My people, who is now the first lady? Is Mrs. Goodluck also an acting first lady? I don't think sister Turai will find that easy at all afterall she is not sick she is still very much first as first lady. Any news regarding this ?

I don't see that as problem since YaraDua was the one that was s(elected) or do Nigerian votes for Turai? She should just go and see down somewhere and hope her husband is safe and healthy.

There is no better definition of sycophancy than this demonstration. What's next? Soon, they'll be demonstrating in support of power failure

Gbam!

Shameless animals

honestly i dont know why in nigeria we like making mountains out of molehills,i have observed with dismay the way the politicans are going about this issue,i even read yesterday that the CDS has ordered restriction of movement in the barracks haba,has it gotten that bad?fine the president is ill as any human being can be,let him be given sick leave thats all afterall the vice president can perform his tasks,haba even CEOS go on break it does not mean that company will go dead,nigeria is still functioning,the state govts are doing their job,so what the hell are vwe talking about?if we are not carefull about this issue  it can turn to something else, a lot of polticans may hijack the situation for their own selfish motives.let us not create problems where none exists

I am embarrassed by your reasoning.

Am I bothered? No I don't. What about the poor masses that lost their lives on Nigeria road everyday on the death trap called road. They hardly made it to newspapers front page.

This Yaradua and his supporter are the most selfish set people I have ever see in my life.

By Ayo Okulaja

January 22, 2010 12:59AM


The Nigerian constitution does not mandate the President to write the National Assembly over his sickness to ensure the transfer of power to the Vice President, Foreign Affairs minister Ojo Maduekwe, said on Thursday in an interview on BBC programme HardTalk.

Mr. Maduekwe said the President is not obliged to send the letter because the constitution says ‘whenever the president sends a letter to the National Assembly'.

"With the phrase, ‘whenever,' writing such a letter is optional" he told his host, Jonathan Charles.

"The constitution did not make it mandatory for the president to write the letter. Maybe on hindsight, he might now want to write such a letter; but, as a sick man, he doesn't know how long he will be away, or when he will be well, it is only God that can determine that." The official said he could interpret the constitution as he was one of those who drafted it.

"I am part of those who drafted that constitution and it (the constitution) did not ‘mandate' the president to write to the national assembly," he said. "We (Nigerians) should be commended, as with the president's absence, the constitution is still working, the system is working and we have moved on. It is a new experience for us now."

Mr. Maduekwe told his interviewer that he has not been in contacted with Mr. Yar'Adua since November 2009.

"I am being honest with you, I have not spoken to the president since he left for the hospital" and "that is not unusual in history," he said.

He described people campaigning that the president should hand over to the Vice President as "gangs that do not believe in democracy".

"They are the same people that challenged the validity of this government since its inception and now they are trying to play politics with the president's ill-health," he said.

Speaking on Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka's recent comments on the vacuum created by the president's absence, Mr Maduekwe said, "by 2011, we will have a new government and the distinguished laureate will say the same thing. What we should do is watch development and not stampede either the president or his vice into anything."

Nigeria is not harbouring terrorists

The foreign affairs minister refused to accept that Nigeria is to blame in the Christmas Day terror plot in the US, saying the father of the Nigerian suspect had reported his son to local and international intelligence agencies.

"There was a collective failure of responsibility, a fact also admitted by the US President," he said. "That was a collective and systematic failure, but investigations are still going on and these will reveal at what level, the intelligence failure occurred. This is not the time for the blame game.

"What the Christmas Day tragedy should teach us is that even with the very advanced US intelligence; such a plot was almost executed successfully. The lesson is that we need to share intelligence and putting Nigeria on the terror list can hamper such relations."

He said he is in charge of the nation's diplomacy, even though he has not spoken to the president in two months.

"Before the president appointed me, he was convinced of my expertise. This is my third ministerial appointment and I have been in politics for over ten years," he said.

Empty headed option

The former president of the Civil Liberty Organisation, Ayo Obe, told NEXT in a phone interview that Mr. Maduekwe's claim on the presidential letter was wrong. She described it as ‘an empty-headed option from an empty-headed man.'

"How can this be an option for someone who swore to protect and defend the Nigeria constitution?" Mrs Obe said. "The president is gone for two months without handing over to anyone and he (Ojo Maduekwe) claims the president has an option in not following the constitution. That is what makes Nigeria a laughing stock in the committee of nations."

Oko Okolo, an associate professor of language at the department of English Language of the University of Lagos described the phrase ‘whenever' as "an adverbial clause of time."

"It makes the whole thing time bound. This means whenever he writes, the vice president can take over but if he doesn't write, the Vice President cannot carry out the role."

The university teacher added that in the process of drafting laws, there are two principal issues involved: one is the letter of the law, which refers to the literary interpretation of the law and secondly, the spirit of the law which is the value the law is meant to protect.

"It is very easy to ignore the spirit and concentrate on the letter and that is what the minister has done," Mr Okolo said.

"The spirit of the Section 145 is to make the provision for the vice president to function if the president cannot function."

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5515527-146/story.csp

Nigeria religious riot bodies found in village wells

An exact death toll is not known but aid workers say it may be 300
More victims of deadly religious clashes in central Nigeria have been found, with scores of bodies stuffed in wells and sewage pits.

Up to 150 bodies have been found in Kuru Karama village, 30km (18 miles) from the city of Jos, where the violence erupted last Sunday.

Correspondents say elders hid in holes for seven hours to escape the violence.

An exact death toll is not known but overall up to 300 are thought to have died in the Muslim-Christian clashes.

Several thousand people fled their homes.

'Burned alive'

The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Jos says many of the bodies found in Kuru Karama had massive burns, other victims were hacked to death or shot.


JOS, PLATEAU STATE

Deadly riots in 2001 and 2008
City divided into Christian and Muslim areas
Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers
Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers
Settlers find it difficult to stand for election
Divisions also exist along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP


In pictures: Nigeria riot aftermath
She says there are still more bodies scattered in the bush beyond the village but the areas are not safe for volunteer workers to enter.

Umar Baza, head of Kuru Karama village, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "So far we have picked 150 bodies from the wells. But 60 more people are still missing."

The Human Rights Watch group said armed men had attacked the mostly Muslim Kuru Karama on 19 January.

"After surrounding the town, they hunted down and attacked Muslim residents, some of whom had sought refuge in homes and a local mosque, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive," it said in a statement.

It quoted one villager as saying: "I came back on Wednesday evening escorted by the military. I saw dead bodies everywhere. The corpses were there, but now you can just see the blood on the ground. None of the houses are standing."

The group called on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to order an immediate criminal investigation into reports of the massacre.

Mr Jonathan deployed the military after four days of clashes.

He has been issuing orders while President Umaru Yar'Adua receives medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

The security forces have now restored order and a curfew has been partially lifted.

But correspondents say the atmosphere is still tense.

Jos, the capital of Plateau state, lies at the point where Nigeria's Muslim north and predominantly Christian south meet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8476534.stm

This man is crazy.

This is a good news, people are now asking questions.

LAGOS (AFP) – About 3,000 people marched through Lagos on Thursday to demand absent President Umaru Yar'Adua hand full powers to his deputy, as top lawyers pushed of an end to a power vacuum in Nigeria.

The crowd marched to the Lagos State Governor's office and handed in a letter demanding Yar'Adua, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for two months, step down.

Opposition lawyers meanwhile petitioned the high court in Abuja to have his deputy Goodluck Jonathan sworn in with full powers, on the ground of Yar'Adua's "incapacity".

The president has spent nearly 60 days in Jeddah for treatment for acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane covering the heart.

The demonstrators carried placards reading "Enough of the Offshore President" and "Go Umaru Go!".

"We have a ship now without a captain. A plane without a pilot," said Joe-Okei Odumakin, leader of Nigeria's Campaign for Democracy.

A similar rally was held in the capital Abuja last week, led by Nobel literature laureate Wole Soyinka.

Calls for Yar'Adua to step down or transfer power to Jonathan, the vice president, have mounted in recent weeks.

[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20100121/capt.photo_1264108166238-2-0.jpg?x=400&y=243&q=85&sig=e4nPIXjTXh.dXqGY1IVQRA--[/img]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100121/wl_africa_afp/nigeriapoliticsrallypresident;_ylt=AvRvqPR_YPvoYWbp39b4mm.QOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTE3Y2s2cXRtBHBvcwMxNwRzZWMDTXdfVml0YWxpdHkEc2xrA25pZ2VyaWFuc3N0YQ--

Other links:


http://saharareporters.com/news/4892-yaradua-must-go-mass-protests-in-lagos-photonews.html

I wish I can get AK-47 to sort this lots out.

@Kal/El

You having a laugh right?

OK who else will you play in that position?

Can anybody tell me what obi mikel is doing at this competition?

Best Nigeria player in my opinion.

Translation please  

People out there, are not laughing.

The problem with this team is their approach to the game. They are too slow when in posession of the ball, if they can move the ball faster on the field the team may go far in the tournament.

Enyeama has changed his jersey
What's happening?
na fashion parade

?

Most likely its because he is wearing the same colour with the referee.

No matter the end result of this match, this team lack passion, courage, determination, fitness, in short they are soulless. This is not my super Eagle.

What is all this talk abt freedom of speech, would we have permitted Boko Haram access to the media to incite people but then there is a body empowered by law to determine a potential incitin speech and they hold d discretion to identify inciting or harmful speeches so if they rule that the pastors speech isn't safe so it has to be and that is what d rule of law means not dat we can do whatever we like

Comparing Pastor Tunde Bakare with Boko Haram is the most idiotic opinion on Nairaland.

strongly believe that Pastor Tunde Bakare has mixed it all up and made a mockery of his position as a church leader to openly admit that prayers and fasting can't solve our problems he should just close his church resign as a pastor and go ahead marching, does he even realise what he is saying that what God could not solve for him thru prayers he can solve it by marching on the street what a shame. I am disappoibted in his speech it was just long and made no sense at all but just shows that he has been hungary for attention and here is another opportunity at cheap popularity go ahead with your march if u think that its by your knowledge nd noise

What has your prayer and fasting achieve so far?

I am also worried that No “Man of God” has insisted on Praying miraculously to heal the president like Isaiah did to Hezekiah

They can bring God’s Glory to using the ever Powerful Name of Jesus to save the sick President and converting him to Christ afterwards
While the mature ones (Men of God) are silenced and perhaps seeking God secretly on the behalf of the president and Nigeria
Some are renowned for using such political inadequacies to seek cheap popularity and decline the assignment of

Mt 10: 7; 8 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Why are Nigerians so deluded about prayer?

Thank God for Tunde Bakare. Where are the other men of God? to fight the injustice call Nigeria.

Repect to pastor Tunde Bakare. Where are the other so called men of God?

God bless the organiser but those placard should have read YARA DUA RESIGN NOW.

Yorubas are Saboteurs, embarking on a task like this with them is too risky.

Another mutallab in the making. 'Cause I cant see the differrent btw you and him.

Please no one Should join with the Yorubas on any protest, they may sabotage you and runaway

sorry! you stinks with your opinion.

Count me in!

Hoping to break the power vacuum and constitutional gridlock in the country, a new group of patriotic Nigerians will next week embark on major streets protests in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, London and New York to protest Umaru Yar’Adua’s refusal to hand power over to his deputy before he was evacuated abroad on medical grounds as determined by the constitution.

The "Save Nigeria Group," which was convened by the fiery Lagos Pastor, Tunde Bakare, said after a meeting in Lagos on the State of the Nation, called on Nigerians to join its membership and work to halt the nation's slide into the status of a "failed state and quasi-dictatorship."

It lamented what it termed “the dangerous slide of Nigeria into a failed state, worsened by the power vacuum and absence of C-IN-C in Nigeria for the past 45 days.”

Expressing outrage at the story making the rounds that Yar'Adua has spoken to some federal officials, the Save Nigeria Group called on him to address all Nigerians by radio or television, stressing that he is the leader of the entire country. It further demanded that Yar’Adua save Nigeria’s fledgling democracy, national security and his own health by deploying the provisions of Section 145 of the constitution.

It would be recalled that members of Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet, sensing the deteriorating public mood in the country, orchestrated an elaborate scheme where a voice purported to be Yar’Adua’s made telephone calls to the VP, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Abuja-based arrowhead of the kitchen cabinet, Yakubu Tanimu-Kurfi, Yar’adua’s Chief Economic Adviser, claimed that Yar’dua had spoken to the officials to report that he was “recovering” and headed home “soon”. The scheme confirms Saharareporters exclusive stories that Yar’Adua had not spoken to anyone in his cabinet since he departed Nigeria 45 days ago.

But holes in the conversation claims were quick to emerge. For instance, Tanimu claimed that Yar’Adua discussed with him an “anti-terrorism bill” pending before the National Assembly and asked that he convey his desires to have it pass them to the Attorney General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa. But that was an obvious lie, because the AGF has always claimed that he speaks to the “president” frequently. Tanimu provided no explanation as to why Yar’Adua needed to send him to a man with whom he speaks frequently over something as critical as an “anti-terrorism bill,” if any.

But sources privy to the so-called Yar’Adua calls described the voice as hoarse and incoherent that if it really was Yar’Adua’s, the only inference is that he is in such a bad shape that he could only have been forced to participate in the phone conversations, and to keep them very short. The report from the Speaker, which was made available in James Ibori’s Daily Independent paper, confirmed that Yar’Adua only spoke for four minutes, but the VP’s call was said to have been even shorter. We could not confirm from David Mark if he actually received any call. Mark is yet to publicly speak about speaking to Yar’Adua.

The Save Nigeria Group also expressed worry today that as the nation approaches the 2011 elections, the genuine Electoral Reform promised by President Umaru Musa Yaradua at his inauguration is vanishing due to lack of political will and outright refusal to implement the Uwais Electoral Reform Committee Bills.

Stop press: London protest . starts 12pm Tuesday 12th January 2010 Trafalgar square, move to parliament square- then ends at Nigerian High Commison , Nigeria House
9 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5BX encouraged to come with Nigerian flag. Homemade banners, dress warm . contact 07984212553 or e mail info@nigerialibertyforum.org.uk London Metropolitan Police will provide security.
Key point for Protest, Where is Musa Yar'Adua
Nigerians are no terrorists
Stop the criminalisations of Nigerians,
Fight against corruption
and add as you may wish

http://saharareporters.com/sr-headlines/4770-power-vacuum-save-nigeria-group-plans-street-protests-at-home-and-abroad.html

Fashola is the man!

Dude why is this not in the on-going thread?

And thank you for nothing, posting a news link is just plain silly. We all know how to find the news on the internet. Next time, leave an opinon and POST it in existing thread. Not create a new one. Jeez.

Shut it! If you don't find it helpful someone else might. Arrogant fool.

Karan R wrote:

It is unfortunate but whether we like it or not, the truth is that Britian is now a centre of activity for Islamic fundamentalists. Training, brain washing & misinterpretation of the Koran is now taught/preached at many institutions across the UK. The Govt must review its policies on funding / aiding such institutions and implement a more stringent mechanism to monitor what is going on inside them, this includes British Institutions such as the UCL.