₦airaland Forum

Security and Task Force team at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, MFM, harassed, molested and detained illegally a renowned citizen journalist who attempted to report a New Year’s Eve crossover night service at the church headquarters along the popular Lagos-Ibadan express road.
Omoyele Mr. Sowore, publisher of Saharareporters, accompanied by Lagos-based citizen journalist, Segun O’Law another journalist, who report for the site from Lagos,  stopped over at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church to cover the said crossover night service, but a joint task force of the church made up of personal church security, armed police and the State Security Service turned the church into a rights violation ground.
The journalists did a stopover at MFM, as they were hinted that the church has one of the largest gatherings within the city that night.
The crossover night event is one of numerous church services in which every church establishment gets its largest congregations in the night preceding the New Year, seeing the congregants waiting ecstatically with prayers for a new year of blessing and miracles.
But authorities of the church declined to respond to the allegations. A man who answered our reporter’s call declined comments, saying we should come physically to the church’s headquarters in Lagos for any enquiries. He insisted that the telephone number listed on the church’s website was meant for those interested in prayer consultation. He also declined to give his name.
“I can’t make any comment,” the official said. “Just come to our office and that is the only way we can respond to your enquiries.”
Mr. Sowore arrived the church bearing a 5D Canon Camera, with a frame holder on his shoulder. The accompanying citizen journalist, Mr. O’Law, held a dual purpose shots and video-taping mini Panasonic Camera.
Upon entering the church’s main gate, which outlooks the busy Lagos end of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the crew moved into the auditorium and identified themselves to the security officers and ushers they encountered every inch of their way, and telling their mission.
The crew’s mission was to take photos and cover the crossover night service. Ushers and protocol officers allowed them in and motioned them towards the altar after scrutinizing their identity cards. But as Mr. Sowore reached the front of the General Overseer, Pastor D.K. Olukoya, who at that moment was giving his sermon, he was mobbed by several church Task Force officers guarding the altar, some of them wearing aprons with inscription ‘Prayer City Army’.
Mr. Sowore was then dragged to the back of the altar by a mob that threatened at first to smash his camera. The mob later handed him over to the police and the SSS operatives attached to the church.
Accompanying citizen journalist, Segun O’Law,  rushed to the scene to identify Mr. Mr. Sowore as a journalist and explain the team’s mission to the church.  By this time, a larger crowd had gathered behind the altar minutes as Mr. Sowore argued that he was only doing his job. The mob was unimpressed.
The argument attracted more church members, one of who ranted that he would wear down the Jesus in him and transform into Satan to kill Mr. Sowore.
For wearing neck beads designed of cowry shells  (which he wears to showcase his ‘Africanness’), some of the church security operatives described Mr. Sowore as a ‘sinner’, ‘satan incarnate’, among other vilifying christening.
Moments later, the crew were pushed into a security van and whisked to a detention post within the church’s expansive premises. The Task Force, who had demanded Mr. Sowore’s identity card had also seized it, forcefully detained the crew and invited the Division Police Officer  of Ibafo Police station, which  oversees security in the area.
The D.P.O.,  upon arrival, inspected Mr. Sowore’s local identity card, which he uses as a special correspondent for one of the numerous Nigerian media he collaborates with. The D.P.O. confirmed it was genuine after making some calls through to the media office. The D.P.O. however disappeared after confirming who Mr. Sowore was, declared he would rather not get involved and advised the church to allow for amicable settlement to avoid possibly blowing the issue beyond reasonable proportion.
The church task force however adamantly refused. Instead, they repeatedly requested to delete the photos and video recordings in the cameras before releasing the devices and the journalists. The crew remained in the church detention for four hours.
Within the period of the journalists’ illegal detention, one of the MFM pastors in the task force emerged with a cane and attempted to flog Mr. Sowore, but he was cautioned. The pastor and his task force team members had to the sight of the two journalists, flogged, slapped and humiliated some teenage boys and girls who were arrested within the church premises for selling bible literatures, prayer books, printed praises and worship songs and sachet water.
The online advocacy and anti-corruption whistle-blowing website publisher was shocked when he realized that MFM maintains an illegal detention security post.
Mr. Sowore said his intention was to maintain a low profile all through, so as to experience what an ordinary journalist would go through, while fighting against authoritarian attitude of established local African institutions towards journalists.
The low profile style of Mr. Mr. Sowore however ended when one of the senior ministers in the church, who had spotted Mr. Sowore among the crowd behind the altar before they were whisked away to the detention post, waded in and enlightened the task force that Mr. Sowore was the publisher of the international advocacy site, Saharareporters.com.
The mobs, security and task force men quickly opened the website and googled Mr. Sowore’s name. They were weakened and pleaded that all footages taken in the church be deleted, but Mr. Sowore turned down their request.
The church had a crowd of about one million people at the service and series offerings, including ‘last offering for the year 2012’ and ‘first offering for the year 2013’ among others were obtained from the over one million crowd praying away their emotions in the night heralding the New Year.
On January 2nd, the crew also stopped by a festival of Masquerades while travelling through Ondo State to cover a traditional African masquerade dance in Erekiti.  This time also,Mr. Mr. Sowore and his crew  introduced  themselves and presented same identity cards they showed the church security. The masquerades welcomed and warmed up to them. After their coverage, the crew contrasted between the attitudes of the MFM church and the masquerade practitioners in the same circumstances of filming an event of public interest.
The MFM church sits on massive hectares of land along the popular Lagos-Ibadan expressway. It also runs an expensive private university attached to it.
The church’s university, Mountain Top, is unaffordable to most of the offering-paying members of the MFM church, members say.
Some members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Living Faith Church, otherwise known as Winners’ Chapel, also complained they cannot afford tuitions in the Redeemers’ University for Nations [RUN] and Covenant University [CU] respectively.
Universities founded by Islamic organisations are also believed to be too expensive than members can afford.
Before the emergence of the prosperity pentecostal churches, schools created by early churches were more affordable than most of the public schools, those who attended those schools said.
But there is now a reverse in the trend  with schools owned by religious organisations now imposing overwhelming tuitions on students, encouraging state-owned institutions to increase their tuition by up to 200 percent to compete with expensive faith-based schools.

Someone is going berserk over party merger...

Let the opposition merge and purge this land of PDP. And all those rubbish about Buhari and the slained corpers - if we have a president with a functional brain its either the corper are properly protected or Buhari should be charged to court if they think his speech incite the public-y is Atiku who promise hell allowed in d party, why is d famous Ali must go in PDP, why are militants with bloodstained history rocking with d president. Am sure somebody someone is scared of the merger

What was the reaction of the president?

Why did you omit the "reaction" of the serving president of a country where 500 muslim according to you were slained and include the name of a fmr president - is it Buhari's work to secure the country or his Buhari now the president of the North.

Direct the question to d clueless man in power its our constitutional right to be protected by the president not by an ex or aspiring president.

(A)      Nigerian Ports Authority:
            i.          Chief Tony Anenih                              -           Chairman
            ii          Chief Florence Ita Giwa                      -           Member
            iii.        Hon. Hamza Dan Mahawi                   -           Member
            iv.        Sen. Lekan Mustapha                          -           Member
            v.         Alhaji Aminu Baba Danagundi            -           -           Member
            vi.        Mr. Austin Enyonnia Cosmos              -           Member
            vii.       Rep. of the Ministry of Transport        -           Member
 
(B)       Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety:
           
            i.          Lt. Col Agbu Kefas (Rtd)                    -           Chairman
            ii.         Ibrahim Mark                                      -           Member
            iii.        Alhaji Hassan Baba                              -           Member
            iv.        Alhaji Aliyu Usman                             -           Member
            v.         Rep. of Ministry of Transport  -           Member
            vi.        Rep. of Ministry of Labour                  -           Member
            vii.       Rep. of Nigeria Navy                           -           Member
 
                                                                                                                                               
(C)       Corporate Affairs Commission:
            i.          Mr. Funsho Lawal                                           -  Chairman
            ii.         Alh. Sanusi Maijama’a                          -  Member (Rep. NACCIMA)
            iii.        Mr. Okoro Osita Franklin                    -  Member (Rep. NBA)
            iv.        Chief Mrs. Elizabeth Omereson           -  Member (Rep. ICAN)
            v.         Dr. Ausbeth N. Ajagu, MFR                -  Member (Rep. MAN)
            vi.        Edosa Aigbekeen

On a very serious not this OP is as bias as the way it is spelt -bias; I have to let you know first of all that am sympathetic to ACN and the opposition movement but a spade must be called a spade so we don't in the name of supporting a party or person mould a draconian opposition which will eventual haunt us in the future. The govt of Fashola on this issue of Okada ban or restriction mis-stepped - are you telling me because of plane crash that we should ban planes? Or because Boko Haram attack church we should quit being a christian? If the govt so love Lagosians like they claim they should think of the adverse effect of dis useless law that only enrich lastma and other security officials. I have a car but I move mostly with okada because of where I stay and to able to multi-task. Why with d devilish potholes in Ikotun and mile 2 to okoko road will a govt ban d only means of transport that ease the tasteless traffic on those roads. The ban is just what it is a clueless policy of a bunch of pple who doesn't ride okada - what will happen if we the masses place a restriction on their own means of movement - airplanes? It is insensitive and anti-people. One nid to ask Fashola why do we have agberos on our roads and bikes off the road - I support the NLC 101 percent. You can't deny me my right to movement from one place to the other through any means of transportation...Eko oni baje o

tawa89: GEJ,Buhari, OBJ, and others cant save this country. Only the youths of this nation can

youth? and what are you saying GEJ is not in that youth bracket? The problem of this country is even the youth - we are ungraciously more corrupt than the elders. All i want you to know that age, religion or tribe should not be a benchmark for performance.

Idokojimmy: Good question. This has the mandate of exposing the inconsistency, and irrational crave for power. Before the 2011 elections, Elrufai publicly declared that Buhari is perpetually unelectable, predicating his argument on age, failure in his handling of national issues and assignment and his irreparably dictatorial character.
After the 2011 elections, Gen. Buhari told us that he has closed his political ambition, but may support younger politicians in subsequent elections. Now Elrufai is wishing him well as he leads this country to..... TO WHERE? GRAVE? People with negative chameleonic tendencies, are not worthy to be sent to ASO ROCK.
Can't youths become president? I suspect you are an old man.

youth like GEJ?

Idokojimmy: Good question. This has the mandate of exposing the inconsistency, and irrational crave for power. Before the 2011 elections, Elrufai publicly declared that Buhari is perpetually unelectable, predicating his argument on age, failure in his handling of national issues and assignment and his irreparably dictatorial character.
After the 2011 elections, Gen. Buhari told us that he has closed his political ambition, but may support younger politicians in subsequent elections. Now Elrufai is wishing him well as he leads this country to..... TO WHERE? GRAVE? People with negative chameleonic tendencies, are not worthy to be sent to ASO ROCK.
Can't youths become president? I suspect you are an old man.

see i think this should help you understand that we as human are prone to error of judgement. if El-Rufai says Buhari is 'perpetually unelectable" before the 2011 elections it might be that with the available knowledge then he believes in his assertion - but with recent knowledge of Buhari he has every right to say otherwise. Most Nigerians called Jonathan the saviour during the 2011 election but will you say we have "negative chameleonic tendencies" because his clueless and ignorant policies gave us palatial knowledge of his ineptitude which inversely make us say otherwise? Am sure you know how Nigerians praise Mr Integrity, Farcrook Lawan before he messed up; will you say we don't have a right to see something differently if we have fresh fact or knowledge about someone or something?

A source at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission told SaharaReporters that he was not aware that the anti-corruption agency had opened any investigation into Mr. Orubebe’s land deals or other financial activities. “As far as I know, the EFCC is not investigating Elder Orubebe,” said the source, adding that the agency was unlikely to act “unless the Presidency specifically orders us to go after him.

if the bolded is the case then corruption is here to stay...

i will go for the people's general - Muhammadu Buhari for President and a Fashola/Oshobaba for Vice.

modelmike7: . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cos someone wants God to be President & Vice President, you called him a fool? And asking him to go to d vatican? What a contradictory life you've got, fake is written all over you, considering the fact that your username is christ 4 me, where is the christ in you? Cos someone supported God, you called him a fool and you answer christ is for you, you need to be examined and interrogated, a female @ that! I know you aren't real. May God forgives you or else. . .. . . . . . . . . .you are done for!

You know what profanity means? if not that's what you just encouraged. Blasphemy is nominating the supreme ruler for the post of a Nigerian president - no matter how thoughtful you want to be with writing such assertion should not be encouraged.

Olaposij: Idiat.. He should go and take responsibility for his new baby, and shld stop doing actresses without protection... AIDS is real.. Cos some of this actresses are worse than olosho..

you should be displaying ur absurdity in another thread - this is about corruption not paternity.

Alaafin is seriously a king over a flawed history - the Oyo of oranyan is now in Kogi not Oyo state #fact

The people's General is a year older today just like me - truth4meal...God's favour and mercy is forever faithful

Not confirmed yet but the nation might ve lost Enugu state governor - saw a sadden status of a respected media mogul on my bbm and dis dude is very close to RMD...its not confirmed

The rich also die...i think dis moment in our nation history calls for sober reflection - let's tink of the inevitable exit before dis dumb race of wealthy accumulation, lets remember death when we corner money meant for our collective development, let's remember thr is an end to all those corrupt manoeuvrings, let it sink in our tot that we will one day be remember solely for our actions - the people it impacted - the lives we touched. Let's ve it behind our corrupt mind dat the end is inevitable. Let's do good and let death be put to shame by our rewarding deeds. RIP Gen Azazi and Yakowa - your death will be just another death if your colleagues can not learn from it a truth staring them eye for eye - that we are created to help other - die and be judged

AASU said Bode George was given a bogus award by an unapproved person.
 
Evidence that the award conferred on former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George, is bogus emerged on Friday as the project co-ordinator of the award, Olufemi Lawson, had difficulty answering tough questions about the award from our reporter.
Mr. George, an ex-convict who recently served a two-year jail term for corruption, was conferred the Kwame Nkrumah African Leadership Award by a renegade arm of the All Africa Students Union (AASU) led by Mr. Lawson.
During a telephone chat with our reporter, Mr. Lawson, who is the public face of the award and has gone through great pain to publicise the event, could not remember the names of the other nominees for the award.
“I can’t remember now but if you want I can send their names to your email,” he said sounding very unconvincing.
When pressed further to name just three other nominees for the award, Mr. Lawson couldn’t and proceeded to contradicted himself:
“I’m not a member of the selection committee but I’m aware of everything about the award,” he said.
Mr Lawson said the PDP leader was chosen for the award for his “single commitment to youth empowerment.” He also explained that the former Ondo State military administrator has helped many indigent students with scholarships and grants.
When asked to name the foundation under which the grants and scholarships were awarded, Mr. Lawson said Mr. George has been offering them in his private capacity and not through a foundation.
He could not also say the number of students that have got grants and received scholarship from Mr. George. Though he said all Mr. George needed to do was to forward the names of the beneficiaries of his grants and scholarships for verification to be considered for the award insinuating that Mr. George has solicited to be honoured with the award.
 
Award ceremony
According to Mr Lawson, the award ceremony that was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites was well attended by prominent members of the PDP notable among them was Vice President Namadi Sambo who was represented by controversial former senator from Osun State, Iyiola Omisore.
Mr. Lawson claimed others PDP leaders at the event were, Bode Olajumoke, a former senator representing Ondo North; former High Commissioner to Ghana, Musiliu Obanikoro; and members of the diplomatic corps and academics from across the country.
Mr. Lawson said the ceremony went well and many of those that attended praised the tremendous work done by Mr. George in empowering the youth.
 
Bogus Awards
Meanwhile, the leadership of AASU has distanced itself from the award. In an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the Secretary General of the union said Mr. Lawson is an impostor and does not speak represent the union.
“Lawson is not an official of AASU,” Mr. Amah said. “He contested for the position of deputy secretary general and lost. He was defeated by a Liberian. Since then, he has been pursuing a fraudulent scheme, using the name of the organization to hand out dubious award.”
AASU also released a statement warning the public, especially Nigerians to be mindful of dubious characters that use the guise of the union to confer bogus awards on prominent members of the public.
The statement said prominent Nigerians who have been dubbed by these fraudsters are: the Director General of Nigeria’s National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Olusegun Adewoye; the Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Margaret Ladipo; and a certain ‘Chief Solomon Iyobosa Edebiri.’
The statement said the only Nigerian duly conferred with the award is former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Expectedly, Mr. Lawson has refuted the accusation that he is a con. He said the union does not need to mandate him.

what is with this spiritual show-off gan sef - is prayer now being celebrated and advertised? o ma ga o; is prayer sincerely not suppose to be communication with God? wait is GEJ thinking we don't known this is just a cosmetic religious obligation with overwhelming political undertone? seriously GEJ can believe he is fooling Nigerians but behold a delusional offspring of Adam who think he can fool God with the help of a Pastor. when a man supposedly knee down before God and it becomes a tool for political sentiment then such a man actually knelt down before man - the problem of this country is that we seldom reason beyond faith.

PapaBrowne: Maybe you didn't get my point. The potential of the south west is underutilized. The southwest should be far better than it is today for two reasons 1)it had a headstart way beyond other parts of the country and 2) its proximity to Lagos.

Everything I stated is a matter of fact. You can check the statistics. They are available to the public. The whole of the SW has two airports- Ibadan and Akure- Both of them have considerably less passenger traffic than Uyo. The south south has 7 very functional airports with more than 20 times the passenger traffic of the SW despite a much larger population.

I am trying to say, the DAWN agenda is excellent. The south west has suffered enough. Other regions have left it behind despite its potential. We dont want the south west looking like the North while the rest of the south including Lagos makes considerable progress. Thats my point.

i get your point and trust me your motive is famous. i want to indulge all your deformed points but the one on Lagos makes me wonder if silent at this point is golden. South west proximity to Lagos and south west left behind while lagos makes progress - makes me marvel. you seriously don't mean what you typed i guess - it must be a negative reflex.

@Gbawe

pardon me jare. never knew the dude is a SIN...

Do we need a militant to tell us this?

@papaBrownie

Your assessment betray the truth. first i don't understand what you mean by Lagos "It is the Center of Nigeria" you seem to me like someone with a palatial access to distort truths. wen Financial Times listed Ibadan as one of the “next 5” cities in Africa because According to the article, the city possesses a “rapidly growing economy but serious business climate deficiencies – that offer some of the biggest potential rewards – provided multinationals can stomach the risks" - you leapfrogged Calabar was never consider a space in the list. so also is your fairy developed city of Calabar, Uyo, Benin City, Warri, Asaba starkly missing on the list. i don't understand why you listed the names of some media mogul but is it fair to your conscience that Galaxy Television, MITV, TVC, THE Nation, Tribune, Newswatch, Compass, City People, Ontv, Punch just to mention but a few is own by Yorubas. And to the airport you must be kidding with your white lies - Uyo airport?
its a knwn truth that democracy of PDP as weaken progress in all the states in Nigeria; it has nothing to do with a particular region or state.
one advice - next time you want to lie say it to a deaf man

i believe @musiwa 7 owes no one permission to express himself but the Yoruba cheating tingy is drifting the issue to a colourless state.

Barely three weeks to the end of the year, President Goodluck Jonathan has submitted a supplementary budget of N161.6 billion to the National Assembly.

The President is seeking the approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives for the money which is to be used for settlement of cumulated fuel subsidy arrears owed marketers.

In a letter addressed to both chambers, the president said a forensic audit of subsidy claims showed an initial provision of N888.I billion for the settlement (for 2012), was underestimated.

The president urged speedy approval of the funds to forestall supply glitches, with the festive season approaching.

The Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, had assured Nigerians that the petrol scarcity being witnessed across Nigeria would be resolved before the Yuletide. The Minister blamed the scarcity on the determination to ensure transparency in the subsidy payments.

President Jonathan’s hurried proposal has now shown how the Federal Government plans to ensure petrol availability by Christmas. Paying some of the marketers quickly could make them release their stock for the festive season.

But the lawmakers appeared not in a hurry to get the proposal passed; raising concerns instead with the government’s fund receipts and releases.

A member of the House, Abdulrahman Terab, had in a motion moved under matters of urgent public importance expressed concern that revenue “receipts so far for 2012, confirmed to be higher than what was projected for the 2012 fiscal regime,” but that the fourth quarter capital releases made to government offices for December were found to be inconsistent.

“Most, if not all capital projects captured in the 2012 appropriation will henceforth remain abandoned resulting in the waste of all the resources that we have labored to commit,” Mr. Terab said.

The controversial revenue

The House of Reps also said, Tuesday, that billions of naira recovered from petrol subsidy payments and persons involved in the pension scam, as well as unspent funds from the 2012 budget and excess non-oil revenue, are missing from estimated government revenues for 2013.

Lawmakers said despite all government agencies meeting with targeted revenue profiles for 2012, releases for project funding remained dismal, further buttressing the notoriously poor budget implementation.

Still, the excess revenue have not been listed by the federal government as part of government’s revenue in the 2013 budget, the lawmakers said while debating a request for more funding by President Goodluck Jonathan, and a motion criticizing the performance on Tuesday.

Mr. Terab said various sums of money saved from non oil excess revenues, 2012 unspent revenues, Pension Reform and fake subsidy claims were neither captured in the 2013 budget proposals, nor listed as opening balances for 2013.

House committees on Finance and Appropriation are to compile within a week a comprehensive report of government revenues, expenditures, and ”unforeseen savings” during the 2012 fiscal year.

Non- remitting agencies

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Finance said of the more than 60 revenue agencies of the federal government, FG, only one remitted up to half of its generated revenues to the FG.

The startling statistics further highlighted how public funds are often misused unilaterally by government establishments in the face of serious national needs begging for funding.

The Chairman of the Committee, Abdulmumini Jibrin, said out of the 60 agencies, only one remitted up to 50 per cent to the federation account.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/110698-three-weeks-to-2013-jonathan-demands-extra-n161bn-to-fund-2012-budget.html

pak: Doctokwus, please stop arguing or insulting the people on the thread. They probably can't reason better.

I sometimes feel Nigerians are just barbaric in nature, don't you thinks its way primitive for you to conclude on what happened until more findings on the issue has been made.

We know next to nothing about tiwa banks and Tobi Obadina (and even about the OP - truth4meal), so how can you form conclusions by reading just four paragraphs and 3 pictures.

What doctokwus said is what any reasonable person ought think (at least until we have more information ). Though its painful and annoying but we cannot crucify Tobi Obadina until we hear a TRUTHFUL and BALANCED account of what exactly transpired.

I know I'll get a lot of stick for this from NL peeps but truth is when our words are action are based on pure sentiments we fall out of line with reason.

For those of the christian persuasion - Proverbs 18 v 17 has a word for you on this.
For those that are not, check this link to hear what it says http://bible.cc/proverbs/18-17.htm

words that best describe your insensitivity will best be lifted from your post "Barbaric" and "Primitive" what Truthful and Balanced account do you need from a brutal attack on a lady ? if she is a thief is Tobi a Policeman or is this suppose to be her reward for stealing? what truthful and balanced account are you expecting from an act condemnable by the same bible you irreligiously quoted. well wen something like dis happen to you or someone close we will wait for a truthful and balanced account, wait till we know who the assailant and the OP is before we take any action - you need a truthful and balanced instrument for reasoning

this is a damning assertion or can one say revelation?

Don’t Post NYSC Members To Schools; They Cause Mass Failure- Teachers Council

The Teachers Council has said that the mass failure witnessed in various examinations for primary and secondary school students is partly caused by the youth corps members who are posted to teach without being qualified.

The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, on Tuesday, said authorities of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, should stop deployment of corps members, who lack basic knowledge of teaching, to teach in schools.

The Director of Operations of the Council, Steve Nwokocha, made the declaration at the maiden induction/graduation of 118 Professional Diploma in Education graduates held at the Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta.

He said the deployment of unqualified teachers, like the youth corps members, contributed to the mass failure being witnessed in the country in recent years.

“The issue of having mass failure is a process. Part of the people contributing to the process are these corpers. It is an abuse to our profession,” he said.

“Government should stop posting youth corpers to teach in schools. We at the council are against posting of NYSC without teaching background to schools,” he added.

Mr. Nwokocha argued that only graduates of education should be posted to schools, saying the council was ready to rid the country of quack and fake teachers.

“What we are saying is that NYSC should make sure that only corps members who read education should be deployed to schools. Our council is against the deployment of graduates to schools,” he emphasised.

Majority of the hundreds of thousands of graduates who partake in the NYSC program annually are posted to schools to teach.

In a related development, Mr. Nwokocha disclosed that the council has established a Teachers Tribunal across all states in the country to deal with erring professional teachers.

He said the tribunal composition comprises of 5 members, including one from a University; one from a College of Education; and three nominated by Commissioners for Education, one of which must be a lawyer.

He stated that the Tribunal is working in conjunction with the Attorney General of the Federation, which further makes it legal and constitutional

Mr. Nwokocha stated that the body, being the Africa headquarters, enjoyed adequate recognition at the international scene. He said graduates of other disciplines must undergo the programme before they could be recognized as a qualified teacher.

He threatened that schools who failed to comply with the body’s directives could have their programmes de-registered.

The council leader said the council now directly receives the names of graduates from their respective institutions in order to ensure only qualified teachers are employed.

The Deputy Provost of the College of Education, Bolatito Adeniyi, who represented the Provost, said the programme was to formally initiate the fresh graduates into the teaching profession.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Technology, Ishola Ambali, advised the council on the need to publicise their activities regularly as it will serve as a medium to educate people.

Mr. Ambali, who represented the commissioner, also advised on need for the body to make it mandatory for government to ask for registration certificate obtained from the council before anyone is employed into the teaching service.


http://premiumtimesng.com/news/110652-dont-post-nysc-members-to-schools-they-cause-mass-failure-teachers-council.html

if the bbm status of Weird Mc is anything to go by we might have succeeded in the first lap of justice which is the arrest of Tobi Obadina. The veteran rappers bbm status reads " Now Tobi's been arrested What Next" - am trying to get her to read the messages i sent to her because she is not picking her calls yet. i want to believe we have collectively stir justice.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/912215_tbanks_jpg82caa7fc6ed1c973f65606e06b50b9a8

One of Nigerian talented artist, TIWA BANKS aka Tiwantiwa was yesterday brutally assaulted by her landlord's youngest son called Tobi Obadina who has assaulted several people in the hood...

Tobi Obadina came into Tiwa's apartment at night due to little misunderstanding in the day, broke a bottle on her head then stabbed her, her brother and a neighbor who met him at the scene.

He left her in d pool of blood before She was rushed to the hospital by neighbors.

Tiwa is on hospital bed now while Tobi Obadina is a free man boasting that no one can arrest him because his father is an ex-officer.

#JUSTICE FOR ONE IS JUSTICE FOR ALL

The official rape of Nigeria, unbeknownst to all her citizens commenced officially when President Goodluck Jonathan took over as Acting President in the twilight of Umar Yar’adua’s sickly Presidency.

That official rape escalated when Jonathan was elected President in 2011 marking the onset of the most rapacious rape of a country by its country men under the watch of someone elected to watch the barn.

The revelations are shocking. The data and figures unbelievable! Nigeria is in the vice grip of a group of power hungry and money sucking demons who are bleeding the county to death. The investigative report by Sunday Punch newspapers, Nigeria’s largest circulating newspapers revealed that over five trillion naira of government funds has been stolen through fraud, embezzlement and theft since President Jonathan assumed office on May 6th, 2010. There you have it. This is according to the Punch newspaper. Not the Action Congress of Nigeria, Lai Mohammed or the CPC or Femi Falana” SERAP. Not done yet, the Punch newspaper, emboldened by detailed information of malfeasance and embezzlement under the Jonathan government ran what will remain perhaps a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial. The Punch Editorial of December 3, 2012 titled, “Jonathan Spendthrift: Enough is Enough” was a touchdown against team Jonathan and what many in boxing will call a TKO.

Call it a meal- culpa. It was a damning political verdict which the spin doctors will find difficult to spin. With permission, I seek to quote the Punch. “Nothing typifies the frivolous, insensitive and completely inept leadership troubling Nigeria currently than the recent approval of a N2.2billion banquet hall for Aso Villa by the Federal Executive Council (The Jonathan Gang Members).… just one of the dozens of the eye-opening government expenses, President Jonathan is proposing to build a party hall in the palatial Aso Rock while million of Nigerians are hungry and jobless” The Punch was not done yet. “This has taken profligacy in public expenditure to absurd lengths. Jonathan has probably expects Nigerians to give him and the other FEC members a standing ovation for initiating the project but he is greatly mistaken”.

Rather than keep watch, the Jonathan government has invited “countryman” and carpet baggers to come and chop. The heist and plunder of our collective patrimony is afoot and proceeding with much brazenness and alacrity before our very eyes. The Amnesty programme has become a national drain pipe. Under the guise of the amnesty, billions of naira meant for the development of Nigeria is siphoned to a section of the country. Not just a section, but a clique that services yet another clique of so-called militants.

Tompolo, a barely literate militant leader has been handed the most lucrative maritime contract through presidential fiat. Or do we start to talk about the billions that have been squandered by the President’s wife, Patience Jonathan on an office that is unconstitutional.

But there is more troubling news. According to Nasir El-Rufai, there is a pending Question President Jonathan needs to answer. “In the meantime, what most Nigerians simply want to know from the president is what happened to N5trillion in 30 months. That is the $31bn question which Dr Jonathan ought to answer”. Nigerians indeed need that answer now. If need be we must get on the street to demand for answers and sanctions. Nasir was not done yet. “When I wrote an article in 2011, stating that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan was spending two billion naira every day, including weekends, on security without commensurate returns on the lives of Nigerians, the president’s reaction was to have his then chief goon, General Awoye Azazi, arrest and detain me for publishing ‘misleading information’. In retrospect, I agree with the accusation – because the amount I stated hugely understated the grand larceny going on in government.

Assuming that Jonathan has been in power since May 2010, the figure works out to an incredulous $1bn stolen each month. If you add the average borrowing of another $1bn per month since Jonathan took office, then the true scale of the epic theft becomes clearer”.

Nigerians also need answers to why there is suddenly a bazaar of contract by the FEC. For instance, a bazaar of contracts has been on and it climaxed only this week with a contract award of 28 billion naira by the Federal Executive Council, (FEC).The detail, timing etc are of the contracts are questionable, the price tag, staggering.

For instance, less than 40 days to Christmas, a rail contract is awarded. Then there is the plan for another National Identity Card scheme to cost N6.3 billion. The list continues. Some of these decisions are almost unpardonable and most objectionable. No one needs further proof that this government lacks thinking capacity, out of touch with both the people and reality and simply a team of trainees in power as Lai Mohammed once described the President and his team. Under this government, Nigeria is not working. Only the pockets and bank accounts of top PDP henchmen, Jonathan Yes Men and Kinsmen are working and twitching with ill gotten wealth.

The PDP must answer for this rape of the countries resources. PDP should remove the log in its eyes and leave Lagos to work. Stop sponsoring fake reports against the opposition. There is slush money everywhere for blackmail and propaganda; there is too much money for mischief as they say in America.

Unfortunately, as if sedated or in self denial, Nigerians have become docile and most accommodating of a leader and his gang whose unbridled lust for corruption has effectively mortgaged the future of well over five million graduates who will never find a job and millions yet who will never enjoy quality educations. What about the millions of women who will die at child birth and children and the sickly who will die because we lack the basic standard hospitals. Just a week after a report by the British based Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Nigeria as the worst place for a baby to be born in 2013. Nigeria came number 80 of the 83 countries surveyed. We never got a whimper of response for the government and to think in the same week, the same government will announce a 2.2 billion naira banquet hall project is beyond me.

Whatever happened to being angry? Whatever happened to standing up to fight for our rights? Whatever happened to a people who stood up in times past to demand for the exit of so-called leaders who in the first place had no business running our lives?

Not even under the military did we witness the brazen theft and larceny now commonplace under Jonathan and the Generals, Babangida and Abacha and their cohorts will tell you what they faced and how the anger of frustrated Nigerians smoked them out of power. That was my Nigeria. Not now. When in fact we are under a democracy and we can assert our freedom without fear that the guns and jackboots will be turned against us.

I so much love Egypt. As you read this, Egypt is perhaps still boiling. In the throes of a people’s revolution unwilling to yield too much ground to masked dictators and demanding that things be done right in order to protect the rights of the people. If the Arab spring was an inspiration, the Arab Winter now taking place is the real thing-the actualization of people power. Why can’t Nigeria have its own ‘Arab Spring’? We live in a country that loves to lap up rumours and lies. Salacious stories of scandals make the rounds. We lap it all up and go our way. Our army of online critics and writers have become mere opportunists using the online platforms to make money by publishing thrash or sponsored articles.

We unfortunately as a people are sold a lie by the government and those procured to hide the lies and to distract Nigerians by pointing to others as thieves. The Will Nigeria and Pointblank news online and their publishers readily come to mind. Rather than expose the raping of Nigeria by Jonathan and the gang, they have been recruited to distract Nigerians by reporting allegations against other Nigerians both formerly elected and serving. These are allegations that are for the most parts baseless and unproven. Most have been dismissed for lack of evidence.

The attempt by these online sites to also serve as online courts by criticizing the judgments of lawfully constituted tribunals that have cleared certain politicians of wrong doing is laughable and speaks to their desperateness. What is of concern is why they are chasing after some rats when the rattlesnakes raping our country presently are amok in broad daylight. Tax payers’ money is being used to pay them and also oil the propaganda machine of the Jonathan government. The Jonathan government and the Doyin Okupes of this world need to hear it from me: No amount of propaganda can replace performance or protect them from the billions.

They are daily looting from our treasury. The allegations of corruptly receiving a house gift from a construction company, which has been consistently leveled against Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe must be investigated. The Ribadu report on the Oil Industry must be implemented and the Oil Minister, Deziani investigated. The list is long. The Jonathan gang members are having a field day feasting on our collective resources. Thus far, they have succeeded in running and hiding. But no more, Nigerians cannot wait till 2015 to act. Time to act is now. The Punch editorial was right when it called upon Nigerians and the civil society to act now by putting the feet of the government to the fire. The opposition parties must also pick up the gauntlet to hold this rampaging Jonathan gang down before we will all wake up one day and there will be no country.

The police in Delta state has denied abductors of Kanene Okonjo, mother of Nigeria’s Finance minister, are demanding $1billion as ransom.

Delta state police commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, told PREMIUM TIMES the police is not aware of speculated demands. He said the police are working hard to rescue the 85 year old professor.

PREMIUM TIMES could not independently confirm the ransom demand as close associates of the victim refused to comment about her kidnap on record.

The mother of the Finance Minister was kidnapped Sunday afternoon from her home at about 1:30 pm by eight gunmen who invaded her husband’s palace at Ogbe-Ofu quarters in Ogwahi-Uku.

Shortly after her arrest, the police declared they already had information about the kidnappers and have deployed a “massive manhunt” for them.

The police promised to rescue her in 24 hours.

Although the 24 hours given by the police has long passed, the state’s police commissioner is optimistic his officers will bring the professor back home, unscathed “soon.”

“We have been able to rescue about 40 victims before,” Mr. Aduba said.

Insider factor

As part of its investigation, the police said it is inviting family members and close associates of the victim for questioning.

Mr. Aduba said in cases like this, there is always an “insider factor” and his command is not leaving that out.

One of the children of the Okonjo family, Onyema Okonjo, had earlier blamed security lapses for the kidnap of his mother.

Lucrative industry

Kidnapping, once used as a tool by militants to challenge marginalization of the oil rich states of the Niger Delta, has become the most lucrative crime in the area.

Security experts estimate the kidnap crime industry is worth over N10 billion in the Niger Delta states.

In Delta state, atleast a dozen government officials and others with familial links to government officials have been kidnapped.

Often, families of the victim are made to part with huge sums to secure their release.

Most victims also deny paying ransom to secure their release, thereby encouraging the crime which thrives on intimidation.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/110552-police-deny-1billion-ransom-for-okonjo-iwealas-mom.html

[quote author=ANY-PEN ]were you sleeping when boys were demanding for good governance abi you no dey this country ni? this is time to demand for bigger things and i think $1b is a good start![/quote]you can post that again