₦airaland Forum

Cosmos maduka a billionaire? Well not according to his kinsman Ifeanyi Uba, who thinks that the Coscharis Group is a pure water business -https://www.nairaland.com/1100866/coscharis-group-pure-water-business

Billionaire in dollars ko, billionaire in Zimbabwean dollars ni, has he been able to pay back the N21 billion he borrowed from access bank on behalf of Ifeanyi Uba?
I am sure cosmas just paid Forbes to launder his badly damaged image after the aftermath of the loan scandal with Ifeanyi Uba and the Stella Oduah Bullet proof BMW scandal.

Obiagu1:
Quote of the Year:

The reasons why Ijaws and other minorities in the South South are “content being Nigerians”
Ignorance and helplessness. That’s all. The minority tribes in Nigeria’s Niger Delta generate a bulk of the country’s revenue but they’re some of the poorest people you can ever find in Africa. Most Nigerians from the west and north barely even know they exist.

By a NigerDeltan.

I am sure you are a non oil producing attache by force "Nigerdeltan of Igbo" extraction, no true Nigerdeltan would make these statements. The reasons Nigerdelta people are poor is not because we are not getting enough money (derivation + federal allocations) from the federal Government, it is because the money is mis-appropriated and looted by the political elite. The Nigerdelta recieves more money than most countries in black africa. The total allocation to the Nigerdelta region is more than the budget of Mali, Benin republic, Gabon, Liberia.

In 2013 the total federal; allocations to 4 Nigerdelta states is almost as much as Ghana's 2015 budget.
Akwa Ibom - (N260 billion or $1.7 billion)
Rivers - (N230 billion or $1.5 billion)
Delta - (N209 billion or $1.3 billion)
Bayelsa - (N173 billion or $1.1 billion)
Total Allocations for 2013 is (871billion or $5.6 billion). This is not taking into account internally generated revenue, allocations to NDDC, Nigerdelta ministry and amnesty program.
Meanwhile, the total budget for Ghana's 2015 budget is 29.7 billion Ghanian Cedis which is the equivalent of 7.81 billion dollars.

Definitions:
Stupidity is when you ask for resource control for 50 years out of a 100 years your oil is supposed to last and you keep asking for the same thing when you are not succeeding.

First what is your definition of Resource control? Is it taking 100% of oil proceeds, then you are in Utopia. No mineral resource community in the world control 100% of their resources. We currently have 13% of proceeds from our resources( if we add General federal allocations, Nigerdelta ministry and NDDC, it would be closer to 20%), which is not too bad, but 25 - 30% would be excellent.

Ignorance is when you don't know that you are jumping head first into a pit full of shit in 50 years time when your only bargaining power is exhausted and you have nothing to show for it.

As i said the reason we are having little to show for our rescources is because of Greedy politicians, like Ibori, Uduaghan, Odili, Amaechi, Alamiesiegha, and others who loot the allocations ment to develop the Nigerdelta.

Helplessness is when you are used and dumped and you have nothing to fall on to and no one cares if you still exist.

Nobody has used and dumped the Nigerdelta. We are more politically revelant than the south east, more projects are sited in the Nigerdelta than the south east, we have more and better political offices than the south east.
Then the Gas resources of the south south has not even been touched. Gas is the future of energy, and we are fully poised to continue to use that as a bargaining chip.

Tell tell me how these definition of stupidity and helplessnes does not apply to the south east.

MrAnalyst:
It's baffling really. You take 13% oil revenue with constant destruction to the environment that hampers even FISHING! And still they jubilate and are quite happy. That's so ridiculous it's almost annoying.

As i said above, the 13% has nothing to do with the destruction of the environment. It is because of bad drilling practices by the oil companies and complicity by government regulatory agencies that allow the oil companies to pollute the environment with reckless abandon. It is like gas flaring, the oil companies are still flaring poisonous gasses into the atmosphere despite a ban on it, now do you expected us to use the 13% to clean up the atmosphere?

chuna1985:
They are already holding it n it a working.

The 13% derivation u people get from ur oil is not even enough to clean the environment from degradation coming from crude oil waste products.

The 13% derivation is not meant to clean up the environment, it is for the development of the communities and the state. The responsibility of cleaning up the environment lies with the oil companies, besides if the oil companies engage in best practices as done elsewhere in the world, environmental pollution would be minimal.

lawanson44:
Ok. But i hope you have handed over the church documents and papers of Christ Embassy London branch back to Chris Oyakhilome who remains the rightful owner?

In the UK, people do not own churches? It is not seen as a business enterprise with a CEO like it is done in Nigeria. It is a charitable organization, with a board of trustees, and if Chris Oyakhilome is not a member of the board of trustees, then he has no business with therunning of the church

What is Ben Bruce actually saying? That Buhari should not attend the largest gathering of leaders in the world because it was held in France that was passing through a "crisis"? He wants the president to isolate Nigeria from the international community like Abacha did?

cheruv:
Nobody brought in Biafra here yet you Igbophobes can't seem to keep your mind off the rising sun
The essence of Biafra is to return Igboland to its status before the British invasion and subsequent colonization(1890-1920). No matter how much you non Igbos whine about it,its must surely come to pass!

Marriage is an institution highly respected in Igboland...and through it you'd be able to attain certain positions in society.
Since you're harping on the modernity of our times,just know that daughters can also inherit from their mothers, but never from their father unless he expressly indicates so! Sons like I said before confer immortality...and any woman who fails to give her husband a son has failed in her duty of being a wife,even our family friend who always bore daughters continued the struggle till she got victory in her tenth child is a boy.that's to show you how strongly patriarchal Igbo society is.
Nigeria won't change our cultural values...and should it even try,we'd raze it down and erect Biafra,where we'd practice our culture and tradition without giving a damn whether its ancient or modern.
Look at the Jews... They've been celebrating Pesach for 3450yrs now, the Japanese still revere their monarchy that's been in existence for millennia and half despite the Democratic madness around them yet you want us to drop principles laid down for us by Chukwu
Don't be a joker bro!!!

I mentioned Biafra because all the rabid opposition to the supreme court judgement are coming from IPOB supporters. I am just pointing out the obvious irony of rebelling against the unjust Nigerian system but vehemently supporting the unjust customary discriminatory system against women.

I love Igbo people die. As i said, my wife is Igbo from imo state, my best friend and partner is Igbo from abia, and some of my favourite people are Igbos, like ken Nnamani and Oby Ezekwesili. So to accuse me of igbophobia is plain silly.

Your second paragraph betrays that your mind is stuck in stone age. In present age, positions are not attained by marriage status, but hard work. Dimeji Bankole became speaker before he got married.

You lie when you say that Igbo custom allows daughters to inherit properties from their mothers. The only thing Igbo daughters are customarily allowed to inherit from their mothers are wrappers, clothes and some jewelry. Landed and other valuable properties are inherited only by sons.

Perish the idea of sons conferring immortality on fathers. The only thing that passes on is the DNA and the last name of the father, even the last name often disappears or changes after a few generations. There are millions of Igbo men who do not have their great grand fathers name. I doubt you can trace your surname 10 generations back.

If you read and pass basic biology, you should know that that the man decides the sex of a child, women has little to do with it. So it is the duty of a man to give his wife sons and not vice-versa. The family man you know that bore 9 daughters must be a weakling, he is not a strong man. I hope you are not a weakling like your friend. Imagine the wickedness of your friend passing an innocent woman through the pains of pregnancy and labour 10 times because of his egocentric problems. I hope he is rich enough to educate all 10 children or does he hope to sell the girls to the highest bidders?

Pesach is simply the passover celebration. Tell me how that is discriminatory or oppressive against women.
You are obviously ignorant of the modern Japanese political system. The Americans defeated Japan and gave them a new constitution which stripped the emperor of most of his powers. political power resides in the prime minister who is democratically elected. The prime minister could even be a woman. The emperor is just ceremonial, like the Obi of Onitsha or the Oba of Lagos. So i fail to see how your two examples relate to the subject under discussion.

backtosender:
The court must be losing focus on how and when to involve themselves with the law of the land.........some igbo men can play gigolo very well thereby hope to catch an igbo girl from rich background that way he will be sorted hopefully his in laws will give him millions of naira to start life it happen in so many occasions which i can attest to it...fine boy with sweet tongue but unfortunately he got too many holes in his pockets before you no it the babe eye don catch am she will go for the looks from there she get hooked like a cat fish....... before you no it he don give am belle her father will not have option than arrange marriage sponsor the whole thing on-top.... after she will run to her daddy complaining that her husband is jobless those marriages never last daddy will now invite the young man ask him what he want t do with his life,young man will say Oga i want to do import and export oga will say ok give me your business plan straight he provide business plan.... Oga will now ask him so how much do you need?he will give oga quotations let say 18 million naira in the processes of try to act like a big boy drive good cars,carry different babes different hotels before you no it 8 million don go,by then guy is still wondering what to do with the remaining balance....in the same process looking for what to do another 1.8 milla don go chap chap.... now when things are getting desperate he will now meet some idiots friends that will bring some useless business advice.... advice him to put the money there he will make big bucks the whole thing will go from one yeye business to another after a yr and 3 months back to square one....
The poor girl go don born pikin next thing she will run back again to her father for help........in igboland the women have their own share but anything she inherited must be on her name so even if she marry a man that struggle she will be alright because she is getting her on quota from the family tree

The supreme court is only affirming the Nigerian constitution; which state that nobody should be discriminated against based on sex, tribe, religion, political affiliations and other forms of discrimination. You will agree with me that this custom is highly discriminatory against women. If an Igbo man personally does not want his daughters and wife to inherit a pin when he dies, he should write a will stating so. But if he dies without writing a will, then all his children and wife should sit down and agree how the properties will be shared. And if the man has only daughters, then they and the wife should inherit the properties, instead of vultured eyes brothers descending on the properties of the man, leaving his family out in the cold.

cheruv:
All you non Igbos rambling about female discrimination are just wasting your time.
Every Igbo woman who's of age is expected to be in her husband's house..and you can't be in your husband's house and still have eyes on your father's house,that'd be tantamount to insulting the land!!
Sons grant immortality to their father and by extension the clan...daughters are just residents who are trained by the father till she's of age and her husband comes and pays her rent! She's expected to build up her husband's home and any woman who's engaged in this duty won't "chuuk" eyes in the affairs of her brother(s).

I can believe what i am reading from supposedly enlightened men. Every Igbo woman is expected to be in her husband's house? so what happens if she is unmarried before her father dies; interstate? What if she is very young, widowed or simply yet to find a suitor? Are you saying every young Igbo girl in Alaigbo and indeed all Nigerian cities of marriage age are married? I am sure you are aware that there are millions of single middle age igbo ladies yet to marry, either because of their careers or other extraneous factors, except of course you choose to play the ostrich.

So it is insulting to Igbo land for women to inherit her father's property? What if the property is outside Igbo land?

Son grant immortality to their father? so what do daughters grant - death? Look we have gone beyond agrarian social system, where land and direct labour (huge family) are essential for success. We now live in the industrial and information age where ideas, innovations and interractions determine success. So having large farmlands with lots of male children is useless.

It is an insult to all Igbo women to call them "just residents" in their fathers house and he rents her out to a husband. I hope most Igbo men do not think this way, it betrays your pyschological inbalance. You need to project women as sub-humans in order to give yourself some sense of importance. It is the same attitude the whites had in south africa for instituting the apartheid system.

If you say that a woman is expected to build her husband's home instead of "chuuking" eyes in the affairs of her brothers, then what about the man? Is he also not expected to build his family home instead of "chuuking" eyes into his father's properties? Is he so lazy as not to work to acquire his own properties?

If this how you guys want to build your Biafra, with discrimination and alienation of over half of the population (women), then the project is dead on arrival. Nigeria by this ruling has granted freedom and equality to Igbo women, while you people are offering discrimination, subjugation and oppression. You think your women folks would vote in a referendum to continue to be exploited by the men (except of course you bar women from voting)

SegunAdewole:
You assume that i am Ibo but i am not. I'm only looking at things in perspective. Ibo women are the most educated and have the highest standard of living even better than our yoruba women, have you asked yourself why. Do.you know that many Ibo fathers will rather educate their female children to tertiary evel on their lean resources and send their sons to learn a trade. What inheritance is greater than that?
If a father spends so much to educate his daughte, he has the right to expect her to become great tommorow and help the family. doesn't he?

I know you are just using sarcasism. You are not only Igbo, you are IPOB Igbo. You look for the slightest opportunity to attack Yoruba people and culture, even in topics that have nothing to do with Yoruba. Only Kanu's people have such hatred for Yorubas.

It is a lie that many Igbo fathers would rather educate their daughters instead of their sons, the Igbo society has an obvious bias towards male children. The problem is that more female children prefer to go to school than their male counterparts. Many young males are in a hurry to make it and opt out of school to join business.

So because an Igbo man choses to educate his daughter should make the daughter a worthless slave to the father?
In order to give away the daughter, the father must recieve the refund of all the money he spent educating his daughter in the bride price. As if that is not compensation enough, the man still demand his daughter should still help him solve his financial and material problems for life, just because he educated her. Then at the end of the day, she is not worth a single inheritance from him. Meanwhile all these conditions are not placed on the sons, whom the same father spent money to educate and deemed worthy to inherit all the his properties.

This is the bane of the Nigerian society, people protect the rich and powerful and crucify the weak and vulnerable.

As i said earlier, we do not know the truth yet as information from both sides are highly contradictory and conflicting, but Nigerians are quick to see the inconsistencies in the weak and vulnerable victim (allege) and fail to notice any in the rich and powerful party.

Instead of Zahra Audu to shut up and cover her head in shame, she is here spewing rubbish, disgracing herself and her husband even further.

Why not explain why her husband was sleeping with her and sugabelly at the same time? She got married to Mustapha on the 22nd of March 2008, but the email exchanges detailing sexual fantasies between her husband and sugabelly span from 2007 well into April 2008. So all through their courtship and even into their marriage Mustapha was bleeping sugabelly (rape or consentual).

Instead of the Audu's to come out and deny the allegations or at least explain Mustapha's side of the story, they are launching a character assassination campaign against sugabelly.

SegunAdewole:
I don't think it is a case of discrimination dearie. If i give my daugters hand in marriage and also settle her with one of my buildings, why should she and her husband come giving my giving my son problems over my estate when i will it to them after my death? That's not fair. We yorubas should think like this, it saves lots of problem.
Say no to gold digging husbands.

Please read what you wrote s l o w l y, and see if it made any sense.

You did not exactly "give" your daughter's hand in marriage, you collected huge sums of money and other benefits in return, it was you that benefited from your daughter and not the other way.

If you feel your daughter have no value to you, no proplem, will all your estate to your son(s), it is your perogative. But if you refuse to write a will and you die, then your daughter has legal backing to contest some of your properties with your son(s).

Nothing concerns your daughter's husband in this matter, it is between you and your daughter, just like nothing concerns your son's wives with your properties.

Since you think little of your daughters, i hope you do not expect any benefits from them while you are alive. I hope you only go to your sons when you need money for expensive medical treatments or ask them to help you in sponsoring those your beloved sons with their education. I also hope you do not ask daughters to help you renovate or finish that your house in the village.

DerideGull:
Will the court decision also reverse the will of her father? The girls cannot double dip. She will enjoy the properties of her husband and still have pedigree to share what her father has left with her brothers. Igbo girls are expected to get married.

Who is taking about a will here? The supreme court is taliking about a father who died INTERSTATE, meaning he died without a will. If an Igbo man dies without a will, customary law is applied. This customary law prohibit daughters from gaining as much as a pin from her late father's estate. Sometimes wives are also left out in the cold. What this supreme court decision has done is to give a daughter the same inheritance rights as her brothers.

Does the fact that an Igbo girl is married remove the fact that she shares half her father's DNA? or she becomes less human because she married? If boys could triple dip - Enjoy the properties of his wife, his brothers and his father, why cant a fortunate woman double dip.

carnegiefan:
You are not Igbo so you cannot understand why this ruling can NEVER be implemented in Igboland.
All the bolded practices were abolished by the Igbo not by a Supreme court anywhere.
Someone above mentioned about the Imeobi land in Igboland; that is a SPIRITUAL matter that only Igbo can handle.
There is a reason why native laws and customary courts are there.
The supreme court acted outside its bounds because the laws governing such practices are customary laws.

I know it is difficult for ulta male chauvinists like you to accept the realities and norms of a modern societies, whether you accept it or not, women have the same rights as you, including your sisters and wife. I am sure if you are an American, you will still argue with the rights of women to vote.

I am not Igbo,but i am married to a pure Igbo, and i know the Injustices and discrimination faced by women in Igboland. Women are accorded little rights. Once a woman has been married (sold) off, she loses all family privileges and is assumed the sole property of the husband. She must remain in the marriage and endure any and all abuses by an abusive husband, as no parent would like to return the bride price (which is sometimes very exhorbitant).
The experiences of widows in Igboland is better imagined than spoken. They are humilated in the name of burial rites, the family sometimes deny the widow her material and property rights. If the children are too young to fight for themselves or the widow has no male child, she could be thrown on the streets dispite her husband being very wealthy.

I am not saying these to denigrate the igbos, i just want to point out that these egocentric and chauvinistic practices has no place in a modern developing society

I do not know about Imeobi land, but believe me it has nothing to do with spirituality, it has more to do with male ego and domination. There is no proof that men are more spiritual than women, in fact women are generally said to be more spiritual than men.

I cannot believe an enlightened man would say a customary law is outside the bounds of the supreme court. The supreme court is the apex court of the land and all other courts are inferior to it.

carnegiefan:


I am a bit conflicted with that ruling. In as much as I want daughters to inherit their fathers' wealth, that practice is from a very old tradition, a tradition with so much deep history and roots, which has been so much diluted these days that we can hardly recognize them.
I would support a situation whereby a daughter can inherit property from her father, but not have the right to sell or transfer it outside of the root family.
Old Igbo people were very very wise, and in my book some of the wisest humans on this whole earth. Colonialists destroyed much of our culture starting from forced slavery (through slave raids) to outright colonization. Today what we have is a Frankenstein mutilated culture that is neither Igbo nor English.
So this ruling is bad because the court should have reverted the ruling to a customary court of appeal.

I disagree with you on so many levels. Women should have equal rights as men and in fact should be protected against discrimination and exploitation. Every old tradition has deep history and roots, Osu has its history and roots, killing of twins has its roots and history and marrying of pre-teen girls by fulani/hausas has its roots and history, the problem is the relevance of these roots and history in modern societies. If a man can inherit his fathers property with rights to sell and transfer, why deny a woman the same rights, or are you saying men do not sell their inherited properties to others? Sometimes to even other women.

In olden days when the society was largely agrarian, strict patrilineal traditions ensured land, labour and property remained within a family or clan, but in modern industrial cities, these traditions becomes useless. Most people have left their roots to build their own fortune. Women have become highly liberated and productive. Lots of women have their own wealth. So who should inherit a mother's properties? Daughters to the exclusion of sons? The mind of lots of men is still stuck in stone age.
There is nothing bad in the ruling. In fact the custom is against the Nigerian constitution, which prohibit discrimination based on sex, religion, tribe, etc.

DerideGull:
Nigeria is known for waste of anything including judiciary time. This silly decision by the activist court of Nigeria is a bloody waste of time.

It is not a silly decision, it a decision that asserts the rights of a girl child or daughter. Any wealthy igbo man with well educated daughters that wants to test the judgement should die interstate. The daughters will then test the silliness of the judgement at the courts.

Stolen:
A very big point becos, i decide who gets my property and i definately will never give any of it to my daughters no matter how much i may love them. My property goes to my son.



Change dat.



U go craze for igbo matter!

Any who is disputing who to will your property to? Please re-read the article again and state where the supreme court mandate who an Igbo man must will his property to.

In case you have reading or comprehension problems, here is the relevant part of the article

The trial court found that he was a daughter to the deceased and that she was qualified to benefit from the estate of their father who died intestate in Lagos in1981.

The key word here is interstate. Now if you do not know what interstate means, then humbly ask, or use google.

So if you like, will your properties to your dog, it is nobody's business. The problem with male chauvinists like you is that you will not hesitate to beg for financial assistance from your successful daughter (either by marriage or career) whom you forbid from inheriting any of your properties.

And people like you will condemns Hausas who deny basic rights to women in the name of culture.

Barcanista, lovely write up and analysis, but you have one problem - it is bias, sentimental and judgmental. You are taking sides based only on Facebook screen shots released by the accused. Without further investigations and evidence, you conclude mustapha innocent of all allegations and the accuser guilty of libel. You will make a very bad judge.

I never take sides until i have heard extensively from both sides. sugarbelly, made accusations of rape/gang rape against mustapha Audu ( in fact she has been making the accusations since 2008), and all mustapha has done is release an alleged Facebook conversation between the two of them, so the next logical step is to wait for a response from sugarbelly. Meanwhile you have gone on to condemn Sugarbelly along with Abike Dabiri and Oby Ezekwesili who are trying to help her. So you feel you are more informed and intelligent than Abike Dabiri and Oby Ezekwesili?

Even if we assume like you have already concluded that sugarbelly is lying, should you not feel empathy for her? You should ask why a beautiful young girl would come out and admit she was serially and gang raped in a society where rape victims are stigmatized. You should know that over 90% of rape victims in Nigeria are even afraid to tell anyone of their ordeal. For sugarbelly to have been lying that over 8 years should call to question her emotional and mental health.

To me, even if she was raped as alleged, i doubt she can prove it in court. Rape cases are mightily difficult to prove under normal conditions, not to talk of incidents that happened 9 years ago. But the positive aspects is that her opening up might encourage others that had faced similar ordeal to open up. Maybe the Nigerian society would take rape as a more serious crime. Medical and counselling facilities might be made available to help rape victims.

Barcanista, please stop trying to protect the rich and powerful while victimizing the victims

Please note that the fact that they had consensual sex many times does not precluded rape. Rape is simply a single incident of non consensual sex. A man can rape his lover or even wife.

willow0802:
A new security report entitled "Nigerian Unity in the Balance" authored for the United States Army War College has, again, warned Nigerian leaders to beware of another civil war or an outright break-up following what it called ongoing divisive trends in the country. The report comes in the shadow of recent discoveries and interception of arms and ammunition in some parts of northern Nigeria.

This development has raised fears and alarm in security and southern political circles as to the goals of the forces behind the smuggling of arms. While similar arm discoveries had happened in some southern states in recent past, the frequency of such discoveries in the North in recent days has reportedly increased the level of intelligence shadowing and surveillance in the area.

The US Army report released in June this year by the Strategic Studies Institute of War College was written by two former American servicemen, Gerald McLaughlin and Clarence J. Bouchat. McLaughlin is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College while Bouchat is also an adjunct professor at the U.S. Army War College (USAWC).



The 103-page report, whose foreword was written by the Director, Strategic Studies, Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, Professor Douglas Lovelace, observed that divisive forces were waxing stronger than uniting forces in Nigeria, warning that unless this was reversed, Nigeria`s existence could be jeopardised. According to the report, “Parochial interests created by religious, cultural, ethnic, economic, regional, and political secessionist tendencies are endemic in Nigeria. Under such stresses, Nigerian unity may fail.



“Should Nigeria’s leaders mismanage the political economy and reinforce centrifugal forces in Nigeria, the breaks to create autonomous regions or independent countries would likely occur along its previously identified fault lines,” the report warned. “Having already experienced one brutal civil war, Nigeria is at risk for a recurrence of conflict or dissolution, especially since some of the underpinning motivations of the war remain unresolved," the report observed, detailing many fault lines speeding up disintegrative tendencies in the country.



“Indeed, East Timor, Eritrea, Croatia, and Somaliland indicate that the weakest point of failing states is along colonial borders. Of more interest for Nigerian unity is that this may also occur between regions separately administered by a common colonial power, as occurred between Malaysia and Singapore, and North and South Sudan, where differences proved irreconcilable after the departure of British administration. At least, some of the resulting regions and states of a possible Nigerian devolution may divide along such internal lines”, the report projected.



While conceding that Nigeria’s fate is primarily in the hands of Nigerians, the report noted that such could be positively affected by actions of the US, adding that “Nigeria’s future is in balance and the United States should help tip the scales.” The report particularly warned that religious differences were taking the centre-stage in the emerging conflict situation in the country, disputing repeated reports that economic reasons were to blame for the insurgency and other conflicts in the country.



The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) is part of the U.S. Army War College and is the strategic-level study agent for issues related to national security and military strategy with emphasis on geostrategic analysis.



Meanwhile, as insurgency remains a major headache in the Northeastern part of the country, with the growing cases of arms stockpile in the North-West states giving security analysts sleepless nights, especially as clues with regards to the motives of the masterminds remaining yet unclear. As of the time of filing this report, security agencies are reportedly focusing on both local and external sources in their bid to unravel the sudden surge in the trafficking menace.

Sunday Tribune was told that the initial suspicion indicate that the importation of arms was due to transnational islamist terrorists arming local jihadists, as well as using Nigeria as a transit route in the Sahel arms and related smuggling trade. This line of thought appeared to be the main preoccupation of the security agencies for sometime until in the last one month when political motivation reportedly entered the review process.

While analysts are yet to find direct linkage between political actors and the arm storage and smuggling, there are fears that threats from key leaders suggest a zone preparing for war depending on the outcome of the 2015 race. An insider told Sunday Tribune that the intensity of arms stockpiles correlates with the heightening of tension and mounting attacks on the presidency by political opposition and political dissenters within the ruling party.

It will be recalled that the arms cache found in Kano is still a mystery despite the ongoing prosecution of the Lebanese involved in the entire saga. The security agencies are also at a loss over what alleged Hezbollah Shiite agents will be doing with the Sunni-led Boko Haramists on the arms stockpile. Boko Haram is said to belong to the Sunni school of Islam, attributing a link between them and the Lebanese under trial over the arms cache is now proving very difficult among intelligence analysts in the country. Though it is being suggested that the Shiite group could have its own separate mission in the country.



The Kano arms discovery, therefore, is reported to have given rise to many theories, one of such is the possibility of a non-religious involvement, with political undertone being the chief reason. This theory is believed to have gained ground after the Zamfara State government got embroiled in an arms importation controversy, claiming it wanted to arm vigilante groups in the state. The way and manner the state government imported the arms allegedly without police approval has since become a subject of investigation which is said to be attracting attention of many within the security circles.

A security official confessed under the condition of anonymity that importation of arms without prior approval is a violation of the law. Said he: “for a state government to have done that, it is a matter to be taken seriously.”

Though the Zamfara State government has since justified its action on the need to combat criminal gangs operating freely in the state, keen watchers of the 2015 drama, however, point out that arming vigilantes in the countdown to 2015 sent mixed signals. Many people believe that once Zamafara succeeds in its move, other state governments would follow suit, leading to proliferation of arms in the country and a potentially explosive electoral year in 2015.

While the controversy over Zamfara arms importation is still boiling, a tanker filled with assorted arms and ammunition was impounded on the Kebbi-Zamafara axis with the source of the importation still unknown. With hundreds of such tankers in remote parts of northwestern Nigeria, fears are spreading that there may be a deliberate program to acquire arms by some unknown elements in the northern parts of the country ahead of 2015 elections.

Four days after the tanker was impounded, another arms cache was discovered in the sleepy state of Jigawa with exchange of fire between security agencies and those described as Boko Haram operatives. Security analysts, however, faulted the reference to Boko Haram, as Jigawa has never witnessed any Boko Haram attack since the insurgency started. Others claimed the exchange of fire did not explain the owner of the arms or who masterminded their stockpile in the state.

Another source told Sunday Tribune of the fear being nursed in that sector, saying “the situation is scary. We cannot say for sure that all these arms are imported by islamists. We cannot prove that. We can also not prove that politicians are behind the caches of arms for electoral purposes. All what we know for sure is that there is an arms build-up in the core North,” a security official, said.

While the real motive behind the huge arms stockpile is still under investigation by security agencies, the statement credited to the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadohme , warning against civil war is cited by other analysts to argue that the presidency already has more facts over security situation in the country and, particularly, about arms build-up in northern part of the country than it is letting out. Oghiadohme had called attention to the tragedy of the last civil war, warning that leaders and elders should beware of actions and utterances capable of plunging the nation into another conflict.

The arms build-up situation has become an open issue within the Nigerian military, which is battling insurgency in the North-East. Though the military is not ruling out political opportunism, it however suspects the Islamists to be behind the arms build-up, while the wider intelligence community are fingering political forces as being neck-deep in the menace.

Sagir Musa,spokesman of the Joint Task Force in Borno, while confirming the arms proliferation gave greater insight into the problem facing the North and the country as a whole in a recent statement on the issue.

Said he: “Nigeria’s borders are massive with hundreds of footpaths crisscrossing to neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger with links to Mali, Libya and Sudan. From conservative estimates by locals, there are well over 250 footpaths from Damaturu/Maiduguri axis that link or lead direct to Cameroon, Chad or Niger. These paths, which are mostly unknown to security agencies, are unmanned, unprotected and have continued to serve as conveyor belts for arms and ammunition trafficking into Nigeria.

“It is disheartening and unfortunate that the “merchants of death” have since devised methods to beat security agencies at the borders, chief among them, through the footpaths. These methods include the use of camels, donkeys and cows to traffic arms, ammunition and drugs such as cocaine into Nigeria. The fact that the weapons are small, light and collapsible makes it easy to be concealed and moved on camels and donkeys’ backs in a specially crafted skin or thatched bags mainly meant for the illegal “expedition” undetected. Similarly, some cows and grains merchants in the North-East sub-region of the country device means of hiding cache of arms and ammunition in empty fuel tankers, vehicle engines and bags of grains.

“The “grains” are transported in large number via trucks, trailers, lorries and old model pickup vans and Jeeps with little attention given to them by security agents. The use of Jega-type of tricycles (KEKE-NAPEP) as well as camels, donkeys, and cows (moving in flocks) to deceive, hide and conveniently traffic arms in some parts of the North are ways hitherto unknown, not well known”, Musa noted.

He explained further that “the Libyan and Malian rebels are desperate to exchange arms for money to Boko Haram terrorists, their financiers and collaborators as the sect has since been affiliated to Al-Qaida in the Maghreb. This has added to the overwhelming challenge of the influx of illegal aliens, arms, ammunition and sophisticated IED materials into the country and an efficient and effective fight against terrorism,” Musa had stated.

Sunday Tribune was, however, told that the political angle is already taking the center stage of discreet investigation into the discoveries. Already, it was gathered that investigation into the Kano arms caches has been extended to foreign soil, while the security agencies are said to be mounting pressure to ensure that Zamfara vigilantes are not armed with weapons.

As the arms influx expands, the questions on the lips of keen security analysts are many. Who is preparing for war? Is the North becoming a Somalia? And is the South too secretly building up its own arms, and/or has not been undetected? Could the flexing of muscles by politicians be a subtle declaration of war over 2015?

Only a thorough investigation by the security agencies can provide the necessary answers.

Sources include Sunday Tribune

IPOB/PDP/TAN can say anything to cast Buhari in Negative terms, they can even blame Buhari for killing a dead man. Tell me how this story concerns Buhari.
The report says "The US Army report released in June this year " Please tell us which year. It cannot certainly be the year 2015.

This so called report is a mish-mash of conjecture and wishfull thinking based on snipets of unrelated events.

Okpueze1:
The last time I checked, Faleke was not on the list of the APC primaries candidates. Unfortunately for him, his Oga died not being a governor, therefore Faleke should go and rest his case.

We have gone beyond the primaries. Faleke was already Deputy Governorship candidiate by the time the elections were held, he does not need the primaries again to qualify for governor. That Audu was not yet governor before he died would even be argued at the courts. It is not necessarily the certificate of returns by INEC that makes one a governor, a person is legally a governor once he satisfies 2 conditions;
1. He has majority of valid votes in an election.
2. He is able to gather at least 1/3 of votes in 2/3 of the local govenment area.

Now, Faleke can argue that at the time of Audu's death, he had already satisfied the conditions to be governor elect, and therefor can be assumed governor elect and Faleke deputy Governor elect.

gretblue:
You should have known that Apc would have consulted their legal team before making any conclusion.Faleke wouldn't be the option because he didn't participate in the Apc primary election.Faleke woudnt be presented as the govship candidate simply because a candidate cant run for 2 offices in a certain/single or particular election.The law doesn't permit him to run as deputy and at the same time run for govship.The best option for Apc now is to present the second runner up in the Apc primary election.

You guys fail to realize that elections had taken place and most of the results of the elections is valid, the only contention is about 41,000 votes yet to be concluded. Are you saying Bello would become governor with less than 41,000 votes? ( that is if he is presented to run the supplementary election). What happens to the votes already gathered by Audu/Faleke? Is it possible to separate the votes given to Audu from those of Faleke or you think all the 420,000 votes already earned by APc should all be attributed to Audu?

This Faleke impasse is similar to the June 12 saga. Elections were held, but after the announcement of results from most of the polling units, the electoral body decided to suspend the elections. In the case of June 12, the elections were annulled only for the full results to be announced almost 2 decades later, but in the case of Audu/Faleke, supplementary elections were announced for 2 weeks later In order to announce the full results. Some people are even asking for annulment of the whole elections and staring the electoral process all over again.

donphilopus:
Bros, it's usually 12. I have someone who won a little cash last month. This' the slip: B919STQPQCPZZ-1169341 Count it!

Why not take time to count the figure you typed before posting. It is never 12, it is always 13.

stanlomite:
That game is real for those who knw what staking is.....chk the betslip yourself its not an edited work B95SZEZTAZAQ-1330407

I do not know how they did it, but the bett slip is fake.
The first set of digits (B95SZEZTAZAQ) should be 13 and not 12.
Such huge winnings would be splashed on bet9ja home page, we are yet to see it.

Bet9ja has to clarify what's going on, so as uphold their reputation.

Son ko, wife ni. We should make up our minds if we want to practice democracy or monarchy. In a democratic setting, the Audu's son does not even enter the equation. The person holding the keys to the whole embrolio is the deputy governorship candidiate - Fadeke, without him the whole scheme cooked up by APC is dead on arrival. His situation is similar to Jonathan's when PDP refused to make him acting president after Yaradua's death because he is from a minority tribe. Fadeke already has 241,000 votes in the kitty (which might even be enough to make him deputy governor elect/Governor elect) all he requires is 5,000 more votes. If APC is ready to throw away 421,000 votes because their deputy is from a minority tribe, then APC is worse than PDP.

PassingShot:
Lol!
Barcanista is too smart to be playing blind opposition especially the kind that is offered by PDP presently.

TonyeBarcanista, the only area I don't agree with you on this thread is your position that it is illegal for APC to do another primaries to select another candidate. The necessity for the intended primary is a result of unforseen circumstance which was not provided for in the law. So, I don't think it will be illegal to do one. However, I support that Faleke should be allowed to fly the party's flag with the election almost won by a joint ticket with Audu.

Primaries can only be held to select a candidate to contest in areas where results had been cancelled, you cannot select another candidate to contest in areas where results had been declared, unless those results are also cancelled.

ndcide:
1, The elections were not concluded, hence the cases cited by Tonyebarcanista doesn't totally apply.

2, The deputy didn't run in the primary election. He was selected. Picking a deputy is a different game altogether. Inec don't have procedures for such selection. It's absolutely under the control of the party.

3, both late Audu and Faleke have not been elected at this point.

You are not exactly correct, yes the TOTAL election results has not been concluded, BUT, the elections in most units, wards, local government has been concluded. It is only in a few polling units in some ward that elections had not been concluded. Remember, results are announced at each polling unit. INEC cannot cancel results of a polling unit once it had been announced and accepted by INEC .

The only controversy is in polling units where elections were cancelled.

Eruditor:
I strongly disagree. If your opinion is implemented it will set a precedence that not only maligns common sense but will be expensive and illogical.

Consider a scenario that Wada was leading and his Deputy died whilst INEC declared inconclusive. The rule should mean that the whole elections will be cancelled and fresh elections held because the same electoral act says anybody running for governor can only have a mandate if he has a deputy.

Also in the same vein consider a situation if one of the lesser parties had their own candidate deceased before the announcements or completion of the elections. Would INEC not be mandated to cancel the entire elections and conduct fresh ones?

The death of a governorship candidate after an election but before declaration of results is not a ground for cancelling an election. INEC cannot cancel the over 240,000 votes gathered by APC during the elections. The grounds for cancelling an election includes, violence, ballot snatching, fake results, multitude voting, etc, but never death of a candidate. Only a court can cancel an election once it had been declared valid by INEC cannot.

HALLOWED:
In as much as I would want APC to win, I won't support setting bad precedent. First of all AGF mentioned the power of substitution for a candidate dies but didn't add " before the election" as the law states.
I believe that election is to allow the majority to select whom they want to rule them. Therefore there should be a specified candidate throughout the election.
What sense does it make that in a single election some people will vote for a particular candidate and others vote for another candidate all for the same party?
I criticized the case of Amaechi vs INEC because it sets bad precedent.
If you say it is the party that has the vote, why should a Governor decamp from his party and still retain his position?
That is incongruent logic.
Electorates are voting based on the:
1) the Party ( Manifesto)
2) the credibility of the candidate.
If the too are not complete throughout the election, the election should be reconducted.

You people love to criticize for the sake of criticizing, you just criticize emotionally just because you do not like the personality favoured by judicial descisions. If you followed the Amaechi case you will realize that it was a sound decision.
Amaechi fulfilled all the conditions set out in the electorial laws to become a governor. He won the primaries supervised by INEC, his name was sent to INEC as their governorship candidiate, he campaigned vigourously in all local government areas. But in PDP's abracadadraism of those days, his name was subsituted two days to elections (without valid reasons), because Obasanjo said Amaechi had K-leg. The person he was substituted with did not contest the primaries, so the supreme court declared he was not a valid nominated candidiate, and the validly nominated candidiate was Amaechi. Now, the supreme courts would have ordered for a fresh elections, but that would not have changed the situation, because the PDP could not have conducted another primaries in order to allow celestine Omehia contest, so Amaechi would still have been the PDP candidiate. So the supreme court had no choice but to declare Amaechi governor