₦airaland Forum

Osaze faces sanction
Sports Apr 4, 2011
By Onoche Anibeze

Amodu Shuaibu, in the estimation of Osaze Odewengie, was a good coach until he benched him a few times during the Angola Nations Cup in 2010.

Thereafter, Amodu’s style was dubbed obsolete by the same Osaze. The West Brom striker publicly campaigned for the engagement of a foreign coach especially when he was absolutely sure the authorities had opted to sign one in spite of the short time to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Lars Lagerback was signed. After few training sessions under the Swede Osaze almost idolized the man, saying that “now we have a good coach.”

His remarks on the style of the man painted the Swede as first class coach.

The World Cup started and Argentina pipped Nigeria by a lone goal. By the time Nigeria had fumbled against Greece and Korea and Osaze also found himself on the bench, the Swede, in the estimation of Osaze, had turned a bush man from a civilized country. Osaze publicly, too, ate his words on Amodu and regretted that Nigeria ever signed Largaback. He said that Amodu should have been left to continue.


Osaze with team mates celebrating a goal in one of their matches under Coach Samson Siasia.
All the players who were invited for the Ethiopia qualifier were also invited for the friendly against Kenya.

But after the March 27 match Osaze returned to England the following day. Nigeria Football Federation officials Tuesday night complained that Osaze did not inform anybody before leaving. They were considering sanctions against him.

“We have told Samson Siasia to take any disciplinary decision that he may deem fit,” a top Federation member said Thursday, adding “if Osaze is not disciplined, it may send wrong signals and other players may toe his line. He just ignored the federation and the coaches. This is wrong and an act of indiscipline.”

By Friday, what Osaze said on his twitter page was already in the media. He had attacked Siasia, found faults in his coaching style and claimed that senior members of the team were not comfortable with Siasia’s coaching style.

“His training methods, his unguarded outbursts, attitude and treatment of older players is causing disaffection,” Osaze was reported to have said. He came in as a substitute against Ethiopia.

Contacted on this Siasia preferred to focus on his job and not to respond to his players tantrums.

“I have got serious things to do. My focus now is how to play Argentina June 1 and win the next Nations Cup qualifier in Ethiopia. We should win that match,” he said.

We gathered from the Federation last night that Osaze may be suspended from the team or quietly be left out of matches lest he causes disaffection in the team.

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Ben 1 day ago

this post appears to be senseless and has nothing to do with the subject - why is this on the front page ?

iya mi - d'banj

Pastor jailed for handling boy
By Matthew Holehouse, PA
Thursday, 31 March 2011SHARE PRINTEMAILTEXT SIZE NORMALLARGEEXTRA LARGE
An evangelical pastor who fondled a teenage boy while he slept and touched a young preacher while sharing a hotel bed has been jailed for eight months.

Dr Albert Odulele, 47, admitted indecently assaulting the boy and sexually assaulting the man during a hearing at Bexley Magistrates' Court on March 3.

Today at Woolwich Crown Court, in London, he was jailed for eight months and six months respectively, to run concurrently, and put on the sex offenders' register for five years.

The court heard how Odulele, founder of the Glory House International Pentecostal church, would frequently share hotel beds while travelling the world with a large entourage of security and pastors.

In around 2003, he was watching television with a boy over whom he had "assumed paternal influence".

When the boy fell asleep he put his hand in his underwear and fondled him. The boy said he did not know what to do and was too scared to move.

Odulele's wife was pregnant with their daughter at the time.

The boy was left "traumatised" and lost interest in academic work, before telling his mother about the abuse.

When confronted by the boy's mother in spring last year, Odulele fell to his knees, crying and apologising, prosecutor Tom Nicholson told the court.

In 2004, he touched the inner thigh of a pastor while sharing a bed with him and another man at the Dartford Bridge Hilton.

The man brushed off the advances of Odulele, the "guiding light and father figure" of the church, before being touched again, the court heard.

Mr Nicholson said a number of church members challenged Odulele about his behaviour and appealed to a bishop of the church - without success.

Sentencing him, His Honour Judge Charles Byers described the attacks as "opportunistic".

Judge Byers said: "You were a man in a position of trust who was well respected. People turned to you for advice and no doubt for comfort."

He added that Odulele was an "intelligent man" who would have known his behaviour "was wrong".

In a pre-sentencing report Odulele, a trained medical doctor, said: "I am ashamed of my behaviour as homosexuality is at odds with my religious beliefs."

"I am extremely distraught and upset at the hurt and distress I have caused the victims."

Craig Crosbie, defending, said Odulele, the son of a Nigerian civil servant who came to Britain in 1986, has no previous convictions.

Glory House International, based in east London, claims to have a congregation of 3,000 and branches in Leeds, Birmingham and Brazil.

At his height Odulele would preach to 140,000 people at a time in stadia in Africa and the United States, the prosecution said.

Odulele was a major figure in Christian evangelism.

Odulele initially denied the crimes but later admitted to police he had been "battling" with his sexuality for years.

Glory House International is a registered charity with a turnover of £2 million a year.

1. the lady, esther falodun was chatting from two locations at the same tine which is almost impossible - the audio did not show that she was interviewed in two separate locations
2. the whole things sounds like it was recorded in a studio, clear voice, clear audio etc., a confession is normally done publicly not in a secluded room
3. the woman was reported to have died - how come she died after going to a church to repent - i thought the church was supposed yo save her from imminent death
4. how come we never saw the so called "presenter" ? seemed a deliberate effort on his part to play safe
5. we never saw the address of the so-caled God is Great church
6. "esther falodun" spoke really confidently and comfortably which is strange for a woman who had been beaten and is about to die - she even remembered songs of artistes - it is strange that in such a situation, she would have the mental strength to speak to a reporter
7. she claimed the witches removed ladoja from power but the story is doubtful since ladoja returned to his seat as governor before the end of his term
8. the hen besides the lady never moved for the thirty minutes of the video, which is quite strange - not normal
9. the marks on her body appear to be the work of a make up artist rather than real injuries
10. the presenter gave the impression that he was presenting a popular tv programme, so how come the video was now sold for commercial purposes and how come the name of the tv station was not mentioned ?

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_jkCB_gGSmY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[size=18pt]april foooool![/size]

happy all fools day!

April fool!

AZCARES:
 He shouldn't have said that or probably in a polite way afterall, Siasia is his coach and he discovered him in the first place

that wasn't wise - very wrong - c chukwu discovered osaze  

Adrenaline:
^^ Has it occurred to you that the poster and the said columnist may be one and the same person

thank you sir  

Togolese football has received a major boost with the news that both coach Stephen Keshi and star player Emmanuel Adebayor are to return.

Real Madrid striker Adebayor quit the international game after a gun attack on the Togo team bus at the 2010 Nations Cup killed two members.

Adebayor has reportedly assured the federation he will play in Saturday's Group K qualifier in Malawi.

Nigeria's Keshi is already in Togo as he replaces Frenchman Thierry Froger.

Keshi previously led Togo in 2007 and between 2004-2006, a spell when he qualified the Hawks for the 2006 World Cup.

We can only hope against hope at this stage

Togo Football Federation president Gabriel Ameyi
However, a run-in with the Togolese Football Federation (TFF) after the 2006 Nations Cup meant Keshi was replaced before Germany 2006 got underway.

But Keshi, who has yet to sign an agreement with the TFF, has returned for a third time after Froger resigned to take charge of French side Nimes earlier this month.

Adebayor also withdrew from Togolese football - three months after a rebel attack in northern Angola prompted the Hawks' withdrawal from the 2010 Nations Cup.

"I have weighed up my feelings in the weeks and months since the attack," he said in April 2010.

"It is a moment I will never forget and one I never want to experience again."

But after travelling to Madrid to meet with Adebayor, TFF president Gabriel Ameyi says he received an undertaking from the former Togo captain that he will end his international exile.

"We can only hope against hope at this stage," said Ameyi.

The former Manchester City and Arsenal striker says he will fly direct to Malawi from Europe for the match.

His assurances to Ameyi prompted the TFF to formally include Adebayor in their squad for Saturday's clash in Lilongwe.

The Hawks, who lie fourth in their five-team group, desperately need to win the game if they are to have any hope of securing an unlikely qualification for the 2012 Nations Cup.

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Top fuji musician, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, may be heading for the altar before the end of the year.


Pasuma
P.M.Entertainment gathered from an impeccable source that Pasuma, who is currently building a multi-million naira mansion in River Valley Estate near Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos State, is nursing an ambition and that is to move in with a woman of her choice as soon as the building is ready.

The top musician confirmed to P.M.Entertainment that the mansion has gulped over N60 million.

According to him, “I have spent a lot of money on the house and I am still spending more, it is a dream house and I hope to move in it before the end of the year.”

The project, according to him, is a two-storey building with a pent house consisting of a twin duplex and mini studio, among other facilities.

Speaking on when the house will be ready, he said he hopes to move in before his next birthday which comes up in November, adding that he must get married first because there is no way he could move into such a house without a wife

However, he refused to disclose whether the lucky bride is one of the mothers of his children or a new person entirely.

Meanwhile, Pasuma is currently working on a album titled Tribute to Barrister, which he said will be released in March.

—Ayodele Lawal

Thursday, February 3, 2011
In danger for the sake of Faith

By David Ibemere







Policeman brutalizes a 17-year-old for falling in love with another teenager, alleges he stole her phone





SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Gbadebo Oloruntimilehin, who lives at No. 9, JMJ Quarters, Ajegunle, Lagos has been known to be an easy-going fellow, who loves football very much.





In danger for the sake of Faith



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Well-spoken about by his peers and elders, he also makes friends easily, boys and girls, and likes to try out new things, electronic gadgets particularly.



But his love for football and his dreams of playing overseas might have been truncated as a consequence of the beating he allegedly got from a Corporal, Wale Omoseye of Tolu Police Station, Ajegunle, Lagos State. Trouble started brewing for Gbadebo when, sometime last year, he met a girl called Faith Akintoye and they became friends.



Initially, the friendship blossomed with the two young people always in each other's company.The boy even bought her a handset, a Nokia 6288 at N8,000.00.



Then, suddenly, Faith's mother did not want to see Gbadebo anywhere near her daughter and warned him to steer clear.



She is alleged to have threatened that if he persisted, she would leave him with a mark he would live with all his life.



According to Gbadebo: "Due to the warning and the threat from Faith's mother, I told her we had to end our friendship.



"Although we still met once in a while, usually at public functions, our relationship was over.

"It was obvious, however, that I still liked her and she felt the same way about me. But, there was nothing I could do.



"Continuing the relationship would have been stupid of me, particularly when Faith's mother attempted to bathe me with acid.



"I was lucky to have run away, but not before some of the acid she threw at me had splashed on and burnt my hand.



"Two weeks after I was discharged from the hospital, I asked Faith to return the phone I gave her but she refused. So I planned to forcefully collect the phone from her."



The boy who thought that he had cut all links to Faith with the retrieval of his phone had underestimated the depth of bitterness nursed against him by her mother.



Narrating his story to The Guardian on Tuesday, Gbadebo, who was obviously in severe pains, said: "I succeeded in collecting the phone from Faith.



"She told her mother, who reported me to her friend, a police corporal, Wale Omoseye who, last Saturday, arrested me where I worked in Ajegunle.



"Without telling me anything, he began to beat me and I demanded to know what I did."



Gbadebo said the Police Corporal brutalized him, flogged him, threw him against a wall twice then "warned me to stay away from Faith.



Continuing, he said: " I have been having sever pains on my back.



" According to the doctor at Merit Medical Care, Tolu, my spinal cord seems to be affected and that is why I can't walk properly."



He added that he only walked with the aids of a stick.



"The phone that the policeman said I stole was given to Faith by me, when she said she needed a phone. I still have the receipt to buttress my claim. Since then, I can't walk, and the doctor has warned me that if care is not taken, I can be paralyzed."



According to Doyin, Gbadebo's brother: "Faith's mother went to the police to report that Debo stole her daughter's phone.



"Instead of lodging a report properly, she took the matter to a friend of theirs, Corporal Omoseye, who took the matter in his own hands and brutalized my brother to the point that his life is in danger."



Another of Gbadebo's brother, Ayomikun, added, "I told my brother to follow him and not to resist arrest.

"He obeyed me and followed Corporal Omoseye but when I got to the station, I was surprised to see Gbadebo soaked in blood and in pains.



"When I demanded to know what he did, the policeman said he was a thief.



"I believe it was the policeman's relationship with the woman that influenced him to beat my brother so badly without investigating."



Efforts by The Guardian to talk to the girl or her mother failed.Her shop has remained locked for the past four days.



But in a telephone interview, the Divisional Police Officer said the matter was under investigation. He also said that if the boy was beaten by Corporal Omoseye, it might be because he was resisting arrest, adding however: "it cannot be serious."



The danger Gbadebo is facing is similar to other incidents in Lagos such as the one of Thursday, April 15, 2010, in which a police officer in Shell Estate, Lekki, over-reacted and shot a man, leaving him with injuries, for laughing.



The mindless shooting of 27-year-old Udeme Akwa-Jackobson, a construction worker, has left him bedridden since then.



In April 2010, Charles Okoroafor was reportedly shot in the head by the police in Ajegunle, following a raid on a viewing centre during a football match.



The next day, irate residents gathered at the Ajeromi Police Station to protest the killing; four more people were killed including Tunde Olute, allegedly shot in the head when the police opened fire on the protesters.



Three days after that incident, another policeman on duty at a bank on the Marina, shot dead a bureau-de-change operator whom he alleged attempted to defraud an old woman.



On December 13 last year, policemen on patrol from Pako Police Post in Amukoko, a suburb of Lagos, allegedly shot and killed a 21-year-old youth, identified as Ismaila Sanni.



On Monday in Abuja, a policeman shot a pregnant woman dead and injured a taxi driver, which led to a violent protest during which a bank was set ablaze.

what is there in that picture to indicate those people were christians?

there's a bit of misinformation in this piece - they have agreed to seceede but it's not going to happen till july - anything could happen before then. google south sudan and you won't find anythin to show it has happened yet - the piece below should inform better


It is official: South Sudan to secede

Girl waving South Sudan's flag as secession referendum results are announced

© Tim McKulka/UNMIS/afrol News
afrol News, 31 January - The people of South Sudan have spoken. Over 99 percent of voters opted for secession, according to the first official, preliminary results. South Sudan will formally become independent on 9 July 2011.

Releasing preliminary official results today in Juba, the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) confirmed what observers had expected - that voters overwhelmingly endorsed the secession of Sudan's ten southern states from the rest of the country.

An impressive 99.57 percent of the 3.72 million ballots cast in South Sudan supported separation, according to Commission's spokesman Justice Chan Reec Madut. According to the results published by the Commission, the lowest vote in favour of secession was registered in the state of Bahr al-Ghazal, bordering the North, with a still impressive 95.5 percent in support.

Secession had garnered the same percentage of support among the 58,200 South Sudanese who voted overseas, while 57 percent of voters registered in the country's 15 northern states backed the separation option.

Salva Kiir Mayardit, who will be the first President of an independent South Sudan, participated at the Juba announcement yesterday. "Congratulations to all of you, we are very happy," President Kiir told the thousands who had gathered in central Juba.

"We still have a long way forward, and I would like you to be peaceful towards everybody and towards your brothers in the north," Mr Kiir told the spectators.

The announcement of the referendum results came 15 days after balloting ended. Confirmation of voting results triggered a loud outpouring of applause, laughter and ul
South Sudan President Salva Kiir listens to announcement of referendum results

© Tim McKulka/UNMIS/afrol News
ulating, with some members of the crowd waving towels and South Sudan flags to hail the outcome.

Referendum Commission Chairman Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil at the Juba event acknowledged the millions of voters who "spent hours and hours patiently, decently, courteously waiting in long queues in order to exercise their right of registration and, later, of polling."

Mr Khalil added that the successful implementation of this month's referendum should foster hope that northern and southern leaders can settle their unresolved disputes and agree on post-referendum arrangements in the remaining six months before South Sudan formally becomes independent on 9 July this year.

When President Kiir finished his address, hundreds of South Sudanese converged on the dirt field opposite the speakers' dais to chant "Independence, oh yes!" and dance to the rhythms of "Motherland Sudan", "I love Juba, I'm from Juba and Juba is my Nation" and other popular nation-building songs.

According to the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), "the complete preliminary results of the seven-day voting will be announced again in Khartoum on 2 February. If no legal objections are filed against those figures, the outcome will be ratified as final on 7 February. If legal proceedings are initiated, the SSRC is required by law to issue a final official result no later than 14 February."

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir so far has not comm
Spectators celebrating the positive outcome of South Sudan's secession vote

© Tim McKulka/UNMIS/afrol News
ented on the results, but last week pledged to support the new state of South Sudan after its probable independence. His statement came after early results had indicated pro-secession votes would reach around 99 percent.

President al-Bashir acknowledged that "secession has become a reality," as "99 percent of southerners chose separation." The North would however "not be sad," he added, saying "we will go to the south and celebrate with them."

Despite the good cooperation currently experienced between Presidents al-Bashir and Kiir - the two this weekend jointly African Union summit in Addis Ababa - serious conflict issues remain between the North and the South. Most pressing conflicts include the future of Abeyei state, which yet has to hold a referendum, and the key to sharing oil revenues.


Note: Based on this historic vote of the South Sudanese people, afrol News today "officially recognised" South Sudan as a new African state. Country and news pages for South Sudan are now online, which you may want to bookmark. Starting now, you can also receive South Sudan news alerts (free, see below).

how can this incident happen on the 19th of February, 2011 when today is 1st of February? someone is telling some cock and bull here!

The news circulating on the Internet is that Shan George, the mulatto actress, is married for the third time. According to the reports, George opted for a low-key marriage ceremony that took everybody by surprise. When Life and Beat called George to get her reaction on the telephone, she exploded, saying she was still single.“Please, I’m not married. What is the meaning of this? Do people want me to get married by force? Can you please ask the people circulating the story where I got married?” she asked. She said that the wedding pictures came from a scene in her latest movie, Heartbreak, which also features Kalu Ikeagwu. “I don’t understand why people will not crosscheck their stories before going to town with such lies. Please, it is just a movie. The person saying I got married just because of the pictures of the movie must be very dumb,” she told Life and Beat.

up ribadu

government college, ibadan

philip0906:
isn't this her 7th "marriage"?

it doesn't matter how many times it takes you to find love - what matters is that you find/found it in the end !

it's senseless to give him such an award. what has Arsenal won for the past four years ?

for those who do not know - this guy kayode soyinka was the same guy who was on the dining table eating with the late dele giwa on the very day he was parcel-bombed - infact the parcel was opened right in front of this same guy

Inked_Nerd:
Yes, I can. As a matter of fact, I did it last evening.

Pant is one such item that is found in people's wardrobes whether man or woman. It has a way of making one comfortable when dressed up. For men, pants help them to pack their manhood well. Women can't afford not to wear pants as they help to hold their buttocks from making movements as they walk. However, people now choose whether to wear pants or not. These are their reasons below.

Tony Okeke
I can go out without wearing pants. It is only when I think blue that my organ will misbehave. If I am not thinking blue, I cannot be roused. It is good sometimes for men to be free.

MaRgAret Abraham
It is not normal for a woman to go out without wearing a pant. Morally too, it is not ideal. God that designed pants is not foolish so, we have to be wearing them. I grew up to see myself wearing a pant, so I do not need to stop. I will not also be comfortable if I don't.

Shola Erebowale
I cannot step an inch from my house without wearing a pant. I have never tried it and I will not consider it. There may be some women that go out without having their pants on but it depends on their motive. It is not also that I cannot sit properly but what if one falls? What if the unimaginable happens and your dress is torn? I don't like it at all.

Dickson Isioma
It is not always good for one to go out without having pants on but at times it is good. It mustn't be a pant. These days, men wear boxers in place of pants. So, if you cannot wear a pant, at least wear boxers. But it is not always good for men to have tight wears. Going out without pants depends on my mood. If I go out without pants and see something that would rouse me, I will leave the environment immediately.

Chubuzor Nduka
It is not compulsory for men to wear pants. I have heard severally that too much of covering on the part of men makes some to be sterile. If that is true, then it is not too good for men. We can be pardoned for not wearing pants. I also think that it is why men have resorted to wearing boxers, which is a bit free. I can wear and at other times, decide not to wear.

Abraham Moses
No, I cannot go out without wearing pants. I have never tried it. There are lots of disadvantages attached to that. Apart from being roused, you can be wounded in a case of fight if it comes unexpectedly.

Ibe Glory
I can't go out without wearing a pant because I wouldn't feel comfortable. In fact, my dressing would be incomplete.

Chomzy Womzy
No! it doesn't show any sign of responsiveness for a woman to go out dressed without wearing a pant. I will feel so loose inside even if I'm wearing a jeans. I must definitely wear my pant to balance my dressing because it is the pant that protects your bottom from shaking when you are walking. You will draw people's attention when you go out without wearing a pant and it is not good.

Anita ChrisTopher
I can't go out without wearing a pant because I wouldn't feel comfortable, I will feel so naked inside. Why should a woman go out without wearing a pant? Though I have some ladies do it whenever they are wearing a pair of jeans but I can't do it for anything in the world.

Cece Okonkwo
Why should a woman go out without wearing a pant? I think as a decent girl, nothing will make me leave my parents' home without wearing a pant.

Oke Okonkwo
Do you want my private part to be ringing bell when I'm walking? Though I don't wear a pant but boxers because that is what is in vogue for men. Real men no longer wear pants. So, it is very obvious that if a man doesn't wear boxers or a pant, he wouldn't be comfortable. So, I can't go out without wearing a pant.

Chibuike Madu
Nothing will make me go out without wearing a pant because I wouldn't feel comfortable. Even my trousers wouldn't forgive my action because I didn't wear a pant or boxers to prevent my penis from dancing round my trousers.

Why Bukola Saraki detests his sister, Gbemi, upset with dad, As family feud rips PDP apart

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Bukola Saraki

A crisis that could cost the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the Government House in the next election, is rocking Kwara State, as the personal interest of Olusola Saraki, and the ambition of his daughter, Gbemisola , has ripped apart that family, and putIN total jeopardy the PDP in Kwara.

While the elder Saraki , who is seen as the godfather of Kwara politics wants his Senator daughter to be next Kwara Governor, her half-brother, Bukola, who is current Governor has said “ over his dead body”

The brouhaha led to the exit of elder Saraki from the PDP to the Allied Congress Party (ACPN) yesterday with Gbemi in toe.

Pointblanknews.com learnt that Bukola , who prefers former Sports minister, Ibrahim Biu, doesn’t see eye to eye with his dad and his sister, since the conflict became public knowledge. Elder Saraki had few days , why explaining his disdain for his son said “ Bukols has thrown it (Governorship) tussle to all comers. Every idiot who can’t even win a council election wants to be governor.”

According to our sources, another issue bothering Bukola is the issue of moral rectitude. He doesn’t think it is morally right for Gbemi to succeed him. Also issue he does not think Gbemi is competent enough to run the affairs of Kwara. He does not think, Gbemi has proved herself as senator, so sees his fathers’ push for her as preposterous.

Pointblanknews.com gathered that another very crucial factor is the issue of the white farmers from Zimbabwe who were brought to Kwara by Bukola Saraki , and have turned around the agricultural sector.

Said our source” Bukols Saraki now sees himself as a global player. Don’t forget he brought the white farmers to Kwara, which turned around that sector. The farmers want their interest protected by any one succeeding their man, so Bukola has anointed Biu.’

The source added” He has little respect for Gbemi, who has a less impressive track record and pedigree and also sees the issue as that of morals. He also sees his father’s clamor for Gbemi, who is a half -sister, as ego tripping”

Last week, . Saraki received the leaders of the Congress of Progressive Change and All Nigeria People Party (ANPP), Muhammadu Buhari and Ogbonnaya Onu.



Saraki said he decided to leave the PDP because it was full of undemocratic people. He said this has made the party to lose cohesion and focus and might make it lose the forthcoming elections in the state.

“Those who are not involved in the building of the party now capitalise on the inexperience of the leadership to perpetrate themselves and turn themselves into thin gods to decide the fate of the real people on the political turf.

“We now have a PDP that lacks cohesion, focus, directionless and bereft of ideas on how to carry supporters along and win elections. The situation is so bad to the extent that most decisions of the party are based on sentiments, instead of having recourse to party guidelines and all known democratic norms.

“Therefore, I and all who believe in me have been forced to take the decision to dump the Kwara PDP and move en-masse to ACPN, which we believe is the best platform to take the state to a greater height,” Saraki said.

gold digger! 

2011: 2 more ministers resign •FG approves 3 more federal varsities
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Written by Leon Usigbe, Abuja
Thursday, 23 December 2010

BARELY a week after the resignation of Professor Dora Akunyili as Minister of Information and Communications, two more ministers have resigned from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to pursue their ambition to be the governors of their states, prompting President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately name their replacements.

Those who quit the cabinet during Wednesday’s FEC meeting presided over by President Jonathan were Adamu Maina, erstwhile Minister of Police Affairs and Ibrahim Isa Bio, who was the Minister of Sports.

According to the Minster of Information and Communications, Mr Labaran Maku, who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, both of them resigned to enable them to pursue their individual aspirations to be governor of Yobe and Kwara State respectively.

The Minister of State for Interior, Humphrey Abah, has now been elevated to the position of the substantive Minister of Police Affairs, while retaining his former portfolio in the Interior ministry.

Professor Taoheed Adedoja was named the new Minister of Sports even though he would combine it with his present portfolio as the Minister of Special Duties.

Maku said President Jonathan who wished them well, regretted their exit from the cabinet, knowing that they were some of the more active members of the Council.

He revealed that FEC has approved the setting up of three more federal universities, bringing the total so far approved by the Jonathan administration to nine as the president seeks to ensure that all states of the federation has a federal university and expand access to university by young school leavers in the country.

Jonathan has, therefore, directed the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to release the sum of N14.5 billion to the new universities at N1.5 billion each to enable them to take off in the coming academic session.

The nine institutions which are spread in the six geopolitical zones are specifically to be located in Taraba State (Wukari); Gombe State (no decision on town yet); Katsina State (Katsina); Bayelsa State (Otueke); Ebonyi State (Ndofu Alike); Ekiti State (Ikole-Ekiti); Kogi State (no decision yet on town); Nasarawa State (Lafia) and Jigawa State (Dutse).

Maku, who noted that only about 30 per cent of school leavers has access to university admission in the country, stated that “in spite of the challenges facing the existing federal universities, President Jonathan believes that there is still room for more. The president thinks of equity and wants each state to have a university.”

He added that decision was yet to be taken on the establishment of three others to complete the existence of at least a federal university in each of the 36 states of the federation.

Meanwhile, the power sector received a boost, on Wednesday, as more contracts were approved for award, bringing the total amount of investments in the sector this year to about N79.2 billion.

The FEC meeting of Wednesday approved a total of 25 different items that were brought for consideration and also gave the go-ahead for the implementation of a Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) memo presented by President Jonathan for the upgrade of motor licensing system and number plates.

The Minister of Information said the upgrade was necessary to check the illegal duplication of motor licences and also enhance the ability of authorities to monitor criminal activities around the country.

He said new motor number plate plants would be set up in Awka, Anambra State and Abuja, to complement the existing plant in Lagos, which would also be upgraded.

Maku added that when operational, citizens would be given 12 months to upgrade their existing licences.

Other sectors which had various contracts approved for award included finance, transport, petroleum resources, health, education, national planning, commerce and industry, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

FEC then adjourned till February 19, 2011, to enable members to participate in the various activities ongoing around the country.