₦airaland Forum

Your eyes go soon clear. Instead of you to form your own party, you went to hijack another man's party and make David Mark and Aregbesola illegal leaders. With the look of things, I don't think there is any need of any presidential election. INEC should just announce Tinubu next week and swear him in immediately to save our time and resources because apparently, he is not going to contest against anybody.

He has no choice than to defect to the Almighty APC now that the ADC has been dealt with a massive blow. I just pity Kwankwaso and Gawuna who jumped into a sinking ship. Bala Mohammed has always been associated with defection into APC as a survival strategy. Not because he likes or support APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but to cover up his many monumental corruption cases with EFCC. He has pending cases right from when he was FCT Minister and so many others as Bauchi Gov. Bala is merely looking for a soft landing. It will be suicidal for him to join ADC that is even on brink of collapse.

One by one una eyes go open to the reality. Tinubu is one of the best leaders of Nigeria presently and he's trying his best. Comparing him with PitObi is an height of insult. May God steer the country in the right direction.

Is the phrase "Yoruba drug dealer" necessary at all or you just want to fan embers of tribal exchange on NL? Crimes do not know tribe or boundaries. Let's jointly condemn any act of criminality.

Poor amateur journalist. Where is the woman from? When was she arrested? In what way was the NDLEA negligent? Who is going to click on your click bait? Put all your story here.

This is getting serious about this time of the year. Jos North has always been a hot bed of violence between the Plateau indigenous people and the Hausa/Fulanis. This is a sponsored violence just when everything is getting set for the 2nd term victory of PBAT. The President should not hesitate to deploy the military might to put an end to all these orgy of violence. I know that food is done P.Obi and his 2k online data boys. They surely capitalise on this.

This is just to discredit the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and paint it in bad colours against re-election. The spike in killings and kidnappings in recent times is a testimony to the fact that these people are being sponsored.

This is really an extraordinary experience. Thank God you survived this. It is worth a book.

Saleslourd:
CHAPTER: A Day In The Cell

People outside imagine prison as one long empty silence. Waiting. Nothing happening.

That is not Ikoyi.

Inside that cell life runs from before sunrise to the last sweep of the night. And if you are Jankara broke, new, and nobody that life starts the worst possible way.

A beating.

Not because you did anything wrong. Because you were still sleeping.

Every morning any Jankara still on the floor when the day begins gets beaten awake. No alarm. No warning. Just hands and feet until you move. That is how the day starts.

Morning Prayers

Once everyone is up we all shift to one side of the cell. The Muslim brothers need space to pray. And they get it. Every morning without fail. Inside that same crowded cell that smells of 300 bodies — a clean space is made. After prayers the Alfa gives his sermon. Then we shift to the other side.

Now it is the Christian brothers' turn.

This is not a quiet little devotion. This is full church. Musical instruments inside a prison cell. Singing. Clapping. The kind of praise and worship that would fill any Lagos church on a Sunday morning.

I led praise and worship sometimes.

I never knew I could sing until Ikoyi Prison told me.

After the sermon the cell pastor delivers his word. Then everyone returns to their position.

One important thing — in that cell everyone has a position. A specific spot that belongs to you. You do not move from it without permission. Enter another inmate's space without reason and it is treated as trespassing. The punishment comes fast.

The Food

After morning duties the food arrives.

Beans.

Watery. No oil. No onion. No seasoning. Just pale liquid with beans floating in it like they were embarrassed to be there.

Before prison I never liked beans. Inside that cell I counted the minutes until it arrived. Me and every other Jankara pressed against the wall waiting for our portion like it was the finest meal in Lagos.

But here is where the corruption enters quietly.

The food marshals the inmates in charge of sharing would skim from the Jankara portions before distribution. Set aside a small amount. Then sell that same food back to us for ₦200.

Food that was already ours. Already counted for us. Taken. Then sold back.

We complained once. Only once.

The next day the executives got bigger portions. The marshals gave the Cell President his cut. And we got less than before.

We never complained again.

Afternoon could bring rice. Or eba with something they called egusi soup. Night was garri and half a tin of milk.

Do not let the names deceive you. Nothing inside that cell looked or tasted like what I just described. But we ate. Because hunger does not care about quality.

There was a rumour that circulated quietly among inmates.

That something was added to the beans.

A substance to make us weak. Slow. Too tired to organise. Too heavy to riot.

Nobody could prove it. Nobody could disprove it either.

But I will tell you what I know from my own body.

Every morning after that meal almost every inmate would sleep off. The cell that had been loud and alive would go quiet. Bodies dropping back to the floor.

I felt it too. That heaviness. That sudden weight behind the eyes.

And when I finally left that place it took months before my strength came back properly. Months before my body felt like mine again.

Whether it was the food quality. The stress. The conditions.

Or something added to the beans.

I cannot tell you with certainty.

What I can tell you is that inside that cell a tired inmate is a controlled inmate.

And someone understood that very well.

The Day

After the morning meal the cell settles into its rhythm.

Conversations. Arguments. Sometimes fights which almost always end with beatings for the Jankara involved regardless of who started it.

By around 10am the yard master opens the cell. First inmates with court cases. Adjournment day. Their chance to face the system that put them there.

After that the Cell President and selected inmates get compound access.

Then the sellers.

Then if you have money to tip the guard you can go out too.

The rest of us wait.

By right we should be outside by noon. Back inside by 4 or 5pm.

But rights do not exist in that cell.

We went out when the guard felt like it. Could be 1pm. Could be 2pm. Could be later. We waited on the mercy of whoever held the key that day.

Evening

When everyone returns the sweepers go to work. Then the cell shifts for evening service.

If morning service was church evening service is revival.

Longer sermon. More energy. More music. And the pastor had a special gift.

Prophecy.

He would call out an inmate. Point in their direction. Speak directly into their situation. Family problems. Court cases. Hidden fears.

The cell would erupt. Hailing. Believing.

I watched this happen many times. And I noticed something nobody else seemed to.

The pastor was a very careful listener.

The things he prophesied about — I had heard those same things discussed quietly between inmates earlier that same day. A man complaining his mother stopped picking his calls. A man worried about his case. The pastor filed it away. Then delivered it back as revelation.

He never prophesied about me.

Because I never complained to anyone. Never shared my problems with the cell. Kept my frequency to myself.

He had nothing to work with.

After the Muslim brothers finished their evening worship everyone settled back into position.

Night

Then came the one who made everything different.

In our cell there was a Yahoo boy. Well known outside. I will not mention his name. But on certain evenings he would make an announcement.

Cigarettes and hard drugs. Going round the cell. On him.

The cell would come alive. Smoke filling the air. Cheering.

For those of us who did not use nothing. Not even food. Just the smoke drifting past.

Because he was cashing out. Even inside Ikoyi Prison his online fraud was still running. Money still coming in. And when it came he spent it like a chairman inside those walls.

That told me something important about that place.

The gates do not stop everything. Not the drugs. Not the phones. Not the money.

Nothing enters that prison without someone inside allowing it.

I will explain exactly how that system works in the next chapter.

Wednesday nights had something special too. New inmates were made to stand and tell their story what brought them inside. Then the existing inmates performed. Rap. Music. The cell becoming a stage while smoke drifted to the ceiling and everyone cheered.

Then the final sweep.

Then the executives arranged us Jankara pressed side by side, head to toe, packed into our positions on the floor.

And that was a day in the cell.

Every single day.

Until your case moved or your time was done.

@Evergreen4 @CJStarz @duduade @Bluebolt @RoadMozart @Willy2025 @Kalulu44 @thrillionaire @bestman09

Next chapter coming soon

Nice move. But I doubt if APC can capture Bauchi State.

The suicide case should be investigated.

They were not rescued, but abandoned by their abductors having been robbed and violated. The security agencies in Nigeria have never rescued anyone.

Hmmmmm, all I can say. Women and money hmmm. Anyway, add the remaining characters yourself, Mr Seun

It changes nothing. Most of the Kano political heavyweights are in APC. The trajectory is still 70% APC and 30% others. There is no notable Kano politician with Kwankwaso presently and with 44 local governments to battle against and virtually all government and political stakeholders in APC, the odds are against him. I don't see APC losing Kano in the Presidential election, though it may not be much margin, but for other elective positions, it is 70% APC.

This is definitely AI by the detractors of CCP. There is limit to demonstration of mental illness

Freshtruth:
Omo this guy Carey this thing serious take it to another level.

Why is Sowore attacking Otti relentlessly in recent times? I guess Otti is owing him something. Even his state governor, Aiyedatiwa, who is one of the most useless governor in Nigeria, is not attack this way just because he gave his younger brother, Allen Sowore, an appointment. Sowore should face his home region of South West and Ondo state, his state and leave Otti alone. Otti is far better than Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The police investigation was very shoddy and dubious. No attempt was made to track the so-called Mr. Henry through the number he used to communicate the hotel and the lady. This is very unfair. She should petition the commissioner of police for the transfer of the case and a new investigation.

They deserve bottles of wine to cool body after a nice act

Missing in Action star. Rest well

Good news. This is exactly what Israel is doing. This is the only language they understand

This is daylight robbery in African football

Where is the DSS? It's hightime this guy is sent to Sokoto too. All his so-called press releases are treasonable in nature. I don't know why the judge is wasting time on his case. The penalty for his offences is life imprisonment, but he should be pity and handed 12 years so he can factory reset.

The arrogance of Trump is too much. Imagine talking to another super power like say na Tinubu. Did China send him to launch an unwarranted and unprovoked attacks on Iran? Was China consulted? He never thought that Iran could fight back this way. The Persians are very resilient and don't run away from a battle. This is just the beginning.

This was a terrifying ordeal, but thank God for being merciful unto you and made you to escape from their den

Too long an essay. Somebody should please summarise. Everything negative, na Nigerian as if other African nationals are not into criminality.

He should be more than 62 years old. He was a great player long before the advent of the legendary Rashidi Yeking

Please do us a favour by revoking it and send him to Kuje or Suleja. He has chooking his mouth in matters that doesn't concern him

This man finally buried the PDP before heading to ADC. On which platform will his candidate contest? Even, in ADC, he is going to be a newcomer and unless he opens the state vault for Atiku, nothing for him. He is an amateur in politics just like PO.

This is an excellent move. FCT is done and dusted for APC in 2027. Jagaban is a master strategist needs studying as a 4-year course in the University D. The opposition should do us a favour by not contesting with him to avoid a waste of scarce resources. They should let us share the money instead. The only person remaining to join APC is PO, and I am 100% certain he will D. He doesn't have any stable plan.

The news is highly refreshing. What business exactly does any Nigerian has with the Israel/USA and Iran war? This is a self-inflicted problem

Dangote is just playing with our emotions anyhow in this country D. This is our low we have come in Nigeria. This is somebody initially regarded as our petroleum messiah