₦airaland Forum

Abuja — The presidency has directed the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to liaise with the Lagos State government to look at the legal implications of the long standing trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former chief security officer (CSO) to former Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, to ensure that justice is done to both victims and the accused.

A source in the presidency told LEADERSHIP last night that the directive was based on a report recently submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan by a team of senior lawyers advising the president to ensure that justice is done to the former CSO, who has been standing trial since 1999 over the alleged killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola and attempted murder of the publisher of The Guardian, Olorogun Alex Ibru.

The report claims that the foot-dragging over the trial of Mustapha amounted to justice denied. It said the only way the government could ensure fairness and justice in the murder case was to ensure that one party did not suffer injustice.

The report further advised that there is urgent need to advise the Lagos State government, the prosecutor to discontinue the case if it does not have sufficient evidence to prosecute the matter.

"Since the presidency cannot directly ask the Lagos State government to discontinue the case, it can only advise. And the minister of justice has been advised to liaise with the Lagos State government," the source added.

A coalition of ethnic nationalities in the country recently called for an unconditional release of Major Al-Mustapha.

Speaking at a joint news conference addressed by the founder of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun; the leaders of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Shettima Yerima; the Niger-Delta Volunteers Force (NDVF), Alhaji Dokubo Asari; and the Igbo Youth Congress (IYC), Comrade Bright Ezeocha , the leaders said the prolonged detention of Al-Mustapha was an injustice.

They called on Jonathan to invoke the prerogative of mercy clause in the constitution to grant amnesty and liberty to him and those detained with him.

According to the coalition, the 12 years Mustapha has spent in detention, represent 18 years in the normal prison calendar, making him the longest serving solitary detainee in the nation's history. His useful years, they said, were being frittered away.

The leaders spoke at Fasehun's Century Hotel, Okota, Lagos, recently. Over 500 members of the ethnic militia groups were at the occasion.

Addressing reporters on behalf of the group, Fasehun condemned everything the successive governments had done in Al-Mustapha's case. He said the government's position contradicts the nation's position as a signatory to the United Nation, Commonwealth, African and West African Charters, Conventions and Resolutions on Human Rights, Torture, Detention and Imprisonment.

The injustice of Major Al-Mustapha's detention, Fasehun said, had become a source of disgrace to millions of Nigerians at home and abroad. He said the issue had become an international embarrassment and disgrace to Nigerians and the nation's judicial systems.

He added: "More embarrassing is the fact that all the witnesses that the state has pushed forward in the court of law had by and large debunked the allegations leveled against these gentlemen.

"Time has come to terminate this national disgrace and lunacy. We hereby appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to wade into this matter in the name of all that is good.

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"We pray Mr. President to invoke the prerogative of mercy clause in the constitution and grant amnesty and liberty to Major Al-Mustapha and the prisoners of conscience detained with him."

In his own remark, the NDVF leader, Alhaji Dokubo said enough was enough of Major Al-Mustapha's incarceration and called on the Federal Government to set him free.

Yerima and other speakers also urged President Jonathan to set Al-Mustapha free in the interest of justice.

Setting Al-Mustapha free, Ezeocha said, would wipe away the nation's 12 years shame and make Nigerians to begin to feel that the country had started practising genuine democracy.

Al-Mustapha was arrested in 1998, immediately after the death of General Abacha. He was under military detention until the Lagos State government instituted murder charges against him in 1999.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201009010327.html

Abuja — President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday that at no time did he ask former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) to step down for him in the 2011 presidential race.

The president was reacting to newspaper report yesterday that he recently met with IBB and asked him to step down for him in their separate bid for the presidency in 2011 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

"Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the president knows he is not one who dissuades people from pursuing their personal ambitions. This is even more so when there is no purpose to be served by it, since the long suffering mass of the Nigerian people would decide who governs them in a free and fair contest," the special adviser on media and publicity to the president, Mr. Ima Niboro, said in a press release.

"Since June 12, 1993, Nigerians have in successive elections become wiser. The next presidential elections, no matter who the candidates are, would sound a resonant never again! Never again shall the will of the Nigerian people be quashed underfoot by the vaunting ambitions of a few.

"This is what the president has promised Nigerians, and he is fully committed to delivering on this pledge. It is therefore, unfortunate that any self respecting newspaper should lend its pages to reporting a series of lies against the person and the institution of the presidency.

"These tales are unverified and sourced from openly interested parties. They are lies, pure and simple."

The presidential spokesman added that President Jonathan has been meeting different leaders on different occasions and platforms and some had come to inform him of their intention to run for the presidency. While others he had met with as a matter of courtesy being a sitting president, and keen to ensure that the next presidential elections do not degenerate into a do or die affair as the nation's elections are sometimes wont to do.

He added, "He has met former vice-president Atiku Abubakar; he has met Babangida; he has met Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and will meet him again soon.

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"He has met with Gen. Yakubu Gowon, two time president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari; former vice-president, Alex Ekueme, and former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. He will meet with even more leaders and political actors as the race to 2011 heats up."

Mr. Niboro said it was extremely uncharitable for anyone to project these meetings in such "negative lights, and attempt to force the president into retreat from these well thought out engagements" with political leaders of all hue and disposition in the interest of the country.

"We think it is time to put an end to this long line of false stories and verify what is served to the general public", he stated.

He accused the newspaper (not LEADERSHIP) that reported the story of waging campaign of calumny against President Jonathan.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201008310437.html

Nigeria's Military Council had threatened to kill former Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and late Chief MKO Abiola, if the result of June 12 presidential election was not annulled, Yoruba Leader, Alhaji Aresekola Alao has said.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday in Ibadan, Alhaji Alao said IBB had warned Abiola not to contest the election because of his health condition and the political effect on his business. He said 17 years after the annulment of the election believed to have been won by late Chief MKO Abiola, the world should know that IBB is not to be held responsible

"Wallahi tallahi, Summa billahilazi (I swear in the name of Allah), we are in the month of Ramadan, that was what happened. After the election, the military wanted to kill MKO Abiola and General Babangida if he (Babangida) announced the result of the election," he said in the interview monitored on the BBC Hausa Service in Abuja.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201008310366.html

Former military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida yesterday said his discussion with President Goodluck Jonathan centred on Nigeria and how to improve the country.


He said the meeting had nothing to do with any move to persuade Jonathan to step down for him as being speculated.Babangida spoke when he led a team of his campaign organisation to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretariat to express compassion over last Saturday’s fire that razed part of PDP Headquarters Wadata Plaza.


“It is not what you guys have been insinuating. So, whenever you find two heads of states, they talk about this country: how can we improve this country, what can we do? All the heads of states – about ten of us still living – that’s what we talk about,” he said.

Babangida said, “2011 belongs to God and I am fully prepared. The negative comments I do appreciate. I will be a fool if I accept that everybody loves me. But there are also others who do. That’s life.”

He said, “Unknown to most of you, there is a very robust relationship between the family of President Jonathan and the Babangidas. His wife has been very kind, she asks after my children all the time and I appreciate that.

“I don’t run away from my friends, my brothers and I had an opportunity to thank the wife, through her husband. His wife has taken a lot of interest in my children and I used the opportunity to convey my appreciation to his wife for his concern about my children.”

Babangida was accompanied by members of his campaign team headed by the Director General Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, Alhaji Sada Ilu, Prof. A.B.C Nwosu, Prince Kassim Afegbua, Mrs Remi Adiukwu-Bakare, Alhaji Farouk Bibi-Farouk and Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam.

Responding, PDP national chairman Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, hailed the former president for his concern, describing him as one of the front runners for the party’s presidential ticket.

He said, “We are very happy to receive our very revered leader, former president of Nigeria, who today is visiting us in a different capacity as one of the front runners in our party, for the ticket of the PDP in the forthcoming presidential election and we receive him as a member of our party who has come to commiserate with us on the unfortunate fire incident in our secretariat.”

“The president has been here himself. So, the tremendous empathy that this unfortunate incident has generated within the leadership and rank and file of PDP shows that the party is strong.”

Former Secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) Abdullahi Adamu also visited the party yesterday to express sympathy over last Saturday’s fire incident.

http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2200:ibb-what-i-discussed-with-jonathan-&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

The federal government has set up a committee to critically ascertain the extent of the liabilities of the New Nigerian newspapers, with a view to bringing back the company and assist it to meet the expectations of investors in the planned privatization of the company, our country’s Vice President, Namadi Sambo, said yesterday in Abuja.

He made this known yesterday during a meeting convened to bring out the issues affecting the company, which has been out of operation for years.

He said that he was very familiar with the issues, having chaired a sub-committee of the Northern Governors Forum to sort out problems associated with the company. “I requested the Bureau for Public Enterprises to give a brief on the status of the company and a report submitted by the bureau had highlighted all issues that required further clarification,” he said.

Mr Sambo, who defended the takeover of the company in 1976, enjoined the committee to separate liabilities that belong to the federal government from those of the 19 northern states. The VP also directed the committee to bring out the operational liabilities as distinct from the staff liabilities.

“In line with the former Vice President’s position, which indicated interest to settle the liabilities owned, he has no objection to the assertion that the operational liabilities fall within the responsibility of the federal government of Nigeria,” he said.


Attractive for investors

Mr Sambo also accepted that all loans and advances availed to the company by the federal government should be treated as grants.

The Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Bolanle Onogoruwa, briefed the committee on the status of the New Nigerian newspapers, its liabilities and assets and what needed to be done to make the company attractive for privatization. The committee is to be chaired by Mrs Onagoruwa, with members from the Debt Management Office, Ministry of Finance, Managing Director of New Nigerian Newspapers, the Secretary to the Niger State Government, Special Adviser, Special Duties to the Vice President and BGL Consortium, consultants to the Northern States Government on privatization.

The committee was given two weeks to submit its report.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5613524-147/government_prepares_new_nigerian_newspapers_for.csp

Why is it that how people due to some selfish things they gain from politicians find it easy to say the truth.pls. tell me one thing any state or nigeria has gained from the office of first lady expect except just stealing our wealth under the disguise of motherless homes or blind homes.if they have such good will,why haven’t they had such NGOs or helping homes before becoming first lady after all they were all rich then.first ladies office should be scrapped.enough of people like turia.

The Catholic Church has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to scrap the office of first lady in the three tiers of government, saying the office was a conduit through which public funds were illegally wasted.



This was contained in a communiqué by the Catholic bishops of Ibadan Archdiocese and Ekiti, Ilorin, Ondo, Osun and Oyo dioceses.



The communiqué obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday, was signed by the Archbishop of Ibadan Diocese, Most Rev. Alaba Job, and the Bishop of Osogbo Diocese, Most Rev. Leke Abegunrin.



It said, “We implore President Jonathan to restore some credibility to the (anti-corruption) campaign by taking decisive measures to reduce corruption in the country.



“He will do well to scrap the unconstitutional “first lady office” through which money is wastefully and illegally allocated right from national to local government and ward levels.”



Jonathan’s wife, Patience, together with several wives of state governors and council chairmen utilise public funds in the running of their offices which are not recognised by the country’s constitution.



The clerics decried the deplorable state of public infrastructure across the country, hinting that several lives had been lost to bad roads, epileptic power supply and ill-equipped hospitals.



Buttressing the position of the clerics, a lawyer, Mr. Lanre Akintunde, said the disbursement of public funds for the running of the offices of first ladies showed a failure of the Nigerian state and an utter disdain for the constitution.



“It is absurd that elected public officers, right from the President to the least elected public officer, are always denigrating the Nigerian nation and her people through shocking disregard for the country’s laws,” Akintunde said.



The clerics urged Jonathan to review the huge remunerations accruable to public officers across the country, stressing that the situation was capable of aggravating violent crimes, fraud and insecurity.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009021342646

Of course their wouldn’t be any plan by the national officers(pdp) against the power mongers(governors), they too have there own selfish interest as well, but after all weather you call on Mr president or not, nigerians are frustrated and fade off for the so call setups. we will struggle for the best reforms and credible people(gen BUHARI)

The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday said that there was no plan by its national officers to gang up against governors opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan’s interest in the 2011 presidential election.



Some newspapers (excluding THE PUNCH) had on Wednesday reported that the party had concluded arrangements to move against such governors.



But the PDP, in a statement by its National Organising Secretary, Chief Uche Secondus, said in Abuja, “There is no iota of truth in the news report that PDP is ‘ganging up against its elected governors’ in favour of President Jonathan.”



The party also said that it was still waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission before releasing the guidelines for its primaries.



It, however, explained that the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission would help it in drafting its own .



A pro-Jonathan governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswan (Benue State), said on Wednesday that he was ready for any form of primaries that the party might adopt in picking its governorship candidates.



Suswan, who spoke when he visited the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, said he would not be bothered if the presidential primaries held first or not.



He said, “Well, I am not moved if we have the presidential primaries or not. I am sure of winning the governorship primaries in my state whether we have the governorship or the presidential primaries first.”



Also, a former governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar, said on Wednesday that the presidential primaries of the PDP must be free and fair.



Lar, who spoke with journalists at the PDP headquarters in Abuja, said only a free and fair election would bring out the best candidate that be acceptable to Nigerians.



He said, “Nigerians are expecting a free and fair election. Nothing less than that would be acceptable to Nigerians. We are and will be insisting that only a free and fair election will be acceptable to Nigerians. That is what we are asking for.”



Meanwhile, a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council, Mr. Chibudom Nwuche, has commended the South-West chapter of the PDP for endorsing Jonathan for the 2011 presidential election.



Nwuche, in a statement on Wednesday, also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to partner INEC to stop corrupt persons from participating in the 2011 poll.



He said, “The endorsement of Jonathan by the South-West PDP represents a watershed in the march towards 2011 as the zone has always been a pace-setter and a major determinant of the course of our democratic process since the days of the First Republic and the politics of the old Western region.”



Nwuche added that the action taken by the South-West PDP “has shown that they are true harbingers of positive change and commitment to equity, justice and an egalitarian society.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009021511867

The season is just beginning. Mikel should try and be consistent in his defensive midfield role so the like of Essien and newlyarrived Ramires do not take over his position

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel is happy with his defensive role.



Mikel has no qualms sitting back and allowing others in midfield to take up goal scoring positions.



The Super Eagles midfielder has started his season with a bang, putting in three strong performances and setting up Nicolas Anelka with a brilliantly simple but beautifully accurate long ball against Wigan.



It still remains a long time since Mikel found the net himself but instead of launching shots on goal, Mikel believes his duties lie in keeping the side‘s balance, both in attack and defensively.



”It is tempting but the team is more important and I have to always make sure I keep the shape of the team, the balance when everyone is going forward,” says Mikel. ”That is my job and I am happy doing it.”



After last season‘s trend of conceding before we scored, there is a new agenda for Carlo Ancelotti‘s team this campaign.



”As much as we are scoring goals and playing well, another thing the manager wants us to do is keep a clean sheet,” Mikel explains. ”If we keep a clean sheet there is always the possibility to score goals.



”The way we play we create chances, against Stoke we didn‘t create enough but we managed to win the game.”



The current results are in stark contrast to that of pre-season, which ended with four straight defeats, but since the beginning of the League season, the Blues have looked unstoppable, and captain John Terry has spoken highly of the form Mikel is currently experiencing.



Mikel feels the World Cup played a role in Chelsea‘s pre-season campaign, citing a lack of fitness as the contributing factor.



”When the guys came back, none of them were fit and they were trying to get back into fitness.



”It was difficult because when you are playing in pre-season and you have two people fit and the rest of the team are not then it is difficult.



”But now we are all getting back into our normal shape and I think we will get better when the season gets going.”



He may be optimistic, but Mikel is also aware of the test that lies ahead and is not allowing the opening trio of wins to bring complacency. Instead he‘s relishing the upcoming challenge.



”The season has just started, we have only played three games, and we have to play the likes of Manchester United, Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, there are bigger tests coming up but we are playing well.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009020422221

Cutting off the head is not the solution to headache.Everyone knows that their is an abuse of okada riders,but this is not the best solution.Some private riders should be allowed as the special adviser himself knows.Even in India and China,okada is a major means of transportation,only commercial motorcycles are not allowed on the expressway.

IT was a harvest of seizure of motorcycles on Wednesday in Lagos State, as the government began implementing new regulations on the operations of commercial motorcyclists aka okada.



The Lagos State Government’s regulations, which took effect from Wednesday (yesterday), had barred okada riders from the entire Lagos CBD area on Lagos Island; Ozumba Mbadiwe (from Bonny Camp - First Roundabout) on Victoria Island; Awolowo Road, Bourdillion Road, Gerrard Avenue, Alexander Road, Osborne Road, Alfred Rewane Road, in Ikoyi; and CMS (Outer Marina).



They were also forbidden from plying the entire stretch of Funsho Williams Avenue – Eko Bridge – Apongbon; Murtala Muhammed Way, from Jibowu – Yaba – Oyingbo – Iddo – Idumota; Jibowu to Ikorodu Town Roundabout; Third Mainland Bridge (from the old toll gate to Obalende); Apapa-Oshodi Expressway (excluding the service lanes); the network of roads around Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa; Awolowo Way; Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way – Maryland Junction.



Other areas included the stretch from Moshalashi – Oshodi – Abule Egba – Ogun State boundary and and all bridges in Lagos.



It was also a mixed bag of compliance and defiance, while many commuters, who would normally depend on okada for transport, were stuck at various points in the metropolis.



Our correspondents monitored the first day of the implementation in parts of the state, including Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Agege, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Mile 12, Ojuelegba and Third Mainland Bridge. The commencement of the new regulations was marked with the deployment of an unusual number of law enforcement agents in various areas.



The law enforcement agents, among whom were personnel from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Kick Against Indiscipline, Federal Road Safety Commission as well as the police, were deployed as early as 7am.



Some okada riders defied the directive to stay off restricted areas and did not obey the directive on the use of helmets. Some were also noticed plying the expressways.



One of the okada riders seen on the Third Mainland Bridge around 7.05am said he left his home very early, to avoid being arrested by law enforcement agents. He said he had an important appointment to keep, and he had to travel on a motorcycle to get there on time.



However, many defaulters lost their motorcycles to the law enforcement agents while some others escaped. Our correspondent noticed that the law enforcement agents were courteous in their approach.



A mild drama occurred at Ogolonto junction of Ikorodu Road, when over 10 okada riders dared the enforcement team of LASTMA and policemen stationed there. Chanting, ‘Arrest us if you can’ in Yoruba, they rode defiantly around the area. The enforcement team, however, ignored them.



The situation affected public transport around the metropolis, leaving many people stranded at bus shelters. Many persons had to trek to Bonny Camp from CMS before they could get buses.



At Tafawa Balewa Square and CMS, the spots that were usually dotted with okada riders were deserted. In Abule Egba, angry okada riders told one of our correspondents that law enforcement agents seized their motorcycles on a road not listed in the regulations.



A man, who identified himself as Kayode, said he was sitting on his bike on Ekoro Road, when he was challenged by some operatives of KAI Brigade. He said the KAI officials seized his bike.



“I came out to see if they were really serious about the whole thing and they took my okada. Is Ekoro Road part of the expressway? I know that this law will be abused,” he said.



There was also confusion at Agege, Pen Cinema, as most okada riders stayed off the roads. Some of them told our correspondent that they were not sure if Agege Motor Road was among those listed in the regulations.



“Policemen have arrested some of our colleagues,” a worried okada operator told one of our correspondents. Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway was relatively free of commercial motorcycle riders.



At Oshodi, it was gathered that no fewer than three truckloads of seized motorcycles had been taken to the State Secretariat at Alausa. Dejected okada stood at a safe distance and watched security operatives impound many motorcycles.



They said that none of the security operatives told them what they had to do to regain their seized bikes. One of them, Anthony Marshall, said, “The information we are getting now is that they will auction our bikes. Is that the purpose of this exercise? If we have flouted a law, there should be penalties, not the sale of our motorcycles.”



It was gathered that the high level of compliance was due to the fact that okada union leaders had on Tuesday advised their members to respect the new rules.



The State Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Akanni Olohunwa, had urged the members to comply with the directives. He also appealed to the government to ensure that law enforcement agents did not extort riders, in the guise of enforcing the restriction.



He said, “It is true that some law enforcement agencies may capitalised on this to extort money from them. We have noticed this in the past. We have appealed to the authorities to caution their officials. If an okada rider does not flout the law and he is arrested, he should let us know and we know where to report.”



Also, the Chairman, Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State, Mr. Tijani Pekis, said the compliance would allow them to negotiate a waiver with the state government on the Moshalashi-Mushin-Oshodi-Abule Egba route. According to him, these areas lead to rural areas and should be considered for a waiver, so as not to increase the hardship of the people.



However, some members have expressed fears on the impact of the restriction to their businesses and families. They contended that while the government said it meant well for them and their security, the restriction would adversely affect their businesses and families.



Spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Frank Mba, who expressed satisfaction at the conduct of policemen in the enforcement exercise, said it was too early to speak on the issue.



Mba said, “I am sure that soon, everything will be clear and people will know what to do. But for now I can tell you that there was a high level of compliance. We arrested a few recalcitrant ones and we urge others like them to obey the new law in their own interest.”



Meanwhile, the state police command on Wednesday rolled out Armoured Personnel Carriers, patrol vehicles, motorcycles and a large number of policemen. The exercise, which was code-named ‘Operation Show of Force,’ took off at 8am in all the area commands across the state.



It was supervised by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo.



Mba said in a statement that the show of force was designed to showcase the combat-readiness of the command and reassure Lagosians of its readiness to rise to challenges of crime-fighting.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009021205289

Although Nigeria contributed much to liberate South Africa from the stranglehold of apartheid and, thereafter, threw her economic doors wide open for South African investors and goods, these actions have not stopped a low estimation of her citizens by South Africans, the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Kingsley Mamabola, said on Tuesday, in Abuja, at a meeting with the minister of interior, Emmanuel Ihenachor.

Answering a question from NEXT at the meeting planned to explore ways of broadening the existing bilateral relationship between both countries, Mr. Mamabolo gave reasons for the increasing hostilities and physical attacks launched against Nigerians in South Africa.

According to him, the regard for Nigerians in South Africa is very low because the criminal activities of a few Nigerian citizens there are the most visible things to the hosts. He denied, however, any insinuation of government backing for the attacks, insisting that a lot of effort was being made to offer Nigerians in South Africa more protection under the law.

“There is a lot that needs to be done about the perception of South Africans about Nigerians. The perception South Africans have about Nigerians is not good at all. Those Nigerians of a very tiny percentage - I will say just about one percent - engage in crimes that are generally seen by all and which overshadow the good works of the majority of Nigerians.

“South Africa is a law abiding society. There is law and order in our country. There is no lawlessness. South Africans as a whole fight for human rights in general. So, it is not true that the government is not doing anything on the situation. It is only in the newspapers that you see that (the hostility against Nigerians),” Mr. Mamabola said.

Responding, Mr. Ihenachor openly refuted a tag of ‘haven of piracy’ and related criminal activities wrongly placed on Nigeria in the global maritime industry.

Poor perception

The minister denounced the poor perception and challenged promoting the perception to either show evidence of the high activities of pirates in Nigeria or stop the image smear.

“I remember that he said that when he (Mr. Mamabolo) was posted here (to Nigeria), people were saying: ‘why are they punishing you? Why are they sending you here?’

“Now, he is enjoying Nigeria. It is an issue of perception,” the Nigerian minister said.

“If you read the papers and go on the Internet, you will never want to come to Nigeria because they say Nigeria is the second piracy capital in the whole world. This is untrue. I, as a master mariner, I have always been saying that I have not seen even one pirate in Nigeria. I do not know where those reports are coming from. If you report that Nigeria is a piracy nation, then there is a tendency that insurance on all the goods coming to Nigeria will rise,” Mr. Ihenachor said.

Mr. Mamabolo promised to look into the case of the deportation of a Nigerian from South Africa for non-possession of yellow card, with a view to preventing a future occurrence.

Apart from immigration issues, other areas the FG is planning to explore through the meeting with the South African government include prison management and maritime enterprise.

The South African government says it hopes to learn from Nigeria how it has successfully engaged in international peacekeeping for years now, as well as how it has effectively managed the conflicts of its federating units to form unity in diversity.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5614003-147/south_african_envoy_explains_hostility_to.csp

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) founded by former military head of state, Mohammadu Buhari, says it might partner with 35 other political parties during the 2011 general elections, to actualize its plan of ousting the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The party’s spokesman, Dennis Aghanya, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja yesterday, said it has already initiated the talks with the leadership of the parties to create a platform to be called Coalition for New Nigeria (CNN).

He did not say if Mr Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2003 and 2007 elections, will emerge the presidential candidate of the alliance. However, Mr Buhari reportedly met with the president, Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday in a meeting in Abuja. Mr Jonathan’s aides said the meeting was for the two men to break their fast together and discuss matters surrounding the upcoming polls. Despite being a Christian, Mr Jonathan has reportedly joined Moslems to fast during the month of Ramadan, since he became Vice President.

Further discussions

“The CPC is involved in further discussions with over 35 other political parties under the platform of the Coalition for New Nigeria.” According to Mr Aghanya, “the national chairman of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC), Charles Agadaenyi Nwodo, and the national secretary of the National Conscience Party (NCP), are the chairman and the secretary respectively, while the national chairman of the Labour Party, Dan Nwanyanwu, is the National Publicity Secretary of that platform”.

The CPC spokesperson debunked reports that the party has pulled out of talks with the Action Congress of Nigeria, which last month changed its name to accommodate the interest of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP). He said discussions between both parties are still in progress, noting that at their last meeting in Lagos, it was agreed that both sides should go back to consult their leaderships on some issues.

Mr Aghanya further explained that the CPC prefers a union that will take the form of a political alliance to allow room for autonomy of each member of the alliance, stressing that it is the best option for the parties now.

“These leaders of the parties will meet at their own level and finetune the discussion,” he said. “It worked in the United Kingdom and has worked in other developed and advanced democracies of the world. It might be close to being impossible for a political party to have an outright 2/3 majority in our elections in Nigeria, except the CPC.”

Mr Aghanya added that “in the nearest future, the CPC would have consolidated and concretised most of such discussions with all the political parties discussing with us. We will try to reach a common ground but where it fails, we are equal to the task to go it alone.

“No one forms a political party with the sole intentions to only win an election by going into an alliance or any other form of political union. However, it will be the best option to have a broader platform on the face of the enormous power being wielded by the PDP.”

Buhari’s credibility

On the status of Mr Buhari, the CPC spokesman boasted that he (Buhari) is the only person with integrity and an impressive record of performance to secure victory in the forthcoming presidential election. According to him, the PDP does not have anybody with such a pedigree to beat Mr Buhari in a transparent presidential poll.

“They (PDP) cannot win up to five per cent of the total votes cast in any election,” he said. “Their strength lies in their ability to have all the institutions of governance, including the nation’s treasury, at their beck and call.”

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5613952-146/buharis_party_plans_alliance_with_35.csp

If you drive from Abuja to Kaduna you will not see a single checkpoint. I always wondered why you had checkpoints/toll gates in the South and two per hundred metres in the South East!

The Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, has ordered the immediate dismantling of road blocks in the South-east.

The absence of police officers from the ubiquitous checkpoints became noticeable on Tuesday when they were not seen at points where they usually extort money from motorists. Their absence was later explained by Hafiz Abubakar Ringim, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of zone 9. Umuahia, who told the press that Mr Onovo had ordered that all checkpoints in the zone be dismantled.

Wide criticism

Mr Ringim said that the removal of the checkpoints was a major decision of the police headquarters and that it has to be absolute, stressing that it was because of the pressure from members of the public who had been asking the police command to remove them from the roads.

He said “people have been complaining that some police men have been using most of the road blocks and checkpoints to extort money from motorists” and have sustained the pressure for their dismantling, adding that with the directive from the police national headquarters, they have to be dismantled.

He said that in place of the road blocks and checkpoints, the police will now introduce the use of patrol vans on all the roads that need the attention of the police, adding that it will make for quicker response of the police to crime.

He assured that the police would not stop the patrol of those roads, to check the activities of hoodlums.

“In the place of the road blocks and checkpoints, we are using patrol vans which will be stationed at strategic places across the zone and they will be there to respond to crime calls and also check security flash points when necessary,” he said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5613933-146/onovo_orders_removal_of_checkpoints_.csp

laughter don kill me, o, yeye people wey dey buy plane, dey plan to enjoy for october 1st, no fit fund election, jega, abeg go settle dem,

The Federal Government is broke and cannot fund ongoing road construction projects across the country, a House of representative member has said. The member, who asked not to be named, also claimed that only N16 billion out of the N87.7 billion required by the Independent National Electoral Commission for voters’ registration has been released to the electoral body.

This startling disclosure was reportedly made by the Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, while meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Works. According to the member of the committee, the minister revealed this after he was summoned to give a briefing on the slow pace of work on major roads that have money allocated for their rehabilitation in the 2010 budget.

Mr. Aganga last night refuted the comments that were attributed to him, saying that he had not even appeared before a House Committee on Works for a while. Speaking exclusively to NEXT, he affirmed that although budget cuts had been made across board, the Federal Government was far from broke. “The fact is that in spite of the recent budget cuts, capital expenditure for this year still comes in at about N1.5tn which is more than double what was spent last year,” he said.

However, the house member went on to reveal that Mr. Aganga said that the federal government is facing critical financial stress that makes it impossible to fund many ongoing projects. He is also quoted as saying that ministries and departments have been asked to review their budgets downward by another 40 per cent after the official review carried out by the National Assembly. The minister told the committee that the situation is so bad that nothing is happening at the ministries because no money has been released to them.

Mr. Aganga responded by saying that this was “old news”.

“Every department was asked to review their budgets,” he said. “The oil benchmark and production output of the original budget were not optimal so all MDAs had to make cuts to expenditure.”

According to the house member, the meeting was held behind closed doors and away from media scrutiny, but credible insiders say the most shocking revelation by Mr. Aganga concerned the inability of the federal government to release the N87.7 needed by INEC for the conduct of elections next year.

Mr. Aganga again denied this saying that a total of N56bn has been released to INEC so far which is in line with the electoral commission’s release plan.

“We never release money all at once,” he said. “INEC has given us a payment plan which we have observed. The first payment was for N16bn but an additional amount of N40bn has since been released. So in total we have released 56bn according to INEC’s release plan.”

Mr. Aganga added that there was no danger that a lack of available funds would jeopardize the election timetable.

“We have been working very closely with the Honourable Chairman (Mr. Jega) since the start of this process and everything so far is on track to meet the deadlines that have been set out.”

At the time of going to the press, no INEC spokesperson was available to confirm the details of the money reported to have been released to them so far.

The INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, has made it clear that funds are central to the ability of the commission to hold credible elections for which it requires a comprehensive voters register. Earlier this week, Mr. Jega had also made a request for an additional 8 billion naira, to make up for the shortfall in the 2010 budgetary allocation to the commission. He said his commission was banking on receiving that amount from the budget only to discover that it has been removed.

Mr. Jega’s disclosure contradicts the finance minister’s claim that the government had given the electoral body all the funds it required. On August 20, Mr. Aganga told journalists that he was “delighted to announce that the amount due was released as soon as the supplementary budget was signed by the President”. He said the funds were released a day after the supplementary budget was passed. “We did not want to be seen to be challenging them because if anything went wrong government will be blamed for not supporting INEC. We don’t want that” Mr. Aganga had said. “I, as Finance Minister, it’s my job to implement the funding side of it and I need to assure the INEC chairman every moment that whatever he needs in terms of financial support I will make it available.”

Recently, a former minister of finance (state) Remi Babalola, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which is in charge of managing the country’s oil wealth, was insolvent. A claim Mr. Aganga had denied. Shortly after Mr. Babalola’s whistle blowing, he was redeployed to the Ministry of Special Duties. As the exact health of the government’s finances remains unclear, billions of naira are still being allocated to new projects. Just yesterday, at the Federal Executive Council meeting, the government approved N3.59 billion for the construction of a modern office for Code of Conduct Bureau in Abuja.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5614016-146/story.csp

Na waoh, i don’t understand, is it that Jonathan have seen so much money in the treasury that he can just be filtering it out the way he likes by awarding contract for even text books? If he knows he is only coming to waste money let him pocket his presidential ambition oh

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved N1.7bn for the printing and distribution of English Language, Mathematics and activity-based Science books to primary six pupils in public schools nationwide.



The project will be funded by the Universal Basic Education Commission from the 2010 Supplementary Budget under the Millennium Development Goals’ Textbook Initiative for the procurement of textbooks.



The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, announced the development after the council met in the State House, Abuja.



FEC had at its meeting on May 5, 2010, approved the contracts for the printing and distribution of textbooks to pupils in primary four and five.



The books have been printed and distributed to the states and are already in use by the pupils.



As part of its efforts to consolidate on the achievements made in the provision of textbooks to primary schools, the Federal Government appropriated N4bn under the Millennium Development Goals, textbook initiative for the procurement of textbooks for pupils in public schools.



Akunyili disclosed that the textbooks were to be customised with the inscription: “MDGs-UNEC textbook initiative – not for sale.”



The contract was awarded to Messrs. Longman Nig. Plc, Evans Brothers, Heinemann, Africana First Publisher, Tanus Communication Ltd., University Press Plc, and West African Books Publishers.



It (contract) is to be concluded in six weeks.



FEC also approved the construction of one block of nine-storey office complex as headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau in the sum of N3.5bn.



Akunyili explained that FEC made the approval after considering a memo from President Goodluck Jonathan, who presided over the meeting.



In the memo, the President informed the council that the “present office space for the Code of Conduct Bureau is grossly inadequate.”



“The building of an office complex as headquarters will therefore decongest the present over-crowded office and the separation of staff at the annex complex,” the memo read in part.



There is a provision of N594m in the 2010 budget for the construction of the building.



The bureau will need to capture the project in the 2011 and 2012 budgets.



FEC also approved the extension of the contract for the operation, maintenance and staff training for Wupa Basin Sewage Treatment Plant.



The Wupa Basin Sewage Treatment Plant was constructed by Messrs SCC (Nigeria) Limited and commissioned in May 2007. But due to the complexity of the project, the firm was awarded a two-year service contract for the operation and maintenance of the plant.



The operation and maintenance contract ended in April 2010.



However, the Federal Capital Territory Administration sought and obtained the President’s approval for the extension of the service contract for one year to allow sufficient time for the development of local expertise to grasp the rudiments of the operation and maintenance of the plant.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100902215446

This is the first test of Prof Jega. He flunk this, forget about credible election. Prof, Nigerians are watching cos when you fail, we would all have lost hope of a good Nigeria.

Mixed reactions on Wednesday trailed the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to hold the January 2011 governorship poll in four of the states, where rerun elections were held.



The commission, in an advertorial on Wednesday, said that the governorship election would not hold in the four states — Rivers; Edo; Ondo and Anambra — in January 2011.



The advertorial in some national dailies was titled, ”Independent National Electoral Commission Conduct of Governorship Elections.”



According to the advertorial, Rivers State’s governorship poll will hold in June, 2011; Edo, July, 2012; Ondo, November, 2012; and Anambra, November 2014.



Based on the advertorial, governorship poll will hold in January 2011 in five states — Ekiti; Bayelsa; Sokoto; Cross River and Adamawa — where governorship rerun elections also took place.



By the publication, the tenure of the state governors will end on May 29 contrary to their expectations.



Reacting to the publication, the Bayelsa State Government said it would seek a proper judicial interpretation on the INEC advertorial that put 2011 as the year that Sylva‘s tenure would end.



The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nathan Egba, said that the government‘s position was based on the certificate of return issued to the governor by INEC after his victory at the re-run election in 2008.



Also, Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Segun Oni, said that the 2010 Electoral Act, which the commission based its decision on, could not take a retroactive effect.



Oni, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre, said, ”Even as we are not afraid of standing for elections anytime provided the constitution is followed, it must be stated that laws are not known to take retroactive effect.”



The statement added, ”Though the issue of tenure of office of the states where by-elections were held is still a subject of various law suits, we must state without fear of contradiction that tenure of Governor Oni and other governors whose elections were nullified and returned to office after winning by or rerun elections is not for INEC to fix. It is simply a constitutional matter.”



It said that there was a pending case on the matter at the Court of Appeal and that INEC had been informed accordingly.



In Cross River State, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Liyel Omoke, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, said the governor would react at the appropriate time.



But the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the decision of INEC on the matter was in accordance with the law, equity and justice.



He said, ”The decision of INEC on this matter is in accordance with law, equity and justice. A person cannot benefit from an election that was fraudulent and massively rigged. The fact that the same governors won the same reruns is no evidence of their popularity because invariably they also used state resources and might to manipulate the rerun.



“Therefore, if the situation being canvassed by them, that they should start a new tenure when they were sworn in for the rerun (is allowed), then they will be benefiting from their own fraud and this will now be profitable and attractive to rig election, have it annulled, use state resources for the rerun and spend about three extra years as governor.



”The amended constitution states that the tenure of a governor shall be four years, rerun or no rerun. The decision of INEC on this matter accords with the law, equity and common sense.”



Also, the Save Nigeria Group said that INEC had done the right thing by placing the advertorial.



The SNG Spokesperson , Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said it would have been “electoral robbery” for the governorship election not to hold in Ekiti state in January.



“The cases of Ondo, Edo, Anambra and Rivers are different. The governors came in to start a fresh mandate after their court victory,” he told one of our correspondents.



“Oni and others were in office, but only went for supplementary election. If they had lost, their opponents would have started fresh mandates too. It is quite amoral to ask for extension of tenure for Oni and others. INEC should be commended for doing the right thing,” Odumakin added.






http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009022142843

Sagamite:
I am yet to see any news report linking OBJ to Halliburton.

Where did this journalist get his list from.

Same with me

Domestic goats are known to be stubborn animals. In a traditional African market, traders wield long sticks as a deterrent to market goats, which roam with the intention of stealing from unsuspecting sellers.

No matter how hard the trader tries, the market goat keeps coming at its target. It is sleek, calculating and seemingly gentle, but is irredeemably destructive. It never stops to roam until it can carry out a stealth raid on its victim. Wise traders are never deceived by the meekness of this familiar animal that is capable of turning the day's gain into significant loss. The success of the goat in every market is simply remarkable, and it thrives on three elements of success.
Persistence. Focus. Stubbornness.

With these three attributes, it wears down opposition. Anyone who will deter the proverbial goat at the beans market must match its resilience and pay close attention to its tricks. While it is almost impossible to pay full attention to it because of the other reasons for being at the market, wise traders are often able to deter it with the only language it understands - the cane. Watching from the corner of the eye, the trader is ready to fling the whip whenever the goat attacks.

Ibrahim Babangida is Nigeria's market goat and we must not spare him the cane. He has never been away. Rather, he always picks his moment to strike. Those who think he retired do not really know him. In fact, he never said he was leaving power - he only stepped aside until a time like this when he calculates we are worn by his persistence. He reasons the best time to strike and loot the market is the height of its activity. Babangida has been around, focused as ever and immensely stubborn against a forgiving society. Probably even more forgiving to him as a result of the loss of his wife, Maryam.

In recent months, I have come to the sad realization that we now have large sections of Nigerians who were either too young to know who Babangida is or simply have volatile memory. In their ignorance, these Nigerians on Facebook and web blogs sing praises of one of the most dangerous dictators in Africa's recent history. I call him dangerous, not because he did the things he did, but because he did them so perfectly that the least discerning did not even know anything happened. He is like an arts thief who steals the original piece and leaves a counterfeit behind. Such a criminal could get away with the heist for a long time. Babangida is counting on using his greedy friends and the naïve ones among us to ride right back to power. For the sake of these clueless Nigerians, I like to take a moment to introduce the man, Ibrahim Babangida.
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, a.k.a, IBB, was popularly called Maradona by Nigerians for his special skill to cheat and divert, in the fashion of Argentina's soccer genius, Diego Maradona, who infamously cheated to earn victory over England in the 1986 World Cup. A self-described 'evil genius,' Babangida led Nigerians through a tortuous and deceptive political and economic transition that ended in a cul-de-sac. Perhaps because of his craftiness, it wasn’t until the end of his military career that the dictator's ruthlessness and lust for power became obvious.

He is believed to have been born August 17, 1941, at Minna, Niger State and attended Government College, Bida, from 1957 to 1962. There is no evidence he passed his School Certificate examination, as he did not receive his undisclosed results until three decades later in a publicized ceremony as the military head of state. Babangida received his military training at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna, and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1963. Judging by his records, he was more interested in politics than a professional military career, as he had been the face behind every military coup in Nigeria over a 30-year period. The BBC remarked that Babangida had taken part in all coups in Nigeria, through which he unleashed many years of needless bloodshed and power rotation that left Africa's highest grossing nation one of its poorest.

When the military returned to power on December 30, 1983, IBB became the chief of army staff and member of the highest ruling military body, the Supreme Military Council, SMC. He also served in that council during the Murtala Muhammed/Olusegun Obasanjo administration. On August 27, 1985, the Muhammadu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon administration was toppled in a palace coup by Babangida, who made himself Nigeria's first "military President," an indication of his lust for political power. Babangida was Nigeria's sixth military ruler and inarguably the most powerful.

As with most dictators, the evil genius was methodical, shrewd in power, flamboyant in style, and ruthless in response. His predecessor, Mohammadu Buhari was resolute, but Babangida would kill by any means necessary and would not consider it inappropriate to weep at his enemy's funeral. Deft and tactical, Babangida announced himself to power as a champion of human rights, but unleashed a spate of human rights abuses that was only matched by his savage hand-picked successor, Sani Abacha. As he strategically spread his political tentacles, Maradona's first call was to release most of those jailed by Buhari, including the late music star, Fela Kuti. Nonetheless, Babangida brutally muffled opposition, as he frequently detained labor leaders, students and human rights advocates. He closed newspapers at will and sent soldiers to shoot protesters of his economic program on sight in daylight. In the course of my seven-year journalism career, I worked with The Guardian, Concord and Punch; all were closed as a direct or remote consequence of Babangida's war against the freedom of speech. This is why my heart sank at the report that editors of media companies, some of whom were colleagues who suffered under Babangida's heavy boots, went to his house recently to collect his blood-stained 10 million naira in the dark of the night. The blood of innocent Nigerians who died as a result of June 12 is on those journalists who betrayed the trust of the people and the sanctity of the pen.

Ibrahim Babangida has been indicted by the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, led by the respected Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, for the killing of Nigeria's top journalist, Mr. Dele Giwa, by a parcel bomb in 1986, reportedly to stop a story linking Babangida and his wife to a drug trader. Up till now, the killers of Dele Giwa have not been officially exposed, and efforts to probe Babangida's implicated associates have been consistently blocked by him. The report noted: "On General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier General Halilu Akilu and Col. A. K. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter bomb. We recommend that this case be re-open for further investigation in the public interest." Babangida has blocked that report from being released, through the judicial system he blatantly corrupted.
By the time Babangida was one year in power, he had begun to demonstrate his deceptive abilities. He started a national debate on whether to accept an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan or embark on austerity measures.

Thinking their leader was faithful, Nigerians favored the measures but soon found that the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) was not being faithfully executed. While they were sacrificing, billions of dollars of Nigeria’s money was being pocketed by Babangida and his followers, such that under SAP, unemployment numbers, food prices, and cost of living soared. As Ghana and Uganda made gains under SAP, Nigeria was going under, until Nigerians responded in a 1989 riot, to which the dictator replied by first killing hundreds of protesters, then issuing palliative measures. A World Bank report issued in 1995 fully documented how grand theft under Babangida’s regime nullified the gains of SAP.

His government implemented a myriad of failed programs, which only helped to divert attention and fritter scarce national resources. Such programs include the People's Bank, Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), and Better Life for Rural Women. All these programs are today dead or moribund. IBB tricked respected people, including Professor Wole Soyinka and the late Tai Solarin, to serve under his administration. They later found they had been tricked and resigned.

Among his leadership abilities, Babangida replaced his deputy, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe with Rear Admiral Augustus Aikhomu -the former was headstrong and idealistic, while the later was largely a yes-man. He executed dramatic changes in public administration, filling strategic military and ministerial positions with his loyalists. Babangida introduced measures that threatened the secularity of Nigeria. Under his watch, Nigeria secretly became a participant at the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), an action so controversial that it was linked to the ouster of Ebitu Ukiwe.


As things got worse, a band of top officers, including Babangida's colleague and best man at his wedding, General Mamman Vatsa, allegedly planned to remove him. They were all captured and killed without sufficient evidence. We later learned that Vatsa may have been murdered for offences he did not commit, going by revelations by the former Chief of Defence Staff, General Domkat Bali.

Nigeria continued in spiral fall until April 22, 1990, when a brave junior officer, Major Gideon Orkar, almost toppled the Babangida regime. The official residence of the head of state, the Dodan Barracks, was razed. Babangida escaped by a slim stroke of luck. Significantly, Nigerian civilians were, for the first time, involved in a coup attempt, a development the dictator responded to by quickly moving the seat of power from the heavily populated Lagos to previously abandoned national capital city of Abuja, just about an hour's drive from his hometown of Minna. Orkar had, however, made damaging allegations about Babangida’s personal life and political problems, including homosexuality, drug peddling and corruption.

From this point, IBB was held in widespread suspicion among Nigerians. He held on to power with a single promise: to lead Nigeria back to democracy. Trusting and hopeful once again, Nigerians were carried along until 1992, when his abrupt cancellation of a political process led to mass suspicion about his true intentions. At this point, the term "Hidden Agenda" was coined by the late lawyer, Mr. Alao Aka Bashorun, who declared that Babangida was attempting to succeed himself. Bashorun seemed to have provided light in a dark tunnel as Nigerians began to place the evil genius' programs under the microscope.

The outcry that followed the cancellation of presidential primaries about to be won by the late General Shehu Yar'Adua led Babangida to hurriedly, without much of his usual plotting, move the political transition process at such a pace that caused a generally accepted candidate, billionaire philanthropist, M.K.O Abiola, to be elected as president in Nigeria's most peaceful and acceptable election. Confused and dazed, IBB annulled that election and unleashed a national outrage that led to his downfall. Hundreds of Nigerians were killed by soldiers acting under the directives of Babangida and his beneficiaries, as the citizens fought for the mandate given to Abiola.

Eventually, it dawned on the Maradona, the game was up. He was forced to vacate his beloved presidential seat. Nigerians can remember how Babangida made a spectacle of himself on the NTA as he bounced continuously on a chair in utter confusion when he had to “step aside.” Babangida was forced out, but not before he planted his equally ruthless and utterly vindictive partner, the late General Sani Abacha, to guide a lame civilian caretaker administration of Ernest Shonekan. It surprised no one that Abacha sent Shonekan packing in less than three months, and continued the evil legacy of his former boss, IBB.
Do not be fooled into thinking Babangida is not serious about being a civilian president at the age of 70. The evil genius knows he had stepped aside long enough and his insatiable thirst for power cannot be quenched by time. IBB has sent his beneficiaries out to the field on a mission to buy back lost political patronage with his vast wealth, stolen from Nigerians, and which is now being employed to bring Nigerians back to servitude in 2011.

The bedrock for today's economic and financial problems was laid by this man, Ibrahim Babangida! He created conditions malignant to national advancement, such as the institutionalization of the culture of corruption that is now heavily entrenched in the social and moral fabric of the Nigerian society. The phenomena of the notorious thievery schemes or theft-by-deception, a.k.a "419," is largely believed to have gained undue prominence and seeming acceptance during the eight-year misrule of Ibrahim Babangida in Nigeria. Today, the nuisance of the so-called "Yahoo Boys" is believed to be a by-product or creation of the IBB era. Owing to corruption and deception, Nigeria is not able to participate without restriction in modern commerce. What is the moral justification for a society to wage war on scammers when known social culprits enjoy stolen public wealth without restraint? These conditions have been almost impossible to reverse. And now, IBB is out again make things even worse. For those who think otherwise, on what ground can Babangida be trusted?

Babangida has, over the years, schemed to have the facts of his misrule erased. He has been a bit successful, we must admit. How else can one explain the failure of some of us to appreciate recent history? It is against this backdrop that Againstbabangida.com was launched for the continual education of Nigerians about his legacies but more importantly, as a watchtower against his return. It has been six years since Againstbabangida.com came into existence.

Over these years, many have accused our organization of wielding too big a stick for the goat. We have been blamed for paying too much focus on one problem and have been asked to widen our scope. While we admit that Nigeria has multifarious problems, requiring wide-ranging solutions, we are glad at Againstbabangida to focus strictly on Babangida. We know him. Like the proverbial goat, he will not go away. While we have volunteered to watch, we also know that he visits many markets. The revelation that Mr. Raymond Dokpesi, owner of Africa International Television, whose station hired many of the journalists who were victims of Babangida's misrule, is tragic. Nonetheless, it goes to show the extent to which Babangida can wear the most resolute of us down. It shows that we can't but watch the devil.

It is sad to realize that among those taking money from Babangida against the interest of the society are the so- called Emirs, Obas, Obis, and High Chiefs, business executives, retired military officers, political bigwigs and, even, intellectuals. For this reason, we wonder how our collective conscience became depleted to the extent that people who should be leading are the greatest culprits of the moral bankruptcy that is prevalent in Nigeria today. It does not matter how highly placed they are, any Nigerian who is willing to serve Babangida is an enemy of the people. They should be identified and treated as such. The time has come for Nigerians of goodwill to totally unite and unequivocally reject the enemies of the people. This was the theme at the launch of Dr. Olatunji Dare's book, Diary of a Debacle: Tracking Nigeria’s Failed Democratic Transition (1989-1994), in Lagos recently. This should our collective theme from now until Babangida is beaten back into his hole in hilltop Minna.

The only deterrent to IBB's persistent strike is a focused people, who have the horse whip lifted to beat him. I ask all Nigerians who truly understand the issues, who have lived the problem created by Babangida and are determined never to let it happen again, to get their ‘kobokos’ in hand and keep watch. When this goat sees how determined we are, he will think twice. He may not entirely give up, but as we exchange watch, month after month, year after year, he will get old and get out. He may even die on his duty.

This is the perfect time for Nigerians to tell Babangida and his fellow crooks, "Never Again." For him to think he can rule us again with his dirty, bloody hands is already a national tragedy. Let us all get our sticks out and beat the devil out of our national life. Never Again, Babangida!

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/why-we-must-whip-babangida-submission-tunde-chris-odediran

Yes, he is still there

The Yoruba Council of Elders and Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva on Tuesday declared their support for President Goodluck Jonathan towards his bid for the 2011 presidential election.



During a press conference in Lagos, the President of YCE, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (retd); the Secretary, Chief Idowu Sofola (SAN); and the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Oluyemi Falade, noted that since the constitution does not prevent the President from running for the presidency in 2011, nobody should use zoning to stall his ambition.



The group said that if Yar‘Adua were alive; he (the late president) would have been entitled to second term in office.



YCE stated that its concern was that Nigerians should be given the option of choosing who led them.



The group said that a situation where any aspirant was forced out of the race would not be accepted.



It said, “No one should be cajoled out of the race, we want the best for the country, the Yoruba race is interested in who rules the country, so that, the region won’t be marginalised. Our concern is that Nigeria should be a better place.



”We believe President Jonathan and the Vice President Namadi Sambo should be free to contest as President and Vice-President respectively. We believe this will strengthen the solidarity of the North and South politically and economically.”



YCE also proposed that to run the nation better, the parliamentary system of government should be adopted, saying the system was less expensive.



Also, Sylva, in Yenagoa, said that since the President came to power, he had been campaigning for his election for a full tenure in 2011.



The governor blamed the misconception on unnamed mischief makers and politicians who felt threatened by the smooth relationship and mutual trust and love that existed between him and the president.



The state Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Orientation, Mr. Nathan Egba, said in Yenagoa that the facts on ground pointed to Sylva’s support for the Jonathan’s presidential bid.



He said, “All official records available attest to this fact. While addressing the 6th Session of the State Executive Council meeting on the 19th of May, Sylva said all Bayelsans should stand together to give total support to President Goodluck Jonathan.



“It is note worthy that at several other EXCO sessions and important public fora, Governor Sylva had never ceased to canvass support for Mr. President, even when the zoning debate was raging.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009012455053

Indications emerged on Tuesday that the Peoples Democratic Party might start with the presidential primaries before holding others to select its candidates for the 2011 election.



Our correspondent gathered that some members of the party’s National Working Committee, who are sympathetic to President Goodluck Jonathan’s ambition, were behind the move.



It was learnt that the NWC members were of the opinion that if the presidential primaries was not held first, some governors could truncate Jonathan’s ambition.



Though the party was said to be waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission to release its guidelines, sources close to the top hierarchy of the party said the NWC members had already started working on its own guidelines.



The PDP had tentatively fixed September 11 as the date for the commencement of the ward congresses in preparation for the primaries.



The Presidency was also said to have backed the move, as it would help “to cement the aspiration of the President.”



According to the source, “We know that some governors are bent in truncating the aspiration of the President. The only way to stop those governors is to make sure that we have the presidential primaries first.



“With that, all the recalcitrant governors, especially those who have second term ambition will be able to vote for the President, who is the party’s choice.



Efforts to get the reaction of the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, did not succeed as he did not pick his phone.


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