₦airaland Forum

A new twist has been introduced to the allegation of bribery levelled against Yoruba leaders who visited Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar immediately after the death of the acclaimed winner of June 12 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, in 1998.



Founder and leader of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun, disclosed that at a meeting held in London, at the instance of NADECO, it was agreed that they would have nothing to do with the new military administration of General Abubakar, except to hold a Sovereign National Conference.

Fasehun confirmed that the delegation to General Abubakar was led by the late Chief Abraham Adesanya, who he described as a “super leader of the Yoruba and NADECO.”

He called on Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government to set up a high-powered commission of enquiry to look into the allegation. According to him, such enquiry would either exonerate those involved or indict them and Nigerians would know the truth about the allegation if investigated.

Fasehun is unhappy that Major Hamza Al-Mustapha has remained in detention for more than 12 years. According to him, 12 years is equal to 20 prison calendar years, while describing Al-Mustapha’s trial as moving from a legal trial to a political trial.

He called for his unconditional release or else the nation may pay dearly for unjustly incarcerating a man, who has held a very sensitive position in the past.

What is your position on the allegation of bribery levelled against Yoruba leaders by Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Gen. Sani Abacha?

My own position is that the Yoruba people must prevail strongly on the Federal Government to set up a high-powered commission of enquiry to unearth the truth on this allegation. It can achieve two purposes. It can either condemn the Yoruba leaders, if they took part in such a thing and it can also clear them or make them the pride of this nation and the pride of Yoruba people. I went to prison to visit some prisoners and they told me that Al-Mustapha was around. I said I would like to meet him and we met and resumed our old friendship. I have kept that on since then. He told me a few things about this country, about leaders – both military and civilian and when I feel the information was very sensitive, I told him to keep it to himself so that he will not throw this country ablaze. That is why I am saying that we should not politicise Al-Mustapha’s trial. It was a legal thing. But we have succeeded in politicising it. So, now, the only option for Nigeria is to set him free. If we don’t set him free because we think he is a bad person who should be paid back in his own coin, the country may not enjoy the consequence. To enjoy the country, we need peace, tranquility and security. Somebody who was in such a sensitive position, you don’t treat him like that.

I am not saying that anybody who offends the law of the land should not be punished. I am saying that the law of the land has failed in 13 calendar years, which is 20 prison years, to decide either way. He is an embarrassment, not to the prisoners but to the country that is singing democracy, social justice and rule of law. It has become an embarrassment to democracy, to the country and super embarrassment to the judicial system.

But only the court can set him free.

So, why have they reneged for 20 years?

It is said that he appealed and sought several adjournments.

This is the information journalists push out to us. I have been in court during the trial a few times when the prosecutor would ask for adjournment. I have been following it up. Do you think a sane mind would want to stay in prison rather than with his family, his work, his contacts and his friends? I don’t think so. But we have been fed with that type of information and we seem to have swallowed it. Now, you mean no judge has been able to say: “No, this matter has been going on for too long. We must give judgment.” They have turned it into a political matter rather than a legal one. He was accused with nine others and one of the charges he is now facing is conspiracy to murder and they mean murder of Kudirat Abiola. Those who were supposed to have committed the offence with him have since been left off the hook. Does one man conspire with himself? That is why I said it has moved from being a legal issue to a political one.

Did Al-Mustapha tell you how Yoruba leaders were bribed to scuttle June 12?

He told me that some NADECO leaders came to Aso Rock. He did not tell me that Yoruba leaders were given money. No government gives money like that. So, it doesn’t matter what the videotape shows. No government will carry bags of money to you. If they want to spoil you, as it were, they will send their emissaries to you in your hotel. But do not forget that we have found in the homes of some of our leaders in this nation currency loaded in water tanks in under ground places.

Did that happen recently?

I said we have discovered that in this country, we should not be emotional about this thing. The truth is the truth and the truth must be told, especially where somebody, a fellow citizen is suffering unnecessarily. What type of punishment are you going to give him now? Are you going to sentence him to death after spending 20 years in prison? Or, are you going to sentence him for an offence allegedly committed in conspiracy with others who were set free? That is why I say we are in democracy and democracy is tantamount to social justice, rule of law and fairness to all. Are we doing justice to somebody we have imprisoned for 20 years without being convicted. That is my position. I am saying that the Yoruba people are not that wicked. That is why we call ourselves omo luabi. We are very forgiving. But I don’t think anybody who visited Aso Rock two days after Abiola’s death, unless he was paying a condolence visit to Abdusalami has anything reasonable to say to this nation.

What exactly are you saying? NADECO leaders paid General Abubakar a courtesy visit. Other leaders from other parts of the country also paid such courtesy visits. Are you saying it is not right?

I am saying it is not right. I was one of the NADECO leaders and I was present at the meeting in London when we objected to visiting Abdulsalami. How did the visit of a few people become an official mission?

You are one of the prominent leaders of NADECO. Did you, in the first place, recognise Adesanya as leader of Afenifere and NADECO?

The integrity of Papa Adesanya is unassailable, dead or alive. I recognise him as a super leader of the Yoruba people. He had no skeleton in his cupboard.

I asked the question because Adesanya led the delegation to Aso Rock.

I said we were in London when that particular issue was discussed.

Was that after Abiola’s death?

Yes. We took a position that we would not participate in any government that emanated without sitting down at a Sovereign National Conference to re-order the nation.

Was that the decision of NADECO abroad?

Not NADECO abroad. I was not a member of the NADECO abroad. I did not go on exile.

Does that mean all NADECO leaders, such as Adesanya, Ige, Falae and others that did not go on exile attended the meeting?

It was NADECO abroad that invited us to the meeting in London. Many of them are still living. The nation was in a state of flux at that time and nobody knew what the future held for Nigeria. But NADECO was interested in the continuity of Nigeria. Now, we seem to be approaching issues with unnecessary sentiment. Truth is always the truth. It is constant. For posterity and for the sake of proper history, let the present be informed.

If that was the collective decision of NADECO leaders, why should Adesanya lead a delegation to Aso Rock? Also, your members took part in the election he conducted.

We decided that we would not paticipate in anything short of the sovereign national conference. You must be able to answer if the decision to contest emanated from NADECO platform or individual platform. People came to say that if we did not participate, the government would go on anyway. So, let us be part of them. Nobody was better qualified than Papa Enahoro joining that government. But he stayed out and expressed some frustration. When people came back from this official assignment, to whom did they give the report? If NADECO sent people on errand, NADECO should expect the report from that assignment. To whom did they give the report? Was it written or verbal? Was it implied? The truth must be told. I do not believe in telling lies.

From what you have said, it seems there was disagreement within NADECO on your approach to the Abdusalami transition programme.

NADECO never agreed with the military government. At one point, we sent some feelers that may be the government will agree to government of national unity. That did not come to be. The sovereign national conference we agitated for did not come to be. Yet, our members became members of the government.

Are you saying that NADECO did not send Adesanya and those who went to Aso Rock on errand? Or perhaps, they did not go there to represent NADECO?

No. I will not go that far because the leader of NADECO was part of that delegation. But I am saying that NADECO did not commit itself by visiting Abdusalami at that time. Secondly, NADECO was still mourning the symbol of democracy and the symbol of June 12 for which many of us suffered. It was too early to forget the suffering of those days. Look at what that visit has introduced into a race. People have been accusing us now that NADECO leaders went to take money. We became so confused about the issue that some of us thought Al-Mustapha said Yoruba leaders. He did not say Yoruba leaders. He said NADECO leaders. There is a popular proverb in Yoruba land that when the family is eating, every member of the family knows the meat that is due to him or her. If you viewed Al-Mustapha’s tape, you will know the truth. I watched the videotape played in court and there was nothing like that.

Me thinks, She looks cool with her Gorimapka.

stagger:
I concur. CIV and Ghana are Africa's best at the moment. Cameroun is in transition. We saw this at the last world cup. South Africa have a fantastic side. They were just unlucky not to qualify.

NIGERIA? LIVING IN PURE DENIAL. Our football is in the doldrums. Funny enough, if we put in the same concerted effort that has been put into our local league that has seen at least a team always reaching the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup for the last 8 years running, we will see the national team pick up.

But the Super Eagles is a cash cow for too many people so I do not see us going anywhere.

Well said.

SMH in utter Disgust.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bank tellers, restaurant workers and other service employees in New York lifted credit card data from residents and foreign tourists as part of an identity theft ring that stretched to China, Europe and the Middle East and victimized thousands, authorities said Friday.

In total, 111 people were charged and 86 are in custody; the others are still being sought. Five separate criminal enterprises operating out of Queens were dismantled. They were hit with hundreds of charges, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, calling it the largest fraud case he'd ever seen in his two decades in office.

"These weren't holdups at gunpoint, but the impact on victims was the same," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "They were robbed."
The enterprise had been operating since at least 2010 and included at least one bank and restaurants, mostly in Queens. Authorities say the graft operated like this:

At least three bank workers, retail employees and restaurant workers would steal credit card numbers in a process known as skimming, in which workers take information from when a card is swiped for payment and illegally sell the credit card numbers. Different members of the criminal enterprise would steal card information online.

The numbers were then given to teams of manufacturers, who would forge Visas, MasterCards, Discover and American Express cards. Realistic identifications were made with the stolen data.

The plastic would be given to teams of criminal "shoppers" for spending sprees at higher-end stores including Apple, Bloomingdale's and Macy's. The groups would then resell the merchandise oversees to locations in China, Europe and the Middle East.

All told, more than $13 million was spent on iPads, iPhones, computers, watches and fancy handbags from Gucci and Louis Vuitton, authorities said. The suspects also charged pricey hotel rooms and rented private jets and fancy cars, prosecutors said.

Detectives with language skills spent hours translating Russian, Farsi and Arabic during the investigation, Kelly said.

Part of the problem, especially for foreign tourists in the U.S., is that, unlike overseas, credit card companies in the U.S. do not install special microchips that make skimming more difficult, said Deputy Inspector Gregory Antonsen of the NYPD's organized theft and identity theft task force. But he said the companies work with police to help fight theft.

"The credit card companies do a good job at keeping their customers happy," he said. "So if you're a victim of a loss , you will get your money back. They also work very diligently in partnership with us providing us information that we need to investigate these cases."

And, Kelly said, criminals are getting more sophisticated. "Thieves have an amazing knowledge of how to use technology," he said. "The schemes and the imagination that is developing these days are days are really mind-boggling."

Authorities also say the ring operated lower-rent schemes. In one example, they tried to lift what they believed to be expensive electronics from a hangar at John F. Kennedy Airport, like something out of the movie "Goodfellas." They were stopped by police, and the loot turned out to be construction tools — the thieves had taken the wrong package by mistake, Antonsen said.

Police searched several homes and seized computers, packaged electronics, and $650,000 in cash, along with several weapons.
The charges include enterprise corruption, theft and grand larceny. Many of the accused members of the theft ring are being held on steep bail.

http://news.yahoo.com/more-100-arrested-massive-nyc-theft-ring-181048935.html

This particular speech of his touched me more.


[b]About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.[/b]

[i]No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. -Steve Jobs

Here are some of my favorites quotes of Steve Jobs.


“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.” -Steve Jobs.

“Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you.”- Steve Jobs


“, almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”- Steve Jobs

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” - Steve Jobs


“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.” - Steve Jobs


“Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?” - Steve Jobs

(AP) ROME - An Italian judge who was part of the jury that acquitted Amanda Knox said Wednesday that she and her ex-boyfriend were cleared of murder based on the evidence, but the "real truth" could be different.

Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann said in a state TV interview that Knox and Italian Raffaele Sollecito may know what happened in the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher, Knox's British roommate.

In his first public comments since the appeals court verdict Monday, the judge stressed the ruling was the fruit of the "the truth that was created in the trial."

"But the real truth could be different," Pratillo Hellmann added. "They could also be responsible, but the proof isn't there."

Pratillo Hellmann, the presiding judge, was one of eight jurors in the case.

Knox and Sollecito have vehemently denied wrongdoing in Kercher's murder. Knox flew home to Seattle on Tuesday, her first full day out of jail since she was arrested a few days after the murder. Sollecito was resting at his hometown in southern Italy, his lawyers said.


Asked who knew the truth about the slaying, Pratillo Hellmann referred to a third defendant, Rudy Guede, who was convicted of Kercher's murder in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence in Italy.

"Certainly Rudy Guede" knows, he said. "I won't say he's the only one to know," the judge added.

Amanda Knox's alleged accomplice wants retrial

Referring to Knox and Sollecito, who were both convicted of sexual assault and murder in a lower court trial, the judge said that "maybe the two defendants also know" what really happened.

Guede, of the Ivory Coast, has denied wrongdoing but has acknowledged being in the house when Kercher was slain. The court in convicting Guede indicated in its ruling that he committed the murder along with someone else. But it never said who that was.

The judge described Knox and Sollecito as "two kids barely in their 20s, normal, like so many of today's (youth). Indeed, they were polite, composed, put to the test and matured by this kind of experience."

"I felt emotion because they are two young people who suffered, justly or unjustly. I repeat, we can never say with certainty," he said.

The judge added that Kercher's family has "all my human compassion."

"But we cannot assign responsibility (for a crime) with such a high penalty solely to ease the suffering of these parents," he said.

The prosecution had sought convictions and life sentences for Knox and Sollecito. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the lower court trial, while Sollecito was given 25 years.

The appeals court must issue a written explanation of its decision within 90 days. The prosecution can then decide whether to appeal the verdict to Italy's highest court. That tribunal, the Court of Cassation, could either uphold the acquittals or throw out the verdict if it finds some technical error, paving the way for a second appeals trial.

Pratillo Hellmann dismissed a suggestion the jury might have been influenced by the "media circus" surrounding the trial. "You have to rely on your own conscience," he said. "If you are at peace with your conscience, the media circus doesn't have the least impact."


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/06/501364/main20116539.shtml

Soulja Boy Death Rumor:

Soulja Boy (he of "Crank Dat" fame) is the subject of a Twitter death rumor. A Twitter user called TheBlackStewie (NSFW) tweeted, "#RIPSouljaBoy RT @CNN Atlanta's rapper Deandre Way aka "Soulja Boy" was shot and killed at a local party. Further details soon".

It's always tragic when someone dies but even more so when someone passes who had such a profound positive influence on the world.

His influence on humanity was just as profound as both Newton and Einstein.

RIP Mr Job!

Ha ha ha ha. . . This is one of the funniest post i have read on Nl.

please make me the Damaging. . . oops Managing Director, Sango sees my liver. . . . oops my heart , I will do a very good job kichang!    

Moderator should move this to the joke section.

There are so many sub-plots going on in this case making it the subject of pointless discussion for decades to come. The Perugia constabulary must now decide whether this case is closed or put into cold storage. . . . . .with the poor state of the economy in Italy (as elsewhere) it can be fairly assumed that the case will be declared closed.

Any further investigation will be at the expense of the Kercher family who can ill afford it, or private individuals or groups that have separate motives for continuing the search. Unfortunately, it is the Kercher family and friends that will continue to suffer the nightmare and loss of Meredith Kercher. As most of us know, life is flawed and sometimes unbearably unfair.

^^^ My take? Hmm. . . . I will prefer to wait till 2015.

Oh Sorry, I am out in a jiffy. Didn't know this thread was open for you Fulani/Hausa warriors. 

Hmm . . . .2015?

If Nigeria is still one entity by then. . . . .Only time will tell.

Just when i thought i have seen and heard it all, this dimwit comes out with his Mujaheddin rhetoric.

This guy need to be admitted in psychiatric ward.

Abdulmutallab: Mujahadeen Will Wipe Out U.S.

DETROIT - A Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down an international jetliner with a bomb in his underwear walked into the start of his federal trial Tuesday and declared that a radical Islamic cleric killed by the U.S. military is alive.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's outburst came as jury selection got under way for his federal terror trial in Detroit, where the 24-year-old is acting as his own attorney and has previously told reporters they should stop reporting that Osama bin Laden was dead.

"Anwar is alive," Abdulmutallab said Tuesday, referring to American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed last week by a joint CIA-U.S. military air strike in Yemen.

"The mujahadeen will wipe out the U.S. — the cancer U.S.," he added.

Abdulmutallab, a well-educated Nigerian from an upper-class family, was directed by al-Awlaki and wanted to become a martyr when he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam on Christmas 2009, according to the government.


Abdulmutallab, who complained loudly at a previous hearing about having to wear prison clothes, came into the courtroom Tuesday wearing an oversized prison T-shirt. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds called a brief recess to allow him to change into clothes more appropriate for court, after acknowledging and denying his apparent request to wear a "Yemeni belt with a dagger."

Abdulmutallab later wore a long robe with a dark pinstriped suit coat over it, as well as a black skull cap.

The judge has denied several of Abdulmutallab's requests for the trial, including that the case be judged under Islamic law.

Abdulmutallab has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. The government says he wanted to blow up the plane by detonating chemicals in his underwear, just seven minutes before the jet carrying 279 passengers and a crew of 11 was to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

But the bomb didn't work, and passengers assisted by crew members saw flames and pounced on Abdulmutallab.

The failed suicide attack, the first act of terrorism in the U.S. during the Obama administration, revealed the rise of a dangerous al Qaeda affiliate and al-Awlaki's growing influence.

The government says Abdulmutallab willingly explained the plot twice, first to U.S. border officers who took him off the plane and then in more detail to FBI agents who interviewed him at a hospital for 50 minutes, following treatment for serious burns to his groin.

Abdulmutallab told authorities he trained in Yemen, home base for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He said he was influenced by al-Awlaki, who was killed Friday by an air strike that President Barack Obama called a "major blow" to al Qaeda's most dangerous franchise.

Following the strike, a U.S. official outlined new details of al-Awlaki's involvement against the U.S., including Abdulmutallab's alleged mission. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said al-Awlaki specifically directed Abdulmutallab to detonate an explosive device over U.S. airspace to maximize casualties.

Osama bin Laden appeared in a video declaring Abdulmutallab a "hero." Abdulmutallab also has been lauded by al Qaeda's English-language Web magazine Inspire, whose editor was killed along with al-Awlaki.

After the outburst about al-Awlaki and flap over Abdulmutallab's clothes, jury selection got under way in earnest, with most questioning done by the judge and attorney Anthony Chambers, who has been appointed to assist Abdulmutallab.

Abdulmutallab, who had suggested he would interview some prospective jurors and could give his own opening statement, calmly questioned one woman who indicated she had concerns about retaliation for serving on the jury.

The woman remained in the jury pool, but several others were immediately dismissed after saying they could not be impartial.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/04/detroit-airline-bomb-suspect-claims-al-awlaki-is-alive/

The Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), a group that has remained consistent in championing the cause of Igbo people in Nigeria, was at the thick of the recent and controversial arrest and detention of the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and scores of his followers. Rather than frustrate the efforts of the group, which marked its 12 anniversary in Enugu, the action of the police and other security agencies helped in bringing to the fore the significance of the event, which was to honour former Biafra warlord and Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, as an outstanding Igbo man.


Uwazuruike had noted, on the occasion, that no government in the South East or Nigeria has ever thought it wise to honour the Igbo leader, who is currently recuperating in a London Hospital. Thus was the significance of the Enugu IYM award to Ojukwu.

In this exclusive interview, the national president of IYM, Comrade Elliot Uko, said his group has no regrets over what happened. He explained the importance of the award to Igbo nation. He also spoke on the continued marginalisation of Igbo in Nigeria among other things.

Do you have regrets that it was at your event that MASSOB members were arrested?

We see what happened as part of the struggle. My organization and I have suffered such things in the past 12 years. The attack on our 12th anniversary is just one of the things we take in our strides. We have been slandered; we have been persecuted; my phones have been bugged; my cars have been bugged; my businesses have been attacked, and on a particular year armed robbers attacked my wife’s shop 16 times in a year, all to impoverish me and to kill IYM. They believe that if they impoverish me then IYM will die; I have suffered worse things. I even fight spiritually (raises his clothes to show odd marks on his body). This one was just immediately after the anniversary event. So what happened is just one of those things.

How do you see the arrest?

I want to tell you that the reason the police commissioner sent policemen and they came and arrested MASSOB members and took them away is because they know that there is no militant group in Igbo land. Igbo people are superior; we are wise, and we are gentlemen; we know that violence doesn’t help. They did that because they know there is no violence group in Igbo land. If the MASSOB members were armed, police will not come to arrest them. Our 12th anniversary was a peaceful event. The previous day, we held thanksgiving services; the next day we wanted to honour people we thought have made sacrifices for Ndigbo. It was peaceful; MASSOB members were not armed, but the police moved in and took them away. After the event, their leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, went to ask why his boys were arrested; they detained him. The reason is because they know that there is no militant group in Igbo-land. But let me warn; the day any Igbo group will take up arms, that will be the end of Nigeria. The last time Ndigbo took up arms, 44 years ago, we saw what happened. They were angry when they saw headless bodies arriving Enugu railway station from the North. The whole world stood still for 30 months.

Nigeria lost her innocence, lost her soul, lost two million souls, ceded Bakassi peninsula and lost it forever, signed off our oil for so many years to a particular colonial government, which accounted for only 10% of oil they stole from Nigeria for more than 40 years. We lost everything; and that was 44 years ago; other people can say they are militants, they bombed UN building, they bombed oil facilities, and they bombed police stations, but let me tell you, the day any Igbo group takes up arms again will be the end of Nigeria. So Nigeria should thank their stars that the groups in Igboland have decided not to be militant; we just want Nigeria to move forward.country missed opportunities and destroyed opportunities; this country wasted resources for more than four decades. Fifty years ago, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, South Korea, all of them were behind Nigeria, in every indices. Today, they are very much ahead. It is time now to rebuild Nigeria and that is why Igbo’s voted for Jonathan.

Why the award?

Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu is a unique man; he is recuperating in a London hospital. Let me give you a testimony: For more than 15 years, he was the only Igbo man who will call me at odd hours and summon me when Igbo people are killed in Bauchi, Kano or Jos. He will tell me to find out how many people died, their names, state of origin, if possible. He would plead with me to issue a statement condemning those killings; he was worried about the lives of Ndigbo; no other Igbo man ever cared. In fact, what they will do is to hide under the bed because they don’t want to offend their northern friends. Ojukwu is unique. I testify that he cares about Ndigbo. The other gentlemen who were also honoured are people who have shown the IYM that they cared about Ndigbo

Why do you think the South East governors have refused to honour Ojukwu?

That’s why I told you that the PDP government, in the past 12 years, has been a disaster; Ndigbo are not PDP; Ndigbo despise PDP; the only reason PDP survived the last election was that they presented a very meek, educated presidential candidate and Ndigbo believed in him and voted him; that was what saved PDP. The only reason Ndigbo voted PDP in 1999 was because Dr. Alex Ekwueme was there. When fellow Nigerians shot him down at Jos convention, he quickly congratulated Obasanjo, the winner of that primary; so Ndigbo still maintained part of their sympathy for PDP. But PDP is a big disappointment.

What hope for Igbo now that Ojukwu is getting older and weaker?

The younger generations are aware that Ndigbo must get justice. What has happened between 1999 and 2000, which we call Igbo renaissance, was an awakening of consciousness; Ndigbo have realised that our potentials have been caged in an ungodly manner, by enemies of Ndigbo and we are ready to release ourselves. Believe it, in the next decade or so Igbo-land will be transformed to the Dubai of West Africa.

You talked about Igbo support for Jonathan; has he done anything to show he appreciates this support?

I agree with you that Ndigbo are yet to see any signs of a new beginning, a process to begin the fulfillment of any one of the many promises President Jonathan gave during his campaign at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu; at Owerri, at Aba township stadium, at Umuahia, at Abakaliki and everywhere he went in Igbo land. They include a coal-powered independent power station in this region, second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, seaport in Onitsha, upgrading the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport to become a functional International Airport. It is sensible for me to respect my president and believe him; it will be unfair if I doubt the words pronounced by my president. I should believe him and the ball is in his court to take action, so that we would see work going on. There is no time to waste; we want to see construction going on in Onitsha. I want to see the Enugu International airport functional. I want my people to travel from here to China and Dubai direct from Igbo-land, which was deliberately denied us by successive governments; we want begin to see those things now; that’s what we want so that it can reinforce our faith in President Jonathan.

Why, in your thinking, are Igbo suffering in Nigeria?

The reason the Igbo have suffered over the years is not because of the selfishness of some Igbo leaders but a deliberate policy of wickedness meted out on Ndigbo by past governments since 1970. Everything was done to exclude the Igbo man; everything was deliberately done to punish the Igbo man. In the location of universities in the early 70s the Igbo lost. There were University of Port Harcourt, University of Calabar and University of Benin, University of Jos. Igboland was excluded. When Federal polytechnics were being sited, Igboland was excluded; when they wanted to site projects, like Ajaokuta Steel, Alaja Steel and NAFCON Fertilizer in Port Harcourt, everything was done to exclude Igboland. Everything in Nigeria has always been done to exclude Ndigbo and punish them for fighting the war; it’s man inhumanity to man. The creation of local government was deliberately skewed against Ndigbo. Jigawa and Kano States have more local governments than the entire South-East of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi put together. There are states in the North with 1.7 million population, but they have 12 members in the House of Representatives.

There are states in Igbo-land with 3.7 million population represented by only eight members in the House of Reps. Even the delineation of federal constituencies was deliberately done to deny Ndigbo fair representation. In state creation Igbo-land with over 45 million were caged in only five states out 36; 45 million Ndigbo are more than one-third of Nigeria but they are caged into five states only, out of 36 states. That is man’s inhumanity to man and the principal architect of this wickedness against Ndigbo is Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. He’s the man who created the states and deliberately denied Ndigbo her fair shares. Babangida engineered all the problems we are going through today. In September 1987, 24 years ago, he created two states and announced that he had closed with state creation; that he would not create any more state. He created Akwa Ibom from Cross River and Katsina from Kaduna. He knew from census reports that Ndigbo constituted 69% of the population of the old Eastern Region and that our brothers from the minority constituted 31%. He gave them a third state. He gave 31% of the old Eastern region, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers and then left 69% of old Eastern region in only Anambra and Imo; that is the height of wickedness.

The problem Ndigbo are going through is that the state of Nigeria has refused to give them justice, holding us down, not knowing that when you are holding somebody down you are holding yourself.

Yes, it could be correct that Igbo leaders have not carried themselves well but the crux of the problem is that our fellow countrymen hate us with so much passion, deny us dues, and deny us our rights, which was the only reason Ndigbo voted Jonathan to correct those things. And if Jonathan disappoints Ndigbo, believe me, Ndigbo do not forgive any leader who disappoints them. You can ask Ukpabi Asika. The only reason the Igbo masses rose up and voted for Jonathan was because they believed that he would wipe their tears, that he would begin to address these injustices, that he will begin to implement immediately a policy of affirmative action to redress the many long years of neglect and oppression in Igbo-land. Igbo-land is barren; completely barren; when young men graduates they migrate out to Lagos, Abuja and elsewhere; nothing is here. We believe that President Jonathan would correct it because we believe he will be fair to all the sections of the country. We are not asking Jonathan to face only Igbo-land; we are asking him to be fair to all the sections of this country; if he is fair, then Ndigbo will get justice we have never had justice in the last 40 years.

Arsenal fan ChrisJack28 on Twitter: "We play badly, we lose. We play well, we lose. We are now officially in a crisis!"

Jenny20:
^^ If You Think About It; Atheism Is A Faith Also.

For Having A Complete Lack Of Any Empirical Evidence To The Contrary, One Chooses To Believe In The Non-Existence Of God(s). Therefore The Complete Denial Of God(s) Is Also Considered Leap Of Faith.

Is It Not?

Atheism isn't based on faith, it is the lack of. . . . Just like "off" isn't a tv channel, or "bald" isn't a hair color.

Concerning Pascal's Wager: The point was to illustrate that it might be better to seek Good for its' own sake rather than seeking Good over Evil based on a system of Rewards and Punishments/Positive and Negative Reinforcements. Rather, acting with the proper intent and motivation according to one's design. An Aristotilean concept. To perhaps, seek the creator over creation. Believing that God is literally our creator and not our creation?




One God not many. One "Paradise" not many. Monotheism v.s. another version of Pantheism. Atheism is antithetical to a God and therefore no God, by Ontological definition would reward atheists. Perhaps an Atheist God who does not believe in himself? A case for a "No(such)Thing.

Aringarosa:
I just explained to you, you can. Because there are thousands of other religions who have different rules on how to get to their version of heaven. You are also disqualifying the possibility of a God who would reward atheists and punish theists.

And I say if you start arguing with something that is illogical then all bets are off. I could come up with any illogical explanation for the beginning of the universe. What is the difference between God making the universe and the chimney puffing the universe into existence? This chimney is also outside space and time and also breaks your rules.

Anyway. I don't think we would agree on this one. It seems like you are not getting my points and I might not be getting your points. But I appreciate the lively debate. I have to go to work 

Perhaps I should be very specific with terminology and state: The variables and factors/conditions of which I speak are distilled down to three basic things. Energy, Matter and Space-Time. Why do they exist? Why do we exist as we do? Where did we come from, why are we here and where are we going? Axiomatically, we are a bit more than just a "Flame" that is then blown out.' The Greek philosophers stated often, that we are the result of the "Universe trying to understand itself". Interesting Metaphysics but circular in nature. I'm left with the impression that many who try to explain the existence "of it all" are confusing that pursuit with the mechanics or nature of the creative force. It is almost a case of confusing the Why with the How. In other words, the pursuit of proving the existence of a Creator does not require an explanation of the qualities a Creator may or may not possess. Thank you for your time, work is a familiar reality.

It just occurred to me that I may have miscommunicated and you misunderstood the reasoning behind the 10^53 Billions of years for life to spontaneously occur. That would be the very definition of impossibility, given that the universe is estimated only to be 14 Billion years old. Therefore, life would require a Catalyst in some opinions and a Creator in mine. That was my example of a mathematical certainty indicating a creator, if not requiring one.

Logic require both Deductive and Inductive, Analytical and Synthetic, A Priori and A Posteriori thought.

Require(S)

That is From Hawking's own mouth.

You are committing the Fallacy of a Bad Analogy with the Chimney. A Creator being an illogical concept defies linear logic. The universe is therefore God for you? The universe creating itself is unsound and invalid circular reasoning akin, again, to reducing the causes for creation to infinity. A dog is another facetious attempt. Violating my rules? They are the rules of logical argument. Now you are indulging a Straw Man: To Contortion the argument into your rogue brand of sophomoric legalities. Something is Creator and the effects of the creator is creation(Something). God being outside/independent of that creation(universe). God is not Infinity itself but he is infinite-do not confuse the two. Nothing, does not exist by definition. What you suggest is the very etymology of the word "NO THING" therefore there would be nothing and you and I would not be debating and speculating. Nature of God v.s. Existence of God is an Apples and Oranges comparison. Perhaps a Venn Diagram or Boolean Loops might help to establish validity in your mind. The Wager just implies that you cannot lose the "Bet" if you bet all you have that God exists.

Aringarosa:
Stephen Hawking has nothing to do with biology?

The fact remains you are violating your own rules. You cannot posit an illogical being to answer a logical question. There are two possibilities either God came from nothing or God is infinite which violates your rules. God is not a logical concept. Therefore you can posit anything illogical (like the mystical chimney) and still satisfy your argument. God is not the simplest explanation. What about the Universe creating itself? What about a dog creating the universe?

Pascal's wager is faulty because there are million of religions out there and they can't all be true. It also assumes that there is a hell and a heaven.

It also assumes that God isn't someone who would reward atheists and punish theists.

And there it is, there it ends. At this point you are now confusing whether or not God exists with the nature, qualities or characteristics of God which cannot be deduced. Largely, only his effects can be known deducing a cause by design. How is it that we have the capacity to understand this logic: Systems have a design that operate with a specific function to accomplish a goal. The space program would be a good example, and then we landed on the moon. Was that a "Theoretical Accident"? From a position of human ignorance and knowledge, you are ascribing human limitations and conditions onto an agency that necessarily transcends what it created in the first place.

You agree that man can create, in a manner of speaking, yes? We really manipulated and create conditions conducive to an outcome, we integrate, synthesize and deconstruct. We analyze and discover but we really don't create something molecule by molecule; we let the forces of "Nature" do that. If we can do all that, what exactly, excludes a creator for us? If we are "made in the image and likeness of said God"? Image only, "Mystical Chimney" taking a known object in your experience(empirical)and imparting supernatural qualities to it. Similar to Anthropomorphizing. Do you really believe cartoons are real? God is not only is in what he creates but independent of it. Perhaps like the artist is in his art. Ultimately unknowable in his essence/nature until perhaps an afterlife.

Aringarosa:
"No explanation is something came from nothing or reducing causes to infinity which is illogical"

Where does God come from?

"Absence of proof is proof of absence"

I'm saying all the proof that you think applied to God can also apply to the Mystical Chimney.

10^53 billions is from some of Drakes estimations and Stephen Hawking's own math which he now violates with his current "something from nothing" hypothesis. 14 Billions years for age of universe is universally accepted in the Cosmology community. Something=Creator. "Nothing" speaks for itself, well, it doesn't because it is "nothing". Simplest explanation has the highest probability for being the best/most correct explanation. Have you tried Pascal's Wager in addition to all this? More of an expedient reason to believe in a creator. If you can posit all of these causes can you posit an intellect greater than mankind's?

Aringarosa:
Complexity doesn't always require intelligence. Where did you get the data that it takes 10^53 billion years for Aminos to assemble for a directed purpose? And how would you make such a calculation? Can't they just theoretically assemble.

"Something comes from something and nothing comes from nothing"

wouldn't positing a God violate these two things? Why can't I then posit anything else that violates these. If you're going to violate you own rules, why can't we violate yours?

Positing "Mystical Chimneys" is facetious and not worthy of debate. No Explanation is something came from nothing or reducing causes to infinity which is illogical.

Positing: absence of proof is proof of absence, is illogical. Postulating that something does not exist without evidence is illogical. Therefore, proving a negative is illogical.

@ Aringarosa - You can only posit a myriad of explanations for existence. A plethora of explanations violates Occums Razor. The lunatic could really believe E comes before or should come before D and after B and C does not exist. I could state that you do not believe G exists for obvious reasons. Positing that something does not exist is the definition of ill Logic. You have not proved a negative, you only have offered alternative explanations which are more complicated and unwieldy.

Aringarosa:
I'm not assuming anything. I perfectly satisfied with admitting I don't know where the Universe came from. Your argument is an argument from ignorance. Just because you have no explanation why the Universe is this way, you posit a God. There could be millions of other answers to the question. There could be a mystical chimney that puffed the world into existence for all we know. Positing a God without evidence of the actual being, "God" is illogical.

I know plenty of crazy people who lie to me all the time. They know they are lying. Haven't you realized that one can be crazy about one thing and not everything else? The person who thinks he is Napoleon can still know the ABCs. And him saying that E is the third letter in the alphabet, is lying?

I'm not familiar with Epicurean Model.

I'm a big fan of his books. Is there really a point in poking fun of it if you actually had valid arguments?

Not poking fun my friend, I withdraw the comment. "I may disagree with what you have to say but will defend to the death your right to say it" -Thoreau? I think Aquinas, Augustine and even Aristotle in his "Ethics" had valid arguments. Eliciting Potential in pursuit of Virtue by practicing for it's own sake. Evolution is a biological process explaining conducive mutations within the surviving species either coinciding and/or in response to a given changing environment. It does not explain an originating cause for life. It is only potential actualized from DNA. The variables and factors necessary for the four Aminos to form and couple into DNA is amazing enough but their assembly for a directed purpose is extraordinary. 10^53 Billions of years for that to occur which is a number, for all practical purposes, infinity. The universe is only 14 Billion. Something comes from something and nothing comes from nothing. The permutations of Accident, Chance or Luck do not occur in a perfect Vacuum or Nothingness for that matter.

The capacity for Metaphysical thought is what separates Man from the rest of nature. The ability to commune with God would be a mutation that serves no purpose in your universe. Even the concept of God serves no purpose for you, yet it exists, why? It should not exist in the surviving species.

Why invoke a mythical place conjured by a Christian(Tolkien)? Irony? What is your answer to the Epicurean Model?