₦airaland Forum

P.D.P CHIEFTAIN IN ILESA BAGS LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITH WHIPPING FOR THE RAPE OF A PREGNANT WOMAN

A Political Associate to Chief Ganiyu Oladiran a P.D.P chieftain in Ilesa, one Obafemi Kolawole, was on 23rd September, 2014 convicted and sentenced to Life imprisonment with whipping for RAPE.
The said Obafemi was alleged to have on 15th September, 2007 raped the prosecutrix an ACN(now APC) member(Tosin Ajakaye, who was pregnant as at the time of the incident)after math of 2007 gubernatorial election in the State of Osun.
Obafemi Kolawole was Charged before the State High Court sitting at Ilesa, on a two count charge of Rape & Indecent Assault contrary to Sections 358 & 360 of the Criminal Code cap 34, Vol II, Laws of Osun respectively in the case of The State Vs Obafemi Kolawole HIL\2c\2009.
The prosecution called a total of four witnesses namely: the prosecutrix - Tosin Ajakaye, Lawal Sikiru, Dr. A.I Isawumi and the Investigating police officer Sgt Olatunji Arojo in proof of its case, while Obafemi testified in his defence and called additional four witnesses including Chief Ganiyu Oladiran, Adediran Kehinde,Adewusi Olowolodu and Olayinka Alege.
­ At the trial, the Prosecutrix narrated her ordeal that on 15th September, 2007, the convict and his cohorts, who are not Police Officers came to arrest her at her house at about 7:30pm for an unknown offence. On sighting them and knowing their antecedent in the vicinity, she took to her heels. The convict pursued, caught up with her and beat her up. Having overpowered her, he stripped her naked and raped her, and that when her cry for help became unbearable, he covered her mouth. Unfortunately, those living in the same compound with her had gone to the Mosque because it was the period of the Moslem fast. Thereafter he bundled her into a waiting jeep to join two other men whom she found in the same predicament as hers. They were driven to the P.D.P Chieftain’s house, Chief Ganiyu Oladiran, and tied to a tree where the trios were mercilessly flogged, that the convict later untied her and plucked out her pubic hair, put it in her mouth to swallow with dry gin, and thereafter went ahead to insert a tin opener into her vagina and as well poured dry gin all over her body. There he raped her again.
Lawal Sikiru testified as Pw2. He said on the fateful day, he was one of the two naked men in the waiting jeep; the other was one Gbadamosi Lasun. He stated further that he had earlier on received his own share of beating, and bundled naked into the jeep belonging to Chief Ganiyu Oladiran when the prosecutrix was brought in naked, that the trio were driven to Chief Ganiyu’s house and tied to a tree where they were mercilessly beaten and the content of dry gin was poured all over their body. According to him, the prosecutrix was untied by the accused/convict who plucked out her pubic hair, inserted a tin opener into her vagina, and as well went ahead to the dry gin into it (vagina) and then sought the consent of the Chief to have another round of sexual intercourse with her. The chief consented and she was taken to the boot of the jeep from where they heard her shouting for help.
The Medical examination conducted on the Prosecutrix three days upon presentation after the incident at LAUTECH by Dr. Isawumi revealed that there was penetration and that the swap taken from the prosecutrix was full of alcohol. It was also discovered medically, that as at the time of the incident the prosecution was pregnant.
Sgt Arojo the IPO, on his own part, testified that the prosecutrix and others were brought to the State Police Command Monitoring Unit at Okefia by Chief Ganiyu Oladiran who claimed the Prosecutrix, and others, whom he got arrested were the ones who assaulted him after the April 2007 Gubernatorial Election in the State. According to him, while receiving the statements of all concerned, and conducting investigation into the matter, it was discovered that Chief Ganiyu Oladiran’s captives i.e the prosecutrix and others were indeed the victims, and the supposed complainants and cohorts were the accused persons and were consequently charged to court.
Obafemi Kolawole (the convict) in his own defence, denied the allegations made against him. He admitted going to the prosecutrix’s house on the fateful day and arresting her, but denied stripping her naked, rather he handed her over to his colleagues, who drove her and other captives to Chief Ganiyu’s house, where they were later handed over to the police. His other witnesses also admitted that the prosecutrix and others were driven to the Chief’s house. Chief Ganiyu Oladiran, while testifying in defense of the accused claimed his co-accused at the Magistrate Court who arrested the prosecutrix and others were his sympathizers
The presiding Judge, Honourable Justice A. B. Abdulkareem, while finding the accused guilty as charged, pronounced that although the corroboration of pw2 was limited to assault, it does not corroborate penetration which is the vital ingredient necessary for rape. However, the medical report tendered by Dr Isawumi corroborated the needed penetration and he thereafter found Obafemi Kolawole guilty. The Learned Trial Judge held that the Prosecution Counsel Mrs Rachel Ojimi, a Chief State Counsel, in the Ministry of Justice, has been able to proof its case beyond reasonable doubt and consequently convicted the Accused. He however struck out the charge of indecent assault since it carries a lesser punishment.
The imports of this judgment are as follows:
(a) Our society is still governed by laws and that notwithstanding the fact that you have perceived that some individuals have wronged you does not give you the liberty or license to take laws into your hands and forgetting the maxim ’UBI JUS IBI REMEDIUM’ meaning, where there is a right, there is a concomitant remedy.
(b) That our Courts are still the last hope of the common man, though justice may be slow yet its long hand will surely catch up with the offender no matter how highly or lowly placed or affiliated to a political party.

A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says there is a need for the country to undergo a “common sense” revolution.

Tinubu, who is a national leader of the All Progressives Congress said the many years of misrule by successive Peoples Democratic Party presidents had continued to sink the country further into crisis.

The former governor said this in a statement titled ‘A Return to Decency’, on Monday.

He described the 16 years of PDP rule at the federal level as a period of steady decline into disaster.

He said, “The longer they rule, the less benefit the people derive. Nigeria now needs a ‘common sense revolution,’ a revolution that calls forth a return to decency, probity, transparency of process and fairness in outcome.

“This is done not by subterfuge, divide and rule and turning Nigeria in a field of discord or a street of broken institutions. It is accomplished by honouring the principles of democratic good governance and economic justice. It is done by persuading the people they are better off as one instead of better off tearing at one another’s throats.

“Nigerians should be prepared for change. We must rescue Nigeria from those set to cause it irreparable harm. The change I talk about is the only route to our deliverance from 16 years of the PDP locusts. Nigeria is ours to keep and its democracy is ours to save.”

He advised that this year’s Independence Day should be a time of sober reflection because other countries that received independence at the same time as Nigeria had since surpassed the country.

He described the Nigeria of today as the nightmare of its founding fathers. Tinubu further berated the PDP-led Federal Government of using religion to divide Nigerians.

He said, “We commemorate this Independence Day because the nation has survived despite its many challenges. We dare not celebrate because the nation has not flourished as it should. Fifty four years our national trek began with hope and promise, peace and unity.

“Today, the nation staggers beneath the weight of trouble multiplied by hardship. Peace and unity seem to have yielded the moment to violence and discord. We exist as a political unit on a map but we do not prosper as brothers and sisters in one nation, under one flag and pursuant to one accord.”

“Never has an elected government in Nigeria employed religion as a tool to divide the people, setting Nigerian brother against brother in a manner that allows this administration to function at the basest level of governance while seeking to establish a political domination that seeks no greater purpose than its self-perpetuation.”

He described attempts to stigmatise and physically intimidate the APC and the militarisation of elections as features of a perverse democracy.

He described President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda as an avenue to siphon funds through a dubious blueprint.

“They do not have a national blueprint or vision. They do have a blueprint and vision for excessive self-enrichment. Their equation is simple: You work, they feast. You toil, they grow fat. You seek a decent wage; they pilfer the collective treasury to enjoy a king’s ransom,” he said.

He said rather than promote religious tolerance and harmonious living, Jonathan’s government believes its electoral chances are enhanced by promoting ethnicism, internal divisions and religious suspicion but “successful nations are not built this way, have we not learned the lesson that we paid the high price of civil war to learn.”

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Without a predetermination on his part, Ayodele Fayose has always played a role in the Southwest political equation. In the current political dispensation, Oshokomole was albeit, the first governor in the region to dance to the drums of impeachment.
More recently, his re-election as governor of Ekiti State had served a note of warning to the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the southwest can be a no man’s land. In the same vein, he sent rays of hope and expectation to warm the hearts of the Peoples Democraic Party (PDP) that the Southwest can be wrestled and won from the APC.
But with his current maltreatment, harassment and alleged “slapping” of a state’s judge, Fayose may have legitimately handed the politics of the Southwest for the next 4 years back to the APC. Within one week, we had reports of the molestation and vandalisation of two judges and two court rooms in Ekiti state, followed by the gruesome murder of the state’s NURTW chairman.
Unconsciously, Fayose and his men have reminded the people of the Southwest that the peace, tranquility, orderliness and “pockets” of development the region had witnessed within the last four years, was the by-product of the APC government.
On the other side, if the PDP is serious about winning the southwest, Fayose’s latest acts will force the party to select people of integrity and credible background as their flagbearers in the coming election. Like they say, Fayose has set the table.
Barring any subsequent “stupidity” or politically suicidal acts/speeches by any of the APC stalwarts, this event will be the focal point of campaigns for the 2015

By Pius Adesanmi

Past Presidents of CAN:
His Eminence Dominic Cardinal Ekandem
His Eminence Anthony Cardinal Okogie
Dr. Sunday Mbang
Most Rev. Peter Akinola
His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan.
Chai, see list! See quality! See greatness! When the present is a joke, when the present is disgraceful, when the present is an embarrassment, maybe it is better not to remember the glorious past in order to avoid depression? How did an organization that was once run by this cast of great Nigerians become an unrecognizable appendage of corruption and power? In the 1980s, any mention of CAN in the media invited such ancillary registers as the gospel, Christ, the poor, the Bible, etc. That's the symbology which defined CAN. Today, the operative metaphors associated with CAN are: bling bling, private jets, Villa, PDP, gun running, money laundering, roforofo, etc.
It is better to erase memory and claim that the current brood of moneychangers who have replaced the Temple with the Villa never enjoyed the predecessorship of the great men who once led that organization. Let us claim that we do not know how the incumbent happened on the scene with no leash around his neck. Let us claim that we do not know how, where, and when the rain began to cane CAN.
CAN my foot! Obasanjo had said and we screamed sacrilege and abused him. Little did we know that Obasanjo was even doing his corrupt foot great injustice. He was spoiling the bad name of his foot by placing it in the same basket with CAN. Those of us who abused him for abusing CAN must now go shamefacedly to Ota and apologise to Ebora Owu.
Anyway sha, since CAN is now PDP and Villa lite, we must discuss her using approrpiate diction. When will the tenure of the current CAN Party Chairman end? Has CAN fixed a date for her party primaries? Who are the candidates lining up for the succession of the current bling bling chairman? Is there any zoning formula in place? Any gentleman's agreement that we need to be aware of? We need to know early so we can inspect the churches of aspirants. If they have a two-storey building, we must make them sign an undertaking not to convert it to a ten-storey before they will be allowed to contest the primaries o.

Oritsejaforgate: Festus Keyamo raises 11 questions
September 19, 2014 at 5:18 am by Uhuru Times
Tags: corruption, smuggling
Festus Keyamo
Festus Keyamo
By Festus Keyamo
From my little understanding, the Federal Government’s position can be summarised as follows:
1. That it is aware of the movement of such large sum of money by cash out of the country.
2. That the cash is meant for the purchase of arms to fight insurgency.
3. That the transaction was done by cash to ensure the speed of the transaction.
4. That it resorted to buy from South Africa because of procedural bottlenecks in the purchase of such items from Western countries.
The above position of the Federal Government is not only ludicrous, it is laughable, untenable and a story only fit to be told to the marines. The following rhetoric posers are germane to this issue:
1. Is it really faster and safer to do an international transaction of such magnitude by ferrying cash across the continent or by a simple wire transfer that can go through in a matter of few minutes or few hours?
2. If, indeed, the matter involves security issues like the purchase of arms by a foreign government like Nigeria, why was the South African Government not brought into the picture beforehand? How could the South African Government be sure that the arms were purchased legitimately by the Nigerian government and not by insurgents if they were not officially informed beforehand?
3. If indeed the manufacturer(s) of such equipment was/were expecting such large amount by cash, why did they not make adequate arrangements with the authorities in South Africa to declare and clear the cash on arrival?
4. Why was money belonging to the Federal Government and meant for purchase of equipment for the Federal Government moved by a private jet and by private individuals and why were they not accompanied by the officials of the Department of State Services or the office of the National Security Adviser in official capacities?
5. Why would a government that is at the peak of promoting the cashless policy in our economy be the chief breaker of that policy by moving such a large amount by cash?
6. If, indeed, it was a legitimate transaction of the Federal Government, why were the officials of our embassy in South Africa not on hand to make the entry easier and smoother?
7. Since the South African Government has said the amount is above the limit of cash allowed into that country, why would a whole government like Nigeria not know the simple immigration laws of a sister and friendly country before allowing that type of amount of cash to be taken to that country?
8. Why would the Nigerian government seek to smuggle cash into a country without disclosure if it was, indeed, for a legitimate transaction?
9. From where did the Federal Government source that amount in Nigeria? Was it from the Central Bank of Nigeria or from the black market? Nigerians demand answers to this with proof.
10. Is it just a wicked coincidence that it is the aircraft belonging to a personal friend and unapologetic ally of the President in the person of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor (my big brother in Warri), that was used to smuggle the cash?
11. If, contrary to the above posers, the transaction was contracted out to a private company in Nigeria, does it not amount to the offence of Money Laundering under our laws for the Federal Government to have allowed that company to attempt to pay for the equipment by cash to the tune of that amount without passing through a financial

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said he was never sick at anytime during his travels and said he is seeking God’s forgiveness for those who carried stories of his alleged illness.

The Opposition arrowhead stated this on his arrival tonight (Thursday) at the ExecuJet landing strip, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, after weeks overseas on vacation. He also said news of his failing health were false and without foundation.

“I’m as fit as a fiddle,” he said. “There was nothing wrong before I left the country. We had the Osun gubernatorial election and I’d planned a long vacation and some other research assignments in the political arena. It was to learn from people who had experienced the development of opposition parties in the past.”

On why he kept his location and activities off the radar, Mr. Tinubu said, “I don’t have to disclose to people my vacation location. But it was very shocking and sad that there were speculations about my health. This a sign of the lack of trust people have for leadership in the country.

“When I had the knee problem, I disclosed to Nigerians that I was going for a knee surgery and I came back. Even then, they started peddling rumours. I don’t know whether some people deliberately insinuate that I have a medical problem. It seems like a deliberate falsehood to me. It is all lies. There was no day that I had the need for even Panadol since I left this country for this trip. I was very busy, reading and talking to people of great intelligence that I believe I could gain from politically.”

To those who peddled the false news of his illness, the former governor said, “May God Almighty forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing. And I wish them all they wish for me.”



Asked his opimion of the current happenings in the country, Mr. Tinubu said he aligns with his party’s position and added that Nigerians were clearly tired of the antics and failures of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“The entire nation has lost its trust in the ruling party. It is a challenging time and we have to be very careful. The APC has all the ingredients to save Nigeria and we shall save our dear country,” he said.

Tinubu is very much alive hail and hearty I was at a function with him on Saturday in London he looked better than money and was counselled and spoken to by many who sought wisdom and definition of how our dear nation will progress and change when APC wins the general election in 2015

When the news broke that a private plane from Nigeria was seized in South Africa with brand new dollar notes of about $10m my heart palpitated and I was askance even though I was in the midst of others. My fear steamed for a few facts. I was sure that the federal government of Nigeria will do what it does best; keep mum and then later will either deny or offer some lame explanations while muddling up the waters sufficiently enough by using pawns to obliterate the facts of the matter and politicizing the issues, hereby diverting our attention away to other things.



Sad to say, I have been proved right on every count. Not only have they started their campaign of calumny, they have used a most saddening approach; they are playing the religious card. Why is the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) getting involved in a supposedly private matter of such dangerous proportion? We shall come back to the CAN later on. Suffice to say that Nigeria is in deeper troubles than we are presently prepared to admit to. Sadly, the trouble and danger inherent is potent enough and highly dangerous to our corporate existence, while collectively playing the ostrich will benefit no one eventually.



Here are the facts of the matter. On 5th September 2014, a Bombardier Challenger 600, with a Nigerian flight crew piloted by Captain Tunde Ojongbede, flew into South Africa and landed at Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg. Eventually we got to understand that there were two planes and not one that flew in to South Africa.



The other plane involved, used by Swat Inc., a Hawker Siddeley 125, also with an American registration number (N497AG), landed at Lanseria Airport last month. That plane and its passengers remained in the country for two days before returning to Abuja on August 13.



When the passengers luggage were checked, officials of SA Revenue Service (Sars), found undeclared raw cash of $9.3 million on the passengers. On board one the seized aircrafts was also an Abuja-based Israeli man, Eyal Mesika, whom we were told was the only man with the combinations to open the lock on the suit cases containing the cash to be laundered or used to purchase illegal arms by the order of some unnamed persons in the Nigerian Government.



One amazing fact is that the Nigerian government has maintained a curious silence since the scandal broke on September 5th when South African law enforcement agents confiscated $9.3 million from the two private jets. If Sahara Reporters did not blow the lid on the illegality, I doubt if ordinary Nigerians would have known the kind of gang we currently parade as political and religious leaders.



South African airport security spokesman Solomon Makgale confirmed a police investigation was underway but declined to give details. The aircraft was temporarily impounded, but was allowed to return to Abuja about four days after the initial arrest of the plane because the Nigerian government reached out to its South African counterparts, ostensibly to douse the tension and keep the fact away from the public.



The arrested passengers apparently told officials they were acting on behalf of the Nigerian intelligence service, and they provided documentation confirming they had come to South Africa to buy weapons. However, the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, which has to approve the import and export of any weapons as well as issue permits for such transactions, was not aware of any applications in this case. It is also not clear whether the Israeli passenger was an intelligence operative or an arms dealer.

A spokesman for South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority disclosed that the country’s investigators found the Nigerian arms buyers with invoices from two South African firms called Tier One and ESD. The invoices were for armaments and a helicopter.

According to South Africa’s City Press, “In court papers, the NPA submitted evidence that Tier One is not registered with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee and is thus not authorized to enter into any agreements regarding the sale and/or rental of military equipment."

The paper further revealed, “The agreement between Tier One and ESD was concluded on September 8, three days after the money was seized at Lanseria.”

We can safely conclude therefore that the arms deal was supposed to be a black market operation and therefore an illegal arm purchase. Such arms could end up anywhere either in the hands of the Niger Delta militants, political thugs and assassins, or even the dreaded Boko Haram militants...your guess is as good as mine.

After much hush hush, it finally emerged that the bombardier jet involved in the illegal money laundering and purchase of black market arms belonged to Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor the founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, located in Warri, southern Nigeria, and currently the President of CAN.

A statement released by the church on behalf of Pastor Oritsejafor reads in part "On behalf of Pastor Oritsejafor, we can confirm that although he holds an interest in Eagle Air, the aircraft in question is not operated by Pastor Oritsejafor. The aircraft was leased to, and is operated by Green Coast Produce Limited since August 2.”



But, here are a few questions keen watchers have been asking. FAAN just over a year ago readjusted the laws guiding the usage of non-scheduled commercial operators. The law according to the Nigerian aviation authorities seeks to regulate and stop the abuse by private jets owners, who turn their planes over for commercial purposes illegally.



Therefore one should ask, why was Pastor Ayo private jet leased out for a supposedly commercial purpose since August 2nd 2014 according to him?



Recall also that private jet owners were not only barred from leasing their planes out for commercial purposes, they were also barred from carrying people other than their family members.



The above reasons alone are enough to indict Pastor Ayo and his co-travelers.



Now, let’s come to the issue of CAN. Pastor Ayo is first and foremost the senior Pastor and founder of a church and we all remembered his initial claims that the plane was a gift by some unnamed members of his church. If that is the case, why is the church not in the forefront of defending his latest escapade? Why drag CAN into his private church business?



I am a Christian and as such an affiliate of CAN. Pastor Ayo should be left alone to defend himself and his private business without dragging CAN alongside himself. Why has CAN become the private enterprise of one man?



CAN have existed before the advent of Pastor Oritsejafor and should be left alone to do what it was established to do. The statement supposedly released in the defense of Pastor Oritsejafor by a certain Sunny Oibe on behalf of CAN is not only reprehensible, it is asinine; it is disgraceful and it is totally unbecoming of what an organization representing the body of Christ should ever have thought of, let alone made public. It was not only acerbic and jejune, it was a classic gutter styled gobbledygook that no self respecting Christian body should ever be associated with no matter the level of "provocation".



Please don't bring the "Touch not mine anointed” crap here. For your information, severally we have been reprimanded to “touch not mine anointed” but is this the correct application of this scripture? In which context was this phrase used in the Bible? It can be found in Psalm 105:15 and repeated in 1Chronicles 16:22. That passage was written to praise the works of God when He brought out the children of Israel from Egypt and saved them from several dangers, even though they were few in number. It was never about a pastor or a church leader. It was written to praise God in taking care of a called out people. Anointed vessels are men who allow God to do his bidding through them.



Note that those people who do his bidding must be “called out” and what is the “church”? The root word for church is "Ecclesia" which simply means “the called out ones”. Therefore, that passage can also mean “touch not the church”. Do NOT be deceived. It was never written to protect or immune “penterascality” or ‘pastopreneurs’ from honest criticism. It was written as a mark or seal of God’s protection upon His chosen ones and His chosen ones are his body, His church.

Pastor Ayo will do well to resign his position as CAN President and face his calling squarely. He has done more to harm the reputation of CAN by his several actions and careless speeches. It is written in 2 Timothy 2:4, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

In 1 Peter 4: 17 it is written, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

To serve God is to serve his people. Let Pastor Ayo search himself, has he been true to the one who called him? Let God be true, let all men be liars.



Pastor Oritsejafor’s ownership of the jet has raised several questions in the past. One of which is that the plane seized by South African officials is actually registered in the US for use only as a private jet, not for commercial purposes. Another issue is does Pastor Oritsejafor owns more than one jet? In 2012, he claimed that members of his congregation presented him with the gift of a jet. However, the registration number of the jet detained by South African authorities differs from the registration details for the jet purchased by Mr. Oritsejafor’s congregants. In response to criticism of his acquisition of a private jet, the pastor had argued that he needed the jet to enable him to travel widely for events related to his ministry. The question then is whether the commercial leasing of a private jet is part of Oritsejafor’s ministry?



Nigerians are watching the unfolding dangerous drama and waiting with a baited breath. How will the Federal Government of PDP led by Goodluck Jonathan handle this case? Will they prove their detractors right that the government of Jonathan have always known, collaborated with and have been covering up sponsors of terror in Nigeria, or will President Jonathan rise to the occasion this time?



Time will tell, but remember history is being written for the future by every present action and deliberate but highly noticeable inactions.



I am Ayobami Oyalowo and you can follow me on twitter @Ayourb


Lo

What is commonsense? That which attracts the least opposition; that which brings most agreeable and worthy results”
- E.W.Howe

Apparently, Nigeria has come full cycle. Or what else do we call what we’ve been experiencing lately?

To say President Jonathan is a disappointment is rehashing old tunes. What makes it all the more painful to take is the callousness of it all.

On the 14th of April 2014, about 276 teenage girls were abducted by the fighters of the Boko Haram terror group as they slept in their dormitory. It took 19days for the President of the country to admit that the abductions took place and what did he do afterwards? He set up a fact finding committee while his wife on the other hand took it upon herself to make a mockery of a devastating situation by constituting herself into a nuisance and making a caricature of herself both on national and international television to a bemused and shocked worldwide audience.

Cue 151 days later, the issue of the abduction has taken a backseat as the President and his team have moved on to more “serious” issues of raising hired goons to “beg” the president to contest again in the coming election. While there is no legal wrongdoing in seeking a reelection, keen observers were not only shocked and surprised at the tactics employed, citizens were bemused at the brazen, callous, inhuman and derogatory use of the hashtag #BringBackGoodluck2015. It was the typically “I don’t give a damn” Goodluck Jonathan style.

After supporters of Goodluck Jonathan have harassed, insulted and done all they could to frustrate the genuine campaign led by well meaning Nigerians to #BringBackOurGirls, it was with shock that the citizens watched this latest act of brigandage and sacrilege. In saner climes, this would have been a classic case of political harakiri. But supporters of Jonathan, led by the garrulous and voluble Doyin Okupe took over the cyberspace with their hashtag of #BringBackGoodluck2015, unperturbed. It didn’t stop there, they got their usual rented crowd to sit and carry the banner and as if to taunt the parents and well wishers of the Chibok girls, the Jonathan crowd took over the Unity Fountain in Abuja, the original location of the sit out in support of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. They didn’t stop there, the offensive hashtag on billboards, posters etc suddenly appeared in every nook and cranny of Abuja. The callousness and insensitivity of it all was complete.

Reasonable Nigerians condemned the barbarity and callous degradation of a serious issue and the mindless parody of the hashtag by the president’s supporters. But in their usual manner, they didn’t give a damn.

It finally took an editorial by the Washington Post for the president to finally wake up and see the folly inherent in the actions of his people. Meanwhile as at the 22nd of August 2014, Doyin Okupe, the ubiquitous presidential spokesman, had flagged off the campaign using the offensive hashtag, which therefore begs the question: why did it take so long, and an editorial from Washington Post for the president to finally “see” the campaign? It is not surprising though to watchers of Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency. He has shown time and again, his disdain and disrespect for Nigerians and whatever the Nigerian media or the citizens want or are saying. This was the same President who refused to see the parents of the abducted Chibok girls until the Pakistani girl-child campaigner, seventeen-year-old Malala Yousafzai, cajoled him to do so. And it took him over 90 days.

Another area of concern is the President’s recent visit to Chad in the company of the alleged sponsor and financier of Boko Haram, Ali Modu-Sheriff. Images and pictures were widely circulated showing President Jonathan, in the company of Modu -Sherriff, as they conferred with the Chadian leader. It was therefore shocking, days after, to read that Modu Sheriff merely joined other Nigerians to welcome the President at the airport.

I don’t understand what criteria President Jonathan adopts to pick his aides, but one thing observers can see from the whole debacle is that his media aides are doing President Jonathan more harm than good. While it is arguable that his leadership style is poor and bereft of any clue as to what should be done, the various gaffes, gobbledygook and asinine press releases, Facebook and twitter posts by the president’s men are doing more to harm the man’s image than helping him.

Sycophants and sycophancy has been with us for almost forever, but the current wave of sycophancy has assumed a dangerous dimension where nothing is sacred and if you are not beating the drum of Jonathan for ever, then you are an enemy of the state. This is why the spokesperson of the DSS, Nigeria’s version of the secret police, will mount the rostrum to churn out statements that even pepper sellers in Oyingbo market would be ashamed of. But in their quest to curry favour and thereby continue to occupy offices they aren’t qualified for and perks that can be at best described as obscene, the AGIP (any government in power) crowd has defined a new low in our national life, playing politics with the tears and sorrows of fellow citizens.

Commonsense should have made the promoters of the offensive hashtag realise that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children”. -Nelson Mandela.

After 151 days, we have failed to rescue our children from the den of terrorists and rather than embarking on a journey of sober reflections while calling for more cogent actions by those vested with the authority to do so, hirelings and supporters of the government chose to desecrate the memory of the Chibok girls and make a mockery of the tears of their parents, including the death of some of the distraught parents who could no longer handle the trauma of the whole ordeal.

When commonsense takes a stroll, the result is bedlam, chaos and hullabaloo. But wisdom is profitable to direct…

A Yoruba adage aptly says, “he who is yet alive should mock not he who is already dead, as no one can predict the manner of his own death”.

F Nigeria is doroscatter, every where is dorobombing... doctors are dorostriking... Ebola is dorospreading... over 200 girls are still doromissing... yet we're dancing dorobucci... we better start doroprayer... so everything will doronormal! Let's send this to doropeople who care for dorocountry, because Nigeria is in dorodanger...:&. May God help us. Good morning

National leader, All Progressive Congress, APC, has described as shocking and unbelievable the tragic death of veteran journalist Dimgba Igwe of The Sun newspapers on Saturday . " The tribe of great journalists in Nigeria has again been depleted by this sudden death. It is indeed a sad day for the media and all those that were associated with Dimgba. He was a thoroug bred journalist and writer who remained steadfast and lifted the Sun newspapers to a position of reckoning ". Tinubu who described the circumstances of his death as painful and avoidable said it was a great loss that saddens me deeply. " I knew Dimgba personally and respected his professional contributions to building our country. I recall vividly my encounter with him. Dimgba and Mike Awoyinfa after chasing me down interviewed me for close to three hours on the book they were writing on Lagos state and the post military era development. It was an enjoyable experience.

My condolences go out to his wife and family and all relatives. I pray God will grant them strength for this period and peace they need this trying time.Tinubu also extends his heartfelt sympathy to the publisher, management and staff of The Sun newspapers.