₦airaland Forum

Don't mind them they feel Jonathan is like IBB.

Why did it take the court this long time before ruling? thatz why people will prefer to get justice in their own way rther than going to court.

An Ogun State High Court in Abeokuta on Wednesday affirmed Mr. Tunji Egbetokun as the Speaker of the state House of Assembly.



In his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Gboyega Ogunfowora held that the issue of a speaker’s removal was a matter the court could not dabble into except it violated the provision of the law.



The court, therefore, struck out a suit by a former Speaker of the Assembly, Mrs. Titi Oseni and upheld Egbetokun as the Speaker of the state Assembly. It also awarded N10, 000 costs against Oseni.



Titi Oseni had through her lead lawyer, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), filed a suit against the Assembly and other 25 lawmakers and alleged that she was wrongfully removed as a speaker.



She also alleged that the manner of her removal by her colleagues in the Assembly’s sitting of May 15, 2008 was wrongful, unconstitutional and irregular.



The former speaker further urged the court to set aside the proceedings of the sitting and stopped Egbetokun from parading himself as the speaker.



But the lawyer to Egbetokun, Mr. Abraham Adeoye, had filed a preliminary objection, challenging the propriety of the court’s jurisdiction to hear Oseni’s suit.











Adeoye had filed the objection on the grounds that the case was not properly brought before the court, saying that it failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action.



Egbetokun’s lawyer had


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009230394340

Former Wimbledon striker, John Fashanu, has sensationally revealed why he could not wear the green and white colours of Nigeria when he was called upon to play for the Green Eagles. Fashanu revealed this much to the UK FourFourTwo magazine in a recent interview. According to him, it was difficult for him to adapt to African football and that really affected his ambition greatly.

“It wasn't that it put me off, but the football was different. Wimbledon were blatantly playing kick and rush. All of a sudden, out in Africa, they were giving me the football at my feet. My game was all about aggression, the British Bulldog. When I got to Africa, all of a sudden people were doing skills I'd never even seen. I thought, why should I go to Nigeria and try to play in a way I've never played before?”

Were you a party to any madness in your time at Millwall (1984-86)?
I came down to Millwall with Lincoln City once and bashed the hell out of their defence, so after the match, I had to get a police escort to take me from the changing rooms to the coach. The Millwall fans were shouting, “Nigger, black naughty person, we'll kill you”, and throwing cups of urine at me. I remember seeing the hate and the venom in their faces as we drove off. Then I signed for them shortly afterwards and the fans loved me. I think they respected me because I played football the way some of them lived their lives. It was the Millwall fans who christened me 'Fash The Bash'.

How did you feel when you fell off that wall during an interview on Grandstand?
Even now, I've got a chipped bone in my elbow. I used to think it was from elbowing people, but I realised I did it falling off that wall. On my left and right, I could see the wall, but what I didn't know was that five bricks were missing behind me, so when I stepped back, there was no wall to put my foot on so I got my leg trapped and over I went. It was a long way down, but I went into a roll so the only thing I really bruised was my ego. At the time it wasn't very funny, because I was shocked and embarrassed. There I was, Wimbledon hard man, on the floor. But in retrospect, it was very funny because it was spontaneous. It brought me down to earth. They've shown it a million times on TV, but I never got bored of seeing it.

Did you really kick the crap out of Lawrie Sanchez in a training ground incident?
I don't like Sanch and he doesn't like me. Hate is a strong word, but we tend to disagree. Anyway, Sanch and I had a disagreement in training. I told the boys, “I'm taking training this morning - everybody start jogging.” Sanch saw it in his wisdom not to comply and when I pointed my finger at him he went to slap me. Mistake, Sanch. So I said, “Listen, this has been going on too long. We're two men, let's sort it out; let's take a walk. Lads, you carry on jogging.” So we walked, and for Sanch, this was the walk of death because we were walking round the back of the bushes and I was gonna pummel him. I was thinking, what style should I use on him? Sanch was thinking, am I gonna get battered?

Or maybe he was thinking, I'm gonna batter Fash. It was like something out of a film: two people who don't like each other, and now they're going to fight. Anyway, Sanch gave me a shot and, give him credit, it wasn't a bad shot. But I thought, don't hit Sanch, don't mark his face, and my mind went back to when Muhammed Ali fought against the martial artist in New York, and the martial artist just kicked the back of his legs until it broke the tissues in his calves and he submitted. So I thought I'd teach Sanch a lesson and gave a sweep of the legs, but Sanch has calves like most people have thighs and he didn't move. So I gave him another couple, but Sanch came back at me. So I thought, I'm gonna take this guy out, and I hit him with one of the best shots I'd been training with - BAM! Take that, Sanch! - right in the solar plexus, a shot that would supposedly knock a horse down. And still he stood there. Then Terry Burton came over to break us up.

Why did things not work out for you at Aston Villa?
When I started playing football, I believed it would never end. And one day I woke up, I sat on the edge of my bed and I thought, I don't want to do this anymore, I've had enough. Two weeks later, we were playing Manchester United at Old Trafford. I remember it very clearly. It was a corner and Paul Ince was marking me. I thought, why the hell is Incey marking? What an insult. So I said to the big man, “Pallister, get yourself over here and mark me, son.” But Incey's still pushing me and this time he grabs my shirt and my chest, and for the first time it actually hurts, so I knock Incey's hand off and he knocks me back. As the ball comes across, Incey goes up and catches me with his elbow. And I think, Jesus, that hurt - I'm getting older, these boys are starting to hurt me.

Then I had a flashback to when I was playing for Millwall against Southampton at The Dell. I did the same thing to Joe Jordan that Incey did to me because I knew I would carve a reputation for myself. The ball came in and I went WALLOP! BOSH! I headed the ball and Joe ended up on the floor. That's how I got my reputation. After that, I only had to blow on a player and he'd be scared. This was the same situation in reverse and I'm thinking, I don't fancy this much. Anyway, just after that, the ball bounced away from a corner and Incey gave Dwight Yorke eight studs down his shin. So I went over to give Incey some to deal with him and he just pushed me away.

The referee says “drop ball” and it's me and Incey. So we went in - BOOM! - and the ball ricochets up the pitch. As I'm running after it, I see little Giggsy coming. I think, okay, Giggsy, I'm gonna put you in row 15. You boys aren't scared anymore, huh? Let's see. But as I went running in to tackle, Giggsy put his foot up to protect himself and it hit my knee and snapped the ligaments. I remember Giggsy's face - he didn't look hurt, just shocked. He couldn't believe he was still alive! And I remember Incey coming over from about 50 yards away saying, “I'm gonna do ya, Fash” and then seeing my face. Then he said, “Fash is not playing,” because I never used to go down. “Go and see the physio.” And that was that.

Who was the sexiest Gladiator?
Lightning or Vogue. When I reminisce about old times, I think, how the bloody hell did I get that job for seven years? What a job! These were the most beautiful women, basically doing gymnastics - absolutely fantastic! They were so sexy and so nice, and Ulrika wasn't bad either.

Did you put in any 'special overtime' with Ulrika?
Ully's a great girl. I just wish she'd find Mr Right. She's looking for a nice, genuine man who can look after her. I'll put my hand up: I was the naughty person who introduced her to Stan Collymore. I was going out of town, so I rang up Yorkie, Ugo and Bozzie and said, “Listen guys, there's a big Gladiators party and the girls want some good-looking guys to go down and have a good time.” Of course, they took big Stan along and the rest is history.

What was your relationship really like with your late brother, Justin?
I had a great relationship with my brother. It would be lovely if we could turn the clock back, but we can't, and what happened happened. If you believe there is a God, we should celebrate, because he's going to heaven before us and heaven is a better place, so I've no remorse. I'm sad, because he was my brother and I miss him, but I'm happy, because he's in heaven. The reasons were a bit obscure - the wrong reasons - but he's there before me and I hope he's saved me a place. In life, you don't choose your family and we were different. Justin had instant success. By the age of 17, he was the first black million-pound footballer. That's a lot of stress. I remember being in a penthouse in Norwich when all of these managers were calling, promising to make him a millionaire. I was the sucker taking all the calls, while he was hiding in the cupboard. The advantage I had was I watched and listened to everything that was going on; he didn't. Not that Justin was reckless - just very impulsive, very spontaneous, so our thinking was very different.

What affect did being implicated in a match-fixing scandal have on your life?
Every footballer has a period where they think they're untouchable. Your face becomes a passport and I think it was a lesson. It showed me how many people have been convicted of crimes they haven't committed. I understand that even more now, when I visit prisons up and down the country, doing talks. One minute you're walking down the street, the next you're in prison. It's the same with these matrimonial cases. You've been married to your wife for 10 years, you come home and find her in bed with another guy. You've lost it completely and picked up a mallet, gone to swing it, unfortunately hit the wife and, next thing you know, you're in prison. It's strengthened me a lot and made me appreciate life, but it damaged my bank balance - £1million in legal fees. But it wasn't about money, it was about being able to get on with your life, knowing you've been through the mill and come out clean.

Your view on Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes?
If you cut me in the middle, you'll see Wimbledon FC tattooed there. Nobody wants to move. Why should Wimbledon be in Milton Keynes, for heaven's sake? At the same time, I don't want Wimbledon to die and they just can't sustain what they're doing at Selhurst Park on crowds of two or three thousand a week. Financially, it's a nightmare. Charles Koppel's not an enemy of Wimbledon, he's actually a very nice guy. His dream was to build a new stadium in Wimbledon, but they've tried and they can't do that, so he said, “Okay, I want to keep Wimbledon going.

I don't want to go into administration.” He knows it's going to be hard to regenerate a football club in a new area, he knows it's going to be unpopular, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Okay, he's going to lose 2,000 fans, but he'll gain 6,000 just from the surrounding area. It's nobody's fault that this has happened, but people are thinking with their hearts. Somebody needs to think with his head. But I applaud what AFC Wimbledon have done and I hope they can sustain the crowds they've started off with. Tell them I'll come down and have a game for them.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/sportsonthehour/2010/sept/23/sportsbreak-23-09-2010-001.htm

We should forget about hosting the games. The Billions of Naira could be spent on other areas to create lasting jobs for Nigerians. Nobody is going to visit Abuja as a tourist because of the high cost of living in Nigeria 9execep the Beer of course).

Abuja’s chances of hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games improved on Thursday after the withdrawal of Halifax, Canada, narrowing the contest to a two-horse race.



With Halifax claiming that the $1.7bn cost of hosting the Games as high, the race is now between the Nigerian capital and Glasgow, the second largest city in Scotland.



Abuja, which is bidding to host the second most-important sporting event in the world, will now fancy its chances in the race.



Abuja’s bid is anchored on the fact that it should be the first city in Africa to host the rest of the Commonwealth in 2014, the same year that is the centennial anniversary of the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates that eventually made up Nigeria.



The retired Gen Yakubu Gowon, a former Head of State of the country, heads the Abuja bid for the ‘Friendly Games’.



As a prelude to hosting the Commonwealth Games, Abuja hosted the eighth All Africa Games in the ultramodern National Stadium in 2003.



The host city will be named on Nov 7, 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2007031113544589

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole will meet the Governor of Ogun State Otunba Gbenga Daniel today, as part of efforts to resolve the intractable crises in the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The meeting, according to sources, is at the instance of the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP. It was learnt that the Presidency was desirous of ensuring that PDP continued to rule Ogun State after the next general elections as well as facilitating votes of delegates for the Goodluck Jonathan/Sambo ticket in the forthcoming primaries.

Sources close to the Presidency said the meeting was a follow up to series of separate meetings between the duo and Vice President Namadi Sambo and President Jonathan.
The two high ranking government officials, it was gathered, belonged to the Goodluck Jonathan/Namadi Sambo Campaign Organisation, therefore, the presidency and PDP leadership had mandated them to resolve their differences in the interest of the party in the state and especially for the success of Jonathan at the party level and in the presidential election.

Presidency had to order the two gladiators to meet and find a lasting solution to the rift to forestall any ugly fallout as the party picks its delegates this week. However, the venue of the meeting could not be immediately ascertained but the sources said the parley, which would likely to be one-on-one would hold in Ogun State as previous meetings were held in Abuja. Daily Sun investigations further revealed that some stakeholders in Ogun State were already jittery about the proposed meeting, which might negatively affect their political calculations both within PDP and other parties in the state.

“Any compromise between the two gladiators to work together will certainly unruffle many feathers in the political calculations of Ogun State. Indeed, many in Abeokuta South and Ogun East Senatorial District as well as the major opposition party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) are unhappy about the meeting,” a source said. The cooperation of Bankole and Daniel towards the success of the Goodluck/Sambo ticket is very critical in Ogun State in general. “There is no way we can do well there if this their dog fight continues.”
Bankole and Daniel have been at loggerheads on a lot of issues affecting Ogun State with the most recent being the altercations at the commissioning of Ota Bridge.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/sept/23/national-23-09-2010-014.htm

As the battle for the presidential seat hots up, notable Nigerians are beginning to pitch their tents with President Goodluck Jonathan and his rival, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida(IBB), former military president. Those on the side of Babangida are some ex-military officers and notable civilians, while those for Jonathan are a group of politicians under the umbrella of Idemili Forum, UNIPORT Alumnus, JSNN and other individuals.

Among the supporters who had so far declared their support for IBB included Captain Tony Emeka Momodu Iwuorah (retd), who incidentally is the National Co-ordinator of Unity Forum For Babangida (UFFB) and a youth activists under the aegis of Presidential Youth Alliance Initiative 2011, led by its National Co-ordinator, Austin Eugene.

In a press statement issued by in Onitsha, Anambra State, shortly after IBB formally declared his presidential ambition in Abuja last week, Captain Iwuorah, National Co-ordinator and Kenneth Chukwuemeka Emeruwa, National Secretary of UFFB, said: “IBB which stands for intelligence, brave and benevolence, is like a messiah, who remains silence and without perturbation in the face of unfounded allegations and depreciations.”

According to the statement, General Babangida has remained silent, reticent and unruffled amidst unjustified and unprovoked campaign of calumny and mudslinging, adding, “this perpendicularity, equanimity of mind is simply messianic, more so, as the Almighty God is saving him and keeping his life up till today portrays him as the political messiah we have been waiting for expectantly”.

They said that Babangida had at the risk of his life and limb, saved Nigeria from the ruthless, draconian, callous, stratocracy and dictatorial regime of Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Babatunde Idiagbon by successfully staging a palace coup which saw to their ouster, adding that for anybody to counter IBB’s presidential ambition will amount to challenging an unchallengeable divine mandate.
They further contend that the continuity of the contingency presidency of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which came by mere fortuitous opportunism, chance, circumstance and happenstance would not constitute any hindrance to Babangida’s expectant popular presidency which represents the popular will, aims, aspirations and overwhelming yearnings of the people of Nigeria.

Echoing UFFB, Eugene, leader of the Youth Initiative, described IBB as a man with strong will, who has promised to come back and correct all the perceived errors by subsequent leaders in the country. According to Eugene, “we, the Igbos are politically and economically stagnated because we removed ourselves from the politics of the land and as such, we must strive to reconnect ourselves, adding that kidnappers in the South-South are being given amnesty, but here in the South-East, we are being given more policemen in return.”

Also speaking, Raluchi Nwazota, the Eastern Co-ordinator of the Youths commended the national co-ordinator for giving him the opportunity to mobilize the grassroots in the South-East zone, adding that he had already mobilized over 2,000 members in the zone to take the good message about IBB’s presidential ambition to the rural populace.

Nwazota recalled that during the IBB military regime, NNPC refineries were functional as against the present condition of our refineries, youth were empowered then as against the present situation where youth unemployment has led to kidnappings and other violent crimes.
In his speech, the Prime Minister of the group, Ozonwa stated that they are in support of IBB because he is a man of the people, adding that during his regime, no Igbo man cried as we are crying today. He regretted that “Nigeria has abundant resources to be rich, but we are all hungry.”

In his address, the Patron, Chief Anosike stated that IBB is a man who listens to the cries of the Igbos during his regime that culminated in the creation of more states in Igboland which prompted his being nicknamed: “Ogugua Ndi Igbo” which means “a person that wiped out the tears of Igbo people and showed them sense of belonging”.
Declaring their unalloyed support for Jonathan, members of the Idemili Political Forum which included Hon. Kenneth Obi, a House of Representatives aspirant for Idemili North/South federal constituency in Anambra State and the President-General of Obosi Town Union, Chief James Ifekandu and Hon. Edwin Ekwuno, chairman of the forum, said the forum had taken a critical look at Jonathan’s performances so far and decided to lend him their full support.

The group which spoke at Obosi when Obi formally declared his intention to contest the House of Representatives seat for the Idemili North and South federal constituency, promised that the entire constituency would definitely work towards ensuring that Jonathan emerges victorious during the presidential election, assuring that the people of Obosi community in particular and the entire constituency would vote for both Jonathan and Obi, at least in his capacity as a philanthropist, if not as a member of PDP.

In his speech, while declaring his intention to contest the National Assembly seat for Idemili North/South federal constituency, Obi disclosed that he had just been appointed the Anambra State Secretary of a presidential campaign group for Jonathan, adding that it is important that Jonathan emerges victorious in 2011 election. Obi, who is the Managing Director of Atlantic Oil Services Limited, Lagos, also reminded the stakeholders that with Jonathan as president, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo as the National Chairman of PDP and himself as the legislator representing Idemili North/South federal constituency, the electorate would enjoy the dividends of democracy.

Obi disclosed that he had already procured a mobile clinic to administer free health treatment on all the adults in the constituency from 70 years and above, adding that when the mobile clinic becomes operational, the youth would equally be sent to vocational schools where they will learn one trade or the other and be helped to establish their own business. He noted that under an NGO, Ken Obi Partnership Agenda (KOPA) through which he had been providing succour to the people even before he started nursing the ambition to join the race for the House of Representatives seat, he had sunk bore-holes, awarded scholarships and built classroom blocks in some schools in the area.

The President-General of Obosi Town Union, Chief James Ifekandu, in his speech, regretted that the past legislators in the constituency collected their constituency projects funds, but never utilized them for the projects, rather, they diverted them into their private pockets. Ifekandu therefore, maintained that they will support Obi because of some development projects he had done and is still doing for the constituency, even before now that he is nursing political ambition

Expressing their support for Jonathan, the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) Alumni Association, under the aegis of Grand Rainbow Initiative (GRAIN), in a statement issued at the weekend in Awka and signed by Don Nwabueze, Anambra State Co-ordinator, said the state of the nation today makes it mandatory for every one to identify with and support Jonathan, who is ‘divinely assisted’ for divine solutions to numerous problems of the Nigerian nation. Nwabueze contends that it is the constitutional right of every Nigerian, including Jonathan and whoever that is qualified for any elective post to test his/her popularity with the electorate, adding, “we have observed with keen interest how divine providence has elevated Jonathan into the highest stool of this nation, not by power, nor by might, but by “my spirit, says the Lord”.

He recalls that some of the alumni members, who knew Jonathan as a young man in 1977 at UNIPORT Choba, watched with admiration, his calmness, articulation, humility and commitment in whatever he finds himself doing, adding, “those who see in the spirit, saw then a young man under divine tutelage for such a position he is occupying today”. “Mr. President, from the short time he acted as president and later sworn in as substantive president till today has displayed amazing leadership savvy; his achievements so far in the areas of electoral reforms, fight against corruption and massive improvement in the power sector and fuel supply, have raised national hope and expectations”, the group stated.

Similarly, the Goodluck/Sambo Foundation has said that they were convinced that both Goodluck and Sambo were eminently qualified to contest the Presidency so as to lead the country to economic prosperity. In a communique read out by their South-East Chairman, Chief Frank Oramulu at his country home, Awkuzu, Oyi Council Area of Anambra State at the weekend, shortly after their crucial meeting, the group contended that their decision to persuade Jonathan and his Vice, Sambo to run in the coming election, stemmed from the fact that the duo are already performing creditably.

Oramulu, an ex-labour leader declared shortly after the meeting which attracted representatives of all strata of the society in the state, that they were convinced that the duo of Jonathan and Sambo are also capable of taking appropriate measures to initiate programmes that will re-launch Nigeria into the orbit, given the actions they have taken so far in governance. The Jonathan/Sambo National Network (JSNN), in its own statement, weekend, charged Nigerians to work towards the re-emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo in the 2011 presidential election.

The call was contained in a statement issued in Onitsha, Anambra State by members of the Jonathan-Sambo National Network (JSNN), shortly after their meeting in Awka. In the statement signed by the National Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of JSNN, Barrister A. A. Orunkoya, the organization noted that every right thinking Nigerian should ensure that Jonathan and his team win the 2011 Presidential election in our collective interest. According to JSNN, “Nigerians should get ready for a free and fair election by obtaining their voters’ cards and get ready to defend their votes on the D-day of the election, adding, we must vote for Jonathan-Sambo ticket to continue the positive change and focused leadership that we have tasted for some months now”.

Orunkoya noted that he had just concluded the South-East and South-West evaluation tour on the group’s campaign, adding that what he saw as well as the clamour for continuity was quite ‘commendable’. According to him, having gone round the states, I have no doubt that the Jonathan and Sambo presidency is what the country needs most. “Apart from enjoying the goodwill of every Nigerian, he (Jonathan) has shown exceptional sense of direction within the short time he has been in office and our group would leave no stone unturned at ensuring that Jonathan and his vice, Sambo were returned at the next general election”, he added.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/politics/2010/sept/23/politics-09-23-2010-001.htm

The Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Campaign Organisation has said the purported rented crowd that graced the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan last Saturday should not be interpreted to mean popularity.
This was even as the organisation said the deft move to implicate political opponents, particularly Governor Bukola Saraki, through sponsored and concocted allegations, reminded of the old dark days of high handedness and impunity by government.

Director-General of the ABS, Dr. Udenta Udenta, who stated this at a Press conference in Abuja, said the forthcoming elections would define the shape of Nigeria like never before.
According to Dr. Udenta; “I pray that we will not go back to the dark days of high handedness and high wired politics of impunity. This is really high political season and a lot of misinformation is being dished out to the public.”

He described the on-going discussion on the need for a consensus candidate from the North to contest the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as robust and an exchange of transformation that was acceptable to Dr. Bukola Saraki. Dr. Udenta further said the thinking and objective of the discussion on the consensus candidate was not only aimed at ensuring that power remained in the North but about the stability and unity of the country.

He assured that Governor Saraki would accept the decision that would be reached by the wise men set up to adopt a consensus candidate from the North, adding that the former banker-turned politician stood a better chance to be nominated since he is the only aspirant that is difficult to describe as stereotype. Also speaking, Deputy Director- General of the ABS, Alhaji Ibrahim Lame, said Dr. Saraki would restructure the Nigeria Police Service with a view to grant independence to State commands as well as establish local police that would effectively tackle criminal cases within their localities.

The organisation said its movement was a social democratic project to empower women and youths and free the masses from underdevelopment, adding that its think thank consists of some of the best brains in Nigeria, who had already developed a concrete policy paradigm and package to transform Nigeria. “We condemn elite manipulation of ethnicity, religion and region in order to divide and oppress the people. Saraki is from the centre of Nigeria so he represents all Nigerians, irrespective of their socio-cultural background,” Dr. Udenta said


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/sept/23/national-23-09-2010-003.htm

Plans by four presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to gang up against the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan will fail, said the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan Campaign Organization, Mr. Sully Abu, in a statement released yesterday.

According to Mr. Abu, “the verdict of Nigerians from all walks of life on posturing of these candidates is clear: a strong, united and forward-looking Nigeria under the joint ticket of Jonathan and Sambo is preferable to an opportunistic gang-up of strange bedfellows who seem ready to sacrifice the unity of the country if their individual ambitions cannot be met”.

He said the recent declaration by Jonathan at the Eagle Square, Abuja which drew a record crowd “quite clearly appears to have frightened his political opponents”. That rally, he added, was a testimony to the fact that “Nigerians have decided to take their destiny in their hands and write a new story for the country by going for the credible, progressive and forward-looking team of Jonathan and Sambo.”

Mr. Abu said that “the subterranean moves by this group would come to naught as Nigerians would not be deceived by men of yesterday into mortgaging their future.” Abu expressed confidence that Jonathan would confirm his wide acceptance by the generality of Nigerians by winning the PDP presidential primaries and emerge victorious in all the six zones of the country in the 2011 presidential elections.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/sept/23/national-23-09-2010-001.htm

The National Assembly committees on the Review of the Constitution have called an emergency meeting to consider the possibility of reviewing the dates set for the 2011 elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission.



The meeting, which will hold on September 27, 2010, was informed by the electoral body’s request for the postponement of the elections from January to at least April.



INEC had slated the National Assembly election for January 15, 2011 and the presidential election for January 22. The governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections were earlier scheduled for January 29.



The leadership of the 63 political parties that met with an INEC team led by its National Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Tuesday, agreed that there was need to shift the poll.



A statement by Mr. Paul Odenyi, Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, added that INEC Chairman, Prof. Jega, and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had been invited to the meeting.



According to the statement, the 88 members of both the Senate and the House Committees on Constitution Review are expected at the meeting. The committees’ members conducted the review of the 1999 Constitution and the electoral law.



“The meeting will deliberate on the request by INEC for the postponement of the commencement of timelines for next year’s general elections,” Ekweremadu, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, said in the statement.



Jega will be expected to clarify before the committees the time required to make free and fair elections possible.



Adoke’s attendance will offer members of the committees, the opportunity to better understand the legal implications and the Federal Government’s disposition to a possible shift in the election dates.



Meanwhile, some members of the House of Representatives have said that they are fully in support of the elections being postponed till either late March or April.



The members are the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Ita Enang; the Minority Leader of the House, Alhaji Mohammed Ndume; and the Minority Whip, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.



Ndume, a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, who said that “laws are not meant to be sacrosanct,” added that he believed that Nigerians were “comfortable” with the position of INEC.



He said, “The National Assembly can amend the laws so long as it is not another ploy by the Peoples Democratic Party to rig the elections.”



Giving his position on the matter, Enang, a member of the PDP, said that it was better to conduct “credible elections than rushing everything and ending up with problems.”



He, however, noted that the 1999 Constitution (First Amendment) and the Electoral Act 2010 must first be amended to accommodate any request by INEC for a shift in dates.



“The January dates fixed by INEC are based on the constitution and the Electoral Act; so, any proposal to shift the dates will conflict with the law except the necessary amendments are done,” he said.



Similarly, Gbajabiamila said it would not be a problem for the National Assembly to amend the constitution and the electoral Act.



Gbajabiamila said, “It is a good development and the matter now rests with the National Assembly. Anything worth doing is worth doing well; let us do an amendment and set new dates for the elections.



“Two months is not too much of a sacrifice; the fire brigade approach has never worked well for Nigeria.”



THE PUNCH learnt from a dependable INEC source on Wednesday that the electoral body had notified the Presidency of its plan to shift the poll.



The commission’s chairman, according to a source, who asked not to be named, delivered a letter to the Presidency on the issue.



“The chairman was at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday,” he said.



According to him, Jega, encouraged by the overwhelming support he received from the leadership of the political parties, met with INEC’s legal team to carefully draft the letter.



It was earlier gathered that INEC had begun legal consultations on amendments to the sections of the new electoral Act and the amended 1999 Constitution to give it additional time to conduct the poll.



Findings showed that the legal department of the commission went to work soon after Jega and his team met with the political parties leaders on Tuesday.



The major thrust of a letter being put together by the commission deals with challenges posed by Sections 76,178, 116 and 132 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Section 26 of the electoral Act is also being considered.



When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said he was aware that the commission was writing to the National Assembly on the issue of time.



INEC commissioner in charge of Operations, Mr. Nuru Yakub, said at the Tuesday meeting with party leaders that the contract for the Direct Data Capture machines for the voter registration might be awarded this week.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009232303139

Waziri should stop mourning. i think the work of effcc is to identify and prosecute these criminals she is talking about, anyway she is one of them thats why she cannot do anything. she should stop talking but take necessary action against them. God save Nigeria.

Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has said that past elections in the country had produced criminals as lawmakers and leaders.



She also said the country was yet to witness true democracy, because political parties had remained breeding grounds for corrupt leaders.



Waziri’s comments were contained in an address presented at a roundtable discussion with producers and executives of electronic media based in Abuja on Wednesday. The statement was read on her behalf by her Special Assistant on Pubic Enlightenment, Mr. Othman Abubakar.



She said criminals usually found their way into power because the electoral process that produced them was still mired in thuggery, rigging and lawlessness.



In line with her earlier vow that the 2011 elections would not be ‘business as usual,’ she said the EFCC was poised to intensify its campaign against corrupt politicians by mobilising the electorate against them.



“Nigeria today is no longer considered as non-cooperating in the fight against corruption and terrorism; but we are seen as a country with less risk of doing business.



“Nevertheless, we still have a long way to go in becoming the ideal nation we envisage and (which) the international community wants us to be. This is so because we are yet to be a true democracy with transparent leadership.



“Our political parties are still breeding grounds for corrupt leaders; our electoral processes are still fraught with thuggery, rigging and lawlessness. Hence, our elections produce mainly criminals as leaders and lawmakers.



“As we warm up for another (set of) elections, the EFCC is very much worried about the menace of corrupt politicians and the need to stop them from recycling themselves back into our improving democracy,” Waziri said.



The EFCC boss was, however, optimistic that the country could witness credible election in 2011 given the antecedents and body language of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega.



Waziri said that the commission would collaborate with the electronic media and a wide spectrum of the society in its proposed campaign for a sane election next year.



She said that the synergy with the electronic media became imperative because of its wide coverage and accessibility to every class of the society.



The chairman said the goal of Wednesday’s discussion was to produce an anti-corruption theme for radio and television programmes to encourage the populace to reject corrupt politicians in the next elections.



She said, “We are convinced that the partnership with radio and television producers is our surest way of actualising our plans. This roundtable discussion is to map out effective participatory public enlightenment.”



The EFCC Head of Operations in Lagos, Mr. Zuberu Muazu, told journalists in an interview that the country would not win the war against corruption as long as lawmakers still made self-serving laws.



He also said the antidote to the endemic corruption in the country was the election of good and conscionable leaders.



Muazu said, “We are aware that these politicians will soon take over the airwaves for their campaigns. We want to use the same medium to reach the people on the need to stop the corrupt ones among them.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009230554564

Is like PDP is afraid. Let do this primary once and move to next agenda Pls.

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has announced the indefinite postponement of congresses and primaries scheduled to commence nationwide on Saturday.



The party said the decision to suspend the primaries was as a result of the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to shift the date of the 2011 elections from January. It also said the decision was endorsed by members of the party’s National Working Committee, after their meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.



According to a statement signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, the party said the sale of forms would continue.



The statement reads, “National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has directed the suspension of all congresses and primaries scheduled to commence this weekend till further notice.



“Rising from its meeting held on Wednesday, September 22, the NWC said this action had become necessary, in view of the joint decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission and all Political Parties at their meeting yesterday.



“Nigerians will recall that INEC and the parties agreed to a shift of the earlier advertised dates for electioneering activities. However, the sale and return of Expression of Interest Forms and Nomination Forms shall continue as earlier announced. New dates for all PDP Primaries and Congresses shall be communicated in due course.”



This is the second time in a week that the party will adjust its timetable for the primaries. The party had on Monday announced a slight adjustment of the timetable for the delegates elections, saying that the poll initially scheduled to commence on Tuesday would now begin on Saturday.



The party had then claimed that the decision was taken after an NWC meeting on Sunday. It had further claimed that the NWC, at the emergency meeting, also reviewed the progress of preparations for the forthcoming primaries and congresses and approved an adjustment to the programme.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100923056831

Gangster Atiku trust me your opinion does not matter, so stop wasting your time, OK Nigeria will be well only if Atiku is handed over the presidency, man you are a waste of time to the north, this man can not even win his own state, please go continue with the money you looted as a custom officer and VP. Nigeria is moving on without you and your crew.

Former vice-president and presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s insistence on contesting the 2011 elections will polarise Nigeria.



He said the President’s ambition was also against the zoning system provided for in the party’s constitution and the pact of the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party.



However, the President’s camp has replied the former vice-president, saying his ambition to pick the PDP’s presidential ticket was not in the interest of the North.



According to a statement issued by the Atiku Campaign Organisation in Abuja on Wednesday, the aspirant spoke on Tuesday in Sokoto, in continuation of his nationwide tour of the country.



He was quoted as saying that the country, which he claimed was already divided along regional, ethnic and religious fault lines, should be spared further divisions, as represented by Jonathan’s bid to appropriate a mandate meant for the North.



Abubakar said, “This nation has survived thus far because our founding fathers have maintained a delicate balance between the regions; between the two great religions and among our various ethnic groups.



“I’m convinced that those who want power rotation jettisoned do not have the best interest of the country at heart. The anti-zoning elements want to plunge this country into a needless crisis.”



But the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, described Abubakar as a selfish man, who wanted to short-change the people of the North because of his personal ambition.



Aba-Aji called on northerners to reject the former vice-president, “because his claim is personal; as he is aware that when Jonathan leaves office in 2015, it will be the turn of the North to rule for eight years.”



In another development, Atiku has welcomed the acceptance of his invitation by the president and Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki to participate in the proposed presidential debate to discuss the economy.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100923050729

Obasanjo was the only person that genuinely supported Jonathan,but the Ijaw wanted their son to distance himself from him because it is their turn.After all they produce oil.I am sure the old man of Otta now know that the civilian politicians are all bums judging by his experience with Yar Adua and now Jonathan.Baba knows now that Nigeria is not safe in the hands of these small men parading as our leaders.It has taken him so long to know what the others that fought for unity knew.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he is confident that President Goodluck Jonathan will do well in the Peoples Democratic Party presidential primaries and the presidential elections in 2011.



Obasanjo spoke with a United States- based Nigerian news agency, Empowered Newswire, after attending a United Nations session on the promotion of the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS where Nigeria’s Access Bank donated $1m to support the UN agency in its work to stem the spread of HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis, in New York.



“I believe he (Jonathan) will do his best and once he does his best and our party does its best, the best will be enough,” he said when asked to assess the President’s chances in the forthcoming poll.



On who he would vote for during the PDP presidential primaries, Obasanjo replied, “I might as well tell you who I will be voting for in the election, I thought that was meant to be a secret.”



Waiving off media speculations that he was reconsidering his support for Jonathan, Obasanjo, almost laughing, said “The media is (sic) a fool; the medium that says that is either a fool or mischievous.”



When reminded that he had led the South- West openly to declare support for Jonathan, the former President claimed that the zone was only one of the six geo-political zones in the country where the PDP had a strong presence.



“We start party membership at the ward level, to the state, to the zonal and the national levels, and you must be an active party member. So, I was there and whatever is being done at any of the level,…whatever my party decides, I cannot say to hell with the party,” Obasanjo said.



He added that as the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, “whatever my zone does I cannot disagree. But when we then have to meet as BOT, which I chair, I direct the affairs as necessary.”



Obasanjo also spoke on the reported gang up by some politicians, especially those from the Northern part of the country, against the candidacy of Jonathan.



“Ganging up or not, factions and alliances are normal part of politics and there is nothing wrong with that. What matters is that at the end of the day, whatever the results (are) we all accept it,” the former President said.



Asked whether he was optimistic that the 2011 elections would be hitch-free, he said, “Of course yes, oh yes.”



According to him, “We are in Nigeria, the country of excitement and we believe in things happening and they do happen; but we are also…, shall I say, there is never a dull moment. If I come to this world again, I will tell God to bring me back to Nigeria.”



Conceding that there were issues for Nigeria to address before the poll, he advised against using foreign standards to assess the country’s situation.



He said, “We have many things that we need to correct, many things. But one things we have is (that we) criticize ourselves, we look for ways to improve, what we can do better and how we can do them better. We are never satisfied; we are never complacent, which is very good.”



But Obasanjo said that the way other countries looked at Nigerians was because of “our self-criticism.”



He advised that Nigerians “must stop judging and condemning ourselves using the standards of others. We must decide our own standards and use our own standards to judge ourselves.”



On how the PDP would perform in the elections next year, Obasanjo said, “My party will do its best and once my party does its best, the best will be good enough for us.”



Explaining his absence at last weekend’s declaration of Jonathan in Abuja, the former President said he had travelled to Jamaica to attend the funeral of his friend’s father, Karl Masters.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009232312478

Reverend Tunde Bolanta is the founder of the Kaduna- based Restoration Bible Church and Ministries. Although he is not given to making predictions like others do, he had told Daily Sun, a sister publication in an exclusive interview in January this year that Nigeria would experience change in 2010.

But he was quick to add that the change may not come the way “we want it.”
Recent events, especially the one that led to the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as President, after the demise of late Yar’Adua, forced Daily Sun to revisit him after the changes witnessed in the polity. He disclosed in this interview that God’s hand is still on this nation, declaring that Nigeria cannot break up.
Excerpts:

We understand that you just came back from abroad, why is it always difficult for our leaders to ensure that those things they go to enjoy there, they make them happen here?
Well, by God’s grace I have been going up and down for over 20 years now which is equivalent to being to several continents. But if you look at history of nations, many of the changes there show that individuals and organizations have the desire for the poor. What I’m trying to say is that a political institution generally is not the one that sees the future; it takes certain people there, if you look at history, people that brought about changes were individuals who had the passion. So what we should be praying for is to have Daniels and Josephs in leadership; not everybody that found himself in political office has the mandate and the calling to lead because to lead takes a calling.

You can develop this thing, but real leaders, when you take Martin Luther King Jr., he has followership, but he became a voice that people gathered around, and I think our prayer should be that in this day and in future, and all that, we should have people that have calling for the people. What a man with calling will see, you can put 100 leaders, they won’t see it, it takes a man, who has the calling to do the right thing.

Look at Bill Gate for instance, he has a calling. It was not by accident, there was something in him that wanted to bring change. I am not trying to make excuses for our leaders but am trying to say that some of the people that found themselves in leadership went there without purpose, without calling, not all, but many, and that is why you still see that people just go there and take care of themselves, they will not think about the poor, but a man with a calling will put the people first before thinking of himself.

Look at people like Ghandi, some of our forefathers in Nigeria, they had a calling, you saw the way they led the nation, theirs were a complete departure from what we have these days. You take this man in Tanzania, Nyerere, you take Ghanaian’s Nkruma, and our own leaders here; Azikiwe, Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. You could see that they did a lot for the country. It was not that they were rich when they entered government but the calling, so leadership is not about making money, it is about changing lives, but if you don’t have a calling and you find yourself there, you will be thinking about your stomach first. But having said that, what we see outside should affect us inside. Many of these countries don’t have our wealth yet there is social scheme for the poor, I think it can be done but with leaders who have the calling.

If a man has a calling, give him few months things will be clear. But if he doesn’t have a calling there will be problem. Look at teachers, there are teachers and there are teachers. A teacher that has calling, the way he teaches you, you will never forget that teacher in your life, so he is different from the one that went to learn teaching. People talk about footballers, some are gifted, but when there is a calling that is very clear in that gift, you just stand out. I think we need to pray for our nation that God should raise Daniels and Josephs of our time that would be able to see the future and impact people.

And in other countries of the world too, it was individuals that actually rose, there are some things that government took over on the social system in some of these countries. It was individuals that started taking care of the poor, and when it got too big, government said there was need to stop them and come in. So let’s pray for more leadership with calling, I think that will bring the wind of change. Nelson Mandela is an icon for the whole world, there is something about that man, he had a calling for South Africa and the rest of the world.

Talking about praying for our nation, in our last encounter when I asked you what you expect from Nigeria at 50 as we approached 2010 then, you did say something as if you had a premonition. You had said that Nigeria would experience a change in 2010, and that the change will not come the way we wanted it, and if you look at the political scene today, some of the changes that have been effected were not really what Nigerians on their own would have wanted, but it just happened.

Were you just saying it, how did it happen?
I was not just saying it, but last year, early November I began to see some definite things, and we prayed about these things. Like our President that passed on, we prayed and prayed and prayed, but it seemed that it couldn’t change, but I didn’t say it to anybody, just my prayer team, we prayed about it, and then we kept quiet. I don’t believe that if you see something negative you should go to the papers, and start shouting. If you see something negative, you pray and pray to change it. Prophecy can be conditional.

For another illustration, there is a story in the Bible when God told a prophet to go and deliver a message to a king that the king will die, and before the prophet could deliver the message, God said it will not happen, it was changed. So when we see something negative, we need to pray, so we prayed about that and it seemed that nobody could change it, and God knows why, we are human beings, God knows why it happened. The Bible also says all things work for good, for those that love God. So that one was passed to me, and if there is anything we can say here, I believe God’s hand is still on this nation despite the tragedy that we went through as a nation at the trying times.

The way we came out of it too is a sign that God is interested in this nation. But one of the things that I told you was also that people will have to think about the nation first as we go into this election year and not about themselves. They should think about the peace of this nation. So many times as human beings we make up our mind on how things should go, God will have other plans, I am not a politician, am not coming from politics, but let us just keep praying, everybody should pray, every religion should pray that God should give us His Will and His peace to reign because in an atmosphere where there is no peace, we cannot really achieve any development. So am sure that even the President who came to office after our late President, he was not dreaming it to happen like that, he didn’t know, but that is how God wanted him to get there, so we keep on praying for all of them that God will help them, that they will do well.
But as we go into that year, we need mature hands, and people who are selfless.

There is a story, a woman went to King Solomon and said her baby was stolen overnight, and God gave King Solomon wisdom. He said ‘ok, I will take a knife, a sword and I will split the baby into two,’ then the real mother said ‘ah!, instead of dividing this baby into two, give the other woman,’ and King Solomon said ‘you are the real mother.’ My message to everybody, politicians wherever they are is that anybody who is prophesying that it is the Will of God to divide Nigeria is not seeing well.

He is not doing well, that is not the Will of God. People who have their own agenda will believe that if you divide, it doesn’t matter if the baby lives or dies as long as I get what I want. And what we are begging everybody, whoever has anything to do with power is that he should not divide the baby for his own selfish interest. That is what everybody, North, South, East, West, wherever people come from should not think about because anybody who allows that, curses will follow the person. Go and look at war scenes anywhere in the world, it is the women and the children that suffer and their spirit will never leave those people alone. After slaughtering millions, the spirit will never allow them go free, so some people must be very careful.

In all of these, how do we tackle corruption, which is also stunting our growth, as a nation?
Corruption is a big issue, and until we tackle it, many small countries will enjoy power without stress, yet it will be a mirage in our own country. We don’t enjoy our resources, we enjoy other people’s infrastructures, the people we enjoyed theirs abroad, if they did not tackle corruption headlong, it would have been impossible to enjoy those infrastructures. So, all hands must be on deck to fight it, beginning from you and I.

Before the change of baton in Kaduna, what was the experience like, can you share it with us?
Before the change came, the Lord showed me on May 3 this year that He was anointing this State, He just pour oil all over the State in the spirit. What is this? I asked. And the Lord said it was promotion coming to the State again. Nobody expected that our dear Governor here will become the Vice President, but just like play it came to pass, and the deputy too was lifted, so there was double promotion for the State. In fact I came to town and I told the people that promotion was coming to this State, but that I don’t know in which form. You see, God can show you vision and some times it may not be true picture, but it showed me clearly that the State was being promoted, but nobody knows exactly that it will come like that. I only spoke to a few of my people here in the church.

So, like I said earlier, God’s hand is on this nation, therefore, I think that it is very important that we don’t divide the child; called Nigeria, nobody should divide Nigeria because nobody created it. People can say it was a British contraction, but God put us together. Just look at how we manage ourselves up and down, we need cool heads now, we need cool headed people, people that will cool down their heads and get things done right. We should not set ourselves against one another, it is not necessary. People have to watch their words.

This our generation is not exactly like the old generation, they are not patience any more. The kind of restiveness we are seeing in Nigeria was not there 40 years ago, but restiveness almost everywhere, people are not ready to take nonsense. So those who will lead us cannot behave like young people that say they cannot take nonsense, you have to take nonsense otherwise there will just be tension everyday. So our words are very important, we should not divide the baby because that is not the Will of God. A prophet of God can say, ‘yes, he has seen the division,’ he may see the division alright, but God can be showing what can happen if you don’t do your prayers right, but you do not have the right to publish that. What am saying is that if you people do not pray well and be careful, it can happen.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/sept/22/national-22-09-2010-021.htm

MaziUche0:
This is a second incident involving a Nigerian trying to get out of the country by airplane and dying.

Naija must be bad o!

Who told you Nigeria is bad? All this guy's are not ready to work they are just looking for easy ways of making life better for them self without them knowing what will be fall them in the other side of the country.

Former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Tuesday tasked all the candidates jostling for the Presidency in 2011 to forget about Igbo support unless they unfold a master plan to fasten the emergence of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction.

Kalu, who spoke in Abuja, wondered why no person from Igboland had enjoyed the opportunity of living in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, either as President or Vice President since the seat of government officially moved to the city over two decades ago.

“This sounds unbelievable but it is true,” Kalu said.”No person from the South East geo-political zone has ever lived in Aso Villa either as President or Vice President, since 1990.
All the other five zones have had a swell time in there.”
The ex-governor reeled out fact and figures to defend his claim, explaining that injustice to one group is injustice to an entire nation.

“Leaders from the South West lived in the villa for 12 years and three months. By this, I mean Chief Olusegun Obasanjo eight years; Donaldson Oladipupo Diya, four years; Ernest Sodeinde Shonekan, three months.
From the North West, we had Gen. Sani Abacha, five years;Umaru Yaradua three years; and Muhammadu Sambo, four months.
“The North Central produced Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, three years; and Abdullsalam Abubakar, 10 months.
“From the South South came Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, three years and four months; Augustus Akubhue Aikhomu, three years; and Mike Okhai Akhigbe, 10 months.

“Alhaji Abubakar Atiku from the North East lived there for eight years.You can see that the South East is missing.And I think this is unfair,” Kalu pointed out.
His story of marginalisation did not end there. More lamentations followed from state creation to the amnesty programme for militants.
“The South East must get two additional states before other demands are ever considered. With just five when other zones have more, what we are saying is that Nigeria belongs to all of us,” he added.

“Ndigbo are tired of being wooed as bride by the other groups. We also want to be the bride groom. We need a refinery, our youths are restive because there are no jobs for them. Aso means Victory in Gwari. Until an Igbo man gets there, there is injustice in the system.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2010/sept/22/newsbreak-22-09-2010-001.htm

As a youngster, Surulere was home to Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). And when he was making moves to run for governor, his campaign office was naturally sited in Surulere.
But today, residents of Adelabu–Masha axis, the area that houses Fashola’s campaign office, are not happy with him. And their reason? His government has done nothing to fix their bad roads.
The areas that need urgent attention, according to the residents, include Adisa Bashua Street, Ibezim Obiajulu Street and Raufu Williams Crescent.

They confessed that they were not unaware of the giant strides of the state government on road rehabilitation and construction. They, however, are at a loss over the government’s negligence of their area since 2007.

When Daily Sun visited the area, Adisa Bashua Street was dotted with potholes and gullies apart from water that has taken over the street. The bad portion of the street started from where it links Adelabu Street to the junction of Raufu Williams Crescent and beyond.

A resident of the area said: “While commending Governor Raji Fashola on the huge developmental projects in Lagos State, I wish to draw his attention to the dreadful state of roads in Surulere, particularly in the Adelabu Marsha axis.

“It is particularly painful that this is the same neighbourhood where Fashola grew up and where he had his campaign office in 2007. All the adjoining streets to Moronu Maduagwu Street where the campaign headquarters was located are in bad shape.

“Huge potholes and craters dot Adisa Bashua, Ibezim Obiajulu, Raufu Williams and others and it is a nightmare for residents driving in and out of the neighbourhood.
“Is this the price to pay for all the noise and discomfort that we suffered during the campaigns and late hour meetings? To compound the situation, the gate to Moronu Maduagwu Street, the only manageable street in the area, is firmly locked despite the governor’s order that street gates are to remain open from 5:00a.m to 12midnight.”

Two women who reside in Adisa Bashua Street and did not want their names mentioned in print lamented that the road inflicts untold hardship on its users. Flood, potholes and gullies, they said, are evident in many streets in the area.

“Anytime it rains, we always experience flooding because the road is bad. Look at the street from Adelabu junction; you can still see water on the street although there was no rain today. If you had come maybe shortly after a heavy rain, you won’t be able to pass through this place. Even motorists have to park until the flood subsides before they move again. The flood is always knee deep,” one of the residents stated.
Raufu Williams Street is tarred but is full of potholes. Mr. Ibrahim Tijani, who resides in the street, said lack of drainage is the problem bedeviling the area. He stressed that the drainage on both sides of the street is very narrow, which does not allow a free flow of water when it rains.

His words: “Though our street is full of potholes, the major problem we have here is flood. Anytime it rains, flood always takes over the street. If government can construct a standard drainage for us, we will be very grateful.”

Ibezim Obiajulu Street is virtually impassable. Right from the frontage of the approved test centre of the Ministry of Transportation to the junction of Moronu Maduagwu Street, the street is like a long swamp.
Makinde Adekunle said potholes and craters on the street have forced motorists from Adelabu Street to pass through Adisa Bashua and Mercy Eneli Streets to link Masha Road, instead of Ibezim Obiajulu Street.
He stated that officials of the Lagos State government and Surulere Local Government have paid several visits to the street with the promise that the problem would be addressed. According to him, nothing positive has come from the government.

Adekunle is not happy that motorists are not allowed to pass through Moronu Maduagwu Street, through which motorists should have been linking Adelabu Street from Eneli and Masha Road.
“Moronu Street is where we have the campaign office of Governor Fashola and the gate is always locked. Residents of this area who have cars and other motorists should be using the place to avoid the bad portion of Ibezim Obiajulu Street.

“We want the state government to come to our aid. We know that he is trying his best and we are aware of some of the roads he’s constructing and upgrading in Surulere. But we want him to come to our area. What our road needs is just rehabilitation,” he said.

Makinde maintained that residents of the streets had earlier pleaded with Fashola to prevail on the residents of Moronu Maduagwu Street to allow them access to the road. He said the governor then directed that the gate to the street should remain open from 5:00a.m to 12midnight. The directive has since been ignored, he stated.
“Personally I don’t blame them because I think they are being security conscious. But if government can fix the impassable part of Ibezim Obiajulu Street, there will not be any reason for us to pass through that street.”
Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson, an engineer, said the state government has awarded several contracts on road rehabiliation and upgrading in Surulere area. The roads, he revealed, include Adelabu Street, Ogunlana Drive, Adeniran Ogunsanya and Akerele Street. He assured that some of the projects would be completed at the end of next month.
“Residents should bear with us because development is a gradual thing and it is turn by turn. Already, we have awarded Bode Thomas to Julius Berger just to complete the ring,” Johnson stated.





http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/citysun/2010/sept/22/citysun-22-09-2010-001.htm

It wasn’t a sight that you behold every day.
A sea of human heads stretching from the church auditorium to the main road as well as the side streets. Many more people virtually dangling on the balconies of storey buildings, straining their eyes to catch a glimpse of the orderly chaos. From the loud speakers mounted at strategic places within and outside the church, voices of various clerics and song ministers boomed. And as each prayer point rang out, shouts of the congregants shot forth to the heavens, with thousands of men and women lifting up their voices in earnest supplication to the Almighty.

Ikorodu, a popular town in Lagos, is no alien to riotous religious outings. But many are those that will willingly swear that in the several decades that they have sojourned in the town, no Christian crusade had been as successful as the one that took place recently.

Date was Thursday, August 26. And the event was the prayer and revival programme weekly organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Covenant of Peace Parish, Ikorodu, Lagos. Tagged Helping Hand, the programme is a vision of Pastor Olaitan Aromolaran, parish pastor and pastor-in-charge of the zone. Aromolaran is also the Provincial Evangelist for Lagos Province 16 of the RCCG.

It was one event that would linger long in the minds of residents of Ikorodu and its environs for long.
On hand to minister was the General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Worldwide, Prophet S.K. Abiara. The world-renowned man of God actually flew in from the United Kingdom early that morning for the programme which commenced at 7.00am.

The entire stretch of Lowa Street, Jumafak Bus Stop, Ikorodu, where the church is located, was packed full with people who couldn’t find any space inside the auditorium. The street gates were closed to motorists as people sat or stood at every available space on the road.

The programme commenced with a praise and worship session, after which different pastors took turns to lead prayer programmes, as the church awaited the guest minister. Pastor Aromolaran apologised to the expectant multitude for Dr. Abiara’s late arrival. He informed the crowd that the man of God was on his way from the airport but had been held up in the ubiquitous Lagos traffic.

When Abiara breezed in at about 8.23am, a loud din enveloped the atmosphere. Sandwiched between about 30 security men and protocol officers, the man of God was dressed in a white cassock and black shoes. The entire place became rowdy as thousands of hands struggled to touch the Ibadan-based cleric. He was eventually piloted inside the auditorium.

In a short message taken from Matthew 19: 16-30, Dr. Abiara told his congregation that nothing should be too valuable for them to give unto God. According to him, neither their souls nor possessions should be too important for them to give to God. Citing the case of the rich man who became dejected after he was told by Christ to sell all his property and donate the money realised to the poor, Prophet Abiara said man’s major problem was his greed and inability to let go. He charged people in the church to learn to give freely to ministers of God, their parents, those around them and the poor. According to him, whatever they would receive from God would be much more than what they gave to God. He also urged the congregants to forgo a life of sin and dedicate themselves to the service of the lord.

Noting that the venue was too small for an event of such magnitude, Prophet Abiara called for the donation of land and money to enable the church secure a bigger parcel of land in the area. He also prayed for the younger man of God, Pastor Olaitan, describing the youthful cleric as a man with an uncommon zeal for the Lord and the gospel.

Many members of the congregation, including businessmen and women, serving police officers, clerics and other professionals trooped out to donate land, cars and money to the church. Prophet Abiara promised to return to lead a prayer vigil as soon as a larger space has been secured.
As he was ministering, Prophet Abiara suddenly paused. He then looked at Pastor Olaitan and delivered a brief message. “Pastor, God just told me that you must not leave the Redeemed Church. That is the message of God. You must obey it.”

Before the programme was concluded, the guest minister tried his hands on a number of musical instruments. The crowd was simply enraptured as the prophet displayed his dexterity on the keyboard, the guitar, saxophone and gangan drum.

Dignitaries at the event included the Olugbole of Igbole, the traditional ruler of Pastor Olaitan’s hometown, Igbole-Ekiti, Oba Emmanuel Adetiloye, Odofin of Ikorodu, Chief R.A. Shotobi, Iyalode of Ikorodu, Chief Mrs. Tinuola Benson and Otunba of Ikorodu, Otunba Femi Alase. Popular actor, Funsho Adeolu was also at the event.

When it was testimony time, scores of excited people trooped to the stage to express what God had done for them during the programme.
Pastor Olaitan expressed his gratitude to God for making the event a success. He said the success had demonstrated God’s faithfulness and was a confirmation that the programme was actually designed by God to render a helping hand to the traumatized people of the area and beyond.

Asserting that God could reverse any bad situation, the cleric charged the congregants never to exhibit any doubts about God. “I thank God that the king of my town is here today. My own life is a testimony that there is nothing that God cannot do. If God could save me and use me, then God can save and use anybody.”
According to him, Helping Hand was a programme that set out to render divine help through the power of prayer to those in bondage and under the captivity of the devil. “The programme holds every Thursday morning at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Covenant of Peace Parish, Lowa Street, Ikorodu. Between 7 and 9 am on that day, this whole area is usually filled up by people from all over Lagos and beyond who want God to lend a helping hand to their lives. This is not the only place where the programme holds. We also have it in many other centres across Lagos,” he said.

Besides Prophet Abiara, many other ministers of God have participated in the programme. They include Evangelist Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, Pastor Kunle Ajayi, Evangelists Bola Are, Ojo Ade, Dunni Olanrewaju, Lanre Teriba, Esther Igbekele Iwalesin, Ayewa Gospel Singers, Pastor Kingsley Ike, Evangelist Ifeanyi and many more.





http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/citysun/2010/sept/22/citysun-22-09-2010-002.htm

Achieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Godwin Dabo-Adzuana, says he has received 108 threat calls for supporting the presidential bid of President Goodluck Jonathan. Dabo stated this while reacting to the alleged threat to the life of Chief Raymond Dokpesi.

“Now, let me say this: there was no threat to Dokpesi because I have received 108 threat calls. I have received 108 telephone threat calls, some from my friends, threatening me for supporting Jonathan. They said I have betrayed Babangida, the man who made me.”

Dabo further said what he did was to explain to them why he was supporting Jonathan.
“Some of them have listened to me and some will end the conversation abruptly and say: you will see.”
On Dokpesi, he said, “Dokpesi has contributed his quota to Nigeria. I worked very closely with Dokpesi and the late Chief Abiola and what is happening here is this: if anybody was going to leave Jonathan, it shouldn’t be his brother but Dokpesi, I know, is a principled person. He must have his reasons and Chief Clarke said he is working with Babangida because of money. I don’t know about that. Unfortunately, Jonathan does not share money like other leaders.”

Continuing, the former assistant national auditor of the PDP said, “I believe nobody associated with Jonathan will threaten Dokpesi. Nobody! I am pleading with Dokpesi to propel IBB and we will also work with Jonathan. In spite of the numbers of threatening calls I have received, people saying they will kill me, I am not deterred. If you die for what you believe in, you will go to heaven. I am ready to die for Jonathan. I am ready to be killed because I am supporting Jonathan because I know very well that what I am doing is by divine inspiration and not on my own.”
While saying that he was not holding IBB responsible for the alleged threat to his life, Dabo further said that General Babangida had been his bosom friend of over 40 years.

“General Babangida has been my friend of over 40 years. He is my mentor and an institution whom I don’t want to be demystified. I hold him in high esteem but I have to disagree with him politically because our generation has failed and I believe we should give way to this younger generation,” he stated.
Admonishing President Jonathan, Dabo said, when elected, Jonathan should focus on housing, power, security, road construction and make every Nigerian proud so that Nigerians can go out with their passports and when seen as Nigerians, people will say you are a true Nigerian.
“Besides that, he should give the future generation a sense of hope and a sense of belonging,” Dabo concluded.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/sept/22/national-22-09-2010-006.htm

President Goodluck Jonathan has stressed that the promises he made during his declaration last Saturday were not just campaign jargons, but he will fulfill if elected.
The President stated this in a message he issued, thanking Nigerians for their massive support given to him when he formally declared his interest to contest the 2011 election “We wish to reassure Nigerians that commitment to the transformation of our country is unwavering. There is work to be done, and in the last few months we have rolled up our sleeves to tackle those issues that still hold us in the back waters of development”

The President who assured Nigerians that he will tackle the problems of power, security, infrastructure and the economy, also declared that the war on corruption is in top gear with the ongoing high profile trials.
“Last Saturday, I formally declared my intention to run for the office of President of our great nation in the 2011 general elections with Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo as my running mate.

Because of you, the great and untiring Nigerian people, the event was a huge success, and will continue to echo down our annals as a day that we all spoke with one voice, in unity, solidarity and faith in our ability to transform Nigeria. I thank you all”
He also reiterated his determination to build a new nation, and set the country irrevocably on a path to catch up with and indeed overtake Nigeria’s peers of yesteryears.

“With the support of you all, we will deliver on this promise. We shall burn our candles at both ends to deliver on electricity; we shall reverse the decades of decay that have beset our infrastructure; we are determined to put our economy back to work for the sake of our people. We are determined to continue to deliver on the promise of a good life for all Nigerians,” he said.
He commended the record response by Nigerians from all walks of life and the joy and gaiety of the occasion, which he said stood as an eloquent testimony that the message of hope and commitment delivered that day is resonating exceedingly across the land.

“Vice-President Sambo and I wish to join our Campaign Organization to express our heartfelt appreciation to our elder statesmen, the leadership of the National Assembly, State Governors, Distinguished Senators and Honourable members of the House of Representatives, Captains of industry and titans of commerce, women’s groups, youth and students, who besieged Abuja and particularly Eagle Square to join in the occasion”
He also thank the various entertainers, musicians and stand-up artistes, actors and actresses, who spiced up the audience, galvanized and inspired the youth whose future we are committed to serving by ensuring a greater tomorrow for the country.

This is just as he also thanked millions of Nigerians who witnessed the event at home and abroad via the electronic media and the internet and for their messages of hope and encouragement.?“Once again, we thank you for your overwhelming support. The time for transformation is now, and of this, there must be no doubt.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/sept/22/national-22-09-2010-003.htm

ODOU DON OVERTAKE ODOU INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF ABUJA(ARMY) ARRANGEMENTS:__by Fela Anikulapo Kuti Akingbola is not CRAZY, he is meticulously right. This VOODOO ECONOMIST(Mallam Sanusi Lamido) should immediately resign his post as CBN chief. It is now obvious that Sanusi is the WOLF guarding the chicken scoop, a God damned blatant TH**F. As for the other jamba_boy_governor, he has to be arrested immediately. Just as JESUS said that those we entrusted are the ones ruining this PLANET

A former Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank Plc., Mr. Erastus Akingbola, has petitioned the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), accusing Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki; Governor of Central Bank, Mr. Sanusi Lamido; and the Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Mahmoud Alabi, of taking over the bank.



Akingbola also said that Alabi wrote off a total of N8.115bn debt owed by companies allegedly owned by Saraki. The companies are Linkers. Dicetrade, Skyview Properties and Joy Petroleum.



He alleged that a total of N32bn other loans written off belonged to associates of Saraki and Sanusi. Besides, he claimed that Alabi did this because he was once the chairman of Songa Farms owned by the governor.



He claimed that the loans had been classified as ‘good’ and ‘performing’ by the CBN and wondered why they were written off.



In the August 3, 2010 petition, Akingbola asked the AGF to investigate the matter.



In the nine-page petition of 30 paragraphs, Akingbola said he had a professional disagreement with Sanusi, while the latter was the CEO of First Bank Plc. His problems with Saraki, he added, resulted from his refusal to agree to a merger with Societe-Generale Bank, a bank owned by the governor’s family.



The petition reads, “Back then, I had discovered that his staff members were de-marketing IB Plc and I wrote to him concerning this (copy attached).



“My immediate conclusion was that Dr. Saraki and Mallam Sanusi wanted to take over IB Plc by fraudulent means, and that if I went into their custody, it could result in my death, in order to silence any opposition to their plans.



“Mr. Mahmoud Lai Alabi was appointed by the CBN as the new CEO of IB Plc. Mr. Alabi is (was) an employee of Dr. Saraki as chairman of Songa Farms and several development funds in the state. On resuming, his first task was to write off Dr. Saraki’s loans to the tune of N8.115bn (papers and letters attached).”



“He also wrote off loans totaling N32bn to friends of Dr. Saraki and Mallam Sanusi. All this, in a bank that they were meant to be rescuing.



“All these written-off loans had been classified as ‘good’ and ‘performing’ by the CBN examiners, and had been secured with properties in Ikoyi (Lagos) Victoria Island (Lagos) and Abuja.



“The CBN examination report of May 2010 complained about this massive loan or ‘cash gift’ to Dr. Saraki.”



When contacted, spokesman of the bank, Mr. Lawrence Ndukwe, said he was unable to speak as he was indisposed.



Saraki’s spokesman, Mr. Masud Adebimpe, said it was “not a new issue. This thing has been in the news for a long time.”






http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009224421793

God has come to take his place in Nigeria Pls fellow brothers / sisters our player has accepted Now we are going to take this opportunity to pursece our pursectoin even by violance because this is our time to shine again Pls dear musilm brothers /sister and my dear christian brthers / sister let help our country and enjoy our wealths By by by come out and say enough is enough to old liars VOTE GOODLUCK EBELECHUKWU JONATHAN for better now and tomorrow.

President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo have said that the winner of the 2011 presidential election must be ready to tackle key challenges to ensure rapid national transformation.



This is just as they thanked Nigerians for the massive turnout at their declaration last Saturday in Abuja.



In a posting on their Twitter blog titled, “It’s time for transformation,” on Tuesday, Jonathan and Sambo said, “The incoming leadership in 2011 must be prepared to deliver on key promises, such as providing stable power supply; ending ethno-religious crises and regional agitation in the country, ensuring that the 2015 deadline for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is achieved; and diversifying our country’s energy portfolio.”



Jonathan and Sambo, who declared their intention to contest the election on Saturday in Abuja, said Nigerians had ‘palpable’ expectations ahead of the 2011 elections.



“The anticipation of the Nigerian people is palpable as the country prepares for the elections. No one knows the future but one thing is certain; there must be a change; a veritable transformation of the nation’s state of affairs.



“The people are eager for a change and there is a need for a restoration of trust and hope. In spite of the collective progress we have made as a nation, there still remains a great deal of work to be done.



“While previous achievements are somewhat laudable, a hard look at the future shows that there is so much to be accomplished. Nigeria needs inspired leadership for the challenge ahead.



“Nigeria needs leaders that can inspire the people for the journey of national transformation because it will be arduous. All this points to a man who, despite his humility, possesses a quiet drive and determination to steer Nigeria to a bright sustainable future where the fruits of transformation will blossom.



“Would you not rather stand behind this man and support him in this quest for the restoration and transformation our country?” they said.



Meanwhile, Jonathan on Tuesday thanked Nigerians for the large turnout at the Eagle Square, Abuja, during the public declaration of his intention to run for president in the 2011 elections.



In a statement titled, “We thank you all,” which he personally signed, the President said the “record attendance by Nigerians of all walks of life and the joy and gaiety of the occasion”, made the event a ‘huge success.’



Jonathan, who also expressed appreciation to Nigerians on behalf of Vice-President Namadi Sambo, his running mate, also noted that the large turnout of Nigerians at the Eagle Square was an indication that his campaign’s “message of hope and commitment is resonating exceedingly across the land.”



He added that he was “grateful to the millions of Nigerians who witnessed the event at home and abroad via the electronic media and the internet.”



The President restated his determination to effectively address problems in the country, especially power, security, infrastructure and economic challenges.



He also pledged his commitment to the ongoing war on corruption, which he said has “revved into top gear with the high profile trials going on today.”

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009224492715

Nigerian Atiku he is a theif ,he has started telling lie, for saying his is not awear of our president declearation.were did go?we can’t vote for a theif.