Saturday, 8 June 2013
Nelson Mandela 'serious but stable'
Nelson Mandela was back in hospital in a 'serious but stable' condition, triggering an outpouring of concern for South Africa's beloved national hero at home and across the globe.
Mandela, who turns 95 next month, was admitted to a Pretoria hospital in the early hours of Saturday suffering a renewed lung infection, his fourth hospital stay in seven months and the third this year.
'The truth of the matter is a simple one. Madiba is a fighter and at his age as long as he is fighting, he'll be fine,' presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj told AFP, using Mandela's clan name.
He said the revered anti-apartheid icon, who has long had problems with his lungs, was once again suffering pneumonia after being admitted to hospital in March for 10 days for the same condition.
'His condition deteriorated to the point where it was found necessary to hospitalise him,' said Maharaj, who served time with Mandela at the apartheid prison on Robben Island.
'But I am told by the doctors that he is breathing on his own, so I think that is a positive side.'
The ruling ANC called on South Africans and people around the world to keep 'our beloved statesman and icon, Madiba' in their thoughts and prayers.
The Nobel peace laureate is revered around the world as a symbol of peace and forgiveness after leading South Africa into multi-race democracy as its first black president after decades of apartheid rule.
His readmission to hospital -- and the acknowledgement that his condition is serious -- sparked concern at home and around the world, as South Africans grappled with their hero's increasing frailty.
'My thoughts are with Nelson Mandela, who is in hospital in South Africa,' tweeted British Prime Minister David Cameron.
'Getting too frequent and concerning -- he is 94,' tweeted Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of Cosatu, the powerful labour union allied to the ANC.
Mandela was receiving care at his Johannesburg home when the lung problems returned.
He was diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 during his 27 years in jail during white minority rule. He has also had treatment for prostate cancer and has suffered stomach ailments.
The government has not disclosed where he has been taken, although in the past he has been treated at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in the capital Pretoria.
Mandela is still a powerful symbol of peace and unity almost 20 years after first taking power as South Africa's first black leader.
But he has not been seen in public since the World Cup final in July 2010
Is Forbes rich list biased against the Middle East?
Show Th
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has severed ties with the Forbes rich list after he accused the publication of understating his wealth.
Alwaleed is even quoted in the Guardian and FT as claiming that Forbes’ valuations seem “designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern institutions and investors”.
The publication unveiled its rich list yesterday, ranking Alwaleed as the 26th wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $20 billion (£13.1bn).
But Alwaleed claims he is actually worth $29.6 billion (£19.5bn), which would place him inside the top 10.
The problem is that valuations can be determined in different ways, so there isn’t really a definitive answer – as illustrated by the fact that Bloomberg ranks Alwaleed as the world's 16th wealthiest person in its own rich list.
As a result of the dispute, Alwaleed has refused to provide Forbes with information about his wealth for future editions of the rich list.
In response, the publication has announced it will publish a more detailed analysis of the Prince’s finances later today.
Clearly, some people care deeply about where they rank among the world’s richest. Scroll on to see who Forbes believes really belongs in the top 10
Alwaleed is even quoted in the Guardian and FT as claiming that Forbes’ valuations seem “designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern institutions and investors”.
The publication unveiled its rich list yesterday, ranking Alwaleed as the 26th wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $20 billion (£13.1bn).
But Alwaleed claims he is actually worth $29.6 billion (£19.5bn), which would place him inside the top 10.
The problem is that valuations can be determined in different ways, so there isn’t really a definitive answer – as illustrated by the fact that Bloomberg ranks Alwaleed as the world's 16th wealthiest person in its own rich list.
As a result of the dispute, Alwaleed has refused to provide Forbes with information about his wealth for future editions of the rich list.
In response, the publication has announced it will publish a more detailed analysis of the Prince’s finances later today.
Clearly, some people care deeply about where they rank among the world’s richest. Scroll on to see who Forbes believes really belongs in the top 10
What I’m suffering from is spiritual attack —Majek Fashek
Majekodunmi Fasheke, known more as Majek Fashek, is a well- known Nigerian reggae musician, whose popularity reached the zenith in the late 80s with his popular song, “Send down the Rain.” For many years, he was not only a darling of reggae music lovers, but also those who like good music. He later went to the United States of America, from where different stories trailed his life. He spoke on many issues in this interview with AJIBADE. Excerpts:
IT seems reggae music is going down in Nigeria. Unlike other genres of music, there has not been any new thing in reggae music. So, as a reggae musician, how do you intend to revive it?
Reggae music cannot go down, because reggae music is like a gospel music, we just need the right people to play it,that is it. But, why reggae music is going down is just because we don’t have the right people to play it. In our time, we had competition, Kimono, me, Oritz Wiliki, we had what I can call destructive competition like what they had in juju music then.
(Cuts in) do you mean destructive competition?
Yes, even among big musicians in those days. I was very, very impressed when I came back from America and I met my young brothers, who are into constructive competition, which never happened during our time then, no killing, no babalawo.
Reggae music cannot go down, because reggae music is like a gospel music, we just need the right people to play it,that is it. But, why reggae music is going down is just because we don’t have the right people to play it. In our time, we had competition, Kimono, me, Oritz Wiliki, we had what I can call destructive competition like what they had in juju music then.
(Cuts in) do you mean destructive competition?
Yes, even among big musicians in those days. I was very, very impressed when I came back from America and I met my young brothers, who are into constructive competition, which never happened during our time then, no killing, no babalawo.
We came through the time of Fela, Sunny Ade, Obey, Sir Shina Peters, Barrister, Kolington, Orlando Owoh, Charley Boy, at that time, it was destructive competition and jealousy. They were very destructive and jealous. So, when I came back from America, I was very happy to see that the young guys are doing very well. And that is why Hajia has decided to invest in me and some young musicians. That is why I decided to strike a deal with Hajia because she is been trying to help musicians. The contract I signed with Aprel Management is called underground system.
So, since you returned from America, what efforts have you made to revive reggae music?
I don’t play reggae music; I play African music and rock music. I did not return to Nigeria to revive reggae music but to help Hajia Dangaji (PMAN President) become first female governor in Nigeria.
Some people are saying Majek is from Ilesa in Osun State, others are saying you are from Benin in Edo State. Can you clear the air?
My father was from Ilesa and Abeokuta, that is, my father’s parents were from Ilesa and Abeokuta, but my mother came from Benin. No mixture.
Let’s talk about friends; before Hajia came into the picture, people said your friends abandoned you. How true is that?
I came to save Nigeria.
(Cuts in) I mean how do you feel about being dumped by friends, I am not asking you why you came to Nigeria...
Hold on, forget about friends. I came to Nigeria, I am revisionary, and why do you think I am sitting down here? People are coming to enslave Nigeria again, and I am here to save Nigeria and you are here talking about friends. God sent me to come and save Nigeria, they want to come and overthrow Nigeria again through subsidy. If that subsidy succeeded. Nigerian would have died.
Your music, Send Down the Rain, was a hit then even up till now. What gave you the inspiration for that track?
It was God. God did everything. See, let me talk about Nigeria. People are suffering, people are dying and yet government is not doing anything about it. Government is expected to be paying our electricity bill, people pay their bills, yet they are not enjoying it. I want to become the president of Nigeria but I need $100 million to make that dream come true.
Is presidency for sale?
No, it’s not for sale, but I want to be a revisionary president
But I am sure if you have $100 million, you would not bother to run for presidency again?
No, I am very serious o; I want to be the president of Nigeria. We are leaving in hell in Nigeria. One doesn’t need to die before going to hell. We are already in hell in Nigeria.
You have many albums to your name. Which one will you say is your best? Many people believe Prisoner of Conscience is your best; at least he won you many local and international awards. Will you agree with that?
If people say it’s the best, then it’s the best. Apart from fetching me many awards, that album was from God, because you can never stop the rain, neither can you stop God’s creation, the wind must blow, and life must go on.
Who are your 10 greatest musicians, dead or alive?
I don’t know. I don’t know of any.
What is the difference between music then and now?
The music now is rock, as in, we are now into the music of computer, it’s an exciting thing for the youth. For me, I don’t like computer, it is too possessive, and computer is for young people. We are now into computer music.
What message do you have for people; especially those who say you are sick?
Me? I don’t have any message for anybody, the message I have for the Nigerian press is that they are going to hell.
Why? Hell? And do you know you are also including me?
Not you, but for those who always write and give false information about me and for blaspheming the prophet. Me and Jesus Christ, we are one, me I no dey follow Jesus Christ like Christian o, I am following Jesus Christ in a different way and in different form.
So, since you returned from America, what efforts have you made to revive reggae music?
I don’t play reggae music; I play African music and rock music. I did not return to Nigeria to revive reggae music but to help Hajia Dangaji (PMAN President) become first female governor in Nigeria.
Some people are saying Majek is from Ilesa in Osun State, others are saying you are from Benin in Edo State. Can you clear the air?
My father was from Ilesa and Abeokuta, that is, my father’s parents were from Ilesa and Abeokuta, but my mother came from Benin. No mixture.
Let’s talk about friends; before Hajia came into the picture, people said your friends abandoned you. How true is that?
I came to save Nigeria.
(Cuts in) I mean how do you feel about being dumped by friends, I am not asking you why you came to Nigeria...
Hold on, forget about friends. I came to Nigeria, I am revisionary, and why do you think I am sitting down here? People are coming to enslave Nigeria again, and I am here to save Nigeria and you are here talking about friends. God sent me to come and save Nigeria, they want to come and overthrow Nigeria again through subsidy. If that subsidy succeeded. Nigerian would have died.
Your music, Send Down the Rain, was a hit then even up till now. What gave you the inspiration for that track?
It was God. God did everything. See, let me talk about Nigeria. People are suffering, people are dying and yet government is not doing anything about it. Government is expected to be paying our electricity bill, people pay their bills, yet they are not enjoying it. I want to become the president of Nigeria but I need $100 million to make that dream come true.
Is presidency for sale?
No, it’s not for sale, but I want to be a revisionary president
But I am sure if you have $100 million, you would not bother to run for presidency again?
No, I am very serious o; I want to be the president of Nigeria. We are leaving in hell in Nigeria. One doesn’t need to die before going to hell. We are already in hell in Nigeria.
You have many albums to your name. Which one will you say is your best? Many people believe Prisoner of Conscience is your best; at least he won you many local and international awards. Will you agree with that?
If people say it’s the best, then it’s the best. Apart from fetching me many awards, that album was from God, because you can never stop the rain, neither can you stop God’s creation, the wind must blow, and life must go on.
Who are your 10 greatest musicians, dead or alive?
I don’t know. I don’t know of any.
What is the difference between music then and now?
The music now is rock, as in, we are now into the music of computer, it’s an exciting thing for the youth. For me, I don’t like computer, it is too possessive, and computer is for young people. We are now into computer music.
What message do you have for people; especially those who say you are sick?
Me? I don’t have any message for anybody, the message I have for the Nigerian press is that they are going to hell.
Why? Hell? And do you know you are also including me?
Not you, but for those who always write and give false information about me and for blaspheming the prophet. Me and Jesus Christ, we are one, me I no dey follow Jesus Christ like Christian o, I am following Jesus Christ in a different way and in different form.
So, the Nigerian press that is running against the truth will go to hell, it’s not you I am referring to. Okay, who gave me rain maker? It was the Nigerian press that was good press like you. May God help you in your press profession.
It was good people like you then that gave me rain maker in the late 80s and I am sure you must be in secondary school then, abi I lie? They don’t take bribe, it is you that will use your sense to give them envelope, they don’t demand anything from you, and it is you that will give them, not them demanding for it.
But the press we have now will always demand for bribe. So, Nigerian press, no don’t let me use Nigerian press, let me say African press, is fed up because of bribery and corruption.
But would you agree with me that you are sick?
Yes, I was sick, anybody can be sick. What I have is spiritual problem which I am dealing with. Even in the Bible, it was stated that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but wickedness in high places. I am a freedom fighter, I can never be shot like Lucky Dube, I am invincible, you can’t shoot me.
But would you agree with me that you are sick?
Yes, I was sick, anybody can be sick. What I have is spiritual problem which I am dealing with. Even in the Bible, it was stated that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but wickedness in high places. I am a freedom fighter, I can never be shot like Lucky Dube, I am invincible, you can’t shoot me.
Police, MASSOB in showdown today
POLICE commands in the South-Eastern states of Abia, Enugu and Anambra on Friday emphasised their readiness to deal ruthlessly with anyone who foments trouble or indulge in any acts of lawlessness in the region today (Saturday).
This followed the stay-at-home order earlier issued to residents by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) for that day.
But the group’s Director of Information, Mr Uchenna Madu, told reporters that the group would go ahead with its plan, stressing that it was not aimed at causing trouble, but to pray for the souls of its kith and kin who were killed in recent times in the northern parts of the country by the Boko Haram sect.
To demonstrate its readiness to quell any lawless acts on Saturday (today), the Abia State police command on Friday deployed its officers and men to parts of the state in a Show-of-Force.
The team, which comprises mainly mobile policemen and women, drove round Umuahia and other areas in trucks, chanting songs.
The team, which comprises mainly mobile policemen and women, drove round Umuahia and other areas in trucks, chanting songs.
MASSOB had issued a sit-at-home order for today to members of the public in the defunct Eastern Region to mourn their kith and kin killed by the Boko Haram insurgents in the northern parts of the country.
The command’s spokesman, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the command was poised to forestall any act that could threaten the peace and security of the state.
Ogbonna said the exercise was also carried out in Aba, the economic hub of the state, as well as other major towns and villages in the state.
He called on members of the public to disregard MASSOB’s order and go about their lawful businesses without any fear of molestation.
“We are on top of the situation,” he said, adding that officers and men of the command were on red alert and keeping 24-hour surveillance in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Also speaking on the MASSOB order, the Special Adviser to Governor Theodore Orji on Security, Navy Capt. Chris Osondu (rtd), described the agitation by the group as “unrealistic.”
Osondu advised the leadership of the group to work towards the unity and development of the country rather than dissipate its energy and resources pursuing an obsolete and unrealistic project.
Also, the Divisional Police Officer for Nsukka, Mr James Nwokolo, while addressing reporters on Friday, urged residents to go about their lawful businesses.
Declaring that the police would not tolerate any act of lawlessness, Nwokolo said that arrangements had been concluded to provide adequate security to the residents.
“Residents should feel free and go about their normal businesses. The police will deal ruthlessly with anybody or group that will engage in any act of lawlessness.
Nwokolo urged parents to advise their children and wards to stay away from anything that would put them in trouble.
“It is unlawful for any individual or group to stop people from going about their lawful businesses. The police will arrest and prosecute anyone or group trying to breach the peace,” he said.
The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, also on Friday called on the citizens of the state to go about their normal businesses without fear of molestation.
According to a statement from the spokesman of the state police command, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, the police commissioner assured the public that nobody or group would be allowed to disturb their peace.
He also said the command had empowered its operatives to apprehend and prosecute any person or group found disturbing the peace of the citizens under any guise.
He advised members of the public to inform the command’s operatives about any attempt to disturb their peace.
He also advised the public to contact any of the patrol vehicles nearest to their location for appropriate action where they could get in touch with the police through telephone.
Also, Mr Emeka Chukwuemeka, the Public Relations Officers of the Anambra State police command, in Awka on Friday told members of the public to ignore the order and go about their lawful businesses.
He said the police in the state would not spare anybody using the unpopular order to disturb the existing peace in the state.
Meanwhile, MASSOB’s Director of Information, Mr Uchenna Madu, told reporters that the group would go ahead with its plan.
Police Avert Bomb Explosion in Kaduna
What could have been a deadly attack in the Kaduna state capital was averted on Friday evening following the prompt intervention of officers of the anti-bomb unit of the state police command who successfully defused a bomb hidden in a brand new computer.
An eyewitness said suspected terrorists had concealed the high volume improvised explosive device in the computer and neatly planted it at a popular junction near Ahmadu Bello stadium in the city.
Confirming the incident to Channels Television, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Adenaike, explained that no casualty was recorded as the explosive device was professionally defused by his officers.
He commended the residents for their vigilance and providing information that led to the discovery of the bomb.
Fire outbreak in Madonna university, Okija campus
A report from Madonna university says one of the boys hostel cut fire in the early hours of today, and the fire burnt about four or three boys. no death is reported. below is a picture of the affected hostel.
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Sanusi Lamido, his CBN love life.
My leg is not in this one o! Lol. Culled 100% from Premium Times. Interesting read, see it below...
But by the time Mrs. Yaro left the hotel to return to her official desk at the CBN, the duo had also struck out an arrangement to spend the rest of the week together in Lagos.
So, in the evening of Wednesday February 27, Mrs. Yaro flew to Lagos ahead of Mr. Sanusi and checked into a hotel in the city, skipping work, at taxpayer’s expenses, on Thursday February 28 and Friday, March 1.
To keep faith with Mrs. Yaro’s date, the CBN governor arrived Lagos, travelling on a chartered flight, on the night of February 28, and checked into the Federal Palace Hotel, passage and boarding all at taxpayers expenses.
Both Mr. Sanusi and Mrs. Yaro rendezvoused in the hotel till Sunday when both of them returned to Abuja,PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
“…I had such a wonderful weekend,” Mrs. Yaro confessed to the governor while aboard her Abuja-bound flight. “You have revived in me what I thought I lost long ago. I thought I lost the passion to love again,” she claimed.
“Alhamdulillahi. Love you,” Mr. Sanusi responded in a measured tone.
Insiders say repeated violation of the statutory code of conduct for public office holders such as hiring his girlfriends and mistresses without complying with public service rules, dating married and unmarried women within the bank, and flirting with them during official work hours have become defining characters of Mr. Sanusi’s governorship of the central bank.
An official of the bank spoke of how Mr. Sanusi had enthroned nepotism at the bank, arbitrarily hiring girlfriends and relatives and engaging in extramarital relationships with staff.
“This man (the CBN governor) is the most morally bankrupt governor the CBN has ever had,” the official, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, told PREMIUM TIMES. “Forget all the pretences, he is a shameless man of loose character.”
Investigations by this newspaper revealed that Mr. Lamido hired his latest mistress, Mrs. Yaro, without complying with the CBN recruitment policy that stressed, “all appointments shall be made on the basis of merit, through a fair and open selection process.”
“The principles underlying the recruitment process are those of fairness, credibility, equal employment opportunities, merit and optimization of career prospects for currently employed staff,” the bank said on its website.
But Mrs. Yaro, insiders say, was hired in July 2012 without adherence to these principles. Those who should know say Mrs. Yaro, who was a staff at the National Programme on Food Security, an agency under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, was brought into the bank as assistant director without “advert for the vacancy and after a kangaroo interview.”
When contacted, Mr. Sanusi said due process was followed in hiring Mrs. Yaro.
He said having worked for years in the ministry of agric, Mrs Yaro came highly recommended and qualified for the job for which she was hired.
The CBN governor continued, “I have known Dr Yaro since 1981. She was my student in Yola and she later came to ABU Zaria. We have been very good friends but this is not why NIRSAL took her. You may wish to check her CV against all the other CVs in NIRSAL. And she did go through an interview process with the NIRSAL CEO making the decision not CBN HR.
“As for the personal allegations, this is all strange to me but I have a personal policy of not responding to such allegations since in Nigeria anything can be published on any public officer without proof. I have limited myself to what concerns official allegations and leave you to your God and your conscience on whatever else you want to publish. Thank you for telling me though.”
Mrs Yaro however declined comments when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES.
“Be careful what you are saying,” she told one of our reporters on the telephone. “I have nothing to comment to you on anything.”
When asked if she would be willing to respond to specific questions about her trips to Lagos to keep dates with Mr. Sanusi, she simply said, “Whatever it is, I don’t know. Will you just let me be?”
But our investigations revealed that the governor’s claim was far from accurate. Through several interviews and review of records, PREMIUM TIMES was able to determine that Mrs. Yaro and Mr. Sanusi had dated each other for at least six months before she was hired.
Insiders say Mr. Sanusi repeatedly pestered the human resource department of the bank ordering it to bring Mrs. Yaro’s application to him for approval. And once the file reached his table, the governor wasted no time in treating it.
On June 25, 2012, Mr. Sanusi, who was travelling in South Africa at the time, telephoned Mrs. Yaro to break the news to her that he had approved her recruitment in what critics consider a clear conflict of interest and a violation of a provision of Nigeria’s Code of Conduct which stipulates that “a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.”
Mrs Yaro, (whose businessman husband, Ahmed, is largely based in Kaduna but visits Abuja regularly) assumed duties at the CBN in the first week of September 2012 and was deployed to the Development Finance Department.
The department then put her in charge of the bank’s Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System For Agricultural Lending, (NIRSAL), a unit that attempts to fix the agricultural value chain, so that banks can lend with confidence to the sector and, encourages banks to lend to the agricultural value chain by offering them strong incentives and technical assistance.
Sources said Mrs Yaro married Ahmed (or Shuaib, according to another source) six years ago after her first husband, Waisu Yaro Bodinga (then an executive director at the Nigeria Ports Authority) died in the ill-fated ADC plane crash of 2006.
The romance between Mrs Yaro and Mr. Sanusi became even hotter after she began work at the bank, with the two lovers regularly exchanging telephone calls and text messages during work hours to profess love for each other.
At times, Mrs Yaro would remain in her office far beyond close of work to enable her to keep appointments with the CBN governor, records show.
Sometimes, Mrs Yaro would raise concerns about Mr. Sanusi’s other girlfriends and mistresses (such as Sutura and Rose) and how they were blocking her from getting the governor’s full attention, but the relationship continued nonetheless.
Mrs. Yaro also began to have access to confidential information known only to top management and board of the bank, insiders say.
At a point, one source said, she began to strategise to corner contracts for one Goke Akinboro, the Chief Executive Officer of Lagos-based Cellullant Limited, an information technology company. Mr. Akinboro is also described as “very close” to Mrs Yaro.
On March 15, 2013, the CBN lovers headed to Lagos again for another weekend of fun. The initial plan was for the duo to fly to the nation’s commercial capital on Saturday, March 16, returning to Abuja on Sunday. But the trip had to be brought forward by a day after the lovers realized that the Area Council election in Abuja was holding that Saturday and that movement might be restricted.
Mrs. Yaro arrived Lagos on the night of March 15, and immediately checked into the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel on Victoria Island. Mr. Sanusi flew from Kano to Lagos via chartered jet on the bills of the Nigerian taxpayers. He arrived at about 11 p.m., stopped by his Ikoyi home, before dashing to the hotel where Mrs. Yaro was waiting in a seductive dress in Room 23. The lovers spent that night and the next day together in the hotel.
As he flew into Abuja March 17 on a chartered jet, Mr. Sanusi sent a message to Mrs Yaro saying, “Love. Just landed in Abuja. Thank you for a wonderful weekend.” Mrs Yaro replied, “Alhamdulillah. I had a wonderful weekend too. I am able to get the 3:15 flight on Arik Air. Love you.”
But in-between these rendezvous in Lagos, Mr. Sanusi and Mrs Yaro also found time to get together elsewhere. They were to meet on March 11, 2013, in Makurdi but somehow Mrs Yaro could not make it to the Benue State capital. But earlier on February 14, (Valentine’s Day), the lovers had a good time together in Maiduguri. Although, the two of them travelled to the city on different missions, they somehow found a way to get together.
At a point, Mrs Yaro voiced open frustration when Mr. Lamido delayed in taking her calls as she tried, frantically, to track him down. “I’m thinking that one Shuwa girl has snatched you away from me,” Mrs. Yaro wrote in a message. “I don’t trust them (Maiduguri girls) with you.”
A velvet-ranking figure within Nigeria’s economic and political circles, Mr. Sanusi, is generally perceived as one of the intellectual anchors and moral conscience of this administration. When his five-year term expires next year, he has indicated he would not renew his contract. Mr. Sanusi has a well-advertised ambition to become the future emir of his native Kano, where he is already a top chieftaincy holder (Dan Maje Kano). Dan Majen Kano, a historic title, which means Son of Emir-Maje, is reserved for the royal family members from the Kano Habe dynasty.
A zigzag prospect to run for the Nigerian presidency is also believed to be floating in the horizon for Mr. Sanusi.
Multiple sources at both the CBN and First Bank, where Mr. Sanusi was managing director before his appointment to the central bank, describe the governor as an “incurable womanizer.”
“This guy seems unable to resist anything in skirt, and it is unfortunate that a lot of young people look up to him as an example,” one of Mr. Sanusi’s aides in Abuja said, expressing widely held concerns in banking circles that “It is sad that he wouldn’t even let married women be.”
Mr. Sanusi, 51, appointed CBN Governor on June 3 2009, is a smart economist and award-winning banker with a background in risk management.
He holds a graduate degree in economics from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a diploma in Sharia and Islamic Studies from the African International University in Khartoum, Sudan. Today, Mr. Sanusi is also commonly regarded as an important voice in Islamic jurisprudence.
The Banker, the UK-based financial magazine honoured him in 2010 as global Central Bank Governor of the Year as well as African Central Bank Governor of the Year. In 2011, the TIME magazine listed Mr. Sanusi in its annual publication of 100 most influential people.
At the African Banker Awards gala dinner held Wednesday in Morocco, Mr. Sanusi also emerged the “2013 Africa Central Bank Governor of the Year.”
“There is no doubt that he is a fairly effective banker,” an official of one of Nigeria’s leading banks, who requested anonymity for fear his bank might be targeted, told PREMIUM TIMES. “But he is a man of zero morality despite his public posturing. It is really sad.
”
Twenty minutes to midnight on February 25, 2013, and a day before the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria was due to meet, Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi developed a craving for romance - he badly needed a kiss.
The governor, married with children, grabbed his mobile phone and typed out a message. “Maybe you should come kiss me before board meeting tomorrow,” Mr Sanusi wrote and then squeezed the send button.
At about 9 a.m. the next day, Mrs. Maryam Yaro, a married mother of two, an assistant director and subordinate to the governor at the CBN, arrived at Sanusi’s unnamed Abuja hotel, seeking to keep the date and help address his boss’ craving for a kiss. (Insiders say board members, including those who live in Abuja, are usually lodged in hotels ahead of board meetings).Choi! This one na serious allegation o. Continue, it gets more interesting...
But by the time Mrs. Yaro left the hotel to return to her official desk at the CBN, the duo had also struck out an arrangement to spend the rest of the week together in Lagos.
So, in the evening of Wednesday February 27, Mrs. Yaro flew to Lagos ahead of Mr. Sanusi and checked into a hotel in the city, skipping work, at taxpayer’s expenses, on Thursday February 28 and Friday, March 1.
To keep faith with Mrs. Yaro’s date, the CBN governor arrived Lagos, travelling on a chartered flight, on the night of February 28, and checked into the Federal Palace Hotel, passage and boarding all at taxpayers expenses.
Both Mr. Sanusi and Mrs. Yaro rendezvoused in the hotel till Sunday when both of them returned to Abuja,PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
“…I had such a wonderful weekend,” Mrs. Yaro confessed to the governor while aboard her Abuja-bound flight. “You have revived in me what I thought I lost long ago. I thought I lost the passion to love again,” she claimed.
“Alhamdulillahi. Love you,” Mr. Sanusi responded in a measured tone.
Insiders say repeated violation of the statutory code of conduct for public office holders such as hiring his girlfriends and mistresses without complying with public service rules, dating married and unmarried women within the bank, and flirting with them during official work hours have become defining characters of Mr. Sanusi’s governorship of the central bank.
An official of the bank spoke of how Mr. Sanusi had enthroned nepotism at the bank, arbitrarily hiring girlfriends and relatives and engaging in extramarital relationships with staff.
“This man (the CBN governor) is the most morally bankrupt governor the CBN has ever had,” the official, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, told PREMIUM TIMES. “Forget all the pretences, he is a shameless man of loose character.”
Investigations by this newspaper revealed that Mr. Lamido hired his latest mistress, Mrs. Yaro, without complying with the CBN recruitment policy that stressed, “all appointments shall be made on the basis of merit, through a fair and open selection process.”
“The principles underlying the recruitment process are those of fairness, credibility, equal employment opportunities, merit and optimization of career prospects for currently employed staff,” the bank said on its website.
But Mrs. Yaro, insiders say, was hired in July 2012 without adherence to these principles. Those who should know say Mrs. Yaro, who was a staff at the National Programme on Food Security, an agency under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, was brought into the bank as assistant director without “advert for the vacancy and after a kangaroo interview.”
When contacted, Mr. Sanusi said due process was followed in hiring Mrs. Yaro.
He said having worked for years in the ministry of agric, Mrs Yaro came highly recommended and qualified for the job for which she was hired.
The CBN governor continued, “I have known Dr Yaro since 1981. She was my student in Yola and she later came to ABU Zaria. We have been very good friends but this is not why NIRSAL took her. You may wish to check her CV against all the other CVs in NIRSAL. And she did go through an interview process with the NIRSAL CEO making the decision not CBN HR.
“As for the personal allegations, this is all strange to me but I have a personal policy of not responding to such allegations since in Nigeria anything can be published on any public officer without proof. I have limited myself to what concerns official allegations and leave you to your God and your conscience on whatever else you want to publish. Thank you for telling me though.”
Mrs Yaro however declined comments when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES.
“Be careful what you are saying,” she told one of our reporters on the telephone. “I have nothing to comment to you on anything.”
When asked if she would be willing to respond to specific questions about her trips to Lagos to keep dates with Mr. Sanusi, she simply said, “Whatever it is, I don’t know. Will you just let me be?”
But our investigations revealed that the governor’s claim was far from accurate. Through several interviews and review of records, PREMIUM TIMES was able to determine that Mrs. Yaro and Mr. Sanusi had dated each other for at least six months before she was hired.
Insiders say Mr. Sanusi repeatedly pestered the human resource department of the bank ordering it to bring Mrs. Yaro’s application to him for approval. And once the file reached his table, the governor wasted no time in treating it.
On June 25, 2012, Mr. Sanusi, who was travelling in South Africa at the time, telephoned Mrs. Yaro to break the news to her that he had approved her recruitment in what critics consider a clear conflict of interest and a violation of a provision of Nigeria’s Code of Conduct which stipulates that “a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.”
Mrs Yaro, (whose businessman husband, Ahmed, is largely based in Kaduna but visits Abuja regularly) assumed duties at the CBN in the first week of September 2012 and was deployed to the Development Finance Department.
The department then put her in charge of the bank’s Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System For Agricultural Lending, (NIRSAL), a unit that attempts to fix the agricultural value chain, so that banks can lend with confidence to the sector and, encourages banks to lend to the agricultural value chain by offering them strong incentives and technical assistance.
Sources said Mrs Yaro married Ahmed (or Shuaib, according to another source) six years ago after her first husband, Waisu Yaro Bodinga (then an executive director at the Nigeria Ports Authority) died in the ill-fated ADC plane crash of 2006.
The romance between Mrs Yaro and Mr. Sanusi became even hotter after she began work at the bank, with the two lovers regularly exchanging telephone calls and text messages during work hours to profess love for each other.
At times, Mrs Yaro would remain in her office far beyond close of work to enable her to keep appointments with the CBN governor, records show.
Sometimes, Mrs Yaro would raise concerns about Mr. Sanusi’s other girlfriends and mistresses (such as Sutura and Rose) and how they were blocking her from getting the governor’s full attention, but the relationship continued nonetheless.
Mrs. Yaro also began to have access to confidential information known only to top management and board of the bank, insiders say.
At a point, one source said, she began to strategise to corner contracts for one Goke Akinboro, the Chief Executive Officer of Lagos-based Cellullant Limited, an information technology company. Mr. Akinboro is also described as “very close” to Mrs Yaro.
On March 15, 2013, the CBN lovers headed to Lagos again for another weekend of fun. The initial plan was for the duo to fly to the nation’s commercial capital on Saturday, March 16, returning to Abuja on Sunday. But the trip had to be brought forward by a day after the lovers realized that the Area Council election in Abuja was holding that Saturday and that movement might be restricted.
Mrs. Yaro arrived Lagos on the night of March 15, and immediately checked into the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel on Victoria Island. Mr. Sanusi flew from Kano to Lagos via chartered jet on the bills of the Nigerian taxpayers. He arrived at about 11 p.m., stopped by his Ikoyi home, before dashing to the hotel where Mrs. Yaro was waiting in a seductive dress in Room 23. The lovers spent that night and the next day together in the hotel.
As he flew into Abuja March 17 on a chartered jet, Mr. Sanusi sent a message to Mrs Yaro saying, “Love. Just landed in Abuja. Thank you for a wonderful weekend.” Mrs Yaro replied, “Alhamdulillah. I had a wonderful weekend too. I am able to get the 3:15 flight on Arik Air. Love you.”
But in-between these rendezvous in Lagos, Mr. Sanusi and Mrs Yaro also found time to get together elsewhere. They were to meet on March 11, 2013, in Makurdi but somehow Mrs Yaro could not make it to the Benue State capital. But earlier on February 14, (Valentine’s Day), the lovers had a good time together in Maiduguri. Although, the two of them travelled to the city on different missions, they somehow found a way to get together.
At a point, Mrs Yaro voiced open frustration when Mr. Lamido delayed in taking her calls as she tried, frantically, to track him down. “I’m thinking that one Shuwa girl has snatched you away from me,” Mrs. Yaro wrote in a message. “I don’t trust them (Maiduguri girls) with you.”
A velvet-ranking figure within Nigeria’s economic and political circles, Mr. Sanusi, is generally perceived as one of the intellectual anchors and moral conscience of this administration. When his five-year term expires next year, he has indicated he would not renew his contract. Mr. Sanusi has a well-advertised ambition to become the future emir of his native Kano, where he is already a top chieftaincy holder (Dan Maje Kano). Dan Majen Kano, a historic title, which means Son of Emir-Maje, is reserved for the royal family members from the Kano Habe dynasty.
A zigzag prospect to run for the Nigerian presidency is also believed to be floating in the horizon for Mr. Sanusi.
Multiple sources at both the CBN and First Bank, where Mr. Sanusi was managing director before his appointment to the central bank, describe the governor as an “incurable womanizer.”
“This guy seems unable to resist anything in skirt, and it is unfortunate that a lot of young people look up to him as an example,” one of Mr. Sanusi’s aides in Abuja said, expressing widely held concerns in banking circles that “It is sad that he wouldn’t even let married women be.”
Mr. Sanusi, 51, appointed CBN Governor on June 3 2009, is a smart economist and award-winning banker with a background in risk management.
He holds a graduate degree in economics from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a diploma in Sharia and Islamic Studies from the African International University in Khartoum, Sudan. Today, Mr. Sanusi is also commonly regarded as an important voice in Islamic jurisprudence.
The Banker, the UK-based financial magazine honoured him in 2010 as global Central Bank Governor of the Year as well as African Central Bank Governor of the Year. In 2011, the TIME magazine listed Mr. Sanusi in its annual publication of 100 most influential people.
At the African Banker Awards gala dinner held Wednesday in Morocco, Mr. Sanusi also emerged the “2013 Africa Central Bank Governor of the Year.”
“There is no doubt that he is a fairly effective banker,” an official of one of Nigeria’s leading banks, who requested anonymity for fear his bank might be targeted, told PREMIUM TIMES. “But he is a man of zero morality despite his public posturing. It is really sad.
”
DYING DECLARATIONS, HIJABS AND RESPECTING THE SUPERNATURAL (from elnathans blog)
Because I Care #15
I have told people time and time again. There is a difference between superstition and respect for the supernatural. They are very different. Superstition is baseless. Respect for the supernatural is borne out of careful consideration of consequences, some of which may not be fully or immediately understood. Superstition is thinking that if you sweep at night evil spirits will be angry or that casting a vote for Chris Okotie will somehow help the Jerry-curled man win the Presidential elections. Respect for the supernatural is calling someone like Obasanjo and begging him to explain to us how and why he did it- hoodwink us into accepting his dangerous handover package. Also, respect for the supernatural means you will not deliberately invite troublesome spirits by naming your town Woolwich. Otherwise how else can you explain that a certain British Micheal with a Nigerian last name went out into the street and used a meat cleaver to slaughter a 25 year old British soldier in broad daylight. Then waiting for the police to arrest him. I tell you it is all in the name of that town. He couldn’t have tried it in any respectfully named town in Nigeria. Not the killing I mean. The waiting-to-be-arrested part. Because surely he would have been given a taste of any one of the two brands of made-in-Nigeria street justice: that given by our security forces or by good old angry civilian Nigerians. What was wrong in just naming the town Wool? I can never understand the British.
So this week I changed my mind about a certain running mate people have been pressuring me to consider. First, the man wears glasses. You must forgive me but I have something against people who wear them. I am not sure I can trust someone who sees the world different from the rest of us. Then the man went and proposed something silly in the state where he currently serves as governor. Babatunde Fashola wants to ban girls from wearing hijabs in public schools. Is that what he wants to do when he becomes Vice President under me? I don’t understand it. First look at the health implications of making all those girls come to schools with their hair uncovered. That is why cooks must cover their hair when cooking. I had very limited call credit this week otherwise I would have placed a call and asked him how the hijab hurts him or the people of Lagos. He thinks the hijab is like a bracelet or costume that you can just tell people to take off. Asking a woman for whom Islam is a way of life and identity to remove her hijab is like asking someone who has tribal marks not to come to school with their tribal marks. Or even asking someone with prescription glasses not to wear them to school. How would Babatunde feel if I asked him as Vice President not to come to work with his glasses? I am dropping him from my list of potential running mates. I have never liked lawyers anyway.
Chinua Achebe was laid to rest this week amidst much fanfare. Following a suggestion by my friend Tolu Ogunlesi, I can bet the 8,500 naira in my account that Soyinka is having an emergency meeting with his lawyers to include in his will what and who he does not want at his funeral. Especially the kind of people he does not want making speeches over his coffin.
I saw Rotimi Amaechi’s photo in the papers this week and by god he has grown lean! After those women started wearing ‘Amaechi Must Go’ t-shirts in Port Harcourt he must have stopped eating, suddenly realising that Jonathan means business. Amaechi should look within himself and ask what he did to the president. It may not be what he thinks. Did he shake the first lady too long? Did dust enter his eye and make him inadvertently wink at the Dame at a public function? These are important questions for him to ponder. Especially now that he has gotten re-elected as Governors Forum Chairman, I am genuinely worried about his health.
Ps. I attended the first general event marking Achebe’s final transition on Monday this week. I met two persons. Ogbonnaya Onu, former governor of Anambra and current Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party. And Peter Obi, the current governor of Anambra. The difference between these two men is clear. While Onu sauntered into the room in regal fashion, like a proud peacock with more gun totting security men than was necessary and a convoy of four cars waiting outside, Peter Obi walked in quietly with Achebe’s first son and chose to sit among the crowd for about 30 minutes so as not to interrupt the speaker. I did not see gun totting men around Peter Obi. He even pleaded with people to stop photographing him and focus on the lecture going on. When Mr Onu was leaving, and the siren of the pilot car blared to clear the way, he could have been any corrupt ruling party politician. So much for our ‘opposition’.
Ps 2. This week, in a lecture organised by the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Malam Nasir El-rufai, bemoaning the high unemployment in Nigeria, declared that even with his connections, two of his daughters who had Masters degrees have been jobless for about a year now. I am worried for his daughters. Sadly, I do not make enough to hire now. All I can say is, if they can be patient until 2015 when I become President, surely, something will happen. Because, I care.
Ps. 3 I hope the Nigerian Army is observing how their erstwhile colonial masters are handling the 'terrorist' slaughtering of a British serviceman in broad daylight. The Brits did not unleash their army in reprisal killings in Woolwich. Just saying.
Ps. 4. Femi Fani Kayode needs to stop taking whatever it is he takes. Or go off Twitter and spend more time with his kids. Just saying.
I have told people time and time again. There is a difference between superstition and respect for the supernatural. They are very different. Superstition is baseless. Respect for the supernatural is borne out of careful consideration of consequences, some of which may not be fully or immediately understood. Superstition is thinking that if you sweep at night evil spirits will be angry or that casting a vote for Chris Okotie will somehow help the Jerry-curled man win the Presidential elections. Respect for the supernatural is calling someone like Obasanjo and begging him to explain to us how and why he did it- hoodwink us into accepting his dangerous handover package. Also, respect for the supernatural means you will not deliberately invite troublesome spirits by naming your town Woolwich. Otherwise how else can you explain that a certain British Micheal with a Nigerian last name went out into the street and used a meat cleaver to slaughter a 25 year old British soldier in broad daylight. Then waiting for the police to arrest him. I tell you it is all in the name of that town. He couldn’t have tried it in any respectfully named town in Nigeria. Not the killing I mean. The waiting-to-be-arrested part. Because surely he would have been given a taste of any one of the two brands of made-in-Nigeria street justice: that given by our security forces or by good old angry civilian Nigerians. What was wrong in just naming the town Wool? I can never understand the British.
So this week I changed my mind about a certain running mate people have been pressuring me to consider. First, the man wears glasses. You must forgive me but I have something against people who wear them. I am not sure I can trust someone who sees the world different from the rest of us. Then the man went and proposed something silly in the state where he currently serves as governor. Babatunde Fashola wants to ban girls from wearing hijabs in public schools. Is that what he wants to do when he becomes Vice President under me? I don’t understand it. First look at the health implications of making all those girls come to schools with their hair uncovered. That is why cooks must cover their hair when cooking. I had very limited call credit this week otherwise I would have placed a call and asked him how the hijab hurts him or the people of Lagos. He thinks the hijab is like a bracelet or costume that you can just tell people to take off. Asking a woman for whom Islam is a way of life and identity to remove her hijab is like asking someone who has tribal marks not to come to school with their tribal marks. Or even asking someone with prescription glasses not to wear them to school. How would Babatunde feel if I asked him as Vice President not to come to work with his glasses? I am dropping him from my list of potential running mates. I have never liked lawyers anyway.
Chinua Achebe was laid to rest this week amidst much fanfare. Following a suggestion by my friend Tolu Ogunlesi, I can bet the 8,500 naira in my account that Soyinka is having an emergency meeting with his lawyers to include in his will what and who he does not want at his funeral. Especially the kind of people he does not want making speeches over his coffin.
I saw Rotimi Amaechi’s photo in the papers this week and by god he has grown lean! After those women started wearing ‘Amaechi Must Go’ t-shirts in Port Harcourt he must have stopped eating, suddenly realising that Jonathan means business. Amaechi should look within himself and ask what he did to the president. It may not be what he thinks. Did he shake the first lady too long? Did dust enter his eye and make him inadvertently wink at the Dame at a public function? These are important questions for him to ponder. Especially now that he has gotten re-elected as Governors Forum Chairman, I am genuinely worried about his health.
Ps. I attended the first general event marking Achebe’s final transition on Monday this week. I met two persons. Ogbonnaya Onu, former governor of Anambra and current Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party. And Peter Obi, the current governor of Anambra. The difference between these two men is clear. While Onu sauntered into the room in regal fashion, like a proud peacock with more gun totting security men than was necessary and a convoy of four cars waiting outside, Peter Obi walked in quietly with Achebe’s first son and chose to sit among the crowd for about 30 minutes so as not to interrupt the speaker. I did not see gun totting men around Peter Obi. He even pleaded with people to stop photographing him and focus on the lecture going on. When Mr Onu was leaving, and the siren of the pilot car blared to clear the way, he could have been any corrupt ruling party politician. So much for our ‘opposition’.
Ps 2. This week, in a lecture organised by the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Malam Nasir El-rufai, bemoaning the high unemployment in Nigeria, declared that even with his connections, two of his daughters who had Masters degrees have been jobless for about a year now. I am worried for his daughters. Sadly, I do not make enough to hire now. All I can say is, if they can be patient until 2015 when I become President, surely, something will happen. Because, I care.
Ps. 3 I hope the Nigerian Army is observing how their erstwhile colonial masters are handling the 'terrorist' slaughtering of a British serviceman in broad daylight. The Brits did not unleash their army in reprisal killings in Woolwich. Just saying.
Ps. 4. Femi Fani Kayode needs to stop taking whatever it is he takes. Or go off Twitter and spend more time with his kids. Just saying.
16yr old Nigerian Lovelyn Ebenechi is Germany's Next Top Model
She is obviously mixed race and probably never been to Nigeria...but we are definitely claiming her! Hehe! Lovelyn beat 19 other contestants to win the 2013 Germany's Next Top Model contest. The Cycle 8 finale took place on Thursday May 30th in Germany, hosted by Heidi Klum. Congrats to her. And for those that will claim her, she has same story like the Woolwich killer just that she did something good.
HOW TO LOSE YOUR JOB - Guide for a young lawyer
Monday
Something tells you today is not a good day. You are in at a few minutes past nine as usual and don’t expect your boss in until about ten or eleven. You wonder how long you will have to practice Law like this-- N35,000 a month, in Abuja, nine to five or six or seven or whenever the boss feels it is okay to let your go home. You wish you had more precedents and templates in the office. Those guys at the university, and Law School, they lied to you, evil people-- they taught you how to be proud and look down on other professions but not that you would have to endure years of slavery to a senior colleague who while paying you next to nothing would demand sweat and blood from you. They didn’t tell you to warn your relatives and younger siblings that they should expect no contribution to the family from you, at least for the first few years of slavery as a lawyer. You hate them now, those Law School people and how they made everything look like heaven, when they should have given you the manual for hell. Three years at the bar and you still can’t prove to your girlfriend of five years that you are ‘serious’; you still take hot cabs to and from courts, the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), still take many drops to your home in Mararaba, outside the city.
Tuesday
This High Court sits at 10am. Or whenever the judge saunters in. As is typical on court days, the boss appears on edge and slightly hyperactive. You stay out of his way and make sure to never take your eyes off him in case he wants a book or a file or just wants to send you to get something from his really expensive car.
At 12, the registrar tells you the judge had to attend the second burial of his wife’s favourite stepmother. Or something like that.
Your boss tells you to go to the Ministry of Commerce to follow up a client’s job. He drives off in the air-conditioned car. You know he will stop at the expensive Biobak Restaurant before going back to the office.
Wednesday
You have been depressed since yesterday when you saw your classmates Musa and Jacob both parked by the road in front of the Corporate Affairs Commission, laughing loudly, exaggeratedly, and jiggling their car keys as they caught up. You wanted to avoid them, but the cab chose that exact spot to stop. Jacob told you he works for a bank in Wuse 2 and Musa you know does nothing but register companies for people and go to police stations to arrange bail for people. Musa has done it so much he knows all the policemen in Abuja and how much to pay to release his clients on bail.
You can hear your boss screaming on the phone to the secretary Njideka-- a girl from his wife’s clan, the only person he trusts to deal with his raw cash. “Njide! If you don’t see the man wait o! When you get there, kpoo the man! Don’t come back here if you don’t see him o!”
Thursday
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Friday
You oversleep and forget that today’s important case is in one of the few high courts that sit at exactly 9am. The Boss has travelled to attend the wedding of the daughters of his Local Government's Chairman in Enugu. By the time you have taken a motor bike to the road, and sat in the bus through Mararaba traffic, it is 9.05 and you are sweating. And you have to get the files from the office in Jabi before heading out to the court in Maitama. You do not take his calls when your boss calls to find out if you are there already. You try to call the lawyer on the other side but he is not taking his calls.
When you get to court at 9.50, they have already called your case and you learn the other lawyer has already gotten an adjournment and cost against you for not showing up in a matter you instituted.
You know the boss will kill you. He calls and tells you that apart from being useless, it is clear you will never amount to anything unless you stop this ‘unacceptable sloppiness’. He threatens to fire you. You kiss your teeth. You do not realise that you did it until he screams: “Are you hissing at me?” And now you are tired, angry, smelly (because you rushed out without using deodorant). You do not deny it. You just remain quiet on the phone when he asks, “have you suddenly gone dumb?”
Saturday
You break up with your girlfriend of five years because she was angry you didn’t show up for the movie at Ceddi Plaza yesterday evening and didn’t even ‘have the courtesy to call.’ You break up by text.
Sunday
Your neighbour, Papa Ngozi, after returning from church in the afternoon is happy that the advice you gave him last week about the land he was trying to buy in Nassarawa saved him from paying money to fraudsters. He says he knocked your door “severally” yesterday. You didn’t answer because you locked your door to think of everything but killing yourself. He insists on buying you drinks in the evening even though you don’t want to leave your cramped studio apartment.
A free drink never killed anyone.
You both keep drinking until your voices are the loudest in this restaurant “Food Is Ready” which turns into a bar in the evenings. Until Papa Ngozi starts saying “call me Izuchukwu or Izu, are we not friends now?” again and again and tells everybody how you saved him from 419ners in Nassarawa. You know you are drunk when you find yourself calling him Izu and slapping his back when he says something funny.
Monday
You wake up at 9.30am.
The Nigerian Law school Yola Campus
Saturday, 1 June 2013
Nigeria’s Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged and rejected the proposal by the Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Tony Anenih that the party should give automatic ticket to President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 saying that same amounts to a constitutional breach.
PDP saga of selection not election angers Atiku. Mr Atiku said the PDP policy of ‘consensus arrangement’ and ‘adoption’ rather than transparent elections to produce candidates for all elective offices, including the presidency was not in the best interest of Nigeria.
In a statement by his Media Office in Abuja on Saturday, the former Vice President said the principle for which he opposes this unjust policy, which he described as a ‘travesty of democracy’ has not changed since then.
“My position remains that as far as PDP Constitution is concerned, any attempt to change the party’s rule to favour the President as a sole candidate in the event of his willingness to re-contest is unconstitutional. The contest should be open to all desiring to pursue an ambition on the platform of the PDP,” Mr Atiku said.
While acknowledging that President Jonathan is entitled to seek the party ticket in 2015, the former Vice President, however, insisted that President Jonathan should submit himself to a transparent and fair process just like any other party member, adding that foreclosing free and fair process of selecting its presidential candidate, might send the wrong message to Nigerians about the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s commitment to conduct free and fair elections.
BABA SUWE SUFFERED FOR FREE
The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, Friday, set aside the judgment of Justice Yetunde Idowu of an Ikeja High Court, which awarded N25 million compensation to comic actor, Babatunde Omidina, aka Baba Suwe, after he was detained by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly carrying narcotic substances in 2011.
The appellate court in its judgment delivered by Justice Rita Pemu described the N25 million compensation as baseless and pervasive and held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to preside over the fundamental human rights suit filed by Baba Suwe’s lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, in October 24, 2011.
The appellate court in its judgment delivered by Justice Rita Pemu described the N25 million compensation as baseless and pervasive and held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to preside over the fundamental human rights suit filed by Baba Suwe’s lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, in October 24, 2011.
Justice Pemu said it was only the Federal High Court that has the right to adjudicate on the matter more especially when it is a drug-related matter, adding that the NDLEA has the prerogative to keep the respondent in custody, while investigation was being carried out.
According to the judge, the NDLEA had good reasons to detain the comedian, adding that the N25 million compensation was uncalled for.
“The constitution stipulates the right to personal liberty. The result of the scan carried out on the respondent were in consonance with the appellant’s suspicion.
“The appellant took note of the respondent’s rights and that was why it applied for an extension of time to keep the respondent in custody which the Federal High Court presided over by retired Justice Okeke rightly granted.The detention of the respondent is therefore not unreasonable,” Justice Pemu held.
Justice Yetunde Idowu of an Ikeja High Court, Lagos in her judgment delivered on November 24, 2011, had ordered the agency to pay Baba Suwe N25 million for detention on suspicion of drug ingestion, as well as mandated the NDLEA to tender public apology to the actor through two national newspapers.
Baba Suwe was arrested by the NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on October 12, 2011, on his way to Paris, France and was detained by the agency initially for three days during which period he defecated but no drug was found in his faeces.
The NDLEA, through its Director of Prosecution and Legal services, Femi Oloruntoba had earlier applied to the court for an order of Stay of Execution on her judgment delivered on November 24, 2011 pending the determination of the Appeal filed by the agency on December 6, 2011 against the judgment.
The agency, while moving the application before the court, then argued that the agency will be prevented from performing its statutory functions as well prosecute the appeal if it is made to pay the judgment sum of N25 million as it is half of its monthly available resources.
Mr Oloruntoba contended that keeping Mr Omidina in custody between October 12 and 21, 2011, on the suspicion of drug ingestion, did not violate his rights. From channelsTv
Mr Oloruntoba contended that keeping Mr Omidina in custody between October 12 and 21, 2011, on the suspicion of drug ingestion, did not violate his rights. From channelsTv
What happenned to the Eagels
The match ended 2-2.
The national teams of Nigeria and Mexico for the umpteenth time settled for a draw as both teams battled to a 2-2 stalemate in the international friendly played in the early hours of Saturday at the Reliant Stadium in the United States.
Despite playing one man down from the first half, the CONCACAF champions showed no sign of numerical disadvantage as they continually ripped apart Nigeria’s defence in search for goals.
After forcing some saves from goalkeeper Austin Ejide and also hitting the cross bar, Mexico finally shot ahead through Javier Hernadez better known as Chicarito in the 22nd minute.
The Manchester United striker collected a low pass from his teammate from the left flank to bury the ball past Ejide to take the lead.
But Eagles responded within some minutes when defender Bauerrea handed the ball in the box and was sent off. Brown Ideye took to the challenge, and buried from the spot to level scores to 1:1. It wasn’t long when Efe Ambrose beat his marker, made a pass to John Ogu who took a shot that was deflected into the net by a Mexican defender to give the Super Eagles the upper hand before the end of the first half.
On resumption of the second half, goalkeeper Vincent Enyema was introduced into the game by Coach Stephen Keshi and while the thinking was that the Eagles will make their numbers count, it was Mexico who looked more dangerous even though the Eagles aslo had some decent chances.
In the 79th minute Mexico got a deserved equaliser when Chicharito beat his marker to the ball to level up.
Saturday’s 2-2 draw was also the same score line recorded when the Eagles last played against Mexico.
See the oldest presidential candidate in africa. plus his trouble
- FILE - In this Wednesday May 22, 2013 file photo Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, left, shakes hands with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai after he signed the new constitution into law at State house in Harare. Zimbabwes highest court on Friday May 31, 2013 ordered President Robert Mugabe to hold elections by the end of July, chiding the longtime leader for what it said was a ''violation of his duties'' for not proclaiming the date earlier. Photo: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe's highest court on Friday ordered President Robert Mugabe to hold elections by the end of July, chiding the longtime leader for what it said was a "violation of his duties" in not proclaiming a date for the vote earlier.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said the election date should be linked to the automatic dissolution of Zimbabwe's parliament on June 29 at the end of its current five-year term.
A new constitution overwhelmingly accepted in a March 16 referendum requires amendments to electoral laws and voting procedures that lawyers' groups say need about two months to complete.
Veritas, an independent legal research group, said Friday that the court's July date is impractical.
A lawsuit was brought to the court on May 24 to force Mugabe to call early polls. The private court application claimed the country could not be run without the existence of the parliament, rendering the government illegal.
But Veritas said the constitution allows for the executive arm and government ministries to continue operating without a sitting parliament for up to four months after the legislature dissolves on June 29.
Judge Chidyausiku, sitting alongside eight senior judges in the Constitutional Court, said their ruling ordered elections to be held by July 31. He described Mugabe's failure to announce the election date as "a violation of his duties."
Two judges dissented.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader in a shaky coalition with Mugabe after violent and disputed elections in 2008, wants a vote that would end their power-sharing agreement to be held in September at the earliest.
Tsvangirai said in a statement Friday that the court had no power to set an election date and the judges had "overstepped their mandate."
Zimbabweans still expect electoral and wider reforms along with an intensive voter registration campaign "that would not have anyone unnecessarily disenfranchised" in the upcoming elections, he said.
The judgment was not available later Friday for legal experts to comment. But they did say an appeal cannot be made on the Constitutional Court's ruling and only parliament can pass a law to overturn it.
Mugabe's fractious ZANU-PF party has repeatedly called for early polls to endorse Mugabe, 89, for another five-year presidential term. Mugabe led the nation to independence from colonial rule in 1980.
The new constitution limits the presidential office to two five-year terms but is not retroactive, allowing Mugabe if re-elected to serve up to age 99.
Zimbabwe is scheduled to host the U.N. World Tourism Organization summit in mid-August. An estimated 2,000 foreign delegates are expected to attend and a bitterly contested poll shortly before would likely raise concerns among organizers.
Previous elections since 2000 have been marred by violence, political intimidation and allegations of vote-rigging.
Veritas said disobeying a constitutional court ruling could lead to contempt of court proceedings. But contempt charges in the past against at least two of Mugabe's senior ministers were ignored and no further action was taken.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Zimbabwe-court-orders-national-polls-by-July-31-4565333.php#ixzz2UxOE9DBc
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