₦airaland Forum

Man plots mothers death: “ I only told them to collect her dollars”
Jan 31, 2011

Confession of accused of killing own mother


By Albert Akpor, Evelyn Usman and Ifeanyi Okolie


Emotions ran high yesterday at the Lagos State Police headquarters, Ikeja, after a 46 -year-old man gave a startling confession of how he masterminded the killing of his United States based mother last December, in their Isolo abode.


Adedeji (46), suspected to have masterminded mother’s death.
The suspect, Adedeji Idowu , was arrested along side his wife, Adebimbe, a graduate of English language from the Lagos State University, Ojo, for allegedly been in the know of the plot to kill her mother-in-law upon her arrival.

The deceased , 65-year-old Alhaja Sikirat Idowu, only returned from America on December 1 , 2010, unaware that , that would be her last trip alive. Adedeji, it was gathered, went to pick his mother from the airport and arrived their 17, Akiti Avenue, Isolo, at about 11pm.

The ovation that greeted her arrival was however, disrupted by the appearance of four strange men who ordered everyone to lie flat. The armed men reportedly demanded for Alhaja Sikirat’s money and luggage. But she was reported to have put up a struggle, following which she was shot right in the chest and died instantly.

Policemen attached to Okota division began investigation into the death until last week when they made headway, leading to Adedeji arrest. When his apartment was searched, some of the loots stolen from his late mother were recovered.

When interviewed, 46-year-old Adedeji who was paraded alongside his wife and a member of the four-man gang that invaded the deceased home, said he never told the armed men to kill his mother. Rather, he claimed he only instructed them to collect her money and other things she brought.

Looking remorseful and with a shaky voice, Adedeji said, “I never knew they would kill her. I only told them to collect the dollars she brought and other things. My mum was my benefactor, she was always there for me. Anytime I was short of cash, I usually ran to her for help”.

But things, according to him, fell apart between him and his mother late 2009. “ Before then, I brought someone in 2008 that was owing me N4 Million. She promised to collect the money from the person when she got to US. But because of the misunderstanding, I was not on greeting terms with her until she traveled.”

Asked what caused the misunderstanding, he kept mute, ignored the question and continued with his explanation, “ even members of my extended family came to settle the rift between us but the quarrel lingered until she left for US. Later, I called one of my siblings in US who informed me mummy would be coming in December. I then contacted Ologede who contacted other members of the gang.

The plan was to get the money she brought . When she eventually arrived , I went to pick her at the airport and immediately she came in , the robbers came out of their hiding, stated the graduate of Textiles in one of the Southern Universities.

Narrating the chain of events that led to the death of Alhaja Sikirat Idowu earlier, out-going Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Marvel Akpoyibo, said Adedeji craftily excused himself from the welcome party , where he signaled members of the gang to strike. The suspects, according to Akpoyibo, “ arrived the late Alhaja’s residence in a BMW saloon car belonging to one of them named Ambali.

They also escaped from the scene using the same car, after robbing the 65-year-old grand mother of laptops, assorted jewelries , phones, cash which denomination was in dollars and other valuables”

A total sum of 50,000 US dollars was said to have been stolen from the deceased . But his son only got 200 US dollar(equivalent of N30,000) two laptops and jewelries.

But investigations, according to Akpoyibo, showed that Adededi’s wife, Adebimpe went to collect the money and other loots from the suspect. When approached, Adebimpe did not deny it. But she only claimed she got to know of her husband’s involvement after the attack.

She confessed to have been given some of the gold jewelries, one of which she sold for N50,000 at Yaba. On why she did not tell anyone of her husband’s involvement, she replied, “ I only wanted to save my marriage. He told me after the incident. I asked him following the news around the area that my husband knew something about the robbery . So when I confronted him he opened up to me and begged me to cover him up.

After some days, he sent me to get the money from Ologede and when I went, I was only given 200 dollars and some jewelries, part of which my husband gave me”

At a point , she bent her head down and wiped away the tears that was running down her cheeks. Recalling how it all happened, she stated, “ I was leaning on the balcony when Alhaja’s arrival was announced. I quickly ran out to meet her and immediately I got there with one of the maids, the men came and ordered both of us to lie down. When they demanded for money she said she had no money and when one of them attempted to carry her luggage, she snatched it from him and the next thing I heard was a gun shot. It was after they left that I raised alarm. I have never been myself since the incident”,said the mother of two.

But one of the arrested suspects, Maminu Olusoji said the gate of the building was opened to them by no other than Adedeji. He stated that Adedeji actually took them to where they would hide before his mother’s arrival. Maminu , a father of two, is a popular plantain seller at Idi-Oro market in Mushin area of Lagos. He also claimed to be a member of the Odua Peoples Congress(OPC)

He disclosed further that the plan to kill the late Alhaja took three weeks to finish. “ We met three times at Dalekeo. When he came, he told me to get people that would help attack his mother. But he told us plainly that we should not kill her.

He said she was a witch and that she had killed one of his siblings . He also added that she had hypnotized him .But on the day we went, I was not the one that shot. It was Irabor. I drove the vehicle. Even when we left the scene, We all blamed Irabor for shooting and he said the woman tried putting up a struggle and that he released the bullet by mistake”.

so these politicians believe that their children's school should not be interrupted, while everyone else's should. They don't care about no one else but themselves.

American School disobeys government directive on closure
By Ngozi Sam


January 18, 2011 02:14AM



Although President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has kept millions of children at home to allow for voter registration in schools, the president’s two children and those of other affluent citizens are attending school uninterrupted. The elite school these children attend, the American International School, Abuja, is in full session. The Federal Ministry of Education had on January 6, ordered all schools to postpone their resumption date until February 4. The American International School, Abuja - which counts among its pupils and students children of prominent senators, ministers, governors, and even the president - resumed on January 10 and has remained open ever since, running a normal school programme.

A reliable source at the school, who would like to remain unnamed, confirmed to NEXT that the school, which runs an American system of education, is attended by the children of high-ranking government officials and politicians, many of whom are active members of its Parent-Teacher Association.

According to the source, who is a staff member of the school, “This is an American school but I don’t think it is enough reason for them to disobey [a] government order. I see it as an embarrassment. Maybe it is because all the teachers are foreign and they are sure that the school will not be used for voter registration.

“The school fees range from between N600,000 to N4 million, and no parent will pay that much and see their children at home during [a] normal school session for any reason. National Assembly members, ministers and even the president’s children are here. The two of the president’s children are in primary school in this school.”

Business as usual

When NEXT visited the school last Friday, students were seen playing on the school’s playground. Yesterday afternoon, parents and guardians were seen driving in to pick up their children and wards after a full day of school activities. The school’s gates, which are usually shut with to-and-fro traffic closely monitored during school hours, were wide open.

Efforts to get a response from school authorities on why the government’s directive had been ignored did not yield any results.

Amy Uzoewulu, the school’s director, in an email response to NEXT, said: “We are not authorised to communicate with the press unless we have approval from the president of the board of governors.”

When NEXT asked her to pass the message to the president of the board, she promised to do so but then replied with another email, directing us to send our enquiry to the American Embassy in Abuja, revealing a hitherto unknown formal link to the American Embassy. The school is a private institution, and it is not clear if the American government is a shareholder in the enterprise, but Ms. Uzoewulu was clear in her response.

“Please forward your inquiry to Peter Claussen, Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy Abuja,” she wrote.

At press time, Mr. Claussen had not responsed to the email enquiry NEXT sent to him.

Voting centres

The federal government had announced that all primary and secondary schools in the country would be closed for over three weeks between January 7, 2011 and February 4, 2011 to allow for a more efficient voter’s registration exercise in the country.

It was revealed, however, that a number of private schools have successfully pressurised the government to allow them to open on Tuesday, January 18. It does not appear that a similar concession has been made for state-run schools. Investigations by NEXT showed that public school students were still earmarking January 31 for a return to school.

INEC’s decision

Kenneth Gbagi, minister of state for education, had stated that the original directive was to all public and private schools in Nigeria, adding that the move was initiated by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“We acceded to the request of INEC,” he said. “INEC actually wrote a letter to us requesting that we shift the resumption date from 7th of January to 4th of February.”

The schools, he said, would be closed because many schools would be used as registration centres nationwide.

“We don’t want interference of our children with visitors in that critical period. You know the government and people of this country place a lot of premium on the issue of election and everything will be done to make sure we do not have excuse for Nigerians regarding that election. As a result, we have directed that all schools within the country, both private and public, remain closed. Resumption date will now be in February 2011,” he said.

Sanctions

Spokesperson for the ministry of education, Peter Obidiegwu, in a telephone interview, said that any school that disobeyed the resumption date directive was doing so at its own risk.

“That some are in session brings to light the fact that they have no regard for the law,” he said. “It doesn’t speak well of them as a diplomatic entity.”

Further investigations revealed that when another private school in Abuja, Regent Schools in Maitama, attempted to reopen on Monday, there was a swift directive from the ministry of education to the school to close or risk having its licence withdrawn.

However, one week after flouting the government’s order, it appears that no similar action has been taken against the American International School, Abuja.


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5664107-146/story.csp

how many states have voted so far?

is the data capture computers that INEC ordered only going to be used for the presidential election? I think if they were in use now, it would have helped out with the issue of false thumbprints.

Were the voter registration for this election done using the DDC machines or did they use the old method?

Sanusi bags FT’s global awards
Thursday, 06 January 2011


THE renowned global financial intelliegence magazine- The Banker, a publication of the Financial Times of London, has conferred on the Governor ofCentral Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, double awards.
The awards are the Central Bank Governor of the Year for the entire world and that of the African continent.

According to a release signed by the Country Representative, Nigeria, The Banker Magazine, Financial Times, London, United Kingdom, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, the magazine noted in its 2011 January edition, which will also be distributed at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, that in the last 18 months that Sanusi has been in office, he has salvaged a crumbling Nigerian financial sector, including implementing reforms that have put Africa’s most promising market back on the map for investors globally.

Editor of the magazine, Mr. Brian Caplen, noted that few candidate names can generate an overall consensus on judging panels and yet, when it came to finding the best global central bank governor of the year, Sanusi was chosen unanimously.

Caplen stresses that Sanusi embarked on a radical anti-corruption campaign aimed at saving 24 banks on the brink of collapse and pressed for the managers involved in the most blatant cases of corruption to be charged and, in the case of two senior bankers, convicted.

Despite the big challenge of facing up to powerful people who held considerable sway in the country, Sanusi never looked back and got the support of the public as they were made aware of the scale of corruption, which made the public to support the change he promoted.

Two months into his governorship, Sanusi embarked on the bailout of Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and Finbank and dismissed their chief executive officers in a move designed to show that banking is no longer business as usual but institutions that must serve the economy as a whole.
Another key reform of the banking sector introduced by Sanusi has been to limit the tenure of bank CEOs to a maximum of 10 years. They will have to leave office at the end of their term regardless of their record. This policy has already led to change of leadership at UBA, Zenith and Skye banks.

Caplen added that the reforms initiated by Sanusi have been hailed as necessary to sanitise the banking industry and that observers have argued that, had these reforms not been initiated, Nigeria would have entered into another round of banking distress.
The implementation of stricter disclosure policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria has also led to a culture of greater transparency in the sector, he said.
The magazine noted that the reforms of Sanusi are to enhance the quality of the Nigerian banks, establish financial stability in the system, provide enabling and healthy financial-sector evolution as well as ensuring that the financial sector contributes to the real sector rather than just serving the banking sector alone.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34620:sanusi-bags-fts-global-awards&catid=31:business&Itemid=562

marvix:
The NSA is an agency of government in the security department just like PHCN is an agency of government in the Ministry of power.

The MD of PHCN is not doing the same job as the adviser to the president on power.

An adviser is a representative of the president, he can speak for the president, he can give provisional approval for whatever the MD needs, the same way this Adviser on Terrorism will take the briefs of the National Security Adviser.

If you must note the adviser does not really have a constitutional role he is like an assistant to the president on issues, like the terrorism adviser would be an assistant to the president on terrorist issues.

If the NSA has info and need the presidential approval to move or need to brief the president they dont have to wait to see him they would be working closely with the adviser who would be on hand can take decisions on behalf of the president, the NSA chief can never take a decision on behalf of the president.

The role of this adviser is to assist Jonathan with the coordination of all security agencies including the SSS,Police,Army,DMI and all other security related units and organisations, the IG does not and can not report to the Chief of Army staff, same for the DG of the SSS ditto for the Director of the SSS, they all report to the president, the COAS reports to the president thru his CDS, at some point he does not have to share intel with the police, but when they all meet the presidential adviser its just like meeting the president and this is one reason why a politician will never be named as that adviser!!!

How is one person an agency? So when Gusau was appointed the NSA by Jonathan he by himself was an agency? Please think before you type. Gusau who was vying for presidency was not a politician ehh?

What is the differnce between advising on national security and terrorism? is terrorism not an issue of national security. Let Jonathan stop side-stepping the main issue which is to reform the police to actually do their job of helping with security in addition to actually creating a budget that will be more for capital expenditure and not salaries. If the youths causing trouble had access to good education system and then when they come out have access to jobs that pay good wage, then they will have less temptations to listen to all these people that influence them with money to wreak havok on society.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=578812.msg7463276#msg7463276 date=1294185457]]sensible opinion and if i may ask,what does the national security adviser do ?[/quote]is that supposed to be a serious question? what does the title say? Its like asking what does the manager of a store do.

marvix:
At the end of the emergency security meeting yesterday, it was announced that an adviser to the president is to be named in the next one week. Although the name of the adviser was not revealed, it was gathered that the announcement was delayed because of the need to make some consultations and carry out some security checks on the appointee.


I dont know if I missed something here, it was an adviser to the president that was to be announced not an agency, the adviser to be announced is not to head an agency but supposed to be a direct adviser to the president.

I have said on this forum severally that the problem of this country is the high number of uneducated literates, these people think they know but actually they dont know and this is the worst type of fools you can have around, it is easy to lead a very educated and enlightened group because they understand, it is possible to lead stark illiterates who know that they know not because they know that they dont know but it is very impossible to lead uneducated literates because they think they know what they have no clue about.

An adviser to the president on Terrorism is meant to be the presidents eye on security matters and especially terrorism matters, he is supposed to be able to take decisions on behalf of the president even in his absence, these are the people that work on all the details before the president can give approval to anything, he is expected to have unrestricted acess to the president and all security issues he can receive briefings on behalf of the president he can give go aheads while he works on details for the president to be kept up on speed, the president who has a reelection bid on his table can not always be expected to take briefings from all security agencies, analyse their submissions and make his decisions.

Advisers to the president are not ordinary people because at a point they can make the job of the ministers difficult and impossible but that is in a case where they are involved in flexing of muscles, as you can see the President delayed the announcement because we have to be double sure of his records.

For all those talking about the CCTVs in Abj it has been commisioned today and is running, I dont think this was done overnight, it sure had been on the cards but with all that is happening all the red tape that had hindered its commisioning and use was cut.

Bureaucracy and procedures are normal in any large organisation, we cannot run Nigeria like a private primary school, even a bank or a private coy that has a turnover of N1b, has different advisers to the MD, not to talk of the President of a republic like Nigeria.

Since you are infering that you are not one of the supposed uneducated illiterates, tell us what the purpose of an anti-terrorism chief when you have a national security advisor. Isn't it the job of the NSA to advice the president on how to handle these kind of issues.

look in the mirror before you label others as uneducated

Kobojunkie:
Why does it seem no one is alarmed that the report suggests that mere Governors donated 500 million EACH?

hmm N500 Million = $3.3 Million . Na wa o. Useless governors. Don't these people have any pride in their state or country. This money could have been used to set up some schools, or fix some roads. Geez.

One issue i see is that I don't think that all Nigerian's realize that govt. money is money meant for them and that it is their money; some believe instead that the money is "governments money" and not "the citizens money". If all Nigerians knew this then I think they would demand and agitate for more accountablity and transparency and not stand for all this nonsense. Tomorrow you will hear these same governors complain about lack of funds.

nakosm4u:
I strongly believe some Nigerians don't know what to say before saying all kinds of rubbish. Who says such appointment is a clueless idea. Take for instance USA. USA has FBI, NSA, NASA, POLICE, CIA, CTU etc. Counter Terrorists Unit (CTU) is responsible for terrorism which the police does not deal with. Instead of raining insults on the president, we should contribute positively towards building a better Nigeria.

One thing you need to realize is that the FBI, Police, CIA, etc in U.S. ACTUALLY WORK. If the U.S. or any other western country adds in another agency for fighting terrorism it is mostly to complement and improve what the other agencies are already doing.

In Nigeria, Police, SSS, and all those other useless agencies don't work. Before you go and create more agency why don't Jonathan try to fix the current ones to see the extent to which they can handle the situation. A well trained police force and SSS may be able to take care of these kinds of issues.

It's too bad in this election we don't really have any candidates that will really bring huge positive changes. We are stuck with choosing between the lesser of the evils.

Beaf:
And you think the police can be fixed in the next 5 years? I wonder how some people reason. Dude, you are really clueless.
Did you really think before posting this?
It is best not to post than make foolish statements in public.

U are the one who is clueless. Why can't the Nigerian police force be reformed so that they can do a better job of securing various areas of country within 5 years?  You need to open your eyes and stop supporting this big waste of money that will not yield any tangible results. The solution to this security problem in country is to develop the country's infrastructure, instead of spending most of 2011 budget on recurrent expenditure.  This new advisor and the useless committees to be set up will be given all these exhorbitant allowances for all sorts of silly things. Isn't it the job of the NSA to be advising the president on these issues? Why the need for duplication?


You are just one of Jonathans sheep that will not criticize him.

This Jonathan is beginning to seem clueless. Is this really the solution to our security problem? Just another expansion of government that will be used to siphon away more money from treasury without any results. Why don't these people fix the setup of police in country. This is something a well organized police department can crackdown and handle.

Government to appoint anti terrorism chief


By Elizabeth Archibong


January 4, 2011 04:51AM


An emergency meeting of security chiefs was held yesterday behind closed doors in Abuja. The meeting, which was presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, was summoned to deliberate over the spate of bombings and security breaches across the country.

A source said the president ordered the security chiefs to discuss and find how to bring the violence that has become common across the country under control.

It was gathered that the president expressed concern that security has become a challenge, thus leading to loss of lives and raising fears over the elections coming up in April.

On the eve of Christmas, series of bombs exploded in different areas of Jos leading to the death of over 80 people, while another exploded at a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State. On December 31, there was a bomb explosion at the Mogadishu Barracks in Abuja, killing four persons while several others were injured.

Terrorism adviser to be named

At the end of the emergency security meeting yesterday, it was announced that an adviser to the president is to be named in the next one week. Although the name of the adviser was not revealed, it was gathered that the announcement was delayed because of the need to make some consultations and carry out some security checks on the appointee.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had in 2008 installed CCTV in some strategic areas in Abuja and its environs. However, the functionality of these gadgets has come under question in view of recent events.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Ima Niboro, said, “The president convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to address the state of security in the country. The meeting also reviewed the bomb incident of New Year’s eve and condemned them as an act of terror. Mr. President in the next one week is to appoint a special adviser on terrorism.

“Mr. President will work with the National Assembly to ensure the speedy passage of the anti-terrorism bill. Government will also introduce CCTVs in public places for access control. Regulations are also underway for the access control for both public and private establishments.”

He disclosed that a presidential committee on the control of explosive and other incendiary materials will also be set up as well as a committee on public enlightenment on general security awareness amongst citizens.

In the build up to the elections, Mr. Niboro said “the police have been directed to ensure the prompt arrest and prosecution or political thugs,” adding that “all armouries licenced by the police are to be further inspected to regulate how the materials are imported and used in Nigeria.”

Those present at the emergency security meeting, which was chaired by the president include: the minister of defence, Adetokunbo Kayode; the minister of interior, Emmanuel Iheanacho; the minister of police affairs, Humphrey Abba; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed; Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe; director general of State Security Service, Ekpenyong Ita; National Security Adviser, Andrew Azazi; Chief of Defence Staff, Oluseye Petirin; the Chief of Air Staff, Dikko Umar; Chief of Naval Staff, Ola Ibrahim; Chief of Army Staff, Azubike Ihejirika; and Hafiz Ringim, the Inspector General of Police.



http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5660468-146/government_to__appoint__anti.csp

[quote author=dem_people link=topic=577473.msg7443195#msg7443195 date=1293866221]In the 21st century, size and population matters a lot. The countries who will call the shots in this century are all 'big' countries(China, India, Russia, Brazil, US etc)  both in geographical and population sizes respectively. This is mostly why the BRIC countries are a booming block. Many are here shouting that Nigeria should split. Quite alright, if Nigeria splits, then WHAT? People don't get the big picture here. If we split, is it the same politicians that have been stealing us dry, are going to continue to rule in the newly created countries?  Guys, when Nigeria should have split was a long time ago. Not now. The forces behind many atrocities in the country are vested foreign interests (Wikileaks should  serve as an eye-opener) and not emanating locally. The Western world has a lot to gain, should Nigeria split. You need not look far towards Ivory Coast and other Francophonic countries. Many countries are against Nigeria's existence as a country due to its POTENTIAL, and nothing more.

1)The Arab world sees the country as a mammoth threat and barricade towards its quest to ultimately Islamasize Africa.

2)The West sees the country as "another potential China (considering they "were asleep" and underestimated China's drastic rise within a short period)" taking its well endowed and talented human resources coupled with its huge and vast natural resources, into consideration.

3) Even in the West, no country calls the shots alone in the world anymore instead, they do so as a block. Its called the EU. And why do they do this? In other to allow them to have more socio-political and economical clout required to pursue their interests globally - together.

We shouldn't only be thinking about the food we eat today but, also about the food available tomorrow. These foreigners see Nigeria as a threat! Lets not play into their hands.

I was going through Wikileaks two days ago and saw a publication where the British were "worried" about the relative calm in West Africa and, were happy when a significant incident happened which "allowed them to assert their influence" in the region. These guys love to see us split. Its an enormous divide-and-conquer game strategy that they're playing. Nigeria is a workable entity only if we practice true federalism, convene a Sovereign National Conference, dissolve states and revert to regionalism and most importantly, have the most appropriate and patriotic people at the helm of affairs. Only then, would we see drastic positive changes.


*People should stop calling God to solve problems in which we could solve ourselves afterall, he created us with brains to be used for thinking.[/quote]I agree with you that Nigeria should not split.  It is high time we the people realize that if we all wanted to Nigeria to change for the better tomorrow, we can make it happen. All it takes is for us to stop only relying on god to solve our problems.  God will hope those who help themselves. If Nigeria fights for a good country, we will get it. It will also put a warning to any person that may want to come in to mess up the country.

Some of us really need to realize that our size is a big advantage and we can become an economic and political powerhouse.

I really think these bombimgs here and there are all masterminded by politicians. Let us not be fooled to really think that the country will fail. Nigeria just needs an adjustment in direction and it will take off. Despite the appearance that everything is going backwards the country is slowly progressing.

Its just wrong to toll the road without completing it. This agreement was signed when Tinubu was governor and is his work. If its true that Tinubu vetoed 90% of executive council decision to not accept the project its quite clear he has financial ties to LCC and is looking to milk Lagosians.  

If it was gov. Fashola that signed the agreement and was now somehow backing off, then I think the whole thing about investors running away would hold.  Investors will not run away from Lagos. All they have to do is make sure they have done their homework. Its not as if Fashola is breaching all the contracts between the state and private investors. This just happens to be an isolated case where many of the citizens of the state are against the amount being charged and the extent of the road that is complete.

I just want for Fashola to make sure that the worries of many Lagosians are taken care off.

This project is costing LCC appx $250 million or so.  With the 30 year concession period there is more than enough time for them to recoup their money and make a ton extra with the rate they are charging.

If they did their homework they would have added two lanes to both sides, if possible which would truly make it an expressway and built the alternate route.

While Nigeria has problems, urging for its splitting will not solve the problems that would probably still be seen in the "new" nations formed. One of the most important reasons why things are not moving forward as quickly as possible is because of the crop of leadership found in the country. If all Nigerians knew of the importance of voting and insisted/fought for their votes to be counted, I doubt we would be here talking about this issue.

One important fact is that Nigeria did not fight for its independence from Britain. It was more or less given. If Nigerians had come together and fought a war of independence to get Britain to leave things would be much different because people would be much less tolerant of people/politicians that seek to move the country backward. What we tend to see is that people will just say "its in gods hands" and will not really try to join together and resist to show that the future of the country is really in the hands of the people and that we can't be waiting around for a day that some natural disaster will take away all the people that have stood in the way of nigeria's progress.

We see the examples, through some state governors, of how much progress can be made when the right people are in place. I think what we should instead be trying to figure out is how to ensure that our votes count.

Kobojunkie:
NASS essentially votes itself a raise when it chooses to. We were all here only a couple of months ago when the last vote took place.

Yeah i remember the vote. But what happened to the checks and balances ? What kind of constitution allows NASS members to raise their own salary as much as they want and whenever they want? chei, dis country sef

Akainzo:
That Tukur guy must have been high on something when he was on air or maybe the occasion got to him or just maybe, he sensed what the presenters wanted to air to Nigerians and he played along.

The NASS has made changes to the RMFAC regulations thereby effectively amending their own salaries and the lame duck Presidency of Yar'adua and GEJ didn't do anything about it. In essence, lawmakers are getting was has been proposed by them and acquiesced to by the Executives.
For an avoidance of doubt, it is the executives that releases these monies to them. And it is the executives are ensures that this monies are paid to them monthly/quarterly.

So this means that these super high salaries won't be coming down unless the thieves themselves vote to lower it? We know that aint happening. So just how can these salaries be reduced? What was Finance Minister Aganga talking about when he was talking about how the executive was working on cutting down cost of NASS?

Kobojunkie:
But THEY decided what they ought to be paid as allowance. They are legislators and essentially make this sort of decision. So, whoever PAID it to them had authorization from the Legislators to do so.

is it the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission that sets salaries and allowances? Isn't there supposed to be some check and balance to prevent the legislooters from giving themselves allowance of any size they want? There must be. Since the guy in the article has said what legislooter should be getting in salary and allowance, all the extra money they getting is illegal then. So who is releasing the extra money to them?

When this money is released to the federal legislooters is it done electronically or in ghana-must-go-bags? Just how are they able to get more than they should? Who is releasing the extra amount? per month N954,096 is about $6360 while N794,084 is about $5293. Based on this quarterly should be N2,862,000 = $19080 and N2,381,850 = $15879.

So senators are walking away with extra N77 million while reps walking away with extra N40 million. Someone please enlighten me on how these people are able to get ahold of this extra money? Is the ministry of Finance just giving it to them or what. How come Aganga can't control how much is going over to them to ensure they not getting extra.

The point of this move is to generate more government revenue. Even though those good were banned, they still found their way into the country, so the govt. is better off receiving money for them entering the country.

The importation unbanning may or may not hurt local industry that bad because depends on the volume that importers would be willing to import based on the tariff set.

For those petitioning for nuclear plant make sure you agitate that they put it next to your village since you are not worried .

ROSSIKE:
trueword said:

So why do you fly in aircraft within Nigeria?

Since our leaders are so ''hopeless and looking to fill their pockets'', why do we still have the confidence to get on an airplane and travel from point A to B within Nigeria, in Nigerian-owned and flown aircraft?

If our government is as useless as you claim, why are planes not crashing every day due to lax maintenance, corner-cutting, corruption, nepotism, bribery in hiring air-traffic controllers, maintenance engineers, pilots etc etc?

Could it be that the system actually WORKS a lot more than conditioned, negativised people like you care to admit?

Since our leaders are so ''hopeless and corrupt'', how do you explain the recent Category One rating granted the Nigerian aviation sector by the United States? (See below)

Do you know many countries in Europe, Asia, and South America are certified below Category One?

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Butty-Nigeria-Direct-US-Flights-Demuren-24august10-101355434.html

Stop trying to sugarcoat the problem we have in nigeria. Just look at River Niger bridge. That brige is slated to collapse at any moment, but look at the unserious nature the government is taking the situation. It is after the bridge has fallen that they will then be screaming when they could have a long time ago constructed a new bridge.

Those airlines are privately managed, so they will be more responsible since they want to attact customers and make profit.  

Answer this question. What has a more long term detrimental effect? A mishap with airline or nuclear accident?  We can not put those on same category. All it takes is one nuclear incident and that area and miles around it are finished.  

Let's be serious. Before Nigeria ventures into something that has this potential damage, the government must give us more confidence about their ability to not play around with something like this.

I already know about the category one status. But let's not equate category one status to nuclear plant.

This is laughable. We need to get our priorities straight. Nuclear is not anything to mess up with. If any kind of nuclear accident happens that place and surrounding areas will be inhabitable for MANY MANY years. Also think about the biological consequences of the nuclear radition if something were to go wrong.

Nigeria can eventually go into nuclear tech, but right now does not seem to be the best time. The argument about "we can't even do one yet we want to do another" is very warranted. Building space satellite will not have the potential to wipe out millions of people and make the area a "no go area" for generations so we should not draw reference to that.

We don't have to wait until nigeria has no poverty before it builds nuclear plant. What I and many others are concerned with is the current crop of leaders we have who will pay no attention to necessary pressing matters, but will only look to fill their pockets. So would make us to believe that necessary regulations and monitoring would take place to ensure safety once the plant is built? Also, where are we doing to dump the nuclear waste?


If nigeria took care of its oil and gas and we had a good maintenece culture, I don't think people would be as fearful.

With the Main One submarine cable being active and the Glo 1 is soon to be active we can surely expect the number to grow very quickly once their effects on the telecoms industry start being felt.

How Lagos couple tortured domestic help to death over a piece of fish
Aug 24, 2010

By Ifeanyi Okolie

When these teenagers, Chukwuebuka Orakwue and Oliver Orakwue, who were indegenes of Ifite-Ogwari area of Anambra State, had the opportunity of relocating to Lagos State, last May , a place they have always savored and constantly relished to visit, they embraced the offer with open hands, without an inkling of what awaits them.

But soon, after they arrived Lagos State , their dreams eventually turned into a nightmare as they were welcomed into, what seems to be a torture chamber. The chamber turned out to be the home of one

Elechukwu Nwajiofor and his wife Chiamaka. The unsuspecting teenagers started being apprehensive after they saw the condition of another 11- year- old boy, Emmanuel Azuka who resides with the couple. He was looking very unhealthy, tortured, battered and uncared-for.

In fact, the condition of the boy made the duo to quickly request to be taken back to their village but their host made sure they did not have that opportunity. He reportedly objected to their request claiming that he had spent over five hundred thousand naira to bring them to Lagos as domestic servants.

Chukwuebuka Orakwue, told Crime Alert that their master, Elechukwu, who is a native of Nneni town in Anambra State, had sought the assistance of his friend, Nwabufor, from their home town (Ifite-Ogwari), to help him secure domestic assistants for his six-month-old pregnant wife in return for good life, sound education and care. And based on that, Chukwuebuka and Oliver, who were both 14 years old, jumped at the opportunity after their parents consented to Nwabufor’s request.

After their master rejected their constant pleas to be allowed to go back to their village, the teenagers had no other alternative than to continue with the torture, domestic abuses and other maltreatment in the hands of their master and his wife.

In fact, the maltreatment continued unabated until last Wednesday when one of them, Oliver gave up the ghost. He breathed his last after being tortured for over two weeks, for stealing few pieces of fish from the pot. He was allegedly chained from the back to his hands and legs and was locked up in the toilet, without food or water, and while on chains, the wife was beating him daily with belt, pestle and wires, before he took ill and died.

Neighbors at their Ago-Okota residence alerted the police as news of the death of the domestic help filtered out. The couple were subsequently arrested by the Police and paraded before crime reporters.

During the parade at the Oduduwa, Ikeja office of the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer last Thursday, the couple denied ever maltreating the domestic servants and attributed the death of Oliver to a strange illness.

According to the couple, Oliver took ill few weeks ago, he stopped eating and was defecating uncontrollably. “It got to a stage his condition got worse and we rushed him to Eko hospital at Surulere where we paid over N120,000, but he did not survive even after several efforts by the doctors to stabilize him.” However, vigilant policemen saved the couple from being lynched by the enraged crowd of on-lookers who had gathered to listen to the pathetic story of the surviving domestic servants, Emmanuel and Chukwuebuka who publicly narrated their ordeal in the hands of the couple. They gave vivid account of how Oliver’s life was cut short.

According to Chukwuebuka, who spoke in an emotion-laden voice, “Oga (Elechukwu) got I, and Oliver from his friend Nwabufor who is from our village, then we were both in school and he assured us that when we get to Lagos, all he needed from us was to assist his wife in her domestic chores and after, we will also continue our education.

Then I was very happy and I also told all my friends about it and they envied me. But when we got to Lagos, we were shocked when we saw the boy living with them. He looks very bad, unhealthy and when he showed us to his room, the entire place was stinking. I felt disappointed and I told Oliver that I can’t stay in this place. I therefore started agitating to go home. But Oliver was very soft, he could not press his demand. And when we told Oga that we cannot stay, he threatened to kill us. And on our fourth day, madam (Chiamaka) gave us bible to take oath not to tell any body of what she does and if we do, we will die by motor accident. We then kept quiet.

“The penalty for any wrong doing are days of severe solitary confinement inside their toilet, with our hands and legs tightly bound with chains and without food and water. There was even a day, she was looking for three thousand naira, and she suspected I stole it and when she asked me, I told her it wasn’t with me and she did not believe.

She then started beating me with belts and when it wasn’t enough, she used pestle to hit on my head severally and when the pains became much and she was not ready to stop the beating, I then accepted that I stole the money. I told them where I kept it and when she went there, she couldn’t find it and she pounced on me again. While she was doing it, she said since I no longer feel the pains from the pestle, she decided to chain me. She started hitting my head with a hammer. When I could not give her what she was looking for, she left me on chains for two weeks.

“Though they have been complaining that Oliver is very slow in carrying out his own duties, one day, we forgot to put on the fridge and the generator was running. When madam got home and discovered it, she started beating me. Oliver whose duty was to wash cloths went to the kitchen and took some fish and when madam noticed, she held Emmanuel because, it was his duty to cook food.

After a while, it was discovered that it was Oliver that stole the fish, then Emmanuel was on chains at the toilet and Oliver was put in his place and he was given a beaten of his life while he was on chains, without food. After some days, he fell sick and madam refused to release him. Three days before he died, his stomach started swelling and madam was still hitting him with the pestle and she said it will cost them only two hundred thousand naira to cover the case up. Thereafter, Oliver started stooling uncontrollably and then, it worsened. That was when she unchained him, and it got even worse before he was rushed to the hospital and later died.”.

The Lagos State Police Command Spokesman, Frank Mba, while parading the suspects described the case as ‘man’s inhumanity to man adding that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, has ordered that the case be investigated thoroughly.

According to him “ we not will just ensure that we conduct this investigation discreetly. The commissioner of police has already directed, but we will also ensure that we put in effect the child right act law, which is already been domiciled in Lagos State.

He however, advised citizens to treat their house helps in a manner required by the law. “ We want to urge citizens out there, if you must have an house help , if you must have a domestic servant, particularly when they are under age, you must know that you owe them a duty of care, you must cater for both their physical, emotional and physiological needs, you must play your part both as a parent and as a guardian and if you know you can’t provide these needs for your house helps, then don’t have one, if you do, you must be held accountable if you fail to treat them in a way prescribed by the law”, he added.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/08/24/how-lagos-couple-tortured-domestic-help-to-death-over-a-piece-of-fish/

Day policemen gathered in Lagos to pray against corruption
By Ayodele Ale
Saturday, 21 Aug 2010



It was around 12 noon on Tuesday, and scores of policemen of various ranks headed for their fellowship hall situated within the premises of the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command, a stone’s throw from Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, Lagos.



It was an amazing sight as the policemen, many of whom were in their uniforms, wriggled their waists and danced hysterically to the cacophony of music that blared from four loud speakers placed at strategic points in the hall. The music was supplied by the choir led by a female police officer and others who handled the musical instruments in the hall with amazing dexterity.



The remaining worshippers also sang and clapped their hands joyfully as they sang, “He is a miracle working God. He is the Alpha and Omega, ”



The choir leader raised one chorus after the other while the congregation sang in tow. The singing, drumming and clapping of hands soon attracted other worshippers– civilians and policemen alike, including some riot policemen, who danced outside apparently on their way to a patrol duty, as they clutched their riffles.



And when it was time for exhortation, a man in mufti mounted the altar and counselled the ongregation on the virtues of Godliness and holiness. He told the gathering of policemen that they could make a difference in their generation, the fact that they were policemen notwithstanding.



This was followed by a session of intense prayers. As the preacher dished out one prayer point after the other, the congregation stamped their feet on the floor and paced the expansive hall, praying with a lot of energy on issues ranging from breakthrough and security to corruption in the police force.



About an hour before the gathering at the police headquarters, a police fellowship, which had the chaplain, Mr Moses Adekola, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, in attendance, was held at the fellowship centre of Ikotun Police Station. The chaplain used the opportunity to advise the policemen in attendance on the need to maintain their integrity and shun corrupt practices. He said, “There are times I just decide to put on my uniform so that those listening to me can also realise the fact that I am a police officer like them. It is true that people see the average police officer as a corrupt being, but I am telling you that not all policemen are corrupt. I know quite a number of senior police officers within and outside Lagos who told me that they have never taken any bribe since they joined the police force,” Adekola said. He also led the congregation through a session of prayers before the service was brought to an end.



Adekola later told Saturday Punch that before the fellowship started at Ikotun Police Station, he had visited the cell to preach to the inmates. “Since the suspects in the cell would not be opportuned to attend the fellowship, I had a personal chat with them and tried to ask them individually what had brought them there. One of them told me that he was in the cell because of a problem he had with his father-in-law. I told him that the situation would probably not have degenerated to that level if he had followed the path of peace with his in-laws,” he said.



As opposed to what obtained in the past, worship centres are springing up in police stations across Lagos. Observers believe that the development could have been aided by growing insecurity in the country and poor public perception of the police on account of continued extortion of hapless individuals by some bad eggs in the force.



Most passengers in Lagos commercial buses are shocked to find police officers distributing religious tracts and preaching in such buses. But Saturday Punch gathered that there are no fewer than 40 police fellowship centres in police stations at Bar Beach, Apapa, Alausa, Ogudu, Ketu, Ikotun, Iju, Badagry, Igbogbo, Oduduwa, Ogba, Lion Building, Maroko, Amukoko, Kirikiri and Itire, among other parts of the city.



“All the police area headquarters have fellowship centres and different days of meeting. For instance, while fellowships are held for one hour at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters everyday, precisely between 12 noon and 1pm, policemen at Iju Police Station, popularly known as Red House, congregate every Wednesday at the small hall erected at the back of the police station. “We have our prayer meeting between 12 noon and 1pm every Wednesday,” Oliver Amaechi, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the police station said, stressing that attendance was not restricted to the policemen at the police station alone. “Everybody is free to attend,” he said. It was also gathered that police fellowship is held at Ikotun and Apapa police stations at least twice every week. Dr Remi Ogbonna, the DPO in charge of Apapa Division, disclosed that attendance at the Apapa police fellowship centre had been on the increase, “We are growing by the grace of God,” he said.



However, considering the population of the policemen at the different police formations where fellowships have been established, attendance is still a far cry from what is expected. But Amaechi said that could be attributed to the nature of the duties of policemen. “Distress calls come from time to time and policemen also go on patrol. If all the policemen are in the fellowship at the same time, men of the underworld could use that to perpetrate their illicit activities,” he said.



But what of the policemen who are not showing interest in the fellowships? Adekola, the police chaplain, noted that some of them were afraid of their bosses. “But their fears are unfounded. For instance, I accosted a female police officer and asked her why she had not been attending the fellowship. She said her boss would be angry at her if she abandoned her duty post. But when I contacted her boss, the man said he was not against it since he also carries his Bible and attends the fellowship whenever he feels like,” he said.



The police chaplain also believes that chaplaincy is still a relatively new phenomenon in in the Nigeria Police. “It was created five years ago when the presidency gave approval for the establishment of the religious department. Every barrack is expected to have one orthodox church, one protestant and a mosque headed by a chaplain and an Imam for Muslims. But our intention in Lagos State is to have police fellowship centres in all the 114 police formations in the state. We have them in just about 40 police stations right now. So, we still have a long way to go,” he said.



He added that apart from the issue of security, one of the goals of the fellowship centres was to eradicate corruption and tell policemen that they can achieve a lot through integrity and hard work, instead of extorting money from people. “Some of our colleagues think that it is impossible, but we are making them to understand that one day, corruption will become a thing of the past” Adekola said.




http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201008210414251

Presidential Planes For All
Aug 18, 2010


IT is not a co-incidence that government chose two weeks after an incident in Kampala at the African Union summit to announce purchase of three additional aircraft for the presidential fleet.

The President’s main travelling craft developed engine troubles that kept him some hours longer in Uganda .

The Federal Government has approved the three aircraft, costing about N21 billion. The aircraft involved in the Kampala incident would not be replaced.

Government spokespeople said the purchase was initiated in November 2009. They are blaming late President Umaru Yar’Adua for that bit but the definite purchasing agreements were signed only last May after Yar’Adua was gone.

If the government had been in touch with the public, it could have deferred the purchases, especially at a time of great economic pains, and with the country’s finances in bad shape.

Rather government expects plaudits for buying three instead of four aircraft, and for its acclaimed deft negotiations that reduced the cost from N31.5 billion to N21 billion.

When the deal commenced, the presidential fleet had eight aircraft. Four were sold to make room for the new acquisitions. The new planes will raise the number of the presidential fleet to seven aircraft.

Defences of the deal are weak, unconscionable and make the bold point that it is wasteful. Ima Niboro, presidential spokesman said aircraft 18 years and above would be phased out to save maintenance costs.

More instructive is that the planes are not for the President’s use. “I have to clarify also that these aircraft are not going to be used by the President but what is happening basically is that they are being operated as a fleet and would be deployed appropriately to serve other purposes, especially serving principal officers of the Federal Government, including, as the case may be, the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives,” Niboro said.

The idea must be to ensure there are enough aircraft in the fleet that anyone who wants a plane would get one. With the conditions of the roads, the authorities know the only way they can get around is to fly over the problems.

They use these aircraft for local as well as international piling unnecessary expenses on fuel, crew, parking charges and maintenance.

It is also important to keep ordinary Nigerians in their places. Our chief servants who must be shielded from the indignity of contacts with ordinary people.

How do government officials feel about so much luxury for themselves when the people do not have basic necessities? We can buy three aircraft at once yet Nigeria is borrowing $4 billion.

The Americans can afford more aircraft for their President, but they simply maintain Air Force One, they do not throw it away because of age. In Britain, the Prime Minister travels with the national airline. Agreed we no longer have a national airline, but we can be prudent.

Government officials should learn to minimise their inclinations to self_serving expenditure. Unless modesty is applied, all the country’s resources would be wasted in supporting the wasteful lifestyles of our leaders.

Some argue that N21 billion was not a lot of money to spend on the safety of the President. However, it has been confirmed that more planes would be unnecessary, if everyone was not angling for a plane from the presidential fleet.

With this attitude and the unrelenting proclivity to sleaze in government, the road to more poverty is certainly well paved.




http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/08/18/presidential-planes-for-all/

Bankole disserves any disrespect he gets. I have no pity for all these thieves making life unnecessarily hard for the avg. Nigerian. I hope that they will always be insulted and disrespected. Instead of improving conditions in Nigeria they are quick to fly to europe or other western countries to store cash stolen from nigeria. I just hope that one day all that money they loot will be taken away from them and they will hav no other major source of money left. maybe then they will get sense.