NFF against Russia’s World Cup bid

By Fidelis Ebu, Abuja
Apparently scadalised by the racial attack on the Eagles’ striker, Osaze Odemwingie by fans of the player’s former Russian club, Lokomotive Moscow, the executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has threatened to launch a global campaign against Russia’s 2018 World Cup bid.

While frowning at the racial abuse on Odemwingie, Chris Green, an executive member of the new NFF, after its inaugural meeting last night, said in a statement that the NFF would start a global campaign against Russia’s bid for the 2018 World Cup.

“The executive committee condemned, in strong terms, the racist attack on Osaze by fans of his former Russia club Lokomotive Moscow and we intend to start a global campaign against Russia’s bid for the 2018 World Cup”, Green said.

He however expressed the committee’s appreciation to the federal government and its agencies for providing an enabling environment, which led to a successful conduct of its elective congress last week at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

We’ll not surrender to Eagles

By Jacob Ajom
The camp of the Eagles in Calabar is in high spirit, as all the players are enthusiastically hoping to have a good start in their campaign for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with the qualifier against Madagascar on Sunday.
The Eagles who relocated to Amba Tinapa hotel Calabar Thursday are up for a tough time if feelers from the Madagascar camp are anything to go by.

The Scorpions, as the team from the Southern African country are called have been undergoing serious endurance test under coach Jean-Paul Rabier who has promised “not to surrender” to the Eagles on Sunday.

Madagascar’s seriousness to qualify for the continental championship for the first time in their history was underscored by the engagement of the French man early this year. Rabier was tasked with qualifying the island nation for their first-ever African championship in 2012.

President of the Madagascar Football Federation, Ahmad Ahmand was optimistic on arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport last night saying they were in Nigeria for a good match.

He added that nobody should expect a one sided game as Madagascar also wants to be at the 2012 Nations Cup.
The coach and the players share this optimism as their level of confidence was also high, ahead of the weekend match.

Coach Jean-Paul Rabier, 55 is not a rookie in top flight African football as the former Stade Rennes and Racing Lens(both of France) player once handled

Don blames ailing economy on improper planning

BENIN—A Professor of Economics at the University of Benin, UNIBEN, Prof. Mike Obadan, has attributed what he described as the failure of the nation’s economy to grow rapidly since the inception of democracy in 1999 to deficiency in plan formulation and implementation by the Federal Government.

The university don, advocated the re-introduction of development planning in the country so as to achieve the Millenium Development Goals, MDGs, in 2015. He argued that in developing countries where the quest for economic growth and development is urgent, bottlenecks in the market and market failures are the rule rather than the exception.

According to him, “a lot is expected from the government in terms of driving development.”

Prof. Obadan spoke while delivering a lecture entitled Nigeria at 50 and its National Economic Development Paradigms: The Benefit of Hindsight, on the occasion of the Nigeria’s 50th Independence Anniversary at the Federal Polytechnic Auchi yesterday.

He said: “If Nigeria is to move out of the present unsatisfactory state of economic and social development, into the realm of sustainable, high quality growth and development to put her in the league of developed countries, the government must not only give sane democracy and good governance, it must also come up with good policies and macro-economic stability."

“There is serious need to take national development planning seriously to serve as an important economic management strategy. It is a good decision that planning is being reintroduced. If planning did not yield the desired results in the past, it was not because planning is flawed as an instrument, rather the handlers of planning were to blame.

Now, development planning has become compelling against the back drop of the global economic crisis and the failure of the market strategy” he stated.

Rector of the institution, Dr (Mrs) Philipa Idogho, in her address, regretted that the economy of the nation had refused to grow despite all efforts by government, adding that “it was as result of our quest for solution to the problem, we decided to organized this anniversary lecture”.

1999 Amended Constitution fully in operation —Ekweremadu

By Henry Umoru & Salamatu Ismail
ABUJA—AHEAD of the 2011 general elections, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said, yesterday, that unless a competent court sets aside the amended constitution of 1999, it remained valid and operational.

Ekweremadu who was answering questions from newsmen when he visited the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over last Saturday’s fire incident, said the constitution recently passed by the National Assembly must be respected and obeyed by Nigerians.

He said the constitution has come into force unless there was any other development from the court of law that might render it useless and not operational.

Ekweremadu said: “The amendment is operational.

Until they seek legal interpretation, the amendment has become operational. See, our business is to make laws and once those laws are made, we become what is called ‘functus officio.’

“So the law is operational until it is set aside by the court.
We are not going to worry ourselves about that. As far as we are concerned we have done our job. If anybody thinks otherwise he goes to court and until the court makes pronouncement on it that is law and that is what Nigerians will obey.”

Also yesterday, the Niger State Governor, Mauzu Babangida Aliyu, said the party must be supreme and stronger than any member, adding that governors elected on the platform of the same political party must be seen to be doing the same thing against the backdrop that they were guided by the same manifesto.

Mua’zu Aliyu who was speaking with newsmen at the national secretariat of the PDP, said: “In every developed democracy, the party is the supreme organ. The party is the foundation. The party screens candidates. The party sponsors candidates under its manifesto. If a governor, let’s say from Niger, is doing a good thing, we expect all other PDP governors in other states to be doing the same thing because they have a common denominator. But where there is emptiness or where there is vacuum everybody now begins to do his own thing to the extent that you find people using other people’s manifesto instead of their own.”

On INEC, he said, “they wanted N87 billion and we approved it.

Even though I have reservation about the figure, but we need support them to do a good job. We hope they apply the money appropriately. They brought N89 billion and N87 billion was approved, so that is no problem. But let him finish the N87 billion first before he comes for another one.”

Speaking further, the Deputy Senate President blamed the fire incident at the secretariat on the level of preparedness of the people to respond to emergency situations, said that public buildings should be constructed to withstand unforeseen circumstances such as fire disaster.

He said the fire incident at Wadata Plaza, “calls to question some of the measures we take some times.

If our preparedness is properly addressed, some of these things can be better averted. When people are building houses we should be able to put in place measures to address all these foreseen circumstances.

On the fire incident, the Niger State governor said: “I am happy that it has come but I am not too happy with the fire because it has alerted us to know that everybody must do his job. The labourer who is in charge of making sure that the lights are off should be sure that all the switches are off, that all the air-conditioners are all off. This is what happens in other places - everybody has his own schedule; everybody knows what to do. So, I am happy that we have been baptized and we will not allow it to happen again.”

Also at the Secretariat were Kaduna State governor, Ibrahim Patrick Yakowa, two former national chairmen of PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and Barnabas Gemade.

Contempt: Court orders Police to arrest Onovo

y Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA—Following the refusal of the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ogbonaya Onovo, to appear before it yesterday, an Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama, has ordered the Federal Capital Territory Police Command to ensure that he was arrested and produced in court on September 7.

Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, who was irked by the absence of the police boss in court yesterday, however, acceded to a request by a police lawyer, CSP Henry Njoku, who pleaded for more time to enable the force put its house in order.

CSP Njoku, who yesterday maintained that the police-chief would not intentionally undermine the honour and integrity of the Nigerian judiciary by holding its orders to contempt, added that the police authority got to know about the pendency of the suit, as well as the warrant of arrest against the IG, via Newspaper publications.

According to him, “my Lord, I was at the registry of this court yesterday (Wednesday) after reading the publication titled ‘Court orders the arrest of the IG of police.

“The registrar, one Mr Malik, then showed me a bench warrant directed against the IG, and informed me that a copy of it was served on the FCT Police Command for eventual execution.

“I think my lord that there is an avoidable lacuna in respect of this case as the respondent will not do anything intentionally to undermine the honour and integrity of this court in particular and the judiciary in general.

“In the circumstance, my lord, we most humbly and passionately apply for a very brief adjournment to enable us to regularize appearance and perfect the orders of this court.

“With regards to section 36 of the 1999 constitution, it will amount to a great injustice if the respondents are not given fair hearing in this case,” he insisted.

However, counsel to the applicants, Mr Asekome Oteiku, while refuting claims by the police that it was yet to be properly intimated about the court order, prayed the high court judge to go ahead and preserve the sanctity of the judiciary and the rule of law by ensuring that its orders were strictly complied with.

In his short ruling after listening to both counsels, Justice Adeniyi held thus: “There is enough proof before me to show that the warrant of arrest issued against the IGP on August 30 was duly served on the FCT police command.

However, I shall in the over-stretched interest of justice accede to this request, though grudgingly, but at least nobody from today can claim ignorance of this order."

“This case bothers on the issue of life and death and Order 4 Rule 3 of this court calls for its speedy disposal. The constitution does not give anybody, no matter who he is, the right to keep Nigerian citizens in custody indefinitely.

“The law that made him IG is no respecter of anybody, am guided by the procedures of this court and he must also be properly guided. The records before me show that he was properly served.

“Consequently, I hereby set down this case till September 7 to await the compliance of the respondent”.

It would be recalled that the high court on August 30, ordered the arrest of the IG, over his alleged refusal to comply with a summon issued to him by the court in a case of unlawful detention of two police corporals, Onyebuchi Eze and Kenneth Chikwe.

The court equally ordered all the law enforcement agencies in the country to comply with the directive, adding that he should be detained under prison custody until yesterday.

Justice Adeniyi had, ab-initio, ordered the police boss to personally appear before him to show cause why he should not be committed to prison for allegedly violating four separate court injunctions, allegedly served on him on August 9, 12, 18 and 20, 2010, with regards to the continued detention of the two accused persons.

The duo alongside one Mr. Austine Duru where on October 7, 2009, arrested by operatives of the State Security Services, SSS, at Owerri, the Imo State capital, for allegedly collaborating with suspected kidnappers in Anambra State and subsequently transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Though they are yet to be arraigned before a competent court over the alleged crime since they were arrested in 2009, a human right organization, the International Human Rights Initiative, however, took the case to court after the 1st accused person, (Onyebuchi Eze), was said to have developed appendicitis while under detention and was denied medical attention by the police.

The right body applied to the court for an order directing the Nigerian Police to grant him conditional bail to enable him to go for a surgery, a request that was acceded to by the high court and refused by the police authorities.

Buhari, Soyinka back Jonathan on credible polls

y Emeka Mamah & Dayo Johnson
KADUNA—FORMER Head of State and presidential aspirant of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Major-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, expressed confidence on the ability of President Goodluck Jonathan to conduct free, fair and credible elections next year and urged Nigerians to give him a chance to do so.

General Buhari spoke in a Kaduna State Radio programme “Vision Nigeria”, while Professor Soyinka had an interactive session with newsmen in Akure, Ondo State.

Buhari who said he was at the Presidential Villa last Monday on invitation of President Goodluck Jonathan to break the Ramadan fast for that day denied insinuations that he had discussed 2011 with the President.

He said: “I went there to honour the President’s invitation to break my fast. There were about 20 people there. We did not talk on any issue. Right from my car, I went straight to the breakfast table and after that, I went back to my car and left. So, I do not know where people got the idea that we discussed. That is not true.”

He expressed confidence that Jonathan would conduct free, fair and credible elections adding that he was ready to support any government that emerges through such credible polls.

Buhari who regretted that he spent 50 months in the courts challenging the conduct of the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections because both were adjudged by both local and international observers as not free and fair, added: “I will continue to fight for credible democracy in the country.”

He said: “When the Supreme Court validated the election of late President Uamru Musa Yar’Adua, my faith in the Nigerian judiciary was shaken but since the Supreme Court is the apex court in the land, there was nothing anybody could do about the judgment.

Conduct of free,fair polls

“The conduct of free, fair and credible election is not dependent on the candidates contesting the election, but the will of the people especially the elite to mobilize and deliver credible election to the people.

“If people are well informed and well led by their constituencies, I do not think we should be afraid for whoever wants to contest, including the President himself. I always bring the case of Bauchi, Kano and Lagos.

He added: “Nigerians have the capacity to reject any candidate they know is not capable to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Meanwhile, Prof Soyinka has urged Nigerians to give President Goodluck Jonathan the benefit of doubt to conduct next year’s election before condemning the approach towards the poll.

Soyinka also cautioned the media to stop portraying the internal policy of a single political party to mean the political policy of the entire country.

The Nobel laureate who spoke with newsmen in Akure after delivering a lecture on Culture and Politics at the First International Conference on Culture in the state said: “President Jonathan seems determined to make the elections free and fair hence the people should watch and see how he wished to achieve that. The President seems determined that the elections will be free and fair. The decorations are marvelous but we are waiting to see the results.

Condemning the approach


“Nigerians should, therefore, await the results of the 2011 general elections before condemning the approach towards the poll.”

Cautioning the media against dwelling so much on the internal policy of a political party, Soyinka said: “There is this habit in the media which tries to turn the internal practices of a particular party to mean the constitutional rights of the nation. That is wrong. So the press should stop portraying the internal policy of a single political party to mean the political policy of the entire country”.

In the lecture, Soyinka said the use of thugs to scuttle or disrupt election process, kidnappings and all forms of social insecurity which are yet to be tackled by government was a threat to the nation’s democracy.

He noted: “After about three decades of military rule in the country, the civilian administrations in the last 11 years are yet to restore civility to our system.”

The Nobel Laureate argued that “a better way to promote and nurture democracy in the country was for the people to respect and uphold their traditional culture and expressed concern that lack of respect for the traditional values was affecting democracy in Nigeria.”

He said that rather that questioning the source of sudden wealth of some individuals in the society, Nigerians ended up celebrating them, adding that Nigerians were fond of celebrating mediocrity while the “architects of Nigerian woes are currently being celebrated.”

According to him“majority of those who should be in jail were now major players in the nation’s political sphere. Soyinka, however, paid glowing tributes to the former Oyo State Governor and Minister of Justice, late Bola Ige and the foremost writer, late D.O Fagunwa. He said: “I advised the late Ige to accept the appointment as the Power and Steel Minister because I knew he had the solution to the energy crisis in the country then. The hawks in the system threw the spanner and he was taken to the Justice ministry where he was humiliated out of the system through a brutal death carried out in his bedroom.”

Governor Olusegun Mimiko spoke in the same vein saying that instead of questioning sudden wealth by some people they ended up being celebrate and honored.

Professor Maurice Iwu: About Time to Call it a Day

A lot has been said about the 2007 elections. Majority of Nigerians have given it a thumbs down. There has not been much support. With Baba out of the equation, the PDP has been silent and the Presidency has stated in so many words that the elections had credibility problems. For the first time in Nigeria's history, a sitting President is contemplating a possibility of a re-run, and has stated upfront that he will not contest the ruling of the tribunal. The only supporters of the 2007 elections seem to be INEC and the Senate President.

The subject matter of this piece is not whether the election was credible, or if INEC's self assessment of 80% is credible. The issue is the sorry situation that Nigeria has found itself, due to the conduct of the 2007 elections.





Real or imagined, the 2007 "elections" has been dubbed the worst in Nigeria's history. Results from the election tribunals are damning. In a lot of cases, the "winners" are begging their challengers to please withdraw their cases from the tribunals, and please let's settle among ourselves as brothers. What this means is an acknowledgement that if the case is allowed to run its full course, they may loose. If you are so sure of your victory, why beg? This is a damning indictment on INEC.

International observers have stated that by sub-Saharan African standards, the elections were sub standard. Sierra Leon did a much better job. In effect, they are saying that the standard of the 2007 elections does not belong to this planet.

There seems to be a grand conspiracy against INEC and Maurice Iwu. Nigerians have conspired against him, the press is party to the conspiracy, ditto the Presidency, which has set up an electoral reform panel. All election monitors are part of this grand conspiracy, including Ohaneze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Arewa Consultative Forum, Civil Society, market women, NBA, NLC, TUC, students, you name it, they are all co-conspirators. The judiciary is part of this conspiracy, overturning election results like domino. Majority of legislators are part of this conspiracy (except of course the senate president, whose case in still pending at the tribunal). The conspiracy is to truncate our democracy and return the military to power.





Patricia Etteh held this nation to ransom for weeks because she could not discern when to call it a day. Resigning is not a de facto admission of guilt. It is a sacrifice for national interest, so that one ceases being an issue so that the nation can move forward.

Nigeria, as a nation needs to move forward, and Maurice Iwu is an issue when it comes to elections. Many elections have been cancelled, and many more are on the way. How can the person that got us into this mess preside over a re-run to correct it? Nigerians have lost confidence in the leadership of INEC, big time. The 2007 elections has brought shame to Nigeria, a large dose of it. There is no way Nigerians will believe that any subsequent election conducted by Iwu's INEC will be credible.

The 2007 elections is a nightmare Nigerians want to wake up from. Maurice Iwu is the face of that election. As at December 2007, we don't know if Yar'Adua will still be president in 2008. It is that bad.

The least that Prof Iwu can do to help us recover from this nightmare is to quietly call it a day. His continued defense of the indefensible is an assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians, effectively rubbing pepper into a festering wound.

Maurice Iwu may need to give Patricia Etteh a call for an appointment to share notes.

President Yar'Adua seems to be a gentleman who lets events resolve themselves. Maybe he is waiting for commonsense to prevail on Maurice Iwu to throw in the towel, rather than show him the door. However, this INEC should not be allowed to conduct repeat elections ordered by the tribunals.

The 2007 elections is mired beyond redemption. Hanging on will simply make a bad situation worse. In the height of the Vietnam fiasco, an American Senator passionately pleaded with the house that America should declare victory in Vietnam and go home.

Nigeria needs a fresh start. We are pleading with Maurice to declare victory and go home. He gave his best, and for that, we are grateful.

It is about time to call it a day...

By NigeriaGalleria Editorial Team
December 2007

Nigeria: Things Fall Apart

By Usiere Uko. January 17, 2010

Nigeria sailed into uncharted waters when on November 23, President Umaru Yar'Adua was taken to Saudi Arabia for one in a series of medical treatment that have become a defining feature of his presidency. As usual, he went AWOL, without a proper handing over to Goodluck Jonathan, his vice per constitutional provisions, going by the now famous section 145.

Since Mr. President has been going on French leave without sanctions from the National Assembly, it has become a norm in serial constitutional violations. Both Chambers of the National Assembly is controlled by the ruling PDP, hence the President's back was covered. So come November 23, Mr President went AWOL again, assuming he will be back as usual before Nigerians begin to ask of his whereabouts. It was not to be. Umaru Yar'adua is still in Saudi Arabia 56 days and counting. His medical state has become an official secret. His media team has virtually disbanded, leaving the field open to conflicting information cum lies from the Federal Executive Council, Governors, aides, local and foreign media. The rumor mill has taken over and Nigerians have been left bewildered, confused and not knowing what or who to believe. The ship of the Nigerian state has been left adrift in high waters.

Where is Umaru?

That has been the question on the lips of Nigerians. Nigerians have heard more than a dozen times since last year that he is responding to treatment, and will be back soon. The ghostly voice on BBC seems to prove otherwise. It is obvious that if a video of the president is shown on air, Nigerians will know conclusively that they have been lied to, since December 2009. Mr President seems to be in no state to be videoed, as hell may break loose if Nigerians know the truth. Nobody believes the government anymore.

Nigeria seems to be suffering from a multiple organ failure. All organs that ought to have stemmed this slide to constitutional anarchy seem to have failed, and Nigeria seems to be careening wildly towards an early fulfillment CIA's failed state by 2015 prophecy. Like the sad Farouk AbdulMutallab saga, all organs that are supposed to catch the drift have failed serially.

Mr. President set the ball rolling by refusing again and again, to hand over to his Vice. He has agreed to be held bound by hawks who insist that it is the PDP's Northern caucus turn to loot and wreck the nation. Rather than allow Jonathan to be acting President, instead let the heavens fall. It is their God given turn to loot, based on the fraudulent agreement in PDP to take it turn by turn rather than let the best man serve per the Nigerian constitution. Mr. President seems to have enough energy to supposedly sign the 2009 supplementary appropriation bill, and use his last breath to give the shortest interview in BBC history, but does not find it fit to sign the letter transmitting to the National Assembly for Goodluck Jonathan to be sworn in as Acting President. All vestiges of servant leadership and rule of law has evaporated into the thin air, as the President defends his beloved cabal with all the breath left in him.

Taking a cue from the President, the FEC resolved on December 2, 2009 based on a seemingly nonexistent medical report, that Mr. President is fit to rule from a hospital ward. Our most entertaining Attorney General dropped the clincher, that the hospital ward can be situated anywhere in the world - Tahiti of Tibet who cares? The mandate is global. The Vice President is an optional extra. It is also the prerogative of the President to hand over to the vice, and this President is not handing over anytime soon. He will hold on till death do them part. Nigerians can go to hell.

Over to the National Assembly. The leadership put on their reading glasses to see clearly the small print. Bingo! The national assembly has no constitutional right to compel the FEC to do the right thing. They can only suggest, and since they have heard the whisper of Umaru on BBC, all that was left is to pay him a solidarity visit to assure him that all is well at home. He can carry on clutching onto power, even from the intensive care unit or life support, if need be. He need not worry, the people are sufficiently bamboozled and docile.

The judiciary, the last system standing and famed last hope of the man on the street seems to be taking its time. If the frenzied January 13 judgment by the Abuja High court is an indicator of the stand of the judiciary, the ball may very well be back in the court of the president while the people look on hopelessly. Nigerians have been tossed like tennis ball by institutions that are supposed to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic.

It seems only Mr President can break this logjam, unless the people decide to get back in the game.

"A country of about 150 million people cannot be held down by the infirmities of one man and the selfishness of a clique."
- Punch editorial of Sunday January 17, 2010.

Our national institutions have failed to contain this avoidable disaster that has befallen us. Things fall apart and the center cannot hold, mere anarchy seems poised to be loosed upon the land. Nigerians have been left on their own, and have a choice to make. The only viable option left is for Nigerians to take their destiny into their hands. According to Professor Wole Soyinka, the time for talk has passed. It is time to march.

The first march was a hugely successful outing in Abuja January 12, which forced Mr. President to break a 50-day silence, woke the national assembly from slumber to speak on the issue of our missing President, as usual saying nothing, looking for something to hide under, and reactionary forces to return to the trenches to rent a crowd in support of a president that has gone AWOL.

Nigerians are waking up from slumber. People are beginning to speak out. Churches are beginning to find their voice. The civil society is regrouping. The Unions are awakening. It is beginning to dawn on many that if Nigerians do not rise up to say ENOUGH is ENOUGH, the hand of the clock will be moved back to 1993, or much worse - join Somalia in the list of failed states, not only in the list of 10 countries of interest. The Save Nigeria Group has issued a battle cry. The Abuja rally was not the end, but a beginning. Phase 2 moves to Lagos Thursday January 21.

The time to hide in our sitting rooms and offices to run commentaries and complain has come to an end. It is time to throw our hats into the ring, and put our legs and hands where our mouth is. Talk is cheap. Excuses is buy one, get one free. History does not belong to the talkers, but the doers.

There is no record anywhere of folks that murmured and complained during the racial segregation era in the US and apartheid era in South Africa. History only has record of everyday folks who gathered up their courage, put away their fear and marched. People who stood up for God and country, sometimes putting their very lives on the line. The church had a shining example in Reverend Martin Luther King in the US, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa. Nigeria is in dire need of such.

Nigeria is sadly again at the cross roads. For Nigerians, it is time to put up or shut up for good.

By Usiere Uko writes from Lagos

Iyabogate and Obasanjo's Anti-Corruption Crusade

What has come to be referred to as "Iyabogate" is one in a long string of scandals that has trailed the exit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, aka Baba Iyabo. While in power, Baba Iyabo strove hard to project the image of Mr Clean. In the dying days of his presidency, he deployed the full force of his arsenal against his deputy, Atiku Abubakar under the guise of fighting corruption.

There has been inuendos circulating across people's paliaments that Baba Iyabo fought corruption with corruption. It was claimed that, as a dirty broom, he left behind more filth thatn he removed. Events and revelation since his exit after the failure of the "third term" fiasco seems to lend increasing credence to this innuendo.





The land is abuzz with scandals, from last minute sweetheart deals to the latest string of scandals, dubbed b commentators as "one month, one scandal"... from wilbros, Siemens, Schneider... Critics claim that this is just a tip of the iceberg, the show is about to start. President Umaru Yar' Adua's team has been kept very busy, reversing decisions made by Baba Iyabo, especially in his last months in power, gaining credibilty in the process. All that the Yar'Adua need to boost the approval rating of the government is to shop for an unpopular Obasanjo policy and reverse it pronto, and they seem to be not hard to find.

Even while in power, there were conflict of interest issues thrown up with the building of a presidential library while still in power, Bells University, awarding oil blocks to Transcorp while still a shareholder, and the controversial sale of Abuja Hilton and NITEL to Transcorp, the miraculous revival of Temperance farms and other business among others. The goings on in the Petroluem Ministry under Baba Iyabo's watch is an untold story. The AP story may very well fire the opening salvo in the story of the activities of "friends and family" of Baba Iyabo in the oil industry.





Of all the wind of scandals blowing across the land, iyabogate seems to be the one that has blown closest home. Baba Iyabo can claim to have done no evil, heard no evil or seen no evil when it came to acts of his men. Convincing Nigerians that he knew nothing about iyabogate will be an uphill task.

The case seems to be very simple and straight forward. Senator Iyabo has admitted that she is "Mrs Damilola Akinlawon", that Prince Albert Awofisayo is her business partner (owner of Vamed Engineering, that won the contract to refurbish some teaching hospitals in the country). She knew that using her real name will throw up a conflict of interest scenario, hence she chose to use an alias. As far as she knows, this is not against the law, Schneider won the contracts through due process and her being an Obasanjo did not affect the process

Nigeria: Things Fall Apart

By Usiere Uko. January 17, 2010

Nigeria sailed into uncharted waters when on November 23, President Umaru Yar'Adua was taken to Saudi Arabia for one in a series of medical treatment that have become a defining feature of his presidency. As usual, he went AWOL, without a proper handing over to Goodluck Jonathan, his vice per constitutional provisions, going by the now famous section 145.

Since Mr. President has been going on French leave without sanctions from the National Assembly, it has become a norm in serial constitutional violations. Both Chambers of the National Assembly is controlled by the ruling PDP, hence the President's back was covered. So come November 23, Mr President went AWOL again, assuming he will be back as usual before Nigerians begin to ask of his whereabouts. It was not to be. Umaru Yar'adua is still in Saudi Arabia 56 days and counting. His medical state has become an official secret. His media team has virtually disbanded, leaving the field open to conflicting information cum lies from the Federal Executive Council, Governors, aides, local and foreign media. The rumor mill has taken over and Nigerians have been left bewildered, confused and not knowing what or who to believe. The ship of the Nigerian state has been left adrift in high waters.

Where is Umaru?

That has been the question on the lips of Nigerians. Nigerians have heard more than a dozen times since last year that he is responding to treatment, and will be back soon. The ghostly voice on BBC seems to prove otherwise. It is obvious that if a video of the president is shown on air, Nigerians will know conclusively that they have been lied to, since December 2009. Mr President seems to be in no state to be videoed, as hell may break loose if Nigerians know the truth. Nobody believes the government anymore.

Nigeria seems to be suffering from a multiple organ failure. All organs that ought to have stemmed this slide to constitutional anarchy seem to have failed, and Nigeria seems to be careening wildly towards an early fulfillment CIA's failed state by 2015 prophecy. Like the sad Farouk AbdulMutallab saga, all organs that are supposed to catch the drift have failed serially.

Mr. President set the ball rolling by refusing again and again, to hand over to his Vice. He has agreed to be held bound by hawks who insist that it is the PDP's Northern caucus turn to loot and wreck the nation. Rather than allow Jonathan to be acting President, instead let the heavens fall. It is their God given turn to loot, based on the fraudulent agreement in PDP to take it turn by turn rather than let the best man serve per the Nigerian constitution. Mr. President seems to have enough energy to supposedly sign the 2009 supplementary appropriation bill, and use his last breath to give the shortest interview in BBC history, but does not find it fit to sign the letter transmitting to the National Assembly for Goodluck Jonathan to be sworn in as Acting President. All vestiges of servant leadership and rule of law has evaporated into the thin air, as the President defends his beloved cabal with all the breath left in him.

Taking a cue from the President, the FEC resolved on December 2, 2009 based on a seemingly nonexistent medical report, that Mr. President is fit to rule from a hospital ward. Our most entertaining Attorney General dropped the clincher, that the hospital ward can be situated anywhere in the world - Tahiti of Tibet who cares? The mandate is global. The Vice President is an optional extra. It is also the prerogative of the President to hand over to the vice, and this President is not handing over anytime soon. He will hold on till death do them part. Nigerians can go to hell.

Over to the National Assembly. The leadership put on their reading glasses to see clearly the small print. Bingo! The national assembly has no constitutional right to compel the FEC to do the right thing. They can only suggest, and since they have heard the whisper of Umaru on BBC, all that was left is to pay him a solidarity visit to assure him that all is well at home. He can carry on clutching onto power, even from the intensive care unit or life support, if need be. He need not worry, the people are sufficiently bamboozled and docile.

The judiciary, the last system standing and famed last hope of the man on the street seems to be taking its time. If the frenzied January 13 judgment by the Abuja High court is an indicator of the stand of the judiciary, the ball may very well be back in the court of the president while the people look on hopelessly. Nigerians have been tossed like tennis ball by institutions that are supposed to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic.

It seems only Mr President can break this logjam, unless the people decide to get back in the game.

"A country of about 150 million people cannot be held down by the infirmities of one man and the selfishness of a clique."
- Punch editorial of Sunday January 17, 2010.

Our national institutions have failed to contain this avoidable disaster that has befallen us. Things fall apart and the center cannot hold, mere anarchy seems poised to be loosed upon the land. Nigerians have been left on their own, and have a choice to make. The only viable option left is for Nigerians to take their destiny into their hands. According to Professor Wole Soyinka, the time for talk has passed. It is time to march.

The first march was a hugely successful outing in Abuja January 12, which forced Mr. President to break a 50-day silence, woke the national assembly from slumber to speak on the issue of our missing President, as usual saying nothing, looking for something to hide under, and reactionary forces to return to the trenches to rent a crowd in support of a president that has gone AWOL.

Nigerians are waking up from slumber. People are beginning to speak out. Churches are beginning to find their voice. The civil society is regrouping. The Unions are awakening. It is beginning to dawn on many that if Nigerians do not rise up to say ENOUGH is ENOUGH, the hand of the clock will be moved back to 1993, or much worse - join Somalia in the list of failed states, not only in the list of 10 countries of interest. The Save Nigeria Group has issued a battle cry. The Abuja rally was not the end, but a beginning. Phase 2 moves to Lagos Thursday January 21.

The time to hide in our sitting rooms and offices to run commentaries and complain has come to an end. It is time to throw our hats into the ring, and put our legs and hands where our mouth is. Talk is cheap. Excuses is buy one, get one free. History does not belong to the talkers, but the doers.

There is no record anywhere of folks that murmured and complained during the racial segregation era in the US and apartheid era in South Africa. History only has record of everyday folks who gathered up their courage, put away their fear and marched. People who stood up for God and country, sometimes putting their very lives on the line. The church had a shining example in Reverend Martin Luther King in the US, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa. Nigeria is in dire need of such.

Nigeria is sadly again at the cross roads. For Nigerians, it is time to put up or shut up for good.

By Usiere Uko writes from Lagos

THE STATE OF THE NATION BROADCAST By Pastor Tunder Bakare

Broadcast on AIT and Radio COntinental SUNDAY 28TH FEBRUARY, 2010.
THEME: BIBLICAL ANSWERS TO OUR NATIONAL DILEMMA.

Fellow citizens of our great country, those within our borders and those in Diaspora, it has become necessary for us at this critical juncture of our national life to bring a timely word to our people as we by God’s grace make sense of the non-sense that has permeated our polity since November 23, 2009 in the name of hanging onto power at all costs.

Those of us old enough have seen this phenomenon before during the era of sit-tight Premiers who considered leadership as their birth-right and plunged our nation into the crisis that paved way for those not trained in the art and politics of nation building to ravage our land.

Since May 1999, a new season came upon us after a long and protracted battle for the liberation of our land and people from our internal colonialists who used the barrel of the gun to harass, intimidate and subjugate the people they pledged to defend and serve. Our hard-worn democracy, though battered by Generals in mufti is now at the brink of collapse in the hands of ‘sons of necessity’ thrust upon us by those who do not wish our country well for whatever reasons known to them.

Let me make it plain from the on-set that no right thinking person with the milk of human kindness will blame President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for falling ill. No rational human being desires the kind of torture both known and imagined that his health has been subjected to since he was flown out of the country to a hospital abroad because the ones at home are underfunded and ill-equipped to provide the kind of treatment deserved by men in power whether it is pericarditis or radiculopathy.

We sympathise with President Umaru Yar’Adua especially now realising that after almost 100 days of grave illness and First-class medical treatment and attention, he is still not in a position to carry out his statutory duties as the Executive President of the most populous black nation on the earth. We must and we will continue to pray to God to resolve the health issue of Mr. President in his best interest and that of our nation.

Having dealt with the President’s health issue, it is pertinent to address some vital issues and ask relevant questions generated especially by the recent smuggling in of our President like ‘a thief in the night’.

1. What is the motive behind the sudden discharge from the intensive care unit of a hospital of a man so sick that he cannot be seen in public even as we talk and has not been seen by any member of his cabinet including his spokesman?

2. If the president is recuperating as is being suggested by his handlers, who are the doctors - foreign or local - attending to him and where is he located at the present moment – inside the villa, in an ambulance, attached to a life support machine, or where precisely?

3. How long will this hide-and-seek game about the health of the President go on for and how do we pray for a man whose actual condition we do not know?

4. Should the destinies of over 140 million people hang in the balance because of one life who in spite of executive powers is just a citizen like any of us?

5. What should we do in the interim to ensure that our nation does not fall into the abyss of darkness, chaos and disintegration ultimately?

I will to the best of my God-given ability answer some of these questions.

1. MOTIVE
Since only God Almighty knows the intent of the hearts of men, I will not try to suggest what the motive for the sudden discharge of Mr. President is. But if by any means it is to destabilise the National Assembly’s ‘Arrangee’ Acting President, it has already failed before it is fully hatched. I do not need to overflog this issue. The same spokesman of the President who read the script of the President’s handlers addressing the Acting President as Vice President has done a sommersault and is now telling the nation that Acting President Goodluck is now in charge until the President fully recovers.

We cannot but think that the spin doctors in Abuja are thoroughly confused in the way and manner this simple issue has been handled. What made the handlers think that the President can re-gain his powers and return to his office without transmitting a letter to the National Assembly of his recovery and ability to function as Executive President of Nigeria in line with the 1999 constitution?

Let us talk plainly here: if President Umaru Yar’Adua is truly alive and recuperating, show him to us live, let him speak to us, stop guarding his executive chair, let him sit on it and address the nation. Otherwise stop forcing the dying upon the living.

POINT TO PONDER
Over 4 years ago, Israel’s then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and brain damage. The same night he became incapacitated, his Deputy Prime Minister was made Acting President and within 100 days he became the substantive Prime Minister of Israel till he stepped down during the next election that brought the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power. Ariel Sharon is still in a coma till now and life continues in Israel.

No nation needs a President that is either invalid or incapacitated. If we continue to stress President Yar’Adua in his sickly condition, moving him up and down in order to hang onto power, what happened to Dagon when the Philistines hijacked the Ark of the Covenant of God and brought it to Dagon’s temple may happen to him. Do not kill him before his time. (See 1 Samuel 5:1-6)

1. “Then the philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
3. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again.
4. And they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it.
5. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6. But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.” (NKJV)

Let the handlers of Mr. President be warned.

Those within and outside the PDP who maintain that for now the Presidency belongs to the North due to the party’s zoning system should have a re-think for the following reasons:

I. PDP is not Nigeria.

II. The zoning arrangement is not recognised by the 1999 constitution.

III. Nobody is responsible for the unfortunate ill-health of President Yar’Adua.

IV. If he is incapacitated due to a health challenge as he seems to be now, the constitution of Nigeria he swore to uphold should take effect because he is the President of Nigeria not of PDP.

V. Those who smuggled the President to Nigeria willingly or unwillingly have shot themselves in the foot because he is now within our territory and it should be a lot easier for him to be examined by a medical panel pursuant to section 144 of the 1999 constitution to determine the capacity or otherwise of the President. If he is too ill to function, let the word of the Lord in Ecclesiastes 9:4 prevail:

“But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” (NKJV)

VI. As a nation:
i. We had a Ceremonial President in the 1st Republic,
ii. Military Presidents in the years of the locust,
iii. Executive President between 1979 & 83 and from 1999 to date.
iv. God forbid that we end up with a CADAVER President in 2010. Amen.

In closing let me bring out two relevant Biblical truths as we point out the way forward.

1. THE SEARCH PARTIES/FACT FINDERS SENT BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION.

2. WHO IS NOW CALLING THE SHOTS IN ABUJA?

Both the search parties sent by the National Assembly and the 6-man panel sent by the Executive Council of the Federation under the nose of the Acting President did not gain access to the president whilst in Jeddah until he was smuggled back into Nigeria in the dead of the night, and none of those people have seen him up till now. If all truth is indeed parallel then the issue of peaceful succession is upon us. A clear example was what happened when Elisha succeeded Elijah as a leading prophet in Israel. (See 2 Kings 2:15-18)

15. “Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
16. Then they said to him, Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send anyone.
17. But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, send them. Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him.
18. And when they came back to him, for he stayed in Jericho, he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?” (NKJV)

Time has come for us to stop searching for what is not lost and defending the indefensible. Let us do the needful and follow the spirit and letter of the 1999 Constitution for now, however imperfect it may be.

As to who is calling the shots in Abuja right now, we do not need to go too far to find the answer. Let’s see a parallel truth in 1 Kings 21: 1-26 (esp. vs: 4-10)

4. So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.
5. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?"
6. He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"
7. Then Jezebel his wife said to him, "You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
8. And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth.
9. She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;
10. and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die. (NKJV)

At the appropriate time we will find out who signed the budget and on whose authority soldiers were brought to the streets of Abuja on that inglorious night the sick President was smuggled back into the country without the knowledge of the Acting President. Whoever did so outside of the President or Acting President acted illegally.

It is also important to note that the Jezebel factor is the breeding ground for military incursion into the political life of a nation. But let me bring a timely warning to those who might be tinkering with the idea of military solution. They should know that the Jehu revolution that wiped out Jezebel and the 70 sons of Ahab brought greater disaster to Israel than the combined efforts of Ahab and Jezebel. As the bible says,‘Let not the man who puts on the armour boast as the man who puts it off’ (1 Kings 20:11). Military incursion is an ill wind that will blow no one any good in this country. The wound inflicted on the psyche of our nation by the years of military rule is yet to fully heal.

The era of military incursion in Nigeria is over. God forbid that we plunge the nation into the years of the locust again.

THE WAY FORWARD
To avert National chaos, disaster and disintegration let the Executive Council of the Federation set up a medical panel pursuant to section 144 of the 1999 Constitution to determine the capacity or otherwise of the President due to his grave illness now that he is within reach. If the medical panel establishes that he is alive and is able to continue in the office of the President, then let Dr. Jonathan Goodluck continue to preside over the affairs of the nation as the Acting President and Commander-in –Chief of the Armed Forces, until the President fully recovers and is able mentally and otherwise to resume his statutory duties. However, if the President is deemed incapable of continuing to run the affairs of the state by the medical panel, lets us be courageous and noble enough to do the needful by swearing in the Acting President as substantive President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces alongside a new Vice President so that our nation can move forward. (See 2 Chronicles 26:21)

21. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. Then Jotham his son was over the King’s house, judging the people of the land. (NKJV)

This we must do as a matter of urgency and without further delay in the interest of peace, justice, fair play and national progress.

In closing, if there is any lesson we should learn from this present dilemma to avert a re-occurrence in the future, it is that no man or woman should be elected into any political or executive office in our clime without first establishing their mental and physical fitness in addition to all other measures already established for the purpose of screening public servants in any sphere of public office.

No serious corporation employs people without first subjecting them to medical screening. Our public offices deserve nothing less. God establishes in the Bible that people with defects should not serve in the priesthood. (See Leviticus 21:17-24)

17. "Speak to Aaron, saying: 'No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.
18. For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long,
19. a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,
20. or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.
21. No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
22. He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;
23. only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.'"
24. And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel. (NKJV)

That is not necessarily discriminatory. God knows the strength and vitality required for the office of the priest, how much more that of the #1 Citizen and allied offices of our nation? Time has come for the best, the brightest, and the fittest of us to mount the saddle of leadership in our nation regardless of where they are from – east, west, north or south.

GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
PASTOR 'TUNDE BAKARE
SERVING OVERSEER
THE LATTER RAIN ASSEMBLY,
LAGOS, NIGERIA.

THE STATE OF THE NATION BROADCAST By Pastor Tunder Bakare

Broadcast on AIT and Radio COntinental SUNDAY 28TH FEBRUARY, 2010.
THEME: BIBLICAL ANSWERS TO OUR NATIONAL DILEMMA.

Fellow citizens of our great country, those within our borders and those in Diaspora, it has become necessary for us at this critical juncture of our national life to bring a timely word to our people as we by God’s grace make sense of the non-sense that has permeated our polity since November 23, 2009 in the name of hanging onto power at all costs.

Those of us old enough have seen this phenomenon before during the era of sit-tight Premiers who considered leadership as their birth-right and plunged our nation into the crisis that paved way for those not trained in the art and politics of nation building to ravage our land.

Since May 1999, a new season came upon us after a long and protracted battle for the liberation of our land and people from our internal colonialists who used the barrel of the gun to harass, intimidate and subjugate the people they pledged to defend and serve. Our hard-worn democracy, though battered by Generals in mufti is now at the brink of collapse in the hands of ‘sons of necessity’ thrust upon us by those who do not wish our country well for whatever reasons known to them.

Let me make it plain from the on-set that no right thinking person with the milk of human kindness will blame President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for falling ill. No rational human being desires the kind of torture both known and imagined that his health has been subjected to since he was flown out of the country to a hospital abroad because the ones at home are underfunded and ill-equipped to provide the kind of treatment deserved by men in power whether it is pericarditis or radiculopathy.

We sympathise with President Umaru Yar’Adua especially now realising that after almost 100 days of grave illness and First-class medical treatment and attention, he is still not in a position to carry out his statutory duties as the Executive President of the most populous black nation on the earth. We must and we will continue to pray to God to resolve the health issue of Mr. President in his best interest and that of our nation.

Having dealt with the President’s health issue, it is pertinent to address some vital issues and ask relevant questions generated especially by the recent smuggling in of our President like ‘a thief in the night’.

1. What is the motive behind the sudden discharge from the intensive care unit of a hospital of a man so sick that he cannot be seen in public even as we talk and has not been seen by any member of his cabinet including his spokesman?

2. If the president is recuperating as is being suggested by his handlers, who are the doctors - foreign or local - attending to him and where is he located at the present moment – inside the villa, in an ambulance, attached to a life support machine, or where precisely?

3. How long will this hide-and-seek game about the health of the President go on for and how do we pray for a man whose actual condition we do not know?

4. Should the destinies of over 140 million people hang in the balance because of one life who in spite of executive powers is just a citizen like any of us?

5. What should we do in the interim to ensure that our nation does not fall into the abyss of darkness, chaos and disintegration ultimately?

I will to the best of my God-given ability answer some of these questions.

1. MOTIVE
Since only God Almighty knows the intent of the hearts of men, I will not try to suggest what the motive for the sudden discharge of Mr. President is. But if by any means it is to destabilise the National Assembly’s ‘Arrangee’ Acting President, it has already failed before it is fully hatched. I do not need to overflog this issue. The same spokesman of the President who read the script of the President’s handlers addressing the Acting President as Vice President has done a sommersault and is now telling the nation that Acting President Goodluck is now in charge until the President fully recovers.

We cannot but think that the spin doctors in Abuja are thoroughly confused in the way and manner this simple issue has been handled. What made the handlers think that the President can re-gain his powers and return to his office without transmitting a letter to the National Assembly of his recovery and ability to function as Executive President of Nigeria in line with the 1999 constitution?

Let us talk plainly here: if President Umaru Yar’Adua is truly alive and recuperating, show him to us live, let him speak to us, stop guarding his executive chair, let him sit on it and address the nation. Otherwise stop forcing the dying upon the living.

POINT TO PONDER
Over 4 years ago, Israel’s then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and brain damage. The same night he became incapacitated, his Deputy Prime Minister was made Acting President and within 100 days he became the substantive Prime Minister of Israel till he stepped down during the next election that brought the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power. Ariel Sharon is still in a coma till now and life continues in Israel.

No nation needs a President that is either invalid or incapacitated. If we continue to stress President Yar’Adua in his sickly condition, moving him up and down in order to hang onto power, what happened to Dagon when the Philistines hijacked the Ark of the Covenant of God and brought it to Dagon’s temple may happen to him. Do not kill him before his time. (See 1 Samuel 5:1-6)

1. “Then the philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
3. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again.
4. And they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it.
5. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6. But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.” (NKJV)

Let the handlers of Mr. President be warned.

Those within and outside the PDP who maintain that for now the Presidency belongs to the North due to the party’s zoning system should have a re-think for the following reasons:

I. PDP is not Nigeria.

II. The zoning arrangement is not recognised by the 1999 constitution.

III. Nobody is responsible for the unfortunate ill-health of President Yar’Adua.

IV. If he is incapacitated due to a health challenge as he seems to be now, the constitution of Nigeria he swore to uphold should take effect because he is the President of Nigeria not of PDP.

V. Those who smuggled the President to Nigeria willingly or unwillingly have shot themselves in the foot because he is now within our territory and it should be a lot easier for him to be examined by a medical panel pursuant to section 144 of the 1999 constitution to determine the capacity or otherwise of the President. If he is too ill to function, let the word of the Lord in Ecclesiastes 9:4 prevail:

“But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” (NKJV)

VI. As a nation:
i. We had a Ceremonial President in the 1st Republic,
ii. Military Presidents in the years of the locust,
iii. Executive President between 1979 & 83 and from 1999 to date.
iv. God forbid that we end up with a CADAVER President in 2010. Amen.

In closing let me bring out two relevant Biblical truths as we point out the way forward.

1. THE SEARCH PARTIES/FACT FINDERS SENT BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION.

2. WHO IS NOW CALLING THE SHOTS IN ABUJA?

Both the search parties sent by the National Assembly and the 6-man panel sent by the Executive Council of the Federation under the nose of the Acting President did not gain access to the president whilst in Jeddah until he was smuggled back into Nigeria in the dead of the night, and none of those people have seen him up till now. If all truth is indeed parallel then the issue of peaceful succession is upon us. A clear example was what happened when Elisha succeeded Elijah as a leading prophet in Israel. (See 2 Kings 2:15-18)

15. “Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
16. Then they said to him, Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send anyone.
17. But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, send them. Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him.
18. And when they came back to him, for he stayed in Jericho, he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?” (NKJV)

Time has come for us to stop searching for what is not lost and defending the indefensible. Let us do the needful and follow the spirit and letter of the 1999 Constitution for now, however imperfect it may be.

As to who is calling the shots in Abuja right now, we do not need to go too far to find the answer. Let’s see a parallel truth in 1 Kings 21: 1-26 (esp. vs: 4-10)

4. So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.
5. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?"
6. He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"
7. Then Jezebel his wife said to him, "You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
8. And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth.
9. She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;
10. and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die. (NKJV)

At the appropriate time we will find out who signed the budget and on whose authority soldiers were brought to the streets of Abuja on that inglorious night the sick President was smuggled back into the country without the knowledge of the Acting President. Whoever did so outside of the President or Acting President acted illegally.

It is also important to note that the Jezebel factor is the breeding ground for military incursion into the political life of a nation. But let me bring a timely warning to those who might be tinkering with the idea of military solution. They should know that the Jehu revolution that wiped out Jezebel and the 70 sons of Ahab brought greater disaster to Israel than the combined efforts of Ahab and Jezebel. As the bible says,‘Let not the man who puts on the armour boast as the man who puts it off’ (1 Kings 20:11). Military incursion is an ill wind that will blow no one any good in this country. The wound inflicted on the psyche of our nation by the years of military rule is yet to fully heal.

The era of military incursion in Nigeria is over. God forbid that we plunge the nation into the years of the locust again.

THE WAY FORWARD
To avert National chaos, disaster and disintegration let the Executive Council of the Federation set up a medical panel pursuant to section 144 of the 1999 Constitution to determine the capacity or otherwise of the President due to his grave illness now that he is within reach. If the medical panel establishes that he is alive and is able to continue in the office of the President, then let Dr. Jonathan Goodluck continue to preside over the affairs of the nation as the Acting President and Commander-in –Chief of the Armed Forces, until the President fully recovers and is able mentally and otherwise to resume his statutory duties. However, if the President is deemed incapable of continuing to run the affairs of the state by the medical panel, lets us be courageous and noble enough to do the needful by swearing in the Acting President as substantive President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces alongside a new Vice President so that our nation can move forward. (See 2 Chronicles 26:21)

21. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. Then Jotham his son was over the King’s house, judging the people of the land. (NKJV)

This we must do as a matter of urgency and without further delay in the interest of peace, justice, fair play and national progress.

In closing, if there is any lesson we should learn from this present dilemma to avert a re-occurrence in the future, it is that no man or woman should be elected into any political or executive office in our clime without first establishing their mental and physical fitness in addition to all other measures already established for the purpose of screening public servants in any sphere of public office.

No serious corporation employs people without first subjecting them to medical screening. Our public offices deserve nothing less. God establishes in the Bible that people with defects should not serve in the priesthood. (See Leviticus 21:17-24)

17. "Speak to Aaron, saying: 'No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.
18. For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long,
19. a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,
20. or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.
21. No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
22. He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;
23. only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.'"
24. And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel. (NKJV)

That is not necessarily discriminatory. God knows the strength and vitality required for the office of the priest, how much more that of the #1 Citizen and allied offices of our nation? Time has come for the best, the brightest, and the fittest of us to mount the saddle of leadership in our nation regardless of where they are from – east, west, north or south.

GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
PASTOR 'TUNDE BAKARE
SERVING OVERSEER
THE LATTER RAIN ASSEMBLY,
LAGOS, NIGERIA.

I will defeat Jonathan in 2011 �IBB

The former bank chief is standing trial on a 22-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged corrupt practices committed while he was at the helm of affairs at the bank, which amounted to about N347 billion.

Akingbola was granted bail in the sum of N500 million by Justice Mohammed Idris who also ordered him to produce three sureties in like sum, who must be Nigerians and be landed property owners in Lagos.

The sureties will also produce certificates for tax clearance of eight years.

Contacted yesterday, EFCC Head of Media, Mr. Femi Babafemi told Daily Champion that though the former bank chief has submitted some documents to the agency, they were still undergoing verification.

He said Akingbola "has not been able to see any guarantor that can produce the prescribed tax certificate," adding that as a result he was still in their custody.

The court while ruling on the bail application filed by lead counsel to Akingbola, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN), also barred him from travelling out of the country and ordered that his travelling passport be deposited with the EFCC.

The judge in dismissing the anti-graft agency�s argument that the accused person fled Nigeria upon being declared wanted for corruption held that there was no evidence to show that the allegations against him have been made before he travelled out of the country last year. The court thereby dismissed newspaper publications to that effect.

Justice Idris said: "He had not been declared wanted by the EFCC as at the time he travelled out of Nigeria. There is nothing to suggest that he would interfere with investigations and influence witnesses."

The court, in deciding the bail application in Akingbola�s favour, said the accused person was entitled to bail since the offences for which he is charged were bail-able under the law.

Justice Idris ordered the former bank chief to produce three sureties in like sum who must have landed properties within the Lagos jurisdiction of the court. The sureties will also produce evidence of tax clearance for eight years; all of which must be certified by the appropriate body and deposited with the court registrar.

Akingbola will also deposit his international passport with the court registrar and is to report at the EFCC office the first working day of every week.

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter to October 25 for trial.

Akingbola is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 22-count charge of alleged theft, market manipulation, insider trading, abuse of office and economic crimes amounting to N346.1 billion and £10.9 million.

Samsung Galaxy Tablet

Just like Apple’s iPad Samsung has also launched its new Samsung Galaxy Tab. Although from the looks it looks pretty promising but let’s see how it is better or inferior to Apple’s iPad.

As far as the body and looks are concerned the Samsung Galaxy has a sleek and stylish figure, having 16:9 7-inch screen which is so good for watching movies and videos. It seems to be perfect portable multimedia device. And unlike iPad it is not cumbrous and is light weight, perfect for playing games.

In terms of functionality, it offers more than that of iPad. The cameras are both on front and at the back, the rear one being 3 megapixels which is 3 megapixels more than the iPad. Of course, you need to have a reasonable memory and for that the Samsung Galaxy offer expandable memory unit with micro SD cards which leads up to 32 GB, economical and worth having.

It also offers voice calling, though it can’t replace cell phones but it ideal for video conversations and video conferences.

One thing that is the most important is the finishing and the strength of any gadget and for Samsung Galaxy it has both the qualities. When in hand it feels like some hardcore gadget with a good solid finishing. The Samsung Galaxy Tablet will be hitting the UK markets soon, probably around October and the prices are still unknown.

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Written by fahad majidi in: Tech News | Tags: apple, cameras, Galaxy, ipad, micro SD, samsung, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, tablet, UK

Apple’s ITunes 10

Apple has upgraded its misc jukebox, on this Wednesday Apple announced iTunes 10 major improvement to its media management software and music jukebox. Basically, this upgraded iTunes 10 is aimed to be a social networking element with the purpose to aid helpers discovering new music genre.

The Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs elaborated the functioning of this new social network which has been called Ping. Just like other social networks such as facebook, twitter, orkut, myspace and many other, Ping is also a social networking component that allows the user to log on to their favorite artists, their albums and most of all your friends. Artists can also get connected with their fans via iTunes Store page. Like most of other social networking sites, you can organize your own friends circle, can also buy and listen to the stuff and can see what your friends doing. Post your statuses, opinions and do whatever you want to.

Ping will be made available on the iPhone and iPod touch sooner and a new button in the iTunes Store application will appear. More over the iTunes 10 has got a new hybrid view that arranges in the same way as in music columns.

iTunes 10 will be available as a free download on Wednesday at Apple.com or iTunes.com. Further details will be available as soon as other official announcements are made.

Mixx

Written by fahad majidi in: Tech News | Tags: apple, Apple’s ITunes 10, facebook, iphone, itunes, Jukebox, music, myspace, networking, orkut, Steve Jobs Ping, Twitter

2010 US Open Tennis: Rafael Nadal Looks wobbly in First Round

Rafael Nadal barely survived his game in US open at Arthur Ashe Stadium. He was matched up with unranked Teymuraz Gabashvili. TV commentators, fans and even the US open officials thought that Nadal will lose this match but in the end he made it, barely! Afterwards Nadal started giving excuses that the ball of US Open was hard for him and he underestimated his opponent.

His opponent was Teymuraz Gabashvili who is at 98^th rank in the US Open and at 93^rd ranks in the ATP rankings and he deserves the credit. He gave a good match to Nadal and was a worthy opponent.

But whatever the conditions are, no one expected from an experienced and bright player to play such a game against a man whose highest ever rank was 59^th. And this is his zenith in the Grand Slam in the fourth round at Roland Garros. And besides 2006 and 2007, he has never been able to make it to the second round at the US Open.

According to some writers Nadal is only trying to save himself from the rounds to come as his performance was not likely to be expected. But the truth is that he has been struggling with the ball and so far he is unable to give a spectacular performance.

Unfortunately the first game anticipates that Nadal will hardly reach the US Open Finals, a little bit of a sad anticipation for Nadal’s fans.

Mixx

Written by fahad majidi in: Sports News | Tags: 2010 US Open Tennis, Arthur Ashe Stadium, fans, Grand Slam, match, Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros, Tennis, Teymuraz Gabashvili, TV, US, zenith

5 Tips on what to do when hurricane Earl arrives in town

It is testing times in some parts of United States, and if you are staying closer to North Carolina, then you have every opportunity to come across a fast approaching Hurricane Earl.

Hurricane earl is expected to march towards North Carolina areas and reach the shores later today in the night hours.

Separate warnings have been issued. You should keep a watch on the clock and the news to determine the effects of Hurricane earl. How fast the Hurricane is, or if the wind speeds have decreased?

Here are 5 tips you should follow if Hurricane Earl has been approaching your door.

• Begin with a follow up of the latest news about the direction of Hurricane Earl. Check to see, if there’s any warnings issued for Hurricane Earl.
• Stay indoors, and avoid roaming outside. You never know how fast the Hurricane Earl winds could be, or how far they are?
• If you have a car, keep the gas full, so that you could gallop as soon as the evacuation orders have been issued.
• It’s important that you carry all your personal essentials, and also your family necessary belongings, such as bed sheet, medicines, if you are on it. Tooth pastes, and toothbrush, pillow, and dry fruits long with bottled water.
• If you have decided to evacuate, always follow the latest news on how to proceed. Whether you should take the ‘X’ road route or the ‘Y’ road route should be a top priority to protect yourself from hurricane Earl.

Follow these simple tips and save yourself from the effects of Hurricane Earl.

Mixx

Written by takealook in: News Headlines | Tags: 5 tips on hurricane earl, atlantic ocean, damaging affects, effects of Hurricane earl, Florida, Hurricane, hurricane approaches, hurricane centre Miami, Hurricane Earl, Hurricane earl arriving in north carolina, hurricane earl destroys, puerto Rico, storm, united-states, warnings, wind, wind speed