₦airaland Forum

Peoples Democratic Party under the leadership of
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said that Nigerians are
yearning for the return of former President Goodluck
Jonathan to power.


It said this in its congratulatory message on the 59
birthday of the former President.
Spokesperson for the Makarfi-led national caretaker
committee of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said in a
statement in Abuja on Sunday, that Jonathan’s legacies
and achievements in academia, politics, governance
and social life remain indelible and worthy of emulation
by well-meaning people.


He said, “You are a shining light during and after office
as one of the Heads of State in Nigeria and Africa in
general who willingly conceded power to the opposition
in the interest of peace and democracy.
“In less than two years of leaving office, Nigerians are
yearning and crying for your return especially as your
successor who won the 2015 presidential election on
the altar of propaganda and lies against your
administration has done no better since he took over
from you on May 29, 2015.


“The harvest of your electoral reforms for free, fair and
credible electoral and democratic processes for which
the All Progressive Congress is the primary beneficiary
of have been eroded and quickly replaced with
inconclusive elections, electoral apathy, voter
inducement, intimidation, harassment and unfair
incarceration of judges and squeezing of opposition at
all levels.”


punchng.com/nigerians-want-jonathan-says-makarfis-pdp-2/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

sarrki:
No brother

GEJ is the worst on the entire planet

He's part of the mistake Nigeria ever made

As a deputy governor he was a disaster

As a governor he was an epidemic

As Vice President he was a damaged

As president he was a calamity

He's an epidemic to the global peace

What are you typing gan? I don't like Jonathan but never insult your President, my President. It's a Sunday. Now get on your knees, let me pray for you.

eshietIntrepid:
E pain u like die

An insipid comment from a pusillanimous intrepid.

agabusta:
In your topic you put President Jonathan, in the body of your write-up, you put 'former'.

You better adjust your topic to 'Ex-president before DSS visits you for treason'.

Happy birthday to him anyways.

Whether good or bad, once a President, forever a President. If you are to address him, you won't say "former President Jonathan" but "Mr President" or "Your Excellency". The topic is a noun, the body of the write-up is an adjective.

The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria has said Islam
will flourish during the administration of Donald Trump,
the United States of America’s president-elect.

According to the Islamic group, Allah is instrumental to
the emergence of Trump as the next US president.
Speaking on the issue, the National President of the
MSSN, Jameel Muhammad, said, “Allah gives leadership
to whom he wills. I see Islam growing fast in the West
and the United States in particular, under his reign.”
Similarly, President of Nasrul-Lahi-L-Islam-Fatih Society,
Kamil Bolarinwa, told one of our correspondents that
there would be no negative implication of Trump’s
presidency.

“Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.
Muslims will not be adversely affected by the actions of
any antagonist of Islam. Moreover, we do not see Trump
as becoming anti-Islam. We pray that God guides Trump
towards a more peaceful future for America and all,” the
NASFAT head stated.

But an Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern, stated
that Trump’s victory would have serious implications for
Muslims living in the US and elsewhere around the
world.

According to MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, the
advent of Trump has divided America along racial and
religious lines.

“It is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. He
threatened to close mosques. He also swore to create a
special database for muslims in order to control
terrorism. MURIC respects the wish of Americans to
stand by their national interest,” he said.


Meanwhile, President of the Catholic Bishops
Conference of Nigeria, Ignatius Kaigama, has called on
Trump, to “behave like a president” and use the
opportunity of his election to reconsider his threat to
eject immigrants from the country.

Kaigama, who is also the Catholic Archbishop of Jos,
stated this in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH at an
international conference organised by CBCN in
collaboration with the German Bishops Conference
Research Group on International Church Affairs.

The cleric said, “Sometimes, such statements are for
election campaigns. Let us hope that was just the issue.
Now that Trump has won (the US presidential) election, I
hope that he will behave like a president. A president is
like a mother hen which gathers the young ones together
and protects them. He should do the right thing by being
broad-minded and make sure he is a president for all.”

Speaking about the event, the Metropolitan Catholic
Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, said the
conference which was sponsored by Missio Aachen of
Germany, was a follow-up to an earlier international
programme on a related matter, held in Rome in 2013.



punchng.com/islam-will-grow-trumps-govt-muslims/

20. The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that can be seen from the moon.

21. Killing a Panda in China attracts the death penalty.

22. It is illegal to abandon your parents in China. Anyone whose parents are older than 60 is legally required to visit them often and make sure their financial and spiritual needs are met.

SamuelAnyawu:
Happy Birthday To The Father Of Modern Democracy in Nigeria......


My Ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian--- GEJ 2015

I'll that Ensure that Every State in Nigeria will Have a Federal University---GEJ 2011

Congratulations My President Muhammadu Buhari---GEJ's phone conversation immediately after 2015 presidential Election

We All Miss You Sir


Twale Baba GEJ

Just wish him happy birthday and leave the rhetorics.

"Stealing is not corruption."- GEJ

"President Jonathan lacked the goodwill to save."- Okonjo-Iweala

I cannot imagine having a pregnant governor. The woman was created for the man, remember?

It is either FFK is suffering from amnesia or trying to gain sympathy from the Ibos. To even compare the pussilanimous Kanu to Nzeogwu shows that he might have contracted "something" from the prison. The same Nzeogwu and his cohorts who nearly killed his father in 1966 is now a Nnamdi Kanu "reincarnated"? Continue!

The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War was a war fought to counter the secession of Biafra (then Eastern part of Nigeria consisting mainly of the Igbo people) from Nigeria.
It lasted for 30 months (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970) with millions of casualties on both sides. The war did not happen overnight but certain events led to it.

Below are the events that led to the unfortunate war where thousands (both military and civilian) lost their lives.

1. Almagamation of 1914

In 1914, Southern Nigeria was joined with Northern
Nigeria Protectorate to form the single colony of Nigeria.
The unification was done for economic reasons rather
than political—Northern Nigeria Protectorate had
a budget deficit; and the colonial administration sought
to use the budget surpluses in Southern Nigeria to offset
this deficit.

This “marriage” was made without the consent of the
people, without a referendum but in the interest of the
colonialists. A system which would in the long run bring
about greed, hate, nepotism and tribalism amongst the
people of Nigeria.

2. 1946 Richards Constitution

The year 1946 saw the adoption of the Arthur Richard
Constitution which defined Nigeria, for the first time, in
terms of regions – thus dividing the still colonised
country into three main regions: the Northern, Western
and Eastern regions.

This is Nigeria’s “funniest” constitution which made a
centre weak but granting strength to the regions-in the
same country? This would have been the best time of
creating three independent countries instead of three
dependent ones.

3. 1962 Western Region’s State of Emergency and Obafemi Awolowo’s incarceration

The blatant support of Akintola’s unpopular government in
the West by the Balewa-led Federal Government was a
time bomb in the making. Declaring a state of emergency
in a whole Region when the imbroglio was only in the
House of Assembly was also a political gaffe by Balewa.
Awolowo’s imprisonment made the Federal Government
itself hated among the peoples of the Western Region,
who they believed was imprisoned on trumped-up
charges.

4. The Violent 1965 Western Regional Elections

The crisis over the struggle for political power during the
Western Regional elections of October 11, 1965 was the
last straw that broke the camel’s back which really
convinced the January boys of their military putsch on
the morning of January 15, 1966.
Balewa’s reluctance to step-in and declare a state of emergency when he should have, spiraled the events of January, 1966. As Emperor Nero watched as Rome burned, the Prime Minister fidgeted as the West descended to an incendiary state. And the rest as they say, is history.

5. January 15, 1966 Revolutionary Coup

Five majors led by Kaduna Nzeogwu (1937-1967) had
concluded their plans for the revolutionary coup as at
August, 1965, which was the mass annihilation of top
politicians and senior military officers in the country,
due to the loss of control of certain part of the country
and widespread corruption.

Whether the coup was Eastern favoured or not, it
brought into fore a united Northern Region in the Army,
regardless of tribe or religion.

Of the five majors, four were Easterners, while one, Adewale Ademoyega (1933-2007), was a Westerner. The new Head of State having dissolved the civilian government was an Easterner.

To install Awolowo, who was charged with corruption, as
Prime Minister and to create fourteen states for the
country was a confusion theory by the coup plotters.
Unfortunately for them, Ifeajuna thwarted their original
plan and fled to Ghana dressed as a woman. No action
was taken in the East and not a single shot was fired.
This convinced the Northern elements that the Igbos were
behind the killing of their leaders and officers. Hence, the
plan to get even began.

6. July 29, 1966 Northern Counter-Coup

Decree Number 34 of May 24, 1966 promulgated by Ironsi was the beginning of the end for him. The decree made the centre strong, thereby abolishing the powers granted to the regions. Interestingly, Nzeogwu, in an interview he granted in 1967, affirmed that Ironsi shot himself in the foot with that decree. Another mistake Ironsi did was the non-trial of the coup plotters of the January 15, 1966 carnage.

These caused a massive unrest in the Northern part of
the country as the Northerners had gone against
delimiting of regional powers as far back as 1959. In
June 1966, Ironsi began a tour of the country (never to
return to Lagos) and met with Northern elite, assuring
them of a united Nigeria.

Shehu Shagari and Richard Akinjide, surviving cabinet-
members of the First Republic, insisted that Aguiyi-Ironsi
took over power by force as against them handing over to
him. Whichever may be the case, the rise of Aguiyi-Ironsi
as Head of State raised fears in the hearts of the
northerners that the Igbos were all out for the total control
of the country. His infamous decree (an unfortunate
system we are now in, in the name of federal character)
which made an educated Igbo man to be eligible for civil
service in the educational-disadvantaged North raised
further fears and brought about the counter coup six
months later.

7. January 1967, Aburi Conference

With the counter-coup of July 29, 1966, the political
development of Nigeria’s federal structure took a
different turn. It was heightened even more by the fact
that the Eastern Regional Government in Enugu
immediately threatened secession if certain grievances
and demands were not met. The immediate concern of
the Federal Government, therefore, was for it to find
ways to appease the East so long as such concessions
were within the framework of one Nigeria.

But the Eastern Military Governor, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu (1933-2011), refused to leave the
East for any meeting anywhere in Nigeria because, he
claimed, he was not safe outside the East. The Federal
Government too argued that the Nigerian leader should
also not go to the East for a meeting. His life, they also
claimed, was not safe there either. Tension mounted and
Lieutenant-General Joseph Arthur Ankrah (1915-1992) of
Ghana offered a neutral meeting place. The venue was
Aburi, Ghana.

The Aburi meeting started on January 4, 1967 and lasted
for two days. Those who attended the meeting included
Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, the then Head of the Federal
Military Government and the Military Governors of the
four regions: Lt. Col. Hassan Usman Katsina (1933-1995)
(North), Lt. Col. Robert Adeyinka Adebayo (b. 1928)
(West), Lt. Col. David Akpode Ejoor (b. 1932) (Mid-West)
and Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Ojukwu (East).

Aburi was significant for several reasons. First, that the
leaders met at all was an achievement in itself. But even
more tangible was the fact that the leaders agreed that
force would not be used to settle the “brothers’ palaver”.
There was also the question of the disposition of
Nigerian troops and the reorganization of the Army after
the second coup on July 29, 1966 and the subsequent
pogrom that followed in May and September.

Ojukwu claimed that Nigeria did not have a central
government since the country as a result of the second
coup and its aftermath resolved itself into three separate
sovereign areas; the Lagos-West-North Area, the Mid-
West Area and the East Area. But Gowon insisted that
Nigeria was still one nation, an entity composed of four
regions and a central government in Lagos.
Ojukwu out-witted Gowon in this meeting and insisted
some certain parts of the events not to be recorded.
Gowon acceded to most of Ojukwu’s demand. When he
(Gowon) got home and the Permanent Secretaries
highlighted the grave consequences of the agreement to
him, he reneged and Ojukwu seceded.

8. May 1967 Creation of Twelve States

When, on May 27, 1967, General Gowon announced that
Nigeria would be divided into more states, twelve in all.
Nigerians were jubilant as the minorities felt secured and
out of domination by the majority peoples within the former regions.

The Northern Region was broken into six states (North-Western, North-Central, North-Eastern, Benue-Plateau, Kano and Kwara), thereby cracking its monolithic posture. The East was broken into three, with the Ibo people having their own state (East-Central) and the non-Ibo “minority” peoples in the East two of their own states (Rivers and South-East). The Mid-West remained as it was. Some part of the Western Region was carved out and merged with the Federal Territory of Lagos to form Lagos State. What remained of the
Western Region became Western State.

The creation of more states in the country pushed the,
East-Central State, the Ibo heartland, into an interior
pocket, cut off from the coastal oil reserves and its two
seaports of Port-Harcourt and Calabar. Thus, the lack of
seaports for the East-Central State was not unique.
For the secessionists, the creation of more states was a
bombshell, a political reality which they refused to
accept or even believe. They began to speed up the
secession of the Eastern Region which would include
according to them, the two new states of Rivers and
South-East.

On May 30, 1967, Ojukwu proclaimed that “the territory
and Region known as Eastern Nigeria, together with her
continental shelves and territorial waters, shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title The Republic of Biafra”.

Biafran national symbols must have taken months to
prepare, which implied that the Ojukwu was perhaps
committed to secession long before. Hence, he rejected
one peace move after another. Though the Federal
Government had her own share of the blames especially
its tardiness after Aburi, she did everything possible to
prevent the Nigerian balloon from bursting and to appease
the East to the extent that many Nigerians were doubting
whether the Federal Government was a sick dog that
could neither bark nor bite. Though, the secessionists
were defeated (after Ojukwu had fled) and Biafra
unconditionally surrendered and the secession ended, it
led to a senseless war for thirty months that has scarred
and marred the history of the nation. It has been forty-six
years the war ended, it still created a gulf between the
Igbos and the rest of the country as seen in the recent
agitation for Biafra.

If you enjoyed the article, you can share your comments below. Also, you can also share other events you think might have led to the Civil War. Thank you.

Source: www.historyvilleng.com/2016/11/18/8-great-events-that-led-to-the-nigerian-civil-war/

debbie:
Vacancy.

Are you a Certified Computer teacher? There are available openings for Male or Female Computer teachers.

Applicants must have 3 years experience in teaching Information Communication Technology as a subject in a School.
Send your C.V to humanresources.kcs@gmail.com. and call 09090480185.

Location, please?

“And I would like therefore to take this opportunity to say
that: I, Major-General Phillip Effiong, Officer of Peace
Administering the Government of the Republic of Biafra, now
wish to make the following declaration:

That we affirm we are loyal Nigerian citizens and accept the
authority of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria.
That we accept the existing administrative and political
structure of the Federation of Nigeria.

That any future constitutional arrangement will be worked
out by representatives of the people of Nigeria.
That the Republic of Biafra hereby ceases to exist.”- Phillip
Effiong, former Biafran General, handing over in 1970.


www.historyvilleng.com/2016/05/17/does-biafra-still-exist/

Olayinka Herbert Samuel Heelas Badmus Macaulay (14 November 1864 – 7 May 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, engineer, architect, journalist, and musician who is considered by many Nigerians as the founder of Nigerian nationalism.

He was the first Nigerian civil engineer, the first to own a car and the first founder of a political party.

His father founded the first secondary school in Nigeria while his mother was a daughter of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first African Bishop.

His portrait adorns the one naira coin.

His last words were, "After you have mourned me for a week, continue with the struggle".

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=545506522322804&id=497557743784349

It takes 11 hours for train to travel through Niger State alone, i.e from Jebba to Sarkinpowa.

N:B I added the 45 minutes it would stay in Minna.. Train should be in Sarkinpowa by now, will arrive Kaduna by 8:10, spend another 20 minutes at the Kaduna train station and then continue unto Zaria, Challawa then terminate at Kano around 11:30 pm - 12:00 am.

Total travel time from Lagos to Kano: 34 hours, 30 minutes instead of the 28 hours Estimated Time of Arrival.

NRC still needs to work on schedule and more coaches would be expedient for travellers as the festive season approaches.

"Happy is that nation, fortuitous is that generation, whose history is not forgotten."- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).


To remain happy, visit www.historyvilleng.com

2016 will go down as the year of the roll back. In Nigeria, we are going through our first recession in nearly two decades. Our colonisers, the United Kingdom, turned their backs on four decades of European Union membership, Turkey, a major Nigerian trading partner, has slowly started turning its back on the legacy of its founder, Kemal Atatürk, and the United States has turned its back on the world.
Of course, the US vote to put Donald Trump in the White House will not result in immediate change. The ships of the US Fifth and Sixth fleets are not going to roll up their anchors and leave Bahrain and Naples. However, it does signify that the American electorate has made its voice very clear that it wants an inward looking leader who puts America first. How will this affect Nigeria?
First, it will have a psychological effect. Mr Trump’s victory has shown, from the primaries, that being unconventional works, and that you can successfully take on the establishment. Imagine folks with multiple PhDs and dollops of political experience losing essentially to a free-lancer using “chaos theory”? A lot of Nigerians who have taken America as an orderly country that can be relied on at any given point to form a logical national self-interest and elect leaders who can enforce same will have to reassess their thinking. This will strengthen the voices here at home, who say being qualified for high office does not matter.
In Nigeria at the moment, the economy is paramount, and the American result is significant in that it is positive for our economy in a roundabout way. The markets do not like uncertainty, and President Trump, just by his very nature, will mean four years of executive uncertainty coming from a country that has been the world’s stabilising force since 1945. The markets, starting today, will panic. This will weaken the US dollar, putting a little more money in the pockets of Nigerians who have been battered all through 2016 by the naira quaking at the tacit strong dollar policy of the US Federal Reserve. Nigeria’s government remains dependent on oil revenues, and historically, long periods of uncertainty have always been kind to oil prices.
If we can find a solution to the systemic issues in the Niger Delta, then expect higher output, which with a return of higher oil prices, will be a win for the Buhari government. What will remain to be seen will be how they will handle that windfall.
There is one caveat to this, though – a Trump Presidency will be very aggressive about US exports of natural gas and oil, and will not be hung up on environmental concerns like the Obama presidency was. This could result in low oil prices in the medium to long term. An indicator of this will be how Mr Trump handles the controversy surrounding the Keystone pipelines.
Another position that Nigeria can take advantage of will be the impact of a Trump Presidency on the latest climate change agreements. Is he likely to abide by them? Likely not. This opens a window of opportunity for Nigeria to truly exploit its potential in coal as a power source. It is clear that many of the American-led multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, whom Nigeria is hinging some of its plans to borrow to fund its budget may no longer be a reliable option, considering Trump’s mantra of everyone paying their fair share will probably mean reduced American financial contribution to these bodies. The hope is that the possible windfall from the predicted oil price increase will make up for this source of funding that may be closed.
Another potential impact is a possible influx of returnee Nigerians who might take the chances of coming back to Nigeria if Trump goes ahead will his plans for migrants or if Americans reading the body language of President Trump become even more openly hostile to foreigners, especially Africans. This influx will present an opportunity for Nigeria to harness such talents and it is encouraged that the Nigerian government builds an active campaign to encourage such Nigerians to come back home and also create the environment for them to bring their skills and experiences to bear.
Politically, for the Buhari government, Mr Trump’s victory is the worst possible outcome. A Hillary Clinton presidency would have continued to provide material, moral and political support for the Buhari government. A Trump presidency, which will not be too interested in issues outside the shores of the US, will place Nigeria, and indeed Africa, very low on its list of interests. This means that should the Buhari presidency make a mistake in some of its political calculations, he will not be able to count on the support of the Americans, which may have proved very critical. In the light of recent electoral decisions on both sides of the North Atlantic, expect the most engaged major Western power over the next four years, with any appetite for direct involvement in our region, to be France. We see China continuing to ramp up its influence in Africa in this vacuum and Chinese support will increasingly become more crucial to Nigerian and indeed African leaders.
On the Boko Haram war, and rising Islamism, Clinton as Secretary of State did not have a favourable policy towards Nigeria, enforcing the Leahy Law which blocked sales of lethal weapons to Nigeria and being unwilling to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group. President Trump’s disposition towards aiding foreign nations in fighting terrorism is clear. We do not think he will ramp up support significantly, considering his “pay your fair share” stance. If we can cough up the cash, he will be willing to sell the lethal arms Nigeria needs to combat Boko Haram.

nairametrics.com/what-a-trump-win-could-mean-for-nigeria/#

agboola495:
but the story said u served at kaduna, wow u are interesting

No! The story said "My Journey to Kaduna". Thanks for the compliment.

waywardpikin:
I agree. You write beautifully OP.
cc suurulere

Thanks Baba..

Chriswazo:
Mr Surulere, am very delighted reading your wonderful write up, you wrote perfectly well sir. please i will like you to tell us more about Kadunna, the camp experience, your ppa and then your feelings for the state.

Thank you very much. I Completed my service year in Calabar, Cross River..

Chriswazo:
Mr Surulere, am very delighted reading your wonderful write up, you wrote perfectly well sir. please i will like you to tell us more about Kadunna, the camp experience, your ppa and then your feelings for the state.

Completed my service year in Calabar, Cross River..

He declared Friday a work-free, yet, He was killed on a Friday, brutally..

Ironically, during the massacre of Asaba, he protected PCK Nzeogwu's mother. He made sure no harm came to her..

Murtala was originally from Plateau State...

Dottune:
I enjoyed it!

Sorry about your ordeal though, you should probably booked one of those straight to camp buses

Thanks brother!

waywardpikin:
This is one hell of a story bro, wish it never ended.

If you had to travel down there all over again, what would you have done differently?

cc suurulere

I would wait till the next day and boarded a bus to Kaduna. l would get there at night, so I would sleep over at the park. Then get transportation to Chikun the next day...

“What is the matter?” I asked, startled. The bus had turned heading south.

“Night robbers,” one of the passengers answered in exasperation.

”Or Boko Haram?” I asked rhetorically, not sure of myself.

Our hearts were in our mouths as the driver was on a top speed like we were in a grand prix.

I didn’t know where we were. Then, we saw flashlights and the driver decelerated.

“Soldiers,” the man beside me exclaimed.

The soldiers approached the driver and made some talk in Hausa.

Then we turned north, but escorted by the soldiers.

We had been travelling with the headlamps off. As we approached the area where we turned, the driver suddenly switched on the headlamps.

The assailants had vanished. The soldiers taught we had fooled them.

At once, we were ordered to come down and were punished for “disturbing” them (I don’t want to write about the punishment).

After several minutes, we were allowed to continue with our journey and the silence was very grave as we moved on.

“Where are we now?” I asked nobody in particular.

“This is serious. We were all punished together,” I thought to myself.

“Are we at Chikun? Because I shall alight there,” I said this as I tapped the driver.

The driver stopped abruptly, got out the bus, came to the passenger side and told me to come down with my luggage. I was dazed. At three o’clock in the morning? All my pleading fell on deaf ears as he cussed in Hausa and zoomed off.

I was marooned in a strange land in the middle of the night, alone. I thought about many things: Boko Haram, night robbers, principalities and powers, owls……. My thoughts were erratic.

So, I trekked on. I had walked some meters when I saw a miniature figure in a sitting form, heads bowed like a bat. I checked my phone, it was 2:47am. I was anxious. The illumination from my phone helped a little.

I tapped the figure on the shoulder, but there was no response at first. I tapped again. Suddenly, it growled.

“Excuse me, could you hel…..,” he screamed at me before I could complete my statement and then gave me a hot chase.

With my bags, I ran a race I had never run before. After some minutes, I sensed I was the only one running and I stopped. My heartbeat was rapid. As I write, I don’t know whether the figure was a male or female. All I know is that, I was chased by a person in a wrong mind.

I was gasping for breath; exhausted, shattered and infuriated. I trekked on resignedly. Unexpectedly, a light flashed at me.

“Who goes there?” A voice rang out. I was afraid.

“Get down on your knees and lie flat,” another voice boomed. I complied immediately.

“Who are you? Boko Haram?”

“No sirs,” I responded with fear. “Corper sir.”

“Ehen. Oya, get up.” As I got up, I realized they were soldiers.

“Where you come from?”

“Lagos, sir.”

“Wetin you come dey do here for middle of the night?”

I narrated my ordeal to them and they had pity on me. As we were talking, I felt relaxed. “Soldiers are not bad after all,” I thought to myself. Though, I was punished an hour ago by some.

It was now 3:50am and my battery was getting low. Just then, a car with two men approached and was stopped by the soldiers. After interrogating them for some minutes, they ordered them to transport me to Chikun. The men were uncomfortable with it, but they obeyed.

I was at the back seat and I was able to rest my eyes a little. After we had moved for some minutes from the vicinity of the soldiers, they woke me up and ordered me to come down with my bags. I sighed as I kept walking alone in the dark in total oblivion of where I was.

Then, I saw a light emanating from a filling station and I made for it. I found a corner, used my backpack as a pillow and rested my head.

Few minutes later, I felt a hand shook me with a torch to my face. I could not see clearly as I was groggy.

He asked a question in Hausa. I just replied, “Lagos.”

“From Lagos?” He asked. I nodded in the affirmative.

Then he patted me and allowed me to sleep. I felt his hands on me some hours later. The sun was now up. He took me to the main road and flagged a car for me which took me to Chikun. He was a security man in that filling station. I thanked him as I left.

When I got to the orientation camp, I was zonked, frazzled, dirty, unkempt, dejected and depressed. Those who came in by flight pitied, yet laughed at me as I narrated my ordeal. It was really an experience in Chikun-an experience also worth writing about.

Read FG's response here: https://dawodu.com/okonjo6.htm

Ten years, three months and four days ago, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala resigned as Nigeria's Foreign Minister under then President Olusegun Obasanjo. She wrote that she had achieved everything as Finance Minister and made necessary changes as Foreign Minister....

Source: https://dawodu.com/okonjo5.htm

During the period when Boko Haram ravaged the Northern part of Nigeria, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) posted me to Kaduna State.
At first, I was ecstatic, but as the days drew near, I became apprehensive going to a place you could die in a twinkling of an eye. Nevertheless, my parents were indifferent. “You are now a man,” they told me. “And may God keep you safe.”

So, I decided to travel to Kaduna from Lagos a day before the orientation camp would be formally open to the youth corps members. The camp we were to make use of was located at Chikun local government area of the state. Like father Abraham, I decided to embark on a journey to a strange land without directions on how to get there. I had hoped that when I got to Kaduna I would find my way to the Chikun, on my own. Alas, it was not so.

I got to the park, on the morning preceding the day the orientation camp would open, around 5:30am to board a Kaduna-bound bus. On meeting one of the bus attendants to secure my ticket, he told me the Kaduna-Zaria-Kano bus travels in the evening and would get to Kano in the morning of the following day.

It was an unanticipated situation for me. “Would I wait till evening?” I thought to myself. “No. I can’t wait that long. Besides, I fear travelling at night,” I continued in my thoughts.

While I was still rummaging my mind for the right option, the attendant said, “Oga, you could go to another park two hours from here, they do move in the morning.”

“No,” I shrugged as I turned my back to him.

“Or you could join the Abuja bus. It leaves in an hour and from there board a Kaduna bus.”

“Ehen,” I turned to him with a glimmer of hope. “How many hours is Abuja from here?”

“Eight hours. At most nine,” he grinned.

“And from Abuja to Kaduna?” I quipped.

“Two hours,” he responded.

“So by my calculation, that’s ten to eleven hours.”

He nodded and seemed excited that he was able to “nail” a passenger for his own bus.

As we trudged along to the bus, the day was getting bright and I asked him how many hours it would take from Lagos to Kaduna.

“Thirteen, maybe fourteen.”

“This may be the best option then,” I sighed.

Within the next hour, the bus was occupied and we made for Abuja. According to the attendant’s estimated time of arrival, I had projected that by 7pm, we would arrive Abuja and by 9pm, Kaduna.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we arrived Abuja by 10:50pm. It was a frightening moment for me, as the city was besieged with soldiers brandishing their weapons.

As I thought to sleep over at the park, one of the passengers who knew I was on my way to Kaduna told me there was a bus on its way to Kaduna and could get there before midnight. “The orientation camp is always open throughout the night and the fare is very cheap compared to travelling in the morning,” he added.

“Cheap?” I thought to myself. “What is the probability that I would be safe in the park anyway?”

The low fare erased any fear and doubt of any nocturnal travel for me and I joined the bus. I glanced my phone, it was now 11:34pm and I concluded that by 1:00am, I would be in Chikun. Everyone in the bus except me, was discussing in Hausa. Even the driver was playing a song in Hausa from his stereo. As I was on the seat next to the driver, I tried to tell him I would alight at Chikun and he nodded. Though, not sure he understood English.

I dozed off until an uncertain incident woke me up. It was 2:00am, oblivious of where we were.