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Showing posts with label latest news in Nigeria. Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2014
''Former Information Minister Dora Akunyil, Needs Prayers''
According to a report on Saharareporters, former Minister of Information and former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mrs Dora Akunyili is in a serious health crisis after her medical condition deteriorated during the on-going national conference.
A family friend had told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Akunyili was diagnosed with cancer and stated that she had spent several months in the US receiving treatment. And now, that Mrs. Akunyili’s condition worsened a few days ago, prompting her hospitalization at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja.
SaharaReporters called Mrs. Akunyili’s mobile telephone twice yesterday. During the first call, a female voice passed on our call to her but she abruptly hung up. During a subsequent call, the female voice said Mrs. Akunyili was sleeping, but refused to disclose her condition or specific location.
Several reports say Mrs. Akunyili had been flown to India for a round of medical treatment. However, two members of the National Conference said the former minister was hospitalized in Abuja. One of the delegates revealed that Mrs. Akunyili had not been at the confab for several weeks after she made a public address at one of the plenaries at the confab.
Last month, Mrs. Akunyili tried to douse public concerns about her health status by issuing a statement to say her doctors gave her the nod to attend the conference. She has not updated her Facebook page for a while now.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Miss Sahhara Blast Nigeria's First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan Over her Cry Video Which Surfaced Online
Popular Nigerian transgender, Miss Sahhara today went all hard on first lady over her recent cry, she give more than just a piece of her mind on the latest issues affecting the country and how the leaders have reacted. Although, she later deleted the post, but not before we got it. Read below then watch Patience Jonathan's cry video.....
Thursday, April 11, 2013
"We Have Not Committed Any Wrong To Deserve Amnesty"– Boko Haram
The leader of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram has rejected the idea of any potential amnesty deal, which the country’s presidency said it would study in a bid to curb a bloody insurgency, in a statement obtained by AFP Thursday.
Abubakar Shekau, the purported head of Boko Haram who has been designated a global terrorist by the United States, claimed his group had “not committed any wrong to deserve amnesty.”
“Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon,” he said, listing what he described as the state’s “atrocities” against Muslims.
The Hausa language audio recording was distributed by email in a manner consistent with previous Boko Haram messages, and the voice was similar to that of previous Shekau statements.
President Goodluck Jonathan last week formed a panel to look at the possibility of offering an amnesty deal to the Islamists, whose insurgency has left more than 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security services.
Jonathan has come under intense pressure over the issue, with politicians from the country’s violence-torn north as well as Nigeria’s highest Muslim spiritual figure, the Sultan of Sokoto, calling for amnesty.
The panel, reportedly to be composed of national security officials, northern leaders and others, is due to report later this month.
The move has been widely debated in Nigerian media in recent days.
Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer.
The group also claimed the February 19 kidnapping of a French family of seven over the border in Cameroon. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
Boko Haram’s demands however have repeatedly shifted and the group is believed to include various factions in addition to imitators.
Nigeria offered an amnesty to militants in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region in 2009, which has been credited with greatly reducing unrest there, though oil theft has since flourished.
TRAGEDY! Thunder Strikes Female Student Dead On Exam Day In Lagos
The family of a Senior Secondary School 3 female student of Muslim College Oworonsoki, Lagos, has been thrown into mourning after lightning struck and killed 19-year-old Celestina Farotide, who was about to start her final examination the same morning.
The victim’s father was said to be in shock and disbelief and had refused to show up to collect the corpse, saying, “It cannot be my daughter”.
The aunt of the deceased, Christiana Idowu, who described her as gentle, quiet and respectful said she saw her corpse in the hospital after the family received an emergency call from one of Celestina’s friends.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity because she was not permitted to talk to journalists, told Punch that the sad incident occurred on Monday.
She said, “We had finished with the morning assembly, but some students were still coming in. Celestina had prepared her desk in readiness for the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination’s practical they were to have that morning.”
It was learnt that she went out to buy the food she would eat and when she was returning to her class in company with other students, tragedy struck.
“The lightning came in their direction and immediately three of the school girls fell down. Two of them rose up and ran and Celestina rose up too. Then the lighteningt struck the second time, and she (Celestine) fell finally on the floor and did not rise again.
"She was immediately taken to the teachers’ staff room, where a teacher was asked to take her to the Gbagada General Hospital. It was there she was confirmed dead,” said an eyewitness.
Reacting to the girl's death, the traditional ruler of Oworonsoki, Oba Bashir Oloruntodupefun, said the gods are angry because Oworosoki land had been desecrated by strangers and that government is taking over ancestral lands and selling them to non-indigenes.
He said, “It’s a pity the girl died. The circumstances surrounding her death are mysterious because the girl was never sick. From what happened, we can all see the gods are making demands.
“The shrines that should be used for sacrifices have been swept away in water. And the land we have is being sold by government officials to their friends and they send military men to threaten us.
Is Nigeria Fast Becoming A Rapist Nation?
“Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused. It is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety”
—Freda Adler
Recently, I read a report titled, "The World Most Dangerous Countries for Women", released by the Thompson Reuters Foundation. The global report listed those countries in the world that are considered unsafe for women...
Experts from five continents were asked to rank the nations of the world on their overall perception of danger for women as well as six high-risk categories in health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, harmful practices rooted in culture, tradition and/or religion, lack of access to economic resources and human trafficking.
The report, however, listed five countries as the world’s most dangerous places to be a woman. Pakistan and India came first and second respectively. In India, for example, women have become endangered species, as it is said that a woman is raped every 20 minutes. To further cement that country’s infamy, its capital, New Delhi, is notoriously referred to as the “rape capital of the world’’.
From rape and domestic violence to lack of health care and education, millions of women all over the world experience daily dangers, but nowhere more than in the five countries identified by the report as the world’s most dangerous to be female: Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia. The plight of women in the five countries as highlighted in the report is the big picture of the growing brutality women continue to face globally.
With the recent reported crimes against Nigerian women, how long will it take before our country is listed among those countries where being a woman is next to living in hell? Indeed, women continue to face growing dangers across the country. Hardly a day passes without one report or the other about domestic violence and rape committed against women and girls. What could be shocking is if there is any day a rape incident is not reported in the media. Rape cases have increased astronomically. It appears no woman is safe from being physically abused or raped in this country.
In Nigeria, women are being raped by their husbands. Girls raped by their fathers and uncles. Pastors have also been reported to rape minors. The PUNCH reported one that took place even in an orphanage recently involving a pastor. Women are still being raped by policemen in cells across the country. The practice is called sex-for-bail. The women often do not have any option. If they refuse, they are soon roped into crimes they know nothing about. Some of the reported cases have been mind-boggling.
First, let’s look at the figures. According to a recent data released in Lagos, in 2012 alone, according to the Ministry of Justice, 427 girls were raped. In Rivers State, the year 2012 recorded a shocking 1, 200. In Delta State, some policemen are currently facing trial for their role in the alleged rape of a woman in custody. The reported cases also border on the bizarre. For example, what could have gone through the mind of a man who repeatedly raped his eight-year-old daughter over many days as well as his one month old baby? This strange tale was reported in The PUNCH the other day. In Benue State, at the height of the devastating flood that wrecked havoc on lives and property in the state, about 19 women (both married and single) who had taken refuge in a camp for the homeless were raped by unknown men who invaded the camp. In Zamfara, a police inspector is under investigation for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl. In Bauchi State, a few days ago, a woman was brutally raped and stabbed in the presence of her two children by a commercial motorcyclist.
The police said they will not prosecute the case unless the offender owns up to the crime! It is the victim’s words against the rapist’s! Another reported case of rape happened in an orphanage home in Ogun State last week. The case involved the owner of the orphanage and a little girl. It is noteworthy that the owner of the home has been operating since 1986. How can a paedophile be given the licence to operate an orphanage? In Jigawa State, a gang of rapists was arrested for repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl and infecting her with HIV.
The list of rape cases is endless. It happens in all the states of the federation. Even elderly women are not spared. In Opi, Enugu State, elderly women and widows are still being serially raped by unknown men since 2012. No one has been caught. Rape is a notoriously under-reported crime, thanks to the social stigma associated with the crime. In most cases, the culprits are known to the victims. Yet, of all the major crimes, the incidence of rape has registered the highest growth in the country in recent years.
In India, it took the gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl for the country to erupt in outrage. In Nigeria, the response after a brutal rape of a minor is usually a shrug of the shoulder, something like, God forbid! It has become normal to hear reports of rape. Nobody cares. Or so it seems. As long as the victim is not a relative, we often ignore and move on. It is sad. It is this same lethargic response to rape that is demonstrated by the government and law enforcement agents. It is impossible to report an incident of rape to the police. The burden is always on the victim to prove that she has been abused. Most times, the victim is mocked by the same officers who are assigned to handle the cases. With the slow judicial system, victims often do not get justice.
Women have also been blamed for inviting rape. The victim of rape is often blamed for seducing the rapist as if any woman enjoys being raped. That line of argument to me is barbaric and unconscionable. Those in this school of thought believe that a woman invites the rapist when she wears a certain kind of dress. I consider this thinking warped that somebody would go out to rape a woman because he is enchanted by her dress. The question I want to ask is, if certain clothing promotes rape, how about the increasing cases of rape of minors and one-month-old babies? Do those kids also dress to kill? This attitude of blaming the victim is one reason why women never get justice for being raped. The patriarchal nature of our society also negatively affects women.
In most parts of Nigeria, women are still viewed as the objects of pleasure. They are even considered as property to be owned. Consequently, rape cases are not considered a crime worth pursuing. Too many rape cases have occurred without justice for the victims. In some cases, the parents of rape victims even seek to drop cases against the abusers. The lethargy and connivance of the police, the lethargy of the courts to diligently prosecute rapists have left our daughters, women and girls vulnerable. Ultimately, the failure to prosecute offenders has emboldened the potential rapist because he knows he will always get away with the crime. This is one reason why the cases of rape have multiplied in recent times. Even with the threat of life imprisonment for offenders, rape incidents continue to grab the headlines.
The social stigma associated with crime also ensures that victims suffer in silence. The growing cases of rape in the country and the impunity with which the crime is committed should provoke our anger. Nigerians cannot continue to play the ostrich. That your relative is not a victim today does not mean she will not be a victim some day. Just like in India, we must all rise up to condemn the crime of rape. The Police must investigate and prosecute all reported cases of rape to serve as a deterrent to others. Government at all levels and concerned stakeholders must work together to stop this growing and debilitating incidence of rape because a society that cannot protect its women and girls cannot claim to be a civilised society.
BY BAYO OLUPOHUNDA
The Cancer patient Don Jazzy Gave N2m For Treatment Funmi Lawal dies
I'm sure you all remember her. Funmi Lawal is the UNILAG law graduate who was diagnosed with malignant sarcoma, a kind of cancer at the shoulder region, who Some good Nigerians raised money for last year. She's the same lady music producer, Don Jazzy donated N2million to.
Funmi's left arm had to be amputated in January 2013 to save her life...unfortunately she still didn't make it. She died this morning at the Lagos State University College of Medicine. The cancer had spread to her lungs and she had completely lost the ability to breathe without a respirator. May her soul rest in peace...amen.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tenant Sends Landlord To Prison Over His Missing Chicken
A Nigerian landlord, Olubukunaji Obajimi, 56, has been remanded in prison after he was arraigned in court for locking his tenants inside their apartment over his missing chicken.
Narrating what happened, the tenant’s wife, Mrs Ngozi Okafor said they woke up and after their usual morning prayer, they discovered that their apartment was locked from outside by the landlord and they could not go out, including their little baby.
According to PM News, the landlord alleged that his tenant, Chukwunonso Okafor and his family were responsible for his missing chicken, as they might have eaten it, and locked all of them inside their rooms from morning till evening, insisting they must produce the chicken.
The incident happened at 55, Olubukunayo Obajimi street, Egan, outskirts of Lagos, where both reside. They pleaded to no avail and they contacted their relation, who in turn contacted the police.
The landlord was arraigned on a two-count charge of conduct likely to cause breach of public peace and unlawfully locking out his tenant before Ejigbo Magistrate’s Court in Lagos.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
VIDEO: Nigeria Minister Of State Foreign Affairs Disgraced In New York
Gunmen Attack Borno Church, Injure Policemen
Some gunmen suspected to be members of the deadly Boko Haram sect on Sunday attacked the Ekliziyar Yan’uwa a Nigeriya (Church of Brethern), also known as EYN in Bulumkutu ward of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital injuring one policeman.
Vanguard gathered that the gunmen came in a Keke Napep (tricycle) at about 11:02am when the whole congregation were receiving sermon from the Man of God and thereafter opened fire on the JTF troops deployed to the church to protect lives of and property, but unfortunately, the troops repelled the attack which led to the injuring of one policeman in his leg.
According to eye witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said, the gunmen numbering about five came on a tricycle and started shooting which he believed was targeted at the JTF security personnel attached to the church, but with the quick response from the JTF operatives, the gunmen had no option than to run away without being arrested.
He said even though he couldn’t got the details of the attack as to whether one or two of the gunmen sustained gunshot injuries, he is optimistic that one of the security personnel was shot in his leg, as he saw the time when he was being rushed to the hospital for treatment.
When contacted on phone for confirmation, the JTF Spokesman, Leuitenant Colonel Sagir Musa confirmed the incident.
He said at about 11am, some Boko Haram suspected attempted to attack the JTF location at the EYN church in Bulumkutu ward of Maiduguri Metropolis, but were repelled, pointing out that one policeman sustained gunshot injury in his leg, was treated and immediately discharged from the hospital.
PHOTO: Baby Factory Discovered In Abia State
At a baby factory in Abia State, the owner buys a baby boy for N100, 000 and a baby girl for N80, 000, which she sells to interested buyers at N450, 000 and N400, 000 respectively. Ihugwe is an isolated community in Umuozuo, Osisioma LGA of Abia State, but it is well known to clients interesting in buying new born babies for various reasons.
Most of the teenagers rescued were girls kicked out by their parents after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. The owner of the house will accept such girls, take care of them for the entire duration of their pregnancy and enter into an agreement to sell the babies after giving birth to them. It was also learnt that after giving birth, those interested can remain behind and be made pregnant again.
After giving birth, the teenagers will be paid N100, 000, for a baby boy and N80, 000 for a baby girl by the proprietor who will sell the babies to interested clients. “The owner of the maternity home sells a baby boy for N450, 000, and a girl for N400, 000,”
And when the men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NCSDC) in Abia busted the facility last week, 32 pregnant teenagers were rescued, while the proprietor and two others were arrested.The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC in Abia State, Victor Ogbonna, told Weekly Trust.
At a baby factory in Abia State, the owner buys a baby boy for N100, 000 and a baby girl for N80, 000, which she sells to interested buyers at N450, 000 and N400, 000 respectively. Ihugwe is an isolated community in Umuozuo, Osisioma LGA of Abia State, but it is well known to clients interesting in buying new born babies for various reasons.
Most of the teenagers rescued were girls kicked out by their parents after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. The owner of the house will accept such girls, take care of them for the entire duration of their pregnancy and enter into an agreement to sell the babies after giving birth to them. It was also learnt that after giving birth, those interested can remain behind and be made pregnant again.
After giving birth, the teenagers will be paid N100, 000, for a baby boy and N80, 000 for a baby girl by the proprietor who will sell the babies to interested clients. “The owner of the maternity home sells a baby boy for N450, 000, and a girl for N400, 000,”
And when the men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NCSDC) in Abia busted the facility last week, 32 pregnant teenagers were rescued, while the proprietor and two others were arrested.The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC in Abia State, Victor Ogbonna, told Weekly Trust.
PHOTO: Man Dies After Receiving Acid Bath At Lovers House
The Enugu State police command says it has commenced a fullscale investigation into the death of one Ugwu Peter Chima, who died as a result of acid bath he received in his lover’s house.
In a statement made available to a source on Sunday, the police spokesman in the state, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu disclosed that the deceased had gone to see his lover at Old Army Barracks Nsukka in Enugu state when the incident happened.
“He was attacked with acid by a group of six armed men yet to be identified thereby leaving him with serious injuries on his body.
“He was, however, rushed to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku Ozalla Enugu for medical attention, where he was subsequently confirmed dead”, Amaraizu stated.
BREAKING NEWS: Boko Haram rejects Amnesty offer
The spokesman of the sect who gave his name as Abu Dardam in a BBC Hausa programme monitored in Maiduguri, stressed that their reason of not accepting the amnesty is that they don’t recognise democracy as a form of government.
The group also faulted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, saying that justice can only be found in the Holy Quran, that is Shariya system of government.
Reacting the Borno state Commissioner of Home Affairs Information and Culture Mr. Hyeladi Inuwa Bwala, appealed to the group to see reason and embrace dialogue with a view to restore lasting peace in Borno state.
He said most wars and crisis in the world were settled mostly through dialogue, and therefore called on the group to see wisdom in the amnesty offer and come to a round table for dialogue.
VANGUARD
Give Boko Haram What My Husband Gave Your Brothers ––Turai Tells Jonathan
Turai said Jonathan should totally ignore advise from all those who are saying he should not grant amnesty to the dreaded Islamic sect because of the number of people they have killed.
Speaking in Lagos on Friday during an Award Gala Night organised by Niger Delta Young Professionals, Turai said, “When Yar’Adua saw that the people in the Niger Delta, particularly the children were dying callously, he (Yar’Adua) took it upon himself to grant amnesty to the militants to ensure lasting peace.
She said Northern youths should be empowered by the government. “There is poverty in the North. What Yar’Adua did in the Niger Delta, let Jonathan do the same thing to the North. Mr. President should not allow his advisers to deceive him. Let him sit down and think about the insecurity in the North,” she stressed.
She said Northern youths should be empowered by the government. “There is poverty in the North. What Yar’Adua did in the Niger Delta, let Jonathan do the same thing to the North. Mr. President should not allow his advisers to deceive him. Let him sit down and think about the insecurity in the North,” she stressed.
Anyone Who Gives Boko Haram Amnesty Is Wicked ––CAN President, Oritsejafor
On Jonathan's quest to get the North's support to contest in 2015, Pastor Oritsejafor said:
“I don’t know his ambition for second term because I am not a politician; I am a pastor. But that (amnesty) would be wicked. I don’t see why he would have to do that and I don’t see why he would have to consider that because we are facing a very serious situation in Nigeria.
“Let us not turn this situation into politics. Let’s face it for what it is. The security of the people is the number one responsibility of the President. And I think at this point, Jonathan must wake up and just face it and do what he has to do. But these people who are putting pressure on him left and right, may God help them and deliver Nigeria from their hands."
He argued that the Boko Haram insurgency should not be likened to Niger Delta militancy. According to him, the Niger Delta militants fought for their resources and neglect.
“The reality is that you cannot equate those two instances. How many mosques were burnt in Warri or Port Harcourt? Can you tell me one? Young boys didn’t come on the streets to start shooting and killing people in the market. I’m from Warri, the Central Mosque is in the centre of our town. It has been there all these years. Nobody touched it.”
Pastor Oritsejafor warned that Jonathan should not toy with the future of Nigeria by trading off its security on the altar of politics and personal ambition.
Former Speaker’s Father, Bankole, 71, Impregnates Three Ladies At A Go!
Wonders, they say, shall never cease, news broke out that the Ogun State political god father and father of the former Speaker of the Federal House Of Representatives , Dimeji Bankole, Chief Alani Bankole at 71 has impregnated a lady who recently delivered a baby for him, many were shocked because of his advanced age, all unanimous in their views about where and how the elder states man should channel his energy, which should be nurturing the older and existing of his off springs rather than making more babies.
Newsmen gathered from close sources that two out of the three women the highly potent Egba High Chief impregnated, two delivered their bundles of joy early this year while the third is due to be delivered of her pregnancy soonest.
Bola Ewebiyi, a 26 years old Business Administration graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, the first amongst the three baby mamas was delivered of a baby girl. Likewise a 33 year old Indigene of Ilaro. They were both said to have delivered a week apart of each other in January.
My Secrets ––Nigeria's Richest Woman, Folorunsho Alakija
The business mogul is however quick to define wealth in her own words:
“Wealth is beyond money and affluence. It can be classified as a large amount of something, ranging from experience to talent. It is a word that quantifies and qualifies anything. For instance, you could say someone has a wealth of interesting qualities. Many people have said the same to me because there are so many parts to who I am, who I have become and who God has created me to be. I am a businesswoman, a fashion designer and milliner by profession.
“The word wealth qualifies and measures one’s success in achieving set targets and goals, prosperity, and blessings. Blessings can be in the form of good health, the education of children and even living to a ripe old age. Therefore, a wealthy woman is someone who has been able to achieve some, all or even more than these because grace for wealth is unlimited from our God. He desires to bless us all on a daily basis. We just need to learn how to key into it so that we do not limit ourselves,” she says.
The executive vice chairman, Famfa Oil Limited, she founded Supreme Stitches, which later changed to Rose of Sharon House of Fashion, a fashion label that catered to upscale clientele.
Speaking further about her relationship with God, she said “I heard the call of the Lord into Christian ministry many years ago but I was reluctant to yield to the call.
“I believe that my passion for fashion was hugely responsible as I was definitely enjoying what I was doing for a living, although in hindsight, it was really a fulfilling and successful hobby because I was not dependent on it. The zeal to succeed in whatever I decide to do, drove the business. I don’t design clothes any more except the odd ones I may choose to design when I commission such through another fashion designer.”
She also runs a non-profit organisation, the Rose of Sharon Foundation, which she says has changed the lives of hundreds of widows, their children and orphans.
Born in 1951, to the Ogbara family in Ikorodu, Lagos State, she is from a Muslim polygamous family of 52 children. Being the eighth from her father and second from her mother, she says her relationship with 45 other siblings is cordial. “God gave my father the grace to provide for all of us and send more than three quarter of us to England and America to study. My other sibling and I were the first to go. The four years that I spent at such a young age abroad, impacted positively on my life,” she states.
“I was in boarding school and we were the only blacks in the school. I regret that the school building which is one of the most cherished buildings in Wales, has been sold. If I had learnt years ago that it was up for sale, I would have bought it and turned it into a health club. I remember with nostalgia, the etiquette lessons we got-elocution, horse riding, singing lessons, stamp collection, etc. I learnt a lot in those four years. I had to come back quickly because my father didn’t want me to imbibe the western culture to the detriment of our own culture,” she adds.
Never assume that her successes could hinder a blissful marital life. The mother of four, who is now a grandmother, says the success of any marriage depends on respect and submission. To her, a woman can be successful in business and at the home front.
“Personally, I always make sure I seek the support and approval of my husband in whatever I plan to do, either for the day or for the future. This is because I strongly believe he is the head of our home and God is in the centre. As we honour and respect our husbands, God honours and uplifts the work of our hands. He guides and directs us and prospers our plans as a result. I also make it a point of duty not to shirk my responsibilities to my children,” she states.
“The word wealth qualifies and measures one’s success in achieving set targets and goals, prosperity, and blessings. Blessings can be in the form of good health, the education of children and even living to a ripe old age. Therefore, a wealthy woman is someone who has been able to achieve some, all or even more than these because grace for wealth is unlimited from our God. He desires to bless us all on a daily basis. We just need to learn how to key into it so that we do not limit ourselves,” she says.
The executive vice chairman, Famfa Oil Limited, she founded Supreme Stitches, which later changed to Rose of Sharon House of Fashion, a fashion label that catered to upscale clientele.
Speaking further about her relationship with God, she said “I heard the call of the Lord into Christian ministry many years ago but I was reluctant to yield to the call.
“I believe that my passion for fashion was hugely responsible as I was definitely enjoying what I was doing for a living, although in hindsight, it was really a fulfilling and successful hobby because I was not dependent on it. The zeal to succeed in whatever I decide to do, drove the business. I don’t design clothes any more except the odd ones I may choose to design when I commission such through another fashion designer.”
She also runs a non-profit organisation, the Rose of Sharon Foundation, which she says has changed the lives of hundreds of widows, their children and orphans.
Born in 1951, to the Ogbara family in Ikorodu, Lagos State, she is from a Muslim polygamous family of 52 children. Being the eighth from her father and second from her mother, she says her relationship with 45 other siblings is cordial. “God gave my father the grace to provide for all of us and send more than three quarter of us to England and America to study. My other sibling and I were the first to go. The four years that I spent at such a young age abroad, impacted positively on my life,” she states.
“I was in boarding school and we were the only blacks in the school. I regret that the school building which is one of the most cherished buildings in Wales, has been sold. If I had learnt years ago that it was up for sale, I would have bought it and turned it into a health club. I remember with nostalgia, the etiquette lessons we got-elocution, horse riding, singing lessons, stamp collection, etc. I learnt a lot in those four years. I had to come back quickly because my father didn’t want me to imbibe the western culture to the detriment of our own culture,” she adds.
Never assume that her successes could hinder a blissful marital life. The mother of four, who is now a grandmother, says the success of any marriage depends on respect and submission. To her, a woman can be successful in business and at the home front.
“Personally, I always make sure I seek the support and approval of my husband in whatever I plan to do, either for the day or for the future. This is because I strongly believe he is the head of our home and God is in the centre. As we honour and respect our husbands, God honours and uplifts the work of our hands. He guides and directs us and prospers our plans as a result. I also make it a point of duty not to shirk my responsibilities to my children,” she states.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
FG Discovers Another N3.2tr Abacha Loot
Billions of dollars stashed away in foreign bank accounts by the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, may far exceed the already established $5 billion, as a Special Investigation Panel (SIP), tracing what has now become ‘Abacha loot,’ has stumbled on fresh clues indicating that the stolen funds still trapped in offshore accounts stand at over N3.2 trillion.
A competent source close to the panel, whose office is in the presidency told Saturday Sun that about four different meetings between the SIP team headed by a retired senior military officer and a Switzerland-based lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, hired by the Federal Government to assist in the recovery of the Abacha loot in foreign jurisdictions, had taken place outside the country in the last eight months.
Monfrini is an Attorney-at-Law, Monfrini Grettol & Associés, Geneva, Switzerland. The source, who preferred to be anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the subject, said: “In the course of the recent meetings between the Nigerian team and authorities in about four other jurisdictions as well as the team from the foreign legal firm, it was discovered that a lot of underhand dealings must have taken place in the recovery of the Abacha loot.
“This was largely responsible for the under-declaration of what has been recovered so far by three successive governments and worse still what is still trapped in offshore accounts, which, in our estimation, in our last meeting with our foreign team, stands at $210 billion.” Some of the foreign jurisdictions, where the stolen funds had been traced to include Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
One of the latest discoveries includes a $550 million in a coded account in France. “It has been very difficult to get details out into the public domain so far because the latest process is being secretly coordinated by the retired senior military officer heading the SIP in the presidency and the Attorney General of the federation, who provides legal advice for the team,” the source added. The Federal Government was said to have been encouraged to dig deeper into the Abacha loot because of a recent statement credited to the Swiss lawyer, Monfrini, handling the case.
While giving further insight into previous efforts to recover the stolen money, the lawyer was quoted to have said: “Civil action was initiated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria before the High Court of London in May 1999. It resulted in the seizing of only USD 60 million in the United Kingdom. The ‘full account’ given by the members of Abacha family was notoriously incomplete, notably in respect of their Swiss, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg assets, totaling USD 1.5 billion, which were entirely omitted. Less than USD 10 million of frozen assets been forfeited and recovered in the United Kingdom, none of which was through civil proceedings.”
Only the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been able to record the highest amount of $1.25 billion from the Abacha loot. The preceding regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the succeeding government of the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua could not do much in this regard notwithstanding the efforts also made. Obasanjo recently gave an indication that much could still be trapped outside the country when he declared, at a function in Delta State: “When I was president, I called the World Bank.
I said, please, give me the list of the amount that has been stolen, where it is kept and who the beneficiaries are. I never got anything from the World Bank thereafter. We have on our own decided that we will investigate and get from one family, Abacha family alone. “From the Abacha family alone, we recovered millions of dollars. I got 1.25 billion dollars and the lawyer in Switzerland (he is still there), who was doing it for us, said, when I was leaving, that if we worked harder, there was still, at least, one billion dollars that we can get from that family alone.” General Sani Abacha had ruled Nigeria as a military Head of State between November 17, 1993 and June 8, 1998, when he died suddenly of a heart attack.
As a result, General Abdulsalami Abubakar became the head of state and within a short time, he re-established democracy in Nigeria, arranging for general elections that resulted in the emergence of Obasanjo assuming the presidency as the democratically elected leader of the country in 1999. Before Obasanjo took office, Abubakar’s government had delivered a clear message that Abacha had looted huge sums, and they had to be restored. Members of the Abacha family and some of their accomplice then ‘voluntarily’ returned approximately $1 billion to the Federal Government.
In 2002, the Obasanjo administration tentatively came to an agreement with the Abacha family to return another $1 billion out of the $1.1 billion that had been identified, traced and frozen, with the quid pro quo that the Abachas would be allowed to keep balance that had been assessed not to be of criminal origin. The arrangement was not well received by the masses.
Although the proposal caused a massive outcry for seeming to reward the theft of public funds, it was subsequently rejected by the late dictator’s son, Mohammed Abacha, who continued to maintain that all the assets in question were legitimately acquired. The highest sum that had in the past been traced to the family ranged from $3 billion to $5 billion, which includes money allegedly derived from misappropriation of funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria, bribes received from multi-nationals, among others.
The Swiss government last December said that it has so far returned to Nigeria the sum of $700 million stolen by the late dictator and deposited in several Swiss banks. The Swiss ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, had announced the figure at a media briefing in Abuja. In addition to freezing about $640 million, the Swiss judicial authorities handling the case have also indicted Mohammed Abacha and Atiku Bagudu under Swiss legislation regarding money laundering, fraud and taking part in a criminal organisation.
While the latest discovery of the volume of stolen funds still trapped outside the country may appear as an indication of a breakthrough in the renewed effort to recover the looted funds, the sad news is, however, that Nigeria may never get the money back through the legal means it has been following since 1999. “In one of the last meetings before the SIP team stopped foreign trips on the case, the Nigerian government was told in plain terms that it will be too hard to get the money repatriated to the country through any court case or legal battles except through diplomatic negotiations with the foreign jurisdictions where these funds have been servicing their economies,” our source added.
It was further gathered that the Jonathan administration is already contemplating the idea of checking the record of recoveries made under the coordination of a former National Security Adviser (NSA). As a result, the SIP was said to have recently interacted with a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Peter Gana who worked with the ex-security adviser on the recovery of the Abacha loot with a view to getting certain clues needed for further probe.
Nigerian president is 'squeezing the life out of our country'
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| Goodluck Jonathan |
"Goodluck Jonathan is more interested in retaining power and accumulating wealth than truly tackling terror and corruption"
There is a joke about a morgue attendant who was so used to seeing dead bodies that one day, when a supposedly dead body started twitching, his response was, "this is the morgue, not the emergency room". He promptly smothered the twitching body until it was well and truly dead. "That's more like it", he said, as he sat down to guard the cabinet full of dead bodies and to wait for new arrivals.
In many ways, the way Goodluck Jonathan has handled the affairs of Nigeria since becoming president can be likened to that of the morgue attendant. And worse still, Nigeria under his administration has grown to become a vast, sprawling mortuary where deaths and dead bodies do not seem to matter at all. In the aftermath of Jonathan's visit to Maiduguri, the trouble northern city under attack by Boko Haram, in security operatives reportedly dumped about 70 bodies at the morgue, up from the daily average of 10 or 20.
Like the morgue attendant in the story, when about two years ago, the Borno state Elders Forum met the president and asked him to order the withdrawal of troops from Maiduguri to enable them take a different approach against the jihadist group, Jonathan flatly refused. In the two years since, how many more lives have been needlessly lost in the fighting? His attitude seems to be, "I'd rather preside over dead bodies than save lives".
Accepted, Jonathan took over a country that was severely distressed. But what is the job of the president? For someone who has spent the last 14 years in power at the state and federal levels, the excuse that he is still studying the situation is one of the lamest apologies in political history. Either deliberately or inadvertently, like the morgue attendant, Jonathan's actions and inactions all seem geared towards killing Nigeria off once and for all.
Why was it that when he was eventually shamed into visiting northern Borno and Yobe states by opposition governors, his response to calls for an amnesty for Boko Haram was, "We can't grant amnesty to ghosts". Within a week of his mindless retort, another 25 Nigerians had been blown to smithereens in Kano. Since he can't grant amnesty to ghosts, perhaps, he can grant amnesty to dead bodies?
Incidentally, more and more Nigerians are beginning to suspect that the deteriorating security situation may be more than the handiwork of Boko Haram. More than ever, there are growing fears that some, if not many of the attacks attributed to Boko Haram may be the work of other "ghosts" beyond the militants, whose ultimate objective may be to divide Nigerians further along ethnic and religious lines for political advantage. The very nature and timing of some of the attacks on churches and some ethnic groups lend credence to that supposition.
Is this the same Jonathan who told us on his inauguration that, "Today, our unity is firm, and our purpose is strong, our determination unshakable. Together, we will unite our nation and improve the living standards of all our peoples whether in the north or in the south; in the east or in the west. Our decade of development has begun. The march is on. The day of transformation begins today. We will not allow anyone exploit differences in creed or tongue, to set us one against another?"
Perhaps, Nigerians should not be surprised at what Jonathan has become. From the supposedly timid state governor and vice president, we now have one of the most calculating and thick-skinned leaders, totally deaf to criticism. The only thing on his mind seems to be to retain power beyond 2015 while allegedly helping friends and cronies accumulate wealth. After all, when he was asked about politicians declaring their assets in public, he said: "The issue of public asset declaration is a matter of personal principle. That is the way I see it, and I don't give a damn about it, even if you criticise me from heaven."
Which is why the condemnations of the pardon he granted to Diepreye Alamiesegha, a former state governor who stole millions of dollars and jumped bail in the UK after disguising himself in as a woman, are likely to fall on deaf ears. It is why, even with a daily income of $224 million, Nigerians are among the poorest people on earth. It's why we have 68 million people unemployed; why Nigeria is the most corrupt nation in the world and why studies show that a child would be off being born in Somalia, Mali, Chad, South Sudan and other war-ravaged countries than in Nigeria.
Jonathan's well-paid and ill-mannered army of internet and media warriors may sing his praises to high heavens and work hard to distort any discourse about the woeful failures of their paymaster, but they cannot hide the fact that, under Jonathan, Nigeria has become a vast mortuary where death and tragedy are routine. And like the morgue attendant, the president seems intent on smothering all remaining signs of life.
Buying God: An Open Letter to John Cardinal Onaiyekan and Pastor Tunde Bakare By Pius Adesanmi
Your Eminence, Cardinal Onaiyekan and Esteemed Pastor Bakare:
Greetings. Pardon this public approach to matters I could have taken up with both of you on the phone. The issues at hand do not belong in the province of the Wordsworthian emotion, to be recollected in tranquility on the phone, away from the ears of the Nigerian people. Also, I would have loved to be able to preface this open letter to two eminent spiritual and civic fathers of our nation with the usual Nigerian inquiry about your wellbeing and your “condition of health”. However, I realize that it would be hypocritical of me to ask such questions from genuine patriots and real national leaders like your eminent selves, given that you operate in a nation-space where the extra in extraordinary has acquired such grave and dark ramifications that birds no longer sing like birds and rats refuse to brux like rats.
For where the body has the rare privilege of being in “a good condition of health” in today’s Nigeria, how could the spirit possibly be? Is the Nigerian spirit not under siege? Is the Nigerian’s spirit not under siege? In essence, I cannot ask if you are “doing ok” because you cannot possibly be doing ok given the grave condition of our country.
Brothers, the surprise, for me, as I pen this letter to both of you this Friday April 5, 2013, is that the Nigerian is still standing, given the severity of the psychological warfare declared on him/her in recent times by what has got to be the world’s most perfidious political élite. If Nigeria’s long succession of atrocious postcolonial rulers has all waged a psychological war on the Nigerian, the incumbent in Aso Rock seems determined to be the one to find a “Final Solution” to something that must puzzle our political élite beyond measure: how has the Nigerian’s spirit survived the assault and the psychological violence we have foisted on it for so long?
Consequently, the galling and open declaration of admiration for a convicted felon and the subsequent pardoning of the said criminal in what a Nigerian patriot, Kingsley Ewetuya, famously described as the worst use of the prerogative of pardon by a ruler since Pilate pardoned Barabbas; the appointment of a man convicted –but subsequently pardoned in the usual Nigerian way – of forging a University of Toronto certificate and conning his way to the 4th most important office in Nigeria into the Governing Council of the University of Nigeria by a President tone deaf to irony, is all part of a purposed and deliberate effort to find a “Final Solution” to the Nigerian spirit by President Goodluck Jonathan. To the extent that no nation’s spirit can survive in a moral and ethical Kalahari, the President’s colossal ethical demission, his in-your-face throwing of national morality to the dogs, his constant hoisting of criminals and felons – albeit laureates of wuruwuru pardons - as role models in a country which boasts an almost 70% youth demographic in search of role models, must be read as a “clueful” (pardon my coinage in opposition to clueless) attempt to destroy the moral and ethical fabric of the Nigerian nation. Contrary to popular belief, this man is not clueless, he is diabolically clueful.
But the psychological warfare of President Goodluck Jonathan and his co-travellers in Nigeria’s irredeemably corrupt corridors of power on the spirit of the Nigerian people is not why I am writing you today. It is no secret that in the face of adversity, the Nigerian’s first refuge are spiritualities which find concrete expression in the Christian, Islamic, and animistic faiths. Because the majority of our people profess either the Christian or the Islamic faith today, it goes without saying that these two faiths owe it to Nigeria to be her armour against the rampage of the undertakers in the political élite, determined as they are to preside over the funeral rites of national ethics and morality. Because I profess the Catholic faith and I am writing to two of the most illustrious leaders of Nigerian Christendom, I will not be discussing the role of Islam in our current national conundrum. My brief here is Christianity, Nigerian Christianity.
Let me state that it is not all bad news with regard to the role of Nigerian Christendom in the battle to save our national values and protect decency, morality, and ethics from the siege of our prurient political class. Where the Presidency, which ought to be the institution which invests national values and morality with meaning, has come to be defined solely and singularly by irresponsibility, where you look for a single credible role model for our youth in the political class and find the proverbial “no, not one”, Nigerian Christendom has ensured that we continue to have credible, formidable, and towering national role models and symbols of righteousness like your esteemed selves, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, and the Most Reverend Peter Akinola (whose prayers against corruption the President would not dignify with any “amen”). There are more where these came from, dignified men and women of God toiling in the vineyard all over the country, away from the obscene materialistic incentives of the moneychangers in the political class.
Sadly, the category of Christian clergy sustaining the tradition of role modelship in our country is of such feeble minority as to be unable to define the broader face and complexion of Nigerian Christendom today. What we see today is a Nigerian Christendom cosily in bed with the most determined enemies of national ethics and morality. Where does one start? Does one start with the fact that the proceeds of corruption no longer travel directly to the vaults of Swiss Banks but make a conscience-salving detour into the tithe baskets of Nigerian Christendom? Does one start with the increasingly disturbing image of a corrupt and peripatetic power which spends more time hopping from one Christian pulpit to another than she spends behind the presidential desk in Aso Rock? And what does it say that this particular power has found a near permanent home on the Church pulpit? If Christendom was alive to its responsibilities and truth was being told to power in generous dosage, does it not stand to reason that power would not be so enamoured of hopping from one Christian pulpit to another, transforming the said pulpit into an extension of the immoral soapbox of the PDP?
I am of course aware that the labour of the two of you in our public sphere devolves largely from your determination to use your towering profiles and immense moral capital to confront these problems. After all, Your Eminence Onaiyekan has been a constant voice for sanity, your latest act in that regard being the temporary withdrawal of you and your brother Bishops from the Christian Association of Nigeria, transformed by its current leadership into a permanent bedmate of a corrupt political incumbency. And from the protestant flank, Pastor Bakare has been a consistent thorn in the flesh of a worrisome prosperity Pentecostalism bent on turning the temple into a den of thieves and moneychangers and transforming the Church into a hangar for ostentatious private jets acquired in a cynical mockery of the overwhelming poverty of the faithful.
My fear, however, is that the goalpost is constantly being shifted by those in the Christian clergy who are bent on sustaining the contemporary image of Nigerian Christendom as the handmaiden of political corruption. It would seem that there has been a steady transition from buying private jets to making God available to be bought by politicians. This explains why we are witnessing a transition from an epidemic of private jets to a pandemic of church buildings donated by corrupt politicians. President Jonathan, as you know, has been buying God in his hometown of Otuoke by nepotistically giving body language to Church building renovators or donors. However, the latest egregious example of a politician’s attempt to buy God is our friend, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who recently donated a Church building to the Anglican Communion in his own hometown.
I am not worried about the corrupt pedigree of the givers in these scenarios of Church building donations. I am worried about the takers. I am worried about the takers because, as Cardinal Onaiyekan knows too well from being a long-term associate of my father, I am a product of an earlier version of Nigerian Christianity that would have either rejected these contaminated gifts outright or at least asked very serious questions before accepting same. I do not recognize this strange new Christianity that seems wholly incapable of saying, “get thee behind me Satan”, whenever Nigerian politicians invite her to the top of an exceeding high mountain, show her the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, saying, “all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Senator Ekweremadu would have had to explain the source of his funds were he making that donation to the Body of Christ when I was growing up in Nigeria. The spectacle of Senator Ekweremadu and the President enjoying a no-questions-asked pulpit moment during the so-called dedication of the new Church building is a sobering statement on the current condition of Nigerian Christendom.
There is a serious national crisis when Nigerian Christendom can no longer be relied upon by the faithful as a refuge from the war declared on public morality, ethics, decency, and national values by corrupt and irredeemable members of the ruling élite. Beyond your respective and laudable personal efforts to sustain the Nigerian spirit through your towering moral stock and ethical capital, I believe that the time has come for the two of you to urgently reach out to each other, identify kindred spirits in the Clergy, form a broad-based interdenominational platform that would enable Nigerian Christendom commence an urgently-needed soul searching. I believe that we are at an historical juncture where the Body of Christ in Nigeria must come to an understanding of the fact that she cannot serve the Nigerian people (spiritually) and Nigerian politicians at the same time. Both are incompatible tasks, akin to serving God and Mammon.
Beyond the well-known positions and activism of role model clergy members such as your esteemed selves, the Nigerian Church can no longer shy away from taking a decisive and unambiguous position in our collective struggle for the rebirth of public morality, ethical capital and decency. The dangerous impression that the Nigerian Church is creating about being a servicer of the assault on national morality by a corrupt political élite requires an urgent interdenominational remedial intervention. I can think of no better initiators of this necessary process than the two of you.
Yours sincerely,
Pius Adesanmi
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