Is it right for President Obasanjo to keep criticizing his successors?

Please, just respond with a YES or NO

YES
NO

“I realized that, through clever and constant application of propaganda, our people have been made to see hell as paradise," - Former Deputy Gov Pedro.

‘‘Today, Lagos has become a sad and sorry tale of two stories. On one hand, I see people driving on pothole-infested roads and sleeping in flooded homes. I see children starved of adequate educational facilities and sick people denied basic healthcare facilities. I see neighbors continuously subjected to exorbitant rent and jobless street miscreants. I see poorly paid teachers, doctors going on indefinite strike and market women forced to pay excessive stall rates.

“Astonishingly, on the other hand, I see a government that claims it generates about N18 billion a month from taxes, levies and surcharges, yet it is so disconnected from the plight of Lagosians, that it is more concerned about lavishing praises on itself than it is on improving the welfare of its citizens. Are we actually better off than we were four years ago?

It is a tragedy and a big slight on my generation that this level of mediocrity is currently being celebrated meritoriously, but it is a bigger slight on us, the people, when our expectations are driven by such minimum standards.’’

It was at the height of the school fees crisis in Lagos recently when Fashola displayed such crass insensitivity to the circumstances of his own education and ultimately his rise to power and ignored pleas to review downward the astronomical school fees he had imposed on LASU Students. While students staged a sit-out in front of his office, Fashola was unmoved. It is important here to note that Fashola was unmoved by the plight of the students because he has become disconnected from the realities of our people. He didn’t feel the pain of the students.

But why should he? The irony here is that his children will never have to carry placards demonstrating against high fees. At least they haven’t had the reason to sit-it-out at the UK Prime Minister’s doorstep or picket the office of the Mayor of London to get school fees reviewed.

Fashola used a whopping N27 to N29 billion to build a one and a half kilometre stretch of bridge from Lekki to Ikoyi on a shallow corner of the lagoon. With that sum of money, the bridge is easily one of the most expensive kilometre-stretch of construction work on planet earth. It is even touted as a cable bridge, but it is not except for those who believe that orange and apple have no difference.

Fashola at some point will have to explain how he used N2 billion to build the Falomo ramp that is just few yards in length.

Fashola will have to explain to the tax payers of Lagos, the rationale and economics of buying back the Lekki Road from the concessionaire, LCC. If all these are not breaking a bank’s vault in the middle of the night without compromising the locks, someone will have to tell me what it is.

Private schools are springing up daily in Lagos due to inadequate schooling structures in Lagos.

$3 billion per year as income to Lagos yet no new schools, no new hospitals, commercialised public infrastructures, commercialised waste disposals, burnt low income markets rebuilt for elitist owners only.

Fashola abhor the mere mention of the FOI bill. Infact he even went to court to stress that the FOI bill has nothing to do with his administration since it is not binding.

So much for a transparent progrethieve.

Fashola & his oga Tinubu are the most clever crooks in the history of this country.

And Gullible Followers will keep saying Fashola is working and comparing him with other working Govs.
Source: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/11/10/the-hypocrisy-lies-of-fasholas-8yrs-regime-in-lagos-stinks-to-the-high-heavens/

Nigeria is, today, besieged in the northern region by Islamic insurgency. This has led to the loss of lives and displacement of people in the thousands from those areas into neighbouring towns and refugee camps.

Nigeria isn’t the only country in the world undergoing internal insurrection from religious militias. Every continent in the world today contends with terrorism of different forms from different groups. The Middle East is saturated with Islamic terrorism which now stretches to the West across Europe to the United Kingdom.

In Africa, countries in the central, eastern, northern and western regions are under fire from different militant groups. Nigeria is no exceptional case even though citizens often put the entire blame at the feet of the presidency. It is, however, appalling that Nigerians are in the habit of blaming any sitting administration for social ills, when in actual fact the average Nigerian is privy of such ills and is thus able to influence a turnaround chooses to turn a blind eye.

Northerners that are directly affected by terrorism in their region know those terrorists that have given them sleepless nights. Even the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has said it consistently that they know the real Boko Haram, given that they live in their midst. Choosing not to take action to distabilize their ranks and organisation is thus a primary flaw in the social order of that region. The Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force, indeed, have responsibilities to protect lives and properties but they can only do so much. Policing and protection of lives depends to a large extent on local security and organised community leaders.

Security begins with every member of every community. When people living within an area choose not to expose the radical elements in their midst on the grounds that they are family members or for fear of being killed, then it compounds and perpetuates the problem. Security agencies use information to be able to counter criminal acts and it is difficult for them to protect people when they don’t have information from local sources to help them combat terrorism.

Nigerians should therefore rise to action by helping its security agencies tackle radicalism of every kind – be it religious or ethnic-based – as this is the surest way to annihilating the insurgency that the country now faces. Blaming President Goodluck Jonathan or any of the military chiefs will not solve the problem. Cooperation from communities and local militias will go a long way to stifle the radicalism in Nigeria.

If you know anyone that is a member of the terrorist groups or linked to them in some kind of way, or you know their sponsors, do the country a favour by exposing them now and fast. The country needs every information to stamp out terrorism.
Source: http://nigerians4change.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4193&action=edit&message=6

Is it only Lagos? Look at all the APC governors in the South West. They are all Muslims. 99 percent of APC members are Muslims. There's a latent plan to Islamize the South West.

esmeralda1:
I just noticed the fact dt almost all Lagos state aspirants into almost all political openings are muslims. They've tried anyways

A group, the Coalition of Christian Organisations (CCO), a body representing the interests of Christians in Lagos State, has intensified its agitation for a Christian governor in the state.

Its President, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, said Muslims have ruled for 16 years, adding that the group will support parties that field Christians as flag bearers. He said the next governor would correct the marginalisation of Christians in Lagos politics.

Archbishop Atilade added: “We will only support a Christian aspirant, who is highly educated; a seasoned administrator who has the fear of God; ready to fight for all, including Muslims; a morally upright person without any personal agenda to enrich himself and family and a person who will not discriminate against any religious sect.”

Archbishop Atilade spoke on the political situation in the country in Lagos. The briefing was organised by the Southwest Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Christian Welfare initiative (CWI), the Interfaith Coalition for Dialogue and Peace International (INFERDPEL).

He said Christian groups are ready to work with a Christian aspirant, irrespective of his denomination.

However, he maintained that the aspirant must meet the criteria set by the group, based on Christian values.

Atilade called on Christians to mobilise themselves and register for voting. He said: “Come out to vote and protect their votes. We should clamour for free, fair, open, peaceful and violence free election. Government should guarantee justice, equity and fairness to all other religions. Let a Christian emerge as the next governor iof Lagos.”

Atilade also urged the Federal Government to be more diplomatic in tackling the Boko Haram (BH) insurgency.

He said: “It was premature of the government to have announced the pact it was negotiating with the sect. It was too hasty. There is need for caution and proof of sincerity from the group. That will not raise hope and dashed same. The peace pact should not be at all cost. The peace pact on the release of the abducted girls should be handled by experienced professionals in the field of International Diplomatic Relations on behalf of the government.

“Government should work harder to ensure the unrest kidnapping, destruction of property; churches mass killings and man slaughters.”

On the economy, the cleric said youth unemployment is unacceptable it is the key to idleness, restlessness and armed robbery.

He added: “An idle hand is a tool for the devil. The growing trend in the armed robbery by youths is alarming. Government and the baking sector should support skill training outfits, mechanised farming, local production of goods, especially the textile industry, to promote locally made goods.

“Public schools should not allow outward display of religious persuasions and private schools should cater for students with special interest.”

Source: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/11/03/we-want-christian-governor-in-lagos/

Ever since making his declaration to run for the presidential elections in 2015, General Muhammadu Buhari has come under fire from some Nigerians who see his candidature as one that would further polarize the country along religious and ethnic lines.

Professor Wole Soyinka, Nigeria’s literary icon, had, in the past, warned Buhari against putting himself up for election into the presidential office in an article he wrote titled The Crimes of Buhari’.

One of such notable persons that has joined the fray of those asking Buhari to rethink his decision to vie for presidential office is Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric. The Sheikh had asked Buhari what it was that he did not do at the time he was a military head of state that he now wants to complete.

Gumi noted that Buhari’s candidature is one that portends trouble for the country given his open support for Shari’a, a topical issue that is attractive only in the north. He noted that Buhari had, in the past, suggested the idea of expanding the implementation of Shari’a, which could jeopardize the religious freedom of Nigerians and further put the country into restiveness.

“The APC should field any other candidate other than Buhari. His time has expired. The natural thing to do when there is an allergic reaction is to avoid the allergens. Buhari is an allergen to Christians. Can’t we be treated with non-allergens?”

Sheikh Gumi further noted that Buhari’s rigid personality and inability to entertain advise from those around him is not the hallmark of a good leader.

“Buhari also cannot be advised. That is legendary. He believes in himself only. So if before ascending to power, he is unapproachable, when he gets power he will just turn into another Pharaoh as nobody has the monopoly of wisdom and no man is indispensable.”
From: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/10/21/withdraw-from-presidential-race-now-sheikh-gumi-warns-buhari/

"I am equally disturbed about the way our people have been divided along ethnic and religious lines and how we are steadily and dangerously losing a sense of community where every Nigerian can live together without mutual suspicion.
"I believe that the next president of our country, who by the grace of God will be produced by our great party, must be someone who is a unifier, bridge-builder and not someone who bears ethno-religious bias. Above all, he must embody a vision of a Nigeria for all.
"I have no doubt in my mind that we both share a common concern about rescuing our country from the deadly grip of the PDP and it is on this note that I do warmly welcome him on board in this very important national rescue mission. I look forward to meeting him in an open, free and fair contest for the ticket."

Are you in wonder as to why Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not thrown his weight behind supporting Major Muahmmadu Buhari in his bid for presidency? To understand this, one needs to know first how Tinubu perceives Buhari.

Having run unsuccessfully on the ANPP in 2003 and 2007, and on the CNPP in 2011, Major Buhari is revving up to go to the polls for the fourth time even though the odds are stacked high and strong against him even within the political party through which he wants to contest for the presidency in 2015.

Some years ago, Tinubu had described General Buhari as a threat to the peaceful existence of Nigeria if given the opportunity to lead. He implied, though subtly, that Babatunde Idiagbon, Buhari’s deputy from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985, was the largely responsible for taming Buhari during those years when both men donned the military garb. Indeed, most people saw Idiagbon as the one with the humane face, and it was he that could put a leash on Buhari thus saving the country from what would have been one of the worst dictatorships in the world at the time.

Tinubu, who had just returned to Nigeria in 1983 to work for Mobil Oil Nigeria, having graduated from the Chicago State University in 1979, remembers exactly how the military, under the regime of Major Buhari, made a mess of the infant democracy by toppling the administration of President Shehu Shagari in a coup on the eve of New Year’s day in 1983. The same democracy is what the likes of Bola Tinubu fought relentlessly for even during the dark days of the military administration of Gen. Sani Abacha until democracy was reinstalled as the system for governing the country.
Tinubu noted in a diplomatic cable that was sent discreetly to the United States but leaked by the whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks, that Buhari is “far worse than Obasanjo”.

Tinubu who was then governor of Lagos State warned sternly that voting Buhari as president would spell doom for the country as his “ethnocentrism would jeopardize Nigeria’s unity.”

Tinubu’s grouse with Buhari’s presidential bid is due to the latter’s sympathy for Islamic fundamentalists and his tolerance for Sharia Law in Nigeria. This, according to Tinubu, would spiral the country into complete chaos as Islamic terrorists would pressure and invade Lagos and other southern states so as to foster their Sharia Law in the region if Buhari is elected president.
Continue reading here: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/10/15/the-inconsistencies-of-bola/

Mary was a fornicator. She was fucking someone other than Joseph and only lied about one yeye "holy spirit" overshadowing her in order to avoid being publicly stoned!

OLAADEGBU:
Question: "What does the Bible say about the virgin Mary?"

Answer: Mary the mother of Jesus was described by God as "highly favoured" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "highly favoured" comes from a single Greek word, which essentially means "much grace." Mary received God’s grace.

Grace is "unmerited favour," meaning something we receive despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mary needed grace from God just as the rest of us do. Mary herself understood this fact, as she declared in Luke 1:47, “. . . and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. . .”

Mary recognized that she needed the Saviour. The Bible never says that Mary was anyone but an ordinary human whom God chose to use in an extraordinary way. Yes, Mary was a righteous woman and favoured (graced) by God (Luke 1:27-28). At the same time, Mary was a sinful human being who needed Jesus Christ as her Saviour, just like everyone else (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 John 1:8.)

Mary did not have an "immaculate conception." The Bible doesn’t suggest Mary’s birth was anything but a normal human birth. Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus (Luke 1:34-38), but the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary is unbiblical. Matthew 1:25, speaking of Joseph, declares, "But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus."

The word "until" clearly indicates that Joseph and Mary did have sexual union after Jesus was born. Joseph and Mary had several children together after Jesus was born. Jesus had four half-brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55). Jesus also had half-sisters, although they are not named or numbered (Matthew 13:55-56). God blessed and graced Mary by giving her several children, which in that culture was the clearest indication of God’s blessing on a woman.

One time when Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd proclaimed, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed" (Luke 11:27). There was never a better opportunity for Jesus to declare that Mary was indeed worthy of praise and adoration. What was Jesus’ response? "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it" (Luke 11:28). To Jesus, obedience to God’s Word was more important than being the woman who gave birth to the Saviour.

Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus, or anyone else, direct any praise, glory, or adoration towards Mary. Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, praised Mary in Luke 1:42-44, but her praise is based on the blessing of giving birth to the Messiah. It was not based on any inherent glory in Mary.

Mary was present at the cross when Jesus died (John 19:25). Mary was also with the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14). However, Mary is never mentioned again after Acts chapter 1. The apostles did not give Mary a prominent role. Mary’s death is not recorded in the Bible. Nothing is said about Mary ascending to heaven or having an exalted role there. As the earthly mother of Jesus, Mary should be respected, but she is not worthy of our worship or adoration.

The Bible nowhere indicates that Mary can hear our prayers or that she can mediate for us with God. Jesus is our only advocate and mediator in heaven (1 Timothy 2:5). If offered worship, adoration, or prayers, Mary would say the same as the angels: "Worship God!" (see Revelation 19:10; 22:9.) Mary herself sets the example for us, directing her worship, adoration, and praise to God alone: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is His name" (Luke 1:46-49).

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/virgin-Mary.html#ixzz3CGQKef6b

You no explain how your pastor dey nack your Theresah!

Yomieluv:
Anybody that uses God's name to swear by trying to prove him/herself to me,I run.

Born again has ceased to exist since first testament,what we have now are just church goers.

Imagine,my Ex,after several rounds of sex at home,got to church to lead the praise,and worship songs,funniest things,she was crying while singing.

I was like WTF,no be Theresa be this again?

To me,born again do not exist.

Stunned by the entrance of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, into America, the United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention has despatched its personnel to study how Nigeria contained the killer disease.

The US reported on Tuesday that it has discovered a case of EVD in Dallas, Texas, but its health officials said “the crisis is under control and the public has nothing to fear.”

A statement released by US CDC Director Tom Frieden said “it’s clear the nation needs a quick and thorough response to its first Ebola patient”

He said although Nigeria was not completely out of the woods, “their extensive response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with rapid, focused interventions.” Apart from Nigeria, the US will also visit Senegal to study its model.

Frieden said “the best practices in Nigeria and Senegal suggest the U.S. should monitor all individuals who may have been exposed to Ebola and establish a dedicated management and response system.”

Senegal has had no new reported cases of Ebola since Sept. 18 while Nigeria has not reported new ones since August 31,

US health officials are expected in Nigeria which it claimed had the best practices in combating Ebola Virus disease which entered into Nigeria through Liberian born American citizen Mr. Patrick Sawyer whose index case was reported on July 20, 2014. Nigeria is expected to officially announce today that the remaining two potential Ebola patients will exit the 21-day observation period.

How Nigeria stopped the spread of Ebola

According to US CDC, “Nigeria’s first reported case of Ebola surfaced July 20, when Patrick Sawyer landed in Lagos from Liberia and exposed 72 other passengers to the virus. Nigeria’s Health officials quickly issued notifications and tracked everybody who may have been in contact with Sawyer.

“Nigeria also established an Ebola Incident Management Center to handle the potential outbreak and developed a staffing plan that executed a social mobilization strategy that reached more than 26,000 households of people living around the contacts of Ebola patients,”

The deadly virus has killed more than 3,000 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in the largest outbreak ever recorded.

How Senegal contained Ebola

Senegal confirmed its first Ebola case Aug. 29 after a man, travelling from Guinea on Aug. 14, took ill and showed symptoms of the disease. This prompted a quick response, including an experienced and trained staff that was prepared to contain the Ebola outbreak. The procedure led to the identification of 67 contacts who were placed under quarantine, monitored for 21 days and showed no symptoms of Ebola.

Panic in America

The man who imported Ebola into US was found to have travelled to Liberia without informing the authorities and did not disclose the nature of his ailment to the nurse that attended to him. Reports from Texas yesterday said that the Nurse who attended to the man has also taken ill for Ebola in Texas.

A spokesman for Texas Health Presbyterian said the patient had walked into a Dallas emergency room on September 26, without knowing that he contacted the deadly virus and left after he was treated. He then returned to the facility on September 28 where it was determined he likely had Ebola and was isolated. He tested positive Tuesday, health officials said.

Following the lapse on the part of the hospital officials, questions are being asked amid panic across the country. The CDC has thus advised that all medical facilities should ask for patients with symptoms consistent with Ebola for their travel history.
from: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/10/02/us-sends-medical-experts-to-study-how-nigeria-tamed-ebola/

The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, yesterday broke his silence over the controversy surrounding the $9.3 million involving his private jet, saying he had no hand in the deal.

Oritsejafor, who spoke during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of CAN at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, regretted that there had been attempts in the media to link him with the incident by mischievous elements, adding that he had kept quiet all the while because he needed to explain his position to the church which is his primary constituency. This came as a group, Stop Impunity in Nigeria (SIN), yesterday called on members of the National Assembly to put aside partisan political considerations and political party differences and act in unison in the national interest to ensure a thorough investigation into the US$9.3 million cash seized by South African authorities early this month.

Oritsejafor in his address at the meeting, a copy of which was e-mailed to THISDAY in Kaduna, the CAN President who had come under serious attack over the incident declared that he was not a party to the movement of $9.3 million from Nigeria to South Africa to purchase arms and ammunition.

“I wish to assure you that I will not do anything to tarnish the image of Jesus Christ or compromise the divine standard of the church.
“As you are all aware, the media has been awash in the past few days about an unfortunate incident involving the movement of funds from Nigeria to South Africa. In the unfortunate news reports, attempts have been made to link me directly with the transaction.

“So far, I have refrained from making any direct public response pending the time that I would brief the leaders if the church and explain my position on the issues to them.

“I believe that the primary institution that I owe any explanation is the church,” he said.

Oritsejafor explained further that “at the risk of being seen to be defending myself, I wish to confirm to the distinguished leaders if the church that the Bombardier Challenger 601 aircraft in question is mine. The aircraft was presented to me as a gift by members of our congregation and ministry partners world wide at the 40th anniversary of my call into the ministry.

“May I be permitted to stress that the aircraft was not given to me by the President of Nigeria, neither was it a settlement for any political favour or patronage.

“With the benefit of hindsight, it is because the president of the country was a guest in our church during the anniversary celebration when the Jet was presented to me that it was construed to imply that it was a gift from the President of the country.”

He declared that “the President of Nigeria has nothing to do with the gift of the aircraft. By the way, I still wonder why all those saying this still cannot come out to show proof so that the matter can be put to rest once and for all. Let me say that this might be an issue of the courts in the near future.”

Explaining the circumstances that led to the involvement of his aircraft, the CAN president said: “In order to ameliorate the cost of maintenance of the aircraft, I sought and got permit to allow the aircraft fly in and out of Nigeria.

“Based on this, I leased the aircraft on August 2, 2014, to a company to run it. It was the leasee that entered into an agreement with the people who carried out the transfer of funds. Having leased the aircraft to the Green Coast Produce Company Limited, any transaction undertaken with the aircraft can no longer be attached to me.

“In as much as I am shocked and distressed by the incident, I wish to appeal to Christians in Nigeria to remember that a war has been waged against the Nigerian church. This war is being fought on many fronts and this unfortunate incident is another dimension in the assault against the church.

“It is clear that those who manipulated this conspiracy desire to create a schism in the church.”

According to him, “the media hype and the deliberate distortion of information that followed it confirmed that forces that desperately desire to cause division and disunity in the church are at work. Even the devil knows that a house that is divided cannot stand.

“As Christians, we need unity in the church now more than ever. We are witnessing inhuman attacks by religious extremists against Christians in the northern part of the country, while Christian infrastructure is being destroyed in hundreds.

“If we permit the enemy to divide us, our chances of corporate survival shall be severely threatened.
“Distinguished leaders of the church, please permit me to state clearly before God and before all of you here present today, that I am not a party to the movement of $9.3 million from Nigeria to South Africa to purchase arms and ammunition. I am not part of the deal. I know nothing about it.”

The CAN president commended the Catholic Church for its support, particularly in refuting a distorted news item by mischievous elements in the media.

He appealed to heads of blocs that constitute CAN and head of denominations and Christian leaders at different levels and spheres of influence to use their good offices to caution and control their subordinates and followers from making public statements that will further polarise the church and strengthen the arms of enemies of the church.

Quoting Matthew Chapter 18 verses 15 to 20, Oritsejafor said: “If I offend you or you offend me, instead of talking to media, let us talk to each other within the house of God.”

Meanwhile, in a statement issued in Lagos, SIN condemned the disruption of proceedings at House of Representatives where some legislators blocked attempts to initiate an investigation into the matter.

The Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mr. Edetaen Ojo and a member of the Campaign’s Steering Committee, said: “Any attempt by the National Assembly acquiesce to sweeping such a horrendous scandal under the carpet would amount to a brazen act of impunity which would only further damage the image of Nigeria as well as the credibility of the National Assembly.”

He contended that from the information available so far, it was clear that laws had been broken, in Nigeria and in South Africa, and therefore called on both chambers of the National Assembly “to immediately institute an independent and transparent investigation into the matter and use their enormous powers to ensure that those found culpable are brought to justice.”
Citing Section 88(1)(b)(ii) and (2)(b) of the Constitution, the campaign noted that the National Assembly was empowered by the Constitution to direct an investigation into the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry or government department charged, or intended to be charged, with the duty of or responsibility for disbursing or administering moneys appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly, provided the investigation is for the purpose of exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by the National Assembly.

The campaign argued that it would amount to an unjustifiable negligence of a key constitutional duty of the National Assembly for it to ignore the matter and, by so doing, endorse impunity and lack of accountability in governance, as the Executive has no incentive to investigate its own conduct and hold itself accountable in the matter.

South African authorities on September 5, 2014 at the Lanseria International Airport, in Northwest Johannesburg, seized a private jet that conveyed the $9.3 million cash in three suitcases from two Nigerians and an Israeli. They claimed the cash was meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition from South Africa. The Federal Government later admitted knowledge of the botched transaction and ownership of the money, while Oritsejafor also admitted ownership of the private plane used in conveying the money.
from: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/30/i-have-no-hand-in-9-3m-seized-in-south-africa-oristejafor-insists/

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been funding Boko Haram with the financial aid its governors receive from the European parliament, a leading Austrian politician has alleged. Franz Obermayr (pictured), a senior member of the European parliament, asked the European Commission to probe the allegation, claiming the Nigerian leading opposition party has political and financial ties to the terror group.

“Many policy makers in Europe are unfortunately often too careless when it comes to contacts and financial support for associations and political parties, which in reality [are] front groups and so often opens the door for radical Islamist groups to the European institutions act,” he said. He said leading figures of APC “are always associated with radical Islam and its terrorist groups”.

APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described Obermayr’s allegation as “political” in an SMS response to TheCable. Naming states being governed by the APC in the north-east, Obermayr said the aid was being channelled to financing terror. Obermayr recalled that General Muhammadu Buhari, “also the most important man of the APC”, told The Guardian of London in 2001 that Sharia should be introduced all over Nigeria, even “in the Christian-dominated south”.

The MP asked EU election observers to examine the relationship between parties and terrorist groups in Nigeria and draw “appropriate conclusions”. APC has consistently denied allegations of funding Boko Haram, saying they are politically motivated in its endless confrontations with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The latest allegation is coming after a heated exchange between the two parties over Senator Ali Modu Sheriff who recently left APC for PDP. Sheriff was named by Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davies, as a sponsor of Boko Haram ─ in what was essentially a reinforcement of an allegation that was already in the public domain.

Andrew Rosindell, a member of the UK parliament, has also called for an inquiry into the relationship between members of APC and Boko Haram. Former minister of aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, left APC early this year accusing some members of the party of having sympathy for Boko Haram. APC denied all the allegations.

Culled from thecable.ng

Source: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/apc-funding-boko-haram-says-european-mp/

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that the rallies being held across the country by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) represent an assault on the intelligence and sensibilities of Nigerians as they are only on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), “which is another name for shame, incompetence, cluelessness, cruelty, insincerity and insensitivity.” The party alleged that the “rallies are being deceptively powered by the proceeds of massive corruption under the clueless and incompetent Jonathan administration.” The APC through its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday said that “no amount of inversion of reasoning by TAN foot soldiers could wash the rallies clean of shame and disgust.” It said “only those described as ‘morons and sycophants’ by Prof. Wole Soyinka could be engaging in celebratory rallies when soldiers were dying on the Boko Haram battle front, when citizens were daily being dispatched to their graves by insurgents and when the country was still reeling from the challenge of Ebola that had claimed many innocent lives.” The APC wondered how “the inauguration of its regional executives in Sokoto could be equated with the rallies being held across the country by TAN, which is another name for the PDP, which is another name for shame, incompetence, cluelessness, cruelty, insincerity and insensitivity.” The party said “if President Goodluck Jonathan had not been running a government hallmarked by impunity, there was no way any political party would have brazenly kick-started electioneering campaign under the guise of an ”NGO” that is coordinated by the secretary to the government of the federation, ministers, state governors and other public officials, at a time like this”. ”The PDP-led federal government and its ‘NGO’ called TAN are bare-faced liars and cheats. They have seized an undue advantage over every other party by defying the nation’s laws to start an early electioneering campaign, and no one, not even INEC, dares call them to order. Little wonder, their podiums are collapsing under the weight of their lies,” it said. The APC slammed TAN’s director of communications Udenta Udenta for attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians by “shamelessly justifying the insane rallies”. ”We have the following posers for the deceptive and pigs-at-the trough TAN organisers: If Mr Udenta and his co- travellers were parents, relations or friends of any of the over 200 missing Chibok schoolgirls, wouldn’t such TAN rallies offend their sensibilities? If Mr Udenta or any of his co-travellers in TAN had lost a relation or dear one to Ebola in Port Harcourt, won’t such a rally in the same city about the same time offend their sensibilities? Can Mr. Udenta tell Nigerians the source of funding of TAN? Can Mr. Udenta tell Nigerians how much TAN has spent so far in canvassing for Jonathan’s reelection or for that matter how much it spends daily on radio jingles, television and newspapers advert, billboards etc? Can Mr. Udenta tender to the public TAN’s audited account?” the party queried. ”We know Mr. Udenta has no answers to these posers, but we have no iota of doubt that Nigerians know that TAN is funded and powered by the massive corruption of this government, including but not limited to the missing $20 billion, the over one trillion fuel subsidy scam, the kerosene subsidy scam, the hundreds of thousands of barrels of our crude oil being stolen daily, the pension scam, the Malibu Oil scandal etc. We also know through which top functionaries of government funds are funneled to TAN.” It said “it would not stop calling for an end to the TAN rallies until common sense prevailed and the president, who waited for an international condemnation of his BringBackJonathan hash tag before taking action, was again forced to call his selfish sycophants to order.”

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng/apc-pdp-another-name-for-cluelessness-shame | TheCable

As concerns mount over the excesses of the Boko Haram sect, the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday put the total amount spent by the country’s security apparatus at $32.88 billion.

In a paper delivered on behalf of the party at Porticullis House in the British House of Commons by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for politicising the heinous activities of the insurgents.
It said President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram insurgency had been a spectacular failure, accusing him of deliberately not pushing for a quick end to the security crisis for political reasons.

While giving statistics on total security sector spending (covering defence, police, Office of the National Security Adviser, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), and security-related service-wide votes (e.g. on amnesty programme, internal security operations, the party said the yearly budgetary allocations to the security sector in the last five years had gulped $32.88 billion.

It explained that on the average, the Boko Haram insurgency has fuelled increases in security spending to around 25 per cent of annual federal government budget.

“ In light of the rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) put at N80.3 trillion or $509.9 billion), the yearly average 2010-14 is $6.58 billion, equal to 1.3 per cent of GDP. The total for the five budget years amounts to 6.5 per cent of Nigeria GDP,” the party said.

APC alleged that there were not much to show for the huge monies purportedly expended.

“There are recurring reports and stories in the media about how frontline troops and soldiers have inferior weapons and firepower compared to Boko Haram’s and how Nigerian soldiers have been fleeing battlefields (into Cameroun), and communities and military barracks being easily overrun by Boko Haram fighters.

“This begs the questions about where and how is the money being spent? Is it truly spent on security? Is corruption taking place in security spending? What and where are the military hardware acquired? Who is supplying security equipment – manufacturers or third party agents?

“Since 2011, the President Jonathan-led PDP government has increased security spending, declared and renewed emergency rule, issued propaganda claiming the capture and killing of Boko Haram members (including the leader Abubakar Shekau), destruction of Boko Haram camps, countless assurances of improving security and wining the battle against Boko Haram.

“Over the same period, however, the empirical realities are that Boko Haram has become more audacious in its attacks through increase in the scale, number and spread of attacks, even against supposedly fortified military bases.”

The party said more Boko Haram killings and casualty levels among civilians and security personnel had led to a growing number of Nigerian Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees, now estimated by the UNHCR at over 600,000.

“The key issue in all of this is this – are all these mere empirical coincidence or statistical correlation or are there genuine organic and logical connections (some form of action and reaction)? Certainly it is my and APC belief that there is a pull and effect logic at work.

“Put simply, President Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram insurgency has been a spectacular failure, and this is deliberate for political reasons. Where and even if the President Jonathan-PDP administration may claim to know nothing about the origin of Boko Haram, it has actively sustained the crisis, profiteering from it.

On the issue of politicisation of Boko Haram insurgency, Muhammed said the bane of Nigeria’s anti-terror fight was that PDP and the federal government were bent on linking the opposition to the sect’s activities.

“I have carefully chronicled Boko Haram’s evolution to counteract the rationale of PDP-Jonathan’s administration failed attempt to link it to the APC.

“What is the PDP’s logic and rationale for linking the APC with Boko Haram? This is based on a faulty logic of presuming that the APC is a sectional (northern), as opposed to a national political party, that the APC is made up predominantly of Muslims, that it is a North/Islamic party; and therefore the APC must directly or indirectly support and sympathise with Boko Haram; and finally that Boko Haram is a northern and Muslim plot to resist and challenge a southerner-Christian Jonathan’s presidency.

“This position is inconsistent on several fronts. First, Boko Haram climaxed during the reign of Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, hence could not be a northern plot against a southern-Christian president. The 2009 security operation which led to the death of over 1,000 members of Boko Haram was ordered by a northern-Muslim president!

“Second, it was the PDP, from 2009 till date, that transformed Boko Haram from a movement into an insurgent group, from a moderate Sunni group to a Salafist-Jihadi franchise, from a local group with localised (socio-economic and cultural change) agenda to an international violent Jihadist group.

“Thirdly, while it is true the APC is the number one grassroots party across northern Nigeria, so also is the case in substantial parts of southern Nigeria. The APC is a proper Pan-Nigerian party that reflects the ethno-religious and cultural diversities of Nigeria.

“The APC has functional structures across the 774 local government areas and 36 states plus Abuja. As a matter of fact, as of today, APC has seven state governors from the northern part of Nigeria and eight from the Southern part of the country,” he said.

But Muhammed while absolving his party, said Ali Modu Sherif, and all known persons directly or indirectly implicated in Boko Haram are members of the PDP or persons serving or with close ties to the Jonathan’s presidency.

In addition, he said Boko Haram is similar to other ethno-political militias in post-1999 Nigeria, that has emerged against the backdrop of “deepening poverty, social-economic deprivations, corruption, poor governance, police brutality and governance failures under the PDP since 1999.”

He said it was no coincidence that the northern half of Nigeria, including the Northeast corner (Boko Haram base), are the poorest in the country, adding that the 2010 assessment by the National Bureau of Statistics had rated the region highest with 77.7 per cent for the North-west and 76.3 per cent for North-east.

According to Muhammed, the World Bank also noted that economic growth and opportunities were not equally shared by different parts of the country, that growth was fastest in southern and middle agro climatic zones, with much slower growth in northern states.

As way forward, Muhammed said APC was advocating for an urgent formulation of a holistic counter-terrorism strategy that emphasises the synergistic use of military, political and economic elements, and roles for civil society and other critical stakeholders.

He repeated the stand of the party for a political negotiation with Boko Haram, stating that all recent cases of internal security challenges including the OPC, MEND across Nigeria have all been resolved through political negotiations of some sort.

The spokesman, who restated his party call for an ICC-led investigation into the alleged involvement of Modu Sheriff and General Azuibuike Ihejirika in insurgency activities, said APC was in support of the mobilisation of local and international peace building organisations to work with communities and groups affected by Boko Haram as well as reforming the security sector to make it for efficient and effective.
Source: Thisday

Former Head of Military Ruler and Chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Major General Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Federal Government to stop the clampdown on Boko Haram insurgents, saying Niger Delta militants were never killed or properties belonging to them destroyed.

Buhari who spoke on Sunday on a Liberty Radio programme, Guest of the Week, accused the government of killing and destroying houses belonging to Boko Haram members while the Niger Delta militants get special treatment.

The former dictator said that unlike the special treatment given to the Niger Delta militants by the federal government, the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses demolished by government.

While accusing President Jonathan of failing from the beginning to address the security situation in the country, Buhari said he has never been in support of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa state.

According to Buhari “what is responsible for the security situation in the country is caused by the activities of Niger Delta militants. Every Nigerian that is familiar with what is happening knows this. The Niger Delta militants started it all.

“What happened is that the governors of the Niger Delta region at that time wanted to win their elections. So they recruited the youths and gave them guns and bullets and used them against their opponents to win elections by force.

“After the elections were over, they asked the boys to return the guns; the boys refused to return the guns. Because of that, the allowance that was being given to the youths by the governors during that time was stopped.

“The youths resorted to kidnapping oil workers and were collecting dollars as ransom. Now a boy of 18 to 20 years was getting about 500 dollars in a week, why will he go to school and spend 20 years to study and then come back and get employed by government to be paid N100,000 a month, that is if he is lucky to get employment.

“So kidnapping becomes very rampant in the South -South and the South -East. They kidnapped people and were collecting money.

“How did Boko Haram start? We know that their leader, Mohammed Yusuf started his militant and the police couldn’t control them and the army was invited. He was arrested by soldiers and handed over to the police.

“The appropriate thing to do, according to the law, was for the police to carry out investigations and charge him to court for prosecution, but they killed him, his in-law was killed, they went and demolished their houses.

“Because of that, his supporters resorted to what they are doing today.

You see in the case of the Niger Delta militants, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua sent an aeroplane to bring them, he sat down with them and discussed with them, they were cajoled, and they were given money and granted amnesty.

“They were trained in some skills and were given employment, but the ones in the north were being killed and their houses were being demolished.

They are different issues, what brought this? It is injustice”.
Source: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/stop-killing-boko-haram-members-buhari-tells-fg/

The former Governor of Lagos State and the Leader of All Progressive Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu who was struck by sudden stroke was flown out of the country some weeks ago after the situation seems not under control of his family / private doctor who is responsible for the treatment at his residence in Lagos state before a final decision by his close associate to fly him out of the country for medical treatment in one of the US hospital in a low key manner.

Source revealed that Some All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and other members of his family engage themselves in marathon prayer and fasting to restore and rekindle the hope of good health back to the leader in his US hospital as he now fail to recognise wife and relatives.

In fact, Tinubu's health is in unfavourable condition.

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has decried what it described as the continued silence of President Goodluck Jonathan over the allegation by the Australian hostage negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, that former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) are the financiers of the outlawed Boko Haram sect.

They called on the president to investigate the duo.
The Secretary of the forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, who spoke while briefing journalists in Bauchi yesterday, said: “The claims of Davies are serious enough not to be merely repudiated, therefore Jonathan owes Nigerians the duty to address these grievous allegations.’’

The forum, according to Abdullahi, expects a full scale investigation, and if necessary, prosecute the persons involve in escalating the mayhem caused by the insurgents as the issue must not be swept under the carpet.

“The silence of the presidency on this matter is likely to be construed as full acceptance of all the disturbing allegations made by Davies with the rapid territorial gains in vast areas of Nigerian soil, and what appears as imminent fall of key cities and towns to the insurgents,” he said.

SOURCE: Thisday newspaper

Apparently traumatised by the protracted wait for the rescue of the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents from their hostels in Chibok, Borno State, parents have given up hope and are demanding a military invasion of hostage camps not minding the cost. PREMIUM TIMES caught up with the chairman of Chibok Local government, Tsambido Hosea, in Abuja last Friday during a protest to mark the 130th day since the girls have been in captivity. Mr. Tsambido said the parents are unable to move on with their lives, with their kids still in the custody of terrorists in some forests. He said the parents of the victims were seeking a logical end to their trauma either by burial or reunion. “If the Federal government has that capacity, let them go into the Sambisa. If there are some that God said would be rescued, they can be rescued by the force and if some have gone, it’s better (to know) than this entire trauma the parents are going through,” he said. He said the parents want to bury their children if they are dead so they can forge ahead with their lives instead of living with uncertainty, not knowing if their children are dead or alive. This abduction of schoolgirls on April 15 disrupted the lives of many in Nigeria, with some sympathetic Nigerians along with the Chibok community organising marches and protests to create awareness and force the Federal Government to be proactive on the issue. A group termed the BringBackourGirls movement have been protesting on the streets of Abuja since a week after the hostages were taken demanding their rescue, to the chagrin of the government. They meet at the Unity Fountain Maitama every day at 3pm. They said they will not stop meeting until the girls are brought back alive and well.
The parents say they don’t care about their life but let them go in. If they can take care of this Boko Haram, so that they will not spread to other places. So that they cannot continue with their menace. Let the girls be sacrificial lambs. That’s what they told me yesterday. I phoned them, that I know that I am going to face some interviews today. What is your opinion? So this their opinion. Actually, if the federal government has that capacity, let them go into the Sambisa. If there are some that God said will be rescued, it can be rescued by the force. And if some has gone, its okay, than all this troubles, than all this trauma the parents are going through now. They cannot do anything. But had it been they buried them, they would have forged ahead with their lives. They are saying let the government go into the forest. Even the corpse, let them bring the corpse of the children so that they will bury them properly. What they are saying is that these girls in the bush, it is better for the government, to go in with the force, with the army might to bring them even the corpse for them, so that they can bury them properly.

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/headlines/167689-interview-make-abducted-girls-sacrificial-lambs-but-stop-boko-haram-chibok-chairman.html#sthash.1zLJ1WLq.dpbs

Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has disclosed the intention of his administration to build an exclusively female bilingual college in Niger Republic.

Last year, Governor Kwankwaso spent over N1 billion on the building of the Kano-Niger Republic Bilingual College in Niamey.

Kwankwaso said the gesture was part of efforts of his administration to consolidate bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Niger Republic.

Hosting officials of the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, he said the second school would be for female students.

Kwankwaso, in a statement by his media aide, Mallam Halilu Ibrahim Dantiye, explained that the move was also in furtherance of his administration’s girl-child education drive.

He recalled that his government had earlier constructed an all male bilingual boarding college in Niamey for Kano and Nigerien students, and that the need for another college became imperative because, “French is indispensable, considering the fact the Nigeria is surrounded by Francophone countries”.

He added: “Like the male bilingual college in Niamey, the proposed female college will provide opportunity for our young girls to learn French and interact with their Nigerien counterparts, thus promoting cultural relations between two brotherly nations”, he said.

While noting that the long existing relationship between both countries has continued to wax stronger, he said all the resolutions reached during his last visit to Niger Republic which include the setting up of an economic forum, establishment of a bilingual college and exchange of wild animals for zoological gardens have been actualized.

In his speech, Secretary General, Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, Ambassador AbdulJalil Suleiman said the commission has recorded some achievements in the control of cross border drug trafficking, human tracking and equitable sharing of water resources between the two countries.

On his part, the president, Nigeria-Niger Joint Chamber of Commerce, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar praised the governor for what he described as his untiring efforts aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries.
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/14690-kwankwaso-to-build-another-school-in-niger-republic

Exactly! Only if he would listen.

Ttalk: “Your friend is someone who makes friends for you, not enemies for him."

Yeah, Oga GEJ, you need the word of wisdom from the sage, Prof, David-West, not sycophants who love their pocket but pretend to love you

Former Minister of Petroleum, and Elder statesman, Prof. Tam David West, has revealed that ex-Niger Delta militant, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, converted to Islam so he could be trained in late Muammar Gadaffi’s terrorist camp.

In an interview with SaharaTV, former Minister of Petroleum, Prof. Tam David West called the bluff of his Ijaw kinsmen, saying they deceive President Goodluck Jonathan because they collect money from him.

In particular, the professor of virology took on Chief Edwin Kagbodo Clark an Ijaw elder, accusing him of taking money from President Jonathan. He threatened to expose the loquacious ex-Niger Delta militant, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, such that he would not be able to move to other countries, should he dare open his mouth to further insult him because of President Jonathan.

“Asari Dokubo is my cousin. he used to stay with me and I used to give him pocket money.

“Asari Dokubo is brilliant by mouth. I don’t think he is very intelligent. If he is very brilliant, how come he was thrown out of the University of Port Harcourt and Calabar? He was a university drop out twice. He cannot deny this. He claims he is an activist. If you are an activist, how come you are not the President of Trade Union?

“Asari Dokubo talks loosely but Jonathan is not intelligent enough to know. Asari said the Ijaws are not Nigerians but he wants Jonathan to be president. How can you be president of Nigeria when you are not a Nigerian? That enough disqualifies him. Jonathan doesn't look at all this. He thinks they are supporting him.

“Your friend is someone who makes friends for you, not enemies for him. All these sycophants around him make enemies for him.

“How can you say Hausa people are gambaris? Hausa people are not parasites. No part of Nigeria is a parasite. Jonathan got only 24% votes from ijaw. Jonathan is president today because of (Hausa) North, South West and East, not South South.”

Read more here: http://www.nigerianheadlines.com/video-asari-changed-islam-trained-libya-terrorist-camp-david-west/

The former Governor of Abia state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu was a guest on AIT’s political and current affairs program “Frontline,” on Sunday June 1. While fielding questions, Kalu says that what Nigeria is experiencing with boko haram is a civil war. He also appealed to the government to plead with boko haram as they are humans…“If we are not careful, Jonathan will be the last president of Nigeria because nobody will take this bombing anywhere, because killing of people everyday means that there’s chaos and nobody wants to be associated with chaos, because it is from this bombing here and there that people will start demanding for independence. It happens but God forbid. We want our country to remain as one and a strong country.

Other countries even the European Union are expanding their boundaries so why should we allow our country to disintegrate. It’s not about President Jonathan or who is minister or governor or what have you. It is about the nation. President Jonathan does not own this country; neither are the ministers the owners of the country. The country belongs to all of us collectively so we must come out openly as we are coming out now to solve the problem of the nation: to be able to reach out to Boko Haram formally and informally. This is what I have always said. It’s not about the government. Business men own this economy. In the US, do you hear people talk about Obama? All the billionaires they don’t know who Obama is. They don’t even reckon with him because the economy is stabilized. People are talking about only three things: the economy, the economy and the economy. So I want people to come together, we are almost getting there, where the basing of the economy is very good, where the private sector will drive the economy not the public sector. And this is what I see that Iweala is trying to working out. Most of the political, business and military class, farmers know the root of this insurgency. We must come together and say we must stamp out this insurgency and we will stamp it out.”

Specifically what should the business class and the political class do to stamp out this insurgency?

This is a bipartisan decision that will be made by all Nigerians. It is no longer politics. It is not about APC. It is not about PDP. It’s not even about individuals, it’s about the nation. Commerce is no longer thriving, people should come together, the national security adviser should call a conference of few eminent people with the president and they will set up a strong committee and strategize on how to end this insurgency. These insurgents are our brothers, they are not from heaven. They are from here. They are from villages and the villagers know them, the farmers know them, the business men know them. So it is good we give peace a chance and call a mini summit and invite them directly or indirectly, we can discuss with them in Chad, Cameroun or even London or anywhere. So we can come together and plead with them. This is our country, the country is at the verge of collapse, and we are passing through a lot of pains, we are in a civil war! This is a civil war. There’s no civil war that is bigger than what Nigeria is passing throw today. So we must come back as Nigerians to put our foot down collectively as a people and be able to work together.

Some people say that Boko Haram may not be in a frame of mind to negotiate with the government; do you think the time is ripe now to negotiate with them?

They are human beings; they have blood flowing in them. They will negotiate. They are talking to a lot of journalists, they are reachable. So the government should go out formally or informally to reach out and negotiate with them. They are human beings. We will sit down and negotiate this issue. This issue is about negotiation. The people who are saying that the government cannot negotiate with Boko Haram are not realistic about the nation. Even after a civil war people will still go to the table to negotiate. So I believe that the government should set up informal channels to negotiate with Boko Haram and stop this insurgency.
Source: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/call-boko-haram-plead-with-them-ex-gov-orji-kalu-tells-fg/

Stephen Davis’ allegations about sponsors of Boko Haram are grave and cannot be swept under the carpet, writes Femi Fani-Kayode
I read the grave allegations made by an Australian by the name Stephen Davis about those that he believes are behind Boko Haram in the 29th August edition of THISDAY Newspaper. He made some very serious allegations; he mentioned names and I would be interested in seeing the hard evidence that he claims to have.


I have always said I believe that anyone, no matter which political party that person belongs to and no matter how highly placed or powerful that person may be, that is involved with Boko Haram ought to be captured, caged, flogged and brought to justice because I regard such people as nothing but bloodthirsty beasts.


I have also always said I believe that some of the leading members of the opposition APC are secret sponsors and supporters of Boko Haram and I am glad that Mr. Davis appears to share this view and that he has indeed confirmed my worst fears in his celebrated interview with Arise TV.


Similar concerns have been raised and allegations made about the suspicious nexus, the direct link and the questionable relationship between APC and Boko Haram by senior Members of Parliament in the British House of Commons together with a number of leading Russian and American civil and religious institutions, organisations, commentators and political figures.


It is therefore good news that Mr. Davis has confirmed some of our collective suspicions and fears and that he has decided to come out and tell us what he knows given the role that he played in the negotiations to broker a deal to get the Chibok girls released from Boko Haram. I have little doubt that on the allegation that the APC and Boko Haram are linked Davis is absolutely right.


I am not however convinced about the culpability of one or two of the other people that he has fingered. No one should be spared if the evidence is really there but I must say that I find the allegation that, for example, the former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika, is somehow involved with Boko Haram a little far-fetched. I say this because firstly the man spent so much of his time, energy, career and resources fighting that same terrorist organisation that he is now being accused of being part of.

Secondly, I say it because that terrorist organisation has killed and continues to kill so many of his officers. And thirdly, I say it because the man is not a Muslim but a Christian and I have never heard of a Christian helping or assisting an islamist terrorist organisation in their quest to establish an islamic fundamentalist state or ''new world caliphate'' in his country.


This is especially so when that terrorist organisation is committed to wiping out the Christian faith itself and killing every Christian, every secularist and every moderate Muslim in the country. It seems to me that this is an absurd notion and that it really doesn't make any sense but if the Australian has any hard evidence let us see or hear it.


Again, I disagree strongly with the leading figures in the opposition that have said that the federal government and the PDP are the ones behind Boko Haram. I say this because those individuals know very well that the APC as a party has far more sympathy for Boko Haram and far many more of their leaders and members have spoken up for and in defence of Boko Haram than anyone else.


On Friday 29th August in THISDAY Newspaper, one of those leaders said the Senator from Borno State that was facing terrorism charges was ''a PDP member''. This is not true. The Senator that he was referring to is Senator Ndume and he is in the APC and not the PDP.

Quite apart from that, certain things need to be noted. Let me remind those that are pointing fingers at the PDP today that it was not a member of the PDP or the federal government that said Boko Haram should not be proscribed as an organisation, even after they had slaughtered no less than 15,000 innocent Nigerians in cold blood, sometime last year. It was rather the official spokesman of the APC, Lai Mohammed.


It was not the PDP or any member of the federal government that told the world only last year that they were against the declaration of a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, that an attack on Boko Haram was an attack on the north and that Boko Haram members ought not to be killed but rather they ought to be pampered, granted amnesty and treated in a gentle manner like the Niger Delta militants. It was the leading presidential aspirant and one of the two co-owners of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari that said so.


It was the same General Buhari, who has openly identified with and publicly endorsed a number of the core objectives of Boko Haram when, as far back as 2001, he told the world that he wanted to ''spread sharia all over the country'' when he said ''Muslims should only vote for those that would protect their interest'', when he asked ''why should it concern Christians when Muslims chop off the limbs of one another'' in accordance with their divine law and when he said, in 2013, that there would be violence and that ''the blood of the dog and the baboon would both flow'' if the coming elections were rigged.

It was not the PDP or a member of the federal government that told the world three years ago that if President Goodluck Jonathan or any southerner emerges president in 2011 that ''we would make the country ungovernable''.


It was Alhaji Lawal Kaita, a leading member of the APC that said so. It was not the PDP or any member of the federal government that guaranteed the security of the Chibok girls and insisted that they should go ahead and do their exams at Chibok and that he would provide the necessary security, even after WAEC and the Federal Ministry of Education had written him a letter and warned him that it would be dangerous to do so and that he must not go ahead.


It was the Governor of Borno State, who is a leading member of the APC that did that. Not only did he not provide the promised security, he also abandoned the girls and left them in the lurch because only one adult, the school gateman, spent the night in the school with those girls despite all the obvious dangers. Worst still, there was no electricity and no generator functioning at the school throughout the night and neither was there one adult, teacher or supervisor with the girls at the school.


Even more suspicious was the fact that not one of the daughters of any of the staff and teachers that attended that school spent the night with the other girls at the school that night. They were all in the safety of their homes. One wonders why? Was it just a coincidence or did they have prior notice of the impending doom?


The whole Chibok episode is still clouded in mystery but given the fact that the Governor of Borno State is now one of the leading members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, I wonder why he allowed all these lapses to take place and why he behaved in this way? Was his motive for not taking all reasonable measures to protect those girls political? Is there not more to his actions and inactions than meets the eye?


I repeat my constant assertion that Boko Haram is the military wing of the APC and that the APC is the political wing of Boko Haram. I make this grave and very serious allegation partly because of the aforementioned public utterances and actions of these leading APC members and partly because of a number of other things that I will not say publicly because Nigerians would be utterly traumatised if they heard them.


There would be uproar in this country if some of us were to say all that we know about the irresponsible and insidious religious agenda that the APC has and the hideous and shameful things that they are doing and saying behind closed-doors.


The suggestion that they never had a plan to have a Muslim/Muslim ticket is a lie from the pit of hell. They may have dropped that plan now due to the fact that it has generated a good deal of public uproar and outrage but that was their original plan and many of them were hell bent on it and probably still are. The suggestion that they have not used religion as a political tool is another dirty lie. That is what they have been doing from day one and they are still doing it now.


The suggestion that they cannot be equated with or compared to the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt or the Sudanese supporter of APC is another lie from the pit of hell. If anyone has any doubts about that they should just scrutinise the religious composition of both their old and new Interim National Executive Commitee and they will see that it is virtually an all-Muslim affair spiced with a few token Christians lurking in the shadows and acting as fronts.


Nigeria is a multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic secular state and it is exceptionally dangerous to introduce religion into politics and seek to use it to gain political power as the APC are shamelessly doing.


The suggestion that some of their more notable leaders often make that the PDP is linked to Boko Haram in any shape or form or that President Goodluck Jonathan, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) or the High Command of the Nigerian Military, Security Agencies and Intelligence Services are sponsoring or supporting Boko Haram is another lie from the pit of hell. For anyone in the APC to make such an allegation is not only absurd but it is like the pot calling the kettle black.


It was rather elements in the APC, and none of those in PDP or any of those organisations that worked day and night to ensure that America did not label Boko Haram a terrorist organisation throughout last year and up until early this year. This is after the terrorists had killed and abducted so many young and innocent Nigerians.


Now the question has to be asked: why was this so? If the APC were not behind Boko Haram, why did they not want them to be labelled terrorists by the Americans and the international community?


Why did they complain morning, day and night that the Nigerian military were killing ''innocent northerners'' and ''violating human rights'' simply because our brave soldiers were risking their lives on the war front and battlefield fighting terror, trying to protect our people and trying to wipe out the enemy.


Some have cited the former National Security Advisor, General Patrick Azazi's comments as evidence of PDP's so-called involvement with Boko Haram. They conveniently forget that the elements that Azazi was referring to at that time have now all left the PDP and have now joined the APC.


We do not need any more lessons, finger-pointing or self-serving statements from leaders of the APC or their party about Boko Haram. What we need and what we want from them is for them to stop supporting and encouraging the terrorists and to stop bringing religion into politics. They should also apologise to the Nigerian people for the shameful things that they have said which have done nothing but encourage the terrorists and the enemies of our people. May God grant them the grace and humility to do so!
-Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation

Jigawa state chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has disassociated itself from the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 Presidential contest as announced by the North-West chapter of the party shortly after its caucus meeting in Kaduna on Sunday.

The state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmud told newsmen in Dutse, the state capital today that the government and people of the state (Jigawa) were not in any way in support of the content the of the communiqué read after the Kaduna PDP north west zonal meeting in Kaduna. “We are not part of the decision. We didn’t know the content of the communiqué read after (Sunday) PDP north west zonal meeting at Kaduna. the government (of Jigawa) and the people remain loyal to the party and the federal republic of Nigeria. We are still members and remained loyal to the party and country.”

The deputy governor who represented governor Sule Lamido said said that governor Sule Lamido and Jigawa state government canvassed supports and voted for President Jonathan in 2011 election “but to our greatest dismay, Jonathan never fulfills any of the promises made to the people in the state.”

* I'm in wonder as to how it is GEJ's responsibility to develop the state. What is the governor's responsibility there?

Even though some of the contenders for the 2015 Presidential Elections have not made their intentions known publicly, Nigerians that follow the political scene quite well understand that they are keenly interested from their body language and press mentions. Many people consider the incumbent president to have the upper hand given that he does not have much of a competition in his political party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP). The All Progressives Congress (APC), on the other hand, has not given an inkling regarding whom it intends to field as its candidate in the presidential polls. Former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who has contested albeit unsuccessfully three consecutive times (2003, 2007, 2011), is gradually losing some of the appeal he had due to his age. Other challengers in the race are Sen. Olubukola Saraki; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State.

President Goodluck Jonathan (PDP)
Age: 56 years
Academic Background: Zoologist, University of Port Harcourt
Experience:
Vice President of Nigeria from 29 May 2007 to 6 May 2010
Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 – 28 May 2007
Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State from 29 May 1999 to 9 December 2005
Initiatives:
Roadmap for Power Sector Reform
Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria
Agricultural Transformation
Electoral Transformation
Strengths:
Strong relationship with youths; up-to-date with contemporary developments across the world; intuitive; patience, action-oriented; respect for the rule of law; concern for mass welfare
Weaknesses: Soft-spoken, perceived as soft on matters requiring dictatorship


Olubukola Saraki (APC)
Age: 51 years
Academic Background: M.B.B.S, University of London
Experience:
Senator, Kwara Central from 29 May 2011 to date
Governor of Kwara State from 29 May 2003 to 29 May 2011
Strengths:
Young, technocrat
Weaknesses:
Perceived as one of the politicians in the class of those that are in politics for the immediate gain to their family.

Atiku Abubakar (APC)
Age: 68 years
Academic Background: Law Diploma, Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration
Experience: Vice President of Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007

Strengths: Philanthropist
Weaknesses: “In 2002 Atiku donated $750,000 to the National Peace Corps Association in the United States to fund a new initiative featuring global leaders who will discuss Peace Corps’ impact.” It was the largest ever individual donation in the Association’s history. (Source: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2012/08/atiku-abubakar-global-leaders-program/)


Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
Age: 72
Educational Background: Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna; Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, United Kingdom; Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India
Experience:
Head of State of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985
Chairman, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, from June 1978 to July 1978
Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources from March 1976 to June 1978
Governor of North-Eastern State of Nigeria from August 1975 to March 1976
Strengths:
Strongly perceived as an anti-corruption crusader; Action-oriented
Weaknesses:
Dictatorial; old; perceived as a proponent of Islamic fundamentalism

Rabiu Kwankwaso
Age: 58 years
Educational Background: Ph.D from University of Maiduguri
Experience:
Governor of Kano State from 2011 to present
Minister of Defence from 2003 to 2006
Special Adviser to the President on Dafur and Somalia from 2006 to 2007
Governor of Kano State from 1999 to 2003
Strengths: Vocal; action-oriented; stern and firm; Strong proponent of economical development. Made strides in health, education, and agricultural development in Kano State.
Weaknesses: Unknown

There are indications that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and some other past leaders of the country are rooting for the current governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Sule Lamido to run for the Presidency in the next year Presidential election on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It is on record that Obasanjo, who brought in Goodluck Jonathan to run as Vice President to late Umaru Musa Yar’adua, had recently expressed anger with President Jonathan who he said promised that he would do only a term which is supposed to terminate in 2015. Obasanjo has since suspended himself from PDP with a provision that he would return to the party only when President Jonathan honours his promise.
Former President Obasanjo has no basis for his grouse with Jonathan considering that Jonathan is eligible for a second term. Obasanjo isn't being moralistic by turning Lamido, another PDP member, against Jonathan. It is an attempt to stir the hornet's nest in the party. Obasanjo, on his own part, tried to change the Constitution during his administration in order to provide for a third term. He hasn't changed, and I doubt if he would.

What do you consider as the greatest achievement of President Goodluck Jonathan till date? I think he has performed quite well on federal roads, electoral system, electricity. What other areas do you consider as his greatest achievements or areas where there is much left to be desired.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has made it clear that anybody patronizing or obtaining any certificate from any of the institutions of higher learning it declared illegal, does so at his or her own risk. It warned that certificates obtained from these sources will not be recognised for the purposes of NYSC, employment, and further studies.

The Commission, In a statement, announced to the general public, especially parents and prospective undergraduates, that the under-listed “Degree Mills” have not been licensed by the Federal Government and have, therefore, been closed down for violating the Education (National Minimum Standards etc.) Act CAP E3 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The statement said that relevant Law enforcement agencies have been informed for their further necessary action.
The list of the illegal Universities, as given by the NUC are:

1) University of Accountancy and Management Studies, operating anywhere in Nigeria.

2) Christians of Charity American University of Science & Technology, Nkpor, Anambra State or any of its other campuses.

3) University of Industry, Yaba, Lagos or any of its other campuses.

4) University of Applied Sciences & Management, Port Novo, Republic of Benin or any of its other campuses in Nigeria.

5) Blacksmith University, Awka or any of its other campuses.

6) Volta University College, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana or any of its other campuses in Nigeria.

7) Royal University Izhia, P.O. Box 800, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State or any of its other campuses.

Atlanta University, Anyigba, Kogi State or any of its other campuses.

9) Sunday Adokpela University, Otada Adoka, Otukpo, Benue State or any of its other campuses.

10) United Christian University, Macotis Campus, Imo State or any of its other campuses.

11) United Nigeria University College, Okija, Anambra State or any of its other campuses.

12) Samuel Ahmadu University, Makurdi, Benue State or any of its other campuses.

13) UNESCO University, Ndoni, Rivers State or any of its other campuses.

14) Saint Augustine’s University of Technology, Jos, Plateau State or any of its other campuses.

15) The International University, Missouri, USA, Kano and Lagos Study Centres, or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

16) Collumbus University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria.

17) Tiu International University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria

18) Pebbles University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria.

19) London External Studies UK operating anywhere in Nigeria.

20) Pilgrims University operating anywhere in Nigeria.

21) Lobi Business School Makurdi, Benue State or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

22) West African Christian University operating anywhere in Nigeria.

23) Bolta University College Aba or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

24) JBC Seminary Inc. (Wukari Jubilee University) Kaduna Illegal Campus.

25) Westlan University, Esie, Kwara State or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

26) St. Andrews University College, Abuja or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

27) EC-Council University, USA, Ikeja Lagos Study Centre.

28) Atlas University, Ikot Udoso Uko, Uyo Akwa Ibom State or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

29) Concept College/Universities (London) Ilorin or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

30) Halifax Gateway University, Ikeja or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

31) Kingdom of Christ University, Abuja or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

32) Acada University, Akinlalu, Oyo State or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

33) Fifom University, Mbaise, Imo State or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

34) Houdegbe North American University campuses in Nigeria.

35) Atlantic Intercontinental University, Okija, Anambra State.

36) Open International University, Akure.

37) Middle Belt University (North Central University), Otukpo

38) Leadway University, Ughelli, Delta State

39) Metro University, Dutse/Bwari, Abuja

40) Southend University, Ngwuro Egeru (Afam) Ndoki, Rivers State

41) Olympic University, Nsukka, Enugu State

42) Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Abuja.

43) Temple University, Abuja

44) Irish University Business School London, operating anywhere in Nigeria.

45) National University of Technology, Lafia, Nasarawa State.

46) University of Accountancy and Management Studies, Mowe, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway and its Annex at 41, Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

47) University of Education, Winneba Ghana, operating anywhere in Nigeria.

48) Cape Coast University, Ghana, operating anywhere in Nigeria.

49) African University Cooperative Development (AUCD), Cotonou, Benin Republic, operating anywhere in Nigeria.

50) Pacific Western University, Denver, Colorado, Owerri Study Centre.

51) Evangel University of America & Chudick Management Academic, Lagos.

52) Enugu State University of Science and Technology (Gboko Campus).

53) Career Light Resources Centre, Jos.

54) University of West Africa, Kwali-Abuja, FCT.

55) Coastal Univversity, Iba-Oku, Akwa-Ibom State.

The NUC said that in addition to the closure of these institutions, some other Degree Mills are also currently undergoing further investigations and/or ongoing court actions, the purpose of which to prosecute the proprietors and recover illegal fees and charges on subscribers. The institutions are:
1) National University of Nigeria, Keffi, Nasarawa State.

2) North Central University, Otukpo, Benue State.

3) Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University, Enugu.

4) Richmond Open University, Arochukwu, Abia State.

5) West Coast University, Umuahia.

6) Saint Clements University, Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State.

7) Volta University College, Aba, Abia State.

Illegal Satellite Campuses of Ambrose Alli University.

NUC made it clear that the list of illegal institutions provided so far is not exhaustive.

Source: http://www.greenbreporters.com/home/editorial-national/students-studying-universities-risk-university-commission.html

I agree so much with numbers 5, 6, and 7.

Aba needs salvation and these problems began since OUK came into office in 1999. Read more here: https://www.nairaland.com/1882533/open-letter-chief-orji-uzor

Let me say upfront that I had intended to make these exchanges with you, civil and educated. Apparently, you are not so minded. Your diatribe against me last Wednesday, in your Sex, Crime and Gossip tabloid, was a sickening reflection of the perverse quality of your mind and its chronic inability to rise to the rigorous demands of cerebral discourse.

I was not disappointed, knowing you, artful dodger! Your intention was to distract me from the core issue of your dismal performance as governor of our dear state and even more importantly, your prodigious squandering of the over N1 trillion Abia state earned in that period. Sorry sir, i will not fall for that cheap trick! It is the oldest trick in the business, hurling abuses in order to divert attention. Let us face the issues which i believe Abians and millions of other Nigerians are really interested in. What did you achieve as Governor in 8 years and what did you do with the N1 trillion Abia earned, internally (1GR), and externally, from the federation account? This is the question history will forever pose to you.
You were elected Governor in 1999 and entrusted with the responsibility of leading Abia State and adding value to her. It was an esteemed mandate. Abia had suffered immensely in the hands of various soldiers of fortune who governed her under the military. Umuahia, the state capital, was the epic centre of the Nigerian civil war, having served as the capital of the defunct Biafra. As a young man, many had expected you to see your election as a historic opportunity for a new generation of leaders to seize the moment and put Abia on the path of sustained socio-economic development. But eight years after the fact, what was your record? You claimed in your initial onslaught against Governor T.A Orji, that he is now converting the projects you established as his own. What projects? You assumed office in 1999 and inherited a dilapidated and ramshackle Governors lodge and residence. These facilities had been requisitioned by the first military Administration when the state was created in 1999. You spent eight years living and working in the same make shift buildings. You didn’t build a governor’s lodge.



You didn’t build a governor’s office. You didn’t build a state secretariat, (even Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State whom you often made fun of at your dinner table built a state secretariat.) You didn’t build an office for the judiciary. The house of assembly is still occupying a temporary office. The commissioners quarters your predecessor started was not completed. Unknown to millions of Nigerians, Abia state is therefore the only state of its age where the seat of Government is still located in temporary buildings, 23 years after. For eight years, the broadcasting corporation of Abia state functioned in temporary apartments. Indeed, everything under you was temporary. You didn’t build even a single dualized road in 8 years. You didn’t build one hospital or even a maternity, or a market, except the Igbere evening market. You ignored Aba, Abia’s commercial nerve centre and allowed that great town to lose traction and become wasted. You left Umuahia worse than you met it, allowing the golden Guinnea Brewery to collapse. Sir, what did you really achieve in Abia State? What did you give to Abiriba, your next door neighbour and Arochukwu, the community you claimed to have adopted? I once asked Chief Emma Nwokoro why you treated Arochukwu so cruelly.



You ignored the collpased intra city roads and didn’t pay attention to the perennial water shortage. Yet, at every opportunity, you would go to Arochukwu visiting with many of their illustrious sons. What of Ukwa-Ngwa, what is your record there? The strategic road which passes from Umuahia through the heart of Ngwa land, Ururuka road, and which you announced on television that you would reconstruct, was abandoned. You didn’t build a stadium. You didn’t build even one secondary school. You didn’t set up a University. It was Gen Ike Nwachukwu who set up the Abia State University. Governor Evan Enwerem set up the Imo State University. Governor Sam Egwu set up Ebonyi state University.
So your Excellency, what did you achieve in Abia that T.A Orji is now claiming? Please tell me? Practically, anything of note in Abia State today which Okpara and Mbakwe did not build, was built by Gov. T.A. Orji… New governor’s lodge, new secretariat, new governor’s office, new conference centre, new judiciary complex, new general market and new office complex, etc.
THE TRIAL OF ORJI UZOR KALU.
You were elected Governor and subsequently re-elected. The governorship is a full time job. But that was not the way you saw it. For you, it was a part time job, a platform to expand your fledging business empire, SLOK, using the time and resources of Abia State. So while the fortunes of Abia state were dwindling under you, the fortunes of your SLOK business empire was expanding exponentially. While in office, you set up an airline, SLOK AIRLINE. You set up a bank, First International Bank, Gambia. When you attended board meetings of the bank in the Gambia, Abia state government usually paid your bills and the ecstacode of the officials in your entourage.

You set up a shipping line. You set up an insurance company, while a plethora of companies fronted for you in the construction business. You increased your equity in the defunct Hallmark Bank Plc. You set up a newspaper, The Sun and also applied for a license to set up a bank in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the State owned Newspaper, the Ambassador, was deliberately allowed to vegetate. You didn’t build any housing estate. Meanwhile the only one which the military government had established, the Ehimiri Housing Estate, you acquired over 24 units for your personal use.
ICING ON THE CAKE: In 2007, you took us on a tour of your palatial castle in Igbere. You were in an expansive mood that day and so failed to note that the look on my face was actually a grimace.

I was put off by the grotesque display of opulence and was greatly troubled by the sublime irony of it all. For 8 years, you built virtually nothing in Abia state, not even an office to work from or a residence to live in: And yet you built a palatial mansion, fit for a Saudi King, in your village, just 20 kilometres from Government House! You showed us the guest chalet, 72 rooms, the large lecture hall, larger in your own words than the main hall of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), the tennis courts, the various swimming pools, the 22-hole golf course, the land you mapped out for the proposed aerodrome (to land small gulf stream jets) the orchard, e.t.c, One question that kept ringing in my mind that day was not where you got the money from (the answer was quiet obvious) rather it was, “so you know how to build befitting structures and you didn’t build even a lodge for the governor of Abia State?” Your Excellency, I am still curious: why? Was it an act of wickedness or plain selfishness? Did you nurse a psychological hatred for Abia and her people? What did our people do wrong by you? How could you, a young man – given such a wonderful opportunity – so crassly abuse it? How could you have treated Abia as war booty? All the contracts in the Ministry of Information, at least during my tenure, were executed by the company belonging to your brother, Prince Nnanna Kalu. For 8 years, the Ministry of Environment was absolutely under your mother. She nominated all the commissioners and managed all the contracts. Choice real estate in Umuahia and Aba, were allocated to your family or interests representing them. And yet, when Governor T.A took over, you wanted that regime to continue. You asked him to cede the Abia State Government-owned General Hospital in Umunanto, the only one in the zone, to you to serve as the teaching hospital of your proposed SLOK University of Technology. Haba Oga, can it ever be enough? T.A’s refusal, (documented) is part of your bitterness towards him. What you may not know is that it was Abia Elders who advised him not to cede that hospital to you. They argued that you made enough money to build a hospital if you needed one.



That is also my considered view. No government in Abia State, now or in the future, should so indulge you again. You have made enough from the system. Something should be left for the people of Abia State. Abia is not a vassal of the Kalu family!
MATTERS ARISING FROM YOUR RESPONSE IN SUN NEWSPAPER
Oga, i sincerely do not relish the prospects of rummaging in the sewer with you. I believe that adults can, and in fact should conduct debates, no matter how contentious the topic, with civility. Nevertheless, I am constrained to respond in kind to you not really because I wish to descend to your gutter, but mainly to make a crucial point to you. Your Excellency, you do not possess a monopoly of rascality, loud mouth or foul language. Well, don’t blame me, you asked for this, now here goes, sir.
You accused me of disagreeing with my father, and yet buried him in style. Well, I did o! So what’s the big deal with a son disagreeing with his father on occasion? Which young man does not? But what of you; did you have a father? When did he die, and how was he buried? I am referring to the father of a governor, the self-acclaimed richest man in Abia State? You once said that your father never visited you at the Government House throughout your 8 years as governor. Please why was that so, if i may ask? Could it be because he was bitter with you? And why? Does it have anything to do with the occultic and incestuous desecration of sacred maternal values in his family? Which father would be happy to so share his wife? Indeed, your Excellency, you should be the last person to talk about morality and family values. The truth is that you have none. You are morally bankrupt, through and through. The funny thing is that it is common knowledge. You made your choice a long time ago to pursue the god of money. And I must say, you have succeeded. But the price is that you are bereft of honour and integrity. You should not complain, after all, you got what you always wanted – wealth. You believe that with money you can purchase anything. Your latest project is to become a Papal knight. Well, you are allegedly a Catholic and know the rules. So which wife will you present? Ifeoma, Ifeyinwa, Gladys or Waziri?


You accused me of not having a home in Abuja or Lagos and that I beg for adverts for my newspaper. You are correct sir. I am a tenant in Lagos and I don’t live in Abuja so I don’t need a house there. But look at it this way, your Excellency; you have houses in Lagos, Aba, Umuahia, Igbere, Abuja, Dubai, Charlotte (USA), Maryland, (USA) London and South Africa; all of them residential! And yet every night you sleep only in one room and in one house. Don’t you think the joke really is on you? If I may ask, what really are you seeking with this primitive accumulation of wealth? The wise man wrote in the book of Proverbs: “don’t envy the wicked man his riches, in a twinkle of an eye they would develop wings and fly away!” As the Igbo also say, “A beggar is better than a thief” And I would add, he is also better than a serial looter, an abuser of public office and an aggrandiser!
A judicial panel of inquiry recently concluded an inquiry into the disappearance of the Goss Printing Machine purchased by your predecessor, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu for The Ambassador newspaper. It is alleged that a former top Govt. official spirited it out of government warehouse in Ahiake to Lagos, where it is being used to print a certain tabloid.
I remember that the panel summoned you, but you declined to appear. But sir, between you and I, tell me, do you know anything about the missing printing press? I also understand that it is part of the charges the EFCC arraigned you for.
The problem you have is that you don’t make a distinction between the public and private. As governor, you abdicated the duties for which Abia people hired you, and instead leveraged on the position to build your personal financial empire. You forgot I was still commissioner when you set up The Sun Newspaper in 2001 and saw how you shamelessly and recklessly used your office to market the newspaper.



You forced all state Government owned ministries, parasatals, institutions, local governments, e.t.c to place regular advertisements in it. You harassed government agents, contractors, counter parties, banks and other institutions, to patronize it. In 2003 after your re-election, my friend Mr Vin Mgbemena, former MD of Orange Drugs Ltd, placed congratulatory adverts in This Day and Champion newspapers, for you. You were angry and queried him why he didn’t place the adverts in The Sun. After his meeting with you, he told me that you are an amazing character. “He didn’t even thank me for the adverts, he was peeved that it was not in The Sun”. To imagine that you once aspired to contest for the Presidency. Just imagine you as President of Nigeria! Hmm, you would convert NNPC into a subsidiary of SLOK Group! And they say you want to be senator! Ha, ha, ha!!! Please, on what record of achievement, if I may ask? The amazing thing is that despite your fabulous wealth, you are so pathetically cheap and beggarly. Do you know the common joke about you among the Lagos in-crowd? That you are the only governor who rather than add to your friends pockets, would rather take even the last kobo from them. The late Tayo Aderinokun told me that he and the bank used to buy air tickets for some of your foreign junkets.


Continue reading the article here: http://naijaplatform.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78