₦airaland Forum

Corp member offers scholarships to 50 students

NewsFeb 8, 2011

By ENYIM ENYIM

A corps member serving at the Directorate of Chieftaincy Affairs, Deputy Governor’s Office, Asaba, Mr Stephen Jideani, has given scholarship to 50 students drawn from three communities in Delta State.
Speaking yesterday with reporters in Onitsha, Jideani said he decided to embark on the project as his contribution to federal government’s bid to phase out illiteracy in the country.
He said it was about time Nigeria bade final good bye to illiteracy, saying if literacy was ushered into the society, the widening gap between the rich and poor would be a thing of the past.
According to him, the beneficiaries of the funds he is sourcing from his meagre salary, well meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations include orphans, indigent students of Ogwuashi Ukwu, Issele Azagba and Asaba
Jideani, an indigene of Aguleri in Anambra State, told newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra State, that he sourced money through some well meaning individuals from Delta State to procure the educational materials he gave to the deserving students.
He said: “I have awarded scholarships to 50 students from three communities in Delta State, including orphans, fatherless and motherless students of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Issele-Azagba and Asaba communities of the state.”
He said “the first scholarship award took place on December 1, 2010, while the second award took place on December 9, 2010.
“Precisely, the 50 recipients are students of St. Patricks Model College, Asaba; Adaigbo Senior Secondary School, Ogwashi-Uku and Azagba Mixed Secondary School, Issele-Azagba.
“I had the courage to trek down to the rural communities in search of the student orphans. I want my fellow corps members, particularly those coming after us, to pick up such courage when they are serving.
“I mean they should not end up enjoying urban modern facilities. They should go down to the down trodden in the society,” said Jideani.
He said the beneficiaries of his first phase of the scholarship scheme were 22 students of Adaigbo Senior Secondary School, Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South Council Area of the state and their names are Enuma Monday, Ibrahim Yerima, Ashied Kingsley, Ogbolu Ogochukwu, Okpuno Abraham, Nwamaka Stephen, among others.
Also, 19 of them received Oxford English Advanced Learners Dictionary, Original 7th New Edition Dictionaries with CD plate each, a revised standard version o Bible and a novel that are relevant to their studies each. The cost of each of those books is N1,650 and their total cost is N31,350.
“Most intelligent ones among the receipients have equally received books worth N2,200 each from me. As for the students of Issele-Azagba, in Aniocha Council Area of the state, I have given them free educational materials like their Adaigbo counterparts. For instance, one Grace Nwajei Chinasa, an orphan received from me all the books she needed for her remaining secondary school level, and the books that would prepare her for her SSCE and JAMB exams, amounting to N9,050” said Jideani.
I must also mention that I spent about N7,450 on Master Chidi Udaya alone, one of the student orphans of St. Patricks Asaba in procuring books for his remaining secondary school level, SSCE and JAMB exams.
Jideani said the Phase 2 of his scholarship awards was launched on December 9, 2010 with the handing over of another set of educational materials worth N27,900 to the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-Uku, Obi Professor Okonjo, to supplement his December 1, 2010 free education scheme to more eight students of Adaigbo Senior Secondary School, which brought the number of beneficiaries to 50.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/corp-member-offers-scholarships-to-50-students/

Igbinedion to face corruption charges today

By Jethro Ibileke

February 8, 2011 03:50AM

There are indications that former two-time governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion will be arraigned at the Federal High Court, Benin today by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to face a 26-count charge of alleged unlawful conversion and criminal diversion of 25 billion naira state government shares in two banks.

Mr Igbinedion who ruled Edo State between 1999 - 2003, had earlier been convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment following charges of corruption brought against him by the EFCC.

He was however given an option of fine after a plea bargain.

Patriarch of Igbinedion family and father of the former governor, Gabriel Igbinedion early yesterday morning with several former associates of Governor Igbinedion who served in his administration were sighted at the Edo State government house, allegedly having consultation with the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole.

It was however not clear what he discussed with the governor, but his visit to Government House yesterday fuelled strong speculations making rounds in Benin City that the visit may not be unconnected with the pending EFCC case against his son.

A Government House source who spoke on condition of anonymity said “My brother, we are also surprised that the big man is in government house this early. Mind you his son is due to face EFCC again, I guess he is doing all he can to prevail on the state government to do all it can to save him from going to jail, like he did at his first charge in Enugu.”

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Nasarawa protesters hurl stones at Jonathan’s convoy

By Umar Muhammed and Festus Owete

February 8, 2011 05:46AM

Young men and women lined major roads leading to the Emir of Lafia’s palace in Nasarawa state yesterday chanting “Sai Buhari” and carrying Congress of Progressive Change presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari posters. The youth also threw stones at the convoy of President Goodluck Jonathan as it passed by on its way to the state capital for the official flag-off of the presidential campaign, smashing a few windscreens in the process. The campaign entourage included the vice-president, Namadi Sambo, along with six governors from the North Central zone and other party candidates. Mr. Jonathan was accompanied along Doma Road to the palace by the governor of Nasarawa State, Aliyu Akwe Doma, to pay a visit to the traditional ruler, Isa Mustapha Agwai II.

The People’s Democratic Party spent several hours repairing damage caused by the anti-Jonathan/Sambo protesters to billboards of the president and his vice. The billboards had been defaced with paint, including another of Governor Doma, erected at strategic locations around the Lafia metropolis. When Mr. Jonathan’s convoy arrived in the town and made its way to the emir’s palace at about 2:30pm, the protesters blocked all major roads to the palace, hurling stones at the convoy. They screamed: “Nigeria, Sai Buhari, Nasarawa, Sai Al-Makura”, continually, overwhelming the efforts of security operatives including armed police officers stationed at strategic locations around the area.

State police commissioner, Wilfred Obute, refused to speak when our reporter called him for official comment. He said that he could not speak because he was in a meeting. Next observed that the police doubled the number of armed police officers and other security operatives along the way to Lafia Township Stadium, venue of the campaign flag-off. Supporters of party candidates were denied access to the venue of the campaign rally, a development which compelled the party to address a sparse crowd during the rally.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5675047-146/nasarawa_protesters_hurl_stones_at_jonathans.csp

Bankole, Daniel may not contest 2011 polls

Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Edwin Olofu, Abimbola Ayobami

February 8, 2011 05:27AM


More surprises emerged from the official list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission yesterday when the names of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and the Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel were absent from the list.

The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Martins Okunfolami who confirmed this also announced that Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has qualified to contest for a seat in the Senate. Mr Obasanjo has thus confirmed his supremacy in the state’s politics.

Mr. Bankole lost to Olusegun Alawode who is now the Peoples Democratic Party candidate to the lower house of the National Assembly, while Mr. Daniel lost the slot to contest for Senate to Muhammed Adetunji Toheeb. Lola Abiola-Edewor, daughter of the late politician, Moshood Abiola lost to Mrs Obasanjo-Bello.

Bankole’s chance

However, Mr. Bankole may still be accommodated in the list, as the Olurin camp has engineered an internal arrangement in which the candidate in Abeokuta South, where he(Bankole) comes from, can step down for the speaker. This opportunity is said to be possible under the electoral provision which states that the name of a candidate can still be substituted between now and February 15.

Gaffe

A bizarre twist was added to the drama when it was discovered that the list of Niger State House of Assembly candidates has been sent to Ogun State by the electoral commission. This mistake was found when the Ogun State office of the commission was collating its list. Mr Okunfolami said, ‘‘The State Assembly candidates for Niger State was sent to me here, I just connected with my colleague, I was thinking of faxing it to him, when I told him, he said I should DHL it to him.’’

Later, when the state’s authentic list was sent, Tunji Olurin was listed as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while his running mate is Tunde Oladunjoye, a journalist and former local government chairman in the state. Ibikunle Amosun is the governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria {CAN}, and his deputy is Segun Adesegun, a former Commissioner in the state. Also, a former deputy governor under the administration of Olusegun Osoba, Sefiu Adegbenga Kaka, was announced as the Senatorial candidate for the ACN in Ogun East.

Phillip Umeadi, the commission’s national commissioner in charge of legal affairs, had at the weekend explained that the current list of candidates is not final as substitutions may occur due to court orders and other reasons.

He added: “ If you look at Section 31 of the Electoral Act, it says political parties would submit to the INEC the particulars of candidate they intend to sponsor for the election. They are not sponsoring them yet; it is just an expression of intent.’’

Abacha’s luck

In Kano State, Mohammed Abacha, son of the late military dictator emerged the governorship candidate of the Congress for progressive Change. In the party’s governorship primary election held last month, Mr. Abacha had led in 21 of the 44 councils of the state with over 144,000 votes as against 78,000 scored by Lawal Jafaru Isa his opponent who was a former military administrator of Kaduna State.

However, the party’s board of trustees in Abuja had submitted Mr. Isa’s name to the INEC. At the display of Mr. Abacha’s name yesterday hundreds of youth took to the street of Kano in jubilation. Some of them shouted the praise of Attahiru Jega saying that he is a man of integrity who has just proved that by declaring Mr. Abacha the winner of the governorship primaries.

The Ekiti State list shows that former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose is to contest the Ekiti Central Senatorial District under the banner of Labour Party, while Kayode Alufa is candidate of the PDP. However, against all expectations, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presented Kolawole Olagunju as its candidate for Ekiti Central. The two aspirants on the platform of the party, Babafemi Ojudu and Opeyemi Bamidele, the two contenders were not listed.

The ACN had witnessed protracted crisis over who to field among Mr. Ojudu, Dele Alake former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Bamidele and Bode Ola, who holds the post now. Mr. Ojudu in a telephone interview claimed that Mr. Kolawole will fill a withdrawal form to allow his (Ojudu) own name to be sent. A son-in-law to Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, Mr Oye Ojo was listed as the candidate for House of Representative in the Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 2.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5675033-146/bankole_daniel_may_not_contest_2011.csp

Justice Salami Goes To Court To Stop “Promotion”

Posted: February 7, 2011 - 15:21

By SaharaReporters, New York

The acrimony between Chief Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu of the Supreme Court and President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami, has taken a new twist, with Justice Salami taking the case to court.

SaharaReporters was first to report that Justice Katsina-Alu was spearheading a plot to promote Justice Salami to the Supreme Court as a way of neutralizing the latter’s principled leadership of the Court of Appeal and his role in reversing several cases of electoral fraud. Our sources within the judiciary indicated that Mr. Katsina-Alu was working with Attorney General Adoke Bello as well as close associates of Nigeria’s ruler, Goodluck Jonathan, to transfer Salami to the Supreme Court where his lone voice would be drowned out by a majority of justices available to be bought. SaharaReporters sources disclosed that the “promotion” of Justice Salami has been in planning for over a month, coordinated by Jonathan’s chief of staff, Mike Oghadiome and funded by the minister for Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe

Information reaching us this morning revealed that Justice Salami has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the CJN as well as the Federal Judicial Service Commission to abandon the nefarious scheme to promote Salami out of relevance.

SaharaReporters has also learned that the current tussle between the two jurists is not the first time they have dueled. According to our sources, Justice Salami had on several occasions in the past rejected the ploy to “promote” him to the apex court.


“The tension between the two men was worsened after the 2007 elections that were rigged with reckless abandon,” said a source who is a member of the Nigerian Judicial Commission. The source disclosed that Justice Salami had openly criticized both the judgments of the Court of Appeal and that of the Supreme Court validating the 2007 presidential election. “Justice Salami was outraged that the Nigerian judiciary had exposed itself to ridicule by upholding the validity of the process that produced former President Umaru Yar’Adua. He made his feelings known to Justice Katsina-Alu and other top justices of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court,” explained the source.

Several lawyers and sources described Justice Salami as a crusader who wants to change the perception that the judiciary is a bastion of corruption. “Justice Salami knows that the entire edifice of society is weakened when the judiciary is perceived as susceptible to corrupt influence,” said an Abuja-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria, adding that “those whose goal is to accumulate riches should seek other callings and professions rather than judicial appointments.”

SaharaReporters has also learnt that Justice Niki Tobi of the Supreme Court was the last member of the court persuaded by former Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa to sign on to a deal to uphold Mr. Yar’Adua’s fraudulent mandate. “Aondoakaa and other members of Yar’Adua’s inner circles secured Justice Tobi’s endorsement by promising to make him chief justice, even though his retirement from the court was close, and to promote his son to a bench in the Court of Appeal,” said a source. The source added that the failure to keep the two promises was so shattering for Justice Tobi that it precipitated a serious downturn in his health. “The man was shattered to see his career end on an ignominious note. He not only felt ashamed to be tricked into defending the indefensible 2007 elections, he also felt used and dumped,” said a source.

A family source told SaharaReporters that former Justice Niki Tobi had to be flown abroad for urgent medical treatment. The source revealed that the retired justice has a tumor in his brain and “has become a virtual vegetable case,” adding that his “situation is so bad that he is no longer able to recognize anybody.”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/justice-salami-goes-court-stop-%E2%80%9Cpromotion%E2%80%9D

Sharia court rules over area courts in Abuja

By Gowon Emakpe

February 7, 2011 03:06AM


Area Courts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja have being transferred from the High Courts to the Sharia Court of Appeals, the Chief Judge of Abuja High Courts , Lawal Gummi said.

Mr Gummi, revealed this during the handover ceremony of the Area Courts to the Sharia Court of Appeal, he praised the two chambers of the National Assembly for working effortlessly in passing the law of transference. "Appreciation must also go to President Goodluck Jonathan who did not withhold his assent to the Bill but passed it into law."

He informed that "the Area Courts by their special design are meant to bring justice closer to the grassroots, so that no one is deprived justice by reason of location, religion, tribe or tongue or any other reason for that matter." According to the Chief Judge, the decision to initiate the process of transferring Area Court to Sharia Court of Appeals started when they realised that as a lower court,appeals from the Area Court lies both to the High Court and the Sharia Court of Appeal. "Appeals go to the Sharia Court of Appeal in cases involving questions regarding Islamic personal law and in all other cases to the High Court. Now,all other cases hardly existed. A majority of the appeals go to the Sharia Court of Appeals."

The overarching goal of this handover he said is to ensure an effective administration of Area Courts by a Superior Court to which it is more inclined by the nature of cases it receives. "I hope that this handover will not in any way affect the contribution of these courts to access to justice. I believe this will strengthen the judicial process and empower the Area Courts to even do more than they have done already."

Mr Gummi, added that reports have reached him that certain Area Courts judges are in the habit of directly writing to banks and other offices in possession of assets of deceased persons to transfer same directly to the courts for onward delivery to the next of kin of the deceased. "This practice is wrong and highly condemnable." "All matters of probate are within the jurisdiction of the High Court and when such applications come before you, you are to advise them to approach the probate registry of the High court.

This directive of course excludes matter of succession under Islamic law" he said

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5673688-146/sharia_court_rules_over_area_courts.csp

Customs officers shatter woman’s leg

By Modey Peters

February 5, 2011 10:41PM

A housewife, Umo Edem who was travelling with her husband, Emmanuel Edem, to see her sick mother is now lying in the hospital with her leg strapped in plaster of Paris as a result of bullet wounds from the guns of men of the Nigerian Customs Service.

Mr Edem, who works in the Calabar office of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs narrated his story thus: “I was driving towards Okoyong when somewhere on a sharp bend, I suddenly came upon a Customs check point and one of the officers flagged me to stop, but in front of me was a truck and behind was an Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC) bus on top speed so I could not stop abruptly because the AKTC bus would have rammed into my car from behind, so I had to indicate with my traffic light that I was about to stop on the left”, he said.

He added that the officers did not wait for him to park for them to carry out their search, instead, they opened fire on his vehicle. “The bullets went through my car condenser, ripped through the right leg of my trousers and eventually shattered my wife’s left leg lodging several bullets and pellets from the condenser”, he revealed.

Mr Edem claimed that the customs officers led by an assistant superintendent whose name was given as Shuaibu and another officer, Okoronkwo Afam, “did not show any remorse at first, even with my wife’s leg bleeding profusely, they asked me to write a statement and take my wife away but my car was gushing water and smoke and could not move so they took us in their vehicle to Calabar”.

The helpless man explained that the initial plan was to take the woman to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) since the General Hospitals were on strike “but the bleeding became too much and my wife was getting weak and unconscious , I had to ask them to stop at Emmanuel Infirmary which is at the entrance to the city”.

Not aware

He said the officers gave N15, 000 out of the N30, 000 demanded by the doctor and had to make up the balance the following day. “That was all we heard from them and I have since then spent over N150,000 on drugs, hospital bills, feeding and other sundry needs of my wife”, he added.

His wife said she is worried about her aged mother who is still ill at Okoyong. “We were actually going to Okoyong to get drugs for my aged mother who is lying there sick. Now the money that was supposed to be used in buying drugs for her is being spent on my treatment, tell me what will happen to her,” she asked rhetorically.

The shooting incident, she said has affected her business as she can no longer run around. “Can you imagine me starting 2011 this way, my business is now suffering and I don’t know when I will leave this place and if I will be able to walk with my two legs again’’, she said amidst sobs.

The public Relations Officer of the zonal headquarter of the Nigerian Customs Service in Calabar, Mr Tele T. D said he is not aware of any shooting involving men of the command.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5673092-146/customs_officers_shatter_womans_leg_.csp

Magnus Kpakol and the KEKE NAPEP scam

By Nicholas Ibekwe

January 23, 2011 08:25AM

In 2000, after a chance meeting with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, the Chief Executive of Autobahn Techniques Limited (trademark owners of the name KEKE NAPEP) Ofili Okonkwo, convinced the former head of state that the KEKE NAPEP project could be a veritable tool for wealth creation and poverty alleviation. Thus was the marriage between the federal government and Autobahn consummated. According to the term of the partnership, Autobahn was to implement and develop the project while the presidency is expected to provide the requsite fund through the office of NAPEP.

“The first stage of the programme targeted at the reclamation of at least 10,000 youth drawn from all states of the federation of Nigeria including the federal capital territory during the experimental period”, explained Mr. Okonkwo. “This will translate in the provision by government, of at least 1000 units of tricycles”.

The project was designed such that the tricycles are subsidised by the government and each recipient is expected to pay off the subsidy over an agreed period of time.

According to information available to NEXT, the project set off smoothly. The first two phases which required the contractor to supply 2000 units of tricycles were completed on scheduled and all the government discounted amount fully recovered.

Unlike these two however, the execution of the third phase was fraught with problems; especially as the whole poverty eradication programme was experiencing a nosedive. During a plenary on 18th February, 2009, the Senate, after debating on a motion titled “The Dismal Performance of National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP)” directed its committee on National Planning, Economic Affair and Poverty Alleviation to conduct an investigation into the activities of NAPEP.

The revelations of the Senate committee were sordid.

The senate committee’s investigations discovered that “the collection and distribution of the assembled tricycles was surrounded with lots of shoddy manipulations between NAPEP, the Initiative for Peace Empowerment and Tolerance International (IPET) and the KEKE NAPEP Owners Riders Association of Nigerian (KORAN)”.

The report further discovered cases of diversion of funds; unqualified and unregistered micro-finance institutions engaged by NAPEP in the disbursement of funds to beneficiaries, and the use of fake names and unverifiable addresses.

Kpakol’s shady schemes

First, it became apparent that Mr.Kpakol, who was appointed co-ordinator at the twilight of the second phase of the project, was not favourably disposed towards the manner the first two phases was executed. He orchestrated series of devious schemes aimed towards the commercialisation of the project for personal gains.

After a period of unexplained delay in the commencement of the third phase, the contract for the supply of 5000 units of tricycles at the total sum of N2.4 billion was signed and NAPEP was instructed to render the payment in full. Mr. Kpakol, according to Autobahn, deliberately delayed the payment of the contract fee by twice issuing the contractor dud cheques.

“It was not until May 2007 at the threat of lodging a report to the President for the issuance of dud cheques, that Mr. Kpakol finally caused a cash draft for the payment to be made by NAPEP”, said Autobahn.

Further, it was alleged that Mr. Kpakol refused to procure the duty and VAT waivers for the job as stipulated in the contract and thereby put unnecessary financial obligation on the contractor.

Autobahn also alleged that in an attempt to appropriate the project, Mr. Kpakol connived with the manufacturers of the product. According to them, this was evident in the sudden uncooperative behaviour of their former partners in India and Italy. According to Autobahn, Piaggio Italy and India became hostile and this was curious because after the completion of the first two phases of the project, Piaggio Italy awarded Mr. Okonkwo a special commemorative plaque for ordering 4000 units of tricycles, the first time a single company would order tricycles of that quantity. For the same reason, Piaggio India also awarded him a special gold coin. Once Mr. Kpakol interfered Autobahn says, the companies became hostile.

On three occasions Piaggio increased the price per unit of tricycles and when the contractor agreed to Piaggio’s inflated offer, the manufacturer said it was no longer interested in supplying the contractor and curiously suggested that the contract money be returned to the Nigerian government.

However, after several appeals to Piaggio, the company eventually accepted to supply just 500 units at $2500 (N375,000) per unit as opposed to the original price of $1850 (N277,500) per unit. Autobahn further alleged that Mr. Kpakol, bent on excluding them from the fourth phase of the project, approached their new supplier, ATUL, in the same fashion he did the former supplier, Piaggio. ATUL wrote informing Autobahn that its contract with Autobahn has expired even while ATUL is yet to completely supply all the components it is required to in the contract as shown by correspondence made available to NEXT.

The connection between ATUL and NAPEP became clear upon the advertisement for the bids for the fourth phase. The specification advertised by NAPEP was exactly ATUL’s brand specification for its tricycles. “The published specifications which will be relied on are entirely peculiar to ATUL and to no other manufacturer. Thus NAPEP had already decided what brand and by whom the next order would favour”,

Autobahn alleged. Yet another pointer to Mr. Kpakol’s little scheme to commercialise the project is while calling for tenders for the fourth phase of the project, with the hindsight that Autobahn is the registered trademark owners of the term “KEKE NAPEP”, NAPEP changed the name to Three Wheel Trucks/Tricycles.

Next investigations discovered that among the four companies pre-qualified for the supply of the fourth phase of the project, the files of two of them (Kleen Gee Concept and Charlie Memok Nigeria Limited) at the Corporate Affair Commission were completely empty as all information about these two companies have been removed.

Several efforts made by NEXT to contact Mr. Kpakol for his reaction to these allegations proved futile. Mr. Kpakol did not answer our calls and refused to respond to text messages sent to his phone number.

However, according to an interview titled, “N2.4 Billion Keke NAPEP saga, My Story - Kpakol” published on the NAPEP official website, Mr. Kpakol completely denied ever planning to subvert the project for his personal gains.

While describing Mr. Okonkwo as unpatriotic and sponsoring a smear campaign against him in newspapers, Mr. Kpakol denied ever issuing Autobahn bounced cheques.

“That is preposterous in thinking”, he said. “I’ve never seen a NAPEP Cheque book in my life. I was also Chief Economic Adviser to the President and Head of National Planning, I never saw a National Planning Commission cheque book; I don’t know if it is brown, or green or red, I guess most minister don’t see cheque books. So I don’t know how I can send him a bounced cheque. But they all write in the press, ‘oh the guy sent him a bounced cheque.’ I don’t write cheques, and even the Secretary of the Programme does not write cheques”.

However, NEXT is in possession of a copy a NAPEP Micro Credit Account Equatorial Trust Bank cheque with the account number 0990008903816 and cheque number 02318043 dated 10 May, 2007 issued to Autobahn Technique Limited with the instruction to pay N2,250,000,000 (N2.25 billion) purportedly issued by NAPEP.

When asked if the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), is investigating Mr. Kpakol based on the overwhelming accusation against him, Femi Babafemi, Spokesperson for the anti-graft commission after a long pause, described our question as speculative, saying he cannot answer it.

IPET’s involvement

Mr. Kpakol still pursuing his scheme of commercialising a project that was originally meant to eradicate poverty secured the services of an unregistered non-governmental organisation (NGO), Initiative for Peace Empowerment and Tolerance International (IPET) for the distribution of the assembled tricycles.

The Senate investigative committee discovered that IPET “sold the KEKEs at a higher rate in the open market, thereby denying the targeted beneficiaries from benefiting”. The Senate committee further noted that the phrase “ ‘KORAN or any other grassroots based organisation’ when seeking for the approval of Mr. President for the distribution of the KEKEs was deliberately chosen in order to engage IPET for the exercise even before it was registered with the Corporate Affair Commission”.

According to the Senate committee report,”In a paid advert in This Day newspaper of June 16th, 2008; NAPEP urged the general public interested in the KEKEs to deal with IPET (which was not registered then) on the strength of which Kebbi State Government paid thirty-five million seven hundred and ninety-two three hundred and two naira fifty kobo (N35,792,302.50)”.

Next investigation also found that the 39, Adediran Ajao Crescent, Ajao Estate, Anthony Village, the official address of IPET is a residential apartment. The occupants of the premises told our reporter that at no time was the building occupied by IPET or Jacqueline Offiah.

The whereabouts of Mrs. Offiah is unknown but unconfirmed information suggested that she has been apprehended by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

Next week we examine how funds meant for poverty alleviation were used to finance a private company owned by a factional leader of KORAN and how this was made possible by the leadership of napep

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5665060-146/magnus_kpakol_and_the_keke_napep.csp

South African Police Raid On Home Of Henry Okah's Wife Turns Deadly
Posted: January 23, 2011 - 00:22

By SaharaReporters, New York

A Nigerian, Uzoama Joseph, died today when South African police officers raided a home belonging to Azukah, wife of detained Nigerian militant, Henry Okah, claiming to be searching for drugs allegedly belonging to some tenants.

Eye witnesses told SaharaReporters that the police, who were armed with dogs and weapons, unleashed one of their dogs on Uzoama, who ran to the next house. He was arrested and handcuffed, and forced to take them to the location of the drugs in the house.

The witnesses said that when Uzoma hesitated, a police officer took out plastic bags from the trunk of a police car and placed them over his head, perhaps to stop him from screaming. The handcuffed Uzoma died soon afterwards.

Nigerians in the Turffontein neighborhood told SaharaReporters that it is routine for SA police officers to torture and kill Nigerians in South Africa extra-judicially, and that Uzoama's treatment amounted to torture.

A state pathologist, Dr. Moeng, who examined Uzoama’s body, told independent observers said he found out that there were no injuries except the cuts on the wrists from the handcuffs, which shows that he must have struggled to breathe before he died.

That position was corroborated by Mantha Rapesu, an official with South Africa's Independent Complaints Directorate. He told SaharaReporters on the phone that he saw wrist only injuries on Uzoama’s body. He said he could not confirm that torture may have been used until post mortem examination has been done.

Police officers at Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg, who were reportedly involved in the "drug-burst" said they can’t speak about the issue until Monday when their commanders would have been fully briefed.

Friends and family members of the deceased said that Nigerian consulate officials refused to come to their aid despite repeated calls to the embassy.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/south-african-police-raid-home-henry-okahs-wife-turns-deadly

Breaking News: Court Dismisses Bode George's Appeal
Posted: January 21, 2011 - 15:21

Chief Bode George will spend the remainder of his jail term at the Kirikiri prison in Lagos after a court of appeal sitting in Lagos dismissed his application seeking to upturn his two year sentence. Justice Ogunbiyi JCA said the application lacks merit. The PDP chieftain was sentenced to prison for corruption on October 26, 2009. His prison term is billed to end in July 2011


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/breaking-news-court-dismisses-bode-georges-appeal

Construction stops at Ibru University

By Jethro Ibileke

January 21, 2011 02:09AM   


The expectations of Udu people in Ughelli South local council of Delta State that the area will soon become a host community to a higher institution have been temporarily put on hold as work on the proposed Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, has been abandoned.

The proposed institution of higher learning, belonging to former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank and her husband is located along the Udu-Ughelli Road, between Otu-Jeremi and Ekapamrhen in Ughelli South local government, Delta State.

Mrs Ibru was recently convicted of corrupt enrichment following her arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over her tenure as head of Oceanic Bank.

A resident of Udu, Ojarekre Urubwevwu who spoke to NEXT at the site, said construction work on the site was abruptly put on hold when the bank chief was arrested and detained for financial crimes by the EFCC.

"We be dey happy say we go soon get university for here o, until we hear say dem carry the madam put for prison. Na that time the people wen dey do the fence come stop work wen dem hear say madam dey for prison. May be dem fear say dem no go see their salary take," he said.

Mr Urubwevwu, who owns a farm opposite the proposed school's site, said that grounds of the planned university was a beehive of activities prior to the incarceration of Mrs Ibru last year. Ever since then, however, the site has been abandoned for unknown reasons.

Still hoping

All efforts by NEXT to locate any of those who worked on the site before the abrupt stoppage of work failed, as they were said to have been brought from far away to work on the site.

Even though he could not tell when the landed property was acquired for the institution and when work began at the site, the local farmer said the project had made people around the community to be very happy.

He, however, expressed hope that work on the project will resume again, and that the hope of having their name written on the world map through the school will come to pass.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5664877-147/construction_stops_at_ibru_university_.csp

Date Published: 01/18/11

Nwodo's Sack: Aviation Minister throws Champaigne Party , Invites National Assembly South East Caucus to her house


Few hours after Okwesileze Nwodo was bundled out of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Aviation Minister, Fidelia Njeze, has invited members of the south east flank of the party to a champagne filled party in her Abuja home tonight to celebrate the exit of her political foe.

Interestingly she and Nwodo are in-laws. Njeze’s younger brother is married to Nwodo’s niece. But she had been in the trenches with Enugu Governor, Sylvian Chime, fighting Nwodo.

There is no love lost between Chime and Nwodo over the sharing formula for positions in the state party machinery. Nwodo wanted 70 per cent of the positions which irked his in-law, Njeze.

According to our source, Njeze decided to abandon her in-law for Chime because the latter nominated her for her present juicy cabinet position.

However, Pointblanknews.com learnt that the relationship between Nwodo and Njeze had been cordial until he (Nwodo) decided to undermine Chime.

When Chime threatened to leave the PDP, and drop his Governorship ambition, Njeze, it was learnt, received the news with a shock. She was reportedly hospitalized.

Pointblanknews.com sources hinted that at about 5pm Nigerian time, few hours after the National Executive Committee (NEC), accepted his resignation, Njeze started making calls to the south east caucus in the senate, House, ministers, and political appointees to her home for a party.

As at 7pm, posh cars were seen rolling into her palatial home, while guests were already popping champagne and downing expensive wine and spirit.

Said the source” She is throwing a party tonight in her house. She had been calling members of the south east caucus in the House, Senate, ministers and other appointees to the champagne filled party”

http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os4452.html

Massive Protests By Nigerians May Force Sotheby’s To Stop Sale Of Benin Mask

Posted: December 23, 2010 - 04:48

By SaharaReporters, New York

After many Africans bombarded Sotheby's in London with protests, the auction house today asked the Nigeria Liberty Forum (NLF) to furnish it with more information about a precious and high-priced artifact stolen during the colonial era by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lionel Galway.

The protests, organized and led by NLF, might have put a stop to further preparations for the auction of a Benin mask estimated for £5 million. The original plan is to sell the mask in London next February.

The NLF’s protests have also been accompanied by legal efforts mounted by several lawyers to stop the sale. The forum, an activist group of Nigerians and friends of Nigeria, has written a letter to Sotheby's demanding it stop the sale of the stolen Benin mask.

See letter below:

Nigeria Liberty Forum
3 Birkbeck Street London E2 6JY
● Tel: + 44 203 015 0739
● Mobile: + 44 798 421 2553
nlibertyforum@gmail.com
info@nigerialibertyforum.org.uk
www.nigerialibertyforum.org.uk
23rd December 2010-12

Ms Helen Collier
Sotheby's London
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Dear Ms Collier

Re Auction of 16TH Century Benin Ivory and Other Benin Artefacts.

The Nigeria Liberty Forum is a UK based Nigerian pro democracy group of sympathisers and volunteers who share a passion for grassroots political engagement and participation. We amongst many other activities Seek solutions to challenges with other UK based African groups and institutions; Protecting the rights of Nigerians in the UK and the Diaspora; Encouraging Nigerians in Diaspora to engage and participate in the Nigerian political process and Partnership work with individuals and groups in the fields of Education, Charitable causes and Community Development.

We have successfully run many campaigns to further our cause. You may wish to visit our website for further details.

It has come to our attention that 6 pieces of Benin artefacts are to be sold at your auction rooms on the 17th of February 2011 and accordingly we would like to register our protest that precious pieces of our Nigerian heritage are to be sold to the highest bidders.

We are aware (and so should you) that these artefacts were forcefully taken from Nigeria in 1897 when the British invaded the Benin empire and request very firmly that your organisation should not assist and or collude in the appropriation of such.

It is a shame that in this time and age individuals continue to plunder and abuse the culture and heritage of a defenceless people just because they can. There is simply no legal or moral basis for the Galway family to lay claim to the Benin masks and to go on to profit from their sale is reprehensible and unconscionable.
To this end we request that you withdraw the items from sale forthwith as the true ownership is far from settled. We would also like to request that you go a step further and advise your clients to return these items back to the Nigerian people where they rightfully belong. It is akin to the selling of the Egyptian mummies, and should not be allowed.

We are in the process of mounting legal, diplomatic and or political challenges to the sale of these cultural artefacts and we are sure your organisation does not want to be embroiled in the resulting fallout this will surely create. The rape of Africa and plundering thereof has gone on for far too long and still continues, aided by institutions as yours.

We have also created a petition to stop this sale from going on at the URL below and if necessary mount a physical protest, which as a going concern may be damaging to your reputation from the incessant news coverage that this will bring.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/benin_mask/signatures

We do not doubt your integrity and we know Sotheby will do the right thing and withdraw the said items from sale.
These artefacts were acquired illegally, by theft, and they are now being put up for sale illegally. The artwork is an important cultural heritage of Benin people, in Nigeria, and it is part of their history, and should be returned forthwith.

It should also be noted that the said masks have been subject of historical study by the Open University, which has produced a clip about the theft of these artefacts. Refer to United Kingdom Open University link bellow.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh2Tac1gNPU&feature=share

Yours sincerely

Kayode Ogundamisi – Convener

NLF


Comments

Anthony Eromosele Enahoro: 1923 – 2010

By Tolu Ogunlesi

December 19, 2010 12:44PM

Anthony Enahoro was still a teenager when, in the early 1940s, he became the chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Union of Students. By the time he turned thirty, the Kings College, Lagos alumnus had edited two newspapers, published a third, gone to prison thrice, founded a political party (The Mid-West Party), and won election into the Western Region House of Assembly. Enahoro’s activist leanings were deeply inspired by famed nationalist Herbert Macaulay, who founded the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), Nigeria’s first political party, in June 1923 (barely a month before Enahoro’s birth).

On March 31, 1953, four months shy of his thirtieth birthday, Enahoro moved a motion calling on the Federal House of Representatives to “[accept] as a primary political objective the attainment of self-government for Nigeria in 1956.”

It was an audacious move, and even though it ended up being merely symbolic at that time (it was never voted upon; the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello immediately sought an amendment to the motion, asking for the replacement of “in 1956” with “as soon as practicable”; and another parliamentarian, Ibrahim Imam, moved a motion for adjournment of the sitting), it set in motion a series of events – including the adoption of a new constitution – that propelled Nigeria towards independence. (In 1957 the Eastern and Western regions attained the self-government Enahoro had clamoured for).

In 1954 Enahoro became the Western Region’s Minister of Home Affairs (later expanded to include the Mid-West region), and in 1959 he oversaw the foreign affairs portfolio in the shadow cabinet of the Action Group. In 1958 he led the Action Group delegation to the inaugural All African Peoples’ Congress in Accra, Ghana. He had been a founding member of the Action Group in 1951, and its pioneer Assistant Secretary, and in 1958 became its Deputy National President.

Enahoro played an active role in negotiations with the British government, in the final days of colonial rule. He was thirty-seven when his lifelong dream of Nigerian independence came to pass. Few would have guessed that an even more colourful life lay ahead of him.

Prison as school

Political scientist Richard Sklar has quoted Enahoro as saying that “prison was my school”. His first enrolment in that ‘school’ was at the age of twenty-two, when, as editor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe-owned Daily Comet, he was convicted of publishing an article deemed seditious by the colonial authorities. That first prison stint lasted nine months.

A year later he was back in ‘school’, this time for delivering, in Warri, a speech regarded as seditious. He spent twelve months in prison. His association with the Zikist Movement (described by the political scientist Richard Sklar as “the angry young men of post-war Nigeria”) soon landed him back in ‘school’ for a third stint.

Prison would beckon again more than a decade later. By this time the journalism days were behind him, and Enahoro was an established politician. Turmoil within the Action Group had led to the imposition of a state of emergency on the Western Region in May 1962. Months later the Federal authorities announced the discovery of a plot to violently take over the government, and filed felony charges against thirty-one persons. Enahoro was one of the accused, alongside Obafemi Awolowo, Lateef Jakande, and Alfred Rewane.

Fugitive offender

In September 1962 Enahoro fled Nigeria, first to Ghana, and then London, where he was arrested by the British authorities, charged to court under the Fugitive Offenders Act of 1881, and detained at Brixton prison. In England he became, in the words of the journalist Walter Schwarz, a “cause célèbre”: his case was vigorously debated in court, and in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Eventually, the House of Commons turned down his asylum request, and in March 1963 he was extradited to Nigeria. Once again, he had fallen on the wrong side of British law.

From prison to power

To worsen matters, the Nigerian government disallowed his lawyer, Englishman Sir Dingle Foot, QC, from entering Nigeria to defend his client, despite prior assurances to the contrary. In September 1963, Enahoro was convicted of treasonable felony and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. (A week later Obafemi Awolowo was handed a ten-year sentence). On appeal, Enahoro’s term was reduced to ten years.

However, Yakubu Gowon threw open the prison gates after taking power, following the July 1966 coup. Soon after he appointed Enahoro as Nigeria’s Federal Commissioner of Information and Labour under his Military Government. Enahoro served in that position during the civil war years, and until 1974. He later served as Federal Commissioner for Special Duties. The assassination of Murtala Mohammed brought an end to his stint in government. During the second republic Enahoro belonged to the ruling party, the conservative National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Back to the trenches

The activist streak that first showed itself in his teenage years never left Enahoro. When it became clear that military President Ibrahim Babangida had no intentions of handing over power to a democratic government, Enahoro was one of the loudest voices of opposition, establishing the Movement for National Reformation (MNR) as an activist platform.

When Abacha began his reign of terror, Enahoro was at the forefront of the formation, and leadership, of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which would turn out to be the most potent Nigerian opposition platform of that era. He went into exile in the United States in 1996, to escape Abacha’s murderous rage.

When he returned to Nigeria in 2000, it was not to retire. At a rally in Lagos to mark his return, the then 77-year-old said: “We must not fear radicalism or radical ideas. If you agree with my vision of Nigeria as a nation of nationalities, then surely we must see that the future lies in Nigeria becoming a union of nationalities.”

In 2003, he founded the National Reformation Party, and served as its National Chairman until he died. He founded, with Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, the Pro-National Conference Organisations (PRONACO), which organised, in 2005, a ‘Peoples National Conference’ as an alternative to the Federal government’s ‘National Political Reform Conference’.

When he died last Wednesday, Enahoro was one of last three amongst his generation of nationalists. He lived to see an independent Nigeria turn fifty. Tragically, however, that independence remained largely nominal; the nation he and several others had fought so passionately for lays beholden to corruption, dismal leadership, and the continued subjugation of ethnic minorities.

Enahoro wrote an autobiography, ‘Fugitive Offender’ (1965), and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Benin (1972), and a national honour, Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) in 1982.

Anthony Eromosele Enahoro, journalist, nationalist, administrator, traditional ruler, pro-democracy activist and renowned orator, died in Benin City on Wednesday December 15, 2010 at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Helen, and children.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5655128-146/story.csp

Awolowo, Enahoro, Williams and Nigerian Television

By Lanre Idowu

December 19, 2010 03:04AM

One name which is often associated with the birth of Nigerian television is that of Obafemi Awolowo. Two other names that had a hand in television’s glorious debut are Anthony Eromosele Enahoro, and Rotimi Williams.

Awolowo passed on in 1987; Williams in 2005 and Enahoro December 15, 2010. While Awolowo, as premier of Western Region, had the honour of presiding over the administration that gave birth to Africa’s first television station, Enahoro as Home Affairs Minister supervised broadcasting, and Williams was the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, whose forensic persuasive skills came in handy in convincing Awolowo to embrace television broadcasting.

As Enahoro reminisced on December 22, 1993, at the second presentation of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (D.A.M.E.), television was seen as a medium of entertainment, which would have been difficult to sell to Awo, who detested frivolity. So, between the two men, emphasis was placed on television’s capacity to boost the Western Regional government’s free education programme.

A persuaded Awolowo acknowledged this educational thrust of television when he declared on November 1, 1959: “Television will serve as teacher and entertainer and as a stimulus to us all to transform Nigeria into a modern and prosperous nation. You will all gain much from this great medium of mass information and instruction. It is a powerful influence for good”.

The take off of television was in line with the vision to consolidate the West’s free education programme, widen its media power, and realize its media goals. The region had successfully championed the transfer of broadcasting to the concurrent list following the review of the Macpherson Constitution in 1954. And Enahoro was central to the path of development broadcasting trod.

Earlier on June 9, 1959, the Overseas Rediffusion Ltd signed a 15-year agreement with Enahoro on behalf of the government of Western Region, to form a company to exploit commercial broadcasting and television in the Region.

The Western Nigeria Broadcasting Act provided for a seven-member corporation that held office for three years in the first instance. To underscore the importance placed on education, the Act provided that “Programmes designated as being of special educational nature or of special interest to the public should not be interrupted by any advertisement or sponsored announcement.” Enahoro, as minister, was empowered “to designate the types or classes of advertisements or sponsored announcements that may immediately precede or follow any programme especially broadcast for schools.” The Minister had general control over the corporation on policy matters; but had an advisory board to counsel in formulating these policies. Funded by the government, the corporation’s accounts were subject to public scrutiny and had to submit an annual report to the region’s legislative houses.

Under Enahoro, the government of Western Nigeria bought 1,000 television sets, which it distributed to schools and hospitals. To boost viewing, the government also gave public servants loans to acquire television sets. The television station started at Ibadan but had a relay station at Ikeja, which made it possible for all settlements about 50 miles radius of both towns to pick its channels, thereby giving a spread and impact, which the Nigerian Television Service lacked.

The station, WNTV, began on a “bold and imaginative” note, proclaiming its slogan FIRST IN AFRICA. This pioneering foresight manifested in 1962 when the Federal Government started its own television service. Assigned two standard frequencies on Band 1, WNTV broadcast from Lagos and Ibadan. The Federal Government’s tardiness meant, “It could only utilise one frequency for its own television channel. The economic and political price it paid for dragging its feet was that its transmission would be confined to Lagos only.”

In the beginning, WNTV lived up to its promise of running educational television. Of the daily six and half broadcast hours, three were devoted to educational programmes transmitted “from 11.00am to 2.00pm to about one hundred schools equipped with television receivers in the region.” Sound broadcasting under the acronym WNBS (Western Nigerian Broadcasting Service) commenced in May 1960. Both had the strong imprints of Enahoro. It is true that Enahoro had crossed over from the Western House of Assembly to the Federal House of Representatives by the time WNBS took off but there is no denying that the groundwork took place under him in Ibadan. Indeed, he negotiated and signed the deal in 1959. Until the military intervention in 1966, both WNTV-WNBS set the pace for other electronic media in the country.

For the invaluable contributions he made to the birth of television and commercial radio, the country owes Enahoro a debt of gratitude. He was a trailblazer, who showed commendable courage and drive, an astute debater who projected his government’s interests with tact and wisdom; and a concerned professional who laid much emphasis on the finest attributes of professionalism. May his soul find peace!

Portions of this tribute are excerpts from a forthcoming book, “Master of His Age: The Story of Anthony Enahoro” edited by Lanre Idowu.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5655159-146/story.csp

"VIP Movement"-Jonathan’s Plane Prevents Mourners From Attending Oshiomhole’s Wife Burial

Posted: December 17, 2010 - 22:36

By SaharaReporters, New York

Groups of journalists, human rights activists and mourners were today unable to attend the burial of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s wife in Auchi due to what is locally referred to as “Presidential movement” by air traffic operatives.
That invariably means that a presidential jet is in the area or is expected in the area. Today, it meant that the planes conveying prospective mourners who were eager to say farewell to Clara Oshiomhole were not allowed to land in Benin.

One particular flight carrying civil rights attorney Femi Falana; Abiodun Aremu of the United Action for Democracy (UAD); Louis Odion, a journalist; and Odion Sylvester Akhaine, a political activist and academic and his wife, had to return to Lagos after it almost ran out of fuel as it hovered over the skies for 35 minutes, refused permission to land.

The Arik Air flight left Lagos for Benin at about 10: 00a.m. local time, after delays occasioned by unfavorable weather conditions. It arrived in Benin City airspace 30 minutes after departure from the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.

After hovering in the air for 35 minutes the Arik air pilot told the air traffic controller on the ground that he was running out of fuel, but they were still denied the opportunity to land.

The pilot then informed the passengers that it would be dangerous to keep hovering in the air as no one could tell how long the hold would be; he then turne the plane around and returned to Lagos.

It was not known how many other aircraft suffered the same fate in the hands of the air traffic controllers.

Nigeria’s “presidential movement” orders are widely known to greatly endanger aircraft movement as they usually happen without notice to pilots.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/vip-movement-jonathan%E2%80%99s-plane-prevents-mourners-attending-oshiomhole%E2%80%99s-wife-burial

Students threaten to sue deputy governor

by Adeola Adeyemo

December 17, 2010 03:29AM

Students of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Lagos, have vowed to take legal action against Deputy Governor Sarah Sosan for the alleged brutal treatment meted on them by her security aides at Alausa on Monday.

The students said they were beaten by police officers attached to the deputy governor in front of the Lagos State House of Assembly. In a bid to express their grievance over the ongoing strike action in the state-owned tertiary institutions, the students trooped to the House of Assembly on Monday, demanding to see the speaker, Adeyemi Kuforiji. “Actually we went to Lagos State House of Assembly to see the Speaker, Kuforiji,” said Mayowa Balogun, the Students Union president of the institution. “I called him personally and told him that we the students are outside and we want to see him. We parked our buses on the road waiting for him to come out. Then we started our normal student life; singing and clapping out there.

According to him, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, came to address the students after a while but was rebuffed by the aggrieved youngsters. “We told him that we were not interested in seeing him, but the Speaker of the House,” said the students’ leader. “At that time, we noticed some policemen coming to the area gradually. When we did not see him after some hours, we blocked the Lagos State House of Assembly, road saying that unless we see the Speaker we will not leave. About two hours later, a convoy approached us and the number plate on the car was LS 02, which means the number two person in the state, which is the deputy governor. One of the police men came to us and told us to leave the road, and we told him that we were not leaving until we see the Speaker. In the lead car, there was a woman sitting in the front seat. She was holding a walkie talkie; she gave it to the police man to give me and I refused taking it, telling him that the woman should come down and speak with me if she wanted to.”

The assault

This action, and the refusal of the students to leave the road, he said, infuriated the police officers. “That was when they started beating us,” he said. “They used their hands, guns, rods and so on to beat us. They beat the hell out of us, right in front of the Assembly. Ninety-nine per cent of us were injured. We were about 50 to 70 students there. The bad thing is that some people who came to tow our vehicles from the road also joined them in beating us.”

According to Mr Balogun, the police officers took them to the Alausa Police Station, where they were detained until the intervention of Mr Kuforiji. “They detained me, my general secretary and three other students with one of our drivers at Alausa Police Station,” he said. “They did not put us in the cell but we were there for almost one hour. The PSP of the station, K.P. Longe was there. The major reason why they beat us is because (Deputy Governor) Sosan wanted to pass. She was in that Jeep. The commissioner for education was a product of our school. For her to have treated us like that is very pathetic of her. When we met the Speaker after we were released, he told us that it was disrespectful to block her. He said we should have allowed her to pass when we saw her convoy. The position of the Speaker was very good. Immediately, he ordered them to release our buses and asked them never to touch us and expressed his sympathy on how we were treated.”

Ready for the courts

The aggrieved students say they are not going to forget about the incident and will take legal action against the police officers and the deputy governor. “We are going to take legal action,” said the students leader. “We’ve seen some of our lawyers and they’ve asked us to bring our medical report to back our claims.”

According to him, their decision to go to the Speaker came after several failed attempts to reach Governor Babatunde Fashola. “Times without number, we have tried to reach the governor,” he said. “We’ve had series of press conferences, we’ve been to several media houses to try getting his attention in respect of the strike, to no avail.”

Efforts to reach Mrs Sosan for her reaction, as at press time, were unsuccessful as calls placed to her mobile phone went unanswered. When contacted, Toro Oladapo, the Chief Press Secretary to the deputy governor, said she was not sure that it was Mrs Sosan’s convoy that was involved in the incident on that day and promised to confirm the information. When contacted later, Mrs Oladapo said she had not been able to reach the deputy governor or anyone who would have been in her convoy on Monday.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/5654573-147/story.csp

Assassins on the rampage in Delta

FRIDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2010 00:00 JOE OGBODU

•Kill DPR director, council boss’s brother

Joe Ogbodu, Warri

PALPABLE fears have gripped Warri residents over the spate of killings in the commercial nerve centre of Delta State.
This was sequel to the alleged killing of an Assistant Director with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in the Warri office.
The deceased, identified as Adedeji Ahmed Adetulubo, was allegedly killed by unknown gunmen on Tuesday.
It was also gathered that suspected gunmen on Monday killed the brother of the chairman of Uvwie Local Government Council, Peter Abugewa.
The victim, simply identified as Victor, was reportedly shot dead by yet-to-be identified gunmen.
The Nigerian Compass gathered that the DPR director was shot dead at Okiti Street by Giwa Amu junction about 7.15 p.m., while returning to his NNPC Senior Staff Quarters located at Ekpan area of Effurun, near Warri.
It was learnt that Adetulubo was driving home in his Toyota Avalon car with registration number Lagos PA 58 AAA, when he was stopped by four armed youths.
Said a security source: “We learnt that the hoodlums demanded for the car key and while he was trying to comply, another one shot him. They ensured that he could not escape death before they left the scene. His vehicle was not stolen giving the impression that it was a case of assassination.”
It was further learnt that a policeman who overheard the conversation between the victim and the hoodlums from his room later rushed out and made frantic effort to save the deceased.
“The policeman pulled the body of the gasping victim into his abandoned car and took him to the hospital but unfortunately, he died on the way. We learnt that the victim was a gentle man who could not hurt a fly,” added the source.
It was learnt yesterday that the victim was responsible for the supervision of lifting of crude oil at Forcados and other major oil terminals, as well as executing very sensitive assignments for the DPR, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in Warri office.
State police spokesman, Charles Muka, an Assistant Superintendent of police (ASP), yesterday confirmed the incident, saying that investigation has been launched.
Consequently, a socio-political pressure group, “Ogaga Isoko Club” has decried the spate of assassinations and kidnappings in the state and blamed the recent high crime wave on the lukewarm attitude on the state government and security agencies.
In a statement yesterday shortly after its meeting in Warri, the Publicity Secretary of the group, Chief Joe Emakaili said “lives and properties are no more safe as people live in fear everyday in the state. The function of the government is to preserve lives and properties, like in Rivers State where Governor Rotimi Amaechi confronted kidnappers one on one and has succeeded in chasing them out.
“We wonder why the Delta State Government is silent over this issue or are they and the state police command working hand in gloves with the kidnappers? They should do something drastically to stem this vice before damage is done to innocent citizens of the state.

http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71642:assassins-on-the-rampage-in-delta&catid=43:news&Itemid=799

Again, Reps step down FOI bill

By John Ameh, Abuja

Friday, 17 Dec 2010


The House of Representatives on Thursday stepped down the Freedom of Information Bill, a step which saved the proposed piece of legislation from being thrown out entirely by the legislators.


The bill has spent over three years at the Committee of the Whole of the House and a cumulative period of 10 years in the National Assembly. The current version was sent to the Committee of the Whole on November 14, 2007.


The legislators had revisited the FOI bill in response to public outcry which greeted the refusal of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to assent to the first version passed by the 2003 set of members of the House of Representatives.


This year alone, the legislators have defied several attempts to raise the bill, despite pressures from various quarters. On Thursday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Ita Enang, moved what he called an ‘innocent application to re-commit the FOI bill’ to the joint committees on information and justice.


“This is in the public interest and I do plead that we let this application to pass,” Enang told his colleagues. He explained that a fresh public hearing would be conducted to address some of the grey areas in the document.


There was difficulty getting a member to second the motion. In the ensuing drama, the Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Usman Nafada, who presided over the session, called on Mr. Ado Dogoa to second the motion.


Incidentally, Dogoa is not favourably disposed to the bill and declined to do so.


“I am not willing to second this motion,” he told Nafada and sat down. The deputy speaker then called on another lawmaker to second the bill but his plea was not heeded.


Eventually, Mr. Peter Linus indicated his intention to second the motion. Shouts of ‘put the question, put the question’ were heard from all directions in the chambers.


This was a signal that the motion would not be passed. Sensing trouble, Nafada tried to explain the relevance of the bill but his efforts were futile.


He said, “The FOI bill is important to us as a parliament and the entire country. We should allow the bill to be re-committed to the joint committees on information and justice.”


But there was a louder shouts of ‘put the question, put the question’ and this forced Nafada to stand the bill down.


But he did not indicate when the bill would be revisited.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012174133453

Lawmakers are suffering from locust mentality – Sagay

By TONY AMOKEODO

Friday, 17 Dec 2010


Foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), in this interview with TONY AMOKEODO, x-rays the implication of the National Assembly gulping 25 per cent of the federal budget overhead and insists that the action of the lawmakers is unjustifiable and amounts to animals‘ penchant to consume without moderation What is your take on the recent disclosure by the CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, that federal lawmakers gulp 25 per cent of the country‘s annual overhead?


The question of the percentage of Nigeria‘s overhead expenditure consumed by National Assembly is a distraction. The real issue is whether lawmakers in an underdeveloped society can give unto themselves the highest remuneration in the world amongst law makers.


Do you think what the lawmakers are earning is commensurate with their lawmaking business?


You must have seen the recent comparative analysis of our lawmakers’ remuneration to other more productive sectors of the economy. According to this analysis: ”It is being speculated that it costs N290m annually to maintain each member of the National Assembly. This is happening in a country where virtually every amenity does not work and where average earning of 80 per cent of the populace is below N300 per day. Whereas the earning of a Nigerian senator per day is more than the yearly income of a doctor; it is more than the salary of 42 army generals or 48 professors or 70 commissioners of police or more than twice the pay of the United States President Barack Obama or nine times the salary of US congressional representative.”


The difference between animals and human beings is that animals spend all their lives seeking for food and feeding whilst human beings produce food, goods, ideas, inventions and other things that promote their societies and the ascent of man. In other words, animals live to eat; humans eat to live. Unfortunately, man in Africa has remained mentally, emotionally and intellectually stunted at the animal level whilst man in other parts of the world has been liberated from the animal feeding frenzy. The outcome of the latter is the development of science, technology, creation of resources and the march forward of civilisation. That is why others produce and Africans everywhere consume.


The man in Nigeria is the typical African man who has remained at the animal level absolutely refusing to grow or develop. This is what the National Assembly is daily epitomising.


All their legislation is geared towards more feeding for themselves either in terms of money, power or influence. Not a thought is spared for any legacy. The idea of adding value to the society into which they were born never occurs to them. The thought of promoting the interest of the populace and leaving this world a better place than they met it is alien to them. On the contrary, they have engaged in a scotched earth policy, leaving the country more devastated than they met it. Africa and Nigeria can never develop as long as this feeding frenzy on the part of our rulers continues.


What is happening at the National Assembly and to a lesser extent in the state Houses of Assembly and local governments is unsustainable. Our democracy cannot survive unless there is a fundamental break with this invidious locust mentality. The polity is going to be compelled to ask itself, “Can we afford this type of democracy?”


Therefore, the present legislators‘ self awarded remuneration is not only immoral and outrageous; it is in fact a crime against Nigerian humanity.


In view of the widening of locus standi on the rights of Nigerians to approach the court under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement) Procedures Rules 2009, can any aggrieved Nigerian sue the lawmakers for taking the jumbo pay in spite of the prevalent poverty in the country?


The solution to this problem is not legal. The question of bloated remuneration is a moral, ethical and political question. Somehow, Nigerians must find a way to rise up en masse and say enough is enough.


Some analysts have canvassed for the reduction of the jumbo pay. Do you subscribe to this view?


Even so the remuneration of the executive should also be monitored very closely to ensure that the gap between it and that of civil servants is not wide.


But some stakeholders are insisting that the size of the federal lawmakers is too wide for dynamic lawmaking, saying that that what we need as a developing country is part-time lawmakers. Do you agree with the assertion and what are your reasons for taking the stance?


We must go back to the First Republic parliamentary system in which parliamentarians operated on a part – time basis. We should then pay the legislators sitting allowances for their appearance in the legislative chambers to do their work. Only the members of the executive should continue to operate on a full time basis.


At the end of the day, we must begin to work towards producing a new crop of public spirited politicians whose sole objective is to serve their country and the populace and not themselves. We have to stop this riotous and unconscionable feasting on our common patrimony.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101217215679

NPS prepares Bode George for February release

By Sesan Olufowobi

Friday, 17 Dec 2010

There are indications that a former board chairman of the Nigeria Port Authority and a chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, may regain freedom in February 2011.


Our correspondent, who was at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons on Monday, gathered that the authorities of the Nigerian Prisons Service are preparing a formal discharge programme for the PDP chieftain.


NPS discharge programme include different session with doctors to prepare him for life after incarceration.


A senior official of NPS serving at the prison, who declined to have his name in prints because he was not authorised to speak for the service, told our correspondent that George had already been enjoying some level of freedom in preparation for his release in February.


The prison official said, “Barring any last minute pronouncement from the court, which could order immediate release of the inmate, he will leave by the end of February, going by our records here.


“As a very important inmate he was given some privileges; but now we are allowing him and others who were sentenced with him more room. We want them to adjust very well. The programme includes some psychological session and medical examination for them.”


Another NPS official told our correspondent that George was also looking forward to his release date. “He keeps more to himself and meets only with family and selected friends. He is more humble and friendly with other inmates,” he said.


However, Spokesman of the NPS, Lagos State Command, Mr. Ope Fatinikun, said it was a security risk to disclose George’s release date.


He said, “What I can tell you for now is that unlike what has been published in the media; Bode George is still with us and will only be allowed to go after he has completed his term.”


George was on Monday, October 26, 2009, convicted by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court.


Oyewole sentenced George and four other former board members of the NPA to two years each on a seven-count charge and another six months each on a 28-count charge.


The board members, who were jailed with George, are a former NPA Managing Director, Aminu Dabo, Olusegun Abidoye, Abdullahi Tafida, Zanna Maidaribe and Sule Aliyu, who was joined as the sixth defendant after the charges were amended.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012171521371

FG slashes National Assembly budget by N45bn

By Oluwole Josiah, Abuja

Friday, 17 Dec 2010
 

The Federal Government has slashed the total budgetary allocation to the National Assembly for 2011 by N45bn.


The cut, contained in the 2011 budget breakdown submitted to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, is coming amid public outcry over the jumbo salaries and allowances being received by federal legislators.


According to the breakdown, the National Assembly will receive N111.23bn next year as against the N156bn allocated to it in the 2010 budget.


A further breakdown of the Assembly’s financial estimates for 2011, shows that N108.03bn is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and only N3.21bn for capital expenditure.


Out of the N111.23bn; the Senate will get N29.58bn, the House of Representatives, N47.88bn; and the National Assembly Office, N10.18bn.


The National Assembly Service Commission will receive N1.3bn; legislative aides, N7.88bn; Senate Committee on Public Accounts, N128.2m; House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, N138.95m and General Service Office, N14.19bn.


The wage adjustment for civil servants as agreed between the Federal Government and the organised labour is expected to gulp N41.49bn out the N4.1tn federal budget for 2011.


According to the breakdown, the recurrent expenditure of the executive (non-debt) for next year is N1.76tn. Out of this, Ministries, Departments and Agencies will receive N699.52bn, while federal executive bodies will get N9.15bn.


The Federal Government also allocated N78.52bn to the amnesty programme. The sum is expected to cover the payment of stipends to repentant ex-militants, their feeding allowance and reintegration, as well as other components of the programme.


The Independent National Electoral Commission will also receive N48.38bn, including N3bn for logistics support.


Although the total service wide votes of the budget were put at N397.1bn, the total recurrent (non-debt) expenditure for the MDAs is N53.43bn.


The Ministry of Education has the highest recurrent expenditure among the MDAs with an allocation of N304.3bn, followed by the Nigeria Police Force formations and commands with N293.5bn.


Defence has a total recurrent of N288.67bn, and it is closely followed by the Ministry of Health with N202.3bn.


In contrast, the Ministry of Education has the sum of N35.04bn as capital budget.


The Senate, which will take the budget’s second reading on Tuesday before embarking on recess, had extended the 2010 budget implementation period from December 31, 2010 to March 2011.


The President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark, during the budget presentation, had promised that the National Assembly would champion the cut in the recurrent expenditures of the different arms of government.


“The National Assembly, in the discharge of its responsibilities, will, from the 2011 Appropriation Bill, re-evaluate these budget aggregates and other major macroeconomic variables across the board for all government MDAs and other arms of government to lower the personnel and overhead expenditures, and improve the level of appropriations for capital expenditures,” he said.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012174205623

Dele Momodu Declares For National Conscience Party (NCP)

Posted: December 17, 2010 - 14:22

By Ohimai Godwin Amaize

Following his resignation from The Labour Party (LP) on December 14, 2010, The National Conscience Party (NCP) has welcomed Bashorun Dele Momodu to its fold.

Bashorun Momodu’s declaration ceremony will be officially conducted by the National Chairman of the party – Mr. Femi Falana, assisted by some NEC members and other officials of the party. Party members, friends and the media have been invited to witness the landmark event scheduled to hold in Lagos on Saturday, December 18, 2010.

Bashorun Dele Momodu’s decision to pitch his tent with The National Conscience Party (NCP) is based on his recognition of the party as one of the last hopes of the common man as well as its commitment to preserving the legacies of its founder – the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN.

According to Bashorun Dele Momodu, “At this critical time in the socio-political advancement of our nation, it is important for all true patriots to join hands and build a new Nigeria. The future of Nigeria is not in the hands of the present crop of politicians but in the hands of men and women of conscience. If our citizens cannot unite to provide a credible alternative to the current set of misfits that litter our political landscape, then we would have no reason to complain about our litany of woes“.

Signed
Ohimai Godwin Amaize
National Coordinator,
Dele Momodu Presidential Campaign Organization

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/dele-momodu-declares-national-conscience-party-ncp

As governor, I’won’t need federal allocation after 2 years

Written by Lanre Adewole

Friday, 17 December 2010

Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN, has been rated as the leading governorship aspirant in Kogi State by a survey conducted by an international body, Africa Democracy Watch. He spoke with Lanre Adewole on his plan to stop caring about the monthly federal allocation in just two years in office if elected as the next governor of the state.

A state-wide survey by an international body put you ahead of other aspirants across political parties. Your opponents are saying that it  due to your vast international connections. What is your reaction to this?
I thank God for His mercies and what He has done for me in my chosen career and the on-going process to offer myself for service to the good people of Kogi State. I must confess that the report of the group came as a pleasant surprise. It is a confirmation that God’s hands are in the project and I believe that God Almighty has seen the sincerity in my heart to serve the people. I keep telling the people during our campaign trips that I have no ambition to be governor of Kogi State. What I am trying to do is to offer myself for service.  God has been kind to me and I should not just sit back in my comfort zone and enjoy God’s blessings in my life. I do not want to be like the servant that was given a talent who buried it under the ground. If you do that, God will ask you what you did with the talent he gave you on the last day. When our attention was called to the survey, I told my supporters that it meant one thing, more hard work. With all sense of humility and without trying to be immodest, available facts show that I am the most-exposed nationally and internationally out of all the aspirants, which I believe should seriously count as we strive to put Kogi State in the comity or league of industrialised states in the world, because the foreign investors would definitely want to deal with a name that they are accustomed to and can trust.  Also I have been in the United Nations system for over four years now and I know about a lot of grants and areas that some United Nations’ agencies can partner with us in Kogi State. Given this background, I will say that my international reputation, connection and image counted in my coming tops in the survey. But beyond that, our people are just connecting with our message of hope all over the state. We have been to the nooks and crannies and even the remotest parts of the state; even where no aspirant has ever touched to campaign and to the glory of God, our message is just resonating on the right side of the people. The issue of trust is also very important and that is why they believe what we are telling them. Our past antecedent has also scored us high with the people who say they trust us to deliver. I believe our brilliant performance in the survey across the state was a combination of all these factors and ultimately God’s doing.

Your acceptability among the electorate was high in the survey report. How did you connect with the people that fast considering that this is your first outing as a politician?
It is simply about where we are coming from. Those who did not hear about my tenure as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, must have heard about what we were able to achieve in office as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, despite the campaign of calumny by a few persons. Recent events and history have vindicated me. I appreciate the new participatory democracy in Kogi State where awareness on the issue of leadership is now reaching fever-pitch. Our people are so informed now that you can’t just come and cajole them with empty political promises. In our interface with them, we tell them in concrete terms what we are going to do for them and how we are going to achieve them. It has been an interaction since we began the campaign. The unprecedented acceptability among our people, I believe, is primarily due to the unconventional way we have been conducting our campaign. Instead of moving about with crowd and disturbing the neighbourhood, we are just creating platforms for interaction and the result has been massive. We give all glory to God.

What is your selling-point?
Trust, integrity, genuine message of hope, peaceful conduct during campaign, no bogus promises, record of service delivery, sincerity of purpose, accessibility, reliability, good knowledge of the needs of our people.

In concrete terms, what should the people expect from you as governor?
We are going to serve our people, raise the bar in public service and service delivery, deepen the economic recovery embarked upon by the current administration and spread prosperity across the state. We have a master blueprint for the development of the state that would make us to call the bluff of federal allocation in just two years in office if elected governor. For example, in the agricultural sector alone, in two years, we can make N60 billion annually from planting 250,000 hectares of a special hybrid palm kernel seedling in the 21 local governments in the state and employ 300,000 unemployed persons through the scheme. The local governments would only provide about 12,500 hectares of land which thankfully is arable in nature across the state, while the state government would provide the seedlings. We would plant it immediately we get into office and it would mature in two years and we will make a cool N60 billion from it annually for the next 20 years. Can you see why I said the state could close its eyes to what comes from Abuja every month? The same goes for aquaculture, which could fetch another N40 billion annually. We are going to create artificial lakes by diverting River Niger into the nearest communities and provide fingerlings that would mature and procreate in a few weeks and fetch the state billions of naira in revenue. We also plan to pay the teachers what we dubbed ‘station inconvenience allowance” to breathe fresh air into the public schools. Imagine a primary five pupil unable to spell ‘Baptist’ which happens to be the name of his school. Such sad situations hallmark the imperatives of our time and we are going to confront the challenges for the future of the ‘Baptist boy’ and his ilk. Tourism will be another money-spinner for the state. Very soon, I shall make my blueprint public which I have aptly titled “the imperatives of our time”. We are not going to run a government of tokenism. I am not talking fiction, I am talking about researches done by top-of-the-range academics and professionals.

What informed your novel idea of Code of Conduct for your supporters, especially on thuggery and violent conduct during campaign?
The booklet which we have made available to all our supporters and campaigners is our political bible which details my political belief. Those who know me would tell you that I am a gentleman and I believe that if you want to genuinely serve the people, you don’t have to be desperate about representing them. If they want you, why would you need to engage in violent conducts and use the youths who are the leaders of tomorrow to unleash mayhem on the people you are aspiring to serve? I have told my supporters in plain language that if any of them contravenes the code of conduct and gets into trouble with the law, he or she would be solely responsible for the consequences. I won’t lift a finger for such a person. We should make our campaign issue-based and go peacefully in telling the masses what we plan to do for them. I have never abused anybody in the course of the campaign, so you can’t say that you are campaigning for me and be throwing expletives at the opponents. It is unacceptable to me and I won’t tolerate such from anybody.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/politics/14879-as-governor-iwont-need-federal-allocation-after-2-years-

FORENSIC FORCE: Real encounters with Nigerian Police

By Salisu Suleiman

December 17, 2010 12:52AMT

Isiaka is mild mannered and soft-spoken man. On his way to work one morning, he was flagged down by a policeman who asked for a ride. Without hesitation, he agreed and they set off. The policeman promptly fell asleep, having apparently been on night duty. At the destination, Isiaka woke him up. The policeman thanked him profusely and walked off.

The next morning, Isiaka’s son was washing the car when he saw a pistol under the front passenger seat and immediately alerted his father. Isiaka came to the conclusion that it must belong to the policeman who rode in the car the previous day, so he proceeded to the nearest police station to report the case.

At the station, Isiaka was arrested and charged with ‘armed robbery and possession of firearms’. The policeman he helped had reported that armed robbers had attacked him and stolen his weapon from him. Despite protests, it took Isiaka weeks and a lot of money to be released from cell and several months to clear his name.

Akin, Jimi and Daniel will never forget what happened to them in their final year at the university. They had attended a friend’s birthday party and decided to leave at about 11 pm. There were no taxis or ‘okadas’ at that late hour so they decided to walk the short distance home. Halfway, they were accosted by a police patrol and arrested for possession of marijuana. Despite protestations, they were taken a police station and pronto, the policemen tendered several wraps of marijuana as exhibits. The policemen had stuffed the drugs into their pockets. It took their families huge sums to bribe the DPO to release the students. Several years after the incident, the bitterness remains.

Alfa is a civil servant. Some years ago, he decided to travel out of town on Independence Day. Along the way, he came across a police checkpoint. The policemen asked for his particulars. Everything was intact except for his driver’s license, which he didn’t have on him. The policemen threatened to arrest and detain him unless he gave them money. Once he did, another policeman emerged from behind a tree and arrested Alfa for ‘bribing a police officer’. He marked the money as ‘exhibit’ and threatened to take him to arrest and charge him to court. Scared and disoriented, Alfa was easy prey. The policemen took virtually every kobo he had before letting him go. Till date, he doesn’t celebrate Independence Day.

Uche is a businessman who travels frequently by road. Not too long ago, the vehicle he was travelling in was involved in an accident. It somersaulted several times and came to rest in a ditch off the road. It took some time for help to arrive in form of policemen who were more interested in going through the pockets and possessions of the dead passengers. To Uche’s shock, any passenger that showed any sign of life was quickly finished off by the police. Though seriously injured, he had the quick thinking to pretend to be dead as the policemen removed his money, wristwatch and other valuable possessions. It was only at the hospital, after the police had departed that he groaned for help. Till date, he has been unable to forget the gruesome and cold blooded murder of the passengers, who survived the accident, only to fall into the hands of the Nigeria police supposedly on a rescue mission.

Musa is an engineer. Some years ago, a group of young men robbed him of his car at gunpoint. A few weeks later, the car was found abandoned and was recovered by the police. Eventually too, the armed robbers were traced and arrested. A few days later, Musa stopped by at the police station to sort out paperwork about recovering his car. Out of curiosity, he asked the policemen about the young armed robbers. ‘We don finish them’ came the casual reply. Musa found out later that the young men had been taken to a bush and asked to run, then shot dead for ‘attempting to escape police custody’.

The names have been changed, but the stories are real. Every day, many Nigerians are subjected to terrifying encounters with the police. Motorists have been shot for refusing to pay N20 bribes; thousands have been arrested and detained for no reason; female detainees have been subjected to rape; many have been robbed outright by the police, or framed for crimes they did not commit,

The stories cannot be completely told on this page.

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reader comments (10)



Posted by emeka on Dec 17 2010
The dregs of society employed, trained and paid by the Nigerian state to abuse it's people. Where are those half-witted miracle-buying people who say Nigeria isn't a failed state? Somalia is far better; at least it's not paying bandits to stand on the roads to rob and kill its people.


Posted by Don Benzo on Dec 17 2010
Salisu thanks for your write up. We really need to shake up our police force. Your comments on the guy who was harassed for returning a gun left by a sleeping officer reminded me of a similar incidence that I escaped from. My colleagues car broke down on 3rd Mainland Bridge Lagos. While we sorted out the problem, a molue bus passed by and the beret of a police man fell right by my feet. I picked the cap and all efforts to attract attention failed. I was now left with a police beret. I was mindful that leaving it on the bridge or throwing into the lagoon would mean that it may fall into wrong hands who may use it to rob people by impersonating the Police. So I decided to take it to the nearest police station. However, God delivered me because every one I spoke to of my plan warned me it was foolhardy because the police would either accuse me of killing a police officer or being a robber. So I hid the cap in my car for days until I got the number of a police officer in my church. He advised me to remove the cap from my car, hide it in my bible, and bring it to him on sunday. I did that I got the relief of my life. After that incidence, I have asked myself repeatedly how in heaven's name are we to help the police combat crime, when any attempt to help makes you suspect and a criminal. God help Nigeria


Posted by Mai Wando on Dec 17 2010
, and the police is supposed to be my friend,


Posted by Geico on Dec 17 2010
Salisu, I will like to recount one encounter I had with the police back in the late 1990s. A cousin of mine and I were arrested on Awolowo Rd, Ikoyi, Lagos one night. He was driving (though the car belonged to me) and the cops flagged us down somewhere close to the Falomo Bridge. In their usual manner, they will want you to come out of your car and meet with them. So my cousin went to meet them, then I heard them slap him. I came out furious and wanted to know why they did that. They told me that they asked him the vehicle licence number and he could not say it. I told them that the car is mine and they have no right to slap the young man. Long story short, they took us to their station on the same street close to the Federal Fire Station. They made me realise that they were aggressive because a car was stolen and that was why they mounted the road block. I parted with about N900 before my cousin was released. Two weeks after, I was driving towards Obalende in the evening. I had turned off Awolowo Road through a street close to School of Nursing (sorry, I don’t have the name of the street on top of my head right now). The police flagged me down even though I was all by myself. Then they sent a man to check my car boot and the man proceeded to do a thorough check. I allowed him a minute or two and then tap him on the back and said: ‘Baba, don’t you recognise me?" He looked at me and recognized me immediately. He was an elderly man and the one that was sent to negotiate with me when my cousin and I fell into their trap. So he went to explain to his colleagues one thing or the other and I was allowed to go. Today, I live in a city in Western Canada and I was pulled over by a cop for speeding recently. The first question he asked me was: “What was your reason for speeding today?” He then asked me the speed limit in that area and I told him 70 km. He showed me the radar gun. I was on 90 km. He asked for my driver’s licence and vehicle licence. He went to his car to do all the checks. I then called his colleague to give additional explanation and I made an attempt to come out of my car to meet with him but he told me with all politeness that I don’t have to get out of my car. Note that in Nigeria, our policemen will see it as an affront if you stay put in your car without coming out to meet with them. The first cop came back and gave me a speeding ticket of $125 dollars. He then proceeded to explain three ways of how to go about the payment including going to court if I object. The whole proceeding took place in an atmosphere of friendliness. The next day I talked to a colleague in the office and she told me that the cop should have allowed me to go. She then told me what to do. One has about a month to pay up, go to court or tell the city that you do not have money or they should give you time to pay. I went for the option of pleading with the city for the removal of my demerit points of 2 or 3 and pay the full amount of money. Alternatively, they could reduce the amount by 40% and give you at least a demerit point. I found out that the city makes a lot of money from traffic and different offences daily. The whole event happens on the 5th floor of the judiciary building in down town and at least 300 people visit the place every day. Assume that each person pays an average of $100 and you have 20 working days a month. Do the maths.


Posted by mad nigerian on Dec 17 2010
The police are not all that bad.Back in the 90's,my dad was involved in a motor accident.Before the accident he was very cynical about our police,but after he saw the way the police on ground did their duty,he was impressed enough to say that some policemen were good. Again,when I was a university student,one of my fellow students was caught up in one of those tribal riots.He was about to be lynched by a mob for being a member of the 'wrong' tribe,and his life was saved by two policemen who were unarmed but risked their lives to save him from being killed. Our police is not perfect,but I for one beleive that with a little more funding and yes encouragement from the public(not kola,mind you!),they could do better.Bad eggs need to be weeded out. Finally,I think it is time to set up an Independent Police Complaints Commision for the public to complain about police mistreatment.The Commision could be empowered to deal with any bad policemen.


Posted by The Police is your friend on Dec 17 2010
This is a classic example of an unbalanced commentary. I once had a car stolen in Lagos recovered by the police in Edo state. They visited me at home after obtaining my address from the licensing authorities. On another occasion my car broke down on a Highway. The police stayed with me until I got a tow van. There are dregs everywhere but not all police officers are devil's disciples.


Posted by hC on Dec 17 2010
Not all policemen are the Public's enemy. Salisu, for the sake of those who are really doing a great job, let's hear both sides of the story. How would you feel reading an op-ed on 'The Corruption of All Nigerian Journalists-A Case for the Brown Envelope'? Let's also give credit to the real Nigerians.


Posted by aminu on Dec 17 2010
The level of corruption in the police force is alarming.the government has to improve the welfare of the police personnel and also get rid of the bad eggs in the force.


Posted by Mr C on Dec 17 2010
My friend's father in law was killed a day after his engagement. The police took the car to their station for "evidence" and "forenzik" check. He returned a day later to pick the car and the idiots, who till date haven't found the culprit, asked him to "raise boys". Though he got his car without paying (after really vexing to their faces), that attitude really shows the "cold" nature of our Nigerian police.


Posted by Ajegunle on Dec 17 2010
Salisu, why do you want to open can of worms on our authorised and legal armed robbers (Nigeria Police)? They are the dregs of the society. If you see an armed robber and the police, you are safer with the former.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5654642-182/story.csp

Dora Akunyili Quits Jonathan Cabinet To Join Politics

Posted: December 15, 2010 - 14:27

By SaharaReporters, New York

Nigeria’s minister of information, Dora Akunyili, formally left the cabinet of Goodluck Jonathan today to join politics.  Her valedictory statement read at the Federal Executive Council meeting today finally put to rest speculations about her political future.

See address to FEC:

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS TO THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL BY PROF. DORA AKUNYILI, HON. MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS, ABUJA, DECEMBER 15, 2010

Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, and esteemed colleagues with whom I have formed a family — some of you for the past two years and others for a lesser period of time.  I wish to humbly inform Council that I am resigning from the Cabinet with effect from tomorrow, 16th December, 2010.

Today is therefore a very emotional day for me in Council. This is because I have been so closely bonded to most of you that my departure is like leaving a family. My heart is so heavy because in this Council, I have found comfort and friendship.


However, having reflected over the years about events in Nigeria and in particular my state, Anambra, I have come to the conclusion that it is indeed a defining moment in my life when I should make the sacrifice of leaving a comfortable place to go to a difficult terrain in order to build a better place for our children. I have, therefore, decided to join my Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, who is doing a great job in continuing to build Anambra State as an APGA Senator. In this regard, I intend to pick the nomination form today to run for the office of Senator Representing Anambra Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

As I take this step, I solicit for your prayers and other forms of support. I am making this request because you are my people and my immediate constituency.  Yes, my colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry are still my people but I have virtually exhausted my goodwill with them in the service of our dear Country, especially in support of the Re-branding Nigeria project. Many drug manufacturing companies spent over N10 million for the Re-branding Nigeria materials because they desperately wanted me to succeed. Therefore, it is you and only you that I can now run to for support. Please, I plead with each and everyone of you to sow a seed to my political career, you will never regret it. In the words of President Jonathan, I will never let you down. Yes, I will be in the senate by the grace of God for my constituency and for the nation but you can be sure that I will also be there for you.

Mr. President, I am deeply grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to serve our dear Country as Minister of Information and Communications. I am equally grateful for the co-operation which you, the VP and my Cabinet colleagues extended to me in the course of my duties, without which I would not have succeeded. Mr. President, I will never forget the encouragement you gave me through phone calls, text messages, e.t.c. when I was in NAFDAC during that fight for life. Mr. Vice President, you always call me your sister, please continue to call me your sister.

I wish Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, and other Council members who may wish to contest in the 2011 elections success in this regard. I pray that this Council succeeds to the end and that many of you continue as Council members after May 2011.

I leave you with love and fond memories. Thank you and God bless you all.

PROF. DORA NKEM AKUNYILI, OFR
HON. MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS, ABUJA, DECEMBER 15, 2010

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/dora-akunyili-quits-jonathan-cabinet-join-politics

2011: North places IBB, Saraki on standby •Fears Atiku may be disqualified

Written by Taiwo Adisa, Abuja

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

NOTWITHSTAN-DING the announcement of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as consensus candidate of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF), political leaders of the North are said to have placed former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida and the Kwara State governor, Dr Bukola Saraki, on standby ahead of the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja confirmed that leaders of the two main pro-North groups, the NPLF and the Northern Elders Assembly (NEA) were said to have brainstormed on the situation in the North at their recent meetings and concluded that it was important to place the two aspirants on standby to avoid a situation where the North might be caught unawares.

At one of the meetings of the NEA, sources confirmed that the group concluded that it was necessary for the North to place the two aspirants on standby, so as to avoid an emergency situation that could occur in the future.

A source said that the North needed to work on other viable alternatives other than the consensus option which produced Abubakar.

It was confirmed that other meetings of the NPLF also agreed to a similar position.

Sources at the NEA meeting confirmed that one of the participants raised the issue and that it was agreed to at the meeting.
A source said that one of the leaders told the meeting that after arriving at a consensus candidate, the next thing the North should do was to place Babangida and Saraki on standby to avoid what he called ‘eventuality.’

Though the leader who raised the issue did not elaborate on the fears, he was said to have told the meeting that there are fears Abubakar might be disqualified “somehow.”

The leader was quoted as saying: “The North should now be working on other viable options outside the consensus arrangement. This means that those presidential aspirants involved in the consensus arrangement should be put on standby should he (Abubakar) be disqualified from contesting in the PDP primaries or national convention. If this happens at a time when there is no space for litigation on the matter, one or two of the aspirants would continue in the race.”

A source said that while some of the participants were wary of the suggestion, others advised that it should be considered.
It was then agreed that the option be pursued.

Sources confirmed that the NPLF said it took notice of the controversies surrounding the presidential contest of Abubakar and Babangida before arriving at the choice of the former vice-president but also concluded that his choice could be defended.

It was gathered that the group thought that the protests that would greet the choice of Babangida in the South might be uncontrollable and that many people in the North feel that Saraki was not strong enough in the area, being a minority from the North.

It was gathered that the groups had decided on the duo of Babangida and Saraki on the waiting list in case anything happens to the consensus arrangement.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/14802-2011-north-places-ibb-saraki-on-standby-fears-atiku-may-be-disqualified

My clash with OBJ, a closed issue - Fayose

Written by Christian Okeke, Abuja

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayo Fayose, on Tuesday, told the Nigerian Tribune that the issue regarding the recent altercation between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo at Okuku in Osun State, during the thanksgiving reception in honour of the former governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was now a closed issue to him.

This is just as he called on his brothers who have been making statements on the matter to “allow sleeping dog to lie.”

The former governor’s reaction came as his family, on Monday, insisted that it deserved unreserved apology from Obasanjo over the incident.

The immediate younger brother of the former governor, Mr Abimbola Fayose, had stated that the family stood by the former governor and his judgment at all times, insisting that Obasanjo did not have any right whatsoever to call “our son and brother a bastard which every Yoruba man will react to if in Fayose’s shoes.”

He maintained that the former president deserved what he got, as according to him, a man in glass house must not throw stones.

In his words: “While I agree that elders deserve respect, not all elders are responsible and, therefore, do not deserve to be called elders simply because they wear grey hairs without inward maturity.

“If our younger brother in the PDP wants PDP nomination, he should earn same through the people’s mandate in his constituency and not through his unwarranted apology to Obasanjo.”

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/14793-my-clash-with-obj-a-closed-issue-fayose

2011: Saraki’s cabinet tips Atunwa as governorship aspirant

Written by Yekini Jimoh, Ilorin

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

THE cabinet of Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday, formally presented the Commissioner for Finance, Mr AbdulRasaq Atunwa, as the governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 general election.

Presenting the governorship aspirant before newsmen, the Director General of Saraki’s campaign organisation, and Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Bolaji Abdul-lahi, said the cabinet of Dr. Saraki had decided to bring Mr Atunwa forward for the number one position in the state.

He stated that as a serving cabinet member in the Governor Bukola Saraki’s administration for over seven years, it had become imperative to nominate him so that he would continue from where the governor would stop in 2011.

In his own address, the governorship aspirant, Mr Atunwa, said it was only someone “who had a deep knowledge of this administration, who understands the vision and the dynamics, who has been engaged with the complex challenges of implementing key projects and policies that can competently carry on with the great work that has been done and keep Kwara moving in the direction of greatness.”

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/14796-2011-sarakis-cabinet-tips-atunwa-as-governorship-aspirant

Time To Sack The National Assembly

Tunde Fagbenle

December 14, 2010


Them crazy, them crazy -

We gonna chase those crazy

Baldheads out of town;

Chase those crazy baldheads

Out of our town.


I and I build a cabin;

I and I plant the corn;

Didn’t my people before me

Slave for this country?

Now you look me with that scorn,

Then you eat up all my corn.

…,


Here comes the conman

Coming with his con plan.

We won’t take no bribe;

We’ve got [to] stay alive.


We gonna chase those crazy -

Chase those crazy baldheads -

Chase those crazy baldheads out of the town.

The above is an excerpted lyric from the late Bob Marley’s song, “Crazy Baldheads”. And that’s exactly what has come to my mind since the mess of the gluttony of our federal legislators hit the fan in the last week or so. We need to chase them crazy baldheads out of Abuja.

In the last one or two weeks Nigerians have risen up with one voice, more than we’ve ever done, to declaim the National Assembly (NA) – Senate and House of Reps – over what transpires to be their excessive and inordinate self-aggrandisement. Each member of the House of Reps, we are told, carts home over N204 million annually, aside some other perks and unimaginable creatively determined allowances; a Senator (the senior member of NA) manages about N240 million. Multiply that by their number (some 460 federal legislators) and you get a figure that simply beggars belief – a staggering N136 billion per annum.

It was a rightly miffed governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (SLS), who characteristically blew the whistle on the legislators in a Convocation Lecture he delivered at the Igbinedion University, Edo State, wondering for how long more a country could carry the weight of such burden on her treasury, a burden Lamido calculated to be 25% of the country’s overheads.

Nigerians rose in anger the following morning, wasn’t this the same country pussyfooting over a minimum wage of N18,000 for her workers? Put plainly, the carry-home wage of each legislator would pay the salary of 25,000 workers at the N18,000 they are begging to get. And that N18,000 is no more than the cost of a senator’s meal in one go.

Our bigheaded legislators felt Sanusi set out deliberately to ridicule them. So they called him to a session aimed at getting their own back by ‘setting the records straight’. Was Sanusi wrong? No, that’s not the point. Lamido’s figure was right but his percentage was wrong, they insist.

Nothing could be sillier. I don’t care if the percentage came to 0.001%, N136bn to 460 people in a country where citizens are dying everyday for lack of good roads, lack of good health, lack of electricity, lack of potable water, and unemployment is in the scary 25%, is simply ridiculous.

But Sanusi wasn’t saying anything new he has only echoed more strongly the alarm that General Obasanjo (yes, of all pots that could call the kettle black) and Prof. Itse Sagay before him had raised.

Our legislators pride themselves for their oversight functions, who will oversight these oversighters? The impunity and recklessness with which our legislators have so far carried on allotting to themselves all sorts of allowances and funds for their so-called constituencies is a challenge to any of the other arm of government to cast the first stone. And, indeed, some of the legislators have so loudly wondered why we are picking on them when the Executive-arm enjoys even far more perquisites. No wonder the Executive has acted particularly deaf and dumb to the raging outcry.

The truth need be told. And it is a truth some of us have harped on so often in the past, in different names, from “true federalism” to “restructuring”, etc. Only a country like Nigeria, only a place ruled by ‘black’ minds, will not recognize that the system of government whereby over 25% of her resources go on emoluments need immediate drastic reworking.

Importantly, the National Assembly membership doesn’t have to be so large. Secondly, they do not have to be full time on it, let each have other means of livelihood. Thirdly, it is a national service, not any greater than our NYSC. Their remuneration must not be any more than that of a Level 16 officer in the Civil Service. Fourthly, the “Community Project” rubbish must stop. Fifthly, the federal government should not continue to be responsible for Local Governments. At best, let there be an increase on what goes to each state from the federation account, and let each state take care of its own Local Government by whatever name or number it chooses to create such. Enough damage is done by the largely arbitrary creation of states done by the military. Sixthly, the Executive-arm needs to be pruned down considerably.

Time to get serious as a nation. And if those we have there are not going to do it, then it is time the people take their own fate into their own hands and move to get rid of bad rubbish. The 2011 Elections is an opportunity not to miss. Let us chase them crazy baldheads out of town!

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/tunde-fagbenle/time-to-sack-the-national-assembly.html

US-Based Prof's New Book Spills Details on Ribadu, Ibori $15m Bribe Saga

Written by Laolu Akande/Empowered Newswire

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 17:30

JUST AS A United Arab Emirates' court in Dubai ruled to extradite the former Delta State Governor James Ibori to the United kingdom to face corruption charges, a new book is revealing greater details of his alleged attempt to compromise the former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu with a $15m dollar cash bribe Empowered Newswire reports.
Entitled A Paradise for Maggots, the 464-page book is written by a US-based Nigerian Professor Wale Adebanwi was presented to the public yesterday in Abuja. According to some of the several revelations in the book, the former Delta State Governor was stealing about 75% of the state revenue and made the $15m bribe offer in cash to Ribadu at the residence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's aide in Abuja.

Explaining why he wrote the book, whose forward was written by Nigeria's internationally fanous author, Prof. Chinua Achebe, Adebanwi, a journalist and political scientist said in a chat that "it is a Nigeria story and I started working on it while Ribadu was still in office.
Other revelations in the book includes how Ribadu said former president Obasanjo asked late Umaru Yar'Adua to go seek his support after Obasanjo had selected him to be the PDP candidate. It also detailed how Obasanjo's then Chief of Staff stopped the former president from accepting Ribadu's resignation letter when Obasanjo demanded that he apologise to former IG Tafa Balogun. Ribadu refused and offered to leave the EFCC then.
Quoting directly from Ribadu, the book disclosed "at a point, our investigations revealed that James was taking about seventy-five percent of the state’s monthly revenue. James is a hopeless case. He cannot change; even though as an individual he is likeable, very warm. But I had a responsibility to do my work. He desperately wanted to stop me.

Conceding that both Ribadu and Ibori were somewhat friendly as Ibori will often call Ribadu IG, the book quoted Ribadu as saying the former Delta State Governor who is now facing extradition charges in Dubai expected Ribadu to stop EFCC investigation of his activities as Governor. At a point, Ribadu noted as the book shows that they both eventually agreed as Ibori wanted them to ‘settle’. The meeting point was at Andy Uba’s house around the Presidential Villa. The book continued: "When they met, Ribadu claimed that Ibori brought along a bribe of $15 million in cash, ‘in two bags’. Ribadu then called Ibrahim Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu and five other officers through the mobile phone to come to Uba’s house to pick up the bribe." Continuing the book revealed that "Lamorde and his team took the two bags containing the bribe and drove straight to the Central Bank, as directed by Ribadu, to keep the money there as exhibit – to be used whenever Ibori’s trial would commence."

At the meeting where the money was delivered, the book revealed that nonetheless, "Nuhu told James that he would still need to come to the EFCC office to make a statement on the many allegations against him. Ibori agreed. But he never showed up. "It was clear to me that he thought he had bribed me and ‘settled’ the matter. When I kept asking him to come, he told me that he could do more than what he had already given to me; that was a first installment’ said Ribadu, as the book quoted.

On Ibori's refusal to show-up at EFCC's office, "Ribadu then announced to Ibori on the phone that, since he has refused to honour the invitation, he would be arrested." According to the book, "Ibori ran to Andy Uba’s house to hide. When it became apparent to him that the EFCC had discovered his hide-out, he left Uba’s house for Protea Hotel. When the EFCC operatives surrounded the Protea Hotel, he escaped and fled to Kwara State Governor’s Lodge. His friend, Governor Bukola Saraki, was there too. Ribadu’s agents again surrounded the house. At this point, Ribadu said he and Saraki were exchanging calls. No dice, Ribadu told Saraki."

Preceding his showdown with EFCC, the new book explained that "Ibori, who got along well with Nuhu Ribadu, had expected that the warm greetings he constantly exchanged with the man he called ‘IG’ when they met frequently in Abuja would be sufficient to get Ribadu off his back. He didn’t realise that
while he and Ribadu pumped hands and shared jokes every time they met, the anti graft boss did not stop the investigations of Ibori’s suspected corruption while in office." But when Ibori "realised that the EFCC had a lot of documents in its possession which might be used to prosecute him, and that Ribadu was ready for his arrest, Ibori sent messages to Nuhu asking that they should ‘settle’.

According to the book, Ibori had actually been encouraged to return back to Nigeria after his first flight to the US and Ghana on leaving power. "He was emboldened by the assurances he thought he had extracted from Ribadu when he fled the US for Ghana before he returned home. Shortly after he left office in May 2007 as governor, Ibori fled to the United States where he is suspected to have a lot of investments. But when he got information that the Florida State police was closing in on him over some investigations of money laundering and corruption, he fled the US for Ghana. While in Ghana, Ribadu said Ibori reached out to him. Ribadu encouraged him to return home." Therefore, the book went on "when Ibori returned home, he thought that, unlike the other governors already standing trial, he could be smarter."

Quoting Ribadu the book said "‘Bukola [Saraki], James [Ibori] and I related very well. We met at the [Presidential] Villa and other places regularly. But that didn’t mean that I shouldn’t do my work. They
knew I was investigating them. They sometimes talked to me to stop the investigations,’ Ribadu disclosed. ‘I used to tell that we will settle the matter at the appropriate time. I never said I would stop the investigations.’
Ribadu in the book added that ‘I assumed at a point that maybe the investigations would discourage them from stealing more." After Ibori eventually surrendered from his hiding place at the Kwara State Lodge and was arrested, Ribadu said the former Governor started begging him. ‘”Please, please in the name of God You have destroyed me. Please help me” That was what he was saying. But I told him it was not personal. I told him that the law had to take its course. I reminded him about his cases in the UK. The international community will not take us seriously if we don’t deal with his cases in Nigeria. That was what I told him," the book disclosed.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/bookshelf/book-reviews/us-based-profs-new-book-spills-details-on-ribadu-ibori-15m-bribe-saga.html

Politicians disagree over Obasanjo at Ribadu’s book launch

WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2010 00:00 FROM LILLIAN CHUKWU, ABUJA AND LAOLU AKANDE, NEW YORK NEWS - NATIONAL 

THE eight years of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo regime re-echoed yesterday in Abuja as two influential politicians had an open disagreement about how the administration fared.

The event was the public presentation of a book: My story: My Vision, an autobiography by the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and presidential aspirant of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

The contending actors were a female political activist and member of the pro-democracy ‘Save Nigeria Group’, Hajiya Najaa’tu Mohammed, and former Minister of Aviation and Senior Special Assistant in the Obasanjo administration, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

Extolling Ribadu’s virtues, Najaa’tu stated that it was only a courageous man like Ribadu that could survive under a “totalitarian tyrant” and still achieve results in government.

She then called on all Nigerians to “stand up to the oppressors as Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed did” in ancient days. The firebrand politician went on to remind the audience that the time has come for a change in government of oppressors by voting Ribadu.

Mounting the podium, Fani-Kayode immediately rebuked the reference to his former boss as a “tyrant,” saying that the retired general’s administration was not oppressive or “totalitarian” in any way since it enabled and positioned an egalitarian, result-oriented and fearless administrator like the former EFCC boss to come into governance. He stressed that even in the mist of divergent views on issues between the then President Obasanjo and Ribadu, the former allowed the latter a freedom of implementation of sometimes radical policies.

Fani-Kayode citied the period when the Adamawa-born Ribadu had to go on an 18-month self-exile to escape from assassins. He reflected that it was under the Obasanjo administration that Ribadu excelled than when he was haunted by the successive government.

Meanwhile, just as a United Arab Emirates’ court in Dubai on Monday ruled to extradite former Delta State governor, James Ibori to the United Kingdom to face corruption charges, a new book is revealing greater details of his alleged attempt to compromise Ribadu with a $15m dollars cash bribe.

Entitled ‘A Paradise for Maggots’, the 464-page book was written by a U.S.-based Nigerian, Professor Wale Adebanwi and was presented to the public yesterday in Abuja.

According to some of the several revelations in the book, Ibori was allegedly stealing about 75% of the state’s revenue and made the $15 million bribe offer in cash to Ribadu at the residence of an aide to Obasanjo in Abuja.

Explaining why he wrote the book, whose forward was written by Nigeria’s internationally famous author, Prof. Chinua Achebe, Adebanwi, a journalist and political scientist, said in a chat that “it is a Nigerian story and I started working on it while Ribadu was still in office.”

Other revelations in the book include how Ribadu said Obasanjo asked the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua to go and seek his support after Obasanjo had selected him to be the PDP candidate. It also detailed how Obasanjo’s then Chief of Staff stopped the former president from accepting Ribadu’s resignation letter when Obasanjo demanded that he apologise to former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. Ribadu refused and offered to leave the EFCC then.

Quoting directly from Ribadu, the book disclosed: “At a point, our investigations revealed that James was taking about 75 per cent of the state’s monthly revenue. James is a hopeless case. He cannot change; even though as an individual he is likeable, very warm. But I had a responsibility to do my work. He desperately wanted to stop me.”

Conceding that both Ribadu and Ibori were somewhat friendly as Ibori would often call Ribadu and Balogun, the book quoted Ribadu as saying the former Delta State governor who is now facing extradition charges in Dubai expected Ribadu to stop EFCC investigating his activities as governor.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32394:-politicians-disagree-over-obasanjo-at-ribadus-book-launch&catid=1:national&Itemid=559