The number of divorces occurring because of Facebook and other social networking sites has been on the rise since these sites have become increasingly popular, research claims. These sites are being utilized more and more by unhappy individuals to seek out and have an affair and cheat on their partner.

Facebook is being cited in almost one in five of online divorce petitions, lawyers have claimed.

People will post just about anything on social networking sites. And the information can be used against them. David Randall and Victoria Richards report.

In the judicial backwater of a New Jersey federal court, a case is being heard that nominally affects two families but should also make millions of Britons think twice about something they do every day: put highly personal information on Facebook, MySpace or Bebo.

The social networking site, which connects old friends and allows users to make new ones online, is being blamed for an increasing number of marital breakdowns.

Divorce lawyers claim the explosion in the popularity of websites such as Facebook and Bebo is tempting to people to cheat on their partners. Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce.

One law firm, which specialises in divorce, claimed almost one in five petitions they processed cited Facebook.

Mark Keenan, Managing Director of Divorce-Online said: “I had heard from my staff that there were a lot of people saying they had found out things about their partners on Facebook and I decided to see how prevalent it was I was really surprised to see 20 per cent of all the petitions containing references to Facebook.

“The most common reason seemed to be people having inappropriate sexual chats with people they were not supposed to.”

An American insurance company, in defending its refusal to pay out a claim, is seeking to call in evidence personal online postings, including the contents of any MySpace or Facebook pages the litigants may have, to see if their eating disorders might have “emotional causes”. And the case is far from a lone one. Suddenly, those saucy pictures and intimate confessions on social networking sites can be taken down and used in evidence against you in ways never dreamed of.

Flirty emails and messages found on Facebook pages are increasingly being cited as evidence of unreasonable behaviour. Computer firms have even cashed in by developing software allowing suspicious spouses to electronically spy on someone’s online activities.

One 35-year-old woman even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook. Conference organiser Emma Brady was distraught to read that her marriage was over when he updated his status on the site to read: “Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady.”

Last year a 28-year-old woman ended her marriage after discovering her husband had been having a virtual affair with someone in cyberspace he had never met. Amy Taylor 28, split from David Pollard after discovering he was sleeping with an escort in the game Second Life, a virtual world where people reinvent themselves.

Around 14 million Britons are believed to regularly use social networking sites to communicate with old friends or make new ones. The popularity of the Friends Reunited website several years ago was also blamed for a surge in divorces as bored husbands and wives used it to contact old flames and first loves.

The UK’s divorce rate has fallen in recent years, but two in five marriages are still failing according the latest statistics. Mr Keenan believes that the general divorce rate will rocket in 2010 with the recession taking the blame.

In the US, a sex assault victim seeking compensation faces the prospect of her MySpace and Facebook pages being produced in court. In Texas, a driver whose car was involved in a fatal accident found his MySpace postings (“I’m not an alcoholic, I’m a drunkaholic”) part of the prosecution’s case.

From Los Angeles to Lowestoft, thousands of social network site users have lost their jobs – or failed to clinch new ones – because of their pages’ contents. Police, colleges and schools are monitoring MySpace and Facebook pages for what they deem to be “inappropriate” content. Online security holes and users’ naivety are combining to cause privacy breaches and identity thefts. And what all this, and more, adds up to is this: online social networking can seriously damage your life.

Sources: Telegraph, The Independent.



Originally Posted: http://thetechjournal.com/internet/facebook-is-the-new-cause-of-divorce.xhtml#ixzz1FfMI12Yo

Unconfirmed but usually reliable source says INEC has approved the list of candidates from the Governor Gbenga Daniel faction of the PDP in Ogun state for the 2011 elections

Pls let us all know one fact now,that PDP would win this coming presidential election because the party is working towards it,everywhere u go it is only PDP that u find holding meeting and consultation with the pple.what are the other parties doing now,when PDP wins that is when they will start making noise that PDP riged.politics is all about talking to the pple about what U can do to make a different in the life of the pple and not about noise making

Source; MyOndoState.Com

Neither Atiku Abubakar nor Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan has not impressed me. As an incumbent, we fought for him to be recognised as acting president because that was the correct thing that time.

But since he became the president, I have not been impressed. I don't know his position on any national issue, even the restructuring we are talking about. What is his understanding of resource control? Where does he stand on it? I can't fix him. I don't know him. Atiku Abubakar was vice president with Obasanjo. He left to ACN and the party becomes PDP 2.

So PDP 1 or 2, I am not interested. These people can't save Nigeria. They cannot address the problems of Nigeria. Jonathan in any case is too close to Obasanjo for comfort.

His relationship with Babaginda
I am the leader of the Social Democratic Mega Party and I am not interested in his ambition. But if IBB joins the Mega Party and he wants to aspire in that party, of course, he will be allowed like every other person to aspire.

I am not going to do anything to favour him or hinder his ambition. Since he is not a member of my party, you should not ask me about his ambition.

Incessant criminality in the country
You must address both the economic and political crises, in terms of injustice to people and group. You can't have order and peace where there is injustice. Some of the kidnappers are fighting injustice, specifically in the Niger Delta. But they have been joined by people who see it as an opportunity to enrich themselves. It has become an industry. So, it has become a combination of fighting injustice and making money. Apart from this, it is poverty; many young people are unemployed, and they don't see any future for themselves. They have no stake in the present situation.

Therefore, we must address the issue of giving hope to the hopeless, giving joy to the unemployed so that they can have a stake in the present arrangement. Then, if they have a stake, they will not be driven to desperation of kidnapping and committing all manner of social vices.

Some opposition to the multi party system
There must be choice. Choice is the very heart of democracy. A one party state cannot be said to be a democracy. Multi party starts from 2, 3, 4, and 5. What I am opposed to is an imposed two party system; I don't like imposition. If INEC stops giving grants to parties and INEC allows parties to operate on their own, you don't have to go and register parties; it is the parties that should fill their symbols.

But now, they say you should come and open an office, they will say they want to come and inspect it. They turned forming a political party to a big thing. They turned parties to parastatals. In periods before independence, when the Action Group party was formed, it didn't need to go and register with anybody. The party just sent its symbol and wrote to the electoral body. But now, they are the ones who register you. If a party is stupid enough not to have a national spread in its executive and say Nigerians should vote for it at the election time, it is wasting its time.

The numbers of party is not what matters. In the United Kingdom, you hear of the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and Liberal Party. They are the prominent parties. Yet, at the last election, we had about 19 political parties that took part in the election in the UK.

In the United States of America, 143 parties exist. We only hear of the Republicans and the Democrats. So, those smaller parties serve some purpose. Instead of people staying in the Conservative Party to cause confusion, they go to form their own political party. Some people call themselves Raving Lunatic Party in the UK and the objective is to lose election and not win. Allow them to go and do so. If you say there are two parties, they will stay in the Labour Party and will be causing trouble there.

So, it is a safety measure to allow other parties to operate. They will get no vote and they will disappear over time. So, let it be a voluntary multiparty system.

INEC decision to stop funding political parties
Funding of political parties by INEC is what has led to the formation of non-parties. I have it on good authorities about an individual who owns several parties. In fact, when we were about to form DPA, one young man offered to sell one of his two parties to us. Nigeria is the only country where we have people buying parties and selling parties all because INEC was given grants. So, you buy it from me with N2 million. The next grant comes, you get N6 million and you make profit of N4 million. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Many of these parties are not parties; they exist to collect grants from INEC. We also hear that even officials of INEC own some of the parties. When we were trying to register SDMP, I know how many efforts we made. We saw four others that were registered that we never heard of them. They could not have done 1/10 of what we did to have SDMP registered.

We were running around for two years before SDMP was formed. Suddenly, we saw four others. We heard that some of the parties are owned by INEC officials for purposes of collecting grants.

Slow growth of the Mega Party
It was registered two months ago. A new party cannot be compared with a party that has been in government for seven to ten years. It is a different type of party. When people get to know it, they will pitch their tent with it. When the deluge comes, a lot of decampees from all over will move to the party because this is the kind of the party Nigerians are asking for.

Based on integrity, zero tolerance for corruption, honesty, and transparent leaders that can move Nigeria out of the mess, that is what we stand for. When Nigerians begin to know it and the crisis comes, they will believe that our party is the party for the future

By; Abimbola Ayobami, MyOndoState.Com:

Neither Atiku Abubakar nor Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan has not impressed me. As an incumbent, we fought for him to be recognised as acting president because that was the correct thing that time.

But since he became the president, I have not been impressed. I don't know his position on any national issue, even the restructuring we are talking about. What is his understanding of resource control? Where does he stand on it? I can't fix him. I don't know him. Atiku Abubakar was vice president with Obasanjo. He left to ACN and the party becomes PDP 2.

So PDP 1 or 2, I am not interested. These people can't save Nigeria. They cannot address the problems of Nigeria. Jonathan in any case is too close to Obasanjo for comfort.

His relationship with Babaginda
I am the leader of the Social Democratic Mega Party and I am not interested in his ambition. But if IBB joins the Mega Party and he wants to aspire in that party, of course, he will be allowed like every other person to aspire.

I am not going to do anything to favour him or hinder his ambition. Since he is not a member of my party, you should not ask me about his ambition.

Incessant criminality in the country
You must address both the economic and political crises, in terms of injustice to people and group. You can't have order and peace where there is injustice. Some of the kidnappers are fighting injustice, specifically in the Niger Delta. But they have been joined by people who see it as an opportunity to enrich themselves. It has become an industry. So, it has become a combination of fighting injustice and making money. Apart from this, it is poverty; many young people are unemployed, and they don't see any future for themselves. They have no stake in the present situation.

Therefore, we must address the issue of giving hope to the hopeless, giving joy to the unemployed so that they can have a stake in the present arrangement. Then, if they have a stake, they will not be driven to desperation of kidnapping and committing all manner of social vices.

Some opposition to the multi party system
There must be choice. Choice is the very heart of democracy. A one party state cannot be said to be a democracy. Multi party starts from 2, 3, 4, and 5. What I am opposed to is an imposed two party system; I don't like imposition. If INEC stops giving grants to parties and INEC allows parties to operate on their own, you don't have to go and register parties; it is the parties that should fill their symbols.

But now, they say you should come and open an office, they will say they want to come and inspect it. They turned forming a political party to a big thing. They turned parties to parastatals. In periods before independence, when the Action Group party was formed, it didn't need to go and register with anybody. The party just sent its symbol and wrote to the electoral body. But now, they are the ones who register you. If a party is stupid enough not to have a national spread in its executive and say Nigerians should vote for it at the election time, it is wasting its time.

The numbers of party is not what matters. In the United Kingdom, you hear of the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and Liberal Party. They are the prominent parties. Yet, at the last election, we had about 19 political parties that took part in the election in the UK.

In the United States of America, 143 parties exist. We only hear of the Republicans and the Democrats. So, those smaller parties serve some purpose. Instead of people staying in the Conservative Party to cause confusion, they go to form their own political party. Some people call themselves Raving Lunatic Party in the UK and the objective is to lose election and not win. Allow them to go and do so. If you say there are two parties, they will stay in the Labour Party and will be causing trouble there.

So, it is a safety measure to allow other parties to operate. They will get no vote and they will disappear over time. So, let it be a voluntary multiparty system.

INEC decision to stop funding political parties
Funding of political parties by INEC is what has led to the formation of non-parties. I have it on good authorities about an individual who owns several parties. In fact, when we were about to form DPA, one young man offered to sell one of his two parties to us. Nigeria is the only country where we have people buying parties and selling parties all because INEC was given grants. So, you buy it from me with N2 million. The next grant comes, you get N6 million and you make profit of N4 million. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Many of these parties are not parties; they exist to collect grants from INEC. We also hear that even officials of INEC own some of the parties. When we were trying to register SDMP, I know how many efforts we made. We saw four others that were registered that we never heard of them. They could not have done 1/10 of what we did to have SDMP registered.

We were running around for two years before SDMP was formed. Suddenly, we saw four others. We heard that some of the parties are owned by INEC officials for purposes of collecting grants.

Slow growth of the Mega Party
It was registered two months ago. A new party cannot be compared with a party that has been in government for seven to ten years. It is a different type of party. When people get to know it, they will pitch their tent with it. When the deluge comes, a lot of decampees from all over will move to the party because this is the kind of the party Nigerians are asking for.

Based on integrity, zero tolerance for corruption, honesty, and transparent leaders that can move Nigeria out of the mess, that is what we stand for. When Nigerians begin to know it and the crisis comes, they will believe that our party is the party for the future.
[+ add comment +] ------
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They peddle themselves as progressives (whatever that means), but they are no more than a gang of pretentious opportunists and hypocrites fixated on a liberal but distorted and narrow vision of what they wish the world to be like and constantly evoke the name of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and MKO Abiola to gain popularity and acceptance among an unsuspecting and naïve public. The Action Congress Party of Nigeria (ACN) is a political party of contradictions and strange bedfellows. Its leaders preach something quite different from what they practice. They claim to be advocates of “justice for democracy”, but exhibit an abysmal lack of internal democracy by denying hundreds of people the opportunity to seek elective office through a fair and just primary process. In the ACN, imposition of candidates is the rule. They accuse others of violence but employ other people’s children to kill and maim for them. They indict their political opponents of corruption while most of their leaders cannot explain the sources of their stupendous wealth.

Mayhem, killings and protests characterized the ACN party primaries in Edo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun and Ogun states. In Edo state where Adams Oshiomole continues to wear khaki (doubtless of very high quality) to deceive the people, more than eight persons have been killed and many injured during the primaries. The story was the same in Ekiti state where confusion and violence were the order of the day. Former governor of the state, Ayo Fayose was forced to cry out that the state has been turned into a theater of war by the ruling ACN. In Ogun state, it took the deployment of a sizeable contingent of policemen to restore order at the ACN state secretariat when all hell broke loose as party members kicked at a strange and dubious procedure introduced by party leaders to select candidates. They called it “indirect primaries”, but I call it ORDER FROM THE ORACLE AT BOURDILLON, IKOYI. In Tinubu state, sorry, Lagos state, the will of the people forced the Oracle at Bourdillon to reluctantly endorse Governor Fashola for a second term but not before he imposed his wife, in – law and son as candidates for various legislative seats on Lagosians.

What accounts for this descent into madness? Apart from the fact that the ACN is a political party that lacks internal democracy, the excesses of one man are responsible for the acts of lunacy played out all over the country by members of the ACN. The ACN has been primarily assisted in this elaborate act of deception and destruction by a section of the media. For instance; the media has somehow overlooked the fact that the presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former honcho of the EFCC, once accused Bola Tinubu of high corruption. Now they are members of the same political party. Has Ribadu been taken up on this by left wing commentators? What does this teach us about the fight against corruption in Nigeria? It simply means that it is all a charade and many Nigerian journalists are hypocrites. The diminution of the media's ability to set fair and balanced boundaries of political debate in this country is therefore another reason for the high handedness of ACN leaders since they know that the press has been bought and paid for and will look the other way. Consequently the ACN continues to engage in a campaign of vilification of other political parties particularly the PDP, while busy engaging in all sorts of nefarious activities.

What about strange bedfellows? Everybody is welcome to the ACN from other political parties. Political philosophy or antecedents do not matter. You can be an axe murderer, drug baron, child trafficker, or corrupt public servant and still be accepted into the ACN as long as you can criticize the PDP and bear witness that the Oracle at Bourdillon is the infallible Dear Leader. It is all about personal interests and not principle and integrity. When you have a coalition of moneybags, economic opportunists, con men, killers and a few men of integrity, all vying for political office for different reasons in a political party like the ACN, there is bound to be a lot of confusion and violence on a scale witnessed in the last few weeks.

My fear is that given the level of sophisticated weapons that members of the ACN have used against each other, what type of weapons are they going to deploy against their opponents in the PDP and Labour party;  rocket launchers, surface to air missiles, AK47s?   

The list of questionable “progressive” converts to the ACN is long; Atiku, Ribadu, Amosun, Ajimobi and Bafarawa to name a few. It’s a diverse bag of principles coming together. Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku’s case is quite interesting. He moved to the ACN from the PDP after eight years as the number two man in a PDP government at the national level, and then it occurred to him that the party that brought him fame and fortune is undemocratic. Bola Tinubu and his merry band of followers, in a moment of raw political calculation, wooed him over to their party. They assumed that the political enemy of their political enemy is their friend. Then Atiku dumped them like a bad habit, ran back to the PDP and they screamed blue murder calling him all sorts of names.   

Another case is Kunle Amosun who was recently imposed by “indirect primary” as the ACN's gubernatorial candidate for Ogun state. Immediately after he was elected to the senate on the platform of the PDP in 2003, Amosun started day dreaming of becoming Ogun state governor, which may explain why he was completely anonymous in the Senate and did not introduce any single piece of legislation in four years. When Amosun was asked to do the job he was elected to do by the people, he left the PDP in a huff for the ANPP and picked up that party’s gubernatorial ticket in return. He lost the election at the polls and in the courts. Apparently still in a daze, he wandered into the ACN and much to the surprise and feeble protests of long standing members of the ACN, he was rewarded for his inconsistency with the party’s gubernatorial ticket.

Leaders of the autocratic contraption called ACN have demonstrated to Nigerians in the last few weeks that they do not represent the change that Nigerians demand. A political party that lacks internal democracy lacks democracy period. Such a body cannot be the vehicle to improve the lives of the people and this nation because it is rotten at its core, full of holes, revolting and soon to be consigned into the trash bin of history. That is what the ACN has become.

For all his sanctimonious pontificating about the popularity of himself and his political party in Nigeria today, the Oracle at Bourdillon was shocked when the ACN lost its seat in the recent Ikrorodu 11 Lagos House of Assembly election. The Oracle did not see it coming. Until the ACN received the rudest shock of its life in the election, the Oracle and his merry band of followers assumed that they had Lagosians in their pocket, free to lead them like sheep anywhere they desired. Lagos had become the personal kingdom of the Oracle at Bourdillon, and why not? He currently owns almost half of the state.

However, it seems the Oracle is no more conversant with one of the principal canons of democracy which is nothing more than the age old aphorism instilled from childhood that what you reap is what you sow. For eleven years, the ACN government in Lagos state sowed bad roads and infrastructure in Ikorodu, neglecting to provide basic social amenities while at the same time criticising other political parties of this very same transgression in other states. When it was harvest time, what came out for the ACN from the polling booths of Ikorodu town was a resounding rejection of this gang of self righteous political and economic opportunists who managed to pull wool over the faces of Lagosians for eleven years, but fortunately, the wool is slowly but surely coming off. Interestingly, none of the so called civil society groups, most of who are mere appendages of the ACN, has made any comment about the election. Their silence has been deafening. Where are the Wole Soyinkas and Tunde Bakares?

However in the characteristic manner of the Oracle at Bourdillon, somebody else had to take the blame for the ACN's defeat, given that the Oracle is supposed to be infallible and above reproach, so his mouthpiece, the ever dutiful lap dog, held a press conference and blamed president Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP for the shellacking of the ACN in Ikorodu.

The Oracle is so called not just for the fun of it. One thing you have to concede to this man is that he is one smart fellow. You cannot be as successful as the Oracle in the game of convincing people that you are not a fox in sheep’s clothing without possessing a bit of cunning. It was no surprise therefore that right after the Ikorodu setback, the Lagos state government, which is currently the core subsidiary of the Oracle’s vast financial empire, swiftly decided to put on hold the tolling of the Lekki expressway by a company with very strong ties to the Oracle at Bourdillon. Although there had been very strong opposition to the tolling on the grounds that the road expansion has not been fully completed and there is no alternate route, the Lagos state government had been adamant that the tolling would commence and the concession company had announced a take off date, thus the late turn around was quite remarkable.

The decision was simply the fallout of the Ikorodu election. It is clear that if tolling had commenced as announced on the Lekki expressway, the electoral chances of the ACN in this year’s elections would plummet further. The Oracle at Bourdillon has craftily concluded and rightly too, that Lagosians may be getting wise to his ways. They may be finally “shining their eyes”. Slowly but surely Lagosians are coming to terms with the fact that the Oracle at Bourdillon’s interests are antithetical to their own, like two parallel lines

However, Lagosians should know that if the ACN wins the forthcoming gubernatorial elections, tolling on the Lekki expressway will commence immediately and their suffering will continue while some people, at N200 per vehicle will be smiling to the bank,

If the defeat of the ACN in Ikorodu is a direct result of the conspicuous dearth of democracy dividends to the people, then the governor of Lagos state, Raji Fashola, of the “eko oni baje’ fame, cannot be excluded from the blame. After all, it happened on his watch. If one accepts the time honoured dictum in political science that the outcome of an election is the barometer by which the effectiveness, or lack of it, of elected officials are measured, then by the result of the election in Ikorodu, Governor Fashola has failed the people of Ikorodu and by extension, Lagosians.

Governor Fashola cannot blame the Oracle at Bourdillon for not giving him a free hand in the administration of Lagos state as some people have claimed in his defence. That is a specious apology, but if indeed it is true, then Fashola has no business being governor of Lagos state. Fashola should free himself of the Oracle and start acting truly like the governor of all of Lagosians, or resign and go back to his legal career, because Lagosians can no longer tolerate a situation where their governor continues to be dangled like a puppet by a man of dubious antecedents to the detriment of the people.

More than anything, the behaviour of Hon. Dimeji Bankole Speaker House of Representatives, at the commissioning of the Sango Ota bridge recently was an infantile and naked display of arrogance of power (albeit temporary), which has its roots in the Speaker’s inordinate ambition and increasing pattern of not showing proper respect to elders, a virtue held sacred in African custom but which Speaker Bankole apparently lacks. Mr. Speaker has once again vindicated those who insist that when you assign a kid the job of an adult, there is always the high probability that he will make a mess of it.

To be clear, the construction of the Sango Ota Bridge STARTED BEFORE Bankole ever dreamt of becoming Speaker. That is a fact. It was former president Olusegun Obasanjo who initiated the construction of the project and this was rightly acknowledged by the Minister for Works and Ogun state Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel at the ceremony. It is equally true that when OBJ left office on May 29, 2007, the bridge had not been completed. But what is the point of continuity in government? The fact that it wasn’t completed before Baba’s departure does not mean that he was irresponsible or a bad leader. That is why government is a continuum. It is the responsibility of the incoming administration to finish the job and that it has done. The construction of the bridge was never abandoned and for some people to go around spreading such lies is not only dishonest but perverse.

Early last year Ogun state Governor Gbenga Daniel tried to make the road around the bridge passable to ease the pain of the people, but the construction company handling the project sought and got a high court injunction preventing the governor from doing so. The construction company argued successfully that its contract had not been terminated by the Federal Government even though work had stopped temporarily due to shortage of funds. At the ceremony, the governor never claimed to be the one who built the road nor did the minister. As a matter of fact while they gave that credit to Chief Obasanjo, they also recognised the efforts of the Honourable Speaker.


Granted that Bankole used his office to put pressure on the late president Umoru Ya Adua to approve funds for the completion of the bridge, that is not enough reason, nor should there ever be, for him to abuse the minister and the Governor and attack the driver of the governor’s bus. But this cannot be a surprise to observers of plenary sessions in the House of Representatives where chair throwing and fisticuffs are part and parcel of legislative business. What Bankole wanted to do was score a cheap political point with the commissioning ceremony. But for some inexplicable reason he was late. You would think that for someone who planned to turn a civic affair into a political campaign, he would not be a truant.
The minister as far as we know did not breach any protocol by going ahead with the commissioning. The Speaker’s presence was simply not required for the road to be opened. He was only invited because he is from Ogun state and he facilitated the resumption of work. But after waiting for over 8 hours the ceremony had to go on.

We need not remind Bankole that he is a legislator and nothing more. His job is to legislate and perhaps, as part of his oversight duties, ensure that public funds are not misappropriated which, clearly in the case of the Ota Bridge, was not the case. Having established that the money released was utilised for the purpose for which it was intended, Bankole ought to have been satisfied, but apparently he wasn’t, because he felt that he was owed the adulation of the people for doing what he was elected to do and he could only get this recognition by strutting his stuff at the ceremony. Too bad he got something else.

This may explain why sometime last year, on the very day that worked resumed at the site, Bankole’s media man was spotted at the bridge recording the workers with a video camera as they went about their work. I won’t be surprised if there is a documentary in due course from the Speaker’s office about the Otta Bridge praising the Speaker to high heaven for his “heroic deed and compassion for making the bride a reality. But it needs to be reiterated that the construction of that bridge and the road leading up to it was initiated by Obasanjo. Maybe that was why providence prevented the Speaker from getting to the ceremony in time. Mr. Speaker’s behaviour showed bad form politically and a yawning lack of class.

In conclusion, if the Speaker wants to endear himself to the people of Ogun state, so that they can vote for him when he eventually enters the gubernatorial race in Ogun state, he should initiate a multi billion naira project in his constituency and finish it and not try to take credit for some else’s work. He should also be more forthcoming and transparent in the little matter of Cargate. The Speaker is a successful young man who unfortunately is being misadvised. The path to Oke Mosan Governor’s office can be easier for him if only he would learn how to wash his hands before coming to a table to eat with his elders. Once that is done the sky is the limit for him.

it is instructive that since this story or "PUNCHGATE" broke, the Punch management has responded by throwing its full support behind Azu.

This is "Nana" Femi Otedola's luxurious yacht. It is the latest in high end recreational boats and the cynosure of all at the pier in front of Zenon House on Eleke Crescent, Victoria Island. The captain is of course a white man and from all indications, Mr Otedola is out to take care of his boat which must cost a pretty penny. This is how the rich relax.

@mamagee, source is ireports-ng.com

At last the clouds part to reveal the colour of the true sky. Few days ago, the management of Punch newspapers dismissed its Editor, Mr. Steve Ayorinde for allegedly trying to smuggle a story into the paper which he signs on as Editor! How can an editor try to “smuggle” a story into the paper he edits?

Mr Ayorinde, in a protest letter to the newspaper’s, Board of Directors, accused top editorial members of the newspaper particularly Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene, the Executive Director (Publications) of massive corruption and bribe taking. According to Ayorinde, editorial members of the Punch Newspapers have been collecting millions of naira from top politicians of a particular political party to publish stories and influence editorial views of the newspaper.

But this cannot really be a shock to most Nigerians. We all know that for the most part Nigerian journalists, no matter how much they preach transparency and honesty, and daily accuse politicians of being corrupt, are as bad, if not worse, than the people they criticise. It is all a charade. Owners of newspapers have vested interests and groups they protect. The name of the game is money. All the talk about defending the rights of the common man and democracy are mere props and secondary to the publisher’s interests.

The management of Punch newspapers owe its readers a full scale investigation into the allegations and the findings should be made public. It cannot make this an internal matter because its integrity is at stake.

Your Excellency, we are sure that by now you must be dumbfounded that you are the subject of an impeachment move in the Lagos state House of Assembly, overwhelmingly controlled by your party, the Action Congress (AC). You must be shocked that you, who have been widely acclaimed across the partisan divide, as the best thing that ever happened to Lagos state since Lateef Jakande, have suddenly become a target of the EFCC. The turn around in your political fortunes must be quite sudden. Why are members of your own political party after you? The answer is quite simple, they are after you for achieving in three years more than your immediate predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, did in eight. That is your crime.

Your Excellency, we must confess that you are guilty. You resolved to be transparent and honest with Lagosians. You have spent the people’s money on the people to make their daily existence, hitherto despondent and unexciting, so much better. Why, for instance, did you abandon “Jeun Soke” for “Eko oni Baje”? Why did you not take a cue from your teacher who deceived Lagosians with white elephant projects, progressive rhetoric and acted as if he was doing them a favour? Why did you choose to deliver practical democracy dividends to Lagosians instead of pandering to the whims of Asiwaju? Why are you building roads, improving water supply, education, health, security and carrying out beautification projects all over the state to the extent that property owners are freely giving their property fresh coats of paint?

Thanks to you, Lagosians now move about with good cheer and extra spring in their steps. Why did you allow Asiwaju to be embarrassed in the Sunburn Yacht Hotel scandal? What does it matter if over N2 billion of Lagos taxpayers’ money is “floating” on the Lagos Marina? Don’t you know that “Owo Eko, Eko lo Gbe kę” (Lagos money resides in Lagos). Are you not aware that Asiwaju owns Lagos? This man can boast of having three (3) former governors as his personal assistants. Are you not aware that he controls vast estates, multi billion dollar investments, numerous Obas, chiefs of different hue, and “ęru iku” (slaves of death) in Lagos and as a result is word is law?

Your Excellency these are “impeachable offences” in the imperial court of emperor Asiwaju. That is why Asiwaju’s boys and girls in the Lagos State House of Assembly declared that they are going to impeach you. However, be assured that they cannot impeach you. They simply do not have the “cojones” (guts) to actualize their nefarious plot. These “Honourables” know that the people of Lagos will not allow that to happen. All Asiwaju wants to do is “shake you’ and find out if you have the courage to challenge him. Your impeachment would mark the beginning of the end of Bola Tinubu politically. You can take that to the bank.

It is a game played many times by your leader and he is quite adept at it.
Politics of brinkmanship, blackmail and intimidation are your leader’s stock - in - trade. We are aware that he has been trashing the reputations of his political opponents and even some of his associates, whenever there is disagreement with them. We know how he uses his “monthly allocation”, which is more than what some states get in two months, to cause confusion in the South West especially against Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the Ogun state governor. The sheer degree of vitriol directed at Governor Daniel is particularly stunning. It is because just like you, the Ogun state governor is a solid performer and first class leader of men and resources. You and Governor Daniel have more in common than you can imagine.

The reputation of Gbenga Daniel is in shreds by lies, half-truths and innuendos spewed out by your leader’s news organizations and hack writers. They have launched constant assaults on the Ogun state governor so much that you would think that the man is the devil incarnate. Now, unfortunately, like Kofo Bucknor and Femi Pedro, you are the next person to have a taste of this nauseating carte du jour. It is quite ironic.

Right now, your leader’s hatchet men, fortified with substantial amounts of naira will confine attacks on you to allegations of corruption and mismanagement. However, like in the case of Daniel, if that does not “do the trick”; they will move to the next phase. At this stage, they will spread rumours all over town connecting you with assassinations of politicians in your state. Spin-doctors will go on selected television talk shows and swear on their mothers’ graves that you are not only “intolerant” but also a man with a “dark side”. Others will claim that their lives are in danger because they dared to oppose you. Editorials filled with demeaning dribble will appear in national dailies. All these will reinforce the attempt to smear your impeccable reputation, a tactic used with devastating effect on Governor Daniel.

If you consider the attack by thugs, orchestrated by Tinubu, on the Ogun state government delegation that attended the burial ceremony of Dipo Dina, to be a new low for him, brace yourself for what is coming your way. Your leader tried to pin Dipo Dina’s death on Governor Daniel even as the late politician’s brother and a top politician in your party, say the Action Congress, may be responsible and the police are yet to finish their investigations. What iron clad evidence or divine authority does Asiwaju Tinubu possess that he is always the first to know the perpetrators of assassinations and violent attacks? Your Asiwaju talks like a democrat but acts very much like the godfather of a crime organization.

It is amazing how premature deaths of politicians or violent attacks are pinned on the PDP, especially Governor Daniel. With respect to Ogun state, newspapers on the payroll of Don Tinubu have painted the state to be under siege and as place where anarchy and insecurity reign supreme. One in particular recently published libellous reports about the Governor, implying that he actively promotes violence in the state. Yet this same newspaper recently left your state and relocated to Ogun state!

However, It was not Otunba Gbenga Daniel who planned the attack on Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello and her friend, Mrs. Akin Deko, along the Abeokuta - Lagos expressway, which resulted in the painful death of Mrs. Deko’s two children. Who attempted to assassinate Alhaji Sule Onabiyi after he defected from the AC to PDP in 2003 also along the Abeokuta - Lagos expressway? He narrowly escaped, but his driver was not so lucky. It was definitely not Gbenga Daniel. There have been more assassinations, religious strife, kidnappings, armed robberies and violent clashes in other states than Ogun in the last six months, yet nobody has accused Governors of those states of sponsoring such acts. Who killed in Badagry, a former Special Adviser to Don Asiwaju Tinubu, Mr. Ahmed Onipede? Now, you have not been linked to Onipede’s death, but it may come under Plan B.

What continues to amaze us though, is how gullible Nigerians can be. Nigerians have a penchant for rushing to judgement on issues that they do not fully understand. Before you can say “Eko oni Baje” people will begin to believe the lies about you and next thing you know, you are cast as a “bad boy and an ingrate who is not grateful for the wonderful opportunity “The Don” gave him and is biting the fingers that fed him”.

However, power comes from the people, which is the will of God, and not from one bespectacled individual no matter how stupefied he may be with himself. So dear governor, stay the course and be strong, and like your colleague in Ogun state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, continue your good work for the people and respect the rule of law. The people of Lagos do not care whether you were picked by Asiwaju to succeed him; the fact of the matter is that you are now accountable first to God and the people of Lagos before any individual with an ego as big as a mammoth but humility, the size of a peanut. You are the Governor of Lagos state not Asiwaju state. “Eko baje ti”

The attempt last Christmas by a Nigerian, Umar Abdul Muttalab, to blow up a North West Airline plane travelling from Amsterdam en route to the United States has been a hot topic globally. However, it has also highlighted two critical questions. One is whether the anti terror policy of US President Barak Obama is to blame for the two terrorist attacks in two months in the US and how a member of a prominent Nigerian upper class family can be easily brainwashed to die for a cause that does not concern him. They are the important talking points those who were quick to criticize the deluded boy need to ponder. It is not just about the image of Nigeria and Abdul Muttalab’s retribution, the hazards that lie ahead are more complicated than that.

Commentators ought to put Abdul Muttalab’s misguided and appalling action aside and consider how to deal with the fact that the breeding ground for recruiting, indoctrinating, and establishing terrorists’ cells is not just among the poor and uneducated anymore and that it transcends geographical borders. They should reflect on what it portends for Nigeria. We have Niger Delta militants and now suicide bombers in Nigeria. If children of the rich can be easily indoctrinated to go and commit mass murder what about those of the poor?

Ever before his election as the 44th president of the United States Barak Obama made it clear that he believes in diplomacy more than deploying America’s military might to resolve conflicts around the world. He believes that his gift of oratory will change the minds of those who want to kill Americans. Soon after he assumed office, Obama travelled to Europe and the Middle East to deliver eloquent and rousing speeches apologizing for the neo – conservative hard line policies of his predecessor George W. Bush.

Obama told his audience that things would change under his watch and for that, he got the Nobel peace prize. He told the world that with him at the helm of affairs in the United States there will be world peace. Hardly. Reality is biting Obama in the face today. Dialogue can be effective in resolving conflict in some cases, but like Teddy Roosevelt the 26th US president once said, it is better to walk softly but carry a big stick. We know from history that the greatest leaders of our time were loved and feared. However, Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister between 1937 and 1940, like Obama, just wanted to be loved. Winston Churchill on the other hand was as tough as he was soft. Adolph Hitler lied to Chamberlain that Nazi Germany had no territorial ambitions beyond the shores of the Rhine. Sometimes the fear of someone breeds respect. Hitler did not respect Chamberlain because he considered him a weak leader. Weeks after Chamberlain uttered the infamous words that there will be “peace in our time” after his meeting with Hitler, the German military machine rolled unchallenged into Poland. World War 2 had begun and the world did not know peace for the next 6 years.

Since Obama extended his olive branch, Iran has become more belligerent as it moves inexorably closer to acquiring nuclear weapons with the long-range missile systems required to deliver the lethal payloads. Al Qaeda’s riposte to Obama’s “can’t we all be friends” mantra was the Fort Hood, Texas massacre carried out by Major Nidal Hassan and now North West Airline flight 253. As far as the terrorists are concerned, it does not matter who is in the White House; Democrat or Republican, white or black, America is still the enemy. The earlier Obama understands that, the better. In Obama’s first year in office, America has witnessed three terror attacks since 9/11. Even Somali pirates have thumbed their noses at the US president. However, while trying to appease terrorists, Obama has forgotten about the carnage and human suffering in Darfur.

Former US Vice President, manliness Cheney, warned Obama recently that his policy of appeasement and reengagement would only embolden terrorists and put America at great risk. Obama plans to close Guantanamo Bay where George W. Bush kept suspected Yemeni terrorists and send them back to Yemen. He relocated suspected Chinese terrorists from Gitmo to a holiday resort in the Caribbean after rejection by China. Over the strong objections of his CIA Director, Leon Panetta, Obama decided to prosecute CIA agents who used enhanced interrogation techniques (call it torture) on arrested terrorists in the name of rule of law! Now what kind of message is President Obama sending to America’s enemies and US security agencies? It is not surprising therefore that when Alhaji Muttalab reported his son at the American embassy in Nigeria and Yemeni authorities warned the US government that a Nigerian would attempt to bomb a US bound plane on Christmas Day, CIA agents ignored the red flags not knowing how the Obama administration would respond.

To be sure, Barak Obama is a great man and communicator who has achieved an historical feat, but the thing about him is that he is too calculating. Everything is about how politically correct his decisions are and world opinion. It is all about “Brand Obama” and not America’s interests. Is Barak Obama the president of the United States or the world? There is a clear disconnect between what he believes and reality. He has to accept the fact that his election as the first black US president will not put an end to attacks on the US homeland. Eloquent speeches will not end terrorism. Firm and decisive actions will. It took Obama eight days to admit that the North West Airline incident was an Al Qaeda operation and not “an isolated attempt|”. The unsuccessful attack occurred because of a combination of perceived presidential weakness as much as the misguided minds of Abdul Muttalab and Al Qaeda.

By the way, the notion that the world hates America, which Obama says he wants to change, is patently flawed. Obama should visit US embassies around the world to see the large number of people queuing up to obtain US visas. People of the world love America.  It is the land of opportunity where a man’s inalienable rights are guaranteed by a constitution over 200 years old of just 14 pages that gave the world the greatest country on the face of the earth. The only people who hate America are America’s enemies. It is time for Barak Obama to get over the euphoria of being the first African American president of the United States of America, reduce the rhetoric, abandon political correctness and start showing the strong presidential leadership that is urgently needed during this critical period to keep America safe.

By
riyenews@.com


Authorities of the University of Ado Ekiti have responded to the allegation that the Part Time Programmes Unit of the University in collaboration with students donated six Toyota Camry sedans to Deans of some selected faculties.

In a rejoinder signed by Bisi Falade, the Principal Assistant Registrar/Secretary, Part Time Programme of the university, the institution said that “there was no donation of any kind made by students of the university to any lecturer and that no lecturer received any gift of cars either from students or any unit of the institution.”

The true position according to Falade is that the Part Time Programme Unit of the university through its “Internally Generated Revenue (sic) decided to “assist the university by providing used cars for the department and faculties that are cognate to the part time programme”

The university spokesman added that prior to the time the “part time programme donated these vehicles, none of the departments had any official vehicle. Also the Deans of the two affected faculties did not have official vehicles. The university which ordinarily should provide vehicles for the departments and faculties had been unable to do so as a result of inadequate resources. This explains why the donation of the vehicles to the affected academic units was lauded by all and sundry”

Is the above a rejoinder or a confirmation of the initial story reproduced below? You be the judge.

It can only happen in Nigeria! According to a story published in a national newspaper on Thursday August 20, 2009, with the headline; UNAD Part time Programmes Donate Six Cars, the Part Time Programmes Unit of the University of Ado Ekiti in collaboration with students, donated six Toyota Camry sedans for Deans of some selected faculties. The Vice Chancellor attended the handover ceremony where, according to the report, he commended the gesture and vowed to “encourage” other units to emulate the Part time Unit. The report added that the students pledged to extend the bonanza to other units of the university. Where else but Nigeria?

By
Riyenews@.com

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is still on the trail of three former governors contrary to reports in some newspapers this week.  The former governors are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of Lagos state, James Ibori of Delta state and Obong Victor Attah of Awka Ibom state. 

The full statement by the EFCC reads: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to reports in national dailies of today, September 11, 2009 to the effect that the anti-graft agency has cleared some former governors who have been under investigation.

“The commission wishes to state emphatically that it has not at any time or in any correspondence with the persons referred to in these media reports or any other person cleared them of complicity in all matters relating to them which are either in court or still under investigation.

“It is, therefore, inappropriate to input or infer that the three former governors have been exonerated in matters that are still pending or yet to be determined by the law court which is the only competent organ of government that can pronounce guilt or innocence in matters like the ones under reference.

“The commission has to make this clarification in view of the volume of enquiries from concerned Nigerians so as to lay to rest all doubts and insinuations as to the position of the Commission and its leadership in all these.

“The letter being referred to in these reports has no specific impact or reference to the cases of the three former governors as it was only an advice to a bank on the operation of a company’s account and as such, cannot speak for substantive cases being investigated.

“While not adjudging anyone guilty until proven so, the commission wishes to restate that it has not in anyway declared the three former governors are innocent of the allegations for which they are being investigated.”

Meanwhile, a reliable source revealed to Riyenews that the trio would soon be summoned for interrogation by the anti-graft agency over the alleged scam.

riyenews@.com


A national daily reported today that Edo state Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has commended the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) over its conduct of the recent election rerun in Akoko Edo local government area of the state. The governor gave the commendation when he visited the INEC Chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu in Abuja at the weekend. Oshiomhole’s Action Congress (AC) candidate defeated his PDP opponent to win the rerun election into the Edo state House of Assembly.

Governor Oshiomhole said he was relieved by the “efficient conduct of the poll by INEC” as confirmed by independent observers. In his words; “not a single unit lacked materials nor were they delivered late as had been feared, for this INEC should be commended and encouraged”

Is the governor really talking about the same INEC that Nigerians know and love to hate so much? Maybe there is hope for 2011!

RIYENEWS@.COM


Even as Lamido Sanusi, head honcho of the Central Bank of Nigeria, continues to strongly deny allegations that he is pursuing a Northern agenda to wrest economic power from the South, the charge persists because of a mainstream media that is largely controlled by the South and has been echoing the interests of the owners.

The overriding question that the mainstream media is yet to answer is what economic power does Southern Nigeria have in the first instance that Sanusi, as a consequence of trying to save Nigeria’s financial system from collapse, is trying to take away? Who controls the oil industry? Which oligarchy dominates the food, textile and cement industries? Which ethnic group controls the Federal civil service? How about the transport or trucking industry? The answer is the North. Can anyone deny that Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who seems to have a hand in every economic pie in this country, is the richest man in Nigeria today? All the pretenders in the South feed off from Dangote and that is a fact.

The truth is that southern businessmen and bank MDs caught in Sanusi’s vortex of sanitization are simply victims of greed and nothing more. Notice how the debtors have been running to the EFCC to pay up their debt, obviously dreading a few days in detention? At the last count, the EFCC had recovered over 45 billion naira within a week! By the way, one of the major debtors in the whole scandal is guess who? Aliko Dangote!

There are those who argue that the contraption known as Nigeria can never become a nation until fundamental rights, equality, the pursuit of happiness and prosperity are guaranteed for every citizen no matter his tribe or religion. This is true, but one will hasten to add that sectional interests must also give way for the national interest. Until we stop hiding behind the curtains of ethnic bigotry whenever we are in trouble, we will not move forward as a nation. Some people have been charged with a very grave offence. Let them deal with it and stop dragging their kinfolk, most of whom they exploited to get rich, into it.

Until a few months ago, a man who goes by the name Chukwuma Soludo, from the Eastern part of Nigeria was Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria. Soludo ensured that most MDs of banks were from the South East or South South and we did not hear a word from other parts of the country. Go through the list of banks in Nigeria; from Access bank to Zenith, 80% of MDs were from the South East or South South. Even after Sanusi’s Tsunami, the replacements are still mainly from the South. Besides, being a bank MD does not necessarily translate into controlling the economy. What about those who actually own the money in the vaults? As for the debtors, it is true that most of them are Southerners, but are they really the movers and shakers of Nigeria’s economy today? Why are they the major debtors? Even Asians have more control of Nigeria’s economy than Southerners.

To be sure, there was a time in this country when businessmen and women from the south really[/b] controlled the economic levers of Nigeria. That was in the First Republic. The South West had cocoa and palm oil that the Marketing Boards ensured earned the region optimal price in world markets, while farmers and traders got what they deserved. There was a highly educated citizenry, an efficient and responsible civil service that took over from the colonialists and a vibrant economy that was the envy of African countries. Western Region of Nigeria, as it was known then, had balanced budgets annually and a healthy foreign reserve. The Region’s television and radio stations, with the acronym; WNBS/WNBC [b][/b]had the slogan; [b]First in Africa[i][/i].

Eastern Nigeria was equally independent economically. Commerce and entrepreneurship flowed in the East. Education was first rate and there was a middle class. There was self sufficiency in food and cash crops were exported. The North had its own fair share of economic power, but not close to what the South had. No wonder the late Sadaunna of Sokoto Ahamdu Bello said that the North was not ready for independence in 1953.

Sanusi is doing a good job that has nothing to do with ethnicity or a Northern agenda and for people to allege such is hypocritical and a disservice to nation building. Like a Mafia hitman would say; it is nothing personal, it is just business.

riyenews@.com

It can only happen in Nigeria! According to a story published in a national newspaper on Thursday August 20, 2009, with the headline; UNAD Part time Programmes Donate Six Cars, the Part Time Programmes Unit of the University of Ado Ekiti in collaboration with students, donated six Toyota Camry sedans for Deans of some selected faculties. The Vice Chancellor attended the handover ceremony where, according to the report, he commended the gesture and vowed to “encourage” other units to emulate the Part time Unit. The report added that the students pledged to extend the bonanza to other units of the university. Where else but Nigeria?

Those who are wondering why the standard of education is plummeting in the country should look no further. If these actors, in what can be described as a triple x rated tragicomedy, were politicians one would have ignored the report as another “rub my back I rub your back” shenanigan of politicians which is a global phenomenon. In the United States of America, this kind of behaviour is known as pay for play. Recall Rod Blagojevich, the impeached governor of Illinois, who was trying to sell the US Senate seat vacated by Barak Obama after he was elected as the 44th president of the US.

It is not clear if the cars were “tear nylon or tokunbo”, which is really immaterial, but the whole sordid episode must stick in the craw of any patriotic Nigerian! What is also perplexing is that the Vice Chancellor has promised to encourage other units to emulate the Part Time Unit. How does he intend to do that? Has he paused to consider the propriety of the donation?

The donation is highly improper and validates the widespread belief that academic qualifications can be bought at a price from Nigerian universities. In the past such “deals” were made between lecturers and students behind closed doors. Money or sex would be negotiated and the student will pass with flying colours only to become a liability to society in future. But for these obviously well to do part time students, that arrangement is passé. This is what the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti called “oju koroju stealing” Why bother with discretion? Why not do it openly so that there would be no ambiguity of the intention? Does anyone doubt that these “donor students” will pass their examinations with flying colours? Where is the National Universities Commission (NUC) and when you really need it? The decay in our educational system is now endemic. HELP!

riyenews@.com

Ogun state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel of the PDP has been declared winner of the April 2007 gubernatorial election in Ogun state. The chairman of the Ogun State Elections Petition Tribunal, Justice Armbrusa, today, dismissed the prayer of Senator Ibikunle Amosun of the ANPP asking the Tribunal to declare him the winner of the election on the grounds that they lacked merit and amounted to legal ambushing and an academic exercise which the law does not allow.

Justice Armbrusa said that Amosun, through his counsel, Chief Akintola (SAN), failed to prove his case beyond all reasonable doubt as required by the law. Citing cases copiously, Justice Armbrusa said that credible evidence was missing in Amosun’s petition as crucial facts were not pleaded. He said that it also trite in law that no matter how eloquent counsel address maybe, “it cannot replace legal evidence”. Justice Armbrusa said the tribunal doubted the authenticity of documents submitted by Senator Amosun to support his case, citing the fact that they were copies which, in this technological age are open to all sorts of manipulation.

The tribunal chairman commended the learned counsel of the ANPP candidate for the way he marshalled his arguments, but said that they were not supported by facts, lacked merit nd for these resasons it was dismissed. He ruled that Otunba Gbenag Daniel as duly elected and returned with 426,000 votes followed by Senator Amosun and Dipo Dina of the AC with 135,149 and 79,915 votes respectively.

The counsel to Governor Daniel, Professor Osipitan (SAN) said that the governor has now been vindicated. He said that the judgement had debunked the rumour that they did not want to go to trial. In his words, the case “generated more publicity and attention than it deserved” He said that a lot of people have overlooked the fact that the ANPP did not win any of the other elections in Ogun state from state house of Assembly to Senate, and wondered how Amosun could claim to have won the much bigger election. Professor Osipitan said that he is excited with the judgement which he said is dedicated to the people of Ogun state. He said the case had been a distraction to governance which the people will now enjoy.

Senator Amosun’s counsel, Chief Akintola commended the lack or rancour between the bar and the bench during the trial. He said he abides by the decision until further steps are taken by his client.

riyenews@.com


Question; Why does night life and other social activities always fall
                   significantly during Ramadan in most parts of Nigeria?

The answer to this very important question may lie between two extremes. On one side, is the claim in some quarters that there are more Muslims in Nigeria. This argument is debatable of course and not supported by any empirical data, but what other explanation can be adduced for the noticeable lull in social activities particularly in major cities in four of the six geo political zones of Nigeria during Ramadan every year? Riyenews can confirm that night club owners, pepper soup joints, beer parlours and even mistresses and concubines know that when the month of Ramadan comes around “turnover and income” must nosedive. While the night crawler centres are losing, fruit sellers and market women are making a killing as usual

In the last four days, the streets of Lagos have been noticeably deserted. It was as if Nigerians were observing a public holiday. Proprietors of popular watering holes in Ikeja, Ebutte Metta, Yaba and Surulere are particularly hard hit. One of the owners told Riyenews that even though patronage had not been very good since the beginning of the economic meltdown, the Islamic Holy month has compounded the situation negatively.

In Abeokuta, at the MKO Abiola Stadium which is fast becoming the number one relaxation centre in the city, most of the pepper soup joints and beer parlours where people relax after a hard day’s work are now virtually deserted while others have been completely shut down. Musicians and other entertainers, especially those who perform at ‘Owambe” parties, are also bracing up for drastic reductions in bookings during the next 30 days. One of them told Riyenews that even if they get engagements, he expects “spraying” of Naira notes to reduce. 

The other explanation is that if the lull in night life during Ramadan is not attributable to predominance of Muslims in the society, then it must be due to the fact that Muslims are more outgoing, generous and know how to have a good time!!

let him just run for president. chikena!

Yes she is not an ordinary Nigerian because ordinary Nigerians are Nigerians who labour hard for their money, people who inspite af all the difficulties of life still stand their ground for what is right and just, people who are doing great things around the world. But she is an "eminent" Nigerian, people who belive in "monkey dey work Baboon the chop", people whodecieve the "ordinary Nigerians" to bring money for them to share among their cohorts, people who will sooner than later be arrested by EFCC and thrown to where they truly belong. Shame in that retard of a lawyer to make such comments,


Well said my brother

riyenews@.com


It can only happen in Nigeria. Where else in the world would a lawyer claim that his client, declared wanted by the authorities on charges of massive financial impropriety, is not an ordinary Nigerian but an eminent one? According to press reports, Mr. Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), the lawyer of former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, his client is no ordinary Nigerian, arguing that; “this is the only country where people go to the media on issues they know nothing about. Mrs. Ibru is not an ordinary Nigerian. She is an eminent one. They know where she lives.” Mr. Akintola’s assertion brings us back to riyenews’ last thread in which the role of lawyers (Akeredolu, Lawyers and the rest of us), in Nigeria’s social, political and economic life was discussed.

Mr. Akintola needs to explain in greater detail what makes Mrs. Ibru more eminent than the average man on the street, perhaps in court. 
It is only in Nigeria that those who ought to cover their heads in shame and ignominy would strut around, thumb their noses in front of the people and even collect awards and chieftaincy titles to boot. What makes Mrs Ibru an eminent Nigerian? Is it the fact that she was once the MD of a bank? What are the criteria for eminence in Nigeria apart from being a clergy?

The answer is of course money but as Nigerians are now finding out she is less than eminent and she is someone who betrayed the trust of thousands of customers of her bank. It is obvious that Mr. Akintola knows that he has just discovered a gold mine in taking the Ibru case, but must he insult our intelligence?

riyenews@.com


“A nation gets the type of government it deserves”. - A wise man


Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is the current president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). He was elected unopposed last year by his colleagues and since he assumed office, Mr. Akeredolu has tried not to disappoint his colleagues by dishing out the standard NBA lingo against the Federal government. He has been quick to lash out at government for actions, or inaction, that he considers to be unconstitutional or undemocratic. He is a vocal and harsh critic of the Federal government. At the recent NBA conference, Mr. Akeredolu unleashed yet another round of vitriolic broadsides at the Ya Adua government. Speaking on the topic, “NBA and the Quest for Real Development in Nigeria,” he expressed his displeasure at the “direction of events in the country”, saying the evidence on ground “did not give any hope that the present administration was prepared to lead the country to the Promised Land”.

Mr. Akeredolu’s gripe is that the Ya’ Adua administration’s anti corruption crusade is not living up to expectation and (surprise surprise) former president Obasanjo and Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the EFCC, did better in the anti –corruption battle. Mr. Akeredolu said the EFCC is now a toothless bulldog and ex-governors who were charged for corruption while in office are yet to be convicted, while the token conviction of former governor of Edo state, Lucky Igbenedion, was a charade. Next, he unleashed the usual sermon about how corruption is destroying the moral fabric of our country, adding; “we must not fail to express our doubts on the capability of this present government to pull Nigeria out of socio-economic and political doldrums.”

Nigerians know that the aluta continua and anti –government posture business can be very lucrative. We know that Mr. Akeredolu and a host of others who find themselves outside the corridors of power today need to be relevant and so the Ya’Adua bashing campaign is hardly surprising. Former president Obasanjo received the same treatment too; Baba was accused of everything that is wrong with Nigeria. The modus operandi of the aluta continua trade is to attack those in government at every opportunity while promoting their own public stature and laying the foundation to seeking elective office.  But Mr. Akeredolu may have over reached this time around, because there is the need to find out from the NBA president if his position embodies the view of the generality of his colleagues, since it is obvious that he has upset a considerable number of them with his comments and activities in recent times. It is apparent that the man cannot be speaking on behalf of the whole membership because many members of Mr. Akeredolu’s NBA are partners with these so - called corrupt politicians and other public figures. Other members are on the fence, completely apolitical but no less angry with Mr. Akeredolu’s leadership style.

If the NBA president really wants Nigerians to appreciate lawyers as beacons of morality and transparency he has to, first of all, look inwards and scrub its house of double standard. Mr. Akeredolu should insist that members of the NBA stop representing corrupt politicians. On the other hand why shouldn’t they? Isn’t there an article about presumption of innocence until proven otherwise in law? Surely, as a Senior Advocate, Mr. Akeredolu must know that presumption of innocence is the holy grail of his profession. Therefore who made him judge, jury and executioner?

But where is the morality in the law profession as being practised in our country when a legal luminary defends candidates of the PDP and AC at the same time like Chief Wole Olanipekun, a former NBA president, did when he represented Adams Oshiomole and Ya’ Adua? At the Edo state Elections Petitions Tribunal, Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, argued tirelessly that the PDP massively rigged the election and Oshiomole be declared winner. The same Olanipekun defended Ya’Adua at the Federal Elections Tribunal all the way to the Supreme Court arguing that the presidential election was free and fair!

Who freed Lucky of Edo and told him to go home and sin no more? It was the Bar and Bench, lawyers and judges not the EFCC or Ya’ Adua, unless the NBA president is somehow suggesting that judges in the case were compromised, which begs the question of who bargained with them and delivered the “Ghana must go”? Recall the charge of conspiracy against Governor Oyinlola’s lawyer and Justice Naron at the Osun Elections Petitions Tribunal. It was a lawyer not Ya’Adua that was involved in the allegation of a forged police report tendered at the same Osun state Elections Tribunal against Rauf Aregbesola. Did the NBA investigate these cases objectively and sanctioned anybody? One would have expected Akeredolu in his speech, after excoriating Ya’ Adua, to tell Nigerians what efforts his association initiated to expose corruption within the NBA and sanctions imposed on erring members. He ought to have condemned the forged police documents tendered at the Appeal court by his colleagues but he did not. Maybe he believes they are innocent until proven guilty!

Another wise man once said that if armed robbers cannot find ready buyers for stolen goods, robberies would reduce considerably. Let the NBA refuse to defend corrupt politicians and Nigeria would be on her way to greatness. But aligning with a group of politicians against another has greatly diminished the integrity of the NBA’s bully pulpit and its moral right to sermonize to the rest of us about right and wrong. One reason why Mr. Femi Falana founded the West Africa Bar Association (WABA) was due to the growing belief that the NBA has lost its way. It is a judgment that is amply corroborated by the bellicose posture of its current leadership.

The point is that the fight against corruption in Nigeria cannot and is not the sole responsibility of government alone. Lawyers and the NBA are part of the problem and solution. We know now for instance, courtesy of the tsunami unleashed by Central Bank governor Sanusi, that some of those whom the likes of Mr. Akeredolu hold in high esteem as perfect examples of hard work, commerce and entrepreneurship are not exactly who they say they are. While on the run from the clutches of the EFCC, lawyers of Mr. Erastus Akingbola, the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank filed a suit at the Federal high court. They intend to prove that he is innocent! So far Mr. Akingbola’s lawyers appear to have won the first round because the Court has granted him leave to challenge his removal. How would the NBA president brand Akingbola, Cecilia Ibru et al? Is it not a fact that head honchos of banks contributed to the economic ruin of Nigeria as much as politicians? How many Nigerians can borrow zillions from banks without collateral, fail to meet repayment deadlines and still walk around unperturbed? Mr. Akeredolu will do well to direct some of the fury of Aluta Continua at the private sector.

Ahmand Tijani, armed robbery kingpin of Benin Republic and receiver of stolen exotic cars had first class legal representation in Dr. Tunji Abayomi no less when he was arrested and extradited to Nigeria! I imagine he must have the money to pay what would obviously be very high legal fees to Mr. Abayomi who is another popular “Aluta lawyer”. Who are these lawyers kidding? I am still waiting for an announcement from the NBA that its members are set to offer free legal services nationwide for just one day to indigent Nigerians. The concept of Pro bono (free legal services) which is common elsewhere appears alien to members of the NBA.

Comparatively speaking, one is not surprised by the partisanship and selfish interests of the NBA because similar bodies in other climes are hardly non-partisan. Even in the United States, there is hardly any organization of professionals, known as interest groups, that does not lean to the left or the right on issues. It is all about self interests. So the NBA should come out of the closet and tell Nigerians what they already know; that it is a partisan body out to promote its interests in conjunction with the agenda of a political party. The attempt to create the impression that it is looking out for the interest of the common man by stoking up emotions against government is not working anymore. Why should Nigerians put their salvation in the hands of men and women who defend murderers and rouges?

The last time I checked, Nigeria is still a fledging democracy with all its faults and challenges, but in the true spirit of that system, the people will one day remove the present crop of leaders and elect those who can do better. The question is can Nigerians look to the NBA for some of these men and women who will lead Nigeria to Eldorado? Will Mr. Akeredolu accept an appointment from government or run for public office? I think so, just like he did years ago when he served as Commissioner for Justice in Ondo state during the Abacha regime.

Besides it would be most unpatriotic not to serve, particularly since he believes that Nigeria’s current crop of leaders are incompetent. A number of former presidents of NBA have served Nigeria at the federal level like Bola Ajibola and Bayo Ojo. Although they were only proud members of the Aluta movement and not lawyers, Professor Wole Soyinka and the late Doctor Tai Solarin accepted to serve in the Babangida administration because they believed that they can achieve positive change from within like ex-Aluta man, Adams Oshiomole is trying to do in Edo state. Mr. Akeredolu should take a cue from Adams, remove his wig and gown, and put his money where his mouth is.

riyenews@.com

Move over men in black, petrol station attendants in Nairaland are now the new money makers thanks to the inefficiency of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Once upon a time, it used to be that petrol station attendants pray for fuel scarcity so that vehicles can queue up for miles in front of their stations and they can charge more than the official pump price before selling the precious commodity to desperate motorists. But not anymore, petrol stations do not have to wait for the often chaotic days of scarcity (artificial or natural) to make an extra buck, because these days, thanks to the gross inefficiency of PHCN, power supply to millions of Nigerians is a mirage d people need petrol and diesel for their generators. Instead of long queue of vehicles, what you find at petrol stations nowadays is a stretch of jerry cans with their owners close by waiting to buy not kerosene but petrol. This is the dividend of democracy for petrol attendants from president Umaru Ya Adua. Other Nigerians are still waiting for their own democracy dividend.

The “extra fee” or “egunje” per jerry can is just N30, taking inflation into account, which is the same amount that Nairaland’s infamous policemen, who mount illegal road blocks every day, charge “danfo drivers” and other motorists. It all adds up to a pretty penny at the end of the day because more and more Nigerians are buying portable generators. The demand for petrol which has been described as the common denominator in the life of every Nigerian, rich or poor, has gone through the roof in Nairaland.

Owing a generator no longer confers any measure of affluence or status in Nairaland anymore because it is no longer a luxury but a necessity and it is dirt cheap thanks to the Chinese. By now Nigeria must rank as one of the leading countries in the world where the use of generators is very high. For many industries, it is no longer a case of putting PHCN on standby and generator as the main source, it is now “generator A” as main source and “generator B” as standby. PHCN is kaput.

Forget about the environmental impact of generators in terms of noise, pollution and even the possibility of explosions folks, this a boom time for petrol station attendants. They sell to men and women, old and young who storm the stations usually between 5 and 6 o clock in the evening with jerry cans of all sizes to buy few litres of fuel to power their generators. It had reached a point where sales of petrol to vehicles are now secondary to these stations. In any case it is now a familiar sight to see people open the boots of their vehicles, bring out jerry cans and join the queue because they have generators too! Attendants don’t even want to sell to vehicles any more. Nowadays there is a pump designated expressly for jerry cans. Folks, what we are seeing here is an emerging “industry” that is impervious to the global financial meltdown. The Chinese manufacturers, importers, the repairmen and petrol station attendants are not smiling but laughing hysterically all the way to the bank.

Razak Adewale is a petrol attendant in one of the many outlets of African Petroleum Plc in Lagos, and he told riyenews that the dismal power supply in Nigeria has been a real blessing that was not in disguise for him. It has been “open and direct”. Adewale said that he looks forward to going to work every morning with great anticipation unlike in the past when it used to be a drag. Before the “generator invasion” petrol stations were usually reluctant to sell petrol in jerry cans except during adverse scarcity in the country, but that rule of thumb as been overtaken by reality. Who does not know that Nairaland is in darkness?

The president promised Nigerians 6000 mega watts of electricity before December, but not a few Nigerians believe this would be possible. To some, it is a dream that cannot be realized (ala ti o le se). What is real is that petrol station attendants are making steady money. As you would have thought, Adewale does not want the power situation to improve in the country because it will reduce the demand for petrol. He does not see his wish as unpatriotic or selfish either because he wants his own share of the national cake. “Look” he says, “big men get loans from banks that they don’t pay back, doctors want people to be sick because that is the only way they can make money, just like lawyers who want people to get into trouble, while those in government are constantly looting, so why can’t I make something out of the present state of darkness in the country?” he queried. “Besides”, he added, “I want to buy my own generator too,”

If Adewale’s raison d etre makes sense in a bizarre sort of way, consider Felix Popoola, another petrol attendant who prefers to be called a “Petrol Clerk”. In Popoola’s considered view, president Ya’ Adua should scrap PHCN and forget about improving power supply and give every Nigerian a generator with a N2000 petrol voucher every week! When it was pointed out to Mr. Popoola that government doesn’t work that way and cannot be Santa Claus dishing out money to people, his reply was that as far as he is concerned his suggestion is the only viable solution at the moment since no solution has been found by government.

How can Nigeria get out of this present state of darkness? The answer, as everybody knows, is elementary, but in Nairaland, nothing is simple. Or why else has successive governments been absolutely powerless to tackle the problem of power supply successfully?

riyenews@.com

Move over men in black, petrol station attendants in Nairaland are now the new money makers thanks to the inefficiency of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Once upon a time, it used to be that petrol station attendants pray for fuel scarcity so that vehicles can queue up for miles in front of their stations and they can charge more than the official pump price before selling the precious commodity to desperate motorists. But not anymore, petrol stations do not have to wait for the often chaotic days of scarcity (artificial or natural) to make an extra buck, because these days, thanks to the gross inefficiency of PHCN, power supply to millions of Nigerians is a mirage d people need petrol and diesel for their generators. Instead of long queue of vehicles, what you find at petrol stations nowadays is a stretch of jerry cans with their owners close by waiting to buy not kerosene but petrol. This is the dividend of democracy for petrol attendants from president Umaru Ya Adua. Other Nigerians are still waiting for their own democracy dividend.

The “extra fee” or “egunje” per jerry can is just N30, taking inflation into account, which is the same amount that Nairaland’s infamous policemen, who mount illegal road blocks every day, charge “danfo drivers” and other motorists. It all adds up to a pretty penny at the end of the day because more and more Nigerians are buying portable generators. The demand for petrol which has been described as the common denominator in the life of every Nigerian, rich or poor, has gone through the roof in Nairaland.

Owing a generator no longer confers any measure of affluence or status in Nairaland anymore because it is no longer a luxury but a necessity and it is dirt cheap thanks to the Chinese. By now Nigeria must rank as one of the leading countries in the world where the use of generators is very high. For many industries, it is no longer a case of putting PHCN on standby and generator as the main source, it is now “generator A” as main source and “generator B” as standby. PHCN is kaput.

Forget about the environmental impact of generators in terms of noise, pollution and even the possibility of explosions folks, this a boom time for petrol station attendants. They sell to men and women, old and young who storm the stations usually between 5 and 6 o clock in the evening with jerry cans of all sizes to buy few litres of fuel to power their generators. It had reached a point where sales of petrol to vehicles are now secondary to these stations. In any case it is now a familiar sight to see people open the boots of their vehicles, bring out jerry cans and join the queue because they have generators too! Attendants don’t even want to sell to vehicles any more. Nowadays there is a pump designated expressly for jerry cans. Folks, what we are seeing here is an emerging “industry” that is impervious to the global financial meltdown. The Chinese manufacturers, importers, the repairmen and petrol station attendants are not smiling but laughing hysterically all the way to the bank.

Razak Adewale is a petrol attendant in one of the many outlets of African Petroleum Plc in Lagos, and he told riyenews that the dismal power supply in Nigeria has been a real blessing that was not in disguise for him. It has been “open and direct”. Adewale said that he looks forward to going to work every morning with great anticipation unlike in the past when it used to be a drag. Before the “generator invasion” petrol stations were usually reluctant to sell petrol in jerry cans except during adverse scarcity in the country, but that rule of thumb as been overtaken by reality. Who does not know that Nairaland is in darkness?

The president promised Nigerians 6000 mega watts of electricity before December, but not a few Nigerians believe this would be possible. To some, it is a dream that cannot be realized (ala ti o le se). What is real is that petrol station attendants are making steady money. As you would have thought, Adewale does not want the power situation to improve in the country because it will reduce the demand for petrol. He does not see his wish as unpatriotic or selfish either because he wants his own share of the national cake. “Look” he says, “big men get loans from banks that they don’t pay back, doctors want people to be sick because that is the only way they can make money, just like lawyers who want people to get into trouble, while those in government are constantly looting, so why can’t I make something out of the present state of darkness in the country?” he queried. “Besides”, he added, “I want to buy my own generator too,”

If Adewale’s raison d etre makes sense in a bizarre sort of way, consider Felix Popoola, another petrol attendant who prefers to be called a “Petrol Clerk”. In Popoola’s considered view, president Ya’ Adua should scrap PHCN and forget about improving power supply and give every Nigerian a generator with a N2000 petrol voucher every week! When it was pointed out to Mr. Popoola that government doesn’t work that way and cannot be Santa Claus dishing out money to people, his reply was that as far as he is concerned his suggestion is the only viable solution at the moment since no solution has been found by government.

How can Nigeria get out of this present state of darkness? The answer, as everybody knows, is elementary, but in Nairaland, nothing is simple. Or why else has successive governments been absolutely powerless to tackle the problem of power supply successfully?

hey mister get a grip of yourself. you described yourself as being gentle as a dove and yet you use such language to reply to my post. such contradictions, but i am not surprised, you are the same person who wants someone to slap the president of your country! But i dont have any problem with that. you are free to express your views no matter how pedestrian as i am allowed mine. so be cool

riyenews@.com

The overbearing nature of the former governor of a coastal state in South West Nigeria on the current administration in the state is giving his successor, who is very popular, a tough time with his job so much that he recently threatened to resign. The incumbent governor, who many believe has achieved in two years more than what his predecessor and mentor could not in eight years, in the state known for its marine life and chaotic traffic jams, in terms of road construction and rehabilitation, security as well as transportation, complained at a meeting recently that the former governor is not giving him the free hand he needs on many policies and programmes which would improve living standard of the people and ought to be free of political calculations and selfish interests. Even on political appointments and staff matters, the governor complained bitterly that his hands are tied.

According to our impeccable source, the governor, whose political slogan has now become a popular mantra among residents of the state, threw down the gauntlet at the meeting with the former governor who solely financed his election in 2007. In attendance were other party leaders and the paramount traditional ruler of the state. The governor reportedly told his predecessor in plain and clear language that enough is enough and if he is not given a free hand with his imminent cabinet reshuffle among other matters, he will walk out.

Our source said that before the meeting, the governor had told some of his close associates that he will not to allow the shams that transpired in 2007 during the appointments of commissioners, political appointees and “selections” of local government chairmen in the state, occur again. “Can you imagine a situation where a sitting governor has just 2% input in the choice of commissioners and local government chairmen while the former governor is the Alfa and Omega who decides everything from commissioners to councillors? The situation in which the incumbent governor finds himself is more than being a lame duck; he is still acting like a chief of staff pure and simple”.

Our source said that the former governor was quite surprised by the ferocity of the threat, but he realized that his successor is a highly principled man and was not bluffing, so after arguing back and forth, he agreed to allow the governor pick 60% of his new team. The leader, who also has grand ambitions to become the socio-political leader of his tribe, is faced with a growing dilemma with his political godson and former assistant, which is the growing stature of the governor.
“The ex-governor, more than any one, has been amazed with the zeal, transparency and focus of his political godson which has greatly endeared him to the people more than was expected. It is this popularity that has given the governor the courage to stand up to his mentor”, said our source. “But with his antecedents, one expects that the king maker will wait to take his own pound of flesh from his rebellious political son in the near future. Your guess is as good as mine as to what he will do” added our source.

But our source says that the popular governor has many aces up his sleeve. One of them was played out recently when he released the internally generated revenue (IGR) figures of the state in the last two years and the huge fees that was paid to the state’s tax consultant and revenue collector. According to our source, “the whole world knows that the tax consultant company is closely associated with the ex - governor, so the popular governor was throwing down a marker as it were; sending a strong signal to his mentor, that when push comes to shove, the opposition and general public will know where to look to check the excesses of this leader”. Stay tuned.

riyenews@.com


Give it to Niccolò Bernardo Machiavelli, the Italian philosopher, who many say is one of the founders of political science. He was a politician who appreciated pragmatic power politics. Machiavelli’s values were not based on abstract themes but the cold realities of human existence. He accepted the fact that it was necessary to apply “cunning and deceitful tactics in politics” from time to time as the means to a justifiable end. His book; The Prince, is of course a must read for students of political science. Machiavelli believed that a leader should be feared as well as loved. The question is whether events in the last century have proved Machiavelli’s philosophy to be true? Are the people better served when their leader is equally loved and feared?

History tells us that the greatest leaders of our time were both loved and feared, while others could only manage one of these two attributes.  Adolph Hitler was loved and feared at the same time by his friends but utterly despised by his enemies. There are many leaders throughout history who, by their actions, championed Machiavelli’s philosophy, but Neville Chamberlain the British Prime Minister between 1937 and 1940 was unquestionably not among this eminent list. Chamberlain it was who allowed himself to be deceived by Adolph Hitler that Nazi Germany had no territorial ambitions beyond the shores of the Rhine. He was happy to be loved by Hitler but not feared. Sometimes the fear of someone breeds respect. Hitler did not respect Chamberlain because he saw him as weak. A couple of weeks after Chamberlain uttered the infamous words that there will be “peace in our time” after his summit with Hitler, the German military machine rolled unchallenged into Poland. World War Two had begun and the whole world would not know peace for the next 6 years.

Neville was naïve and few months after the German Blitzkrieg (saturation bombing) of Poland; the British people threw him out and put a cigar chomping gentleman with a bowler hat and chubby face known as Winston Churchill in charge. Now Winston Churchill was loved by his people, but appearance can be deceiving because he was hard as nails as Hitler and Nazi Germany soon discovered. Lady Margaret Thatcher was the first female British Prime Minister. Better known as the “Iron Lady”, Thatcher was elected Prime Minister for three consecutive terms of fifteen years out of which she served for eleven. Notwithstanding her steely qualities she must have had a soft side that the British people loved. Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States held a similar view to Machiavelli. For Teddy, it was “walk softly but carry a big stick”.

Politicians who are not afraid to have enemies turn out to be better leaders. Obafemi Awolowo was loved and feared. So was Ahmadu Bello. Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu was passionately loved as much as he was extensively dreaded. The fear of Adedibu was the beginning of wisdom for any politician in Oyo state. How about Nnamdi Azikwe of Africa? The Owelle of Onitsha was loved, the beautiful bride of two political parties at the same time, but I am still trying to figure out exactly what he stood for.

Americans loved Ronald Reagan, the former Hollywood actor, 40th president of the United States, but leaders of the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), feared him. Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev knew Reagan was a no nonsense leader. Anyone who can tell leaders of the communist empire to “tear these walls down” must have guts. Jimmy Carter was the 39th United States president and he was loved all over the world but was not feared by anyone. In 1979, the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev invaded Afghanistan and the only thing Carter could do to protest the invasion was boycott the 1980 Olympic Games held in Moscow, capital of the USSR. The Russians yawned, grabbed all the gold medals at the games and stayed in Afghanistan for many years. Jimmy Carter’s “can’t we all be friends?” hymn led to the Ayatollahs of Iran organizing a group of Iranian university students to storm the US embassy in Tehran the capital of Iran and hold Americans hostage.

For more than four hundred days (that’s right folks, 400), Jimmy Carter airy-fairy peanuts farmer from the plains of Georgia and president of the most powerful country in the world, could not do anything. The Ayatollahs had studied Carter closely and took advantage of his weakness. However when Ronald Reagan took over from Carter, he had to wait for only 24 hours after his inauguration before the Ayatollahs released the hostages. Barak Obama, the historic 44th president of the United States of America is fast gaining an unsavoury reputation as someone who prefers to be loved but not feared. Obama’s actions are beginning to give Americans deep cause for concern. Increasingly, he reminds one of Jimmy Carter. President Obama has been going round the world apologising for actions former US presidents took in the past. It has reached a point now where smaller countries or rogue nations (as they are sometimes called), view the Apologiser - in - Chief as feeble even as he draws huge crowds wherever he goes around the world. Is it enough for Obama to be loved by the rest of the world at the expense of America’s security and national interests?

Since Obama became president, North Korea has test fired not less than four medium and long range missiles in defiance of Obama and the rest of the world. The remarkable difference between Ronald Reagan and Barak Obama is that while Reagan is not afraid to tell the truth, Obama avoids it like the plague for fear of offending people. A commentator recently described Obama as a man who uses his excellent oratorical skills and charm (like Azikwe of Africa) to shield the truth while Reagan used it to explain reality to Americans. Another observer said it often appears as if Barak Obama “believes the best chance for achieving success is to offend the least many people possible”. The verdict is not yet in on No. 44, but the signs are not good.

Was military strongman Sanni Abacha loved? I doubt it, but with his dark shades, he made people tremble. Four star Generals crumbled and shed tears at the sight of Abacha. Nigerians feared the duo of Generals Mohammed Buhari and the late Tunde Idiagbon. But they were not loved because they smiled once a year and so Nigerians were relieved when they were removed by “Maradonic” Babangida who smiled every day and was loved as much as he was feared. Nelson Mandela was loved by his people but white South Africans feared him so much they clamped in jail for 25 years. When he regained his freedom, he was sworn in as president of a free South Africa and collected a Nobel Prize along the way. Today he is a living legend.

One thing you can be sure of about Olusegun Obasanjo is that he is a man who is to be feared. But he is also someone Nigerians love to hate. Nigerians blame Baba for everything. Now Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun state is someone who has a winsome personality but people are finding out nowadays that he can also bite. Just like Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos state. Is he loved by Lagosians? Of course, but the traders along Oshodi, Mushin, Lagos/Badagry expressways and other major streets in Lagos dread him. Like Adedibu in Ibadan, the fear of Fashola in Lagos is indeed the beginning of “sense wiseness” (God bless Fela Anikulapo Kuti) for some people in Lagos. But most Lagosians are saying “Eko baje ti” (Lagos can never be destroyed); thanks to Fashola but perhaps more appropriately, let’s all thank Niccolo Machiavelli.