we can exchange for something else. We need to be reminded, as we celebrate democracy day 2017, how we got to this very moment, and how precious democracy is to us as a sovereign people. From 1966 to 1999 (with the short break of civilian rule from 1979 – 1983) the military dominated the political landscape in Nigeria. It was eighteen years ago yesterday when our country returned to civilian rule.

It is sad that many Nigerians today talk glibly about the possibility of a coup or of military intervention in politics. They make it seem as if this democracy is something we can exchange for something else. We need to be reminded, as we celebrate democracy day 2017, how we got to this very moment, and how precious democracy is to us as a sovereign people. From 1966 to 1999 (with the short break of civilian rule from 1979 – 1983) the military dominated the political landscape in Nigeria. It was eighteen years ago yesterday when our country returned to civilian rule.
The military practically overstayed their welcome. The first military coup in Nigeria was in January 1966, followed by the counter-coup of July 1966, and then the civil war of 1967-70 which turned Nigeria into a military theatre more or less as the Federal forces engaged the Biafran secessionists in a fratricidal war that resulted in the loss of more than a million lives, starvation and the tearing apart of the Nigerian fabric. The military would remain in charge of Nigeria and its affairs for more than 30 years in total, and it is worth remembering that virtually every successful coup was welcome by the people.
It was thought particularly in the 70s that the military had a role to play in many developing countries in Africa to ensure stability and national discipline. The civilians who took over from the colonialists in Nigeria and Ghana, to cite two close examples, proved worse than their predecessors, and hence the usual argument for military intervention was corruption, and the need to keep the country together and check the excesses of the civilian rulers. Military rule was perhaps closer to what the people had known traditionally and also under the colonialists. Kings or feudalists who did not tolerate any form of opposition, or free expression governed the traditional communities and likewise, the colonial masters were dictators. The military continued in that tradition. In-fighting among the emergent military elite and the competition for power eroded discipline and resulted over the years in more coups.
To be fair, military intervention in Nigerian politics yielded some positive dividends and created a leadership cadre, and indeed till date, the influence of the military in Nigerian politics, as seen in the transmutation of many military officers into professional politicians, remains a strong factor in the making and unmaking of Nigeria. But by 1990, with the global wave of democratization, glasnost and perestroika, the collapse of the Berlin wall, and the greater emphasis on human rights, and the rise of civil society, the Nigerian public began to subject the military to greater scrutiny than was hitherto the case.
After a fashion, every military government presented itself as a corrective regime, with the promise to hand over power in a short while to civilians. By 1986, the Babangida administration after a year in office had launched a political transition program, beginning with the establishment of a 17-man Political Bureau. In 1989, the ban on political activities was lifted. The military junta would later ban these existing political parties and create its own parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention.
This seemingly endless transition program and increased civil society activism merely drew more attention to the military and its record in the public sphere. The people began to demand an inevitable return to civilian rule. They complained about the human rights abuses of the military, the apparent domination of power by the Northern elite, the marginalization of other groups in Nigeria, and the spread of injustice and inequities.
When a Presidential election was held on June 12, 1993, and the SDP candidate, Chief MKO Abiola won the election- an election that was adjudged to be free and fair, Nigerians felt that the hour of their liberation from military rule had come. But the Babangida administration refused to announce the final results and subsequently, it annulled the election. It was a disastrous moment for the Nigerian military and the administration. It also marked the beginning of a national crisis that dragged on for six years. The Nigerian people were inconsolable. In the course of the crisis, General Ibrahim Babangida had to “step aside”, handing over power to an Interim National Government (ING), which was soon shoved aside by General Abacha. Between 1993 and 1999, Nigeria had three different leaders: Chief Ernest Shonekan, General Sani Abacha and General Abdusalami Abubakar.
The ensuing struggle for democracy was long and momentous. Progressive Nigerians and the civil society turned against the military. The South West declared that it had been robbed. MKO Abiola fought for his mandate. The international community ostracized the Abacha government. Nigeria became a pariah nation. The media was in the forefront of the struggle, and many journalists were jailed, hounded into exile, publishing houses were set ablaze. Anyone who criticized the soldiers was framed for one offense or the other and thrown behind bars.
The progressive forces insisted that the military must go. “Never Again”, the people chorused. There had been no other moment like that in contemporary Nigeria. The martyrs of that people’s revolution were the ones that died, including Chief MKO Abiola who died in Abacha’s detention camp, the many innocent persons who were shot by the military, and everyone who suffered one major loss or the other. The heroes were the valiant men and women who stood up for democracy and justice and opposed military tyranny. The villains were the soldiers who trampled upon the people’s rights, and their opportunistic agents in civil society. On May 29, 1999, Nigeria returned to civilian rule. It was the day of our country’s second liberation, liberation from the “years that the locusts ate.”
In the month of June, there would be another historic date for Nigerians, that is June 12, a definite milestone in Nigerian democracy even if the Federal Government has been largely in denial since 1999. MKO Abiola deserves to be honoured post-humously not just selectively by states in the South-West but by the Nigerian Government as a kind of restitution, and by this, I mean a formal declaration, for record purposes, that he was indeed the winner of that June 12, 1993 election.
This brief excursion to the recent past is important because it is so easy to forget. I have met young Nigerians who have never heard of Chief MKO Abiola. In a country where history is no longer taught in schools, that should not be surprising. The Nigerians who were born in 1993 are today out of university, and many of them may never have experienced military rule. They were still children when their parents fought for this democracy. Whoever makes the mistake of even remotely suggesting any form of return to military rule is an enemy of the Nigerian people. Such persons would be taking this country back to 18 years ago and beyond.
Whatever may be the shortcomings of our democracy, this system of government has served the Nigerian people well. We may worry about the form or the shape, or the character of our democracy, the opportunism and imperfections of the professional political class, or the weakness of certain institutions but all told, this is a much better country. The best place for the military is to function under a constitutional order and to discharge its duties as the protector of national sovereignty. Any soldier who is interested in politics should resign his commission, and join a political party, politics being an open field for all categories of persons, including ex-convicts, prostitutes and armed robbers. I find the auto-suggestion of military intervention gross and odious. It is regrettable that those whose duty should never in any shape include scare-mongering were the ones who started that nonsensical discussion in the first place.
For the benefit of those who do not know or who may have forgotten, we once lived in a certain country called Nigeria, ruled by the military, where the rights of citizens meant nothing. The soldiers were our rulers. They were above the laws of the land. The people were their subordinates. They called us “bloody civilians.” The media was not free. Your insistence on free speech could land you in jail. Under the guise of enforcing discipline, the military treated the people as if they were slaves. Everything was done “with immediate effect!”, including the suspension of human rights.
Today, democracy has given the Nigerian people, voice. There is a greater consciousness of the power of the people, as well as the need to hold persons in power accountable. The electoral process is still imperfect, but the people are now supremely confident of their right to choose. But not all our problems have been solved. For example, exactly 50 years ago today, the late Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, hero of the Biafran Revolution, led the people of the Bight of Biafra on a secession move out of Nigeria.
He said: “…you, the people of Eastern Nigeria, Conscious of the Supreme Authority of Almighty God over all mankind, of your duty to yourselves and prosperity; Aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your property by any Government based outside Eastern Nigeria/Believing that you are born free and have certain inalienable rights which can best be protected by yourselves. Unwilling to be unfree partners in any association of a political or economic nature… Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, by virtue of the authority and pursuant to the principles recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her Continental Shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of The Republic of Biafra…”
In other words, the people of Eastern Nigeria no longer felt free or protected or respected inside Nigeria. They opted out. In the Ahiara Declaration of 1969, Ojukwu summed it all up as follows: “When the Nigerians violated our basic human rights and liberties, we decided reluctantly but bravely to found our own state, to exercise our inalienable right to self-determination as our only remaining hope for survival as a people.”
The civil war ended on January 12, 1970 but 50 years since the declaration of secession by the people of Eastern Nigeria, Igbos are still protesting about their relationship with the rest of Nigeria. But significantly, they are not the only ones complaining. Farmers are complaining about pastoralists, indigenes about settlers, Christians about Muslims and vice versa, women about men, men about women, youths about the older generation, the people of Southern Kaduna are unhappy, other Northern minorities too, the people of the Niger Delta have been unhappy since the Willink Commission of 1957/58, the other over 400 ethnic nationalities that are not recognized in Section 55 of the 1999 Constitution are also wondering whether they are truly part of this union…Basic human rights and liberties are still being violated.
Nigeria remains a yet unanswered question. Democratic rule may have opened up the space, but our country still suffers from a kind of hang-over. The people are free, but they are today everywhere in chains: politically, economically and ethnically. This is the sad part of our democracy, but the best part are the many lessons that the people are learning about the meaning, the nature and the cost of the choices that they make or that they have made.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/death-of-nation-biafra-and-nigerian.html

“There are two basic questions that must be answered by all Nigerians. One, do we want to remain as one country? Two, if the answer is yes, under what conditions?” – Chief Bola Ige


Introduction: To paraphrase the historian, mathematician, journalist, Marxist, and progressive thinker, Edwin Madunagu, every political history has its significant dates, landmarks or turning points. In Nigeria’s political history, for instance, landmarks would include October 1, 1960, (the day Nigeria gained independence from Britain), January 15, 1966, (when the first of what would become a tradition of military coups occurred), July 6, 1967, (the official start of the 30-month Nigeria-Biafra war) and January 15, 1970, (the official end of the civil war).
To these dates, I will add January 1, 1914, (the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates by the British to create Nigeria), May 27, 1967, (the beginning of state creation in Nigeria), and May 30, 1967, (the official declaration of the secessionist state of Biafra). The latter dates, May 27 and May 30, 1967, are significant in many ways. On May 27, 50 years ago, Yakubu Gowon, who served as head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975, perhaps in anticipation of the audacious move by the Military Governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, announced the division of Nigeria into 12 states from four regions. The division of Nigeria into 12 states and Ojukwu’s declaration of Biafra were decisions that would change the country forever.
Gowon’s action did not only alter the structure of Nigeria, it led to the reconstruction of the nascent nation through the lenses of the so-called Nigerian military; a military that was provincial in outlook as it was ill-equipped for leadership. The military centralized economic and political power and moved Nigeria from a federal republic to a unitary state. In many ways, we can conveniently say May 27, 1967, was the day Nigeria began to unravel and any attempt to understand the current crises and our inability to make progress as a nation must necessarily return to the action of the military junta on May 27, 1967.
The road to Biafra
Three days later, May 30, 1967, Lt. Col Ojukwu, a Nigerian soldier of Igbo extraction declared an “independent sovereign state of the name and title of the Republic of Biafra,” officially excising the Eastern Region from Nigeria. Ojukwu based his action on the resolution, four days earlier, on May 26, 1967, of a joint conference of the Eastern consultative assembly and leaders of thought that asked him to declare the Eastern region as a separate republic at an “early practicable date”.
The declaration of Biafra was the culmination of a series of tragic events. First was the bloodletting that started with the January 15, 1966, military coup. That coup led to the assassination of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Belewa, the country’s first and only prime minister and Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region, among other high-profile casualties. Some recollections by Edwin Madunagu in “Settling account with Biafra” (The Guardian, May 4, 2000) are apposite here: “One, the politics of the First Republic (1960-1965) was heavily characterized by ethnicity, especially towards the end of that tragic period. Two: Of the five army majors that are more frequently mentioned as leading the coup attempt, only one, Major Adewale Ademoyega, was non-Igbo by ethnic origin. Three: No Igbo political leader died and the only Igbo military casualty occurred not because he was a target but because he was considered a ‘nuisance’. Four: The attempted coup was the culmination of a long period of political crisis in Nigeria, a crisis whose centre of gravity was Western Region where, before the military intervention, the crisis had become an armed popular uprising.”
On July 29, 1966, there was another military coup led by officers from Northern Nigeria and Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon became head of state. According to Madunagu, the coupists “first made a move to pull the Northern Region out Nigeria, but when they were advised that they were now in a military situation to rule the whole country, instead of a part of it, they dropped the idea of secession and became champions of ‘One Nigeria’. Lt. Col Ojukwu refused to recognize Lt. Col Gowon as head of state.”
The second coup led to the assassination, among other high-profile casualties, of the country’s first military head of state, Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo, as well as the military governor of the Western Region, Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi. This was followed by, as Madunagu notes, “mass killings not only in the North but all over the country, except the Eastern Region. Now, multiply the May 1966 tragedy by a factor of 50, add to it the fact that the killings were now led by armed soldiers whose commanders were now in power and add to this the fact that the killings did not abate for at least five months and you begin to have an idea of what happened.”
The criminal indifference of the Nigerian state to the manifest pogrom against people from Eastern Nigeria, particularly Igbos, the repudiation by the Nigerian contingent (and the “unilateral implementation” by the Eastern regional government) of the agreement on decentralization of power reached at a meeting in Aburi, Ghana, involving the main protagonists, Yakubu Gowon and Emeka Ojukwu, at the instance of Gen. Ankrah of Ghana, finally paved the road to Biafra.
The accounts of what took place in those turbulent days are as varied as there are ethnic groups in Nigeria. But one thing is certain: the effects of those events, particularly the actions of May 27 and 30, 1967, are still being felt today. In one fell swoop, the military unilaterally restructured Nigeria according to its dictates. While Ojukwu drafted “unwilling” minorities in the Eastern Region to create a Biafran state where Igbos were in the majority, the Nigerian military which was nothing but the armed wing of a reactionary feudal class that had power thrust on it at independence began the implementation of an agenda of conquest. Interestingly, barely a year earlier, the section of the military that seized power after the January 15, 1966 coup had attempted to reconstruct Nigeria as a unitary state with the promulgation of the unification decree 34 of 1966. That attempt was opposed fiercely by those (including a section of the military) who felt they had lost out in the power equation. The rest is history.
When history repeats itself
Unfortunately, Nigeria is on the cusp of that tragic history repeating itself. Regrettably, 50 years after the declaration of Biafra many young Nigerians of Igbo descent are trying to recreate Biafra. In a few days, there will be events in Nigeria and around the world to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra on May 30, 1967. Forty-seven years after the end of the Nigeria-Biafra War, Biafra still resonates with individuals and groups within and outside the country; perhaps, a testament to the fact that the war hasn’t ended in the minds of the protagonists and victims and the reality that many of the issues that propelled the civil war are still with us today.
So, how do we deal with this conundrum? Is Biafra the solution? In other words, can we solve the problems of 2017 Nigeria using the tragic solution of 50 years ago? As S.M. Sigerson noted in The Assassination of Michael Collins: What Happened at Béal na mBláth? “A nation which fails to adequately remember salient points of its own history is like a person with Alzheimer's. And that can be a social disease of a most destructive nature.”
Seventeen years ago, Edwin Madunagu, in the piece referenced above, admonished “the young Nigerians now threatening to actualize Biafra (to) forget or shelve the plan. In place of ‘actualisation’, they should, through research and study, reconstruct the Biafran story in its fullness and complexity and try to answer the unanswered questions and supply the missing links in the story. This is a primary responsibility you owe yourselves: you should at least understand what you want to actualise. If 30 years after Biafra, you want to produce its second edition, you need to benefit from the criticism of the first. History teaches that a second edition of a tragic event could easily become a farce—in spite of the heroism of its human agencies. On the other hand, those who enjoy ridiculing Biafra—instead of studying it—are politically shortsighted. My own attitude to Biafra is neither ‘actualisation’ nor ridicule. I propose that accounts should be settled with Biafra.”
Madunagu’s admonition needs no elaboration. It is clear enough for the young people pushing for the actualization of Biafra, many of whom were born after the end of the Biafra war 47 years ago. The aspect of his position on Biafra that I want to focus on is the aspect that warns of the “political shortsightedness of ridiculing Biafra”.
Balkanizing the nation
When the military regime headed by Gowon divided Nigeria into 12 states, it sought to weaken the prospect of the different groups in the Eastern Region uniting against the Nigerian state. Of course, that action was music to the ears of minority groups, particularly those in the Eastern Region, who had long demanded their own state. With the creation of states, however, the military not only unilaterally abrogated the geo-political structure that existed then, it went a step further to destroy the principle of federalism on which Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and which had sustained and kept the country together. We need to understand that this principle was adopted not only to assuage the fear of domination by a single group in the country but as recognition of the differences (multi-ethnic and multi-lingual) of the various “ethnic nationalities” that were brought together to create Nigeria.
Part of Gowon’s broadcast on May 27, 1967, signaling the breakup of Nigeria into 12 states is pertinent here: “The main obstacle to future stability in this country is the present structural imbalance in the Nigerian Federation. Even Decree No.8 or Confederation or ‘loose association’ will never survive if any one section of the country is in a position to hold the others to ransom.
“This is why the first item in the political and administrative program adopted by the Supreme Military Council last month is the creation of states for stability. This must be done first so as to remove the fear of domination. Representatives drawn from the new states will be more able to work out the future constitution for this country which can contain provisions to protect the powers of the states to the fullest extent desired by the Nigerian people.
“As soon as these are established, a new revenue allocation commission consisting of international experts will be appointed to recommend an equitable formula for revenue allocation taking into account the desires of the states. I propose to act faithfully within the political and administrative program adopted by the Supreme Military Council and published last month. The world will recognize in these proposals our desire for justice and fair play for all sections of this country and to accommodate all genuine aspirations of the diverse people of this great country.
“I have ordered the re-imposition of the economic measures designed to safeguard federal interests until such time as the Eastern Military Governor abrogates his illegal edicts on revenue collection and the administration of the federal statutory corporations based in the East. The country has a long history of well-articulated demands for states. The fears of minorities were explained in great detail and set out in the report of the Willink Commission appointed by the British in 1958. More recently, there have been extensive discussions in Regional Consultative Committees and leaders-of-thought conferences. Resolutions have been adopted demanding the creation of states in the North and in Lagos. Petitions from minority areas in the East which have been subjected to violent intimidation by the Eastern Military Government have been publicized.
“While the present circumstances regrettably do not allow for consultations through plebiscites, I am satisfied that the creation of new states as the only possible basis for stability and equality is the overwhelming desire of the vast majority of Nigerians. To ensure justice, these states are being created simultaneously. To this end, therefore, I am promulgating a decree which will divide the Federal Republic into 12 states. The 12 states will be six in the present Northern Region, three in the present Eastern Region, the Mid-Western will remain as it is, the Colony Province of the Western Region and Lagos will form a new Lagos State and the Western Region will otherwise remain as it is.”
What the military regime of Gowon gave with one hand it took with the other. And that would become the hallmark of subsequent military regimes in Nigeria. Gowon failed to realize, or deliberately ignored the reality that the issue wasn’t the division of the country but the reluctance or inability of the military to keep its promise, viz., “This must be done first so as to remove the fear of domination. Representatives drawn from the new states will be more able to work out the future constitution for this country which can contain provisions to protect the powers of the states to the fullest extent desired by the Nigerian people.”
Unfortunately, that never happened. It couldn’t have, considering the rapacious and parasitic nature of the Nigerian military so-called and the interest it represented and still represents. Once the military couldn’t deliver on that promise, it also meant that the second part of its declaration that, “The world will recognise in these proposals our desire for justice and fair play for all sections of this country and to accommodate all genuine aspirations of the diverse people of this great country,” was nothing but meaningless soundbite by a rampaging military sub-class in desperate search for legitimacy.
Since then, there has neither been “justice nor fair play for all sections” of Nigeria. There hasn’t been any serious attempt to “accommodate all genuine aspirations of the diverse people of this great country.” The sham of a federation that the military created has evolved into a Frankenstein's monster. Fast forward 50 years. Cleary, it is the nebulous federal government that is holding the country to ransom. The moment the military government took economic powers from the states, there was no way we could ensure justice and fair play. And once you can’t ensure justice and fair play, there is no way you can stop the concomitant disquiet.
The politics of state creation
When Gen Murtala Muhammed created additional seven states—three in the “South” and four in the “North”—bringing the total to 19 states, and a new federal capital territory, Abuja, on February 3, 1976, ten days before his assassination on February 13, he left no one in doubt that the conquest was real. While Gowon showed an inclination to balance Nigeria geo-politically, Muhammed ensured that the “North” had ten states while the “South” had nine. It has been alleged that the decision was to create four new states in the “North” and four new states in the “South”, but when Muhammed announced the creation of states, instead of creating two states (Cross River and Akwa Ibom States) out of the old South-Eastern State, he simply announced the transformation of South-Eastern State into Cross River State.
Subsequent military regimes continued the conquest, not just on the political front, but on the economic front as well. Ten years later, in 1986, when the self-professed evil genius, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, set up a Political Bureau to review the country’s political and democratic system, one of its recommendations was the creation of an additional state (Akwa Ibom State) in “South” to create a geo-political balance of ten states each between the “North” and “South”. Babangida spurned that recommendation. He did create Akwa Ibom State, but he added another state (Katsina State) in the “North” to maintain the imbalance. It was the same pattern that was adopted in subsequent state creation in 1991 (under Gen Babangida) and 1996 (under Gen Sani Abacha). Geo-politically, today, Nigeria is composed of 36 states: 19 states in the “North” and 17 states in the “South”.
Ordinarily, this should not matter. After all, in a federation, the federating units (states) are supposed to manage their affairs substantially and contribute to the sustenance of the Federation. Therefore, only those who feel their states can sustain themselves would clamor for the creation of such states. Of course, more self-sustaining states would mean more opportunities for the national government to benefit from the exploration and exploitation of resources in every state. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Nigeria.
In a country where the military had hijacked and centralized the control of economic resources and political power by, for example, arrogating to itself the authority to create local governments as well as placing itself in the position of chief dispenser of funds based on its own criteria, including population, land mass, number of local governments, derivation principle, etc., the dog eat dog demand for states was inevitable. Thanks to the military—the armed wing of Nigeria’s dominant power bloc—Nigeria has a weird federation where states can’t create their own local governments; where local governments are listed in constitutions that have been nothing but military decrees writ large. Thanks to the military, Nigeria has spurned justice and fair play and disregarded the genuine aspirations of the diverse people of this great country.
It is not for nothing that Nigeria is described as a federal republic. It was a choice made by the three regions in Nigeria preceding independence. Both the Eastern and Western regions obtained internal self-government (independence) in 1957, while the North got same in 1959. Each region could have opted to go its own way in 1960. We could have had three countries as opposed to one at independence. The decision by the regions to be part of a shared territory called Nigeria came with some obligation and expectation. There is little to suggest that the federating region were willing to jettison the greater part of their economic and political independence for the sake of “one Nigeria”.
In 1963, the regions (the precursor of our current states) controlled 50 percent of the revenues accruing from their region; today we are quibbling whether the states have right to as little as 13 percent. In a sense, this manifest heist by the federal government has perpetuated injustice in some sections of the country while condoning indolence in others. It is this quest for control or lack of, that is at the heart of the Nigerian crisis.
Biafra of the mind vs Biafra of the field
What is Biafra? If that question was tough to answer in 1967, it is even more difficult today, fifty years after. As a nation, Biafra was going to be difficult to sustain even if it had been actualized. Was Biafra a nation made up of ethnic nationalities? In other words, was Biafra a microcosm of Nigeria? One of the things those who are agitating for Biafra have not been able to define or communicate effectively is an answer to the question: What is Biafra? The answers to this question are as varied as there are agitators.

Continue: http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/death-of-nation-biafra-and-nigerian.html

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/osun-state-pensioners-urge-aregbesola.html

The chairman of the Osun pensioners, Comrade Ilesanmi Omoniyi, said the state governor was insensitive to their plights and lamented that Aregbesola was celebrating his 60th birthday while still owing them and subjecting them to hardship.

Pensioners in Osun state have urged the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola to pay the backlog of their gratuities amounting to about N2billion and the arrears of 12-month salary.
The retirees under the aegis of the "Forum of 2011/2012 retired public servants of Osun State" staged a peaceful demonstration in Osogbo, the state capital yesterday to draw the attention of the state government to their plights.
The chairman of the Osun pensioners, Comrade Ilesanmi Omoniyi, said the state governor was insensitive to their plights and lamented that Aregbesola was celebrating his 60th birthday while still owing them and subjecting them to hardship.
According to him, "the precarious situations of the workers and pensioners in Osun state has led to unabated loss of lives of our people on daily basis as a result of non-payment of salary and pension as well as the backlog of gratuities starting from 2008 to December 2012, amounting to 22 billion naira.”
He said: “For a responsive governor, the pathetic situation of workers and pensioners in the state does not call for a flamboyant celebration of 60th birthday as it is happening in Osun state now."
"Also, as at today, people of Osun state are still mourning the sudden demise of the first Executive Governor of the state and a distinguished Senator representing Osun West senatorial district, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, our governor was celebrating birthday.
“Even, if the plan to celebrate the 60th birthday had been in the pipeline before, the sudden death of our beloved Senator Adeleke is enough for a sensitive Governor to shelve the unnecessary flamboyant celebration.
"Thank God that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has attained the age of 60. If he is a public servant, must have retired from civil service and join the league of elders, the senior citizens that he is depriving of their constitutional entitlements.
“This is callous and sheer wickedness which we know that the Almighty God will repay him if he refuses to change his mind and do what's right for the pensioners".
According to the chairman of the Forum, pensioners in the state are facing a lot of predicaments, ranging from inability to pay their children school fees, avoidable sickness and loss of lives, among others.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/gambian-government-confiscates-86-bank.html

The new Gambian government, headed by Mr. Adama Barrow, has accused Mr. Jammeh of large-scale fraud, including theft of public funds during his 22-year rule, which was terminated via an electoral defeat in December and subsequent exile in January.


The Gambian government has confiscated assets 86 bank accounts and 131 properties owned by the country's former dictator, Mr. Yahya Jammeh, as investigations into his illegally acquired wealth intensifies.
This was disclosed by the country's Justice Minister, Mr. Aboubaccar Tambedou, on Monday. The new Gambian government, headed by Mr. Adama Barrow, has accused Mr. Jammeh of large-scale fraud, including theft of public funds during his 22-year rule, which was terminated via an electoral defeat in December and subsequent exile in January.
Since being forced into exile, Mr. Jammeh has fallen off the radar and has continually avoided answering journalists' queries about the accusations against him.
"The government has obtained a court order to freeze and place temporary hold on all of Jammeh's known assets and companies directly linked to him," Mr. Tambedou said.
A total of 14 companies registered in the former dictator's name were confiscated along with livestock and cars. The Solicitor-General of The Gambia, Mr. Cherno Marenah, disclosed that a commission of inquiry would be set up in June to decide what will become of the seized assets.
Mr. Jammeh, disclosed the Solicitor- General, withdrew an estimated $50 million from the country's Central Bank between 2006 and 2016. This sum funded his lush lifestyle complete with a private jet, a mansion in the United States and a fleet of luxury cars.
An investigation by Reuters in 2012 and 2013 discovered $8 million in a bank account opened in the name of the Jammeh Foundation for Peace, an alleged charity he founded. It was also discovered that the money flowed into Mr. Jammeh's private accounts, not to any project undertaken by the foundation.
The country's Justice Ministry has also opened investigations into the purported charity.

http://www.titopeblog.com/2017/05/femi-falana-no-justification-for.html



In the checkered history of Nigeria, this is the first time that a democratically elected government has openly justified the detention of any citizen in defiance of a valid and subsisting order of a competent court of law.

In a reckless demonstration of official impunity, Mr. Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, purportedly issued a statement yesterday on behalf of the Presidency to justify the illegal detention of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Hajia Ibraheema El-Zakzaky.
In the incendiary statement, Mr. Shehu claimed that the valid and subsisting order of the Federal High Court made on December 2, 2016 would not be obeyed by the federal government on the dubious ground that the Sheikh is in "protective custody," while the justification for holding the wife is that she is taking good care of her husband in illegal custody.
According to Mr. Shehu, "El-Zakzaky is held for his own good. If you set him free, what do you think will happen on the streets? He is not in a typical prison condition. He has the company of his wife and children. They can leave if they want. There is overall public good weighing against his release."
In the checkered history of Nigeria, this is the first time that a democratically elected government has openly justified the detention of any citizen in defiance of a valid and subsisting order of a competent court of law. Even under the neo-tarzanist Buhari/Idiagbon military junta, court orders which directed that victims of the obnoxious Detention of Persons Decree No 2 of 1984 be released from illegal custody were complied with. But under a democratic government, Mr. Shehu wants Nigerians to believe that the El-Zakzakys are held in "protective custody" after the Federal High Court had declared such detention illegal and unconstitutional. Or has Mr. Shehu suddenly become so power drunk to the extent that he can conveniently set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court?
Before now, the "Presidency" had claimed that the couple could not be released on the nebulous ground that they constituted a threat to national security. When reminded that the Federal High Court had dismissed such an unsubstantiated allegation, Mr. Shehu turned around to say that "El-Zakzaky is held for his own good."
Is Mr. Shehu not aware that El-Zakzaky has lost one of his eyes in the dungeon of the State Security Service and may lose the other eye due to his denial of urgent medical treatment? Why has his request to travel abroad for medical attention at his own expense been refused by the federal government?
Since neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor Acting President Yemi Osinbajo could have authorized the contemptuous statement issued on behalf of the Presidency, Mr. Shehu should be called to order and restrained from further exposing the Federal Republic of Nigeria to ridicule before the comity of civilized nations. However, since the federal government continues to proclaim loudly that it operates under the rule of law, it cannot be operated to treat court orders with disdain. To that extent, El-Zakzaky and his wife must be released from the illegal custody of the State Security Service since the Federal High Court has held dismissed the official claim that they are held in "protective custody."
In the same statement, Mr. Shehu said that the federal government would not release Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) from detention because there are several cases against him that he must answer to. But why has the same government that charged Col Dasuki with criminal diversion of public funds and reasonable felony frustrated his trial by refusing to take him to court? The reason adduced for detaining Col Dasuki is highly contemptuous, as the three Nigerian courts trying him have admitted him to bail. Furthermore, the Court of Justice of the Community Court of Justice (Ecowas) has directed the federal government to comply with the orders of its national courts which have admitted him to bail. Since no higher court has quashed the bail of the former National Security Adviser, the arrogant statement of Mr. Shehu on the matter is the height of official impunity in a democratic society.
In light of the foregoing, I hereby reiterate the call for the immediate and unconditional release of El-Zakzaky from illegal custody in strict compliance with the judgment of the Federal High Court. At the same time, Col Dasuki should be released on bail and be allowed to stand trial at the Federal High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory. A government which is desirous to secure the conviction of persons charged with criminal offenses cannot treat the orders of the same court with disdain and impunity.