So let me understand this; Soyinka is in need of an apology from faceless commentators who have been nurtured on a diet of hate? Who gives a rats ar#se whether they apologise or not?
You clearly have not been paying attention to all the vitriol packaged and sent across to Wole Soyinka, by the usual suspects, during the course of Jonathan's reign.
Do you want me to dig up threads which show the unbroken sanctimony of the same creeeeetins getting bent out of shape, here?
tbaba1234: Soyinka was jailed for 22 months, 4 months in Solitary confinement because he was a biafra sympathizer.... I am surprised that he was not given the the benefit of the doubt. It is really sad.
You clearly have not been paying attention to all the vitriol packaged and sent across to Wole Soyinka, by the usual suspects, during the course of Jonathan's reign.
Do you want me to dig up threads which show the unbroken sanctimony of the same creeeeetins getting bent out of shape, here?
THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, has denied granting illegal waivers to rice importers under a Federal Government policy on rice.
The government has also suspended allocation quota for participants under the 2014 to 2017 Fiscal Measures on Rice.
The minister said enough consultation with all stakeholders has not been made on the allocation and consequently, the 2015 allocation quota would be put on hold.
Adesina appeared before House of Representatives ad hoc committee on rice import quota and duty payments yesterday, where he denied giving approval for waivers to rice importers under the rice policy.
The policy was to encourage self-sufficiency and development of local capacity in rice production.
The minister told the Leo-Ogor-led committee that he blew the whistle on importers that owed the Federal Government through non-payment of duty amounting to N36 billion.
“I did not grant waiver to any company. I have always been for whoever owes the government must pay the government, and there should not be an exemption. I raised the issue because the money belonged to the government,” he said.
Adesina faulted reasons given by some of the companies under the policy that they imported rice in excess of their anticipated official allocation quota because the approval came late.
He said such reason was not tenable, adding: ”It is wrong to import before allocation. The importers – that is rice millers and investors under the policy – said they reached gentleman agreement with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) that they will pay for the excess rice imported.”
He implored the NCS to be more proactive in the implementation of the service end of the policy by collecting required duty and levy from importers to the letter as and when due.
He said the nation would be self-sufficient in rice production and would be able to export, if the policy is not manipulated.
The NCS said it has detained two vessels belonging to Popular Foods, one of the beneficiaries of the policy that imported almost 600,000 metric tons of rice, instead of its official allocation of 85,000.
It said the detention was over issues concerning corporate indemnity and bank guarantee.
Reacting to Popular Foods’ complain of being allocated “paltry” 85,000 metric tons of rice under the scheme, Chairman of the Committee, Leo Ogor, said the House would not fold its arms and allow foreign companies to undermine the country’s industrial and economic growth.
“Things you cannot do outside this country or in your country won’t be allowed to happen here. If you want to work here, you must meet up with all our obligations. It is our duty to protect our people. The committee is in agreement that further approval for allocation quota is suspended, but 2014 allocations can continue,” he added.
The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga as well as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, failed to turn up for the hearing.
The Finance Ministry, however, submitted a written presentation to the committee.
Gboliwe: How do you reason such? Na wa for una sha. Are the hands of the incoming government tied they can't sack or undo what he is doing? These are appointments Sir not elected positions. Kai!
Appointments at the eleventh hour? If you don't see the sigh of a rejected helmsman, in the current machinations, I do.
midolian: Ahn Ahn, why is this man sacking everybody.
He is vindictively laying land mines for the incoming government. In the twilight of his lacklustre administration, he's finally discovered the glad rags of a Pharaoh.
President Jonathan is dancing to the drumbeat of destiny,” he said.
“ “His destiny is to bankrupt Nigeria. He has the full support of corporate cowboys and oil vultures. It is clear that Nigeria is a nation under divine judgment. We need a cleansing in this land and if we do not stand up now to do what we ought to do, there may not be 2015 for Nigerians.” ~ Pastor Tunde Bakare
kowema: These people are Boko Haram wives and children. How did they get kidnapped without us hearing about them despite their numbers....
The idea is, the insurgents know that dia wives and kids can be taken care of if they let the military get dem even if they get killed. Last Straw
Why don't you speak for yourself instead of ascribing widespread ignorance to the rest of society?
14 Apr 2015
Boko Haram have abducted at least 2,000 women and girls since the start of 2014, according to rights group Amnesty International.
A report published by the organisation on Wednesday says many of those captured have been forced into sexual slavery and trained to fight for the group.
The group based its findings on nearly 200 witness accounts, including with 28 people who escaped from the armed group, which recently had a pledge of allegiance accepted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The schoolgirls who escaped from Boko Haram "The evidence presented in this shocking report, one year after the horrific abduction of the Chibok girls, underlines the scale and depravity of Boko Haram's methods," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary general.
Mogidi: Hear hear!! In the thread you opened few minutes ago, you refered to Asari's supporters as reprobates. Tribalism is not preserved for your ilk alone to milk.
It is on good conscience that I characterise the likes of you and Asari as 'reprobates'. As the cap fits, you must wear it.
Change your ways, learn how to elevate the debate, and I might have a rethink.
Mogidi: Nice to have them back but when are the Chiboks girls going to get freed. Someone please tell Buhari they've suffered enough, time for him to negotiate their release.
Where is your humanity? Is there no bridge you consider too far, in your quest to foist ethnically-induced hatred on every discussion?
ome 220 schoolgirls abducted by Nigerian terror group Boko Haram (now Iswap) last April have been married off to insurgents and sold into slavery.
The claim was made by a civilian recently rescued by the Nigerian army following her abduction by Boko Haram in Dikwa, Borno state, in April.
Boko Haram Nigeria Who are Boko Haram terrorists?
Boko Haram fights against Western influence in Nigeria and aims to impose its version of Sharia law in the country. The group declared an Islamic caliphate in Gwoza, along the Cameroon border, in August 2014.
Boko Haram has raided several cities in the north of the country in a bid to take control of more land.
Three states, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, have been under a state of emergency since May 2013, due to Boko Haram's attacks (pic: Reuters).
During an interview with Reuters, Aisha Abbas, 45, said the insurgents told her the Chibok girls were "married off this year. Some sold to slavery, then others (militants) each married two or four of the girls."
The Chibok mass abduction caught the attention of the international media, sparking protests and prompting prominent politicians and celebrities worldwide to back online campaigns urging the Nigerian government to step up efforts to find the girls.
Abbas was among some 700 people -- mainly women and children -- recently rescued by the Nigerian army which, aided by troops from neighbouring countries, entered what it has been deemed as "the terrorists' last known stronghold" in the Sambisa forest, on the border with Cameroon.
Nearly one third of the girls freed by the army were "visibly pregnant", spreading fears they had been raped by the militants.
Boko Haram 'is fracturing'
Former detainees also said that the terror group is fracturing due to lack of weapons and fuel.
"One evening in April, Boko Haram followers stood before us and said 'Our leaders don't want to give us enough fuel and guns and now the soldiers are encroaching on us in Sambisa. We will leave you,'" a woman said.
"They threatened us but after they went we were happy and prayed the soldiers would come and save us."
The former detainees also said that after the insurgents had spotted some helicopters circling their stronghold, they tried to sell the female captives for 2,000 naira (£6) each.
A female civilian who was freed by the army said that some women and children were crushed by army vehicles and others wounded by bullets.
In March, the Nigerian army – currently aided by troops from Chad, Benin, Niger and Cameroon – started a ground and aerial offensive against the insurgents, who recently pledged allegiance to Islamic State (Isis).
The offensive was launched shortly before Nigerians headed to the polls for a general election that saw the victory of former army leader Muhammadu Buhari, who vowed to halt the deadly insurgence in the country.
Former president Goodluck Jonathan was accused by some of not having done enough to stop Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people since its insurgency started in north-eastern Nigeria in 2009.
Peradventure you are one of those dubting that the Nigerian army indeed rescued about 260 woman and children from Boko Haram captivity in Sambisa forest at the weekend, then these photos might help.
Some of the freed captives are currently in hospital receiving treatment for all kinds of illnesses while others have been moved into Internally Displaced Persons camps.
cramjones: Why do you think I have an interest in the medical field?
-CramJones
There is a long and chequered trail that provides vital clues. Whether it was the faceoff with that osisis woman on Iwu's contributions to pharmacology or an attempt to raise the spectre of primary health care in Nigeria - which sincere9jerian (a medical expert himself) countered with seemingly weightier arguments - there is much in cramjones' posting history to pick from.
P.S - Regardless of any other view I hold, I think both of the personalities behind the cramjones handle have actually helped to elevate the standard of discourse on NL.
VirginFinder: There is nothing contradictory, unusual or confusing about the Cramjones handle.
Cramjones has successfully played on the intelligence of so many nairalanders and will continue to do so unless they are lucky enough to read this.
I'll try my best to unravel the 'mysterious' Cramjones here.
Cramjones is moniker used by at least 2 politicians who happen to be close friends. One of them is FFK. The other is chooses to be anonymous. The anonymous fellow is actually Cramjones. The essence of this approach is to make the moniker what it is - controversial and confusing - to the slow and gullible nairalander.
With this system in place, FFK will find it easy to deny the moniker at any time, t. It wont be difficult since the moniker is bound to exhibit incoherence from time to time as result of its frequent use by the other anonymous politician(Cramjones).
You beat me to it VirginFinder. Anyone who has studied the enigma called FFK for as long as I have, would recognise his diction from afar.
You are absolutely right to assert that there is more than one personality behind the handle. It was this fact that threw me off the scent a number of times, in the very early days, until I established a pattern.
The anonymous cramjones has an interest in the medical field and also happens to have spent time in the US, as some of his earlier posts suggests He has a different style of writing, happens to be a lot more combative (yes, this I have observed), and also employs American spellings.
Recruited officers of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and Federal Task Force (FERMA) have accused the Lagos State coordinator of the programme of owing them three years salaries running into millions of naira.
The officers during a protest on Monday at the office of the National Human Rights Commission, Oshodi, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, equally protested against the fraudulent extortion of money from them by some executives of the programme.
The protesters accused their National officers and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos as being responsible for subjecting them to such dehumanising condition and extorting money from them, adding that the management was using the SURE-P/FERMA job to exploit desperate job seekers for their selfish political gains.
The protesters carrying placards with offensive inscriptions on it, sang and chanted solidarity songs alleging that they were mandated to pay outrageous sums before they were employed for the job, adding that three years after employment and resumption of duties they are yet to be paid a dime.
They said that at the commencement of the programme in 2013, applicants were made to pay the sum of N32,500 each for uniform while additional N5,000 was paid for the procurement of the SURE-P forms.
They alleged further that the forms were picked at the residence of PDP Chieftain, Chief Bode George, with a promise that they would be trained in recognised institutions in the country.
They lamented that to date, no form of training had been organised for them. Instead, they were used for political rallies whenever any prominent government official was in the state in the build up to the last general elections.
The angry protesters said the whole recruitment exercise was a fraud, adding that they were just exploited by some people in the name of Federal Government project.
They vowed to continue their protest till the Presidency pays them the arrears of their salaries for three years.
Some of the women among the protesters who spoke with our correspondent in tears also recounted their tales of woe in the hands of the coordinators of the programme.
The pains they went through knows no bound in the course of their respective trainings as they took turns to tell their stories.
Some alleged that they lost their pregnancies while undergoing rigorous training exercises in the course of the programme while some said they lost their loved ones including husbands and children. “I lost my sick husband while doing this stupid work because I hardly had the time to take proper care of him. I expended all I had on the work because of the prospect I thought was in it being a federal government thing but at the end of the day, it was tales of regrets everywhere,” said Nkechi.
According to the coordinator of the protest, Aderibigbe Kayode Vincent,”we heard from a source within the Presidency that A PDP chieftain in Lagos (names withheld) told Mr President he paid us N350,000 each. This is a big lie. We have not been paid a dime for the three years that we have worked. We have over 70,000 staffs and they are owing all of us. So, I don’t know where he got that figure from.
“We ought to have had this protest on the eve of the governorship election but because they knew it will negatively affect the chances of the PDP at the polls, they called us and begged that we should shelve it. We went to their office on the Friday before the election as earlier scheduled and we waited till 7pm and they refused to show up and address us.
“We already wrote all the appropriate authorities on this ugly development including the police, ICPC, EFCC, our lawyer and others and they advised that we embark on the protest if not our money will not be paid.”
EXPOSED! How SURE-P, FERMA defraud Unemployed Nigerians
Impeachment Blues as Lawmakers and Gov. Chime Draw Battle line
...
...
The rift between the Assembly and Governor Chime followed a petition by some concerned citizens of the state to the legislators, who carried out an immediate probe of the activities of the state government.
One of the points raised by the concerned citizens was that the commissioner for public utilities in the state, Mr. Michael Nwachukwu, has facilitated the handing of functions and operations of the water corporation to a private firm, AG. Trust Limited, based in Abuja. It was alleged that the firm was promoted by some highly placed government officials and their cronies to award themselves several benefits as the present administration draws near it’s end.
They alleged further that based on information available to them, the private firm would take over the collection of water rate in the state for 25years.
The commissioner for water resources,Nwachukwu and Engr. Chinedu Akah,Managing Director of the Water Corporation, have been summoned by the lawmakers to say what they knew about the controversial deal.
However, the commissioner had earlier told the lawmakers that there was no bidding for any contract for the concession but it was aunilateral decision of the government to concession the corporation in the interest of the state.
The MD of the water corporation, Mr. Akahtold the legislators that he was literally pressured to sign the documents to concessionthe state corporation without reading the document.
The speaker howbeit questioned the water deal, saying ‘’no government would go into water concession in Enugu state without a law,” stating further, “every agreement that does not stand the backing of the law is futile’’.
Other matters arising between the governor and the lawmakers was contract award at the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board(ENSUBEB) which was allegedly awarded wrongly and poorly executed.
GenBuhari: You would do well to listen to what this great patriotic and competent African leader has to say instead of swallowing the white man's propaganda about him.
^^^Me listen to what that corrupt megalomaniac has to say? You must think we have been suckling from the same b*****
I choose my heroes wisely Comrade. Unlike you, I cannot afford the luxury of tying my mast to the reactionary wing of Pan-Africanism. That you bask in the adulation of some imbeeecile who seized power in a coup some twenty-odd years ago, who just happened to have developed an primordial ideology which situates Whitey as the beginning and end of all of Africa's woes; does not mean those of with discerning minds must run with the same puerile logic.
But eh, don't let me stop you from peddling one conspiracy a day. I know that it must provide some therapy for the mind - yours.
https://thezambezian.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nigeria-South-Africa.jpg President Jacob Zuma welcomes Nigerias then-president, Goodluck Jonathan, to Tuynhuys in 2013. The writer says the leaders of Nigeria and South Africa could have offered olive branches after the Lagos church disaster and the xenophobic violence. Picture: GCIS
The biggest players owe it to the rest of Africa to set the tone to safeguard stability and progress, writes Victor Kgomoeswana.
Johannesburg - I read with relief that “South Africa and Nigeria have pledged to continue to work together for the good of their people and the continent as a whole”. Before seeing this article on SANews.gov.za, my blood pressure was soaring at the sight of Africa’s two biggest economies fussing and fighting like delinquent spouses.
Before saying too much, I have to put it out there: South Africa must stop taking on Nigeria, because it cannot; and Nigeria has to learn to be more measured in asserting its status as the No 1 economy by size of gross domestic product and population. Here is why I say so.
Last weekend ended with the news that Nigeria had recalled its Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Martin Cobham, and the Deputy High Commissioner, Uche Ajulu-Okeke. Explanations included claims by the federal government of Nigeria that the recall was standard practice.
The two representatives had been summoned, the federal government explained, to brief parliament on the violence against African immigrants in South Africa.
This action was bad diplomacy on the part of Nigeria, if we consider that diplomacy is defined as “the art and practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements”.
Which part of diplomacy requires a country to recall its representatives because seven immigrants have been killed in xenophobic attacks? But South Africa seemed to believe that one bad act of diplomacy deserved another.
On April 26, the response by the Department of International Relations left much to be desired.
Nothing wrong with the opening paragraph of the response, which said, “a government resorts to such an extraordinary diplomatic step to express outrage at actions or behaviour of another government”.
But I knew the response was headed the wrong way when the statement went on: “We are not sure which actions or behaviour of the South African government the Nigerian government is protesting.”
We are not sure? In diplomacy, when you are not sure, do not comment. It got worse when it opened old wounds about how, “when 84 of our citizens perished on Nigerian soil, we did not blame the Nigerian government for the deaths and more than nine months’ delay in the repatriation of the bodies of our fallen compatriots, or for the fact that when these bodies eventually returned, they were in a state that they could not be touched or viewed as required by our burial practice”.
Well, why did South Africa not act more assertively back then? Explanations ranged from sensitivities around religion and death and difficulty in identifying the bodies to allegations of arms being exchanged between the two countries. Granted, the delay was unwarranted and inconsiderate of the needs of the bereaved families.
However, did South Africa not respond in the hopes of a tit for tat when something similar happened here in South Africa? After all, no Nigerian was killed in April’s episode of Afrophobia.
Respectfully, the statement by the department should have restricted itself to what was officially communicated by Nigeria.
Nigeria for its part showed a lack of restraint. Why rush to recall without a thorough calculation of what the implications were likely to be?
Why not send a fact-finding team to South Africa to indicate a serious intent to act as the biggest member of the African family? Why not get our minister’s counterpart to call, or the president to call President Jacob Zuma? The two leaders finally spoke to resolve the matter.
[b]It is a sad miscalculation that Nigeria did not explore the many other options before recalling or “summoning for a briefing” its representatives in South Africa. There is a symbolic impact of such a move if a country wants to be the real leader of a continent.
Here is a simple illustration of my frustration with how Nigeria and South Africa keep going at each other. When a husband and wife are fighting, exchanging blows in full view of the children, they cause panic in the home and destabilise the neighbourhood.
Visitors will naturally suspend plans for visits or leave if they are in the house.
Africa needs investment: intra-African and from elsewhere.
In the same week as this diplomatic soap opera played out, the Fitch Ratings agency pronounced that Nigerian banks would withstand the fall in commodity prices.
This was meant to reassure the world that the country was increasingly becoming resilient and less dependent on commodities; a sign of economic diversification and stability.
The Nigerian Ports Authority announced a drop in cargo dwell time from 10 to three days, meaning the cost and time of exports and imports had fallen dramatically.
These are signs that the continent’s largest economy is modernising itself.
The US no longer buys Nigerian oil, implying that Nigeria needs to find African customers for its natural resource. Companies such as telecommunications giant MTN are what they are thanks to their forays into Nigeria.[/b]
Nigerian banks, such as Access and Zenith, are growing into the rest of the continent.
In brief, as Africa’s top two economies, Nigeria and South Africa must stop bickering over issues and learn to solve problems in a civil manner without temperamental interludes such as we saw this week or with the visa debacle months ago.
Germany, the EU’s largest economy, never goes on a needless stand-off with France; that is why it is taking a lead in resolving the Greek crisis. Reason? To keep the EU solid and sound as an economic bloc.
Why can Nigeria and South Africa not realise that they need each other more than the petty ego contests about which of them is Africa’s best or biggest? Because that is what is at the heart of all this.
South Africa stood to lose if MTN’s offices were targeted by anti-xenophobia demonstrators in Abuja. In Malawi, some South African shops were boycotted in retaliation for what was happening to African immigrants in South Africa.
The Southern African Development Community meeting tackled this issue, to its credit, without any members of the bloc resorting to recalling their ambassadors to South Africa.
The story of xenophobia will be resolved. For this to happen, Africans have to remember that the borders that divide us were imposed on us at the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885. There was no African interest served by the carving up of Africa among the colonial powers back then; just as there is nothing progressive about exaggerating the nation state mentality at the expense of African unity.
This unity is best served if the biggest members of the kraal, Nigeria and South Africa, start behaving like leaders. The alternative is to waste more time in advancing the cause of Africa’s economic rebirth and integration.
So, Nigeria and South Africa, stop it now – for good!
Lest we forget: this part focuses on snippets of African history and icons for inspiration
April 27 was a special day in Africa. It is the only day I know of on which three countries celebrate their freedom or independence. South Africa turned 21 on the same day as Sierra Leone and Togo in west Africa celebrated their independence days, turning 55 and 56.
For South Africa, it was the second Freedom Day celebration without our founding father, Madiba.
It was also symbolic that a few days after Freedom Day, a Pretoria court made a groundbreaking ruling in favour of an application by Robin Stransham-Ford to be helped legally to die – demonstrating the power of our constitution.
Condolences to the family of Stransham-Ford, who died shortly before the ruling.
Workers of the world also celebrated May Day this week.
These are the people who built the Taj Mahal, the pyramids of Egypt, the Suez Canal, the Statue of Liberty, the Union Buildings, the Gautrain and Parliament.
They drive our buses or trains. They wash our clothes and cook our food.
They sweep the streets we walk and drive on, raise our children, and drill the rock deep underground for us to enjoy the jewellery we take for granted.
They clean our toilets, walk our dogs, pack our groceries, milk our cows for us to enjoy ice cream and yoghurt; they work those cocoa and coffee plantations for the chocolate and cappuccino we relish.
When something is wrong, they sacrifice a share of their meagre wages to strike for change.
In our free South Africa, let us remember to thank a worker for our convenience, comfort, safety and freedom.
* Kgomoeswana is author of Africa is Open for Business, anchor of CNBC Africa’s weekly show Africa Business News, and anchor of the daily show Power Hour on PowerFM. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Italy other European countries are deliberately sinking African migrant boats and drowning Africans. Of course they always ensure that they rescue a few in front of their news cameras, whilst hundreds are allowed to drown.
These African migrant boats always manage to easily survive thousands of miles of rough sea only to repeatedly mysteriously sink in the last half a kilometre of calm coastal waters of Italy.
This point was made by president of the Gambia in his address to the last UN General Assembly. Yet nothing has been done to stop the genocide.[/size]
You have been listening to that buffoon from the Gambia (H.E. SHEIKH PROFESSOR ALHAJI DR. YAHYA A.J.J. JAMMEH, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE GAMBIA ARMED FORCES)? Why am I not in the least surprise?
alaoeri: Typical saTANist , had it been you checked the source you would have found out that its coming from a AIT staff not just ordinary staff but a senior one for that matter. To that protection seeking mofo running from pillar to post to taint the General's image regarding this matter, what will he have to say now?
You see what I see @alaoeri?
Where are all the cerebral TANoids eh? For how much longer must we continue to endure the meaningless rants of emaciated foot-soldiers like @Splashme, all in the name of political commentary?
Politics › Re: The Igbo Comment: An Apology To Soyinka by TheOtherview: 9:26am On May 07, 2015
, had it been you checked the source you would have found out that its coming from a AIT staff not just ordinary staff but a senior one for that matter.
