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Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Declared Governor of Osun State; Supreme Court Gives Corrupt Ruling On Sokoto
Left: Former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; (R), The new Governor, Rauf Aregbesola
By SaharaReporters, New York
There were also reports of skirmishes between supporters of Rauf Aregbesola and those of deposed PDP governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in Ikirun and parts of Ile-Ife.
The panel ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a certificate to Mr. Aregbesola as the duly elected governor. Declaring current Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the PDP as an impostor, the appellate tribunal ordered his immediate vacation of office.
“It’s a glorious day for the judiciary,” exclaimed a lawyer who was in the court premises in Ibadan. As the lawyer spoke to Saharareporters, his voice was nearly drowned out by the songs and ululations of a crowd in the background.
Mr. Oyinlola’s removal marks another major setback for the PDP and former President Olusegun Obasanjo who in 2007 orchestrated one of the most shocking electoral hijacks in Nigeria’s history.
Mr. Aregbesola will now serve for four years as governor of Osun.
The apex court ruled that the appellate tribunal could not proceed with handing down its verdict in the case.
Saharareporters had documented how incumbent Governor Wamakko of Sokoto and his lawyers had induced Chief Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu to intervene in the case in order to save Mr. Wamakko’s fraudulently acquired post.
The Supreme Court’s ruling drew instant condemnation from lawyers. One lawyer told Saharareporters that the apex court’s judgment, which struck out a case in the Court of Appeal where a final ruling had not been rendered, “was a first in the history of the judiciary in this country.” Another lawyer described the court’s ruling as “the worst form of judicial rascality by justices of the Supreme Court that I have ever seen.” Yet another lawyer, a senior advocate, said, “The Supreme Court’s ruling amounts to abortion of a full term pregnancy,” adding, “it is judicial murder.”
Source: saharareporters.com
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Aregbesola v. Oyinlola: Matters arising over governorship tussle
I am constrained to write this piece in response to a statement made by Mr. Tunde Odanye, a PDP governorship aspirant in Osun State for the 2011 election that it will be irresponsible for the judiciary to nullify the election in 10 local government councils in Osun State and declare Mr. Rauf Aregbesola winner of the election on the basis of the results of the remaining 20 local government councils. The statement which is not only self serving also smacks of total ignorance of law by Odanye, notwithstanding his putative standing as a lawyer. It appears that Odanye is not aware of the fact that whether or not election in any local government will be nullified is a function of evidence led on irregularities and non-compliance, so as to justify the nullification, irrespective of the number of local government councils where election is to be nullified. It is trite law that sentiments have no room in a court of law. It is elementary law for anybody that is conversant with electoral petition litigation that where a petitioner, like Aregbesola, predicated his petition on the grounds that the respondent is not elected by a lawful majority of the votes cast and that it is the petitioner that is elected, what the court will do is to, where there is evidence to the effect, nullify elections in the affected areas and then determine which of the candidates could be declared elected, having regards to the remaining lawful votes both in terms of having majority of the lawful votes and meeting the required constitutional spread. This was the approach taken by the Court of Appeal in several cases amongst which are: Omoboriowo v. Ajasin (of old); Ngige v. Obi; Agagu v. Mimiko; INEC v. Oshiomole and recently Fayemi v. Oni amongst others. Evidence on record led by Aregbesola shows several cases of irregularities across 10 local government areas to justify nullification of the election in the 10 local governments. Among the evidence are: In Ife Central, 9 out of 11 Form EC8B (Exhibit 97(1 - 11)) were signed by one Alhaji S.O.A. Nofiu, a PDP chieftain. In Odo Otin, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s local government, Exhibit 217 tendered by the Appellants and Exhibit R18 tendered by the Respondents which are the certified true copies of EC8A, the primary results of election were blank, some were not signed nor stamped by the presiding officers as required by the Election Manual. In Isokan, it was also established by the Appellants through the Respondents‘ witness in the person of Abioye Makinde (RW44), a commissioner in the cabinet of Oyinlola, that no credible election took place in the local government as was exposed by the witness who claimed to have signed the local government result for PDP only to be confronted with Exhibit 142, the EC8C, which is the same result he claimed to have signed but was discovered to have been signed by another person. In Boripe, the situation was grim as there was no voter register produced by the Independent National Electoral Commission for seven wards out of 11 in the local government, also there were no EC8A forms produced for most of the wards in the local government. Also it is in Boripe that PDP has a greater number of votes allocated to it on the EC8D (Exhibit 92(1)) with a figure of 14,497 above the total number of registered voters on the same Exhibit 92(1) which is 12,631 for the local government. In Ife East, Ife South, Ayedaade as well as in the remaining seven local government councils, a great deal of discrepancies was discovered as ballot papers tendered and counted in the open court show clear discrepancies cutting across wards in the 10 local government councils in contrast to the results recorded on available result sheets The expert evidence were even grim as it was discovered that multiple thumb printing was done in favour of Oyinlola and even the expert called by Oyinlola gave contradictory evidence which clearly supports the nullification of result in the 10 local government areas. With the nullification of the unlawful votes in the 10 area, it is clear that Aregbesola has majority of lawful votes cast in the remaining 20 area as well as fulfilled the constitutional spread required having scored a quarter of votes cast in two-thirds of the LGAs in Osun State. The Court of Appeal in Benin in declaring Adams Oshiomole the lawfully elected governor of Edo State, nullified elections in some local governments and resorted to the remaining lawful votes to declare him the winner and in calculating the constitutional requirement, the appellate court dispensed with the nullified votes and calculated the constitutional requirement on the basis of the remaining lawful votes. However, in Aregbesola’s case, his chances are brighter, having satisfied the constitutional spread required in the remaining 20 local government areas. It appears that Odanye, a legal practitioner cum politician is not aware of recent developments in electoral litigation as for instance, the recent decision in the case of Great Ogboru v. Uduaghan where the Court of Appeal and the tribunal nullified election in 14 out of the 25 Local Governments in Delta State. The Court of Appeal, in nullifying the election, held at page 54 of the unreported judgment as follows: “...Having expunged those exhibits and the photocopies of the temporary voters’ cards in respect of the 11 local government areas above, the implication is that the third respondent did not prove the conduct of elections in the said 11 local government areas. The tribunal had cancelled the results in three local government areas where elections were inconclusive. That means that the non-compliance affected 14 out of 25 local government areas in Delta State. In plain terms, the voters in these 14 local government areas were disenfranchised because of the non-compliance with the Act. This, in our view, amounted to substantial non-compliance that vitiated the entire exercise.” The Court of Appeal in Uduaghan’s case further held admirably in furtherance of the democratic aspiration of Nigeria in the judgment at page 54 as follows: “...It is unfortunate that the law would permit this sort of anomalous situation: an unfortunate situation where a man who usurped the sacred mandate of the people would be allowed to fritter away their common patrimony without their due authorisation that should come through free and fair elections where the said electorate, in whom sovereignty resides in a democracy, are afforded the opportunity of exercising their franchise. It is arguable whether this state of affairs would be permitted to endure in other civilised jurisdiction!” Rather than following the puerile mischief of Odanye and his group, one prays that the judiciary will summon the courage to declare the lawful winner of the most litigated election of April 14, 2007. Olaoye is a Lagos-based lawyer. Source: punchng.com |
Rise Up And Walk: Educating Nigerians For 21st Century Challenges-Nuhu Ribadu
Nuhu Ribadu
By Nuhu Ribadu
I would like to begin by thanking the visionary people who conceived and nurtured to reality the JOINT EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS ACTION COALITION (JESAC) initiative. A task is half-done when like minds, working together, draw up a strategy for tackling that task. The rest – and this includes implementing the details of this action plan – is easy for the simple reason that a challenge has been recognized and the hands best equipped to meet this challenge are already at work.
Fifty years after our nation achieved self-rule, and some twelve years after we returned to democratic government after the long night of dictatorship, the nation’s education sector is in the grip of a profound crisis. But thankfully, I can also say in the same breathe that due to the work of JESAC whose core mission is transformational education, stout-hearted patriots in our beloved Nigeria are at long last thinking seriously and working together on plans to dig our nation out of this self-induced mess.
After about 25 years in the public service I have now entered politics in our county to join these untiring champions and visionaries and contribute my modest bit in the important work of national regeneration. It was Frantz Fanon, the great humanist and social theorist who remarked that every generation, out of relative obscurity, must define its mission, fulfill it or betray it. Fellow Nigerians, one key mission staring our generation in the face is equipping young Nigerians with the tools with which they can realize to the maximum their innate potentials as individuals and citizens, contribute to national progress, and make of Nigeria and Africa a community to be looked up to again in international affairs.
Education is the all-important device with which these three central goals can be met. And these three core goals, among others, are at the heart of the policy platform of my bid for political leadership.
It is now accepted world-wide that human capital development is the basis for broad and sustained development of any nation. In other words, develop the human person and you develop the nation. It was in recognition of this truism that UNESCO insisted, and continues to insist, that not less than 26 percent of a country’s budgetary allocation be given to the education sector.
For a nation like Nigeria in dire need of development in virtually all her key and strategic sectors, the question therefore should not even be whether to meet the UNESCO target, but how to ensure that it is met at the shortest time possible, and having done so, ensure that these funds once allocated, are utilized to achieve the maximum impact. In Nigeria, the total allocation to education annually has been fluctuating between 5 and 13 percent since 1999. Clearly, this is not good enough.
But I must quickly add that while money is critical, it is not the only challenge that must be addressed if our desire to make our children and wards fit candidates to take on the challenges of a 21st century world is to be realized. Friends, fellow Nigerians, my policy team and I have thought carefully about this nation’s current education impasse, and have highlighted seven main challenges and corresponding with them, have also worked out seven central strategies to meet them so that our youth can march into the future with confidence. These seven broad areas are FUNDING, ACCESS, QUALITY ASSURANCE/ REGULATION, INFRASTRUCTURE, STAFF TRAINING AND WELFARE, RESEARCH, AND STUDENT DISCIPLINE AND RELATED MATTERS.
FUNDING
Let me say straightway that I shall implement to the full the 26 percent UNESCO recommendation on taking office. Poor funding is a major cause of decay in education at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary. Adequate funding, carefully calibrated to speak to differentiated areas of need, will revitalize academic and physical infrastructure and reverse the current woeful story of poor performance in NECO and other public examinations.
But we shall not be handing out sacks of Naira to actors in the education sector like sailors out on a binge. We shall ensure that every Naira disbursed will be carefully monitored to eliminate waste, corruption, and inefficiency. We shall not only give education funding the highest priority, we shall also prioritize a new culture of accountability and transparency so that the input and output sectors of our education sector are brought together in working symmetry.
The management of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) will be made more transparent; as all higher education unions like ASUU, ASUP and COEASU will be involved in its management. The funds will be made available as at when due while we will demand proper accountability by the recipients of these funds.
ACCESS
It grieves me that it is not all the pupils and students that are willing to study that find a place in our schools to fulfill their dream. Total primary school enrollment today is 16 million. Secondary school enrollment is 6, 625, 943. The total carrying capacity of Nigerian universities for the 2009/2010 academic session is 219,403. The figures for our polytechnics, technical colleges, colleges of agriculture, and colleges of education are also large.
Even so, the gap between demand and supply in our education sector is wide, and it is growing even wider as the general population continues to increase without a corresponding match in the supply of schools. In order to improve access we shall expand and upgrade infrastructure and facilities across board, primary to tertiary. Through careful planning, we shall expand opportunities for the willing and the able to enroll. The special challenges of nomadic education, and access in river-rine and similar difficult terrain shall be robustly met. The physically-challenged shall be brought in from the cold and provided with training specially tailored to their individual peculiarities in special centres to be opened in all the six geopolitical zones.
We shall make education free in all primary and secondary schools in this country on assuming office. We have estimated the cost for this programme, and we know it is achievable. We shall explore ways and make provisions for granting bursaries, grants, and scholarships to the needy and the deserving in our higher institutions.
QUALITY ASSURANCE/ REGULATION
Quality assurance is fundamental to any functional education system. For too long, for far too long, we have neglected inspection and monitoring in our primary and secondary schools and we are now paying for this tardiness with collapsed standards at all levels. We shall bring back and reinvigorate the system of regulatory agencies in our primary and secondary schools, and also tighten up existing ones at the tertiary level.
I recall that the provisions of Decree No. 16 of 1985 were specifically designed to ensure high standards in our university system by introducing system-wide accreditation of undergraduate programmes. But why is it that not a single of our universities made the first 1000 in the world in independent rankings published recently? Fellow Nigerians, my team and I shall reverse this negative trend by supporting academic freedom and not just university autonomy, but also institutional autonomy. I believe that members of staff of higher institutions of learning should play a large role in how their institutions are being administered. We shall strengthen and also work with the National Universities Commission to make illegal universities history and also ensure that universities offer only courses for which they are competent. We shall establish and also strengthen the National Polytechnic commission to regulate polytechnic education in Nigeria. Exam malpractice shall be confronted, and the perpetrators, no matter how highly-placed, will be made to face the full rigour of the law. Lax and indolent teachers will be ‘encouraged’ to look elsewhere to continue their nefarious activities.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructural facilities are in a state of disrepair across the land. There is a crying need for more and qualitative classrooms, lecture halls, staff offices, laboratories, libraries, hostels and sundry recreational edifices in our centres of learning. With increased funding made to work smart and as I already said, eliminate waste and corruption, these problems will be frontally tackled. The case of increased smart funding is not the usual glib campaign promise. My policy team has thought carefully about this challenge and has identified areas that can be tapped, over and beyond the Education Trust Fund intervention for tertiary institutions, to ensure that education in our country will be adequately funded across the board.
STAFF TRAINING AND WELFARE
And now I come to the part very dear to my heart. I say it is dear to my heart because as a child growing up in Yola, my home town, I saw my father toiling night and day and working with the authorities to open up new schools in Yola and other towns and villages in Adamawa province of that time. The modest achievements of my father and his colleagues was made possible only because they had the good fortune of finding extra-ordinarily capable and committed teachers willing and able to translate their vision into reality. Ladies and gentlemen, a good education policy is only as good as the teachers you recruit to drive the vision. And poorly remunerated and discontented teachers cannot implement the new education strategy that is vital to the renaissance our nation so badly needs today.
My friends, let me tell you outright that I totally reject the saying that the teacher’s reward is in heaven. It is a jibe that must not have a place in the education plan of a nation hungry to take its place at the frontiers of the 21st century, a century already defined by intense competition for markets, knowledge and skills in a rapidly globalizing world. My vision is of a teachers community in our country paid enough, supported enough, trained and retrained enough, and praised enough that they stride off to that classroom, that lecture hall, that laboratory every morning fired up and determined to perform daily miracles.
We shall retain gifted teachers and limit the brain drain with bold new staff development and remuneration policies in our institutions at all levels. The welfare of teachers will be given urgent attention, and the integrity of the profession will be restored to match, and with time, exceed the glory of teachers in our nation in yesterdays.
Using the principle of collective bargaining with staff unions in our institutions, we shall ensure that teachers and staff of our schools earn their due and thus make the professions attractive to our fresh graduates while abolishing the brain drain currently ongoing.
This I shall do, friends and compatriots.
RESEARCH
The research component of our institutions of vocational and technical education has been neglected over the years. Research is also dying off in our universities. And yet it is a self-evident truth that research is crucial to the development of a nation. The nation’s research institutes will be reinvigorated. Post graduate schools across the country would be well funded to be able to carry out adequate research in science and technology. We shall establish a National Research fund, that will be manned by experts and from which research grants would be accessed by researchers in our various institutes. This will be accorded a national emergency status in sync with our vision at giving tertiary education a major research definition.
We shall establish a world-class Postgraduate University to provide high quality training in research in science and technology and other frontiers of learning critical to competing in this new and challenging century. Where appropriate, curriculum will be reviewed at all levels to speak to emerging challenges and ensure that our children are truly at the cutting edge of the knowledge economy that is increasingly driving effort and prosperity in the world today.
STUDENT DISCIPLINE AND RELATED MATTERS
The seventh challenge we have identified is student discipline and the gamut of issues that flow directly from this vexed matter that has become the topic of discussion everywhere you go in our country. The thinking of my policy team and I, fellow Nigerians, is that it will be unproductive and ultimately self-defeating to bemoan the drastic fall in the moral and intellectual tone of student behavior without first asking ourselves the hard question of what have we done for our children and wards in our schools lately.
Our students at all levels shall be supported in and out of the classroom. But with this generosity will come the insistence that they shape up and conduct themselves as befitting those to whom we shall entrust the future welfare of our beloved nation. Working closely with the teacher community and the students themselves, we shall banish gangsters and cult members from our classrooms. The practice of so-called ‘Sorting’ shall be uprooted by tackling it at the roots. A new culture of responsibility shall be pursued, putting emphasis on education for entrepreneurship and self-help, and also instilling a civic ethos in our students so that they will begin to take seriously the injunction so eloquently captured in the motto of one of our great newspapers: ‘Shine the light and the people will find the way.’
My friends, fellow Nigerians, the challenges ahead are enormous. But no nation has ever made progress by enumerating its woes and neglecting the all-important task of thinking through these problems and how they might be surmounted. It is this task that my policy team and I are presently engaged in, in the education sector and indeed other critical areas of national endeavour.
Permit me to also remind us that it is a challenge that that icon of this sector so vital to our progress, Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, took up so courageously and selflessly until he was called home a couple of weeks ago. It is a challenge JESAC and indeed all those gathered in this hall today, have also taken up.
You here because you believe, like I too believe, that nothing is served by berating our great nation-builders and claiming that the policies they put in place to make our education sector strong and resilient are failures. No. Rather, we are called to take up the mantle where they left off. This is so because the work of nation-building is done block by block, brick by brick.
I shall work with brick builders like you to remake our education and doing so, make the new Nigeria of our dreams possible.
Thank You.
Source: saharareporters.com
London Court Confiscation Order: Ibori’s Sister, Christine Ibie Ibori Ordered To Refund £.829 Million In 6 Months Or Spend Extra 5 Years In Prison
Christine Ibori_Ibie stepping out of Southwark Crown Court in June 2010
By SaharaReporters, New York
Judge Christopher Harding ruled that Christine Ibori-Ibie, who was jailed for five years last June, benefited from looted Delta state funds by over £4 million.
Christine, who appeared in court yesterday, refused to give evidence in the confiscation trial. Under the order, she is required to pay £832,000 in the next six months or risk bagging a fresh five years in the slammer in addition to the five years she is now serving for engaging in money laundering with James Ibori. The £829, 000 is made of up of the value of her property in London minus what she owes in mortgage loans.
Despite Christine’s refusal to give any evidence yesterday, her lawyers agreed that the figures were correct. She made it known, however, that she did not agree that she benefited from the Delta State loot to the extent of the amount declared by the court.
The London Metropolitan police, working through the "Proceed Of Crimes Unit” (POCU), comprising a few Scotland Yard police detectives: John MackDonald, Peter Clarke, Paul Garnener and Ben Irons, have relentlessly pursued former governors James Ibori, Dipreye Alamieyeseigha and Joseph Dariye. The three former governors of Delta, Plateau and Bayelsa States used UK banks, to launder funds looted from their respective states.
The CPS and London Mets police will continue with confiscation hearings to regain all assets purchased by convicted members of the Ibori clan.
A number of Delta State indigenes and officials were indicted in the trial but could not be tried as the UK does not try criminals in absentia except in terrorism cases. The notable accomplices who could not be tried include the recently deposed Delta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan; his deputy, Prof. Utuama; as well as David Edevbie who was Ibori's commissioner of finance before taking office as Principal Private Secretary to Umaru Yar’Adua.
Despite his indictment, Uduaghan is battling to retake office as Delta state governor, the position from which he was sacked two weeks ago by the Court of Appeal. One of the attractions of the office for him is the promise of immunity while in office.
An attempt by the EFCC to arrest and prosecute him over Ibori-era corruption has been stopped by President Goodluck Jonathan, according to EFCC officials that spoke to Saharareporters under condition of anonymity.
The political mathematics in Delta State is straightforward: Ibori covered his tracks by putting Uduaghan, his cousin, in office after him, and Uduaghan is thought to be interested in using the same strategy to protect their future, at least in Nigeria. But if an opponent of both men takes office in the election set for within 90 days by the Court of Appeal, Delta State could enjoy a new start.
Source: saharareporters.com
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
“Reform Nigeria’s Judiciary Or Else…” Says Soyinka, As He Receives A Lifetime Achievement Award
Prof. Wole Soyinka
By SaharaReporters, New York
Soyinka, who has held distinguished chairs at numerous universities, including Harvard, Duke, Nevada and Emory, issued the challenge at Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York City where he received the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the Nigerian Lawyers Association (NLA).
The NLA established the award to “recognize a Nigerian of any professional discipline who has, at least for 30 years, consistently attained distinguished achievements in his/her field of endeavor and during the same period has demonstrated an unyielding commitment to the development of Nigeria, and has made significant and outstanding contributions that have positively impacted Nigeria and Nigerians.”
“The struggle has never stopped,” Soyinka charged the lawyers. “You have a lot of work to do.”
Soyinka described the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as some of the most lawless years in Nigeria’s history. “Law was bastardized. The judiciary was handled with contempt,” the playwright lamented. Soyinka, author of numerous novels, plays, poetry collections and memoirs, noted that even Nigeria’s military regimes “pretended to obey the law. Even Abacha pretended.” Then in a clear reference to Mr. Obasanjo’s term, Soyinka said, “But not the administration that came after the military.”
The writer, whose speech was peppered with humor and even self-deprecatory jokes, stressed the need to reform the Nigerian judiciary in order to stamp out corruption. “You must accept responsibility for this,” Soyinka told the ballroom full of lawyers. “If you fail, you must not complain when people resort to other means… like holding up a radio station.” In the mid-1960s, Soyinka was tried on charges that he hijacked a radio station in Ibadan. Though discharged and acquitted, Soyinka has since written accounts of that daring act in several memoirs, including his latest, You Must Set Forth At Dawn.
In his speech, Soyinka regretted the fact that the Nigerian judiciary had cleared former Governor James Onanefe Ibori of more than 150 counts of corruption and money laundering. Mr. Ibori is now being held in Dubai and faces an uphill legal battle to fend off his extradition to the UK to face money-laundering charges. Meanwhile, Mr. Ibori’s mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee Onuigbo), his sister, Christine Ibori-Ebie, and wife, Theresa Nkoyo Ibori, have been convicted by courts in England and sentenced to five-year jail terms each.
The president of the Nigerian Lawyers Association, Ms. Folake Ayoola, exalted Professor Soyinka’s role in Nigeria’s history, describing the laureate as a voice of unity. “We are proud of Professor Soyinka’s achievements and his longstanding dedication to the pursuit of a better and greater Nigeria. He is the epitome of the greatness that Nigeria can achieve and his outstanding achievements are a source of inspiration to many Nigerians, young and old,” she said.
In his remark to introduce Soyinka, Shamsey Oloko described the writer as more than a poet and a playwright. “He is the conscience of our nation,” he stated
Other award recipients of the evening included Justice Kayode Eso, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He received the Law and Justice Award for his contribution to the advancement of legal education and jurisprudence in Nigeria.
Justice Eso, who could not attend the ceremony due to a schedule conflict, spoke to the gathering via a recorded video. “Let justice be done even if heaven falls,” Justice Eso said. “But I’ve realized that the heaven never falls.”
Three students received a total of $5000 as part of the NLA’s 2010 Scholarship program. Chikaelo Ibeabuchi received a scholarship in the category of Juris Doctorate, Olakunle Komolafe for Master of Law and Uchenna Ibekwe for Bar Examination preparation.
As part of the event, the Fusha Dance Company, directed by Funmilayo Edos Chesney, entertained the guests. There was also a fashion show by the designer Tori Famuyiwa of the Toriola Inc fame. Rounding up the night’s entertainment was a special performance by opera singer, Abidun Koya.
At the opening of his acceptance speech, Professor Soyinka spent some time to correct errors in his profile as published in the event’s program.
“It gives me a great discomfort to have to begin on criticizing,” Soyinka said as he restated that he did not earn a doctorate in literature from the University of Leeds. He recalled that this issue had been a perennial one for him, as numerous writers seem bent on presenting myths about his academic qualifications. He dispelled the widespread speculation that he made 3rd class at the University College Ibadan and then went to the University of Leeds where he made 1st class. He joked, "I thought I was safe among lawyers. Because they know they can be sued."
Soyinka told the gathering that making these corrections over the years had been exhausting. He said he had designed various strategies for making corrections about his academic career. “One of them got me into serious trouble,” he revealed in a lighthearted manner. He told of how he once complicated the matter by telling an inquiring colleague who was attributing an unearned doctorate degree in classics to him that the only degree he had was a D. D. The man, said Soyinka, “looked at me strangely,” adding, “He knew there is nothing divine about me.”
Even so, the inquisitive academic jumped into quick conclusion. A few days later, another colleague told Soyinka, “I didn’t know you took a degree in divinity,” promising to “update your profile.”
“Who told you that?” Soyinka asked. On finding out the source of the falsehood, Soyinka then explained to his colleagues that D.D. meant “Doctoral Dropout.”
To wide laughter in the hall, Soyinka explained, “I was ‘dashed’ a doctorate by my former university.” He then admonished, “So let all these stories end. Because Sowore [the administrator of Saharareporters] is here and tomorrow somebody will send me an article from Saharareporters saying that Wole Soyinka did not open his mouth to correct all these.”
Soyinka also blasted the trend of some faceless Internet writers who write anything to impugn people’s reputations and put it out in public space.
The laureate said a lot of the Internet articles “are written by 419-ners, blogging on subjects about which they know absolutely nothing. But I believe in democracy. And this is the democratization of communication.”
Soyinka remarked on the coincidence that Justice Eso and he were being honored together. Their paths first crossed close to 50 years ago when Justice Eso presided over Soyinka’s trial for taking over a radio station to denounce falsified election results.
“I came here to honor Justice Eso,” Soyinka said. He recalled how Justice Eso was pressured by the Premier of the Western Region to send him to jail for life but the judge resisted. “For me, the real honoree tonight is Justice Eso,” Soyinka said.
Source: saharareporters.com
Nigerian Youths: its time!
Many a time, the youths are the most neglected in decision making as regards Nation building and development. We have been regrettably cowed down and programmed to believe that we should allow our leaders of this age i.e. our Elders to run the show as regards to politics and policy making. This has left Nigerian youths and indeed African youths in general in a state of dependence and sometimes, over-dependence on their parents, government and society at large to dictate and chat a course that we must sheepishly follow.
Unfortunately, We must admit that there is some degree of truth in the believe that the youth is unstable and very liable to make errors. Also, the fact that a sizable number of youths in our days engage in a great deal of first class crimes ranging from money laundering to militancy to armed robbery just to mention a few, is one that cannot be ignored.
Still, I maintain that this is no reason to sideline the youths in the issues of governance and policy making. What our Elders and Leaders have failed to realize is that the Youths hold the key to the future. The Youth is the bridge between the past and the future and so no society that desire to achieve greatly buries the potentials of its younger generation. I believe that the Youth that is given a free hand may indeed make mistakes but will survive it and by so doing, learn how to avoid future occurrence. The reason why Nigeria's growth is presently moving at a slow rate is that those in leadership today also went through rejection and sidelining that left them ill-prepared for the challenges as great as Nation building and leadership all together. Even at the home front where they should have practiced leadership, they lived the way they were taught thus, giving room for so much oppression of the Women and Children in the home. The result? Women Liberation fighters and Children-come-fighters as they enter into their youth. Humans have been programmed to reject oppression and slavery and so, the unstable youth suddenly finds before him great potentials but obstructed by these Elders so obsessed with power that his opinion don't count. He wonders what he can do to get self sufficient and break free from the chains if the oppressive Elders and then finds solace in the wide resource of crime and mediocrity. He gets so entangled that he cant help himself out leaving the once optimistic young adult in a state of disarray and his future in jeopardy. At the end, the Elders and society point their fingers of condemnation at him and is surrendered to obscurity- That is the sad tale of how the bright future of many-a-Nigerian-youth is dragged into the mud of nothingness.
All the same, we cannot afford to sit and wait for change to happen. Change don't take place until you drive it. Nigerian Youths we are the change Nigeria have been waiting for. We hold the key to the future. Here are practical things we can do:
Unfortunately, We must admit that there is some degree of truth in the believe that the youth is unstable and very liable to make errors. Also, the fact that a sizable number of youths in our days engage in a great deal of first class crimes ranging from money laundering to militancy to armed robbery just to mention a few, is one that cannot be ignored.
Still, I maintain that this is no reason to sideline the youths in the issues of governance and policy making. What our Elders and Leaders have failed to realize is that the Youths hold the key to the future. The Youth is the bridge between the past and the future and so no society that desire to achieve greatly buries the potentials of its younger generation. I believe that the Youth that is given a free hand may indeed make mistakes but will survive it and by so doing, learn how to avoid future occurrence. The reason why Nigeria's growth is presently moving at a slow rate is that those in leadership today also went through rejection and sidelining that left them ill-prepared for the challenges as great as Nation building and leadership all together. Even at the home front where they should have practiced leadership, they lived the way they were taught thus, giving room for so much oppression of the Women and Children in the home. The result? Women Liberation fighters and Children-come-fighters as they enter into their youth. Humans have been programmed to reject oppression and slavery and so, the unstable youth suddenly finds before him great potentials but obstructed by these Elders so obsessed with power that his opinion don't count. He wonders what he can do to get self sufficient and break free from the chains if the oppressive Elders and then finds solace in the wide resource of crime and mediocrity. He gets so entangled that he cant help himself out leaving the once optimistic young adult in a state of disarray and his future in jeopardy. At the end, the Elders and society point their fingers of condemnation at him and is surrendered to obscurity- That is the sad tale of how the bright future of many-a-Nigerian-youth is dragged into the mud of nothingness.
All the same, we cannot afford to sit and wait for change to happen. Change don't take place until you drive it. Nigerian Youths we are the change Nigeria have been waiting for. We hold the key to the future. Here are practical things we can do:
- Let us arise and engage ourselves meaningfully in profit making ventures.
- Don't wait for the government to educate you- get updated about the great things happening elsewhere and how you can replicate or better such in your environment.
- Don't accept defeat at all for whatever reason but rather rise up and try again.
- We need more youths to get involved in politics. Politics is dirty, I know, but u don't clean your dirty linen by complaining- you bend down and wash it hard until the dirts are out. Let the belief of getting into office to embezzle funds and tell all the lies to cover our tracks stop.
- Don't leave your destiny in the hands of your Parents, Society or Government. Take responsibility because your future is too precious to be toiled with by others. Remember you are key to our strife to make Nigeria a better place for all of us and our children to come.
- Stand for what is right and make your opinion known. This is one sure way of assuring others that we have what it takes to take the lead.
Nigerian Youths, it's time! Its time to rule our world! Its time to take charge!!!
God Bless Nigeria!!!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
IBB the dictator and the burden of history
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OLUSOLA FABIYI writes that the arrogance that has characterised the campaign of former military, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) clearly shows that the general has not shed his dictatorial toga 17 years after.
The suave former minister of information, Chief Alex Akinyele, is neither a pastor nor an Iman but he seems to have a knowledge of the Holy Bible and Quran, if the way he spoke at the presidential declaration of former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) in Abuja on September 15 was anything to go by. Akinyele, who served during the inglorious reign of Babangida, appealed to Nigerians to cultivate the habit of forgiveness, without which, he said, it would be difficult to nurture friendship. This apart, he also said both the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran lay emphasis on clemency.
However, the Ondo State born chief refused to state the issues that his former boss needed to be forgiven of. He also did not tell his audience if the man he was speaking on his behalf had agreed that he had in anyway committed any sin either against Nigeria or Nigerians that necessitated his asking for forgiveness on his behalf.
While many Nigerians had actually in clear terms enumerated many ways in which Babangida had sinned against his fellow Nigerians and his country, the gap-toothed general had consistently refused to budge. He also brazenly resisted that he needed forgiveness. Perhaps, if his presidential ambition has made him forget the past so soon, the African Democratic Initiates, in serial advertorials in major newspapers, has brought to fore, the issues that Babangida, who is aspiring to be president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, and the likes of Akinyele, need to ponder on.
Referring to IBB, as he is commonly called by his admirers and foes alike, the ADI said, “This man stood against the will of the entire Nigerian nation when he annulled the victory of Chief Moshood Abiola at the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
“This man refused to prove his innocence over the assassination of Dele Giwa and other alleged human rights abuses at the Justice Oputa Panel.
“This man detained Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and other political leaders because they opposed the fraud of the so-called transition programme that shifted the hand-over date from 1990 to 1991, then 1992 and later 1993.”
Nevertheless, as requested by Akinyele, the organisation urged Nigerians to “let us forgive him;” but also asked, “must we forget?” Perhaps, it is in this spirit that many Nigerians are now voicing their opinion, with many wondering what Babangida, who had ruled this country with iron hand, forgot in the Presidential Villa, which he occupied before he was forced out by Nigerians in 1993.
A group, Akwa Ibom Interest Group, described IBB’s presidential ambition as insult to Nigerians. The group, through its leader, Mr. Sylanus Ukpong, said that it was even surprising that Babangida could muster enough courage to still think of running for the presidency when he did not believe in democracy in the first place.
Ukpong said after annulling the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which had been described as the freest and fairest in the interest of Nigeria, Babangida did not have any moral right to ask for Nigerians’ vote. The group said, “When Ibrahim Babangida’s interest to contest the 2011 presidential election in Nigeria became a major political issue in the media, most Nigerians were still in a state of denials because it was difficult to accept the ugly possibility that the former military dictator could dare Nigerians once again, 17 years after annulling the June 12, 1993 presidential election that was considered to be the best in the history of Nigeria’s attempt at democracy.
“Today, Babangida has officially declared that he is running for president in 2011. By that, he has urinated on the graves of late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the nation’s unforgettable icon of democratic struggle who died while fighting to claim the people’s mandate freely given to him on June 12 and hundreds of Nigerians who died in the same course. Today, Babangida has spat on the faces of Nigerians, his message to Nigerians is clear: ‘I can rule this nation again, with or without your consent’.
“We had thought, albeit wrongly, that the former military president would succumb to the numerous voices of wisdom that has cautioned him against seeking election into the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We consider his declaration as another big insult on our collective psyche and our fielding democracy.
“We totally condemn Ibrahim Babangida’s declaration to contest 2011 presidential election in Nigeria. We call on all Nigerians at home and abroad to voice out their protest against Babangida’s insensitivity against Nigeria and Nigerians. Let the ghost of June 12, we invoke, begin to hunt down Babangida and anyone who line out behind him.”
Also, a governorship candidate on the platform of All Nigerian People’s Party in Lagos State, Chief Yomi Tokoya, described Babangida as a threat to free, fair and credible election in 2011. He, therefore, called on Nigerians to ignore those campaigning for him that he has experience to lead the nation once again. While describing his campaigners as “sycophants, praise singers” who he said were all out to deceive unsuspecting Nigerians, Tokoya promised he would soon release a book on why the former military president must not be allowed to lead the nation again.
The book, he said, is co-published and co-sponsored by the Movement for Free and Credible Elections in Nigeria and Save Nigeria Campaign Organisation. He called on Babangida to either withdraw from the presidential race or prepared to be disgraced.
He said the major objective of the book was to mobilise Nigerians “nation-wide and world-wide to put pressure on Babangida to withdraw honourably now from the presidential race or be disgraced Insha Allah, if he refuses to withdraw.”
Tokoya added that a survey carried out before the book was written indicated that majority of Nigerians were of the opinion that Babangida did not have the moral right to want to lead the country now.
Tokoya said, “Many patriotic, progressive and revolutionary Nigerians interviewed for the opinion poll, asserted that Babangida has no moral right to contest the presidential election in 2011 for many reasons. They responded that most of the varied, complex and intricate social, economic and political problems confronting contemporary Nigeria, were created, accentuated and multiplied by unpatriotic and bad leaders like Babangida.
“We wish to advise patriotic, progressive and revolutionary Nigerians to ignore the current and massive propaganda in the mass media and on the Internet, that Babangida has experience, vision, wisdom, courage to build a new Nigeria. We wish to say categorically that the propagandists, sycophants, praise singers and spin doctors of Babangida are pathological liars, deceitful, crooked, craft and unpatriotic people, who are trying to deceive Nigerians to cast their precious votes for Babangida, an unrepentant kleptomaniac, habitual pretender, everlasting reactionary.
“We hereby reiterate that Babangida is a threat to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria in 2011. We are determined to save Nigeria and Nigerians from Babangida and his few unpatriotic, reactionary, greedy and selfish supporters.”
With the stiff opposition coming from all angles, a human rights activist, Mr. Amitolu Shittu said it would be better for Babangida to drop his presidential ambition. He said Babangida remained the most unpopular leader in the history of the country, adding that the former leader’s advisers had failed to tell him the truth about Nigerians’ aversion to him.
The activist said Babangida would not contemplate contesting the 2011 presidential election if he had a true assessment of the public perception of his antecedents and that his reign as a military ruler would haunt Nigeria for a long time.
Source: punchng.com
Consensus: Atiku, Saraki, others in final screening
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The Northern Political Leaders’ Forum on Sunday conducted the final screening for four presidential aspirants ahead of its plan to announce one of them as a consensus aspirant for the North.
Investigations by our correspondents in Abuja showed that the screening was done at the private residence of one of the consensus committee members in the Wuse area of the Federal Capital Territory.
The four aspirants, who are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party, are a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; a former National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau, and Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki.
It was also learnt that after the screening which ended at 5pm, the committee met behind closed-doors with all the aspirants.
A source told one our correspondents that the meeting was held to appeal to the three aspirants who would be dropped to “accept the committee’s decision in good faith and to supported the winner”
The final screening and meeting took place hours after our correspondents learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan had invited the presidential aspirants to a meeting on Monday(today).
Just before this, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, had frowned at the plan of the NPLF to choose a consensus aspirant for the North, saying he was, by his position as the nation’s number two citizen, the authentic leader of the region.
The Chairman of the NPLF and its consensus committee, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, had told THE PUNCH on Thursday that the consensus aspirant would be announced on Tuesday(tomorrow).
It was learnt that the consensus committee, which began sitting at 1pm, spent an average of one-and-a-half hours to screen each aspirant.
Our source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said that Babangida was the first to be screened by the committee followed by, Abubakar, Saraki and Gusau respectively.
The source, who is a member of the consensus committee, said, “The aspirants were asked questions relating to their manifestoes and the unity of the country.”
He added that Saraki, Abubakar and Gusau advised the committee to pick an aspirant whose ambition would not jeopadise the unity of the country.
“The three of them urged the committee to pick an aspirant that is acceptable to all parts of the country. They warned that the consensus arrangement might fail if the committee picked an anti-democratic aspirant,” he said.
The Head of Media and Publicity, Gusau Campaign Organisation, Mr. Adebisi Adekunle, confirmed that the aspirants were screened in Abuja on Sunday.
He dismissed speculations in some quarters that Gussau was left out of the final screening.
“It is not true that my boss was not screened. All the four aspirants were screened separately by the committee,” Adekunle said.
Asked if the committee had picked an aspirant, he replied, “There have been rumours that a particular aspirant has been picked. We are not aware that any aspirant has been picked. The process is going on.”
Also, the the Director of Media of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Campaign Organisation, Mr. Mohammed Garbadeen, confirmed that the Kwara State governor was screened by the committee.
A media aide to Abubakar, Mallam Garba Shehu, Adekunle and Garbadeen also disclosed that their bosses had received the President’s invitation to a meeting.
“The invitation was brought in today(Sunday). My boss has received it. The immediate agenda is the meeting with the consensus committee. It is thereafter he will decided whether to attend or not,” Garbadeen said.
One of our correspondents learnt that the four aspirants might not honour the invitation by Jonathan.
“We do not know the agenda of the meeting. We cannot attend a meeting whose purpose is not known to us,” a source close to one of the aspirants said.
Meanwhile, Sambo has said that his position as Nigeria’s number two citizens makes him the authentic “leader of the North.”
Sambo, who for the first time on Sunday spoke on the plan to select a consensus aspirant for the North, argued that it was pointless for any group to embark on a mission whose main objective was to ensure that President Jonathan did not return to office in 2011.
He, therefore, advised the people of the North to disregard the “antics” of those laying claims to the leadership of the region and capitalising on that to score what he described as “cheap political points”.
The vice-president also warned other Nigerians to stop listening to the remarks of those claiming to be leaders of the North, adding that their utterances would not do the country any good.
Sambo, who featured on the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation monitored in Kaduna on Sunday, said that the PDP would act in accordance with the relevant provisions of its constitution in the selection of its presidential candidate for the 2011 elections.
He said, “Those coming out to say they are the leaders of the North, in fact, it is a big surprise to us. But you know we don’t talk too much. Today, Allah, the Almighty, has told us in our capacity as Muslims and Christians that He gives leadership to whosoever he likes and at whatever period he wants, Almighty Allah also retrieves power.
“Today, there is no doubt and everybody knows, the Almighty Allah has already bestowed the leadership of the North on me, Architect Namadi Sambo. He has made me the leader of the North, politically.”
He enjoined those claiming the leadership of the North to borrow a leaf from the founding fathers of the region, who, he said, displayed humility throughout their lifetime.
“They did so much which we are still proud of. People like Sardauna and others. So those things that we had embarked upon, we believe it would be done judiciously and would bring growth and development to the nation,” the vice-president said.
Source: punchng.com
Why Gov Saraki, Sanusi hijacked Intercontinental Bank �Akingbola
FELIX NWANERI
FORMER Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, yesterday called on the federal government to probe what he described as �reckless destruction of the banking industry by a handful of men who are still pretending that they are working in the nation�s interest.�
Akingbola, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged misappropriation of N364 billion belonging to the bank faulted the ongoing banking reform by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying it was aimed at hijacking other people�s businesses by a cabal.
In a statement at the weekend, Akingbola, who blamed his ordeal on Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki; CBN governor Lamido Sanusi and the CBN-appointed incumbent Managing Director/CEO of Intercontinental Bank Mahmoud Lai Alabi, also called for the return of the bank to its shareholders.
Akingbola, it would be recalled recently returned to the country to face charges of fraud levelled against him by the EFCC. But describing the allegations against him as �absurd,� the former Intercontinental Bank boss said: �I am happy that I am now in the law courts where the truth, by the grace of God, will surface. I repeat that I did not steal or misappropriate one kobo from Intercontinental Bank Plc throughout my 21 years service to the bank.
He accused the Alabi-led management of sinister motive, saying: �the numerous pointers to the sinister motive behind the take-over of Intercontinental Bank by the trio was that Mr. Alabi, barely few days after assumption of office as MD/CEO, fraudulently wrote off N7.5 billion out of the N8.5 billion loan Bukola Saraki and his companies took from the bank.�
Describing the write-off as a cash gift, Akingbola questioned if the action was in the interest of the depositors that the CBN governor claims that he is protecting, adding that the Alabi management has been busy spending money he left in the bank.
Part of the statement read: �Just like any other bank trading in the industry, Intercontinental Bank had Interbank takings of N73 billion which is more than acceptable for a N1.6 trillion bank. However, today, under the Mahmoud Lai Alabi management, the bank owes the CBN over N100 billion and owing the Interbank market over N300 billion, showing a massive exposure of N400 billion in less than one year of the take-over; and Sanusi is not calling for Lai Alabi�s head for obvious reasons.
�Even if the bank was in trouble, as alleged by Lamido Sanusi, why were its shareholders and Management not given the same opportunity Unity Bank and
Wema Bank was given to recapitalise their banks? I think it is now clear that the motive behind this so-called Banking Reform was simply to hijack other people�s businesses. It is clear that Alabi has been sent to the bank to loot it for his mentors and destroy the Akingbola Legacy.
�Alabi is paying himself N7 million per month (N84 million per year), yet he is still using the Bank�s money to fuel his car and generators. I never earned up to N5 million per month throughout my 21 years of building the bank.
Lai Alabi has bought for himself and each executive director 3 bulletproof jeeps each. I only used two official cars at any one time throughout my 21 years stay in the bank. Lai Alabi and his Executive Directors had granted themselves Housing loans of N100 million each having worked for just a few months.
�Before I left the Bank, we had 350 branches in Nigeria, 40 branches in Ghana, one UK office and ten stand-alone subsidiaries. Now Mahmoud Lai Alabi is selling off the Branches and other assets of the bank with impunity and diverting the proceeds.
�Before I left the Bank, we had 12,000 members of staff. Now Mahmoud Lai Alabi has retrenched over 3,000 of them (and he is set to sack more). I think employment provision should be a major measure of an economy that is doing well.
�Before I left the Bank, Intercontinental was an international bank that every Nigerian, and indeed lovers of the Black race, that arrived at London Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5 was proud of. Now Lai Alabi wants to turn the Bank into a Regional Bank restricted to the south-west of Nigeria alone. These are the same people who are appealing to banks from other nations to come and buy over Nigerian banks but are busy trying to shrink Nigerian banks.�
Source: champion.com.ng
ASSU stalls reopening of Anambra vasity
Source: punchng.com
Dele Giwa's Murder: Babagida Did It, Writes Dele Giwa's Brother
What peeved me was the comments by his supporters concerning the death of Dele Giwa, my late elder brother, they claimed that the matter of his death has been settled in the court and that Babangida have been acquitted of crime. It’s a known fact that Babangida has not been tried by any court in Nigeria for this particular murder, he has always been hiding behind immunity each time the case goes to the court. The only place where Babangida could have proven his case was at Oputa panel, but he refused to show his face.
Nigerians and the family of Dele believe that Babangida masterminded the killing of Dele, except the gullies like Alex Akinyele and Raymond Dokpesi that think otherwise because of their personal gain from Babangida.
Nigeria should know that the appointment of Akinyele by Babangida as the minister when he, Akinyele, was a Director Newswatch , was part of Babangida’s desperate move to settle and buy those who are close to Dele in order to shut them up, and Akinyele is one of them.
For Dokpesi, I do not regard him as a noble man. He said that he and Dele were from the same Local Government area, therefore Nigerians should forget about his death just because of what he has been making from Babangida and what he still intend to make if Babangida if he mistakenly gets into power again. Nigeria should not forget how this man dealt with Abiola when he was in Abiola’s business. If not for his personal gain from IBB, I think he should be ignored.
Akinyele and Dokpesi should stop rubbing salt on to our injuries and that of Nigerians by promoting bad products in the person of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. I call on Akinyele to resign as a Director of Newswatch Communication, if he has not done so.
The family of Dele are still bleeding and hurting badly from Dele’s death. Time could not heal the wound. Dele’s mother is still there crying for justice. Every Nigerian is asking that justice must be done on Dele’s death: Oputa’s report must be visited on Dele’s matter.
Babangida and his co-travellers must be put on proper trial, until when this is done, Dele's soul will not rest in in his grave. To Babangida, Akilu and Togun, God judgement is certainly awaiting them any day, anytime, where no human evidence is not required as they are asking Nigerians to do, because God knows and sees everything.
Nigeria Union of journalist and the Nigeria Bar Association should mount pressure on the federal Government to release the report of Oputa panel with regard to Dele’s death. Nigeria Bar Association should take up the case from where Chief Gani Fawehinmi stopped before he passed away. Nigerians are waiting for justice to be melted out to the Nigerian greatest despot ever lived.
I believe that no matter how long it takes IBB would not escape judgement over the inhuman murderous act against Dele Giwa and numerous Nigerians through commission and omissions befoer, during and after his inglorious regime.
He lived this long to received his deserved punishment by going to jail and end up in the hell fire, not the Aso rock that he erroneously nurturing to return.
His hands are full of bloodstains and the spirit of those he killed would continue to haunt him till he goes to grave.
NEWSWATCH’S PEOPLE ARE TRAITORS
To the people at Neswatch communications. These people are cowards, traitors conscienceless human being: They betrayed and sold out their colleague and friend. Newswatch went down from number one magazine in Nigeria to no position, because of their cowardice and unpatriotic attitude. They departed sharply from the policy on which the magazine was established, immediately after Dele’s death. Newswatch would have been a conglomerate today if Dele is alive. If the dead can see the back, Dele would be regretting in his grave for having anything to do with these people. God judgement is also awaiting these people for betraying Dele and killed his baby, Newswatch.
Tunde Giwa is immediate junior brother of late Dele Giwa. Mr Giwa lives in Barcelona Spain.
Originally posted on Saharareporters.com
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