₦airaland Forum

Mr close Enemuoh explained on his Facebook page that Nigeria is just an embarassment, am sitting here in a conference with Major global arlines and the current provider for the comon use terminal equipment in almost all airports in the world. And they are making fun of Lagos airport and how they are failing to meet up with IT facilities required to interface with airline/cute application. They are saying that despite knowing the consequences, FAAN does not respond to them. If FAAN does not fix this by 30th of june, all major airlines will stop flying to Lagos. Its when that happens that FAAN will take action. I shouldn't have introduced myself as Nigerian here #Embarrassed

I saw a petition going round on social media asking the Nigerian National Assembly to ban the airing of the TV reality show, Big Brother Naija (BB Naija) and I differ in opinion with the proponents of the petition. I will explain why.

First, let me clarify that I do not watch the series, I do not think I will spare my time whether now or in the future to watch it, yet I will not ask for a legislation for its ban. Why? Simple. A TV show is both entertainment and business. Business thrives only when there is sustained patronage and a TV series lasts only when the viewership is sustained.

This means that what needs to change is not essentially the programme but the interest shown by Nigerians in the programme. If the programme is starved of viewership, it would die a natural death.

So, I say again, beyond the sanctimonious heckling, have we asked ourselves about what went wrong with us as a people? Not too long ago, families would gather around their TV sets to watch episodes of popular soap operas: Cock Crow At Dawn, Checkmate, Ripples, Fuji House of Commotion, Behind the Cloud, New Masquerade, Samanja, Jagua, Village Headmaster etc These were enjoyable by all family members and there were sensible themes therein. If the viewership choices are shifting in degenerative manner, then it is not a piece of legislation that is required but value reorientation of the people.

There is a question I want to ask the proponents of the petition and I will like their honest response: if you want to buy a product and you see the face of Oladapo Ashiru or Ben Okri and another with the face of Tuface Idibia or Olamide which will you buy? The answer is obvious as most do not even know who Ashiru and Okri are let alone how they look like, yet Ashiru is a renowned Nigerian obstetrician and Okri a renowned writer/poet. Both very educated (Ashiru is even a professor).

So, before you send out some holier-than-thou petition, first ask: do I have good values myself? Do truly valuable things catch and retain my attention? If yes, then by all means send out the petition; if no, take a deep breath and calmly say "change begins with me" (that is, beyond the political sloganeering).

Value system is very important. Some people value sports and others don't; yet sports rake in trillions of dollars in revenue worldwide. In the strictest sense of the word, football can be a complete waste of time and money: for instance, you stay awake to watch a game of football that lasts for about two hours and at the end of the game, both teams end up with a barren draw. Yet, because football - like other entertainments - thrives on followership, the patronage sustains the vanity.

In closing, let me narrate what happened in Katsina State House of Assembly in 1992/93. A bill for the prohibition of sales, usage and advertisement of alcoholic beverages was brought before the Assembly. The bill was debated and on the day it was to be passed, most members of the Assembly hung around the Assembly complex but did not enter the chambers for plenary. So, while they did not want to appear before their constituencies as people who drink, they knew deep down in their hearts that it was a piece of legislation that would affect them personally. So, as this petition is being sent to the National Assembly, remember the Katsina scenario and what the reaction of the National Assembly members may be.

David obasa

Uta was impossible. His whole world seemed to revolve around sex. I know we were all young undergrads at the time, and our libido was running wild, but Uta was just a problem.
His own libido deserved a research of its own, for there was no way it could have been normal.

He just wanted to fire, and keep firing. He would promise a girl some of the most ridiculous things because he just wanted to lash. How his father was in the Senate. How he was his mother’s only child. How he only came to the Island because he rejected going to the U.S, to avoid distractions. How his parents promised him, if he found a wife, the wedding would be at Santorini, Greece.

He was a stammerer, and sometimes words came out in quick succession, something he turned into strength, allowing the lies blend in smoothly before the girl is able to pick holes in them.

Uta could tell you all of the nationalities you stood a chance with. He told us that the Russians were not too keen, but if they liked you, you may as well start stocking opa eyin or other such performance enhancers. The Turks, he said were a no-go; too conservative. The Cypriots he said were 50-50, but they needed a high level of discretion, lest their friends report them to their parents. American exchange students were a sure bet, if you can spit game. Naija girls were a sure bet too, but the financial commitments involved could build him a two-bedroom house. Which was why he conjured all those lies.

But the Naija girls soon found him out, and so that side became a no-go too.

With a libido that bluntly refused to respect itself, Uta knew he needed to find a supplementary outlet. Strip clubs were the only natural remedies. Again, Uta didn’t like those places too much. For him, it was too much money for a single night, which would not go beyond a mandatory 3 rounds. One before 10. One at midnight, and the third just at the stroke of dawn. And voom; $100 swims the Atlantic. Nwanne i makwa ihe 100 dollar putari na ego anyi? he once screamed.

One chilly December, he was at my house with other friends. It was my birthday, and there was more booze than water. More booze to turn a funeral gathering into a disco joint. You don’t want to be around Uta when he’s high. He confesses all kinds of things. How he once refused to pay a prostitute after the night. How she became angry about his inability to climax, and he promised her there and then, that unless he can confirm full working, no pay. They began again, but good ol’ Uta rode through the red sea, and refused to birth in Israel. The girl said no more. He said that was her problem, if he didn’t come, no pay.

Anyway, Uta asked me if I knew what was happening at the bar near my house. I told him I had no idea. He said he suspected it was a strip club. I said I see women going in there, but I can’t be sure, having never entered there myself. He was the last to leave my house that night, and as I made out for the front door to see him off, he said we should take a look. And right at the door, one of the white ladies caressed him on the chin. He looked at me, and a big smile flashed across his face. Uta couldn’t believe his luck.

I take a sit by the bar, still trying to process the ambience of the place. But lo’ and behold, a petrified Uta grabbed me by the hand, and said “Nwanne, bia ka anyi waa here. Bia ka anyi wa sharply” Come let’s leave here. Come let’s leave immediately.

I’d never seen Uta looked so confused. He said, he couldn’t believe what he just saw.

I asked, what?

“That one that touched my face said she wanted to ease herself, so I followed her. But when she raised her dress, nna lekwa amu o." He said he saw a dick instead.

That was the night Uta’s libido led him into a transgender bar.

I told him it served him right.

He said I should keep it between us.

That was 7 years ago.

At least I tried.

mitterand okorie

my advice to nigerians dont be to cold oooo when stuf like this happens dont even joke or laf as far u knw you sure .. i swear if it was me chaaaaa

So what seem to be like an adventure to some people and the only means by which some others could get to their destination turned into our worst nightmares on the early hours of Saturday 30th of December 2017, precisely around 7:50am when a couch of the train we boarded, travelling from lagos to kano derailed from its track few kilometers from its Oshogbo station. After spending the whole day doing nothing to arrest the situation, making a mockery of themselves by bringing a crane weighing 4tonnes to lift a couch of 77tonnes, the day finally ended with them achieving nothing and thousands of passengers stuck in a town with no relatives, no money, mothers travelling with 5 or more kids with no food to eat and no roof over their heads. The next day, while people are already getting tensed and with the negligence of the of the NRC management towards the passengers they took money from and swore to convene to their destination, a very vibrant young man Yusuf Kabiru, myself and a host of others took it upon ourselves to challenge the gross unprofessionalism of these staffs, as they all bailed on the abandoned passengers at the Oshogbo train station with nobody coming forth to address them to calm their state of unrest. Another attempt by the so called maintenance team in trying to bring back to track the derailed couch also resulted in failure as inferior tools were used again in trying to fix a simple problem that ordinary should not take more than 2 hours endangering the lives of thousands, with the MD of the NRC fully aware of the situation but not the least bothered by the sufferings of these people. While others who still had the means to run away from this life threatening experience did so with immediate effect, others who could not only sat and pray to God’s rescue from this travails as we were far away hundreds of miles from getting entering a new year with no hope of going home. After stranded for more than 48 hours with still no solution to a simple problem, the NRC finally brought another train to collect us at the point of derailment to continue the journey stuffing all of us in Economy classed couches like packs of sardines fish in a container, leaving us to the hungry hands of fierce looking mosquitoes to devour. Still no formal statement from any of the management staffs, no apologies what so ever, and no refunds what so ever even though the services we are getting is far below what we paid for.
Few hours later at Ilorin train station during a stopover, without any form of warning and passengers still on the platform, the driver zoomed off and because of the already existing panic, the passengers raced to enter the train for the fear of being left behind resulting in series of severe accidents with the train smashing the head of a passenger. Staffs and policemen attached to the train all stayed back doing nothing to salvage the situation while some of us rushed to help the severely injured victims. A good Samaritan offered to help us to the hospital but no staff or policeman was willing to go stating that it was not their duty. The man with the smashed head died in the later hours of that same day. No form of apology, no form of concern and also no form of remorse was shown by these people. And till this meaning no official statement has been released by the NRC concerning the death, accident or even the breakdown of the train.
A journey that was supposed to be for 36 hours later took 5 days simply because of negligence and lack of sense of responsibility
My questions now are;
Is the entire NRC so heartless to the point of not showing concern towards this inhuman treatment melted on over a thousand individuals?
Is the NRC so unequipped that a problem that was not meant to take more than 3 hours to solve becomes impossible to conquer?
Is the NRC so corrupt to the point of relegating us from 1st class couch to economy class without any form of refunds?
How can common Nigerians entrust their lives and properties with the NRC when they continuously failing the people they were meant to provide service to?
I sent this post with pictures to some media outlets but for reasons best known to them, they decided to flush it down the drain.
Cc Sahara reporters
Cc Naij.com
Cc Gossipmill
Cc yabaleftonline.com
Cc information Nigeria

From yesterday 02-01-18 The Nigeria Customs Service has increased the duty of Kitchenwares by more than N500,000 per 40ft container and Polyester materials N1m per 40ft container. All containers that PAARs were issued from yesterday are affected and they cannot be cleared unless they are paid. Please take note as previous transactions may be affected.

We came out of his house that evening, with a serene street stretched out in front of us. The tall trees on both sides of the road folded into each other, creating a spectacular aesthetic sight. My friend heaved a sigh of relief, and said to me: "Mitti, sometimes I can’t believe it’s me living in this sort of neighbourhood, in one of Nigeria’s most expensive cities.” I won’t say where. It doesn’t matter. But my friend has suffered.

Sometimes, he told me, he cried himself to bed. He wondered if his life was different. For many nights, he recoiled in is bed, having lost the battle for sleep to heat and mosquitoes.
When he turned the ignition of his GL SUV, I notice an Army Captain’s cap on the dashboard. I asked him how come.

He said it was his firewall against SARS. Men that did not think you deserved to ride in a good car. Men that thought if you were young and comfortable, you had to be stealing; you had to be doing crime. “Where were these people when I was shit?” he asked. “How would they ever know my story?”

After many years of many things failing, he got into fish farming. Gathered all of his savings, in excess of about 1.5m. The business blew up beyond his imagination. Nigerians everywhere ate cat fish with the fury of starving lions. He set up more farms in different cities. Owerri, Enugu, Abuja.

He started a piggery. That too blew up. My friend blew up. Then a couple of friends got jealous. Thought he was a fraud. Thought they were in some competition. Reported him to SARS men. So they turn up one night at 10, of course, without a warrant, banged on the door—and pretended to be his neighbour delivering a wedding invitation.

He had barely turned the key, before they badged in, searching for his laptop. They leaf through it, search everywhere, all of his devices. No evidence, nothing incriminating. Their intel was wrong; the sum total of another man’s envy towards another man’s success. No one knows you when you are shit; and then you become the shit; then they hate. “Don’t think you’ve gone free today. Don’t worry, one day, we would get you”, they told him.

He began to move with a mobile police escort from then on. But why does he have to? Why does having a bit of money has to come with such discomfort? Sometimes you need to make a call, and don’t need the intruding presence of a total stranger with a gun, but what is the alternative?

He remembered his cousin who is an army captain, and relayed the situation. He was given a cap to put on the dashboard. He pays his cousin a monthly salary for the protection which the cap affords him. With that, he can ride alone. He would relocate to a new city. Away from friendly faces with hate in their hearts. He would find a way, like many Nigerians to protect himself from fiendish law enforcement agencies that would murder you for your money.

“Mitti,” he said to me, “No one would make me hide myself in this country. I’ve suffered. I’ve earned the right to a little enjoyment.” He didn’t see the irony. He ran from his previous city. It is what Nigeria makes you do. Run from pillar to post. Hide from pillar to post. Most times, without even knowing it.

The Nigerian Customs Services was generating an average N860B from 2011 to 2015, in particular N977B in 2014 (under a very corrupt administration), with a collection cost of 7%. Today under a saint president, APC is celebrating revenue collection of N1.01trl for 2017. If we take exchange rate into account, an average of around N151/$ from 2011 to 2015 and N305/$ or N365/$ in 2017 then Hamid Ali is collecting less than N450B in Naira terms of 2014. APC created the most outrageous propaganda when Ali came in that NCS was remitting only N2B before he came. On the contrary, he hasnt improved revenue collected despite strangling the poor with border controls. The propaganda about Ali is very important to APC because he is the best they can present, some ‘no-nonsense’ prototype of Muhammadu Buhari, but like his boss he is an ordinary cop that goes by the name ‘good cop’, good cop that doesn’t arrest bad guys. The only record APC has broken so far is that of having the best propaganda machine ever

Many of you would not know why Innoson is persecuted under the smokescreen of GTB nonsense. He was asked to relocate his automobile production plant to Lagos, he refused and insists to adhere to Ojukwu's counsel to Nnewi sons "not to move their investments outside Nnewi".

Later on, Nigeria Air force lured him with the contract of refurbishing their aging aircrafts and requested he executed that contract in Kaduna by moving down his Igbo engineers and sections of his company down to Kaduna, he refused. Later on, Air force haven seen the necessity of bringing down their dilapidated aircrafts down to Nnewi, were forced to do so as western countries could not help in the refurbishment. Innoson beyond Nigeria Government's expectations, gave the previously written off aircrafts, a new lives.

Being afraid of what is happening in Eastern Nigeria and the glamorous tech ongoing in Innoson, FG under Buhari decided to punish Innoson for his refusal to relocate to Lagos or Kaduna where his company will be sensor properly. The first punishment was series of seizure of his raw materials in wharf by the custom despite import waiver given to him by the Good luck led government.

Secondly, the 30% policy of buying IVM products by Nigeria government and her agencies by Jonathan Government was cancelled by Buhari. They had accused him of importing arms before just to crush him as they did to Ibeto, but to no avail. Buhari believes Innoson can manufacture arms for Biafrans to fight Nigeria. If he could refurbished war gunships, he could manufacture arms and armoured personnel carriers for Biafrans.

GTB BANK is just a smokescreen, they want to kill him for refusing their order!

Many of you would not know why Innoson is persecuted under the smokescreen of GTB nonsense. He was asked to relocate his automobile production plant to Lagos, he refused and insists to adhere to Ojukwu's counsel to Nnewi sons "not to move their investments outside Nnewi".

Later on, Nigeria Air force lured him with the contract of refurbishing their aging aircrafts and requested he executed that contract in Kaduna by moving down his Igbo engineers and sections of his company down to Kaduna, he refused. Later on, Air force haven seen the necessity of bringing down their dilapidated aircrafts down to Nnewi, were forced to do so as western countries could not help in the refurbishment. Innoson beyond Nigeria Government's expectations, gave the previously written off aircrafts, a new lives.

Being afraid of what is happening in Eastern Nigeria and the glamorous tech ongoing in Innoson, FG under Buhari decided to punish Innoson for his refusal to relocate to Lagos or Kaduna where his company will be sensor properly. The first punishment was series of seizure of his raw materials in wharf by the custom despite import waiver given to him by the Good luck led government.

Secondly, the 30% policy of buying IVM products by Nigeria government and her agencies by Jonathan Government was cancelled by Buhari. They had accused him of importing arms before just to crush him as they did to Ibeto, but to no avail. Buhari believes Innoson can manufacture arms for Biafrans to fight Nigeria. If he could refurbished war gunships, he could manufacture arms and armoured personnel carriers for Biafrans.

GTB BANK is just a smokescreen, they want to kill him for refusing their order!

Reno Omokri So this it? GTB is blackmailing Innoson and the EFCC as usual, is being used as a stooge to achieve such heinous act, against a brand that has brought so much pride to us.... ah!
What a shame and what a country! This is sad.
...................................................................................
Innoson Vs GTB: How GTB Stole Over N700 Million From Innoson’s Account

This is a background story why GTB used EFFC to arrest Nigeria’s indi genous car manufacturer Innoson at his Enugu residence this morning.

Read the story, weep for Nigeria and the impunity that pervades the land.

INNOSON VS GTB: How GTB Stole over N700 Million from Innoson’s Account

What Young And Upcoming Entrepreneurs Should Learn From It.

Excess charges are unlawful, illegal and fraudulent and it is a crime

At all material times, Innoson Nigeria Ltd operates a current account with GTB. Subsequently, Innoson discovered that GTB imposed excess and unlawful charges in its current account.

Both parties agreed to invite an independent auditing firm that will be agreed by both parties, At the end, Multiwings Consulting Firm of Auditors was invited to properly audit Innoson Nigeria Ltd current account no 0043753636 domiciled with Nnewi Branch of GTB. The auditing covers a period from March 2004 to December 2011.

After the account was audited, it was discovered that GTB has been illegally deducting excess bank charges on its overdraft facility to Innoson to the tune of Seven Hundred and Eighty-Six Million, Two Hundred and Five Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty-Five Naira, Ninety Nine Kobo (N786,205,955.99).
GTB was shocked at the audit report when the report was forwarded to it. They replied in their letter to Innoson on 20th January 2012 that it will investigate the issue raised and will get back to him on the conclusion of its investigation.

In the month of September 2012, GTB wrote to Innoson that from their personal audit report, the excess bank charges was Five Hundred and Fifty-Nine Million, Three Hundred and Seventy-Four Thousand, Seventy-Two Naira, Nine Kobo (N559,374,072.29k). Innoson agreed to their version and decided to accept payment from it in the spirit of amicable resolution.

Innoson also requested that the said agreed amount of N559, 374,072.09k be paid with a 22% interest rate because he had been repaying all his debt with GTB at 22% rate. GTB refused and said the best they can repay is at 7%. This led to another disagreement between Innoson and GTB.

As a result, Innoson commenced suit No: FHC/AWK/CS/2012 against GTB at the Federal High Court, Awka and obtained judgment in excess of N4.7 Billion against GTB.

GTB appealed against the judgment to the court of Appeal, Enugu Division, appoxite Appeal NO: CA/E/288/2013. The court of Appeal Enugu in a considered ruling ordered GTB to pay the judgment debt of N6 Billion inclusive of the accrued interest and any interest that would subsequently accrue thereon into an interest yielding account in the name of the Chief Registral of the Court. GTB is yet to obey this judgment; however it went to the Supreme Court. The matter is yet to be resolved at the Supreme Court. Today that judgment debt is about N8 Billion.

GTB, having seen that the Judgment debts Innoson had against them is too much for them to bear and instead of calling Innoson to seek an out-of-court negotiation, they decided to initiate a trump-up charge against Innoson with an allegation of falsification of shipping documents and representing them as genuine in order to force Innoson negotiate with it from a position of weakness.

Excess charges are unlawful, illegal and fraudulent and it is a crime

For over 5 years that GTB had admitted it debited unlawfully excess charges from Innoson’s account; Innoson is yet to get his money from GTB

The reason why GTB have failed to pay their indebtedness to Innoson is still unclear.

Earlier on, the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal division in Ibadan had ordered GTB to pay the N2.4Billion belonging to Custom to Innoson. GTB is yet to obey this court judgment.

Irrespective of all the persecution Innoson got from GTB, he still persevered; he still fought his dream of establishing the first Vehicle Manufacturing company in Nigeria which today is a Pride to our Nation.

Innoson represents a hope and a guide to upcoming and young entrepreneurs who hopes to make a difference in our Nation. As a result, we are using this medium to bring this issue of illegal GTB charges to the attention of Nigerians in general and entrepreneurs in particular. #BewareofGTB

In the past two and a half years, I have been so critical of the Buhani government and its policies. On several occasions, I had blasted it on the handling of the economy, the herdsmen's Killings, the issue of IPOB, the selective anti-corruption fight and his many unnecessary and meaningless foreign travels. In all my criticisms of his government and its policies, not once have I criticised his person and his family on moral and ethical grounds. And I make bold to say that of the Nigerian politicians today, Muhammadu Buhari commands my highest respect. I taught his wife, Aisha, for two semesters during her master's degree programme and she is one the most simple and unassuming ladies I have ever met. I did not know she was General Buhari's wife until one of her course mates informed me about it. Even when I had to confront her with the information, what she simply told me was that she did not have to flaunt it every where that she was the General's wife. That is how humble and simple the wife of the President is. My best wishes to the first family.
So when I blast the APC and the Buhari government, I am only performing my sacred duty as a political scientist. Those who think scholarship and academia should be subsumed in sectionalism, party affiliations, premordialism and sectionalism, are with due respect, no scholars but sheer propagandists, time servers, bootlickers and elite lackeys who have no business in the rigorous realm of scholarship and academia.
President Buhari is 75. Tributes and accolades have been coming in torrents. Without any doubt. thre President deserves to be celebrated in view of his immense contributions to the nation. He enlisted in the Nigeria's Armed Forces, fought the civil war and helped to keep Nigeria a united country. In 1984 he betame a military Head of State and governed for twenty months before he was toppled in a military coup.
As a military leader, one thing that stood him out was his fight against corruption. In this fight many corrupt politicians were sentenced to long jail terms. He made frantic efforts to pay off Nigeria's debts. His counter trade policy was intended to make to make Nigeria a truly developed economy.
In addition to these, he tried to rid Nigeria of the menace of drugs. He sentenced drug traffickers to death. Irrespective of the criticisms of his approach, his intentions as a military Head of State were noble. He envisioned a Nigeria where things would work and probity would be a way of life. Even though his tenure as the PTF Chairman has been criticised and some allegation of corrupt practices raised against him, threy have not been proven.
In his presidential bid, he made three attempts to become president. At the fourth attempt he won and became elected as a civilian President in 2015. One thing that stood him out is his commitment and singleness of purpose.
What are the outstanding attributes of President Buhari? I can think of three. The first is his patriotism. The second is his incorruptibility. The third is his doggedness and steadfastness.
AS a patriot, he fought to keep Nigeria a united country. He was ready to lay down his life for Nigeria. He loved Nigeria. As a Head of State, he left behind an enviable lessly of integrity and probity in public service.
Buhari is incorruptible. The easiest means of making big money in Nigeria is through government appointment. For the 20 months that Buhari was Head of State, he could afford to steal a billion Naira and nothing would have happened . But he chose the path of patriotism and probity. Till date his type is still very rare in this corruption ridden Nigeria. Even in his current assignment as President, no personal allegations of corruption have been levelled against him. There might be many rotten individuals milling around him but as of today I can't think of any corrupt practices preferred against him.
With respect to his doggedness and determination of purpose, his unflinching resolve to pursue his presidential ambition to its logical conclusion draws applause and huge commendation in political circles. This should sends a clear and unambiguous message to millions of Nigerian youths who are often deluded into believing that success comes easy. Muhammadu Buhari is a determined person.
I join millions of my fellow citizens in wishing the President a happy birthday celebration.
Happy birthday your Excellency.

Anybody, citizen or non-citizen, traditionalist or non-traditionalist, christian or non-christian, moslem or non-moslem, querying the right of Barrister Amasa Firdaus to conform with her religious injunctions is perhaps unpaid enemy of the Nigerian state. To begin with, the Nigerian constitution, ad ibinitio, provided that every citizen is free within the ambience of the law, to practise his or her religion so long such a practice doesn't hinder others from practising theirs. Where now lies the grouse? Did her hijab stopped other non-moslem from putting on their on religious attires? As a traditionalist, if your religion, like any other religion, requires you to always be in a masquerade attire at all public, organizational, civic, religious functions, so be it! This is religious tolerance and respect for people's fundamental human rights.
As far as I know, again coupled with the fact that the use of hijab as a religious practice for the moslems is a known fact, it will therefore be out of place for anybody to be raising eyebrows on such a practice when they are equally entitled to their own religions and all of their injunctions, rites and practices.
Summarily, If hijab is taken, appreciated and accepted by the moslems as one of their non-negotiable dress-codes, it doesn't, shouldn't and can't stop either the christians from putting on any or perhaps all of their biblical robes at all times, and even to a public function or in their profession. Then, no individual, christian or non-christian, moslem or non-moslem must by any means deter or complain about any of the traditional dress sense or codes of the traditional or Idol worshippers when they appear in their full regalia in any public function or profession. This is religious tolerance and the definition of secularism; tolerating and respecting the rights of others to their beliefs, religions and culture.
You are entitled to your masquerade attire, I'm entitled to my hijab, he or she is entitled to her church robes. The only way to go !!!!!!!

[

Any Girl �!
Dating more than one � guy_
Won't see 2018.

Can i get an AMEN plz? ✔

When say Yoruba are mumu dey get angry how do you become allies with Hausa man ,God am half Hausa my self but trust me my people are just after dey stomach what pain me most is am also half Yoruba the Yoruba are so mumu dat dey dont help all u hear dem say is we fellowing due process what useless due,wen a Hausa man wll give employment to 15 of his family member, I remember a friend of an immigration officer ones told me dat he was in the village wen his distance family an uncle called to get free ticket to work as immigration officer with just OND den others with degree got customers about 5 of them got different jobs in different agency so what have the Yoruba or Igbo man don for his family wen it come to Federal job

He built his parents a house in the village. A massive mansion. He was that kind of person; if he had to get something done, it had to be the best that there was.

The house was supposed to be opened on Christmas day, with an elaborate event that would also mark their retirement from public life.

But before the ribbons would arrive, the village pastor began to scamper around. "No one must walk into that mansion until it is thoroughly cleansed," the pastor advised.

The mansion, the pastor boldly proclaimed, was infested by ancestral curses, by the spirits of untankam na uyankam, spirits of umu arurubara, spirits of chinkwa-chinkwa, and a hefty sum was urgently needed for holy water, olive oil, prayer warriors, and all other religious paraphernalia to be deployed for the house cleansing.

If they went against this vision, against this prophesy, and moved into the house without it being cleansed, they would die.

His parents asked him to come home and listen to what the pastor was saying. But the young man wouldn’t have any of it. First, he laughed it off as the mumbling of an old village fool, but then his parents became agitated about his stubbornness. “Soon as you people make this money, you forget God”, they said to him.

He said he had no problem with anyone coming to bless or cleanse the house, if it was free. But to pay for such? To be given a list for such, he would not do it.

He was shocked. How was it that his aged parents couldn’t sniff this con artist of a pastor from a mile away? He did not want to antagonise them further. He had built the house, and he would be hurt to see that the house opening would be marred by a growing disaffection.

“Mummy, Daddy,” he called them, “The only money I have left on that project is what I intend to spend on bringing in bespoke Italian furniture into the house. But if you insist on the house cleansing charade, I am ready to give you guys the money for the furniture to pay the pastor. So, which would it be?”

His parents stared at him for a minute, looked at themselves, and an ominous silence reigned supreme. “Nna, biko iwe ewena gi, don’t be offended, furnish the house for us.”

This December would be 11 years of his parents moving into that house without any cleansing. Nobody died.

By mitterand okorie
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157375153069815&id=786579814

Yesterday morning while driving to the Nigerian Defence Academy for my 8 o'clock examinations, I witnessed two disturbing events that convinced me that patriotism is almost dead in Nigeria. The first is the emergency long queues I saw in the Mando filling stations. Between January and up to the end of November, there were no queues in these filling stations. Now that Christmas is approaching, all of a sudden the queues surfaced again. And this is across the nation. Why? Because some greedy Nigerians want to profiteer and exploit their fellow Nigerians and make some quick money.
The second experience was when I wanted to enter the Academy through the Quarter Guard, there was a queue as a result of the examinations. A short queue that was not more than five minutes. But as short of the queue was, three military officers could not be patient enough for it to end. They drove pass everybody and entered because they knew that the poor soldiers at the guard post could not challenge them. How tragic! A flagrant display of indiscipline in the military!
The indiscipline of these irresponsible military officers reminded me of an encounter with General Ishola Williams five years ago. Williams was a member of Course 1 of the Academy. He was invited as a guest speaker in an Academy conference. In the course of his lecture, he openly supported the soldiers that went on rampage in the Akure military formation over the non-payment of their allowances while on peace keeping mission abroad. Ishola Williams was so agitated that he advocated for the court-martial and possibly retirement of those that were responsible for the payment of these hapless solutions. Many of the senior military officers in conference were not comfortable with his position because, according to them, lawlessness should be frowned at in the military. One of them that dared to condemn Williams' position got the rebuke of his life that day. He told him that his likes are a danger to the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Such is the prevalence of moral decadence and the indiscipline in Nigeria that the military could not rise above it.
No nation could ever develop in the current crisis of integrity in Nigeria. How much could the President and his cabinet do if the citizens are crooks and thieves. This is where the anti-corruption crusade of President Buhari cannot be controverted. Every Nigerian must support this crusade apparently because it is the bane of Nigeria's development. But the contradictions of the Buhari's anti-corruption fight is its selectiveness and partisan colouration.
Is the fight against corruption and lawlessness in Nigeria by Buhari effective? Obviously not. Why? Two reasons. The first is because he is surrounded by criminals that sponsored his election. Hence, he has been held captive by the evolutionary process of his ascendancy into power. That's why he has not been able to prosecute any notable APC members. Any crooks that transit from the PDP to the APC suddenly become saints and free from the EFCC prosecution.
The second reason is that of decadent and hyprocritical followership. Nigerians go to the mosque every Friday. The Muslims pray five times daily. They go on prigmage to Mecca. They go on lesser hajj. In a similar vein, the Christians go d to the church on Sunday, go for weekly services and pilgrimage to Israel. Sadly, it is these elements that loot and steal in their offices. They perpetrate evils that will horrify the devil himself. They are the Christians and the Muslims. They are the ones that hoard petroleum products during festive periods. Definitely, patriotism has collapsed in Nigeria. It is tragic!

By prof alabi (NDA)

okway:
Go and sample this go and sample that. You're making erroneous comments on NL and you want me to do the research to provide you source. Shey craze dey do you?

No one takes us serious? okay we have heard lol come 2019 make una no come with "Yoruba the traitor" when we give Buhari an easy win

Very easy win it pains me that Yoruba people dont Knw dey value in this country walahi

With all this Yoruba dont understand one thing never make an allie with Hausa dey are like animals na wa belle face

Just an observation Muslim men and women now dress extraordinary good ( babban riga) just like Christian do on Sunday. Am from a Muslim background and have also stayed in the Arab world, everyone goes to Friday prayer's like a normal daily activity with just a little different spirit but putting on special cloth and using your best car in your garage to show how rich u are or how specail that day is that i have never seen in the Arab world .so is this character right in Islam using your best cloth or cars to show of on a Friday .

What are the Benefits of President Buhari's Visit to Jordan?

Two months ago President Buhari led a contingent of top government officials to Turkey. Last week again, he went to Jordan with some governors and other officials to attend a conference on anti-terrorism. In concrete terms, what did Nigeria gain from this visit? I cannot think of any apart from meeting with the President of tiny countries like Guinea, Togo and others that attended the conference.
Rather than visit Adamawa where police officers and other citizens were killed as a result of the violence that ensued from the clash between the herdsmen and the farmers, the President preferred to go to Jordan, spending millions of dollars on such a fruitless visit.
The President loves visiting other countries but world leaders hardly reckon with such visits. How many of them have visited Nigeria in the last two years? Could hardly think of any. For God's sake, let him stay at home and addres pressing national issues. These his meaningless foreign visits are sheer distractions and a waste of scarce national resources.

Prof David Oluwatoba Alabi

Turkey Central Bank Admits Bitcoin is a Threat to Global Banking System
Joseph Young on 02/12/2017

Earlier this month, Turkish Central Bank Governor Murat Cetinkaya emphasized that bitcoin could contribute to global financial stability with its decentralized and peer-to-peer (P2P) financial network.

Turkish Central Bank Feels Threatened by Bitcoin

The decentralized structure and nature of bitcoin completely eliminates the necessity of central entities and authorities within the network to settle transactions between two parties. Anyone within the Bitcoin network can freely and seamlessly send and receive transactions without intermediaries.

As such, the research paper of Bank of Finland, described bitcoin as a “marvelous” decentralized financial network, because it operates with its own rules and monopoly by effectively creating a new economy.

“Bitcoin is a monopoly run by a protocol, not by a managing organization. Familiar monopolies are run by managing organizations with discretion to determine and then change prices, offerings and rules. Monopolies are often regulated to prevent or at least mitigate their abuse of power,” the paper of the Bank of Finland read.

Several governments and central banks including the Turkish Central Bank are concerned with the impact bitcoin has imposed on the global finance industry over the past year, and how it could continue to evolve into a premier store of value, eventually overtaking gold and eventually, reserve currencies like the US dollar and Japanese yen.

If bitcoin continues to grow at an exponential rate in terms of daily transaction volume, daily trading volume, user base, infrastructure, and adoption by major financial institutions, bitcoin will inevitably become a major component of the global finance sector and a competitor to both government-issued fiat currencies and central banks.

“Digital currencies pose new risks to central banks, including their control of money supply and price stability, and the transmission of monetary policy, Cetinkaya said. Even so, the Turkish central banker said that digital currencies may be an important element for a cashless economy, and the technologies used can help speed up and make payment systems more efficient,” wrote Eric Lam of Bloomberg, who covered the conference attend by Cetinkaya in Istanbul in early November.

Bitcoin Has Become a Challenge For Central Banks

Bitcoin has become a challenge for many governments and central banks, primarily because it forces the authorities to make one of the two decisions; either adopt bitcoin and be at the forefront of Bitcoin development or isolate its economy by rejecting bitcoin.

Various studies including Facebook IQ’s research have demonstrated that over 90 percent of millennials across the globe have lost trust in banks and major financial institutions. Millennials feel disconnected from banks, and believe that the banks do not understand or address their necessities.

Consequently, prominent venture capitalist and A16Z partner Balaji Srinivasan stated that by 2040, millennials will have never known a world without bitcoin.

“By 2040, everyone under 30 will have never known a world without Bitcoin. It may as well be gold. That’s the long-term case for replacement,” said Srinivasan.

With the crackdown on fraudulent activities of commercial banks and the decline of the global fiat currency system, bitcoin is in an optimal position to evolve into the next global currency. The Turkish Central Bank feels threatened by the rapid growth rate of bitcoin, as it could render its existence unnecessary in the long-term.

Useless camp no single social activity ( blaming security protocol ) u can't even find alcohol in d market imagine

Here is it: the CBN monetises the oil dollars to naira and hands the three tiers of government the naira equivalent, say at N197 from 2016 to May 2017 — the month the 2017 budget decided to peg the oil dollars at N305 per a dollar.

As a result of this carefully engineered free fall of the naira, during the 12 months (June 2016 to May 2017), the CBN in pretence of defending the naira was pumping minimum of $1 billion into the forex market and the least naira exchanged for a dollar was at N350 when the parallel markets were selling at not less than N450.

Of course, you wouldn’t be wrong to say that CBN officials were making N153 (i.e. N350 – N197) for government on each dollar they sold in the official forex market, even though the Fiscal Responsibility Act permits the apex bank to keep 20% of that profit. But there is the hidden truth that makes top CBN officials such instant trillionaires.

Now, by selling at such a huge gap between official rate (N350) and parallel market rate (N450) a whopping N100 is stolen. How? For you to get the artificially scarce naira for your imports or other foreign transactions, you are required to accept dollars at the parallel market rate, and why shouldn’t you? If you are an importer of finished consumer goods? Ok then, let us multiply 12 billion by 100 and what do you get, N1.2 trillion. That was more or less how much these folks at CBN stole from all of us between June 2016 and May 2017.

Every year the presidency presents its Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), where what we should expect in the next budget’s fiscal and monetary policies of the government are laid out.

But as implausible as has been the case, year in year out, the government tends to peg the exchange rate far below the prevailing market rates. For those who do not understand the behind-the-scenes game being played, the so-called fiscal prudence is simply used in concealing their true economic agenda.

It is all about defrauding the Nigerian people trillions of naira through forex scam involving those managing the country’s forex at CBN.

Having earlier brought this to the attention of the president even before he was sworn in, I was surprised that no drastic change took place to stop this fraud. Once again, I am stating it here as my patriotic duty.

Just ask yourself how come the naira was floated — supposedly naira joined most currencies on a flexible exchange rate to be determined by the market forces? And why, following the announcement, the naira lost the unheard-of 31% value, selling at N288.85 per dollar on June 20, 2016?

The next question you should ask yourself as a concerned citizen is: why did the CBN have to float the naira immediately after the 2016 budget was signed into law, with the naira officially pegged at N197 per dollar? Why did the CBN pretend to have floated the naira and contrary to this policy of floating around the world, the same CBN continues to intervene in the forex market rather than participate in the market?

These questions will provide answers about how the forex coup was carefully orchestrated by those who would soon start making trillions of naira through forex management manipulations. As they limited access to dollars to few large banks and traders, at N197 rate, the arbitrage created became so unheard-of along with the opportunities to exploit the huge gap created by the artificial scarcity. While the planned kill has been going on, the economy has been in flames.

Thanks to CBN preferring to intervene when the right policy would have been to participate in the forex market from time to time. Not minding this being the common thing done when a currency is floated, as part of the agenda to defraud our commonwealth, those behind this forex scam decided intervening in the forex market. Also, the huge cost it imposes on the economy, notwithstanding. So, through intervention in the forex market, the CBN has continuously distorted the forex market; a supposed market where suppliers and buyers ought to be fighting to achieve equilibrium.

But before we go further, it is important to refresh our minds with the banning of 41 goods and services, which took place on May 3, 2015 at the critical time when neither Jonathan nor Buhari was fully in charge. I wouldn’t make us to dwell on whether or not the CBN went beyond its mandate by including what was ordinarily an important policy exclusively reserved for our fiscal policymakers, which should have been accompanied by an outright ban of such goods and services entering the country’s economic space by the Nigerians Customs Services (NCS).

But what we should not forget is the fact that most of the imported items banned from accessing forex at the Nigerian official forex markets such as “iron rods, cold rolled sheets, wire rods, reinforcing bars, polypropylene granules, glass and glass ware, textiles, plastic and rubber products, as well as tomato value chain sectors,” are among the high consumers of forex.

Yes! Most analysts were concerned that such a CBN forex policy was done without taking into full account the critical intermediate role most of these products play as critical inputs for many manufacturing activities. In the meantime, importers of critical industrial plants and machinery as well as raw materials who were either not ready to pay such huge difference as they are denied access to the official forex markets saw no other option but to lay off most of the workers as they are forced to reduce their business activities.

Importers of cheap Chinese and Indian consumer goods, who don’t mind the high forex cost, including accepting from the commercial banks at the black market rate, continued to have their import businesses to blossom, thanks to their readiness to being in bed with top CBN and commercial bank officials, who rechanneled billions of dollars to the black market through round tripping, from where their fronts sell it to these importers of cheap consumer goods.

For those who apply for forex from the official forex markets, once the commercial banks use their naira to secure the forex, and once the banks have the forex from the CBN transferred to their overseas accounts, the same commercial banks will turn around to lie to these customers, by telling them that they were unable secure any forex for them from the said official market.

In the meantime, the commercial banks will then go ahead to advise them to accept the so-called forex in their foreign bank accounts, banks that are actually the partners. Since these importers of plants and machinery or critical industrial raw materials have no other option, they of course go ahead to accept the black-market rates these banks always offer them.

The negative consequences on our economy were unbelievably huge; leading to the economy’s eventual succumbing to the powerful forces of recession. While each year as a result, over a trillion of naira is made in this forex fraud perpetuated by these powerful officials of CBN and their presidency counterparts — who hardly care about the huge cost and the sufferings their actions have continued to unleash on the masses of Nigeria — many more businesses either collapsed or joined others in fleeing the country taking along with them hundreds of thousands of jobs.

But you see, that was not what those central bankers had in mind. Their interest, which was selfishly driven to eventually force the importers of these 41 banned items to henceforth source their forex from the black market at exorbitant price. This is where the free hundreds of billions of naira are made by top officials of CBN and their fronting commercial banks, especially with foreign currency (domiciliary) accounts with commercial banks forced to be shut down by the same CBN.

Now try to reconcile this policy with the CBN sharing forex among some bureau de change that are indirectly closely linked to, if not owned by, top CBN and presidency officials. It is here that this forex policy that pretended to be banning 41 imported goods and services for the good of economy exposes the fraudulent intentions of those who hurriedly made it.

The question, therefore, becomes: but why is CBN handing billions of subsidized forex (dollars) to the supposed forex users — through the banks — through its forex market intervention and done so at such an incredible loss to our commonwealth, when participating in the forex market would have been earning government and the whole country the same hundreds of billions of naira we are losing as a result of this carefully constructed forex policy summersault fraudulently perpetuated by the CBN at each intervention in the forex markets?

The answer if not already obvious is not far-fetched. By intervening rather than participating, the managers of our forex at CBN have decided to share with banks and many big time consumers of forex like Dangote, the gains that would have been accruing to government had they participated in the forex market.

Always selling the dollar far below the forex market value makes the CBN subsidise dollars from time to time at atrocious rates. To now know the level of forex fraud associated with this underselling of the dollar is to know the kind of huge gains that necessitate that.

Here is it: the CBN monetises the oil dollars to naira and hands the three tiers of government the naira equivalent, say at N197 from 2016 to May 2017 — the month the 2017 budget decided to peg the oil dollars at N305 per a dollar.

As a result of this carefully engineered free fall of the naira, during the 12 months (June 2016 to May 2017), the CBN in pretence of defending the naira was pumping minimum of $1 billion into the forex market and the least naira exchanged for a dollar was at N350 when the parallel markets were selling at not less than N450.

Of course, you wouldn’t be wrong to say that CBN officials were making N153 (i.e. N350 – N197) for government on each dollar they sold in the official forex market, even though the Fiscal Responsibility Act permits the apex bank to keep 20% of that profit. But there is the hidden truth that makes top CBN officials such instant trillionaires.

Now, by selling at such a huge gap between official rate (N350) and parallel market rate (N450) a whopping N100 is stolen. How? For you to get the artificially scarce naira for your imports or other foreign transactions, you are required to accept dollars at the parallel market rate, and why shouldn’t you? If you are an importer of finished consumer goods? Ok then, let us multiply 12 billion by 100 and what do you get, N1.2 trillion. That was more or less how much these folks at CBN stole from all of us between June 2016 and May 2017.

Again, this fraud will run from June 2017 to May 2019, since 2018 budget will run up to May 2019 at N305 per dollar. While since June 2017, they have drastically reduced government’s profit with naira officially increased to N305 and officially selling at about N310 against parallel market at N380 (more or less), the folks in charge of disbursing the forex at CBN go behind to insist on the difference between the official rate and the parallel market to be handed to them or else no dollars can be allocated to the said end user. And being importers of finished consumer goods, they always hand them N70 per dollar, being the difference between N310 and N380. Here, we are talking about N840 billion (70 x 12 billion) between June 2017 and May 2018.

By now, it is crystal clear for one to understand the kind of mind-boggling forex fraud taking place at our apex bank that is being hidden away from Nigerians. But then, that is not all, as you may presume that they have some human feelings.

What makes the crime total and devastating is the fact that, the loots are reinvested into the system by lending back the money to government at an atrocious interest rates—in most cases between 14% and 16% (N840 x 0.16) gives you N134.4 billion, that is more or less the extra money to be made from their N84 billion loot between June 2017 and May 2018. In the case of interest earned between June 2016 and May 2017 (N1.2 trillion x 0.16), they went home with as high as N192 billion free cash.

What we can’t tell is if in this scam, they have some powerful politicians whose interests are being carried along. It is difficult to believe that eagle-eyed politicians wouldn’t know about this fraud, especially given how they have been allowing such unbelievable exchange rates year in, year out. Whether they know about this fraud or not, is up to them and their conscience…

For us here, even though the obvious truth is that that should be their personal and collective preoccupation, we should insist that the two houses waste no time in inviting the top officials of the CBN and their presidency counterparts to a televised public hearing where they are questioned to tell the world what has been going on during the past years, especially since the beginning of the administration of Emefiele.

Understandably, it will be difficult for this to happen especially as we are about entering the electioneering period, a time all elected politicians would be looking for money no matter the source. That is why I am foreseeing surge in this unheard-of institutional forex fraud. And it explains why both the presidency and the National Assembly would support our mind-boggling low exchange rates at N305 per dollar in the 2018/2019 budget even when the facts on the ground are showing that as a result of more domestic borrowings and supplementary budgets, more and more money would soon be flooding the system, the naira wouldn’t be less than N450 per dollar.

That is the kind of officially supported fraud which has been going on as a result of the so-called CBN floating of the naira where rather than participating in the forex markets it prefers intervening with tens of billions of dollars. In this its fraudulent efforts to keep the naira artificially strong, there is no other reason than taking full advantage of the huge gap the intervention continuously creates.

As a result, there is no way presidency and our federal lawmakers, having received this kind of free money would ever want the current CBN leadership to be replaced. Not, and never in this world! After all, you can’t bite the finger that feeds you…

As members of the Okonjo-Iweala led Economic Management Team, which in reality was a carefully constructed project, Jim Ovia and Dangote used their membership in controlling all major economic policy decisions of the Jonathan administration. One of those far-reaching policy decisions by the trio — Jim Ovia, Dangote, and Okonjo-Iweala was to so brainwash Jonathan to ensure that Mr Sanusi was prematurely removed as the chief banker of the country, and in his place they smuggled in their mole, who they would have no difficulty controlling.

I knew this was coming, when I wrote Senate President David Mark along with his 108 colleagues not to screen and confirm Mr Emefiele as the CBN Governor for the obvious reason that installing him as the chief banker of Nigeria after the removal of Sanusi would mean handing the CBN to Mr Dangote’s business interests and Mr Ovia’s business interests with Zenith Bank headquarters where the final monetary policy of the country will be decided. Understandably, they ignored my pleas, especially given that my pleas were coming at a time elections were around the corner and politicians needed money for their reelection campaigns.

Little wonder handing Dangote dollars at such unbelievable rates, remains one of the many ways to pay him back for the role he played in his becoming the country’s chief banker. If you were given a dollar at N305 when the black market was at N400, for example, wouldn’t you go to the black market where at N400 you can easily make N95 per dollar? And if you are given $10bn within two years translating to N950bn (i.e. 10bn x 95), with such huge profit, if you were Dangote, shouldn’t it make sense to always postpone completing your refinery/petrochemical for now?

That such unelected so-called technocrats should be this powerful to be allowed to go ahead conducting such a forex policy as it pleases them, is the reason why it is high time we amended the CBN Act of 2007 so that this power to oversee our forex policy will be relocated to the office of the president with serious oversight by the National Assembly. After all, the president and our lawmakers are the ones elected with the power to oversee that our economy is prosperous. This, they have to demonstrate in their performance score cards.

By Odilim Enwegbara

LOVE DOES NOT SURVIVE THE ROAD TO LIBYA

He could not believe it. She got to Italy before him. They were engaged. She threaded the same dangerous path where he saw countless passports of dead migrants. All of whom were erased from memory as they were from life.

He could not believe after he warned his family to warn her to stay put, that the road to Italy via Libya was a death trap only fitting for suicidal adventurers, she till came.

Why did she insist? How did she make it? The night he was to take off on the inflated balloon boat, she was told. But he could not make it that night, he was too fearful of the sea. In Nigerian parlance, we say: liver cut am. His morale failed him.

He took his failed liver back into town where he was kidnapped the second time. The first time was just as bad. The agent fled when some frightening men wielding Kalashnikov came for them. He would endure beatings, blows, kicks, whippings, especially on the sole of his feet for many days, until his family sent 250,000 through a proxy for his release.

For many nights he thought about the calamitous decision to embark on that trip. When he refused to step into that boat, he thought about returning to Nigeria. And then recalled that it was just as suicidal to do so. He remembered the many dead he saw in the desert. Nameless, all nameless, stripped of both dignity and names.

He had spent his first 400,000 Naira on the trip getting a Bene Republic. passport as he was advised. So he knew many of those passports he saw lying on desert sands bore names of men whose real names no longer existed.

His second trip in the hands of his kidnappers was just as despicable. He wept to his family, so much that his cries became the source of a family fracas. Everyone blamed his sister who encouraged him to make the trip. Those who told him that his N1 million would give him a fighting chance back home treated his pleas with scorn. They would not be bothered by a stubborn grasshopper that got hit by a train.

His sister would fork out another N170,000 to free him from his abductors den. That very day, he called his family, thanked them and asked for prayers. If fate desired it so, he had accepted to die in the water than returning to Nigeria via the same route.

The coast guards had gone to prayers, and their smugglers quickly got them into the inflatable boats, and they set sail. It was then that the horrors of dying at sea hit him. The boat swung from side to side, dancing to the dangerous rhythm of the water.

He said that at some point, the stench of dead bodies filled the air. A foul and notoriously putrid stench. It was simply hard to breathe. A woman lost her baby on the boat, and couldn’t get herself, despite the yelling from fellow passengers, to dump the baby in the sea.

“The baby is dead, Madam? Should we make it to Italy, what are you going to do with a dead baby over there?”
She sobbed. Everyone else was too tired to cry. Every man carried with them after all, an unspeakable scar, a tragic story that stupefied them.

Alas, they would finally see the Italian coast guards patrolling the water. It was then they began to weep again. It was then they knew, that although they had come in contact with death, they would have to die another day.

So when he called from the asylum camp to report that he was now in Italia, his family informed him that his fiancé followed suit not long after he took off. He asked, what route, and they told him the same Libyan route. Turned out, she made the passage at time he was kidnapped the second time.

“She too is somewhere in one of the camps over there. We spoke with her. Can you contact her?” His sister asked him.

“Contact who? I begged you guys to warn her not to come. I swear, if truly she made it through the same very route which I witnessed with my eyes, I want nothing to do with her again. No woman makes it out of there without a collection of beastly men passing though her over and over again.”
He hung up the phone.

*Story as narrated to me by the sibling of a Nigerian migrant who journeyed the deadly Libyan route to Italy.

By Mitterand Okorie (01. Dec. 17)

Africa is the new frontier wether the world likes it or not. However it has become clear to me that Africans are not ready to do business with fellow Africans.
A case in point, it costs more to travel from Abuja to Younde that it costs to travel from Abuja to London or Frankfurt on a typical African airline. It costs more money to make calls from Africa to Africa than it does to call Europe from Africa. A British person needs around 14 visas to travel in Africa but I need at least 30 visas as an African. How can I pay 0.500 cents per minute to call an African country and pay 0.008 cents to call the UK. We have not started at all.. We need to wake up..our countries are being stolen!!!

An arewa man is arguably the most difficult husband any woman can ever have. Doesn’t mean they aren’t great husbands, being difficult doesn’t equate to being a total failure, This write up is not intended to bash arewa men in general or stereotype them either, as ofcourse there are exceptions, but an average arewa man to be honest doesn’t give his wife her rights fully.
That’s why it bothers me so much when I see all these clueless women who tag themselves feminists, because to be honest, most of the time, they always miss the point, If only they fight for what they are supposed to fight for. All they go about doing is fighting for the impossible. A woman is allowed to fight for her right in Islam, feminism in my opinion is actually making them deviate from that. It’s another thing entirely.

It’s so funny that ever since the incident of The girl that murdered her husband, a lot of arewa men have been having a field day in bashing the women, the women might be all we say they are and more but it doesn’t exonerate the men either. We have our own issues. Terrible issues. The matrimonial problems in our society is major. Are some people making effort towards addressing them? Yes, are we collectively and seriously making effort to address them? No.

The problem is a general issue, it has no gender barrier. As a matter of fact, I think the women issues stem from that of men because if men do what they are supposed to do properly, there will be less problems in marriages.

This latest episode actually exposed the feminists who always shout and make it seem like it only happens to a particular gender, it has exposed their hypocrisy but it has also provided us an avenue to address these issues.

An average cheating arewa man act as if cheating is his birthright, it’s so rampant it’s sickening and disgusting. It begs the question, do some of us even know why we get married at all? I doubt. Marriage has been dumb down. If only we put half the effort we put in weddings in our marriages, our society would’ve been better off. We get married in order for us to be able to stay away from that which is forbidden to us, but it seems the reverse is the case these days.

Arewa men use the fact that Islam grant them the right to marry four wives as an excuse to cheat on their wives, until we understand that cheating on your wives isn’t the same as marrying more than one wife, then there will continue to be a problem. I believe there are proper ways to go about seeking a second, third or fourth wife in Islam, not by womanising or dating girls up and down when you have a wife at home.

As an arewa woman or any woman for that matter, you have every right to question your husband when he cheats on you, you don’t have the right to stop him from marrying another, you can’t, even if you try to, if you try to, there will be a problem, it can spiral to Maryam and Bilyamin kind of scenerio.

There should be a line between cheating and marrying another wife. And as a wife, if you know your husband is cheating and confronts him about it, and he gives you the excuse of him having the right to marry four, then take it upon yourself to make him do the right thing by making him follow the right channels, if possible, follow him to the girls house and help him ask for her hand in marriage, Get elders involved, give him conditions, he either marry her legally or you won’t accept cheating.

Yes, it’s not easily done as said but at the end of the day, put it at the back of your mind, worse come to worse, he is still going to marry her, you can’t stop it so why not be involved. It’s cheaper to bring her home anyways, if he doesn’t, he is probably spending more on her outside than he is spending on you and your kids.

Second, third or fourth wife isn’t the end of the world, like you arewa women usually say “ba a kai na zata zauna ba” there are some second, third or fourth wives doing better in their marriages than some only wives. Being an only wife doesn’t necessarily mean you will have it better than some second, third or fourth wives. Some are enjoying their marriages than some only wives.

But you know women like being lied to. If a man tells you during courtship that you are the only woman he is ever going to marry, just know that you are about to marry a pathological liar, a sincere man will never promise you that, even if he doesn’t intend to marry another, and a clever woman will never fall for that and will never box a man into promising her that too. God knows why HE said men can marry up to four wives, even with four wives, some still cheat. Even the westerners that deceived themselves that they are against polygamy are secretly polygamous because they cheat. If their laws are changed today, trust me, a lot of them will marry more than one. It’s a hypocritical law, else if people like hugh hefner the owner of playboy mansion can have Many girlfriends and even document his ways without the law catching up with him, then why outlaw the practice.

Even the stars our own slay queens try to model their lives after get cheated on. Beyoncé has been cheated on, Rihanna has been cheated on, Halle Berry has been cheated on, nicki minaj has been cheated on, it then means no matter how beautiful these stars are, they still got cheated on by their spouses, that’s because there is that polygamy in every man. They only need to legalise it for them to explore it better.

It’s common knowledge that an average arewa woman will rather her husband cheats on her with another woman than bring her home as a lawful-wife. In their little minds, as long as they are the only ones in the matrimonial home, they can put up with anything, thereby endangering their own lives by exposing themselves to sexual transmitted diseases.

The way arewa women tolerate their cheating husbands, turn the page and let it be the women cheating and it will be the beginning of World War III.
I doubt any self respectable arewa man will catch his wife cheating and spend any more minute with her. Yes, women are disadvantaged in that aspect as finding a husband as a divorcee is not really fun but if the Men can’t tolerate it, why do the women tolerate it?
Allowing your husband cheat in peace doesn’t make you clever, you are not helpless in that aspect, you just need to be smart in handling it, don’t allow your jealousy and rage take the better part of you in handling it.

I read a lot of opinion from men and women alike who believe if a woman doesn’t want disappointment, she shouldn’t temper with her husband’s phone and read his text massages, and I completely disagree with that.

I believe in marriage, the highest level of trust should be established by both parties, a marriage where there is no trust between both parties in my opinion is to some extent a sad union. You should have confidence in yourself enough that your wife can touch your phone without you having a heart attack. How many men out there can let their wives touch their phones? and then, if you can’t allow your wife go through your phone, it means you can’t go through hers either, which means there is no trust between you. Whenever I say this, people usually laugh and make it seem like I am naive in that aspect because I have never been married, but I believe you don’t need to be married to know right and wrong, it’s common sense. I pray a lot over this, even though I believe it’s something I don’t think I will ever do, I still reason with people that think I am naive and pray for Allah’s guidance. But even if I engage in it, doesn’t make it right. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it and right is right even if it’s one person doing it.

Couples shouldn’t have to go through each other’s phone in a probing manner but there should be trust enough for them to touch the phone without either one of them freaking out over it.
It’s true that older generation went through a lot in their marriages without protesting but we shouldn’t expect these slay queens and young bloods to tolerate same thing as long as their protests are legit and done the right way. Although I don’t support their gra gra style of protest, I do believe the men equally need to put their acts together.

Men are the leaders of the matrimonial home while the women are the custodian of it, men will have to lead in doing the right thing before they can be able to assert authority as leaders, Islam has given women their rights in marriages, and men don’t have a choice than to give it to them, even if they don’t fight for it, we often say if there is no justice in the world, there won’t be peace, so how do we expect all to be well if we don’t treat our women right?

Arewa men need to loosen up around their spouses, they need to be romantic to some extent, Islam encourages being mild and romantic towards our spouses, Although I believe the younger generation arewa men are trying to be different in that regard, even they are equally going about it the wrong way, because most of them are doing it the western way, thereby doing it unislamic way.

The issue of marriage most especially in arewa is an issue we need to stand up to look into and address. Our women are not happy in their marriages and sadly, it’s the men that are making them unhappy. Forget about the foolish women, there are million sane and ideal women that aren’t happy in their marriages. AREWA MEN, WAKE UP AND LEAD. Unless we are trying to emulate Satan, this wasn’t how Prophet Muhammad (SAW) led his matrimonial home. The key to a happy marriage even though I believe requires the input of husband and wife, I believe the man should lead the way.

There was a time the Efcc was looking for Obanikoro everywhere. He was outside the country, but they asked him back. They wanted to extradite him. His name was on every national newspaper as a wanted man.

Then Obanikoro came back and joined APC and that changed everything.

Obanikoro is still in the country. He is no longer a wanted man. He has not been arrested. He has not been prosecuted. Old things have passed away and behold all things are now new.

Efcc saw the broom and passed over.

By
godwin david

The Disgraceful Clash Between EFCC and DSS over the Arrest of the Erstwhile DG, DSS.

On Monday this week, I taught 25 Colonels and their equivalent in the two other arms of the Nigerian Armed Forces the concepts of defence policy, national security and military strategy. These are the Fellows of the prestigious National Defence College. In the course of the lecture, the Operation Neptune Spear that killed Osama bin Laden was discussed. We stressed the importance of the inter-agency co-operation that led to the death of Osama.
Without co-operation and harmony among the security agencies, national security is imperil led. This is a fundamental challenge in the Nigerian Security community. This came the fore when the DSS aborted the EFCC's attempt to arrest the immediate past DG of the DSS, Ita Ekpepeyoung two days ago. Armed with search and arrest warrant, the EFCC stormed the residence of Ekpepeyoung but in a show of shame, the DSS prevented his arrest!
Three vivid points emerge from this ugly incident. One, there are an inter-agency rivalry and antagonisms between these two agencies. Within this sad and ridiculous conjuncture, how could these two organisations of the state work in concert to promote national security and the fight against corruption! This is really tragic!
Two, it's self evident there is no co-ordination of efforts and supervisory apparatus that mediates in the activities of these agencies.
Three, the DSS has demonstrated vividly to the whole world to see that it is a lawless institution. What is so special by Ekpepeyoung that he could not be arrested by a lawful state agency like the EFCC! Why do these installations behave in this disgraceful manner? They do so because they know that the Presidency will do nothing and the whole incident will soon be forgotten. Maina, a fugitive and a suspect that is running away from justice was promoted and reinstated in the Ministry of Interior. The Head of Service said she warned the President of the consequences of this criminality, yet the Presidency allowed this to pass! Things are really happening under the Buhari government!

Prof david oluwatoba alabi (NDA)

The Disgraceful Clash Between EFCC and DSS over the Arrest of the Erstwhile DG, DSS.

On Monday this week, I taught 25 Colonels and their equivalent in the two other arms of the Nigerian Armed Forces the concepts of defence policy, national security and military strategy. These are the Fellows of the prestigious National Defence College. In the course of the lecture, the Operation Neptune Spear that killed Osama bin Laden was discussed. We stressed the importance of the inter-agency co-operation that led to the death of Osama.
Without co-operation and harmony among the security agencies, national security is imperil led. This is a fundamental challenge in the Nigerian Security community. This came the fore when the DSS aborted the EFCC's attempt to arrest the immediate past DG of the DSS, Ita Ekpepeyoung two days ago. Armed with search and arrest warrant, the EFCC stormed the residence of Ekpepeyoung but in a show of shame, the DSS prevented his arrest!
Three vivid points emerge from this ugly incident. One, there are an inter-agency rivalry and antagonisms between these two agencies. Within this sad and ridiculous conjuncture, how could these two organisations of the state work in concert to promote national security and the fight against corruption! This is really tragic!
Two, it's self evident there is no co-ordination of efforts and supervisory apparatus that mediates in the activities of these agencies.
Three, the DSS has demonstrated vividly to the whole world to see that it is a lawless institution. What is so special by Ekpepeyoung that he could not be arrested by a lawful state agency like the EFCC! Why do these installations behave in this disgraceful manner? They do so because they know that the Presidency will do nothing and the whole incident will soon be forgotten. Maina, a fugitive and a suspect that is running away from justice was promoted and reinstated in the Ministry of Interior. The Head of Service said she warned the President of the consequences of this criminality, yet the Presidency allowed this to pass! Things are really happening under the Buhari government!

Prof david oluwatoba alabi (NDA)