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Walter Onnoghen, the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has explained the sources of the foreign currencies deposited in his domiciliary accounts. Onnoghen was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari on a directive by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), before whom Onnoghen is standing trial over allegations of the fraudulent declaration of assets. According to Sun newspaper, in a ‘Cautionary Statement Form’ filed at the Department of Intelligence Investigation and Monitoring, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), in Abuja, Onnoghen said the deposits in his dollar account were from trading in foreign exchange (forex), AGRICODE, while other investment returns were from proceeds of his investments. This was contained in a voluntary statement he made at CCB. In the statement, he specifically explained that “the deposits made in my US Dollar account No. 87000106250 with STD. Chartered Bank of $10,000 at different intervals of June 28, 2011 were sourced partly from my reserve and saving from my estacodes, including medical expenses. “The same applies to my deposit of July 28, 2011, of $10,000 twice. It is important to state that prior to my opening the US dollar account, I had foreign currency, which I kept at home, due to the fact that there existed a government that proscribed the operation of foreign currency account by public officers including judicial officers. “It was when I got to know that the policy had changed that I had to open the said account. Upon opening the account, I was made to understand that I cannot pay in more than $10,000 at a time and per payment slip. I cannot remember the total amount I had on reserve at the time, but it spread from my practice days as a private legal practitioner from 1979 to 1989. “Some of the deposits are a result of forex trading, AGRICODE, and other investment returns were from proceeds of my investments into them. The withdrawals in the account are partly to pay children’s fees, upkeep abroad and further investments. My British pound and euro accounts with Chartered Standard Bank are savings accounts. “In the January 1, 2019 document, the suspended jurist, who wrote his statement on January 11, 2019, between 12:30pm to 1: 45pm added: 'I, Walter S. N. Onnoghen, of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, hereby, voluntarily depose to the statement averred herein, knowing that whatever I write or state may be tendered against me as evidence in court'. “I also volunteer to state that the statement was not taken in evidence from me under duress but after the administering officer had explained and made known the details of the allegations against me.” In his response to allegations of non-declaration of his assets, Justice Onnoghen added: “My asset declaration for numbers. SCN000014 and SCN.0000 5 were declared on the same day, December 14, 2016, because I forgot to make a declaration of May 2005 of my assets after the expiration of my 2005 declaration in 2009. “Following my appointment as acting Chief Justice of Nigeria in November 2016, the need to declare my assets anew made me realise the mistake and then did the declarations to cover the period in default. “I did not include my Standard Chartered Bank Account in SCN. 000014 because I believed they were not opened during the period covered by the declaration. “I did not make a fresh declaration of asset after my substantive appointment as CJN because I was under the impression that my SCN. 000015 was to cover the period of four years; which includes my leave as CJN.” Meanwhile, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) will resume sitting on the matter on February 4, 2019. http://saharareporters.com/2019/02/01/onnoghen-explains-sources-foreign-deposits-his-accounts
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Real Reasons Why The Code Of Conduct Tribunal Lacks Jurisdiction To Try The CJN In The Present Circumstances By: Word on the street is that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Walter Onnoghen admitted guilt to the Code of Conduct investigators and tried to excuse it by pleading mistake. The next line of argument is that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. I heard it from a layman like Fisayo Soyombo who said that the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria has already been convicted in the court of public opinion. Then I heard it from Prof. Oyebode on national television and then from a radical young lawyer I admire so much Mr. Umar Sa’ad. The question really is who is ignorant of the law? According to the reports in the news, Chief Justice Onnoghen was visited by operatives of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on 10/1/19 and he admitted in writing that a Standard Chartered Bank Account declared by him in 2016 for the first time was opened sometime in 2011. Going by a strict interpretation of Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Act it ought to have been declared at least 4 years before in 2012 or thereabouts, it is implied. It is this admission in writing that emboldened the CCB and Attorney General in filing charges to file an application for the CJN to resign from office together with the charge. I don’t know how a court can grant a request for a defendant to resign. Maybe it is the defendant that will grant the prayers of the prosecutor? But that is by the way side. The real question is this; did the CJN’s admission prove that he is guilty of a crime? The law is that he is not guilty of anything and in fact under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act his admission in writing rather than being proof of guilt is in fact a defence – perhaps, the strongest possible defence under the law. Yes, you heard me right! The Chief Justice’s hasty investigation and botched arraignment made his traducers overlook the law. They were in a hurry to bag their prey, but they got the wrong one. Speed is nothing if you are travelling in the wrong direction. Especially if you are travelling in the opposite direction to the law. On the 9th of January 2019 the Code of Conduct Bureau received a petition from President Buhari’s sidekick and former party publicity secretary, one Dennis Aghanye. The CCB investigated the petition on the 10th of January 2019 and charged the Chief Justice of Nigeria to the Code of Conduct Tribunal on the 11th. Not to be outdone the CCT fixed the arraignment for the very next working day, the 14th of January 2019. Talk of a rush to an extrajudicial lynching! I submit that the there is absolutely no basis in law for the charge before the CCT. Section 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Chapter C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 provides as follows; The functions of the Bureau shall be to – Receive assets declarations by public officers in accordance with the provisions of this Act;Examine the assets declarations and ensure that they comply with the requirements of this Act and of any laws for the time being in force;Take and retain custody of such asset declarations; andReceive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of this Act and where the Bureau considers it necessary to do so, refer such complaints to the Code of Conduct Tribunal established by Section 20 of this Act in accordance with the provisions of sections 20 to 25 of this Act; Provided that where the person concerned makes a written admission of such breach or non-compliance, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary. Lawyers know what a proviso is. That last part of the section where it says, “provided that where…” is a proviso in law. You can call it a condition precedent or an exception, as the case may be. Black’s Law Dictionary says a proviso is (1) a limitation, condition or stipulation upon whose compliance a legal or formal document’s validity or application may depend. (2) in drafting, a provision that begins with the words provided that and supplies a condition, exception or addition. If you look at entire Act, you would see that Section 3(d) is the only provision that gives the CCB power to refer cases of investigation to the CCT. And if you look closer, you would also see that the power of the Bureau to refer a person under investigation to the Tribunal for trial is subject to the proviso. But what the proviso clearly says is that once the person under investigation makes a written admission of the breach or non-compliance of which he is accused, the Bureau no longer has power to refer the matter to the Tribunal. The word used is SHALL, a word which lawyers know is mandatory and cannot be interpreted as permissive in this context. So when commentators like Prof. Oyebode gloat on prime time television that the CJN admitted non-compliance and thereby he finished himself. You can now see why he is the CJN and they are not! Too many lawyers have started thinking like President Buhari – that you can select what part of the law you want to apply depending on whether your friends or your enemy is concerned. There are at least three implications of the proviso to Section 3 of the Code of Conduct Act I want to draw attention to. First, that the Bureau has no power to refer the CJN or any person to the tribunal for trial if indeed such a person has admitted to certain non-compliance in writing. Second, without the Bureau’s reference/referral the Tribunal has no jurisdiction to try the CJN for any act of non-compliance. If you look at the legislative scheme, you would notice that there is no independent power of the Tribunal to originate cases. That is to say all cases must come from the Bureau on the condition that the person sought to be tried has denied the non-compliance or breach of the law. Finally, it means that the Bureau failed in its responsibilities to act in line with the provisions of the Act only and violated Section 5 of the Act which obligates a public officer not to allow conflict between his personal interests and his duties and responsibilities. By virtue of Section 24(2) only the Attorney General of the Federation or his delegate can prosecute. Thus the Bureau’s power of reference can only be exercised through the office of the Attorney General. My question is did the CCB or the Attorney General read the proviso to Section 3(d). it is the same Attorney General that has now instructed the NFIU to freeze the CJN’s accounts. Under what law? It is clear that the true intention of the Code of Conduct Act is to enforce disclosure of the assets of public officers. It does not only punish false disclosure and non-disclosure it positively rewards truthfully disclosure even if done late. It is thus clear that Section 3 overrides Section 15 of the Act. Section 15 of the Act provides, A public officer shall, within fifteen months after the coming into force of this Act or immediately after taking office and thereafter –At the end of every four years;At the end of his term of office; andIn the case of a serving officer, within 30 days of the receipt of the form from the Bureau or at such other intervals as Bureau may specify Submit to the Bureau a written declaration in the Form prescribed in the First Schedule to this Act or, in such form as the Bureau may, from time to time, specify all his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his spouse or unmarried children under the age of twenty one years. It is this section that is relied upon to say that the CJN ought to have declared his Standard Chartered Account opened in 2011 at least in 2012 and hence his admission that he did not do so until 2016 is proof that he breached the Act. Assuming that his non-declaration in 2012 is a breach of the Act, the proviso to Section 3(d) provides that if he admits as much in writing, the Bureau SHALL not refer his case to the Tribunal. What the CCB and Attorney General of Federation has done is to divorce Section 15 from Section 3 and treat the categories of offences created by Section 15 as strict liability offences. I submit that it is impossible to do so without doing violence to the law, unless an exception can be found to the proviso to Section 3(d). By standing the law on its head, the CCB and the Attorney General maybe encouraging public officers to break the law. A public officer who declares an asset after the due date (going by Section 15) instead of making an additional declaration and admitting in writing this non-compliance, will be encouraged to retrieve his early declaration and retrospectively declare. Anyone familiar with the process of filing assets declaration forms, know that it is signed before a high court judge. A corrupt senior judge who makes a mistake would have retrieved the earlier one and destroyed it and commissioned another one. Which high court judge would not jump at the opportunity to be of assistance to MiLord, the Chief Justice of Nigeria? If the CJN had done this in 2016 when he realized his error and removed the earlier ones, no one would have embarrassed him today. But he did the right thing. Section 3(b) of the Act says the Bureau’s functions include examining the assets declarations and ensuring they comply with the requirements of law. Read together with the proviso, it follows that if in the course of examining the assets declaration forms the Bureau finds any lapse it can draw the attention of the declarant to the fact and if he admits in writing that the observation is true, that is the end of the matter. That was how the law was meant to function. Until President Buhari came along, that is. Nowadays, those parts of the law which are exculpatory are ignored and the entire legislative scheme distorted. Isn’t it interesting that we have yet to see a single serious anti-corruption legislation made by the Buhari Presidency? Maybe they will do something before May 29, 2019. The essence of the Code of Conduct Act is to ensure that public officers declare their assets and not to punish them for doing so (even if late, since that is a non-compliance with the time frame requirements). The proviso to Section 3 is a breakwater that the Bureau cannot pass over, unless the person being investigated denies the act of non-compliance. Section 15(2) buttresses that point, when it provides that “any statement in any declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorized in that that behalf to verify it, shall be deemed to be a breach of this Act.” For a statement in a declaration to be actionable it must have been found to be false by the authority or person authorized to verify it. In other words, after the person has been given opportunity to deny or admit and he denies, the verifying authority (the Bureau) can investigate and prove it was false. It is in such cases and such cases alone that the person is referred to the Tribunal. However in cases like the CJN’s where he has admitted his non-compliance since 2016 the Bureau was wrong to refer his case to the Tribunal. Why then did the CCB overstep its boundaries in the face of the clear provisions of the law? Politics. Mr Dennis Aghanya who wrote the petition said it all, in his petition to the Bureau referenced the forthcoming elections and said we are only 30-something days away from the general elections in which the CJN will play an important role. The motive was political. It was a two way gamble, on the one hand if the CJN is stampeded into resigning, he would be removed from office and whoever takes over after him would be made more pliable by the climate of fear created by this unusual event. The biggest beneficiary of such a seismic event would be the sitting President. If on the other hand the CJN refuses to resign but chooses to fight on in court, the Buhari media octopus can then pillory him all over the place. This would impede the smooth functioning of the judicial arm. Every act whether administrative or judicial that he performs as Chief Justice of Nigeria would be considered fair game. In the event that an election petition comes to the Supreme Court and the judicial outcome is not in favour of President Buhari or his party, we are likely to witness massive protests or other acts which will imperil national security. Having acted in ignorance of the law or in bad faith or both, the entire Bureau ought to resign. The Attorney General who is saddled with the task of commencing prosecutions but did not bother to read the law and proceeded with haste to institute proceedings should equally fall on his dagger. But then, am being carried away, this is Naija. They will not. Emmanuel Jakpa, a legal practitioner wrote in from Warri. He can be reached on japsmanuel@gmail.com |
I love cooking too |
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rashid has urged members of the public to disregard any ranking purportedly published by the commission. Abubakar who gave an address at the 3rd Combined Convocation of the Bingham University, Karu in Nasarawa State, describes the claims as “simply fake.” He said the Commission had not carried out ranking of Nigerian universities in the past 14 years. “The purported ranking published in the conventional and social media is false, fake and not from the NUC. It is meant to deceive members of the public and should be disregarded,’’ he said. He mentioned that the NUC would soon carry out the ranking of the universities. Abubakar commended the proprietor of the institution, ECWA Church, for landslide achievement in sustaining The convocation reportedly saw 33 out of the 676 graduates bag a first class. https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/nuc-says-it-has-not-done-ranking-of-any-nigerian-universities-in-14-years/ |
[quote author=1Sharon post=74901086]Into the fire you go[/quote |
LZAA:Exactly, and which ultimately delayed his dispatching of men to Benin before the Ironsi men took over |
Shawnnn01:The PDP election riggers are now all in APC |
RZArecta2:You are right. Our so-called leaders and elites constitute mostly the problem of the region. Most abandoned projects are handled by them like these ones above. They are used to living expensive lifestyle at the detriment of the local people. |
A pretence at potable water supply
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Another abandonee
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Staff Quarters
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A classroom
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Another classroom
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An inside view of classrooms!
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A picture of the pitiable state of the only community healthcare facility
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This is the abandoned old Egbondi Primary School building, the only primary school in the community!
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I visited the village over the yuletide and this was what I saw there. I am still speechless and can't fathom how people have been impoverished to the extent of having nothing of modern infrastructure. It was a case of neglect and marginalisation rolled into one as the community cannot boast of a single modern facility. Everything is in dire need of a makeover. Investigations uncovered a consistent pattern of heartless and wanton abandonment of projects on the part of contractors and nonchalant attitude of government functionaries who are involved in a mutual conspiracy to ensure persistent exploitation of the local people. The pitiable state of the only primary school in the community has led to two trends: first, parents now send their wards and children to the neighbouring Toru-Ndoro for both Primary and secondary education; second, the derelict nature of the primary school means children are sent home whenever there is a storm or it becomes uncomfortably breezy because the so-called new building is near collapsing. As if to rub salt into the community wound, both health facilities have collapsed as the only maternity home has no health official manning it and the building taken over by weeds, reptiles and other crawling. The solar street lights installed in the community some years ago have gone kaput due to lack of maintenance. The only tank put up since the 1980s has long become dysfunctional which forces the people to rely on the river which is home to all forms of waste products. This is a visible threat to healthy living and can lead to the outbreak of cholera. Against this background, it has become pertinent and urgent to rescue this riverine community from neglect and repair and rebuild the meagre infrastructure to ease the suffering of the people. I feel they don't deserve it and should be paid more attention by both the Delta State Government, the Burutu Local Government, Senator James Manager whose community is not far from this community, as well as other representatives at local, state and federal levels. The attached picture is the state of the primary school in the community and it is nothing short of an eyesore!
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Data made available by the National Bureau of Statistics have shown that the number of unemployed Nigerians has risen to 20.9 million from 17.6 million. The report, which was released on Wednesday, contained the employment trends from Q4 2017 to Q3 2018. “Working age population up from 111.1m in Q3 2017 to 115.4m in Q3 2018. Labour force up from 85.08m in Q3 2017 to 90.47m in Q3 2018. Total Employed persons(Full+Partime)up from 69.09m in Q3 2017 to 69.54m in Q3 2018,” a tweet by Yemi Kale, statistician general of the federation read. https://www.thecable.ng/breaking-from-17-6m-unemployed-nigerians-rise-to-20-9m |
Fostercat:Funny guy, but that is not why couples tend to look alike after living together for a long period, but spending a lot of time together, interacting with each other, people unconsciously mimic each other's facial expression, make funny faces together, try to match the partner's response because instinctively they feel that they are likely to be better understood if they “speak” the same facial “language”. Over many years, this exercise for facial muscles creates similar features, wrinkles, folds, etc. The same diet equally plays a role |
[quote author= post=73936922]ONLY a mom knows the TRUE FATHER of a child Truer words have never been spoken Words on marbles from our mothers since time immemorial. NO ONE CAN DISPUTE THIS STATEMENT: NEVER!![/quote]No, not anymore, a DNA test tells the true father of a child! |
Nice pieces of advice, especially the ones relating to relatives living with a new couple and the mother-wife relationship management on the part of the man. It is not easy. |
Go to Covenant University if you have the means. Speaking as an academic. |
Dapo Abiodun, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun state, is enmeshed in allegations of perjury over his post-secondary school qualifications, TheCable can report. According to documents seen by TheCable, Abiodun declared only his West African School Certificate (1978) in the Form CF001 that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on October 23, 2018, ahead of the 2019 general election. However, when he ran as the APC senatorial candidate (Ogun east) in 2015, he claimed to have attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (graduating in 1986) and Kennesaw State University, Atlanta Georgia, US (1989) in his INEC form CF001, backed by an affidavit he swore to at the high court, Abeokuta, Ogun state. Curiously, while he listed B.B.A. (hons) accounting as the degree he got in 1986 as at then, he was silent on what he studied at Kennesaw State University. However, in his official curriculum vitae, he claimed to possess another degree, B.Eng (hons) in civil engineering, presumably received in 1989 from the American university. Also, on the website of Heyden Petroleum Limited where Abiodun is MD/CEO, underneath his name were listed B.Sc civil engineering and BBA accounting. If he proceeded immediately to Kennesaw after graduating from Ife in 1986, he would not have finished before 1990 as civil engineering is a four-year course at the university. There are strong suspicions that he did not do the compulsory national youth service, even though he finished his first degree in 1986 — going by the INEC form CF001 that he filled ahead of the 2015 election, supported by an affidavit. Abiodun was born on May 29, 1960 and was 26 in 1986 when he claimed to have finished his first degree. The age limit for national service is 30. Apart from the possibility of having committed perjury either in 2014 or 2018, there is also the possibility that he skipped the compulsory national service, which is punishable under the law. SECTION 13 OF THE NYSC ACT STATES: (1)Any person (b) who refuses to make himself available for service in the service corps continuously for the period specified in subsection (2) of this section, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of twelve months or to both such fine and imprisonment. A criminal conviction will also mean the offender is barred from holding public office. SECTION 182 OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION STATES: 182. (1) No person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if – (e) within a period of less than ten years before the date of election to the office of Governor of a State he has been convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty of the contravention of the code of Conduct. Earlier this year, he was appointed chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) by President Muhammadu Buhari. In 2012, he was appointed chairman of the Depot and Petroleum Product Marketers Association (DAPPMA), a position he still holds. Abiodun has been having a running battle with Ibikunle Amosun, governor of the state, and the state working committee of the APC over his endorsement by the national body of the party for the 2019 governorship election, instead of Adekunle Akinlade, the governor’s choice. The APC candidate had accused Amosun of plotting to upturn the decision of national working committee (NWC) of the ruling party to recognise him as the guber candidate of the state, while accusing the governor of being “desperate to install” Akinlade at all cost. All calls and SMS to his phone by TheCable went unreplied and unreturned. https://www.thecable.ng/exclusive-dapo-abiodun-apc-ogun-guber-candidate-in-certificate-scandal |
At least 13.5 million Nigerians voted manually in the 2015 presidential election, according to data from the Independent and National Electoral Commission (INEC). Based on an analysis of the data, 75 percent of votes cast without PVC were in states won by President Muhammadu Buhari, then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The data, obtained by DeepDive Intelligence, also shows that Buhari won in nine of the 10 most-affected states. The 2015 presidential election had two major contenders; Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s first incumbent president to lose a re-election bid. Of the 31,746,490 accredited voters in the election, 13,536,311 representing 42.6 percent of voters voted without biometric accreditation. Out of this number, 10,184,720 votes are from states won by Buhari and 3,351,591 votes came from states won by Jonathan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, representing 75 percent and 25 percent of accredited voters respectively. Below is a table showing votes cast manually in the 2015 elections: NO STATE NO OF ACCREDITED VOTERS NO OF VOTERS WHO VOTED WITHOUT FULL BIOMETRIC ACCREDITATION WHO WON? 1 Abia 442,538 102,401 PDP 2 Adamawa 709,993 296,733 APC 3 Akwa Ibom 1,074,070 288,775 PDP 4 Anambra 774,430 89,982 PDP 5 Bauchi 1,094,069 627,048 APC 6 Bayelsa 384,789 143,296 PDP 7 Benue 754,634 347,673 APC 8 Borno 544,759 317,933 APC 9 Cross River 500,577 129,381 PDP 10 Delta 1,350,914 226,266 PDP 11 Ebonyi 425,301 213,543 PDP 12 Edo 599,166 237,958 PDP 13 Ekiti 323,739 165,000 PDP 14 Enugu 616,112 146,730 PDP 15 Gombe 515,828 237,139 APC 16 Imo 801,712 151,234 PDP 17 Jigawa 1,153,428 744,457 APC 18 Kaduna 1,746,031 800,112 APC 19 Kano 2,364,434 1,358,537 APC 20 Katsina 1,578,646 1,045,994 APC 21 Kebbi 792,817 496,565 APC 22 Kogi 476,839 162,763 APC 23 Kwara 489,360 302,904 APC 24 Lagos 1,678,754 341,151 APC 25 Nasarawa 562,959 360,596 PDP 26 Niger 933,607 492,870 APC 27 Ogun 594,975 239,050 APC 28 Ondo 618,040 263,453 APC 29 Osun 683,169 255,460 APC 30 Oyo 1,073,849 384,316 APC 31 Plateau 1,076,833 482,788 PDP 32 Rivers 1,643,409 158,844 PDP 33 Sokoto 988,899 588,730 APC 34 Taraba 638,578 389,696 PDP 35 Yobe 520,127 302,965 APC 36 Zamfara 875,049 578,866 APC 37 FCT 344,056 65,102 PDP Total 31,746,490 13,536,311 |
Brilliant people abound everywhere. Having a first class in History is as tough as getting a first class in Physics, if not harder. Congratulations! |
emmyt2:It actually has: Better Education! |
042rebel:Defecting while in the legislature is unconstitutional as long as it does not meet the conditions for doing so constitutionally. In addition, the declaration of their seats vacant was from a court order to that effect, which failure to execute would have put the speaker in trouble. |
SouthWestFacts:No, you are wrong. Men are more intelligent and more stupid than women. |
God knows I didn't plagiarise, worked my arse off to get it done, and it laid a solid foundation for my future research exploits. God bless you, Dr Aliyu Manpaa. |
This is the case when a tribal bigot is in power! |

