tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373121582024-03-13T13:38:55.739-04:00NIGERIA POLITRICKSWe are Nigerian citizens reporting commentaries and analysis on the state of affairs in Nigeria, to hold our political elites to account for the injustice done to the Nigerian people.NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-46297343055267984162013-03-22T22:12:00.001-04:002013-03-22T22:12:42.742-04:00Remembering Chinua Achebe<h2 style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Quotes from Chinua Achebe's The Trouble with Nigeria </span></h2>
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The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example with are the hallmarks of true leadership. </h3>
One of the commonest manifestations of under-development is a tendency among the ruling elite to live in a world of make-believe and unrealistic expectations. This is the cargo cult mentality that anthropologists sometimes speak about - a belief by backward people that someday, without any exertion whatsoever on their own part, a fairy ship will dock in their harbour laden with every goody they have always dreamed of possessing. <br />
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In spite of conventional opinion Nigeria has been less than fortunate in its leadership. A basic element of this misfortune is the seminal absence of intellectual rigour in the political thought of our founding fathers - a tendency to pious materialistic woolliness and self-centred pedestrianism. <br />
Spurious patriotism is one of the hallmarks of Nigeria's privileged classes whose generally unearned positions of sudden power and wealth must seem unreal even to themselves. To lay the ghost of their insecurity they talk patriotically. <br />
But whereas tribalism might win enough votes to install a reactionary jingoist in a tribal ghetto, the cult of mediocrity will bring the wheels of modernization grinding to a halt throughout the land. <br />
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Unlucky is the country where indiscipline is seen by ordinary people as the prerogative of the high and might. For, by the same token, discipline will be seen as a penalty which the rank and file must pay for their powerlessness. <br />
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My frank and honest opinion is that anybody who can say that corruption in Nigeria has not yet become alarming is either a fool, a crook or else does not live in this country. <br />
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Chinua Achebe (1930 - 2013)</h2>
NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-37487011005276252992009-12-24T12:17:00.005-05:002009-12-24T12:25:51.850-05:00Senator Maduekwe Spend N2.7bn on travel expensesSenate slams Maduekwe over N2.7bn travel expenses<br />VANGUARD Dec 24, 2009 <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/12/24/senate-slams-maduekwe-over-n2-7bn-travel-expenses/comment-page-3/#comment-116053">http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/12/24/senate-slams-maduekwe-over-n2-7bn-travel-expenses/comment-page-3/#comment-116053</a><br /><br /><br />By Emmanuel Aziken<br />Abuja—The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday vowed that it would in 2010 cut down the N2.7 billion expended by Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, in his international travels in 2009.<br />The Senate’s pledge was despite strong arguments by Chief Maduekwe for an increase on the amount as he argued that he needed more money to pursue the course of international diplomacy.<br />Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Jibril Aminu, who presided at the budget defence session, described the N2.7 billion expended by the Minister for his international travels as an economic waste.Aminu described the amount expended by Maduekwe in his international travels as more than the entire budget of the Federal Ministry of Commerce which was put at N2 billion.<br />“The whole budget of the Ministry of Commerce is about N2 billion while that of the Ministry of Police Affairs is about N1 billion, but you have used N2.7 billion for international travels alone. And you are even asking for increase in the 2010 budget. These foreign travels are wasteful, you have to cut them down. There is no way we are going to give you more money for international travels.”<br />But claiming that the travels were to the benefit of the Ministry and the country, the Minister said: “Diplomacy is all about visibility; even technology has not helped in reducing international travels in diplomacy. There is no way that the travel commitment of the Foreign Ministry could be compared to that of the Ministry of Commerce.”<br />Maduekwe who was flanked by the Minister of State, Alhaji Jibril Maigari, also responded to comments about financial hardships in the country’s foreign missions which it was revealed has led to the inability of the government to pay salaries and allowances of diplomats in the last three months.<br />Maduekwe, on his part, blamed the financial squeeze partly on some Ambassadors who, he said, were in the habit of undertaking frivolous trips for the purpose of cashing estacodes.<br /><br /><br /><strong>NigeriaPolitricks:</strong><br /><em>“Diplomacy is all about visibility; even technology has not helped in reducing international travels in diplomacy…” – Madueke<br />this is insane!</em><br /><em>I have a simple solution by the use of the same technology this dimwit is alluding has not helped in reducing international travels…it's all about cutting waste and ineffectiveness....buy this ministry a private plane and let the fed govt. fuel it and give it to Madueke for his official travels…the cost of buying & fueling of a private jet will be in the couple of millions- very cost saving method!!! – that way this globe-trotting minister can travel all over the world even for personal reasons, because that’s what he is doing anywayz other than cooking the books and putting the money in his pocket….<br />diplomacy is not visibility; it’s about getting the job done…which Madueke is not doing!!!!….the audacity of this dufus to accuse ambassadors of the habit of undertaking frivolous trips for the purpose of cashing estacodes…while he is doing the same thing is very galling!!!</em>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-1134254267291505672008-12-11T15:37:00.022-05:002008-12-11T16:28:35.843-05:00CNN REPORTING: World's most valuable resource, a curse for most Nigerians<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SUF9ONMv9JI/AAAAAAAAANA/zLo4TkiE1FU/s1600-h/art.mend.ling.cnn.jpg"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278637921269707922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SUF9ONMv9JI/AAAAAAAAANA/zLo4TkiE1FU/s320/art.mend.ling.cnn.jpg" border="0" /></strong></a><strong><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span><span style="color:#000000;"></span></strong><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><strong></strong></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><strong></strong></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><strong></strong></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">Story Highlights: </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">1. Nigeria is one of world's richest oil states; people are among poorest in world<br />2. Nigerian agency: $300 billion to $400 billion in oil profits squandered, stolen<br />3. Militant group MEND attacks oil pipelines, demands profits given to Nigerian people<br />4. UN: Niger Delta has had more than 6,000 spills; 10 times more than Exxon </span><span style="color:#000000;">Valdez<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SUF9sBPezAI/AAAAAAAAANI/NiRlwo_p0oM/s1600-h/art.oil.companies.gi.jpg"></a></span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">By Lisa Ling - Special Reporting Culled from CNN.com<br />PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (CNN) -- Trash litters its cities. Electricity is sporadic at best. There is no clean water. Medical and educational services are limited. Basic infrastructure is severely lacking.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">These are not conditions that should plague one of the richest oil states in the world. Hundreds of billions of dollars has been made from the Niger Delta's oil reserves and many people have gotten very rich. Conversely, the average Nigerian has suffered as a result of the country's oil prosperity. The United States Agency for International Development says more than 70 percent of the country lives on less than a dollar a day -- the population is among the 20 poorest in the world.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Oil companies are only part of the equation. The other is the Nigerian government. Transparency International, a global organization intent on stamping out corruption, has consistently rated Nigeria's government one of the most corrupt in the world.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Nigeria's federal government and oil companies split oil profits roughly 60-40. The money is then supposed to make its way down to the local governments to fund various projects. Somehow, little money actually reaches its intended destination. Nigeria's own corruption agency estimates between $300 billion to $400 billion has been stolen or wasted over the last 50 years. </span><br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SUGD4EuWyMI/AAAAAAAAANY/yIIPM0PF4AA/s1600-h/art.mend.afp.gi.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278645237619017922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SUGD4EuWyMI/AAAAAAAAANY/yIIPM0PF4AA/s320/art.mend.afp.gi.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state, one of the largest oil producers of Nigeria's 36 states, acknowledges past problems with corruption, but thinks progress is being made.<br />"There's a lot of improvement," Amaechi said. "The work being done by the corruption agency and the federal government has somehow been able to control the level of corruption in government."<br /><br />Over the last few years, a culture of militancy and violence has arisen in the absence of jobs and services. Kidnappings for ransom, robberies and even murder happen with regularity. The biggest and most powerful armed group is the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND. They say they are at war against the Nigerian military and the oil companies operating there. MEND, formed in 2005, said it has more than 30 camps throughout Nigeria. Members are armed with high-tech weaponry they said was obtained from "foreign sources." Hundreds of people have been killed on both sides and countless oil workers have been kidnapped.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Over the years, MEND's attacks on oil pipelines have halted oil production and, therefore, raised the price of oil around the world. They demand oil profits be distributed to average Nigerians of the Niger Delta and said they will not stop their attacks until their objectives have been fulfilled. </span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">The battle is over oil -- one of the world's most valuable resources. But to most Nigerians -- oil is a curse.<br /><br />It has provoked an environmental disaster of monstrous proportions. Since the 1970s, the United Nations estimates there have been more than 6,000 oil spills in the Niger Delta -- that is equal to more than 10 times the amount spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Yet, there is no international outcry and rarely are the spills reported, even to most Nigerians. They are still happening and the consequences are nothing short of devastating.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Communities along the Niger Delta have lived off subsistence fishing and agriculture for decades. Collecting food becomes impossible when a spill happens, like one that occurred in August. The waterways and mangroves are blanketed in thick brown oil sludge that goes on for miles. Toxicity overpowers the air and a sense of lifelessness pervades the landscape. Many say it will take 10-15 years for the area to be free of contamination -- if the cleanup effort commences in a timely manner.</span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">The August spill was a result of a leak from an old pipeline that had corroded. It took the oil company three months to clamp the leak, but the company said it wasn't reported for a full month after it began. Once the leak was reported, the company said it was denied access to the site by the community. Leaders of the village deny that, and the finger-pointing between the two sides is nothing new -- there is no love lost here.Who is telling the truth? Who knows? Either way, the creeks are blackened. This is life in the Niger Delta.</span></span>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-14811556017506159922008-11-27T18:06:00.035-05:002008-12-03T06:31:46.236-05:00NIGERIA: POLITICS OF 'BOW AND GO'<p>Ok, that is it. My Obama euphoria is over!!!!…I was all high with excitement and flowing in clouds for the last several weeks, feeling like I’m smoking that good shyt and planning to be in DC for the inaugural with my flowing white babariga repping Naija in the front seat on the White House lawn when I stumbled into this -<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://odili.net/news/source/2008/nov/6/11.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Obama's election and the needed change, by Obasanjo<span style="color:#330099;">.</span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>Com’on, is Obasanjo serious?…OBJ of all ignoramus Nigerian leaders, writing an exposé on Obama’s presidential election or who did he pay this time to help spout his santimonious gibberish?! Do this man have an original thought in his medulla oblongata? I’m sick of Sarah Pain-lin, but geez, OBJ just sounded like a male clone of that brain dead woman. Hear this<em>: </em><em>"</em><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Obama's movement which began in the US and which had seen the Senator through to victory in the election has swept all over the world. He out-campaigned, out-strategised, out-funded, and out-debated his Republican rival, Senator John McCain. The crowd drawn by Obama during his visit to Europe was nothing short of a movement and it was simply electrifying. I must express my admiration for the managers and advisers of Senator Obama during the campaign. They were cautious, meticulous, and painstaking; they left nothing to chance. They checked and crosschecked everything and every milieu.”</em><br /></span>Ok, STOP PRESS OBJ! Reading this gibberish, one would have been moved to tears if only Saint OBJ had remotely practised the ideals he sooo espoused in this article. In his eight years in office, he was not only a tyrant, but a visionless and corrupt leader. His regime was characterised by a litany of broken promises to Nigerians, as he descended to the level of a despot in dealing with all opposing views. His re-election was hogwash. OBJ out-campaigned, out-strategized, out-funded, and out-debated (debate, ke?) his political opponents by using state funds as his personal treasury to entrench himself in office and to impose another imbecile 'democratic' Yardua govt.<br /><br />After so many months of soul searching and being pulled by countless strings from all sides by his political thugfathers, President Yardua finally came up with a list of his 2nd batch of 'selected' ministers. It is ironic that while there is so much talk about getting rid of the Nigerian quota system, Yardua is still abiding by this rule in nominating ministers from each state of the federation. The main rukus however was over the senate tradition of<span style="color:#ffffff;"><em>“</em></span><a href="http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=129303" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong><em>"Bow and Go"</em></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>where nominated ministers were not being grilled or allowed to take questions during their confirmation hearing in the Senate, but were simply allowed to introduce themselves, then take a bow and leave. One of the loquacious senators, Uche Chukwumerije took umbrage to this mediocre, pat-in-the-back, charade of a ministerial confirmation process as a subtle form of bribery: <span style="font-size:85%;"><em>"My point of order is my privilege and right as a Senator of the Federal Republic and as somebody who speaks on behalf of the people of the country, not just the people of my constituency, it is very much a breach by this bow and go short-circuit. By the bow and go short-circuit, you are depriving not just us here but through us the tax payers public of this country of the opportunity"</em> </span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">I wholeheartedly second Chukwumerije in accusing the other senators and the Senate president David Mark, who has been orchestrating this tradition or subtle bribery; for their do-nothing attitude and political scheming in confirming ministerial nominees. Dont these senators know that Nigerians deserve to ask legitimate questions of these selected ministers? And to question them on what they are actually going to contribute to the growth of the nation and in moving Nigeria forward? To question their integrity and honesty in relation to their shady past in government, considering the fact that most of them are being recycled and for never accomplishing anything while they were in past govts. Dont the Nigerian senators have to vote for or against the confirmation of a political appointee? Is this a matter of being selected as ministers for a second round of looting galore; or is it merely to fill a gap of a biased and discrimatory Nigerian quota system? "Bow and GO" is a disservice to Nigerians and should be scrapped immediately!!!!! </span><br /></p><p><br />Anywayz, sorry I have to talk about OBJ again! Guess where Obasanjo has been hiding these days? Well, that's easy to figure out; he is hanging out in the Congo - <span style="color:#ffffff;"><em>“</em></span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081116/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_fighting" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color:#000066;"><em>Obasanjo hopeful on Democratic Republic of Congo crisis.</em></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"><em> </em></span></span></strong></a>Wonders shall never end - OBJ is now a UN Ambassodor?! Brokering peace in war torn Congo? Ok, this is freaking hillarious. LOL! How can OBJ try to secure peace in the Congo when his own govt festered an open wound with militants in the Niger Delta? Should’nt Obasanjo be working to secure peace and healing Nigeria after his backward regime of 8yrs rather than lobbying for a job with the UN to make some peace outside the shores of Nigeria?…Why didn't the UN send OBJ to Borokiri or Opukushi or Harbour Creeks in the Niger Delta so he can actually be in a war front and talk to the militants there. Trust me, I am all for peace in a neighboring or African country; I do NOT ever want to see another Rwanda in our continent; but geez…..Our Niger Delta is fast becoming one; a hotbed of violence and mayhem which were allowed to flourish into a kidnap-an-expatriate-for-ransome business while OBJ was in office; and sadly enough, that business is now turning into a full blown war. How can anyone try to put out the fire in another man’s house when his own house is been gutted in a raging inferno? Now just so we don’t lose sight of what is going on in Nigeria; this is just a reminder of what happened in the Niger Delta this past couple weeks - <span style="color:#ffffff;"><em>“</em></span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20081116561145" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color:#000066;"><em>JTF, militants in five-hour shoot-out!</em></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"><em> </em></span></span></strong></a>Having OBJ in the Niger Delta in securing the peace will be a real peace mission.<br /><br />At the start of Yardua administration, most Nigerians gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was going to be tough on corruption and combat fraud in our political landscape; with the manner in which he was dropping the “rule of law” mantra left, right and center. I was a little bit skeptical at best; looking forward to the day that the Nigerian govt. would actually do something about rogue politicians, who do not have any shame in displaying their ill-gotten wealth! However, this is nothing new in Nigeria, but today the PDP seems have taken the show of corruption to a whole new level and even with President Yardua now at the elm of affairs of the ruling political party when - <span style="color:#ffffff;"><em>“</em></span><a href="http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20081115402079" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color:#000066;"><em>PDP rakes in billions at fundraiser!</em></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"><em> </em></span></span></strong></a><br />Ok, raising money in a political fundraiser is great!…but for a PDP secretariat? For an office building? Haba! With all of the dilapidating infrastructures that Nigeria is so bedevilled with - bad roads, failing schools, hospitals in shambles, no power electricity grid, one would think that these politicians would be fundraising to fix our broken infrastructures; rather, they are all in show of shame donating billions of stolen wealth…to erect a single structure; just to curry favors from those in power or the PDP Yardua govt. This is reminiscent of OBJ fundraising to build a presidential library while he was still in office. Nigerian politicians do not need billions worth of state of the art PDP secretariat to win elections; neither do they need to show who has the most stolen bucks in the bank….they just need to fix our broken political system and ensure that they do not trample on our individual and constitutional rights in choosing our leaders; when we actually have a true election!!!</p><p>Until that day when Nigeria will have a free and fair, unrigged elections, I am going to take my "bow and go"!</p>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-88420854049083570372008-11-05T01:30:00.007-05:002008-11-05T02:02:53.809-05:00CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA!!!!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRFDdy3mxKI/AAAAAAAAAJI/tST78FxZz9M/s1600-h/110508_OBAMABIDEN.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265063618523088034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 140px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRFDdy3mxKI/AAAAAAAAAJI/tST78FxZz9M/s320/110508_OBAMABIDEN.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRFCxMFJLzI/AAAAAAAAAI4/pm1RCdt3aXA/s1600-h/obama-win-2-xo-spirit.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265062852196642610" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 159px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRFCxMFJLzI/AAAAAAAAAI4/pm1RCdt3aXA/s320/obama-win-2-xo-spirit.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRFBttoddPI/AAAAAAAAAIw/TcCoK80jhe4/s1600-h/110408_PRESIDENTOBAMA2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265061692972037362" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 140px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRFBttoddPI/AAAAAAAAAIw/TcCoK80jhe4/s320/110408_PRESIDENTOBAMA2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><strong>I AM SOOOOOOO PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRE9j5SodzI/AAAAAAAAAIo/dUim9L5uhvg/s1600-h/110408_obama00.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265057126256506674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/SRE9j5SodzI/AAAAAAAAAIo/dUim9L5uhvg/s320/110408_obama00.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;">YES WE CAN!</span></strong></div></div></div>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-8162947637933728192008-05-21T11:27:00.023-04:002008-05-22T07:04:41.864-04:00Iyabo Obasanjo's Criminal Debacle: Above The Law?</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">“</span></strong><a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8508&Itemid=0" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Iyabo Obasanjo remanded in police custody, weeps</span></strong></span></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">"
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<br />Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has no basis to be pitied for allegedly undermining the law or the constitutional authority of the EFCC in a classic case of “above the law” political philandering. The criminal case against Senator Obasanjo-Bello should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and while it is legally expedient to quote ‘a man is innocent until proven guilty”, it is a blatant affront to try to subvert the judicial process by not submitting oneself to constitutional authority; having being indicted for breaching your oath of office. Any complicity in the courts or EFCC in any "quietly subverting or trumping the code of EFCC criminal act" will reflects negatively on EFCC and Yar’dua’s anti-corruption posturing for playing outside the rules.
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<br />Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello performance in this criminal charade was not only a show of demagoguery of a corrupt politician but an assault on the Nigerian democratic tenets. Iyabo Bello-Obasanjo’s show of shame and emotional outburst to garner self-pity, truly manifest her ruthless quest, driven by raw ambition and emotions, to sweep our judicial process under the carpet.
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<br />Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello tears for self pity has no significance or meaning and counts for nothing in Nigeria rule of law. It is bogus for Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello to argue that she should be remanded outside of prison custody while fighting to clear her name. Nigeria have one prison system; and all, regardless of being a serving senator or the daughter of a corrupt ex-president does not grant any one the right, not to be subjected to the same system. It is absolutely absurd and it will be a travesty of justice!
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<br />The courts, with due respect and integrity and no respecter of persons, should decides every ones fate that have been subjected to the due process of our legal system. Any attempt or an orchestrated attempt or an end-trial conspiracy by OBJ and his cohorts to thwart the legal process before the case is resolved, should be regarded as a slap to Nigeria democracy and should be forcefully resisted with all the might and constitution of the Nigerian people.
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<br />Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello criminal ploy is a ruthless tactic, meant only to continue to pillage on their corruption antics and it is an extension of one of the worst regimes of modern day Nigeria – the OBJ govt. The likes of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello and the vestiges of OBJ criminal gangs should be curtailed and effectively put in a lockbox, with no apparent reign in any facet of the Nigerian government; Yardua inclusive.
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<br />At the conclusion of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello trial, all parties should be heard and all dissent should be given a fair hearing; our legal process should be transparent and be able to show integrity and courage in our most difficult and trying times as Nigeria continues the march towards a corrupt free, full-fledged democratic nation.
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<br />The Nigeria court is the arbiter of justice and any justice that is meted outside the courts jurisdictions, is unconstitutional, null and void, and without any basis. Let Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello suck it up, and stand trial for her crimes. Nigerians must continue fighting for the rule of law and transparency in our courts. All rational Nigerians must respect our judicial process.
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<br />In Nigeria, no man or rather woman, should be above the law!
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<br />NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-58168187828657470682008-03-22T19:04:00.012-04:002008-03-22T21:56:15.580-04:00Politricks Update: Sorry ma peoples, make una no vexSorry ma peoples, make una no vex. I’m getting tired small small with Naija politricks as U.S. presidential election was beginning to get interesting. Now that the U.S. election is getting uglier everyday, I am temporarily abandoning my adopted country and shifting focus back to the nation of my birth, the nation of my ancestors, Naija. So you see ma peoples, politics is a ugly business; in as much as I try to find sanity in all of these political brouhaha, be it in Naija or in the da U.S. we are all stuck with politics of same ole, same ole, nothing changes, same rhetoric’s and cut throat politicking and life, (un)fortunately, moves on!<br /><br />And I’m moving on….<br /><br />Wonders shall never end with our political election riggers INEC!<br />Of all the fraudaulent elections that have been cancelled state after state after state,<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200803220175854" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>INEC seeks bank loans to organise Kogi, Adamawa gov elections.<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>Anyone who loves Naija will shudder at the thought of INEC and this delusional clown Maurice Iwu abi <em>Ewu</em> (goat), not only conducting an election, but taking a loan to conduct another fraudulent election. At what price and at what cost, can INEC and this he-goat continue to bamboozle Nigerians. INEC as an independent non profit making govt. establishment does not have the legal backing to take a bank loan. Why didn’t <em>Ewu</em> approach OBJ, Ibori and Yawdua for this loan; he has been a good lackey in rigging elections to their favour!<br />If Yardua is honest with the Nigerian people in sanitizing our nations electoral process, this <em>Ewu</em> would have long resigned. INEC is not only incompetent, but grossly corrupt and lacks the credibility to even conduct a school inter house sport on a fairly, non-partisan level. And the face of <em>Ewu</em> portray a doomsday political scenario awaiting Nigeria; the more you see his face the more you see that character in Nigerian leaders that says, we don't care what anyone says, our culture is corruption.<br /><br />It’s been reported that,<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://saharareporters.com/www/news/detail/?id=550" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Ibori's Airline Beechcraft 1900<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>with three crew members on board has been declared missing hours after it should have landed at Obudu, Cross River state. The mssing Beechcraft 1900 aircraft has been the aircraft of choice for charter flights by several high net worth clients and companies, was in perfect condition as at the time the flight was operated. Considering the fact that Nigeria have had three terrible air crashes between 2005 and 2006, this is no surprising news. Again, the aviation industry’s inadequacy in search and rescue operations has been exposed. Again too, since we all know it takes the Nigerian authorities several days for search and rescue team to even locate a missing aircraft, it should have been an eye opener to not only the authorities but to Ibori and it’s stolen billions that something needed to have been done urgently to remedy the situation while he was in office. Honestly, while my prayers are with the crew members, I hope that this airline did not make it back in good condition into the hands of this indicted criminal Ibori.<a href="http://saharareporters.com/www/news/detail/?id=550"></a><br /><br />Lastly, earlier this month, an entourage of<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2008031021402453" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Govt delegation denied entry into Mexico<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>. A delegation of the Federal Government that left Nigeria to cheer Samuel Peter to victory in his World Boxing Council fight against Oleg Maskaev in Mexico did not make it to the venue as Mexican immigration officials refused them entry into the North Amercan country. According to the news report, over 20 people came from Nigeria instead of four agreed on between the two countries. It was also revealed that the Nigerian officials failed to pick up their visas from London, with the delegation unilaterally making their transit through Spain from where they boarded their flight to Mexico City. The Mexican immigration officials, who spoke from Mexico City, also claimed that the delegation did not book hotels where they could be located, giving room to further the suspicion that they were up to some tricks in Mexico.<br /><br />Hold on a second while I go outside to puff a cig and breath some fresh air!(I can't stand stupid people; and our govt is full of plenty!)<br /><br />Anywayz, I'm baaaack! Bloody idiots; why would they not deny them entry to Mexico?. What have they done for Samuel Peter <em>(funny name tho:))</em> in training for this fight that they would want to go and partake in his glory?. This govt. delegation should have stayed in Nigeria and cheered him on in their TV screen; but rather decided to make the long trip, inviting their family, friends and cronies all for the estacode. Perhaps this delegation thought the Mexican immigration officials are like our own security agents, who will betray our nation and let you in our country with a flash of a dollar; by taking bribes. This is typical Naija cow mentality and all of these govt. officials should have been arrested by the EFCC for being stupid; for embarking on a dubious, irrelevant and inglorious trip and bringing shame to Nigeria.<br /><br />These are the fools running the Nigerian Sport Commision. They cannot even follow simple instructions. It is such a shame that we let these morons represent us in anything. Common! 4 valid visas and 20 people showed up? What a shame!!!NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-82699042734094920602008-02-24T08:52:00.019-05:002008-02-26T09:33:42.283-05:00Yardua's Worst Election NigthmareIt’s silly season in Naija political landscape!<br /><br />As a prelude to this new political reality, the Nigerian elections tribunal have been knocking (s)elected officials off their pedestal like flies –<br /><br />Early this month, the Inspector-General of Police,<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=11430&z=5" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Mr. Mike Okiro, ordered the recently removed governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, to vacate the Government House<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>,Lokoja with immediate effect.<br />I wondered if he would adhere to the orders of <em>PoPo Mike Okiro</em>, after he’d brazenly boasted that he's still calling the shots; even while the speaker of the house was been sworn in; but alas, surprising enough, Idris vacated the government house overnight; like a scared chicken governor he was!<br /><br />Coming on the heels of the demise of Kogi state governor,<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200802240514131" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>the Benue State Election Tribunal sitting in Makurdi on Saturday annulled the election of the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark.<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>Shortly after the ruling, one of the counsel for David Mark, indicated that Mark would appeal against the judgement, saying that justices are allowed to err. Mark’s loss of his seat came in spite of last-minute maneuvers that involved the use of police officers to intimidate his opponent, Mr. Usman Abubakar, popularly known as "Young Alhaji". Mark's opponent was declared wanted and detained for several hours less than 24-hours before the ruling. <em>PoPo</em> Okiro, please get your <em>koboko</em> ready to flog some sense into this<strong> </strong><a href="http://www.saharareporters.com/www/elibrary/detail/?id=91" target="blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>the six million £££pound</strong></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>gorrila David Mark, if he refused to vacate the senate. This is a man that has not only erred politically on many fronts, but on the side of Nigerians many years back when he declared that: “Telephone was not for the poor”<br /><br />Now this is the <em>koko</em> of this post. Super Tuesday is fast approaching in Naija as<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20080224055490" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Nigerians now await the verdict of the Presidential Elections Tribunal on last year’s controversial presidential polls<span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></strong></span></a>, which 2-slow Yardua, under the blatant rigging of his <em>thugfather OBJ</em>, claimed to have won!<br />Anxiety and suspense builds up, as “Master of Reversals” Yar'Adua, awaits the impending judgement and debacle that is about to befall his illegal presidency! I know that Yardua is a little bit 2-slow in timing, but it would do Nigerians a lot of good if he should start packing his things from Aso villa. Someone is going to reverse your election, so why not start packing early?!<br />But on a serious note, I doubt if this verdict will see this humble mallam heading back to Katsina where he belongs anytime soon.<br /><br />Yardua may have some tricks up his sleeve. It is curious how the Chairman of the Presidential Elections Tribunals, Justice James Ogebe was <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/200802220327.html"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">nominated as a Supreme Court judge</span></strong></a> a few days ago. The move has been widely condemned by lawyers and legal analysts, and seen as a cynical move calculated to help the judge consolidate his stance in support of validating the election in the name of national stability.<br /><br />But since Yardua’s mantra has been respecting the “rule of law”; can he be honest with himself and the Nigerian people by upholding the law and the decisions of the courts? By vacating office and calling for new presidential elections if his election is annulled? Will <em>PoPo </em>Mike Okiro order <em>2-slow</em> Yardua to vacate his office with immediate effect and automatic alacrity? Or will the <a href="http://www.pointblanknews.com/os790.html"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">rumours of bribery attempts</span></strong></a> making the rounds by the Yardua govt help turn this verdict in his favour.<br />Well, we will just have to wait and find out; and I will be posting the update as soon as the news break! <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">UPDATE: </span></strong><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120402981400393519.html?mod=googlenews_wsj"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Nigerian Tribunal Upholds<br />Yar'Adua's 2007 Victory!</span></strong></a><br /><br />Until then, let's keep our fingers crossed and hail the revolutionary trends in the Nigerian justice system: “Up the Nigerian Courts!” - down OBJ, Yardua, Iwu abi <em>Ewu</em> (goat), David Mark and co; plus the other misbegotten election-riggers. Nigerian Judiciary is so beautiful now, were it to be a woman, I would romance it nonstop!<br /><br />teehee!!!NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-13232518170187909352008-01-28T11:17:00.000-05:002008-01-28T18:02:35.780-05:00Nigeria Revolution: Change We Can Believe InOver the past week, there has been a discussion on<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.nigeriancuriosity.com/2008/01/putting-nigerian-revolution-into.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Solomonsydelle's<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>blog about the Nigeria Revolution question? I have made my views known by commenting succinctly on this subject.<br /><br />But there are so many of us who doubt Nigeria’s desire for something new - who are saying a revolution is a fluke and should never be thought of; or like the Nigerian civil war experience, never be repeated again. I beg to differ. However, I do not believe in a bloody revolution, I believe a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of our thinking and behavior is urgently needed. That is a revolution in itself.<br /><br />A change from the status quo; a change from the old political brigands and a change from the corrupt establishment in Nigeria. A fundamental change in political organization; a change of paradigm; a change of ideas; and of articulating a new vision and a new hope to move our nation forward in this generation!<br /><br />We do believe that this change is possible. And this revolution message should resonate loud and clear to all of us. Nigerians alike, from the four corners of our nation and in the diaspora; young and old, Hausa or Yoruba, Igbo or Ijaw, the rich and the poor, we have to remember that this is a fight to salvage our nation, and that all of us share an abiding desire to end the disastrous policies and actions of our past administration.<br /><br />Well today, this revolution had already began<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1871187020080118" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>in Nigeria's court rooms<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>and in the<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7178734.stm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>offices of the anti-graft agency - EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission)<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>, but the cynics are at work and they will stop at nothing to make us believe that this is just an illusion; and they will do anything and everything to stop this revolution, but all of us Nigerians need to stand up and tell a different story that change is what we believe in.<br /><br />But there are real differences between those of us who believe in change in Nigeria and those cynics who wants to maintain the status quo. We are looking for more than just a change of government. We’re looking to fundamentally change the status quo in the Nigerian political, economic and social landscape - a status quo that extends beyond any particular individual or political affiliations. And right now, that status quo is fighting back with everything it’s got; with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face in Nigeria everyday, whether those problems are poverty; that people can’t afford three square meals a day or homelessness; that ordinary Nigerians can’t afford to pay their rent.<br /><br />So this revolution will not be easy. Make no mistake about what we’re up against in Nigeria.<br /><br />We are up against the belief that it’s ok for corrupt politicians to dominate our government - that they are just part of the system in Nigeria. But we know that the undue influence of corrupt leaders is part of the problem, and this change is our chance to say that we’re not going to let them stand in our way anymore.<br /><br />We are up against the conventional thinking that says your ability to become the<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6584393.stm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>President of Nigeria<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>comes from longevity in our corrupt political system or proximity to those who have the influence of power or powers that be. But we know that real leadership is about candor, and judgment, and the ability to move Nigerians from all walks of life around a common purpose - a higher purpose. Change!<br /><br />We are up against decades of bitter partisanship and politics that cause politicians to demonize and kill their opponents instead of coming together to make food items affordable or fuel prices cheaper; it’s the kind of politics where you’re not even allowed to say that you have a different idea – by not conforming with the status quo. That kind of politics is bad for Nigerians, it’s bad for our country, and this revolution will be our chance to end it once and for all.<br /><br />We are up against the idea that it’s acceptable<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2007/feb/11/national-11-02-2007-01.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>to say anything and do anything to win an election<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></span></a>. We know that this is exactly what’s wrong with our politics; this is why people don’t believe what their leaders say anymore; this is why they tune out. And this revolution is our chance to give the Nigerian people a reason to believe again.<br /><br />And what we’ve seen in these last years is that we’re also up against political forces that are not the fault of any one individual, but wrong ideological establishments that feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation. It’s the politics that uses tribalism as a wedge, and corruption as a bludgeon . A politics that tells us that we don’t have to think, act, and even vote within the confines that define us in exercising our human rights. The assumption that Nigerians are apathetic to who is going to govern them. The assumption that Nigerians are not ready for change. The assumption that Igbo’s can’t support Yoruba’s; Hausa’s can’t support the Ijaws and the north and south cannot come together.<br /><br />But this revolution is to say that this is not the Nigeria we believe in. This change is not about tribalism nor the actualization of ethnic nationalities, but a fight for all Nigerians from all walks of life; men and women of every tribes and gender who want to serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud Nigerian flag. We know what Nigeria is, and we believe in what Nigeria can be.<br /><br />It’s about the past versus the future.<br /><br />It’s about whether we settle for the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today, or whether we reach for a politics of common sense, and innovation - a shared sacrifice and shared prosperity.<br /><br />That is the Nigeria we see. That is the country we want to see. But now it is up to us to help the entire nation embrace this vision; this revolution. Because in the end, we are not just up against the ingrained and destructive habits of politicians in Nigerian, we are also struggling against our own doubts, our own fears, and our own cynicism. The change we seek has always required great struggle and sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we’re willing to work for it.<br /><br />So let us remind every Nigerian that change will not be easy. That change will take time. There will be setbacks, and false starts, and sometimes we will make mistakes. But as hard as it may seem, we cannot lose hope. Because there are people all across Nigeria and in the diaspora who are demanding for change; who can’t afford another four years of misrule because our past leaders couldn’t come together, articulate this vision and get it done.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:78%;">This post is an inspiration from Barack Obama’s South Carolina Victory Speech; a great and inspirational speech indeed and we can draw a lot of parallels from the change Obama is advocating for and the revolution that is urgently needed in Nigeria.</span></em>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-84572695785844671952008-01-15T13:45:00.000-05:002008-01-16T17:40:49.155-05:00Timaya: Remembering Odi MassacreIf you have been to Nigeria recently; there is a new rave in town…down with the Dbanj, Tuface and the PSquare's of this world. Timaya is the shiznit! Hate me if you want - Timaya is hawt like fire!! All Timaya’s songs are on heavy rotation on my cd playa. One particular song got stuck in my head and everytime I replay “Dem Mama”, it brings to mind the attrocieties of a mindless and ruthless Obasanjo’s regime. Why do we want to rehash these issues? We need to spotlight the evils in our society…so as to hold accountable a civilian regime who threw all caution to the winds; for laying a human habition to waste…for unleashing the animalism of the military on Odi because a crime was commited.<br /><br />The Odi massacre was an attack carried out on November 20, 1999 by the Nigerian military on the predominantly Ijaw town of Odi in Bayelsa State. The attack came in the context of an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta over indigenous rights to oil resources and environmental protection.<br /><br />Prior to the massacre, twelve members of the Nigerian police were murdered by a gang near Odi, seven on November 4 and the remainder in the following days. Pursuing those responsible, the military invaded, exchanged fire, and then proceeded to indiscriminately attack the civilian population and the town's buildings. Every building in the town except the bank, the Anglican church and the health center was burned to the ground.<br /><br /><a id="Death_toll" name="Death_toll"></a>A wide range of estimates was given for the numbers of civilians killed. Human Rights Watch concluded that "the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely plausible. Environmental Rights Action claims that nearly 2500 civilians were killed. The Nigerian government, in their spin, initially put the death toll at 43, including eight soldiers.<br /><br />While Obasanjo is now cooling his feet at Otta Farms after vacating office; enjoying the spoils of our nation and being allowed to show-case, flaunt his ill-gotten wealth, and talk gibberish whenever he deems fit, Timaya’s song reminds us all of this crime against humanity; the killing, maiming and raping of over three thousand innocent and defenseless women, children and men committed on the orders of a neo-fascist despot.<br /><br />I honestly hope that one day, our ex-government officials will be put on trial for this, and for the other heinous crimes that have been committed against our nation. How any human being can sanction this sort of massacre, especially in a 'democracy' is way beyond my imagination.<br /><br />Read more on Odi Massacre -<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.waado.org/Environment/FedGovt_NigerDelta/BayelsaInvasion/FederalGovernInvadesBayelsa/MilitaryInOdi/MilitaryMassacres.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>HERE </strong></span></a><br /><br />Enjoy Timaya "Dem Mama"!<br /><embed name="wimpy" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="center" src="http://music.afriville.com/wimpy.swf?startupLogo=" width="399" height="135" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="wimpyApp=http://music.afriville.com/musicxml.php?vkey=abca69fa097b85867d9a&wimpySkin=http://music.afriville.com/skin.xml&startPlayingOnload=no&forceXMLplaylist=yes" loop="false" menu="false" quality="high" wmode="transparent" scale="noscale" salign="lt" bgcolor="000000" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-89346125482355310912008-01-08T16:49:00.000-05:002008-01-08T17:37:57.118-05:00Ribadu's Demise: Death To EFCCI will have my head examined if I dare to absolve President Yardua from the odium of suspicion and complicity in Ribadu's removal. I would further posit that the little credibility or benefit of doubt that Yardua's govt had with this sham anti-corruption crusade, if any, has irrevocably dissipated by this shameful Ribadu's "one year course" ordered deployment service and was permanently "extinguished" (pardon the pun) in this recent convenient “tight-lipped” Yardua posturing.<br />Pardon the Okiro's and Aondoakaa's of this world; they are hatchet-men; stooges in the hands of despots; whose servitude to Nigeria will be marked by uncouth pronouncements, rash actions and unholy association with thugs masquerading as political party stalwarts; playing a major role through their undemocratic acts in ruining our nation.<br /><br />In Nigeria, those that are in dire need of training in democratic tenets are the ones shooting off bazookas of orders! How did these 'weasels' ended up in a position of authority in our political landscape anywayz? Shame on us Nigerians for letting these corrupt political brigandes thrive on our passive acquiescence to their garrison politricks!<br /><br />Yardua's illegal govt; imposed by a spineless cabal of criminals will stop at nothing to ensure that their wicked and self-serving reign of corruption and wanton looting is not interrupted by anything or anyone.<br /><br />Ribadu is just a victim of a corrupt establishment; but we, all Nigerians, are suckers to a motley crowd of uncouth brigands and leeches led by renegades of a criminal govt.<br /><br />With the death of the EFCC a.k.a Ribadu's romoval, Yardua will be condemned to the dustbin of history for frittering away these golden opportunities to lift the country out of the doldrums; moreso for presiding over the demise of the country's democracy with his mediocre performance and primitive disposition.<br /><br />T'is is the Season. A New Year. A New Dawn. Time for change is NOW!<br /><br /><br />NPNigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-89681633605002692382007-12-22T04:19:00.000-05:002007-12-22T04:32:45.125-05:00There is No Place Like Home...<strong><span style="font-size:130%;">I'm back at home in Naija. There is nothing as good as spending time with fams and friends!!!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Thanks for all the love and support at the passing of my friend! I wish you all the best in the New Year coming. Much Luv!!!!!</span></strong>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-72473973555452910532007-11-09T00:36:00.000-05:002007-11-20T13:24:10.741-05:00R.I.P. To A Dear FriendI dont know what to say<br />I am hurting to hear that you took your own life<br />why do you do that to me Dawg?<br />Suicide is not an option<br />But when you were confronted with life issues, you felt that was the only option<br />why? Now I'm hurting...<br />Tears rolling down my cheek while I am writing this<br />You mean so much to me Dawg...as a friend, a brother, everything I need in a Dawg pal<br />now I can't think about the things we shared together, because I am always gonna be hurt by your thought<br />I have never lost someone so close as a friend; and just the way you took your own life without reaching out to me will haunt me forever<br />I wish you had giving me the option to help out<br />I wish I had been more of a friend to you to reach out<br />I wish you had never taken your own life<br />I can't forgive myself Dawg...I feel like I've failed you<br />Now you're gone...what can I say to your Daughter when I see her?<br />It hurts, yes it hurts...<br />You took the easy way out...it's harder for us now<br />why? why? why? I can't believe you're gone<br />I'm gonna live in constant denial...I dont believe you are gone forever<br />I remember when we talk about growing old together<br />Riding on Wheel chairs with 22's chrome wheels blinging<br />And smoking on Cigars and just enjoying life reminiscence about struggling through life<br />Now you took that away from me...from us<br />You took your own life and ours with you<br />I will never forget you Dawg<br />Kevin Osa, your thoughts will be in my memory forever<br />Till we meet again<br />REST IN PEACE!NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-88813175992791046022007-10-31T15:11:00.000-04:002007-10-31T21:52:42.510-04:00"Things Done Changed"...Nigeria political landscape is ever so changing that it is reminiscent of Biggie’s classic hit song, <em>‘Things Done Changed’</em> lyrics being played out. And rightfully so indeed. Biggie vents on the album “Ready To Die” opener, “My mother’s got cancer in her breast—don’t ask me why I’m motherfuckin stressed...”. Yes, Nigeria sure has more than a cancer in her breast and we are all stressed about the state of affairs in our motherland. It will not only take the Supreme Court, but our electoral surgical experts as well; Nigerians that is, to continue to work on these issues to weed out the political hanging chads, dead beats and the less than honorable men who, by hook or crook have found themselves in the corridors of power.<br /><br />Clearly a <em>'Things Done Changed’</em> Tsunami is sweeping across Nigeria. It will be premature to get carried away at this point, but we can gladly say “good riddance” to our new casualties, Speaker Etteh (madam speaker finally gave up the fight when the pressure became unbearable and after a lawmaker gave up the ghost) and her deputy -<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20071031128971" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>HERE </strong></span></a>, the governor of Rivers state - Celestine Omehia -<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://naijanet.com/news/source/2007/oct/25/1000.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>HERE </strong></span></a>, Yardua's <em>Son In law</em> and Kebbi state governor - Usman Dakingari -<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/200710210031.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>HERE </strong></span></a>, Kogi state governor Ibrahim Idris -<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/200710150818.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color:#000066;">HERE</span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></strong></a>and Anambra state governor - Andy Uba (though, this was a while back, but he was governor for only two weeks. Ouch, that hurts!)<br /><br />So who's next? I bet the following are having sleepless nights:<br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://www.saharareporters.com/www/elibrary/detail/?id=91" target="blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>the six million £££pound</strong></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>gorrila - David Mark<br />Adedibu's <em>(thugfather of Ibadan politricks)</em> protege and governor of Oyo state - Alao Akala<br />And the governors of Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto, Delta, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Enugu, Ogun states as<span style="color:#ffffff;">“</span><a href="http://odili.net/news/source/2007/oct/28/30.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Anxiety grips governors</strong></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>.<br /><br />Who knows this <em>'Things Done Changed’</em> whirlwind might even turn into a coalesced category 5 hurricane-Tsunami and sweep Yardua himself...nuff said!<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#ffff33;">threading Ijebuman's footsteps 4 inspiration!</span>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-57579563512668354572007-10-22T09:31:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:40.032-05:00Good News: Home-made helicopters hit northern Nigeria<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RxyqDUoVe8I/AAAAAAAAAIg/PNnIv6DelTc/s1600-h/Helicopter.photo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124157450095000514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RxyqDUoVe8I/AAAAAAAAAIg/PNnIv6DelTc/s320/Helicopter.photo.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;">To my critics and for everyone's enjoyment, here is good news from Nigeria! Courtesy of Yahoo! News -“<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nigeriahelicopteroffbeat" target="_blank">HERE... </a><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">One of the most shocking revelation of this news article was what Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi, a 24-year-old physics undergraduate in northern Nigeria had hoped for with his new helicopter invention -<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#990000;"><strong>"He'd hoped -- and still does -- that the Nigerian government and his wealthy compatriots would turn to him and stop placing orders with western manufacturers."</strong></span> <p><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#333333;">And Nigeria Politricks find this paragragh very puzzling ---</span><strong> </strong></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>"So far, however, government response to his chopper project has been underwhelming to say the least.</strong><br /></span></span><span style="color:#990000;"><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;">Although some government officials got very excited when they saw him conduct a demonstration flight in neighbouring Katsina state, Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has so far shown no interest in his aircraft.<br />"No one from the NCAA has come to see what I've done. We don't reward talent in this country," he lamented."</span></strong><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">There are many Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi in Nigeria, but in a country where we glorify corruption and shun talents and innovation, this is one feat that will go unrecognised and probably never encounraged. In a country where the norm amongst our political class is buying private jets at the espense of helping the poor and the needy; where you will have a speaker of the House of Reps, Madam Etteh fraudulently contracts out the renovation of her residence in the sum of 628 millions of Naira; a country where an Attorney General of the Federation would debase his high office by stooping so low as to write a letter to unfreeze the asset of a corrupt ex-governor; a country where President Yar'dua has a 7-point plan agenda on paper, also touting a Vision 2020 plan from his visionless master OBJ, but with no apparant agenda for creating new jobs, fixing the economy and developing and encouraging young talents and innovation amongst our teeming youths and young graduates. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">One wonders why armed robbery and wanton destruction of innocents lives and properties by men of the underworld has continued to be on the rise in Lagos and other major Nigerian cities.</span> One wonders why we have restive youths in the Niger Delta, who have taken up arms and have made kidnappings of oil workers, foreigners and innocent children a favorite pastimes. One wonders why the state of our nation is always on the decline; our infrastructure is at it's worst compared to what we have in decades past; Lagos is now renowned as the World Capital of Power Generators and Power Generating Plants; as our only means of power PHCN has completely gone kaput on Nigerians. One wonders where are the trillions of Naira OBJ sunk in a black hole or rather his deep Agbada pockets all in a failed bid in reforming our energy sector? One wonders why the lip-service anti-graft Yar'dua govt. have not found any of the indicted corrupt ex-governors guilty and made to face the consequences of their actions.<br /><br />The answers are not far-fetched. Our leaders have failed us. And like Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi rightly said, we don't reward talent in Nigeria!</p></a></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">What do you have to say?!<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nigeriahelicopteroffbeat" target="_blank"></a></span>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-43383779232339160082007-10-18T15:48:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:40.291-05:00DEATH IN DA HOUSE: ETTEHGATE SCANDAL CONTINUES<embed name="ePlayer" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" src="http://myvideos.africast.tv/vidiac.swf" width="428" height="352" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="video=0982b3f0-fc01-4b23-8a18-99ca003f69e1" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain"></embed><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rxe5oEoVe7I/AAAAAAAAAIY/1TJ_aSsJlSc/s1600-h/safana.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122767199246056370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rxe5oEoVe7I/AAAAAAAAAIY/1TJ_aSsJlSc/s320/safana.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">ETTEHGATE: Logjam continues at the House of Reps as Speaker refuses to step down, one member dead!</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It can't get any more tragic than this as Ettehgate scandal continues! Logjam continues at the House of Reps as Speaker refuses to step down, pro-Etteh lawmaker collapses and dies. The Nigeria's lower legislative chamber went into a deadlock for the second day as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh refused to resign her position due to earlier corruption indictments against her. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The house resumed on Wednesday after a short adjournment on Tuesday as members opposed to her continued stay in office staged protests and stalled a planned debate of a panel report which accused the speaker of corruption in the award of contracts for the renovation of her official residence. The cost of renovation put at N638 million were approved without due processes and laid down procedures. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Madam Speaker Patricia Etteh refused to vacate her seat so that a temporary speaker could conduct the debate, she insisted that she was eligible to judge her own case. Her stubbornness led to a second day of rowdy session and total chaos in the house. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">House of representatives leaders said they had earlier agreed to resolve the issue of her stepping down so that a "Speaker Pro-tempore" can take her place by tomorrow when house activities resume, but Mrs. Patricia Etteh reneged on the agreement and staged a carnival-like entry to the chambers today. It was apparent that there doesn't seem to be any truth in the majority support from House of representatives members standing by her as claimed by the Speaker and her supporters, which include former president Ole Baba Jaguda (OBJ) and his erstwhile former domestic assistant, Emmanuel Andy Uba. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Meanwhile, tragedy struck at the house of representative today as a member of the house who was part of Speaker Etteh's carnival upon her defiant entry to the chambers died of congestive heart failure. 46 years old Aminu Shuaibu Safana was a member of the PDP representing Batsari/Danmusa/Safana Federal Constituency in Katsina State, he suddenly fell ill during the rowdy session and was pronounced dead at the National Hospital few minutes later. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The announcement of his death did nothing to move the speaker from her seat until members shouted on her to leave the chambers to honor the dead member. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It took the death yesterday of Hon. Aminu Safana, ironically the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Health, for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rein in on the Speaker to step aside. In a seeming volte-face, PDP asked Speaker Etteh to step aside for the consideration of the Hon. David Idoko panel report saying the Speaker could not be a judge in her own case.The party also lamented the death of Safana, a pro-Etteh lawmaker, describing his death as unfortunate and incredible.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Is it only unfortunate and incredible? One wonders why our Nigerian Politicians; Madam Speaker Etteh being a poster child, would throw all sense of decorum to the winds and engage in petty politricks rather than taking the honorable path to resign if they'd been found to have abused their exalted office? Beats me!</span>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-37190034411507653632007-10-04T17:20:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:40.444-05:00AGF AONDOAKAA'S LETTER UNFREEZES IBORI'S ASSETS<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RwVgH0oVe6I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/xeJs8t98YNM/s1600-h/AGF+LETTER.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117602239079611298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RwVgH0oVe6I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/xeJs8t98YNM/s320/AGF+LETTER.bmp" border="0" /></a>While the rest of the nation were being hoodwinked into celebrating Nigeria’s 47th independence as a giant stride towards a 'democratic' government, President Yar’adua and his thugs of criminal councels were busy celebrating the unfreezing of Delta State stolen assets to an indicted ex-governor.<br /><br />Attorney General of the Federation-turns-Nigeria’s Attorney General of Corrupt Politicians, Michael Aondoakaa sent a letter dated August 7th 2007 to Chief James Onafefe Ibori's lawyers in London with the sole aim of sabotaging money laundering investigations against Ibori and his accomplices. The letter which was exclusively obtained speaks for itself; in it the AGF sought to exonerate Chief James Onafefe Ibori from charges of money laundering and corruption by claiming that he was only investigated while in office, but had never been charged to court or currently face further investigations.<br /><br />It was a cleverly crafted letter that provided James Ibori's lawyers the needed ammunition to get a restraining order earlier granted by the Southwark Crown court in London to be lifted on October 1, 2007; the very day millions of Nigerians were busy celebrating independence day. The AGF secretly wrote a reply to an inquiry from Ibori's lawyers without recourse to the EFCC or any other security agency of the government.<br /><br />Meanwhile when the London Metropolitan Police tried to contact him for help, the AGF dribbled them around and delayed any timely response that could help their case against James Ibori. The result is an exposure of the hypocrisy of the Yar'adua government who have publicly claimed that they will fight corruption with zeal. Yar'adua also said that he will not shield his former thieving colleagues, but the actions of his government points to a farcical and theatrical war against corruption.<br /><br />As expected, the British governments and the UN, whose convention against corruption specifically calls on nations around the world to cooperate and collaborate, have shown indifference to Yar'adua's rhetorics.<br /><strong><br />Celebrations in Delta State?</strong><br />We cannot but express more outrage in the aftermath of the courts decision! </span><a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f102102007.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff0000;"><strong>READ HERE</strong></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan; cousin to Ex-Governor James Ibori declared a state thanksgiving service at the City Hall, Government House, Asaba to express gratitude to God for the victory.<br /><br />Reacting to the development, the Delta State government through the Commissioner for Information, Mr Oma Djebah, said: “This is not just a victory for Chief James Onanefe Ibori but also a victory for all Deltans both in the state and in the diaspora as well as the state government.”<br />He said the court’s decision was widely welcomed in the state and greeted with jubilation in places like Asaba, Warri, Sapele and Ughelli. “People were calling me from Warri when they heard the news over the radio. So, all Deltans were in jubilation,” he said.</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan yesterday directed that there would be a thanksgiving service at the City Hall, Government House, Asaba to express gratitude to God for the victory.</span></em><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>Does the looting and outright plagiarizing of Delta state's treasury calls for celebration and thanksgiving? Nigeria Politricks have advocated that </strong></span><a href="http://nigeriapolitricks.blogspot.com/2007/09/agf-aondoakaa-must-go.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff0000;"><strong>AGF Aondoakaa Must Go!</strong></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Over to you Nigerians – What do you have to say?!</span></strong><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Courtesy: sahara reporters</span> </span></em></span>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-49776627463672917962007-09-28T11:51:00.001-04:002008-12-10T12:30:40.643-05:00RESIGN NOW!<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rv0jdUoVe2I/AAAAAAAAAHw/ioEm85GwmI8/s1600-h/banner-sept-27-2007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115283738423819106" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rv0jdUoVe2I/AAAAAAAAAHw/ioEm85GwmI8/s320/banner-sept-27-2007.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-84959680163002381662007-09-23T06:12:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:41.037-05:00House of Reps Fighting & Fasting<embed name="ePlayer" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" src="http://myvideos.africast.tv/vidiac.swf" width="428" height="352" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="video=5e6fd57d-8714-4eb0-8594-99b000e12280" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain"></embed><br />Nigeria political arena never ceases to amaze me, but this is one of the most tumultuous week ever. A free-for-all fight erupted at the House of Representatives' Hearing Room One, with House members loyal to Madam Speaker Patricia Olubunmi Etteh and her critics trading punches and wrestling one another to the ground. However, they quickly decided to placate some house members by distributing gifts meant for Sallah at the end of the week.<br /><br />Food items like rice, milk, sugar and vegetable oil worth about N43.2m are now being distributed to all members of the Federal House of Representatives. Each member is collecting two cartons of milk, one gallon of vegetable oil, two bags of rice and one carton of sugar. Some members, however, expressed surprise that gifts meant for Sallah were being distributed to all members, irrespective of their religious persuasions, well ahead of the Sallah festivities, which is expected to be marked on October 13.<br /><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113344466200394514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RvY_s0oVexI/AAAAAAAAAHM/ZNbB1gIZE-4/s320/pix2007092111384845%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" />The gifts, which many members have already collected, is raising eyebrows as some members are wondering why its distribution is so close to the Wednesday date set for receiving the report of the panel investigating the N628m contract scandal.“<a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2007092315294445" target="_blank">HERE... </a><br /><br />While the rest of the nation is grappling with the harsh economic realities of feeding members of their family with little or no resources, these house legislators are busy awarding fraudulent contracts, fighting like animals in the house chambers and doling out govt largesse for some religious celebration without even passing a single Bill that will help alleviate the sufferings of ordinary Nigerians. These are supposedly lawmakers who turn out to be law breakers in a show of shame. Because they are not duly elected, this kind of despicable behaviour will linger on in our political arena, until the Nigerian electorate exercise their rights to hold leaders accountable by electing people with character that will represent them. </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RvY_kkoVewI/AAAAAAAAAHE/j5SHFSI05JI/s1600-h/pix2007092111394993[1].jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113344324466473730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RvY_kkoVewI/AAAAAAAAAHE/j5SHFSI05JI/s320/pix2007092111394993%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div>Like I have said in my earlier post “<a href="http://nigeriapolitricks.blogspot.com/2007/08/madam-speaker-birthday-bash-and.html" target="_blank">HERE.</a>, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Madam Speaker needs to resign NOW!<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-85370364835970120552007-09-19T09:31:00.000-04:002007-09-22T06:32:06.998-04:00AGF Aondoakaa Must Go!Early last month, the federal government, with the prompting of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, took a decision that could have put the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a straitjacket. The government directed the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies to seek the approval of the Attorney-General before embarking on the prosecution of suspected violators of the country’s anti-corruption laws. Many Nigerians wondered what could have prompted the action. To them, the reason was as complex as the spelling and pronunciation of the Attorney-General’s name.<br /><br />Fast forward to today, there have been news going round that reports that President Umar Yar’adua machinery has perfected a plan to spare all corrupt ex-governors, former President Ole Baba Jaguda (OBJ) and top officials of his administration from prosecution for corrupt enrichment. Each official has been advised to scout a corrupt high court judge willing to issue an order restraining the official’s arrest or prosecution. Yar’adua’s attorney general will then order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to desist from harassing any official who is protected by this “bought order”, and it can be authoritatively revealed that a lot of former governors, ministers, special aides to Ole Baba Jaguda and even the former president himself have paid off judges who have written such orders.<br /><br />As part of the general plot, the hatchet man Attorney General Michael Andoakaa, have been having secret meetings with ex-governors to guarantee them that the EFCC would be thoroughly emasculated. One wonders, is this the Attorney General of the Federation of Nigeria or AG of Corrupt Nigerian politicians?.<strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">“</span></strong><a href="http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=10699&z=12" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong><strong>HERE</strong></strong>"...</em> </span></a><br /><br />Under the pretext of defending the rule of law, Yar’dua and AGF Andoakaa are trying to cover up corruption, money laundering and crimes against humanity by ex-governmnent officials. Yar’dua cannot be talking about the rule of law when his government emerged through fraudulent elections. Yar’dua cannot be speaking from both sides of his mouth; with one claiming staunch support for the anti-graft crusade and the other, supporting a serving AGF, who is flagrantly undermining the constitution, the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process in prosecuting corrupt government officials.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">For these reasons, AGF Andoakaa Must Go!</span></strong>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-22591359973574199682007-08-25T22:29:00.000-04:002007-08-27T08:44:56.096-04:00YAR'ADUA: A FICKLE MINDED PRESIDENT?<span style="color:#990000;"><strong>“</strong></span><a href="http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2007082613405320" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ff6600;"><em><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Soludo should go screw his new naira policy"...</strong></span></em> </span></a><br /><br />I didn't say that, but Yar'dua did by putting a "screech" on the new naira policy. Yardua has now become a fickle minded Go-Slow president. Yardua can't make up his mind on what direction Nigeria should be heading; he backed out of the proposal of having the AG exercise his oversight function over EFCC within 48hrs <span style="color:#990000;">"</span><a href="http://www.thenewsng.com/modules/zmagazine/article.php?articleid=18063" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ff6600;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">Here"...</span></em> </span></a>and now he quickly retraced his footsteps on the new naira policy in less than 2 weeks. I am neither in favor nor against any of these policies, since I am not in support of an illegal Nigerian govt. However, I am positive that Yardua either lacks the vision to lead or he doesn't have the balls to make hard decisions to move Nigeria forward or at worst, he is being controlled by some unforseen political forces...who are doing a good job to undermine the interest of Nigerians.<br />Yar'dua lame ass excuses? First, he was misled by the attorney-general of the federation on the AG-EFCC fiasco. Now, the same Attorney-General just discovered that the CBN Act 2007 does not in fact grant Prof. Soludo the powers he claimed with respect to currency denomination. Ummmmh, is the whole Yardua's ruling cabinet so slow they can't get it the first time?....<br /><br />Yar'dua, Sicko he is and so is the Nigerian government! Thinking about it, we should all ask ourselves...what do we expect from an illegitimate Yar'dua government?!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.<br /></span><embed name="ePlayer" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" src="http://myvideos.africast.tv/vidiac.swf" width="428" height="352" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="video=389d3411-42cf-4608-8806-99940186bc7f" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain"></embed>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-59790020802122649022007-08-22T08:03:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:41.390-05:00MADAM SPEAKER: BIRTHDAY BASH AND FRAUDULENT CONTRACTS<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RswmansTxpI/AAAAAAAAAE8/2FV73NkcoWQ/s1600-h/MrsSpeakerCuttingCake.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101494716677211794" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RswmansTxpI/AAAAAAAAAE8/2FV73NkcoWQ/s320/MrsSpeakerCuttingCake.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong> <span style="font-size:130%;">Madam Speaker's Birthday Bash at Bowie, Maryland!<br /></span></strong><div><div><div><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;">Contrary to denials by her colleagues at the National Assembly in Nigeria, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh celebrated her Birthday on Friday night at her Willes Vision Drive home in Bowie, MD (USA). There were lots of guests and many house of reps members who traveled from Nigeria for the purpose of celebrating her 54th birthday. Could this be the medical check up Mrs. Speaker came for? You judge!</span> </span></div><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>“</strong></span><a href="http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?userid=winnie&gallery_id=803990" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong>MORE PICS OF MADAM SPEAKER BIRTHDAY BASH HERE"...</strong></em> </span></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Prior to this celebration where she led some members of the House to the United States for her birthday bash, Madam Speaker Etteh and her deputy illegally approved an unbudgeted N629m to renovate their official residences. Nigerians are miffed that the Speaker and her deputy could spend such a whopping sum on the renovation of their official residences and the purchase of 12 cars in a country where poverty and disease are endemic, where unemployment remains sky-high and where basic infrastructure have broken down, with more than half of the nation’s 140 million people living on less than a dollar a day. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The costs of the projects of renovating their official residences is mind boggling and unacceptably exorbitant and the award of the contracts was illegal as it was not provided for in the 2007 budget. The National Assembly must approve any extra-budgetry expenditure to be made by any public official. The award of the contracts also violated laid down procedure, as the jobs were not advertised in the Federal Tenders Journal or national newspapers to allow for competitive bidding. In conclusion, Etteh’s action is an economic crime for which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should bring her and her collaborators to book and she definitely needs to be impeached.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Etteh is believed to have reached out to her bigger powerful "pimps", former President Ole Baba Jaguda (OBJ), the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party and the leadership of the Senate to save her from disgrace.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">In contrast, here are hapless Nigerian women who were branded as prostitutes and whose less powerful "brothel" pimps couldn't do anything to save them from the hands of the over zealous Nigerian Police Force. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Now who deserve justice? The innocent hapless women or the fraudulent Madam Speaker? You be the judge!</span></div><div></div><div></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rswt3XsTxrI/AAAAAAAAAFM/5tPmuhpnlgE/s1600-h/ProtituteLagos.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101502907179845298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rswt3XsTxrI/AAAAAAAAAFM/5tPmuhpnlgE/s320/ProtituteLagos.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Apparently, in an attempt to prove their mettle, the Lagos State Police is chasing after Nigerian females paraded in this photo, they, the police have ignored two categories of men who make Lagos ungovernable, immoral and unsafe. The armed robbers who the police claim hides out at the "Brothels" where these citizens were arrested and the men who prostitute them (especially the married men and corrupt politicians who engage in this acts at the expense of their wives), since it takes two opposite sex to tango in a prostitution business. This is chauvinism at its worst. Leave these women alone if you can't parade their patrons. Shame on Lagos Policemen!<br /><br /></span><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><strong></strong></div></div></div>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-89927775224641773992007-08-10T22:21:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:41.706-05:00NIGERIA: GOVERNANCE AND DECAYING INFRASTRUCTURE<span style="font-family:arial;">A World Bank report: "Governance Matters, 2007: Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) 1996-2006" says that some African countries are making significant strides on the path to good governance and corruption control, a development that is encouraging, given their place in long-term growth and poverty reduction.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">According to the report launched last month by the World Bank Institute and the Bank’s Development Economics Vice-presidency, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone have between 1998 and 2006 showed marked recent improvements in voice and accountability, while Algeria and Liberia have strengthened their rule of law. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />In a press release, the bank said countries like Algeria, Angola, Libya, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, the report notes have made improvements in political stability while Tanzania has recorded gains on control of corruption. However, other African countries still face enormous governance and development challenges, the report says.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">While emerging economies are matching rich countries on key dimensions of governance; with poorer African nations showing marked improvements on key benchmarks of governance, Nigeria did not show any improvement that was worth mentioning in this report.<br /><br />Now, click on the color coded key Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) chart for Nigeria below. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rr0v45H9gLI/AAAAAAAAAE0/zDpzbfRu3hg/s1600-h/Nigeria.WGI.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097283007706661042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="202" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/Rr0v45H9gLI/AAAAAAAAAE0/zDpzbfRu3hg/s320/Nigeria.WGI.bmp" width="320" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You will see that Nigeria is ranked below the 50th percentile on Voice & Accountability (VA), below the 25th percentile on Government Effectiveness (GE) and Regulatory Quality (RQ) and below the 10th percentile on Political Stability (PS), Rule of Law (RL) and Control of Corruption (CC). This is a shameful statistics for a nation that prides itselfs as the "Giant of Africa"!<br /><br />This research study was based on the premise that; in a country like Nigeria where there is no voice and accountability; no freedoms for the citizenry to participate in selecting their government, no Government effectiveness; as in lack of quality civil service and it’s independence from political pressure, the quality of policy formulation and implementation and the credibility of the government’s commitment to such policies, it may be hard to pressure public officials/administrators to be accountable to the public. As a result, it is hard to control corruption. Thereby giving rise to the perception of the likelihood that the government will be destabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means including political violence or terrorism.<br /><br />To say the least, this is an indictment on the last administration for the lack of governance in Nigeria for the last decade – the period in question in this report. And adding to this, the scathing statement made last week that <strong>“</strong><a href="http://www.businessdayonline.com/?c=45&a=15142" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ff6600;"><em>Revamping Nigerias Decaying Infrastructure is taking too long...</em> </span></a><br /><strong>”</strong>by Kavalsky, a World Bank official, one is constrained to pass judgement that the Obasanjo vis-a-vis the Yar’Adua's administration would be the worst Government Nigerians will experience in recent memory. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The World Bank team from the Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) who was in Nigeria to assess the impact of the bank’s projects in the last 10 years expressed shock that the country was still grappling with the problem of infrastructure, and indeed all the facilities that could have made life easier for Nigerians in spite of the huge funds injected into its provision during the tenure of Obasanjo.<br />"Infrastructure is a difficult problem. There should have been a breakthrough but it is taking a longer time. In my discussion with President Obasanjo, he said he thought they could fix the problem in six months but it was not possible." Kawalsky added. </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Nobody knew what was Obasanjo's excuse for failing Nigerians on this most crucial duty as a president!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Here is an excerpt from the news article - “Both federal and state roads across the country have been the subject of much concern by business and the Nigerian public who use them. Over an eight-year period, the last government, under Olusegun Obasanjo, is believed to have spent well over N1-trillion for the rehabilitation of roads across the country for which nothing is on the ground to show for the huge expenditure.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The country also continues to suffer from poor state of electricity supply, with generation capacity falling to below 3,000 megawatts this year. The country actually requires an estimated 40,000 megawatts to be able to enjoy constant power. Poor state of refineries has also meant that the country is faced with constant disruption in fuel supply, with a litre of petrol selling for N150 in some far northern and eastern states.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Education remains in a shambolic state in a period of rising global oil prices for a country known for being the world’s eighth exporter of crude oil in the world. The five-man team from the World Bank appears to have been convinced to draw its conclusion from its observation of the current state of disrepair of the different infrastructural facilities that it examined. “<br />He, however, described the privatisation programme under the last administration as a difficult issue with the several policy somersaults experienced as he condemned the sale of refineries.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This brings to mind the fallacy of Obasanjo's questionable achievements, when mirrored against his administration many evident failures. One is forced to question - What was the sense in handing off billions of dollars to the Paris Club in settlement of questionable debts when your nation's roads are in deplorable condition? How do you justify keeping $40 billion in foreign bank vaults when Nigeria’s infrastructure remains inferior to Ghana’s, the Congo’s and Uganda’s, and closer to those of war-torn Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia? And why hasn’t the EFCC responded to the grave accusations, by his Vice President no less, to the effect that Obasanjo has engaged in corrupt self-enrichment? How committed is this anti-graft crusade anyways, when Yar’dua have now decided to cage these anti-corruption agencies and strip them of their independence?<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Let's not even rehash the issue of insecurity of the nation; as the Nigerian Police have now stooped to the lowest of the lows; wantonly arresting defenseless women for dressing ‘inappropriately’ under the guise of imposing a veiled Sharia state; while leaving 419ners, rapist, street thugs, pedophiles, murderers and armed robbers to roam freely, unleashing terror and mayhem on the ordinary citizenry. And do we expect a President Yar’Adua’s govt to stop this ugly menace by the police? Not in Yar’Adua’s lifetime; this is the same staunch Shariarist zealot, whom, while he was the governor of Katsina State, allowed the conviction and death sentence of a hapless Muslim woman who was still nursing her child for allegedly committing adultery! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The sad news is that while a considerable number of countries, including poorer and smaller African nations are showing that it is possible to make significant governance progress in a relatively short period of time, Nigeria continues to experience deteriorations in a number of governance dimensions and decaying infrastructures. The reality is that the Nigerian government will never come to grips with the fact that improvements in governance are critical for government effectiveness and for the sustenance of long-term political stability and economic growth, if any.</span>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-11942411087269719792007-08-04T06:14:00.000-04:002007-08-04T09:20:41.178-04:00Corrupt Government Shares Loot<blockquote><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, are to get a total of N19.5 million as severance pay as soon as the National Assembly ratifies the payment of severance allowance to former public office-holders.<br /></span><a name="secondParagraph"></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Documents exclusively obtained from the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission on Friday indicated that Obasanjo will get N10,544,115; while Abubakar will collect N9,094,717.<br />These<span style="color:#ff6600;"> figures represent 300 per cent of their annual basic salaries</span>. The documents showed Obasanjo’s basic salary as N3, 514,705.00, while Abubakar’s was N3,031,572.50. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">Already, all former members of the National Assembly and its leadership have been paid. The highest among them is the former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, who got N7,452,727. He is followed by the erstwhile Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Masari, who was paid N7,431,330. While Nnamani earned N2, 484,242.50 annually, Masari got N2,309,166.75. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">The documents also showed that each of the former governors is to collect N6, 671,115.00; while each their former deputies will receive N6, 336,645.00 each.<br />Of the 36 former governors, only nine returned. They are the governors of Borno, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Anambra, Kano, Kogi, Kwara and Gombe. Apart from the Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, who was the deputy governor of Oyo State, others who returned as deputy governors after the 2007 elections include those of Bayelsa, Borno, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Anambra, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Kaduna and Gombe. The former governors and deputy governors were on N2, 223,705.00 and N2, 112,215.00 respectively. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">For the former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, his severance pay is put at N6, 927,566. This represents 300 per cent of his N2, 309,188.75 annual basic pay.<br />For former senators, whom it was gathered had been paid because they did not require legislative approval as stipulated in Section 70 of the 1999 Constitution, they each went home with N6,079,200.00. Ex-members of the House of Representatives got N5, 955,637.00. The former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Chief Austin Opara, was also paid N4, 337,947.00. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">At the state level, the commissioners and each of the former Secretary to the State Government is due for N4,011,675.00m; while the permanent secretaries and auditors-general will go home with N3,743,610.00 each. Each of the former special advisers to the governors are also to get N5, 000,440,00.<br />For the former local government chairmen, each of them will collect N3, 406, 170.00 while their deputies will pocket N3, 198,960 each. The councillors are not also left out as each of them is to smile home with N2,850,285,00. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia;">Former ministers; the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Obong Ufot Ekaette; the former Head of Service, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed; and chairmen of some public parastatals are to go home with N6, 079,200 each.<br />For this set of former public servants to be entitled to the severance pay, it was stated that they must have served for a period of two years in office. </span></p><p>While millions of Nigerians are struggling to survive with meagerly stipends, these bunch of political buffoons are cutting for themselves fat severance package from the national treasury. What did these politrickscians achieved in the past 8 years to justify this largesse? Beats me!!!</p></blockquote>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37312158.post-24209932887121855432007-07-25T17:46:00.000-04:002008-12-10T12:30:41.883-05:00Is Turaki A Burkinabe?<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RqfFKpH9gJI/AAAAAAAAAEk/yFEmYRw0854/s1600-h/Turakipassport.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091254690394243218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xnd_VyIx2jY/RqfFKpH9gJI/AAAAAAAAAEk/yFEmYRw0854/s320/Turakipassport.jpg" border="0" /></a> <strong>Corrupt Governors Granted Bail, But...</strong><br /><div><br />Embattled former Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye, was this morning granted bail by the Federal High Court, Abuja, but he cannot go home yet because he has another matter hanging on his neck at the FCT High Court, Gudu, Abuja. Dariye, who is standing trial on money laundering and criminal concealment charges before Justice Babs Kuewumi of the Federal High Court, was granted bail in the sum of N100 million with two sureties. Each of the sureties must be a senator or/and a traditional ruler with landed properties in Abuja. Despite this, Dariye is to remain at the Kuje Prison as there is another 41-count charge of theft filed against him at the FCT High Court, Gudu, Abuja. The matter is being presided over by Justice Abimbola Banjoko. And in the matter concerning Alhaji Saminu Turaki former governor of Jigawa State, who is standing trial for alleged corrupt enrichment and criminal concealment at the Federal High Court, Abuja, his counsel, Ayodele Adedeji (SAN), this morning moved the motion for adoption of his bail application. In his argument, the counsel maintained that the offences for which the former governor was standing trial were bailable and that he should be granted bail. But the EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs, opposed the application on the grounds that Turaki would likely jump bail because he holds multiple passports. <em><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Jacob argued that being a citizen of Nigeria and Burkina Fasso, Turaki could flee to Burkina Fasso to escape prosecution</span></strong></em>. The EFCC counsel pointed out to the judge the implications which granting Turaki bail would have on his trial. He said it would be injurious to the trial to grant Turaki his application for bail. Justice Binta Murtala Nyako adjourned till Friday, 27 July 2007 hearing in the bail application.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-size:78%;">Courtesy: Sahara Reporters</span></div>NigeriaPolitricks.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16578556996392257868noreply@blogger.com8