₦airaland Forum

^^^
They actually did. But envy wont allow you to mention it!

Gbawe:
Hit a nerve did I? Naturally , as one of those focused obdurately on the SW 24/7 , one would expect you to respond as you do above. The point is very simple. why , for example, does Beaf focus obdurately on SW Governors while ignoring the Governor running his own State into the ground i.e Uduaghan? Same goes for most of you . Even an Abian, like Ezeuche, despite having the "worst Governor in Nigeria" prefers to talk SW affairs 24/7 and non-stop while his home state goes to the dogs . Does that make sense to you ? Such actions , if I have to spell it out to you, goes against the notion of civic responsibility that has built great Nation.

This is why I promote the tenet of civic duty in my signature. With everyone taking Panadol for the SW's headache the region will only get far more sophisticated than others as per being under the microscope always. My free advice is that you and others should discuss the politics of your State and region more robustly instead of obssessing over the SW distractively.

As per GEJ, lest it is not obvious to you, he is the President of Nigeria , which includes the SW, and not that of the SS or SE. Aregbesola, however, is the Governor of Osun State and not Imo, Anambra or wherever it is you come from.

The substantive point is that, for a politically sophisticated nation to emerge, with an informed voting class,  debate should be robust and wide-ranging. Instead, all we get on NL these days is a 100% focus on the SW to the extent a non-Nigerian reading this forum can be forgiven for thinking Tinubu, Fashola, Aregbesola, fayemi, Amosun et al run Nigeria.

The more you try do defend the indefensible, the more foolish you sound. Why should Beaf, EzeUche, and co focus on their own state/regions alone? Are they not Nigerians? Is SW not part of Nigeria? Even if SW is not part of NIgeria, so what? Is US not focusing on Pakistan? Did France not spearhead the assault on Gbogbo's Ivory Coast? Didn't NATO bomb Libya?

By the way, have you give those you silly suggestion to the many minions of yours, who are busy focusing on other 'state/regions as you put it? Have you ask them to face their own state? You are a very big hypocrite, and a very pathetic one at that!

So your free advice should be shoved down your throat, or up you stinking a$$. Who needs advice from a bigot like you? Nigeria is my country, all the 36 state governors are my leaders. I am free to choose and pick the ones to discuss. If my freedom of speech raises your blood pressure, how is that my business? If I break forum rules, that is for the mod to determine. But one thing, I will not accept is for clowns, and glorified bigots to pop up and tell me what to do (or not) online! What state to discus and which to avoid? What gave you the audacity for such petulance?

The world is so interconnected, so much so that it borders on either sheer ignorance or malicious mischief for you to ask someone to focus on his state or region. It defies logic, and very childish to put it mildly. Do you use your brain at all before you post? These little minds and their numerous ish! My friend you are a disgrace to this forum for this childish rants of yours!

For the avoidance of doubt, I'll restate that I dont care how you feel or what you think (I am sure other posters will feel same way), but I will comment on whatever catches my fancy. If it is AregbeRascal, SW etc  24/7 as you put it, so be it! What you or several other foolish people think or say, is immaterial. So you can continue to lament all day like a rascally child!

At least you are honest enough to admit you don't even know where I am from, but your bigotry gave away your bias. But then again I couldn't care less where you think I am from. That is immaterial to you!

If you think there is a discussion gap in other zones that needs to be fill, fill it, and stop whining! It's is also very naive of you to come online to politics section to ask for pity, and understanding. What kind of person are you? For goodness sake are you a kid? Cos I wonder why a grown man will come online to ask people to nice, and fair to him. What kind of rubbish is that?

"The substantive point is that, for a politically sophisticated nation to emerge . . . blah bla bla" Who give a damn about your substantive point and your politically sophisticated nonsense talk? Who?

Why dont you hit the street with your placards as your mates will do, rather than try to achieve your 'substantive point' by burrowing through AregbeRascal a$$ while shouting 'leave SW alone!. Foolish man.

This forum is too sophisticated for your SW and feudalistic thinking. Your SW cannot exist in isolation. Nigeria owns SW, you this olodowa olodo! So when attention is turn to SW, face is like a man, and quit whining like a lily-livered kitten. If the kitchen is to0 hot, get the darn out! Your crocodiles is not appealing to anyone! Man up, you son of odelowo!

Gbawe:
"Watching" for what? Is it not Osun folks , first and foremost, who should be "watching"? in any case,
did Mohammed Alli , at the peak of his power, not talk and deliver? Would you not prefer a leader is assured and confident in his ability than gain a defeatist who , without trying, tells you "leaner Government not possible" or is always wimpering about "plots"? Please let Aregbesola talk.

Several of his initiatives and efforts have now begun to gain recognition and commendation , even internationally, so abeg fashi the bobo and face your own Governor. I don't even get why everyone, especially those not from the region, are so focused on the SW these days to the extent of neglecting their own States and region ? Kilode ? Wetin we do Una? Are we the only region in Nigeria because a non-Nigerian would assume so if Nairaland is their only source of news about Nigeria !!!!! It is beginning to get annoying !!! Haba !!!

Quit this bigotry! People are free to comment on whatever they like. What is your problem? Are you the only SWner on this forum? Or are you indeed paid to defend AregbeRascal et al.

For the avoidance of doubt, anything posted online is fair game! Whoever wants to comment, will! Tribe, creed, region, religion, race, ethnicity is not a barrier to free speech (at least on NL). If you spill your bile, develop high blood pressure, or become hypertensive because non-SWners  are commenting on SW affairs, tough luck! It wont stop people from expressing their minds. And they would not always agree with you, your design or schemes!

And you are such are pathetic hypocrite! You rave and rant, and attack GEJ every day on every thread, but you rather no one touch your anointed, because they are flawless, they are gods? Such hypocrisy is very appalling, and portrays you as number 1 bigot on this forum, despite how much you try to mask it with your long boring false tirades (from Osundefender and Sahara misreporters).

@Topic,

Talk is cheap, AregbeRascal.
When you quit living in Lagos state, and start doing something tangible in Osun state, then we might start to take you serious. Until then, you are just a loud mouthed clueless, strolling vagabond in power!

dayokanu:
Yes PDP internal democracy produces the likes of Obanikoro, Alao-Akala, Theodore Orji, Ohakim, Alamieyeiseigha, Uduaghan

While ACN lack of internal democracy produces the likes of Fashola, Oshiomhole, Ngige, Fayemi etc.

I would rather stick to the ACN lack of internal demoncrazy

Nothing special about those people. They are just average at best!


Even fashola is aiding and abetting Tinubu in massive corruption and treasury looting. So there is your ACN!

^^^
. . . with maps and satellite pictures.

Are you lots not tired of this stup.id obsession with another poster like you?

Na wa for some peoples and their little minds.

There is a huge difference between PDP and ACN

PDP has internal democratic ideals, while ACN's internal democracy is next to none existent.

In other words, PDP members choose their representatives in primaries, while Tinubu is the primary (and tertiary) in ACN.
Putting your life in the hand of man, is cool if he will churn out only the Fasholas of this world. But when you start seeing ex-cultist (Amosun) or clueless vagabonds (AregbeRascal), you will begin to realise the folly of herds mentality as being advocated by ACN.

Employment: Reps seek abolition of age limit for graduates
Friday, 21 October 2011 00:00 From Terhemba Daka, Abuja Business Services - Business News

Urge speedy review of UNEP report on Ogoni

THE age limit pandemic, which has added to the plight of job seeking graduates in the country, may soon become history, as the House of Representatives, yesterday, called for the abolition of the barrier as a requirement for graduates’ employment in the country.

Government agencies and corporate bodies have over the years, required fresh tertiary institutions’ graduates to be below 28 years, sometimes 25 years, for employment in their respective establishments.

With phenomenal truncations of academic programmes, mostly through industrial actions, which have unsavourily been elongating students’ tenure at the institutions, most of them have been finding themselves graduating into unemployment, as they usually clock over 28 years by the end of their respective courses.

The legislators’ decision followed a motion moved on the matter yesterday, by Representative Arua Arunsi, on the urgent need to address the age barrier to graduate employment in Nigeria.

Consequently, the House in its resolution on the motion urged the Federal Government to direct all its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as multinationals, corporate organisations and the organised private sector to remove the age barrier to graduate employment in the country, since according to it, “recruitment should be based on competence and skills.”

This came also as the legislators, yesterday, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to persuade the committee set up to review the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the environmental degradation due to the activities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Ogoni, in Rivers State, to turn in its recommendation without further delay. That committee was headed by Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Representative Asita Honourable, had in a motion drawn the attention of the House to the failure of the review committee to turn in its report two months after it was constituted, and only given one week by the President to present a report that would guide government in developing a white paper for the implementation of the UNEP’s report.

In his lead debate on the motion against the use of age barrier for employment, Arunsi argued that besides breaching the graduates’ rights of freedom from discrimination, the schools system in the country had been an added pains to the unemployed graduates, who had to spend between six and eight years for a programme of four years in the university.

He said the continuous use of age as a criterion for graduate employment had ironically resulted in sharp practices of age falsification, a development the lawmaker noted was rather relegating merit to the background.

Speaking in support of the motion, other lawmakers including Adams Jagaba, Chineye Ike, Nkiruka Onyejiocha and Olumide Osoba in their separate submissions, condemned the practice, describing it as unfair to the affected youths.

Jagaba however, called for an urgent review of the retirement age in the civil service with a view to creating vacancies for the teeming unemployed graduates in the country.

Leading the debate on the motion on the delay of report being expected from the Presidential committee for the review of the UNEP report on Ogoni land, Honourable, who described the Niger Delta people as being “happy to contribute to the economy of the country,” however lamented that degradation in the area due to oil exploration was carried out with impunity.

Expressing worries on why the Diezani-Alison-led committee was foot-dragging in turning in a report two months after its constitution as against the two weeks it was offered by the President, the lawmaker said while so much has been committed to carry the initial study by UNEP, it was obvious that international best practices were not adopted SPDC in the area.

Other Members including Representative Mushood Mustapha, Daniel Reyeineju and Peter Akpatason spoke in support of the motion.



http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64983:-employment-reps-seek-abolition-of-age-limit-for-graduates&catid=31:business&Itemid=562

@topic

Senile of old man.

How did he solve the ND problem? What grievances do the Boko Haram terrorist have, other than the fact that the want to Islamize nigeria?


Carrot my foot! He should add cabbage, cucumber and what have you. In fact he should give them salad!

I laugh in Obj.

^^^^

"For your tomorrow, we gave our today."

FG Unfolds Blueprint on Agricultural Revolution

21 Oct 2011

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Akinwunmi-Adesina-8.jpg-Akinwunmi-Adesina-8.jpg

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina

By Kunle Akogun

The Federal Government, Thursday, unfolded a blueprint for the transformation of the nation’s agricultural sector, projecting that it would realise over N410 billion from rice and cassava flour production by the year 2015.

But the revolution would bring about the decentralisation of the Ministry of Agriculture and the creation of six regional directorates to ensure that agricultural development was built from the grassroots.

In addition, about N2 billion would be provided in the 2012 budget for young commercial farmers to encourage them to grow food for the nation.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, made these declarations when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture. He said if fully implemented, the programme was expected to create about 3.5 million jobs in the sector. In order to ensure a success of the programme, he said a National Agriculture Transformation Council, has been set up with President Goodluck Jonathan as Chairman.

Adesina stated that about N350 billion would accrue to the nation's economy by the end of 2015 following the import substitution policy for rice, while over N60 billion would be generated from substituting 20 per cent of bread, wheat flour with cassava flour.

According to him, the strategies needed to ensure the actualisation of the goals include passing legislation that would make it mandatory for flour mills to utilise 10 per cent of cassava flour as substitute for bread wheat, blending of 10 per cent of ethanol made from cassava with petrol, ensure zero tariff for import of agricultural equipment and provide tax holidays for investors in the agriculture sector.

“The Land Use Act needs to be reviewed to ensure that land is made accessible to farmers. We may have to remove it from the Constitution so that land can be freed for large scale agriculture.

The Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation has been a monopoly, we are liberalising the agricultural insurance market so that private companies can go in and compete in order to ensure that farmers pay lower premiums,” he said.

Adesina stated that for the programme to achieve its targets on rice, government must increase the current tariffs on brown rice from five per cent to 35 per cent to discourage further import and protect local farmers for the objectives to be realised.

Adesina also noted that with the decentralisation of the ministry, collaboration with states in agricultural development would be effective and evaluation of results would now be easier.

Under the new policy, government would no longer be involved in the distribution of fertilisers.  He urged the National Assembly to ensure the voting of 10 per cent of the national budget to agriculture instead of the current three per cent.

However, Senator Bukola Saraki, expressed fears over the implementation of the programme, stressing that rice importers could sabotage the project because of the huge gains they make from importation of the commodity.


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-unfolds-blueprint-on-agricultural-revolution/101014/

https://serving.thisdaylive.com/0bef99d6-acf5-4e2c-9779-8fa02ba3fcd4/assets/Akinwunmi-Adesina-8.jpg?maxwidth=400&maxheight=540
Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina

^^^

lmao. He wasn't referring to the long tirade you posted above. I wonder who will even bother read it. Not me any way. Speeches are easy to write in any case.

lagcity:
your IQ is way down there. going green means reducing your carbon footprint and increasing recycling. it doesn't mean planting beautiful lawns on the roundabout.

^^^^

You IQ is way way lower my friend. Planting, preserving, and protecting trees is the first principle of going green!

Do you even know what carbon footprint is? Or what role plants play in carbon footprint?
Some people just open their mouth to talk trash, and the claim they are intelligent! Complete slowpoke! 

Court orders el-Rufai to face trial


BY OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI

ABUJA-A Federal Capital Territory High Court presided over by Justice Sadiq Abubakar Umar, yesterday, turned down an application by a former Minister of FCT, Malam Nasir el-Rufai and two others to quash the charges of misconduct and abuse of office filed against them by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.


In his ruling, Justice Umar said the consolidated motion on notice filed by the accused persons on May 12 and June 28, 2011, through their counsel is unmeritorious and has failed the test of law.

The judge, who maintained that the prosecution has established a prima facie case against them, ordered that the three accused persons must face trial to defend the charges against them.

The two other accused persons arraigned with el-Rufai are a former Director-General, Abuja Geographic Information System, AGIS; Altine Jubrin, and a former General Manager, AGIS, Ismail Iro.

The judge, said from the proof of evidence before the court, the three accused persons have explanation to make in the course of trial.

He also said that Section 2 of ICPC Act was elastic enough to hold the accused persons liable to face trial.

EFCC had on Wednesday, July 6, 2011, argued that the three accused persons as public officers, can be tried by the commission as the anti-graft agency has an absolute authority to prefer charges against them.

Counsel to the EFCC, Adebayo Adelodun, SAN, had questioned the motion seeking to quash the charges saying that it was an abuse of court processes to have brought the same motion which had earlier been ruled upon.

He said that the court had on March 28th, 2011, granted EFCC leave to prefer charges against the accused persons and that the court's decision was borne out of proof that the EFCC had a prima facie case against them.

Adelodun further averred that the defence counsel's submission that the first accused person, Mallam El- Rufai was not a public officer but rather a political appointee hence should not be charged under the ICPC's Act, was erroneous as section 2 of the ICPC Act clearly describes a public officer as one who is employed or engaged in the service of the federation.

"My lord, the enabling law has intrinsically described who a public officer is and takes into consideration circumstances of other people engaged as consultants, ministers, and other non- regular staff in the service of the federation."

On the argument by the defence counsel that the charges have violated the law of duplicity and should then be quashed, prosecution counsel said that according to some rulings of both the Supreme and Appeal courts, it is not in all cases that duplicity of charges are deemed as a sufficient ground to quash a case but only when there is an occasion to miscarry justice.

"The use of conjunctives 'and' and 'or' which the defence counsel are relying upon to drive their argument of duplicity cannot be sustained as it does not in any way mean that but is explanatory in nature as to the time of committing the crime," Adelodun had submitted. He had insisted that the crime for which the first accused was being charged was committed before his disengagement in May 29 2007.

Earlier, Messrs Akin Olujinmi (SAN) and Kanu Agabi (SAN), counsel to the accused persons had separately asked the court through applications brought to quash the case against their clients, saying that the offences being alleged were not disclosed in the proof of evidence and that it was an abuse of court processes to have duplicated their charges.

They submitted that the court needed to safeguard the accused persons from harassment and public embarrassment. The Senior Advocates opined that because the office of a minister was not described as a public servant, but was distinctively described in the constitution, no charge against the first accused person should be sustained.

Agabi particularly said: "The only thing tangible in their charge is that the fist accused revoked and re-assigned a land but I find nowhere in our laws where that is a crime. Rather Section 28 of the Land Use Act gives him the right to do so." The case is adjourned till November 15 and 16 for accelerated hearing.

El-Rufai and his co-accused were initially re-arraigned on April 17th, 2011. Their arraignment followed a petition to EFCC, chronicling allegations of abuse of office against El-Rufai and how he misappropriated government land which he allocated to his friends and family members, in flagrant breach of the Abuja Master plan.

According to the petition, the former minister, between 2003-2007, allocated ten plots of land in choice areas of Abuja and in various sizes to his family members, including his wife, Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, who got two plots- one in the Asokoro district and the other in the Kubwa district. Ten other family members and relations were also allocated different plots of land at various locations in the FCT. El-Rufai was granted bail on self-recognition by Justice Umar.

One of the count charges reads: "That you Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai (M) between 13th day of December, 2003 and 14th of December, 2007 or thereabout at the Ministry of Federal capital territory, Abuja in the course of and or in the performance of your official duties as the Minister of the federal Capital Territory did use your said Office and position to gratify and confer corrupt or unfair advantage on your relation to wit your wife Hadiza Ahmed El-Rufai by reallocating to her parts of the parcel of land known as plot No 1201, Asokoro District (A4) Abuja, originally allocated in the Federal Capital Territory Master plan to power Holding company of Nigeria Plc for the construction of transmitting/ injection sub-stations which fully and/or intentionally revoked for that purpose, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under section 19 of the corrupt and Other related Offences act, 2000."


http://odili.net/news/source/2011/oct/19/326.html

Jonathan dares governors, launches SWF with N150bn

Ifeanyi Onuba

The Federal Government, in defiance of state governors' opposition, has inaugurated the Sovereign Wealth Fund with an initial deposit of $1bn (N150bn).


GOODLUCK JONATHAN

advertisement

The coordinating minister for the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja.

The SWF, which was spearheaded by the immediate Minister of Finance, now Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has been a subject of controversy between the Federal Government and state governors.

In a reaction to the inauguration of the SWF on Tuesday, Chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum and governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, said the forum would meet on the Federal Government's action.

Amaechi, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, said, "The governors' position on the Sovereign Wealth Fund is that it is being deliberated upon. So far, no position has been taken on the launching of the fund by the federal government. The Nigerian Governors' Forum will have to meet to deliberate on the latest development."

The governors, at the end of their meeting on August 21, opposed the SWF, urging the Federal Government to suspend its operation until till all issues pertaining to it were resolved.

The National Assembly on May 27, 2011 passed the law establishing the SWF and it has since received presidential assent.

The Federal Government had at different times made moves to convince the governors to support the take-off of the fund without success. A meeting between Okonjo-Iweala and the 36 state governors on the need for the Fund on September 28 ended in a deadlock.

The minister was said to have told the governors that the Fund if allowed to work, would be used for both the government at the centre and the state governments anytime there was difficulty for funds.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo also met with the governors on October 5 during which he appealed to the governors to drop their opposition to the SWF.

Jonathan had also appealed to the governors, irrespective of their political parties not to play politics with the economy.

But briefing journalists in Abuja on the take-off of the fund on Tuesday, the finance minister said, "We are proceeding with the implementation of this very important programme following consultations with the governors forum because the feedback we have is that Nigerians strongly support saving for the future and the other core objective of the fund.

"It is clear that given the current challenges facing our economy and the global financial crisis, we cannot afford to waste any time."

She said the Fund would help the country to save for the future, invest in strategic infrastructure as well as build a buffer against shocks, such as the current global financial crisis which has damaged many economies across the world.

Announcing the key steps for the take-off of the fund, the minister said "the recruitment of the management team of the fund through a transparent process targeting the best qualified Nigerians within and outside the country has commenced."

She revealed that an accounting firm, KPMG, had been engaged to manage the process, adding that advertisement calling for applications from interested Nigerians would soon be



http://odili.net/news/source/2011/oct/19/818.html

^^^
In other words more corruption is the solution?

luluosas:
I just hope GEJ listen to the voice of reason. If he fails to, it will forever be on RECORD that, the first time a Niger Deltan mouthed the Leadership of Nigeria, the entity called Nigeria collapse. May God postpone the evil day now.

That would be a golden record! The man who ends the stu.pid contraption called Nigeria will forever be blessed!

Seunn11:
@ Ak47kidd
Do not be insulting, son. Those are your people's attribute. They do it from everywhere they go. Do not forget they are now claiming to be 43% of Lagos population (much less seems logical though).

@ PointB
What camp are you fighting for? be a man and lets know what you want.

My point is clear. No anti-social people on Yoruba Land. Period

You wont see me coming!

^^^^

U dey mind that educated illiterate!

Lagos is in a big mess these days.

It's terrible, all these miss opportunities by fashola.

Tinubu made him, and is unmaking him by milking the state dry!

greateros:
I like the way he respects and love Patience Jonathan - GEJ is truly a gentleman. [case in point - The picture of the inaugural ball he was so allover Dame; The picture of the UN meeting when Dame embarked from the plane before GEJ - He never saw anything wrong with that[I also dont see anything wrong with that], after all, its ladies first]

I like his manners - He is not a talkative type and he is very humble and polite.

I like his gentle approach to issues - He seems to be a quiet boy by default

Nigerians are used to harsh and autocratic leaders i guess that's why we seem to grossly misunderstood GEJ's gentle approach and classify him a coward - I think he is trying to bring a new kind of leadership in Nigeria

I like his cabinet compilation - they are a bunch of gentlemen and ladies. They dont throw insult at people [like the time of OBJ - Fani Kayode et al] even Reuben that we know him for being rude at times, has turned to a full gentleman. The only problem i hav with people that work for him, are his online staff [beaf, werepereli, johnhdoe, jmine, pointb, etc] they are so uncultured, so rude, so antagonistic, so insultive, so. . . - he really need to call them to order cause they are not painting a true picture of the person of GEJ]

All in all, i think he may endup being the best democratically elected president so far.

Wao! thats a lot of likes for a man i did not vote for.

PS: I am not a GEJ apologist, I campaigned and vote for buhari and i will still do same allover again!

@MODs: I will appreciate if GEJ online staff do not contribute to this post. I want to get the opinion of real people and not paid loyalists.

@POSTERS: PLS NO INSULTIVE WORDS ON THE PERSON OF MR, PRESIDENT IS ALLOWED. PLS

Spot on.

Don't worry. His online staff wont be posting in this thread. Nigerians will have their say though.
Online staff my foot!

Beaf:
The saga continues. . . It seems to be slaps all round, first Fashola, then his deputy. Can anyone throw more light on the slapping of Aregbe's deputy? Is it true?

http://www.osundefender.org/?p=20621

Again I concur : 'There is no smoke without fire!

Rascals!

^^^^

There is absolutely nothing wrong in the post.

The world is going green. Green is the next frontier of global competitiveness.


Be green!

^^^^

So that business can continue as usual?

Yorubas are the Problem with Nigeria - By Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=57%3Asanusi-lamido-sanusi&id=868%3Ayorubas-are-the-problem-with-nigeria-by-sanusi-lamido-sanusi&Itemid=65

In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude.

i. The Yoruba elite and area-boy politics;
ii. Igbo marginalisation and the responsible limits of retribution; and
iii. The Yoruba Factor and "Area-boy" Politics.

See also The Adulteress' Diary by Lamido Sanusi

My views on the Yoruba political leadership have been thoroughly articulated in some of my writings, prime among which was " Afenifere: Syllabus of Errors" published by This Day (The Sunday Newspaper) on Sept 27, 1998. There was also an earlier publication in the weekly Trust entitled " The Igbo, the Yoruba and History" (Aug. 21, 1998).
In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude.
The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a violent overthrow of an elected government in this country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January. After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in 1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad publicity in the South-West which led to the Buhari intervention.
When Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and Onabanjo, the South-Western press castigated that good government and provided the right mood for IBB to take over power. As soon as IBB cleared UPN governors of charges against them in a politically motivated retrial, he became the darling of the South-West. When IBB annulled the primaries in which Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged as presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he was hailed by the South-West. When the same man annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola was the front-runner, the South-West now became defenders of democracy.

When it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to Abiola, the South-West supported his take-over. He was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member to take over in a published letter shortly before the event. Even though Abiola had won the elections in the North, the North was blamed for its annulment. When Abdulsalam Abubakar started his transition, the Yoruba political leadership through NADECO presented a memorandum on a Government of National Unity that showed complete disrespect for the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.


Subsequently, they formed a tribal party which failed to meet minimum requirements for registration, but was registered all the same to avoid the violence that was bound to follow non-registration, given the area-boy mentality of South-West politicians. Having rejected an Obasanjo candidacy and challenged the election as a fraud in court, we now find a leading member of the AD in the government, a daughter of an Afenifere leader as Minister of State, and Awolowo´s daughter as Ambassador, all appointed by a man who won the election through fraud.

Meanwhile, nothing has been negotiated for the children of Abiola, the focus of Yoruba political activity. In return for these favours, the AD solidly voted for Evan Enwerem as Senate President. This is a man who participated in the two-million- man March for Abacha´s self-succession. He also is reputed to have hosted a meeting of governors during IBB´s transition, demanding that June 12 elections should never be de-annulled and threatening that the East would go to war if this was done. When Ibrahim Salisu Buhari was accused of swearing to a false affidavit, the Yoruba political elite correctly took up the gauntlet for his resignation.

When an AD governor, Bola Tinubu, swears to a false affidavit that he attended an Ivy League University which he did not attend, we hear excuses.

For so many years, the Yoruba have inundated this country with stories of being marginalised and of a civil service dominated by northerners through quota system. The Federal Character Commission has recently released a report which shows that the South-West accounts for 27.8% of civil servants in the range GL08 to GL14 and a full 29.5% of GL 15 and above. One zone out of six zones controls a full 30% of the civil service leaving the other five zones to share the remaining 70%. We find the same story in the economy, in academia, in parastatals.

Yet in spite of being so dominant, the Yoruba complained and complained of marginalization. Of recent, in recognition of the trauma which hit the South-West after June 12, the rest of the country forced everyone out of the race to ensure that a South-Westerner emerged, often against the best advice of political activists.

Instead of leading a path of reconciliation and strong appreciation, the Yoruba have embarked on short-sighted triumphalism, threatening other "nationalities" that they ( who after all lost the election) will protect Obasanjo ( who was forced on them). No less a person than Bola Ige has made such utterances.

To further show that they were in charge, they led a cult into the Hausa area of Sagamu, murdered a Hausa woman and nothing happened. In the violence that followed, they killed several Hausa residents, with Yoruba leaders like Segun Osoba, reminding Nigerians of the need to respect the culture of their host communities. This would have continued were it not for the people of Kano who showed that they could also create their own Oro who would only be appeased through the shedding of innocent Yoruba blood.

I say all this, to support Balarabe Musa´s statement, that the greatest problem to nation-building in Nigeria are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie. I say this also to underscore my point that until they change this attitude, no conference can solve the problems of Nigeria. We cannot move forward if the leadership of one of the largest ethnic groups continues to operate, not like statesmen, but like common area boys.

iii.The Igbo Factor and the Reasonable Limits of Retribution.

The Igbo people of Nigeria have made a mark in the history of this nation. They led the first successful military coup which eliminated the Military and Political leaders of other regions while letting off Igbo leaders. Nwafor Orizu, then Senate President, in consultation with President Azikiwe, subverted the constitution and handed over power to Aguiyi-Ironsi. Subsequent developments, including attempts at humiliating other peoples, led to the counter-coup and later the civil war. The Igbos themselves must acknowledge that they have a large part of the blame for shattering the unity of this country.

Having said that, this nation must realise that Igbos have more than paid for their foolishness. They have been defeated in war, rendered paupers by monetary policy fiat, their properties declared abandoned and confiscated, kept out of strategic public sector appointments and deprived of public services. The rest of the country forced them to remain in Nigeria and has continued to deny them equity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.

After the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a Second World War, far costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated, but this time, they won a more honourable peace. Our present political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to fight their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in this contemptible state in perpetuity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and suffered.

If this issue is not addressed immediately, no conference will solve Nigeria´s problems.

By Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Yorubas are the Problem with Nigeria - By Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=57%3Asanusi-lamido-sanusi&id=868%3Ayorubas-are-the-problem-with-nigeria-by-sanusi-lamido-sanusi&Itemid=65

In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude.

i. The Yoruba elite and area-boy politics;
ii. Igbo marginalisation and the responsible limits of retribution; and
iii. The Yoruba Factor and "Area-boy" Politics.

See also The Adulteress' Diary by Lamido Sanusi

My views on the Yoruba political leadership have been thoroughly articulated in some of my writings, prime among which was " Afenifere: Syllabus of Errors" published by This Day (The Sunday Newspaper) on Sept 27, 1998. There was also an earlier publication in the weekly Trust entitled " The Igbo, the Yoruba and History"  (Aug. 21, 1998).
In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude.
[b]The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a violent overthrow of an elected government in this country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January. After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in 1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad publicity in the South-West which led to the Buhari intervention.
When Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and Onabanjo, the South-Western press castigated that good government and provided the right mood for IBB to take over power. As soon as IBB cleared UPN governors of charges against them in a politically motivated retrial, he became the darling of the South-West. When IBB annulled the primaries in which Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged as presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he was hailed by the South-West. When the same man annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola was the front-runner, the South-West now became defenders of democracy.

When it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to Abiola, the South-West supported his take-over. He was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member to take over in a published letter shortly before the event. Even though Abiola had won the elections in the North, the North was blamed for its annulment. When Abdulsalam Abubakar started his transition, the Yoruba political leadership through NADECO presented a memorandum on a Government of National Unity that showed complete disrespect for the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.[/b]


Subsequently, they formed a tribal party which failed to meet minimum requirements for registration, but was registered all the same to avoid the violence that was bound to follow non-registration, given the area-boy mentality of South-West politicians. Having rejected an Obasanjo candidacy and challenged the election as a fraud in court, we now find a leading member of the AD in the government, a daughter of an Afenifere leader as Minister of State, and Awolowo´s daughter as Ambassador, all appointed by a man who won the election through fraud.

Meanwhile, nothing has been negotiated for the children of Abiola, the focus of Yoruba political activity. In return for these favours, the AD solidly voted for Evan Enwerem as Senate President. This is a man who participated in the two-million- man March for Abacha´s self-succession. He also is reputed to have hosted a meeting of governors during IBB´s transition, demanding that June 12 elections should never be de-annulled and threatening that the East would go to war if this was done. When Ibrahim Salisu Buhari was accused of swearing to a false affidavit, the Yoruba political elite correctly took up the gauntlet for his resignation.

When an AD governor, Bola Tinubu, swears to a false affidavit that he attended an Ivy League University which he did not attend, we hear excuses.

For so many years, the Yoruba have inundated this country with stories of being marginalised and of a civil service dominated by northerners through quota system. The Federal Character Commission has recently released a report which shows that the  South-West accounts for 27.8% of civil servants in the range GL08 to GL14 and a full 29.5% of GL 15 and above. One zone out of six zones controls a full 30% of the civil service leaving the other five zones to share the remaining 70%. We find the same story in the economy, in academia, in parastatals.

Yet in spite of being so dominant, the Yoruba complained and complained of marginalization. Of recent, in recognition of the trauma which hit the South-West after June 12, the rest of the country forced everyone out of the race to ensure that a South-Westerner emerged, often against the best advice of political activists.

Instead of leading a path of reconciliation and strong appreciation, the Yoruba have embarked on short-sighted triumphalism, threatening other "nationalities" that they ( who after all lost the election) will protect Obasanjo ( who was forced on them). No less a person than Bola Ige has made such utterances.

To further show that they were in charge, they led a cult into the Hausa area of Sagamu, murdered a Hausa woman and nothing happened. In the violence that followed, they killed several Hausa residents, with Yoruba leaders like Segun Osoba, reminding Nigerians of the need to respect the culture of their host communities.  This would have continued were it not for the people of Kano who showed that they could also create their own Oro who would only be appeased through the shedding of innocent Yoruba blood.

I say all this, to support Balarabe Musa´s statement, that the greatest problem to nation-building in Nigeria are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie. I say this also to underscore my point that until they change this attitude, no conference can solve the problems of Nigeria. We cannot move forward if the leadership of one of the largest ethnic groups continues to operate, not like statesmen, but like common area boys.

iii.The Igbo Factor and the Reasonable Limits of Retribution.

The Igbo people of Nigeria have made a mark in the history of this nation. They led the first successful military coup which eliminated the Military and Political leaders of other regions while letting off Igbo leaders. Nwafor Orizu, then Senate President, in consultation with President Azikiwe, subverted the constitution and handed over power to Aguiyi-Ironsi.  Subsequent developments, including attempts at humiliating other peoples, led to the counter-coup and later the civil war. The Igbos themselves must acknowledge that they have a large part of the blame for shattering the unity of this country.

Having said that, this nation must realise that Igbos have more than paid for their foolishness. They have been defeated in war, rendered paupers by monetary policy fiat, their properties declared abandoned and confiscated, kept out of strategic public sector appointments and deprived of public services. The rest of the country forced them to remain in Nigeria and has continued to deny them equity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.

After the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a Second World War, far costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated, but this time, they won a more honourable peace. Our present political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to fight their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in this contemptible state in perpetuity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and suffered.

If this issue is not addressed immediately, no conference will solve Nigeria´s problems.

By Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

PROUD-IGBO:
^^^ I can just picture it as if i was there:

**Dynamite eplodes KAGBIM!!!** Come see race, as everybody scatter comot. As one Policeman joins 'bloody civilians' to leg it for dear life, one silly fat woman (that can't seem to run fast enough ) is blocking his route of escape, and in annoyance Olopa shouts: "abegi if you no fit run fast, comot for road make i pass". The fat woman looks behind her while still running and asks, "officer, you sef join us dey run?". To which the Olopa unashamedly responds, "b/4 nko? Abi you think say i wan die for nothing? You dis woman, e be like say you no dey hear!!? I say run faster, or comot make i pass ".

Nigeria Police no dey take life play; especially when it's their own .

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody want to die!

Revolution ko, Demolition ni!

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said:

In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude.
The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a violent overthrow of an elected government in this country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January. After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in 1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad publicity in the South-West which led to the Buhari intervention.
When Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and Onabanjo, the South-Western press castigated that good government and provided the right mood for IBB to take over power. As soon as IBB cleared UPN governors of charges against them in a politically motivated retrial, he became the darling of the South-West. When IBB annulled the primaries in which Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged as presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he was hailed by the South-West. When the same man annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola was the front-runner, the South-West now became defenders of democracy.

When it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to Abiola, the South-West supported his take-over. He was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member to take over in a published letter shortly before the event. Even though Abiola had won the elections in the North, the North was blamed for its annulment. When Abdulsalam Abubakar started his transition, the Yoruba political leadership through NADECO presented a memorandum on a Government of National Unity that showed complete disrespect for the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.

^^^
Good for you. I just don't see any reason to live in a market. I'll trade in one though, while living in another serene place. So i don't mind a SW market. Lagos is not a bad one for start.

^^^
They need a facelift or people might actually start to believe that SW is indeed one big market for other zones.

My twenty kobo.

Very witty!

^^^

Cleaning his guns in the creek I presume.