₦airaland Forum

Na Laugh: I hope i have time to watch this at work today o.

Random: Who remembers the old legendary tale from when we were kids; about Nigeria's final match with India,
which ended 100 - 1 coz of their potent magic which kept turning the ball into a lion each time it headed for Nigeria's post. and how Okwaraji managed to score 1. Haaha . Those were the days.

actually it wasn't 100-1 but 99-1 and the indians promised us we would win the match if we scored a goal. Anyway, many version of the story exist but desame story. Some even said segun odegbami was the one that scored the ball and had his leg twisted after the ball turned into a big stone when he got to the box of the indians. And even the ball turned to arrow each time it got to our keeper and lion whenever our players wanted to kick the ball.
I pity the man that formulated that story cos e be like say God no fit forgive am. Till eternity, our children will be hearing and passing the story to their next generation. I remember one of my younger neighbours still asked me if i watched the match recently.

on nairaland.
Commentators:mukina and other sport section analysts.
Fee:Etisalat megabytes
Onile: Oluwaseun Osewa

The issue of yahoo yahoo is bad anyway. But why i wont blame the guys is just that africans are now paying the whites back in there own coins. Before the africans become wise, we all heard how they enslaved our forefathers like Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowder, Olaundah Equianoh(Gustavo Vassa) and co. Check their museums, full of African artifacts. Are these not a form of yahoo?
They can only charge, fine and jail any yahoo guy that is not wise and stingy to bribe the police officers. Or are they not the same police and EFCC Officers?
People wey dey yahoo nigeria dey do law to fine and charge people wey dey yahoo foreigners. All na yahoo and deserve equall punishment.

Ground zero: Guess u are not following this argument well enough. All said,the emphasis being laid out is that though,u can claim they are all accomplice to the crime,the should be law and ethics guiding the medical world of which they should be dealt with on that regard and not any capital punishment meted to the other duo. Theirs should be minimal. I think this what we r saying here

yes i know and i didn't say he is guilty of the same offence with the 1st and 2nd criminals. That is why i emphasized on the pharmacy code of conduct which the pharmacist violated if u read what i said clearly.

claremont: The Pharmacists have a strong case to answer for professional negligence, not murder.

i never said he has a case to answere on murder

[quote author=dr.laykay]But do u know that the flag inscribed in it,"the coat of arm"is preferred by many?that was what i was told by some retailers when I demanded the original for my car.I was shocked when I googled "the nigerian flag" and those 2 pictures were presented by the search engine.just angry at the level of importance the counterfeit has risen to.[/quote]when Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi was designing the Nigerian national flag in 1959 and hoisted on the 1st of october's 1960, he didn't inscribe the coat of arm in it. Hence they are different entities, the nigerian flag and the nigerian coat of arm.

Silly pension scammer, dumb administration.
If the pension scammer ridicules GEJ's administration, then what does the senate's own corrupt practices and inability and ineptitude to carry out their constitutional duty to get the scammer arrested do to the GEJ administration? Ultraridicule, i guess! Ornithological specimens of identical plumages.
If it were to be Tunde Bakare, Asari Dokubo and co fighting for the right of their people or criticizing the administration, they would know how to get them arrested with ease.
Pains me when they talk about God as if he works on the constitution, though judges what is right and wrong but gives us the free hand to make a constitutional and legal judgement.

e be like say dem don swear for the north make dem dey kill unaself.
Maybe that is another method of population control

We haven't even heard which of the sects attacked the health workers, boko haram, jamb or another sect specialized to attack the health workers.
Still wondering why the northern part still takes active measure to antagonise civilization and developement. The main purpose of the polio is to liberate them from being the nuisance they are creating in the society through their crippled limbs by polio.
If they persist in this animalistic act then i think every cripple northerners should be transported back to their states and never be harboured by the southerners, so that they can continue to bear their own burden.

The case is clear enough naw.
The court granted bail to the 3rd and 4th defendants, while the 1st and 2nd that actually committed the offence of murder were remanded. So what is the problem here?
It means the 3rd and 4th defendants were not directly involved. I read comment which somebody mentioned the pharmacist involved. Every licensed pharmacist in nigerian must have passed through the pharmacy school which means he had undergone a pharmacy administration as a course and studied the ethics(code of conduct) of the course. Every profession has its own ethics that no one should claim ignorance of. So far he is a licensed pharmacist, under no circumstance should he have violated the rules cos of the prior knowledge of the implication. So the pharmacist has a very strong case to answere cos ignorance is not an excuse for him.

SHOCK and disbelief succinctly
captures the mood in the health
sector over the Friday killing of
some female health workers.
As Minister of State for Health, Dr.
Muhammad Ali Pate, whose office
supervises the fight against
polio, described the slain
vaccinators as heroes, US
billionaire and Polio campaign
donor in Nigeria, Mr. Bill Gates,
Saturday expressed deep
concern, describing the apparent
terrorist attack as a tragedy, and
“unacceptable.”
Pate, however, expressed the
optimism that the incident would
not affect the nation’s quest to
eradicate polio in Nigeria.
The health workers were
conducting polio vaccination in
Kano when they were killed by
gunmen.
Pate said: “On February 8, 2013,
we received the shocking news
of the fatal shooting of nine
health workers during separate
attacks in Nassarawa and
Taurani LGAs of Kano State.
“Although this is part of a long
standing cycle of violence that
has engulfed states such as
Borno, Yobe, Kaduna and Kano
states in recent months, we are
invariably left dumb-founded by
this dastardly act of cowardice
that has not spared the very
people who have paid the
ultimate price because of their
commitment to humanity and the
love of their profession.
“Our hearts go out to the
families, friends and colleagues
of these brave women killed
today; we also commiserate with
the families of those non-health
workers, who also lost their lives.
Our nation mourns the demise of
these nine women, who toiled
night and day to ensure that our
children receive vaccines that
would protect them from
diseases such as polio, measles,
tetanus, diphtheria and
pertussis.”
He described the dead
vaccinators as heroes who died
during service to the nation.
Similarly, a statement issued
Friday night on behalf of Mr.
Gates, the US-based Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation said of
the Kano killing: “Our sympathy
goes out to the victims and their
families who were caught up in
this morning’s terrible attack in
Nigeria’s Kano State. “
According to the Foundation,
“any attack on health workers
anywhere is unacceptable. This
tragic incident is an attack on the
delivery of basic health services
to the most vulnerable families.”
But the Gates Foundation said it
would not be deterred in its
campaign to help families in
Northern Nigeria who need
vaccination.
“We will continue to support the
people of Nigeria, their
traditional and religious leaders,
and the Government, in their
tireless efforts to create an
environment where mothers and
children can be safely reached
with essential interventions by
frontline health workers, such as
vaccines to prevent polio,
measles, tetanus, diphtheria,
whooping cough and hepatitis.”
Also, the Christian Association of
Nigerian-Americans (CANAN)
called on traditional rulers and
religious leaders to speak out
more stridently against the
recurrent terrorist killings in
northern Nigeria.
In a statement released by CANAN
Secretariat over the weekend, the
association said the fact that
suspected Boko Haram terrorists
are attacking health workers is
only an outcome of the impunity
they have enjoyed in their
previous and consistent killings
of Christians.
On its part, the Nigerian Medical
Association (NMA) described the
incident as reminiscence of
Nigeria’s insecurity.
President of the NMA, Dr. Osahon
Enabulele, said his members “are
in shock” over the development.
He said: “The NMA totally
deprecates this unfortunate
villainous act of murder,
especially coming at a time when
Nigeria is struggling very hard to
drop her gold medal in polio,
being one of three remaining
countries where polio is
endemic. In 2012, Nigeria was
reported to have 121 out of 222
polio cases in the world, way
ahead of countries like Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
“It was therefore a great shock
that the female health workers
were murdered in the course of
vaccinating Nigerian children
against polio.
“The murder of the female health
workers is a further reminder of
Nigeria’s abysmal state of
insecurity, social dislocation and
depravity. It also further exposes
the high level of insecurity of
healthcare workers in Nigeria, as
well as the persisting
misconceptions about polio
vaccination.”
Executive Director of the National
Primary Health Care Development
Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Ado JG
Muhammad, said the country
would not be deterred by the
death of the health workers,
stressing that nothing would
stop the nation in ensuring the
interruption of wild polio virus.
He paid tribute to health workers
across the country for their
dedication to the fight against
polio.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113015:bill-gates-us-based-christians-doctors-mourn-slain-health-workers&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

From: OKEY SAMPSON, Aba
Until soldiers were deployed to
Abia state on September 30,
2010, Aba, the commercial hub
of the state was the den of
kidnappers. The city became the
unofficial headquarters of
kidnapping because a dreaded
kidnap kingpin at the time,
Obioma Nwankwo a.k.a
Osisikankwu, hailed from and
operated in the zone. Travelling
to Aba was like going to
Golgotha while Osisikankwu
reigned because apart from the
spate of kidnapping, women
were raped in most the brazen
manner and in many cases, in the
presence of family members.
Somehow, the state government
seemed helpless. Thanks to the
arrival of soldiers, Aba now
enjoys relative peace. But
unfortunately, Abiriba community
in Ohafia Local Government Area
of the state has acquired the ugly
tag dumped by Aba. Suspected
kidnappers dislodged from the
commercial city appear to have
found a new haven in the
community popularly known in
the state as “small London.” In
the past few months, no fewer
than 10 persons had either been
killed or abducted by the
rampaging kidnappers.
In a particular case, a 79-year-old
woman, Mrs Martha Oyediya Kalu
of Ndi Okocha Ogbu, Amaogudu,
who was kidnapped in August
2012, was yet to be set free as at
the time of this report and five
months after her son paid
ransom to her abductors. It is the
first time kidnappers would
renege on their promise to
release a victim after relations
had paid the demanded ransom
in the State.
The grandmother was
kidnapped from the residence of
her son, Kalu Gabriel Eke, at Agba
Ogbu, Amaogudu in Abiriba on
August 10, 2012 at about 2am by
a five-man gang. Due to the
heavy iron security protector at
the main entrance to the
building, it was difficult for the
hoodlums to have access to the
house. However, the kidnappers
reportedly gained entry into the
inner rooms when they broke
the ceiling from outside, climbed
into the old woman’s room and
took her away.
It was gathered that shortly after
the incident, her abductors
contacted the septuagenarian’s
son who promptly paid the
ransom with the hope she would
be released immediately as
promised by the hoodlums. But
five months after the kidnappers
confirmed the receipt of the
ransom, they neither released the
woman nor contacted her family.
A similar thing happened
somewhere in Obingwa local
government area where an
elderly woman was kidnapped
and after payment of the ransom,
she died in the hands of her
abductors and her corpse was
dumped near a bush path.
However, Mrs Kalu’s case is
different. Her abductors had
collected the ransom but they
have refused to set her free –
dead or alive. The questions on
the lips of many are: Why would
the kidnappers not release their
victim months after family
members had paid the ransom
placed on her? Could it be that
the amount paid was not
enough to secure her release or
has the woman died and her
body dumped somewhere? Could
it be that somebody who has
scores to settle with the
woman’s son decided to kidnap
and put the elderly woman out of
circulation without trace? Did the
kidnappers decide to kill two
birds with one stone – abduct
the woman, collect ransom from
her relations and kill her for ritual
purposes as it is common in that
part of the country? So many
questions begging for answers!
A journalist with an Aba-based
cable television and a relation, Mr
Oji Ogba who spoke on behalf of
the woman’s son, Eke, said the
family had suspicions. “From the
way the woman was abducted,
we suspect there must be an
insider in the whole game.
Otherwise, why kidnap a 79-
year-old woman and still keep
her after ransom had been paid?
What are they going to do with
her? The family did not waste
time in paying the amount the
kidnappers demanded and the
question of whether we paid a
paltry sum does not arise
because we never paid a dime
less than they demanded. “After
some days, agreement was
reached with the abductors on
the ransom to be paid; the
relations immediately raised and
sent the money in full to the
kidnappers.
But to the family’s greatest
surprise, the abductors refused
to release our grandmother.
Instead, they switched off all the
phones they (kidnappers) used
to communicate with us and
now, we don’t know the
woman’s fate,” he said. Ogba
stated that moved by the
incident, the traditional ruler of
the community, Eze Kalu Ogbu,
ordered the youths to search the
entire adjoining bushes. That
was done, yet no trace of the
woman. In the same vein, both
the Army and the Police have
combed the forests in the area to
no avail.
This has fueled the family’s fear
that the abductors may have
killed their mother. In his appeal
to the kidnappers, Ogba said:
“We (family members) want our
grandmother to be released
whether dead or alive.” As if
these kidnappings including that
of the mother of late Chief Dike
Udensi (DUBIC) were not enough,
the people of the community
woke up on the morning of
January 6, 2013, to an apparently
bad new year gift. They
discovered that a prominent son
of the area, Prince Iroeke, and
two of his security guards had
been gruesomely murdered and
two of his daughters abducted.
It was gathered that the
hoodlums numbering about four,
stormed Iroeke’s compound in
Amamba area of the community,
and killed two Bakassi Boys who
were his bodyguards before
gaining entry into the inner
chambers of the house where
they shot him dead. Thereafter,
they abducted two of his
daughters. The girls were later
released after spending about
five days in the kidnappers’ den
but no ransom was paid. Iroeke
was reported to have taken part
in the last Ime Uche ceremony
(retirement from active
communal service) of the
community held in December
before he met his death.
Following the incident, a dusk-to-
dawn curfew was imposed on
the community and the major
entrances cordoned off by
security personnel while vehicles
were not allowed in or out of the
community before 6am and after
6pm. Palpable fear now pervades
the entire community as some
people who went home for the
yuletide holiday hurriedly
returned to their various bases.
The three bodies have since been
deposited in a mortuary in the
area while police investigations
are in progress. It was reported
that some suspects including
relations of the deceased have
been arrested in connection with
the incident.
For now, there are two versions
to the attack. Some people
suspect that the killers were on a
revenge mission while others
attribute it to assassination.
There was an unconfirmed
report that as Iroeke was
travelling home for the last
Christmas, he engaged the
services of two Bakassi boys
who went out of their way to
arrest some perceived bad boys
in the community. Nine of such
boys were rounded up and
handed over to an unnamed
officer of the organization at
Umuahia who later released four
of them.
Sources alleged that the freed
boys regrouped and launched
the attack, believing that late
Iroeke purposely brought in the
Bakassi boys to deal with them.
There was yet another version
that Iroeke might have been a
victim of the tussle for the
headship of his extended family.
When Sunday Sun reporter
visited the community, a female
relation of the deceased said she
could only speak on the issue if
their traditional ruler, Eze Ogbu,
permitted her to do so.
To see if the necessary
permission could be obtained,
this reporter accompanied the
lady to the palace of his royal
highness, but the traditional ruler
said his subjects would not
speak to the press on the issue,
which he said was still
premature as not to impede
police investigation. Some of the
natives who spoke to our
correspondent on condition of
anonymity urged the state
government to do something
urgently to arrest the security
situation in Abiriba.
They said it was wrong for the
government to boast that Abia
was one of the most peaceful
states in the country while one of
her communities boils. When
contacted on telephone, the State
Police Command Public Relations
Officer (PPRO) said he was not
aware of the incident because he
was attending a conference in
Abuja.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/abiriba-kidnappers-new-london/

Eminent Nigerians, led by
Professor Ben Nwabueze,
under the auspices of Project
Nigeria, Saturday, in Lagos,
called for a National
Conference before 2015
elections, saying failure to do
so may cause disaster,
anarchy and spell doom for
Nigeria.
The group also said Nigeria
may become a failed state if
good governance and
accountability did not take
root soonest.
According to Nwabueze, for
Nigeria to move forward,
there is absolute need for
good governance, justice,
equal treatment of citizens of
various ethnic groups,
observation of rule of law,
transparency and
accountability, free and fair
elections.
His words, “Our meeting
here today is to affirm our
commitment to one Nigeria
and indivisibility among
ethnic groups. We believe
from now to generations to
come, this country should
remain one nation but
government must convene a
national conference with
immediate effect to discuss
national issues that affects
each ethnic groups in
Nigeria.
”There is need to prepare
the peoples constitution
which will enable people of
Nigeria of every ethnic
groups, civil societies to
deliberate and agree on the
conditions they intend to live
together”
He went further, “The
peoples constitution will
comprise of Justice, peace,
development, progress for all
Nigerians that will also
promote nation building”.
The elder statesman called
on civil societies to press the
National Assembly and the
Presidency to immediately
convene the National
Conference.
”There is need for various
movements, groups and
organisations to press the
National Assembly and the
Presidency to quickly
convene a conference where
the groups will meet with
the President and National
Assembly to submit a
memorandum which will be
accompanied by a draft bill
that will cover all aspects of
the constitution”.
Also present at the meeting
were Maitama Sule, Sen Alex
Ibru, Prince Bola Ajibola, Mike
Ozhekome, Chief Ayo
Adebanjo, Chief Philip Asiodu,
Bola Kuforiji Olubi, Gen Alani
Akinrinade, Prof Pat Utomi,
Solomon Asemota, Ganiat
Fawehinmi, and Shettima
Yerima.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/why-national-conference-must-hold-before-2015-by-nwabueze-adebanjo-maitama-sule-others/

nigeria only has a flag. Green, white and green.
Any coat of arm on the flag is a coat of harm cos it has defaced it.

Jonathan went to an hospital in abroad just because of desentry(complicated term, amoebic colitis)!
What has he to justify the allocation for the health sector in the annual budget when he couldn't recieve a treatment in our hospital?
Moreover, why is it that it is only the sahara reporter that sees all these kind of stories.

360command: na ur nash go fire

na ur own tail go catch fire.
Typical zoological garden specimen

360command: you don teach your papa finish ?

may your tail catch fire.

Symphony007: and if you can actually read, you see the president ordered for the arrest of the perpetrators and for security details to accompany health workers in the north.

fatdon1: President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday condemned the killing of nine female health workers shot dead at community health centres during seperate attacks in Kano State.

Reacting to the killings, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered security agencies to provide maximum security to health workers who are engaged in administering polio vaccines to children in high risk areas.

point out where he said the perpetrators will be brought to book.

360command: baba go sleep joor, na him wey shoot the ball. Don't you know when an own goal is an own goal. That Emenikes free kick shot was a deflection but still converted into a goal which a player like messi will celebrate any day and any time and claim its a goal by him or any player who shot it.

stop basing your judgement on what you watch o6 nigeria premier league again. Try to understand the standard football. And i wont hesitate to teach you if you are willing to learn.

ifihearam: small pikin,kano statehas a governor abi? whats his duty?

smaller pikin. Connecticut had no governor before Obama interfere into the the school shooting abi?

holyvirgin: My point is that you go and prepare for jamb abeg...

Silly

then your point is as silly as you are!

Person2: dat isn't true eminike is d highest goal scorer wit 4goals d last he score was called deflection not own goal, go and get ur fact b4 posting trash here dude

no it is an own goal. Consider the physics of the free kick's direction, you will discover that the shot was going off the goal post and not in the direction of the goal post. Hence, it is called an own goal. A deflection has a shot always in the direction of the goal post.

Read in the bible that the sin of the father will be visited on the son. But are these people trying to be antibiblical or what? Visiting the sin of the son on the father.
Not withstanding, irrespective of the crime i neva expected the father to be burnt cos every family has its own black sheep.
The act is babaric!

holyvirgin: Yeah actually the journalist forgot to add that he left aso rock yesterday in search of the killers,
Since its now the duty of the executive arm to catch and purnish offenders.....

is it the duty of the executive to be constructing roads, Make bridges, and working in the power station to generate electricity? So what is your point? What the executive need doing in this situation is to command and activate the process to search for the evil perpetrators

oh sorry omoonike! Dont worry, the golden boot is still yours. Maybe Ikechukwu will carry on his work successfully.

Toaskarity: Common brigde! Are we this poor! Brigde a village here can pay and build a new one in weeks!! Shame on anambra state govt! Shame on the so called rich ppl in onitsha! Shame at the ppl of asaba and their govt!!!! Tufia!! Are ppl really waiting for fed govt to build a new one!
What's wrong in taking care of urself? Assuming no one else has brain inthat part of the country,lemme suggest one. Why not both state govt come together and build a new d brigde then tax any plate number that isn't from both state that uses the Bridge even the city of asab and onitsha can do this without any external help!! What exactly are the leaders in nigeria doing?? Do they just go to office,gossip and home??

think you don't know the bridge in question! Or you think it is the bridge on the stream in your village? Though you are right to an extent. But the nigerian condition may not warrant the citizen to give such amount of money on such project when we all know the amount each politician is embezzling daily which is enough to finance many of such project.
Moreover, the bridge is a federal government property so you may need to count the state goverment out of the renovation.

Just condemnation? Never even mentioning how the evil perpetrators would be brought to book.
Since he has been condemning every evil act, what has been the result? Apparently nothing cos the people never changed for once or even tried repenting.
Obasanjo, i trust u!!!

Police in Abia yesterday exhumed the body of a 400 level law student of Abia State University, Mr. Obinna Obasi Awa from a shallow grave where he was buried in a farm around the university community settlement in Uturu, Abia State. Obinna Awa, the second son of an Abia-based lawyer, Barrister Awa Obasi, was said to have died after undergoing rigorous ritual exercise, following his intention to join a cult in the school. B

ut in a swift reaction, Obinna’s father said that his son was murdered by those he thought were his friends, who later buried him in a shallow grave. The lawyer, who spoke to Saturday Sun at the premises of the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, said that his family was initially looking for Obinna as a missing person. “Today is the 15th day since we started looking for him.

We saw him last on January 22, and revelations show that he died the same day they whisked him away. His friends planned, dug grave, tied his hands behind him and killed him, what a world we live in, what a betrayal of friendship? The culprits must be found where ever they are and tried according to the law of the land, otherwise people will keep dying and they would be mistaken for missing people. If not that God made it possible for us to recover his body, we would have still been wondering whether he just died or got missing. My impression is that his close friends took him away and murdered him”, he lamented.

Another source from the campus said that the deceased had returned from the initiation ground complaining that he was feeling very weak and was advised to take glucose, but after drinking it, he complained that he was getting weaker and weaker and one of his friends suggested that he should be taken to hospital and when the Capon heard it, he warned them that no person should try that. At that point, he started breathing loudly and they took him into the inner room, locked the door and increased the volume of the radio set to thehighest point so that passers- by would not hear his groaning.

According to the source, when he eventually died, they took his corpse to the bush at night where they dug a two- feet shallow grave and buried him. The Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ambrose Aisabor, who spoke to Saturday Sun, said that before this incident, about 25 students of Abia State University had been arrested and were currently cooling off in the police net awaiting arraignment. “The initial case that was reported was that of a missing person from Abia State University. But during our investigation, we discovered that he was taken out on January 22, by members of Maphites Confraternity.

Those who saw him said he was in company with some cultists, going into the bush, next to the Queens Lodge where he resided. “We arrested two of the cultists initially, one is the son of one Professor Onwuchekwa called, Chiemele, who was his room mate and the other is Okoronkwo Obinna, though they were not there during the initiation exercise, they were not connected with the murder, but they are still cultists and will be prosecuted accordingly.

“We learnt that it was in the course of initiation that they inflicted lots of injuries on him and he gave up the ghost and they went and buried him in a shallow grave. Investigation is still on, at the end of it, we will charge the culprits to court. It is a pure case of murder. But the other two who are involved were the ones that led the police to the place that they buried the deceased. Chiemele and Okoronkwo are members of Maphites Confraternity, but not part of the initiation”, CP Aisbaor said.


http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/police-arrest-25-abia-varsity-students-over-cultism/

FORMER Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam
Nasir el-Rufai has said that one
of the reasons the late President
Umaru Yar’Adua failed in office
was owing to lack of self
confidence.
In his 628-page memoir entitled,
The Accidental Public Servant, el-
Rufai said that Yar’Adua always
fretted and felt insecure among
brilliant minds; hence he avoided
surrounding himself with
enough competent hands who
could disagree with him based
on superior arguments.
According to the former minister,
it was in the character of the
deceased to find a way to end a
relationship, once he discovered
one to be outspoken, intelligent
and independent-minded.
He said it was because of his
deep understanding of the
personality of the late president
that he (el-Rufai) chose not to
work with him while in office so
as not to damage their cordial
relationship.
el-Rufai said: “Knowing Umaru
better overtime and longer than
most people that worked with
him as president, I was
convinced that working with him
would damage our cordial
relationship. One of Umaru’s
basic problems was that he was
insecure and could therefore be
irrational about many things.
“Part of the reasons I think he
failed as president was that this
deep insecurity prevented him
from surrounding himself with
enough numbers of competent,
independent-minded people
who could disagree with him.
This is because good people
often have strong opinions and
necessarily disagree with others,
including their leaders. They are
naturally confident, outspoken
and will not always agree with
the leader’s views and will say so.
“Umaru had no tolerance at all
for people who argued or
disagreed with him.
“Once a person disagreed with
Umaru once or twice, that
person would never have access
to him, ever again, he would just
block him out.”
The former minister also revealed
that governance began to suffer
barely 100 days after Yar’Adua
assumed office because he felt
intimidated by the volume of
work and challenges of the office
of president.
El-Rufai claimed the late governor
of Katsina State kept in touch
with him, saying that he
“perpetually needed to see me, to
request help,” which he obliged
the late the president by way of
meetings.
“But then when we would sit
down again, it was as though
the previous conversation had
never happened and we would
start all over. ‘I need you around
here, he uttered this phrase to
me more than thrice that
summer and then periods of
radio silence followed, despite
the intermittent requests for
some involvement.
“What was happening behind
the scenes, and I say this only
after hearing it from multiple
sources who were on the inside,
was that after those first 100
days or so, Yar’Adua had given
up on being able to run the
Federal Government. His first
week, the amount of paperwork
that came to his desk was so
overwhelming. He could not
believe that the president was
required to read all those memos
and approve or comment on
each one,” el-Rufai stated.
Recalling that the late president
was nicknamed Bad Man by
students of Barewa College, Zaria,
where the former minister said
he first met Yar’Adua in 1972, he
said Yar’Aadua “drank all the
time, smoked a lot, was not a
strict disciplinarian at all.
“He was quite bright though, and
despite reportedly sleeping away
his two years of A-Levels and
mostly missing classes, he still
made good enough grades to be
admitted into university at a time
when most people failed all four
A-Level papers.”
Buhari, Uwais, Sanusi, govs grace
book launch
Meanwhile, Major-General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd), on
Thursday rejected the notion that
what the country needs to excel
are strong institutions, saying
that rather, what Nigeria needs is
actually a strong leader.
President Goodluck Jonathan has
always harped on the need to
develop strong institutions as a
way to place Nigeria on the
appropriate pedestal for
development.
But speaking in Abuja as a co-
presenter of the book written by
el-Rufai, the former head of state
agreed that while there was the
need for strong institutions,
those of Nigeria have been
destroyed and now required
strong hands to rebuild them.
He observed that institutions
were strong in other countries
because “the technocrats there
allow the politicians to mess up
themselves but make sure the
right thing is done, but in Nigeria
here, those who think they are
strong destroy the institutions.”
He added: “Paradoxically, we
need strong people back to
rebuild the institutions.”
In a thinly veiled reference to the
present administration, the
former presidential candidate
regretted that so much money
was being appropriated to
security to the detriment of other
vital sectors of the nation’s
economy without the desired
result.
He noted that while the late
Premier of Northern Region, Sir
Ahmadu Bello allocated 43 per
cent of the budget to education
and his colleague in the Western
Region devoted more than 55
per cent, the present government
was allocating 2 per cent or 5
per cent of its budget to
education and the rest on
security.”
Buhari said that the country did
not need leaders “who talk glibly
about this nation and they don’t
know how to develop the
nation.”
Speaking on the book, he praised
the courage of the author but
remarked: “How I wish I knew
he would write this book, I
would not have spoken to him
the way I did.”
The chief presenter of the book
and governor of Lagos State,
Babatunde Fashola, said in his
remarks that the book would
connect the people to the
“compelling necessity to ensure
that only first eleven are
entrusted with the nation’s
destiny.”
Governor Tanko Al-Makura of
Nasarawa State was of the view
that el-Rufai “is indeed a
controversial person,” adding
that the general perception of
the former minister “is that he is
arrogant, disrespectful, but
despite this, he is simply a man
you cannot ignore, a man who is
frank to a fault.”
Governor Babangida Aliyu of
Niger State observed that the
recent merger of four opposition
political parties was welcome as
it would ensure that “riff-raffs”
do not find their way to
positions of authority in the
country.
In his remark, Governor of
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),
Lamido Sanusi Lamido, stated
that the problem with the
country “is our total disregard
for merit and competence.”
He added: “We should stop
asking where one is from or
what religion he belongs but
what do you have to offer. We
should begin to judge people by
their character and not by their
affiliation.”
He also said that people should
be honest enough to tell their
bosses the truth rather than be
sycophants.
In a message he sent in, former
governor of Lagos State, Senator
Bola Tinubu, observed that the
book has opened a door that
“leads us into seeing up, close
and personal what Nigeria is and
how those that wield power
behave and misbehave.”
According to him, “Thanks to
Nasir, we now know that most of
our leaders are soon overcome
and consumed by their unbridled
lust for power and that the
public or Nigerians are mere
irritants.

Ngwakwe: Ampenicillin and Codin that serve temporary relieve

don't murder pharmacy here o. Ampicillin and codeine. Not even used for the mentioned purpose.

@topic! A mere speculation anyway. But will be nice if it happens.
Am not concerned about which party rules but a strong opposition in nigerian political system so that we can have an interesting democracy and not one useless party acting anyhow all because there is no rivalry.

Egba girl: Are ambulance services only needed for road accidents?

[quote author=garri(x7)]Speaking in Osogbo the
state capital, Governor
Aregbesola identified poor
emergency management as
the major cause of deaths in
many road accidents.
While launching the vehicles,
19 of which were procured
by the state government and
31 by local government
councils, Governor
Aregbesola maintained that
the deplorable state of
major highways in the
country is responsible for
most of the road accidents,
but added that if responses
to these accidents had been
prompt, many deaths would
have been averted.[/quote]didn't you see it?