We have GPS system for your easy accesibility to cities, streets and locations anywhere in Nigeria. . Those of you that have lived in Europe and US will appreciate the need for a GPS system. Its convinient and easy to use. For more information please call Emeka on 08036005178. We shall be glad to deliver it to your door-step.

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti presumes to know something the rest of us don't. Faced with a notice of impeachment signed by 24 members of his state's legislature, the governor affects an unflappable disposition. Addressing a small crowd a few days ago, Fayose waxed with combative words. Though charged with bilking his state of billions of naira, the governor came across as unperturbed. His utterances were far from contrite. If the man is at imminent risk of toppling from grace to the murk, indeed of receiving the Alamieyeseigha treatment, he is not letting on. Instead, he is wroth. He openly disdains the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its "mountain" of evidence against him. And he makes no secret of loathing the legislators determined to dislodge him from his gubernatorial perch with immediate effect. He is huffing mad, his manner is gruff, curmudgeonly. Why, you may be wondering, is this seemingly outmatched man pouting at his formidable foes, beating his chest as if he were invincible?

Well, to have him tell the story, he is exactly that: invincible. Fayose claims, in effect, to know God on a first name basis. He has served notice to his traducers that he has a direct line to God, a lien on the battalion of angels. He insists that he has God on contract to fight for him, to mix it up with his antagonists if it ever comes to a brawl. Invoking his divine connectedness, he has spoken as if intrepid. He has not abandoned his accustomed swagger. Who would begrudge the man his air of confidence? If God be for us, who born the monkey that would be against us? Fayose's fighting stance was captured in the October 2, 2006 edition of The Guardian. The governor, according to the paper, "boasted that no power could remove him from office as he has the mandate of God, " No, this was not a case of misrepresentation by the newspaper. The report continued: "Quoting from the Bible, Fayose who claimed that he had never lost any battle, said the Assembly members would fail because they were not fighting him but God." Then the paper offered us the governor in his own vintage words: "I want (those plotting to remove me) to know that the God I serve would definitely put them to shame because their gathering is not of God and it would be scattered."

It is a familiar refrain, this invocation of divine accreditation by men accused of behaving badly. It was Alamieyeseigha's mantra when he was caught in London with an obscene cache of cash. And when he wangled an escape back to his Bayelsa base, why, he told his perplexed audiences that he hadn't the foggiest idea how he sprung free from British law. "I assure you that it was God," intoned the fugitive, touting that well-worn line. The implication was that God approved everything Alams did, including deploying millions of public funds to private use. Word reaching me lately is that God is no longer willing to remain mute in the face of these heretical concoctions. I can report authoritatively that, upon hearing Fayose's recent claim, God immediately instructed His press office to fax a disavowal to the Nigerian and international press. The opening words of the divine statement went like this: "God wishes Nigerians and the world to know that anybody fighting Fayose is fighting Fayose and not God. As a matter of fact, anybody fighting the governor is fighting him and the Devil. Fayose recently told an audience that the god he serves would certainly put his enemies to shame. Let it be clear that the governor doesn't serve me. If anything, he has been behaving as if he were some kind of god. But no matter." To disabuse the minds of those who believe that anybody who quotes from the Bible is of God, the press release reminded people that Lucifer himself was adept at regurgitating biblical passages by rote.

It was not all. The divine press release warned that God was close to losing all patience with Nigerian public officials who drag His revered name into their iniquitous deeds. It warned them to desist from the scandal of ascribing their toxic behavior to divine inspiration or approbation. "Politicians who act evilly only worsen their certain damnation when they allege that their impunity has God's imprimatur." The press release then offered a litany of examples where Nigerian public officials, having conducted themselves in ungodly ways, turned around to besmirch God's name. "When Nigerian politicians rig elections," the statement bemoaned, "they fearlessly proclaim it God's doing. Let it be clear that there is no condition whatsoever under which God welcomes or condones rigging or hanky panky of any kind. Many Nigerian public officials pilfer public funds, but then claim that God has blessed them. Let it be clear that all stealers and embezzlers are cursed. They maim and kill their opponents in a mindless bid for power, only to profess that only God gives power. For the avoidance of doubt, God refrains from meddling in elections, leaving it the business of registered voters. That's why many atheists have won, and most likely will continue to win, elections. Any man who ascribes his electoral victory to God invites close investigation. Often such meretricious sentiments are an indirect confession to stealing an election.

Day and night, Nigerian politicians work perversely hard at destroying their nation. Then they tell their pauperized citizens that only God can solve their problems. This is a blatant lie. The task of addressing a nation's maladies lies in the hands of its citizens. For proof, just take a look at China. It is officially a godless nation, yet its citizens and leaders are sweating to transform it into one of the strongest economies in the world. Examine the nations that now boast buoyant economies-Japan, Singapore, South Korea, even the nations of old Europe. Are they by any stretch the most devout nations? Far from it!
"God wants it underlined that at no time did He direct Nigerian leaders to siphon their nation's oil wealth to private bank accounts. The habit of stealing, God wants to assure you, is encouraged only by the guy who runs the show at the infernal address. I'm talking of the Devil himself. Look at Nigeria's tattered state. Its leaders (by the way, they prefer being called rulers) steal unconscionably. Their greed leaves little for health care, road construction, a sound educational system, and clean streets. Please stop fasting and praying and start holding your leaders accountable. God is not in the business of building hospitals or roads, equipping libraries and laboratories, and taking trash off streets."
There was a lot more in God's press release. "Nigerian leaders fly abroad for routine medical check-ups," it said, "but they prod the suffering masses to take their ailments to "miracle" crusades at the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

If these leaders believe that pastors ought to replace medical doctors, how come they themselves don't submit to the ministrations of 'powerful pastors?'" It continued: "Your leaders ask you to fast and pray even when you are famished, your stomachs empty. Yet, they themselves never practice what they preach. God sees through their turpitude. When they withdraw to their splurgy redoubts, they neither pray nor fast. Instead, they immerse themselves in unbridled hedonism. They quaff expensive liquor and choice wine until they take a leave of their senses. They cavort with lithesome belles young enough to be their granddaughters. They flaunt paunches and swollen necks that betray their gourmandising excesses. "Nigerian prisons teem with impoverished citizens incarcerated for small crimes. Thousands are languishing in jail for picking pockets in order to put food in their hollow bellies. Yet, when public officials contribute massively to their nation's economic backwardness by stealing billions, they are garlanded. Universities compete to confer honorary degrees on the knaves. Traditional farters (yes, some of them fart a lot!) rush to bestow titles on them. Even some church leaders crown them "elders" or make them knights! Their names make the list of candidates for the highest national honors. The press seeks them out for quotes on national issues, flattering them with the name of "stake holders." They are baptized as political "godfathers" instead of the more fitting satanic fathers. Oil blocks are allocated to them, and they bask in opulence.

In spite of our daily experiences in our journey of life, as Nigeria celebrates her 46th Independence Anniversary on 1 October, 2006, there is the need to be grateful to God for His blessing, mercy and protection. This is necessary, because without His grace, Nigeria would have disintegrated due to our lack of sincerity and focus, particularly on the part of most of our leaders, whatever levels, since we attained our independence on 1 October, 1960.

In fact, the current face-off between Nigeria's President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and his Vice, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, is a glaring example of the type of leadership we have been having in Nigeria – selfish, carefree and oppressive. The rift is gradually dividing the country, and this is very hazardous to the health, unity and dignity of our society. From all indications, the duo and their followers are not fighting for the progress and development of Nigeria, but for their own selfish motives. They have decided to wash and spread their dirty
linens in the public, thereby giving people the opportunity to know how our 'powerful' leaders enrich themselves with the nation's resources rather than serving the people. I pray Nigerians will learn from this and work as a formidable team to elect credible people in the various elections of 2007. We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by power mongers again. By their utterances and actions, the duo and their supporters have continued to dent
the image of our country, Nigeria. Therefore, they have to end their indiscriminate attacks on themselves, address the real issues involved, and they are to be humble and apologise publicly to us.

Indeed, everyday is for the thief, but one day is for the owner. God definitely has His own ways of doing His own things. Hence, the saying that, "God's delays are not God's denials". He is now revealing to us the nature and characteristics of most of those who force their ways to the corridors of power. As soon as they get what they want, they forget their promises to the populace and begin to harvest their spoils. Definitely, this type of harvest leads to tension and rancour. Unfortunately, things will begin to fall apart, with
individuals striving to save their heads and political relevance, at the expense of the country.

I do not support the idea that the present 'war' in Aso Rock is good for our democracy. Really, it is dangerous and it must stop now to avoid further damage and shame. I believe our combatants are God's children and they have their religions, they have to sheath their swords for the good, integrity and benefit of our country. Any society without the memory of the past has a shaky today and a worthless tomorrow. All well-meaning Nigerians must come together to end this shameful and dangerous face-off. The present crack in Aso
Rock has lent credence to the fact that many of the country's rulers do not work for the national interest. This is why the trend of recycling rulers has become the order of the day in Nigeria. In fact, even when people do not want such rulers who have one way or the other ruined the nation's economy and run down the country's structures, they still manage to wangle their ways to power and continue their misrule of Nigeria.

I would like to suggest here that the current dirty struggle between the President and his Vice is due to jealousy and ambition. This Roforofo fight (courtesy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti) reminds me of one of Fela's songs – You be Robber, I no be Robber, You be Thief, I no be Thief, You be Rogue, I no be Rogue. As the players, including their cohorts, in and outside Aso Rock play their game, they employ crude attacks and counter-attacks, insulting
themselves and disrespecting their revered offices, making themselves objects of derision within and outside Nigeria. As long as President Obasanjo (Grand Commander of the Federal Republic ) and Vice President Atiku (Grand Officer of the Federal Republic) remain in Aso Rock to engage themselves in this struggle for survival, Nigeria tends to remain stagnant. The continued war is disgraceful, scandalizing and embarrassing.

In fact, it is disheartening that the battle was also extended to the burial of the military officers in Abuja on Thursday, 21 September, 2006, where the President and his team decided not to recognise the presence of the Vice President. What lesson are the recipients of the National Awards - Grand Commander and Grand Officer, giving to the youth? What legacy are they preparing for tomorrow today? I hope this face-off will not affect our preparation for next year's elections. Actually, this disharmony is already having its side effects. For example, I cannot understand why the Federal Government of
Nigeria has not recognised officially the teenager, Master Detimbir Chir, who played a leading role in the location of the NAF Dornier 228 plane that crashed in Mbakunu village, Shanger-Ya in the Kwande Local Government Area, Benue State, on Sunday, 17 September, 2006.

"Wherever there are jealousy and ambition, there are also disharmony and wickedness of every kind, whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it is also peaceable, kindly and considerate; it is full of mercy and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it. The peace sown by peacemakers brings a harvest of justice." (cf. James 3: 16-18)

http://www.pzcussons.com/recruitment/nigeria/jobsearch.aspx

Click on the above for PZ Vacancies

While I am yet to fully understand the issues at hand, I am somewhat curious about certain aspects of this development. First, as I have read somewhere, a bank BNP "wired" money to another bank -- Adenuga Bank -- which was used to finance the activities of Globacom and that the money was sent some eight months before Atiku deposited the FGN funds in the same bank. Now the question: Given the co-mingling of funds that occurs in a bank, how was the EFCC able to prove that in fact the money used for the said activities of Globacom was EXACTLY the funds that Atiku deposited in the bank and not the one sent by BNP?

Second, it is curious to me, only because I am not able to ascertain the time-lines here, that the EFCC indicted Atiku on the report of the Panel after Obasanjo forwarded the report to the EFCC. Let me be somewhat clearer:Â Did the EFCC even and actually investigate and independently confirm for itelf the contents of the report of the panel prior to adopting the report? Can the EFCC really defend the investigation it conducted if in fact it conducted one? How does the time-span of investigation of the EFCC compare with the time-span of investigation of the Panel?

Third, if in fact the money used for the Globacom activities were not categorically the moneys deposited by Atiku, is the crime of Atiku simply the fact that he deposited the moneys in the said bank of Adenuga? And if that is not sufficient as a crime, then can anyone prove that in fact Atiku benefitted from the act of depositing the moneys in the Adenuga bank? By the last question I mean to ask: was there a quid-pro-quo between Adenuga and Atiku that has been proven that is yet confidential?

Now even if the moneys of the FGN was used to finance the activities of Globacom, did Atiku receive any benefits as a result of such use of the money? Then, of course, I should think that this also shows up the uselessness of that crap of paper that some Nigerians call a Constitution: After all if we are following the American system, is an accused not innocent until proven guilty? So why then must Atiku not be allowed to abandon the election for the presidency on his own volition instead of being summarily disbarred? Is that not some form of inconsistency in the crap of Constitution? As I said I am only trying to understand the issues.

This mentality appears to be what guides the conducts of public officers in Nigeria. And when you look at the situation closely, you then begin to understand why Nigerians are suffering in the midst of plenty. For those in authority, it is a complete insult to suggest that the rest of the people should enjoy basic amenities like electricity, good roads, potable water and security. No, that would make everybody equal. The GSM was a huge mistake that must never be repeated. Initially, they collected so much money from telecom operators and unleashed them on Nigerians to cut their necks with prohibitive prices, so that only the rich can afford GSM phones. But, the era of exploitation did not last. Globacom, just came into the market, overthrew the heartless, inhuman cartel, (though, merely in attempt to create market for itself and put its competitors to disadvantage) and today, the poor man in Lagos can call his poor mother in the village. Now, the rich can only emphasize their wealth by the number and type of expensive handsets they carry at the same time.

I-better-Pass-My-Neighbour. That’s the mindset that rules the Nigerian ruler’s mind. The Nigerian ruler was once asked why he banned tokunbo vehicles during a phone-in radio/television programme some years ago. He did not know when he let out his grouse, which was that there were too many cars competing for space with his convoy on the streets of Abuja! “Everywhere in Abuja, what is you see is Golf, Golf!” he fumed. Now “Golf” is that Volkswagen vehicle they call “pure water”, which the poor man, at his own level, too, flaunts, to show that he is better than his waka-waka neighbour. Now the Oga up there is not happy that cars were becoming too common, that it was no longer the exclusive preserve of rulers and the rich, their children and cronies. And so, a ban had to be placed to put the poor back in his place, in the spirit of I-better-Pass-My-Neighbour.

If the intentions were genuine, we would have seen plans to build local plants, and create enabling environments for them to flourish, so tokunbo could go, and many Nigerians could have brand new cars? Who no like better thing? Today, the roads are so horrible that each time you ply some of them, you may have to visit your mechanic. But in order to rub in his marked difference from the rest of us, President Olusegun Obasanjo does not use the roads to get to his home. Once he arrives at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, a helicopter will pick him up and drop him gently on his farm in Ota. How else can his neighbours be made to know that the “big-man” was returning if not with the flourish that the helicopter noise ushers in? I-better-Pass-My-Neighbour!

So, in Nigeria today, instead of a ruler to provide social amenities to benefit for everyone, he uses public funds to create limitless advantages, privileges and comfort for himself, so that everyone looking at him, his wives and children would really realize how unlucky he was to not have been born into such a family. That is why a state governor can have the heart to steal N126 billion from state coffers. While public schools here are left to decay, children of rulers are flown out of Nigeria to attend quality schools in Europe, America, South Africa and even Ghana; they hop across to see “their” doctors in far away Canberra to treat common cold, and could boast of how they just went to Kuala Lumpur to see “their” dentist. Nigerian public officers steal so much money to buy themselves houses in France, UK and the United States. Yet they have not asked themselves how many Americans have homes in London or France, or even how many people born in Boston have ever visited New York, let alone own a home there. People steal and accumulate even more than they would ever need, just to ensure that forever they can always say: I-better-Pass-My-Neighbour.

Like I said, this mindset is at play anywhere. Go to any embassy and see how Nigerian Security men employed there will treat you. One day, while conducting an investigation for a story on the thriving visa racket at the British High commission (http://www.kwenu.com/publications/ejinkeonye/rotten_chambers.htm), I was reading a notice board outside the High Commission’s gate when a Nigerian Security man, with haughty, crude arrogance, came and told me that I had stayed too long at the notice board and should leave. In fact, I had been there for less than five minutes. As I looked at him, flaunting his badge of slavery (uniforms), I knew exactly what was at play. He was working at the place where Nigerians scrambled to get visas to Mars or Jupiter, and I wasn’t! I-better-Pass-My-Neighbour.

Until we kill this spirit, looting will never stop in Nigeria. The rulers would always ensure that mass poverty continue in the land because that is the only situation that emphasizes how “lucky” they and their families and cronies are. That would also ensure that during elections, the poor can easily be manipulated with little gifts to sell-off their votes. In many countries there is nothing like “inferior” or “superior” hospitals. Everybody, whether President, Governor, Senator, the jobless or school boy, is entitled to quality healthcare. But here, the craving is to show our advantage over others. Some even ensure they prepare their executive graves before they die, so that even in death, they would still be able to make the statement: I-better-Pass-My-Neighbour.

In Nigeria today, a successful man is one who has “left the others” to join the privileged, eating class. In several cases, this may not be as result of hard work, but merely because the “lucky” fellow has some acquaintance with some other fellow in the corridors of power. The truth we all know is that one may suddenly start swimming in boundless opulence tomorrow just because he had got the “right connections”, which may merely be that he is a distant to cousin to the hairdresser of the girlfriend of the ADC of one of our rulers. When that happens, the person quickly leaves his fellows behind to “join them” to enjoy. And what gives him the real pleasure is each time he looks back, and sees the people he once suffered with still writhing with crushing poverty, not just the new opulence he is swimming in.

This situation exists in degrees and categories, as I mentioned earlier, and it has created a craving in everyone to strive, not just to better his lot, but to show how he is “better” than he his neighbour. And that is why, at the slightest opportunity, anyone with access to the common wealth will seek to use it to corner all the juicy advantages to himself, and create another world of limitless comfort for himself, and perhaps, his relatives and cronies, which would automatically place them far above the rest of the people, instead of providing essential amenities for the benefit of all. This is the situation that produced the “big-man” syndrome.

Recently, one of my ardent readers sent me an email to say that in Warri where he grew up, what they call these toy generators from China is: I-Better-Pass-My-Neighbour. So, when NEPA/PHCN envelopes everyone with impenetrable darkness, and those who have these toy generators put them on, they mean to demonstrate to their neighbours choking with thick, oppressive darkness that they are better than them. Yes, I better pass my neighbour!

Finally, Odili’s desperation further came to the fore through the childish sycophancy he embarked upon by his recent purchase of some vehicles, ostensibly for public transportation, many of which he dedicated to the memory of the late first lady, Chief Stella Obasanjo. Instead of allowing this lady’s spirit to rest in peace, especially in view of the highly embarrassing circumstances of her death, these vehicles are all over the place in the city, charging ridiculous and unsustainable fares of N10 per drop, in the hope of winning cheap popularity as usual. But the majority of Rivers people are not fooled and are a lot more sophisticated than Odili and his political adventurers will like to believe.

Also, having so openly supported Obasanjo’s ill-fated third term bid and declared that OBJ has been the best thing to ever happen to Nigeria, Odili has clearly shown that if given the opportunity to serve in that exalted office, he cannot perform up to what Obasanjo has done. And knowing as we all do, that Obasanjo has hardly achieved anything meaningful since assumption of office seven years ago, the clear verdict of Odili on himself is that he will be a misfit in any other office bestowed on him. It is therefore clear that having cursed himself, whatever efforts he is dissipating currently will come to nothing but another round of wastage of public funds. It is hoped that someday, the EFCC will muster the courage to hold him and other thieving Governors to account for the way they have misruled their States since the restoration of democratic governance in Nigeria in 1999.

The Nigerian state thrives on a very a solid foundation and enduring, pervasive culture of very crude selfishness. Maybe, “selfishness” is not the most appropriate word to convey the exact meaning I have in mind. But there is this consuming desire and deep craving by the average Nigerian to always have an unfair advantage over his neighbour, to ensure and emphasize the exclusive nature of whatever he does or possesses, and ultimately become the envy of others.

This should, however, not be confused with healthy striving for excellence and distinction. Rather it is this mindset that makes someone to value whatever he has, only when he has established that no one else has it, or that only a select, privileged few have it. I have observed that the average Nigerian derives peculiar animation, and in some instance, consolation, from constantly calling to mind some evidences of the advantages he has over his neighours, and some privileges he presently enjoys which his neighbour can only dream of.

Mind you, this is not an exclusive habit of the affluent and highly-placed in society. Even the very marginal advantage the poor, suffering fellow thinks he has over his neighbour  automatically constitutes the little flame that keeps his heart aglow, and makes him feel like a king in the neighbourhood. He derives profound, refreshing feelings of joy by the fact that he has, and can, at least, flaunt what his neighbour doesn’t have.
               
Many years ago, when heavy traffic on Carter Bridge consisted of several new Raleigh bicycles racing along, some motorcycles and a couple of cars, a man returned to his village from Lagos, with a well tailored new dress, with which he hoped to cause a stir in Church the following Sunday. As his kinsmen converged to welcome him, he brought out the dress and told them he was sure no one had won that dress in the entire community. In fact, only very few people, he declared, had at that time possessed it in the whole of Lagos! On Saturday, as he basked in the pleasant expectation of how he was going to be the centre of attraction in the small village Church on Sunday, he decided to take a leisurely walk towards the marketplace.

Along the way, he saw an old wine-taper on an old rickety bicycle, heading to the market to sell his palm-wine. As the man got close, he discovered, to his utmost shock, that the man was wearing that same cloth he was hoping to flaunt on Sunday; but the difference was that the wine-taper’s own was now well-worn and terribly stained, meaning that he has been wearing it for months, ever before our Lagos man thought of purchasing his own. Indeed, he was thoroughly disappointed and pained. His flag of pride automatically dropped. The cloth instantly lost all its value and glamour, for the simple reason that a wine-taper had won it before him. And, so, he refused to wear it again. That is the Nigerian!  

I don’t know whether it was the British that planted this insidious seed in Nigerians or merely helped to water and tend it, for their own self-serving reasons. The British had created the Government Reserved Areas (GRAs) and several other segregating and divisive facilities, and took some special “natives”, the educated and privileged few, away from their own people, put them in those secluded areas and planted in them a mindset that made them regard themselves as “special” and “different” from the rest. This may have helped them to perfect their divide-and-rule policy, but also succeeded in engraving in the minds of those lucky natives that they were indeed better than the others. And so, when the British unwillingly granted what they called Independence to Nigeria, they ensured that this iniquitous status quo remained. Through this privileged class which they had created and successfully alienated from their own people, the British still ruled Nigeria. That is why our rulers live in fortresses, far removed from the people they claim to be serving

This is a good concept. Please send me detail. I'm intrested.  I hope it is in Abuja. My email is nbu77fsh@yahoo.com.

@HARRIZON, WILL YOU HELP ME GET INVOLVED WITH FIF, IN ABUJA.

This is a good concept. Please send me detail. I'm intrested.  I hope it is in Abuja. My email is nbu77fsh@yahoo.com.

@HARRIZON, WILL YOU HELP ME GET INVOLVED WITH FIF, IN ABUJA.

The unfortunate thing however has been the undue emphasis on cheap propaganda and press capture which the Odili administration embarked upon right from inception. The first signals of this was when the government declared, barely 100 days into the life of the administration in 1999, that it had completed 1,000 housing units for the benefit of indigenes of the State. No one ever saw these buildings, and to date, the few ones erected along the roads for the benefit of the press have been largely uncompleted, and the quality of finishing so low that no sensible person can possibly occupy them. Then came the extreme propaganda on the gas turbines, which, because of the huge problem of power failure in Nigeria, captured a lot of attention.

These gas turbines, which have been commissioned several times over by different administrations in Nigeria, starting from the Shehu Shagari era, have been recycled, repackaged and re-commissioned at least five times by the Odili administration since 1999. Many people in the State wonder at the special attraction the State holds for President Obasanjo, who has, at the last count, visited Rivers State 17 times, while he has not visited some States in Nigeria even once! The truth of the gas turbines however is that there is no power coming from any of the white elephant projects, which are apparently drain pipes for the corrupt siphoning of State funds to private pockets of government officials.

In the area of healthcare, the situation is so pathetic that one wonders whether Odili is indeed a medical doctor as he professes. The Braithwaite Memorial Hospital in Port Harcourt, which is the premier State owned medical facility, is in such a bad state that patients and their relations have to buy water for operations to be performed on them, and huge rats jump from bed to bed, terrorising patients and sending them to their early graves in the highly unsanitary conditions at the hospital. If this is the situation for the main hospital in the State, one can only imagine what the situation would be like for other places. In the face of all this neglect, the Governor goes to buy two private jets, one of which he branded an air ambulance.

The real question is, why do we need an air ambulance in Rivers State, if the facilities in the hospitals are as good as Odili’s propagandists will like people to believe? The mere purchase of an air ambulance is a clear acknowledgement of the non-availability of adequate medical facilities. After all, the other hospitals where patients are expected to be flown to also use medical facilities, which can be bought with the funds available and installed in our hospitals here. And I hope Odili will tell Rivers people one day how many ordinary patients have been flown in the air ambulance to any hospital since it was purchased over a year ago. What is widely known as a fact is that Odili bought those planes for his futile presidential ambition, to execute his campaigns, and no Rivers man is fooled by his lack of depth of thinking. The mess in Medicare in the State is so glaring that even Odili’s private Pamo Clinc had no functional mortuary to keep the remains of his father in-law when he died in 2004, and his remains had to be deposited in the mortuary of one of the oil and gas companies in the State!

The sorry state of affairs in the health sector pervades every other sector, ranging from education, to infrastructure, such that there is a near total absence of governance in the State. The government has been surviving on propaganda, and it is obvious that even the propaganda machinery is tired, as there is nothing new to say. The recent desperate efforts to construct a few roads, which are all without drainage and very poorly finished, is such a huge joke that every discerning person sees through it. Moreover, there are allegations that the contracts are often over inflated, and awarded to sons of highly placed individuals in Abuja who may be able to help Odili with his presidential ambition. The fact that the whole of Port Harcourt is always submerged when there is a major rain, like the one on Saturday 10th June 2006, is a clear testimony to the fact that Odili’s seven years in office has been a total waste to the State.

To demonstrate Odili’s disdain for the Rivers man, he embarked on a destructive exercise in 2004 of demolishing people’s houses, apparently aping the exercise in Abuja by Nasir el-Rufai to restore the Abuja master plan. This exercise sent a lot of people to their early graves and confined many more to perpetual penury, as their means of livelihood and their residences were destroyed in the name of expanding roads or beautifying the city of Port Harcourt. Not only was no compensation paid to any of the victims, but to date, nothing has been done to provide the roads or drainages the houses were demolished to make way for. In a similar vein, early in the life of the administration in 1999, Odili ordered the demolition of Rainbow Town, a settlement within the Nigerian Army Rainbow Barracks at Trans-Amadi, Port Harcourt. The propaganda then was that the vast area would be laid out, with modern facilities like roads, water, electricity, etc., to make way for a modern settlement. Seven years after the bulldozers wrecked the havoc on the hapless residents, the area remains desolate, and latest indications are that the choice property has been shared out between Governor Odili and his political cronies.

The meeting of the G8 has come and gone and Obasanjo who sucked up to the West on June 12 by unilaterally signing away Bakassi peninsula, one of the local governments listed in the constitution of Nigeria, at the UN to please France, Britain and Germany in exchange for an invitation to the Summit was after all not invited; in the first place Putin did not want to see his face in Russia. After the funeral of third term agenda where every world leader rejected term elongation to the benefit of current office holder, the president resorted to another maneuver hoping for the same result he got last March during Charles Taylor's evanescence. The price he pays and will continue to pay for third term elongation may continue beyond his grave though we may never live to witness it. Unfortunately, our country will continue to be liable for his misjudgment also for a long time to come.

Let me take you down the memory lane to see the connection. Last March Liberia's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, called for Nigeria to extradite the former president and warlord Mr. Charles Taylor to face war crimes charges. Our president responded that Liberia was "free to take" him. On Friday March 24, 2006, "Pappy" as he is known by his band of child soldiers was reported to have been seen but by Monday March 27 had disappeared from the government mansion where he took refuge since 2003 in Calabar, the Cross River State capital. "In a just world, Taylor would have already been tried, condemned and sent up the river. But the world has never been just, and this case is complicated" according to the editorial of International Herald Tribune of Wednesday March 22. This editorial was correct about the complication of the case but could not predict the shameful drama cooked up by Obasanjo administration that was about to unfold a few days after. It did not surprise many people around the world who know about Mr. Obasanjo's crookedness, overt and covert.

How could one explain the disappearance of Mr. Taylor in a supposedly heavily guarded mansion days before he was to be handed-over? Days before then, security had been beefed up around the mansion. But on Monday March 27, two days before Obasanjo was scheduled to meet with President Bush CNN carried the Breaking News reporting Nigerian authorities had discovered Mr. Taylor was missing without a trace. Earlier in the day, the US said it was Nigeria’s responsibility to see Taylor was handed over to the Special Court. Mr. Obasanjo was to fly in from Nigeria to meet his counter-part in the White House. Many US law makers were solidly behind the US president not to meet with Mr. Obasanjo and called for him to produce Mr. Taylor because the meeting could take place. The next day President Obasanjo launched an inquiry to investigate the disappearance. Just like that -a flip of one's two fingers, at the eleventh hour before the meeting, like in a James Bond movie where a timer in a bomb is detonated with one second left, Mr. Taylor was 'captured' at the border between Nigeria and Cameroun. Problem solved and the door was open for Mr. Bush to meet with Mr. Obasanjo Wednesday March 28, 2006.

I am not questioning how the event unfolded but its timing after all Mr. Taylor is not new to escaping from detention for while he was awaiting an extradition in the US to Liberia once escaped and his where about was unknown for four years but believed to have been in hiding in his native country. If he succeeded in a more secure environment in the US, a mansion in Calabar would be "a cake walk," and that was proven. But how did Nigerian authority know the pin-point location to capture Mr. Taylor within a short time in a long stretch of border towards the north? Did it surprise you that when Mr. Taylor had time to speak he implicated the administration for taking him away from the mansion to the border at night? If you tie these questions up with the report that a day before the capture, a government airplane arrived at an airport closest to the border where Mr. Taylor was captured to take a position. By connecting the dots, you see a very poor and embarrassing episode written by this administration. Our president thought he could have it his way: the buck stops with our president, whether or not he knew about the disappearance of Mr. Taylor since it happened during his watch he was responsible to produce him. But he did not want to be seen as the one who handed over a fellow African for trial on crimes against humanity which he too may some day be sent to account for his atrocities against Nigerians.

All along for years and months since the ICJ opinion, the president showed no urgency in handing over Bakassi to Cameroun. The bottom line is after the failed third term, Russia made it clear she was not inviting Mr. Obasanjo and being that he needs something to rave up his dying image around the world, Bakassi peninsula had to be the sacrificial lamb for him to get invitation to G8 Summit. Now that G8 Summit is over, the rush that started a few weeks ago in an attempt to vacate the peninsula to Cameroun may take a slow turn because France, Britain and Germany could not help secure the invitation from Mr. Putin for our image-ailing president to attend the Summit.

With the apparent demise of OBJ’s third term agenda, the stage has been set for political gladiators and opportunists to profile themselves and their favoured candidates for the exalted office of President, since there may be a vacancy in that office after all. In this process, the media has been replete, in recent weeks, with names of prospective candidates, with reviews and counter reviews of those who are best suited to step into OBJ’s shoes come the magic date of May 29th, 2007.

One of those reviews which attract some attention was the recent covers story by Newswatch Magazine, which focused on the presidential ambition of Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State. In that piece written by veteran journalist, Mr. Ray Ekpu, the magazine went to extreme lengths to showcase the many ‘achievements’ of Governor Odili, and concluded that he would be a fantastic candidate for the Presidency, come 2007. Some of the achievements highlighted include the now famous gas turbines, which, after gulping over N40 billion of people’s money, is said to have solved the problems of power in Rivers State, such that power failure has become almost an anathema in the State. Other achievements include the construction of roads, provision of medical facilities in hospitals, including the purchase of an air ambulance to medevac critically ill patients to hospitals outside Nigeria for urgent medical attention, ostensibly due to the high premium placed on human life in the State.

As I struggled to restrain myself throughout the agonising trauma of reading the Newswatch article, I wondered how a journalist of Ray Ekpu’s standing and a newsmagazine of Newswatch’s reputation could have allowed themselves to fall prey to this sort of armchair journalism, which is apparently a paid advert to embellish the truth and thereby perpetrate bad governance in this country. In order to ensure that the contents of the publication are not accepted hook, line and sinker by gullible Nigerians who may not be privy to the facts, I felt impelled to put my thoughts down, in the hope that this may, somehow, set some of the records straight.

As an indigene of Rivers State, I have watched with utter frustration the challenges faced by the State in the past seven years, and the utter waste of public funds by an administration which held out a lot of promise at inception, and which has enjoyed unprecedented goodwill from the peace loving people of the State. It however appears that the quiet and civilised disposition of the citizens of the State has clearly been taken advantage of all this while. To start with, Odili has no reason to fail as Governor of Rivers State, because his emergence as Governor is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, so to speak. Coming from Ndoni, probably the smallest ethnic grouping in the State, who are originally of Ibo extraction, it was clearly a miracle for Odili to have emerged as Governor of a State which has large and proud ethnic groups like the Kalabaris, the Ikwerres, the Ogonis and Andonis, the Ibani people, the Ijaws, to mention but a few.

The fact that Odili had been Deputy Governor under the administration of Governor Ada George, could not have qualified him for the exalted office of Governor in a purely democratic setting where numbers matter a great deal. However, the miracle happened, and when Odili emerged Governor in 1999 through an electoral process adjudged by many to be clearly below minimum civilised standards, people expected that he would use the sheer opportunity given him by God to do what is right, and at least leave a solid legacy, knowing that such a rare opportunity will never come the way of his kinsmen again. And he had every opportunity to do so, considering the harvest of good fortune in the name of excess revenue through derivation, and in more recent times, excess crude oil revenues, with monthly inflows to the State from the Federation Account running into several billions of Naira.

In addition to this steady revenue, there is also the undeclared but equally exorbitant internally generated revenue from personal income taxes of staff working in oil and gas companies, which abound in the State. In fact, from Shell alone, the Rivers State government is reputed to generate monthly revenues in the region of N500 million from Pay As You Earn taxes, which the employees groan under, with absolutely nothing to show for it from the State Government on a monthly basis. This is not to take into account PAYE taxes from other oil and gas producing and service companies, and the sundry other taxes and levies collected by other agencies of the State from time to time

ledi,

Congrats. I wish you all the best. Goodluck!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the mail,

I appreciate all your concern.

Hello Tenhap,

I wish to inform you that I attended the interview as scheduled last friday, 7th July. We were four in number.

It was really a technical test. Four questions in all, I was asked to prepare buget for my unit, Prepare a fault report form etc. This clearly showed that Gmat is not necessary for any UN test. Its just technical.

I did three out of the four questions. I will like to hget your comments

Thanks and God bless.

I thank you all for your prayers.
Tenhap, thanks for your assistance. The test is tomorrow, I want you guys to pray for me individually. I shall be back on the forum to report on how it went.

I remain grateful

tenhap,

thanks for all the information you made available to me.

I will get back to you if need,

Best Regards

Like you rightly said, the test is for Admin. Asst. GS6, please in your own simple words, list the areas, I should focus on from now to friday, for the UNICEF AA job.

I must tell you that you're an Angel. I sincerely appreciate your kind gesture.

God bless you!!!!

Your so wonderful,

You need to do me a favour. The test is on Friday, I would like us to meet.

Please confirm venue and time.

I really appreciate your concern,

I was told that it is going to be a technical test. What do they mean by TECHNICAL TEST? Again, that I will be required to use a personal computer to anwswer my questions. Do you have a friend at the UNICEF office, who can give you a clue?

Please I need your comments.
thank you

Thanks for the mail,

I was invited for the post of Admin Assistant. The test will be held at the UN office in Abuja. Please I need more information on what to read. I just got GMAT textbook. How relevant is it? If you are in Abuja, I would like us to meet.

Thanks for the help.

I was invited by UNICEF for a technical test. Please, can someone help me with what it entails. Has anybody in this forum attended any UNICEF test?

Ngozi

How much was staked on the tenure elongation campaign of Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo as the president of our country, Nigeria, will one day become what the man himself may come to accept as a "moral burden". The central plank of this treatise is neither about "morality" nor the concomitant "burden" which are Mr. Obasanjo's prolixness. Even though his presidency confirms Duc de la Rochefoucauld, the French moralist in Maximes: L'hypocrisie est un homage que le vice rend a la vertu - roughly translated: Hypocrisy is a tribute which vice pays to virtue. The contents herein are not about the president's proclivity which avers wrongfulness in others but not himself. This article is only an attempt to account for what may lay ahead in regretting how this president has confirmed the footnote of his public service.

When Mr. Alison Ayida of the "super-permanent secretary" fame opined on 1st April 1990 in an interesting article, titled:"An open confidential memo to General Obasanjo (Guardian Newspaper)" is considered as enunciated by Is'haq Modibbo Kawu in "Nigeria: An Unfulfilling Finale for Hostage Politics (Daily Trust, 20th April 2006))"- the reader is reminded of financial investigations authorised by General Murtala Mohammed (deceased), the former Head of State, into "the list of shares and assets acquired particularly under the Indigenisation exercise". Mr. Obasanjo's name as reported featured "prominently as shareholder in several companies": clearly, an anathema to the ethos of that regime. Mr. Ayida opined that it was the intervention of others that saved Mr. Obasanjo. The white paper on the Adeosun Indigenisation Panel could have meant that "there were no-go areas on some of the panel's recommendations as it was stated 'where a Nigerian had acquired the bulk of the shares in any enterprise outside Schedule I; the shares should be 'confiscated' and forfeited to the Federal Government and the names of the 'money-bags' published'. According to Mr. Ayida, it appeared Mr. Obasanjo "had not studied Volume III of the report where names of such shareholders were listed". The "super permanent secretary" further stated: "When I drew your attention to the pages where your name (Obasanjo's name) appeared, you readily agreed that the panel's recommendation should be rejected. And you then directed that I should take another week to redraft the white paper. When eventually the council memorandum was circulated, we agreed that Volume III should not be circulated or published but that you should mention in council that any member interested in the particulars of those who "cornered" the indigenisation shares should see the SFMG. Several members contacted me for the list but no member saw the list of names! The permanent secretary and I received a 'big thank you' from you at the end of the exercise." If this is an antecedent of our corruption waging president - why does anyone still doubt the reason behind the failure of his so called corruption crusade? Does Mr. Obasanjo's rejection of the Ports Authority report of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, any surprising?

However, one inter-related lesson can be drawn from the above. Why sixteen years afterwards, were we as a people divided on Mr. Obasanjo's capacity for unconscionable bravura, as pertains to the third term campaign? Is the above account not depictive of behaviour of sleight of hand, in government? A Leopard hardly changes its spots. Perhaps, if the president had taken cognizance of Mr. Femi Aribisala's exposition: "I certainly know of no value that I can describe as being widely accepted without contradiction in Nigeria, Values such as excellence, merit, equality and justice, continue to be questioned, while in other societies they are regarded as articles of faith, Until we reach a consensus about national values to which we can appeal or refer without fear of contradiction, we will not be able to establish solid institutions and mechanisms to protect and promote our national interests (African Concord, 31 May 1988)" - Let this president note his choice to govern our nation was to assist in the elimination of contradictions in society. His ill-fated "Third Term" is no exemplar.

On probability - Mr. Obasanjo may remain to many, what Frederick Douglass in "My Bondage, My Freedom" describes "a great appetite" - a desideratum. That is, seemingly, at any cost, this president ought to retain his office. Professor Sam Aluko persuasively elucidated differently in "Obasanjo in the mould of Abacha (Newswatch Magazine 9th May 2006) in less words than Jared Diamond in "Collapse - How societies choose to fail or survive". With the Professor's words - the future is now mortgaged with disregard to the peoples' economic interest. Only time will tell. Aside from the judgement of history on economic reforms - the broadcast on "moral burden"; contradiction in handling of a "civilian coup" in Oyo State; high-handedness in Balyesa State; and a few other examples, further makes the president's charge of others personally applicable. Somewhat, and no matter how much the man attempts to re-write the history of his "second-coming" public service - the enterprise has damaged and exposed the short comings of his earlier rulership and person. The president makes clearer that Nigeria requires a leader capable of a consensus of national values, which demonstrably must not be one rule for the presidency; and another, for the rest of us. Perhaps, a leader who can abide by standards he wishes others are judged is the one now required. From the antecedents of this president - history can only be changed at the recovery of acreage of newsprints depicting him, less graciously. Curiously; and by his actions - there is common thread in public commentaries for a successor to lead the nation from what Jared Diamond, again, considers a controversy which involves resistance to the idea that past peoples did things that contributed to their own decline. By stealth, Mr. Obasanjo's weaknesses seem to be the defining rejection in what others now clamour for "the president, we need."

With defeat of partly amending the Constitution for his benefit - would Mr. President now accept he does not have control of his political party?country? By extension - he is a proverbial lame duck and wounded president. He may deny this proposition by certain actions. Pity, his actions can only be tantamount to the King dancing naked in the village square. If this was not the case - how can the President defend his choice of Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Without regard for the acerbic of Mr. Fani-Kayode; his vituperations against elderly citizens; or his ill-mannered gestures - the president sets a bad precedent in rewarding ignominy. Mark this - the next man to occupy Mr. Fani-Kayode's office will extend the boundary of insouciance and public mannerlessness in the hope that the next president elevates such an adviser to a ministerial position. Is this the type public service that Mr. Obasanjo offers Nigeria? On this issue, it is not whether the president recovers the respectability and sanctimony of his office. My humble submission is that unacceptable and substandard behaviour must not be a ticket to higher office in our country. With the Nigerian Press and the body of the Senate - the choice and service of Mr. Fani-Kayode must be resisted. Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode must be rejected for ministerial position!

In an attempt to reconcile his political party - this president continues to bare all, in his village square dance. How else can it be explained when he sent forth, a majority of those fingered as reasons of discomfiture in his political party? What type of reconciliation can there be - when the president should take the proverbial bull by its horn; and make a public display of cordiality with the vice-president? Somewhat, as fraught as the situation has become, Mr. Obasanjo must seize the moment to display statesmanship - not the one so far displayed, which lacks depth. In all of the events unfolding around him - there is an opportunity to show maturity.

To state Mr. Obasanjo's reputation is unassailable - Mr. Greg Mbadiwe, the former Nigeria Ambassador to Congo may have stretched his imagination that failure to grant Mr. Obasanjo an extension of tenure will result in anarchy (Daily Independent 13th May 2006). The son of the former well known sesquipedalian could have qualified his views better, as his contention seemed more of rotational presidency rather than life presidency for Mr. Obasanjo. In so much as it can be argued - the defeat of the president is not the gain of his adversaries. It is for this reason that the vice president may not end as the beneficiary of Mr. Obasanjo's loss. This issue brings to mind the loss of office of Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister whose downfall was orchestrated by his powerful Defence Secretary of State - then Mr. Michael Heseltine. The rein of power was not inherited by the Heseltine camp. Unexpectedly, Mr. John Major inherited the mantle. Another parallel can be drawn from our country's annals during the first republic and the annulment of 12th June 1993 elections. It can safely be predicted that the fallout between the president and Mr. Atiku shall end up producing an unexpected and a person not worthy of that office in 2007. Nigeria will be worse for it. Our politic is immature. The basis of victory in electioneering is dependent, not on ideals but who visits most violence on opponents. The currency of our politics is naked bestiality. There is a possibility the next president may seek to avenge Mr. Obasanjo - as he had done on others who set out with him on this political journey. Nigeria needs leaders at the helm of her affairs leaders whose task is not a dedication to avenge others. It is enough for us to learn from the present mistakes, whilst we seek to develop our country.

In all of the above - I am persuaded that this president means well for the nation. Pity, his narcissisms becloud many of his good intentions. In fact, I am confident, albeit, his views are mostly rigid, dogged and parochial: he is determined that the affairs of the nation are controlled by others who are not driven by the accoutrements and the monarchial powers bestowed by the 1999 Constitution. This perhaps, begs the question whether he can adopt an attitude foreign to him, in the last few months of governance. As Herculean such an expectation may be - let him start by obeying court orders; beat the path of justice and fairness in his political party; and, restrain from indiscriminate exercise of power for the sake of it. It is not in doing what is suggested here that a tarnished presidency and name will be restored. Mr. Obasanjo will soon realize what I concluded in my article: "Afolabi - My Condolences, Mr. Obasanjo."

If it bears repeating - was it not Enoch Powell, the United Kingdom Unionist politician who once said all political careers end in failure? Let me end as I started with the reflection of Mr. Alison Ayida. If Mr. Obasanjo rides back on a white horse to his village, after Aso Rock - would it, this time round - be a triumphant return? I think not, as the Gazetteers stand. This president's success will be measured in responses to his utterances after his presidency. Wait, until his comments such as he uttered when Mr. Ibrahim Babangida was the Head of State, start. Mr. Obasanjo will be treated in the same manner as his agent, Mr. Fani-Kayode treated others; and responses from citizens of our country will in no doubt, be worse than the disrespect he experienced to his person during the debate of the "third term" infamy. This is the new order of public service introduced by the president. When this prediction comes true - it will be barometric of Mr. Obasanjo's service

How was the new Presidential Jet, a Boeing 737-800, bought? Did it follow due process? What is the cost? Is the air plane new or a refurbished one? These are the questions tax payers are asking on the aircraft delivered on May 6. Barely three weeks after the purchase, it developed technical faults midair. What is its airworthiness status? Although the government is yet to state its official price and age, media speculation is that it cost $72 million (N9.3 billion) and that it is a new one. However, Boeing website showed that Nigeria has never placed an order for a Boeing 737-800 since it was launched on September 5, 1994 at the Farnborough Air Show.

The above qualifications should then be supplemented by the following conditions:

(7) network of contacts – essentially, these are "references" (some of them might be pejoratively called "godfathers" or party/society "bigwigs" on the candidate's character and personal integrity. Others may simply be financial sponsors. Voters should however be wary of the company that candidates keep and the self-seeking propensity and possibilities of such contacts.

( party affiliation – a candidate, unless he is an independent, must be subject to party ideology and discipline, except on matters of conscience. Personal manifestos of candidates must be consistent with party manifestos, not substitutes for them, the occurrence of which is a recipe for the personalization of power and lack of continuity of policies.

(9) campaign strategy – a candidate will have to reach voters and then convince them that the prima-facie conditions that he has satisfied place him above other competitors in the race.

(10) money/finances – Money is always needed for travels, security, camp media adverts, campaign staff and "entertainment" of supporters, both actual and potential. However, it is deliberately listed LAST here, rather than first, in order to limit its prominence, while acknowledging its importance in financing the efforts to get information about the candidate across to voters.

EPILOGUE

"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting" - Tom Stoppard.

"A democrat need not believe that the majority will always reach a wise decision. He should however believe in the necessity of accepting the decision of the majority, be it wise or unwise, until such a time that the majority reaches another decision" - Bertrand Russell. Elections should be considered by all as sacred acts of modern democracy. Thus, individuals who offer themselves up for elected office should be considered as candidates for the "priesthood" of democracy. Consequently, acts that violate elections – like thuggery and rigging (which is a theft of the collective will of people) – are sacrilegious desecrations worthy of condemnation by all.

Nigeria in 2007 has a unique opportunity to arrange for and obtain the freest and fairest elections in its history. All citizens should in parallel work towards getting the best candidates, and also letting the people decide in free and fair elections without pre-judging the peoples' decisions ahead of time. This is why the secret Modified Open Ballot System (MOBS) of June 12, 1993 [See Appendix on MOBS] - enhanced with time-stamped camera/video monitoring at polling stations - should be adopted at all levels for 2007 in order to achieve maximum openness and transparency, and hence electoral validation. We must insist on it.

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel. "The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open." - Gunther Grass. "Those wanting to improve democracy in their countries should not wait for permission" - Bulent Ecevit