₦airaland Forum

I never saw my dad wearing a wedding ring. Mum claimed he lost his own 2 weeks after their wedding. Men

There is a considerable increment in intertribal marriages in Nigeria especially among Southerners(marriage between southerners and northerners suffer a great impediment created by religion). In fact, I claim that intertribal marriages arguably increase in geometric progression more than interracial marriages in the West. What factors do you think that contributed to such drastic increment in Nigerian intertribal marriages lately?

@Akin
Yes oh very unappreciative, if the ring is too cheap why add her own money to getting a better, she's judon't she st inconsiderate and immature

I don't even know whether my dad gave my mum an engagement ring how much less a diamond one. Probably NOT.

Why do some pastors request for the pictures of those they pray for? I see that thing as plain juju because i don't see the reason why he/she should ask for the persons picture if God knows us one by one. Do you need to show God someone's picture for Him to know the person? I tire for this new age church movement in Naija now.

Wont last long, he will eventually get tired of her.

According to her, her pastor prayed for her over him and he aint going nowhere. Naija pastors can also lie to get your dollars.

No! 1grand engagement ring is good enough. They can invest the money on other important things like the wedding, a house, their future children college funds etc. Again i need to slap her silly

Human beings can be insatiable. She's milking the guy dry because she knows he loves her so much but how long will it last?

@chika and Trooe,
Assuming a man can afford that ring cormfortably, will both of you still complain if he buys a cheap one?

A friend of mine was whining because her fiancee gave her a $1000 diamond engagement ring. Bobo is hard working, knows his onions, handsome, tall and very religious but above all that she wanted more. She argued that if she meant so much to him, economic recession or not, he would've gone out of his way to get her some ring from $5k and above. My question will be:

Chics:
Will you be annoyed if your man buys a cheap engagement ring for you? Do you think that the quality and size of the rock in the ring is a measure of his love and how important you are to him?

Guys:
Do you attach so much importance to the diamond engagement ring? If you can cormfortably afford a $100,000 diamond ring, will you buy it for her or do you prefer to use the money for something else?

2) If there is a break up from either party, will you ask for your expensive engagement ring back?

Pastor in police net for having sex with boys
Olalekan Olabulo, Lagos with Agency Report
Friday, May 2, 2008
A pastor of a pentecostal church in Satellite Town, Lagos, (names witheld) has been arrested by the police for allegedly having sexual relationship with six under-age boys in his parish.



Nigerian Tribune learnt that the pastor, who is in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti, Yaba, was earlier detained by the police at Agboju but released on bail.



While he was on police bail on April 23, NAN correspondents met him at his church. Though he confirmed that he had a “minor issue” with the police, he declined to say if it had to do with the alleged homosexual relationship.



A senior police officer at CID, Panti, Yaba, on Thursday confirmed that the pastor was re-arrested and detained to enable police detectives investigate the matter without interference by the suspect.



NAN was able to interview two of the alleged victims of the pastor. The boys, aged 15 and 16, alleged that they each got a GSM handset the first time the suspect lured them into the act and had subsequently been showered with cash and material gifts.



NAN reliably gathered that the pastor’s secret dealing with the boys came into the open after one of his alleged victims refused to follow his parents to the pastor’s church for prayers, describing the ‘man of God’ as evil.
http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/2/606.html

No vacuum in Yoruba leadership, says Falae

Ogbulafor, others pay tributes to Adesanya

By Clifford Ndujihe
FORMER Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, has urged those angling to become the next Yoruba leader following the death of Senator Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya to have a rethink.



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Reason: "There is no vacuum in Yoruba leadership."

In a chat with The Guardian at the late politician's Apapa home, Falae said Adesanya appointed a successor before he died and that the appointment was accepted by the Yoruba.

However, leaders of a coalition of Yoruba groups, the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Group (COSEG), said that a new Yoruba leader would emerge in June after the burial of Adesanya.

The 1999 joint presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and All Peoples Party (APP), Falae said: "There has never been a vacuum in Yoruba leadership. Three years ago, Papa (Adesanya) sat where I am sitting now (Adesanya's sitting room) and said that his health was failing and nominated Chief Reuben Fasoranti as acting leader. He has acted for three years now.

"In a similar situation, the late Pa (Michael Adekunle) Ajasin nominated Adesanya as acting leader. So, there is no vacancy. Anyone running around to become the next leader is wasting his time. The Yoruba have their way of choosing their leaders. Anyone who says 'I am a leader' is not a leader. It is the people who can say 'this man embodies our values and protects our welfare' and begin to go to him for advice and direction. That is the way it is done in Yoruba land."

But COSEG Chairman, Dayo Ogunlana, said Yoruba youths would meet in June to nominate a new leader.

The COSEG consists of five groups - the Oodua Youth Movement (OYM), Oodua Liberation Movement (OLM), Federation of Yoruba Consciousness and Culture (FYCC), Oodua Republic Front (ORF) and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).

Ogunlana said: "By June, a new Yoruba leader will emerge at the All Yoruba Youth Conference in Lagos. Yoruba elders are in crisis, there is crisis of confidence among Yoruba elders; they cannot choose a leader for us."

Asked the pedigree of the coalition to warrant undertaking such a sensitive task, he said: "We nominated Adesanya when he became Yoruba leader and the Yoruba people accepted him. We nominated him at Premier Hotel, Ibadan in 1998 and by the grace of God, we will nominate another leader in June."

Ogunlana dismissed apprehensions that the coalition might be infiltrated by power brokers and thereby influence its choice. "Nobody influenced us in 1998 when we nominated Adesanya and so nobody will influence us today," he stated.

In a related development, another Yoruba group, the World Festival of Yoruba Arts and Culture (WOFEYAC) has said that "an acceptable Yoruba leader" would emerge in November during the World Yoruba Festival.

WOFEYAC Chief Organiser and Publisher of Alaroye Newspapers, Alao Adebayo, said in a statement that "in Yoruba land, leaders are chosen and installed during big cultural festivals."

He added: "We would not have dabbled into this because what we wanted to do was to have a convention of all Yoruba Obas and the congress of all Yoruba leaders worldwide during the festival. But the situation on the ground in Yoruba land places the additional responsibility on our shoulders.

"There are bitter disagreements and factionalisation within Afenifere, OPC and between YCE and Afenifere. Members of political parties cannot choose Yoruba leader by themselves, as other parties would not accept this. And there is also bickering among royal fathers.

"Because of our neutrality and disinterest in the position, we are at a better angle to mobilise the people to select their leader."

Falae and Ogunlana spoke as eminent Nigerians continued to troop to the home of the late Afenifere leader to commiserate with his family.

Among those who called yesterday were National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Vincent Ogbulafor and members of the party's National Working Committee (NWC); Chief Gbenga Kaka; Chief Ropo Adesanya; Mr. Niyi Afuye; Dr. Abimbola Ogunkelu; Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye; Mr. Dayo Ogunlana and Ambassador Segun Olusola, among others.

Ogbulafor, who arrived at 2.40 p.m. and had a chat with Adesanya's widow, Mrs. Rosanna Arinola Adesanya and other members of the family for about 25 minutes, described Adesanya as "a man of impeccable character, a great son of the soil who fought for the liberty of his people. He defended not only the Yoruba people but also the entire country.

"To us, the young, we will tap from his wisdom. He played his part well. Let us all learn from him so that Nigeria will be united and move forward in peace and progress."

On how the leader of the late defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) should be immortalised, Ogbulafor said Adesanya had immortalised himself by the good things he did and the principled life he led.

"Pa Adesanya was a legend. He had immortalised himself because of the things he had done. We will try to let those things that he did stand," he added

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/2/5.html

Will Mugabe bow out in peace or will he fight on? God knows that he'll soon face the worst fear of his life, jail. Foolish man.

Zimbabwe electoral commission officially declares Morgan Tsvangirai winner of presidential election

By Susan Njanji





Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was finally declared the winner Friday of the March 29 presidential election but fell just short of toppling incumbent Robert Mugabe in the first round.



Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai



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Nearly five weeks after polling day, the electoral commission announced that Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, had won 47.9 percent against 43.2 percent for the 84-year-old Mugabe and the pair will now face off in a run-off on a date yet to be announced.

A third candidate, former finance minister Simba Makoni, won 8.3 percent and now drops out of the contest.

"Since no candidate has received the majority of the valid vote cast,  a second election shall be held on a date to be advised by the commission," Lovemore Sekeramayi, chief elections officer, told reporters in Harare.

The MDC, which has consistently maintained it won a clear majority in the first round, reacted furiously to what it called the "scandalous" announcement but gave no immediate indication on whether it would contest a second round.

"This is scandalous," said chief MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa. "What is clear is that we won this election and there is no budget for a run-off."

The MDC, whose own figures show Tsvangirai just scraped past the 50 percent threshold, said the commission had "jumped the gun" by announcing the results in the middle of all-party talks designed to reach agreement on the outcome.

Tsvangirai himself has said he sees no need for a run-off although under the terms of the constitution, Mugabe would automatically be declared the winner if his rival was to pull out.

The announcement of the first round defeat is yet another severe blow to Mugabe whose Zimbabwe African Nation Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party has also been confirmed as having lost control of parliament in legislative elections held the same day.

Mugabe himself has kept largely quiet about the outcome of the election although ZANU-PF has already endorsed him as its candidate in the event of a second round.

Having ruled the former British colony uninterrupted since independence in 1980, many analysts believe he may not want to embarrass himself in a second round and will instead try and secure an exit package.

After the announcement, Makoni refrained from endorsing either candidate but instead said the inflation-ravaged nation could not afford another round of voting and urged political leaders to work together.

"The way forward for this country is for the political leaders to work together," he said.

Mugabe's control of the security apparatus has led the MDC to conclude that he will intimidate voters into giving him a sixth term in office in a run-off.

But the hero of the 1970s war against white minority rule has found himself increasingly isolated since election day with the chorus of calls for results growing ever louder and an international outcry over an upsurge in violence.

Western governments, including former colonial power Britain and the United States, have been saying for weeks that the people of Zimbabwe had voted for change and criticised the hold-up to the results as a delaying tactic.

Reacting to the commission's announcement, Britain's Foreign Office cast doubt on the credibility of the results and said foreign monitors were crucial to the prospects of a second round being free and fair.

"The election results released five weeks after polling day lack credibility but it's clear that at least 60 percent of the population voted for change in Zimbabwe," a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP.

"Without an immediate end to violence and the introduction of a wider range of international monitors and in much greater numbers than were present for the first, no second round could be free and fair."

No Western observers were allowed to oversee the ballot on March 29 and a team from the Southern African Development Community was widely criticised for giving it a largely clean bill of health despite the lack of results.

However even regional governments have been growing increasingly exasperated at the unfolding crisis on their doorstep with some four million Zimbabweans believed to have fled an economic meltdown.

Once a regional role model, Zimbabwe now has the world's highest rate of inflation which is officially put at 165,000 percent although analysts believe it may be several times higher.

Unemployment stands at over 80 percent, basic foodstuffs are scarce and life expectancy has dropped to 36 years of age.


© 2008 AFP

I'm sure some of these bank workers and engineers in Nigeria work with fake certificates too.

Fake certificates: 500 civil servants know fate next week

By Sunday Aborisade, Ibadan


The 500 junior civil servants who were sent on suspension in February by the Oyo State Government for allegedly working with fake academic certificates will know their fate next week.







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Our correspondent on Wednesday that the committee set up to review the cases of all the affected workers had written its report and forwarded it to the office of the state’s Head of Service.

The committee was made up of civil servants, political office holders and officials of the state council of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

A source in the committee, who is a labour leader in the state, explained on the condition of anonymity to our correspondent, that only 34 out of the affected workers might get a reprieve.

According to him, “The report is ready, The committee discovered that most of the workers with the exception of about 34 of them, were actually operating with fake school certificates or its equivalent.

“The state executive council will likely determine their fate during their weekly meeting next week. We have recommended that 34 out of the workers who seemed to have genuine cases, should be pardoned.

“We discovered that there they have typographical errors in their certificates and they had submitted documents to convince us that their papers were genuine.”

He also stated that the state government had asked the committee to continue in its assignment by probing the certificates of all senior officials in the state civil service.

He said the workers had been submitting originals of the certificates they obtained from their universities, polytechnic and other higher institutions, which the state government recognised.

The state Head of Service, Dr. Ebenezer Okebukola, could not be reached for comments on Wednesday but the chairman of the state council of the NLC, Mr. Bashir Apapa, told our correspondent that the congress would meet with the government on the issue.

Apapa confirmed that the report was ready but said that the congress had advised the state government not to take any action until it had met with the NLC leadership in the state.

The 500 civil servants were suspended over allegations of certificate forgery.

Okebukola had disclosed this in February while briefing journalists after the weekly state executive council meeting.

Okebukola said that the state government had set up a panel of enquiry to investigate the development and that the affected workers would be interviewed next week.

The HOS had insisted that none of the civil servants involved in the mess would receive their salary from January until the determination of their case.

He had also explained that the exercise was geared towards “sanitising the state civil service from unscrupulous elements who used fake certificates to secure employment with the state government”.

He, however, assured the people that anybody found guilty among the affected workers at the end of the investigation will face the full the wrath of the law.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/2/410.html

New Yoruba leader emerges in June
Friday, May 2, 2008

A new Yoruba leader is to emerge next month, the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG), has said, just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, yesterday stressed that the late Senator Abraham Adesanya has immortalized himself.

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COSEG President, Mr Wale Ogunlana, said that a planning committee to recommend Adesanya’s successor has been inaugurated.

He said that the committee would look at the credentials of eligible Yoruba sons fit for the position and recommend to COSEG.

“Upon the receipt of these names, we shall then look at those recommended before a decision is taken,” he said.

Ogunlana recalled that this was how the group recommended Papa Adesanya for the same position years back, adding that COSEG would remain apolitical.

Prominent Nigerians that visited the Adesanya’s home yesterday included Otunba Adekunle Ojora and wife, Ambassador Segun Olusola, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Chief Abimbola Ogunkelu and Hon Nini Afuye.

Ogbulafor, who led a PDP delegation to the Apapa home of the Afenifere leader, said this was in view of the fear that Chief Adesanya was a dogged fighter who served the country well.

“He was a decent man who affected people’s lives. We needed him most when he left,” he said.

According to him, the PDP was largely touched by the death of the elder statesman when the party heard about his death during its National Working Committee (NWC) meeting.

This, he noted, was in view of the fact that Adesanya was a patriot who defended the cause of the country at all time.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/2/511.html

Is Nigeria that bad? How can a 52 year old man do a thing like this?

NDLEA arrests varsity graduates, others for drug trafficking
By Wole Shadare

A GRADUATE of philosophy, Olutope Vincent Odewale and four others are currently being interrogated by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, for drug trafficking.



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Other suspects include Andrew Chiaghana Kelvin Uzorofor, 26; Jerome Nwokedi, 35; Moses Ojo Olarewaju, 52; and Charles Amadi, 21.

They were all alleged to have tested positive for cocaine ingestion last week while on their various destinations to Europe.

Odewale was said to have been caught on April 22, 2008, at about 9.00 p.m. while attempting to board a British Airways flight to London with 1.200 kilogrammes of cocaine in his stomach.

The 1987 graduate of philosophy from the University of Ado-Ekiti also holds a Masters degree in Developmental Law and Social Justice from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands.

"I was duped in 2005 and since then, I have lost everything. It was not deliberate, I can not imagine, I just feel it was designed but I know better now", were the words of Odewale who was obviously remorseful as he told his story.

Spokesman for the anti-narcotics agency, Ofoyeju Mitchel, disclosed that the suspect would have been paid £2,000 by his sponsors "if he had successfully smuggled the deadly consignment".

Also arrested on same flight was Uzorofor, 26, a 2006 graduate of Building Technology from Abia State University.

He was said to have ingested 66 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.123 kilogrammes.

Uzorofor works in a car wash to earn a living in London having discarded his degree certificate in building technology.

He said he was under pressure to pay his rent in London and so, he consented to smuggle drug for a fee of £3,000.

On April 23, 2008, Jerome Nwokedi was caught during the screening of passengers on Lufthansa flight.

He was on his way to Dublin to represent his company, names withheld in a court case, but decided to ingest drugs for a fee of £1,000.

He is a 2002 graduate of Estate Management from Enugu State University of Science and Technology.

Nwokedi, according to Mitchel, had so far discharged 66 wraps of the drug and he is still under observation.

According to the suspect: "I was bewitched into taking it because my travel expenses have been taken care of by my company, I had no reason to carry drugs. I don't even know how many wraps of the drugs I swallowed unlike my colleagues. This boy just held my hands and I followed him stupidly", he explained as he fought back tears.

Also, a 52-year-old car dealer, Olarewaju, ingested 85 wraps of substances that proved positive for cocaine, weighing 1.267 kilogrammes.

The father of five, who is currently in his second year at the Esa-Oke Polytechnic, Osun State, was nabbed on April 24, at about 10.00 p.m. on his way to London.

He said his sponsors offered to pay him £3,000.

"I know God is not on my side. My children will not be happy with me when they hear of my arrest", he lamented.

Also arrested same night was 21-year-old Amadi, who swallowed 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.267 kilogrammes on his way to Madrid.

"My people will be highly disappointed because I am their only hope", were the words of Amadi, who narrated how he travelled to Europe by road just to make ends meet.

According to Amadi, it took him a year and two months to get to Spain. Narrating how he suffered on his long journey through Niger Republic, Mali, Algeria and Morocco before entering Spain, he regretted trafficking in hard drugs for a fee of £3,500.

All the suspects have confessed to the crime but they all pleaded guilty, saying it was caused by poverty.

The NDLEA Commander at the airport, Mr. Victor Cole Shower, however, dismissed their plea, saying: "They have no justification trafficking in narcotics because it is unlawful. They are physically and academically qualified to work and earn a living legitimately".

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/2/16.html

I reject this story in jesus name.