₦airaland Forum

The following vacancies exist in a reputable textile manufacturing and garment company in Lagos.

1. GENERAL MANAGER

Prospective candidate must have the following

(a) Qualification: First degree in any relevant field.

(b) Age: 30 – 60 years

(c) Experience: At least 10 years with 5 years in Managerial capacity in the textile industry in Nigeria.
Must understand the textile market segmentation and dynamics in Nigeria.

Incentives:
(i) Company car and driver

(ii) Accommodation allowance

(iii) Salary: negotiable

2. SALES / MARKETING MANAGER

(a) Qualification: First degree in social sciences.

(b) Age: 30 – 50 years.

(c) Experience: 8 years and 3 years in Managerial capacity.

Job is target driven. Must have the ability to drive an aggressive sales team that will largely be commission based.
Incentives:
Incentives:

(i) Company car and driver

(ii) Accommodation allowance

(iii) Salary: negotiable

3. SUPERVISOR TEXTILE PROCESSING PLANT

(a) Qualifications: Diploma in Polymer and Textile

(b) Age: 25 – 35 years

(c) Experience: Must be expert in processing of knitted fabric with minimum of 6 years experience.

Salary negotiable

4. ACCOUNTANT


(a) Qualification: HND in Accounting and very proficient in Accounting software

(b) Age: 25 –35years

5. IT PERSONNEL

(a) Qualification: OND in computer science, capable of managing our software.

(b) Age: 23 – 35years

Interested applicants must forward their curriculum vitae along with a cover letter detailing specific job sought with a passport photograph to
Human Resource :

Unigwejennifer@gmail.com OR
Olujay79@gmail.com
not later than two weeks from the date of this publication. Please note that only shortlisted candidate will be contacted.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/vacancies/

Sex is a thing of joy; which should be enjoyed
and not endured. There is nothing that can be
compared with sexual satisfaction and there is
this thought in some quarters that a woman
who is sexually satisfied is a happy one who
glows and exhibits positive temperament. A
woman who is deprived of sexual satisfaction,
however could be bitch and hard to please.
The issue of sex and sexual satisfaction is
however not peculiar to women alone as men
too desire to be sexually fulfilled and they also
enjoy sex. This is why Abiola Ajaguna, a
teacher, stated that when there is incessant
quarrels in a home and you take pains to find
out why, you are likely to discover lack of sex
or sexual satisfaction as the reason which the
couple are not ready to talk about.
Zara, in her own case, spoke out and asked
her friends for help. According to her, her
husband of few months ago has a small-sized
penis and whenever they made love she
doesn’t get the desired sexual satisfaction.
Because of her husband’s type of person, she
finds it difficult to speak with him about this
issue. She is quite unhappy about it, and
desire a solution.
In the same vein, Jumoke, a mother of two,
jokingly stated that the issue being discussed
is an issue of different strokes for different
folks. According to her, even after having two
children, she sometimes feels uncomfortable
with her husband’s size because he is
positively endowed and according to her, she
is gradually becoming a sex hater as she
sometimes dread bed time, especially on days
she really doesn’t feel like having sex and she
is not mentally prepared, her husband, who
however, loves sex would insist. When this
happens, she ends being bruised and not
satisfied.
The question then came up; does a man’s
penis size matter when it comes to sexual
satisfaction? Hersay asked readers opinion.
Excerpts:
Bolanle Adelusi, Trader: I really can’t say,
because my husband satisfies me sexually. I
can’t even say if he is big or small, but I am
okay with his size.
I feel sexual satisfaction transcends the issue
of size. No matter how small a man’s penis
size is, if the chemistry between him and his
wife is right, she will be satisfied sexually. In
my own view, the totality of sexual
satisfaction transcends physical penetration.
Blessing Adie, Nurse: sexual satisfaction is
relative! This depends on the couple. It is not
all about the man’s size. Even if the man has
a big penis, and he doesn’t know how to
handle his woman she still won’t be sexually
satisfied.
Both of them need to know what they want
even in bed. It is also not all about the
woman getting all the satisfaction alone. She
also must be able to give her husband
pleasure as the more of this she gives, the
more she receives too.
Somto Chidiebere, businesswoman: sex is sex
and it is not what you discuss like you are
asking me to. I don’t know about sexual
pleasure and I cannot discuss my husband’s
manhood here. This is something that we do
in our bedroom. It is between my husband and
I. Thank you.
Linus Okey, Businesswoman: Ha! Do not be
deceived o. The bigger the man’s penis, the
better because a lot of women like it that way.
Some of them will not talk, but I can assure
you that is what women want.
If a woman has dated a man who is endowed
and she then dates another man with small
size, definitely, he cannot satisfy her sexually.
In this type of situation, the woman will either
be having an affair with a man with a big size
organ or she will not respect her man.
Idiat Hafiz: I don’t feel comfortable discussing
this, but what I know is that either big or
small one has to appreciate how God has
created him or her.
Satisfaction in everything is relative, whatever
is good enough for A, might not be okay with
B. If as a couple a wife discovers that her
husband’s organ is small, both of them must
make it work and make sure satisfaction is
attained and if it is the other way round, they
must work at it to make a success out of their
sex life.
Afam Okereke: Size matters and even at that,
you also must be equipped with the knowhow.
Knowing what to do, where to touch and how
to touch to give your partner satisfaction is
very important. Size is just a plus, it is good
but what is a big penis if you don’t know what
to do with it?
Apart from the know how, romance matters a
lot in and outside the bedroom. Another
important factor is that of erection. If you are
able to have good erection and maintain it,
even a small size feels big.
Toyin Oladipo, Lecturer: what most people fail
to understand is that there is more to sexual
satisfaction than physical penetration. If a
man has a small size organ, he can actually
make up for his size deficiency by employing
romance.
Nigerians generally, not men alone do not
understand the place of romance and pre-intimacy
in sex. If we as couple become conscious of
this fact and desist from making sex an issue
restricted to the bedroom alone, then we will
stop to see sex as physical penetration alone.
Another issue, I see here is that of the man’s
libido. Once he can sustain his erection, then
there are several positions both of them can
employ to enjoy sex. As far as I am concerned,
sexual satisfaction transcends the man’s
penis size. What if he is large and big, but
can’t have an erection? It’s not all about size.
Cossy Diala, self employed: Sincerely, a man’s
size defines who he is. I can remember when
we were in school, although, it is borne more
out of youthful excesses, we used to measure
and check out our sizes.
Apart from this, the man should also be able
to know what makes his woman tick, where to
touch and what to do so as to give her the
best. Either we like it or not, sex is all about
give and take, the more pleasure you give your
partner, the more you receive too.
Big or large size penis, is a pulse, but you
must know how to really use it to give your
partner sexual satisfaction and receive such
too?
Dr Adeyinka Griffin, a Consultant Gynecologist
and Medical Director, Teju Specialist Hospital
spoke from a medical point of view. According
to him, the penis size should be the least of
the couple’s worry. Once the man can have an
erection and also maintain it, then he can
penetrate.
“What is the use of a large/ big organ without
the ability to have an erection or sustain it?”
Sustainable erection is the most important
issue when it comes to physical penetration.
We should also be able to understand that
when it comes to sexual satisfaction, a lot of
other things are involved not only the penis.
For instance, the man should be able identify
his partners erogenous spot or her center of gravity.
When this is rightly stimulated and she is
lying in a good position, at this point of
physical penetration, the man’s size will no
longer matter. She is well stimulated and the
positioning will help. The vagina is also
elastic to accommodate any size of penis, we
should know this. The level of arousal is what
matters most.
“The sexual position also matters here,
because either we like it or not, our sex life is
affected by our environment, sex orientation,
norms and belief system. A woman or man
who has been acculturated to believe that the
“woman-down and man-up” is the normal sex
position will find it awkward to try other sex
positions.
“There are different sex positions couples can
adopt, either with a small or big size penis
that can help improve sex life and enhance
sexual satisfaction for both.
“We must also not forget the place of romance
and pre-intimacy which is useful to both partners.
Sex shouldn’t be all about physical
penetration alone”, Griffin added.
As for medical help to elongate and enlarge
the penis, the Consultant Gynecologist said
there are several artificial ways people talk
about, once a man can identify one that is
useful for him.” I don’t know of any surgical or
medical way around this, I won’t do it, as I am
a gynecologist, but if it is the crème and stuffs
like that which would not lead to physical
injury for both partners and they believe it
works, it is okay. But people should be
careful.”
“What I would be worried about is if the man
cannot have an erection or when he finds it
difficult to sustain his erection. pre-intimacy,
romance MouthAction and physical penetration
make up for sexual satisfaction, not just an
aspect of it”, he concluded.
HER SAY

One of the issues on which the current election
was fought is that of fighting corruption, a
cankerworm that has eaten into the fabrics of
our community and country. My concern
about the success or otherwise of this fight is
what I have chosen to call ‘espirit de
corruptions’, culled from the term used to
describe the brotherhood and the spirit of
cooperation among men of the armed forces.
The existence of this spirit is what has made,
and what will make the fight against
corruption very difficult to win, unless the in-
coming government deals with it.
In order to clarify my concern, I need to make
reference to what happened in one of our
universities when the management illegally
awarded a sum of 400,000 naira to each other
in the name of furniture grant, and the branch
of ASUU raised a furore on the matter,
describing it as corruption. During the period,
the vice chancellor came to congress to tell us
that it was poverty that made us complain
about an amount as small as 400,000 naira.
About the same time, the VC spent about 1
million naira to purchase towels and bed
sheets for his own use, and we thought that
was also too much. While we were counting
on the Council Chairman to scold the V.C., we
found that the Chairman was being
compromised in some ways, including the use
of his Insurance company to insure the
property of the same university of which he
was Council Chairman. As soon as that began
to happen, we lost the support of the
Chairman who then started defending the VC.
We were later to hear that the same Chairman
had to be ‘rehabilitated’ after losing some
dollars to dupes. It then dawned on us that we
were only reporting a small thief to a bigger
one, since the amount we were accusing the
VC of corruptly appropriating was much less
than what the higher powers would have been
(miss)appropriating. So, when you report a
corrupt junior officer to a corrupt senior one,
both of them will meet to laugh at you.
By the same token, the rumour doing the
round is that in our government ministries,
most contracts are awarded to functionaries
of the same ministries through fronts, and
different cadre of staff have levels of contracts
they can perform, with or without fronts. The
most junior staff extract bribe to trace files
before higher officials can treat them. The
intermediate staff supplies stationeries and
other materials, while the senior ones deal
with bigger contracts. It is also alleged that
chief executives of MDAs have problem having
their budgets considered by the legislature
unless there is up-front deposit or deliberate
inflation of estimates to be sorted out later. Of
course, capital projects would not be executed
if legislators are not involved in the
nomination of contractors. And when the
stakes are high enough, the pyramid includes
federal and presidency agencies/parastatals
involved in the awards. This way, everybody in
our public service from the messenger to the
minister/commissioner and legislator is well
looked after such that it is not in the interest
of anyone along the ladder to disturb the
apple cart. There, conspiracy is iron-cast.
Another confounding variable is the wrong
impression often given that the private sector
is less corrupt than the public sector. There is
no doubt that the private sector is more
organized and less bogged down by
bureaucratic bottlenecks such as statutes,
rules, regulations and policies, thus making
decision-taking and implementation faster and
more effective. However, it is the private
sector that has the financial muscle to
produce irresistible volume or value of
financial and other inducemnets that can
compromise even the highest of public
servants.We have read in the past of
involvement of multinational corporations in
bribe scandals all over the world. All these are
in spite of the establishment of Servicom,
Public Procurement Act, and other such
policies aimed at curbing corruption.
What this should say to us is that the war
against corruption must be started at the very
top, and the most potent weapon has to be
EXAMPLE. The excuse that since corruption
involves everybody and those at the top
should not be held solely responsible does not
hold water. Neither will anybody who engages
in preaching against corruption while being
actively engaged in it, be taken seriously.
When junior workers know that the man at the
head will not take bribe or gratification, they
know they can not take it either, or they will
be prepared to face the wrath of such leader. If
as chief executive or head of department, one
gives clear leading in the corruption war, those
below will tow the line. As a first step, that
means our President-elect and those
immediately surrounding him must dictate the
pace from day one in government, or forget
about the fight. It means if the President-elect
declares his assets publicly, any potential
public office holder who does not wish to
declare his or her scan not occupy the office,
and that includes those who contributed the
campaign funds and provided expensive
logistics. Another major form of corruption is
rewarding campaign supporters with policy
dictation, a situation in which appointments
and government policies are dictated by
financiers. This is usually in form of support
for particular businesses, giving of waivers, or
creation of monopoly. Policies must be
dictated predominantly by public common
good. No amount of rhetoric will work. Our
new leaders must stay OUTSIDE the corruption
corps circle, or we would be back to square
zero. This is how to destroy and break the
spirit of corruption from the tip of the pyramid,
so the base can crumble. Are we ready?
•Professor Olatunji wrote from Sagamu, Ogun
State.
OPINIONS

Multichoice Nigeria has challenged the
jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to
adjudicate a suit filed against it over the hike
in the prices of Digital Satellite Television
(DSTV) and GoTV subscriptions.
This was as the plaintiffs filed a contempt
charge against Multichoice directors for
allegedly disobeying a valid court order.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on April 2 granted
an order of interim injunction restraining
Multichoice from enforcing its planned price
increase.
The judge asked parties to maintain status
quo until the suit is determined.
The order reads in part: “That an order of
interim injunction is hereby granted to the
parties to maintain the status quo restraining
the first defendant (Multichoice/DSTV) from
giving effect or enforcing its planned increase
in cost of the different classes of viewing or
programmes bouquet, pending the hearing and
determination of the motion on notice.”
The suit was filed by Mr. Osasuyi Adebayo and
Mr. Oluyinka Oyeniji, a lawyer, on behalf of
themselves and individual/corporate
subscribers of DSTV and distributors.
MultiChoice, owners of DStv and GOtv, had
announced a 20 percent price increase for all
its satellite pay TV bouquets in Nigeria with
effect from April 1.
Thursday, Oyeniji accused Multichoice of
disobeying the order, saying: “The order has
been flouted brazenly.”
But counsel for Multichoice, Mr. Moyosore
Onigbanjo (SAN) said his clients did not obey
the order because it was made after the new
price had gone into effect.
“An injunction cannot be granted in respect of
a completed act,” he said.
“By the time the order was made, the price
increase had been affected. The order was
made on April 2 and we were served on April
8. The price increase took effect from April 1,”
Onigbanjo added.
Besides, he said Multichoice was not bound to
obey the order since it is already challenging
the court’s jurisdiction.
He also pointed out that the order stated that
“status quo” should be maintained; arguing
that status quo as at the time the order was
made meant the new subscription rates, not
the old prices.
But Oyeniji said Multichoice ought to have
obeyed the order because the suit was filed
before April 1.
“The order was made for a continuing action,”
he said.
He also informed the court that he had filed
Form 48 (Notice of consequences of
disobedience to order of court) and Form 49
(Notice to show cause why order of
attachment should not be made).
The applications are seeking to commit
Multichoice Managing Director John Ugbe and
Manager Public Relations Caroline Oghuma to
prison.
The plaintiffs said the two disobeyed the order
requiring them to “refrain from the increase in
tariff pending the determination of the suit.”
However, Onigbanjo said his notice of
preliminary objection supersedes all other
pending applications.
“The court is obligated to determine the issue
of jurisdiction because anything done without
it being resolved first will be a waste of time,”
he said.
Justice Aneke adjourned till May 5 for hearing
of the preliminary objection.

hmmm. Buhari must probe PDP supporter's
.Our money must be recovered

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor &
Gbenga Oke
LAGOS — President-elect, General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd), is to lead a
campaign to repeal the pension laws for
governors enacted by many states of the
federation, Vanguard has learnt.
The proposal by the incoming president is
based on what sources close to him affirm as
the incongruity of the laws under the
country’s socio-economic environment and
also, as a way of demonstrating moral
leadership from the top.
Majority of the nation’s 36 state Houses of
Assembly have enacted generous pension
entitlements for governors that in many cases
provide 100 per cent pay for the incumbent
governors buildings, generous medical
allowances for them and their family members
and annual holiday provisions, all of which are
to last for life. Provisions in the pension
allowances are also made for staff, security
and vehicles that are renewable every three or
four years.
Buhari’s inclination towards a review of the
pension for former governors was first publicly
declared few days to the presidential election
at the All Progressives Congress, APC, retreat
in Owerri, Imo State.
It’s scandalous
A source conversant with the development
disclosed that Buhari told the governors that
there was no way Nigeria could survive under
the financial weight of the pensions that had
been earmarked for governors. He was said to
have described the pension laws as enacted
by states controlled by APC and PDP
governors as scandalous.
According to the source, “he was very blunt
about it and said that it was something that
was going to be done immediately, especially
because it is not something that can be
sustained.
“The feeling was that not only was it wrong
and morally unconscionable, but that it was
not something that should be encouraged, and
he was appealing to them that it should be
changed.”
However, the response of the governors, who
were present at the retreat, was not
immediately given.
It’s a welcome proposal —Keyamo
The development was, yesterday, welcomed by
leading Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, who
described it as a fantastic proposal but
disclosed that it was something that could,
however, only be accomplished through moral
suasion.
“Fantastic, fantastic. It is a very welcome
proposal,” the Lagos lawyer, who backed
General Buhari against President Goodluck
Jonathan in last month’s presidential election
said.
He, however, said the proposal was something
that Buhari could only effect through moral
suasion as the pension acts were enacted by
state Houses of Assembly.
The crave for financial safety out of office was
recently also extended to the legislature after
the Lagos State House of Assembly passed
pension laws to guarantee generous pension
entitlements with proposals for former
presiding officers of the house.
States that have passed the law
Many states of the federation had steadily
been passing the law since return to civil rule.
States like Lagos, Edo, Gombe, Oyo, and Rivers
have passed the law, through which several
former governors are already drawing
applicable benefits, which in some cases are
100 per cent of what the incumbent is earning,
while in others, some benefits in the pension
laws are as high as 300 per cent of what
obtains in some states.
100% of basic salary in Lagos
The Lagos State Governor and Deputy
Governor Pensions Law of 2007 provides that
“a former governor and family (spouse and
children both married and unmarried) are
entitled to free medical treatment which is not
capped. Another highlight is that the ex-
governor is entitled to a cook, steward,
gardener and other domestic staff who are
pensionable.
The benefits:
Annual Basic Salary: 100% of annual basic
salaries of the incumbent governor and
deputy.
Accommodation: One residential house in
Lagos and another in FCT for the former
governor; one residential house in Lagos for
the deputy.
Transport: Three cars, two backup cars and
one pilot car for the ex-governor every three
years; two cars, two backup cars and one pilot
car for the deputy governor every three years.
Furniture: 300 per cent of annual basic salary
every two years.
House maintenance: 10 per cent of annual
basic salary.
Domestic staff: Cook, steward, gardener and
other domestic staff (no limit) who shall be
pensionable.
Medical: Free medical treatment for ex-
governor and deputy and members of their
families (not just spouses).
Security: Two DSS operatives, one female
officer, eight policemen (four each for house
and personal security) for the ex-governor;
one SSS operative and two policemen (one
each for house and personal security) for the
deputy. PA: 25% of annual basic salary.
Car maintenance: 30% of annual basic salary.
Entertainment: 10% of annual basic salary.
Utility: 20% of annual basic salary.
Drivers: Pensionable (no limit to number of
drivers).
Severance gratuity: Not specified.
100% of basic salary in Kwara
The law stipulated that qualified former
governors and their deputies be paid pension
for life, without other perks like
accommodation, cars, etc.
The law was reviewed in 2010 by Bukola
Saraki, a former governor of the state and a
serving senator, who with the support of the
state House of Assembly imposed outrageous
raises on all the benefits.
The 2010 law gives a former governor two cars
and a security car, replaceable every three
years. The governor is also entitled to a “well-
furnished 5-bedroom duplex,” furniture
allowance of 300 per cent of his salary (which
totals over N6 million).
The law also gives the governor five personal
staff paid for by the state, eight policemen,
three DSS operatives (of which one must be a
female), free medicals for the governor and the
deputy.
Other entitlements are 30 per cent of salary for
car maintenance, 20 per cent for utility, 10 per
cent for entertainment, 10 per cent for house
maintenance.
100% of basic salary in Rivers
The Rivers pension law was first approved in
2003 by former governor, Peter Odili, having
been passed by a state assembly headed by
the present governor, Chibuike Amaechi as
speaker.
The 2003 pension law provides pension for life
for governors and deputies, defining “pension”
as embodying annual terminal basic salary,
annual transport allowance, annual rent
subsidy, annual utility allowance,
entertainment allowance, domestic staff of not
more than four.
Like Lagos, the new law gives the former
governor a house in Rivers State and anywhere
in Nigeria. The former governor is also entitled
to pension for life at the rate of the governor’s
basic salary, 300 per cent of salary for
furniture paid every four years, three cars every
four years, free medical and 10 per cent for
house maintenance.
The law gives the former governor a security
detail comprising two DSS operatives, four
police officers, 30 per cent for car
maintenance, 10 per cent entertainment, 20
per cent utility and several domestic staff.
100% of basic salary in Edo
The Edo State House of Assembly on May 16,
2007 passed a law entitled ‘Provision for the
Pension of Rights of the Governor and Deputy
Governor of the state.’
This law was passed few weeks before
Governor Lucky Igbinedion left office as
Governor of Edo State.
It provides for 100 per cent pension for the
governor at a rate similar to the salary of the
incumbent office holder and for domestic staff
among others for the former governor.
300% of annual salary in Oyo
The Oyo State Pension Law 2004 provides that
the Governor and Deputy Governor after
leaving office shall be entitled to Pension for
life at a rate equivalent to the annual salary of
the incumbent Governor or Deputy Governor.
Furniture Allowance of 300 per cent of the
annual basic salary, Leave Allowance of 10
per cent of annual basic salary and severance
allowance of 300 per cent of the annual basic
salary.

Nigerians are at the losing end again after
MultiChoice Nigeria, a South African satellite
TV company implemented its 20 percent
subscription hike despite court order stopping it
from taking such action pending the
determination of a suit filed against it by some
lawyers.
DAILY POST recalls that a Federal High Court
sitting in Lagos state had ordered DSTV to
revert to its old subscription fee. The order
followed a suit filed by two lawyers
challenging what they termed an arbitrary
increment in subscription rates imposed by
MultiChoice Nigeria, operators of DStv and
GOtv pay-TV platforms, on their subscribers.
Justice C.J. Aneke, in an interim order asked
MultiChoice to revert to its old subscription
rates pending the determination of the suit on
the legality of its new tariffs.
Just as Nigerians were celebrating the court
order, MultiChoice waved the order aside and
has continued to charge customers based on
its new subscription rate.
DAILY POST’s visit to MultiChoice head office
in Wuse 2, Abuja on Friday revealed the
company’s exploitative tendencies and its
determination not to back down from its
current subscription rates as customers who
raised the issue of the existing court order
were either escorted by team of security men
from the vicinity or harassed by some of its
officials kept at the entrance to monitor
customer’s reaction.
When our reporters approached one of the
staff whose identity we could not ascertain, we
were told that nobody was ready to speak with
us on the said subject. However, due to our
reporters’ insistence, a team of policemen and
SSS led them to have a brief session with a
man who also refused to divulge his identity
to us. While speaking with our reporter, the
male official who is of average height told
DAILY POST that he was not in any way aware
of any court judgment and was not ready to
react to what he had considered mere rumours
being peddled by some unidentified persons.
The following conversation ensued between
our reporters and the DSTV officials:
DAILY POST: We have just gathered that
despite a court order that DSTV should revert
to its old subscription rate, you have
continued to charge customers based on the
new tariff. As one of your customers, I just got
a text message that my bouquet is now
N3600 as against N3000 (makes to switch on
the voice recorder)
DSTV official: You do not need to record as we
have a formal procedure that we follow. You
may need to get a reaction from our
cooperate headquarters in Lagos. That’s the
right channel. However, I will explain to you as
a customer. You can give me your details so I
can forward their contacts to you; then you
can contact them.
DAILY POST: But you can also speak to us.
DSTV official: Like I said, we have a
procedure. I can only talk to you as a
customer, I will send you our cooperate coms
number or I will forward your numbers to them
so they can contact you. Then, you can get all
your answers. We are aware of an injunction,
but we have not received any order with
relation to that. We have been hearing the
rumour on the said order, but nobody has told
us anything yet. So I will get them your
details so you can get other information on
this from them.
DAILY POST: Okay, that’s fine…
DSTV official: Any other thing? You said you
want to make payment
DAILY POST: Yes, I will make payment now
Police: You want to make payment or you
have already made?
DAILY POST: I would like to make payment,
but I have just received a text message that
payment is now 3600 against the 3000 that I
was paying before now. Am I going to be
charged for that now?
DSTV official: (Silent, appears confused)
Woman on black suits presumed to be DSS:
(In obvious doubt) let’s see the SMS.
DAILY POST : Here…( stretches his mobile
phone) You see, I was right.
DSTV official: You are already aware of the
new subscription rate
Woman (DSS): Exactly!
DAILY POST: But I said I just got this text
message, but there is nothing I can do, I’m
already a customer, so I will make payment.
DSTV official: Is your payment altered? Have
you been disconnected? (Still suspicious of
the reporter’s motive)
DAILY POST: Not at all. It’s just because you
people won’t be working on Saturday, so I
need to make payment as my subscription
would be altered on Sunday. (Brings out
money from his pocket and counts) Three
Thousand Six hundred (3,600)
Woman (DSS): (Calling a staff name) Go with
him to counter six let them attend to him. Go
with him…go with him to counter six, let them
attend to him, and give him his receipt.
(Woman follows to counter six and
embarrassingly said: Please attend to this
customer so we can free him from the
environment.
Reporter: Madam (No response) Madam
(referring to the woman)
Woman: Sirdam!
DAILY POST: Are we being harassed?
Woman: Tell us if we are not being harassed.
DAILY POST: You are turning the table round
Woman: You are done now
DAILY POST: Okay…thank you very much…
Also speaking to DAILY POST on Tuesday, a
female senior staff at MultiChoice head office
in Lagos said the company cannot respond
“for now”.
Preferring anonymity, she said: “We cannot
react for now because the case in court.
Anything we say now may be use against us in
court.”
Reminded that the new price regime was
already in effect, she responded: “Sorry I
cannot comment. There is a suit in court and
that is the only place we are allowed to
speak.”
Meanwhile, angry reactions have trailed the
decision by MultiChoice Africa in disregard of
a court order. Many subscribers interviewed by
DAILY POST were enraged by the decision.
They complained that it was unimaginable
that DSTV could go ahead with the move
despite the palpable opposition that the
increment has generated from Nigerians.
Daniel Oleji said that, “it goes to show that
they have no regard for their customers. How
can they not because of the resistance of
Nigerians cut down the increment to like 10
per cent and not the 20 per cent addition they
have now effected.”
Another subscriber, who gave his name as KC
called for the “arrest of those in charge of
DSTV in Nigeria. Don’t you know what
happens when you go against the court? For
me, those guys should be arrested for showing
contempt for our judiciary.”
Muhammed Yusuf on his part lampooned the
government agencies that are supposed to
track and control the excesses of companies,
stressing that, “if they had been checking
DSTV all these while and punishing them for
the various times they have let Nigerians
down in the services they provide, it wouldn’t
have gotten this. But I don’t think it is too
late for government to come hard on them.
Let it use this opportunity to deal decisively
with the organization so that they would think
twice before exploiting Nigerians again.”
When told that such punitive action by the
government can make the company quit
operating in Nigeria thereby denying the
country of the benefits of hosting the
company, Yusuf said, “believe me, DSTV would
on their own never want to leave this country
as it knows what it is gaining. Even if it
leaves, it wouldn’t take long before another
company takes its place. Government just has
to intervene for the sake of Nigerians.”
Ahmadu James says he is no longer
concerned about whatever DSTV does as he
has switched to another service provider,
adding that, “I can assure you that there are
many people like me who have migrated to
other substitutes. Thank God, MultiChoice is
not the only company operating cable
television in this country. I am very sure that
they would have noticed the decrease in the
population of their subscribers lately.”
When accosted, Emeka Obi rather asked, “Tell
me what would make them (MultiChoice) to
increase their subscription fee. Are they in any
way directly affected by the falling value of
Naira? What exactly could have been behind
this their greed when we still see many
shortcomings in their services? Me, I have
abandoned mine since it expired. Even if I
subscribe now, where is the light with which to
watch their programmes? Me I cannot pay
their new price and they had better stopped
sending me SMS reminding me to go and
pay.”
Kunle Osofisan, a businessman residing in
Oniru Estate, Lagos, lamented the decision of
MultiChoice to go ahead with the new rates
despite a court case.
“I’m aware that the court ruled on the case in
the first week of April after they had
implemented the new price regime,” he said.
“But as soon as the Judge ruled, a sensible
company should have reversed and wait till
the determination of the suit.
“Now, they are acting like there is no case on
this matter. People who go to their offices to
subscribe pay the new rate.
“Has our national identity or honour gone so
low that a South African company now call
bluff a ruling by a Nigeria court?, he quipped.
Another subscriber identified as Dora said, ‘’
you see… are we even supposed to be paying
monthly to DSTV. Isn’t that an exploitation on
its own? We have been enduring this. You
could pay for 30 channels and you are only
able to watch maybe five or ten channels. Why
can’t we pay for what we watch? DSTV should
stop exploiting us in our own country. Let
them go to South Africa and do that.
My administration will not witch hunt
anyone – Wike
Meanwhile, DAILY POST was at the Consumer
Protection Council, CPC, in Abuja to confirm
what the Council is doing to stop the alleged
exploitative tendencies of MultiChoice. A
source who pleaded anonymity told our
reporter that a letter is currently being worked
on and that very soon, it will be delivered to
DSTV. He said a copy will be made available
to DAILY POST just to know the position of the
Council. He said, ‘’we are aware of the
development as our customers all over the
country have reacted to the new subscription
regime. We are working on a letter that will
soon be sent to DSTV. Until then, we are not
officially guaranteed to react. We will make a
copy of the letter available to you. After then,
you should know our position.

gas explosion in a wielding workshop in
FESTAC Town, Lagos State on Monday killed a
yet-to-be identified man.
The incident which happened at about 3pm
saw two other persons sustaining varied
degrees of injuries.
It was gathered that Fire fighters from Ojo fire
station on arrival at the scene discovered the
dead body of the yet-to-be identified man on
the floor, while the workshop was deserted.
While confirming the incident, Rasak Fadipe,
the Director of the Lagos State Fire Service,
observed that the deceased should be around
35-years-old, adding that the cause of his
death could be as a result of the heat
generated from the activities in the workshop.
“The incident happened around 3.35pm. They
do welding jobs in the workshop. The heat
generated from the activities might have
caused the explosion.
My administration will not witch hunt
anyone – Wike
“We met a corpse on the ground, which
policemen from the FESTAC division later
came for. Our men from the Ojo fire station
responded with 10,000 litres of water,” Fadipe
disclosed.

54 mins ago
•Wike, allies panic over likely cancellation of
poll •APC decries killing of 19 members,
Fresh facts emerged yesterday in Port
Harcourt, the Rivers State capital,on how
President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Dame
Patience, influenced the April 11 governorship
election for the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP)standard bearer, Nyesom Wike.
The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) announced the poll’s
results at about 4am yesterday. Wike polled
1,029,102 to beat the Dr. Dakuku Adol
Peterside of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), who scored 124,896 votes.
A source revealed that Mrs. Jonathan, an
indigene of Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika
Local Government Area of Rivers State, took
undue advantage of her husband’s position to
undermine the electoral process in Rivers
State.
President Jonathan voted in his Otuoke
country home in Bayelsa State without the
First Lady. He arrived at his polling unit where
he voted at the State Assembly election in the
company of his mother, Eunice.
Mrs. Jonathan has relocated to Okrika in the
evening of April 10 to ensure victory for her
political godson and former education
minister.
According to the source, President Jonathan
was opposed to proposals to manipulate the
process to pave the way for Wike’s victory, a
position the source alleged, never went well
with the First Lady.
An unconfirmed source said the First Lady
was unhappy that the President conceded
defeat after losing the March 28 election to
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the APC without
putting up a fight.
It was learnt that the First Lady decided to
sacrifice her vote in Otuoke for the trip to
Okrika to see Wike to victory.
Dame Jonathan allegedly summoned the
leadership of the Rivers State Police obtained
commitment from the police to support her in
the manipulation of the electoral process in
favour of the PDP.
The officers and men of the Command assured
the First Lady of their support, a source
claimed.
When the Assistant Inspector-General of
Police (AIG), Zone 6, Calabar, Tunde
Ogunsakin, an ex-Rivers Commissioner of
Police, who supervises Rivers, Akwa Ibom,
Cross River and Ebonyi States, arrested a
Divisional Police Officer (DPO) with electoral
materials in Rivers, the First Lady immediately
intervened by calling his husband.
The source disclosed that President Jonathan
quickly got across to the Inspector-General of
Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, and directed him
to order Ogunsakin out of Rivers State. The
AIG returned to his Calabar base at about
5am on April 11.
Efforts to get the First Lady’s reaction proved
abortive as calls made to her Glo line were
unanswered as at press time.
The Rivers PDP governorship candidate and
his allies are also panicking over the likely
cancellation of the polls in the state.
One of Wike’s close associates sent a text
message to a frontline journalist in Port
Harcourt to know if there was a move by the
INEC headquarters in Abuja to cancel the
flawed elections and fix a new date for a
rerun.
The Rivers Chairman of the APC, Chief Davies
Ibiamu Ikanya, also decried the senseless
killing of 19 members of his party on
Saturday. He pushed the polls cancellation.
Ikanya, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, through
his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media
and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka
Eze, described the governorship and House of
Assembly elections and the announcement of
fake results as tragedy.
The Rivers APC chairman said: “What took
place was a macabre dance of intimidation
and violence, perpetrated against the peace-
loving APC members, after which results were
written in favour of Chief Nyesom Wike of the
PDP. It is evident that the announcement of
winners for the polls is a travesty of justice
and a rape of democracy.
“We insist that the purported governorship
and House of Assembly elections be cancelled
in their totality and a new date set for proper
polls, as prescribed by law. We hope that INEC
will enforce the rights of Rivers people to free,
fair and credible elections, by heeding the
clarion call.”
Ikanya also stated that many eligible voters
were disenfranchised, as all hell was let loose
throughout the state.
He accused the state chapter of the PDP of
mobilising militants, who went on rampage,
shooting, bombing and killing, killing no fewer
than 19 APC members.
He noted that the victims were attempting to
prevent the rigging plot of the PDP, in
conjunction with INEC and some policemen,
led by a deputy commissioner of police.
Ikanya said: “Rivers APC declares
unequivocally that the elections were fraught
with violence, unbridled manipulation and
intimidation, while no voting took place in
most parts of Rivers State.
“At Tai Local Government Area, Lekia Nkirine
was shot dead, while Gbaraka Nna was shot
on the neck. A PDP chieftain in the area,
bought the guns, while another PDP chieftain
fired the shot.
(Nkenya listed the suspected killers.)
“In Buguma, Asari-Toru Local Government
Area, seven APC members were killed, with
three killed and thrown into the rivers and one
beheaded. Two buses and INEC office were
burnt, while the house of the Commissioner for
Women Affairs, Joeba West, was bombed.
These exclude tens of buildings and cars that
were destroyed.
“Three persons were killed at Etche Local
Government Area. One was killed in Ikwerre
Local Government Area. Two APC members
were murdered at Egbeda Ward I of Emouha
Local Government Area, while Hon. Chidi
Lloyd, the leader of the Rivers State House of
Assembly, was beaten to a pulp, while
attempting to prevent the rigging of the
elections in his constituency.
“In Obga/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government
Area, there were at least five reported deaths,
namely: Obinna Ndubuoke, Jeophat Kingdom,
Ndidi Ebere, Sydney Wokocha and Hon. Clever
Orukwowu (APC Youth Leader).”
Ikanya stated that among the persons injured
by the blood-thirsty PDP thugs was;
Evangelist Faith, who was beaten to a pulp at
Dere in Andoni Local Government Area, with
her whereabouts remaining unknown and
Alifor Onyeso, who was shot by armed thugs,
led by a lawmaker from Omuma constituency
in the Rivers House of Assembly.
The APC chairman insisted that on April 11, in
most parts of the state, voters were
disenfranchised, intimidated and harassed,
with outright manipulation of the already-
announced results at the various units.
He said: “There was no election in Rivers State
on April 11 and anyone who says otherwise is
an enemy of this state. We had vigorously
campaigned for the redeployment of the
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of
INEC in the state, Mrs. Gesila Khan, because
of her well-known support for the PDP, but
our cries were ignored.
“Now, what we feared has happened – even
worse than we feared. We cannot in all
honesty accept the results announced, either
for the governorship or state’s House of
Assembly elections.”
Ikanya pleaded with INEC Chairman, Prof.
Attahiru Jega, to save Rivers State from doom,
by cancelling the purported elections and
rescheduling them.

Barring last minute changes, the National
Working Committee of the All Progressives
Congress will, on Wednesday, meet in Abuja.
The PUNCH learnt on Monday that the APC’s
NWC would discuss the outcome of the
general elections and the party’s zoning
formula.
The meeting will be followed by that of the
National Executive Committee, which is
expected to ratify decisions reached by the
NWC.
The date of the NEC meeting, it was learnt,
had not been fixed.
It was learnt that the meeting was scheduled
for Wednesday to enable the party members in
Rivers, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Taraba states to
conclude issues relating to Saturday’s
governorship election.
The NWC, investigations showed, would
discuss zoning of postions including the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
the Senate President, deputy Senate
Presidency, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the deputy speaker of the
House.
Investigations showed that the meeting would
also focus on key ministerial appointments,
including the Ministers of Petroleum and the
Federal Capital Territory.
It was learnt that the APC had before the
election tentatively zoned the Senate
Presidency to the South-East, but the party
did not win any senatorial seat in the zone.
A chieftain of the party, who confided in one of
our correspondents, said, “The meeting of the
NWC has been tentatively fixed for
Wednesday. We will review outcomes of the
elections and discuss zoning of offices. Our
recommendations on zoning and other issues
will be submitted to the party’s NEC for
approval.”
When contacted, the National Publicity
Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
confirmed that the party’s NWC was meeting
this week but said he was not sure of the
Wednesday date.
Mohammed said, “Yes, we are holding our
NWC meeting sometime this week. I can’t say
Wednesday but we are meeting this week.”
He also declined to discuss the agenda of the
meeting.
It was, however, gathered that the NWC would
receive a briefing from the Directorate of Legal
Services of its campaign on areas where it
could pursue legal redress and where the party
would be required to prepare a defence.
A leading member of the party, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not
authorised to speak to the media, said the
APC was ready to receive the list of nominees
of the president-elect’s transition committee.
He said, “What I can tell you is that the party
is ready to receive the list from our president-
elect. Consultations are still ongoing but I am
sure, just like the president-elect himself said,
the membership of the team will be trim.
“Technocrats with an understanding of civil
service rules procedures especially as it
relates to financial transactions will play a
prominent role.
“It is true that the president-elect, Maj. Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari, said that our party will
not engage in a witch-hunt as it takes over
the mantle of leadership, we have a moral
burden to let Nigerians know what we are
meeting on ground. This, to my mind, is the
only way we can manage public expectations.”
Buhari had in an interview in Daura on Sunday
told reporters that his team would consist
mainly of experienced, patriotic technocrats.
“This is pure fiction and blackmail. No such
meeting or conversation ever took place.
Whoever wrote the copy obviously has never
heard of being magnanimous in victory. A
charlatan certainly,” the presidential
spokesman said.

Police Disguise in Mufti Like Passenger to Arrest And Extort Commercial Drivers in Lagos
Posted: November 9, 2013 - 16:37
At Moshalashi Bus stop, Alagbado, Lagos State, police woman is used as bait to deceive commercial bus operators. She enters like a passenger at the bus stop and then announces that the bus is under arrest by police. A policeman in uniform waits at the next bus stop, Kollignton bus stop, then takes over and orders all passengers to get down. The bus is then taken to the station for proper extortion.

Festus Iyayi: Death at the peak of struggle
November 13, 2013by Akeem Lasisi
Prof. Festus Iyayi
AKEEM LASISI writes that radical scholar and writer, Prof. Festus Iyayi, who died in a road accident on Tuesday, was a committed promoter of a just social system
Death hit the Nigerian academia and the literati hard on Tuesday as non-conformist scholar and writer, Prof. Festus Iyayi, passed away in a road accident.
The death of the one-time president of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities and winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize occurred about seven months after the country lost another legendary writer, Prof. Chinua Achebe.
While it had also lost some other writers – including Larinde Akinleye and Femi Fatoba – and many other people in road crashes, the violent circumstance of Iyayi’s death may also remind followers of African literature of that of Ghanaian writer Kofi Awonoor-Williams, who was killed in Kenya by terrorists in September this year.
But what many would find instructive is the fact that Iyayi died in the course of prosecuting the battle in which ASUU has engaged the Federal Government, fighting for the revitalisation of the university system, in the past four months. He was on his way to Kano, alongside other members, where they wanted to attend a congress that would take a decision on the possibility of calling off the ASUU strike.
People who believe in the prophetic power of writers may thus find cause to, in retrospection, attach more importance to one of the popular statements from Iyayi’s novel, Heroes — “… those who carry the cross for society always get crucified in the end …”
Yet, the fact that the bus that Iyayi and co. were said to have been hit by a car in the convoy of Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, has compounded the anger and frustration of many Nigerians who are lucky enough to be living – and not dead – witnesses to the recklessness that convoys of many political office holders display.
Reacting to the news of Iyayi’s death, the President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Prof. Remi Raji, says the development is a sad commentary on not just the contradictions in the country’s educational system but also manifestations of political recklessness.
Raji says, “That Prof. Iyayi’s death is linked to the recklessness of the convoy of a governor once again shows the irresponsibility of many political office holders. We have talked about it many times. It is about what I call siren senselessness. You have to clear the way because somebody is going to buy yam for a governor’s wife.”
Meanwhile, while Raji notes that Iyayi’s portrayal of bourgeoisie characters gripped his imagination as a university student, other stakeholders have paid tributes to the deceased. Poet and critic, Odia Ofeimun, says Iyayi was a man “who should not be dead.”
According to Ofeimun, he was a good person who never betrayed the people he stood by.
He adds, “Festus Iyayi saw life as a struggle. He believed that those who struggle must stand by their own. This is part of what defined his relationship with ASUU. Whether he lost his job or jailed for the cause of ASUU, he stood by the union all through. The last time I saw him, it was on the television. That was when the lecturers were demonstrating in Benin. He was with them in his academic gown.”
Ofeimun says Iyayi also remained a committed writer till death. He notes that although social struggle ate deep into his time, he kept writing, to the point that he had works he had not published.
“When it mattered to talk about commitment in literature, Iyayi wrote sensible literature, something sensible to anyone who believes he should not be afraid of his belief,” he explains.
Similarly, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Dr. Chijioke Uwasoba, describes Iyayi as a great man in the field of literature, while US-based scholar and writer, Prof. Okey Ndibe, says Iyayi was one of the most “intrepid social voices” the country has ever produced.
Born in Edo State in 1947, Iyayi’s family is said to have lived on little means but instilled in him strong moral lessons about life. According to a profile, he started his education at Annuciation Catholic College in the old Bendel State popularly known as ACC, finishing in 1966, and later proceeded to Government College Ughelli. He was a zonal winner in a Kenedy Essay Competition organised by the United States Embassy in Nigeria. He left the shores of Nigeria to pursue his higher education, obtaining a M.Sc in Industrial Economics from the Kiev Institute of Economics, in the former USSR and then his Ph.D from the University of Bradford, England. In 1980, he went back to Benin and became a lecturer in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Benin.
A reviewer, Susie deVille, writes that Iyayi’s three novels,Violence,The Contract, andHeroes, as well as his collection of short stories,Awaiting Court Martial, expose the abject penury and disenfranchisement that constitute the social reality of the majority of Nigerians.
“In language that is often vitriolic and stinging, Iyayi’s protagonists potently display his contempt for the rampant corruption that strangles contemporary Nigeria. Business persons, politicians, generals, and other officials hoard the country’s wealth and power at the expense of the working class. This base depravity of the ruling class,” deVille says.
Copyright PUNCH.

The shame called Murtala Muhammed International Airport
November 13, 2013 by Japheth Omojuwa
Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos
How much does a country need to keep its busiest international airport from running like an oven? The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos has to be the hottest airport in the world. It is easily the hottest I have travelled through and I have been through quite a lot of airports. Even the Nairobi airport in Kenya that was engulfed by fire is not as hot as the MMIA. You should not even get started with comparing it with the airport in Cape Town or Johannesburg, South Africa. Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport, Accra may be small but it does not meet you with the repulsiveness the MMIA greets you with. Even the Eyadema airport in Togo has a better atmosphere. The Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal trumps ours by light years. This is speaking of African countries. We dare not try to compare with airports outside Africa. As soon as you descend from the plane to go through the immigration point, the feeling is as though you were being punished for daring to travel to Nigeria – if a foreigner – or you were being punished for daring to leave the country – if a Nigerian. The saddest part of this reality is that money is not the reason why we have an airport that makes us look like we are a people without shame. Or, are we?
There is a chance you are busy during the week. If you find time this Sunday, please pay a visit to the MMIA. Find your way to the Departure Hall. If it does not remind you of the old Oshodi in Lagos, I’d write an apology for everyone who says it doesn’t. Of course, there is a chance they quickly react to this piece to make a few cosmetic changes. If it looks better this Sunday because of this piece, just wait another four weeks; I can bet it will be back to its seamy self. Last Sunday, there were more touts than there were passengers inside the airport. The system is such that even getting your boarding pass to travel is made difficult so an incentive is created for you to engage one of the touts. I was approached to pay N5,000 to get my boarding pass. I wouldn’t pay because I just needed to see if I’d miss my flight despite arriving over three hours earlier. If that had happened, I’d have made sure the airline in question never gets to try it with anyone again. Where else could an anomaly like this happen? If you arrive the airport two hours before your flight, there is a chance you miss your flight not because that is not enough time before your flight but because somehow, someway, bottlenecks have been created to make you need touts to do what you’d do within minutes elsewhere. Nigeria is a nightmare!
If per chance you are wondering why one would dedicate a column to an airport of all the myriad of issues facing Nigeria, please have a rethink. The airport is an essential part of a country’s prestige and perception. Any country with a badly managed airport as ours is likely to be as badly managed as our country. If a country cannot manage its main airport, how can it manage anything else? Travelling through Section D 34 on Sunday and it was as though someone was increasing the heat as we were getting boiled. How much does it cost to make the air-conditioning systems work? What does it cost to make the airport clean enough? Why should we have people in queues for hours just to go through immigration and security checks? Why have more metal detectors if passengers are made to use just one or two on most occasions? Body scanners have been in use since 2007, how much does it cost to have them in our major airports? Why is Nigeria the only country where, to travel, you must have your box opened and ransacked by security men? What is the essence of running these same bags through electronic security? Why in the world can’t we get even the simplest of things right?
The first impression you get about a country upon visiting is its airport. There are people who intentionally run their flight connections through some airports just to make use of their facilities or make purchases. I know people who travel to other parts of the world but make sure to travel through Dubai simply because of the travel experience. I dare not start comparing our airports with Dubai’s because then I’d be comparing two things of different kinds. You will not find a Nigerian who has been outside of this country who is not ashamed of our airports. Of course, this does not include Nigerians who call things that do not exist as though they do; Nigerians who look at the poverty and gross unemployment and proclaim our lives are being transformed. You will not find a Nigerian who has the ability to face the truth who’d not admit shame at looking at our major airports. I was at the Addis Ababa airport last August when a Nigerian started lamenting behind me. She was shocked even Ethiopia could do better than the “giANT” of Africa.Giant ko, dwarf ni. We stay living in a delusion of grandeur that does not exist.
Having said all this, I will never be able to describe the pain and sadness that come with travelling from the MMIA. The only way you won’t feel this sadness is if you’ve gone past caring about this country or you are one of the reasons this country is so messed us as it is. The MMIA was modelled after Amsterdam’s Schipol. Over 40 years later, the MMIA is worse than it looked when the military government of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo remodelled it. Just look at Schipol airport today. If you dare compare both, tears will fill your eyes before you even get started.
Where then do we start? We can start by doing away with the touts inside the lobby. We can start by ensuring the air-conditioning systems work. We can look to make sure passengers are well-treated on arrival and departure. We always look at problems and immediately assume throwing money at them will solve them. I have since realised half the problems with Nigeria have nothing to do with money. Even with all the money in the world, our airports and our country will not work as long as we do not have people who care about excellence. Caring about excellence means knowing that Nigerians deserve the best all the time. When we reserve the rights citizens of other countries take for granted, upgrade such to privileges for our citizens, we will always miss the point of making things work. Nigerians deserve more but as long as we have people – including the President – dancing on national TV because a road contract has been awarded, we’d always have a situation where mediocrity will remain the norm. Would anyone say the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is the mess it is because of money? Nay. It is what it is because we are who we are. We have become a people accustomed to seeing nothing work.
It’d be great to see someone in authority do something about the mess that is the MMIA for starters. It’s a shame to Nigeria. But does Nigeria even understand what shame is? Does anyone really give a damn about the shame?
-Mr. Omojuwa @ gmail.com; twitter: @omojuwa
Copyright PUNCH.
A

Pdp a party without direction

Nigeria a disgraced country

In Israel, Deputy Senate President Recruited To Save Stella Oduah; Nigerian Pilgrims Refuse To Say “Amen” To Pastor Oritsejafor's Prayers For the Minister At River Jordan
Posted: October 27, 2013 - 21:48
By SaharaReporters. New York
The latest effort by President Goodluck Jonathan to save the neck of his embattled Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, hit the rocks last night in Israel.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday, was drafted to broker peace between the Minister and members of the National Assembly who are currently investigating her stunning purchase of two BMW armored cars, a scam that was first exposed by SaharaReporters.
Ekweremadu called a meeting of two Nigerian lawmakers in the country, a Senator and a Member of the House of Representatives, to meet with the minister. The meeting was attended by Ekweremadu, Stella Oduah, Rep. Jagaba Adams of Kaduna Kachiya/Kagarko federal constituency, and Senator Philip Aduda, who represents Abuja. Also in attendance was Kola Adesina of Sahara Oil and Gas, a company now seen to be a front for President Jonathan.
However as the Minister declared her intention to “resolve” all differences by bribing both houses, Senator Aduda told her directly that it would be in her interest to return to Nigeria on Monday and appear before the House on Tuesday. The Senator said while the Senate could be pacified by bribing the committee on Aviation led by Senator Hope Uzordimma, the House seemed hell-bent on getting to the bottom of the matter.
Following the advice of Adua, Rep. Jagaba told the Minister “Let’s “get to Abuja first,” suggesting that his ability to intervene on Mrs. Oduah’s behalf depended on her returning home first.
Mrs. Oduah reportedly broke down at the meeting, pleading with Ekweremadu to use his wider contacts to save her.
The meeting ended without any specific resolution on how to help the Minister.
Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued at the River Jordan when the Nigerian delegation in Israel led by President Jonathan went there yesterday to offer prayers, led by the notoriously partisan President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ayo Oritsejafor.
After praying for President Jonathan and several dignitaries at the venue, Mr. Oritsejafor then specifically prayed for Mrs. Oduah, but to his surprise several people in the gathering refused to say “Amen” to his prayer, stunning the CAN president and Mr. Jonathan. Several people then exchanged glances and moved on.
If President Jonathan thought the controversy about the BMW car scam would quickly away, he is mistaken, as calls for the prosecution of the Minister grew louder over the weekend as it emerged that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the agency arm-twisted to purchase the cars, cannot physically locate them.
Also today, the Abuja–based online news platform, PREMIUM TIMES, reported that the office of the National Security Adviser has said that neither the Minister nor the NCAA applied for, or received the mandatory “end user certificate” for the cars. Similarly, several sources at the Federal Road Safety Corps have told SaharaReporters that the agency never presented the cars for licensing.

G7 govs, others chased out of nPDP meetingon October 28, 2013 at 1:33 am in Headlines
*As Police invade Sokoto Gov’s lodge venue of meeting
* Lamido, Amaechi, Nyako, Kwankwaso, Aliero, Baraje, Oyinlola, Adamu, Shettima others present
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA— CRISIS rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP took another turn yesterday, as the Police stormed the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja where the Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led new PDP, including opposition governors were holding a meeting and chased them out. A few hours before the group assembled at the Sokoto Governor’s lodge, it had cried out that the government had started a clampdown on the businesses of its members as well threatening their lives.
Having been prevented from holding their meeting at the Sokoto Governor’s lodge, members of the group reassembled at the Kano State Governor’s lodge where the meeting eventually held.
The meeting was first of its kind since the Federal High Court upheld the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee as the authentic one as well as the endorsement from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Present at yesterday’s meeting were governors Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto State; Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano; Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, just as governors Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara and Aliyu Babangida of Niger were absent.
Also at the meeting were former governor of Kebbi State and ex- FCT minister during late President Umaru Yar’adua’s administration, Senator Adamu Aliero; former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki; former governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje; former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu; chairman of the group, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje; the group’s Deputy Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; PDP National Vice Chairman, North West, Ibrahim Kazaure; Alhaji Kassim Shettima, among others.
There was neither a press briefing nor statement at the end of the meeting, just as the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze promised that a communique will be issued today.
A source disclosed to Vanguard that the group discussed the Abuja High Court judgement, INEC recognition of Tukur-led PDP, and clampdown on members’ property in Abuja by the government through the Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed. They were also said to have discussed how to receive new governors who plan to join the group.
*nPDP Govs
We are endangered — G7 Govs, Baraje
Meanwhile, the new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP members had earlier cried out that its members have become endangered species with series of clampdowns on them, their offices and businesses.
The Presidency was also alleged to have concluded arrangements to go after all senators and members of the House of Representatives who are members of the group with the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC under an operation code-named, “Operation Coerce Them Back to Tukur”.
Also as part of clampdown on the members, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar was said to have ordered the immediate withdrawal of security aides attached to former governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central).
A statement signed by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka said: “It has become necessary for us to cry out in view of the war declared on the New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP) and its members by certain agents and henchmen of the Goodluck Jonathan administration who have embarked on a mission to intimidate and overawe us, using various unconstitutional means to achieve their selfish goals.”
Giving a chronicle of experiences of members of the Baraje-led PDP, Eze said: “The past few weeks in particular have witnessed the implementation of a well coordinated and systematic plot to traumatise, annihilate and cripple us economically and politically in flagrant disregard of Chapter IV Section 33 to 45 of the Nigerian Constitution that guarantees our fundamental human rights as Nigerians. A few examples of the excesses of these agents of confusion and enemies of democracy would suffice:
“Contrary to provisions of Chapter IV Sections 42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution which guarantee our right as Nigerians to acquire and own property in any part of the country, our National Secretariat and most of our State Secretariats have been sealed up by the Police on the orders of those in power. This is despite the fact that we still have a court case against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and his National Working Committee (NWC).
“Two weeks ago, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in its over zealousness to please President Jonathan marked and sealed our National Secretariat for demolition on the laughable excuse that it was originally approved as a residential building. Yet this property was being used as the National Secretariat of another political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP), before New PDP acquired it – and the same FCTA kept mute! At that time, the FCTA did not realise that it violated land use but it now wants to demolish the building in a hurry simply because the authorities perceive the new owner (New PDP) to be anti-government! What is more, the Adamawa State Lodge, also in Abuja, which we were using as temporary National Secretariat, has also been sealed off on the flimsy excuse that the area is not for commercial activities!
“This invidious crackdown has been extended to individual leaders of the New PDP. The legally acquired Abuja property of His Excellency, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Governor of Kano State, has been revoked by the tyrannical Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed. The same treatment has been meted to Senator Aisha Al-Hassan from Taraba State, whose event centre, A-Park Gardens, which has been in operation all these years, has suddenly been revoked by the FCTA and slated to be demolished at any time from now. Information available to us indicates that property in Abuja owned by other New PDP leaders may suffer the same fate.
“Today, the security details attached to Senators Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Danjuma Goje, former Governors of Kwara and Gombe states respectively, have been withdrawn; so, too, the security details attached to our National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje. Of course, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State was the first victim and now operates without an ADC and a CSO in order to pave way for his kidnapping or assassination if peaceful ways of removing him from office fail. The police orderlies of the Rivers State SSG and those of Amaechi’s Chief of Staff have also been similarly withdrawn without any cogent reasons.
“The use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hound our members is no longer news. His Excellency Timipre Sylva, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, and Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki are two foremost examples. We understand that the worst is yet to come as this unserious organ masquerading as an anti-graft agency would soon be unleashed on all our key members in both the Senate and House of Representatives in an operation code-named “Operation Coerce Them Back to Tukur”.
Meantime, competent police source confirmed that the security details of former governors of Kwara and Gombe states, Senator Bukola Saraki and Danjuma Goje were withdrawn four weeks ago on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police. The source however did not give reason for the action.

Defection: Rebel PDP governors meet today
October 27, 2013by Olusola Fabiyi
Seven aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party will meet in Abuja on Sunday night (today) to strategise on how to face the challenges before them.
The meeting, which is holding at the Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge, is expected to be attended by all the seven governors, who claim to be disenchanted with the running of the party at the national level
PDP governors expected at the meeting are Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara) Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano).
A very reliable source in the faction said senators, stakeholders, some members of the National Working Committee of the faction were also expected at the Sunday meeting.
Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja, on Saturday, showed that the agenda for the meeting, which is expected to begin around 8pm, include the refusal by the Independent National Electoral Commission to grant the splinter group recognition the verdict of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which declined the request of the faction for recognition and the planned defection of the governors.
In addition to the the governors, others in the faction are former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and some former governors like Bukola Saraki (Kwara), Shaba Lagiagi (Kwara) and Abdulahi Adamu (Nasarawa).
A former Acting National Chairman of the party, Mr. Kawu Baraje and National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, are both chairman and national secretary of the faction respectively.
It was also learnt that at today’s meeting, the faction would marshal its points on issues to be tabled before President Goodluck Jonathan and other leaders of the party.
A peace meeting with the President, which was postponed due to the just concluded Hajji, was aimed at resolving the differences between the governors and the leadership of the party.
Before the postponement of the meeting, President Jonathan, his deputy, Namadi Sambo and the Chairman of the Board of a Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, and few governors from the ruling party, had met with the aggrieved governors on how to smoothen the relationship between the aggrieved governors and the party.
Our correspondent learnt that the next date for the meeting would be known as soon as the President returned from his pilgrimage to Israel.
A very reliable source among the rebel governors, added that the meeting would also decide on the way forward for the New PDP members.
He said, “We would meet on Sunday. We are calling the meeting, which we have named ‘caucus meeting,’ it will comprise governors, senators, former governors, stakeholders, few of our NWC members and very senior members of the party.
“It is a strategic meeting aimed at redefining the struggle and see whether to sustain it or not. The meeting will also see if there are possibilities for us moving to another party if all peace moves fail.”
When asked, the spokesperson for the New PDP, Chukwuemeka Eze neither confirmed nor denied the meeting. He merely said, “Just wait and see.”
It was gathered majority of the aggrieved governors were pushing for their defect to the All Progressives Congress, while few of them favoured the formation of new political party.
But the majority of the governors were said to have argued that it was too late to form a new party.
“So, we said it would be better to stay with the APC instead of forming a new party now. It is too late.” the source said.

Kuku blasts Tinubu over comments on amnesty programme
October 17, 2013by Ade Adesomoju
14 Comments
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku
Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, has faulted the claim by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, that the programme is constituting a drainpipe to the nation’s treasury.
Kuku said in a statement by PAP’s Head, Media and Communications, Daniel Alabrah, on Wednesday that Tinubu’s claim was not true, adding that the programme had helped to stabilise the country’s security and economy.
He said Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was fond of politicising every policy of President Goodluck Jonathan including the amnesty programme.
The statement quoted Kuku as saying that, “It is regrettable that as a former governor of a state like Lagos, his stock-in-trade is not only to politicise every policy or programme of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration but also vilely tries to achieve political capital through such less than salutary criticisms.”
Kuku challenged the APC leader to show proof of his allegations against the amnesty programme.
The statement also read, “As a security stabilisation programme for the hitherto restive Niger Delta, the amnesty programme has achieved its objective ,through well thought-out vocational training and formal education schemes for the former agitators in the region.”
Tinubu had on Monday described the programme as a drainpipe, adding that right from its inception, it had been corrupted and hijacked by the President’s clique.
The former governor had said, “The amnesty conceived from inception has been corrupted and hijacked by the President’s clique. It is one of Nigeria’s drainpipes. A slush fund for political expeditions and a conduit to siphon money to the boys.”
However, Kuku in the statement argued that, “Is it a programme that has trained no fewer than 16,000 Niger Delta youths in three years that is a drain pipe?
“Is it a scheme through which commercial pilots have been produced for Nigeria that is a drain pipe? What about the delegates currently undergoing jet/type-rating training at the Lufthansa Pilot Institute in Germany?
“Is it a programme that is producing aviation professionals, aeronautical engineers, marine/maritime technicians and technologists that is a conduit?”
He recalled that prior to the commencement of the amnesty programme four years ago, violent agitations by Niger Delta youths had crippled economic and social activities in the region, which is the nation’s economic mainstay.
He said, “At the peak of the crisis in 2009, Nigeria’s crude production fell from 2.2million barrels per day to as low as 700,000 barrels per day.
“Today, following the proclamation and implementation of the amnesty programme, crude production hovers between 2.4 million and 2.6 million barrels per day.”
Kuku said with the proclamation of the amnesty programme, all the ex-agitators had since been “fully disarmed, demobilised and are either currently in training or have since been trained.”
He said the step by the Federal Government was aimed at adding to national Gross Domestic Product and improving the families of Nigerians.”
“A total number of 30,000 persons are enlisted in the Amnesty Programme. Of this number, over 16,000 have been deployed to universities as well as vocational training centres within the country and abroad for various skills acquisition programmes and formal education,” he said.

Man in court for stealing 20 pairs of shoeson October 17, 2013 at 2:00 pm in News
Lagos – A 25-year-old labourer, Musa Haruna, on Thursday appeared before an Oshodi Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, charged with stealing of 20 pairs of shoes.
Haruna, of no fixed address is facing a two-count charge of burglary and stealing.
The prosecutor, Cpl. Kehinde Olatunde, said that the accused on Oct. 14 at about 2:00 a.m. burgled shop F-12 at Arena shopping plaza, Bolade, Oshodi, Lagos, and stole 20 pairs of shoes belonging to one Mrs Joy Ike.
“He came with sophisticated tools to break the burglary gate, padlocks and doors.
“The security guard attached to the plaza saw the accused going out of the plaza with a bag on his head.
“He checked the content of the bag and discovered that the accused had packed shoes into a ‘Ghana must go’ sack and was ready to escape,’’ Olatunde said.
The prosecutor said that when the accused was questioned, he claimed to be an orphan and needed money to feed.
Olatunde said that the offences contravened Sections 285 and 309 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Section 309 stipulates seven years imprisonment for offender, while Section 285 prescribes three years jail term for stealing.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Magistrate, Mr Akeem Fashola, granted the accused N100, 000 as bail with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case till Oct. 31 for mention. (NAN)

More to follow

Allahu akbar

Oritsejafor, Martins, Okotie commiserate with Ondo State governmenton October 05, 2013 at 1:48 am in News
By SAM EYOBOKA, ISHOLA BALOGUN & CALEB AYANSINA, Abuja
COMING barely 16 months after the crash of a Dana Airline in which about 150 passengers died, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos and founder of Household of God Church yesterday, said the news of the death of 13 persons aboard the ill-fated Associated Airline, “portends a bad omen for the aviation sector in Nigeria.”
President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Most Rev. Adewale Martins and Rev. Chris Okotie, in separate messages, said it is of a great importance for the Federal Government to take a practical step to address all forms of shortcomings militating against the sector.
President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Chairman, CAN, Ondo State Chapter, Bishop Emmanuel Igbokoyi and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Kola Ademujimi, during the inspection of Ondo state projects by the members of the National Executive Council of CAN after their National Conference, in Akure, on Tuesday
Pastor Oritsejafor said: “Again, CAN restates that the frequent air crashes in the Nigerian aviation sector is the result of the Nigerian factor which receives strident denunciation in policies, passionate homilies of the clergy and tirades of well-meaning Nigerians, yet nothing works. It shows that take-off and landing remain the most dangerous aspects of flying in Nigeria’s aviation industry.
“We call on the Federal Government to come up with practical measures that would reduce the margin of errors in traffic air signals, mechanical faults and bad weather.
“It should also undertake periodic investigations of the financial base and repair history of the Airlines operating in Nigeria in order to ensure that they do not adopt short-cut policies that would endanger air travelers,” the CAN president said.
Oritsejafor, however, sympathized with the families of victims of the ill-fated aircraft, the government and people of Ondo State, adding, “CAN offered its deepest condolences to the families of victims of the ill-fated aircraft, the government and people of Ondo State and prays that God, in His infinite mercy, should give them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Our thoughts go to the bereaved Agagu family as we continue prayers for protection of those the late former governor Olusegun Agagu left behind.
The Catholic Archbishop, His Grace Martins, in a statement signed by the Director of Social Communication, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, prayed God to give Agagu and the 13 other families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
He described the plane crash as most unfortunate, especially coming at a period when the country was yet to recover from the shock of the several loss of lives recorded in multiple attacks spearheaded by members of the Boko Haram sect at the eve of the nation’s 53rd independence anniversary.
Martins urged all well meaning Nigerians to intensify their prayers to avert more bloodshed in the country, even as he called on the Minister of Aviation, Stella Odua, to speed up efforts towards making air travelling in the country safer and in conformity with acceptable international standard.
In his message, Okotie said he was horrified at the scale of the tragedy; “What a tragedy! My heart goes out to his family at this sad moment and I pray that God comforts the survivors of the victims over this unfortunate incident. The death of the late Governor was painful enough; what a great irony that mourners accompanying his body would also lose their lives in this way. I pray for the repose of these souls, Amen”, the pastor added.
Also, the UPP said it was deeply shocked and dumb founded over the crash of Associated Airlines plane conveying the remains of Dr. Agagu in Lagos Thursady.
‘’We are pained and saddened over the double-tragedy and commiserate with the families of those who lost their loved ones. We also pray for speedy recovery of those injured in the crash.
‘’We are worried about frequent air crashes in the country and urge the Federal Government to take necessary action to avoid a repeat of this fatal crash. May God Almighty comfort and strengthen the families that lost their loved ones as we collectively build a decent society,’’ the National Publicity Secretary of UPP, Chief Ogbuehi Dike said yesterday.

Amaechi should just do something about it

The man is a political thug

[img]http://www.nairaland.com/attachments/1337767_nans-620x330_jpgdd4961c132a2a5e2cdc736fc58f3a037[/img]

•Students urge govt to honour agreement with ASUU

Nigeria’s 53rd Independence Anniversary celebration was disrupted yesterday in some parts of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone D (Southwest), who barricaded major roads and halted activities for over three hours.

The students were protesting the underfunding of universities and the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Over 1,000 students gathered at Agbowo around 9:30am, walking through Mokola Roundabout, Total Garden, Agodi-Gate to Iwo road Roundabout.

They sang anti-government songs, accusing the Federal Government of insensitivity and demanded adequate funding for the education sector.

The protest was supervised by divisional police officers from divisions in Ibadan, who were in Hilux vans, to prevent hoodlums from hijacking it.

NANS Southwest Coordinator Monsuru Adeyemo (a.k.a Socrates) said there was urgent need to save the education sector from total collapse.

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Adeyemo said: “Despite Nigeria’s stupendous wealth, public education, from the primary to tertiary level, is bedevilled by lack of adequate facilities for teaching, learning and research. Hostel facilities in the few schools where they still exist are dilapidated and insufficient. That is why over 10 million children are out of school in Nigeria.

“Only this year, about 1.7 million candidates sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and due to the available space in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, less than 29 per cent of the candidates will be admitted, thus leaving out over 1.2 million.

“We had to actively join the struggle to force the government to implement the agreements with unions, so that tertiary institutions can be re-opened. If this agreement is fully implemented, it will mean better funding for education and a great relief to overburdened students.

“We want the Federal Government to honour the agreements signed with staff unions; proper funding of compulsory, free and quality education from primary to the tertiary level; reinstatement of all politically-victimised student leaders; rejection of any form of harassment, intimidation or humiliation of Nigerian students by the government, school management and staff; outright rejection of the Suswan Committee; no to police attacks and killing of students; proper payment of SIWESS allowances to all universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education, vocational and technical studies.”

http://whatsupibadan.com/2013/10/02/nans-protest-disrupts-independence-celebration-in-ibadan/

Was There A Coup On 17th January? By Seyi Olu Awofeso
Posted: September 28, 2013 - 14:17
Columnist: Guest Columnist
Someone in Nigeria’s Army Officers’ Corp dissembled innocence and went away with a page of history. And now, with the truth of evidence which history means lost, sheer cant fills the gap.
Publicly, no Nigerian Army Officer is known to have walked back or sought to un-cover what actually happened. In effect, Nigerians have but garden-variety gossip to make do with as scrap knowledge.
The still mystifying event happened early in the morning of the first working day – Monday the 17th of January, 1966, as Nigerians reeled from the shocks of sub-machine guns fired by mutinous soldiers in Lagos, Ibadan and Kaduna - beginning 2.00am, two days earlier.
Exact casualties from those shootings were yet unclear, but Nigeria was loosed adrift by the hatreds the scrappy details of the killings stoked, and, the badly shaken country risked floundering on ethnic shoals.
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, at the time Nigeria’s President, had in late 1965 left for the Caribbean, announced, but for medical check-up (which turned out to include a cruise) along with his physician, Dr. Humphrey Idemudia Idehen.
Dr. Azikiwe strangely did not come back in December, 1965, as scheduled, and gave no reasons.
When he eventually returned, much later in February 1966, he was received as a private citizen, because his post as Nigeria’s President had been abolished in his absence.
His inexplicable and un-explained failure to return home as host of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Africa, holding in Lagos, Nigeria, beginning January 10th 1966, heightened suspicion that he knew more than he was letting on regarding the soldiers’ revolutionary mutiny of 15th January, 1966.
By early morning Sunday, January 16th 1966 - with President Azikiwe still away on his Caribbean cruise, and, with the country’s Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa declared missing – Nigeria became vulnerable.
Amid the gathering clouds, a certain 35-year-old bandy-legged and sometimes chatty but cuttingly frank Nigerian graduate military officer volunteered to put himself at the centre of what would become the missing page in Nigeria’s history.
He obliged fate – but a cruel one which would see him interned in six prison cells - detained on land and sea - a terrible fate that would later render his wife, Taiwo Joyce, an exiled widow in Sierra Leone.
Paradoxically, the fate’s first course was as tempting as dire, but the choice was ultimately his.
For on that bloody Saturday, 15th January, 1966, he could well have opted to join either side of a divided army amid the on-going mutiny, but chose to squelch Major Ifeajuna-led rebellion in Lagos. He would later share the same deathly fate with Major Ifeajuna in a worst irony of history.
But before that, and as the mutiny gathered under the darkness of Lagos - where he was quartered as Director of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering of the Nigerian Army – the 35 year old bandy-legged military officer chose to set his face against the rebels and squelch their mutiny.
By that same night, Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu hadn’t announced the coup. He later did so at mid-day on Radio Kaduna. But under the darkness of the night of January 15th military operations, Major Nzeogwu’s triage was to liquidate the Premier of Northern Nigeria; disarm the Commanding Officer -Major Hassan Katsina - and prevent counter-attacks from southern Nigeria through Jebba and Makurdi bridges where he reportedly deployed army units.
Back in Lagos, the bow-legged officer, who was obliging fate, readied to counter the Lagos end of Major Nzeogwu’s coup, but it was bound to be a dicey military operation, because the actual master-mind of the coup, Major Ifeajuna, was the one executing the Lagos’ revolutionary coup; at first from his Apapa quarter - from where he’d infiltrated both the 2nd Brigade Headquarters and the Federal Guards garrison in Lagos.
He was operationally backed by a phalanx of military officers; including Major Ademoyega, Major Anuforo, Major Okafor (detailed to arrest Major General Ironsi)and, Major Chukwuka.
But having resolved to defeat Major Nzeogwu’s revolution in Lagos, the bow-legged officer of fate knew he’d have to put aside his early years’ training as a 1950s sermonizing college teacher in Ilaro and instead brace for his army hat as a 1954 Royal Military Academy Sandhurst graduate, since coup is bloody business, and the phalanx of opposing officers was as tough as rawhide.
At once, he summoned a junior officer to work with him at military communications, to undermine Major Nzeogwu’s revolution then spreading bloodily in Lagos. The officer he summoned that dangerous night was Major Anwuna – who would later play the role of seeing off the bandy-legged officer on a journey to eventual death 48 hours later.
Meantime and as the night darkened, and as shots rang around Lagos Island, the bow-legged officer of fate must have known there were no easy options; with Major Ifeajuna having taken control of the 2nd Brigade headquarters in Lagos from where he issued ammunitions to his foot soldiers, and his having also secured the Federal Guards Mess - where he was to rendezvous with other military officers after completing targeted killings of Nigeria’s topmost military officers, as well as Nigeria’s Prime Minister and Finance Minister.
So, the bandy-legged officer of fate firstly sought out and linked up with the Supreme Commander of the Army - Major-General Ironsi - who by then was patrolling Lagos in the night and securing all army units and the Police Headquarters.
Under Major General Ironsi’s command and control, some order was finely established on Lagos military barracks, backed by Lt. Colonel Jack Gowon, who resumed duty two days earlier as Lagos garrison Commander, on 14th January, 1966.
That done, and still in the confusion of that night, the bow-legged officer of fate contacted the Commanding Officer in Kaduna - Major Hassan Katsina – but he got no assurance of a planned counter there, perhaps because Major Nzeogwu was in control and reportedly set to dispatch military units to secure or blow up both Jebba and Makurdi bridges.
But back in Lagos, with the Lagos garrison Commander, Lt. Colonel Jack Gowon on side, and with the Army’s Supreme Commander Major-General Ironsi in control of Lagos army barracks and the Police Headquarters, the revolutionary soldiers in Lagos knew the game was up.
Major Ademoyega and Major Ifeajuna – the two leading lights of the Lagos revolution - did a quick military appreciation and sped out of Lagos, leaving behind several dead bodies of Nigeria’s topmost politicians and military officers.
With the Lagos mutiny later suppressed at dawn, but with the revolution almost wholly successful in the Northern region under Major Nzeogwu, Nigeria virtually split into two countries under different army command.
Over against that spectre of a divided country, Major-General Ironsi rushed to summon all army officers in Lagos for an emergency meeting next day, Sunday, January 16th, 1966.
“I was the first to speak,” said Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo, the bandy-legged officer whom fate teased unto death. “I rose and urged Major-General Ironsi to take over control of Nigeria and set up a National Military Government,” he further said, but did not say if his suggestion was countered by any military officer present at the Sunday emergency meeting or by Major General Ironsi himself.
At the time Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo was exhorting General Ironsi to launch a formal coup d’état, the Cabinet Ministers in Nigeria’s ruling coalition of Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and the eastern-based National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons / National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) were holding meetings to preserve civil rule.
The crux was to appoint an interim Prime Minister, since Prime Minister’s Tafawa Balewa’s whereabouts were at the time unknown to Cabinet Ministers. But despite caucusing throughout the day, a certain dishonesty crept in.
NCNC Ministers meeting secretly at Dr. Nwafor Orizu’s residence, penciled Mr. K.O Mbadiwe (NCNC member) as the interim Prime Minister, despite that NCNC was the coalition’s junior partner with far fewer seats in the federal Parliament.
They coaxed Nigeria’s Acting President, Nwafor Orizu, also a member of NCNC – who had the constitutional right to accept or refuse a nominee as Prime Minister - to finesse the interim appointment for K.O Mbadiwe. The NPC Ministers, meantime, were themselves meeting separately and were agreed on a Kanuri man, Alhaji Dipcharima, as Acting Prime Minister.
But in the end, there was sheer impasse, as neither political party in the coalition agreed a common choice.
And so, no acting Prime Minister was ever sworn in - thus making it possible for the U.K government in London to reject Nigeria’s rump Cabinet’s oral invitation to fly in British soldiers and smother Major Nzeogwu’s revolution still flaming by then in both the northern and western regions of Nigeria.
That Ministerial impasse eased the way for General Ironsi, who had apparently taken Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo’s advice, but without saying so, when he summoned all Ministers in the NPC and NCNC coalition to the Cabinet Office for an evening meeting on even date; Sunday, January, 16th, 1966.
At that evening meeting, Nigeria’s Cabinet Ministers were sitting ducks. Without having agreed an acting Prime Minister beforehand they had no constitutional aces to play. They could not plausibly claim that that a constitutional order was in place.
So it was left to Alhaji Abdulrazak, the NPC Minister, reputed as the first lawyer in northern Nigeria, to oblige General Ironsi’s demand for army rule as the next best option, to take a piece of paper on which he wrote assigning the government of the federal republic of Nigeria to the Nigerian Army.
Alhaji Abdulrazak then handed over that political conveyance, as written, to Major General Ironsi. There wasn’t much else to discuss after that. The meeting ended on that note as the federal Cabinet self-dissolved.
Previous Acting President Nwafor Orizu left the meeting and headed for the radio station to broadcast the federal cabinet’s deed to all Nigerians. His task was finished.
But up until that Sunday evening when Major General Ironsi received governmental power as Nigeria’s new head of state, simply for the asking, Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo was en route to becoming a military hero for having stood behind the army’s chain of command.
Helas, he wasn’t to be garlanded for it, rather, by the next day, Monday, 17th January, 1966, Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo was on the way to prison, never to return to Lagos alive.
In a passionate letter he wrote to Major General Ironsi six months afterwards, as a detainee in the Federal Prisons at Ikot Ekpene, Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo recounted the Monday, January 17th incident as follows: “On the morning of Monday 17th January 1966 I was arrested by Lt. Colonel G. T. Kurubo and Major P. A. Anwuna in the anteroom of the Inspector General of Police’ Office for no ostensible reason while I was waiting to see you.”
The irony self-revealed at that point, for it was the same Major Anwuna - an Igbo army Officer, whom Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo had summoned in the night to assist him work at military communications to suppress Major Nzeogwu’s coup two days earlier.
But the richer irony of being handcuffed 48 hours later by a presumed ally aside, Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo’s letter casts doubt on the apocryphal story the stalwarts of General Ironsi spun, by saying Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo had a service pistol on him at the time he was arrested.
But if having a service pistol was Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo’s offence, he could have been charged under service regulations for any offence forbidding bearing a service pistol by a senior officer at all places. But he wasn’t. He was just bundled, beaten up by junior officers and other rank soldiers, before being dumped - first in a ward at the Federal Guards Mess and later on, at a detention cell on a ship at a naval base, with no questions asked, no investigation done and no offence charged.
The apocryphal story had said that both Lt. Colonel Kurubo and Major Anwuna who arrested Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo, saw Lt.Colonel Banjo openly wear his service pistol, but if that were true, only a concealed weapon would be consistent with treason, not an openly displayed service pistol.
Besides, Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo came into General Ironsi’s ante-room alone. His military escort of five (5) soldiers was left behind in the land-rover that brought him at the parking lot, along with the driver, altogether making six soldiers.
Whereas, according to Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo, after his arrest, “to move me, alone and unarmed from Federal Guards, Ikoyi to 2nd Battalion in Ikeja took 3 land Rovers, one heavy Anti-Tank Gun, three medium machine guns, 25 rifles, 3 sub – machine guns, all loaded; one captain, one lieutenant and 30 soldiers. I must have been really dangerous, unarmed as I was!”
So, was there a coup on Monday, January 17th, 1966, in Nigeria – with just five soldiers in the parking lot, and with Lt. Colonel Victor Banjo denying bearing his service pistol, which even if he had - according to General Ironsi’s spin doctors – he’d openly displayed it at the Police Headquarters for Lt. Colonel Kurubo and Major Anwuna and all else to see?
... Seyi Olu Awofeso is a Legal Practitioner in Abuja