Guests at a book launch in honour of a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice George Oguntade, were yesterday treated to what to expect when campaigns for the 2011 presidential

election kick off by former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babagida and a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Also yesterday, Gen. Babangida denied stealing public funds and dared Nigerians who were fond of levelling such accusations against him to prove it.

Babangida and Atiku were guests of honour at the public presentation of a book entitled: “The force of Justice,” written in honour of the retired jurist by 22 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), seven Professors of Law and six others.

The drama started when the former military ruler was called upon to make his speech. While recognising guests on the high table, Babangida lauded Atiku for exercising his rights several times and securing victory at the nation’s highest court. But the former Vice President apparently interpreted that as referring to him as a litigious person and seized the opportunity of his turn to speak to fire back at Babangida, and question the former ruler’s academic credentials.

[b]Babangida had said: “I want to recognise the presence of former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; a man who initiated and won the highest number of cases at the Supreme Court. If I am not mistaken, he initiated 12 cases and won all.”

But when called to deliver his goodwill message, Atiku took a jibe at the former ruler.

He said: “ Gen. Babagida talked about the number of cases I initiated at the Supreme Court. I want to tell you that I was only exercising my legal rights under the Nigerian Constitution. I wish I had the same opportunity during his transition to democracy when I was disqualified, not once, not twice and eventually banned”.

Atiku said further: “When IBB was speaking about the cases I initiated to exercise my legal right, I wish those opportunities were available to me during his transition to democratic rule, when I was disqualified not once, not twice and eventually banned. Many people including professionals of diverse fields put money first at the expense of quality service delivery.”

He continued: “It is difficult to highlight honesty and integrity in an epoch when cowards are kings, it is difficult to promote courage when charlatans bestride the land in their borrowed robes. It is difficult to see the value of borrowed pride in a period when lying has become the pastime of some people in power. It is very hard to understand why honesty can be the best policy.”
[/b]
Fielding questions from Aviation correspondents at the Presidential Lounge of the Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, later in the afternoon, Babangida said that he would not succumb to cheap blackmail over his bid to return to power democratically in 2011, and urged those who describe his regime as corrupt, to establish the facts.

He said: “I am glad you used the word distraction. Antecedents are perceptions . The way we look at things, if you call me a thief , and you can prove it , you know what to do; not to make noise about it, go ahead and prove it.”

On strategies he would employ to actualise his presidential ambition, IBB explained that he will utilise the platform of the solid structure of a political party and the power of the people. “I will utilise two political structures; one is the people, and the second the political party,” he said.

On how he intends to attract nationwide support to actualise the presidency in 2011 and to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians, IBB explained that he was more than convinced that Nigeria would remain united in spite of its ethnic and religious diversities.

He said, “I believe that Nigeria will remain an indivisible entity, despite her many differences, ethnic and religious. The country remains a cohesive entity. I am convinced that I have the requisite experience to make it possible.”

Babangida further said that he would utilise the goodwill of governors of the aborted Third Republic to network politically . He said: “The governors are there still playing politics. I am very much in touch with them, I still have good relationship with them and will reach out to them.

In his address at the book launch, entitled: “Some critical challenges of governance,” Babagida said that there was nothing wrong with the presidential system as practised by the country, adding that the only issue he had with the system was the number of people in government.

He said : “What I am saying is that there is nothing inherently wrong with the presidential system. If I were, again, in position to act, what to do is to trim down the unnecessary baggage of undue human and personnel attachments to the major actors and functionaries (elected and appointed) of the presidential system. I am saying that this country, everything put together, deserves a slim governance in personnel and recurrent expenditures.

“I do not wish to engage in criticism but certainly our recent experience since the return to elected, constitutional, democratic and civilian governance in 1999, clearly indicates that we have seen too many of what the pre-eminent Professor of constitutional law, Prof Ben Nwabueze has referred to as ‘subversion of the rule of law and democracy’.

“There are many people in governance who need not be in governance; may be they are only in the governance corridors yet being fully catered for with too much public resources. I believe in the functionality of slim governance without breaching relevant provisions of the constitution, especially on federal character principle. This will bring down, even if symbolically, the costs of governance.

“The problem, I repeat, is not the presidential system but the overload of the system by functionaries who are not too, or not necessarily required for governance. I am aware of the argument that such overblown attachments in governance may be regarded as some form of welfare employment. On the contrary, the proper condition for generating employment needed in contemporary Nigeria is a productive economy and a better environment for freedom and liberty; private enterprise and the flow of global resources to develop our society and the economy” Babagida said.

On the book, he said: “This is the first time I have seen a book with over 35 contributors, 25 of whom have attained the legal prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and about 10 of whom are professors and accredited intellectuals, researchers and Deans of University of Law Faculties.

,

presido1:

I am of the believe that Orji and Mohammed are not part of the dunb family/community. They are paid actors.

I never know this kinda place exist in Lagos. God have mercy, how can people reside in such place, i better go back to my village and start farming and hunting.

Mohammed, 30, is a cattle dealer at the Oluwainshola Cattle Market and Slaughter Yard on the outskirts of Lagos.

"I am planning to marry presently, some time soon. I think it is the right time. I'm 30 now, and I have sent a message to my family letting them know I am ready. They will arrange everything. Her name is Aysha. I have met her three times already, during my trips home to my village in the north. She is good, I like her, there is love and understanding and I don't doubt her at all,

"When the day comes, me and my friends will go to the north, and my wife's family will cook. W e'll gather for prayers, and then I'll take my wife to the house to celebrate the wedding. The next day I'll bring her back to Lagos, and continue selling cows in the market."

JOSEPH ORJI
Joseph, 39, is a scrap trader at the Olusosun landfill site, and lives 10 minutes walk away with his wife and two young daughters.

"My business depends on the dollar. When the dollar goes down, the price goes down. When the dollar is up, the price goes up. The only difference between me and someone who works in the stock market is the suit and the tie, and the fine shoes. I've been working on the dump for 12 years. I'm a buyer. I buy from the scavengers, and sell to the reprocessing factories. Aluminium, zinc, copper wire, rubber slippers – all this is what I buy.

ERIC OBUH
Eric, 28, works as a scavenger on the Olusosun landfill site, the largest dump site in Lagos, and has recorded his first album "Send Them Come".

"They call me Slender, Vocal Slender, that's my music name. Because I'm very lean in the face, and because I'm always singing my songs. I have so many songs I still want to record, good songs that I've written, but no one has heard. Songs about divine love, peace and unity in Nigeria, and others which praise all the girls.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/04/documentary-film-welcome-to-lagos-nigeria

RICHIE BOI:

lets hope those boys in khaki dont try anything funny.

ziddy:

Atiku is aiming to snatch the PDP 2011 ticket. If he gets it, OBJ might as well start dusting his agbada for another stint in Adamawa prisons.

Ikengawo:

[size=30pt]YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO WEAR CLOTHES THAT INDICATE YOU'RE IN THE MILITARY OR POLICE IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.[/size]
this is a LAW in that country. These fools wearing the shirt are proof of a growing RULE OF LAW. you BREAK THE LAW you GET PUNISHED

Visit to Yar’Adua: Muslim clerics want to divide Nigeria, says CAN
From: NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna
Monday, April 05, 2010


Yar’Adua
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has said any move by Islamic scholars to portray the ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as a religious leader would further deepen the political crisis in the country.

In a reaction to the recent visit to Yar’Adua by the Imam of Abuja National Mosque, Ustaz Mohammed and other Muslim clerics who claimed they saw Yar’Adua privately at Aso Rock, the Kaduna State CAN Secretary, Reverend Joseph Hayab kicked against the rationale behind some clerics informing the whole Nigerians that they saw the ailing President when the Acting President Goodluck Jonathan had not made such visit.

According to Hayab, the development amounted to an insult and bore indices of dividing the country along religious lines by a group of Nigerians.
The CAN scribe made the submission in an exclusive chat with Daily Sun in Kaduna.
“We see this development as unfortunate, but the simple reason is that there is nothing spectacular about seeing Yar’Adua,” Hayab said, adding that, “but since Yar’Adua fell ill, Christian and Muslim leaders and everybody in Nigeria have been praying for the recovery of the man.”

The CAN scribe, however, warned that it would cause the country socio-political harm should visiting Yar’Adua be hinged on religious sentiments, adding that, “if Yar’Adua is available for people to see him, we have not heard from the acting president that he had seen Yar’Adua, neither have we heard from the National Assembly nor other top Nigerian leaders that they had seen him.
“Recently one of the governors openly told us that no governor had seen Yar’Adua. Why should they opt to see Yar’Adua with a religious kind of visit? I don’t think its good for Nigeria’s unity, it is not even good for prayer and understanding we have about his health issue.

“And coming out to make a mock announcement of the thing belittles the status of a whole president of the country, making it look like a religious affair and I see Yar’Adua above this. Yar’Adua is the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and issue concerning Yar’Adua should be seen as a Nigerian issue, not a religious issue.
“This is the whole problem we have been complaining about. And now we begin to see more and more of it. Those who are managing Yar’Adua seem to be blinded and don’t seem to understand how sensitive Nigerians are. And they are playing this game.

“But there is no crime for the family to call religious leaders to pray for him. The only problem is the information we received that they confessed that they saw Yar’Adua, sitting down and never said a word. Who knows whether someone has been masked like him and sat in the chair where Yar’Adua was supposed to sit and they presented him like Yar’Adua.

“They give room for this kind of doubt. Those who are supposed to speak more comfortably about Yar’Adua today are the acting president, the National Assembly and other political leaders, but making it look like a religious issue doesn’t sound well.” “It will amount to making nonsense of the whole issue if Christian leaders say they too want to see Yar’Adua. Let us not belittle ourselves.

“The Yar’Adua issue is beyond propaganda. It is beyond religious colouration. The man is sick. Period. Let us not politicize his ill-health. If religious leaders go to pray for the president, it shouldn’t be made public. “Why did they choose the time of prayer in the mosque to announce that they were late because they went to see Yar’Adua. Don’t forget, last week there was rumour that Yar’Adua was going to appear in the mosque and he never appeared in the mosque. This is pure propaganda.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/apr/05/national-05-04-2010-001.htm

mikeansy:

I do not see anything wrong about Charlie Boy's views on this issue.

I do not also think there is anything wrong that he has chosen to make those views known.

Those who chose to hit the streets to protest Iwu's removal effectively made a counter protest legitimate.

Ultimately its up to Jonathan to appoint someone else or re-appoint Iwu if he likes. But let no one stampede Iwu out of office nor should anyone stampede Jonathan into making a particular decision.
Blaming the INEC Boss for all our electoral missfortunes without taking responsibilities ourselves or recognize that an equal blame goes to politicians, thugs, Police, everybody else; is the height of living in denial.

na_so:

So seeing the chief Imam and associates is more important than seeing his deputy who is steering the ship of the nation albeit in the interim?

Again why must it be that the announcement was made by the chief Imam in a mosque. Shows irresponsibility/insensitivity. They should be held responsible if there is any religious uprising in some northern states.