₦airaland Forum

vedaxcool:
This is very serious, the fact the rape has been steadily rising over the years yet such few convictions leaves one to wonder why the Justice system is so broken that a crime as serious as rape receives so little retribution, no wonder the imbes that rape keep increasing no deterrence whatsoever to check them.

Only 18 rape convictions recorded in Nigeria’s legal history – Lawyer

November 9, 2015

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A human rights lawyer, Evans Ufeli, has said that despite an overwhelming reported cases of sexual assaults, Nigeria has recorded only 18 rape convictions in its legal history.

Mr. Ufeli spoke, Sunday, at the 5th edition of ‘The Conversation,’ a quarterly public dialogue that focuses on child abuses and parenting in Lagos.
“The Nigerian criminal code recommends life imprisonment for rape convicts and 14 years for attempt rape, but only 18 people have ever been convicted in Nigeria,” said Mr. Ufeli, who had been handling sexual assault cases for over a decade.

The lawyer said ‎that sexual abuse matters in law courts are sometimes frustrated by the government, which usually acts as the prosecution.
“Government agents who are saddled with checking sexual assaults, especially the police and public prosecutors, compromise their profession,” Mr. Ufeli said.

‎Several child rights advocates who spoke at the gathering urged parents and guardians to allow their children, while they are still in their formative years, to be vocal about sexual matters as a solution to the rising cases of child abuse.

‎The advocates also said that the perpetual silence on the issue of child rape had done a lot to worsen the matter because it “sends no serious warning to would-be rapists.”

‎”It’s high time people started speaking about rape; parents must allow their children to discuss matters that are sexually-explicit in nature,” said Itoro Eze-Anaba, who runs the Mirabel Centre, a rehabilitation facility for victims of child abuses which is run in collaboration with the Partnership for Justice.

‎Mrs. Eze-Anaba noted that rape matters must evolve from being about the victim to being about the perpetrator.

“A good percentage of those who have been assaulted have had to face the consequences of their ordeal despite their innocence,” she said.
Timilehin Oyebode, a sexual assault victim, said that paedophilia ‎is “a psychological problem that requires only psychological solution” and that rapists don’t necessarily deserve jail sentence.

“The first step that must be taken in reducing sexual assaults on children is to support victims to have the courage to openly speak about their experiences,” said Ms. Oyebode, the Chief Executive Officer of Attitudinal Development International, who said she started suffering sexual abuses at age five.

snadguy007:
Why was he removed in the first place??

Farida Waziri's Dark Fridays
By Saharareporters 8/7/08
Jul 9, 2008 - 8:16:14 AM

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has appointed Abdukadir Lanre Jimoh, a recently promoted Assistant Commissioner of Police to head one of its key enforcement teams. Mr. Jimoh was the main â hitman for the Sarakis in Ilorin, Kwara state. He is a notoriously wealthy police officer popularly known as “Lanre Olopa” in Ilorin because of his mob enforcement capabilities for the Sarakis . Jimoh has since resumed to the EFCC.

Saharareporters could not immediately confirm his new designation but EFCC sources said Bukola Saraki has directed Waziri to allow him manage â Governance Team , a team formerly managed by Ibrahim Magu who has been redeployed to the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja.

Sources in the Nigerian Police Force, which seconded Mr. Jimoh to the EFCC, told Saharareporters that his recruitment to the EFCC clears the way for a total take over of the agency by corrupt former and current state governors.

Last Friday, Mrs. Farida Waziri, who attended a two day Commonwealth Business Council in London, fired 10 team leaders at the EFCC who were directly involved in prosecuting corrupt former governors. One of the top team leaders that was sacked is currently involved with the prosecution of James Ibori, the former governor of Delta State who faces multiple corruption charges before a Federal High Court in Kaduna. Also, the officer who investigated the looting of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria PLC, the commercial bank ruined by the Saraki family was sacked.

Officers of the London Metropolitan Police met with Mrs. Waziri last Friday to discuss ongoing collaboration with the EFCC under her leadership, however, they are very disappointed to learn of the removal of key officers earlier trained at the EFCC to assist with UK related investigations, especially the removal of the officer investigating James Ibori's case at the EFCC.

Mrs. Farida Waziri, the new Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss has concluded plans to scuttle the ongoing trial of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori. The EFCC chairperson who is currently attending a Commonwealth Business Council meeting in London secretly redeployed Bello Yahaya, a Superintendent of Police back to the Nigerian Police headquarters in Abuja. Prior to his redeployment, Bello was the key EFCC officer who investigated Ibori for massive corruption and graft while he was the governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007. Bello who had trained with the London Metropolitan Police, was the designated officer handling cases involving the London Metropolitan Police in Nigeria. Bello is yet to be given a new posting by the police authorities in Abuja. With his removal Ibori's case will lose its key investigating police officer.

In what has now become a Friday tradition at the EFCC, Mrs. Waziri signed off on the transfer of Osita Nwajah, EFCC’s spokesman to Enugu where he will serve as an assistant director for the EFCC. The Enugu office is an outstation headed by a Head of Operations, several levels below Osita’s current rank in the agency. This is seen by observers as a demotion aimed humiliating him to resign. This is the second time Osita will be transferred in the last two weeks on the assumption that he is being deployed to serve as the media anchor for the Enugu office.

Also redeployed is the former head of the banking and fraud unit Muhammed Wakili, an Assistant Commissioner of Police who was until his redeployment the deputy director of operations. He is known to have acted for Ibrahim Lamorde, the former acting Chairman of EFCC. Wakilli has been deployed to Gombe a relatively new office which hardly handles more than a dozen cases per month.

Bukar Abba, the deputy director of organizational services at the headquarters has also been transferred to Gombe as an accounts officer. His former position like that of Dapo Olorunyomi has been phased out of the EFCC.

It is believed that in seeking to remove all of EFCC officials seen to be loyal to the former chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, Mrs. Waziri also removed Bala Ciroma, the head of operations at the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. His office is also being scrapped because of his reported loyalty to the former minister of the FCT –Nasir El - Rufai, a known friend of Nuhu Ribadu. s friend, Ciroma is also yet to be redeployed by the Nigerian Police headquarters.

The head of legal operations in the Lagos office, Saidu Atteh said to be one of the finest officers in the Lagos office of the EFCC and Emeka Nwonyi, the head of operations in Gombe has also been redeployed back to the police headquarters.

Another investigator, Abubakar Madaki, who has worked on the corruption investigations of several former governors including those of Ekiti and Oyo State, Ayodele Fayose, Rashidi Ladoja and his deputy, Bayo Alao Akala, as well as the celebrated case of the Vaswani Brothers has also been redeployed back to the police in Abuja.

Also swept off is the highly dreaded investigator, Ibrahim Magu who until his redeployment was a versatile investigator who moved between Abuja and Lagos offices of the EFCC.

Saharareporters had revealed how corrupt former governors recruited Mrs. Waziri. We also reported that she received a list of officers to be removed before she resumed office. A presidency official knowledgeable about her so-called a restructuring told our reporters that, “she has carried out the agreement between her, the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki as well as Ibori to the letter.

Another EFCC official who spoke on the basis of anonymity with Saharareporters said, Her decisions have come on Fridays since she resumed office and all these Fridays of decision announcements are characterized by an all day power failure when even the agency's power generating systems remain shut down. This reality has led commission staff to dub every Friday as "Dark Fridays".

naijaking1:
Let me help you a little:

Gov Akpabio stated correctly that after the civil war, the reconstruction money earnmarked by the federal government and provided by the international community was instead used to develop the west. He asked, "how could there have been war and destruction in the east while the reconstruction took place in the west? Good examples were the national orthopedic hospital system meant to help war victims, instead of building one in Enugu, and another one in Calabar or PH, some crafty official preferred to site it in Lagos. It's like using money for internally displaced people of Maiduguri today for people enjoying live to the fullest in Owerri or Akure!, or like the US Marshall plan for war torn Germany being used to build bridges in London.

The result was that these misapplication of funds caused another phase of civil disunity in Nigeria, Lagos develped, boomed, and quickly filled its capacity in rather unplanned manner, because the government developed the city way beyond capacity, because it wanted to stiffle other competing parts of the country, and using 100% of money derived from the neglected parts too.

Now, direct responses to your misunderstood points:
1. What is wrong in having 2 or more functional and capable ports in Nigeria, why the effort to shut down other options in Warri, PH, or Calabar? That you already have rigs in place is a very childish reason to maintain this unholy monopoly.
2. PH airport is underfunded, bad, and underated thanks to the federal government policies over the years. Until we have a system where states own and operate airports like in the US, please don't castigate any facility mismanaged by those who purposely want the airport dead.
3. Now security has become a reason not to provide equal federal protection to all corners of the the nation. There is no more dangerous place than Lagos, yet people manage to survive there.
4. If you don't understand that these industries and economies cited and located in the western part is an economic upperhand compared to other regions, then let the governement change it's policy now without resistance from a mostly Yoruba population.
5. It may seem that choice of headoffices is company decision, but wait until you understand more about EPZs created to make one state more preferrable for location of an industry than the other.
6. On the long run it will be cheaper and better for Nigeria to remove the monopoly enjoyed by Lagos as an economic hub, policies should be reversed to enable PH, Warri, Calabar, Sokoto, Kano, and even Yola aspire to reach their greatest economic potential without going through Lagos.

The Hospital started as a military rehabilitation camp for wounded soldiers during the second world war. It became a medical establishment under the Colonial Medical Service when in December 1945 two nurses were transferred to the hospital to take carre of the wounded and was named the Royal Orthopaedic Hopital, Lagos in 1956 when HRM Queen Elizabeth II visited and donated the Casualty and a Hydrotherapy pool. In 1967, when states were created the Lagos State Government Ministry of Health took over its management, and the hospital played a major role during the Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970. With the immense contribution of the pioneering medical workers, the hospital had been well known in Nigeria and in the West African sub-region for treatment of fractures and orthopaedic deformities before the Federal Government took it over in 1977.

The hospital was designated a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health by the Decree 91 of 1979 which created the Orthopaedic Hospital Management Board to manage the three orthopaedic hospitals in Lagos, Enugu and kano.

Developments in clinical service delivery included the introduction of Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgical Services in 1982. This was to cope with the managment of associated soft tissue and trauma and reconstructive challenges posed by burns victims. The speciality has developed as the second core surgical speciality with improved capacity in micro-surgery and dedicated acute burn care.

CCT set to arraign ex-Governors, Ministers as Judge demands extra security

November 7, 2015

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The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, has applied for extra security.

This was contained in a letter he sent to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud.

The request was said to be sequel to the increasing number of sensitive cases involving politically exposed persons before the tribunal, The Nation reports.

It was learnt that the application of Umar may be referred to both the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies for necessary action.

Umar’s mobile lines had come under intense pressure, leading to call restrictions.

The judge was also said to have restricted his movement to his office and home in order to stave off influence.

A source told the newspaper that “The CCT judge has asked for security beef up in CCT, Umar’s office, home and around his family.

“The application has been submitted to the CJN for necessary contact with appropriate security agencies.

“I think the letter was just a pre-emptive step to guarantee adequate security for the judge in view of the increasing number of sensitive matters at the tribunal.

“Security agencies will debrief Umar on what he wants before taking action. What is certain is that there will be enhanced protection for him.

“The state will not ignore the request from the CCT chairman.”

However, more former governors and ministers will be arraigned before the CCT any moment from now.

“A sizable number of former office holders who refused, padded or hid their assets will be arraigned soon,” The Nation quoted its source.

“The Code of Conduct Bureau has gone far in recommending these former office holders for trial and the signing of the necessary warrant is being awaited.

“As soon as the warrant is signed, we will release the names of those affected. But we do not want to prejudice the ongoing process.”

The constitution says: “Subject to the provision of this Constitution, every public officer shall within three months after the coming into force of this Code of Conduct or immediately after taking office and thereafter (a) at the end of every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office, submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written declaration of all his properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of eighteen years.

“The Bureau shall have power to receive declaration by public officers made under paragraph 12 of part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to this Constitution.

“Examine the declarations in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct or any law.

“Retain custody of such declarations and make them available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe.

“Ensure compliance with and, where appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law relating thereto.

“Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorized in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of this Code.

“Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required under this Constitution and which is not fairly attributable to income, gift, or loan approved by this Code shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this Code unless the contrary is proved.

“Receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the Provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto. Investigate the complaint and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal.”

Take-away, though: our problem – we do have a problem as a collective – is the sobering realization that Nigerians enjoy telling lies, much more than any other community that we know, and that we are indeed, a Republic of Liars. We are a nation of fabulists, richly imaginative, when that asset is well-conditioned, it produces excellence, but misapplied, the tale bearer becomes a professional aproko, as they say, a self-made radio station, transmitter, booster, conditioned to promote untruths, and as the tale travels from one mouth to another, new layers are invented and added, often so viciously that the original source often finds it unrecognizable.

Reuben Abati: Wole Soyinka – a sojourner among liars

November 6, 2015

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Professor Wole Soyinka was quoted saying his latest book is the “nastiest” that he has written so far.

InterInventions: Between Defective Memory and the Public Lie- A Personal Odyssey in The Republic of Liars (Ibadan: Bookcraft, 2015, 136pp) is quite close to being just that. But who knows if an even nastier book may follow as Soyinka embarks on the task of exposing lies in our Republic as he has promised that InterInventions, a follow up to Interventions series (I-IV) will be dedicated solely to the dismantling of lies in the public space: malicious and non-malicious lies, lies told, lies magnified, lies fraudulent, murderous lies, accidental lies, uttered from depraved minds whose sole intention is to create burdens for their victims; malign, impugn and lower the other so they can be raised or their stomachs can be nourished at other’s expense.

This is nevertheless, a publication in which Professor Soyinka settles strictly personal scores, but this is no pamphleteering that he modestly alludes to, but a fine, extended essay in the distinguished tradition of that form. He is polemical, punchy and critical – without mercy or measure! There is no deceit, no pulling of punches, not much of deliberate concealment; it is Soyinka wielding a Bazooka in one hand, and a gilt-edged knife in the other, shooting down the hypocrisy and pretensions of representative figures in a Republic of Liars, where defective memory, an affliction worse than amnesia, but much closer to dementia, and psychosis, is standard fare. He deploys language dramatically and draws blood even if his mood remains charismatic and entertaining as he laughs at human folly, and the verminous antics of his named and shamed traducers.

The writer focuses on his personal experiences as a victim of the burden of being lied to, being lied against and being pushed to defend his right not to be lied against, but his theme is probably far more important than his content and mood. He ends up inviting us to think further about a social malaise, a missing, distorted, disjointed ethical link, and so his subjects – including Obasanjo, Chinweizu, Adewale Maja-Pearce, Peter Enahoro, Major Salawu, Gbenga Daniel, Abiola Ogundokun, Olagunsoye Oyinlola – rise off the pages, as illustrative archetypes of a hydra-headed crisis at the heart of society, namely how self-delusion, ego, power and an obsessive, compulsive, alimentary propensity turns adults into liars. Other associated themes along this line of moral exhortation will include the sheer uncertainty of life, the unpredictability of human character, and the near-helplessness of victims in a nation of fabulists.

Thus, the entire narrative is organic, with the humanistic import of the content, imbued with a personal orientation as it were, taking us closer to larger questions of ethics, humanity, the inviolability of truth. Man and his foibles is the central subject of inquiry invariably; there is a certain universality in the tendency of man, including those who quote the Bible with practised ease, to be nasty and brutish. I recommend this book for everyone’s reading pleasure and instruction. It is quite affordable, only N1, 000 per copy, and certainly, a temptingly quotable book – more so as the reader is reassured by the author’s statement of indemnity. Here goes: “My publishers are hereby fully indemnified by me against court processes, as well as the consequences of any libel suits that may arise from this maiden number of the InterInventions series” (p.93). The stoutly flagellated figures in the book, who are described as “the greatest public liars I have ever known”, thus ridiculed have every reason to be angry but obviously, Soyinka in taking his pound of flesh cannot be bothered.

There can be no greater denigration to be sought beyond his depiction of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as the philosopher-king who is “an overgrown child of circumstance;” “Double-O-Seven”, “an infliction”, “a hypocrite”, and “irredeemable egomaniac” or Chinweizu as “Chichidodo”, a bird that feeds on shit, or Adewale Maja-Peace as “the area-boy of letters”; or Peter Pan as “lying, opportunistic, contemptible”; Olagunsoye Oyinlola as “the Prince of Darkness”; Gbenga Daniel as “DaaniElebo”. Professor, ki lo de? Or when of Maja-Pearce, whom he calls “Ade-Boy!”, the writer says: “It is a time to remind him that the stern rod of Ogun awaits all lying tongues.” (p.38). Professor, ewo ni t’epe!

Of Abiola Ogundokun, Soyinka thunders: “Of all the loathsome lumps of slime that ever oozed from the sump of human depravity to aspire to human form, none comes close to the two-legged parasite that goes by the name of Abiola Ogundokun”. Whaa-a-t? And in taking on Major Rasaki Salawu, he says “Howu Salawu” – a vocalic alliteration which cryptically summarises the subject-matter; a considerable part of the book is devoted to a profiling of the self-same Salawu in a manner that evokes shame or the equivalent of a mortal decapitation. Soyinka’s anti-heroes owe themselves a duty to say something in self-defence, for the naming and shaming tends to stick, with all the stamp and authoritativeness of the inimitable WS. Audi alteram partem.

Which is why I was surprised that President Olusegun Obasanjo in a reported interview with The Punch, made light of it:

Reporter: While you were away from the country, your friend Prof. Wole Soyinka inaugurated (sic) a book in which he called you a child of circumstance.

OBJ: (Talking in Yoruba: Se o so be?) Meaning: Did he say so?

Reporter: He even said he won’t eat any food you give him without you eating from the food first.

OBJ: (Continues in Yoruba: Mi o mo o) Ehnhenhn? I don’t know.
Obasanjo irritated by the Soyinka questions, gets up and walks out of his study during the interview… but the
reporter keeps throwing questions at him.

Reporter: Why are the two of you always quarrelling?

OBJ: Kini wahala yin? (What is your problem?)

Indeed, what is our problem? But just in case President Obasanjo has not read the book, I recommend that he should especially as Soyinka has promised a follow-up shake down edition: “a collective effort, a corroborative-or self-cancelling-anthology by many long-suffering victims…dedicated solely to the Otta phenomenon.” (p. 53). Our Republic of Liars is a temporary space for Soyinka; his reputation in the world of letters places him historically, in the long run, beyond local dog-fights; but as for this book, emotional responses to the vengeful biographical dimensions cannot be unexpected.

[b]Take-away, though: our problem – we do have a problem as a collective – is the sobering realization that Nigerians enjoy telling lies, much more than any other community that we know, and that we are indeed, a Republic of Liars. We are a nation of fabulists, richly imaginative, when that asset is well-conditioned, it produces excellence, but misapplied, the tale bearer becomes a professional aproko, as they say, a self-made radio station, transmitter, booster, conditioned to promote untruths, and as the tale travels from one mouth to another, new layers are invented and added, often so viciously that the original source often finds it unrecognizable. [/b]But much damage is done, and it is this wickedness of man to man – as theme and principle- that Soyinka deplores.

The rise of the internet has even made lying so easy and convenient; the anonymity that the social media offers allows a lie to grow until its continued affirmation imposes it on public memory as received wisdom. Lies pollute the public mind; they damage relationships and destroy a sense of community. Soyinka insists on the inviolability of the truth and decent conduct, but the rot is widespread, the phenomenon is a new normal reality. Politicians lie to the electorate, win the votes and turn around shamefacedly to say they never said whatever even in the face of concrete evidence made possible by electronic reproduce-ability. This culture of deception remains unchecked because the institutions for seeking redress remain inchoate: libel cases can go on forever, or they may run into a technical hitch concocted by lawyers, requiring that they be started de novo. And to worsen it all, the followership enjoys the lies and the lying, compelling an assessment of our Republic in real and fictive representations as the biggest lie in search of truth.

Soyinka does not recommend a resort to self-help; but he inflicts punishment with his pen, and laments in a memorable instance: “Chei! There is Death o!” Let’s add: “Chei! There is God o!” – the ultimate judge.

ipledge10:
bro sorry to say...you are a complete fool. ..you don't know what you are saying and you are happy saying nonsense...Community College offer associate degree program. ..it is cheaper than 4yr college...you can even be in 4yr college and still take some courses in community college

If you graduate in a community college, you will transfer your courses to 4yr college. ..don't loose your sense of reasoning because you hate someone

...The Governor said 27 (twenty-seven) credit hours were transferred from Richard Daley College to Chicago State University, where he obtained Bachelor of Science in Business and Administration. His major was in Accounting. To back up his claim, the Governor produced the following documents:

1. a copy of a letter dated September 6, 1978 written by Andrew F. Sikula, Dean College of Business Administration, Chicago State University informing Mr. Bola Tinubu that he had made the Dean's honours list by making a 3.50 or better grade point average. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 6";

2. an inter-office memorandum of Chicago State University dated May 28, 1979 written by one Clyde Smith to the Honours Award Committee recommending Bola A. Tinubu as recipient of the outstanding senior award. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 7";

3. copies of May/June 1979 edition of the TEMPO, Chicago State University Campus journal covering Chicago State University Annual Awards Ceremony. Bola Tinubu was described as the President of the Accounting Society and was also said to be running for Student Government Association presidency. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 8";

4. a Chicago State University STATEMENT issued by the Accounts Receivable Department on June 15, 1979 with his social security number. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 9";

5. the Chicago State University Certificate dated 22nd day of June, 1979 conferring upon Bola A. Tinubu the degree of Bachelor of Science in Business and Administration (Accounting with honours). This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 10";

6. a copy of Chicago State University Outstanding Senior Award Certificate dated 5th July 1979, awarded to Bola A. Tinubu. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 11";

7. a copy of Chicago State University Departmental Certificate of Merit dated 5th July, 1979 presented to Bola A. Tinubu. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 12";

8. copy of year book of Chicago State University with the picture of Bola A. Tinubu on page 75. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 13";

9. Chicago State University academic record transcript) dated July 11th 1979. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 14";

10. copy of 1992 Social Democratic Party senatorial candidature form dated June 1 1992. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 15"; and

11. Chicago State University letter dated August 20th 1999 addressed To Whom It May Concern advising that Bola A. Tinubu did indeed attend Chicago State University from August 1977 through June 1979. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Administration with honours on June 22nd 1979. His major was Accounting. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 16".

The Governor informed us that before coming to Nigeria, he worked as an Accountant with Deloitte Haskins & Sells and at GTE Services Corporation. Enclosed herewith and marked "Annexure 17" and "Annexure 18" respectively are the pay slips relating to the above establishments.

He said he came to Nigeria and undertook his National Youth Service between November 12, 1982 and November 11, 1983 with HARBONI LIMITED of IBADAN. A copy of the National Youth Service Corp. discharge certificate number 173807 issued to Tinubu, Bola Adekunle (NYSC/OY/FORN/82/9106) dated November 11, 1983 was given to the Committee as proof. This is herewith attached and marked as "Annexure 19". The Governor said he also worked at Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc and rose to become the Treasurer of the organisation. To buttress this claim, he tendered the following documents:

1. A copy of Mobil Oil Nigeria, Plc Certificate of Service dated May 14th, 1992 issued in favour of Mr. B.A. Tinubu. Herewith attached and marked "Annexure 20" is a copy of the said certificate.

2. A letter written by Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc dated December 29th, 1998 addressed to whom it may concern confirming that Mr. Tinubu was an employee of the Company between December 1, 1983 and mMay 17th, 1992. He was said to have left on May 18th, 1992 on public service lease of absence and did not return at the end of the leave. Herewith attached and marked "Annexure 21" is a copy of the said letter.

3. A welcome address by Paul L. Caldwell, Chairman/Managing Director of Mobil Producing Nigeria at the dinner given in honour of Senator Bola Tinubu on June 11th, 1992. Herewith attached and marked "Annexure 22" is a copy of the said address.

When questions were asked about age discrepancies, he insisted that he was born in 1952 and not 1954. In support of his claim, he referred to INEC FORM. 001 and his gubernatorial profile that put his year of birth as 1952. This tallies with his 1992 voters registration card and the Social Democratic Party senatorial candidature form dated June 1 1992, item 2 of which put his date of birth at March 29th, 1952.

The following documents were also made available to the Committee by the Governor.

1. His international passport number A0004062. Herewith attached and marked "Annexure 23" is a copy of the relevant page of the said passport;

2. His United States of America refugee travel passport number A74685870. Herewith attached and marked "Annexure 24" is a copy of the relevant page of the said passport; and

3. His United States of America employment authorisation card number LIN9804950277. Herewith attached and marked "Annexure 25" is a copy of the said card.

He concluded that errors on his INEC form were not deliberate, as he did not gain any advantage whatsoever by claiming 1954 or presenting bogus academic qualification since he already had the required minimum qualification.

When the Governor was asked why he did not respond to the allegations promptly, he said he felt they were all part of the campaign of calumny against him which began with the allegations that his administration was slow.

Asked about his view on the reactions of his aides to some of the allegations, he said that at a stage in the saga, the events took a life of its own with his aides issuing statements and papers on his behalf.

Ken Saro-Wiwa memorial art bus denied entry to Nigeria

Thursday 5 November 2015 10.48 GMT

Sculpture sent as gift to mark 20th anniversary of the environmentalist’s execution seized by Lagos customs officials because of its ‘political value’

A sculpture created as a memorial to Nigerian environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists has been denied entry to Nigeria, where it had been sent as a gift to mark the 20th anniversary of their execution by the military government.

Customs officials impounded Sokari Douglas Camp’s sculpture, in the form of a steel bus, when it arrived at Lagos port on 8 September, on grounds of its “political value”. Leaflets and reports sent by courier to commemorate Saro-Wiwa’s life and death were also seized.

Subsequent efforts by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Social Action and other pressure groups have failed to secure the work’s release and a memorial vigil in Bori-Ogoni may have to go ahead without it.

Celestine AkpoBari, national coordinator for the Ogoni Solidarity Forum-Nigeria, has spent the past two months working to secure the release of the sculpture, called The Bus - Living Memorial, from a secure area of Lagos port and remains determined to get it to Ogoniland, nine hours’ drive from Lagos, next week.

“I have been fortunate to see the bus in London but it will be so exciting to see it in Nigeria, I don’t know if I might faint,” he told the Guardian. “It will give so much happiness and strength and every Ogoni will want to come home and see it. We are still looking forward to hearing the good news, we need the bus because it is the symbol of our struggle now that Ken is not with us. We will use the presence of the bus to begin another era of our campaign for justice.”

The Bus was commissioned following a competition to mark the 10th anniversary of the executions and first exhibited outside the Guardian’s London offices in 2006. The artist described her work as a “spectacle” and symbol of the importance of transport to environmental debate.

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The Bus memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 means to the Ogoni struggle for environmental justice in the Niger Delta. The Bus was made by Sokari Douglas Camp in 2006 and was the result of an international competition to create the Living Memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa, initiated by Platform. Photograph: Platform
It was given to the Ogoni people by UK campaign group Platform, to show solidarity with continuing efforts to get oil giant Shell to repair damage caused by spills in Ogoniland over many years.

Saro-Wiwa’s hanging on 10 November 1995 sparked international outrage and led to the country’s suspension from the Commonwealth for four years, until the military handed control back to a civilian government in 1999. In 2009 Shell agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) to settle a claim brought by relatives of the Ogoni nine, after it was accused of having collaborated in the violation of their human rights.

The Bus spent four days at the bottom of the Thames in August, after it was dropped while being loaded on to a ship at the Port of Tilbury in Kent, and was repaired before leaving the UK for Lagos on 19 August. The plan was for it to make several stops in Nigeria en route to its final destination in Ogoniland.

erico2k2:
U took what I was saying out of context,what you quoted has no bearing on the said person, the Authorities never said she was arrested, infact they declined to name whom was arrested more so, the UK papers where quoting reports made by a Nigerian paper, read again

The reason for the arrests by the recently formed International Corruption Unit (ICU) was not disclosed by the NCA, which has also declined to name those who were brought in for questioning and then released on police bail. None of those arrested have been charged but it is understood investigations continue both within Britain and abroad.

erico2k2:
Unu nor dey rest,?? it has been proven the woman was not arrested in the Uk yet these news people will go on to keep dead news alive to deceive MUMUS in Nigeria.Anyone arrested in the UK who has such importance of an OPEC leader will be in all major news papers in the UK.The UK police do not arrest without evidence weather true or false and they charge you to court within 24 hours.

Two types of bail

There are, therefore, principally two common types of bail: firstly when the defendant is bailed without charge, the police will allow the defendant to leave the police station, usually under certain restrictions or conditions, and the defendant will be given a bail return date to return to the police station.

During the period in which the defendant is on bail, the police will carry out their investigations and then decide if the defendant will be charged when he returns for the bail return date.

At this point, the defendant will either be charged or be told that no further action is to be taken.

It has, however, become more common for police offices to bail the defendant again, once he returns for the bail return date, and continue investigations. Increasingly, therefore, a defendant can be on pre-charge bail for a number of months before discovering if they are to be charged.

Secondly, a defendant may be bailed once he has been charged with an offence.

If the police are confident the defendant will show up at court and not be a threat to the public in the meantime, they will generally grant bail, subject to certain conditions, and the defendant will be bailed until the court hearing date.

When the defendant has been charged, the police have far greater powers to refuse bail. However, the defendant has not at this stage been found guilty of anything and so cannot simply be imprisoned until a court hearing unless they pose a danger to a member of the public or there is a real concern the defendant will not show up for the court hearing.

But Mrs Alison-Madueke’s prominence has become now tinged with a less welcome threat of notoriety after officers from Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) arrived at various homes in London six days ago and arrested the former minister in charge of Nigeria’s vast oil industry along with four others as part of a two-year investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering.

The reason for the arrests by the recently formed International Corruption Unit (ICU) was not disclosed by the NCA, which has also declined to name those who were brought in for questioning and then released on police bail. None of those arrested have been charged but it is understood investigations continue both within Britain and abroad.

Rayhut:
Ondo oil wells belong to Ishekiri land of Delta state, It was Obasanjo that ceded some Delta state oil wells to Ondo, the litigation process is still going on at the federal high court, very soon they will revert the Ondo oil wells to its owners Delta state as they did between Akwa ibom and Cross River.

gregg2:
This is so much revenue for the FG which should not be stolen by our corrupt politicians

They should keep the money intact and use it to finance
anyone of the following key infrastructural projects:

1) 5,000MW powerplant in any Niger-Delta location with proximity to gas supply

2) Lagos - Abuja - Kano or Lagos - Niger-Delta - South-East modern rail line

3) Two mordern refineries in Lagos and Niger-Delta

Another PDP loyalist, Israel Oladipupo Ogunseye, told The City Reporters the confirmation was “a very laudable development, a big step in our democratic development. The parliament shouldn’t operate on mere newspaper assumptions (in reference to the alleged Ekiti scandal).”

Oke Umurhohwo is the Media Assistant to Otunba Segun Adewale (Aeroland) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

nkechiangela:
http://www.readupdates.com/2015/10/robert-mugabe-refuses-to-wear-india-native-during-india-african-leaders-summit/

A true african leader

Tennessee reverses ban on ‘mother,’ ‘father’ in parenting forms

Tennessee has reportedly reversed a controversial decision to replace the terms “Mother” and “Father” with “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” on official parenting documents.

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) revised its documents using more gender-neutral language shortly after the Supreme Court approved gay marriage nationwide, Fox News reported.

The office announced Tuesday that it “reverted to the previous form,” following conservative outrage over the wording.

“After receiving feedback regarding a recent change made to the permanent parenting plan form, the AOC has reviewed the procedures and determined that, before making any changes to the form, the AOC should consult with the Domestic Relations Committee of the Tennessee Judicial Conference,” the office said in a statement, Fox News reported. “We have reverted to the previous form and the Committee has been notified.”

kingzizzy:
I wonder why anyone would use South-Sudan as an example of what would happen in event of Biafra? Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in 1993 and have lived peacefully since then. This is despite Eritrea being half Muslim and half Christian.

Nigeria ranks highest in accident incidences amongst 193 countries

October 29, 2015

KANO State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has described as pathetic, the static available data that the country was, in the recent time, ranked highest in the rate of accidents among 193 countries in the world.

This was just as the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed that next year April was the deadline to effect speed limit device, saying the device was for the overall benefit to the motorists

This report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) further adjudged Nigeria as the country with the most unsafe roads in Africa, adding that the report added that one in every four road accident deaths in Africa occured in Nigeria.

Making the observation on Wednesday, at the FRSC 2015 Rally /ember months campaign flag-off in Kano, Ganduje noted that this was no doubt an obnoxious trend, even though the FRSC had discarded the report as untrue.

So, let us not fold our arms to let loses of lives continue unabated, all hands must be on deck to curtail the unwholesome development, road users, especially commercial motorists should desist from reckless driving and avoid driving having drunk.

Speaking on the occasion, Corps Marshal, Oyeyemi, said they were highly impressed to organise the rally in Kano, as according to him, it became necessary to educate members of the public on the need to be extra careful during the ember months.

Oyeyemi, however, disclosed that the FRSC would establish mini plant for the production of number plates for motorcycles and tricycles.

He further disclosed that the FRSC would also establish more driving licence centres to enable teeming masses obtain it easily.

Oyeyemi then commended the state government for installing streetlights, noting that they had made the state safer at night, because it had made life unbearable for men of underworld to operate at night.

Speaking in the same vein, Kano State sector commander, FRSC, A. J. Umar, said the theme of the mega rally is “towards an enduring SAFE culture.”

One of them is thinking: Falana and FFK bear the same first name but that’s where the similarities end

October 27, 2015

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Femi Falana and Femi Fani-Kayode both bear the same first names. Any attempt to find more similarities between them, especially in their approaches to problem solving may be stretching things a bit too far.

The difference in the thinking between Falana and Fani-Kayode becomes clear when one considers their positions on one of the biggest security challenges facing the country at the moment – the war between herdsmen and farmers across the country.

Fani-Kayode has intervened several times on the matter, from interviews to op-eds. Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister and presidential campaign spokesman, shapes the conversation as a battle between the North and South; between Fulanis and the tribes of Southern Nigeria. In one such intervention, he described the herdsmen as “tsetse flies”, a provocative comment which led to a reprimand from Prof. Chidi Odinkalu of the National Human Rights Council.

“These herdsmen have become the pests of our nation. They are like the East African tse-tse fly: wherever they go they suck the life blood out of their hosts and, like the locust, they destroy everything in their path,” he said. “They are like leeches: they indulge in a parasitic mode of nutrition and they suck the blood of the carcass until their victim is left for dead.”

Invoking the ‘supporter of APC’ theory pushed by the Peoples Democratic Party to describe the All Progressives Congress in 2014, Fani-Kayode said, “Like the Arab supporter of APC, they are only known for the most hideous of things. This includes terror, intimidation, theft, murder, rape, abduction, mutilation, the violation of the rights of others, the destruction of the land and crops of farmers and the destruction of property.

“Anyone that doubts this should ask the people of the north central zone what they have been suffering in the hands of these vagabonds and vagrants for the last 50 years. This is especially so in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kwara, Nassarawa, Taraba and Adamawa states,” he said.

Compare Fani-Kayode’s approach with that of top lawyer, Femi Falana, whose intervention on the matter was an attempt to proffer solutions.

“States which have large livestock populations should take advantage of the Land Use Act to acquire land for the establishment of grazing reserves,” he said, and suggested that those grazing reserves should be well policed.

Ultimately, according to Falana, the grazing reserves will be phased out and replaced with ranches and abattoirs.

“Since the Federal Government is obligated to protect the life and property of every citizen, urgent steps should be taken to avert further killings and destruction of farmlands by herdsmen,” Falana said in a statement.

Whereas Fani-Kayode called on Yorubas to offer “strong resistance to these alien cattle rearers”, Falana called on the federal government to move towards solving the problem or face a lawsuit by him.

Falana threatened that, “If the Buhari Administration does not discharge its constitutional duty by stopping the unwarranted civil disturbances, we shall not hesitate to pray the Federal High Court to compel it to act responsibly in the circumstance by ensuring the protection of the fundamental rights of every farmer to life and property.

“At the same time, we shall equally ask the court to compel the Federal Government and state government with large livestock populations to establish grazing reserves and ranches,” he said.

Falana said farmlands have continued to be destroyed due to the state’s failure to address the problem.

“Once again, I call on President Buhari to address the bloody clashes which occur regularly between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the various parts of the country.

“Through the negligence of the state, the country has continued to witness the reckless killing of innocent farmers and the destruction of farmlands.

“Farmers, like other citizens, are entitled to the protection of the right to life and property. To halt such wanton killings, the primitive movement of thousands of heads of cattle from the north to the south should be stopped without any further delay,” Falana said.

Compare the above intervention by Falana, with the crude, insensitive way Fani-Kayode put it in another one of his pieces: “It is important that we get these marauders and vandals out of our territory as quickly as possible.”

There you have it: A tale of two Femis. One of them is actually thinking – about the country, about solutions, about handling our fault lines with care, about things other than himself. The other is Femi Fani-Kayode.

This is precisely the view that led South Sudan to the current quagmire it finds itself in.

Read up on the 'convenient marriage' of strange bed-fellows, and the kind of problems that a refusal to address contradictions upfront presents -- Garang’s son blames President Kiir for conflict: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/650804-garang-s-son-blames-president-kiir-for-conflict.html

Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences: Why Do They Still Thrive On The Internet?

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Since at least 2003, a list similar to the one below has been circulating the Internet incessantly, popping up every so often on people's Facebook feeds infused with speculation about the reasons behind the coincidences surrounding former presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.:

[b]Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary, Kennedy, warned him not to go to the theater.
Kennedy's secretary, Lincoln, warned him not to go to Dallas.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was borin in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are comprised of fifteen letters.

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were both assassinated before their trials.[/b]

In January, Snopes presented a point-by-point refutation of these similarities. The complete take-down is here, but below are some highlights:

https://i.huffpost.com/gen/1026269/thumbs/o-LINCOLN-KENNEDY-TAKE-DOWN-570.jpg

Snopes also points out that there is no record of Lincoln having a secretary named Kennedy.

The list has been subject to mockery by one of Harvard's farcical Demon Magazine which included amazing similarities between the two Presidents such as "When Kennedy was shot, the car he was riding in was a Lincoln. Lincoln's last name was Lincoln," and "Both men (except Kennedy) were born in log houses."

Despite the fact-checking and mockery, the "coincidence" list refuses to die.

One reason may be what Scientific American's “Michael Shermer calls "patternicity,” or people's tendency of finding "meaningful patterns in meaningless noise."

Shermer argues that humans are evolutionarily predisposed to looking for patterns in our environment. Our ancestors were those who were most successful at seeing real patterns and adapting to them, but this also means we're more likely to think we recognize patterns where none exist.

Perhaps this is what's happening when people are amazed by these Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences. They may at first seem meaningful, but, as Snopes argues, under closer inspection they don't speak to any meaningful patterns.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave the incorrect name of the 35th president. It is John F. Kennedy, not John Kennedy, Jr.

Former President Obasanjo Had A Tire Blowout On His Way To The Airport In Lagos

Oct 24, 2015

A car conveying a former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo from Abeokuta to Lagos today had a tire blowout while the ex-president was on his way to the Murtala International Airport in Lagos to board a flight to Abidjan.

Sources close to Mr. Obasanjo told Saharareporters that the blowout sent jitters down the spine of occupants of the car, but no one was injured in the accident.

"The blown out tire was changed, and Mr. Obasanjo, who was in the company of Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, continued his trip to Lagos.", said one of the sources who didn't want to be named

The former President has since flown to Abidjan to commence election monitoring activities for Cote D’Ivoire’s Presidential Election slated for tomorrow.

Several aides of Mr. Obasanjo including Mr. Fasawe later told Saharareporters that the former president has arrived Abidjan.

Obasanjo escapes death ten years after wife’s death

October 24, 2015

Exactly ten years after he lost his wife, Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, escaped death by the whiskers , Saturday, while travelling to Lagos State.

Vanguard gathered that the incident occured shortly after Obasanjo left Abeokuta after he had participated in the church programme in honour of his late wife, Mrs. Stella Obasanjo who died ten years ago.

It was further gathered that, the former President had hurriedly left the programme to attend 80th birthday ceremony of pool magnate, Sir. Kesington Adebutu in Lagos.

According to an eyewitness one of the rear tyres of the Jeep in which he was travelling in burst on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway,few metres away from the Sagamu-interchange.

Obasanjo was said to have alighted from his vehicle to join another one in his convoy, and headed straight to Adebutu’s church service.

The former president had since jetted out of the country.