₦airaland Forum

On this I concur 100%

codedguy1:
Hahaha

No court order received

2015 standing rules will apply. That's if they don't scatter everything today.

That's the way it should be the standing rule is the code of conduct within the Senate so no bagger from the executive should interfere

Let's wait for the outcome of the drama later today

Buhari Accepts Onnoghen's Retirement As Chief Justice Receives N2.5 Billion In Retirement Package

Onnoghen, 68, was due for retirement in 2020, but he turned in his resignation letter as CJN on April 4, 2019, to save himself from prosecution.
BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKJUN 09, 2019


President Muhammadu Buhari has finally accepted the retirement letter of suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

Onnoghen has been enmeshed in a false asset declaration scandal since January 2019, as upon resuming office as CJN, failed to declare a domiciliary US dollar account, a domiciliary euro account, a domiciliary (pound sterling) account, an e-saver savings (naira) account and a naira account, all maintained with Standard Chartered Bank (Nig.) Ltd in Abuja as part of the compulsory asset declaration form.

Onnoghen, 68, was due for retirement in 2020, but he turned in his resignation letter as CJN on April 4, 2019, to save himself from prosecution.

In a statement on Saturday, President Buhari said he had accepted the ‘voluntary retirement’ of Onnoghen and thanked him for his service to the country.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted the voluntary retirement from service of Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria, effective from May 28, 2019.

“The President thanked Justice Onnoghen for his service to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and wished him the best of retirement life,” the statement said.

The NJC had recommended Onnoghen for compulsory retirement after deliberating on a petition by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleging “financial impropriety, infidelity to the constitution and other economic and financial crimes related laws”.

His retirement benefits in cash and kind will cost taxpayers about N2.5 billion.

As part of the package for retired chief justice, a house will be built for him in Abuja with a nine-digit sum for furnishing — in addition to a severance gratuity that is 300% of his annual basic salary of N3,363,972.50, as well as pension for life. He is also entitled to a number of domestic staff and sundry allowances for personal upkeep.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has ordered the Acting CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad to appoint five new justices for the Supreme Court.

He said, “Pursuant to the provisions of Section 230(2) A&B of the Constitution of the Fed Republic of Nigeria, 1999(as amended), I am pleased to request that you initiate in earnest the process of appointing additional five Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to make the full complement of 21 Justices as provided by the aforementioned provisions of the Constitution.

“This is in line with the government’s agenda of repositioning the judiciary in general and Supreme Court in particular for greater efficiency, with a view to reducing the backlogs of appeals pending at the Supreme Court.”


http://saharareporters.com/2019/06/09/buhari-accepts-onnoghens-retirement-chief-justice-receives-n25-billion-retirement-package

ChristianNorth2:
Our judicial procedure recognises the fallibility of our Supreme Court, so they can sit in a panel to reverse their judgment.

But first, the Supreme Court has to accept to reverse their judgment. Zamfara case was unanimous and APC has no ground to file for review petition.

It is near impossible to reverse a Supreme Court judgment. That is why people don't even dare that.

You are always on point bro and I am.aware of the fact that there is a provisìon in our judicial system (which I know is global) whereby the Supreme Court can reverse itself based on judgments proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is flawed with many abuse of the necessary legal processes but my position is that on thsee Rivers and Zamfara cases cited, they have no case

John Fashanu, in a private investigation published in African Confidential early in Obasanjo’s current regime, discovered an alleged $6 billion debt buy-back scam by IBB between 1988 and 1993. Another $14.4 billion disappeared into off shore accounts as currency stabilization and debt buy-back scheme that actually cost $2.5 billion. One of the front-companies used, Growth Management, based in London, bought the debt for 10 cents per dollar and resold to the government at 45 cents to steal 35 cents per dollar. Fashanu was trying to recover about $17 billion for the Nigerian government only for the CBN to say they had no records of the deals. The records are out there abroad but cleaned out at home to conceal the (theft) deals.

The Wolfsberg Principles, an initiative of 11 banks and institutions across the world to fight serious international financial crimes, traced another $3 billion of our stolen money to Babangida’s accounts abroad, and $4.3 billion to Abacha’s.

Although Babangida used mostly fictitious names for his numerous accounts abroad, EFCC could zero in on some of the accounts by following up on the dusts raised early in 2003 over the financing of a leading Nigerian telecommunications project in which Babangida is alleged to own 75% shares. Mohammed fronts for his father on the authentic board of the company. Those claiming to have borrowed from foreign banks in the heat of the EFCC’s revelations at the time have not identified the collateral or sortie used. Documents on the loan supposed to have been granted on 9 February, 2001, was dated 28 August, 2006. The original ‘loan’ letter has not been presented. Apparently, Paribas Bank, based in Paris, was managing a slush fund from which investments in excess of US$400 million was made to buy into Alcatel, (the telecommunications’ partner technical partners), Bouygues Telecoms, Peugeot and Total finaelf.

Alcatel and Parabel National of France were worried at the time that their invoices for the telecom project were being inflated to launder funds by the supposed private owners of the sources of funds and that private cheques were being issued to finance the staggering project without recourse to borrowing from banks. They suspected illegal laundering of funds and threatened to withdraw collaboration on the project while alerting Interpol to investigate the sources of the private cheques being issued to finance the project.

IBB could not participate in Obasanjo’s 2003, inauguration ceremonies, because he was allegedly out of the country sorting out the Interpol queries on the Alcatel’s slush account alert, at the time. Even now, the telecoms’ financing details through Siemens etc, could be investigated by the EFCC tracing ghost cheques to issuing private sources of funds and their local and international banks to unravel possible laundering of funds.

Luscious contracts for the construction of Abuja were awarded to front-companies of his and his cronies, including Julius Berger and Arab Contractors that between them virtually single-handedly handled the construction of the new Federal Capital. The security danger of foreign companies solely constructing a country’s capital and having access to its structural secrets, including possible Presidential underground escape routes and military arsenal volts, is mind boggling to say the least, but that is an issue for another day.

The largest, most prestigious housing estate in Alexandra, Egypt’s leading holiday resort town, is alleged to belong to Babangida. Even Egyptians cannot afford his rent, which is alleged to be in dollars. All his tenants are rich foreigners and the staff of multi-national companies operating in Alexandra. The estate is alleged to have its own airport, which Babangida uses when he visits.

Babangida is alleged to own several other housing estates around the world, including houses on Bishop Avenue in London. He uses his London houses, it is alleged, as guest houses or gifts for people on his compromise list. He is considered generous with gifts of cars with their boots stuffed with naira notes when he wants some jobs done.

Perhaps you would want to join me to play the prude accountant, generous with figures. Let’s pretend that Babangida was a General throughout his service years in the Nigerian army. Again let’s assume he spent 30 years in the army and was paid N100,000 monthly (actually, salaries of Generals were less than N10,000 a month until recently) and he saved every kobo of his salary. He would be worth about N35,000,000 plus interest in the bank today. But Babangida’s 50 bedroom palatial abode in Minna is alleged to be conservatively worth billions of naira and he does not owe any bank on it.

In 2003, he threw a wedding party for his first daughter, which numbed the nation. Some 28 governors were in attendance, and in June 2004, he treated us to another dream-like political carnival during his son’s wedding. No one dared to ask where the money came from to set up such a palatial abode or scandalous and intimidating wedding carnivals in our jungle of abject poverty and hunger. Nigerians revelled in the lavish show of shame, hoodwinked by the audacity, the sumptuous food, the ambience, the vulgarity….. At least we saw our fellow Nigerians (albeit a handful of them), living it up on the money that could have guaranteed millions of Nigerians, active, regular employment indefinitely.

Almost all the principal characters involved in leadership tussles with Babangida since 1985, Abiola, Yar Adua, Idiagbon and even Abacha, have all died through induced cardiac arrest, lethal injection, poisoned food, gassed telephone handset, etc, etc, and my fear is whether Nigeria would survive the Godfather himself?

Copied

Babangida (sapped) or totally wiped the middle class out of existence with the destruction of the naira, which he did by fiat in 1985, when he down graded the naira exchange rate from about N2 to N18 to the dollar. By the time he was forced out of office in 1993, the naira was exchanging at N60 to the dollar. Society was now reduced to two social classes of either the very poor or the rich rogues.

Babangida first concentrated on pulverizing his military base by tinkering with the 1985 Decree 17, to give himself sole authority to fire his military chiefs, including the chief of general staff; chairman, joint chiefs of staff; service chiefs, and the inspector general of police. General Domkat Bali said at the time: “Babangida must have known what he was aiming at if you now take those powers of the President as civilian, and you now put them on any army officer who then sits with other army officers, in the name of Supreme Military Council, SMC, who are useless to him, whom he can change tomorrow, that means that name is not Supreme at all.”

Bali was provoked to leave the government when he was demoted from the position of Minister of Defence to that of Internal Affairs. Ukiwe, a senior naval officer, who was IBB’s deputy, was forced to retire even before Bali did, for demonstrating patriotic zeal in defense of team spirit, over our IOC membership saga.

Gideon Orkar’s failed coup of April 22, 1990, provided Babangida with the opportunity to further purge the military. With total control over the military, IBB was ready to pursue his President-for- life agenda, (starting) by dismissing his S. J. Cookie’s Political Bureau programme for the return to civil rule by 1990.

For over eight years, Babangida kept shifting his handing over date and juggling his transition programme by arbitrarily banning and unbanning politicians, particularly the known opponents of military rule. He spent N40 billion on his endless transition programme, and bribed all and sundry, including the NLC with N50 million, NUJ with N20 million, PMAN with N30 million, and so on, to try to silence them. He attempted to compromise some vocal critics by settling them, and those he could not recruit, he sacked where possible, or detained, or killed, or hounded into exile.

Less than two years into his rule in 1987, IBB announced that he was planning to bequeath a lasting legacy of civil rule, through a gradual learning political process. Four years into his regime in 1989, he lifted for the first time his ban on partisan politics, and set up two political parastatals. One was called the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the other was the National Republican Convention (NRC).

The handing over date to civilian government was postponed once again from late 1990 to the 1st of October 1992. He allowed elections to be held into the local governments in 1990, and in 1991, Babangida instigated intra party squabbles to find excuse to ban 12 of the candidates participating in the governorship elections. Candidates replacing the disqualified ones had barely one week to campaign.

Elections into the State Assemblies miraculously held without too much acrimony, followed shortly afterwards by elections into the National Assembly. In all the elections, known individuals strongly against Babangida or the military in power were sidelined, banned, or hounded into exile, prominent among whom were Ibrahim Tahir of the NPN, Sam Mbakwe, Chris Okolie, Wahab Dosumu, Ebenezer Babatope, etc.

Allegation of massive rigging was invoked on 17 November, 1992, to ban Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Musa Yar Adua, who had emerged from party primaries as presidential candidates for the NRC and the SDP respectively, and 21 other presidential aspirants, (including Chief Arthur Nzeribe, Chief Olu Falae, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Alhaji Umar Shinkafi), from participating in the scheduled August 1992 presidential election, and all other future elections. The trick was that Babangida was gradually narrowing the field of potential presidential materials to himself. Remember that Babangida had promised Yar Adua the Presidency when Yar Adua helped to actualize the 1985 coup that brought Babangida to power. The ban did not go down well with the political elite in general, and particularly with Yar Adua who had assumed he would take over leadership from Babangida.

With the ban, Babangida once again postponed his handing over date from October 1st 1992, to Dec 5, 1992. Soon after, Babangida mandated the National Electoral Commission (NEC), to conduct the presidential primaries of the political parties, and he again fixed a new date of January 3, 1993, for the handing over of the reigns of power to a civilian government. Bribery, thuggery, rigging, ethnic cleavages, etc., ruined the NEC supervised political parties’ presidential primaries, resulting in the dissolution of party executives, who were replaced by Sole Administrators, and National Coordinators. Handing over date was once again postponed to August 27, 1993.
Baba Gana Kingibe, who was the SDP chairman before the dissolution of the party executives, and was then supposed to be managing the affairs of Yar Adua, was alleged to have received Babangida’s backing and financial support to aspire as presidential candidate obviously to cause confusion in Yar Adua’s political camp. Kingibe pasted his campaign posters all over the place, causing bad blood between himself and Yar Adua, which spilled into the Jos SDP convention of 1993.

In the meantime, Babangida was busy creating anarchy in the ranks of the politicians by introducing his modified open ballot system, and insisting that presidential aspirants go through tedious ward, local government, and state congresses. This eventually produced two presidential aspirants for each of the states, plus two for the FCT, and the unwieldy 62 presidential aspirants had to go through further elimination processes, at various national congresses, before the Jos (SDP), and Port-Harcourt (NRC), conventions of 1993.

Several irregularities were observed at the party conventions and a lot of money changed hands.

Alhaji Bashir Tofa for the NRC, and Bashorun M.K.O Abiola for the SDP, emerged as the presidential flag bearers. Babangida who was unhappy that progress was being made in the presidential election process was further pissed-off when his nominee, Pascal Bafyau, the ex-NLC president, as Abiola’s running mate, (to spy on and undermine Abiola), was rejected by Abiola. Abiola also upset Yar Adua’s calculations, by not accepting Abubakir Atiku as his running mate, and choosing Baba Gana Kingibe instead.

Of course, the emergence at last of promising presidential candidates for both parties was not a very palatable option for Abacha too who was still nursing the dream to succeed Babangida although pretending to be on the side of Babangida. Abacha misled Babangida to think of him as a possible ally, so the scene was set for Babangida to feel that if he annulled the election, he would have the support of Abacha, Yar Adua and other perceived, powerful enemies of Abiola, including a leading traditional ruler in the South-West.

Babangida, in his determination to scuttle the presidential election at all cost, promulgated Decree 13, forbidding the presidential flag bearers of the two political parties from doing anything whatsoever that would influence members of the public to vote for them at the election scheduled for June 12 1993. Then Babangida empowered NEC to disqualify any of the candidates at will, and as a (final) fall back strategy, to scuttle our democratic dream, he set up his Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) party, using Senator Arthur Nzeribe as proxy.

On June 10, 1993, at the unholy hour of 9.30 pm, late Justice Ikpeme, who was appointed a few days earlier and hurriedly transferred from Lagos to Abuja, granted a court order to the ABN, restraining the NEC Chairman Humphrey Nwosu, from conducting the Presidential election on June 12, 1993.

The Director of the United States Information Service (USIS) in Nigeria at the time, Mr. O’Brien, warned that the US government would not be happy if the June 12 election was cancelled. Babangida panicked, and although he declared O’Brien persona non grata and ordered him out of the country in his personal interest, Babangida allowed Nwosu to go ahead with the election.

The election was adjudged by the international and local observers monitoring it and by the two political parties involved, as the fairest and freest in the history of Nigeria. By the evening of June 14 1993, more than 50% of the election results had been authenticated and released by NEC, showing that SDP’s Moshood Abiola had swept the polls.

To everyone’s surprise, Babangida suddenly ordered NEC not to release any more results. On June 23, 1993, Babangida gave an unsigned statement to Nduka Irabor, his press secretary, announcing the cancellation of the presidential election on the radio. The unsigned statement was a strategy to allow Babangida to deny its authenticity, should Nigeria begin to boil over the announcement. Nigerians had become too hungry and docile to react.

Babangida annulled the June12 election entirely on his own, based on his selfish, personal agenda to rule indefinitely. Before annulling the election, he rallied the connivance and support of some critical Emirs and a leading Yoruba traditional ruler known to be antagonistic to Abiola’s political ambition, and the signatures of a bunch of political and military apologists (or jobbers), tagged the G-34, on a document entitled ‘Peace Pact,’ in endorsement of his annulment of the June 12, 1993, elections.

The G-34 comprised of the following members of the military junta and leaders of the two political parties, the SDP and the NRC: Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, Chief Earnest Shonekan who eventually headed Babangida’s contraption called the Interim National Government (ING), General Shehu Musa Yar’ardua, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Amb. Dele Cole, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Brig-Gen David A. B Mark, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Olusola Saraki, Chief Dapo Sarumi, Chief Joseph Toba, Chief Bola Afonja, Dr. Hammed Kusamotu, Dr. Okechukwu Odunze, Prof. Eyo Ita, Y. Anka, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Chief Tom Ikimi, Barrister Joe Nwodo (who signed with reservations) , Dr. Bawa Salka, Alhaji Abba Murtala Mohammed, Alhaji Abdulrahman Okene, Lt. Gen Joshua Dongoyaro, Lt. Gen Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, Brig-Gen John Shagaya, Brig-Gen Anthony Ukpo, Halilu A. Maina, Alhaji Bawa Salka, Mr. Amos Idakula, Mr. Theo Nikire, Alhaji A. Ramalan, Alhaji A.
Mohammed. Many of these traitors are still making decisions for Nigeria today.

Babangida’s military constituency, by and large, was against the annulment. Abacha saw his opportunity to act, and with the backing of the armed forces of Nigeria, warned Babangida that he would be entirely on his own after the August 27, 1993, handing over date. Babangida in fear, concocted and swore in an illegal arrangement he called the Interim National Government, ING, to take over office from August 27, 1993. After swearing in his ING on August 26, 1993, Babangida who was supposed to be pulled out of the army in the military tradition, played all sorts of pranks to delay the event from 11.am to 1.00pm and then to 3.00pm, when the Nigerian army removed Babangida’s guards from the Eagle Square to warn him that his time was up.

There is this strong allegation among the rank and file of the armed forces, and members of the defense correspondence of our newspapers attached to the seat of power, that Babangida arranged, in the last couple of weeks before leaving office, for several armoured vehicle loads of newly printed naira notes to be delivered daily to his new Minna palatial abode obviously with the connivance of Abacha, perhaps as his mentor’s retirement benefit.

Abacha and Babangida had several serious financial problems with Abiola but one of them takes the cake. It was over some foreign war booty amounting to US$215m. It is alleged that Babangida had asked Abiola to help launder it when Babangida was in office but Abiola was not interested.

Babangida allegedly side-stepped Abiola and eventually prevailed upon a member of Abiola’s family in the custom of family friendship, to rescue the situation. Then the person suddenly died. It is further alleged that Abiola was asked to return the money and he truthfully and honestly said he knew noting about it and even if there was such a thing, he had no authority over the matter. Then he was asked to pressurize the children of the deceased to play ball.

Abiola refused, arguing that he had no legal or moral right to do so. The kids of the deceased wanted Abiola released but Abiola was too principled to succumb to blackmail so the powers that be decided early after his arrest, that he would die in detention for declaring himself president.

The Gulf war oil windfall is Babangida’s often-referenced loot. Abacha set up a panel headed by the highly respected economist, Pius Okigbo, in October, 1994, to reorganize the CBN. Okigbo’s panel discovered that $12.2 billion of the $12.4 billion accruable from the Gulf War excess crude oil sales was frittered away or unaccounted for, through nebulous or phantom projects that could not be traced. Only $206 million was left in the account. According to Okigbo, “disbursements were clandestinely undertaken while the country was openly reeling with crushing external debt overhead. These represent, no matter the initial justification for creating the account, a gross abuse of public trust. “

When Obasanjo in 2001, decided to look quietly into the missing NNPC’s US$12.2 billion Gulf war oil windfall linked to Babangida, it was found that the documents pertaining to the fraud had disappeared from the volts of the Central Bank. The brilliant, highly respected economist, Pius Okigbo who handled the investigations into the scam had private copies. Before he could deliver, he insisted on travelling to London against strong, wise, private, counsel, and he was wasted. Other members of the Okigbo panel had copies of the report anyway and were still alive.

Government miraculously found the CBN documents when it suited it, and aspects of the documents concerning IBB, were published during the threat by members of the House of Representatives to impeach President Obasanjo in July, 2005, because of speculations that IBB was one of the Northern elites fanning the plot.

Babangida was ruthless in the way he amassed his colossal wealth. First is the illegal self-allocation of free oil, sold on the spot market. Then he initiated the corrupt culture of maintaining a huge monthly security vote virtually as personal pocket money. Rather than repair our refineries, let alone to work at maximum capacity, IBB built private refineries in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Benin, where he took our crude to refine and sell back to us as fuel.

THE GODFATHER - The Drama, Greed, Assassination, Deceit, Bribery, Looting and...

Akilu had just returned from a military training in India at the time and Babangida recommended him for appointment as the head of the Secret Service. Idiagbon by-passed Akilu and slighted Babangida by not consulting with him to confirm the new head of the Secret Service from the army.

Gloria Okon was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed Airport trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country. Gloria claimed to be a courier for the family of one of the two high ranking military officers deeply involved in the Supreme Military Council’s palaver. Gloria was quickly smuggled out of the country and a carcass burnt beyond recognition of a human body, was left in her prison room to deceive the authorities. As Gloria’s drama was playing out, Abiola brought a large consignment of banned newsprint into the country, forcing Idiagbon to insist on the arrest of Chief M.K.O Abiola.

All sorts of calamitous events kept rolling out at the time, including the arrest of one Ikuomola for trying to smuggle a large consignment of cocaine out of the country. He indicted a son of one of the Dantatas and they were both tried and sentenced to death. The Dantata family mounted pressure on the Supreme Military Council to commute the sentence to life. The issue heightened the division among the Supreme Military Council members, with the Gloria Okon’s high ranking military benefactor, siding with the Dantatas naturally.

Idiagbon insisted that if poor people found with cocaine could be punished with death sentence, why should the rich and affluent be spared? Idiagbon also wanted the lawyer, (a Rivers state chap who had received some four million naira as legal fees on the case at the time), to be shot along with the drug barons for benefiting from the evil.

The schism between Idiagbon and Babangida totally paralyzed the Supreme Military Council and it could no longer function. Idiagbon forced compulsory leave on Babangida, under close surveillance with tapped telephone lines and all. Chief M.K.O Abiola saw the opportunity to save his neck from the newsprint saga by teaming up with his friend, Babangida, and he provided the seed money for a coup.

Through the facilities of Abiola and the Dantatas, Yar Adua was brought into the picture to help influence the Saudi Arabian monarch to extend a special invitation to Idiagbon as a guest of the monarch, to perform the 1985 Lesser Hajj in Mecca. Idiagbon felt greatly honoured by the invitation and took with him to Mecca, most of his supporters on the splintered Supreme Military Council, including Mamman Vasta.

With Idiagbon (who was the head of the Buhari’s regime in every sense of the word, and was very popular because of his transparent honesty, patriotism, and discipline), out of the way, Buhari (who was ready to vacate office anyway), was picked up like a helpless chicken at Doddan Barracks, and dumped in jail. Idiagbon, against the coupists’ advice, returned home a people’s hero, although locked up for several months too by Babangida.

Luckily, it did not take too long for Babangida to begin to reveal his secret agenda. He had removed Idiagbon/Buhari from power to douse the heated allegation at the time about illegal drug links and to help the IMF/World Bank ruin the naira and open up the Nigerian market as dumping ground for American and European junk and decadence. The marginalization of the naira suited Babangida’s Machiavellian streak to blunt prospects of mass protests with abject poverty, hunger, and basic survival pre-occupations. For example, the terroristic power of massive foreign exchange loot in a private hand, is limitless as a tool for forcing pauperized populace to acquiesce to the self-perpetuation antics of a potential despot.

Babangida’s first pronouncement in power was to shock the nation by adopting the civilian title of president. He did this because of a secret personal ambition kept to himself, to transit into life president in the mould of Presidents Nasir of Egypt and Eyadema of Togo, and also because of his agreement to make Chief Abiola his Vice President for collaborating over their 1985 coup. Abacha kicked against Abiola becoming Vice President because he was eyeing Babangida’s seat in a possible future coup of his own and wanted to remain the defacto next in command, in military terms, for eventual easy take over excuse.

Babangida promised Yar Adua a short-lived military transition after which he would hand over power to Yar Adua. That was why Yar Adua kept boasting during the early stages of Babangida’s regime, that no force on earth could stop him becoming the next president of Nigeria. This prompted Obasanjo’s statement at the time that Yar Adua must have forgotten something at the state house.

Babangida was so single minded, self-centered, and power-drunk, he single-handedly forced OIC membership on Nigeria without respect for our supposed religious secularity. He used every means imaginable to assert his power. Spiritual, criminal, everything was fair in his ruthless power game. The gods of the Marabouts became privileged guests at Aso Rock, lacing it with severe witchcraft, which was later vigorously sustained by Abacha.

If the physical failed, the metaphysical was handy in the human blood bath for power. Blood was the language in the cultish game for total control. Fear gripped the land. Who was going to be the next victim? Life was scary and worthless. I bet, corridor of power social acolytes of the time like the Arisekolas, Adedibus and the Akinyeles, could write blood-cuddling masterpieces on the mysteries of the season. Assassinations were rampant, sophisticated and comprehensive, incorporating bombings and dare-devil forages. Media houses were burnt or closed down, and critics of government were murdered, incarcerated or hounded into exile. Plane loads of promising young army officers lost their lives in questionable circumstances. Others appeared to have been sacrificed in distant land civil wars.

The Ejigbo military Hercules crash that killed an elite corp. of army captains and majors returning to their Jaji training base, is a typical example of the terrible human carnage visited upon us at the time by a desperate tyrant bent on holding on to power indefinitely at all costs. The plane was doctored and it crashed a few seconds after take-off from the Murtala Mohammed airport. No rescue attempt was ordered or made until 24 hours after the crash and even then, the inadequate facilities of a private company, (Julius Berger), were relied upon. Forty-eight hours after the crash, a warm body was still found suggesting that some lives could have been saved if rescue operations had commenced minutes after the crash.

Apart from the needless assassinations of possible opponents and rivals for power, there were totally senseless ones too, such as the death of Murtala Mohammed’s first son immediately after visiting the seat of power. It was generously reported in the press at the time. The allegation was that during the friendly, private visit, the young man was asked if he would be prepared to do a job. The young chap said he could not say until he was told what the job was. When told that he was to help facilitate the elimination of Chief Abiola, the young man said he couldn’t because Abiola was like a father to him. The host then quickly dismissed the suggestion as if it had been a joke and asked how the young man travelled to the state house. “By private car,” the young man said. “You are going about without security?” the host asked, pretending to look alarmed, and detailed some security officers to escort the young man to his Minna destination. The body of the young man was later that day found in his car on the route between the seat of power and Minna.

One of the documents we received was on Gloria Okon. We could not use the information in Nigeria at the time because no newspaper would dare publish it, so I arranged for Ejike Nwankwo, my bosom friend, to take the documents to his senior brother, Chief Arthur Nwankwo, who was in political exile in London at the time. The idea was for Arthur Nwankwo to have the Gloria Okon’s story published in the Manchester Guardian, but Arthur decided to delay publication until he could use the immunity of the Nigerian Senate, which he was aspiring to join in Babangida’s best time as a member, to make the story public.
Senior members of the Ministry of Information, and of the Daily Times at the time, and a director of Newswatch, were not totally ignorant about what was going on in Babangida’s government. In fact, Abacha at a point, asked the boss of the Ministry of Information to frame up Dele Giwa. The boss being a principled and die-hard journalist, argued that it was difficult to frame up journalists.

Babangida’s boys went ahead to frame up Giwa anyway. Three days before they killed Dele Giwa, Col. A. K. Togun, the deputy Director of Babangida’s State Security Service (the SSS), invited Giwa to his office and accused him of involvement in the importation of arms while linking Giwa with other persons alleged to be trying to stage a socialist revolution in Nigeria. At the meeting, agreement was reached, and Babangida, through his emissaries, promised to meet Giwa’s terms. Two days before Giwa’s murder, Akilu allegedly phoned Giwa’s home to ask for direction because Babangida’s ADC “has something for him, an invitation or something.”

Dele Giwa allegedly invited the overseas editor of Newswatch at the time to be around. Obviously, Giwa took the president’s promise more seriously than his colleagues at the Newswatch. This was why, when Giwa received the parcel and confirmed that it was from the President, his guest’s first reaction was to dash off to take cover in the toilet adjacent to the room where Giwa opened the parcel bomb. The guest escaped death by the whiskers and blasted eardrums. Tagum, when asked by Airport Correspondents on October 27, 1986, about Giwa’s bombing inadvertently confirmed the blackmail reason for Giwa’s death when he said: “We came to a real agreement and one person cannot just come out and blackmail us. I am an expert on blackmail. If a motorcycle man suddenly dashed in front of a car and the driver kills the motorcycle man, another motorcycle man who was there would not say the motorcycle man who dashed in front of the car was wrong.
He would say the driver killed him, not that he killed himself”

An Arab terrorist, who was recruited to collaborate with a University of Ibadan chemistry don especially for the task, produced the bomb. The terrorist is alleged to have gone with Major Buba Marwa, Ogbeha and Gwazo, in a Peugeot station wagon car with fake license plate numbers, to deliver the bomb at Dele’s home. On arrival, they were told that Dele was not in, so they laid ambush near-by to watch movements in and out of Giwa’s premises.

As soon as Giwa was spotted entering his house, the allegation continues, the Arab terrorist offered to go and deliver the bomb, but his colleagues in crime stopped him on the grounds that a white man would look too suspicious for the job. Marwa, accompanied by Ogbeha, are alleged to have delivered the bomb to Dele’s son at the door, after which the crime team drove off to Mafoluku where they burned their delivery car. The same day, the Arab terrorist was flown out of Lagos, first to Kano, and eventually out of the country.

Major Buba Marwa was at the time rewarded with the rank of Lt. Col. and posted to the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, USA, as the new Military Attaché. His rise in the Army was extremely rapid and as Col. returned home to be Governor of Lagos State. Armed robbers welcomed him to his new office with the kind of daredevilry never before experienced in Nigeria. Violence begets violence they say. The armed robbers raided from Mile two to Ikeja, even as he was passing by. Marwa panicked, so Babangida pumped unusual resources into Marwa’s coffers to ensure his success, which is the genesis of his tramping around as an achiever today. His private life does not suggest that he suffered in fool’s paradise.

Marwa, Ogbeha, and Gwazo, have since denied their alleged involvement in Dele Giwa’s murder. Marwa, who now owns an airline and, therefore, knows that it takes less than eight hours to fly across the Atlantic to Nigeria, argued that he was studying in the USA at the time. The implication of this, of course, was that it was impossible to take a few days off his studies.

Marwa, who rose to fame through IBB’s benevolence, is considered in military circles as one of the IBB boys, made up principally of the trusted cronies of the retired dictator. Accused of laundering money for IBB, Marwa again relied on the puerile argument that he was the Borno state governor in 1990, as if state governors are too busy governing diligently to travel out of Nigeria for a day or two, or even a week, on private businesses.

In December, 2005, when Marwa was detained for a couple of weeks by the EFCC, for laundering money for Abacha, he allegedly admitted that he had no choice in the matter as a military officer. He was only doing his duty. Of course, doing illegal duties loyally often goes with silencing, mouth-watering pecks, if nothing else.

In the area of managing the national economy, Babangida bestowed his adroitness and moral degeneracy. His economy was dominated by male-wives, particularly in the banking and oil sectors. Women often brag about the efficacy of ‘bottom’ power. Feminine men sometimes flaunt it too as their passport to economic liberation. Between them and the suddenly very lucrative 419 business of the time, industry was complete. IBB’s chiefs, allegedly colluded with 419 criminals to create the over-night semi-illiterate money-bags without class or shame, (including the 150 members of the National Assembly, that in 2005 sent IBB a birthday card), and who together now form the bulk of his supporters and campaigners, to return him to power.

Stop wasting your tine in this forgotten case or else any attempt by this useless government to reverse the supreme court judgment on the aforementioned states will bring Nigeria to a halt and political logjam. It shall not be well with this APC govt for bringing us to this sorry state.

stephleena:
Stop mistaking Dino for Buhari

Savage chills you got not

ChristianNorth:
Thank you Oshio baba, we love you so much. BuhariAdvocate, Yoruba moslems and Tinubu slaves will not like this good news.

I tell you my comrade

BuhariAdvocate:
Please someone should help me tell this guy to stop my mentions.

haba it has not gotten to that now we are just celebrating this good news with you

*THE OSOGBO WAR OF 1840*

After the Fulanis systematically captured and made Ilorin their territory, they sacked the old Oyo Empire in 1835/1836.

They were still not satisfied with their victory; they wished to extend their rule deep into the heart of Yorubaland. Thus in 1840, they set to capture Osogbo , a Yoruba town. The Fulanis, under the command of Ali, the Hausa balogun of Ilorin, laid siege on Osogbo.

When the king of Osogbo realized that the Fulanis were too strong for the Osogbo army, he summoned the Ibadan arny for help. Ibadan immediately sent some auxiliaries to Osogbo under the command of Obele - alias Mobitan - and Alade Abimpagun. As this force could not stop the Fulanis, another contingent was sent to Osogbo under a more experienced leader. But, still, the Fulanis won every battle and gained more ground.

When Ibadan realized that the Fulanis were becoming more threatening to Yorubaland, they sent a large and stronger force under Balogun Oderinlo to crush the intruding forces and Jammas of Ilorin. When Oderinlo and his men arrived at the battlefield, they realized that things had gone worse than they thought.

They could not show their faces in the open field for the fear of Fulani horses, and for about 20 days after their arrival at Osogbo, they could not fight outside the town thickets. Oderinlo suggested that Elepo, a brave Ibadan warrior, was badly needed at the war-front. Elepo had been rejected by the war-chiefs of Ibadan for his actions at the late Agbamaja expedition.

As soon as the message from Oderinlo reached Ibadan, the Bashorun wished he could send Elepo to Osogbo but could not go against the wish of other war-chiefs. The Bashorun gave Elepo a cow to worship his god and pray for the victory of Ibadan at the war-front.

At the war-front, the Ibadan could not attack the Fulanis during the day because Osogbo was practically on the plains and their horses might have an advantage over them with disastrous results.

They decided to attack at dusk when the Fulanis would no longer be able to use their horses. In the afternoon of the said day, the well-prepared Ibadan army left the gate of Osogbo for the battlefield. They were to keep a strict watch and arrest anyone suspected to be a spy.

About a mile from where the Fulanis camped, they halted and arranged the order of the attack.

The Osogbo army and the earlier auxiliaries were to handle the centre of the battlefield; Chiefs Abitiko and Labuju were to command the right wing, Balogun Oderinlo with the rest of the Ibadan war-chiefs were to form the left wing of the army. The Fulani camp was then attacked at midnight. The watchword was “ Elo ni owo odo? ” (How much is the ferry fare?).

The reason this watchword was chosen was because the River Osun had to be crossed before entering Osogbo from the south, and anyone who could not tell this was likely to be an enemy.

Stampede engulfed the Fulani camp as the Ibadan army set it on fire. The Fulanis could not offer the slightest resistance; they were smoked with the gunpowder of Ibadan guns.

This attack was a success for Ibadan. Some war-chiefs from Ilorin were captured in the attack. Prominent ones were:
1. Jimba the head slave of the Emir;
2. One of the sons of Ali, the commander in chief;
3. Chief Lateju;
4. Ajikobo, the Yoruba Balogun of Ilorin.
The first two were released while the latter two, being Yoruba by birth, were regarded as traitors and were executed. This was a huge victory for the whole of Yorubaland, courtesy of Ibadan. After the Osogbo victory, Ibokun, an Ijesa town not far from Osogbo, was taken by Ibadan for being an ally of Ilorin.

After this war, Ibadan became a veritable force, building a formidable war machinery that later prosecuted many other wars with resounding victories.
Notable among the wars was the Kiriji War where Ibadan warlords formed a historic alliance with the Igbajos. Even though Igbajo became the location of a great war for many years, it was never captured by the raging Ekiti parapo warriors. Rather it was a place where many of them met their Waterloo.
Notable among the warriors were Fabunmi Okeemesi, Ogedengbe Agbogungboro of the Ijesas, Apasikoto Pasigegele of Igbajo and Latoosa of Ibadan to mention a few. There were many more great warriors of the time.
It's worthy to note that the Kiriji War was the last war in Yorubaland.

Since then, Yoruba people have continued to build strong bonds among themselves and they have sustained the peace.

We must continue to tell our children the history of the Yoruba people and the bond which our father had built so that we can continue to see ourselves as one. If the Ibadan people can sacrifice their lives for the people of Osogbo in other to save other towns and villages in Yorubaland and, in essence, the death of innocent people were prevented, then, we as modern Yorubas have no reason to divide ourselves for political reasons or any reason at all.
Our leaders must continue to put their lives in the forefront to safeguard the land from all aggression.
And we, the followers, have the responsibility to support, to advise and to pray for all our leaders irrespective of the political divide.

God bless the leaders
God bless the followers
God bless Yorubaland
God bless Nigeria

The notorious Kiriji wars lasted from 1877 – 1886, was the mega war that ended all the protracted inter- tribal wars in the Yorubaland. Kiriji war camps were located on an area of land between Imesi-Ile in Ijeshaland and Igbajo (another historical town, a short six kilometers from Imesi-Ile) in Oshunland. The “Treaty of Peace&rdquo (Click here to read about War and Peace in Yorubaland); that ended this war was negotiated by Governor Alfred Moloney, then British Colonial Governor of Lagos, assisted by Reverend Samuel Johnson and Reverend Charles Philips. Although the treaty was dated June 4, 1886 it was signed by all the principal parties on various days between June 1886 and September 1886. This treaty signed at Imesi-Ile was significant because it represented the first attempt by the Yorubas to fashion out a constitution for a peaceful coexistence among the Yorubas of various kingdoms. Today, war relics, archaeological sites and monumental spots abound in Imesi-Ile, and already catching the attention of Tourists and Archaeologists.

Imesi-Ile abounds in cultural events, celebrating one festival or another, most prominent being the annual Egungun (masquerade) festival, with the grand Egungun (Ladunnwo) emerging every other year. This is usually an all town events with indigenes of Imesi-Ile within Nigeria and abroad coming home for celebration. On a different note, the contributions of these Egunguns during the Kiriji was noteworthy. Apart from Ladunwo who could help in maintaining law and order as well as protecting the territory from invaders, Iyekiye also plays the same role. Gbajero is also one unique masquerade that helps in sending witches out of the town when there was need for that. Other prominent masquerades of note include Gbado, Pelemba, Alagbo, Eiyeba – not to mention the purely entertainment ones like the “Owolewas” and the “Daadouns”. The Other cultural festivals worthy of mentioning include the Ogun festival, Otoporo, and the Imesi-Ile Festival of Drums and Dance steps.

Self-help has being the model of social development among the Imesi people, and the traditional local governing body, and later in the 20th century, Imesi-ile Progressive Association (formally Imesi-Ile Progressive Union – IPU), have been the tools for making this work. When Imesi-Ile people are summoned by their leaders, they respond in kind. The first road which linked Imesi-Ile to Ilesha and Oshogbo opened in 1936. It was a community self-help project. Other such projects include the first High School founded in 1956, the Post Office, the Dispensary, the Palace, the Imesi-Ile –Igbajo road, the Imesi-Ile – Okemesi road, and several other projects, including one now underway to establish an Imesi-Ile Polytechnic.

Traditional religions have been (and still is) practiced in Imesi-Ile before Christianity was introduced to Imesi-Ile in 1900 by the Methodist Missionaries. Moreover, there is a handful of Muslims in the town and all these live together in perfect harmony. It should also be noted that while violent conflicts, turmoil, destruction and death had been and are still being engineered and sustained in many parts of Africa using political, cultural or religious plurality as excuses. Imesi-Ile is a good example of how the people’s Imesi-Ile Progressive Association and the Church have organized local people in very constructive cooperative community development ventures with impressive achievements over a century.

Imesi-Ile has also been the centre of some medical breakthrough. David Morley began his medical career as an undergraduate in Cambridge and then at St Thomas’s Hospital, London. After graduating in 1947, he first learned about health care problems in the developing world during his national military service in Malaya. He worked for a short while in general practice, but then recruited by the Methodist Mission; he left the UK for rural Nigeria and began a career that would improve the health of millions. Professor June Lloyd of the British Paediatric Association described his work thus: “In the five years that he was in Imesi-Ile it is no exaggeration to say that he transformed the approach to the health care of children in the developing world. He showed that infant mortality could be cut by over 80 per cent, not by the introduction of modern medicine and the building of hospitals, but by education and use of locally available resources.”

Morley started Under-Fives Clinics run by local personnel, he trained local women to immunise the children, and he devised the ‘Road to Health’ growth chart – all concepts which have spread around the world. When he arrived, measles killed 1 in every 20 children in Imesi-Ile. He tried a new vaccine from the USA, at first on 20 children, and then on all the children from 1962 to 65. By 1965 Imesi-Ile had become the very first community in the world to record the eradication of measles through vaccination.

Going back to the idea of Imesi-Ile being a town of self-made model and of true patriots. From the first Chairman of IPU, The late Chief A.O. Makanjuola (Otun Owa of Imesi-Ile) and Senator L.T. Olamijulo – the longest serving IPU Chairman (1938-1962), to the likes of Oba Ajiboye (Ariyo-won-ye), Pa William Ojo , Chief J.I. Bifarin, Chief (Engineer) J.A. Olaniyan, Chief J.O. Awoyomi (Aragba-migo!), Chief S.A Ajanaku, Chief D.O.Oguntoye, Pa P.F. Familusi, Pa J.O. Fakolade, Mr. J. Olu Ojo, The Right Rev. Famonure, Pa (Pastor) Olufemi, Pa I.O. Ajiboye, Pa Omoyeni, Pa J.A Adeogba, Dr. S.O. Fasokun, Engineer Lanre Fakolade, Honorable Oluwole Siyanbola, Chief Mrs. Wura Ojo (Nee Itagbemi of the famed Elizade Motors), and many others of blessed memories. These forerunners served the town with relentless and absolute patriotism. Some did not have money, but their ideas were invaluable, some educated our generation, others brought otherwise impossible progress and spotlight to Imesi. It is gratifying to note that as we speak, this effort on self-improvement through die-hard patriotism is still the norm in the town. The difference now is that the people who are making these changes and differences are our contemporaries that we grew up with! If we are at home right now, most of us will be participating actively in the building of this “city set on a hill”. It would therefore amount to dereliction of civic and moral duty for us to be absent from the firing line under the guise of being here in the United StatesCanada. This is a clarion call to all Imesi-Ile people and their friends to join hands with us on this important building process.

ChristianNorth:
Lala please move this to front page and save souls. Thanks for your courage Op, we must save this country from all who seeks to do us harm.

I will tag everyone I know until this gets to front page.

Mynd44
Seun
Garfield1
Sarrki
Ratello
Engineerboat
Amatarasha
Buhariguy
Buhariadvocate

Tuniski
Ilamina
Ngenekwenu
AutoReportNG
AutoJosh
Explorer


And many more I can't mention without spamming this thread so much.

Thanks for tagging me my cerebral brother

deomelo:
lol @ Atiku errand boy....


What a loser..

Be still you will soon shed hot tears for your political blindness just wait for it .......

*Bola Tinubu: Caught In A Monkey Trap*

June 2, 2019

The demystification of Bola Tinubu continues. On the last day in May 2019, the news broke out like a bombshell. The Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC), announced that it had concluded its ‘investigation’ into the activities of Oando Plc and found its management culpable.

The SEC further announced that it was unilaterally ordering Oando’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu, his deputy, Mr. Eyimofe Boyo and other identified board members, to resign and directed that an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting be convened to appoint new directors, on or before July 1, 2019.

Earth shattering! Ground breaking! A bombshell! Ordinarily, these terms are used as exaggerations. But on this occasion, they could even be said to be understatements.

But what is really happening here? As the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti, sang in his song Overtake Don Overtake Overtake (ODOO), ‘people wey no know they happy, people wey know them dey look’. (Could that be where the late Bola Ige got the idea for his siddon look brand of politics?).

The truth is that on this issue, there is much more to what is happening than meets the eye. Much, much more.

You see, the Cabal are using Nasir El-Rufai to clip Bola Tinubu’s wings politically, and now they have moved on to the next stage of their 2023 long term strategy: clipping Bola Tinubu’s financial wings through the instrumentality of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Many people do not know that the relationship between Bola Tinubu and his nephew, Wale Tinubu, the now erstwhile Chief Executive Officer of Oando, goes beyond just familial dealings. It runs much deeper. Much deeper than meets the apparent eye.

For instance, it is Wale Tinubu that introduced Babatunde Raji Fashola to his uncle, Bola Tinubu, eventually paving the way for Fashola to become his Chief of Staff while he (Bola Tinubu) was Governor of Lagos, and ultimately to make him (Fashola) his successor. The bond between Bola and Wale Tinubu runs deep!

Perhaps it is a coincidence that Wale Tinubu’s then burgeoning company, Ocean and Oil, acquired the Federal Government’s shares in Unipetrol in 2000, just a year after his uncle, Bola Tinubu, became governor. And perhaps it is not a coincidence. You do the math!
Those who think it is a coincidence that Nasir El-Rufai flippantly unleashed his salvo against Tinubu three weeks ago on May 4, 2019 and the Securities and Exchange Commission moved against Oando on the last day of May, need to do a little digging. I will help them.
Nasir El-Rufai and Oando have history together. Very long and deep history. You see, Nasir El-Rufai was the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises when Wale Tinubu’s Ocean and Oil acquired Unipetrol’s shares.

I am a researcher and a very meticulous record keeper. I interview people and keep meticulous records of my interviews, because Nigeria is a dog eat dog environment, and you need to protect yourself if you are involved in Nigerian politics. And as far as I am concerned, the pen is mightier than the sword. Hence I keep records.

I interviewed a personnel of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, who was in their employment in a high ranking capacity at the time when Wale Tinubu and Eyimofe Boyo acquired Unipetrol.

This high ranking person’s documented testimony to me is that the duo initially came to acquire a hotel the Federal Government sought to divest from.

Nasir El-Rufai, according to my source, then asked Tinubu and Boyo why they would want to acquire a hotel when they were already involved in the oil and gas sector, albeit, as small players.

He encouraged them to bid for one of the oil companies then. They had not thought of that because they felt those things were for the big players who had godfathers (back then, Tinubu was not the Jagaban that he is today).

Well, to cut a long story short, the duo went back to their den and repackaged themselves, and to use a cliche, the rest is history.

I am adept at spotting patterns. As Bishop TD Jakes once said, ‘nothing just happens’. If you are not able to spot patterns, you will be so clueless in politics until the day that your enemies will shave your head in your absence (apologies to Chief MKO Abiola).

The fact that Nasir El-Rufai unleashed his salvo about cutting certain godfathers to size, three weeks ago in Lagos, and then this recent move by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a company that is only one degree separated from both El-Rufai and Tinubu, cannot be a coincidence. Not at all!

I will keep exposing these patterns. Unfortunately for these bloodsucking vampires who are retarding Nigeria’s growth, I am not within their reach, like Dele Giwa, so the only Letter Bomb they can send to me are spiritual arrows and my God is able to make every weapon formed or fashioned against me fall to the ground.

The move against Oando is Act 2, Scene 1, in the cabal’s Machiavellian plot involving the Fulani intelligentsia against an errant Yoruba warlord. It is the tragedy of Alimi and Afonja all over again. Sadly, someone is repeating history because he does not realise that the devil has no new tricks. What the devil does is what the devil has always done since he started his mischief making from the Garden of Eden.

Bola Tinubu has been caught in an old South Indian Monkey Trap!

In the American writer and philosopher, Robert Maynard Pirsig’s seminal book, ‘Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance’, (published in the year of my birth, so it holds a special significance for me), the author describes how Indians catch a monkey using an ancient Monkey Trap.

According to Pirsig, the trap “consists of a hollowed-out coconut, chained to a stake. The coconut has some rice inside which can be grabbed through a small hole”.

The monkey’s hand fits through the hole, but his clenched fist can’t fit back out. “The monkey is suddenly trapped.”

The Fulani intelligentsia (which I greatly admire and studiously research) trapped Bola Tinubu in their Monkey Trap by giving him the promise of a future impossible or future possible Presidency. As long as Bola Tinubu’s fist is clenched on that promise, he can never escape their trap. He thus, remains beholden to them in a way that Olusegun Obasanjo never was and never will be.

As a result of this trap, Bola Tinubu will stay where he has been placed, and allow himself be subjected to whatever disgrace and insult his trappers choose to mete out on him. Sadly, he is a victim of his own inordinate lust for power.

This is the same thing that another branch of the Fulani intelligentsia did in the banking sector using the then Governor of the Central Bank if Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (who is now getting his own comeuppance as Kano’s emir) to upend those they felt had grown wings by becoming too big for their breeches.

For the above, I refer my readers to Mrs. Cecilia Ibru’s recent interview on the above subject matter (Sanusi persecuted me as he thought I wanted his job at CBN – Cecilia Ibru, Punch Newspapers, May 11, 2019).

The problem with Southern Nigeria, and specifically, people like Bola Tinubu, and Samuel Ladoke Akintola before him, is that, while the North preserved and still uses the leadership ethos they learnt from their leaders, such as Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio (one of my mentors) and Sardauna Ahmadu Bello (another mentor of mine), Southerners on the other hand have jettisoned the wisdom of their own sages, like Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, and yes, Olusegun Obasanjo.

That is why we keep repeating history and instead of accepting responsibility for this, we prefer to blame history for repeating itself.

*Written By Runaway Reno Omokri*

Horror in the kidnappers’ den

It took me a long time of reflections to put this piece together. First, let me thank my husband for the emotional support, the counselling and for his belief in the creator of heaven and earth which we call God or Allah.
The journey began in Auchi. We had travelled to Akure on a Monday, stayed with my husband’s relations in the outskirt of this ancient town. In the evening of Monday, we visited the palace for dinner, my husband being a close friend to son of the King.
On Tuesday, we left for Ibadan, via the Akure-Ilesa road. Our plan was that after attending the wedding in Auchi, we would travel with (my husband) to Lagos, stay for few weeks before returning abroad where I had lived with my husband and children for more than a decade. We were in the car of a close family friend, an accountant who gave his time and energy for our comfort.

We were five in the car, myself, my husband, our daughter, a lady who is my husband’s niece who had joined us in Akure with the hope of travelling with us to Lagos.
The driver accountant maintained a normal speed. He drove professionally. That gave me a lot of comfort and I felt I could find time to sleep a bit. My daughter was next to me, just 9. She was coming to Nigeria with me for the second time.
Shortly after the Ijare junction, the driver felt the wagon’s tires ruptured and decided to pack the car with the hope of changing the tires.

It was like a film. In a jiffy, motley crowd of armed men in military uniform came out of the bush. They fired at the boot of the car. Ahead of us, five of them came out of the bush, another two came from the rear. My daughter screamed: “Mummy, daddy, what’s going on”. There was no time to say a word. They marched us through into the bush, firing into the sky. They hit me on my chest, hit my daughter on her head, blood oozed. At this time, it was better to kill me. I shouted at one of the armed men. His response was hell. He went straight for my private part, tore my dress with his gun. The others ripped my dresses. I was left with my undies. My husband and my daughter started crying. Two of them dug their teeth into my breasts.
While attending a secondary school in Adamawa, I had lived with some Fulani, so I understand a few Fulani words. I started pleading, at least for my daughter. To my shock, at gun point, they removed the dress of my little girl, one of them carried her on his head as my baby struggled, shouting “Daddy, mummy, what’s going on. Help me.”

I could not help myself. We were marched for 9 hours. I was half naked. My daughter was totally naked. A felt her tears was like a stream of blood on her cheek. Our phones had been seized. We ended up in an ungoverned region in the thick of the forest. We met a well organized group.
There were some kidnapped victims, I saw two women, two ladies and three men. There were some people with their legs chained to trees. They were as if half dead. We were separated. I was separated from my husband. My daughter was taken away. I only heard her scream intermittently. I did not know what they were doing to her.
These men, now about two dozen had a full kitchen, they had a huge camp and a traditional medical team. But the camps appear isolated from each other. We heard noises afar indicating it might be nuclear settlements of camps. Right in my presence, I saw them pack the remains of a woman. They took her and buried her few meters away from us. She had tribal marks.
I cannot describe the agony of 6 days in captivity in this little piece. I cannot talk about how they asked my husband to choose between myself being raped or that his daughter be raped. My husband broke down in uncontrollable tears. One of them hit him saying “Yoruba bastard, you dey cry. Idiot.”
They now gave him the option that he should be raped by one homosexual among them. My husband is a devout Muslim. He told them homosexual and rape of any kind was against Islam. They hit him with the butt of AK 47: “What do you know about Islam?”
You can imagine, you are being asked to choose between being raped by a homosexual, your daughter, just nine years old, or your wife being raped? They gave the forth option, if you fail to choose, they would rape my daughter, rape my husband and rape me.
I made myself the sacrificial lamb. My husband begged, saying they should name their price. One of them asked him to bend down. Three beastly criminals sat on his back, jumping until he was too weak to stand. I was not allowed to put on any additional cloth on my body for 24 hours. The rain fell once. I became the relic and a sexual museum for the armed men who in turn addressed me and asked questions about my financial standing. New Fulani men joined the camp. They organized military training for the new Fulani men that came, teaching them how to shoot and walk through circles of glowing fire.
We were not released until after 6 days. We had to walk the same zik-zag journey back to the main road, our eyes blindfolded. During the negotiation to pay, they said the money was not for them alone that they had to settle “those who send us”. For me, I see a thriving, organized crime supported by powerful political interests.
Now, I do not think we were released to freedom after paying a whopping 8 million naira. I do not think we can ever be free, we can never be free, from the anguish, the psychological trauma, the nightmares we suffered, the occasional fits of our daughter, her waking up midnight behaving strangely, her asking the same question over and over: “Mummy, mummy, why?. Why.?” I do not have any answer.
In my life, I have never passed through a torture chamber like this. I do not think any society should let this happen. I do not know the fate of those we met, and about 7 other people brought during the 6 days we were in captivity. What I saw was a nation that has collapsed but pretends she lives, a people on life support. Crime is not restricted to Fulani people alone. We have Yoruba criminals. But I don’t Yoruba criminals are not as beastly. These elements are savages. I can’t imagine Yoruba thieves going to Sokoto or Maiduguri to kidnap Fulani people and keep them in their own bushes. It gives me mental torture that this is happening and some fools are even trying to justify or look for excuses.
Well, as a devout Muslim, myself and my family have taken solace in Allah, not the Nigerian police, not the Army, not the governments. We have taken our faith the way it came. I thank God that we have successfully returned to where we live, thousands of miles from Nigeria. We thank God that we have made a vow: Never shall me, any of my children or husband in our lifetime visit Nigeria. Our remains any time we die, will also not be buried in Nigeria. It was a suggestion by my daughter which we all adopted.
I pity the country. I pity her people who continuously walk like the living dead. I pity those who parade themselves as leaders, because they know nothing about what is going on and the abyss the country sunk already.

I pity Yoruba people, oh, I pity you. I pity my people. For me the issue is not about President Buhari. Democracy can produce anything, even the worst in the society.

What I worry about is the conspiracy of silence by the people themselves, the ignorance, the treachery and the illusion that one day, things will get better through another election.

Since I was born in Nigeria, each year had led from bad to worse and on and on. I do not have a solution to what is going on, but I think very soon, hell will let loose upon the earth as long as there is no law and order and anarchy and the rule of brutes is the order of the day.
Once again, there cannot be anything more comforting than my husband who saw what I went through but has been able to encourage me and even encouraged me to write this little piece after months of agony and sociological imbalance. Good night Nigerians.

Copied from a forum of Nigerian Women in Diaspora

ChristianNorth:
Have been busy with a very serious case but a stupid one. For now, I am free to run around Nairaland.

It is well comrade really miss you my bro.

ChristianNorth:
Yoruba christians should hold their moslem brothers responsible. Those dudes can sell Oodua land for a plate of ewedu.

Anyway, #Atiku'sComing, enemies of state can go and quench

Loud it my cerebral comrade where have you been bro missed your brilliant piece all these days

The ball is set to roll I don't see El-Rufai surviving this

naijaguy123456:
PDP thug welcoming a clueless ex president.

Stay away from Sniper please may you not die before your time because of the bile in you

Hmmnnn.......there might be some elements of truth in this let's pray ahead for this danger to be averted as Tinubu is too desperate to do anything just to maintain his stranglehold on Lagos Wealth. Ole jatijati

Hmmnnn another Yoruba vs Igbo tread I am enjoying it .......

80 FACTS ABOUT GREAT BENIN.

DO YOU KNOW THAT?

The Oldest Surviving Kingdom in the World is Great Benin Kingdom and is 2054 years Old. The Ogiso dynasty lasted for about 854 years plus an interregnum of 285 years between the reign of Ogiso Orire and Ogiso Odia, there was an interregnum of 70 years between Ogiso Owodo and Oba Oranmiyan plus 845 years of Oba ruler-ship till date.

1. The First Storey Building in Nigeria was built at Ughoton by the Dutch in the year 1718, and it was called “The Factory”. The said building was destroyed by the British during the war against the Benins in 1897. The site of the building is still intact.
2. The Oldest Church in West-Africa was established in Great Benin Empire by the Earliest Portuguese missionaries in the 16th Century which is today known as the Holy Aruosa (Benin National Church). Pope Pius XII visited Benin and handed the church to the Oba of Benin, Oba Oreoghene in 1692AD.
3. The first Known Embassy Established in Nigeria was in Benin during the reign of Oba Esigie in the 16th century.
4. Elaba is the only Chieftaincy title in Benin Kingdom in whose presence the Oba’s Sword bearer (Omada) would ceremonially hold the Oba’s symbol of Authority(Ada) upside down
5. Oba Orhogbua is the first literate king ever recorded in the present day West-Africa.
6. Chief Ogiamien is one of the Uzama N’Ibie (Uzama Minor), the council was created by Oba Esigie.
7. The Oldest known letter written in Nigeria was by Duarte Pires instructed by Oba Esigie which was addressed to King John II, on the 20th October, 1516AD. The second oldest letter was written by Anthonio Domingo (Great-grand Son of Oba Olua) to the Pope to seek for missionary assistance in other to spread Christianity in Benin Empire in 1652AD.
8. Oba Orhogbua founded Lagos and planted a dukedom, the Obaship of Lagos (Eko).
9. Oba Orhogbua introduced the common salt from his numerous voyage to Benin Cuisine in replacement of our traditional organic salt (Obu).
10. The word Okoro means prince in Benin and Uvbi as princess.
11. Oba Orhogbua is the first Sailor king in the present day West-Africa.
12. They are five fighting Empire building Obas of Benin, Oba Ewuare I, Oba Ozolua, Oba Esigie, Oba Orhogbua and Oba Ehengbuda N’Obo.
13. Oba Ehengbuda was the last Oba of Benin to lead the Benin armies physically in battle.
14. Ogiso Odoligie and Oba Esigie were regarded as the redeemer kings because of their pre-ordination by God.
15. Ogiso Orriagba created the college (council) of the hereditary Uzama Chiefs.
16. The last Ogiso palace was located in the present day Ring-Road where the National museum is sited and it was called “Ogbe Ogiso”
17. Oldest ever recorded market in Africa is Ogiso (Agbado) Market dated 60BCE.
18. Ekpeye, Ogba and Iwurhuohna people of River State are children of Akalaka a Benin warrior that migrated from Benin to found their present location during Oba Ewuare I reign.
19. Onitcha town was founded by Benin royal house who migrated during Oba Esigie reign.
20. The shortest Oba that reigned in Great Benin kingdom was Oba Ezoti (14 days) 1473-1473AD.
21. They are three usurpers to the revered Benin throne, Oba Uwaifiokun (1430-1440), Oba Ozuere (1712-713) and Oba Ogbebo (1816-1816)
22. The longest Oba that reigned in Great Benin Kingdom was Oba Akengbuda (54 years) 1750-1804AD.
23. The oldest crown prince (crown prince Osifo) to become an Oba of great Benin was later crowned as Oba Obanosa.
24. Oba Akengbuda relocated from the palace to Ogbe N’Alaka to pave way for his son, crown prince Osifo (Oba Obanosa) to become an Oba i.e two Oba’s in one kingdom (Benin).
25. The first ever recorded bank (Owigho) in present day West-Africa was built in Benin kingdom by Oba Eresoyen, construction started in the year 1740AD and was completed in the year 1743AD.
26. Oba Akengboi kept his hair like a Rastafarian Benin call Agbihiagha.
27. Oba Ahenkpaye was dethroned because of his selfishness and ruthlessness by chiefs of Benin Kingdom.
28. Isi Aghadahomen, corrupted as Dahommey was a name of Esan General who led Benin warriors to conquer present day republic of Benin. The country was named in 1975 after their former colonial master. Great Benin Kingdom.
29. Oba Esigie created the school of astrology (Iwoki) and was the first man to speak a foreign language (Portuguese) in Nigeria in the year 1518AD.
30. Queen Idia (Oba Esigie mother) is the first Oba’s mother to be alive to see her son becoming an Oba. That’s because traditionally previous Crown prince mothers were killed before their Sons ascend the throne.
31. Oba Ewuare I conquered more than 201 towns and villages during his reign. This remarkable feat earned him the title Ewuare Ogidigan (Ewuare the great).
32. Iyase, Esogban, Eson and Osuma are referred to as the four Cardinal chiefs (Eghaevbo N’ore)
33. Since Oba Ewedo relocated the palace from Usama to Ogbe only four Oba’s were not buried at Ogbe. Hence “Aiguoba vbie Ogbe” (no one sleep at ogbe except the oba)
34. Agbodo mystically was buried at ogbe (he is the only man to ever achieve that feat after Oba Udagbedo enacted a law of nobody aside the Oba can be interred at Ogbe quarter)
35. Great benin kingdom has been ruled by 71 kings (documented) and 21 kings(undocumented) and two documented administrators (Evian and Agho Obaseki)and about 12 undocumented administrators
36. Ga tribe of present day Ghana migrated from Benin during Oba Udagbedo reign (1299-1334)
37. Oba Ahenzae is the youngest Oba to be crowned
38. Between Oba Ahenzae and Oba Ewuakpe the Oba-ship was rotated amongst different branches of the royal family for six reigns.
39. Oba Akenzua I is the richest monarch that ever ruled in Benin kingdom. Hence nicknamed Akenzua N’Isonorho (Akenzua, the money raining sky).
40. Oba Ewuakpe enforced the primogeniture Law in Benin Empire, called the Atoro oath. N.B: primogeniture had started during Ogiso Orriagba but was not consistent
41. The 39 Obas in second dynasty all ruled averagely in 22 years (excluding the present Monarch)
42. Ogiso Igodo or Obagodo is the oldest king that has ever ruled Benin Kingdom across the two dynasties, he reigned for 56 years.
43. Oduduwa was the exiled crowned prince from Benin known as Ekaladerhan, which is being purported as the progenitor of the Yoruba race.
44. The 31 Ogiso’s in the first dynasty all ruled in average of 28 years (excluding the 285 years of interregnum).
45. Prince Akennuzama rejected to be crowned as Oba of Benin instead asked the elders to crown his son Idova in his place because of his old age. Prince Idova was crowned as Oba Ewuakpe.
46. The monarch of Warri kingdom is an off shoot of the royal house of Benin kingdom founded by prince Iginuwa the Son of Oba Olua in the 15th century.
47. The Osemawe of Ondo was corrupted from Osemwughe, the Benin warrior who deserted Udo town, when there was war between Benin City and Udo town.
48. The word Ondo was corrupted from the town “Emwan N’Udo” (people of Udo town)
49. The world most famous mask Queen Idia mask was the face of FESTAC 77’ held in Lagos.
50. Ezomo is the last amongst the Uzama N’ihinron that was made hereditary by Oba Akenzua I.
51. The first Edaiken of Uselu is Crown prince Kuobuyuwa, son of Oba Ewuare I.
52. The word Benin was corrupted from Ubini by the Portuguese explorer meaning “a place of heavenly pageantry and prosperity”
53. Ohen Okun, Olokun priest of Ughoton is the first known Diplomat of Nigeria origin to Europe, who was sent as a Benin ambassador by Oba Esigie in the year 1526AD, hence the first man to be exposed to western education
54. Affonso .D. Aveiro is the first ambassador from Europe to Benin and first in Nigeria.
55. Olu Atuwatse (Dom Domingo) Son of Crown Prince Ginuwa and grand Son of Oba Olua who was sent to Portugal in 1601 for advanced studies by his Grandfather, the reigning Oba. He graduated from the University of Coimbra in 1611. He is the first person to obtain a European university degree in present day Nigeria. He later married the daughter of a Portuguese noble, Dona Feirs. Their son Antonio Domingo referred to in Benin History as the Golden Skinned king, succeeded him to the throne in 1643.
56. Oba Esigie is the first King in Africa to be baptized in the year 1504AD.in Benin.
57. Oba Ozolua N’Ibaromi was the father of Alani of Idoani, Olowo of Owo, Uguan of Ora and Eze of Aboh.
58. Oba Esigie created the title of Iyoba nu’Uselu (Queen Mother of Uselu).
59. The King of Benin can in a single day make 20,000 men ready for war, and, if need be, 180, 000, and because of this he has great influence among all the surrounding peoples … His authority stretches over many cities, towns and villages. There is no King thereabouts who, in the possession of so many beautiful cities and towns, in his capital – Olfert Dapper, description of Africa, 1668.
60. According to the Guinness Book of Records (1974 edition) described the walls of Benin City and its surrounding kingdom as the world’s largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era.
61. According to estimates by the New Scientists Fred pearce, Benin City’s walls were at one point “four times longer than the great wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops”
62. Benin City is surrounded by massive walls dug by Oba Oguola in 13th century and Oba Ewuare I in the 15th century.
63. Great Wall of Benin extended for some 16,000km in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries. They covered 6, 500sq km and were all dug by the Edo people.
64. The Great wall of Benin took an estimated 150million hours of digging to construct, and are perhaps the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet.
65. Benin City is the first City to have a semblance of street lighting in the world.
66. The Portuguese were the people who called our land “Great City of Benin” because they were astonished with what they saw that the Edo people achieved centuries before any major cities in the world.
67. 1n 1691, the Portuguese ship captain Lourenco Pinto observed: “Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eyes can see.
68. In ancient times there were no doors in Great Benin because it was so secure that the people didn’t bother about doors and windows.
69. The Benins are the best bronze casters (Igun – eronmwon) in the world.
70. In the golden age, Oba Ewuare I changed Benin into a city states from a military fortress built by Ogiso.
71. Two kings were installed without a crown, Ogiso Igodo (40BC-16AD) and Oba Oranmiyan (Odolorre) 1170-1200AD.
72. The present palace has been burnt down three times, Prince Ogun who later became Oba Ewuare I, Oba Ogbebo and lastly the British military fiasco.
73. The first palace in Benin Kingdom was located at Ugbekun quarters built by Ogiso Igodo in about 40-42BC.
74. The progenitor of the Benin race is known by the earliest Benin oral documentary as “PA IDU”
75. Great Benin is known as the cradle of Black civilization and the centre of the world (Edorisiagbon).
76. Igodomigodo was the former name for what we now call “Edo land”
77. The Benin were the first to use sophisticated weapons (guns) to fight war(Idah war) in the present day Nigeria in about 501 years ago (August, 1516), the war was led by Oba Esigie mother (Queen Idia).
78. No female King has ever ruled Benin kingdom across the Two dynasties, the purported female Ogiso Emose(584-600AD) and Orrorro(600-618AD) are male kings on coronation, took over their mothers name.
79. All Oba’s in Lagos(Eko) were all buried in their ancestral home (Benin City) until late 19th century, to further lay credence to that Oba Osemwende in 1834 instructed Idewu Ojulari, the Oba of Lagos to zegbele(kill himself) the instruction was, expectedly, complied with. The Lagos Oba complied by taking poison.
80. Prior to present day civilization/infrastructural developments, ten gates/ roads historically led into Benin City. They are: 1). Akpakpava (Ikpoba) Road 2). Irhuase (Ogba). 3). Imose(Sapele). 4). Okhoro Road 5). Ughoton Road 6). Udo Road 7). Ugbor Road 8 ). Uhunmwun Idunmwun Road 9). Uselu (Oyesunu) Road. 10). Utantan (Esokponba) Road.

By Imasuen Amowie Izoduwa (Co-ordinator General Great Benin Descendants)

Contributors: Mr. Aiko Obobaifo, Osazee Amas-Edobor, Nathaniel Akenuwa and Oghoyemwen Joan. E.

Oba Gha Tokpere… Ise.

Yyeske:
Read the my last post

OK just did. Good one there for your humble admittance

Yyeske:
You are right with your analysis but the question is this, does PDP have the at least 25% of votes in 2/3 of the LGAs as required by the constitution? It has the majority vote now, no doubt but it and INEC must prove that it satisfies the other requirement.

Read below and be comforted;

Full result of Zamfara governorship election

1] Bakura LGA
PDP – 15,331 (87%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 17,540.

2] Anka LGA
PDP – 8,292 (77%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 10,743.

3] Gummi LGA
PDP – 13,418 (78%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 17,198

4] Bukkuyum LGA
PDP – 12,010 (74%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 16,216

5] Maradun LGA
PDP – 18,868 (88%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 21,477

6] Zurmi LGA
PDP – 13,194 (68%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 19,431

7] Talata Mafara LGA
PDP – 12,691 (71%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 17,875

8] Bungudu LGA
PDP – 18,379 (56%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 32,892

9] Kaura Namoda LGA
PDP – 14,647 (79%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 18,439

10] Birnin Magaji LGA
PDP – 7,880 (79%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 9,974

11] Gusau LGA
PDP – 22,441 (60%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 37,269

12] Maru LGA
PDP – 9,830 (39%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 25,325

13] Shinkafi LGA
PDP – 5,707 (60%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 9,577

14] Tsafe LGA
PDP – 16,764 (48%)
Reversed Accreditated Votes – 34,747

Mr Bello Matawalle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 189,452 votes, is now presumed winner of the election courtesy of the APC vs APC Supreme Court Judgement.

Udantu:
Wasted votes are dead votes

Zamfara at a glance. Crunching the figures: PRE-SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT:
1) total votes cast: 810, 782
2) total cancelled votes: 17,844
3) total valid votes: 792,938
4) APC votes: 534,541
5) PDP votes: 189, 452
6) NRM votes: 15, 177

POST-SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT:

1) Total valid votes 792, 938
- APC wasted votes 534, 541
= 258, 541

2) total valid votes at play
= 258, 541
3) cancelled votes 17, 844

RESULTS AS THEY STAND POST-SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT:

1) PDP 189, 452
2) NRM 15, 177

a) Difference between PDP & NRM votes: 174, 272

b) Cancelled votes 17,844

i) Total votes cast: 258, 397
ii) PDP votes 189, 452
Difference = 68, 945

Pdp has won it

Absolutely fantastic and perspicuous analysis there bro

Another one....

He posted this on his Facebook page;

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife Precious and to our three handsome sons, Ragnar, Aiden and Liam. You are my life and I love you with all my heart. I thank God for each of you every day.

You are blessed in all your ways. God's love shall never depart from you and you shall excel in all that you set your hands to do. I am so proud of you and you have made me very happy.

The Angel of the Lord shall guard and guide you all the days of your lives. You shall live long and prosper and the Lord shall fill you with His Spirit and wisdom and clothe you with His favour, glory, honor, blessings, majesty, strength and power.

You shall lack no good thing and the Lord shall grant you wealth and add no sorrow unto it. He shall annoint your heads with oil and pave your pathways with butter.

You shall be a blessing to many and the Lord shall use you to bring joy to millions of hearts and smiles to millions of faces. This is your day: have a really great one! And may every day of your precious and beautiful lives be truly blessed! I LOVE YOU! ������❤❤❤���